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Ordinary Girl: My Life in Extraordinary Times
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781965342114
Publisher: Say Yes Quickly Books
Published: Mar 21 2026
Pages: 402
Weight: 1.18
Height: 0.82 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Barbara Wolfe-Johnson has led a unique life-on five continents and in many countries. She has had numerous careers in a male-dominated world that were most unlikely, enormously challenging, sometimes dangerous as hell, and always utterly fascinating. With Ordinary Girl, she offers a profoundly honest and clear-eyed memoir of her life and the extraordinary times in which she has lived. She describes early abuse, and work with NASA, the Intelligence community, years at the CIA, and finally the United Nations in Iraq. In retirement, she begins managing the small ranch in Costa Rica from which location she reflects on her myriad experiences and the man who gave her long life its greatest meaning. Set in Germany, Africa, Jordan, Iraq, and finally rural Central America, it's a fearless life lived in pursuit of challenge and adventure, one that's rich with joy, love, and compassion.
Ordinary Girl will capture your attention from the first pages, and by its conclusion you will marvel at the breadth of this single life and be moved by how remarkably Barbara has lived it.
An extraordinary journey that circles the globe, a compelling memoir of this author's life-one lived with determination to overcome early abuse and find rewarding work, meaningful connections, and deep love. Barbara Wolfe-Johnson tells her story in remarkable detail and with an arresting kind of candor. Committed early on to live a life that matters, she has succeeded by every measure. - RUSSELL MARTIN, author of The Sorrow of Archaeology
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