At Christmastime, when I think of my late husband Charles I often think about the painting, The Madonna of the Chair, c. 1514, by Italian renaissance artist Raphael (1483-1520). One of the most famous Madonna paintings, this work depicts Mary embracing the child Christ, while the young John the Baptist looks on. A reproduction of the painting and ornate …
This year is the seventh Christmas I will celebrate the gift of the publication of Charles’ book, Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance. I am grateful to Charles for leaving us the legacy of the story of his life spent before, during and after wartime and so very thankful for its many readers! …
Next week (September 23-29, 2018) is “Banned Books Week,” an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International. The campaign celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals. Charles grew up in the 20th century’s World War II Nazi and Communist occupied …
In 1938, ten year old Charles was fascinated by this monumental tree on the edge of his town’s renaissance castle garden. Locals in Náměšť nad Oslavou, Charles’ home during World War II era Czechoslovakia, claimed the Pedunculate oak was nearly a thousand years old. Today the tree, aka Žižka’s Oak, stands about 79 feet high …
I promised Charles we’d get the memoir he’d written published. But he died leaving the unpublished manuscript and a grieving wife. I feared I’d never fulfill my promise. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t focus. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get my grief and concentration to mix. My heart was broken and I …
In June of 1945, seventeen year old Charles completed his second year of mechanical engineering study in Brno, Czechoslovakia. He was making up for time lost during the war years, 1944-1945. His Uncle Josef Robotka asked Charles to live with his nephew Jiři. Jiri needed a math tutor and someone like Charles to influence him to study regularly. By November Charles was feeling homesick …
