Hello, ’85ers! I had the good fortune to visit campus at the end of January to take part in a very fun mentoring workshop with current women athletes. The more Wes changes, the more it stays the same. I’ve reached that stage of my life where I visit places and say, “That used to be . . . .” I found myself repeatedly noting, “That used to be a package store!,” which I thought was pretty funny.
I heard from Tim Clark that he, Larry Attia, and Steve Pace ’84 have continued their now 38-year-old tradition of watching a Mets road series together each year. “This year we will be traveling to Camden Yards for a Mets-Orioles set. We also upped the boys of summer ante a bit during the pandemic, with a weekly call on all things Mets and life (quite amazing how some codgers can talk about baseball passionately for an hour even in the off-season during the dead of winter). Two other happy items to report: my daughter Kyra’23 will be graduating from Wes this coming spring; and I ran my first marathon in the fall (Marine Corp with a sub-4 finish).”
Stephen Schwartz writes that he returned last year to the U.S. after living and working overseas in Asia since 2004. He moved to Indonesia in 2004 as the IMF’s senior representative in Indonesia. In 2008 he left the IMF and moved to Hong Kong where he worked in a variety of banking and economics research positions, most recently with Fitch Ratings. Stephen now lives with his partner Jennifer in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where he has been enjoying hiking in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter. He enjoys the relative peace and quiet after many years of living in the hustle and bustle of Asian cities.
Ellen Campbell is also planning a move to New England: “After a little more than 20 years in Tucson, my husband and I are putting our house on the market and ‘downsizing’ to Vermont. For the past few summers, we’ve been fixing up an old house adjacent to where I grew up . . . it will be our home base moving forward. It’s bittersweet leaving the Desert Southwest, such a lovely place! But new adventures lie ahead. I’ll have lots of barn space for a ceramic/painting studio in Vermont, and will continue teaching yoga classes in person and on Zoom. Winters? We may escape the Northeast (I’m a wimp!) . . . to be continued! Wishing everyone the best as we are so fortunate to be embarking on a new and exciting decade. How did that happen?!!” You can see some of Ellen’s work at www.ellencampbellart.com.
And, finally, it wouldn’t be the class notes without a cryptic yet lyrical note from Christopher Kylin: “Still conspiring to overawe reality with subtle genius and struggling against the bindings of inertia and ennui. In two years, I’ll be celebrated or dead.”
Let us all hope for the former rather than the latter. Take care, my friends, and keep in touch.
Hello again, Classmates. Let me share some updates from our far-flung WesFriends.
Dana Sachs has a new book coming out this year (All Else Failed: The Unlikely Volunteers at the Heart of the Migrant Aid Crisis, published by Bellevue Literary Press). Much of her research was done while working with Humanity Now, visiting relief teams in Greece. (Her editor Erika Goldman ’81 also went to Wesleyan). Her travels have allowed her to cross paths with a number of friends, and she hopes to make it to reunion next year.
In other book news, Parul Kapur Hinzen will publish her novel Inside the Mirror, about twin sisters who aspire to become artists in 1950s India, to be published by University of Nebraska Press in early 2024. She won the 2022 AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) Prize, judged by Brandon Hobson. The novel touches on the art of Bharata Natyam, whom Parul studied at Wesleyan. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and son, after having spent a few years in Wallingford, Connecticut, among horses and old apple orchards.
Susie Kang Sharpe follows up on her November notes with an update that she has recently been accepted as a TEDx speaker and will deliver her speech at the University of Washington (Seattle) in April 2023 (which will already have occurred by the time you receive this).
Sally Bromage Suhr had a lot of news for us last time and wrote in again to report on her minireunion luncheon with Tammy Kahn and Liz Engelberg on a recent NYC trip. She did not provide a picture, assuring us that the three of them are unchanged from their Wesleyan days.
Michael (Misi) Polgar provides more detail on his Open Educational Resource (OER) on the Holocaust, which we first heard about last August. It is associated with the Sh’ma Project and is free online at https://psu.pb.unizin.org/holocaust3rs/.
It is my sad duty to report the death of our classmate, Christopher Romeo, who passed on March 8. We learned of this from his sister, Susan Romeo Malestein ’87. His obituary at dignitymemorial.com speaks of his time at Wesleyan and the New England School of Law; of his love of fishing, trivia, and the Red Sox; and of his distinguished community service career on the Board of Selectmen and Board of Tax Assessors in Westford, Massachusetts.
I have some personal news of some import. My son Garrick having waited, with great frustration, through the pandemic for a chance to get his life started, has finally spread his wings. I am thrilled that he is now in Taiwan (Taoyuan City) teaching English. Mostly we get pictures of what he is eating.
Finally, I will say again how much I have enjoyed being class secretary for the last 10 years but will welcome a volunteer for the passing of the baton. If interested in details, email me at the usual place.
Thank you for the memories. Space is limited so I’ve edited a bit. I suppose if I asked all to share their memories, I ought to participate, too. Let’s see . . . happiest memories were hanging in the kitchen with my housemates at 77 Home Avenue, drinking horribly bad cheap wine (ladies, sending hugs) and singing with my freshman roommate at the top of our lungs in Foss 10. (Kitty, do you remember which songs?) Favorite class was Susan Foster’s modern dance, sophomore year. I remember morphing in and out of tableaus with my fellow dancers as if we were one spirit; it was electrifying. In memoriam, I salute sociology professors O’Gorman and Hyman. They are two kind souls who set me on my path—albeit with a short stint in business first. On the Shoulders of Giants, we follow. I bow to them in gratitude.
Tim Brockett reminisces: “The opportunity to connect with professors who were older, wiser, and in positions of power. It was my good fortune to enroll in a geology class taught by Professor Jelle de Boer one fall semester a long time ago. Professor de Boer was brilliant, articulate, knowledgeable, and tremendously caring toward his students. At his suggestion I traveled at my own expense to Costa Rica to work with a graduate student, Larry Lew, for a few weeks. We mapped the bedrock geology of a dense coastal jungle just south of the warring Nicaraguan border. We lived on the beach like Robinson Crusoe . . . . Another gray-haired professor invited me to a party at his home. I brought a lovely date and we danced with other Wesleyan students in his second-floor bachelor apartment. One young student I vaguely knew remained; she sat on the edge of his bed and appeared sad and a little frightened. I wanted to take her with me but she sat steadfast, almost frozen in place. Those were my happiest and most painful Wesleyan experiences.”
Paul Halliday gives a shout-out to a few of the many faculty who had a lasting effect on him including, Vera Schwartz (Modern Chinese Intellectual History) who, “in our first meeting, asked us to think of ourselves as intellectuals—lightning strike”; Richie Adelstein, Brian Fay, and Don Moon (three years of CSS colloquia) who, “modeled how thinking hard could be loads of fun; the ideas they shared remain fundamental to how I think about many things”; Roger Solie (orchestra conductor and chamber music mentor) who, “always conveyed the joy of music, and showed how that joy grows the more you work at it”; and Peter Kilby (Intro Econ) who touted, “Why take economics? You’ll always read the newspaper with a more critical eye.” Paul hears his voice every time he encounters poorly reported or badly misrepresented data, which is all too often.
Karyn Ellis shared a few memories and a bit of decadence: The primal scream after Reagan was elected (“Wow, did people let loose”); wandering the Olin stacks in an altered state and every book “we pulled off the shelves had incredibly deep meaning”; and the famed Taylor Estate parties for which our class is legend.
Mark Kushner remembers the “Come as You Aren’t” parties at Taylor Estate; co-op cooking with Ben Binswanger, Dave Loo, Steve Maslow, and others; dating the now long-married Aileen Mix; the 40 Plays in 40 Days modern drama class; and spring break in Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head with the tennis team.
Pivoting next to classmate news: Jeffrey Shear was promoted to first deputy commissioner at the New York City Department of Finance. Megan Norris writes “Professionally, my long-planned attempt at early retirement failed, and now I find myself as CEO of Michigan’s oldest law firm. A little surprising to my family, since I did not own a suit.” Her daughter, TaylorMatthew ’17, “is an incredibly independent kid who decided to live five blocks from us in Detroit. Though it won’t last forever, I am enjoying it while I can.” Megan adds she wishes AARP would quit sending things!
Roger Blissett is “excited to share that on May 9, 2023, I will be honored at the 25th Anniversary Gala for ExpandED Schools, a New York City based nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all young people in New York City have access to enriching afterschool programs.” A link to the gala is here: Events – ExpandEd Schools.
On a sad note, we recently received notice our classmate Dunbar Gram passed away last August. His obituary can be read at gainesville.com/obituaries/pgai0294414.
It’s really true that my memories of Reunion last year are fresh, but that’s probably because time flies by so quickly and May 2022 seems barely yesterday. I had a chance to see Michael Roth when he visited here at Stanford, and Wesleyan held a reception for him at the faculty club (hosted by Bill Greene ’86, P’20 and his wife Kera Greene). Michael joked that he was in town to discuss Stanford’s purchase of Wesleyan. In truth they have a plan for Wesleyan’s future and continued success and that was great to hear.
Ah, the marking of time: Kweku Forstall has good news to share. Grandparent news! “My wife Adrienne and I welcomed our first grandbaby into the world recently. Her name is Nora Marion Rash, born in Wilmington, North Carolina, to our youngest daughter Cailey Rash and her husband Caleb Rash.”
Ken Kaufman writes (after reading the last class notes) that he is suffering the ravaged of this passage of time, too, with health and life updates: “Lavinia Ross isn’t the only one. The only difference is that my cardiac incident waited till August. I even managed to shut down the D.C. Red Line for half an hour. In other news, I’m closing in on 15 years at the IRS and starting to cast an eye toward retirement.”
Mark Sirota writes that Anthony Pahigian came up from D.C. with his wife Gordana, and he met them, and some of their friends, at the Guggenheim in New York. “I can’t remember the name of the artist we went to see, but we had bagels for lunch.” My memory is like that too. No photos from Mark, but those sometimes help.
Steve Maizes (my second cousin, something I knew without the help of AncestryDNA or 23andMe) has career and class news: he recently joined CrossCountry Mortgage as the in-house lender for The Agency, the real estate brokerage in LA, which is notable because our classmate, Paul Lester, is partner there. “Excited to be working with Paul.”
Ginny Pye encouraged me to share my news, too, so I will relate a couple of things. I’ve had a chance to see Matt Solo a couple of times, and the last time I spoke with him, he was filling sandbags to help prevent his home from sliding off the hill into the valley. It still stands. Matt continues to work in television in LA. I also ran into my old friend Joe Barrett at the reunion. Our reconnection turned into a lovely working relationship. Because of my work in addictions, Joe invited me to join the board of Key Recovery and Life Skills Center, a nonprofit and the first residential drug and alcohol treatment center for substance use disorder in the Puget Sound region. (They have an innovative recycling center, too, Seadrunar, that partly funds their work.) It’s been really important work professionalizing the services they provide there under Joe’s leadership. Joe has just agreed to take over as the permanent CEO and he’s amazing! It is really meaningful work that they do, providing care to people and families in great need, and especially meaningful to be working with Joe, his partner Monica Ramsey, and an incredible board. What an enriching opportunity.
Laura and I continue to hope that you share your updates with us. With Class Notes now online, too, we can more easily keep people updated. Connections are so important, so please keep in touch.
Greetings from Zurich, where I am vacationing and spending some time with my middle son James, who has been living here for three years and currently works for Google. What a beautiful place, and what a wonderful lifestyle.
So much news this cycle!
Congrats to David Lynch who shared: “I’ve just signed a contract with Hachette Book Group for my next book, a history of what’s gone wrong with globalization over the past quarter century and a look at what comes next. Working title is The World’s Worst Bet: How the West Gambled on Globalization and Lost. It is scheduled to be published by Hachette’s PublicAffairs imprint in early 2025.” A timely topic—and a book we should put on our “to read” list in 2025.
Alyson Myers, president of the Fearless Fund, an organization dedicated to a healthy ocean and a transformational, productive, blue economy (www.fearlessfund.org) traveled abroad in February with Tory Estern ’82. Alyson writes, “Tory called and said: ‘You wanna go to Egypt?’ I said, ‘Yes, why not?!’ It was that simple!” They first traveled to Istanbul, then on to Cairo for a few days, after which they boarded a riverboat to Luxor before heading up the Nile ( south, actually) heading to Aswan. What an amazing trip!
Alyson Myers (left) and Tory Estern ’82 took a Nile River boat tour in February 2023. Here touring Kom Ombo, Egypt, visiting temples.
Tory and Alyson on camels
Lisa Rudy wrote in from lovely Cape Cod, where she is now a juried master artist in photography. “I’ve also been writing and directing plays in local theaters,” Lisa says, “and you can’t get a much better view than the one we get from the performance space in the Woods Hole Community Hall looking out at the research vessels and Woods Hole passage! I’m still hard at work as a writer and consultant; have done a lot of work on autism inclusion at museums across the country, and our son (who is on the spectrum) is playing clarinet in the town band where his dad is the proud emcee. Meanwhile, our daughter Sara is graduating college . . . no grandkids on the horizon, lol!”
Barb Martin Herzlich and Sandy Herzlich are still living in the suburbs of Philadelphia but enjoying much more free time now that Sandy has fully retired. Barb is turning into one of the area’s premier potters. The only problem is that the pieces she likes she won’t sell because she wants to keep them. The pieces she doesn’t like she won’t sell because she thinks they’re not good enough. “Our home is bursting with ceramics!” Beyond the regular retirement activities of golf, paddle tennis, etc., Sandy’s filling his days coaching football at the local high school and working as a substitute schoolteacher. During Homecoming this past fall, Sandy was honored to be named, along with classmates Tony DiFolco and Tim O’Brien, to the 1980s All-Decade Football Team, followed shortly thereafter with a visit with Tony and his wife Linda at their home in Florida. “It was great to get back and see so many old friends.”
Elisha Lawrence, who is living in Redondo Beach and loving the LA life, shared that her son is getting his master’s in computer science at Stanford and her daughter, who is applying for her MFA, graduated Wesleyan Class of 2021. “That’s 40 years after me!” she writes. “It feels like it was just yesterday that I was studying in the reference room at Olin.” She is approaching 10 years working as AVP, Global Anti-Piracy for ABS-CBN, a large studio based in Asia that distributes their movies and TV shows into 190 countries. Elisha would love to hear from Wes people in the area; she has a Wes sticker on her car and routinely gets stopped by people asking what year she graduated. Apparently, LA is a hotbed of lot of Wes alumni!
Congratulations to Kathy Prager Conrad, who recently shared that she officially retired in March after an illustrious career of service in our nation’s capital. Her last job was at Accenture Federal Services. In Kathy’s case, “retiring” means a shift from full time to flexible work on a few key projects and from occasional to more frequent personal travel, along with more volunteering and family time. She kicked things off with a trip to Costa Rica; I am looking forward to details.
Deb Chapin checked in from a ski trip to Banff, where she was nursing a knee injury that prevented her from taking on the slopes but thankfully NOT the apres-ski activities. Snowshoeing was also on the itinerary. Cheers to that!
David Miller sent us an introspective note:
“I tested positive for COVID at the beginning of March, being vaccinated and boosted, and fortunately my symptoms have been pretty mild. However, the enforced isolation has given me more of a chance to reminisce and contemplate some things.
“For a few years, starting about 45 years ago, I was able to spend many nights at VVO looking deep into the sky. At that time there were only a few faculty and even fewer astro students. Even amongst that small crowd, I was one of the few who wanted to look through the telescopes with my eyes. I signed up for every observing shift I could and only on the coldest nights containing the longest exposures; 30 minutes or more of quietly tracking a star for Dr. Upgren’s parallax project in the middle of winter, had me questioning my activities.
“For years afterwards, I correctly thought I was spoiled; I had a 20-inch refractor and a 24-inch reflector practically at my beck and call when I was an undergrad. While the intervening years have placed me in the same room with bigger telescopes, I was never able to look through them. While paging through the images at APOD and marveling at the results from the Hubble and Webb scopes, I was filled with the longing and majesty of viewing a dark sky filled with stars.
“Having retired and having the time and funds to indulge some of my whims, I’m able to play with the new breed of smart telescopes. My Wesleyan education allows me to understand what is being done. My graduate studies and subsequent technical experience give me the how. My life gives me the why.
“Seeing details emerge from the seemingly dark sky and seeing the stars strewn across the screen like dust as the details of the nebulae and galaxies emerge makes me feel like I’m 19 on Foss Hill on a spring evening. I do wonder what the current majors feel as they gaze up at the night sky.”
Sending a big thank you to all our wonderful classmates of Wes ’80 for all the enduring friendships, kindnesses, and contributions that you are providing to this world and to Wesleyan. Best wishes to all, Jacquie Shanberge McKenna, Wes ’80 Class Secretary
Susan Carroll (Managing Director): “I direct a joint international graduate program between Duke and UNC–Chapel Hill: the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center. It’s like a mini–UN (currently 19 fellows from 16 different countries), with a focus on peacebuilding and sustainable development. Never a dull moment. . . .”
Jane Polin (Philanthropic Advisor in NYC): “I’ve done two start-ups during the past three years! The first is building pathways from HBCUs into the alternative asset management industry: see AltFinance.com. One of the three firms partnering to make AltFinance happen is Oaktree, where Wesleyan board chair John Frank ’78 serves in a leadership role. I’ve also returned to my career-long effort to advance the role of the arts in lifelong learning and thus had the great joy to launch The Misty Copeland Foundation, www.mistycopelandfoundation.org (aims to bring greater diversity, equity, and inclusion to dance, especially ballet, making ballet affordable, accessible, and fun!).”
Janet Grillo (Film Director): “I directed my third full-length independent indie-fiction feature film, The Warm Season, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiuZhkK0krE, which is playing the festival circuit, winning awards, seeking distribution, and receiving critical acclaim: Film Threat https://filmthreat.com/reviews/the-warm-season/. I continue to teach full time at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Undergraduate Film Program and alternate my time between NYC, mid-Hudson Valley (Saugerties) and jaunts to LA to see my son (who just turned 29—yikes!).”
Jessica Ziegler (Visual Artist, MBA): “I am now building a second career as an artist, although I am enjoying the painting part much more than the business part! I am also doing volunteer consulting for nonprofits through the Harvard Business School Club of New York, and for small businesses through The Acceleration Project. My daughter is in graduate school in NYC, so we get to see her often.”
Jim Kent (B2B Marketing): “Our daughter is in the graduate playwriting program at Columbia University and working part time help script doctor a Broadway play that goes up this spring. When I asked her about it, she quoted an 007 film: ‘I could tell you about it. But I’d have to kill you first, Mr. Bond.’”
Mike O’Brien (Software Engineer) and Ann Carlson (Genetic Counselor): “We were married 1987–2001. We welcomed our first grandchild into the world, Maxwell Dana King, born January 25, 2023, to our daughter Dana, in Melbourne, Australia.” So far Ann has been over to meet the little guy in person, but Mike has not!
Henri Lamothe (MD, CMSL, FAAEP): “I just spent the last weekend in NYC, supporting my daughter Austin (Trinity ’18) who participated in the NYC half marathon, along with my son Luke (Tufts ’12) all celebrating my 39th wedding anniversary with my dear wife Laura. In other family news, we are blessed with two grandchildren from daughter Brooke (Bowdoin ’10), Francis and June. We are continuing to adjust to the new realty in our lives with the passing of our son Matthew ’10. I continue on with my journey in medicine, now as a chief medical officer for the Upper Allegheny Health System in upstate New York. Miss my Wesleyan friends!”
Al Spohn and family are freezing in the process of visiting the University of Chicago.
Al Spohn (IT Expert): “I’ve been working in Mayo Clinic IT for 32 years, with 20 previous overlapping years in the air force. I was married in 2000 to Angela and we have three kids, 10, 14, and 17. The 17-year-old is eyeballing Wesleyan pretty heavily since all the online interest search mechanisms seem to be pointing her in that direction. Let’s hope admissions does legacy one more year! 😊. Over the years I’ve been in touch with Jon Martin, Ralph Maltese ’79 and Ed Denton, among others.”
Melissa Stern (Artist): “I have three upcoming group shows. Two opening within days of each other in NYC. Pearls of Love opens April 27 at The Jewelry Library. An international group of artists asked to respond to “pearls” in any materials. Should be interesting. And on April 29 Out of Joint opens at The Boiler in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The gallery is in a 19th-century Con Edison steam plant. The architecture is worth the subway ride. In August I am in an invitational in Newport, Rhode Island, called Exponential, a show of women artists at Jessica Hagen Fine Art. Other than that, enjoying being in NYC and seeing theater and art. . . . People are out and about again and that feels great.”
Frederica (Freddi) Wald (Chief Development Officer): “I am living in NYC with my husband, beloved dog, and daughter (away at college), and thrilled to be celebrating my four-year anniversary as a chief sevelopment and membership officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Happy to see the resilience and rebuilding of the city’s activities. I continue to love Broadway, take a dance class every now and then (Cheryl Cutler’s lasting influence!), get immersed in the art world again and women’s advocacy causes! And I refuse to retire. . . . Love connecting with Wesleyan alumni anytime!”
Mark Zitter at Iguazu Falls, the largest waterfall in the world.
Mark Zitter (Nonprofit Entrepreneur): “I’ve been doing a good deal of travel lately. My wife Jessica and I were in Israel in January, Argentina and Antarctica in February, and London in March. I’ve moved out of the nonprofit I started seven years ago, the Zetema Project, and am in the process of creating a new nonprofit fellowship aimed at helping social sector leaders increase their effectiveness. I Zoom regularly with Scott Hecker, Paul Singarella, and Paul Oxholm, and have been in touch recently with Jane Polin and Irene Chu.”
Peter Scharf (Sanskrit Expert): “In the midst of the COVID lockdown, my wife and I went into near total isolation, and it proved to be very productive. I edited two volumes of papers in honor of my former professor at the University of Pennsylvania, finished writing and publishing my introductory Sanskrit textbook in another two volumes, and prepared a provisional version of a Sanskrit reader for second-year students. I also developed an interactive exercise platform based on the latter two works that provides detailed and informative feedback for every step of translating from transliterating from Devanagari script, analyzing prosodic sound changes, word lookup, morphological and lexical identification, syntax, and English translation evaluation. Both my wife and I launched online instruction in Sanskrit through The Sanskrit Library and have been busy teaching via Zoom since. In December I injured my back trying to lift a bulky, heavy box of books. I’m still recovering but able to continue most of my normal routine save for having to cut back on exercise and yoga. A few weeks ago, my mother passed away at the age of 92. For the last couple of years, she would ask repeatedly, ‘Why am I still alive?’ Two days before she passed, she asked my brother, ‘Why don’t you just choke me? I just want to go to God and rest.’ She shortly got her wish, passing away peacefully in her sleep the next night.”
Gary Gilyard (MD): “Our youngest daughter Shelby Gilyard’16 is getting married July 8! She is our third and the other two are already married with children. Hoping I can get a prospective Wesleyan student from one of them, although Shelby is my best shot.”
Walter Calhoun (Nonprofit): “I have more or less permanently moved my time and efforts to my various outreach campaigns focused on the needs of my nonprofits. For example, as its only three-term past president and 35-year board member, the Auxiliary Board of Family Focus Evanston asked me for the 12th year in a row to handle the staff Christmas gifts. Since our Auxiliary Board has many different levels of resources, talents, and income, they allow me to solicit donations among our Board anonymously so no one knows what each other has given but me. For the 12th year in a row, our 11 Board members met my disclosed goal of raising $3,750 which allowed me to give each and every full- and part-time employee a record cash gift of $250 for the 12th year in a row. I am also lay leader and stewardship chairman of the North Shore United Methodist Church in Glencoe and am honored to share a birthday with the late Peggy Bird.”
Amanda Hardy Sloan (Landscape Architect): “I have been a landscape architect professionally for many years now and have found this profession satisfies my interests in helping the health of the earth, expressing myself artistically, working closely with people, teaching, and leaving a legacy somehow. After an entire career as a landscape architect focusing on native plants, rain gardens, parks, and dog parks, I have recently ‘semiretired’—like many of us at this age—right? I still do board work and landscape consultations. A board I’ve been on for many years is the Ecological Landscape Alliance—the best source of info about how to create a wonderful landscape while keeping it ecologically sustainable: www.ecolandscaping.org. My dear hubby Chris Sloan (Trinity College ’80) and I live in Sharon, Massachusetts. Our children are Anna (NYU 2008), who is a doctor of archeology (University of Oregon) and is the curator of the Southern Oregon Historical Society Museum and the Archaeology Laboratory director at Southern Oregon University; and Philip (Curry College 2015), who is finishing up his doctorate in counseling psychology at William James College. Both kids are married! We have a sweet grandson in Oregon, our dear little Elio James, whom we visit often (a cross-country flight!). I have a wonderful horse, whom I ride every two days for therapy and peace. She is a beautiful 22-year-old quarter horse. I think many more Wes people and ladies our age are involved with horses than we ever would imagine! This is an important part of my life.”
Paul Singarella (JD, MS, PE, Dad): “I’m now a Florida resident, which I heard is a good place for the back 9. I moved to Florida starting in 2020 to be closer to my kids, mom, and sisters during the pandemic. I ‘retired’ from Big Law in 2019 to focus on my water and energy projects. I’m incubating a portfolio of project opportunities throughout the West. I refer to them as my ‘hobbies’ until they come to fruition. (It takes an in-it-for-the-long-haul horizon to build infrastructure in the U.S.) Mark Zitter, Scott Hecker,and I remain in close contact. I also keep in touch with Dave Bartholomew ’81, Jack McGreen, Walter Siegel, Bob Garty, and, via a large email group, the DKE brotherhood. So, WesU remains an important part of my friendship group after all these years. For that I am most grateful. (Importantly, Dave B. piloted a mentorship program over the past few years for rising lawyers to be paired with a senior lawyer. The lawyers who participated in the pilot really benefited. Any WesU lawyers out there interested in being part of building this program from pilot to scale should contact Dave directly at d_bartholomew@yahoo.com. Spread the word!)”
Ellen Haller (Retired MD): “I’m thoroughly enjoying my retirement in San Francisco! The biggest decisions I face these days is whether to play pickleball, go on a bike ride, take a strength class, or suit up for an ice hockey game. (Yes, I still play regularly!) Outside of these endeavors, I help out my elderly parents, travel with my (still-working) wife, and enjoy occasional visits with our 26-year-old magician son. If any of you live in or are visiting NYC, check out his sophisticated, intimate sleight-of-hand card magic show! Yes, I’m biased, but it’s amazing; he’s appeared on Penn & Teller’s TV show and at LA’s Magic Castle. Info at danielroymagic.com.”
Tom Loder (JD): “I am here reporting in for Bob Ferreira and Jim Schor, our own ‘beach club’ consisting of huddling around a beer cooler near Bob’s and Amy Zinsser’s beautiful Connecticut home (with Amy’s gracious hosting, and with both she and Sharon Nahill wisely sitting out the festivities and endless retelling of fish tales about the days of our small gym, spring break, KNK, DKE, O’Rourke’s, and Williams Street capers. Still in touch with and thinking of many, including Larry Levy, Spence Studwell ’79, Barry Williamson ’81 (sort of), Walter Siegel, and a few Butterfield RA ‘advisees,’ if I can also include my Butterfield son Aaron ’22 among them (though the advisees taught me so much more than I ever taught them!). Where’s Labeeb Abboud, Laura Nathanson, Linc Kaiser (Wes anthropology professor), Dave Miller ’81, Jeanette Talavera—the list is too long. Got to go huddle up on the beach with Bob and Jim and go to work on it!!”
Alan Jacobs (Filmmaker): “I fulfilled a dream by taking my children, Gil, Avia, and Ron ’16, to the World Cup in Qatar, where we saw three amazing games, including the Argentina-France final. Almost as satisfying is that after over a decade of delays, my film Down for Life will finally be released on major streaming sites (Apple, Amazon, etc.) on April 4. The U.S. Congressional Hispanic Caucus nominated it for the National Film Registry, which is both an honor and a reminder of how long ago we made it!”
Alan Jacobs with his children Gil, Avia, and Ron Jacobs ’16 at the World Cup in Qatar.
Steve Mooney (Marketing): “In April, I will be retiring from my job in marketing after 33 years with the same agency. I joined thinking I’d stay two years and lasted 33. Yes, it can happen. At my last staff meeting, I shared some recent ChatGPT queries. I post them here as we contemplate an unknowable future alongside AI.
Me: Write me a six-word story on retirement.
ChatGPT: “Finally free, life begins at retirement.”
And then this follow-up query:
Me: Write me a six-word story on becoming a writer.
ChatGPT: “Pen to paper, a writer born.”
“And so it begins. Next chapter! Go Wes!!!
“One more tidbit. Posted this illustration I customized to a Facebook page dedicated to the sport of Ultimate and got two hundred comments about where various people learned to throw a disc. For me, I learned to throw on Foss Hill in 1979 with Nick Donohue ’81, Chris Heye ’81, and David ‘Nietzch Factor’ Garfield, and went on to enjoy a long career in the sport.”
Credit: Original cartoon by Sofia Warren. (Wes ’13)
Doron Henkin (Lawyer): “Husband Victor and I are in good shape and still plugging away, lawyering for me and work at Bryn Mawr Hospital for him. I still sing with several choirs and groups, which I owe to Wesleyan. I got to be there when son Gil recently married Alex Sanchez Espinosa in and of Barcelona, Spain. They are headed to Berlin, where Gil will be doing postdoc research on the malaria carrier organism at the Max Planck Institute. Son Dan and daughter-in-law Kaitlyn are closer to home, in Pennsylvania, and the proud parents of granddaughter Eleanor James Henkin, now 1-year-old. Dan works in engineering at the Philadelphia Naval Yard, and Kaitlyn is a nurse at Children’s Hospital. Daughter Hannah now works for Drawdown, the Climate Change Science nonprofit from her home base in Boston, and she still plays Ultimate every chance she gets. The ‘kids’ are of course also the ‘kids’ of my ex-, Ina Louise Shea, who lives nearby in Pennsylvania, and we are all still in regular touch and visits. We are so happy that the easing of the pandemic has brought more and more chances for family togetherness and travel.”
Wendy Davis (Writer): “In March, we celebrated our 25-year-old daughter’s handing in her MA dissertation to her supervisor from Royal College of Art where her dad and two elder sisters received postdoc degrees (shouldn’t we have received a loyalty discount?)! Also in March, I received from Wesleyan’s American Studies Department an invitation to the: Slotkin Symposium celebrating the 80th birthday and new work of my former academic advisor Richard Slotkin. I had only just contacted the now retired professor last year for the first time since our graduation in reference to a historical novel I am writing, which opens in the Civil War, which is his specialty. His response was most helpful and encouraging, even after a gap of so many years. . . . Wesleyan connections certainly endure don’t they! We moved out of our studio residence (a historic Wesleyan Chapel) in Greenwich, London, September 2022, extending our return trip to Australia from three weeks to four months in Sydney, September through January, due to my husband John’s major surgery and recovery. Finally, we have subsequently resettled in the British countryside very near the Jurassic coast, good metaphor at our age! All of which has been incredibly disruptive to work and continues to suspend John’s practice as he must organize new studios working with Jo, the local handyman’s help. Interestingly we recently returned to London (approximately three hours by car) to see the Cezanne blockbuster at Tate Modern, in particular to revisit the remarkable portraits of Cezanne’s Gardner. One of our favorite paintings since we saw Seated Man at the then-new installation of the Thyssen Museum in architect Rafael Moneo’s renovation of the Palacio de Villahermosa, an 18th-century neoclassical palace located alongside the Prado Museum in Madrid, where we were then living. I feel as if our own circle of human connection in our 16th-century Weycroft property may also compress to a small circumference of Gardeners, lawn mowers, handy mailmen, and one efficient female cleaner (my disability precluding my ability to be of much physical assistance inside or out). All help has been sourced from the former team who helped the disabled WW ll–veteran proprietor residing here just before us (luckily for me there was a stair climbing chair for him already installed when we arrived)! The family and executors of the estate of the now deceased former owner have recently entrusted us with a treasure trove of original historical source material on the property dating back to Roman settlement. The property is listed in the Doomsday record book (the parchment deeds still have red wax seals)! A local village boasts it’s the most rebellious village in England so perhaps when I finish with the American Civil War, I might be looking closer to our new home for inspiration! Whilst in Australia we increasingly worried about our choice to base ourselves in Britain with terrible regular reports from the BBC about the strain on the NHS with life-threatening delays for ambulances and hand-over delays at A&Es across the country. It was especially distressing and confusing since we were experiencing such good care from our more familiar medical support team in Sydney. Fortunately, we have been very positively impressed by our new local medical center here in Axminster, even better than our relatively recent experiences in Greenwich, but then we are fortunate to be presently in good health at the moment not testing the system. Long may it last! Good health and happiness to all of you dear friends and classmates!”
Sara Epstein (Psychologist/Poet):a practicing psychologist in the Boston area and first-time grandmother of baby Leo,has just published her first book of poems, Bar of Rest launched by Kelsey Books—see more on her website saraepsteinwriter.com.
Sara is a clinical psychologist who integrates mindfulness practices, including writing, in her psychotherapy work with children and adults. She also facilitates and teaches generative writing groups and classes. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Poetry Quarterly, Amethyst Review, Chest Journal, Nixes Mate Review, Plainsongs,museum of americana, among others. Her book reviews have been published in Mom Egg Review.
Denise Giacomozzi reached out with the following note about a worthy volunteer opportunity that she is involved in and hopes others may want to join her. “My news is that I now volunteer for ENGin, a U.S./Ukraine-based 501(c)3 nonprofit, which urgently needs volunteers to practice English online with Ukrainian youth and young adults. I hope other Wes folks will check it out at www.ENGinprogram.org.”
Doug Pavlak shared this news with us. “Happy to report that my son, Gunter Haug-Pavlak ’23, is going to graduate this year as a member of the class of 2023. He is the only one of our seven children (blended family) to go to Wesleyan. I otherwise am swamped in my practice in neuromuscular medicine here in Portland, Maine. My wife Norma continues to fight the plight of the elderly in her job in adult protective services for the great state of Maine.”
Julie Hacker is busily engaged and happy professionally and otherwise. She writes: “I organized with my partner and husband (part of the Cohen & Hacker team) the National AIA CRAN (Custom Residential Architectural Network) 2022 Symposium, which was held in Chicago. It was sold out in three weeks and was a great success. I am the VP of Sponsorship and Development for the AIA Chicago chapter and serve on the national and local CRAN steering committees. So . . . pretty active in my AIA chapter representing a residential voice in architecture. My firm, Stuart Cohen & Julie Hacker Architects LLC, is alive and kicking while trying to save our historic building stock.
“I continue to take my weekly musical theater classes even though my singing is subpar—a great group which keeps me laughing, and I get to perform! My son, Gabriel Cohen, is thriving in LA doing his studio work as a sculptor while managing an art gallery.
“I am definitely older but feel pretty ageless, which is the way I like to keep it. I have overlapped frequently with Joan Craig, our classmate and a wonderful architect in Chicago—in fact she now has a terrific architect working for her who used to work at my firm—small world.”
In news from Spain, Cliff Hendel and his family (now including two grandsons) remain in Madrid, which he first visited on a Wesleyan semester-abroad program in the fall of his senior year. He continues to work—in English, Spanish, and French—as an international commercial and sports arbitrator, using (or pretending to use) his multijurisdictional legal qualifications as attorney (New York), solicitor (England and Wales), avocat (Paris), and abogado (Madrid).
His sports work—involving international labor contracts in soccer and basketball—has been particularly rewarding, and particularly “global,” of late. As deputy chair of FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber, he has been invited to a number of interesting destinations, including New Zealand for the draw of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Doha (Qatar) for the final of the 2022 Men’s World Cup, Rabat (Morocco) for the final of the 2023 Clubs’ World Cup, and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) for the biannual conclave of the FIFA Football Tribunal, among others. He is looking forward to the upcoming annual meeting of the members of FIBA’s Basketball Arbitral Tribunal in Schlauss-Elmau (Garmisch, Germany), an Alpine resort where the G-7 has met.
He has also made a minor contribution to historical literature, having penned a chapter on the relation between Alexander Hamilton and George Washington in a Spanish collective work on historical pairs called “A La Sombra: Actores Secundarios de la Historia.” An English version under the title “Hamilton and Washington: The Architects of America” was published in the NYLitigator (Vol. 26, no. 2, 2021). His other writings are more prosaic and professionally oriented, such as an article “The Past, Present and Possible Future of the Spanish Renewable Energy Arbitration Saga,” published in the NYSBA International Law Practicum (Vol. 31, no. 1, 2018).
He would be delighted to welcome any Wes alums who visit Madrid on business or pleasure.
Anne Peters sent us this update: “I made a ‘shake up your life’ series of changes and married screenwriter Eric Roth (writer of Forrest Gump,Dune,A Star Is Born,The Curious Case ofBenjamin Button,The Insider, and House of Cards among others). He has two amazing movies coming out this year, one, Killers of the Flower Moon, is directed by Marty Scorsese, and the other, Here, is directed by Bob Zemeckis. We live between Santa Monica and Condon, Montana, and I still work long hours running my clinical diabetes program at USC. My son, Maxwell Votey ’14, graduated from NYU Law School and started working at Kirkland and Ellis in NYC with a dream of becoming an art law lawyer. My step-granddaughter, Maya Donovan ’20, lives in Brooklyn and is an aspiring singer.”
Mark Ginsberg was just appointed a commissioner of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (“LPC”). The LPC is the largest municipal preservation agency in the nation. It is responsible for protecting NYC’s architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites by granting them landmark or historic district status, and regulating them after designation. The agency is comprised of a panel of 11 commissioners who are appointed by the mayor and supported by a staff of approximately 80. There are more than 37,800 landmark properties in New York City. His bio on the commission’s website notes that Mark is a founding partner of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, with over 40 years of professional experience, and his national leadership in sustainable design, resiliency, and housing is widely recognized. The focus of his work is centered on community-based design, affordable housing, and sustainability. He lives in a historic district in lower Manhattan. Congrats on your appointment, Mark. Sounds like a great way to contribute your time and expertise!
That’s it for this issue. Thanks for all the submissions! Be safe and happy.
Nancy Chen has moved from Bozeman, Montana, to Calgary, Canada, with her husband Jack. Her daughters live on the West Coast: one soon finishes her PhD program in water conservation at UC Irvine, and the other writes fiction based on Greek mythology and history. Nancy writes that entering her elder years, she has pivoted her leadership coaching toward her passionate niche of emerging elderly women.
Geoff Ginsburg reports that he has finished his tenure at Duke Medical School and has moved to the National Institutes of Health where he is chief medical and scientific officer of the All of Us Research Program.
Barry Gross has retired from his 30-year career in the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley and has moved with his wife Pam “to a great mid-century in Stony Creek, Connecticut, with a koi pond in the middle. Middletown is just up the road, so what comes around goes around I guess!”
Lucy Mize reports that she and her kids have all been separately traveling—she to Spain to deliver a paper at an urban health conference; son Thaddeus ’17 to Amsterdam; and daughter Belle ’22 to the Annapurna Loop Trail. Lucy is finishing a coaching certificate at Georgetown, significantly along in her doctoral degree program in public health, and still working full time, “and doesn’t feel like the work has slowed at all.” Lucy included Wes pictures of her kids, herself, and her father David Mize ’51:
Three generations of Wesleyan graduates: on the left is Thaddeus Brown, class of ’17; in the middle, Lucy, class of ’78, and her dad, class of ’51; and then on the right, her daughter Belle Brown, class of ’22.
Dave Wilson continues his jazz saxophone career, releasing his sixth recording as a leader last year—Stretching Supreme—a tribute to John Coltrane, which reached a high of #31 in the Jazz Weekly countdown. He remains in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with his wife Lisa.
How is it possible that it is already mid-March as I am writing these notes? Others before us recognized, as philosopher and psychologist William James wrote, that “The same space of time seems shorter as we grow older.” Turning to some notes from our classmates that often provide an upbeat tone, we have heard from several folks.
Cindee Howard enjoyed meeting up with Suzy Taraba, her former freshman-hall neighbor, at the end of Reunion. Cindee was reacquainted with Lisa Brummel at Reunion as well and the two, along with their partners, have struck up a nice relationship including dinners, theater, and concertgoing. I enjoy Cindee’s comment of how nice it is to “make a new/old friend.”
Mark Slitt writes that he retired from Cigna last June 30 and has been enjoying every minute of it, even on days when not doing anything in particular. He strongly recommends it! In January he took an amazing trip to the Galapagos Islands.
Sue Guiney wrote that she has been traveling to San Francisco to visit children, as well as to Cambodia—the first time in three years, visiting friends and working with folks on the project she founded: “Writing through Cambodia.” Jerry Caplin writes that his family is preparing for a trip to Ghana in November to celebrate his eldest daughter Sophie’s wedding. A second wedding, closer to home in Charlottesville, will occur next January. His other daughters are completing educational pursuits: one a master’s degree in social work, a second a PhD in chemistry, and a third is a senior at Duke. He is quite busy with affordable housing/historic preservation efforts; his company, Silk Purse Properties, now has 76 rentals available. Jerry finds the whole enterprise enormously satisfying.
In July, Hank Rosenfeld drops a new release from Backbeat Books called, The Jive 95, an oral history of KSAN San Francisco—at 94.9 FM, our nation’s first underground station—where he worked in the “Gnus” Department. “I was at KSAN in the late ’70s, after learning my craft from Middletown radio heads like Bob Rees, Don Lowery, Bob Glasspiegel, Ted Stevens, and other classmates. William Altman has two new books published: Plato and Demosthenes: Recovering the Old Academy (Lexington Books, 2023; xxxiv + 246; https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666920055) and The Relay Race of Virtue: Plato’s Debts to Xenophon (State University of New York Press, 2022; xiii + 370; ISBN: 9781438490915).
Yoriko Kishimoto has the honor of serving as president of the board for Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District this year. “Midpen” owns and manages the greenbelt of open space in the San Francisco Bay Area and staff are experts in biodiversity, watershed management, trail design, and public access, etc. She has a place in Anderson Valley with her husband and is involved with the land trust there as volunteer president. Yoriko has offered to take any classmate out on a hike!
Francis Rath is still going strong. He is no longer the chief public health coordinator and assistant emergency manager for the City of Manassas Park (Virginia). His wife of 43 years, Denise Thompson Rath ’78, is a former member of the U.S. Equestrian Team and owner of a very successful horse operation (www.greyfoixfarm.com).
Janet Malkemes is adjusting to life after the death of her mother Rebekah last July. “Mom moved to Charlotte just before COVID upended our lives in 2019, selling the family home in Pennsylvania. We enjoyed her final years, with her son Bob and daughter-in-law Charity living nearby. Otherwise, life in retirement continues nicely: annual family week at the Outer Banks, working with the International House of the Charlotte region, and supporting Democratic politicians.
“The Wesleyan Friday Zoom group that started during the pandemic [to which I, Gerry, participate] continues to provide excellent conversation and has been the entry to a monthly film group, proving that Wesleyan created wonderful, lifelong connections.”
Finally, I am sad to report, Amy Marshall lost her husband of 40 years, Tim ZenkerMALS ’79, to Parkinson’s disease on December 4. He is survived by their three children: Fred ’09, Maggie, and Charlie. Amy lives and works in The Dalles, Oregon.
In spite of the single snowstorm of the winter season in the Boston area this week— leaving us with a mere few inches—unlike the rest of the state, springtime has returned very quickly with barely a trace of winter. Weather has been the major news worldwide. I hope everyone is staying safe and sound during these wild times.
Susan Jung writes: “I’ve been happily retired for the last 10 years, doing the usual volunteering, genealogy, and traveling. I’m struggling to master Mandarin, which isn’t my family’s dialect, but beggars can’t be choosers. I live right next door to another Wesleyan alum, Robert Nick Anderson ’68.”
Cheryl Woodson shares that “The Democratic Women’s Caucus invited me to participate in their March 3 conference on issues that affect women. A five-woman panel of experts explained that caregiving is a women’s issue, and why the face of financial insecurity in aging is FEMALE. We recommended specific strategies to more accurately assess the needs of unpaid family caregivers and the poorly paid caregiver workforce and inform them of legislative progress.
“This month, Writers Digest will announce that the second edition of my first book, To Survive Caregiving: A Daughter’s Experience, A Doctor’s Advice, won first place in the 30th Annual Award for Best Self-Published Books, non-fiction, inspirational/self-help category (out of 1,192 submissions).
“My empty nest has become a temporary full house: both adult kids, my six-year-old grandson, and two cats. On the one hand, it’s been fun to have the band back together again, but it has also been a challenge for all of us. Come September, come!
“I’m back in high-intensity interval training to finally lose the COVID 20. I’m also polishing novel #2, which I finished while the sun came up over a balcony on the Smooth Jazz Cruise in February. My pseudonym is Teria Robens.
“I offer workshops for women, but I should also write a book about my experience dating over 60.
“That’s it for now. Anyone who wants to book me for an event or just give me a hug can reach me at cew[at]drcherylwoodson.com.”
Oliver Griffith is “happy to say that my request for French citizenship, which has been pending for over three years, was approved in February. Since I’ve been in Paris since 2007 and intend to stay in France, it makes sense. Moreover, I grew up in Germany, so it’s a homecoming to Europe of sorts.”
Jack O’Donnell writes: “As my career in law was winding down last year, I was fortunate that a longtime client, who was gravely injured by five New Haven police officers, wanted me to represent him in his civil case. What has made this such an amazing experience is that I brought Benjamin Crump in to assist me and together we are working toward an historic settlement with the City of New Haven. It is a tragic case of gross inhumanity toward an arrestee but in addition to getting our client full compensation, we are seeking major procedural and legislative changes. For example, retrofitting prisoner conveyance vans with seatbelts in New Haven and elsewhere and a medical civil rights law where detainees must be asked if they need medical attention and be provided it if requested. All in all, a rewarding way to end my career.”
Tom Kovar is “aiming for retirement in June of 2024. Counting the months but not yet the weeks or days. Still enjoying my various creative pursuits.”
B.J. Buckley says: “How are we doing with winter? This was Interstate 80 across southern Wyoming between Rawlins and Hanna. Four to 6 feet of snow fell, and then it drifted. They got FOUR rotary plows like this stuck, one after the other, also the huge tow truck that came to pull them out . . . took 18 hours to get everyone extricated. Parts of eastbound lanes near Evanston are still not open.
Interstate 80 Between Rawlins and Hanna, Wyoming
“Montana not much better, weeklong whiteout (visibility at my place, about 6 inches in front of my face), 55- mph wind with gusts past 80 . . . which DID blow some of the gravel roads near me completely clear, though you couldn’t actually SEE the road. ‘Course, now my yard has 10-foot drifts. And it’s snowing again.
“The Rocky Mountain states clearly need new names . . . Wyarctica? Montundra? Coldorado? North and South Polekota?
“And then there are the nice folks who moved here during the pandemic who still do not have snow tires, never mind chains, and who set off driving to town (31 miles) in a blizzard wearing T-shirts and sandals. A coat? Nope. (No, we did not let them become ice sculptures. Yes, their car is still in the ditch. For their own protection.)”
Sue, Bruce, and Chris, July 2022
Bruce Demple writes: “Last July, my wife Sue and I camped in northeastern Utah with Chris Thomas, who started with us in 1972. Chris drove from Chico, and we arrived via Salt Lake City. The first couple of days was in Dinosaur National Monument, which was superb, if hot as hell. Luckily, Chris arrived first and managed to get our campsite moved to a place with at least a little shade. We then drove up to the rim of Flaming Gorge Canyon (where the photo below was taken), for two to three much cooler days that were also great.
“Unrelated, Sue and I stopped in Newton, Massachusetts, the last weekend of February (2023) to spend a couple of days with Bonnie Katz’77 and Rich Gallogly, which was a welcome reunion as always. We were nearby neighbors in Newton for almost 20 years, so it’s always a reunion to spend time with them—and it’s always too short, at least for us!”
Debra Haffner shares: “For the next two years, I am serving as the interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Huntington, Long Island, and would love to welcome Wes friends at worship on Sunday mornings, in person or online. My long-term marriage ended during COVID, and I am now enjoying my life’s great love story with a new partner. Life is good!”
Ethan Bronner writes: “My wife Naomi and I moved to Tel Aviv a couple weeks ago where I will be Bloomberg Israel bureau chief and senior Mideast editor for the next few years. It was an unexpected offer from Bloomberg and we had to think a little bit about it because we now have a seven-month-old grandson, Hugo Bronner, son of Eli ’10 and daughter-in-law Maheshie. But we will visit, they will visit. And I couldn’t say no to a last foreign posting hurrah for this old man. It is my fourth tour in Israel as a correspondent, each for a different news organization (Reuters, Boston Globe, New York Times, and this one) and I plan to submit this fact to the Guinness Book of World Records. Israel is facing an existential identity crisis and it’s a heck of a time to be here.”
Joe Reiff says, “I am elated to announce the birth of my fourth grandchild and second granddaughter, Ivy Geraldine Reiff, born in Baltimore on March 6, 2023, to our daughter-in-law and son, Jenni and Joseph. Her middle name is after my mother, who died in February 2022. As my parents said long ago after the birth of our first child, ‘Grandparenting is great!’ I retired in 2020 after 30 years teaching religion at Emory & Henry College, and my wife and I remain in Abingdon, Virginia. I am keeping busy, including work on a book about the advent of clergywomen in Mississippi Methodism.”
Nat Needle is “still in Worcester, Massachusetts, deep into the musical growth of 40-plus piano students ages five to seniors. Teaching classical, jazz, gospel, calypso, popular (vintage to recently released and not just USA). Also composition, theory, self-accompaniment for vocalists, and music appreciation. AND improvisation, sometimes paired with improv storytelling! Just starting arc toward many fewer students, much more community engagement through performance, and much less income earning. Sons Asa and Noriyoshi are helping me complete the shift by the end of 2024. Please reach out to me: nat[at]natneedle.com. ‘Dr. Seuss’ alumni: 50th anniversary cast/crew reunion in November? What Say You?”
“And on March 8, an unveiling at the New York State Museum in Albany of the one-third-height model for my 2020 Women’s Rights Pioneers monument.” http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/womens-history-month
Karen Gervasoni writes that “On May 11, I married my sixth-grade sweetheart on the beach in Kennebunk. It was a beautiful day, with just our kids, our priest (a friend from high school) and his husband, and a dear mutual friend and her husband. We spent our six-week honeymoon in the fall meandering cross country in our travel trailer. Life is good!”
And a bit of news from the Harmin household: After working at one thing or another since 1968, I stepped into full retirement and am enjoying the unknown luxury of unstructured free time. (Note that “unstructured” is not a synonym for “idle”—just ask Byron Haskins.) David Harmin, however, continues to love his work as the in-house bioinformatician in Mike Greenberg’s lab, and has no plans for retirement any time soon. We recently discovered that the neighbors on each side of us are also Wesleyan alum, and there are pockets of alumni elsewhere in the neighborhood. We’re everywhere, it seems. . . .
And to end on a sad note, Susan Jung also noted the sad news of the death her Wes roommate Josette (Despotova) Hendrix. The details of Josette’s remarkable life can be found at https://tinyurl.com/f7tj8y5u.
