Nicholas Riasanovsky in memoriam

Professor Nicholas Riasanovsky (1923-2011), long time professor of Russian history at the University of California, Berekey, died earlier this year--yes, I agree, that sometimes it takes news a long time to reach me.  He was one of the key figures in the development of Russian history studies in the US, as his graduate students filled positions everywhere in American universities, and everyone used his popular History of Russia, now in its eighth or ninth edition.  Here is the link to the New York Times obituary and one from UC Berkely.  I met him once in the 1980s when he visited the University of Virginia.  I do not recall really speaking with him at all; what I do recall was that he was a passionate sports fan and insisted that he attend a UVa soccer game while he was there.  He later wrote up some notes for me about how he got interested in Russian history as a field of study.