There, behind ’The Horizon’

Leonid Reznikov: There, behind the Horizon.

Leonid, I must confess that the reason for our conversation was not only my desire to talk with a man who, for all his “ubiquity”, which, in fact, assumes the position of editor-in-chief of the newspaper, remains a rather mysterious person. An additional reason was the recent announcement in Horizon about the Consultation and Translation Center, which you, its owner, named after Sergei Shakhmayev. Naturally, the Russian community of Denver wonders: was the newspaper showdown of Reznikov and Shakhmayev, which at one time greatly excited even those who had not read Russian newspapers before, just a PR stunt?

 Zoya, thank you for the compliment, but I think the nature of our relationship with Shakhmayev may seem much more mysterious than my inconspicuous personality. Sergey and I actually did not have animosity in the traditional sense of the word, although there was no friendship that imposed certain restrictions and obligations. Rather, we were bound by a cooperation that was quite natural for professionals, not without mutual respect. Yes, our polemics have reached extreme temperatures, but whatever sides of the barricade we are on at different times, we have an equally clear sense of belonging to the same professional order. And despite the fact that we diametrically differed in almost everything: in political views, in the journalistic style, in relation to the community, in the main line of information and advertising policy, and even in the style of relations between the editor and the owner of the newspaper – I have Anatoly Muchnik, he and Reuben Novoselsky, we could not but recognize each other as worthy allies or equal opponents. But it had nothing to do with any cleverly conceived PR preparations. Although something like the secret “Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty” could well be suspected. 

When and how did you meet Sergey?

For the first time fate brought us together at the moment when Anatoly Muchnik, who had been publishing Horizon for a year, opened for me the place of editor, and Sergey just started negotiations with the Novoselsky family about the launch of the magazine Word, which later became the newspaper Word. We did not agree on PR and met as if by chance.

That is, no one was looking for a meeting, so the cards fell out.

 We met as actors before going on stage or boxers still touching the gloves of the enemy in the salute before the fight. We did not yet know that we were entering the newspaper business and simply got acquainted with each other, exchanged views, proclaimed principles, checked, so to speak, professional hours. And then we went to work for the Russian-language press in Colorado. And no matter how the blood pressure jumped, how it would not hurt the heart during the next skirmish, our confrontation was solely for the benefit of the newspaper business.

That is, these conflicts clearly helped both newspapers' ratings.

 Newspapers were still young, weak, but they were waited, read, discussed, divided into camps, and then, at the stroke of a journalist’s pen, they ran from one to another and back. We honed the art of persuasion, and the community learned to read and grew up gradually, because the topics were serious and very relevant at the time. It was an interesting time. Now you don't even dream of it. Opponents shredded. No one to work with.

You sound like Napoleon after Austerlitz.

I just want to say that Sergey was undoubtedly a person, a talented, aggressive journalist. Our relationship was unusual.

We did. Well, you met, and how did your relationship develop?

When Sergey lost his place in the Word and found himself practically on the street without funds, all former allies suddenly turned away from him. Not a single newspaper met his request. No one could even imagine that in this difficult hour the most sworn enemy would extend his hand to him. The arrival of Sergei in Horizon can be considered one of the reasons for the disagreement that arose between us and the Herald. Not the main reason, but probably the last straw. Sergey lived with us for 5 years. And when he suddenly wanted to participate in our radio project, I remember that almost the whole team rebelled against him: announcers, sound technicians. The scandal was terrible. It burned so much that it even enlightened everyone. Galya Savchenko fought like a character of Vysotsky’s song at the Sabbath, Sasha Beckerman took away all the recordings of our radio programs, apparently believing that without them we would not be able to work and will close immediately with his departure. And I, at the risk of ruining the whole project, without the slightest hesitation, sacrificed our entire team for the sake of one Sergey. Isn't that friendship?

In relation to Sergey, yes, in relation to the team, I do not take the decision.

 Now, after almost ten years, I can say that the choice was right. First of all, we didn't close. It took a lot of training in three sleepless nights, but we went on the air on schedule and left for quite a long time afterwards. And secondly, what I can say with absolute certainty today: Sergey was rude, cynical and even painfully uncomfortable, but he was never mean. And these days, oddly enough, this is a rather rare quality.

After all this, how could he go to the Herald and get into a fight with you again?

Well, that's just natural. First of all, two captains on the same schooner are always cramped. And then we're bonded people. Our actions are most often dictated by the transpersonal interests of a professional egregor – in this case, the egregor of the Russian-language Colorado press. As for the press, it began to sour at the time. So Sergey went to “raise the virgin land”, that is, to pull up our “as if Leningraders” from a deep swamp. After all, the newspaper is not just a rough piece of paper stained with advertising pictures, and not even a partisan leaf pinned to a pine. It is a very delicate, very delicate, important and incredibly powerful tool, if in the right hands.

Got it. Bolivar could not stand two, and then Sergey left, and you held a grudge.

I was certainly disappointed because there was no obvious reason for the discord after 5 years of his quiet life at Horizon. A quiet life can provoke rebellion. And I was also disappointed because the Herald did not deserve such a gift. At first, I saved their paper from dying under the Denver Courier caterpillars and wrote, taught, and prompted. Then Sergey went to train them... He has done a great deal for the “Bulletin”. At least enough to make them ashamed to embrace his enemies. However, Sergei is not, and “bablos” is “and our morals do not know our principles...” Let's talk about something less sad.

Come on. Sergei Shakhmayev’s articles left no doubt about his anti-Soviet and anti-Marxist views. He was a politically incorrect Republican, which for some sounds like an expletive, and for others is synonymous with a sane person, that is, a person for whom common sense is a point of reference. In your obituary to Sergei Shakhmayev, you called him a “talented aggressive journalist.” What exactly was his aggression? In the desire and ability to call things by their proper names?

 Thank you for not asking “what was his talent?” I'd probably be confused here. What, what? In the nature of the person. The aggressiveness of a journalist in my view is the opposite of indifference. The desire and ability to call things by their proper names is not enough. There must be a restless civil urge that does not allow you to pass by, close or take your eyes away. Such people rarely arouse sympathy, and Sergey not only did not want to close his eyes, he actively or, if you like, aggressively sought out topics, dug up precedents, dealt with conflicts. Like a wolf, a forest nurse, he did not wait for a lame bunny to run past the lair, but went hunting daily as a feat.

Well, someone's on the wolf hunter's side, and someone's sympathetic to bunnies.

I myself had more than once to “grab” with Sergei, if he tried to bite “our bunnies”. But here's the interesting thing. There was only one person missing, and the community changed its face in a year. The balance shifted, skewed, the line of justice sank, and yesterday’s “bunnies” slowly began to chew each other off in a very wolfish way. Excuse my animal analogies, but who would have thought that Sergei’s absence would become so noticeable? That is why we have found it appropriate and fair to call our centre by its name. Sergey really left a mark on the life of our community. And our center is now located in the same office where Shakhmayev worked until the last day. And finally, although our methods were radically different, which means that I will never fill the void left by Sergei, but I also sincerely despise the same crooks and scoundrels whom he despised during his lifetime.

Let's step away from local politics for a while and talk about bigger issues. In the run-up to the election, what political course do you follow in the Horizon newspaper? Sergey, of course, would have been at Camp Romney. But you didn’t seem to hang Obama’s portrait in his former office, but the letters sent to Shahmayev from Reagan and Bush still hang. Are you finally in the Republican camp?

The American joke is that if you’re under thirty and you’re a Republican, you don’t have a heart. And if you're over forty and you're still a Democrat, you don't have a brain. I am over forty years old, but I am neither Republican nor Democrat. Treat it as you like, whether I have a heart and a brain, or vice versa. As for the newspaper, I try not to impose my point of view on the publication and the audience, whatever it may be. We publish articles in which each party is free to express its opinion. In the last issue, Samson Gelzer, with his characteristic radicalism, branded the Democrats as secret employers of communism, enemies of Israel, and with it the entire American people. In this issue, Masha Oleynikova calmly proves why, from her point of view, we should not support Romney. I cannot deny the reader the opportunity to express his opinion. I try not to miss out on radical texts. That is why Samson Gelzer is not the most frequent of our authors. It seems to me that the Jewish people, and with it the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian people have lived a rather complicated history to allow themselves a complete lack of tolerance for others. I do not like when the author advises “hanging homosexuals,” “shooting Muslims,” and blaming “the dependents who devour our blood dachshunds” for all sins. It's not about the dog breed, it's about taxes, if you didn't guess. But the extreme xenophobia of the Democrats is no better. I do not intend to print appeals to take away from the rich and divide among the poor, or to force the bourgeois under sniper gunfire to pay for insurance. Already our children have grown up more open and tolerant of the different individual characteristics of others. We're all looking for enemies.

Well, then a little unpleasant? Many readers complain that Horizon publishes too many materials reprinted from the Internet and too few original texts. What do you need to do to make your newspaper an author’s publication? In fact, are you pursuing that goal?

 Our newspaper fully meets all the criteria of the author's publication, and there is nothing unpleasant in this matter. In almost every issue we have printed David Genis, Mark Nolsky, Semyon Dukarevich, Svetlana Kolesnikova, Valery Reznik, Dmitry Klein, Elena Ugoretz. And even Zoe Master often enjoys his interviews. Your humble servant also often pees, though under different names. Alla Staroseletskaya, Yuri Kolker, Elita Joffe are also well-known authors. In addition, we work with a group of authors, including well-known, although working outside the state. If we were to “reprint the Internet” stupidly, the newspaper would be just as stupid as the ones that do that. But we cannot prohibit our authors from publishing in other publications and on the same Internet if they are published in Horizon. Our authors are so good that many publications and blogs are happy to print them. And their work is easy to find on a variety of sites. It's quite natural. Well-known American columnists have long sold their columns for $10 at once to 300-400 newspapers, and no one says which newspaper they reprinted. Yes, for example, Zoya Master – she with the same materials as in Horizon can appear in the Russian Bazaar, then in the Swan, then on the Voice of Russia, or in another even more prestigious publication. And the order of appearance of these publications is not of particular importance. Or are you saying we're reprinting Zoe Master material from the Internet?

Leonid, don't move the arrow.

 It seems to me that people who claim that Horizon is reprinting from the Internet either do not understand what they are talking about or are spreading deliberate lies and slander. If you were to tell me that our authors

If you are not interested that we have nothing to read or that the choice of the editor does not meet your tastes, then this is already a topic for discussion, and the sources of copyright materials and their circulation in the modern information space - you do not even want to spend letters on this. Am I too harsh?

Come on! You are sincerity and kindness. Perhaps I will take advantage of your good mood and ask a personal question. Leonid, by training you are a doctor. Here in Denver, you're doing research at a medical school, you've been editing Horizon for 16 years, you've been running a translation center, and you've also found time to express yourself in Big Ear. I would like to ask you: why do you need all this? How are you doing? Is it possible to do all this qualitatively?

Why should I? There is such a strong Russian proverb – hunting is more than captivity. Maybe I should have said a few high-flown phrases about the editor’s duty to the community, about the scientist’s duty to humanity, about the doctor’s duty to the sick, about the development of society’s self-consciousness and the education of morality through the “Big Ear” that stuck to our conversation, but in fact I suspect that even individuals who are much more busy and important rarely think about role, duty, influence. My supervisor is one of the greatest scientists of our time. It marked the beginning of a huge and extremely important branch of modern biology and medicine. Even I, who work side by side with him, find it difficult to fully appreciate his contribution to medical science. And he just lives, just does what he likes, what the soul lies to. He gets tired, upset, threatens to leave everything, then comes in the morning and makes a new discovery. As simple as Misha cuts and weighs a piece of sausage. It is not easy to cut off the sausage. Every person has a vocation for something special, specific only to him. And these are fairy tales that we could be princesses, but life circumstances make us Cinderella or vice versa, wanted to live in the countryside and spit in the pond, and are forced to rush around the planet without rest as part of a high embassy. Every man is an amazingly powerful giant, and no circumstances, no forces, no illnesses will force him to live a life other than the one he wants to live. This is the life that each of us lives. Is that why? There are many false explanations. Here you are, Zoe, a musician by training, and it is easy for you to imagine our world as a single symphony orchestra, where each person is a separate, usually completely unique instrument. And each of us has our own party. It may not please the neighbor, upset the envious or please the friend, but it does not matter – we will still play every part to the end, because there is no superfluous music in this world, and we all from the greatest and the good, to the most terrible and colorless – make up the highest harmony. This is the answer to the question of why and why – so the conductor ordered. Now the big question is, can it all be done well? Who will judge? I think we have the same criteria. If I'm still in the orchestra, it's a success. Because our planet does not tolerate falsehood – who begins to cheat... he is transferred to another orchestra. Did I get too into Gnosticism?

Hard. So, before you delve into Platonism and dualism, I will bring you back to reality. Is editing a newspaper creative or routine?

 Every aspect of our life is creativity. We are musical instruments of the highest harmony.

Come on! Creativity is creation, although you can create, or you can create. Do you really think that playing football or fighting in a restaurant is also creativity and not sports or hooliganism?

 As long as we're on this stage, we're all great creators, regardless of the role. And as our English party comrade William remarked, the whole world is theatre. But I will tell you in confidence that he was wrong. He had never seen a large symphony orchestra.

I get lost in such a high syllable. Do you have enemies?  

I have no enemies. There are score partners.

 There are still pests on the score...

Perhaps, however, I suppose there are many people who are willing to see me as their enemy. I won't disappoint them.

How do you assess your ability to communicate with people?

My ability to communicate with people is phenomenal. In terms of energy, I am almost an absolute mirror. This quality helped me a lot during psychological training, which fell to travel to the United States. I'm a very good coach. Because I'm almost gone. A person encounters in communication with me an almost undisturbed reflection of his secret world. I can only watch the patterns that they reflect in my mirror. And I'm not deprived of fate. Most of the people I talk to just make me really admire these patterns, although I try not to show off. But sometimes there are quite interesting copies. I don't have time to say a word, and they already feel offended. You see, I don't even have to do anything.

I didn't notice the reflection of my secret world in your energy mirror, and I don't see any reason to be offended either.

Leonid, I just can't help but ask you about your relationship with your competitors. Why do you never miss an opportunity to throw a pebble into a “garden” called “The Herald”? Then you wrote that “... with Shakhmayev’s departure from the newspaper (Vestnik), everything that at least somehow allowed it to be called a newspaper disappeared,” then in a recent program of the Big Ear, you said so much bad about them that people thought: whether it was going to war, or whether both newspapers wanted to raise their ratings. Can you tell me who, to whom, on which particular corn came?

Do you want to know what the pattern in my mirror is? Probably the same as all other reflective mirrors - pity. There will be no war, don't be afraid. There's no one to fight. And our conflict, if we switch to the more accessible language of applied psychology, is actually very standard and therefore rather boring. Having reduced to a common denominator all the unnecessary “said-mazal”, “and you are the first”, “and you are the second”, “and you are so to me”, “and you are not so to me”, it turns out that this is a banal conflict between a student and a teacher. The phenomenon is very common and very sad. The worst conflict of all. Even worse than the feud of former business partners. When Volodya Lepler ran under the wing, frightened by the onslaught of the Denver Courier, it was necessary to chase him immediately, and I wanted to transfer the experience to someone. I've been doing it for years. He taught to write, taught to build a newspaper, taught to work with advertising, and taught everything he knew. And then, as happens with almost everyone, as soon as the first timid signs of growth appear, the student decides that he has already grasped everything, enters into competition with the teacher, but never wins. Because he jumps off the tram early. And then they fight all their lives – the teacher takes revenge on the student for betrayal, and the student to the teacher for not keeping, not finishing, for inferiority complex, in other words. It's so obvious in our case. What's Volody's key phrase? How are we worse than Horizon? How many years this has been going on, and it always makes me smile.

So you're avenging betrayal?

Not more than yes. Because the betrayal that happened, I would have forgiven for years. But on the subconscious level, I can't forgive him for being a failed student. So much effort was put in, and he never learned anything. Well, accordingly, being excommunicated, he still tried to grab something, everything looked like a stowaway in a village cinema - through a hole in the fence. Whatever Horizon does, it repeats everything. But even that doesn't work. I’m also “good” and never let him go, I’m still teaching. I will point to one flaw, then another. How much effort did I have to make him do for the Herald? Internet page. I don't think so. At last, he was honored, but after a couple of months the page died. Now he's on Facebook. It took him 3 years. Well, how does he think to catch up with Horizon, if he introduces technical innovations so late?

So why impose, prompt, if it contradicts your own business interests? Isn't it more logical to just not react?

 Absolutely rightly noted. But, as I said, we are forced people, serving as the egregor of the Russian-language press of Colorado. And it is impossible to put up with this disgrace, which they publish, if at this moment they are not “rocked”, “does not blow in the back”. And then, according to the laws of Eastern energies, when a mentor accepts a disciple, he assumes responsibility and a part of karma. The eleven-year cycle is just coming to an end, and I have a chance to free myself from all the pity and inexperience that I have taken on.

How about we make up?

We didn't fight. Why should we put up? He went his way, I continue to serve and practice my duty for lack of wisdom and toughness, the community suffers from the bad energy that arises from their attempts to “catch up and overtake.” “Horizon” – a lot of provocations, set-ups, gossip, scandals. Recently, “Bulletin” offers one business – do you want me to publish an article for free? Business does not track the subtleties - anything that is free is suitable. Business does not know that this is a provocation, that once this article is published, it will have difficulties with Horizon. And business from cooperation with us has a lot of benefits. And as a result, what? Nobody can prove anything to anyone. Relationships are ruined. Everyone is nervous, nobody understands where the problem came from. Everyone is running, biting, nervous, and only the instigator lurks behind the bush, quietly giggling. You know, when I moved to Sergey's office, there was a lot left for me. Videotapes with recordings of his conversations, notebooks, receipts, so that I know how much I need to charge for powers of attorney and translation of documents – not for $20, as we had until now, but for $220. There is also a market for these prices. And I also found an audio recording of the conversation - Seryozhin visitors discussed me and did not think of anything smarter than how to organize the shooter. Straight "Bandit Petersburg" with snipers from the 90s. And you know how it ended? Seryozha talked them out. Exactly Seryozha. It's against the background of the ongoing newspaper spat between him and me. Here is another example of the reciprocity of our relationship. Just fellow professionals. But if you want, call it friendship.

 Got the customer's voices?

You what? Of course not. And immediately destroyed the tape, like.

“Type,” as I understand it, is a key word. Then why did you tell me?

Don't look for it. There was nothing. Nothing to look for.

 Interesting turn. Well, I'll throw some more wood. What is the purpose of your Big Ear project?

 Zoe, let me tell you a secret. The newspaper Horizon has a very strict editor, Leonid Reznikov. If we talk for another five minutes, he won't miss such a big story in print. So let's talk about the ear if we have time next time. And not with me, but with the new host of the project - Leonid Reznikov.

Excuse me, Leonid, do you have split personality or multiple personality syndrome?

 No, but I loved Nabokov’s novel “Invitation to the Execution” since childhood. There were only two male characters - a suicide bomber and a second person, he is a guard, he is the head of the prison, he is a student, he is an executioner, he is a judge.

etc. This is a very strong philosophical message from Nabokov, which has nothing to do with mental disorders.

And yet, do those about whom you are broadcasting in the programs “wheel” have the opportunity to somehow explain themselves, “wash off”, defend their point of view and give you back?

Good. As for "wash off", defend and "give back" - I answer. First, you can always press the 6 button on your ear and dictate your message. I’m sure it won’t be lost and will definitely be heard. Second, anyone can post comments on the Ear blog. And finally, about giving change - no one forbids to open such a service to anyone who wants to. I just need a little fork. Can you imagine a squabble between the Big Ear and the Middle Ear? We're gonna have a second birth.

You position yourself as a person of principle. Based on many years of experience in creating a newspaper, is it possible to conduct this business uncompromisingly? Well, for example, would you agree to advertise a business knowing that it is not in tune with the law? Or: the owners of a certain business, your long-term advertisers, are seen in some “left” business, dishonest attitude to customers, rudeness, finally. Will you continue to cooperate with them for fear of losing advertising money?

I will not crook my souls, there were different situations when I had to choose between honor and conscience. Some of them were quite difficult, but we were somehow lucky. At least until now, neither honor nor conscience had to give up, but I will not deny. Man is weak before his own power. We can create such situations ourselves that no psychoanalyst can help us.

How do you feel about criticism? Is it not dangerous to criticize you?

I treat constructive criticism with interest, take note, and try to correct it. To destructive and slanderous - I treat creatively - immediately give back. Criticism is not dangerous. It's more dangerous to praise.

What people or what in their behavior can bring you to the boiling point in the shortest possible time?

 Each person reacts most acutely to other people’s shortcomings, which, usually in a hidden form, are characteristic of himself. Answering your question is like undressing in public. If you say crooks are annoying, the first crook is. If you say – unfaithful husbands and wives – look for a mistress or a lover – you will not go wrong. If you say that the scoundrels are disgusting, then you yourself will wither over the gold, not otherwise. Therefore, I will not answer this question.

Recently, in an interview with the New York newspaper “Russian Bazaar”, the journalist asked about the literary life of Denver.

To be honest, I was a little confused: whether this life is boiling somewhere underground, or I do not know anything about it. It seems to me that you are exactly the person who can tell about where the literary bohemian hangs out (I can’t remember anything except a meeting with the editor of Interpoesia magazine). And, by the way, what happened to the annual "Gorizntom" literary competition?

Zoe, we'll never talk to you like that. And the reader will also think that we have arranged a puppet theater here. No one will believe that all theaters and productions are excluded. That’s why I really enjoy talking to you, just as much as reading your interviews. I remember a conversation with the correspondent of the “Russian Bazaar” – published in the last issue. It's a voluminous thing. But today we broke all records. So while I'm uncomfortable distracting you and taking time off to talk to really great people, or at least famous people, I have to ask for a second meeting when you have time. We have a cultural life, I invite you to the children’s festival on September 30, to the ChGK club, to concerts that will begin in January. Literary bohemian, as it should, hanging out in the kitchen. I’ve been avoiding meetings lately because I’m indebted: we’ve published 17 volumes of an anthology of Colorado Russian poets, but I still have two authors hanging out and I’m ashamed to look them in the eye, and I don’t have enough time like pages in a newspaper. Is that where I'm going to put such a big interview? Next time I’d rather invite you to continue the conversation on Big Ear, and even better on Radio Horizon. Let's talk about the bohemian, the Colorado Russian Times magazine, the children's festival movement, our new Internet site, and much more, And now, according to tradition, let me say hello to my relatives from the village of Upper Kolchki, Nezvan district, tractor driver Nikanorich, milkmaid Mitrofanova and all the villagers who follow me on Twitter.

Do you think the joke worked?

I don't know, I don't know, we'll read in the comments, then we'll decide. Thank you for talking.

           Zoe Master was talking.