The book pictured above arrived at my home in Detroit around Christmastime this year. Below is the story behind its being sent to me. Wartime adversely affected my late husband Charles’ dream of going to art school and becoming an artist when Adolf Hitler closed all art schools in Czechoslovakia during World War II. …
Today is the birthday of Eric Hoffer (1898 – 1983), working-class philosopher, migratory worker, and longshoreman. He became a social writer, grounded in the practical experience of the common worker, and was the author of ten books. Hoffer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer (1951), was widely recognized as a …
I am proud to announce the recent endorsement of Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance by Meagan Kurmel, Miss Czech–Slovak US 2015-2016. On Charles Novacek’s memoir, Ms. Kurmel’s endorsement states: “From beginning to end, I was enthralled with Charles Novacek’s journey. In a country torn by war, his youth vanished quickly as …
I walked from my hotel in Prague to the “Memorial to the Victims of Communism.” The haunting monument was created in 2002 by sculptor Olbram Zoubek and architects Jan Kerel and Zdeněk Hölzel to commemorate the victims of the communist era between 1948 and 1989. …
“Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity.” — Hippocrates For me, reading obituaries and death notices is a habit I’ve had my whole adult life. It helps me keep track of history – mine and others. It’s also a source of interesting stories about people, information of celebrities …
People often ask how I met my late husband Charles. I say it was serendipity. Being in the right place at the right time. There was a certain magic about it all. Something supernatural or as Shakespeare wrote: “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to …
