About the Author

Ilya Polyak Biographical Sketch 1937: Born in Ufa, Ural, Russia, where my father was exiled as an immigrant from Rumania; my mother was also exiled there from Leningrad in a stream of mass repression after Kirov's (one of the Party leaders) murder. 1941-1942: Resident of the Blockaded Leningrad (In 1989, I was given a memorial medal). 1942: Evacuated (almost dead) from Blockaded Leningrad on the icy "Road of Life" through frozen Ladoga Lake to Siberia. 1942-1946: Our family was in evacuation in Omsk. 1946: My parents were thrown into prison. 1946-1948: With brother and sister, I was an inmate of the Children's Receptor-Distributor (a kind of transit prison for children) in Luga, not far from Leningrad. The DPR's children were not schooled, so we lost two years of schooling. I escaped from that DPR eight times. 1948-1951: We were inmates of the Children's Home No. 26, Leningrad, 10 Prilukskaya Street. 1951: I was expelled from the Children's Home, from the school, and from the Komsomol for improper behavior. 1951-1956: In exile with parents in Ishim, Siberia, where, during the first year, our family of five lived in a dug out, underground hole of about 9x7x6 feet in size. 1955: My parents were fully acquitted (after Stalin's crimes were exposed). 1957: Graduated from high school with honor and started Leningrad University in the Department of Mathematics. 1962: Graduated from the University with a master's degree in mathematics. 1966: Ph.D. degree. 1975: Doctor of sciences degree in physics and mathematics. 1962-1989: Researcher, head of the software lab, professor of mathematics. 1978 (October, November): a scientist at the World Meteorological Organization, UN, Geneva. 1983: Finished a novel about the DPR. 1990: In a tough competition with outstanding works of living and dead famous Russian writers, my novel "The Songs of the Bedraggled Children's Receptor-Distributor" was published by the Moscow thick literary magazine "October" No. 1. It received excellent reviews in Russia and in the United States (version in English: "I Am Your Prisoner for Life," Vantage Press, New York, 2000.) 1990: Emigrated to the United States. 1992-2003: Visiting Associate Professor at Texas A&M University, NASA Senior Scientist, methodologies and software developer at several companies. 1962-1996: Published four scientific books and many papers. 1996: Became a citizen of the United States. 2003: Retired as scientist.