Anton Pavlovich Chekhov spent 6 of the last 7 years of his life at Yalta (located on the Crimean Peninsula) where he had a house constructed in order that he might live in a climate favorable to his failing health. During these years Chekhov married the actress Olga Knipper and met Leo Tolstoy, who was near the end of his life. Chekhov also exchanged letters with Maxim Gorky concerning writing style and technique. As he became more ill with tuberculosis, Chekhov was able to work less, but he recovered sufficiently to work on a number of short stories and to finish his play, "The Cherry Orchard." On a visit with Olga to a spa in Baderweiler, Germany in 1904, Chekhov became seriously ill and died. His house in Yalta is now a museum. (KEH)