re: David Gelernte

[David Farber <farber@central.cis.upenn.edu>]

 Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 17:42:37 -0400
 From: gelernter-david (cr)
 To: department
 Cc: cs-faculty, admin-staff, facility-staff, sca-staff@sca.com, carriero
 Subject: finally home
 
        As of today I'm finally home from the hospital.  Here is an
 update on the department's very own official terrorist bomb victim.  I
 realize information has been a little scarce --- it's never been my
 intention to be mysterious with my friends and colleagues; it's just
 that we have none of us been talking to the press (who have behaved
 exactly as the wildest parody would leave one to expect), and I'm
 afraid things may have seemed a bit secretive as a result. 
 
        From my point of view the news on the whole is fine.  My right
 hand was permanently damaged in the blast, but we're optimistic that a
 series of reconstructive operations will leave me with a decent level
 of right hand function.  My left hand is a bit battered but should
 recover fully, and I'm in the early stages of turning myself into a
 lefty.  I don't have much vision in my right eye at the moment, but
 that may improve.  Finally, some hearing loss in my right ear, which
 can and will be repaired surgically.  All in all, I am the luckiest
 man alive (emphasis on alive).  Surviving the explosion was evidently a
 pretty neat trick on my part, and I could have been hurt much worse.
 Whenever I get to feeling a bit morose and missing my old right hand,
 I wind up thinking instead how privileged I am to be an academic in
 computer science; in the final analysis one decent typing hand and an
 intact head is all you really need, if you add the friends and family
 with which I'm blessed.  I look forward to getting back to teaching
 and research pretty much as before.
 
        I will be in briefly at least a couple of times in August, and
 plan on teaching in the fall, but I will have to work up slowly.  I'm
 still low on energy, my right hand is out of commission and painful,
 and I am still adjusting to a one-eyed view of the world (which I hope
 won't last forever).  So I expect to be in my office for regular but
 very limited hours in the fall.  My hope is that by spring things will
 be close to normal.  Before long, I should be logged on regularly.
 
        We've received expressions of sympathy and support from all
 over the world (I have in my possession a letter signed by the whole
 MIT CS faculty -- bona fide collector's item!), but none have meant
 more to us than the ones coming from our friends in this department.
 They helped and cheered us during some very hard weeks.  Thank you
 very much.
 
 Dave