1984: A LOOK BACK: Meanwhile, at The Weekly (12/30/84)

1984: A LOOK BACK

Meanwhile, at The Weekly

1984 was the year of milestones at The Weekly, some solemn and others happy. Perhaps our most important story - and the saddest - was the death in September of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. We at the paper felt the loss of this great and saintly man, whose death at age 92 left a huge vacuum in the Church and in the Ukrainian nation.

On a happier, more personal note, our editor-in-chief, Roma Hadzewycz, gave birth in April to a healthy baby boy, Markian Andrew. There were other milestones as well. In November, Assistant Editor Marta Kolomayets left the paper to ply her trade for a trade publication in Manhattan. Natalia Dmytrijuk, who joined the staff in July as a correspondent, moved up a notch to fill in the gap. Associate Editor George Zarycky, who filled in as editor while Mrs. Hadzewycz was on maternity leave from April to September, made his television debut this summer, appearing on WOR-TV's morning talk show, "Straight Talk," to discuss the ethnic press. The staff was helped out ably in the summer by Chrystyna Lapychak, a journalism student at Rutgers. Unlike her immediate predecessor, the peripatetic Mykhailo Bociurkiw, Chrystyna antagonized no one.

Another 1984 milestone was the 90th anniversary of our publisher, the Ukrainian National Association, which was noted with a special, picture-filled section in our February 19 issue.

The issues that most concerned us this year were the passage of the famine commission bill and the continuing onslaught of Russification in Ukraine. Much of our energies were focused on following the progress of the famine legislation and alerting our community as to the importance of the measure, which was ultimately passed by Congress in October. In the area of Russification, we provided a series of articles on the subject, including extensive pieces from dissident writings, culminating with full coverage of the anti-Russification demonstration in Washington in September.

It also seemed to be the year of the centerfold at The Weekly. We had pictorial centerfolds showcasing Ukrainian Olympic athletes, the dedication 20 years ago of the Shevchenko Monument in Washington, the life of the late bandura virtuoso Hryhory Kytasty, the life of Patriarch Josyf and, of course, summer at Soyuzivka.

As far as new features, The Weekly added Myron Kuropas's "Faces and Places," a column on subjects of interest to the Ukrainian community and other ethnic groups, as well as "The Washington Connection," a column concerning goings-on in the nation's capital that was compiled by the Ukrainian American Caucus. The "Book notes" feature was expanded, and Andrew Bilyk continued to provide his "Effective Media Relations" column, started last year in preparation for the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Great Famine in Ukraine. The "Dissident sketch," which spotlighted lesser-known dissidents, was dropped due to lack of new information.

The Weekly retained most of its regular features, such as Helen Smindak's "Panorama" and Roman Sawycky's "Sounds and views." As for those who may be wondering about what ever happened to Ihor Stelmach's "Pro hockey update," so are we. Mr. Stelmach seems to have dropped from sight. So, Ihor, if you read this, do give a call.

Also noteworthy this year were articles contributed by Dr. Roman Solchanyk, who continued his excellent analysis of Soviet reality; Leonard Leshuk, who wrote a two-part article recounting his trip into war-torn Afghanistan; Christine Demkowych, who covered the closing of the Orchidia in New York; Nadia Odette Diakun, who provided several features from Canada; and young Mr. Bociurkiw, who sat still long enough to give us several stories this summer on Ukrainian festivals and such.

Dr. Roman Szporluk of the University of Michigan also contributed a lengthy article on the fate of non-Russian publications in the Soviet Union.

To these and others who have contributed to making The Weekly informative and interesting, our deepest gratitude.

As for our readers, the issue that seemed to fuel the most emotions was, inexplicably, the whole Carpatho-Rusyn/Ukrainian fandango. Judging from the number of long and exhaustive letters we received on this one subject, we can only conclude that the issue is of great concern to the community, although we must confess we don't really know why it is bigger than, say, the future of our community.

And speaking of the future, we ask all our readers to continue to support the Weekly in the coming year. We need your input, not only in terms of money, but in terms of ideas, suggestions, news stories and photos. Any future cohesiveness in the community will inevitably rely heavily on the character and content of the English-language Ukrainian press.

That said, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.