ALT in Russia
We were all congregating in a stuffy salon of a private jet, waiting for our flight back to Moscow. Andre Leon Talley was visibly upset. He’d just gotten the news – despite all of the negotiations, the Russian authorities would not grant him a visa extension. Russia was not a free country after all!
Yet, if it were up to him, ALT would have stayed here for at least another two weeks.
In total silence we fastened our seat belts, while Andre was telling us that he was lonely, unloved and uncared for in this strange land and we were doing nothing to help him through this difficult situation. Unaware of our small Greek tragedy, the plane began to roll without warning, rapidly gaining speed on the decrepit runway of Novgorod airport.The rattling and shaking increased quickly and dramatically and so did the volume and the tone of Andre’s delivery.Compensating for the roar of the airplane’s engines, ALT began to shout at the top of his lungs. His wrath and the violent shaking of the airplane felt apocalyptic. I began to fear that we were going to crash.