Floyd M. Gurley New Eden
Article
Letter to Eryl Cummings, 1976
Letter to Eryl Cummings, 1976
“This is to certify that I, Floyd Millard Gurley, wrote
and published that article and used a Russian pen name. All of the basic material used in that article
came from the researches and conversation with a Mr. Benjamin Franklin Allen and also from a family of white
Russian refugees who lived at the apartment house I managed in Los Angeles in those days. The
refugee family consisted of a mother and son who rented an apartment and we became quite friendly. The
lady said she was a White Russian refugee from the Ukraine and that her husband had been taken out and
shot by the Communists. She said she had adopted a new name when her relatives slipped her out of
the country so that they would not be executed for helping her. I believe her Russian name was
Rujenski. We discussed many things and she told me about the find of the Ark but as to the name of
the finder she would always break down and cry as though it was getting to close to home. I really
believe that it was her husband who was one of the flyers and who was executed. Under such circumstances,
it would have been inhumane to force her to relate such painful memories. Research since has
verified the story though and I feel it was true. The article was written up in story form with the intent of
making it more interesting to read. I wrote the story as Vladimir Roskovitsky in first person and so published
it in “New Eden” about March 1940. Apologies are hereby offered to Mr. Allen for having used some of
his material. As for clearing my name; that is not necessary as I do not count anyway. It is the Ark that
counts and if calling me a SKUNK will help your book or movie then by all means call me ‘stinky.’ Ha!
Ha!”
Floyd M. Gurley
Editor, New Eden Magazine
ArcImaging - The Search For Noah's Ark