First published, Cordova Times’ Last Frontier Days By Hank Nuwer
During the reign (1558-1603) of Queen Elizabeth I, Shakespearian actor Will Kemp supposedly declared that anyone achieving fleeting fame might be dismissed as a “Nine Days’ Wonder.”
More famously, Andy Warhol supposedly said everyone’s lifetime would enjoy 15-minutes of fame.
When the Pop artist died in 1987, that expression—which he likely never really said—outlived Warhol.
On April 6th, my wife Gosia and enjoyed an excellent adventure. We basked 15 minutes in the spotlight. We were 9-day wonders for a day. We flashed like sparklers in a pan.
I’m exaggerating, of course!
What happened was that the CNN Travel site carried a feature on how I met my wife Malgorzata (Gosia) Wroblewska-Nuwer. (It’s true. You can Google us!)
The story noted how I asked Gosia to serve as my travel guide on June 24, 2015 during my first trip to Warsaw, Poland.
It had been my lifetime dream to see the birthplace of my maternal grandfather. An unhappy conscript in the Russian Tsar’s military, Grandpa Josef deserted “with bullets all around.” He bought a steering ticket on a ship to America, and found a laborer job with Pierce-Arrow luxury automakers in Buffalo, New York.
A decade later, Grandpa bought a dairy and pig farm in western New York—his American dream.
I had botched a previous planned vacation to Warsaw. Hence, I lost a small fortune as a no-show in non-refundable plane, hotel and tourist reservations.
Gosia’s somewhat reluctant agreement to show me the Poland of both our ancestors turned into an unexpected blessing.
That magic day, we walked mile-after-mile all over Warsaw. Gosia accompanied me to three museums, many monuments, and seemingly every historic building in Warsaw. We hiked up the stairs of the tallest building in Warsaw. There she snapped my photo on her phone with the city at my back, the only picture she took that day.
The next morning, Gosia vacationed in Portugal with her daughter. I went to Auschwitz with a professional tour service.
Then I returned home to my college teaching job. Gosia resumed her duties as a head accountant in Warsaw.
We stayed in touch as pals with non-romantic letters and daily phone calls.
The same year, I invited Gosia to Chicago at Thanksgiving. I planned to reciprocate as her tour guide on this, her first visit to the United States
I took her to the top of the Sears Tower. We saw an opera, an art museum, a Philharmonic orchestra, and the Polish Museum of America. We hiked for miles at a state park.
I got a traffic ticket. I sure know how to impress a visitor.
My buddy Paul met us the first day at his favorite Polish restaurant for pierogis. We planned it as a big surprise for Gosia.
Instead, Gosia surprised us both. “I don’t like Polish food,” the gal from Warsaw told us. She ordered a cheeseburger and fries.
Nonetheless, before Gosia boarded her return flight at O’Hare International, we went from friends into a couple.
And in March 2017, I arranged for Gosia to travel to Wasilla to tie the knot in Alaska where I long had owned acreage.
At the last second, Gosia cancelled the wedding, but met me anyway for what turned out a fun outdoor adventure.
To my joy and relief, her cold feet became romantically warm again.
Even when after Gosia found out, to her
shock and displeasure, that our booked Airbnb rental in the Alaska bush was a dry cabin with distant outhouse.
We married in Indiana on May 12, 2017. My son Adam, a few friends and some colleagues attended. My karaoke partner Jim sang love songs at the reception.
All that and much more appeared in the article by Francesca Street, an inspiring storyteller. Street graciously wrote a wonderful feature about “GosiaandHank,” the nickname a friend gave us because we’re always together.
CNN illustrated the article with photos taken by Gosia’s daughter Natalia, (now my daughter, too).
Whoa! The story appeared in translated versions in Spanish, Polish, and additional languages neither Gosia nor I can speak. People Magazine picked up the story, and so did social media sites and a Polish celebrity magazine.
Within hours, friends as far away as Australia congratulated us on the article.
Yikes! We were Nine-Day wonders for a day.
Now, in candor, this turned out to be teensy-weensy fame. We still shop at Safeway, browse at the library, and frequent pizza emporiums in Fairbanks without a single person recognizing us.
And we expect to spend the summer in Poland without requests for autographs.
No worries, it was fun while our 15 minutes of fame lasted.
Gosia and I never were big fans of Andy Warhol’s soup-can paintings, anyway.
Cordova Times contributor Hank Nuwer’s “Last Frontier Days” column received a Third-Place certificate for 2025 “Best Profile” from the Alaska Press Club on April 18, 2026
Wedding Photo: Hank and Gosia Nuwer by Renee Kean