Category: News

by Lydia I. Martinov

I interviewed my grandfather, Yuri Manirko, who grew up in the Soviet Union. He lived in the city of Odesa located in Ukraine. 31 years ago, this country was one of the republics of the Soviet Union. Yuri moved to the United States at the age of 36 in 1994, in order to start a new life with his family. 

Photo of Yuri Manirko as a child in 1972

Why did you and your family make a decision to leave the country where you spent your whole life to move to the U.S.?

“I wanted my children to live in a free country. The Soviet Union was a socialist nation, and the people were living there almost like slaves. Citizens were not able to live, work, or travel where they wanted. They needed permission from the government to do almost anything. Education and healthcare was free, but that does not mean it was good. The government didn’t even let me visit my friend in Eastern Germany.”                                    

What was life like in the Soviet Union and how did it differ from life in the United States?

“In the Soviet Union, the government controlled absolutely everything. Also, there were 3 types of jobs: farmers, factory workers and jobs that require a good education like engineers, scientists, ect. My mother was a distinguished medical doctor, yet, her salary was lower than that of a factory worker. Blue collar jobs that require no education were much higher paid than scientists, doctors and engineers. This was incredibly unfair and, frankly, took away the motivation for people to study or excel. Life was terrible in the Soviet Union, and living here is much better.”

What was your home like when you were growing up?

“My parents and I lived in a communal apartment. It was very small, and we lived there with 3 other families. Each family lived in a small, single bedroom. We shared one bathroom and a tiny kitchen with three tables. Oh, and to get hot water in the bathtub, we needed to make a fire.”

Odesa is a large city with, roughly, a million residents. Getting around could get tricky. Most American families own one or two cars, but that was not the case for you. How did you and your family get around the city of Odesa? 

“A few people owned a car, but not a lot. Most people used public transportation, and had to squeeze into a bus or a trolley. It was available all around the city. Public transportation never ran on schedule. You could easily end up waiting for a bus for an hour in the freezing cold, even though there was supposed to be one every 10 minutes.”

What was your favorite part about going to school in the Soviet Union?

“The soviet children were in the same class of about 30 people from kindergarten to 10th grade, so friends were always in the same class.”

What was your least favorite part of school back there?

“They forced us to work very hard for 6 days a week (Monday – Saturday), and our teachers did not hesitate to scream rude things at us.”

What did your family do in the summer and where did you go on your vacations?

“We didn’t go on vacations, but luckily, we lived near the beach, so my parents would sometimes take me there in the summer.”

Were you able to travel to other countries around the world?

“It was prohibited by the government.” 

What kind of hobbies and extracurricular activities did you and your friends have growing up? Were the non-school activities similar to the ones we have in the U.S.?

“I was part of the track and field team, and I spent a lot of time out on the field. I started in 4th grade and stopped in 10th grade. There were a few other extracurricular activities available, but I only took part in track and field.”

How did shopping for supplies such as food, clothing, school and craft items in the Soviet Union differ from shopping in the U.S.?

“The grocery store had very few items. If you wanted to buy meat, cheese, etc., then you would have to go to the farmer’s market, even though the farmer’s market was much more expensive. Each family spent about 75% of their income on food.”

What was your favorite food in the Soviet Union?

“Fried eggs and beef stew.”

What stood out to you the most when you moved to the U.S.A.?

“Honesty and dignity.”

You witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. This was three years before you got a chance to move to the United States. What changes have you witnessed around you, once Ukraine was declared an independent country?

“I was surprised that nothing had changed. People voting in the first Ukrainian election elected a person from the communist party. After that, I realized that the people didn’t understand freedom.”

You have been living in the United States for almost 28 years. Are you happy with the decision you made almost 30 years ago to relocate your family and restart your life?

“Absolutely! Even now, I wake up in the morning thinking about how happy I am to live here, in the United States.”

Thank you for telling me about what growing up in the Soviet Union was like.

Photo of Yuri as a Pioneer in 1966

by Lydia I. Martinov

Crash! A huge, high-speed car accident occurred on the freeway. Poof! The airbags emerge!

Lilly*, a 5th grade homeschooler, was in a car crash on Friday, April 22, 2022, just after 4:15pm. It was on the 680 freeway, near Alcosta Boulevard. 4 cars, other than the one she was in, were involved in the accident.

People came to ask if she and her grandpa were okay.           

Nobody is sure how exactly the crash happened, but they can make some guesses.  Lilly was the only one with an injury, although, it was minor. Lilly needed to get medical attention and tests because the paramedics thought that she may have had internal bleeding.  

Lilly was looking at some papers in her hands in the front passenger seat, and when she looked up, the car in front of hers was an inch away. The next second, there was a loud bang, and smoke emerged from the airbags. She was trying to find something to hold on to for dear life. About 5 seconds later, the car stopped, and Lilly was gasping for breath. A woman came to ask if she and her grandpa were okay, and somebody called 911. The paramedics came and started to assess if Lilly broke anything, or had any cuts or scrapes. One cut on her neck from the seatbelt worried them. There was a minor scrape on her stomach too, and they thought that she should get checked for internal bleeding. Her parents were on the other side of the country, so they couldn’t help out very much, but Lilly still had them on the phone.  By 4:30pm, all the lanes of the freeway were temporarily blocked. Lilly’s aunt rushed over to help.  Without her, Lilly would have had a much harder time. After some decision-making, Lilly was taken to the children’s hospital in Oakland in an ambulance with her aunt. She had to stay in the hospital for five and a half boring hours. Lilly had to get two IV’s and was not happy about it at all. The first one: is for blood testing, and the second: is for a CT scan. She needed to take 2 X-rays, as well as an ultrasound.  The airbag bruises were very unpleasant, but she was okay. She had her parents on the phone too. Soon, her grandpa came to the hospital with some food that Lilly’s grandma had made. A doctor came in to say that her test results were in, but they needed a second opinion to check them, which made Lilly feel worried. Later, a different doctor came, and he said that she was okay. This was amazing, but she couldn’t leave until they removed the IV’s. Finally, she was back home safe and sound, way too shaken up to sleep.

After going through this terrifying experience, Lilly learned that it is important to be extra careful on the road. That was one wild day.

*Some names were changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

by Ava Salado

Here is the story of a woman who helped the world in so many ways and helped show that women deserve a place in the engineering space in her time (1950s and 1960s). Growing up in a time when it was almost impossible to find respect in the work she was in, she worked hard for her respect and eventually got it, blazing the trail for women all around. You may have never even heard of her, this woman’s name is Judith Love Cohen.

Cohen’s life started in Brooklyn, New York. On August 16th, 1933, she was born to Sarah and Morris Bernard Cohen. Once her parents started putting her in school, they saw that she had a true thirst for knowledge, and soon after, kids started paying her to do their homework. Cohen’s best and favorite subject was math, and she soon realized that she wanted to be a math teacher when she grew up. She studied dance for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet company and got a scholarship to go to Brooklyn College to study engineering, and eventually got a major in math. Cohen later decided that she liked engineering better. She was usually the only girl in her math classes and was the only woman in her engineering classes in college. Cohen married a man named Bernard Seigle, who she had met at Brooklyn College as a classmate. They ended up having three children together, Neil, Howard, and Rachel. Cohen and Seigle divorced in the mid-’60s. Cohen then remarried Thomas “Tom” William Black; they had one child then divorced later on. After the divorce, she married David A. Katz, and they were married until Cohen’s death in 2016.

Her engineering work started in 1952 as a junior engineer for North American Aviation. She then graduated from USC Viterbi School of Engineering in 1957 and got a job at Space Technology Laboratories. Her extensive resume includes her work on the guidance computer for the Minuteman missile and the Abort-Guidance System in the Apollo Lunar Module. In fact, her Abort-Guidance System helped get the stranded astronauts back home on the tragic Apollo 13 mission. Cohen claimed this was the highlight of her career. The astronauts gave her a “thank you” at Redondo Beach once they returned. She loyally stayed with that company until 1990, when she retired. Once she retired, her work did not stop there. She started her own publishing company with her husband, David Katz, named Cascade Pass. Cohen published many books, and we have her to thank for writing and co-writing the “You can be a woman” series and so many others. 

This incredible woman showed determination and hope when there was none, drive, and a deep love and appreciation for her work. This was shown on August 28th, 1969, when she was in the middle of solving a very important problem when she went into labor with her 4th child, the one I mentioned earlier. When she needed to go to the hospital, she made a stop at the office, did some work and grabbed her paperwork then headed out to finally go to the hospital. She worked the entirety of her labor, and right before she gave birth, she solved the problem! Right after, she called her boss, and according to Neil Seigle (her first child), he said“later that day, she called her boss and told him that she had solved the problem. And… oh, yes, the baby was born too.”  The baby she gave birth to was, well, we know him as… Jack Black.  

by Ava Salado

It has been a sad couple days for the royal family, for Great Britain and for the world.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, passed away April 9th 2021. The royal family made a statement to share the news on their official website this Friday. They report that he passed “peacefully” in Windsor Castle. Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II have been married for 73 years now and have been through good and bad together, being the longest marriage in British monarch history. Their somewhat “fairytale” love story is one for the ages and his extraordinary life is truly one to remember. 

He was born June 10, 1921 in Mon Repos, Corfu, Kingdom of Greece to Greek and Danish royal Families, he was the only son of five children and last born. He was related to 

George I of Greece, King of Greece from 1863 to 1913 and Christian XI of Denmark because he was in line for both thrones. The Greco-Turkish war went badly, and Phillip’s family was thought at risk and banished from Greece.  Phillips family escaped safely in a cot made of fruit boxes and went to France where they settled in a small French suburb. 

Phillip first went to The Elms school, then he went to the Cheam School in the United Kingdom. He lived with his grandmother Victoria Mountbatten in the Kensington Palace, then he lived with George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, in Lynden Manor. Prince Philip’s mother was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and sent to an asylum, he unfortunately had little to no contact with his mother for the rest of his childhood. After this he was sent to Schule Schloss Salem school of Germany in 1933. The school was owned by his brother-in-law’s family. 

When Philip was 16, his sister Cecilie, her new born child, and two other children, husband, and Cecilie’s mother-in-law all died in a plane crash, then his uncle and guardian died of bone marrow cancer the following year. Phillip endured pain and sorrow throughout his childhood and it scarred him for the remainder of his life.  

In 1939 he finished his first term in the Royal Naval College and graduated best cadet in his course. In the second world war, he served in the British forces, while his two brother-in-laws fought on the opposite German side. In January 1940 Philip was appointed midshipman and spent four months in the ship, HMS Ramillies, participating in the Australian Expeditionary Force in the Indian Ocean. 

In 1939, Elizabeth II and her father, King George XI, toured Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, the college that Philip went to. On the visit, Phillip was asked to escort the two daughters of the King around, Elizabeth and Margaret. Elizebeth fell in love with him and they began sending letters to each other, eventually in the summer of 1946 Phillip asked the King if he would give him Elizabeth’s hand in marriage, the king accepted and they were married November 20th, 1947 in Westminster Abbey.

He was an amazing man with an interesting past and we are all truly fortunate to learn about it now, so we thank him for his service and the extraordinary life that he has shared.  

by Ava Salado

On February 5th, 2021, the world lost another one of it’s greats. Christopher Plummer passed away at the age of 91 with a very full and celebrated career behind him. His work in film, television, and theater has changed how we think of many historical figures. Plummer has been in at least 96 films from the late 40s to present day. His portrayals of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in Waterloo (1970), Rudyard Kipling in The Man Who Would Be King (1975), and Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009) and his extraordinary performance as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965) all attributed to his legacy. He was also known for his other work as fictional characters, such as his film debut playing Joe Sheridan in Stage Struck (1958), Knives Out (2019) and Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind (2001). 

Christopher Plummer was born December 13th, 1929 in Toronto, Canada. He lived with his parents John and Isabella Mary Plummer, he was an only child and when his parents divorced Plummer and his mother moved to Sennevill, Quebec just outside of Montreal. He started acting while attending the High School of Montreal and developed a deep love for the theater and concert pianists. Plummer never attended any University in his life which is one of his regrets. 

Plummer made his acting debut in 1948 at the Montreal Repertory Theatre alongside William Shatner. In 1952, he starred in a number of productions at the Bermudiana Theatre, Edward Everett Horton hired him to appear as  Gerard in the 1953 roadshow production of André Roussin’s Nina,

He changed the lives of so many people and helped shape musical cinema today, his co-star Julie Andrews told NBC news “The world has lost a consummate actor today and I have lost a cherished friend,” and “I treasure the memories of our work together and all the humor and fun we shared through the years.” Plummer’s friend, family and the world will remember and thank him for the happy memories and some happy tears that he has given us.