Visiting Wild West theme parks in CZ and PL

Posted on October 1, 2018 by realimaginary

Me at the Western park outside Boskovice, CZ

(This is a crosspost from my Sauerkraut Cowboys blog…)

I managed to get to two Wild West theme parks this summer — “Twin Pigs” in Poland, and the Western Park (once called Wild West City) outside Boskovice in the Czech Republic.

I’ve visited a number of wild west theme parks in Europe over the years — they are key elements in the Imaginary Wild West. Real Imaginary spaces that have grown out of dreams, passions, stereotypes, and yearnings — but also help create them.

This was my first visit to Twin Pigs — but the latest of several to Boskovice.

The Boskovice park was founded in 1994 as a private initiative by a local man, Lubo

My chapters in two new books

Posted on December 22, 2017 by realimaginary

I have chapters in two recently published books — one in my Jewish heritage field and one rooted in the Imaginary Wild West.

I wrote the Foreword to this book, Reiten Wir! — edited by Alex Jahnke and a tribute to Karl May (the German author of the Winnetou sagas) published as part of events marking the 175th anniversary of May’s birth. It’s a collection of short stories by fantasy writers, using characters and situations from the Karl May universe.

It’s in German and can be purchased via amazon.

All proceeds from the book will go to the Karl May Museum in Radebeul, Germany.

The other chapter is in the book Space and Spatiality in Modern German-Jewish History, edited by Simone Lässig and Miriam Rürup. Berghahn Books, 2017.