MSI Press Blog

  Lizzie’s academic efforts had always met with success. She started reading at two, and everything accelerated from there. By the time she reached elementary school, the teachers had no idea what to do with her except move her along. She skipped second grade. Then seventh. It was the only tool the schools had in those days—and perhaps even today—for a child who learned faster than the system could teach. Then came eighth grade. Or rather, it would have come, had she stayed in Arlington, Virginia. Instead, just as the school year began, twelve‑year‑old Lizzie boarded a plane with me for a months‑long research trip to Russia and Siberia. In Moscow she attended School No. 77, the school for the MosFilm studio kids—children who had grown up around directors, cameras, and expectations. They were bright, worldly, unimpressed by an American girl who read at college level. Lizzie, who had always been the standout, was suddenly just one more capable student in a room full of them. Then...

  Note to the Reader I grew up barefoot and suntanned on a farm in rural Acton, Maine. Now, basking in the sunshine of San Juan Bautista, California, 3,000 miles from those roots and 75 years beyond my time in New England, I find no singular thread defining my life. No grand design guided my path—only the constant pull of urgent voices asking, Can you come help us? And so, I went. I packed my bags, boarded planes, crossed borders, and stepped into roles I had never planned but never hesitated to fill. Unlike those who chase opportunity, I responded to it. I taught teachers in Brazil, rescued a dying child in Siberia, brokered school exchanges between Minsk (Belarus) and Portland (Oregon, USA), trained astronauts and cosmonauts in Houston (USA) and in Star City (Russia). I set up university translation programs in Moldova, guided Turkmen diplomats, advised Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Social Justice. Each place offered a distinct challenge, and I shaped myself around its needs, learn...

(Easter 2022 at Old Mission San Juan Bautista ) Excerpt from the beginning chapter of Blest Atheist (a repeat and more from Easter 2017 , never loses its significance...) Siberia on Easter Morning  “ Khristos voskres ” (Christ is risen). One person after another greeted me with these words as I climbed the stairs of the little, wooden church in Akademgorodok, a tiny town at the end of the man-made Ob Sea, bejeweling the Siberian steppe 45 minutes south of the city of Novosibirsk. The intertwining snow-covered birch and kedr (Siberian pine) trees created an illusion of a land of fantasy, made more so in the late evenings by the moon reflecting off the naked silver-white birch bark onto the dark red-brown trunks and evergreen branches of the pines. This was not yet the inhospitable taiga ; it was somewhat south for that, but nonetheless the birch and kedr trees stood closely side-by-side like brothers-in-arms against a hostile white and cold universe.      ...

About the Book People are often at a loss to find the right words to say in prayer. Whether you're a believer but unchurched or are a devout member of a religion, if you wish to expand your home worship, finding the right words to say to God can be a problematic issue. The prayers in Everybody's Little Book of Everyday Prayers are nonsectarian-suited for Protestants, Jews, and Catholics, as well as unaffiliated deists who believe in God but not in organized religion. They cover a raft of occasions on which individuals or families may wish to say a prayer. If prayer is an integral part of your life, or you would like it to be, you'll find the help you want in Everybody's Little Book of Everyday Prayers. Delightfully illustrated by Zhenya Yanovich of Moscow & Siberia (Russia) and Charlottesvile (VA< USA). Book Endorsement "This book is a keeper. It gets to the heart of our communication with God." Rev. Grant A. Houser, M. Th. Review of the Book ...