Chapter 1: Background and Education

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INTERVIEWER: So today is Monday, November 20. We're interviewing Ed Goldman at Temple University in Philadelphia. And do I have permission, your permission, to begin our interview?

ED GOLDMAN: Yes, you do.

INTERVIEWER: Thank you. OK, we will start by learning your name. So can you tell me your name, and currently what kind of work you're doing, or if you're not working, if you're retired?

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ED GOLDMAN: Yeah, my name is Ed Goldman, and I'm retired. I guess I could say I gave at the office for 50-plus years-- and busier than ever. I am on the board of directors of the Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance, which is to memorialize the people that lived in Pennhurst. And I'm the treasurer, and our goal is to be able to use the experience at Pennhurst to basically say "never again." And hopefully, I'll talk a little more about Pennhurst.

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INTERVIEWER: OK, so, Ed, can you tell me a little bit about where you were born? And then, again, and paraphrase and say, I was born in, what have you. So if you could tell me a little bit about where you were born, that would be great.

ED GOLDMAN: Born and raised in Philadelphia-- went to 10 different schools. My parents moved around a lot. And I guess one of my claims to fame is I graduated from Overbrook High School in the class of '55 with Wilt Chamberlain. Yay. And spent most of my life into my early 30s in Philadelphia, and then moved around the country-- California, Connecticut, lived in New Zealand for seven years trying to help close the local institution there. And I'm back again.

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INTERVIEWER: So you said you moved a lot as a child. Can you tell me just briefly a little bit about your childhood, your family, something that might stand out for you as a fond memory?

ED GOLDMAN: Yes. I was one of three and the middle kid. I had an older brother, and a younger sister, and my mom and dad. Most of my growing up was done in Overbrook Park near City Line and Haverford Avenue-- and worked while I went to school, including while I went to college, which was here at Temple University, and got a degree in communications and journalism, started out for three years and as an accounting major. And then I learned about they actually gave degrees that you could become a sportscaster. I thought the guy who told me about it was kidding. And as soon as I realized that that was true, I changed my major. And so that's my degree is in communications and journalism from Temple. And then later on, several years later, I'm back to graduate school at Wharton for a degree in government administration, which is like an MBA. I did everything but my thesis, never finished that. Life got in the way. One of the things happened was going to Harrisburg. And so I did everything but that, but my thesis.

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INTERVIEWER: Well, I'll ask you about that. But you mentioned that your family moved a lot. You went to different schools. You also went to college and grad school. Was that the typical experience in your family?

ED GOLDMAN: No. First person in my family to graduate high school, first person in my family to go to college and get a degree-- so, no. We were-- my dad was working class. And one of my best friends was my father, so we had a very wonderful relationship. And I grew up like everyone around me-- just go to work. My dream when I was a kid was to get a job where I could make $100 a week and wear a necktie to work, and was able to accomplish both.

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INTERVIEWER: So I'm wondering. My boss is fond of saying that people who are involved in the disability community get there in one of two ways, either by birth or accident. I'm wondering which may be true for you.

ED GOLDMAN: Accident-- I had no knowledge of disability anything. All I remembered was on my block there was a guy named Carl who had Down syndrome. I had a friend who had cerebral palsy. But other than that, it didn't seem-- I mean, I had no idea. And I was between jobs. And a friend got me an introduction with a local ARC. Then it was called the Association for Retarded Children in Philadelphia. And he was working for the Philadelphia Eagles when Jerry Wolman was the owner. And the local ARC was trying to get the Eagles to have one of their, what was then called, exhibition games, now called preseason games, and have all the proceeds go to the ARC. And they were looking for someone to head up their public information. My background was in journalism and communications. I took the job because I was, frankly, desperate and thought maybe I'll stay a year, and it'll look good on my resume. And as John Lennon said, life is what's happening while you were making other plans. And the change in my life was visiting Pennhurst. Everyone that I met kept telling me about Pennhurst and how awful it was. And I found myself parroting what other people were telling me until, one day, someone said, well, have you been there? Oops-- no. And so I made arrangements to go on tour with the superintendent, who was named Leopold Potkonski. And I went out there. I wasn't thinking what I was really going to be seeing, and it was one of the most overwhelming experiences I ever had.