… kuulutab Jaak Rakfeldt oma sügavalt isiklikus memuaaris “Song of my Soul“.
Nüüdseks MÜ kogukonna lahutamatu liige Jaak Rakfeldt kirjeldab oma esimesi samme eesti päritolu taasleidmisel “Kanadas, Muskoka järvede piirkonna kauges nurgas”, et täita hinges olevat tühimikku otsides vastuseid identiteedi ja kuuluvusega seotud küsimustele. See on lugu, mis kõlab vastu paljudes.
Selles ladusalt loetavas raamatus põimub Jaagu isiklik teekond tema pere dramaagtilise looga Teise maailmasõja eelsest, aegsest ja järgsest ajast – seda kõike Eesti ajaloolsündmuste kontekstis.
Metsaülikool – “It radically changed my life,” declares Jaak Rakfeldt in his deeply personal memoir Song of my Soul.
Now an integral member of the MÜ community, Jaak Rakfeldt describes his first steps reclaiming his Estonian heritage in „a remote area of the Muskoka Lakes region of Ontario, Canada“, filling a void in his soul with answers to questions of identity and belonging – a story that will resonate with many.
In this highly readable book, Jaak intersperses his personal journey with the dramatic story of his family before, during and after World War II, all within the context of historic events in Estonia.
Song of my Soul: A memoir. By Jaak Rakfeldt. With a foreward by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. Published by Mascot Books. 246 pages, $38 Cdn.
How to order: Song of my Soul will be available in Toronto at the VEMU* book fair at Tartu College on November 8, 2025. At other times and elsewhere in Canada you can order Jaak’s book by contacting info@vemu.ca. Available in the United States from Mascot Books and Barnes & Noble.
Jaak is generously donating proceeds from sale of his book in Canada to VEMU.
*Väliseesti Muuseum (Estonian Museum Canada), 310 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1W4
About the author
From his seminal workshop on „marginalism“ among diaspora youth to lectures on other social-psychological topics, meditation workshops, and his depiction of the Estonian mass refugee flight of 1944, Jaak Rakfeldt has made a significant contribution to Metsaülikool and the wider Estonian diaspora community.
Jaak Rakfeldt, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus at Southern Connecticut State University and was formerly assistant clinical professor at the Yale University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, providing clinical supervision for third-year psychiatry residents. Dr. Rakfeldt has served as a clinical consultant and conducted seminars and colloquia at various community mental health agencies, published over sixty papers and chapters, and given over one hundred conference presentations. Currently, he maintains a private clinical practice.
Jaak has been a member of the Estonian American National Council, the Estonian World Council, the Estonian academic fraternity Korp! Fraternitas Estica, and served as chairman of the Connecticut Estonian Society.
Autorist
Jaak Rakfeldt on andnud olulise panuse Metsaülikooli ja laiemalt väliseesti kogukonda diasporaa noorte marginaalsust käsitleva töötoaga ja loengutega muudel sotsiaalpsühholoogilistel teemadel, meditatsioonitöötubade ja 1944. aasta massipõgenemise käsitlusetga.
Jaak Rakfeldt, PhD, on Lõuna-Connecticuti osariigi ülikooli emeriitprofessor ja varem Yale’i ülikooli meditsiinikooli psühhiaatriaosakonna kliiniline dotsent, kes on pakkunud kliinilist supervisiooni kolmanda aasta psühhiaatria residentidele. Dr Rakfeldt on töötanud kliinilise konsultandina ning viinud läbi seminare ja kollokviume erinevates vaimse tervise asutustes, avaldanud üle kuuekümne artikli ja raamatupeatüki ning pidanud üle saja konverentsiettekande. Praegu peab ta kliinilist erapraksist.
Jaak on olnud Ameerika Rahvusnõukogu, Ülemaailmne Eesti Komitee, Korp! Fraternitas Estica ja oli Connecticuti Eesti Seltsi esimees.
