Aloha, classmates. Here is the recent news from those who emailed me with their transitions or news. Enjoy.
Nancy Binkin writes: “Love the new column! I saw that you are spending part of your time in La Jolla. Let me know if you ever have time to come over for dinner. I’m in Talmadge (San Diego), which is usually only about 20 minutes down the road, and I love to cook. We could also see if Stephen Ferruolo and his wife wanted to come.”
Nancy, Stephen and I have gotten together several times to talk and reminisce about old times and discuss new times. In fact, me the science guy will be lecturing a class of Stephen’s at USD law school about biopharmaceutical companies and regulations. Should be interesting.
Blake Allison asks to change his email from his old email at Dingman Allison, which is no longer in service. Please use his new email: Blakeallisonarch@gmail.com. He also tells us that he and Bob Yaro met. “Bob took a break from his battle royal with the Army Corps of Engineers and sailed his beautiful wood cruising sloop Iolanthe, a replica Newport 29 designed in 1914 by Herreshoff, to Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, where he and [I] were able to rendezvous, as [we] had planned last year at the reunion. A memorable sail on Nantucket Sound and a sunset visit at [my] Chappaquiddick Island home ensued. Bob’s choice of designer for his boat is no accident, as he is the head of the board at the Herreshoff Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island.”
From Andy Glantz: “Thanks for continuing to do this thankless task. I am not undergoing any transition, save the slow and ineluctable slide toward the abyss—which I have managed to hold at bay, at least for the time being. Can you mention that I spent two weeks working on a kitchen on the Big Island, I will have moderated a panel discussion at a large trade show (AWFS) in Las Vegas on July 24, and will be teaching again at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in September. Otherwise, life is good and Roberta and I are thankfully healthy and whole. Love to hear from classmates: andy@zenith-design.com.”
And transitions from Katy Butler: “I’m having the strange experience of NOT writing a book, NOT living in my head, and not feeling guilty about not writing a book. Instead, I’m living in the material world: pulling out the Makita drill my late father gave me, hanging mirrors and curtain rods, buying an orbital sander to refinish two beautiful Japanese end tables I found on the street, and fixing (or, rather hiring people to fix) our weathered deck and tippy paving stones. (More to come: repainting, reroofing, bathrooms, etc.)
“I successfully remodeled the kitchen two years ago, knocking out a wall and bringing in light. Now I’m pondering how to bring more Arts and Crafts touches into our 1970s blocky spec house. I have a lot of overdue nesting to do. Brian and I finally married a few years ago, after two decades of cohabiting, and finally I feel this house is really ‘ours’ rather than ‘his.’ The work transition was tough. I spent months in a liminal COVID and post-COVID space, with my speaking engagements dried up and the book project I had in mind shot down by my fancy New York agent Binky Urban. I theoretically wanted to write, but on the rare occasions that I did, the work depressed me. But now that I have given up thinking I can both write and remodel at the same time, I feel joyous.
“After decades in a male workaholic headspace (my father’s realm), I’m exploring the female. (My mother was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, a gifted amateur artist, and as anyone who visited their home in Middletown can attest, a fabulous designer and manager of home. Her taste was mid-century modern, but fashionable as it is now, I lean towards coziness, half-inch trim, the not-so-big house, and the work of Christopher Alexander, and the Arts and Crafts movement.)”
Grant Hawkins writes: “I hope all is well. I retired from the Marion Superior Court bench last September after almost 22 years. In December I had a knee replaced and on the theory that anything worth doing was worth overdoing, I overstressed during exercises. I am almost healthy enough to get active in the community.”
And from Anthony Wheeldin: “After 32 years as a lawyer and 12 years on the bench, I am retired as of August 2, 2023. I recently listened to a symposium featuring Professor Richard Slotkin . . . as impressive was he was in 1969 when the late James Horton ’71 and I had a tutorial with him on Mark Twain.”
A literary work from Jonathan Kramer: “The second edition of my world music textbook, What in the World Is Music? has been released by Taylor and Francis. It’s dedicated to Wes icon David McAllester. Nearly 20 years in the research and writing. Now transitioning into old age, but still teaching part time (emeritus) at NC State. Got a few kinks but basically sound.”
Well, that is all the news sent to me. For me, spending time on Kauai and fixing up my new townhouse in La Jolla. Interesting job when you actually get a new place but have nothing to move into it. An air mattress for a bed seems like life after college. Hmmm, another transition but backward I guess. 😊!
Aloha, Class of 1971! Here are your most recent emails to me about your transitions and other items. Enjoy!
Fran Pawlowski said: “Wow! The online format is practical, the written comments are extraordinary, and the design is exquisite. Your entry was particularly interesting to read. You sort of ‘retired’ then were resurrected and went back to work!
“On my end, I retired from teaching and serve as first officer to my wife as we participate daily in the lives of our 14 grandkids—ages two to 22. All live close to us, our home reminds me of Grand Central Station, and I feel I am experiencing one of the best parts of my life right now!”
Fran’s pet project idea for MoCon: “ideas which have been vibrating through my head for several years. Let me proceed this way: 1.) MoCon Hall was born in 1962, I believe, and died in 2012; 2.) If my math is correct, the Hall existed for 50 years.
“I have no idea how many thousands of Wes students passed through its doors during that half century for meals, concerts, dances, meetings, and so on. The design was magnificent, the layout was practical, the floor-to-ceiling glass windows were visually striking and offered panoramic views as well.
“Even though the building is gone, its memory is not. My concept basically has two parts and the first is easy. The University should have a stone monument ( 5 feet high, 10 feet wide?) erected on the site the Hall occupied. Designs for the monument could be solicited from Wes graduates, employees, and faculty. A committee could be assigned the task of selecting the design. The University would not bear the cost because the donations would come from Wes graduates, employees, and faculty.
“The second part is more complicated. There are a lot of materials on campus ( letters, copies of the Argus, yearbooks, photos, etc.) which would provide a wealth of information about the Hall. My idea is that this material could be developed into an online program which could be accessed by computers from anywhere in the world. Secondly, I envision a walking tour on the site of the departed Hall with 10, 12, 15 stops or more, perhaps arranged in a downward/upward circular pattern. I am sure you remember the steps leading down to the Hall’s front doors? At each stop along the way, visual and verbal Hall information would be available and accessed electronically. There is a bountiful amount of information stored on campus—probably in more than one location—to select from. A committee could also be selected to determine what information to include and perhaps the visual tour information would be changed/rotated three or four times a year?
“That’s it, in a nutshell. I suspect that this idea has been raised and discussed during the past half century. I further suspect that nothing has happened so far for a variety of reasons. However, the need to create an ongoing memory of the Hall is obvious: the Hall itself has been demolished, but its 50-year existence ought to honored for future generations of Wes students, workers, and faculty members.”
Malcolm Cochran writes: “I am hopeful that a notice about my most recent work could be published…. It is a major project, and in many ways is a culmination of my five-decades-long career since graduating from Wesleyan.” While not true a transition, it is the culmination of things he has done. https://www.instagram.com/mhcochran/;
Mary O. McWilliams’ comment on my transition post in the online edition: “Neil, you’re a Renaissance man—medicine, design, biotech, and poetry. Thank you for sharing your gifts with your classmates and for pioneering in palliative care, another important calling. Best wishes to you!”
John Cuddy writes about his transition: “I had observed that when you retire that after six months of catching up all your delayed projects, you can wander aimlessly without purpose. So, I started to teach accounting as an adjunct at Towson University. I really enjoy working with the young folk, trying to introduce them to business, including a sense of responsibility and ethics, as well as how you can make a potentially boring subject fascinating. And then there is the home front, with gardening, catching up all the reading I want to do—have enough books to last until I am 135, and being my wife’s help desk as she teaches home and hospital students via Google Meet. But of course, can’t stop there—we decided to learn Irish and have been in a class for that since last fall. Interesting language. Our first goal was simply to pronounce signs and names correctly. Now I am trying to do a dual-language reading of Alice in Wonderland and looking forward to seeing The Quiet Girl when available for free streaming. Of course, aging has its fun moments—we took turns with health issues from October 2020 to early 2022, which kept us close to home. But COVID did help us find a different parish and we have become pretty active in our religious life, which of course forces me to read theology.
“By the way, I am with Alan Epstein on revisiting the classics from freshman humanities. In retrospect, that is a course that has stuck with me more than any other.
Slàn go fòill.
Lawrence Madlock’70 writes: “Just wanted to say hello for Yvonne (MAT ’72) and me. She is retired from public health but works very hard as a volunteer. I’m still doing volunteer work in addiction medicine and clinical care about half a day a week. We’ll start back traveling soon.”
Van Vleck Observatory, spring 2023 (photo by Dan Taylor)
Warren White “thought Professor Thornton Page’s 1967 students might find it interesting to remember the required nighttimetour of Van Vleck Observatory given the recent discussion of UFOs and the sightings of Chinese balloons.” Warren shares a link to an article about Professor Page, which includes photos of him. In 1966 Page was interviewed, along with Carl Sagan, by Walter Cronkite about UFOs. Sagan, by Walter Cronkite about UFOs. https://underctskies.wordpress.com/category/thornton-l-page/.
And last but not least, check out the March 2023 National Geographic issue. Photographer classmate Michael Yamashita’s photo is featured there.
Aloha, Here are the more extensive notes from classmates emails. Most following the new guidelines for talking about their transitions after work life. Each entry is followed by the classmate who contributed. Enjoy!
Dave Morley Foster, Michael Pratt, and Jay Resnick
Jay Resnick, of the Hewitt 8 Delaware guys, sent in this photo. Comments about it came from John Wheat, David Rabban, and Michael Brewin:
“Hope you had fun! Looks cold [or wet] for September (jackets)—climate change here has turned the Pacific Northwest into a hot place, even in October (70s–85 degrees F);
“Idea: might be cool for someone to host a live, one-hour Zoom ‘happy hour’/Wes get-together event, one to two times per year;
“P.S.: Here’s a concert music track (at Seattle Center) for chilling out (and a shout-out to my music bros, Richie and Warren): Stolen Moments.” NB: You might need to download the file and use iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, etc. for your listening pleasure.
“The documentary film whose story I discovered and researched, found the sources for, and produced, along with co-producer Mark Mitten and director Steve James, was completed this summer, funded in full by Participant Films, and was one of two documentaries chosen for the first time for world premieres at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, where it got a five-minute standing applause from the 1000-seat full house at the Aliedo on September 2. The U.S. debut at Telluride, a day later, also played to full houses. A Compassionate Spy, about teenage Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall who became a Soviet spy at Los Alamos to prevent a U.S. monopoly on the bomb, should be released next spring. The whole project has been an exciting journey as I’ve spent my whole career as a print journalist. Got to see our grandson Jacob finally on his second birthday in Oxford where daughter Ariel is now an associate professor when the film premiered in the U.K.”— Dave Lindorff
“Well, I don’t know if this is good news or bad news but I’m not really in a period of transition— well except that I have entered what I call the ‘used car’ phase of life in which parts need to be replaced, in this case a hip. But otherwise, I still produce content for a video game company and so am required to spend a bunch of time in the U.K.; I still teach screenwriting through a low residency program as part of UC Riverside, I still produce and write the odd film, I still consult for a preschool . . . . So, retirement is not really part of the picture. Nor are any of my three kids showing much interest in giving me grandkids. The truth is my work life is always challenging in a good way and my family life is wonderfully gratifying. SO, I’m more than okay with the lack of transition.”—John Schimmel
“Missing Wes and DKE more than ever. It really was an incredible time in our life and a transformation for generations to follow. I’m not entirely proud of how it all went down but would love to go back knowing what we know now. Doing all the mundanities of 73-year-olds, including golf, grandparenting, and drinking good wine.
“Need the ‘fountain of youth,’ before we have another civil war. Miss the rock concerts.”—Joe Keller
“Hope you and Class of ’71 are doing well! I am prep cooking one day per week at Feed More and training to give tours at VMHC.”—Warren White
“After almost 40 years of doing commission furniture design and construction, I am now concentrating on designing and making pieces for our home—no more commissions! I also photograph these pieces and write them up for publication in one or more of the trade journals if I feel that it is applicable. I have been teaching more and enjoying it—last spring I had Jay Resnick’s son Eli as one of my students in a class in Indiana! It’s all very rewarding and I am enjoying it.”—Andrew Glantz
“Neil, I’m avoiding ‘transitioning’ until I come up with something worth transitioning to. Until then, I am still practicing law, albeit at a slower pace than when I was half my current age. Karla and I have downsized (a hideous word and concept) into a condominium, and I’ll consider retiring from my law practice when I find the right next step. I’m really looking for something related to climate change, but that isn’t easy to find.”—Mark I. Wallach
“Unfortunately, I could not go to our reunion. For my transition, I am remaining active as a senior partner at Blair and working with some clients, portfolio managers, and also marketing. I am also on a number of Boards of Trustees including Wesleyan. I am trying to spend a lot of time with my children and grandchildren which has been very rewarding. Finally, I am playing more golf, hiking, and taking a few online courses. So far it has gone well.”—Phil Rauch
“I decided to respond right away before I forget to follow up (another sign of aging).
What’s made my life more fulfilling may not be instructive to others due to my personal circumstance. However, the experience may be replicated by some, as well as give others hope.
“After being widowed in 2000, I finally found the second love of my life six years ago. I am now in a long-term, committed relationship with a wonderful man with whom we share our love for one another and for travel, bicycling, dining out, winters in the desert, our respective board experiences, new friends, and an extended family—all in greater abundance than were feasible while I was single.”—Mary O. McWilliams
“I’ve been practicing law in New York for small firms and large firms. For the past six years, I’ve been a sole practitioner, working out of my home and eliminating a 3 ½- to 4-hour commute. After I set up my solo practice, I practiced in the estates and trusts area and handled small- to medium-size deals such as purchase and sale agreements, structuring and documenting financial arrangements, and a variety of other business matters. About five weeks ago, I handled a transaction in which two partners who operated an accounting firm for 35 years were separating. I represented the withdrawing partner in what was supposed to be a friendly deal between two old friends. I warned my client that when money is involved, old friendships and years of working together usually mean nothing, as each partner jockeys for his own best deal.
“The attorneys representing my client’s partner were from a large midtown firm, with a senior partner and a junior partner working together. Both attorneys were extremely dismissive of me, were terribly rude, refused to even consider comments from me, and lied about the execution document. On the day of the closing, the big firm attorneys emailed to me the final, execution documents, and a marked copy of the execution documents, showing the changes from the prior draft of the document. I went through the documents and discovered that they had removed from the agreement one section which was very important to my client and hadn’t marked it. They probably figured that I would just go over the redlines and wouldn’t notice that they had omitted this very important provision. But, as an old-fashioned attorney, I read every word of the redline and discovered their effort to cheat. I called the junior partner, asked about the redline, and let him have it. Failing to mark a change under these circumstances is unethical and violates the unwritten gentlemen’s understanding among attorneys that the marked copy of the document accurately shows all changes to the document. But I caught these sons of bitches in a lie.
“The junior partner wrote me a two-page letter explaining that the copy-room clerk had made a mistake, and his assistant made a mistake, and as a result they sent the wrong document to me. It was everybody’s fault except the junior partner’s. I emailed the senior partner about this and he told me that they thought my client wanted the important clause to be removed.
“That was it: my moment of disgust. I didn’t want to deal with slimeballs like these two lawyers anymore. I didn’t want to do deals and take middle-of-the-night phone calls anymore. I didn’t want to do the things I had been doing for close to 50 years. So at that moment of disgust, I stood up, retired, and began to wind down my law practice. I’m pivoting into becoming an advocate for people who have a brain illness and have been caught up in the criminal law system. I am excited to learn about the laws and procedures that govern when a person with a mental illness commits a crime, is caught by the police, and goes to jail. If this person is determined by the court to be dangerous, as determined by the court and the district attorney, and as approved by some old men who are unaware of the advances that have been made by psychiatrists and psychologists, the person is placed in a secure forensic psychiatric hospital for an unknown period of time, possible the rest of his life, until the DA, the court and the old men in Albany agree that the person is no longer dangerous. There are no objective standards for a person to achieve in order to be no longer ‘dangerous.’ The residents of the hospital receive little treatment, and spend days at a time with nothing to do but sit in their rooms and try to entertain themselves, especially during the pandemic. I’d like to change this system. This piece may be a little too long for your column, but it felt good to me to get it out.
“Be well, stay safe and enjoy life!”—John Wagner, Esq.
“Neil, I think this is a great idea. I will not be retiring until next August but the consideration of alternatives and options is creative for us all. Look forward to reading the notes and hearing about what others are into.”—Anthony Wheeldin
“Neil, here is my response to your request for what I am doing since undergoing the transition brought on by retirement.
“I was obliged to retire from paying work in 2005. Since [then] I have done music, visual art, studying and writing on topics that aim to reveal the heart of what is, both mystical and rational, learning to fly airplanes, and I have spent a great deal of time helping family and friends in a variety of ways.
“In addition to playing music on the guitar and doing semi-serious photography, metal work, woodwork, and other art, my passion has been revealing the true nature of reality. This has entailed reconciling and relating mystical revelations about reality with theoretical thought systems like quantum physics which attempt to do the same.
“Extending peace.”—Jim Rizza
“Neil, we have finally decided to emerge from our COVID hibernation, so here we are in Italy again, this time for about three months. My wife Lindsay speaks fluent Italian, and I’m working on it. Luckily we have Italian friends in Florence and Rome who we stay with—la vita e bella! Hope all is good with you.”—Blake Allison
“Still working full time at USC in Los Angeles doing cancer immunology research and loving it. On off time, I went back to collecting a fine set of Indian Head cents, enjoying coin shows and my grandchildren, and reading a good book about every two weeks. One of my MD/PhD students, as a present for training her, recently bought a first edition, signed copy of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann for me after hearing about this fabulous work and the Freshman Humanities Course at Wesleyan. I plan on going back to read some of the books from the humanities and German and Russian lit classes such as The Magic Mountain, The Glass Bead Game, Steppenwolf, Crime and Punishment, etc., since they are cherished memories of my Wesleyan experience. I truly miss Wesleyan and hope to visit soon. So glad my son, Aaron ’01, was able to have his own time at Wesleyan. He is in private practice doing maternal fetal care and doing very well. Finally, my wife and I enjoy seeing British mysteries on PBS some nights and my younger son Seth is working with me in the lab while he instructs youngsters in baseball after a short but exciting professional baseball career when he was younger.”—Alan Epstein
“While surfing for something else, I found this. The tip-off was Brooks Edwards’s mustache in the preview frame. I think it was posted only a few weeks ago, so apologies if you’ve already seen this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGjg56e_9N8
“It’s all homemade and cliché free. Contemporary cinematographers would go to school on this. I met an episodic TV director who was hired to shoot a Tampax commercial set at Woodstock. Her husband had been a member of the Hog Farm, so it was closer to the vibe than usual, but it still looked too polished. Like studio musicians trying to sound like a garage band. Some music producers I know gave up and started to hire garage bands to lay down the tracks.
“Some political rants included, but not Aly Sujo’s discourse on bodily functions. Acoustic set opens with Deep Elem, Garcia and Weir apparently playing at the same tempo, but different time signatures. Or maybe it’s a tech glitch. Garcia’s steel solo on Last Lonely Eagle is a triumph of musicality over limited technique. Too Hard to Handle achieves critical mass—Booker T on acid.”—Mark Paul
Dave Foster commented on a series of emails on O’Rourke’s, initiated by Jay Resnick, concerning the Amazon book that can be ordered about the diner. Then there were further comments from John Wheat and Michael Brewin.
Kip Anderson says, “Thanks for the prompt. Nowadays I get much satisfaction from spending time with my three grandchildren. And all along I’ve continued to write poems and see them published in various print and electronic journals. For example, there’s this one published in The Lyric:
Old Friends Remembered
My once-long hair’s been slowly thinning
For going on some thirty years,
But friends I’ve known from the beginning
Are with me as my exit nears.
I’m powerless to turn the tide
That’s always surging toward the finish,
Yet age-old bonds I hold inside
Are something time cannot diminish.
It’s fair to say I was a loner
On many drear and foggy days,
But now I am the happy owner
Of memories that dispel the haze.
And finally, I have not transitioned, I guess. I retired at 52 years old. Decided I missed an opportunity and became an architect/city planner. Worked on improving the built environment in the town of Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii. I can actually see things changing, albeit it has taken 20 years. While doing that I became a hospice palliative care physician and started the Palliative Care Program on Kauai that became a test site for CMS of the government. Then I went back to full-time chief medical officer for a biotech company and am now on my second full-time company job. Luckily, I can work remotely so I spend most of my time on Kauai and the rest in La Jolla at my second home. One day I promise myself I will just go to the beach every day on Kauai, but not yet. 😊!!!!
Until next time. All stay safe and healthy and let me know how your transitions are going.
Aloha! We had a very successful 50th (51st) Reunion. This column should now be mainly devoted to transitions. Many have already retired and are well embedded in their new transitions, but many are still working full or part-time and trying to come to terms with what to do when the work door closes. Let’s discuss our successes/attempts/failures or whatever’s.
Here is what Katy Butler is dealing with: “After decades as a part-time landlord, I sold a rental property (the house I owned with my first husband), which had helped subsidize my writing. At 73, much to my surprise, I suddenly hit a wall and couldn’t/didn’t want to deal with tenants and handymen anymore.
“My literary agent shot down a new book idea. I feel somewhat unmoored. I’m taking the summer off, going to museums in San Francisco, reading Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit, using the library, and socializing like crazy, reaching out to other women writers, making up for years of self-denial and workaholism.
“I feel like I’m preparing a nest for something new, something unnamed. The lack of purpose is difficult. I’m redoing my estate plan and have picked a professional fiduciary to manage my trust rather than burdening my husband. I am childless but in a blended family, and want to provide, after my death, for a vulnerable brother. I’m also providing for the realistic possibility that I may become mentally incompetent before I die, and that is a difficult contemplation, even for someone who’s written two books about successful aging! I got a baseline assessment of my neuropsychological functioning (so that I and others can see when I skid and slip) and much to my surprise, given my forgetfulness with names and dates, passed with flying colors for my age and demographic. I’m hoping I still have 15 good years in front of me.
“I’m sure there’s another book in me, but while I await it, I guess I’m trying out what my father called ‘being on permanent holiday.’ Even my dreams are getting richer.
“Being a writer, I set my own terms and worked out of a home office for decades. I imagine this transition is not nearly as wrenching as it may be for people who went into an office.
“I’m learning to manage my energy rather than my time, and to do a little less per weekend. I swim for about an hour in the midafternoon, up to four times a week, and it gives me a huge energy boost plus I’m enjoying it mightily. Staying functional—even on a plateau—is a part-time job and a victory.”
Warren White’s transitions are: “I am active mentally and physically as a 12-year retiree from Wendy’s food service and corporate compensation management.
“(1) I walk and exercise almost daily, staying off of statin drugs.
“(2) I volunteer prep cook once a week for Richmond, Virginia’s, 34-county Feed More.
“(3) In September, I begin docent training at the renovated Virginia Museum of History & Culture, an interest that has continued since a WesU American Revolution seminar.
“(4) Occasionally I bake whole-grain fruit cake for grandnieces/nephews in Richmond and Denver.
“I hope other ‘Hoy’s Boys’ are happy, healthy, and doing what they like to do!”
Jim Rizza writes about his transitions: “I volunteered my time for four years doing residential electrical wiring with Habitat for Humanity and others in need. I volunteered as the director of the science and technology lab for a local school district, running a three-hour lab once a week for the best math and science students. Taught photography and served as a judge for statewide annual photo competition for three years. Published a few articles—guitar construction and history, photographs, other topics. I continue to study across a very broad range of interests with emphasis on teachings regarding the true nature of reality as revealed by our greatest spiritual masters and mystics over the past few thousand years as well as quantum physics and quantum gravity. I spend time almost every day playing the guitar and, on occasion, produce some original music. Have performed here and there, mostly for schools. Support our adult children and our granddaughters (four of them) with problem-solving help ranging from homework to building addition on to a house to resolving anxiety issues to organizing and establishing the business plans and ethics for conscious capitalism business ventures. I learned to fly small, general aviation aircraft. I do creative wood and metal fabrications. I meditate.”
Finally, Mark Wallach weighs in: “I’m still as far behind most of my classmates in imagination and openness to change as I was at Wesleyan. I’m still working as a litigator (though certainly not as hard as I did 20 years ago), singing in our community choral group (the Western Reserve Chorale), occasionally riding my bike (not a motorcycle, just a plain old bicycle). There are grandchildren—five of mine, three of Karla’s, so far—but they’re all out of town (all in the Maryland suburbs of D.C., to be precise) and therefore only occasionally filling our lives. We moved—how I hate the term ‘downsizing’ after this move—into a three-bedroom condo in a lovely, tree-lined collection of developments known picturesquely as ‘The Village.’ I’ve been trying for several years to find an appropriate volunteer position to do something substantive to combat climate change, but nothing much has come along yet. I keep trying. I don’t feel old. I want to make a ‘transition,’ but only on terms I like.”
Hope you found these interesting. Looking for more next time. Aloha!
Greetings. For this issue I asked for a few words from classmates who knew they would not be able to attend the reunion. As I write this, we are scheduled for our 50th in less than 70 days.
Michael Mullally writes, “I remember rowing on the Connecticut River with my crewmates, Michael Ronan and Buddy Coote. We would run down to the boathouse, pull out the 8-man shells, load them up and over our heads, and lower them into the river from the dock.
Once, we were about to head out in the current when an unseen barge was being pushed across our path. We had to rush out at full power and literally rode the bow wave of the barge across its path and just avoided a serious calamity. There were days when it was so cold that we had icicles on our hands and feet at the end of the row. But we warmed ourselves by running UP to campus. This was all before breakfast!” Ahh memories . . .
Warren White says: “My 37th move while living in 12 states was from Nashville, Tennessee, to Richmond, Virginia (moving from Lawn Avenue to Beta Theta Pi was one of these). My nephew, Garret Westlake, instigated an extended family migration by taking the position of director of the da Vinci Institute for Innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University. It is a fast-growing urban university that reminds me of Wes U’s Hagen counseling me in 1971 that the University of Texas at Austin would be an ‘up and coming’ place to apply to for graduate school but a lot of the growth was simply concrete. I enjoy frequent walks by the former Robert E. Lee statue in the picturesque Fan Historic District and read Colonial and Civil War history as a prospective docent at the renovated Virginia Museum of History and Culture.
“Many other double-masked, double-vaxxed volunteer prep cooks join me every week at Feed More, preparing 32 million pounds of food for 39,000 hungry, disadvantaged central Virginians every year. . . .
“I wish the class of 1971 a happy, heathy post-reunion life that surpasses actuarial odds!”
Mike Thompson muses: “As ‘American Pie’ begins, ‘A long, long time ago . . . ,’ it was clear that our class wasn’t going to be able to hold anything more than some sort of a virtual 50th Reunion, Demetrie Comnas set up a Zoom session and asked a group, mostly from Psi U, if they would be interested in joining. Here are the names, including several who joined up later on: John Billock, Pat Callahan, James Goold, Don Graham, Rick Lawler, Skip McLean, Dave Nelson ’69, Carey O’Laughlin, Vic Pfeiffer, Stu Reid ’72, Andy Sutton, and yours truly. Gary Walford joined for a few sessions as well.
“But the remarkable fact is that with only a handful of exceptions, this group has gathered online every Wednesday at 7 p.m. East Coast time! The topics have ranged far and wide, from discussions of music (way above my pay grade) to college memories, to family, to politics, to Wesleyan today, etc., etc. Jim Goold has made several fascinating presentations about the undersea search and recovery projects that he has undertaken for various countries all around the world. These weekly gatherings have become a vital part of our lives.”
From Anthony Wheeldin: “I was an attorney for 30 years and for the last 11 years I have been on the Sonoma County, California, Superior Court Bench. My fondest memory: the outstanding Wesleyan faculty.” And Jim Rizza: “My Wesleyan experience awakened me to a world that might be worth living in, something I had not found anywhere before, given my life experience up to that time. That was life changing in ways that will forever leave me grateful.” Andy Glantz says: “I am still in Scottsdale, Arizona, still making furniture and furnishings and still healthy. Roberta and I are planning our first short trip since the pandemic hit, which is nice. Love to hear from any classmates (zenith3735@AOL.com).”
Mary McWilliams regrets, “I won’t be at reunion, but I’ll be in Italy with my partner on an education program for a health system board I’m on. We’re spending more time in Palm Desert and Coeur d’Alene than in downtown Seattle for better weather and safer streets.” And from Charles Skrief: “I’m enjoying life in St. Paul with my wife Andrea Bond ’72; exploring Schubert’s last piano sonata; and writing a book that may yet justify Professor Golob’s (CSS) faith in a provincial sophomore.”
On a sad note, Todd Jick (TJ the DJ) is having a serious family issue. Send him your love. Todd you are in our thoughts.
Hope the reunion was fun for those who attended and we missed those who could not. Peace to everyone and stay safe and well. Aloha!
Aloha classmates! Pandemic has changed everything for everybody. It doomed our May 2021 50th Reunion. In many places in the country life is returning to pre-pandemic activity. Our Reunion will happen April 2022 (better late than never). Keep your eyes out for dates and times.
You should have received your Reunion book. I believe an addendum will come for those procrastinators.
We do have a Reunion committee and they are working on things to do now and events and ideas for the future. You can still join the committee by contacting Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 at klynch@wesleyan.edu. Also you can receive more information at www.wesleyan.edu/classof1971.
Interesting that a number of classmates have been searching for lost classmates and in most cases, were successful after many attempts.
Ed Swanson (etswanson@att.net) in Altadena, California, was looking for Vladimir (aka Walter) Zdrok. He found out that Walter is facing significant medical and other issues. Walter is living outside Philadelphia. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Ed at email above or 626-345-5067 or 310-283-1035 and see if you can be of assistance to Walter.
Guillermo Prada-Silva ’69 was looking for his dear friend Francisco (Pancho) X. Swett. Guillermo found him through Facebook from Pancho’s daughter Natasha and wife Anita, and learned that Pancho was still alive. “The not so good news is that he was initially hospitalized for back surgery, then got a blood infection, and if that weren’t enough, COVID! Needless to say, Pancho is still recovering from all these ailments, but showing the courage to ‘keep on fighting ’till the end,’ like a good Wesman.” He eventually heard from Pancho himself through WhatsApp!
Stewart Malloy (malloystewart@gmail.com) visited Wesleyan on May 22, 2021, even though Reunion was postponed. He was nostalgic and made a short video of his love for Wesleyan and classmates of Class of 1971. Looking forward to seeing Stew at the spring Reunion in 2022.
Steven Leinwand writes, “I am very humbled and proud to let you know that I have recently been awarded the 2021 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors NCTM members who have exhibited a lifetime of achievement in mathematics education at the national level. All three 2021 awardees plus the two 2020 awardees were recognized during the Opening Session of the 2021 NCTM Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta in September. Following the Opening Session, a reception was held to honor and celebrate the recipients.” Congratulations Steve and well deserved I am certain!
Received a note from Nathan Nichols. “Hi Neil! Hope you and yours are doing well. Was looking forward to our reunion this year, but hopefully the in-person event will happen next year. My wife and I are both retired and continue to live in Maryland. We have been blessed with three grandkids and they are the light of our lives. Like many of us, I have had some health challenges. Recovering from cancer, but the outlook presently looks bright. We are outdoor folks and love the wilderness and hiking. Yosemite National Park remains my spiritual ground.” He went on to see if I could talk with his nephew who was moving to Hawaii and interested perhaps in farming. You may remember I was a vanilla farmer on Kauai. I love the crop but it is a good bit of work and I understand why vanilla can be expensive. Enjoyed my farming but gave it up for various reasons, one being travel. I am currently on a beach in Long Island, New York. My life revolves around the beach in New York and my home beach on Kauai. Life is tough but I volunteered for this gig!
Well, that is all the news I have. Remember to write and let me know what is going your way these days. Looking to see you all post pandemic for our 50-ish Reunion (April 28 to May 1). Be there or be square!
Aloha classmates! The pandemic has changed everything for everybody, including our May 2021 50th Reunion to virtual. Please plan your virtual attendance as we will still have an innovative and wonderful program.
We do have a reunion committee and they are working on things to do now and events and ideas for the future. You can still join the committee by contacting Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, P’19 at klynch@Wesleyan.edu. Also you can receive more information at www.wesleyan.edu/classof1971.
We have had several Zoom virtual calls and they have been attracting a large number of our classmates. Sometimes the calls are in conjunction with a current Wesleyan class so we can get a flavor of the current school environment. We hear some interesting ideas and topics and then break into groups of about six to eight people to refresh and reacquaint ourselves with our classmates.For those who have missed them, more virtual events will be scheduled over the next few months. The next group of calls will have a theme with speakers from our class and the University on a specific topic.
The ideas behind the pre-reunion Zoom calls are as follows: Build interest and participation for the Reunion, and unearth classmates by having them attend (and engage) or participate in the pre-reunion sessions; pilot some programming ideas for the future Reunion or to the reunion “Book.”
The pre-reunion program category ideas are:
1) Attract and motivate specialty interest segment groups. Programs: “Then vs. Now at Wesleyan” or “Looking Back Through Today’s Lens” (e.g. Athletics, Science, Humanities, Film and Theater Arts, Jewish Life, Women at Wesleyan, etc.), featuring faculty and students from “then” (67–71) and now.
2) Attract general interest and enthusiasm by tapping into a wide mosaic of classmate accomplishments and journeys.
If you have other ideas or would like to create a Zoom call, contact Kate Lynch. These calls are a great way to catch up with classmates you have not seen, sometimes in over 50 years! These days who can honestly say they have not done a Zoom call? So do plan to Zoom-in for these calls! Information should be coming to you in emails. If you are not receiving them, please contact Kate.
Another item that required your response was the reunion book. It is too late now to get into the book, but a supplement is planned for all you procrastinators. Contact Kate for more info. We hear from previous classes that when the book comes out those who are not included regret it and your classmates are sad not to have info on you.
In other news . . . Ed Swanson (etswanson@att.net) says: “Jonathan Kramer asked about, among others, Walter Zdrok ’72. Walter (currently Vladimir) was my roommate freshman year and is living outside of Philadelphia. I talk to Vladimir occasionally, and will mention that Jonathan and Henry Sanders were wondering about him. He ended up graduating a year later than us, and so officially is class of 1972.”
Neil Cumsky writes he has not been hearing about the Reunion and sends his new email address, ncumsky@princetonresorts.com. Warren White (warrenwhite1949@gmail.com) has relocated to 1025 West Grace St. Apt. #515, Richmond, VA 23220.
Well, that is all the news I have for now. Even though our 50th has been postponed (not canceled), please make an effort to join our future Zoom calls. Great fun!
