Behind the Firewall

Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, 1987. Richard Wheelwright's class. The man stood at the front of the classroom with a fiber optic wand in his hand. Rolling the small black tube between his thumb and fingers, long, thin, iridescent strands of plastic flipped and flopped off one end like a limp fountain of potential energy. Smiling, he said, "this is the future." He had us reading Nicholas Negroponte in manuscript--heady ideas from MIT's Media Lab about the coming digital age.

Dick Wheelwright was my mentor. He revealed the depths of social value and the heights of technological magic inherent in communications media. That was the inspiration. He also handed me tools and instructed me in thinking about these wonders in practical, strategic ways. That was the education. One of the tools he gave me was a production journal. It was intended as a learning aid--for him to track a student's progress and for the student to verbalize their process. I need this kind of tool now, and the inspiration it might rekindle.

Thanks Dick.