When I entered the OPS in 1980, female mentors were few and far between. I
worshiped Ditte Hess from afar and took my mentorship with Marlene Fishman. I
thank Don Wong for his kindness ( at my first OPS Meeting in SF in 1979 he took
me under his wing) and later, finding Csaba Martonyi's name on an OPS flyer and
discovered that this eye photography was actually a "thing", with an organized
group. Thank you Marshall Tyler, Mark Maio, Terry George, and who could ever
forget the kindest man on the planet, Emory Billings. So many are gone. Paul
Montague became a lifelong friend, as did Joe Warnicki, Paula Morris, Cindy
Montague ( Vander linden now!) My beloved, and gone too many years now Holly
Harwood Skolkin. Second wavers ( I count myself in that group) started
noticing A LOT more female faces and that was a breath of fresh air. Michael
Coppinger pushed me onto the podium, and Bruce Morris held my hand while I
bumbled through the 80's. I remember beating Richard Hackel on the racquetball
courts of Park City and Dennis Makes became my FIRST true OPS friend and mentor
in 1979 when he came to my clinic and fixed my TRC silver body fundus camera.
The list goes on and on, but these mentioned people stand out most in my mind
as I look back on a long career, while on the cusp of retirement. I thank
Nicole Pence for the shout out- just trying to pay it forward baby! Would have
crashed and burned without my tribe locking their hands together and assuring
me that I would not fall.
A grateful almost retiree....
Denice Barsness
