A Place for Us, by Nicholas Gage (1989)
As I read
this fast-reading and absorbing autobiography, I felt as if Gage was
writing about my own family and Greek relatives and friends that I had
grown up with in Buffalo. So many patterns that we all followed: the
village roots, early poverty, endless work, tight all-consuming family
bonds, bringing relatives over from Greece, the adherence to family
honor (especially through the behavior of women), the loyalty to family
and fellow patrioti.
Gage depicts how the
traditional Greek character (at least, the village-rooted character)
works, and does a wonderful and funny job showing its conflict with
modern American life. His conflicts as a young man with his father (a man who had lived and worked in America for decades before Nicholas and his sisters came over) are carefully detailed and not sentimentalized -- his father is a real man. He took pains to detail the relationship with his
difficult, irascible grandfather, when he made a lengthy trip back to
Lia, Greece, in the 1960s. He showed, for example, how the old man preened and exalted in the cleverness of his grandson outwitting the other village men at cards -- Nicholas was one smart mangas.
I
was impressed by Gage's focus on what he wanted to do with his life. He
discovered in high school that he wanted to be a journalist, and he
stuck with that, going on to study journalism in college, to work for
the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. He juggled his
journalism and writing career with his commitment to his family life (he
lived and stayed close to his father, sisters, and Greek relatives
throughout his career). He kept going, despite setbacks, and a lack of
money. He always had the burning need to resolve the murder of his
mother Eleni by Communist andartes in the Greek Civil War, and
that tied in with his work as a journalist, and led him to a lifelong
relationship with Greece and Greeks. I could have used some of his
determination!
I was a little put off by Gage's somewhat
boastful descriptions of his early sexual experiences. Yet, one of the
hottest areas of conflict between young Greeks and their conservative,
village-born parents, there in 1950s and 1960s Worcester, Massachusetts,
was over sex. It was the same for all Greek boys and girls growing up in America during the emerging sexual
revolution of that time. Greek boys were naturally exhorted to get all
the sex they could get, while girls were strictly repressed. By
describing Gage's own experiences rather explicitly, he draws a contrast
to the proscribed life of his sisters, who could not even speak to
boys, Greek or American, without harming the family honor. If he is
gleeful in his descriptions, Gage at least shows some self-deprecating humor on the subject as well.
I
was pleased to read Gage's mention of Arthur Kanaracus, another
immigrant, who was then a Greek School teacher in Worcester. The young
Gage did not know that the "tall, sad-eyed dark man with glasses, who
limped as a result of losing a foot under a train in childhood..." was
also a serious composer. In our church choir, we often sing some of
Kanaracus's compositions during the divine liturgy, and they are some of
my favorite hymns.
There is so much about Greek life in this book, I wish that all Greek Americans could read it.
1 comment:
I read with interest your comments about my father, Arthur Kanaracus.
Although he was not religious, he indeed create some very popular and inspirational choir music. He told me stories about his first interest in music while growing up in Peabody, Massachusetts. He had arrived from Mytilene, on the island of Lesvos, when he was six years old. The accident you mentioned was very traumatic but after he was fitted with an artificial limb (made in Watertown), he still played first base. The accident made him determined to get an education because he knew that a physical job was not possible. While still living in Peabody he would travel to Boston University to attend classes and graduated in 1934. It was about this time he taught himself music composition through correspondence courses. His musical interests went beyond choir music, writing the music for a very popular musical Elvira. The musical was performed by many Greek communities across the country. He even started his own publishing company, the Helicon Press. I remember fondly how we would all pitch in to assemble books that were printed on an old mimeograph machine.
Nicholas Kanaracus
Worcester, Mass.
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