LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (09/07/03)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Giving credit where it's due

Dear Editor:

When I read the occasional letter blasting Myron Kuropas for one or another of his supposed sins, I find it hard to suppress my own derision, not for him but rather for those whiners who, insofar as I know, have made no significant contribution themselves in defense of Ukrainian interests. We have more than a few of similar ilk up here in Canada - those who know how to bitch but never pitch.

Dr. Kuropas, in contrast to his critics, just labors away, week after week, in defense of the Ukrainian cause, calling the shots as he sees them, taking a stand, then taking his licks as need be. I'd say he is a perfect example of "Be a Luciuk!" but that would probably only embarrass both of us, and, having had the privilege of meeting his father, I'd say a better slogan would be "Be a Kuropas!" - which I am also sure would be more to his liking.

Having now praised and thanked Dr. Kuropas I will, however, register one quibble with him in public over his commentary on what I have tried to do, and that refers to the subtitle, "giving credit where credit is due." I do what I can, but, always, always, I have peered "over my shoulder" at the people whom I was honored to meet, and who inspired me to commit myself to the chores I've taken on. There were a lot of them, men like the Rev. Jules C.E. Riotte, Bohdan Panchuk, Stanley Frolick, Andrij Bandera and, more recently, John B. Gregorovich, and all of my colleagues in that loose coalition of sometimes cantankerous yet always cutting edge activists who have gathered together under the banner of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

And then there are those, in Canada, in the United States and as far away as Australia, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, who do what they can to succour us. Collectively we act because some one has to. Sometimes we, and mostly I, make mistakes when we move forward instead of waiting to see which way the winds will blow. But we have learned that it is better to act than to always just react, more effective to plan and proceed than to just temporize and talk, more useful to boast less about whom one represents and do more to ensure that our people indeed have advocates and defenders and doers in all those arenas that we have to enter, like it or not, as long as we wish to remain members of an organized community.

So, thanks for the kudos, Myron, and thanks to The Ukrainian Weekly for continuing to be the best Ukrainian English-language newspaper on the continent, but, even more importantly, thanks to all those who have supported the UCCLA and its work. Without them we, and I, would long have since been swept away, as those ranged against us have always been and still remain more powerful than we can ever hope to be. Still, we have truth on our side, and that is probably why we keep winning. That and because we follow Panchuk's simple gospel - "Do Something!" We have and we will.

Lubomyr Luciuk, Ph.D.
Kingston, Ontario

The letter writer is director of research for the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Yes, there are alternatives for kids

Dear Editor:

In response to the question posed by Khristina Lew in her column titled "Double Exposure" - Are there alternatives to these organizations? A place where children of Ukrainian descent can get together and not have language be an issue? - I say the answer is yes.

One of the best places for children to get together is the Ukrainian National Association's resort, Soyuzivka. For over 30 years there have been camps and programs for children where speaking Ukrainian is not required. This facility offers children age 4 to 17 many choices. There is Tennis Camp, Children's Camp, Sports Camp, Chemney Camp, Scuba Camp and Dance Camp. None of these camps require the children to speak Ukrainian, yet all of them do encourage the Ukrainian language to be used. Each of these camps offers everyone the opportunity to meet children of Ukrainian descent, and to build and foster relationships that can span a lifetime.

It is very commendable that there are many families where Ukrainian is spoken at home, families whose children growing up in America are fluent in Ukrainian. However, I believe we should not look only at how well our children speak Ukrainian but how proud they are to be Ukrainian.

We as a community should and must do everything we can to raise our children to be proud Ukrainians who know their heritage and will speak up every time there is a slur against Ukraine, who are familiar with the history of Ukraine, the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933, who know why Walter Duranty's Pulitzer Prize must be revoked and will use this knowledge to educate others about Ukraine in any language.

Bohdanka Puzyk
Darien, Conn.

Thank you, Lubomyr Luciuk

Dear Editor:

Dr. Myron Kuropas's "Honoring Lubomyr Luciuk: giving credit where credit is due" (August 3) is particularly well taken. We usually wait until people are dead before we realize their value and only then begin to honor them and their work. Dr. Luciuk is everything that Dr. Kuropas describes him as being: smart, intrepid, tireless and effective.

May God bless him and keep him for many, many more years. And on behalf of myself as a member of the southern half of the North American Ukrainian community, thank you, Dr. Luciuk.

Bohdan Vitvitsky
Summit, N.J.

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and commentaries on a variety of topics of concern to the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities. Opinions expressed by columnists, commentators and letter-writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, the Ukrainian National Association.

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