Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

Greetings! A few of you have written in for the first time in many years—glad to hear from you!

On May 7, Nancy Katz Colman and David Colman’s middle child, Lily (Hampshire ’13), married Alistair Rée duPont in Philadelphia. Helping celebrate were cousin-by-marriage, Michael Kannan ’75, and Lew Gitlin. Lily works for David Zwirner Gallery in New York, and Alistair works for India-based banking firm, Avendus. Their youngest, Drew (Smith ’15), moved to Seattle in June; med school is on the horizon. Their eldest, Alex (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts ’13), teaches in an after-school program in Philadelphia. David works in real estate, rehabbing and repurposing distressed urban properties for nonprofits and institutions. Nancy edits a publication for the Center City Residents’ Association. They enjoyed the wedding of Jeanne Cahn’s daughter, Rachel Sulsky.

After a 25-year hiatus, Doug Pavlak updated his status: “I continue to work as a neuromuscular specialist at the OA Centers for Orthopedics in Portland, Maine, where I am the head of the neurophysiology laboratory. I was voted ’Top Doc’ in my field by Down East magazine, thanks to my colleagues. I live in Falmouth, Maine, with my wife, Norma, and three of our seven children. The other four are grown and out of the house. Still trying to get one of them to go to Wesleyan!”

Rebecca Lyman lives in Seattle and owns a marketing and advertising agency called the Garrigan Lyman Group, glg.com. For 23 years, this strategic digital agency, with offices in Seattle, New York, and Boise, has been focused on delivering brand strategy, audience engagement, and digital delivery. She sees Kent Hellebust ’80 in Seattle, as they worked together, as well as Dr. Anne Peters, who is a rock star doctor in LA. Anne and her son, Max Votey ’14, visited her.

After becoming an empty-nester, and retiring from the corporate world, Ron Cooper took up photography. He found his photography class from J. Seeley at Wesleyan in 1977 fascinating. Not having picked up a camera in more than 30 years, he narrowed his interests to documentary, portrait, and travel photography. His images involve people and are made in the field with natural light. Ron had two solo gallery shows in Colorado, where he’s lived since 1996. You can see his photographs at ron-cooper.com.

For over a year, Lauren Steiner was the lead organizer in LA for Bernie Sanders and a delegate for Bernie at the Democratic National Convention, where, David and Nancy Colman so generously put her up in their lovely home. She organized Bernie delegates to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on the floor of the convention. Back in LA, she organizes protests on the TPP, fracking, the Dakota Access Pipeline and other issues. She writes for the LA Progressive and had articles published in Truthout, Truthdig, AlterNet, Common Dreams, and Nation of Change. “It is very rewarding to work with people of all ages from college students to senior citizens on all these vital issues, and I’d like to invite any likeminded Wesleyan folks to friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter @lauren_steiner.”

Daniel Morales is an MSW and works as a case manager coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. He has two daughters, Elizabeth, 25, and Melinda, 20, who are attending college. He is a Sabbath school teacher for the Hope Seventh-Day Adventist Church and the director of the Adventurers ministry for children ages 4-9 at the church. He is an avid volleyball player and reads as much as he can in his spare time. Daniel welcomes communiqués from friends in the 1977-79 classes at: dnjmorales@aol.com.

Gerard Koeppel writes that his book about rectilinear Manhattan, City on a Grid, won a New York City book award and he touched the gloved hand of possibly immortal fellow winner, Roger Angell. After a quarter-century of sharing his living arrangements with children, he and his wife, Diane, achieved empty nester-hood. Daughter Kate to USC; son Harry, a philosophy major/math minor, and a budding chef, aims to lead Boston College to a 2017 national sailing championship; and son Jackson continues in Detroit, (re)building the community one solar street light and one longtime resident at a time [soulardarity.nationbuilder.com].

Laura Tully writes in: “My husband, Robert Schneider, and I fled the arctic Boston winters and moved to the charming island of Alameda in the Bay Area last fall. I’ve found a wonderful congregation at First Unitarian Church of Oakland. I am looking for work as a team and leadership coach.”

Alan Saly documents the unrecognized efforts of transit workers at 9/11 with the Transport Workers Union. He is engaged in the traditional New York sport of sparring with a co-op board. He is pleased to see his daughter, Elaine ’09, in her third year at NYU Law School, preparing for a career in public defense.

Paul Landraitis is a founding member of the Seattle chapter of Conscious Capitalism. They had some great events, with conscious business leaders, Howard Behar (Starbucks) and Alex Thompson (REI). He just completed a certification program in Immunity to Change coaching with Bob Kegan and Lisa Lahey, and is looking forward to working to help more businesses and NGO’s become “deliberately developmental organizations.” He enjoys the great nature of the Northwest and hopes to see more Wesleyan folks.

Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre continue their Afropop adventures. Having won NEH funding for the 13th consecutive year, Afropop will be going to Nigeria to produce a four-part radio series in January. Home base is still Middletown, but no longer on campus, and the office is still in Brooklyn. It’s a crazy life, but hey, you’re only young once, right?

After losing his home, job, and community to the 2015 California wildfires, and his 20-year bodywork career for health reasons, Andrew Yavelow spent the last year wandering, relaxing, and recovering from those traumas. His goals are to find a new place to live (someplace green and beautiful, with short winters), and a new career (imagining himself in workplace wellness, and art photography). “Life is painful, hard, perplexing—and lovely.”

Gary Breitbord | gbreitbo@aol.com

Ann Biester Deane | abdeane@aol.com

Gary Friedmann, vice chair of the Bar Harbor, Maine town council, has launched a project, A Climate to Thrive, the goal of which is to make Mount Desert Island energy-independent by 2030. In this program, six committees with dozens of volunteers work on climate solutions that strengthen the local community through initiatives in alternative energy, building efficiency, transportation, zero waste, local food, and public policy.

Geoff Ginsburg reports, “Life is good here in North Carolina,” where he continues his work in precision medicine and engineering as director of the Center for Applied Genomics and Precision Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He has also started a company, Host Response, to bring novel disease diagnostics to the market, and a nonprofit company, Global Genomic Medicine Collaborative, an international organization aimed at fostering global partnerships to advance genomics in the practice of medicine. Geoff is “always happy to have visitors who are in the area” (twitter: @PersonalizedMed).

Tim Hollister’s daughter, Martha, is starting her senior year at Hampshire College, where she is studying video game design. His book, His Father Still, was an Oprah Book Club recommended summer read this July. The second edition of his previous book, Not So Fast: Parenting Your Teen Through the Dangers of Driving, will be published next September.

Lisa Landsman writes from Cabin John, Md., that she received her master’s in public heath from Johns Hopkins University and is heading back into the job market as a public health lawyer. Additionally, “my three kids are all doing well, and I have two adorable little grandkids.”

Mark Laser took a seven-week break this year from his obstetrics and gynecology practice in Trumbull, Conn., to participate in the ARC Europe sailing rally. He sailed across the Atlantic in his own boat with a crew of three, taking first place in all three legs. Preparation included obtaining a Coast Guard Master Captain’s license and learning celestial navigation, and the adventure included “30-knot winds and 20-foot seas, flying fish, dolphins and even a whale or two…one more item checked off the bucket list.”

Susan Loonsk has moved from Wisconsin to Shepherdstown, W.Va. She welcomes anyone regionally to contact her at art@loonsk.com.

Lucy Mize reports that she continues to love her work at the Asia Bureau of USAID, managing “a very strong health team” with programming in 17 countries. She traveled to Denmark and Bangladesh this year, making that “72 countries I have visited in the course of work or play.” Her son, Thaddeus  ’17, is a senior at Wesleyan where he is co-captain of the crew team. Her daughter, Belle, is a high school junior, and her husband, Tim, continues traveling extensively for the World Bank (they are hoping for his next assignment to be Mozambique). Her father, David Mize  ’51, continues to stay active traveling despite the passing of Lucy’s mother last year. Baseball is Lucy’s “best diversion.” She enjoys following her hometown Washington Nationals with Bill Tabor  ’79.

David Nussenbaum reports that “after 30-something years in the business world” he has assumed responsibility for the Bronx Arts Ensemble (bronxartsensemble.org), a nonprofit organization teaching music, dance, theater and art in more than 40 public schools, and producing professional concerts. He welcomes classmates to attend the shows, which have included Wesleyan music professor Jay Hoggard  ’76. He says that his wife, Betsy, and his daughter, Julia, “make me very happy and proud.”

George Raymond writes that, for the third year in a row, he and his wife took the TGV in June from their home near Basel—where they have lived for 27 years—to spend a weekend in Provence with his former Wesleyan economics professor, Peter Kilby and his wife. “We’ve managed to keep in touch ever since I handed in my last CSS paper.”

Harvey Silberman has just finished his 12th year on the bench in LA, where he serves as a judge of the Superior Court. He also directs and distributes indie films. His son graduated from Colorado College and now works for Disney Productions. At a Wesleyan event this past year in Beverly Hills, Harvey saw Peter Heller ’84 and Dana Delany, “whom I directed in Lion in Winter so many years ago…great to see them!”

Marisa Smith and her husband, Eric Kraus, have owned Smith and Kraus Publishers for the past 25 years, specializing in theater-related books, with over 650 titles in print. In recent years, “on a lark” Marisa began writing plays as well—which has turned into an unexpected second career perfectly timed with empty nest-hood. Her comedy Saving Kitty starred Jennifer Coolidge last summer in Cambridge, Mass., and Mad Love has been at Northern Stage in Vermont and the New Jersey Repertory Company. Sons Luke and Peter are, respectively, a law student at Wake Forest and a sommelier/chef in LA.

Jim Washington relays an overdue update, as “I think it might be nice for some and vex others that I’m still alive.” He and his wife, Mary Lu, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary this year with a summer trip to Amsterdam followed by a cruise along the North Sea, stopping in Norwegian villages and crossing into the Arctic Circle. Jim continues to work in Dartmouth’s admissions office and will soon begin his inaugural year of board service for Boston Prep Academy, a charter school that draws students from urban areas familiar to Jim, such as his hometown of Roxbury, Mass. In the spring, Jim will return to the classroom in pursuit of a second master of arts degree as a student in Dartmouth’s MALS creative writing program. His latest published poetry can be found in the Main Street Rag summer 2016 edition.

Dave Wilson continues his work as a jazz saxophonist, band leader, and composer. His latest album, There Was Never, was released in November 2015, reaching #18 in the Nationwide Jazz Radio Countdown. Dave lives in Lancaster, Pa. with his wife, Lisa, and their four cats.

Susie Muirhead Bates | sbatesdux@hotmail.com 

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

It was great to receive so many requests for our 40th Reunion dates in 2017. Please note Reunion is scheduled for May 25 to May 28. As they say, book early and often. On to the notes:

Carol Cooper will be teaching a class at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music this spring. This is in addition to her teaching journalism duties at the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics.

Iddy Olson is going back to grad school to get her executive coaching for organizations certificate; she very much enjoys learning from school, as well as making new friends and colleagues.

Doug Hauschild will be taking to the stage at the Asheville Community Theatre’s production of Sweeney Todd in North Carolina. He plans to be visiting family in Connecticut this Thanksgiving.

Hope Neiman sends salutations from the Tuscan villages, enjoying a two-week vacation through Spain and Italy. As many of us have been considering retirement spots, Hope has, true to form, taken action, and is purchasing a home on Vashon Island (near Seattle). As a true sign that this was meant to be, it is located on S.W. Wesleyan Way. The setting bears a striking resemblance to the Italian hilltop villages she is experiencing.

Joan Goldfeder sent her son, Eli, off to college and is making her plans for Reunion.

Keith Stern, a former client of mine, is celebrating his 20th year as rabbi at Temple Beth Avodah in Newton, Mass. He celebrated 36 years of wedded bliss with his wife, Liza. Keith’s assessment: “Getting here was hard, I ain’t gonna lie. But worth it? No doubt.” His children all appear to be a source of great pride: Jonah ’05 is in Brooklyn, along with his wife and two children. Aaron ’11 is attending the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Molly ’14 lives in San Francisco and is working for the Jewish Federation. Keith’s non-Wesleyan kids, Sara and Zoe, are doing fine, too.

Mark Slitt went on a trip to China through the Hartford Jewish Community Center. He dusted off his freshman year Mandarin textbooks to re-learn Chinese. His trip included stops in Beijing, Xian, as well as Jewish communities in Harbin, Kaifeng, and Shanghai.

Micha Balf sent along a reflective note from Israel, with regards from Rachel, which certainly had a focus on numbers (with an eye to our 40th Reunion). The Balfs are enjoying their 33-year tradition of celebrating Saturday night dinners with now four generations of family and of 34 years of Kibbutz life since their arrival 40 years ago. I was thrilled to hear that Rachel and Micha have registered to vote in the U.S. elections. The American elections provide an added perspective of how tough the political situation is in Israel, as much as one may find the situation here troublesome.

Marcy Neuburg chimed in from Milwaukee; she is a new grandmother and plans to visit Bob Rees soon while visiting her newest family member. Marcy got married to Wayne Oldenburg. Though she may not like it, the idea that she could be referred to as Mrs. Wayne Neuburg Oldenburg is quite something. Marcy is reducing her work hours and travels extensively. Highlights have been fishing trips to Cuba and British Columbia.

Paul Jacobsen and Marcia Israeloff have moved to Bethesda, Md. Paul joined the National Cancer Institute as its associate director. Marcia practiced law in New York and Connecticut before joining Paul in Tampa. She volunteered at Title I schools, Trinity Café, and the American Cancer Society, and will undoubtedly seek new opportunities in the D.C. area.

Always happy to hear from Paul Meisel. Paul’s son, Peter, works in player health for the NBA. Peter and Paul have collaborated on a number of children’s books, with Paul doing the illustrations: Good Night, Bat! Good Morning, Squirrel! (Boyd Mills Press) about the unlikely friends with different sleeping habits was released in September. Stinky Spike the Pirate Dog and Stinky Spike and the Royal Rescue (Bloomsbury) will be available in March.

Robin Curtiss won a bronze medal (men’s veteran’s division) at the National Marathon Canoe and Kayak Championships in Northfield, Mass.

Sue Guiney alerted me to the fact that I will not be able to visit her and husband, Don, in London, as they have taken up residence, half-time, in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. (closer to home for me). Winter months will be spent in Cambodia. Sue and Don have married off both sons: Noah is in law school in California along with his medical school-studying wife; Alex and fellow actor wife have moved to New York City. Sue won an international Freedom Through Literacy award. She is working on her last novel in her Cambodian-based trilogy, as well as her poetry collection.

That’s all for now from Lexington. Given the speed in which time passes, it will be in no time that we gather together in person for our 40th Reunion. I very much look forward to next May.

Gerry Frank | Gfrank@bfearc.com

Skip Adamek reminded me that he retired back in 2011. (Sounds like a good deal.) He is living in Raleigh, N.C. and rented a house in Cape Cod for September. Skip enjoyed a weekend with Paul McDermott and Steve Farrell  ’77.

Cheryl Alpert went to a niece’s graduation at Wes this past June. Just before, she tripped over her new puppy and fractured a vertebra, but she is fine now.

Jane Barwick shared the news that she ran for judicial office, won her election, and in 2015 became a judge of the Superior Court of Fulton County, Ga. Fulton County is the largest county in Georgia and contains most of the City of Atlanta.

Carol Bellhouse has 21 books in print, a movie in production, another in pre-production, and several in development. Fabulous!

Barbara Birney enjoyed tree zip-lining in Crater Lake National Park and reports that Peter Hansen is starring as the director in his local community theater’s production of The Chorus Line.

Matt Cartter’s daughter, Eileen, graduated from Kenyon College this past May with majors in English and American studies.

Elizabeth Eisenmann is in early retirement; her husband prefers to keep working. She is enjoying her twin granddaughters (now 3) and adopted a German Shepherd.

Ron Epstein, an academic family physician, has written a book entitled Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity that is being published by Scribner in January. The book mentions several of Ron’s teachers and mentors at Wesleyan, including Jon Barlow, Ken Maue  ’69, and Randy Huntsberry. Copies can be pre-ordered at: ronaldepstein.com/publications.

Don Fallati wants to thank everyone who attended the Reunion and for those whose work and support enabled a class scholarship to be established, especially Shonni Silverberg. Don also wants to thank his Reunion co-chair Connie McCann for her efforts, and the class panel that included Leslie Gabel-Brett, Jay Hoggard, Seth Lerer, and Laurel Cantor. Don gives special mention to Ethan Bronner and Michael Greenberg, who were awarded Distinguished Alumni Awards, and a personal note to Gary Eager and Abe Yale. Don continues to work in his own advisory practice focusing on healthcare technology and lives in Larchmont, N.Y., with his wife, Ruth Pachman  ’78.

Oliver Griffith retired as head of communications for part of the World Bank Group in Europe in January. “Have been fixing up our country place south of Paris and starting to do some consulting on development and communications. Still playing jazz when possible, my original career goal. Would be glad to hear from old classmates visiting Paris.”

Jeff Frank’s son, George, graduated from the Air Force Academy and is now a second lieutenant at flight school in Columbus, Miss. Jeff’s oldest son, Nathan, graduated from Carnegie Mellon, and then Quantico, and is now an FBI agent working in Virginia. Jeff’s daughter, Stephanie, lives in Hawaii and just started a new job with the Hawaii Department of Energy.

Byron Haskins reports that he and wife Gabrielle are about to be empty nesters as Gabrielle’s youngest just bought a house a few blocks away. Gabrielle is recovering well enough to travel again and her second grandchild, Thomas, was born in Montreal in March. Byron is enjoying retirement and not missing work at all.

Merle Kummer, recently empty-nested, moved from the suburbs to Cambridge in August and is consulting in the life science industry. She is also enjoying the time she now has for quiet reflection.

Chris Mahoney and his wife, Joan, visited Israel for the first time and had a wonderful trip.

Debbie Gottheimer Neuman has enjoyed spending the past year as a consulting director of development for Enders Island in Mystic, Conn. She welcomes all Wesleyan friends to get in touch if visiting Mystic. Deb and her husband, Paul, look forward to their son, Josh, completing his MS in plant pathology and daughter-in-law, Meagan, completing her MS in nursing clinical leadership this fall.

Jack O’Donnell’s daughter, Maggie  ’19, has started her sophomore year at Wes and is a member of the women’s crew team.

Rob Sloss is working at Parsons Corporation, an engineering and construction firm in Pasadena, Calif., as the vice president of tax. Ron works with a team on a large number of M&A and structuring projects in more than 70 countries, including projects involving missile defense, WMD removal, and the construction of train lines, bridges and tunnels. Ron lives with his wife and a very old cat.

Mike Stopa is living and working around Boston as a practicing nanophysics theorist. His company works on a new form of computer memory made from carbon nanotubes. Mike and his wife, Hiromi, have four kids. Kaileigh is a frosh at Tufts, Robin is graduating from Haverford this year, and Miranda has two more years at Oberlin. Their son, Kipling, is still in high school and pitches for the baseball team. Mike was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this year, and live-blogged the convention for The Boston Globe.

Barbara Strauss’ daughter, Hanna Ingber  ’03, is an assistant editor on the foreign desk at The New York Times. She recently gave birth to Aarav Jacob Yerasi, Barbara’s newest grandchild. Barbara’s daughter, Rebecca Ingber, is an associate professor of law at Boston University Law School in the field of international law and national security law, and has two daughters, Alma Rae and Tess Metlitsky. Barb mentions that she connected with Debbie G. Neumann and Catherine Thibault  ’77 at the Reunion.

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

Here you will find the unedited updates from your classmates, since a shortened update was included in the print edition.

Charlie Cocores and his wife, Carol, organized a week-long Habitat for Humanity build in New London CT this July. Rich Bennick serves on the Habitat board with him. Harold Sogard volunteered for the build and a number of Class of ’74 members contributed to the project including Tom Barton and Tim Donahue.

Monique Witt and her family are still involved in producing jazz and blues, with four upcoming releases.  Of particular interest are the first studio album from blues guitarist SaRon Crenshaw, trumpet player Wayne Tucker’s second album, and her younger son’s first album of original material since the “Michiko Session Tapes.”  This one is also trio format, this time with jazz legends Billy Hart on drums and Curtis Lundy on bass.

Her own projects include several music videos and a recently begun research project for a book on Cosmopolitanism and Humanitarian Crimes.  Ben graduated this spring from Columbia (early phi bet and suma) and finished his program at Julliard.  He continues to perform and is now teaching as well.  Dev is getting married in October and continuing his work as a sound engineer and audio tech designer.  Steven resists retiring from Wactel, but they’re all good.

Fred Hosea provides a synopsis of his life after Wesleyan:  “Since my graduation in 1974, this is my first update. I sang, recorded and toured as a singer with Chanticleer in the 80’s, did a Ph.D. in psychology at the Wright Institute, and languished in depressing under-employment for years due to the idealistic, but now very relevant research I did on social ecology and the need for new, interdisciplinary models of professions, social planning and philanthropic strategy.  Was one of the founding organizers of the Green Party of California, and dedicated years of efforts to elevate the discourse and choices, to improve political culture and institutions in the US.  Also sang exuberantly with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, although most of us are not theists.  After working for 17 years in Kaiser Permanente in California — most recently as national Director of Research and Innovation in Clinical Technology, — I retired last year and moved to Cotacachi, Ecuador where I live in a beautiful country home, almost 9000 feet up in the Andes, in between two extinct, 15,000 ft. volcanoes, surrounded by 45 indigenous communities that I work with on cultural preservation.  I just finished editing a book for the World Health Organization to guide Ministries of Health in planning and operating complex technologies in healthcare systems.  Also co-authored a chapter in another book on Disaster Management. Today, I began teaching a course on The Art and Science of Innovation for students at Yachay Tech University, a visionary educational effort in Ecuador to create a knowledge-based economy, to replace over-dependence on mining and oil industries for national income.  Also am consulting to engage Yachay students in sustainable development projects in the surrounding indigenous communities where I live, addressing climate change, water mgt, alternate crop strategies; training indigenous midwives as community healthcare workers, using cellphones to link them to call centers; and doing a pilot project on using Common Operating Picture software (developed at Carnegie Mellon Univ/Silicon Valley) to improve disaster response capabilities and speed damage assessment. Am in a research collective looking at point of care diagnostics for heavy metal exposure.  Currently am studying how fractal theory can be applied to visualization of psychological structures and processes, and how certain “lower level” phenomena, such as cell apoptosis, can also be seen at “higher” systemic levels (like the self-destruction of empires, or of suicide bombers), and how those underlying forces are represented, and reinforced, in spiritual and political belief systems. Also, starting classes in Kichwa. In other words, a fairly typical Wesleyan career and life trajectory.

Michel de Konkoly Thege’s update is that “I am now a double Wes alum, since I completed an MPhil in the Wesleyan GLSP and received my degree at the May 2016 commencement (and I for sure walked). My master’s thesis centered on Paul Reynaud, a French center-right politician who was active in the 1930s. The great thing about doing this thesis was that my adviser was Nathanael Greene, who was also my adviser when I did my senior thesis; it was quite rewarding to work with Nat again. All in all, the MPhil was a terrific experience, and it was fun to spend a significant amount of time in Middletown as I attended classes and researched the thesis. I will be doing a WESeminar on the thesis during Family Weekend in October.

I am now teaching history and English electives to 11th and 12th graders at my school in downtown Manhattan; I also teach a class on school finance in the Klingenstein program at Columbia University – Teachers College. And am happily living in lower Manhattan with my wife as I have for the past 30 years.”

After 11 years at the Federal Trade Commission and 27 years at Jones Day, Toby Singer retired from Jones Day in mid-August.  She highly recommends retirement to anyone else considering it — She is keeping very busy with volunteer work and travel, as well as rediscovering how to cook, but she’s never in a hurry!

Jim Gilson reports that he and his wife, Nancy, have made some changes that have long been in the works. “I have retired after a number of years working as General Counsel and as an administrator for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the La Brea Tar Pits. I continue to consult and volunteer and am glad to have time for more of that, including serving on the American Alliance of Museums’ national Accreditation Commission, which allows me to stay involved with lots of great institutions and do museum-related travel. Nancy has scaled back to part-time, from-home work. In conjunction with those work changes, we have relocated from Los Angeles to Alexandria, VA, where we are enjoying living in a renovated Old Town townhouse among historic buildings, a few blocks from the Potomac and near all that Washington has to offer. Both our kids are in school in the east: Lisa finishing a PhD at Yale and Matthew transferred to GMU and studying to be a high school history teacher. Before we left LA, we were able to see Wesleyan friends Dave Rosenblum (’75), Bruce Corwin (’63), and Jude Schneider (’79 ?????), but we did have to pass up on the Yellowstone trip that Paul Liscom has hosted the past few years for Mark Decker, Rip Dauster, and me (and spouses) the past few years – maybe next year. We are looking forward to reconnecting with Wes in DC and making new friends.

Todd W. Grant sends greetings from Ann Arbor, where he has lived since 1977.  He states,

“I have no notes of enviable accomplishments.  I note simply that to be alive, healthy, and active a few months short of being 65 years of age is a treat the vast majority of humans throughout history have never had. My marriage of decades in length keeps getting better, and our twin sons at age 28 are making good headway in the adult world. And I am able to go mountain biking on weekends and occasionally get away to real mountains several times a year.  My wife and I spent a week in the Canadian Rockies in June.  One of our sons and I will be spending next week backpacking in the High Uintas Wilderness in Utah.

Harold Sogard notes how sad he is about the passing in August of Seth Gelblum ’75.  “He made me laugh at least a million times, both during and after our time together at Wesleyan.”

Lyn Lauffer reports, “The film festival was fabulous, and, as last year, I met Wes alums there, whom I hadn’t known before, and not only from ’74. Lloyd’s  (Komesar) work has had a great impact on the arts scene in Vermont, without question.”

Jonathan Weiss updates us – “I live in Andover Mass with wife Susan (and dog Louie.)  I work as a psychiatrist in North Andover, still interesting, usually fun, always too busy, and the commute is 10 minutes.  Our son Sam works in Palo Alto for a start-up he co-founded.  Our daughter Hannah (Wesleyan 2012) has lived for 4 years in Australia, the farthest English-speaking place on the planet.  Unfortunately she’s very happy there.

Besides enjoying New England seasons in Andover, we spend a few weeks each summer in Orleans, on Cape Cod, and go skiing at Sunday River in Maine.  I’ve been playing guitar in some informal gigs and that’s a blast. Would love to hear from people.

Lloyd Komesar reports, “The 2nd Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival was a great success this past August and I genuinely appreciate all my classmates and other Wes alums/parents who joined in the festivities this year: Bill and Jane Pearson, Lyn Lauffer, Wayne Forrest, Neil Salowitz ’73 and Debra Storey, Steve Goldschmidt ’72 and Stacy Sussman, Seth ’72 and Elisa Davis ’76, Todd Jick ’71 and Wendy Ehrlich, Audrey, P’09 and Joel Brockner, P’09, Joan Gamble ’80 and Chip Paison, Mike and Lynn McKenna ’73, Bob Kesner ’67 and Andrea Torello, Sivan Cotel ’05, Paul DiSanto ’81, Mark Masselli ’09, my daughter, Rose Komesar ’07, and my wife, Maureen Carn, P’07.

Our special guest this year, the legendary documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple, turns out be a P’04.  Who knew?  Barbara presented a 40th Anniversary Tribute screening of her first film, the Academy Award winning and still incredibly potent, Harlan County, USA.  We welcomed actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard for a lovely morning “Coffee with. . . .” conversation.  The acclaimed American author Russell Banks spoke eloquently about the “Book To Film” process.  Folks from The New York Times and The Nation were central to our panels.  And we screened 77 fine films by first and second-time filmmakers, including 35 Vermont premieres, with Wes filmmakers Beatrice Alda ’83, Juliet Werner ’03, Naomi Saito ’16, and Allie Miller ’16 all in attendance. Credit for MNFF’s growing popularity rests in large part with our gifted Artistic Director, Jay Craven P’04.  Yes, there is a Wesleyan connection pretty much in all corners of our Festival.  We’re having fun and I hope to see more classmates at the 3rd Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, August 24-27, 2017.”

Carolyn White attended the national annual conference of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) in Denver, Colorado last July. Our John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado, was a keynote speaker alongside former Congressman Patrick Kennedy. To the captivated audience of over 2000, John described , some of the many changes he has been able to effect that enhance the lives of those living with a mental illness. John canceled his presence at a significantly more prestigious event to address the NAMI families dealing with mental illness and she thinks that says a lot about him and his values. She read John’s memoir, The Opposite of Woe, and enjoyed it thoroughly, especially the parts about Wesleyan. It is amusing, thoughtful, and entertaining.

According to ArtNet News, “Following his short, two-year tenure as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s director, which he left in 2013, bespectacled gallerist Jeffery Deitch returned to New York City to set up shop again at his old space on 76 Grand Street in Soho.“

An article in the Denver Post on July 28 discussed Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper’s upcoming speech at the Democratic National Convention and the possibility he may be tapped for a Cabinet position if Hillary Clinton were to be elected.  The article also discussed portions of John’s memoir, The Opposite of Woe as quoted below:

“Hickenlooper grew up in Wynnewood, an affluent suburb about 10 miles outside Philadelphia on the Main Line.  He traces his family lineage to Anthony Morris, a central figure in the city who opened a brewery in 1687 and later became the second mayor of Philadelphia. A street in Olde City Philadelphia, Morris Alley, is named for him.

In his memoir, Hickenlooper recounts his childhood outside Philadelphia, particularly the death of his father 10 days after his eighth birthday. As a kid, he recalls being “the skinny dork with acne and the Coke bottle-thick eyeglasses,” and a “petulant loudmouth perpetually teased by my classmates.”

His behavior problems eventually prompted his mother to send him to the nearby Haverford School, a private, all-boys institution founded by Quakers, where he pitched seven scoreless innings for the varsity baseball team his senior year, giving the school the league championship.

Elsewhere in the memoir, The Opposite of Woe, Hickenlooper recalls the times he tried to grow pot outside his bedroom window and the time he took his mother to a local screening of the X-rated movie “Deep Throat,” one of a number of intimate revelations in the book.”

SHARON PURDIE | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Our ever-faithful and prolific correspondent David Feldman, AKA David Harp, writes that he stays in touch with his Hewitt 9 next-door neighbor Paul Van Stavern, in Salvador, Brazil, and appreciates him more every year. He’s also in touch with Michael J. Robinson ’75, who lives in New Haven. He says he sees him whenever he drives down to the Kripalu Institute in Massachusetts or to the New York Open Center. Through Mike he stays in touch with Granny Hale and Rich Jasper, whom he calls “two great guys.” He adds, “As a few of my friends begin to shuffle off this mortal coil, as The Bard put it, I appreciate both those who remain and those who have shuffled all the more.”

David says he is still living in the Worcester range of the Green Mountains in Northern Vermont with Rita and has no more children at home. He says, “I have been working with a delightful carpenter to renovate an old cabin on my property (he reminds me, just a bit, of another carpenter from long, long, ago) and enjoying the physical experience of learning to do framing, trim, plumbing, etc.” And he is still writing. He finished two new books recently, one a book on mindfulness in nature with his beloved twin sister, Dr. Nina Smiley. He says some of you may remember her during our second semester of sophomore year. She was at Wesleyan from Vassar on the Twelve College Exchange, “back when women on campus were a rarity.” He is working on his most advanced harmonica book yet, a series of 220 graded exercises for the Hal Leonard Music Company. He is also doing some mindfulness mentoring over the phone and via Skype. He says he has a few interesting clients, including a venture capitalist and a high-end trial attorney. “Everyone needs mindfulness,” he says, “whether they know it or not.”

He also says he is working on his own mindfulness practice, and on helping others to use mindfulness (often via the harmonica, as a breath-focus tool) to deal with aging issues: COPD, dying and grieving, and loss of mental function. He says he would love to hear from classmates who are either in these fields, or working with these issues. He says after losing weight, and mostly maintaining that loss (down more than 50 pounds), he is playing around with marketing a diet method incorporating—you guessed it—mindfulness and harmonica: The Harmonica Diet™.

John Huttlinger writes that summer in the Adirondacks was beautiful, adding it was “a little too dry, but great for the tourism businesses.” He says his June production of the annual Lake Placid Film Forum featured a guest appearance by Jeremy Arnold ’91. Jeremy hosted a presentation of The Third Man and he participated in panel discussions and workshops. He signed many copies of his recent book, Turner Classic Movies: The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter. Jeremy’s family has had a camp on Lake Placid for several generations, but John just met him this year. “Small world!” he says.

For the first time in my memory, we are hearing from Michael Morales. He reports that he is an adjunct professor at Springfield College in creative writing. He is also an interviewer of Stanford University applicants. Michael was on Wesleyan’s Admission Committee in 1972 as a student advisor when he was a junior. He is also a scholarship judge for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin. They have distributed more than $1 million as the top Hispanic chamber in the U.S. Michael is also the author of a forthcoming book: The 1-Minute Expert: How to Be Recognized as an Expert in 1 Minute or Less and past-president of a Hispanic veterans foundation.

We also received word about artist Todd Stone and his participation in the first art exhibit at the National September 11 Memorial Museum, Rendering the Unthinkable. Todd has been documenting the ever-changing skyline of Lower Manhattan over 20 years and is maintaining a studio on the 67th floor of 4 World Trade Center chronicling the site. The website for the exhibit is rendering.911memorial.org.

Finally, I received a colorful photo and note from Peter Gelblum. The photo shows Peter and Randall Brown ’74 in their furry, raccoon hats carrying a banner for the San Lorenzo Valley Recycling Center and flashing their Wesleyan “W” signs at the end of this past year’s 4th of July parade in Boulder Creek, Calif. He says he and Randall did not know each other at Wesleyan, but they discovered each other both living in Boulder Creek.

That’s it for now. Look forward to hearing your stories.

PETER D’OENCH | Pgdo10@aol.com

Elisa ’76 and I had an absolutely marvelous time at Lloyd Komesar ’74’s Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. Lloyd has done a spectacular job putting this festival together, and it’s hard to imagine anything more enjoyable than spending three-and-a-half days in Vermont in August, watching an array of new films, not to mention a few classics. Next year’s dates are Aug. 24 through 27, and we are definitely going back.

There was a huge Wesleyan contingent there, and Paul DiSanto ’81 even came up to run an alumni event at Middlebury’s Stonecutter Spirits, run by Sivan Cotel ’05, whose product line is most highly recommended. At the risk of offending those I fail to mention, attendees included Steve Goldschmidt, Todd Jick ’71, Neil Salowitz ’73, Mike McKenna ’73, Bill Pearson ’74, Debra Storey ’74, Lyn Thurber Lauffer ’74, and David Weinstock ’75. We were thrilled to meet Juliet Werner ’03, whose documentary, The Laughter Life, was one of the featured showings. (It’s about an SNL-like comedy troupe on the Mormon cable network!)

By my count, we saw films at 10 of the 11 screening times, seeing as many features and even more shorts, and even then we saw maybe 30 percent of what was shown. Nice going, Lloyd! We will definitely be back!

Larry Weinberg got a break from tending to “various GI complaints” (his patients’—not his) to visit his daughter, Leah ’08, in Ann Arbor, where she just received her PhD in musicology, writing her dissertation on Einstein on the Beach. He then hit Boston for his 40th med school reunion, and to New York to see Hamilton.

Mike Carlson and Bob White both had some humorous recollections in connection with Coach Bill MacDermott’s passing. Mike’s was on Facebook, but here is some of what the Whizzer had to say: “There is no doubt that Mac was important in my Wesleyan-experience. It was Mac who dubbed me ’The Whizzer.’ The Whizzer became who I was at Wesleyan around the time of the Dartmouth match in February of our freshman year. As a wrestler, the whizzer series was a favorite of mine and I remember teammate Lou DiFazio from the sidelines, loudly shouting when I was on the mat, “The whip, Whizzer. The whip.” At that Dartmouth match, during the warm-ups, I had a towel on my head, draping it, in part, over my face in the style of Sonny Liston. When Mac noticed me on the mat, he did a double take and held out his hands as if feeling for rain. He asked me, ’Hey Whizzer, where’s the rain?’

“Mac made a major contribution to my wrestling education. I still use the Wesleyan Wrestling Manual that Mac gave the team our sophomore year. When I was in medical school, I was a journeyman wrestler, practicing at high schools in the Newark metropolitan area. I used this manual to help the novice athletes develop their skills. The same February that I became the Whizzer, Mac supported my interest in freestyle wrestling by giving me a chart that was illustrated with a collection of freestyle and Greco-Roman techniques on it. I used it for 10 years after Wesleyan to teach myself to survive in my adventures on the freestyle wrestling circuit in New Jersey.

“I know I astounded some of our classmates at our last Reunion when I told them that the Williams wrestling meet was on the same day as the Fisk Hall Takeover. Why would I remember that? Obviously, that was weighing heavy on my mind that day I went to have a conversation with Mac about the impending event on Feb. 21, but I was detoured from that discussion and became the Whizzer.”

Bruce Hearey might by now have returned to Earth following the Cleveland Cavaliers’ championship season, but he was still floating above us when he sent me some news over the summer. “I drove to Maine with my son, Owen. Owen graduated from UCLA this past June with his hard-earned PhD in economics and starts a new job in LA this September with the Analysis Group. He also visited Iceland in June with his brother, Leif Dormsjo ’97. Leif and his wife, Kristin Barcak, live in D.C., where Leif is a director of transportation.

“Anyway, back to Maine. On the way we stopped and had lunch with Steve Ingraham ’70 in Rochester. Steve is retired from law now, but is still perhaps the most wonderful person in the world, staying busy doing volunteer work with Nepali refugees. Owen and I went on to New Hampshire where we did an overnight climb to the summit of Mount Pierce in the Presidentials. It seemed a whole lot easier for Owen than it did for me. In Maine, Owen and I visited Acadia and Bar Harbor, but mostly went to Rob Brewster’s daughter’s wedding in lovely Franklin. Emily was marrying a nice Irish fellow, David Varley, and it was a special gathering. Presided over by Elliot Daum ’70, a judge in Santa Rosa, Calif., the wedding also featured Al Wallace ’70 and wife, Barb, Rob’s sister, Tish ’77, and some teary fatherly sentiments from the bride’s proud dad. A lot of Eclectic spirit to be sure, in a lush setting looking out over a salt marsh. Rob is planning to retire from his longtime post as executive director of Riverdale Mental Health, and still do some private practice work. Though he and I don’t see each other for long periods of time, it never seems to matter.

“Here in Cleveland, we bask in the glow of a championship, and a successful convention, and await the Indians’ triumphant return to the World Series.”

Last, some personal news. In August I became chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environmental, Energy, and Resources Law. This section has been the intellectual center of my legal practice for more than 35 years, and it is a great honor to be entrusted with its care for the next year. I am already amazingly busy with chairmanly activities, and we’ve got a very full year planned with events in many parts of the country. I hope to see Wesleyan folks at many of them. I was pleased to be able to include some sterling alums in my several dozen chair appointments: Earl Phillips ’77, Jason Gellman ’93, and Colin Van Dyke ’99. And—subsequent to the original writing of this column—I presided over SEER’s Fall Conference in Denver, where Governor John Hickenlooper ’74 was the keynote speaker.

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

Aloha, Class of 1971. Reunion number 45 has come and gone, but in a short time the big FIVE-0 will be upon us (and I don’t mean Hawaii Five-0). There was a recent e-mail from Peter Michaelson that I thought bears repeating. We should really start planning this event now and try to get more of the class to attend this important milestone. If you are one of those who, through the years has been loosely connected to Wesleyan and your classmates, and would like to help make this next Reunion more meaningful, contact me or the university and we can start by developing a plan for the 50th Reunion.

The letter from Peter, 45th Reunion co-chair, is as follows:

“Dear Classmate,

I hope you’ve had a chance to look at the photos from last week’s Reunion. The 33 members of the class of ’71 in attendance all had a terrific time catching up, reminiscing, or even getting to know some pretty cool people for the first time.

It does seem, though, that the same core group—roughly 10 percent of the class—tends to show up at each Reunion. Sadly, about an equal percentage are no longer alive.

There remains a missing 80 percent, an all-time high (or low, as the case may be) for any class in the history of the school. So be it. Whatever the reasons—lack of institutional loyalty, ancient grievances, basic disinterest—really does not matter. The only thing that does matter at this point is that our class will have its last opportunity, five years from now, to gather in numbers.

Our 50th Reunion will be an awesome program that focuses on reflection, stimulation, engagement, and celebration. Being back at Wesleyan, spending time talking to people who shared the Middletown air during important and formative years, having glimpses into some remarkable lives will be good for you, in these and other ways you may not anticipate, a life experience you will not want to pass up. We hope you’ll join us.”

I did hear from Bill Trench, who said, “I very much appreciate your work over the years to keep all of us up-to-date on the activities of our classmates. When the alumni magazine comes, I turn immediately to the class notes. Thank you!

“It was great to see folks at the Reunion. Elaine and I only came for the dinner on Saturday evening, but we had great enjoyment in those few hours. Just before the class dinner, I was standing in the basement of the new building section between the chapel and the ’92 Theater and heard the unmistakable sound of Steve Leinwand’s voice as he was sitting on the railing of the walkway above me, talking to you, I think.

“During the dinner it was great to catch up with Steve and Ann, and it was wonderful to reconnect with Rich Aroneau after all these years. Rich was the best man at our wedding, but we lost touch and had lots to catch up on. In addition to his work in architectural reconstruction, he is the guiding light for a little synagogue in Rockland, Maine. Since they have no rabbi, Rich has often been the one to preside at weddings and funerals, which gave us a lot to talk about.

Elaine retired after 31 years as a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Daughter Carolyn (Smith ’07) earned a PhD in art history last year at the University of Pennsylvania, where she now is teaching in the critical writing program. I continue to work as the senior pastor at the East Greenwich United Methodist Church, where I have been since 2000. I write a blog called Thinking Faith (Thinkfaithfully.blogspot.com), which gives me a chance to address social and theological issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, and biblical literalism. Although I think about retirement, I really enjoy the work and the congregation, so that is on hold for now. Thanks again for your good work on our behalf.”

As a final note, I will mention my life now. While retiring at 52 had been a blast and I love living in Hawaii, I got the call to go back to full-time work. Actually I was made an offer I could not refuse. So now I am commuting from Kauai to San Diego to work as the chief medical officer for Heron Therapeutics. It actually is fun being back in the thick of things. Being older and experienced I can hire the right people and allow them to grow much easier, as I am less worried about my own skin. We are developing some interesting products and one that may serious help in decreasing the opioid epidemic, which so often begins with routine surgery. Otherwise, life is good. Children are fine and grandchildren are a joy (and I get to see them more because of work travel to the mainland). Other changes are happening, but more on that in a future column. Let’s just say I am feeling and acting in my early 40s in many ways. Until next time…

NEIL J. CLENDENINN | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714