Class of 1972 | 2014 | Issue 1
My thanks to all of you who sent me recent updates. Inclusion here is based solely on order of receipt. If you don’t see your news here, you will in the next issue!
Starting with a personal encounter of an unusual kind, Rob Gelblum and I spoke together on a panel on brownfields development at a recent conference in Baltimore. We had them rolling in the aisles. Rob, after many years with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office, is now in private practice in Raleigh.
Steve Goldschmidt went to San Francisco for the National Association of Realtors national conference, and had dinner with his old roommate, Steve Lewis. “After dinner,” writes Steve G., “he drove me back to the hotel in his shiny Maserati but he asked that I emphasize to you that he bought it used.” Duly noted. Steve L. also claims still to own the truck he drove at Wes.
Art Vanderbilt wrote to recommend Katy Butler ’71’s book Knocking on Heaven’s Door. Katy gives a moving account of the last years of her parents. Those who knew Jeff Butler of the CSS will not want to miss this.
Bob White sends the sad news that George Jett lost his wife, Lynn MacFarlane ’75. The two of them met at a Reunion in 2005.
After 12 years as pastor of churches in suburban New Jersey, Rev. Doug Stivison has accepted a call as minister of the Congregational Church of South Dartmouth, Mass. “It is a classic white clapboard New England Congregational church combining long history with a vibrant, outreach-focused congregation. Its 200-year-old spire is a navigational landmark to sailors on Buzzard’s Bay —with the church just three blocks from the harborfront of Padanaram.”
Bruce Throne sends us this report: “I’m still in Santa Fe practicing law, one child (Greg) in his last year studying engineering at Trinity U in San Antonio and my daughter now in Australia, 13 months into her solo travel around the world, intending to beat her dad’s record from the late ’70s. I’m spending a lot of time helping renewable energy providers in the state with the second greatest solar potential in the country (yes, it’s sunny here in New Mexico) trying to deal with state regulators who seem to think climate change is a ‘greenie’ hoax on the public. Bet Wes-Techers living on islands or the coasts are thinking otherwise (glug, glug). About five years ago, I actually ran for election as commissioner at our Public Regulation Commission (regulates electric utilities and more) and finished second out of six candidates in the Democratic primary to a young man without a college degree who subsequently got indicted for violating the state’s campaign laws, misappropriating public funds and other minor infractions of the law and had to resign. So much for a Wesleyan education. Where was that course in ‘local politics’ at Wes? Sorry to report that Bruce Hearey was one of the folks that squandered $100 for ‘seed money’ for my otherwise publicly-funded campaign, even though he’s still in Cleveland and, so far as I know, his only interest in New Mexico is attending local pagan ceremonies (I’ll let him describe that, if he can). Actually visited Bruce and his lovely wife, Steph, in Cleveland two summers ago where he graciously took me to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (his thousandth visit apparently, he told me yawning) and provided trivia (still yawning) about events in the ’60s and ’70s that even that museum didn’t seem to know about (thus confirming why he became a lawyer—trivia ad nauseum). Also ran into Larry Weinberg hiking on the Aspen Vista trail above Santa Fe a few years back; heard he’s retired and moved here but haven’t seen or heard from him his since. Perhaps because I lost that election to a convicted felon? The only way we recognized each other on the trail (with all that grey or receding hair) were the Wes t-shirts we both were wearing that day for some odd reason. Hard to believe those old t-shirts still fit, or even have survived this long. Hope everyone else in our class is surviving that well. Cheers.”
And, for his part, Bruce Hearey writes: “My Victorian Fiction class at John Carroll U. is going well despite its difficulty; anyone else ever read Daniel Deronda? (I am two-thirds of the way through a masters in humanities degree program.) I will be the president of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association come June, 2014. Stephanie and I had a great get-together with Robbie Brewster in NYC in November. He looks great, is doing well, and we even managed to talk for a few minutes about something other than getting so damn old. Played golf with Brian Silvestro ’70, Jack Ingraham ’70, and Steve Ingraham ’70 in August in Rochester. Nothing but happy news from this correspondent on the North Coast.”
Just before fall semester began, Dave Gerard and his wife, Miho, returned to campus to meet Professor Phil Pomper, who had been Dave’s history tutor in CSS, and a key adviser for his senior honors thesis. Dave’s son, Pierre Gerard ’15, an Earth & Environmental Sciences major active in a variety of green causes, joined them for a meeting in Phil’s office where they had a vibrant discussion about the merits of moderate versus radical activism to effect social change. Afterwards, they headed down to Luce Restaurant for lunch, where the conversation turned to psychohistory as well as their shared passion for vigorous exercise, and in Phil’s case, long distance running into his 70s. Pierre later attended the dedication at Homecoming of the Philip Pomper Classroom on the fourth floor of PAC. Dave is an organizational psychologist and is a principal consultant with Korn Ferry in San Francisco. He is active in interviewing for Wesleyan in Silicon Valley, and attended a recent gathering of prospective students, parents and alumni with the new Assistant Dean of Admissions, Kora Shin, in Palo Alto.
Thank you all! Watch for the rest next time!
SETH A. DAVIS
17 Wolf Road, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 Sethdavis@post.harvard.edu