David Holdridge served in the Vietnam War in 1969 as an infantry platoon leader outside of Chu Lai. He was wounded and spent 18 months getting repaired at various hospitals in the United States, culminating with operations at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut where neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb freed David from his trauma. Subsequently, he spent 40  years working with humanitarian organizations amidst populations suffering from war, exploitation, and impoverishment, including assignments in West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. From 2010 to 2012, he directed an advocacy effort in Washington DC, which argued for significant transformation of the current systems and approaches of American assistance abroad. Currently, he commutes from Beirut, Lebanon to his farm in Vermont, USA managed by his wife, Annie. His daughter Hank was born in Beirut, his son Alex in Tunis. His upcoming book The Water Above will be published in January 2024.  It follows his first book The Avant Garde of Western Civ, which won Prize Americana in 2017.