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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛИСТОПАД 2009 23 e x cellent feel for how differently daily events in a wartime situation are perceived by children and adults. For her book , Bern, Son of Mikula , (Ath e neum 1972, also published in French), the author did very extensive research. The story takes place in tenth century Kyiv during the reigns of Princess Olha and Prince Sviatoslav. To familiarize herself with that period Marie Bloch read a hefty two - volume work on the archeology of ancient Kyiv by M. K. Karger, one by Yaroslav Pasternak, another by Nikolai Zakrevsky, and two more by P. P. T o lochko. She also read works on the law, folklore and religion, art and literature, architecture, and military practices of medieval Kyiv, strivin g to see and po r tray her characters in their proper surroundings. Another Ukrainian artist, Edward Kozak (EKO), illustrated this book. While the boy Bern is fictio n al, he is popularly believed to have been a historical figure, but Bloch’s book is her own r econstruction of other, older versions of the story. In July 1977, Marie Halun Bloch had the opportunity to take an extensive tour of Ukraine and visited Kyiv for several days. One morning, she d e cided to search for the street called Potters Lane (Honchar ska) where Bern, the young hero of her novel, lived and worked. Walking down the co b blestone winding road of Kyiv’s famed Andrew’s Descent, she indeed came upon Potters Lane. And as she stood there, the lane came alive the way it was a millennium ago, the way she imagined it to be. Mrs. Bloch was a long - time member of the Authors League of America, The Authors Guild, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and I l lustrators, from which she received several awards, including an honorary lifetime membersh ip. She died in February of 1998 in Cambridge, Massach u setts, at the home of her daughter Hilary Bloch Hopkins. After her mother’s death, Hilary presented the Ukrainian Museum in New York with a prized collection of antique maps and lithographs from Marie Halun Bloch’ s estate. The fifty maps, as well as twenty - five lithographs, were collected by the author over the course of many years. The colle c tion, which consists of maps of Ukraine from the 17th to 19th centuries, is an excellent example of the evoluti on in the art of cartography and vividly displays its essential components — science, art, and politics. As historical documents the maps are inv a luable, yet they are also beautiful decorative o b jects. Hilary also donated nine hundred books, once the referen ce library of the author, to the Ukrainian Cultural Institute (UCI) in Dickinson, North Dakota. Hopkins had learned of UCI when she discovered one of the institute’s newsletters in her mother’s collection. After gathering some information and co l lecting s ome of the author’s books (most of which are now out of print), I decided to contact the Ukrainian Cultural Institute where Marie Halun Bloch’s library is now located. I spoke with Agnes Palanuk, the UCI’s executive director, who imm e diately sent me a shor t biography of the author, a list of her books, and a couple of issues of the UCI Journal. She also informed me that in October of 1999 the Dickinson State University officially d e clared the UCI’s library collection the Ukrainian Research Library. I found it heart - warming to see that in a remote town at the edge of the prairie a handful of people are keeping alive the Ukrainian heritage in a very well - organized manner and are willing to share their knowledge with others. In this, they honor the memory of Mar ie Halun Bloch, who by translating the book of one of the first Ukrainian settlers in North Dakota, helped their descendants be proud of their heritage. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Hilary Hopkins, and she very graciously shared with me so me of her recollections of her mother. One interesting fact she shared with me was that she had found among her mother’s belongings two unpu b lished manuscripts — one dealing with medieval Ukraine and the other with the history of the Dnipro River. _________ _____________________________ R oxolana Yarymovych is a member of the UNWLA’s Nat io nal Board and serves as Members - at - Large Chair - woman. The article is based on a presentation Ms. Yar y movych made to the Ukrainian American Club in North Port, Flo rida, in the Fall of 2001 .
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