Stephen Speicher - 1939 - 2007
Betsy Speicher
history, philosophy, and the arts, passionate valuer, and Objectivist
activist passed away on March 31, 2007.
Stephen was born on December 13, 1939 in New York City. When he discovered
Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, in the late 1950s, its vision of
man's heroic potential inspired him his entire life -- an ideal he shared
with Betsy, his loving wife of forty years.
Stephen's first career was as a computer programmer who rose to be
Vice-President of Programming Methods, Inc., the largest independent
computer software consulting company in the world. He then returned to
school earning a BS and MS from Columbia University in Structural
Mechanics.
Stephen and Betsy came to California in 1978 where Stephen developed top
secret mathematical analysis methods and software for the Defense Nuclear
Agency. He was also accepted into the PhD program at CalTech where he
studied with Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. Between
1985-1988 Stephen took over the full-time parenting responsibilities from
Betsy for their son Matthew. When Matt began first grade, Stephen began a
14-year career at CalTech as a Scientific Researcher in Computational
Biology creating software tools for the Human Genome Project and stem cell
research.
Stephen explained everyday science when he was "Mr. Science from CalTech"
on KGIL morning radio. As a recognized authority on relativity, he
contributed to the Einstein Papers Project and was chosen by CalTech to
discuss relativity for a PBS science special. Stephen was an early
advocate of Dr. Lewis Little's new quantum theory, the Theory of
Elementary Waves (TEW), wrote extensively on it, and introduced Dr. Little
when he gave his first lecture on the TEW at CalTech.
Stephen was active in internet discussions of physics and Objectivism for
two decades and founded The Forum for Ayn Rand Fans
(http://www.4aynrandfans.com) serving as moderator, expert, mentor,
cheerleader, friend, and inspiration to over 1000 members.
Stephen is survived by his wife Betsy, son Matthew, and sisters Rita
Speicher and Hedy Berman.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, April 6, at 2:30 PM at Valley
Oaks Memorial Park, 5600 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village, CA.
Friends are welcome to come and celebrate Stephen's life and/or to e-mail
their pictures and remembrances to Betsy. In lieu of flowers, donations in
Stephen's name can be made to the Ayn Rand Institute Books for Teachers
Project (http://www.aynrand.org/support_free_books).
Robert J. Kolker
> Stephen Speicher, physicist, mathematician, scholar and writer on
> science, history, philosophy, and the arts, passionate valuer, and
> Objectivist activist passed away on March 31, 2007.
My condolences, Betsy, to you and Matt. Hang tough.
Bob Kolker
TC
The world has one less stimulating debater.
I'm suprised he was pushing seventy.
I always judged his age by the web picture
http://www.speicher.com/pictures/sjs.gif
in which he looks much younger.
Tom
John Alway
> Stephen Speicher, physicist, mathematician, scholar and writer on science,
> history, philosophy, and the arts, passionate valuer, and Objectivist
> activist passed away on March 31, 2007.
...
You can find this same message, with a picture of Stephen on The
Forum website here:
http://forums.4aynrandfans.com/index.php?showtopic=5969&hl=
...John
Tim Skirvin
> Stephen Speicher, physicist, mathematician, scholar and writer on science,
> history, philosophy, and the arts, passionate valuer, and Objectivist
> activist passed away on March 31, 2007.
My condolences, Betsy.
- Tim Skirvin (tski...@killfile.org)
Moderator, humanities.philosophy.objectivism
--
http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/hpo/ humanities.philosophy.objectivism
http://www.killfile.org/donations.html killfile.org donations
Bert Clanton
John Alway <jal...@gmail.com> wrote:
> You can find... a picture of Stephen on The
> Forum website here:
> http://forums.4aynrandfans.com/index.php?showtopic=5969&hl=
>
A very nice looking couple.
Betsy, my condolences. I know what it's like to lose a beloved mate.
Best wishes,
Bert
--
łIt is no measure of sanity to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick
society.
--Jiddu Krishnamurti
Pericles
It is always hard to lose someone when they are so active in living
life. I had an uncle pass away of a heart attack shortly after going
to his gym on a Monday morning. He was about Stephen's age, and
always busy with organizing family gatherings, and his kids and
career. Our family seems much quieter without him.
I'm sure I will notice Stephen's absence, because even though I never
met him I admired him greatly and always appreciated reading his
writing.
JimP
> Stephen Speicher, physicist, mathematician, scholar and writer on science,
> history, philosophy, and the arts, passionate valuer, and Objectivist
> activist passed away on March 31, 2007.
Condolences, Betsy.
Best Wishes,
Jim P.