Rybalski’s Son – Preview to Toronto Book Launch at UNF

By Halia Wawryshyn

A recently published book, Rybalski’s Son by Orest Talpash of Edmonton, is a captivating addition to Ukrainian Canadian Literature.  A real page-turner, this book reads like a novel, but it is actually a series of twelve related stories.

The first story takes place in 1896 in the western Ukrainian village of  Germakivka, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of Franz Josef.  Succeeding stories take place at ten-year intervals, the last one in Edmonton in 2006. 

Each story deals with one central character who is a member of the extended Rybalski Family, and each one deals with the different circumstances unique to his time and place. The second story, which takes place in September 1906, tells of Vasyl Rybalski’s experiences in Ethelbert, Manitoba, while the next story, set in 1916, deals with life in the village of Ustia Biscupske in Halychyna.  The next story in 1926 sees a family member in Canada again, this time in Pine River, Manitoba, while the following one takes place in Preeceville, Saskatchewan.  In 1946, Theodosij Rybalski is living through very different experiences in the aftermath of World War II in Aschaffenburg, Germany.

Back in Canada, in Weyburn, Saskatchewan in 1956, in Myrnam, Alberta in 1966, and Edmonton, Alberta in 1976, the family members appear to live in peace and tranquillity as compared to what other members endured during the war years. Yet, even the stories of family in Canada, in which each member deals with his problems and changed circumstances, are riveting.

In 1986, the story is about retired teachers, Steven and Sophia Rybalski, living in the Ilarion Seniors’ Residence in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who visit Ukraine.  Their trip is a 50th wedding anniversary present from their children.  The comments and observations of the couple and their fellow travellers, thirteen other retired seniors from Saskatchewan, are sure to elicit a smile and even a chuckle, as so many of us have shared the same experiences while visiting Ukraine in the 1980s.  Sophia wonders why people smile when she speaks – whether it is because her language “is a century removed from its roots, or that their Ukrainian is so full of Russian that they don’t even recognize that we speak a ‘pure’ Ukrainian.”

 In the story set in 1996, Jason Dobrowolski doesn’t even speak Ukrainian, but loves borscht, varennyky and holubtsi and knows all about the kozaky from his great-grandmother’s stories. He stays with Uncle Rybalski and his wife while attending the University of Alberta and reluctantly attends a family wedding at his aunt’s prodding. There, he meets many Rybalski family members that he barely knows. Luckily, he also meets Andrea Andreychuk, who promises to teach him to dance if he goes with her to the Ukrainian Students’ Club social.

Twenty-two-year-old Mark Rybalski is a rudderless student in 2006 at the University of Alberta with a girlfriend and a life his lawyer father disapproves of. His Grandpa Davidiuk has a very positive influence on his life and when Mark, a history buff, discovers that over 100 years ago the Rybalskis were landowners who even had a coat of arms, Mark begins to think of himself and his background in totally different terms.

In an epilogue, Mark, now a grad student, writes to his parents from Kyiv, which he loves. He is next going to tour the area south of Borshchiv and take pictures around Germakivka and Ustia Biscupske.

All these fascinating characters are fictitious, yet the “descriptions of the villages, sites, and historical references are accurate and true.” The author has done an amazing amount of historical and geographical research and lists many selected sources.

These twelve stories can also be read as a historical novel, as they present the saga of one family, showing the history of Polish and Ukrainian relations and describing how families lived in Ukraine, and then how they adapted to Canada.   The events in the stories are often treated with a subtle sense of humour, and with very few words vivid pictures emerge.

This panorama of over 100 years deals with late 19th-century life in Ukraine, and touches on First and Second World War experiences in Ukraine and Germany. It shows adaptations made by Ukrainian immigrants in the Early 20th Century and later, those who arrived in the post WWII period. The author’s keen observations make the young people of the recent decade totally believable.

Rybalski’s Son is an excellent tool in teaching young people the history and the sociology of the past century.

The author of this remarkable book is Dr. Orest Talpash, a retired Clinical Professor of Dermatology who lives in Edmonton. His family came to Canada in the late 1890s, and, all his life, he has enjoyed listening to stories and anecdotes. Snippets of these have entered this magnificent book.

After reading the book, Daria Diakowsky, of the Ukrainian National Federation Toronto Branch – Resource Centre, immediately called Orest in Edmonton and arranged a date for a book launch in Toronto.  It takes place on Wednesday, June 2, at 7:30 pm., held at the UNF Toronto Community Centre, 145 Evans Ave. Dr. Orest Talpash will present his new book at the event.

PHOTO

Orest Talpash