May 24, 1940

When Joseph Brodsky (May 24, 1940 to January 28, 1996) was expelled from his homeland in 1972, his literary reputation assured him assistance in relocating to a new country and culture. W. H Auden, an early admirer of the Russian poet, was just one of many Brodsky supporters. Brodsky taught at various universities in the West, including Yale and Cambridge. Honors followed him: In 1979 he was inducted as a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1981, Brodsky received the MacArthur Foundation's "genius" award, and in 1987, the Nobel Prize for Literature

Brodsky had been forced to emigrate. When he left Leningrad, Brodsky believed that he would still be able to see his parents. As it turned out, the fight to be able to see them would last over ten years. Leading American politicians Edward Kennedy and Henry Kissinger ...[were] both involved in the fight.....He also left his own child and its mother.

One constant though, in his new lands, and besides his genius, was cats.




This is "Osya.



This is "Mississippi".



And I just like this photo (1985). New York City.




Our ignorance of what they shared,  is perhaps a blessing.