Ion Manta, born in 1940 in Timisoara, Romania, earned his diploma in biology. He also studied painting in the private art studio of Julius Podlipny. From 1963 on he tried his hand as a teacher, graphic designer, actor, and cultural facilitator at the University of Adult Education. In 1969, in the confusion of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, after defecting to Austria, he settled in the US in 1970. In Washington his first job was at the Smithsonian Institute, then Catholic University, and for 22 years at the Federal Government. On the side, he collaborated for years with the VOA,...