Black Sheep Books
Five and Ten Press
3814 Livingston Street N.W.
Washington, D.C.
20015-2803
(202) 244-9163
16. Parting the Curtain: An American Teacher in Postcommunist Romania.
107 pages. August 2001. $10. By Anne Coe Heyniger. A memoir by an
American who makes a sudden life and work change by accepting a position
teaching English at a university in Timisoara, Romania. She recounts her
personal experiences there over seven years, from 1992 to 1999, as the
country undergoes major transformations.
Author Bio: Anne Coe Heyniger grew up in Washington D.C. and graduated
from the Madeira School and Bryn Mawr College. She married a Foreign
Service Officer and together they served in Jordan, Tanzania, and Zaire,
as well as in Washington. After their divorce she lived in Washington,
raised their three children, and worked in a variety of jobs. This is
her first published book.
Description: The subtitile is descriptive: "An American Teacher in
Postcommunist Romania." The author, the ex-wife of a Foreign Service
Officer and graduate of Bryn Mawr College, has raised three children as
a single mother, while working for profit and non-profit organizations
in Washington, D.C. With her children now grown, she somewhat
impetuously accepts an offer from a visiting head of a university in
Timisoara, Romania, to become a teacher of English at his university.
She teaches there for the next 7 years, from 1992 to 1999, after which
she returns to Washington. This is a personal memoir of those seven
years living and working in postcommunist Romania, about her students,
he colleagues at the university, the friends she makes, the trips she
takes, with keen insights and remarkable observations of the life she
led and of her surroundings, physical and human. She is an accomplished
writer who tells a compelling story in her own words.
Review: "A remarkable series of carefully drawn pictures of life in
that challenging country. Anne has the gift of almost photographic
insight and economy of words. The stories are vivid and poignant;
collectively they paint an impressive mural of political, economic,
social and cultural changes in an isolated but vibrant place. And the
author's empathy with the people, her remarkable ability to interact
with them in extraordinarily difficult circumstances comes through. It
is an elegantly written work, a true picture of time and place by a
talented writer and sensitive observer." Frederick Quinn, author of
"Democracy at Dawn: Notes from Poland and Points East."
{ INTRODUCTION }
{ PUBLICATIONS OF THE FIVE AND TEN PRESS 1995-2005 }
{ ORDER FORM }
{ROBERT KEELEY'S BIOGRAPHICAL DATA}
{D.C. GOVERNANCE: IT'S ALWAYS BEEN A MATTER OF RACE AND MONEY}
{ANNALS OF INVESTING
STEVE FORBES VS. WARREN BUFFETT }
{ THE FILE: A PRINCETON MEMOIR }
{ESSAYS FAST AND LOOSE: A CHRISTMAS MISCELLANY }
{LETTERS MOSTLY UNPUBLISHED}
{ INNOCENTS OF THE LATTER DAY: MODERN AMERICANS ABROAD }
{ ESSAYS COLD AND HOT: A NEW YEAR"S POTPOURRI}
{ MSS REVISTED }
{ THREE SEA STORIES }
{CREATURES OF THE EARTH AND THE MIND}
{MY COMMUTE}
{SIC TRANSIT}
{THE GREAT PHELSUMA CAPER - A DIPLOMATIC MEMOIR}
{THE PORT OF MISSING MEN - A NOVEL}
{ POETRY MOSTLY OFF THE BEATEN TRACK }
{ PARTING THE CURTAIN }
{ ESSAYS NEAR AND FAR: AS A NEW CENTURY DAWNS }
{ RANDOM THOUGHTS, ANECDOTES, AND MEMORIES OF A BOYS' LATIN SCHOOL OF BALTIMORE THAT IS NO MORE }
{ FROM THE HEARTLAND }
{ ONE OF THE VERY BEST MEN }
{ A STORY GOES WITH IT }
{ LOW CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS IN HIGH PLACES: John Mitchell and Watergate. }
{ THE WORLD ACCORDING TO WHITBECK. }
{ AN AMERICAN SOLDIER IN WORLD WAR I. }
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