And I learned a lot. This time, for instance, my promotional trailer is much shorter -- the old one was seven minutes; my new one is two -- and of course the internet is now letting people around the world see it, whereas I was limited by my actual tour route before (which took me over 4000 miles in an old jalopy I purchased for $1000).
Your fiction has been inspired by your own experiences during the Cold War. You have been "shadowed by KGB, organized secret midnight meetings with informants", drove vehicles with secret compartments carrying Bibles and medical supplies, among other things. I know I am sounding a bit callous, but can you tell us any particularly memorable (a.k.a. thrilling) moment among all these?
There are many thrilling moments, ranging from exploring hidden tunnels beneath the cobblestones of one of Central Europe’s most venerable cathedrals, to people in the Tatra Mountains killing their only chicken -- the chicken that furnished their near-destitute family with eggs -- just so we could have a meal. It would have wounded them deeply had we not eaten this sacrificial gift to us. I have been hungry before -- so hungry and poor I lived on jars of peanut butter and bread I took from the church I attended (actually, the cooks smiled and turned their backs) -- so I know how much that meal meant to those who were giving it to us. It was a gift of immense gratitude for our having come so far with food and money... and a Bible.
Other thrills include being stopped late at night in Budapest by the secret police. In the trunk of our car was a printing press. If we had been caught transporting a printing press, we could have been executed. But instead of making me open the trunk – they focused on an irregularity with my visa. They kept pointing at my passport and talking in rapid Hungarian. I kept asking them if they spoke English and where we could get beer. Back and forth we went. Finally, the officer handed me back my passport and waved me on. The last officer (who had tried opening the trunk, but found it locked) then told me -- in perfect English -- to have a pleasant visit but drive carefully.
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