CLASS OF 1980 | 2016 | ISSUE 2
Tributes to David Clair, who passed away Feb. 19, 2016:
Mike Rosenblatt writes: “I did not know David Clair well at Wes but both he and his brother-in-law Jesse were classmates of mine in medical school. He was a great guy. Sorry to see he was taken from us at such a young age.”
Gary Gilyard writes: “I was shocked to hear about David. We were in all of the same pre-med classes. David was a huge Flyers fan and we would go at it over his Flyers and my Red Wings. Next week we head to Wesleyan for Shelby ’16’s graduation.
Amy Natterson Kroll writes: “What a lovely tribute to David Clair. I am in DC, married to the same guy for more than 30 years, practicing law at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. Children are grown. We speak with them both most days. Daughter is an emergency room nurse in New York, married to a great guy. Son is finishing his third year (junior to us) at University of Chicago. We are traveling a great deal now, because we can with the nest empty and we are starting to think about second (third?) acts. We saw Hamilton when Wesleyan held its fundraiser last October—amazing show and amazing Wesleyan evening. As co-class agent: Please remember how important Alumni Gifts are each year and give what you can!”
Alan Jacobs writes: “Beautifully written (about David)…And effective…Here’s my contribution to Class Notes: I’m packing my bags and heading to Wesleyan for Ron Jacobs ’16’s graduation, 36 years after we all wore the robes. Pretty amazing. Ron majored in American Studies and will return to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the music industry. His older brother, Gil, took a little longer to finish school and is graduating on the same day/time from Brandeis, so Sharona will attend that one. I asked Wes to push Commencement back a few hours so I could attend both but that didn’t go over too well. The nerve! Avia finished her first year at Mount Holyoke, playing soccer and double majoring in Fun and Local Excursions. Guy is a sophomore at Calabasas High, where he plays bass clarinet and is the league champ in the 800M. He has a small business as a dog walker but it’s not thriving because the dogs can’t keep pace. When did Class Notes become all about our kids? I’m working on a few interesting feature film projects, coming (one day) to a theater or iPad near you. Most satisfying is a new venture I’m helping Gil launch called Quiver.events, which provides complete listings of all live music in your area. The tag line is: “Follow the Music,” which pretty much sums up my life since Wes.
Ben Wolozin’s entry that missed the previous issue: “I haven’t written notes for ages, but this has been an eventful year, so I figure it’s worthwhile. Most important, I just became a grandfather. OMG!! Here is the backstory: For the past four years I have had the pleasure of having my older daughter, Becky (29), live five blocks from my work site in Boston. Nirvana! She got married to Lou Beckman on Martha’s Vineyard 1.5 years ago; a fantastic guy—with wonderful parents as well, so all is well on that end. Becky and I would have breakfast or lunch together, regularly—or she and Lou would come to our house in Newton and have dinner. Then she graduated from law school (JD and MS in International Education, Harvard—Lou was doing a psych residency at Beth Israel/Brigham Women’s) and they moved down to DC. Having them leave Boston was a loss. However, life goes on, and a new phase began because Becky gave birth to a darling little boy, Sammy, on Dec. 14. So cute!! Of course, now I pop down to DC whenever possible. Meanwhile, on the professional front, I started a biotech company, Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals Inc. (aquinnahpharma.com). The company focuses on drugging RNA binding proteins, and our first pipeline focuses on ALS. Soon we expect to have a second pipeline for Alzheimer’s disease. Starting a company has been exciting and challenging, but it opens up another major avenue in my life and gives a vision for new horizons. These are the major changes. Otherwise, it’s the usual—and enjoyable—aspects of being a 57-year-old Wesleyan graduate. I live with my lovely wife, Danielle Murstein, who is a psychiatrist, and we have been together for 31 years. Our other daughter, Jackie, is 25, lives in NYC, does arts, and just went on a ski trip with me and my cousins to Beaver Creek, Colo. Yay!! So much fun!! Actually—point of note—Jackie just saw the new musical Hamilton, and so we spent the first three days of the trip sharing her ear buds on every chair lift and listening to the incredible sound track of Hamilton, which was created by Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02. What a fabulous and brilliant musical—can’t wait to see it. Bravo Lin-Manuel!!! I am a professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine. My research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases—Alzheimer’s, ALS and Parkinson’s. The work is going great. It’s so amazing what you can do in science these days—totally exciting. Hmm, what else? Age 57 going on 58. The down sides: grey hair, needing to eat less to maintain the fantasy of a youthful figure, the challenges of too many commitments, a house that was wrecked by snow dams last year and took one year of painful renovations, and the passing of my dog Anya, of 15.5 years, who was my faithful running partner and probably the only one who was always thrilled to see me come home. Boo hoo. But, the 50s have generally been good, so those things are real, but small potatoes in the bigger picture. We have lots of room in our house if anyone wants to drop by (Newton, Mass.)!!!
KIMBERLY OFRIA SELBY | kim_selby@yahoo.com