Len Ragozin, who created The Ragozin Sheets, died peacefully the evening of May 13 at The Village at White River Junction in White River Junction, Vt. He was 92.
Ragozin described his work in the pre-computer era of working out the algorithms that became The Ragozin Sheets and his handicapping techniques in a book: The Odds Must Be Crazy. The Sheets are still data providers of Thoroughbred horse performance records for racing's leading owners, trainers, and handicappers.
When Ragozin sold the now computerized company producing The Sheets, he donated most the sale proceeds to fund the Len Ragozin Foundation, which provides support to groups and individuals working on innovative ways to put progressive ideas into practice.
Ragozin lived most of his adult life in Manhattan. He lived frugally and devoted much of his efforts and the profits of The Ragozin Sheets to anti-racist, pro-worker progressive causes.
He attended City and Country School in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, a more than a 100-year-old groundbreaking progressive elementary school, and provided a life-saving mortgage when it faced financial difficulties during the 1970s. He also attended Harvard University.
As he requested, Ragozin was cremated without ceremony. No memorials are currently planned.
His survivors in Vermont are his daughter, Alexa Manning; his granddaughter, Adeline Manning; and his ex-wife and long-time best friend, Marion Buhagiar. He is also survived by a sister, Nikki Keddie, and brother, David Ragozin, on the West Coast.
