By Ira Katz
September 24, 2026
Over the past few weeks I have randomly come across life stories that I found to be amazing. I thought I would pass them along to you.
A Tragic Love Story
I am watching too many podcasts these days. For geopolitics I am an avid viewer of the Duran which consists of two very unique commentators; the Greek Cypriot Alex Christoforou and the Greek Englishman Alexander Mercouris. Mercouris is from a very famous Greek family that includes many politicians and the film star Melina_Mercouri. Mercouris is extremely cultured and well read in art, music, literature, history, and film. Based on his comments I viewed and wrote about the Soviet era productions Come and See and Seventeen Moments in Spring. Recently he mentioned another one, the (1970) production of Dostoyevski's Crime and Punishment that was very well done. I agree with his assessment. While watching foreign films in both place and time I become curious about the actors and directors. Thus I came across the life story of Victoria Fyodorova, who played Rashkalnikov"s beautiful sister.
Victoria's story begins in Moscow at the end of World War II. US Navy Captain Jackson Tate was an attaché at the embassy. He was bored at an official party until Zoya Fyodorova, Victoria's mother, entered the room. She was a major movie star in the Soviet Union. He immediately fell in love with her. They began a clandestine relationship; clandestine because the Soviet authorities, up to and including Stalin, forbade it. Soon after the end of the war the love affair was uncovered. Tate was expelled from the country. Poor Zoya was tried for espionage, received a 25 year sentence, and sent to Siberia. All this occurred while she was pregnant. Victoria was born January 18, 1946, 8½ months after Victory in Europe Day (May 9th in Russia). Zoya claimed that Victoria was conceived with Jackson Tate on that glorious day of victory in May, hence Victoria's name. Victoria was raised by Zoya's sister during her imprisonment. In 1953 after Stalin's death Zoya was released. She was so loved by the public that she made her way back into films. The beautiful Victoria followed her mother into an acting career. It is difficult to imagine, but Jackson Tate knew nothing of the fate of Zoya or the existence of Victoria.
In 1959 an American professor Irene Kirk learned the history of Zoya and Victoria in the U.S.S.R. and when back in the United States tried to find Jackson Tate. However, it was only years later, in 1973, that she found him (pre-internet). Subsequently, Tate, who was now an admiral, contacted Victoria and began a campaign to grant her permission to visit him in the US. Victoria eventually received a three-month visa to visit her father in the US in 1975. While there she met and fell in love with Frederick Pouy, a pilot for Pan American Airways. They were married just days before her visa was set to expire. Less than one year later in 1976 their son, Christopher Alexander Fyodor Pouy, was born. Victoria wrote the 1979 book, The Admiral's Daughter, which recounted the astounding experience of her mother, her father, and herself, reuniting with both of them.
In 1976 Zoya had been allowed to visit the US to be with Victoria for the birth of Christopher. In 1981 she planned a permanent move to the US. On the day of her scheduled departure she was found murdered in her apartment. Victoria was destabilized by the death of her mother. She became alcoholic leading to divorce from Fred Pouy. Life became intolerable for Christopher. When he was 14 he decided to live with his father. At the moment Victoria vowed to never see him again if he left. Thus, mother and son were separated for the rest of their lives.
This murder of Zoya is still a cold case in Russia. Christopher was invited to Moscow to participate in TV journalistic investigations of the murder where he appeared in several emissions. I found this strange interview, a sort of Russian-English language class, that is an Interview with Victoria Fyodorova . More useful are these interviews with Christopher that reveal a very American and very fragile victim of these traumas.
The Murder of Zoya Fyodorova w/ Chris Pouy
Murder in Moscow: What happened to my film star grandmother?
Victoria Fyodorova
Zoya Fyodorova
Jackson Tate and Zoya Fyodorova
An Incredible Workplace Accident
During Covid I felt obliged to subscribe to Netflix for my daughter. I ended up watching a handful of series myself. I got hooked on the Turkish drama Another Self. I once traveled to Turkey for an archeological project. I found it to be a fascinating country. What I think is most interesting about this series is what it reveals about life in Turkey, or at least for the elite around Istanbul. In particular, the women wore chic revealing clothes and drank plenty of alcohol.
I think most readers are aware of post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). But this story follows inherited PTSD victims; that is, people who suffer psychologically due to traumas that occurred to their parents, grandparents or even ancestors further back in time; especially those regarding forced migrations that shaped modern Turkey. Each episode also includes hokey interventions that allow the victim of inherited PTSD to understand the root of their problem and then to resolve it. For example, one woman was terribly afraid to be in the sea. Through the intervention she discovered that her grandmother had been murdered by being drowned at sea. Don't ask me if this makes any sense.
One of the supporting characters was played by the actor Serkan Altunorak. Read the following tidbit about him that blew me away. "In October 2006, he had to play Russian roulette in a scene of the TV series Imkansiz Aşk, in which he starred with Ebru Gündeş. Altunorak, who put the gun to his head, collapsed to the ground in blood as soon as he pulled the trigger. He was seriously injured as the pistol was still loaded and he was treated for a long time. The series was subsequently cancelled."
Serken Altunorak
A Typical Welfare Queen?
Consider a woman who has four sons with four different men, married to only one of them. Then, while still married, she is beaten to death by a new boyfriend. When my wife recounted to me some of these details I thought the woman had the life of a ghetto welfare queen as debated during the politics of the 80s and 90s in the US. But Marie Trintignant was nothing of the kind. She was a famous and well respected actress. The daughter of an icon in France, actor Jean-Louis Trintignant.
In 2003 she traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania to work on a television movie. She traveled with the boyfriend, the rockstar Bertrand Cantat. On July 26th in their luxury hotel room, Cantat became angry because Marie received a message from her husband. In a jealous rage she beat her to unconsciousness. It was several hours later after the intervention of Marie's brother that Cantat called emergency services. The following day she was taken to a hospital in Vilnius. She was soon taken back to France; as her mother is reported to have said, "If she is to die, I want her to die in France." On August 1st she was pronounced dead at 41 years old. Cantat was convicted of manslaughter in Lithuania and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was allowed to serve his sentence in France. According to French law he was allowed to ask for parole after half of his sentence was served. Needless to say, a four year prison term for such a vicious murder was seen to be too light by many people.
In 1997 Cantat had married Krisztina Rády with whom he had two children. In January 2010, Rády killed herself with Cantat and their 2 children in the house. Rády had complained of mental and physical abuse by Cantat. To say the least, many believe Cantat is the transcendent exemplar of toxic masculinity.
Marie Trintignant
Marie and Jean-Louis
Poster for the iconic film of Jean-Louis, A Man and a Woman.
Bertrand Cantat
A Misleading Moniker
In the early 60s Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire (French for 'Sister Smile') or " The Singing Nun" in English-speaking countries, was a world wide sensation for the song Dominique. A movie was made about her with the lead played by Debbie Reynolds. Watching her performance on the Ed Sullivan Show she doesn't crack a smile. And not long after her singing success she left the convent where she had been living. So she was no longer a sister and didn't smile very much.
The Belgian singer-songwriter had a difficult life after this success, see The Tragic Downfall of The Singing Nun After Her Massive Hit . Due to conflicts with her old order and Belgian tax authorities she never was able to overcome financial difficulties. She had lived with her friend Annie Pécher during the years after leaving the convent; however, despite insinuations, Jeanne denied that theirs was a lesgian relationship. Apparently due to their financial woes, the couple committed suicide together in 1985.
The Singing Nun
Debbie Reynolds played The Singing Nun in a movie of the same name.
Caricature of two singing sensations of the early 60s.
Jeanne Deckers and her partner Annie Pécher.
Astounding Stories are Everywhere
I hope you agree that these stories are astounding. Before marriage I spent much of my free time in pubs. What I learned there was that everyone has an astounding story. In part, it is because, as in the Turkish series, their stories go back further into time, into the lives of parents and grandparents. The master at bringing out the stories of random individuals is the Calvinist pastor Paul VanderKlay. He has had long conversations with dozens of "randos," see Close Encounters of Different Kinds. He always begins, "Tell me about the home you grew up in?" I think that everyone is on a hero's journey. Life will have more meaning for yourself when you pay attention and listen to their fascinating stories.