At the April meeting Olga and John Hawkes spoke on the experience of White Russians. John provided an overview of the effects of the Russian revolution and what it meant for Russians. He also told us a little of writing a book with Olga, integrating historical information with the personal story of Olga’s parents, based on Olga’s conversations with her mother and on her mother’s diaries. Olga described her parents’ lives before and during the revolution, and their escape from Russia to Shanghai in the 1920s where they lived on the fringes for over 20 years and where their status and livelihood were always uncertain.  She illustrated her talk with images, one of which showed her mother, Sonechka, in traditional dress that Olga had closely replicated and wore during her talk. The same photograph also appears of the front cover of their book, “Russian at Heart”.