Our Book
Seattle & Tashkent: 50 Years of a Remarkable Sister City Friendship, 1973-2023
STSCA is proud to announce the release of Seattle & Tashkent: FIFTY YEARS OF A REMARKABLE SISTER CITY FRIENDSHIP, 1973-2023. This full-color, 300-page, 8.5×11-book is packed with photographs and engagingly tells the remarkable story of the first US-Soviet sister-city affiliation.
Who would have believed that, during the height of the Cold War, two cities—one American and one Soviet—would establish themselves as sister cities? But this is exactly what happened in 1973, when Seattle, Washington, USA, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, became the first Soviet-American sister cities. Their leaders and citizens created an alliance that has endured for over five decades.
This engaging, full-color book, written by former STSCA President Dan Peterson, details this alliance, as well as many other highlights of the 50-year history of the organization. By chronicling the history of the Seattle-Tashkent affiliation, this book provides informative lessons on how we can all work more closely together to promote citizen diplomacy and people-to-people exchanges and to improve the world!
Click the button above to order your copy of the book. All books ordered through our site are autographed by the author!
Dan Peterson worked in the Seattle and Shoreline Public Schools as a special education administrator, teacher, and school principal. He was a consultant for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and trained and supervised teachers at Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University. He also developed and taught professional certification courses for teachers and principals.
As a volunteer, he was president of Accent on Understanding for many years, an international teacher-exchange organization focused on exchanges with the Soviet Union, and later for eight years was President/Co-President of STSCA. During his tenure, he focused on expanding Navruz, increasing exchanges, and furthering official delegations between Seattle and Tashkent.
Dan has long been a peace activist through volunteer efforts and participation in such events as the 1990 Goodwill Games, and he and his wife have hosted over 30 educators and exchange students from multiple countries. Besides being passionate about education and peaceful international relationships, Dan is an avid backpacker and has hiked the Pacific Crest Trail across Washington.
Dan is an engaging, energetic speaker and is available to speak about the process of writing our book and STSCA’s history. Click the button above to contact Dan.