A few weeks ago, I was interviewed on the Nash Holos radio program by Paulette “Pawlina” Demchuk MacQuarrie. Based in Canada but broadcast internationally, Nash Holos is British Columbia’s longest-running Ukrainian radio show.
If you’d like to listen to my interview, it’s about 2/3 of the way into the program, the last feature before the end. Click on the link below.
Nash Holos Radio Program (Interview is 2/3 of the way in)
It is my favorite season, time to harvest and prepare for Winter. I always look forward to it, but this has been a particularly challenging Autumn.
I found out my grandmother’s brother in Ukraine died tragically in a fire today as he sat beside the stove for warmth. He survived the Holodomor, WWII, Siberia, and the Soviet Union. He was reunited with my grandmother when she returned to Ukraine in the 90s for her first visit since leaving in the 40s. They corresponded by letter and rare phone calls when he would go to a neighbor’s house to use the telephone. My grandmother sent photos of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. He was a widower, never had children, and lived alone.
I always hoped that I would meet him on a future visit to Ukraine. I worry about what this may do to my grandmother. I know that it’s a gift that she’s still here. Incredible that all of my grandparents are still alive, in their 80s and 9os. (knock on wood)
The elders are dying, and many of their stories will die with them. I hope that he had someone to talk to, someone to listen to him. It hurts my heart to think that he died in such a way. Alone.
Life is so fragile. So much dies in Autumn.
Last month I was interviewed by the lovely Paulette MacQuarrie for Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio. The interview and book giveaway of signed copies of The Silence of Trees, will air this weekend, Sunday, October 9, at 6pm PST on AM1320 CHMB Vancouver. The program also streams live at the CHMB website. The podcast is available at iTunes and audio archives on the Playlist page.