We blocked the runway from Soviets to land
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Stanislav Kubín was born on 6 May 1943 and spent his childhood in Velim. After finishing primary school, he considered studying journalism, but this was not possible because of his father’s political views. Instead, he went to an apprenticeship in Brno, where he became an expert in electrical railway signalling systems. In 1962, he entered basic military service with the 22nd Airfield Battalion, and upon completion he transferred to active military service. In January 1965, he went to the Soviet Union for a three-month internship, where he was trained as a trainer for MiG-21 and Su-7BM aircraft. He was on leave at the time of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops on 21 August 1968. But as soon as he learned what was happening, he rushed to the airport. In the meantime, the airport staff blocked the runway to prevent Soviet aircraft from landing there. Because he refused to sign a consent form regarding the invading troops, he was advised not to ask for an extension of his service. After leaving the army, he had difficulty finding long-term employment and changed a number of posts. In 1972, Stanislav Kubín was in a serious car accident, after which he was bedridden for a long time. At that time he started reading books by Miroslav Horníček, with whom he began to maintain written and later personal contact. It was Miroslav Horníček who talked him into hosting a talkshow called Host na faře (Guest in the Parish house) in August 1987. In the autumn of 1989, Stanislav Kubín was active in the revivalist current of the Czechoslovak People’s Party, and after the Velvet Revolution he participated in a number of interviews and debates. After the fall of the communist regime, he devoted himself until 2013 to his shows, which were attended by more than 200 outstanding personalities from the fields of culture, art, science and sport. He himself was active in literature and poetry and wrote six collections of poetry and more than two hundred essays. In 2022 he lived in Liberec.
