Numerous friends and colleagues attend the presentation of the first book by the Šibenik's oldest active journalist, entitled “The rumbling call of the Krka”

Numerous friends and colleagues attend the presentation of the first book by the Šibenik's oldest active journalist, entitled “The rumbling call of the Krka”
The book “The rumbling call of the Krka” is a collection of articles written about Krka National Park by Šibenik’s doyen of journalism, Josip Joško Čelar. This is the 60^th book published by the Public Institute of Krka National Park, and the formal presentation was held at the Civitas Sacra Interpretation Centre at the Cathedral of St. James.  

“We visited the Krka falls. It really is so impressive with its beauty and the power of nature.” These were the words with which Joško Čelar began his first article on the Krka River, back in 1963 for the daily newspaper Šibenski list. Likely at the time he never imagined that he would write about the falls, with the same enthusiasm for nearly 60 years throughout his entire career, which is still ongoing. In the meantime, the Krka has experienced an immense transformation: from a local excursion spot into a world famous national park. Joško Čelar would follow this transformation from the very start, giving statistics, indicating the possibilities for development and the issues to be resolved, recording important moments in the life of the Krka, all the while giving a detailed account of nature and the people living in and with nature.

“When we at the Public Institute of Krka National Park realised that Joško Čelar had written an entire history of the Krka River in the second half of the 20^th century, the idea for this book was born. This is valuable documentation for us at the park, but above all, this is our way of thanking Mr. Čelar for the love and dedication with which he has followed the Krka through all its seasons and important moments, always in the field, and for his boundless inspiration with which he wrote about the Krka, as though writing about it for the very first time,” said Katia Župan, spokesperson for the Public Institute of Krka National Park and editor of the book. She added, “These are preserved moments in time, in which older people will remember their youth, and younger people will get to know a somewhat different way of spending time on the banks of Dalmatia’s Niagara Falls.”

The book contains 51 articles published in the daily papers Šibenski list and Slobodna Dalmacija in the period from 1963 to 2000. It is divided into decades, and Čelar’s lively reports are accompanied by his own photographs, as he claims that it was photography that led him into journalism. The original articles are accompanied by short commentaries by Zrinka Čatlak on the content in Krka National Park, allowing the reader to enjoy a truly comprehensive overview of the passing of time along the course of the river, and all that this time has brought the people who live and work by it and with it. The inspirational foreword was written by Čelar’s long-time colleague, journalist Marina Jurković, and a poem in his honour was written by his friend from Visovac Island, Father Stojan Damjanović.

The book contains so many picturesque moments from the history of the Krka River: reports on the filming of the famous films about Winnetou, when Joško Čelar would spend time with the main actors during their breaks, on boat rides through the river canyon from Visovac Lake to Roški slap, on former hospitality facilities and their hosts, on May Day festivities at Skradinski buk and other events, and in each report, there is always a dose of deep admiration for nature.  

The book will also be an excellent souvenir that evokes the moments spent at the Krka that many of us share, and this book is a testimony to a way of life of a journalist and journalism that in today’s digital age lives on only in the press archives of daily papers such as Slobodna Dalmacija and Šibenski list, but also in professionals such as Joško Čelar. This valuable edition also features a lavishly artistic layout and binding, and special paper. Crobook, the graphics company responsible for the layout, printed the book on recycled paper with an FSC certificate, issued only by the Forest Stewardship Council for those books made completely from paper from sustainable and responsibly grown forests.

The book has a beautiful industrial-style binding, with open spine and colour pages. It is also equipped with a protective box to ensure it lasts a long time, just as the stories within it still last. Every book also contains an NFC chip in a card on the inner front cover. That means that the owner of the print version also has the English version of the book, that they can take with them and read any time or share with others.