Mrs. Tovornik, Cecie Kraynak, Tatjana Novak, Maja Valic, Darja Budja, Joe Kraynak, Sanja Svajger (Journalist) at Book Presentation in Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 12, 2009
On August 12, I received an interesting email message via my Contact Me page. The message was from Darja Budja, who was wrapping up her translation/adaptation of Bipolar Disorder for Dummies
from English to Slovene. Darja has bipolar, hosts her own bipolar Web site at bipolarna.si, and is very involved in the bipolar community in Ljubljana (pronounced lyoo-blee-ah-nah), Slovenia. She was writing to let me know how much she loved the book Dr. Candida Fink and I had written.
As we exchanged email messages, Darja expressed a grand vision she had to promote the book – presenting the Slovene edition of Bipolar Disorder For Dummies to me, in person, in Slovenia. I thought it was a brilliant idea, but confessed I had neither the money nor the time to travel to Europe. Darja persisted, lined up the funding to cover the air fare for me and my wife, Cecie (who also has bipolar and is the inspiration for my involvement in the book), and made all the arrangements – including letting us stay in a comfortable flat owned by her husband Simon’s parents.
When the trip looked as though it was actually going to happen, I contacted David Hobson, Associate Marketing Manager at Wiley, to request some gifts for our hosts. David packed a boxful of goodies and shipped them to me pronto. They were lost in transit, but we managed to track them down the night before our departure… that’s another story.
On Thursday, October 8, we arrived in Ljubljana via Venice. Friday afternoon, we met with several of the movers and the shakers who had made the translation possible – Darja; Maja Valic of the DAM Society (a depression and anxiety organization); Peter Smole, Roman Peklaj, and Katja Jus of Saložba Pasadena (the publisher); and Emi M. Kladnik and Ana Šorc who translated Depression For Dummies.
Friday evening was the highlight of the trip for us, when we met with Darja’s bipolar support group in Ljubljana to present the book and discuss our experiences with bipolar disorder. Many wonderful people were present who were managing bipolar in their lives. Throughout the meeting, which lasted over two hours, we shared stories, tears, and plenty of laughs – when you’re dealing with bipolar, humor is an essential survival skill. We also had the pleasure of meeting the renowned and unconventional psychiatrist, Dr. Mojca, who introduced us to “the gypsy way” of overcoming obstacles.
We did two more book presentations – one in Koper (on the shores of the Adriatic Sea) and another back in Ljubljana – and Cecie and I were interviewed as part of a special report on bipolar disorder for one of the local television channels.
Given the fact that Slovenia is populated by only a little over 2 million people, and the first print run for the book was only 1,000 copies, I was very impressed by the promotional efforts behind this book, but wondered… why, how? I later learned that Bipolar Disorder For Dummies is the first major book on the topic in Slovene (except for a couple books for children). AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company, had agreed to purchase 250 copies of the book to distribute to psychiatrists throughout the country, along with brochures on bipolar for patients.
During our stay, we visited with Darja and Simon and their wonderful children and were treated to several tours of Ljubljana and the beautiful country of Slovenia by Darja, Maja, and their friends. It was truly a remarkable opportunity and the most rewarding and fascinating experience of my writing career.
Thanks to the DAM Society, AstraZeneca, Zalozba Pasadena, and Darja Budja and Maja Valic for their efforts and support in publishing the translation and hosting our trip and to all our new friends in Slovenia who are pitching in to promote the book and who were such gracious hosts. Thanks also to my parents, John and Adeline Kraynak, and mother-in-law, Jo Anne Howard, for their support, to PsychCentral’s John Grohol for pledging his support… and, always, to my wife, Cecie, who helped make this trip spectacular.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
After the last PsychCentral newsletter with your article I tried to reach you. I have a site about a little known problem. Do you have the behaviors on my site?
Do you read, write, or use a computer anywhere that someone or something can walk beside you? Is there anything that moves in your peripheral vision where you do any of those things?
If you can identify the situation I describe I think I can lower the Bipolar symptoms you and your wife have. It won’t cost anything, there is no medication, and there is no therapy to endure.
How often will you get an offer like that?
It won’t cost anything to learn and try.
The only down side is that since the brain system that causes the problem functions subliminally you cannot detect positive results in the same way you can feel results when you take pain medication. You feel and notice nothing but the negative symptoms will simply stop.
Hi Joe,
I remembered that you had written a book about bipolar disorder, and was looking for the information to pass on to a friend when I came across this blog. What a wonderful experience for you and Cecie to travel to Slovenia and meet with Darja. I would love to hear more about it (and see photos) the next time we get together. Hope all is well with your family, I think of “my Chicago cousins” often. If you ever get out this way, please stop by.