CLASS OF 2001 | 2021 | ISSUE 1

Hello 2001, Thank you to all who wrote in with your notes. We have been locked in a scene from Groundhog Day for the past year, and so reading your good news is a welcomed distraction. You have reminded us that there are still plenty of things to celebrate.

    Melody Moezzi’s latest book, The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life, just came out in paperback in March. She is living in Wilmington, North Carolina with her husband Matthew Lenard ’00 and their two ungrateful cats, Keshmesh and Nazanin. Melody is working as a visiting associate professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington while Matthew is finishing his PhD at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

     Don Kim recently moved to Los Angeles and is building a 28-unit apartment building near downtown. Exciting!

     Mary Robertson admits she’s white knuckling it through the pandemic with her two young kids, Malcolm (5) and Maxine (2). But she adds that a bright spot in these dark times was executive producing the documentary film Framing Britney Spears for The New York Times, FX and Hulu. It’s still available on Hulu and Mary says she’d love to hear what you think. If the buzz generated by this documentary is any indication, we’re pretty confident any and all feedback will be overwhelmingly positive!

     Finally, Raymond Kuo shares that he has not one, but two books coming out this year. George Mason University and Westphalia Press published Contests of Initiative: Confronting China’s Gray Zone Strategy, and Stanford University Press will publish Following the Leader: International Order, Alliance Strategies, and Emulation. Seriously Raymond, how did you do it? We barely scraped together enough inspiration this year to put on real clothes once in a while.

     As always, it’s a pleasure to hear from our Wes community near and far. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. Keep in touch!