Nangy Ghafarshad
Fifty-two years ago, Nangy Ghafarshad first arrived in the United States. A graduate of the Afghanistan military academy and an officer in the Royal Afghan Air Force in 1960 he reported for additional training with the United States Air Force. A fully rated fighter pilot, he was sent to the Soviet Union in 1965 to train in MiG-21 advanced fighter aircraft and was a member of the Afghan Air Force flight aerobatics team. In 1968 he returned to the U.S. to attend a United States Air Force sponsored leadership program. At the completion of that program, struggling with strong feelings of dismay at how his government ruled his native land and not wishing to return to a place offering little opportunity, he chose to resign his commission in the Royal Afghan Air Force and stay in Southern California, ultimately becoming a U.S. citizen. While working as a corporate pilot (including flying Mrs. Rosalind Carter around California when Mr. Jimmy Carter ran for president) and as a flight instructor, in 1973 Nangy and his wife Fahima bought a small coffee shop in Claremont, California. Only 40 seats at the time, it has grown to a first-class restaurant that can seat 400 guests. Walter’s Restaurant is now widely known and one of the finest dining experiences in Southern California. Nangy and Fahima are active in the following charitable organizations and efforts: international orphan care, an Afghan children’s fund, Project Sister and House of Ruth. For a span of 13 months (2009/2010) Nangy served as a Senior Cultural Advisor in Afghanistan to the U.S. Department of Defense. It was an opportunity to go back to the country of his birth to do something positive. That experience, in part, is the reason for writing, "To Lift a Mirror... For What We've Lost."
