CLASS OF 1968 | 2017 | ISSUE 1
I’ll open with the observation that I am unaware of a lot of energy swirling around our upcoming 50th (May 24-27, 2018), though maybe—as I have stated that I do not wish any leadership role—I am not entitled to make any such remarks. However, three of our classmates, Sandy See, alexander.h.see@gmail.com; Stuart Ober, ober@staurtober.com; and George Reynolds, greynolds@sandpointefunding.com, would appreciate your help in making the 50th into more than a pedestrian affair. Consider contacting them.
After three years, I am still not able to distinguish retirement from an extended vacation. However, I took a break from Yale football this September, and Judy and I spent a week at Chautauqua—a lakeside Disneyland in western New York for mature culture vultures. There we had the good fortune to share some quality time with Paige and Dale Lott ’56. He is a landscape painter and geographer, retired from the New Jersey university system, in the midst of a very active retirement in Poultney, Vt.
In August, Laurie and Bob Newhouse were thrilled with the arrival of their first grandchild, Robert Hayes Newhouse (“Hayes”).
Bill Nicholson’s daughter is SMU bound. Jeff Talmadge’s website, WeNeedaVaction.com, which is largely a family enterprise, celebrated its 20th year and is thriving. He and Joan are devoted to the Red Sox, their kids, their seven grandchildren, and are planning a trip to Cuba.
In October, Boston’s Head of the Charles Regatta was run for the first time in, I believe, 26 years without a “founder’s” crew from Wesleyan—my ‘mates. However, Wes was well represented—the women beat 27 other crews to win their event. And during the course of the weekend, the David Crockett ’69, a beautiful eight, formally joined Wesleyan’s fleet. (The varsity rowed in it last spring and dubbed it “the Crockett Rocket.”) Wife Kitty, son David, and daughter Cordelia (lovely folks all), spoke of Davy’s vibrant and expansive spirit, as did Coach Phil Calhoun ’62 and Captain Will Macoy ’67.
On Election Day, not everything went the way I would have liked, but it had some nice moments nonetheless. My state senator is Ted Kennedy Jr. ’83—a personable and effective legislator—and he was at my polling site when I voted. We spoke of his son, a freshman, who is rowing in the second boat, and his daughter, who graduated last May and is now a doctoral student in physics at Columbia. A small town pol, Ted actually called a dear friend of mine in town, David Ramos ’05, and asked for David’s support personally. When I told Ted I was ’68, he just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
As a meathead oarsman out of Psi U with a preppy veneer, but not the capital, I have largely muddled through life. Being your secretary allows me to chronicle some most fascinating people, and, regretfully, we have lost two recently: David Berry died at his home in Brooklyn in December. A playwright and screenwriter, he won an Obie for distinguished playwriting for his first play, G. R. Point, which depicts soldiers in the Vietnam War in a sympathetic lens and ran on Broadway in 1979. (He started writing this as a novel until his then-wife urged him to make a play of the material.) Best known for his stage play and 1987 screen adaptation of The Whales of August, which was inspired by his Maine childhood and starred Bette Davis, Vincent Price, and Lillian Gish, he enlisted in the Army in 1968, but was discharged so he could serve as guardian to his younger siblings after his mother’s death. After the success of his plays, he continued writing while teaching at several institutions including the National Theater Institute in Waterford, Conn., and most recently the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
Bill Ochs was a scholar, performer, and passionate teacher of traditional Irish instruments—specifically the tin whistle, wooden flute, and uilleann pipes—who was a pivotal figure in the renaissance of this musical tradition. His work was furthered by an MFA from Sarah Lawrence, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a 40-plus year involvement in the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan. He is the author of The Clarke Tin Whistle, which sold 250,000 copies. A resident since the 1970s of Hell’s Kitchen, he and his long-time partner, Margaret Vetare, shared a house in the Hudson River Valley. A political activist, Bill devoted enormous energy to some congressional campaigns. Also, he was exhilarated by the outdoors and was an avid swimmer, hiker, cross-country skier, and birdwatcher. On the trail or in the canoe, he always wanted to see what was around the bend.
Lloyd Buzzell | LBuzz463@aol.com
70 Turtle Bay, Branford, CT 06405 | 203/208-5360