Letters to the Editor

To the Editors:

Comments:

1. A bi-monthly magazine with only 64 pages? With all the beauty of Old Russia with its art, cathedrals, churches, palaces, that’s it? I have yet to see a full-page color photo of the cathedral built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was murdered. Also, I have yet to see any interior “shots”!

2. Please, no more series of articles such as “100 Young Russians to Watch.” Perhaps the new Russians at Brighton Beach, NY enjoy the series, but I find it terribly boring!

3. If you want to continue publishing a magazine of Modern Russia, perhaps you could publish another called “Old Russia” (Romanov Russia, Tsarist Russia)—that’s the one I’d truly enjoy.

Just a Fabergé, Tchaikovsky, non-Russian old fogey.

Eugene Slivka

Philadelphia, PA

To the Editors:

I have just finished reading the Jan/Feb issue of your very fine magazine. I enjoy all the articles, but I was especially appreciative of Mikhail Ivanov’s Post Script.

There was a great deal of content in those two pages and I hope, as the article implies, that the genius of Mother Russia is on the threshold of a new era. Russian literature, music, science, architecture, engineering—to name a few—are both brilliant and unique and the United States is all the richer for having been a recipient of this creativity.

Some time ago the author of a California-based magazine wrote an article on Sergei Rachmaninov’s final years in Southern California. He had once visited a school and an aging student recalled his dignity, his modesty and his politeness among the young students who, at the time, little realized the titan of the music world who briefly stood before them. But in later years they treasured the memory.

My very best to everyone associated with your magazine.

Very sincerely,

Jim Secrest

Mariposa, CA

To the Editors:

Having served [as a pilot] in WWII in the US military, I was aware of the role of the Russian women pilots.

Having also been a long-time subscriber to Russian Life, I can’t ever recall any articles or mention of this group. Don’t you think they need some recognition? We certainly struggled for years for some.

Respectfully,

Virginia Wise

Tallahassee, FL

Ms. Wise:

Thank you for your letter and your apt suggestion. As you noted [by enclosing a xerox of the book cover], Bruce Myles wrote a fine book, Night Witches (Academy Chicago, $6.95), which chronicles these women’s interesting history.

We do, in fact, have a story in the works on this topic, though we do not have a date certain for its publication.

—The Editors

To the Editors:

I read with great interest the excerpt from M. Butov’s “Liberty,” but my enjoyment was marred by the quirky translation. You can’t just take a Russian idiomatic expression and render it literally into American English. I suggest that in the future you engage a professional writer/translator for whom American English is the first language. I hope I haven’t ruffled anyone’s feathers, because Russian Life has been one of my favorite publications for many years and I am very aware of its general excellence. Please continue your fine and important work.

Sincerely,

Leon Nower

by email

To the Editors:

For this Christmas dinner, I tried your recipe for zharkoye guc c yablokami provided by the Restaurant “1, Red Square” featured in your Nov./Dec. issue.  In one of my Russian Lit. readings years ago, I think by Gogol, there was a passage pertaining to potatoes roasted in goose fat that I ‘filed’ away for use one day and so I tried this along with the featured recipe.  Guests were a bit dubious at first about the dark meat and the potential cholesterol, but after tasting, and a little champagne, this was perhaps the best Christmas dinner I have ever presented.  Thanks for the recipe!

Best regards,

Randy Kasal

Urbandale, Iowa

ERRATA

In the Nov/Dec 2001 issue of Russian Life, on page 37, Aristarkh Lentulov was noted as “one of the founders of the Bubnov Ballet.” In fact, he was one of the founders of the avant-garde group of artists known as “Bubnovyi valet” (literally “Jack of Spades”).

Reader Paul Burnside (Beaverton, OR) pointed out in response to our Jan/Feb 2002 article on studying Russian, that Brigham Young University in Provo, UT was not listed as a place of study, even though the University has three times as many students who study Russian than any other US university and consistently produces students who score well on the language proficiency tests (Source:  BYU Today Magazine, Winter 2002).