classnotes – Page 65 – Wesleyan Magazine Classnotes

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1970s2023/02/14

CLASS OF 1972 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

We started planning our 50th Reunion about four years ago. At that time, before such things as COVID became part of our lives, the reunion seemed a very long way away. Then, somehow, the day came and it happened. And now it’s over. Ignoring the sad fact that we’ll never get so many of us together again, we can all rejoice in the fact that our committee put together a wonderful event, which all present seemed to enjoy. Plus, we had at least 94 class members there, which has been officially acknowledged as the new record for attendance at a Wes 50th.

We are going to do whatever possible to keep this spirit going. Some committee members are looking into starting our own class website, featuring photos, videos, updates to the class book, anything of interest. We will be holding a series of periodic Zoom get-togethers. And I, living fairly close to Middletown, plan on attending future Reunion weekends and urge the rest of you to do likewise.

The key observation of the weekend was that of Bruce Hearey, who was amazed that they had added so many hills to the campus since our time. I agreed. The days when I would happily jaunt between Lawn Avenue and the Center for the Humanities are now ancient history. Going from place to place at our reunion, following similar efforts a few weeks before at the ’70–’71 belated 50th, gave me a set of foot, back, and leg issues that led me to make some great new friends among the western Connecticut podiatry and physical therapy community. I am now happy to report that it all worked and am now no longer acting my age. I’ll be ready for next year!

I had not realized that Maxon Davis had left Wesleyan until I looked to the left of me at graduation and saw someone else sitting there. I had a great chat with him prior to the Alumni Parade, and he sent me the attached update, which I have shortened somewhat:

“I left Wesleyan one week into the second semester of our sophomore year, and drove out to Berkeley, California, in late March 1970, to enroll there for the spring quarter 1970. It was of course just a few weeks before the invasion of Cambodia and Kent State. I listened with interest to the discussion at Reunion of the strike at Wesleyan that spring. By contrast, all hell broke loose in Berkeley. There were riots and a reactive heavy police presence on campus. After having been tear-gassed twice, I decided that prudence dictated that I keep a respectful distance from the more active protesters. Classes were canceled, and I received multiple Bs for minimal effort that first quarter at Cal.

“Even though I had taken a leave of absence from Wesleyan, I decided to stay at Cal, for multiple reasons, one of which was of course the fact that Cal was fully co-educational. Along that line, I met my wife Kristina during the winter quarter of 1972—my senior year. She was the third woman whom I asked out in our agricultural economics class (in which I had enrolled mostly because it fit nicely between a PE class and the UC Lacrosse Club’s practice). I would show up for that class in my infrequently laundered workout clothes, with my lacrosse stick and a duffle bag of gear. Out of respect for my classmates, I sat by myself in the back of the room. The first two girls in the class whom I asked for a date wouldn’t go out with me. Being the product of a Catholic girls’ school in San Francisco, Kristina had no idea what lacrosse was and foolishly asked me about the strange wooden ‘club’ I was bringing to class. I explained and invited her to watch me play the coming weekend in San Francisco. Since she was looking for a ride home that Saturday, she accepted. After the game, she asked me to take her home and invited me in for dinner with her family, which she claims was more out of being polite than affection. The truth was probably in-between. We married in August 1974. Two kids and one grandchild later, I am happy that she asked me about my lacrosse stick.

“After a relatively aimless year, I applied to law schools in 1973. I did so not out of any long-standing desire to be a lawyer. Rather it seemed like a suitable means to postpone the inevitable decision about what I would do for the rest of my life. I applied to six or seven geographically dispersed law schools with the overriding criterion being that it be the best law school in its area, so I would have a good chance of getting a job when I graduated. On that basis I elected to attend the University of Montana Law School, in Missoula (being that it was—and is—the only law school in Montana). Academics again had nothing to do with that decision. I drove up from Berkeley in September 1973, and essentially have never left. I quickly fell in love with Montana.

“I accepted a position at a three-man law firm in Great Falls in 1976. The third lawyer in the firm left 60 days after my arrival. Since there was then work enough for four lawyers, I enjoyed a true baptism under fire. Forty-six years later, I am the senior guy in the same firm, now with six lawyers and named (since 1996) Davis, Hatley, Haffeman and Tighe, PC. I have the most diverse law practice of anyone whom I know. I love what I do and have no plans to retire.

“Kristina and I live on 4 acres on the Missouri River, 6 miles south of Great Falls. In my spare time, I ski, fly-fish, and hike (along with seemingly never-ending yard work May–October).

“Looking back over the span of 50-plus years, I concede that I have made a number of decisions in my life for what were—simply put—the wrong reasons. (That does not include asking Kristina to marry me.) That said, even if my motivation to act has been wrong numerous times, the results have been uniformly positive. (That very definitely does include marrying Kristina.) So, life has been and remains good.”

Paul Edelberg sent us an update, most of which follows:

“First, the most important moment of my adult life was marrying my college sweetheart, Laura, who was introduced to me by the one and only Leon Vinci. We have had a beautiful marriage, especially because she has put up with me for all those years! Laura and I have two wonderful daughters, one in NYC and one in Seattle. Both doing well and still have a tight grip on my heartstrings. The one in Seattle is getting married this fall, so much excitement in the Edelberg household. The only bummer is that my brother Jay, class of ’69 (for those of you who knew him at Wes), passed away last fall and will be sorely missed at the wedding.

“The only dilemma with my daughter’s wedding is that she is marrying a Yankees fan. I am an avid and fanatic Red Sox fan. I had ‘prohibited’ my daughter from marrying a Yankee fan, but there is where my influence over my younger daughter stops. Not only is her fiancé an avid Yankee fan, he runs baseball marketing for T-Mobile, one of the biggest sponsors of Major League Baseball. However, he has bribed me with playoff tickets and tickets to the first row of the Green Monster, and it is working! My relationship with my future son-in-law is starting to be defined!

“I have been a practicing corporate and finance attorney in NYC and Connecticut all these years, which is somewhat ironic for those of you who knew me at Wes. I wasn’t the best behaved during my years there. In fact, when I took the bar exam in Connecticut, a fellow Wes grad ran into me and said I was one of the last people he expected to see taking the bar exam! So, things change! There is not a lot of glamour, nor many exciting events, in practicing corporate and finance law, so no great stories to tell. So, I’ll share just a couple of more recent experiences.

“I have been fortunate to have enjoyed my legal career, at which I am still hard at work. In the last 20 years, I expanded my practice to an international corporate practice, with a specialty on China business matters. I became co-chair of the China Committee of the International Law Section of the American Bar Association and write and lecture on China, which until the pandemic I visited frequently. I also am the former president on the Connecticut China Council, which is responsible for handling Connecticut’s sister state relationship with Shandong Province. So, if any of you have an interest in China, we can share thoughts and experiences over the weekend.

“Most recently I have gotten involved in the International Law Section’s special committee to help Afghan lawyers and judges who have fled Afghanistan become acclimated to the practice of law principally in the U.S. but also in other Western countries. I was incredibly moved by the efforts of two female U.S. federal judges who had been involved in training female Afghan judges pre-Taliban, only to see some of these Afghan judges executed by the Taliban for trying male defendants. These two U.S. federal judges were able, through the International Women Judge’s Association, to extract approximately 150 of these female judges out of Afghanistan, with more still there. I was fortunate to meet one of these two U.S. judges at a recent event. I also met a male Afghan lawyer who had assisted the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and who had just arrived in the U.S. after being in hiding for six months, with the Taliban FaceTiming him with the message that they were looking for him. Interesting and suspenseful story on how he got out. It puts our cushy lives in perspective. The section’s committee is focused on all Afghan lawyers and judges, although I am going to try to focus on helping in my small way the female Afghan judges resettle. Some are still trying to get out of Afghanistan.”

Harry Glasspiegel sent the following, to remind us that he is, or at least was, a literary man:

“I wrote a one-line poem for Richard Wilbur’s amazing poetry class our senior year. The title was ‘Muse’ and it read simply, ‘an us inside me’ (realized sitting in Clark Hall trying to think of a poem to turn in for the class that the word muse has ‘us’ inside ‘me’). I wrote Professor Wilbur 40 years after we graduated, mentioned the poem to him and how much I appreciated his class. A few weeks later I received a postcard back from him (he was in his late 80s/early 90s, retired in Cummington, Massachusetts, at the time). Typed with his signature IBM typewriter, it began, ‘It was just the other day that I cited without attribution the us within the muse . . . .‘” 😊

Lex Burton sent us the following sobering note. I have to say that Lex looked as well as ever at the reunion, and I hope it continues:

“As with most of us, our time at Wesleyan was pivotal in our lives. Some of you may remember, I was on the five-year plan. At the beginning of our junior year, I realized I was mostly dubbing around academically, and left school to be a subject in a study of ‘high-ability’ college dropouts at Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia. I needed some time to mature and grow some confidence in myself in areas other than athletics; I was reasonably successful; successful enough to be more focused and productive when I returned to Wesleyan a year later.

“In my first two years at Wesleyan I made good friends, played some sports, had some dates, listened to great music, etc. Though I don’t regret those experiences, I do regret the many missed learning opportunities. On my return to Wesleyan, positive experiences continued but this time, accompanied by academic focus. Enough so that I was able to graduate. High points of my four years were the friendships I made, some of which continue and many more I wish had/would. There were the ball games, concerts, late-night cards, pool, room parties, and many stimulating/challenging conversations. I was excited by many of my courses as well. During my first two years I regularly went on road trips to socialize. I made no road trips my last two years. While I expect most small New England colleges would have provided a positive experience, I do think Wesleyan is unique. It is an environment of acceptance. Any angst I had was mostly of my own doing and not from other students, faculty, or administration. My son who graduated in ’04 had a similarly positive experience.

“After graduation, I spent time in Portland, Oregon, as a salesman, not my cup of tea. Then I taught at a Quaker school in Atlantic City. I realized I liked being an educator, especially of the needier, more challenging students. Subsequently, I then got a doctorate from Rutgers in school/child psychology, where I studied my ass off. I moved to Vermont, worked for 10 years at a community mental health center, and later, had an active private practice for 10 years. I spent the next 15 years consulting with schools regarding students with academic and behavioral needs. It was hard work, especially dealing with educators and bureaucrats who did not see things as clearly as I did, naturally. Mostly it was fulfilling and I looked forward to going to work each day, which is a blessing.

“I was married in 1979, settled in Randolph, Vermont, and had two children, Matt and Ian, with my first wife Corky. Twenty years later, we divorced, and a few years after that, I met my present wife Cathi. Cathi was totally infatuated with me, and riding on that ego high, we quickly became nearly inseparable. Little did I know she’d be nothing but a pain in the ass. My sons tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen. (My wife inserted this when she edited my first draft and she is not a pain in the ass, she is a pain in the neck).

“My son Matt teaches at the University of Pittsburgh, and Ian is working on careers as a musician or a forester, whichever flourishes first. As I am sure those of you who have kids would agree, the birth of children is a seminal moment in one’s life. Ian and his partner, Emily, just shared that experience themselves, welcoming their first child, and my first grandchild, Adrienne. My son Matt and his wife (more so his wife) are also pregnant.

“Another seminal moment in my life was being diagnosed with terminal cancer two and a half years ago. The initial prognosis was 6 to 9 months, later changed to 12 to 18 months. It is a strange and time-consuming business preparing for death; emotionally, financially, socially, physically. In an instant, my life, previously focused on achievement, changed to a desire to strengthen and expand relationships with family and friends.

“Currently, I am not cancer free, but my oncologist is making no predictions. I get scans every couple of months and we are hoping I am tumor free for many years to come.”

And this, from Michael Arkin:

“The Kiss Me Kate National Tour concluded in June 2002. I returned to New York to the still smoking pile of rubble of the World Trade Center. It was clear the world of my hometown, and the feeling that we were isolated from the troubles of the world, were gone, never to return. My life as an actor was also changing. There were some commercials, some TV and film work, a summer spent in Aspen, Colorado, in a musical Lies & Legends, the songs of Harry Chapin—that was a blast. But by 2005 I realized a reinvention was in order. Morag was buying, renovating, and selling houses in Hudson. The real estate market was on fire in NYC. I enrolled in a real estate course and got a license to sell property. At a seminar in the spring of 2006, the panel featured an actress I had been in an off-Broadway play with 20 years before. I went to her office to talk about real estate companies I was considering joining. She added her firm to my list and introduced me to the owner, Fred Peters, who offered me a desk at Warburg Realty in Tribeca. My first day on the job there was an email in my new inbox from a guy named Steve Goldschmidt saying, ‘You must be the Mike Arkin I went to Wesleyan with!’ Thus began a wonderful adventure selling apartments in co-ops, condominiums, and townhouses, in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. As a boy raised in the Outer Boroughs, and as an actor in a street theater company that played all over Brooklyn, I know a great deal about many parts and aspects of New York City. “Winning the confidence of buyers or sellers is an art, a function of demonstrating not just knowledge, but using my actor skill set to understand my clients’ character, their dreams and fears, and to translate that into a coherent plan. I get to see Steve a lot and that is fun; he has been a great friend. Morag moved on from the renovation business and now sells real estate in Hudson where she lives mostly full time. We have a flat in Long Island City where I camp while plying my trade in town. This was written after attending the 50th Reunion. The return to campus and Middletown, reconnecting with so many dear, good former classmates and their partners, was such a joy. We are so glad we were there to join in the laughter, tears, and life stories, and to reminisce about that formative time 50 years ago. Love, peace, and all good things attend you all.”

Scott Sprouse must be old-fashioned. He sent me a handwritten update. So much for cutting and pasting. I am not going to retype the whole thing, but since it is replete with Sprousian aphorisms I am going to scan it and you will be able to peruse it in this all-electronic edition. But here are some highlights:

Scott went to Yale Graduate School at Wes, writing his MA thesis on “The Essential and the Existent: The Two-fold Source of Knowing in Aristotle’s Metaphysics.” However, in view of the discouraging job markets for PhDs, Scott got his MBA from Columbia (“the finishing school for sociopaths”). He worked in New York for Wharton Econometrics (really the Penn Economics Department), where he was the top salesman, taking away 79 accounts from competition while losing only four in a three-year span (“But who’s counting?”). Scott’s Colombian wife had their son and daughter playing soccer (“dance with a purpose”), so they got athletic scholarships, and are now, respectively, a lieutenant commander in the navy and a marketer with white-shoe law firms. Scott says they are still of liberal disposition and points out that his stepdaughter is a bad-ass union organizer. Scott has had some health issues but is “still above the ground” in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Finally, some bad news. Frank Benson passed away this summer. He had recently retired from his career as a physician in Decatur, Alabama, where he specialized in addiction medicine, among other things. Various friends on Facebook remembered him as a hardworking premed student, and as the “Mississippi Mover” on WESU.

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1970s2023/02/14

CLASS OF 1971 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Aloha! We had a very successful 50th (51st) Reunion. This column should now be mainly devoted to transitions. Many have already retired and are well embedded in their new transitions, but many are still working full or part-time and trying to come to terms with what to do when the work door closes. Let’s discuss our successes/attempts/failures or whatever’s.

Here is what Katy Butler is dealing with: “After decades as a part-time landlord, I sold a rental property (the house I owned with my first husband), which had helped subsidize my writing. At 73, much to my surprise, I suddenly hit a wall and couldn’t/didn’t want to deal with tenants and handymen anymore.

“My literary agent shot down a new book idea. I feel somewhat unmoored. I’m taking the summer off, going to museums in San Francisco, reading Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit, using the library, and socializing like crazy, reaching out to other women writers, making up for years of self-denial and workaholism.

“I feel like I’m preparing a nest for something new, something unnamed. The lack of purpose is difficult. I’m redoing my estate plan and have picked a professional fiduciary to manage my trust rather than burdening my husband. I am childless but in a blended family, and want to provide, after my death, for a vulnerable brother. I’m also providing for the realistic possibility that I may become mentally incompetent before I die, and that is a difficult contemplation, even for someone who’s written two books about successful aging! I got a baseline assessment of my neuropsychological functioning (so that I and others can see when I skid and slip) and much to my surprise, given my forgetfulness with names and dates, passed with flying colors for my age and demographic. I’m hoping I still have 15 good years in front of me.

“I’m sure there’s another book in me, but while I await it, I guess I’m trying out what my father called ‘being on permanent holiday.’ Even my dreams are getting richer.

“Being a writer, I set my own terms and worked out of a home office for decades. I imagine this transition is not nearly as wrenching as it may be for people who went into an office.

“I’m learning to manage my energy rather than my time, and to do a little less per weekend. I swim for about an hour in the midafternoon, up to four times a week, and it gives me a huge energy boost plus I’m enjoying it mightily. Staying functional—even on a plateau—is a part-time job and a victory.”

Warren White’s transitions are: “I am active mentally and physically as a 12-year retiree from Wendy’s food service and corporate compensation management.

“(1) I walk and exercise almost daily, staying off of statin drugs.

“(2) I volunteer prep cook once a week for Richmond, Virginia’s, 34-county Feed More.

“(3) In September, I begin docent training at the renovated Virginia Museum of History & Culture, an interest that has continued since a WesU American Revolution seminar.

“(4) Occasionally I bake whole-grain fruit cake for grandnieces/nephews in Richmond and Denver.

“I hope other ‘Hoy’s Boys’ are happy, healthy, and doing what they like to do!”

Jim Rizza writes about his transitions: “I volunteered my time for four years doing residential electrical wiring with Habitat for Humanity and others in need. I volunteered as the director of the science and technology lab for a local school district, running a three-hour lab once a week for the best math and science students. Taught photography and served as a judge for statewide annual photo competition for three years. Published a few articles—guitar construction and history, photographs, other topics. I continue to study across a very broad range of interests with emphasis on teachings regarding the true nature of reality as revealed by our greatest spiritual masters and mystics over the past few thousand years as well as quantum physics and quantum gravity. I spend time almost every day playing the guitar and, on occasion, produce some original music. Have performed here and there, mostly for schools. Support our adult children and our granddaughters (four of them) with problem-solving help ranging from homework to building addition on to a house to resolving anxiety issues to organizing and establishing the business plans and ethics for conscious capitalism business ventures. I learned to fly small, general aviation aircraft. I do creative wood and metal fabrications. I meditate.”

Finally, Mark Wallach weighs in: “I’m still as far behind most of my classmates in imagination and openness to change as I was at Wesleyan. I’m still working as a litigator (though certainly not as hard as I did 20 years ago), singing in our community choral group (the Western Reserve Chorale), occasionally riding my bike (not a motorcycle, just a plain old bicycle). There are grandchildren—five of mine, three of Karla’s, so far—but they’re all out of town (all in the Maryland suburbs of D.C., to be precise) and therefore only occasionally filling our lives. We moved—how I hate the term ‘downsizing’ after this move—into a three-bedroom condo in a lovely, tree-lined collection of developments known picturesquely as ‘The Village.’ I’ve been trying for several years to find an appropriate volunteer position to do something substantive to combat climate change, but nothing much has come along yet. I keep trying. I don’t feel old. I want to make a ‘transition,’ but only on terms I like.”

Hope you found these interesting. Looking for more next time. Aloha!

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1960s2023/02/13

CLASS OF 1969 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Wes words . . . 1969

Ken and Visakha Kawasaki continue their active, anti-war, pro-environment lifelong passion.

Harold Davis wrote, “All’s well. Christine and I enjoy retirement. Just back from southern France. I serve on several philanthropy and health-care boards.”

Charlie Morgan is “working on a potential book about people’s rights and the interpretation of Massachusetts’s constitution. Grandson Jordan is a Marine on the USS Kearsarge. All other grandchildren are pursuing higher education. Life is good in southwest Florida where I play a lot of tennis.”

From Ron Reisner, “Sixties Dekes sponsored a tee box at Wesleyan’s annual basketball/golf outing—Dick Emerson ’68, Steve Knox, Jack Sitarz, Andy Gregor ’70, and I. We were all saddened by the passing of Coach Herb Kenny. Dennis Robinson ’79 remembered how Coach wanted good basketball and good scholarship and was delighted by our post-Wes lives. I am indebted to Coach for much of my success at Duke Law and subsequent legal career as a federal prosecutor, trial lawyer, and state court trial judge.”

Rick Pedolsky said, “Cilla and I summer in the Stockholm archipelago, running our business while swimming and wandering the woods, feasting on wild berries and mushrooms. Life is soft and easy. This year, two hours away are the horrors of the Ukraine. I remember Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History and the Last Man, which 30 years ago proclaimed the ascendancy of Western democracy. Hallelujah. Amen. Oh, what a world, what a world.”

Jim Drummond “practices criminal law more intensely than ever. I hope the Texas church is punished for bastardizing Hamilton with a sermon against same-sex relationships.”

Jim Adkins wrote, “Heading toward more normalcy. Delta COVID made me quite sick. All outside interactions stopped, except for phone and internet, cutting me off from the world for several months. Now, back to music and travel. Where we go from here is unknown. Hopefully us old farts will fare well.”

Steve Knox enjoys life in the mountains of North Carolina. “Asheville is kind of a blue oasis surrounded by red—much like Austin, Texas. We have very active artistic and musical communities, a UNC campus, a growing throng of pickleball enthusiasts, and some of the best public tennis courts I’ve ever seen.”

“Saw Ron Reisner, Jack Sitarz, Dick Emerson ’68, and Andy Gregor ’70 at the Friends of Wesleyan Men’s Basketball Golf Outing at the end of May. It’s always a fun event, and Coach Reilly is doing a great job. The team won NESCAC again this year. On a sad note, former coach Herb Kenny passed away recently. He was a great coach and an inspiration to all of his players.”

Pete Pfeiffer reported, “Bob Conkling’s memorial service was lovely. Many people paid respects to the brilliant, witty lawyer, housebuilder, and philosopher. My second book, Solastalgia, is available on Amazon.”

John Wilson said, “All is well and quiet in Ann Arbor. Nothing exciting to report.”

Stu Blackburn wrote, “My new novel, All the Way to the Sea, is set in a fictionalized Little Compton, Rhode Island, where I spent childhood summers. It’s hot on England’s South Coast. All are welcome to visit.”

Tom Earle “traveled 2,000 miles in my wife’s native Norway. We didn’t see a single pothole or stretch of broken pavement.”

Rip Hoffman “received an offer I couldn’t refuse. I’m out of retirement and serving as pastor of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, New Canaan, Connecticut.”

Doug Bell “announced two grandchildren—boy, 5, and girl, 1. All the best to classmates.”

Fred Coleman wrote, “Just had a week with three kids, three in-law spouses, and grandkids on Lake George. Also, a day with all my paternal cousins—family!!

“Wendy retired in January after 43 years as a behavioral pediatrician. I have cut back from 60 to 49 hours most weeks. The need for psychiatrists . . . only increases.

“Our Africa group, now with nine teams in six countries has only met by Zoom—monthly, co-learning webinars and yearly conference. I hope to be able to go in person in October.

“Wendy and I deferred her 75th–birthday trip from May 2020 to this last May 2022—a Viking River Cruise in the Rhone Valley. The safest we have been during COVID. Everyone—crew and passengers—PCR tested pre-launch, then daily rapid tests throughout, with immediate movement off ship to quarantine. Masked except at meals, with good spacing.”

Dave Dixon is “still urban planning for Stantec, mostly in the U.S. and Canada. We have four terrific grandsons and a wonderful family. Never a dull moment.”

John de Miranda said, “My son Colin is in Ecuador as a Peace Corps volunteer. The idealism and service philosophy inherent in Jack Kennedy’s 1961 creation is still alive and well.”

Steve HanseI “sold the Florida house and downsized in New Orleans. Nine grands. All okay in general.”

Steve Howard “retired from commercial and civil litigation to become a pinochle player in an active-adult (?) New Jersey community, Exit 8 (a). Beth and I celebrated 53 years together, which produced two great daughters and two even greater granddaughters. One in college, the other a high school senior. Tempus fugit.”

George Evans “celebrated 46 years with husband Mike Devine. Paris, fall ’22, will reprieve a ’68 Wesleyan study abroad trip. I remember senior year living with Ed Sonnino and Howard Brown in Lawn Avenue.”

George Evans (left) and Ed Sonnino (right), Rome 1970

George made me remember. Senior year on the top floor of Beta house with Bruce Williams ’70, Rick McGauley, John Lacouture, Robin King, Curt Allen ’71, and Bill Fornaciari ’70. Who am I missing? One bathroom. Women guests. Vietnam. I took lit and art classes? I worked for Saga and the music department. There were few cars on the campus, which simmered with graduate school plans, marriage, military, the getting on of our lives. A seminal event passed, now, as gently as a light breeze.

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1960s2023/02/11

CLASS OF 1968 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Caught up with Dan Wood ’67: As Nason Hamlin put it, Dan, inspired by the English exchange student, Peter Harborow ’64, along with the late Mike Tine ’67, “did foundational work that was not flashy but essential for the early crew—like convincing local utility to give us telephone poles for the construction of our dock.” Became an endocrinologist (Columbia and UConn); then two years practicing among Hopi and Navajo as an alternative to Vietnam. Moved to Bath, Maine, in 1978. Happily married to an attorney who practiced elder law. Two daughters: one a Yalie who rowed in U.S. national boat a couple of years. In retirement, he is helping build a reproduction of the Virginia, the first boat built by Englishmen in North America.

Rick Voigt recently published a novel, My Name on a Grain of Rice. From Amazon: “Harry Travers walks away from the manicured future his disintegrating, moneyed family had envisioned for him so that he could feel the rush of making something out of nothing. That something would be himself.” Eighty-four percent of the Amazon reviewers gave it five stars. The author is a lawyer (UVA). After working for the solicitor general in D.C., he moved to Connecticut and went into private practice focusing on workplace issues. In “retirement,” he has some college gigs (including Wes).

Vic Hallberg spent 11 years as a Lutheran minister serving parishes in Vermont and Minnesota (where, now retired, he lives) before shifting into the marketing of high-tech medical equipment. Vic has stayed close to Eric Conger, a Hoboken-based playwright, Bob Helsel, a retired IT consultant in Boulder, and Rick Voigt. The four of them (with wives) vacation together in, for example, the Adirondacks and Moab.

Amby Burfoot of Mystic, Connecticut, the 1968 winner of the Boston Marathon and former editor of Runner’s World, competed in his 59th consecutive Manchester (Connecticut) Road Race, a Thanksgiving Day event that draws about 10,000 runners from around the world. He said that any “lucky dude” can win Boston, but you have to be “pretty mean and gnarly” to run 59 Manchesters. He runs these days because he is not ready to “sit on the front porch and drink lemonade or something stronger.”

John Kepner, with a friend, is producing The Race to Social Justice podcast series. In one, John is interviewed on his coming to comprehend white privilege. Ray Solomon figures prominently in another. John’s hope is that candid, compelling discussions about race will help “each of us in our personal journey in addressing racism.” Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and others.

Jeff Talmadge, after 47 years in Wellesley, moved to East Orleans. Bob Ziegenhagen is living in an Episcopal senior living center in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Nice chat with Bill Currier ’69. Still learning things about one another. Bob Reisfeld’s older daughter made him a grandfather last year. His younger daughter got married in August. Though it irked the hell out of Ellen, Wallace Murfit became president of his rowing club, a position with a lot of work and no money that no one else would take. John Lipsky said all his children and all his grands live in Brooklyn. Bill Nicholson’s #1 son has retired. Bill hasn’t. Few years back, saw Peter Corbin, a renown, wildlife painter, who was in Jacksonville for a commission. Received Bill van den Berg’s holiday letter—a beautiful collage of photographs and text re his 2021. In June, Judy and I celebrated our 50th. Most meaningful accomplishment of my life.

Steve Beik died June 29, 2021, in Longwood, Florida. At Wes, a basketball player and ace tennis player (Pennsylvania State high school champion) who, in time, turned to golf. An attorney (Vanderbilt), he was a prominent figure in GOD TV, a worldwide “evangelical Christian media network” (Wikipedia). Described in his obituary as a quiet and reserved “yet passionate to see the Lord use the media to reach the lost.”

Mary Thompson, Greg Willis’s sister, wrote me: Greg died April 28, 2019, “by his own hand. . . .” The family believes the overwhelming power of PTSD finally caused him to take the actions he did. He served for 11 months on the ground in Vietnam and was never quite the same after those traumatic months. . . . Returning from Vietnam, he completed his MBA at Columbia then worked for the Bank of New York and Prudential Bache before retiring early to the family farm in Vermont. . . . He loved the land and walked almost all of it every day. . . . He became involved in the local Baptist church. . . . A train buff, he also collected antique farm tools, mostly from our family, farmers back through generations. He had a good life.”

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1960s2023/02/11

CLASS OF 1967 | 2022| FALL ISSUE

Classmates,

I did not make it to our 55th Reunion, but I sent a query out on the list serve to see who did, and what they could tell me about it. I did not get any emails about the reunion, so I conclude that either no one attended or that no one was willing to go public about the wild debauchery that took place. I did, however, get a cryptic email from Bob Dyer. For those of you unhappy where you are, and thinking of a nice place to retire, here is what Dyer wrote: “August issue of Kiplinger’s magazine lists Middletown, Connecticut, as one of seven great places to retire.”

Meanwhile, on the news front, I can tell you that Jim Kates, holed up in southwestern New Hampshire (“in idyllic seclusion”), published two books in the spring of 2022, one a translation of poems by the Russian poet Mikhail Yeryomin (Sixty Years: Black Widow Press), and the other a book of his own poems (Places of Permanent Shade: Accents).

And another Jim, Jim Cawse, wrote to tell me that he had retired at the beginning of 2022. He closed his consulting firm, Cawse and Effect (great name!). The company of 12 years worked with various other companies on a variety of problems, ranging, as Jim put it, “from plywood adhesives to passenger traffic through Gatwick Airport.” At the time he wrote (February 2022), he was waiting to have a knee replacement, but his local hospital was full of COVID patients, so he was not sure when he would be able to have the surgery. In fact, it took a while, but he now has had the knee replaced, and hopes to be cross-country skiing again soon.

George McKechnie, a retired clinical psychologist, has sold Axiom Home Tech in Monterey, California. Started 23 years ago, it specializes in custom audio and video design and installation (including home theaters). He now plans to devote his time to two new web-based businesses—one that helps consumers understand smart home technologies and how they can be custom-tailored to their needs, plus another business that matches people for friendship (not dating). He lives in Carmel with his wife Dee, who is also a retired clinical psychologist.

I saw the following in the Wesleyan Connection about Bill Klaber: “According to the Webby Awards, The MLK Tapes, a podcast written and hosted by William Klaber ’67, is the recipient of a 2022 Webby Award in the Best Limited Series category. For the past two years, Klaber has been working with Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Media on the podcast, which takes a deep dive into the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (May 1).” I listened to this one-hour podcast. I recommend that you check it out. It is dynamite.

As those of you keeping close track are aware, in recent sets of class notes I have taken the liberty to write about some guys in the classes behind us (Bud Smith, Gary Conger, John Wilson, all ’66) and ahead of us (Brian Frosh ’68). The 1966 class secretary has accused me of poaching. Here I continue to poach by telling you that my wife (Lisa Young) and I spent four days at a beach in South Carolina with Rick Voigt ’68, and his wife Annemarie Riemer. Rick, now retired from practicing law, has been teaching classes at Wesleyan at the Wasch Center since 2015. Among the titles of the classes he has taught are The Effort to Build an Affordable American Middle Class Home: A Design and Social History, and Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Edsel Ford: Two Communists and a Titan of Capitalism Confront the Realities of the Modern Industrial Workplace and Make Great Art. Rick has published a novel, My Name on a Grain of Rice (Atmosphere Press, 2021), which draws among other things on his work as a labor lawyer who once worked for OSHA.

More poaching: Bill Dietz ’66 (aka Doctor Doctor Dietz) received an honorary degree from McGill University for his work on nutrition and obesity. You can see him on a YouTube video, decked out in fancy robes, giving his super honorary degree speech to the faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at McGill (his beaming family in the front row) if you Google “Dietz” and “McGill” (or go here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9V-LR9VxBy4).

And, finally, this just in from Ed Simmons: Ed, a resident of Yarmouth, Maine, became the new board chair of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. He succeeds Maria Gallace ’84, a resident of Yarmouth. Founded in 1959, the Natural Resources Council is the largest environmental advocacy organization in Maine, with more than 25,000 members and supporters. Its mission is to protect, restore and conserve the nature of Maine, now and for future generations.

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1960s2023/02/11

CLASS OF 1966 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

We begin in admiration: Larry Duberstein has just published his 10th novel, The Hospice Singer—in Larry’s words, “a tale revolving around the unexpected connection between one of the singers (part of a small choir offering in-home concerts to the terminally ill) and a beautiful and mysteriously lively young ‘client.’ The connection develops into a long and winding story with passages of amateur detection, cross-country picaresque, shifting relationships, and surprising resolutions. The intriguing but little-known phenomenon of hospice concerts can be seen as uplifting or depressing—it’s both, really.” Larry goes on to pay tribute to Richard Wilbur, pointing out “something very special about the man . . . his extreme generosity regarding what poets might choose to do, how they might approach the art . . . I was playing around with the [William Carlos] Williams’s sort of poem and never once did he say a discouraging word, either about the folly of skinny uber-objectified lines or about the fact that mine stunk. He simply made his comments as though intrigued and curious, maybe made a suggestion or two, and went along with the pretense that I was writing poetry. ‘Generous’ barely touches it. The word ‘kindness’ sits very close by, and it is, these days, a rare word and a rarer trait. . . .”

Gary Conger is “still in touch with John Wilson (almost daily), Cliff Shedd, Bill Boynton, and Bill Gernert. We had a reunion of the Fab Five (or the Eclectic basement rats) in Boynton’s Arizona home in 2018.” Gary is “happy to report that I and many loved ones have survived (so far) the COVID pandemic,” that his new “lady friend” has inspired “me to read War and Peace. I’m currently on page 1,169.” Gary’s son, Nick (41), “works for Biden’s EPA as their press secretary. He’s been a soldier for animal protection and the environment since he graduated college. My daughter, Laura (39), has become a nurse practitioner. She is married to a quite successful banker and now independent entrepreneur. They have given me two incredibly energetic grandsons, now ages 6 and 4.” Gary “still remember[s] fondly that truncated academic year” he and I spent in Kuwait, truncated because we wrote and distributed widely an eight-page mimeographed satire on life in Kuwait. A few days later the American ambassador, fearing prosecution, got us out of Kuwait.”

Rick Crootof, Essel Bailey, and Sandy Van Kennen attended the 55th Reunion of the Class of 1967 and our 56th. Rick writes that he and Essel had “a great dinner” with the Board of Trustees, that he “talked with over a dozen students . . . all of whom are at least double majors, some triple! All polite and engaging. They all must have taken theater courses, because they were so convincingly interested in what I had to say about the ‘old days.’” He and Sandy got in a swim, Rick “looking for a flip turn lesson… Sandy and I told every student we met on campus or shar[ed] a meal [with], to make sure they walk

into some professor they liked and say ‘Hey, can we hang out?’. . . . Saturday night Sandy and I had dinner for 2 1/2 hours with author Robin Cook ’62! That was exciting.” Having fond memories, I asked Rick to send me a photograph from the pitcher’s mound.

Rick and Linda and Jack Knapp and his wife Carla, had plans “to embark on our fourth iteration of a Viking Cruise to Scotland and Norway” in mid-June only to be disappointed because of canceled flights.”

For Paul Gilbert “there hasn’t been much travel or getting together in the last couple of years,” pointing out that the “recent losses of friends and family has a sobering effect,” a feeling many of us share. Paul “had scheduled a series of books on transitions in life but I kind of lost my mojo in the COVID lockdown . . . . Now at 78, I’m just concentrating on daily pleasures and helping my wife who is 13 years younger, to plan her retirement from the practice of law next February. We’ll become a little more mobile then but having three cats will probably prevent us from taking a round-the-world cruise.”

Jeff Nilson hasn’t “left the Cape except for trips to Lexington to see our daughter, son-in-law, and grandsons, Isaac and William. Cape Cod has all the beauty and art that I need. So, I don’t mind sticking close to home.” Jeff includes “one of my silly math verses”:

The Numbers That Wanted to Be Counted Backwards

Sally the hen wanted to count to 10.

“I will count forward like other hens.

I’ll start at 1 and go quickly to 10.

And I shall do it again and again.”

“Not so fast,” said Sally’s numbers.

“WE like counting from 10 to 1.

No regular counting for us.

Counting backwards is much more fun.”

Sally breathed and swelled up her chest.

“I shall count forward; that is that.”

“We’ll run away,” her numbers cried.

Sally said, “You’re acting like brats.”

Sally began to count.

She shouted, “1!”

The 1 started to run.

It said, “Being counted forward is no fun.”

She yelled, “2! 3!”

The 2 and the 3 started to fuss.

They said, “You shouldn’t have counted either of us.”

She screamed, “4! 5!”

The 4 and the 5 tried to hide.

“We’ll never be counted forward,” they cried.

Sally shrieked, “6! 7!”

The 6 and the 7 hid in a shack.

They said to Sally, “We’ll never come back.”

Sally yelled, “8! 9!”

The 8 and 9 climbed a tree.

The 9 said to Sally, “You’ll never count the 8 or me.”

Then Sally felt badly about screaming so loud.

She missed the sign that said, “No yelling allowed.”

Realizing that screaming had done her no good.

She resolved to whisper to be understood.

Then Sally the hen whispered, “10.”

The 10 said to Sally the hen,

“The numbers will return

If you count backwards from 10.”

Will you help Sally the hen

Count backwards to 1 from 10?

Please put the missing numbers in the blanks.

Sally will offer you her deepest “Thanks.”

10, __?___, 8, 7, __?__, 5, __?__, __?___ 2, 1.

And he had his grandson send the following cartoon:

Jeff Nilson’s grandson Isaac provides an update on his grandparents.

Clark Byam “retired at end of last year after 49 years of practice with same law firm. Now play some golf, hike in hills where we live almost daily. Also keep in touch with my three kids. Son lives about 5 miles from me; two daughters live in Texas. Also follow stock market.”

Andy Kleinfeld tells us that “Amazingly and very fortunately, I have no interesting news, not even any uninteresting news.” But Andy’s no news turns out to be great news. He is still working, but not too hard, as a circuit judge; he and Judy, “married in 1967,” continue to enjoy their dream home, “a log house on a hill with a view of Mt. McKinley (now Denali),” which they bought in 1974; and “all three of our kids are grown and doing fine, as are our six grandchildren. We very much appreciate our good luck.”

Andy goes on to write: “We were also damned lucky to get so fine an education at Wesleyan. My law clerks mostly have gone to elite schools, but generally are not as well educated as we are. My kids managed to learn a lot in college but could easily have wasted the opportunities. I suspect that much of the deficiency I see in my law clerks is because the schools let them take whatever courses they want, so their course selection is by uneducated people, themselves. I think one of the things we paid for and received was the excellent guidance from the faculty on what to study, and not just the studies themselves.

“We also benefited a lot from the tolerance for different points of view and lack of censoriousness (maybe Nelson Polsby was kind of hard on institutionalists in his campaign for behaviorism, but that was healthy). E. J. Nell taught us neoclassical economics so well one might imagine that he was not a Marxist (though he taught that well too). Dick Buel, Reggie Bartholomew—wow—I can still quote them (and do). And I still think about imperialism with Barber and Butler, where we learned what happened and what people thought at the time, rather than learning only that it was bad. I sure miss our classmates and professors who are gone. I still think of Pete Spiller. As do, I’m sure, the girls he romanced from time to time.”

In response to David Griffith’s reminiscence in our last class notes, Andy assures us that “it wasn’t me who fell asleep in Professor Reynolds’s class.”

Barry Thomas enjoyed David’s account of Rip Reynolds’s class, writing: “What marvelous reminiscence from Jack Knapp and reflection from David Griffith! I was not in that class but, as a fellow public schooler, feel a great sense of empathy with Jack. And now, after 55 years or so, can enjoy David’s wry humor. For me, the revelation came in freshman English with a young professor whose name I do not remember—a really fine professor and, as it turned out, a very nice fellow. It was the poetry. I did not have a clue. ‘The horror! The horror!’” The professor was James Lusardi, whom many of us remember with great affection.

“Granddaughter Madeline,” Tom Pulliam writes, “will attend University of Hawaii and study marine biology. I have emailed Hardy Spoehr to let him know and told Madeline and her family what a wonderful person he is, encouraging them to make contact with him. I got new hip in April to go with couple of bionic knees, everything working fine. Just back from trip to Montana and North Dakota; Montana to see longtime rugby teammate who built a home in Paradise Valley near Livingston, and also to catch up with old high school classmate in Bozeman. Alice and I had great time with both of them, then headed to her hometown of Fargo for memorial service to celebrate life of her older sister.

“In few days heading to Lake Almanor in northeastern California for vacation with kids (our son and daughter, his girlfriend and daughter’s family); have been going there 40-plus years now, and it thankfully has changed very little. In September my old Pleasantville, New York, high school class will hold a reunion in Healdsburg, California (Sonoma Valley), which should be interesting, and also a great deal of fun.

“Other than that, just loving being involved in grandkids’ lives. They live about seven minutes away and the boys (ages 15, 12, and 9) are outstanding athletes, baseball and soccer in the summer. In fall rugby will replace baseball. Life is very good.

“Read with sadness of the death of John Driscoll ’62, who was from my hometown of Pleasantville where he coached me in football when I was about 12. He was a magnificent human being who helped many, many Wesleyan students successfully navigate that awkward four-year period of their lives. Those of you who knew him might be interested in watching video of his retirement ceremony on YouTube. I made donation to the Freeman Driscoll Endowed Scholarship Fund in his memory.”

At its spring convocation ceremony, McGill University awarded Dr. William Dietz the degree of Doctor of Science Honoris Causa. Congratulations to Bill on this fitting recognition of his many and longstanding contributions to understanding and helping to treat childhood obesity.

We end with this inspiring note and “small whimsy” from Daniel Lang who continues to teach, publish, and contribute as an administrator. “Next month I will start a three-year term on the Board of Directors at King’s University College. I find it somewhere between amusing and puzzling that some people still think that I know what I am talking about. My public economics and finance graduate course begins again in September. . . . Two papers have been cranked out for publication. Two more are on the way.” Dan’s “small whimsy” is a gem, ever so telling about our lives at Wesleyan in 1962–1963. Note that the professor is Lusardi.

A Swinger of Birches

“Wesleyan, when I was there, was preppy. Many of my classmates were from private schools. Most were from upper middle class professional families. Almost all of them were better prepared academically and more sophisticated than I was. In an odd, self-defeating exercise Wesleyan let you know this. Remember Hess Haagen? The results of a battery of tests, as well as academic statistics from high school, were assembled for each student in comparison with the averages for each entering class. This ensured that those who were insecure to begin with stayed that way with the knowledge that they were at best average. So I did not think that my personal experiences had anything to add to discussions in or outside class.

“About two-thirds of the way through freshman English there was an exception. The professor, a man recently from Yale named James Lusardi, assigned the Robert Frost poem, Birches, about ‘swinging’ birch trees. The usual class discussion ensued, with all sorts of literary metaphors about the deeper meaning of this or that. This had been going on for some time when Professor Lusardi abruptly interjected in his characteristic booming voice, ‘Doesn’t anyone here know what Frost is talking about?’ Well, I did!

“On Ledge Farm, where I grew up in Rhode Island, there was a field separate from all the others. It was called the White Field. I don’t know why. I think that the name had something to do with the huge number of small rocks that were turned up every time the field was plowed. It was a new field, one edge of which went right up to a steep ledge that dropped off about 100 feet into one of Fred Babbitt’s fields below.

“It wasn’t really a new field. It was reclaimed from a field that at one time was much larger and had been allowed to go wild. It was new in the sense that it had been re-cleared in my grandfather’s time. So the trees that grew around the field were young, and were more hardwoods than white pines, which made up the woods on most other forested places on the farm. There were plenty of young birches, not much more that saplings, 25- to 30-feet tall.

“One of my jobs in the summertime was to take a lunch pail—it was like a little milk can with a cover and bale—to my grandfather when he was working in a field far away from the house. The White Field was about a half mile down the road. Grandpa Manfred had a playful side to him. After his lunch he pointed over to a birch tree on the edge of the field and said that it would be a good tree for swinging. My first thought was ‘Where’s the swing?’ I thought he was teasing me with a joke.

“‘No,’ he said, ‘the tree is the swing.’ He was in his late 50s at the time with a bad arm from polio, but he climbed about two thirds of the way up the tree and began to rock back and forth until the tree started to sway 6 feet or so either direction. Birches, at least when they are young, evidently are very elastic. Then he lifted me up into the tree so that I could climb the rest of the way. The top of the tree was so whippy that it didn’t take long to figure out how to make it swing. After that, it was something that I always looked forward to at the farm. I learned, painfully, that other trees were more brittle than birches and would snap without warning. I also learned that even birches would snap if you tried to swing them in the winter.

“That’s why I knew what Robert Frost was talking about, and that my better-schooled classmates didn’t. Professor Lusardi, who intended his question to be rhetorical, was gobsmacked.”

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1960s2023/02/11

CLASS OF 1965 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Art Rhodes: “Sorry that I won’t be coming to Homecoming—too much going on in Chicago and New Orleans, homes of our extended family. I stopped seeing patients (Rush University Medical Center) in November 2019, after 20 years at that institution, and fully retired from medicine November 2020, after 50 years of academic medicine (Harvard, University of Pittsburgh, and Rush Medical College). Spending time with wife Leslie Newman (accomplished artist and designer), extended family, renovating a house in the Chicago suburbs, and getting back to photographic activities (see ‘Papazaydeh’ on Instagram for posted photographs). Leslie and I greeted our 11th grandchild on July 24, a vibrant and healthy boy. Two other grandchildren entered their freshman year in college, and a third grandchild entered their senior year in college. Wishing my classmates health and happiness in our remaining years during these tumultuous times.”

Peter Kelman: “What a strange last couple of years it’s been. So far, my wife (Therese) and I and most (but not all) of our family have managed to make it through two years of the pandemic without becoming infected (as far as we know). During the first two months of the pandemic, I wrote and published a blog that sought to deconstruct and clarify the mixed messages coming from public health officials, scientists, and self-proclaimed experts across the political and philosophical spectrum (like the OR doc from Wisconsin who scared everyone about touching anything that came into our homes). The blog had attracted some 600 subscribers by the time I closed it down in early May 2020, when our Vermont governor and State Department of Health began to hold twice-weekly press conferences in which they explained the science behind their recommendations and occasional edicts. In late June 2020, we bought a new, age-in-place suitable home in Montpelier and the following May we sold our prior sweet, little, but totally unsuitable, home on the other side of town. (In both buying and selling, we managed to time the crazy Vermont home sales market just about perfectly.) During the winter of 2021, when it seemed to many that the pandemic would never end, I organized and hosted a Zoom get-together of 100 members of my Staples High School graduating class for what would otherwise have been the year of our 60th Reunion; among the more than 20 excellent speakers were our Wesleyan classmates Jerry Melillo and Ted Dreyfus. In June, I celebrated my 78th birthday with a Zoom gathering of another 70 or so friends and relatives spanning most of my lifetime. Meanwhile, for the past two years, rather than despairing about the deterioration of civility and empathy in our nation, I’ve focused locally, organizing neighbors and other Montpelier residents around issues of concern regarding housing, homelessness, and growing inequality in our city and region. Lately, most of my reading has been written by contemporary, POC, hyphenated Americans, many of whom are women, rather than the dead white male authors we read almost exclusively during our years at Wesleyan. As a result, I am learning much that I never learned in all my 20 years of formal education, and I am becoming more aware of my own narrow understandings as a privileged white male. I particularly commend to you several works of fiction: How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue; The Sentence by Louise Erdrich; No-No Boy by John Okada; Passing by Nella Larson, and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, as well two very important works of nonfiction—Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American, which I receive by email and read every morning, and last but not least The 1619 Project created by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, a compendium of Black history and culture that has shifted my understanding of America like no other book I have ever read.”

Bob Barton: “I want to share the story and image below. These help me stave off depression over the ongoing flood of negative realities—COVID, environmental disaster, Ukraine, the ease with which one man rallied millions to help him nearly destroy our democracy, the derailment of the Supreme Court, my arthritis, etc. Last year, before the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, Brian Resnick wrote: ‘The largest space telescope in history is about to blow our minds <https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22664709/james-webb-space-telescope-launch-date-december-science-hubble>.’ He now considers his mind blown. NASA has finally revealed its first images from the space-based observatory. These images are decades in the making and come after years of delays and budgets being blown. <https://www.planetary.org/articles/cost-of-the-jwst#:~:text=The%20James%20Webb%20Space%20Telescope%20(JWST)%20is%20expected%20to%20cost,support%20five%20years%20of%20operations.> But they do not disappoint. Consider this fraction of the very first image released by the space agency: What makes this image so mind-blowing is how small it is, and how large it is, at the same time. It’s small in the sense that this image represents only a teensy tiny portion of the night sky. Imagine you are holding out a grain of sand at arm’s length. The area of sky that grain covers— that’s double the size of the area captured in the above image. But it’s huge in the sense that nearly every object in this image is a galaxy (besides the bright spiky starburst, which is a star in the foreground). Think about that: In every pinprick of sky, there are thousands and thousands of galaxies, at least.”

An update for the Geoff Geiser family: “We are living the good retiree life. Carole and I celebrated our 56th wedding anniversary in June. We spend winters at our primary residence in Churchville, Pennsylvania (Bucks County). Our summer residence is in Long Beach Township, Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Our two children, Erik and Lynn, and their families, are doing well. Our four grandchildren are also thriving. Zachary will be the last to graduate from college, one more semester to go. We look forward to our get-togethers during the holidays and at the beach house. This can be difficult considering all of their busy schedules. If any classmate is in either area, give us a call. Stay well. Geoff”

John Graves: “Dear Classmates, it seems like ages since I reconnected with many of you during our 50th! We’ve managed to survive two presidential elections, an insurrection at our nation’s Capital, a rapidly evolving pandemic, and the sad losses of several of our teachers and classmates. I was particularly saddened to hear of the losses of Professor John Maguire and his protégé, our dear friend and classmate Ron Young, both of whom were truly inspiring leaders.

“Meanwhile, I published my memoir, Lessons on the Road to Hope: A Psychiatrist’s Journey, Stillwater River Press (2020), now available in paperback on Amazon. In early chapters, I describe how I suffered from my first depression in my sophomore year at Wes, which forced me to drop out of my pre-med classes (later completed at Columbia). I transitioned, while at Union Theological Seminary, to entertaining a vocation in the ministry, rediscovering my interest in medicine, entering medical school, doing research in transplant surgery, and ultimately choosing psychiatry.

“I’ve been happily retired since 2016 from a general adult private practice involving teaching residents, running outpatient groups for men and bipolar patients, consulting and taking leadership roles in several public and private agencies, and treating a fascinating variety of patients with an individualized, eclectic approach.

“I’ve also had the pleasure of reconnecting with Fred Joseph and his lovely wife Anne for some incredible fly-fishing last fall in Estes Park (thanks again, Fred). I relished the opportunity to attend a Zoom session with Rob Abel, his young Wes protégé, Zoe Garvey ’20, and Hugh Wilson focusing on various psychiatric and cognitive syndromes associated with eye diseases. Bob Bast and I spoke at length following his reading of my memoir. He, not surprisingly, reported that he is revising the 11th edition of his definitive oncology text and continues, in his late 70s, to see clinic patients and train residents and fellows at MD Anderson. What a distinguished career!

“After a recent scary experience of mini-strokes, carotid surgery, followed by COVID-19 contracted in the hospital post-op, and an infusion of monoclonal antibodies, I’m resuming my walks, piano playing, and looking forward to resuming fly-fishing next month, as well as visiting shut-ins from my church parish. Life is good and I feel blessed to be alive.”

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1960s2023/02/11

CLASS OF 1964 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Here is some news and updates from ’64ers.

David Skaggs writes: “Three-quarters of the legendary white-shoe law firm POSH (Puner, Oleskey, Skaggs & Howard) convened at Jim Howard’s home in LA in March. Nick couldn’t make it, but Steve, Jim, and I had a splendid weekend together. The law firm never actually existed, but our imagination of it has been rich. My wife Laura and I attended the opening of a wonderful exhibit of paintings by Stan Lewis ’63 in May at the Betty Cunningham Gallery in NYC. Stan was his usual irrepressible self, held in some check by his lovely wife Karen. Much reminiscence about times Smith and Wes chorus and glee club sang together under the direction of Dick Winslow and Iva Dee Hyatt.”

Ken Woodrow shares: “I’ve spent most of my post-Wes life in Northern California, practicing psychiatry and teaching at Stanford. While my wife Wendy and I do a little more traveling, I’m not quite ready to retire yet.

“My daughter Laura, also graduated Wesleyan in 1997 and is now practicing osteopathic medicine in Marin, California.”

From Russ Messing: “I am now officially retired from at least 40 years of being a clinical psychologist. Now I spend my time writing poetry. I am currently writing my fifth book of poetry, all self-published. (I am more than willing to send copies of them to anyone who asks.) I love writing (my senior thesis at Wesleyan was cleverly entitled “Eight Short Stories”). Thank-yous to Joe and Kit Reed for supporting me in my first creative writing endeavors!

“These days I spend my Saturday mornings selling my award-winning olive oil at the Healdsburg Farmers Market—oil from our olive orchard of over 700 trees. Over 45 years ago my wife Arlene and I moved up to Sonoma County into a 30 x 30 log cabin (red-painted redwood logs and tin roof) onto a piece of remote land with a good-sized pond, redwoods, oak, and madrone. (We still split our own wood for our woodstove.) In the ensuing years we (Arlene is the visionary and the doer of this ‘project’) have created a true paradise—enlarging the house, having our two children born on the land, hosting kids from Synergy School (the elementary school that I co-founded in San Francisco) for their annual week of ‘Farm School.’ Now in my dotage, and no longer being a ‘shrink,’ I continue to write. I am a super-proud grandpa of six incredible ‘kids’ ranging from 21 to 4, and am embraced, taught, and supported by my/our three adult children.

“Right now a west wind sways the trees.”

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1960s2023/02/11

CLASS OF 1963 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Several classmates wrote in with news:

Jack Jarzavek said, “I thought I would write the following for the next issue of the alumni magazine.

WANTED: I bought paperback faculty picture books my freshman through junior years. These had pictures of the current faculty with their degrees and dates of beginning teaching at Wesleyan. When we moved from our house to our apartment, they got lost in the shuffle. If anyone has copies and is going to throw them away, please send them my way. Thanks, Jack Jarzavek

“Not a lot of news. There is now a second recipient of the Jarzavek Teaching Chair at the Rivers School where I taught for 40 years. We are still cooking up a storm and doing research on dance in 17th-century French baroque opera. My collection of 15,000 LPs and 5,000 CDs of opera and classical vocal recitals will now be digitized by National Archives and made available to libraries. I gave the collection to the Rivers Conservatory. Best, Jack.”

Len Edwards wrote, “My wife and I spend much of the summer in Truckee, California, a little north of Lake Tahoe. We hope that forest fires will not smoke us out as they did last summer.

“The San Francisco Bay Area continues to celebrate the Golden State Warriors and their surprising NBA title. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are local heroes. The second edition of my juvenile court book is selling nicely—however, the audience is limited to judges and attorneys who work in juvenile court—not a large group. I continue to work with Health Management Associates in a project to reduce the impact of opioids in California. The death rates from overdoses continues to rise. My golf continues to deteriorate, but I haven’t given up. I’m hoping to attend our 60th next year, but need to know if anyone else will show up.”

Walt Pilcher sent in this update: “Carol and I moved to River Landing, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in High Point, North Carolina, in 2020 after 30 years in next-door Greensboro, and we are loving it. Some say it’s like being on a stationary cruise ship because there are five restaurants, a pool, a nine-hole golf course, a well-equipped fitness center and gym, planned excursions, and more activities than we can keep up with. No casino, of course, but we don’t miss that. Outside, I’m still on the boards of three faith-based nonprofits and preaching the occasional guest sermon at our church. Inside, Carol still paints and sold several pieces in an exhibition here in May/June, while I continue to write. My publisher is planning a big promotion in September involving a dozen of their authors, including me, with my comedy novel, The Accidental Spurrt: A Mark Fairley Mystery, and its follow-on in the series, Killing O’Carolan, which will have been launched by the time you are reading this. Both are hilarious and getting great reviews. I taught a three-session course on creative writing here last fall and this spring, which was a lot of fun. For me, as with many of us, this season of life has been vastly different from what I envisioned looking ahead from 1963. Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Russell E. Richey is dean emeritus of Candler School of Theology and William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Church History emeritus. He currently serves as visiting professor of Methodism at Duke Divinity School. Russ is on the editorial boards of Methodist History, Journal of Southern Religion, and New Room Books, and he is general editor of the online Methodist Review. Richey’s most recent books are Methodism in the American Forest, Oxford University Press, 2015, and A Church’s Broken Heart: Mason-Dixon Methodism, New Room Books/General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 2021.

Don Sexton shared: “During the summer I had a major solo show of my paintings in lower Manhattan, Great Cities of the World—more than 50 works. Through 2023 I have several other solo shows scheduled for New York and for Connecticut. Please visit my website for dates and details: www.sextonart.com. I am also beginning a new career, stand-up comedy. I joined an improv group to stay alert during these later years, then started doing stand-up as well—have performed stand-up in midtown Manhattan and elsewhere. Great fun for me and—I think and hope—for the audience. My wife will retire soon from the NYC Department of Education and we plan a lot of travel, to favorite cities and to new places. We are considering moving to Paris although that would likely affect my stand-up career unless my French and my French sense of humor improve markedly.”

Dave Snyder writes: “Since retiring from my business (remanufacturing ink jets and toner cartridges) some 15 years ago, I’ve been involved with three nonprofits. The first, TCP Global, is involved in microloans in the developing world. We started out in Colombia, and then expanded into Guatemala, where my wife Sally and I had served in the Peace Corps, immediately prior to coming to HBS. Subsequently, we went into Peru, 11 countries in Africa, and Nepal. The second nonprofit is Casa Colibri. We work with the Mayans in northwest Guatemala. We built a medical clinic there in 2009 and continue to go there three times a year on medical missions. The third nonprofit, TGHI (The Thelma Gibson Health Initiative), works here in the Miami area providing a variety of services to underserved, low-income residents in the area.”

And from Thomas McKnight: “Nothing makes me happier than wrestling with my muse every afternoon to the accompaniment of my beloved bel canto operas—well-known composers like Bellini and Donizetti, but even rarer ones like Pacini and Marchetti. Like my art they are somewhat out of fashion and maybe that’s why we are on the same wavelength.

“Mornings I’ve been reading a lot about what happens after death and reincarnation—subjects speeding toward me like a train without an engineer. Evenings are for solace. During the pandemic my wife Renate expanded her cuisine repertoire, and we now feast on Japanese and Indian dishes along with her Austrian and Italian standbys. And then there is Netflix!

“Some paintings are currently in an exhibition at the Litchfield (Connecticut) Historical Society, Artists of Litchfield, a historical survey of which I am one of the most recent exemplars. More will be shown at a retrospective of sorts at the Mattituck Museum in Waterbury (Connecticut) opening in June 2023.”

Class Notes, Class Notes | 1960s2023/02/11

CLASS OF 1962 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Pandemic concerns cruelly limited in-person attendance for our 60th Class Reunion, but we were still well represented by Robin Cook (also there to celebrate the graduation of his son Cameron ’22, exactly 60 years after his own), Joel Teaford and his wife Maggie, and Hank Sprouse. Hank reports that attendance was very sparse for all the older classes, and that in the alumni parade he, Joel, and Maggie were second in line behind only three intrepid members from the Class of 1952.

Hank Sprouse (l.) and Joel Teaford (r.) at the Alumni Parade at R&C in May 2022.

Hank further reported that his sadness about the absence of old friends at the reunion was partially mitigated by “a wonderful feeling of comfort and sense of belonging” as well as gratitude for his experiences at Wesleyan. In passing he visited the beautiful wood carving of a pair of northern cardinals that he had presented to Wesleyan 10 years ago at our 50th Reunion, and which remains on display just outside the faculty dining room in the Usdan University Center.

Cardinals bird carving donated to Wesleyan by Hank Sprouse.

(Ed. note: I can personally attest that Hank’s internationally recognized bird-carving career is still going strong, and for many examples of his work you can visit his impressive website at http://www.hanksduckdecoys.com.)

As partial consolation for our pandemic woes, Mike Schramm from the Office of Advancement graciously organized and monitored a Zoom “social hour” for interested classmates shortly before Reunion. The participants were Bruce Calder, Dick Dubanoski, Ray Fancher, Jim Gately, Bob Gelardi, Mike Hackman, Bob Hunter, John Huss, Dave Irwin, Bill Jefferys, Bob Krugman, Bruce Menke, Gene Peckham, Mike Riley, Bob Saliba, Joel Teaford, Rick Tuttle, and Len Wilson. Dick Dubanoski placed our meeting in historical context by noting that the 60th-year alumni he saw in our own graduation parade of 1962 had graduated in 1902 and been born around 1880, so collectively we represented nearly a century and a half of life experience. Everyone appreciated this opportunity to see and briefly hear from one another, and at the end, several asked if we could share email addresses. Mike Schramm replied that explicit consent was required for the sharing of addresses and started a list of those who provided it. The list has been passed to me, and now contains more than 30 names with addresses. Anyone wishing to be added to it—that is, to have their name and email address added to a list that will be shared with other classmates so inclined—should let me know.

In other class news, Robin Berrington reports that for him in formal retirement, cultural life continues unabated, and his activities have included serving as a docent offering public tours at D.C.’s National Museum of Asian Art; acting as a board member of the Contemporary American Theater Festival in West Virginia; and arranging at home in D.C. a successful showing and sale of contemporary Japanese prints brought down from New York by a friend. Upcoming in September is a tour of a Chinese rural folk house that was rebuilt near the Shenandoah River of West Virginia, and which hopefully will be used for cultural and educational exchange programs between the U.S. and China, “something that is keenly needed nowadays.” Finally, he is planning for next spring’s Japan Bowl, the nationwide competition for American high school students of the Japanese language. He reports that “the enthusiasm of the young students who come to D.C. for the finals rounds is very contagious and is something reassuring to see.”

John Hazlehurst writes, “Not much to report, other than my continuing gratitude for reasonable health, my fabulous spouse Karen, and our three dogs including two puppies. Still writing a weekly newspaper column and actually getting paid for it. Sorry to miss the reunion, but maybe we can all mega-geeze for the 70th!” I should add that John’s highly engaging columns are available online at https://www.csbj.com/users/profile/john%20hazlehurst/ and are definitely worth a look.

Dave Hedges reports that he and Ann sold their home in Rochester, New York, and now have a condo in Ft. Myers, Florida, (where they live for half the year), while also spending about three months in Corvallis, Oregon, (where Ann’s son has a house with a nice apartment for their use), and summer in their cottage on Raquette Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Park and Judy Blatchford also have a summer home nearby, so he connects with them every year. The graduation from Gettysburg College of a granddaughter prompted visits with Phil and Janet Calhoun in nearby Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as well as with his close friend, fraternity brother, and Wesleyan roommate Ted Hillman, now living in unfortunately declining health in a retirement home in the Pittsburgh area. Dave remarks that “four of my six grandchildren have now graduated from college making me feel quite elderly”—a sentiment that will resonate with many of us.

Congratulations to Bob Gelardi, who chaired the Charity Relations Committee of the Destin, Florida, Charity Wine Auction Foundation as it raised “the largest amount ever, $3,700,000, to 16 local charities for children in need.” This was the third-largest wine auction in the nation, in a town of only 15,000 people.

Vin Hoagland, now retired from teaching chemistry at Sonoma State University, “loves living in Northern California after growing up in New England.” His wife is an accomplished dressage rider with an outstanding horse, while Vin finds his locale great for bike riding and normally covers about 250 miles a month doing errands or visiting friends. In July, however, he suffered a fall coming off a bike path onto a bike lane on a street, which restricted riding for several weeks but did not prevent him from continuing to teach AARP Safe Driver classes at local senior centers.

Charlie Murkofsky still maintains his full-time psychiatric office practice while also spending time visiting six grandchildren and their parents in dispersed places including Hawaii and Texas. He and his wife Susan “got lucky with COVID, which we both had pre-vaccine without severe illness.” He is “still trying, notwithstanding resistance from my lower back, to stay active with skiing and tennis and to keep the noggin going with French lessons and puzzles. I find it very sobering and sad thinking of our dwindling numbers.”

I must conclude with two sad notes. Bill Oliver reported that his fellow DKE brother and lifelong friend Jack McCarron passed away in March. His obituary can be found at:

https://godfreyfuneralhomes.com/tribute/details/2336/John-McCarron/obituary.html.

And many of you will already have learned of the passing of John Driscoll, who together with his wife Gina served Wesleyan so wonderfully for many years in the alumni office. For tribute and details go to:

https://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2022/06/27/driscoll-62-remembered-for-his-extraordinary-service-to-wesleyan/.