The passing on Sunday of Czech playwright and statesman, Vacal Havel, greatly saddened Bluepepper, being of a generation captivated by the Czech spirit in writers such as Kundera, Skvorecky and Havel himself. He was a man of remarkable selflessness and integrity, and it is perhaps fitting that one of his last engagements was a meeting with the Dalai Lama, a man of similar stamp.
As Carl Gershman pointed out in his opinion piece for the Washington Post, Havel's selfless spirit was perhaps best encapsulated in his rigorous campaigning for the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded to Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi when he was himself in line to receive it after heading the so-called "Velvet Revolution". It was one of many selfless acts by a man who will be missed in ways the world is yet to reckon up.
Vale Vaclav!
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