Class of 1971 | 2014 | Issue 1
Aloha. Thanks for your response to my pleas for news. I have too much, but here is a brief summary. Kip Anderson reports his first book of poetry was published, Mortal Soup and the Blue Yonder, White Violet Press, by C.B. Anderson. Harlan Stanley is “still working at LaSalle Investment Management, but found time to play golf with Frank Leone and Bruce Barit ’72 at Bandon Dunes in September.” He stayed with Burk Murchison in Dallas, who has three grandchildren. He and wife Peg have one granddaughter and another due.
On a sad note David Foster reports his wife, Linda Susan Foster, passed away Aug. 17, with her loving family and caregivers by her side. Rod Cash reports the passing of Gus Ayer on Feb. 13. “All of Gus’s friends at Wes remember him for his incisive comments on anything and everything and his wonderful sense of humor, accompanied by a beaming smile and the most infectious laugh ever. We also remember Gus for having a series of girlfriends all named Pat. Gus was mayor of Fountain Valley, Calif., in Orange County, and an environmental and political activist. He was an inspiring mentor for young progressives in Orange County. Gus is survived by his wife of 37 years, Verna, and sons Ethan and Eliot.” Marvin Williams reports that sadly his “wife of 34 years, Faye Williams, died this past June of cancer. She was brilliant, graceful, beautiful, and funny. I am spending part of Thanksgiving holiday in Grants, N.M., under 11,600 ft. Mt. Taylor with Herb Wilkins, my West College roommate, and his vivacious wife, Renee.”
Demetrie Comnas and his wife, Ann, returned a few years ago from almost 20 years in Europe (London and Athens), and settled in Villanova, Pa. “I am one of the senior partners in a UK–based consulting practice, The Principia Group, Ltd., and continue to serve on the review committee of the Fulbright Foundation for Greece, and as accounting warden of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Gladwyne, Pa.
Jay Wish writes, “After 34 years on the faculty of Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, I’m joining the faculty of Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis as professor of clinical medicine.” Jay Resnick is finishing his first semester of ancient Greek, and taking creative writing. He and wife Judy love their first year as grandparents. Fran Pawlowski is retiring in May after teaching at St. Michael Indian School on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Reservation since three months after leaving Wesleyan. Connie Balides won the Pedagogy Award for 2013 from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, an international professional organization of film and media scholars. She teaches film studies at Tulane University in New Orleans. Bob Baranoff is retiring as head of research for LIMRA, a research trade association for the financial services industry. His wife, Ronnie Kuzara, will be retiring from teaching art. They have bought a house in Arizona near their daughter, Rebekah, for the winters, and their son, Joshua, is getting married in June.
Another Wes-techer has moved to Hawaii: Andy Sutton. After 31 years as professor of music (ethnomusicology) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he retired in June and is now at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa: dean of the School of Pacific and Asian Studies and assistant vice chancellor for international and exchange programs. Ed Swanson’s daughter (a curator of Mellon Academic Programs at Williams College) gave birth to her second daughter, and his second grandchild, this fall. Budding chef in need of a job, Warren White earned a culinary arts technical certificate from Nashville State Community College.
Jim Rizza contacted his thesis adviser, Vito Modigliani, now professor emeritus, psychology, Simon Fraser University. Jim has three granddaughters—Ava, Aubrey, and Addison, ages 22 months to 4 years. Mary McWilliams continues to run a nonprofit that uses claims data on 3 million lives in Washington to report on the variation in quality and cost of various doctors and hospitals in the area and is focused on reducing the overuse, underuse, and misuse of health care services.
Katy Butler’s book, Knocking on Heaven’s Door, was just named one of the 100 best books of 2013 by Publishers Weekly and is a finalist for the “Books for a Better Life” award. [Ed note: See review, p. 18.] Jay Resnick, Mary McWilliams, and I read it and recommend it to all.
Sad news is that George Naylor passed away Nov. 8. He was the author of plays, short stories, and books about the counterculture and his time as a farmer.
Mike Thompson reports he keeps in constant touch with Jon Felt and Jake Weiss.
George Lehner is the chairperson at the Fund for Peace, a nonprofit that focuses on conflict resolution in fragile and failing states. He is also serving as counsel to the White House Correspondents’ Association in Washington. Henry Saunders practices internal medicine and hospice and palliative care in Conway, S.C. He and wife Donna married two years ago and live in North Myrtle Beach. They have a large combined family, including Henry’s daughter who just celebrated a same-sex wedding in Iowa to Wesleyan grad Kiera Mulvey ’00! He reports on two non-grads—Charlie Bell, who is a retired financier living in Thailand and Canada, and Jonathan Kramer, who has been on the faculty at N.C. State for years. Pam and Bob Kyrka report that Bob is retired, Pam is still teaching, Kristin ’04 is an immigration lawyer in Seattle, and Morgan is working and living in New Hampshire. That’s it! Thanks for the updates.
NEIL J. CLENDENINN
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714;
Cybermad@msn.com