Larry Lieberman

Continuing our series "Getting to Know Our Neighbors," we want to introduce you to Larry Lieberman who, with his wife Gloria, bought their Esplanade condo in 2009. Previously, they lived in a condo on Mount Vernon Street, "up the hill from Louisburg Square." Although they loved the Beacon Hill neighborhood, they wanted amenities like parking, concierge services, laundry facilities, and "Gloria wanted a pool and still be able to walk to her work at the Skinner Auction Gallery." So Larry started to look and found the Esplanade and it had everything they wanted. "We were also able to stay in the same neighborhood and with half the taxes." They are also pleased that their 11th floor condo has windows on all sides. "We can see the sunset and the sunrise, the river and the city. It is wonderful." (They also have a condo at the Cape, where they go regularly.) 

Staying in the general area was important. Gloria was instrumental in saving the Vilna Shul on Phillips Street, a synagogue built in 1917. It was slated to be torn down and Gloria, along with others, raised funds to preserve the building that is now Boston's Center for Jewish Heritage. It is the last remaining immigrant-era synagogue building in Boston and now serves as a center for Jewish culture and communal engagement. 

Larry grew up in Forest Hills, Queens. He and Gloria met in high school; he was a senior and she was a sophomore and January 1, 2022, marks their 56th wedding anniversary. They have two daughters. Amy lives in Lexington, Mass., and Irena lives in Arlington, Virginia. Both are married. The Liebermans have one granddaughter, Isabella, age 11, in Virginia.

In the late 1960's, Larry was working on his doctorate in special education for children with learning disabilities, at Teachers College, Columbia University, and simultaneously was employed in a program planning job at the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped in Washington, D.C. In 1969, Part G of Title VI, P.L. 91-230 was passed. It was the first time the federal government had ever recognized learning disabilities as a potential handicapping condition. Larry was in the right place at the right time and became the first Coordinator of Learning Disabilities, Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, U.S. Office of Education. He was 27 years old. He and Gloria lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with their two young daughters for the next three years. 

"Every document, policy statement, letter to President Nixon or a Senator or Congressman that mentioned Learning Disabilities landed on my desk and I answered every one of them, although most did not go out under my signature." "What I enjoyed the most were the letters from parents across the country asking how will this law help my child? Sometimes I would pick up the phone and call them directly. I would hear the child on the other end of the line yelling, ‘Mom, it's the government calling!!!’" The great benefit to Larry’s professional career was that his position put him in touch with all the experts on learning disabilities and he built a huge network of important people in his field. It also gave Larry an opportunity to speak to large audiences at conferences all over the country about the law and what the government was doing to help children with learning disabilities. 

"I avoided ‘government speak,’ learned I could make people laugh, pulled no punches, and gave audiences the straight stuff. Educators and administrators found it refreshing. I was in demand as a speaker, but only because of my position." When asked why he left government, Larry responded, " I wanted to be a professional and not a bureaucrat." So he applied and was awarded a yearlong fellowship to study pediatric neurology and neuropsychology at Tufts New England Medical Center. The family moved to Brookline and that year "became the most significant experience of my life." 

In addition to the fellowship, Larry was offered the position of Assistant Professor in the special education department at Boston College. His teaching responsibilities usually started at either four in the afternoon or seven at night. He began his days in the hospital at 8:00 am. It was 1973, and just like his situation when the federal law was passed, Massachusetts passed Chapter 766. "It was the most far-reaching special education law in the country." Educators in classrooms and special educators working with children with disabilities, were not prepared for IEP's (Individualized Educational Programs), diagnostic evaluations, parent conferences, multidisciplinary teams, and primary placements in regular classrooms. As a result, Larry's phone started ringing and school system administrators across the state were requesting him to speak to their teachers about meeting the dictates of the new law. That year he ended up with almost three full-time jobs; the hospital fellowship until two to three in the afternoon, speaking and consulting all over Massachusetts from two to four, and teaching at Boston College. 

Larry and Gloria bought a house in Newtonville and from 1974 to 1978 Larry taught full time at Boston College and became the chairman of the special education doctoral program. In 1978 Larry resigned his position at Boston College and became a self-employed consultant to school systems. For the next 22 years he traveled all over the world (sometimes with Gloria when the location was particularly exotic like Okinawa), consulting and speaking to large audiences of professional educators, psychologists, physicians, and parents. His message was based in child-centered education. His moral argument was that "if we force children to go to school, it is our obligation to make certain that they do not fail, always prioritizing how best to meet the needs of the child, and not the needs of the school system.”

To that end, and, with that goal in mind, Larry has written three very successful books. A trilogy with the following titles: Preventing Special Education......for those who don't need it; A Special Educator's Guide.......to regular education; Preserving Special Education........for those who need it.  He has also written over fifty journal articles, primarily in the Journal of Learning Disabilities.

In 2000, George W. Bush became President and brought with him the passage of the education law "No Child Left Behind." Education in America had been primarily a state concern. This law was a federal government takeover. It created a nationwide school system that was almost exclusively devoted to standards and tests. "My message lost its relevancy…I could no longer deliver my message with passion and optimism, when I knew child centeredness had been removed from educational thought." Additionally, in the new environment of No Child Left Behind, Larry's message was frustrating to hear. Educators loved it but the response became: "We love what you have to say but we can't do it that way." Larry walked away from his career and fully retired in 2001. 

"I am an only child, have always had a good imagination, never bored, and lived the life of the mind, so retirement never concerned me, even at a relatively young age."  "Gloria wanted to continue working and financially we would be able to live our lifestyle." For Larry, "I never wanted to do something just for money. It had to be meaningful and something I was passionate about and that was education." 

Today, Larry reads, plays chess, runs 4-5 miles most days and is a long-distance cyclist, sometimes riding from the Esplanade to his home in Falmouth. I will add that Larry, with his wonderful sense of humor, has written some very funny pieces for the ECG Newsletter. He loves that he has the time to be available for his family. Gloria's mom is 97, lives in New York City, and they visit her regularly. "I am very happy in my life and have very good friends," Larry says appreciatively. "I would like to add that I have been involved with human services my whole life and if any of the readers of this need a good listener, I would be more than happy to be that person." And I know he means it.

If you see Larry on his bike or running on the Charles, be sure to say "Hi."

Jane Hilbert-Davis