Jerzy Kosinski. . . Sleeping Through Eternity. . .

This photo of Jerzy Kosinski is scanned from a small poster for a talk Kosinski gave at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA on March 8th, 1988. . . 21 years ago to the day. (which I didn't realize until I pulled the poster back out of a pile to see if there was a credit for the photo... which there is, it was taken by a certain Czeslaw Czaplinski) I had enjoyed reading Jerzy Kosinski's books like Being There, The Painted Bird, and The Devil Tree, and thought it would be interesting to hear him speak... and it was fascinating. The title of the speech on the poster was : Facing Myself As A Polish Jew. I remember being surprised at the time, a little over three years later, to learn that Kosinski had committed suicide. When I met him very briefly after the speech, he seemed intensely overflowing with energy and vitality. An incredible charisma. I guess in the end he did have trouble facing himself. He had detractors and admirers, but wherever the truth may lie in the debate about his writing, I would encourage anyone who has not yet read his work to give it a try, and judge for yourself.
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