30 Years with Vladimir Gerdt

My first meeting with Vladimir was in March 1990. I had started two months before as a Ph.D. student of Jacques Calmet in the computer science department of Karlsruhe University and Vladimir was visiting our computer algebra group for a seminar talk on his research. For him, it was one of his first travels into the west, as under Soviet rule he was not considered as sufficiently politically reliable for travels outside of the eastern block. It turned out that after his visit we were both riding on the same train to France. Although we were travelling to different locations, we spent several hours together on the train discussing many things. Probably none of us expected that this was the beginning of a lifelong collaboration and friendship!