Mailbox
This week in Mailbox: Some more reactions to the closure of Radio Prague's shortwave broadcasting. We dislose the identity of January's mystery man and read from your correct answers. Listeners quoted: Harold Yeglin, Bill Bergadano, Ian Evans, Stephen Hrebenach, Mick Edwards, Nick Sharpe, Yukiko Tsuji-Maki, Hiroyuki Okada, Armin Gerstberger, Paul Peacock, Colin Law, Charles Konecny, Henk Poortvliet, David Eldridge, Hans Verner Lollike, Richard Chen.
Harold Yeglin from Virginia writes:
“For many years I listened to Radio Prague's English language reports via shortwave radio. However, for the last 10 years or so I have received your daily English language news reports via the Internet. No static, no fading signal, no hassle.”
Bill Bergadano from New Jersey has a different view:
“I did listen to your Mailbox program via the web tonight and the first two letters you read had me hysterically laughing. The first told us basically too bad, use the site, it's better. According to who? My computer is NOT a radio, then the young writer who was next said... radio telegraph is an old mode (paraphrased)? Really?! Best that young pup go to the ham bands....where morse is all over! Radio via the web. Right next to pedohilia, money scams, people meeting others and vanishing and much more. That never happened listening to shortwave. See THAT's the new technology that your writer speaks of is at. You did state your Mailbox show will continue now via the web. Too bad as I will NOT be listening, you want to waste your time with the web radio thing, go ahead.”
Ian Evans in the UK also listened to last week’s Mailbox:
Stephen Hrebenach from Ohio says:
“I understand the budgetary issues that your station faces which requires some changes. I hope that Radio Prague can survive in the short term and thrive in the long term. It must be recognized that some change can be good, and I am intrigued by the broadcasting of Czech music for the Sunday program. But I am disappointed to see some of the other weekend features disappear. I always liked Magazine. It was consistently interesting and a nice break from more serious stories. Letter from Prague was usually good as well, giving a little insight into some aspect of everyday Czech life. I hope that at some point these features can come back, even if on a less frequent basis, say once a month like Science Journal. In the meantime, keep up the good work.”
Mick Edwards from the United Kingdom writes:
“It is with great sorrow and disbelief to discover that you are to cease your shortwave broadcasts. I have listened to your programmes for more years than I can remember, and have done so with great respect for your factual and entertaining content. There are a few international broadcasters who deliver balanced and professional broadcasts, Radio Prague being one of them. By shutting down your transmitters, you depriving a vast audience of your strong voice in Europe matters.
“Most of my fellow shortwave listeners to Radio Prague WILL NOT migrate to pod-casts..; [ you can't receive them whilst driving for example]. I am one of a silent majority who only occasionally makes contact with you. I am sure your government does not realise how many people listen to you; nor do they realise how important your broadcasts are in promoting tourism. I would never visit the Czech Republic if I hadn't listened to you. It seems the lights are going out in Europe and Czech Radio is being silenced... something the Germans couldn't do in May 1945.”
Nick Sharpe from the UK wrote:
“I have been a short wave listener since my secondary school days back in around 1973 when I first listened to shortwave using a German Grundig radio. Radio Prague and Radio Nederland were the main English language station broadcasts which I could hear on the 49-meter band in those afternoons after school. My mother worked as a typist for a tank section of the British Army so I wasn't able to really openly discuss listening to a communist station at that time but I can always remember the tone and loudness of those presenters in those days. I am sorry to hear that this is the last week of Radio Prague on short wave but thankfully not the end of your station which I aim to listen to via the Real Audio link.”
“It is sad that Radio Prague goes off the air on shortwave, but I can understand the move when considering the improvement of communication technologies these days. The joy of listening to the radio has gone, but the joy of listening to Radio Prague stays the same, only by different means, the Internet.
“To tell the truth, catching the signal of Radio Prague is very difficult in my area, so I usually listen to your program on the Internet. So, as long as Radio Prague continues broadcasting on the Internet, I am not against your decision. I welcome your other decision to send out QSL cards to listeners on the Internet. I really think broadcasters need to know the reactions and responses or opinions of listeners toward their programs.”
Another listener from Japan Hiroyuki Okada sent his comment along with his competition answer:
“The day of your closing on short wave is drawing near. I'm very sorry I don’t have the chance to listen to your English broadcast. But I can see your web page, and I found your quiz of this month. And the answer is Rainer Maria Rilke. I never knew he was born in Prague.”
Armin Gerstberger from California wrote this in his quiz answer:
“The person you're looking for is Rainer Maria Rilke (or actually, René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke, if you prefer to go by his full name). This was an easy one for me, as Rilke is well-known in Germany where I was born and raised and obtained my elementary and high school education. As a curiosity on the side, former Bavarian minister president Franz-Josef Strauß (a teacher by trade) is said to have been quoted stating that Rilke was his favorite poet. Also, what made it easy for me was that your German language colleagues produced a beautiful special program which was aired over the Christmas holidays featuring German-speaking poets from Bohemia, amongst them Rainer Maria Rilke.”
A short quote from a long answer from Paul Peacock from Australia:
“Rainer Maria Rilke. Sounds more like a female’s name … He was even dressed in girls clothing by his mother when young as she struggled to recover from the loss of a daughter she bore prior to Rainer, but unfortunately lost at only one week of age.”
Among other facts, Colin Law from New Zealand wrote:
“At the age of seven Rainer was copying poems and learning them off by heart. His mother encouraged her son with religious teachings, including devotions and the lives of saints. On the other hand his father’s influence saw the child developing a respect for chivalry, soldiers and knights in armour. These opposites helped to form Rainer’s psyche and when he was an adult many of his early stories and poems were about both tender maidens and brave knights and soldiers.”
Charles Konecny from Ohio writes:
“Rilke was an intellectual who had a lot to say and he said it with poetry. Poetry is sometimes hard to ponder, as one article said, ‘there are so many metaphors and contradictions’. But he became a popular poet with a poetic flair for the German language. Rilke got around (he left his wife and infant daughter) and travelled throughout Europe where he cultivated his relationships, both personal and in the artistic community. He was a deep thinker with a probing mind and one must concede his genuine passion for the poetic arts. Was his death from leukaemia, or from the prick of a rose as his grave epitaph might suggest?”
This is what Henk Poortvliet from the Netherlands wrote:
“During a long life of wandering across Europe he got acquainted with Russian poets. After that period he has settled himself in Paris where he met for instance Auguste Rodin. Several poems have been composed there. Later on – after a period of depression – he dealt with poems about human existence.”
David Eldridge from the United Kingdom wrote:
“The subject matter of Rainer Maria Rilke’s poems were art and personal relationships. He wrote primarily in German but he travelled extensively throughout Europe notably France, Switzerland and including Russia where he met Leo Tolstoy and Boris Pasternak. He is reputed to have considered both Bohemia and Russia to be his homelands.”
Hans Verner Lollike from Denmark:
“You really got a very advanced poet born in Prague. I tried to read his book: ‘Letters tom a young poet’ once in my youth. It was too difficult for me.”
“Here's a choice quote of Rainer Maria Rilke: ‘For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been given to us, the ultimate, the final problem and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.’ Finally a hearty thank you to Radio Prague for maintaining a wonderful shortwave service for the immense listening pleasure and privilege of its countless international listeners over the decades. You couldn’t have done it better! You have won our hearts and souls! Now onto the internet!”
Thank you very much for your views and well-researched answers. Today the lucky listener who will be sent a Radio Prague present is Debakamal Hazarika from India. Congratulations! The rest of you have another chance if you answer correctly this quiz question:
In February we are looking for the name of the Czech scientist and explorer born in 1898 who took part in Roald Amundsen’s expedition to the North Pole and survived the 1928 crash of airship Italia during an expedition led by Umberto Nobile.
Your answers need to reach us by February 28th. In the meantime you can send us your comments regarding our programmes as well as reception reports specifying on which medium you heard us. We will confirm your report with a QSL card. The addresses are [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague. Mailbox will be back in two weeks time. Until then, stay with Radio Prague if you can.
