A California photographer and a Tennessee poet collaborated to produce this remarkable book of photographs and poems reflecting Vietnam as it appears today with a population nearing 83 million people, more than half of whom are under the age of thirty.
Windows to Vietnam, a 178 page book of over 130 photographs and 30 related poems released in July, 2007, emphasizes a vigorous economy in a small Asian country aptly named "Land of the Ascending Dragon." This collection of photographs and contemporary verse addresses the culture, diversity, and dramatic financial and lifestyle changes among the Vietnamese people. A Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food franchise found on a key intersection in Ho Chi Minh City is a telling picture. Since the mid-eighties, the economy has grown by billions of dollars due to exported products such as crude oil, coffee, rice, seafood, textiles and footwear.
Many citizens speak English, French, Russian, Chinese, Khmer as well as the six-tone native language of the Vietnamese. The literacy rate among the Vietnamese is above 90 percent. Large numbers of college-age students seek advanced degrees in other countries and return to Vietnam to establish business and professional careers.