Author an inspiration to many

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/12/2016 (3428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I was shocked and saddened by the recent passing in November of local Winnipeg author, Orysia Tracz, at the age of 71. 

Often known as a “walking, talking Ukrainian encyclopedia,” she was a passionate voice and legendary authority in our community for all things Ukrainian.

Being part Ukrainian but not having grown up with much knowledge of that culture, I became extremely curious as an adult about this part of my heritage. When I discovered Tracz’s articles I quickly came to admire her seemingly limitless knowledge and boundless love for that culture.

A writer, researcher, translator, lecturer and a consultant, Tracz’s activities often reached across Canada, the U.S., Australia and Ukraine. 

Born in a displaced person’s camp in Germany in 1945, her parents were post-Second World War refugees who immigrated to New Jersey when she was four. She grew up, she once wrote, with the “Ukrainian ways” her parents had grown up with in Ukraine, and even as a child had been fascinated with those customs.

She met her husband in New York, married and moved to Winnipeg in 1968, happy to have found a city where Ukrainian traditions flourished.

Her passion led to four decades of writing for various publications including the Winnipeg Free Press, and The Ukrainian Weekly, a New Jersey-based newspaper distributed throughout North America. Often her column for the latter paper fondly focused on people and places in Manitoba.

She said her readers had been asking her for years to compile her articles about Christmas traditions into a book. She finally did just that. First Star I See Tonight: Ukrainian Christmas Traditions was published last year and it is a beautifully designed collection.

Tracz was recently awarded the Shevchenko Medal in 2016 by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress for her contribution to Culture and Arts. She shared her knowledge with so many others including an online writing group she was involved with. 

One of the group members, Ontario based-author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, said that “for nearly two decades she shared her expertise with me and other members of our close knit writing group…I was thrilled when Orysia published First Star I See Tonight and was looking forward to more books on other aspects of Ukrainian traditions… A devastating loss on so many levels.”

Tracz inspired many closer to home as well. Local composer and director Danny Schur said, “She delighted in bringing her Ukrainian heritage to the Canadian mainstream and, for that, she was a profound influence on me — one of her so-called ‘Born again Ukrainians!’ ”

Tracz leaves us with her many gifts, the beautiful songs and stories of Ukrainian culture that have inspired, informed and enriched the lives of so many of us, including mine.