VLADIVOSTOK: A HISTORIC WALKING TOUR
Author’s Acknowledgements
Any book is a product of many people and Vladivostok: A Historic Walking Tour is not an exception. It is really international in origin. It started as public lectures at Washington State University (WSU), in Pullman, Washington, that were later delivered to the students of Far Eastern State University (FESU), in Vladivostok, Russia. In my view, that dual presentation was one of the ultimate tests of its clarity and format.
My special thank-you goes to Donna McCool, Associate Director for Administrative Services, WSU, for her idea to put the book on the Internet, for her encouragement and support of the project, and for the actual carrying out of the idea. I am also thankful to her for rendering pictures to illustrate the text.
I gratefully acknowledge the encouragement I received from many individuals at the initial stage of the project: Dr. David Yount, Vice President for Research and Graduate Education, University of Hawaii, Honolulu; Elena Filimonova, Director of the International Department at FESU; Edith Taylor, Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska; Lyudmila Artemyeva, from Primorye Administration. All of them were enthusiastic about the book from the beginning.
I recognize Tamara Denisenko, Associate Professor at FESU, who has been my colleague, co-author, and critic through many projects, in which we have known only mutual sharing, strength and support. She has reviewed the manuscript carefully.
I owe a debt of gratitude to the Dean of the Institute of Foreign Languages (former English Philology Department) of FESU, Lyudmila Bondarenko, and to the Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of WSU, Dr. Bonnie Frederick, for the institutional assistance they provided to me.
I acknowledge the presidents of both universities, President Vladimir I. Kurilov of FESU, and President Samuel H. Smith of WSU, for giving permission to use the emblems of the universities.
The book has benefited from the research of many authors including Alexey Buyakov, Boris Dyachenko, Tamara Kaliberova, Amir Khisamutdinov, Valeriy Markov, and many others.
I acknowledge the technical assistance of Rhonda Blair, Humanities Research Center at WSU.
I am particularly grateful to Mikhail Denisenko, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, the computer editor of the original book, for his expertise and invaluable help.
I gratefully acknowledge all the individuals who contributed pictures to this project. Their names appear under the WEB credits. (See “WEB Credits.”)
The proofreading of the electronic version was supported in part by a grant from the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) with funds provided by the United States Information Agency through the Freedom Support Act. None of these organizations is responsible for the views expressed.
My deepest gratitude and special thanks go to Dr. Birgitta Ingemanson, Associate Professor at WSU, the editor of the present version, who has supported me through concerned and helpful criticism. She has given a careful reading and editing which helped me clarify my understanding of many points of the manuscript, and when I could no longer face details she painstakingly checked some facts for accuracy. For everything she has done for the manuscript I have much appreciation.
For the errors and weaknesses of the book I, of course, take full responsibility. Maria Lebedko
