Just read a New Yorker piece on Vaclav Havel leaving office as president of the Czech Republic. (It's been linked over at Electrolite for days, but I'm lazy.)

When I was in my early teens, and a quite avid member of Amnesty International, I wrote a lot of letters to Czech prison officials on Vaclav Havel's behalf. And probably on behalf of a lot of other Czech dissidents as well. Havel's name stuck in my mind because he was a writer and a Frank Zappa fan, and so was I.

When Havel became president of Czechoslovakia, I felt a very tiny surge of pride, thinking of those letters mailed to those (probably bewildered) Czech prison wardens. Though I know that I played only a tiny part, I helped make Havel president. I helped make Czechoslovakia free. (Me and thousands of others of Amnesty International members.)

And, hey, if I can do that, then I must be able to make a difference here at home, too.

Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Havel.