CLASS OF 1987 | 2017 | ISSUE 2
Thank you to everyone who made the trip to Middletown for our 30th Reunion. It was a great weekend!
Elizabeth Barnett Pathak thoroughly enjoyed her first Reunion. She caught up with Foss 5 dormmates Ellie Margolis, Julie Rioux, Sarah Projansky, Karen Steinberg Kennedy, Bruce Wintman, and Matt Weiner, along with lots of other 1987 friends. Her only regret was missing running into fellow “River Rat,” Simon Heart, at the class dinner.
Brad Fuller “had an amazing time at Reunion. Feels like even though 30 years have passed, those relationships made in the late 1980s continue to deepen and enhance our lives in wonderful ways. I had a blast getting caught up with everyone. I am especially grateful to Andrew Carpenter and Sibyll Catalan who kept the fun and laughs coming all weekend long.”
Sumana Chandrasekhar Rangachar is still thinking about how great last month’s Reunion was and realizes more than ever how much she loves her Wes friends. She lives in Montclair, N.J., and she and hubby of 25 years will be official empty nesters next month once their third and last child goes off to college! She works at New York Life, helping parents of children with disabilities navigate resources for financial security.
Judy Pan writes that “there were simply too many terrific people present and not enough time. I even went Friday and Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came back.”
“So great seeing everyone at Reunion,” writes Dan Rauch. “A few updates from me that I’m excited about. I am the inaugural chair of the new hospital medicine sub-board of the American Board of Pediatrics and I am moving to Boston this summer to become the chief of the division of pediatric hospital medicine for the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center. I am also very proud of my daughter, Haley Rauch ’15 who is teaching high school math in Harlem and finishing up the New York City Teaching Fellowship this summer.”
Alisa Kwitney: “Sorry I couldn’t make Reunion, but it’s nice to be in more touch with people like John Dorsey on Facebook. I have some good news—my son, Matt, just graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in math, and my daughter, Elinor, just completed her first year at Bard. I have a new novel, Cadaver & Queen, coming out from Harlequin Teen, and have started Liminal Comics, an imprint of Brain Mill Press. I also have some really sad news. My old friend John Gould ’86, who also went to my high school, died unexpectedly this May of heart failure. He was a professor of speech and language pathology at Elms College and a wonderful father to his sons, Cooper and Griffin.”
Andrew Hall sent the following: “Sorry I missed Reunion. I bet it was a blast. Continuing to be busy playing upright bass in a number of projects. Had a good tour of the West Coast with the instrumental rock trio Big Lazy. We opened up for the guitarist Nels Cline at the fabulous Royce Hall at UCLA, and then drove the next day to Las Vegas where we played in one of the tackiest rock bars I’ve been to. I also joined the Greenwich Village Orchestra in playing Beethovens ‘Symphony No. 9,’ at least most of the notes.”
Nicholas Birns married Isabella Theresa Smalera (Seton Hall ’92) on May 20 at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in South Orange, N.J. Isabella is a biochemist and pharmaceutical professional.
Maureen Craig reports, “My oldest child just graduated from Amherst and starts work in Boston in July. One down, three to go! Life with me is going great. My company is growing, and my husband and I are celebrating our 22nd anniversary this summer.”
Chris Lotspeich, Dan Sharp, Rob Campbell, and Scott Pryce had their own mini-reunion exploring their Scottish heritage and some mountain peaks in May.
Finally, I must also say that I, too, loved Reunion. My one complaint was not having enough time to spend lounging on Foss Hill due to too many interesting seminars on the agenda. So many great people I loved seeing—too many to mention, but special thanks to Sibyll Carnochan Catalan and Naomi Mezey for a late night giggle-fest that was truly therapeutic. And to Matt Paul and Jeremy Mindich for a home-run breakfast on Sunday morning. Only four-and-three-quarter years to go until the 35th! Keep coming back! We need to connect to each other more, not less, as we enter this next phase (whatever that means) in our lives.
Amanda Jacobs Wolf | wolfabj@gmail.com