Dear Ana-Karina–

it is hard to believe that you are gone! You were always a modest, somewhat reticent person. Recently I noticed these nature pictures on your facebook page. Flowers on your balcony. The last one in August, an elaborate spider cocoon. Of course you never told us about your health issues. You never bothered anybody with your problems–that is not your personality.

I still hear your voice, how you introduced yourself at the Salzburg Seminar, where we first met–your English diction in that Americanist environment, how you explained your German name. I remember you standing in the Bierstube, black hair and a white dress, not really dancing–shaking it was not your thing. There was always something well organized about you. I know now that you made lots of friends in our Ethnic Pluralism group in Austria. Peter Rose, for example, even invited you to Smith College, and I know that you were proud to become a real “Smithie.”

I remember the sheep in the fields when I was flying into the small airport, and how you picked me up with a friend who had a car. You had invited me to a Fulbright conference at Lucian Blaga–I had never before been a keynote speaker! You gave me a private tour of Sibiu–you were proud of that city, and rightly so. It was my personal experience in Romania, and I came back for a Faulkner conference with my daughter Julia, and she also fell in love with you. You and Julia stayed in touch. Of course I thought I was the only one whom you invited to Sibiu–which is not true. Your hospitality was wide, a legacy!

I owe Romanian honors and publications to you! You were busy as a bee with ABC. I also remember sharing a long train ride from Bucharest to the EAAS in Constanta. Walks on the Black Sea together with your friend Adriana, now our friend. You shared your friends, Anca, Corina, and many others. We shared another conference in Galway, Ireland (ESSE). And a last big one on Food, again in Sibiu, where Julia was allowed to give a talk as well! You were busy organizing the large group of participants. We even signed an ERASMUS contract between our universities, but unfortunately, you never made it to Mulhouse or to Switzerland be our personal guest. You were always the host.

We will miss you forever. I hope you could withdraw to a cosy place.

Sämi and Julia, from Mulhouse (F) and Olten (CH)