CLASS OF 1974 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Chris Neagle writes, “My move to a very small law firm in a very small town did not work out as hoped, so I am now happily practicing Maine real estate law part time from my home in the woods with part-time help. My first small business. Checkout neaglelaw.com.”

John Ayer reports, “After a life of varied experiences (few of which depended on my fine education) I have retired after a 30-year stint at Foxwoods Casino—the only job I ever took intending it to be temporary; ha ha on all the others!”

Ileen Rosenthal updates:

“1. I am CEO and co-founder of an educational software company called Footsteps2Brilliance. We create Model Innovation Cities—turnkey, bilingual, citywide initiatives that help children prepare for kindergarten and read proficiently by third grade. All of our content is in English and Spanish. Middletown, Connecticut, is one of the school districts that we work with. Last year, during COVID, the superintendent asked us to triangulate his pre- (fall) and post- (spring) third-party assessments. Students using our software improved their reading scores by 175 %!

“2. Footsteps2Brilliance also has been asked to co-produce a bilingual interactive television program with PBS that will use 28 of our books. After viewing the program, parents will be able to download the books and do interactive educational games with their children.

“3. Our daughter Alex Rosenthal ’17 married Keith Spencer ’16 on June 25, 2022. They met each other in Alex’s freshman year and have been an item ever since. They had a great wedding with lots of friends from Wesleyan and beyond.”

News from Monique Witt: “NYC has opened up, so Ben is once again touring and finishing the release of his fifth studio album (the second with the Sextet and Nebula Project). Dev just announced the new gear releases. Steven is too busy still; WLRK litigation is representing Twitter, and I am splitting my time between the Sound Labs and the island with upcoming albums. The new normal in NYC is kinda like the old: the L train arbitrarily stops service at Bedford, so from there it’s the G at Lorimer to the Court Square E to 57th to walk halfway across the world to find the 6. Good to be back.”

Karla Bell moved this spring, to a home with half the space, most of it still covered in boxes. This is chaotic enough, but she is spending this summer and early fall attending her children’s weddings. Her daughter’s was July 23 and her son’s was in mid-September, and both are in California during what is predicted to be scorching days. Her trip packing is truly frantic as she tears open boxes searching for those damn shoes.

In Wes news, she planned to spend some time with her roommate, Juliette Kendrick, in August, preferably near a beach, or anywhere the breezes can soothe frazzled, aching 70-year-olds. To amend that: CUTE, frazzled, aching 70-year-olds. Of course, they’re still blond.

Melissa Blacker ’76 and David Rynick are plowing through the wedding anniversary milestones and appear to be achieving their dream of growing old together. Their Zen community, Boundless Way Zen, has thrived through the pandemic, now operating online as well as in person, including people across the country and around the world. If you’re looking to do nothing, come join them at www.worcesterzen.org.

John McLucas writes: “I retired in 2020 from 36 years teaching Italian at Towson University in Baltimore—directly into the pandemic lockdowns. Finally, in October 2021, I was able to take a twice-delayed trip to Italy and reconnect with old friends there. My translation of the Italian epic poem “Il Meschino” (“The Wretch”) by Tullia d’Aragona (1560) is finally forthcoming from Iter/University of Toronto, the culmination of a project started in 2003.

My third novel, The Boxer’s Mask, is just out from BrickHouse Books. It tells the story of a charismatic young actor at the start of his career in modern Rome, and of a circle of English and American expats who become fascinated by him. Communication is already challenging across linguistic and cultural differences, and then COVID adds new layers of complexity.”

Larry Green is now living full time in Ogunquit, Maine, with his wife Denise. Larry continues to practice law as a senior partner with Burns & Levinson in Boston, generally working remotely, and is devoting more time to family, including five grandchildren, and writing. Larry has published three short books under his Hebrew name Lev: Alphabet of the Invisible, Mastering the 4th Dimension, and Weaving Your Thread through the Tapestry of Judaism. The books may be found at levgreenbooks.com or on Amazon. Larry otherwise reports that he very easily transitioned to age 70, very appreciative of his many blessings in life, including family, friends, health, the Ogunquit seashore, and synagogue involvement.

Gray Cox sends greetings from Bar Harbor, Maine, where he continues to teach philosophy, peace studies, and language learning at College of the Atlantic, employing skills in interdisciplinary study he picked up in CSS. He continues to draw on insights from Louis Mink and Brian Fay in research that has led to a book that will be published soon by the Quaker Institute for the Future called Smarter Planet or Wiser Earth? Artificial Intelligence and Collaborative Wisdom. Along with a tribe of kids and grandkids, he loves to write, perform, and record songs of love and peace (see some at graycox.bandcamp.com).

Jonathan Eddison shares: “In early June, the West College alumni subgroup of friends, degenerates, patient spouses, cynics, and radicals known loosely as “Born to Lose” had a 52nd Reunion (of freshman year) gathering at Rick Gilberg and Elisa Cohen’s house on Martha’s Vineyard. Present were: Andy Char (Honolulu), Charley Blaine (Seattle), Henry and Debbie Willis (Los Angeles), Harold Sogard (Marin), Joe Loewenstein (St. Louis), Jonathan and Diane Eddison (Austin) and Peter Heyward (Washington, D.C.). Lloyd Komesar, an honorary member, and his wife Maureen joined us. We had too much fun for our aging bodies. We spent nearly as much time talking about our medical issues as we did on national politics.”

Sandy Newman writes, “Just celebrated my 46th anniversary with the wonderful love of my life, Chris Owens, who recently retired from running a low-wage worker organization. We’ve lived since 1978 outside D.C., where our 39-year-old has now been in love with the same good guy for a dozen years. She’s a joyful, exuberant, Zumba and barre teacher and math tutor, who is also exuberant about life, which brings me great joy. (Thank goodness the teen years are long in the past). As for what I’ve been up to over the years, I’ve started and run a voter registration organization and a couple of advocacy nonprofits and have now spent many years advising donors on where they should put their contributions to have the biggest impact on protecting democracy and winning elections. Often, there are noncandidate contributions that can have many times the impact that contributions to candidates can. Most of my time goes to evaluating organizations, often spending months digging into randomized controlled trials on each of a single organization’s tactics. Happy to share conclusions as a gift to friends and classmates.” SandyNewman@gmail.com

The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF) was in its eighth edition in August 2022. Created by Lloyd Komesar,it is a lot of fun and Lloyd always makes everyone feel very welcome!

My husband Ted Sybertz and I continue to enjoy sailing on our 42-foot X-Yachts boat from our home port in Jamestown, Rhode Island. In the winter, we ski in Park City, Utah, and in-between, we kayak, swim, bike, and run in Vero Beach, Florida—the joys of retirement!

Finally, here are some additional photos of our classmates!