On the 28th of January, 1977, I signed a contract with Nordland Publishing Company, Inc., to publish “DDR-Literatur im Tauwetter” in a single edition of 1,500 copies, the number stipulated in my agreement with GDR publishing houses and writers. Nordland was a small press based in Belmont, Massachusetts, which specialized in publishing academic books. A colleague and good friend recommended that I consider this press, mainly because his brother-in-law was Executive Vice President of the company. I would come to regret my decision to publish with little-known Nordland, as the company encountered financial difficulties around 1980 and eventually went bankrupt. This resulted in a five-year delay in the publication of my three-volume book, a delay in my promotion from associate to full professor, and it caused me considerable financial hardship, as well as a great deal of frustration and embarrassment.
Remembering East Germany 