Bill Gerber sent in this update: “Steve Elbaum and his wife, Jill, was part of a group that recently acquired Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury, Vermont, near Stowe. Still practicing law in Stamford, Connecticut, Steve and Jill spend many weekends at the mill. John McIntyre, John Brais, Dave Patterson, and I visited [recently] and we were incredibly impressed by how fluent Steve has become in cider production! While there we FaceTimed with Nic Pifer.”
Tavy Ronen shared: “I am still happily living in Manhattan, near Lincoln Center. I have been at Rutgers for almost three decades and am a professor of finance, specializing in market microstructure and corporate bonds. About 10 years ago, I launched a set of Business of Fashion programs for Rutgers Business School, and I get to occasionally hang out with fashion executives and attend New York Fashion Week events. 😊 My daughter is still in grad school nearby, so I feel very lucky to get to spend a lot of time with her. She is, by far, my most notable single-authored work.
Tavy Ronen (left), daughter, Romy Ronen (right), NY Fashion Week, Fall 2023
“As we collectively approach our 60th birthday, I think often of Sara Williams, whom so many of us loved dearly. As most of us know, she died so young and tragically. Last month I sat in the Key Park at Gramercy Park, beneath the building she grew up in, and wondered where she would have been now.”
Marc Rosner wrote: “In just one month: 60 candles, wedding bells, and a retirement incentive from Hastings-on-Hudson schools. Four decades supporting science is enough; Diane and I are retiring to build appraisals, restoration, and sales at Hudson Valley Numismatics. (Who knew WESU senior Silversmithing would ignite a second career?) Recently had lunch with Amy Grossman ’88. Always texting Alex Rothman, Andrew Zeller, and Dave Warne.”
And speaking of Alex Rothman, he wrote: “How time flies. Somehow Nina and I are now entering our 30th year in Minneapolis; long enough that our two sons are now off and have found their way (back) to the East Coast. Fortunately, life does lead me back to New York, and on a trip this past March, [I] had a great day eating and wandering about NYC with Dave Warne and Andrew Zeller.
Wandering the streets of NYC, from left to right, Alex, Dave, and Andrew
Tierney Sutton updates us too:“The last few years have found me continuing to record and tour with several projects. The Tierney Sutton Band is still going strong and we’ve opened up to some wonderful new personnel. (My last run in New York featured the great Lenny White on drums [Chick Corea and Return to Forever]). I have also done several tours of the U.S. and Europe with the Paris Sessions trio, which features my husband, Serge Merlaud, on guitar. (We split our time between Paris and Los Angeles when not on the road.)
“March 1, 2024, I released a new album, Good People, which is a collaboration between me and the San Gabriel Seven, a horn-based band that has done projects with many other artists. Eight of 10 tracks were either written or co-written by me, so this is a big departure. I’m especially excited about the title track, Good People, for which I produced a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLq6CqzmTvY). It’s essentially Schoolhouse Rock! for systemic racism in the U.S. I’m planning to create a series of songs and videos to address U.S. history that is too often overlooked.”
Erika Levy shared: “I’m still enjoying my work as professor of communication sciences and disorders at Teachers College, Columbia University. My daughter is now a sophomore at Wes, having as great a time as I did, and it’s fun to visit her. My son is waiting to hear college decisions, and soon my husband and I will be empty nesters. My job keeps me very busy, but I try to squeeze in work with refugees and practice speaking languages. Always happy to connect with my Wesleyan classmates.”
Hello, classmates! By the time this issue comes out, Reunion will have come and gone, so next time I hope to share some stories from our 40th.
Arthur Haubenstock recalls the major earthquake that he experienced the day after he arrived in San Francisco. That did not dislodge him from the West Coast, but his new position in D.C. as chief strategy advisor for the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains Office did. Art is helping to “fix the foundation for today’s energy system and ensure it is strong enough to support the clean, equitable energy transition we all want for our future.” His newest daughter was born in D.C., and he has enjoyed mini-reunions with Andy Tauber and Lisa Rein.
Last year Susie Sharpe shared the news about her TEDx talk and many opportunities opened up for her. She has retired from internal medicine and moved across the country to Sarasota. Susie met Michael Murphy in Sarasota and was thrilled to find out he was a fellow classmate. Susie was recently featured on the cover of Ranch Magazine.
Susie Sharp
Gail Farris and husband, Jay Farris, met up with Marmie Bowman and her husband, David Hunter, in Maryland last fall. And her three-year-old grandchild, Killian (daughter of Kim ’14), loves to sing the Wesleyan fight song.
Joe Pieropan does not have news but sent in a picture of his red-and-black Mazda Miata with vanity plate WESU84.
“So, it’s been great here for our efforts in educating folks around the world in astronomy. I graduated from Wesleyan with an astro degree in 1983, did some advanced degree work in computer science, but have come back to my roots.
“I started SkyTour LiveStream Observatories, a group of remotely accessed observatories in Connecticut and in Arizona with a variety of instrumentation to take deep sky imagery of phenomena in the universe. We started a nonprofit organization, also named SkyTour LiveStream, to accomplish this and to hopefully acquire grant money to expand our programs.
“To the end of keeping the attention of people viewing our livestreams from around the world, I made sure our telescope was an excellent optical instrument with a tuned camera specifically selected to work with our system, while concurrently adding some optical changes to the basic system. Together the system acquires images 25 times faster than the native telescope would have. This means we can show people deep sky objects, including stellar nurseries and dark nebulae (our original birthplace), in a fraction of the time it might take to capture such images. Thus, in one night we can visit many different locations and capture many different objects.
“During our streams, and through friends at SpaceX, we run contests and present a lucky winner with Celestron Binoculars, a Sionyx night vision system, or a full Celestron telescope package. We are serious about astronomy!
“Finally, we make all of these images of fantastical objects available free on our online server, which anyone is free to peruse with almost two years of data. So far people using our data have found vanishing stars, asteroids moving through our fields of view, and more. They can get started by joining our YouTube channel, SkyTour LiveStream with Marc Dantonio, and/or going to SkyTourLive.org, which is our portal to the universe.
“We are looking forward to expanding into the Southern Hemisphere [by] adding a telescope in Australia and continuing the mission in the USA with a mobile observatory with the same capabilities as our best telescopes!
“Without Wesleyan none of this would have been possible in a professional capacity! Thank you WESU!!!—Marc”
Mark Kushner shared, “I am proud to report that I have two kids at Wes. My daughter, Kyra ’24, had a great experience at Wesleyan as an English and film major.” Mark said she worked hard to finish her senior thesis documentary film, and was captain of the women’s club soccer team. Kyra also co-led “Spike Tape, a student-led theater company she helped co-found, that they started when Second Stage died during the pandemic, putting on over 20 productions a year. My son, Tor, is a frosh (’27), rowing crew, playing intramural soccer, and thinking about joining CSS as he loves philosophy and economics. And yes, they actually get along, playing co-ed intramural soccer together. Go Wes!”
Laurie Hills is retiring from her role as your class secretary. We extend our sincere gratitude and thanks to her for keeping all of you connected to each other and to Wes. If you are interested in becoming the new class scribe, please contact Liz Martin Taylor ’87, Class Notes Editor, at classnotes@wesleyan.edu.
I’m starting off with the very sad news that our classmate, Janet Wickenhaver Allon, who had a long career as a journalist in New York City, died this past February 17, after a couple of months battling an illness. I asked her good friend Jonathan Weber to write a few words about her:
“Speaking for a magical Wesleyan friend circle, we’re crushed by Janet’s sudden and shocking death, all the more difficult because it was so inexplicable. It was only in December that I saw her in New York, all her charm and smarts and dry humor fully on display, and I never imagined that only a couple of months later I would see her near death in a hospital ICU. Her son, Jonah, and daughter, Lena, were there when I visited, showing incredible poise, and our hearts are with them and their sister, Tess, and Janet’s wonderful partner Larry, who was a hero through a brutal couple of months.
“I’ve known Janet since my first days at West College in 1978, and she was a charter member of an amazing group that has stayed close, with various ebbs and flows, ever since—Hannah Marcus ’83, her roommate, and Lawrence Comras, Steedman Hinckley ’83, Molly Turner ’83, Raleigh Levine ’83, Dena Wortzel ’83, Eric Sack ’83, Becky Mode ’86, Chris Erickson ’87, Ed Hernstadt (honorary ’82), and, if they were still with us, John Moynihan and Sara Garment ’83, among many others. As a freshman, she was a cute, smart, funny, and slightly shy girl from the Philadelphia Main Line, a bit patrician in her way but also goofy enough for WestCo. I appreciated her athletic bent—she’d been a competitive figure skater, and was a strong tennis player, and we even spent one winter break ski bumming together in Vermont, cleaning rooms in a ski lodge (I don’t recommend it).
“Later on we had a lot to share as journalists: in proper Wesleyan fashion she was curious about all sorts of things, and I especially admired her work in the trenches at Street Sheet, and then at AlterNet, her compassion and kindness always shining through. We already miss her very much.”
In cheerier news, Joe Fins is on a partial sabbatical this year, and spent the first semester as an Old Dominion Humanities Council fellow and visiting professor at Princeton, teaching a course in the classics department entitled, Bio/Ethics: Ancient and Modern. While at Princeton, he was also working on a biography of Dr. Lewis Thomas, author of The Lives of a Cell, whose papers are there. This semester he’s teaching in the COL as the Koeppel Visiting Professor of Letters. “It’s been a marvelous homecoming and it’s made me reflective about our time at Wes,” he says. “It has retained its character and remains an intellectually synthetic place.”
Robert Smythe has largely left the stage and turned to his longtime love of baking. He and Susan Smythe opened Pastry Pants in downtown Swarthmore, Pennsylvania—and hope you’ll drop by if you’re in the area.
I stopped by an art show in San Francisco, Evoke, where Paul Baker ’84, who has been making assemblage sculptures for years, was showing some of his new, imaginative, and intriguing boxes (think Joseph Cornell). “I call my pieces ‘constructed sculpture’ since they are about 80% built from scratch,” he says. “The rest is made up of carefully selected objects that bring with them a patina of use and lost history.”
Paul Baker with one of his assemblage boxes at a San Francisco art show.
I caught Steve Budd performing his latest one-person show, Seeing Stars, a heartfelt and hilarious take on family dysfunction and father-son relationships, in San Francisco. He’s been touring in Hollywood and other venues. Look out for it!
Steve Budd, Seeing Stars
I’ve been trying to keep writing despite old magazines shuttering, aging out of new ones, and losing whatever luster I once had in the publishing world by starting my own Substack publication, The Phrazer, and have been happy to see many of our classmates on that platform. That nickname goes back to Wesleyan, perhaps coined by Barnaby Dinges ’81, whom I had the pleasure of seeing in San Miguel de Allende with his wife, Vicki. We exchanged memoirs and his Ragged Run was eye-opening. Like a lot of people, I arrived at Wes thinking everyone else seemed to have had it easy growing up and were so confident. Think again. Barnaby’s memoir, among other things, was a real tribute to Wes’s aid-blind admissions policy, because he and his brother, Casey ’79, orphaned and bilked of their inheritance, could never have otherwise matriculated and become the valued and beloved members of the community they are.
I write to you all on the heels of an extraordinary viewing of the total eclipse of April 8 in my town of Bloomington, Indiana, which was smack-dab in the middle of the eclipse path—with over four minutes of totality! Despite cautionary predictions about statistically cloudy weather at this time of year, the day could not have been more perfect: blue skies, warm temperatures, and many friends and family members gathered round in observance and reverence of this amazing celestial display. My elderly neighbor of 83 started crying as she expressed gratitude at having the opportunity to see such a wonderful thing at least once in her life . . . and I admit to wiping away a few tears of my own. (Hint, hint: you don’t have to hope and wait for 2044 . . . there are several others that will be accessible in the nearer future, if you are willing and able to travel!)
Ariel Rubissow Okamoto is still hard at work publishing her regional digital magazine on climate resilience, KneeDeepTimes. She’s also in the “muddy middle” of a memoir rewrite about her days as a vintner, overlapping withe the multitasking of motherhood and science writing. She and hubby Paul still live in the heart of San Francisco and are empty nesters . . . both girls hatched and gone but taking up the family businesses: architecture, writing, equity, environment.
Brian Tarbox wrote in from the Boston area to share some good news: He was named an AWS (Amazon Web Services) Ambassador, one of only 250 worldwide, meaning he is one of Amazon’s designated top cloud experts in the world. In addition, he was designated “Alexa Champion”—a similar recognition program for people who develop code for Alexa (with whom we are all acquainted, I’m sure). Warmest congratulations on all that! Brian also writes that he had the pleasure of reuniting with Reina Galanes ’82 last December in California at AWS’s annual conference. Another highlight of Brian’s year was a recent trip back to Middletown. “I was a panelist at the Wes career center meeting for STEM students. It was great to be back on campus and see all the construction (though I think the Butterfield dorms should get some love soon).”
Julie (Greenberg) Richman (originally Class of ’80) and her husband are still living in beautiful Colorado Springs, where she is now working as a freelance writer of op-ed pieces after many years working in organizational development, training, and project management. Her husband retired from his psychiatry/pain management practice and now works remotely for Humana. “Our home is open to any Wesleyan alumni—and our view of Pikes Peak is amazing!” she writes. Julie shared some information about the fascinating work of her sons. Adam (the younger) received his BS from University of Rochester, with a major in linguistics and brain and cognitive science, and his master’s in data science through Denver University; he is currently a data analyst with Waymo, but also nurtured his keen interest in genealogical research to develop an extensive family tree. Josh (the older) earned his BS in mechanical engineering as well as his MEng in aerospace engineering at Cornell. After two years spent with the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) program, he currently works as the deputy spacecraft systems engineer for the Parker Solar Probe/NASA Dragonfly project.
Brenda Zlamany continues to wow audiences with her stunning, evocative portraiture. Among recent exhibitions, she recently unveiled portraits of William Brown and Martha Ann Tulip Lewis (Brown) at the Great Hall Portrait Gallery in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her portrait of interdisciplinary artist Zachary Fabri was shortlisted for the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024 at the National Portrait Gallery in London. And she was selected for two artist residencies: the Glacier National Park Artist Residency in July 2024 and the “Reunion: Friendship, Inspiration, and Landscape in Pouch Cove,” curated by Brenda and culminating in an exhibition at the James Baird Gallery.
Sinclair “Sindi” Sheers wrote in with some sad news but her entry nevertheless serves to inspire. She retired from her position at George Mason University teaching geography to care for her husband before he succumbed to cancer in January 2020. Since that tragic event, she has embraced life (and her husband’s memory) and has traveled the world, often with her daughter or her mom, to such far-flung destinations as Greece, Egypt, Jordan, Costa Rica, Panama, Iceland, France, Italy, Spain, the Balkans, and England. Closer to home, she visited Mexico, Yosemite and the Tetons, New Hampshire, Oregon, Miami, and an Exeter mini-reunion last year brought her together with old friends Sandy Smith, Miriam Block, and Chrissi Winkelbauer Kelly, and where she also had lunch with Richard Eastman. Here is her unabridged update:
“My husband died of cancer in January 2020, right before everything closed for COVID. I had planned to go on a cruise on the Danube River with my older daughter in April 2020 but that was cancelled. My younger daughter and I took a quick trip to Disney World with cousins in late January 2020 and then stayed home for a long time.
“I had retired from teaching geography at George Mason University a few years before in order to take care of my husband, so I read 93 books in 2020 and 122 books in 2021. After the COVID vaccine became available, I started traveling again.
“In June 2021, I went to Wyoming with my younger daughter and visited the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone: geysers, bison, beautiful mountains and lakes, and other animals.
“In October, I went with my mother on a cruise to Greece, Egypt, and Jordan including Santorini, the Suez Canal, the pyramids, Pharos’ tombs, Petra, Amman, and Jerash where we saw many very old beautiful things and few other tourists.
“In December, I went with my mother and younger daughter on a cruise to Costa Rica and Panama including the Panama Canal. We visited a coffee plantation, a sugar plantation, and saw many interesting plants and animals and few other tourists.
“In 2022, in March, I went to Oaxaca and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, with my mother where the architecture is amazing.
“In May, I went to meet friends in Oregon and took side trips to Cannon Beach, Montnomah Falls, and Crater Lake—such interesting natural phenomena. Later in May, I went to my 45th Reunion at Exeter in New Hampshire where I saw fellow Wesleyan classmate Chrissi Winkelbauer Kelly among others.
“In June, I went with my younger daughter to Iceland and saw more geysers, waterfalls, the dividing line between two continents, elf houses, hot pools, beautiful Westman Island, and puffins.
“In July, I joined a friend I met on the October 2021 cruise on a tour of Normandy, France, where we visited Monet’s house, Mont St. Michel, and Omaha Beach. It was above 90 degrees most of the time.
“In September, I hosted to my older daughter’s wedding in Chicago. Later in September, I spent a few days in London getting together with Exeter classmates (and fellow Wesleyan classmate Chrissi Winkelbauer Kelly).
“In October, I went on a tour of northern Italy including Milan, Lake Como, Bellagio, Bergamo, Verona, Bologna, and Venice. We toured a place where they made balsamic vinegar and watched glassblowing in Venice.
“In 2023, in January, I visited my aunt and uncle in Florida and met cousins at Disney World.
“In April, I went to another Exeter mini-reunion in Los Angeles (where I saw fellow Wesleyan classmates Sandy Smith, Miriam Block, and Chrissi Winkelbauer Kelly) and had lunch with fellow Wesleyan classmate Richard Eastman. Also in April, I went on a week-long tour of Spain to Barcelona, Granada, Malaga, Seville, and Madrid.
“In May, I went on a cruise on the Danube River with my mother that started in Sofia, Bulgaria, and ended in Passau, Germany, with a side trip to Prague, Czechia.
“In July, I took a week-long tour of Scotland visiting Glasgow, Inverness, and Edinburgh.
“In August, I joined my older daughter and her husband in Paris and then at a spa in Germany where I became familiar with the European train system.
“In September, I took a tour of Alsace, France.
“In November, I had a hip replacement and stayed home for a while.
“In February of 2024, I went to Miami Beach for a few days.
“In March, I visited my younger daughter in her new home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“I am about to go join Exeter classmates (including Wesleyan classmates Sandy Smith and Chrissi Winkelbauer Kelly) in Austin to see the eclipse. I plan to see Wesleyan classmate Bob Sweeney while I’m there. Later in April, my older daughter is opening a yoga studio called Forth in Chicago, and I plan to be there to help. Then I plan to go on a tour of Portugal.
“In May, I plan to return to Scotland to visit the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, which is only open once a year and spend more time in Edinburgh. Also in May, a friend that I met on my tour of northern Italy in October 2022 asked me if I would like to join her for a week in Paris. Of course!
“In June, we will celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday in Rhode Island with her sister’s family. Later in June, I plan to get together with friends in Michigan and drive up to see Mackinac Island.
“In July, I plan to tour Ireland with my younger daughter and then meet my older daughter, my sister, her family, and my mother for more 90th birthday festivities in the Netherlands.
“In September, I plan to cruise the Adriatic with another friend I met on the Suez Canal cruise in 2021.
“And then in November, I plan to go on a tour of Morocco.
“Each year, I sign up for one or two tours and then things seem to get out of hand. I haven’t signed up for anything in 2025—yet !!
“And I am not following Chrissi Winkelbauer Kelly around the world; we just end up going to the same mini-reunions; she seems to have a hand in organizing many of them.”
– Sindi Sheers
Left to right: Livia, Joanne, Deb, and Kathy (taken sometime in the ’80s at our Sunday-night Coop Reunion in Alexandria, Virginia)
In April I gathered at the lovely home of Kathy Prager Conrad in Alexandria, Virginia, with Livia Wong McCarthy and Deb Chapin for our annual reunion of senior year Sunday-night Coop. We had SUCH a blast reminiscing (as always!), eating, drinking, cooking, walking, visiting museums and the National Arboretum, and enjoying a magnificent nighttime tour of the monuments. So grateful for these friendships that have endured a lifetime—and I know I am not the only one! So please . . . continue writing in, sharing your stories. And if you are trying to reach someone, know that David I. Block and I (as well as the Alumni office) are here to help you reconnect.
And 40-plus years after . . . same place ! Still BFFs after all these years! (Well-dressed ones, too—note the recreation of the outfits ! 😉 )
Freddi Wald (Sherman): “I continue to live in NYC with my husband, Roger, and beloved dog, Tuffy, and am so excited to see our daughter, Nora, a film major and Wesleyan senior graduating this spring with Wes Class of 2024! After almost four and one-half years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as head of membership (through COVID closures . . . don’t ask!) and a deputy chief officer in development, I’m thrilled to have switched gears and joined the Ackerman Institute for the Family, as chief of Development and External Affairs—overseeing marketing and all fundraising and board development for the institute. (Yes, you CAN get a new job at aged 65!) Ackerman is such a change from the big corporate and museum world I’ve experienced, but I’ve never felt so motivated and inspired by the great work we are doing, advocating for mental health services and new innovations in family therapy, serving all populations and communities in the five boroughs. I remain an avid enthusiast of musical theater and film and occasionally take modern dance classes, fondly remembering the Cheryl Cutler and Pam Finney classes from Wes—that kept me centered!”
Gigi Peeples (legally, Yvette): “I took early retirement in March 2022 after 23 years in the very demanding physician staffing industry (especially during COVID). Lots happened prior to this decision, including my father passing away after four years of caring for him and needing to take care of my mental and physical health. It was the best decision, although I find myself continuing to adjust to having so much free time (a good problem to have). After 27 years in Georgia, I am back in California along with my daughter, son-in-law, and nine-year-old granddaughter! We love it here! It was my son-in-law’s idea, then he and my daughter insisted I join them, which was an easy ‘yes’ for me. I still have lots of family and friends here from Marin County to San Diego and all points in-between. I sold my house of 17 years and downsized like CRAZY (donated a ton and had an estate sale). We arrived in June 2023 after a four-day cross-country trek, caravanning with three vehicles [and] four dogs and a cat and have since settled in nicely. We feel right at home and like true Californians . . . we are NOT loving the abnormal amounts of rain this past year, though it is good for drought recovery. My granddaughter made friends instantly and has a busy social life, as well as being a competitive dancer. My son-in-law has always been quite the entrepreneur and still has businesses in Georgia, which he and my daughter are able to run from California. He’s a custom home builder in Georgia and is looking into expanding that business to the West Coast. He and my daughter have made lots of new friends since we moved here, some of whom have expressed an interest in wanting to build homes. So, he’s starting the process of getting his California builder’s license. They also own 53 rental properties in Georgia and desperately need a property manager, so I’ve recently joined the ‘family business’ part time in that role. I hope to start traveling soon to see all my ‘peeps’ here in California and to Switzerland to visit my cousin.”
Randal Baron: “It feels like a traumatic year because of this fateful election and war, and on a more personal note, trying to find a place for my mother in her old age that she will accept. On a happier note, I have plans to see both Indonesia and Cuba in 2024 and to see our classmate, Michael Shulman.”
Melissa Stern: “My son’s (Max W. Friedlich’17) play [Job] had an amazing off-Broadway run in the fall and winter. Seventeen weeks of performances, over 20,000 tickets sold. Wesleyan did a ‘friends and family’ night in October that included a talk back after the play with Max and producer Alex Levy’08. We were all thrilled that so many WesTech folks showed up, both for that special night and over the course of the run! I am headed off to Portugal tonight for a two-week vacation. Hopefully it stops raining there. Unprecedented flooding and rain throughout the country. Oh fun!”
Mark Ritter: “I’m an entrepreneur advisor to ICI Fund, an Israeli venture fund focused on artificial intelligence (AI). I’m doing all I can to learn about the technology. It’s mind-blowing. Recently I’ve been researching and presenting on the use of AI in health care, which has tremendous promise but also plenty of risks. Many people would prefer to speak to an AI bot than a human provider because they find the chatbot more empathetic. Speaking as a human, this is disappointing and a bit creepy, but it also suggests opportunities to offer therapy and reduce loneliness.”
Best wishes to all Wes ’80 alums and your families.
Hi, all. I am writing this in late March, before our 45th Reunion, but by the time these notes appear in our mailboxes, it will be somewhat after the reunion. I will update everyone on turnout and highlights in the next (Fall) issue of these class notes.
Lisa Frantzis sent an update. “I am transitioning out of 40-plus years of clean energy consulting in April 2024. It has been such a fantastic ride, and I owe it all to Howard Brown and the College of Science and Society at Wesleyan for getting me started in this career. I still plan to stay engaged in the work through boards and additional side-consulting projects, but I am also looking forward to spending more time with my family, playing music, and having more freedom! I live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, so if any of you are around the area, feel free to reach out. Now that I will not be working full time, I can spend quality time with former Wesleyan friends!” Sounds like a great plan, Lisa. Congrats on your retirement!
Mark Silbey also checked in with news on his retirement. “I recently retired from a wonderful career in orthopedic sports medicine. I had the pleasure of working with the U.S. Soccer Federation, ATP tennis tour, and several professional baseball teams. I’m now splitting time between New Hampshire and Florida. I still seem to be keeping busy in this life of leisure— skiing, playing golf, playing pickleball, and working on cars in my spare time. Looking forward to reunion.” Mark, kudos on what sounds like a great career and a busy and fun retirement!
Jono Cobb shared news on his continued involvement with Wes and on his upcoming travel. “A number of us have been meeting virtually through the spring, under the fearless guidance of Maureen Walsh,planning our 45th. I am looking forward to a small cruise ship and bike trip in Portugal shortly after reunion.” Thanks to you, to Maureen, and to the rest of our reunion planning group for all your collective efforts!
Pamela Dorman is now senior vice president and publisher at Pamela Dorman Books/Viking at Penguin Random House, where she has spent most of her publishing career. Recent highlights include Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club series, Ashley Elston’s First Lie Wins (a Reese’s Book Club Pick), and Jenny Jackson’s Pineapple Street, all New York Times bestsellers. She lives with her husband, Stuart Krichevsky, a literary agent, in New Rochelle, New York, and a Tibetan terrier, Benson. They have adult twins, Nicholas Krichevsky, a software engineer, and Sophie Krichevsky, a local newspaper reporter.
Phil O’Connell provided this newsy update. “I recently became the chairman of the Boston Wesleyan Law Alumni Association. I am eager to hear from Wesleyan grads who are Massachusetts lawyers. Although superannuated, I am still practicing law in Boston and am the office managing partner of the Boston office of Dentons U.S. LLP. My sixth grandchild, Philip Aloysius O’Connell IV, arrived in October 2023. I was in 13 plays while at Wesleyan and have a keen interest in Wesleyan theater; I’m eager to hear how things are going on that front. I can be reached at poconnelljr755@gmail.com.”
And here is a great write-up from Debbie Mincer about a recent group trip. “I traveled to Tanzania this past February on a trip sponsored by Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre, both class of ’79 and founders of Afropop Worldwide and Peabody Award winners. The amazing three-week trip centered on an African music festival in Zanzibar, musical and cultural events in Dar Es Salaam, and included a beach resort on the Indian Ocean and safari!” In addition to Sean, Banning, and Debbie, “in attendance were Matthew Jarvinen, Richard Sussman, Ralph Maltese,and Sheila Peck ’81.” Thanks for sharing, Debbie. So great that you all were able to be part of such an amazing trip! And Sean Barlow wants you all to know that the next Afropop Tour to Tanzania is February 2025. Info@afropop.org
Here is a photo from the trip that Debbie sent along.
Pictured from left to right: Pictured from left to right: Sean Barlow, Matthew Jarvinen, Debbie Mincer, Richard Sussman, Banning Eyre, and Ralph Maltese.
That’s it for this issue. Thanks for the submissions!
While these notes were compiled on a dreary, rainy day in early April, hopefully as you read them now, they find you enjoying a warm, wonderful summer! Here’s what some of your classmates are up to:
Robert Poss has released his fifth solo CD, entitled Drones, Songs, and Fairy Dust. It is available on all streaming and download services.
Cynthia Aaron checked in and hopes everyone is doing well. After 17 years with the Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center, the last 11 as medical director, she retired from active emergency medicine practice and moved back to New England. She keeps busy with toxicology consulting work for the Michigan Public Health Institute, online consulting with RubiconMD and webPOISONCONTROL. Cynthia left the “interesting but flat” Midwest and now lives in seacoast New Hampshire, where she built her, hopefully, last house. This is where she and her four-legged child, Sophia, plan on growing old together. She wonders if anyone has heard from Alex (Nancy) Rosentzweet?
Kevin Rose is very happy to share that his son, Danny ’19, just recently got engaged to Julia Kim ’20. They both live and work in NYC.
JD Solomon, who has published two historical novels, reports that he has become a storyteller in retirement, giving presentations about historical true crime at assisted living centers and senior centers in New Jersey. “Not surprisingly,” JD says, “audience favorites are stories about New Jersey’s two most notorious murders: the Lindbergh kidnapping and the 1971 John List family killing, which happened in my town of Westfield.”
Last issue we reported that Dana Rashti spent a month in Sicily as part of an Italian language and cultural immersion program. Dana let Ken know that we mistakenly identified “him” as a “her” in our note. We are so sorry, Dana! We hope you are enjoying your retirement.
Lots of comments this round of notes from folks thinking about our fast-approaching 70th-birthday year, most of us in 2025. Yikes! People took to heart my comment in Lyris underscoring the need to stay connected for which I am a direct beneficiary. Sharing these notes:
Andy Darpino (aka “Darp”) writes about the joys in his next chapter after retirement. This includes independent consulting with the aptly named “Darp Business Consulting,” which he describes keeps him “afloat in ample supply of bourbon and cigars” as well as occupies his time enough to keep his marriage strong. I was especially touched by the joy that the extra time affords Andy to watch his two granddaughters grow and develop.
Sue Guiney and husband, Don, have been meeting up with Mary Jo Wade and Jack Gray in San Francisco for proper catch-ups, while enjoying their grandparenting duties. Small world—a considerable number of my family are now claiming the Bay Area as home. I had a visit in late February and got to hike through Marin as well as enjoy San Francisco proper, enjoying surprisingly sunny weather.
Felice Burstein reminded me that I am due for a visit north to visit with John Roxby and her.
Mark Ellison wrote in having enjoyed his 50th high school reunion and stated that he looks forward to our college 50th in just a few years. Consider this a shameless plug for our 2027 gathering at Wes.
Susanna Peyton is busy training new-parent instructors at Yale School of Nursing with her Operation House Call course. On the home front, aging pets and parents along with “bouncy grandkids” are keeping her busy. Susanna met up with friend Sara Pasti ’75 in Maine recently.
I never knew that Jerry Caplin breeds and keeps pet finches. Apparently while his kids are grown and spread around the country, his nest is newly replenished. Jerry’s company, Silk Purse, celebrated its 30th year offering affordable old-house rentals in Charlottesville. Congrats and well done!
Mim Wolf has “unretired” herself and “shifting her focus from being an intuitive natural health-care consultant to being an intuitive transformational coach: moving client’s past limitations of body, mind, ego, spirit, and soul.” Mim’s daughter is expecting her first child this spring in Denver. Her son is close by in Vermont, doing well. Mim and her partner of 25 years have rediscovered traveling post COVID.
Joan Martin is working to verify that the Clean Slate Law passed in 2021, enacted to effectively erase misdemeanors records and low-level felony records after seven years, is happening.
William Altman’s latest book, Plotinus the Master and the Apotheosis of Imperial Platonism, has been published by Lexington Books.
Taur Orange had a chance to connect with Jane Eisner at a Wesleyan event at VSA’s Theater on 23rd Street; the reunion was 45 years in the making.
Don Ryan got together with Cal Dysinger, George Capone, and Elliot Epner ’76 at Django Fest in Baltimore recently. Unbeknownst to me, George is a Django Reinhardt afficionado.
Catherine Compton Swanson is planning a river cruise trip through the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Switzerland this November. Any folks who have done a similar trip and have advice should reach out to Catherine at cathyswanson13@gmail.com.
Joan Goldfeder has been satisfying her traveling bug by hiking in the Lake District of Chile and, more recently, going on a hiking/bike trip in Morocco.
My travels have taken me, in addition to Northern California, to Chicago where I met up with Iddy Olson for a weekend of fine dining, music, and art. We had an amazing dinner with Iddy’s stepmother, over 90 years young, whom I get along with famously. Midst all the stories of her stepmom’s celebrity friends, was a weekend full of laughter. Unfortunately, weeks later, Iddy’s dear 95-year-old mom departed from this world escorted by family, friends, caregivers, song, and prayer. With all of life’s ups and downs, it is great seeing how our friendship has evolved and deepened these many years. I feel fortunate to experience this with Iddy and I will add to many of you whom I have had the pleasure to get to know better after leaving Middletown. After all, it is the people in your life that make all the difference.
