Following graduation from AAHS, I attended the U of M and then went

to medical school at Columbia University in New York.  My internship

was at Los Angeles County Hospital, followed by a residency in

Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Washington in Seattle. I

stayed on there for several years.  In 1980 we took a year off to hike

the Cascades and Sierra Nevada.  We also spent some time traveling

in China, Thailand and Bali.

In 1981 I took a position in Maine as the coordinator of women’s health

program at Dartmouth’s Family Medicine Residency in Waterville,

Maine.  The program was profiled by John Mc Phee in his 1984 book

Heirs of General Practice. Eventually I developed a referral practice in

gynecological surgery. Yes, you rightly remember me as a teenage

klutz….I continued with Maine-Dartmouth and my practice until this

spring until this spring when I decided to retire.

In retirement I will continue as Medical Director of the Family Planning

Institute of Maine and the Harris Institute, organizations that provide

contraceptive and primary care services on a sliding fee scale.

I met my wife, Janetha Benson when she was working in a research

lab in New York. She subsequently went to nursing school and

specialized in Obstetrics.  After we moved to Maine she worked for

Maine-Dartmouth as a nurse-educator.

After we had moved to Maine, we purchased an abandoned farm with

some acreage.  We designed and built a super-insulated passive solar

house which has served us well. Recently we added photo-voltaics, so

the house is almost energy neutral.

Janetha and I are empty-nesters. We adopted two children.  Sarah, 28,

is coordinator of a farm-study program in Vermont.  Mark, 26, came to

us from The  Philippines.  He works for an advertising firm in New York

City.

Both Janetha and I try to maintain active lives.  Here in the North

country, we pretty much follow the seasons.  In winter we ice skate,

then cross- country ski until the snow is gone. In spring and fall we

garden and maintain our orchard.  Summertime we swim, kayak and

sail the coast of Maine.  We are usually accompanied by one of a

series of black labs.

We are a long way from AA but would welcome circlers of the sun who

happen by.

“What a long strange trip it’s been.”