CLASS OF 1962 | 2024 | SPRING ISSUE

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I received good news from two of our classmate authors. Lindsay Childs reports that his most recent published textbook in mathematics, Cryptology and Error Correction, An Algebraic Introduction and Real-World Applications, has just been translated into Japanese. Previously the first edition (of three) of A Concrete Introduction to Higher Algebra was translated into Italian, and he has also published two books in the American Mathematical Society’s Mathematical Surveys and Monographs series. As Lindsay summarizes: “Since none of my five grandchildren (in grades 2, 8, 11, 11, and 13) know Italian, Japanese, or mathematics beyond first-year calculus, I now have six published books that none of them can read! Hopefully, however, the three older ones may later be ready to read the English versions of the textbooks in a couple of years if they pursue mathematics in college.”

Lindsay in English and Japanese

Our second author Peter Mooz writes:“Art history must be defended. My latest book, American Masterworks of Religious Painting, has been advertised in French and German, and also the largest and oldest studio in Hollywood has asked to use certain chapters for films. Who said art history was not a good major? All this thanks to Wesleyan that offered a path to discover a blissful career.”

John’s 1899 Victorian

John Hazlehurst reports: “We’re buckling down for another Colorado winter in our drafty, badly insulated 1899 Victorian, to which I’m unreasonably attached. If we make it through another winter, maybe we’ll downsize and head south. We’ll have to figure out what to do with all our stuff—one acid-tongued pal calls our house the ‘Hazlehurst Museum of Mediocre Art.’ Don’t think the kids will want anything—they’re middle-aged folks who dread the prospect of clearing out our ancient mess. But I love it—nothing like rereading The Age of Innocence in a period-appropriate setting. Countess Ellen Olenska would be pleased, and I think that Edith Wharton will get me through the winter.”

After retiring as professor of pediatric nephrology from University of Kansas in 2010, Jon Scheinman did locum tenens (substituting for temporarily absent practitioners) for three years “and have continued to telemed as a GP since then, but now dwindling, as my tennis career also sputters along.” Jon continues with “much travel, fighting for liberal causes, and as president of Temple Israel. I’m still trying to make the world a better place, thus still delusional. I have two kids, two grandkids in Philadelphia.”

Steve Trott “thought the vaccine would immunize us from the virus, like the polio stuff does. Sorry. My wife Carol has had all the shots and boosters, and three weeks after the last one, she got it. But at least the shots seem to tamp down the symptoms. The last three years haven’t been all that much fun ducking bugs. It’s made travel tough, so we are largely stuck in SoCal missing Idaho. At least the drought is over, for the time being. Stay safe everyone!”

Len Wilson has “always believed that exercise and moderate activity are the secret to a healthy life. But I’m starting to realize that aging is becoming a worry for my kids. After taking an awkward tumble playing pickleball, my daughter had the audacity to suggest that Dad, at 83, maybe shouldn’t be playing pickleball any longer. What does she know? A few scrapes won’t keep me off the courts.” Len’s belief in global warming is strengthened as he nostalgically recalls days at his shore home when he could “scamper over the dunes and enjoy yards and yards of beach, but the dunes now end in a 20-foot drop to the ocean below.” He also has assumed the position of chairman for his area-wide Y retiree group for the coming year, “having fun and working with a talented dedicated board of fellow retirees who make the job a lot easier.” And a final note of advice: “Want to again experience the joys and responsibilities of parenthood? Be gifted with a Chinese Crested puppy in your 80s. Unlike grandchildren, he doesn’t go home with his parents.”

Bill above Virginia Falls on the Nahanni

Bill Wortman reports “trying to keep active, useful, and mentally tuned hiking local trails, fighting invasive plants on my five acres, Kiwanis and volunteering, Cincinnati orchestra concerts, and reading most recently Lies of the Land about rural America and Jill Lepore’s These Truths. I also took an amazing rafting and hiking trip down the Nahanni River in Canada’s Northwest Territories, and went with Road Scholars for a week’s strenuous hiking through the geological wonders of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. One grandchild graduated from high school and another from Colorado State U in data science. Flew to Denver for both events, but can I make the third’s graduation 10 years from now?”

Ray Fancher | fancher@yorku.ca