From the Cincinnati Reds to the Moscow Reds: The Memoirs of Irwin Weil

by Irwin Weil, Tony Brown (Editor)

Overview

This book brings together a lifetime of experiences told by a beloved member of the field of Slavic languages and literature - Irwin Weil. 

During the Soviet era, Irwin frequently visited and corresponded with outstanding Russian cultural figures, such as Vladimir Nabokov, Korney Chukovsky, and Dmitrii Shostakovich. His deep love of the Russian people and their culture has touched the lives of countless students, in particular at Northwestern University, where he has taught since 1966. It is these stories of an unassuming Jewish American from Cincinnati, Ohio who rubbed shoulders with some of the most prominent thinkers, writers, and musicians in the Soviet Union that are presented for the first time in this volume.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781618113948
Publisher:	Academic Studies Press
Publication date:	05/15/2015
Series:	Jews of Russia & Eastern Europe and Their Legacy
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Irwin Weil was born in 1928 in Cincinnati, Ohio of German Jewish and Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. His father Sidney was a former owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. Initially majoring in economics at the University of Chicago, he was drawn to Slavic studies after discovering Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov in a required literature course and being (in his words) knocked for a loop. He reports that he ran to a bookstore, picked up a copy of Crime and Punishment, read it in two days, and resolved to learn the language of such a great body of literature. Weil received his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1948 and his masters degree in Slavic Studies in 1951. After three years of working on a Soviet census for the U.S. Library of Congress, Weil began his Ph D at Harvard University, where he had received a Ford Foundation fellowship to work toward his doctorate in Slavic Studies. After receiving the degree in 1960, he taught at Brandeis University. While at Brandeis, Weil was a professor of Russian literature and linguistics. He was influential in the development and growth of the Slavic Studies program at Brandeis. Weils first major work a dissertation on the development of the writing style of Maksim Gorky was completed in 1958. His other works include Notes on the Contemporary Soviet Literary Scene and Literary Activities. Tony Brown is an Associate Professor of Russian at Brigham Young University where he has taught since 2004. Brown received his MA and Ph D degrees in Russian and Second Language Acquisition at Bryn Mawr College. His research interests include second language acquisition, language policy, and the cultural history of Russia. Brown also is the author/co-author of articles published in venues, such as Modern Language Journal, Foreign Language Annals, Slavic and East European Journal, Russian Language Journal, and Language Policy. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Council of Teachers of Russian.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Editor’s Note

1. The Lives of Sidney and Florence Weil

Ancestry

Sidney Weil

Florence Levy

Joining the Army

After the War

The Roaring Twenties

Faith and Family

Great Depression

Baseball Players

The Move

Life Insurance

Raising Money

Zionists and Education

The Horrors of World War II and Life After

Baseball versus Academia

Rabbi Heller

Jewish Traditions

Dad’s Greatest Pleasures

Later Years of Life

2. Early Years and Education of Irwin Weil

Introduction

Namesake

Growing Up

Early School Years

Vivian’s Family Background

Musical Background

Adolescent Politics and Experiences

First Impressions of Russia

Flying

University of Cincinnati

University of Chicago

Experiences with Russian History and Literature

Life in the Theater

Marriage to Vivian

Kulischer

Harvard

Brandeis

Northwestern

3. Entry into the Soviet Union

Going to the Soviet Union

A Welcome to Remember

KGB

Literary Endeavors

Trip to Leningrad

Malyshev and Alekseev

Jewish Father and Son in Leningrad

Firsthand Learning Experiences

Aunt Olga

Back in the United States

Days at Brandeis University

Returning to the Soviet Union—1963

Vitya, My Roommate and Advisor

The Search for Chukovsky

Meeting Chukovsky

Discussions in Chukovsky’s House

Bialik

Additional Thoughts about Gorky

4. Social and Political Reform in the Soviet Union

Evtushenko

Not Discussing Politics

Khrushchev

Kennedy

Judge Not

Ovcharenko

Marina Rafailovna Kaul and Rosalia Semyonovna Ginzburg

Being Cautious

American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European

Languages (AATSEEL)

American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR)

Changes in Soviet Politics

Cold War Rhetoric

Prejudices and Privileges

Favorable Aspects

News

Shostakovich

Prokofiev

NabokovAfanasyev

Change

5. Letters from the USSR

Tues. Sept. 6, 1960

Wed. Sept. 7, 1960

Thurs. Sept. 8, 1960

Tues. Sept. 13, 1960

Index

Editorial Reviews

Irwin Weil has written a vibrant, nostalgic, strikingly sweet account of a life deeply enmeshed in Jewish, American, and above all Russian culture. Anecdote after heartfelt anecdote, he offers portraits of exemplary incidents and famous people, from Renato Poggiolo and Philip Rahv to Kornei Chukovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich. When others engage in ideological quarrel, we watch Irv spread good will. By the sheer power of warmth and charm, he passes unscathed through morally fraught situations. For those in the field of Russian Studies, the memoir will powerfully evoke what it was like in decades gone by." —Gary Saul Morson, Frances Hooper Professor of the Arts and Humanities, Northwestern University

Gary Saul Morson

Irv Weil’s congenial oral biography is a cameo of Midwestern Jewish-American life in the 20th century, in which baseball, theater, music, literary classics and the heroic achievements of Russian culture emerge as anchors in a displaced and increasingly globalized era. Its thumbnail sketches of famous émigrés and glimpses of Soviet life in the 1960s help explain why Weil has been so successful as a Russian-American mediator for so many decades, from strolls with Kornei Chukovsky outside Moscow to hosting Shostakovich and Lina Prokofieva at Northwestern. Weil’s distinctive mark on the Slavic field, personal and organizational, has been wonderfully captured.” —Caryl Emerson, Princeton University

Caryl Emerson

In an engaging and moving way, Irwin Weil reflects upon his almost ninety-year existence (including half a century as professor of Russian at Northwestern University). Indeed, the most salient feature of Weil’s memoirs is that when he talks about his personal and professional life, he speaks not only about himself but also about two generations of scholar-teachers who, like Weil, had no idea that they would fall under the sway of Mother Russia, or that they would spend their lives professing her charms. . . .In writing his recollections, Weil expresses the hope that he has affected “for the better” the lives of both Russians and Americans. As evidenced by From the Cincinnati Reds to the Moscow Reds, he has. Indeed, Weil’s examined life has been well worth living.” —Thomas Gaiton Marullo, University of Notre Dame, The Russian Review (April 2016, Vol. 75, No. 2)

Thomas Gaiton Marullo

Irwin Weil has written a vibrant, nostalgic, strikingly sweet account of a life deeply enmeshed in Jewish, American, and above all Russian culture. Anecdote after heartfelt anecdote, he offers portraits of exemplary incidents and famous people, from Renato Poggiolo and Philip Rahv to Kornei Chukovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich. When others engage in ideological quarrel, we watch Irv spread good will. By the sheer power of warmth and charm, he passes unscathed through morally fraught situations. For those in the field of Russian Studies, the memoir will powerfully evoke what it was like in decades gone by." —Gary Saul Morson, Frances Hooper Professor of the Arts and Humanities, Northwestern University

“Irv Weil’s congenial oral biography is a cameo of Midwestern Jewish-American life in the 20th century, in which baseball, theater, music, literary classics and the heroic achievements of Russian culture emerge as anchors in a displaced and increasingly globalized era. Its thumbnail sketches of famous émigrés and glimpses of Soviet life in the 1960s help explain why Weil has been so successful as a Russian-American mediator for so many decades, from strolls with Kornei Chukovsky outside Moscow to hosting Shostakovich and Lina Prokofieva at Northwestern. Weil’s distinctive mark on the Slavic field, personal and organizational, has been wonderfully captured.” —Caryl Emerson, Princeton University

From the Publisher