LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (03/26/06)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

'Wormwood' author responds to letter

Dear Editor:

I am gratified that Natalka Gawdiak perused "Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl" so carefully as to notice that there are three bars in Chornobyl, and no footnotes in my book. But the bars are for the zone workers, for whom I have enormous respect; and the footnotes were - as Ms. Gawdiak correctly points out - in the original manuscript. I deferred to my publisher's advice to leave them out.

Writing a popular science book is a delicate balancing act between satisfying the experts with accuracy, and not boring everyone else with too much information. "Wormwood Forest" is a personal narrative written for an audience with no technical background. Except for a few scientific reviewers and Ms. Gawdiak, no one has complained about the absence of notes.

It is amusing to be described as a "handmaiden" in some plot to make nuclear energy more palatable.

That I have reluctantly come to support nuclear energy, at least for the time being, makes me no more a handmaiden of that industry than Ms. Gawdiak's anti-nuclear position makes her a "handmaiden" of Gazprom, trying to keep Ukraine dependent on Russian fossil fuels (which it is, and for which she suggests no alternative). Even now, Ukraine is negotiating alternative nuclear fuel supplies from the U.S. instead of Russia. But fossil fuel alternatives will require much time, money and political will.

All forms of energy have costs - the war in Iraq, global warming, coal miners' deaths, Russian leverage in Ukrainian politics, disposing of spent nuclear fuel, or terrorism - much of which is funded by American dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Those are just a few. My native Long Island is debating the placement of windmills - an alternative energy source that everyone likes in theory - off the coast of Jones Beach. They would look like a fuzzy crosshatching on the horizon. But ruining the view is enough to generate opposition.

Ms. Gawdiak's complaint about "Wormwood Forest's" supposed neglect of the liquidator issue is particularly inapt. An entire library could be devoted to all aspects of the Chornobyl disaster. The 600,000 liquidators' stories could fill volumes. Ms. Gawdiak can write one of them if that subject interests her. My passion is the radioactive land's natural recovery, which continues to move me so much that I go back there again and again. I expressed that passion as best I could in "Wormwood Forest."

Mary Mycio
Kyiv

Mary Mycio is the author of "Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl." Readers may visit the "Wormwood Forest" homepage at www.chernobyl.in.ua.

A call to Ukrainian sports enthusiasts

Dear Editor:

I would like to address this letter to fellow Ukrainian sports enthusiats. My name is Marc Lapointe-Denysewych, and I am the founder and coach of the first all Ukrainian soccer team in Ottawa.

I am urging all Ukrainian sport clubs and soccer clubs to please contact me. I would like to have contact information for all the the sport clubs and soccer teams so that we can keep in close contact.

Through a strong link among our Ukrainian clubs all over the world, we can share creative ideas with each other regarding running a successful club, and for potential tournaments and events that we can have together.

This is a unique opportunity for many clubs to get in touch with each other that promises future events and tournaments.

Please contact me at [email protected] with your information or questions. Please have a look at our website: www.momentumdesign.ca/ukrainaroyals.

Marc Lapointe
Ottawa

"Good nationalism" and common sense

Dear Editor:

I noticed the ongoing debate about nationalism in letters to The Ukrainian Weekly (e.g. March 5). As a onetime avid reader of Dmytro Dontsov's works who later became acquainted with some of the real-life chapters and shades of the issues, I find the present exchange somewhat abstract and occasionally ivory-towered.

The practical significance of nationalism for today's Ukraine is minimal. Political groups embroidered with the word "nationalism" draw not more then about 1 percent of the vote, east and west, in Ukraine. Nationalism might be more popular if it could be used to make synthetic gas.

A substantial majority of people in Ukraine need to acquire a sense of national identity and speak the Ukrainian language - if they are to climb out of their political and socio-economic rut. I would hardly call such a goal nationalistic. It's just common sense.

"Good nationalism" exists throughout the world, and so does the toxic kind that qualifies as zoological chauvinism, jingoism, xenophobia, racism. Examples of the latter can be found in the least expected places. For instance, Winston Churchill's views about people of the Middle-East expressed in his memoirs, fall in that category.

Boris Danik
North Caldwell, N.J.

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