She spent most of 1977 touring the USSR as a docent with a traveling USIA photo exhibit, a détente-era PR dog-and-pony show. Her first letter, from some drab provincial burg, described the town as having the character of a Potemkin village in reverse: "When I leave, they're going to restock the retail shelves, and pull down these horrible buildings." Afterward, though, she spoke of disembarking in Vienna and reeling under the onslaught of commerce. She added that it was like reuniting with an old lover and suddenly seeing all his faults starkly. "You don't mean me?" I asked her, appalled. "Of course not," she replied, perhaps tactfully.

cordially,