:'-( Mike has been and will be missed. On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 4:47 PM, Matt Sohn <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Forwarded message from Mitchell Heller: > > Very sorry to report that Mike Richter, who many of you knew from various > news groups, and created may interesting DVDs devoted to the history of > opera has passed away. His obituary is below > > Michael D. Richter, who died today in Glenview, Illinois following a brief > illness, gained international recognition in two unrelated fields in his 74 > year lifetime: computer applications in space technology, and the > preservation of opera recordings. > > With only a Bachelor�s degree in mathematics from the University of > Chicago as academic training, in 1969 he was one of 100 civilian recipients > of the Presidential Medal recognizing �those who made Apollo fly�, for his > work at M.I.T. Labs in designing micro-computer applications in the Apollo > guidance systems, largely done before the first micro-computers had been > built. After a brief stop at Commodore Corporation, where he designed > proprietary software including the first letter-merging program and the > first practical word processor for the Commodore 64 (the first widely > marketed home computer), he moved on to the TRW Corporation�s aerospace > division in Los Angeles, where his work included theoretical computer > applications that later became known as digital photography � which began > when he used his own Commodore computer to correct over-exposed photos he > had taken as a semi-professional photographer. > > After a viral infection of the heart forced him to take permanent > disability while still in his 40�s, Mike began what he called his �second > life�, immersing himself the world of opera. Having been active on the > internet since its inception as a link between the handful of universities > and labs working on Apollo, he established �Opera-L�, which soon became the > second most active web site for opera enthusiasts � second only to the site > sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. He soon established a second web site > as a means of information exchange between the most knowledgeable opera > supporters, performers and behind the scenes professionals. Already well on > the way to accumulating what would become one of the largest privately-held > opera recording collections in the world, in the 1980s, Mike turned his > computer skills to the preservation of opera recordings. Mike�s computer > enhanced Edison cylinders, otherwise unrecorded live performances made > during World War II for servicemen in isolated posts onto CD�s, and rare > vintage recordings to clarify the sound to a level better than the > original. As rights to these obscure and often illicit recordings could > never be obtained, he then distributed a handful of copies at cost to a few > serious collectors, with copies available to the public at the Library of > Congress, The University of Pittsburg and at music evenings he often hosted > at his home in Los Angeles. Although he never claimed the credit, more than > one member of the opera community believes that his transcription of a > secret wire recording of a class taught in the 1950s at the Met by Maria > Callas was the inspiration for the Tony Award winning musical �The Master > Class�. > > A heart attack in 2009 forced Mike to give up these activities, transfer > his opera recordings to a distributer who is still in the process of > cataloging and transcribing them for public release, and relocate to > Glenview, to be near his brother�s family in Deerfield and Highland Park. > Over the last four years, while a resident at the Seasons of Brookdale, he > has conducted both opera evenings and a weekly movie night for residents, > even though his voice had been reduced in the last year to little more than > a whisper. Just before his death, arrangements were made that his last > collection of commercially available opera videos and recordings � > numbering about 200 titles � will be put in circulation at the Northbrook > Public Library. > > No services will be held.