I first met Joan Ogden in 1976, when I became part of a long-standing communal household called “The Place” in rural New Jersey. Already a resident, Ogden introduced herself as a “hippie guitar player who does physics on the side.” Actually my new housemate had a PhD in theoretical plasma physics from the University of Maryland and was doing postdoctoral research at Princeton University.
Living with Ogden improved both my social life — we threw great parties, and she took me to folk nightclubs — and my environmental consciousness. While I attended protests against nuclear weapons, she worked on developing alternative energy sources in her lab at Princeton. At home she used an old treadle sewing machine to make fabric-covered foam inserts for the windows to keep out the winter cold. She also installed a wood stove that heated our large, drafty farmhouse better than the open fireplace ever had.
