GERMANY - At Various Times

Prior to World War II, when I still lived at my grandparents' house (4 Rua Praia dos Santos, São Miguel, Azores), I often saw my uncle Guilherme, as well as just about anyone who could do it - including my mother - crate pineapples grown in our hot houses for export to Germany. Each pineapple took two years to cultivate from the time the first plant was started to the day it was approved for someone's table. It was a product that we raised, but which only foreigners could purchase. In fact, if I remember correctly, I ate more pineapples during my first month in the United States than I ate during my first fourteen and a half years in the Azores.The Germans were the best purchasers of all and when the World War came, the Pontes suddenly found themselves rapidly going broke. Eventually, by the time  I was 11, the house and pineapple hot house properties had to be sold just to pay the bills. One name, however, stuck to my mind from all that experience - Hamburg, the entry point for most of our shipments. It was only natural that later as an adult I should live with an excuse to visit that city, a hope that I realized often even when my business did not demand it. Hamburg is one of the most beautiful places one will ever see. As a port city, it has all the activity expected of its location. On the other hand, it simultaneously possesses a  quality that not only reflects its modern prosperity but  also a sense of taste and tradition that one can not help appreciating.

Frankfurt-am-Main

The  photos ON THE RIGHT were shot at the Roemer Section of Frankfurt, Germany. Somehow, although I have seen it on many occasions during my visits to the Frankfurt Book Fair, I can not get my fill of it. Roemer is somewhat like being transported into a time that will not return and which, therefore, must be appreciated. The other photos below were shot at Frankfurt at the Fair itself  at various times and under various circumstances.

On the other hand, should one ever get tired of German architecture and street design, one can always retire to a small hotel not too far from the Central Railroad Station, at Frankfurt. Granted that Marc Chagall never heard of the Münchener Hof. But, then, it is not everyday that one is exposed to his art - even if the painter probably copied him by the numbers.

FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR

LEFT: Walter f. Gaus (Brazil), Ramón Espaxs P., Ramón Espaxs R. (Spain), Rui M. Santos (Brazil), Manuel L. Ponte, Katherine  M Ponte  (USA) -1999 Frankfurt Book Fair. (Germany).

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In many ways I have always lived between two cultures, the European and the American. I have never stopped being Azorean, and, naturally, a cultural Portuguese. Nevertheless, I became a U. S. citizen as soon as the opportunity was presented to me. Whenever I visit Latin America, however, I seem to look for whatever contribution Azoreans made to that part of the continent, never forgeting, of course, that we were few in the scheme of things. To this day, after more than a half century in an American environment, my favorite dish is still a dozen charcoal-broiled sardines. (St. Louis, Missouri, November 12, 2006)

2

It was through my interest in what Azoreans have meant to the Americas that I met Carlos Jorge Nascimento in Santiago, Chile. Although he had been born on the Corvo Island, the smallest in the Azores (Pop. 500 app.), he had migrated as a young man to California, where he felt crowded by its environment. Eventually his trip as a laborer aboard a whaling ship took  him to Chile, where he finally settled in Santiago and eventually became one of the most important pioneers in saving that country's great contributions to Spanish-American literature. It's only just that his photo should be added to the one where the Frankfurt Book Fair (Germany) is the most important of its features.

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Photo 1. Espaxs (Father and Son) joining me with F. Lyon de Castro, one of the foremost Portuguese publishers. Photo 2. Katherine with me at dinner. Photo 3. Another dinner with the Espaxes.

Katherine always enjoyed the Frankfurt Book Fair - so much so that she would not mind spending some of her time at the Ishiyaku EuroAmerica display booth in 1994. She's seen here with Frank Chen, from Taiwan. Frank was - and still is - one of Taiwan's formest dental booksellers. He was also one of that country's book dealers who, thanks to a decision by a past Mosby president, was ignored while seeing his business with that company drift to a bookseller in Singapore.

Frankfurt, 1974 - With Henrique Kipperman and Milton Hecht (Brazil)

Frankfurt, 1974 - Colleagues Stan Clark and Bill Keller (Year Book Officers)

I sincerely hope that Miguel Prado' s wife ( Librería Acuario, Mexico City) , never sees this photo. The man in the middle told her back home that he'd be visiting his mother, who did not have a phone in a remote part of Mexico, when this photo was taken at Frankfurt. The other Mexican is Ernesto Hernández, who for many years had been handling Mosby books in Mexico through La Prensa Medica Mexicana. He eventually set out on his own...

The Igaku Shoin parties at the Fair were always amongst the greatest parties. Their people were always available for photos - as seen at this moment when Mr. & Mrs. Robert Crane from  the F. A. Davis Company, Philadelphia, posed with Kathy and me. In spite of the close relationship between Igaku Shoin and The C. V. Mosby Company (St. Louis) no one from that company was present at the above party.

Between Köln and Frankfurt - River Valley Scene...

Riding a train through the German countryside is full of surprises. Sometimes the tracks parallel rivers, many flowing along well-maintained river banks, or vineyards that rise along relatively-steep lands, as well as castles and fortresses from times gone by  sitting atop the mountains reminding those down in the valley that they'e being cared for and duly protected. Every inch of land seems to be cultivated. Even outside the cities one can see the small garden patches  possibly belonging to  apartment dwellers, each with its own growth as if Germany did not have the funds to buy food, or flowers, from full-time farmers everywhere.

Leo Strasse, Munich - Traffic, Traffic, etc.

When one thinks of Munich one generally thinks of the Octoberfest, when beer flows freely and orgies are equated with the city. One will also remember Hitler and the evil of his Nazi followers. I was most surprised when I visited Munich for the first time to attend a meeting of the FDI. The city was  building roads and all types of facilities for the 1986 Olympics. Again tragedy struck when terrorists  assaulted the Olympic Village, an act resulting in total tragedy for the Israeli contigent. Munich, however, recovered. Amongst its palaces, monuments, and gardens, Munich is also known as the home of the Bayern Soccer Team, one of the most feared in the world where soccer ambitions reign. One can't  ignore the BMW car, either.

Below - HEIDELBERG, 1993 - Several views, including one of the castle...

Although I had been to several cities in Germany during my working career, I never had any desire to visit Düsseldorf. I had always felt that it was an industrial city - a sort of Pittsburgh-In-Europe. In 1978, however, Continental Airlines routed me and my wife home through that city. Kathy and I were totally delighted by what we saw during our brief stay. The following photo, which unfortunately is not ours, has been entered into this album as a reminder that we have to get back and get our own photos. Oh, if only life weren't so short....

Switzerland - Lakes, Mountains, Clean Cities

For many years Kathy had talked me into taking her to Switzerland, something that I finally did for the first time in 1998. At this moment, and on a very cold Sunday, Kathy can be seen by the historic and clean Limat River, Zurich. Someday, however, I plan to take her to that country in a more leisurely way, although since that first visit Kathy has already crossed Switzerland twice: From Milan to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Milan.

ABOVE RIGHT -Sometimes, even when one does not know where one is, there are chances that present themselves for a good shot - as was the case in this one as the train moved from Italy through Switzerland...

One normally equates Switzerland with an efficient banking and commercial system. It's rare when one thinks of it also as an agricultural nation. Switzerland, however, has some of the best-kept farms in Europe. Riding through a typical Swiss Valley, one can spot them in-between well-kept cities and unpolluted lakes. Sadly, however, it has been reported that, since few Swiss do not dedicate themselves to physical labor, the foreigners working on those farms are amongst the worst-paid laborers in that country.

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