Mailbox

This week's Mailbox presents three Radio Prague competition entries: by Joshua Perry from England, Mary Lou Krenek from the United States and Michael Ryan from Canada. Listeners quoted: Mr. A.K.M. Nuruzzaman, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

Mailbox

Thanks for joining us for another edition of Mailbox. I'm Vladimir Tax and I am Pavla Horakova. We are standing in for Dita who is busy recording at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

And we'll start off with a letter from Mr. A.K.M. Nuruzzaman from Rajshahi, Bangladesh, concerning Radio Prague's annual competition.

"I was very glad to receive your letter telling me I have won one of the prizes in Radio Prague's listeners' competition. In the envelope I also found a Radio Prague magnet sticker. Is it my prize? Any way, in the last few years I have regularly participated in Radio Prague's competitions and have received Radio Prague souvenirs. I am very glad that this year I was one of the 438 participants in your competition."

Indeed, we received over 400 entries answering the question "Who is the most interesting person in Czech history". We selected a winner plus ten runners-up. The first prize winner for 2003 winning a trip to Podebrady spa, sponsored by Czech Airlines and the Bellevue Hotel, is Mrs. Christine Nuttall, Cumbria, Great Britain.

The runners-up received goodie-bags from Radio Prague, T-shirts, baseball hats, sunglasses and similar gifts. And all the 438 entrants got a small souvenir from us, such as a Radio Prague fridge magnet.

We already read out the winning essay from Mrs. Nutall from England. But now it's time to present some of the other letters as well. We begin with the first runner up, Mr Joshua Perry from London, England.

"Otto Wichterle is not the first name that springs to mind when considering the influential figures in Czech history. That's because the first name that springs to mind is Vaclav Havel. The Havel story is well known, and hence I shall not concern myself with it here. Instead I would like to draw attention to the far less well-known, though equally incredible, life of Otto Wichterle.

Wichterle invented the contact lens, and for this alone he should be saluted, given that over one hundred million people worldwide (myself included) wear his creation. From a personal perspective, this has changed my life dramatically in two ways. Firstly, I love sports 'rugby in particular' but until I got my first pair of contact lenses I was fit only for watching (through heavy black glasses) from the touchline. Lenses enabled me to participate. Secondly, like most human beings, I am vain. The contact lens allows me to look at myself in the mirror (without squinting) and see the person I want to see.

Moreover, Wichterle's life is an inspirational tale of triumph over adversity. In 1939 his research was interrupted when the Nazis closed the Czech universities; in 1958 he had to leave the Institute of Chemical Technology after a political purge staged by its Communist leadership; and then in 1968 he lost his job as head of his own research institute as a result of his participation in the Prague Spring uprising. And yet despite these hardships Wichterle never gave up on his research, even though it often meant improvising equipment in his own home: famously, early prototypes for his invention were made in his kitchen on machines constructed from a bicycle dynamo and an old phonograph.

However, perhaps most admirable of all is the humanity 'and humility' of the man. His son fondly tells the story of how Otto never once regretted not receiving any royalties for his invention after the Czech government sold the patent to the Americans. For this great scientist, the thrill of discovery was enough. And certainly nobody could accuse him of egocentric motives for his life's work - though people the world over have benefited hugely from his invention, Otto always much preferred glasses."

Now, we'll read the letter from another runner up, Mary Lou Krenek, from Stafford, Texas, in the USA.

Edvard Taborsky and Edvard BEnes (right), photo: CTK

"The primary purpose of this essay is to remember Dr. Edward Taborsky who passed away in 1996. He was the former private secretary to President Edward Benes prior to and during World War II. He was also Czechoslovakia's Ambassador to Sweden around that time. Although he left Czechoslovakia and came to the United States, he devoted his life as an academic at the University of Texas at Austin to bring the world's attention to the plight of the Czech people during the many years under communist rule. He never forgot his homeland. Towards the end of his career and life, he was instrumental in providing guidance and support for my graduate thesis "Charter 77: The Struggle for Human Rights in Czechoslovakia". We would sit in his office in Austin, Texas, looking at a bust of President Edward Benes discussing this project in the eighties. He lived to see his beloved homeland restored again to freedom under the brilliant leadership of former President Vaclav Havel and his colleagues. He retired as Professor Emeritus from the University of Texas at Austin, a title well-deserved. This will be his final legacy."

We'll end today's Mailbox by reading the essay sent by Michael Ryan from Ottawa, Canada.

"For me, it's Zdenek Burian, a man, whose depictions of dinosaurs defined their look for more than a generation.

Zdenek Burian was born in 1905 in Moravia, Czechoslovakia. In the course of his career as an artist he became perhaps the greatest illustrator and painter of prehistoric life. Early in his career he made his mark illustrating stories by both Czech and English-speaking authors including Zane Grey, Kipling and Verne. He then began a long collaboration with palaeontologist Josef Augusta on a series of illustrated books on various aspects of palaeontology that set the standard for dinosaur and prehistoric animal illustrations that has rarely been equalled to this day.

Two of his last students have made significant contributions to palaeontology in Canada. Vladimir Krb painted all the murals for the internationally renowned Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology located in the heart of the Canadian Badlands in Alberta, Canada. Jan Sovak has had a long career as an illustrator of dinosaurs frequently collaborating with Dr. Philip Currie, the world's leading expert on carnivorous dinosaurs."

That brings us to the end of today's Mailbox. Just a quick reminder of our contact information. You can e-mail us at [email protected], or send us a letter to Radio Prague, English section, 120 99 Prague 2, Czech Republic.