CLASS OF 2001 | 2015 | ISSUE 2

Michael Homolka writes, “I am living in New York City and have recently switched careers from book production at Simon & Schuster to the New York City Teaching Fellows program. I have also had a collection of poetry, titled Antiquity, accepted and it is forthcoming in 2016 from Sarabande Books.”

Elizabeth Savage and her husband of nearly five years, Michael Schopf, are expecting their second child in October. They live in Portland, Ore. Elizabeth is an attorney whose practice focuses on civil litigation.

Ben Spatz’s book, What a Body Can Do: Technique as Knowledge, Practice as Research, was published by Routledge in March. The acknowledgments mention Pedro Alejandro, Cheryl Cutler, and Hope Weissman. He and his partner, Michelle Goldsmith, also welcomed their first child that month as well.

Speaking of babies, in addition to her continued success as a NYC wedding photographer, Sarah Tew is building a body of personal work on home birth, so if any of you pregnant New Yorkers out there are interested in participating, check out her website and get in touch.

Again, re: babies: had an awesome stay with a pregnant Mary Robertson in Brooklyn. She and her husband, Josh, were expecting a baby boy in July.

On a still related note, Don Kim and his wife are expecting their first child in December.
Lauren Royce lives in NYC with her husband and two daughters, who are 5 and 7, and continues to love her career as a child and adolescent psychiatrist in private practice.

Being a list person, I appreciated the following dispatch from Raymong Kuo:
“1. My wife and I welcomed our daughter, Layla, our first child.
“2. We moved into our new home in Brooklyn.
“3. I received my Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University.
“4. I started as an assistant professor of political science at the University at Albany, SUNY, but moved earlier this year to Fordham University in the same capacity.
“5. I regularly see Alexandre Su, who also lives in Brooklyn.”

It was great to hear from Josh Kagan. He recently became the director of business development and sales for Clean Fund, a specialty finance company that provides commercial building owners with capital to do energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. “No kids (yet) though have been married for four years almost to the day.”

I also heard from the wonderful Amos Hausman-Rogers, who writes, “I have been traveling and raising money for charity by donating and seeing if people want to match my donation for home-lessness. I raised a fair bit, and think I’m taking the summer off.”

I still remember seeing Sarah Kozinn perform at Wes and being struck by her talent, so I was especially glad to get her news. “My husband and I moved to Los Angeles in 2013 after almost 12 years in NYC,” she writes. “I am a theater professor at Occidental College and just published my first book, Justice Performed: Courtroom TV Shows and the Theaters of Popular Law (Bloomsbury). Last September we multiplied and had a baby! He’s an adorable goofball. Other than that I’m still acting and writing and hanging with Wes folks out here.”

From Sonya Abrams: “I hightailed it to San Francisco immediately upon graduation and haven’t looked back, and I now have three kids under four years old (Most recent addition, Keira, born in February), so my professional pursuits have been temporarily buried under a pile of sippy cups and Pampers, though I still find time to do some freelance event photography for a public affairs forum.”

Rachel Stevens, in western Mass., had an even more memorable blizzard experience than the rest of us sorry New Englanders. “During the January 27 blizzard—luckily only six inches here, my brother in Worcester got 33—we welcomed Lillian Winslow Stevens! She is spoiling us rotten, and loves visitors.”

My dear buddy Ben Stanko has a message, too. “I’ve moved from South Philly to the Mount Airy neighborhood in Philadelphia. My wife, Kim Massare, and our two-and-a-half year-old-son, Theo, are having lots of fun exploring the woods around the Wissahickon Creek. I’ve also recently been promoted to district arborist in the urban forestry division of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation.”

We have a winner for this round’s nonprofit spotlight, wherein I donate to one awesome organization that you nominate. The spotlight goes to Women’s Prison Association, thanks to Samantha Yard. In the fall, Samantha begins a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship in PTSD at the Seattle VA. Her husband, Antoine McNamara, continues his work as a patent litigator, and their daughter, Sophie, is about to start preschool.

Samantha, who conducted her dissertation research with women in jail and prison, added that the Women’s Prison Association (WPA) provides services across various stages of involvement with the criminal justice system, and “they have actual outcome data (a rarity) showing that their programs reduce recidivism, which is why they get my vote.” Join me in donating to the WPA this month at wpaonline.org!

Meanwhile, here in Boston, my boyfriend, Nick, and I eloped and bought a house in the city with a little yard, enabling my intense gardening addiction. We adopted two former street cats that are unbearably cute and ridiculous. I’m still working with incarcerated teens, managing a program that gives them access to lawyers. I’m also on the board of Phinney’s Friends, an all-volunteer nonprofit that helps disabled, low-income people in the Boston area keep their beloved pets by providing assistance with their care: phinneysfriends.org. We’re always looking for volunteers, and many tasks can be done remotely!

Thanks, all. I can hardly believe I’m writing this, but I would love to catch up at our upcoming 15th Reunion. Also, starting with the next issue, Aryn Sperandio will join me in writing the notes. So you’ll be hearing from her, too.