In col­lege, Leslie vis­it­ed Leningrad in 1976, where she met our book’s pro­tag­o­nist. After earn­ing a B.A. in Russ­ian Stud­ies, Leslie taught ESL in Min­neso­ta and abroad. She direct­ed an ESL Pro­gram for Russ­ian immi­grants. Cur­rent­ly, she is a psy­chol­o­gist with spe­cial inter­est in trau­ma (EMDR) . Col­lab­o­rat­ing on this book with her sis­ter, Meryll, is a sto­ry in itself.