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19 Dec 11 - 10:56 PM (#3276938) Subject: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vàclav Havel From: Genie BBC News - World pays tribute to Czech statesman Vaclav Havel Excerpts: [[Born in 1936 to a wealthy family in Czechoslovakia Considered "too bourgeois" by communist government, studied at night school Writing banned and plays forced underground after the 1968 Prague Spring In 1977, co-authored the Charter 77 movement for democratic change Faced constant harassment and imprisonment as Czechoslovakia's most famous dissident Czechoslovakia's first post-communist president in December 1989 Oversaw transition to democracy, and 1993 division into the Czech Republic and Slovakia Left office in 2003 and continued writing, publishing a new play in 2008 and directing first film in 2011]] |
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19 Dec 11 - 10:57 PM (#3276940) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vàclav Havel From: Genie Aside: How come Havel's name comes out fine in the thread title when the thread's open, and in the thread itself, but not in the thread title on the main Forum page?
-Joe Offer- |
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19 Dec 11 - 11:16 PM (#3276942) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vàclav Havel From: Stilly River Sage There's something about special characters that do that in that form. I heard an really nice interview with Madeline Albright this evening. She met him when she was Secretary of State and considered him a friend. NPR interview. SRS |
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20 Dec 11 - 03:12 AM (#3276985) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: GUEST I will be flying to Prague tomorrow - so I will probably be watching his funeral on Cz TV |
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20 Dec 11 - 03:13 AM (#3276986) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: SPB-Cooperator guest post was me |
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20 Dec 11 - 08:42 PM (#3277501) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: Genie I find it sad that our "main stream media" pay more attention to the passing of a relatively minor sports or entertainment "star" than to that of someone as exemplary and influential and courageous as Havel. We could do with more poets and playwrights among our political leaders. |
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20 Dec 11 - 09:06 PM (#3277514) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: michaelr The "velvet revolution". That's the best kind, as far as I can see. Havel in Czechoslovakia and Lech Walesa in Poland are true heroes in that they managed to instigate (and see through) virtually bloodless uprisings. May all the walls come down. |
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21 Dec 11 - 11:02 AM (#3277718) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: alanabit One of the good guys. He rode out the final years of Communist tyranny and became a genial president. Ditto to every word of what Genie and Michael R. posted. |
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23 Dec 11 - 07:36 AM (#3278844) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: SPB-Cooperator I am watching the funeral service on Cz TV now. At 12pm local time all the bells and sirens across Prague sounded for two minutes. The service is in St Vitus Church, Prague Castle. The orchestra and choir are playing/singing beautifully. |
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23 Dec 11 - 11:27 AM (#3278938) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: Stilly River Sage It has been an interesting contrast in the recent deaths of world leaders. Kim Jong Il comes across as a crazy zealot, and the administration left in place has coordinated vast public displays of grief as part of the program. We watch in amazement. On the other hand, the knowledge about Havel and his renaissance-man life has resulted in a much more genuine sense of grief. He's much more approachable, even in death. SRS |
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24 Dec 11 - 07:40 AM (#3279298) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: foggers Yes - a true hero, a reluctant and modest leader and the best kind of revolutionary. |
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24 Dec 11 - 10:55 AM (#3279349) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: number 6 An excellent article on Havel from Der Spiegel ... I think the title says it all. A Moral Giant among Pygmies biLL |
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25 Dec 11 - 01:21 AM (#3279603) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: TheFamousEccles R.I.P. Vaclav Havel |
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25 Dec 11 - 07:36 PM (#3279954) Subject: RE: Obit: Czech playwright, President Vaclav Havel From: Paul Burke Havel na hrad. Allbright thought him a friend; I wonder if he thought her a friend. |