Ralph Pezzullo

Ralph Pezzullo is a New York Times and international bestselling author whose books have sold more than six million copies worldwide. Ralph is the host of Heroes Behind the Headlines, one of the top documentary podcasts, where listeners get to hear the stories of the headlines you know, told by the heroes you don’t. They are first-hand stories from the people on the front lines, who have lived the news we’ve consumed for the last half-century. Literally born into the world of geopolitics, Ralph is the son of a legendary United States Diplomat who brokered the 1979 resignation of Nicaragua’s strongman dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle. When Ralph was five his father joined the Foreign Service of the State Department. His job took him to Washington, DC, Mexico, South Vietnam, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Uruguay, Haiti and Nicaragua. Because of his father’s career in diplomacy, Ralph was present for some of the most formative events in world geopolitics, including living in Saigon during the Tonkin Gulf Incident, the overthrow of Diem, several other coups d’etats, and almost daily Vietcong terrorist attacks against Americans. He then survived three years gasping for air at 13,000 feet in La Paz, Bolivia, when Che Guevarra was trying to build a guerrilla base in that country. In 1980 Ralph found himself in Nicaragua debating politics with guys like Tomas Borge and the Ortega brothers and witnessing the first days of the Sandinista Revolution (the subject of the non-fiction book At the Fall of Somoza, which he wrote with his father). After receiving a Master's Degree in International Affairs, he worked on Capitol Hill and later as a correspondent for Associated Press covering assignments in Latin America, and creating relationships with other diplomats, CIA agents, and military attaches across the world. Ralph has written screenplays for all the major film studios and has worked with award-winning directors like Oliver Stone and Antoine Fuqua. His most recent book, Saigon, is a story told in a time of war, living as a boy in Vietnam from 1963-1965. The protagonist is a sensitive, intelligent thirteen-year-old with a self-centered, domineering father who serves as a diplomat with the US Embassy. Eager to engage his exotic new environment, he befriends locals working at the Embassy maintenance shop and serves as a batboy for the US Special Forces softball team. Over time, he develops a unique perspective of the political crisis gripping the country and the role of the US.