CLASS OF 1959 | 2015 | ISSUE 3
You can imagine where Cyndy and I were on October 2. Wesleyan took over the whole Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York for a night like no other: Hamilton. To say that the almost-three-hour show is a tour de force is an immense understatement. It is an evening we will never forget.
I am sure we had some classmates in the audience, but the house was full at 1,350 fans. Saw Colin and Nancy Campbell fleetingly, and President Roth, but none of our lads. The show is a must see! Even Ben Brantley of the Times is stumped when he tries to find fault with the production.
A sizeable chunk was raised for Wesleyan, something close to $1.5 million, I think. The cheers for the show were so loud, I could not hear the exact figure. Take a bow, Barbara-Jan!!
The Greater Washington Society of CPA’s gave a significant award to our long-serving Class Agent, Bert Edwards. The award was for “Outstanding Service to the Profession.” Two things about it were particularly notable: It was the first of its kind ever given by the Society, and it was given to a “good cop” with 55 years in the profession. Well done, Bert!! Look out, bad guys!!!
Bob Chase reported having a good summer in Maine, during which he had dinner with Joe Mallory, Alan Brooks, and Tom McHugh and survived.
Bing Leverich picked up on the passing of Carl Schorske at 100. He was a seminal figure in many of our lives and one of those wonderful professors we had the privilege to know.
Walter Burnett reports that “2015 has been one of travel in the Pacific—Indonesia in the spring and Hawaii in the fall. Retirement is now a little over a year old and I am enjoying fewer responsibilities while dividing my time between the mountains of North Carolina and Atlanta, Ga.”
Sounds like a pretty comfortable arrangement!!
Skip Silloway and his wife, Molly, were last heard from heading for Santa Fe. Any sightings??
An under-reported election has taken place in Tiburon, Calif. Dave Eklund has run his first political campaign and has done so without benefit of political action committees. An active door-to-door effort has resulted in Dave having been elected to a four-year term on the Town of Tiburon Sewer Board. The photo (posted at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu) shows Dave in full campaign mode. Congratulations, Dave! What’s next?
The second annual midcoast Maine reunion of ’59ers took place at the spectacular home of Joe Mallory and his wife, Wendy, in New Harbor, Maine, joined by Bob Chase and wife, Joan, Alan Brooks and Marie-Pier, and down from the North, Tom McHugh and Anne. There was much good conversation, reminiscing, wine, and hors d’oeuvres, followed by dinner at The Bradley Inn. Thanks again go to Joe for setting this up and for being such a good host. Same time next year?
Bob Hydeman writes: “Here is my overview. Sixty years ago the world centered around the Wesleyan campus, the Goodyear Tavern included! The toughest decision was where to go that week: Conn. College, Smith, or Holyoke?? Since then the world has become increasingly more complicated and global. What would we know without computers, cable, smart phones?? No wonder we called our time at Wesleyan ’the good old days.’”
On a sadder note, George Bryant died at the end of March. He was an extraordinary man, smart, immensely talented, and who devoted his life to the town of Provincetown, Mass.
Architect, builder, civil servant, historian, manager (at the age of 10 he took over running the meat department at the family store when the butcher was fired), Peace Corps volunteer, George earned his master’s at MIT and practiced architecture with a major firm. He decided to return to the Cape and Provincetown. “He became the local architectural historian, architectural consultant, public servant, wine buyer extraordinaire, all the while being radical, free-thinking, subversive, unreasonable, intolerant and conservative,” said his son Eric. Sounds like George’s time at Wes Tech was not wasted. We will miss him.
Hope I saw you all on the campus sometime this fall. Homecoming was Nov. 7th!
That’s it for this one
Skip Silloway | ssillow@gmail.com; 801-532-4311
John Spurdle | jspurdle@aol.com; 212-644-4858