Farewell, Silver Bird

TEXTURE PRESSApril 2016Outside a tight circle, very few people knew of the dangerous missions flown by American pilots during World War II to bomb the war factories of Austria and Hungary. In these missions, the pilots also flew over the beautiful mountains and vineyards of Slovenia, where the inhabitants lived on their quiet farms and practiced the same traditions that they had maintained for centuries. Farewell, Silver Bird is the story of what happened when the young man piloting one such plane unexpectedly arrives and literally drops from the sky into this setting. This sudden appearance triggers discovery, passion, magic, humanity, and more than anything, a deeply personal and fascinating unweaving of a tapestry of secrets and of all the elements that contribute to a sense of self, identity, and history. Karolina Kolmanic has written a deeply textured narrative that explores how one secret event can open long-locked doors to memories, heritage, and life-engendering hope for the future. The missions of the American airmen were of great strategic importance and the Slovenian people expressed in many cases their appreciation by helping the unfortunate among them who had been downed or forced to crash-land, thereby risking their own lives. These facts were acknowledged and have contributed to the official proclamation of the Slovenian-American Friendship and Alliance Day commemorated every year on April 2 at the site where a U. S. B-17 aircraft crashed 72 years ago. The solemn event was also attended by the President of the Republic of Slovenia and the American Ambassador in Slovenia.