Regarded as the dean of American talk radio, Barry Farber is a lifelong adventurer and world traveler who has learned 26 foreign languages and met up with the likes of the king of Albania, Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin and legendary director Alfred Hitchcock.
His new book "Cocktails with Molotov: An Odyssey of Unlikely Detours," with story after story told in his lighthearted and humorous style, will leave readers wondering if there's anything "the most interesting man in the world" hasn't done or anyplace he hasn't been.
Published by WND Books, it's scheduled for release June 5.
Farber blazed a trail for conservative radio talk show hosts that has earned him accolades from Rush Limbaugh and others who followed him.
"Barry Farber was a standout when it was difficult to get a talk show," Limbaugh said. "You had to be among the best to be hired to host long-form talk. Barry Farber was … the best. He was defining. He's always been in rarified air."
From early in his life, he's had a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and "Cocktails with Molotov" captures many of his extraordinary encounters.
Along with tales of celebrities and personalities are stories from his childhood in North Carolina, his travels abroad and his adventures as a young reporter and a seasoned journalist.
Joseph Farah, CEO of WND Books and WND.com, considered it an honor to publish Farber's book.
"Barry Farber is truly one of my mentors. I got an early and lasting understanding of the way the world really works from listening to his great pioneer of talk radio," Farah said.
"He blazed the trail for all of us today in talk radio," said radio and TV host Sean Hannity. "I am honored to call him a friend and a great American."
Farber's resume includes writer, journalist, nationally syndicated talk show host, advocate for Jewish charities and Army veteran.
In 1991, he was awarded Talk Show Host of the Year, and he's been named among the top 10 radio talk hosts of all time by Talkers Magazine.
His previous books include "How to Learn Any Language," a world leader in its field.
He won the George Washington Award in 2007 from the American-Hungarian Foundation for helping Hungarian refugees during the Cold War.
In his new book, he recalls being in Yugoslavia as a representative of American students in 1951. Part of his tour included an invitation to give a lesson on democracy for a political science class.
Realize this was a communist nation, he said, "There was no 'Hi!' 'Welcome to Yugoslavia. Are you having a nice time in our country?'
"We'd been there long enough to understand that any act of friendship toward Western visitors could be a career-wrecking and life-blighting item on a secret police dossier," he explained.
So it wasn't a surprise when a professor "bashed" America just a little after his presentation.
"Our once-gracious professor-host turned on me and ridiculed America's constant criticism of one-party dictatorships. He said, 'You Americans are so peacock-proud of your 'two-party system.' Two-party system indeed!' he continued. 'Both your Democrats and your Republicans favor a strong Pentagon. They both favor Social Security. Both parties are anti-Communist. What, please tell me, is the difference between your Democratic Party and your Republican Party?'"
"'Comrade Professor,' I replied ... 'the difference between our two American parties is, one's in and one's out. And the party that's out has, not just the opportunity, but the obligation to find fault with the party that's in. That, and not intrigues, putsches, coups, and firearms, is how the party that's out tries to impress the voters and become the party that's in.'"
In another chapter, he talks about how in 1956, before email, the Internet, cell phones, Twitter and Facebook, Israel defeated the Soviet Union.
It was when the communist superpower decided to open a dialogue with Israel and suggested an exchange of soccer matches, with the first game in Moscow.
The Soviets offered to fly over and fetch the Israelis, but the Israelis wanted to fly their national carrier, El Al.
When the Soviets said foreign airplanes were not allowed, the Israelis said, "Tell us when they are."
Then the Soviets said they would send a Soviet navigator for the flight, and the Israelis said they wanted to refuel in Vilna, or Vilnius, the capital of the then-Soviet Republic of Lithuania.
"The Soviets almost lost it at that point. Vilna … is not a logical refueling point between Tel Aviv and Moscow. [But] the Israelis wanted the surviving Jews and their descendants to see a Jewish airplane with a Star of David on the tail land, refuel, and take off again."
The Soviets agreed and chuckled.
"'They don't realize we control the media here,' clucked the Soviets. 'There will be zero newspaper, radio, TV, or any other kind of news coverage,'" Farber writes.
"We hope no Soviet bureaucrat lost his life, his freedom, or even his job, but the permission backfired badly. Oppressed people don't need radio, TV, newspapers, Twitter, Facebook, or whatever. Fully 65,000 Jewish survivors of the Nazi extermination and the subsequent Soviet persecution showed up at the airport just to witness an airplane with the Star of David land, refuel, and take off."
Farber also shares some of his embarrassing moments, including an interview with fabled British filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. After an extraordinarily awkward introduction, Farber sought to make amends by launching his interview with a "brilliant question," only to be "turned into a smoking crater" by Hitchcock's deadpan response.
WND Books was founded in 2002 by WND's Joseph and Elizabeth Farah. The publishing house made an immediate impact with its first No. 1 New York Times bestseller, Michael Savage's "The Savage Nation." Several more bestsellers from the upstart rocked the publishing world. Within two years of its launch, every major U.S. publisher had created imprints to compete head-to-head with WND Books in its niche for edgy, controversial current events titles.
WND Books specializes in adult nonfiction titles with an emphasis on current events, politics and history. Like WND, WND Books is "fiercely independent," telling the stories that other publishers won't.