CLASS OF 1986 | 2014 | ISSUE 2
For this issue of the class report, we begin with Lydia Crawford, who wrote: “I have not found the proverbial work-life balance—when my son was 10 and I was encouraging him to spend less time in front of the computer screen, he correctly noted that I spent my whole day in front of the computer! I then explained to him that I was paid to do work in front of the computer, to which he replied that I could certainly pay him to be at the computer….”
Some of the other news: Sam Atkinson has kept in touch with his three frosh roomies from Clark 312. He sees Tony Antonellis around Boston for lunch and Wes events. He recently spoke to Kevin Freund, who is in Ohio, has the 50th birthday year itch, and is planning the next chapter of his career. Sam also spends time with Peter Hammond every fall, when Peter visits for a reunion weekend in N.H., along with Mark Woodbury ’87.
Michael Tomasson and his wife, Kathy Weilbaecher (Harvard ’87), celebrated their 22nd anniversary. They are both physician researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, and their three kids are in 6th, 9th, and 12th grades. Michael is a physician on the leukemia and stem cell transplantation service and is scientific director of the multiple myeloma program. Generous with his time department: He does experimental science outreach as co-founder of PubStyleScience.com, which uses a combination of Google Hangouts and Twitter to host (very) informal dialogues about issues in biomedical science.
Lisa Clough and John (now Johan) Booth met up again this year at the South Pole. Lisa is a program manager at the National Science Foundation, and spends about a month a year in Antarctica. Johan was spending his 10th winter in Antarctica, where he works for NOAA on many things including keeping track of the size of the ozone hole.
Lydia Crawford also wrote, “I have been living in Saint Paul for the past 23 years and endured all 23 winters—not bad for a girl who grew up in Saudi Arabia! I moved here after law school at the University of Virginia, was in private practice for a while, clerked for a federal district court judge for a while, and have been with Wells Fargo for the past 13 years. I am a consumer credit attorney, working with all the so-called “alphabet regulations—A through Z—and since the advent of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I have been quite busy.…[With husband and kids,] we keep busy skiing, hiking, camping, biking, taking in the excellent regional theater in the Twin Cities, and savoring any sunny day above freezing!”
Dan Kolbert has been in Portland, Maine, since 1988: “50 had me freaked out for at least a year but so far hasn’t been so bad (or my dread successfully prepared me). I’m a building contractor and active in the regional community of ‘green’ builders and designers. I host a monthly Building Science Discussion Group as well, which has been both fun and a great way to share best practices. My spousal equivalent and I have two kids, the younger of whom is completely sick of my inability to watch a movie or TV show without telling her who I went to college with. ‘How come you’re not rich?’ she asks.”
Jody Lewen has been in the Bay Area since 1994, currently the executive director of the Prison University Project, which runs an associate’s degree program inside San Quentin State Prison for over 300 people. “I often think about how much my experiences at Wesleyan have informed my work—I seem to be driven to create a little Wesleyan inside San Quentin. I love my colleagues and the students at SQ, but there’s also a great deal of extreme heartbreak in working inside the California prison system. Work is very much the center of my life, so it’s a good thing the Bay Area is as beautiful as it is. Most regularly in touch with Judith Hill-Weld and Katherine Forrest, with occasional signs of life from Tyche Hendricks and Lizzie Carty ’87.”
John McIntyre was on a medical mission to rural Haiti in April; one goal is integrating remote interpretation of medical images from Haiti into the neuroradiology program at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, where he works. “Great to have so much local cross-country skiing right out my door. Great fall and saw many Wes folks at the Head of the Charles when I rowed in a senior masters eight with Alex Thomson ’82 and Kevin Foley ’82. Seeing a lot of John Gemery ’85, Michael Zegans ’85, and Jinny Kim Hartman ’86, all DH doctors. Following in Jon Chatinover ’83’s footsteps in Martha’s Vineyard, I have gotten involved in coaching the Hanover High School swim team and enjoy the rapid improvement of the student swimmers over a relatively short season.”
Eileen Mohan Flaherty has found her second career as a high school English teacher in Hartford to be far more gratifying than the practice of law. She and her husband, Patrick, are savoring their time with daughter, Cat, before she heads off as a freshman to Sarah Lawrence College in the fall.
Bennett Schneider: “I celebrated my 50th on April 5 in New York, eating Chinese food with Julia Barclay, Shawn Cuddy, James Hallett, Cobina Gillitt ’87, and Nathan Gebert ’85. Melinda Newman and I explore restaurants around L.A. regularly and are as close as ever. I’m going on six years of performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (as an actor in their education series) and 10 years as creative director and director of operations with Doozycards.com, making short animations. The work I’ve done the longest has been as vice-president of the charitable group, The Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for five years now and as a gay Hindu drag nun for 18 years.”
Eric Howard | EricInMaine@gmail.com