Letters to the Editor

To the editor:

I was saddened to read in the August issue of AIDS tests being required for visas of 3 months or longer. Blaming foreigners for the spread of AIDS in Russia is not the best way to educate Russians (and anyone else for that matter) on AIDS and its prevention. There have been studies done in Moscow and in other areas of Russia that show the majority of AIDS cases are from the native Russian community, not from expats or foreigners.

There must be a concerted effort among the expat and traveling public (those who are frequent travelers to Russia, as I am) to get this law overturned. It can only benefit the international community as a whole. Also, I’d like to see Russian Life take an editorial stand on this ill-conceived law.

Maybe if enough of us “just say no,” the Russian government will get the message!

Me get an AIDS test? Like hell!

Sincerely,

Maryanne Kehoe

Atlanta, GA

Dear Maryanne,

We fully  share your outrage at a law so full of holes that its only likely result will be to divert funds away from genuine methods of AIDS prevention, i.e. education. Meanwhile, to cite just one example, epidemics in Ukraine and Belarus (whose citizens are not considered foreigners, and therefore are not subject to testing) cannot be prevented from spreading to Russia.

At the same time, we rather suspect that, as with many laws in Russia, AIDS testing rules are not being taken seriously by those charged with implementing them. We would be interested to hear of readers’ experiences in this area.

— The Editors

To the Editors:

I was most interested to see the information about Yelena Blavatskaya (or Helena Blavatsky, as she is known in the West) in your feature  Russian Calendar. May I amend the information for the reader interested in theosophy?

The Theosophical Society, which she founded together with Charles Leadbeater, Annie Besant and Charles Olcott in New York City in 1875, is a thriving and influential organization. Her main book, The Secret Doctrine, has been reprinted regularly since the year of its publication in 1885. H.P.B. as she was also known, was certainly one of the most influential Russian women of all time, who incidentally became an American citizen in 1877.

Thank you.

Ilse Baker

To the Editors:

The article in the October 1996 issue on four decades of Russian Life was very interesting to me. I am a retired business executive, and I subscribed to Soviet Life in the late 1960s. I understood that Soviet Life and Amerika both were approved by their governments and both were pretty good at propaganda. I wanted to learn about the Soviet Union, and I was not disappointed. There were articles on every one of the fifteen Soviet republics, and on many cities unknown to most Americans. I learned about nationalities, social customs, geography, sports and about the communist leaders and their system. It was not popular to have Soviet Life in the house, and one could be accused of being a fellow-traveler as you pointed out in the article. The magazine has changed over the years, and improved with age. I will continue to subscribe, and find out new things about Russia. Good wishes for the future.

Sincerely,

Chester C. Krouse

To the Editors:

Congratulations on your informative and great magazine.

Please help me with this — I need addresses of music stores in Moscow or St. Petersburg where I can buy records, music books and lyrics of Russian songs, modern and/or old. Victor Kamkin Bookstore does not carry exactly what I need.

Do your best,

Thanks,

Thomas C. Bell

Dear Thomas,

There are four shops you might start with in Moscow:

Melodiya, Novy Arbat 22, tel.(095) 291-1421;

Melodiya, Leninsky Prospekt 148, tel. (095) 433-6655;

Slami Music Company, Sadovaya-Triumfalnaya 16, tel. (095) 209-7450;

Purpurny Legiyon, Ulitsa Svobody 44, tel.  (095) 495-7391.

In St. Petersburg you could try Rhapsodia at Ulitsa Bolshaya Konyushennaya, tel. (812) 310-5922.

You could also check out entries under the Music Store heading in Russian Information Services’ Where in Moscow (6th edition 1996) and Where in St. Petersburg (4th edition 1996), both hot off the press and available through the Access Russia catalog.

— The Editors