M.G. Crisci's Blog

Lily Litvyak (1921 to 1943) has a reunion (of sorts) with the fathers of flight at the Kitty Hawk Memorial in North Carolina.

Lilia Litvyak, the heroine of my book, Call Sign, White Lily, became fascinated with the idea of flying at the age of 12. A rather bold thought for a young Russian girl living in a male dominated society during the 1930’s. But, for those of you that have read the book, you know that Lilia was no ordinary young lady. In fact, as a schoolgirl, her favorite book was the story of flight featuring the biographies of her heroes’ Orville and Wilbur Wright.

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Lily’s book of flight in Russian that sits in the tiny Lilia Litvyak Museum in Krasny Luch, Ukraine

Recently, retired Navy pilot Peter Hartsock visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, N.C., where the brothers built their planes in a small wooden building and took to air at a modest nearby airstrip. He also brought with him a first edition copy of Call Sign, White Lily which he presented to the Memorial Curator.

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Pete, Lilia and Kitty Hawk curator Maureen

While Pete was there, he also discovered a few interesting facts. The sewing machine the Wright Brothers used to make their canvas wing covers in 1903 was the same machine that Lila used to make clothes with her mom during the 1930’s. It was a Singer.

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(r to l) Orville’s sewing machine and canvas wing at Kitty Hawk;

Lilia’s sewing machine at the Litvyak Museum in Krasny Luch.

The visit created what I would term comparativeness sadness. The Wright Brothers’ achievements were memorialized appropriately, since they had accomplished something that had never been done before..At the end of what was once a modest airstrip sits a 50 foot high granite monument pointing skyward.

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The Wright Brothers monument at Kitty Hawk

In ironic contrast, some 40 kilometres outside of Krasny Luch, down a poorly paved road, in the middle of a barren, open field, lays the simple gravestone of the greatest female pilot in the history of the world.

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Lilia Litvyak’s modest gravesite near the village of Marinovka, population 827

The moral of the story? Do something that’s never been done before to become a part of history, but don’t let your accomplishments get lost in time for 66 years.

Exciting news! As some of you may know, we just launched my first newsletter. If you did not receive one and would like to sign up, head over to http://www.mgcrisci.com/ and enter your email address in the top right corner. Enjoy!

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Speaking before the United Nations Book Club about my efforts to do something that has never been done before by an American Author was a pretty cool experience. Naturally, since Call Sign, White Lily is about an amazing Russian female fighter pilot lost in time for 60 years, I thought the UN invitation would attract mostly Russians readers. To my surprise, there was also nice showing of interested Chinese, East Europeans and Americans. I was also pleasantly surprised that the Voice of America decided to interview me for a newspaper story and a radio interview.

The Initial Presentation…

First I spoke to a delegation of Russians, Chinese, Americans and East Europeans at the United Nations book club about how and why I wrote Call Sign, White Lily. I’ve now done my presentation at numerous locations from the Russian Cultural Centre and Ukrainian Embassy in Washington D.C. to book clubs and groups in New York, Memphis, and Southern California. From the Q&A session and comments that followed, I think the latest iteration of my multi-media presentation was well received.

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(l) The invitation that was circulated at the United Nations;

I continue to be amazed that people are amazed that an American would somehow come to write the definitive coming- of-age story of the world’s most successful female fighter pilot, a hero who is virtually has been lost in time for over 60 years. I’ve also learned something else along the way…I am doing my part, in some small way…to educate America’s youth about the 30 million+ Russians and the Ukrainians that died in World War II to help America maintain its way of life.

Important Friends…

I now get asked regularly, “who is this American who loves Russians?” The answer, “I am just an average patriotic American citizen, born of Italian immigrants, one a butcher, the other a telephone operator, who wants the world to be a better place for future generations.” like to thank a number of people who made the speaking engagement a success, Dr. Yury Zaitsev, head of the Russian Cultural Centre in Washington, Dr. Ekaterina Doubrovina, chairperson of the Russian American Children’s Hospital Foundation and Alexandre Toubolets, head of the United Nations Russian Book Club.

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Delegate Toubolets, Dr. Doubrovina and myself at United Nations(r),

Dr. Zaitsev and myself (l) at Russian Cultural Centre in Washington D.C.

The Radio Interview…

After the presentation I did a few press for Voice of America Radio and the Press Corps. The questions revolved around adding some insights about Lilia, the woman. To listen to part or all the 15- minute radio interview just listen now.

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The Voice of America home page promotion and posting of my radio interview

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Voice of America Radio Producer, Elena Vapnitchnaia, and myself

during her post presentation radio interview

The Newspaper Interview…

In addition to Elena’s interview and story, I was interview by Voice of America reporter, Misha Gutkin, who asked questions about my personal growing awareness of cultural relations between the united States and Russia while developing the book. The story ran throughout Russia. Misha sent me an email that readers were amazed Lilia’s story was finally being told, albeit 60 years late, and were appreciative of my interest. So in some small way, it makes me feel like I’m trying doing something valuable, beyond just taking up space on our planet! The story link is http://www.voanews.com/russian/news/G.... (it’s being translated into English as we speak).

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Part of Misha’s story as it appeared on VOA home page.

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Voice of America Reporter, Misha Gutkin, came well prepared for his print interview

The Unbelievable…

The most emotional moment of the day for me was the surprising appearance of Anna Litvyak (she spells it Litvak), a distant niece in the Litvyak family. Anna, now an attorney at the United Nations heard about my presentation when a friend showed her the invitation earlier that day! When this beautiful young lady walked up to me and introduced herself, I was speechless for one of the few times in my life. She told me she remembered the families talking about Lilia and her exploits when she (Anna) was a child. Anna explained she had migrated to America from Latvia at the age of 17, not knowing a soul. She put herself through college and law school. She now lives in New Jersey with husband Jim, who is also an attorney. In our short conversation, it was clear she had inherited some of her distant cousin’s determination and self-confidence. Later, at the midpoint of my presentation, I introduced her to the audience. You could hear a pin drop! Ann and I have begun a dialogue to share more family stories and anecdotes. We are both sure there will more to come, perhaps even a third edition with some additional insights that also have been lost in time.

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Talk about Six Degrees of Separation. Anna Litvyak and myself. Wow!

June 12th is Federation Day in Russia. Big holiday. It’s like our Fourth of July. It is the birth date of the post-Soviet era Russian Federation. For the second year in a row, we have been invited to the big celebration at the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C. Always a grand affair where we meet old friends and make new ones.

Also, while in D.C. we are making plans to meet members of the Litvyak family thanks to Lilia’s (departed heroine of my book, Call Sign, White Lily) distance relative, Anja Litvak whom I met during my recent talk at the United Nations in New York. So it’s two special moments wrapped in one bow next week. Will take pictures and make notes for another post. My journey to an unknown destination continues.

 

For those young people looking at this blog, Walter Winchell was a reporter know for short news scoops that appeared in newspapers during the 20th Century. Newspapers were those things people carried around and read before the Internet. The 20th Century was that bygone era before the invention of the tweet and text message, it was an unusual period in our history when people communicated with each other using actual voices.

With that as background, the following might make sense. Recently a few brief observations from my recent trip to Russia were published on the editorial page of Russia Now, a newspaper supplement distributed in 13 countries with a circulation of over 5 million. In America, the paper is distributed in the New York Times and Washington Post. Thought you might like to see.

June 12th is Federation Day in Russia. Big holiday. It’s like our Fourth of July. It is the birth date of the post-Soviet era Russian Federation. For the second year in a row, we have been invited to the big celebration at the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C. Always a grand affair where we meet old friends and make new ones.

Also, while in D.C. we are making plans to meet members of the Litvyak family thanks to Lilia’s (departed heroine of my book, Call Sign, White Lily) distance relative, Anja Litvak whom I met during my recent talk at the United Nations in New York. So it’s two special moments wrapped in one bow next week. Will take pictures and make notes for another post. My journey to an unknown destination continues.

 

For those young people looking at this blog, Walter Winchell was a reporter know for short news scoops that appeared in newspapers during the 20th Century. Newspapers were those things people carried around and read before the Internet. The 20th Century was that bygone era before the invention of the tweet and text message, it was an unusual period in our history when people communicated with each other using actual voices.

With that as background, the following might make sense. Recently a few brief observations from my recent trip to Russia were published on the editorial page of Russia Now, a newspaper supplement distributed in 13 countries with a circulation of over 5 million. In America, the paper is distributed in the New York Times and Washington Post. Thought you might like to see.

Recently on my second trip to Russia, I was assisted in Moscow by the articulate guide, Sergei. Here are the two of us on the Metro discussing what ails the world. (Sergei is to the left, I’m the guy with the San Francisco 49ers hat).

Not long after a fellow passenger snapped the picture, Sergei and I were walking the grounds of the Kremlin. I pointed to a bland building built during the Nikita Khrushchev era. I asked what it was like to live under Communism.  He smiled, “You really wish to know?” I responded affirmatively. He then rattled off the “7 Principles of Communism.” When i picked myself up off the floor from laughing so hard, I asked if he might repeat some of what he had said for the camera.

He nodded with a twinkle in his eye , and then repeated precisely the same words, with precisely the same inflections, in precisely the same one minute and four seconds.  “In Russia, once you are taught, you never forget.”

Who says Russians do not have a sense of humor?

Recently on my second trip to Russia, I was assisted in Moscow by the articulate guide, Sergei. Here are the two of us on the Metro discussing what ails the world. (Sergei is to the left, I’m the guy with the San Francisco 49ers hat).

Not long after a fellow passenger snapped the picture, Sergei and I were walking the grounds of the Kremlin. I pointed to a bland building built during the Nikita Khrushchev era. I asked what it was like to live under Communism. He smiled, “You really wish to know?” I responded affirmatively. He then rattled off the “7 Principles of Communism.” When i picked myself up off the floor from laughing so hard, I asked if he might repeat some of what he had said for the camera.

He nodded with a twinkle in his eye , and then repeated precisely the same words, with precisely the same inflections, in precisely the same one minute and four seconds. “In Russia, once you are taught, you never forget.”

Who says Russians do not have a sense of humor?

Since the remains of the world’s most successful female fighter pilot, Moscovite Lilia Litvyak, were lost  in the Eastern Ukraine for over 40 years, it was only fitting that I should come to speak at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington D.C.

For those of you that have read my book, Call Sign, White Lily, you know the Ukrainian people, lead by Valentina Vaschenko, spent every summer for 36 years in the woods around Krasny Luch searching for Lilia, at the request of members of her elite 73rd  regiment.

Before…

Before guests arrived, I was greeted warmly by Ambassador Olexander Motsyk who thanked me for my efforts to make American’s aware of Lilia’s story and for noting the large part the Ukrainian people, most notably Valentina Vaschenko and Yelena Sivolap, have played in keeping her memory alive.

(Ambassador Motsyk and myself with George Washington looking on in the background)

During…

It seemed like the questions started flying as soon as I began. Most in the audience were genuinely unaware her remains sat in a modest gravesite deep in the Ukrainian woods. They also were surprised to learn there was a school and a museum in her name in the tiny city of Krasny Luch. Most of all they were surprised that an American with no RuSsian or Ukrainian ancestry would form a bond with two Ukrainian women and travel almost 8,000 miles to create a approachable, historical narrative about a Great Patriotic War hero—a woman decades ahead of her time—who had been lost in history for some, and never existed for the rest of the world.

(Here I am discussing the how, when and why of the project with the audience.)

The embassy was also kind enough to highlight excerpts from my talk on their site. Here is the link: http://www.mfa.gov.ua/usa/en/news/detail/81308.htm

After…

When we finished upstairs, we had a great reception filled with Ukrainian specialties in the restored 200 year old dining room. I thought you might enjoy seeing the display before the roomful of guests devoured the goodies.

 

(Dramatic lighting enhanced the ambiance)

(Irina made sure all went off without a hitch.)

After, After….

A few last photos for the memory book, and then it was off to the Voice of America TV studios near the Capital the next morning (more about that in another blog).