It gets worse.
Since the Lithuanian community in Chicago was fairly close-knit, everyone knew everyone. Or, at least everyone knew someone who knew someone. There were two or three major enclaves - in the city, it was the Marquette Park neighborhood. In the suburbs it was Melrose Park, and to a lesser extent Cicero.
Anyhow, a friend of my parents knew a guy who knew a guy who was in charge of programming for the local Lithuanian TV channel. It broadcast once a week, on a Wednesday evening, iirc. I don't remember how long the program was.
Nevertheless, "Hey, there's this kid who's not bad at the piano, let's get him to play on TV."
Talk about anxiety-provoking.
I was 16.
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