Class Notes | 1980s

We were glad to hear from a gaggle of classmates doing life and out in the Wesleyan wild meeting up with each other too.

Phineas Baxandall shares that after 20 years together, he and his partner, Sarah Hill, decided to get married. He writes: “We didn’t tell anybody at all until we were on vacation with our kids and told them, ‘Thanks for getting dressed up for dinner. Our reservation actually isn’t until later, but in 10 minutes there will be a knock on the door, and it will be a justice of the peace.’ It was really fun.” Phineas also celebrates his long tenure at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, where he serves as policy director. After serving as interim president last year, he’s looking forward to a two-month sabbatical this spring, during which he plans to live in Berlin, read novels in cafes, and travel. Upon returning, his family will welcome a new puppy, following the loss of their loyal dog, Sadie, last fall at age 18.

David Eichler and his partner, Diane, moved to Billings, Montana, three years ago, after living in Los Angeles, Mountain View, Phoenix, and Denver. They are celebrating their 28th anniversary this year. David sold his PR agency after 18 years and is now in his second year of a master’s in clinical social work, with plans to open a therapy practice this summer. Reflecting on Wesleyan memories, David writes: “It’s hard to believe it’s been 35 years since my fellow film majors and I were huddled in that dark screening room in the arts center. We were so fortunate to be learning from Professor Jeanine Basinger.” He was also saddened, as many of us were, over the losses of Rob James ’88 and Tim McCallum ’88 in recent years. 

Ellen Ross Shields and John Shields have lived in Davis, California, for 22 years, after nine years in San Francisco. Ellen is a middle school counselor, and John is director of client relations for DWS, a real estate/finance subsidiary of Deutsche Bank. Ellen shares: “Our 26-year-old daughter is in her last year of a JD/MPH program in New York, and our 28-year-old, theme park–loving son is trying to break into film/video editing in Orlando—any Wes grads down there?” They look forward to retirement and promise to attend a reunion someday. 

Peter Badalament, with extensive experience as a school principal, was recently appointed principal of the A.R. Gould School at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, Maine. Before his administrative roles, Peter taught high school English, geography, and history at the Lab School of Washington, a therapeutic day school for students with social and emotional challenges. He has also served as a project manager at Tyler Technologies and as adjunct faculty at the University of New England, teaching courses in educational leadership and organizational theory. 

Topher Dunne is in his 30th year teaching high school history and social science at Georgetown Day School this year and has been happy to point various students toward Wesleyan over the years. Topher and spouse, Kathy, live in Arlington with their 23-year-old daughter.

Lori Lobenstine issuper excited about having her first children’s book coming out! It’s based on the true story of Lori and her goddaughter, Sophie, co-creating the first ever “by-dogs-for-dogs” newspaper, starting when Sophie was 10 years old (she’s now 20). Here’s a little bit more on it: https://www.levinequerido.com/barking-puppy.

Alex McClennen Dohan reports having been married to Dave Dohan for over 30 years, working for Mass Audubon for 20 years, and having a daughter turning 30 in the spring (and a son who is 27). Alex shares: “The best parts of our past year were two trips to Colorado—a place we’d never visited before! One was to the San Juan Mountains with both kids and their significant others for some backpacking, and the other was to Boulder, where I got to catch up with Lisa Michael, who lives in the area and also Greg Benson (who lives in New Jersey, but was on the trip with us). 

Kelem Butts shared something of a New York story: “My girlfriend, Lori, and I went to New York to see Eric Stuart who was in visiting his parents from London. While we were there, we also hung out with Andre Kikoski ’90. Then we had a pleasant surprise—it turns out Tom Policelli was in from Connecticut, so we all met up with him for lunch.”They also dined with Greg Berman and Carolyn Vellenga Berman ’90. Lori noted how lucky Kelem is “to have so many excellent friends, and it’s all thanks to Wes!” We agree! 

Karen McVey Fussell writes: “I continue to live a blessed life on our 45-acre former farmstead property in Maine. It’s hard to believe, but I am starting my 25th year as finance director for the City of Brewer. It’s a great job, but I have definitely started dreaming of retirement. Our son graduates from West Point this May, majoring in Chinese and cybersecurity. Our daughter is taking a gap year, which she kicked off with a transformational volunteer stint in Arusha, Tanzania. Working full time to earn money to travel more, she’s scheduled to go back in February and this summer, recruiting me and other family to join her. My husband just turned 80 (CRAZY!) but you would never know it. LIFE IS GOOD!” 

After seven years living in Alaska and a beautiful drive home across Canada, Jim Levine is back living just a few miles from Wesleyan—which means he’s on campus often, swimming and working out at the Freeman Athletic Center, he says. His kids have flown the coop and are doing well, and after 20-plus years as an ER doc, including at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown and in rural Alaska, he’s working on deciding what he wants to do when he grows up. He’d love to see anyone who is in the area! 

Eric Neuhaus writes that he is senior vice president of development for Glass Entertainment and that it was an exciting year for new TV shows they developed. Last year they released the worldwide hit documentary film Bitconned (Netflix), about one of the biggest cyrpto scams; Wiggin Out with Tokyo Stylez, a docuseries following a trans-celebrity hairstylist; Kill or Be Killed (Peacock), examining cases of murder or self-defense; a game show pilot for Fox based on the iconic video game Pong. He says: “There is always something new on the horizon. Stay tuned for some new documentary projects in 2025 that will entertain and inform.” 

For Brad Frank, 2024 was a crazy year. He writes: “I lost my job but found a better one. My daughter entered her senior year of high school and found a new home at Syracuse University for 2025. My 15-year-old son set aside his baseball bat and glove and found a new passion in crew. No more batting eighth and playing right field. Now it’s sitting in the stroke seat and sweeping the eight- and four-person skulls down the river. And while November of 2024 was hard on my wife, she continues to guide our family with confidence.”

Ellen Forney just started grad school at the University of Washington School of Social Work, to be a therapist specializing in bipolar. Ellen has been a visual artist, cartoonist, and comics teacher since graduating from Wes with a degree in psychology and has been gradually coming back around to psych—with a 2012 graphic memoir about, she says, “my own bipolar: Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me (Penguin); then a 2018 graphic handbook on mental health, Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life (Fantagraphics). I’m finishing up a workbook for kids on how to make comics, due out summer 2025: The Adventures of You! Write, Draw, and Star in Your Own Comics (Workman). I was delighted to hang out with Rachael Timberlake ’90 (Butterfield hallmate bestie) when she visited Seattle recently for a seminar.” 

Michele Chase Kashap will be back on campus to celebrate as her first born, Alessandro Kashap ’25, graduates from Wes this year. So cool! Congrats!!! 

As for me (Michele), I narrowly “dodgeballed” a midlife crisis by first renaming it a “midlife exploration” and then kicking off an adult gap year (read: FUNemployment) with a solo trip to Europe—three countries in three weeks with a carry-on only—in which I planned nearly nothing, garden partied with complete strangers (yep), watched sunrise over Prague castle, and ate so much gelato in various parts of Italy as a meal supplement that my cholesterol shot up. Oops. I even stayed in an old, beautiful, and affordable former monastery on the Amalfi Coast—which had both a bar and a chapel. So basically, win-win y’all. 🙂

We appreciate you, each of you, and hope to see you out here in the Wesleyan wild. Stay in touch!

Please write to your class secretaries.

Hello, Class of ’87!

For this column, I connected our updates with our college majors. See whether you find the through lines. And stay tuned for an interesting further class connection. 

Paulina Bren published her latest book in September, She-Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street, which tells the outrageous history of the women who came to Wall Street from the 1950s through 9/11. Her Wesleyan friends (Anne Dunham, Vivian Trakinski, Jeremy Mindich, Becca Gallagher, Adrienne Fitzgerald, Ralph Savarese ’86,and Pauline Frommer ’88) attended her launches in NYC, for which she’s grateful as always, she writes, because the trick is to plant allies in the audience, preferably in disguise. She-Wolves was named one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2024 by the Kirkus Reviews. Paulina was a College of Letters major.

Michael Peter Edson has been working as a museum director and digital cultural strategist in the U.S. and Europe. He has focused on encouraging cultural institutions to address large-scale societal challenges such as climate action and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. In 2024, he finished four years as the founding director of the Museum of Solutions (MuSo)—a state-of-the-art facility in Mumbai, India. MuSo is dedicated to inspiring and empowering young people to solve the world’s most pressing problems. In its opening year, MuSo was named to Time magazine’s World’s 100 Greatest Places list and won the prestigious Hands On! Children in Museums Award bestowed by the European Museum Academy and the International Association of Children in Museums. Mike has been married to Leslie Spitz-Edson ’86, his TA for intro to music history sophomore year, for more than 30 years. He’s happy to talk with Wesleyan grads, especially those working in arts/culture and sustainable development! Mike was an art major. His thesis was a show of prints about television static—something that his kids can barely relate to!

Josh Calder, a government major, has finished the last Wesleyan-assigned book on his to-read list! He put it on the list on May 18, 1987, and finished it 37 years, 6 months, and 11 days later, in November 2024, if I have my math right. Josh has alerted Professor Burns that he is in the clear.

J.B. Davis is following one path of the common life patterns I’ve been noticing—as a milestone birthday approaches, many of us are planning retirement, but a significant number of us are planning their next professional acts. J.B. is in a graduate certificate program in nonprofit management. He’s using the classes and Case Western’s connections to the Cleveland community to transition from a 25-year career in corporate marketing to a sector that, now more than ever, needs to effectively deploy resources to fulfill their missions. J.B.’s kids are university students—Abby, creative writing at Iowa; Eli, pre-med at Case; and Josiah, 1L at Ohio State. J.B. and his wife, Rachel, celebrate their 25th in May. J.B. was a double major in government and American studies.

As for me, I was an American studies major, and I got certified to teach high school English through the Educational Studies Program while I was an undergrad. I didn’t have enough confidence at the time to be an English major. Later, I got a master’s degree in English. I taught for five years, including in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and at the East New York High School of Transit Technology in the New York City Public Schools. I transitioned to a career in educational publishing. I worked for Pearson, mostly developing literacy curriculum for 6–12 English. Now, I work for myself as consultant and freelancer supporting nonprofits and developing curriculum. I am currently working on a reading program for McGraw Hill, and I have worked on social studies programs for states on both sides of the political spectrum. So, I am making good use of my degree. 

Johanna Maaghul is spending more time in the U.S. after six years of living primarily in Switzerland. She is still working as a literary agent to help publish books that focus on functional medicine, health, and healing, and institutional whistleblowers. Johanna extended her work to include film representation. She is eager to review any nonfiction works by classmates on their adventures in this space. Johanna was a government major with a minor in music at Wesleyan and reports it didn’t have much impact on her career.

So, what’s the “interesting class connection” about our college majors? As I pressed classmates for their majors, Johanna shared her professional interest in the same question. She and her husband are launching a new platform in 2025 that rewards people for sharing verified portfolios including education and career information online with their alma maters and former employers. She can be reached at johanna@nextwaveresources.com and will also share more on this in future notes.

Finally, Ralph Worrick ’88 shared late news that Alison Sprout passed away in November. They both lived in WestCo. They were never tremendously close friends, but he always enjoyed her sardonic humor and quirky kindness. He had a nice visit with her and her son, Peregrine, in 2012. Many of you have written to express condolences.

Until next time . . .

Michael Levin wrote: “With profound sadness, we share that Mark Hill passed away in September.

“Friends including Steve Cadigan, Gus Conroy, Jeff Dorsey ’85, Art Horst (and wife, Martha), Jerry Hourihan, Jeremy Mindich ’87, Ralph Savarese, Tina Varone Zimmerman (and husband, Peter), and Tony Zimmerman (and wife, Ann), and I—many of whom had lived with Mark in Foss 10, Foss 6, or at 151 Church Street—traveled from across the country and even overseas to attend his funeral. Over the weekend, we shared memories, tears, laughs, and hugs and exchanged stories with each other and with Mark’s family, including his wife, Jackie, children Erica and Nick, his mother, and five older siblings. In celebration of Mark’s life, Gus Conroy spoke eloquently, poignantly, and humorously, recalling moments as Mark’s roommate at Wesleyan, living together in Taiwan after college, and, most recently, hosting Mark at his home near Houston when Mark was being treated for cancer at MD Anderson, as well as invoking Buddhist teachings learned in one of several classes they took together at Wes. Since Mark’s death, we have communicated more frequently by group text, and we are already looking forward to being together for Reunion weekend in 2026 (when two Horst children and one Mindich are scheduled to graduate from Wesleyan) and hoping also to gather at some point in 2025.

“We encourage classmates, teammates, people who attended parties at 151 Church Street, and anyone else who wants to share memories of Mark to email classnotes@wesleyan.edu or offer condolences to his family via michaeljlevin@yahoo.com.”

A link to Mark’s obituary can be found online at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu.

Marc Rosner shared: “I got married to Diane Gross in January, retired from teaching science in June, and incorporated Hudson Valley Numismatics. This includes pro bono appraisals and home visits for seniors, vets, and those in need. Met Dave Warne for dinner to catch up; he looks the same as he did back in Clark. 

Grace Huschle Delobel, a first-time contributor to the ’86 Class Notes(!), sent in this news: “Since graduating, I’ve had the chance to live an ordinary life in some extraordinary places—Nepal, Tanzania, Pakistan, the Philippines, and for the past 25 years, France. I raised three kids, adopted a bunch of pets, and work as a scientific translator. Living overseas has its ups and downs, especially losing touch with people, but I’m trying to change that (starting with this Class Notes entry . . . ). On the flip side, living in Europe offers some valuable advantages. Due to recent events in the USA, I decided to launch a new venture, Onsite Insight France (www.onsiteinsightfrance.com), to share my experience with anyone toying with the idea of relocating abroad. I tried to convince Tamar Rothenberg, Dana Martin, Lyndsey Layton, and Susannah Goodman ’87 to take the leap during a Thanksgiving trip to the U.S. No luck yet, but I am working on it.—Grace”

Welcome to 2025, our 40th Reunion year! I hope that you’re planning to come to Middletown in May. Here’s a bunch of good news to whet your reunion appetite:

Marcelo Halpern got married on October 26 to Tamara Chaplin, a professor of modern European history at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Representing the Wesleyan cohort were Jill Hamada and Jonathan Axelrad ’84.  Marcelo’s “kids,” Samantha (28–a cardiothoracic surgery resident at Massachusetts General) and Noah (26–a data scientist for a tech start-up in San Francisco) were there as well. He lives in Chicago, continuing his career as a partner at Perkins Coie LLP, focusing on technology transactions. Marcelo will miss the reunion this year, but before you feel too sorry for him, know that he’ll “be on an extended trip in Europe [taking] a three-month sabbatical from work.” Marcelo would love to hear from anyone in or passing through the Chicago area.

Beth Purnell Gartman will wrap up her 36th year as a school psychologist this summer and will “likely” work in educational consulting next. She recently moved to a new home in Atlanta near Emory, with a pool, great walking trails, and a nature preserve nearby, and a wonderful guest suite—she welcomes Wes visitors! Beth also sings in a community chorus and formed an a cappella group with colleagues who also sang in a cappella groups in college. She adds, “I keep in close touch with Jenny Henkind and Amy Hamburg Shir. We began a tradition of taking a yearly getaway together, which has been a great way to stay connected. Whether we are perusing art at a festival in Louisville, hiking in the woods, or downing oysters on the half shell, we have created memories and a closeness that we all cherish.” Beth also spent time with her children in Italy: “A true highlight … was a day trip from Siena through Tuscany, which included a three-hour meal at Officina della Bistecca in Panzano in Chianti. We not only savored every course but enjoyed the company of diners from all around the world who desired to experience a meal prepared by Dario Cecchini.”

Ken Haim wrote just after landing in Hong Kong to say that he was “devastated by the loss of Bill Queen ’86” and that recognizing how precious our time is “we are traveling more extensively. I am amazed at how much has changed and how much is the same.”

Rob Menard went to the wedding of Ethan Beardsley ’86 in Paris in September, and “to Hanoi for the seventh time to perform craniofacial surgery there as a clinical professor of plastic surgery at Stanford.”

Terry McClenahan’s first grandchild, Arthur, was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, in June 2024! “If he was any cuter it’d be illegal,” he reports. Terry adds, “Daughter, Katie, is a 2L at Georgetown Law, and our son, Rory ’24, graduated in May from Wesleyan (no less). Last summer he was a field organizer for Josh Riley’s successful New York [Congressional District] 19 campaign for the U.S. House. My wife, Kara Kelly, continues to do astounding work in her eighth year as chief of pediatric oncology at two Buffalo hospitals and the medical school. I still work on warehouse and commercial projects with Acquest Design.” It will be no surprise that Terry is rowing “with Buffalo River RC, winning medals at Midwest Sprints and Head of the Welland Regattas.” He also got to race at the Head of the Charles Regatta for “the 14th or 15th time.” Terry also recently heard from another crew buddy, Bill Wasch ’84.

Crystal Turner-Moffatt, an expert in environmental and occupational health and safety in the construction industry, is completing her PhD this spring.

Margaret Bracken Thompson saw Lynn Meade ’86 in Palm Springs during Modernism Week (February 2024) at the convention center there. Margaret report’s that Lynn’s “art is amazing!”

Paul Kusserow’s book, The Coming Healthcare Revolution: 10 Forces That Will Cure America’s Healthcare Crisis, has recently been published. Paul notes that it is “selling well.”

Hilary Jacobs Hendel also has a new book coming out in 2025, Parents Have Feelings, Too. Hilary’s oldest daughter recently got married, and her youngest child became a medical doctor!

Hello, classmates, and welcome to 2025. As one of this month’s correspondents signed off, “Hold onto your hats.”

David Boyd Booker left French bank Credit Agricole CIB after 15 years to take the position of head of legal and compliance at CastleOak Securities, a New York–based broker-dealer and boutique investment bank. He still lives in Manhattan (on the Upper East Side) with his wife, Lisa, and son, Conrad (currently a frosh at Northwestern; no, he did not consider Wes).    

Robert Leland is still that “crazy Californian dude you met back in 1980.” His life has taken him everywhere else, even spending five years in China, but in 2000 he ended back in his hometown with his wife. His two children are finished with college, and Robert is considering Europe for retirement. He has enjoyed being an independent financial planner much more than the 20 years he spent doing it with a corporate firm. You can look up Robert in San Francisco.

Murrey Nelson is enjoying retirement and doing lots of volunteer work. She wrote to tell us about her travels to the East Coast in October. She met up with Maureen McSherry ’87 for lunch and a stroll on the High Line in NYC, and with her old friend, Lea Barth, whose youngest just graduated from college. In Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, she and a high school friend met up with Robert Smythe ’82 and Susan (Dinsmore) Smythe ’82 at Robert’s “phenomenal” bakery, Pastry Pants. Robert and Murrey knew each other in high school. Robert, you may remember, started Mum Puppet Theatre at Wes, and he branched out locally into acting before starting the bakery during the pandemic.

Murrey also visited last year (in May) with Stephanie Grant, her NYC roommate following graduation. Stephanie continues to write and teach, while also launching her twin daughters into adulthood.

David Knudsen was issued two patents last fall as part of the intellectual property created at his company, Everything Set. He thanks the firm academic foundation he got at Wesleyan for his success. David’s company focuses on cybersecurity, especially in terms of “smart” home devices. If you’d like to read more about David’s patents, you can find more information on the U.S. Patent Office site: https://www.uspto.gov/. The patent numbers are US-12149543-B1 and US-12081518-B1.

Stephanie Fleischmann continues a successful career as an opera librettist and has several premieres and workshops coming up: In a Grove, music by Christopher Cerrone, will be done at the Prototype Festival at La Mama; The Pigeon Keeper (music by David Hanlon) will be in San Francisco at the Opera Paralèllle in March; Remedios Varios, with music by Carlos Carrillo, will be in concert at Chicago Opera Theater in April; and Claude and Marcel, with music by Alyssa Weinberg and commissioned by West Edge Opera, receives its first workshop in the fall.

Please write to your class secretary.

Dear classmates,

I hope despite everything happening in the world, you all are well and it’ll be a productive and happy year for you and your families.

Carlos Hoyt has just published Diversity Without Divisiveness (Routledge), which he says was written in the spirit of Toni Morrison’s encouragement, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” He has been doing DEI since long before it came to be called “DEI” and says, “I lament that we’ve been bamboozled into a false conflict between those who are pro-DEI and those who are anti-DEI. The truth is that no one is anti-DEI. It’s impossible to be anti-DEI because DEI dynamics are part and parcel of human interaction. DEI is in our DNA, DEI is as elemental as H₂0, DEI is as American as apple pie, and all of us are DEI practitioners.”

I’m looking forward to reading his much-needed book, which he says, is “an attempt to provide this corrective understanding of what DEI is, what’s really in play, answering serious questions about DEI practice, and demonstrating what effective DEI practice can look like.” Congratulations, Carlos!

My old Clark Hall floormate Bruce Mayer writes that he and his wife, Rita, are looking forward to retirement. Bruce has been working for 25 years as a professor at UConn Health (not far from Middletown!) and the second edition of his textbook on cell signaling just came out, so he’s leaving on a productive note. I was sorry to hear that his retirement plans took a difficult turn when their adult son was hit by a car while he was walking in Colorado, where he was living, resulting in serious brain injury. After months in intensive care and a neuro rehab hospital, he is at home with his parents. Wishing Bruce’s son, Pete, the best recovery possible.

Another Bruce on Clark Hall, Bruce Charendoff, writes with very sad news:

“Our classmate and friend, Sheri Lesser Samotin, died suddenly and unexpectedly on January 28, just 10 months after moving from Los Angeles to New York City to live closer to family, including her two sons, Sacha and Noah. At 64, Sheri was looking forward to starting the next chapter of her life, including retirement from the company she founded that has helped several thousand seniors and their families manage the complexities that often come with the slow and steady process of getting older. Her former Wesleyan RA, Amy Rabinowitz ’80, beautifully eulogized Sheri and her strong morals and values and said that from the moment she welcomed Sheri to Wesleyan, she knew they would be lifelong friends.

“I fondly remember my dear friend’s generous spirit as well as her warmth, wit, and drive—Sheri was a force of nature who intuitively knew how to get stuff done. I am shaken by her untimely loss, and I know our classmates will join me in celebrating the blessing of her memory and holding those we love a little tighter.”

Joanne Godin Audretsch ’81 reports that her friend Michael Lucey is still teaching at Berkeley and recently attended a celebration in honor of Professor Henry Abelove’s 80th birthday—“a lovely tribute to a beloved professor who gave so much to his students through his many years at Wesleyan.”

Alex Thomson writes that his tradition of gathering with his old pals continued this year at his home in Scituate, Massachusetts, as it has every year since graduation, with Jack Taylor, Stephen Daniel, John Mooney, Peter Frisch, Kevin Foley, Dan Hillman, and Bruce Crain.

John Robinson has been busy producing shows here and in Europe: Paul Budraitis’ I Love That for You opened in Berlin a few months back and then toured the U.S. The next season of The Uncertain Detective, a fun detective/comedy/noir about a dysfunctional artistic family that runs a detective agency on the side, is now available on YouTube. And Sweetheart Deal, a hard-hitting documentary about sex workers, has just been nominated for best documentary by the INDIE awards. He’ll also be at NYC’s the EstroGenius Festivalin May. 

I saw my co-secretary Michael Ostacher and his wife, Laurie, at my husband’s, Peter Eckart ’84, and my annual Penultimate Party, where Marc Mowrey ’83 showed up in a snazzy jacket and Jonathan Weber took a break from writing a new book . . . about which, more later. Good to stay in touch with my old friends.

A book I co-authored with scientist and MacArthur “genius” Saul Griffith, PhD is due out in Australia in a couple months. Called Plug In!, it makes the case for electrifying everything the next time a fossil-fueled appliance in your life needs to be replaced—to save money and fight climate change. I love my induction stove, and my next car, as my bumper sticker says, will be electric.

Brenda Zlamany continues to impress with her creativity and talent. She recently completed her fourth major commission for Yale University, a portrait of retiring Davenport College head John Witt. Brenda writes, “I’m also thrilled to have several pieces included in Surprises Unknown: The Art of the Wrapping, an exhibition running from February 8 to May 3, 2025, at the Lehman College Art Gallery in the Bronx. The exhibition explores the aesthetics and symbolism of wrapped objects.”

In May, Brenda travels to Newfoundland, for an artist’s residency project she curated titled Reunion: Friendship, Inspiration, and Landscape in Pouch Cove, which will include an exhibition. Later in the year, she will be at Tusen Takk in Michigan during the cherry harvest, painting portraits of cherry pickers as part of her ongoing project, Itinernant Portraitist: Climate in America.

 “I am taking a personal leap by purchasing a house in my ancestral village in Calabria. This mountain will serve as a creative escape and connection to my roots.” We wish her all the best in this next phase of her exciting and accomplished artistic career!

Ellen McHale (parent of Ben McKeeby, MA ’17) checked in from the Capital District Region of New York State, where she has been the executive director of New York Folklore since 1999. “I am entering my 26th year at this cultural nonprofit group that works collaboratively with folk and traditional artists and organizations to bring regenerative practices to bear in order to support the maintenance, cultivation, and nurturing of the diverse cultural heritages found in New York State, including its Indigenous communities. More information available at www.nyfolklore.org.

Ellen was honored this year as a “fellow” of the American Folklore Society for her outstanding contributions to the field. Ellen muses: “I found ‘folklore’ through Wesleyan—through my studies with Mark Slobin in the music department and through a class on folklore and literature. I continue to interact with fellow Wesleyan alumni who are my folklore colleagues, including Maggie Holtzberg ’79, Aaron Paige ’03, MA ’09, Karen Park Canning MA ’91, Andrew Colwell MA ’11, PhD ’18, Jim Kimball MA ’74, John Suter ’67, and many more Wesleyan alumni with whom I share a unique bond.”

Delcy Ziac Fox retired, and she and husband Bill have moved to the Cape full time. Delcy volunteers for the Center for Coastal Studies and also New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance. She celebrated the holidays in Provincetown with former InTown housemates Gary Shapiro and Jim Sullivan ’82, P’19, and then later Jim housed the Foxes overnight when their floors were being done. “You might want to say it was like old times, but 40 years later, bedtime was 8:30 p.m.!” quipped Delcy.

Paul Robinson also seems to be enjoying retirement. “I have officially retired, as of the end of September 2024, and enrolled in an online MFA program to achieve my goal of becoming a ‘famous science fiction writer.’ It’ll take about another year to finish the thesis (novel)—we’ll see where it goes from there!” Good luck to Paul as works on his chef-d’oevre—we eagerly await publication!

Lisa Greim writes that she has “failed retirement,” and now serves as chorale manager and chief fundraiser for the Arvada Chorale, the community chorus she sings with, pursuing a development goal to raise enough to hire contract, production, and multimedia managers at market rates. Lisa says, “I would rather delegate stage management to theater majors and multimedia to ‘digital natives. . .’ because I want to step away at the end of the year and reintroduce myself to my husband, Chris.” Lisa adds, “I would also like to return to volunteering, and to revising the manuscript that Kaylie Jones mentored me through, seven years ago.” Any Wes classmates (singers or non-singers) interested in her fundraising goals can email cololisa@gmail.com.

Joanna Buffington is still “retired” on outer Cape Cod but reports she’s busier than ever.  She has been helping to rescue endangered sea turtles that get trapped in Cape Cod Bay on their way south after feeding further north all summer and fall. She helps patrol the waters, and works in conjunction with Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay volunteer organization, the New England Aquarium, and volunteer pilots (turtlesflytoo.org) who fly the rehabilitated turtles to other facilities all over the world. “I had a personal record of rescuing 34 turtles this year,” says Joanna.  “With all the human drama around us (especially on the news), I find this a mental health savior.” Amen to that!

Brian Tarbox writes, “This was a year of traveling and talking. I gave my talk, What I Learnedabout GenAI from being a Dolphin Researcher, remotely in Kyiv, China, Japan, and in person in Sao Paulo, Rio, New York, Toronto, and Philly. I’ve become a bit of a prepper but deciding whether to prep for a climate disaster, a ‘Musk-agendon’, the rise of the machines, or a nuclear Putin, is always a day-to-day decision. As it used to be written in the East College tunnels, ‘Do not hope to survive in the vampire economy.’”  Adds Brian wistfully, “I miss the tunnels.”

Congratulations to Mark Saba on the publication of his new book called The Shoemaker (Casa Lago Press), about the experience of Italian immigrants in the U.S. in the 1920s, as well as the lives of their offspring generations later as they move around in their new country. For more information, check out www.marksabawriter.com.

My old C-1 housemate, Paul Godfrey, wrote in from his home in St. Paul, telling me he still has a hockey rink in his backyard and is busy teaching his two-year-old granddaughter how to skate like a pro! Retirement is not beckoning yet, Paul reports, so besides skating, he keeps busy as a managing attorney in the Twin Cities. When he needs a break from the city, he heads out to the gorgeous Minnesota countryside with his close companion—no, not with his wife, Mary Sue, but with his hunting dog, Axel (skating reference!).

Another classmate who isn’t thinking of retirement is Rick Locke. He is making his way back to Boston after serving several years as dean of the Apple University (at Apple HQ). “The big news on my end is that I am going back to MIT to serve as dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management (https://news.mit.edu/2025/richard-locke-dean-mit-sloan-0106). It’s been a great few years at Apple, but I am looking forward to returning to university life. The other big news is that our daughter, Juliana, gave birth to a baby boy (Louis William) 18 months ago. Jessica Barton and I are smitten.” Warmest congratulations to Rick as he assumes the leadership of one of the most prestigious university schools in the world!

Congratulations to Livia Wong McCarthy, recently elected to Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees and who welcomes feedback. “I will do my best to represent alumni interests well and I look forward to how I can help guide Wesleyan’s path during these unchartered times.”

Lisette Cooper checked in from South Florida where she’s working as vice chair of the wealth management division of Franklin Templeton and visiting her three children whenever possible. “And I would love to see any Wes alum in the area!”

Chris Graves writes, “I retired from Ogilvy, where I had served as both a regional (Asia-Pacific) and global CEO for 19 years. I founded my own company (www.TheResonanceCode.com ) where I decode the human Sensemaking Genome for more effective engagement and behavior change. I am working with the Milken Institute on its Project Prevent to increase the access and uptake to preventive health care. I am also supporting Community Solutions, which is led by an amazing woman who received $100 million from the McArthur Foundation for her work in combating homelessness. She and I were both Rockefeller Bellagio residents. And I joined as an advisor to the Muhammad Ali Center where we launched a new Compassion Index measuring and comparing U.S. cities. I am guest lecturing at USC, Columbia, and NYU. My wife, JoAnn Ward, retired from the D.C. Public Library, and we hope to travel together more. We will be hiking much of Portugal and then taking in the big pro-tennis tourney in Turin. Both our daughters live in Brooklyn. One works in research and is getting her graduate degree in data visualization; the other works as a software engineer for a firm that does AI for legal and financial services and is engaged to be married in August. Both daughters grew up overseas with us, as we were posted to Singapore, then London, then Hong Kong.” 

Steve Mooney: “In some ways, I’d love to have my college experience back. Love to have the opportunity to apply myself and explore my creativity. And while I have no regrets about my four and a half years in Middletown, there’s just so much Wesleyan offered that I was too young and immature to embrace. I studied things that ended up having nothing to do with my future interests, and maybe that’s what college is all about. As for now, Mary and I are happily retired, living in Boston, and proud parents of Ben and Nicole, who are now in their mid-twenties and doing well. I spend my mornings reading and writing personal essays, having discovered my passion for storytelling only recently. If you’re bored and want a night out, come join me and Mary for a Moth StorySLAM in Brookline or Somerville sometime. The host, Steve Almond ’88, author and comedian, is also a Wes grad. Fun for all!” 

Jennifer Boylan: “My new book, Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us, was published by Celadon/Macmillan in February 2025. It’s about the difference between men and women, as I have lived it, as well as a look at the contrast between coming out as trans in 2000 and coming out now. I was helped in the titling of this book by one Steve Mooney, who, when I asked whether Cleavage was a good title or not, laughed so hard he fell out of his actual chair. I thought, ‘Okay, that works.’” 

Lisa Olsson (originally ’78): “I am playing cello with the Yonkers Philharmonic, Westchester Chamber Soloists, and Kort Quartet. I will also have a chapbook of poems published by Finishing Line Press in spring of 2025. Both children are out of the house and all pets, too, so focus will be on long-delayed travel to see friends and relatives. My husband and I enjoy spending time at a family home on the north fork of Long Island.”

Walter Calhoun: “I wouldn’t be the man I am today without Wesleyan. I will bring up old history and family connections to reinforce my family’s significant connections to Wesleyan all these years, which I am not sure Wesleyan put together. But let me start at the beginning. My introduction to Wesleyan came from a postcard sent by Wesleyan in 1975 asking me to apply while I was a junior at New Trier East High School based on my SAT scores. I do not think Wesleyan knew that my cousin-in-law, Terry J. Hatter ’54, was a prior Wesleyan graduate who was then a member of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees.

“During this time in the late 1970s, Terry Hatter was married to my first cousin, Trudy Martin Hatter, whose father, Louis E. Martin, was the liaison to the Black community under United States president Jimmy Carter, a position he also occupied under previous democratic presidents Kennedy and Johnson and later President Clinton. I had always enjoyed a great relationship with ‘Uncle Louie’ and absolutely loved how he was often referred to as ‘the godfather of Black politics’ since he was such a well-mannered, positive, and discreet man who loved to compliment people ‘as a great American.’ While attending the 1980 Wesleyan graduation, Louis E. Martin received a Wesleyan honorary degree, which was given by son-in-law, Terry Hatter.

Finally, Scott Hatter ’92 is a son of Trudy and Terry Hatter, and he, too, attended Wesleyan during the 1990s, while also playing exceptionally well on Wesleyan’s football team.

“Personally, my history was significantly formed on Chicago’s North Shore where my father, Harold William Calhoun (a light-skinned, second-generation ‘Negro’ lawyer from Kimball, West Virginia) and my mother, Lillian Scott Calhoun (a light-skinned ‘Negro’ and daughter of Savannah, Georgia, insurance executive Walter Scott), and their four children were the first ‘African American’ family to ever move in and live in Kenilworth, Illinois, [from] 1965 through 1976. I was their third child. My family had a not always positive unique upbringing in Kenilworth; mine was uniformly positive. In short, I greatly, greatly enjoyed it; my younger sister hated it, and my parents and older brother and sister were more or less neutral. As a light- skinned, first grader at Joseph School Sears in Kenilworth, I enjoyed a tremendous advantage versus my other siblings in my grade-school experience. While there, where I was able to play seven sports,[I] threw a no-hitter for the ultimate, 1972 Kenilworth baseball champion, Kenilworth Cubs, managed by Charlie Castino with son, Bill, brother of eventual Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year, John Castino; won John Dorrer Rebel Award in football in 1972, with quarterback Bill Castino;  and was elected 1972 student council president at Joseph Sears School, despite being the only African American in the school. I  became  an excellent dancer with the Gus Giordano Dance Studio and eventually became intimately devoted to Jesus Christ from becoming an altar boy at the Kenilworth Episcopal Holy Comforter Church. Growing up as the only Black family in Kenilworth impacted me greatly, especially since my four years at Wesleyan were the first years I lived outside of Kenilworth. This changed me significantly, and I loved it after all my individual success at Joseph Sears and New Trier East High School.

“I attended Wesleyan [from 1976 to 1980]. After Wesleyan, I graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1983 [and then] relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where I began an insurance defense practice at Jacobs, Williams & Montgomery, Ltd. and stayed until 1997 when I started my own firm, the Law Offices of Walter S. Calhoun.

“On May 2,  2002, while a partner in Myers, Miller, Standa & Krauskopf, my life was irrevocably changed when I was struck by a car as a pedestrian on lower Wacker Drive in Chicago, Illinois, sent 30 feet in the air and landed on my face and head where I was knocked unconscious and remained in a coma for 27 days while being hospitalized for another six months. I suffered a significant traumatic brain injury in this accident and still suffer from ‘executive function deficits,’ which complicates thinking and doing two things at once. I have not set foot in a courtroom since the accident and cannot ever see being a trial lawyer ever today.   

“All was not lost as I am still here to tell about it.  

“For the past 12 years, I have been stewardship chairman and now lay leader at the North Shore United Methodist Church, 213 Hazel Avenue, Glencoe, Illinois, where I helped raise my family as a divorced father between 1988 and 2014.

“I first became enamored helping people unable to help themselves at Wesleyan and seeing how the effect of negative realities often disproportionately affected the outcome of people through no fault of their own. As a member of the Wesleyan Argus, the Wesleyan Student Assembly, the Skull and Serpent Senior Honor Society, the Wesleyan rugby team, and Chi Psi Fraternity, I always tried to be a helpful and a friendly member of our Class of 1980. I still find that friendliness, politeness, good and proper manners important.

“In 1988, I joined the Evanston Auxiliary Board of Family Focus Evanston, an all-Black board, which was started by a [wealthy, Jewish,] Evanston woman primarily to help African American women in the maternal health areas. After  becoming vice president in 1990, I served three terms as president of the board; [they] needed to change the bylaws for me to serve the third term.

“When I first joined the FF Board in 1988, I was so depressed and saddened by the conditions the Black community had to work through to obtain academic success, I called a childhood friend from Kenilworth who worked at an international paper company, who sent truckloads of every type of school supply they made until I developed other supply lines to help level the ‘educational playing field.’

“For years, I have been one of, if not the leading, fundraiser for [this group] and now also help our parent company, Family Focus Evanston, [which has] expanded to 11 Family Focus centers all over Chicago but primarily in under-resourced areas like Englewood, Holman, Aurora, and the like.  

“More importantly, I led the charge to change the bylaws and broaden and integrate the board while I have continued to raise many hundreds of thousands of dollars while disabled since 2002 and without having held a regular job at any time since then.

“I have pledged to give Wesleyan $25 a month until November 6, 2027, because of the gratitude I have for the Wesleyan experiences and education and what Wesleyan can accomplish for other ‘once black’ now ‘mixed race’ students.”

Ellen Haller: “I remain deliriously happy in retirement from academic psychiatry at UCSF and spend my days cycling, doing strength and mat Pilates classes, and playing both pickleball, and yes, still true, ice hockey! Oh, and I also do all the household chores because my wife is still working in academic medicine. Additionally, I spend time with my 94-year-old mother and love traveling with my wife and 28-year-old son! Sorry to miss the reunion, but I’ll be playing in a hockey tournament that weekend. Best to all!”