Simultaneous Triangularization

Heydar Radjavi was born and raised in Tabriz and did not leave that city until he was admitted to the University of Tehran in 1953. He was in love with modern Persian literature and dreamed of being a writer until he switched to mathematics at the end of high school (but that is another story). He received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota, in 1962 and taught in Iranian, American, and Canadian universities until he moved permanently to Canada in 1972. He now lives in Waterloo, Ontario, with his wife Ursula. He has published books and articles in mathematical journals, and was known to most of his friends and acquaintances as a mathematician until his first collection of short stories, French Hats in Iran, published in 2011. Father Takes a Drink is his second collection of memories of old Iran.