Kurlansky on the Basques

Mark Kuralnsky, author of "The Basque History of the World", is in Sydney promoting his new book "Boogaloo on Second Avenue".

The article Big Fish in a Big Pond, notes that he is now famous for writing biographies about things: Cod, Salt, the Year 1968...

...and the Basques.

He has proven again and again how much of a friend of the Basque people he is.

It comes as no surprise then when he takes the opportunity while talking about his books to pay a compliment to the Euskaldunak:

"We live in a world in which people are really struggling with the issue of how to live in a modern global environment and still preserve their local culture and identity. The Basques have been dealing with this question for centuries. It's astonishing to me the extent to which, in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds, the Basques have preserved their culture," Kurlansky says.

The article tells us a bit about Kurlansky:

Born in 1948, he grew up in industrial, blue-collar Hartford, Connecticut, a Jewish boy in a distinctly non-Jewish neighbourhood. His home was filled with Jewish culture, from the Hebrew school he attended to the constant cooking and baking.

"My mother used to bake a dessert every night. Of course, you couldn't eat it all and there were leftovers and after a week of that there were enough baked goods to open your own shop. I remember my sister and I used to sometimes go into the kitchen late at night and just stare at all this stuff and wonder," Kurlansky says.

And then, he tells us about his upcoming book revolving about the land of so close to his heart, Euskadi:

"I always wanted to write books and to be honest ... I always saw newspapers as a way of getting into books," he says. He's working on a collection of short stories about people and food, an essay on non-violence and a translation of Emile Zola's Le Ventre de Paris. His Basque children's book, The Girl who Swam to Euskadi, will be published in the US this year.

Read his books whenever you have a chance.

~ ~