Žmonos žodis: iš A. Salio Raštų leidimo istorijos

LIETUVIŲ KALBOTYROS KLAUSIMAI, XXXIV (1994) LIETUVIŲ KALBOS TARMĖS IR JŲ TYRINĖJIMAI Sofija SALIENĖ A WIFE’S WORD: FROM THE HISTORY OF THE PUBLICATION OF A. SALYS’S WRITINGS I am moved and grateful that my husband has been so highly regarded by the younger generation of linguists, as he himself once said. Allow me to express to all of you, my husband’s dear colleagues, my deepest gratitude for this conference held in his memory. After returning from Lithuania in 1969, he was glad that a strong generation of linguists had emerged in such difficult times for Lithuania. After he passed into eternity, my brother, the Lithuanian studies scholar and A. Salys’s student Aleksas Vaškelis, urged me to begin arranging for the publication of his writings without delay. Publishing linguistic works in exile is very difficult. Fortunately, Prof. Petras Jonikas agreed to edit them. Had he not agreed, there would have been no other editor. The Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science undertook to publish A. Salys’s writings. I should note that A. Salys was the first secretary of this Academy. The editor lives in America, while the publisher (LKMA) is in Rome, so communication between them was very difficult. There were many disputes of various kinds, which greatly delayed printing. But, as they say, better late than never, and now that I have come to Lithuania, Fr. A. Liuima has presented me with the fourth volume, now printed in full. On this occasion, I would like to thank those whose efforts made the publication of the Writings possible: Prof. Petras Jonikas and Fr. Prof. Antanas Liuima. Some of the material needed for the Writings was in Lithuania. As you know, in 1974–1975 it was not so simple to obtain that material from Lithuania. I received much help from A. Salys’s dear friend, now deceased, Aleksandras Žirgulys, and Aleksandras Tornau, director of the Vilnius University Library. The shipment had been held up, but thanks to Mr. Tornau’s efforts it reached me safely. I am grateful to the linguist Vytautas Vitkauskas for the wonderful letter he sent after the first volume of the Writings came out; it helped me obtain some funding for the subsequent volumes from the Lithuanian Foundation. I thank Juozas Šikšnelys, director of the I. Simonaitytė Library in Klaipėda, for the wayside shrine he made this year at A. Salys’s birthplace and for organizing an exhibition of A. Salys’s old books. I also thank teacher Feliksas Grabius for his efforts to name a street in Salantai after Antanas Salys. This year, on the occasion of A. Salys’s 90th birthday, a commemoration and an exhibition of his life and work were held at the Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. I am deeply grateful to Ada Ubeikaitė, who devoted much work to preparing this exhibition. Once again, thank you all. 38