A Charmed Life

About the Book

  This is the story of Peter Juge.  He grew up in New Orleans when there were no rules.

His early school performance was abysmal. He lost a scholarship to Tulane playing poker, bourre and partying. He was a sailor during the Korean War, and grew up some. He returned to college; this time to LSU; he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and passed the US Foreign Service exam. He served in the State Department in Washington, and in

American Embassies in Ethiopia, Malaya, and Cameroon. 

   Mobil Oil Company offered him a position on a new venture team in Nigeria, and thence in Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. Peter’s family accompanied him on all these assignments. His adventures included a coup d’etat in Ethiopia, a war in Nigeria, meeting an emperor and a king, a cobra on his patio, and making wine in Saudi Arabia. Mobil’s President appointed Peter Vice President in Mobil’s Research and Engineering Division in 1988. Since retiring, Peter has written six books. One is about his “third culture kids” who grew up in eight countries and attended 14 schools. Another is about his travels in France with his dog Matey. A series of three books is about the adventures of Agent Matey as an undercover CIA agent who is disguised as a dog. He also wrote a book of poems. Today Peter and Matey live in an assisted living facility for retired military and other U.S. government officers in Virginia.

About the Author

         Peter Juge was a Foreign Service officer and an International Oil Company executive. He and his family lived in Ethiopia, Malaya, Cameroon, Nigeria, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. His children also lived in Arabia. His children also lived in Singapore when they went to a boarding school there. His life has indeed been charmed. His early school performance was abysmal. But, taking an exam won him a full scholarship to Tulane; he lost it playing poker and boure and partying.

He was a sailor during the Korean War. He returned to college; this time to LSU; he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and passed the US Foreign Service exam. He served in Embassies in Addis Ababa, Kuala Lumpur, and Yaoundé. Mobil Oil then offered him a position in a start-up operation in Lagos during the Biafran War. He went on from there to Mobil start-up operations in Medan and Jakarta, then to Al Khobar.  Peter’s outlook on life, “Any damned fool can make himself uncomfortable,” helped make his family’s adventures around the world a moving feast.