CLASS OF 1970 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE
Aloha, Classmates.
By the time you see this in print, I assume that our twice-delayed 50th Reunion will have occurred.
Sadly, I must again begin this column with news of another classmate who has passed on. Stephen Kyner died in December 2021. His widow Deborah Ellington wrote to say, “He was always proud of having graduated from Wesleyan and grateful for the education he received there.” Our condolences. Here is a link to Stephen’s obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/stephen-kyner-obituary?id=31886964
Sign of the times? Mark Geannette wrote that he and wife Gloria last fall visited Italy and purchased an apartment in historic Alghero, Sardinia, and plan to visit semiannually.
Stephen Talbot is still politically active. He regularly posts thoughtful things on Facebook and is working on “a film about the anti-Vietnam War movement versus the Nixon/Kissinger administration in 1969. It’s called The Movement and the “Madman.” A rough cut is being shopped around for completion funds, viewing outlets, and a distributor. Here’s a link to the trailer: https://www.movementandthemadman.com/preview.
“This takes me back because it’s the story of what happened in 1969, especially that fall when we had the big march down Main Street in Middletown during the national moratorium on October 15 and when many of us went to Washington, DC, for the enormous anti-war march in November, which I filmed with a whole crew of Wesleyan friends (Dave Davis, Bill Tam, Guy Prevost, Doug Bell ’69, David White, etc., and my girlfriend Susie Heldfond) for my thesis film, March on Washington.”
Ted Reed was excited by my call for classmates to bring political buttons to the reunion.
Said Ted, “Are you saying that somebody wants my collection of political buttons? I accumulated a large collection as a teenager. This includes, for instance, Rockefeller for President pins from 1964. Now as a senior citizen, I would be very happy to find a home for them.”
Historian Chuck Caramello wrote, “My book, Riding to Arms: A History of Horsemanship and Mounted Warfare, has been released by University Press of Kentucky, in the series Horses in History.”
This from Mike Robinson: [We] had Jan Eliasberg ’74 join the monthly York (Pennsylvania) Book Club to discuss her debut novel, Hannah’s War. Jan, a prolific TV and movie director, has penned an exciting WWII–era novel based loosely on the life of a female Jewish physicist who helped develop atomic fission for the Germans and then the Manhattan Project. Thanks to Zoom, the book discussion was enlivened by Jan’s passion regarding the under-noted historic accomplishments of women and ongoing challenges experienced by those of the Jewish culture in many contexts.”
This just in: The Memphis Bar Association has honored Prince Chambliss. “As we celebrate Black History Month, we honor City of Memphis Attorney Prince Chambliss Jr., who grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, during the Civil Rights Movement. After becoming the first Black partner at a Tennessee majority white law firm in 1981, he was elected the first Black president of the Memphis Bar Association in 1997. While continuing to practice law full time, he was appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court as the first Black member of the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners. In 2010, Chambliss published his life story Prince of Peace: A Memoir of an African-American Attorney, Who Came of Age in Birmingham During the Civil Rights Movement. ”
More from Steve Talbot: “I’m still very busy with work, helping to take care of my granddaughter who lives nearby, and still cautious about COVID (though I’m fully vaxxed and boosted and have been healthy).”
More on his film: “I’ve done over 30 interviews with the leaders and activists who organized and led those fall ’69 protests, as well as former Nixon and Kissinger administration policymakers. It’s been a really satisfying project to work on these past few years. Fingers crossed and financing allowing, I hope to complete the film by the end of 2022 and begin to get it out into the world.”
All the best to you and our Class of 1970.