geoff writes "Just a short while ago, Slava Bizyayev died unexpectedly. Slava contributed several modules to CPAN, including the popular Apache::Dynagzip compression filter for mod_perl. Dan Hansen, a close friend of Slava, wrote a memorial notice and asked that we share it with the Perl community. As a close community, we deeply regret the passing of our own. If you are interested in shepherding Slava's CPAN work, please contact the module list at modules@perl.org."
Dan writes:
"My friend, Slava (Vyacheslav) Bizyayev, passed away on Thursday, January 19, 2006, of an apparent heart attack, at his home in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Slava came to the U.S. in 1999, and I met him while recruiting perl programmers at Outlook Technologies in Chicago, Illinois. Slava had, for about a year and a half, been living in London, due to the availability of work there and the lack of companies still sponsoring H1-B visa holders. Due to other visa-related and personal circumstances, his wife, Irina, and his 12-year-old son, Nick, had to remain behind at their apartment in North Riverside, Illinois. The family was reunited in Yekaterinburg late last year. Tragically, at the time of his death, Slava had just accepted an attractive offer for a position in his field, and was looking forward to beginning a new chapter in his life.
Slava had come to the States full of hope for starting a new life for himself and his family, and it was a very frustrating experience seeing his struggle to hold on to that life in the face of the economic and immigration barriers that eventually resulted in his return to Russia.
Over the years of our acquaintance, Slava had become my best friend. As I sit here almost two months later, I still find it difficult to believe that he is gone. Slava, Irina and Nick, while they were here, were frequent visitors in our home, and I have many wonderful memories of sitting with him on our deck, sipping his favorite "visky", smoking our pipes (a shared passion of ours) and listening to him relate amazing anecdotes of his life and career as a scientist in the bad old days of the USSR.
I am in the process of establishing a mechanism for Slava's friends and colleagues to contribute to a college fund for Nick, or, if you prefer, to offer financial support directly to Irina. One method would be to purchase US Savings Bonds in his name (Nikolai Bizyayev). Please visit this site -- http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/sav/sav.htm -- for more information. My wife is in contact with Irina and is attempting to get Nick's Social Security Number from her (makes purchasing of bonds as gifts easier) I am also trying to get a PayPal account set up to facilitate direct contributions. Please contact me danNO@SPAManacys.com) directly if you are interested in helping.
Thank you.
Dan Hansen"
