CLASS OF 1995 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE
Katy writes for this issue: We are all thinking of each other, through the local and global challenges of this moment, and I hope these notes find you well. It’s been lovely to hear your updates. Read up below on how your classmates are spending their time and talents: composing, writing, serving others, braving major career changes, and making the most of everyday life.
Jeanne Bonner writes: “I won a 2022 NEA translation grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to continue my work translating a transnational Italian author who survived the Holocaust.”
Pat Charlemagne writes: “My EdD from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education was conferred in December. My dissertation will be available via ProQuest: ‘The Unexpected Value of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Elevating the Importance of and Essential Need for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Serving as Youth Development Professionals.’”
We also got word that Simona Kwon joined the New York City Board of Health in 2021.
Christine O’Brien writes: “Alternating between treading water and drowning as an emergency physician in San Francisco. Enjoying beautiful hikes and my 10-year-old daughter on my days off.”
Sarah Kirkland Snider announces: “In June, at Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic will give the world premiere of my orchestral work Forward into Light, inspired by the American women’s suffrage movement (originally scheduled to premiere in 2020). The same week will see four NYC performances of my Mass for the Endangered, which was released as an album on Nonesuch/New Amsterdam Records last year. Wes friends: holler at me for tickets! I live in Princeton, New Jersey, with my husband, son Jasper (13), daughter Dylan (10), and two dogs.”
Stacy (Theberge) Taylor, still in the Portland, Maine, area writes: “Our son Niko is in first grade, and I have met quite a few families who have moved to town from NYC and other points afar. (One of the only benefits of the pandemic.) Last summer we had two Wes visits: from Ed Lee (who is in Boston) and Bo Bell and family. It’s great to see other Wes folk in Maine. Let me know if you plan to be around Portland and I will treat you to a lobster roll . . . or two.”
Carrie Turner (née Fischer) exuberantly writes: “For anyone thinking of making a midlife career change, just know that it CAN be done! For 20 years (after a short-lived stint in the world of musical theater), I had a successful run in luxury retail management. Two years ago, I decided that it was time for my next act—and after much soul searching and hard work, I am now in human resources and loving it. I am grateful to a few Wesleyan alumni along the way who gave me great advice, but mostly it was all about the hustle . . . and if I can do it, anyone can. My partner Nils and I welcomed a new addition to our household two years ago: a French bulldog named Rousseau. Nils and I also still make electro-pop music as Nite Haus, and we still live in NYC. I am still BFFs with Brett Aristegui. Best wishes to everyone out there.”
Keep sending us your news and updates—we love to hear from you!