Tag: 1989

Damn. When Michele shakes the tree, she shakes it hard. We even got a few first timers, so we’ll lead with those.

Amy Berk has reinvested in her home in San Francisco, where her two kids attend Creative Arts Charter School. She is starting a new venture to help recenter and reset creativity: reapprojects.com. She sometimes sees Michelle Matz and recently reconnected with David Auerbach.

In Portland, Ore., Michael Aiello is finishing a visiting artist show at the Blackfish Gallery. He presented six pieces from work sponsored by a grant from his Regional Arts & Culture Council called “Our Fates Are Connected.” Michael is now creatively transitioning back to songwriting. In June, he will be in Northern New Mexico, humbly listening for the words that are hidden in the tunes, and is grateful to his daughter and love for the opportunity….

Dina Goldman has been a production designer for film and television (primarily) in NYC for almost 20 years. Her current project is an independent feature based on the life of J.D. Salinger, turning the city streets back to the way they looked in the ’40s and ’50s. When not working, she’s enjoying life with her husband and 9-year-old son in the West Village.

Allison Downer is now the associate executive director of the Department of Psychiatry at Rikers Island, where she provides psychiatric services for the country’s first specialized jail for 18–21 year olds. She was encouraged to reach out because of all the “cool people” who are sharing their good deeds.

Hope Ring is still a family doctor, still happily married, with daughters now 11 and 17, who are far more passionate about social justice than Hope was at their age. With the prodding of Jeanne Kramer-Smythe ’90, Hope is now an associative member of SFWA, writing under Hope Erica Schultz.

Congratulations to James Eli Shiffer who just had his first book, The King of Skid Row, published by The University of Minnesota Press. He completed this account of the seamy history of his adopted hometown of Minneapolis while keeping his day job as an editor and columnist at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He is a co-historian with his wife, Kirsten Delegard ’90, the creator of the Historyapolis community history project. Last year, he joined Paul Rooney, David Williams, and many other Argus alumni advocating for free speech at Wesleyan and against efforts to defund the Argus.

After 10 years at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Phineas Baxandall moved on to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a think-tank that focuses on helping people with low and moderate incomes. Phineas will be working with campaigns to pass a ballot initiative that would raise taxes on incomes over a million dollars to fund education and transportation. He recently visited Cuba with his long-time partner, Sarah Hill, and his children. Son, Julian (16), just started an ultimate frisbee team at his high school in Cambridge, Mass. In January, several Wesleyan alumni attended a memorial service for Phineas’s mother, including Stephanie Dolgoff, Elizabeth Schmidt, Robert Featherstone, John Stamm, and Eric Lotke ’87.

The paperback edition of Alex Chee’s new novel, The Queen of the Night (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is coming out this January, along with a new edition of his first novel Edinburgh. He also will have an essay in this fall’s Best American Essays 2016, and has two upcoming visiting writer gigs: at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the fall, and then at the University of Massachusetts Amherst MFA in the spring. He recently saw Janine Mileaf, who runs the Chicago Arts Club.

In April, Adam Rohdie, Andrew Lacey and Mike Charlton, and their spouses all attended JazzFest in NOLA. While the music and food were outstanding, part of Saturday’s show was rained out. Somehow they persevered, finding their way to the French Quarter and enjoying themselves despite the weather.

John Hlinko is living in Washington, D.C., doing his best to save America from Trump (and itself) by running Left Action, a two-million-strong national progressive activist community. His wife, Leigh Stringer, is about to release her second book, The Healthy Workplace, which he will shamelessly plug on Facebook, via e-mail, and in Wesleyan class notes. John is about to move to a house that was built in the 1850s as a church, which might be the first time he’s been in one in decades.

Laura Safran Shepard and her husband, Drew Shepard, are on the move after relocating back to Connecticut from Thailand in 2014. Colgate-Palmolive has tapped Drew to manage Western Europe, starting next month, and they will be moving to Paris. Despite not knowing a single word of French, they are very excited. They will miss their daughter who is headed off to college, but they know she’ll be super happy at school.

If anyone has plans to visit Toronto, they should look up Marisa Cohen, who is tagging along as her 13-year-old daughter, Molly, plays Alice in the Canadian premiere of Matilda the Musical. You can most likely find Marisa in a coffee shop trying to keep up her freelance magazine/web writing career while sampling Canadian delicacies like Labatt’s, Smarties, and ketchup crisps. Her husband, Jeremy, and daughter, Bellam, are staying in New York, but will make lots of border crossings to visit. Depending on how the election goes, they may just stay up north. (Kidding—sort of.)

After 18 years as an academic librarian at Bryn Mawr College and the University of Michigan, Susan Turkel is going freelance! She’s researching, editing, and doing a little Web design for faculty and others. Check her out at susanturkel.com. When not working, she’s usually found at a contra dance.

Finally, congratulations to Ed Thorndike, whose restaurant, WesWings, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a big party at Beckham Hall with about 400 guests, including the senior class.

Jonathan Fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com

Michele Barnwell | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Class of 1989 Scholarship

Joanna Korpanty ’18, Bristol, Conn.

Kristen Montas Graves writes: “It was a sad occasion that brought a number of us together for a mini Wes reunion the first weekend in December. For those of you who may not have heard, beloved Professor Jerry G. Watts passed away Nov. 16th. Jerry only taught at Wes for a few years of his career, yet for those of us who knew him, he was a major part of our Wesleyan experience, and his influence shaped the trajectories of many of our own careers today. Al Young ’88 assisted Jerry’s wife, Traci West, in organizing the event, which took place at The New York Society for Ethical Culture. He, along with his wife, Carla O’Connor ’88, my husband Fred Montas ’88, Amy Randall, and Eric Greene ’90 all gave moving tributes, highlighting his intellectual acuity and the genuinely caring manner he had with all whom he met. Many Wes folk were in the house including Hellura Lyle, Allison Downer, Melinda Weekes, Schuyler Allen ’90, Jessica Roseman ’90, Julie Doar-Sinkfield ’90, Eve Goldberg ’90, Yanique LeCadre ’88, Ian Friday ’87, and Dianne Stewart ’85. Our hearts were heavy, but we felt the light of his presence as we shared laughs and hugs remembering a truly great man.” Kristen also saw Mary Kate O’Toole Mellow over the holidays.

Laura Hamilton Hardin lives near Houston, with her second husband, Dan Hardin, and two children from her first marriage. On 25 acres, they have 10 dogs, 10 horses, about 20 chickens, two potbelly pigs and two cats. Daughter Samantha (18) is studying animal science at Texas A&M and is planning to pursue a veterinary degree, and son Michael (16) is starting on the Magnolia High School JV football team. Laura provides expert testimony on damages issues for large international arbitrations. She recently resumed horseback riding to relieve the stress of her demanding career.

Amy E. Randall teaches history and women’s and gender studies at Santa Clara University in California. Her latest publication, Genocide and Gender in the Twentieth Century: A Comparative Survey (Bloomsbury) is a collection of genocide studies that examines gendered discourses, practices, and experiences of ethnic cleansing and genocide in the 20th century. Amy and Mathew Reed ’91 have two children, Zaria (7) and Zeiler (12). They inspired Amy to perform last year in the parent/staff/faculty cast of Annie at her daughter’s school.

Alexander Chee’s new novel, The Queen of the Night (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), was released Feb. 2, 2016. His first novel, Edinburgh, is being reissued and has been optioned by the composer Stefan Weisman and the librettist David Coates, who intend to adapt it into an opera. Alex lives in NYC with his partner, Dustin Schell, where they are adapting The Scarlet Professor (Barry Werth’s biography of Newton Arvin)into a feature film. This fall he will be a visiting writer at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Andrea Morse is married to her reading and budget-travel partner, best friend and love of her life, Bill Kehr. They live in the Chicago area, where she has her own clinical psychology practice. She recently gave birth to their son, Zander Asher, and has two wonderful step-kids: one in college, the other heading to medical school. In her teensy spare time she performs with a professional Hawaiian/Polynesian dance company.

Liz Marx left being a casting director several years ago to become a college counselor. While she hasn’t yet had one of her kids attend Wesleyan, she remains optimistic!

Rabbi Jen Feldman recently celebrated 13 rich and rewarding years serving Kehillah Synagogue in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Jeffrey Naness is practicing law on Long Island, representing businesses in employment and labor matters. He is married, with two sons, Jonathan and Michael, and plays keyboards in a charity rock band (Equity) and a Latin jazz quartet (Gazpacho Bop).

Eric Simon published the second edition of his college biology textbook Biology: The Core. Eric’s books have been translated into seven languages and are used in more than 40 countries. He still lives in rural New Hampshire with his wife, two boys (12 and 14), 20 or so chickens, three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, and a leopard gecko.

Karen McVey Fussell remains happily married with two children (9 and 12). She lives on 45 acres near Bangor, in a 100-plus-year-old farmhouse, which they recently renovated. She has been finance director for a neighboring city for the past 15 years, a job she loves and that allows her to work on many diverse issues, including recycling and the development of a next generation waste-to-energy facility.

Dave Keller is living in Montpelier, Vt., raising two daughters, and being a musician. He’s excited about a new album of original soul/blues songs that should be released in September. His last CD was a “breakup album”, so he’s thinking of this one as his “over-the-hump album.”

Jeff Brez and his husband, Adriano, are daddy and papa to twin boys, born November 2014. They also recently gave away their already-adult daughter at an unforgettable wedding in SoCal. Jeff is with the UN Department of Public Information in New York, where he partners with both NGOs and the creative community to raise awareness about UN issues around the world.

After more than 20 years, Jane Randel left the fashion industry and started a social impact consulting firm, Karp Randel LLC. She also cofounded NOMORE.org, and is one of four advisers to the NFL on issues of domestic violence and sexual assault education. She has done similar work for NASCAR.

Stephanie Dolgoff writes: “All hail, Susan Paley, who orchestrated getting 10 of us to Sonoma from as far as NYC (Natalie Dorset, Betsey Schmidt, and I) and West Virginia (that would be the serene and brilliant Lesley Savin). Much and varied wine was consumed and sorely felt (at least by me) for some time after. The Micheles (Chase and Barnwell) were as lovely as when they were roommates on Foss 6, and Caron Selati looked like she must have carried her two now-teenage babies in her handbag, in such great shape was she. Jennifer Levine, fresh off numerous professional triumphs, and I bunked together, and Laura Flaxman and I got to spend some time discussing how nice it is to have finally embraced our relatively benign vices.” Stephanie also saw Lynne Lazarus and Andrew Shear at their home in Oakland, Calif.

Melissa Herman is going through the college process with her son, which brings back her own memories and nightmares of that experience. She is looking forward to another sabbatical in Berlin where her son can check out the—free!—German universities. There, she will also work on a research project on German and American understandings of race.

Indy Neidell is still in Sweden, where he is producing a channel called The Great War, which follows WWI exactly 100 years later in real time, week by week, using original footage from the British Pathé film archives.

Jonathan Fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com

Michele Barnwell | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Newsmaker: Melinda Weekes-Laidlow ’89

Melinda Weekes-Laidlow ’89, president of Weekes In Advance Enterprises, is the first social entrepreneur in residence at Echoing Green, with a focus on racial equity. Echoing Green is a global nonprofit organization that provides fellowships, seed-stage funding, and strategic support to social entrepreneurs around the world. In an interview with Echoing Green president Cheryl Dorsey, Weekes-Laidlow called the post, “a wonderful way to leverage my nearly 25 years of experience as a social change agent, attorney, nonprofit manager, systems thinker, professional facilitator, capacity builder, and leadership coach.” Dorsey noted that she looked forward to Weekes-Laidlow offering the foundation “the opportunity to expand and deepen our community through the capacities you bring to the Social Entrepreneur in Residence role.” Weekes-Laidlow is a member of the advisory Board of the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Wesleyan. This fall she served as a panelist for Wesleyan’s Social Impact Summit, organized by Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, and Office of Alumni & Parent Relations. A member of the ordained clergy, Weekes-Laidlow serves on the ministerial staff of the Greater Allen Cathedral of New York. A College of Social Studies major at Wesleyan University, she earned her doctorate in divinity at Harvard University and her juris doctorate from New York University School of Law.

Jonathan writes: I returned from visiting my daughter, who is a frosh living in Clark Hall, to a burst of e-mail updates from our classmates. Thanks for reaching out, everyone; let’s get to it!

Seth Kaplan let us know that he has a new gig after 16 years as an environmental advocate at the Conservation Law Foundation. He’s done interesting stuff around transportation and urban development, focusing on clean energy and climate change. He also served as vice president for climate advocacy. He is now with a wind energy company, EDP Renewables, where he manages the government affairs for the Eastern Region of the U.S. EDPR is developing in Maine the largest wind farm in the Northeast, which requires frequent trips to Connecticut, where the power will be sold. This project brings him back to designing the lighting for Dar Williams’s senior project and her questions about the origin of electricity at Wesleyan. Seth’s eldest is now in her first year at Barnard College, and his other two kids are in ninth and fifth grades in the Brookline, Mass., public schools.

Melissa Herman begins by noting that merely typing “1989” makes her feel very old. (We all feel your pain, Melissa!) But even with her (self-described) “creaky body,” Melissa has been doing some small triathlons and running races, a family activity with her kids and husband. She’s looking forward to racing in Germany when she goes on sabbatical in Berlin next academic year to teach at Humboldt or FU, depending on the outcome of her Fulbright application. Her three kids will attend German schools, as they did last time they went—further improving their language skills with another dose of immersion. Her oldest is a high school senior applying to universities here and in Germany. Anyone who will be in Berlin in the 2016–17 academic year should give her shout and she will be happy to show you the sights.

Ed Thorndike is still at Wesleyan and getting ready to celebrate WesWings’ 25th anniversary. There will be a series of events leading up to a big party next spring. Sounds delicious, Ed!

John Hlinko is living in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Leigh, an author and architect, and daughters Kate and Ali (not named after the TV show). He is the leader of Left Action, a progressive grassroots activist organization, and he occasionally appears as a pundit on TV news programs, to yell and be yelled at. He recently enjoyed a long weekend in Vegas with Adam Long and Sandeep Wadhwa, where he miraculously didn’t lose money. John often spends his time shamelessly hawking his book, Share, Retweet, Repeat, including in these very class notes.

Jane O’Brien reports that she’s a failed writer—but a successful mother! (At least you have your priorities straight!)

Joel Jacobs is now the parent of a college student: older daughter, Aviva, is a freshman at Pitzer. He’s happy that she’s happy. Joel is still practicing environmental law, doing bodywork with his feet, and acting in community theater. Younger daughter, Talia, is a high school sophomore, and active on the debate team, which he’s been helping to coach, providing a great chance for them to spend time together.

David Levine writes: “On July 25th, 18 members from the class of ’89 and their families gathered together in Roxbury, Conn. Family members included other Wes alumns Todd Snyder ’84 and Gabrielle Mason ’87. Hosted by Stu Berman, Neil Blicher,Alan Cohen, Ricky Kotler, and David Levine. People traveled from Boston, D.C., and San Francisco to be there. We had beautiful weather for a fun-filled day of reconnecting that included swimming, ’80s music, plenty of food, and maybe a little alcohol as well. Notable changes since college included more girth and less hair. Great to see everyone after all this time.” (See the photo and caption in the online notes at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/class-of-1989)

Sherry Lehr Föhr writes: “I’m still living in Germany, where I run the writing center for the University of Heidelberg. My older daughter just completed her Abitur this past summer and even though she is still living at home for her gap year, I find that having only one kid in school really changes daily life. My younger daughter is in ninth grade and applying to spend next year as an exchange student in the U.S. She’s never lived there, so it is like going to a foreign country to her, but not to me, which is a bit strange. Plus I met my husband when I was an exchange student on Wes’s program in Heidelberg, and look where I ended up… In any event, I am sure my husband and I will find lots of fun things to do when the nest is finally empty, even if it will be just temporary.”

Mark Mullen writes, “My big news is that for the first time in a long time I live in the U.S. In San Francisco. So there’s that.”

Eric Schreiber has moved back to his Mountain View condo in the SF Bay Area after having lived overseas for the last nine years. He is teaching English literature at Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills and is “amused by all the Google Bikes and Teslas I see zipping around this area.”

Another published author in our class, Algernon Austin, has a new book out: America Is Not Post-Racial: Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Racism and the 44th President. This title analyzes the 25 million Obama haters in America and concludes with a discussion about how to address the “future of hate” in our country.

Melinda Weekes-Laidlow is excited to be the first social entrepreneur in residence with Echoing Green. She will be focusing on racial equity.

From Camarillo, Calif., Paul Gallo reports he is still coaching baseball at Harvard-Westlake and all is well on the family front, with wife Katie and daughters Madison (4) and Kelsey (2).

Indy Neidell gave us a lovely and thorough update: “Funnily enough, I’ve become a YouTube star the past year. I write and host a channel called ’The Great War’ that follows World War I, week by week, exactly 100 years later in real time, using original film footage from the British Pathé archives. The idea being to construct the ultimate documentary of the war, and also, since it’s YouTube, the first massive interactive documentary of its kind.” Indy already has had 150,000 subscribers and about eight million views. Check it out: youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar. He’s also doing commercial voiceovers and performing with six live bands, but is looking forward to a well-deserved rest in Rio de Janeiro.

Kelem Butts is still suffering through Dallas summers, but is really enjoying working for the AT&T Foundation. He gets to give money away to nonprofits focused on helping kids get through high school ready for college and career. He’s thrilled to finally have a cool “Wesleyan” job after all these years.

Lara Fortune Balter and Steve Balter ’90 just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and are surprised to find themselves this old. They enjoy visiting their eldest daughter (who graduated from Bates in 2014) in Colorado, where she lives and works, and their son, who plays golf at Wake Forest as a junior. They also still have two girls at home: a senior and a freshman in high school. Lara regrets that they are rarely together as a family anymore, but very much looks forward to those times. Husband Steve still works with Chris Galizio ’90, a union that she is not surprised has lasted 25 years. She concludes: “Life is good, all the ups and downs you’d expect, but the years have treated us well.” Amen to that, Lara. Amen.

We really did get a great number of updates this go ’round and we loved every minute of it!!! Thanks so much. See you all again soon… in your inboxes…when we’re clamoring for more news. Be well!

jonathan fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com

MICHELE BARNWELL | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Jonathan writes: Hey, all. Things seem to have been a little quiet for ‘89ers these past few months. Michele and I can’t believe that’s true, so please take a few minutes to drop one of us a line for the next issue. Please. Thanks, peeps!

Susan Turkel leads us off with her reflections on last year’s Reunion: “So much fun to see people and dance under the big tent!” She’s been working as a social sciences librarian for the last 17-plus years—14 years at Bryn Mawr College, and then three-plus years at the University of Michigan. Last summer she returned to the East Coast to be closer to family and help out her aging parents. She left Ann Arbor (although continuing to work remotely on a part-time basis) and now lives with her partner, Mark, in the Philly suburbs, where she’s taking art and writing classes, doing lots of contra dancing, spending time with friends and family, getting ready to start some volunteer pursuits, planning her parents’ 50th anniversary party, and thinking about what she’d like to do with the next chapter of her life.

Stephanie Dolgoff reports that she is “half dead and bald from the stress of a renovation, but with two tween girls, one bathroom wasn’t cutting it. Grateful to have such good friends and healthy kids. Love to all.”

Dan White is hard at work on his second nonfiction book, Under The Stars, which is going to be published by Henry Holt and Co. in the summer of 2016. It’s an embodied history of American camping, which means everything from survivalist camping (camping without any gear—or clothes—in mountain lion territory in the Santa Cruz Mountains for 24 frightening hours), to exploring the Everglades and “glamping” on an ersatz safari in Wine Country. Several of Dan’s Wesleyan friends, including James Shiffer, Sara Oh Neville and Bill Sherman ’90, have been giving encouragement, stories, and help along the way.
From Joel Jacobs, we learn that he has been continuing his “recent pursuit of acting, and has now been in four plays, most recently as Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird.” He’s also been coaching his younger daughter’s high school debate team. His older daughter, Aviva, will start at Pitzer College in the fall.

Mark Mullen’s big news is that he moved from Tbilisi to San Francisco.

Kate True digs out from the Boston winter to say she and her three daughters (Ona, Flora and Tess) made it to the promised land of spring. Ona ’19 will be a first-year student at Wesleyan in the fall! Kate recently completed a creative entrepreneur fellowship through the arts and business council and Discover Roxbury, and is busy with her art, portrait painting, and independent curating, as well as teaching part time at the Sudbury Valley School. Visitors are always welcome at her old Victorian home in Roxbury, which she is continually upgrading.

Finally, Betsey Schmidt and her husband hosted a lovely alumni event in March to honor Wesleyan President Michael Roth ’78 at their new(ish) apartment in Brooklyn.

Let’s discuss how apples (and more) don’t fall very far from trees… As we huddle up to eyeball what’s going on with our classmate, Michael Goldman and his son, 10-year-old Max, and Mike’s 17-year-old nephew, Sam: Max is excelling at playing drums and Sam is competing in the NY State Wrestling Championship Finals. So Sam is clearly super-sporty but don’t let that fool you. Sam was also accepted at Harvard and missed a perfect SAT score by 60 points. Those are the Goldman ‘apples’. Meanwhile, Michael…As founding partner of NCredible Entertainment and Nick Cannon’s manager, he has been busy, y’all. In the last two months alone, they’ve shot 36 episodes of television for multiple networks; have now got 14 episodes of already greenlit material going into production and other amazing treats to come. All good stuff and here’s more talk of more ‘apples’ falling and whatnot:

Jonathan Fried’s daughter got accepted to Wesleyan—making him officially ’89 and P’19. We’re also hearing there are more ’89er’s offspring heading into the class of 2019. With all that ’89 energy, we’re thinking that class is already looking pretty promising!

Jennifer Levine represented the screenwriters for the movie Birdman, and was last seen celebrating the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

We heard from Jeffrey Bowne, who says that last year he left The Hartford Insurance Company (and the Hartford area) to move to northeast Pennsylvania and open up a Sky Zone indoor trampoline park. In his own words: “I bought a franchise with my brother-in-law and we opened in Sept. of 2014. It has been a lot of fun switching gears from corporate life to owning and running a 20,000 sq. foot trampoline park. We’ve met a lot of interesting people and have been fortunate to have more than 50,000 jumpers come through since we opened. I extend an open invite if anyone is passing thru Scranton on I-81.” Jump on it, people!

Eric Simon published his first solo-author college textbook, Biology: The Core. About a third of U.S. college students who take a general ed introductory biology course do so using one of Eric’s textbooks. Also, Eric was thrilled to have been invited last summer to speak as part of Wesleyan’s Summer Science Seminar series.

Amy Berk writes: “I am sorry to have missed Reunion last year but I was happy and energized to hear the reports of my classmates. I remain in the Bay Area and have been busy with my two sons (Benjamin, 10, and Jude, 6) and my wonderful husband Andy Cox (not a Wes alum but he loves going to all Wesevents such as the upcoming one with President Michael Roth ’78).” Amy has been teaching a variety of courses at the San Francisco Art Institute and also at the University of California, Berkeley, extension in the post-baccalaureate program visual arts program. Last summer, she had great family fun with some ’89rs around the country. She’s “already looking forward to the 30th Reunion—I can spin it as a college tour for my eldest!”

Doug Abel continues to work as a film editor here and there, but most of his time and effort is going to help abused and neglected farm animals with the organization he cofounded, Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. The rescue/educational facility is moving in spring 2015 to a new, 150-acre site about 90 minutes from NYC, and will now host summer camps and larger vegan-related events. He was tickled to see that Wes was picked “Most Vegan-Friendly College” in 2012. More info on his doings at WoodstockSanctuary.org.

We also heard from Denise Hill Day y’all. Yay! She and her daughter have moved to Houston. She writes: “All is good, settling in and getting to know this new….foreign land.”

Great stuff going on. ’Til next time…

jonathan fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com

MICHELE BARNWELL | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Jonathan reports on the 25th Reunion:

We kick off the 25th Reunion report with a big thank you to Phoebe Boyer, our class representative, and our entire Reunion committee, without whom this weekend would not have been the great success it was. It was great to see her and her husband, Todd Snyder ’84, at all the events and making sure everyone was well-outfitted with their drawstring bags.

Like many others, my weekend started sitting in traffic along I-95. Poor David Milch had to spend 90 minutes in the Stamford train station waiting for me, but after I picked him up, the next 90 minutes of traffic was an opportunity to hear about his delicious daughter and his work as program coordinator for Wesleyan’s Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance.

Thankfully, the traffic was a distant memory by the time we made it to WesWings, with 100 or so classmates, for a gathering graciously hosted by Ed Thorndike. Thank you, Ed; I can’t wait to get my family up there to sample the tasty-looking menu.

Some observations from that event include: Dina Goldman is working in film in New York, and raising her son with her longtime boyfriend. David Williams brought the entire family along—wife and three children—all of them seemed to be enjoying themselves almost as much as David, who had a big smile on his face all weekend. Andy Nakahata and I reminisced about the importance of family and how the memory of a small event can be enduring. Norm Beaulieu shared with me the truly inspiring economic and community development work he is doing in Africa through his organization, Villagecorps. Norm also extolled the beauty of the Maine coast, a sentiment shared by Cecilia Johnson Guecia, who recently moved there. Indy Neidell had come with his lovely girlfriend from Sweden, where he has been living for many years now. He also clued me in on an upcoming album he’s releasing with his band, the Southside Stalkers. I also learned that night that Jennifer Levine continues to make LA her home base while she “traffics in storytelling.”

After things wound down, a good crowd made its way over to the ’92 Theater to enjoy a concert headlined by our very own Dave Keller. Later, back at the bucolic Rocky Hill Sheraton, Hellura Lyle and I closed the hotel bar (outlasting a raucous wedding party) by waxing nostalgic about living and growing up in New York City. I also want to thank Hellura for introducing to me to Allison Downer—how did we not meet earlier?

Saturday started with the requisite pilgrimage to O’Rourkes. Julia Randall Brock joined us after a brisk four-hour drive from her new home near her old home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. She recently relocated there from Vermont with her husband, son, and daughter, and is now providing OB/GYN services to medically underserved communities.

After we wrapped up our high-calorie meal, we turned our table over to Stephanie Dolgoff, Michele Chase, Susan Paley, and Jennifer Levine. Stephanie is navigating raising twin girls in New York City; Michele recently moved from Seattle back to the Bay Area; and Sue has been very involved in building Beats Audio to be the hot brand it is today.

Making our way over to Foss Hill, we found the 1989 contingent to be in full force.

Katy Storms regaled Kelem Butts and me with her tales of gum smuggling in Singapore, where she lived for two years with her husband (in the US Navy) and their three sons. They are now in the DC area, where Katy also teaches writing instruction in the military. Kellem is in Dallas, Texas, with his girlfriend of 19 years, and recently started a new job with a foundation that funds drop-out prevention programs nationwide. Jason Weinberg and I reminisced at length about the number of Stuyvesant HS folks who also went to Wesleyan. He’s back in the City now after many years in LA, so I’m looking forward to meeting his beau and their twin sons. Oona Metz was down from Cambridge, Mass., where she’s living with her wife and their daughters. Alex Aron was up from Brooklyn, N.Y., where she lives only blocks away with her husband and their three kids. She drove up with my old housemate Arthur Halpern, who was sharing photos of his son that he is raising with his partner in Brooklyn. Kate True and I also swapped stories about being parents of daughters who are rising seniors considering Wesleyan.

No sunny afternoon on Foss Hill is complete without tossing a Frisbee. For this, I was fortunate that former Nietzsche Factor buddies Phineas Baxandall, Rob Featherstone, and Chris Zurn were present. Rob is a cinematographer in Beacon, N.Y., where he lives with his wife and their 8-year-old daughter, who already knows she wants to be a veterinarian. Phineas Baxandall is in Cambridge, Mass., with his son and daughter, who, coincidentally, also wants to be a veterinarian. Chris is also in Cambridge, raising his son. Not sure about his future career plans.

As the shadows lengthened across Andrus Field, there were moments when it felt like the day would just last forever. But eventually, like our time at Wes, it was time to move on.

The next stop was Beckham Hall (née Fayerweather) for our class dinner. Ethan Vesley-Flad led us in a beautiful moment of silence to remember our fellow classmates who have passed away. Then David Milch and Michele Barnwell were recognized for their service to our class over the years. Extra shout out to Michele who, as senior class secretary, has been a pillar of support and a fountain of energy helping this rookie get up to secretarial speed.

Formalities having been dispensed with, our class got down to some serious chatter, drinking, and eating. Well, it would have been serious if Leeeza Robbins’ daughter had not been keeping everyone entertained working the room with her knock-knock jokes, and generally charming the crowd. Her primary instigators for this activity were Josh Sirefman and Natalie Dorset. Leeeza, with these two guiding your daughter, her fortune is assured. Garry Schumacher was fresh from a concert earlier in the day that featured, among other pieces, a woman rubbing a balloon against her arm to create sound—er, music. Ah, Wesleyan. Around this time, I finally got to thank Dar Williams in person for raising my cool level significantly in my adolescent daughter’s eyes. I also spotted Matt Coan, Jim Lukowski, Mike Charlton, and others, chatting with their old football coach, Mike Whalen ’83.

When the dinner finally ended—read: “free bar closed”—the troops made their way to the large tent for the all-campus “end of the world as we know it” party. Oh, those poor graduates, if they only knew how true that statement is….

Words fail me here—best google “Class of ’89 Dance Moves” on YouTube instead.

For me, the evening wrapped up with a visit to the falafel truck alongside Alpha Delt, where David Milch, Adam Long, Sandeep Wadhwa, and John Hlinko waxed incoherent and giddily about the weekend.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten more people and conversations than I’ve listed here. My apologies for the oversights and inaccuracies. At least, you got me on the south side of 50—by our next Reunion you’ll be lucky if I remember anything at all.

See you at the 30th, everyone. Book now.—JF

Michele adds: So glad Jonathan wrote everything down as it was happening around him. I, on the other hand, remember nothing and should be chewing on ginkgo biloba like it’s a pack of Skittles. No.Memory.What.So.Ever. It’s getting bad y’all. Good news is I do remember some things. Like feeling that everyone looked so doggone great and I had so much fun! So awesome to see sir George Cabrera! Nice to chat up Clarence Williams at WesWings. Nice to grab photo ops here and there ,too—especially with a good handful of my beautiful and accomplished frosh hallmates including Lynn Alberding. Got to see Reggie Jenkins (and his adorable offspring)—he’s still good ole Reg’! It was fun to catch up and break bread with my former fellow Intown inmate, Laura Flaxman. Laura and I were roomies for the weekend. She is doing very well back in Cali. Had great conversation with the ever-so-lovely Amy Randall. Got to see Stu Berman at Reunion and post-reunion in LA for dinner. Nice to catch up with my fellow Foss Hill-er. There were so many more faces and it was great seeing every last one. P.S. A warm loving but real side-eye to Melinda Weekes, Jacqueline Wheeler Lee, Denise Hill, and Marilyn Selena Davis, too! My girls, whom I missed seeing.

There is no perfect segue here…On a sad note, our classmate Anthony “Tony” Stephenson passed away and we received a most moving e-mail from our classmate Kevin Majewski about him: “Tony became a close friend during college. Although it became less frequent as the years passed, I always looked forward to hearing from him since graduation. Tony was a skilled writer, and it was through his writing that I was able to enjoy the sharp wit and self-deprecating humor which he was known for at Wesleyan. He was a talented athlete, competing for both the Wesleyan football and baseball teams. He could often be found shooting baskets in the gym when he was not at a formal team practice. Tony was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, and an accomplished history major. He always carried with him a unique perspective and sly grin which I will miss dearly. We can all be appreciative of the experiences we shared with Tony, and never forget our classmate who brought joy to many of us.” Well said, Kevin.

And again, there’s no perfect segue here… Sincerely hope to hear from those not mentioned here already. It would be great to send us a shout and let us know you’re doing all right. Be well, y’all—MB

jonathan fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com 

MICHELE BARNWELL | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

By the time we’re reading this, our 25th Reunion party weekend is over. The highlights (lowlights?) from our great gathering (the ones you volunteer to share 🙂 with us will be included in our next column! Til then, we’ve got exciting news!

Our classmate Jodi Wenger recently moved from Vermont to Newton, Mass., with husband Stuart and three boys—12, 8 and 6. After 12 years at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center as a pediatric hospitalist and spina bifida doc she took a job with the Comprehensive Care Program at Boston Medical Center—a place that offers a primary care medical home for children with complex medical issues. “Stuart and I continue to support our amion.com, a website to post physician call schedules created using our software.”

Jessica Glass completed a documentary, The Fuentidueña Apse: A Journey from Castile to New York for The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 28 mins; 2013. It can be seen at: metmuseum.org/metmedia/video/collections/med/fuentiduena-apse.

She was invited to screen it in Spain at the XIIIth International Archaeological Film Festival of the Bidasoa last November, where she honeymooned with her husband of three years, Dave Raymond ’87, also the audio engineer for the film. They are back in the States, splitting their time between NYC and their sheep farm in South Windsor, Conn. Yes, I said SHEEP FARM y’all. Love our Wes peeps. Go, Jessica and husband!

For our classmate Tullan Spitz news of Nelson Mandela’s death brought back memories of the late 1980s on campus. Among those memories, she cites the popularity of West African dance and drumming courses, the student protests geared toward forcing the administration to divest from South Africa (which it ultimately did)….and more! She writes: “In the spirit of respect for a place that expanded my cultural horizons and helped shape my values and ideals, here are my notes…” Tullan has interacted with many of our classmates/friends recently. Here’s what they’ve ALL been up to, Tullan’s own words:

“I have been on the West Coast since 1991, first in San Francisco and currently in Portland, Ore. I am married to Andrew Robin and have a stepson, Nick (23) and a daughter, Astrid (7). I work at Oregon Public Broadcasting in the National and Educational Media department. Coincidentally, I report to VP Dave Davis ’70.

Despite residing in a hinterland, I have some long-time friends nearby. Suk Kim is VP and General Counsel at a technology company in Portland and is married to Amit Singh. Their two daughters (Téa, 11 and Juni, 7) are good friends with my daughter. I can also report that Julie Eigler ’89 is alive and well and working as a trauma nurse at Oregon Health Sciences University and for a hospice service. In summer 2012 Julie married John Goff here in Portland, an occasion that lured Julie Cluett ’90 and Kate True from the East Coast. It was great to see them both. After many years living abroad, Julie Cluett is back in the States, somewhere in Massachusetts. Kate has visited Portland often, and for the wedding brought her three daughters (Ona, 16, Flora, 14, and Tess, 9). Kate has a flourishing portrait business in Boston and this work and her other fine art has appeared in many shows in the region.

“I have been in touch on and off with my frosh and senior year roommate, Lynn Slobodien, who is a teacher in Minneapolis and has a son, Cecil, who turns 8 this month. I recently had occasion to reconnect with David Gimbel through my work on an archaeology project. He is married, living in New York, and has a new baby, Inés.

“My sister, Leslie Spitz-Edson ’86, her husband Mike Edson ’87 and their kids Guthrie (16) and Sigrid (almost 13) visited the great Northwest this fall and we took them up to Timberline Lodge at 6,000 feet on one of our local volcanoes, Mt. Hood. Leslie is working on a novel and Mike is a Web and new media strategist at the Smithsonian Institution.” Tullan would love to hear from folks!

Lara Balter lives in Wellesley, Mass., with her husband Steve ’90. They have four children, two in college. Their oldest daughter is a senior at Bates majoring in geology; their son is in his freshman year at Wake Forest. Lara says her son has “no major yet, but he’s on their golf team and enjoying that,” and life is “a bit calmer with two out the house.” Their 15-year-old daughter is a sophomore and their 12-year-old daughter is enjoying 7th grade. Husband Steve co-manages some funds at Fidelity with Chris Galizio ’90.

After a stint back working 80 hours a week Lara is now “enjoying driving in endless circles with her girls to and from school and visiting the two who have left the nest.” Way to go Lara!

Vermont-based soul and blues singer/guitarist Dave Keller is celebrating the release of his new CD, Soul Changes. Keller recorded the CD in Memphis and Brooklyn, with some of the finest soul musicians alive: Al Green’s original backing unit, The Hi Rhythm Section. Renowned guitarist Ronnie Earl has called Dave’s newest work: “One of the best records I’ve ever heard.” Umm, that’s pretty cool!!! If you all are looking for more information on Dave and his music visit his website davekeller.com.

Til next time, y’all!

jonathan fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com

MICHELE BARNWELL | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Thank you SO much for your service David Milch! Welcome to our new guy, Jonathan Fried. Yay!

Sooooo many updates, we speed-wrote… .

Stephanie Dolgoff, now “happily divorced,” is hanging with her twin tween gals—while her Formerly Hot book has been optioned by Lions Gate!

Joel Jacobs is studying barefoot massage and has begun acting lately even though he’s still got his day-job practicing environmental law in the California Attorney General’s Office.

Rabbi Jennifer Feldmen-—Kehillah Synagogue of Chapel Hill, NC.—proudly shepherds a congregation that includes quite a few Wes alums. She’s even officiating a Wes wedding in Latin America!

Vermont-based soul and blues singer/guitarist Dave Keller is celebrating the release of his new CD, Soul Changes—recorded with Al Green’s original backing unit, The Hi Rhythm Section!

We heard from Jaewoo Choo, who lives in South Korea working as a professor of Chinese foreign policy at KyungHee University. Jaewoo is married to James Rhee’s cousin. He and his spouse have a 14-year-old son.

In Jericho, N.Y., Jeffrey Naness is a partner practicing labor and employment law for management at Naness, Chaiet & Naness.

This past November Dr. William “Rob” Spencer won his second term as a Suffolk County (N.Y.)legislator.

Robin Allen McGrew is living in Athens, Greece, with husband Wes, their 15-year-old son, Nicholas, and daughter Susanna.

Dr. Jim Vincent has been running his own real estate appraisal firm for 15 years. Meanwhile, he still keeps up with theater.

Ellen M. Richard Tan has caved to our peer pressuring (Yay us!) and given us the good news that she is “happily gay-married (to quote Colbert) to Dorothy Tan, with one marvelous girl pitbull dog, Sophie.”

Phineas Baxandall is living in Cambridge, Mass., along with kids 14 and 12 with his partner, Sarah. He left academia about a decade ago and still does a fair amount of research as part of advocacy to close corporate tax loopholes.

Paul M. Gallo and his wife, Katie, just welcomed their second daughter, Kelsey Jordan Gallo, this past November 4th.

Kevin Heffernan just moved from Northampton back to Boston, Mass., where he is a housing lawyer for the State. He has two boys ages 2 and 5.

Jeff Brez has moved to the United Nations Secretariat in New York, where he works with the creative community (TV, film, etc.) and NGOs to promote UN priority issues and foster social change. He is married to Adriano Monti.

Holly Adams is dusting off her passport because—guess what!—she and her husband are officially empty nesters, y’all.

Marit Larson and Adam Sobel are still in New York with their two boys Eli (15) and Sam (12). Adam is a professor of atmospheric sciences at Columbia; Marit is Director of Wetlands for the NYC Parks Department.

Anjulika Chawla has been living in Rhode Island since September 2011 and writes: “Met my guy here, and 11 years and four kids later we have gotten engaged on April 1st of 2013. It may take us another decade to actually get married, but you are all welcome to come when it does happen!”

Jonathan’s updates here:

Kim Slote lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, with her two children. Victoria Shestack Aronoff started nursing school, after a decade of grant writing. She lives in Maplewood, N.J., with her two children. Mark Seasholes has been in Hong Kong for the past five years, with his wife and daughter. They are in Austin, Texas, for the year. He saw Michael Mahon around Halloween for some barbecue, live music, and a UT football game. Bob Sutherland owns and manages several Sutherland Lumber stores. He lives in Niwot, Colo., with his wife and two daughters. Edward V. Colbert III is a partner with Looney & Grossman in Boston. He has a wife, two children, and at least five pets. He coaches hockey, and plays in a league with John Brais ’86 and Ted Galo ’85. Robin Smith is now vice president and general counsel for the Americas/Pacific Region of the US subsidiary of LEGO Systems, Inc. She reports that Dar Williams’s performance at Homecoming was “fabulous.” Evan Heimlich taught a World Religions course at Norco College in Southern California. Katey Miller Goldberg and Steve Goldberg celebrate 27 years since dating as sophomores! They live in Greenwich, Conn., with their three children. Steve is a senior portfolio manager at Citadel Asset Management and Katey works part-time in commercial real estate. David Levine visited Ricky Kotler in Baltimore, where Rick is a doctor in the managed care division of the Baltimore VA hospital. He lives in Columbia, Md., with his wife and three kids. David, an investment banker for middle-market companies, lives in Chappaqua, N.Y., with his wife and two kids. After many years teaching art history at Swarthmore, Janine Mileaf is the director of The Arts Club of Chicago. Matthew Coan lives in Mill Valley, Calif., with his wife and three kids. He co-founded Presidio Benefits Company in San Francisco. He was at Wesleyan’s first Little Three football championship in 43 years with Norm Beaulieu, Jim Lukowski, Mike Charlton, Adam Rohdie, Andy Lacey, Jim Regan, and Greg White ’87.

Since last reunion, Abby Smuckler Lotwin has married, had twins, left her long career in educational publishing, and moved to the ’burbs. She recently got together with Ladeene Freimuth, Colleen McKiernan, and Rachel Wulf Silver. Andrew Manning is a research geologist in Denver, Colo., is married, and has two daughters. He was inspired to see Wesleyan Earth and Environmental Science grads and faculty at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. John DiPaolo is a deputy assistant secretary for policy in the US Department of Education. He and his wife have one daughter. Janine Mortimer is in the Dominican Republic, enjoying the sunshine as the marketing manager for Occidental Resorts in the Caribbean.

See you at our 25^th (gulp) Year Reunion!

Jonathan Fried and Michele Barnwell
jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com
fishtank_michele@yahoo.com