On her return trip she managed to smuggle out important dissident material, including Valentyn Moroz’s “Beria Reservation.” This was a very risky and dangerous move, as she was lucky to evade the KGB. One year she travelled to Ukraine and met with notable people in the Ukrainian cultural world. During the Cold War, Prolog was active in countering Soviet propaganda, and Marta became very active in supporting the dissident movement in Ukraine. I was amazed at how hard she worked, bringing work home with her.Įventually, Marta became the editor of the journal “Suchasnist,” a popular literary monthly based in Munich, Germany. Afterwards, Marta and I met frequently and she introduced me to many people. When it ended, one poet drove us back to Times Square, which was empty on that very late and rainy night. It was a very lively affair, attended by practically every Ukrainian “arts” person in the Western Hemisphere (there were even people from Brazil). The party was at the famous painter Yuriy Soloviy’s place. I asked around if anyone would be going and Marta volunteered, saying that she would also be going and would find some transportation for us. There was to be a large party in New Jersey, and I knew that an old Chicago friend would be there. On one particular Sunday – my second week back in New York City – I decided to go downtown to meet an old friend who took me to the Ukrainan restaurant Orchidea. in 1960, and, except for short visits, I had been away from the country for 10 years. How did I meet Marta? The short answer is in a bar, but here’s how it happened. In one notable endeavor, she single-handedly published “Digest of the Soviet Ukrainian Press,” translating important articles from Soviet publications into English. In 1967, she moved to New York City to work for Prolog Research and Publishing Corp., a Ukrainian corporation where she edited and worked on publications. She completed graduate studies at the University of Toronto and worked for Canadian Facts with Margaret Attwood. While in high school, Marta also became a sports writer for the local press and attended many games. They emigrated to Edmonton in 1949 where they had relatives.
The family wound up in Austria, near Salzburg, when war ended. Her mother died two years afterwards from acute pneumonia and Marta was raised by one of her aunts, whom she came to regard as a mother who cared for her during their long journey escaping from the advancing Red Army.
Skorupsky was born during the war years in Morshyn, a spa town in western Ukraine. The following commentary was written by her husband, Bohdan Gerulak. Skorupsky, a noted Ukrainian American editor, translator and journalist who contributed to the popularization of Ukrainianism in the English world, passed away on April 19, 2021.
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