Category Archives: Dad K

February 2, 2017 — The Importance Of Books

Dear William, Daniel, Catherine, Michael, and Sarah, (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

From some of my prior letters to you (e.g., when I wrote to William about his first book), you may have gotten the impression that I like books — well, you are RIGHT! And, you already know that even I wrote a book about some aspects of my life, and my Mom’s life.

As a law student, it was quite a challenge for me because I read relatively S L O W L Y. In comparison, Babcia Krysia is a FAST reader.

I did read books as a kid — I remember reading Heidi several times; and I read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (by Jules Verne) serveral times. I also read W Pustyni i w Puszczy (translated: In Desert and Wilderness; by Henryk Sienkiewicz) in Polish, Spanish, and English.

As a kid, I used to go to the Library very often, and would look at many books, on a variety of topics — and then, I would take out many books, take them home, and read them there.

When I registered for High School (Mater Christi Catholic Diocesan High School, in Astoria, N.Y.C. [I previously told you about some of my experiences there HERE and HERE]), I received HOMEWORK for the summer before I even started school! One of my assignments was the read a book called: “How To Read A Book” I though (then) that this was the siliest thing to do — to read a VERY thick book about how to read a book.

(Circa 1965) My Dad, surprised (and probably annoyed by his photo-snapping teenage son), as he was trying to read the New York Times (probably on a Sunday after church) — note our very first black and white Zenith television, purchased by my parents in 1959, when we came to America

I told you that Babcia Krysia is a fast reader — my Dad, also, was a fast reader, and he LOVED to read. I think that my children, Marek, Rysiu and Malgosia were fortunate to inherit Babcia Krysia’s reading abilities — now I hope that each of YOU also inherited the ability to read and comprehend quickly, and that you enjoy and read MANY good books.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.

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December 22, 2016 — Matrix Division

Dear William, Daniel, Catherine, Michael, and Sarah, (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Some time ago, I told you about Your Great-Grandfather Kostro’s Resume. On Page 2 of that Resume, in the Publications section, at the top of the page, notice the second entry: Matrix Division. Well, I received a copy of that Paper from my Dad sometime after it was published in June 1963 — I probably received my copy from my Dad in 1968 or 1969. Here is a copy of that Paper for you to review:

1963_06_MatrixDivision

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[If you want to print-out this Paper, go HERE]
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I believe that I received my copy in 1968 or 1969 because at that time I was taking courses in Calculus and Matrix Algebra in college.

I remember enjoying Mathematics in school (EXCEPT Geometry!!!). In high school, I took Algebra, Geometry, and beginner Calculus. Then, in college, I took Algebra (college edition); followed by Differential Calculus, then Integral Calculus and Matrix Algebra.

However, I did not fully appreciate the power of my mathematical knowledge until I began programming computers to solve financial problems at my job at Kuhn Loeb. There, as I was trying to figure out how to solve a financial problem, I remembered about the Paper that my Dad had given me several years back. I found that paper, read it MANY times, trying to understand it, and I reviewed my text books, particularly my Matrix Algebra text book; and slowly, it all came to me — and, just as I suspected; magic happened!

To help me remember the process, I wrote my own notes (which I still have) and here they are for your benefit, should you ever want to play around with Matrix Algebra:

MatrixDivision-PGKnotes

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[If you want to print-out these notes, go HERE]
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I have to admit, as I look at my notes and my Dad’s Paper now, “it’s all Greek to me.” But then, in the early to mid-1970’s, this was magic — I could solve equations that no one else could (by that, I mean, none of my peers could). Translating this mathematical knowledge into computer code allowed me to write programs that could solve complex financial problems, giving my employer an advantage over our competition. For example, when we were dealing with Ship Financing, I could structure the loan in a way that fit the client’s special needs — be that, no payments for several years, or some other requirements the client had. I had a GREAT time doing this!

Since I owe all this success to my Dad, let me show you a few pictures where he is in them:

July 3, 1976: Marek discussing life with his Grandfather George – in our backyard at 722 Carleton Road, Westfield, NJ

July 1980: celebrating Hanka’s Imieniny — Malgosia and her Grandfather George

August 31, 1980: Your Great-Grandfahter George Kostro (my father; with your Pra-Babcia Irena Neumann and your Pra-Babcia Irene Kostro)

1981: Pawel & his Dad – Christmas at my Parent’s house

1981: Rysiu, Marek, Pawel, Dad, Tom, Alfred & Elzunia – at the Leonard Hill State Forest fire-tower

1981: Rysiu, Prababcia Irene Kostro, Malgosia, Marek & my Dad — on our ‘Farm’

May 8, 1982: Prababcia Irena Neumann, Marek, my Dad & my Mom – Marek’s First Holy Communion

Summer 1982: Malgosia & my Dad at Elzunia’s & Al’s

September 10, 1983: Tom’s & Patty’s Wedding — Dad, Pawel, Malgosia & Krysia

George Kostro (June 18, 1923 – July 11, 1984) — Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York City.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.

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July 29, 2011 — Marek’s Babtism

Dear William (and Daniel, Catherine, Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

I previously told you about my Baptism — now, I have been scanning photos from your Dad’s Babtism, and the celebration we had after the ceremony in church on April 7, 1974 — here they are:

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June 25, 2011 (Afternoon) — How I came to the United States

Dear William (and Daniel, Catherine, Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Let me tell you about how I came to the United States — I was born in Argentina, on January 9, 1949. In the 1950s, I lived with my Parents, my Brother Tom, and three Sisters, Olenka, Hanka & Elzunia, in a rented house in Ramos Mejia, a suburb of Buenos Aires, in Argentina, South America.
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June 25, 2011 (Mid-morning) — My college trip to Europe

Dear William (and Daniel, Catherine, Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Discussing this Blog with Malgosia and Babcia Krysia, I was urged to write a bit about my life — so, her it goes:

The year was 1969, and I was a Sophomore in college (at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York). In college, I joined ROTC (US Army Reserve Officers Training Corps). The previous year, I pledged and was accepted into the Carolyn Guard Military Service Society.

Our sister service society was the Boosters, who had their meeting room right next to our meeting room on the third floor of the Annex Building.
Between classes, we would all hang out together — one of the Boosters was Joan.

Joan was a year older than me (she was a Junior), and she was a Psychology major (at that time, I was an Economics major — later I switched to Finance). Joan had a boyfriend, Arthur, also a Psychology major. One day, I heard that Joan and Arthur were going to spend the weekend, cooking in the nude (relax, these were the 1960’s — lots of interesting things went on at that time).

Since I was interested in Joan, I got jealous, and I called her up by telephone, and presented a well-crafted argument as to why she should not spend the weekend with Arthur, and instead, she should start hanging out with me — it worked (poor Arthur; I do not think that he ever forgave me).

During the course of our relationship, we decided to go to Europe that Summer. We bought Eurail Train Passes, which allowed for unlimited train rides all over Europe; and we purchased airplane tickets from Kennedy Airport to London, England on Caledonia Airways (a charter flight operation).
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June 25, 2011 — Electronic Calculus, Inc.

Dear William (and Daniel, Catherine, Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

The other day I introduced you to my Father’s Resume from 1963. At that time, your Great-Grandfather was working at Ammann & Whitney. Some time after that, my Dad got a job at Strobel & Rongved, Consulting Engineers, in New York City (on 41st Street, across the street from the N.Y.C. Main Public Library).

There, my Dad convinced his employers to invest in him, and fund a new venture — Electronic Calculus, Inc.
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June 21, 2011 — Niagara Falls

Dear William (and Daniel, Catherine, Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Yesterday I introduced you to my Father’s Resume from 1963. In there, it is reported that my Father worked on the “design of reinforced concrete Niagara Overlook Bridge.”
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