Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

On a recent trip to Rome, Maria Nankova met the smart and lovely current students, Anik Bernstein ’20 and Daniel Osofsky ’20. They were accompanied by Daniel’s mother, Mariam Osofsky. They participated in a walking tour in the center of the eternal city, enjoying unbelievable sunshine and blue skies for the month of January, and later ended with lunch at Piazza Navona. They discussed everything from history, film, and psychology to cultural identities and life abroad but forgot to talk about politics. Well, that was for the better! One can easily forget such an important topic for a moment under the spell of fresh Italian pasta and sun.

Maria said that it was great to hear from current Wes students that they are able to thrive, enjoy, and appreciate Wesleyan as much as she did in the early 2000s. Wesleyan seems to change but stay the same—managing to preserve its unique character while evolving.

Tom Facelle lives in Golden, Colo., with his wife, Jenn, and their two rambunctious boys, Ryan, 6, and Wesley, 2. He spends most of his time practicing urology and shredding the mountains of the front range on skis and mountain bike with David Delcourt.

Sivan Cotel presented at the SiX State Legislator Conference, demonstrating how to utilize small-business owners to advocate for progressive policy and counter the conservative voices of big businesses and chambers of commerce. He is chairman of the board of Porter Medical Center.

Jeremy May moved back to the Bay Area, settling with his wife, Anna, and two boys, Magnus, 3, and Solomon, 3 months, in Oakland, Calif. Jeremy is practicing as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in the area. He will began teaching residents part-time at Highland Hospital and performing cosmetic facial surgery and transgender facial surgery in the coming months. In his spare time, you can find him enjoying backside slappies and poorly executed flat ground skate tricks at the Rockridge BART station. He reconnected with David Wilson, Hannah Barr-DiChiara, and Chris Lake.

Eric Herman is celebrating the 15-year anniversary of Modiba Productions LLC, the music production and management company he cofounded at Wesleyan in 2004 with Jesse Brenner, Dave Ahl, and Adam Tuck. The album Deran that he produced with the guitarist Bombino has been nominated for a Grammy, the first-ever Grammy nomination for an artist from Niger.

Eliza Vitri Handayani initiated and directed a huge, collaborative art event called House of the Unsilenced. More than 20 artists, writers, and performers (including Molly Crabapple) worked with a diverse group of sexual abuse survivors to create artworks, installations, writings, performances, songs, and discussions that speak up against rape culture. Follow the art project on Instagram: @unsilenced_. Eliza was selected into the Australia Arts Council’s Arts Leaders program.

Marcella Winearls | marcellawinearls@gmail.com

Jamie Weiss-Yagoda is living with her family in Tarrytown, N.Y. Her little girls are 6 and nearly 3, and she’s working as a senior policy advisor for the International Rescue Committee.

Jason Pinter and his wife, Dana, welcomed their second daughter, Lyla Sage Pinter, on Nov. 14. Jason signed with literary agent, Amy Tannenbaum, who sold his new novel, The Broken Woman, to Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing, for a January 2020 publication.

Newly minted entrepreneur Raquel Davis launched a weekly newsletter, Interstitial, which focuses on her life as a new business owner and black woman in America. The newsletter offers its readers a curated list of artists, creatives, businesses, and events from/by marginalized individuals and aims to reshape the media landscape for talent that is, at best, overlooked and at worst, completely ignored. Subscribe to the newsletter at linktr.ee/weareinterstitial and follow her on Instagram @weareinterstitial.

Heather Wieler Harrison lives in Montpelier, Vt., with her partner, Noah, and their 2-year-old son, Luca. She is a sixth-grade teacher and is on a mission to fill her classroom library with equity- and social justice-themed fiction, so please send her titles if you have suggestions.

Sophie Woolston is enjoying life in Seattle. She is busy as an infectious-disease doctor at Virginia Mason Medical Center and raising her 3-year-old twin daughters with her wife, Cait. They love living up the street from Regan Pro and family!

Morgan Stecher and Paul Feder welcomed their daughter, Corinna, in June. Corinna joins big brother Sebastian, 3.

Rikkia Hunter Ben Yehudah of New Haven, Conn., spent a lovely Thanksgiving with Dr. Sherry-Ann Brown while Sherry was taking a break from looking for new doctoring opportunities. Rikkia lives in New Haven with her three children. She’s setting up her private practice as an expressive arts therapist she will have two locations; one in New Haven and one in Waterbury. She works full-time at Turnbridge as a primary therapist for young adults in recovery from mental health and addiction disorders.

John Adler is living in Brooklyn with his wife, Katie, and they are expecting their third child in March. After 14 years in restaurants, John moved to Blue Apron, where he is the vice president of culinary.

John Behlmann still lives in NYC and will be performing on Broadway this spring in the new musical, Tootsie. He attended the wedding of Corina Tennant alongside Will Cushing, Betsy Fippinger, and Andrew Fippinger.

Tejas Desai visited Ted Quinn, Laurie Shaner, and Bayard Templeton last summer near Philadelphia and enjoyed getting to know their wonderful children, Elsie, Issie, and Henry! In September, after a successful GoFundMe campaign, he was able to release the second edition of his first novel, The Brotherhood. He is gearing up to publish The Run and Hide, the second book of The Brotherhood Chronicle Crime Trilogy, in September, and is headed to Thailand to revisit some of its settings in January.

Alexander Yellen completed a five-season run on the Syfy zombie series, Z Nation, by directing the series finale. He is working on a passion project about a dysfunctional family road-trip featuring actors with disabilities, alongside his partner, Kelli McNeil, to whom he recently became engaged.

Aaron Gilary lives in Alexandria and works for the Census Bureau, providing methodological guidance for several surveys related to education. In July, he and his wife, Jennifer Styles, and older daughter, Nora, welcomed a baby girl, Tess Elly Gilary.

Coe Will, hubby Craig, and big brother Owen welcomed Luca Sinclair Hoeksema to the family on May 10. Coe shifted to digital media consulting for Dattner Architects and various related clients in order to also manage the absurd logistics of raising kids in Brooklyn. She maintains perspective and her sense of humor by following other NYC Wes parents on Instagram.

Chris Watters and Jill Green ’02 had a baby! They welcomed little Hyla into the world last May, and now all she wants to do is walk and crawl even though she can’t do either. Jill runs the prop shop at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Chris is working in communications at Ubisoft. They are enjoying life in South Berkeley and spending time with the increasing number of Wes friends living nearby.

Amy Tannenbaum Gottlieb | atannenbaum@wesleyan.edu

Happy spring! On the baby front: Lauren Bierman and Tom Slattery welcomed their second son, Tate, on Aug. 13. Lauren is vice president for Global Strategy Group, a public affairs, communications, and research firm. She previously served as campaign manager for newly elected Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Hakeem Jeffries.

Rachel Gooze and her partner, Scott Kaplan, welcomed a baby, Felix, on Dec. 25, to join big sister Talia, 3. They are moving up north to be near family in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Another highlight of 2018, Rachel’s gathering of Wesleyan friends: May Wheelwright, Radhika Singh, Edna Togba, and Sheenru Yong.

Julia Clark-Spohn and her husband, Kevin Byrd, in Columbia, S.C., welcomed a little boy, Caleb Wren Byrd, into the world in November. Julia says, “He is an amazing little person and lights up our world.”

Alissa Kronovet welcomed a new addition to her family. She lives in Oakland, Calif., with her husband, Juan, 2-year-old Natalia, and newborn Julieta. They are all healthy, happy, and a little bit exhausted.

Eric Kushins and his wife, Doreen Lee, welcomed their second son, Reed, in August. Their older son, Ellis, is 3. They live in Atlanta. Eric is an assistant professor of management at Berry College in Rome, Ga., teaching undergraduate courses in HRM, social entrepreneurship, and family business management, and executive education courses in Lean Six Sigma.

Congrats to Radley Kanaszyc and Maia Ruiz who were married in 2018. Radley will hit his five-year anniversary this June at Guggenheim Partners.

On the job front: Alex Horwitz directed a feature documentary, Autonomy, about self-driving cars, executive produced by and featuring Malcolm Gladwell. The movie’s premiere is set for SXSW, hopefully with a sale and wide distribution to follow.

Since 2016, Ben Allen has worked as a microfinance researcher at Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore, a job that has taken him to a few far-flung locations, including rural Mauritania, Uganda, and Guatemala. In October, he published a global state-of-practice study on the inclusion of the most vulnerable populations—such as those who are ultra-poor, have disabilities, or are living with or affected by HIV—in savings groups. Ben and his wife, Megan, are expecting their first child in June.

Varuna Bhattacharyya moved to King and Spalding, LLP, as counsel in the corporate, finance, and investments group, specializing in commercial real estate finance.

Carly Einstein and Andy Reger are raising two daughters in Denver (Lillian, 4, and Emerson, 3). Carly is director of alumni engagement team for the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver.

Allison Kennedy lives in her home state of New Mexico and works for Meow Wolf, where she is inspired by creatives who are building immersive art environments. She is happily engaged to a fellow landscape architect.

Stephen Scribner and his wife, Stacy, moved to Denver in October. He joined a friend—Morgan Law, husband of Kathleen Jones ’03—to help him build the architecture practice he started a few years ago. Stephen is Passive House-certified and excited to be carrying the torch in Colorado for ultra-low energy construction. He and his wife also have a 3.5-year-old. Steven said, “We’re all enjoying the sunshine and mountains. It’s been great hanging out with Kathleen again—she now has an almost 1-year-old and a 2.5-year-old, both boys.”

Stephen moved from Boston, where he enjoyed being close to Conor Gately and Tricie Gately ’04, as well as Dina Levi and her wife and two little girls, who are living the dream in Northampton. Dina is director of diversity for Amherst University and Conor is a researcher at BU and Harvard in atmospheric pollution. They also overlapped with Katherine Gajewski, her husband, and 2-year-old boy in Cambridge, while she was at Harvard’s Kennedy School; they’ve since seen her in Denver while on their long winding route to move to Chicago, where she and her family are now.

Stephen flew up to Boise, Idaho, to help Austin Zinsser install a kitchen. Austin and his wife, Lauren, are racing to finish renovating their very cute bungalow before having their first baby in February. Austin is a hard rock geologist, working for a gold mining company between backpacking, skiing, and renovating his house.

Carlos Rojas moved to Jersey City from Manhattan. Carlos said, “I’m loving my new, and much larger, living/work space.” Carlos is a documentary film editor and most recently edited the Netflix documentary, The Great Hack, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Benjamin Goldstein was promoted to associate professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics at Duke University. He enjoys living in the south with his wife, Cheng, and two sons, Malcolm, 4, and Noah, 1.

Justin Lacob | justinlacob@gmail.com

Always great to hear from you! Chris Saenger is wrapping up four years in Frankfurt and will be moving with his family to Bogotá in August. He will continue his job with USAID, designing and implementing development assistance programs. Come by for some arepas if you’re in the neighborhood!

Roger Smith is in his fifth year working in Miyagi, Japan. He’s chief editor and photographer for the prefecture’s official English website, Visit Miyagi. If you head to Japan, you should actually pay him (and Miyagi) a visit and go see the volcanic crater lake and cat island!

Abigail Kurland and her husband, Harry, welcomed their first son, Alexander Koutsolioutsos, on May 10.

Ross Evangelista writes, “Started a sidewalk conversation with a stranger, at night, on my walk back to my hotel while visiting Shanghai. All because he was wearing a Wes hoodie! Now Harry Jiang ’18 and I are WeChat friends. He (and his girlfriend who seemed familiar with such Wes encounters) are doing well in China. They were both very welcoming! Caught up with Kerry Jacobs and Nikesh Dalal at Kerry’s annual holiday shindig at her Brooklyn townhouse. Unfortunately arrived after her son’s (my new godson’s!) bedtime.” Ross was slated to be on a real estate panel in Vegas during the Luxury Portfolio summit in late February—and was confident he would stop and chat with anyone in Wes apparel there, too.

Nora Friedman writes: “Still teaching Suzuki violin in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, and now head of the violin department at the Brooklyn Conservatory. Open for business and looking to sculpt young Wes progeny brains!”

Dispatch from Karen Gross: “I marked five years as president of Karen Gross Enterprises, LLC, which is focused on communication that sings. As a communications strategist, copywriter, and speechwriter, I collaborate with some of the nation’s most influential leaders and organizations, crafting messages that resonate and get results. I perform as a cabaret singer and songwriter. I was a featured speaker at the World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association; my session, How to Make Your Speeches Sing, shared the parallels between speechwriting and cabaret.”

Josh Kagan writes, “The big news on our end is my wife, Zeynep, and I welcomed our first child, Sophia Rose Kagan, on Sept. 18.” Congratulations!

In addition to caring for her two children (with Jim Isler), Emily Barth Isler works as a beauty writer for publications like Allure, Popsugar, and WellRoundedNY.com, specializing in sustainable and organic beauty products and the green beauty movement. She says: “The more I learned about the endocrine disruptors and carcinogens found in so many of our personal care items, the more I wanted to shine a light on healthier alternatives . . . I learned that the majority of sustainable beauty products are made by hand or in small batches by women, family-owned companies, and/or members of populations generally underrepresented in the business of beauty. Writing about the ways that these small companies employ women, offer fair wages, provide childcare or flexibility, use eco-friendly packaging and sustainable sourcing, and participate in major philanthropic initiatives, made me see that this is an issue that goes far beyond finding a nice lipstick or moisturizer.”

Emily would love to hear from anyone working in the sustainable beauty space, as she’s always looking for new brands to feature.

Congrats to Alden Griffith, who was awarded tenure at Wellesley College and studies the demography of invasive plants with his lab group. Katie Griffith teaches plant science workshops at local schools and has jumped into politics since Trump was elected. She’s now the cochair of the Wellesley Democratic Town Committee, leads a local Indivisible group, and is an elected member of the Wellesley Natural Resources Commission. Their three kids are growing up fast—now 11, 8, and 5. Side note: Katie and I are now scheming about a Boston-area Wes meetup. Contact me if you want in!

Mara Voukydis | maravee@gmail.com

Aryn Sperando | arynsperandio@yahoo.com

Sarah Sikowitz lives with her husband, Aaron, in her hometown, Cambridge, Mass., and works at Harvard Business School running the MBA career coaching program. Their son, Emmett, just started kindergarten at their neighborhood school and is loving it. Their daughter, Rose, just turned 3 and is having fun terrorizing the entire family! Also, in higher ed—Gabe Paquette and his family moved to Eugene, Ore., where Gabe is dean of the honors college at the University of Oregon. Gabe, Johanna Richlin ’08, and their daughter, Antonia, welcomed baby Reuben into their family in June. In related but unconnected news, Josh Goldshlagand his wife, Josiane, had a baby girl, Elin Santos Goldshlag, on July 8.

Kate Whitman Annis lives in Morristown, N.J., with husband, Craig, and their four boys: Clayton ,13, John, 13, Walker, 9, and Chase, 7. They all attend The Pingry School where Kate works as the associate director of advancement and the girls’ varsity ice hockey coach. This year, she joined the National Women’s Hockey League as the assistant coach for the Metropolitan Riveters. “For female players, being able to continue your hockey career after college is an incredible opportunity and the NHWL something I am really proud to be a part of.”

Despite January’s government shutdown, our Wes classmates move on. From Zack Becker: “Amy Martin won her election for district judge of the 263rd District Court here in Harris County and was sworn in on Jan. 1. Many thanks to the Wes’ers who helped with the campaign.” (#thisiswhy). Kenny Rios has accepted a new position at the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). Kenny is their new training program manager. Kenny is continuing a Wesleyan tradition—NCTC’s last director, Nicholas Rasmussen ’87, was also a Wesleyan graduate.

After 15 years at NPR, Alison MacAdam left the “mothership” to take on freelance work as an editor for audio documentaries (“which inevitably means podcasts, but still—radio is alive and well, too!”). Her first job was the podcast, Believed, about Larry Nassar and the women who took him down. “If you want to understand how abusers are able to act with impunity for decades, Believedwill give you a lot of powerful and poignant answers. Hit me up if you want to talk podcasting, narrative, audio journalism, etc.!”

Liz Garcia moved to Brooklyn with her family. She has two young boys and sees neighborhood Wes folk and their kids frequently. This includes but is not limited to Lauren Kesner, Amy (Abazzia) Rowland ’98, Elizabeth LeSure Epstein and Jim Epstein, and Chris O’Falt and his wife Maggie. “Two years ago, I made a movie staffed with young Wes people and shot by Andreas Burgess ’01 (cameo by his wife Sadia Shepard ’97!). I’m trying to figure out how to balance my love of my native East Coast and my West Coast career as a screenwriter/filmmaker. I’ll be at Reunion in the spring (my first!) and am really eager to see old friends.”

Great news! Alejandra St. Guillen is running for Boston City Council at-large. This is the seat formerly held by Ayanna Pressley who was just elected to Congress to represent Boston.

Ari Gerzon’s new book, Money Fit: Six Steps to Financial Well-Being, was just published on Amazon. He wrote, “The seeds of my book emerged 20 years ago, when I decided that I didn’t want to be a broke teacher and was not willing to sacrifice following my passion in order to make more money. I knew that I did not want money to become central to my existence, yet at the same time I wanted to use it to support my growth and well-being. Unfortunately, I had no idea where to start. My hunger to learn about the pathway to financial freedom started as a hobby and grew into an area of expertise.

“I wrote this book for three main reasons:

1) Most of the books about money are too complicated, long, or confusing. Our youth (and people of all ages) deserve information that is concise and clear.

2) I am saddened and motivated by how economic inequality is perpetuated due in great part to a knowledge gap. Young people of all backgrounds can pursue their dreams with greater intentionality if they have access to the key kernels of financial wisdom.

3) Most books about money are just about money. I wanted to write about the important link between financial literacy and overall well-being and growth.”

We hope many of you are planning to come to Reunion! Many of our classmates have been working for several months to plan special events and gatherings. It promises to be a great time to not only reconnect with old friends but to meet classmates that you never knew. Registration and more information about the weekend can be found at wesleyan.edu/rc.

As for your class secretaries, we just keep getting older. Darryl is awaiting another summer in Maine (the payoff for surviving winter in Maine). After six years building out an enterprise business at Zocdoc in NYC, Kevin has moved into an advisory role there and started his next chapter in health care. He recently caught up with Dave Katz ’97 and Chris Gaither ’97 in San Francisco while out there for a conference.

C. Darryl Uy | darryl.uy@gmail.com

Kevin Kumler | kevinkumler@gmail.com

Hi, all. This time around I have a few updates to share as well. My husband and I opened our second café (Petite MarieBette) this winter. Hopefully by the time this is published, my stress levels and social life will be back to normal. I have also been elected board president of Meals on Wheels Charlottesville/Albemarle—an organization that I have been deeply involved with for the past three years.

Adam Borden was elected to the board of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, an Inner Harbor icon and leading aquatic conservation organization. After almost three years marketing McCormick spices, he is now looking for his next adventure. His family finally got the chance to go on their long-dreamed safari in December, seeing leopards and lions, as well as Nelson Mandela’s former Soweto home and Robben Island prison cell.

Anthony Veneziale got to speak at the Kennedy Center around his work on neuroscience and improv’s effects on the brain, plus do a freestyle rap. And Freestyle Love Supreme (with Thomas Kail ’99, Bill Sherman ’02, and Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02) has a sold-out run off-Broadway.

Rob Finn married Dan Shaver, in D.C. last year, and they celebrated with Allison Radecki, Neal Wilkinson, Steve Engel, and Becca Gerner. Sarah Maine ’99, was Rob’s “Best Maine.” Since moving to D.C. in 2014, Rob has worked in housing policy with the National Community Stabilization Trust and is leading the Legislative Affairs division of D.C.’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.

Lia Salza has been running Little Loft, the children’s art studio she founded in DC for the last six years, and raising three intense children. She sees Laura Polania and Rebecca Preiser, and stays in touch with Sarah Margon, Eliza Hersh, and Shai Rao. She met up with Justin Moyer and Harrison Owen last summer. She’s leaving behind her beloved Takoma Park neighborhood for a family move to Dallas in June. If you have any contacts there, she’d appreciate it because she currently knows zero people there, but she’s excited to be part of the blue wave in Texas.

Juniper Hill and husband Jesse started new jobs at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg in Germany. He teaches in the Mathematics Institute and she heads the ethnomusicology program. “I am introducing several curricular innovations (which are more in line with Wesleyan pedagogy then with conventional German musicological approaches).” They are busy learning German and adjusting to Franconian/Bavarian culture and enjoy having two academic positions in the same place. She is active in the Sacred Harp shaped note community and started a shape note singing class in Würzburg. Her new book, Becoming Creative: Insights from Musicians in a Diverse World, was published by Oxford University press. If there are any other Wes folk in the Franconian region, they would love to hear from you.

Adam Hinds was sworn in to his second term as a state senator in Massachusetts.

Matt Stromberg has been living in Los Angeles for the past seven years with his wife, Jessica, and their two dogs. Since receiving his master’s from USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism in 2014, he has been working as a freelance arts and culture writer, contributing to a wide range of publications including the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Hyperallergic, the Art Newspaper, and several others.

Bishara Wilson completed his doctorate in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. He owns the Brooklyn-based New York Sports Acupuncture where he’s celebrating 16 years in private practice.

Dr. Nadine Forrester Mills earned her doctorate in education (curriculum, instruction, and assessment) from Walden University and would like to thank her loving husband, Gregory Mills; children Jevon Smith, A’ngelique Mills, Ashley Mills, and Anisha Johnson; parents Heroline and Arthur Standberry, grandmother Alberta Blake, and close friends for all their love and support throughout this accomplishment.

Abby Elbow is living her dream life in Anchorage, Alaska, after 15 years of talking about it. She spends four days a week working as a nurse, seeing moms and babies in their homes, and the other three romping in the greatest of great outdoors: hiking, camping, cross-country skiing, playing Ultimate, and just recently, curling! And with her brother and a whole host of family via his marriage here, she gets tons of niece time and chaotic dinner gatherings. She says you’re all invited to come visit. Abby has also agreed to help me with our class notes, for which I am very grateful.

Jason Becton | jason@mariebette.com

Greetings, Class of 1997! Monica White wrote that in November, she was “delighted to host Matvei Yankelevich ’95 in Nottingham, U.K., where he gave several well-received talks at the University of Nottingham and a local independent bookshop about translation, small press publishing, and his own poetry.

She reconnected with former German House housemate, Nathan Eddy ’98, in London for dinner with his lovely family followed by a Wes-hosted reception with Professor William Pinch. She is looking forward to a year-long sabbatical starting to work on her next book. Monica is a lecturer in Slavonic studies at the University of Nottingham, where she focuses her research on medieval Russian and Byzantine history.

Josh and Maggie Suniewick are settling into life in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., after moving from Philadelphia two years ago. Josh shared that at our 20-year Reunion, he reconnected with fellow classmates and bandmates from The Solids (founded in 1996 at Wesleyan), Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. They decided to get the band back together, along with Pat Butler ’98. “If you are into hooky, melody-laced rock sprinkled with How I Met Your Mother references (courtesy of Carter and Craig) you can find out about upcoming shows in the NYC area at our website, thesolids.com. Remember, you are never too old to rock and roll . . . just remember to bend at the knees.”

Ben Helphand said he was honored to be part of the Next City Vanguard, Class of 2018, which is “a gathering of the top young urban innovators working to make change in cities.” As executive director of NeighborSpace, Chicago’s land trust for community gardens, Ben has helped create a network of community-managed nature play areas across Chicago. Instead of the traditional slides and swings, he writes that they borrow elements from the natural world—boulders and hollow logs—to allow children to work with loose parts and create their own worlds.

Go, Wes ’97!

Please e-mail us your updates and thoughts, books, movies, and TV recommendations. Sasha recently read and absolutely loved Katya Apekina’s The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish, told from multiple narrators in one strange, artistic, amazing, and terrifying family, as they move between New York and New Orleans. Absolute page-turner, well told. What’s on your nightstand? (Or phone reader app?)

Jessica Shea Lehmann | jessica.lehmann@gmail.com

Sasha Lewis Reisen | alewisreisen@gmail.com

Hi, fellow ’96ers! Hope everyone is well! The notes are short but sweet this round. Let’s get to them.

Billy Kheel writes, “I just installed a 17-foot window display of felt quilts at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, inspired by Parliament Funkadelic’s 1994 Wesleyan Spring Fling performance. That Spring Fling was so legendary I thought it only appropriate to immortalize it in felt in the largest record store in the world. Amoeba let me do it because I was just on Making It with Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler (which you can still check out on NBC.com).”

Rallie Snowden’s son, Miguel, was born over the summer.

Anne Genereux is living in a rural mountain town in Montana, working as a therapist, and finishing her dissertation on healthy relationship education. 

Sara and Colby Evans are moving temporarily this spring and summer to Edinburgh, Scotland, along with their three children (Quinn, 10, Malcolm, 9, and Ruby, 7). They are excited to try someplace new for a while and will be returning to Austin in August.

Thanks for the updates! Keep them coming. 

Dara Federman | darasf@yahoo.com 

Dacque Tirado | dacquetirado@yahoo.com

Katy writes for this issue: As I compose this at the beginning of January, I am wanting to wish you all a Happy New Year; yet by the time you get this newsletter, we can all be saying happy spring (except for any of you in the southern hemisphere). We hope that 2019 has started well for all of you. I’m happy to share the news from your classmates; including, for the first-time—yay!—Josh Stevens; we are especially glad to hear from those of you who haven’t been in touch for a while.

Rob Armstrong writes: “Wylie and I and our 9-year-old twins moved back from London to New York. Now living in Greenwood, Brooklyn. I am still scribbling away for the Financial Times. Keen to hear from all ’95 and ’94 types who come through the city.” Welcome back to the States, Rob!

Chelsea Farley writes: “I live in the Hudson Valley of New York with my family (daughter Noah, partner Isaac, and our Alaskan Malamute, Lulu). I am the communications director at NYU Steinhardt’s Research Alliance for NYC Schools, where we are working to produce evidence that contributes to better, more equitable public schools in NYC and around the country.”

Ken Kwiatkowski writes: “I would like to announce the birth of our third son, Sebastian, on Dec. 23, with wife Anna.” Many congratulations, Ken! We hope your whole family is in good health and enjoying such a special time.

Michelle Limaj writes: “My son, Axel, and I visited Jeanne Bonner and Michael Cocca in their new home in Connecticut this fall and got to meet their gorgeous little boy. So proud of Jeanne, her beautiful family, and her award-winning work translating literature by visionary Italian authors. I’d heard her reporting on NPR and CNN, but creative writing and literature are where she clearly lives. So grateful for this lifelong friendship.”

Beth Price writes: “Greetings from Charleston, S.C.! I’m still working as a family medicine doctor at the joint Navy/Air Force base outside of Charleston. Kevin and my kids (David, 14, Madeline, 12, and Lily, 9) are growing up so fast . . . hard to believe that in a couple of years, we’ll be making the college tour rounds! This fall I completed my second competitive trail ride with my quarter horse, Chilli. We rode 35 miles over two days, and were judged on his fitness, our ability to maneuver trail obstacles, and my horsemanship skills. Exhausting, but great fun! Can’t wait to see everyone at Reunion next year!” We are all impressed, Beth!

Michele Gershberg, U.S. health editor at Reuters, wrote a touching and personal special report about her son Natan’s diagnosis with a slow-growing brain tumour. Read it here: https://reut.rs/2UkHAeO.

Josh Stevens writes: “Enjoying life in the Bay Area, going on 15 years in 2019 . . . working in health care tech and happy to connect and network any Wes alumni who come to Silicon Valley.”

Lastly, I, your humble secretary, can share news of my own next adventure—I have just begun an MBA program—part-time, largely distance education—based at the University of Warwick.

Keep sending us your news and updates—we love to hear from you!

Bo Bell | bobell.forreal@gmail.com 

Katy McNeill | mcneill40@gmail.com

Hello, Class of 1994. Welcome to the latest edition of the class notes. Kristen Woronoff, our class liaison in University Relations at Wesleyan, wanted me to mention the upcoming Reunion. It promises to be a great time to not only reconnect with old friends but to meet classmates that you never knew.

Chris Bartley directs the music program at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, teaching music history and conducting two choirs, including one that is partnering with his local symphony for a production of Carmina Burana at the end of April. Chris teaches indoor spin classes, plays poker, and is trying to get his new dog, Olive, to sit. He hosted Eric Hung ’96 and Leah Bartell ’95, who gave a violin-piano duo concert on his campus. They reminisced about learning to conduct from the late Melvin Strauss. Chris got together with Ben Mahnke at a Celtics-Bucks game in Boston.

Elizabeth Rand Ehrlich’s handmade kippot (yarmulke) business, Kids Kippot, has been growing tremendously. One of her creations was featured in the show, Items: Is Fashion Modern?, at the Museum of Modern Art.

Elizabeth attributes her success to the skills she learned at Wesleyan. Elizabeth had dinner with Elizabeth Toohey and Sam Schneider ’91 and enjoys talking with John Pollock when they can both carve out some time from their busy schedules.

Adam Handler welcomed a second daughter, Danielle Max, to join big sister Josephine Flora. He reconnected with David Niles, Joe Pirret, Steve Frail, Jonathan Bernstein Sidhu, and Sean Mazer. Adam is looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends at Reunion.

Steve Henn and Emily Johnson Henn live in Menlo Park, Calif., and are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. Their oldest daughter, a senior in high school, will attend Wesleyan. Steve left public radio to start a company, later acquired by Google, where he is eating more than his share of free food. Emily practices law at Covington & Burling. They hiked near Sausalito with Brooke Singer this summer. They are close with Andrea Seebaum ’92, who Emily says “models so well what life without kids could have looked like.” They enjoyed seeing Annelise Wunderlich and Jeff Kwan, and Sid Espinosa, whom Emily first met on the WOW trip. They visited with Scott Laton and family during an East Coast trip and are excited about Reunion.

John Lewis lives in Newton, Mass., with his wife, Suzanne, and three kids. He sees Jon Bender, Josh Protas, Tomer Rothschild, and Gabe Meil pretty regularly, as well as Sean Mazer and Aaron Yeater. John visited Julia Lazarus ’95 in Rhode Island and met her new baby daughter, Eleanor. John took a new job at Sound Physicians after 17 years at Athena Health, which has been a big change but good.

Julie Nersesian has retired after 20-plus years of teaching, primarily social studies middle school. She is leaving soon for Oaxaca, Mexico, to be a sunbird for the rest of January. She toasts all those engaged in education and action for social justice. “It is exhausting work but so important!”

Martin Reames and his family were relocated by his company, to Guadalajara, Mexico, for a year. He writes that “living in Mexico is quite different than visiting a week at a time” as “driving in Mexico is adventurous, and riding in a taxi is calm compared with negotiating other drivers’ unexpected maneuvers.” Martin’s 10-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, has attended a Spanish-English school since kindergarten, and speaks Spanish quite well, while he and wife Nicole are far from fluent. Nicole took a one-year sabbatical from work to focus on Spanish classes, yoga, and spending time with Elizabeth. They enjoy living in Mexico, especially the fantastic restaurants in Guadalajara; hiking in Copper Canyon in Chihuahua; and visiting the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacán where they saw “countless millions of butterflies—it was truly magical.” They are sad that it’s been six months already and they’ll be headed back to Minneapolis in just half a year.

Aram Sinnreich’s third book, The Essential Guide to Intellectual Property, will be published by Yale Press this May.

Sondra Youdelman, in Brooklyn, joined the staff team of People’s Action (peoplesaction.org) as their national campaign director working on housing, health care, and climate issues.

Shalini Shankar’s book, Beeline: What Spelling Bees Reveal about Generation Z’s New Path to Success, will be published in April with Basic Books. It is based on research she conducted over six years at the National Spelling Bee, with spellers and families.

So long for now. Send Samera and me your news, notes, and updates—we’d love to hear from you.

Samera Syeda Ludwig | samera.ludwig@gmail.com

Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com