Cynthia Dickstein has led a rich life of drama, world travel, and adventure, as she proves over and over again in her memoir, Paths of Stones. The story she tells begins in a shtetl in Russia, where oppression and tragedy drove her family to emigrate to the United States. Cynthia’s life brought the story full circle as she organized and led numerous professional exchange groups to and from America to Russia during the Cold War and beyond. She provides the historical backdrop as we follow her into places as varied as Mongolia's Gobi Desert, the streets of Moscow and Iran. She falls in love, celebrates friendship, mourns losses, and even has a confrontation with the KGB—which she wins! The book is a tribute to the complexity of life, along with Cynthia's open mind, heart, and desire to understand other cultures. The reader is in for a treat.

        —Maura Casey, Former editorial writer for the New York Times

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Paths of Stones is a memoir of the author’s rich and purposeful life and that of her hard-working immigrant relatives. It is one part Russian history; one part investigative journalism as she uncovers facts about her extended family — including one she found by accident in a way that almost defies belief — and one part fascinating travelogue, as Cynthia brings the reader along with her on some of the 20 professional trips she has taken to Russia and the former USSR (in the middle of the Cold War), as well as Mongolia and Iran. But most of all, Paths of Stones is a celebration of life, love, and friendship, as the author learns about the family members who came before her and the extraordinary journeys they traveled. In so doing, she learns much about her own magical life and her own journey as well.

-Timothy Leland, Pulitzer Prize winner and founder

of the Boston Globe Spotlight Team

 Publication Date: March 31, 2024

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Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats.

About the Author

Cynthia Dickstein began her professional career working for Ealing Corporation in Cambridge, MA doing advertising and public relations. After later receiving a master’s degree in teaching the blind and then working for Braille Institute in Los Angeles for five years, she worked in the private sector and organized non-political international, cultural, and professional exchanges for 25 years.

    She first worked for Citizen Exchange Council, Inc., based in NY, then served as the president of the Organization for International Professional Exchanges, Inc., (OASES) a private, non-profit organization in Cambridge, MA, which was renamed International Professional Exchanges (IPEX). Concurrently, she served as the Director of the Foreign Exchange program of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors Foundation (NESNE) from 1984-2005.

Ms. Dickstein is also a freelance writer who has been published throughout New England, most frequently on the op-ed page of the Boston Globe. In 2001, she moved to Tucson, where for several years she served on the Board of Access Tucson and then became the host of their talk show Political Perspectives. She was a member of Social Venture Partners, Inc., where she was the curator of their Diversity and Inclusion Resource online library. Currently, she is a mentor editor for the Op Ed Project. She lives with her cherished husband Frank, their sweet cat Zeke, and their spirited dog Taavi.

 Cynthia’s email: cdickstein@gmail.com