Tag: 1975

Class of 1975 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Carolina A. Montano ’21, Homestead, FL

Apologies to Steve McCarthy! Somehow the cybersphere routed into oblivion the emails he had sent me last fall. A bit belatedly, here is Steve’s news: “Aside from my usual investment and foundation work, I have been active with three ongoing creative endeavors: This is my 14th year as a mentor and judge for the NYU/Stern $300K business plan competition. During every month of the school year a team of 25 to 30 coaches, in conjunction with faculty, conduct workshops on developing and executing formalized pitches across three ‘silos’—traditional, technology, and social impact. It’s very interesting and rewarding. During my past 17-plus years as president of a small ’virtual’ nonprofit theater company (shakingthetree.org), my colleagues and I have written 14 one-act plays about family dynamics in business, wealth management, and philanthropy. We work with artistic directors and actors from LookingGlass Theater in Chicago and Alley Theater in Houston to deliver the pieces live. Over the past six years I have been a partner and executive producer on several iconic (90-minute) corporate and individual biopics/documentaries—Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf, Crazy About Tiffany’s, Harry Benson: Shoot First (all available on download). We at Quixotic Endeavors (QE) have several other projects in various stages of completion for The Carlyle Hotel and Norman Rockwell.”

I received a call from my almost-neighbor, Dennis Chin, who lives in Sonoma County. It was great to catch up with him and hear about his semi-retirement. He’s continuing to work and teach in orthopedic surgery part-time, while keeping up with the nine kids (almost all on their own now). We’re hoping to get together this spring.

Janet Bradlow and her husband, Joseph Schmitt, have moved. Joseph is retired, and Janet is semi-retired (emeritus agent with Prudential) and able to work anywhere with a phone, computer, and fax. So why not work from the beautiful beaches near Honeymoon Island State Park? Thus, they bought and renovated a condo in the Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. They discovered the downside of their view during Hurricane Irma, when water came through their balcony doors! The move put them close to Janet’s parents, now over 90. The whole family recently went on a cruise to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary. Janet couldn’t wait for the renovation project and move to be over but says, “I will miss NYC. I never lived anywhere else except when I was at Wesleyan.”

Janet let me know that Nancy Carol (Smith) Blemly passed away in November 2015, after a difficult battle with cancer that prevented her from attending our 35th and 40th Reunions. Nancy and Janet were friends from freshman year on. Nancy’s third husband, Mike Blemly, and her son, Ben Hamilton, from her second marriage, survive her. Janet fondly recalled attending Nancy’s first wedding, and Nancy attended Janet’s in 1999.

Arthur Gaither said, “Retired life is becoming more enjoyable. I spend time leading worship services at a small church and as backup babysitter for my granddaughter, Anaya, 4, who is my best buddy. I also handle the domestic stuff so Alfreda ’74 can continue to work for the State of Connecticut. We celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary on Nov. 25. Kinda scary. Shoutout to Andy Barnes in Arizona!“

I also heard from Jeff Cellars, who retired from the Foreign Service after spending 28 years as a diplomat in Hungary, Bahrain, Washington, Munich, Cyprus, Berlin, Belgrade, Bern, and NYC. Jeff said he and Bethanne, his wife of 38 years, were moving to Vermont. Not quite sure how he will keep busy in this new stage of life, but he has a children’s book in draft and is cooking up some other ideas

An evening with Wes alumni in San Francisco called “The Power of an Idea” brought out a few familiar faces. I didn’t see any classmates, but ran into Harold Sogard ’74, who is now retired and caught me up on the self-proclaimed “Born to Lose” suitemates who lived near us in Lawn Avenue dorms freshman year. Also got a chance to talk to Wendy Wheaton ’78 and Jon Nimer ’80.

I want to end with a shout-out to Brad Kosiba and Ed Van Voorhees (who just became a grandfather again!) for being the in loco parentis stops for our son and daughter as they made a January road trip from Massachusetts to Memphis, where Ethan was starting a six-month “co-op” work experience as part of his Northeastern University Mechanical Engineering program. I’m told the hospitality in Chapel Hill and Nashville was superb, and it was fun to share our kids with my longstanding, but rarely seen, friends.

As soon as you put this magazine down, please email and send me your news for the next issue. My deadline is a few weeks after the class notes arrive at your door.

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

Ellen Remmer’s son got married in Maine, and her husband retired. She has trouble contemplating retirement, but foresees winter travels to escape New England. Ellen recently saw Nena Bloomquist.

J.D. Moore had one amazing WesWeek. Thursday: reminisced and caught up with Tim Donahue ’74 during a mediation break. By next June, Tim will have celebrated his three children’s weddings within one calendar year! Saturday: met Dave Rosenthal and his wife Suzie (visiting from Buffalo) and sister Diane Thomas ’78, for coffee. Saturday: dinner with local friends Roberto Rosario ’77 and family.

Debbie Kosich was home in Houston during Hurricane Harvey. Fortunately her part of town (and her condo) didn’t flood. She thanks Wes friends who contacted her during and after the storm, and hopes that Florida classmates are okay.

Cathy Gorlin’s son, Ross, is engaged. Cathy reconnected with Tory (Rhoden) Cohen, a Smith exchange student who shared their Lawn Ave. house and is now a Boston dentist with two children.

Jeff Morgan divides his time between Berkeley and Tel Aviv. He and wife Jodie run Covenant Winery (founded in 2003) and started Covenant Israel Winemaking last year. Their daughters also work in wine—Skye in New York, and Zoe in Tel Aviv. Jeff and Jodie published their 10th cookbook last year—The Covenant Kitchen, Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table.

Diane Cornell ran out of excuses for not sending news after retiring from the FCC Chairman’s office at the end of 2016. On her “way out the door,” the Federal Communications Bar Association honored her with the Excellence in Government Service award.

In 1996, after four years in New Zealand, Nancy Luberoff settled in Chapel Hill. “My husband, Bruce Boehm, and I are lucky that our two kids live here. Our married daughter, Elana, lives in Cambridge.” Nancy has swum daily since Wesleyan, and also hikes and kayaks. “I haven’t written books or movie scripts, won huge awards or big races, but I live a good, healthy, happy life, giving and getting much love from family and friends.”

This September, after a week teaching in the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law, June Jeffries visited Exeter, N.H., where she dined with Robert “Bobby” Thompson ’76, and his wife, Nadine. June highly recommends exploring the Black Heritage Trail in Portsmouth, N.H., which Bobby assisted in developing.

Dennis Chin contributed for the first time: “After graduating early, I went to D.C. to work on the Council on Wage and Price Stability with Harold Levy. I subsequently became an orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. Nine children and 31 years later, I retired from Kaiser and began part-time work at a V.A. hospital. I have since been commissioned a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserves. My job, the kids, and two granddaughters keep me busy.”

Ed Van Voorhees says too many people are moving to Nashville. He and his wife, Linda, work part-time, and he staffs the nonprofit Bootstraps Foundation (bootstraps.org), scholarship program. Ed and Linda have granddaughters in Denver and L.A., plus three more due this year in L.A., D.C., and Nashville.

Double delightful news: Ellen Kabcenell Wayne and Charley Wayne ’73 are first-time grandparents of identical twins, Vivian and Hazel, born September 26, 2017.  The parents are Joseph ’08 and Hannah Wayne. Ellen says, “Charley is completely starry-eyed, and, after raising three sons, we deserve the girls!”

Paul Bennett enjoys more time, less stress, and a varied set of volunteer activities since retiring. His and Laura’s two sons, ages 28 and 26, are single in Brooklyn and Detroit, a distance that he hopes won’t be permanent.

Steve Hoffman is chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, responsible for implementing the state’s legalization of recreational marijuana use. “We will foster a new industry that will create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. By late 2018, we will be responsible for regulating medical marijuana, currently under the Department of Public Health.” Steve’s looking for folks to join his team and would welcome Wes alumni.

Roger Weisberg and Karen Freedman are thrilled to have their entire clan back in NYC. Son Daniel, a doctor, is returning in time to take care of his parents if they need it. Daughter Liza, a lawyer, will work for the ACLU. Eldest daughter, Allie ’05 has two kids and leads Recess, her decade-old nonprofit arts organization. Roger is producing his 33rd PBS documentary, about early childhood adversity and resilience. Karen runs Lawyers for Children, which she founded almost four decades ago.

All is well in San Francisco. Our daughter, Julia, 23, graduated from Stanford and is continuing for her master’s there. Our son, Ethan, 21, is a third-year mechanical engineering student at Northeastern. No retirement for me yet!

For a collection of class updates that didn’t make it in this issue or the last one, click here.

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

I love leftovers, and what follows are some “leftover” notes from late 2016 and early 2017 that did not make in to our in-print columns. I apologize to those of you who took the time to write. Please continue to do so early and often—it will give you a better shot at being in the first serving of notes, rather than the dessert course or later. Note that some of the ages and references to time may be off after all this time, and a few children may have changed jobs or cities, but the big concepts should still be right.

Ed Van Voorhees is gratified to work part-time with The Bootstraps Foundation that gives scholarships to young people who have “pulled themselves up by the…” Despite familial substance or physical abuse, mentally ill parents, or life-threatening disease or injury, each excels in school and expresses optimism. Ed also runs a little franchise. He and his wife, Linda, are reducing work commitments, playing tennis, and traveling a bit (to visit grandchildren, among other destinations). The kids are married and scattered: Ellen in charge of women’s ministries at a Neighborhood Christian Fellowship in LA, Matt in finance in Denver, Jessica is an internist in Nashville, and Ben is running a start-up in D.C.

Ben, the son of Pam Swing and Marty Plotkin ’76, would either graduate last spring or will this spring (they knew, I don’t). Pam is a resident scholar at the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center. This is a wonderful center—very supportive and stimulating—with about 85 scholars engaged in a broad spectrum of research, art and activism. Pam wrote, “My current project is research on my militant suffragist grandmother, Betty Gram Swing, who worked closely with suffrage leader Alice Paul (one of five women considered for placement on the back of the 10-dollar bill.) My grandmother was jailed for picketing the White House and went on an eight-day hunger strike—all in all, she was jailed five times. She also burned President Wilson’s words and various other escapades. With the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment coming in 2020, I am writing a book, probably aimed at young adults, which will bring the suffrage movement to life through following my grandmother’s story.”

Pat McQuillan connected with Pam and Marty at Reunion last year. He got a kick out of discovering that her son and daughter both went to Sudbury Valley School, a very student-centered institution in Framingham, Mass., that Pat always presents to a curriculum theories class he teaches at Boston College. Pam came as a parent, to Pat’s class to recount how well her two children had done at the school and that her son, in fact, received a PhD in physics from U of Washington, even though he never took a math class at SVS. Pat may organize an entire day focused on student-centered learning and would invite Pam back to speak.

David Drake claims to have the best job in the world. After Wesleyan, he earned graduate degrees from UCLA and Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 1990, he started White Oak School in Westfield, Mass. White Oak is a state-approved nonprofit school serving great kids with dyslexia and related language-based learning disabilities. “It’s incredibly rewarding work,” Dave says, “and we’ve helped many hundreds of kids to read, spell, write, and generally come to believe in their potential to succeed and thrive.”

Larry Greenberg, reported from Martha’s Vineyard that he and his therapist wife, Debbie, were once again gearing up for the busy summer season in their physical therapy clinic there. Their oldest son, Dan who works as a VP at BlackRock in Manhattan, was getting married in Allentown, N.J., in September, while his daughter, Sarah, a corporate event manager in Waltham, Mass., got married in September 2014. His youngest son, Stephen, works as an associate producer for NBC Sports in hockey and football and was scheduled to cover volleyball at the Brazil Olympic Games with his girlfriend, who is also an associate producer for NBC Sports. They hope for a third September wedding in the coming years and anticipate cutting back their work schedule as retirement years approach.

Nancy (Robinson) Neff wrote, “My son, Sam, 24, works for SunPower in Richmond, Calif., as a mechanical engineer, mentors a high school robotics team, and loves blues dancing. My son, Jeremy, 22, graduated from George Washington University where he loves the ultimate frisbee team. He has directed some great student theater and will be interning with a theater company. My husband Robert is an electrical engineer with Keysight Technologies and loves bicycling. I am a regional volunteer coordinator with California Clean Money Campaign.” They were working to clean up money in politics, trying to pass the California DISCLOSE Act, which would require the strictest disclosure on political ads in the country.

David Lipton let us know he was excited that his third child, Gabriel ’16, was from Wesleyan with a government degree, joining Dave’s oldest, Anna ’08. Meanwhile, Dave had signed on for another five-year term as number two at the International Monetary Fund. When he started in 2011, he followed John Lipsky ’68, so Wesleyan has been having a long run at the IMF!

Russ Munson talked about a not-so-recent-anymore great day he spent in NYC at Karen Freedman and Roger Weisberg‘s place, catching up after way too many years with Tom Fox (who was traveling throughout the Northeast visiting engineering schools with his high school junior son). Tom is a German professor at U of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Russ’s son and daughter joined the NYC party with their respective spouses.  Russ is married to Deb Quinn-Munson ’82, who is hard at work with pastel, watercolor, and oil painting. Russ spends his workdays in Wallingford, Conn., as chief medical officer for HealthyCT, one of the few remaining co-op health plans created by the ACA.

Tom Fox also saw Bob McNamara on that same New York trip. Bob added a few items to the previously reported details about Tom. Not only is Tom on the U of A faculty, but he is former chairman of the modern language department, and his daughter is attending school there. Last fall, Bob and his wife, Irene, had a nice brunch with Dave Quinn, who continues to run a marketing and communications business in New London. Bob said, “Dave’s relationships in the Connecticut marketplace built up over many years make him the go-to guy for all kinds of companies in the area. He seems to be adapting well to the digital age.” As for his own news, Bob writes, “Although I missed Reunion last year with an ailing father, I managed to get to a Wesleyan football game for a post-Reunion reunion with former roommate Bruce Weinraub. Irene and I are doing well and expecting our first grandchild in July. I am now managing partner at Mooreland Partners, a boutique investment bank advising technology companies on mergers and acquisitions.” Bob and I ran into each other at Wesleyan’s parent/child weekend in 2012. My eldest chose Stanford, and Bob’s third son wound up going to Williams, so Bob has split loyalties in the Little Three, and I just extended the grad school relationship I started with Stanford.

Dave Rosenthal spent a grueling, exciting year helping to lead The Baltimore Sun’s coverage of the death of Freddie Gray and the Baltimore riots, and then took a buyout from the company. “It was tough to leave my job as investigations editor, especially after being involved in coverage that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and had exposed police brutality in the city. But I felt the time was right.” He moved to a new job in a new place, leading a group of journalists at public radio stations in Buffalo, Cleveland, Rochester, and other cities in reporting on the Great Lakes. The regional initiative is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, so when you’re listening to NPR and hear a report on the lakes, think of Dave. He’ll be working from WBFO in Buffalo, so he and Suzy relocated and hoped to meet some fellow Wes alumni up north.

Randy Steer reinvented himself a couple of years ago as a cybersecurity expert after spending most of his career in policy and budgets for energy and climate-change R&D. (A Monty Python “And now for something completely different” career shift.) He wrote that he was on an assignment to the Under Secretary of Energy to coordinate cyber initiatives across DOE science and energy offices—with a side-benefit of exposure to R&D policy again. Not sure whether he is still there, with all the changes in D.C.

Brad Kosiba keeps himself busy with “a messy blend of beekeeping, veggie gardening, church maintenance, Boy Scout leader training, and some vaccine and biotech manufacturing consulting that is somehow keeping me off the streets. Dorothy recently started part-time at the local office of The Livestock Conservancy (heirloom farm animals) and their sons continue to labor in math, engineering, and theater tech. We have a cool ‘grand-dog’ sharing arrangement with our middle son who travels most weeks, lets us have a dog and leave it, too!”

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

Class of 1975 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Allison Galante ’20, Flushing, NY

Mike Minard, who traveled with blues giant Jonny Shines, turned 64 last year, and sent videos. One is a cover of the Beatles’ classic, featuring Mike, his wife, and granddaughter: youtube.com/watch?v=gyEyT6V3kBo. Catch the original musical, Amazing Grace, which Mike wrote with prisoners in New York’s maximum-security prison for women as a Rehabilitation Through the Arts volunteer facilitating music and theater: youtube.com/watch?v=jlxX0Fc2Y5w.

Dave Bickford is acting and vocal coaching in LA. He and wife Phenprapha went to Thailand for his stepson’s college graduation, to discover that only students and faculty attend, while families just take photos afterward! Phenprapha became a U.S citizen in March (Dave’s government major helped with test prep). A huge fan of all-female banked track roller derby, Dave was invited to coach the LA Derby Dolls’ All-Star team in a game.

Amy Bloom is now Wesleyan’s Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing. Her daughter reports from Brooklyn on Leslie Brett ’76, and Amy has lunch sometimes with Jose Goico ’74. Busy with a novel, working on a children’s book, happily married, and living in Stony Creek, a tiny village on Long Island Sound, Amy has three “beautiful and brilliant” grandchildren.

Get out those Wesleyan onesies! Three more classmates are grandparents: June Jeffries (Clara Marie Jeffries, February 2016), Cathy Gorlin (Solomon Bennett Epshteyn, March 2016), and Risa Korn (Arya Rose, September 2016). June saw Andy Barnes last summer presenting at a symposium in D.C. Cathy’s new grandson lures her frequently to NYC from Minnesota. She saw Christine McCoy McNeil and Kenneth Levinson on her last visit, and David Racher ’74 and his wife, Susan, in Miami.

Travel and transitions: Ellen Remmer and her husband took a sabbatical travelling in Southeast Asia for three months, including being in Myanmar during the power handover. She saw Shonni Silverberg ’76 and John Shapiro ’74 recently in Boston. Ellen’s eldest child is engaged. Michael Hamburger, on leave from Indiana University, served as a Jefferson Science Fellow with the U.S. State Department. Pat and Jeff McChristian traveled extensively with visits to Italy, Iceland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Lake Powell, Steamboat Springs, and to Greenville, S.C., to visit their now-married daughter. This summer was hiking/rafting in the Canadian Rockies with kids and their main squeezes. Back home, Jeff enjoys having Pat as CFO/COO of his law practice and running into Judge J.D. Moore in court or around West Hartford.

David Lipton’s third child, Gabriel ’16, graduated from Wesleyan as a government major. His oldest, Anna ’08, is an alumna. He signed on for another five-year term as number two at the International Monetary Fund, following fellow alum John Lipsky ’68.

Vinnie Broderick is well in New Hampshire and at Camp Pasquaney, where he is director. “Last fall, the lightweight crew from 1975 invited me to join their 40th anniversary boat rowing in the Head of the Charles. It was really good to catch up with them. I also visited with former roommate Dave Rosenthal during a quick visit to Baltimore.”

David Drake has the best job in the world: “I earned graduate degrees from UCLA and Harvard Graduate School of Education, and in 1990 started White Oak School in Westfield, Mass., a state-approved nonprofit school serving kids with dyslexia and related language-based learning disabilities. It’s incredibly rewarding work, and we’ve helped many hundreds of kids to read, spell, write, and believe in their potential to succeed and thrive.”

Many thanks to Cliff Chanin for this beautiful reminiscence of Seth Gelblum, who died last August. “Seth and I met freshman year and maintained a very close friendship that deepened over 45 years. We played poker at Eclectic, broadcast Cardinal b-ball games together, roomed at Clark Hall, and then, after graduation, were roommates in Manhattan, as we both started our post-Wes lives. Seth grew up in Philadelphia and Chapel Hill, but considered himself a New Yorker. He became the city’s preeminent theater lawyer and had a guiding hand in almost every significant production, on Broadway and off, for decades. He was beloved and respected by his colleagues. Directors George Wolfe and Des McAnuff spoke at his memorial about Seth’s commitment to their work and how a professional relationship had, for each of them, turned to a deep friendship. Afterwards, the lights of the Broadhurst, Gershwin, and New Amsterdam theaters were dimmed in Seth’s honor. In 2016, Seth became the only lawyer ever to earn the Tony Honor for Excellence in Theater. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from New Dramatists, a leading developer of new playwrights, whose board he chaired. Seth was a founding board member of Lawyers for Children, started by Karen Freedman, which is a national model for representation of children in family court. Seth and his wife, Orren Alperstein, founded the Canavan Foundation, which developed genetic screening and counseling programs for the rare neurological disorder that killed their daughter, Morgan, in 1997. Orren, their children Madeleine and Aidan, and brothers Peter ’73 and Rob ’72 survive Seth. I can’t end without highlighting Seth’s remarkable spirit, particularly as his cancer gained the upper hand after years of determined resistance and many, lengthy treatments. His generosity and humanity simply expanded. It was a profound thing to behold, and underscores what a loss his family and friends have suffered.” Along with Cliff and Karen, Steve Greenhouse spoke at Seth’s memorial.

This fall I talked to and almost managed to see Debbie Kosich near Boston where she and I were visiting our mothers. Sadly, my mom died in December at the age of 95.

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive. Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

Be careful what you wish for . . .” the saying goes. You responded to my e-mail with 4,270 words for my 1,000-word column! So bear with me as I abridge some and delay other items for next issue.

I’m sorry to start with news that in March a sudden heart attack took our classmate, Alan Kraus. Alan was an outstanding business trial lawyer, most recently partner at Latham & Watkins in New Jersey. Charlie Stolper recalls, “I knew for years that Al and his family had a history of heart problems. Mary Anne, the high school sweetheart he married, and two sons, survive him. Al was a groomsman at my wedding and a close friend over the years. He was captain of the Wesleyan golf team and we enjoyed playing golf (despite him giving me 20 strokes per round). He is the first of my generation of close friends to die. I will miss him.” (Charlie recently moved to Austin, Texas, much to his surprise. Their son will be a professor of Computer Science at Southwestern University, so they said they left Boston to follow him.)

More life transitions: After 38 years, Tom Wheeler left software systems engineering to pursue writing and art. This spring he is driving cross-country. Tom’s wife, Sondra ’79, teaching at Wesley Theological Seminary, will take a 2016 sabbatical to finish writing three books. Tom plans to travel, including time living in Europe. Their oldest daughter and her husband are completing medical fellowships at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and raising a 3-year-old son. Their second daughter, her husband, and a year-old son are moving to western Massachusetts. Tom’s son edits commercial and political polls in DC.

Paul Bennett wrote during his first week of retirement from Chevron after 36 years that, “life is the same and good.” Married 30 years, he has two 20-something sons. Elsewhere in the oil patch, Bob Pristas, of Hillsborough, N.J., worked 27 years with ExxonMobil as a chemist specializing in industrial hygiene, Q.A., and business travel (41 countries). Bob, who golfs, gardens and travels now, has sons Tim, 33, and Jon, 31, and grandchildren, ages 3 and 5. Thanks to social media, Bob’s reconnected with ’75ers Rich Grayson (Hartford area podiatrist) and Mike Lehman (professor at University of Mississippi Medical Center), and Frank Bresnick. He’s also in touch with Pete Stack ’77 (Dallas physician) and Bruce Kaplan ’77 (music director at a theater in Chattanooga).

Arthur Gaither married Alfreda George ’74, and they have three adult children and three grandchildren. Arthur retired last year after 40 years working with retirement plans. “I spend days housekeeping, preparing meals, and babysitting, and I teach classes at church. For my next part-time career, I want to pastor a small Protestant church near Middletown.”

In 2007, Inara de Leon retired early from the NBC/WNBC news division after nearly 30 years. A great work “perk” was Inara’s meeting Todd Norbitz, her husband of 29 years, in the documentary unit at NBC right after she started. Inara now produces and writes TV stories for Consumer Reports’ video service that supplies content to local stations throughout the country. She also does corporate media training, speech writing, and related coaching. Inara and Todd have two grown children, both working in newsrooms: daughter Chiara at NY1 (marrying in June), and son Ben at WNBC. Inara writes, “I feel very close to Wesleyan still. My mother, Camilla, taught in the music department for many years until her death in the late ’90s.” She sees Marjie Melnick ’72 frequently, Stephen Policoff ’70, Joel Bernstein ’70 and Janet Biehl ’74 (who recently published a biography of social ecologist and anarchist philosopher Murray Bookchin). She is also in touch with Peter Stern ’72, Nat White ’72, Morgan Muir ’73, Michael Wolfe ’68, Scott Karsten ’74, and Peter Woodin ’71. She observes, “All those great guys seem to be taking the aging process in stride, or downright ignoring it. They are mostly still in the thick of their careers, though there is some talk of slowing down.” She also sees several early WesWomen—Claudia Catania ’74 (known for her Playing on Air radio series), June Anderson ’74, Naaz Hosseini ’74, Vicky Bijur, Pat Mulcahy ’74, Ellen Driscoll ’74, and Claire Gruppo, and Nina Jaffe ’76.

Jan Schwaner happily retired in 2013 after 30 years in pediatrics, stays busy visiting family (son, wife, and perfect 2-year-old granddaughter in Philadelphia; son and husband in NYC; father in DC), playing cello, attending chamber music camp, and giving tours at the Museum of Fine Arts to disabled visitors. Tim owns Westwood Duplicate Bridge Club and directs tournaments for the American Contract Bridge League. Jan sees Luann Semeraro Hanley every few months and Rachel Adler Hayes in nearby Massachusetts.

Wondering what happened to Jim Forster, whom we last saw in 1973? He transferred to Rutgers College of Engineering after sophomore year, but is back in touch. After working in NYC, and then years of Silicon Valley startups, he is semi-retired, but active with some projects in India and Kenya. Married twice, Jim has a 27-year-old son and enjoys traveling and sailing. He’d enjoy meeting anyone from the old days—find him on the net. Jim stays in touch with Knox Cummin. Knox writes he’s a new EMT for the volunteer fire department in Huntington, Vt. He recently started playing Scottish small pipes; his daughter Elizabeth is a sophomore at Sarah Lawrence.

Other quick newsbites: Pam Swing’s and Marty Plotkin ’76’s son, Ben, will not graduate in May 2016, but a year later than previously reported. June Jeffries has a new granddaughter, Cathy Gorlin has a new grandson, and Jeff McChristian has a new son-in-law. Dave Rosenthal is moving from Baltimore to Buffalo. I’m saving the much appreciated news on Vinnie Broderick, Pat McQuillan, Ellen Remmer, Mike Minard, David Bickford, Amy Bloom, David Drake, Michael Hamburger, Larry Greenberg, Nancy Robinson Neff, David Lipton, Russ Munson, and Bob McNamara for next time.

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com

860 Marin Drive. Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

Class of 1975 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Saarim Zaman ’16, Government

Dear Classmates: You are not making this job easy! In response to my plea for news in the last column and via e-mail, I received a grand total of six replies. I know that the class of 1975 can do better than that, so send me a word as soon as you get this magazine, flip to this column, and realize how slim my pickings are this month. All it takes is a moment at the computer or on your phone. You call all do this. Now, on to what I know . . .

The holiday letters came from a few of my usual suspects. Brian Steinbach can always be counted on to mix politics, sports, and family news from his home in D.C. He continues his work in employment law with a successful finale to a six-year odyssey of arguing a case all the way to the Virginia Supreme Court and prevailing. Otherwise, he occupies himself with home improvement, car repair, and growing and preserving garden produce. Brian’s wife, Mary Reyner, is a talented potter and gardener.

Joost Brouwer’s holiday letter was full of family news, with his three sons finishing studies, finding new jobs, relocating within the Netherlands or as far off as Australia, and generally doing what 20-somethings do. Joost did some traveling himself, taking a three-week trip to China with a family group that included his 83-year-old uncle, who had many friends and colleagues there. The passage of 2015 also brought the passing of Joost’s mother and his mother-in-law. Joost continues to devote himself to advocating for refugee families seeking to remain in the Netherlands and has helped many people in need.

Martha Faller Brown actually sent a real, paper holiday card (they are sadly becoming rare) with a resolution to get together this year, since we are both in the Bay Area. I can report in a subsequent column when we actually pull this reunion off!

Cathy Gorlin is almost a grandmother—her daughter in NYC expects a baby boy in March. Cathy’s son bought a house in Denver, so she’ll be doing some traveling. I saw some beautiful photos she took in Florida recently—good place to be in February when you live in Minnesota!

Jeff Cellars has had an eventful year. He’s wrapping up a three-year tour as a diplomat in Switzerland, where he was Chargé d’Affaires and then deputy chief of mission, dealing with such challenges as the Montreux Jazz Festival and the World Economic Forum. The plan is to return to Washington, D.C., after 16 years overseas and enjoy grandparenthood and the upcoming marriage of his and Bethanne’s second daughter.

Cheryl Vichness reports that her daughter, Gwendolyn, will graduate in May from the University of Delaware with a degree in elementary education and theater. Sounds like a good combination!

Some older news I gleaned: Rachel Adler Hayes is a premature empty nester, with their son having gone to boarding school in New Hampshire. Rachel and her husband split their time between a house in New York and their place outside Boston.

Dave Rosenthal got together with John Moore, Joe O’Rourke and Paul Margolin for “a weekend mini-reunion this fall, sharing memories of favorite professors, intramural basketball and pizza at Giovanni’s. It began on Cape Cod and ended in Hartford with a concert by Stevie Wonder, who provided key parts of the playlist for our years at Wesleyan.”

David Leisner writes: “Last week saw the release of my new CD on the Azica label with cellist Zuill Bailey, called Arpeggione. Featuring the Arpeggione Sonata by Franz Schubert, the premiere recording of my Twilight Streams, and other arrangements of Falla, Villa-Lobos, Gluck, Saint-Saëns and Paganini, this album is already no. 51 on the charts in its first week. Judging from the extraordinary response so far, it may climb further up the charts. Zuill and I are very proud of this release and hope that you will take the opportunity to buy the CD or download.”

As for me, both kids are thriving in college. Julia (21) is spending the first three months of 2016 at “Stanford In Washington” doing a full-time internship with a bipartisan think tank and taking classes at night. Ethan is deep into his first year of engineering studies at Northeastern, adjusting to city living and New England winter. With the nest empty and lots of miles saved up, I had the remarkable chance to return to India (where I was an AFS student in 1970) for the fourth time. The occasion was the wedding of my Indian “niece,” child of one of my three AFS sisters. Seven parties in six days, followed by a week of recuperating at a resort on the Arabian Sea near the southern tip of India… followed by massive jet lag. It was an amazing experience and a tremendous privilege to be part of the family inside the experience of an Indian wedding.

I look forward to hearing from more of you this spring and having more info to share the next time around.

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com

860 Marin Drive. Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

Here is the belated 40th Reunion report for the 53 or so who “we know made it to Middletown and the rest of you who we had hoped would come.” Few classes break 50 attendees for the 40th, so we did well. If we can do it again in five years, we’ll beat the record. I’ll try to convey some of the flavor of the weekend.

First, thanks again to fellow Reunion Committee members who all showed up: Karen Freedman, class agent Steve Levin, Roger Weisberg, Charlie Stolper, Mark Schonberger, Dave Rosenblum, J.D. Moore, and Gary Steinel. Roger and Karen kicked off Friday night with a showing of Roger’s new documentary, Dream On, a funny and moving film about what the American dream means to people, and how it contrasts with their lives. Look for it on PBS. Gary reprised his beer tasting before the class dinner with an array of delicious samples. Over some brew, I caught up with Rook Van Nest and Jeff Dunn, both of whom are thriving in Weston, Mass.

Two shout-outs to classmates who led phenomenal WesSeminars: Mark Nickerson discussed his work with veterans and families dealing with PTSD. The room was packed, and it prompted a lively discussion of psychological and public policy issues. Cliff Chanin also riveted us with his heartfelt presentation about the September 11 Memorial site at ground zero and his role in it. His insights into the museum’s origins and design, how artifacts were selected and displayed, and the process and complexities of working with stakeholders were very moving.

There was also a terrific panel on co-education at Wesleyan that featured faculty and students from 1968­–1975. It was connected with an academic study of the second era of coeducation at Wes. What was most fascinating was hearing the faculty perspective on the impact of “co-educating” faculty, administration, and the student body all at once. While we experienced coeducation as students, the culture shifts were at least as challenging within the faculty and administration. We definitely lived through a transformative era at Wesleyan and in society.

Some things don’t change, however: Saturday afternoon I spied George Cole from Boston and Mark Schonberger from New York in their spandex biking gear lounging on the Arts Center lawn after a ride through the Connecticut countryside. They looked like they bike together every weekend. Later, a bunch of us (Steve Miller, Brad Kosiba, Martha Meade ’76, Pam Swing, Charlie Stolper, Debbie Kosich, Risa Korn, Janet Brodie, me and others) found a spot in the Arts Center with a great echo and sang all the rounds we could remember from undergrad days. It’s amazing the old stuff that sticks in your brain and can be retrieved in the right circumstances. Passers-by wondered.

Pat McQuillan made a connection at Reunion with Pam Swing and her husband, Marty Plotkin ’76. Pam lives in Concord, Mass., and is an anthropologist. Pat wants her to come present in his education classes at Boston College.

It was great to see Jim Daley, Bill Devereaux, Dave Rosenthal, and Dave Harrison at dinner, as well as Steve McCarthy and Jeff McChristian. Cutty Wilbur was there, and I got a brief chance to check in with John Tabachnick, Ken Busman, Arthur Paterson, and Paul Gionfriddo. Cathy Gorlin came from Minnesota with her husband, Marshall Tanick.

Graduation day, unlike in 1975, was splendidly sunny—in fact the entire weekend was an advertisement for spring in New England. It was inspiring to watch Beverly Daniel Tatum receive her honorary degree on the terrace below Olin Library. The commencement speaker, Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, gave a moving and entertaining speech that combined trademark rap/hip-hop libretto from his Broadway show, Hamilton, with words of wisdom about his experience balancing a drive to seize the moment with patience to wait for the right time to act. It was a message that resonates at any age.

It was also a lovely morning to sit on the Usdan Campus Center balcony overlooking the ceremony, say goodbye to friends as they scattered, and catch up with a last conversation or two. I enjoyed talking with Dan Cantor and his wife, Laurel Masten Cantor ’76, who had come up from New Jersey.

Among those who hadn’t come to Middletown were Jeff Morgan and his wife, Jodie. We’d had our own personal reunion earlier, however, including Jodie and my husband, Bob. Jeff and Jodie gave us a tour of their Covenant Winery in Berkeley, which makes fabulous kosher reds, whites, and rosés. Jeff regaled us with the tale of his Wesleyan career (only a brief part of which he spent on campus), his years as a jazz musician in the U.S. and France, and his transition to wine writer and, finally, winemaker.

Reunion was full of moments that reminded me how formative the college experience is for each generation. My nephew was at Wes for his 5th Reunion, single, staying on campus, and ready to party until the wee hours—unlike most of us who headed for hotels or home. I noted that we are no longer the alumni pushing strollers or wrangling children around the campus. And it is amazing how young the 50th Reunion class looks now, compared to how ancient they seemed when we were graduating. However many years go by, there are several hundred people who shared that time and place at Wes in the early ’70s. We are moving along life’s path, dealing with the sometimes messy work of trying to live well and perhaps make some difference in a complicated world.

I know there are those of you whom I have not had space to mention in these notes, and details of the news you shared with me on campus that I did not write down and now can’t recall accurately enough to feel comfortable publishing it. So please help embellish this account by sending me reminders of your news, e-mailing your impressions, or chiming in if you weren’t at Reunion.

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com

860 Marin Drive. Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

Class of 1975,

With Reunion around the corner, I’m hoping many of you plan to spend May 22–24 at Wes. It’s such a great opportunity to reconnect in more than the twosomes and threesomes we’ve stayed in touch with across the years. Beyond seeing the folks you remain close to, it’s especially fun to spend time with people you never got to know as undergrads. That only happens at Reunion. So if you haven’t signed up, get online and do it now!!

Mark Nickerson has released his book, The Wounds Within, about the nature and impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and the veterans, families, and clinical and policy issues involved. Mark majored in psychology at Wes and stuck with it. He has practiced individual and family psychotherapy in Amherst for 30 years and consults widely on trauma and other topics.

For a more specialized audience, Bruce Pyenson was lead author of an actuarial analysis of lung cancer screening and its cost/benefit for Medicare. Bruce and a team from his actuary consulting firm, Milliman, Inc., and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai determined that using low-dose computed tomography imaging to screen Medicare beneficiaries (soon-to-be-us!) for lung cancer is a low-cost, cost-effective strategy to extend lives and reduce cost.

J.D. Moore is approaching his first anniversary on the Connecticut Superior Court. Who says there’s no justice? He has three Wes colleagues on the bench, Bob Nastri ’77, Cesar Noble ’80, and Irene Jacobs MALS ’80, and they were all sworn in together last April. His judicial work has thus far taken him to Hartford criminal court and Litchfield civil court. J.D. organized a mini-reunion in January to take in a concert by Orleans with Steve McCarthy, Paul Margolin, Joe O’Rourke, and all the wives. He’s working on lining up a post-concert meeting with John Hall.

Corinne Kratz started with our class and took the scenic route, graduating with a BA/MA in ’77 and going on to earn a PhD from the University of Texas-Austin. She reports that she’s living in Santa Fe, where she writes and does research, working with Emory University’s African Critical Inquiry Program to support annual workshops and student research in South Africa. She is a professor emerita of Anthropology and African Studies at Emory.

John Tabachnick and his wife, Sherry, look forward to seeing everyone at the 40th. They’ll be coming with son Jeff Tabachnick ’05 and family for a shared reunion (and maybe an intro to Wes for Jeff’s two kids). John has 32 years of private practice in family medicine behind him. He’s chairing a department of 29 primary care doctors in a group of more than 400 mostly specialty physicians.

Ed Van Voorhees is on the move. With children and grandchildren in L.A. and D.C., plus one in Nashville (his hometown), he gets around. Ed and Linda have cut back on work to allow more time for grandkids, and Ed spends a day per week working with The Bootstraps Foundation, which provides scholarships to young people who have pulled themselves up by . . .

Compared to Rachel Adler Hayes, Ed is standing still. Her passport has recently taken her to Italy, Spain, Istanbul, and Dublin. A stop in Seattle included visiting high school classmate Bruce Ferguson ’73. The travel is mostly for Oxfam America, where Rachel is senior director of communications and engagement. Vacations are closer to home, in California and Marblehead, Mass. Rachel’s son is a junior in high school, enamored with basketball and just starting the college search. Besides work and family, Rachel is doing major home projects, but she promised to take a break and come to Middletown this May.

Martha Faller Brown and Bruce Paton checked in from different corners of the Bay Area, letting me know they stayed warm and dry amid the downpours and demonstrations of December. Not long after, the holiday e-mails began to arrive. Brad Kosiba is ensconced with Dorothy in Chapel Hill, retired from his bio-tech industry career, and doing lots of house, community, and family projects. With sons 21, 23, and 26, their nest is mostly empty these days. Like many of us, Brad has replaced the day-to-day parent responsibilities with day-to-day responsibility for aging parents. Debbie Kosich, Brad’s Wes mailbox-mate, is in the same boat—retiring from her geology career with Exxon in Houston and dealing with her mother’s aging. She plans to split her time between Houston and her condo in the Rockies, along with trips to check on mom in Massachusetts. Brian Steinbach hasn’t retired from employment law, but he and Mary also have projects on the home front. This year they achieved something many of us only dream about—paying off the mortgage!

It was terrific to hear from David Leisner that Facts of Life, his latest CD, was released in February. It includes world premiere recordings of works that David commissioned from David Del Tredici and Osvaldo Golijov, whom he considers “two of the most important composers alive today,” plus his own arrangement of Bach’s “Lute Suite BWV 997.” The fruit of many years’ work, the album’s release is a moment of great pride for David, as it should be. The review on Amazon says, “Mr. Leisner is an extraordinarily versatile musician with a multi-faceted career as an electrifying performer, a distinguished composer, and a master teacher. Recent appearances have taken him around the USA, Puerto Rico, Oceania, Europe, Japan, and Mexico. He also serves as artistic director of the Guitar Plus series in New York, a series that features chamber music with guitar.” And his 2011 release, Favorites, was named one of “2015 Records to Die For” on stereophile.com. Congratulations, David!

Thinking back to those undergraduate days listening to David play reminds me that we should note the loss of Jean Redpath (artist-in-residence 1972–1976), who died of cancer at age 77 last August. Jean brought her beautiful voice, deep knowledge of Scottish music, and a biting (and often off-color) wit to liven up any class, concert, or social gathering in our era. I still sing songs I first learned from her.

I had the opportunity to bid on an auction item with a Wes connection at my synagogue’s gala last spring, so I expect to be meeting up soon with Jeff Morgan and his wife, Jodie, for a tour and tasting at their Covenant Winery. They moved from Napa to Berkeley last year, where Jeff built an urban winery to get back to “civilization” and complement the Napa site. For his eighth cookbook being released in March, The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table, his editor at Random House happened to be Lexy Bloom ’99.

Retirement is a distant dream for me. My travels now are between home near San Francisco and my mother near Boston. The October trip was a glorious mother-son weekend road trip looking at colleges. Six schools, three-and-a-half days, 700 miles, and lots of talk time. When you read this, Ethan’s college decision should be made, and we’ll all breathe a bit easier.

Thanks in advance to my fellow members of ’75’s Reunion Committee: Karen Freedman, Steve Levin, Roger Weisberg, Charlie Stolper, Mark Schonberger, Dave Rosenblum, J.D. Moore, and Gary Steinel. It’s going to be a great weekend, so bring your family, invite your Wes friends, and don’t miss it!

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive. Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

Perhaps I’m not middle-aged anymore. Perhaps your trusty class secretary is slipping. The reminder message I thought I’d sent to all looking for news got composed but didn’t actually get sent at all! So watch for a message in your e-mail box soon, and if you send me updates, there will be notes for ’75 in the next issue.

In the meantime, here are the few tidbits I received over the transom: David Leisner sent a little preview of his recently released solo CD for Azica. There’s also a six-minute video that he had fun making on location in Abiquiu, N.M., in the beautiful Plaza Blanca (White Place). The inspired music is the third movement, “Farewell, R. W.,” of Facts of Life by David Del Tredici, whom David calls “one of our best living composers.” (Search for “Farewell, R. W.” on youtube.) Mitch Marinello ’76 may have this story, too, but ’75 comes before ’76 in class notes, so I get to scoop him.

Cathy Gorlin hosted a wonderful gathering of Wes friends at her summer place near the corner where New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut meet. Split between classes, the guest list was Liz Gissen Holder ’76, Ed Papier ’76, and our own Christine McCoy McNeil. She and Cathy reminiscing about Wes days living at Kappa Alpha and a spring ’75 trip to Cathy’s summer place almost 40(!!) years ago.

Speaking of 40, we have another Reunion coming up, so start thinking about making your way back to Wes next spring.

On the creative front, Kate Ballen has a new play that was produced in New York as part of the Fringe Festival in August. No One Asked Me is about undocumented teens living in the U.S., based on true stories of NYC students. Kate should know. She has been a college counselor at a Bronx high school for the past 10 years and has helped dozens of undocumented students navigate the immigration and college process.

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive. Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

At age 60, I tried a personals ad to fill a void in my life, and it worked! Here’s what I wrote to my Wes classmates: “Middle-aged, married, female Secretary seeks news to share. Births (probably grandchildren these days), marriages (kids or yours), worklife changes, retirements, travels, and other doings all welcomed. Class Notes deadline looming; write soon!” Sixteen folks responded pronto, and their news follows.

David Weinstock wrote from the Vermont Studio Center, where he was spending an intensive week with 60 other writers and artists, including Jake Nussbaum ’10 and Hilary Mullins ’84. He was waiting to receive from Olin Library a pdf of his long-lost senior thesis, “New Poems, 1975.” Older son Ben is graduating from Wheaton College (an English major) and younger son Dan is completing his first year at Lehigh University (materials science and engineering). David’s wife, Ann, has returned to Middlebury College’s development staff, now representing her alma mater’s graduate and special programs (Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and Language Schools).

Bruce Paton’s term as chair of the management department at San Francisco State University is ending, and he’ll take over as faculty director of graduate programs for the College of Business. He’ll run SFSU’s MBA program, the MS in Accounting, the executive MBA program, and hopefully revive a dual degree program with the University of Nice in France. Bon voyage, Bruce?

Jane Hutchins and Janet Brodie planned to get together in Boston with Risa Korn in mid-May. Details to follow.

I received a reciprocal personals-ad-style reply from Ed Van Voorhees: “Cranky classmate enthralled with birth of first grandchild, Lucy, Denver, Colo., born April 2 to son and daughter-in-law (what’s-their-names).” Their names are now Lucy’s Mom and Lucy’s Dad.

Len Burman writes, “I am not in the habit of responding to personal ads,” but respond he did, although he’s still married to Missie. (They met at Wes.) “I returned to D.C. to head the Tax Policy Center (again) after a four-year stint at Syracuse University. I’m still teaching one course for SU, in Washington over the January short term, and currently hold the Paul Volcker Chair there. We have a 2-year-old granddaughter, who lives in upstate NY and is completely adorable. Two of our four adult kids live in DC. One is finishing up an MPA at Syracuse and hoping to get a job here.”

For one of the first times in 39 years, David Nelson checked in. David’s finishing his sixth year as rabbi and faculty member in religion at Bard College in the Hudson Valley, a position he loves. “Marrying off our youngest son in June—in attendance will be, inter alia, our grandson who will be 17-months-old at that point. The sad news came a couple of weeks ago when I heard of the death of Chuck Raffel ’72, who was very involved in Jewish life at Wesleyan and with whom I had stayed in touch over the years.”

Bliss White McIntosh and Maryann McGeorge found one another serving on the same small board of directors of a classical music organization called Music From Salem. Funny thing is that they never knew each other at Wesleyan!

Given local seismicity, it’s reassuring to hear from a Bay Area classmate, “No earth-shaking news from me!” Paul Bennett is still working at Chevron after 34 years, still married after 28 years, and has two 20-something sons living in NYC; one in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn and one (Wes ’13) in Manhattan. Paul is grateful for the excuse to visit NY a couple times a year. Now that they’re fully empty-nesters they’ve started working through the “one of these days” trips—two years ago was Slovenia/Croatia, and Botswana Safari/Cape Town; last year was hiking the Cotswolds in England; this year is Ireland and Turkey.

Jan Schwaner writes, “I am enjoying retirement from the hectic world of front-line pediatrics. I have thrown away my alarm clock and spent over 1/3 of the days last year out of state, visiting family and friends as far away as Australia, keeping track of my ailing parents, attending chamber music camp at Bennington College, and paddling my kayak. I plan to play baroque trios at Bennington next summer with Scott Brodie ’74.” Jan’s husband, Tim Hill has retired from the computer industry and is running a duplicate bridge club full time and directing tournaments. In that role he crosses paths with Peter Marcus ’77, a fellow tournament director. Jan and Tim flew to Sydney in March to meet their 2-week-old granddaughter, “the most fabulous baby ever born.” When she moves with her parents to Philadelphia in September, the Schwaner-Hills look forward to becoming interfering grandparents. Younger son, Peter ’08, plans to marry his boyfriend in June, coincidentally on Jan’s and Tim’s 39th anniversary.

Cathy Gorlin vacationed in Florida this spring, in Naples where she enjoyed dinner with Bill Hutchins ’73 who is a radiologist in Naples and fellow Minnesota native. They recalled Wesleyan Minnesotans getting together on occasion to watch Mary Tyler Moore on TV throwing her hat up in the air on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. In mid-August, Cathy’s son, Ross, will be moving from Hawaii to Denver and will be looking for an emergency medical services job; let Cathy know if you have connections in Denver that can help him find work in that field. Ross will be traveling around Asia for two months prior to moving back and spending a few weeks of August with Cathy and her husband. Their daughter, Lauren, got her MBA from NYU last May and works for Google in NYC. Cathy continues to head the family law department at Best and Flanagan and to practice family law full time in Minneapolis. She vacations at their summer home in Copake, N.Y., so she welcomes opportunities for visits there or in NYC.

It was wonderful to hear for the first time from Carole Evans Sands in Keene, N.H. A highlight of her spring was meeting her three-time Wes roommate, Jill Rips, with Jill’s daughter, Sian, and Carole’s daughter, Alyssa, in Somerville for a long evening of Wes stories and lots of laughs. They hadn’t seen each other in a dozen years and missed old friends Dana Asbury and Wendy Goldberg. Jill was touring colleges with Sian, a junior at a U.N. model high school in San Antonio. Jill is still “the heart, soul, and brains of the San Antonio AIDS Foundation.” Carole left Keene State College’s Child Development Center last June after 25 years. She writes, “You get a clock at 25 years; decided I just didn’t need or want to hang in for 30 and a rocker. Our home was also becoming an empty nest with son Evan off to Pace University Lubin School of Business in Manhattan this year.” (Alyssa graduated from Wheaton in 2011 and works at Education First in Cambridge.) Carole now enjoys a full-time position with much less responsibility at Little Harrisville Children’s Center—a 40-plus-year-old nonprofit child care center, where farm families and professionals and lots of artists and assorted entrepreneurs make up the small friendly community.

Tina Hahn Jacobson has joined the “One Grandchild Club.” Two of Tina’s kids are in Atlanta, and one is in NYC. Check out her painting: Tinajacobsonfineart. While retirement is not yet in sight for her husband, it is an occasional topic of conversation.

Roger Weisberg reports that their oldest daughter, Allie ’05 and her husband, Peter, have a 1-year-old baby. Allie founded Recess, an arts organization, five years ago, and Peter works as an attorney for MFY Legal Services. Middle son, Daniel, is graduating from Yale Medical School and starting his residency in internal medicine at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Youngest daughter, Liza, is completing a two-year stint as a trial preparation assistant at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and will start law school at Harvard in September. Roger and Karen continue their respective work in filmmaking and foster children’s advocacy. Roger’s current project is editing a new PBS documentary, Dream On, about the vanishing American Dream.

Tracy Winn just completed a residency at the MacDowell Colony for the Arts where she worked on a manuscript for a second book of linked short stories. She is (like many of us) helping her mother prepare to move into a continuing care community and cleaning out the family home.

David Bickford’s news may surprise those who knew him at Wes. “I coached an All-Star game of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls, one of the top ranked track all-female roller derby leagues in the country, so their ‘all stars’ are some of the best players in the sport. I like to think my rousing halftime speech inspired the come-from-behind win.”

On May 1, Paul Gionfriddo became president and CEO of Mental Health America, the oldest national mental health advocacy organization in the United States. MHA is based in D.C., and has 228 state and local affiliates. Paul and Pam now live in two places—their home in Palm Beach County, Fla. (where Pam is still CEO of the county MHA affiliate), and an apartment in Alexandria, Va. (MHA has become something of a family affair—daughter Lizzie works for the Connecticut affiliate.) Paul’s new book, Losing Tim: How Our Health and Education Systems Failed My Son with Schizophrenia, now has a firm publication date from Columbia University Press: October 2014.

With respect to my “personals” ad, a few folks took a cheap shot at whether I qualify as middle-aged. While many of you are retiring and counting grandchildren, I still have a kid in high school, and several years of college tuition in my future. If that doesn’t make me middle-aged, I don’t know what does. I’ll just have to live to 120 to prove it!

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive. Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955