JL;DR SUMMARY The author reflects on his experiences with Russian-language periodicals in the United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s, specifically noting the ads for celebratory events and funeral parlors placed on the literary page of the New York-based Novoye russkoye slovo. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.