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On December 10, 1987 President Reagan cited Eleni in his speech to the nation as a motivation for his efforts to seek an arms agreement with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He said in part: "You know, a couple of years ago Nancy and I were deeply moved by a story told by former New York Times reporter and Greek immigrant Nicholas Gage. It's the story of Eleni, his mother. A mother who was tried and executed because she smuggled her children out to safety in America. And her final cry was not a curse on her killers, but an invocation of what she died for, a declaration of love. These simple last words of Mr. Gage's mother---Eleni---were: 'My children.' How that cry echoes down through the centuries, a cry for all children of the world, a cry for peace, for a world of love and understanding." In 1987 Mr. Gage published Hellas, a portrait of his native Greece, which has been widely acclaimed by critics. The New Yorker said the book is "remarkable for its color and sharp detail, as well as for its expression of an almost devout love for Greece," and Christopher Janus wrote in The Chicago Sun Times that, "Hellas is the best book I've ever read on Greece." Mr. Gage was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree on May 19, 1985 by Boston University at graduation exercises in which he delivered the commencement address. In presenting him the degree, Boston University President John Silber said in part: "Like Joseph Conrad and Samuel Beckett, you write in your second language with a brilliance rarely achieved by those writing in their first. Having been both refugee and immigrant, as you have risen to the top of your demanding profession, you have remained true both to your native land and to the colony of its sons and daughters planted in America. In addition to writing, Mr. Gage has pursued a career in films, serving as co-producer of the movie version of Eleni and as an executive producer of The Godfather, Part III. He is currently working an another film project, which is in the early stages of development. |
