Yoav Chudnoff: a Tale of Bulgaria, US and a Talking Imperial Eagle

When John B Jackson, an American diplomat who by the mid-1900s had served in US diplomatic missions all over the world, learned in 1903 that Bulgaria would be added to Greece, Romania and Serbia in his portfolio, he was "dead set against it".

"He said, I don't want to be here, take me away, it's backward. As time went on, he would be coming to Sofia and start to appreciate the place. Then he wrote a letter back: don't take me away, I want to stay here. Give me more assignments."

Meeting Novinite, Yoav Chudnoff, who has been actively contributing to Sofia News Agency in the past few months, told us this story about Jackson, adding something similar happened to him when he came to Bulgaria for the first time. Yoav, now living in Sofia, wrote a Master's Thesis about Jackson at the Florida State University back in the 1980s, but had felt an interest in Bulgaria well before that. But he also certainly has more to tell than to give an exmaple of stereotypes being broken down.

Apart from working for a company delivering advisory services in the areas of corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions and capital formation to emerging Europe, Yoav is Executive Director - Volunteer at the Friends of Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds (FBSPB), a non-profit volunteer-based organization promoting the BSPB's efforts in North America by giving lectures at local birding societies, educational programs and birding trips to Bulgaria.

He also writing a guidebook about Europe and Turkey - one written by an Eastern Imperial Eagle.

In 1979 Yoav was working for the Wisconsin Public Radio show called Simply Folk (which back then was just beginning but is still on air). In search of music...