CLASS OF 1980 | 2015 | ISSUE 3
Paul Singarella writes in response to my seeing his family name on the firehouse in Beacon Hill: “That’s right Kim: The Singarellas, going back to my grandfather, were contractors and builders in the Boston area, building not only that sturdy firehouse, now a children’s center, but also part of Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo, part of the well-known Morrissey Boulevard, and the North Weymouth drive-in theater, which supposedly was the first one in the region. I, myself, am not a contractor, although that’s what I did during my summer vacations, starting at age 12. It does not feel like child labor when you are a 12-year-old driving a steamroller. These days, I am working as a lawyer on water scarcity issues, such as representing the State of Florida in its U.S. Supreme Court case against the State of Georgia, asking the Supreme Court to apportion enough of the river flow from upstream Georgia to protect the Apalachicola River and Bay of the Florida Panhandle, and the oyster that bears the Apalachicola name. Heather and I are empty-nesters in Irvine, Calif., with Nick (NYU 2013) living and working in the Bay Area, Natalie a junior at TCU, and Juliette a sophomore at Vanderbilt.”
Paul Oxholm writes: “Sarah, a Lehigh senior, is a double major in finance and marketing, with a psychology minor. Catherine is a Denison freshman with potential interest in one of nine majors. Karen continues to teach at school and coach the girls tennis team. I continue to run a small manufacturing company in central Pennsylvania, serve as a financial adviser for a few families, and watch my hair turn grey. Karen and I are entering a new phase as empty nesters with more anticipation than trepidation. Let’s hope that continues…”
Doron Henkin writes: “In October 2013, riding the joyous wave of advances in rights, I ’gay married’ Victor Hall at a ceremony on the eastern shore of Maryland, in a Jewish-Philippino-inclusive ceremony at Historic St. Martin’s Church in Berlin, Md. It was their first LGBT event, ditto for the reception hall in Salisbury. Nine months later our union was suddenly legitimized in Pennsylvania, when Governor Corbett declined to appeal from a Federal District Court ruling in Harrisburg in favor of the plaintiffs seeking marriage equality—which ended an odd period in which we were married in some states and on some tax returns but not others. Victor was born in the Philippines and worked in a number of nonprofits before going back to (culinary) school. He is now a dessert chef at a downtown Philadelphia restaurant. I continue my legal practice, focusing on business, bankruptcy and real estate matters. Children, Dan and Gil, have graduated college. Gil is in physics graduate school at McGill University in Montreal and Dan is looking for that first real engineering job after college. Daughter Hannah is a senior at the University of Michigan and played on Team USA (Women’s) at the recent 23-and-under Ultimate Frisbee World Championships in London, England.
Rebecca Hayden writes: “I am still living in the Cambridgeport section of Cambridge—I’ve been here since 1981 (with the exception of one year in Munich). My husband and I live a three-block walk from Central Square, which means he can bike to his job at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard, and I can walk the three miles to Brookline High School, where I am starting my 15th year teaching English. It couldn’t be a better match; I’m not surprised lots of BHS students go to Wesleyan. They are fun, challenging, quirky, sophisticated in all the right ways, and inspiring to teach. I still sing seriously and occasionally for money. Currently I’m in a large volunteer chorus and gig quite a bit at retirement communities. They enjoy my repertoire of parlor songs, vaudeville, operetta, spirituals, and the great American songbook. I was really fortunate the summer of 2014 to receive one of the last NEH grants awarded to high school teachers for foreign study—amonth in London studying The Canterbury Tales. It brought back great memories of Hope Weissman’s seminar on Chaucer. I am grateful for good health, a career I love, a happy marriage, and a circle of wonderful friends—many of them from Wesleyan: Almut Koester, Christian Herold ’81, Michael Shulman, and Suzy Shedd (with a shout-out to Randy Baron, too!).
Mark Zitter writes: “I’m the proud dad of three teens, including a high school senior and junior. Both of them are considering Wes as they look at colleges. I’m still running Zitter Health Insights but also am doing a lot with death these days. My physician-wife focuses on end-of-life issues in both her clinical practice and her New York Times columns, and we co-founded a telephone counseling service for dying patients that we sold a few years back. Recently I’ve chaired a series of interviews at the Commonwealth Club of California on dying, including one with Jessica. It’s fun to work together on this important issue.”
Dan Connors writes: “Still living in St. Louis and love our baseball Cardinals while hating our football team that wants to leave for LA. Got my CPA a few years ago and now writing financial articles while trying to help small businesses in the area. Two daughters near college age, neither likely to attend Wesleyan and asking me how crazy I was to go so far away knowing nobody… At work for nearly three years now on my novel, which I may just have to self-publish once I get it done. Looking for Wes grads (or anybody else bored enough) who would like to read and critique it.”
Janet Grillo is delighted to screen the feature film she directed, Jack of the Red Hearts, at The Rome International Film Festival, Alice nella Città, in October, after showing it at four American film festivals since May, and receiving 11 awards. Jack (starring Famke Janssen and Sophia Anne Robb) will open in 15 select AMC theaters across the country on December 4th.
KIMBERLY OFRIA SELBY | kim_selby@yahoo.com