Author: Caroline Liu '18

Hello, Classmates. This is Michael Steven again, reporting, Roger will be your host next time around.

Mark Randles brings us sad news about classmate John Koch, who passed away on Jan. 30 from complications following a cardiac arrest in August caused by a blood clot. John was a member of the cross-country team at Wesleyan, as well as the Restless Knights (and was often heard singing as he made his way across campus).

Ellen Prager acknowledges Mark in turn: Mark’s daughter, Ellie, has become one of Ellen’s best test-readers for her Shark Rider series. (The second book, for middle graders, will be published in May.)

Tom Oey has been living in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China (home town of his wife, Liping Zhang) since 2003. They have two children, Beatrice, 13, and Mark, 10. In October 2013 Tom began a second PhD in global studies at Leipzig University, Germany, writing a dissertation on A Comparative Cultural History of Java and the West, 1814-1817.

Roger Mitty continues his transition from being a practicing gastroenterologist into a suit-wearing hospital administrator. He is now CEO at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center of Boston, where he had practiced for 20 years. He’s still practicing a bit, but is spending more time with spreadsheets than with colonoscopies these days.

Stephanie Fleischmann has been busy writing. Her musical, The Secret Lives of Coats (music by Christina Campanella), premiered at the Redeye Theatre in October, and made two Best of Minneapolis lists. She’s working on opera librettos for two world premieres: The Property, a Klezmer opera based on the graphic novel by Rutu Modan, for Chicago Lyric’s Lyric Unlimited; and The Long Walk at Opera Saratoga in Saratoga Springs. She teaches playwriting at Skidmore College.

Michael Lewyn is maintaining a website on the public transit system in Kansas City, to encourage less reliance on automobiles. mlewyn.wix.com/autofreekc

Cathy Reich is sad to report the death of a dear friend, Susan Eakins, who was founder and operator of Montana’s only vegan farmed animal sanctuary, New Dawn. Cathy took over for her friend, overseeing the rehoming of the remaining animals. Some of the cows were relocated within Montana, including the Unsinkable Molly Brown cow (who escaped from a slaughterhouse, led the police on a six-hour chase, and received an official pardon). She is working to ban trapping on public lands, and to outlaw “varmint-killing” tournaments. She recommends Wesleyan’s “How To Change The World” course on Coursera, when it is offered again.

Paul Landau got promoted to full professor at the University of Maryland History Department, renewed contact with the family of his old research assistant in Botswana, and began writing a new book on revolutionaries in South Africa in the early 1960s. Not to mention developing a fear of transoceanic air travel. He has two daughters: Zoe, who makes better jokes than he does, and Penelope, who has taken up figure skating. His wife, Emily, is at work on a book about country music, murder ballads, and social history (while teaching).

J. Peder Zane writes that the University of South Carolina Press will publish his fourth book, a collection of newspaper columns, titled Off the Books: On Literature and Culture, in May.

As recently reported on Wesconnect, in February Shawn Dove began serving as CEO for the Campaign for Black Male Achievement. The program was previously a part of the Open Society Foundations but will now operate on its own. Shawn, who previously managed the campaign at the Open Society Foundations, will bring his 20-plus years of experience working in education, youth development, and community building to his new role. He and his team aspire to: “ensure the growth, sustainability, and impact of leaders and organizations committed to improving the life outcomes of Black men and boys.”

Finally, I want to give a public shout-out and huge thanks to Stuart Remensnyder, who came to my rescue last month. We sent my son off on a bus back to college on a Saturday, not realizing that the dorms weren’t open until the next day; Stu lived close by and swooped in to take him in. Good thing I was nice to him during our year in Gingerbread House.

Michael Steven Schultz | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu

Roger PincuS | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu

I’m sitting here on a Saturday night in early February just after the “winter storm of the century!” LOLs: we only had six inches! I’m listening to sappy Spanish love songs and writing these Class Notes. What can I say, Spanish love songs make me happy and I have no life! Judging from the few responses to my e-mail asking for info from everyone, I have to conclude you all are as busy as I am, running in too many directions. I’m in the homestretch, frantically writing, re-writing and rewriting (did I say rewriting?) my dissertation. I heard from just a few classmates, so these notes will be brief.

Glenn Lunden writes, “I was invited to visit the campus this past fall by the History Department, to give a lunchtime ‘History Matters’ talk to majors (and other interested parties). In my presentation, ‘History Track-Career Track-Railroad Track,’ I spoke about how majoring in history could be relevant to many different career paths. (Perhaps the real reason the History Department invited me to speak is that they were curious how a history major ended up in charge of scheduling New York subway trains.) The students asked a lot of insightful questions; everyone wants to know about the subway, it seems. Afterwards, my life-partner, Frank Meola, and I enjoyed a fine lunch with my thesis adviser, Ron Schatz, and the chair of the History Department, Magda Teter.” Thanks for the update, Glenn. I’d be curious to understand what safety measures the transit authority is taking to ward off any bad doings by bad people. Also, I’m curious about what you think of New Jersey’s infamous “Bridge-gate” affair!

Janet Lambert Preston writes “I teach at Unity College in Maine—the first to divest from fossil fuels!” Pretty cool, Janet. I wonder what other measures the college is taking towards ecological sustainability. It is certainly a growing industry and I hope one here to stay for the long haul.

John Fixx shares, “Two years ago I left a school in Waterbury, Conn., after having served schools as head for 15 years, and my wife and I moved to our beach house in Madison, Conn. Right back into the frying pan, I took a position as head of school at The Country School in town, relishing the short commute. I also coach cross-country and get exercise by jumping to conclusions and dodging the issues. My wife, Liza, and I have two children of the usual ages, with our son a senior at Boston University and our daughter a sophomore at the University of Vermont, near our vacation house, which is convenient for her and her marauding friends. In honor of our son’s graduation, we are off to France this summer for a spell and then back to work. I am up at Wesleyan once a week, training with a bunch of other geriatrics on the indoor and outdoor tracks. I’m so proud of what the Little University was and what it has become.” Agreed, John, “Who knew?!”

I hope to get back to Wes one day soon. I did visit Marina Melendez Virgadula, with my daughter, Hillary, a few winters ago. We had a great time catching up. Definition of a good friend: It may be years since you see one another, but when you do, it is as if no time has elapsed at all!

Heather Rae writes, “I’ve left Maine for Northern Virginia where my partner, Aubrey Gail, and I are building a functional health practice. I am studying for a health coach certificate with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and digging into neuro-endocrine testing and more, with intention of coaching Aubrey’s chiropractic patients along their wellness path.” I like the holistic approach, Heather.

I’ve been part of a medical legal partnership at a Newark hospital pediatric department, which is modeled after one in Boston. We provide ‘upstream’ service delivery, including assistance with medical and educational issues, and a complete social worker work-up to help low income children and their families get the public assistance and educational services they need in order to reduce family stress and improve medical outcomes for the child. (Phew, that was a mouthful!) I’m evaluating the program and as a sociologist also interested in the factors the enhance or constrain the collaborative processes across professional disciplines. Collaborative research is in its infancy and one I plan to research further. Mostly, I’ve been doing a lot of grant writing and talking to venture capitalists in order to find outside sources to keep this project and others like it up and running in Newark and the surrounding urban centers.

Eileen Kelly-Aguirre is enjoying good health after a trying 2014. She left the boarding school world, moved to Massachusetts, and is now executive director of School Year Abroad. Glad to hear the good news, Eileen. Be well!

Lastly, Cat Maguire (that is Maguire with a “g” not Maquire with a “q” as I mistakenly wrote last time—so sorry, Cat) shares she “has been teaching internationally for the Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies in Belgium and Mexico, along with her stateside teaching in Charlottesville, Va., and at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. It makes for a hectic schedule, but husband David Campanelli and youngest son Keegan have been doing a great job holding down the home front!

Thanks all for your contributions. Until the next time, Namaste.

LAURIE Hills | lauriec@rci.rutgers.edu

If last issue’s theme was emptying nests, this time it was finding our bliss and making a bit more time for our graying selves, Class of ’82.

Brian Fahey writes that “after spending my whole life in the Boston area, I’ve moved to Scarborough, Maine, where I’ve always had a second home. With my youngest child off to Brown this fall, we decided to make the move to beautiful Maine. I would love to connect with fellow Wesleyan alums in the Portland area.”

Jim Sullivan, who practices emergency medicine in Massachusetts, wrote: “I will be running in my first Boston Marathon this spring.” He mentions that his son Owen, a high school senior, is looking at Wesleyan.

Sara Lennon, also known as Say White, writes from Portland of big changes now that her children are “basically fluttering from the nest. Any brilliant ideas on how to weather this latest transition?” she asks. “So far my coping strategy is digging in—more work, more gym, more shoveling snow. Anyone out there try something else, like exotic travel, adoption, that first novel, career change, early retirement, spiritual enlightenment? Pray tell if it’s working well.”

Sara’s current distractions include “Homeland, House of Cards, reading, politics, friends, freezing at Sugarloaf, warming up when summer finally arrives around mid-June. Stop by if you find yourself in Portland, I’d advise July or August.”

I got a long, lovely post from Vincent Bonazzoli: “My wife, Paula, and I are getting adjusted to being empty nesters here in Swampscott, Mass. Although we miss the kids, we are actually enjoying ourselves. The house is a heck of a lot cleaner and the refrigerator actually has food in it for more than a day.”

He adds, “I have my own my estate planning and elder law practice in Lynnfield. It’s going quite well and I am coaching and training attorneys in practice development and client maintenance programs. I’m also an instructor at the Boston University certified financial planner program.

His daughter, Danielle, is an artist at Mass College of Art and Design in Boston, after spending a year and a half at St. Andrews in Scotland. Son Matthew is a freshman at Macalester College “in balmy St. Paul, Minn., and is playing football. Very exciting time for all, as Paula and I got to go to almost all of the games,” Vinnie said.

He recently has been in touch with other empty nesters from our class, including Lyndon Tretter, who lives in NYC with his wife Ilyse. “Lyndon has just become a partner at Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP, and is looking to reconnect with Wes alumni in NYC. Also heard from Fran Hack who is living in Northampton, Mass., with her husband, Bob, and has a daughter graduating from Brandeis this year and a son attending NYU.”

Big changes for Virginia Pye, who has a new novel coming out this fall: She’s moving from Richmond, Va., to Cambridge, Mass., as her husband, John Ravenal ’81, is now director of the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln “Looking forward to connecting with Wesleyan friends in the Boston area!” she says.

David Shopper writes that he has moved his advertising photography studio to Ipswich, Mass. You can follow his work at davidshopper.com.

Kevin Meacham sends along his new e-mail address: kevmeach@verizon.net.

The news from Paula Anthony: She just completed her PhD in organizational development and change from the College of Business and Technology at The University of Texas at Tyler.

Sophia Brubaker has been married to her husband, Bill, since 1980. (“Yes, I married in the middle of college when he graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.”) They’ll celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary this May.

“I Iive in Niantic, Conn., where I direct the Barn for Artistic Youth (a teaching studio for emerging artists of all ages). I designed this community arts program after returning to Rhode Island School of Design in 2001 as an art teacher on sabbatical, and returning to the East Coast from Juneau, Alaska, where I taught middle school art in the public school.” Her website is barn4art@gmail.com, she says, adding that watching children “grow up in art” from finger painting to art college and beyond, is immensely rewarding. “It keeps me young!”

Bill and Sophia have raised four kids, and now are on to grandchildren—two little boys, ages 2 and newborn.

“We keep in touch with my best friend from Foss Hill: Mireille Reichgelt Neumann ’82 and husband Chip Neumann ’82, living in Simsbury, Conn.,” she writes.

Nancy Logue writes that she and Julie Abrams Faude were planning to meet in Philadelphia for the “Love Train” event put on by the city’s mural arts program. The guided tour of 50 rooftop murals also celebrates marriage equality in Pennsylvania. “We live 30 minutes outside the same wonderful city in different directions, and enjoy getting together whenever we can,” she says.

What else is there to say except more, more, more! Write early and often!

Stephanie Griffith | stephaniedgriffith@gmail.com

Greetings once again from Brooklyn. There is ice and snow on the ground as I write this. I hope you are reading this on the beach with at least spf 30 slathered all over you….

I ran into Seth Kaufman ’70 recently, as it turns out that our wives work together for a Manhattan not-for-profit. We compared stories of takeovers of North and South College in our activist youth, eight years apart, and he told me, as head of the student body, how he convinced President Etherington not to call the State Police, and thereby prevented a riot.

“Etherington asked, ‘So what do I do?’

“I told him, ‘You do nothing. They’ll take over the building, they’ll stay for a while, and then they’ll leave!’”

And that’s pretty much what happened. Brilliant.

John Ravenal, formerly the curator for modern and contemporary art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, is the new executive director of the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. He brings to deCordova extensive administrative and curatorial experience, having served as president of the Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC), and having held curatorial positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and at the Wadsworth Atheneum, where he worked on the museum’s first showing of the Sol LeWitt collection.

Shelley Berson writes: “I still marvel every time I turn right onto the Wes campus to visit our daughter, Elizabeth Weinstein ’16, that my Wesleyan is as uniquely perfect for her as it was for me all those years ago.”

Shelley adds, “I’ve been busy growing my Zzenter—a wellness center in Bergen County, N.J., that merges my board certifications in ENT, sleep medicine, and allergy to answer the question ‘What’s going on in your bedroom?’ Using individualized form and function data, we create customized treatment plans to provide ‘CPR for your dreams’ (zzenter.com).” Her husband, Jack Weinstein, is a consultant who shares her pride in the accomplishments of Liz and their son, Aaron, (UPenn ’17). They look forward to a future joint a cappella concert of Liz’s “Notably Sharp” with Aaron’s “PennyLoafer” groups.

Stephen M. Misarski is serving as the English Pastor at the Chinese Gospel Church of Massachusetts in Southborough. He is in his 23rd year serving as an Massachusetts Air National Guard chaplain (Lt. Col.). He is also working on his doctor of ministry at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Matthew King was selected to receive the Secretary of Homeland Security Exceptional Service Award (Gold Medal). This is the highest award for service granted by the Secretary. The award honors exceptional leadership or service that is distinguished by achievements of unique national or international significance, reflecting genuinely exceptional service rendered to the Department by markedly improving the security of our homeland.

Matt sent me part of the citation, which I assume is declassified! It reads like the plot of a spy novel, involving Panama, Cuba, North Korea, and “the seizure of sophisticated weapons and materials aboard a North Korean-flagged merchant vessel.” It concludes: “Your work is an example to your colleagues across the Office of Policy, and a great service to our Nation. The story of this operation will be retold across our Department as a model of all that we strive to accomplish.” Bravo, and, well… thanks!

Delcy Ziac Fox is pleased to announce the opening of her business, FoxCommunications. FoxComs provides marketing and communications planning; media relations; copywriting, editing, and proofing; and development communications. Those of you who are parents or professors, please spread the word that FoxComs offers student transition services, including an interviewing workshop. Check out FoxComs.com.

Finally, comes the sad news that our classmate Dorothy Christine Ames passed away on Sept. 22, 2014, at her home in Lambertville, N.J. She leaves behind four children, three sisters, her beloved Jack Russell terrier, and the memories that those of us who knew her will cherish.

David I. Block | david.I.block@gmail.com

JOANNE godin audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com

Welcome to the expanded version of Wes ’80 Class Notes where the more complete version of our classmates’ entries are here for you to enjoy.

John Snook writes: I have been volunteering at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York for 22 and one half years.  I had previously volunteered for over sixteen years at Lenox Hill Hospital (also in New York).  I have not kept in touch with too many classmates except Jim Burnett (also class of 1980).

Michael Shulman writes: I live in Ann Arbor, unexpected boom-town of the rust belt, with my wife and our two daughters. My wife is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, as I am. We’ve been in Ann Arbor since our meeting in grad school, except for an 8 year sojourn in Boca Raton, where we lived quite differently, grew mangoes and grapefruit, but ended up longing to return to a place where the intellect stood a better chance of growing. Since leaving Wes, I’ve stayed in touch with Becky Hayden, Todd Martin, Randy Baron, Christian Herold and Amanda Hardy. I would love to hear from Karen Murgolo, Claudia Lewis, Leda Hartman, Bradley Hess, or my COL mates from ’80 or ’81.  Paul Schwaber and I, both psychoanalysts, have been in frequent touch in the past decade, despite having lost touch for the 2 before. A most wonderful recent reunion was sitting down with Henry Abelove in NYC, where we were presenting at the same conference. Maybe pleasantest of all was hearing Henry’s account of his post-Wesleyan stints at ivy-covered schools whose students, however brilliant, preferred silent to vocal engagement.

Susan Kravit writes: I have been living in Olympia, WA since 1985.  I work as a Mental Health Counselor in my private practice specializing in treating trauma related problems, primarily with EMDR therapy.  In 2012 I married my then partner of 18 years, Kathryn. We have a 14 year old daughter.  I also raise Flat-Coated Retrievers and use them as therapy dogs in my practice.  I get together with Elizabeth Sanders (’78?) in Seattle from time to time, in fact we recently attended a Sweet Honey in the Rock concert together and were discussing our days at Wesleyan over dinner. The man at the next table came over and introduced himself and let us know he had been in Elizabeth’s class at Wesleyan!

Wendy Davis Beard writes: While still based in Sydney with our year12 daughter we travelled to New York last June to enroll Eliza in a three week summer program at Columbia University whilst in America during the summer for the first time in many years, we took the opportunity to visit family in Cape Cod and Pam Mitchell(nee Wheeler’80) in Maine which was a real treat as her husband Mark, a volunteer fireman, was able to carry me up and down the steep stairs to their beautiful sea front home. While able to climb a few steps with my quad stick, a whole flight is still a very big challenge. This past December whilst visiting my husbands’ family in London, including two older daughters and two little granddaughters, we had a lovely lunch with Peter Eisenhardt ’80 who has been based in London with his family for over thirty years! I continue to write my memoir of recovery from cancer (now complete) and from my disabling stroke, a recovery which is ongoing-and am also writing fiction. Meanwhile, Peter has written an award winning screen play.

David Hafter writes: Like many of us at this age, I am dealing with aging parents and all that goes along with it.  No reason to go into details; those of you sharing these challenges have your own stories and I have mine.  The great joy in my life is playing with my band, Wealth of Nations.  Some of you may remember the original line up at Wesleyan: James Marcus, Kathy Bergeron, Vic Tredwell and myself. I have resurrected the name and Wealth now plays shows in and around the Davis/Sacramento area.  This is tremendous fun for me and serves as a tonic to the stresses of daily life. We play my originals, favorite covers and a fair amount of Grateful Dead.  For a Deadhead like myself, the fun in playing this music and watching people dance joyously to it cannot be overstated…

Andrew McKenna writes: Jacquie and I continue to raise two very bright and talented girls who are now in middle school and bringing home new challenges daily.  Over the past 2 years, Jacquie had taken advantage of some of the contacts we made while living in South Africa for 7 months in 2012, and has now started importing and selling some of the beaded animals and other African artwork we found so appealing while we were over there.  See www.zimbu.us  Jacquie is also consulting with GFA in Hamburg on a project in India supporting the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency in their efforts to put a German provided line of credit facility to work in the Indian markets for renewable energy.  I’m still running Bella Energy as well in our efforts to developing, financing, and installing commercial and utility scale Photovoltaic projects, mostly for third party owners who sell the energy to non-profit entities.  Our current projects are located in California, Colorado, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York State, and Maryland, so it would seem we’ve become a nationwide business.  www.bellaenergy.com I’m also scheduled this coming June to return to Nikumaroro in the Phoenix Islands as a team member of the TIGHAR Amelia Earhart Expedition, continuing our investigation into the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan.  This time we intend to deploy a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) down to 620 ft to examine an anomaly in the sonar survey that was completed in 2012, as well as survey by SCUBA parts of the reef downhill from an object photographed on the reef flat in 1937.  Should be a great adventure!  Keep your fingers crossed, if we find what we’re looking for, it will be big news.  see  www.tighar.org

Gary Gilyard writes:

I was so sorry to hear about Julia Wu. I will always remember her smiling, and full of energy…..so sad. My wife Linda and I just returned from taking our youngest Shelby W16 back to school yesterday. She is a Biology major and plays Lacrosse for Wesleyan. So far she has lived exactly where I lived when I was a student. This year is William Street. I always love to be back at Wes. She is our youngest, the middle daughter just got married 6 months ago and lives in Phoenix (hopefully temporarily), and the oldest is in Chicago. I can’t believe this will be our 35th reunion it really doesn’t feel like that long, but neither did my 30th wedding anniversary this past May. We will be back for homecoming as well as the reunion! My practice is going well. I am an Orthopedic Surgeon at the Detroit Medical Center specializing in Sports Medicine. I love what I do and am not even beginning to think about slowing down. My wife is a NICU nurse at the University of Michigan.  I’m really looking forward to seeing as many classmates as possible this May.

Pam Keon writes:

Thanks for sharing the very sad news about Tag.  She touched so many lives in too short a time.  My life is full.  Although I’ve not had many opportunities to see Wes friends over the years, I was very lucky to reconnect recently with wonderful Lisa Kaufman, who I’d not seen since graduation day.  Over an all too brief lunch here in Mill Valley, sitting by the water in the company of her lovely husband Peter, we attempted to catch up on the past 34 years.  It was an impossible but delightful task.

I am in the throes of trying to batten down the hatches as I head off in a few days for our first family vacation in 13 years!  My son Will and my daughter Mollie and I are meeting in Ecuador to visit the Galapagos – a trip of a lifetime for us.  Mollie just earned her undergraduate degree from Emerson, and Will just earned his graduate degree from Harvard, so it’s an unusual moment in time when everyone is in transition and not fully tied down by vocational obligations.

In order to keep my “day job” from being all-consuming, I spend my time doing a range of other things that gratify me.  I sing in a women’s chorus, which is going to Rome in March to sing a mass at the Vatican.  Inspired by the photo documentation of Scott Phillips’s exploits I have committed to take golf lessons for the first time – other than that one-quarter PE class I took at WES for an easy credit.  (What made it particularly “easy” is that I think I only attended twice but still passed!)  I’m on the board of the local historical society, working with the City to develop a historical preservation ordinance.  As a volunteer at the library, I have been developing a database of local historical structures, and also coordinate donations and acquisitions for the history room.  When I can, I volunteer as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children who are dependents of the court.  I feel very lucky to live in such a beautiful area, and my two Australian Shepherds are eager hiking companions.

I am definitely experiencing the “sandwich generation,” as I am responsible for my demented father while sending encouragement to my children as they take wing.  I also spend a great deal of time helping one of my sisters who just became the single parent of twins, and thoroughly enjoy being able to indulge in holding babies without all the responsibilities that accompany parenting young children.

Having recently had my 56th birthday, I’m beginning to suspect that there are certain things that may not actually happen in my life.  There’s a strong possibility that I will not become a fighter pilot, a premiere ballerina, or a US ambassador.  As I look around however, I’m content with what I have done and feel blessed by each day that comes.

Alan Jacobs writes:

Recently, I did the math and realized that I would have two kids in college for seven consecutive years. Apparently, we forgot to do that math when we were starting a family. Gil is graduating this year from Brandeis, Ron is a junior at Wesleyan, Avia is a senior in high school, being recruited/pushed by her dad to play soccer somewhere in the northeast next fall, and Guy is a freshman in high school.   I’m having a great time in the entertainment business here in Los Angeles. I’ve had the good fortune to work with many talented and inspiring people and though my heart will always be in New York, it’s been a great place to raise kids and make movies.  Along the way, my company has provided summer internships to over a dozen Wesleyan students, most recently Ming Zhu ’15, Zoe Broad ’14 and Jenna Robbins ’13.

Scott Hecker writes:

Greetings from San Diego, which has now been home for over 10 years for me and my family (wife Gail, daughter Claire (13) and son Niall (11).  Twenty years after leaving my cushy job at Pfizer to join the crazy world of biotech start-ups, and after twice experiencing the high of going public only to be dashed by seeing the stock price go through the floor, I finally have a modicum of success to report.  My latest company, Rempex Pharmaceuticals, was acquired in December 2013 by The Medicines Company (headquartered in New Jersey).  We have discovered and are developing a new antibiotic to deal with those nasty bacteria in hospitals that you keep hearing about.  And, unlike most biotech acquisitions, we all still have our jobs! We spent a few days in New York this summer, and one of the highlights was seeing The Lion King on Broadway, with Robert Levin (’82 I think) performing one of the feature drum parts.  Hoping that Wesleyan will invite Urban Renewal back to play at reunion/commencement in 2015 or 2016!

Al Spohn writes:

I’m into year 24 of doing IT at the Mayo Clinic.  Married with kids aged 2,6 and 8… I’ve essentially become the grandfather that can’t run away. Not much else to report.  Oh, I also accepted an adjunct faculty position at the Minnesota College of Art and Design this fall.

Jenny Anne Horst-Martz writes:

I am living and working in Philadelphia, where I am a project manager at a law firm.  My husband of more than twenty years is a teacher at a Friends school, and we have two kids.  My daughter, Emma, is off to Connecticut College, where Katherine Bergeron ’80 – a fellow Catholic feminist of the Fr. Charlie Gonzalez era – is the new college president.  It was great to see Katherine again at move-in day, and to hear that Brad Moss ’80 is also sending his son to Connecticut College this year. Some of you may not be aware that Connecticut College for Women was founded in 1911 when Wes kicked the women out.  Now, both schools are coed with similar missions, but I’ll tell you, the campus at Connecticut College is even more beautiful than Wesleyan, and it retains a good deal of spunk from its origins, embracing the dromedary as its mascot.  Go Camels! I remain in touch with the French House gang, including Ina Shea, Ken MacElwain, Tak Tamagawa, Sarah (Shull) Peterson, and Doron Henkin, and with Marty Saggese.  I live around the corner from Deb Lipschutz.  My primary care doctor attended Wes, too, and Chris Satullo and Jane Eisner have been fixtures in Philadelphia journalism and nonprofits for years.  I always say that it might be six degrees of separation in New York, but in Philadelphia, it’s one.

Susan Tietjen writes:

As I think this is the first and only time I have submitted notes, I will provide a brief timeline of my past 35 years. (Boy, was that scary to write!)

After graduation, one year in NYC as paralegal with Davis, Polk & Wardwell. Then, one year studying in Marburg, Germany on a Rotary Scholarship. Then, University of Michigan Law School, J.D. ’85. One year of studies in Hamburg, Germany. Six years practicing corporate law with Shearman & Sterling in NYC. Moved to Prague, Czech Republic in 1992 and lived there until 2003. Practiced law there with Altheimer & Gray for five years, then with Weil, Gotshal & Manges for five years. Met my husband, Bob Votel, a fellow American, there and married in 2001. In 2003, we adopted identical infant twin boys, Nikolas and Gabriel. They are of Roma descent and are now 12. At the end of 2003, we moved to Minneapolis, where I have been a SAHM (stay-at-home mom) ever since, except for 2007-2010, when I was a SAHM in Hong Kong. Now, back in Minneapolis and managing hockey practice, baseball practice, soccer practice, music lessons, Boy Scouts and various therapies for my boys.

KIMBERLY OFRIA SELBY | kim_selby@yahoo.com

Gary, this time: I write this during the third large snowstorm in the last two weeks. It’s winter in New England.

In July, the inaugural Pigapalooza was held in the bucolic Lehigh Valley. Bill Conley conferred the festival’s name, celebrating all things bacon in honor of the Iron Pigs, the Phillies AAA baseball team. The Pawtucket Red Sox were visiting so it made a great excuse for another mini-reunion after the Reunion. George DuPaul hosted at his palatial Macungie estate. Also in attendance were Joe Britton, Jack Buckley, Tim Fitzgerald, Dennis Robinson, Gary Breitbord, and the elder statesman Jeff Gray ’77. Activities included an impromptu tour of Philly; 2 Iron Pigs games; Aw Shucks corn (delicious); chocolate covered bacon; and a Billy and T. Fitz jam session (I missed that part of the fun since I was taking a nap) warmly wrapped in bacon-inspired merriment.

In November, Dave Thomas ’77 graciously hosted a fete in honor of His Honor Connecticut Superior Court Judge for the New Britain District Robert Nastri ’77. In attendance were Paul Nelson ’78, Bill Ahern ’78, Paul Fichera ’77, Jeff Gray, Ken Langley ’77, and Gary Breitbord, as well as spouses and significant others. Also joining this band after 17 years away, none other than Charles “Sammy Hoch” Himelhoch ’78 all the way from the Motor City. He promised a shorter wait for a return engagement.

In December, the Dunn Gaherin crew got together in celebration of… well… nothing in particular, other than friendship forged by our Wesleyan/DKE bonds. Tim Fitzgerald, Gary Breitbord, Jeff Gray, Jeff Burns ’80, Mike Rosenblatt ’80, and Tim O’Brien ’81 (with a cameo by Steve Sorkin ’83) enjoyed stories of family, offspring (much kvelling), jobs, ailments, current affairs, and not-so-current affairs, all in true Wesleyan fashion.

Ann Biester Deane writes in that she attended the 1831 Society gathering hosted by Eva and John Usdan ’80 in January. It was a frigid night, but the cold didn’t deter Anne Schirrmeister, Bill Plotch, Melissa Stern ’80, Seta Nazarian with son Nicholas ’13, and Mitch Harwood from attending. The event was wonderful, complete with the a cappella group, The Wesleyan Spirits, providing entertainment. Ann Deane is a real estate broker in Manhattan with Halstead and enjoys driving her Porsche GT3 on racetracks throughout the East Coast.

Evan Bauer is still living in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with his wife, author Joan Bauer. Evan is now at KPMG LLP as executive director of technology operations.

Neil Fitzgerald reports that he is alive and well in Florida with no news other than that he’s alive and well in Florida.

Peter Campbell writes: “Checking in from Kansas City, I was happy to link up with George DuPaul at the seventh Game of the World Series. George was in town to visit with his son, Glenn, who worked for the Royals (and now works for the Brooklyn Nets). In other Kansas City news, Joyce and I are lucky enough to be able to chum with Tony DiFolco ’81, Lou Scimecca ’81, and Brad Toomey ’81 and their wives, who all reside in town, alternately enjoying dinners, concerts, games, gambling, and/or family events. It is a strange turn of events that four former fraternity brothers and teammates from an East Coast school end up here in Kansas City, but I feel lucky we did!”

Banning Eyre passes a milestone in May with the publication of his book Lion Songs: Thomas Mapfumo and the Music that Made Zimbabwe (Duke University Press). The book’s been 15 years in the works, but really, it goes all the way back to Wesleyan, where Banning first heard the amazing music of Zimbabwe.

Amy Seham writes in: “I’m a professor of theater and dance at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, where I direct and teach a wide range of courses in theater and gender, women, and sexuality studies. Peg O’Connor ’87 teaches philosophy and GWS here as well. Our student social justice theater group, known as I Am We Are, will be celebrating its 20-year anniversary this year—quite a remarkable record of continuous creative work. My daughter, Miranda, is 11, and yes, she is named for the character in The Tempest, a show I directed for my honors project at Wesleyan, directed for my theater company in New Haven, and directed again here at Gustavus. I would love to hear from any fellow alumni in the Minneapolis area.”

Cliff Hendel has some news to share: “After years (actually, decades) of practice as an international transactional lawyer in New York, Paris, and Madrid (during which time I’ve been admitted to practice as a lawyer in New York, a solicitor in England and Wales, an avocat in Paris, and an abogado in Madrid), I’ve “crossed over” and become a nearly-full-time international dispute resolution lawyer. I represent parties and, increasingly, act as neutral, i.e., as arbitrator or mediator in international disputes. My caseload is essentially commercial and sports-related. I’ve been a member (arbitrator) of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne for several years.”

Much to his pleasant surprise, Evan Flaschen has been named the global 2015 Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyer of the Year by the London-based legal industry survey firm, Who’s Who Legal, whoswholegal.com, whose awards are based on comments solicited from private practice lawyers and in-house counsel from around the world. Congratulations, Evan!

Candy and Bill Davies P’07 downsized from their country home and moved to the city of Poughkeepsie, where they are renovating a 100-year-old Craftsman home with beautiful woodwork and some pretty stained glass windows. They are both employed, Bill still an IBM engineer, and Candy a social worker at SUNY New Paltz, counseling college students.

Some sad news to report: Joan Markman, Philadelphia’s first chief integrity officer, lost her recurring battle with breast cancer and passed away in January. Another life lost too young.

Gary Breitbord | gbreitbo@aol.com

Ann Biester Deane | Abdeane@gmail.com

Susie writes: As I pen this missive, I’m gazing out at an historical amount of snow on the ground—six-foot drifts, colossal piles from plows, and a general depth of ground covering not before seen. We New Englanders, especially those of us in the Boston area, will remember the winter of 2015 for many years to come! Although these notes will be published in the springy month of April, there will most likely still be snow on the ground.

Doug Hardy sent in his first ever news for our class notes. He married Roselyn Romberg ’79 25 years ago. Although they had dozens of friends in common, they did not meet until 10 years after graduating from Wesleyan. Their mutual friend, Alice Dunn ’79, married Doug’s twin brother, Gordon Hardy, Williams ’78. Roselyn and Doug live in Concord, Mass. They adopted three siblings from Russia in 1998, followed by 17 years of family life that Doug says “you can safely describe as eventful—those of you who have raised kids with PTSD know what I’m talking about.” He is a former editor at Alfred A. Knopf (books), the New York Times Co. (magazines), and several Internet firms (last one was Monster.com). Since 2002, he’s been writing full-time, mostly books and mostly “human capital” subjects—management, labor, recruiting, and career. Roselyn was a management consultant at several firms and currently coaches fellows at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative and helps nonprofits get under way through her consulting firm, Vision Accomplished. The Hardys have stayed close to Joe Keneally, Mary Rindfleisch ’77, Elizabeth Sanders ’79, Elizabeth Bachman, and all the pals at Mark Ginsberg’s ’79 pre-Thanksgiving dinner, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year! They would love to hear from more friends.

Kevin Rose shared the happy news that his son, Danny, was recently accepted ED1 to Wesleyan and will be attending this fall. The Rose family looks forward to returning often to campus.

In January 2015, Bill Adler moved to Tokyo, where he continues his career as a writer. but now he’s doing it with a diet of ramen, nabe, and, of course, sushi. His bedroom view of Mt. Fuji is proving to be inspirational to his writing. His older daughter works in book publishing in New York, and his younger daughter graduates from college this year. If any classmates visit Tokyo, please let him know and he’ll show you around his new town.

George Raymond has entered his 12th year as an independent consultant based in Basel, Switzerland. He is helping market a system that lets small European railways exchange data with big ones along with a cool machine that lays fiber-optic cables along railway tracks.

Jon Spector is continuing to enjoy his move to Woodstock, Vt., and the commute to NYC via Cape Air. He is still working for The Conference Board, along with other Wes alums, Dick Cavanagh ’68 and Alan Dachs ’70, who serves as the chair of The Conference Board.

Besides continuing to peddle/play/curate concerts in the US and France (MistralMusic.org), Julie Scolnik and her husband, Michael, bought a little maison de village in one of the most beautiful villages in Provence. “The closest thing to heaven I can imagine,” she writes. It is available to rent on vrbo.com/300210, and they have special rates for all Wes alums.

Andrea Gabor wrote: “In January 2015, I led 11 Baruch College/CUNY journalism students to Cuba as part of a class on covering emerging entrepreneurship in that island nation. The purpose of the trip was to report on the recent economic changes instituted under President Raul Castro, especially in the new small-business sector of so-called cuentapropistas, which now number close to 500,000 Cubans, triple the number in 2010. We arrived just weeks after President Obama and President Castro announced their historic détente, which will open Cuba to more American goods and visitors and which established formal relations between the countries. These changes are likely to have a profound effect on the Cuban economy. Whether they will spread to the political arena is less clear.

“My students learned about the emerging entrepreneurial sector and the vagaries of being an entrepreneur, or cuentapropista, both through Cuba Emprende, a private nonprofit that helps train entrepreneurs in Cuba, and from small family-run businesses. These businesses ranged from restaurants to companies like Nostalgiacar, which operates a car service and refurbishes vintage automobiles, to a party planning company. We stayed at Casa Vera, a guest house for foreign students and at La Finca Marta, an experimental sustainable farm that supplies many of Havana’s top paladares, or private restaurants. The lessons learned for both me and my students were profound.” (See a photo of Andrea and her students: classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/class-of-1978/.)

Please e-mail Ken and me updates on your family, projects, volunteer service, career, travel, adventure—any news you’d like to share. Maybe there are others of you like Doug Hardy, who will send in your first-ever news!? We hope so. Wishing everyone the very best from snowy Duxbury,

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Ken Kramer | sbatesdux@hotmail.com

Seriously, nearly eight feet of snow in one month? Warming by the fire at home between tours of duty shoveling during this latest blizzard, I take great comfort in the many notes of support as well as updates from fellow classmates, and, of course, the Patriot’s Super Bowl win!

I am so pleased to have gotten a note from Marcy Neuburg. Marcy has just completed 25 years on the faculty of the Medical College of Wisconsin; she is working one week a month and divides her time between St. Croix and Wisconsin. Daughter Abigail is attending Hamilton and son Max is moving to Minneapolis-St. Paul this summer where he will be married. Marcy has reconnected with Bob Rees, as Marcy will have many more opportunities to visit. Richard Parad updated that daughter Rebecca is following in his medical footsteps (completing her second year) and son Matthew is making inroads as a successful songwriter. In addition to his clinical care and research responsibilities, Richard is now co-director of the Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine Clinical and Translational Research Program. Peter Guenther expressed his pleasure at the outcome of the Super Bowl, especially in view of the grief all had to endure up to the game. Richard Shulman wrote in regarding the “Volunteers In Psychotherapy” and an upcoming UCLA conference on innovations in mental health, examining the Connecticut program where people don’t pay for their therapy but earn it through volunteer work at a charity or nonprofit of their choice. Susan White, who recently moved to Boston, works at the BU School of Medicine teaching in a new physician assistant program, as well as practicing at the Boston Medical Center. Vanessa Burgess touched base regarding a number of folks: Doug Green’s son will be at Wesleyan this fall playing football (we all have a date to meet at Homecoming), Dave Thomas’ son is a senior at Wesleyan, Dorothy Crenshaw, Marianne DiOrio, and Vanessa got together earlier this year. Dorothy’s PR business is thriving, and Marianne is a senior VP of global communications at Estée Lauder. Vanessa focuses on investments in the health care sector. Her daughter, Jill, is in the Boston area (so, you haven’t called?), and her second daughter, Marjorie, is a freshman at Wesleyan. Wendy Roylo Hee met up with a visiting Yoriko Kishimoto when she was in Honolulu last fall. Yoriko was introduced to Wendy’s new grandchild. Afterwards, travels took Wendy to California and Europe on a river cruise. Bruce Kaplan writes about life in Chattanooga, where his neurology career took him and his family some time ago. In addition, Bruce and his wife, Ann, created “Barking Legs Theater,” where he curates music performances focusing on jazz, bluegrass, and more experimental type music. He built a home on the island of Dominica, where he plans to spend more time in the future. It is available for rent at villapassiflora.com. I am told discounts for Wesleyan folks are available. Carol Cooper is finishing classes for her PhD in Jungian and archetypal psychology; dissertation begins this spring. The experience has been a fine enhancement to freelance and creative writing with her students of Manhattan Center for Science and Math. The Super Bowl brought some family conflict in Hope Neiman’s home: husband and wife splitting allegiances. Hope has been traveling extensively for work, with largest chain restaurants her primary focus. Janet Malkemes sends regards from Charlotte in her annual newsletter, as she hopes to lure more classmates for a visit down south. Jeff Gray enjoyed the company of many classmates at the wedding of his son, Jeffrey, to Emily Gittes last November, including: Bob Nastri, Paul Fichera, Dave Matteodo, and Ken Langley. Heartiest congratulations!! As with most of us, the intense snow couldn’t dampen Jeff’s spirits after the Super Bowl. Judy Allen echoed the sentiments. Joan Martin is enjoying a very active life. While not traveling by air as much (airports are indeed no fun), Joan proudly stated her adherence to most all liberal causes. A number of folks wrote in disbelief at the idea of turning 60 this year: Joe Mabel enjoyed a reunion gig of the Seattle band “The Squirrels” in his living room. Michael Rittenberg is still in medical practice and has four grown children and two grandchildren. One son and daughter seemingly plan to enter the “family business” of urology. Michael works with Cal Dysinger, who is chief of anesthesia at the same hospital. Dave Levy visits yearly to check in on his own parents. David Loder enjoyed playing golf with Barry Raebeck, Jeff Shames, and Andy Silverman ’76. David states, and we all should agree, that we need to do a lot more of this as we move into our 60s…and by “this” I am sure David means getting together with good friends and old acquaintances. Best regards to all!

Gerry Frank | Gfrank@bfearc.com

Cheryl Alpert’s oldest son, Eben, will be graduating this year from Tulane with a degree in finance and her younger son, Chasen, is a sophomore at Washington and Lee where he was recruited to play soccer. Cheryl, who spent many years as a marketing executive, is now working as a volunteer with young entrepreneurs while her husband, Tom, has returned to architecture. Cheryl’s mom recently passed away, but not before reaching 100 years old. Cheryl, I hope you’ll consider being our class secretary some day!

Carol Bellhouse is keeping busy with book signings and talks. She now has 14 books in print.

Barbara Birney has settled into a small town outside of Portland, Ore., and would like to hear from any Wes grads out that way. “Settled” may be the wrong word, because in August Barbara is heading to Botswana for two years with the Peace Corps.

Melissa Blacker and her husband, David Rynick ’74, are the resident teachers at Boundless Way Zen Temple in Worcester, Mass., and invite everyone who likes to meditate to visit the Temple and gardens. David and Melissa’s daughter, Rachel, was married this past November.

Robert Buccino, a ’76er who took a year off after sophomore year, is celebrating 33 years of marriage to Mary Bresette. Their daughter, Leonora, is a junior at Grinnell. Rob recently published a book for ad agencies, titled The Pitch Book, that is available on Amazon. Rob and Mary live in Manhattan.

David Cohen reports that Matt Paul, Michael Greenberg, Stewart Shuman, and he just had their third annual get-together, which featured hiking, a great meal and wine, and endless conversation about Wes, politics, and much more.

Sid Cohen writes that, after a 20-year stint at UPenn School of Medicine, he worked at several large companies and start-ups in the cardiovascular and medical device industries. Sid and his wife, Caro, now reside in Pleasanton, Calif., southeast of San Francisco. They have three children who live and work on the East Coast. Sid would love to hear from fellow classmates at sidneyacohen@mac.com

The city of Madrid invited Bob Craft to tour the city as a possible location for a film. While there, he met two other film location managers. The three of them were featured in a televised newscast and in a photo in the Sunday paper.

Like many of us, Lenny Femino and his wife, Rona, are doing more traveling now that the kids have moved out. Lenny’s law practice is entering its 30th year, and he still finds time to run 30 to 40 miles per week. Keep it up Len, but don’t wear it out!

Elizabeth Eisenmann lives in Chelmsford, Mass., which is about 10 miles from the New Hampshire border. The snow this year has kept her busy, but she enjoys the workout. “Let the whiners threaten to move to Florida,” she says, “I will take nor’easters and blizzards over hurricanes and flying cockroaches any day.”

Debra Haffner has been ordained for 12 years and is ABD for her doctorate. She hopes to be Rev. Dr. Haffner by next spring.

Peter Hansen is trying to put more emphasis on the “life” side of the work/life balance equation, and he and his wife did a combined work/vacation trip to Taiwan last fall. Peter is spending more time than ever in D.C., but still regularly commutes to Kansas City, Denver, and Portland for his marketing consulting business.

Karen William Harmin and her husband, David Harmin, both are still working at Harvard Medical School and enjoying life in Cambridge. David became a grandfather last fall and they are enjoying it immensely.

Byron Haskins has also become a grandfather. His son, Josh, who is a director at ESPN, and his wife, Katy, who works at Yale-New Haven Hospital, welcomed Harriett into their family in October. His daughter, Anna, and her husband, Steven, who are both assistant professors at Cornell, welcomed Solomon into their family in December.

Alan Haus started teaching motion picture law and business to MFA candidates one afternoon per week at a local university in San Francisco.

Jim Johnson’s international bicycle tour business, BikeTours.com, has been expanding and now offers 550 tours in 75 countries. Jim, who now resides in Chattanooga, is very active in local bicycle and trails advocacy and is working on a number of projects to establish local parks and bicycle trails.

Ron Kirschner went from being a history grad student to becoming an ER doc; he changed directions again when he was hit by a car and severely injured. Ron is now the medical director of a Midwest poison center that is affiliated with the University of Nebraska Medical Center. They made the news when caring for an American physician who contracted Ebola in West Africa. Ron is married and has a daughter who will be turning 18 this spring.

Tom Kovar, like several classmates, is enduring the snow conditions in and around Boston. Tom recently heard Jay Hoggard, who lives and teaches in Middletown, playing with a local jazz trio and found Jay’s music “astonishingly great.”

Seth Lerer has finished his term as dean of arts and humanities at the University of California, San Diego, and is enjoying a sabbatical. This spring, Seth will be the Keeley Visiting Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford.

Gerry Rau writes from Taiwan and a decidedly different season and climate. He offers his good wishes to all.

Des Stern Whitney and his wife, Anne, have recently become empty nesters and are enjoying their new found freedom.

Thanks for writing. Keep in touch.

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

Class of 1975,

With Reunion around the corner, I’m hoping many of you plan to spend May 22–24 at Wes. It’s such a great opportunity to reconnect in more than the twosomes and threesomes we’ve stayed in touch with across the years. Beyond seeing the folks you remain close to, it’s especially fun to spend time with people you never got to know as undergrads. That only happens at Reunion. So if you haven’t signed up, get online and do it now!!

Mark Nickerson has released his book, The Wounds Within, about the nature and impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and the veterans, families, and clinical and policy issues involved. Mark majored in psychology at Wes and stuck with it. He has practiced individual and family psychotherapy in Amherst for 30 years and consults widely on trauma and other topics.

For a more specialized audience, Bruce Pyenson was lead author of an actuarial analysis of lung cancer screening and its cost/benefit for Medicare. Bruce and a team from his actuary consulting firm, Milliman, Inc., and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai determined that using low-dose computed tomography imaging to screen Medicare beneficiaries (soon-to-be-us!) for lung cancer is a low-cost, cost-effective strategy to extend lives and reduce cost.

J.D. Moore is approaching his first anniversary on the Connecticut Superior Court. Who says there’s no justice? He has three Wes colleagues on the bench, Bob Nastri ’77, Cesar Noble ’80, and Irene Jacobs MALS ’80, and they were all sworn in together last April. His judicial work has thus far taken him to Hartford criminal court and Litchfield civil court. J.D. organized a mini-reunion in January to take in a concert by Orleans with Steve McCarthy, Paul Margolin, Joe O’Rourke, and all the wives. He’s working on lining up a post-concert meeting with John Hall.

Corinne Kratz started with our class and took the scenic route, graduating with a BA/MA in ’77 and going on to earn a PhD from the University of Texas-Austin. She reports that she’s living in Santa Fe, where she writes and does research, working with Emory University’s African Critical Inquiry Program to support annual workshops and student research in South Africa. She is a professor emerita of Anthropology and African Studies at Emory.

John Tabachnick and his wife, Sherry, look forward to seeing everyone at the 40th. They’ll be coming with son Jeff Tabachnick ’05 and family for a shared reunion (and maybe an intro to Wes for Jeff’s two kids). John has 32 years of private practice in family medicine behind him. He’s chairing a department of 29 primary care doctors in a group of more than 400 mostly specialty physicians.

Ed Van Voorhees is on the move. With children and grandchildren in L.A. and D.C., plus one in Nashville (his hometown), he gets around. Ed and Linda have cut back on work to allow more time for grandkids, and Ed spends a day per week working with The Bootstraps Foundation, which provides scholarships to young people who have pulled themselves up by . . .

Compared to Rachel Adler Hayes, Ed is standing still. Her passport has recently taken her to Italy, Spain, Istanbul, and Dublin. A stop in Seattle included visiting high school classmate Bruce Ferguson ’73. The travel is mostly for Oxfam America, where Rachel is senior director of communications and engagement. Vacations are closer to home, in California and Marblehead, Mass. Rachel’s son is a junior in high school, enamored with basketball and just starting the college search. Besides work and family, Rachel is doing major home projects, but she promised to take a break and come to Middletown this May.

Martha Faller Brown and Bruce Paton checked in from different corners of the Bay Area, letting me know they stayed warm and dry amid the downpours and demonstrations of December. Not long after, the holiday e-mails began to arrive. Brad Kosiba is ensconced with Dorothy in Chapel Hill, retired from his bio-tech industry career, and doing lots of house, community, and family projects. With sons 21, 23, and 26, their nest is mostly empty these days. Like many of us, Brad has replaced the day-to-day parent responsibilities with day-to-day responsibility for aging parents. Debbie Kosich, Brad’s Wes mailbox-mate, is in the same boat—retiring from her geology career with Exxon in Houston and dealing with her mother’s aging. She plans to split her time between Houston and her condo in the Rockies, along with trips to check on mom in Massachusetts. Brian Steinbach hasn’t retired from employment law, but he and Mary also have projects on the home front. This year they achieved something many of us only dream about—paying off the mortgage!

It was terrific to hear from David Leisner that Facts of Life, his latest CD, was released in February. It includes world premiere recordings of works that David commissioned from David Del Tredici and Osvaldo Golijov, whom he considers “two of the most important composers alive today,” plus his own arrangement of Bach’s “Lute Suite BWV 997.” The fruit of many years’ work, the album’s release is a moment of great pride for David, as it should be. The review on Amazon says, “Mr. Leisner is an extraordinarily versatile musician with a multi-faceted career as an electrifying performer, a distinguished composer, and a master teacher. Recent appearances have taken him around the USA, Puerto Rico, Oceania, Europe, Japan, and Mexico. He also serves as artistic director of the Guitar Plus series in New York, a series that features chamber music with guitar.” And his 2011 release, Favorites, was named one of “2015 Records to Die For” on stereophile.com. Congratulations, David!

Thinking back to those undergraduate days listening to David play reminds me that we should note the loss of Jean Redpath (artist-in-residence 1972–1976), who died of cancer at age 77 last August. Jean brought her beautiful voice, deep knowledge of Scottish music, and a biting (and often off-color) wit to liven up any class, concert, or social gathering in our era. I still sing songs I first learned from her.

I had the opportunity to bid on an auction item with a Wes connection at my synagogue’s gala last spring, so I expect to be meeting up soon with Jeff Morgan and his wife, Jodie, for a tour and tasting at their Covenant Winery. They moved from Napa to Berkeley last year, where Jeff built an urban winery to get back to “civilization” and complement the Napa site. For his eighth cookbook being released in March, The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table, his editor at Random House happened to be Lexy Bloom ’99.

Retirement is a distant dream for me. My travels now are between home near San Francisco and my mother near Boston. The October trip was a glorious mother-son weekend road trip looking at colleges. Six schools, three-and-a-half days, 700 miles, and lots of talk time. When you read this, Ethan’s college decision should be made, and we’ll all breathe a bit easier.

Thanks in advance to my fellow members of ’75’s Reunion Committee: Karen Freedman, Steve Levin, Roger Weisberg, Charlie Stolper, Mark Schonberger, Dave Rosenblum, J.D. Moore, and Gary Steinel. It’s going to be a great weekend, so bring your family, invite your Wes friends, and don’t miss it!

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive. Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955