Author: classnotes

It was great to hear from so many classmates.

Robert Typermass wrote that following Wesleyan he completed the MBA program at Columbia University, and shortly afterward he was drafted by the army and stationed in Germany. Bob wrote:

“I couldn’t honestly say my army service was a particularly enjoyable time, but, in a way, it was a valuable kind of learning experience, and I was always well aware that it could have been a whole lot worse. Europe definitely beat the alternative.”

After the army Bob went to work in the financial sector, first at a commercial bank in New York City, then at another bank nearby. Several years later that bank was swallowed up by Merrill Lynch, and “I spent the rest of my working life at Merrill Lynch, in the institutional side of the firm,” Bob explained.

“Merrill was an interesting and generally decent place to work but not the most stable working environment thanks to a pretty much constant stream of reorganizations, management shake-ups, upsizings, downsizings, rightsizings, and ‘wrongsizings.’ Often chaotic but rarely dull. Most of my time was in New York, but I also had international assignments including a multiyear one in the Middle East and shorter stints in Asia and Europe.

“Around midway between 9/11 and the Great Recession, I quit working; it seemed like the right time to move on. When I let people know I was leaving, a friend there said to me, ‘I’m really ticked at you, Bobby; now I’ll be the oldest guy on the floor.’

“Nowadays I try to keep active and not worry too much about the future or other weighty, depressing issues. Whenever I feel the need for a dose of hopeless despair, I can always just tune in to cable news or watch the New York Jets.”

Fred Karem started off in the class of ’63 but took a year off to work in a Kentucky political campaign and ended up in our class. Fred and I both grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and went to the same high school, but lost touch after Wesleyan.

Fred wrote that he and Suzanne, his wife of almost 60 years and a Smith ’64 graduate, have long had a home in Lexington, Kentucky, but were spending the winter in Mountain Brook, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. They have a condo there, about a half mile from their daughter and her four children. They also have a son, Fred (with two children), in Franklin, Tennessee, and another, Robert, in Washington, D.C., where he is national security advisor to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

“After many years in state and national politics, law practice, and the apartment development business, I retired about eight or nine years ago. For the past six years, we have spent the winter in Naples, Florida, where, beyond the warmth, I enjoyed outings to Fort Myers to see Red Sox training games. Since growing up in Louisville, I have been a dedicated Boston fan because Louisville was the AAA farm club for the Sox during those years. Our Naples days are now over, and we will spend this winter here.

“More than 40 years ago, I started running for exercise and relaxation (no races). Fortunately, I’m still doing so, although jogging (rather than running) three times a week combined with indoor workouts three times a week.”

Ted Ridout wrote: “I was enamored with ships and sailing as a high school student. I built a Sailfish from a $169 kit in my bedroom. My father and I visited Webb Institute of Naval Architecture in the fall of 1959. Meanwhile, I applied to Wesleyan. They offered a full scholarship, while Webb was free to all accepted, funded by the marine industry. I decided on Wes. 

“Longing for at least a yacht while raising a family, I settled for ‘Ted’s land yacht,’ a hard-sided pop-up trailer easily towed by our minivan. In retirement, Chris and I and our dog drove it happily all over the Lower 48 and much of Canada.

“Now with so much time, adequate vision, and dexterity, I have returned in a major way to building ship models from kits. Doing the rigging on a square-rigged man-of-war must stave off dementia for a while. Typically, a year or more is needed to finish a ship.”

Also, good to hear from:

Robert Maurer: “My wife, Zoelle, and I have just self-published A Travel Adventure in France, a small book with photos, describing our day-by-day trip to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary in 2011 in the country we love. (Last May we celebrated our 47th.) In addition, I recently completed a decade-long project of sending my personal papers to Michigan State University Libraries for two of its special collections: African Activist Archive (digitized) and American Radicalism (hopefully to be digitized).”

Dan Davis: “We moved from Germantown, Maryland, to a continuous care retirement center in Frederick, Maryland, in February 2022. My wife, Suzanne, and I remain active physically and are enjoying church work. I retired from the FDA in 2016 and have enjoyed a limited amount of consulting since then. I play tennis four to five hours a week and nine holes of golf on Wednesdays.”

Please write to your class secretary.

I received good news from two of our classmate authors. Lindsay Childs reports that his most recent published textbook in mathematics, Cryptology and Error Correction, An Algebraic Introduction and Real-World Applications, has just been translated into Japanese. Previously the first edition (of three) of A Concrete Introduction to Higher Algebra was translated into Italian, and he has also published two books in the American Mathematical Society’s Mathematical Surveys and Monographs series. As Lindsay summarizes: “Since none of my five grandchildren (in grades 2, 8, 11, 11, and 13) know Italian, Japanese, or mathematics beyond first-year calculus, I now have six published books that none of them can read! Hopefully, however, the three older ones may later be ready to read the English versions of the textbooks in a couple of years if they pursue mathematics in college.”

Our second author Peter Mooz writes:“Art history must be defended. My latest book, American Masterworks of Religious Painting, has been advertised in French and German, and also the largest and oldest studio in Hollywood has asked to use certain chapters for films. Who said art history was not a good major? All this thanks to Wesleyan that offered a path to discover a blissful career.”

John Hazlehurst reports: “We’re buckling down for another Colorado winter in our drafty, badly insulated 1899 Victorian, to which I’m unreasonably attached. If we make it through another winter, maybe we’ll downsize and head south. We’ll have to figure out what to do with all our stuff—one acid-tongued pal calls our house the ‘Hazlehurst Museum of Mediocre Art.’ Don’t think the kids will want anything—they’re middle-aged folks who dread the prospect of clearing out our ancient mess. But I love it—nothing like rereading The Age of Innocence in a period-appropriate setting. Countess Ellen Olenska would be pleased, and I think that Edith Wharton will get me through the winter.”

After retiring as professor of pediatric nephrology from University of Kansas in 2010, Jon Scheinman did locum tenens (substituting for temporarily absent practitioners) for three years “and have continued to telemed as a GP since then, but now dwindling, as my tennis career also sputters along.” Jon continues with “much travel, fighting for liberal causes, and as president of Temple Israel. I’m still trying to make the world a better place, thus still delusional. I have two kids, two grandkids in Philadelphia.”

Steve Trott “thought the vaccine would immunize us from the virus, like the polio stuff does. Sorry. My wife Carol has had all the shots and boosters, and three weeks after the last one, she got it. But at least the shots seem to tamp down the symptoms. The last three years haven’t been all that much fun ducking bugs. It’s made travel tough, so we are largely stuck in SoCal missing Idaho. At least the drought is over, for the time being. Stay safe everyone!”

Len Wilson has “always believed that exercise and moderate activity are the secret to a healthy life. But I’m starting to realize that aging is becoming a worry for my kids. After taking an awkward tumble playing pickleball, my daughter had the audacity to suggest that Dad, at 83, maybe shouldn’t be playing pickleball any longer. What does she know? A few scrapes won’t keep me off the courts.” Len’s belief in global warming is strengthened as he nostalgically recalls days at his shore home when he could “scamper over the dunes and enjoy yards and yards of beach, but the dunes now end in a 20-foot drop to the ocean below.” He also has assumed the position of chairman for his area-wide Y retiree group for the coming year, “having fun and working with a talented dedicated board of fellow retirees who make the job a lot easier.” And a final note of advice: “Want to again experience the joys and responsibilities of parenthood? Be gifted with a Chinese Crested puppy in your 80s. Unlike grandchildren, he doesn’t go home with his parents.”

Bill Wortman reports “trying to keep active, useful, and mentally tuned hiking local trails, fighting invasive plants on my five acres, Kiwanis and volunteering, Cincinnati orchestra concerts, and reading most recently Lies of the Land about rural America and Jill Lepore’s These Truths. I also took an amazing rafting and hiking trip down the Nahanni River in Canada’s Northwest Territories, and went with Road Scholars for a week’s strenuous hiking through the geological wonders of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. One grandchild graduated from high school and another from Colorado State U in data science. Flew to Denver for both events, but can I make the third’s graduation 10 years from now?”

An update from Emil Frankel: “Kathryn and I continue our lives in Washington, D.C. I remain affiliated with a small, Washington, D.C.–based, transportation policy think tank, the Eno Center for Transportation, but most of my ‘advising’ consists of discussing transportation history and policy with former colleagues over lunches and through email exchanges. My intellectual and emotional energies are focused on the efforts to preserve democratic values and institutions both here at home and in Israel. As to the former, I remain involved in every Never Trump activity available to me, including some marginal involvement in a third-party effort (although I remain skeptical that the moment is right to launch a new centrist party). As to the latter, I am deeply engaged in efforts in my Reform temple to educate our congregants and the wider Jewish community about the attacks on democracy by Israel’s current extremist and theocratic right-wing government.

“I returned to my native state of Connecticut a few weeks after Reunion weekend to join in services to honor the memory of my former boss, former U.S. senator and former Connecticut governor, Lowell Weicker. I mention this because Governor Weicker received an honorary degree from Wesleyan in the early 1990s. He was the first sitting governor of Connecticut to receive an honorary degree from Wesleyan for many years, a historic tradition that seems to have been abandoned by the University in the 1970s. Lowell Weicker was a unique and extraordinary public figure; I am proud that Wesleyan recognized his contributions and that I had the opportunity to work with and for him.” 

At the time of our last Class Notes publication, Emil had written: “I wanted to let you know that our classmate and fellow Eclectic, Joe Powers, passed away a day or two ago. Joe and Maria had moved back to the Washington, D.C., region from New Mexico a few months ago, and they were living in northern Virginia when he died.”

Here’s a quickie note from Robert Wielde: “Proof of life. Traveling some. Reading a lot. Worried for the country.”                   

Peter Funk has provided a newsy update. He writes: “I am pleased to report that Jennie and I are well. I remain active in our island’s affairs, continue to sail and race offshore, and generally keep upright. I am reminded of Wesleyan frequently by daughters Lexy ’91 and Jenny ’95 whose offspring have visited campus to assess entry. No hits so far. I marvel at the lunacy of our American politics and the robustness of the economy. I remain hopeful for a more united Europe despite Brexit, which has dragged Jersey into the foreign nation category with attendant border and other restrictions. The war in Ukraine and threats arising overhang everything here. Please convey my best wishes to our fellow classmates and extend my welcome to visitors.”

Alexander McCurdy responded with a question: “My contribution would be a question regarding the folk singing group The Highwaymen. Didn’t this group originate in our era at the Alpha Delta fraternity house? Anybody know how they evolved with or into the later famous group with that name?” Your class secretary replied to Sandy suggesting he Google “Wesleyan Highwaymen 1960,” which he did with gratifying results.

John Rogers:

“Understand the continuing appeal and really appreciate your zeal

I’ve answered more often than you should reveal

So ignore or edit my replies and conceal

Our new home in Kentucky not a big deal

Although plentiful bourbon and horses produce a good yield

The aging body aches before and after each meal

But doubt my wife and 12 doctors really know how I feel

So I’ll continue daily rehab to heal

To try to delay the time when remaining family and friends kneel”

Paul Boynton reports on three issues: “One, my grandson, Caius Boynton, an accomplished musician and graphic artist, has just begun has first year at Wesleyan; and two, his equally talented twin sister, Auren Boynton, is simultaneously matriculating at Williams! Finally, three—their uncle, Eric Boynton (youngest of four sons), was recently inaugurated as the 12th president of Beloit College, founded in 1846.” Paul is the proud grandfather of eight and the father of four.

Nici and John Dobson reported that they were in Key West, Florida, for two weeks. That sounds like a good place to visit in November.

Mark Lischner passed away August 14, 2023. He was the founding member of Pulmonary Medicine Associates, which provides pulmonary and critical care services for the greater Sacramento, California, area. He worked over 50 years at the same corporation and retired in April 2023. He was not only appreciated for his medical expertise but also his humanity. His interest in the well-being of his patients, colleagues, and staff was remarkable. He is survived by his son Benjamin, daughter-in-law Kathrine, daughter Lori, and three granddaughters.

In September, I had a 10-day bout of COVID that was characterized by fatigue, sore throat, loss of taste, and three days of fever. I appreciate having been able to do at-home testing for the virus. Tish was a great help by bringing suppers to my house during the worst days.