Openings Original Essays by Contemporary Soviet and American Writers
Seattle & London: University of Washington Press, (1990). First Edition. Hardcover with Dust Jacket. 4to. Pp. [7], 8-319, [1]. Introduction by Valeri Vinokurov. Russian essays translated by Dudley Hagen. Profusely illustrated with black-and-white and color photography. Bound in full green cloth with gilt lettering stamped on spine. In the color-illustrated dust jacket reprinting a Kandinski painting. Light spots to lower edge. A "Lexus Seattle" decal on the front free endpaper indicates that business was either a sponsor of the publication of the book or the Seattle Goodwill Arts Festival. Signed or inscribed by five Russians on the front free endpaper and the half-title page. Fine / Fine. Item #6663 The effort at hand was a literary and cultural extension of the athletic-exchange sentiment. American authors include Geoffrey C. Ward (history), Barry Lopez (geography), Eleanor Munro (art), Joyce Carol Oates (literature), Elting Morison (technology and science), Gerald Early (sports), and Scott Russell Sanders ("Ways of Life"). For each subject a Russian counterpart has written his or her effort. The cost of publication was subsidized by the Port of Seattle; while the text is entirely in English, we are uncertain as to a Russian-language edition. The identify the Russian signatures/inscriptions is unknown, but we assume they are either contributors to the book or Russian visitors to Seattle who were involved in the cultural exchange.
Published as a cultural exchange-in-print in connection with the Seattle Goodwill Arts Festival, itself an offshoot of the Seattle Goodwill Games, 1990. Following the first Goodwill Games, held in Moscow, the second sports-confab was held in Seattle. The effort was developed by US business maven Ted Turner as a means of fostering improved Soviet–U.S. relations. Former President Ronald Reagan opened the Seattle games with a speech at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium.
Price: $100.00