Precerpt from In with the East Wind: A Mary Poppins Kind of Life - Czechoslovakia: Jan and the Literati
Jan and the Literati
“Ahoy!” The voice on the telephone was Jan. It was 2:00 in
the morning. He would meet me in the hotel lobby in 15 minutes he told me.
What? The middle of the night? Why?
Because he wanted to introduce me to the literati of Prague—and
they came out in the middle of the night. (In that case, I don’t think I would
ever feel compelled to become a member of the literati though reading and
writing is in my blood, but of a different nature, one that lets me sleep
through the night.
Well, there was nothing to be done about it. He hung up the
phone before I could beg off and was now on the way. So, I pulled on some
clothes that I hoped would be suitable and made my way to the lobby, which was
pretty easy at that hour. No competition for the elevator.
As soon as I reached the lobby, I saw him. Standing across
from the elevator, waving at me. And so, off we went to an evening of wine and,
of course, beer, mostly Pilsner, being that we were in Czechoslovakia, home to
some of the best beer in the world, finger foods, and cigarettes (yeah, it was
that era). Jan was an author; his wife was an artist. They were clearly quite
at home in this world of talented folks. ‘
Jan introduced me to one after another—author, photographer,
artist. I did not know any of them when I started, and there being so many of
them, I did not know any of them when I left, but I did acquire bring back some
of their works, which is a great way to keep my Czech alive.
The night soiree was a great way to improve on my Czech.
These were highly articulate folk, and their talk centered on the issues of the
day: social, political, and artsy. I definitely surprised my Czech tutor when I
came back with the significant jump in my ability to hold forth on topics of
substance.
The night soiree also
ranked right up there with the best of reasons to miss a night’s sleep. Dzekuji,
Jan!
Volume 1: ABC Lands
by Dr. Betty Lou Leaver
For more posts about and from this book, click HERE.
For more posts by and about Betty Lou Leaver, click HERE.
has gained mass recognition for releasing highly acclaimed books of varying genres
that are distributed internationally. Check us out on Wikitia.
To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount,
use code FF25 at MSI Press webstore;
for free shipping, use code ship4free.
(Codes cannot be used together; they are meant to provide a choice of discount.)
Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to pay for it?
(1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it.
(2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES AND TO FOLLOW US ON OUR VARIOUS PLATFORMS.
CONTACT INFO@MSIPRESS.COM TO SBUMIT A BOOK PROPOSAL/MAMUSCRIPT OR TO CONTACT ONE OF OUR AUTHORS.
Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter: get inside information before others see it and access to additional book content(recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, links to precerpts/excerpts, author advice, and more)Check out recent issues.
MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Comments
Post a Comment