Issue 147

I’m just going to come out and say it.

This may be one of my favorite issues of Russian Life since we took over the magazine in 1995.

Not only is the photography particularly good, but the stories offer an unusually diverse mix of subjects and themes. The features take you from the furthest reaches of the Arctic to the uninhabited realms of the Altai, from Russian literature in America to a little known episode in tsarist history, and then finally to visit a rather unusual church on the outskirts of St. Petersburg.

Meanwhile, our Russian Calendar section continues its chronicling of 1917 through the eyes of those living through those times, plus we have the humor and language of Survival Russian and Uchites, and a fine recipe for lazy vareniki. And all that is topped of with another delightful village story from Darya Grebenshchikova.

I feel very privileged to work with all the fine writers, photographers, illustrators, translators and editors who make each issue of our unusual magazine possible. And it is always satisfying to talk to readers on the phone, to get your feedback when you like a story or an issue (or even when you do not, because from that too we learn).

Yet I cannot help thinking that we can do still better.

So we have decided to establish the Russian Life Journalism Fund. Its intent will be to grant money to freelance journalists and photojournalists for travel and research expenses, so that they do not have to cover these costs out of their own pockets (a standard practice in the industry). This will enable them to submit even finer articles, to travel to further flung regions, to stay longer, to capture more.

The good news is that this will not require gargantuan resources.

Honestly, we could not have kept this magazine alive for 21 years without knowing how to do a lot with a little. So even a modest contribution to the fund will go a very long way to helping create better journalism and more interesting articles, to sharing the story of Russia with the world.

As if that is not enough, anyone who makes donations to this fund can receive special gifts and benefits.

I hope you will join us in this effort. To find out more or make a contribution, simply visit our website: russianlife.com/journalism-fund.

And, as always, enjoy the issue.