In the summer of 1997 (two years after the day the US stopped banning me), I stopped by New York and stayed at Mr. Viet's house. One afternoon, four of us, Vu Quang Viet and Ngo Thanh Nhan, New Yorkers, Ngo Vinh Long from Boston, and I from Paris, met and talked about organizing an annual Summer Seminar discussing Vietnam issues.

A year later, on August 15, 1998, the first Summer seminar was held at New York University (where Nhan studied) with the participation of two members of the Border Committee of the Vietnamese government.

Since then, nearly a quarter of a century has passed, the Summer seminar has taken place 21 times, including twice in Vietnam (2005 and 2008), at universities in North America, Western Europe and Central Europe. , Asia. If I remember correctly, Mr. Long was always present and gave speeches.

For hundreds of brothers and sisters who had the opportunity to participate in the summer seminars, in addition to the serious (and witty) nature of the presentation, the image that everyone remembers is the young, gentle smile and the sharp eyes of the teacher, Ngo Vinh Long, especially in the hallway talks or during the out-of-conference excursions.

One can discover the secret of "long life" of very serious summer seminars where participants must be at their own expense in all respects: indeed, one may learn a lot, but more than that, these seminars provide opportunity for us to be at home with friends from "the four seas" in a frank atmosphere, without compromise in arguments, but always friendly and respectful.