American Dream Outdoes Itself

“In my wildest dreams I never anticipated having this kind of job,” said 42-year-old Wieslaw Albinski. Now testing computer modules at a Boston firm, Albinski was among 48 Polish sailors who fled from three vessels in Boston Harbor during January. All said they were members of the then-banned Solidarity union and are seeking political asylum. Although many members of a newly elected Parliament in Poland belong to Solidarity, Albinski said: “There is absolutely no question that I would defect again.” With the help of an interpreter, Albinski said he likes his new life but worries about his immigration status and whether his wife and two children will be allowed to leave Poland to join him. Cathryn MacInnes, a Boston adviser on immigrant rights, said most of the sailors have been interviewed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service but have not heard yet whether asylum will be granted. Jack Kowalski, mayor’s liaison to the Polish-American community, said many of the 48 are working in the fishing industry in New Bedford and Maine, or are working at hotels and factories in the Boston area.

--Vice President Dan Quayle was back in Indiana, planning to visit relatives before taking his 10-year-old daughter, Corrinne, to summer camp in Brown County. The Secret Service said the visit was strictly private, and Quayle landed away from the terminal in Columbus and left in a black limousine, keeping away from reporters. Quayle visited his grandmother in a Franklin nursing home and told reporters upon leaving: “I’ve always taken my daughter to camp. . . . I’m not going to change that just because I’m in Washington.”

--Fifty years after the first transatlantic passenger flight, actress Maureen O’Hara opened an Irish aviation museum dedicated to the flying boats of the 1930s and 1940s. The Yankee Clipper, carrying 17 paying passengers, touched down half a century ago at Foynes, Ireland, site of the museum. Charles Blair, O’Hara’s husband, once owned a 1944 Sunderland flying boat that will be exhibited at the museum.

--The 6-year-old son of Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.) has left the hospital after surgery to examine nerve damage suffered when he was hit by a car in April. The stretch injury to nerves in his right shoulder limits young Albert’s movement of his forearm, a hospital spokesman said. Surgeons removed scar tissue but decided that the chances that the injured nerve would grow back and restore movement were better than the chances that a grafted nerve would succeed.