Written by Firoozeh Dumas

May 4, 2010

When we moved to America in 1972, we expected my father to translate for us. He had taught English in our hometown of Abadan, Iran. He knew how to conjugate verbs and to use adjectives correctly. He even knew the presidents in order. But once we arrived here, we discovered that my father could not actually speak to any Americans. According to him, Americans did not speak English.

This is true.

[…]

August 18, 2009

Last summer my then-16-year-old son applied for a summer internship at a local university. He had found the listing at his high school career center. He put together a resume, wrote a cover letter and sent it all off, anxiously waiting an answer…

June 21, 2008

Writer Firoozeh Dumas talks with Scott Simon about her new memoir, Laughing Without an Accent. It’s a collection of humorous essays about her life as the daughter of Iranian immigrants, and about some the colorful characters in her extended family.

November 3, 2007

Iranian-American Firoozeh Dumas was a teenager living in Southern California at the time when the Iranian revolution happened, and the hostage crisis changed her life. A few weeks ago, she met one of the former hostages. Kathryn Koob had been a cultural officer at the United States Embassy in Tehran.