Mitch Cohen:
CLASS OF 1970
El Camino High SchoolClass of 1970
Sacramento, CA
Mitch's Story
After graduating El Camino early to get out of the house (rebel who thought he had a cause), I studied English and Creative Writing at UC Santa Barbara. Graduated 1974. Worked as typist/receptionist (gender equality!) at the U for a year. Looked like law school was in the offing, but I didn't want it; so instead took the opportunity to work in rural Germany as a cross between au pair and stableboy for room, board, & pocket money. Then traveled Europe for 3 months. Then picked grapes & did construction work, again rural Germany.
Visited friends in Berlin in 1977 and stayed. Washed dishes, did construction work, taught art to kids for 11 years till they got on my nerves too much, then developed a translating biz, which is still flourishing (I work hard to balance out my decades of Boheme-style work ethic) and providing the German welfare state with all the taxes it needs -- for example, to keep my schizophrenic, murder-threatening stalker in pocket money. (Thank God THAT'S over!)
1979-1983 I put together an anthology of Berlin writers. That put me in contact also with East German writers, artists, dissidents. Border-crossing was an adrenaline kick. Seeing the fruits of Leftism ultimately turned me away from Leftism. (But I was a slow learner.)
A Stasi spy in the "underground subculture" reported my smuggling and made me persona non grata there. Seeing my THICK Stasi file made me feel impor...Expand for more
tant.
Won a minor prize for writing cityscapes -- in German! Have published poems & short prose in both languages.
1989: Watched the Berlin Wall fall and chipped a few bits of concrete out of it myself. But that was inadequate therapy for a relationship that had just ended.
After a succession of guerrilla-warfare relationships (my first love, Bonnie P. back in high school, was the exception -- I realized how good I had it, but not how rare that is!), I finally met Carola in 1990. Married late (1996), no kids, but happy. My joke: The great thing about marrying late is you don't have time to get divorced. Carola worked in theater, now occasional "culture manager".
In May 2013 we'll finish paying off the mortgage on our apt. in Berlin. It was built in 1879 and has character. But only 1200 sq ft. No balcony, no garden. Very lively part of town with great cafés and restaurants.
I do have "fatherhood lite": I'm putting 3 kids through school and university in Lesotho in southern Africa.
Wide-ranging travel, about 45 countries: all over Europe from Greece to the Arctic Circle, Portugal to Romania; also Tunisia, Israel, Turkey, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Taiwan, Georgia (in the Caucasus), Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Canada. Round, round, git around, I git around!
I can be contacted at mitch period co at snafu period de. Please do!
Mitch
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