Fred Raymond Goldman graduated from Western Maryland College in Westminster, MD (now McDaniel College) in June 1962 with a B.A. in psychology. In 1964, he earned an M.S.W. degree from the University of Maryland School of Social Work.
Most of his career was devoted to the Jewish Communal Service. He served as the administrator of Northwest Drug Alert, a methadone maintenance program at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, where he also became the community’s reference point for steering drug abusers to Jewish resources. The work focused on helping individuals achieve abstinence, receive counseling, and find employment.
Following this role, Fred was hired as Assistant to the Director of Jewish Family Services in Baltimore.
The final position in his professional career was with Har Sinai Congregation, a Jewish Reform synagogue in Baltimore, where he served as Executive Director for 23 years before retiring in October 2005.
In retirement, Fred pursued his interests in hiking with The Maryland Hiking Club, exploring nature, and volunteering at The Irvine Nature Center, where he guided schoolchildren on nature hikes and assisted in the Center’s nature store.
Writing had been an interest since childhood, though Fred did not pursue it seriously until retirement. Beginning with children’s books, he became a member of the Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Association. Among the works he wrote were Vera and the Blue Bear Go to the Zoo, Never Bite an Elephant (And Other Bits of Wisdom), The Day the School Bus Drivers Went on Strike, If You Count, and The Day the School Devices Went on Strike. Although these works were never published, Fred hopes that if the CONCERTO books gain recognition, opportunities for these earlier works may follow.
The journey of writing the CONCERTO companion books began after Fred noticed a note on the local library bulletin board announcing the formation of a writer’s group led voluntarily by a local author. Joining the group with nine others, he learned the essentials of writing—maintaining the protagonist’s point of view, building tension toward a climax, rewriting, and developing complex characters with flaws, peculiarities, and unique personalities.
Over four years, Fred devoted significant time to writing, researching, rewriting, and submitting the manuscript. Originally one book titled The Auschwitz Concerto, the project was later divided into two volumes and self-published.
Encouragement from the teacher and fellow writers in the group played a pivotal role in shaping the novels, as Fred also contributed to the successes of others through critique and support.
In the Author’s Notes, Fred explains the purpose of making the books available to the public. Before embarking on the project, he knew little about the Holocaust beyond its staggering toll of nine million lives and its place as one of history’s darkest chapters. In writing the novels, he not only gained deeper knowledge of history and human suffering but also developed a heightened awareness of current issues that demand attention. As he notes, what affects one group of people has the potential to affect all of us.
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