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<P class=MsoNormal>Thanks Michael for posting this – Jacek Kuron was my friend. I am very saddened by his passage. </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Jacek’s life was the stuff of films and novels. I can say I knew a revolutionary. What Michael posted does not touch on his role breaking the back of communism in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><st1:place>Poland</st1:place></st1:country-region> and the Soviet bloc in general – a people credit that buffoon Reagan! <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I met Jacek at the height of the Solidarity movement in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Poland</st1:place></st1:country-region> in the mid-80s. Hard drinking, he thought of only empowering people. He, and few others, actually helped create civil society in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Poland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>He was a brilliant thinker and tactician. During most of the 90s, we stayed in contact. After the end of communism, he maintained close links to the average Pole. The last time I saw him, he asked me about American legislation concerning equal access to public places for the handicapped. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>He also paid for his activism. He spent many years in prison. His father died of a heart attack one evening as the Polish security forces invaded his home conducting its usual harassment of opponents to the regime. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>His first wife died of cancer, denied proper medical care. </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I don’t know what Woj thinks of Kuron, but I can say he inspired me. RIP Jacek. </P><BR><BR><B><I>Michael Pugliese <michael098762001@earthlink.net></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Jacek Kuron, dies aged 70.<BR><BR>http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/click/rss/0.91/public/-/1/hi/world/europe/3815963.stm<BR> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><p>__________________________________________________<br>Do You Yahoo!?<br>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around <br>http://mail.yahoo.com