Following Newsweek publication of an insulting for Bulgarians article and the comments it triggered, our Editor-in-Chief received a letter from Mr. Boyan Griffen, University of Michigan, addressed to Ms. Sharon Begley, Science editor, Newsweek
Dear Ms. Begley:
With extraordinary qualities of heart and mind, Bulgarians have set out to achieve nearly impossible goals and succeed in the face of serious opposition for millennia.
I suppose you did not mean to be crude in your article. Last year, there was a situation after Newsweek published a map incorrectly placing the Bulgarian capital of Sofia in Romania. Now the Bulgarian nation and people have been denigrated first by the article "Our Sport has Gangrene," then again by your answer to the mass controversy and once again by the manner in which replies from Bulgarians have been presented on newsweek.com in the Online Mail Call Section.
Therefore, the only possible course of action is for Newsweek to publish an article showing Bulgaria and Bulgarians in a positive light, such as Bulgaria's heroic saving of the Jews during World War II.
"Cute, charismatic," Bulgarian Ivan "Christov was nominated Canada's hero of 2001. Christov was selected and sponsored by Panasonic Canada to hand the sphere from the roof of Skydome in Toronto. More than 30,000 people watched his descent around the building, while millions of viewers in North America watched it live. Ivan Christov is founder of the Eiger Highrise Emergency Aerial Response Team, which aims to insure
people.s security and decrease the chances of loss of life. A high-rise specialist, he saves lives and earn his living inspecting buildings.
"Cute, charismatic" Bulgarian-born artist Christo and his wife Jean-Claude are optimistic about the accomplishment of their major project of installing 11,000 steel gates over the roads in the Central Park in New York. All expenses will be paid by the two famous artists as was the case with the wrapped up Reichstag in Berlin in 1995. The event will last for a fortnight and then the gates will be disassembled. Christo and Jeanne-Claude are recognized as creators of some of the most amazing works of art over the last one hundred years. Besides the Reichstag in Berlin, among Christo's most famous "packed" objects is the eleven cloth-covered islands near Florida. Now he will cover the Gates in New York City. at a cost of8 million.
Ms. Begley, I am inviting you to experience "The Bulgarian Spirit" on Saturday, April 27, 2002 at 2:00p.m. at the Troy Public Library at 510 W. Big Beaver Rd. in Troy, Michigan. I, graduate of the University of Michigan and former Lecturer at
Blagoevgrad Southwestern University, will be presenting Bulgaria, followed by the Midwestern US Premiere of "Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue
of Bulgaria Jews."
The Bulgarian experience will excite and move you. Throughout its heoric and courageous history, the unique cultural heritage of Bulgaria was built into the foundation of Western civilization. For millennia, Bulgaria has been the route from Europe to
Asia and Africa, guarding memories of an eventful past. The lives and cultures of over 43 tribes have impacted Bulgaria.
The film, "Beyond Hitler's Grasp," based on Michael Bar-Zohar's historic thriller of the same name, marksthe greatest moment of Twentieh Century Bulgarianhistory by dramatizing the true account of how the Bulgarians conspired to outwit the Nazis at the peak of their power. The fact that not a single Jew was deported from Bulgaria during World War II exemplifies the integrity of Europe's oldest nation-state. This magnificent story involves a beautiful spy from Varna, the communists, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and a king torn between his promises to Hitler and his commitment to his countrymen.
I truly hope you and your colleagues from Newsweek will join us. Please call me at (248) 931-8535 to let me know how many people from Newsweek will be attending the event. Sincerely, I am excited about the change in the way Bulgaria and Bulgarians will be depicted in the US from now on and by the choice of the Bulgarians of the United States to take the high road in this.
Sincerely,
Boyan Griffen
University of Michigan
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