After Polio, Alcoholism and Cancer, Sid Korn Lives to Help Others

ONE BOOT AT A TIME –

May 26, 2023 – Born in New York in 1944, Korn experienced a severe run-in with polio as a young child and throughout his 79 years has dealt with aggressive forms of cancer, medical ailments, alcoholism and trauma, as well as a learning disability and mental health struggles. Throughout his schooling, he was “very socially awkward” and ostracized for his differences. Making friends was difficult, he said, as was finding love at the time. All of that caused great suffering for Korn, who now with his wife, Nancy, has a daughter, also in the area, and a son with four children in Alaska. Korn, who has lived in the Madison area since the early 1990s, said he plans to visit his grandchildren in September.

But through that adversity, Korn has traveled various parts of the world, from the coldest parts of Siberia to the majestic landscapes of Israel, as well as Switzerland and Canada. Artifacts and pieces of art from those travels adorn the walls and line the shelves of his Middleton home.