I am self-employed in research to make the built environment more accessible to people who are blind or who have low vision. Most of my research is federally funded by one mechanism or another, and some of it is conducted through Boston College, where I have an adjunct appointment in Psychology. I have worked for more than 40 exciting and challenging years as a teacher, teacher-of-teachers, consultant, and researcher in the field of education and rehabilitation of people who are visually impaired.
I have lived in Berlin since 1975 and raised my fine son here. Torsten is now 27, a wildlife biologist, married, and living and doing research in Alaska. He and Rebecca live, by choice, in an old mining cabin without electricity or running water. Torsten has become a subsistence hunter, and he and Becky also catch about 100 lb. of Copper River salmon each year to fill their larder. Attending what may be the top wildlife biology program in the country, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Torsten felt that he had a better background in science from Tahanto Regional High School than most of his fellow students.
In Berlin, I have been active for many years in First Parish Church, a federated United Church of Christ / Unitarian Universalist congregation, where I sing in the choir and rotate among a number of leadership positions. I’m also active in the Berlin Art and Historical Society and am interested in historic preservation.
During the past seven years I have become involved in supporting Tibetan culture and education. I was hooked during two treks in Tibet, and have now made three trips to a part of India that has been ethnically Tibetan for centuries. I volunteer at Manjushree Vidyapith, an orphanage and school started by a Tibetan monk in a remote part of the southern Himalaya. As my professional activities decrease, I expect to be able to devote an increasing amount of time and energy to the children at Manjushree.
I have been interested in cohousing since I learned about it more than 10 years ago, but was never inclined to leave Berlin to join a cohousing community. Then I learned that cohousing was coming to Berlin! As a single person, with no relatives within a thousand miles, I look forward to being part of the close community of Mosaic Commons, while still living in Berlin and retaining the good friendships I’ve built up over many years. I’ve been a member of Mosaic since the summer of 2005.
