I have fond memories growing up with Richie Weintzweig, starting in Saktikos through HS and a few years after, until Leukemia took him at the age of 21. Tommy Maresco affectionately renamed him "Zets", Tommy renamed all his friends. He was part of a group of us that not totally in with anyone, were not in with jocks or band, not total nerds, and not total heads (OK, we dabbled a bit). I remember Richie was always working on his car and I remember jamming with Richie in High School and partying through HS, and hitting all the bars after we turned 18 (I think his favorite band was Twisted Sister, Wednesday nights at the Mad Hatter in Stony Brook). Richie had a tough edge, did not let his illness stop get him down while in a brief remission. A fighter until the bitter end. He was my first childhood friend to die and I know it hit all of us really hard, made us grow up quicker than we wanted to.