CLASS OF 2002 | 2014 | ISSUE 3
Class of 2002! Another year down, only a few more to go until our 15th reunion!
I can personally attest to the fact that I’ve seen rave reviews EVERYWHERE – from the New York Times to Entertainment Weekly – for Una LaMarche’s new book, Like No Other, which was published in April. I’m paraphrasing the description from Amazon.com, but the novel is about what happens to an unlikely pair – a Hasidic good girl and a fun-loving book smart kid – after they get stuck in an elevator when a hurricane strikes. Una’s next book will be a collection of hilarious essays. Congrats!
Freelance writer and editor Cristina Moracho also has a book out. Her debut novel, Althea & Oliver, was published by Viking Press on October 9. According to Amazon.com, “Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives after him, determined to make up for what she’s done.” Cristina lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and is working on her second novel.
Also out in New York: Michelle Rabinowitz was promoted to vice president of production for TriBeCa enterprises. She oversaw production of the doc We Could Be King about the merging of two rival high schools in Philly and their first football season as a new team. It aired on ABC and ESPN and is now available on iTunes. Alex Horwitz edited the documentary, Whitey: The United State v. James J. Bulger, which premiered at Sundance and has been getting great reviews since its release. He is currently directing a documentary that will follow Lin-Manuel Miranda as he stages his new musical, Hamilton, which opens at the Public Theater in early 2015. Speaking of Lin, his improvised hip-hop comedy series Freestyle Love Supreme premiered in October on Pivot, in which he stars alongside Bill Sherman and Anthony Veneziale ’98 (who also produces the show).
Didn’t believe this one when Rich sent it to me in the first place but did some research and it’s pretty awesome! Rich Boatti’s, aka Roatti the White Tiger’s street ball video of his complete domination from behind the arc, “Streetballin so Hard M***erf***ers Wanna Find me (for three)” went viral, garnering a combined 2 million views on Youtube and World Star Hip Hop, leading to media coverage on multiple sports publications like Bleacher Report, Deadspin, and Ballislife. Shaquille O’Neal even tweeted that the NBA should “sign him up.”
Lauren Geller Rascoff lives in NYC with her husband, Sam, and their two beautiful children — Jonah (5) and Roselle (2.5). She is an urogynecologist working at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. Jocelyn Greene is delightedly the mother of Nathaniel (age 2) and runs the children’s theater program, Child’s Play NY teaching dramatic play and directing kids in Brooklyn and Manhattan. And Anthony Rosario is now the Director for the new Brooklyn Initiative Program for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC. He writes, “BBSNYC is looking or mentors for kids in Coney Island and Red Hook.” Anthony has also moved to Bushwick with his partner of two years and they have a puppy named Randy that is their “newest joy.”
Congratulations are in order to many of our fellow graduates:
Lexi Keeler and her wife Jenny Jackson welcomed twins Harper Mae Jackson and Will Roscoe Jackson this past January. Per Lexi, “they’re already irritating older brother Emmett, just like younger siblings should.” Lexi is now working at the Seattle chapter of Summer Search, a national youth development organization that helps low-income youth get to and through college.
Sara Miller is happy to report that she gave birth to her first so, Ezra Penn, in April 2014. She, her husband, and new baby have moved to Bucks County, PA.
Ben Goldstein and his wife Cheng Li welcomed their son Malcolm Li Goldstein on April 25th. Ben Allen and Sonya Abrams ’01 attended the Bris. They will be moving cross-country as Ben will be starting as Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Duke University this Fall.
Ryan Akers’ son, Carl Joseph, was born at his home in the early morning of June 14th, 2014. Weighing in at 7lbs. 6oz., he’s a happy and healthy baby who “enjoys milk, naps and a good burp.”
Josh Gleich says “it’s been likely the most eventful summer I’ll ever have.” Between late June and early August, he became a father (his daughter’s name is Violet), a PhD., and a visiting professor of film and television studies at U. of Arizona.
Steve Scribner married Stacy Passmore in April. The wedding was in Austin TX, with fellow ’02 folks Bajir Cannon, John Gordon, Austin Zinsser, and Dina Levi in the wedding party. Steve said, “we sang the fight song with gusto right after the ceremony, other wesleyanites there included (among others) Conor Gately, Josh Blumenstock, Nate Link, Ryan Huggins, Kathleen Jones, and John Guerry.” Steve lives in Brooklyn and works for FXFOWLE Architects in the Cultural and Educational studio.
Eric Kushins married to Doreen Lee in April in Savannah, GA. An Duong ’03 served as Eric’s “best friend” in the wedding and provided a grooms-woman speech. While Eric completes his last year in his joint-PhD program in Organization Management and Sociology at Rutgers University, he will be working as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Stetson School of Business and Economics at Mercer University in Macon, GA. In August, Eric and his wife moved from Long Island City, Queens to Atlanta, GA.
Sonja Koppenwallner was excited to place 3rd in the 3k open water swimming at the FINA Masters Swimming World Championships in August. They were held in the Olympic Rowing basin in Montreal. Reminded her of the good times she had with Wescrew, “except for this time she swam instead of being in a boat.”
And many of us on the move professionally or geographically:
Jesse Lava is now the director of legislative affairs for the Chicago Department of Public Health. Sarabeth Broder-Fingert is now the Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. Rachael Slivka moved to Washington, DC, where she is in a fellowship in Extreme Environmental Medicine through George Washington University (it’s through the department of emergency medicine. Rachel also is engaged to Joel Schectman, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal. And Rachel Kriger and her husband moved to Philadelphia. She practices acupuncture at The Cedars House. Check out her website at www.pointsofreturn.com.
Lastly, Allison Kennedy lives in Albuquerque and working for the state of New Mexico through the Main Street program, which focuses on the preservation and economic revitalization of historic downtowns.
As for me, as part of my job as Vice President of Original Series at Spike, I spent September in Morocco, overseeing production of our new scripted event series TUT, starring Ben Kingsley, which premieres in summer 2015. I also had a new show premiere this past summer, Hungry Investors, and in September, the fourth season of our #1 hit show Bar Rescue. And personally, I’ve enjoyed the first year of marriage to my wife!
JUSTIN LACOB | justinlacob@gmail.com