Talking Information Center’s Board of Directors

Jon Davis, President of the Board and Legal Counsel
Mr. Davis is the principal of the law firm Stanton and Davis and is a founding member of the TIC Board of Directors. Mr. Davis served as a law clerk for the Kerner Commission on Civil Disorder in 1968, and, prior to that, he served with his wife as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador. Mr. Davis graduated from the University of Michigan and George Washington University Law Center. Mr. Davis is the president of the Massachusetts Conveyancers Association, a statewide bar association of lawyers specializing in real estate law.
 
Susan Donahue, Immediate Past President, Chair Development Committee
Ms. Donahue has been a TIC Board Member since 1982. She has headed up marketing areas of Bank of Boston, Stop & Shop Companies and Mobil Oil Corporation. Ms. Donahue sits on a number of Boards and committees on the South Shore and in Boston including Noble and Greenough School, Boston Medical Center, and the Museum of Fine Arts. She is a graduate of Skidmore College and did her graduate work at Harvard University.
 
Edward Perry, Treasurer
Mr. Perry is one of the founders of the Talking Information Center and has served as a member of the Board of Directors since its inception. As President of the Marshfield Broadcasting Company, Mr. Perry is the licensee of radio station WATD in Marshfield. Mr. Perry’s consulting firm, Educational FM Associates, provides technical assistance to other radio stations throughout the country. Mr Perry is also principle of the Bay Colony Railroad. He is past president of the Duxbury Lions Club and the Marshfield Chamber of Commerce. It was through his generous contribution of facilities and technical resources that the Talking Information Center was originally founded.
 
Beverly Johnston, Clerk
Ms. Johnston has served on the staffs of the Public Welfare Service of Massachusetts and the state Commission for the Blind. She has been a member of the Marshfield Board of Health and the Massachusetts Transportation Commission. Ms. Johnston is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
 
Al Bennett
Mr. Bennett joins the board of TIC with many years of volunteer work for a variety of organizations serving the blind, including TIC, the Massachusetts Association for the Blind, and Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. He also teaches Junior Achievement courses at Braintree and Weymouth Junior High Schools, and is a guest lecturer at Boston University. Formerly Vice President of Marketing for Dunkin Donuts, Al was, for the past 23 years, a McDonald’s franchise owner. Now retired, he remains an active member of the Board of Ronald McDonald House Charities.
 
Linda Dirksen
Linda Dirksen, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, relocated to Massachusetts sixteen years ago. She is a graduate of Charter Oak College with a degree in Production Management. Linda worked primarily in the HVAC industry before “retiring” five years ago. Since then, she has been able to participate in many volunteer positions, especially those that serve the elderly. In addition to coordinating fund raising activities for TIC, Linda also volunteers for Meals-on-Wheels in Scituate.
 
Dr. Ralph Eaves
Dr. Eaves is a 1984 graduate of the New England School of Optometry. He is a principle of the Pearle Vision Centers in Hanover, Sudbury, and Tyngsborough, MA. The newest member of the Board, he brings a valuable perspective to TIC as a professional in the field of vision and eye care.
 
Barbara Elliott
Ms. Elliott has served as Director of Safety Information for the Institute for Safer Living, Publicity Editor for American Mutual Insurance Company, and also as a teacher. She has been Chairperson of the Cohasset Community Fund, Cancer Fund, Heart Fund, and the Cohasset Dramatic Club, and active in the South Shore Hospital Volunteers. Ms. Elliott has served as chairperson of the Talking Information Center Golf Tournament, TIC’s biggest fundraiser, since 1980.
 
Jacqueline Keith
Jacky Keith was born in England and immigrated to the United States in 1962. She has been associated with the travel industry since 1965 and is a principle of Esplanade Tours, a Boston-based agency. Her involvement with TIC began in 1985 as a volunteer reader. She has assisted with many of TIC’s fundraising events and projects.
 
Susan Price
Susan Price of east Bridgewater is both a consumer of the reading service and a contributor to our programming. Since 1997, she has produced and hosted “Let’s Talk About It”, an hour-long, monthly call-in program focusing on issues related to the adjustment to loss of vision. Ms. Price holds a Master of Education in Counseling, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Bridgewater State College. For over 20 years she has provided individual, family and group counseling at various mental health facilities on the South Shore. She is a former rehabilitation teacher for the Massachusetts Commission for the blind where she developed and implemented individual rehabilitation plans.

Susan Sommer
Susan M. Sommer is a consumer of the radio reading service and a volunteer. She received her undergraduate degree from Lafayette College, a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Tufts University and her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. Susan worked in outpatient mental health with children and families until she became legally blind in 2000, secondary to a recessive disorder PXE. She currently is pursuing her personal and professional interest in coping with blindness. She lives in Hingham with her husband and two children where she serves on the Committee on Disabilities.
 
Christine Trenz
Christine Trenz is a Philadelphia area native and a graduate of Vassar College. She has worked for several organizations in the broadcasting industry, including National Public Radio and WATD. Ms. Trenz teaches communications and marketing courses at several area colleges, and is a marketing communications consultant for non-profits. Ms. Trenz started as a TIC volunteer in 1988.
 
Norman B. Williamson
Mr. Williamson has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Hyde Park Cooperative Bank since 1992. He serves as a Director on many other Boards including Cooperative Bank’s Employee Retirement Association, Hyde Park Main Streets, and the Hyde Park Board of Trade. Mr, Williamson is also very active in community affairs both in Hyde Park and his hometown of Duxbury. Mr. Williamson received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Northeastern University, and has also completed courses at National School of Finance and Management and Graduate School of Savings Banking at Fairfield University.