Born in New York City, Ed moved with his parents to rural Massachusetts at the age of five, where he developed a love for the natural world and all its diversity. He even wonders if the most import...ver maisBorn in New York City, Ed moved with his parents to rural Massachusetts at the age of five, where he developed a love for the natural world and all its diversity. He even wonders if the most important part of his early education wasn’t really summer camp, and its introduction to the flora and fauna of New England. Though education and training as a physician required spending time in various urban environments, for his practice as a radiologist he settled with his wife, son, and daughter in a small mostly farming community in western Washington. Grateful for the opportunity to travel, he has had a chance to ponder the personal and cultural traits which create the character of various nations, and since retirement has taken more time to assess what we can do to optimize the society we pass on to future generations. At times discouraged by our willing blindness to flaws in our current and past history, he yet is enthusiastic about the potential, and buoyed up by the many examples of human intelligence and goodness we see every day.ver menos