Rejoinder

When Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States in 1959, his arrival in Hollywood was celebrated with a huge dinner at which film celebrities and members of the Russian delegation were guests.

Charlton Heston... attempted to make small talk with Mikhail Sholokhov, the Soviet novelist who would win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1965. "I have read excerpts from your works," Heston said.

"Thank you," Sholokhov replied. "When we get some of your films, I shall not fail to watch some excerpts from them."

Anecdote found at "Nikita in Hollywood" in the July 2009 issue of Smithsonian.