CLASS OF 1993 | 2018 | ISSUE 1
Hi, classmates! Our 25th Reunion is May 25 and 26, and Jessica Gutow Viner is chairing the Reunion Planning Committee. Her email is ddviner@yahoo.com. We’d love to hear from everyone. We have a great committee in place and are looking forward to fantastic participation! There are many great ways to get involved, and we hope to see you in Middletown in May.
Michelle Gagnon emails, “The paperback edition of my young adult novel Unearthly Things will be released on April 10. It’s a modernized, deconstructed version of Jane Eyre set in San Francisco’s high society. I relocated to Los Angeles a few years ago and have finally adjusted to the relentlessly sunny weather. My husband and I live in the Hollywood Hills with our 11- and 12-year-old kids.”
Julie Jette writes, “In President Obama’s farewell speech, he said that anybody who is disappointed in the government should pick up a clipboard and go get some signatures to get on the ballot. Living in volunteer-led towns in New England gives lots of people the opportunity to do that, so I picked up a clipboard and ran for Town Meeting in Brookline, Mass., where I live. In May and November, I vote along with another 240 residents on spending and policy for the town. The rest of the year we represent our neighborhoods on town issues. It’s far from high office, but in these grim political times I feel lucky to be able to serve my community in a small way—and to teach my boys that if you want to make change, you need to get involved, even when it’s uncomfortable. No doubt I’m still influenced by Wesleyan’s activist ethos!”
Stephanie Mohr emails, “I have written a book for a non-expert audience about genetics, biology, and biomedical research called First in Fly: Drosophila Research and Biological Discovery (Harvard University Press). I had the pleasure of attending the Wesleyan Writer’s Conference last summer as I finished up work on the manuscript. The visit reminded me how beautiful the campus is and how great it is that we have places like Wesleyan where arts and sciences entwine.”
Laura Ross writes, “We moved to Los Angeles this summer so I could become the head of upper school at the Harvard-Westlake School. My husband, Gregg ’90, is teaching math at Harvard-Westlake’s middle school, and our daughter, Casey, is in seventh grade there. Our son, Graham, is in fourth grade at the Laurence School. I am thrilled to be back in my home state and hope to see lots of Wes people out here.”
Maren Roush writes in, “I have been working at NSF International for the last 22 years. My current position is business unit manager of NSF’s Biosafety Cabinetry program. With biosafety and biosecurity being such important issues in this day and age, recent years have been increasingly interesting for me. In 2016, I attended the Extended Biosafety Advisory Group meeting at the World Health Organization in Geneva and did a few outreach sessions in Japan and Korea in conjunction with Thermo Fisher Scientific. In 2017, I presented at the Asia Pacific Biosafety Association conference in Ho Chi Minh City and spent a week in Bangkok at the Thai Ministry of Public Health. I have a wonderful husband and the two best sons in the universe—the oldest of whom is a junior in high school and is starting to think about college. I enjoy reading my classmates’ updates and hope all are doing well. Not too many Wes people here in the upper Midwest.”
Jodi Samuels writes from Sacramento, “I have completed volunteer training at the Sacramento SPCA and am now spending several hours each month to ’socialize’ the cats waiting for adoption. One of our own fur babies, Calypso, had some extensive dental work, and now she and Captain Jack are adjusting to a soft food diet. I take Spanish classes at a local organization, Casa de Español, and I was able to really practice what I’d learned when my spouse, Evan, and I took a trip to the Panama Canal area during the winter holidays. Other travel for work, family, friends, and vacation has included Marshfield, Mass., Austin, Denver, Chicago, Madison, Scottsdale, and Honolulu/Waikiki.”
Antonia Townsend emails, “I run Enclosed, my lingerie gift business. John Marshall and I had a baby, Jack Townsend Marshall, last May. As many of you found out decades ago, having a baby is oodles of fun.”
Andy Nordvall is having a lovely time raising two roller-derby- and violin-loving daughters in Los Angeles. He’s also working on a web comic (patreon.com/MyRoommateTheInternet) and an illustrated fantasy novella, Siren’s Song.
SuZanna Henshon | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com
Sarah Estow | sarah_estow@hotmail.com