Прогулка с Шаляпиным: К «американской биографии» А. Ветлугина [A Walk with Chaliapine: From A. Vetlugin’s “American Years”]

Abstract

In this article, we make an attempt to bring together our previous work on the “American years” of A. Vetlugin (Vladimir Ryndziun, 1897—1953), one of the most successful bilingual lesser-known writers of his generation. We republish his essay “Only Five Short Blocks,” which originally appeared in 1941 in the Reader’s Digest magazine under nom de plume “Frederick van Ryn,” and also provide the annotated translation of the original text. This allows us to reconstruct some obscure facts of A. Vetlugin’s life story, and to give an example of his peculiar style that had won him unconditional popularity in Russian émigré press, and later in American journalism, once “Frederick Van Ryn” became a recognized writer for some authoritative magazines and newspapers.