CROWN - Croatian World Network

John Percic March 24, 1925 - Oct. 18, 2004

10/20/2004

Funeral Mass for John Percic, 79, of Painesville Township, will be 10 a.m. Friday at St. Gabriel Church, 9925 Johnnycake Ridge Road, in Concord Township.

John Percic
Funeral Mass for John Percic, 79, of Painesville Township, will be 10 a.m. Friday at St. Gabriel Church, 9925 Johnnycake Ridge Road, in Concord Township. Mr. Percic died Oct. 18, 2004, at Metro General Hospital in Cleveland. He was born March 24, 1925, in St. Martin, Croatia.
He was a member of St. Gabriel Church in Concord Township. Mr. Percic worked as a security guard at Lincoln Electric Company for 37 years, retiring in 1990. Survivors are his wife of 49 years, Theresa; daughters, Amy (Richard) Steele of Mentor, Josi (Tom) Zimmerman of Houston, Texas, and Rose (Vicki Sanelli) Percic of Highland Heights; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. He is also survived my relatives in Croatia. Friends may call 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Brunner Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 8466 Mentor Ave., in Mentor. Burial will be in All Souls Cemetery in Chardon Township.
Online obituary at www.brunners.com.

ŠThe News-Herald 2004
http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1698&dept_id=21847&newsid=13174027&PAG=461&rfi=9

Love at first sight

A South African businessman is refusing to leave Croatia until he finds a girl who he spotted across a crowded bar.

Keith Van Der Spuy has never even spoken to the girl but says she was the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He has cancelled his flight home and taken out adverts in local newspapers in the port town of Split.

Mr Van Der Spuy says he lost sight of the pretty young woman shortly after she smiled at him across the bar.
But he's convinced she was a local because he heard her calling to a female friend shortly before he lost sight of her.

Van Der Spuy, who is also the head of the South African water-polo association, said he could not get her out of his mind and when he got to the airport realized he could not board the plane. He has already extended his holiday for four months, and says he is prepared to stay in Split for as long as it takes.

He told Croatian daily Slobodna Dalmacija: "I will not leave this place for years if I have to. When I saw her and she looked at me I knew she was the one. There was pure chemistry between us.

"I can't get her out of my head. I just want to meet her and see her long dark hair and beautiful smile again. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

"If she is married or is not interested I can accept it - but I have to know - I have to see her one more time, and I have even bought a diamond ring for her."

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1137611.html

Anthony Jurcan treasured family, country

From the Oct. 10, 2004 edition of The Seattle Times. John Peter Kraljic, Esq .

By Judy Chia Hui Hsu
Times Snohomish County Bureau

Those who knew him describe Anthony Jerry Jurcan as a kind, honest family man.

Mr. Jurcan died Oct. 4 of complications from pneumonia. He was 91 years old.

"He was always there for us," said his daughter, Jane Murray.

Back in her days as a newlywed, she recalled, money was tight. "He had a sixth sense, and he'd give me 20 bucks," which helped a lot, she said.

"And he was that way with the grandkids, too," Murray added. Her father would slip them $10 bills.

Born in Zlarin, Croatia, Mr. Jurcan moved to Zagreb, the country's capital, to learn his trade as a cabinetmaker when he was 14. For three years as an apprentice, he worked 10-hour days and six-day weeks.

In 1936, after serving 18 months in the army, Mr. Jurcan could not find work; the economy was still reeling from the Great Depression. So when his father, who had left the country for America several years earlier, sent him a letter and a ticket, Mr. Jurcan decided to go.

Soon after he arrived in the United States at the age of 23, he met his future wife, Annabelle. Mr. Jurcan had tuberculosis and landed in the hospital where she worked as a registered nurse. But he couldn't speak English, so using a Croatian-English dictionary, he wrote her a note asking if she'd like to teach him English.

"That was the come-on," his daughter said.

The two were married for 48 years, until Annabelle died in 1989.

Because Mr. Jurcan couldn't find work as a cabinetmaker in this country, his first job was as a fisherman. He joined his father, who was already working along the coasts of California, Washington and Alaska.

But quickly Mr. Jurcan returned to his first love. A hard worker, he practiced his trade at a few cabinet shops until he got a job with the Bon MarchĂŠ. Mr. Jurcan worked for the department store for 33 years, building display cabinets by hand.

"It's very nice, fine furniture," his daughter said. "We have a whole household of tables, cabinets and chairs."

Thirteen years ago, Mr. Jurcan married his daughter's neighbor, Harriet Mihara.

Mr. Jurcan loved to tell stories. He liked fishing and being outdoors. "He even installed a hot tub in his back yard a few years ago," his daughter recalled.

Mr. Jurcan was a member of Seattle's Croatian Fraternal Union Lodge 439 for 67 years.

Richard Major, who knew Mr. Jurcan for about 40 years through the lodge, remembers his "genuine hospitality and conversations about his homeland and his life in America, which he loved deeply."

Above all, Mr. Jurcan valued family and being together, his daughter said. "He enjoyed Christmas, Thanksgiving and tradition."

His son Robert Jurcan said having his father to talk to is what he'll miss most.

"He was a man that seemed to have no faults," his son said. "Everybody that met him, even just one time, liked him."

In addition to his wife, Mr. Jurcan is survived by two sons, Anthony Jr., of Bellevue, and Robert, of Sumner; daughter Jane Murray, of Seattle; four granddaughters; and a grandson.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Greenwood Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 350 Monroe Ave. N.E., Renton. Donations to any charity may be made in his memory.

Judy Chia Hui Hsu: 425-745-7809 or jhsu@seattletimes.com

Croatia's Mario Ancic gets tennis world record

Ancic beats Rusedski

Croatia's Mario Ancic beat Britain's Greg Rusedski 11-9 in the Superset Tennis sudden-death shoot-out final to walk away with the Ł250,000 winner-takes-all prize at Wembley Arena on Sunday night.

Ancic, aged 20 and ranked 20 in the world, and 31-year-old Rusedski traded serves for 20 games before Rusedski finally capitulated on the third set point. Victory gave Ancic a world record reward for three sets of tennis.

The battle of the big servers went with serve for the first 19 games before Rusedski, after saving two match points, was beaten by a forehand down the line. Ancic, the Wimbledon conqueror of Tim Henman, said: "It's been a great year in England for me and right now I'm speechless.

"It's my first tournament win, it isn't an ATP event but it was worth fighting for. I was just concentrating on serving."Rusedski reflected: "I wish I'd lost in the first round because I wouldn't be feeling so bad now. But Mario served too well and good luck to him." After beating American Robby Ginepri in the first round, Ancic was involved in a long semi-final when 45-year-old John McEnroe pushed him all the way.

The three-times Wimbledon champion had already handed Britain's latest prospect Andrew Murray a 24-minute masterclass, crushing the recent US Open boys' singles champion 6-1. Then, revelling in the razzmatazz of sudden-death tennis, he stretched Ancic to 9-7 before finally coming to a double fault.

Both Ancic and Murray admitted they had never met anyone like McEnroe, with the young Croatian conceding: "He played unbelievable tennis. That's the best guy at serve and volley. For one set he is so tough. "He picked up volleys and half-volleys and showed he is a true legend."

McEnroe revealed that he is ready to try and help Murray reach the top. "He's the type of player I hope I will be involved with because I think he has the potential to be a good player," said the American. "The whole idea is that I will be helping the LTA initiative by working with some kids and he's the obvious choice.

"At first the idea was I would be a figurehead but I want to get down in the trenches and hit with the kids," said McEnroe, who paid 17-year-old Murray respect by never easing up. "You risk losing if you do something like that. I smothered him before he had a chance to get into it," added the veteran.

Superset Tennis was making its European debut and is set to return to London in the future. Wimbledon it isn't, despite the All England championships' referee Alan Mills being in charge.

Rock music blaring, players marching on court in a fashion more suited to a boxing world title fight, court-side coaches giving advice and the latest hi-tech equipment giving players the chance to challenge controversial line calls were just a few of the innovations.

The use of Hawkeye to decide any line disputes was unanimously welcomed by the players, with McEnroe saying: "They are ahead of their time with that as it could be introduced on the tour in the next couple of years."
in tennis.

<http://www.sportinglife.com/tennis/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=tennis/04/10/03/TENNIS_Wembley_Nightlead.html>

Mario Preskar Wins in 37 seconds at Madison Square Garden

Last night in Madison Square Garden after six hours of
boxing, ten bouts which included four world championship
fights, the Ricardo Mayorga vs. Felix Trinidad “Back with a
Vengeance” main event produced enough adrenaline to lift
the 17,046 fans in attendance to their feet, grossed the
third largest gate in Madison Square Garden history, with
$4.65 million, and most certainly is a candidate for the
celebrated “Fight of the Year.”

In the opening bout of the evening, Croatian heavyweight
prospect Mario Preskar (212 lbs.) from Zagreb knocked out
Danny Weyland (210 lbs.) in 37 seconds of the first round.
Preskar (5-0-1, 3 KO’s) landed a left hook to Weylands jaw
and the Arkansas native went down and remained on the
canvas for the remainder of referee Eddie Cotton’s
ten-count.

Preskar next fight is in Tampa, Florida on Friday, October
22 then again in Madison Square Garden on Saturday,
November 13, 2004 in a "Struggle for Supremacy" evening
that will feature at least 8 Heavyweight fights including:
John Ruiz WBA Champion, Andrew Golota, Chris Byrd IBF
Champion, Jameel McCline, Four-Time Heavyweight World
Champion Evander Holyfield, Larry Donald, Kali Meehan,
former WBC and IBF Champion Hasim Rahman, former WBC
Heavyweight Champion Oliver McCall, Mario Preskar and
others.

source: www.fightnews.com

EU sets stricter criteria for Croatia joining

ISN SECURITY WATCH (07/10/04) - The EU is changing its language and setting stricter membership criteria for newcomers from Southeastern Europe. European Commission reports released on Wednesday give green lights to Bulgaria and Romania for EU entry in 2007, but under a proposed safeguard clause, warning that the two countries membership could be delayed by a year if they faltered in their reform efforts. But in the case of Croatia, which was promised membership talks beginning early next year, the EC reports wording was surprisingly strict. According to the new tone adopted by the EU executive body, candidate countries will be driven by real reforms on the ground, rather than simply on paper, which may take much longer to prove. The report said that the EU reserved the right to suspend negotiations in case of what the EC called a serious and persistent breach of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law. Croatia, which became an official EU candidate in June, was hoping to join the EU in 2007, together with Bulgaria and Romania, but EC officials are now skeptical of that date. EC officials told ISN Security Watch that Croatias membership could be put off until 2009. Zagreb's hopes were dealt another blow on Wednesday, when the EC report stopped short of recommending a start date for membership talks. Instead, Zagreb was advised to continue to improve its democratic and human rights standards if it wanted to move towards membership talks. Brussels has already made it clear that full cooperation with the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is a key condition for Croatias EU membership. In particular, Brussels is concerned about the authorities failure to turn over fugitive Croatian General Ante Gotovina, a former French Legionnaire indicted by the tribunal for crimes against Serb civilians during the 1992-1995 war in the Krajina region. Other requirements include advancing the refugee returns process and judicial reform. Despite the setback, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Wednesday welcomed the EC's recommendation that the EU should start membership negotiations with his country in early 2005, without offering an exact date. I would like to welcome the decision by the European Commission, which is another important step in the process of Croatia approaching the European Union," Sanader told journalists. It will be up to EU country leaders to decide at during a December summit whether to accept the commissions recommendations. In other news, support for EU membership has fallen dramatically in Croatia, just a few months since gaining candidate-member status. According to a poll by the Institutit Puls agency conducted in September, just under half (49 per cent) of those surveyed backed accession, while 41 per cent were opposed to joining the EU, compared to January when more than 70 per cent of Croatian voters supported joining the European bloc. (By Ekrem Krasniqi in Brussels)

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=9880 v

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work"

- Thomas Edison

Nothing worse could happen to one than to be completely understood

- Psychologist Carl Jung, 1875 - 1961

Adult Croatian Classes

Adult Croatian classes will be offered at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church starting, Thursday October 7, 2004 at 6:00pm. The class will be for beginners. There will be a total of 10 classes from 10/7/04 to 12/16/04. The classes will be held every Thursday from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church, which is located at 502 W. 41st Street, New York, NY 10036 (btw. 10th & 11th Ave.). The fee is $200.00 for the semester.

If you are interested in attending, please contact me at 516-698-7440.

Thank you,
Anita Skara

I send cheers from that never-ending road

Dear Nenad,

Great to hear from you. Now you are ENSCONCED IN MY COMPUTER!!!!

IT WILL BE A TREAT TO SEE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AGAIN.

I am going non-stop, like a nut-case.

I am just back from Lowell Mass. for the annual Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival, where I performed with my trio, accompanied scores of other musicians and poets, read from my books, hosted screenings of "Pull My Daisy," played at an art show where my caricatures of the era are being shown, and did programs with John Cassady, the son of Jack's road buddy and inspiration for "On the Road", Neal Cassady..

I also did a program at U. Mass Lowell, and a bunch of interviews (in three languages) for people from around the World who come every year to this amazing event which also celebrates Kerouac's hometown, where 27 languages are currently spoken.

The old French, Greek and Portuguese communities have been replaced with new immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia. Laos and many countries from Central and South America, and most of the people who were born here still have a strong regional old New England accent that has like so many other regional accents, disappeared throughout so much of the country.

Even the way people dress and relate to one another feel s like a much earlier time, and the stark beauty of the old abandoned red brick mills, the rushing waters of the Merrimack River, and the old wooden frame houses and shops with fading hand written signs in many languages are magical in comparison to most plastic chain store franchised Burger-King-ized miles of monotonous malls that make more and more cities in America all seem like the same place.

Wish you could have been there, to see all the people gathered from all over to celebrate Jack's life and the enduring value of his life's work...the beautiful books he left us.

I'm now back in New York to perform for the City Island Jazz Festival this Thursday night, and then off for Bruce Springsteen concert in Orlando, where Clarence Clemens, his great sax player and I are planning some collaborations, then back to NY to continue work on my new "SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS ON A THEME BY WOODY GUTHRIE,"

The following weekend, I am at a festival in Pennsylvania where I am the guest of honor, giving a concert, and screening of "Pull My Daisy," prior to a marathon 12 hour reading of On the Road," the next day. Then off to Texas to conduct a performance of "Giants of the Night," the flute concerto which I composed for James Galway.

And also I am preparing a collaboration with Willie Nelson for a new CD with him, using idioms from Native American, Latin American, jazz and classical styles. All in addition to doing programs resulting from the release of my new symphonic CD for Naxos
records and the Varese-Sarabande release of my 42 year old score for The Manchurian Candidate"

So with all this crazed activity, I won't have any time to get into trouble. My little free time is spent working on my new book, my composing of new orchestral music and trying to answer mail!!!

Jack's work is more appreciated than ever, and the positive energy I see in the faces of young people I encounter every day who are inspired by his work are a constant source of joy., proving the old adage that a thing of beauty IS a joy forever.

As the sun goes down behind the hills of our old farm here in Putnam Valley and cold early October wintery nights are starting to sneak up on us, I send cheers from that never-ending road, and look forward to our paths crossing soon again.

All best.

David

David Amram