Pioneer in SRS surgery dies

[Stlalice]

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Leader in sex-change surgery dies at 82

by Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network
Wednesday, January 18, 2006 / 01:52 PM
http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?2006/01/18/3

Summary:
The trans community and his small Colorado town mourn Dr. Stanley Biber, who did more than 4,500 reassignment surgeries.

Take a moment and think a kind thought for someone who has helped so many in our community to realize their dream. He will be missed.

[MarieTS]

I remember reading a newspaper article about Dr. Biber in the mid-80's when I was 15. I was so excited that I went to the library to see where exactly in Colorado Trinidad was. I carried the article around in my school notebook and read it so often that it eventually fell apart. I felt relieved to discover there were others like me who found the means to take their problem to the next level. I remember trying to calculate how much snow I would have to shovel, how many lawns I would have to cut, and how many newspapers I would have to deliver to pay for the transition based upon the costs that were mentioned in the article. But at least it gave me hope.
A few months later I hunted down Renee Richard's story, "Second Serve," in the library. I would go there and hide in a corner reading it with great anticipation. A few years after that Carolyn Cossey published her book, "My Story." I bought a copy. Those books and related articles were almost biblical to me. Did/does anyone else share those experiences?

[tori-e]

Stanley Biber's death is a great loss to our community. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that Dr. Biber was responsible not only for training Marci Bowers, but also Toby Meltzer, Pierre Brassard and Eugene Schrang.

A great number of us have been directly or indirectly affected by his work. He will be greatly missed.