CLASS OF 1974 | 2015 | ISSUE 2

“Downsized and retired, Randy Smith reports that he is using some of his expanded leisure time to build a website for those who enjoy golf literature.  Golf-fiction.com offers short stories and novel chapters from all eras of golf authorship.”

Monique Witt writes that OneTrickDog* is dropping several more jazz discs this summer.  The production arm has a ten-performance run of a one-act play split/screen at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and a short film, creative dark, nearing completion.  Her older son (Avidon Audio Labs) engineered twelve foot Plexiglas speaker towers for the Louis Vuitton fashion show in Palm Springs (you can see them on line in Vogue; they’re beautiful), and her younger son (Ben) is performing with Curtis Lundy and composing for a video game in production.  Both sons are also working on albums to be released this year or early next of their own work, and she is writing and directing.  In addition, they’re scheduled for an exhibit this fall of two black and white street artists influenced by post war Japanese manga (Akira-style comics).  So everyone is busy.

Bob Baum has had lots of changes. Probably the biggest one is that he became a grandfather last August.  William is an utter delight.  He has been enjoying his return to New England.  Their house is on a bluff overlooking the Connecticut River and the Dartmouth Campus.  It’s about a 25-minute walk to work, where he teaches African Religions, African Studies, and Comparative Religions.  He hopes to see you everyone at the next reunion now that he is close by.

Karla Bell writes, “Big year for the family! My son Danny graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law in the spring, married his college girlfriend over Labor Day (2014), and started his clerkship with a federal judge. Having been discouraged and exhausted by her Teach for America tenure, my daughter Rachel is now employed at Forrester Research in Cambridge, MA, mentors promising students with the non-profit Minds Matter, and was just named Co-President of the Boston chapter’s Executive Committee. Adam, my youngest, is leaving New York to resume graduate studies. My stepson Philip Wallach ’05 and his partner Vera Krimnus ‘05, had the first grandchild, Bina, and moved to the D.C. area; Philip, who is at The Brookings Institute, published his first book. Kerry Wallach’02, and her partner Jess Fierstein ‘05,also moved to the D.C. area; Kerry is on tenure track at Gettysburg College, and Jess remains at Accenture. (Whew!) As for me, my health has improved some, but is still very unstable. I very much appreciated all of the kind messages sent from last year’s reunion, and apologize for not following up–that happened to be an extremely precarious time. I’m hoping to see all of you at the next reunion.”

Scott Brodie reports, “I am still teaching and “stamping out blindness as fast as I can” at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, with some time set aside as part of a team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center which treats retinoblastoma, the most common cancer of the eyes of children – in the last decade, we have reduced the need to remove the most seriously affected eyes from nearly 100% to no more than 5%.

This spring, I returned to Wesleyan and gave a lecture on the “Jordan Curve Theorem” to the undergraduate Mathematics Club. I was delighted to see not only a room full of enthusiastic and knowledgeable undergraduates, but two of the Professors who were most helpful to me back in my own days as a math major, Fred Linton and Tony Hager.

I continue to play the oboe and English horn in orchestral and chamber music settings as the opportunity arises – I played Stavinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” at Lincoln Center this past winter, and I am looking forward to joining Linda Rappaport at the Bennington Chamber Music Conference this July.”

Judi (Lawrence)’74 and Richard ‘74 Goodstein just became the very happy grandparents of Levi Max Goodstein, the day before their 41st wedding anniversary.   Judi is changing her psychology practice to four days and will travel every week from DC to Philly to spend a day with her grandson.

David Plettner-Saunders explains that “ …after years of reticence, I yield to your unending insistence to send news and contribute to the alumni discourse.

I loved learning from Facebook recently that classmate Andrew Char plays bluegrass with friends at a sunset jam in Haleiwa, Hawaii. And that he rails against the latest Hollywood movie set in Hawaii but featuring an all-White cast.

But more to the point, to share some classmate news, I am well and happy, living in San Diego with my dear wife and fellow arts consultant, Victoria. I run an arts consulting firm, The Cultural Planning Group, and spend 2 – 3 weeks per month on the road encouraging the development of the arts in cities throughout the US (on a good day). I am also a truly lackluster contributor to Wesleyan’s annual fund. I have mixed feelings about being the meaning of being an alumnus and confusion about the meaning of our shared experience, values and legacy as Wesleyan grads. This, I believe, qualifies me as representative of my class of 1974. But in truth, I do recognize and celebrate the values of inclusion, openness, and liberal education that Wesleyan embodies. I believe that Wesleyan was ahead of the curve in many things, such as coeducation, diversity, and redefining elitism in terms of actual achievement. I know that I was encouraged to pursue my goals in the arts, leadership and liberalism. And that John Wesley’s ideals have been reinterpreted for a new era.

So, I say again, thank you Sharon Purdie for being so persistent in maintaining contact and inviting your classmates to participate. And I thank the Wesleyan community for your forbearance in the dark ages of my class and the alienation of my era.

I send you all a bit of San Diego sunshine and some sand in your shoes.’

Blaise Noto is continuing to teach at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in the School of Filmmaking’s producing program. Most recently, he was able to spend time with long time friend and Paramount Pictures colleague Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, who was the UNCSA’s commencement speaker this year.

Also, he recently spent Memorial Day weekend in South Carolina visiting with Charlie and Carol Cocores. Great catching up and reminiscing about our days at Wesleyan and Deke.

Wayne Forrest has a summer intern from Wesleyan, Natasha Nurjadin ‘18.  She is from Indonesia.

In December 2014 Wayne took his daughter Jamie (23) to Indonesia for two weeks.  During the first week they visited Jakarta, where she met many of my Indonesian members, and toughed the choking traffic.  The second week they traveled to more serene locations: central Java (Yogyakarta) and Bali. They saw the world famous temples Borobudur and Prambanan where they were asked to pose for numerous “selfies” with Indonesian travelers.  One morning they woke up at sunrise and rode bicycles for hours through the rice fields of Java’s breadbasket. The settlements dotting the countryside seem little changed from when he first saw them 40 years ago.  In Bali, they arrived just in time for a huge royal cremation, a multi sensory experience one never forgets. It was extremely meaningful for him to show her the country he has spent much of his life trying to understand.

Harold Sogard is happy to report that he somehow managed to get elected to Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees.  He’s not sure whether he owes his success to having been positioned first on the ballot (because he was oldest) or to the various offers he made to classmates in return for their votes.  If he delivers on those promises, Joe Lowenstein will become Wesleyan’s new football coach, Rick Gilberg will become the hockey coach, and all members of the class of ’74 will be receiving retroactive full scholarships and forgiveness of any outstanding student loans for themselves and their offspring who attend(ed) Wesleyan.  He sends thanks to all for your support and promises to do his best to represent our class well.

Chuck Gregory continues to enjoy life in Fort Lauderdale with his wife of 31 years, Lorraine. He’s been co-host of The New American Dream Radio Show (http://newdream.us) since February 2011 and has a great time with that every Thursday night from 6 to 8 pm. He went to his high school reunion in May; maybe a Wesleyan reunion is in the picture in a few years (our 45th?).

Fr. Fred Enman, S.J. continues to work half time at Boston College Law School and half time at his non-profit Matthew 25 in Worcester, MA.  Matthew 25 will be dedicating its 10th house for low-income families in July of 2015.

Rick Kronick has temporarily (for 5.5 years and counting!) abandoned La Jolla for DC. He has had the professional experience of a lifetime working on implementation of the Affordable Care Act and on trying to make health care financing and delivery slightly less crazy, first as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in HHS, and, for the past two years, as Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  He and his wife Amy Bridges recently celebrated their 34th anniversary, as well as the marriages of both of their daughters.  Rick has retired (or so he claims) from flogging his body in training for Ironman events, but still drags it though triathlons of other distances.

Henry Avis-Vieira reports that his first book is finished.  Now comes the really hard work of (professional) editing and finding a publisher.

Charlie Cocores sees Blaise Noto a lot at this home in NC or theirs in SC. Charlie did a Habitat for Humanity in Flathead Lake Montana in July.

Kathy Scholle Hale and her husband Jon are coming up on 30 happy years of marriage in October. (Other friends, including Bob Gershen and wife Deb must be approaching the same milestone.) To celebrate, they bought a house near the beach in Westerly RI.   It’s a place to hang out with their grown children, Katie (28) a special ed teacher in Brookline MA and Ben (25) a commercial real estate advisor in Glastonbury CT. (Who forgot to warn me that keeping a house ready for summer renters is exponentially more complicated than maintaining your own house in the burbs?) She’s still living and practicing law in South Windsor, CT.