A Greek Odyssey in the American West

Book excerpt: A Greek Odyssey in the American West begins with Helen Papanikolas discussing her childhood in Helper, Utah. Helper’s population was as odd a conglomeration as could be found anywhere in the West: French sheepherders; Chinese and Japanese restaurant owners; African American, Greek, and Italian rail and coal workers; and finally, Mormon, Jewish, and Slav businessmen settled in and around Helper, a way station for the Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad. This book, however, is not Papanikolas’s life story but the story of her parent’s individual emigrations to the United States, their meeting and courtship, and their migrations within the West as they pursued job opportunities. Papanikolas movingly and eloquently recreates and interprets the experience of parents trying hard to succeed in America without losing their rich heritage and who ultimately enrich the culture of their adopted country.