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Farewell to Leonard Zubkoff
Back on March 29 I attended a memorial service celebrating the life of Leonard Zubkoff. I delayed posting about it here, not just because I didn't have this LJ account at the time, but because it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to say about Leonard and his life.
The memorial service was splendidly and tastefully arranged by Jan, Leonard's ex-wife who remained his best friend. Thanks to Lola for letting me know about the service. I had a cold at the time but I was able to take enough medicine to get through the event.
Leonard's friends, relatives, and colleagues went beyond the usual platitudes to speak eloquently about his life. I learned a great deal that I hadn't known about Leonard, from some details of his impressive work on the Linux operating system to his exacting taste in fancy toys (audio equipment, fast cars, and houses). Leonard's relatives told illuminating anecdotes about his childhood. Many prominent computer scientists, software engineers, and entrepreneurs spoke of how privileged they were to have worked with Leonard.
I had the pleasure of meeting many of these friends, relatives, and associates of Leonard's for the first time. I would have enjoyed their company immensely under less somber circumstances. In particular, I felt for the widow of the helicopter pilot who also died in the accident. She knew that nothing would be said about her husband, although he was equally dead, but she came to the memorial service anyway.
Leonard made major contributions to Linux. He did much of this work in his spare time, out of the goodness of his heart, earning a paycheck during the day and hacking Linux at night. Later, after joining VA Linux, he got the financial rewards he deserved, thanks to a combination of skill (the ability to write computer programs as fast as he could type), dedication (many years of hard work), luck (a fortuitously timed IPO), and wisdom (selling his VA Linux stock while it was still in the stratosphere).
Leonard was known for his generosity to his friends. Heather Alexander described with gratitude how Leonard's support made a profound impact on her career as a musician, not only because Leonard's help made it possible for her to record her music, but because she gained confidence from knowing that someone really cared about her music.
In the last year of his life, Leonard set his career aside, enjoyed life, and explored the outdoors. Sounds great if you can afford it. Why wait until retirement age to enjoy life? It is a grotesque understatement to say that getting a helicopter and flying in it around Alaska worked out badly, but I think that misses the point. I would say that we all choose which risks to take in our lives and which risks to avoid. Shall I take up hang gliding and trade stock options, or play chess and buy bank CDs? I think Leonard chose his risks thoughtfully, and that is all anyone can do.
Leonard always walked around with a twinkle in his eye. He was a good friend, and I miss him. For more about the memorial service for Leonard, see![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
figmo's account.
The memorial service was splendidly and tastefully arranged by Jan, Leonard's ex-wife who remained his best friend. Thanks to Lola for letting me know about the service. I had a cold at the time but I was able to take enough medicine to get through the event.
Leonard's friends, relatives, and colleagues went beyond the usual platitudes to speak eloquently about his life. I learned a great deal that I hadn't known about Leonard, from some details of his impressive work on the Linux operating system to his exacting taste in fancy toys (audio equipment, fast cars, and houses). Leonard's relatives told illuminating anecdotes about his childhood. Many prominent computer scientists, software engineers, and entrepreneurs spoke of how privileged they were to have worked with Leonard.
I had the pleasure of meeting many of these friends, relatives, and associates of Leonard's for the first time. I would have enjoyed their company immensely under less somber circumstances. In particular, I felt for the widow of the helicopter pilot who also died in the accident. She knew that nothing would be said about her husband, although he was equally dead, but she came to the memorial service anyway.
Leonard made major contributions to Linux. He did much of this work in his spare time, out of the goodness of his heart, earning a paycheck during the day and hacking Linux at night. Later, after joining VA Linux, he got the financial rewards he deserved, thanks to a combination of skill (the ability to write computer programs as fast as he could type), dedication (many years of hard work), luck (a fortuitously timed IPO), and wisdom (selling his VA Linux stock while it was still in the stratosphere).
Leonard was known for his generosity to his friends. Heather Alexander described with gratitude how Leonard's support made a profound impact on her career as a musician, not only because Leonard's help made it possible for her to record her music, but because she gained confidence from knowing that someone really cared about her music.
In the last year of his life, Leonard set his career aside, enjoyed life, and explored the outdoors. Sounds great if you can afford it. Why wait until retirement age to enjoy life? It is a grotesque understatement to say that getting a helicopter and flying in it around Alaska worked out badly, but I think that misses the point. I would say that we all choose which risks to take in our lives and which risks to avoid. Shall I take up hang gliding and trade stock options, or play chess and buy bank CDs? I think Leonard chose his risks thoughtfully, and that is all anyone can do.
Leonard always walked around with a twinkle in his eye. He was a good friend, and I miss him. For more about the memorial service for Leonard, see
figmo's account.