CLASS OF 1973 | 2015 | ISSUE 2
Stephen Sullivan tells me he has been living in Seattle since graduating from architecture school in 1980. He writes that “Washington State is an amazingly beautiful place to live. I’m still practicing architecture actively with a small studio and a few well-chosen staff here. I love the creative aspects of my work, most especially the creative engagement with my clients as we forge from their dreams the form of ‘home.’” He does not imagine retiring, due to his passion for his work, and says, “I am trying to slow down the work dimension of my life so that I have more time for my art work (pottery) and my get-away farm on Lopez Island near the Canadian border. On the farm I grow hay, I make pots, and I sit and stare at the quiet beauty of the place.”
He says his children are grown and he has two talented daughters, one of whom just finished grad school in Alaska, and the other of whom lives in New Jersey. He says, “Life in the 60s has a decidedly different texture, with thoughts of how to make this final stage meaningful. Last chance to contribute to a better world!” He says Wesleyan gave him a great education in the arts. With his Watson fellowship in Japan in the early ’70s, his world expanded in a way he will never forget. “I still see my ‘Japanese family’ regularly, even four decades later. I’m ready for another wander-year, to see the world as it is today, and to understand better my part in it.”
Donald Zilkha says “much is happening.” His oldest child is about to turn 21 and his other two sons are making their way through Loomis and Andover. He has moved out of private equity and has been investing in listed securities for the past seven years. “Liquid investments are much less stressful as one gets older,” he says. He is also helping several young investors start businesses, and running the Bordeaux wine society—the Commanderie de Bordeaux—in N.Y., and traveling with his wife and children quite extensively. “To my mind, the best form of education,” Donald notes.
Bruce Ferguson says, “By the time this hits the newsstands, I’ll have a new suspense novel out, Two Graves for Michael Furey—my eighth book (not counting two apprentice novels permanently exiled to the bottom drawer of my desk).” He adds, “Also, I’ll be a grandfather, though it may be a while before my wife, Angelica, and I see the wee bairn, as the parents-to-be are living and working in Tokyo. Another son also remains too far away in the other direction—Washington, D.C.,—working as an attorney and occasional good-guy lobbyist on the Hill for a nonprofit.”
Tom Kelly says he and Michael McKenna are headed to the World Cup in October and he should have some “good material after that.”
Charley Wayne reports his middle son, Joey Wayne ’08, married Hannah Klausner in May 2014, and that eldest son Michael Wayne ’05 married Lucy Edwards in May 2015. The mother of the grooms, Ellen Kabcenell Wayne ’75, is thankful to have daughters in the family.
Jim Powers recently traveled to China with a delegation from the Gerontologic Society of America and lectured on Models of Geriatric Healthcare at the Shanghai University International Symposium on Public Policy Challenges and Governance—Innovation In an Aging Society. China has a rapidly rising aging population with a low ratio of workers to retirees, stimulating cross-cultural collaboration and sharing of innovative ideas related to retirement and elder healthcare.
John Spike tells me that his wife, Michele (Conn College ’73), and he lived in Florence from 1989 until three years ago, when he accepted a position at the Museum of the College of William & Mary as assistant director and chief curator. He says Michele is teaching at the School of Law, which is famous for being founded by Thomas Jefferson. John says what he has done in Virginia has been written up in the Virginia newspapers, but most completely in the April edition of The Art Newspaper, which is published in London and the publication closest to a newspaper for museum professionals.
His appointment at William & Mary allows them to return to Italy during the summer months, where he was when he wrote that he is “planning another epochal exhibition for the Museum.” He says all of his shows have been partnered with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. His son, Nicholas Spike, who was born in 1983, “works enjoyably and successfully” as a sports agent in New York City and was married last October to Marcela.
Bill Quigley writes that he and Dee sold their house in Massachusetts and moved to Bradenton, Fla., last November. He says he is in the final stages of preserving all the 100 years of content of his family motion picture (primarily) trade publishing company—Quigley Publishing Company, founded by his grandfather in 1915—which published the Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture Herald, FAME, Motion Picture Almanac, Television & Video Almanac and many other entertainment related books and journals over the years. Bill says they stopped publishing in 2014 and are digitizing and preserving hundreds of thousands of pages and photographs from the very beginning. “After that is done, I will try to figure out what I will do when I grow up. I have been developing a screenplay—based on a true story—about a boat owned by a friend of mine in Puerto Rico that ends up in the hands of the Yakuza in Japan and how he got it back. It will be interesting to see if I can get it made.” Bill says he stays in touch regularly with Peter Cross, who moved from Connecticut to Texas this year and Scott Schlieman—who lives in Costa Rica—and has been in contact with many DKEs about Wesleyan’s actions towards his fraternity.
My oldest daughter, Jennifer, 38, is a top-flight nurse not far away from John Spike, living in Gloucester, Va., along with her husband, Tracy, and stepdaughters Lindsay and Stephanie, and my granddaughters, Zoey, 1, and Taylor, 15. My middle daughter, Dana, 36, is pursuing a variety of endeavors here in South Florida, while my youngest daughter, Holly, 31, is now a wildlife biologist in Boulder, Colo., after getting her degree at the University of Colorado, and lives in Arvada with her husband, Neil. My wife, Connie, also is pursuing a variety of endeavors here and, like Stephen Sullivan, I see no retirement in the near future due to my passion for my work at WFOR-TV (CBS in Doral near Miami) as a reporter, as long as I can continue to keep up with the younger reporters and enterprise stories.
Feel free to let me know any stories you’d like to share.