My Own Obit / Vlastní Nekrolog

The other day I went through my old Uni papers and found this one.
Mark Farrel, our lecturer in Practical Language and Writing courses at the English department Faculty of Education, is a Canadian, and a fairly wierd personality - but I liked him from the start. Indeed, this is what he started the Creative Writing course (2003) with:
"I don't know you, and I'd like to learn something about you - from your own obituaries..."

Na fakultě nás angličtinu a "psaní" učil jeden ulítlý Kanaďan. Měla jsem ho jako učitele moc ráda, a získal si mne hned úvodním úkolem:
"Moc vás neznám, a tak bych chtěl, abyste mi o sobě něco napsali. Přineste mi příště svůj vlastní nekrolog..."

In the stormy events of the past days few people noticed the decease of Mary Preclik-Wyseman. Indeed, the last days of her life, until she passed away last Thursday at the age of 63, she spent in retirement, away from the limelight. But her life wasn’t always as it was in the last four years, when she was fighting with a severe illness. As one of her closest friends observes:

‘Mary was a truly versatile woman. Just imagine all her interests – art, literature, drama, charity - and at the same time taking care of such an enormous family! I cannot think of anyone else like her.’

Some, however, point out she would be hardly able to perform any of these, hadn't it been for her husband, the famous cameraman and script-writer Sam Wyseman. But while their opinion may be right in one point, it thoroughly fails to take into consideration what Mary had to go through before she could settle down in the arms of her beloved. After graduating from Charles University in Prague she went to work as a teacher, helping her income by occasional interpreting. This way she also met her future husband, who was at the time working on his new motion picture. This is how he described their first meeting:

‘She didn’t attract any particular attention. And yet under a humble surface there was hidden a most congenial personality, a devout soul, a constant supporter in whatever I did – and a thoughtful commentator and critic at the same time. It took me so long to realise that I had no need of glamorous show-offs dressed up in the latest fashion, that this little unobtrusive girl was all I was looking for. Mary’d both understand perfectly the intricacies of my job and make my house a place of bliss. But for her I‘d have never finished any of my major projects.’

It took them both a long time to find out they were meant for each other; actually it wasn’t until some five years later that Sam finally proposed to her and the couple moved to their new house in Wales. Mary spent most of her time at home now and looked after their six children, but even there she did not forget her native language and both wrote and illustrated charming children’s books as well as helped to introduce several poets (e.g. Paul Simon) to the Czech audience by translating most of their lyrics and poems. Then came the days of her fame, her works were published all around the world and seven of them turned into movies (three by Sam Wyseman himself). She also proved a good organiser, being the founder of MERA (the Middle-Earth Relived Association) and the leader of the international Kids Counteracting Covetousness Campaign (KCCC), to name just one of the many philantropic activities the took part in.

‘All who knew her well will surely miss her,’ says Mary’s youngest son Christopher. ‘But I know Mum hasn’t died. She lives in her books, in her ideas – in our hearts.’