Autobiography

I was born on December 26, 1940, in Glens Falls, New York, to Mathilde Helwig Prescott and William Clyde Prescott. My mother's parents were German immigrants. My mother was forced to drop out of high school at age 16 to care for her younger brother and sister after the death of their mother. Later, she managed to complete high school, and with the help of a family friend (whose name I wish I could remember) she continued with school and became a librarian. My mother's ambition and fortitude, even in hard times, were exceeded only by her generosity and kindness. My father told me it was she who insisted that he return to Penn State University to complete his education. He had dropped out of college in 1932 when his father lost his job in the Great Depression.