Help From the Beyond

Some authors believe their works are a singular accomplishment; their work the result of sitting alone at the word processor and turning glorious thoughts into prose. They are convinced they and no one else should get credit for the finished novel. I was one of those authors and I was wrong. My story is a collaboration of too many to count or even remember. There are those I know helped me out, but others who are lost in time provided those seeds that grew into sentences, paragraphs and chapters.

In addition to those people who helped, I received aid from other sources. Some may even say, help from beyond. I believe my constant attention to my dead relatives opened a portal between their existence and mine. Bare with me here. There were several incidents that cannot be explained by coincidence. Such as information I obtained concerning Massey's second trip to America.

During my original research for Ikons, I found Massey’s citizenship application where he claimed the ship he came to America on was called the SS Ventura. I found a book in the Dayton library listing steamships and their history. It turned out the Ventura was a lumber boat hauling wood between Yokohama, Japan and Spokane, Washington. This caused me to wonder, what the heck was a Russian immigrant doing a lumber boat?
I also noted that Massey’s date of crossing was very close to the date of the Titanic sinking, 14 April 1912. I figured I could add the Titanic sinking to my story by placing the Ventura in the shipping lane and have it look for survivors. So I dug into the library’s basement and looked for old volumes about the Titanic. I wanted to get a book from that time period so I could write about the sinking using the language of the period.

I found a book on shipwrecks, took it home and started reading about the Titanic.  For some reason, I set the open book down on the kitchen table and went to get a drink of water.  While getting my water, the pages of the book started turning.  I stood there and watched the pages flip until they stopped.  The hair on my arms rose (really) as I walked over to the table and looked at the section where the pages stopped.

The chapter read, “Disaster on Immigrant Ship.”  The story told of a ship called the SS Volturno, which caught fire and sank in the Atlantic in 1913 killing over 136 people.  The story said the Volturno was an immigrant ship running between Rotterdam and Halifax.  Massey’s papers said he came in through Halifax.

I wrote to the Port of Halifax and asked if it was possible Massey came in the Volturno in April of 1912.  A month later I got a package from Canada verifying Massey had indeed landed there.  They sent me a copy of the ships original manifest listing Massey and a few other Russians on board.  It said it was his second trip to America and was headed to Rockdale, Illinois.

SS Volturno

For the longest time I thought it was Massey helping me out from beyond the grave.  But the more I thought about and remembering my father telling me Akulina had the “gift,” I decided it was she assisting the grandson she had never met.  There may be more logical explanations, but I prefer this one.

The Plot

The basic plot of Ikons: Saint Nichols the Wonder Worker is man against a hostile world.  Since the story is based on history, the sequence of events are set.  However, concrete happenings merely provide the framework upon which my story hangs.  I can still shape the characters and events according to my version of what happened. By combining fact, semi-fact, and fiction an historic narrative can be created.

Fact:  Russia in 1905 was in a state of transition.  The traditional feudal society was giving way to an industrial based urban culture.  The absolute rule of the Tsar had been challenged and peasants, once tied to the land, move to the industrial cities.
Semi-fact:  Massey and Sam leave their domineering father and search for work in the iron works of Belarus.  Massey's experiences in the mill are based on my own.  I worked in a manufacturing plant during summers making ceiling tile.  My ability to add, multiply, divide and subtract got me promoted to assistant foreman.  I gave Massey the same ability.
Fiction: Both brothers find employment with the Glebov Iron Works.  Massey learns a trade and rises through the ranks.  Sam embraces the socialist cause leading to conflict between the two.

Fact: Russia and Japan went to war in 1905.  The war created a demand for iron rails.  Russia was humiliated in defeat.
Fiction: Massey enjoys increased wages from war production and rises in the worker hierarchy.  Sergei follows the war through the railway station telegraph.  Massey believes he can now afford a wife.

Fact:  Massey marries Akulina.
Fiction: Massey and Akulina's courtship is based on the village culture of the period.  The wedding and feast afterwards are culled from weddings I experienced growing up in Rockdale, Illinois.  Akulina's problem adjusting to life outside the village is a combination of events I've read about or experienced.

Fact: Peace brings a down turn in production resulting in wide spread layoffs.  Riots and strikes spread across Belarus and the government cracks down hard.
Fiction: Massey inadvertently takes part in a riot and he and Akulina are forced to flee back to Hutava.  Pure fiction since I have no experience with a riot.

Fact: Massey immigrates to America via Canada and finds employment in the steel mill.  I have since learned he did not leave by himself, but traveled with three other men from the village to the promised land. 
Fiction: Massey sails on the SS Arabia and arrives in Ellis Island.  After Ellis Island, Massey and his new-found friends travel by train to Rockdale where they find work in the Wire Mill.  Massey plans for a family life in America when he finds out he is a father.

Fact: Massey's son dies and he returns to Russia, only to return two years later.
Fiction: Devastated by his sons death, Massey returns to Hutava.  His name his passed on to the secret police as an agitator and he is forced to flee to America.

Fact:  World War begins in 1914.
Fiction: In the final chapter Akulina foresees the coming war as she harvests onions.

Ikons ends at this point and the story continues in Banners.

ADDITIONAL NOTE:  If you want to find out about your family's history, write a book based on them.  Relatives and friends will come out of the woodwork to tell you what you got wrong.

The Era

Information concerning my story's era was prolific.  By time I was finished researching I had several three-ring binders, cards, and computer files filled with newspaper clippings, hand-written notes, photos, government records, maps, personal accounts, some of which may even have been accurate and true.

Akulina and Massey's Wedding Certificate - Courtesy of Homeland Security

Joliet newspaper from the 1920's.

1920 Census for Rockdale, Illinois

Each bit of information open a door and led to a bit of information.  But sometimes traditional methods were not enough.  Hard as it is to believe, I actually had my characters come to me in dreams and chastise me for the way I presented them.  My character Boris Koscik was the worse.  He never appreciated my efforts to soften his methods.  He was tough and wanted to be remembered that way.  But of all my characters' manifestations, the one dealing with the SS Voltono had to be the eeriest.

The Women of Hutava

Every story needs romance and fortunately my grandfather and grandmother provided me with one.  I never knew much about Massey's love affair with his wife Akulina, but considering he remained true to her from the time they were married in 1906 until his death in 1949 says something.

Akulina A. Pribish circ 1913

This is the only known picture of my grandmother, Akulina A. Pribish.  She had it taken in Russia sometime around 1913 and sent it to her husband Massey Pribish in America.  This would place her age at approximately 27.  For a younger Akulina, I used a combination of my sisters, all three Slavic beauties.  My final version of my grandmother looked something like this.

Idealized Akulina

Although I knew little about Akulina, I was raised to admire her as a courageous, young mother facing the horrors following the Russian Revolution.  But before she could get to this section, I had to get her married.

I did considerable research into Belarus traditions and customs.  Most of them had to do with young women and their relationship to love and marriage.  This led to the scene dealing with the use of her wreath tossed into the water to find the man of her dreams.  This event also allowed me to introduce her special "gift."  Akulina was described by my father as the village seer, a fortune teller of extraordinary talent.  Whether her talent was a paranormal power or one based on an astute understanding of human nature is left up to the reader.  However, based on events which occurred  during the writing of these novels, I tend to believe the former.

Belarus girls placing wreaths in the water

The other village women were based on memories of my relatives, neighbors in Rockdale, and people I met in Russia.  Akulina's main friend, Nora, was real and was actually my father's godmother.

Akulina's little sister, Kataya was also a combination of my sisters, tilting mostly towards my youngest and feistiest sister, Jayne.