As I Remember It by Cynthia Citron, © 2017 Xlibris; ISBN 9780152-4571627.
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – Given that Nancy and I are mentioned in Cynthia Citron’s book, I feel a bit embarrassed recommending it to you.
But the fact is, Cynthia also writes in her memoir about important people with whom she has worked or brushed shoulders, among them: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Ted Kennedy, and university president Steve Trachtenberg.
Besides that, she’s a wonderful travel writer, having visited and described trips to every continent except Antarctica. Some of the people she has lampooned in her book may be willing to take up a collection to send her to that frozen continent – so long as it’s one way.
Cynthia wrote columns for the San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage, and currently writes play reviews for San Diego Jewish World. I’ve had the privilege of being the editor of both these publications, and in her memoir Cynthia gleefully reports how at the Heritage I bestowed upon her the title of Los Angeles bureau chief. This, I’ll admit, was somewhat grandiose as she was our only reporter stationed in Los Angeles.
In her life, Cynthia has occupied numerous positions of responsibility. She helped plan and publicize for Ethiopia its pavilions at two world fairs. She helped produce a number of travel documentaries, some of which have been aired by National Geographic. She served as public relations director at Boston University and the University of Hartford. And wherever she has gone, she has observed the passing scene with wit and discernment.
Let me share some snippets about her encounters with the rich and famous.
Emperor Haile Selassie: Cynthia had been hired to coordinate and publicize Ethiopia’s exhibit at Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada. It was housed in a giant Ethiopian style tent, and staffed by 13 beautifully costumed Ethiopian hostesses from various parts of the country. Cynthia had written a speech for the Emperor, which “I figured they would consider… a ‘suggestion’ and alter it beyond all recognition. On Ethiopia National Day, May 4th in Montreal, therefore, I was both thrilled and amazed to hear the Emperor deliver the exact speech just as I had written it. Not a word of it had been changed…. The next day, for our “Service to the Empire,’ {her then husband} Bob and I were invited to a private audience with the Emperor where he presented us each with a solid gold medal and a gracious speech, which he delivered in English.”
Ted Kennedy: While handling public relations for CARE, Cynthia took a film crew to the Sudan. Initially, they intended to document CARE’s work in that country, but they received a call from CARE headquarters to instead follow Ted Kennedy and his children visiting Sudanese refugee camps. In traveling from one camp to another, the Sudanese drivers decided to drag race full speed across the desert. “Our Land Rover suddenly ran out of gas. We were ahead in the race, so we jumped out and tried to wave down the other vehicles. They waved back gleefully as they shot past us. Within minutes we were abandoned in the midday heat of the Sahara Desert. Worse, we had no food or water with us.”
Eventually rescued, Cynthia missed the film interview she had been scheduled to do with Kennedy, who had to fly on to another destination. “We were told, however, that Teddy had called twice from the plane to ask about us and to find out if we were alright… Several years later I wrote him a note to congratulate him on something or other and mentioned our encounter in Sudan, although I was sure he wouldn’t remember it. He wrote me back to thank me for my letter and to say that of course he remembered the time in Sudan and was glad we had been found and that he was sorry we hadn’t been able to do the interview. And that’s the Ted Kennedy I knew. When he died I felt like I had lost a personal friend.”
Steve Trachtenberg: When Cynthia worked for him, it was at the University of Hartford, before Trachtenberg went on to a career as president of George Washington University in Washington D.C. During that Connecticut university’s 25th anniversary year, Trachtenberg was invited to one of the Ivy League schools to march in cap and gown to celebrate the installation of a new university president. “He was humiliated to discover that he was near the end of the line. Presidents marched in chronological order, based on the age of their institutions. Chagrined, he returned to Hartford to announce that the University was not 25, but 102. He was dating it from the establishment of its oldest unit, the Hartford Art School, which had been started more than a century earlier. The next time he marched in an academic procession, he was up near the front, where he felt he belonged.”
Readers who are world travelers will enjoy Cynthia’s reminiscences about the many places that she has visited because mixed among her observant descriptions are wry anecdotes in which she is often the target of her own stories. I can picture sitting with her in the lounge of a cruise ship during a “sea day” and listening, and laughing, as she recounted both her adventures and misadventures.
Many of Cynthia’s play reviews for San Diego Jewish World may be accessed by following this link:
https://www.sdjewishworld.com/?s=cynthia+citron&x=0&y=0
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com