I am the Only Kagan!

Every person is unique. So am I. The author of this blog is the Only Kagan! I was born in Belarus, the former Soviet Union. At the age of 14, I left my native city of Minsk and entered Leningrad Military High School, a school named after Suvorov (a famous military commander of the 18th century). Later, I graduated from an elite military college with a degree in journalism and served in the Soviet Army for 3 1/2 years as a lieutenant. I resigned from the Soviet Communist Party and left the Army in 1991, right after the KGB engineered the military assault on the Lithuanian TV Station.

In the same year, I married a beautiful Jewish girl whose father lived in the United States. In 1993, I emigrated to the U.S. with my wife and my 10-month-old son. And here I am, a Russian-speaking Jewish American citizen living in Brighton Beach. It took me more than four years to graduate from Baruch College in 1999 with major in Marketing Advertising and minor in Political Science. After 13 years in USA, I decided to run for New York State Assembly. I lost my first political race, but it was quite an experience (I received 49.2% of the total vote, while winning the majority of the Russian community).

As a journalist for a Russian-language newspaper, radio, and the TV, I would like to share my knowledge and my passion about the Russian-speaking community. This blog will help you to learn more about interesting people I met during my journalistic and political career here. I would be glad to hear your comments and suggestions. I promise this blog will be controversial, fascinating, and useful!