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Love, Vera: A Russian & American Friendship

by Barb McMinimy and Vera Penkova

   This heartwarming story of a decades long international friendship began around a kitchen table in Moscow in 1989. As the Soviet Union was breaking up, five Russian friends got the improbable idea of traveling to America with three of their children to learn more firsthand about the West.

   They sent about 100 letters to randomly selected towns in the United States to express their interest in visiting. The small agricultural town of Garden City, Kansas, with an amazingly rich history of hosting foreign visitors, was among the first to respond and resulted in a memorable human connection that changed the lives of all of the visitors and host families, as well as the culture of Garden City.

   Their story of the adventure and growing understanding that followed is told from the point of view of one of the Russian visitors (Vera Penkova) and her host family (Barbara and Milton McMinimy). Their friendship continues almost 30 years later.