A true story of persistence. Losing one’s homeland to Communists and seeing the horrors of World War II could not stop one determined man from fulfilling his heart’s desire. Jüri Täht, born in Tartu, Estonia on 26 May 1930, had a lifelong passion for becoming a professional cellist. Despite the challenges of World War II, he pursued his dream. He studied at the State University for Music Stuttgart in Germany but left before completing his studies to move to America. He graduated from Dana College in Nebraska and obtained his Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City in 1958. Jüri was a long-time member of the Don Shirley Trio and toured extensively across the United States, but this book delves into his personal life and the historical context (more about the trio can be read in the e-book A Rediscovered Trio). He experienced the destruction of the war, witnessed people suffering. He lost his motherland Estonia to communists after the Baltic States were annexed into the USSR for nearly 50 years. It was closed to him during that period and it suffered greatly under the communist regime. He had to start all over again in a new country, unable to return, until 2015 when he permanently moved back and lived there until he passed away on Nov 2022.