CLASS OF 1987 | 2015 | ISSUE 3
Johanna Maaghul is “so happy to have settled back in San Francisco with my husband and family. I have started a new career as a literary agent and am enjoying the wild ride with my authors in the rapidly changing publishing industry. I work mostly in the mind-body-spirit space but do some fiction as well. Many thanks to Julia Druskin for the mid-life career counseling! Our oldest son, David, is now officially a Cal Bear after years in the stands at the Saturday football games in Berkeley as a child.”
Charles Grattan Baldwin started a new job this fall. “I moved to Princess Anne, Md., where I am an assistant professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; At UMES I am teaching literacy courses to teacher candidates. So far, I am having a great time teaching and I am very much enjoying the academic life. My daughter, Annika, and I spent some of the summer in Switzerland and Sweden. I turned 50 near Zurich; Switzerland was a great place to have a birthday.”
This fall, the UNC Press is publishing The Transnational Mosque, Architecture and Historical Memory in the Contemporary Middle East, by Kishwar Rizvi.
Tessellati, LLC, a marketing agency on Boston’s North Shore, run by Ben Waxman, “is always looking for interns looking to do good in the world, as they work hard and gain great business experience. Last summer Leah Giacalone ’17 was a terrific addition to our team.”
Emerson Hospital physician and Concord, Mass., resident, Ira L. Skolnik, MD, PhD, has been elected to a three-year term as president of the Massachusetts Board of Dermatology.
Scott Pryce is still in D.C., though he spends a lot of time in Miami. He celebrated Chip Nottingham’s 50th in DC with Breaux Walker ’89 and Colin Dowling ’86 in attendance.
I got a great long e-mail from my freshman hall mate Laura Holmes: “As I write this, I am sitting on the porch of a 1940s farmhouse (old by Oklahoma standards) that I moved to my partner’s property about three years ago. We gutted the house, renovated, and added on to make an amazing place that fits the property and our outdoor lifestyle. I’m watching the total lunar eclipse from the porch,which faces east toward the vineyards and the horse pasture. We have 10 acres, two horses, three dogs, and a cat. During the day, I practice education law, representing school districts throughout Oklahoma, and am enjoying my life at 50. We are having our first wedding in the vineyard with a reception in the barn this coming weekend and are hopeful for a successful new venture. Whenever I get e-mails from Wesleyan, I fondly remember my time in Foss 8 with you, Anne Friedlander, Debra Guss, Nancy Dobrow, Bucko (head resident Kathi Burke ’84), Betsy Datner ’85, Lauren, Mercedes, Christine, Valerie, Kathleen, Jennifer, and all our other hallmates. What a great group to live with our freshman year. I always look back on my time at Wes and think what an amazing place, an incredible education, and unbelievable friends. Of course, if any Wes folks are in Oklahoma, I would love to catch up. Many years ago, a much younger Wes alum played ice hockey for our semi-pro team in Oklahoma City. We became friends, and he had Christmas dinner with my family. I loved being able to share with him what others from Wes had shared with me for several Thanksgivings when I didn’t come home.”
Josh Calder had fun this summer doing a family road trip with the 8-year-old and 2-year-old, from Minnesota back to DC, via Canada. “As it was my birthday trip, I made us visit 43 islands. (I’m hoping to reach an island total equal to my age this year.)”
Karen Craddock also gave me a lengthy update: She is “an applied psychologist and principal researcher focusing on the socio-cultural context of human development, especially among women and marginalized communities, and as founder/president of KCollaborative Connections a relationship-based consultation, training and research practice I am collaborating on projects across multiple sectors. It’s been a pleasure to work as faculty and lead scholar of Relational-Cultural Theory and Social Action with the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute (JBMTI) at the Wellesley Centers for Women, primarily exploring connections across race, gender, and relational neuroscience and the impact on social emotional wellness in diverse communities. Recently co-authored an article with JBMTI colleague in Psychology Today on “Stopping the Pain of Social Exclusion.” As chief operations officer for engagement with the Avielle Foundation’s Sodina Project, it is an honor to develop and expand this national storytelling and mapping project with those who have lost loved ones to violence with an overarching aim to create change by cultivating a diverse community of healing, fostering empathy, compassion and connection. Finally, I am very excited to share the launch of my new book as editor and author of Black Motherhood(s): Contours, Contexts and Considerations (Demeter Press), a multi-disciplinary volume of essays and works by an international array of scholars and writers exploring the varying perspectives and experiences of Black motherhood through diverse and intersecting lens. I keep in touch with a few Wesleyan folks quite regularly: Ian Friday, Melinda Weekes ’89, Joaquina Borges, Lydia Esdaile ’85 and several others via Facebook and community circles. I was also thrilled to support and participate in Vashti Dubois’ ’83 The Colored Girls Museum, which opened in September for the Philadelphia Fringe Arts Festival.”
Happy holidays and best wishes for a great new year.
Amanda Jacobs Wolf | wolfabj@gmail.com