CLASS OF 2000 | 2024 | SUMMER ISSUE
Mandy Snyder wrote: “I moved to Greenfield, Massachusetts, last year to enjoy the amazing improvisational dance community here, and it has been wonderful. I am offering groups in somatic and parts work around western Massachusetts.
“I recently visited the campus after many years. My brother, Jeffrey Snyder, a professor at Carleton College, gave a talk on free speech for the annual Hugo L. Black Lecture. That was a special moment for me, and it was so great to be back. So many great memories, especially from living at Art House and all of the dance opportunities there.
“Reach out if you live nearby and enjoy walking or hiking. I would love to connect with other alums.”
From Peter Wiley: “I’m so sad to report that my wife, Hilda Ives Wiley, died on March 28, 2024, from a six-month battle with colon cancer. Hilda and I met in the first few days of our freshman year and by the end of our first semester, we were in a ‘Wes marriage’ for the rest of our four years. I am so grateful for the 27 years we shared together and for Wesleyan being the place that brought us together. Hilda’s freshman roommate, Marisa Suescun, and floor mate, Jill Berlinski,were able to visit with Hilda just a few days before she died and we did a lot of reminiscing. Like the time Jill and Marisa created a dinner party for Hilda’s 20th birthday in a Nicholson dorm room, putting a wooden board atop a bed, creating a makeshift dining room table. More information about Hilda’s journey with cancer is available on the CaringBridge website and an obituary was published in the Portland Press Herald.”
Greg Amis shared two updates: “In November of 2021, my wife, Karen Ferreira Amis, died of sarcoma. Her good friend, M. J. Lanum, and her sister, Kristen Ferreira, wrote a wonderful obituary, available at http://karenferreiraamis.name. The kids and I have grown and healed a lot in the last three years. She would be proud of us.”
And “last October I was laid off after five years at Abbott Vascular. It was a blessing in disguise as I joined Insitro, an amazing tech-bio start-up focused on AI-accelerated drug discovery.”
Greg and Peter, we are sorry for your losses and offer our heartfelt condolences to you and your loved ones.
Matthew Lenard said he “earned his PhD in education from Harvard University this spring and will join the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies at Florida State University this fall.”
Trace Peterson has moved back to Connecticut, where she continues to teach as a visiting assistant professor of English at UConn, Storrs. This year, so far, her article “A Pre Narrative Manifesto: kari edwards’ Trans Poetics” was published in The Weird Sister Collection, edited by Marisa Crawford (The Feminist Press), and her nonfiction essay “Between Muses” was published in Gina Barreca’s new edited collection Fast Famous Women (Woodhall Press). She also had new poems published in Interim: Poetry and Poetics and The Arts Fuse and was invited to give a talk on trans poetry at The Poetry Foundation in Chicago. Currently a member of the Wallace Stevens Poetry Committee at UConn, she was a judge for this year’s Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize.
As a spring chicken of 45, Tamar Wilner is setting out on a new career. Having wrapped up her PhD at the University of Texas, she’ll be starting this fall as an assistant professor of journalism and mass communications at the University of Kansas. Tamar will be relocating to the charming and surprisingly hilly college town of Lawrence, where she looks forward to patronizing a vibrant local music scene, and possibly investing in her first e-bike.
Alua Arthur’s book, Briefly Perfectly Human, was recommended by Gayle King for Oprah’s Book Club and has been a New York Times bestseller. The book description says it is “a deeply transformative memoir that reframes how we think about death and how it can help us lead better, more fulfilling and authentic lives.” Alua has also been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in health in 2024. @alualoveslife