Author: Anne Marcotty

Greetings from Atlanta airport, as I (Joanne) finish this one last “to-do” item before heading out on a family vacation to Germany and France with my husband and two of my three sons. My youngest son, Christopher, is a rising high school senior who keeps busy playing tennis, ultimate Frisbee and jazz sax and piano. My middle son, James, just finished his sophomore year at Indiana University, where he is majoring in Informatics with a cognate in music and has been interning this summer at the University of Augsburg, Germany—and doing some traveling on the budget airlines. My oldest son, Alex, is a computer science engineer. After an 18-month stint at Microsoft, he is now back in Indiana and happily working for a company that specializes in software for the travel industry. They do grow up and spread their wings!

I have many interesting tidbits to share—our classmates continue to achieve, accomplish, and give back. I am running out of adjectives to describe all this success!

Exciting news in from Dave Coombs, who was presented his 10th (yes, you read that correctly!) annual award for excellence from The New York State Broadcasters Association. Fans who have missed Dave’s humor might want to check out his blog. In addition, Dave also has a podcast, CoupleTake, which he and his wife, Beth, launched; it is available on iTunes here: http://apple.co/1GGQl9H. Enjoy—and congratulations!

Peter Gryska wrote to let me know that he is living in Houston, still actively working in the food service distribution chain, and mercifully high and dry (at the time of this writing) from the flooding that occurred in June. He enjoys the frequent Wesleyan gatherings in Houston when professors and administration come to town, and he keeps an ongoing exchange going with both Laurey Richter and Sean Moran. Peter says, “Both daughters have graduated from law school and college and are off the payroll.” He adds, “We are increasingly spending time in West Texas at our 110-year-old family ranch, building a ranch house, running cattle, and expanding the farming operations.” (Sounds like a great place for a Wes alumni gathering.)

More congratulations are in order, this time going out to Chris Graves. The biggest news, Chris modestly writes, is that his daughter, Julia Graves ’17, is at Wesleyan.

rofessionally, it appears that Chris is at the top of his game. Recent achievements include: a promotion to global chairman (from Global CEO) of Ogilvy Public Relations as well as elected chair of the industry association, the PR Council; being elected as a trustee of the Institute for Public Relations, where he co-leads the behavioral and neuroscience communications initiative; being published as a contributing author in three books edited by McKinsey, the latest a business bestseller called Reimagining India. Chris has also been named as a United Nations adviser to a group called the Private Sector Leadership Advisory Council to UN Women, in which capacity he has addressed the UN on communications and behavior change related to enlisting men into the cause for gender equality for women and girls—a most worthy cause! If all that hasn’t been enough, Chris adds, “I have been writing for Harvard Business Review occasionally such as this story on why communications around the ‘vaccination wars’ in America have been so ineffective (https://hbr.org/2015/02/why-debunking-myths-about-vaccines-hasnt-convinced-dubious-parents).” I’m out of breath just writing this! It’s been quite a year for Chris Graves.

My dear friend Kaylie Jones has several items of import to report, the most exciting being that her daughter, Eyrna, will be attending the University of Texas, Honors College, at Austin as a Jefferson Scholar. Equally noteworthy is the publication of Kaylie’s newest book (available on Amazon.com) entitled The Anger Meridian. At a book reading in June at the Huntington, Long Island, library, Kaylie was surprised by the librarian organizing the event. After Kaylie texted me a pic of the handsome librarian, I immediately recognized our classmate Tom Cohn. We had a very quick chat with no time for catching up, as Kaylie was getting ready to give her talk, so I hope Tom will be in touch soon. In addition to writing, Kaylie is also very much involved in the publishing side of her imprint, Akashic Books. One of her newest laudable acquisitions is a forthcoming novel by Patty Smith ’82, to be published in the fall of 2015 with the tentative title, The Year of Needy Girls. Both Patty and Kaylie expressed great excitement at being involved in this endeavor together. Hats off to the two of them on the publication of their new novels!

On June 18th, Rick Rome was recognized by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. In accepting the award, Rick (a non-lawyer) noted that he will continue to work hard to support the efforts of this organization. “This is the time for all of us to focus on civil rights, ending discrimination and drastically reducing poverty.” Rick became interested in civil rights issues as a young boy. He writes, “My dad, Lew Rome, led the drive to desegregate the public schools as Mayor of Bloomfield, Conn. The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs has been fighting discrimination, civil rights violations and poverty for years. In recent years I have been building corporate support for the Committee, saying that not all civil rights activists became lawyers and we who care deeply about the issues should support the lawyers who take on cases for those in need and for the community at large. I received an award as a non-lawyer for contributing to the efforts of the organization. My goal is to significantly increase the percentage of contributions from non-lawyers.” Rick also expressed his great appreciation to Professor Emeritus John Grumm, and his creative and caring fellow students. “Unfortunately, civil rights is once again front and center as a critical issue we must all pay attention to. We came along after the heroic freedom riders and the marchers in Selma.” Congratulations, Rick, on this well-deserved honor! Rick lives in the Washington, D.C., area with his wife Joanne and their three talented sons: Jack, a rap artist; Sam, a singer songwriter; and Max, an actor.

Dave Robertson, a professor of practice at the Wharton School in Philadelphia, wrote in to tell me that he now has a radio show on SiriusXM (channel 111) called Innovation Navigation that is recorded live every Tuesday between 8 and 10 a.m. It is also a podcast on iTunes. How cool is that? One of Dave’s recent guests (on May 19th) was “old friend and fellow alum Matthew McCreight, who does innovation consulting for Schaffer Consulting. We had a wonderful conversation about the meaning of ‘innovation’ and how companies can become more innovative.” You can download the podcast here: bit.ly/innonavipod. For more on the show, see the website: www.innonavi.com.” In addition to his radio work, Dave is also the author of the book Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry.

Richard M. Locke, a professor of political science and international affairs and the Howard R. Swearer Director of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, has been named Brown’s 13th provost. He began his duties July 1, 2015. As provost, Rick will serve as the University’s chief academic officer, second in rank to the president, and the senior officer in charge when the president is away from campus. Many of the University’s senior positions report directly to him. Brown University President Christina Paxson said in her official announcement, “Rick Locke is a highly respected scholar, has positioned Watson as a prominent center for international and public affairs, and emerged as the leading choice among outstanding candidates to lead the University’s academic programs. Rick’s appointment will sustain the momentum we have built as we advance the goals outlined in the Building on Distinction strategic plan.” Warmest congratulations to Rick as he embarks on this new and exciting journey.

My freshman year roommate, Martha Arntzen Bockian, dropped me a line from Chicago. She has been very busy doing neuropsychological testing and brain maps on former NFL players, as well as consulting at a residential treatment facility for young adults with mental health problems, doing brain maps and neurofeedback. Her husband, Neil Bockian ’83, continues to teach and write, in addition to seeing patients part-time in his private practice. The most exciting news though, writes Martha, is that the family went to Israel in July for daughter Chaya’s high school graduation, followed by a celebratory trip to Barcelona. Martha also writes that son Yaakov is really enjoying school and has been working closely with his math teacher to use mathematical principles to further his interest in the world of fashion design.

For the past year, Chrissi Winkelbauer Kelly, who lives in England, has been working with “Fifth Sense,” a charity for people with taste and smell disorders. She lost her own sense of smell completely after contracting a virus in 2012 and is now experiencing some recovery. Chrissi writes, “The highlight thus far has been speaking at the UK Semiochemistry Network Conference at the University of Cambridge last year. It is estimated that five percent of the populations suffers from some sort of smell loss… Smell training promises to be a useful tool for those who are fortunate enough to get even a small amount of recovery from anosmia.” Chrissi encourages us all to take a deep breath on that next walk in the woods or when sitting down to your next meal, and most importantly, to appreciate your sense of smell, the least understood of the senses. Thank you for sharing your story, Chrissi—and we hope you continue healing.

In conclusion, it is with a heavy heart that I report the death of our classmate Paul Lenkeit, Babson Capital Management’s head of derivatives and insurance investments, whose more than two-decade career in markets began as a self-taught day trader in his spare time. He died unexpectedly on March 25 at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, during a vacation, said his wife, Lori Lenkeit. “Paul took great pride in his work and enjoyed a successful career,” his family wrote in an online obituary. “Paul was a kind, caring, devoted and selfless husband, father and brother.” Paul, an economics and math major, also had a passion for jazz. He regularly attended music festivals in Hartford and Newport, Rhode Island, near a summer home. In addition to his wife, survivors include their three children, Paul, Michael and Christine. He will be sorely missed by those who loved him and the many whose lives he touched. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family in South Windsor, Conn.

A 35th year Reunion highlight for me was sitting in Memorial Chapel during the distinguished alumni awards ceremony listening to David Potts ’60 give his closing remarks from his presentation about his book, Wesleyan University, 1910–1970. He said, “I hope my book will nurture our sense of family, and help us achieve one of our key liberal arts goals—a deeper self-knowledge. That goal is well-served when we collectively gain a new measure of institutional self-understanding. And for us as individuals, the quest for self-knowledge is enhanced when each of us knowingly remembers where we came from.” There were about 50 of us at Reunion who had the opportunity to share the experience of remembering from where we came and to collectively gain a new measure of institutional self-understanding. (See the Web class notes for a list of those who were among those the Reunion attendees—too long to add here!)

With Reunion memories Liz Sikes writes: “Catching up with Cesar Noble was the best surprise—especially when he e-mailed me a few weeks later to say his daughter was impressed that he knew someone like me, by which I think he means a college professor scientist studying climate change, but the best part was I was a woman. Made my day! Especially because he is a judge and here I was talking to him and Brad Moss (both judges!) thinking to myself—wow, I feel like everyone here is so much more successful than I! The funny thing is I can’t remember who said that out loud—but someone did… and I think that was the take home moment for me—what an amazing class we have –so many have come so far…I like being in this club!”

Melissa Stern writes: “I had a great time at Reunion. It was a great honor to have been asked to design a tee shirt for our 35th Reunion and I got a kick out of seeing many current students wearing it! It was a great weekend. I particularly enjoyed the ‘writer’ panel with Julie Burstein, Jennifer Finney Boylan and Rachel Basch—a rich and meaningful conversation among artists.”

Not in attendance….Susan Kravit writes: “I have lived in Washington State, first Seattle then Olympia, since 1982. My hobby of breeding flat coated retrievers kept me from attending Reunion, as I had a litter of eight puppies.”

Wendy Buskop writes: “My daughter, Jacqueline ’19, will attend Wesleyan in September.”

Janet Grillo writes: “I am delighted to be back in NYC, teaching full time as an arts professor at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts undergraduate film and television program. The second feature film I directed, Jack of the Red Hearts, starring Famke Janssen (Taken, X-Men) and AnnaSophia Robb (Carrie Diaries, The Way Way Back), won the jury prize at the inaugural Bentonville Film Festival, co-founded by actress/activist Geena Davis, to promote women and diversity. It will be in national theatrical release next winter. Like my first feature, Fly Away, this film also dramatized the impact of raising a child with autism.”

Wendy Davis Beard writes: “While still based in Sydney with our 12-year-old daughter, we traveled to New York last June to enroll Eliza in a three-week summer program at Columbia University. Whilst in America during the summer for the first time in many years, we took the opportunity to visit family in Cape Cod and Pam Mitchell in Maine, which was a real treat, as her husband Mark, a volunteer fireman, was able to carry me up and down the steep stairs to their beautiful sea front home. While able to climb a few steps with my quad stick, a whole flight is still a very big challenge. This past December while visiting my husband’s family in London, including two older daughters and two little granddaughters, we had a lovely lunch with Peter Eisenhardt who has been based in London with his family for over 30 years! I continue to write my memoir of recovery from cancer (now complete) and from my disabling stroke, a recovery which is ongoing—and am also writing fiction. Meanwhile, Peter has written an award-winning screen play.”
Michael Shulman writes: “I live in Ann Arbor, unexpected boom-town of the rust belt, with my wife and our two daughters. My wife is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, as I am. We’ve been in Ann Arbor since our meeting in grad school, except for an eight-year sojourn in Boca Raton, where we lived quite differently, grew mangoes and grapefruit, but ended up longing to return to a place where the intellect stood a better chance of growing.

Since leaving Wes, I’ve stayed in touch with Becky Hayden, Todd Martin ’81, Randy Baron, Christian Herold ’81 and Amanda Hardy. I would love to hear from Karen Murgolo, Claudia Lewis ’78, Leda Hartman ’81, Bradley Hess, or my COL mates from ’80 or ’81. Paul Schwaber ’57 and I, both psychoanalysts, have been in frequent touch in the past decade, despite having lost touch for the two before. A most wonderful recent reunion was sitting down with Henry Abelove in NYC, where we were presenting at the same conference. Maybe the most pleasant of all was hearing Henry’s account of his post-Wesleyan stints at ivy-covered schools whose students, however brilliant, preferred silence to vocal engagement.”

 

Ann writes: It’s sunny in New York and I just got back from the Mojave Desert for a three-day Skip Barber Racing School driving event, in which I drove an open-wheel race car. I had a blast!

Bill Levinson and his wife, Julie, spent a wonderful sunny afternoon swimming and boating with Matt Jarvinen during his 10-week American tour around the country, enroute to New York City to see Jim Friedlich and his wife, Melissa Stern ’80, Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow. Julie and Bill spent the winter in Key West, playing almost every night with his band, The Happy Dog, from February through April. They are now back in New Hope, Pa., recording a new album and enjoying the incomparable beauty of life there.

Jono Cobb writes “Did you get the Facebook post about AfroPop winning a Peabody Award? (Congratulations to Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow!) Get in touch if you are ever going to be on the Vineyard this summer…”

Ann Kaplan submitted the following: “In May, Laurie Dicker, Heidi Mastrogiovanni, Debbie Mincer, and I, who met freshman year on the same hall in Butterfield C, embarked on a 40th reunion of our own design. We call ourselves the Gang of Four. Our Go4 reunion t-shirts were emblazoned with the slogan, “Claw your way to joy!” That’s what we’ve been doing for 40 years. We met in what is possibly the least-convenient place for any of us to get to—Santa Fe. We convened at our hotel’s outdoor hot tub, and from there went to our suites to unpack and begin the journey. We took yoga, worked out, and got massages. We went for walks amid the adobe architecture, desert plants, and wind chimes. We ate beautiful meals. We visited churches and the Georgia O’Keefte museum. We drove to Taos, stopping at the shrine of Chimayo, where we collected healing dirt, and I disclosed to Heidi that I do not believe in a mind/body dichotomy. We went to dozens of galleries. Laurie bought yarn made by a cloistered nun. I bought a tiny gold knife, a long black dress, and a bracelet that is either religious or goth. We stopped beside the Rio Grande to marvel at the panorama of the river and the endless sky cut by rocky peaks, some capped with spring snow. We streamed music. We sent postcards home. We also went on a misguided winery tour. The person who arranged it said she did not believe that my friend (Eric Asimov) could possibly know anything about wine because he wasn’t that familiar with New Mexico wineries, and they’re the oldest in the country. When you have the best wineries, let me know. And, by the way, French wineries? Much older. But, it was a small detour, and we did visit the Gruet winery where we tasted some sparkling wines that are not usually available in stores. And at the first stop, the vintner served us a rosé that tasted to me like a fresh, pink Christmas tree. Plus, we were with each other, and that, my fellow classmates, is what makes the world go around.”

Harry Matossian, his wife, and three kids have enjoyed their time in the beautiful wine country of Northern California in Mendocino County. He has a very busy gastroenterology practice and spends time off hiking, biking, going to Tahoe and to the Mendocino coast. He finds it hard to believe that his oldest son, Armand, is a senior at University of the Pacific in mechanical engineering, and his next oldest, Sarah, is a junior at Seattle University in nursing and his youngest is a junior in high school. Also scary to think will they be empty nesters in two years.

John Tjia writes in that he “is in Class of 1979, although I started Wesleyan as Class of 1976. I took a three-year leave of absence in my junior year to go to Taiwan to study Mandarin. After graduation and with a BA in East Asian Studies, I hung around New York before a friend suggested banking. I still remember my response: ‘B-b-b-banking?’ Sure enough, I got into JP Morgan’s management training program in 1981 and ended up working there till 2002, including a three-year stint as an investment banker in Hong Kong in the 1990s. Now I am executive director in the business modeling practice at Ernst & Young, working in New York City. I have a book out: Building Financial Models (McGraw-Hill). So, an interesting journey from the starting point of my major. I live in Pleasantville, N.Y., and there are several alumni whom I know of here: Brian Skarstad ’76—ex Class of ’73, violin maker, and married to Louise Beach ’78—they live just down the block from me; and Peter Scherer, graphic and environment design studio owner, and, oh yes, also mayor of the town. His wife is Kathy Herron. Brian, Peter and I have offices in the same building in the center of the village—I have a small office for telecommuting and for my weekend painting hobby—and we also share the distinction of having children who are going (my son, this fall) or have gone to Skidmore College.”

Casey Dinges comments, “It was great to see Matt Okun in May at the Brookings Institution in D.C., where the 40th anniversary of dad Art Okun’s highly influential book Efficiency and Equality: The Big Tradeoff was honored.” March 1, Casey was on HBO’s Last Week with John Oliver where “Oliver had quite a rant on the poor state of the nation’s infrastructure.”

Katharine L. McKenna writes, “I recently won the People’s Choice Award for my paintings exhibited at the Desert Caballeros Museum in Wickenburg, Ariz. After eight shows for the last year-and-a-half, I am taking a little break from exhibiting and am experimenting with photography and color combinations printed on fabric. I will be out West again this summer to paint near Buffalo, Wyo., at the HF Bar Ranch. Regards to all!”

Ken writes:

Elizabeth Bachman continues her work as a presentation skills trainer (“The Starmaker for Speakers”)—along with her role as an international opera director, in which she has worked with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti. In the summers she runs TOP Opera, an operatic training program in the Austrian Alps.

Nancy Chen has made the move to Colorado (Fort Collins) from New York’s Long Island. She’s enjoying her active outdoor life there, and continues her leadership coaching and seminar business. She will be an empty-nester this fall, when daughter Isabelle begins at Seattle University, where she plans to pursue women’s studies. Her daughter, Ariane, will be a senior at Chapman University (Orange, Calif.); Nancy is looking forward to visiting her in New Zealand next semester while she studies environmental sciences abroad.

Gary Friedmann lives in Bar Harbor, where, as vice chair of the town council, he has been moving the town toward a sustainable future. Bar Harbor has just approved the first municipally-approved solar farm in Maine as an energy source for its operations, and additionally allows its residents to buy into a photovoltaic array to power their own homes.

Andy Futterman and wife Amy Wolfson are moving from Worcester, Mass., “after 25 wonderful years as professors in the psychology department at Holy Cross,” to Loyola University in Baltimore, Md. She will serve as their vice president of academic affairs; Andy will continue as a psychology professor there. He reports that they are quite excited about the move and look forward, as longtime St. Louis Cardinals fans along with their son, Noah, to rooting for the Orioles against both the Red Sox and Yankees.

Tim Hollister’s book for parents of teenage drivers, Not So Fast, will be published in Spanish this September (Chicago Review Press) in an effort to reach the large Spanish-speaking populations of 10 states now licensing undocumented residents. In October, his book, His Father Still: A Parenting Memoir, will be published by Argo Navis; it is “the story of parenting my son before and after his fatal crash, and how I learned much more about him, and rebuilt our parent-child relationship, after his passing.”

Lucy Mize reports that “my son Thaddeus Brown ’17 is halfway through his Wesleyan experience and enjoying every minute of it, including being on the crew team.” Lucy has recently returned to the States after 20 years abroad, to take on her new job as health team leader for the Asia Bureau of USAID. The new position nonetheless involves extensive travel from the U.S.; she will next be sailing from Fiji to Papua New Guinea on the USNS Mercy, serving as a trainer for the Defense Department in development issues.

Ruth Pachman writes: “I had a great experience serving as chair of the Wesleyan Fund for three years—it got me back to campus a lot and gave me the chance to connect with students, faculty, administrators, and alums from many classes while raising money for financial aid. I’ve also been involved with Union Settlement, a vital nonprofit for East Harlem, and just transitioned into the role of board chair. My day job continues to be as a managing director at Kekst, where I focus on strategic and crisis communications and corporate governance. Don Fallati ’76 and I are now empty-nesters, with our son Mark having finished his first year at Swarthmore where he plays on the tennis team. We now eagerly follow college tennis stats at two schools!”

Racheal Pine’s two “amazing daughters” have done some amazing traveling this past year: one studied abroad in Mongolia this past spring, while the other journeyed throughout Southeast Asia during a gap year (“…to be that age again!”).

Robert Poss reports that his two primary pursuits, experimental music and location sound, have been going well in recent months. In December he performed on electric guitar in Paris and London, and also spent time in Miami working at Art Basel on a documentary film about the Dutch artist Theo Jansen. In June he performed his original score with the Alexandra Beller/Dances company, at La MaMa theater in New York City (“The New York Times called my music “meditative,” a rather far cry from my wall of noisy guitars group, Band Of Susans, it would seem.”)

Lynn Thomas reports continued success in her consulting business, which focuses on “increasing company profits through client and employee retention, loyalty, engagement, and delight!”—and has just published her book, Wow! Your Way to Profits. She continues to love Boston, along with her new home (“my 14-year-old daughter, my 25-year-old nephew and our 18-month-old pooch Bentley are all settling in well”)—and is always eager to connect with Wes alums.

For much of our Class, 2015 marks our 60th birth year anniversary. Congratulations and best wishes to all for making it to this point. Many of our notes arrive from folks planning or having recently celebrated the big year.

From the looks of it on Facebook, Doug Green had a wonderful celebration for his birthday. Also, Doug attended a memorial gathering for Jean Redpath for which Iddy Olson did the lion’s share of organizational work. Both Doug and Iddy described how very moving and uplifting the event was.

Speaking of Iddy, the two of us celebrated our 60th birthday together in Lincoln, Mass., with an appropriately ’60s-themed dance party. Mike Coffey and Lisa Brummel participated in the festivities.

Deb Mercer celebrated the year with a European arts-architecture-garden focused trip in Belgium and Holland in May. How amazing the tulips must have been!

Louise Hazebrouck wrote on behalf of husband Steve Rome ’78, and herself, that they are celebrating the year by both retiring from teaching. They plan to travel abroad, along with lots of hiking, kayaking, reading and visiting with old friends. Can’t wait to see you in Boston!

Mark Beamis is taking a sabbatical from the world of work, beginning the summer of 2015. He’s planning a road trip across the USA visiting hometown friends and classmates from both Wesleyan and Exeter. Mark’s wife will be joining in for parts of the excursion and happily there will be regular updates on social media chronicling his adventures.
Sue Guiney is spending a quarter of the year in Cambodia. Out of this experience has sprung the charity “Writing Through,” teaching language fluency, conceptual thought, and self-esteem through creative writing. Living in London, Sue’s two sons are newly engaged to be married.

Cindee Howard has parlayed a biology major and MBA into a successful career as a copy editor. She recently returned from a Hawaiian trip with her partner, Jon. Like many, she is looking at turning a healthy 60 as a very fine option.

Susan Jacobson wrote from San Francisco where she married a native and has two grown sons living in nearby Portland. She would be delighted to cross paths with other Cardinals who are “out saving the world.”

Bob Giges sends greetings from Santa Cruz, specifically the UCSC Slugs, where he teaches acting as well as an impressive amount of fitness dancing such as Zumba and WorldDanz.

Paul Meisel wrote in that he is illustrating a story, authored by his son Peter, about a pirate dog named Stinky Spike. It will be published in 2016 through Bloomsbury.
John Fink got to visit Vancouver, Canada, to be with his six-month-old grandson, Alexander Churchill Fink. The whole family attended two nights of the U2 concert tour.
Steve Beauchamp has been all over television as he has appeared, post hospital, on episodes of Person of Interest, Black List, and the one I came across by surprise, House of Cards.

Wes Protheroe writes to us about his life post retirement: he serves on the board of directors at the Atlanta Humane Society and as a board advisor to a pharmaceutical company specializing in Alzheimer drug development.

Rick Dennett enjoyed watching Wes baseball’s great success in winning both “Little 3” and NESCAC this year. Rick’s son, Jonathan ’15, graduated this spring and has moved to Boston to begin his job.

Susan Shaw Webster hadn’t written to us since our graduation. She is a Manhattanite who with her Williams grad husband had two children: one a Williams grad, the second a current Wesleyan undergrad. Susan is a partner at Cravath, Swaine, & Moore specializing in corporate governance, M&A, and securities law.

David Schreff wrote us that his sports media and entertainment technology businesses are thriving. He has found time to teach at UMass-Amherst Isenberg School of Business. All members of his family are doing well!

Barbara Dicker Garii has moved back to NYC and lives in Jackson Heights. She is dean of the College of Education, Information, and Technology at LIU Post. Carol Cooper is deep into her research and dissertation working towards her Ph.D. in Jungian psychology.
Francis Rath is working for the Loudoun Health Department in emergency preparedness and response. Francis’ wife, Denise Thompson Rath, owns a successful horse business in Ocala, Fla., (www.greyfoxfarm.com).

Jonathan Kilbourn has been elected president of the Kennebunk municipal utility, the Kennebunk light and power district, building renewable power infrastructure.

Jim Melloan is now part of a new Internet radio station called Radio Free Brooklyn.

Both Peter Guenther and Jonathan Gertler have sons who have been involved in the relief effort in Nepal after the earthquake. Jonathan writes further that, in addition to his expanding business, he has his second CD of original songs (Sadetar Records, on iTunes, etc.) due to launch this year. Jonathan states that no matter how hard he works, “there is always time for music.”

Bob Nastri has been confirmed as a judge of the Connecticut Superior Court. Bob is currently running the criminal docket in Bristol.

Jane Goldenring is shooting a movie, Just in Time for Christmas, this summer in Vancouver. Jane taught a Skype class about work opportunities in LA and NYC for graduating film seniors at Wesleyan.

Will Altman has recently published a book, and the link can be found in the online edition of the Wesleyan class notes.

Dan Zegart has taken a full-time job with the Climate Investigations Center based in Alexandria, Va. Still working out of his home in N.J., Dan’s work focuses on big energy companies that are impeding the fight against global warming. Dan would love to hear from classmates, particularly those with an interest in climate and the politics of same: dzegart@yahoo.com.

Vivien Blackford is retired with her husband in Guilford, Conn. She founded Phoenix Association, an organization whose members were all formerly incarcerated folks who fought their way through the trials of prison and post-prison re-entry and are now eager for civic engagement.

Well, with what I have read in these notes, one must say that 60 never looked so good! Best regards to all!

This summer Andrea Grubb Barthwell and her husband, David, are celebrating 35 years together. Their youngest son, Matthew, just finished Fisk and is headed to SUNY Stony Brook for graduate school in social work. Matthew plans to concentrate on social justice in relation to African-American teenage boys. Andrea keeps herself busy giving lectures on preventing and treating drug use by kids and advocating for more drug treatment centers.

Oliver Griffith is still working for International Finance Corporation, the private arm of the World Bank Group. Oliver runs communications and public affairs for Europe out of Paris. He plans to stay in France for the long term and has just bought a house in the country. He would welcome visits from old friends and classmates.

Dan Henry and his wife just returned from California, where they spent time with their granddaughter, Frazier Michelle Henry, who celebrated her first birthday. Frazier was born on Dan’s birthday last May—what Dan says is his best birthday present ever.

Jack O’Donnell is delighted that his daughter, Maggie, will be heading to Wes this September, the second of his four kids to do so. Jack also recently went to see Orleans in Tarrytown—a group that no ’76er could fail to remember for all the times they played at Wes. Jack spoke with John Hall afterward. Hall said he stays in touch with Fred Hollister ’73 and that he still vividly remembers turning around on an upstate N.Y. highway when a tollbooth attendant told him that his band was desperately needed at Wes to fill in for Marshall Tucker. Jack says the band still sounds good—and why not?

Martha Meade has a son who just finished his freshman year at Wes, and she and her husband visited the campus for her husband’s Reunion. Martha’s “Stream of Consciousness” won Honorable Mention at the Spring Juried Show of the Palisades Art Association and was on display at the Palisades Public Library. You can see some of Martha’s art on Facebook. Take a visit.

Libby Spader says that her Wes theatre degree comes in handy in her career as an international trainer in USAID’s legal regulations for foreign assistance. Libby travels the world delivering training workshops for a nonprofit called InsideNGO. Libby wrote from London and was heading out for a week vacation in Florence, but her trips more frequently take her to places like Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Bangkok. In October, she takes her first trip to Myanmar.

I am looking forward to summer after a particularly long Chicago winter and to taking a trip to Greece in the fall. Two of my daughters are away doing internships. One is studying math and Chinese in Taiwan and the other is doing a NASA program in Huntsville, Ala., that includes sky diving. My oldest, who graduated from college a few years ago, is going for her master’s this September in biostatistics.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the third time in six years. Great ending to the season.

“Downsized and retired, Randy Smith reports that he is using some of his expanded leisure time to build a website for those who enjoy golf literature.  Golf-fiction.com offers short stories and novel chapters from all eras of golf authorship.”

Monique Witt writes that OneTrickDog* is dropping several more jazz discs this summer.  The production arm has a ten-performance run of a one-act play split/screen at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and a short film, creative dark, nearing completion.  Her older son (Avidon Audio Labs) engineered twelve foot Plexiglas speaker towers for the Louis Vuitton fashion show in Palm Springs (you can see them on line in Vogue; they’re beautiful), and her younger son (Ben) is performing with Curtis Lundy and composing for a video game in production.  Both sons are also working on albums to be released this year or early next of their own work, and she is writing and directing.  In addition, they’re scheduled for an exhibit this fall of two black and white street artists influenced by post war Japanese manga (Akira-style comics).  So everyone is busy.

Bob Baum has had lots of changes. Probably the biggest one is that he became a grandfather last August.  William is an utter delight.  He has been enjoying his return to New England.  Their house is on a bluff overlooking the Connecticut River and the Dartmouth Campus.  It’s about a 25-minute walk to work, where he teaches African Religions, African Studies, and Comparative Religions.  He hopes to see you everyone at the next reunion now that he is close by.

Karla Bell writes, “Big year for the family! My son Danny graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law in the spring, married his college girlfriend over Labor Day (2014), and started his clerkship with a federal judge. Having been discouraged and exhausted by her Teach for America tenure, my daughter Rachel is now employed at Forrester Research in Cambridge, MA, mentors promising students with the non-profit Minds Matter, and was just named Co-President of the Boston chapter’s Executive Committee. Adam, my youngest, is leaving New York to resume graduate studies. My stepson Philip Wallach ’05 and his partner Vera Krimnus ‘05, had the first grandchild, Bina, and moved to the D.C. area; Philip, who is at The Brookings Institute, published his first book. Kerry Wallach’02, and her partner Jess Fierstein ‘05,also moved to the D.C. area; Kerry is on tenure track at Gettysburg College, and Jess remains at Accenture. (Whew!) As for me, my health has improved some, but is still very unstable. I very much appreciated all of the kind messages sent from last year’s reunion, and apologize for not following up–that happened to be an extremely precarious time. I’m hoping to see all of you at the next reunion.”

Scott Brodie reports, “I am still teaching and “stamping out blindness as fast as I can” at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, with some time set aside as part of a team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center which treats retinoblastoma, the most common cancer of the eyes of children – in the last decade, we have reduced the need to remove the most seriously affected eyes from nearly 100% to no more than 5%.

This spring, I returned to Wesleyan and gave a lecture on the “Jordan Curve Theorem” to the undergraduate Mathematics Club. I was delighted to see not only a room full of enthusiastic and knowledgeable undergraduates, but two of the Professors who were most helpful to me back in my own days as a math major, Fred Linton and Tony Hager.

I continue to play the oboe and English horn in orchestral and chamber music settings as the opportunity arises – I played Stavinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” at Lincoln Center this past winter, and I am looking forward to joining Linda Rappaport at the Bennington Chamber Music Conference this July.”

Judi (Lawrence)’74 and Richard ‘74 Goodstein just became the very happy grandparents of Levi Max Goodstein, the day before their 41st wedding anniversary.   Judi is changing her psychology practice to four days and will travel every week from DC to Philly to spend a day with her grandson.

David Plettner-Saunders explains that “ …after years of reticence, I yield to your unending insistence to send news and contribute to the alumni discourse.

I loved learning from Facebook recently that classmate Andrew Char plays bluegrass with friends at a sunset jam in Haleiwa, Hawaii. And that he rails against the latest Hollywood movie set in Hawaii but featuring an all-White cast.

But more to the point, to share some classmate news, I am well and happy, living in San Diego with my dear wife and fellow arts consultant, Victoria. I run an arts consulting firm, The Cultural Planning Group, and spend 2 – 3 weeks per month on the road encouraging the development of the arts in cities throughout the US (on a good day). I am also a truly lackluster contributor to Wesleyan’s annual fund. I have mixed feelings about being the meaning of being an alumnus and confusion about the meaning of our shared experience, values and legacy as Wesleyan grads. This, I believe, qualifies me as representative of my class of 1974. But in truth, I do recognize and celebrate the values of inclusion, openness, and liberal education that Wesleyan embodies. I believe that Wesleyan was ahead of the curve in many things, such as coeducation, diversity, and redefining elitism in terms of actual achievement. I know that I was encouraged to pursue my goals in the arts, leadership and liberalism. And that John Wesley’s ideals have been reinterpreted for a new era.

So, I say again, thank you Sharon Purdie for being so persistent in maintaining contact and inviting your classmates to participate. And I thank the Wesleyan community for your forbearance in the dark ages of my class and the alienation of my era.

I send you all a bit of San Diego sunshine and some sand in your shoes.’

Blaise Noto is continuing to teach at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in the School of Filmmaking’s producing program. Most recently, he was able to spend time with long time friend and Paramount Pictures colleague Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, who was the UNCSA’s commencement speaker this year.

Also, he recently spent Memorial Day weekend in South Carolina visiting with Charlie and Carol Cocores. Great catching up and reminiscing about our days at Wesleyan and Deke.

Wayne Forrest has a summer intern from Wesleyan, Natasha Nurjadin ‘18.  She is from Indonesia.

In December 2014 Wayne took his daughter Jamie (23) to Indonesia for two weeks.  During the first week they visited Jakarta, where she met many of my Indonesian members, and toughed the choking traffic.  The second week they traveled to more serene locations: central Java (Yogyakarta) and Bali. They saw the world famous temples Borobudur and Prambanan where they were asked to pose for numerous “selfies” with Indonesian travelers.  One morning they woke up at sunrise and rode bicycles for hours through the rice fields of Java’s breadbasket. The settlements dotting the countryside seem little changed from when he first saw them 40 years ago.  In Bali, they arrived just in time for a huge royal cremation, a multi sensory experience one never forgets. It was extremely meaningful for him to show her the country he has spent much of his life trying to understand.

Harold Sogard is happy to report that he somehow managed to get elected to Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees.  He’s not sure whether he owes his success to having been positioned first on the ballot (because he was oldest) or to the various offers he made to classmates in return for their votes.  If he delivers on those promises, Joe Lowenstein will become Wesleyan’s new football coach, Rick Gilberg will become the hockey coach, and all members of the class of ’74 will be receiving retroactive full scholarships and forgiveness of any outstanding student loans for themselves and their offspring who attend(ed) Wesleyan.  He sends thanks to all for your support and promises to do his best to represent our class well.

Chuck Gregory continues to enjoy life in Fort Lauderdale with his wife of 31 years, Lorraine. He’s been co-host of The New American Dream Radio Show (http://newdream.us) since February 2011 and has a great time with that every Thursday night from 6 to 8 pm. He went to his high school reunion in May; maybe a Wesleyan reunion is in the picture in a few years (our 45th?).

Fr. Fred Enman, S.J. continues to work half time at Boston College Law School and half time at his non-profit Matthew 25 in Worcester, MA.  Matthew 25 will be dedicating its 10th house for low-income families in July of 2015.

Rick Kronick has temporarily (for 5.5 years and counting!) abandoned La Jolla for DC. He has had the professional experience of a lifetime working on implementation of the Affordable Care Act and on trying to make health care financing and delivery slightly less crazy, first as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in HHS, and, for the past two years, as Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  He and his wife Amy Bridges recently celebrated their 34th anniversary, as well as the marriages of both of their daughters.  Rick has retired (or so he claims) from flogging his body in training for Ironman events, but still drags it though triathlons of other distances.

Henry Avis-Vieira reports that his first book is finished.  Now comes the really hard work of (professional) editing and finding a publisher.

Charlie Cocores sees Blaise Noto a lot at this home in NC or theirs in SC. Charlie did a Habitat for Humanity in Flathead Lake Montana in July.

Kathy Scholle Hale and her husband Jon are coming up on 30 happy years of marriage in October. (Other friends, including Bob Gershen and wife Deb must be approaching the same milestone.) To celebrate, they bought a house near the beach in Westerly RI.   It’s a place to hang out with their grown children, Katie (28) a special ed teacher in Brookline MA and Ben (25) a commercial real estate advisor in Glastonbury CT. (Who forgot to warn me that keeping a house ready for summer renters is exponentially more complicated than maintaining your own house in the burbs?) She’s still living and practicing law in South Windsor, CT.

Stephen Sullivan tells me he has been living in Seattle since graduating from architecture school in 1980. He writes that “Washington State is an amazingly beautiful place to live. I’m still practicing architecture actively with a small studio and a few well-chosen staff here. I love the creative aspects of my work, most especially the creative engagement with my clients as we forge from their dreams the form of ‘home.’” He does not imagine retiring, due to his passion for his work, and says, “I am trying to slow down the work dimension of my life so that I have more time for my art work (pottery) and my get-away farm on Lopez Island near the Canadian border. On the farm I grow hay, I make pots, and I sit and stare at the quiet beauty of the place.”

He says his children are grown and he has two talented daughters, one of whom just finished grad school in Alaska, and the other of whom lives in New Jersey. He says, “Life in the 60s has a decidedly different texture, with thoughts of how to make this final stage meaningful. Last chance to contribute to a better world!” He says Wesleyan gave him a great education in the arts. With his Watson fellowship in Japan in the early ’70s, his world expanded in a way he will never forget. “I still see my ‘Japanese family’ regularly, even four decades later. I’m ready for another wander-year, to see the world as it is today, and to understand better my part in it.”

Donald Zilkha says “much is happening.” His oldest child is about to turn 21 and his other two sons are making their way through Loomis and Andover. He has moved out of private equity and has been investing in listed securities for the past seven years. “Liquid investments are much less stressful as one gets older,” he says. He is also helping several young investors start businesses, and running the Bordeaux wine society—the Commanderie de Bordeaux—in N.Y., and traveling with his wife and children quite extensively. “To my mind, the best form of education,” Donald notes.

Bruce Ferguson says, “By the time this hits the newsstands, I’ll have a new suspense novel out, Two Graves for Michael Furey—my eighth book (not counting two apprentice novels permanently exiled to the bottom drawer of my desk).” He adds, “Also, I’ll be a grandfather, though it may be a while before my wife, Angelica, and I see the wee bairn, as the parents-to-be are living and working in Tokyo. Another son also remains too far away in the other direction—Washington, D.C.,—working as an attorney and occasional good-guy lobbyist on the Hill for a nonprofit.”

Tom Kelly says he and Michael McKenna are headed to the World Cup in October and he should have some “good material after that.”

Charley Wayne reports his middle son, Joey Wayne ’08, married Hannah Klausner in May 2014, and that eldest son Michael Wayne ’05 married Lucy Edwards in May 2015. The mother of the grooms, Ellen Kabcenell Wayne ’75, is thankful to have daughters in the family.

Jim Powers recently traveled to China with a delegation from the Gerontologic Society of America and lectured on Models of Geriatric Healthcare at the Shanghai University International Symposium on Public Policy Challenges and Governance—Innovation In an Aging Society. China has a rapidly rising aging population with a low ratio of workers to retirees, stimulating cross-cultural collaboration and sharing of innovative ideas related to retirement and elder healthcare.

John Spike tells me that his wife, Michele (Conn College ’73), and he lived in Florence from 1989 until three years ago, when he accepted a position at the Museum of the College of William & Mary as assistant director and chief curator. He says Michele is teaching at the School of Law, which is famous for being founded by Thomas Jefferson. John says what he has done in Virginia has been written up in the Virginia newspapers, but most completely in the April edition of The Art Newspaper, which is published in London and the publication closest to a newspaper for museum professionals.
His appointment at William & Mary allows them to return to Italy during the summer months, where he was when he wrote that he is “planning another epochal exhibition for the Museum.” He says all of his shows have been partnered with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. His son, Nicholas Spike, who was born in 1983, “works enjoyably and successfully” as a sports agent in New York City and was married last October to Marcela.

Bill Quigley writes that he and Dee sold their house in Massachusetts and moved to Bradenton, Fla., last November. He says he is in the final stages of preserving all the 100 years of content of his family motion picture (primarily) trade publishing company—Quigley Publishing Company, founded by his grandfather in 1915—which published the Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture Herald, FAME, Motion Picture Almanac, Television & Video Almanac and many other entertainment related books and journals over the years. Bill says they stopped publishing in 2014 and are digitizing and preserving hundreds of thousands of pages and photographs from the very beginning. “After that is done, I will try to figure out what I will do when I grow up. I have been developing a screenplay—based on a true story—about a boat owned by a friend of mine in Puerto Rico that ends up in the hands of the Yakuza in Japan and how he got it back. It will be interesting to see if I can get it made.” Bill says he stays in touch regularly with Peter Cross, who moved from Connecticut to Texas this year and Scott Schlieman—who lives in Costa Rica—and has been in contact with many DKEs about Wesleyan’s actions towards his fraternity.

My oldest daughter, Jennifer, 38, is a top-flight nurse not far away from John Spike, living in Gloucester, Va., along with her husband, Tracy, and stepdaughters Lindsay and Stephanie, and my granddaughters, Zoey, 1, and Taylor, 15. My middle daughter, Dana, 36, is pursuing a variety of endeavors here in South Florida, while my youngest daughter, Holly, 31, is now a wildlife biologist in Boulder, Colo., after getting her degree at the University of Colorado, and lives in Arvada with her husband, Neil. My wife, Connie, also is pursuing a variety of endeavors here and, like Stephen Sullivan, I see no retirement in the near future due to my passion for my work at WFOR-TV (CBS in Doral near Miami) as a reporter, as long as I can continue to keep up with the younger reporters and enterprise stories.

Feel free to let me know any stories you’d like to share.

First, my humble apologies to Ron Ashkenas, whose name was omitted from the list of attendees at the George Sobelman Celebration last fall. I would blame the Wesleyan editors, but he knows better. Ron attended a fundraiser for Chabad of Wesleyan in New York this spring, honoring the retirement of Professor Vera Schwarz, who happens to be Ron’s machateinista. “Seems like the current Chabad rabbi, Levi Schechtman,” Ron writes, “is stirring up some of the old Sobelmania spirit … Friday night dinners at his house, little kids running around, etc. It was nice to hear about it.”

I am thrilled to report that Steve Schiff has been heavily involved in the production and writing of The Americans on TV, for which he and his colleagues were recognized with a prestigious Peabody Award. The Americans, which tells the story of a KGB “sleeper” couple in the Washington suburbs during the Reagan Administration, is just about my favorite show, and if you aren’t watching it you should. Steve wants everyone to know that all of the particularly sexy episodes were written by him.

Mike Kaloyanides announced the retirement of his briefcase, given to him by his mother, after 39 years of being carried by Mike to classes at the University of New Haven. I believe that Mike, as well, has taken on emeritus status. Mike has been teaching music at UNH for those 39 years, and was much beloved by the student body. Not a surprise.
Bradley Paddock, a distinguished otolaryngologist in the Albany area, is part owner (don’t ask me which part) of a thoroughbred named Mexican Groove. The horse had some bad racing luck in Florida and is, at the time of this writing, being shipped to the Big Apple. By the time these notes are printed, Brad will probably have made a fortune on him at Saratoga. (Aren’t you all amazed that I wrote this entire paragraph without a joking reference to Brad’s surname?)

Jim Cacciola has surfaced on Facebook. He is now retired from his medical practice and spending a lot of time in Florida. Jim points out that the Scott Cacciola who covers the NBA so ably for The New York Times is his nephew! Jim also points out that Scott’s success must be due to his studies at Columbia School of Journalism when Dave Klatell ’70 was the Dean.

Well, there it is. Could it possibly be that we have heard nothing from Whizzer White this quarter? No, wait, there’s an e-mail coming in…

“This is what was recently written about our Butch Carson (now known as Bill Carson): The general manager/CEO of Samtrans, Caltrain, SMCTA ‘has appointed Bill Carson, director, human resources. Bill is no stranger to the district, having spent the last 22 years in human resources as employee relations officer, then manager, employee relations and civil rights, and most recently as acting director, HR. Before joining the district, Bill was employed by the HR departments at Bechtel Inc., and United Airlines, and held various supervisory positions in staffing, compensation and benefits, training and development, EEO, and affirmative action, service awards programs and advanced program development. Bill has a BA in psychology from Wesleyan University and a juris doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law.’

“Of course, I like to take credit for Butch Carson’s early management experience because he was my resident adviser on Harriman Hall our junior year at Wesleyan. This was the Wesleyan experience at its best.”

Thanks, folks! More in four months!

Aloha, classmates. Just a few notes for you (saving room for May 2015 reunion classes).
Heard from Peter Michaelson and he writes…”One of the wonderful characteristics of Wesleyan is that, even if one does not go on to accomplish much of note in one’s own life, there is always the opportunity for the reflected glory of one’s roommates. Such is my experience, as I lived in a suite at Lawn Ave. sophomore year with Jeffrey Richards ’69 and Charles Irving ’70. Jeffrey went on, of course, to earn recognition as a Distinguished Alumnus and the most successful Broadway producer of this millennium, having just opened his 40th hit show since 2000, and Dr. Irving is a world-renowned biochemist, currently CEO of Cell Cure Neurosciences in Israel. We all had an opportunity to have dinner recently after Jeffrey treated Charles and me and our families to house seats at the opening of his latest show, The Heidi Chronicles.

Received a handwritten note from Frank Leone. (I did not know people actual mailed handwritten notes any more!) He wrote with sad news which I will relate here in his exact words…“June 3, 2015. Dear Neil, I am saddened to report that Peter Panciera died on May 23, 2015, at his home in Hilton Head, S.C., a victim of cancer. Pete was one of the iconic athletes and arguably the best quarterback in history. ‘Pistol Pete’ or ‘High Street Pete’ as the Argus called him in a tribute to ‘Broadway Joe’ Namath, set numerous passing records and quarterbacked the University’s last undefeated football team in 1969.
“More importantly, he was a devoted father and a husband who is survived by his son, Gregory, his loving wife of 29 years, Barbara, and her children, David and Suzanne.
“He was a great friend who obviously will be truly missed…

“I hope to see you and many others at the 2016 Reunion. Best regards, Frank”

Leo Au writes…”Hope that this finds you well. I don’t have any significant news for you at this time. Melina and I continue to enjoy our retirement in southwest Florida and being grandparents to two adorable kids who live relatively far away in Sunnyvale, Calif. Looking forward to seeing you at our 45th Reunion next May. Go Wes!”

Briefly my eldest son, Anderson, who lives in San Jose, Calif., had a son born four hours before my birthday. He is, of course, the most adorable and cutest baby on earth. They named him Cooper James. I decided to have him call me “Puna” short for “Punahele” (Look it up, it’s Hawaiian and it does not mean grandfather!), which I think is appropriate since he will want to visit me often in Hawaii.

So the bottom line it seems from all notes I received this time is…plan your trip to Reunion 2016!

See you there. Aloha!