Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

Sadly, we got word that John Perry Barlow passed away in February. John dressed as what he was, a Wyoming cowboy who instinctively knew the future, whether in music, science fiction, or politics. Writer, poet, activist, Grateful Dead lyricist, Kennedy confidante, Internet pioneer. From Mitch Kapor’s jet he wrote, “Accept nothing. Big Brother exists. Act up.” One of John’s few societal concessions—his forever love for his daughters, Amelia, Anna, and Leah, the Barlowettes.

Steve Broker “heads the Connecticut Ornithological Association, studying peregrine falcons and ravens in Connecticut, and marsh birds on Cape Cod. Brother Tom ’66 and I are exhibiting our collection of cast iron banks in Roanoke.”

Tom Earle wondered “How many of us are still working, how many retired?”

Jerry Martin “shifted gears toward eventual retirement. Still sending my best students to Wes. Grandson Luther is a highly literate Vermont farmer. I look forward to Homecoming with daughter Lyllah ’99 and classmates. Best to all.”

Ron Reisner was “back for Herb Kenny’s tournament and looks forward to lacrosse in the spring and the June golf outing. I talked with roommate Harry Nothacker and feel amazingly well 50 years removed from playing. I’m involved in the discussion of the interplay of the athletic and admission programs. Wes should have diverse ethnicities, religions, and some athletes, too.”

Denny Marron said, “Hi to Wes Tech friends, many Eclectics. Living well in Madison with wife Jo-Ann and retired from the electronics industry. I drive the senior bus. Daughter Dana, son-in-law Peter, and three grandchildren live in Marblehead.”

Alex Knopp is “on the Connecticut Transportation Policy Advisory Council, looking at long-range issues. Visited California and Upstate New York. Hope all is well with Class of ’69ers.”

David Siegel wrote, “Our per capita health costs far exceed most other countries, with worse results. We are going in the wrong direction. I support Medicare for all and work with physicians for a national health program.”

Maurice Hakim ’70 said, “In fall 1969, Wes football was undefeated, won the Lambert Cup, and qualified for the Boardwalk Bowl. That legendary season impressed Bill Belichick ’75 and led him to Wes.”

Cheryl and Jeff Powell “reside in New London, N.H. I’m retired from internal medicine, but continue to work at the local hospital, seeing former patients and colleagues. Three grandchildren—5, 11, and 14. We sail coastal Maine and rendezvous with Vickie and Rob Pratt.”

Darius Brubeck “started the year at Ronnie Scott’s in London. We’re working on a PBS jazz documentary. I planned to slow down, but will be playing in Poland, Italy, and the UK.”

Bob Berkowitz is “professor emeritus of psychiatry and pediatrics at UPenn and CHOP. Still active in behavioral health, research, instruction, and clinical care for kids. Hope to be at Reunion. Celebrated 47 years with Barbara.”

Tony Mohr wrote, “All well here. Made it through the fires, just outside the evacuation zone of the Skirball Fire. Working on an environmental case in the California Court of Appeals.”

John Bach was “moved by Bill Sketchley’s submission, remembering Bill’s marvelously wry sense of humor.”

Frank Putnam is “a professor of psychiatry at UNC. Recent book, The Way We Are, doing well. Learning to make YouTube videos is an interesting exercise packaging science for millennials.”

Doug Bell “enjoys first grandchild, Dawson. I’m grateful for good health and friends. I would be happy to share insights into ketogenic diets, fasting, vitamins, lectins, and sugar if contacted.”

Howard Brown “saw John Mihalec at 50th Reunion planning session. Looking forward to that.”

Jim Adkins “reported temperatures in the 50s in Clearwater and have lived in Palm Harbor since 1984.”

From Cilla and Rick Pedolsky: “May you live in interesting times. We hope 2018 includes lots of caring, curiosity, joy, justice, love, liberation, wit, and wisdom.”

Steve Greenfield “lives in Minneapolis, married to Kit Hansen for 48 years. Family live close. My retirement project is traveling to see birds and nature all over the world. Have periodic contact with Jeff Smith, Bob Davis, and Steve Gleich.”

Ken Elliott reported “a very cold winter in rural Maine. I’m on the faculty at UM Augusta, but have suspended active clinical practice. I’m going to the Czech Republic on a teaching exchange, building bridges between UM and Technical University of Liberec. Looking forward to the 50th.”

Pete Pfeiffer wrote, “On the road in my pick-up, drifting around the U.S., looking for an alternative to logging in the North Woods. Haven’t found it yet.”

I attended Homecoming with Jimmy Dreyfus, Rip Hoffman, and Rick McGauley. Great day. Campus a jeweled Eden. So much open, honest friendship and love. And Wes crushed Williams.

Late January brings snow. We walk to Mersina’s for lunch. Deb has a burger. I have grilled salmon over wilted spinach, napped with olive oil, lemon, and oregano. Returning, we read the menu at Penny Lane Pub, window shop at the bookstore, buy bouquets and scented candles at the florist, and laugh at the subdued snowblowers in front of the hardware. In the condo, Seth Glier sings from the boombox and a vegetable soup hides in the crockpot. If any of this sounds good, we have a spare bedroom.

Love always,

Charlie Farrow | charlesfarrow@comcast.net

11 Coulter Street, #16, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 

Locally: “the crew”—Bob Svensk, Harrison Knight, Nason Hamlin, Will Macoy ’67, myself, and Coach Phil Calhoun ’62, MALS’69—reuned in Middletown in early October. Enjoyed amazing weather, one another, a couple of rows by those who still can, and interacting with the present coaches and rowers. After which, Judy and I recovered with a week in London. They may no longer have an empire, but it is still a lovely town.

Crew is too hard to do for a coach you respect. You gotta love the SOB. Thus, it was a particular pleasure for Judy and me to have a long lunch by the river with Phil and his wife, Janet. Phil was at Wes for 10 years, leaving as the University’s secretary. After which he did an array of things (e.g., in Tom Ridge’s cabinet in Harrisburg, a partner in a micro-brewery, a vice-presidency at Franklin & Marshall), produced two wonderful daughters (for whom I babysat), and encouraged rowing wherever he went. Keeps in touch with Colin Campbell. Janet, in response to the painful loss of her mother and a sister, wrote a searing memoir, Rabbit Warrior, which was published by a small Pennsylvania press. As I like to keep appearances/illusions/half-truths firmly in place, it was not an easy read.

Harrison told me one of our buddies, Bill Currier ’69, retired from his partnership at White & Case’s Washington office and is seeing if he has a novel in him.

Shortly after Maria struck, Joe Kelly Hughes ’67, a former SEAL, went to Puerto Rico as a FEMA volunteer.

Sam Davidson has an exquisite art gallery in Seattle and hosted a Wesleyan event there last fall. Gordon Fain ’70 is a Yale Law School graduate who never left the area: the grandfather of seven, very active in his temple and a thoroughly good guy. Wendell Wallach, chair of Yale’s Technology and Ethics Working Research Group, moderates a seminar open to all, which some friends of mine have attended for years. They speak highly of Wendell, who was just on a European lecture tour.

I caught up with John Kepner, a Penn Law grad who worked and lived in the Philly area as a healthcare attorney, and then, he moved out of the legal role and into executive and consultant positions—most notably with Penn and The Holy Redeemer’s health systems. His specialties were strategy, new ventures, and building relationships. His website (fenwaymanagementadvisors.org) has short splendid essays related to his work and point of view. Both he and his wife, Mimi, are very involved with inner-city social service programs and both enjoy getting away to their place on the Vineyard. They have three sons. The oldest is the lead baseball writer for the Times. The other two (Amherst & Yale) are Austin-based and making music together as Full Service.

In May, we lost Steve Horvat, and, in October, Peter Margolius. Steve was a good clutch hitter, the catcher and co-captain on the baseball team. Dave Losee noted that under Steve’s leadership they used to eke out good seasons from so-so teams. After four years in the U.S. Army, Steve went on to Northwestern’s Law School and a distinguished career in insurance. Most notably were his years in a range of top positions, including general counsel, with Franklin Life, mostly in the Chicago-area. He loved golfing and vacationed and retired to Hilton Head. He was part of our Dick Emerson, Ray Solomon, Charles Ahern, et al golfing group, and there are plans for a memorial tree on campus. (Contact Dave Gruol; davidgruol@aol.com if you wish to contribute). One classmate remembered Steve as “quiet Indiana strong.”

Peter “marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., volunteered for Vietnam, ran into burning buildings, and would do anything for a dog.” In Vietnam, he served in intelligence and earned the Joint Service Commendation Medal. After law school, he spent several years in Japan as a Naval JAG officer. In 1979, he went into private practice in Catskill, N.Y., where he served as a volunteer fireman, and, most proudly, as town justice from 1997-2014. Additionally, he served Greene County as a prison prosecutor and first assistant public defender. “Peter was a talented marksman, military history aficionado, and staunch supporter of the Second Amendment. He loved The Three Stooges (Curly was the best)…and could quote every line from Casablanca.”

Ostensibly, our Reunion celebrates the time we went through together in Middletown. But, in truth, we also went through the 1950s together and are going through the 2010s together (though not in physical proximity). And my thought is that we would all do well to come back May 24-27 to mark, celebrate, and give thanks for everything.

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

Classmates, I have some sad news to report. Our classmate, Alan Thorndike, passed away. Here is the email that a few of us received from Karl Furstenberg a few days after Alan died: “I am writing with sad news. Our classmate, my roommate and brother-in-law, died on Jan. 8. I know we were all delighted to see Alan at our 50th Reunion which he very much enjoyed. Alan was a brilliant student, distinguished scientist, and exemplary teacher. He was devoted to Wesleyan, Alpha Delt and particularly to the track and cross-country teams. Alan had a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and other maladies which he fought valiantly. He was very active in his workshop and on his bike until the last few months. In the end, complications from pneumonia took his life. I am enclosing a full obituary.”

The full obituary can be read at fhnfuneralhome.com. As you can see if you read it, Alan lived a full and accomplished life.

More next time.

Richie Zweigenhaft | rzweigen@guilford.edu

The following message appears on Madison, Wisc., buses: “People of Meskonsing,/ Who rides with you?/ Saygo! (Greetings in good health!).” The author is our own Claude “Bud” Smith, one of a handful of Wisconsin writers selected for this Art En Route Project. Bud explains: “My words (unreadable, alas, in the attached photo) contain a message for our classmates…Meskonsing is the English spelling of the French version of a Miami Indian name for Wisconsin. Substitute ‘Wesleyan’ and you get the point. Ring the bells of old South College!”

How good is that! Well, almost as good as the life Bud, Elaine, his wife of 41 years, and their two sons are living in Madison, where Bud writes: “We take advantage of all things Madison and all things UW, and volunteer a lot for Wisconsin Public Television. I do not have a smartphone, but can now text on my flip phone, a miracle on the order of the loaves and the fishes. I play in senior softball and golf leagues, fish the state lakes and streams, and am a member of a terrific book club. My writing and publishing continue apace, and I am helping a number of former students get their books published. My reminiscence, “Touching Genius,” appeared in John Updike Remembered (2017), and I gave a reading downtown in December.”

I mentioned wrestling with retirement in my request of class notes, and David Luft responded: “Let me know if you figure out how to do retirement. We could do this as a theme for the class notes. Oddly enough, I’m around the same age you are. I think I will retire in the next year, and it’s hard to imagine my life without teaching and regular obligations.” David, who holdsthe Horning Endowed Chair of Humanities at Oregon State University, just sent his latest book, The Austrian Tradition in German Intellectual History 1740-1938/1939 to Cambridge University Press. “One of the things I think about doing with my retirement is writing other kinds of books.”

Essel Bailey, too, is thinking of retirement. He and his wife, Menakka, “just returned from Australia and Sri Lanka visiting family. And are trying to get to that retirement state sometime this year. Traveling to our farm in Calistoga though in a few weeks.”

No retirement, however, for Alexander “Sandy” Blount. Professor of Clinical Psychology, Antioch University New England, and Professor of Family Medicine and Psychiatry

University of Massachusetts Medical School, Sandy writes: “I am living in Amherst and have since the 1970s. Still married to Francesca Maltese (45 years this summer). She is retired, but I seem to be ramping up. I am teaching doctoral students in clinical psychology with a focus on health psychology and the integration of behavioral health into medical settings. I have a project to develop the workforce of people trained to do behavioral health work in primary care settings for the State of New Hampshire and I am working on a book tentatively entitled Patient Centered Team-Based Primary Care: The Leap from Good to Great. Let me know if you get that retirement thing figured out. For the time being, I seem to be fleeing it as fast as possible.”

Enough of retirement, well, not quite. Thomas Hawley, a California neighbor as it turns out of Essel’s, is “now retired” and with “my Dutch wife, Marijke, living on the banks of the Carmel River, growing grapes, making wine labeled ‘Blue Heron’ (called uncharitably by some “Dead Heron”), and painting sea and landscapes.” Thomas and James “Sandy” Van Kennen, you may remember, swam on the Wesleyan team that in 1963 set a New England record for the 400-yard freestyle relay. Thomas, suffering from “the cold and lack of female companionship,” transferred after his freshman year to Stanford where he stayed “for law school, spending summers managing Dave Packard’s apricot orchard. The major law firms did not exactly beat a path to my door after law school, and I ended up with only two offers: one from Anchorage, Alaska, and one from Monterey, California. Needless to say, I chose the latter and after three years at the Monterey firm, opened up a small private practice specializing in estate planning in Carmel, Calif. I authored the Artful Dodger’s Guide to Planning Your Estate, which met with very modest success.” Wonderful to catch up with Thomas, and he is “hoping to reconnect with some of the fine fellows I met at Wesleyan.”

Let me end with a tribute to resilience and good humor, both of which Will Rhys and his wife, Nancy, possess in abundance. Last year their house in Bridgton, Maine, “was destroyed in a fire caused by a lightning strike.” In the depth of last December’s bitter cold, Will wrote: “Hope your temperature gauge is not doing a nose dive like it is here. We have snow, but it is too freakin’ cold to get out and enjoy it. Hoping that we get a bit of a warm up next week…warmer than single digits. Nancy and I would also like to see a bit of a warm up so that our builders can proceed with the construction of our new house in a timely fashion…Guys working on House 2.0 are truly brave souls to be working through these winter days.Not ready to pack up and scurry off to Hawaii, although sharing a beverage with Hardy would not be thought amiss.” Best of fortune to Will and Nancy.

Larry Carver | carver1680@gmail.com

P.O. Box 103, Rico, Colorado, 81332 | 512/478-8968

Dear, Classmates. First of all, it is very sad to report the sudden passing of Kirt Mead on Nov. 26, 2017, in Massachusetts. Kirt was a man of great intelligence and accomplishment. All of us were enriched by his involvement in our 50th. And, many of us saw Kirt looking great at our 2017 Homecoming meeting with the class of 1968’s 50th.

Received thoughtful holiday greetings from Bob Barton (Lanesboro, Mass.), Dave Dinwoodey (Wellesley, Mass.), Steve Flance (Santa Fe, N.M.), Chuck Hearey (Orinda, Calif.), Fred Nachman (Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Ted See (Hartford, Conn.), and Bill Trapp (Lacey, Wash.).

Congratulations to noted architect Gar Hargens (AIA, NCARB), president of Close Associates in Minneapolis, on the celebration of the firm’s 80th anniversary.

Gar writes: “…professor John Martin gets credit for opening my eyes to architecture. I believe Ann Ulmer (daughter of Close’s founder) taught at Wesleyan…and one of their grandchildren may have attended. Colby Andrus ’63, our cross-country manager, encouraged me to go to the University of Minnesota, his home state, for my degree in architecture, and I’m glad I did.”

And, I asked John Dunton if he’d elaborate on his involvement with international travel and Intervac, which follows: “Carol and I are halfway through a year living in a small town in France; this is hands-down the biggest adventure of my life. It took me 62 years to get to Europe but that first trip to Paris showed me what I’d been missing. After several more visits to France we decided we wanted to get beneath the tourist tour surface and see what it was like actually to live here. In 2012 we joined Intervac, an international house exchange program. Over the next three years we hosted 10 families from France and Germany in our home in Waltham, Mass., while they toured Boston and New England. Once we had eight housing IOU’s scattered around France we took seven weeks in 2015 and visited our new friends in Paris, Versailles, Fontainebleu, Souvigny, Strasbourg, Provence, Lyon, and Veigne, a small town south of Tours in the Loire Valley. The Veigne couple got an offer from Boston University to study and teach there; they needed a place to live with their three children, we loved their home in Veigne, so voilà! We swapped houses for a year.

“We’re living and loving small-town life with its slower pace; the personal interaction with Marco, our baker, and his wife, Maggie, at the boulangerie; buying meat from Bernard, the living image of a small-town butcher, at his boucherie. Weekly we shop at Marché, a collection of food vendor trucks and tables set up in the town square. We buy more types of cheese than we knew existed, explore the amazing varieties of fish laid out in a cornucopia of colors and shapes on shaved ice, and select among chicken, duck, goose, turkey, pigeon, rabbit and more, most with heads still attached. The vegetables in season are there: lettuce is ’salad,’ okra is gombo, but don’t try to find kale—maybe in Paris, but not in Veigne. From the day we arrived our neighbors have been beyond helpful and welcoming, and friends of our host family frequently invite us to their homes. Fortunately, Carol speaks French; my attempts to learn it are about as successful as my D in German at Wesleyan would indicate.

“What do we miss? Family and friends; Boston’s cultural attractions; and American washer/dryer/disposal appliances. But we’re reveling in this experience especially when we share the chateaux and cathedrals, as well as small-town life, with visiting family and friends. Welcome to Hotel Veigne! However, we are fully booked through July after which, with some sadness, we will return to our other home.”

John, thank you for your interesting write-up and information on Intervac!

Philip L. Rockwell | prockwell@wesleyan.edu

Class of 1964 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Dimitri Jaron Slory ’21, Brooklyn, NY

I’m sitting in my friendly recliner, updating my notes for the spring edition of the Wesleyan magazine. The outside temperature here in central Florida is a balmy 36 degrees. I’m watching the Weather Channel and its coverage of frozen america, where winter storm Grayson has left its record-setting imprint on the eastern seaboard. During one night, the temperature was 27 degrees, and I woke up to a power outage. I had all sorts of concerns with not knowing how long this would last. I prayed for the power to return, and it did within a half hour. I was grateful when the lights turned on, but I realized the miracle that is electricity has transformed life.

I’m in the process of selling my house in central Florida, and moving into my condo in Savannah, Ga. My wife and I are moving to northeast Georgia, where the temperatures, on average, are 10 degrees lower than central Florida in the winter months. The difference in temperatures really matter when Arctic air moves down to the Southeast, but I plan to find a condo in Florida to escape the 10-degree buffer.

Steve McQuide answered my request for news, as he “celebrated 50 years of marriage to a wonderful woman, watching three grandchildren grow up, riding the stock market; life is good.” He added, “having come to realize that I’ve become quite a different person than I was at Wesleyan.”

Dan Davis reported completing a deferred charitable gift annuity to Wesleyan. It provided for a nice tax deduction, annual income at a fixed interest rate, and guaranteed money for Wesleyan when he dies. He described it as a “win-win situation.”

Russ Messing shared: “I am totally retired and loving not going into work. My days are spent going to the gym, doing desk work, culling, reading, writing more poetry, breathing deeply, and noticing changes in my mind, body, and the world.”

Duane Starr is mostly retired but continuing part-time in the Global Security Directorate of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He’s looking forward to turkey season in the spring. Until then, he’ll have to be satisfied with whatever trout he can pull out of the Clinch River. He realizes that his life is good, having a loving wife, three children, and a moderately comfortable life style. He enjoys singing, and, when time allows, doing woodworking in a shop he set up on his side of their two-car garage. He appreciates what is still working well, much greater than when he was younger.

While working on my notes, I received an email notification of the passing of Michael O. Smith, M.D. on Dec. 24, 2017. He was a psychiatrist, acupuncturist, addiction specialist, and public health planner. He is survived by his daughters, Joanna Smith ’00 and Jessica Hutter.

Once again, Wesleyan graduate, Bill Belichick ’75, has led the Patriots to another Super Bowl after beating the Jaguars for the AFC NFL championship. At the time of writing, they will face the Eagles in two weeks. Dilly-dilly.

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

Class of 1963 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship Fund

John Lewis Jr. ’21, Newark, NJ

Ron Tallmanis living in St. Augustine. Way back in the ’80s, he was director of the American Association for Canadian Studies at the University of Maine, the largest center for such studies in the U.S. But more recently, when he retired in 2002 it was as dean of Roosevelt University, Chicago. Noel, his wife, retired from advertising in 2007. They really enjoy taking cruises and have taken so many that he was not even sure how many. Possibly 20, he guessed. They find it much easier to travel that way. No hauling luggage around or changing from hotel to hotel. He and Noel recently bought a wonderful single-family dwelling in a retirement community and moved there after some renovations. He thinks they might be the youngest residents there and they are very pleased with the community. Lots of interesting and friendly fellow residents and a wide range of activities to choose from. He listed a few—monthly van group trips to high-end restaurants (always a sober driver to bring them home), free Uber drivers, golfing (Noel is very good! and he played golf at WESU). They once went to the Open at St. Andrews. “Great fun!” Ron has two daughters from a previous marriage. The eldest, 53, is the United Nation’s deputy high commissioner for refugees in Geneva and has two children. The youngest just turned 50 and is a teacher about to start teaching in Houston, Texas, and has 3 children. Ron’s grandchildren range in age from 12 to 22, but sadly, due to geographical distance, he sometimes only sees them once a year.

While John Coatsworth is in only in his seventh year as provost at Columbia University, he and Patricia are in their 53rd year of marriage.Prior to coming to Columbia, John was the Monroe Gutman Professor of Latin American Affairs at Harvard where he also founded the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. He was also president of the American Historical Association. Due to his job he travels a lot to both Europe and South America. He and Patricia find so much to do in NYC that they “travel” more around town, especially to the ballet, than abroad. However, they did recently enjoy a brief relaxing and warm “escape” to Punta Canna in the Dominican Republic. John was originally a member of the class of ’62 but during his junior year abroad in Paris with a group of COL students, his mother, “our family bread winner” got sick and he took the year off and returned home to work and support his family. “Wesleyan was wonderfully helpful in allowing me to keep my scholarship and return and graduate a year later.” John has fond memories of being a member of the John Wesley Club. It was a great place to be, filled with wonderful odd balls and radicals. When I asked him about the rumors that inhabitants there might have partaken of substances not yet legalized in Connecticut, he replied, “Not so much so, but we did have some residents who were very accomplished chemists.”

John Bednarik lives with his wife Leslie Woods in Montville, Maine, which he said is located “halfway between Liberty and Freedom, with Hope just down the road.” (Confirmed by Google Maps!) John retired at 55 from the Bath Iron Works in Brunswick, Maine, which now builds Arleigh-Burke class frigates, all stealth and as large as WWII cruisers. He was in their computer department and had worked there for 14 years. From high school in New Mexico, John was recruited by the wide-ranging diversity policy of Victor Butterfield who wanted not only more out-of-state, but also way, way out-of state students. “I was a high school state champion. A very hot wrestling prospect in New Mexico but was lured east. Initially I lived in a small apartment in Butterfield’s house. There, as part of my scholarship pay-back, I waited at many official banquets and met lots of interesting visiting scholars and lecturers, including Paul Horgan. As a freshman, I was New England champ (135 pounds), but found the training and dieting too tiring. Also, I was getting very interested in my studies. So, I retired from sports, eventually joining the COL and got very interested in French literature. I spent the second half of my sophomore year in Paris and translated a History of the Wife of Pontheuwhile there. I majored in French, minored in Russian, with lots of psych courses too. After graduation, I got a letter from the New Mexico draft board inviting me to come and see if I was qualified to defend our country. I flunked the physical, but passed the Army Language school requirement, and was sent first to their language school. Studied Russian, Czech—with the name Bednarik, a piece of cake, that was my family history! And then on to the Army Security Agency.” He met Leslie while out in Monterey at language school. She has a very different family background from his—her family came over on the Fortune, the second English ship after the Mayflower. But that did not prove to be an obstacle. They dated for six weeks and got married. Initially they lived in NYC where John heard of a training program offered by IBM.  He applied, was hired, trained, and took to computers with ease. “Database was just like learning another language and was easy for me.” For a while they lived in New Fairfield, Conn., where he worked for Control Data, but after vacationing in Maine and Canada, they decided they wanted out and bought 135 acres in Waterville, Maine in 1967 and eventually moved up there in 1980. They grow most of their own food, including sheep and vegetables. In retirement John does his own iron work—welding iron animals and fanciful creatures as well as making ceramic candelabras. He has taken numerous adult education classes and now is improving his Spanish. He also speaks German, French, and Czech. That John is enjoying himself in his retirement came across very clearly. He, too, has fond memories of the JWC, having lived there after returning from France.

Daniel Dennett wrote, “I spent just freshman year at Wesleyan in the class of ’63 before transferring to Harvard to work with W.V.O. Quine, who became a life-long hero of mine. The year at Wesleyan was a deep and formative experience for me. Three teachers, Robert Benson, the historian, Louis Mink, the philosopher, and Henry Kyberg, a visiting logician from Princeton, inspired me for years. Two fellow freshmen, Stan Lewis and Spike D’arthenay ’64 showed me that art, music and poetry were even more wonderful than I already thought, while at the same time showing me by their very great talent and insight that there might be other worlds for me to excel in. I shudder to think of some of the obnoxious and narrow-minded things I did back then. I apologize and hope that any whom I might have embarrassed back in ’59-60 will chalk it up to my immaturity and over-eagerness to impress. It was a great year for me and it laid the foundation for what has been a gratifying life of adventure and accomplishment. I am still married to the woman I met later in 1960. We have two children, both married, and five grandchildren. After 40 years, we sold our farm in Blue Hills, Maine, and now spend summers in a house on Little Deer Isle, Maine.”  Dan has a very impressive array of accomplishments—world-wide lectures/workshops, numerous articles and books, and is a recipient of the Netherlands highest honor presented by Queen Beatrix. There is a very interesting article about Dan in the March 27, 2017 issue of the New Yorker, written by Joshua Rothman entitled, “Daniel Dennett’s Science of the Soul.”

James Ferguson, long been retired from his consulting work, is very active as administrator of the Washington Soccer Club in D.C. It has a youthful membership of under 200 and is very serious about high-level training for young soccer players. It has only travel teams and does not play in any recreational league. They are understandably proud that three of their graduates have made it onto the U.S. national teams. We remember Jim in sports for football or wrestling, but many years ago, as his sons got into soccer, Jim did too. Eventually, he wound up as rules chairman for the National Youth Soccer Association and sat on the Rules Committee of the National Soccer Federation. Jim took up writing when his granddaughter, Nora, was 9 (she’s now 18). He wrote a story for her (“and all children under 70″) called Nora, The Checkerboard Duckling, which he says his friends all like. While book publishers like it too, none has yet been able to decide what age would be its target.  He’s written two screenplays “which no one has bought” and has made board games “which no one wants.” He seems undiscouraged and continues to write. Jim has two sons, 41 and 37, and three grandchildren, with another due prior to your reading this. I was shocked to hear that Jim’s youngest son, Brian spent 11 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After much effort by a fine, new lawyer who unearthed information either initially ignored, misinterpreted, or deliberately overlooked, a judge released Brian from prison. Brian is rebounding well. He is engaged, attending Georgetown, and will get his degree this spring. After leading a successful “Ban the Box” campaign in D.C., Brian is employed as head of the D.C. mayor’s Office of Returning Citizen’s Affairs, which helps reintegrate D.C. residents who have spent time in jail or prison. Having become a jail house lawyer himself, Brian is seriously considering going to law school after his graduation. During Brian’s incarceration, if asked what he wanted in life, Jim would say, “I want to live to see my son breathe free again.” A last tidbit—when quite young, Jim was told that if he learned cribbage, it would help his math. So, he started playing the game and now plays it nearly everyday. Football, wrestling, cribbage. A natural progression, I guess.

And sad news, John Sommer died Nov. 11 of cancer. Alex Aikman, a classmate of John’s from seventh grade through WESU, has written a wonderfully detailed and lovingly prepared obituary which is available online.

Be advised it’s true—Our 55th Reunion is almost upon us! And I hope a great many of you will plan to come to campus May 25-27. Harvey Bagg, Jim Dooney, Jim Dresser, John Driscoll ’62, Doug Evelyn, Marty Hatch, Dave Landgraf,John Kikoski, RussRichey, Peter Treffers, Don Sexton, and I have been busy planning what we hope will be a wonderful weekend. Join this opportunity for our class to assemble once again. Remember, the older we are, the better we were.

Byron S. Miller | tigr10@optonline.net
5 Clapboard Hill Rd., Westport, CT 06880

Class of 1962 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship Fund

Jessy Carrasco-Gonzalez ’18, Economics, Minor: Data Analysis

Lindsay Childs writes that items in the last issue of the alumni magazine reminded him “how much having been at Wesleyan continues to influence my life.” The notice of Richard Winslow ’40 passing reminded him of his “amazing” experiences as a member of Professor Winslow’s chapel choir, and how “after a five-year grad school gap, I began singing in a chorus again and have continued to do so ever since.” A photograph of Robert Rosenbaum “featuring his memorable smile” reminded him of Professor Rosenbaum’s College of Quantitative Studies, where he says, “I had my first real success in mathematical research, and went on to be a professor of math at UAlbany (SUNY).” Lindsay writes, “I’m still doing and publishing mathematical research, six years past retirement. Thanks, Bob!”

Robin Cook’s son Cameron, a senior at Boston University Academy, will attend Wesleyan in the fall. Robin thanks John Driscoll for being very helpful with the application process.

Doug Sperry, a “technical” member of the class of ’62, left Wesleyan during our sophomore year after getting married, but writes, “I do remember my time there fondly.” He earned his BA from UConn, then a BA from the Hartford Seminary Foundation, which led to service for six years as pastor at the Union Chapel on Fisher’s Island, after which he became executive director of the Southeastern Connecticut Chapter of the American Red Cross. A second marriage—to a “visiting English school teacher from Germany”—led to his moving to Bremen, Germany, in 1978, where he became an English instructor at the local Berlitz School and he has had a career in language development. He writes, “We do manage to get back to the States almost every year,” and he is in regular contact with his three sons from his first marriage.

DAVID FISKE | davidfiske17@gmail.com
17 W. Buckingham Dr. Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971