K. Riva Levinson's Memoir Reveals Decades of Washington Lobbying and Adventure

At the age of twenty-four, K. Riva Levinson joined Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly (BMS&K), Washington’s most influential lobbying firm, in 1985, at the onset of Ronald Reagan’s second term. This marked the beginning of a decade of extraordinary experiences that would shape her career and personal life. Levinson’s new memoir, *Misadventures on K Street*, offers a raw and personal account of her time at BMS&K, where she worked alongside legendary lobbyists Charles Black, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Peter Kelly.

Levinson’s journey at BMS&K was not just about navigating the corridors of American political power. It was a series of adventures that took her to global flashpoints, where she encountered larger-than-life personalities and faced mortal danger. Her memoir details her work with Jonas Savimbi, the founder of Angola’s opposition party UNITA, and Abdul Ghani Lone, who spent his life fighting for Kashmir’s independence. Both men were assassinated during their respective struggles.

Levinson’s memoir is more than just a political account; it is a deeply personal story. She recounts her unstable childhood, her close bond with her Holocaust survivor grandmother, and her experiences in a male-dominated world where sexual harassment was a common part of the landscape. Despite the challenges, she fell in love, married, and became a mother, all while her loyalty to BMS&K remained unwavering. In the end, she reluctantly moved on, and in hindsight, she came to realize that the selfishness of others saved her from herself.

The book is illustrated with original, archival materials that bring to life the ethical compromises, covert operations, and political theater that fundamentally reshaped United States foreign policy. It also serves as a poignant reminder of the human fallout of high-stakes geopolitics, as Levinson’s friends and colleagues whose stories and lives were cut short by these very policies are brought back to life.

K. Riva Levinson, author of *Misadventures on K Street*, is a globally recognized political strategist and international field operative. For more than four decades, she has navigated the corridors of power, from BMS&K in the mid-1980s, where the blueprint for modern political chaos was born, to the founding of her own consultancy, KRL International. Levinson holds degrees from Tufts and Georgetown Universities and an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Ghana. Her first book, *Choosing the Hero*, chronicles her work advising Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first democratically elected female president, and guiding her through exile, war, historic elections, and the rebuilding of a nation. *Misadventures on K Street* serves as its prequel.

*Misadventures on K Street* is set to be published on February 16, 2027, by Heresy Press. The hardcover edition will cost $32.99, while the Kindle edition will be available for $16.99. The ISBN for the book is 9781683585640.