The Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Letter

I refer to this letter to my sister Jennifer as the foetal (or fetal) alcohol syndrome letter because of his suggestion that my other sister Jessica was a victim of it.

The Oleh referred to is Oleh Chernyk, medical student, a former student of my father’s and on and off boyfriend of my sister Jennifer to whom this letter was written. He came to Pamplona with us one year that my brother and I were also in attendance and kept referring to him as the son he never had.

He also mentions in the letter Colin Wilson, an author with whom he become obsessed in the last few years of his life and Dinky toys, of which he was an avid collector.

Judging from the closing of this particular letter, it seems as though Jennifer was the only one of the four of us kids who was in his good graces at that time. That would change, of course, over the next couple of years. It was almost like a game of musical chairs in which there was four of us and only one chair.

December 1, 1992

Dear Jen,

          You can imagine the shock when I opened my telephone bill this afternoon and found it to be nearly $300! By the time you return you will have spent the equivalent of a round-trip airfare!

          You cannot afford the luxury of monthly near-one-hour telephone calls! I presume your telephone love-life has tapered off a bit by now; but it's getting me into trouble as I cannot afford these calls. After taxes, my pittance of a retirement is about $1000 a month. I have Jessica—whom I'm convinced after watching a "20/20" show is the victim of FAS (Foetal Alcohol Syndrome)—which manifests itself in adolescence with unacceptable behavior. Now, Miss Self­-Concerned is moving out of the house, between her meager minimum-wage earnings and my support, she moves out—including the loss of her medical coverage! And she tries to tweak my conscience by saying that she'll have to go to Galveston to get free hospital care! She is 20 years old and has been insisting, for over 2 years now, that she is a mature adult who can make her own decisions, yet she still wants to recross her bridges when the going gets difficult!

          I told her that she must come up to Philadelphia to go to school upon my retirement as my retirement will cover her tuition only at Temple. Two years and I have yet to receive any transcript of any evidence of her grades! One must look ahead to the implications of one's acts!

          I guess she'll want to share a place in Philadelphia if and when you come back to work here. I haven't seen Oleh in a week; guess he's gearing up for Final Exams.

          I have put in to reactivate my early retirement request, so will be pinching a few more pennies now. I left two phone messages with the Liptons, but have not had a call-back yet! I wrote two days ago and hope they will call to confirm Xmas plans and tell me about Clive Sinclair's plans for New Year's Eve.

          Did you get the Dinky that I had the dealer send to you? You can leave it at the flat pending my arrival in December. Janet will look into the dispatch via UPS of the microwave to Huntsville; but to get the 1/2 price rate you'll have to be a little more careful on your use of the phone card! We will be staying, on December 31st, at the Hilton at Hyde Park (and will be inviting Alister & Sam down), then taking off the next morning (it's the only day—Xmas and New Year)—I can get a guaranteed seat!). Since so many shops will be closed in London between Boxing Day and New Year, I will count on you to drop in at the two bookstores with my Colin Wilson list before you go and any other likely candidates.

          My health is okay, but the sooner I retire, the better. Still no word from Jeff; Mark seems to be the same, he's still trying to get Robbin Walker, the USA Video store manager, a job at Continental. We're all anxiously awaiting the final word on the USAir/BritishAir merger (by 12/24), on the NW bankruptcy, etc., etc. It seems likely that there will be mergers—and that United probably will push on, in '93, with permanizing their London base. We will likely rent someplace for the first year, just S. of Cambridge.

          You'll have to let me know when it's time to go 'round and talk to Bo Freeman..

          Hope you're not working too hard..if you want to go down to Kent and see the Lipton's place there, you can call 0303-840839 and go down from Charing Cross.

          The papers show a small-group family rate on European trains, so, we can all go down to Pamplona by train from London for the cost of 3 r/t fares—so, 5/6 can go down for that price..sort of like how we went with John, Terry, you, your funny friend, and I. But..nothing is for sure..and I'm a bit pinched these days..so it might behoove me to fly to Paris ( or London) and train from there. Oleh wants to go..but is strapped to figure how he can go to Pamplona, then to Randy's wedding, then to Norway, so he might invest in a Railpass for one month.

          Take care, be happy, don't work too hard, see London, enjoy your friends, remember, Dad loves you and is proud of you! (At least one out of four isn't bad!).