Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

Michael and Kiki Price Nachmanoff ’90 announce that their oldest daughter, Clara ’21, will attend Wesleyan as a member of the Class of 2021. By my count, there are now three kids of 1991 class members who will graduate at our 30th Reunion!

Michael also reports that after serving as the federal public defender for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) from 2007 to 2015, he became a U.S. magistrate judge in the Alexandria Division of the EDVA in March of 2015.

Halle Stanford, with the Jim Henson Company, is executive producing a new series, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, for Netflix. Son Max just finished his freshman year at Skidmore College and son Theo just finished kindergarten.

After a period of wandering, which involved three moves in 18 months, Scott Timberg and his family have settled back in LA, in a house near USC with a garage big enough for his books and guitars. Scott, who is working as a freelance writer, will be speaking on his book, Culture Crash: The Killing of the Creative Class, at a conference in Ireland. The Timberg clan saw Jim Miller during a visit to Joshua Tree.

Yvonne Brathwaite is the new director of programs for Global Kids, a nonprofit educational organization that helps young people in NYC and D.C. build knowledge and skills needed for lifelong success, and to participate effectively in the democratic process. Yvonne interacts with two Wes alumni, principals at schools with Global Kids programs: Luis Genao at Manhattan East and Dave Vazquez at the Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists.

Todd Denmark vacationed in Florida, visiting his parents, bowling in the International Gay Bowling Organization tournament in Ft. Lauderdale, and topping it off with a five-day cruise.

Brian Howell writes that Marissa Sabio ’89 is now a program director with Outreach Community Ministries, a new position within an organization she’s been with for 10 years. Their daughter, Hannah, will be a senior at Whitworth University, looking at law schools, positions in the Washington state legislature, and running for Spokane city council in 2020. Sam, 17, is planning to launch his music career, and Ben, 14, starts high school, and hopes to join the state champion bass fishing team.

George Irvine writes that Wendy Bellion was promoted to full professor and a named professorship at the University of Delaware. Their son, Luke, is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, and has vast knowledge of the history of Korean martial arts.  Their son, Griffin, is a star Little League pitcher. Meanwhile, George is halfway through his dissertation on the changing public roles of American research universities and chairs his city’s conservation advisory committee, promoting sustainable energy and land use in their corner of Delaware.

Rebeca Rumayor completed the CLEO pre-law program at NYU Law School to better prepare for law school, while her son, James, attended YMCA sleepaway camp, judo day camp, and Writopialabs Day camp.

Gregory Mandel is now dean of Temple Law School.

Will Barry is now a member at Miller & Chevalier, advising clients on issues involving white collar and securities enforcement, transactional due diligence and compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, money laundering, economic sanctions, and insider trading requirements.

Lizandra Vega has joined DHR International as an associate partner in the consumer and fetail practice groups.

Dan Levine and family returned to Bethesda, Md., after a year-long assignment in Chennai, India, where Dan managed leadership development and operations for a technology office The Advisory Board Company has there. Dan has been at ABC 22 years.

Cryptic Michael Reinke writes that he is “enjoying life in the second largest city in northern New England, has seen countless concerts of obscure artists, and has biked 4.3 earth units since 2010.”

Now for the “leaving government” section: Jim Ghiloni is now director of strategy and management consulting for Wolf Den Associates in Virginia. His oldest just completed freshman year at Lafayette College, and he will be visiting Wesleyan with his youngest, “where I look forward to getting a formal campus tour, something I’ve never actually done.“

Dan Prieto is now an external senior adviser to McKinsey & Company, and serves as an advisory board member and consultant for several early stage Silicon Valley tech companies, with a focus on artificial intelligence and security. Dan is an adjunct senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Dan and his wife, Adele, had their second child, a daughter, in May.

Spencer “Kip” Boyer took a more extreme approach, and fled across the northern border with his Canadian spouse, who wanted to use this moment in history to give the family a Canadian experience. Spencer’s splitting his time between Montreal and D.C., doing transatlantic relations and security work with the Brookings Institution, Georgetown University, and consulting firms.

Bruce Peabody and Stephanie Lodish celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in August. Over the summer, they will visit Alexander Parsons, Aimee Blanchard Parsons, and their children, all future Wesleyan artists-in-residence.

Bruce, along with Jeremy Sacks, Bobbi Adams, and Jerome Copulsky attended Professor Finn’s retirement party in New York. Jeremy writes, “Finn’s comments—and the fact of the gathering itself—reminded everyone of why we went to a small, liberal arts college.” After the event, Jeremy and Jerome caught up with Sam Schneider.

Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu

NEWSMAKERS | 1990s NEWSMAKER NICOLE CURVIN ’90 Nicole Curvin ’90 was promoted to director of undergraduate admissions at Middlebury College in Vermont. Since 2014, she has been associate director of admissions and coordinator of multicultural recruitment. Previously, Curvin worked for many years with a variety of student populations, from high school students and adults returning to school to artists and designers at the New School (Parsons and Eugene Lang College), Marlboro College, New York University, and the University of Vermont. At Wesleyan, Curvin majored in English, and she holds a master’s degree in education from Harvard University.

Hi, all! I hope everyone has been enjoying the summer. Here’s the latest.

Meg Steele and her husband are relocating to Bath, Maine, after a two-year cross-country trip in a restored Airstream. The trip included a stint as a national park ranger in Vermont and time volunteering at an Oregon lighthouse and tide pools. Meg still works in education and is “hoping to do some rowing up here, along with lots of sailing.”

Jim Desmond is teaching at the Parker Charter Essential School in Devens, Mass. He’s been there for six years teaching arts and humanities. “My inaugural session of a ukulele elective was mad popular, and I had a blast helping kids play and write songs when not teaching The Odyssey and the end of U.S. slavery. Who knew I would love teaching teenagers so much?”

Page Fortna continues to split time between NYC, where she’s a professor of international relations in the political science department at Columbia, and Portland, Ore. She and her husband, Pete Beeman, migrate between NYC for most academic years and Portland for summers and the occasional sabbatical year. She was touched by the representation of Wesfolk, including from far afield, at her father’s memorial service this spring—Sarah Travis Buck, Carolyn Clark and Dave Patterson, Amy Robins, Jeff Lewis, Ethan Flad ’89, and June Lee ’88. And a quarter century later, Page still gets together one weekend a year with Sarah Travis Buck, Carolyn Clark, Amy Robins, and Amy Scanlan.

After living in Zurich, Switzerland, for almost two years, Stacey Rouse Kruckel will be changing countries again. Stacey has accepted an offer as the chief marketing officer at a consulting firm in London, and “will relocate to that fine city with her husband, two sons and dog. Wes folks who will be passing through London are welcome to visit us.”

Tim Corkran reports (via his father John Corkran ’58), that a team of eighth- graders from the school he heads, Capital Day (PK-8) in Frankfort, Ky., earned a $20,000 prize from Verizon for developing an app, Waste Free America. The app alerts homeless shelters and soup kitchens when restaurants within a 10-mile radius have leftover food available for pickup. The idea developed during an eighth-grade trip to Chicago, where the students were struck by the plight of the homeless. The students will work with engineers from MIT in perfecting the app and make a presentation to a national audience in Orlando, Fla., in June. Tim, who has been head at Capital Day for two years told local media, “We focus on teaching kids how to think and be independent learners…It produces things like this.”

James D. Rosenblatt says, “Hard to believe our oldest graduated college over Mother’s Day from Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif. Her two younger siblings survived freshman year at Sarah Lawrence and junior year at a local high school.” The law firm that James started 12 years ago now employs eight attorneys and is a full-service business-oriented law firm in San Antonio.

Cari Medd wrote about a new documentary featuring Jill Sung and her family. “Jill was one of my roommates at Wes and I always admired her toughness and devotion to family.” The documentary, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, chronicles the five-year prosecution of the Sung family’s bank, Abacus Federal Savings Bank, following the 2008 financial crisis. Abacus Bank is a small community bank founded by Jill’s father over 30 years ago to serve the Asian-American community in NYC, and remains the only bank prosecuted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The family’s ordeal culminated in 2015 with a five-month jury trial where Abacus and the Sung family finally prevailed on all counts. The documentary, which was filmed during the trial, is directed by Steve James (Hoop Dreams and Life Itself), and has just been released (abacusmovie.com). Watch it Sept. 12, on PBS’s Frontline.

That’s all for now. I hope everyone enjoys the remaining days of summer. I will be back with more news at the end of the year. Please feel free to write anytime.

Vanessa Montag Brosgol | vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

Jonathan reports that it’s a little quiet on the Wesleyan front after last edition’s Women’s March outburst. Anecdotally, my Facebook has many reports of WesResistance. So maybe y’all are at the barricades this quarter. Kudos.

Stephan Kline is enthused that his older son, Noah ’21, is moving to Middletown as part of the class of 2021. Noah’s younger brother, Benjy, seems interested in joining the class of 2023.

Camille Nelson Kotton and David Pemstein have exciting news: They each trained together and ran the Boston Marathon!

Dave Eichler and his wife, Diana, celebrated their 20th anniversary last October. They split their time between Denver and Phoenix, where their 11-year-old public relations and marketing agency has offices. This summer, they are planning to acknowledge his 50th in Yellowstone by chasing bear and moose with his camera. He also saw Owen Renfroe ’90 and Louie Maggiotto ’92 on a trip to Los Angeles.

Julie Strauss and Joel Brown are marking 25 years of marriage this summer. Their oldest, Ezra, just completed his first year at the University of Michigan (a tad different than the typical Wesleyan experience). During visiting trips to Ann Arbor, Joel and Julie got to spend some fantastic time with Joel’s former Hi-Rise roommate, David Bradley, a pediatric cardiologist at the University of Michigan hospital, and his family. Younger son Jonathan, a high school sophomore, has at least made polite overtures that he might consider Wesleyan an option for higher ed.

Holly Adams writes that while her life is not terribly exciting at the moment, it is happily filled with family and performance.

Jeff Brez is still living in New York City with his husband Adriano, and their twin boys who are approaching 3. Jeff continues his work with television and film, celebrity advocacy, and not-for-profit partnerships at the United Nations.

Ed Colbert was at a Manchester Monarchs hockey game, where Marc Casper ’90, Tas Pinther ’90, and Brian Cheek ’92 hosted a big Wesleyan group, including coach emeritus Duke and Diane Snyder and their family. He is sorry he missed Mullet Night earlier in the season, but those guys run a great show up there, just like the old days with the Cardinals, and he highly recommends the venue to any hockey fans.

Alex McClennen Dohan and David Dohan are adapting well to the empty nest with both kids mostly gone. In 2017, their younger child started college and their older one has finished college with plans to start law school in the fall. They are enjoying the newfound flexibility in meal planning and weekend activities.

After 20 years in London, Owen Thomas moved to Denmark to train to be an English and French teacher. He has two boys, Oscar (6) and Mason (2), both of whom Owen deems to be as roguishly handsome as their father.

Stephanie Dolgoff built a giant wall of love to celebrate her 50th year with the help of family and friends, including Judy Minor ’90, David Milch, Johanna Pfaelzer ’90, Andie Coller ’90, and yours truly.

Finally, with a light report, I’ll exercise my prerogative to kvell about Madelyn Fried ’19, who completed her sophomore year, including pledging Psi Upsilon, and is heading to Copenhagen for the fall semester. Jealous and proud papa here!

Jonathan Fried | jonathan.l.fried@gmail.com 

Michele Barnwell | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Peter writes for this issue. Matt Olton reports in: “On picture perfect Saturday, May 27, in Los Angeles, Ricky Barragan and Samantha Goodman married in front of a small group of family and close friends that included Ricky’s daughters Bianca ’21 and Lauren ’21 (incoming Wes class) and Samantha’s children, Annabelle and William. A nice Wesleyan contingent was present that included Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, Victoria Harper, Tony Rosenthal, Craig Morgan ’89, Andy Stern ’87, and Matt Olton.”

Tim McCallum “had a kid: Logan McCallum, born in October to parents with a combined age of 94. First kid for us both.”

After 23 years at Silicon Valley Bank, Jim Maynard has departed to join MResult Corp out of Mystic, Conn., cutting his commute by 80 percent—but he still makes regular trips to Boston for Red Sox games.

Steve Morison shares: “After three terrific years in Rome we are returning to Cape Cod next year, largely to stay close to our daughter.”

In 2016, Dr. Emily Bliss Gerber joined UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland as Director of Behavioral Health.

Majora Carter advises: “My husband James Chase and I celebrated our 50th birthdays and our 10th wedding anniversary at a party last winter in NYC with awesome Wes friends: Evie Lovett and her husband Jeff Shumlin ’82, Leticia Pineiro ’88, Schuyler Allen-Kalb ’90, Steven Toledo ’04, and Sohana Punithakumar ’04. They all participated in what was an epic Soul Train line! I’m super excited about the new restaurant project I am co-developing in my hometown of Hunts Point and, I am the very proud co-owner of the only locally-owned specialty coffee shop in the South Bronx, the Boogie Down Grind Café.”

Michael and Cheryl Sheffler Rubenstein write: “We celebrated our oldest daughter Lily’s Bat Mitzvah in Arnold, Md., in May. We were blessed to be joined by David Lazer, Deborah Edelman Caney, and Gordon Agress ’89.”

Paul Lewis just published the award-winning book, Manual of Section, a comprehensive analysis of the history and the role of section in architecture, already in its third printing and available in six languages. Paul was recently elevated to the level of fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), and was promoted to full professor at Princeton University, where he serves as the associate dean of the School of Architecture.

Federico Quadrani is “executive producer of The Lead with Jake Tapper on CNN, having moved to the D.C. area from New York four years ago to launch the program. My wife Elena and I live in Bethesda with our two children, Luca (15) and Chiara (10).”

Hannah Doress updates: “I recently joined the Steering Committee of Resilient Communities Initiative, a coalition of environmental justice groups in the San Francisco Bay Area, including ShoreUpMarin.org, which I co-founded. Since the election I made a resolution to be (even) more politically active (I know, shocking!). Among many other activities, I have started writing blogs on Medium and Daily Kos and was super honored when our classmate Brad Kramer picked up my piece on Trump’s gaslighting for his site LetsDoTruth.org. My Wesleyan experience was a major motivation to write about Neil Gorsuch, as was my role as VP for the Breaking News Network because of having a built-in audience. You can see my tweets/pieces there and follow local news in 400 cities at tbnn.it. We moved to Silicon Valley where my wife is a music teacher and our 13-year-old is a budding mechanic, musician, and rebel extraordinaire. We’ve been having fun Wes get-togethers in the Bay Area around author events with great turnouts for Alex Chee ‘89 and Hida Viloria ’90 this year. Some of the folks that turned up included Amy Randall ’89, Jason Dewees ’91, Judith Sansone, Kate Hellenga, Tawnya Dudash ’89, and Samantha Ostergaard ’91. Amy Randall and Mat Reed ‘91 joined us for a DIY progressive seder this year as well.”

Cecelia Bolden lets us know that “In June of 2016, I was promoted to chief delivery officer for my company (sdipresence.com).  We are a systems integrator, with a staff of 150, and offices in Chicago, Charleston, and LA. In 2016, I was honored to be selected as a Woman of Excellence by the Chicago Defender because of my work in the Chicago business community, as well as my philanthropic work within the city of Chicago. Also, I will be awarded the 2017 Business Leader of Color by Chicago United (chicago-united.org), an organization that advocates to achieve parity in economic opportunity for people of color by advancing multi racial leadership in corporate governance, executive level management, and business diversity.”

Andrew Drury shares: “I still manage to survive as a jazz drummer in New York somehow. I’m busy playing and recording with lots of groups. I’m co-curating this fall’s Edgefest (a jazz festival) in Ann Arbor and will be playing there with several groups, including my quartet, Content Provider, a trio with Joe McPhee, and a project with a large ensemble of UM students in a cathedral. I run a house concert series, Soup & Sound (soupandsound.org), at my house. I did a two-week music residency in Bogotá in February—performed and gave workshops at the Universidad de los Andes and Javeriana U, played at a percussion festival run by a musician’s collective, and did a lot of collaborating with locals. I’ll be doing similar work in the Fall in Argentina. My wife, Alissa Schwartz ’91, good friend Michael Reinke ’91, and I started a nonprofit organization, Continuum Culture & Arts (continuumculture.org), that does innovative educational programs in Brooklyn public schools, facilitates international cultural exchange, puts out recordings, and helps the music community in various ways. Also I was recently awarded a fellowship from the Jubilation Foundation.”

U.J. Sofia is “starting a new job (with the longest title ever!). On July 1, 2017, I will head west to become the Weinberg Family Dean of the W. M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges.”

Cyrillene Clark has been busy with her son’s college applications. “Through the whole college admissions whirlwind I got to reconnect with former Wesleyan dean and recently retired vice chancellor at UCLA, Janina Montero. She is still awesome.”

Finally, John “Sparky” Ferrara boasts: “My daughter Claudia ’21 has accepted her admittance to Wesleyan, joining her brother AJ ’18 next year (who will be a senior).”

Peter V.S. Bond | 007@pvsb.org 

Hillary Ross | hrossdance@yahoo.com

Thank you to everyone who made the trip to Middletown for our 30th Reunion. It was a great weekend!

Elizabeth Barnett Pathak thoroughly enjoyed her first Reunion. She caught up with Foss 5 dormmates Ellie Margolis, Julie Rioux, Sarah Projansky, Karen Steinberg Kennedy, Bruce Wintman, and Matt Weiner, along with lots of other 1987 friends. Her only regret was missing running into fellow “River Rat,” Simon Heart, at the class dinner.

Brad Fuller “had an amazing time at Reunion. Feels like even though 30 years have passed, those relationships made in the late 1980s continue to deepen and enhance our lives in wonderful ways. I had a blast getting caught up with everyone. I am especially grateful to Andrew Carpenter and Sibyll Catalan who kept the fun and laughs coming all weekend long.”

Sumana Chandrasekhar Rangachar is still thinking about how great last month’s Reunion was and realizes more than ever how much she loves her Wes friends. She lives in Montclair, N.J., and she and hubby of 25 years will be official empty nesters next month once their third and last child goes off to college! She works at New York Life, helping parents of children with disabilities navigate resources for financial security.

Judy Pan writes that “there were simply too many terrific people present and not enough time. I even went Friday and Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came back.”

“So great seeing everyone at Reunion,” writes Dan Rauch. “A few updates from me that I’m excited about. I am the inaugural chair of the new hospital medicine sub-board of the American Board of Pediatrics and I am moving to Boston this summer to become the chief of the division of pediatric hospital medicine for the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center.  I am also very proud of my daughter, Haley Rauch ’15 who is teaching high school math in Harlem and finishing up the New York City Teaching Fellowship this summer.”

Alisa Kwitney: “Sorry I couldn’t make Reunion, but it’s nice to be in more touch with people like John Dorsey on Facebook. I have some good news—my son, Matt, just graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in math, and my daughter, Elinor, just completed her first year at Bard. I have a new novel, Cadaver & Queen, coming out from Harlequin Teen, and have started Liminal Comics, an imprint of Brain Mill Press. I also have some really sad news. My old friend John Gould ’86, who also went to my high school, died unexpectedly this May of heart failure. He was a professor of speech and language pathology at Elms College and a wonderful father to his sons, Cooper and Griffin.”

Andrew Hall sent the following: “Sorry I missed Reunion. I bet it was a blast. Continuing to be busy playing upright bass in a number of projects. Had a good tour of the West Coast with the instrumental rock trio Big Lazy. We opened up for the guitarist Nels Cline at the fabulous Royce Hall at UCLA, and then drove the next day to Las Vegas where we played in one of the tackiest rock bars I’ve been to. I also joined the Greenwich Village Orchestra in playing Beethovens ‘Symphony No. 9,’ at least most of the notes.”

Nicholas Birns married Isabella Theresa Smalera (Seton Hall ’92) on May 20 at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in South Orange, N.J. Isabella is a biochemist and pharmaceutical professional.

Maureen Craig reports, “My oldest child just graduated from Amherst and starts work in Boston in July. One down, three to go! Life with me is going great. My company is growing, and my husband and I are celebrating our 22nd anniversary this summer.”

Chris Lotspeich, Dan Sharp, Rob Campbell, and Scott Pryce had their own mini-reunion exploring their Scottish heritage and some mountain peaks in May.

Finally, I must also say that I, too, loved Reunion. My one complaint was not having enough time to spend lounging on Foss Hill due to too many interesting seminars on the agenda. So many great people I loved seeing—too many to mention, but special thanks to Sibyll Carnochan Catalan and Naomi Mezey for a late night giggle-fest that was truly therapeutic. And to Matt Paul and Jeremy Mindich for a home-run breakfast on Sunday morning. Only four-and-three-quarter years to go until the 35th! Keep coming back! We need to connect to each other more, not less, as we enter this next phase (whatever that means) in our lives.

Amanda Jacobs Wolf | wolfabj@gmail.com

Jeffrey Mendelssohn: “Happy to report I’m alive and well in the Bay Area, working at a clean-tech startup focused on wastewater reuse. It’s been a fun coaster ride, even more so with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in office. My 13-year old son Gryffen woke up and became a teenager yesterday. Bad news: he’s now as tall as me and thinks he knows everything. Good news: he is memorizing Hamilton and ran for student council. Somehow, I think he has some Wesleyan blood in him, and I’m proud. This weekend I’m taking him for a butt kicker hike up Half Dome. We’ll see if he still speaks to me after that…”

Julia Lee Barclay-Morton has created a website for people to share stories about their grandmothers (or other older female ancestors) in her zeal to rewrite the 20th century archive. Feel free to check it out, submit stories and/or join the forum: ourgrandmothersourselves.org. Can’t get more Wesleyan than that, now can it?

Christine Fleming is living in Boston with her husband and two sons, one of which is approaching college and interested in Wesleyan—hard to believe how time flies! “Although my professional life has taken different and surprising turns in the road over the past 30 years, I did settle into a partnership at a global actuarial consulting firm making good use of my math major. I often think fondly of my math professor and advisor, W.W. Comfort—such an influence on my life, who so generously gave me a “mercy” B in Real Analysis senior year (thanks Wis!) With fond memories of Wesleyan, I eagerly look forward to visiting with my boys in the near future and wish all my classmates the best.”

Judith Hill-Weld noted that Professor Gertrude Hughes “shaped my Wesleyan career beginning to end: she allowed me to join her Four Poets/Emerson seminar as a first semester freshman, and she supervised my thesis. A brilliant mind and generous teacher. Anne Greene shaped much of the middle, and I was thrilled to be able to give her a quick hug at our 30th, in miniscule thanks for everything she did for me at Wes.”

Peter Crabtree is still enjoying life in in Portland, Oregon. “I am fortunate to have a thriving psychology practice focusing on adults and adolescents. My wife, Carolyn, and I are moving toward full empty nest status. My son, Owen, is a rising junior at Whitman College and my daughter, Ella, is a rising senior in high school. We will be visiting Wesleyan together in a couple weeks, but as of now she is leaning more toward Williams or Amherst Noooooo! I see Tony Green often, and I run into my old friend Carolyn Tesh ’87 here and there. I hope to attend at least one Reunion before I’m too old to enjoy it! Take care everyone.”

Alex Rothman and Nina are also bracing for the transition to an empty nest. Their youngest son, Simon ’21, is off to Wesleyan this fall. “Spent a great few days in April birding the Southeast Texas coast with Dave Warne, where we learned that a large coffee is 32 ounces and soup can be ordered in three sizes: cup, bowl, and bucket.”

Sam Connor and his wife Claudia just returned from India where they traveled for their eldest son Caleb’s high school graduation from the Woodstock School in Mussoorie, Asia’s oldest international boarding school. Son Luca was also there for a year, and both kids found it very stimulating and quite rich in many ways. Caleb is attending Ithaca College this fall. Luca and Gabriel will be continuing in the local school system in Norwalk, Conn., where the family has lived for nine years since returning from 10 years overseas. Claudia is CEO of a Connecticut-based nonprofit serving refugees and immigrants, called the International Institute of Connecticut. Sam runs a firm providing strategic guidance to the nonprofit and commercial sectors around shared values for social justice.

John Bogosian is excited about moving his business (zingFit) and family (wife Diana and Leo, 8, and Kali, 6) out West to Boulder, Colo. “Give me a shout out if you are in the area, and want to grab a beer, or meet up on the slopes (but don’t move here; lifestyle is really lacking).”

Timothy Dyke ’86, MALS ’89 published his first book of poetry, Atoms of Muses, with Tinfish Press in the spring of 2017. “Tinfish also published my chapbook, Awkward Hugger, in 2015. In addition to writing, I just finished my 23rd year teaching high school English at Punahou School, and my 32nd consecutive year in the teaching profession. I occasionally teach a student who eventually goes on to graduate from Wesleyan, and I am ever-grateful for the education I received in Middletown in the 1980s.”

Bill Greene’s daughter Corynn ’20 “had a great year and is now having a way more fabulous summer than I am. It was really fun being on campus packing her up and seeing her friends. I channeled my Wes DNA by marching with other biotech execs in the March for Science. It was just as much fun doing it as an adult, although the snacks were definitely improved. Still CEO of Iconic Therapeutics, living the dream by working 18-hour days and learning much more about HR than I ever thought I would. Enjoying getting reconnected with Wes folk since Corynn has joined the family. Had a great time catching up with Hal Ginsburg in Bethesda recently.

“In 2014, I sold the liberal talk radio station in Monterey, Calif., that I had operated since 2005 and returned full-time to Kensington, MD. I continue to be very active in progressive politics which includes writing and broadcasting on the internet. In April, the Baltimore Sun published my op-ed discussing how former NAACP President/CEO Ben Jealous, who is running for Maryland governor, could prevail in next year’s Democratic primary and then against the popular Republican incumbent. My wife, Mindy Burke, is an ESOL teacher at a public elementary school with a high percentage of low-income immigrants. My elder son, Michael, will enter Georgetown University in the fall as a sophomore transfer. Sadly, he showed no interest in applying to Wesleyan saying it was too liberal. My younger son, William, just completed his junior year in high school.  He is hoping to be accepted into a Naval ROTC program and to join the Marines as an officer upon graduation from college.   enjoyed visiting Wesleyan for our 30th Reunion last spring with Rick Davidman ’84 and was happy to see Bill Greene ’86, now a San Franciscan, when he recently came to suburban D.C. on business.”

Julie Stubbs is happily settled in the “Happy Valley” in Amherst, Mass., where she is the development director for the computer science/information science college at UMass Amherst. “Empty nesting is living up to its billing; my husband Petr Jirovsky and I enjoy our big mutts and the beautiful hiking trails in western Mass, and see our adult kids when possible. Kids: Ben is finishing his doctorate in microbiology at MIT; his twin brother Jacob is a computational biologist at the University of Pittsburgh; and Sarah graduates from the University of Edinburgh in a few weeks and then begins a marketing job in Boston. We traveled to Petr’s native country the Czech Republic en famille in April and the kids paid for themselves—wow! This new phase is as exciting as the last.”

Nancy (Dull) Heatley is now living in rural Perkinsville, Vt., with her Cornish husband, Gareth, two cats and dog. She has just taken a new job with the Society for Vascular Surgery running several education and communication programs from home so no commute! Nancy is also very involved in the local community on the Weathersfield Planning Commission and with local environmental issues with the Connecticut River Joint Commission.

Hunter Pearson Silides is “excited to have landed my dream job as the chaplain at the Canterbury School in Greensboro, N.C. My daughters (Grace and Hope) and I will be moving this summer and my husband of 20 years, George Silides, will join us in 15 months when our second son, Christian, graduates from Claremont High School. Our eldest son (Stephen) graduates this week from The Webb Schools of California and heads to the Flagship Chinese Program at San Francisco State in the fall. Had a lovely visit with Arthur Haubenstock ’85 earlier this month. Hoping you and all our classmates are well.”

Sue (Erikson) Bidwell finally has something worthy to report: “My youngest son, Sam, will be a member of Wes class of 2021 as a prospective math major! My older son is also pursuing liberal arts, but at Saint Michael’s College outside of Burlington, Vt.  My husband, Jeremy, and I are looking forward to trying this empty nest thing out.”

Cathy Cotins also has a child at Wes: “I’m excited to share that my younger son Cole Harris ’21 will be a frosh at Wes in the fall joining Wes class of 2021! He will be third generation at Wes which has me more excited than I expected. My dad is Arthur Cotins ’48. My older son will be a senior at Colgate University and I’m excited to be an empty nester. Life is awesome!”

Carlie (Masters) Williams still lives in Bethesda with her husband, Rick, and children, Katie (St Mary’s College of Maryland ’18) and Thomas (applying to colleges this year!). This summer they will be unchaperoned with both children away leaving them to manage the suburban farm, the backyard ponds, the dogs, and the bees in between rowing on the Anacostia. Carlie remains an HIV epidemiologist at NIH and can report that “yes, it is very hard to be a scientist these days.” Protesting skills learned at Wes are coming in handy as they man the resistance. This summer she saw Saundra Schwartz (classicist in the history department of University of Hawaii at Manoa) in NYC. Saundi and Allison Kaplan (journalist at Haaretz, Israel) saw each other in Boston where Saundi’s daughter, Elena, has recently graduated from Harvard. Ayelet Waldman (author in Berkeley, Calif.) and Saundi will meet up in a few weeks for Ayelet’s NYC book tour. As for Wes memories, when Carlie goes back to Wes, she goes to the boathouse. Go Wescrew.

Ann O’Hanlon is hoping that Carlie Williams keeps fighting that good fight: “I’m chief of staff to Congressman Don Beyer, who is vice ranking chair of the House Science Committee.  (The committee chairman is a climate change denier.) More happily, our eldest turned down parents’ alma maters (Wes and Carleton) and heads to Tufts in August, leaving us with just two kids at home.”

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: “I have thoroughly enjoyed re-connecting to Wes as my daughter, Syd ’20, joined the class of 2020—I’ve visited more in the last couple of years than I have in decades. Professionally, I was recruited to write a book which published last November, Parenting ADHD Now! Easy Intervention Strategies for Empowering Kids with ADHD. I have to say, chapter one offers a clear, succinct encapsulation of the essence of ADHD and its management. Personally, my husband and I have down-sized and moved in-town to Atlanta’s Beltline and Piedmont Park, where we plan to enjoy two more years of parenting-in-residence with our high school junior before he grants us the next best gift to grandchildren—an empty nest!”

Eric Hamre: “I can add a little from my end (Long Beach, Calif). Although I have been living on the West Coast for the last 20 years, it seems the East Coast keeps pulling me back. My older daughter, Sarah, just finished her freshman year at UMass Amherst where she plays for the Minute women softball team, while my younger daughter, Anna, has just finished her junior year of high school. As she is now well into her college search, the East Coast is calling her too!”

Eric Howard: “I’ve been adjusting to life as a divorced dad whose three kids are all in college while I’m the one who returned to the nest (living in my hometown and sharing a house with my 83-yr-old-mother). I was dating last year, but now I’m seeking happiness through Buddhist meditation, windsurfing, and walks in the woods.”

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Roger Pincus | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu

Michael Steven Schultz | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu

Hi, Class of 1983. It’s hard to believe it’s summer already. The flowers are blooming, and my kids all graduated from college and are planning the next phase in their lives. I continue being a data geek at Rutgers, working on the endless dissertation, and caring for my mother with Alzheimer’s. I suppose this is what they mean by a “full” life. Here’s what our classmates write…

E. Jenny K. Flanagan: “I’ve been living in Rhode Island since 1991, and for the past two years in the trending historic waterfront village of Warren, R.I. We bought a 240-year-old Colonial and rehabbed it. Our two sons, who we adopted from Ecuador in 1994, are now grown and living nearby. Tom ’82 is writing a book on systems science and democratic processes for large groups to solve complex problems. I have been working for the past 23 years as a commercial real estate appraiser, with a specialty in land conservation projects, working for clients throughout southern New England.”

Tim Brockett: “Gold fever has hit my new hometown of Emigrant, Mont. You may remember a few years back we had a huge forest fire that leveled thousands of acres in the adjoining Absaroka wilderness. Many people hiked in the next summer and found previously hidden outcrops and stream beds containing gold. Now the commercial operators are moving in and exploring the area. It is a terrific time for geology students to test their skills. Once again my Wesleyan degrees have come in handy.

“Hunting season went well. My friends bagged several elk, mule and white-tailed deer, a buffalo, and a gorgeous wolf. The wolf had incredibly soft and thick fur. He was stuffed and now poses no danger to people or livestock. I spent several days hiking, prospecting, and camping along the U.S. and Mexican border in March. Hunting, prospecting, and living in the mountains of Montana is wonderful.”

Mark Kushner: “I am still thriving in San Francisco, having opened and operated cutting-edge charter schools around the country for the last 22 years, and now leading my first independent school. I still love skiing (telemark and backcountry now), and playing soccer and tennis. My kids are now 14 and 11, with the oldest attending my alma mater, San Francisco University High School, and already expressing interest in Wesleyan! Please look me up if you are in the area.”

Glenn Lunden: “In February, I married my life-partner, Frank Meola, in a small civil ceremony at the Brooklyn Municipal Building, attended by both of our mothers and my brother, Jeff. After 23 years together (and a not-so-recent Supreme Court decision), we figured it was time. Besides, we wanted to legitimize our two cats.”

Lynn B. Ogden: “I transferred to Boyden’s New York metro office but haven’t abandoned Portland, Ore., completely. I enjoy catching up with friends and classmates. I am a regular on campus this spring cheering on my daughter, Emi Ogden-Fung ’19 and our amazing Wes Women’s Lacrosse team who are headed into the NCAA championship for the first time in the team’s history! Go Wes!”

Tim Backer has released “many works so far in 2017, with the culminating CD of a 22-year project, A Platform for Dreams. Classicality (based in Beethoven’s dialect, a reevaluation of understanding 20 years after grad school, having gained insight into cultural politics, European history, the classical music tradition, Chinese philosophy, and women-as-they-actually-are); The Musing Genie: Thirteen Electric Guitar Explorations (a documentary of sorts about achieving mastery of the instrument as a tool for improvisational classical music in the Zappa tradition); Patriotic Impromptus (a dramatic narrative constructed of seven pass-throughs of the U.S. national anthem); The Four Zoas By William Blake, A Recitation (five hours reading aloud the least-understood top-tier poem in the English literary canon).

“A Platform for Dreams is primarily a political text, encrypted into sheet music and then recorded and performed. All this has come out of my label, BackWords Recordings, an independent culture production house. The headwind of today’s biz has been an annoyance, but not much more than that. The business plan is to establish rock classical as a genre, allowing reentry of other artists’ back catalogs as well as giving the critical community something to chew on. backwordsrecordings.com.”

Until next time, namaste!

Laurie Hills | lauriec@rci.rutgers.edu

NEWSMAKERS | 1980s NEWSMAKER GLENN LIGON ’82 Glenn Ligon ’82, renowned conceptual artist, curated the exhibition Blue Black, a selection of pieces ranging from portraiture to African and American folk art, for the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis, Mo. “The content of Glenn’s work is incredibly meaningful in the context of St. Louis, being the epicenter of the Black Lives Matter movement,” Pulitzer director Cara Starke told art critic Hilarie M. Sheets, writing for the New York Times. Ligon described an Ellsworth Kelly painting, “Blue Black” (2000), which hangs in the Pulitzer, as his inspiration, and he cited “a very funny aural hallucination where I kept hearing Louis Armstrong’s voice singing ‘What did I do to be so black and blue?’“ He used that color combination to explore questions about race, history, identity, and memory. An art major at Wesleyan, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the university in 2012.

Dear classmates, I’m having a déjà vu here, writing the class notes. After the marvelous Stephanie Griffith stepped down, it seems everyone else in the class stepped back, and I was left volunteered. That’s okay; it’s like studying an interesting longitudinal cohort, or having a niche reporting beat of a creative and, need I say, diverse group. Just please help me out by feeding me some tidbits now and then. Class notes are the original social media.

Our 35th Reunion was genuinely warm, entertaining, and thoughtful. The Reunion committee, spearheaded by Kate Quigley Lynch (clap, clap), pulled off not only a wonderful “Recommencement” show and shenanigans (thanks to Beck Lee, David Brancaccio, and Joe Barrett), but our class funded a Class of ’82 Endowed Scholarship, beating our $100,000 goal (kudos to Stephen Daniel for leading us). We made an enormous difference in the life of a kid who otherwise might not have the privilege we’ve enjoyed to go to Wes. We hosted Professors Richard Ohmann and Leon Sigal (both of whom had a huge influence on my understanding of media, from the outside and in, respectively) and Professor Andy Szegedy-Maszak. The other news from Reunion is that beneath the thin scrim of age, everyone looked fantastic, just like they used to, only better dressed. Also, the Douglas Cannon reappeared, mysteriously, and I personally touched it. More on that below.

David Brancaccio spoke at our “Recommencement,” digging deep, citing from texts on rituals and cultural meaning in higher education to support his point that “our graduation ceremony 35 years ago was a wonderful occasion and, at the same time, it sucked.” Indeed, he reminded us that June 6, 1982, was the worst storm in the area since a 1955 hurricane, dumping nearly a foot of rain centered on Middletown, forcing us to graduate in the hot, stuffy, inelegant hockey rink. The sketchy sound system kept us from appreciating the speaker, diplomat and novelist Carlos Fuentes. David unearthed the address and read a few gems, then conferred “recommencement” certificates on us with quotes from the speech (if you’d like the full text, just e-mail Kate at klynch@wesleyan.edu, easier than doing what David did, tracking it down in NYC library archives, taking photos, and transcribing).

Among his remarks, Fuentes told us, “I know that sooner or later, your generation will be facing, courageously and decisively, the human needs in this country: democracy not only in the voting booth, but in the working place; decentralization, reindustrialization, the stamping out of crime, better schools, thorough racial integration and sexual equality, the great technological breakthroughs that can only be achieved through the quality of higher education and investment in research, all of this inseparable from compassion and legislation favoring the poor, the elderly, the handicapped.”

Beck Lee, our witty MC, said Fuentes’ remarks were like a “message in a bottle…speaking to our future selves, when his words might hold the deepest meaning.” Fuentes’ words were prescient, and remind us, as Beck said, that “the spirit for rebellion that was engendered in us then, in the early Reagan years, would be needed now more than ever.”

And then there was the brief reappearance of the Douglas Cannon, which a few of us were lucky enough to see, though I am not at liberty to divulge the circumstances. As you might recall, the D.C. made a surprise appearance in the University’s sesquicentennial birthday cake in 1981 before it disappeared once again in 1982. I have it on strong authority that a few of our ‘82 classmates were the 1982 liberators of the D.C. and that following some extensive travel, they returned it to Wesleyan in good faith upon Colin Campbell’s last Commencement.

These “Doug Addicts” have communicated their strong wish that 1) Whoever is in possession of the cannon today has the responsibility and obligation to facilitate the cannon’s return to the Wesleyan community; 2) Every student should know the D.C. story and have the experience of seeing the D.C. sometime during their time on campus; and 3) Whoever has it currently or in the future, needs to record Douglas Cannon’s travels and locations so that the Wesleyan community stays updated on the adventures of the D.C., perhaps via Douglas Cannon’s Facebook page.

More news about our classmates in the next notes, stay tuned. But quick congrats to Deedie Finney, whose lovely introduction to the anniversary edition of She’s Not There, the memoir by wife Jennifer Finney Boylan ’80, proves JFB is not the only writer in the family.

And don’t miss Suzanne Kay’s new documentary film, Sullivision: The Ed Sullivan Story, which takes a surprising look at the man who was once television’s most influential personality and his little-known support of black artists at the dawn of television. Check out her FB page, Sullivision, for more info.

Finally, to you guys at the Reunion who suggested my new husband, Peter Eckart ’86, go for the record and not stop at marrying just two Wesleyan women: over my dead body. Then you’ll be stuck having to find another willing class secretary.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura Fraser | laura@laurafraser.com

Greetings, classmates! It’s Joanne, writing to you from the comfortable confines of a German high-speed train, sipping wine, and admiring the scenery, efficiency of travel, and simple good sense of a country, that has spent decades investing in public transportation as a means of improving the public good and imagining how wonderful this would be if I could travel in a similar manner in my own country…

But I digress! I often wax nostalgic every time I return to Europe, where I was fortunate enough to live for so many years. Not to say that I don’t appreciate my home country; it’s just that in this time of political unease and unrest, it is nevertheless hard to not look away and see how things “could” be if only we’d open our eyes as to how others live, work and establish their societies.

That is my hope for my middle son, James, who just graduated from Indiana University with a degree in computer science. His last class before he actually gets his diploma in hand takes place in Tanzania, where he is studying the geology, archaeology, and anthropology as well as the flora, fauna, and history of the Olduvai Gorge area and the Serengeti plains. My eldest son, Alex (a computer science engineer), is in the Seattle area and works as a consultant to some of the “biggies” like SpaceX and Microsoft. My youngest, Christopher, just finished his first year at Indiana University, where he plans a double major in math and (surprise!) computer science. This summer, he is continuing as an AI in computer science—and to think I barely made it through all those punch cards for my senior project (and that was WITH help!).

Judith Newman wrote with some exciting news. Some of you may have read her wonderfully insightful 2014; New York Times’ article describing her autistic son’s relationship with Apple’s Siri, and how beneficial it has been for her son’s emotional and social growth. This research led to the book, To Siri With Love, with a publication date from Harper Collins of late August, early September. Learn more at judithnewman.com or tosiriwithlove.com. [See page 80.]

Mark Saba shared that he, too, has two books coming out. David Roberts Books published a volume of Mark’s poetry, Calling the Names, moving and compassionate poems which Vivian Shipley describes as “creat(ing) the bridge between life and death we all will cross.” The second book, Ghost Tracks: Stories of Pittsburgh Past, is due out in late summer with Big Table Publishing. Mark has been writing since he left Wesleyan, publishing poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction (see marksabawriter.com). Mark is a painter as well! “I started working at Yale in 1990 as a medical illustrator in the medical school,” he shared. Mark has been at Yale for 29 years. He adds, “I am now still illustrating, but also doing graphic design, websites, and media walls for the whole university.”

To carry on with our literary trend, Kaylie Jones writes that when she is not spending time with her wonderful daughter, Eyrna, she continues to teach, lecture, travel, and publish. Her imprint, Kaylie Jones Books with Akashic Books, has added several new volumes from some very talented writers, including The Year of Needy Girls by Patty Smith ’82.

Diane Goldstein Stein writes that son Matthew ’16 graduated from Wesleyan last year and daughter Lisa ’21 will begin her freshman year at Wes this fall. Matthew is a software engineer in Mountain View, Calif., and plays with the Google orchestra. Matthew is a violinist, violist, and composer, and Lisa is a cellist and vocalist.

I had the pleasure of catching up with my dear friend and former housemate, Deb Chapin, on a trip to Boston. We had a lovely brunch downtown and reminisced about old times, past adventures, and the joys (and tribulations!) of raising teenagers. Plans are in the works for a get-together with the former Sunday night co-op group that also includes Kathy Prager Conrad and Livia Wong McCarthy.

According to Facebook, Wesleyan graduation saw many classmates in attendance. Katy Ward Koch celebrated the graduation of her niece, Hyunji Choi Ward ’17, along with her dad, Alan Ward ‘52, who enjoyed his class Reunion. Katy looks forward to another visit in a few years when her nephew, Hyunwoo Ward ’20, graduates. Chris Graves was also there to watch proudly as his daughter,  Julia Graves ’17 received her diploma. There he met up with Jim Friedlich ’79 and Melissa Stern ’80, whose son, Max ’17, graduated. Chris left a few days later for Belaggio, Italy, where he was back at the Rockefeller Center for a small U.N. summit on climate change. Ed Suslovic was also in attendance, and posted proud pics of himself with his daughter, Kate Suslovic ’17, resplendent in her cardinal-red robes. I know there are more classmates who had children graduating, but alas these are the only ones I happened to see.

Keep the news coming. David will be writing the next set of notes.

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

Joanne Godin Audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com