He is the famous singer poet, the author of a whale of books, songs and lyrics. He is the illustrious oceanologist, academician at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor at Moscow University, the author of hundreds academic publications. He is the seafarer who has seen almost all the seas in the world, who has searched for the legendary Atlantida, and who has been many times on the sea bottom. He is the laureate of all numerous prizes and awards, and the bearer of many decorations.    

But the matter is not that. The matter is that he still stands one of the Teachers of my generation, of the children of the 60’s, who grew up with his songs. And even now, having put on 30-40 years, we still consider his songs to be part of our souls.  

One among very few, he not only has managed to keep his fine reputation, but also the young spirit. He still composes lyrics and songs. When he stands on the stage it’s just impossible for me to figure out that our age difference is over 20 years and I still want to believe that the Atlantida is hidden exactly in that place where he searched for it.

Below is a short conversation with the hero of the jubilee.

Q: Alexander Moiseevich, what age do you feel yourself to be at?

A: Well, when I’m not ill and when I don’t look at the mirror, I feel much younger than is indicated in my passport. 

Q: What is that related to?

A: It’s because I’ve been lucky all my life in terms of having interesting work. I just have no time to think about my age, diseases and many other things. I have sailed many years in the ocean and I am used to see that a ship bound for her destination and heading for a certain direction is less subject to pitching than a ship in drift. 

Q: Sounds like the words from your song “The vessel, laid up for ever, never has tail winds”.  

A: Well, actually it was Seneca to say “When a ship is not sailing anywhere, no wind carries it”.

Q: Is there any news in the field of your main occupation?

A: This depends on what we consider to be my main occupation.

Q: The one pointed in your work record card – that’s oceanology. What’s new? 

A: Well, if we talk about my personal ardour in the academic sphere, I would say I’m getting crazy with my age and getting engaged in the things I have slight idea about. I got interested in possible relation between global biological catastrophes and inversions of magnetic fields of the Earth. Such an inversion can lead to global disasters and to replacement of some organisms with others. Some correlations have been found between such situations and reversal of sign in the planet’s past. It’s no good of course if anything alike happens, but there’s nothing to do. On the other hand, I can tell to your readers the good news: there will be no predicted by all catastrophe caused with global warming. On the contrary, a global freezing will start after a few years and my native St Petersburg-Leningrad will not go underwater.        

Q: You told me in 2006 that there would be a minor ice age.

A: Probably, a significant fall of temperature will come after 20-25 years. 

Q: So it’s about time we began to make a stock of warm clothes? 

A: Yes, sure. But don’t you worry – fall of temperature is easier to survive than the global warming. There would be nothing catastrophic and the mankind would stay alive. Something like that has already been at the beginning of 17th century. The Bosporus got iced then and the goods were delivered to Venice on ice. In August 1601 first snow fell in Russia and Moscow-river got iced. All the harvest was killed and starvation and pestilence began on the Russian territory causing Boris Godunov’s government to fall. That sharp change from heat to cold was one of the chief causes of the Time of Trouble, ending of which we celebrate nowadays as the Day of People’s Unity. Well, if we managed to live through it in the 17th century, then we have even better chances in the 21st one, having the advantages of contemporary technology.    

Q: So we are going to have another Time of Trouble?

A: Well, I wouldn’t forecast about politics…

Q: I heard about your prediction about a fracture coming along the Dead Sea line helping Arabs separate from Israel. 

A: That fracture exists already. There is a meridional cleft along the Harmon’s summit’s line up to Eilat Gulf in the Red Sea. This is so called Dead Sea transforming fault. It goes along Kineret, along the Dead Sea and further through Negev desert up to Eilat. According to the forecast, made by an Israeli geologist Arye Gilat and me, that fault will transform into a rift fissure. As a result, Israel is supposed to get separated from Jordan and the Sinai Peninsula will join it again and all that mass will go into the sea. That’s going to be the end of the intifada.

Q: When will it happen?

A: The minimal term is 18-20 million years. I gave a lecture about the topic in Tel-Aviv University. When I said about those figures, the audience became a bit gloomy. But I tried to cheer them up saying they must carry on. At the end of the day, it’s not too long remaining to wait! 

Q: Don’t you think that political cooling in Russia has anticipated the climatic one?

A: I’d like “political ice age” to be “minor”. But as any ice age is easier to go through than any mortal heat, I think we shall be able to get over it. I hope the thawing will come and maybe even a warm “political summer”.

Q: Does all what is happening now remind you of what was happening after the “Khrushchev’s thawing”, the time you must remember well?

A: It has nothing in common! The Khrushchev’s thawing was going on at the background of same authoritarian rule, absolute power by the Communist party, full control over the media, censorship and so forth. The breakthrough by Russia towards democracy in 1991 was incomparably stronger that it was after Stalin and I reckon it to be irreversible anyway. Besides, at Khrushchev we still lived behind the iron curtain built by Stalin. As for now, we have been integrated economically into the global system. That’s the strong factor that wouldn’t allow any coming back to the past. I think – and I do hope – that the country’s movement towards freedom and democracy is irreversible. However, there are alerting signals indicating that there is a trend for rehabilitation of Stalin. And 55% of the population considers that Russia is for Russians only. That’s a shame. That means people are ready to live under conditions of permanent political “freeze”.       

Q: Mass adoration of Putin, does it look like the cult of Stalin?

A: Of course, no. I can assure you, as I can compare in my memory. Grown up in the epoch of idolatry I remember well all those monsters – Hitler and Stalin. I hope that nothing like Stalin’s cult would ever repeat not only in the Russian but also in the world history. And the Khrushchev’s times neither was better. As for Putin’s cult – the standing leader is always adored in Russia. And the ex-leader is easily forgotten and easily blamed for the current difficulties.  

Q: Do you expect anything from coming of the “new leader”?

A: I think that the person coming is not the worse option among what we might have expected. As for perspectives, I cannot say anything in advance.