<ŜJ?|r^5p INFORMATION CENTER ESPERANTO LEAGUE for NORTH AMERICA _______Vol. II No.l___________NEWSLETTER___________January 1966q GOAL OF A MILLION ilSNATUMSi SET TOR UN PETITION DRIVE The President of the Universala Esperanto-Asocio, Dr. Ivo Lapenna, will head an impressive delegation in October to publicly present to Secretary-General U Thant at United Na- tions headquarters in New York a petition asking the UN to persuade its member states to encourage the use of Esperanto, with a hoped-for total of a million signatures of individuals and signatures of officials of 3000 organizations with a tot- al membership of 50 million. Incomplete returns as of Decem- ber 10 showed 510,847 individual signers in 58 countries and 2,771 organizations with 47,937,943 member. To attain this unprecedented evidence of support for the international language, the petition drive, begun as part of the International Cooperation Year of 1965, will be linked with the twentieth anniversary of UNESCO and extended into mid-1966. So far our champion USA collector has been Dr. Julius Bal- bin, who has obtained nearly 2000 names of outstanding scien- tists and linguists. At least five U.S. Congressman have signed.It was a signature request from Mrs. Elfrieda Walters of Chicago to her Congressman, Roman C. Pucinski, which moved him to put Esperanto into the Congressional Record (see copy attached). Have your Congressmen signed yet? They can be assured that they will join a distinguished group of worldwide notables, including governors, government officers, parliamentary rep- resentatives (445), scientists (including a Japanese Nobel prize winner), writers and artists. Perhaps you can imitate Allan Boschen of Pittsfield, Mass. M«H«iilll§^^ and put the petition on public display. Members in the West write Paul Stein, Box 10001, San Diego 10, Calif., and in the East, Mrs. Margot H. Gerson, 29 Windsor Rd., Great Neck 11021 Mew York for UEA petition blanks and send them the filled-out sheets. The deadline for obtaining signatures is July 31. -0- Tell Us What You've Done The petitions to the UN will gain added importance if the UEA is able to present a summary of activity forJCnternational Cooperation Year. ELNA has asked ELC to ^jj^^^g iengthy official questionaire. So please send, not later than Febru- ary 15. details of all meetings and conferences on ICY which you participated in,and of all articles, letters,radio talks, demonstrations, etc. Let's have a complete record. -©- EACH ONE REACH ONE ! It doesn't require a computer or the new arithmetic to find that if every ELNA member fulfilled President Helmuth's goal of "Each one reach one," the result would be a 100 per cent increase in membership, Utopian? Yes. But it's quite practical for each of us to canvass our own Esperantist acquaintances for possible new members. See insert for membership blank. «6- Lots of Esperantists get euphoric but few so high as Dr. George Sardina, vice president of the Esperanto Society of San Gabriel Valley, Cal., who (according to the Tribune Val- ley Life of Nov. 21, planted the green star flag 19,000 feet up on an Afghanistan mountain and returned to tell about it. -o- k 4-dr».y All-California Esperanto Conference will be held at Asilomar Beach State Park, Pacific Grove, Cal., April 29—May 1. For details of program and living accommodations write: Williaa Harmon, Asilomar Coordinationg Committee, 5836 Buena Vista Ave. Oakland 94618, California. -o- -2- WHITE HOUSE COSFEHHTCE OH INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION To some the conference called by President Lyndon B. John- son to climax the International Cooperation Year (JIK Esper- anto) was a 50-ring intellectual circus with some 5000 par- ticipants and visitors. To Vice President Hubert Humphrey it fulfilled the hope that it would be "a town meeting of lead- ers of the nation" and was "generously blessed by the many skills,talents and interests which combined to make it a suc- cess. " EIC was officially listed among the participants and Mark Starr put the case for the international language in three of the panels —Labor, Communications, and Culturalfc- change. In regional conferences and committees the best brains and Imaginations of the United States in this area had prepared an Eldorado of over 3000 proposals ranging from con- quest of space to population control, presented by scientists and writers of international repute. The four days of the conference (Nov. 28—Dec. l) provided many opportunities to promote Esperanto and valuable leads were obtained. ELNA members will find a good evaluation of the conference in an editorial of the Saturday Review of Dec. 18 and a summary report, "ICY Spells Progress" in the Jan. 22 issue. Esperanto in the Public Press In the Congressional Record of Nov. 8 Congressman Roman C. Pucinski of Chicago inserted the United Press feature article on Esperanto by Arthuar Higbee and announced his intention of proposing a supporting resolution. The Lion, monthly journal of Lions International, devoted three pages of its November issue to "The Language That Makes Men Friends" by Walter Fowler. This has already evoked a re- quest for textbooks and teachers from the Lions Club in Khar- toum, Sudan. Peninsular Living (Calif.)—A very well written and attrac- -3- ^^m^^^^^^^^^iiimmm^mmmmii^^^mm^mm^^t tive case for Esperanto by Ella Gibson (Nov. 16). Baghdad News (Baghdad, Irak, Dec. l) and the Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon, Dec. 22)—Long articles based on interviews with Conn and Mary Murray, whose piece on the revived move- ment in the Philippines appeared in Heroldo (Nov. 16). In Pennsylvania the Bethlehem Globe Times and both the Eve- ning Chronicle and -the Morning gall in Allentowa—news of a playlet, classes, talks and book reports. The Berkshire, Mass. Eagle, Dec. 16—Story on tke UN peti- tion. Statenjteland» N.Y. Advance—Columnist comment and news story on talk before South Shore Lions' Club. Associated Press dispatch from Mexico City during the Esp- eranto Congress there—In one Roman Catholic church mass was said in Esperanto. The Union Bulletin of Walla Walla, Wash., in a news story on winter classes at the vocational-technical high school de- scribes an Esperanto course which Albert Estling will teach. A long article in the Polish Medical Science and History Bulletin on the life of Ludwik Zamenhof and the development of the Esperanto movement which he founded i8 reprinted in the English section of the Jan. 1 issue of Gwiadza Polarna, issued at Stevens Point, Wis. Newsday (Garden City, L.I., Jan. 11)—A full page feature story based on interview by Jim Scovel with Margot Gerson on a class which she organized in Great Neck, L.I.,with examples of Esperanto word-building. Newsday has a circulation of 400,000 in Nassau and Suffolk counties. -o- Conrad fisher, ELNA secretary, calls attention to an item in the British Esperantist regarding a new edition of "Himnaro Esperanta" which has been thoroughly revised with more hymns and music, equally acceptable to Protestants and Catholics. This has been some years in preparation but £150 ($420) are still needed before it can be printed. Contributions may be sent to the Himnara Kas treasurer, Mrs. D. A. Sinclair, at 7 Bridle Rd», Bramcote, Beeston, Nottingham, England. Every do- nor of a pound ($2.80) will receive a copy of the new edition. Books for India Indian Esperantists desperately need booits and they cannot order them from abroad. Look over your library and send any books you can spare to Mr. Krishna Bhatia, 246 Arya Nagar, Ghaziabad (U.P.), India. This plea comes from the globe trotting Murrays who sug- gest that you also send Esperanto postcards and other mate- rial for display. The Murrays. on World Tour, Recount Iran and Lebanon Experiences "Not a single Esperantist contact in Teheran, only the fam- ily of a one-time student at Humbolt (Cal.) State College," wrote Mary Murray."But through them we discovered a fluent sam- ideano, Mr. A. Yazdoni, who knew about 20. Esperantists there." Mrs. Murray and her husband, Conn, are on a globe-circling trip which has included Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Iran and Lebanon. "An interview witn the vice chancellor of the Teheran college at which the heads of the language department end student af- fairs were present resulted in an offer of space where Mr. Yaz- doni and the newly formed Esperanto Club could hold classes. There is an Esperanto textbook in Persian written by the late Bohmen Shidani. "A 6-hour bus ride past bazaars, mosques, primitive shep- herds, mud-walled villages, ancient palaces and polo fields took ub to Isfahan to meet the sole Esperantist there. He turn- ed out to be the newspaper proprietor, and his son promised to carry on in place of the overworked father. In fabulous oil- endowed Kuwait we met linguists and teachers who had heard about or studied Esperanto.Director Karl Badde of the Polyglot school thought that it must be the accepted means of international communica'teLon and would be glad to teach it in Kuwait schools. An interview with the Under Secretary for Education produced -5- ■^^^m^^m^^smmmmimmmmmmmtm^m^^^^^^m^mmi the names of possible teachers for a course in the fall college curriculum. . . At Baghdad a good Fage-1 story." The Murrays are now in Beirut, Lebanon (c/o Pan American), where they plan to stay for three 01 four months. At last re- ports they had a class of eight young men meeting at their ap- artment and were getting additional inquiries after an inter- view with them appeared in the Beirut Daily Star. They plan to interview the Lebanese Minister of Education with an Esperan- tist member of the faculty of the American University at Beirut as interpreter. The U.S. Sixth Fleet was in Beirut harbor for Jive days, and the Murrays planned to work in the Navy Canteen on Christmas. -o- Did You See — "Hovjaro Saluto" in a language montage on the title page of Time (Dec. 24) . . . The letter recommending Esperanto (one of many sent) in McCall's Magazine for November, occasioned by columnist Claire Booth Luce's account of the difficulties of learning languages. . . The Esperanto book matches made avail- able by President Prank Helmuth at 50/^ for 50........The Attractive sticker for the Budapest Congress.......The 8- page report of the International Catholic Esperanto Association (and we can only wish that Protestant, Humanist and Jewish mem- bers would develop the enthusiasm and energy of IKUE Secretary, Louisa Schmidt!)......... The attractive appeals of Citi- zens Exchange which is recruiting Esperantists who would like to spend six months in the USSR.....The mimeographed local news bulletins issued by the Tri-State Area of the state of Washington, by San Gabriel Valley (Covina, Cal.) and by TEJO, the organization of Esperantist youth. -o- Worried about what to do with i;hose trading stamps? Thpy can help pay the fare of a young Esperantist to the 1967 UEA Congress. The trip will be offered as a prize in an essay contest. S&H Green Stamps are particularly desired but any kind is acceptable. Send them to Bonnie Helmuth, 912 Skylark Drive. La Jolla 92037, Calif. -o- Alfred Klein of Uruguay gave talks in California and New York and an interview to Dr. Wm. Solzbacher for the Voice of America. He is enroute to Israel, France and the Buda- pest Congress. -o- Dr. Julius Balbin was award- ed first prize by the Oomoto Congress in Japan for a poem, "Enterigo de Senŝtatulo," de- dicated to his father who was murdered by the Nazis. -o- Wm. and Cathy Schultz ad- dressed 35 members of the"Sin- gles," a club of unmarried people at San Mateo. Some of them will join the Sequoia Adult class taught by Doris Vallon. -o- Allen Boschen of Pittsfield Mass., will use the WEVD les- son tapes to continue the lo- cal WBRK and WGAT radio pro- grams. -o- During the transit strike in New York, Mark Starr resur- rected an old bicycle to get from Queens to Manhattan. . . Margot Gerson drove in from Great Neck, braving traffic jams. Thea Kohn and John Fu- tran, other members of the EIC office team, were marooned for the duration. The UN staff journal in Oct- ober carried the opening para- graphs of the UN Charter in Esperanto and in November a summary of Esperanto grammar, by Eskil Svane. -o- Visitors to the UN should see "La Dia Komedio"and other Esp- eranto classics in the staff lounge exhibit case. -o- The Muhlenberg College Club at Allentown, Pa., and its ad- visor, Dr. Rodney Ring, edited the current issue of the JEN Bulletin. -o- S. Kailenta of Staten Island N.Y.,arranged a talk on Esper- anto by Mark Starr at a Lions Club luncheon. Have you tried this on your town's clubs? -o- Chong Yeong Lee, who was in the U.S. last year,sends a co- py of Contact News (Honolulu) which cites a class formed by him,and taught by the UEA del- egate, Bunnie J. Chambers. -o- '>**'*l*f*'trtrfrrtrrffttrftt ' r ' UN PETITION ' ' / t help reach that goal of ' '< A MILLION SIGNATURES! ', ' * ' t '*t***rrrr//ftrt/rtr*rrr*rrtt -7- Xjen s»Bxo pjpUi pe^senbea tutsan OTOOT 'VS *3fJ:oi *»N 'anuaAy t^jM 9ĜI w^r^fc V3IH3WV H1MON «OJ 3fl9V31 OiNVH3dS3 C^]^ M3JLN3D NOIlWVHOdNI VfifcĝP Koran S a 1u t o n ! La Kontrolkomitatanoj de EIC deziras, ke fciuj el niaj leg- antoj havu plej sanen, sukcesan kaj feliean Novjaron 1966, persone kaj Esperanto. Ni volas danki fiiun kiuj nelpis nin dum la estinta jaro,fi- nance, 8pirite kaj korpe, kaj speciale tiuj kiuj sendis al ni novaĵojn kaj informon. Manko de spaco en la Newsletter neebl- igis la uzon de fiiu ero ricevita. Sed ni petas, ke vi ensendu dattre vian iaforaon kaj komentojn. Se ni havus sufifie da mono, ni povus pligrandigi la Newsletter kaj aldoni fakojn, ekzemple "Leteroj al La Redaktoro,""Korespondpetoj" k.a. Tamen pro manko de adekvata financa subteno kaj dependeco sur nur laŬdindaj volontuloj, ni devas koncentriĝi je nia cef- celo: informigi la neesperantistojn pri Esperanto kaj ELNA,kaj konstrui ponton de informo kiu iam atingOB la agnoakon kaj al- prenon de Esperanto en Usono kaj tutmonde. Ĉio alia devas esti duaranga. Ce la Kongreso en Julio, ni esparos raporti grandan Riijccfison' Margot H. Gerson, Sekretariino,EIC