POKORCHAK o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-09-26 published
FEDORKIW,
Annie
Passed away at the Canadian Ukrainian Care Centre, on Sunday,
September 25, 2005, at the age of 95. Beloved wife of the late
Paul. Dear mother of Jim and his wife Luba. Loving grandmother
of Maria (Andrew
MORRISON) and Stephanie (Vince
RAIMONDA,) and
great-grandmother of Nicolas and Milana. Survived by her brother
Alex POKORCHAK.
Friends may call at the Turner and Porter Yorke
Chapel, 2357 Bloor St. W., at Windermere, east of the Jane subway,
on Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Funeral Service will be held
in the Chapel on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 at 11: 00 a.m.
Interment Park Lawn Cemetery.
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POKORNY o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-08-23 published
CLYBURN,
John
Suddenly on Saturday, August 20, 2005 John
CLYBURN of Tillsonburg
formerly of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia age 46 years. Beloved husband
and best friend of 21 years to his wife
Erica
CLYBURN (née
POKORNY.)
Dear father of Jessica, Chelsey and Robert all at home. Beloved
son of Ann "Nan"
CLYBURN of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; son-in-law
of Martin and Kathy
POKORNY of Straffordville, and grand_son of
Eva POKORNY of Aylmer. Dear brother of Bruce (Anna)
CLYBURN
Sandy (Patricia)
CLYBURN all of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Brother-in-law
to Monica METCALF of Saint Thomas. Also survived by several nieces
and nephews. John was a teacher with the Thames Valley School
Board for the past two years and was a Chemical Engineer for
the past 18 years. The family will receive Friends and family
at the Ostrander's Funeral Home, 43 Bidwell Street, Tillsonburg
(842-5221) on Thursday, August 25, 2005 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m.
Funeral service for John will be held in Ostrander's Funeral
Home Chapel, on Friday, August 26, 2005 at 11 a.m., Reverend Father
Matthew GEORGE of Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Tillsonburg
officiating. Interment Tillsonburg Cemetery. In John's memory
at the family's request memorial donations (payable by cheque)
may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or a charity of
your choice. Personal condolences may be sent to www.ostrandersfuneralhome.com
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POKORNY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-07-23 published
POKORNY,
Dusan
Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics and Political Science,
University of Toronto
Dusan POKORNY, a much-loved Professor at the University of Toronto,
died July 11, 2005 after a long debilitating illness. In the
course of almost 30 years at both the St. George and Erindale
campuses he influenced and shaped the lives of countless students
and colleagues. His rigorous intellect challenged conventional
wisdom, ranging from critiques of Marxian thought to Hegel, Habermas
and others. Among his many publications is the two volume opus
Efficiency and Justice in the Industrial World: The Failure of
the Soviet Experiment and The Uneasy Success of Postwar Europe.
He thrived on intellectual discourse, in the classroom and out,
with colleagues, many students who went on to become colleagues,
and family.
He brought his family to Canada after the Soviet-led occupation
of Czechoslovakia in 1968. While in Czechoslovakia he served
in the diplomatic service in India and elsewhere and was one
of the key behind-the-scenes figures in the liberalization process
of Prague Spring in 1968, working closely with the Soviet-deposed
Alexander DUBCEK.
He had a profound belief in the potential for improvement, whether
that be in putting a "human face" on socialism or in daily interactions.
He was a kind, gentle, unassuming man, adoring his wife of 40
years, the prominent Slovak writer Jaroslava
BLAZKOVA.
She, his
stepsons Andrew and Mark
STANCEK, and all who met him have lost
a true giant of a man.
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POKORNY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-11-21 published
Dusan POKORNY,
Teacher,
Diplomat And Writer (1919-2005)
Czech intellectual who served as his country's ambassador to
India was blacklisted after Prague Spring of 1968 and came to
Canada to teach for one year. He never went back
By Carol COOPER,
Special to The Globe and Mail, Monday, November
21, 2005, Page S11
He used his bulldog personality, love of writing, strong sense
of justice and knowledge of philosophy and economics to change
a system he believed could be better.
Among those in Czechoslovakia who worked for reform within the
Communist regime that had ruled their country since 1948, Dusan
POKORNY served as foreign editor of the weekly Literarni noviny,
or literary gazette, prior to the Prague Spring of 1968.
"He was a very courageous man," said Antonin Liehm, a long-time
friend of Mr.
POKORNY's and a fellow editor at the gazette.
The term Prague Spring describes the period from March to August
of 1968 when Alexander Dubcek served as the country's first secretary.
During his term, Mr. Dubcek attempted to liberalize the country
by introducing free speech and freedom of assembly to the nation,
and reform its ailing economy, describing his vision for the
country as "socialism with a human face."
The Prague Spring came as a culmination of growing restlessness
and dissidence within the country, with the Literarni noviny
one of the main agents of change. While it had an official circulation
of 150,000, the copies were spread among far many more, and through
Mr. POKORNY's efforts and those of others, brought new ideas
to a cloistered country.
"After all these bad years, we knew we had to try and open the
windows to the world, and to the European and the American and
the world culture from which we had been isolated for 10 to 15
years," Mr. Liehm said.
To do so, literary gazette editors evaded official censorship
by "using the language of the church," according to Mr. Liehm,
with implication and innuendo.
In 1964, Mr.
POKORNY left Prague and the gazette to join his
newfound love, the Slovak writer Jaroslava Blazkova in Bratislava.
While there, Mr.
POKORNY earned his doctorate in philosophy from
Comenius University in 1965 and taught until 1968.
The Prague Spring ended abruptly when tanks from Warsaw Pact
countries invaded Czechoslovakia. One hundred people died and
Mr. Dubcek and other reformers were held briefly in Moscow and
then returned.
During the upheaval, Mr.
POKORNY sought work in the West. He
accepted a one-year contract with the University of Toronto in
1968, bringing his wife and two stepsons with him. He remained
the rest of his life in Canada, teaching for almost 30 years
at the University of Toronto in the department of economics and
political science.
A shy, introverted man, he was passionate about his work. "He
was well read," said Vassili Apostolopoulos, a former student.
"During a five- to 10-minute conversation, he could refer to
German philosophers, Mickey Mouse and composers -- all in the
service of making a point."
During the '90s, Mr.
POKORNY wrote and had published two volumes
of what was intended to be a three-volume series, Efficiency
and Justice in the Industrial World: The Uneasy Success of Postwar
Europe and Efficiency and Justice: the Uneasy Success of Postwar
Europe. He was unable to write the third volume about globalization
and political ethics.
"He had the ability to integrate normative philosophy with an
understanding of economics," said Professor Richard
DAY, a long-time
colleague of Mr.
POKORNY at the U of T.
Always studious and a booklover, Mr.
POKORNY once returned from
an overseas trip with luggage 50 kilos overweight, arousing the
interest of a customs official who found it difficult to believe
the extra weight consisted of only books.
Born in Moravia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918,
Mr. POKORNY was one of two children, whose father died when they
were young. As a child, Mr.
POKORNY taught himself English, becoming
competent enough to win a countrywide competition in the language
for school-aged children.
His English later helped him become ambassador to India. A passionate
horseback rider, he took the opportunity to ride while there
and fell from a spooked mount, injuring himself severely. He
recovered well, except for his sense of smell, which he never
regained.
The ambassadorship came at a time when Mr.
POKORNY and many others
found favour with the Czech government. This was not always the
case. Intellectuals sometimes found themselves without jobs when
their ideas proved unpopular to the government.
When blacklisted, Mr.
POKORNY wrote anonymously for a press agency
and eventually came to the Literarni noviny.
Dusan POKORNY was born in the region of Moravia, Czechoslovakia,
on October 18, 1919. He died on July 11, 2005, at home in Guelph,
Ontario He was 85. He leaves his wife Jaroslava and stepsons
Andrew and Mark Stancek.
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