It is with great shock and sadness that I learned of the death of Merle Ratner, who was hit by a tow truck in New York City on the evening of Monday, February 5th, in the days leading up to the Lunar New Year (Tết) celebration.

Several articles about her death and life appeared in the Vietnamese media, including this one.

Merle was a faithful reader of this blog and would occasionally chime in with comments here or via email. I always looked forward to hearing from her. We never had the pleasure of meeting in person.

Here’s a July 2017 interview with Merle conducted by Douglas Pong, Sanjana Ramaswamy, Marissa Rivera, and Alanna Ross as part of The Vietnam War Oral History Project, New York Historical Society.

My heartfelt condolences to her husband Ngô Thanh Nhàn and her legion of friends and supporters in the US, Vietnam, and worldwide.

Shalom (שלום), MAA