Who Is This Charlatan?

 As soon as you see him, you know that you don't want him to be a relative.  He isn't! His name is Matti Kurikka. Eli had an original photograph of him, mounted on a thick cardboard card that was popular when this photo was dated, in 1901.  Matti Kurikka became the editor of Finnish-language newspapers in America, but also established various communes in the US and in British Columbia, which did not succeed financially. Eli became a writer for the Finnish-American newspapers, but not as early as 1901 when this photo was dated. Was it a publicity photo, handed out like a movie star's image? Or did Eli meet him? We don't know; but Eli also collected, later, a news photograph of Miss Finland, and a drawing of President Kennedy, so maybe he was simply idolatrous. Or maybe he knew Mr. Kurikka, and maybe that's what made him a journalist, and a more committed socialist.