ID: Thomas Mark Weiner
Tom Weiner teaches sixth grade at the Smith College Campus School.
KEVIN GUTTINGTom Weiner teaches sixth grade at the Smith College Campus School.
KEVIN GUTTINGTom Weiner teaches sixth grade at the Smith College Campus School.
KEVIN GUTTING
Tom Weiner is the author of “Called To Serve: Stories of Men and Women Confronted by the Vietnam War Draft,” a book that features the testimony of 30 people and their varied responses to being drafted. Now he’s at work on a new book, “Men’s and Women’s Support Groups and Their Impact on the Lives of Their Members.”
Full name: Thomas Mark Weiner
People know you as: Tom (Tommy to family and my men’s group)
Date and place of birth: Oct. 22, 1949, Kew Gardens, Queens, N.Y.
Address: Northampton
Job: Sixth-grade teacher at the Smith College Campus School (37 years)
Who lives under the same roof as you? Susan Dudek, my wife of 26 years
Children: Annabel, 42; Caleb, 37; Madeline, 24; Stefan, 21; and three grandchildren, Harry, 6; Ella, 3; and Emma, soon to be 1
Education: Teaneck, (N.J.) High School; Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.; master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Pets: Golden retrievers Cruiser and Lilah
Hobbies: Playing piano, biking, writing, hiking, traveling, cross-country skiing, kayaking
Book you’d recommend to a friend: “Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story” by Timothy B. Tyson
Favorite movie/TV show/musical group: Movie — “Searching for Sugarman”; TV shows — “Parenthood” and “Treme”; group — my son’s band, Town Hall
Five items you can’t live without: Turtlenecks in winter, shorts in summer, my camera, my reading light, my New Balance sneakers
Last thing you purchased just for fun: A chocolate chip cookie from the Hungry Ghost in Northampton
What’s at the top of your bucket list? A trip to Alaska
Life-changing experience: Meeting my wife, Susan
Strangest job you ever held: I drove a taxi in New York City on weekend nights during the summer of 1970, and took the census in Englewood, N.J., during the week
Current Facebook status: Emancipation Proclamation 150th anniversary
A little-known fact about you: I had long straight hair in college
Dumbest thing you ever did: Misplacing my car in New York City and taking a bus home (my mother found the car the next day while driving around the neighborhood)
One trend you’d like to see return: Video stores — especially one like Pleasant Street Video
What really sets you off? Standing in line and traffic jams
If you could spend the day with a celebrity from any time in history, who would it be? Frederick Douglass — an abolitionist who supported women’s rights way before it was fashionable
Best advice you ever got: Don’t sweat the small stuff — it’s almost all small stuff ...
Favorite place to get a bite: Pintu’s Indian Restaurant in West Springfield (all-you-can-eat lunch buffet) and Mosaic Cafe in Northampton (best veggie crepe this side of Morocco)
Favorite team: I switched to Boston/New England teams when I moved here from New York, and each season that team is my favorite (except for hockey, which is way too violent)
What does your ideal weekend look like? Bed-and-breakfast in Vermont with my wife, a great dinner, hiking, kayaking or snowshoeing
One thing you would change about yourself: I’d sleep later in the morning
What gives you the creeps? Violence in TV shows, movies and video games
People who knew you in high school thought you were: Nobody knew me in high school
Whom do you most admire? Howard Zinn for telling the truth about our country’s history; Frances Crowe for her life of social activism
Parting shot: “Until the lion tells the tale, tales of the hunt will glorify the hunter” — an African proverb
— Keri-Ann Aubin
Editor’s Note — To suggest someone for ID, email Keri-Ann Aubin at kaubin@gazettenet.com.
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