CLASS OF 1984 | 2015 | ISSUE 2
Roger Pincus is your reporter this issue. Here is the latest news from our classmates:
Linda Johnson Dougherty has let us know that her husband, Patrick Dougherty, was featured on CBS Sunday Morning on March 15. Linda made a brief appearance, too. The link is cbsnews.com/news/a-north-carolina-sculptor-branches-out/. Linda and Patrick live in Chapel Hill, and Linda recently celebrated 10 years at the North Carolina Museum of Art, where she is chief curator and curator of contemporary art.
Bruce McKenna was back on campus for Commencement, where he had the pleasure of watching his daughter, Madeleine ’15, graduate. Stephanie Oppenheim and David Weinstein were there, too, and were thrilled to watch their son, Matthew ’15, graduate.
Randy Frisch is a music publisher in New York City, working with music from around the world. The songwriters he works with include Gary Mezzi ’83 and Bill Anschell ’82.
Simone Zelitch’s fourth novel, Waveland, was published in May 2015; it focuses on Beth Fine, a Freedom Summer volunteer, and her experiences in Mississippi in 1964 and the years that follow. Another novel, Judenstaat, is forthcoming in June 2016 from Tor Books, a science fiction press. Judenstaat is an alternative history about a Jewish state established in Germany in 1948. Simone hopes to spread the word about these books and would love to reconnect with old classmates at szelitch@ccp.edu.
Michael Massen began work in January as a software developer for Continuum Analytics, doing front-end work on big data applications. The firm is based in Austin, but Michael is able to work for them remotely from New York City, where he lives. Michael also recently completed work on his second book on figure drawing, Figure Drawing in Proportion. It will be published by North Light Publications at the end of the year. Michael also enjoys leading workshops in figure drawing throughout the year as well, mostly at the Art Students League.
Laura Simon continues to live in Bethany, Conn., and works at her outpost as wildlife ecologist for the Humane Society of the United States. She is challenged to keep up with her son, Jack, who at age 12 is an avid citizen lobbyist and spends many of his waking hours lobbying for various animal protection and environmental bills at the State Capitol. Laura recently ran into Ted Kennedy Jr. ’83, who is now a Connecticut State Senator.
aura would love to hear from any old Eco House roommates: kealeylaura999@gmail.com.
Michael Lewyn is moving to Pittsburgh for a visiting professor position at the University of Pittsburgh’s law school, where he will be teaching property, wills, environmental law, and a land use law seminar.
Tyler Anbinder had a great time at Daphne Kwok’s Wesleyan Chinese New Year’s event back in March in Arlington, Va. The class of ’84 was well-represented, including by Rhonda Lees, whom Tyler met on his first day at Wesleyan in 1980. Tyler also enjoyed meeting Daphne’s parents at the event. In addition, as an American historian, Tyler is excited to be going to see Hamilton on the special Wesleyan performance night this coming October.
Cathy Reich had a busy spring surviving the hectic end-of-year events and crises of a combined junior/senior high school in rural Montana—proofreading the yearbook, folding graduation programs, pushing kids to graduate, dealing with emotional outbursts and teenage love gone awry, etc. In her spare time, Cathy has been attending monthly book club gatherings, participating in chair yoga and stability ball classes, eating weekly dinners with local seniors at the Senior Center, and keeping her geriatric pets in reasonable shape. Cathy is also active at her Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (Missoula), including by helping lead a service (Blessing of the Animals) and hosting the occasional vegan potluck. In her other spare time, Cathy has been participating in Energy Balancing Funshops and meetings (energybalancing.com). She is working on a Virtual Teacher certification on Coursera and teaches American English to students in Malaysia online and via e-mails.
Susie Kang Sharpe is still enjoying internal medicine practice in Springfield, Mo. She also has been doing a lot of art, music, and traveling. Through May, Susie had six exhibits of her watercolor and acrylic paintings displayed during 2015. She has a son in college (Washington University, St. Louis) and a daughter in high school, and reports that her post-divorce life has been wonderful.
Shakir Farsakh reports that as a recently minted diplomat, he is serving as the commercial attaché at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, Canada. Shakir’s wife, Hasna, works in global banking for HSBC, and his daughter, Jenna, will be starting her second year at the Lycée Francais de Toronto in kindergarten.
Blake Nelson’s novel, Recovery Road, is being adapted into a television series for ABC Family—for more see: m.etonline.com/tv/164564_nashville_actress_lands_troubled_role_on_abc_family_drama/
Paul Baker’s current found-object sculpture series is about the connection between smell and memory: pbakerart.com. Paul recently had a near-brush with fame and just possibly, fortune, when one of his sculptures was accepted for an exhibit to be sponsored by Christopher Brosius, whom Brooklyn-based Wesleyanites may recognize as the self-appointed bad boy of perfumers. Brosius was relocating his store and was open to aroma-themed art to display in the new area. Paul had hoped to come out from San Francisco to see his sculpture installed.
Unfortunately the lease fell through and Brosius had to make do with a much smaller space—and no art. But if anyone else is interested in creating a show about the intersection of chemistry, art, and memory, Paul is open to it!
Lee McIntyre’s book, Respecting Truth: Willful Ignorance in the Internet Age, was scheduled for publication on June 28 by Routledge Publishers, with a book launch party set for July 19 at Newtonville Books in Newton, Mass. Lee states that the book fights back against “science denialism” on such topics as climate change, evolution, and vaccines.