The Shape of Sound

The Origins of Human Language

The Capital letters of the Western Alphabet whose linguistic origins have been made categorically obscure bear witness to their mother centered prehistoric past when they became codified out of the sound creating organs on the individual mothers flat round face of the more expansive flat round surface of Mother Earth.

Barbara Redzisz Hammerstein aka Basia, was born in Warsaw, Poland and as a small child came to the United States in 1938. She attended Washington Irving High School in New York City, graduating as head of Arista Honor Society. While singing in Broadway shows, she worked on her Bachelors Degree in Philosophy at Hunter College, and subsequently at Columbia University for her Masters Degree in Theatre Arts and Communication.

Her theatrical career spanned the Golden Age of the Musical Theatre in the late 50s and early 60s. Some of the shows in which she sang included; "Top Banana" with Phil Silvers and Jack Albertson; "Two's Company" a revue with Bette Davis; "Can Can" with Gwen Verdon; "Music Man" with Barbara Cook and Robert Preston; and "Fiorello" with Tom Bosley. She met and married James Hammerstein, the son of Oscar Hammerstein II. She had a son, divorced and became the ubiquitous single parent. She recounts that rather incredible story in her first book, Cinderella After the Ball.

During her stay in New York, she hosted her own radio show "Out in the Open" on FM station WRVR which subsequently led to her own spot interviewing authors on early cable Channel C. Her roster of guests included Mya Angelou, Anais Nin and Isaac Asimov among others. In 1967 she joined Citizens for Clean Air after a massive toxic air inversion plagued the city. She organized a fund raising dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel hosted by Henry Morgan and Joan Rivers.

After moving to Rockland County she earned a Master gardener certificate and served on the board of the Rockland County Conservation Association, the Garden Club of Nyack, and director of the Shade Tree Commission of the Town of Orangetown.

During her stay in California she took EST training and became a staff member in the organization. She set out to explore the 'spiritual' world spending time with Baba Muktenanda, Krishna Murti, the Dalai Lama, Hilda Charlton and Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati at whose feet and in whose powerful presence she became heir to a Kundalini experience.