By
Heidi Trautmann
I
entered a desperate question into her birthday guestbook ‘Please Elsie let us
know the secret recipe which kept you so young and energetic’.
A
circle of close friends had organized a birthday party for her at the Goethe
Institute in Nicosia, had baked cakes and set up a buffet to celebrate the 100th
birthday of Elsie Slonim who is known for her books with the incredible story
of her life, including her life with her husband in Cyprus. Today she still lives
as the only non-military person in the buffer zone in Nicosia. We had visited
her for a delightful evening four years ago. Her book ‘Lemons from Paradise’
had just been published and I had met her for an interview for Cyprus Observer
and my website. Please click on the links below to find both, my interview and
our visit at her house.
http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=4118684436#.WhRvCVWWaUk
http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=1777363755#.WhRvLVWWaUk
Many friends from the South and the North had come to embrace her and make compliments but there some tears in the vack of her eyes when I spoke to her: "Heidi, it is not easy...." The Ambassador of Austria had come with his wife, some Embassy staff, the Ambassador from Switzerland, should there have been others, I have not recognised them.
She
has hardly changed since our last meeting and I knew from a close friend who
had done the editing of the English version of her new book that she had been
rewriting her life story and which was published recently in English and in
German
Ahead
of Time – The First Hundred Years
Vom Brot im Meer – Die ersten Hundert Jahre
Publishing
House: Verlagshaus Hernals, Vienna
It
can be ordered via Amazon.
A
small amount of copies will be available for sale …
On November 29 you can listen
to her reading from her books at the Goethe Institute at 19:00 hrs; an
interview is being organized by The Embassy of Austria in cooperation with the
Goethe Institut.
Also,
on November 28, she will be in Girne
at the ARUCAD University 16:00 – 18:00 hrs to sign copies of her new book, also
her older book ‘Mousie Longtail’.