Dreams are the touchstones of our character

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This week is my father’s birthday. (Mnohaya Lita, Tato.)

When I was a child, my father was a policeman who decided to run for alderman to make a change in our neighborhood. He lost that election but later ran for Illinois Senate, and against the odds, he won. Family and friends spent hours going door to door, handing out fliers, working on a truly grassroots campaign. My father never had an easy election.  Each one was challenging and nerve-wracking, but again and again my father rallied people around him with his vision, integrity, and enthusiasm.

Coffee with my father, Walter. Winter 2010. (Photo by 8 Eyes Photography)

From my father, I learned that hard work can make amazing things happen, that it’s possible to honor where you come from while reaching for what people may deem impossible. The son of immigrants traveled around the world and met with world leaders. His adventures sparked in me an intense determination and a fierce optimism.

He’s retired from the Senate, but my father keeps dreaming big. In recent years he has talked about wanting to create a statue of a Ukrainian Kozak:

“During my travels to Ukraine over the years, I was never able to find a statue that depicted the true essence of what I perceived a true Ukrainian Kozak should look like. I would usually come across a caricature or a humorous depiction of either an intoxicated or overweight cossack that would ridicule instead of give an accurate portrayal of my proud heritage.

So, I collaborated with my son-in-law, Michael DiBartolo, who is a professional toy designer and came up with a line of realistic Kozak  statues that are truly worthy of status as Ukrainian Kozak warriors. Kozak Designs was created and we have just released our first statue titled ‘Taras.'” (Walter W. Dudycz)

Once again, my father saw an idea through from inspiration to creation. You can read more about the Kozak statue here. My father and brother-in-law plan to make several different statues, and they are also looking into creating bronze versions. The signed prototype was auctioned off last weekend at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art for $450.00. Interested parties can check out the ebay listing for Kozak Designs.

Taras Statue by Kozak Designs (Photo by 8 Eyes Photography)

Speaking of dreams, back to edits on the second book…

He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare

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I haven’t posted photos of our dear cats in a while, and little Sesame is no longer quite so little. When Ellen of 8 Eyes Photography took these over the weekend, I had to share:


Here’s Tiger. Very happy. (Photo by 8 Eyes Photography)


Sesame planning her next move. (Photo by 8 Eyes Photography)

You now have learned enough to see
That Cats are much like you and me
And other people whom we find
Possessed of various types of mind.

The Ad-dressing of Cats, T.S. Eliot

Magic and the Literary Continuum

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When I was in grammar school, I discovered science fiction and fantasy. It was a natural obsession for me, since I loved all things fanciful and magical as a child. I used to save up earnings from babysitting and summer jobs to buy paperbacks from the used bookstore at the end of the block on the street where I grew up.

I already loved Bradbury and Tolkien and read everything I could find by Zelazny and Arthur C. Clarke, but the used book store was where I bought my own copies of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and where I discovered Douglas Adams, Heinlein, Le Guin, de Lint, and so many others. I would then carry their paperbacks everywhere, immersed in their worlds.

I devoured Charles de Lint’s Yarrow in junior high, during a time when real life was lonely and seemed hard to bear. Cat, the heroine of Yarrow, enters the Otherworld through her dreams. The story resonated with me on so many levels, and the writing swept me up and inspired me. After that, I read everything by Charles de Lint that I could get my hands on, and I felt at home in so many of his books.

This week, Charles de Lint reviewed my novel, The Silence of Trees, for the March/April issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The review begins:

“Before starting this book, I wasn’t familiar with either Valya Dudycz Lupescu or Chicago’s Wolfsword Press. But I’m happy to have that corrected, because I want to read more of Lupescu’s work…” You can read the rest here.

I thought back to my twelve-year-old self sitting on a swing in the backyard of our Chicago bungalow, reading Yarrow and dwelling so completely in Cat’s dreamworld. Reading Charles de Lint’s review is one of those moments I’ll treasure, like handing Neil Gaiman (whose storytelling I have loved since college) a copy of The Silence of Trees. There’s something so wonderful about being able to share one’s published work with a literary hero. After having lived in their stories, I get to invite them into mine.

In her “Gaga Palmer Madonna” song, Amanda Palmer sings that she’s part of the “music continuum.” I like that image. We are connected to those who came before us and to those who will come after. We are shaped by the books we read, and whether our parts are small or large, when we share our stories with the world, we become a part of a “literary continuum.”

As I write those words, I have this almost comic book image in my head of beloved authors standing behind me and the fuzzy silhouettes of those not yet published in front of me.

🙂

Do you see yourself as a part of some continuum: literary, musical, artistic, philosophical, mechanical, etc?