7th Finglish trip August 2008 #12
Eric Aho is a painter, whose work has been on show in several solo exhibitions in the USA and Europe. Eric was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He likes to tell a story from his schooldays, when a teacher would read out the names of the boys and pronounce Eric’s surname “Ay-ho”, as in English. Little Eric – Erkki –would correct the teacher and say, “The name is Aho [Ah-ho]”, before agreeing to do anything else. Erkki’s father had said that they want to rob him of his identity and he must hold on to it.
Eric Aho’s grandmother came to America in 1906 from Nuoramoinen in Sysmä, Finland and his grandfather came from Tampere in 1903. He has built a traditional Finnish sauna on a pond in the middle of an apple orchard in Kilby Hill, New Hampshire. http://ericaho.com
Next Jonathan Ratila Fitchburg Massachusetts USA