Flying to DC last Thursday I recalled that it was 50 years ago (this summer) that I moved to the city after my college graduation. Riding from the airport to our hotel, we passed the restaurant where my roommate’s father and uncle, both successful Washingtonians, had taken me to lunch shortly after my arrival and asked me where I saw myself five years hence. I had had no good answer for them, and felt very small. Sitting in the taxi I thought: Now it’s 50 years later and I’m getting the Amicus Poloniae award from the Polish ambassador on Friday and speaking at the Arts Club of Washington on Sunday.
