LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Continue to carry Kuropas column

Dear Editor:

Regarding the recent assault on Dr. Myron Kuropas which appeared in The Weekly of May 21, I am taking the liberty of writing this letter. I regularly enjoy reading his columns and find them not only very interesting, but also knowledgeable.

Dr. Kuropas has the courage to discuss controversial problems, stirring "the murky waters" that are carefully avoided in open discussions by others. He always signs his name to his articles. It is refreshing to read his "Faces and Places" column, in which he tries to educate the American public to be more Ukrainian-friendly without pushing politically correct social agendas.

Therefore, I strongly urge you to continue to carry Dr. Kuropas' column, which is a popular feature in The Ukrainian Weekly.

Dr. Theodore Mackiw
Heidelberg, Germany

P.S.: Enclosed I am sending a check for $50 for The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund.

Four new books we should promote

Dear Editor:

We Ukrainian-Americans have to be very proud that within the last year we witnessed the publication of four books dealing with Ukraine. These four books all are written in English and published here in the United States.

Their titles are:

• "Scythian Gold: Treasures from Ancient Ukraine" (hard cover, published November 1999, price $60).
  The title is self-explanatory.
  
  
• "Return to Ukraine" by Ania Savage (hard cover, published March 2000, price $29.95). This book shows what the Soviet Communists did to our ancestral home and its people.
  
  
• "Borderland: A Journey through the History of Ukraine" by Anna Reid (hard cover, published June 1999, price $25; soft cover, published June 2000, price $16. A non-Ukrainian author tells readers what Ukraine lived through.
  
  
• "The Sky Unwashed" by Irene Zabytko (hard cover, published April 2000, price: $22:95). The author writes about what the Chornobyl disaster did to the environment and the population.

All of these books were very positively reviewed on the pages of The Ukrainian Weekly. Therefore, I support Olena Welhasch's idea (July 9) that we should try to make a best seller out of "The Sky Unwashed," and, I would like to include the above titles in that attempt.

Go to your Barnes and Nobles, Crown, Borders and other book stores and order them for yourselves. (Use the Internet if you have to order. The prices are more reasonable and delivery is within two, three days.) Go to your local public and school libraries and request that they obtain all of the above books.

By the way, next month you can expect another book: "Thousands of Roads: A Memoir of a Young Woman's Life in the Ukrainian Underground during and after World War II" by Maria Savchyn Pyskir and Ms. Savage (translator of this book and also the author of the aforementioned "Return To Ukraine").

Wow, that makes five titles in less than one year! Remember, book gift giving is still popular. These books are all unusually very well written. These titles are also appropriate for our teenage children and grandchildren. And, again, they are all in English. Why not buy them for various gift-giving occasions for all the members of our families? Are we going to see at least three of these titles make it to the best-seller list before Christmas?

Slavko Pihut
Crystal Lake, Ill.

Batkivschyna and Ukrainian luck

Dear Editor:

I had to laugh while reading Olena Stercho's account in The Ukrainian Weekly "Sailing Away On The Batkivschyna..." (July 16). She refers to the yacht crossing the Atlantic Ocean, weathering several storms without much conventional communications and navitational equipment and with no charts. And still they arrived.

It reminded me of a recent experience when l discovered a large, brown paper bundle sitting in my mailbox. I recognized the return address as one belonging to one of my relatives living in Odesa, Ukraine. The package, roughly 14 inches in diameter and about 26 inches long, with several Ukrainian and French custom-ensignias stamped around it, had no strings tied around it, no tape, no staples, miraculously, no tears or holes, yet, was kept intact by some well-engineered folds at each end. I unfolded and unrolled the brown paper, and, lo and behold, from a large, squished plastic bag, I pulled out three hand-embroidered blouses, two sun-hats and a beautiful crocheted dress. No letter, no paperwork.

Only after a phone call from my relatives did I actually know that nothing was missing from this surprise gift package they had mailed from Odesa a month earlier. Two weeks later, I found the package's Content Form in my flowerbed, 20 feet away from my mailbox. I laughed again when I realized that I had received everything as was detailed on the form in my relative's handwriting.

The Batkivschyna arriving to the U.S. shores and my Ukrainian surprise package finding its way to my house can only be attributed to blessed Ukrainian luck!

Nancy Melnyk
Rochester, N.Y.

Fedynsky column should be shorter

Dear Editor:

Will Andrew Fedynsky ever be able to discipline himself enough to fit his "Perspectives" viewpoint column onto one page? His articles, though far less controversial and stimulating than those of Dr. Myron Kuropas, are nevertheless oftentimes worth photocopying and distributing to "others" [as Taras Shevchenko recommended] for discussion, comment or consideration. It is very annoying to photocopy his, at times rambling, split column - especially when some of his comments are worth disseminating.

Jaroslaw Sawka
Sterling Heights, Mich.

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typed (double-spaced) and signed; they must be originals, not photocopies.

The daytime phone number and address of the letter-writer must be given for verification purposes.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 30, 2000, No. 31, Vol. LXVIII

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