October 28, 2018

The Loss of Laura Williams


The Loss of Laura Williams
Laura Williams (photo credit: Igor Shpilenok)

Laura Williams, a long-time contributor to Russian Life (and author of the wonderful memoir, The Storks' Nest: Life and Love in the Russian Countryside), passed away suddenly on October 28, 2018. We are heartbroken at this loss of our friend and colleague.

Laura had lived in Russia since 1993, when she moved there to start up the first World Wildlife Federation office in Moscow. A few years later, she met and married the amazing nature photographer and environmental worker, Igor Shpilenok (their meeting and marriage is chronicled nicely in The Storks' Nest, and in this article), and they made a life together in Chukhrai village in Bryansk Oblast, near where Igor had established a nature preserve.

For many years, Laura and Igor worked tirelessly on environmental issues, and recently Igor traveled to every single Russian nature preserve in a specially outfitted vehicle; Laura and their two boys, Andrei and Makar, joined him for some of the trip. 

Laura always had a love of horses. And several years ago she turned that love into a mission to use these wise beasts to teach people about the world and their place in it. With her herd of eight horses, her Herd of Joy, she held horse-inspired workshops and retreats in Chukhrai, but also in locations all over the world. Her goal, she wrote, was to help people "connect with nature through horses and to join a growing community of people seeking heart-based communication and meaningful relationships with other human and non-human beings." And, judging from the outpouring of sympathies to her Facebook page, she built a network of fellow travelers in her journey that covers the globe.

Laura and I met over the internet sometime in the early 2000s. She offered to write some articles for us, and there followed a fruitful collaboration, in which she wrote articles on everything from the beekeepers of Bashkortostan, to people working to save bears, to wild tulips in Kalmykia, and the distant Kurile Islands. But surely her most beloved articles among our readers were her "Notes from a Russian Village," about life in Chukhrai. She went on to develop that series into The Storks' Nest

I met Laura and Igor just once in person, about 10-12 years ago, when they happened to be passing through Montpelier, Vermont, and we shared a meal together in town. I don't remember what we talked about, or why they were coming through this area, but I remember being struck by how profoundly sincere and down to earth these two people were. I felt lucky to know them and be working with them.

Mikhail Mordasov and I had planned to stop by Chukhrai in 2015, during our trans-Russia trip for The Spine of Russia, but at the last minute we had to cancel that side trip because it would have been sorely rushed. I called Laura from the side of the road somewhere a few hours' drive west of Bryansk, and promised I would come back another time for a visit. Sadly, I will now never get to see her astride one of her treasured horses, galloping through a pasture outside Chukhrai.

As I thought back over the many pieces Laura wrote for our magazine (over two-dozen articles between 2002 and 2014), I kept returning to her wonderful story about Chado, their runaway dachshund. We had many people write in to tell us how much they loved that story, and so I felt that the best tribute we could offer to her work with us was to republish this popular and beloved piece.

My own daughter immediately fell in love with Chado when she read the story, and I later gifted her a print of Laura's photo of the rambunctious dachshund. It has been hanging on her wall for over a decade now, so I went into her room just a few minutes ago to look at the photo again. There I saw that she had hung from the photo's frame a quote that, upon searching the internet, I found was by the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. This, along with Laura's own story about Chado, is, I feel, a fitting quote with which to end this sad and all too inadequate tribute to a friend and colleague.

“A man sets himself to the task of making a plan of the universe. After many years, he fills a whole space with images of provinces, kingdoms, mountains, bays, ships, islands, fishes, rooms, instruments, stars, horses, and people. On the threshold of death, he discovers that the patient labyrinth of lines has traced the likeness of his own face.”

- Jorge Luis Borges

Rest in peace, Laura.

To Laura's family and friends extend our deepest sympathies. You will be in our thoughts.

 

Laura Williams with one of her horses

Laura with one of her horses (photo credit: Igor Shpilenok)

You Might Also Like

Chado, the Roving Superdog
  • October 27, 2018

Chado, the Roving Superdog

A dog is a basic necessity in the village, and the bigger the dog, the better. Chado is decidedly not big.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955