CLASS OF 1979 | 2019 | ISSUE 2
Hi all. Diane LaPointe here. Gary Breitbord, after many years of valiant service as our co-class secretary, has graciously passed the baton to me. Thanks for all of your hard work over the years on this, Gary!
As I write these notes, it is a beautiful late May day. Our 40th class Reunion was last weekend, and what a great weekend it was. Weather was picture perfect, and a record breaking 108 of us returned to campus. If you were unable to attend, you were missed.
Jack Freudenheim was instrumental (no pun intended) in organizing a reunion Eclectic party. He recapped: “We had a blast organizing a reunion band made up of as many alumni from the class of 1979 (give or take 10 years) as we could get to commit. People came from as far as Seattle and South Florida, with rehearsals in the spring in Katonah and Middletown for those who could attend, and the rest being organized online. We named the band The Fossils of the Moon in tribute to our beloved dining hall, home to so many concerts we all loved and the fossils that adorned the walls upstairs. Thanks to all who cheered us on; we had a great time playing for you! The following people played or sang: Charlie Berman ’76,Ann Beutler Millerick ’77, Banning Eyre, Jack Freudenheim, Wil Galison ’81, Chuck Gregory ’74, Tom Kovar ’76, Robert Levin ’81, Bill Levinson, Win Lockwood ’78, Beth Masterman, Jim Melloan ’77, Mike O’Brien ’80, Matthew Penn ’80, Greg Shatan ’81, Tom Valtin, and Dirck Westervelt ’82.
The weekend included some great Weseminars including a well-attended session with terrific and extraordinarily accomplished panelists from our class, Laura Walker and Jim Friedlich. A shoutout to Rachel Christmas Derrick and Ann Schirrmeister Goldrach who compiled a photo montage slide show and accompanying sound track, respectively, for our class dinner. A great backdrop for our dinner conversation.
I think Seta Nazarian recapped Reunion best: “The proof that Wesleyan is unique lies in its people and the deep connection we share. That was proven this weekend. We never stopped loving each other; we only stopped seeing each other every day . . . ”
In other news, Deb Pearson-Woodhouse and John Woodhouse write: “Our son, John Pearson Woodhouse ’19, graduated from Wesleyan with a B.A. in math (major) and quantitative analysis (minor). We spent two full days packing up four years’ worth of accumulated items. We went on to enjoy the fabulous 40th Reunion (highlight: getting most of our dinner coop together at the dinner) and then of course seeing JP graduate on Sunday. It was a whirlwind weekend—but a great one.”
Jodi Daynard sent along the following: “I’d like to share that my family is well, and exciting things are happening: We just bought a cabin in Round Pond, Maine. My son, Alex, recently got his PhD in solar materials science from MIT and moved to California, where he’ll be working to save the world. Finally, my fourth novel, A Transcontinental Affair, is coming out Nov. 1, and it’s available for pre-order on Amazon. According to my publisher, it’s ‘A sweeping tale of adventure and danger, innovation and corruption, rivalry and romance on America’s first transcontinental train trip.’ Would love to hear from fellow Wesleyanites—you can write me via my author page on FB.”
I caught up with David Kendall at Reunion, and he is executive producing a sitcom for Netflix, which is starting production in July. It’s entitled The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia. He continues to live in Santa Monica, the proud dad of a 24-year-old daughter and 17 -year old twins (son and daughter).
Had a nice long conversation with Carol Churgin over dinner. She is making a difference in people’s lives (my words not hers) by working at a nonprofit in mental health and substance abuse, running a parenting workshop in her community, and providing a room in her home to a Rwandan refugee seeking political asylum. You inspire us, Carol!
Martha Bush wrote in to share the following: “After 25 years at SIGMA Marketing, a marketing analytics and martech firm in Rochester, N.Y., the last couple as oresident, I’ve jumped into the nonprofit world feet first. I’ve joined Foodlink, our regional food bank, as chief marketing officer. An amazing place with a mission to end hunger and build a healthier community. Rochester sadly has one of the highest childhood poverty rates in the country. I figure at our age it’s time to supercharge our pay-it-forward efforts!”
Jono Cobb updates us that he and his wife Suzzanne are looking forward to spending the summer at their Chappaquiddick house. He’s hoping to cross paths there with Banning Eyre during his annual family vacation.
Beth Masterman sent along a nice note: “I would like to express my heartfelt affection and appreciation for classmates who returned to our 40th Reunion. It was so worthwhile and so much fun! On the personal front, my daughter Amanda ’08 is expecting a baby in July, and as of January 2020, all of my three children will be married. My coaching business continues to grow, and I love it. Currently I serve as VP of events and logistics on the board of the International Coach Federation of New England. Through the ICFNE, I continue to learn, refine my skills, and meet great people.” She has lobbed a challenge for our 45th Reunion involving ukuleles. Space is limited here. More on this next issue.
Banning Eyre updates us on Afropop. “Afropop Worldwide is a Peabody Award-winning public radio series, launched by Banning and Sean Barlow in 1988. For the past 30-plus years, Sean, Banning, and their colleagues have been making field trips to Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East recording and collecting music, interviewing artists, and shooting countless photographs and videos for the radio program and the website afropop.org. This summer, Afropop is moving this archive out of Brooklyn and up to Middletown where Sean and Banning now live. The idea is to organize and inventory all the media and begin digitizing the most at-risk materials. It’s a big step in a long process! Afropop has recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to underwrite this move and the early stages of protecting the archive.” Sounds awesome to me!
And finally, on a sad note, Casey Blake ’78 writes: “It is my sad duty to report that my friend and Wesleyan classmate, Karl Arnason, passed away in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on May 12 after a long illness. Karl majored in economics at Wesleyan and later took an MBA at the University of Albany. In addition to holding positions as a project analyst for the New York Banking Department and the State Department of Transportation, he had a significant career in cycling. He was New York State cycling champion in 1982 and was then named to the national team the same year. He is survived by his wife Donna Behen and their three children, Thomas, Elisabeth, and Daniel, as well as other relatives.” See his complete obituary. He clearly exemplified what we all garnered from our Wesleyan experience by being committed to leaving his mark while on this earth by affecting the lives of others. Our condolences go out to his family.
As I write this, I (Diane) am entering my final week of work, having announced my planned early June retirement two month ago. I am looking forward to becoming more tangibly engaged in nonprofits that align with missions that are most important to my husband and me. Now is the time to truly embrace the ethos of Wesleyan—giving back and making a difference. I am looking forward to it. We will be splitting our time between our homes in California and New York and seeing more of our two children who live on opposite coasts.
Please send us news for our next issue. We are part of a wonderful community as Seta put it so eloquently above. We should never forget that.
Ann Biester Deane | abdeane@aol.com
Diane LaPointe | dmlapointe28@gmail.com