CLASS OF 1973 | 2018 | ISSUE 3
Bruce Fox writes that although he lost in the Democratic primary for a seat in the New Hampshire Senate, “the nice news is that the race has enabled me to reconnect with some Wesleyan friends and meet some new ones.” Tom Kelly and Tom Lucci visited him around the time of the election and he had many phone conversations and e-mails with others who gave financial and moral support. Bruce says, “I had an hour-long conversation with old friend, Kie Westby, who also had an unsuccessful foray into politics a few years ago, was particularly worthwhile with lots of old stories, some advice, and lots of laughs shared.”
Michael Morales has a detailed update on what he has been up to and some memories from our days at Wesleyan. Flashing back, he was the assistant student manager at McConaughey dining hall. “Many students requested I bring out chocolate mint ice cream. Although he was in a frat at the time, Bill Belichick ’75 snuck in a couple times for our great food (and maybe to meet some co-eds).” For two years he was captain of the wrestling team and now he is grant writing and fundraising at Springfield College (the Milwaukee campus). Earlier, he taught Creative Writing for Social Change. Michael says that soon he’ll be traveling through Wisconsin in giving workshops and seminars. He is writing a book, The 1-Minute Expert: How to Be Recognized as an Expert in 1 Minute or Less. He went to Stanford for a PhD and decided he didn’t want it and left with a master’s. He then went immediately to SLAC and was on the team that earned two Nobel prizes in physics. While he was not one of the professors who was named, he was one of the 100 of graduate students that assisted with the basic research needed for the Nobel prizes.
Michael went to Harvard for executive training in community and economic development. He says, “I have been sharing the knowledge and strategies for many years.” A great deal of his work and study at Wesleyan and Stanford were in psychology. He is the guest coach of two Olympic wrestling champions who live in Wisconsin and are his longtime friends and is a guest coach for a three-time Olympic boxing coach. He coaches technique and mindset and has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, CBS, and Fox News.
Michael was also executive director of a U.S. Department of Commerce program where over $1.1 billion in government contracts came through his office and they helped small businesses to get part of the multi-million dollar contracts. This included women-owned and veteran-owned businesses and others helping minorities and the disadvantaged. He was vice president of a $52-million educational foundation and he interviews Stanford University freshman applicants for the admissions office as an alumni volunteer.
Robert Abrevaya’s 13th edition of The Robert William Abrevaya Show was produced in June at The Comedy Store. He calls it stand-up comedy by the official comedian for the 2020 elections. Six of his shows and autobiographical information are available at vimeo.com/RWAShow. At The Comedy Store, he has been the closing act most potluck nights since (at least) 1983 on Sunset Boulevard. He is on Twitter @AbrevayaR. His new Facebook page is RealRobert William Abrevaya.
From Middletown, Bill Corvo is busy with renewable energy development. Bill is manager of Connecticut Energy & Technology, LLC (beaconfallsenergypark.com), a Connecticut-based renewable energy development company. They have “permitted the largest fuel cell technology project in the U.S.,” to be located in Beacon Falls, Conn. The project is “fully permitted and shovel ready—63.3 megawatts of Class I renewable power.”
The ever-faithful Michael McKenna wrote in to say he had his first cortisone shot in his right knee “after the ortho actually laughed when he looked at the MRI! Rugby and soccer days catching up I guess, but otherwise feel pretty good.”
Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com