C. Michael McAdams (1947-2010)

                 In memory of a sincere Croatian friend

Namely, prior to completing his studies, McAdams found himself on California Street in San Francisco. He walked past a European auto dealer and noticed a small Croatian flag on one of the cars. He walked in and asked if any Croats worked there, wanting to make contact with Croats in the city. The man that McAdams posed the question to was a Croat, Zvonko Pribanic, a well known Croatian businessman in California. With that chance meeting, McAdams’ lasting friendship with Zvonko and the Croats “happened”. In his search for the truth McAdams came into contact with people who only wanted that the truth about Croats be told, and a real alliance was born. As Michael read more and researched the “other side” he found that what was being said about Croats was a myth and not reality. He wanted to not only to find the truth but share it with others as well. 

To better acquaint himself with Croatian history, McAdams continued his graduate studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland, where his mentor was Jure Prpic, and where he meets and collaborates with other Croatian academicians in America. Upon returning to California, Michael becomes active among the local Croats there, and among other things, becomes one of the founders of the Croatian Information Service in 1974. The other founders were Petar Radielovic, Zvonko Pribanic and Damir Rados. From then until the end of his life, McAdams did not cease to explain to Americans and others who, why, and what Croats wanted. He wrote numerous books and booklets, a number of contributions in almanacs, and more than one hundred articles. One of his most popular books, “Croatia, Myth & Reality,” was translated into Croatian (Hrvatska – mit i istina) and other languages, and saw three English editions in 1992, 1994 and 1997. He held many lectures, assisted with seminars and appeared on TV and radio broadcasts. 

For years, McAdams prepared and led a segment called “Moments in Croatian History” on the weekly Croatian radio program in California. He was a member of the Association for Croatian Studies, Croatian Academy of America, Croatian-Latin America Institute, Croatian Scholarship Fund and many others. He was a guest lecturer at many universities in America, Australia and after independence, Croatia. For his services to the Croats, President Franjo Tudjman awarded him the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the image of Marko Marulic. 

McAdams would often jump into “hot” subjects which certainly did not help him in his career, but as a true American marine, he did not give into fear. He was not only of the belief that Croats had the right to freedom and independence, but he also enthusiastically joined that fight. Many people were bothered by McAdams because they could not label him an “Ustasha” child, a frustrated emigrant or a mercenary. He openly and loudly spoke his thoughts and opinions, and did not ask for anything, and that gave him the moral strength to face with the defenders and progenitors of historical myths. He never regretted that he “wandered” into Croatian history or be among Croats, and with his work he aided in lifting the fog over Croatian history in America and beyond, along with the fight for Croatian independence as well. 

Many thanks to Michael for his sincere friendship not only to those of us who knew and worked with him, but also as a great friend of Croatia and the Croats. The search for historical truth carried him to the Croats and may his eternal truth be the reward for his inexhaustible work and great love for the Croats in America and their homeland. 

McAdams was born on May 8, 1947 in an American Marine base in California, where his father was an officer. He also served in the Marines, but he was more interested in books than a military career, and after completing his military duty, he studied and graduated with a diploma in historical sciences at the University of the Pacific, a well- known, private university in California. He would receive his Masters degree at the Jesuit run John Carroll University in Cleveland, where he also received a certificate in Soviet and Eastern European Studies. He continued his studies in comparative politics and ideological sciences at the University of Colorado and at the University of San Francisco. After completing his doctorate courses, McAdams became a regional director of the University of San Francisco in 1979 where he would remain until his retirement in 2000. 

There is an old proverb that says that true friendships are not chosen but simply happen. The same could be said of McAdams and his friendship with Croats. He is of Scottish-Jewish background and was a Protestant by faith. He learned about Croatia as a child; he was a stamp collector and Croatian stamps came into his hands. But when he began reading history books and listening to professors as a student, he saw that everything he read and heard about Croats was negative. It was precisely, the constant demonization of the Croats that McAdams began to explore whether the fog of deception was by those who advocated the status quo or the laziness of researches and professors to seek the truth about these routine tales, or if it was really true. He did not believe that history was really that black and white, and he wanted to dive deeper into Croatia’s past. Then a chance meeting happened that would define his future academic career. 

Charles Michael McAdams

                                                                         C. Michael McAdams (1947.-2010.)

                                                                    U spomen iskrenom hrvatskom prijatelju

jednom vozilu zapazio malu hrvatsku zastavu. Ušao je u salon i pitao radi li tu netko od Hrvata, htijući doći u dodir s Hrvatima u tom gradu. Pitanje je postavio upravo Hrvatu, Zvonku Pribaniću, poznatom hrvatskom djelatniku u Kaliforniji. I u tom slučajnom susretu „dogodilo“ se njegovo prijateljstvo sa Zvonkom i Hrvatima, koje je osalo trajno. On je zapravo u potrazi za istinom naišao na ljude kojima je jedina želja i bila da se istina o Hrvatima što dalje čuje, i tu se rodilo istinsko savezništvo. Što je Michael više čitao i istraživao i „drugu stranu“, uviđao je da je ono što se o Hrvatima govori i piše ponajvećma mit, a ne stvarnost. I on se opredjeljuje ne samo tražiti istinu, nego dijeliti je i s drugima.

Da bi što bolje upoznao hrvatsku povijest, postdiplomske studije McAdams nastavlja na John Carroll University u Clevelandu, gdje mu je mentor bio prof. Jure Prpić, te upoznaje i surađuje i s drugim hrvatskim akademicima u Americi. Po povratku u Kaliforniju Michael postaje djelatan među tamošnjim Hrvatima i, među ostalim, postaje jedan od utemeljitelja (1974.) Croatian Information Service-a. (Ostali su bili: Petar Radielović, Zvonko Pribanić i Damir Radoš). Od tad pa do konca života McAdams nije prestao Amerikancima i drugima u svijetu tumačiti tko su, što su i što žele Hrvati. Napisao je više knjiga i knjižica, nekoliko priloga u zbornicima i više od stotinu članaka. Jedna od najpopularnijih njegovi knjiga, Croatia Myth & Reality, prevedena je na hrvatski (Hrvatska – mit i istina) i druge jezike, te doživjela tri engleska izdanja (1992., 1994., 1997.). Održao je mnoga predavanja, sudjelovao na seminarima, pojavljivao se na TV i radio postajama. 

Na tjednom Hrvatskom radio rasporedu u Kaliforniji godinama je pripremao i vodio rubriku „Trenuci u hrvatskoj povijesti.“ Bio je član Association for Croatian Studies, Croatian Academy of America, Hrvatsko - Latinoamerički Institut, Hrvatski fond za stipendije, itd. Gostovao je kao predavač na raznim svučilištima u Americi, Australiji i, nakon osamostaljenja, u Hrvatskoj. Za njegove zasluge u radu za Hrvate predsjednik Tuđman mu je dodijelio odličje Danice hrvatske s likom Marka Marulića.

Puno puta je McAdams uskakao u „vruće“ teme, što mu zasigurno nije pomoglo u njegovoj karijeri, ali kao pravi američki marinac nije se dao prestrašiti. Ne samo da je bio uvjeren da Hravti imaju pravo na slobodu i samostalnost, nego se toj borbi i zdušno pridružio. Mnogima je bio smetnja jer mu se nije moglo predbaciti da je „ustaško“ dijete, frustrirani emigrant ili plaćenik. Svoja mišljenja i stavove je govorio jasno i glasno, ništa za sebe nije tražio i to mu je davalo moralnu snagu suočiti se sa čuvateljima i širiteljima povijesnih mitova. McAdams je mogao, kao i toliki drugi, slijediti liniju manjeg otpora i ponavljati ono što su knjige pisale, ali on je imao kuražu istraživati i „drugu stranu“ povijesti. Nije nikad požalio što je „zalutao“ u hrvatsku povijest i među Hrvate, te svojim radom doprinio odmaglivanju hrvatske povijesti u Americi i šire, a time i borbi za samostalnost Hrvatske. 

Velika hvala Michaelu na iskrenom prijateljstvu ne samo s nama koji smo ga poznavali i s njim surađivali, nego i kao velikom prijatelju Hrvatske i Hrvata. Traženje povijesne istine dovelo ga je do Hrvata, neka mu vječna Istina bude nagrada za njegov neumorni rad i veliku ljubav za Hrvate u Americi i njihovoj domovini.

McAdams je rođen 8. svibnja 1947. u bazi američkih marinaca u Kaliforniji, gdje mu je otac bio časnik. I on je služio u marincima, ali više ga je zanimala knjiga nego vojnički život te je poslije odsluženja vojne obveze studirao i diplomirao povijesne znanosti na University of the Pacific, poznatom privatnom sveučilistu u Kaliforniji. Zatim je magistrirao na isusovačkom sveučilistu John Carroll University u Clevelandu, gdje je dobio i certifikat iz sovjetskih i istočno-europskih studija. Nastavio je studirati komparativne političke i ideološke znanosti na University of Colorado, te na University of San Francisco. Nakog završenih kolegija za doktorat, postaje (1979.) direktorom kampusa Sveučilista San Francisco u Sacramentu i tu ostaje do umirovljenja 2000. godine.

Jedna izreka kaže da se prava prijateljstva ne biraju, ona se jednostavno dogode. Ovo bi se moglo reći i za McAdamsa i njegovo prijateljstvo s Hrvatima. Naime, on je škotsko-židovskog podrijetla, a po vjeri protestant. Za Hrvatsku je (na)čuo kao dječak; budući da je bio sakupljač poštanskih markica do ruku su mu došle i hrvatske markice. Ali kad je kao student počeo čitati povijesne knjige i slušati profesore uvidio je da je sve što čita i čuje o Hrvatima negativno. Upravo to konstantno demoniziranje Hrvata bio mu je povod da počne istraživati je li riječ o prodavanju magle onih koji zagovaraju status quo ili lijenost istraživača i profesora tražiti istinu pa prepričavaju otrcane šablonske priče, ili je to zaista tako. Nije vjerovao da povijest može biti tako crno-bijela, pa je htio zaviriti malo dublje u hrvatsku prošlost . A onda se dogodila i slučajnost koja je zacrtala njegov dalji akademski put.

Naime, negdje pri koncu studija našao se na California Street u San Franciscu. Prolazio je pokraj jedne autokuće europskih automobila i na