Pavel Kushkins book Bronze Cubs has been published, dedicated to the lives of about a hundred famous football players of the Irkutsk region from the 1950s to today. The book tells not only of sports achievements but also of the people themselves, whose lives were often difficult and even dramatic, and is richly illustrated with photos. The title refers to the bronze medals won by Alexander Vedeneevs pupils at the USSR championship in 1963.
The book, with a print run of 1,000 copies, tells in detail the stories of the lives of about a hundred renowned football players from the Irkutsk Region, from the 1950s to the present day. The title of the book, “Bronze of the Cubs,” is connected with the successful performance of the pupils of the legendary coach Alexander Vedeneev at the USSR football championship in 1963 in Kaliningrad, where the boys won bronze medals.The distinctive feature of the publication is that the author does not merely recount the sporting achievements of the football players of our region, but characterizes these people as individuals, with their own, not simple, and at times dramatic destinies. The book is illustrated with a large number of photographs.
Pavel Kushkin is a member of the Union of Journalists of Russia and an Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation. He has worked in the Irkutsk media since 1966. He covered the Olympic Games in Moscow (1980), Barcelona (1992), and Atlanta (1996). He is the author of the books “Salt Medal,” “Bread and Sport,” “Those Who Overcame Circumstances,” “Beyond the Edge of Risk,” “Football in Our Lives,” “Don’t Think of Seconds Too Loftily,” and others.