Joshua M. Piver spent his summers on the water, working at a boat yard in his hometown of Stonington, Conn., and sailing and kayaking every chance he got. His friends remember him as someone who stayed calm in all sorts of situations. "I'm the only person who ever caused him to lose his temper, and that's because I was trying to," said David Wilson, who met him in the fourth grade, went through the University of Vermont with him and was set to live with him in Brooklyn last fall. Socializing with Mr. Piver was always deflating, he added: "He was tall, extremely good-looking, and girls never talked to me when he was around."

He graduated in 2000 with a degree in economics and went to work at Cantor Fitzgerald, on the 105th floor of 1 World Trade Center. He traded pollution credits and energy credits for a TradeSpark subsidiary, said his sister, Erica.

His passions ranged from jazz and the movie "Dr. Strangelove," to food. "He loved living in New York and going to restaurants and going to movies and all of those things," said Rebecca Stevens, a friend. "He was just so excited about everything."

   9/11: The Reckoning