В разделе "Повести, романы, рассказы" можно прочитать новые рассказы писателя, которые еще не вошли в изданные книги: "Смотри мне в глаза!", "Обгон", "Охранник", "Шаги", "Мачеха", "Судьба приговора", "Земляки; в разделе "Из публицистики" - последние публицистические эссе А.Алексина; а в части сайта, посвященной творчеству Татьяны Алексиной, впервые опубликован полный текст книги воспоминаний в разделе "Неужели это было?..".

"Неужели это было?.." - книга о значительных и даже значительнейших событиях и людях, с которыми автора свела судьба. Отдельные её главы публиковались в "Роман-газете", в книге "Террор на пороге", а также на страницах журналов и газет. Они вызвали большой интерес у читателей и удостоились высокой оценки авторитетных литературоведов. Воспоминания сопровождаются многими десятками уникальных фотографий.

INTERNATIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL CENTRE

—    St Thomas' Place, ELY, CB7 4GG GREAT BRITAIN  —

Page 1                                                                                                                                                 
23 October 2007

Mr Anatoliy Aleksin Rubinstein Street 39/17 Jaffo-Dalet 68212 Tel-Aviv Israel
PROOF

2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century - 2007 Edited By: Sara Rains

Congratulations on your inclusion! Please read this proof carefully, mark any alterations and sign and return it even if there are no changes. Your inclusion in this title not only entitles you to biographee-only discounts on the book itself but also to a range of unique Commemorative Awards if applicable. These Awards will not be available after publication, so if you have not already done so, then please order now to avoid disappointment at a later stage. Celebrate your inclusion!

ALEKSIN Anatoliy, b. 3 August 1924, Moscow, Russia. Writer, m. Tatyana Alexina, 1 son, 1 daughter. Education: Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, 1950. Career: Writer, 1951-; Playwright; Scriptwriter; Member, Russian Academy of Education, 1982-; Secretary, Union of the Writers of Russia, 1970-89; President of the Association, Peace to the Children of the World, 1986-90; Chairman, Council of Children's and Youth Literature of Russia, 1970-90; Host of monthly TV show, Friend's Faces, 1971-86; Writer of film, television scripts and numerous plays, staged in Russia and abroad. Publications: More than 200 books translated into 48 languages (over 120 million printed copies); More than 40 books published between 1998-2006; Translated into English, French, Dutch, Greek, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Finnish, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Czech and others; Collected works published in 3 volumes, 1979-81, 5 volumes, 1998-99, 9 volumes, 2000-2001; More than 800 magazine articles; Editorial Board, Yunost Magazine, 1973-93. Honours: Mildred Batch elder Award Nomination for A Late Born Child, Association of American Libraries, USA, 1973; Russian Government Award, 1974; USSR Government Award, 1978; Two Orders of the Labour Banner; Included in Hans Christian Andersen Awards; IBBY Honour List; The International Board on Books for Young People; Chosen as an Outstanding Example of Literature with International Importance, 1976; International European Maxim Gorky Award, 1980; Award of Federations of Unions of Writers of Israel, 1999; Jubilee Medal, 200th Anniversary of A S Pushkin, 1999; Compassion Award for Assistance to People Suffering from Cancer, 1998, 2000; Title: Man of Legend, 2004; Gold Medal of Janush Korchak, 2005. Memberships: Writers Union of Moscow; International PEN Club; Russian Writers Union of Israel; Russian Academy of Education. Address: Rubinstein Street 39/17, Jaffo-Dalet 68212, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Aleksin

Anatoliy Georgievich,

a playwright, is awarded the RSFSR State Award for the following

plays: 'Call us and come visit us" and "Return Address".

Russian Soviet Federate Socialist Republic
( Emblem )
Council of Ministers

  See BARROWS, (Ruth) Marjorie

PERSONAL: Born August 3, 1924, in Moscow, U.S.S.R. Education:
Graduated from Moscow Institute for Oriental Studies, 1950.

CAREER: Author, playwright. Secretary of Soviet newspaper Kepost' oborony ("Fortress of Defense"), beginning 1941; speaker on "Litsa druzei," monthly television show on chil­dren's education; editorial board member of Yunost' and Det-skaya Literatura (magazines). Member: Association of Activ­ists of Literature and Art for Children in the Union of Soviet Societies of Friendship and Cultural Ties With Foreign Coun­tries (vice-president), Union of Writers of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (secretary of directorate for chil­dren and young adult literature). Awards, honors: Mildred Batchelder Award nomination, 1973, for A Late-Born Child; numerous awards in Soviet Union include the Lenin Komsomol prize (Young Communist League), RSFSR Government N.K. Krupskaya prize, order of the Labor Red Banner.

Other writings: Sasha i Shura (juvenile; title means "Sasha and Shura"), Detgiz, 1956; Neobychainye pokhozhdeniia Sevy Kotlova (juvenile; title means "The Unusual Adventures of Seva  Kotlov"),  Molodaia gvardiia,   1958;  

Pis'ma  i telegrammy: rasskazy, Pravda, 1966; (editor) Al'bom mestoro-zhdenii nefti i gaza neftegazonosnykh basselnov territorii RSFSR, USSR > kazakhskoi SSR, Nedra, 1967; Pozavchera iposlezavtra (title means "The Day Before Yesterday and the Day After Tomorrow"), Pravda, 1974; Sobranie sochinenii (selected works), Detlit, 1979.

Also author of Tridtsat'odin den' (title means "1931"), 1950; Vodonompionerskom lagere (title means "In a Pioneer Camp"), 1954; Bud' dostoinym synom rodiny, 1955; Zapiski El' viry (title means "Elvira's Notes"), 1956; Dvapocherka, 1957; O druzhbe serdets (title means "On the Friendship of Hearts"), 1958; Shkola na novom pud (title means "The School on the New Path"), 1959; Pogovorim o sovesti, 1961; V strane vechnykh kanikul (juvenile; title means "In the Land of Holidays"), 1967; "Ty menia slyshish'?", \968; Povesti, 1969; (with Vik­tor Iezekiilevich Viktorov) Vse nachalos' s telegrammy, 1969.

Uznaete? AlikDetkin (collection), 1970; Veselyepovesti, 1971; Vstretimsia zavtra, 1971; (with others) Geologicheskie for-matsii Zapadnogo Predkavkaz'ia, 1973; Povesti i rasskazy, 1973; IAblonia yo dvore, 1974; Zvonite i priezzhaite, 1974; Deistvuiushchie litsa i ispolniteli (juvenile; title means "Char­acters and their Performers"), 1975; Geologiia i razrabotka neftianykh mestorozhdenii vostoka Volg-Ural'skoi provintsii (geology on Russian oil in the Volga-Ural region), 1975; Mo­lodaia gvardiia (young adult; based on the novel by Alexander Fadeev; title means "Young Guard"), 1975; Parus-77 (ju­venile), 1977; Tretii v piatom riadu (title means "Third Seat in the Fifth Row"), 1977.

Kolya pishet Ole, Olya pishet Kole (title means "Kolya Writes to Olya, Olya Writes to Kolya"); Govorit sea"moi etazh (title means "This is the Seventh Floor Speaking"); Pro nashu sem'yu (title means "About Our Family"); A tern vremenem gde-to . . . (title means "At the Same Time Somewhere . . ."); Be-zumnaya Evdokiya (title means "Crazy Yevdikiya"). Also au­thor of plays, including "Obratnyi adres" ("Return Ad­dress"), "Zvonite i priezzhaite!" ("Call and Visit Us!"), "Moi brat igraet na klarnete" ("My Brother Plays the Clarinet"), "Desyatiklassniki" ("High School Seniors"), and "Molodaya gvardiya" ("Young Guard"), first produced at the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow, spring, 1974.

SIDELIGHTS: A spokesman for Aleksin told CA: "Anatolii Aleksin addresses his stories to children and young people, as well as to those that are responsible for educating them. The main theme of his work is the problem of training and educating a young person. Aleksin appears every month on television in his very popular program 'Litsa druzei,' which is devoted to the problems of educating the upcoming generation of children.

"In his works, Anatolii Aleksin primarily talks about how a young person enters the adult world. His works affirm that being an adult is not a concept of age. Rather, it is a moral concept. Adulthood is not determined by the date of birth indicated in a passport, but by a person's actions and deeds. The children and teenagers in his stories reveal their spiritual maturity and high concepts of duty through noble deeds that are imbued with true humanism."

ПОСТАНОВЛЕНИЕМ СОВЕТА МИНИСТРОВ СОЮЗА ССР
от 19 октября 1978 года

ПРИСУЖДЕНА
ГОСУДАРСТВЕННАЯ ПРЕМИЯ СССР

АЛЕКСИНУ Анатолию Георгиевичу, писателю, -
за повести: „Действующие лица и исполнители",
„Позавчера и послезавтра",
„Третий в пятом ряду",
„Безумная Евдокия"
 

Ученый секретарь Комитета по Ленинским и Государственным премиям СССР в области литературы, искусства и архитектуры при Совете Министров СССР (Н. Тихонов)	Председатель Комитета по Ленинским и Государственным премиям СССР в области литературы, искусства и архитектуры при Совете Министров СССР (И. Васильев)

Международная европейская премия

E-mail: ibby@eye.ch Internet: www.ibby.org

IBSY (international Board on Books for Young People)

Adler                                                  Something about the Author • Volume 36 23 Aleksin

and on the basis of those few sentences I got my first book contract.
"A lot more work was involved in getting the contracts for all my subsequent books.
"I once sold a T.V. script to Children's Television Workshop. It was a serialized adventure story divided into five six-minute segments. Unfortunately, it was purchased but never produced. I got the contract to write the script because of someone knew. I wrote twelve minutes of the script, and got a go-ahead to finish right then and there. I'd never written anything longer than a sixty-second T.V. commercial before."

ALDA, Arlene 1933-
BRIEF ENTRY: Born in 1933. Alda is a photographer, author. and musician. She attended Hunter College and has studied music in Europe, performed with the National Orchestral Association in New York, and was assistant first clarinetist with the Houston Symphony. Alda has only recently started her
career as a writer; her first book was published in 1981. Using her combined talents as a photographer and writer, she created Arlene Alda's ABC Book, employing unique and imaginative objects from the environment to represent the entire alphabet. For example, the letter "C" is shown in a pan of sizzling c-shaped shrimp, while "A" is the end frame of a sawhorse. The book is described by Publishers Weekly as one in which "splendid pnotos in color symbolize each letter in the books, introduced by the photographer's brief, interesting comments on children's gifts for observing shapes and meaning in mundane things." Her photographs are further described by Booklist as having 'a vibrancy of texture and line." Alda's other books include On Set: A Personal Story in Photographs anil Words (Simon & Schuster. 1981), Soma's Mommy Works (Messner, 1982), and M*A*S*H: The Final Days (Unicom. 1983), a book she wrote with her husband, actor Alan Alda. Residence: Leonia, New Jersey; and Los Angeles, Calif. For More Information See: McCalls, January, 1976; People, June 15, 1981; New York Times Biographical Service, May, 1981.'


ALEKSIN, Anatolii (Georgievicfi) 1924-
PERSONAL: Born August 3. 1924. in Moscow. U.S.S.R. Education: Graduated from the Moscow Institute for Oriental Studies, 1950.

Since there were no footprints near the old cottage, after the mysterious disappearance, The Secret of the Old Summer Cottage remains a secret. The reader is left with something to ponder. ■ (Jacket illustration by Joel Schick from Alik, the Detective by Anatolii , Aleksin. Translated from the Russian by Bonnie Carey.)
CAREER: Author, playwright. Executive secretary. Soviet newspaper Kreposi' oborony ("Fortress of Defense"') beginning, 1941: speaker. "Litsa druzei" monthly television show on children's education: editorial board member. Yunost` and Detskaya Literatura (magazines). Member: Association of Activists of Literature and Art for Children in the Union of Soviet Societies of Friendship and Cultural Ties with Foreign Countries (vice-president). Union of Writers of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (secretary of the directorate for children's and young adult literature). Awards, honors: Mildred Batchelder Award nomination. I973. tor A Ltite-Born Child: numerous awards in Soviet Union include the Lenin Komsomol prize (Young Communist League). RSFSR Government N.K. Krupskaya prize, U.S.S.R. Government Prize, two orders, of the Labor Red Banner, and N.K. Krupskaya Medal
WRITINGS—Of interest to young people: in English translation: Moi brat igraet na klarnete. 1968, translation by Fainna Glagoleva published as My Brother Plays the Clarinet. Progress Pubishers (Moscow), 1972. also published as My Brother Plays the Clarinet: Two Stories illustrated by Judith Gwyn
Brown), Waulek, 1975; Ochen' strashnaia isioriia, 1969, translation by Bonnie Carey published as Alik, the Detective. Morrow, 1977; Pozdnii rebenok, translation by Maria Polushkin published as A Late-Born Child (illustrated by Charles Robinson). World, 1971.
Other writings: Sasha i Shura (title means "Sasha and Shura"), Detgiz, 1956; Neobychainye pokhozhdeniia Sevy Kotlova (title means "The Unusual Adventures of Seva Kotlov"), 1958; Pis'ma i telegrammy: rasskazy (title means "Letter and Telegram"). Pravda. 1966; Pozavchera i poslezavtra (title means "The Day Before Yesterday and the Day After Tomorrow"), Pravda. 1974: Sobranie sochinenii (selected works), Detlit, 1979-81.
Also author of Tridtsat' odin den' (title means "Thirty-one Days"). 1950: V odnoin pionerskom lagere (title means "In a Pioneer Camp"). 1954; Bud' dostoinym synom rodiny, 1955; Zapiski Elviry (title means "Elviry's Notes"), 1956; O druzhbe serdets (title means "On the Friendship of Hearts"), 1958; Dva pocherka. 1959; Shkola na novom puti (title means "The School on the New Path"), 1959; Pogovorim o sovesti (title means "Let Us Speak about Conscience"), 1961; V strane vechnykh kanikul (title means "In the Land of Holidays"), 1967; "Ty menia slyshish'?" (title means "Do You Hear Me?"), 1968;Povesti. 1969.
Uznaete? Alik Detkin (collection), 1970; Veselye povesti. 1971; Vstretimsia zavtra. 1971; Povesti i rasskazy, 1973; Iablonia vo dvore (title means "An Apple Tree in the Yard"), 1974; Zvonite i priezzhaite (title means "Call and Visit Us"), 1974; Deistvuiuschie litsa i ispolniteli (title means "Characters and Their Performers"), 1975; Molodaia gvardiia (based on the novel by Alexander Fadeev; title means "Young Guard"), 1975; Parus-77 (juvenile), 1977; Tretii v piatom riadu (title means "The Third in the Fifth Row"), 1977.
Kolya pishet Ole, Olya pishet Kole (title means "Kolya Writes to Olya, Olya Writes to Kolya"); Govorit sed'moi etazh (title means "This is the Seventh Floor Speaking"); Pro nashu sem'yu (title means "About Our Family"); A tem vremenem gdeto . . . (title means "At the Same Time Somewhere. . ."); "Be-zumnaya" Evdokiya (title means "Crazy Yevdokiya"). Has also written several plays including "Obratnyi adres" ("Return Address"), "Zvonite i priezzhaite!" ("Call and Visit Us!"), "Moi brat igraet na klarnete" ("My Brother Plays the Clarinet"), "Desyatiklassniki" ("High School Seniors"), and "Molodaia gvardiia" ("Young Guard").
SIDELICHTS: Born August 3, 1924, in Moscow. Aleksin's works began to appear in print while he was still a school boy. During World War II, at the age of seventeen, he became the executive secretary of the daily newspaper Fortress of Defense.
in 1950, while Aleksin completed his education at the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, his first book was published -stories for children entitled Thirty-one Days. Since then his books have reached a circulation exceeding several million, and have been translated into English, French, Italian, Japanese, Persian, and many other languages.
Vladimir Voronov wrote in 1973: "While portraying in his books various psychological states, Aleksin never forgets that his young hero, whether in joy or sorrow, is in the very beginning of his life's path, and that around the adolescent seethes, moves, and flows an enormous multicolored world, which will later be familiar and adopted. . . . Aleksin's world is open to all the vital questions of today's adolescents, and like radar, catches impulses coming from the complex, flowing, changing life of our young contemporaries.
"Aleksin's works are very demonstrative. In them are projected the whole range of human attitudes, in them are reflected the basic moral and social principles of Soviet society. . . . The artistic world of Aleksin is a very active world, in which live active, energetic people, basically from twelve to sixteen years of age. They don't remain idle even for a moment, always overflowing with exciting plans for change and improvement of that surrounding life, which they've found available. They invade the most unexpected (to adults) spheres of human attitudes and demonstrate the most striking comprehension and tact in complicated questions. Aleksin's youthful heroes actively remake the world, make it better and more perfect.
"One mustn't forget that his prose is lightened by soft, good humor, which doesn't leave the writer's best heroes, neither on their most happy days, nor in times of sorrow and misfortune. This humor helps the writer avoid the snobbery in the description of the happy state of his characters. Humor also reminds Aleksin's heroes about life, large and varied, when they fall into a critical position, when they are in a state of
despair and inconsolability. Yes, and inconsolability. Such states are also found in Aleksin's prose, because unfortunately they are found in life and probably always will be. . . . His works demonstrate an indissoluble unity of the comic and the humanistic, and reflect the much varied richness of human attitudes „
"In Aleksin's prose of the sixties and seventies, humor is just as characteristic, both in adventure plots and in the seriousness of the moral problems which inspire the writer. 'Some people,' Aleksin once stated, 'mistakenly put an equal sign between the words "gay" and "non-serious." Like other masters of laughter, he is convinced that humor and amusement form the shortest bridge between serious problems and the consciousness of the young reader.
"For the author, who has been writing all his life for children and teenagers, there exists an original criterion for humaneness in adults, which is expressed by Detective Alik in [the story] "A Very Frightening Story": 'Sharp observation showed me long ago that something of the child remains in almost every person all his life-either an expression, a laugh, or some gesture. '. . . In various ways, Aleksin expresses this tie between children and adults, which could be called a moral tie." [Translation of Vladimir Voronov, "Anatoly Aleksin: An Essay on His Works," Children's Literature (Moscow), 1973.]
Aleksin wrote: "Often in the morning I walk with the children of my precious childhood. I look into the faces of young boys and girls. They are surprised: 'Did you lose someone?' And the thing is that I've lost that which can no longer be found or sought for, but to forget it is also impossible: one's school years."'
The story "Every Fate Is Your Own" begins: "To feel responsible for every person's fate, responsible for every action of a comrade—this is a wonderful quality." Commented Voronov: "The writer shows how difficult this is: to teach and mold such qualities in a human soul, especially a child's. He, from the start, rejects an easy road. He understands that "it's not easy to penetrate into the world of the small (only in age, it's understood) person, for whom each day brings unexpected discoveries and puzzling questions; all those 'hundred thousand why's to which we adults must give intelligent, precise, patient answers.
"Observing the broken fates of some teenagers, and the unexpected appearance of egoism and cruelty, Aleksin deliberates the cause of what seems at first glance to be strange behavior. The writer raises the question of the responsibility of adults for the directions of the spiritual development of the juvenile. 'The child's heart is very vulnerable and sensitive,' Aleksin writes. 'And when even the best intentions want to get through by way of pedanticisms, cheerless moralizations and cold didactics, the road is tightly closed.'
"Since the mid-sixties, in his reflections, public appearances, tales and stories, the writer raises again and again the question of the ideals of humanism - of the lofty principles of
humanism, of mankind, of the attitude towards the fate of every person.'"'
Aleksin elaborates: "On days which we are used to calling humdrum, a person who governs himself by the lofty laws of humanity, as if to prepare himself morally for a great deed in the name of mankind, performs that deed if life so requires, thus saving people (sometimes people who were not long ago unknown strangers) from difficulty and misfortune. A person needs to share his character, life experience and faith in life with another person, and he shares them if his heart is winged with goodness and humaneness."
Voronov continued: "Aleksin"s works perform their continual 'humdrum' deed: they teach the young soul to have this moral preparedness for deeds in the name of mankind, in the name of humanity, Aleksin's stories
make the reader more soulful, fine, and sensitive—they make him richer in spirit. In everyday confrontations, on ordinary days, they help discuss the fine 'movements of the human soul', pure impulses and noble actions: they help observe and feel how sometimes in correct, loud words are hidden self interest, indifference, internal callousness and a lack of concern for the misfortune and sorrow of others.
"You can't disagree with the writer Aleksei Musatov when, characterizing Aleksin's works, he noted: 'He writes about good people. . . . And by means of his books, he increases their number.'"'
Dozens of theaters have performed Aleksin's plays. The premier of "Molodaia gvardiia" ("Young Guard"; based on Alexander Fadeev's Young Guard) took place in the spring of 1974 at the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow and is still performed regularly.
Aleksin appears monthly on his television program "Litsa druzei" ("The Faces of Friends") which is devoted to handling the problems of educating the upcoming generation of children.

Anatoli Aleksin:
Russia's 'Mark Twain' visits Washington

by Gene Lomoriello
Nestled away somewhere behind the rolling curves of South Road, on the outskirts of the Town of Washington, Anatoli Aleksin spent his month in America doing the things he loves
most: visiting his family and writing Aleksin and his wife were here 01 one of their occasional visits to their daughter, granddaughter and son-in law, Washington residents Aliona Anya and Mark Zander.
JUST VISITING: Russian author Anatoli Aleksin and his wife, Tatiana Alexa Aleksin, were in the Town of Washington recently to visit their daughter and her family. Aleksin has written more than 200 books, which have been translated into 47 languages. (Photo by Gene Lomoriello.)
And with more than 200 books to his credit, translated into 47 languages, with more than 100,000,000 copies in print, it's a wonder he has any time for his family, or sleeping, for that matter.
But those familiar with Aleksin's work realize it is family that fuels him. Aleksin is often described by critics as "the Mark Twain of Russia;" like Twain, Aleksin is most concerned with the development of children and their interactions with adults.
"The main subject of my work is family," said Aleksin "Because the whole of humanity consists oа families. But always in each family there are children. That's why children are a main part of my work."

'Family and traditions'
Aleksin said he has been influenced by "writers who wrote about family and traditions" - Twain, Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy.
Among his peers, he admires and associated with John Steinbeck, whom he called an "outstanding writer," and J.D. Salinger.
"His works are very close to me," Aleksin said of Salinger. "We both understand that the future belongs to today's youth, and that the life of young people and adults is inseparable." -
"If you want to understand what Anatoli does, look at Salinger," said Tatiana Alexa Aleksin, his wife, who also serves as his editor and translated for this interview.
"The most important editor and assistant in my work in my life is my wife," he said.
"Yes - We discuss the themes, he reads me every word. He tries to make me be satisfied. He trusts my taste," she said.
This is appropriate enough, since his wife is usually familiar with is characters, with good reason. "My wife and my children often become the main characters in my books," he said.

Horrors of Stalin
Aleksin has also met Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn "a few times," and he described the exiled author as "courageous, brave."
"He was the first to tell the world of Stalin, of the horrible concentration camps of Stalin," Aleksin said. "Stalin made a lot of people in Russia suffer a lot. The conflicts that occur now are a result of the international policies of Stalin."
Aleksin and his wife know firsthand of living in fear under Stalin.
"My family suffered a lot under Stalinism. My father and my wife's father were arrested. During Stalin's day, they would arrest people for nothing," he said. "My wife's father died in a concentration camp. The main task of my life is to fight fascism and Stalinism."
To that end, Aleksin supports Russian President Boris Yeltsin's endeavors. "I like Yeltsin a lot because he was the one who has forbidden the communist party, and also because he doesn't just talk, he does things. He tries to make these reforms come true," said Aleksin. "He is for Democracy. working to keep the republics inde pendent but keep culture and the eco-nomic structure intact" (Aleksin was interviewed prior to the most recent' changes in Russian government. Since the interview last month, Aleksin has returned to Russia.)

'Beauty and kindness'
Aleksin carries out his fight in ways besides his writing. He serves as a member of Russia's Culture Committee, and he is also president of both Children of Russia and the International Association of Peace Foundations of the World, a group that tries to promote a climate of peace among the republics that comprised the former Soviet Union.
But his prolific writing remains his most pervasive instrument for peace. Aleksin has just finished a novel he describes as "about anti-Semitism and treating people badly because they belong to one nationality or another,"
On deck are two more projects: a book he began in the Town of Washington, which he calls a novel against the ideology of fascism," and a non-fiction book "about the facts of life in Russia."
Through the non-fiction book, Aleksin hopes "to explain today's state in Russia, hopes to explain what's going on, and to help Russians to believe everything is going to be all right."
And for everything to be all right, Aleksin says, all people must share the quality of kindness. "This feeling of kindness, I'm trying to help my readers live on earth."
Aleksin gets a distant, hopeful look in his eye as he reinforces his point with the words of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. "Dostoyevsky said, 'Beauty will save the world,'" he said. "I would add beauty and kindness will save the world."

Arts ambassador
Children don't only need love — they need respect. All children's, writers understand this

Is likened to Mark Twain in Shreveport: Anatolii Aleksin is a Russian writer who, like the youthful heroes in his books, is overflowing with exciting plans.

By JOHN ANDREW PRIME The Times

Russian author Anatolii Aleksin reacts with a start when confronted with the most frequently encountered description of him here, as "the Russian Mark Twain."
"Tanya! Tanya! Come hear this!" he shouts to his wife, leaping up from his soft chair In the living room of his Shreveport hosts, W.H. and Deborah Osborne.
Tatyana Aleksin, a handsome, deeply tanned woman known in their country as a folk art collector and expert, listens.
He leans back in the sofa, hand to chin, his sad. ex- Aleksin pressive eyes locked In a gaze onto those of his wife as he thinks of his own answer.
They are in Shreveport as broad-ranging ambassadors of the arts. His wife, here top only a week, has been discussing the possibility of a future show of Russian folk art with Judy Godfrey, director of the Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College.
He will stay through Aug 7, with a full agenda that Includes occasional public appearances. He is also in this country to further details of a collaboration between himself, his wile and American publishers over a cartoon and a companion book titled Catarina and Sam, a story of how cats and dogs learn to live in peace.
"All the worlds literature about children can be traced to two sources," he says. "There is Mark Twain himself, who wrote about how witty and optimistic children are. And then, there is Charles Dickens, whose literature Is also about children, but who wrote of their poverty and distresses." Aleksin, whose literary career since 1950 has carried him from the. days of Stalin to today's glasnost, has published more than 200 books. and 800 magazine articles. His read-efship world-wide, according to Western published sources, exceeds 100 million. His books are non-pol-itical, but touch on the problems of dally life across political and Ideological boundaries by discussing how everyday people, usually children or teens, solve the problems of survival or growing up in worlds shaped by adults.
"Aleksln's youthful heroes actively remake the world, make It better and more perfect," commentator Vladimir Voronov wrote in 1973, two years after the publication of. Aleksln's most popular book in the west, A Late-Horn Child, available, through special order at most bookstores. "They don't remain idle for a moment, always overflowing with exciting plans for change and Improvement..."
That dcscription could easily it the Aleksins.
He is also in Shreveport to spend hours before cameras of the YMTN Television Network and Its director, David Stone, a close friend. Aleksin IS president of the Soviet association Peace to the Children of the World, and for this is creating a television series titled Trust. These monthly shows, to be broadcast to ISO million Soviet TV viewers, begin in late September with a look at Lou-Islam and Its growing ties with the Soviet Union.
The activity and broad sense of purpose perfectly (It his Image — as a world-class author... a 20th Century Mark Twain. Despite his protests, comparisons are Inevitable.

They return again on the trip to the visit Aleksin, from Interpreter Komissarova.
"I first read one of his books when I was, say, 16," she recalls. "The stories were written about people my age, and it seemed he was speaking right to me Then, I read another o( his books when I was a little older, and it was again about someone my age, and it seemed he was talking to me."
As she grew she continued to read his works, but her reaction changed. Now, In her late jos. married and with a teen-age son, she sees him in another light
"Now I read Aleksin to understand better how my son thinks.**
Later, Aleksin fine-tunes his reaction to the comparison with Twain — who also dad many serious purposes and chafed at the nay the world thought of him only as a humorist.
"It is impossible to divide children's lives and grownups lives, for each depends on the other," he says. 'To respect a child is to understand that they are as respectable as an adult — only with less size and muscles.
"Children don't only need love — they need respect. All children's writers understand this."

Stories for the Middle Readers

Anatoui Aleksin    A Late-Born Child         
75 pp. World   4.95

Library edition 4.89 Illustrated by Charles Robinson, "[A] late-bom child is waited for, and waited for, and waited for, and when the waiting is finally over and he arrives, he is showered with so much love and attention that he'd like to run off." Twelve-year-old Lenny agonizes not only about being late-born, but also about his mother's deafness and his father's high blood pressure. Wanting terribly to be considered an adult, Lenny attempts to infuse the household with "positive emotions" — in order to help his father — and to intercede in his sister's love affair. But after his father's heart attack, Lenny must prepare his family for disappointment because his sister's romance has crumbled. He sadly learns that becoming an adult — like many things long waited for — doesn't "bring oniy happiness." Although a young male chauvinist, Lenny is still a lovable, vulnerable character whose good intentions bring unfortunate results, There are distinctly Russian overtones in this story written by a contemporary writer in the Soviet Union, but the experiences and emotions are universal. However, since an under­standing of the events may require some psychological insight, the narrative will be difficult  for many  middle  readers.  Although  the book  has   not  been  attractively   produced,  the  story is   charming, entertaining, and touching, Anita Silvey

March 5th, 2002

Z A N D E R' S ANIMATION PARLOUR

Mr. Anatoly Aleksin, the world -renowned author and screen wnter, wiill cowrite and co-produce an animated movie entitled, "Katarina and Sam", based on a heart felt story written by Mr. Aleksin.
"Katarina and Sam" is a wonderful tale about two orphans, one a cat, the other a dog, who grew up together and knew no prejudices. This project will be produced from our New York City studio starting in late June 2002 and will be in production until the following June, 2003. Mr. Aleksin's presence and involvement is crucial to the production. In addition to the upfront licensing fee, Mr. Aleksin will also enjoy back end participation once the movie finds a broadcast window.
Zander's Animation Parlour, Inc., founded by Jack Zander, the creator of the famous "Tom & Jerry" cartoons, and now owned by his son Mark Zander has produced many award winning long animated films. In the early 90's, Zander's was nominated for an Emmy for the production of the one-hour CBS TV. special, "Gnomes", based on the bestseller book of the same name. Zander's also produced "The Man Who Hated Laughter" for King Features, and several series pilots for CBS and ABC. Zander's is currently in production on two T.V. specials namely, "Spookley, The Square Pumpkin", and "The Littlest Christmas Tree".
Mr. Aleksin's idea about the movie adaptation of "Katarina and Sam" has already won the support of the United Nations. Once the movie is completed, we know that children all over the world will enjoy Mr. Aleksin's brilliant translation of his story into animation and will teach youngsters every where the importance of living in peace.
If you need my further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at (212) 477-3900.

Yours Truly,
Mark Zander,
President
121 West 19th Street 4th Fl New York, NY 10011 (212)477-3900
Fax: (914)533-5263
 

Anatoli Alexin

Third
in the Fifth
Row

"Some people naively equate the humorous with the trivial but, as a matter of fact, the shortest route from the most serious problem to the minds of young people often lies through humour and the ability to entertain." Anatoli Alexin's remark during a literary debate ivould make a good epigraph for many of his own stories.

Alexin's originality as a writer lies in his ability to pose big problems while keeping up a steady flow of humorous and endlessly inventive conversation with his young readers.
Alexin created a character that immediately caught on with millions of boys and girls—a kind of gay musketeer with a Young Pioneer's red tie who always manages to do something good and noble in funny and unusual ways. This is the character we meet on the pages of Ale­xin's humorous but very serious short novels "Sasha and Shura", "The Amazing Adventures of Seva Kotlov", "Seventh Floor Speaking", "In the Land of Eternal Holidays", "Kolya Writes to Olya, Olya Writes to Kolya", and "A Tale of Terror".

Anatoli Alexin was born in Moscow in 1924, in print while still at school, in the magazine "Young Pioneer" and the newspaper "Pionerskaya Pravda".

During the war Alexin worked at one of the biggest armaments factories and at the age of eighteen became the managing editor of the newspaper "Citadel of Defence". In 1950 he graduated from an institute and in the same year produced h