CLASS OF 1974 | 2025 | SPRING ISSUE
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As Bob Gershen reminds us, he bought and rebuilt a small ranch house in Detroit within walking distance of his daughter, Emily, and her family, including her two infants, Milo (age three) and Naomi (age one and one-half). “Living near our offspring is an unexpected joy. My daughter, Jayme, is a Miami-based filmmaker who had three films accepted this year into festivals in New Orleans, Middlebury, and New York City. It’s also a joy to see your children excel at something I know nothing about. This year Thanksgiving was a wonderful gathering at which I did no cooking and all four of my children were together for the first time in 15 years.”
Nancy Collins writes, “This was the highlight of my year. On November 3, 2024, the newest women’s crew shell was christened Spirit of ’74. The name came about from a conversation spring ’23 at the initiation of the Phil Calhoun Endowment Fund for the crew teams. I was there [with my] husband, Brian Mahoney ’73, who had Phil as a crew coach. I was introduced as being in the first women’s shell. A group of the varsity women, who had won the silver medal that spring in their division at the NCAA championship in this brand-new unnamed shell, were very interested in the stories of the beginning of women’s crew as well as other women’s sports in those first couple of years of women on campus. I was so surprised and pleased when informed of their name for that new shell and of the christening event. In the picture: me and Adrienne Bentman, Anne Williams ’75, Brian Dawe ’70 (who was actually responsible for recruiting women to start the sport), Brian Mahoney ’73, and George Surgeon ’72, who helped Coach Dawe coach.
“Before this event, I reached out to the other women with whom I had roomed and who had also rowed, Jane Witten, Val Talmage,and Eileen Devereux ’76 (who entered with the Class of ’75). All of the women said that crew (and for Adrienne who is in Wes’s Athletic Hall of Fame for other sports as well) was the best and most important part of their experience as Wesleyan.”
Blaise Noto updates us, “Reunion was terrific! So, thanks to all those who made it wonderful. I am semi-retired and a living in Halfmoon, New York, which is between Albany and Saratoga Springs. I am a lecturer at Skidmore College, in marketing and public relations and enjoy being at Skidmore!! Also, I have been busy being a judge for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences: Student Academy Awards and the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting—[including] judging in Oscar categories [of] international feature films, animated feature films, and live action short films.”
Larry Green retired as of year-end 2024 following 47 years of trial practice in Boston, taking pride in his service to clients and his mentorship of younger attorneys over the decades. Larry is grateful that he is retiring in good health. He will be spending his time with a combination of nonprofit board service, consulting, writing, travel, and fitness. Larry and his wife, Denise, were blessed on November 14 with their seventh grandchild. They live in Ogunquit, Maine, enjoying daily walks along the Atlantic shore, and welcoming any and all visits from Wes alums.
Andre Barbera reports, “My latest study, Original Sin and Time, will appear early in 2025, published by Wipf & Stock. This message causes me to reflect for a moment on Wesleyan and our studies there. Those years and ethos seem long ago and far away. I am grateful for the opportunity to have attended Wesleyan, and in some ways, I learned a lot while there. But judging from publications and class notes, I fear that now I would be a stranger on campus. Perhaps my two recent books (one on faith and works published in 2020) are indicative of a diversity of thought and opinion cultivated at our alma mater.”
Ellen Levy-Sarnoff writes, “Under my pen name, Nelle Lamarr, my new psychological thriller, All My Lies, will be released by Inkubator Books! It’s about a writer who does an unthinkable thing and pays the price. I think it’s my most fun, fast-paced thriller to date. If you love to read bestseller Freida McFadden, whose daughter is going to Wes in September 2025, you will love this book!”
Claudia Catania reports, “I’ve been spending a lot of time in Denver with son, Gavin, and his wife, Theresa, and their three boys ages two, four, and six. I’ll be spending more time in San Francisco where son, Max, and his wife, Shira, and their in utero, Baby Bean, (a fourth boy) live. I returned to Playing on Air (playingonair.org) for a year or so to reboot, but [I’ve left]. Take it away, Joshua! Italy, here I come!”
Monique Witt updates us, “Mostly the same music news: we have some albums in the mix and master stage, when Dev has time to produce. Dev is hip deep in the new product lines, which he hopes to beta in the spring. Ben [was] in NYC for December as it is one of the heaviest performance times of the year. He [went] back on tour in January for about six months all over. I had a really interesting dinner with Kate Lynch ’82 and Dean Roger Grant from the new integrated arts initiative, talking about everything from jazz to philosophy to the visual arts—exciting time to be in the arts at Wes. We hope to do an evening of jazz and commentary early next year. Steven’s just beginning to think about retirement, which I imagine will involve some aspect of the guys’ music.”
In September, Bob Baum published his new book: Ancient African Religions: A History with Oxford University Press. Now he is applying for grants for his next book on Senegalese women prophets.
Jane Burns notes, “My 2024 news is summarized in the attached newsletter from our research group and includes receiving an endowed chair and an article in the The New York Times that resulted in the Clintons reaching out to me to participate in the Clinton Global Initiative. Website: https://pediatrics.ucsd.edu/research/centers/kawasaki-disease/index.html”
Harold Sogard was disappointed with the results of the November elections. He plans to work toward a different outcome in the 2026 elections.
Mark Decker writes, “This past year, Jim and Nancy Gilson, Paul and Kim Liscom, Rip and Marjorie (’76) Dauster, Don Middleton, Bruce Duncan, Larry Green,and Cele and I have been enjoying periodic group Zoom sessions.
“This past June, Cele and I enjoyed a trip to Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa. We highly recommend it.
“On August 1, after 34 years at The Connell Company, I retired. I am now volunteering my time as board member of, and legal advisor to, the Schiff Natural Land Trust. The Trust preserves and maintains the bulk of the lands in Mendham and Chester, New Jersey, which formerly served as the national training center for the Boy Scouts of America.”
Jim Gilson tells us, “Nancy and I had the pleasure of hosting Mark and Cele Decker and Don Middleton just after Election Day. Our visit together slightly mitigated the pain and fear of the results because we could share that pain and fear with friends. All of us— plus Rip Dauster, Paul Liscom, Bruce Duncan, Larry Green, and interested spouses (including Marjorie Allen Dauster ’76)—continue our periodic Zoom catch-up calls, and as many of us as are able plan to get together again late in May at the beautiful house Paul self-built in West Yellowstone, Montana.”
Bill Pearson writes, “Our major news is that we had our first wedding—Nate Pearson, our eldest, married Raegan Allsbrook on August 24, at our home in Ledyard, Connecticut. This is where Jane and I were married. We had the Wesleyan Gamelan perform for our wedding. Nate and Raegan had his brothers lead the band. It made for a wonderful August day.
His brother, Howe ’12, a Wesleyan alum, is a musician who lives in New Orleans and has spent much of the past year touring with the Deslondes, a great Americana band. His youngest brother, Henry, is a middle school math teacher in Trenton, New Jersey, and co-leads a modern rock band, Uncle Skunk.”
John Shapiro notes, “Needless to say, it was great to see everybody at our 50th Reunion. The big news in our life is that we have finally become grandparents with the birth of a granddaughter named Noa. At the moment, she and her parents are living in San Diego, where we have visited multiple times since her birth in early October. Ultimately, they will be moving back to New York City, which will be a much easier commute for us!”
James Krantz writes, “My son, Daniel ’11, and his wife have welcomed our first—and hopefully not last—grandchild into our lives. One thing I’ve learned is that all the cliches are true. It’s heavenly.”
“Greetings from the great state of Maine (reservedly). This is G. Beecher Johnson (Gary Johnson). (Beechnut; aka Fagus grandifolia) now sending my love.”
Henry Avis-Vieira had two knee surgeries last year, one in March and the other in August. He is finally close to normal now—hiking and jogging a little. What a year! He is still sending out pictures from our 50th Reunion.
Christopher Moeller shares, “My only news is very sad news for me. My wife, Sarah, lost her battle with blood cancer in September. I find grieving to be a terribly difficult process.”
Carolyn White reports, “I was disappointed not to be able to attend the 50th Reunion, but I had a mini-reunion with freshman-year classmates Ellen Driscoll, Ann Duncan, and Anne Jacobs. It is precious to have maintained this friendship.
“July and August saw me in Paris for the Olympics, which was brilliantly well-organized. My next activity will be to, once again, lead a NAMI Family to Family course, helping families deal with a mental health crisis of their loved one.”
Fred Hosea writes, “As a World Health Innovation Fellow, I’m heading an international prototyping team to develop an AI platform to assist innovators in health care devices and services in creating innovations that satisfy a wide range of critical success factors and stakeholder requirements. Am on the board of newly formed Universal Clinical Engineering Federation, modeled on Doctors without Borders, based in India, to send professional CE volunteers into disaster situations to help restore hospital services, which obviously involves painful analysis of Middle East hostilities, massive population emergencies, and unprecedented targeting of humanitarian volunteers, ambulances, hospitals, etc. Here in Ecuador, we’re facing a national plague of drug trafficking and crimes, combined with disruptive climate impacts causing daily 14-hour power outages for two months due to lack of rain to run hydroelectric generators. The current president, Noboa, has signed an agreement to establish U.S. military bases in the Galapagos Islands.”
Lyn Thurber Lauffer shares, “I’m very sad to report the loss of one of our classmates, Fred Freije, who graduated with us, and who passed away on September 17 of this past year in London. He had actually matriculated with the Class of 1967, though he left for various reasons in the years following, till his return to campus in 1973, when few of us encountered him.
My own acquaintance with Fred, and his family, only occurred a couple of years ago, because of my membership on the 1974 50th Reunion Committee. When I volunteered to contact classmates about reunion, I zeroed in on him, because of his London address. My family travels there often, as our daughter lives in London, and I was intrigued to meet another Wes alum there. My husband, Ferdinand, and I met with Fred in April 2023 and became fast friends. It was soon very obvious how much Wesleyan meant to him, in spite of his unconventional path to a diploma. The short version of his academic journey was summed up by his son, Tom, in his eulogy at Fred’s memorial service in September, which he has kindly sent to me:
“‘A talented track sprinter, [Fred] received scholarship offers to Yale and Wesleyan. Always contrarian, he unsurprisingly chose to go to Wesleyan, a place he would proudly claim as the only school to expel him three times and still graduate him on a full scholarship.’
“The reason for that final scholarship offer came from our own beloved Steve Buttner ’61, who lured Fred back to Middletown from LA, where he was trying to break into filmmaking, thanks to his close relationship to Jeanine Basinger and the early film department at Wesleyan. He spent his senior year living with, and caring for the children of Professor Tony Connor, whose daughter also traveled to London this fall to take part in Fred’s memorial service. All in all, it seems to me, a journey shaped by every possible path that Wesleyan has always provided for its students, no matter what their circumstances.”
SHARON PURDIE | spurdie@wesleyan.edu