Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

Hi, it’s Caroline writing this time.

Hilary Jacobs Hendel wrote in: “It has been an exciting year. I have a child who is graduating from Wesleyan this May. I became a step-grandmother. And, the New York Times article I wrote on depression and shame in 2015 led to a book that Random House is publishing in February 2018. The book is called It’s Not Always Depression, and, so far, it is also being published in the UK, mainland China, Taiwan, and South Korea. I am passionate about sharing education on emotions. I also started a blog on emotions with stories, education, and tips for wellness.” You can find Hilary on social media and visit her website for more on emotions, mental health, and wellness (hilaryjacobshendel.com).

Linda Friedner’s work intersected with Hilary’s: “As in-house counsel at Penguin Random House, one of my jobs is pre-publication review of non-fiction manuscripts. When I saw that our Spiegel & Grau imprint was publishing a book by Hilary Jacobs Hendel, I immediately said I wanted to work on it. The only thing that would have been better than my phone conversations with Hilary would have been if we could have had them sitting on Foss Hill.”

K.T. Korngold also has some exciting news: “I’m traveling to Vietnam in November to hold a five-day workshop for Montessori teachers. My organization, the Center for Montessori Education|NY, was the first to offer an American Montessori Infant and Toddler Teaching Credential and we hope to soon bring that training program to Hanoi. It looks like I will be training 100 folks with the workshop in November! We’ll be working with a translator, which is a challenge and a thrill. It certainly requires precision. While most of the participants are coming from Vietnam, we do have a few Americans flying over to attend the workshop.”

I heard from Jeanne LaVallee that her daughter, Frannie, is “thriving” as a junior at the UN International School and that her niece, Ciara O’Flynn ’20, is attending Wesleyan. Jeanne runs a nonprofit, Apple Village Arts, Inc., an afterschool studio arts program for children in the East Village.

Scott Sager writes: “My oldest daughter, Maia Nelles-Sager ’17 just graduated  and has moved out to LA to work in the film industry. Having her at Wes was a great experience for us and gave me an excuse to spend time on campus and reconnect with the place. My younger daughter, Calla, is in her second year at Wellesley College. My wife and I and the dogs live in Brooklyn, where we’ve been for a really long time. We got to spend a beautiful fall weekend in Vermont with John LaCrosse, whose daughter, Thea ’21, started her first year at Wes in September.”

Paula Kay Drapkin is “living in upstate New York in the beautiful Catskill Mountains. I have been married to Jonathan Drapkin for 23 years and we have two great kids. Jack is a fourth-year at Northeastern University in Boston, and my daughter, Jordan, is a second-year student at The Ohio State University. Seeing them at school brings back so many great memories of Wesleyan for me.” Paula is an attorney with her own practice; she’s really busy, but tries to “get to Cape Cod as much as possible.”

Charles Barber is a visiting writer in the College of Letters; he claims that he is “hardly a true member of the class of 1985, having only attended Wesleyan for a year-and-a-half, but I have perhaps made up for this by teaching writing, part-time, in the College of Letters, as well as stints in the psychology department and the Allbritton Center, for the last six years. Wesleyan is much changed physically and culturally—far more cosmopolitan, international, wonderfully diverse—and the students, certainly, did far better on their SATs than I ever did.” Charles is working on a new book, Citizen Outlaw: A Gangster’s Journey, that will be published by Ecco (HarperCollins) in the next year or two.

Wesleyan was well-represented at the Head of the Charles Regatta in October with Terry McClenahan, Dave Myers ’82, Mike Greenstein ’82, Greg Lewis ’82, Paul Slye ’84, Tom Policelli ’89, Steve Bragaw ’88, John Wiseman ’86, Kelem Butts ’89, Alex Thomson ’82, Phil Brackett ’81, Kevin Foley ’82, and Rob Miller ’82 participating together. Terry wrote, “We had a complete blast racing in the Head of the Charles Regatta this Saturday, October 21, in exceedingly beautiful October weather. Our Wesleyan crew raced as a Men’s Sr. Masters Four the event is for rowers over 50 years old. We placed placed 39th of 45, not too bad considering we’d practiced together once.

“I got to row with three of my best friends of all time, who I’ve known since freshman year. In aerial photo attached the start line is the basin at the upper right, the finish is outside the photo, past lower right. So the Charles River really curves a lot. Most spectators hope to see a few collisions.

“A real bummer: we clashed oars with another boat and our cox-box speakers cut out halfway through the 5k race. A boat had passed us—but then cut across our bow. What were they thinking? Our cox, Wesleyan sophomore Betsy Cole ’20, was simply amazing, steering the twisting course like a true expert. She comes from Boston so she literally knows all the good steering angles.

“So sadly without the amplifier we couldn’t hear her instructions. (We raced a lay-down four. The cox lies in the bow to distribute their weight more effectively, but faces away from the rowers.) And Wesleyan entered a Men’s Alumni Eight, guys who graduated the early and late 1980s. Racing against much younger teams, they placed ahead of a Middlebury crew.” More photos here.

I was relieved to see a post from Jaime Tome on Facebook after Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico. Jaime, who lives in San Juan, said that his home and family had weathered the storm all right, but “the landscape outside is unrecognizable.” Communication is sporadic, but I know Jaime would appreciate his classmates’ good thoughts (and actions, if you can) for Puerto Rico’s recovery.

CAROLINE WILKINS | cwilkins85@yahoo.com

MARY BETH KILKELLY | mbkeds@yahoo.com

NEWSMAKERS | 1980s NEWSMAKER HILLARY WELLS ’84 Hillary Wells ’84, executive producer and director of youth media at WGBH, was honored with the 2017 Margret and Hans Rey/Curious George Producer Award. Each year WGBH gives this award—made possible through a bequest to WGBH from author Margret Rey through the Curious George Foundation—to an outstanding producer who works in an area that reflects Rey’s broad interests. Wells has more than 30 years of experience developing and producing multi-platform, multi-partner events, programs, and series. While at Wesleyan, Wells majored in English.

Roger is reporting this month…and here is our news:

Ruth Epstein and Chip Smith started a financial and strategic advisory firm called BGP Advisors to help companies in the emerging legal cannabis market navigate the space. Ruth finds these to be very exciting times, especially in California, and she and Chip are running as fast as they can to keep up with market opportunities. They are, of course, happy to talk to anyone interested or involved in this area.

On the personal side, Ruth’s son, Max, graduated from University of California, Berkeley in December with a double major in music and philosophy and is working as an SAT/ACT tutor. Son Alex is a junior at University of California, Santa Cruz, studying philosophy. Ruth would love to catch up with any classmates who find themselves on the left coast.

Chuck Schneider is very happy with a career change he made in May. He left his private practice of 22 years and returned to academic medicine as an oncologist at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where he did his medical oncology fellowship training years ago. Chuck is a clinical professor of medicine with responsibilities that include teaching the fellows, directing clinical trials, and seeing patients.

Speaking of career changes, Rick Okuno has put an end to a 30-year career in financial services and is working as a freelance consultant in Tokyo. He encourages everyone to visit the weird and wonderful world of Japan.

Shakir Farsakh and his family moved to Dubai, where Shakir is the principal commercial officer for the U.S. Consulate in Dubai. The posting will last four years. They make their home in a villa by the beach, and Shakir’s daughter is starting at the Swiss Scientific International School, an IB program with alternating weeks of instruction in French and English.

Julie Reiss is the director of modern and contemporary art and the market, a graduate program at Christie’s Education, New York. The program trains students looking for careers in the art world.

Molly B. Willey Tierney has lived in Santa Cruz since 1987, acquired a husband, produced three kids, and owns a house, a car, and a dog. She works up the coast at a small elementary school. She loves living in a coastal town, near a big city, surrounded by redwoods.  Being a mom continues to be the most fantastic thing she’s ever experienced, and dancing is what brings her the most joy.

Michael Zelig has moved to Gulf Breeze, Fla., and is practicing gastroenterology at the Medical Center Clinic in Pensacola.

Francesca Jenkins’ third poetry chapbook collection, Autumn Rumors, has been accepted for publication by CW Books and is slated for publication next fall. Francesca writes and publishes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Her latest blog, which is doing really well, was started in the wake of the 2016 election and features weekly interviews with poets, writers, and other artists; it was launched in an effort to keep inspiration and networks alive in the arts community: writersnreadersii.blogspot.com.

In other publishing news, Charles Huschle’s first book of short stories has been published and is available now on Amazon. Mother Firetrucker Riffs on Love is a collection of short, short stories that take snapshots of relationships, love, death, sex, and family. More info at charleshuschle.com/writing.

Finally, Heidi Ravis has inquired about having a tree on the Wesleyan campus dedicated to our late classmate and dear friend of many of us, Nancy Crown. The plan is to have a ceremony at our 35th Reunion in 2019. Funding for this is being handled by way of donations to Wesleyan. Heidi advises that if you would like to contribute, you can do so through the website, or by mail or phone. Just be sure to indicate that your donation is in memory of Nancy. A contact in the alumni office will track the donations. If you know of anyone else who might want to contribute, please share this information with them. Feel free to contact Heidi with any questions at hbravis@gmail.com.

Roger Pincus | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu

Michael Steven Schultz | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu

Greetings, classmates. I’m glad to be in contact with so many of you. Aside from sending me notes—thank you!—who knew that one of the enduring advantages of a Wes education would be to have so many killer competitors at Words with Friends? You know who you are, David Hessekiel, Alison Fagan, John Brautigam, Randy Frisch ’84, and Judith Newman ’81—can anyone beat Judith at WWF? WTF?

I received so many kind replies to my solicitation for notes that if you don’t see your contribution today, it’s because I’ve saved it for next time. It’s what we, in the increasingly archaic world of magazines, used to call “inventory.”

As I write this, a number of our classmates are training to row together in the Head of the Charles, October 21, including Kevin Foley, Alex Thomson, Rob Miller, Greg Lewis, Mike Greenstein, and David Myers. They’ll be pulling alongside youngsters Kelem Butts ’89, Paul Slye ’84, Tom Policelli ’89, John McIntyre ’86, and Terry McClenahan ’85, all undoubtedly celebrating by the time you read this.

Sasha Alpert won her third (but who’s counting?) Emmy, for Casting for a Reality Program, for Born This Way, about young adults born with Down syndrome who are pursuing their dreams. Congratulations (and great dress!).

Anji Fink Citron and Todd Herron ’83 had a full summer in Bellingham, Wash., hosting a gang of Wesleyan friends, including William Erb ’83 and his partner, Suzanne. William lived in London and Tokyo for 20 years and moved to LA in 2010 to take a job with biotech company Amgen. In August, Anji and Todd celebrated the wedding of their son Noah Citron ’12 and Rachel Santiago ’12 (a Wes romance, like that of their parents; they met the first day of freshman year in Foss 7) with attendees Danny Kummer ’81, an NBC attorney living in Brooklyn with his wife, Lisa; Ellie Hitzrot ’81, who lives in Arlington, Mass., with husband Stu Forman ’80; and Rachel’s great-uncle, Fred Grand MALS ’73. They hosted Cheryl Cutler MA ’71, founder of the Wes Dance Department, with her partner, John, from Ashland, Ore. Anji asked Chery if she wanted to pass any words of wisdom along to our class, and she said, in her inimitable way, “I think the most astonishing and perhaps unheralded thing that I’m finding is that life doesn’t diminish or retract in any way, but just expands-—it deepens and opens out physically, intellectually, and spiritually into broader and broader views and manifestations of vitality!” I share Anji’s feeling that Chery had a profound effect on her sense of self and body image at Wesleyan, and her sentiment: “I’m so grateful to Wesleyan for connecting me with some of the most important people in my life.”

Julie Abrams Faude had a busy summer traveling to Iceland, Norway, Bornholm Island for bicycling, the coast of Denmark, Copenhagen, the Czech Republic, and Austria, ending up at a theatrical, rabbit-hole themed wedding on Lake Como. She promises to share her travel tips, which took her the first half of the summer to research, if you get in touch. She’s working as a clinical psychologist at The Episcopal Academy in Radnor, Pa., and with private clients.

Neil Richman traveled from Monterey to crash a gathering of other Wes people, instigated by John at his family’s camp in Maine. He met up with Mike Levine, Bob Russo and their respective partners and dogs, and dragged Garrett Randolph along with him. They traveled two-and-a-half hours on the backroads of Maine in rain and mud to climb into a dinghy and ferry across to the camp. Skies cleared for a summer afternoon on the lake. Neil also attended California Brazil Camp as the doc for the 11th consecutive year.

Julie Kraushaar Zürcher moved to Muttenz, Switzerland in July, their third time ping-ponging back and forth, which she says keeps her on her toes, culturally and linguistically. She’s enjoying the “more subdued, pragmatic approach to politics and political discourse favored by the Swiss.” Her son, Bryce ’18, is set to graduate in May.

Rolando Arroyo celebrated his third annual Paella on the Beach this summer, and is shopping for a bigger paella pan. His family is hosting a student getting ready to start her first year of college in Caracas, Venezuela, but who can’t return because of the social economic turmoil, and so is staying on with them.

Suzanne Kay is producing Sullivision: Ed Sullivan and the Struggle for Civil Rights, a 70-minute documentary on Ed Sullivan and his little-known support of racial justice. She’s partnering with Sullivan’s granddaughter on the project. Suzanne’s mother, Diahann Carroll, was on the show nine times—as were other performers white audiences had never heard of but are household names today, such as Chuck Berry, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr, Pearl Bailey, Sam Cooke, James Brown, the Supremes, the Jackson 5, Leontyne Price, Johnny Mathis, and Harry Belafonte.

Dan Singer’s son Jake ’17 graduated this year, and Dan’s Foss 5 freshman hallmates, Dan Softness and Ken Kimmel, also had daughters getting their diplomas.

That’s my word limit! Please write me more for next time.

Laura Fraser | laura@laurafraser.com

NEWSMAKERS | 1980s NEWSMAKER ANTONIE KLINE ’81 Antonie Kline ’81, MD, is the recipient of Global Gene’s RARE Champion of Hope award, which recognizes individuals and organizations for their notable efforts in rare disease advocacy, science, collaborative sciences, and medical care and treatment. Kline has been the medical director of the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation since 2001, and has worked with families with this condition since 1993. Kline is the director of pediatric genetics at the Harvey Institute for Human Genetics at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. At Wesleyan University she majored in math, and earned her Doctor of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College.

Greetings from Brooklyn! My daughter, Emma, had her bat mitzvah on September 9. She made it relevant and profound, and her parents are very proud! Now, your news…

Mid-September, Alvin Peters wrote that he is “dodging hurricanes in Florida’s panhandle. Water and gas sold out. Climate change deniers wandering around like zombies.”

Lisa Jo Rudy is living on Cape Cod with her husband and two children, where she freelances while writing and directing plays in Falmouth and Woods Hole. She discovered her inner iPhone photographer, and became a juried artist at the Cape Cod Art Association. She was thrilled to connect with Cori Adler ’82, whose daughter Mitzi ’21 is a freshman.

Judith Newman is having fun with her new book “about raising an ‘average’ kid on the spectrum—To Siri With Love. The New York Times called it ‘uncommonly riotous and moving’ and the Washington Post compared me to Nora Ephron so you gotta love that, right? It’s on a few best-seller lists, though the way they construct these lists—well, they have many categories, and for all I know there are a total of three books in the categories I’m number one in. But, let’s just go with ‘best-seller’ shall we?”

Greg Murphy is now a private banker with U.S. Trust. Son James will graduate from Annapolis in 2018, and daughter Kathleen will likely enter the U.S. Naval Academy in June. Daughter Bridget is a varsity rower at UConn.

Stephen P. White was in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1981-1987, and then the Army Reserve from 1992-2011, with deployment to Korea, Bosnia, two years in Iraq and Afghanistan, and three years at the Pentagon. Retired now from both the military and Verizon, Stephen is working with his wife, Gayle, in real estate investments. He volunteers in the Holyoke, Mass., Veterans Treatment Court, mentoring veterans involved in the legal system. He returns to campus with Pete Congleton and Andy Parsons ’84 to Homecoming/Parents Weekends.

Miriam Stern Sturgis and Gary Sturgis ’77 announce with great joy the nuptials of daughter Ari to Dan Paulsen in July on the grounds of their beautiful 10-acre home in Essex Junction, Vt. In attendance were their newest grandchild Aiden (son of daughter Talia), and Dan Vogt and Delcy Ziac Fox. Gary Shapiro is now a calculus teacher at the Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences.

Charlie Spiegel received an award in April from ourfamily.org, recognizing his work cofounding that organization for LGBT parents in the Bay Area over 15 years. “I’m still active supporting the organization, and that community, acting as a consensual dispute resolution attorney and mediator for gay and straight relationships from start to finish: prenuptial planning, adoption and surrogacy, and mediated divorce.  I imagine, in common with many classmates, this phase of my professional endeavors has involved moving my working space to the bedroom in my house that my daughter used before college (seeing clients elsewhere). And since others announce their relationships, I’ve been dating a wonderful new man since summer 2016, and we celebrate monthly anniversaries because otherwise we’ll never get to the number of annual anniversaries others celebrate!”

Brenda Zlamany had an art exhibit at the Derfner Judaica Museum, which featured 100 watercolor portraits of the residents of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, as part of her Itinerant Portraitist project. Previous efforts include 888: Creating a Portrait of Taiwanese Aboriginals, which was funded by a Fulbright Grant. “In each project, I choose a specific demographic and discover something new. With the Tibetan nomads and monks, I was interested in the interior gaze. With 100/100, I am interested in aging: What is important at the end of life? In the face of loss: loss of loved ones, mobility, senses, taste, hearing, sight….  Is there still the possibility of joy? The role of memory. What experiences from the past fuel happiness?”

Paul Harris worked with The Carbon Underground, “a nonprofit focused on reversing climate change through regenerative agriculture. I’m learning about soil carbon sequestration, cover crops and holistic grazing; what it will take to certify food and fiber as regenerative; and what kinds of help farmers will need to transition from conventional to regenerative.  After decades of working on industrial energy plants I’m now visiting grass-fed dairies. My wife and I live in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., and our daughters are well launched, one in San Francisco, finishing med school, the other in Tanzania, working on preventing violent extremism.”

Mark Saba had two books published this summer: Calling the Names (poetry, David Robert Books) and Ghost Tracks: Stories of Pittsburgh Past (short stories, Big Table Publishing). Both available on Amazon.

Peter Gryska reports from Houston: “Flooded as a result of Hurricane Harvey with 14 inches in the house. We will tear down and build a new house five feet higher. The interesting part was finding boxes full of 35-year-old notes from Andy Szegedy-Maszak’s Greek history lectures.”

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

Joanne Godin Audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com

Jonathan Mink writes from Rochester, N.Y.: “My first class note in many years. I have just returned from giving a couple of lectures in Yangon, Myanmar, at the 16th ASEAN Pediatric Federation Congress. This was the first international pediatrics conference ever held in Myanmar and would have not been possible prior to Myanmar opening up in 2010. I had some concerns about going to Myanmar, and supporting their economy at this time, but the opportunity to advance pediatrics education in a resource-poor country outweighed those concerns. Visiting Yangon was an amazing experience. Interesting history, impressive pagodas, wonderful food, and incredibly friendly people. Professionally, I work at the University of Rochester and love it here. I am president of Child Neurology Society, the primary North American professional organization for child neurology, for the next two years. This gives me an opportunity to be an ambassador for my field, but also to have some influence on public policy regarding care for children with disabilities due to neurologic disease. Janet Cranshaw ’82 and I have been married 32 years. Our daughter, Laura, graduated from college in May, and our son, David, is in his second-ish year of college.”

Scott Hecker writes from San Diego: ”The latest exciting news for me is the FDA approval of Vabomere, a combination antibiotic product for treating those nasty superbugs in hospitals that are constantly in the news. It contains the new beta-lactamase inhibitor “vaborbactam,” a product of an eight-year project to discover and develop a member of a new class of molecules to address a particular type of bacterial resistance. Getting a drug on the market is a dream that is only enjoyed by a small fraction of researchers in pharmaceutical discovery, so this is a big one!”

Melissa Stern writes from India: “I’m visiting an NGO that works with Dalit (untouchable women) to give them access to education and job training. They run boarding schools for orphan girls, training programs in needlework skills ,and university training. Today I met a young woman, a former orphan, found by this group, The Sambhali Trust, and punchline is that on Thursday she starts law school. Pretty mind- blowing. My exhibition, The Talking Cure, opens in St. Louis at The Kranzberg Center for Contemporary Art in January. I will go out there to work with art, theater, and writing students in conjunction with the show. It’ll run for six months. Head’s up St. Louis Wes folks! I am now represented by Garvey Simon, a wonderful gallery in Chelsea, and will be opening a solo show there in 2018. A big year ahead!”

Kim Selby, class secretary, writes from Cape Cod: “Congratulations to Jon, Scott, and Melissa, for their contributions to their fields. It is amazing to hear about the opportunities that 37 years of work can bring. Right now, we are approaching the mid-point between our 35th and 40th class reunions. It is an exciting time of life to connect with classmates. A rewarding and interesting way to connect is to become a class secretary. If anyone of you is interested in engaging classmates as class secretary, let me know.  I am happy to share the joy that comes from this enriching activity.”

KIMBERLY OFRIA SELBY | kim_selby@yahoo.com

Douglas Pavlak: “My EMG laboratory at OA Centers for Orthopaedics in Portland, Maine, has received its accreditation with exemplary status by the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine. It’s the only lab north of Boston and one of only a few dozen in the country that holds this status. Otherwise, just trying to survive getting three more teenagers through high school and maybe one of them to Wes!?”

Julie Hacker: “My partner and husband, Stuart Cohen, and I were inducted into the Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame. I’m busy taking musical theater classes, still racing triathlons, and a preservation commissioner for the City of Evanston. Our son graduated from RISD and is living in Chicago, working in a gallery, making art, and off to the Vermont Studio Center in December for a residency. If you live in NYC, you can hear him weekly Tuesday mornings on WFMU’s program Wake with Clay Pigeon, titled Gabe Cohen’s Introspective Infrastructure.

Martha Bush: “Speeding up, not slowing down! In addition to SIGMA, starting a stint as board chair of Causewave Community Partners, a nonprofit agency matching local marketing talent with human services agencies or to support critical local issues. Enjoying the blooming of energy, music, food and arts here in Rochester, N.Y., in the beautiful Finger Lakes region.”

John Tjia: “I left Ernst & Young at the end of August, finishing my nearly 12 years there as an executive director in the Business Modeling Group, and amazingly as a retiree. Not quite ready to just sit on the porch, though: I am now with Wall Street Prep, a major player in the financial training space, leading the development of their financial modeling business. In September, I submitted the manuscript for the third edition of my book, Building Financial Models, to McGraw-Hill, to be published in the first quarter of 2018. Not bad for an East Asian Studies major! For the past four years, I’ve been chairman of the board for Subud New York, a nonprofit organization for personal spiritual growth. I had memorable travel this summer: a cruise from Copenhagen that went to the Norway coast, Scotland, England, and back (the fjords were awe-inspiring) and a jaunt to Missouri in August for the total solar eclipse (spectacular).”

Heidi Mastrogiovanni: “My comedic novel, Lala Pettibone’s Act Two, was released by Amberjack Publishing in February.  The sequel, Lala Pettibone: Standing Room Only, will be released by Amberjack in August. The title character is, of course, a Wesleyan graduate. I’m taking part in the Writing While Female 2017 Tour. We’re doing readings and book signings in Los Angeles, Denver, and NYC, and we’re adding dates and locations all the time. My website is frequently updated with new event listings: heidimastrogiovanni.com.”

Michelle Morancie: “For the past 38 years (OMG! It’s been 38 years since we graduated) this somewhat shy alumna hasn’t shared much about my life and times in class notes. However, today I am so excited about the release of my first book, that I had to share with my classmates. Crazymaker: A Psychologist’s Disturbing Encounter with Workplace Abuse is my story about how I coped with being bullied and harassed by a NYC public schools’ principal for five years. It’s scheduled to be released in mid-December.”

I write a lot about my Wesleyan/DKE brothers. That’s because the unconditional friendships and relationships forged while at Wesleyan have stood the test of time. In that vein, we celebrated a momentous milestone—150 years of DKE’s continuous presence on the Wesleyan campus. Over 100 alumni and 35 undergraduates celebrated the sesquicentennial on Saturday, October 7. Once again, the Old Stone House came alive.

From all over the country, some of the strongest alumni this university can boast were there to celebrate and reconnect with friends they hadn’t seen, in some cases, for over 40 years. Many were accompanied by their wives, partners, and significant others. A 65-year span of classes was represented from Jim McLean ’56 and Ted Bachman ’60 to Dylan Niehoff ’15 and Ben Kurtz ’17 to the undergraduate brothers graduating in 2020. Of course, our class was more than well represented by Kevin Bristow, Joe Britton, Peter Campbell, George DuPaul, Tim Fitzgerald, Kenny King ’80, Bob and Carol (Horowitz) Murphy, yours truly Gary Breitbord, and all the way from Nebraska—Michael J. Scacca.

Unlike Reunion years, there were attendees from surrounding classes including 1978—Bill Ahern, Jeff Nesson, Ralph Rotman, Paul Nelson; 1977—Ted Stevens, Jeff Gray, Bob Nastri, Tom Roberts, the ever-eloquent master of ceremonies Dave Thomas, Mike Coffey, Don Citak, and Steve Beauchamp; 1981—Lou Scimecca, Tim O’Brien, Pete Pezzelli, Sandy Herzlich, and Jim Baker.

As the evening entered the wee hours of the morning, a familiar sound was heard. Pat McQuillan ’75 playing his guitar, Dave Terrie ’76 accompanying him on the harmonica with a cast of characters including Jim “Fats” Farrell ’74, Jim “Jumbo” Daley ’75, Dave Harrison ’75, and Pete McArdle ’76, all singing Grateful Dead songs. Quintessential 1970s Wesleyan relived.  Scott Karsten ’73 put it best: “Here’s to lifelong brotherhood!” A raucous good time was had by all. A truly soul-enriching event.

Gary Breitbord | gbreitbo@aol.com

Ann Biester Deane | abdeane@aol.com

Hello, classmates. In case you haven’t heard, we have a big reunion coming up next year! Please mark May 25-26, 2018 on your calendars and plan to be in Middletown to celebrate our 40th Reunion. I know what you’re thinking…How could it be our 40th?! Seems like graduation, or at least our 10th or 25th was only yesterday. No matter the year, we’re still going strong and looking forward so let’s make it the best reunion weekend ever! Also, let’s beat the 40th Reunion attendance record set by Class of ’77. We need at least 107 attendees. Hope you’ll be one of them!

In the meantime, please send us your news. The next issue would be the perfect time to tell fellow classmates your news and plans to attend reunion.

Onto the News: Lisa Alter made Variety’s inaugural “NY Dealmakers Elite” list which honors “power players” having a significant impact on Broadway, advertising, and the music business. Lisa is a partner at Alter Kendrick & Baron LLP in NYC and practices primarily in the area of copyright law, with a focus on domestic and international music copyright issues. She counsels composers, authors, musical estates, music publishers, and equity investors on a wide range of copyright and transactional matters, including music publishing, acquisitions, selling and administering copyright catalogues, and recapture of copyrights, among others. Lisa is the author of Protecting Your Musical Copyrights, which is now available in its third edition, and the recent Forbes article “Concord Bicycle Music Buys Imagem Music Group Heralding a Golden Age of Music Publishing.”

Jon Spector and wife, Wendy, enjoy life in Vermont. He commutes to The Conference Board in New York. “Wendy chairs our local arts organization and will be ski ambassador at Killington. My major accomplishment was participating in a one-hour art class and painting an image of a boat dock on a lake bordered by mountains—which according to several observers almost resembles a boat dock on a lake bordered by mountains. I feel a second career beckons.”

Rachael Pine has an empty nest in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with one daughter at Oberlin, and the second having graduated and now working as the food program coordinator at Oberlin Community Services. Her husband is general counsel of the Legal Aid Society and she works at a private foundation managing grantmaking related to health/healthcare and immigrant communities.

Bill Adler, our expat living and writing in Japan, says, “My cat, however, is indifferent to the view and thinks that the dim LED power lights that proliferate the apartment are a signal from the moon to make as much noise as possible at 3 a.m.”

Nancy Grossman sent her only child, Daniel, off to UMass Amherst with a “tentative” major of mechanical engineering. She says, “I am finding the empty nest so much easier to take when the boy is only four miles away!” Nancy practices acupuncture and publishes the occasional op-ed.

After 30 years of pastorate in the Atlanta area, Ken Samuel has been awarded a Lilly grant for a sabbatical. Among other things, he’ll be spending a month in the Philippines teaching at Silliman University.

 Gary Friedmann chairs the citizen grass-roots organization, A Climate to Thrive, which has the goal of making Mount Desert Island, Maine, energy independent by 2030. Their Solarize MDI initiative doubled the Island’s solar-generated power in 2017, and they aim to continue that trend, along with weatherization, local foods, recycling, electric vehicle, and student internship initiatives in the coming year.

Stefan Watson is the owner of Watson Custom Builders. He and wife Eileen Devereux ’76 have been rebuilding homes in downtown Albuquerque for 40-plus years. He writes, “All of our projects seem to take 10 to 12 years to complete—most recently a complete renovation of 8th and Mountain Road in downtown Albuquerque. We had acquired four corners 14 years ago thinking how nice it would be to own an intersection with six houses and an old gas station, now coffee shop.” Stefan completed a new floor design with artist Richard Tuttle for a Zahad Hadid Design home in Miami for real estate developer Craig Robbins. They’re working on a series of tile tables to be in Richard Tuttle’s gallery show later in the year.

David Rosenthal serves as co-head of the Global Capital Markets practice at Dechert LLP. He writes, “I’m very proud of my son, James ’08, who is following in my footsteps as a mid-level transactional associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in NYC, and my daughter, Elise ’11, who is following in her grandfather’s footsteps (inorganic chemistry freshman year ended any aspirations to become a doctor that I might have had) and is a first-year resident in ob-gyn at Montefiore in the Bronx.”

After many years at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Bob Kalb moved to Chicago to be the director of the Les Turner ALS Research and Patient Center at Northwestern Medicine and chief of Neuromuscular Medicine in the Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology. He writes, “This promises to be a marvelous opportunity to both enhance the basic research in my lab and to foster translational medicine.”

Susie Muirhead Bates | sbatesdux@hotmail.com 

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Who would have imagined that at the tender age of 62, attendance at so many weddings would become such a big part of my free time? The combination of folks’ second or third marriages and children of friends or relatives marrying means that there is a steady flow of celebration and travel. Not that I’m knocking it in the least! At a time when there is a lot to be concerned or saddened by, having occasions to be in the presence of others to have fun and to share in the love is something I cherish.

September took me to two great destination weddings: Squaw Valley, Calif., and Jackson Hole, Wyo. In California, I was honored to officiate at the wedding of my nephew, Michael Frank ’08. As necessitated by the Golden State, I became an ordained minister in order to perform my duties. There was a wonderful turnout of Wesleyan graduates, with a photo taken at mountain top. At the end of the month I made my way to Wyoming for the wedding of my godson, Desmond Jennings, the son of Iddy Olson. Both events were in spectacular surroundings and had lots of emotion packed in to full weekends of activities: dancing, eating, hiking, not necessarily in that order. One leaves these weekends with a great sense of fulfillment at participating in such crucial turning points in people’s lives. On a personal note, a shocking turning point for me is that my architecture firm is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, which seems totally impossible to me. As I have described so often, it is the people (staff, clients, and consultants) who have made the ride so worthwhile.

On to the news from those who responded to my request for news:

Will Sillin wrote in that Chester “Chet” Arnold (director, UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research) introduced his artwork to the Benton Museum at UConn. The result is that two of his paintings are included in their current show about water, Unfiltered. Will is justifiably thrilled that his work is hanging with numerous outstanding contemporary artists as well as masters from the 20th century who are represented in their permanent collection.

First time contributor Robin Cleveland writes: “Having spent a long career in Washington, 16 years on the Hill with McConnell in many roles, then the White House and World Bank, I began a degree in school counseling, which led to my being a doc student in counseling at 62.” Robin loves teaching at GW: “When all was said and done the truly great story is not the headlines you get to write but the lifelines you weave.” Finding her way back to very good people like Seta Nazarian ’79, Virginia Torczon ’78, Chris Harned ’89, and Rich Middlebrooks, Robin welcomes all to reconnect.

Hank Rosenfeld ran into Joan Goldfeder at the downtown LA public library on a Lenny Bruce panel. Joan was much missed at our May Reunion.

Continuing on the wedding theme, Jay Kilbourn writes that his Wesleyan daughter was married this summer, and she lives happily in Portland, Ore., practicing permaculture. Jay is a volunteer lobbyist at the nonpartisan Citizens Climate Lobby, doing his best to mitigate climate change and pass a bill in Congress to implement a carbon fee and dividend.

Jim Lyons wrote to express how happy he was to have attended our May Reunion. Back in Germany, he hit the road running with two productions planned for the fall at a theater near Stuttgart: a musical revue premiered in September and a second show on the story of Elvis’ 1968 comeback special to premier soon.

Jane Goldenring came back East for—what else?—a family wedding in the Hudson Valley region. Jane caught up with new grandmother Sharon Adler, as well as Jane Eisner and Mark Berger while in New York.

Michael Foxall is an elementary school principal in Fairlee, Vt. His wife and family enjoyed 20 years of overseas international school service, both as teachers and administrators, before returning to home in Canaan, N.H.

Bob Rees caught up with Marcy Neuburg in the Twin Cities while she was visiting her son and granddaughter. Marcy is off sailing somewhere between the North and South Poles. Bob is collecting poems from Earl Phillips and Lee Arnold in hopes of getting them published in Minneapolis.

Tom Roberts and Vanessa Burgess each wrote in to say what a great time they each had at our Reunion, echoing a sentiment expressed by many.

I wish all a happy and safe season leading up to the end-of-the-year holidays!

Gerry Frank | Gfrank@bfearc.com

For this issue, I asked about retirement plans and got varied and often non-committal answers. To vary the line-up, the last shall be first.

Tom Kovar went to Professor Dick Winslow ’40’s funeral in Antrim, N.H. Dick, 99, was a mentor of Tom’s in the music department. Afterwards, Tom had dinner with Pam Swing ’75, Win Lockwood ’78, and others.

Cheryl Alpert is a real estate agent in the Boston area. Her son, Eben, is enjoying his work at PWC and her son, Chason, just started at Booz Allen.

Carol Bellhouse published two books and produced two films this summer. Burnt Orange is about three women at the end of the world. The second film is a pilot for an adventure race series; the first episode is about racing burros.

Carol Berger has retired from her career as a school psychologist. She and husband Ron live in Longmeadow, Mass., and have two married sons and three granddaughters. Carol stays in touch with Linda Borreson and Sue Feinstein Barry and hopes to get together with Nancy Cornwell Goeden.

Ethan Bronner, who writes on politics for Bloomberg, is investigating President Trump and Kushner business practices and keeping an eye on the federal probe into possible collusion with the Russians. Son Eli ’10 is the president of a startup called Careerlist, which links young marketing professionals with big companies.

Joe Carcillo is a pediatric intensive care physician in a children’s hospital at the University of Pittsburgh. His daughter is in her first year at Michigan and Joe is coaching the local girls’ Catholic high school rowing team.

Jon Cleworth enjoys being an uncle to one nephew and five nieces. He reports that Jimmy Joy MALS ’72, former crew coach at Wes, received an award this November at the New York Athletic Club for his outstanding career as an oarsman and his contributions to American rowing.

Ron Epstein’s book, Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity, is doing well and he has been traveling to talk about how doctors can practice more mindfully and achieve shared understanding with their patients.

Jeff Frank recalled his Wesleyan experience as encouraging free expression, tolerance of different opinions, and learning to persuade those with different outlooks to your point of view. Remarking on the news about universities shutting down what is labeled by the opposition as “hate speech,” Jeff hopes that the free discussion of ideas remains a part of the Wesleyan experience.

Karen Gervasoni’s daughter Lia is a high school junior and is dabbling in media studies. Son Cole is playing on his high school basketball team.

After transferring to and graduating from Wesleyan, Jamie Beck Gordon worked for Ed Koch and obtained a degree in international relations from Columbia. She volunteers for various charities and is on the board of The Neuberger Museum at SUNY Purchase. Married in 1985, Jamie has a son, 30, and a daughter, 27.

Joellyn Gray is on the board of the CTA Foundation, an offshoot of the Consumer Technology Association, the group that hosts CES, the world’s largest trade show for technology.

Oliver Griffith is working for an infrastructure fund in Africa and living in Paris.

Steve Gross and wife Meiyan are retired, she from the Sunnyvale School District and he from SanDisk. They renovated their home in Cupertino, Calif. Daughter Alexa attends Wellesley College. While visiting her, Steve stayed with Tim Hill ’75 and Jan Schwaner-Hill ’75, and caught up with Norbert Kremer in Boston.

Byron Haskins, recently retired from federal service, volunteers as a MoveOn Summer Resistance Mobilizer, focusing on preventing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Grandson Zayer was born in August. Byron traveled enough to visit all six grandchildren within 30 days, including trips to Montreal and NYC.

Alan Haus and family vacationed in New Orleans, the Caribbean, and Mexico. While traveling, there were four actual or potential hurricanes in the region and a major earthquake in Mexico. Alan’s family lucked out and had perfect weather.

Maggie Heffernan reports that David Low moved to Manhattan and now lives in the same co-op as she does. They run into each other often and are both big Yankee fans.

Libby Horn is working as a FNP at a family practice, sings in two choruses and church choir, and volunteers at a hospice and a school-age reading program.

Jim Johnson brought the concept of “Ciclovia” to his hometown with the Chattanooga City Celebration closing down more than six miles of city streets to motorized traffic and connecting festivals in six neighborhoods for cyclists and pedestrians.

Michael Kennedy-Scanlon and his wife live in Barcelona and experience first-hand the Catalan independence movement, which he describes as highly emotional and intolerant.

Andrew McCulloch retired as president/CEO of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan of the Northwest. After 10-plus years in this role, his organization was ranked as the highest quality, best service, and most affordable entity in the Pacific Northwest.

Jack O’Donnell had his first grandchild and traveled to London to meet him. Son Sam ’01 lives in London and Jack figures he will be making many trips there to make sure the little guy can play baseball. Jack’s daughter, Margaret ’19, is studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Hanoi, and Cape Town.

My oldest daughter, Samantha, is engaged and making plans to get married next year. Daughter Michelle is gainfully employed. And daughter Lindsey is studying Russian in Kazakhstan. I had a busy year, traveled around India in February, flew in a two-seat WWII fighter in June, and spent Labor Day weekend with Nancy in Asheville, N.C., with friends.

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

Ellen Remmer’s son got married in Maine, and her husband retired. She has trouble contemplating retirement, but foresees winter travels to escape New England. Ellen recently saw Nena Bloomquist.

J.D. Moore had one amazing WesWeek. Thursday: reminisced and caught up with Tim Donahue ’74 during a mediation break. By next June, Tim will have celebrated his three children’s weddings within one calendar year! Saturday: met Dave Rosenthal and his wife Suzie (visiting from Buffalo) and sister Diane Thomas ’78, for coffee. Saturday: dinner with local friends Roberto Rosario ’77 and family.

Debbie Kosich was home in Houston during Hurricane Harvey. Fortunately her part of town (and her condo) didn’t flood. She thanks Wes friends who contacted her during and after the storm, and hopes that Florida classmates are okay.

Cathy Gorlin’s son, Ross, is engaged. Cathy reconnected with Tory (Rhoden) Cohen, a Smith exchange student who shared their Lawn Ave. house and is now a Boston dentist with two children.

Jeff Morgan divides his time between Berkeley and Tel Aviv. He and wife Jodie run Covenant Winery (founded in 2003) and started Covenant Israel Winemaking last year. Their daughters also work in wine—Skye in New York, and Zoe in Tel Aviv. Jeff and Jodie published their 10th cookbook last year—The Covenant Kitchen, Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table.

Diane Cornell ran out of excuses for not sending news after retiring from the FCC Chairman’s office at the end of 2016. On her “way out the door,” the Federal Communications Bar Association honored her with the Excellence in Government Service award.

In 1996, after four years in New Zealand, Nancy Luberoff settled in Chapel Hill. “My husband, Bruce Boehm, and I are lucky that our two kids live here. Our married daughter, Elana, lives in Cambridge.” Nancy has swum daily since Wesleyan, and also hikes and kayaks. “I haven’t written books or movie scripts, won huge awards or big races, but I live a good, healthy, happy life, giving and getting much love from family and friends.”

This September, after a week teaching in the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law, June Jeffries visited Exeter, N.H., where she dined with Robert “Bobby” Thompson ’76, and his wife, Nadine. June highly recommends exploring the Black Heritage Trail in Portsmouth, N.H., which Bobby assisted in developing.

Dennis Chin contributed for the first time: “After graduating early, I went to D.C. to work on the Council on Wage and Price Stability with Harold Levy. I subsequently became an orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. Nine children and 31 years later, I retired from Kaiser and began part-time work at a V.A. hospital. I have since been commissioned a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserves. My job, the kids, and two granddaughters keep me busy.”

Ed Van Voorhees says too many people are moving to Nashville. He and his wife, Linda, work part-time, and he staffs the nonprofit Bootstraps Foundation (bootstraps.org), scholarship program. Ed and Linda have granddaughters in Denver and L.A., plus three more due this year in L.A., D.C., and Nashville.

Double delightful news: Ellen Kabcenell Wayne and Charley Wayne ’73 are first-time grandparents of identical twins, Vivian and Hazel, born September 26, 2017.  The parents are Joseph ’08 and Hannah Wayne. Ellen says, “Charley is completely starry-eyed, and, after raising three sons, we deserve the girls!”

Paul Bennett enjoys more time, less stress, and a varied set of volunteer activities since retiring. His and Laura’s two sons, ages 28 and 26, are single in Brooklyn and Detroit, a distance that he hopes won’t be permanent.

Steve Hoffman is chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, responsible for implementing the state’s legalization of recreational marijuana use. “We will foster a new industry that will create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. By late 2018, we will be responsible for regulating medical marijuana, currently under the Department of Public Health.” Steve’s looking for folks to join his team and would welcome Wes alumni.

Roger Weisberg and Karen Freedman are thrilled to have their entire clan back in NYC. Son Daniel, a doctor, is returning in time to take care of his parents if they need it. Daughter Liza, a lawyer, will work for the ACLU. Eldest daughter, Allie ’05 has two kids and leads Recess, her decade-old nonprofit arts organization. Roger is producing his 33rd PBS documentary, about early childhood adversity and resilience. Karen runs Lawyers for Children, which she founded almost four decades ago.

All is well in San Francisco. Our daughter, Julia, 23, graduated from Stanford and is continuing for her master’s there. Our son, Ethan, 21, is a third-year mechanical engineering student at Northeastern. No retirement for me yet!

For a collection of class updates that didn’t make it in this issue or the last one, click here.

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