Arab Americans
Selwa Roosevelt
Selwa Carmen Showker “Lucky” Roosevelt (born January 13, 1929)[1] was Chief of Protocol of the United States for almost seven years from 1982-1989—longer than anyone has ever served in that position.[2]
Early life
Selwa was born in the city of Kingsport, Tennessee, the daughter of Lebanese Druze immigrants, Salim Shqer and Najla Shqer. She lived there until her marriage in 1950 to Archibald “Archie” B. Roosevelt, Jr., a grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. They were married for forty years until Archie died of heart failure in 1990.
An honors graduate from Vassar College, Lucky has worked as a journalist for The Washington Evening Star [3] and a free lance writer for numerous magazines, among them Family Circle, McCalls and Town & Country, where she was a contributing editor for seven years.
In 2012, Lucky received a commendation from President Barack Obama for her government service and for helping to “save” Blair House. [4]
Her correspondence from Fleur Cowles is at the University of Texas at Austin.[5]
Works
- Keeper of the gate, Simon and Schuster, 1990, ISBN 978-0-671-69207-0
Notes
- Jump up^ World Who’s Who of Women 1990/91, Volume 10. Taylor & Francis. 1990. p. 706. ISBN 0948875100.
- Jump up^ “Council of American Ambassdors”. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- Jump up^ Saturday Evening Post July 28, 1956
- Jump up^ Roberts, Roxanne and Amy Argetsinger (2012-02-27). “The Reliable Source: Lucky Roosevelt gets presidential commendation”. The Washington Post.
- Jump up^ Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. “Selwa Roosevelt: A Preliminary Inventory of Her Collection of Fleur Cowles in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center”. University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 3 May 2013.