CLASS OF 1969 | 2023 | FALL ISSUE
From William “Mac” Runyan:
“Hello Class of 1969,
“I attended Wesleyan for the freshman year of the Class of 1969. I liked much about Wesleyan and played on the freshman soccer team. But after one year, decided I wanted to go to a co-ed school. Applied to Harvard, Swarthmore, and Oberlin. Admitted to Oberlin, attended there from 1966 to 1969. Then went to Harvard in clinical psychology and public practice from 1969 to 1975. Then was a professor at UC Berkeley, from 1979 to 2010, in the School of Social Welfare and affiliate professor in the Psychology Department.
“I have a website at williamrunyan.com. Includes a relaxed photo I like; and access to articles, chapters, and several books in the study of individual lives. In 1982 I published Life Histories and Psychobiography: Explorations in Theory and Method (Oxford University Press). [Below] is a photo I had taken for the book which was never used. Title for the photo in my mind is Psychologist on the Way Up . . . He Hopes.
“What kind of psychology to pursue? In the freshman dining hall at Wesleyan, Jeff Wanshel brought a copy of Toward a Psychology of Being (1962) by Abraham Maslow. This led to Carl Rogers. I felt this is a kind of psychology I would like to pursue. I have focused on the study of individual lives.
“I was flattered to win a lifetime achievement award and have a Festschrift with 17 people writing short articles about my work, their work, and our relationships. This was recently published in the fall 2023 issue of Clio’s Psyche. I hope to soon get the whole Festschrift added to my website, williamrunyan.com or a new related website.
“I’d love to hear from anyone who feels like communicating.”
Jim Adkins says: “I am finally ending my medical career the end of this year. . . . I can’t keep up with the rate of change of info and don’t want to! Contact with old roommate Bob Kayser who, after spending his adult career in the snow of northern New York, moved to south Alabama and is now on route to moving back to upper New York. I continue to play my horn as much as possible and travel as much as I can (need to do before can’t). Progeny are all well as are subprogeny . . . wife (spent most weekends at the Tech) continues in assisted living with multiple medical issues. Enjoy hearing what the rest of the class is up to.”
From Rick Pedolsky: “I’m still living in Stockholm (though wintering in Nerja, Spain). Still with my lovely Cecilia (it will be 50 years next year). Still running my business (though looking for a buyer). And still hoping that we’ll see each other at the next reunion (is it in the works?).”
Stu Blackburn writes: “I was featured in an ‘author profile’ column in Sussex Life in July this year. (Not exactly Time, but I was chuffed.) My wife and I are happily tending roses in a typically damp and cool English summer.
“My new novel, All the Way to the Sea, which is set largely in rural Rhode Island, is now out and available from Amazon.
“Just wondering if you know how many of our classmates went into the military, either before or after the draft lottery in December 1969. My next novel is about someone whose life is turned upside down by getting a low number in that lottery. Any idea of who got ‘caught’, who fled to Canada, etc.?”
Darius Brubeck says that his book, Jazz at an African University and on the Road, was published in South Africa in May, and the international edition will come out next year. “At present it is only available in South Africa.”
Darius also said that “Our Wes-grad grandson, Nathaniel Elmer ’14, was married this June (to Wes grad Shira Engel ’14) after graduating from Yale. He is now a fully qualified architect; and our Wes-grad granddaughter, Lydia Elmer ’17, is in Chicago, awaiting her bar exam results.”
Fred Coleman sent in news highlighting his busy year. He has a new granddaughter, Laurel, born to youngest daughter Jennifer (Andy). . . . He also just presented “The Intersection of Faith Practices and the Development of Human Rights Driven Mental Health Care” at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago. This was done “in collaboration with a global mental health learning collective—[a] group of 16 teams in nine countries, which meets monthly by Zoom webinar and holds a yearly conference in Africa. I’ve been doing this for over a decade and it is challenging and very rewarding.”
Since Tony Mohr’s memoir, Every Other Weekend—Coming of Age with Two Different Dads, published in February, he has done bookstore readings and has appeared on podcasts. Tony says it “has been all sorts of fun. My next gig takes place at 6:00 p.m. PST on November 4, on Hollywood 360. Read more about it at www.anthonyjmohr.com.”
He goes on to say, “Beve and I spent the month of April in Australia and swept along the entire east coast, from Tasmania to Melbourne to Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. The place is grand—friendly people, brilliant scenery, lots of culture ranging from aboriginal to modern. Go there before we leave this world.
“And I’m still sitting on the bench part time. Despite being retired, it’s good to keep one’s toe in the water.
“Finally, I still can’t let go of my wonderful Argus memories (Jim Drummond and Jeff Richards, I’m looking at you), which is a reason I’m still one of the editors of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative’s Social Impact Review. We’re always looking for good articles and op-eds as well as interviews with interesting people. If the spirit moves, send us something. Cheers, Tony”
Nick Browning: “I exchange emails filled with political outrage and occasional despair almost daily with Peter Pfeiffer and I think we’re both keeping one another afloat in these perplexing political waters. I see Peter Cunningham occasionally. He’ll have a photograph book published shortly, which I suspect will be wonderful. Walter Abrams, Rich Kremer, and I play golf almost weekly up here in Vermont. Kremer still reigns supreme with a golf club.
“My wife (Rebecca Ramsey ’75) and I have loved living in Vermont since we retired up here about four years ago.”
Steve Hansel: “Greetings from HOT and humid NOLA . . . breaking records this summer in the wrong directions . . . heat and drought. . . . Grandchild #9 arrived February 28 and Sofia Florence is thriving. First grandchild in more than 10 years and first for #4 son, Nick, and his wife.
“Disappointed by the legacy move . . . just another brick out of the wall of alumni loyalty . . . a predictable reaction along with other similar schools.”
John Mihalec regrets our loss of classmate, Dan Rose, a first-class person in every respect. (His obituary can be read here: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/daniel-rose-obituary?id=52462823)
In April Bob Dombroski traveled “to theGalapagos, enshrined by Melville—The Encantadas—and Darwin: tortoises may hold the secret of longevity?”
Bill Currier continues to take on interesting pro bono cases for clients who want to fight back; taught a white-collar crime class he made up to 11 wonderful Chinese law students (25-year-olds) in Shenzhen at the Peking School of Transnational Law via Zoom; working on a second novel; spent three weeks in Martinique writing and enjoying trade winds during Carnival on a beautiful fragment of France. First significant trip after three years of COVID. Wishing us all health, productivity, and a glimmering understanding of it all.”
Rameshwar Das: “I’ve been leading online meditation three times a week through COVID, living between form and formless. Also returning to my photographic roots and finally learning Photoshop . . . old dog, new tricks.
“Here’s a recent one: Sunflower Corona ©2023 RameshwarDas
“Ahad Cobb has written a wonderful memoir, Riding the Spirit Bus. Jeff Wanshel and Edi Giguere moved to Pasadena and still sound whole.
“My final book with Ram Dass MA ’54 is cooking along, came out in paperback last fall. . . . Ram Dass/Richard Alpert got his master’s in psych at Wes. https://beingramdass.soundstrue.com/
“Thanks for stretching out the narrative! Love to us all, Ramesh”
Rob Pratt writes: “I just returned from five weeks in the Solomon Islands, where my company is working with the government in putting together a major solar and energy efficiency project. Great trip, and I’m enjoying getting to know new Solomon friends.”
Charlie Morgan shares this update: “It looks like my book on the Massachusetts Constitution finally will go to print in September.” Charlie summarizes it as following:
“The book contradicts several commonly held beliefs of many Massachusetts lawyers since it asserts that the Massachusetts Constitution contains a patchwork of eight provisions that, when considered together, comprise a larger whole granting any person standing to have a grievance heard in court. It asserts that the many instances where Massachusetts courts have refused standing to plaintiffs are fundamentally flawed. The analysis will revolutionize Massachusetts court practice and pleading if it stands up to scrutiny. I expect that, at a minimum, the book will generate heated debate among Massachusetts lawyers and judges over the issues that it confronts.”
John Hickey: “I was saddened to learn that Gordon Holleb died. I remember seeing Gordon playing rugby on the field adjacent to the Foss Hill dorms freshman year on Saturdays and was amazed at his maturity in leading a ‘T-group’ with a group of sophomores (including me) with his pipe in his mouth our sophomore year. I learned that Gordon managed to parlay that interest in group therapy into an inventive group therapy clinic in Cambridge and later into a full-blown career as a therapist in Berkeley.”
Steve Broker lets us know that “Linda and I continue to divide our time between homes in Cheshire, Connecticut, and Wellfleet, Massachusetts, with regular travels to Maine to see family. My birding took me to southeastern Arizona in July, and both Linda and I will be on Monhegan Island in September. Our dear friendship with Bob Pease (Chelmsford, Massachusetts) is in its seventh decade. Brother Tom ’66 and sister-in-law, Louise Chow, have retired this month from spectacular careers in virology at Cold Spring Harbor Labs, Rochester, and University of Alabama, Birmingham.”
Bill Demicco says, “Marie and I still doing well. Best place to be is here in Maine, especially given wildfires, record heat, tornadoes, etc. elsewhere. Our daughter, Elizabeth (MD, PhD ), now full professor [in] Toronto. Also new roof on farmhouse.”
Alex Knopp “recently finished my several terms as president of the Norwalk Public Library and helped secure on-site parking for the library’s new expansion plan. I was recently appointed to serve on a new state commission to review Connecticut’s educational funding of magnet schools and other school choice programs. I still serve on the Connecticut Law Tribune Editorial Board. I walk our municipal golf course several times a week during the summer and was able to win our D Flite Club Championship. My wife, Bette, is having her second book of short stories published (along with two novels). She received her first publishing contract by email as we drove up to our class’s 50th Reunion four years ago! Hope all of my classmates are doing well, Alex.”
Ken and Visakha Kawasaki sent in recent photos from their home in Sri Lanka.
Late August. Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Mornings start with swimming at a local health club. Home for breakfast, New York Times, and cooking. Minicrock vegetable soups—tomatoes, cukes, squash, beans, basil, herbs, and stock. Re-reading Hemingway and realizing his immense artistry. Peter Pfeiffer and Stuart Blackburn published new books. I highly recommend both. Regular visits to Acton Library, Estuary Thrift Shop, Florence Griswold Museum, and Parthenon Diner. Packing for family vacation at Point O’Woods, Fire Island. Red Sox can hit but fielding is suspect. Go Pats, Celtics, and Bruins!