CLASS OF 1974 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Karla Bell writes, “I’m still friends with my roommate, Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, Rabbi Nancy now. She has spent much of life teaching and acting in other roles at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Seminary. The Cleveland Jewish community keeps inviting Nancy to give presentations and she stays with me and we get a chance to catch up. Most recently she was asked to facilitate and lead an interaction between the members of a conservative synagogue and Muslims who are active in the Islamic Center on the East Side of Cleveland. She was pleased that participants shared passionate and touching stories. She got rave reviews. We also discovered that we wear the same shoe size. (She came with tennis shoes; I lent her boots, as we had 4-6 inches of snow.) Juliette Kendrick, another roommate, and I are very close, a relationship re-sparked by my sending two children to Emory in Atlanta, and Juliette sending her two sons to college, and one to medical school, in Ohio. During an extended visit she stayed at my house, yes, we discovered she could wear my clothes. (I’m the conglomeration of our bodies?) The picture was taken a couple of years back, when we had a reunion in Cleveland.

“I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.”–Eleanor Roosevelt

Bill Burton retired after a 37-year career with the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA.  He will continue on as Emeritus, finishing projects that were not completed due to the pandemic.  One is geologic mapping of an area in western Connecticut, where he is cooperating with Bob Wintsch, Adjunct Professor with Wesleyan’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science.  Bill and his wife Laurel will be spending a lot more time at their cabin in Jamestown, Colorado, and Bill will continue his volunteer activities including astronomy education, supporting the northern Virginia Audubon Society chapter, and tending beehives at his church.  He looks forward to future Wes reunions at Lloyd Komesar’s film festival in Middlebury, Vermont.

Joan Braun reports:  “Last September, I embarked on  Phase I of my glidepath to retirement, trading a full time job as COO of the United  Way Bay Area for a part-time job as the Finance Director of Homebase, the Center for Common Concerns. It’s been a salutary change—three and half days of work instead of six. 

Lest I worry about what to do with my newfound leisure, I stepped  into role of President of  the Aurora Theatre, a hidden gem located  in the heart of Berkeley. My timing was impeccable. 

The stage went dark in March in response to Governor Newsom’s shelter-in-place  directive and we’re expecting to be dark until next summer.  Our tiny 150-seat trust stage venue  is absolutely unsuitable for socially distanced seating.  Given that unhappy fact, It’s been all financials, all the time. 

We were lucky enough to get a Paycheck Protection Program  loan and a small grant from the City of Berkeley at the start of the pandemic. In  July, we held a very successful on-line Gala. In short order, we launched both a Friday afternoon digital salon and a full-fledged on-line  membership program. In October, we’ll  be mounting an  online, audio performance of a brand new work, The Flats. Get your tickets now:  https://www.auroratheatre.org/the-flats-memberships! Geography is no excuse to miss it.” 

Chris Nagle updates us: “I left Wes Tech in the fall of 1974 and headed right off to law school with a vague goal of being a small town attorney in northern New England, probably Vermont where I had spent winter breaks as a ski bum in Stowe.  In the fall of 1977, I found myself working for a large law firm in Portland, Maine.   For the next 43 years, I commuted from the northern suburbs to two different law firms located downtown.   Portland rose from the ashes like a phoenix to become a hot small city nationally recognized for its restaurants and its arts scene.   At different times, I enjoyed high office window views of the Fore River and Casco Bay or the White Mountains and Tuckerman’s Ravine.

On August 1, 2020, I finally achieved my goal.   I now work at the Law Offices of Thaddeus Day PLLC, a two attorney operation in “downtown” North Yarmouth, Maine, which also has a breakfast and lunch restaurant, a gas station/convenience store, a day care center and Town Hall. My commute from my home in semi-rural West Cumberland is 3.5 miles mostly on a secondary highway (Route 115) with three right turns, two stop signs, no traffic, no traffic lights, no parking garages, no key cards and no elevators. The firm is in a small converted cape, my modest office window looks out into the back yard, and my faithful dog Ace comes with me most days.    I only work from late morning to late afternoon most days. Professional life the way it should be

I still walk 18 holes of golf at least weekly when there is no snow and am still challenged by the ski slopes of Sugarloaf and Stowe each when there is snow, both with friends and family.

I continue to be amazed by my sons. Scott (BA Bennington ’05, MS Teaching Pace ’07, MS Computer Science NYU ’17) is helping develop quantum computers for IBM, in additional to being longtime Occupy member, EMT, WFR etc. He is happily married to Keilly Cutler (Hamilton ’12?) and they live in Austin, TX. Jeff (UVM ’10) lives in Morrisville just north of Stowe, VT, is the marketing director of Ski Essentials, a large internet ski company, and posts regular “Chair Lift” videos about new developments in skis. He recently joined a local golf club which makes my heart flutter.  His life partner Tori (UVM 08?) works for ACLU Vermont.” 

Carolyn White shares, “I just attended the online version of Lloyd Komesar’s MNFF: Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, 6th édition. 127 different items to watch over an 8 day period. I managed to see 27: narratives, documentaries and shorts. As always, the quality was high. I learned a lot and feel enriched. 10 days afterward, Steve Goldschmidt (1972) organized a Zoom for the Wesleyan folk who attended to discuss and critique. We could not say enough good things about Lloyd, the organization, the quality of the films. Mark your calendar, reserve your room for the weekend before Labor Day weekend. Lloyd will guarantee you his ever warm welcome. “

Monique Witt updates us: “In spite of everything, Ben dropped his third album (“Kites and Strings,” the Nebula Project) recently, and is live streaming and finishing some commissioned compositions.  Dev’s venture, Ex Machina Soundworks, launched a new audio platform, and Steve is working the same crazy hours but remotely.  The production company will release only four albums this year, but the slow down has allowed more time for reading and writing.  Everyone is well.”

Sharon Purdie | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

CLASS OF 1973 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Mike McKenna reports from Weybridge, Vermont, that “all is good” and continues to feature his stunning, at times breathtaking photos from that state at different times of the day on Facebook. He’s a potential freelancer for National Geographic

Tom Tokarz writes that after 30 years in Cromwell, Connecticut, Kathy and he moved to Old Saybrook, Connecticut, near Fenwood Beach, last year. “We are really settling in to the area. One day, while walking the dog, two blocks from home I bumped into Charlie Cocores at his property. We had a great talk and found out we both have family in State College, Pennsylvania, of all places. Small world,” says Tom. He tells me he was also honored to be named to the Wesleyan football 1970s all-decade team along with John Hoder. He sends congratulations to John along with Jim Greene and Dave Moffenbeier who were also nominated. With the pandemic and its restrictions, Tom says, “Really miss not being able to tailgate and attend other campus events. Hope everyone stays safe.”

Tom Kelly reports that he and has family have been sorting through the craziness of the COVID-19 pandemic. He says his wife is working from home, as are his children who live “close by.” He misses live theater, baseball and hockey and least misses airlines and airports and at this writing at the end of September, Tom says he has taken no flights since February. Tom says he has improved “staying connected” but he admits “I was never really good at it.” He has used his “found time” productively, learning Spanish and doing community work in affordable housing.

 Another intrepid correspondent Jay Rose tells me that he and Dave Moffenbeier had lunch together recently in Centralia, Washington. It was the first time they had seen each other in 37 years, which I’m guessing might have been our 10-year reunion in 1983. Jay says Dave still lives in Portland, Oregon, and Jay was visiting his son in Seattle and notes that Centralia is halfway between two cities. It was a remarkable reunion after nearly four decades apart, particularly considering that while at Wesleyan they saw each other all the time. Jay and Dave were both chemistry majors who played on the football team together and both lived at Delta Tau Delta. 

 And speaking of reunions, Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19, Wesleyan’s associate director of annual giving, reminds you to save the date for our 50th Reunion scheduled for May 25–28, 2023! Reunion planning and fundraising for our reunion gift is happening even now. If you’d like to be involved in planning some virtual events or want to work on class outreach, contact Kate (klynch@wesleyan.edu). Other reunion news can be found at wesleyan.edu/classof1973.

Granderson “Granny” Hale sends his greetings to everyone while writing a humorous, offbeat note saying he was the “Knucklehead of Unit 10 and Lawn Ave” who was “Everyone’s friend.” He writes that he went from the projects of Philadelphia to Goldman Sachs in 1975 and reports that he is married with six children and 13 grandchildren. He says he has created a few companies. “Some bombed. Some did not,” he says. “So now what?” He leaves us with a deep thought from the Bible, “I am come that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly.” Granderson tells me he has taught Sunday school for more than 35 years and is heavily involved in personal Evangelism.

We have learned of the passing of Tom Pfeiffer last October 10th who died at his home in Verona, Wisconsin, from “non COVID-19-related health issues.” He was 69. Tom moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1977 and his family says he “took pride in helping students get the education they were seeking” as financial aid director at the University of Wisconsin. For two decades he also helped many working for Wisconsin Fathers for Children and Families. Tom is survived by three children, his partner, six siblings and 17 nieces and nephews. I will always remember his smile, low-key sense of humor and storytelling as he frequently attended our 5-year reunions.

Finally, there is better news here in the area of South Florida after Miami was called for awhile the “epicenter” of COVID-19 after New York’s battle. I never thought I’d be wearing a face mask for this long while going live for TV news on CBS4 and never thought my first question of the day would not be about the weather or anything else but quite simply, “What’s the positivity rate?” A boring question that so many were posing every single day: the rate of those testing positive for COVID-19. The better news is that at this writing the positivity rate for Broward County has been consistently averaging below four percent and below five percent for Miami-Dade and dropping. I guess, as they say, we “stay tuned.”

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

CLASS OF 1972 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Six months of restricted life, no end in sight, and it will probably be the same when these words reach your eyes. As Shakespeare said, “oy gevalt.”  My family and I are well and I hope the same is true for you.

Our Class Zoom in March was such a success that President Michael Roth ’78 wanted to do one with us. Organized by Ron Ashkenas and Peter Hicks, Michael joined us for a most interesting session during which he discussed Wesleyan’s response to COVID-19 and its re-envisioning of its future. Ron and Peter are busy organizing another set of webinars on various themes for our class, which should be of great interest to all and should build enthusiasm for our 50th reunion, which we really hope will come off as scheduled in May of 2022.

My old roommate Roger Jackson, now retired as professor of religion at Carleton College, has been awarded the 2020 Toshihide Numata Book Award in Buddhism (“Toshi Award”) for his book, Mind Seeing Mind: Mahamudra and the Geluk Tradition (Wisdom Publications, 2019). The award is presented on an annual basis to an outstanding book in any area of Buddhist studies. The award is typically presented at UC Berkeley, and is celebrated with a public lecture by the award recipient and a symposium focused on the book’s theme. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the celebration, including presentation of the award, public lecture, and symposium, had to be conducted remotely as a webinar.  That webinar had not been held at the time of writing a few of us planned to attend, based on Roger’s assurance that some of his remarks would, in fact, be  aimed toward “a not-too-deep-in-the-Buddhist-studies-weeds audience.”  This is a most significant achievement, one that caps a distinguished and committed career. Well done, Roger! 

Marc Bloustein wrote me from his home office, where he too was sheltering in place. Marc continues to work for the New York State court system. 46 years in all.  He is the Judiciary’s Legislative Counsel and an advisor to the State’s Chief Judge and Chief Administrative Judge.  He lecture to groups of judges frequently on court system history, constitutional law issues bearing upon the structure/operations of New York’s courts, and recent legislative developments.  Once in a while, he even publishes something on these topics.  The work is challenging (never more so than now, as they try to keep the courts operational during these fraught times) and, as long as his health is good, he plans to continue. Marc and wife Diane (Skidmore, 1975), continue to live in suburban Albany. Their daughter (Wellesley, ’03, Northwestern (master’s), 2005) is a journalist who has been an NPR reporter and is now a digital content editor for the local paper, The Albany Times Union. Their son (Northwestern, ’06)  lives in Chicago, where he is “a freelance TV production guy.” He directs TV broadcasts of the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Bulls for NBC Sports Chicago; and Big Ten football and men’s and women’s basketball for the Big Ten Network. Occasionally he does NHL games as well.  But the best thing about Marc’s life these days is being a grandfather.  And that his two grandchildren, Kinsey, age seven, and Calvin, just about age three, live all of 10 miles away.

I am sorry to report that Arnold Hendrick lost his battle with cancer on May 25, 2020. I remember him as a delightfully learned and enthusiastic gamer, and he spent his life exactly that way. Capitalizing on his degree in history, he began with board games, including Barbarian Prince. He expanded his game sophistication as computers developed; he was most proud of his game Darklands. He expanded his interests to include online training for both medical crises (in coordination with Stanford University) and military training scenarios with the U.S. Army.  Even after he retired, he began a small, international company to expand on the Darklands theme. He leaves behind his wife, Georgeann, a step-daughter, Dr. Heather Pua, and a brother, Stephen Hendrick. 

 Don Lewis is still practicing law in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He and wife Michelle have been strictly sheltering in place since mid-March; their daughter Meredith’s husband is a health scientist who warned them about COVID-19 in January (when Don bought his first pack of N95 masks), and they are insisting on a very strict regimen.  Meredith and her family (including three kids, ages two, five, and eight) are also sheltering in place about 15 minutes away. Their younger daughter, Emily, lives in Philadelphia and they have not seen her (except via Facetime) since March. Don has many regrets about his Wesleyan years, which were clouded over by the Vietnam War (especially after he drew number 4 in the draft lottery). Instead of reaching out to classmates back then, he curtailed his involvement in campus life, which he deeply regrets. Nonetheless, several people at Wesleyan, especially Prof. David McAllester, helped him obtain a CO classification. He served his two years of alternate service in a relatively low stress job with the Boston College Law School legal aid program, and credits Georgia Sassen ’71 with steering him to that job. Ironically, that set the stage for his unexpected gravitation into the legal profession. 

Don was one of a few dozen classmates who participated in a Zoom session in October at which we whipped up enthusiasm for the reunion, but mostly just talked and had fun. I couldn’t talk to everyone, but here are a few highlights:

 

Steve Lewis—in Marin County, still practicing environmental litigation

Blake Allison—in Lyme, New Hampshire, active in conservation groups and the Town Band

Ron Ashkenas—Stamford, Connecticut—not-for-profit organizational consulting

Rick Berg—near Albuquerque, bed & breakfast, software business, Democratic politics, outdoors

Paul Edelberg—also Stamford, still practicing law with emphasis on China

Bonnie Krueger—sheltered on Cape Cod, preparing to teach her last semester at Hamilton College, albeit remotely

 

There will be more such get-togethers, and maybe one day we can do it in person again. Here’s hoping for May 2022, and see Kate Lynch’s note below about how you can help in the reunion effort!

Save the date for our 50th Reunion scheduled for May 19–May 22, 2022! Reunion planning and fundraising for our reunion gift is happening even now and for those that missed our virtual conversation with Michael Roth last June, other virtual events will be scheduled over the next several months. If you want more information go to wesleyan.edu/classof1972. Or if you want to get involved, contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19.

Seth A. Davis | sethdavis@post.harvard.edu
213 Copper Square Drive, Bethel, CT 06801

CLASS OF 1971 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Aloha classmates! As of writing, the planned 50th Reunion event has unfortunately been postponed. Expect details from Wesleyan soon! Regardless, the committee is generating wonderful ideas and events for our participation when we can meet in person. It will be well worth your while to attend. Reunion planning and fundraising for our reunion gift is happening all year long and if you want more information or to join the reunion committee, go to wesleyan

.edu/classof1971. Or if you want to get involved, contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19.

We had our first Zoom virtual call and over 70 in our class registered. We heard some interesting ideas coming for the reunion and then broke into groups of about six people to refresh and reacquaint ourselves with our classmates. For those that have missed it, more virtual events will be scheduled over the next few months (potentially January, February and March). The next group of calls will have a theme with speakers from our class and the university on a specific topic 

The ideas behind the pre-reunion Zoom calls are as follows:

Build interest and participation for the reunion, and unearth classmates by having them attend (and engage) or participate in the pre-reunion sessions.

Pilot some programming ideas for the reunion or to the reunion “Book.”

Pre-reunion Program Category Ideas:

1) Attract and Motivate Specialty Interest Segment Groups

Programs: “Then vs. Now at Wesleyan” or “Looking Back Through Today’s Lens” (e.g., Athletics, Science, Humanities, Film and Theater Arts, Jewish life, women at Weslyan, etc), featuring faculty and students from “then” (’67–’71) and now.

2) Attract General interest and Enthusiasm by Tapping into Wide Mosaic of Classmate Accomplishments and Journeys 

These calls should be a great way to prepare for the reunion. So do plan to Zoom in for these calls! Information should be coming to you in emails. If you are not receiving them please contact Kate Lynch at klynch@wesleyan.edu. 

Another item that requires your response regards the Reunion Book. Please respond ASAP with any changes as updated contact information will be used for all future mailings and communication. There is no need to respond if contact information is correct.

Everyone is urged to answer the questions you will receive from the 50th Reunion Book Committee and to submit a new and an “old” 

photo to be included in the book—people are most disappointed to find out they have not submitted anything when the hard copy of the book is mailed to the class in April 2021.

Sad news: Pam Kyrka, who is an active member of the 50th Reunion committee, informed us that her husband and our classmate Bob Kyrka passed away on July 21, 2020. He leaves behind Pam and their daughters, Kristin ’04, an immigration lawyer in Seattle, and Morgan, working and living in New Hampshire. Pam writes the following: “Bob died on July 21, 2020 after a long battle with Alzheimers. He was an avid runner, completing 26 marathons. He is missed by his wife Pam ’71, his  daughter Kristin ’04, his son Morgan, and his granddaughter Hazel, as well as many people whose animals he treated as a veterinarian.”

Jonathan Kramer wrote me and asked a question in search of fellow classmates. “Henry Sanders and I sat out in my backyard last week, ‘socially distanced,’ of course, going through the list of ’71 names, checking out whom we knew, whom we remembered, whom we were in contact with over the years. It occurred to me that no fewer than four members of my ‘Freshman Integrated’ program (remember that?) were not on the list. Checking each of their names with Google searches yielded no information. All four vanished. I don’t remember if, like me, the four did not graduate with the class; but still, Wesleyan has been in touch with me over the years, and I am not only on the ‘list’ but on the reunion committee as well. Have you information on any of these four: Gary Gianuzzi, James Vizzini, Paul Breger, and Walter Zdrok?”

Jonathan continues, “As for me, I am still playing and teaching cello, but now on Skype from my home. I retired from NC State University in January after 35 years, just in time to miss the campus chaos brought on by COVID-19. The college textbook on World Music I co-wrote . . . What in the World Is Music?, published in 2016 by Routledge/Taylor and Francis . . . is dedicated to ethno-mentor David McAllester from Wesleyan days, as well as my cello mentor Gordon Epperson and my colleague Alison Arnold’s ethno-mentor Bruno Nettl. We honor our teachers.” In answer to his question Vizzini and Breger were found and Jonathan can reach out to them. If anyone knows how to contact Gianuzzi and Zdrok please let Jonathan or Kate Lynch know. And if you have lost contact with someone from the class contact Kate for information.

Well that is all I have this time. Even though our planned reunion in May 2021 has been postponed, I’m looking forward to all of us being able to get together again. Keep an eye out for a new date, and feel free to join our frequent Zoom calls on various topics!

Aloha.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

CLASS OF 1970 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Aloha, everyone. Well, I don’t know about you, but this whole COVID-19 “thing” continues to be weird. Oh, well, as I write, we’re within 30 days of the election. Maybe the results will be known by the time this column is in print and in your mailbox. Happy New Year. 

After a gap of several years, I had an email from Peter Traneus Anderson just after deadline for the last column. His remarks about the virtual reunion yearbook reflect those of several classmates at virtual meetings: “Many thanks to everyone involved in producing [it]! I learned about classmates I would not have learned at an in-person reunion.”

Peter retired 10 years ago.  He offered thanks to former faculty James Millinger, who taught Chinese history from 1968 to 1975. I took both semesters of the introductory version of his course. I learned a lot, starting from total ignorance, but only enough to earn two D’s. Specifically, I learned that the present-day Chinese Communist Party is merely the latest imperial dynasty, right on dynastic schedule.

Peter remarked, “The founding of Intel in 1969 was not mentioned in the virtual-reunion book, but marks for me the beginning of the computer revolution of the ’70s ’80s ’90s and ’00s.”  He noted, too, that “The first issue of the alumni magazine I received after graduating in ’70, had oldest alumni notes from Class of ’98. The most recent issue has oldest alumni notes from Class of ’38. Our longest-lived alumni are living longer than previously.”

Steve Talbot (who often posts thoughtful comments on Facebook), is at work directing another film called The Movement and the Madman. (It’s about the Nixon/Kissinger administration versus the anti-war movement in the U.S. in 1969.)

Here are more details:   “I’m directing a new documentary about the Nixon / Kissinger administration versus the anti-war movement in the US

in 1969. We’re calling it “The Movement and the Madman.” The title refers to what Nixon called his “madman” theory or strategy in which

he wanted to appear to North Vietnam’s leaders as a man capable of doing anything, even something crazy like using nuclear weapons,

in the war, in order to force Hanoi to capitulate. Here’s our website. https://www.movementandthemadman.com

“The film will highlight the two major anti-war protests in the Fall of 1969 that caused Nixon to cancel his ultimatum to Hanoi that unless they came to the negotiating table and agreed to US terms by Nov. 1 Nixon and Kissinger would unleash a major escalation of the war. All of this was secret at the time. The anti-war movement had no idea what it had prevented.

“I’m interviewing leaders of the Moratorium (October 15, nationwide, two million people) and the Nov. 13-15, 1969 march and rally in Washington DC (the largest single protest in US history up till then), as well as members of the Nixon administration and Kissinger’s National Security Council.

“Anyone in our class remember what we did at Wesleyan for the October 15th Moratorium? If so, send me your stories (and photos!).

Hint: in keeping with the national Moratorium strategy to “go local” and be broadly inclusive, we held a march down Main St. in Middletown and had a rally in a small park with a wide range of speakers, including Wesleyan President Ted Etherington, who declared (after much deliberation) that he was for “Out Now!” We were front page news, banner headline, in the local newspaper.

“Many of you know I filmed the Nov. 13-15 protests in Washington for my first documentary along with classmates and friends Dave Davis, David White,

Bill Tam, Susie Heldfond, Doug Bell, Jim Elston, etc. When we were tear gassed one night in DuPont Circle, recent Wesleyan grad, David Siegel (on his way to becoming a doctor) suddenly turned up out of nowhere to offer medical aid.” 

Jim Pickering wrote, “This COVID-19 schmegeggy has clobbered people in my profession. No one knows when we will have anything like live performances in the theatres where I work. I have done a number of Zoomformances of various kinds and gotten paid for some of them, but not frequently enough. And they are unsatisfying. And participation in them does nothing to contribute to eligibility for the health insurance I get through Actors Equity.

“Having bitched about that I can tell you that I, my wife Tami Workentin, her two sons Jonah and Edan Ness, and our dogs Frankie and Joxer are weathering the situation quite well. Both guys have been sequestered with us in our big old Victorian House in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee since April, and that situation has had its ups and downs. Now, however, both guys are on the cusp of moving to their own apartments, and we will have the place to ourselves.

“We have leavened the quarantining by traveling to nearby remote places (yes, both adjectives may apply in Wisconsin) and done a lot of kayaking and hiking. As Tami puts it, “At least we’re someplace else.” Yesterday we stacked a cord of firewood for our Franklin stove, in anticipation of lives lived more indoor than outdoors.

“I hope we get a chance at a “50th Redux” at some point next year. It seems somehow fitting that the class who had no real graduation should be deprived of this reunion as well. In the meantime, I hope everyone stays well and safe. And votes out the diapered tyrant.”

It was good to hear from John Rinehart after a few years. He wrote, “Like all of our classmates, I have been considering the issue of retirement. For the last 12 years I have been a founding member of a large reproductive endocrine medical practice in Chicago. The practice of medicine has undergone a number of changes and over the years being a member of a large group became less and less rewarding. So I reviewed my options which seemed to be stay on for another 2- 3 years and then get out of medicine all together or just retire now. Discussions with many of my colleagues that are my age revealed that many of us were not ready to retire and felt we had value to add to the practice of medicine and we just weren’t ready to retire. So I quit the large medical group and formed my own solo fertility practice­—eponymously named The Rinehart Fertility Center. I have offices on Hinsdale and Oak Lawn Illinois, my wife ( a nurse attorney) runs the practice, and this looks like how I will spend my retirement—at least until someone tells me is am too batshit to practice any longer. While I have only being doing this a few months, I have never been this satisfied with practicing medicine or going to work. So a strange way to retire, but I think it works for me.”  Enjoy!

Our experts on all things whale museumish, Stuart Frank wrote, “Now retired from the day-to-day cares and woes of life at the office (in maritime museums), I’m comfortably locked down with my wife Mary, our extensive library, an aging laptop, and dozens of musical instruments, and continue writing about maritime art, music, history, and culture, consulting about nautical antiques, collecting books and manuscripts, and have recently taken over as editor of Scrimshaw Observer, the fledgling triennial journal of the Antique Scrimshaw Collectors Association, to which I’ve been contributing three or four articles each year.”

In other retirement news, David White wrote, “I am retiring after a 10-year tenure as artistic director of The Yard, the nationally awarded, inclusive choreographer creative residency, performance, education and community service center on Martha’s Vineyard. Time for a 3rd Act. (Or an extended entr’acte. I’ll miss the Wes wash-ashores who have landed here over time:  John Abrams, Peter Woodin, Blake Allison, Bob Julier, occasionally Morgan Muir and Gene Borgida, among others. Virtually all had some experience in the Paleo-Choreographic Era under the Mother of (Dance Invention) Cheryl Cutler (still alive and kicking up her heels in the Pacific Northwest). Cheryl, professor emerita, would be a great addition to the 50th Reunion if it ever happens.”

   Robert Baker sent a short message addressed “To my friends who value education.” https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/how-radical-historians-revisionism-and-lies-led-to-2020s-unrest/ 

The article is about Howard Zinn, the “radical” historian who was teaching at Boston University during our Wesleyan years. Interesting piece worth reading.

Finally, Kate Lynch sent an email from John Griffin regarding our unique 50th Reunion Yearbook/51st Reunion Supplement:

“We will be the first class in Wesleyan history to produce a 50th reunion yearbook and a 51st reunion yearbook supplement.

The supplement will be published in the spring of 2021. We will have stories on what we did during the 1970 strike, including graduation, and on what we did during coronavirus year 2020.

Also, for those of you who did not send in a biography for the first book or want to update your biography, please send that to Geralyn Russo (grusso@wesleyan.edu). Please send any photos you have –then and now – to go with your bio.

Ted Reed and I are writing a strike/graduation story that will resemble the story in the yearbook on the draft. (The 2020 coronavirus story will follow.)

In an email, please tell us what you remember about May 1970. 

  • Did you support the strike? 
  • What did you do during the strike?
  • Were you sorry to miss the last month of classes?
  • What did your parents think?
  • Were you happy or disappointed with commencement?
  • Is your perspective different today?

To refresh your memory, here is a timeline of events in the spring of 1970. 

April 30: Nixon announces invasion of Cambodia, April 30: Three bombs exploded on Wesleyan campus, May 1: May Day Rally in New Haven, May 3: Grateful Dead concert, May 4: Students vote to strike announced, May 4: Four students killed by National Guard at Kent State, May 15: Two students killed at Jackson State College. Ultimately, over 450 colleges and high schools went on strike. June 7: Commencement. Those of you involved in organizing the strike, negotiating with faculty and administration, planning anti-war or community activities, please share your memories of how those plans were made and then implemented.

Please send your email with your answers to the above questions and also, any documents, photos, or posters that you would like to share to Geralyn Russo (grusso@wesleyan.edu).

Thank you for your help,

John Griffin”

Don’t trust anyone under 70.

Aloha for now. Wishing you all good health and less “interesting” times in 2021.

Russ Josephson | russ_josephson@yahoo.com
P.O. Box 1151, Kilauea, HI 96754

CLASS OF 1969 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Michael Lux is an attorney “practicing customs and VAT law in Brussels.”

Joe Murray “hunkers down in South Carolina, still coaches high school lacrosse, and misses London buddies Steve Bryant and Steve Pfeiffer.”

Pete Arenella has “lived a bi-polar life—great highs, severe lows. Now in a rural Mexican village—no paving or restaurants, partnered with Mexican soulmate. Miss my children. Son David, 35, is lockdowned in a group home. The mentally disabled community has suffered from COVID-19. Daughter Kat, 29, earned a psych doctorate and Zooms patients in Minneapolis. Hope all are safe and virus-free.”

Bill Eaton wrote, “Take heart attack and ambulance ride off the bucket list. Feeling fine and back to work. New granddaughter. Play bluegrass with the starkly amateurish Sweet Potato Fries. Does anyone at Wes remember our jugband Vulgar Boatmen?”

Stuart Blackburn “enjoys trips down memory lane with Steve Pfeiffer. A lot happened 1965–69.”

Ron Reisner is “part of an email cycle with Harry Nothacker and Mike Terry, often discussing surfing and golfing.”

Jim Drummond said, “My get rich quick scheme has been a long criminal defense career. I’m in touch with Bruce Hartman and Jeff Richards. Deb and I actually enjoy the desocialization, though one might consider significant other encounter sessions. Stay safe.”

Carl Culler “retired to a house on Lake Norman, North Carolina, to enjoy boating and fishing. Isolation is easier until pandemic passes.”

John Bach “hopes we are all well enough. Marilyn fell and fractured her shoulder. Chemo is slowing down the healing. A trifecta—cancer, fracture, virus. Lions, tigers, bears.”

Charlie Morgan “plays tennis and shops for essentials. Wife Lois got sepsis, a uti, and kidney infection. Hoping kidneys recover and she can quit dialysis. Other than that, life is good.”

Ric Pease “helps at Polly’s childcare center.”

John Hickey “enjoyed Bruce Hartman’s novel, The Philosophical Detective Returns. My law practice is limited to commitment hearings in Southeastern Massachusetts. Daughter is a clinical psychologist in California.”

Jack Meier is “saddened by Rick Ketterer’s death. There wasn’t a better person in our class. Claudia and I are moving to Bluffton, South Carolina. We will miss New England but not the politics. Looking forward to a new world. Stay safe but enjoy your lives.”

John Wilson wrote, “Cliff Saxton informed me of Terry Hallaran’s death. Sad news. Pat and I are hunkered down in Ann Arbor. I need to learn how to retire. We are grateful to be in good health.”

From Jeff Richards, “September, autumn leaves, a new school year. I remember Wesleyan. Semi-instant nostalgia, or is it just missing one’s youth? Who could have imagined a campus devoid of students 55 years ago. Wasn’t there an orange juice fast to protest the war? We elected the first Black class president. Right now we live in a polarized society. I’m busier than ever with benefits for the Actors’ Fund.” Check online for his Spotlight on Plays.

Don Luke is “looking for David A. Vaughan to help a Wheaton ’69 friend.”

Steve and Bonnie Knox “retired to Asheville where both daughters and their families are. Retirement is not what I envisioned. The world is crazy. Our families have jobs; we are together; we help with grandchildren; we cope. The presidential election can’t come soon enough.”

Catch up with Ken Kawasaki at brelief.org.

Dennis Marron and I will meet when COVID-19 allows. “A mini-reunion,” he said. “My best to you and all our surviving class members.”

Bruce and Jeanne Snapp “enjoy retirement. We’re working hard to get Democrats elected by helping with absentee ballots and polling centers. Older daughter Emily is in New Zealand where COVID-19 is controlled. Her sister Juliana is a trauma therapist in D.C. We hope for an end to the pandemic.”

Bryn Hammarstrom “RNs about 55 hours/month at Temple University Hospital. Still splitting firewood despite some aortic problems.”

Email me for Steve Mathews’ and Pete Pfeiffer’s submissions. They will make you laugh. Doug Bell said hello. Andy Gregor lives in a lovely home in Old Saybrook overlooking North Cove and the Connecticut River. If my vision could hook left 500 yards east, I could see the house from our deck.

Carol and Maurice Hakim ’70 live a short distance west on the Post Road. They’ve taken a utilitarian 1790 Dutch gambrel and made it fit for visiting royalty. Their Thanksgiving invites are coveted.

First debate last night. Quelle disaster! We hide from COVID-19. Our condo is a castle keep. On two sides water, trees and poison ivy. The front is impenetrable metal doors. A raised deck guards the rear. Overall, the feeling is of a treehouse.

Please say Rick and Terry’s names as we add them to Ed’s List.

Charlie Farrow | charlesfarrow@comcast.net
11 Coulter Street, #16, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 

CLASS OF 1968 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

After years of a terrible but spirited battle with health issues, on July 21, 2020, Bob Newhouse passed. It was on “a beautiful day in the place he loved best, his home overlooking the ocean in Nantucket, where he insisted going when it became clear that he might have only one more trip in him. . . . He was a truly gifted artist. He drew and painted and was a terrific cartoonist but it was his marvelous sculpting and woodworking that most will remember” (from correspondence from his brother, Steve). 

Again from Steve: “I taunted him by saying his trials and tribulations later in life were payback for his Baccanalian revelry at Chi Psi. . . . Some think he was the model for the cool and handsome Eric ‘Otter’ Stratton in Animal House.” Be that as it may, he still managed to have 

a very successful career at the financial giant Marsh McLennan.

Bill Beeman retired as the chair of the anthropogy department at Minnesota after a long—34 years at Brown and 13 years at Minnesota—and distinguished academic career. No fool, he is leaving midwestern winters for Santa Clara to join his husband of six years (after 30 years of togetherness), Frank Farris, who teaches at Santa Clara University. (He sees Ted Smith ’67 who lives in San Jose). Bill went to an island in the Persian Gulf the summer of 1967 with Sib Reppert ’67 and returned there for the fall semester of 1967 to do ethnographic work. It was transformational as it led to his senior paper which led him to the University of Chicago (provided he continue with Persian and Arabic). Traveled to Iran and Afghanistan until it was no longer possible. Taught Peace Corps volunteers.

I reached out to Bob Abrams, a Nicholson 6 graduate, and learned he is in St. Louis and a man of leisure. He has a son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter not far from me. His wife, Jan, is unhappy that the pandemic has prevented them from making their semi-annual visits. John Kepner who had a career in hospital administration, has been writing a blog entitled “Rounding Third Leadership Blog”(fenwaymanagementadvisors.org/leadershipblog). It is a deep, far-reaching and ambitious endeavor that covers a lot more than baseball. Meanwhile, his son, Tyler, actually covers baseball for the Times and had a book out last year, K, a History of Baseball in 10 Pitches, which spent a week on the NYT best seller list.

I have been speaking with my erstwhile comrade in chaos, Bob Svensk. Still working quite independently (partnered with his son, Andrew ’99) from a Southport office in a worldwide reinsurance business. (To understand it fully, it helps to have gone to Harvard.) Very involved with Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation and Southport Conservatory. Son Christian ’96 is an urban planner married to a transportation guru in Sacramento. Son Hallock is Williams ’07 and an attorney married to an attorney in L.A. Andrew’s wife is a NYC ADA. Bob and Annie have five grands but three are on the West Coast­—out of cuddling range. 

My editor gives me 800 words and I am not yet there. So: Dave Losee has become a beekeeper. Bill Currier ’69 is working hard on a pilot for a TV show. BiIl Nicholson continues to read his way through American history. We are fine: Judy continues to love me and really gives me no choice in the matter.

 I write in September, and, as a rule, I keep current events out of these Notes. But, as I make the rules, I can break them. And, though a divinity school graduate, I am not good at asking god for favors. But, I am praying for the unemployed, the hungry, the homeless, the sick and dying, that we address the many divides in our country and for an orderly transfer of power.

Lloyd Buzzell | LBuzz463@aol.com
70 Turtle Bay, Branford, CT 06405 | 203/208-5360

CLASS OF 1967 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Classmates, 

After 45 years teaching at Guilford College, I have joined the ranks of the retired. On March 16, in the middle of our spring break, I was scheduled to give a talk, the second stop on my two-stop speaking tour for a book I wrote about the college’s long-running noontime pick-up basketball game, GEEZERBALL: North Carolina Basketball at its Eldest (Sort of a Memoir). COVID-19 had arrived, and many events were being canceled. The woman who had invited me to give the talk called that day to see if I wanted to cancel, and she and I agreed to go ahead with the talk. We did, a surprisingly good crowd showed up (one, a former student, had flown down from New Jersey for this event), and we had a good time. Had it been scheduled just a day or two later, I am sure we would have canceled. By the end of that week, the college had shifted all classes to online instruction, and in almost every way my life and the lives of those around me changed dramatically. 

By the end of April, as I celebrated my 75th birthday, I decided to retire. Then, like many old retired guys, I found myself thinking back to my early days, especially my decision in 1973 to move from Santa Cruz, California, to Greensboro, North Carolina, for the teaching job at Guilford, a Quaker-affiliated school. I realized, quite belatedly, that I was the first Jew hired at the college, and this has led me to write another retrospective account (another “sort of a memoir”), this one titled Jews, Palestinians, and Friends: 45 Years at a Quaker College (Sort of a Memoir). This project has led me to think back to the Jews and the Quakers I knew at Wesleyan. Among the Jews in the class of 1967 were the three Jewish amigos, Don Gerber, Myron Kinberg, and Bernie Steinberg—I could probably name all the other Jewish students in our class as there were not very many. The two Quakers on campus that I remember most clearly (in part because they were the first Quakers I ever knew) were David Swift, a professor of religion I was fortunate to take a course with, and Bill Dietz ’66 (generally referred to by Barbara Davidson as “Doctor Doctor Dietz”). Writing this book helped to take my mind off the woes of my little Quaker college, which is struggling mightily to stay afloat, and also helped take my mind off the woes of our country.

As it turns out, I am not the only one who has retired after a long academic career. Our classmate, Tony Caprio, stepped down in June 2020, after 24 years as the president at Western New England University. Tony was the longest-serving president in the school’s 100-year history. Remaining in office as a college president for 24 years is quite an accomplishment—tenured faculty, if they avoid what typically in the profession is called “moral turpitude,” sometimes hang on until they have to be wheeled out, but college presidents only can continue in their jobs if their Boards of Trustees decide to renew their contracts. Given that the average tenure for a college president these days is down to 6.5 years (it was 8.5 years in 2006), it appears that Tony survived and seems to have thrived in a challenging job. 

At the end of my last set of class notes, I gave a quiz in which I asked for information about “the late Edward McCune ’67” who left $6 million to Wesleyan and allegedly was a classmate of ours. I now have received some info on him which I will share in my next set of notes. Let’s have another quiz, this one with four, perhaps easier, questions. First, who in our class has the most grandchildren?  Second, who since graduation has lived in the most states (for at least a year in each state)? Third, who has been married the most times?

 Finally, the fourth question. I have seen Springsteen five times (always great), Dylan three times (awful each time), and John Prine and James Taylor five or six times. Rick Voigt ’68 tells me that he has seen Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, a band that includes some Wesleyan alums, five times. What musical performer have you seen the most frequently, and how many times?

 The answers to these questions might help you write your memoirs. Stay safe.

Richie Zweigenhaft | rzweigen@guilford.edu

RICHIE ZWEIGENHAFT | rzweigen@guilford.edu

CLASS OF 1966 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Two hundred and thirty-two of us graduated on that Saturday, June 5, 1966, 20 pursuing careers in academe, many of those still going strong. Claude Smith, author of eight books and co-editor/translator of two others, has a new book out, Mists on the River by Yeremei Aipin. This collection of Khanty folktales, which Claude helped to translate and edit, his attempt “to keep Siberian literature alive,” introduces “children of all ages to the animal persons of Siberia, among them, Cuckoo Mother, Paki the Bear, and Sandpiper.” David Luft’s new book, The Austrian Dimension in German Intellectual History: From the Enlightenment to Anschluss, will be published this spring. David is “working on two other books: one on Czech intellectual history and one called Modernity’s Shadows: The anti-rational from the nineteenth- to the twenty-first centuries.”

And we have lawyers among the Class of 1966; perhaps few, if any, however, match Clark Byam’s “48 years with same law firm,” Hahn & Hahn. Clark has decided “to go of counsel in 2021.” His “main interests at this point are investing in the stock market, managing some charitable trusts I’m trustee of and trying to improve my golf game and hiking in the hills where I live,” which is Pasadena, California. 

COVID-19 is part of all of our lives, Hardy Spoehr sending an “Aloha” to all from Honolulu and writing that “the beaches are still deserted and the fish and ocean folk are loving it . . . so many turtles. We’re in the midst of our second lockdown in an effort to stem raising levels of COVID-19.” And Zoom has become a part of our lives as well, Harold Potter writing: “Zoom has been a welcome addition to ways to stay connected during the pandemic. Bill Machen, Joe Pickard, Stan Healy, John Howell and I and our spouses have been holding weekly or biweekly cocktail hours fairly regularly on Zoom. . . . It appears that everyone is retired and aging quite gracefully.” Harold adds this good news: “Lee and I do have another grandson, Trevor, born on June 3rd.” 

Barry Thomas also shares some good news “regarding our community support and development work in Burundi. Today we received notification that Dreaming for Change, USA, has been approved for 501 (3)c status by the IRS. This should inject some new energy into our fund raising to support the daily cup of porridge program, the preschool, and the scholarship program for high school girls. . . . . Oh yes, D4C has received a grant from the U.S. Department of State to implement a COVID-19 education and WASH program in the community.”

More good news from Rick Crootof. After successfully having both knees replaced this past winter Sandy Van Kennen “came for a visit yesterday [July 23]. Kittery is only an hour or so from Wolfeboro, so he drove his 1996 Volvo with 263,000 miles (the odometer stopped working he claims!) on a perfect weather day. The air and water temps were both 82 degrees. We had lunch of Linda’s pizza on the deck, and then we got two foam mats and spent two hours in the lake, paddling to the other side, and mostly drifting back with the wind. The knee recovery has gone well, Sandy’s legs are straight again, and he is taller and thinner, looking great, and his usual happy and optimistic self. If you want to see our hero swimming again, here’s the link.

In closing we celebrate the life of Peter “Pedro” Spiller, who died on May 30, 2020, in St. Augustine, Florida. Peter had won his battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but it had left him weakened, and he fell prey to sepsis. I did not know Peter well, but envied his dashing good looks and admire his successful and adventure-filled life. Hardy Spoehr writes: “Pete was an avid paddler and when he and his wife Debbie visited us a year or so ago, we all went paddling together. My cousin was his paddling buddy.” David Griffith recounts: “Peter Spiller was my classmate in CSS. He was a gentleman, truly, easygoing and seemed always to be smiling. I always thought that Peter had a wonderful hidden and powerful intellect, but I honestly don’t think he was seeking to achieve as much as to learn and to enjoy his life. Peter never lost his charm or his sense of humor.” As Rick Crootof poignantly puts it: “That something could take down a guy who could canoe 450 miles in northern Manitoba or Ontario and run 150 mile ultramarathons in Costa Rica in his 70s is disheartening.” Here is a link to Peter’s obituary.

LARRY CARVER | carver1680@gmail.com
P.O. Box 103, Rico, Colorado, 81332 512/478-8968

CLASS OF 1965 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Fred Nachman called after learning of Hal Gorman’s passing. They were close friends and Chi Psi brothers. Fred sent Donna a lovely message and great photo of Hal pass-blocking for Fred on the gridiron. Fred and wife Linda remain happy and healthy (regular hiking/tennis) in Phoenix. 

 Geoff Geiser writes: “Carole and I celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary this year. Children, Erik and Lynn, and their spouses, Ingrid and Josh, continue to thrive. Grandchildren, Luke and Lauren, graduated from college, and Annika and Zachary are sophomores. Spend our winters in Pennsylvania when not traveling to warmer climates and summers on L.B.I. in New Jersey.”

Rick Borger: “Wife Judy and I are healthy, happy and comfortably retired, living at Cornwall Manor, a continuing care retirement community in Cornwall, Pennsylvania. I am vice president of the residents’ association and teach the AARP Safe Driving course. Each summer we visit our cottage on a pond in central Massachusetts where I grew up.”

Jack Hardin “continues to practice corporate law and to lead Atlanta’s efforts to combat homelessness. Compared to other major cities, Atlanta has had great success in reducing homeless counts. Upon the advent last spring of SARS Cov-2, Atlanta was the first city to test everyone in every shelter and most of the unsheltered, and opened up an isolation hotel and another hotel for the unsheltered. This kept the positivity rate below 2 percent when the general population tested as high as 10 percent, now trending down to 8 percent. Like the nation as a whole, we are facing a potential tsunami of potential evictions and working with landlords, tenants, and philanthropy to attempt to keep people in their homes.

 “A few years ago, I corralled a few of my fellow Wesleyan alums in Atlanta and we created the Greater Atlanta Scholarship that helps Atlanta area students go to Wesleyan. We have three children (including Brett ’91) and six grandchildren.”

Arthur Rhodes: “Retired from seeing patients at Chicago’s Rush University Medical in 2019. Wife Leslie and I are enjoying visiting our combined five children and ten grandchildren in Chicago and New Orleans.”

Guy Archer: “Andrea and I still going strong here in Honolulu—walking several miles most every day, counting the golden plovers, taking online courses, and watching old movies on TV. Last summer we managed a month in Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Austria via Eurail, and never missed a train. Among other European treasures, we saw the all Rembrandt exhibit, the Keukenhof Flower Gardens and heard the Firebird Suite in Amsterdam.”

Tony Shuman: “Very sorry to learn of Hal’s death, and sorrier still to inform you of another recent loss: Bill Brundage. Bill lived an iconoclastic life off-grid on the Island of Hawai’i (the ‘big island’). A champion of self-sufficiency and early environmental consciousness, he expressed this through his own life and in an endless series of letters to the editors of local papers. Over the years we were occasionally in touch, linked by our shared experience in class with Nobby (Norman O.) Brown. Bill never owned a computer, wrote by typewriter, and communicated through surface mail. I know that Guy Archer, also a Hawaii resident, was able to see Bill on his birthday last January. His daughter, Karla’s, poignant words to me follow:

“It is with deep sadness that I write to let you know that my dad, Frederic William Brundage, passed away on September 18, 2020, at the age of 77. I will always remember my dad’s love for the land and community of friends he found in Hawaiian Acres. He was a man ahead of his time in many ways. He always had a passion for the earth and with many of you, he lived his beliefs in his conservation and living as self-sufficiently and off the land as possible. He was a firm believer in recycling, and I recall him starting a recycling center at the Hawaiian Acres community a long time ago. I have always admired his artful life and skill in this way. My dad also had a passion for truth and always spoke what he believed to be true, which led to a very controversial life indeed! He also was an inspiration to me as a writer and artist and shared with me his love of his land. Thank you all for helping him to live a life of freedom, which he valued more than anything.” 

(Tony continues to teach architecture at the New Jersey Institute of Technology after 30 months as interim dean. He is on sabbatical this year focusing on his work around Newark: development of a physical model of the city; heading the local community development board; co-editing Newark Landmarks (2016); lobbying for the historic Essex County Jail; and promoting “passive house” design for university employees. His family is in good health, with both boys now seniors in college.)

Philip L. Rockwell | prockwell@wesleyan.edu