Carl Pellonpaa Oral History Interview, 1998

Carl Pellonpaa discusses his family and their background in Finland, his education in Ishpeming schools, growing up in a bilingual household, how a hunting accident ended his incipient major league baseball career, his career in radio and television, and serving on the transportation commission and the Marquette County Board of Commissioners. Specific topics include the origin and structure of his show Finland Calling, the only Finnish language program in the United States, how FinnFest 1996 came to Marquette and what it meant to him and to the community, leading tours of Finland, the importance of preserving the Finnish language and culture and ethnic heritage in general, and the Finnish Studies efforts at Northern Michigan University. He also compares Finnish and American culture and society and describes elements of Finnish culture, including music, food, Midsummer and other holidays, saunas, and the concept of sisu. Other topics include why his father left Finland, language barriers facing Finnish immigrants, Karelia Fever, political antagonism between conservative and socialist factions of Finnish Americans, the tight-knit nature of the Finnish American community when he was growing up, and a Negaunee Finnish American who became a double spy during the Cold War.