November 11 is the birthday of American writer Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007). Like Charles, Vonnegut experienced horrors during World War II. They both suffered from PTSD and depression and used humor to tackle the basic questions of life. Vonnegut served in the U.S. Army and with the 106th Infantry division during the Battle of the Bulge …
I recently received a message from a reader of Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance. He commented “Kissing the ground of his Southfield backyard really stayed with me.” This is in reference to Charles’s statement in the book, “when we returned home, I kissed the ground in my Southfield backyard.” Charles was …
Tonight, as I drove past the Detroit Institute of Arts, I remembered Yoko Ono’s Freight Train installed on a short stretch of railroad track on the museum’s front lawn in 2003. It was a 1930s German boxcar riddled with bullet holes signifying violence and murder. I remembered how light flickered mysteriously through the bullet holes …
I recall the sense of enchantment I felt one spring over 20 years ago when Charles and I drove into Náměšť nad Oslavou, the picturesque town where he lived in Czechoslovakia during World War II. The castle, the bridge, the red rooftops, and the white storks with their gangly legs and orange beaks were perched in …
August’s changing astrological season from Leo* to Virgo** calls up images of fearless lions, harvest goddesses and a combination of the two – the mythical sphinx. The sphinx was an ancient Egyptian invention with a lion’s body and male head – human or animal. They usually sported a headdress as worn by Pharaohs. Powerful symbols, the …
The scene in this contemporary nocturne photograph is the train station in the town of Náměšť nad Oslavou where Charles and his family lived in Czechoslovakia during World War II. Charles loved these night scenes as he also loved the “dreamy pensive mood” of nocturne paintings (and I do, too). On our frequent visits to …
