V.I.Shiv'ev rodilsya 27 oktyabrya 1964 g. v g.Zheleznodorozhnom Moskovskoi oblasti. V shkole on uvleksya astronomiei, neskol'ko let zanimalsya v astronomicheskom kruzhke Vega, a posle shkoly postupil na astronomicheskoe otdelenie MGU, kotoroe zakonchil v 1988 g. Mnogie pokoleniya kruzhkovcev moskovskogo Doma nauchno-tehnicheskogo tvorchestva molodezhi (DNTTM) i astronomicheskoi shkoly Vega, v kotoryh on rabotal rukovoditelem kruzhkov, do sih por vspominayut ego uvlekatel'nye zanyatiya, vechernie i nochnye nablyudeniya, ego igru na gitare i penie. K prepodavaniyu on podhodil neformal'no, na ravnyh vystraivaya obshenie s rebyatami. Mnogo let V.I.Shiv'ev posvyatil rabote v zhurnale Zemlya i Vselennaya, gde on vel neskol'ko rubrik. V poslednie gody Valerii Ivanovich ser'ezno bolel, perenes dva insul'ta, no nahodil v sebe sily borot'sya s boleznyami zanimalsya napolneniem saita regional'nogo detskogo konkursa Era fantastiki, ocifrovkoi arhiva zhurnala ZiV, uchastvoval v rabote pedagogicheskih seminarov. Kollegi budut pomnit' ego.