Richard Evan Ziegfeld passed away in his home in Beltsville, Md., on Sun., Feb. 23, 2020. He was born on Oct. 4, 1948, in Mount Morris, Ill. to Arthur and Marjorie (Day) Ziegfeld. He is survived by his wife, Hyon Mi So; son, Adam Ziegfeld, and daughter-in-law, Michele Margolis; grandsons Rafael and Avi; brother, Bob, and sister-in-law, Betty, and their family.

He completed his undergraduate studies at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and received a master’s degree in German and Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Texas, Austin. After serving as a professor at the University of South Carolina, he left academia for the private sector, where we worked for nearly 40 years in business communications, largely in the fields of aerospace and technology. He was the author of several books, including Stanislaw Lem—a biography and treatment of the literary works of Stanislaw Lem, a visionary Polish science-fiction writer—and The Ziegfeld Touch, a biography of the legendary Broadway producer Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., who was a distant cousin. He was a proud father, loving grandfather, voracious reader, and, along with his wife, Hyon Mi, an avid traveler and enthusiast for the arts.