Early life in Latvia before World War I; the University of Latvia in Riga; assistant in astronomy at Riga in 1928 and early impressions of experience in astronomy; graduation in 1932 and position at the University at Latvia in Mathematics in 1936; work in fundamental astrometry; Latvia during the Depression; growth of interest in photographic astrometry; life during World War II in Latvia and in Danzig refugee camps; contact with Ernst Opik; German astronomy during the war; contact with Lick Observatory through Robert Trumpler and Harold Weaver; arrival at Lick Observatory in 1949; assistant to Hamilton Jeffers; Charles D. Shane and Lick in early 1950s; Otto Struve at University of California at Berkeley and possible position there; full staff position at Lick; governance at Lick; search for large scale funding for astrometry; funding for 120-inch programs; construction of 120-inch; development of Carnegie astrograph program in 1950s; contacts with National Science Foundation; the automatic measuring engine; work on the translation journal in the early 1950s and the role of refugee astronomers (Struve's organization); photographic parallaxes and Frank Schlesinger's influence; flexure of 120-inch mounting; Lick moves to Santa Cruz, mid-1960s; Lick and the University of California system: diverse interests and influences; staff reactions to the physical move; recollections of Joel Stebbins and Walter Baade. Also prominently mentioned are: van de Boss, William W. Campbell, Ejnar Hertzsprung, Clark Kerr, Gerhard Lessman, Fritz Neubauer, Roger Revelle, Robert Gordon Sproul, Joel Stebbins, Robert H. Weitbrecht, Albert Edward Whitford, William Hammond Wright; Gaertner Scientific Corporation, Lick Observatory, 120-inch Telescope, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Los Angeles, and Yerkes Observatory.