»  Mentioned in Dispatches

 

       — A —

       — B —

Jay Bodo:     Jay Bodo was a colleague of mine at Savin, 1974-78. I was an usher at his wedding to Mary Silla in 1977, and godfather to his second son, Michael, born September 9, 1981.

       — C —

Jingzu Chen (陈京祖):     Directrix of the Postgraduate Diploma in Modern Chinese course that I studied 1979-80 at Ealing College of Higher Education. Jingzu herself was unmarried, but her sister was the wife of the eminent Swedish sinologist Göran Malmqvist. Prof. Malmqvist came to Ealing to give us a lecture once. His topic was the use of the character 其 as a grammatical particle in early Iron Age texts.

Kwong-Chi Chan (陈广智):     I met Mr. Chan in the fall of 1971, when I was living in Hong Kong. I had taken a job as lecturer in computer programming at New York Technical Institute, the Hong Kong branch of an American chain of private training schools. The Institute was in Old Bailey Street (澳卑利街) on Hong Kong island. Mr. Chan was the caretaker and general factotum. We remained close friends until his death in October 2005. I last saw him during a brief visit to Hong Kong in Summer 2001. There is a note here. Mr. Chan was the father of three clever and capable sons: Tin-sing (陈天成), Tin-sang (陈天生), and Tin-man (陈天文).

Chronicle & Echo:     The daily (evening) newspaper in Northampton, my home town. Known locally as "the Chron'n'Eck."

Computastaff:     A company that supplied computing contractors around the London area in the early 1980s. I did several contracts for them.

CSFB:     See "First Boston," below.

       — D —

Daily Mirror:     A London daily tabloid newspaper, favored by my parents all through my childhood, and my my mother till nearly the end of her life.

       — E —

       — F —

Wally (Vladimir) Fekula:     My boss at First Boston Corp. (see below), 1986-1999, and dear friend then and thereafter. A principal of the Russian Children's Welfare Society.

First Boston, CS First Boston, etc.:     First Boston was the New York investment bank I went to work for on contract in October 1985, and of which I became an employee in November 1986. The firm's name was changed to "CS First Boston" in 1988 when Credit Suisse acquired a major interest (which became a controlling interest two years later). In 1996, while I was still an employee, the name changed again, to "Credit Suisse First Boston." Then in 2006, by which time I no longer had any contact with the firm, they dropped the "First Boston."

Tom Fitzhenry:     My boss at Savin, 1974-78.

       — G —

       — H —

       — I —

Irene:     A friend in Hong Kong.

Jean Isherwood:    Jean Isherwood was my mother's best friend in the later years of her life. The two had been nursing colleagues at St. Edmund's Hospital, Northampton. Jean lived with her husband, Bernard, in a bungalow in Hardingstone village.

Margaret Ives:     The Ives family were longtime neighbors of ours in Friars Avenue.

       — J —

       — K —

Jimmy Kirwan:     Our family doctor when I was a small child.

Kathy Kopec:     Jay Bodo's sister.

       — L —

Ray Langwith:     A contractor my mother engaged to do home improvement work at 62 Friars Avenue.

Li Xiaolong:     Xiaolong was a graduate of Siping College, a year ahead of Rosie. He came to England in 1984, married an English girl, and worked in London for some years before settling in Leicester.

Peggy Lister:     Proprietress of Lister House, the residential care home where my mother spent her last years.

       — M —

Ada Moore:     Mother of Philip Moore, my sister's second husband.

       — N —

Peter Nalder:     Peter Nalder was a classmate of mine at University College, London, 1963-66. We lost touch for a few years, but in the late 1970s he moved to Northampton with his wife Anni Ruzicka. They adopted a little boy, Michael, in (I think) 1979.

Nikita:     A tropical fish, I forget the details, resident at the Derbyshire household in Huntington, 1996-97.

       — O —

       — P —

Peter Paterson:     Peter was first my agent, when I went looking for contract work in London in 1981 and he was an associate at Computastaff. Then he was my landlord for a few months in 1981-2, when I lived in the spare bedroom of his apartment in Ealing. He has ever since been a good friend, though we see each other much too infrequently.

Petroushka Ball:    A charity event sponsored by the Russian Children's Welfare Society, held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City every year, usually in early February.

       — Q —

       — R —

       — S —

Savin Business Machines:     My employer from April 1974 to October 1978. At that time located in Valhalla, NY. Later, after much reorganization and at least one takeover, in Stamford, CT.

Angela Scott:     A long-time friend of my sister Judith's.

Jimmy Shao:     A dear old friend of Rosie & myself. Jimmy was one of Rosie's classmates at Siping College when I taught there, 1982-3. He went to England in 1985 on a student visa and stayed with me for a while in London. In 1986 he came to New York, staying with me again until I brought Rosie to join me in fall of that year. Sometime in the early 1990s he moved to California, where he now lives with his wife Michelle and daughter Sara Fei.

Anthony Sheil:     A London literary agent with whom I tried to place a book in 1982-3.

       — T —

       — U —

       — V —

Violet:    A small purple fish, resident at the Derbyshire household in Huntington, 1996-97.

       — W —

       — X —

       — Y —

       — Z —