"The Sail" Leading to Distant Goals

From 1992 to 2015, the Novorossiysk school newspaper Parus (Sail) did more than report campus news—it launched futures. In this documentary-memoir, Sergey Konyashin—a former Parus cadet and two-time “Young Journalist of the Year” in Novorossiysk (1999, 2000)—reconstructs how a modest student paper took shape, found its bearings, and grew into a force that influenced the children’s press across the city and far beyond.

Blending personal remembrance with cultural history, "The Sail" Leading to Distant Goals takes readers inside bustling editorial rooms, deadline days, and the mentorship networks that turned curious teenagers into confident reporters. Along the way, Konyashin traces how Parus helped define the role of school media within Novorossiysk’s system of supplemental education—and how the paper shaped the lives of many gifted local children, including his own path into national journalism and diplomacy.

Part origin story, part coming-of-age chronicle, this book will resonate with anyone interested in youth media, post-Soviet civic life, and the enduring power of a well-made newspaper to change young people—and the places they call home.