Willem Lange is the world’s most
unlikely renaissance man! Don’t be fooled by his quiet and low-key
manner. There’s a fire roaring inside!
He was born in 1935. Both his parents
were deaf and he grew up speaking sign language, but he chose the art
of the spoken word as his career. He likes to tell people that he got his
college degree in only nine years!
But once he was out, he wasted no
time experimenting with a host of career opportunities. He worked as a ranch hand, Adirondack
guide, preacher, construction laborer, bobsled run announcer,
assembly line worker, cab driver, bookkeeper, and bartender. But what
really stuck was his ability to tell stories. He’s written a
newspaper column since 1981 and he’s a commentator on public radio
and television stations in New England.
He’s also the founder of the
Geriatric Adventure Society, a group of outdoor enthusiasts who have
skied the Alaska Marathon, climbed mountains in the Himalayas,
bushwhacked their way through New England and navigated the rivers
north of the Arctic Circle.