Daoud A. Haroon ’73

Daoud A. Haroon died on Feb. 24, 2018. At Wesleyan, he majored in music and was an artist-in-residence in African American music. Since 1955, he performed and recorded as a jazz trombonist and African and Middle Eastern percussionist. He later earned a master’s degree in history from Texas Southern University. He had a career as an American history professor and later founded the Avicenna Library of The Islamic Education Center in Houston.

CLASS OF 1973 | 2017 | ISSUE 3

NEWSMAKER

JOHN HUTTLINGER JR. ’73

John Huttlinger Jr. ’73, CPA, was the 2017 recipient of the 14th annual Michael H. Urbach, CPA Community Builders Award by the New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. The award recognizes exemplary achievements of a certified public accountant who serves in leadership positions on charitable organizations’ boards of directors. Martha Spear of the Rotary Club of Lake Placid, who nominated Huttlinger, stated he “is the finest CPA-volunteer I have ever worked beside in my nearly 30 years of nonprofit employment and leadership.” Huttlinger serves as a board member for several community organizations including the Adirondack Film Society and the Rotary Club of Lake Placid. An economics major at Wesleyan, Huttlinger earned an MBA from Rutgers University.

Joshua Boger has been busy. After stepping down as chairman of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees and after 17 years on the Board, he says he deliberately stayed away to give new chairwoman Donna Morea ’76 some “breathing room.” In the fall of 2016, he was approached by his good friend Setti Warren, mayor of Newton, Mass., about helping him run for governor in 2018 against Charlie Baker. Joshua has been chairman of the campaign. In June, he simplified his calendar, stepping off the Vertex Pharmaceuticals board after almost 28 years, after founding the company in 1989. He says, “The campaign has been asking people, ‘What kind of Commonwealth do we want to be?’” He’s been dealing with issues including growing income disparities, the possibility of extending free college to everyone in the state, public transportation, renewable energy, energy conservation, and improving health care. In his spare time, he has been finishing up chairing the $750M campaign for Harvard Medicine (“The World is Waiting”) for the Harvard Medical School and chairing the Celebrity Series, Boston’s largest nonprofit presenter of live performing arts.

He also said, after 26 years “living in bucolic Concord, Mass., with my wife Amy” they “junked all of our suburban hand-me-down colonial furniture and swapped it for steel-and-leather-and-stone Italian modern, and moved to Boston’s hottest and hippest area, the Seaport, into a rooftop condo looking out directly onto Boston Harbor. It is, without apologies, our doomed attempt to act and become younger, and so far it is working wonderfully.” He says he exchanged 1,000 miles a month of commuter driving for 10,000-plus steps a day, “walking to most of my city commitments. He says Amy walks three block every day to her own ceramics studio, where she works seven days a week. In September they opened up their own art gallery (Dirt & Light Arts) with a joint ceramics (Amy) and underwater photography (Joshua) show, which got nice crowds for its nine-day run. For Joshua, it was his 10th major photography show, all but this one were solo shows—in the last few years.

He says their three boys continue their independent and creative ways: Zack ’06 lives in Brooklyn (with his wife Arielle DiGiacomo) and is the senior editor for documentary and reality TV shows, most recently The Vanilla Ice Project; Isaac ’09, after a stint as an EMT, has pivoted and built his own business in Seattle (Mixed-Up Events, LLC) as a producer of electronic dance music (EDM) concerts; and Sam (“the one we lost to Brown ’12” ) works for Google as a software engineer, recently moving from a three-year stint in London for Google to working remotely from Pullman, Wash., “following his heart.”

Our class president, Bill Quigley, writes that he and his wife have been distracted. His family has had a place in Puerto Rico (Palmas del Mar) since 1985. Their oldest son has been living there and Hurricane Maria’s eye passed directly over them. Bill and Dee managed to speak with him by phone after the storm hit and also received texts from friends saying he’s ok while living with “no power, no cell service and not much food. Bill was concerned about what he felt was a poor response by the government to “fellow citizens in need.”

From New York City, Jonathan Raskin tells me that he has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Louis Armstrong Educational Fund. He says it was started by Louis Armstrong himself and funds many organizations that are committed to jazz education. “As one who loves jazz, it is a real treat to be involved with them,” says Jonathan. He says by chance he assisted Armstrong when he was ill in his last year of life as he worked as an orderly at Beth Israel Medical Center. “I will always remember how he smiled at me as if I mattered,” he says, “small world.”

Michael Fossel says his global biotech company (Telocyte) is moving ahead, now with full funding, to their FDA trials targeting Alzheimer’s disease. “We’re confident that we can do something quite remarkable,” he says. “We’ll see what happens.” In addition, his latest book, The Telomerase Revolution, is now out in paperback, in seven languages and 10 global editions. “It will never pay my mortgage, but it’s doing well and getting rave reviews,” he says. “Much more importantly, my gardens and my granddaughters are all doing well.”

Congratulations to John Huttlinger who was the 2017 recipient of the 14th annual Michael Urbach CPA Community Builders Award that recognizes exemplary achievements of a certified public accountant who serves in leadership positions on the Board of Directors of charitable organizations. He was honored for his knowledge, experience and service to non profits. John was a founder of the Adirondack Film Festival and the Rotary Club of Lake Placid, N.Y. called him “one of the finest CPA volunteers ever.”

David “Harp” Feldman writes that he is once again, after nearly 50 years, living with his parents. However, as he puts it, “At least it is they who have moved in with me (and with Rita, in our remote mountainside home in Vermont). I had to fly down and retrieve them from a rather poorly appointed hurricane shelter for Irma refugees from the Florida Keys. Fortunately, my dad (91) is a retired NYC fireman and my mom (87) a retired RN, so they were able to tough it out. Once the hurricane season is over and their mobile home has been made habitable again, I’ll bring them back and get them settled in.” Dave continues to write books on mindfulness, and on harmonica, and to create corporate and other group presentations featuring Harmonica-Based Mindfulness™.

As we saw this past hurricane season has impacted classmates. For some of us, it has been overwhelming. Rudolph Foy put out an alert. He tells me he experienced two Category 5 hurricanes around his home in St. Thomas and may need some help in the aftermath of Irma and Maria. You can reach him at rrfoy@midwest.net.

Kie Westby writes that on Sept. 9 on Martha’s Vineyard, “I had the coolest job in the world—walking my daughter down the aisle” and watching her join the man she loves. He called it “unbelievable” and said it “does not get any better.”

Peter Bernstein writes that in early September their daughter Rebecca ’08, who lives about two miles from he and his wife, married Justan Dakes, her high school sweetheart. “Wedding was at the fabulous Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, N.Y. It brought back memories of wine tasting road trips our freshman year,” he said. Several of Rebecca’s Wes friends joined in the celebration, and spotted in the crowd was Jay Rose and his wife Marilynne. In addition, their son Ben (U of Florida ’10) of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., announced his engagement to Natalie Kovacs of Lighthouse Point, Fla. Peter said he and Jay recently went golfing with Mark Helfat. “A great time was had by all and nobody got hurt,” he said. He and Karen also celebrated their 33rd anniversary.

Finally, a reminder that we have another exciting Reunion coming up: our 45th on May 24-27. Hope to see you there.

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

Charisse R. Lillie ’74

Charisse R. Lillie ’74, businesswoman, attorney, and lecturer, received the A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. [Hon. ’96] Lifetime Achievement Award during the 29th Annual Pennsylvania Bar Association Minority Attorney Conference in October. The award recognizes the accomplishments of a lawyer or judge who has demonstrated dedication to the legal profession and the minority community through civil, community, or legal service. Lillie is the CEO of CRL Consulting. Previously, she was affiliated with Comcast Corporation, where she served as a senior vice president of human resources, among other executive positions. Earlier in her career, she was a trial attorney with U.S. Department of Justice in the Civil Rights Division. A history major at Wesleyan, Lillie earned a master’s from Yale University and a doctorate from Temple University. Wesleyan named her a Distinguished Alumna in 1993.

John Huttlinger Jr. ’73

John Huttlinger Jr. ’73, CPA, was the 2017 recipient of the 14th annual Michael H. Urbach, CPA Community Builders Award by the New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. The award recognizes exemplary achievements of a certified public accountant who serves in leadership positions on charitable organizations’ boards of directors. Martha Spear of the Rotary Club of Lake Placid, who nominated Huttlinger, stated he “is the finest CPA-volunteer I have ever worked beside in my nearly 30 years of nonprofit employment and leadership.” Huttlinger serves as a board member for several community organizations including the Adirondack Film Society and the Rotary Club of Lake Placid. An economics major at Wesleyan, Huttlinger earned an MBA from Rutgers University.

CLASS OF 1973 | 2017 | ISSUE 2

From Williamsburg, Va., we have an update from one of my East College roommates from senior year, John Spike. John is still assistant director and chief curator for the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary, where, over the past five years, he’s curated four major loan exhibitions from the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, Casa Buonarroti, and other important Italian museums. The exhibitions have been devoted to original works by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, and this year, Botticelli. All four exhibitions, after originating under his curatorship at the Muscarelle, have gone on to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His wife, Michèle, teaches at the William & Mary Law School, where she has been promoted to visiting professor. He says last year his son Nicholas, now 34, and his wife, Marcela, gave John and Michele their first grandchild, a boy, Santiago Spike.

From Vermont, our intrepid, indefatigable, and ever-faithful correspondent David Feldman, AKA David Harp, just did three “speaking gigs” in three consecutive days in three somewhat widely separated places (after not having done too many lately)—Chicago, Springfield, Ill., and Burlington, Vt. He reports that the speaking component (two large events of about 70 minutes each with 300-plus attendees on harmonica-based mindfulness as it applies to people working in the mental health field, and one smaller event for CPAs) “felt fine.” He adds, “It’s a bit hubristic to say, but I felt pretty much at the top of my form, corporate speaker-wise. But the traveling felt awful. The airports and traffic in the cities bugged me more than usual—is road and air traffic getting busier and less enjoyable, or is it just me? Or both? Or perhaps it is just a function of living most of the time in rural Vermont.”

Sheryl Auerbach says Jerry Richter, her husband of 35 years, passed away almost five years ago. On December 13 of last year, she married Evan Feist, a widower, whom she met through JDate. Evan is a retired veterinarian, and they share a lot of interests, including golf (although she says she’s a mid 30s handicap and he’s single digit), bridge, and birthdays. Sheryl notes that her birthday is July 20, Jerry’s was July 23, and Evan’s is July 22.

From New York City, another one of my very colorful East College roommates from senior year, Edward “Eddie” Nathan, sends us a second note saying that “44 years feels about right to collect sufficient experience to sustain a brief note to my quondam classmates.” He has had two careers: first as an academic, then as a creative director in advertising, most of it in health and wellness. “It’s a living,” he says. He and his wife reside in Brooklyn, though his work is in Pennsylvania. “Two fine grown daughters, one of them in Finland.” He says his beautiful wife is also New York’s “most decorated dog groomer” (see her website, Soniaspetgrooming.com). For the record, he says he would like to note his “one enduring contribution to Wesleyan. No one will recall, except me, that I was the first to use the ‘Wes’ prefix in identifying our athletic teams for the Argus, e.g., Wescrew, Weslax.” He says he had the occasion a number of years ago to write a “Wescheck” in support of his daughter’s application to Wesleyan. “I claim credit as having inspired the name of this tariff, and fully expect to be telling this story, inflated with ever greater significance, as I continue to slide comfortably into senility,” he says. He sends “All the best to my Wesbros.”

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

CLASS OF 1973 | 2017 | ISSUE 1

Donald Zilkha writes that he and Virginia have three sons and says, “With any luck, my youngest will apply to Wesleyan.” Don has spent much of his career as an investor in restructuring, venture, and private equity, including Colt’s Manufacturing in Hartford. He’s had “the good fortune to have traveled extensively, often for business.” He has also lived abroad for several years and is “quite involved in food and wine.”

Daoud Haroon spent summer 2015 engaged in “continued musical and spiritual research” in Thailand with an interesting stay in Istanbul. He spent portions of the month of Ramadan in both countries. Last May and June, he and his wife spent a “chilly South African winter” in Johannesburg in Soweto and the outlying townships. He made many new friends among the growing dance and arts communities that surround both: Moving Into Dance Mophatong [midance.co.za] and Artist Proof Studio [artistproofstudio.co.za].

They also stayed for a month at a guest house located in Camps Bay, on the ocean side of Table Mountain, between Hout Bay and downtown Cape Town. He reports, “Contrary to popular belief in the States, apartheid is still alive and thriving in South Africa under ever new guises.” He had an opportunity to interview a broad scope of whites and blacks from many diverse racial, ethnic, and political backgrounds and, “they all agree that, like racism in America, apartheid will continue to flourish for a long time into the distant future.”

He continues to practice his instruments and is now trying to write a story a day. Anyone interested in his adventures can check him out on mancebomosaic.com.

After a long absence, Edward “Eddie” Nathan, one of my senior year roommates from East College, says he had little contact with Wesleyan, except to “chide it for having discontinued my alumni magazine. I used the conversation to inform the Wes rep of my singular contribution to Wesleyan history: the prefix “Wes,” which I had attached to our athletic teams as a reporter, and later sports editor, at The Argus, e.g., Wescrew, Weslax. Imagine my thrill, many years later, when the admission office invited me to mail in a ‘Wescheck’ in support of my older daughter’s application.” He concludes, “This is as close to immortality as I am likely to come.”

George “Bud” Brainard is a professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Since the 1980s, he has taught medical school and done research on the biological and behavioral effects of light on humans. He says, “My laboratory has worked with NASA on various light-related projects. In 2008, we began collaborating with Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center (JSC), and Harvard on developing and testing a solid-state lighting system to be used on the International Space Station (ISS).”

His lab was honored with the JSC Director’s Award for Innovation in 2015. As of early January, eight of the solid-state lights they helped develop were installed on ISS. “Ultimately, all of the lights in the U.S. portion of the space station will be replaced with the new solid-state lighting,” he says. They are doing a study on astronauts on the ISS to see if this new lighting system can improve sleep and daytime alertness.

Over the years, he sees classmate Fred Markham on a routine basis since he is also on the faculty at Jefferson. He periodically sees classmates Steve Kallaugher and enthusiastically supports Steve’s work on the Young Heroes Foundation. He periodically sees Mickey Rubinstein, and once in awhile Steve Grilli, Steve Berman ’72, Jim Shepherd ’72, and honorary classmate, Donny Shea.

Martin G. Bunin has joined Farrell Fritz’s Bankruptcy & Restructuring Practice Group as partner. The law firm says, “Marty’s experience includes the representation of committees in Chapter 11 cases, with an emphasis on unsecured creditors’ committees in cases filed by hospitals and other healthcare businesses, resort hotels, manufacturers, service businesses and owners of real estate. Additionally, Marty is a mediator in bankruptcy and bankruptcy-related disputes in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere.”

Sheryl Richter says that after her husband passed away more than four years ago, she met a “terrific guy” through online dating. His spouse had also passed away. She and Evan Feist, DVM, were married on Dec. 13. They share common interests, including golf and duplicate bridge, although, she adds, “I don’t think it’s fair to lump my golf into the same sentence as his (he’s a single-digit handicap golfer).”

Finally, there is sad news to report about Garrett J. Delehanty, known as an avid golfer, reader, and traveler, and for his sense of humor and the stories he would tell about his family. Garrett died last Nov. 13 at the age of 64 after being hospitalized for an illness. He had just celebrated 40 years of practicing commercial real estate law.

Until next time,

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

CLASS OF 1973 | 2016 | ISSUE 3

Our ever-faithful and prolific correspondent David Feldman, AKA David Harp, writes that he stays in touch with his Hewitt 9 next-door neighbor Paul Van Stavern, in Salvador, Brazil, and appreciates him more every year. He’s also in touch with Michael J. Robinson ’75, who lives in New Haven. He says he sees him whenever he drives down to the Kripalu Institute in Massachusetts or to the New York Open Center. Through Mike he stays in touch with Granny Hale and Rich Jasper, whom he calls “two great guys.” He adds, “As a few of my friends begin to shuffle off this mortal coil, as The Bard put it, I appreciate both those who remain and those who have shuffled all the more.”

David says he is still living in the Worcester range of the Green Mountains in Northern Vermont with Rita and has no more children at home. He says, “I have been working with a delightful carpenter to renovate an old cabin on my property (he reminds me, just a bit, of another carpenter from long, long, ago) and enjoying the physical experience of learning to do framing, trim, plumbing, etc.” And he is still writing. He finished two new books recently, one a book on mindfulness in nature with his beloved twin sister, Dr. Nina Smiley. He says some of you may remember her during our second semester of sophomore year. She was at Wesleyan from Vassar on the Twelve College Exchange, “back when women on campus were a rarity.” He is working on his most advanced harmonica book yet, a series of 220 graded exercises for the Hal Leonard Music Company. He is also doing some mindfulness mentoring over the phone and via Skype. He says he has a few interesting clients, including a venture capitalist and a high-end trial attorney. “Everyone needs mindfulness,” he says, “whether they know it or not.”

He also says he is working on his own mindfulness practice, and on helping others to use mindfulness (often via the harmonica, as a breath-focus tool) to deal with aging issues: COPD, dying and grieving, and loss of mental function. He says he would love to hear from classmates who are either in these fields, or working with these issues. He says after losing weight, and mostly maintaining that loss (down more than 50 pounds), he is playing around with marketing a diet method incorporating—you guessed it—mindfulness and harmonica: The Harmonica Diet™.

John Huttlinger writes that summer in the Adirondacks was beautiful, adding it was “a little too dry, but great for the tourism businesses.” He says his June production of the annual Lake Placid Film Forum featured a guest appearance by Jeremy Arnold ’91. Jeremy hosted a presentation of The Third Man and he participated in panel discussions and workshops. He signed many copies of his recent book, Turner Classic Movies: The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter. Jeremy’s family has had a camp on Lake Placid for several generations, but John just met him this year. “Small world!” he says.

Randall Brown '74 and Peter Gelblum '73 at the 4th of July parade in Boulder Creek, Calif.
Randall Brown ’74 and Peter Gelblum ’73 at the 4th of July parade in Boulder Creek, Calif.

For the first time in my memory, we are hearing from Michael Morales. He reports that he is an adjunct professor at Springfield College in creative writing. He is also an interviewer of Stanford University applicants. Michael was on Wesleyan’s Admission Committee in 1972 as a student advisor when he was a junior. He is also a scholarship judge for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin. They have distributed more than $1 million as the top Hispanic chamber in the U.S. Michael is also the author of a forthcoming book: The 1-Minute Expert: How to Be Recognized as an Expert in 1 Minute or Less and past-president of a Hispanic veterans foundation.

We also received word about artist Todd Stone and his participation in the first art exhibit at the National September 11 Memorial Museum, Rendering the Unthinkable. Todd has been documenting the ever-changing skyline of Lower Manhattan over 20 years and is maintaining a studio on the 67th floor of 4 World Trade Center chronicling the site. The website for the exhibit is rendering.911memorial.org.

Finally, I received a colorful photo and note from Peter Gelblum. The photo shows Peter and Randall Brown ’74 in their furry, raccoon hats carrying a banner for the San Lorenzo Valley Recycling Center and flashing their Wesleyan “W” signs at the end of this past year’s 4th of July parade in Boulder Creek, Calif. He says he and Randall did not know each other at Wesleyan, but they discovered each other both living in Boulder Creek.

That’s it for now. Look forward to hearing your stories.

PETER D’OENCH | Pgdo10@aol.com

CLASS OF 1973 | 2016 | ISSUE 2

We have news that more of you are becoming grandparents. Some are retiring. Others are looking into Medicare. And some are traveling extensively.

Phil Levien tells me that he and his wife, Darlene, became grandparents for the first time recently. Their son, Josh, and his wife, Simone, had a baby boy on April 8: Stokely Olivier Levien. “Like most grandparents, we’re pretty darn excited and make the drive to LA to see the three of them as often as we can.” says Phil. He says, “The kids also come up here to Santa Barbara to visit, so we’re very fortunate.”

Tom Tokarz says he was planning to retire July 1st after 31.5 years as a human resources director with the State of Connecticut. “It’s truly a bittersweet event, as it’s been rewarding but frustrating at the same time with the recent budget cuts and layoffs,” says Tom. He also says he and his wife, Kathy, have been caring for their son Dennis, “who is courageously battling ALS. It is a truly horrible disease.” He sends his best to all of you.

John Knapp says, “As I contemplate my upcoming eligibility for Medicare (a milestone I view with a mixture of surprise and horror), I realize that, nonetheless, the past few years have been particularly satisfying.” John says he still runs his legal/consulting firm, focusing on regulatory compliance for pharmaceutical, biotech, and other life science companies. His wife (Elisabeth Meyer Knapp ’76) continues to run her architecture firm, and has recently completed two four-year terms as an elected member of the Borough Council of Swarthmore, Pa., where they live. He says their daughter, Katherine, was married in October 2014, finished her pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) last year, and she and her husband are now expecting their first child—their first grandchild! John says their son-in-law just received his MD, as well as a PhD, in cell and molecular biology, from the University of Pennsylvania, and he will be starting his residency at CHOP in July. “To top it all off, our son, David Knapp ’09, just received his law degree from Rutgers University” he says, adding, “I am very grateful for these blessings and honestly believe that without Wesleyan, my life would have turned out very differently.”

Steve Kallaugher paints a truly vivid picture of what he has been up to. “As I write this,” he says, “I’m watching the sun set from the edge of the Lubombo Plateau on the border between Swaziland and Mozambique. Ten years ago, I started a little organization called Young Heroes to help AIDS orphans. Little by little, we grew to the point where we were (and are) supporting 1,000 kids with monthly stipends, healthcare and—when they get older—vocational and business training.”

Steve says that last fall, “Something unexpected happened: USAID finally noticed us and gave us a $2-million grant to expand our anti-AIDS programs, with a special focus on vulnerable girls and young women.” Since then, he says Young Heroes has developed individual care programs for more than 2,000 children; started 250 girls’s clubs in schools to teach life skills and sexual and reproductive health; and created 75 community-savings groups for women, where they teach financial literacy and help with micro-entrepreneurialism.

“When all the programs are up and running, we’ll be reaching just over 15,000 children and their female caretakers,” he says, adding, “Who knew?”

On May 14th, I had the pleasure of seeing my sister, Ellen Dodie Ruimerman, receive her bachelor of fine arts degree from Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, of the University of New Haven, in beautiful Old Lyme, Conn. After more than three decades in interior decorating, she went “back to school,” worked hard and got that degree. She exhibits some of her paintings at galleries around Connecticut. Our late mother, Ellen Puffin D’Oench ’73, would have been proud. And in other family news, my niece, Miye D’Oench, as she was graduating from Harvard University after a stellar career on the women’s hockey team, signed a contract to play for the New York (City) Riveters of the (professional) National Women’s Hockey League. Some of you may get to see her play. I know my late brother Russell Toby D’Oench III ’77, would have been proud as well.

PETER D’OENCH | Pgdo10@aol.com

CLASS OF 1973 | 2016 | ISSUE 1

John Huttlinger tells me he is doing well in Lake Placid, N.Y. He also says his CPA practice is doing well, adding that he purchased another firm a couple of years ago, which doubled the size of his practice. John says, “The only problem is that I’m working more than I would like to at this stage. I occasionally think about retirement now that my son John has graduated from Ithaca College and is gainfully employed as a computer programmer.” John says he still finds time to do some ski racing two or three days a week. He says the New England Masters ski races are a lot of fun and he occasionally goes over to Vermont for their events. John is also still actively involved with the Adirondack Film Society, which produces film events such as the Lake Placid Film Forum, which has been held annually for 15 years now. He notes that June 8–12, 2016 are the dates of this year’s event! John runs Accounting Associates of Lake Placid.

Dr. Michael Fossel tells me, “I’ve utterly failed to retire.” He says his latest book, The Telomerase Revolution, just came out to “glowing reviews. The Wall Street Journal called it one of the best science books of the year and the London Times had a full-page laudatory review.” He says the book is already scheduled to come out in six languages (not counting separate UK, NZ, and Australian editions) and more are in negotiation.

“More important,” Michael writes, “I founded Telocyte, a new biotech company, to cure (not merely slow or treat symptoms of) Alzheimer’s disease.” He says his company is currently in active discussion with more than two dozen venture capital groups, solely as a result of his presentation at a biotechnology conference in San Francisco last month. Michael says, “Both theoretical considerations and animal data make us reasonably confident that we can both prevent and largely reverse the cognitive decline seen in Alzheimer’s patients. We are currently planning FDA-sanctioned human trials. It’s exciting times for us.”

We have some sad news to report. David Swanson died Oct. 12th of last year. Alain Munkittrick writes that this sentence from his obituary resonated for him (as he was sure it would for friends from Wesleyan): “A calm and steady force, Dave was known for his humor and quiet wit, thoughtful insights, gifted writing and gentle and kind nature.”

Alain reports that after Wesleyan, Dave joined AmeriCorps VISTA, earned a master’s degree in regional and urban planning, and subsequently enjoyed an accomplished career with the City of Salinas, Calif., “where he effected progress on many fronts, but especially housing and infrastructure improvements.” Alain says, “His obituary noted that ‘he dedicated his professional career to improving living conditions for those less fortunate.’ I am thankful that over the past few years I was able to reconnect with Dave, his wife Mary Orrison, and learn about his many post-retirement pleasures (including becoming a grandfather) and the progress of his two sons, Tyler and Will. He will be missed.” I can tell you that Dave was a kind and reliable soul, hardly ever missing a practice and a rugby game while playing faithfully in the second row of many a scrum during games at and away from Wesleyan.

Updating my note about my good friends Sharon and Gary Jacobson. They have moved from New Jersey to Reno and Gary says they would be happy to hear from any classmates who are visiting the Lake Tahoe area.

Finally, Bill Vernon tells me he was watching TV in Jaco, Costa Rica and ended up seeing me on the news through WFOR-TV CBS, my station. Bill says, “Cannot escape the alma mater.”

I look forward to hearing more of your stories.

PETER D’OENCH | Pgdo10@aol.com

CLASS OF 1973 | 2015 | ISSUE 3

Newsmaker: Daoud Haroon ’73

Daoud Haroon ’73 was named a 2014 United States Artists (USA) Fellows in music. United States Artists is one of the largest grantmaking organizations in the country providing direct support to artists, celebrating originality and diversity in American artistic practices. A trombonist and percussionist in the 1940s and 1950s with many Boston-based musicians, he moved to New York City in 1960 and was a member of the Makanda Ken McIntyre band. He recorded and performed with them during the “NYC Loft Period” of the 1960s and ’70s. Enrolling at Wesleyan, he studied ethnomusicology, particularly the music of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as the development of music in the African Diaspora. Now retired from teaching, he remains interested in the intersections of music, social justice and religion. Also a writer, he has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, and Africa, and he continues to perform and participate in various ensembles. He has a BA in Music from Wesleyan and an MA in History from Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas. 

We have news of retirements and special journeys and ongoing work as we move on in our lives.

Gary Jacobson writes that he and Sharon have left New Jersey and have relocated to retire and are very much enjoying the lifestyle. He says his most recent news is the birth to son Lee ’05 and wife Michelle of their grandson, Wesley Martin. “Mike McKenna is already recruiting him for rugby duty!” says Gary. He says he keeps track of what my family and I are doing through Facebook.

Dr. Jim Powers writes from Nashville that he participated as a delegate with the Gerontological Society of America in a transculturual presentation on geriatric care at Shanghai University in June.

From Middletown, Bill Corvo, of William Corvo Consultants, says he is currently working on developing the world’s largest fuel cell project here in Connecticut. He says O&G Industries, Inc. is the senior partner and they will be using Fuel Cell energy technology from fuel cells in Danbury, Conn., manufactured in Torrington.

Steve Young sends his regards from New Hampshire, where he is enjoying quasi-retirement. He says he is teaching a seminar this fall at Wesleyan, jointly listed in history and government, on “Modern China and the World since 1945.” He says, “It is fun to engage with current Wes students in an area where I spent considerable time during my foreign service career.”

Daoud Haroon has recently returned from a three-month visit to Thailand, during which time he said he had some special dentistry to ensure his trombone embouchure will provide plenty of support in the coming months, which will include further research and travel in the area of ethnomusicology. He says he kept an ongoing photo-journal of his three months in Thailand on Facebook, which can be accessed via facebook.com/hajj.haroon. And he says there is an ongoing compilation of his activities on: mancebomosaic.com.

He recently celebrated his 81st birthday, and as a recipient of the UnitedStatesArtists-2014fellows.org, award, he says “It has enabled me to undergo a continued spiritual and cultural rebirth. I do hope that my current activities will act as an inspiration to all of my friends, family and classmates.”

From Wisconsin, Tom Pfeiffer writes, “Life is fairly good with me. My youngest is a senior in college and the two older kids are out in the real world. I am trying to take more time to enjoy life while still working at a bit slower pace.” He says he visited Argentina early this past summer to spend some time with his daughter, who was on a junior year abroad program in Buenos Aires. He said this adventure included a several day side trip to Iguazu Falls on the Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay border. “That was a bucket list type of experience!” he says. Tom says he has been to his family home at the Jersey shore three times this year to perform needed maintenance and to “enjoy life along the Atlantic.” On the last trip there in September, he took friends on a whale watching tour and got to see up close a pair of humpback whales feeding and then breaching 10 miles off of Cape May. He called that “another bucket list item.” He also experienced South Carolina during a trip in the spring, especially enjoying Charleston. He said he hoped that charming city would be able to recover from this past fall’s devastating floods.

My thanks for your response to our e-mail outreach. As always, I look forward to hearing your news.

PETER D’OENCH | Pgdo10@aol.com