CLASS OF 1960 | 2016 | ISSUE 1
Class of 1960 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship Fund
Joseph Ellis ’19, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Bruce Dow is still working 20 hours per week as a community psychiatrist on Cape Cod, where he has a home near the ocean. He published his first book last year, Dream Therapy for PTSD (Praeger Press, 2015), and has a second book in progress, on the newer antipsychotic medications for schizophrenia. His partner, Rae Edelson (Barnard ’64), runs an art program (Gateway Arts) in Boston for people with mental disabilities. They shuttle between their two homes. Bruce has three grandchildren (in Seattle and Denver), and she has four (in Chicago and Washington, D. C.), so they travel around the country as well.
Rick Garcia is the current president of the Bolivian Academy of Economic Sciences (ABCE). See the Newsmaker for his update.
In February 2015, Peggy and Dave Hale escaped winter with two weeks in Chile and Argentina where they visited ranches, wineries, and a microbrewery. They heard interesting talks on a variety of cultural and historical topics, and took a tango lesson in Buenos Aires. In September they flew to eastern Europe where they boarded a ship on the Danube River to visit Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, and Hungary. They experienced four folk dance groups, castles, cathedrals, and much talk about the miseries of life with communism.
Bob Mortimer wrote: “Mimi and I moved around quite a bit in 2015. We were in France for three months in the spring and then again in the fall. As our research interests center around France and its former colonies, we are always happy to see friends whom we met throughout the francophone world. It’s always a little bit ‘Afrique sur Seine’ for us (to quote the title of one of the earliest African films). In June our daughter Denise ’93 brought her kids (who are in a French-speaking school) to Paris to confirm that there really is an Eiffel Tower and no end of bookstalls filled with Tintin. During the fall we were too close for comfort to the terrorist attacks and the rise of the ultra-nationalist Front National. There was a Dickensian feel to our visits: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…’ We also visited Jordan with its magical sites of Petra and the Wadi Rum desert, but the regional chaos and Syrian refugee crisis weigh heavily upon that country. Only Iceland, where we stopped off for a week in June on our way back to Boulder, seemed a refuge from the world’s troubles.”
Chuck Olton has published a book, Heroic Vision: A Story of Revolutionary Art and Politics. Anyone interested can learn more at heroicvision.net. Chuck and Barbara have been dividing their time between a home on Shelter Island (a community of 4,000 in winter and 25,000 in summer) and an apartment on lower Fifth Avenue, where they have lived since the early 1990s. They plan to sell their island house soon and will move to a retirement community, but they are not giving up on New York yet!
I am sorry to report that Bob Votaw died Jan. 26, 2016, in Farmington, Conn., after an extended illness. He majored in biology at Wesleyan and then received a Ph.D. in microbiology from Case Western Reserve University in 1964. He was a member of the faculty at Case Western until his appointment in 1966 as associate professor of biochemistry and director of Multidiscipline Laboratories at the soon-to-be built University of Connecticut Health Center. During his tenure with the UConn Health Center, Bob was instrumental in the design of the multidisciplinary labs and the medical school’s first microbiology curriculum. Later he also served as an assistant dean of medicine and led the development of the school’s first computer-based education program. After retiring from UConn, Bob was an alternate energy project developer. An excellent researcher and teacher, avid outdoorsman, gardener, gourmet cook, gun enthusiast, and historic preservationist, Bob lived for more than 35 years in Farmington. He was married to the former Joye Lynn Dickens in 1961. The couple divorced in 1988. He leaves behind his three children and his close friend Norma Hartley. On behalf of the class of 1960, I express our condolences to his family and friends.
Ann and Bob Williams are passionate about their involvement with The Highlands Chorale, which performed another December holiday concert with selections commemorating Christmas, Hanukkah, and the winter solstice. Bob has gotten increasingly involved in the MidCoast Senior College, where he both teaches (last fall’s offering was Six Spies in the Shadows) and serves on the board. He also edits their newsletter. His history of Topsham (Topsham, Maine, from the River to the Highlands) has been well-received. His most recent book (Stealing Van Gogh) follows the intriguing story of the painting “Night Cafe” from 1888 to the present.
SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com
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