CLASS OF 1971 | 2020 | ISSUE 1
Aloha! Hope you are all prepared for a new decade: 2020s. To start, there is some sad news. Thurman Northcross ’70 passed away on June 20, 2019. He was a business manager, owner, and consultant. A graduate of Manassas High School, Thurman earned his bachelor’s with a major in economics from Wesleyan and an MS in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University. Among Thurman’s business enterprises were Stone Creek Corporation, a cleaning supplies company, and Signs First on Poplar Avenue. He worked for the City of Memphis as manager of youth services in the Summer Youth Program. He was also manager of corporate development for the Tennessee Valley Center for Economic Development.
Also, David E. Thomson ’71, MAT ’72 died Sept. 13, 2019, after a lengthy illness. A writer and poet, he will be remembered for his play, The Melting Pot, and his book, A Fellowship of Men and Women, among others. His wife, Alexandra Chalif (sasha@alexandrachalif.com), shared this information.
Jay Resnick is working on a class, Forward into the Past—A Yiddish Reading Circle. In that class, they will read (in English) stories that were published in the Jewish Daily Forward in the 20th century. The text will be the 2017 anthology edited by Ezra Glinter, Have I Got a Story for You: More Than a Century of Fiction from The Forward. Jay said, “Mit grusen for a zisn yor,” which means “best wishes for a sweet year.”
Don Graham writes, “I am getting more nostalgic and sentimental in my old age. Maybe it’s the thought of attending the 50th anniversary of the 1969 football team, which occurred at Homecoming in November. Read your class notes in the Wesleyan magazine, as I always do, and three old friends appeared: Demetrie Comnas, Carey O’Laughlin, and Kip Anderson. Can’t believe our 50th Reunion is only a little more than a year away.”
Neil Cumsky is a “first-timer. What the heck? I can do this every 50 years or so. After Wes, graduated Yale Law and moved to Phoenix, where I practiced high-tech trade secrets litigation for 10 years during the formative years of the semiconductor and personal computer industries. Invested in Arizona real estate, which led to a career as a resort developer over the last several decades. Married to Claudia for 30-plus years with three kids: a doctor, a lawyer, and a publisher. Nothing but wonderful memories of Wes, surrounded by extraordinary people. Will definitely attend the 50th. Thank you, Neil, for carrying the communications torch for all of us for so many years!”
On that note—the 50th Reunion is May 20-23, 2021. Find out about Reunion news and regional events can be found at wesleyan.edu/classof1971. Join the Committee and work on outreach, programming, or fundraising. Questions or want to get involved? Contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 at klynch@wesleyan.edu or 860/685-5992.
That’s all the news for now. Please send me info and encouragements to get others to the Reunion next year. All the best in 2020. Aloha.
Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714