Debby Pattiz’s childhood in the 1970s as a pasty white girl from a Black neighborhood in Chicago’s South Shore was followed by her adolescence among Asian refugees and immigrants near Oakland’s Chinatown, raising early questions about the accident of identity. Those questions were compounded during an unusual junior year abroad in 1988, which established Debby as one of only a handful of Americans to participate in daily life in East Germany. The experience marked her soul.

Her early lived experiences segued into a scholarly and real-life fascination with the intersection of language, culture, and identity. After completing a B.A. in International Relations at Brown University and an M.A. in Instructional Systems Design at the University of Maryland, Debby pursued a career in English as a Second Language. It was a calling that took her to four continents to design and deliver teacher training programs and teach writing to international college students. She has taught and developed ESL curricula with the University of Southern California, the University of California at Berkeley Extension, the University of Alaska, and the University of Maryland, among others. Debby is a member of Jericho Writers.

Debby wed her college sweetheart and raised a son, a daughter, a herd of cats, and an obstinate Corgi named Frodo. As her children grew up, an insistent, hazy memory tugged her back in time.

Debby’s journey would not have been possible without extraordinary support from her husband Davidson and his portly orange tabby. At times, Debby addresses the cat in English; at others in German, Spanish, or rusty Portuguese. He rarely responds. Hiking, photography, hot tubbing, and chardonnay round out Debby’s routine.

My Cold War Cold Case is Debby’s first book. “Through the Iron Curtain” is an adapted excerpt featured in the Brown Alumni Magazine.