CLASS OF 1984 | 2021 | ISSUE 1
Hello again, Classmates. It has been a long winter and hopefully by the time this issue arrives the worldwide health situation will be improving.
During this long turn inwards, Stephanie Fleischmann has been co-creating The Visitation (here.org/shows/the-visitation/), a sound walk produced by Here, set to launch March 26, which can be experienced anywhere. She has also been writing libretti and texts commissioned by Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Brandeis University, and developing new works supported by West Edge Opera’s Aperture and Opera America. Poppea, with composer Michael Hersch, premieres in Basel and Vienna this fall.
Mark Randles did not get to go on his annual summer trip to see baseball games at a few different stadiums (and to take in the local history), a tradition he shares with Michael Bailit, Jim Glickman, Bill Barry, Hans Schweiger, and Melany Kahn ’86. Dallas and Houston were supposed to be on their 2020 itinerary, and they are hoping to resume this coming summer.
Annmarie Zimmerman is taking the time and space afforded by the pandemic to move on from the end of her 35-year marriage. Her kids are supportive and helping complete long-standing house projects. She is reconnecting with old friends, playing the piano, reading more and doing less laundry. She is a physician so her work life has not changed much, just more safety precautions, and she is hopeful about the vaccines on the horizon. As she says, “A fallow time is sometimes what we need to create anew.”
Karen Rosenberg gets together with a large group of Wes Friends for regular Zoom cocktails, mostly from West College or off-campus on 69 Oak Street. One recent gathering included Maria Mead, Charlotte Sonnenblick Van Doren, Dima Litvinov, Dana Sachs, Heidi Wasch (and her husband Bob), Monica Elias, Sara Jamison, Jim Wasserman, Eric Caplan, Tony Richter, Eileen Kelly, Andy Tauber, Mike Kaplan, Jennifer Colton, John Miya, and Arthur Haubenstock.
Rob Leland came back from China at the end of 2000, with his wife, and has been living in the Bay Area since. His eldest son began studies at UC Berkeley but has been stuck in his dorm for the pandemic. His daughter will launch next year, and California may or may not be in his future plans.
Paul Baker continues his work in sculpture, available at his website c-clampstudios.com. During the pandemic, he has been rereading the Hardy Boys series, and is marveling at the vocabulary in these otherwise young adult books. Inspired by the books (and by Professor John Risley’s Visual Connections art class) he has been imagining what camera the different characters would use. He has created a 1959 style Leica camera for Laura Hardy (the mom) and a family movie camera (1961) for Fenton, the dad; and has works in progress for the boys and their friends.
Gail Farris is excited about becoming a grandparent (daughter Kim, class of ’14 is expecting in April).
Paul Gross writes from Seattle about his high schoolers in remote (now hybrid) school, and the long wait for the vaccines. They expect to be on the East Coast shore for the summer, following expected orthopedic surgery for their son. He has reconnected with senior housemate Rich Macy and Brian Whittier during the pandemic, as well as his freshman year head resident Joe Barrett ’82. When he connected with RA Janet Cranshaw (Mink) ’82, he found that her husband Jonathan Mink ’81 was also an advisor to the NIH and they have collaborated on research together.
Lee McIntyre has a new book, How to Talk to a Science Denier, to be published by MIT Press in August 2021, and yes, will include a chapter on COVID denial.
Finally, I received a late note from Sally Bromage (Suhr), who was one of my fellow denizens in Gingerbread House. Everyone in her house is healthy and employed, and she is one of the people who actually did get to long-term projects and cleaning out. She and husband Scott are empty-nesters in Atlanta, and have children in Denver and both Portlands (Oregon and Maine). She will be giving Delta Airlines a lot of business when we are all able to fly again.
Time marches on. Talk to you all soon.