"Usenix," (a word coined to get around trademark restrictions on the word "Unix") is the Advanced Computing Systems Association. W. Richard Stevens is the author of "TCP/IP Illustrated" and "Unix Network Programming," each of which runs to three volumes, and "Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment." Their influence among Unix users is hard to overstate. Thousands of programmers all over the world consider Stevens a guru and his works essential to their jobs.

"It blew my mind," says his sister, Claire Stevens. "I knew he wrote those books, but it never made a dent. I had absolutely no idea that all these people knew and were touched by him." Claire and Richard's wife, Sally, accepted the award on Stevens' behalf. Stevens died on Sept. 1, 1999. He was 48 years old.

His death hit the close-knit Unix community hard. Fiercely intelligent and deeply private, Stevens set an example for everyone in the Unix world. What he didn't know, he determined to find out; what he did know, he strove to pass on to anyone who was interested. A year after his death, memories of one of the Unix community's most beloved experts are still fresh and vital.

Christiansen's recollection is typical. The two were casual acquaintances from the academic conference circuit. "I remember I was doodling around on the piano, and Richard came over and said, 'I heard you doing that at some other conference and it inspired me to take up the piano again,'" Christiansen says. "On subsequent meetings he would tell me all about his progress. As with everything he talked about that he really loved, his eyes just kind of sparkled."

With Christiansen, Stevens talked about music. With cryptographer Greg Rose, a fellow pilot, he talked about flying. With Dave Hanson, who sat on the committee to assess his doctoral thesis, Stevens talked about yet another shared passion, skiing. To everyone who knew him, it seemed he cared about the things that mattered most to them.

"He was a very good listener and he knew something about every subject," says Claire. "He could always contribute something, or at least sound intelligent."

Yet Stevens was also an extraordinarily private man. Christiansen, Rose and Hanson all knew him for years, yet none felt that they knew him well. "I wouldn't say he was complex, but because of his intelligence he could come across that way," Claire admits.

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