AMERICAN DREAM: a guy from croatia Boris Miksic AMERICAN DREAM: a guy from Croatia 4th EDITION Revised edition copyright © 2010 Boris Miksic All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced without prior written permission from the author. Cover photo by courtesy of Ernst & Young LLC: Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2000) Boris A. Miksic, FNACE, MSc.Ph.D.Candidate (2010) Editor: Ivana Radic Borsic Printed in the Republic of Croatia www.borismiksic.hr ISBN 0-9656316-0-5 To two great Croats — The late Governor Rudy Perpich and President Franjo Tudjman, whose charisma and vision helped change the course of history for Minnesota and Croatia The author wishes to acknowledge Cynthia Nelson for her assistance in making this book possible. Ivan Lackovic Croata: “With hobo bindle stick to a foreign land”, one of the painter’s last graphics, 2004 Hard Work and Fate My life has been a combination of hard work and fate. Often, it seems, fate has played the bigger part. Such was the case on April 3, 1996. I was traveling on business and had just returned to my hotel room to prepare for dinner. As I got ready, I switched on the television to catch a little of the evening news. What I heard stunned me...and most of the nation. “Government officials have confirmed that the Air Force jet carrying U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and more than thirty American business leaders crashed earlier to- day outside of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Rescue teams are combing the area, but their attempts have been hampered by poor weather and the rugged terrain. It is now believed there are no survivors.” “Oh, God, what next?” I thought. For a moment I feared the worst—that it wasn’t an accident, that there had been some sort of rocket attack to bring the hostilities of the region back into full-scale fighting. I was re- lieved to hear later that there was no evidence 6 B O R I S M I K S I C of hostile action—no rocket, no bomb. Just bad weather and poor judgment—and tragi- cally, thirty-three people dead. Some weeks earlier I had received a phone call from my contact in Washington, D.C., telling me about plans for a trade mission to Bosnia and Croatia. Commerce Secretary Brown was going to take a group of govern- ment officials and U.S. business executives to that war-torn area in hopes of generat- ing business to stimulate its economy. Was I available to go along? I really wanted to go. Moreover, I felt it was a great opportunity for my home country, Croatia. Although I had lived in the United States for more than twenty years, my ties to Croatia were still strong, perhaps stronger than ever before. I had family and many close friends there, as well as business interests, and I was glad to support anything that would help build stability in the region. About that same time the United States Department of Defense announced a part- nership between the Minnesota National Guard and the Croatian armed forces. The partnership was intended to assist Croatia in its efforts to maintain a military structure that AMERICAN DREAM: A GUY FROM CROATIA 7 was accountable to democratic civilian lead- ership. The program consisted of a series of exchange visits designed to provide Croatian military personnel with the opportunity to observe how the Minnesota National Guard performed certain functions. Subjects such as medical operations, military justice adminis- tration, staff management activities, and pub- lic affairs operations were intended areas of cooperation. As Consul General of Croatia in Minnesota, I had been included on a team that met with Pentagon and National Guard representatives for several months to put the project together. It was an important under- taking, one that could help ensure contin- ued stability in the region for years to come, especially after UN and NATO forces had completed what they had set out to do and withdrew their troops at the end of 1996. There was a history for this type of U.S. partnership in regions of the world where we did not have rationale to involve American combat troops, but wished to maintain a pres- ence in the area. The Croatian and Minnesota connection was like the United State’s involve- ment when the Baltic states began drifting away from the Soviet Union. At the invita- 8 B O R I S M I K S I C tion of the Baltic countries, the Department of Defense involved National Guards of vari- ous states in partnership programs. Because the focus of these partnerships was decidedly non-combat, our presence was not viewed as aggressive. Still, our military presence was noted and it helped to keep the peace. This same sort of bridge was established between the Minnesota National Guard and Croatia. A long-term partnership with the Minnesota National Guard helped create stability in the region. The arrangement was a win-win situa- tion for both Croatia and the United States. We were just putting the finishing touches on plans for this involvement in Croatia when I received the call from Washington. I felt it was more important to stay and complete what had been going on for several months than to go on a new mission. I regretted not going, but my schedule just wouldn’t allow me to attend. Now, as I stood in my hotel room, staring at the television screen, I realized how fortu- nate I was. I could have been on that plane. You could say that fate won another round. AMERICAN DREAM: A GUY FROM CROATIA 9 The Red Ferrari Nineteen sixty-eight is the year remembered throughout the world as the wild year of the Student Movement. For me it was significant in another way. A short trip to the Samobor hills near Zagreb, Croatia in the fall of that year changed the course of my life. My girlfriend Dunja and I were headed to the railway station on our way back to Za- greb, and as we walked across Samobor’s main square, we heard an unusually loud roar of a car engine. We turned around to see a red Ferrari 330 America driving toward us. It was the car of my dreams! Although we had never hitchhiked before, this time, without a word, we both raised our thumbs. The Ferrari stopped. In the car were a young man and woman. “Can we give you a lift?” the man asked in English. We jumped at the chance. As we drove toward Zagreb, we learned the friendly young couple was on their honey- moon. They introduced themselves as Dick and Margie Singer, Americans from New York. They were on their way to Germany 10 B O R I S M I K S I C and had only stopped for a few days in Za- greb where they had some business with the record company Jugoton. Dick’s father owned Singer Products Co., Inc., whose headquarters were in the World Trade Center in Manhat- tan. Among others, they represented RCA, the manufacturer of recording studio equip- ment. We got along really well and met a few more times while they were in Zagreb. Then they left in that beautiful Ferrari. During the next few years we exchanged Christmas cards and a few letters, as usual after such a short acquaintance. I didn’t know then, but more than anything, that chance meeting on the road was the ticket to my future. I grew up in Zagreb, and until I was sev- enteen my parents and I lived in Tresnjevka, a part of Zagreb in many ways similar to the Bronx. We lived in one rented room, without a bathroom or kitchen. We slept, cooked, and washed in that tiny room. Our apartment was so small it was hard to have people over, and since I could not invite my friends to visit, I didn’t like to go to their homes either. I grew up a rather withdrawn young man. It was during this time in my life that I became AMERICAN DREAM: A GUY FROM CROATIA 11 acquainted with Stjepan Tudjman, the son of now Croatian President Tudjman. We were about the same age and attended the same school. However, it wasn’t until I was an adult that we became close friends. My parents had lived in Zagreb since World War II. They met in a town called Karlovac, outside Zagreb just after the war and were married in 1946. My mother Nina majored in German and Russian and worked as a highschool teacher until she retired. Before World War II my father had gone to college, majoring in business, but was forced to quit when he entered the military. After the war, when he returned to Zagreb, he got a job as an accountant and was later the head of ac- counting in a civil engineering firm. My mother’s family originally came to Croatia from Russia. Her father’s last name was Genrihsen; he was of Swedish origin, but after living many years in Russia, the family had assimilated and felt themselves to be Rus- sian. My maternal grandmother was from the eminent St. Petersburg family Von Radecki. She was a very talented pianist, had finished at the famous Smolni Institute and even per- formed at the Court with a group of the most 12 B O R I S M I K S I C talented students.