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Telling their tale

Telling their tale
Parent's struggle inspires first-time author
Janina Stankiewicz Chung to pen story of love and triumph



"While most Americans know of the atrocities of World War II through films such as Holocaust, Sophie's Choice, and Schindler's List, Janina Stankiewicz Chung simply knows. Her family endured life under communist oppression in Russia, forced
relocation to Hitler's hellish concentration camps, and the sorrow of losing their homeland.

And that's just part of her story.."

From the publisher's Web site
for "Far East of the Sun"


By Debbie Gardner
PRIME Editor

"My entire life, I wanted to write [this book]."
So said first-time author Janina Stankiewicz Chung to PRIME as we talked in the comfortable lobby of Holyoke's Loomis House retirement community, where Chung is the dining room manager.

Clad in a flowing cream pantsuit, her hair swept up to reveal a graceful neck and expressive eyes, it was hard to believe the woman with the lilting Slavic accent sitting across from me had reached the 70th birthday she admitted to.

Just as it was hard to reconcile the fact that the tale she had spun, chronicling the struggles of a young couple caught in the upheaval of Russia's Bolshevick revolution and Hitler's domination of Europe, was drawn from true events very close to her heart.

"It's based on my parent's life," said Chung. "Sasha and Anya are two different people, but I made Sasha and Anya go through what they went through."
And what her family endured on their journey from oppression in Europe to freedom in America.

Telling their tale

"My mother and father had always told stories of their life in Russia and Belarus," Chung said. "When my father passed away I started spending more time with my mother."

As she learned more and more about her parent's struggles and life story, Chung said, "I thought, 'I really should write this down.'"

But desire wasn't enough to motivate Chung to put pen to paper right away.

In fact, it wasn't until 2000, when her mother passed away, that she decided "I really can't let this go I must tell the world what they went through."
She said she spent four years "thinking about it . you really have to discipline yourself . to be able to put something on paper."

In 2004, she took up the challenge. And though she had never written anything before in her life, Chung set up a writing schedule as rigorous as that of the accomplished writers PRIME has interviewed over the years.

"I disciplined myself to write a half-hour before work and 45 minutes after work," said Chung. "And I worked long hours then [as a restaurant manager in Sturbridge]."

But that job at the Sturbridge Host Hotel also brought Chung into contact with a valuable asset, someone who could help her refine her writing skills.
"I was very fortunate. One of my hostesses, Karen Krasinski, was [an English] teacher in Southbridge," Chung said. " I had a page [and] I showed it to her and asked if she could put it in context."

After reading her efforts, Chung said "she said, 'I think you've got something here.'"

After that first consultation, Chung
said she would write "at random" and pass her efforts along to Krasinski, who took the pages home, put the thoughts into context, and retyped the material.

"She would work until one or two a.m. because she had such a great feeling about [the story]," Chung said. "When we got nine pages, we were so thrilled."

When the collaborators had about 19 finished pages, Chung said she thought it was time to look for a professional editor.

Again, she turned to a contact at her Sturbridge job for help, this time, a regular customer by the name of Bill Lemke.

"He said, 'I happen to know somebody'," and introduced Chung to freelance editor Rita Schiano.
"She took my 19 pages and said, 'you have something here . I have a good feeling.'"

Schiano offered to work with Chung for a reduced price because she was a first-time writer, then told her to "go home, and when you have 100 pages or so, we'll get together and go over it."



An excerpt from "Far East of the Sun"

An excerpt from "Far East of the Sun"
Chapter One
His cheeks were red; lips pressed tightly together were chapped and turning blue from the bitter cold wind. Wisps of wet, blonde hair escaped from the rough handmade cap, forming small icicles on his forehead that melted against his skin like teardrops. Intense cornflower blue eyes full of despair squinted through snow-covered eyelashes, searching for the winding road buried under a foot of newly fallen snow.
Pine trees, tall and majestic with branches covered in snow and ice, were hanging low with long icicles that reached out like fingers against the passing sled; like sentries shielding the occupants from the howling wind and blowing drifts.
Sasha was perched on the small front seat of the sled. His muscular arms and body, used to hard labor, strained as he pulled on the reins, guiding the tired mare in the right direction of the once visible dirt road. Wild-eyed with fear, the mare whinnied and puffs of steam blew through her nose. Desperately, she shook her head to rid the snow off its long mane, which blinded her vision. Her hooves slid on the ice buried under a foot of newly fallen snow causing her to stumble, threatening to overturn the precious cargo in its hold.
"Whoa! Szarna.Pomaludku. Whoa! Szarna.Easy now." In a raspy hoarse voice barely audible to the mare's ears, Sasha tried to soothe the skittish mare.
Huddled in the back of the sled was his wife Anya. Gripping the sides with frozen and numb fingers, she tried to shield herself from the falling snow. Blankets wet, rough, and threadbare offered little protection from the open heavens, emptying its cargo onto their world.
Agonizing moans muffled by the wind reached Sasha. Anya moaned again. This time, long, deep, guttural. Each bump of the sled was like a knife stabbing her back causing a new contraction, each one stronger and more intense than the last. Her deep blue eyes brimming with tears were full of terror, and gasping with dry lips she prayed, "Hospudzi Pomarzy Nam.Hospudzi Pa Miluj Nas.God help us.God love us. Let this child be born safely." Anya took another deep breath. She closed her eyes before the next contractions ripped through her body.
I must find shelter soon.or we will perish.Hospudzi.Hospudizi.Pomarzy name.God.Oh, God.Help us.I have to find a way out of this whiteness.Sasha's thoughts echoed his wife's plea. He was lost and desperate. Panic set in, quickening his heartbeat as if two steel forceps were squeezing the breath out of him. Striving to fight fear with reality, Sasha began to recall the events of the past few weeks.

Reprinted with permission of the author

The writer's craft

At that point, Chung said she decided to try writing on her own without Krasinski's help.

"It took me quite awhile," Chung said. "I didn't see [Schiano] again for eight or nine months."

When she finally had the requested number of pages completed, Chung met with her new editor. Three months later, Schiano returned the pages with comments and suggestions.

In certain chapters Chung said she had comments such as "I need more input . what did they talk about, what were they feeling?"

Chung said she had to go back and add the missing material, "which was a lot of work, of course."

"I probably have eight manuscripts," Chung said of the revisions Schiano suggested. "She was very tough in what she drew out of me."

And Chung said it was a struggle to fill in the gaps in the story that Schiano highlighted.

"Sometimes I felt . just forget about it," Chung said. But I kept going back to it."

Eventually, she said, the story started to flow.

"I felt as though my mother was sitting next to me, talking in my ear," Chung said. "It really was just amazing. I'd never written before and all of this just came pouring out of me."

After the final revision was okayed by Schiano, Chung contacted independent publishing house Reed Edwards, which bought her manuscript.

Her book, "Far East of the Sun," was published last month, on June 4.

"I thought I would be finished in six months with the book," Chung said. "It doesn't happen that way."

But when the manuscript was finally finished she said, "I was lost . I lived in that world for four years. It was wonderful."

Her book touches hearts

Chung said early reaction to the book has been very positive.

Herb Segal, a Loomis resident and former attorney gave her book high praise.

"He said, 'Janina, that book, it brought tears to my eyes. I wanted more. You should have put in more," Chung said.

More praise came from Kathy Krasinski, her first editor.

"I got a call from her," Chung said. "she said, Janina, you won't believe me but I am driving and I'm reading at stop signs; I can't put it down.'"
She said others who have read the book have told her "this is a movie."

"I was so afraid about this book," said Chung of her trepidation over its acceptance. "But I've been so elated with all these comments."

Still, Chung hopes what people take away from this story of triumph over trials is the importance of family, and the strength of love.

That she said, is why she toiled to write the book.

"Family, love and unity. It's the most important thing in your life," Chung said. "It's what you live for."