Journalistic Nostalgia

By Walter Kish

Tradition goes that at New Year’s time, one is supposed to look ahead at all the possibilities that the year ahead has to offer.  Yet invariably, the start of a new year usually makes me nostalgic and prompts me to think back not only on the past twelve months, but on all those years that have shaped my life and my destiny. And because this paper has played an important part in my life, it has figured prominently in my recent reminiscences. 

This was particularly true several days ago when, while on a visit to the newspaper’s offices, I spent some time in the archives trying to find the very first editorial column that I wrote under the “The View From Here” byline.   At my age, remembering specific dates and other details can sometimes be problematic, however, I did recall that my most recent involvement started somewhere in the late nineties when I was approached to help modernize and revitalize a newspaper that was starting to show its age.  With declining readership and the appearance of red ink on the profit statement and balance sheet, something needed to be done, or the paper’s distinguished seven decades of publishing would come to an end.

With the help of some talented and dedicated associates, the paper was redesigned, or perhaps I should say recreated, during the summer and early fall of 1999 and the first issue of a new and improved Noviy Shliakh appeared on Oct. 23, 1999.  As well as the addition of significant English content, the paper sported a new, more contemporary look, more photographs and increased coverage of sports, art, culture and local events.

In paging through the archives, I also discovered that on Feb. 12 of 2000, the paper introduced full colour content for the first time, an enhancement that is now taken for granted.  Going still further, I finally found what I was looking for - my first “The View From Here” column, published, perhaps ironically on April Fool’s Day of 2000. 

Since then, I have written almost four hundred columns, a number that even I find difficult to grasp.  It is hard to believe that so much time has passed since I first thought that it would be a neat idea to share some of my thoughts, ideas and opinions with the readers of this paper on a regular basis.

During that time, much has transpired in my life, including relocating to and living in Ukraine for a time.  That prompted a change in the column’s title to “The View From There”, but otherwise, I continued to crank out columns without interruption, transmitting them to the paper through the wonders of Internet technology.  Living in Ukraine provided a wealth of inspiration and I was able to share many of my discoveries about Ukraine’s art, politics, culture, history, sights and everyday life with the readers of this paper.  That, incidentally, is the essence of why I derive so much pleasure and satisfaction in writing these columns – the ability to share one’s insights and adventures with others with similar interests. 

There is also another benefit that I derive from this process of writing, and that is that it provides me with a wonderful excuse to learn things.  Most of my columns start out as questions about people, places and things that I hear about in the course of my travels and daily life.  Who was Nestor Makhno? Isn’t it interesting that certain ancient Sanskrit words are very similar to current Ukrainian words? What has happened to the Ukrainian economy since independence? How does the electoral system work in Ukraine?  Who were the Tatars that figure so prominently in Ukrainian history?  What’s the history of my mother’s ancestral village?  Can you be Ukrainian without speaking the language? Why is there so much antipathy between Ukrainians and Poles?  Why does Lviv have so many coffee houses?  Why do Ukrainians like salo so much?

Most of these questions force me to do research, and it is around the results of that research that my columns take shape.  I learn a lot in the process and I pass that on to you the readers, so that we both benefit and become more knowledgeable, appreciative of what it means to be Ukrainian.  As Shakespeare once mused – “It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes!”

As I mentioned earlier, I have now written close to four hundred columns for this paper.  If God wills, I would love to write four hundred more!