Class Notes

Classmates, I had a note from Susan Edwards McCarthy (Mount Holyoke ’67), telling me that her husband of almost 47 years, Kevin McCarthy, died in March 2015 from pulmonary complications that followed bypass surgery. An obituary appeared in the Los Angeles Times on April 12, 2015. A graduate of Fairfield Prep, Kevin majored in political science at Wesleyan, and then earned a PhD in sociology, with a focus on demography, at the University of Wisconsin. He worked as a social science researcher at the RAND Corporation for more than three decades. After retiring from RAND, Kevin and Susan traveled widely and often.

An e-mail from Jim Cawse in June 2015 revealed that he was recovering from the removal of his prostate (Jim noted that he was “glad to live in a time and place with really good medical technology”). Although he had to cancel a trip to Venice and Rome because of the surgery, he and his wife, Marietta, were able to travel to Florida with two grandchildren and to San Francisco for a meeting. While in San Francisco, he tells me, he had his “usual intense visit with Jim Sugar.”

Jim McEnteer has lived outside the USA since 2006, first in Bolivia, then in South Africa, and for the last four years in Quito, Ecuador, where his wife, Tina, teaches sociology. His two teenage sons, one a senior and one a fresh-person, attend bilingual private schools in Quito. The older one did a college tour in February 2015 with Daddy Jim that included visits to a bunch of New England schools, one of which was Wesleyan (imagine that—a McEnteer Legacy!). Jim is still writing, and recently published an article in Counterpunch (“Blast From the Past in Buenos Aires”) and a book (Acting Like it Matters: John Malpede and the Los Angeles Poverty Department).

That’s all for now. Send me info. Be well.

Richie Zweigenhaft | rzweigen@guilford.edu

Aloha, all. As we’ve moved well into the holiday season, let me simply wish that you all have found and continue to find beauty in this season and give thanks for the blessings we’ve all received and continue to receive throughout our lives.

In our past class notes we noted the sad passing of our classmate Robin Burns. His family had a memorial gathering for him on March 7th and our classmates Rick Crootof, Jack Knapp, and Bob Dannies were all able to attend, with Rick serving as one of the speakers. Robin’s wife, Rena, kindly provided us with the following information on Robin’s post-Wesleyan experiences:

“Robin graduated from Columbia School of Architecture and spent most of his career working for various agencies in the City of New York, including City Planning, the Office of Downtown Brooklyn Development, the Department of General Services and the Department of Design and Construction (DDC). He served for many years as chief architect of the parks department, overseeing the buildings in the city’s 200-plus parks. In the mid-’80s, he left public service to head the real estate development arm of the South Street Seaport Museum, at the time when the Rouse Corporation was transforming the seaport area into one of its ’festival marketplaces’ akin to its projects in Boston and Baltimore. In his final years back with the city at DDC, he was senior project manager for the new multi-building police academy going up in Queens and the city’s new backup 911 emergency call center.”

Rena went on to say, “Besides me, Robin left behind his daughter, Jenny Burns, and her husband, Geoff Sanoff, our two grandsons, Alexei (almost 8) and Jesse (5½), his brother Bruce, and his former wife and our dear friend, Judy Burns, and her wife Pat Magnuson. As I wrote in the New York Times obituary, he was a good man, taken too soon.”

Robin was a great believer in organ donation and was able to donate his eyes to enable two others to see, and so he lives on in perpetuating the lives of others. For those wishing to perpetuate Robin’s memory, the family asks that donations be made in his name to a new institute at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital dedicated to pancreatic cancer research. You can give online at: mskcc.convio.net/goto/Robin_Burns.

On the Wesleyan front, our classmate Rick Crootof continues to be the busy bee around making our upcoming 50th a truly memorable and remarkable happening. The “Committee” now stands at 34 so, if size is any indication of excitement, there is really no excuse for any of you classmates and family and friends not attending. We welcome to our Reunion committee Art Clark, Barry Reder, and Phil Shaver. Our Reunion fundraising continues to grow and now stands at a little over $4.3 million with participation being in the mid-50 percent range. In the past we’ve done a credible job, but especially please consider participating this year if you haven’t done so in the past. The Class of 1960 has the all-time high participation record of 92 percent…we can certainly beat that if we all put our minds to it. Remember, it’s not so much the amount you are able to contribute, but rather that you do contribute in remembrance of our Wesleyan years and being able to perpetuate for those who have come after us the same wonderful memories that we all carry with us.

A Big Aloha (shout out!) to John Driscoll ’62, who has retired from Wesleyan (really?—I doubt it!) after 33 years of really wonderful and dedicated service. Our paths first crossed when I was just a young, unknowing freshman, newly arrived to my Foss Hill dorm room. My roommate, Bob Dearth, and I were just getting acquainted in that awkward way of first meetings and into our midst descended the recently graduated varsity quarterback and a huge senior lineman, John Driscoll ’62 and Red Erda ’63! As I recall, both of them quickly had our room filled to capacity with all us dorky freshmen from the floor, entranced by John practicing his preaching skills and Red showing off his physical stature. What a wonderful welcome it was to Wesleyan. Over the years our paths have continued to cross through alumni gatherings and John’s participation with the Freeman Asian Scholars Program—a more dedicated and fun person I have never known. At least, John, we still have Gina! All our love and aloha and, yes, there is a wonderful life after retirement. I can vouch for it. I believe we still have a ranch to visit on Hawai`i.

On the home front, Joyce and I welcomed our classmate Rick Osofsky and his wife, Jean, to our islands. Rick has a cousin living on the island of Hawai`i and had a chance to meet up with the family there after spending a number of days in Honolulu. Rick reports that all is well with Ronnybrook Farms and that his daughter, Kate Osofsky ’94, is well into managing the business. Rick noted that the farm has just opened a new shop in Manhattan, so anyone in the city or on your next visit to the city, stop in for the very best ice cream, yogurt, and/or milk you will ever taste. To find other Ronnybrook shops, visit the farm’s website, where you can also learn about the full complement of healthful Ronnybrook dairy products: ronnybrook.com.

As a final holiday note, a response to the eternal question of—how do queens spend the holidays?

BOSTON, Dec. 27.-Liliuokalani, the Hawaiian Queen, took the first sleigh ride of her life today through Brookline. When she came back she said she had been perfectly comfortable and had enjoyed every minute. A covered sleigh, with glass front, was provided so that she could see everything and still not feel the wind. Her friends supplied piles of extra wraps, and one was so thoughtful as to procure a footstove which placed beneath the robes gave out an agreeable warmth.

Her Majesty’s attendants, Naholela and Heleluhe, suffered a great deal more from the cold than their mistress did, as they were in an open sleigh and not as warmly wrapped. They know as little of snow and cold weather as Liliuokalani does and everything interested them. (New York Times, Dec. 28, 1896)

The Queen was visiting the family of her late husband in Brookline, Mass. Hopefully, this winter all of your “sleigh rides” have been and continue to be a warm as the Queen’s.

Hardy Spoehr | hspoehr7@gmail.com

1833 Vancouver place, honolulu, hawai’i, 96822

Dear Classmates, Spent a memorable day in Middletown and New Haven earlier this month. Wes football alumni were asked to be part of a morning meeting with recruits and their parents. This was organized by new head football coach Dan DiCenzo to show prospective students and their parents the kind of support and mentoring that are provided to players by alumni. The students and parents I met were impressive and they seemed impressed by the commitment of alumni to the football program and to the players.

Then I was pleased to participate in a Salute to Service luncheon and program for veterans, including a large contingent of vets from Middletown (it was Middletown Day—free admission for all). Also, on the field were the Posse Students, current undergraduates who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, attending Wesleyan under a special program. Then, prior to the game, led by a colorful band of bagpipers, this rather diverse crew of veterans took to the field to be recognized by a large crowd.

How different from the mid-to-late ’60s!

The football game was exciting, as a very young Wesleyan team was edged out by a talented Middlebury squad 28–25. But, watch out, despite losing 26 players to graduation (most of them starters) the Cards have lots of talent, great coaching and spirit. They will continue to be tough to beat.

This day was wrapped up at Yale Field in New Haven, when the baseball Cardinals were hosted by the Bulldogs in a night game to commemorate the 150th anniversary of their first-ever intercollegiate baseball game—Wesleyan at Yale in 1865! Wesleyan lost that one, but won the 2015 edition 6–3 in 10 innings!

Speakers included Yale Law School graduate Faye Vincent, former major league baseball commissioner, Wes baseball coach Mark Woodworth ’94, and Jim Dresser ’63, who along with the president of Yale, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Prior to the game, all Wesleyan and Yale former players took the field to be recognized, and the Cardinal players returning outnumbered the Elis four to one. Included in that group were Pete Sipples ’64 and Bill Needham ’63, and it was a pleasure to reminisce as we watched an exciting Cardinal victory. (Very similar, in fact, to our come-from-behind win on that field, 10–9, 51 years earlier!)

Glad to have the following to report:

Fred Newschwander wrote a wonderful letter to the editor on Foss Hill memories, appearing in the magazine issue prior to this one. (If you missed it, you can find it online at magazine.wesleyan.edu/2015/09/15/foss-hill-memories/.)

Dick Travis wrote a thoughtful note and it was good to hear from him. He is professor emeritus, health sciences, James Madison University, Harrisburg, Va.

Carl Hoppe from Beverly Hills, Calif., writes: “My wife, Diane, and I are taking four weeks off to have time at the beach and then travel to Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. We continue to have busy practices when we are in town, which is usually. Our youngest is out of the nest, having just graduated from Vassar. She got a job with NIH eight days later—we got a raise! (She was accepted at Wesleyan, but turned it down.) The older two girls are long gone outta here and well established. Despite a few more bodily glitches, I still manage to get out for tennis two to three times a week. Life on the left side of the map is good.”

Grant Parr writes: “I certainly enjoyed seeing so many of my classmates at our 50th Reunion. A particular treat was getting to know some classmates even better than when I was on campus…. Continue to work part time as physician-in-chief at the Gagnon Heart Hospital at the Morristown [N.J.] Medical Center. In late August and early September I spent several weeks fly fishing with friends and at a dude ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyo., with my family. Helen and I will spend a good bit of the winter in our second home in Boca Grande Fla. Life is good!”

Mike Borecky is a full-time staff physician with the Department of Justice in NYC, providing care to 3,000 inmates. An important and demanding job, to say the least! He wrote a humorous note about a bizarre Western Civilization course we took as freshmen. Yes, Mike, I remember it!

Bill Brown writes: “It was great to see everyone, though lots of people did not attend. The weather, food, and drinks were great. Peter Kelman and I still e-mail occasionally. A best-selling book when we arrived in 1961—was Black like Me. It told of the racial tensions in the South at that time. A sitcom on TV today made reference to that famous book—which sold five million copies. I was reminded of our trip to Tuskegee in March 1963. The other 11 Wesmen stuck together for meals—and attended meetings in that town—to discuss racial problems. I was criticized for mingling with the Tuskegee students and attending their student activities. But, looking back after 52 years, I’m glad I did. I still remember students and events. And the ideas we shared from two different parts of America. Are things any better in 2015? That’s a question Peter has asked, in a recent e-mail.”

PHILIP L. ROCKWELL | prockwell@wesleyan.edu

Another round of class notes is upon me. I feel like I’m on a highway, and when I look back at where I’ve been, all I see are walls of telephone poles. So, the first item I’d like to address is a communication from Stephen Oleskey that somehow was lost back in February of this year. He brought to my attention that he and Nick Puner paid a visit to Bruce Kirmmse in New Hampshire, but wasn’t able to recreate his lost e-mail to me. I believe they had an engaging visit, shared good cheer, and enjoyed a conversation that could have transformed the world if actions followed. Imagine being a fly on the wall listening in on conversations between legal minds.

On a lighter note, Peter Sipples, Bill Needham ’63, and Phil Rockwell ’65 were among Wesleyan baseball alumni who attended a baseball game against Yale on Sept. 26, celebrating 150 years of the game at the institutions. Wesleyan beat Yale in the opposition’s stadium and it was a fine tribute to the national pastime.

C. Garrison Fathman, announced he is “still a professor at Stanford Medical School and will be receiving the Mayo Clinic Alumnus of the Year Award.” He also added that he was still married to the same woman for 47 years. Hmmm! Mayo Clinic award or the same wife? I’ll leave the magnitude of these accomplishments to you, fellow alumni of the class of 1964.

Russ Messing writes, “I am nearing completion of my second book of poetry, which I hope to have in my hot little hands by Xmas. The last edits are with my editor right now. The cover will be one of my son’s pieces of art (check him out at jakemessing.com). I still have to settle on a title and the rest of the details, but the poems are written! I am pleased. And a tip of my hat to Kit Reed, who years ago shepherded me through the mazes and joys of writing. On other fronts: I am inches away from completely retiring from being a clinical psychologist; our daughter, Ali, gave birth in June to Rumi Yuba (I love the name), a strapping, raven-haired beauty; and our son, Jake, is the proud new father of Goldie Marie (I love the name), a delicate, blond beauty, born in September. So, now we have five grandchildren. We are blessed. And, lastly, I am finally getting a tattoo (perhaps a little late, but what the hell!).”

Jon Bagg writes, “Shelley and I recently spent three weeks in Italy (first time for me): four days in Rome, seven days bicycling in Puglia, and then the tourist highlights of Florence, Venice, and Milan. Found the people welcoming, the service and railroads excellent, and enough Renaissance art to last me quite a while.”

Allen Ames reports, “I am still alive, able to stand up, and take nourishment. I live in a condo near the shore in Clinton, Conn., with my small dog who makes me walk with her every day.”

Jon Robison’s wife is in home hospice with cancer. Jon has been dealing with multiple sclerosis for quite some time and depends on a motorized wheelchair. He has a website where he displays his poetry, JonRobisonpoetry.wordpress.com.

Linton Herbert shared, “My life at this point is dedicated to exploring the link between kinship and fertility. They go together. A textbook, Handbook on Evolution and Society, has been published; chapter 19, “Marry In or Die Out,” by the renowned Professor Robin Fox, lays it out for all the world to see. I encourage everybody to lay hands on the book and read at least that chapter, particularly anybody interested in the social sciences or hard sciences.”

Lou D’Ambrosio had a tough summer in SoCal, feeling he was back in New Jersey with the humidity. Retired, but wife Chrissy is still working and that’s good planning. Granddaughter Audrey, first year at Vassar, scored a goal already in soccer and “none can surpass her.” He has a number of grandchildren, so watch out for family trips where you can leave someone “home alone.” He brought up our baseball moments at Wesleyan, and he was surprised that I had such a good memory. C’mon Lou, you were a second baseman reacting to the action. I was the thinker behind the plate assessing the batters and our pitchers. I kept track of everything and Coach Norm Daniels let me choose the next pitch. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was preparing myself for a career as a “baby catcher.” Lou meets with classmates Wink Davenport and Jay McIlroy and reports no new changes with them.

That brings me to a book I recently had published, entitled Baseball and Babies: My Life as a Catcher. By the time you are reading this in the magazine, I should be on the Yogi Berra best sellers list. It actually centers around a baseball fantasy camp I attended in 1983, presented by the LA Dodgers for their first of many annual events at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla. I rubbed elbows with players from the legendary “boys of summer,” the Brooklyn Dodgers of Jackie Robinson, and found that playing baseball after the age of 40 was very possible, with magical results. I recorded my experience each day, and created a manuscript that sat in a storage bin until just recently. In the movie, Field of Dreams, one line is, “Is this heaven?” and the response: “No, it’s Iowa.” I found heaven in Vero Beach, Fla., and on a wild and crazy baseball field, with a running track behind the right side of the infield, at a place Lou Gehrig once hit a home run off the Wesleyan University chapel.

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

Ron Tallman from Augustine, Fla., said that right now the big excitement is that one of his daughters from his previous marriage, Kelly Clements, has just been appointed Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees for the UN. She started her career in government way back as a presidential intern with Pres. George H. W. Bush and now this. She will be moving to Geneva. He has a second daughter, Jennifer, who teaches elementary school in South Carolina, and between the two he has five grandchildren, ages 8–20. Ron retired at 61 due to health reasons and it was then that he and his wife, Noel, moved from Chicago to St. Augustine. He developed cervical dystonia, which limits his physical activities more and more now. Prior to his retirement he had been dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Roosevelt University, Chicago. Three years ago Noel also retired. She had owned her own ad agency. He’s not sure how they got into it, but they really like going on cruises. They went to Tahiti last year and will go to the Open in the UK this year and then cruise way up the Norwegian coast, perhaps even encountering the newly emboldened Russian navy. And in the fall they will go to Lisbon and then cruise in the Mediterranean. He has fond memories of their exciting encounter with the tail end of a fierce hurricane in the North Atlantic. Ron played #3 on the WesU golf team but due to his physical ailments, now thinks his golfing days may be ended. He also remembers that he “kind of lost track” academically and being young and “seeking adventure,” he and John Burt ’65 left WesU January ’62 for Europe and returned November ’62. Upon hearing of their plans, Dean Barlow told them he was sure they’d never return to WesU. They visited pretty much most of Europe, drank “about 1,000 bottles of wine, hundreds of bottles of beer and there were all those young ladies to befriend.” The last month of their European jaunt they lived on “50 cents a day room and board.” A surprised but pleased Dean Barlow readmitted them and Ron found his lost academic track and actually graduated with the class of ’64. “But I identify with the class of ’63,” he says. Ron then went to the University of Maine, got a PhD in Canadian history and eventually became the director of the Canadian-American Center of the University of Maine, where he created the largest Canadian Studies program in the U.S. (and the world outside of Canada) with up to 1,200 students per year enrolled in various courses. He was also president of the Association for Canadian Studies in the U.S. for two years, as well as a founder and, for many years, a board member of the International Council for Canadian Studies, which allowed him to travel and lecture around the world.

Appearing for the first time in these notes in decades, Skip Short, living in Hamden, Conn., has had a very interesting career or rather, careers. Not at all sure what he wanted to do in life for his first three years at WesU, he took an inventory of his likes and found four areas of interest (1) artistic/scientific problems, (2) construction (“as a kid I was fascinated by construction sites”), (3) analytic challenges and (4) people. So he decided that architecture would include all those interests and hustled to take courses (especially math) that he’d not needed before. After graduation he enrolled in Yale’s architectural program from which he graduated. While there he began to buy and renovate rundown buildings. And along the way met his first wife, who became the property manager for what turned into almost 180 units. Eventually he became very tired of the renovation work, so when he and his wife divorced, he sold her his half of the units, which she owns to this day and which their two children, Matthew, 36, and Sarah, 31, now manage. For the first 20 years after graduation, he worked for an architectural firm in New Haven. He eventually left and opened his own private practice for 15 years. But while he really liked dealing with clients, he did not like hassling with contractors or building inspectors and at age 50 walked way from the field. Wondering what to do, he noticed that his bookcase was filled with body/mind books. He decided to take a course in massage therapy at the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy. He liked it and learned the Trager method of massage, which he practiced along with some more conventional methods from his early 50s up to three years ago. He now does a lot of volunteer work. With his architectural knowledge, he is very useful to and active on his 120-unit condo board. He is also very involved in a peer-to-peer counseling group in Connecticut and an officer of the Connecticut Butterfly Association. He recalled that he and Ed Fineberg used to relax while at WesU bird­watching in woods up towards Long Lane School. Skip married his wife, Deborah, in ’01. She is an RN and is a unit manager in a dementia unit.

Living in Kaneoha, Hawaii, Richard Armsby retired from his work in 2010, after 42 years as a clinical psychologist. He had worked with seriously ill patients. After graduating from WesU, as he’d been an English major, he was thinking of going to grad school to become an English teacher. But as he was pursuing that, JFK was assassinated and he was so shaken that he decided to try to do something possibly more in response to that terrible crime and so applied to Penn State’s graduate program in psychology. While there getting his PhD, he met Judy, a social work student, and they fell in love. They had two daughters but lost one to a car crash. They now have two granddaughters, 10 and 8, and Richard spends much time ferrying them to and from school and to their various after school activities. When not being a chauffeur, he works out three times a week in the gym. His wife, Judy has also retired. She was a social worker, working with frail elderly people. Due to the long travel entailed, Richard was unable to make the mini-Delta Tau Delta reunion held a few years ago in Mexico at Bill Roberts’s home, but he has heard much about it from DTD brothers who were there. He and his family are traveling to Alaska next summer to take the Inside Passage cruise.

Dean Schooler lives with his wife, Vicky, on the edge of Boulder, Colo. They have five children, one adopted, ranging in age from 25–46. (I neglected to ask how many grandchildren.) A government major at WesU, in ’64 Dean spent one semester at the Methodist Theological School, in Delaware, Ohio, and then briefly served a Methodist congregation in Westminster, Ohio. However, he returned to his college major and got an MA and PhD in governmental political science from Ohio State University During the academic year ’70–’71, Dean was a Fulbright-Hays Advanced Research Scholar in the JFK Institute, Catholic University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Dean has had a long career in several fields. In higher education he’s taught various courses in government/politics at several institutions—Capital University, University of Arizona, University of Colorado, and for a limited period was a Regents Lecturer at the University of California, Irvine. And in public service: he has served and still serves on numerous boards, helping schools/school boards, community health care organizations, and philanthropic organizations. In ’05 he was awarded the Indiana Univ. Center on Philanthropy’s Henry A. Rosso Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Ethical Fund Raising. When I asked Dean if he had any hobbies, he said his ongoing community service and philanthropic consulting were his “hobbies.” He also mentioned mowing his lawn. Dean actually participated in the DTD reunion in Mexico and had a vivid memory of being part of the very serious confrontation that took place while we were all at WesU with the National Board of DTD when both the Stanford and WesU chapters pledged an African/American. As president of the board of house presidents and a DTD member, Bill Roberts was very much involved in this. The confrontation ended with the national board of DTD capitulating and reversing their stand on refusing to admit an African American!

If you have any suggestions of classmates you’d like read about in this column in the future or think of classmates who have never been written up, please e-mail me with your suggestions.

BYRON S. MILLER | tigr10@optonline.net

5 Clapboard hill rd., westport, ct 06880

Robin Berrington last May made his annual trip to Japan for the Noguchi Foundation meeting and afterward went on an expedition to Takayama, Kyoto, and the Kii Peninsula “meeting interesting Japanese, going to fantastic tiny restaurants, including one memorable sushi place along the coast, and explored some ancient, primitive shrines.” Back in the US, he made an annual journey to Louisville, Ky., for its theater festival, and to Shepherdstown, W.Va., where he sits on the board of the Contemporary American Theater Festival. He visited an old friend in Telluride, Colo., at the time the Telluride Film Festival was going on, and writes, “We even bumped into Meryl Streep on the streets one night! How can you beat that?”

David Fiske writes: “On a personal note, after writing in this column for many years about classmates’ grandchildren, Mary Ann and I joined your ranks in May with the birth of granddaughter Quinn, to Kati and son Ben in Washington, D.C. I am still enjoying retirement at the beach and keep busy with free-lance writing of press releases, newsletters, etc., for numerous local businesses and organizations, editing of World Bank papers, and am on the board of the Rehoboth Beach Museum. Oh, yes, and now frequent trips back to D.C. to see Quinn!”

Naftaly (“Tuli”) Glasman retired as professor of educational leadership emeritus and dean emeritus from the University of California, Santa Barbara. During his 45 years there, he published 12 books and 170 articles and book chapters, and chaired 73 doctoral dissertations (mostly PhD and a few EdD). He is now doing volunteer work as a peer counselor with the elderly; teaching Hebrew one-on-one at his home, free of charge; and sitting on a foundation board that distributes funds to clinical psychological research, scholarship and practice. He has just finished a biography titled To Die as an Israeli-American: The Case of Multiple Identities. He writes: “Having lived with a bipolar mental condition that was diagnosed at age 50 and treated since then with medication and therapy, I am now studying and writing about the condition and its stigma. I hope to begin soon to speak about these topics to a variety of audiences.”

Dave Hedges took a trip to the Rhine and Moselle rivers in June, and plans to spend the winter in Florida. He and Ann got together for dinner and golf with Judy and Parker Blatchford in the Adirondack Mountains, where they both have summer homes, and visited Ithaca, N.Y., and Finger Lakes wineries with Julie and Ed Rubel.

Charles Murkofsky writes that he is “still enjoying full time psychiatric practice in NYC.” In his leisure time, he reports on “fighting to hold onto some semblance of tennis and skiing skills,” enjoying four grandchildren, studying French and Italian online, and “otherwise pursuing NYC’s myriad cultural and culinary opportunities.”

Steve Trott shares an interesting anecdote. He writes, “Because of my Highwaymen background, the good folks here asked me to be on the Philharmonic Board. (They may have thought I had deep pockets from the days of the 45 rpm record, remember those?) I ended up loving the stuff, and they put me to delivering the pre-concert lectures. Recently, Esther Simplot, the wife of the billionaire who at one point furnished McDonald’s with every French fry it sold-—hey, we live in Idaho-—honored my service to the Philharmonic with the first Jack and Esther Simplot Award…for eating more potatoes than the Brass Section combined. You have to love this great state!”

Fran Voigt sent in two interesting reports. The first is the news that his wife, Ellen, was selected in September to receive a MacArthur Foundation scholarship award. This prestigious program awards “unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.” She is a founder and senior faculty member in the limited residency MFA program in creative writing at Warren Wilson College. Go to: macfound.org/fellows/950/#sthash.uprD8vKL.dpuf for more details. Secondly, Fran reports that his son is the coach of the Nigerian national basketball team, which after winning the 2015 Pan-African basketball tournament has received an automatic bid to the summer Olympics in Rio. It turns out that his son had coached two star Nigerian players on a previous US team. They recommended him for their country’s national team position, and he got selected from among 20 finalists worldwide.

Fran himself remains involved with NECI (New England Culinary Institute) as a board member, occasional consultant, and owner. We still remember those fabulous dinners at several Reunion weekends that Fran and his staff came down from Vermont to prepare for us. He says the school continues to have a “unique niche” with the training “modeled after aspects of medical school education, military boot camp training, progressive education, and the European apprenticeship tradition.” Sounds about right for someone from Wesleyan!

Finally, a sad note to report: the passing last summer of Hal Wyss. After earning his PhD from Ohio State University, he was a professor of English since 1970 at Albion College, where he also undertook a number of administrative posts. After his retirement in 2005, he was active in the college’s Lifelong Learning Program. In his leisure time, he was an accomplished fisherman and birder. We extend our condolences to his wife, Melissa, and his family.

DAVID FISKE | davidfiske17@gmail.com

17 W. Buckingham Dr. Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

Steve Wainwright’s 75th birthday celebration last August 2015 in Pocasset, Mass., was personally attended by John Driscoll ’62 and Carl Syriala ’60. In addition, a number of classmates wrote congratulatory notes to Steve, including Brad Beechen, Bill Harris, Al Williams, and Don Johnson. Don, who lives in Gold Canyon, Ariz.,, with his wife, Janet, relates that he and his wife traveled last summer, via RV, throughout western Canada. He proclaims Steve as “the most unforgettable person I have ever known,” explaining that he and Steve were roommates, during their junior year at Wesleyan, and shared “many, many rich and bizarre adventures as friends and fraternity brothers.” Jim Reynolds ’63 wrote a particularly memorable tribute to Steve with which we can all identify: “The Legend Lives On. He came out of Brockton with a banjo on his knee and a banana in his ear, with a presence that drew and held the attention of all who were near. He sang of the roar and the gore of the Cornell Fire, and told of McCoy the census taker, and the dead horse in the bathtub. His fame soon spread throughout the Wesleyan campus, where he dominated the Harry Ding contest, and north to the green hills of Middlebury, where he came to be known as the Rabbi. From there south to the quarters of New Orleans, then to the courts of the Commonwealth, even, yes, to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. The legend thrived, for whenever two or more of those who knew him gathered, the stories were told and retold. Even those who had never seen him in the flesh felt a connection. And so, as he concludes his 75th year, the Legend of the Bard and the Barrister continues to live on.”

A recent note from John Rogers reveals his new residence, grandchildren, and travels: “Retired from investment/financial planning business in 2014 after 48 years and moved from Greenwood, S.C., to Fort Mill, S.C., just south of Charlotte, N.C. I now reside in a Del Webb/Sun City community of about 3,000 homes, enjoying a simpler lifestyle of golf, pickle ball, and plenty of friends using Medicare weekly. No one is hung up on past titles, awards, or wealth comparisons. Still with five married children providing 14 grandchildren whom we struggle to see in Kentucky, New Jersey, and Maryland Recent travels included a river cruise to Moscow, an Alaska cruise, a road trip through to Upper Michigan, and regular trips to doctors and Walmart. So far good overall health, and I have stopped counting cholesterol intake.”

Paul Dickson’s latest book, Contraband Cocktails—What We Drank When We Were Not Supposed To, a Melville House publication, is about Prohibition and the paradoxical birth of the cocktail culture during those dry years. Paul is also completing work on his second biography, Leo Durocher-–Baseball’s Most Hated Man, which will be published in early 2017 in time for Opening Day. Paul is also researching for a new biography. His leading candidate is William F. Cody, better known as “Buffalo Bill.”

Jack Mitchell has also been writing, revising and re-launching his “hugging books,” as he describes them, with a third book in progress. In addition to his chairmanship of his family business, Mitchells Family of Stores, totaling eight in number, Jack is also an executive-in-residence at Columbia Business School, where he lectures and instructs graduate students. Two of Jack’s grandchildren are at Wesleyan; the other three attend Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Dartmouth.

Russell Mott (Bob Lannigan) reports that he is up every day at 3:30 a.m., work starting at four, for 8, 10, 12 hours in his ceramic studio (Mottpotts.com). “The work requires a passionate commitment, which I am easily able to muster every day, as my health remains remarkable in all respects. I am not at all sure I would have been interested in ceramics if I had been introduced to it in the ’50s, ’60s, or ’70s, but I thank my angels every morning for the gift of finding it earlier this century, two months after 9/11.” Russell goes on to explain that he is “living in southern New Mexico with Kato and our extended family here and in Jacksonville, Fla., including four granddaughters. Several other businesses, including an art gallery—MVS Studios—and a real estate company, keep us very busy.”

Phil Rodd is planning a two-week trip to Portugal in November 2015, including a week’s cruise through the Douro Valley, famous for its table and port wines. He promises more details in a future writing, as does Bob Johnson, who completed a 16-day safari to Tanzania and Kenya last year with his wife, Suzanne. Bob is vice president of his country club and is co-chairman of Men to Men, the organization for men with prostate cancer, providing support, guidance, and education. He and his wife live seven months each year in Nokomis, Fla. (just north of Venice), and the other five months in Pocahontas, Pa. Bob and Suzanne are both members of their Florida church choir, where his wife, Suzanne, also solos and assists in directing as requested.

Ed Knox writes to mourn the passing of his mentor and good friend, Professor George Creeger. This past summer, Middlebury College awarded Ed an honorary doctor of letters degree at the 100th anniversary of the summer language schools. Ed and Huguette now live part of the year in Rockville, Md., and the rest in Paris. They would be happy to see friends and classmates in either place (knox@middlebury.edu).

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com

902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, Fl 34205

Ed Chalfant continues to enjoy an active retirement with bridge, reading, and directing a start-up mission out of Christ Church in Ponte Vedra, Fla. Winkie has emerged as a graceful painter in acrylics who shows her work locally and also plays bridge. They returned again to Maine this past summer to help ease the surplus lobster crisis.

Ira Sharkansky wrote the following: “More than a few indications of age, but the body keeps going with some physical activity, and other parts with the excitement that is never far from these fingers. I’ve stopped writing professionally, but the Internet provides an outlet for my blog, and my use of it to help me understand. There’s a small audience, and I’ve acquired a number of Internet friends. For a look at my Window on Israel, see jpost.com/Blogger/Ira-Sharkansky.”

Bob Williams wrote the following: “Ann and I welcomed our first granddaughter, Amelia Michael Enos, in June. Sad news was the death of my stepbrother, John Vinton ’63, in July. Still having lots of good conversations with Marilyn and Mickey Levine and hoping to cheer on the Cardinals at Bowdoin around Halloween. I am singing with our Highlands Chorale and trying to get a quartet together that can compare with the incomparable Reunionaires. Two weeks at our camp on Kezar Lake has centered us again.”

Bob mentioned the importance of getting centered. For me that involves hiking or contra dancing or yoga, all of which are readily available in Bellingham.

SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com

2700 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98229