Peter A. Gorin

WILLIAMSBURG - Peter Alexander Gorin passed from this world on Friday, Jan. 16, at Sentara Heart Hospital. He, with his family, was a resident of James City County where he lived since 1993. Mr. Gorin emigrated from Russia in 1990 to seek a better life for his family. He was a respected and noted air-space historian with expertise on new development and the U.S.-Soviet space race. Mr. Gorin was a recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship at the Smithsonian Institute where he contributed to projects of the Air Space Museum in its collection of Soviet and Russian aerospace programs and materiel. He authored many articles in U.S. and British Aerospace journals, and made appearances on the Discovery Channel as well as the Canadian broadcasting Corporation. He was a frequent lecturer on aerospace including the Virginia Air Space Center in Hampton. He made frequent guest appearances at Christopher Newport University where he lectured on Russian politics; at CNU he was responsible for the guest appearance of Sergei Khrushchev on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Cuba missile Crisis. He also lectured at the College of William and Mary Town and Gown, and the World Affairs Council of greater Hampton Road.
He is survived by his wife, Natalie (Natalia) and his two sons, Kirill who attends Old Dominion University and Alexander who is a student in the W-JCC school system. Kirill learned the day following his father's death that he had been named the ODU School of Engineering Dean's List. Mr. Gorin was most recently employed by a Homeland security contractor. Mr. Gorin will be buried in his adopted home town of Williamsburg. A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, at Cedar Grove Cemetery. Online condolences may be registered at bucktroutfuneralhome.net. Bucktrout of Williamsburg is in charge of the arrangements. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.