THE USC RESEARCHERS encountered their own master builder and master trouble-shooter in Siberia – the inimitable Oleg Nazarov.
A natty family man from Chita, Siberia, and owner of a successful electronics store, Nazarov seemed an odd choice to accompany the research team into the back woods. With neither academic nor hobbyist reasons for taking the trip, he appeared at first to be a kind of hanger-on. Before long, he proved invaluable.
Dubbed “MacGyver” by USC’s Richard McIlvery – because “he had an overabundance of common sense and could make things out of thin air” – Nazarov was the man for almost any job, whether fording rivers in his hip boots ahead of the group's bus, fending off the attentions of a persistent drunkard (wearing, inexplicably, a massive white fur hat in the 80-degree heat) or just keeping the others laughing with his jokes and his antics.
“Oleg is just amazing,” says USC student Camille Perkins. “He seemed to be able to talk his way out of any situation. I have wonderful memories of him making tea with a blow torch. He also was amazing at chopping wood. Somehow, he made camping comfortable.”
Student Natalie Ross also came to admire Oleg’s many talents. “He’s the man to talk to if you need something. When we didn't have an outhouse, Oleg dug the hole for our toilet facilities – complete with two boards to stand on, over said hole.”
In addition to his blow torch, Nazarov had brought along a handy fishing device. The contraption consisted of two parts, Ross explains: “a wooden handle and a small, boxy boat that floated out to the center of the river, pulled by the current.” A long line between the two parts was strung with several fishing hooks. “I’m convinced that he could have fed himself for weeks with that contraption, a lighter and a knife,” Ross says.
For McIlvery, amused admiration blossomed into real friendship. “Oleg knew 12 words in English and I knew three in Russian, but we became friends nonetheless. We'd go off and do things – like filling pot holes – and didn't have any trouble communicating. Incredible, really, how you can develop a friendship with someone you can't understand.”
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