Stella's Stories: A Memoir about a Bold Ukrainian Widow in Upstate New York

by Marshall Hollander

Stella's A Memoir About a Bold Ukrainian Widow in Upstate New York portrays the unlikely but fascinating friendship that developed between a young man from New York City and a tough Ukrainian widow in very rural Upstate New York in the early 1970s. Although in her early years, Stella, whose Ukrainian-Russian name is Anastasia Zawko Maksuta, endured the harsh and demanding lifestyle of a dairy farmer, she was no typical country hayseed. Her fortitude, willpower, tolerance, and humanity guided her as she overcame the loss of her husband and embraced a rural lifestyle, often alone. She found companionship in her young neighbor and shared stories of her life with him. Together they explored country living, harvested natural food, frequented the Holy Trinity Monastery, and shared disparate customs and cultures. Stella was a consummate storyteller. Fortunately the author kept detailed notes of her stories and speech as she blended her Ukrainian heritage with rural American life.
Stella’s stories are real, raw unfiltered vignettes that span her lifetime. The remarkable birth of a sibling in a cornfield. A tragic death of a young girl in a barnyard. A lighthearted encounter with a drunken Russian monk. A sacred Easter service at the Russian Orthodox monastery. Harvesting mushrooms and blackberries in the wooded hills of Upstate New York. Each story is an adventure into the world and mind, the time and place of a remarkable woman.

279 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 2026