CLASS OF 1975 | 2016 | ISSUE 1
Class of 1975 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship
Saarim Zaman ’16, Government
Dear Classmates: You are not making this job easy! In response to my plea for news in the last column and via e-mail, I received a grand total of six replies. I know that the class of 1975 can do better than that, so send me a word as soon as you get this magazine, flip to this column, and realize how slim my pickings are this month. All it takes is a moment at the computer or on your phone. You call all do this. Now, on to what I know . . .
The holiday letters came from a few of my usual suspects. Brian Steinbach can always be counted on to mix politics, sports, and family news from his home in D.C. He continues his work in employment law with a successful finale to a six-year odyssey of arguing a case all the way to the Virginia Supreme Court and prevailing. Otherwise, he occupies himself with home improvement, car repair, and growing and preserving garden produce. Brian’s wife, Mary Reyner, is a talented potter and gardener.
Joost Brouwer’s holiday letter was full of family news, with his three sons finishing studies, finding new jobs, relocating within the Netherlands or as far off as Australia, and generally doing what 20-somethings do. Joost did some traveling himself, taking a three-week trip to China with a family group that included his 83-year-old uncle, who had many friends and colleagues there. The passage of 2015 also brought the passing of Joost’s mother and his mother-in-law. Joost continues to devote himself to advocating for refugee families seeking to remain in the Netherlands and has helped many people in need.
Martha Faller Brown actually sent a real, paper holiday card (they are sadly becoming rare) with a resolution to get together this year, since we are both in the Bay Area. I can report in a subsequent column when we actually pull this reunion off!
Cathy Gorlin is almost a grandmother—her daughter in NYC expects a baby boy in March. Cathy’s son bought a house in Denver, so she’ll be doing some traveling. I saw some beautiful photos she took in Florida recently—good place to be in February when you live in Minnesota!
Jeff Cellars has had an eventful year. He’s wrapping up a three-year tour as a diplomat in Switzerland, where he was Chargé d’Affaires and then deputy chief of mission, dealing with such challenges as the Montreux Jazz Festival and the World Economic Forum. The plan is to return to Washington, D.C., after 16 years overseas and enjoy grandparenthood and the upcoming marriage of his and Bethanne’s second daughter.
Cheryl Vichness reports that her daughter, Gwendolyn, will graduate in May from the University of Delaware with a degree in elementary education and theater. Sounds like a good combination!
Some older news I gleaned: Rachel Adler Hayes is a premature empty nester, with their son having gone to boarding school in New Hampshire. Rachel and her husband split their time between a house in New York and their place outside Boston.
Dave Rosenthal got together with John Moore, Joe O’Rourke and Paul Margolin for “a weekend mini-reunion this fall, sharing memories of favorite professors, intramural basketball and pizza at Giovanni’s. It began on Cape Cod and ended in Hartford with a concert by Stevie Wonder, who provided key parts of the playlist for our years at Wesleyan.”
David Leisner writes: “Last week saw the release of my new CD on the Azica label with cellist Zuill Bailey, called Arpeggione. Featuring the Arpeggione Sonata by Franz Schubert, the premiere recording of my Twilight Streams, and other arrangements of Falla, Villa-Lobos, Gluck, Saint-Saëns and Paganini, this album is already no. 51 on the charts in its first week. Judging from the extraordinary response so far, it may climb further up the charts. Zuill and I are very proud of this release and hope that you will take the opportunity to buy the CD or download.”
As for me, both kids are thriving in college. Julia (21) is spending the first three months of 2016 at “Stanford In Washington” doing a full-time internship with a bipartisan think tank and taking classes at night. Ethan is deep into his first year of engineering studies at Northeastern, adjusting to city living and New England winter. With the nest empty and lots of miles saved up, I had the remarkable chance to return to India (where I was an AFS student in 1970) for the fourth time. The occasion was the wedding of my Indian “niece,” child of one of my three AFS sisters. Seven parties in six days, followed by a week of recuperating at a resort on the Arabian Sea near the southern tip of India… followed by massive jet lag. It was an amazing experience and a tremendous privilege to be part of the family inside the experience of an Indian wedding.
I look forward to hearing from more of you this spring and having more info to share the next time around.
Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
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