Greetings from Chicago! I cannot believe another year is coming to a close. I continue to practice law at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. I was honored to receive the 2023 Vanguard Award from the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago for “making the law and legal profession more accessible to and reflective of the community at large.” My daughters, Sarah and Norah, started high school this fall. I hope to see many of you at our 30th Reunion!
In other reports received from our classmates:
Raya Salter writes that she has been very busy raising awareness of the fact that the chair of Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees, John B. Frank ’78, is a director of the Chevron company. She has been active with alumni and students to raise attention and wrote an editorial for the Argus, gave a lecture on campus in October, and took part in a rally.
Karen Gaffney writes that she lives in Somerville, New Jersey, and is an English professor at Raritan Valley Community College. Karen also is serving as a reunion ambassador for the Class of 1994 and is looking forward to our 30th Reunion.
Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert have coauthored a new nonfiction book entitled The Secret Life of Data. The book will be published by MIT Press in April 2024, and distributed by Penguin Random House. More information about the book is available here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739508.
Happy holidays to all of you, and hope to see you at the Reunion!
Hi everyone! We have some exciting updates: a mini-Wesleyan reunion, a film, a political campaign, and a book. In the final notes, two friends and classmates (Karen and Jessica) write updates about each other.
Julie Francis writes, “I was shocked to find other Wesleyan peeps hanging out in Santa Cruz, California, thanks to an alumni event at Stanford earlier this year. It has been a total joy to get to know my new Wes buds: David Lakein ’92, Julie Charles ’91 (aka Julie Arlinghaus), and Dan Partland ’92. We’ve eaten some great food together (Julie can cook!), drank some great wine, shared some great conversations about controversial topics, commiserated about online dating (THREE of us are single!), laughed, and thoroughly enjoyed the presence of other slightly wacky kindred spirits. Anybody else hiding out here in Santa Cruz? If so, reach out! David and I are considering putting together some sort of West Coast get-together for early 2024. julie@juliefrancis.com.”
Hadley Gustafson and Dan Kapelovitz, who were college sweethearts at Wesleyan more than 30 years ago, are back together! They recently went to New York, where Dan showed one of his films at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. There they met up with various Wesleyan alums, including David Buchbinder ’90, John Wyeth ’92, Deirdre Simon ’90, Kendra Hurley, and Matt Spain ’95. Hadley and Dan currently live in Los Angeles, where Hadley works as a visual digital creator and Dan is running for district attorney. Hadley and Dan greatly enjoyed seeing Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson ’03 for their September Hollywood the Oral History book talk at UCLA. Many Wes alums from many generations were there as well.
Karen Powell writes, “Dr. Jessica Holden Sherwood, author of the book Wealth, Whiteness, and the Matrix of Privilege: The View from the Country Club, has been steadfastly challenging our notions of gender, race, and socioeconomic status since our time at Wesleyan. She’s no less making social change than I am, influencing both her professional community and her students. She has steadfastly challenged the social norms in a way that is authentic and powerful. Shout-out to her husband, Jesse Sherwood ’95, for 30-plus years of partnership. Wes alumni rock!”
Jessica Holden Sherwood writes, “When I arrived at Wes in 1989, the club water polo players announced they’d like to evolve from coed to a men’s team and a women’s team. With that, Karen Powell and I became co-captains of the new women’s team. Through the years, Karen’s athletic career has continued from Ironman competitions through Roller Derby and ice hockey, which she learned at Wes. Now working as a law professor in Melbourne, Australia, Karen played on Australia’s first LGBT+ ice hockey club. Her 20-year-old kid, Grace, is a professional athlete who is nonbinary. Grace and Karen have pressed for progress, respectively, in adding pronouns to IFSC athlete profiles and in adding a nonbinary competition category at their local and state levels. As for me? I’ve had small victories protesting when my kids’ elementary school had a ‘father-daughter dance’ and when their upper school softball field was no match for the state-of-the-art baseball field. Mostly I teach sociology, including a gender course this semester. I was proud to share the news from Grace and Karen with my students.”
Deb Lack reports that her younger daughter, Lane Daniels, will be attending Wesleyan in the fall, as part of the Class of ’28, intending to study political science, history, and theater. Currently at Wesleyan is Byron King’s daughter, Meriwether ’27, who has settled in and is making great friends, which Byron saw with his own eyes at Homecoming and Family Weekend this fall. Also there was Chris Chesak, who was voted onto the 1990s All-Decade Football Team and who got to catch up with his old teammates.
Edoardo Ballerini was back on campus last semester, teaching a guest course on narration and the spoken word in the Shapiro Center for Writing. In December he did a live reading for students from his Audible Original, The Angel of Rome, cocreated with best-selling author Jess Walter, a fictionalized version of his summer in Italy after graduation.
Another visitor to New England was Nancy McLoughlin, who was grateful that she was able to race in the Head of the Charles last fall among beautiful foliage—it brought back so many wonderful memories of rowing for Wesleyan.
Lisa Liang took a break from novel writing to produce a short film with her sister, which is currently making the rounds at festivals. On the personal front, her youngest heads off to college this year.
Jeffrey Kipnis reports that he and Jennie Van Cleef spent an amazing nine days together marauding across southern New Mexico and southwest Texas.
Moving abroad, Dan Fortmann was recruited by Lufthansa at Munich Airport in June and is now a “passenger service professional debutante” in the aviation industry at Germany’s number two airport.
Jill Slater started a new position as leader of the (Climate) Resiliency Team at the New York City Housing Authority. Jill continues to live in Manhattan’s financial district with her husband and their 10-year-old daughter. Fellow New Yorker Eric Leach-Rodriguez lives with his husband of 11 years and, on behalf of a childhood friend, became a living kidney donor last year. And on the Upper West Side is Darcy Dennett. She is working on a short film on the 100th Anniversary of the People’s Forest in Connecticut over the course of this year. In her free time, she is renovating a very old house, about one hour northeast of Wesleyan, getting back to running while still swimming laps, and did her first super minitriathlon this past summer.
Jody Sperling also lives in NYC, where her daughter is in seventh grade. She still dances, choreographs, and directs her company, Time Lapse Dance. Since the pandemic, she’s been an eco-artist-in-residence at the New Society for Ethical Culture. Jody and the company were featured in the documentary Obsessed with Light, which had its world premiere at the 2023 Rome Film Fest.
Another tristate resident is Kate Edwards, who lives in Pennington, New Jersey, and continues to work at Datacolor, which makes instruments that measure color. Her kids are getting ready to fly the nest—Iris is a high school senior and Nick is a sophomore.
Ty Jagerson continues to live in the Bay Area, now working at General Motors running their V2X program, building the business around using plugged-in EVs to power homes, businesses, and the grid.
Also on the West Coast is Ola Green, who relocated to Los Angeles and has been working in documentaries as an executive for Netflix since 2019. He is proud to have worked on award-winning films with Beyoncé (Homecoming), the Obamas (American Factory), and Questlove (Descendant).
Rounding up the news is an update from Maria Rosa Truglio, who works at Penn State as professor of Italian and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, and is working on Italian children’s literature. She got married in 2021 up in New Hampshire to Greg Fox. Her son, Thomas, is finishing up his residency in medicine at Dartmouth, and her other son, Anthony, has been teaching in the linguistics program at Penn State.
That’s all the news for now. Hope to hear from you all soon!
Michael Chaskes and Sarah (Lewis) Chaskes continue to enjoy a more or less empty-nest life in Los Angeles. Michael edits unscripted TV shows, including the Netflix hit Hack My Home, and volunteers on behalf of Democratic candidates and causes. He and film/theatergoing buddy, Paige Harding ’90 enjoyed seeing Professor Jeanine Basinger at an Los Angeles event, along with other alums like Halle Stanford and Jon Hoeber ’93. Sarah is in her 30th year of teaching sixth-grade English and social studies, her 12th at Pilgrim School, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in education with a focus on social justice.
Mark Kiefer’s short film, Or, The Whale, won the Best Comedy award at the Lake Placid Film Festival in October.
Did you catch the Nietzsch Factor story in the Summer 2023 edition of the Wesleyan Magazine? Thinking, “I want more history of ultimate?” Look up Adam Zagoria’s Ultimate: The First Four Decades. Adam is a professional sportswriter and coauthor of the book.
After almost 20 years in Rockland, Jeff Post moved to northern Westchester, New York, and while voting in November, ran into Johannah Dunham Townsend, who was serving as an election volunteer in their tiny district in Somers, New York. Jeff’s son, Bradley, graduated from the University of Central Florida and works in Orlando. Another son, Andrew, is a graduate of the University of Alabama and as of this writing, awaits law school admissions notifications.
Cheryl Gansecki teaches geology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and field courses for the Black Hills Field Station. In 2023 she celebrated publication of her book, Roadside Geology of Hawaiʻi. Husband, Ken Hon, is scientist-in-charge of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, where they have dealt with six eruptions in two years, making for a lot of sleepless nights. Daughter, Mara, is a junior at Columbia, and elder child Orion is in a PhD program in planetary science at University of Arizona. Cheryl would love to see Wesleyan friends that come to the Big Island!
Writing in from Portland, Maine, Jeff Levine continues work on state-level zoning reform initiatives designed to increase housing production. “In 2021 I served on the Maine legislature’s Commission to Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions. The Commission’s work resulted in LD2003, which reformed Maine’s state zoning laws by allowing more multifamily housing and providing incentives for affordable housing in downtowns. Maine is one of a small but growing set of states that are asking communities to plan for more housing, in light of a national shortage.” Jeff also works with a couple of communities in Massachusetts as they plan for the MBTA Communities Act, the Bay State’s version of state-level housing and zoning reform. “It’s an important planning effort, but it can sometimes be challenging to convince local leaders that planning for more housing allows you to choose your future far better than fighting new housing.”
In December, Spencer Boyer completed nearly three years of service in the Biden administration as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Spencer noted, “I learned more than I could have imagined during this historic time for transatlantic relations, European security, and NATO” and “it’s been an honor to serve with such extraordinary colleagues and to be a part of Secretary Austin’s team.” His next chapter will include a mix of private sector, think tank, and academic work, including a term this winter as the Magro Family Distinguished Fellow in International Affairs at the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College.
Tasos Theodorou provides us with a really important PSA: “chest pains and shortness of breath is not just your kids driving you crazy, but is in fact a heart attack, so get to the ER pronto!” Fortunately, he adds that his quadruple bypass heart surgery in November was a success, and he is healing well.
With that important information, I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2024!
Sharene Azimi has been “enjoying working at the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) as communications director since 2020. The job puts me in a movement of people working to provide credible news and information to every community—something we believe is important for, you know, the future of American democracy. In between work and raising my two boys as a divorced mom in the New Jersey exurbs, I’ve gone back to the things I love, like tango dancing, choir singing, and travel. I get together regularly with Miriam Temin, and I was delighted that Stephanie Donohue Pilla and Brian Gottesman came to the backyard dance party I threw for my second 50th birthday this summer.”
This spring, Victor Khodadad will be singing the role of Emperor Altoum with St. Petersburg Opera in Florida. He also continues his work with New Camerata Opera, a small, professional opera company based in New York City. Please learn more by visiting www.newcamerataopera.org.
Andy Russell has been advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza and recently signed the alumni petition demanding that Wesleyan divest from companies profiting off Israeli occupation.
As we eagerly anticipate our 35th REUNION this May, let’s catch up on the latest from our classmates:
Kim Slote is pursuing an online master of social work at Florida State University. She’s still in the health-care tech field but plans a career shift in a few years. Kim, currently in Naples, Florida, is looking to move to Philadelphia postgraduation and would love to connect with fellow Wes alumni there. Betsy Henry shares her excitement and appreciation. She’s looking forward to attending the reunion, potentially her first, and extends her best wishes to everyone. Howie Chalfin reminisces about our Wesleyan days and is planning to attend the reunion, hoping to reconnect with old friends and celebrate with his interns who are graduating this year. Carrie Emmerson, our dedicated public school teacher from Maine, is trying her best to join us despite the busy Memorial Day weekend. She’s also working to spark more interest in the reunion among our classmates. David Averbach thanks everyone for keeping the Wesleyan spirit alive through these updates.
Co-class secretary Michele Barnwell served as showrunner and executive producer on season two of the food-history documentary series High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America—which is now streaming on Netflix. She reports most definitely eating her way through production.
Yours truly, Jonathan Fried, recently enjoyed a lively Hanukkah gathering at the home of Andrew Shear and Lynne Lazarus. It was a mini-Wesleyan reunion with Stephanie Dolgoff, David Milch, and Greg Benson. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the hill for our 35th!
Steve Pike, who teaches public diplomacy and public relations at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor. He retired from the U.S. Department of State in 2016, after a quarter century as a diplomat, in order to take up research and teaching at Syracuse. In 2023 he published the paper What Diplomats Do: U.S. Citizen Perspectives on the Work of Public Diplomacy in Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, as well as a chapter on the management of public diplomacy in A Research Agenda for Public Diplomacy, (Eytan Gilboa, ed.).
Andy Goldman lives in Spokane, Washington, and says, “I teach at Gonzaga University, where I’m a professor in the history department (and surrounded by basketball fanatics). I’m currently on sabbatical and have just returned from several weeks in western Sicily, where I’ve been working as part of an international archaeological survey project studying an ancient marine battle site off the Egadi Islands. I do love my job sometimes: handling 2,250-year-old objects from off the seabed (90 meters down!) makes for a pretty phenomenal field trip (as does Sicilian cooking). I’m very pleased to announce that I have a book in press right now, the third edition of Ancient Cities (Routledge), written with my close friend Charles Gates and available in February 2024. Life in the Pacific Northwest continues to be lovely; we bought a new house two years ago and—with lots of room and several large pets—welcome anyone passing through. Last spring I had a wonderful visit with old Argus-mates James Shiffer ’89 and Kirsten Delegard ’90, who both gave lectures at Gonzaga.”
Alisa Newman shares that she enjoys visiting Wes where her daughter is a first year living in Clark (with a groundhog outside the window!). “The new buildings look great without taking away from the character of the campus I remember. Main Street has so many more options now! I think there used to be exactly ONE restaurant we would ever go to.”
More info from Middletown comes from Jen Alexander, who lives “a few blocks from campus with my husband Mark Masselli (Hon. ’09); our four kids have grown and (mostly) left the nest. The Kidcity Children’s Museum just celebrated our 25th anniversary, and in addition to the magical experience of making exhibits with our classmate, Scott Kessel, I have gotten to work with Wes students in every generation, since we are a work-study site. I’m grateful for Doug Mackenzie’89 who, between his music and body work, is kind of a one-man analog Facebook, as he travels the country and brings me news of the Wes alums he visits.”
Another empty nester is C. C. (Crichlow) Clark, who has a college grad and a college junior, and reports from Arlington, Virginia: “I went back to Wes for the first time in 15 years for a Black alumni weekend. It was phenomenal to spend time with so many Black alumni and students. Many from the Class of ’88 were there, including Ingrid Gordon, Majora Carter, Maurice Willoughby, Marc McKayle, Al Young, and Fred Montas. I’m still basking in the glow of the weekend and looking forward to the next one.”
Christie Trott had a busy year in Northern California: “My daughter has been applying to colleges, and my son is hot on her heels, prepping for college applications. My sister, Shelley ’91, went to the recent Homecoming and had a blast seeing some other Wes alum. I transitioned to being an admin at the school I helped start during COVID, and I’m completely out of the classroom for the first time in many years. Sadly, I also broke my foot and had to have surgery, so I’ve been hobbling around on a scooter, crutches, my butt, and even crawling like a baby when necessary. All in all, life is good, and I try hard to be in gratitude despite the absurdity of the world we live in.”
Finally, we have sad news from Ellen (Shandling) Burgess: “It is with a heavy heart that I share that Katy Shander-Reynolds passed away October 20, 2023, after a long battle with lung cancer. She is survived by her loving husband and four children.” Katy’s obituary is located at https://katyshander.com/obituary/.
Here’s some exciting news you’ve shared with me recently.
Eileen Deignan reports that she has two kids at Wesleyan now. Her son, Evan, is a senior, and her son, Andrew, is a frosh. They are having a great time experiencing Wes together.
Around Thanksgiving, Eileen returned from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She went on a month-long expedition to Antarctica with an international group of 85 women leaders in STEM fields. The sponsoring organization is Homeward Bound Projects. She is “still wrapping my head around all that we learned and saw there.” What an experience!
Chuck Taylor reports that he and his wife, Liz Martin Taylor, got together with Jay Valley recently. Jay remains a step ahead of the rest of us, having already mastered the snowbird routine between Massachusetts and Florida despite not being retired from his job as product development manager at Greenlee Diamond Tool Co. Jay and Chuck saw Elvis Costello and the Imposters in concert the first day of his visit, and on the next day they went to Wesleyan.
It was Jay’s first time on campus this century, so as they wandered, Liz resumed her former role of Cardinal Key tour guide and pointed out the changes for him. And while they decided to skip the Freeman Athletic Center, which sits where the senior year house where Jay and Chuck lived once stood, they managed to get into all but one of the places they wanted to revisit. They were only caught when Jay decided he wanted to see whether the Language Lab was still where he left it. It wasn’t, but the employee who Jay and Chuck surprised when they barged in kindly tolerated them rather than contact Public Safety. As a former Language Lab employee, I can say that I went looking for that place during reunion, too. Who wouldn’t want to see the place where people studying Japanese or French would record their dictations aloud?
Johanna Maaghul writes in to give us a lot of news! First, she and her husband, Rich, spent the bulk of the pandemic in Switzerland working on their education platform, ODEM.IO. They split their time between there and traveling the U.S. by car, where they had the opportunity to see many different perspectives on what the COVID crisis has brought to our country and the health and economic challenges many are now facing. They are excited to have their education platform be part of the solution of rebuilding.
Johanna is also continuing an almost 10-year career as a literary agent with a focus on nonfiction health and healing. She still thanks Julia Druskin for teaching her the role and value of literary agents!
She is currently agenting a screenplay that she is very excited about. She is eager to be in touch with Heather Rae ’83, and she is happy to review any nonfiction projects with big aspirations from any of us. Finally, Johanna enjoyed having dinner recently with Sara Walpert Foster.
From left to right: Mitchie, Naomi, and Amanda, November 2023
Amanda Jacobs Wolf spent five wonderful days in Washington, D.C., this past November, staying with Matt Paul and Naomi Mezey. They cooked a lot and laughed a lot, and Naomi even let Amanda braid the challah she so skillfully made. And then to “top” the long weekend off, Mitchie Topper joined the group for dinner one night, as she was also in town. Such a fun Wes reunion. Everyone is thrilled Matt and Naomi’s daughter will start Wes next fall, keeping the dream alive for some future Foss Hill hangouts.
From left to right: Matt, Naomi, Mitchie, and Amanda
Grier Mendel has successfully moved from Seattle, Washington, to Longmont, Colorado, and is beginning her retirement. Grier is volunteering at a farm rescue and getting to know her new surroundings. Great new adventures ahead for Grier!
Pauline Frommer ’88 is getting a lot of our classmates into the music scene as her daughter’s band, Melt, tours the country. Jim Witz saw them in Denver, Trish Dorsey saw them in Boston, and Bruno Oliver ’88 was disappointed that the Los Angeles show was canceled.
Finally, I have the sad job of reporting that Brad Vogt died unexpectedly this fall, and so many of his classmates have fond memories of him. Frank Barrett wrote that Brad was a terrific and decent family-first person and sports enthusiast. Brad was an admired friend of friends who Frank ran into in the best ways at many parties and establishments. Beth Pitcher also said that Brad often traveled with her between D.C. and Wesleyan and felt that she couldn’t have asked for a better companion for the numbers of times her car broke down on the journey. Sending love to his family and those who knew him at Wesleyan.
Wishing everyone well as I wrote a message in December that you will read in the new year!
Bennett Schneider said on June 16, 2023, the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence received the Los Angeles Dodgers’ community hero award on the team’s annual LGBTQ Pride Night at Dodger Stadium. Bennet, as Sister Unity, was one of the members to accept the award on the group’s behalf. “The award recognized our group’s 27 years of work as activists and fundraisers in the LA LGBTQ community,” he said. Unfortunately, he added, there were “2,000 protestors right outside the stadium, and three weeks of back-to-back press interviews and news coverage, positive and negative.” Bennett also noted that the garment he wore at the event was “hand sewn and every single red AIDS ribbon—about 100—was sewn on by Lisa Rosen.
Bennett (on right) as Sister Unity, wearing the medal from the Dodgers.
“A month afterward, Lisa and I dined al fresco with Amanda Marks ’88. . . . Still see Nathan Gebert ’85, who now winters in Japan every year and stops off here in Southern California to visit on his way to and from.”
Rich Koffman writes, “My wife, Jacqueline, and some friends (including Rich Monastersky and Victoria Nugent ’91) and I recently formed a private sponsorship group under the State Department’s Welcome Corps program. The program allows groups of private citizens to sponsor and help resettle refugees in the United States. Our group was matched with a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who arrived here in late September after more than two decades in a refugee camp in Tanzania. With some guidance from the folks at HIAS, who provide resources for private sponsorship groups nationwide, we have helped him find an apartment, register for government benefits, and sign up for English classes, and we are working to find him employment. It’s been a challenging, eye-opening, and rewarding experience thus far. I’ve even learned a little bit of Swahili! I highly recommend the program to anyone who may be interested in helping refugees establish themselves in the United States.”
Kate Nunn Mini wrote,“I am now practicing pediatrics in New Haven. Yale Health is a wonderful place to work! Although I continue to see patients, my focus over the last few years has been pediatric mental health, specifically, integrating behavioral health into primary care. My kids are doing well out in the world, so it’s a great time for me to dive into this work!”
Emily with daughter, Ada
Emily Cowan said, “Big changes for me in the last 18 months: I bought a condo on the northern edge of Concord, New Hampshire, and I started a new job at a community mental health center. I’m glad to be working for a big organization again, especially one with tech help and administrative support. Middle age has not improved my abilities in these things. My daughter is a lifty at a ski resort out West, and I’m holding off on getting my next dog because I travel to see my parents. They are both 90 and they are marvels.
Dana Walcott wrote,“After working at the same place for almost 25 years, I have a new job. I had been unhappy at the old place for the last one to two years. I could not do the same old stuff any longer. I needed something new. I needed a change. I found a new job working at a world-class loudspeaker manufacturer 10 miles from my house here in Massachusetts. I could not be happier.”
Jeff Liss said, “My wife, Susan, and I have now moved full time to the East Side of Manhattan, finally selling the house in the Philadelphia suburbs. I ran into classmate Nina Mehta on the street shortly after moving in! I recently left my job in big consulting to be the global VP of Customer Experience at a large provider of solutions for health-care professionals. In the last few years, I have crossed paths with old friends: Tim Harvey ’85, Dan Seltzer, Carrie Normand ’87, Majora Carter ’88, and the newly elected first selectman of Fairfield, Connecticut, Bill Gerber. I am also now the board chair for a great nonprofit called the Josephine Herrick Project (www.jhproject.org) and work closely with our executive director, Miriam Leuchter ’85.”
Roger Lebovitz reports that his latestbook,Obscure Blessings, will be published by Fomite Press in 2025.
Kris Bluemel shared she was recently appointed to the position of interim associate dean of the McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. The last time she worked in a normal office environment, Monday through Friday, was in 1988 when she was a marketing assistant at the University of Georgia Press. She is still involved with publishing and books as professor of English and Wayne D. McMurray Endowed Chair of Humanities at Monmouth. Her latest book, Enchanted Wood: Women Artists, Rural Britain, and the Twentieth-Century Wood Engraving Revival, is due out from the University of Minnesota Press this year.
Ethan Knowlden wrote he is “making good on my retirement pledge to get involved in ending homelessness here, I am now on the board of the Arizona Housing Coalition, the state’s largest housing stability advocacy organization. I’m also interning at a local law firm that focuses on affordable housing transactions for nonprofit and for-profit clients. And I fill the rest of my time serving as president of my local community council while we commence a $10 million expansion of our community center.”
Laura and Steve
Steve Berliner contributed that he is“alive and well and retired (with no regrets), living in New Orleans with my fiancée of 10 years, Laura. Two kids—Felix ’25 and Rebecca, a senior in high school—dog Rudy and cat Wiley, and Laura’s son, Christopher, a musician living in Oakland. I spend most of my free time enjoying retirement with Laura, visiting with my kids (they live in Brooklyn with their mom), tying flies, swing dancing on Frenchmen Street, and tinkering around the house (a historic side-hall shotgun built in 1836). Need to do more fishing with those flies. Taking an online computer programming class and enjoying that a lot too. I still talk now and again with my college buddy, Andrew Bennett—saw him a few Thanksgivings ago in D.C., which was great. Went vegan in 2020 and am enjoying my vegetables!”
I’m writing this from my desk in the English department at the University of Maryland. I’m procrastinating on finishing my grading! Anyone who knew me at Wes recalls that I have some next-level procrastination skills. . . .
Speaking of people who knew me at Wes, Hillary Hess and I just had a night out with our husbands (Peter Gimlin and Michael MacDonald, respectively) to see Velocity Girl at the Black Cat in D.C. A super fun evening!
John P. H. Vigman wrote that he’s still in Japan, having worked for Veolia for “well over a decade, going from head of legal to [the] VP of Business Development Major Projects for Japan and India,” adding that he’ll be in Tokyo for another couple of years, so “if anyone is in the area, look [him] up.”
I also heard from Bradley Solomon who has retired from the California Attorney General’s Office and is now a different kind of counselor: “I’ve . . . started a new career as a private college counselor, helping students and families apply to college.” We can check out his new venture, Solomon College Advising, online.
Ben Wenograd’85.5 was selected deputy mayor of West Hartford, Connecticut, in the November 2023 election. He previously served on the town council for eight years. His service has focused on affordable housing.
If you don’t want to email when I send out my quarterly appeals for class notes, you can send me your news anytime via FaceBook or Instagram. Wishing yours peace and health.
