Mel is a retired mathematician and has been a member of Channing Memorial Church since the spring of 2015. Channing is the first church he has ever belonged to. He has given three sermons over the past five years and served as an usher. (Sermons occur mostly when Mel is feeling pent up.) During his retirement, he has taken on a number of writing projects, several of which he has managed to complete. He is also trying to spend more time at the piano and on his other hobbies: German language/literature and genealogy/genetic genealogy. The pandemic has resulted in more substantial conversations with his wife. Their daughter and son-in-law currently live in Paris. On the civic side of things, Mel is Chair of Baltimore’s Civilian Review Board, which looks at complaints lodged against police officers by citizens.