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Planning a Birthday

Guy Barzvi was excited about turning 30 next February. He told his younger sister, Lori, that he was spending too much time on work and too little time on himself. But that was about to change.

"He was trying to figure out how he could have more quality of life," Lori said.

The son of Israeli immigrants, Guy often wandered far from his home in Forest Hills, Queens. He had traveled to Seville, Spain, and yearned to return sometime soon. In the meantime, he learned to salsa and strum flamenco on a guitar. Not long ago, he began making plans for his birthday. He had heard of a party scheduled for that day at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, and wanted to join the festivities. His sister planned to invite his friends along to sing "Happy Birthday." "He's just the best guy that I've ever known," she said. "We're still hoping that we'll find him."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 20, 2001.