About the author
Walter M. Eisenstein is a retired City Manager, having spent the majority of his working life in service to local governments. He began his career right out of high school working as a laborer with his home town water and sewer department in Sidney, Ohio. 10 years from high school graduation in 1960, he entered into study at the Indiana University School of Medicine, graduating 2 1⁄2 years later with a B.S. Degree in Public Health in 1972. Mr. Eisenstein, upon graduation was hired as the Village Manager of Lincolnshire, Illinois. Having lost his wife, Joann to cancer in 1977 leaving him with 4 children, Maryann, Michael, Robert and Anthony to raise alone, he started his own consulting business specializing in remediation supervision of hazardous sites in Texas, California and Montana. In 1990 Mr. Eisenstein enrolled at Montana State University to work on a Master of Public Administration degree, graduating in 1992 having earned his MPA . Mr. Eisenstein then continued his service to local governments, managing cities and towns in Indiana and Michigan. In February of 2006 Mr. Eisenstein took a sabbatical from local governments and moved to Tver, Russia in order to be near the woman he loved, Maria. Maria, and Walter’s relationship with her, is the subject of this book. The story spans 4 years in their lives and describes in detail the love, caring and support Walter provided Maria, both financially and emotionally through a series of on again/off again relationship changes. The story also highlights the terrible and multiple heartbreaks that Walter endured, culminating in marriage to Maria and then her puzzling disappearance after 8 short months. Hopefully, any of the male readers of this story who may have thoughts of following in his footsteps, will take some serious lessons from Walter’s experiences
