Eli Flam

Eli Flam, of New Smyrna Beach, passed away at Florida Hospital on May 19, from heart failure. He was 83. Born in New York City, he graduated from Brooklyn College with a BA in English. Starting out as a copy boy for the New York Times, he subsequently worked as a reporter at The Greenwich Times in Connecticut. In 1956, he was drafted into the Army and sent to Puerto Rico, where he taught English to Spanish speaking inductees. Upon discharge, Flam returned to journalism, notably working as a reporter for the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, MA. In 1964, he brought his journalistic experience to the U.S. Information Agency, serving in Caracas, Barbados, and Buenos Aires. His European assignments were to Moscow as Press Officer in the U.S. Embassy and as Cultural Attache to Madrid. During his first tour of duty in Washington D.C., he became head of the Voice of America USSR Division, supervising broadcasts in the Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian and Uzbek languages. In a subsequent assignment to VOA, Flam, a fluent Spanish speaker, was head of the Latin American Division, broadcasting to the Southern Hemisphere and the Caribbean. Upon retirement from the Government in 1988, he turned again to journalism. While living in Port Tobacco, MD, he started a quarterly journal dedicated to reviews of current books acquired for the Charles County Library, The Reading Lamp, also hosting a monthly cable show, The Reading Lamp TV. In 1995, he became recipient of the Maryland Library Association Outstanding Volunteer Award 'for extraordinary efforts to promote the Charles County Library. Simultaneously, he was also contributing to various publications, including the Washington Post. This was followed by eight years as publisher-editor of a literary quarterly, Potomac Review, which was eventually deeded over to Montgomery College. Eli Flam's novel Alex and the Eagle, originally serialized in 1994 by New Bay Times Weekly (Dale, MD) came out in print in 2015 (Amazon). Upon moving to Greenbelt, MD, in 2003, he joined the editorial board of the Greenbelt News Review and stayed on it until August 2016. He then relocated to New Smyrna Beach, where he had previously spent many a winter. His first marriage to Carol Cohen ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Ludmila Obolensky-Flam; son, George of Chevy Chase, MD; step-daughter, Dr. Anna Raevsky of New Smyrna Beach; granddaughter, Nicole Sowell; and five step-grandchildren. His ashes will be deposited in the Eternal Reefs site, in Maryland. Donations in his memory can be made to Greenpeace, 702 H Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001. Online condolences may be made at settlewilderfuneralhome.com.