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Professor seeks B.C. students who wrote letter to Soviet school in the 91Ƶ70s

Letter from Terrace students seeking Soviet pen-pals appeared in 1978 Soviet textbook
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University of Tokyo professor Torahiko Torada has discovered a letter from a group of Terrace students from the 1970s that was published in an English language textbook in the former Soviet Union. (Photo supplied)

It91Ƶs a Terrace mystery involving a Russian textbook that a Japanese university professor is trying to solve.

So if you are Stella Smith, Marilyn Short, David Steadman, John Price, Rose Jones, Robert Parry, Elizabeth Brown or Joe Fletcher, University of Tokyo professor Torahiko Terada believes you can help.

Terada is a professor of comparative literature and culture at the University of Tokyo and one of his current projects is researching the role of illustrations used in English-language textbooks.

So when he came across a 1970s-era Russian textbook used to teach English during a research trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, his curiosity was aroused.

The textbook contained not just an illustration but a letter from a group of Terrace school students who said they had read a newspaper article about two Canadian teachers visiting a school in the Soviet Union.

91ƵIt was said in the newspaper that you were learning English,91Ƶ the letter says. 91ƵWe should very much like to have pen-friends in the Soviet Union so we decide to write you a letter.91Ƶ

91ƵHonestly, it is amazing to find it in a Soviet textbook,91Ƶ said Terada in an email to the City of Terrace asking if it could help identify the letter91Ƶs writers.

The illustration used as artwork to complement the letter looks to come from an art book which would contain any number of illustrations.

The students are in a classroom, clustered one student who is sitting at a desk, reading a book.

91ƵThe children in this illustration are adorable,91Ƶ said Terada in other emails exchanged with the Terrace Standard, adding it represents students in the Soviet Union reading.

There is no date as to the year the letter was written, but it did contain the day of the week, the calendar date and the month 91Ƶ Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Terada does know that the textbook was published in 1978 and in tracing back the day of the week, the month and calendar date, he91Ƶs concluded the letter was written in 1976.

91ƵNo, nothing about the Russian school, unfortunately,91Ƶ said Terada of where in Russia the letter was sent.

The letter came from Box 101 in Terrace and does not identify the school the students attended but does identify their teacher 91Ƶ a Miss Duncan.

The students give their ages as 11 and 12 and say they are in Grade 6.

Terada91Ƶs convinced the letter as published is real and that the names are genuine.

91ƵThere is nothing to explain that these names are fiction,91Ƶ he noted.

The letter describes Terrace as being 91Ƶon the bank of the Skeena River, famous for its fishing. Salmon and trout are netted here. This part of Canada is famous for its forests. Canadian timber is sent to all parts of the world.91Ƶ

They also ask the Russian students if they are fond of sports and games and whether they play hockey.

91ƵWe hope this letter reaches you safely. We promise to answer your letter as soon as we receive it,91Ƶ the students conclude.



About the Author: Rod Link

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