Da Svedanya, Aleksandr Isaevich

Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn, one of the great writers of the 20th Century, has died at the age of 89.

Calling Solzhenitsyn a "writer" is like calling Michelangelo a "ceiling painter." If you have not read any of his works, you absolutely should read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which was made into an episode of "The Chrysler Theatre" on CBS in 1963.

Solzhenitsyn forced the world to confront the brutality that was the Soviet Union during the height of the Gulag in Stalin's time. He was indeed a flawed man, but we all are flawed, to one degree or another. He was a Russian right down to the soles of his feet and seemed to favor an authoritarian state, if such a state could be run humanely (which is rare in human history).

If I were to sum him up in a few words, it would be these: He was a fine writer and a brave man.