CLASS OF 1969 | 2019 | ISSUE 1
John Fenner “is still practicing law in Hollywood, Fla., specializing in business divorces.”
From Jeff Wohkittel: “Check unpsouth.com for my latest book. Sincere condolences to all affected by class losses.”
Cilla and Rick Pedolsky “wish you peace and happiness in 2019.”
Bill Sketchley asked “guests to wear silly hats to his February birthday.”
Bill Eaton has “lived with diabetes over three decades but will be at Reunion. I teach psychiatric epidemiology at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. While instructing in Barcelona, I visited Sagrada Familia, which feels like a forest inside. My kind of cool church.”
Dave Dixon, FAIA, “speaks widely on successful suburbs, highlighting smart, opportunistic choices for the way many of us live.”
Tony Mohr “attended the family’s annual Christmas reunion in San Miguel de Allende. I try lots of cases but think of retiring and part-time judging. Glint published an essay, ‘The Last Honors Class.’”
Jim Adkins “went to Peru on a medical team assisting children and adults with cleft palates. The Wicked Witch said, ‘The last to go will see the first three go before her.’ It stinks either way, but I would rather watch and wait.”
Denny Marron is “the Ralph Kramden of the shoreline, driving senior buses in Madison and Guilford, Conn.”
Jim Wisdom sent a Tibetan proverb: “The secret to living well and longer: eat half, walk double, laugh triple, love without measure.”
Nick Browning still “enjoys full-time psychotherapy, where I feel solid and competent most of the time. Hope delusions haven’t taken over. I visited Gordy Holleb in Berkeley. His illness has hurt his walking and talking, but not his recognition and comprehension. It was good to see him. Our infant grandson is a sustaining joy. We bought a house in Woodstock, Vt. Many blessings and few complaints.”
Pete Pfeiffer is “Maine’s reigning Logger of the Year, and I hope this is my last, dangerous, winter campaign. I’m holed up next to a woodstove. Wind howling. Snow piling up. A Jack London day. A new book is percolating, and my memoir, Hard Chance, is considered ‘a minor classic’ by noted reviewer C. Edward Farrow.”
Steve Knox is “still working and looking forward to seeing everyone at Reunion.”
Tom Earle is “finishing a 45-year career teaching English at the Punahou School in Honolulu. Maj and I will travel off season to avoid crowds.”
Peter Arenella doesn’t “miss law school teaching as much as I thought I would. I read, listen to music, and grandfather. It took a long time to listen to my heart. Our daughters have wonderful partners. Our handicapped son lives in an adult group home and works fulltime at a restaurant. He’s happy and stable. Mia and I will move to Mexico as our home there is almost finished.”
Stu Blackburn just published The History Wars. From the noted reviewer: “This is a fine novel, rewarding the reader with both joy and sorrow. If you were entertained by Paul Scott’s The Jewel in the Crown, you will find resonance in Blackburn’s writing.”
Bernie Freamon wrote, “I am pleased to report that I have had a very successful career as a law professor at Seton Hall Law and as a litigator for the ACLU and other organizations and clients. In recent years I have concentrated on research and writing on the topic of slavery and Islamic law. I have a book coming out on June 27, 2019, in sha’Allah, entitled Possessed by the Right Hand: The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures, to be published by Brill. I urge everyone to buy it. I intend to attend the 50th Reunion and I look forward to seeing old friends and classmates.”
Mark Johnson wrote in with an update about the artist Momodou Ceesay ’70. Momodouspent some time traveling in Sierra Leone and was in Senegal for their biennial art show last summer. Here is a serigraph from 2011 entitled The Stroll.
Michael Fairchild wrote in: “We are all well and healthy. Son Scott and his girlfriend Joan had a terrific 2018. They finished off the year with a vacation to Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam—where they had some suits made, took a sunset cruise on the Mekong, and rode elephants. Scott and Joan also swam with whale sharks, kissed manatees, and rode dolphins on their other vacation to Isla Mujeres in Mexico.
“When Scott and Joan weren’t vacationing, they were living their normal lives in D.C. Scott was fighting the good fight on Capitol Hill as chief of staff for Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. At the end of the year he started a new endeavor—as the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The main objective of his new position is to help the Democrats get elected to the Senate in 2020. Joan is continuing her work at Deloitte helping the government solve its many problems. They welcomed a new dog, Beta into their home. One sad note of the year was the passing of their dog, Bristol. RIP.
“Daughter Marnie is enjoying her continuing work with major donors in New England, the mid-Atlantic and the Midwest for Amnesty International. She is thrilled to be able to keep her current role while moving to work in Manhattan while living in Brooklyn this April. Marnie traveled with a group of college friends to the west coast of Costa Rica early in 2018, and Tulum, Mexico, in May. She’s always looking for more recommendations for adventures. She loves all the work travel, and hopes to add a few new vacation destinations in the New Year.
“In April we took our first trip to Charleston, S.C., to visit our dear friends Corinne and David Ramage. They have become observant naturalists, learning so much about local flora and fauna. We enjoyed many visits to local swamps to watch and photograph the frenetic springtime courtship and nest building efforts of white egrets, anhingas, and great blue herons. Many of our favorite swamp creatures made their cameo appearances for our cameras, especially barred owls, alligators, and frogs. Corinne and David also took us to Beidler Forest through a controlled burn and later to Bear Island for bald eagles silhouetted by sunrise. To round out our experience, we took the early morning ferry to Fort Sumter for a dramatic raising of a huge American flag by all the children gathered together by the local park ranger. On this spot in April 12, 1861 the American Civil War officially started when Confederate shore batteries fired on this Union fort. We also had a chance to tour the historic part of Charleston and see some of the beautiful homes there. Everywhere we went we were so impressed with the hospitality and friendly nature of all the South Carolinians that we met.
“Michael continues to enjoy photography, still photographing weddings, portrait sessions, and public relations events. I also continue to teach on Fridays at a nearby elementary school in their science program. Our friends Steve and Irene gave us a wonderful birdfeeder that now attracts so many songbirds that I had never seen before in my neighborhood. I fitted out the feeder with two branches on either side so I was able to get tight close-ups of these colorful birds.
“For most of 2018, I was immersed in a project to assemble an audiovisual about North American wildlife and wilderness. This involved scanning hundreds of old Kodachromes and digging up faded national park brochures to work on the script. The project is 90% done.”
The list of those who say “hello” is long: Doug Bell, Barry Checkoway, Dave Driscoll, Jim Drummond, Steve Greenfield, Bruce Hartman, Ed Hayes, Mark Johnson, Steve Johnson, Ken Kawasaki, Charlie Morgan, Ric Peace, Barry Porster, Guillermo Prada-Silva, Dave Stevenson, Rick Vila, and John Wilson.
New England staggers after a terrible storm. Wind chills below zero. Widespread outages and damage. Old Saybrook is Never-never Land. The proximity of the River and Sound moderates the weather, some.
Mallards return to the estuary, looking for nesting sites, the water a protective moat. They move as if magnetized. We encourage the squirrels’ enmity with thistle feeders, which attract the smallest, brightest birds.
I make a gallon of leftovers’ soup every week. Right now—ham, carrots, celery, pasta, parsley, water, and a few stones. Neighbors come over with glass containers and offerings when called. “Blind faith,” one says.
I draw with ink and watercolor pencils. Sister Kate gave me a 72-color set. There is a sealed landfill nearby, a promontory, where I sketch Turtle Creek, North Cove, the Connecticut River, and Old Lyme shore.
Martin Luther King Day brings a flood of Wesleyan memories. Dr. King, John McGuire, the Vietnam War, George Creeger, Julian Bond, Washington marches. The desire for social justice, which began with my parents and Wesleyan fostered, is ceaseless.
Charlie Farrow | charlesfarrow@comcast.net
11 Coulter Street, #16, Old Saybrook, CT 06475