POLAND: August, 1990

By the third trip, my husband Fred was infuriated that I was going again, but I had meetings with the film industry in Warsaw, and a tour of some of the healthcare facilities in Gdansk that Barbara Cheney from the U.S. Embassy had set up for me. Besides, Marcia was still there, and I could meet up with her, so I wouldn’t be alone.

As I boarded the plane, I realized that Frank, the Greek was on the same flight, going back to Poland for the “Cause Credit Card Deal.” Interestingly enough, he did not even acknowledge my existence. He didn’t even nod at my “hello” when I walked past him on the plane. We even took the same shuttle to the Marriott, and he deliberately ignored me on that shuttle.

After I checked in, and was on my way up to my room, Frank was waiting for me in the hallway and grabbed my arm to pull me aside. He then looked me straight in the eye and very menacingly informed me that Studibert was not happy with my performance in Poland, and both he & Studibert didn’t want to have to do it, but if I continued working with Solidarity, Studibert would have to circulate a letter of denouncement of me. Frank then through my arm down and walked away.

I may be just a housewife, but I was being handled as a threat, and knew I was now on the “out’s” with the Freedom Foundation. My efforts would be jeopardized. I was panicking. Studibert was notorious for distributing damning letters about people that got in his way. I personally knew of 3 men who had worked closely with him at the White House, who had either crossed him, or found him out. Studibert would write scathing letters on White House stationary simply stating that the White House (always used 3rd person) did not endorse this person, nor did they recommend them, in fact, the person was considered to be disreputable. These letters would be mailed and faxed to every government agency and to every friend and co-worker the individual every had. Studibert essentially murdered people's careers and destroyed their lives with the power he had when at the White House. He was no longer at the White House, but he was still relying heavily on the fact that he used to be when Frank threatened me.

Frank had accomplished what he set out to do, that which Studibert was unable to do at the Polish Embassy party in D.C. I felt so alone, abandoned and afraid.

The anxiety of what Frank and Studibert could do to me, along with the jet-lag was playing on my emotions. I was terrified, but managed to get a grip and turned my terror into utter anger. I had some significant meetings I needed to follow through with, and I was more determined than ever to see where they would take me. I reminded myself that Studibert did not rule the world.

I went to my room, and immediately started calling. Martha was not in her room, but she had left a message for me that she was in fact in Gdansk at the Hell hotel. I spoke with Hannah, Kuba’s wife, and discovered that Kuba and Andrjez were in meetings in Warsaw, but would call me back later.

Andrzej did call me back as I was unpacking. He gave me the addresses, names, and itinerary for meeting with the key people at the sound studios in Warsaw. He told me they were anxious to meet me, as I had been recommended by Krakowski and Solidarity.

I inquired after Kuba and Basia. They were doing quite well. I asked Andrjez how he was doing, and he noted that he would be stuck in Warsaw for another day, but planned to be back in Gdansk the next. He had arranged for me to meet Lech Walesa there, but would have to take the early morning train to get there in time to introduce me to him. He had also arranged a meeting with a prominent Thoracic surgeon in Gdansk to discuss healthcare while I was there.

We carried on a friendly conversation for a couple of minutes, and it came out that he stayed with Kuba when he was in Warsaw for Solidarity. I then offered him my room for the next day and night, since I would be going on to Gdansk early the next morning, but since I would only be spending the day and one night there, I didn’t want to give up my hotel room. So I offered it to him, and he was thrilled! He had never stayed at the Marriott, and always wanted to. This was like Christmas for him, and he just gushed out thank-you’s all over the phone. I laughed, because for me, I hated staying in hotels – no matter how luxurious they were.

My mood was now changed. Hope was back in my heart, and the busy schedule, gave me purpose and reminded me of why I was there. What Frank was doing there, and what he planned to do to me in the future no longer mattered. Andrzej made me feel welcome, safe, and useful.

I left a message for Martha, giving her my itinerary and phone number, took a quick nap, and then headed out to the studios.

CHUCK NORRIS AND THE WALL

After the party n Washington, Fred and I were in the lobby of our hotel (Marriott) along with my dear friend (or was it fiend), Studibert, while waiting for our shuttle to the airport to fly up to New York City, when Chuck and Aaron Norris (of celebrity fame) walked up to our group (they knew Studibert from the Bush-for-President campaign). Studibert introduced Fred and I, and we exchanged pleasantries and then began to talk about the foray into Poland and Hungary and our participation in tearing down The Wall.

Chuck Norris was particularly interested in The Wall, and the work I was doing to try and get western businesses into Poland. He expressed the desire he had to find out more about the film-making capabilities in Poland, as we recounted seeing Wilem Defoe and Donald Sutherland when we were there in March. I told Mr. Norris that I would be happy to explore any and all possibilities, including locations, equipment, personnel, sound-stages, and all film-making capabilities the Poles might have available for him.

Mr. Norris then asked if I had a business card. I didn’t – because I was not a real business, yet. But I remembered I was lugging a huge chunk of The Berlin Wall around in my purse with the intent of giving it to Senator Hatch’s wife. It was weighing me down quite a bit, and I thought it would be great to unload it on to someone who might appreciate it. I told Mr. Norris that I did not have a business card, but I did have a piece of The Wall he could have. Chuck was thrilled to be offered this piece of history, and so he exchanged his contact information at Pathe’ Entertainment for that hunk of cement, with the plea to get any and all info I could find back through his agent. His brother Aaron expressed a desire to have a piece of The Wall, too if I could get him a piece. I told him I hoped to get back to The Wall on my next trip, but didn’t know when that would be. I also offered him and Chuck a spot on the next trade mission we were trying to put together with the “Foundation For Free Markets.”

We soon parted, and Fred and I flew to New York. There, I met with Andrjez Krakowski, a screen-writer (who happened to have written the screenplays to the 2 movies being filmed in Poland in March, 1990: Eminent Domain, with Donald Sutherland and Triumph of the Spirit, with Willem Dafoe). It was an interesting meeting, because the man we met at his apartment was an older man, and conversed with us about his many scripts. Then in walked a much younger man, and the older man introduced him as Krakowski. Many years later, when attempting to collaborate with Krakowski on another project, he confessed that he used the younger man many times to try and find out the true nature of a visitor’s intent. He was making sure we were not crazed fans (for a screenwriter? really?).

I was given the names of film studios in Warsaw and Krakow and their staff, directors, producers, etc. in order to do the research for Norris on a return trip. I was thrilled, mostly because this gave me the perfect excuse to go back to Poland, but also an additional business to bring back with me.

POLISH EMBASSY

My husband was not happy about my going a second time to Poland, even if it was with our mutual friends, Craig and Martha. I would have stayed with Martha to get away from my husband, but there was much I needed to do in the U.S. to help businesses in Poland, and I did not want to stay away from my sons for any longer. But I went back to some rather interesting Studibert developments.

Studibert was not happy about many things where I was concerned: He was not happy that I went with Craig and Martha to meet with all of HIS exclusive contacts (Solidarity). He had already warned me about doing business in Poland without going through him first – and this last trip did not go through him. Craig had had meetings with Studibert before we left and so he was aware of what we would be doing, but when he found out about the 4^th of July party, Studibert's attitude towards me did an about-face.

After we had been home for awhile, Craig later told me that Studibert had confided in him about his plan to ruin me and anything I would try to do in Poland. The first thing Studibert did was to take a letter I had written to all the original trade-mission attendees and turn it around to condemn me to all those people. I had quoted an East Berliner calling the Berlin Wall: "the F#$&*^% Russian Wall." Studibert went to great lengths to make sure everyone knew that he thought this was unacceptable language and he had no part of it, and would not tolerate this kind of language in anything to do with him. It really had nothing to do with him, but he used it anyway.

Remember, I was just an ordinary housewife caught up in a changing world that rivaled WWI and II – The Russian had said it, we thought it – I wrote it. Studibert’s turn on me caught me by surprise. I was almost devastated, but not deterred in what I needed to do to meet my commitments to Solidarity, and I continued with my contacts at USAID, The Department of Commerce and the State Department.

I soon learned that there was a party planned for all our Solidarity friends at their Embassy in Washington D.C., and Studibert at first decided to exclude me, because he was jealous of the friendships I had formed with them. While trying to push through his Cause Credit Card deal, he had naturally been in touch with the Solidarity Foundation, which was run by Andrjez Kozakiewicz and Julian Skelnik. Unfortunately for me, Andrjez raved on and on about our 4^th of July celebration at the Marriott, and our efforts to get the word out that Poland was open for business. Studibert could see that I had formed alliances above and beyond his, and he was not going to stand for it. But I thought of these “alliances” as friendships. I had become close friends with Kuba and Andrjez, but I had also become even closer friends with their respective wives, Hannah and Barbara. I could not imagine anything else, but Studibert not only imagined everything else, he plotted and planned to turn these friendships into everything else.

By excluding me from the upcoming party at the Polish Embassy, Studibert could show me once and for all how insignificant I was, and that my only hope for helping Poland was to beg for his mercy and work through him and his foundation (which wasn't really his -- but Judd Blakeley's). What he didn’t understand about me and Solidarity was that I knew I was insignificant, and that I had to try all the harder to meet with the CEO of Kaiser Permante in Oakland; Barbara Cheney at the State Department, etc., etc. My tasks were daunting because I had no connections, save for my friendships in Poland, and now Studibert would throw up a wall to deter my efforts.

As he thought about it a little more, Studibert finally came to hatch an even more sinister and devastating plan for me. The invitations to the party at the Embassy were already sent, so he gave Fred his own invitation and told Fred that he and I could use that to get in to the party. Studibert’s ultimate goal was to expose Andrjez and I together at the party – passion and all – while at the same time, he could perpetuate the rumor that there was something going on between us. He had theorized to Craig that if there was something going on, Andrjez would vehemently deny it and throw me under the bus; and if there was nothing going on, Andrjez would still deny it, and he would be forced to distance himself from me in any case to avoid future rumors and any resulting harm to his marriage and public image.

Studibert was so pleased with his scheme to get me out of Poland and the confidence of Solidarity, he just beamed with delight when Fred and I got out of the cab at the Polish Embassy. He had no idea that Craig had revealed the scheme to me, so I pretended to be glad to see him, too. I was determined to spoil Studibert’s plot to destroy me by being so polite to Andrej, Julian, and Jerzy at the party, that I would appear as a perfect stranger to them in the eyes of any outsider. I would distance myself from Solidarity, and never give them a chance to be the brunt of such an awful rumor. I would be so reserved that Studibert would think he was meeting me for the first time.

Just as Studibert greeted us, a limousine pulled up and my three Solidarity friends stepped out laughing and joking. They were so amazed to be in America in a LIMO, no less. They could hardly believe their great fortune! Andrzej spied me, and ran up to me and picked me up and swung me around, set me down and kissed me on the cheeks three times (as was Polish custom). So much for my plan.

Andrzej then turned to Studibert and thanked him profusely on the limo. Unfortunately for Studibert, the only witnesses to Andrjez’s enthusiastic greeting to me were his friends, Studibert and Fred. The rest of the night was all pomp and ceremony as Studibert kicked off his “cause” credit card venture. In fact, as the night wore on, it became apparent to everyone there that the only reason there was a party at the Polish Embassy was to aggrandize Studibert, and to use Solidarity to his own advantage. I was happy to converse later on with Andrzej and find out about his family, especially Basia (Polish nickname for Barbara).

I learned that Basia had been chosen to intern at Congress to learn how a Congressional government operated. Poland had a Parliamentary government, and so this would be useful information for her country as it continued down its path to democracy. I was excited because I had a close cousin who lived near Washington D.C., and I could stay there and visit with Basia and take her to dinner, etc. I would make sure she had some entertainment when she came to D.C. I then told Andrzej that I would be returning to Poland to find out more information about my healthcare project. He promised me that Kuba would assist me when I came back, and that I would get all the necessary meetings I would need. Looks like Studibert’s little scheme backfired on him. Andrzej and I were better friends than ever, and we had forged a real bond.