CLASS OF 2005 | 2019 | ISSUE 2
Natalia Ortiz has successfully defended her PhD in urban education from the CUNY Graduate Center. She is thrilled to have that seven-year chapter closed and is excited to continue her work as the training director at the Center for Racial Justice in Education. She is the proud mother of a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy. Natalia sees her twin brother Nicholas Ortiz regularly. Not only is he a pretty cool uncle, he is training to run the NYC Marathon for the third time and is the director of HR at i-Mentor, where he has been for the last 12 years. That is all from the Ortiz twins.
Dylan Meconis wrote, “My debut middle grade graphic novel, Queen of the Sea, is being published by Candlewick/Walker. I both wrote and illustrated, and the Tudor historical setting is heavily influenced by my classwork in the College of Letters. It’s gotten starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and Booklist, which is pretty dang exciting for my first time publishing in the children’s book industry. I also co-wrote The Long Con, a two-volume graphic novel from Oni Press. The first half debuted this spring and the second half is out this summer. It’s a sci-fi comedy set in the world of comic book conventions; since I started working professionally in the comics industry while still at Wes, I have lots of material to draw on!”
Che Landon, an actor and producer in LA, shot a pilot for Fox directed by two-time Emmy nominee, Jon Massey, entitled Frank James, where she plays Coroner Casey McGrath. She is also on the Hulu series Work in Progress. She’s producing two projects, a feature film, Girl Clown, and Inside, being directed by Sundance Award-winning female filmmaker, Elise Salomon.
Katie Walsh is a film critic in Los Angeles writing primarily for the Tribune News Service and the LA Times. This spring she taught a class about the practice of writing about film at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, and moved to the Highland Park neighborhood of LA, where Che Landon is her new neighbor.
Miriam Gottfried married Trevor Williams on Aug. 4 in New York City. Sarah Hexter was a bridesmaid and Miriam’s cousin Annie Shepard ’08 held the chuppah. Also in attendance were Carolyn Wachnicki, who did the engagement photo shoot, Jonathan Hecht ’04, Catie Lazarus ’99, and Dan Goldstein ’96.
David Rood-Ojalvo lives in Rockaway Beach, Queens, and works for Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens. The short film he made, which stars Ari Brand ’06, Jon Leland, and Diego Ortiz ’06, premiered at the New York Shorts International Film Festival in June.
Jessica Phillippi will be performing her latest play, Illegal, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August ahead of a U.K. tour. Illegal is a drama that intertwines two immigration stories: one inspired by Jessica’s struggle to remain in the U.K. and the other by a Guatemalan woman’s attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
Stephen Lazer published State Formation in Early Modern Alsace, 1648-1789, a richly documented study of early modern state formation, sovereignty, legitimacy, and comparative political culture in Alsace between the Peace of Westphalia and the French Revolution.
Marcella Winearls | marcellawinearls@gmail.com