Diapers on a Dateline

Pegge Mackiernan was a young widow working as a vice consul in 1951 when she met John Hlavacek, United Press Bureau Chief for India and Pakistan. John was upset to learn that Pegge's twin toddlers were living in the US while Pegge worked in Pakistan. "Either get those two kids out here or go home to them. There is no good reason to leave two-year-olds with grandparents thousands of miles away. They're all you've got, don't lose them, Pegge!" Angry yet touched, Pegge grew to love John during the months that followed. They married in 1952, and twins Mike and Mary joined them in Bombay. Over the next five years, the family added three more children another girl and two more boys. The Hlavaceks lived in Bombay and New Delhi with a devoted household staff including Tai Bhai, the nanny; Pana, the bearer; and Danji, the driver. Pegge wrote Diapers on a Dateline in 1960, but the manuscript remained in storage until John rediscovered it in 2000. He decided to publish the book for family and friends, as well as anyone interested in the life of an American newspaper family in India during the 1950s.