CLASS OF 1981 | 2018 | ISSUE 1

Greetings from the great Midwest! I have much news to report in these early months of 2018. Jeremy Kenner writes from down under: “No guns? No Trump? Sound good? Come to Australia!” Jeremy is currently living in Melbourne, has been in Australia for 17 years—and has no regrets. He still works for the government as an adviser in the field of health and research ethics. On a more personal note, he adds, he has reentered the world of childrearing and has five sons ages 31, 29, 27, 10 (step), and a 5-year old “as beautiful as they come!” Jeremy also invites anyone who is ever in the neighborhood to look him up.

Congrats to Gail Marowitz, who was nominated this year for her fourth Grammy (she actually won back in 2006)! This year it was for Best Recording Package for her art direction for Jonathan Coulter’s vinyl LP Solid State. Check out thevisualstrategist.com for more insights. Gail splits her time between a studio in the West Village and a 130-year old church along the river in the Hudson Valley.

Robin Frank enjoyed a fun evening catching up with Katy Ward Koch and Amy Curtis in the D.C. area. Robin is married to Geoff Megargee, a historian at the Holocaust Museum; they have a guitar-playing, skateboarding 15-year-old son named Ruslan. Robin writes, “I recently left a 30-plus year career in the federal service to became the associate general counsel for International Law at NASA, where some days, I do get to dance with the stars!”—not something that too many of us can say! Congrats, Robin!

Barbara Johnston wrote in from Rochester, N.Y., where she works as a city planner with an architectural and engineering firm. Her nights and weekends, however, are kept busy with her passion: percussion. “My main musical outlet is Brazilian Batucada, and the occasional Bossa Nova jazz or square dance gig.” Last November, Barbara attended the International Folk Music Film Festival in Kathmandu where, she writes, “I screened a short film in which I played drums. Hanging out with ethnomusicologists and listening to traditional music from around the world brought me back to Wesleyan roots!”

From the Bay Area, Ariel Rubissow Okomoto, a Wes Science-in-Society grad, writes of her family, “We are still helplessly West Coast, as my husband, Paul, and I continue to try and save the planet. Our daughters have picked up the vibe: Tira (24) is working on the San Francisco Pre-Disaster Challenge of Resilient Design and Mikki (20) is studying architecture with a focus on public urban projects.”

Brenda Zlamany, a painter who lives and works in Brooklyn, had an exhibition called Brenda Zlamany: 100/100, on view at the Derfner Judaica Museum from September to January. The exhibition featured 100 watercolor portraits of residents of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale.

Congratulations go out to David Lynch, who joined the Washington Post as their national and global economics correspondent, after a storied career at The Financial Times, Bloomberg, and USA Today. Dave, who has three sons, lives in northern Virginia with his wife, Kathleen. He is also author of the book, When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out: The World’s Most Resilient Country and Its Struggle to Rise Again.

Paul DiSanto wrote in with lots of news: Dan Haar has left his long-time job at the Hartford Courant to take on new challenges with the Connecticut Hearst Newspapers. In Denver, Paul caught up with Lisa Greim, Julie Richman, and Michele Vion who are all doing well. From KC, Lou Scimecca and Tony DiFolco send greetings, though the absence of our dear classmate Brad Toomey leaves a hole in the hearts of the KC crowd. Paul reports that several of our classmates left long-term careers for other pursuits, time with family, and retirement (!): Jim Baker retired from Unilever; Jon Duane, from McKinsey; Rick Ciullo, from Chubb. Tim O’Brien retired from Blue Cross of Massachusetts. Many Wes alumni attended an informal party for him in Narragansett, R.I., including classmates Bill Stack and Pete Pezzelli. On campus, Paul often runs into Sandy Herzlich and Barb Martin, Ellen Jewett, Ed Suslovic, Delcy Ziac Fox, Mark Molina, Nancy Parker Wilson, Diane Goldstein, and David Resnick.

David I. Block | david.I.block@gmail.com

Joanne Godin Audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com