As a kid, I knew there was such a thing as "the West", but all through my childhood I was taught that Western culture was far inferior to our Socialism. American culture was Coca Cola (mistakenly identified with cocaine), it was Walt Disney (labeled as kitsch), America was all gunsmoke and street violence, and those who weren't shot in the streets in broad daylight were lynched by the Ku Klux Klan at night.
It was in this atmosphere of the Cold War at its peak, that a copy of National Geographic Magazine somehow got into my hands. On the front cover, there was a photograph of Marina City Towers in Chicago, illuminated in the night. I was flabbergasted. The sheer beauty of the buildings and the photograph (and the magazine itself, for that matter) was something I was not prepared for. Western culture took my by surprise and knocked me flat in a second.
Then in the mid-Eighties I had my first chance to go to America on a business trip, and the first city I visited was Chicago. Disregarding my jet lag and the late night hour, I went on a pilgrimage to Marina City Towers, and just stood in front of the buildings overwhelmed. I touched the wall to make sure it was for real, and then went back to my hotel to rest after the long flight.
For the above reason, Marina City Towers symbolize America for me. I wanted to pay tribute to them on this page, and possibly also through the inclusion of that cover of National Geographic Magazine.
If anyone reading this owns a copy, and is in a position to have it scanned, please do, and send it to my E-mail address below. I will put the photograph up on this page, giving credit to the person who answered this request. (Please disregard this last paragraph. I only left it in for historic accuracy, because I now have that photograph, see above at right.)
My E-mail address is tamas@revbiro.hu
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