Self-portrait: Martha Grenon (right) with interpreter Elona Popi, 1995

"Do you like Schwarzenegger?" I have to admit to being a little stunned at hearing this conversation opener on the ferry from Albania to Corfu, Greece, but this is how Robert Martiko and I met in October 1992; it was probably the most American thing he could think of to say at that time. I was exhausted from my trip into the wilds of Albania and slept most of the return voyage. We spoke briefly and exchanged addresses. Thus ensued a correspondence that eventually led to a collaborative project between the two of us, concerning the fate of his father, a political prisoner who died in 1985.