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As we revisit your story almost a decade later, how are you currently involved in Developmental Optometry, and what roles or projects are most central to your work now?

It would have been hard to imagine when we did our original “sit down” how much the nature of my practicing in the profession has changed.  I sold my practice in 2017, and opened an entirely different venture in Lakewood, New Jersey.  In one sense it was “Back to the Future”, as I refined and re-defined the nature and scope of how I was prescribing lenses and prisms for patients who largely could not or would not commit themselves to an office-based program of optometric vision therapy.  I published my approach to this in a series of articles that wound up being a “prism trilogy” in the journal Optometric Clinical Practice (2020, 2023, and 2025).  I’ve purposely declined invitations to lecture over the past five to ten years for a variety of reasons.  But at the urging of Paul Freeman, editor of OCP and co-chair of CE for OVDRA (and a magnificent friend and colleague), I’ve been putting together a two hour lecture specifically for the meeting that I feel will be a special swan song of sorts.

Looking back over the past decade, how has your perspective on developmental optometry evolved since our last interview in 2016?

I’ve accepted that developmental optometry has evolved to the point where it has become impractical and perhaps even counterproductive to try and be “all things to all patients”.  By that I mean thinking that one can develop mastery in all the varied specialities of acquired brain injury, functional neurology, nutrition, visual snow, sports vision, optometric phototherapy/syntonics, infant vision care, pediatric eye disease, contact lenses, ophthalmic lenses/prisms, learning difficulties, and so forth.  As recently as 2016 I was still striving to be “Everyman”, but at this stage of my career I’ve grown increasingly comfortable referring patients to colleagues who are proficient in areas which I am not (or no longer), which includes office-based vision therapy, orthokeratology, electrodiagnostics, and syntonics to name a few.  Making peace with my choices, and re-designing my bucket list has allowed me to broaden my perspective on developmental optometry and focus on select areas of interest.

You’ve often spoken about standing on the shoulders of giants. With the recent passing of Dr. Bob Sanet, and the losses of Dr. Arnie Sherman and Dr. Ted Kadet, what responsibilities do you believe this moment places on our profession moving forward?

Wow.  Tough but good question, Robert.  It is interesting that the phrase is most often attributed to Isaac Newton, who wrote in a letter 350 years ago: “If I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”  So it has been recognized for a very long time that what turns mortals into giants is their visionary abilities built on the solid foundation to which Newton was alluding.  I believe the greatest responsibility of our profession is to continue to inspire one another to be as good as we can be to ourselves, to our families, to our patients, to research and educational ventures, to organized optometry, and to the public.  The balance within those interlocking hoops through which we jump will vary for each individual, but we need to make sure that our foundation remains solid while we try to anticipate the future.  Although the future of our profession moving forward can’t be predicted with any degree of certainty, it can be anticipated with a high degree of probability.  The three individuals who you mentioned, and who sadly passed in 2025, were masters at doing that.

You and Dr. Sanet were known not only as colleagues but as friends. Is there a particular story or moment with Bob that you feel best captures who he was?

Bob and I had so many interactions it’s hard to come up with a particular story, but if I had to pick one it would reflect on how tough of a negotiator he was.  I say that out of love and admiration because in many respects I wish at times I could have been more like that.  Most people reading this knew Bob as the empathic clinician and mentor that he was, but Bob also had a stubborn streak. If he felt firmly about something, he drove hard a bargain.  I won’t get into details about our negotiations with third parties on joint projects (the fact that his nephew Rick was his attorney afforded him an edge), but for many years one item in particular served as a lightning rod for some of our early conversations: “imagery”.  Bob and I spent countless hours debating whether it was possible for someone to lack the capacity for imagery.  He insisted that he had none, and I insisted that he did, though perhaps not in a conventional sense.  I gave him the example of a STOP sign and asked him what he saw internally when I mentioned the phrase and he replied: “Nothing”.  “Nothing?”, I asked incredulously.  “What colors are the letters, the background color of the sign, the shape of it?”  He patiently explained that he knew the facts experientially, but wasn’t seeing any images while relating the answers.  Ultimately I told Bob that he was being artificially intelligent, and that became something of an inside joke.  In many ways I thought of Bob as a big brother as much as I thought of him as a colleague.

As our community continues to reflect on the legacy of Dr. Sanet, what do you believe we can do to honor him most meaningfully in our everyday work?

I saw a really sweet post on social media recently by Joanna Carter who posed the question: “How did you ‘Bob’ today?”  I think that feeling perfectly captures how we honor him, by implementing the many and varied lessons that he taught.  It’s amazing when you think about it how much Bob excelled at self-growth, which enabled him to bring out the best in his patients, and inspired others to do the same.  Just the other day I was evaluating a young girl who was trying my patience, and I nearly lost it.  She was giving me intentionally twisted answers to questions and her older sister was waiting to be evaluated.  I moved her to a chair on the side, and while I evaluated her sister asked the young girl to help me figure out if her sister was “giving me the right answers”, enabling to work with both of them at the same time.  I realized, as Joanna would say, that “I was channeling my inner Bob.”  I see so much of Bob reflected in the work of those he mentored such as Pilar Vergara, Angela Peddle, and Stelios Nikolakakis.  I think it’s important that we read their publications (Pilo on “Strabismus and Amblyopia”; Angela on “Becoming The Vision”; Stel on “Soul Sight”) that perpetuate as well as extend Bob’s insights, and incorporate them into our essence.  Now that he’s physically gone, I hope people will avail themselves of the opportunity to watch his seminars via the Emergent series which becomes even more valuable.  And on a personal note, I want to thank you for all that you do to keep his flame alive for the legions of those who have been and will be inspired by him.

Between VisionHelp, VDR, and the Applied Concepts publications, your written contributions continue to define the landscape of our field. What are you most proud of in your body of work, and what still feels unfinished?

My body of work is like my children (and their children and beyond) – I’m proud of them in different ways.  What I’m most recognized for is the Applied Concepts textbook, and it was gratifying that COVD/OVDRA dubbed their CE as the “Applied Concepts Courses” indicative of core concepts in our field.  In the realm of textbooks, if authors don’t come up with a new edition within five to seven years, the book typically gets phased out, and that is unfortunate.  I feel that my first book, Clinical Pediatric Optometry, introduced a very significant concept of a “Systems Approach”.  That as well as my second book which was “Clinical Pearls in Refractive Care” resonated with segments of the Primary Care Optometry community as well. and I’ve always felt it was important to be encompassing.  My first written contribution with Bob Sanet was an 80 page chapter in Penelope Suter and Lisa Harvey’s book on Vision Rehabilitation, which was special on many levels.  I’m proud of the AOA Clinical Practice Guidelines to which I contributed, and the annual volumes of Advances in Ophthalmology & Optometry published by Elsevier that I co-edit, now in its 10th year.  And naturally, blogging remains unfinished business.

VDR has grown significantly since its launch. What has surprised you most about the journal’s impact, and what do you envision for its future?

I get so caught up in the “day-to-day” aspect of being the Editor-in-Chief that I have to remind myself to step back periodically and appreciate what we’ve accomplished.  From the outset we’ve sought a balance between seasoned and new authors, and between research, perspective pieces, and case reports.  I feel like we’ve broken new ground, and some of the monumental articles we’ve published range from the Sanet-Vergara protocol on prescribing for Amblyopia, to David Cook’s insights on ZOSA, to the SUNY consortium on neuro-optometric rehab and on visual snow.  Publishing the posters for the organizations’ annual meeting is something that occupies a valuable niche.  We would not be able to function at a high level without the input of reviewers who volunteer their time, and the guidance from our managing editor Katie Kirschner as well as our Journal Review Board.  Regarding our future, I have not given up on attaining inclusion in PubMed/Medline, although their approval has been elusive to date.  While we have made a significant impact without that, it would potentially attract a wider pool of authorship in the future.

As someone who has mentored so many leaders, what do you believe are the essential qualities that define a truly great clinician in developmental optometry

The first quality I’m going to say is grit, which is actually the combination of two vital qualities, namely courage and resolve.  These are essential because there are many roadblocks to success that clinicians in our field encounter,  It is easy to get discouraged early in one’s career because of the indifference of the rest of the profession to our services and the negativity in the marketplace toward what we do from pediatricians, pediatric ophthalmologists, and educators.  Having said that, once one acquires the skill set to be successful, whether grasping that intuitively or working with a mentor or coach, the rewards in helping patients through developmental optometry are enormous.  Like a great athlete who succeeds by “allowing the game to come to me”, there is rhythm and flow in a great practice with its attendant support network.  In addition, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that may of the essential qualities that define a great clinician in developmental optometry are the same qualities we seek to instill in our patients: grit, growth mindset, empathy, respect, and cognitive flexibility.  And naturally, charisma and a good bedside manner supports greatness because, as the saying goes, patients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  But the drive to acquire and share knowledge is essential.

If you could sit down with your younger self at the moment you first entered this profession, what wisdom do you wish you could give him today?

Exude confidence and certainty, but don’t be dogmatic.  Every dogma has its day, but as the great philosopher of science, Thomas Kuhn once said regarding paradigms: “Shift happens.”  Go with the flow, and enjoy the ride.

Lastly, after everything you’ve built, witnessed, and contributed, what does it mean to you now to have devoted your life to this profession?

It feels that the more I give to this profession, the more it gives back to me, like complementary parallel universes that keep expanding.  Good things in this profession have come to me in pairs.  For example, Lou Hoffman and Jack Richman who were highly influential mentors and role models at PCO.  Two early stellar mentees, Barry Tannen and Mike Gallaway, whose accomplishments and friendship have meant a great deal to me through the years.  Two COVD leaders between whom I had the privilege to serve as President, Nancy Torgerson and Lynn Hellerstein, who helped to shape my organizational and personal world-views.  The two “wise men” of VHG, Neil Draisin and Gary Etting, and the two movers and shakers Dan Fortenbacher and Carl Hillier.  A biological optometric son, Dan who embodies the best of what his mother and I imparted, and an “adopted optometric son”, Mike Montenare who carries on a tradition of private practice excellence.  And of course, when speaking of life-long devotion and accomplishment, Bob and Linda Sanet, power couple extraordinaire who Miriam and I have long admired.  Lastly, at the risk of offending those whose names I haven’t mentioned, the pairing of my best former SUNY VT Resident Carole Hong, with her best vision therapist, Robert Nurisio.

Closing Thoughts from Robert: A great thanks to Dr. Leonard Press for taking the time out of his schedule to work on this interview. His original Sit Down, which posted in April of 2015, remains one of my most favorite collaborations, as his work consistently represents the level of thoughtfulness and clarity I strive for in my own writing. Revisiting his voice now is a reminder of how clarity, depth, and generosity of thought can shape an entire profession. His ability to articulate complex ideas with both precision and humanity continues to inspire not only how we think, but how we communicate what truly matters in our work. Please join me in wishing Dr. Leonard Press, and his family, every happiness and continued health as they look ahead to all that the future holds! Cheers!