A fairy tale come true

Visit to Ireland is a life changer for Lake Oswego author and is detailed in his new book

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Mar 6, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Howard Franklin was able to the grave of one of his Irish literary heroes — William Butler Yeats. Franklin’s love of the Irish written word ignited his remarkable experience in Ireland.

Howard Franklin has proven you don’t need to be Irish to have its native luck.

The Lake Oswego man’s sudden obsession with Ireland became an epiphany so strong that it resulted in his new book, An Irish Experience, published by Inkwater Press.

“It began with a brainwave,” Franklin said. “In the summer of 2000, I had given a 60th birthday present to myself with a vacation in England. I was traveling alone and having a wonderful time, when out of the blue I got this thought, ‘How about Ireland?’”

Why this occurred was a mystery to Franklin. He is not of Irish descent (he is Russian, Lithuanian and Hungarian), and he did not even have any Irish friends (“I do now,” he says).

But several reasons occurred to Franklin as to why this determination to visit Ireland came upon him.

“Maybe it was reincarnation,” he said. “Maybe I was Irish in a past life.”

But perhaps the best reason is simply that Franklin loves the written word. He has had many of his poems published, and he has tremendous respect and affection for the Irish literary tradition.

“Think of it – a country with four million people turns out four winners of the Nobel Prize,” Franklin said. “They love writers there. They also have a gorgeous countryside and a fascinating history.

“Some mysterious force flowed into my mind. My whole life changed because of this thought that came into my head.”

All of this happened in just four weeks.

Mainly, Franklin discovered that Ireland is still Ireland, even in its new age of prosperity brought on by the technology revolution; especially because Microsoft and Dell have huge facilities in Ireland.

“The Irish still have not lost their ties to the land,” Franklin said. “It’s not an industrial country. They haven’t lost their roots, like most other countries, like America. They still have their allegiances of the family, the country and the church.

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