Living most of his life in the Baltimore-Washington area, David Mumford Stoffel earned the reputation of an excellent computer programmer, described by co-workers as "a genius" and "on par with the best". In college, he pursued a double-major in Psychology and Computer Science. And while doing all of this, he was totally blind. David Stoffel lived from 1953 to 1997.

As a child with limited vision, David Stoffel attended public schools until transferring to the private Stony Brook School in Stony Brook, New York. Then, at age fourteen, David became totally blind, and transferred to the Maryland School for the Blind in Baltimore, Maryland. For higher education, David attended Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. David Stoffel graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Psychology.

Over the years, David Stoffel held a number of computer programming positions, in both the public and private sector. While some of his work remains classified, it is known that he served as a civilian contractor for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and for the Central Intelligence Agency in McLean, Virginia. In the private sector, David worked for Scion, Titan, Group L, and later worked independently under the business names Stoffel Associates and Computer Discovery.

While at the University of Maryland, David Stoffel developed one of the first talking terminals for the blind. While working for Scion, David wrote an article about Text-to-Speech Translation Issues for Byte Magazine. While at Group L, David worked on programming for one of the industry's leading text-search programs Textbank, marketed under the trade name Peoplebank during the 1980s. In June of 1985, freelance writer Brad Lemley wrote an article for the Washington Post Magazine about David's work at Group L entitled Clear Vision.

In the early 1990s, while working under the name Stoffel Associates, David developed new methods which help locate people who are difficult to find, and performed background checks for limited client companies. Unknown to most, David also developed techniques which could be used by those who desired to "get lost", to flee from situations of abuse. In this way, David was an advocate for victim's rights.

David Stoffel also worked with a local electronic specialist of sorts, in the development of methods to intercept cellular telephone traffic, making modified equipment available to select government agencies to monitor cellular telephone calls of known criminals and drug dealers. The specially modified equipment could also track a vehicle's movement and monitor voices of passengers in the vehicle, even when the phone was technically "not in use".

Some of David Stoffel's methods of investigation led to the creation of his company Computer Discovery, to offer his services in the field of Computer Forensic Science. Some of these techniques became known to the public, when computer data thought to be erased by Col. Oliver North magically reappeared in Washington. It then became widely realized that computer forensics could resurrect so-called "deleted data" from computer hardware, media and/or intercepted traffic. Some of David's work helped internet service providers fight the growing problem of child pornography, assisting ISPs in the identification of prohibited file posting and traffic. In June 1994, John Stein Moore, writing for Federal Computer Week, featured David's company in an article entitled Data Recovery.

David Stoffel discovered an extra sense of independence while aboard his 44-foot Nordic Sloop sailboat named Snowgoose, sailing the craft around the Chesapeake Bay. David lived aboard the boat in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and in marinas such as Whitehall on the Severn River. It was David's dream to sail around the world aboard the craft, raising money and awareness of the abilities of the handicapped, all the while resisting the limitations of the label. That planned trip proved to be too difficult to accomplish, and in the end, David gave up the boat, and returned to the Washington area.

As a blind man, David Stoffel struggled with "walking the fine line between dependence and independence." Through the aide of technological devices, David was able to enjoy a tremendous amount of freedom and independence while aboard his sailboat. He was able to steer the craft while listening to computer driven, talking navigational equipment. David was at his happiest during those independent times, sailing his boat with those closest to him. After giving up Snowgoose in 1994, David returned to the sea for one final voyage with his friends, Joe and Kaye. It was during this last trip that he wrote a daily series of essays for his Sailing Adventure Journal from January to March of 1995.