CLASS OF 1986 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE
Here’s some news from fellow ’86ers:
Jaclyn Brilliant writes: “A fond hello from New York City! I’ve spent the past 30-plus years working at Notre Dame School of Manhattan, a small high school in NYC’s West Village, including 10 years as principal—quite the ordeal during the height of COVID times! I’ve stepped down from that role starting with the 2021–22 school year but still work at the school as an English teacher and in the communications department. I’ve been married to Anthony Jenks ’85 for going on 33 years, and we have two adult daughters: Madeline, an attorney in D.C., and Josephine, a graduate student in art conservation at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. Empty nesters now, we moved out of our Brooklyn home and into an apartment in Midtown Manhattan a few years ago. Long walks along the East River with Nina Mehta, phone calls with Ann O’Hanlon, and lots of fine takeout sustained me through the COVID crisis. Anthony and I welcomed a puppy, Bonnie, and are now enjoying the chance to really explore our new neighborhood, travel, see live performances, and perch at restaurant bars again.”
Ellen Santistevan shares: “I can report that I have seen no one from Wes in years, although I recently had a very brief email exchange with John Tauxe ’84, who happens to live moderately close to me in New Mexico.
“My work as a craniosacral and visceral therapist has kind of exploded, and I have been teaching classes in ethics and bodywork, having finally come to recognize that ‘less is more’ when it comes to both work as well as teaching.
“I got to go to Yellowstone National Park in February with my other alumni association (from NM Tech) and fell absolutely in love with the landscape. I was absolutely transfixed by the vibration of the earth as the geysers rumbled and erupted. Although I did really want to pet one of the wooly cows, I refrained and stayed safe.”
Eric Howard sends in this update: He “is very excited to have started a new position: CEO/executive director of the Timber Framers Guild, a community of business owners, employees, and others who care about post-and-beam and timber-frame structures from the perspective of architecture, engineering, construction, renovation, and/or ownership. Some love the beauty or are excited by the sustainability angle; others appreciate on the art of creating or repairing a structure that will last 250 years. Guild members span the North American continent, and some are overseas.” Those who might want to take a weeklong class on timber framing (or send their child to a class) should contact him.
Julia Barclay says she has “a hybrid collection of essays, stories, and a stage text coming out in October entitled The Mortality Shot, which will be published by Liquid Cat Books. The material was written in the past five years and includes reflections on death of family and friends, intimations of all of that from childhood, and on my own mortality dealing with long-haul COVID. It also touches on process of my late-in-life (last year at age 57) diagnosis on autism spectrum, about which I am now writing a memoir. My website: TheUnadaptedOnes.com is where I announce new work, list services such as writing workshops, coaching, and gentle yoga for healing, and also write about life stuff on a blog. I was commissioned to record all of my experimental stage texts (22 years of them) for a 22-hour radio show RadioArtZone, broadcasting in Europe and online. That broadcast [occurred] in mid-September.
“Alums I have seen and been in touch with recently include Renee Bucciarelli ’83, Shawn Cuddy, Nathan Gebert ’85, Spencer Reece ’85, Bennett Schneider, Lisa Kaufman ’80, and Jenny Boylan ’80. Also chat online with West Coasters, Orna Izakson ’87, Don Rea ’84, and Andy Laken ’88. The whole Wes community is a thing of beauty and remains the reason I am happiest I attended our strange little university.”
Ralph Saverese reports that his book See It Feelingly was recently translated into Japanese. He and his son DJ have been teaching online creative writing workshops to intergenerational and inter-abled groups across the world.
From Lisa Porter: “I am currently working as the interim resident director and co-head of voice and dialects for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in San Francisco. I have been acting—Julia in Pam MacKinnon’s Fefu and Her Friends at ACT and going into rehearsals in a month as Gruach (Lady MacBeth) in Dunsinane at Marin Theatre Company. My daughter Maggie just graduated from Northwestern. While currently in the Bay Area, I am contemplating a move to NYC. In the last few months, I have seen Melinda Newman, Bennett Schneider, Pauline Frommer ’88, Kevin Pratt ’87, Ernie Laftky, Shawn Cuddy, and James Hallett, which has been amazing!”
Erika Levy is still enjoying her work as professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Teachers College, Columbia University. She lives in NYC with her husband and her son. She is thrilled that her daughter will be starting at Wesleyan in the fall! She loves staying in touch with her Wesleyan friends.
Ethan Halm took a new job as the vice chancellor for population health at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, and is the deputy chief population health officer in the RWJ Barnabas Health System in New Jersey. He is excited to be taking on these new challenges and being back in the Northeast.
And finally, we are sad to report that John “Johan” Booth passed away on June 29, 2022. His obituary can be read at https://www.gatheringus.com/memorial/john-johan-booth/9381. His brother David also wrote about John, which can be found here. David shared that his brother’s life work was in the U.S. Antarctic Program. “He worked at Palmer and South Pole Stations as a science technician. He loved the social life of the South Pole, where a small staff community would fend for itself during the long isolation of dark months. He loved the physical beauty of the South Pole, where the aurora danced overhead. He loved the varied science conducted at the Pole, where his intelligence, meticulousness, and curiosity found purpose. He loved mentoring others in that science. He loved sharing about Antarctica through countless visits and slideshows in schools and community settings, and through a celebrated email correspondence chronicling both the social and the scientific aspects of life on the ice.”