My Dad. This is the picture they used in the program when he was named "Distinguished Physician of the Year" in 1992. Notice that he's wearing a B-24 lapel pin: he flew a B-24 bomber in the South Pacific during World War II, and earned many decorations, including a Distinguished Flying Cross.

My grandfather (Roy Almond Palmer) reading to Dad when Dad was two years old. Grandfather was a Methodist minister and an independent thinker on theological and philosophical issues. I'm sorry that I never got to know him; I think that he and I would have enjoyed each other's company a great deal.

My brother, Mike, and my sister, Lori. I am so proud of both of them that I could almost bust. Mike is a computer wizard who graduated in May 2002 from the University of Maryland. He has co-authored two books, written professional computer game programs using techniques that I barely follow, and is a fine, decent, honorable human being. Lori is a consultant for a "big six" accounting firm and is taking the business world by storm. We figure that some day, we'll all end up working for her.

My friend and mentor, Prof. Brand Blanshard (1892-1987). He wrote The Nature of Thought, Reason and Goodness, and other amazing books. I miss him.

Eve, Aaron, Rachel, and Eve's husband Darrin.

Another picture of Eve and family.

My brother Reuven has always just "been there" when someone snapped a photo. Here, he got his picture in The Washington Post for the first time eating a sandwich in the cafeteria of a local DC university. He got his picture in The Washington Post two more times, once on the front page. Who is this kid's publicist, anyhow?

Reuven at Carnegie-Mellon University, where he graduated in 1996 with a BFA in theatre arts. After graduation, he appeared on an episode of "Beverly Hills, 90210," worked on several movies, and built the spaceship cockpits for the movie "Starship Troopers." He currently builds sets for productions in Washington, DC.

My brother Victor, who was born in the USSR (in Georgia, a conquered country in the former Soviet Union) and came to the United States in 1974 at the age of nine. Victor has grown up into a fine man and an excellent writer. He writes both fiction (existentialist short stories) and non-fiction (articles on psychology and popular articles for karate magazines). He teaches karate, does personal training, and is one of the world's authorities on an ancient Roman wrestling style. His latest venture is public speaking: he's presenting seminars on self-actualization.

My friend Frances Starr, an artist who lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and passed away on March 5, 2004 at the age of 94. Frances had been everywhere and done pretty much everything -- working in show business and on various TV shows, working on Broadway, and as a painter. Her sight began to go in the 1970s, but she persevered. Two of her wonderful paintings hang in my living room: "The Goddess of Pele" and "After the Storm."

My friend Beth Demain Reigber, who graduated from Mt. Holyoke in 1997 and was a reporter for Dow-Jones in Germany. She is (naturally) fluent in German and, on September 16, 2000, married Oliver Reigber, a German lawyer she met on a train in Italy.

Beth, Oli, and their daughter Gwenni live in Basel, Switzerland.