Kudos to Sarah Chapin Columbia for her Distinguished Alumni Award and a big shout-out to Joe Fins (my COL classmate!) for receiving an honorary degree for his groundbreaking work in medical ethics (and for his service to the University, it goes without saying). Many thanks to Ginny Pye and Bob Russo for speaking at our class dinner.
Forty years is a very long time, isn’t it? It was lovely to celebrate it. Laura Fraser and I appreciated seeing you all, class notes really live. It remarkable how special it was to be together, something I hadn’t quite anticipated. I will take the liberty of writing that I really loved spending the day with Michael Lucey, eating a (large) breakfast at Ford News on Main Street, hanging out at Eclectic, reading our bound theses at COL and attending its reception, and getting a signed copy of his newest publication, What Proust Heard: Novels and the Ethnography of Talk, an amazing book.
Still, some catching up to do:
Emilie Attwell writes, “I am fine, the same. For the last 11 months, I have worked for the Harris Center. That is the mental health center in Harris County, aka Houston. Uvalde hit us hard. So did abortion laws and the heat is hotter than f@#%. Cold beer helps!”
Rob Lancefield writes that last year he retired from a 27-year career in museum work, most recently as head of IT at the Yale Center for British Art. “No regrets.” Rob is enjoying a simpler life largely free from Zoom meetings, looking forward to having his favorite guitar made playable again, and to reacquainting himself with it.
Chris Garson is still happily retired, “12 years and counting,” and very busy penning novels. “I recently completed a modern Arthurian trilogy set in northeast Ohio. If anyone has ins with publishers, shoot me a message!”
Bob Russo (post reunion) wrote, “Jeff Susla,John Brautigam, and I went to hear Graham Nash at a small, 200-seat venue. He sounded great, did a very nice show, and ended with a sing-along of Teach Your Children. Sentimental.”
Steve Maizes (my cousin!) “had the pleasure of a great California visit from Michael Zeller and his lovely wife.”
Alex Thomson is like a lot of folks, sorry he missed the reunion, having had something he could not miss that weekend. (Like so many of us. Life is busy.) Alex goes on: “I went with Moons [John Mooney] to see Phil and Friends a week ago. Only differences between the crowd at the show and the crowd in ’82 are cell phones. Same Twirlygirls, same Deadheads, same shenanigans . . . same good friends . . . just a bit older . . . .”
Michael Levine has been living in Williamsburg, Virginia, since 2000, practicing occupational and environmental medicine. “My wife Liz is a prof at William and Mary, and son Andrew is a rising sophomore at Virginia Tech. I collect antique woodworking machinery (hoard broken and rusty things) and make some efforts to preserve American democracy.” He stays in touch with former roommates Garrett Randolph, Anthony Pahigian, and Neil Richman, and the folks from the Wesleyan crew. “I was very sorry to have missed our 40-year reunion—but look forward to seeing you all at 50!” We do too.
I will finish on a deeply sad note. Julie Kraushaar Zurcher passed away on July 23 after a struggle with her mental health that developed over the past year, unable to find a clear diagnosis or successful treatment. I had a chance to sit with her husband Werner and son Bryce ’18, in their home in Ladera, California, to remember Julie’s vibrancy, love, and optimism. I met Julie freshman year in Clark Hall and we lived near each other in Silicon Valley. When I moved here in 2010, we stayed in a hotel until our housing became available. Julie happened to be staying there, too, returning herself with her family from Switzerland and waiting for their own home to become available, and we recognized each other immediately. Her warmth and hospitality made our transition from Cambridge so much easier. She will be missed terribly, but our memories of her and how she touched us will remain.
Greetings from the heartland! I, Joanne, am writing this as summer rolls to a close: cooler evenings, shorter nights, summer’s bounty giving way to fall’s produce and falling leaves. I sincerely hope that each of you has enjoyed the fruits (and vegetables!) that the season brought including travel, relaxation, and joyful encounters with family and friends. I have noticed that people are starting once again to settle down into a pattern of acceptance of this new COVID-reality and moving forward with their lives.
Joanna Buffington writes that she is continuing to work and support land trusts on Cape Cod that focus on land and wildlife protection. She serves on the board of the Eastham Land Trust as well as volunteers for Mass Audubon, helping them in their efforts to protect diamondback terrapin nests and hatchlings, as well as helping to rescue endangered sea turtles that get stranded along Cape Cod Bay when water temperatures drop and they get trapped in their effort to return to warmer southern waters. Thank you for your efforts on nature’s behalf, Joanna!
Congratulations to Melissa Ann Coyne, who was promoted last year to city clerk for the city of Lake Worth Beach, Florida, after having served as deputy city clerk for five years. Melissa reports that her daughter Skye was married at Yosemite National Park on May 3rd. Skye recently wrapped up a starring role in Love’s Playlist (which will air on either Lifetime or Hallmark); she started filming on another project in August. Melissa’s new son-in-law is starring in That’s Amor, which airs on Netflix. “I’m a very proud mama!” she writes—understandably so!
Paul Godfrey is thrilled to announce that he and his wife, Mary Sue, are the proud, first-time grandparents of a beautiful granddaughter, Norah Sage, born to their son Charlie and daughter-in-law Hannah. Paul writes, “My specialty is taking her on long walks in the stroller so that she can get a good nap and her parents can get some work done.” I’m just wondering when she’s getting her first pair of skates and a hockey stick? Paul writes that in June, he and Mary Sue went east to the Cape from their home in Minnesota, and then out to Fishers Island, New York. They spent time with Linda and Tim O’Brien, Diane and Jim Baker, and Cathy and Jon Duane, hanging out at the beach, biking, fishing, and barbecuing for a week straight. Paul says, “For the record, the striped bass in the photo is the biggest fish I ever caught—but Jim made me return it to Long Island Sound because it was too small to keep.”
Chrissi Winkelbauer Kelly was in the beautifully preserved Germany renaissance town of Goerlitz in late August, attending a conference. She described visiting an art installation called Osmodrama—a “smell symphony” played on a device that wafts odors over you to tell a story, while a composition about the evolution of the earth played in the background. She chronicled this on her Facebook page–fascinating! Since suffering from anosmia several years ago as a result of an illness, Chrissi has become an expert in the field and is often tapped to lecture and teach.
Best wishes to Greg Davis, who recently retired to paradise from the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board), where he worked for many years as a field (staff) attorney. He made a big move not just across the country but across the ocean as well, leaving Harlem for Maui with his wife and their five cats. Just to confirm: “It IS wonderful . . . very tranquil with many beautiful beaches and great weather no matter the many microclimates.” And Greg sends his best wishes to everyone.
Ed Suslovic and his wife Jen have returned to their home in Portland after many exciting weeks on the road in their new camper. This Labor Day, they officially become “empty nesters.” All three of their children (Matt, Meghan, and Kate) are all within a half-mile of each other in Somerville—which sure makes visits and family gatherings easy!
Livia Wong McCarthy, her husband Joe, and daughter Delia graciously hosted me and Kathy Prager Conrad July 4th weekend at their lovely home in Princeton. Deb Chapin had to cancel last minute due to a COVID scare, and she was sorely missed—but fortunately, she did not fall ill. In the spirit of our senior year Sunday night co-op, Liv, Kathy, and I prepared a delicious meal which we were then able to share with Shari and Mike Toohey and Lynn and Paul DiSanto. Sadly, Barb and Sandy Herzlich had to cancel at the last minute. But the evening was nonetheless delightful—we all caught up on several (and in some cases, many!) years’ worth of news, both at the table and alongside the hot tub, after which we all donned our souvenir Wesleyan socks, courtesy of Paul.
Paul Gaetano, who retired three years ago after 33 years as a Connecticut supervisory state’s attorney, is thoroughly enjoying “retirement.” He and his wife Elaine just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary with a fabulous Greek islands cruise that left out of Venice, where Paul was able to dazzle his spouse with his Italian, still sharp from his Wes study-abroad days. Following that, they traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, on their actual anniversary weekend. When he’s not traveling (his wife is Spanish), he is keeping busy as an adjunct professor at the local community college. “I love it!” writes Paul. “I teach criminal law and constitutional law courses to mostly young and ambitious students. When you retire from your full-time job/career, you certainly need to continue with a purpose and concrete goals.” Great advice, Paul, as many of us start reaching that age of retirement. I do know that many of you have already retired from one career—so please reach out and let me or David Block know what you are up to these days!
And since I have a bit of space left, let me share that our oldest son Alex is still in the Seattle area working as a software engineer consultant, solving lots of people’s problems; our middle son James is in Zurich and working at Google, specializing in AI and loving the European lifestyle; and our third son Christopher is in Chicago working as a trader and enjoying the city life. They all somehow ended up with computer science degrees and have found ways to marry that to their interests. My husband continues to teach at Indiana University, and I continue to teach my various-format fitness classes at the Student Rec Sports Center. And we travel as much as we can!
That’s it for now—and best wishes for the upcoming holiday season! And please keep the news coming! Any photos for the online edition of Class Notes should be sent as a separate jpeg attachment and not embedded within the body of the correspondence. Thanks.
Hello everyone. I hope all of you are well and thanks to all who sent news for me to share here. As I write this in August of 2022, it is a beautiful sunny and warm day here in San Diego. My husband and I just had a wonderful visit from our adult children—our son joined us from San Francisco and our daughter flew in from Philadelphia to spend a couple of weeks. I’m sure we all agree that it is great to be able to share time with loved ones again!
Amy Radin sent this lovely note: “Writing to share that we joyfully celebrated the wedding of our son Jared Radin ’12 and Annika Butler-Wall ’12 on July 3rd in San Francisco. It was a beautiful day full of sunshine and love at the General’s House at Fort Mason overlooking the Bay. Enjoyed being with the many other Wesleyan ’12 graduates in attendance and fellow alumna and Annika’s sister, Karisa Butler-Wall ’05.”
Heidi Mastrogiovanni writes: “I’m having way too much fun writing The Classics Slacker Reads book series with series creator Cristina Negrón (who is married to celebrated marathoner Amby Burfoot’68) and Deb Martin. So far, we have paid irreverent homage to Moby Dick, Madame Bovary, The Scarlet Letter, and The Picture of Dorian Gray, with Pride and Prejudice and TheGreat Gatsby next on our horizon.”
Michelle Morancie shares the following: “I ventured into politics for the first time this past spring and was elected to the school board in Fulton County, Georgia, in May. My opponent is contesting the outcome. He claims that there were ‘inconsistencies’ in the tabulation of votes but didn’t provide any evidence. I’m hoping that the case will be dismissed by the fall. In the meantime, I am moving forward with training and will begin my four-year term in January 2023.” Congrats, Michelle, on this new chapter of your life!
Jim Flynn is still raising money for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and having a great time. He writes, “The science is amazing, and I’m happy to offer tours to classmates. Claudia Mosher ’78 and I are living nearby in Bourne, Massachusetts.”
Denise Giacomozzi shares: “My husband and I just returned from the Denver area after joyfully babysitting our granddaughter, 8-month-old Willow, daughter of our daughter Kristen May ’10. While there, we got together with Bruce Doenecke and his husband Tom. Bruce still sings (and is president of the board) of the choral group, Ars Nova, which has quite a reputation in the Boulder area. Check out their online concerts (Bruce did not tell me to say that but they are fabulous). Next week I am looking forward to seeing Elaine Winic who will meet up with me at Chautauqua. My July 2020 plans to go there, of course, were canceled. Last night I concluded two years of volunteering for the COVID Grief Network as that organization is being subsumed into another that has paid staff. Please everyone take care of yourselves. My focus will return to writing letters for Vote Forward urging democrats to vote. As the Rev. William Sloan Coffin was reported to have said, ‘If you want to have hope, do hopeful things.’”
Matt Okun sent the following news: “It has been a busy year for me and my wife, Annie Wong. We moved from Seattle to Aspen Hill, Maryland, to be closer to our grandchildren. We now have six between us! Two live in Alexandria, Virginia, two in Philadelphia, and the newest addition, Kian, in Brooklyn. I am very happy with my job as a staff developer at a middle school in Kensington, Maryland, and we have spent a lot of time working on our house and its gardens. So far no COVID for us, even though my school has had many cases. Blessings to all and cherish your health!”
Roelof Prins updates us: “I’m a long-lost class member of ’79. Transferred in from Leiden University in January 1977 as a junior and only spent two years at Wesleyan, which was a great time and a lifetime experience. I loved Richard Adelstein’s class at CSS! I am now (already many years) back in the Netherlands, where I run a philanthropic foundation called De Verre Bergen (for those who want to try their hand at Dutch: www.sdvb.com). I miss all my good friends from WesU and would love to catch up with them!”
That’s it for this issue. Be safe and happy. And, as Denise said, please everyone take care of yourselves.
Jennifer Atkinson reports a very pleasant ’22 in which she and Eric welcomed a second grandchild, celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary, and accordingly went on an Alaskan cruise where “icebergs and mountains and whales were the perfect antidote to COVID cabin fever.” Naturally they caught COVID from the cruise, but with Eric on sabbatical and Jennifer recently retired from George Mason University, were able to easily recuperate with rest and reading. Jennifer also reports that her sixth book of poems, A Gray Realm the Ocean, will soon be available. It combines a conversational style along with visual arts and won the Poets Out Loud Prize from the Fordham Poetic Justice Society/Fordham University Press. She plans to do upcoming readings, from Washington, D.C., on north.
Marilyn Fagelson, who I get the benefit seeing along with her husband Tony, here in New Haven, writes: “In May, Ruth Pachman and I traveled to Positano to join Elise Bean for the last week of her five-week stay in Italy. We have visited one another many times over the years, but the views and the food were so much better in Positano. Elise continues to support Congressional investigative work in Washington, D.C.; Ruth is a strategic communications consultant in New York; and I am practicing law in New Haven. Thank you Wesleyan for giving us these and other lifelong friendships!”
Marilyn Fagelson (left), Ruth Pachman (middle) and Elise Bean (right) in Positano.
Lucy Mize is thrilled to report that her son Thaddeus Brown ’17 married Alex Aaron in July on their farm in Vermont. Sister Belle ’22 took care of the photography; all in all, “a great Cardinal representation despite being a small event.” Lucy recently finished her first year of a doctoral program, “so while the number creeps up, still active at work, school, and play.”
Dave Wilson continues his successful jazz saxophone career, releasing his sixth recording as a leader this past January. The work, Stretching Supreme (Dave Wilson Quartet), is a tribute to John Coltrane, and reached #31 in the Jazz Weekly Radio Charts and #4 in the Downloads in the Play MPE Rankings. Dave continues to reside in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with his wife Lisa.
The value of reunions was made clear to me in that on Zoom calls or on social media, it is not possible to hug someone or connect in the same manner as when speaking face-to-face. Our 45th Reunion did not disappoint. As Mark Ellison summed up perfectly to me regarding the weekend: we were “overserved, overfed, and overjoyed” during the multiday event.
A few of us arrived Thursday before the festivities kicked in. Vanessa Burgess was one of my first greeters along with Iddy Olson and Jerry Stouck. While the campus was quiet, downtown Middletown was not; Iddy and I had a fine dinner joined by Iddy’s husband Tom Manning, who charmed most of the attendees throughout the weekend. The campus is undergoing many construction projects, while still hosting several exhibits and seminars including Sue Guiney’s much ballyhooed seminar on social enterprises: Founders and Funders.
Friday saw more arrivals: Cindee Howard and Jane Goldenring were in fine form. At check-in we ran into Felice Burstein,John Roxby, Arnie Alpert,Arlene Lappen, and Betsy Hecker and husband Jay. Making our way to the President’s Reception, we bumped into J. Mark Beamis, Jeff Shames, Mike Coffey, and Don Lowery. The Friday night kickoff cocktail took place at the Wesleyan Film Center where many folks joined in. In addition to those previously mentioned, we had a chance to catch up with: Sarah Kendall, Rich Swanson, Bob Glasspiegel, Hal Garneau and Dan Waters, Sue Guiney and her husband Don, Sue Berger, Kate Seeger, Jim LaLiberty, Lisa Brummel and husband Joel, Bonnie Katz, and Dave Thomas. My apologies go out to those significant others/spouses whose names I didn’t manage to retain, even though I attempted to return back to my room each day to record who I saw. After cocktails, several of us continued to dinner at the Usdan Center.
The traditional class parade and award ceremony Saturday added more class alums: Mike Balf, who had to have traveled the farthest for the event from Israel, Tom Roberts, Andy Darpino, Ted Stevens, Dave Levit, Don Ryan, George Capone, and Buddy Taft. Ron Bloom received a Distinguished Alumni Award, Susan Clark Webster received an Outstanding Service Award immediately after the parade. Lunch brought in several other classmates, some making brief cameo appearances: Doug Green, John Houston, and Alex Kotlowitz connected with some of us and seen across a crowded tent by others. At our major event, the class dinner at Usdan complete with outdoor balcony, I was able to at minimum visit with, if not hug, Louise Hazebrouck and husband Steve Rome ’78, Amy Breslow, Dan Ruberman, Dorothy Crenshaw, Jane Eisner (on crutches along with husband Mark Berger ’76), Mark Slitt, Andy Adesman, Sharon Adler, Jonathan Bailey, Jonathan Kligler, Paul Mason (with his lovely daughter Olivia), Paul Malnati, Steve McNutt, artist Will Sillin, and John Gaebe. Mike Balf started things off with a rousing welcome to all in attendance. At our dinner, Don Lowery, Sue Guiney, Jane Klemmer (in absentia), and Jerry Stouck received Wesleyan University Service awards.
If there are folks that I did not acknowledge as being present, please let me know so that I can mention you in the next issue. It is certainly true that social isolation for the two previous years made being together with folks who played a pivotal role in our lives 45 years earlier that much more special. I remember visiting colleges 50 years earlier and thinking about what my hopes for a college experience would include. Wesleyan stood out as a place where meeting and getting to know exceptional people would happen. With that said, forward to today: My expectations far exceeded what my 17-year-old self ever imagined.
Reminder that if you’re on Facebook, there are two groups that might be of interest to you: “Wesleyan 1976” and “Wesleyan in the 70s” (the more active of the two).
Thanks to everyone who wrote in with notes!
Debra Hafner writes: “My life has changed pretty dramatically post-COVID. I’ve gotten divorced and I’m moving from Reston, Virginia, to be the interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington, New York, in August. I’m excited about the new possibilities ahead! Since our services are now online each week, I’d be delighted to have classmates join us at 10:30 a.m. EST on Sundays! I’d also love to connect with anyone who lives on Long Island. It’s a bit daunting to move at 67 to a new community!”
Mike Donnella reports: “My second attempt at retirement did not stick, and I just finished my first year teaching and running the Center for Compliance & Ethics at Temple University Law School. Though a different time and place from Wesleyan, I am enjoying the experience, despite the occasional flashback. Guest speakers are welcome at the Center. Let me know.”
Phyllis Bethel is “[e]njoying semi-retirement from music therapy. Our son graduated from Princeton and our daughter is a rising sophomore at Vassar. Tina and I are counting our blessings having avoided COVID thus far. Can’t believe I am going to my 50th high school reunion!”
Oliver Griffith: “I’m still living in Paris after retiring from the World Bank in 2016 and should get my French citizenship in the near future. I find France to be a far more rational country than the U.S. I continue to write freelance for NGOs, corporations, and international organizations, but am also doing a lot more performing in Parisian jazz clubs. I combine this with travel around Europe, which was great during COVID with far fewer tourists, and more recently worldwide in Club Meds (free vacations). A couple of months ago, I had dinner with classmates Alida Jay and Meg Walker, who had been with me in Paris 48 years (!!) earlier for the Wesleyan Program in Paris.”
Carol Bellhouse says: “We have snow on the mountains (August 10) so I’ll be heading back to my winter home in southern New Mexico soon. It’s been a great summer in Colorado—I’m attaching photos of the fresh snow, the moon in the aspens, and my waking view every morning. Love it here, but not so much when there’s 12 feet of snow on the ground!”
Carol’s view
Barb Birney is ‘[l]ooking forward to celebrating my 50th high school reunion in Amherst, Massachusetts. Following that, I’ll be visiting my 97-year-old parents in Virginia. Dad is Bob Birney ’50. Post-COVID retirement activities are a lot more fun with restrictions lifted. Currently, I volunteer at the Mount St. Helen’s Forestry Learning Center. Interpreting a BIG BOOM story is always effortless.”
Rob Buccino is “[s]emi-retired and splitting time between Manhattan and northwest Connecticut, playing a lot of music, gardening, and daydreaming. Daughter Nora just got an MBA from NYU and started working with McKinsey. Shout-out to David Apicella and the Eclectic crew from way back when.
David Harmin and I have had a wonderful summer taking part in mini-reunions. We got together for lunch in Rockport with Karen Gervasoni and her new husband, Greg Horan, Mel Blake, Beth Penney Gilbert, and—of course!—Tom Kovar. (For me, it’s not a reunion unless Tom is there.) Everyone is well. We were evenly split between those of us who are still working and those who were retired. I have to say that the retired group made an excellent argument for joining them! Karen and Greg are taking off on a cross-country road trip in their camper van, seeing America before winter sets in. We’ve also seen Nina Rusinow Rosenstein, her husband Simon, Marjorie Allen Dauster, and Rip Dauster’74 for our semiannual get-together; all are well and, once again, enjoying retirement.
Nic Collins sent in class notes! It’s his first time; I’m hoping other classmates will decide if Nic can do it, they can do it too. Here’s his report:
“This may be the first time I have ever submitted to the alumni magazine. Which puts me in a poor light indeed, considering the depth of my gratitude and affection for my Wesleyan experience. Given Karen’s carte blanche on length for this online issue, some background might be in order. I met Alvin Lucier on my third day on campus at the end of summer in 1972. I performed at his memorial service in New York two months ago. In the 50 intervening years, I dragged my family around the world on ‘nothing more than boops and beeps,’ in the words of one puzzled friend—despite our cheerful dean (Sheila Tobias?) calling me into her office in the fall of our senior year to confess, “Wesleyan doesn’t have a great job-placement record for electronic music majors.”
“Maybe not, but I survived (marginally at times, I admit) thanks to what Wes provided. I met Susan Tallman’79 in the Arts Center, married her in Essex, raised said family with her (Ted, b. 1990 in NYC; Charlotte, b. 1995 Amsterdam), and we’re still together. I was lucky to grab a Watson Fellowship on the way out of Middletown, which sprinkled me around Europe for a year. San Francisco in the late 70s, NYC’s East Village in the 80s, Amsterdam and Berlin in the 90s. In 1999, running on freelance fumes with two kids in international schools, I accepted a teaching job at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I wrote a book on hardware hacking for music, now in its third edition (see http://www.handmadeelectronicmusic.com), whose resulting sounds would be familiar to anyone who took a class with Lucier.
“The pandemic coincided with a sabbatical that should have been spent back in Berlin but instead confined me to the old family summer house in West Falmouth, Massachusetts. I can’t complain, but it was not the most musically conducive location for an urbanite until, in those fraught months between the election and the inauguration, I somehow managed to produce this: http://www.nicolascollins.com/LuckyDip.htm.
“Not to finish on a down note but, speaking of fraught, I’ve never been as worried about the future of this country and the larger world as I have in the last five years. I’m keeping my Chilean passport current, renting a small apartment in Berlin, and hoping that one of these two lifeboats can float me if things get even grimmer. But what am I leaving to my children?”
And, finally, Seth Lerer sent me this lovely piece, entitled “Bicentennial: A Wesleyan Memory”:
“There were weeks when every day could be a poem. Sunrise, sunset, a great sandwich, or a blade of grass. My undergraduate ambition was to take the sublime and the stupid and turn it into poetry, to live a life rewarded in the verbal transformation of the everyday into the eternal. I’d spend hours looking for such inspirations, walking corridors, standing in the rain, or orchestrating crazy things to do that would be done just for the memory of having done them: a 2am mock Bar Mitzvah in the dorm, a drive to Montreal for breakfast, a staying-up-all-night reading the Aeneid out loud in Latin.
“In the spring of 1975, I realized that the opportunity was there, at last, for something lasting. I don’t know how I heard about it, or even if I knew what to expect, but I became convinced that spending April 18 on the common in Concord, remembering the ride of Paul Revere, the shots heard round the world—that this would be the moment that would make me a poet.
“Again, it was so long ago I don’t remember how I planned this trip or how I got there. But I do remember that I asked a girl to go along. Her name was Pam, and I cannot conjure up our friendship or why I asked her (did I ask her first or last?). But somehow, Pam and I got on the Peter Pan bus from Middletown, Connecticut, and made it to Concord on the night of April 18. I do remember that she wore bell bottom jeans and a white t-shirt with a sweater, and I dressed up in my tweed jacket and my button-down shirt, and as we both walked into Concord common—already, shortly after sunset, filled with people on the grass, playing guitars, having a picnic, dancing—we must have seemed like travelers from another time, beamed in to witness a great moment in history, except missing the date by 200 years.
“There were some speeches. Someone showed up in a tricorn hat. I don’t think Pam and I said much to each other, but by 10 pm or so we were both bored and hungry. Pam’s mother and her stepfather lived somewhere in the Boston area, and she suggested that we crash with them and cadge a meal. We got up off the grass, and walked away, and as we walked, our hands found each other, and our fingers interlocked. Like tendrils looking for a tree, I thought. And at that moment, even though we’d never kissed, we’d never talked romantically, we’d never done a thing—at that moment, it was the most intimate experience I’d ever had, unspoken, unrequested, two hands in the aftermath of a great historical anticlimax.
“We wound up, unannounced, at her house and without seeing her parents, Pam let me sleep in the guest room and she disappeared into what must have been her own, old room. The next morning, having showered but put on the same clothes from the day before, I met her stepfather at breakfast. He was a Chinese man in his 50s, reading the newspaper, and picking at what must have been last night’s chicken dinner. He looked at me, I sat down at the table, and without breaking eye contact, he picked up a whole chicken thigh with a pair of chopsticks and, through some trick of leverage, held it up and split the bone in half, the piece now hanging together by remaining bits of skin and meat, and I could hear that snap, and he brought the whole thigh up to his mouth and took a bite and put the rest down on the plate, and never stopped looking at me.
“Somehow, with or without Pam, I made it back to Middletown. I knew I had my poem in my head, and in an afternoon I wrote it down.
“Bicentennial”
Emerson, obsessed with pageantry,
Saw revolution in sunrise,
Doctrine at dawn.
He saw himself enmeshed in memory
Of dead for liberty
In Concord, crotch of history.
In the moment is the glory,
In the memory is the myth,
In the dream is history.
“I read it out loud to myself a few times, and then typed it up. It looked so clean on the good piece of bond paper, the ribbon from the typewriter, recently replaced, giving each letter a depth and heft that I could feel as I ran my fingers across the sheet. I typed up three or four more poems that day, ones I’d written in a class with Richard Wilbur— mannered, learned things about the clown Will Kempe in Bedlam and the pet fox kept by Stalin’s crony, Nicholai Bukharin, and a couple of translations from Old English. Still on a high, I folded them in thirds and took them to the library, where I found the current issue of The Southern Review and copied out the name and the address of the editor. I ran back to my room, typed up a cover letter and an envelope, put too many stamps on it, and mailed it. No self-addressed stamped envelope, no nothing else. Just the poems.
“Classes would be over in a month, and certainly, as I remember, before we were done, I got a letter in my postbox telling me that The Southern Review was going to run my poem, “Bicentennial,” in their Spring 1976 issue and that I would receive a check for $15 upon publication.
“I floated out of the mail room, walked up the hill and stood facing the football field, the May breeze catching the letter in my hand and making it flutter like a wing.
“A full year later, weeks before graduation, three copies of The Southern Review appeared in my mailbox, along with the check. There was the poem, my name, and my name again in the notes on contributors. I flipped through. There were unpublished poems by Delmore Schwartz, essays by Kermit Vanderbilt, Larzer Ziff, and Albert Guerard. There was a translation of something by Paul Valery and a review of a book of poems by the then barely known Geoffrey Hill.
“Fifteen dollars was a week of student groceries. A round of drinks for virtually everyone I knew. A round-trip ticket to Concord. I sent the poem to Richard Wilbur, ensconced in his pastoral in Cummington, Massachusetts, and he wrote back right away, letting me know how he ‘much liked the movement of Bicentennial’—such a Wilbur phrase, with its inverted word order and its alliterative push. Did he craft such sentences, or did he really think like that? And, rereading my poem, now, what made me think it literature? So full of adolescent overstatement. Who writes a poem with the word “crotch” in it? After over forty years of teaching, I can imagine how Wilbur must have reached deep to say something positive about such lines.
“I graduated, went to Oxford, to Chicago, and to teaching jobs at Princeton, Stanford, and the University of California at San Diego (where I served as dean of Arts and Humanities for five years that would fill a whole magazine, let alone a class note). I wrote a dozen books. I won awards. You would think all of this would have filled me with self-esteem. But then, they say there’s nothing like your first time.”
First word goes to folks who haven’t appeared in this column before. Corinne “Cory” Kratz sent news of her writing fellowship from the Bogliasco Study Centre for the Arts and Humanities to spend January 2023 in Bogliasco, Italy, finishing her book, Rhetorics of Value: Exhibition, Design, Communication.
Carl Cavrell retired from teaching in 2016. After tutoring and coaching gymnastics and soccer, he’s begun subbing at his kids’ school to prepare financially as the oldest of his four boys starts college this year. So much for having kids late!
Knox Cummin spent a few wonderful days with Jim Forster in Los Altos, California, remembering old times, talking about life since Middletown, and sailing on San Francisco Bay.
Sara Pasti is project director for Enlighten Peekskill, a public art installation of light-emitting sculptures, murals, and banners spearheaded by the Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art, as part of downtown revitalization.
Brian Steinbach expects to be 95 % retired by October. Then he’ll convert a large collection of music tapes to CD, including a live performance by Tom Kovar ’76 that he considered lost! Brian told me Jane Hutchins returned to her Vancouver Island farm after a rare visit to Seattle to find her sheep had COVID. He also noted an uncaptioned alumni magazine photo of Wes’s first women’s hockey team includes Jane, Deb Kosich, and Diane Cornell.
First Wesleyan Women’s Field Hockey Team: Jane Hutchins and Deb Kosich standing at left and right of tree; Diane Cornell seated far right
The highlight of Brian’s summer was Bonnie Raitt’s Wolf Trap concert, who he first heard opening for Maria Muldaur at Wes around 1972.
Paul Margolin works in New Hampshire for BAE Systems, where he’s also developing Londonderry’s rail trail, keeping the neighborhood rotary garden blooming, and babysitting grandkids. The Margolins’ middle and youngest daughters live nearby and have provided two grandchildren with another coming soon. Their oldest is in Nevada studying PT after a fitness and dance career (Rockettes and Vegas stage). Paul and Linda are a font of travel news. In Chicago, they breakfasted with Karen and Mark Flinchum, retired and enjoying three grandchildren. In Denver, they visited Suzy and Dave Rosenthal at their new home. They’re also in touch with Joe O’Rourke (retired in West Hartford, awaiting grandchild #5); JD Moore (still in the Connecticut judiciary); Vinnie Broderick (retired and rehabilitating his house in central New Hampshire); and Dave Rosenthal and Steve McCarthy (see below).
Dave reports he and Suzy moved from Buffalo for mountain views, sunshine, and proximity to grandchild #1. Dave, editor of the Mountain West News Bureau, a regional collaboration of NPR stations, says, “I feel like a Wes freshman again, cramming to learn wildfires, drought, wolves, wild horses, and other issues.” In Denver, he welcomed Paul’s visit and reconnected with Becky Peters.
Steve McCarthy and Kathleen downsized from Rye to a Greenwich townhouse and welcomed their first grandson. Steve and partners at QE debuted their documentary on the late director Alan Pakula (Klute, All the President’s Men, Sophie’s Choice). Steve remains active as a Wes volunteer and looks forward to our 50th (?!#).
Lisa Anderson, Kathy (Kleinbard) Heinzelman, and Deborah (Marion) Brown remain close friends, meeting and talking regularly. In July they spent a weekend at Kathy’s home in Pound Ridge, New York, sharing joyous and difficult recollections of being early WesWomen.
Left to right: Kathy (Kleinbard) Heinzelman, Deborah (Marion) Brown, and Lisa Anderson in Pound Ridge, New York
Roger Weisberg and Karen Freedman welcomed twin grandchildren in April from son Daniel and his wife Jannine. Grandchildren through daughter Allison ’05 are Lionel (9) and Juno (6), who can’t wait to babysit! This fall, youngest daughter Liza got married. She’s an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center handling voter protection litigation. In June, Roger and Karen attended the Tuscany wedding of Shonni Silverberg’s ’76 and John Shapiro’s ’74 son. COVID slowed Roger’s film production work and exacerbated the traumas of foster children that Karen’s office, Lawyers for Children, represents.
Joost Brouwer reports his growing family is well, though a granddaughter’s cystic fibrosis is worrisome. In June, Joost was among four witnesses invited to meet with the Netherlands equivalent of the House Judiciary Committee. They explained what is wrong with the Dutch government’s policy against refugees from Afghanistan and Rwanda, who are unjustly accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Joost has become an expert through his volunteer work assisting refugees.
Rachel (Adler) Hayes and husband John have a college grad looking for his first full-time position in fashion design—leads welcome! A May 2021 house fire displaced them. They hope to return home before November. They’ve learned a lot about the ugly side of insurance. Rachel completed a challenging term as synagogue president, featuring a senior rabbi’s retirement, selecting an interim replacement, the associate rabbi’s unexpected resignation, the first executive director’s hiring and resignation, community reactions to COVID, and massive transition, and raising more than $10 million. Time for a nap!
Ed Van Voorhees welcomed California granddaughter #3 from daughter Ellen and husband Carlos. Son Matt in Colorado used the COVID break to earn his MBA in finance. Kids and grandkids in D.C. and Nashville are fine. After two COVID years homebound and three tries, Ed and Linda traveled in France this spring—the Dordogne, Pays Basque, and a few days in Paris and Barcelona.
Cathy Gorlin and her husband spent three months renting and working remotely for the first time in Naples, Florida. Now that they know they can do it, next winter they’ll stay longer. Their son Ross graduated from med school and started a residency at Swedish Hospital in Denver. Their grandson starts first grade in D.C. this fall.
Chris Neagle writes, “My move to a very small law firm in a very small town did not work out as hoped, so I am now happily practicing Maine real estate law part time from my home in the woods with part-time help. My first small business. Checkout neaglelaw.com.”
John Ayer reports, “After a life of varied experiences (few of which depended on my fine education) I have retired after a 30-year stint at Foxwoods Casino—the only job I ever took intending it to be temporary; ha ha on all the others!”
Ileen Rosenthal updates:
“1. I am CEO and co-founder of an educational software company called Footsteps2Brilliance. We create Model Innovation Cities—turnkey, bilingual, citywide initiatives that help children prepare for kindergarten and read proficiently by third grade. All of our content is in English and Spanish. Middletown, Connecticut, is one of the school districts that we work with. Last year, during COVID, the superintendent asked us to triangulate his pre- (fall) and post- (spring) third-party assessments. Students using our software improved their reading scores by 175 %!
“2. Footsteps2Brilliance also has been asked to co-produce a bilingual interactive television program with PBS that will use 28 of our books. After viewing the program, parents will be able to download the books and do interactive educational games with their children.
“3. Our daughter Alex Rosenthal ’17 married Keith Spencer ’16 on June 25, 2022. They met each other in Alex’s freshman year and have been an item ever since. They had a great wedding with lots of friends from Wesleyan and beyond.”
News from Monique Witt: “NYC has opened up, so Ben is once again touring and finishing the release of his fifth studio album (the second with the Sextet and Nebula Project). Dev just announced the new gear releases. Steven is too busy still; WLRK litigation is representing Twitter, and I am splitting my time between the Sound Labs and the island with upcoming albums. The new normal in NYC is kinda like the old: the L train arbitrarily stops service at Bedford, so from there it’s the G at Lorimer to the Court Square E to 57th to walk halfway across the world to find the 6. Good to be back.”
Karla Bell moved this spring, to a home with half the space, most of it still covered in boxes. This is chaotic enough, but she is spending this summer and early fall attending her children’s weddings. Her daughter’s was July 23 and her son’s was in mid-September, and both are in California during what is predicted to be scorching days. Her trip packing is truly frantic as she tears open boxes searching for those damn shoes.
In Wes news, she planned to spend some time with her roommate, Juliette Kendrick, in August, preferably near a beach, or anywhere the breezes can soothe frazzled, aching 70-year-olds. To amend that: CUTE, frazzled, aching 70-year-olds. Of course, they’re still blond.
Melissa Blacker ’76 and David Rynick are plowing through the wedding anniversary milestones and appear to be achieving their dream of growing old together. Their Zen community, Boundless Way Zen, has thrived through the pandemic, now operating online as well as in person, including people across the country and around the world. If you’re looking to do nothing, come join them at www.worcesterzen.org.
John McLucas writes: “I retired in 2020 from 36 years teaching Italian at Towson University in Baltimore—directly into the pandemic lockdowns. Finally, in October 2021, I was able to take a twice-delayed trip to Italy and reconnect with old friends there. My translation of the Italian epic poem “Il Meschino” (“The Wretch”) by Tullia d’Aragona (1560) is finally forthcoming from Iter/University of Toronto, the culmination of a project started in 2003.
My third novel, The Boxer’s Mask, is just out from BrickHouse Books. It tells the story of a charismatic young actor at the start of his career in modern Rome, and of a circle of English and American expats who become fascinated by him. Communication is already challenging across linguistic and cultural differences, and then COVID adds new layers of complexity.”
Larry Green is now living full time in Ogunquit, Maine, with his wife Denise. Larry continues to practice law as a senior partner with Burns & Levinson in Boston, generally working remotely, and is devoting more time to family, including five grandchildren, and writing. Larry has published three short books under his Hebrew name Lev: Alphabet of the Invisible, Mastering the 4th Dimension, and Weaving Your Thread through the Tapestry of Judaism. The books may be found at levgreenbooks.com or on Amazon. Larry otherwise reports that he very easily transitioned to age 70, very appreciative of his many blessings in life, including family, friends, health, the Ogunquit seashore, and synagogue involvement.
Gray Cox sends greetings from Bar Harbor, Maine, where he continues to teach philosophy, peace studies, and language learning at College of the Atlantic, employing skills in interdisciplinary study he picked up in CSS. He continues to draw on insights from Louis Mink and Brian Fay in research that has led to a book that will be published soon by the Quaker Institute for the Future called Smarter Planet or Wiser Earth? Artificial Intelligence and Collaborative Wisdom. Along with a tribe of kids and grandkids, he loves to write, perform, and record songs of love and peace (see some at graycox.bandcamp.com).
Jonathan Eddison shares: “In early June, the West College alumni subgroup of friends, degenerates, patient spouses, cynics, and radicals known loosely as “Born to Lose” had a 52nd Reunion (of freshman year) gathering at Rick Gilberg and Elisa Cohen’s house on Martha’s Vineyard. Present were: Andy Char (Honolulu), Charley Blaine (Seattle), Henry and Debbie Willis (Los Angeles), Harold Sogard (Marin), Joe Loewenstein (St. Louis), Jonathan and Diane Eddison (Austin) and Peter Heyward (Washington, D.C.). Lloyd Komesar, an honorary member, and his wife Maureen joined us. We had too much fun for our aging bodies. We spent nearly as much time talking about our medical issues as we did on national politics.”
“Born to Lose” Reunion Martha’s Vineyard, June 2022. Back row, left to tight: Henry Willis, Rick Gilberg, and Joe Loewenstein Seated, left to right: Jonathan Eddison, Harold Sogard, Andy Char, and Peter Heyward
Sandy Newman writes, “Just celebrated my 46th anniversary with the wonderful love of my life, Chris Owens, who recently retired from running a low-wage worker organization. We’ve lived since 1978 outside D.C., where our 39-year-old has now been in love with the same good guy for a dozen years. She’s a joyful, exuberant, Zumba and barre teacher and math tutor, who is also exuberant about life, which brings me great joy. (Thank goodness the teen years are long in the past). As for what I’ve been up to over the years, I’ve started and run a voter registration organization and a couple of advocacy nonprofits and have now spent many years advising donors on where they should put their contributions to have the biggest impact on protecting democracy and winning elections. Often, there are noncandidate contributions that can have many times the impact that contributions to candidates can. Most of my time goes to evaluating organizations, often spending months digging into randomized controlled trials on each of a single organization’s tactics. Happy to share conclusions as a gift to friends and classmates.” SandyNewman@gmail.com
Left to right: Arthur Fierman, Shelly Fierman, Lyn Thurber Lauffer, Carolyn White-Lesieur, Jane Siebel with Wayne Forrest
The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF) was in its eighth edition in August 2022. Created by Lloyd Komesar,it is a lot of fun and Lloyd always makes everyone feel very welcome!
Sharon sailing in Rhode Island
My husband Ted Sybertz and I continue to enjoy sailing on our 42-foot X-Yachts boat from our home port in Jamestown, Rhode Island. In the winter, we ski in Park City, Utah, and in-between, we kayak, swim, bike, and run in Vero Beach, Florida—the joys of retirement!
Finally, here are some additional photos of our classmates!
Rich Ladd in Olympia, Washington, writes that after an entire career in commercial and mortgage lending, he plans to stop working this year when his son graduates from Boise State. He adds, “My wife and I will drive the U.S. on our own time, so hope to be in Middletown for the 50th. We miss Tom Pfeiffer.”
Michael Fossel writes, “Like some others I know, I can never seem to retire. I’m running a biotech firm, chairing global conferences on gene therapy, neurodegenerative disease, and age-related disease, and writing articles and books. I’ve agreed to write/edit (I write 4/14 chapters and have coauthors for the other 10) a new textbook for Elsevier Publishing on aging, age-related disease, and our prospects for curing age-related diseases. Should be a good, solid clinical book. On a more worthwhile note, I have acres of gardens that I tend here in Michigan.”
Michael B. Robinson tells me that he met up with stalwart class agent Jay Rose at the Valley Forge Historical Site on July 5th. He says, “Jay, a history buff, oriented me to a meaningful site from the U.S. Revolutionary War period. I reminded him of my efforts to get him to row crew at Wes as we shared stories of mixed success on the football field.” Michael says, “Jay seems an expert at contributing to all around him but also enjoying life all the while.”
John Spike writes, “Michèle and I divide our years into four slightly less-than-three-month residences in Williamsburg, Virginia (home of the College of William & Mary where Michèle taught in the law school founded by Thomas Jefferson, and I curated the art museum), and in Florence, our home since 1989.”
John also writes that he is the world’s foremost authority on the careers of two brothers from Taverna, Italy, who were born there in the early 17th century and who made significant careers in Rome and sent back more than 20 important paintings and altarpieces.
John says, “In late June, the people of Taverna pleasantly surprised me by unanimously naming me presidente of their new Archivio Pretiano (Preti Archives), which is now under construction inside the principal palace on the main piazza of the town—thanks to funds received from the European Community. It will be my objective to create this facility into a research library and center for the study of the art and history of the region of Calabria and indeed all of Italy south of Naples and north of Sicily.”
Todd Stone writes that he continues his painting practice as an artist in residence at the World Trade Center. “I painted solo in my studio on 71st floor of 3WTC through the emptying of downtown during the pandemic,” he says. In September he exhibited his work at the NYC Culture Club in the Oculus for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. He says, “You can take a virtual visit at my website ToddStoneStudio.com. My artist book Witness Downtown Rising: Twenty Years of Painting the World Trade Center is available on the website store.”
And as we approach our 50th Reunion next year, James Powers says the Reunion Book Committee is hoping you will join them in writing and submitting your individual biographies as part of treasured reflections for the reunion book to Geralyn Russo through grusso@wesleyan.edu. It will take a few moments but your memories will last a lifetime and will no doubt have so many connections to our time at Wesleyan and afterward. James says you can reflect on your strongest memories and what you have been doing for the last 50 years and who you are today. And feel free to tell us how Wesleyan made a difference in your life.
There may have been one person, one professor or one event that had a lasting influence on who you are today.
I’ll never forget how the influence of John Frazer and Jeanine Basinger encouraged my love of film and then on to the Wesleyan Film Board senior year and then on to film connections forever. Or how Wesleyan Argus editor James Repass ’71 encouraged my move to a career in journalism. Or how freshman-year advisor and English professor Joe Reed pushed me toward a freshman-year course in the humanities, saying, “You must do this because you may never read authors like Plato ever again.” Or Joe’s courses on film and author William Faulkner. And in the influence of our president, Colin Campbell.
To locate a classmate or to participate in planning programs, contact Mandy Broulik at abroulik@wesleyan.edu. Go to wesleyan.edu/classof1973 for more information. This is our year to celebrate this incredible milestone!
