Before you is a book of memoirs of the famous St. Petersburg sculptor, People's Artist of Russia, Honored Cultural Worker of Poland, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts Grigory Danilovich Yastrebenetsky. Today the author is ninety-five. In his notes, he appears as a subtle observer, summing up the results of his own many years of work, reflecting on the problems of creativity and the vicissitudes of fate, analyzing his teaching experience. And all this - in the accessible form of a witty, confidential story. What stands out here are memories of the war, the blockade, and stories about colleagues - fellow students at the Repin Institute, who did not live to see Victory Day, and whose talents remained unrealized.