112
PARTISAN REVIEW
I lived with Busch and Galina for three weeks I liked them more
with each passing day - although both were totally schizophrenic. Eric
Busch came from a very respectable family. His father was a doctor of
science and a professor of mathematics in Riga. His mother directed one
of the departments in a state fabric institute. Busch had despised both
from the age of seven. By some miracle he was a nonconformist and
anti-Soviet almost from birth. He called his parents "Stakhanovites."
On finishing school, Busch left Riga. For over a year he worked on
a trawler. Then he became a boardwalk photographer for a time. Next
he registered as a correspondence student in the Leningrad Institute of
Culture. Upon completing his studies he became a journalist. You'd
think a profession like that would be totally unsuitable for a man of his
attitudes . Indeed, Busch wasn't just a critic of the existing order; he re–
jected historical reality itself Especially the victory over Fascist Germany.
He maintained that there was no such thing as free medical care. He ex–
pressed doubt concerning our supremacy in space. After three shots of
vodka he would shout, "Gagarin never flew into space! Titov never
flew! All Soviet rockets are just huge tin cans full of clay! ... "
You'd think a man like that would never find a place in Soviet
journalism. But that's the very profession he chose. He was an indissolu–
ble blend of dedicated nonconformism and total unscrupulousness.
Sometimes that happens. You could see elements of German expression–
ism in Busch's writing style. One of his articles began like this: "The
hour of stardom had arrived for the great horned cattle. The participants
in the veterinarians' conference took up their duties. Smelling of milk
and manure, the speakers took turns, one after the other. . .. "
At first Busch worked for a provincial newspaper. But life in the
sticks soon bored him. He was too large a personality for a small north–
ern town. He had moved to Tallinn two years before I met him. And
moved in with a woman rather older than himself. He seemed fated to
attract older women - evidently for his poverty, his good looks, his sar–
castic humor, and, above all, for his complete lack of character. In the
course of two years Busch seduced four older women. Galina
Arkadyevna was the fifth - and his favorite. The others had all retained
a feeling of gratitude and admiration for Busch. Evil tongues called
Busch an Alphonse. But this was unjust. In his love for older women,
Busch was guided by the most altruistic motives. He graciously permitted
them to drown themselves in belated, bittersweet emotions.
Legends began to build up around Busch. He was continually mak–
ing history. Once, late at night, he was walking across Kadriorg, when
three men approached him. One of them demanded rudely, "Gimme a
light!"
What does a normal person do in such a situation? There are three
