Flying to Prague with Peter Stephan Jungk and Aleksandar Hemon
Prague Writers' Festival, J Haynes' blog, May 2007

When Michael March informed me that I would be traveling to Prague on the same flight with two writers attending the Prague Writers’ Festival in June, Peter Jungk and Aleksandar Hemon, I thought it might be a good idea to check on them.

Peter Jungk I have known for over forty years. He stayed in my Edinburgh home in the early 60s when his father, Robert Jungk, was on a book tour of Great Britain. Robert Jungk was a distinguished professor and writer. His book, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, tells the story of how the atomic bomb came to be. Later, Robert Jungk became a Professor of Future Studies at the University of Berlin. Robert and I have been friends from our first meeting all those years ago. And we would see each other every October at the Frankfurt Book Fair and catch each other up to date. Often we would dine with John Calder, who published Robert Jungk in Britain, and who probably arranged for me to host Robert in the first place. I also came to know Peter’s amazing mother, Ruth, as well. Peter was only ten when he stayed in my home in Edinburgh. We really only got to know each other better when he moved to Paris from the family home in Salzburg. Our paths would cross at various parties and literary events. Alas, Robert and Ruth are no longer with us. Even Peter has had several close encounters with Mr. Grim Reaper; he has suffered from two major heart attacks. I can commiserate with him. I had one myself in August 2001. It’s not fun. Someone once said: “Growing old is not for sissies.”

Today, the 15th of May, I call Peter at his Paris home and we have a fairly long talk. He is excited about attending the Prague Writers’ Festival. He tells me he is recovering from another long stay in the hospital, that he is behind on a number of projects, that we can talk again next week when he has finished writing something that is over-due. I tell him that I understand, that I look forward to seeing him soon, that I want him to be 100% fit and in top form.

Then I call Aleksandar Hemon and when I explain who I am and that I would like to meet him, he readily agrees. He tells me that he knows about my Sunday Salon, has read my web site, and fully intends to dine one Sunday before he and his wife leave Paris. We agree to meet in the Village Voice Bookshop at 2 p.m.

I do some research and learn that Aleksandar was born in 1964 in Sarajevo in what was then a country called Yugoslavia. In 1992, during a short study trip to Chicago, the conflict in Bosnia prevented his return. He elected to stay in Chicago, quickly mastered the English-language and began to write for some of America’s most prestigious magazines. His first book, The Question of Bruno, appeared in 2000; his second, Nowhere Man, a novel detailing the adventures and travels of Jozef Pronek was published in 2002.

Metro to St. Germain des Pres and walk the short distance to rue Princesse and the Village Voice Bookshop. Odile Hellier, the proprietor of the Village Voice, greets me warmly. When I tell her that I will be attending the Prague Writers’ Festival and that I will be meeting one of the writers attending the festival in the bookshop in some minutes time. When she learns that it is Aleksandar Hemon, she tells me that she has met him and has read one of his books and that she greatly enjoyed it. Sadly the bookshop is out of stock, but both titles have been re-ordered and I will be able to pick up copies next week.

While waiting for Aleksandar to arrive, my mobile telephone rings and a voice reminds me that we have a meeting in my atelier at 15.00 hours today. I ask if it can be delayed and they suggest 15.15, so I reluctantly say OK. When Aleksandar arrives, I explain my silly situation and he says it is not a problem, We take a taxi to my favorite Chinese restaurant, Auberge des Trois Saveurs, at 82 rue Hallé in the 14th arrondissement, only five minutes from my home.

Helene welcomes us. Our orders are quickly taken and Sasha and I quickly begin to exchange stories. I learn that he met his wife to be, Teri, in Chicago and that since both of them love Paris, they decided to live here for a while. They recently got married in Paris. Teri is a photography editor and has recently completed a book of photographs about Chicago. (I must remember to tell her about my friend, Rajak Ohanian, one of the best photographers in France and his relationship with the city of Chicago.) Sasha tells me that he has almost finished two books here in Paris. One is a novel and the other is a collection of short stories. We gobble down our delicious lunch. It is almost 3 p.m., so ask Helene to excuse us and we slip out and walk to my atelier.

Introduce Sasha to a new house guest, Agnieszka Cybuch, a young architect from Warsaw, who arrived last night. Tea is produced and we learn that Sasha has Polish relatives. Talk turns to Poland and to Ukraine I report that I wish to travel soon to Odessa, Kiev and Lvóv. Sasha has been to Lvóv. And then the estate agent arrives. More introductions. After almost 37 years in my atelier, I have decided to sell the place and start a new chapter in my life. The fellow who has come to see the place, after he learns that I am a writer, asks me if I know John Berger. I say that I do, but that I know his son, Jacob, better. Then he asks if I know Geoff Dyer. Why yes I do. When they have left, I explain to Agnieska and Sasha that I wish to purchase a small 30-room hotel in this neighborhood, that I want to be a Night Porter. Here in my atelier I have run a free “hotel” for the past 37 years, that at the moment there are four people staying here (Beatriz Belfrage from London, Kostas Papacharalampous from Athens, David Lucas from Sydney and Agnieszka) and that two more are on their way here tomorrow morning (Kelly Miller from Seattle and George Abbott from New York City). Sasha rightly asks how will I be able to ask friends to pay their hotel bill. Yes, I admit, this will be a problem.

Sasha says he will come to the Sunday dinner with Teri this coming Sunday. Agnieszka will be back from her karate training in Vichy and will dine here also. Ssaha elects to walk to his home in the rue St. Jacques and asks for directions, I tell him to go out the front gate, turn right and then just continue to walk. My street, rue de la Tombe Issoire, and Sasha’s street are the same – just different names. Give him two of my books, Thanks for Coming! and Workers of the World, Unite and Stop Working! Sasha promises to bring me his books on Sunday.