I just purchased a book, Wild Card, written by my friend Roger Bingham who unforunately left us on my “birthday” last year, October 21st. The premise of the book is set in a time of societal decay as the world descends into disorder. The president and his science advisor cook up a plan to rally the world together against alien invadors so that the world can stop destorying itself against one common enemy. In order to do that they create a fake flying saucer. It’s a pretty wild plot written by someone I regard as a kindred soul and who had my deepest respect. I miss him.

I first met Roger when I was a producer-director at Calit2. Back when I met him, he was dating a much younger blond woman, and they invited me to check out her horses. I was too shy to accept the invitation, but fate had me often bumping into Roger after that. At an Autism Tree Foundation event that he hosted sometime after my own son was diagnosed with autism, Roger surpised me by bringing up my ancestry posts, which I thought nobody really paid attention to. He was fascinated with my how much information I had on my ancestors on my grandfather’s side. I also remember him sharing how he had memories going way back to infancy. It struck a chord with me since I have memories from when I was just a baby, and not many people I know have memories that go that far back. 

Roger was no ordinary man. He developed the Science and Society unit, co-wrote and hosted The Human Quest on PBS, launched the Science Network, moderated the Autism Tree Project Foundation, and did so much more. For everything he did and all the famous people he had met, he still made time to connect with me. His kind-hearted nature, attentiveness, and genuine connections with people left a lasting impact. I feel incredibly glad and honored to have been part of his extraordinary world.