CLASS OF 1987 | 2023 | SUMMER ISSUE
Hello classmates! When I sent out an urgent request for notes because I lost the deadline in my inbox, you over delivered! Maybe this is a new strategy.
Gennifer Weisenfeld’s new book is Gas Mask Nation: Visualizing Civil Air Defense in Wartime Japan. She is the Walter H. Annenberg Distinguished Professor of Art and Art History at Duke. Her husband, Derek Jones, a principal at the architecture firm Perkins+Will, won an North Carolina AIA award for his library design.
Grattan Baldwin and his wife Cristina welcomed a baby girl, Maria Luce Frederica Baldwin, in March. Luce is strong and healthy, and her parents need sleep.
Hemanshu Nigam runs a new group at Venable LLP, an American Lawyer Global 100 firm in D.C. Venable Blue is a legal and consulting service that helps clients protect their reputation and manage risk online.
Did you see Daniel Rauch quoted in places like CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal? Dan advocates for pediatric inpatient care nationally, bringing attention to the decades-long reduction in pediatric hospital beds, especially in rural and underserved communities.
Sebastian Bennett’s novel Seasons of Yen, based on his experiences in Japanese advertising, was published in 2021, and his story collection, A Taste of Heaven, hit shelves in 2022. Sebastian gave ChatGPt the same 1983 challenge West College gave us: Why is a mouse when it’s spinning? Sebastian suggested it was a trick question that required a creative answer, and the AI engine returned, “The answer to this classic riddle is: The mouse is spinning because it wants to turn into a rat-tat-tat!”
Simon Connor runs a psychotherapy group practice in Seattle, hangs out with his eight-year-old daughter Gemma, and plays in a rock band with David Goldberg, Louie Hallie (son of late philosophy professor Philip Hallie), and Josh Cohen (nephew of late psychology professor Jeremy Zwelling).
Dr. Leslie Cannold lives in Melbourne, Australia, writing a column in Crikey often focused on learnings from the U.S.’s fragile democracy. She joined the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership as Head of Programs, working with Australia’s most senior public and private sector leaders.
Kim Wishart teaches anatomy and somatics to university dance students in Victoria, Australia. This brings her back to 1983, when she took Susan Lourie’s class at Pine Street studio. That class set her on a path of exploring and teaching movement through experiential learning, along with the general Wesleyan encouragement to experiment, create, and improvise. Skills for life!
Josh Bellin’s 2023 novel, Myriad, is a sci-fi thriller about a time-traveling law enforcement agent who goes back in time to stop crimes that have already been committed. This is his “adult” debut since he has published mostly young adult novels, but Josh says it is only for an older audience and not too salacious
John Dorsey’s younger child’s current housing lottery experiences remind him of the 1986 housing lottery. The group negotiations based on the size of the space; the thrill of getting a high number and perusing the offerings! John wound up in 2 and 4 Knowles Avenue, a house that no longer exists, on a street that has disappeared, with people who would continue to be part of his life—David Igler ’88, David Josephs, Holly Campbell Ambler, Sue Romeo Malestein, and Doug Koplow.
Lisa Pavlovsky works for a nonprofit called 10,000 Degrees, placing volunteer tutors in our country’s schools with the most need. She reports that Ron Fortgang continues to work in the field of negotiation; Elissa Wolf-Tinsman teaches at Colorado Academy; and Vivian Trakinski works at NYC’s Museum of Natural History, developing digital experiences. The museum’s newest wing includes a large-scale immersive venue called Invisible Worlds that Vivian’s been working on since Trump was elected president!
From London, Liz Rabineau says tourists are definitely back. She is a busy yet unofficial concierge service, greeting traveling family and friends. Liz enjoys the visits from President Roth ’78, who was hosted by 1987’s own Ian Rosen (also P’23) and his wife Sagra Maceria de Rosen in their Westminster home.
Shortly after the underwater volcano that sent a tsunami toward the island Kingdom of Tonga, Joe Crivelli linked up with friends Giulio Masasso Tu’ikolongahau Paunga and Jon Hare, Zooming between Suva, Fiji, where Giulio was serving at the University of the South Pacific, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to catch Jon who is the Science and Research Director, Northeastern Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, and Vicenza, Italy, where Joe lives. They also connected Giulio to Jim Flynn (not the same Jim from our class of ’87) at Woods Hole where their researchers are doing important work in that region of the Pacific Ocean.
Josh Calder was featured in a Romper article called “What Our Kids Lives Might Look Like According to Futurists.” He told Molly Langmuir ’03, a fellow Wesleyan alum, that there are many positive paths forward, all enabled by not despairing. Google the article!
Thanks for the fast turnaround! Till next time.