"The Guy from the Parts Department" by David Stern Larry was a man of few words and certain precepts and he was going to live his life and conduct his business that way, unfettered by what the world around him thought. He was not offensive about it; he was very accommodating to people. He had his own set of beliefs and procedures to live by. Over the years, Larry and I developed the kind of relationship where he would call me, or I would call him, and we''d say, "Just checking in, got a minute?" And then we would spend the better part of two hours on the phone. There was a certain intimacy to it. I tend to be plain-spoken, and if I like somebody and I think I can help them, I tend to tell them what I''m thinking. Larry would do the same. He''d tell me what he liked and didn''t like about the way the league was running.

What he liked and didn''t like about the way he perceived me to be responding to the pressures of the job and the league. Larry was an important inspiration to me : Be who you are, and learn how to feel more comfortable with it. Live by a certain value and conduct yourself that way. Larry taught me that you can be very successful, you can be a good parent, a good husband, a good member of the community and you can still be yourself. Excerpt from Peter & Natasha Serdyukov: I forever remember the day of September 25, 1998, when we had to make the decision that turned our world upside down. It was definitely one of the toughest decisions in our lives. Because of Natasha''s medical condition we would have to give up on all our life in Kiev. But we had no choice.

The price was Natasha''s life. Now, 18 years later, Natasha and I are both full professors at National University in San Diego. Our son, who thanks to Larry earned a bachelor''s degree at the University of Utah and later got his MBA at Yale, is now a financier in New York. Larry made it all possible. How could a busy man, who spent at least 100 hours a week on the job, find time to know of other people''s troubles and help them? It is a mystery, but we know now he had a motto that drove him: Go about doing good until there''s too much of good in the world . Larry lived according to his principles, and his good deeds will forever stay in many people''s lives and hearts. There is never a single day we don''t remember Larry and thank him for what he has done for us. He made the American Dream come true for our family.

When we are alone, Natasha tells me she often talks to Larry, and she believes that he hears her.