This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.

I'm David Remnick, and this is the New Yorker Radio Hour.

Today, we've got an unusual sort of holiday story to share with you.

It starts back in 1979.

On the 22nd of December, which was a Saturday,

your mother and I had been out grocery shopping,

so when we returned, we found the telegram.

I read the telegram aloud to her, and it said something like

the Revolutionary Council of Iran is pleased to invite you to conduct Christmas services

with the Americans in the U.S. Embassy.

That's the Reverend M. William Howard Jr.

He received that telegram as the Iran hostage crisis was unfolding.

Howard was a prominent minister, the president of the National Council of Churches.

He also happens to be the father of our senior producer, Adam Howard.

So when this came across your mail and you're reading it with mom,

I mean, did you even hesitate for a minute,

or did she raise any concerns or reservations about you going?

Well, as you know, I've done some pretty daring things in my younger days.

One of the things she often said when I was given invitations to go to various places,

like Syria or Guatemala, she would look at me and say,

is this what you think you need to do?

During the hostage crisis,

...