Passing of an Idol

I was in grade 10, traveling across Canada and the U.S. when my dad first introduced me to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. I was enthralled with his tale of life in the GULAG, it was one of those turning points in my life when I was turned on to the need to fight injustice. I have a very strong sense of justice and closure, and I owe a great deal of that to the late Solzhenitsyn and his works - The GULAG Archepelago, The First Circle, The Cancer Ward, and others. I wish I could have met the man that helped elucidate the horrors of Soviet Russia. That will have to wait for another lifetime.