Letters to the Editor

To the Editors:

We are wondering if you are going to have details on the 300th birthday of St. Petersburg, set for 2003 … we are wondering when the best time to go will be?

Obviously, there are going to be some special events.  Are you going to be reporting on them (far enough in advance so that it will be possible to make arrangements to actually attend them)?

Yours truly,

David Sholy

by email

Dear David,

St. Petersburg’s week-long tercentenary Jubilee Festivities will be held from May 24 to June 1, 2003. We advise you (and other readers) not to delay with hotel reservations—with only 32,000 hotels beds in the city (at press-time) hotels will be in great demand.

Tsarskoe Selo will be the official hosting spot for the anniversary celebrations, and the official unveiling of the Amber Room will take place during this time, among many other events.

Russian Life will begin its coverage of the tercentenary with our next issue (July/August). That issue will feature a preview of the events to come in 2003, plus a special St. Petersburg Travel Guide, listing travel service providers, special tours, must-see events, accommodations, etc. From that issue forward through next year, we will be featuring articles on St. Petersburg, its palaces, history and culture.

— The Editors

To the Editors:

I have been a subscriber to Russian Life since you started your existence, in fact, before you emerged, I was a subscriber to Soviet Life for years. During that time I have amassed a huge collection of magazines. This large number has become unruly. I am also a subscriber to Serb World. They offer their readers a binder to store their magazines. I think that it might be a good idea if you offered your readers a similar binder. I am sure that there are many of us that would leap at such an offer. These magazines are reference material and would be better conserved in this manner.

Sincerely,

Theodore J. Shlanta

by email

Dear Theodore:

Funny you should ask!

As it turns out, we had researched this issue and decided to start offering such binders this summer. As we have no idea what kind of demand there will be, we will start by taking advance orders for binders. For more information, see our ad on page 14. We will gather orders for the binders through July 1, with shipment expected by September 1. If there is sufficient demand, we will continue to stock the binders and offer them on a continuing basis.

— The Editors

To the Editors:

Your March/April 2002 issue was the best ever. Congratulations on an exciting new format!

For me perhaps the most exciting bit of news in this issue was almost an after-thought in your article “Amber Opening,” in which you reported that the amber panels were returned to Russia by the Germans two years ago. That puts to rest the assorted theories speculating on the fate of the panels. Can we expect to see in the summer issue year 2003 a spread on the restored Amber Room?

I appreciate the balance that you strive for in each issue, tapping into history, culture, government and other aspects of Russian life. And I think that it is important that, as much as we enjoy prying into the affairs of old Russia, we keep the present in perspective. In this regard, I have immensely enjoyed the series on Young Russians to Watch.

For certain, we must make every effort to better understand Russian life in the 21st century. It is not all about dumas and run-away capitalists and arms shipments here and there. It is much more about young Russians who, as we come to know them better, are not so far different from young Americans. Your series helps to promote that sort of understanding.

Allan Jose

Dumfries, VA

Dear Allan:

Thank you for your kind words. We could not agree with you more on the need to balance coverage of past and present. And we expect to hear from readers when they think we are getting a bit off-kilter.

In response to your question, yes, we are planning a story on the Amber Room (and others on other wonderful treasures of the “Venice of the North”) for 2003. What kind of photographic coverage we will be allowed, we cannot yet say. But there are plenty of stories to tell!

— The Editors

Contributions Welcome

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If you have questions about Russian culture or history that our editors might be able to answer and which might be of wider interest to the entire Russian Life audience, please send them along!