Tag: 1971

Aloha, classmates! Not much news this cycle after a rather full one last magazine.

If you can believe it, planning efforts are underway for our 50th Reunion in 2021. Volunteers are needed to work on outreach and planning. Please contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 (klynch@wesleyan.edu) if you’d like to be involved.

I heard from Georgia Sassen, who reminds us that Harvard, in this case, is the town in Massachusetts, not the university. She is still in private practice in psychology, part-time, and now has more time for her poetry. She received a grant from the Harvard Cultural Council to give a reading there called “Ancient and Contemporary Women of Harvard: Poems in Their Voices.” She directs the nonprofit Building Resilience in Kids (BRIKontheweb.org) as her pro bono public mental health work.

Katy Butler has a Facebook group called Slow Medicine. It deals with issues of dying with dignity. She is the author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door, a must-read about the dying of her father, Professor Jeffery Butler, then her mother. Katy has a new book coming out, The Art of Dying Well: A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life. Check Amazon for release.

Over Memorial Day weekend I was on the Big Island (far from the volcano) in Kona. I was a delegate to the Hawaii State Democratic Party Convention (or the “Dump Trump Confab”). One of my fellow delegates was the illustrious Russ Josephson ’70. I still think it’s some kind of sign that the class of 1970 and 1971 class secretaries should live less than one mile apart on a remote rock, the most isolated rock on earth, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Are we a metaphor for how estranged our classes are from the main body of classes? Hope not. Anyway, being this is an election year, all the Hawaii politicians were present. Since Hawaii is virtually a one-party state we got to meet our next governor and other state leaders. Just love life here. Easy to make yourself heard and effect change.

I challenge you as you read this to send me an e-mail with news about you. Aloha for now.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha! If you can believe it, planning efforts are underway for our 50th Reunion in 2021. Volunteers are needed to work on outreach and planning efforts. Please contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 (klynch@wesleyan.edu) if you’d like to be involved.

Sad news. David Bonanno, 68, longtime editor of the Philadelphia-based American Poetry Review, died Dec. 8, from complications after a medical procedure.

Jodan Wouk is a docent for three institutions and a community and political activist. His son, senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, England, got married in Florence, Italy, last July. Constance Balides, at Tulane University, gave a keynote address, “Immersion As Cultural Logic, Contemporary Film As Symptom,” during the Berliner Festspiele conference on immersion and contemporary art in Berlin.

Peter Gutmann writes, “All are welcome to browse my site, classicalnotes.net, which focuses on the background and significant recordings of great music. Vital stats: living in Chevy Chase, Md.; wife Babette (VP of giant Westat research firm); sons Harold (sports writer) and David (commodities trader); and three grandkids.”

Kip Anderson is working on his second book of poetry. His son is about to undertake a career in personal training. Alvin and Cynthia James are doing well in Cedar Hill, Texas, and will celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary this year. Miguel Gómez-Ibánez is “in my last year as president of North Bennet Street School, a craft school established in 1881 in Boston’s North End.” He plans to return to furniture-making. Still living in Weston, Mass., since 1981.

Alan Van Egmond left the U.S. Senior Foreign Service in May 2017 after a 38-year career. He and wife Julie are based in Naples, Fla. In Vancouver, B.C., saw Marc Pickard ’70, and in Chestertown, M.D., Saw Vic Pfeiffer.” Sorry to Bud Coote never received your note, send it for next time. Katy Butler, in 2017, dedicated a bench outside Judd Hall to her late mother, Val, and father, Jeffrey, who taught history at Wesleyan. The Wasch Center for retired faculty honored Professor Rick Elphick, who completed her father’s last book, Cradock: How Segregation and Apartheid Came to a South African Town. [See pp. 40-41.] Katy and her longtime partner, Brian Donohue, got married in their backyard June after a 17-year courtship.

Sandy Gold says, “Attended Cornell Law School, became an assistant district attorney in Manhattan for three years. Since leaving, I have practiced in NYC, where I specialize in defending medical malpractice cases against doctors and hospitals. I live in Irvington, N.Y., with my lawyer wife of 43 years. We have two grown children (a daughter who is a law professor, and a son who works for Major League Baseball), and three young grandchildren.”

Jay Resnick wrote, “2017 brought David Foster to town. Had a great dinner with Andy Glantz in Scottsdale. In April I had a heart attack. In October, two brain bleeds, followed by three brain surgeries, followed by a week in intensive care, then another week in intermediate care. Still in physical therapy, relearning to walk, with focus now on balance.”

John Schimmel lives in LA “married 1986 to the stage manager of a Broadway show I co-wrote, Pump Boys and Dinettes, and we have three glorious kids, one in high school, one at Berkeley architecture school, one a film editor. I had a first career as a musician, a second in the film industry, and I now work for a video game company and am teaching screenwriting at UC, Riverside.”

Michael Mullally has owned his design-build company in Woodstock for 20 years, after a career in film and advertising in Hollywood and N.Y. Two grown children, Ryan and Tara, and one granddaughter, Alexandra.

John Rothman writes, “I’m starring in the critically acclaimed Amazon series One Mississippi, now in its second season. My career after 40 years as a working actor is flourishing!” (johnrothmanactor.com) “Robin Eaton and filmmaker daughter Alex came to the premiere of my latest movie, My Art. Wife Suzie is editor-in-chief and publisher of Workman. Daughter Lily is history editor of Time Magazine and was married last June. Son Noah is thriving as a manager/producer.”

Frank Alley says, “I retired last summer after 22 years as a bankruptcy judge, and am now teaching part-time at the U Oregon School of Law. Tammy and I have two daughters, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Living in Eugene, Ore.”

At his daughter Ariel’s Oxford PhD graduation, Dave Lindorff got short of breath and ended up in an NHS hospital. After five days of tests, he opted to come back to the U.S. He has treatable sarcoidosis of the lungs (he is better now). Total cost of his stay and treatment in the UK: $990. Total cost of just an MRI in the US: over $2,000. “We gotta do something here in the U.S. to fix this! For those who want a more detailed account, go to: lrb.co.uk/v39/n23/dave-lindorff/short-cuts.”

Dick Scoggins spent 16 years in England then moved to LA to be near his two children, Nathan ’99 and Joanna, who are both married. His daughter’s family (including two kids) live with him, and Nathan and his three daughters live in the next town. He continues to mentor missionaries around the world.

Stephen Ferruolo is in seventh year as dean of University of San Diego School of Law and son Stephen ’20 is working towards a dual major in psychology and government. Steve Leinwand was at the Shanghai and The Hague American Schools. Logged 240,000 air miles last year and not slowing in 2018. Trying to change the way we teach K-12 math to kids. Mike Thompson’s daughter, Blair, produced twin girls on Oct. 26—his first grands! He is in regular contact with Jon Felt, Pat Callahan, and Jake Weiss. Ed Swanson went to his hometown, Naugatuck, Conn., for 50th Reunion and saw Chuck Lucier ’70 and Jim Redwood.

Sorry to have butchered your notes but limited words. I was deeply honored when Katharyn and Richard Aroneau donated to Wesleyan in my honor.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha and a big mea culpa. I did not seek news for this issue so I feel a little guilty. But wait! There is nothing stopping you guys and gals from e-mailing things to me at anytime. The magazine comes out three times a year, so if you think of something, or something special happens in your life, drop me a short note.

I did hear from Jeff Kraines and David Rabban about the passing of our classmate, Rick Schenk. He was an MD and went to Stanford after Wesleyan. Jeff made the comment “Looking at class notes is like marching around Foss Hill in the alumni parade. We get closer to the front!”

As I have said in the past when I have little or no news, you get to hear about my life. I spent the summer in New York, where, incidentally, there was no summer weather. I am working on a new business idea combining healthcare, lifestyles, and the Internet. Anybody interested in the idea, please contact me for more details.

I did manage to go to Oregon for the solar eclipse. For those of you not in totality you really missed an experience of a lifetime. I am hooked. I plan on going to South America in 2019 to see the one there. You just can’t imagine the scene. It’s no wonder in older days, murders, slayings, and overthrows happened when they occurred.

I have been intermittently on Kauai, which is definitely still home. Still love the peace, serenity and beauty of the place. The community is also very engaging. It is just a place I appreciate more after several months in hectic-driven New York City.

Family-wise, my eldest son is working in Silicon Valley in recruiting and human resources. He is married and has two sons, 1 and 2-1/2 years old. I am not “Grandpa,” as I tell myself I am too young for that moniker, so they call me Puna, which is Hawaiian and short for Punahele which means “my favorite.” Of course, I will be when they come often to visit me on Kauai. My other son just finished his residency in anesthesia in Houston and is doing a fellowship in pain. He is getting married in March. My daughter is with Four Seasons Beverly Hills in hospitality.

I was working full-time until April, now just consulting with some biotech companies and looking for some board of director positions or advisory board position in oncology. Any of you in biotech, think of me if you hear of openings.

I will end this discussion about me. I am enjoying my life and its many changes. Keeps me occupied and traveling around. Life is good. Hope all of you are happy and content. And I hope this will make more of you send me your information so you don’t have to read about me again. Aloha.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Here are notes I received this time. Forgive the harsh editing to get the notes to fit.

Chase Van Gorder had open heart surgery and is doing well. He has relocated to Minneapolis. Keeps in regular contact with Jed Marshall, High Heermans, Phil Rauch, and Bruce Fergusson ’73. Blake Allison relates, “Missed Reunion because I was on a two-month coast-to-coast road trip.” He had a great stay in Oakland with Kathryn and Morgan Muir ’73. Also joining the party were Peter Stern ’72 and Mitch Grashin ’70.

Bill Bruner says, “We had our first grandchild a year ago. He’s the son of my son Andrew Bruner ’04. Daughter Amanda ’02 was married recently. I’m still working doing medical ophthalmology in my private practice. I retired from the VA here after 35 years of teaching, research, and clinical work there.”

Jim RePass continues to work in conservation/alternative energy/alternative transportation, as I have since the 1970s. His current project is called Transit X, a technology that actually is pretty exciting, and is designed to make automobile use unnecessary in cities and suburbs.

Ed Swanson says, “In April I got together with Jim Redwood, a member of our freshman class who later transferred. Jim teaches securities law at Albany Law School. He and I spoke on the phone with Chuck Lucier ’70.” While his primary focus is corporate and securities law, Ed is now managing director of SMI Group LLC, and president of its broker-dealer subsidiary, SMI Capital Markets.

Steve Voorhies became Facebook friends with Mark Merlis, who has published several novels. Dave Lindorff says daughter Ariel ’05 is having her graduation (called supplication!) in July from Oxford with a PhD in education. She’s already publishing a lot and hoping to land a job at the same school as her partner, a Brit named James. Filmmaker son Jed is living in Baltimore with his girlfriend. Steve is writing for High Times and Salon, plus his own collectively-run news site Thiscantbehappening.net.

Vic Pfeiffer is retired and is involved with four organizations in Chestertown, Md. Daughter Alex ’06, along with his son-in-law and two granddaughters (ages 9 months and 2-1/2 years) live in San Diego. He gets together with five other Wesleyan friends—brother Steve ’69, Rick Ketterer ’69, John Stinchfield ’69, Jerry Parker ’69, and Marc Pickard ’70.

Fran Pawlowski encourages all to make the 50th Reunion in 2021.

Robert Beardslee writes, “This is my first contribution to the class notes. I am a bit out of the way here in a small country town north of Sydney, where I live with my Australian wife, Margaret. Taught kids with learning difficulties (I had one at Wes!) for years, and now concentrate on athletes with disabilities. My running career is over now due to osteoarthritis. However, I have kept physically active restoring antique cars and riding my mountain bike.”

From Andrew Glantz: “Since finishing my term as the president of the board of trustees of The Furniture Society, I have been concentrating on work in my shop. I had a hip replaced in March and hope that this and a few other tweaks allow me to be a bit more active this year than last.”

Katy Butler and Brian Donohue are set to be married on June 11 in their backyard in Mill Valley, Calif. “We’ve been living together for 17 years, so it’s not only a wedding, but a celebration of our continuing and deepening bond. We are continually amazed and grateful for our lives together.” Brian is a former hospital equipment salesman who now has a lot more fun working as a professional musician, leading singalongs in nursing home and retirement centers. Katy is writing her second book—about navigating medicine through old age, sickness, and death.

From Bill Boulware: “I am a ‘trophy husband’ now that I’ve pretty much retired. I cheer my wife on in her many endeavors and take care of the household. I try to convince myself that working out is fun, but I know I’m lying. And I’ve reached the ‘maintenance’ stage where multiple doctors are keeping an eye on things, waiting for the final breakdown I suppose. If I were a car I would have traded this body in a long time ago. But given what happens to many our age, I’m very grateful for many things.”

Joe Keller is living on Cape Cod and has a condo in Florida. Still active in commercial real estate company. Two grandchildren in Malibu, Calif. Just won a Massachusetts super senior golf tournament.

Alvin and Cynthia James are living in Cedar Hill, just south of Dallas. Cynthia serves as executive director of education for the Potter’s House of Dallas. Alvin is semi-retired, but serves as executive director of the Metropolitan Economic Development Corporation. At the beginning of 2017, Alvin oversaw the successful completion of a new 142,000-square-foot youth empowerment center building in southwest Dallas. “

That’s it for this time. Aloha.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha, classmates. With a little prodding, here are the notes.

Grant Hawkins is starting his 17th year on the bench in Indianapolis. He presides in a court where only major felony cases are filed. Michael Mullally, after 25 years in the film industry, has moved to Woodstock, where he owns a design-build company. He has two grown children. Henry Saunders is looking forward to easing into retirement this year after 33 years practicing general internal medicine in Conway, S.C. He will still work as a hospice medical director. He and wife Donna live in North Myrtle Beach. He notes that “the Grateful Dead have their own channel on XM Radio. What a wonderful world!”

Alvin and Cynthia James are semi-retired and living in Cedar Hill, Texas. Andy Glantz and his wife, Roberta Adams, recently returned from a snorkeling trip to Raja Ampat, in West Papua, Indonesia. The area is one of the premiere snorkel and dive sites in the world, and the trip was “unbelievably great.” After many years as a board member and president of the Furniture Society (classmate Miguel Gomez-Ibañez is a past-president, too), his six-year term ended. He is also active with a local school in the Phoenix area, the Southwest School of Woodworking.

Vic Pfeiffer was sorry to miss our 45th Reunion, but he was on a wonderful cross-country driving trip—Atlanta to Vancouver via Michigan’s UP—with Marc Pickard ’70. Vic and wife Patricia are grandparents for the second time. Daughter Alex ’06 lives in San Diego, where they will spend March and August. Lew McCreary is living in Hull, Mass. Kind of retired, but wrapping up his fifth unpublished novel. John Holden is loving retirement on Cape Cod with Joan, his wife of 40 years. John rode his recumbent bike across country from San Diego to St. Augustine, Fla., in spring 2015.

Bill Bruner’s son, Andrew ’04, and his wife, Elizabeth, had Bill’s first grandson, Colin Griffith Bruner (class of 2038?) last April. Mary McWilliams’ son is getting married, and her daughter had a baby boy, named after her late husband. “I continue to enjoy a welcome balance of boardwork, travel, and leisure. Later, I’m headed to NYC for shows, to South Africa for a combined safari and wine tour, and to France for the Provençal lifestyle. What’s not to like?”

Blake Allison says, “All good here in Cambridge. Still at my architecture practice. Two grandchildren so far. Our reunion poker games keep me in touch with Bob Julier, Peter Woodin, Job Potter ’72, John Abrams ’75, Dusty Carter ’69, and George Amarant ’69. Still traveling, mostly to Italy where we lived for a year. Next trip is driving the USA coast-to-coast for two months this spring.”

Mark Wallach’s third grandchild was born: Ettie Jan Wallach. Fran Pawlowski and wife Delphine enjoyed Reunion and were blessed with the presence of Professor Herb Arnold and his wife at our Saturday class dinner. “My life became more complete because of them. When I think of the university, I see the Arnolds and I always smile.”

Alan Epstein is still a professor of pathology at USC Keck School of Medicine in LA, and working hard on developing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to treat cancer using immunotherapy. He started a new biotechnology company, Cell Biotherapy, Inc. His son, Aaron ’01, is an assistant professor of OB/GYN, maternal fetal care at USC, making us the only father/son physicians on staff. Alan has four grandchildren. He has kept in touch with Jeff Kraines, who recently took on a new position at Eli Lilly.

Mike Thompson is living happily in the San Francisco Bay Area, still doing some fundraising consulting with private schools. He has three grown kids (30, 32, and 34) and one wonderful son-in-law; and a beautiful lady friend. He keeps in touch with Pat ’71 and Ann Callahan ’79, Jake Weiss, and Jon Felt.

Jack Lebowitz was reelected as a director and counsel of The Mockingbird Foundation, an all-volunteer charity of Phish fans, which has donated over $1 million to support music education programs for underserved children and young adults. The Foundation recently published and sold out a 10,000 copy printing of its authoritative hardcover book on Phish’s music, The Phish Companion, 3rd Ed.

Jay Resnick emerged from retirement to become a real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway in Annapolis, Md. He also designed and taught a class, Introduction to Yiddish Literature, at Anne Arundel Community College.

Dave Lindorff’s daughter, Ariel ’05, got her PhD. in international education at Oxford! Son Jed graduated with a degree in film from SCAD. “He is raising hell with ThisCantBeHappening.net, the collectively run news site I founded.”

That’s all for now. Keep the news coming. Aloha.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha, Class of 1971. Reunion number 45 has come and gone, but in a short time the big FIVE-0 will be upon us (and I don’t mean Hawaii Five-0). There was a recent e-mail from Peter Michaelson that I thought bears repeating. We should really start planning this event now and try to get more of the class to attend this important milestone. If you are one of those who, through the years has been loosely connected to Wesleyan and your classmates, and would like to help make this next Reunion more meaningful, contact me or the university and we can start by developing a plan for the 50th Reunion.

The letter from Peter, 45th Reunion co-chair, is as follows:

“Dear Classmate,

I hope you’ve had a chance to look at the photos from last week’s Reunion. The 33 members of the class of ’71 in attendance all had a terrific time catching up, reminiscing, or even getting to know some pretty cool people for the first time.

It does seem, though, that the same core group—roughly 10 percent of the class—tends to show up at each Reunion. Sadly, about an equal percentage are no longer alive.

There remains a missing 80 percent, an all-time high (or low, as the case may be) for any class in the history of the school. So be it. Whatever the reasons—lack of institutional loyalty, ancient grievances, basic disinterest—really does not matter. The only thing that does matter at this point is that our class will have its last opportunity, five years from now, to gather in numbers.

Our 50th Reunion will be an awesome program that focuses on reflection, stimulation, engagement, and celebration. Being back at Wesleyan, spending time talking to people who shared the Middletown air during important and formative years, having glimpses into some remarkable lives will be good for you, in these and other ways you may not anticipate, a life experience you will not want to pass up. We hope you’ll join us.”

I did hear from Bill Trench, who said, “I very much appreciate your work over the years to keep all of us up-to-date on the activities of our classmates. When the alumni magazine comes, I turn immediately to the class notes. Thank you!

“It was great to see folks at the Reunion. Elaine and I only came for the dinner on Saturday evening, but we had great enjoyment in those few hours. Just before the class dinner, I was standing in the basement of the new building section between the chapel and the ’92 Theater and heard the unmistakable sound of Steve Leinwand’s voice as he was sitting on the railing of the walkway above me, talking to you, I think.

“During the dinner it was great to catch up with Steve and Ann, and it was wonderful to reconnect with Rich Aroneau after all these years. Rich was the best man at our wedding, but we lost touch and had lots to catch up on. In addition to his work in architectural reconstruction, he is the guiding light for a little synagogue in Rockland, Maine. Since they have no rabbi, Rich has often been the one to preside at weddings and funerals, which gave us a lot to talk about.

Elaine retired after 31 years as a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Daughter Carolyn (Smith ’07) earned a PhD in art history last year at the University of Pennsylvania, where she now is teaching in the critical writing program. I continue to work as the senior pastor at the East Greenwich United Methodist Church, where I have been since 2000. I write a blog called Thinking Faith (Thinkfaithfully.blogspot.com), which gives me a chance to address social and theological issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, and biblical literalism. Although I think about retirement, I really enjoy the work and the congregation, so that is on hold for now. Thanks again for your good work on our behalf.”

As a final note, I will mention my life now. While retiring at 52 had been a blast and I love living in Hawaii, I got the call to go back to full-time work. Actually I was made an offer I could not refuse. So now I am commuting from Kauai to San Diego to work as the chief medical officer for Heron Therapeutics. It actually is fun being back in the thick of things. Being older and experienced I can hire the right people and allow them to grow much easier, as I am less worried about my own skin. We are developing some interesting products and one that may serious help in decreasing the opioid epidemic, which so often begins with routine surgery. Otherwise, life is good. Children are fine and grandchildren are a joy (and I get to see them more because of work travel to the mainland). Other changes are happening, but more on that in a future column. Let’s just say I am feeling and acting in my early 40s in many ways. Until next time…

NEIL J. CLENDENINN | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Well, we had a successful Reunion with more than 30 signed up. Great to see all the “old” classmates (not in years, but…) We received a really great class memento; you may be sorry you didn’t attend. This jacket will be a classic to desire.

Below are notes from the class as they wrote in a book yours truly provided at each gathering:

Bob Baranoff: “Retired, living in Fountain Hills, Ariz. (near daughter), and Higganum, Conn. (near son and family). Thoroughly enjoyed 45th Reunion. Wish more folks were here.”

Stewart C. Malloy: “Retired from Morgan Stanley, living in Bellport, N.Y. (trying to relocate to Florida with wife Claudia). Happy to be grandfather to Stella, Elliot, and Clayton. If you missed the 45th Reunion, you missed a grand party!!

Kip Anderson: “Grow more flowers, write a poem (if you think you can do it), and drink as much single malt scotch whiskey as time allows.”

Fran Pawlowski: “I am alive!”

Phil Rauch: “Wesleyan trustee since 2015; partner, Brown Advisory; two children, four grandchildren; wife Lynn, married for 41 years.”

Leo Au: “Wesleyan trustee starting July; retired, living in Bonita Springs, Fla.; two children, two grandchildren; wife Melinda; immensely enjoyed Reunion.”

Greg Friedman: “Came to Wes from high school in Brussels and have introduced wife (over 30 years) and daughter (grad school Penn) to my old pre-Wes Belgian life. Still have close ties to my Wes ‘family.’”

Dave Lindorff: “One kid graduated, the other a month or so away from her PhD. Life begins at 67!”

Susan and Robert Millner: “Robert working as lawyer at Delton US, Susan is Midwest director Birthright. All is well.”

Mark Wallach: “My daughter, Kerry ’02, has a son, Zev. Son Phil ’05 is a senior fellow at Brookings.”

Rebecca and Peter Michaelson: “Own a packing and shipping business in Philadelphia. Still a few years from retirement. Two children, two grandchildren.”

Patrick Callahan and wife Ann Goodwin ’79 live in Essex, Conn., with their black lab, Bailey. “Two adult daughters living in Boston.”

Gary Walford says, “Great 45th to see others: Summa, Fenton at 50th!”

John Cady: “Retired, splitting time between NYC and Hillsdale, N.Y. Wife Claudia Catania ’74 is producing theater show for public radio and podcast. Playing on air. Son Gavin and wife run 1,000 Figs restaurant in NOLA. Son Max teaching at high tech high school in San Marcos, Calif.”

Jake Weiss: “Twenty-one years at Goldman Sachs. I am out on my own in talent management/organization development space. My children are doing splendidly, and I have a new woman in my life. A nice time!”

David Siegel: “Living in New Orleans since 1978. Always appreciative of my Wesleyan experience and look forward to each Reunion.”

John Hastings: “Retired, sort of; still coaching track and cross country, still in Connecticut; kids in California.

Frank Leone: “Still in East Hartford. Thoroughly enjoyed catching up with old friends at the 45th and sincerely hope to catch up with many more at our 50th!

Mark Paul: “Still moving towards that which moves me. This weekend just reinforces the decision made nearly 50 years ago to come here.”

Rod Cash: “It has been a treat to see the other ’71s at the Reunion. I’ve been working for the past 10 years at Booz Allen as a technology consultant and for the Department of Homeland Security. Have been living in DC forever, married for 38 years to Paulis Walser, who is an artist/ illustrator. We have three kids who live in Brooklyn and DC.

Gene Borgida (Susan Wolfe): “Heading towards empty nestdom. Twin sons, Alex and Jake, wrapping up high school. Wes on their radar screen, maybe. Gene hit year #40 on faculty at UMN this year and Susan on faculty in law and medicine. All good in Minneapolis. Will be at 50th.”

Andy Baker: “In DC, off in Europe much of time as a special envoy of the OSCE on combating anti-Semitism. Four kids in DC and SF: a teacher, editor, engineer and punk band drummer.”

“Todd Jick (aka ‘TJ the DJ’) just completed his 10th year teaching MBAs at Columbia Business School and his 38th year teaching. He remains an avid music fan and attends New Orleans Jazzfest every year with his lovely wife, Wendy, and enjoys seeing his two daughters, Zoe Jick ’11, and Adina grow towards PhDs!

“JC Louis (as told by Todd Jick): married, son graduated from Oberlin as Phi Beta Kappa, so JC could not make it to Reunion.”

Jim Sarbaugh: “Restoration carpenter, Portland, Conn.”

Peter Woodin: “Former Ailey dancer (seven years), mediator of complex multiple amity disputes (20 years).”

Rich Aroneau: “First time at a Reunion! Profoundly good time at Reunion. Van Vleck is best experience at Wesleyan!”

Well, that is it from those who would at least write a word. Those who registered for Reunion but didn’t leave a written word: John Cuddy, John Hastings, Jeff Kraines, Jack Lebowitz, Norm Leong, Marty Obin, Frazer Shipman, William Trench and Mike Yamashita. Great time was had. See you at the 50th! It’s closer than you think. Aloha!

NEIL J. CLENDENINN | cybermad@msn.com

PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Greetings, Thank you for responding to the request for info and whether you plan to attend Reunion 2106 (Yes, some of you caught that), but I hope you will all attend Reunion 2016!

John Cuddy intends to come to the Reunion.

Ian Hunter wrote: “Both my daughters have quit gainful employment and returned to school this fall. My older daughter is pursuing a PhD in quantitative marketing at Stanford Business. My younger daughter’s PhD will be in statistics at Harvard. Meanwhile retirement is not in sight.”

John Rothman wrote, “I think this might be my first class note. I am at present rehearsing Pinter’s The Homecoming at Berkshire Theater Festival and have just returned from New Orleans, where I was shooting a pilot for Amazon Studio called One Mississippi with Tig Notaro. Hoping it will be picked up and go to series. My wife of 32 years, Susan Bolotin, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Workman Publishing. My daughter, Lily, is history editor of Time.com and my son, Noah, is a manager and producer at Underground Films. I am in close touch with Philip Casnoff, Graeme Bush and Gene Borgida. I will consider the Reunion if I am not shooting the series!”

Joe Keller will attend and is still living in Cape Cod, with a condo in Florida, and playing golf only on days that end in a ’y.’

Dave Lindorff says, “Unless there’s an unanticipated conflict, I plan to be at the (OMG!) 45th Reunion. I will be armed with info on maximizing Social Security benefits. I’m working on a book about how people in our age cohort avoided the draft—working title: What Didn’t You Do in the War, Gramps…and Why? If anyone has an interesting experience to relate please get in touch with me at dlindorff@gmail.com.”

Jim Rizza wrote, “New granddaughter—Lilyana. This makes four granddaughters for us. Would love to attend the Reunion next year but it takes a team of wild horses to drag me onto a commercial airline flight these days. If they let me fly the plane . . . , that would be different!! So, will not be attending.”

Katy Butler says, “I am fortunate enough to be granted a month of uninterrupted writing at Yaddo, the famous writers’ colony in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. I will be working on a new book for Scribner/Simon and Schuster, a practical manual about how to negotiate the ’grey zone’ between active living and active dying and how to shape a good end of life, to the degree it can be controlled. If anyone has stories of good deaths send, please send them to me at katybutlewriter@gmail.com.

“’Slow Medicine’ now has over 2000 members on Facebook, thanks, in part, to the fact that in the spring of 2015, the New York Times Sunday Review published my essay exploring my ambivalence with ’death with dignity’ legislation. I don’t think it should be illegal to shorten one’s life or hasten death in the face of a horrible fatal illness, but we need so much more than that—mainly, better funding for palliative care, hospice, and caregiver support.”

Stephen Ferruolo wrote, “I am in my fifth year as dean. Legal education continues to confront challenges, as does higher education. Our daughter, Cristina, is starting her second year at Colgate. Our son, Stephen, in now steeped in the college application process. It is certainly likely that he will end up at a liberal arts college. I feel good about that legacy. They have seen how valuable the Wesleyan experience has been for my life. I am very glad that they will have that liberal arts education foundation for their own lives.”

Bob Leroy writes, “I’m founder and coordinator of an annual national nonprofit public health conference. Next one is May 19–22, 2016, same dates as you-know-what.”

Ed Swanson writes: “I seem to recall that the rock group The Zombies played at Wesleyan during my sophomore, junior, or senior year, but am not certain.” He wonders if anyone recalls this and can clarify the time frame. We’ll post your answers in the next set of class notes.

John Holden: “I retired in June 2014 from being assistant head of school at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Potomac, Md., for 28 years, ending my 42 years in independent school education. Joan, my wife, and I have four wonderful children—three daughters and a son—and our first granddaughter. My passion is biking. I bought a recumbent bike in May 2014 and rode it 3,000 miles across the southern tier of the U.S., from San Diego, Calif., to St. Augustine, Fla., in March and April of this year with a group of 43 people, average age 63. In all, I have ridden over 10,000 miles in the last 15 months. Joan and I are living in Cataumet, Mass., on Cape Cod. I have been getting together with Pam and Bob Kyrka who live in Holliston, Mass. Bob is a retired veterinarian and Pam continues to teach high school English.”

Sorry if I butchered some of your notes to fit the column. See many of you at Reunion 2016!

NEIL J. CLENDENINN | Cybermad@msn.com

PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha, classmates. Just a few notes for you (saving room for May 2015 reunion classes).
Heard from Peter Michaelson and he writes…”One of the wonderful characteristics of Wesleyan is that, even if one does not go on to accomplish much of note in one’s own life, there is always the opportunity for the reflected glory of one’s roommates. Such is my experience, as I lived in a suite at Lawn Ave. sophomore year with Jeffrey Richards ’69 and Charles Irving ’70. Jeffrey went on, of course, to earn recognition as a Distinguished Alumnus and the most successful Broadway producer of this millennium, having just opened his 40th hit show since 2000, and Dr. Irving is a world-renowned biochemist, currently CEO of Cell Cure Neurosciences in Israel. We all had an opportunity to have dinner recently after Jeffrey treated Charles and me and our families to house seats at the opening of his latest show, The Heidi Chronicles.

Received a handwritten note from Frank Leone. (I did not know people actual mailed handwritten notes any more!) He wrote with sad news which I will relate here in his exact words…“June 3, 2015. Dear Neil, I am saddened to report that Peter Panciera died on May 23, 2015, at his home in Hilton Head, S.C., a victim of cancer. Pete was one of the iconic athletes and arguably the best quarterback in history. ‘Pistol Pete’ or ‘High Street Pete’ as the Argus called him in a tribute to ‘Broadway Joe’ Namath, set numerous passing records and quarterbacked the University’s last undefeated football team in 1969.
“More importantly, he was a devoted father and a husband who is survived by his son, Gregory, his loving wife of 29 years, Barbara, and her children, David and Suzanne.
“He was a great friend who obviously will be truly missed…

“I hope to see you and many others at the 2016 Reunion. Best regards, Frank”

Leo Au writes…”Hope that this finds you well. I don’t have any significant news for you at this time. Melina and I continue to enjoy our retirement in southwest Florida and being grandparents to two adorable kids who live relatively far away in Sunnyvale, Calif. Looking forward to seeing you at our 45th Reunion next May. Go Wes!”

Briefly my eldest son, Anderson, who lives in San Jose, Calif., had a son born four hours before my birthday. He is, of course, the most adorable and cutest baby on earth. They named him Cooper James. I decided to have him call me “Puna” short for “Punahele” (Look it up, it’s Hawaiian and it does not mean grandfather!), which I think is appropriate since he will want to visit me often in Hawaii.

So the bottom line it seems from all notes I received this time is…plan your trip to Reunion 2016!

See you there. Aloha!