CLASS OF 1972 | 2023 | SUMMER ISSUE
Roger Day sent a note to both Peter D’Oench ’73 and me, daring us to fight over which class gets him. Since Peter is probably swamped with reunion-related stuff, I hereby claim Roger. This “duel” status stems from the fact that while he entered with the class of 1973, Roger earned sufficient credits to graduate with us, a fact that came to his attention while he was sitting high on Foss Hill (his words, not mine) on May 24, 1972, and heard his name called in our commencement ceremony. Well, we missed you in the D section, Roger. Roger will soon celebrate 40 years married to his “sweepotato Abby,” with whom they “issued three fascinating children.”
“My retirement from University of Pittsburgh Biostatistics and Informatics (& Cancer Institute) is far in the rearview mirror. Lots of kooks in academia. The teaching was my favorite part. Now I tutor kids from Central America . . . I love that even more. My creativity goes into tuba playing . . . . ‘Music is my medicine. And I am heavily medicated.’ Down from 50 shows a year to about six, all outdoors now, due to COVID. My favorite CDs are with the Blues Orphans: Hystericana and More Fake Blues. Pure fun the lyrics. Great tuba sound engineering. The YouTube channel, professorbeautiful, documents some of the crazy variety of music I have played. Cumbia, Andean, Cuban, bossa, jazz, R&B, klezmer, Croatian, Fado, Irish, lounge . . . . Currently at 20 movements of Bach Cello Suites/Bellow Cheeks, all on the professorbeautiful channel. Sixteeen to go, then Brandenburg 3. Body parts, don’t fail me now!”
You can see more about Roger’s music at professorbeautiful.org. As I have played some of those Bach suites on the instrument for which they were intended, I had to check out how they would sound on a tuba, and, well, it’s a unique experience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YZOjJFbfZA&list=PLnw3n9JWwFxG7xbJy8qe0wDlv–beo7SP
Steve Schiff wrote me about the time of the Writers Guild of America Awards, at which he was nominated for two awards for his writing on Andor. Steve previously had four nominations and two wins for The Americans, not to mention a Peabody Award, a Golden Globe, two Emmy nominations, an AFI Award, a Producers Guild Award, a Critics Choice Award, and a Television Critics Association Award. What do they have in common? “They’re all heavier than they look. I thinks it’s a requirement.” (Steve asked me not to quote him but rather to provide my own pithy summary. Sorry, but I can’t top that.)
Blackwall Hitch, the band that played our last two reunions, will be playing once again at the class of 1973’s 50th. The group includes Michael Kaloyanides, Blake Allison, and Steve Blum, as well as Mike Kishbauch ’71 and Paul Fletcher ’73. Blake has found these performances to be a:
“Blessing of, at a late time in my life, being able to reunite and spend meaningful time with dear friends. You may not know that for Blackwall Hitch, to perform at our 45th and 50th Reunions, we gathered for a Monday-to-Thursday stretch before each reunion, practicing six plus or minus hours a day. Just being together and making music with cherished colleagues for an extended period of time was such an unexpected, but very much welcomed and gratifying, blessing.”
If you didn’t get enough about Jim Hoxie’s recent exploits in the last issue, you can see him give the opening remarks at the recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, of which he was program chair at www.croiconference.org/preliminary-agenda/. Let me commend to you the short film on the work of the organization at about 1:44, followed by a speech by and presentation of an award to Anthony Fauci.
Rob Gelblum’s glide path toward retirement from environmental law is just about over, and some venues actually calendar him for musical gigs. “And my wife and kids still put up with me! And I receive wisdom from our classmates RS&B—the Rips, Schultz, Bober Conspiracy.”
Finally, we lost Harry Glasspiegel to a stroke in December. Another luminary of the first floor of Clark Hall. Harry had a prominent career developing the concept of outsourcing, first as a lawyer and then as a consultant. In a 2015 interview with Who’s Who Legal, Harry gave this bit of guidance, which those of us still in the trenches should take to heart:
“I’ve seen and experienced the damage to clients and organizations of adversarial behaviors, tone, communications, and relationships, and conversely, have seen the benefits of having likeable, sensible people guiding the discussion and build process.”
Likeable and sensible. Harry will be missed.