FITHIAN PRESS Talking to the Russians The Voice of an American--in a Russian Accent Victor Franzusoff left his native Russia as a boy with his family in the wake of the revolution of 1917. He lived and studied in Berlin and then, having watched the rise of Naziism, went to Czechoslovakia, after which, like many dispossessed Europeans fleeing tyranny in the twentieth century, he ended up in the United States. He worked briefly as a commercial artist in New York, then served in the US Army in Europe during World War II. After the war, because of his language skills, he served as an interpreter at the Potsdam Conference, and thus began a career in communications that lasted nearly fifty years. Mr. Franzusoff joined the Voice of America in 1947, and he stayed with the organization for forty-five years, working as a broadcaster, a writer, an editor, a commentator, and Chief of the Russian Service. In the line of duty, he became an expert on American politics and culture, interviewing politicians and celebrities, and his voice carried that culture into the homes and hearts of millions of Russian citizens in the USSR. Eventually he returned to his native land three times, as a visitor, where he observed first-hand the effect of communism on the Russian way of life. Talking to the Russians, Victor Franzusoff's posthumous memoir, contains informal portraits of some of the most important political figures of the Cold War, including a number of US presidents and Soviet politicians. The book is also full of cultural figures as well, including the many sports stars, chess masters, musicians, journalists, dissident writers, and economists whom Mr. Franzusoff interviewed in the line of duty. It was his good fortune to rub shoulders all his life with famous people, from Isadora Duncan to Jesse Owens, from Bing Crosby to Bobby Fisher, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Edward R. Murrow. Talking to the Russians also contains a valuable insider's eyewitness history of the Voice of America, a controversial organization that was crucial to the Cold War era. In fact, although the book spans nearly the entire twentieth century, it was the Cold War that gave Victor Franzusoff his career, a career that bridged two hemispheres and two super-power nations. Mr. Franzusoff, born in Czarist Russia, was fortunate to live long enough to see the Cold War end with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and to know that his work had played an important role in bringing about this momentous change in the land of his birth.   About the Author Victor Franzusoff was born in Russia in 1911 and died in 1996 in Silver Spring, Maryland. He and his parents fled their native land in the wake of the communist revolution. He grew up in Berlin and emigrated to the United States in 1938. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II and later as an interpreter at the Pottsdam Conference. In 1947 he joined the Voice of America, where he worked for forty-five years as a broadcaster, writer, editor, commentator, and Chief of the Russian Service. In the line of duty he met and interviewed important Soviet politicians, economists, chess masters, athletes, musicians, journalists, and dissident writers. His voice became known to an estimated 250 million people throughout the Soviet Union. Talking to the Russians is the story of Victor Franzusoff's life, his family, and his illustrious career.     Talking to the Russians Glimpes of History by a Voice of America Pioneer Victor Franzusoff 224 pages, ISBN 1-56474-267-5, $19.95 For ordering information, click here or phone (800) 662-8351