Oh Oberlin Chapter 4: Harvey Pratt

So what do you do when a small community rallies around you and helps you raise funds to start a podcast? You think back on what you told them about your mission, and you follow through.
The mechanisms of Amazon.com and Kickstarter are wonderful things but, even in the age of the Internet, details take longer to resolve than you think.
But I did not wait for everything to be perfectly aligned. Because Oberlin resident, fireman and NASCORP employee Ben Ryba approached me and let me know about a coworker, Harvey Pratt.
Harvey was an Oberlin High School graduate, the same as myself. I believe he graduated a couple of years ahead of me. But I'll ask him that and much more on Saturday, because he's agreed to be the first person I interview for my podcast.
The thing is, Harvey was diagnosed with ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease. So when I asked him the question “How are you these days?" I didn't expect to get the same answer I might get from many other people.
That's not really okay. But from what I read in fliers being handed out, Harvey and his family were staying as steady and peaceful as possible.
The idea of the podcast was always to be engaged in Oberlin. So I'm looking for stories, and storytellers. All I was ever looking for was real conversation about the people who live in the city where I grew up.
Harvey, you were first.