GRG Profiles: Lawrence S. Friedman

Excerpt

I was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1953. My parents were highly respected high school teachers in the Newark school system, and my father became a high school vice principal. My earliest memories are of accompanying my father to school activities, from concerts to sporting events, and I enjoyed the academic environment, music, and sports. He taught History, English, and Latin, and I came to love language and learning and became a student of American history. My mother taught secretarial subjects and was a guidance counselor. She was pragmatic, nurturing, and absolutely devoted to family. I had a younger sister, Lois, who later became a speech therapist. When I was five, we moved to the suburb of Springfield, and I experienced what can only be described as an idyllic childhood, spanning the staid 1950s and the increasingly turbulent 1960s. I excelled in school, loved basketball, and played tenor saxophone, clarinet, and flute in a variety of bands; I had a passion for Big band jazz. …