I’ve always had a strong interest in photography but lacked the technical skills and knowledge to be a good photographer. When I did my dissertation research on the Ft. Belknap Reservation, I went with a Canon FTb, and 50mm, 35mm and 200mm lenses.  I probably shot more than 90% of the images with the 50mm lens.  I shot Kodachrome film outdoors and Ektachrome film indoors.  I never shot with a flash for cultural and courtesy reasons.  I sent the film to a special Kodak lab in Palo Alto that was able to push the film to develop my indoor photographs.  Over a period of two years, I was able to digitize the 3,500 slides I had taken in Montana between 1976 and 1978.  If I had been in Montana with a digital camera and a computer, I likely would have come home with 350,000 images.  I was earning $50 per month, and most of that money was being used to purchase film and processing. Thirty-six shots forced a very different strategy from how we are able to shoot today. I am cleaning up these images and hope to make them public in the future.

 

I retired when I was 60 years old. In Ohio, you can take college classes at a state school without tuition.  One of the few benefits of aging.  Columbus State Community College has an excellent photography program. The program offers film courses but is focused primarily on all aspects of digital photography. Most of the instructors are professional photographers who are teaching to supplement their incomes and because they love to teach.  Beyond all the photography courses, I’ve taken several classes in Photoshop and Lightroom.  I look forward to continuing my studies both at Columbus State and at The Ohio State University. 

 

I am a graduate of Cleveland Heights High School.  I did my undergraduate work at Miami University and graduate work at The Ohio State University.  My specializations are Native Americans, psychological anthropology and culture change.  I’ve been a bagboy at Stop and Shop, and an order filler at Bobbie Brooks.  I worked on an assembly line at Meyer Snowplow.  I worked in an industrial printing shop.  I worked at an office furniture warehouse unloading trucks and assembling furniture.  I’ve been a history teacher, bus driver, and janitor at a Catholic Mission School.  I’ve been a college instructor at the Fort Belknap Intertribal Education Center (College of Great Falls), The Ohio State University, Franklin University and Capital University.  I worked for the state of Ohio for more than 35 years. 

 

My wife, Pauline and I helped to establish The Transverse Myelitis Association in 1994 shortly after she was diagnosed with transverse myelitis.  Pauline was an elementary school teacher in central Ohio for 25 years.  She tragically died in August 2017. 

 

I remain the President of the Association and serve on its board of directors.  I have been an advocate for the TMA community as a volunteer for 25 years.  In May 2019, I self-published a book about the patient experience with transverse myelitis.  The book includes many of the portraits I’ve taken of Pauline, and her service dog, Kazu.  

 

On November 1, 2019 the TMA Board of Directors changed the name of the organization to the Siegel Rare Neuroimmune Association (SRNA).  The name honors Pauline and myself and more accurately reflects our work advocating for those affected by the rare neuroimmune disorders of the central nervous system, including Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM), Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), MOG Antibody-Associated Disease (MOG-Ab disease), Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (NMOSD), Optic Neuritis (ON), and Transverse Myelitis (TM).

 

The SRNA is a not-for-profit international organization dedicated to the support of children, adolescents, and adults with a spectrum of rare neuroimmune disorders.  We have more than 14,000 members from more than 100 countries. 

 

Pauline and I have two wonderful sons and daughters-in-law and six brilliant and beautiful grandchildren.