Lisa Paul Visits North Shore Library to Discuss Book, Swimming in the Daylight

Swimming in the Daylight: An American Student, a Soviet-Jewish Dissident and the Gift of Hope: “A powerful memoir about hope, courage, and faith. . . . The lessons of this book are urgently needed today.”—Dr. Alan Mittleman, Chair Department of Jewish Thought, the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, NY.

Lisa Paul was a young American college student in 1984 when she went to live in Moscow to work as a nanny.  Swimming in the Daylight is a memoir of her experiences. Wanting to improve her Russian language, she began tutoring sessions with Inna Kitrosskaya Meiman, a teacher who became a friend.  As Lisa became closer to Inna, she learned that she was a Soviet-Jewish dissident.  Inna had been repeatedly denied a visa to go abroad in order to receive life-saving treatment for her cancer.  This was seen as punishment for the political stands of her and her Jewish  husband who participated in the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group—the lone group fighting for human rights in the U.S.S.R. 

Lisa promised her hope – a promise probably more difficult than she at first thought.  It ended up taking press conferences, persuasion of politicians and even a hunger strike.  Lisa so wanted to give Inna hope so she could swim through these treacherous waters, in “daylight”, rather than in darkness.

Lisa Paul says that the most important lessons from this remarkable teacher were “that silence in the face of tyranny is not an option, that hope requires a special kind of courage and that faith can provide the inner-strength to never give up.”  She hopes that this story will “inspire others to stand up and fight for the causes in which they believe, to help others find daylight in their lives even during times of the darkest despair and to realize that it is the courage inside – not the chaos outside – that defines them.”

Paul grew up in Appleton, WI., and attended Marquette University Law School.  She is now a civil litigation attorney practicing in Milwaukee.

You will have an opportunity to meet Lisa Paul and to learn more about this fascinating story at the North Shore Library on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

This is a free Library program and is open to the public.