VLADIMIR POZNER┬а(1905тАУ1992) was a French writer of Russian descent, whose prestigious career as a novelist took off in the 1930s with the publication of┬аTolsto├п est Mort┬а(Tolstoy is Dead) and┬аLes mors aux dents┬а(published in English as┬аBloody Baron: The Story of Ungern-Sternberg). A militant antifascist who took refuge in the U.S. during the war, Pozner worked as a Hollywood screenwriter, eventually befriending Bertolt Brecht and Charlie Chaplin, and writing the Oscar-winning script for┬аThe Dark Mirror, a film noir crime drama.┬аBackpacker, raconteur, and pioneer of literary styles, Pozner dedicated his life to giving a testimony of his times.┬а
ALISON L. STRAYER is a Canadian writer and translator, author of Jardin et prairie, a novel, and numerous literary essays, articles, and stories. She lives in Paris and recently completed a novel in English.