World War II Silk Escape Maps – Ingenious and Colorful
While doing research for BORDER CROSSINGS: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance, I read that during World War II, the United States and Great Britain manufactured silk and cloth maps. The maps were issued to RAF paratroopers, Special Forces, and members of the Nazi resistance in case they were shot down or trapped behind enemy lines …
Hoffer Celebrated, Novacek Remembered
Today is the birthday of Eric Hoffer (1898 – 1983), working-class philosopher, migratory worker, and longshoreman. He became a social writer, grounded in the practical experience of the common worker, and was the author of ten books. Hoffer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer (1951), was widely recognized as a …
Picnic in Czechoslovakia
Self-confined to my air-conditioned condo in the city this morning, I look at old photographs and write, determined to escape the heat. One photograph set in the Tatra Mountains of Czechoslovakia in 1931, soothes me. It captures a happy moment of my late husband Charles Novacek and his family picnicking in a scenic place, surrounded by their friends …
Ten21 Press and Border Crossings at Bohemian Book Fair
Interested in hot books by cool publishers? Check out the BOHEMIAN BOOK FAIR on Friday, June 3 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 4, from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at Czech Center New York, in the Bohemian National Hall, 321 E 73rd Street, (Between 1st and 2nd Aves). Readings by seven authors will start …
Miss Czech–Slovak US Endorses Memoir on Czech Resistance
I am proud to announce the recent endorsement of Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance by Meagan Kurmel, Miss Czech–Slovak US 2015-2016. On Charles Novacek’s memoir, Ms. Kurmel’s endorsement states: “From beginning to end, I was enthralled with Charles Novacek’s journey. In a country torn by war, his youth vanished quickly as …
