...the heroic Russian poet has died. She was 63. Imprisoned by the KGB, she became a voice for freedom.
"No, I am not afraid..." Her poems, smuggled out to the West, had drawn her plight to our attention.
Keston College, headed by Rev Michael Bordeaux spread news of this remarkable young writer, with a leaflet carrying the message from her husband Igor "Help me to save my wife". Campaigns, vigils of prayer...I remember sacrificing a bedsheet to paint her name on it, to make an emormous banner, held aloft on struts of wood... a memorable Christmas Eve, standing with placards outside the Soviet Embassy, and passers-by giving us support on their way home from Midnight Mass... the splendid Rev Dick Rodgers undertook a public fast...
After her release, she was flown to Britain... a vast crowd greeted her at Heathrow Airport...the conversations we had with her and Igor stay in the mind. Most of all, I remember her telling us about the experience that she described in one of her poems -of being in a freezing, filthy prison cell at night, crouched against a wall, and experiencing a sudden glow of joy and warmth: some one out there is praying for me at this moment...
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Thank you for publicising this sad news Joanna. I met Irina a couple of times and interviewed her. She was a most inspirational person and politically astute too. A shining example of hope and perseverance to us all. May she rest in peace.
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