BERTLING, Tom 1956-

PERSONAL: Born June 21, 1956; son of Richard and Josephine (Caputo) Bertling; married Valerie Jo Bemis, August, 1992; children: Rikki Sage (daughter). Ethnicity: "English, Italian, German." Politics: Democrat. Religion: "Agnostic." Hobbies and other interests: Astronomy, astrophysics, physics, architecture, politics, music.

ADDRESSES: Office—Kodiak Media Group, P.O. Box 1029, Wilsonville, OR 97070.

CAREER: Kodiak Media Group, Wilsonville, OR, president, 1989—.

WRITINGS:

A Child Sacrificed, Kodiak Media Group (Wilsonville, OR), 1994.

No Dignity for Joshua, Kodiak Media Group (Wilsonville, OR), 1997.

(Editor) American Sign Language: Shattering the Myth, Kodiak Media Group (Wilsonville, OR), 1998.

(Editor) An Intellectual Look at American Sign Language, Kodak Media Group (Wilsonville, OR), 2001.

(Editor) Communicating with Deaf Children, Kodak Media Group (Wilsonville, OR), 2002.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Several projects related to signed languages and deafness; research on American Sign Language and signed English, sexual abuse among the deaf, deaf cultural issues, and astrophysics research.

SIDELIGHTS: Tom Bertling once told CA: "My primary reason for undertaking the difficult task of writing my books is the simple fact that most of the published material on deafness, in particular deaf culture, deaf education, and American Sign Language, was either completely biased or simply flat-out wrong. Because I attended a residential school for the deaf and also have a large 'deaf of deaf' family, I feel I am able to present a perspective on matters that, until now, were mostly hidden from society in general.

"There is a vocal minority—which claims to represent all deaf or hard-of-hearing people—that prefers I keep quiet about these matters, but they are in fact part of the problem, not the solution. My contribution to society is to continue the process of bringing things out into the open for full public scrutiny.

"In the beginning, I was discouraged by many socalled esteemed deaf leaders from writing about these emotional and political topics. After the first book, however, I was approached by numerous educators who encouraged me to keep writing and ignore the nay-sayers. A large number of individuals commented that they appreciated my direct, to-the-point style. English is, however, a lifelong learning process for me. I want to note that it was the late Dr. Otto Menzel, editor of Life after Deafness, who sped up the process for me. I am greatly indebted to him for making up for the educational shortcomings of my school years."