Vaclav Havel Dies at 75 this morning

[Peter Lemkin]

While both of the critiques you posted above Magda I do not find offensive nor 'wrong', they portray only a part of the man. He was, after all, a playwright, not a politician [though he became one after being pushed and never to his pleasure, IMO]. Anyone who was a friend of Frank Zappa [and asked him to become the Czech Minister of Culture], a friend of the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela; who continued to write poetry and plays during and after his time in office, can't be all bad. Yes, he befriended Albright and others in the US and European Administrations I am not happy about and he fell into the trap [that so many in the former 'East' did] of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He also did so many, many good things on a humanitarian and cultural level and started many foundations for peace and critical thinking about the problems of the world from a very progressive perspective. His loss of popularity in the CZE was mostly due to his marrying a movie star [though a very intelligent and educated woman] after his first wife died. He was constantly critical of his follower V. Klaus who is an American-style neo-conservative. He allowed some of his close aides to smoke joints and take magic mushrooms [when not working] and was a champion of many progressive causes. His blind spot, yes, was that he felt America and NATO could do little wrong - since they had been the enemy of the one that imprisoned and tortured him. Human, human, all too human. The is a great outpouring of nostalgia and grief for his death here. It is the biggest story in years or decades. More on him and the CZE reaction soon.