In 2024, Stephen and his wife, Diane, moved to North Florida near The University of Florida to be with their kids, and at age 66, he applied for his Master’s Degree in Art and Technology. Their home seems to be surrounded by a Juras - sic park. The dinosaurs are gone, leaving small lizards. The pterodactyls are hummingbirds and butterflies. The world has been tamed. There are roads and walkways, electricity, computers, air conditioning, cars, and a flat-screen TV hanging on the wall. Stephen spends most of his time on the com - puter. Diane is a Real Estate agent. They work well together. She is gregarious. He is most days on his desk. The volume of his artwork flows fast; documenting it is a more tedious process. Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, May of 1958. He was the 3rd of four children of Herman and Dor - othy Shooster. His parents are both first-genera - tion Jewish Americans. Their families came from Russia, dirt poor. Today, we know that region as the Ukraine. Stephen graduated from The University of Flori - da in 1982, with a degree in Fine Art and a minor in Architecture. Upon graduation, he worked with his father at his small telephone answering ser - vice. It had ten employees. The timing was perfect. By 1988, 800-number toll-free calling was rolled out and to capture some of this business, they created a call center. Stephen built the technology mostly from scratch, earning a software patent along the way.
Shooster, 1981, University of Florida
Stephen Shooster with multiplexer in a Miami truck tunnel. 1989
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