Ann, I was also going to comment on that dinner event; he really brought the house down!
I have nothing but fond memories of Mike and remember sitting next to him in some class or another and watching him take notes in Braille on the little gadget he had. He was always so easy to talk to and was a good listener as well as talker. He could also take a good joke if we handed one out to him. I'm sorry that he's no longer around.
Mike and I were close friends. We worked together programming computers for UC Med School in high school. Mike blazed a path for the blind to use computers, inventing the first programs to print Braille on the IBM 1401 and 7040. After graduating from Oberlin, he studied economics at MIT, where I roomed with him in Cambridge. Beset by medical difficulties stemming from his childhood cancer, Mike abandoned an economics teaching job at OSU and became a clincial psychologist. Mike was an expert at diagnosing and helping patients with psychosomatic problems. He was still active in private practice in Mt. Auburn when we saw him at our 75+2 reunion a week ago. He leaves his wife, Toni Alterman, and brother, Peter. Mike's life was an inspiration to all; he overcame grave handicaps with good grace and humor to make genuine accomplishments.
Michael had a wonderful sense of humor and was alot of fun to be with, We used to play poker from time to time. Michael would supply special braille decks so he would know what cards he held,. What we didn't know at first was that when he would deal the cards he was also able to remember every card he dealth to each player, a distinct advantage. Michael was brilliant; always good natured despite his handicap,a joy to be with! Despite not seeing him for almost 60 years he will be missed!!!. Steve Diamond
Mike and I were close classmates, fellow debaters, and good friends at WHHS during our 11th and 12th grade years. He was brilliant, courageous, good humored in the face of tremendous obstacles, and an extraordinary contributor to the social welfare. He leaves a void in the world.
I had not heard ofo Mike Lichstein's passing until I read the coments this morning. What an amazing and inspiring person he was, and what a sad loss. I was grateful to see him at least briefly at the reunion, and I appreciate reading my classmates' memories of his extraordinary accomplishments. I hope someone can find an obituary and share it with the class.
My most vivid memory of Mike at WHHS, was in English class. He was asked to read an essay he wrote on the advantages of a baked potato as the best preparation for that vegetable. I remember he had the class in stitches with his insight and his faultless logic. To this day I think of Mike whenever I have a baked potato. He had a brilliant mind and a wry wit.
Mike and I were debate partners senior year, as we strove mightily to reach --though only occasionally getting even near the general neighborhood of-- the standard of excellence which the senior pair on the WHHS team that year, Steve Levinson and Bill Sinkford, had set and were continuing to set. Mike was --without adding any penalty points whatsoever for his disability-- a sharp, precise, persuasive, organized and altogether excellent debater, a simply wonderful partner, and above all a wonderful friend.
Some years later, when Mike was doing his grad work in economics at MIT, I had the great pleasure of visiting him one Sunday afternoon in his Cambridge apartment and there introducing Mike and my wife, Edie, to one another. Edie took to him immediately, and really "got" the phenomenon of Mike almost from the moment we came through the door. Throughout all the years afterward, there have been moments now and then when Edie would refer to Mike in the context of something which just then was happening, or which we were talking about --and always in a tone and context which reconfirmed to me how powerfully much of Mike's extraordinary range of personal traits and talents had come across to her even in just that one meeting.
I won't go through here some of the other amazing Lichstein strengths --sense of humor, playing-card memory, how much Mike heard and could explain or describe in a classical music performance-- many of which have already been commented on by other classmates on this page. I have always thought, and continue to think, of the opportunity to have worked so closely with Mike, and to get to know him so well, as one of the great and inspiring blessings of my life.
David Engel, your memories of Mike brought tears to my eyes....such an extraordinary man whom you obviously loved and you and your wife held in great esteem.
Ann, thanks so much for posting Mike's obit; what a brilliant classmate!
And JoAnn, we loved having both you AND your sister!!
I have many fond memories of Mike and the important roles he and his family played in my life. I was his partner in a bridge tournament--the only one in which I've ever participated, and we did well enough to each win 1/4 of a master point. He earned many more master points due to his superior skills at bridge. I was amazed at his ability to remember every card that had been played.
It was through knowing Mike that I became aware of the college that he was going to attend, and based on what I learned from him, I applied to Oberlin and joined him (along with Kay Davis) as part of Oberlin's class of 1968. There I met my wife of 54 year, Liz. Mike's father, Herman Lichstein, was a noted microbiologist whose move from the U. of Minnesota to UC brought their family to Cincinnati and Mike to join our class at WHHS. Through many discussions about science with Herman, and his advice, I went on the do my graduate work at MIT. Through knowing Mike and the hurdles he faced, my mother, along with other mothers of WHHS students, became a braillist and converted many textbooks to braille. Later, she learned the more complex braille needed to write mathematical formulas in braille so that Mike could have copies of the textbooks we were using as we moved through WHHS's math curriculum. I feel so fortunate to have been his friend and to have known him and his family. Mike, perhaps better than anyone else I've ever known, lived WHHS's motto, sursum ad summum.
These have been such moving comments about Mike Lichstein, all so well deserved, and I wanted to add a few of my own.
First though, I wanted to say something about David Engel’s extraordinary praise of the debate club – a huge WHHS asset in that era - in which David said that he and Michael were the minor members and Steve Levinson and Bill Sinkford were the major members. David, I'm a tiny bit worried that your detailed compliments may go to Steve's head. But that's another issue and will be manageable. And Dale, I never knew that you and Michael had roomed together in Boston. What a great experience, and thank you for explaining how Michael’s work in computers was so important in making Braille printing available to so many people.
I first met Michael when his family moved to Cincinnati when his father became chair of a department at the UC medical school, where my dad was also on the faculty. My family helped welcome his to Cincinnati when they lived temporarily in a small apartment near Trechter stadium, while their wonderful house on Middleton Ave in Clifton was being renovated. Michael's family was totally devoted to him, and his mother translated huge amounts of material into Braille for Michael to use. For me it was almost impossible to imagine the difficulty and pain and work that Mike had to have gone through. And I remember talking with him once – asking the most horrifying question I could imagine - trying to learn what it was like for him in the days before he had the radiation treatment that would make him blind in order to treat the disease that would have killed him if he didn't.
Mike and I were both ham radio operators, and one hilarious joke that he played on me was when he and I were fiddling around repairing some piece of equipment and he would tell me what to do, and I would stick my hand in the machine to try to figure out what wire to solder or remove or whatever. The equipment was always unplugged, of course, but you always had to worry that you didn't really unplug it or some residual charge in a capacitor or something was sitting around and might go wrong. So one time, while my hand was inside a machine, Michael blurted really loudly ‘BZZZZTTTT’, the sound that an electrical shock would make. And I was terrified I’d made some mistake and, who knows, might kill or maim me or him, and I quickly yanked out my hand out wondering what the heck was going on, and then we both burst out in hysterical laughter.
Michael and I would also talk to each other in Morse code. It was obviously very slow to do this, but we knew other people couldn't understand us. So one of the things that I did on every trip to Cincinnati (I’d visit briefly to see my family but never returned to Cincinnati for any length of time after leaving in 1964, although I still think of Cincinnati as my ‘home’). Anyway on every visit to Clifton, I would drive around near where Michael used to live in the hopes that I might see him on the street near Ludlow Ave or Graeters or the Esquire theatre. My plan was to stop my car and walk up near him and, in Morse code, say ..-. ..- -.-. -.- --.- --- ..- . Which means, in Morse code, **** you. And I knew exactly what Mike would do. He'd stop in his tracks, his jaw would drop, his eyebrows would arch and his whole face would light up in a gigantic grin, and he’s scream ‘Rans!’. And if I said ‘How did you know it was me after 50 years?’, and he’d say, teasingly, ‘Because of your fist,’ which is what ham radio operators can sometimes tell by the way that the operator uses the telegraph key.
To my great disappointment, this kind of joyous meeting never happened, and unfortunately - and I deeply regret - I never made contact with Mike since I left in 1964. He was truly an extraordinary person.
Doug Gordon
Ann, I was also going to comment on that dinner event; he really brought the house down!
I have nothing but fond memories of Mike and remember sitting next to him in some class or another and watching him take notes in Braille on the little gadget he had. He was always so easy to talk to and was a good listener as well as talker. He could also take a good joke if we handed one out to him. I'm sorry that he's no longer around.
Dale Gieringer
Mike and I were close friends. We worked together programming computers for UC Med School in high school. Mike blazed a path for the blind to use computers, inventing the first programs to print Braille on the IBM 1401 and 7040. After graduating from Oberlin, he studied economics at MIT, where I roomed with him in Cambridge. Beset by medical difficulties stemming from his childhood cancer, Mike abandoned an economics teaching job at OSU and became a clincial psychologist. Mike was an expert at diagnosing and helping patients with psychosomatic problems. He was still active in private practice in Mt. Auburn when we saw him at our 75+2 reunion a week ago. He leaves his wife, Toni Alterman, and brother, Peter. Mike's life was an inspiration to all; he overcame grave handicaps with good grace and humor to make genuine accomplishments.
Obituary and tributes:
https://www.weilkahnfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Michael-Lichstein/#!/TributeWall
Adrian Diamond (Diamond)
Michael had a wonderful sense of humor and was alot of fun to be with, We used to play poker from time to time. Michael would supply special braille decks so he would know what cards he held,. What we didn't know at first was that when he would deal the cards he was also able to remember every card he dealth to each player, a distinct advantage. Michael was brilliant; always good natured despite his handicap,a joy to be with! Despite not seeing him for almost 60 years he will be missed!!!. Steve Diamond
Steven Levinson
Mike and I were close classmates, fellow debaters, and good friends at WHHS during our 11th and 12th grade years. He was brilliant, courageous, good humored in the face of tremendous obstacles, and an extraordinary contributor to the social welfare. He leaves a void in the world.
Becky Payne (Shockley)
I had not heard ofo Mike Lichstein's passing until I read the coments this morning. What an amazing and inspiring person he was, and what a sad loss. I was grateful to see him at least briefly at the reunion, and I appreciate reading my classmates' memories of his extraordinary accomplishments. I hope someone can find an obituary and share it with the class.
Dexter Roger Dixon
My most vivid memory of Mike at WHHS, was in English class. He was asked to read an essay he wrote on the advantages of a baked potato as the best preparation for that vegetable. I remember he had the class in stitches with his insight and his faultless logic. To this day I think of Mike whenever I have a baked potato. He had a brilliant mind and a wry wit.
David Engel
Mike and I were debate partners senior year, as we strove mightily to reach --though only occasionally getting even near the general neighborhood of-- the standard of excellence which the senior pair on the WHHS team that year, Steve Levinson and Bill Sinkford, had set and were continuing to set. Mike was --without adding any penalty points whatsoever for his disability-- a sharp, precise, persuasive, organized and altogether excellent debater, a simply wonderful partner, and above all a wonderful friend.
Some years later, when Mike was doing his grad work in economics at MIT, I had the great pleasure of visiting him one Sunday afternoon in his Cambridge apartment and there introducing Mike and my wife, Edie, to one another. Edie took to him immediately, and really "got" the phenomenon of Mike almost from the moment we came through the door. Throughout all the years afterward, there have been moments now and then when Edie would refer to Mike in the context of something which just then was happening, or which we were talking about --and always in a tone and context which reconfirmed to me how powerfully much of Mike's extraordinary range of personal traits and talents had come across to her even in just that one meeting.
I won't go through here some of the other amazing Lichstein strengths --sense of humor, playing-card memory, how much Mike heard and could explain or describe in a classical music performance-- many of which have already been commented on by other classmates on this page. I have always thought, and continue to think, of the opportunity to have worked so closely with Mike, and to get to know him so well, as one of the great and inspiring blessings of my life.
Thank you, Michael.
David
Laura Reid (Pease)
David Engel, your memories of Mike brought tears to my eyes....such an extraordinary man whom you obviously loved and you and your wife held in great esteem.
Ann, thanks so much for posting Mike's obit; what a brilliant classmate!
And JoAnn, we loved having both you AND your sister!!
Chuck Cole
I have many fond memories of Mike and the important roles he and his family played in my life. I was his partner in a bridge tournament--the only one in which I've ever participated, and we did well enough to each win 1/4 of a master point. He earned many more master points due to his superior skills at bridge. I was amazed at his ability to remember every card that had been played.
It was through knowing Mike that I became aware of the college that he was going to attend, and based on what I learned from him, I applied to Oberlin and joined him (along with Kay Davis) as part of Oberlin's class of 1968. There I met my wife of 54 year, Liz. Mike's father, Herman Lichstein, was a noted microbiologist whose move from the U. of Minnesota to UC brought their family to Cincinnati and Mike to join our class at WHHS. Through many discussions about science with Herman, and his advice, I went on the do my graduate work at MIT. Through knowing Mike and the hurdles he faced, my mother, along with other mothers of WHHS students, became a braillist and converted many textbooks to braille. Later, she learned the more complex braille needed to write mathematical formulas in braille so that Mike could have copies of the textbooks we were using as we moved through WHHS's math curriculum. I feel so fortunate to have been his friend and to have known him and his family. Mike, perhaps better than anyone else I've ever known, lived WHHS's motto, sursum ad summum.
David Ransohoff
These have been such moving comments about Mike Lichstein, all so well deserved, and I wanted to add a few of my own.
First though, I wanted to say something about David Engel’s extraordinary praise of the debate club – a huge WHHS asset in that era - in which David said that he and Michael were the minor members and Steve Levinson and Bill Sinkford were the major members. David, I'm a tiny bit worried that your detailed compliments may go to Steve's head. But that's another issue and will be manageable. And Dale, I never knew that you and Michael had roomed together in Boston. What a great experience, and thank you for explaining how Michael’s work in computers was so important in making Braille printing available to so many people.
I first met Michael when his family moved to Cincinnati when his father became chair of a department at the UC medical school, where my dad was also on the faculty. My family helped welcome his to Cincinnati when they lived temporarily in a small apartment near Trechter stadium, while their wonderful house on Middleton Ave in Clifton was being renovated. Michael's family was totally devoted to him, and his mother translated huge amounts of material into Braille for Michael to use. For me it was almost impossible to imagine the difficulty and pain and work that Mike had to have gone through. And I remember talking with him once – asking the most horrifying question I could imagine - trying to learn what it was like for him in the days before he had the radiation treatment that would make him blind in order to treat the disease that would have killed him if he didn't.
Mike and I were both ham radio operators, and one hilarious joke that he played on me was when he and I were fiddling around repairing some piece of equipment and he would tell me what to do, and I would stick my hand in the machine to try to figure out what wire to solder or remove or whatever. The equipment was always unplugged, of course, but you always had to worry that you didn't really unplug it or some residual charge in a capacitor or something was sitting around and might go wrong. So one time, while my hand was inside a machine, Michael blurted really loudly ‘BZZZZTTTT’, the sound that an electrical shock would make. And I was terrified I’d made some mistake and, who knows, might kill or maim me or him, and I quickly yanked out my hand out wondering what the heck was going on, and then we both burst out in hysterical laughter.
Michael and I would also talk to each other in Morse code. It was obviously very slow to do this, but we knew other people couldn't understand us. So one of the things that I did on every trip to Cincinnati (I’d visit briefly to see my family but never returned to Cincinnati for any length of time after leaving in 1964, although I still think of Cincinnati as my ‘home’). Anyway on every visit to Clifton, I would drive around near where Michael used to live in the hopes that I might see him on the street near Ludlow Ave or Graeters or the Esquire theatre. My plan was to stop my car and walk up near him and, in Morse code, say ..-. ..- -.-. -.- --.- --- ..- . Which means, in Morse code, **** you. And I knew exactly what Mike would do. He'd stop in his tracks, his jaw would drop, his eyebrows would arch and his whole face would light up in a gigantic grin, and he’s scream ‘Rans!’. And if I said ‘How did you know it was me after 50 years?’, and he’d say, teasingly, ‘Because of your fist,’ which is what ham radio operators can sometimes tell by the way that the operator uses the telegraph key.
To my great disappointment, this kind of joyous meeting never happened, and unfortunately - and I deeply regret - I never made contact with Mike since I left in 1964. He was truly an extraordinary person.