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Dear List,
Yesterday, Feb. 23, I was lecturing on "Nabokov and the French Riviera"
at the
Centre Universitaire Méditerrannéen on the Promenade des Anglais in
Nice (the
venue of the third Nice conference on Nabokov). I talked about Dmitri
in my
introduction, mentioning how, in response to his request to attend the
first
Nice conference in 1992, I faxed him an invitation but, instead of
addressing
it to "Dmitri", I addressed it by mistake to "Vladimir". Dmitri
answered most
kindly and humorously, saying his father (who had died 15 years before)
could
not come but that he was happy to represent him. Perhaps Vladimir
received my
invitation on Antiterra after all: during one of the breaks, in the
middle of
the conference, a butterfly flew into the room!
I met Dmitri (with Vera) for the first time at the Montreux Palace in
1981, and
he has been a great help on various occasions. He was always glad to
talk on
the phone and would offer advice on my many Nabokov projects. I already
miss
him.
Maurice Couturier