CLASS OF 1979 | 2018 | ISSUE 2
It’s officially summertime. Not that many submissions this issue. C’mon, send in your news please. Or are you saving it for our 40th next year?
Tina Binns Palmer: “We became grandparents in October for the first time as son #1 and wife became parents of a wonderful and happy son. Early this November, son #2 and wife will join the club and welcome their first child. Meanwhile son #3 is digging in various parts of Greece while pursuing his master’s in archaeology.”
Jane Marcellus: “I am part of an American Journalism Historians Association team building a database in anticipation of the centennial of the 19th Amendment. I had an essay ‘The Growing Rock’ published in the Gettysburg Review and a #MeToo piece in the Washington Post.”
Caroline Norden: “After working for 25 years on land protection and stewardship projects for various land trusts, I am now a stay-at-home mom, caring for two teenage daughters. I am excited that my eldest will be entering Wesleyan as a freshman this fall. I’m looking forward to becoming reacquainted with the college.”
Kimberley Carrell-Smith: “I’m still a professor of practice in public history at Lehigh University, where I also direct the interdisciplinary Community Fellows Graduate Program. As a former dumpster diver with 20 years and counting since my first university ‘garbage’ forays, I run a huge university-community sale project that collects student castoffs at the end of the year and turns them into gold through an enormous community sale. The aim is to channel high-end reusable goods into a sale in my low-income neighborhood surrounding our campus, inviting folks to buy with dignity at bargain prices. We made $20,000-plus this year for school field trips and programs for neighborhood kids! Pretty good haul for all items at about 25 cents to a dollar or two. Where else can you buy Prada or Versace apparel, a fan, a bucket, a pan, and a chair, and walk away with change from $20?”
Andrew Tanzer: “My book, Robert Kuok: A Memoir, has sold about 160,000 copies, mainly in Southeast Asia, and will go on sale in the U.S. market in September.”
Mecklenburg County Manager Dena R. Diorio announced that W. Lee Jones Jr. has been named as the new park and recreation director. Jones, a licensed architect and member of the American Institute of Architects, currently serves as the division director for Park and Recreation’s Capital Planning and Alliance Development Services. He is responsible for coordinating the planning, design, and construction of the department’s facilities and overseeing the development of many partnerships. Over the years, Jones worked on several notable park projects, including First Ward Park, Romare Bearden Park, and the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex at Matthews.
From my partner in notes, Ann Biester Deane: “So proud of my son, Carter ’18, the sixth member of our family to graduate from Wes! Off to Cologne next year on a DAAD fellowship.” Six Wesleyan grads! It’s a dynasty.
Yours truly, Gary Breitbord, has been spending time with the usual cast of characters from DKE/Wesleyan. I know I keep writing about this group, but the bonds are stronger than ever, even 40 years later, and since no one else wrote in, I figured I’d bore you one more time. Many impromptu get togethers surrounding two noteworthy highlights: A fun reception at the DKE house on the Saturday of Reunion weekend then the next day at Gillette Stadium where the Wesleyan Men’s Lacrosse team won the NCAA Division III Championship!
The Reunion reception didn’t disappoint with classes from 1958–2013 (like Bart Bolton ’58 to Zach Binswanger ’13) and those in between well-represented. From our time on campus, the class of ’78 was in the house: John McDermott, Ralph Rotman, Bill Ahern, Paul Nelson, Jeff Nesson, Bill Weiss, Jeff Binswanger, and Michael Klingher. Also, in attendance representing the DKE Alumni Board of Directors: Jeff Gray ’77, Dave Thomas ’77, Tom Roberts ’77, Dave Bagatelle ’86, Scott Karsten ’74, and the illustrious Joe Britton.
There was a large Wesleyan contingent (the graduation ceremonies in Middletown precluded a much larger showing) cheering on the men’s lacrosse Cardinals in their unprecedented accomplishment. I was fortunate to join a legion of lacrosse luminaries including Pat McQuillan ’75, Jim Daley ’75, Charlie Cocores ’74, Bill Devereaux ’75, Jock Burns ’72, Al Poon ’76, Dave Campbell ’75, Pete McArdle ’75, and Peter Guenther ’77 in celebrating this Wesleyan milestone. And to our own class of ’79 lacrosse playing stud, Jono Cobb, it’s a different game than when you and I played, my friend.
Gary Breitbord | gbreitbo@aol.com
Ann Biester Deane | abdeane@aol.com