Having read your story, I only want to acquaint you with a bunch of East Kentuckians, mostly Donald Trump’s age, who can acquaint you with “our” pre-60s era of hillbillies, and how unique our lives were from the 1940s-50s compared with the things you may have seen in the 90’s. Many of them are still there, even though some worked their way into the history books, just as you have.
I try to keep up with events using Facebook, and the phone, only I’m hampered by never having been able to write under my real name because of some unfortunate discoveries I made while consulting in Ukraine at the time of the fall of the USSR in 1992. I began blogging at RedState.com in the 1990s, as a conservative, largely reaching out to my generation, Baby Boomers, born after our fathers came home from World War II. I wrote under the name of Vassar Bushmills, which was given to me by an old Russia-hand named Moses Sands, who I met in Moscow at the McDonalds restaurant in the center of the city. It was a very popular place. Moses and I became friends and he sent several projects my way in the old USSR until he passed away in the 1990s.
He gave me this name in order to protect me from the criminal gangs that controlled much of the business life in the region.
I moved from Arizona to the Richmond area in the mid-90s in order to have better access to air travel to the Balkans; Sofia, Bulgaria my HQ, going there 2-3 times a year. I also spent time in Gorki, Russia, thanks to the friendship of Valentin Suchkov, who was a member of the Soviet Central Committee. A very powerful man, an engineer, with calloused hands. All he cared for was the well-being of his district. It was in the Soviet bloc that I learned how to tell the difference b/tw Russian and Ukrainian, and based on generation.
I have a whole section dedicated to this theme, see https://www.vassarbushmills.com/2023/01/31/law-of-generations-for-millennials-and-zs/.
Things are more connected than you may have considered.
If I can be of assistance, feel free….
Vassar
I understand that you and I are fraternity brothers. I would like to get back into contact after all these years. It sounds as if your life has been even more interesting than mine. (And mine has not been exactly dull.)
Sure thing. You can reach me at VassarBushmills.com/ and email….tektrans@msn.co
and I’ll then send other contact info.
Thanks