I don't know if this is allowed in the Forum, but I've read obituaries for great personalities like Jim Williams and Bob Pease, so I'll take the liberty to announce the premature death of Professor Dr. Eng. Pietro Silingardi, aged 77, who was hit by a car on the pedestrian crosswalk on January 26 in Modena, Italy.
Only from the news I understood that he was only 11 years older than me..
He was my Electronics teacher from 1967 to 1969 at the "Fermo Corni" technical high school.
A fellow student wrote me:
In the dark atmosphere of those years (it was 1968, if somebody remembers), he was a ray of light. He taught electronics (well) and also taught us how to face, with a bit of irony, the difficulties of life. I felt he was "great" and I find now that we were only 12 years apart ... that the earth will be light on you, Prof. You deserve it.
These words (from my friend Renato Azzoni) can be mine or by the hundreds of students who learned how to design a circuit, and how to be coherent with themselves and honest with the world.
Attached you'll find a photo of Dr. Silingardi, and a copy of one page of one of my notebooks, dated 1967, saved from an attempt to clean up by my wife.
Best regards
Maurizio Laffi