MICHAEL J. RIEZENMAN, ASH
Remembering The Right Honourable Trelawney Hope
by Susan Rice
Mike passed through the Reichenbach on January 27th of 2014. He had moved through life for five years with the aid of an electric cart, but he walked through the Falls on his own.
Mike graduated from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, and his first job was in the aerospace industry with Grumman. His unusual facility as a technical writer was soon uncovered, so it was in that field he made his career and his name. He wrote for several technical publications, the last being IEEE Spectrum where he was Chief Technical Writer, specializing in electronic and hybrid vehicles.
For most of his life, he enjoyed reading Holmes and meeting with Sherlockians and was published in both the Muse and the BSJ. Mike also took great pleasure in Gilbert and Sullivan, P.G. Wodehouse, the Nero Wolfe canon, and Chinese food, not necessarily in that order.
He met his true love, Paula (Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope), more than fifteen years ago when they served on the same grand jury. Paula changed her bus route for an errand and found Mike at the bus stop so they boarded together. On that first ride romance bloomed, and they were wed in the courtroom where they met by the judge who had presided over the grand jury.
After they were married, Paula was surprised to discover that Mike was an expert cook, who enjoyed testing his skills with a wide variety of cuisines and ingredients. For years, Paula went into the kitchen only for a glass of water or a look from the window. They never ceased delighting each other, even after a blow to Mike’s head required years of slow and difficult therapy and major adjustments for both of them.
