Exactly twenty years ago, perched in my cozy office at MIT, I hastily jotted down “Die Mauer” (November 10, 1989). It is short but strong, just like the news from the two Berlins, unexpectedly brought together the day earlier: “The wall came down! The wall came down! But what will become of all the lizards and mice and spiders that made it their home?” Are these early environmental concerns of mine? Not at all. Gushingly, if not also sentimentally, I had in mind all the small fry associated with the crumbling communist regime in East Germany that would have to find a quick way out of the hubbub, such as youth organization leaders and municipal party apparatchiks and factory party secretaries. Back then, it had not even crossed my mind that the smallest of fry from the nearly forgotten communist regime in Croatia would be crawling all over me two decades hence. And precisely for my budding environmental concerns, too.

Addendum (November 27, 2016)

Since times immemorial, the smallest of fry are eminently practical creatures. Forever in search of something to snatch and scurry away with, they could not care less which side they would end up on. As long as it is the dominant one, that is. Whether it is communism or democracy, capitalism or despotism, it is all the same to them. Which is why they switch sides without a glitch. And in a jiffy. As luck would have it, one of them was the mayor of Motovun when I appeared out of nowhere. Another one was the secretary general of the leading party in Istria. And the third was the president of the local cell of the very same party. Having had plenty of experience in the ancient Yugoslav regime, it did not take the three of them very long to figure out how to deal with an intruder into their nifty little world, like me. And I was in court in no time, where I stayed for years upon years. Not surprisingly, the judge was one of them. The same arrangement holds true for all the lands behind the old Iron Curtain, it goes without saying. Alas, the smallest of fry are forever triumphant!