Sergei Grigorievich had a regular correspondence by email with several former students of his. Selections from the correspondence follow, with some personal references omitted. (Submitted by D. Kleinbock and S. Hawkin, both grad. 1984)

February 19, 1993 October 9, 1993 May 14, 1994 October 22, 1994 November 12, 1994 October 9, 1995 November 18, 1995 December 22, 1995 January 18, 1996 March 1, 1996 March 15, 1996 May 16, 1996

September 9, 1996 October 22, 1996 November 14, 1996 January 9, 1997 March 20, 1997 June 23, 1997 November 22, 1997 October 31, 1998 November 30, 1998 January 16, 1999 March 20, 1999 June 16, 1999

  As for me,my life at school looks almost the same as in all
the previous years,but is much more intense. Exchanging messages
through the e-mail is a substantial part of it.We've established
friendly relations with a very interesting school in Rochester,
N.Y.We discuss with them politics,culture,history.
  I have a new ambition now, i.e,to create a real regular text-
book on plane-geometry(for maths classes).This exciting task
takes,of course,a lot of time.

  Dear friends! I hope you forgiive me this common letter,
but there is a horrible lack of time now.There is no civil
war happily,and most of us here do not participate in any 
political activities,but our souls are deeply wounded by the
latest events.Once more everyone can see that our political
structure existing now is absolutely inadequate and unsatisfactory
in every detail.It is not a fault of some person or a group of
people,it's just the essence of our life.We used to call our
country "Strana Sovetov",now I'm afraid there is no decent
name for it now.
  At this moment I am sitting at school alone (so called "nochnoe
dezhurstvo") to watch whether all is still and quiet.Everything
looks peaceful enough,only militia-cars are running near by with 
horrible screams.
  Just one detail of our recent political situation : I have a
friend here who calls himself a communist.Unlike many of his
party-fellows,he is peaceful enough and never takes a weapon of
any kind in his hands.I asked him,if,to his mind,there is a good
possibility of forming a legal,peaceful parliamentary communist
party,which could win a considerable amount of voices in the
elections."No,-he said  - they would rather go into the "podpolje".
  Nevertheless,let's hope for the best.
              Yours,SGR. 

    Dear friends! I am glad to inform you that I'm still alive
and my e-mail is working. I have successfully completed my
long and tedious flat's exchange process. We are living now in
Tushino, quite near the "Tushinskaya" metro station.

Among those who helped me to move the things was a certain
Mr.K.Kostromin. He has a nice idea to celebrate the 10-th
anniversary of your graduating from the School 179.
 Is anyone of you going to come to Moscow in May?
 Please, inform me (or Kostya) about your plans.
 From now on I am going to spend much more time on e-mail
activities, so let's intensify our correspondence.
                   Yours, SGR.  

Hi! I am working under another name and address this year.
The new system is not quite steady yet. So, I want You to
confirm the receipt of this message and to say some news
about your life.
         Yours, SGR.

    Dear Dima!

This year the most interesting thing for me at school is a kind
of scientific research that I try with the best of my pupils. Two of
them are working over a so called "General False Coins' Problem".
This means, that among N coins we are to find k false ones with a
least possible number of measurements. There are other interesting
topics concerning geometry and groups.
The idea of pupils working over individual projects was originated
by V.V.Bronfman, who is now trying to organize a scientific society of
pupils. It is a hard thing to do now as science is totally unpopular.
 I would be glad to learn more about your and your family's life
today.       Yours, SGR.

Dear Cema!
  Your letter has reached me almost immediately,so I can presume
that e-mail in the 57-th works perfectly.My position here is full
and permanent , but rather difficult . I can  honestly  call it
interesting,but it is not yet clear to me, whether it is pleasant
or not.I teach in the 9-th and 10-th "humanitarian" classes.These
humanitarians specialize in literature and history.They are very
special people and seldom do addition correctly,being nevertheless
very clever and intelligent.It is generally supposed here,that they
all have a special kind of mentality,but I haven't discovered it yet.
My other occupation is the 5-th class,very gay and quick in thinking.
I hope,we shall go far with them.
   As to maths classes,I am a member of a group of teachers in the
newly formed 8-th class under the guidance of Lev Davidovich
Altshuller.There is no question yet of my forming my own class.
This will happen in two or three years.Now I start working on "Maly
Mechmat" with a group of 6-graders.
   This summer I bought a computer of my own thanks to Kind Uncle
Soros.So,I prepare my e-mail texts at home and send them from school.
   My family is perfectly all right,thank you.Sasha this year pays more
attention to mathematics and has got aquainted with computer to certain
extent.
   Tell more about your life.Good-bye.Yours,SGR.

Dear Dima!
  Your letter has reached me almost immediately, so I can presume
that e-mail in the 57-th works perfectly. My position here is full
and permanent, but rather difficult. I teach in the 9-th and 10-th
"humanitarian" classes. These humanitarians specialize in literature
and history. They are very special people and seldom do addition
correctly, being nevertheless very clever and intelligent. It is
generally supposed here that they all have a special kind of mentality,
but I haven't discovered it yet.
My other occupation is the 5-th class, very gay and quick in thinking.
I hope we shall go far with them.
   There is no question yet of my forming my own math.class.
This will happen in two or three years. Now I start working on "Maly
Mechmat" with a group of 6-graders.
   This summer I bought a computer of my own thanks to Kind Uncle
Soros. So, I prepare my e-mail texts at home and send them from school.
My main occupation with computer is working over my geometry papers
and all kinds of "listochki" with help of Word 6.0 for Windows.
Our financial situation has improved, but still it looks like a struggle.
   Tell more about your life. Good-bye. Yours, SGR.

  Dear Dima, Shurik and Cema! We've got news here about the death of
Igor Slobodkin and his wife. It is grief all over the school, their
schooltime-photos hanging on the wall. In fact, there are few teachers
who remember them actually: R.K.Gordin and I don't know who else.
  The e-mail here is not as perfect as I thought but works good
enough. 
I work hard to make humanitarians know something out of mathematics.
I am planning to take a new humanitarian class next year and invent
a completely new program for these peculiar people.
  The life is very busy and troublesome as usually before the New
Year. We are all speculating over the results of our recent elections
and hope that they will not affect the life seriously.
  Good-bye! Hope to send a larger letter to each of you soon.
             Yours, SGR.

 Dear Dima! I've got immediate responces from you and Cema, but
I still have no connection with Shurik (not even the return
receipt). What is your version of his current e-mail address?
  As for me, I'm permanently typing my own teaching book on
plain geometry with help of Word 6.0 for Windows. It is not
intended for any kind of publication yet. I am going to print
several copies of it, chapter by chapter, and discuss it with
mathematical people here. It is a pleasant and interesting
two-years course taught by me twice in the 345-th.

  We are going to have interesting talks with some of the
literature teachers on the new maths program for humanitarians.
In the ideal variant it should be quite a humanitarian course,
not less interesting than literature and history.
  It is very sad, but I received nothing from you this summer.

         *    *    *

There was a pause in writing this letter, as I had to go unexpectedly
to see my sick parents. Now they are better, thank God.
Chechnja's military idiotism again! One can't help feeling miserable
in this country.
   Good luck! Yours, SGR.

  Dear friends! I have a unique opportunity to send this letter today.
This is the week of olympiads,and for this reason there are some free
places in the computer-class. The enthusiasm towards computer science
here grows constantly among teachers and students. The company of
computer science teachers (under the guidance of A.Shen) have issued a
book concerning a specially invented language IRL and different problems.
  As for me, I've moved through my book of geometry to the middle of the
second chapter, and the first chapter is curculating around the school in
a small number of copies. The good news are that I've got the Soros grant
for the next (1996-th) year. The bad news are that my parents are almost
constantly ill, and something should be done for them.
  My son has for the first time taken part in the university math olympiad
for youngsters (6 - 7-th grades), and his results were very poor. At least
he saw with his own eyes the pupils of his own age who worked over maths
with great delight.
  Here we celebrated the next school-birthday, where several merry perfor-
mances took place. I met here a well-known Mr. Serge I. Trifonov. His main
occupation now is working over a CD on Griboedov for the Institute of
World Literature.
   Hope to hear smth from you. Yours, SGR.

   My life flows as usually, without any noticeable events. The parts of
my "Geometry" that I've given for discussion here caused very little
interest from the mathematical Grands (i.e. R.K.Gordin and others) but
are rather popular among middle-school teachers. It is not the reason
to throw all the book out, but it is something worth thinking over.
Perhaps, more interesting difficult problems should be inserted.
  Tomorrow we have here a performance of the school theatre. They take
place once a year, a new play each time. This time it will be something
old-spanish by Calderon. Last week a kind of presentation of the cast
took place. It means, that the actors spent all the day in spanish
costumes, being in the centre of everybody's attention and very happy.
  I feel that it will be better for me (my spirits and inner health), if
I take part in the next performance playing an energetic and emotional
old man or somebody like that.
   
            Good luck. Yours, SGR.

  How do you do, everybody!
We have here an excessively hot weather in May. It is so hot, that the
reconstruction of Christ the Sayvour's Cathedral instead of a swimming-
pool seems a misfortune.
   Recently we celebrated a glorious 50-th birthday of B.M.Davidovich.
It turned out that he had worked for 4 years in the 179-th (approx. 1973-
-1977) and gave birth to two classes there.
   R.K.Gordin with a group of pupils is going to USA next Monday to take
part in a regular american maths competition. It's an exchange program
between a philantropic american teachers' organisation and a Moscow group
closely linked with DNTTM.
   We are awaiting two new theatrical performances next week. One is based
on Kozma Prutkov and is produced fully by mathematicians. The other is
Shakespeare's "Much Ado about Nothing" in English.
   I have been accustomed to the 57-th to certain extend, but sometimes
still feel myself a stranger.

 Dear Dima! 

 Now, comparing your school-time with today's situation, we can see
that mathematics now plays a weaker role in souls, hearts and minds of math's
youngsters. It is almost a hobby, like drawing, football etc., while for you it
was a unique way of life and an asylum from ugly world.
 All this doesn't prevent them from taking first prizes on the olympiads,
entering the University and so on.
 I have a very pleasant new humanitarian class this year. The neccesity of
deep interesting mathematics for them is quite obvious, and it's a rare
pleasure to start it from the very beginning. It almost doesn't matter,
how far we shall move into math, it is the way of thinking that matters.
 More news about my activities this year - in the next letter.
              Yours, SGR.

      Dear friends! I have very few pieces of news this schoolyear,
the life goes in exactly the same way as last year.The significant
event took place in September - a new building of the NMU was opened
in the very center, between Smolenskaja and Kropotkinskaja. It doesn't
work actually,but a vey pompous ceremony took place,where I met Mr.&
Mrs.Hovansky.
      I have a very pleasant class of young humanitarians, who are
eager to study mathematics.I am trying to test my "Geometry" on them,
and it is very helpful, because every smallest drawback is coming out.
      We had a visitor from the National Science Foundation of USA here
at school recently.He is interested in new ideas and methods of math
education, but mostly for ordinary schools and students.
      It is just for me, as I am thinking hard about the 5-th and 6-th
grades now.As a partial result "listochki" have been issued with the
titles "Time" and "Distance".
       I am looking forward to hearing any news from everybody.
                   Yours, SGR.

      I am trying to carry on permanent e-mail exchange, but it is not
always possible. We exchanged messages with S.Jakovenko, but I still
can not establish connection with Sema and Dima after summer.
   Two Izraels from Mjagkov'class, Safro & Protasov, have reappeared
in my correspondence. They say they are still keeping their "listochki"
and love them greatly.
   I am mostly busy with my new humanitarians. We are preparing reports
about great scientists of ancient times with them: Euclid, Plato, Decartes
and so on. Traditional mathematics is also present (quadratic equations,
graphics) but in very small portions. I myself am going to produce a
lecture "Geometry as a Fairy-Tale".
   Among all my former graduates only people from Trifon's class can be
seen and talked to. We had a meeting in June with them, and they are
anxious to meet again.
             Good-bye. Yours, SGR.

 Dear Dima ! Happy New Year to You and all your family. We are here
living very quietly without any events. The repetitions are going on
of Bulgakov's "Poloumny Zhurden" (a version of Mollierre "Meschanin
vo dvorjanstve") with me playing the leading role - a kind-hearted
person, foolish to the highest degree.
 I've started to collect documents for my pension - the State is now
going to pay me an unsugnificant sum and allow me to use city transport
freely - all this for 25 years of teaching. It is called "pensija po
staghu".
 I've heard that at Rutgers a kind of russian-like "zaochnaja" mathematical
school is going to operate. Do You know anything about it ?
 I am still very happy with my humanitarians - mathematics combined with
excellent literature improves both brains and soul.
           Good-bye, Yours SGR.

                Dear Dima!
   We have just shown our beloved "Zhurden" on the stage. We all suffered
his sufferings for almost 5 months of hard and interesting repetitions. It
is for the first time that I worked so seriously, and the result is good
but could have been much better. After the performance I was presented
with a souvenir - a small figure of a jewish violinist who resembles my
hero in many attitudes.
   So, as the most part of our life has been for a long period devoted to
theatre, now a painful return to reality is taking place. We are now going
to Sevastopol for the spring holidays.
   As to my possible future trip to USA, the question is under serious
consideration. My financial circumstances can afford such a trip, but
not very easily. We've just settled our most urgent problems, and
travelling, in general, is the thing of the first importance now. But I
feel I must first of all show Europe to my wife and myself and after that
with a free conscience fly over the ocean.
               Good-bye.  Yours, SGR.

  Dear Dima ! Thank You for your June's message. Congratulations
with the increase of your family !
  This is, I think, my last day at school before the vacations. Next
time I'll be able to look through my mail-box in the end of August. The
exchange of e-mail messages is constantly decreasing, and it is quite
natural. On the other hand, I hope to see Shurik soon here "in flesh
and blood". On the third hand, a well-known anti-americanist Trisha is
leaving to Boston (most likely - for ever).
          So, the life is going it's own way.
                 Good-bye, yours SGR.

  Dear Dima !
   I'll be very glad to discuss with You my geometry ideas, but I am
afraid they will be not at all helpful for your practical acivities.
  My geometry consists of two different things: first - a normal
textbook (about 12 chapters) which is basically finished. It's a real
shame, but it remains in the same condition for a year and more, and
I am not touching it. It sounds funny, but I am totally occupied with
the other part of my geometry, which was intended to be very clear
and simple. It is a one year course of plane geometry for humanitarians,
dealing mostly with absolute geometry (where no axiom of parallels is
present) and a small part with a standard euclidian parallel theory.
  It consists of 6-7 "listochkov" which do not satisfy me and are under
permanent reconstruction. Which of these will interest You most ?
I must add that a textbook is a manuscript in a rather disordered form,
while the "listochki" are Word 6.0 for Windows-files in russian.
           
                            Yours, SGR.

 Dear Cema! I am now (after a long pause of several months) in a suitable
condition to work with e-mail. It was a strange kind of phobia,which
demanded real life - personal connections, and blocked all attempts to write
an e-mail letter. Now it's over,and I inform everybody, that I am alive and
working. By the way, the listochki about the humanitarian geometry will soon
appear in internet (www.sch57.msk.ru).
                 Yours,SGR.

 There is little information about my school-life. We try to put more
theatre into it,but there is nothing definite yet to speak about. As for
me,what I like most of all on the stage, is the unlimited joy of kapustnik,
but my partners among teachers prefer more academic approach.
 I meet regularly Neda's sister, as her daughter is now in the 1-st grade
here. We all with a great crowd of admirers celebrated R.K.Gordin's
anniversary a week ago.

  Dear Dima! There has been really a long pause in my e-mail activities.
Since September I've sent You two messages, but the adress was wrong (as I
see now). These messages were about S.Ivankov's death and meeting of a
part of the class caused by it.
 As to my own circumstances, my father died of heart attack last January.
I was quite out of order for a considerable period of time. In summer I
more or less recovered, sent my son and wife for a fortnight's trip to
Scandinavia (it was quite possible before the crisis) and spent all the
summer with my mother.
 Now the things are going on more or less like before. (We, of course, have
to work more to keep the level of life.)
            I'll try to write more next time.
                     Yours, SGR.

  Dear Dima!
   We celebrated the School's anniversary recently. The latest
historical investigations determine it as the 122-th. N.N.Konstantinov
was present, as usually. (Besides, 30 years ago first math.classes
appeared here). There was a lot of common enthusiasm, as always.
In the "kapustnik" I played the role of myself - at first quite happy
with the angel-like humanitarians, but then their real "sushnost" displays
itself clearly.
  I've started the long and tiresome campaign of selecting and constructing
the 9-th math. class. Alexei Gorodentsev (grad. 1980 from 179-th), now the
lecturer of algebra in Nesavisimy University, agreed to be the head of
Mathematics. There is additional nerve and strain in the campaign, because
the mathematical standard for the applicants is very high, and no time is
left to look into the person and establish the contact with his immortal
soul.
  During the spring vacations we are going to Poland, Hungary, Austria by bus
 - a cheap school-trip with minimal but sufficient comfort.
    Thus, the life is going on.  Good - bye.
                     Yours, SGR.

   Dear Dima and Shurik! My e-mail became quite irregular after
 new re-installation and re-construction of the system here. I can only
hope that my message will reach You in time. 
  I'll be working at school till the end of June and can be easily reached
by my phone. I like the idea of meeting all together in the 
beginning of July immensely. Is "Shkolnaja" the suitable place ? It is not
so good and quiet as before, because our glorious soldjers occupied the
area of the former pioneer camp.
  I am quite all right, joyful and comparatively healthy.
  Hope to meet You soon.   Yours,  SGR.