Remembrance of things past…

Breakfast at Cafe Grande in Torun, Poland, March 2017: double espresso and my favorite pastry, sour cherry cake…

Mi-ai îndreptat şuviţa de pe frunte…

Un superb poem de Leonid Dimov (1926-1987): Rondelul semnului ceresc

Mi-ai îndreptat şuviţa de pe frunte
Şi gulerul cămăşii, auster,
Eram elev intr-un liceu de frunte…
Iar tu croitoreasă în cartier.

Venisem să te duc la noi, la munte,
Unde domnea un împărat de fier
Mi-ai îndreptat şuviţa de pe frunte
Şi gulerul cămăşii, auster.

Ţi-am spus să-ţi pui ilicul prins în funte
Pantofii galbeni, mantia de jder…
Când am trecut apoi de burg, de punte,
Iar eu semnul l-am văzut pe cer,
Mi-ai îndreptat şuviţa de pe frunte.

Imagine: Leonid Dimov cu Dumitru Ţepeneag

Despre prietenie

Atunci când prietenia se intemeiază pe adevăr, bună-credință şi valori comune, ea este de neclintit.

Imagini: Cu Monica Got si Dominic Negrici la Washington; Cu Miorița Got si Marius Stan la Bucuresti.

 

Father and son…

Our dear friend Ilya Prizel used to call Adam Tismaneanu “my favorite little blond”. And Noemi Marin, our close friend, called him the sunny boy…

 

Twilight…

Polish poster by Waldemar Świerzy (1931 –2013) for one of my favorite movies, “Sunset Boulevard” with Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, and William Holden, directed an co-written by Billy Wilder…

We call him the Dutchman…

Good morning and greetings from Washington, DC! We call him the Dutchman, my mother gave him as a birthday gift to Adam Tismaneanu in 1996 when he turned one. He’s wearing the wonderful beads Adam bought for me in Thessaloniki almost four years ago. In the background, books by my late friend, the great sociologist Irving Louis Horowitz. My best wishes for those born on this day…

Farewell to a Dear Friend…

We got married in Miami, Mary and I, in November 1991. It was during the AAASS (American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies) Convention, we eloped, we were young, and we were joyful. Bill McPherson was there and at the dinner (just the three of us) he offered a most exquisite champagne. We considered him our wedding witness. He was a real gentleman, a great friend, a passionately perceptive writer, and a most generous human being. When Adam turned one, Bill gave him one of those books meant to last forever in our hearts: “Good Night, Gorilla!” His “Granta” article “What Went Wrong” about the June 1990 mineriada was not only superbly written, but also impressively documented. He went to the Jiu Valley to interview Miron Cozma. The trip resulted in a terrible food poisoning, most likely an atempt at his life. Bill was beaten by Iliescu’s miners and reported on the tenebrous nature of the National Salvation Front regime. He understood Romania better than most Romanians. And he loved her enduringly, discreetly, selflessly. Blessed be his memory…

Photos by William McPherson, Washington, DC, 1993