by Tom Gregg (Grigonis) The Lithuanian national basketball team makes its fourth Olympics appearance this August in Athens, and expectations have never been higher. We introduce the powerful squad which could garner our fourth straight medal. RINGE SPORTS LIKE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING can come or go, but the showcase event of …
Read More »The Wisterts Alone: Three Lithuanian American Brothers Each Played Football Well Enough to Be Inducted Into the College Football Hall of Fame. That’s a Unique Accomplishment, and Maybe the Heart of Our Story. But Even Taking a Wider View, the Saga of the Eight Member Wistert Family Is Extraordinary.
by Tom Gregg (Grigonis) Three Lithuanian American brothers each played football well enough to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. That’s a unique accomplishment, and maybe the heart of our story. But even taking a wider view, the saga of the eight member Wistert family is extraordinary. …
Read More »Profiles: Lithuania’s Greatest Bohemian
By Tom Gregg Webster’s defines Bohemian as a person, often a poet or artist, with an unconventional lifestyle. World War II Lithuanian refugee and longtime filmmaker and poet Jonas Mekas has consistently qualified. HE BEATNIKS were the hippies of America’s 1950s. If you remember the era, you certainly remember them. …
Read More »Our Lithuanian Roots: for Genealogy Legwork, You Need Legs (Lggs)
By Tom Gregg (Grigonis) Not all professional foot – ball players are motivated outside of athletics. But as the 2001 National Football League season wound down, Joe Jurevicius had not just one big offseason plan but two. First, he would return to college to complete studies for his Fiuman Development …
Read More »Our Immigrant Heritage: the Truth About ‘The Jungle’
BY TOM GREGG Social reform er/novelist Upton Sinclair averaged a book a year over his ninety-year life. But none matched the impact of his disturbing and controversial 1905 blockbuster about Lithuanian im m igrants in Chicago. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN JUDGED a failure at most jobs. Yes, on the one …
Read More »Profiles: ‘The Klaipėda Liberator’
BY TOM GREGG (GRIGONIS) ‘The Klaipėda Liberator’ Although Jew historical works record it, Jonas Budrys was the chief engineer of one of Lithuania’s proudest moments: 1923 suprising in the Klaipėda Territory. History is like as sieve , a great filter of facts. The smaller, less significant data falls through and …
Read More »Lithuanian Profiles: Science Fiction’s Shining Seer
By Tom Gregg He was again looking out at night-softened Manhattan. “Are you still confident that no one has deduced our -ah- personal dynamic ? ” “Perfectly confident.” Domino was shocked at the suggestion. “No one knows that you and I run the world. — Algis Budrys, Michaelmas Science Fiction deals …
Read More »Lithuanian Profiles: Among the Great Apes: Birutė Galdikas
BY TOM GREGG AMONG THE GREAT APES Birute Galdikas, born of World War II Lithuanian refugees, has forged an international reputation with extensive research on Borneo’s orangutans. What’s My Line?” was early television’s most popular game show. They awarded no vacation cruises or luxury cars, but the game itself was …
Read More »The Sporting Life: the Unsurpassable Johnny U.
BY TOM GREGG. A generation after his football exploits, star quarterback Johnny Unitas remains a source of Lithuanian pride and inspiration. Michael Jordan doesn’t realize this yet. But twenty five years after he retires, mention of his name is going to evoke mainly blank looks from the offspring of the …
Read More »The Lithuanian Experience: Hurray for Hollywood: Lithuanians On the Silver Screen
A MOVIE IS IN TROUBLE IF THE FINAL CREDITS are as interesting as the picture. But study the closer on Disney’s blockbuster “The Lion King”. In the five long minutes it runs, you will acquire a sense of where today’s $80 million budgets are coming from. And you will see, …
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