Gregory J. Leeson
The Life Chronicler

As a university student, I came within a whisker of majoring in Russian history. I found its unique history fascinating. Although I eventually took the more practical path and completed an economics degree, that fascination with the country never disappeared. I fulfilled a dream when I visited Moscow and St. Petersburg with my twelve-year-old daughter in 2013. We met a great couple with whom we stayed in St. Petersburg and remained in touch. The people are so much greater than the nomenklatura that control that failed state now. And so it is with great sorrow that I no longer feel it is safe to travel there now. But Ukraine, a free Ukraine, is a different story.
 
In January 2023, I interviewed a gentleman from West Virginia who despised Vladimir Putin. That was for my previous book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives. During the summer of 2024, he informed me that he was departing for Ukraine as a volunteer, imprinting his footprint on Putin in the only way he knew how. He urged me to also travel to Ukraine to tell the stories of a people who have suffered unspeakable, heinous acts of a foreign dictator. I thought the idea was sublime!
 
Having authored a book about people and their lives, I immediately knew the theme of my Ukrainian project, but I also knew I wanted to add something new. Pictures can sometimes convey a message where words fail. Following that epiphany, a former high school classmate came to mind. Now living in British Columbia, she tells stories about people worldwide through her exquisite photos. There is no one better for this intimate project. We talked, and I have high hopes that she will join me.
 
But, the pièce de résistance may be the film documentary I am planning. For that, I anticipate engaging with a to-be-determined Ukrainian team.

Contingent on a resolution to the war, travel to Ukraine is planned for the spring of 2026. More to come.