About the book: 2015 / In the early 70s, American Slavists Ellendea and Karl Proffer created the publishing house "Ardis", where they published in Russian and translated into English books that, for censorship reasons, were not published in the USSR. During one of their trips to the USSR, they met Joseph Brodsky. When the poet was expelled from the country, it was Karl Proffer who, with great difficulty, obtained an entry visa to the United States for him and helped him get a position as a university teacher. Since 1977, all Russian poetry books by I. Brodsky have been published in Ardis. The close relationship between Brodsky and the Proffer couple continued for many years. Before his death, Karl Proffer was working on memoirs that his widow wanted to publish, but by Brodsky’s will they never saw the light of day. The memoirs of Ellendea Proffer Tisley herself, dedicated to Brodsky, also included fragments of Karl’s notes. E. Proffer Tisley's memoirs are sometimes of a distinctly polemical nature; admiration for Brodsky's poetic gift does not prevent her from soberly assessing some events and facts of his life.