William Penn Life, 2014 (49. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2014-08-01 / 8. szám
Their book is now a text at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, alongside former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's memoirs. Then, there was former Hungarian Ambassador to the United States András Simonyi. After he completed his five-year tenure as ambassador and became the rock star of diplomacy with his guitar playing on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, he wrote his memoirs in Hungarian, relating stories of American celebrities he befriended. The book, entitled "Full Throttle Ahead to the Summits," became a best seller in Hungary. In other words, we can learn from recorded memories as well as enjoy a writer's reflections on a culture, a country, customs and people. A Washington Post reporter once told me: "If it's not in writing, it never happened." After losing both my parents, I know now how fleeting spoken memories are if not written, recorded or taped. 5. Stories that bind us together as Hungarians are especially precious. Tibor Check, author of ’his magazine's monthly Tibor's Take, has repeatedly attested to this, and it is especially true now that Hungarian cultural centers in the United States are closing and Hungarian churches are merging. Some time ago, Story Corps, the national project to record personal stories of the common man here in the United States, sent a team to the Kossuth House in Washington, D.C. Their assignment was to record the stories of illustrious Hungarians living in America, '56 Freedom Fighters and many displaced persons who came to the U.S. after World War II. That those stories are now forever part of the American Folklore Center of the Smithsonian Institution made such an impression on my husband that, last summer, when Hungary was the featured country for the Folklife Festival on the National Mall, my husband was one of the first to volunteer to be a translator for the event. He was one of many who helped guide more than a million visitors who toured the exhibition of Hungarian craftsmen, musicians, dancers, builders and artisans. Documentary videos of the festival produced by the Hungarian embassy also Tree Illustration © Can Stock Photo Inc./Kudryashka helped make my husband realize that those fleeting moments of Hungarian pride in front of such a vast American audience cannot ever be reconstructed on such a grand scale. So, this year, along with his little tape recorder and notebook, he armed himself with 13 of his favorite Story Corps questions, taken from the book, "Ties That Bind: Stories of Love and Gratitude from the First Ten Years of Story Corps," by Story Corps founder Dave Isay. I know my husband will return from his visit with a filled notebook and taped interviews, and that I will have to translate the responses into English if I want to read and enjoy them as well. But, it will be a labor of love because, at last, we will have a written record of responses from Hungarian friends and relatives taken during the summer of 2014 that he will treasure even more in coming years. So, for those WPA members about to embark on their own Hungarian trip in September and who may encounter a relative or friend there, for the occasional visitor to Bethlen Communities who wants to link with an aging Hungarian, and for young persons like Tibor Check who I hope will record their own parents' responses before any more time passes, may I share these poignant questions from Story Corps. I do so with the hope that you, too, will cherish the recorded responses and treasure even more the speaker who shares his life with you. And, just maybe you might want to share some of your experiences and your fellow Hungarians' responses with other WPA readers to help connect us to our heritage, our past and the people who have defined our bonds with WPA. Favorite Story Corps Questions • What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest? • Who was the most important person in your life? Can you tell me about him or her? • Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you? • Who has been the kindest to you in your life? • What are the most important lessons you've learned in life? • What are you proudest of in your life? • Are there any words of wisdom you'd like to pass along to me? • How has your life been different than what you'd imagined? • How would you like to be remembered? • Do you have any regrets? • What does your future hold? • Is there anything that you've never told me but want to tell me now? • Is there something about me that you've always wanted to know but have never asked? □ William Penn Life 0 August 2014 0 15
