Letters to the Editor

To the Editors:

My wife and I are planning a trip to Russia. We really enjoy your magazine. But we were wondering if you would be able to make any recommendations about travel guides to Russia? We will be visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg. There are so many choices available, it is hard to know which one to choose?

A. Williams

Sioux City, IA

Mr. Williams:

You are quite correct. There are many good “mainstream” travel guides to choose from. We hesitate to put our stamp of approval on any one guide, but will share the following thoughts and ideas on just a few of the main choices.

We are quite partial to the Fodor’s guides, because we did the initial research for their Golden Ring sections. We find these guides to be concise, well-edited and very thorough (especially that Golden Ring section!)

But we also quite like the Lonely Planet guide to Russia. It really sets the standard for breadth of coverage on Russia. No other guide covers as many cities (the trade-off, of course, is that the book is rather weighty). And the tome’s wry tone is rather refreshing. For travel that would include anything beyond the capitals, this would be our top choice.

The Rough Guides to Moscow and St. Petersburg are excellent if you are going to just one of those cities. As we noted in a recent review, we also like Masha Nordbye’s Moscow & St. Petersburg, published by Odyssey.

The Eyewitness and Knopf guides, both slim, colorful and flashy, would not be our choice for in-depth travel companions. But their pictorial focus is great to help spot items and places of interest.

–  The Editors

A Russophile’s Passing

It is with sadness that I announce the passing on April 22 of a friend, colleague and avowed Russophile, Lawson “Trap” Hill.

Readers of the magazine will recall the wonderful first-hand account of Florence Hoffman, an American Red Cross Nurse in Siberia, which appeared in our Nov/Dec 2002 issue. Ms. Hoffman was Trap’s mother and it was a trip to Russia in 1991, to retrace his mother’s steps, that led to an involvement with Russia that would last until his death this spring.

Trap had been a successful direct marketing entrepreneur (selling shoes through the mail) before he retired with his wife Marcia. His and his wife’s trip to Russia led to some chance friendships, which led to a business lecture tour, which eventually brought things full circle – Trap set up a successful direct mail company, Russian Collection, to sell Russian lacquer miniatures. His partners became lifelong friends.

– Paul Richardson

Erratum

Ah, the joys of working under deadline. An attentive Advisory Board member brought our attention to a grievous error in the Under Review department of our last (July/August) issue of the magazine.

A slip of the cursor had us attributing authorship of The Brothers Karamazov to Lev Tolstoy, which was, of course, written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Apologies.

–  The Editors