A Golden Glow

The illustration on the cover of this issue is entirely allegorical – it is meant to represent the five decades of Russian Life’s heritage.

While you can see a gothic spire out the window of our office in Montpelier, Vermont, it is a Methodist church steeple, not one of Stalin’s Seven Sisters. We did have an office in Moscow for a few years that afforded us a view of one of the Seven Sisters – the Ukraine Hotel, but it was small consolation when the air conditioning was shut down for repair all summer. 

Our privately-owned U.S. company has shepherded this magazine for 11 years out of the half-century of its history. In that time, there has been no shortage of adventure and excitement, achievement and mishap. Through it all, we have been honored to have some great people helping shape the magazine – most notably Robert Krattli and Andrei Zelenov, past editors Mikhail Ivanov and Lina Rozovskaya (the first female editor in the magazine’s history), as well as Oksana and Sasha Gusarov, Scott McDonald, Bob Greenall, our Editorial Advisory Board, Darra Goldstein, many Moscow interns, dozens of excellent freelance contributors, and of course our fine present roster of editors and contributors, listed in the editorial box at right. 

On page one of the October 1976 issue of Soviet Life, readers were greeted by a congratulatory letter from then Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. While a 50th anniversary is surely more momentous than a 20th, no letter arrived in our mailbox from President Vladimir Putin. But of course none was sought. After all, we are not looking for official imprimaturs. Still, it is nice to get mail now and again...  

In any event, since this is our anniversary issue, we have highlighted the year of the magazine’s birth (1956, see page 29), and also present articles with a U.S.-Russian bent. Thus, you will find an article on stereotypes and U.S. cartoons on Russia in the 19th century (page 44), a story on a lesser-known Tolstoy, known as “the American” (page 34), and a work of fiction, Dmitry Bykov’s “The Year of the Family” (page 50), which lampoons tabloid-style journalism and which also happens to mention this magazine’s former sibling, Amerika.

Oddly enough, when surveying past issues of Soviet Life and USSR for our lead story (page 26), I came across an interesting series of articles that ran from May 1964 onward, for about a year. The series was called, “It’s in the Family” and looked at life in a “typical” young Russian family. Surely the editorial discussions surrounding that series were nothing like those in Bykov’s tale, but the echo was haunting nonetheless…

As always, enjoy this issue. We look forward to bringing you many interesting stories in the months and years ahead, and to receiving your feedback and ideas.

With thanks,

Paul Richardson

Publisher and Editor