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.

Mac Runyon

“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.”

The book cover for Jazz at an African University and on the Road

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.”

A flyer from Darius’s recent concert in France.

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.

Ken and Visakha in front of the altar in their home in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Ken with toys donated by Buddhist Relief Mission to an orphanage in Kandy for his and Visakha’s birthdays.

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!

CLASS OF 1969 | 2023 | SUMMER ISSUE

Charlie Ingrao said, “Kathy and I focus on Third World travel. One hundred eleven countries off my bucket list. Our tour guide in Gambia was Momodou Ceesay’s ’70 younger brother.”

John de Miranda’s son Colin is a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador. “We will visit him in July and look for property in Mexico. I continue to teach at UC San Diego in addiction research.”

Jeff Richards “is as busy as ever. Did Ohio State Murders with Audra McDonald, Pictures from Home with Nathan Lane, and projecting a revival of August: Osage County with Wes alum Bradley Whitford ’81.

Darius Brubeck “prepares for late spring launch and tour for a memoir, Playing the Changes. I will see Wes people at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club when my quartet plays. Keep talking about retirement but. . . .”

Roy Willits and his wife “went fishing in Alaska. Travel is a major focus, though health concerns can change plans. When working, I enjoyed writing code and mentoring new programmers.”

Steve Knox and his wife live in Asheville, North Carolina. “Both our daughters and their families live within walking distance of us. This is a liberal oasis. Sizeable sums are set aside for potential reparations. After my years of law and civil rights, Asheville is a good place to retire.”

Bob and Jane Watson still enjoy seeing patients in their psychoanalytic practices. “Daughter Joanna has opened a clinical psych office near us in NYC. Her husband attends NYU Medical School. Our son operates a tourist business in Cartagena. We celebrated my 75th in Italy and learned that Dan Jones is in NYC and Venice.”

Pete Pfeiffer wrote, “Thanks for keeping track of this dwindling herd. Gordon Holleb, engaging and compassionate, passed away after a long, debilitating illness. I will miss him. Solastalgia, my current take on Maine loggers, is on Amazon.”

Dr. David Siegel received the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “This award is based upon scholarly accomplishments, social activism, and community involvement.” 

Ken Elliott said, “In my Maine town, population 1,400, I’m on the Aging in Place and Broadband Committees. Solo aging and the study of the Japanese language are avocations. I’m looking forward to some immersion studies soon and Japan’s excellent hiking trails.”

Harry Nothacker eulogized Doug Bell ’70, who passed away this spring. “Doug and I were close friends over the past two decades. Our annual meeting was in Florida, where Doug was a successful entrepreneur. He was a wonderful person, and we will miss him.”

Charlie Morgan “is in the publishing queue at West Publishing for his book Guarantees in the Massachusetts Constitution. . . . Life continues to be an adventure.”

Tony Mohr’s memoir, Every Other Weekend: Coming of Age with Two Different Dads, rose to #1 in its Amazon category. “I’ve enjoyed my 15 minutes of fame.”

Harold Davis “is well. We visited Nice, Cannes, and Nuevo Vallarta, while enjoying family and friends. I’m participating in photography shows and selling a few.”

In early March Peter Cunningham was interviewed by David Remnick for the New Yorker Radio Hour about long-forgotten photos of New Jersey taken by well-known French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. (Peter was Cartier-Bresson’s assistant for a documentary.) You can listen to the full story here:

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/segments/jersey-cartier-bresson

Jim Weinstein “career coaches, sings, and travels—France, Italy, Iceland, Ecuador, Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Dominican Republic in the last year. I maintain regular contact with Bill Currier and Steve Mathews, who are both healthy, happy, and fully engaged in their lives.”

Stu Blackburn’s new novel, All the Way to the Sea, is available from Amazon.

Ken and Visakha Kawasaki’s Buddhist Relief Mission is bringing food to widespread areas of Sri Lanka where there are nutrition problems.

Nick Browning: “My wife [Rebecca Ramsey ’75] and I are living for three months this spring in a condo we own in Fort Collins, where our daughter lives with her husband. She had a baby at the end of January (our first granddaughter after five grandsons) and we’re both reveling in the best compensation for aging, which has been the joy of grandkids. We moved a couple of years ago from Lexington, Massachusetts, to Vermont, just outside of Woodstock, and have loved living up there. We’re both psychiatrists and have discovered we’ve been able to work quite well remotely, which seems very fortunate because it’s allowed us so much flexibility. Our life with family and friends continues to be wonderful and rich, but at the same time, we worry endlessly about the larger world.”

We’re just back from a poetry reading at the senior center. Elsewhere, two banks failed. Russia and Ukraine destroy each other. The Sox shine in the Grapefruit League. Basketball and hockey approach their playoffs. Read Pete and Stu’s books.

Google: florencegriswoldmuseum.org. If you’re in the Old Saybrook area, don’t miss it. We have lots of guest passes.

CLASS OF 1969 | 2023 | SPRING ISSUE

Alex Knopp wrote: “I recently completed six years as president of the Norwalk, Connecticut, public library board and continue to serve as a member of the Connecticut Law Tribune Editorial Board and the Connecticut Retirement Security Advisory Board. Very proud that my wife Bette just had her fourth book of fiction accepted for publication (two novels and two short story collections). I recently had a gratifying opportunity to get back in touch with Steve Talbot ’70 who is working on a PBS documentary about how the Vietnam War peace movement succeeded in preventing President Nixon from vastly escalating the war during the fall of 1969. Steve and I were part of the group of Wesleyan students who sought to block military recruitment on campus in 1968–69. He’s been a PBS Frontline documentary filmmaker for the past 30 years. As our 50th class reunion seminars demonstrated, it’s quite amazing how much the anti-war movement and the Vietnam intervention has linked so many of us together even after so many years!”

Ron and Chryssa Reisner’s 2022 dance card had them traveling all over the eastern U.S. It felt daunting to read: March: Wesleyan for NCAA basketball game and same-day lacrosse game; April: Durham, North Carolina, for Duke law 50th reunion, with a side trip to Pinehurst for golf; May: NYC for one-year wedding anniversary and Middletown again for the men’s basketball golf outing “with the ‘sixties dekes’ tee sponsors—Richard ‘Blade’ Emerson ’68, Jack Sitarz, Steve Knox, Andy Gregor ’70, and me)”; April, May, and October: New Orleans, Baton Rouge (Chryssa’s son is a sophomore at LSU); August: summer vacation in Boston, Maine (Rockland, Vinalhaven, and Ogonquit), Saratoga Springs (racetrack), and Poconos (Chryssa’s vacation home).

Rip Hoffman is having fun as pastor of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, New Canaan, Connecticut.

Darius and Cathy Brubeck published Playing the Changes. He said, “Cathy and I have finally submitted the manuscript of our co-authored book, Playing the Changes, which we began in 2017, with publication planned for May. In February we will travel to LA for two performances of Dave Brubeck’s The Gates of Justice, and for related panel discussions and teaching at UCLA. (https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/event/music-and-justice-concert-featuring-dave-brubecks-the-gates-of-justice). Our grandson Nathaniel is getting married in New York in June (I like it). Meanwhile, The Darius Brubeck Quartet is still busy in the U.K.”

Tom Earle read The New York Times report on Middletown’s rejuvenation. “Was it run down in our era? Chas Elbot and I did bail on a Main Street rental.”

Tony Mohr’s memoir, Every Other Weekend—Coming of Age with Two Different Dads, is a Koehler Books imprint.

Jeff and Cheryl Powell “have eldest granddaughter east from Wisconsin. She’s a freshman at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Summers we cruise the coast of Maine in our island sloop.”

Stu Blackburn’s new book is All the Way to the Sea. “Just back from Delhi; our son lives there. Nice, warm, but the pollution is terrible. All the best.”

Jeremy Serwer ’70 revealed that Michael Roth ’78 played jazz keyboard and sang at Reunion. Check YouTube. Jeremy’s commercial real estate company is based in East Woodstock, Connecticut.

Rich Kennedy ’71 rides his bike daily. “Golf often. Have writer’s block. Imagination on vacation. Reading Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet. Next is Worth of Water. Rabbits, crows, slugs, and elk still haunt last year’s garden.”

Ken and Visakha Kawasaki deliver food to the needy and sick in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Maurice (’70) and Carol Hakim continue to polish an antique home in Clinton, Connecticut. Some consider Mo Connecticut’s resident gadfly.

Steve Currie wrote: “Shey and I are still happy in Vermont. I retired in 2005 and we came back home to Vermont, to Rutland. Golf, skiing, motorcycling and Vermont outdoors in general, along with many various community services, have filled our time over the last 17 years. Currently I’m in my second year as president and rules chairman of the Vermont Golf Association. I’m also a USGA Certified Expert rules official/referee and I work VGA, NEGA, and USGA tournaments and events all over New England. Still reasonably healthy although a replaced knee and total hip replacement has slowed the skiing down a bit—as well as just getting a bit too old (maybe a bit fearful?) to ski the steep terrains as aggressively as I always have when younger. . . . So, we are beginning to think about moving south when my VGA term and responsibilities are finished. We sometimes see classmates and other Wes alums up here in summer for golf and winter for skiing.”

Jim Dreyfus “went to Homecoming and saw Wes beat Williams 35–21. A new building is going up near PAC and Olin, as well as a science one near Shanklin. A developer bought Beta House, though his plans are not yet public.”

Dave Dixon is “an urban designer for Stantec, Boston. I’m optimistic about the future of city planning. My husband and I divide our time between Boston, Brooklyn, and Salisbury, Connecticut.”

John and Linda Andrews “reside in Crosslake, Minnesota, about 150 miles north of Minneapolis. Having left the local city council, I have more time to visit family in Florida, Texas, and California.”

Mike Fairchild “still teaches elementary school. I’m a freelance photographer and lead history book discussions at the library. Son, Scott ’00, is chief of staff for Senator Masto, Nevada. Glad tidings to all.”

Pete Pfeiffer wrote, “It’s painful to watch the lights go out for our classmates. This was probably my last winter logging campaign. A new book, Solastalgia, is available at Levellars Press and Amazon.”

Wayne Slitt played pickleball with Bob Ziegenhagen ’68. “We spent time at a time-share in Cabo with KNK roommates Charley Ferrucci and Bob Tobias and their wives. We live near Tampa and spend summers in Connecticut. I coach a girls’ travel softball team and referee youth ice hockey.”

Fran Dickman wrote for Paul, who “retired from Phoenix Children’s Hospital, April 2021. He attended his 57th high school reunion, has two nieces at Wes, and works on a textbook of pediatric bone, soft tissue, and joint tumors.”

Steve Hansel “settled into a far smaller house in New Orleans. Back playing tennis after a long layoff.”

Fred Coleman said, “A good year despite COVID—we stayed safe most of the year with great care, vaccines, boosters, masks, care about activities. Then got COVID two weeks ago and are recovering with increased sleep and tiredness. . . . On better notes, worked with and attended our 10th Easy Africa Mental Health Conference in Uganda (missed the Ebola areas). We went back to a combination of in-person and online hybrid model. It was great to see good friends and colleagues. Hiked in the Adirondacks, Rockies, Sedona with various people. Two Viking cruises. A two-year delayed southern France-Lyons-Avignon-Rhone River- and Paris [trip] with my wife, and a likewise delayed Prague-Elbe River-Berlin [trip] with best friend.

“The new year will bring a grandchild (youngest daughter), first child for her and for us [our] third grandchild. We lost my brother-in-law to cancer and various friends and colleagues to COVID.

“Life is short. Live well and be with the ones you love!”

John Wilson anchors life in Ann Arbor.

John Bach’s wife’s cancer battle has brought him enlightenment.

On my desk is a pen and ink of the arched bridge over the Concord River. Young, in Boston, I walked the storied venues of the American Revolution so much they entered my dream life. Dressed as a Minute Man, I hid behind stone walls as musket balls exploded around me. When the British were too close, my arms became wings and I hovered over the skirmish.

Next is a print of Childe Hassam’s Summer Evening. A red geranium, a window frame, a young woman in white. What does she see in the flatland stretching to the horizon?

See a studio portrait of my sister Kate. We meet at shoreline restaurants and laugh at the silly, terrible things that preoccupied our parents. And photos of the grandchildren—Eloise, Benton, and Ozi.

CLASS OF 1969 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Wes words . . . 1969

Ken and Visakha Kawasaki continue their active, anti-war, pro-environment lifelong passion.

Harold Davis wrote, “All’s well. Christine and I enjoy retirement. Just back from southern France. I serve on several philanthropy and health-care boards.”

Charlie Morgan is “working on a potential book about people’s rights and the interpretation of Massachusetts’s constitution. Grandson Jordan is a Marine on the USS Kearsarge. All other grandchildren are pursuing higher education. Life is good in southwest Florida where I play a lot of tennis.”

From Ron Reisner, “Sixties Dekes sponsored a tee box at Wesleyan’s annual basketball/golf outing—Dick Emerson ’68, Steve Knox, Jack Sitarz, Andy Gregor ’70, and I. We were all saddened by the passing of Coach Herb Kenny. Dennis Robinson ’79 remembered how Coach wanted good basketball and good scholarship and was delighted by our post-Wes lives. I am indebted to Coach for much of my success at Duke Law and subsequent legal career as a federal prosecutor, trial lawyer, and state court trial judge.”

Rick Pedolsky said, “Cilla and I summer in the Stockholm archipelago, running our business while swimming and wandering the woods, feasting on wild berries and mushrooms. Life is soft and easy. This year, two hours away are the horrors of the Ukraine. I remember Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History and the Last Man, which 30 years ago proclaimed the ascendancy of Western democracy. Hallelujah. Amen. Oh, what a world, what a world.”

Jim Drummond “practices criminal law more intensely than ever. I hope the Texas church is punished for bastardizing Hamilton with a sermon against same-sex relationships.”

Jim Adkins wrote, “Heading toward more normalcy. Delta COVID made me quite sick. All outside interactions stopped, except for phone and internet, cutting me off from the world for several months. Now, back to music and travel. Where we go from here is unknown. Hopefully us old farts will fare well.”

Steve Knox enjoys life in the mountains of North Carolina. “Asheville is kind of a blue oasis surrounded by red—much like Austin, Texas. We have very active artistic and musical communities, a UNC campus, a growing throng of pickleball enthusiasts, and some of the best public tennis courts I’ve ever seen.”

“Saw Ron Reisner, Jack Sitarz, Dick Emerson ’68, and Andy Gregor ’70 at the Friends of Wesleyan Men’s Basketball Golf Outing at the end of May. It’s always a fun event, and Coach Reilly is doing a great job. The team won NESCAC again this year. On a sad note, former coach Herb Kenny passed away recently. He was a great coach and an inspiration to all of his players.”

Pete Pfeiffer reported, “Bob Conkling’s memorial service was lovely. Many people paid respects to the brilliant, witty lawyer, housebuilder, and philosopher. My second book, Solastalgia, is available on Amazon.”

John Wilson said, “All is well and quiet in Ann Arbor. Nothing exciting to report.”

Stu Blackburn wrote, “My new novel, All the Way to the Sea, is set in a fictionalized Little Compton, Rhode Island, where I spent childhood summers. It’s hot on England’s South Coast. All are welcome to visit.”

Tom Earle “traveled 2,000 miles in my wife’s native Norway. We didn’t see a single pothole or stretch of broken pavement.”

Rip Hoffman “received an offer I couldn’t refuse. I’m out of retirement and serving as pastor of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, New Canaan, Connecticut.”

Doug Bell “announced two grandchildren—boy, 5, and girl, 1. All the best to classmates.”

Fred Coleman wrote, “Just had a week with three kids, three in-law spouses, and grandkids on Lake George. Also, a day with all my paternal cousins—family!!

“Wendy retired in January after 43 years as a behavioral pediatrician. I have cut back from 60 to 49 hours most weeks. The need for psychiatrists . . . only increases.

“Our Africa group, now with nine teams in six countries has only met by Zoom—monthly, co-learning webinars and yearly conference. I hope to be able to go in person in October.

“Wendy and I deferred her 75th–birthday trip from May 2020 to this last May 2022—a Viking River Cruise in the Rhone Valley. The safest we have been during COVID. Everyone—crew and passengers—PCR tested pre-launch, then daily rapid tests throughout, with immediate movement off ship to quarantine. Masked except at meals, with good spacing.”

Dave Dixon is “still urban planning for Stantec, mostly in the U.S. and Canada. We have four terrific grandsons and a wonderful family. Never a dull moment.”

John de Miranda said, “My son Colin is in Ecuador as a Peace Corps volunteer. The idealism and service philosophy inherent in Jack Kennedy’s 1961 creation is still alive and well.”

Steve HanseI “sold the Florida house and downsized in New Orleans. Nine grands. All okay in general.”

Steve Howard “retired from commercial and civil litigation to become a pinochle player in an active-adult (?) New Jersey community, Exit 8 (a). Beth and I celebrated 53 years together, which produced two great daughters and two even greater granddaughters. One in college, the other a high school senior. Tempus fugit.”

George Evans “celebrated 46 years with husband Mike Devine. Paris, fall ’22, will reprieve a ’68 Wesleyan study abroad trip. I remember senior year living with Ed Sonnino and Howard Brown in Lawn Avenue.”

George Evans (left) and Ed Sonnino (right), Rome 1970

George made me remember. Senior year on the top floor of Beta house with Bruce Williams ’70, Rick McGauley, John Lacouture, Robin King, Curt Allen ’71, and Bill Fornaciari ’70. Who am I missing? One bathroom. Women guests. Vietnam. I took lit and art classes? I worked for Saga and the music department. There were few cars on the campus, which simmered with graduate school plans, marriage, military, the getting on of our lives. A seminal event passed, now, as gently as a light breeze.

CLASS OF 1969 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

Nick Browning has “moved full time to Vermont, close to Woodstock where we have a 50-mile view to the east to watch the sun rise over New Hampshire mountains.  We love being here, but are thoroughly sick of the social isolation that this pandemic has imposed on us.  I’m still working about 25 hours a week, something I’m enjoying more than ever before despite having to do everything on the computer. My nearly lifelong correspondence with Peter Pfeiffer continues and is the closest I can come to having a brother in this life.

You know, Charlie, I was talking to a friend not so long ago and we were talking about our working lives.  I told him I could not remember, ever, getting up in the morning feeling that I wished I didn’t have to go to work that day.  Ever!  Perhaps this memory is not entirely true, but I think it’s close. I doubt very many people in the world can experience good fortune like this.  I am always interested and always learning.  You could put this in the note also if you’d like— it’s my preposterous good fortune, along with my wife and family.

Rob Pratt writes: “Greetings!  I hope you and your family are well. What an incredible time we’ve been living through. Here’s a brief update.

“At the request of Asian Development Bank officials, I’ve started a new company to help Pacific Islands address their renewable energy and energy efficiency needs. I was scheduled to travel in February to the Solomon Islands where I and my team members have been working with the electric utility, but a COVID surge has delayed the trip to late April.

“Because I know you are interested in clean energy, my new company (my fourth) is Pacific Clean Energy Partners (www.PCEPartners.com). I founded PCEP almost two years ago, but with the pandemic, it’s been really difficult to get approved for travel. This latest delayed trip was my third attempt to get to the Solomons (travel bans get imposed when COVID surges), but I’m a tenacious guy, so I will get there. The Solomons, as well as many Pacific Islands, are mostly dependent on diesel oil for their electricity generation, so accelerating the use of renewables and energy efficiency approaches is not only good for the environment and climate change but helps with the countries’ balance of payments. Another positive is that through our clean energy development, we will be creating jobs in countries where unemployment is often high. (Ironically, there’s a lot of clean energy funding committed to the Pacific Islands by the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, etc., but a good deal of it doesn’t get committed because of a lack of RE/EE developers.)

“I’m no longer CEO of GreenerU, my third company, which works with colleges and universities in implementing energy efficiency installations and climate action plans, but I do continue to serve as its chairman. While the pandemic halted our work on almost all college campuses during the early stages of the outbreak, the federal PPP Loan Program was literally a lifesaver, and GreenerU (www.GreenerU.com) has come through it okay. We’ve done a great deal of work with Brown, Brandeis, Babson, Dartmouth, Clark, WPI, Boston College, Yale, Smith, Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, and many more (though we’ve never been able to crack Wesleyan in spite of numerous attempts!), and just received a $7M contract from Harvard Medical School. So, it’s been gratifying to see continuing progress with EE and colleges’ work in helping to mitigate their GHG emissions and become climate neutral.

“In addition to my clean energy work, I continue to sail Zephyr, our cruising sailboat, all over the Coast of Maine in the summer, taking off the entire month of August each year. This past summer we sailed from our home port of Falmouth, Maine, to the Penobscot Bay/Mt. Desert Island/Bar Harbor region. It’s wonderful to be able to sail to inhabited and uninhabited islands, interesting ports and peninsulas, which abound in Maine, which has more coastline than the rest of the East Coast combined!  With our home in Exeter, New Hampshire, I also do a good deal of skiing in the winter, both with my daughter and the Seacoast Ski Club. So far this year I’ve skied Cannon, Mt. Sunapee, Stowe, Sunday River, and Okemo.

“So, life is good, in spite of the pandemic and my worries about the national political situation and, of course, climate change. We seem to be rushing down a path with huge climate and environmental consequences, and it’s far worse than most people know. But I’m an optimist, and rather than getting depressed, I simply try to contribute where I and my companies and non-profit organizations (I founded the International Institute for Energy Conservation —www.IIEC.org—in 1984 and served as its chairman for many years) can help make a difference.

“Sorry for this long email. I got carried away on this Sunday morning. Best wishes to you and your family!—Rob”

Larry Feldman notes: “Still well, still working, three grandkids.”

Jim Drummond replies: “Deborah and I are healthy and I still practice criminal defense in Texas. Hope Colorado re-elects its two Wesleyan senators.”

Paul Dickman writes: “I have a new hip.”

Pete Pfeiffer laments: “John Bloomgarden died last October. A wonderful person. Quiet, delightful sense of humor, and a warm, generous nature.” I couldn’t agree more.

Pete continues: “Maine’s Jack London winters aren’t getting any easier, snow and sleet outside. I’m in the La-Z-Boy looking for the right words. Solastagia, second book, on Amazon.”

Ron Reisner reflects: “Mike Terry’s passing is sad. In spring 2020, he challenged lacrosse teammates to help Wesleyan improve. Positive, smart, beyond funny, he will be missed.” Mike used his talents as a writer, visionary, and humanist to set goals that benefit others.

From Ken Kawasaki: “We are happy to keep in touch with all, to hear from old friends, and to make new! With the continuing pandemic, we wonder when we will be able to meet anyone again in person, to welcome visitors, or to travel again. We are not in lockdown, but the virus is still spreading in Sri Lanka as everywhere, so, for the most part, we remain isolated at home. We’re grateful to be able to communicate online; we’re stronger together, even virtually! By the power of the Triple Gem, may you enjoy well-being.” www.brelief.org.

John Wilson is “well, thankful, and hunkered down in Ann Arbor. Read, exercise, forage for food. Love to grill.”

John Bach paints houses and counsels Quaker students at Harvard. “I’m going out with my boots on.”

Stu Blackburn recommends Helen MacInnes’ spy thrillers. “I can see signs of spring on England’s south coast. Enduring family dislocations because of COVID.”

“Boog” Powell writes: “New London, New Hampshire. Fully retired. Sail an Island Packet out of South Freeport. Oldest granddaughter Lizzie, a freshman at Berklee College in Boston.”

Barry and Kate Turnrose “welcomed a second grandchild, Tyler; parents are our son Eric and his wife Dawn. Living nearby, we see Tyler and big sister Jenna often.”

From Steve Broker: “Linda and I continue to reside in Cheshire, Connecticut, and Wellfleet, Massachusetts. We met in the Wesleyan MAT Program in September 1969.  A few years later, Linda completed a second master’s degree at Yale’s Epidemiology and Public Health, and in the early 1980s, I studied further at Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Sciences (now School of the Environment).  Linda’s career involved 32 years of academic administration at Quinnipiac University, while mine alternated between high school science teaching and graduate school administration at Wes (Graduate Liberal Studies Program) and Yale (Forestry). We have long pursued various activities (painting, gardening, and birding) in retirement.”

Mark Hodgson published an essay in Hippocampus Magazine.

Tom Earle says: “Fly fish for bass in Oahu’s jungle streams. Will visit Norway unless another variant emerges.”

Dave Dixon “made a career of planning urban renaissance projects across North America. In touch with Jeff Richards, Bill Edelheit, Rob Pratt, and Bob Feldman ’70. Still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.”

Charlie Morgan writes: “COVID in January; mild symptoms. Play tennis, do genealogical research, and act as an expert witness in lawsuits. Love from southeastern Florida.”

Paul Edelberg ’72: “My brother Jay died after a long battle with multiple myeloma. He was a natural leader and a nationally known emergency room physician. He was a kind and generous spirit.” Hear, hear! I remember Jay’s smile, which lit up a room.

Ed Sonnino’s political platform: “End poverty, homelessness, violent crime, addiction . . . .”

Rich and Evvy Kennedy ’71 note: “What a strange world. So unkind these days.”

Rick McGauley replies: “Cape Cod. Hanging in. Let’s keep in touch.”

Rip Hoffman shares: “At our assisted living facility, a very elderly man asked me my college affiliation. I said Wesleyan. ‘Communists,’ he shouted, laughed hysterically, and walked away. We hunker down. Meals delivered to our suite. Have had dinner with Bob Wylie ’49 and Bob Runk ’67, a member of Uranus and the Five Moons. We shared lots of late-60s memories. Stay positive, test negative.”

Steve Hansel states: “We downsized last summer. All best wishes.”

Bob Dombroski “had COVID. Fine now. Looking forward to two 50th reunions—wedding and law school.”

Dave Siegel, a physician, answered my question, “Why does COVID scare you?” His reply: “Many reasons. Even when we did not know the cause of AIDS, it was clear that avoiding high-risk behaviors made it almost impossible to get AIDS, unless you stuck yourself with a needle from an AIDS patient when drawing blood. Of course, if you were a sexually active gay man or an injection drug user, you would have difficulty avoiding these behaviors. Unlike AIDS, COVID can kill quickly and is a respiratory pathogen. It spreads in a stealthy way and one might not know when you are exposed. For medical people, working in the ED or ICU is especially scary. My son, not me, worked in the ICU in spring 2020 and we were scared to death that he would get sick. Many young doctors and nurses, especially in cities with medical centers, shouldered a huge part of the burden. Fortunately, between vaccines and treatments, things are a lot better.”

February snow swept through. The condos, small and massed, feel like Plimouth Plantation that first winter. COVID has changed me into an exotic animal on a large preserve.

The far horizon is pink, the high sky a very off light blue. The moon’s disc silhouettes the big oaks, and the far trees bunch like Brillo. These are Wyeth’s colors.

Love,

Charlie