Romanian born Vladimir F. Wertsman is a well-known, multilingual author of 20 noted reference books, and of about 200 relevant articles, book reviews, and annotated bibliographies focusing on various American ethnic groups, library, language, and philatelic topics. He served as consultant for the HARVARD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN ETHNIC GROUPS (Harvard Press, 1980), his articles were featured in the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW YORK CITY (Yale University Press,1995), and in the GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MULTICULTURAL AMERICA (Gale/Thompson, 2000 and 2005). He has been a frequent contributor of essays and book reviews to MULTICULTURAL REVIEW, and is a recipient of several professional awards and diplomas of merit. His biography is included in the current and several previous editions of WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA and of CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS. Currently, he is Chair of Publishing and Multicultural Materials Committee, EMIE Round Table, American Library Association, and a member of the Group of Romanian American Writers in New York. Knowing Vladimir and his professional achievements for over two decades, I recently had an opportunity to interview him, and am pleased to share with our readers the following recorded dialog.
LML: Let’s start with Romania, our land of origin, can you show us briefly your educational and professional background, when and why did you leave Romania, and what did you do in the United States?
VW: I am a graduate magna cum laude from the Romanian Law School of the University “A.I.Cuza” in Iasi, and worked as a judge (civil and criminal cases) at lower and appellate courts. I left Romania in 1967, being disenchanted with the Ceausescu regime, and started a new professional chapter in the newly adopted country. I studied English at New York University (evening and Saturday courses), working during the day as a clerical worker at a bank, and completed a Master’s degree in Library Science at Columbia University in 1969. During the next 25 years, I served as Senior Librarian at New York Public Library (Donnell Library, World Languages Collection, and Mid-Manhattan Library, Job Information Center), and previously at the Brooklyn Public Library (Science Division, Central Library, as well as branch manager of two units). I enjoyed working with adult readers of various social strata, using my knowledge of languages to better understand newly arrived immigrants, and helping them to adjust in America. At the same time, I learned a lot from patrons, their needs, their questions, and from suggestions by colleagues, this is how I got inspirations to write books and other materials, and progressed as an author.
LML: So what was the main topic of your first books?
VW: The answer is very simple-books about Romanian Americans. I realized, while studying at Columbia University and in conversations with people from other walks of life that Americans knew very little about Romania, and even less about Romanian Americans. Moreover, many questioned me only if I was born in Transylvania, and if I know something about Dracula (the main character of the novel with the same name by Bram Stoker). This is why my first book was titled THE ROMANIANS IN AMERICA, 1748-1974: A CHRONOLOGY & FACT BOOK, Oceana, 1975, . It included a short chronology of main events, historical documents, the Romanians in New York City, Romanian communities in USA, organizations, art collections, the Romanian alphabet, proverbs, cooking recipes, statistical tables, and bibliographies. The second book was THE ROMANIANS IN AMERICA AND CANADA: A GUIDE TO INFORMATION SOURCES, Gale, 1980. The text was on a higher academic level, it described Romanian Americans reflected in general reference books, humanities, social sciences, history and related studies, pure and applied sciences, as well as various directories (organizations, churches, periodicals, publishing houses, museums, and a list of Romanian communities in various states).
LML: Did you publish additional books on Romanian Americans?
VW: New research materials enabled me to publish ROMANIANS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: A GUIDE TO ANCESTRY AND HERITAGE RESEARCH, Heritage Quest, 2002,. It consisted of a broad introductory essay on Romanian Americans, general resources in USA, Romanian American resources, Romanian Canadian resources, and minority immigrants from Romania, resources in Romania and other countries, maps, flags, dictionaries, illustrations. The following volume was SALUTE TO THE ROMANIAN JEWS IN AMEICA AND CANADA, 1850-2010: HISTORY, ACHIEVEMENTS AND BIOGRAPHIES, XLibris, 2010, presenting a mini-chronology of important events in Romania and in USA & Canada, group achievements (organizations, synagogues, theater, film, restaurants), historical documents, plus over 300 biographies of noted people in various walks of life.
LML: What other American ethnic groups were covered in your writings?
VW: As Chair of Publishing and Multicultural Materials Committee for several years, having working knowledge of Slavic and Romance languages, I expanded my sphere of research and published, via Oceana publishing house, THE UKRAINIANS IN AMERICA, 1608-1975: A CHRONOLOGY & FACT BOOK, 1976; THE RUSSIANS IN AMERICA, 1727-1976: A CHRONOLOGY & FACT BOOK, 1976; THE ARMENIANS IN AMERICA, 1618-1976: A CHRONOLOGY & FACT BOOK, 1978. Later I published WHAT’S COOKING IN MULTICULTURAL AMERICA: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIC GUIDE TO OVER FOUR HUNDRED ETHNIC CUISINES, Scarecrow Press, 1976. MULTICULTURAL REVIEW published my articles on Georgian Americans (December 1995), Belarusian Americans (June 2000), Slavic Americans (December 2002), Hispanic Americans (June 2003), Arab Americans (Winter 2008), plus several dozens of book reviews regarding Christians, Jews, and Moslems in America. BOOKLIST (1983-2002) published my annotated bibliographies on Czech, German, Polish, Romanian, Russian, and Ukrainian books.
LML: Can you give us a few examples of reference books with different topics?
VW: I would like to mention first THE LIBRARIAN’S COMPANION: A HANDBOOK OF THOUSANDS OF FACTS AND FIFURES ON LIBRARIES/LIBRARIANS, BOOKS/NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHERS/BOOKSELLERS, Greenwood Press, 1987 (second enlarged edition in 1996).. The book was very successful not only in USA and Canada, but also in several countries abroad, .It described library and publishing information of all countries in the world, noted librarians past and present, quotations about books, libraries and librarians, newspapers, libraries and librarians on postal stamps around the world, librarian’s Latin expressions, librarian’s job finding sources. Another successful volume was CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR BILINGUALS AND MULTILINGUALS: A DIRECTORY OF RESOURCES IN EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, AND BUSINESS, Scarecrow Press, 1991.(second edition in 1994), ,with thousands of annotated items, colleges, universities, libraries, book sellers for learning over 300 foreign languages as well as government, non-profit, private and networking organizations interested in hiring people with foreign language skills. A third item of interest was NEW YORK, THE CITY IN MORE THAN 500 MEMORABLE QUOTATIONS: FROM MORE THAN 500 AUTHORS (AMERICAN AND FOREIGN) AND MORE THAN 500 REFERENCE SOURCES, Scarecrow Press, 1997, with quotations culled from sources ranging between 16th and 20th centuries, illustrating New York’s positive and negative aspects in the opinions of so many generations.
LML: Did you publish in Romania before and after immigration to America?
VW: Actually, I started writing in 1956, when I practiced law (judgeship) in Romanian courts. I published 21 articles (2 in 1956, 2 in 1957, 2 in 1958, 1 in 1959, 4 in 1960, 2 in 1961, 1 in 1962, 2 in 1963, 1 in 1964, 3 in 1965, and 1 in 1966) with critical comments and interpretations regarding criminal and civil law implementation by various courts. These articles were published in two law journals: LEGALITATEA POPULARA (Popular Legality) issued by the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General, and the Supreme Court of Romania, and JUSTITIA NOUA (New Justice) issued by the Romanian Lawyers Association. During my visit in Romania in 1998, an interview with professor Gheorghe Florescu about Romanian Americans was published in CONVORBIRI LITERARE (Literary Conversations), October 1998, nr. 10(34), pp. 4-5. Prior to that, I published ”The Necessity of a Comprehensive Reference Work on the Romanians in the United States and Canada” in TRANSYLVANIAN REVIEW, Cluj, vol. IV, nr. 2 Summer 1996, pp. 143-49. Later, another article “Romanian Americans: A Brief Background Information” was published in the ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, vol. IX, 2003, pp. 209-302, by the Romanian Institute of International Studies “Nicolae Titulescu”. Bucharest.
LML: Today, I am your interviewer for MCR, shortly after you interviewed me for the past issue of MCR. Did you have other experiences in the capacity of interviewer or interviewee in the past?
VW: Of course, yes. Let me give you just recent examples as interviewer for MCR. In the summer 2008 issue, there is my interview with Fulbright scholar Tekle Tepoyan, an Armenian woman from Russia, her library and writing experiences in her native land and in America. In the 2010 summer issue , you find my interview with Iraqi American Saad Abulhab, Director of Technology at the William and Anita Newman Library, Baruch College, his professional accomplishments, including writings. As for interviewee, let me quote examples with the newspaper DAILY NEWS ( July 23, 1999 iassue, p. 20, and January 23, 2006 issue, p. 20). In the first case, I spoke about the difference between the fictional Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel, and the historical Vlad the Impaler, Romanian prince, nicknamed Dracula for his cruelty. In my second interview, I focused on noted historical figures (novelists, poets, musicians, politicians, popes and others) who also worked as librarians sometimes in their lives, and were honored on postal stamps around the world, based on my MCR articles(winter 2005, and spring 2006 issues).
LML: What can you tell us about your awards and other professional acknowledgements?
VW: I received numerous, but within the limits of space for this interview, I am going to give some examples: Delta Tau Kapa, International Social Science Honor Society (1975), The American Society of Writers Award for distinguished literary achievement (1975), Yeshiva University of New York, Certificate of Merit for assistance rendered toward recognition and fostering the languages of America (1981), the David Cohen/EMIERT Multicultural Award in recognition of work to promote and increase the understanding of multiculturalism in North American libraries (2001), Honorary Diploma “Nicolae Titulescu”, Association of International Law and International Relations, Bucharest, for scholarly contributions regarding the Romanian community of America (2005 and 2009).
LML: Finally, how were your books and other writings regarded by library colleagues and library press?
VW: I think the best response is illustrated by an old English proverb: “The proof of the pudding is in its eating.” Instead of various quotations, It’s enough just to mention that my books are listed in the catalogs of national, academic, special or public libraries in the following countries: Andorra, Australia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine, United States.
LML: Would you like to add some thoughts as we are approaching the end of this interview ?
VW: As a book lover since early school days, I view my new professions in America-librarian and author- as twin brothers, two happy companions who inspired and supplemented each other. Being an ethnic and multilingual American, I have devoted my writings to various American ethnic groups and languages in view of the fact that America is by its very nature of historical formation and development a multiethnic, multicultural, multiracial, and multilingual society. And if variety is the spice of life, then American ethno-linguistic and cultural mosaique is certainly the spice of our society!
LML: Thank you kindly for sharing your time and interesting facets of your librarianship & writing experiences for over five decades. I wish you good luck in your future endeavors.
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LYN MILLER LACHMANN was the Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly MULTICULTURAL REVIEW ( Dedicated to a Better Understanding of Ethnic, Racial and Religious Diversity) for over two decades. She is the author of the award winning reference work OUR FAMILY, OUR FRIENDS, OUR WORLD, and the eco-thriller DIRT CHEAP. She also edited the volume ONCE UPON A CUENTO, and later published the novel GRINGOLANDIA: WHEN HISTORY CALLS YOUR NAME, HOW WILL YOU ANSWER ? She lives in Albany, where she cohosts a weekly radio program of music from Latin America and Spain.
More about Lyn @ http://web.mac.com/lynml/Site/Home.html
Ce simplu mi se pare să-l judec pe altul, eu , cel care există în afara acelei persoane, eu, un străin care obiectivez existenţa. Vorbesc recent cu un prieten căruia i-a murit soţia de vreo jumătate de an. E un văduv în etate—la o vârstă când nu mai investeşti (bani, dar şi energie sufletească) în proiecte mari. E la o vârsta când te conservi şi trebuie să trăieşti fiecare clipă în mod semnificativ, profund, plăcut, fără frecuşuri—mai exact dacă sunt frecuşuri pe care ţi le faci cu propria ta mânuţă. Stă cu chirie în Jackson Heights, Queens, într-un apartament uriaş, cu un balcon enorm, o raritate. Ţine mult la locul ăla, chiar dacă a băgat în chirii o avere. Locuinţa lui e plină de lucruri inutile. De pildă are vreo 12 covoare, răsucite, ghemuite pe lîngă pereţi, cumpărate la flea market pe care încercaă acum să le vândă prin Craiglist, sau Ebay. Există în apartamentul lui sute de bibelouri de porţelan, cristal, sticlă, fleacuri de toate soiurile, păpuşi de colecţie…E un hoarder, întradevăr. Apartamentul geme, se sufocă, nevastă-sa trebuie că se va fi resemnat de mult. N-are rude, n-are decât lucrurile din acest apartament pe care l-a împărţit cu soţia vreme de 50 de ani. Îmi zice că dă toată pensia pe chirie. Că mai rămâne doar cu Social Security şi cu economiile ca să trăiască. Sugerez cu juma de gură, temător, să se mute la ceva mai ieftin, ce nevoie are el de 3 dormitoare? Nu răspunde, intuiesc că nu vrea să plece de acolo unde a intrat, băiat de 23 de ani, cu o fată de mână şi au făcut o familie. N-au copii, dar s-au iubit mult—şi au strîns lucruri cu nemiluita. Unde trebuiau să fie copii sunt rochii de la garage sales, biciclete de toate soiurile, o şa de cal, jucării. Acum, ca e singur, zilele trec greu, se tîrăşte prin apartament, se uită la fotografii, mai şterge praful că de, când locul e ticisit de lucruri, se adună praf. Lucrurile din jur gem şi ele de amintiri, de foste vieţi şi destine. Îl întreb cum şi-a petrecut weekendul. Dacă a mers la vreun spectacol, prin parc, dacă a văzut pe cineva. Zice că n-a fost nicăieri. Că şi-a bătut capul cu calculatorul, încearcă să înveţe cum să pună lucruri pe Craiglist…”ca să scap naibii de o parte din lucrurile astea.”
Maria Cica împreuna cu Sofica Duşu, unul din personajele documentarului „Aromânii“ 
