Robert Van Lierop

Robert Van Lierop Living Person Nationality: Vanuatu (born in Suriname; holds United States citizenship) Date of Birth: 1939 Occupation: Lawyer, Film-maker, Diplomat, Photojournalist Political Office: Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1980-1990) Turtledove Appearances: Shared Universe Story "Notes from the General Secretariat" Kelvin R. Throop Stories Type of Appearance: Oblique contemporary reference Robert F. Van Lierop (born 29 March 1939) is a ni-Vanuatu-American lawyer, diplomat, political activist, filmmaker, writer and photojournalist. Van Lierop was born in Suriname of African and Dutch descent. He graduated from Hofstra University in 1964 and from New York University Law School in 1967. Van Lierop began his career as a lawyer, and became a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1980, when the newly independent Vanuatu joined the United Nations, its prime minister, Walter Lini, asked Van Lierop to be its Permanent Representative at the United Nations. Van Lierop accepted, and represented Vanuatu for over a decade. He was, throughout the 1980s, Vanuatu's only diplomat stationed permanently in New York City. Robert Van Lierop in "Notes from the General Secretariat" In his guise of "Beals Becker" of the general-secretariat of the United Nations, Kelvin R. Throop wrote a response to the representative of the Republic of Vanuatu, expressing surprise that such a country existed. He further lamented that he now owed someone named Serge twenty dollars, and that he would be eating peanut butter until payday. His valediction was "Disappointedly, Beals Becker". References