THE NAME

 My writing career began while I was staff in the English booth at the United Nations in NY. After being interviewed by a podcast called “Tell me about your Father” I decided that although I wanted the American public to read the story of a CIA childhood, I needed to avoid a possible conflict of interest. I needed some cover, just like my father with his many official identities (with bona fide U.S government issued fake passports) and aliases.  My first pieces, flash memoir, were published under the pen name Sam Anders. I am now retired from the UN and can publish without fear under my own name, merging my various identities into one: Sheila Shermet.

Life started normally enough.  I was born to Andy and Barbara Anderson on a naval base in Florida and my family moved around the east coast of the United States until I was five.  Then, we moved to Nairobi and the fun began. It was not until Paris, when I was ten, that I learned that my father was a spy. We lived in five countries while I was growing up, in Africa, Europe and South America.  Now, lots of families move around for international business, the US military or the foreign service. What was unusual in my childhood was the secrecy and daily deception. But the family also had lot of adventures, from safaris in Kenya to crossing the Atlantic on a small sailboat, while sampling new foods and meeting fascinating people along the way. Looking back on those years, I understand that my dad was able to indulge his thirst for adventure courtesy of the CIA. In return, he collected information on America’s enemies and allies alike- with a family in tow. And when not living overseas like people out of some Hemmingway novel, we lived near Langley in Virginia and tried to be a normal American family.  

As an interpreter for over thirty years, I have worked for everyone from broccoli-pickers in California to heads of state around the world. At the United Nations,  I focused on  international affairs and multilateralism in Vienna, Geneva and New York, covering a range of topics from disarmament to international peace and security. A childhood steeped in American foreign policy and  buffeted about the globe by the geopolitics of the Cold War provided the perfect education and training for diplomatic interpreting.