Alligators and Email

Every other month for the past 24 years, I have spent a week or so up to my eyeballs in alligators working with our writers, editors, translators, photographers, etc., pulling together the final threads that we weave together into a bimonthly issue of Russian Life.

It mostly stopped being stressful about 10 years ago, but it has never stopped being interesting and invigorating. I always learn something new and fascinating. And there is nothing to compare with the completely tolerable lightness of being that settles on you after signing an issue off to press.

We do what we do for a number of reasons. Yes, it does provide something like a livable income. But, more importantly, we are driven by a passion to tell interesting stories about the most interesting country on Earth. And it helps that we are egged on by our passionate readers – there is nothing that can help me get through the “alligator days” like a customer calling to renew a subscription, and then mentioning how much they love what we do.