CLASS OF 1974 | 2024 | SUMMER ISSUE
Ilene Rosenthal reports, “I am excited that my educational software company, Footsteps2Brilliance, is partnering with PBS and SBCSS to create the first transmedia program that turns television from a passive to an active medium for young children. My company has also been hired to create a game-based financial literacy program for upper elementary students. This will help students learn and apply key principals so that they can make better financial decisions as an adult. My husband and I are thrilled that our Wes daughter (Alex Rosenthal Spencer ’17) and her Wes husband (Keith Spencer ’16) will be moving to D.C., where Keith will be starting his residency program at Georgetown Hospital. We live in D.C. so this will put them close to us.”
Lloyd Komesar enthusiastically shares, “Greetings to all my ’74 classmates! The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival will be rolling out its 10th Anniversary Fest this August 21–25 in Middlebury, Vermont. Over the course of these five fun days, we’ll be screening 125 films on six screens, with 80-plus first- and second-time filmmakers in attendance from around the world, along with panels, presentations, special guests, happy hours and evening parties. Lots of parties. There are always many Wes grads who gather at the Fest, from ’74 and surrounding classes. We invariably have a damn good time. So, I extend an invitation to everyone who reads these notes to come join us in Vermont for our milestone 10th-anniversary celebration. If you have questions, contact me at lk@middfilmfest.org.”
Blaise Noto moved from Chapel Hill to upstate New York. He is living in Clifton Park/Halfmoon, halfway between Albany and Saratoga, to “semi-retire” and to be close to family. He is teaching part time at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, in marketing and public relations, and is thrilled being part of that college community! “Looking forward to seeing all my friends and my brothers at DEKE at Reunion!”
Willy Holtzman shares, “In 2012 my play, The Morini Strad, inspired by the esteemed violin maker (and my best friend) Brian Skarstad ’73, had its New York premiere. A German language production recently premiered in Vienna to rave reviews. I took a bow for us both while Brian continued his magic at the bench.”
Howard Curzer writes, “I am still teaching philosophy at Texas Tech University. Teaching is getting a bit more difficult each year as academia begins to buckle under various stresses, and I get older and crankier. On the bright side, my research is bearing fruit. Last year I published a book on ethics. This year I published another. It is entitled, Difficult Virtues: An Aristotelian Perspective (Routledge 2024).”
Lee Coplan reports “Since retirement, my main commitments are music and bridge. I returned to playing the violin about 25 years ago when daughter needed a practice partner for Suzuki violin lessons. I’ve been playing in several klezmer groups for the past 13 years; since COVID hit only one group (KlezKonnection) is still operating. I played at a number of seniors’ homes, synagogues, city parks and bars, and several times at Toronto’s Ashkenaz Festival. I’ve also been playing in a community string orchestra (Strings Attached Orchestra) for the past 10 years, also with a mandate to play at seniors’ residences and schools, as well as community concerts twice a year. After a dry spell during the height of COVID, I’m happy to say that public performances are picking up again. It’s a pleasure to bring the joy of music into people’s lives.
“After a 45-year (or so) gap, I resumed playing bridge in fall 2019. I originally learned bridge as a freshman at Wesleyan along with many classmates. The game has transformed over the intervening years, so I started with some refresher lessons. I started playing duplicate at the Toronto Bridge Club in February 2020. After three live games, COVID ended in-person play, and I eventually started playing online through Bridgebase (Lee_TO). Now I’m playing a mix of online and in-person games/tournaments. I hope to achieve life master status— I’m 40-plus silver points and 40-plus gold/red points short, so I need to get to, and be successful at, enough tournaments. I plan to play a good bit at the NABC summer tournament in Toronto this July, so I hope that brings me closer to my goal. I’d love to hear from any Wesleyan folks who come for the summer tournament.
“Otherwise, I keep busy with theater, music, reading, etc. And, of course, I love to spend time with my sons and their families, including my two grandsons (two and nearly five) in Toronto and with my daughter either here or visiting her in Washington, D.C. Lydia and I also resumed traveling to a greater extent and look forward to doing a bit more over the next few years.”
Christine “Chris” Lees Jonientz of Hamden, Connecticut, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, at Yale New Haven Hospital, with her family by her side. Chris was born in Hempstead, New York, on May 29,1952. She graduated magna cum laude from Wesleyan University in 1974 with a BA in English. She earned a master’s degree in American civilization from Brown University in 1975 and an MBA from Temple University in 1985. Chris worked as a consumer banker and was a certified master gardener.