Odyssey of Hope, the book

Published in Lithuanian (Vilties Kelias 2002), German (Wege der Hoffnung, 2014), Russian (Oдиссея надежды, 2018) English, Odyssey Of Hope is the life story of Joseph Kazickas who found freedom and success in America after a dramatic escape from his country during World War II but never lost his longing and devotion for his beloved homeland. The Kazickas "journey"- finding courage in the face of danger and home in the world of exile - spans most of the 20th century. It traverses the globe and covers the history of Lithuania from independence in 1918 through the Nazi invasion and 50 years of Soviet occupation. When finally independence was regained in 1991 after the many years Kazickas and so many worked to keep the dream alive, he embarked upon a mission to help bring economic prosperity to democratic Lithuania. While his voice powers the stories in the book - life as refugees, immigrants, freedom activists - it is his wife Alexandra's candid expression through her diary entries that gives this dramatic saga some of its most intense and personal recollections.

To learn more about the book, to read exerpts and to purchase it, please go to Odyssey of Hope website.

Ten years after the publication of “Vilties Kelias,” the Lithuanian version of “Odyssey of Hope”, Joseph Kazickas was asked to write about what had transpired in the ensuing years. In 2013, a new edition of the book was released in Lithuania with a final epilogue entitled “Yet Another Decade.” In the epilogue, Kazickas writes about his family, his friendships with Lithuanian political leaders and the  many philanthropic programs of the Kazickas Family Foundation that gave him much pride and pleasure.

In November, 2018, a third edition of Joseph Kazickas’ autobiography was published in Lithuania, commemorating the 100th anniversary of his birth – Vilties kelias niekada nesibaigia (Odyssey of Hope – the journey never ends). When Kazickas died in 2014, the family found a cache of more than 100 letters that he had written to his beloved wife, Alexandra, on special occasions and during his extensive business travels around the world, mostly in the 1950s. They are beautiful love letters, filled with emotion, poetry and romance, reaffirming his abiding devotion to Alexandra and his children. The letters also include Kazickas’ vivid and detailed impressions of the many exotic places he visited in Europe, Asia and Africa mostly in the 1950s when he was traveling for business. The special edition of Vilties Kelias, which is only available in Lithuanian, features excerpts from 20 letters.

"Odyssey of Hope - the journey never ends" in Lithuanian is available in PDF format here