Jay Taylor (author)
Jay Taylor is a retired U.S. foreign service agent, academic, documentarian, and writer. He is best known for writing "The Generalissimo," a biography of Chiang Kai-Shek which won the Lionel Gelber Prize for the best English non-fiction book on Foreign Policy in 2010. Professional career. After serving as an Aviation Cadet in the U.S. Navy, Taylor served in the Foreign Service for 37 years. His career included appointments as leading the White House National Security Counsel for East Asia, Director of Analysis for Asian & Pacific Affairs, Officer-in-Charge of Chinese Political Affairs. During his  time as Ambassador to Cuba, Taylor and his family experienced sound and pressure sensations that left them with concussion-like symptoms, foreshadowing later symptoms from American diplomats. Besides his work in the U.S. Foreign Service, has worked as a teacher at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, D.C. and Taichung, Taiwan, as Diplomat-in-Residence at the Carter Presidential Center, and as a Research Associate at Harvard's Fairbanks Center for Chinese Studies. Writings. Jay Taylor has written op-eds in the "LA Times", "The Washington Post," and "The New York Times." The most common topic in his columns was  criticism of U.S overreach in the Middle East. Taylor's biography of Chiang Kai-Shek is the only book to include information from Chiang's diaries, and it portrayed the general and founder of Taiwan in more positive terms than were previously fashionable. Though he lost control of the mainland and occasionally violated human rights, Chiang was able to counter the Japanese invasion and laid the foundation for democracy in Taiwan. For this book, Taylor was awarded the Lionel Gelber Prize for the best English non-fiction book on Foreign Policy in 2010. His books include: References. Jay Taylor (author