CLASS OF 1989 | 2015 | ISSUE 3

Newsmaker: Melinda Weekes-Laidlow ’89

Melinda Weekes-Laidlow ’89, president of Weekes In Advance Enterprises, is the first social entrepreneur in residence at Echoing Green, with a focus on racial equity. Echoing Green is a global nonprofit organization that provides fellowships, seed-stage funding, and strategic support to social entrepreneurs around the world. In an interview with Echoing Green president Cheryl Dorsey, Weekes-Laidlow called the post, “a wonderful way to leverage my nearly 25 years of experience as a social change agent, attorney, nonprofit manager, systems thinker, professional facilitator, capacity builder, and leadership coach.” Dorsey noted that she looked forward to Weekes-Laidlow offering the foundation “the opportunity to expand and deepen our community through the capacities you bring to the Social Entrepreneur in Residence role.” Weekes-Laidlow is a member of the advisory Board of the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Wesleyan. This fall she served as a panelist for Wesleyan’s Social Impact Summit, organized by Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, and Office of Alumni & Parent Relations. A member of the ordained clergy, Weekes-Laidlow serves on the ministerial staff of the Greater Allen Cathedral of New York. A College of Social Studies major at Wesleyan University, she earned her doctorate in divinity at Harvard University and her juris doctorate from New York University School of Law.

Jonathan writes: I returned from visiting my daughter, who is a frosh living in Clark Hall, to a burst of e-mail updates from our classmates. Thanks for reaching out, everyone; let’s get to it!

Seth Kaplan let us know that he has a new gig after 16 years as an environmental advocate at the Conservation Law Foundation. He’s done interesting stuff around transportation and urban development, focusing on clean energy and climate change. He also served as vice president for climate advocacy. He is now with a wind energy company, EDP Renewables, where he manages the government affairs for the Eastern Region of the U.S. EDPR is developing in Maine the largest wind farm in the Northeast, which requires frequent trips to Connecticut, where the power will be sold. This project brings him back to designing the lighting for Dar Williams’s senior project and her questions about the origin of electricity at Wesleyan. Seth’s eldest is now in her first year at Barnard College, and his other two kids are in ninth and fifth grades in the Brookline, Mass., public schools.

Melissa Herman begins by noting that merely typing “1989” makes her feel very old. (We all feel your pain, Melissa!) But even with her (self-described) “creaky body,” Melissa has been doing some small triathlons and running races, a family activity with her kids and husband. She’s looking forward to racing in Germany when she goes on sabbatical in Berlin next academic year to teach at Humboldt or FU, depending on the outcome of her Fulbright application. Her three kids will attend German schools, as they did last time they went—further improving their language skills with another dose of immersion. Her oldest is a high school senior applying to universities here and in Germany. Anyone who will be in Berlin in the 2016–17 academic year should give her shout and she will be happy to show you the sights.

Ed Thorndike is still at Wesleyan and getting ready to celebrate WesWings’ 25th anniversary. There will be a series of events leading up to a big party next spring. Sounds delicious, Ed!

John Hlinko is living in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Leigh, an author and architect, and daughters Kate and Ali (not named after the TV show). He is the leader of Left Action, a progressive grassroots activist organization, and he occasionally appears as a pundit on TV news programs, to yell and be yelled at. He recently enjoyed a long weekend in Vegas with Adam Long and Sandeep Wadhwa, where he miraculously didn’t lose money. John often spends his time shamelessly hawking his book, Share, Retweet, Repeat, including in these very class notes.

Jane O’Brien reports that she’s a failed writer—but a successful mother! (At least you have your priorities straight!)

Joel Jacobs is now the parent of a college student: older daughter, Aviva, is a freshman at Pitzer. He’s happy that she’s happy. Joel is still practicing environmental law, doing bodywork with his feet, and acting in community theater. Younger daughter, Talia, is a high school sophomore, and active on the debate team, which he’s been helping to coach, providing a great chance for them to spend time together.

David Levine writes: “On July 25th, 18 members from the class of ’89 and their families gathered together in Roxbury, Conn. Family members included other Wes alumns Todd Snyder ’84 and Gabrielle Mason ’87. Hosted by Stu Berman, Neil Blicher,Alan Cohen, Ricky Kotler, and David Levine. People traveled from Boston, D.C., and San Francisco to be there. We had beautiful weather for a fun-filled day of reconnecting that included swimming, ’80s music, plenty of food, and maybe a little alcohol as well. Notable changes since college included more girth and less hair. Great to see everyone after all this time.” (See the photo and caption in the online notes at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/class-of-1989)

Sherry Lehr Föhr writes: “I’m still living in Germany, where I run the writing center for the University of Heidelberg. My older daughter just completed her Abitur this past summer and even though she is still living at home for her gap year, I find that having only one kid in school really changes daily life. My younger daughter is in ninth grade and applying to spend next year as an exchange student in the U.S. She’s never lived there, so it is like going to a foreign country to her, but not to me, which is a bit strange. Plus I met my husband when I was an exchange student on Wes’s program in Heidelberg, and look where I ended up… In any event, I am sure my husband and I will find lots of fun things to do when the nest is finally empty, even if it will be just temporary.”

Mark Mullen writes, “My big news is that for the first time in a long time I live in the U.S. In San Francisco. So there’s that.”

Eric Schreiber has moved back to his Mountain View condo in the SF Bay Area after having lived overseas for the last nine years. He is teaching English literature at Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills and is “amused by all the Google Bikes and Teslas I see zipping around this area.”

Another published author in our class, Algernon Austin, has a new book out: America Is Not Post-Racial: Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Racism and the 44th President. This title analyzes the 25 million Obama haters in America and concludes with a discussion about how to address the “future of hate” in our country.

Melinda Weekes-Laidlow is excited to be the first social entrepreneur in residence with Echoing Green. She will be focusing on racial equity.

From Camarillo, Calif., Paul Gallo reports he is still coaching baseball at Harvard-Westlake and all is well on the family front, with wife Katie and daughters Madison (4) and Kelsey (2).

Indy Neidell gave us a lovely and thorough update: “Funnily enough, I’ve become a YouTube star the past year. I write and host a channel called ’The Great War’ that follows World War I, week by week, exactly 100 years later in real time, using original film footage from the British Pathé archives. The idea being to construct the ultimate documentary of the war, and also, since it’s YouTube, the first massive interactive documentary of its kind.” Indy already has had 150,000 subscribers and about eight million views. Check it out: youtube.com/user/TheGreatWar. He’s also doing commercial voiceovers and performing with six live bands, but is looking forward to a well-deserved rest in Rio de Janeiro.

Kelem Butts is still suffering through Dallas summers, but is really enjoying working for the AT&T Foundation. He gets to give money away to nonprofits focused on helping kids get through high school ready for college and career. He’s thrilled to finally have a cool “Wesleyan” job after all these years.

Lara Fortune Balter and Steve Balter ’90 just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and are surprised to find themselves this old. They enjoy visiting their eldest daughter (who graduated from Bates in 2014) in Colorado, where she lives and works, and their son, who plays golf at Wake Forest as a junior. They also still have two girls at home: a senior and a freshman in high school. Lara regrets that they are rarely together as a family anymore, but very much looks forward to those times. Husband Steve still works with Chris Galizio ’90, a union that she is not surprised has lasted 25 years. She concludes: “Life is good, all the ups and downs you’d expect, but the years have treated us well.” Amen to that, Lara. Amen.

We really did get a great number of updates this go ’round and we loved every minute of it!!! Thanks so much. See you all again soon… in your inboxes…when we’re clamoring for more news. Be well!

jonathan fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com

MICHELE BARNWELL | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com