Class Notes

Joy Anderson is thrilled to share that she won the Joan Bavaria Award for groundbreaking contributions to social investing, particularly in gender lens investing. The award was especially meaningful as she received it alongside two remarkable collaborators, reflecting their collective effort in the field. Joy, president and founder of Criterion Institute and a member of Heading for Change’s Global Advisory Circle, has observed significant progress in gender lens investing.  Despite the ongoing challenges in addressing systemic biases, Joy takes pride in the strides made so far.

Debra Steppel is thrilled to announce the launch of her new venture, Essays Plus More. This company focuses on coaching job seekers and high school students applying to college. She has been involved in career coaching and resume editing as a side gig since 1987, thanks to her initial training as a CPC career assistant with Barbara-Jan Wilson. She welcomes inquiries from classmates and their families with career or college application needs.

Joel Jacobs is still residing in Berkeley and working with the California attorney general’s office, mainly representing the California Coastal Commission. He’s considering retirement in a few years. His children are pursuing exciting paths: one is at a start-up in Baltimore developing prosthetic robot arms, and the other is working on a PhD in environmental justice in Los Angeles. Joel has also been coaching a high school debate team, which recently won both state and national championships. 

Colleen McKiernan shares some exciting (and scary news): “August 1 was my last day at work, and I am presently at a five-week cookery course at the Ballymaloe Cookery School near Cork, Ireland. The school is on a large organic farm, and I am living in a group house for the first time since Wes . . . I have no interest in working in the food industry. This is purely for me, and the first time that I have taken more than two weeks off since the summer after graduating. I will be going to Lisbon for a few weeks and will see some friends from Wesleyan and have about 10 days of unstructured time until I get home. I hope by the time that this publishes, I will be gainfully employed again.” 

Phineas Baxandall and his partner of 20 years, Sarah Hill, celebrated their marriage during a family vacation. Their children, ages 22 and 24, were the best man and bridesmaid. The kids were surprised when informed that their fancy dinner reservation would be postponed for a justice of the peace to arrive. Over the past year, Phineas served as interim president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and has now returned to his role as policy director at this progressive economic think tank. 

Jill (Wolser) Fruchter provides a long overdue update: “This summer marked the second anniversary of creating my own business, Field Notes Consulting, a research services agency. My work is focused on using design thinking to center people in product development, experience design, and customer experience strategy. Previously, I did similar work at Blue Apron, Etsy, and The New York Times. Personally, I now live in upstate New York in a tiny river town on the banks of the upper Delaware River after selling my home in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where I raised my two daughters, Zoe and Ella. It’s an ongoing journey to balance the competing pulls of city and country. Recent travels include the North Cascades Scenic Park (Washington), and future travel includes Iceland to (try to) see the northern lights. 

Amy Redfield is in Lisbon, Portugal, where she is currently blogging and writing. She is eagerly anticipating a visit from Colleen McKiernan. She’d love to connect with any other ’89ers who find themselves in Lisbon or are considering making the move here. The city has so much to offer, and she’s excited to share its charm with friends. 

After retiring in April, Alissa Berman had a wonderful time at the 35th Reunion, reconnecting with Carrie Holden and Kelly Morgan. It was bittersweet learning about Suzanne Delbanco, a rugby team member. She is preparing for a September wedding and continues to enjoy all the unique experiences Rhode Island has to offer.

In other sad news, Doug MacKenzie passed away peacefully on July 19, 2024. Doug was a valued friend to many Wesleyan students and supported his professor, T. Ranganathan, during his illness.

Happy fall, classmates. Steve writes for this column.

Two quick personal notes. First, a round of applause and gratitude to our classmate, Hillary Ross, who served the Class of 1988 for so many years as co-secretary. Hillary, on behalf of all ’88ers, THANK YOU for keeping us in connection with each other. Second, it’s my honor to pick up the torch and work with Peter Bond going forward. Thanks to all who have written so far and please stay in touch and keep it coming. 

With that said, on to the notes!

Christina Pugh, a professor in the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois in Chicago, was awarded Distinguished Scholar of the Year in Humanities, Arts, Architecture, and Design and has two new books published in 2024. A book of essays called Ghosts and the Overplus: Reading Poetry in the Twenty-First Century (University of Michigan Press, 2024), and a book of poems titled The Right Hand (Tupelo Press, 2024).

Lucas Platt’s daughter, Amelia, follows in dad’s proud footsteps as a rising senior at Wesleyan, Class of 2025. Congratulations to both!

Stephen Morison Jr. and his partner, Emily Allen, have checked the international adventure box for this season’s column. This summer they moved to Marrakesh, Morocco, where Stephen is the headmaster for the American Schools of Marrakesh, and Emily is the director of counseling for ASM and two sister schools, The American Schools of Tangier and Ban Guerir. 

Julie Schwarzwald, after 34 years in New Jersey, has moved to Minnesota.  She will be the Fiterman B’nai Mitzvah program and ritual director (rabbi-educator) at Beth El Synagogue in Minneapolis. So far, she reports, the transition is amazingly smooth—the big adjustment is no longer being able to just drive anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard. Julie asked me to say that all visitors are welcome.

Nathan Ainspan continues his more than 10 years as senior research psychologist with DOD’s Military-Civilian Transition Office (MCTO). Nathan’s 20 years of research on the subject guides curriculum designers and policymakers to help service members and their families transition to civilian life and find meaningful post-service employment. His most recent of four books on the subject is Military Veteran Employment: A Guide for the Data Driven Leaders (Oxford University Press, 2021).  Nathan says his son, Isaac, a rising 10th grader, inherited his grandfather’s musical abilities and they’re looking ahead to college visits, including Berklee College of Music in Boston and, yes, Wesleyan! Nathan’s pursued his own love of musical theater (your humble author can verify this, we were both hosts of the Broadway show on WESU) as a contributor to Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, and a research contributor to the Helen Hayes Awards.

Finally, we had previously shared the sad news of the passing of our classmate Tim McCallum. Roger Scholl and Tim’s mother, Lenita Witherspoon, penned an obituary that reminds us all of the joy and meaning of Tim’s life. I encourage you to read it and celebrate a life richly lived. Thank you, Roger and Lenita.

A happy fall and winter to all.

Hello, Class of ’87!

I got a significant wave of responses without much nudging. Must be that relaxed feeling that the end of August brings. Of course, you are reading this now in the throes of a different season. I hope all is going well.

Wesleyan has introduced a new and easier way for me to get in touch with you, but it is not without its glitches. Gabrielle Sellei sent in a “no news to report” note, but said she was happily living the life of a “relatively stable, long-married, middle-aged, empty nester.” When I wrote back, I mistakenly copied the whole class, which created a blip of hilarity for about a day. Many of you wrote back empathetically to me:

“Same here—middle-aged and living a fairly normal existence!”

“Hey, that’s an accomplishment in itself!”

So, if you haven’t sent in any news, but you’re doing okay, give yourself credit!

Now on to the news that was meant to be shared!

Tricia Dorsey reports on her annual get-together in Maine with Holly (Campbell) Ambler this July. Their kids joined them for the first time in many years as did Doug Koplow and his wife, Michele. These are special memories for all. Tricia also reports that her husband, John Dorsey, is on sabbatical from teaching and will spend much of the coming year doing art residencies. His first was a group ceramics workshop on Nantucket in July. The next will be independent time at a studio facility in Barcelona in September and October. Some guest studio assistant gigs and guest teaching gigs will round out 2024 while he waits to hear about applications for winter and spring 2025. In May, Tricia and John celebrated the graduation of their second child to attend Hamilton. No more tuition! So much for middle age, right?

Daniel Rauch writes in with news of his son Brian’s wedding in July. The celebration turned into a mini Wesfest. Traveling to Turkey for the wedding were classmates David Glotzer, Eric Leifer,and Eileen Deignan along with her sons, Andrew ’27 and Evan ’24. Dan’s daughter, Haley Rauch ’15, and her classmate, Hanako Rodriguez ’15, were there, too,plus Brian’s friend Zach Berkowitz ’18.  Daniel is now vice chair of pediatrics at Hackensack (New Jersey) Meridian Children’s Health, and he sees a lot of Wes faces at the hospital. He sees Steve Pereira, a surgeon, and Taya Glotzer, ’83, a cardiologist, in the halls at Hackensack. One of the new pediatric interns there is Anastasios Karras ’18. And as part of his work with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Daniel sees Joe Wright ’79 and Cheryl De Pinto ’83, both vice presidents at the AAP. Dan’s family has been in the Hoboken, New Jersey, area for about year. His daughter is a math teacher at Scarsdale High School, and his son lives in Brooklyn. Check out Brian’s band, Late Night Thoughts (lntmusic.com). They just signed with a label to produce an EP.

Beth Barnett Pathak wrote in to catch us up. She says, “It’s hard to believe we left Florida nine years ago already—time seems to fly ever more swiftly these days. My two younger kids (twins Aidan and Arya) are starting eighth grade, and my two older ‘kids’ (Kiran and Nina) are millennials navigating their late 20s and all that pesky adulting. Almost two years ago, I started a new position as a program director at NIH, which I am still enjoying enormously, and through which I’ve gotten to know Carlie Williams ’86. I stay in touch regularly with Sarah Projansky and Ellie Margolis but would love to hear news from other Foss 5/5.5 friends and my fellow river rats.

John Phillips and Kate returned to New York several years ago to raise three children, two of whom have had their own children, and he says they are lucky enough to have them all live nearby.  

Gennifer Weisenfeld recently published The Complete Commercial Artist: Making Modern Design in Japan, 1928–1930,a book which provides analysis, context, and background about this critical design publication of 20th-century Japan.

Rich Gibbons, president of SpeakInc, recently caught up with Adam “Smiley” Poswolsky ’05, when Rich booked Smiley to keynote the Greater Public’s Public Media Development and Marketing Conference in San Diego. Rich has been a speaking agent for over three decades and is the past president of the International Association of Speakers Bureaus (IASB). Adam is the author of Friendship in the Age of Loneliness and a top keynote speaker on workplace culture, belonging, and the future of work. Despite graduating from Wesleyan just a few years apart, Rich and Smiley loved chatting about all things public speaking, NPR, and Foss Hill. 

John Penney lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. After many years in media technology, John did an MBA at Berkeley, and he is currently a growth advisor to cleantech companies in SoCal.  John offers this memory of President Colin G. Campbell who died earlier this summer. “Looking back, when I arrived at Wes in 1983, I had a bit of a shock. The then-president of the University, Colin Campbell, had been assigned as my advisor, and I had no idea how it would play out. Despite my initial apprehension, President Campbell was very supportive of his advisees and did a lot to make us feel welcome and integrated into Wesleyan’s academic life. Just another reason why Wesleyan left such an indelible impression on me over all these years.”

That’s an amazing memory. It reminds me that my faculty advisor was Greg Pyke who was an admissions counselor. Wesleyan definitely had ways to build community at the school!

As for me, I’ll go anywhere to see the Mets play, and I was lucky to travel in June for the London Series, a big deal for Major League Baseball. You may recall that Liz Rabineau had initially told me she wanted “no part of those shenanigans,” but it turned out she joined me at the game. I think she secretly liked it! Beyond taking in America’s pastime in London, Liz also opened her home and neighborhood to my husband and me, and we took in several museums as well.

By the way, a ballpark is a great place to run into old friends. Steve Shackman and I often meet at CitiField.

Until next time . . .

Hi ’86ers! Some news from classmates:

Monica Jahan Bose had a very busy spring 2024: “In March, I had an exhibition in Dhaka, Bangladesh, as part of a U.S. Art in Embassies visit. The exhibition was a three-channel video installation with collaborative saris about climate change and its impact on farmers in Bangladesh and around the world. In June, I created a temporary public art project called Swimming in front of a D.C. public school and pool, looking at inequities in access to water and swimming. Also in June, Michael Scott Bennett ’87 and I celebrated our 30-year wedding anniversary and visited our daughter, Tuli, in Portland, Oregon, where she just started a Doctor of Nursing Practice/Midwifery program at OHSU. Our younger daughter, Koli, is a junior at Bryn Mawr College this fall. Sending love to our friends in Classes of ’86 and ’87!”

Steve Elbaum wrote to remind us of Bill Gerber’s victory last November to be first selectman in Fairfield, Connecticut. Steve said, “he had a lot of financial and moral support from Wes alums from the mid and late ’80s and won by 37 votes (out of about 18,000 cast) in a state-mandated recount. He and his wife, Jessica ’90, have long been elected officials in Fairfield.”

Ernest Friedman-Hill: “I was recently promoted to distinguished member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories, where I’ve worked for 32 years (remotely from the East Coast for over 25 years!). Although I enjoyed my time as a chemistry major at Wes and went on to get a PhD in chemistry (MIT ’92), I’ve been working as a computer scientist almost the whole time I’ve been at Sandia. I’ve written a few books and worked in a range of areas from rule-based systems to graphical programming environments and automated workflow. Stacia ’85 and I will celebrate our 35th anniversary in the spring.

George Justice: “I am entering my third year as provost at The University of Tulsa and excited to participate on a junket—er, a Fulbright Fellowship to France this October. I’m also on my own this year, with wife, Devoney Looser, on a full-year fellowship at the Huntington Library; son, Carl, a senior at Pitzer College; and son, Lowell, a freshman at Wes. We loved coming to campus together in April for WesFest, which sealed the deal for Lowell.”

Lisa Porter: “Hi all: I have moved from San Francisco to NYC, where I am currently the voice and dialect coach for the national tour of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. With the closing of the MFA program at the American Conservatory Theater, where I was the head of acting and dialects, it was time to start a new chapter. I am having a wonderful time seeing Wes friends. Just last week, Shawn Cuddy, James Hallett, Mary Beth Kilkelly ’85, and I went to see Frank Wood ’83 in his show, The Meeting: The Interpreter. In May, Melinda Newman and I went to NOLA for Jazz Fest and saw The Rolling Stones.” 

Marc Rosner: “It happened! I retired from teaching science after 37 years. Diane and I are now working full time at Hudson Valley Numismatics doing estate consultation and sales. Much of our work is helping seniors and their families downsize and find a home for possessions and treasure.”

Ellen Santistevan: “Like most of us in the Class of ’86, I am turning 60 this year and doing a few things to celebrate myself. The biggest thing was that I got to take a dream trip (focused on volcanoes) to Iceland in August with a group of alumni from New Mexico Tech, where I got my master’s degree. Getting to spend 10 days in a land that constantly and consistently reminds you that you are small, and the world is so big, was exactly the restorative dip into nature that I needed, among a group of friends and acquaintances that share a deep bond of the Tech experience. For a future trip, I am lobbying for the volcanic islands of Greece (where I did my undergraduate fieldwork with Joop Varekamp) and/or Italy.”

Lastly, Bennett Schneider says: “It was an extremely busy Pride Month in June. One of the highlights was being asked by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to bless the raising of the Pride Flag over all county buildings. I was asked to create the blessing, which invoked LGBTQ deities from spiritual paths all over the world. Have been seeing Lisa Rosen, Melinda Newman, Cobina Gillitt ’87, Nathan Gebert ’85, Al Septien ’85, and a bevy of others. Went to Palm Springs with Melinda Newman for my 60th and she made it a truly special birthday celebration. Performed my 19th wedding and my third memorial service as a spiritual

I heard from so many classmates in this last call for class notes, so I got that goin’ for me, which is nice!

Marc Stein has been elected the vice president of the Organization of American Historians, on track to serve as president-elect in 2025–26 and president in 2026–27. He recently was interviewed by John Yang ’80 on PBS News Weekend. He writes about his time at Wesleyan in his 2022 book, Queer Public History: Essays on Scholarly Activism (University of California Press), and is currently working on a book about the U.S. Bicentennial, which he hopes to publish before the U.S. Semiquincentennial (which he says he keeps mispronouncing because of the Wesleyan sesquicentennial).

Hillary Jacobs Hendel writes that she continues to be in touch with Wes friends Lucy Lehrer, Tracey and Robert Pruzan, Andy Behrman ’84, John Nathan, and Marc Sholes ’84, and more: “I continue to practice psychotherapy. My book on how to tend to our emotions for improved mental health, It’s Not Always Depression, continues to sell well in the U.S. and abroad. I have new book coming out in 2025 on emotions and parenting. I offer classes and curricula on emotions and house many free resources for those interested in emotional health on my website at hilaryjacobshendel.com. I spend half my time in Connecticut and the other half in NYC. Thought to include a pic of me, Amanda Wolf ’87, my sister, and our children (minus one who lives in Minnesota).”

Although Gary Crump did go to law school, that’s not what brought him to the Supreme Court. Instead, Gary, who teaches social studies in Buffalo, “attended an amazing program at the U.S. Supreme Court with other educators from around the nation. The Supreme Court Summer Institute (SCSI) is a program sponsored by Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society for teachers to examine and analyze how the court processes cases.”

K.T. Korngold is a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. K.T. expects to defend her dissertation on the presence of agency in infants in the spring of 2025.

You know you lived at 230 Washington Street your freshman year if you get an email that opens, “I was just thinking about ‘Boot House’ the other day.” This one was from Ken Goldschneider:

 “September 15, 2024, marks the 25th anniversary of my founding the Pediatric Pain programs at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (currently the #1 ranked Children’s Hospital in the country). Over the past 25 years, we have grown to be one of the biggest and most comprehensive pain and palliative care programs in the world for children and young adults. We have provided care to many thousands of pediatric patients, trained numerous practitioners, and published two books and hundreds of scientific articles. We are very excited about and proud of all of it. I have always said that what I have been most proud of in my professional life are the teams that I have assembled, which have been extraordinary and extremely high functioning as well as comprising the most wonderful human beings. I have always considered them an extended family. It has been one of the great privileges in life, because to have teams that work that well together and can remain friends and friendly colleagues for over two decades is not common. The sad part in some ways is that I will be stepping down from my role as director of the Pain Management Center. On the other hand, I have a large number of hobbies to pursue and never seem to have enough time to pursue them to the level I want to do. That’s a privileged thing to say, so I am not complaining. But with the kids grown and launched into their respective lives and careers, the hobbies will become a crucial part of my survival, because if I don’t get out of the house regularly my wife (Jennifer Metters Goldschneider ’84) will probably run me over with a Zamboni.”

Rich Stoller also picked up the retirement theme, writing that he is entering his “final year of gainful employment, as interim associate dean of Penn State’s honors college, after which I will retire to gardening and Facebook rants (not about gardening). I last visited Wesleyan three years ago, and when my daughter (then looking at colleges) pronounced the campus unlovely, I said that it was a protest against injustice in the world. She believed it and to some extent I did too, but it was probably just the construction.”

Finally, I had the good fortune to spend a long weekend in Nags Head, North Carolina, with Hillary Hess and Jolynn Jones (speaking of Boot House!). We had a wonderful time walking on the beach, drinking champagne, and just generally catching up on life, love, and the world.  It was probably more sedate in some ways than our weekends at Wesleyan were, but we probably laughed just as much.

Start thinking about our Reunion in the spring—it’s always so much fun!

Take care, ’85ers,

Caroline

A few people wrote in regarding the reunion. Rhonda Lees was very happy to attend and see Jessica Seigel, among others. Rhonda keeps up with a D.C. contingent of alums—last year, I attended one brunch with Rhonda, Michael Feldman, and others.

Karen Wise was also on campus but was much more focused on seeing her daughter, Julie Wise ’24 graduate. The West African drumming at commencement transported her back 40 years to her own ceremony. Karen is still working as a freelance book editor (mostly cookbooks) and volunteering at various food pantries in her spare time.

Liz Solar wanted to share that after 35 years of living in Boston (and working for Harvard Law School for much of that time), she has relocated to Maryland where she is working at the University of Baltimore School of Law, which she says she absolutely loves. She was appointed by Governor Moore to serve on the Commission on Judicial Disabilities. Her twins are starting their second year of college, and she is looking for places to explore in Maryland, now that she is more of an empty nester. 

Michael Lewyn was promoted to full professor at Touro Law Center.

Some book news from our classmates:

Andrew Bridge has published The Child Catcher, the true story of the fight to rescue the children confined to a violent and secretive institution in the rural South. This was the most bitterly fought mental-health lawsuit in American history. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Bridge joined the small team of civil rights lawyers representing the children of the Eufaula Adolescent Center, a violent and secretive institution in the rural South, against the state of Alabama.

Eileen Kelly published her first novel, Small Wonder. At the reunion she spoke with Parel Kapur and David (Dwight) Santos Donaldson, both of whom also published their first novels in their 60s. Parel’s book, Inside the Mirror, was mentioned in a previous Class Notes, and Dwight’s novel, Greenland, was a finalist for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.

Eileen also shares some sad news that her mother, Mary Kelly, passed away in May.     From 1978 to 2000, Mary served as the administrative assistant to the Philosophy Department and the sole occupant of the department’s office on the second floor of Russell House. She sent two children to Wesleyan (Eileen and Stephen ’88), and Anthony Richter became her son-in-law. (Eileen’s grandfather, John Kelly, worked in Wesleyan’s Physical Plant from the ’40s to the ’60s.)

These notes will probably not arrive until after the election season, but it will not surprise anyone that our classmates are very active. As I write this, there is a Wesleyan call being organized by Ken Rosenberg, Maria Mead, Pagan Kennedy, and others to raise funds and to benefit an organization called the Movement Voter Project, which invests in grassroots organizations in swing states and districts that do voter mobilization, mostly targeting marginalized communities. 

To the Class of 1983, hello from Dallas. I hope this note finds you well this fall.

I am honored to be your new class secretary. You might remember me as Mary Ann Martin. I lived in Clark during my first year, rowed crew, attended numerous basketball, football, and cultural events, and majored in math. I adored my time in Middletown. Over the course of the past 40 years, I have had the chance to be back on the hill. My family celebrates not one but three graduates of Wesleyan: my dad (Class of 1960), myself, and one of my nieces (Class of 2015).

After a successful and rewarding career as an HR executive, I retired for the first time in 2017, to go back to school for a second master’s in conflict—see, that is my sweet spot. After teaching for a bit in the Cox Business School at SMU, COVID hit, and I returned to full-time work for another three years before retiring the second time.

I enjoy pickleball, Pilates, time to read, cooking with friends/family, and volunteering in my community. I happily give my time to Parkinson Voice Project (nonprofit), my church library, my church small group, a local neighborhood women’s group, and now to us, Class of 1983.

Ray and I are extremely fortunate that our three children and grandchildren—Emily (eight), Allison (five), and David (19 months) currently live in the metroplex. Adventures with Grampa and Gram are so much fun. Things like sleepovers, learning to do yard work, lemonade stands, trips to the zoo, hula hoop lessons, and the list goes on. You are welcome to join anytime!

Enough about me. I would love to hear from you!

Dearest Classmates:

We have a bit more space this issue as it will be entirely online, so a lot to catch up on, mostly as it was sent to us. Some things to mourn, many transitions, and some hopeful updates. Please have a read.

We are deeply saddened to learn of the sudden death of Dr. Carol Evans. Carol had a 30-year career in international security and was the director of the Strategic Studies Institute at the United States Army War College. The army embraced strategies she developed for countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region. She advised the director of Central Intelligence, the National Ground Intelligence Center, and the Defense Science Board. Carol was in Wesleyan’s program in Ghana in 1981–1982 when a coup d’etat and martial law shut down the university outside Accra. A fellow student in the program remembers Carol as the cool, organized presence who helped get the Wesleyan folks back home safely. In addition to her academic and policy work, Carol also found time to teach economics to master’s students at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and to travel widely with her daughter, Fiona.

Eric Sack ’83 is retiring from his full-time faculty position in the English department at Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Nebraska. Eric spent the 1980s as an investigative reporter in New York City, and his experiences living in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn led him to leave journalism to pursue education with a focus on inner-city and disenfranchised students, leading him to SCC. He writes that his most gratifying accomplishments at SCC will always be watching students gain confidence in their ability to use written English as they work toward a more fulfilling and productive life for themselves and their families. He hopes to continue part time in the fall in the writing center while he helps raise identical twin granddaughters.

Mark Sirota writes, “I left my job as general counsel of Trusted Media Brands after 30 years at the company and am taking the summer for some rest and relaxation before planning the rest of my life. I continued my ‘old men watching older men’ perform while the older men are still alive concert tour with James Taylor at Tanglewood, The Rolling Stones at MetLife, and Billy Joel’s 150th and final concert of his residency at Madison Square Garden, where he was joined by Axl Rose. I was in Washington, D.C., in July to celebrate my twins’ 21st!! birthdays with them, where I was hosted by Anthony Pahigian and his wife, Gordana.”

Reina Galanes moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1988. In October 2021, she retired from careers in health-care insurance administration and instructional design. Two years later, she joined End of Life Choices California (EOLCCA) as a volunteer. The mission of this nonprofit organization is to provide Californians with information and support to successfully navigate their legal end-of-life options, including medical aid-in-dying. Reina says, “Talking about death is the proverbial elephant in the room. Our lives are unpredictable and so are the timing and manner of our deaths. What is important to you? What do you want to happen? What do you not want to happen? Have you shared your end-of-life wishes with your loved ones? It’s never too soon and can always be too late. It’s your life, your death, your choice.”

John Robinson writes, “Our adult kids are all doing great. Maya [Sonenberg]’s latest book, Bad Mothers, Bad Daughters, came out last year, and she is working a book now about Merce Cunningham. (Maya is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Washington.) In my retirement, I think I’m busier than before: now doing the business side of the arts for all who need it—producing, advising and supporting performance art, choreography, music, and now film too. You can see a couple of films I’ve executive produced. They are currently streaming (on Prime) and elsewhere: Thin Skin (director: Charles Mudede) about the life of a Seattle jazz trumpeter; and Anu (director: Sudeshna Sen), a coming-of-age story for the whole family (I have a small role in this one). And more to come soon with new episodes of Uncertain Detective series, and a film of the Kronos Quartet’s final concert together in San Francisco.”

Patty Smith writes “I spent 10 days of June in residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) working on my newest novel-in-progress. And in July, my wife, Cindy, and I headed to New England for vacation. Highlights included a delightful dinner with Ginny Pye and John Ravenal ’81 at their lovely home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a fabulous get-together with Terry Cowdrey and Laura Fine Warren at Laura’s home in Massachusetts.” Patty is still teaching American literature and creative writing at the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School in Petersburg, Virginia, and still writing. 

Carlos Hoyt wrote to let us know he has a book coming out in November/December (with his colleague, Minna Ham), Diversity Without Divisiveness: A Guide to DEI Practice for K-12 Educators.

Cary Dier, technical editor in the Operational Evaluation Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) Systems and Analyses Center (SAC), is a recipient this year of the 2023 W. Y. Smith Award, named in honor of General William Y. Smith, who led IDA for five years.

Emilie Attwell keeps going as a psychiatrist in Texas. “Life is great right now. I came to New Mexico to escape the heat, and it turns out I escaped Hurricane Beryl as well! It is a working vacation. Work starts at 7:00 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m. As long as I have Wi-Fi and privacy, I can work!”

David Hessekiel sent a nice update. “Last fall I sold Engage for Good, the corporate social impact conference and digital resource that I started 23 years ago. I consulted to the new owner, a terrific social entrepreneur 25 years my junior, until this May’s conference, at which they were kind enough to present me with a lifetime achievement award. (And, no, that honor doesn’t mean I have some sort of terminal illness—thank goodness.) 

“At 64 I’m far from retired, but I am enjoying the much more relaxed pace of overseeing one instead of two conference businesses—the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum—and the time that opens up for other pursuits. Besides tennis, pickleball, and swimming, it has meant a return to my journalistic roots. As luck would have it, a neighbor bought our local newspaper last fall and I’m a regular contributor. Incredibly exciting was covering the Democratic congressional primary race this spring between incumbent Jamaal Bowman and George Latimer, which attracted more political spending than any such contest in American history.”

Here is the photo of David at the Engage for Good conference this year.

And for a next generation thing, Ellen (Friedman) and Sam Bender joined Ellen’s father, Joe Friedman ’52, for the graduation of their daughter (and Joe’s granddaughter), Eliza in May. They got mentioned in the Class of ’52 Notes last issue for the musical Eliza directed at Wes in April, but I thought it right to stick them in here for us.

I really like letting people know that they have room to write, since we have space for 2000 words, as it turns out that people will really send updates. We’re so glad to share them with you.

David writes for this issue.

Greetings from Brooklyn! And welcome to our digital notes, where you can share pictures and videos, and I don’t have to figure out how to squeeze it all into 800 words!

We’ll start with Ramon J. Pineda, who is “still in Corpus Christi; still working for Scripps TV; still living the dream! We’ve survived some storms (Alberto and Beryl), a crazy internet outage, the ‘spyware’ disaster that froze half the world, Trump’s assassination attempt . . . and 2024 is not over yet! Life is good, kids are good, and I am getting ready to sign up for Medicare—time flies! Sending you all my regards from South Texas. Be well!”

Matthew King announced that “after 40 years of government service, I retired this summer! From a naval aviator in the U.S. Marines after Wes, to DOJ as a trial attorney, to U.S. Customs/Homeland Security Investigations as a special agent and ending up at the Department of Homeland Security as the deputy assistant secretary of Law Enforcement Policy, it was time. Along the way I received the DHS Gold Medal for actions in Panama intercepting Russian weapons headed to North Korea; made the largest undercover seizure of Chinese automatic weapons in U.S. history; led a team of agents into Haiti after the earthquake in 2010; received two silver medals for other law enforcement issues; and upon retirement, was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal—the highest award DHS bestows.”

Congratulations Matt, on your prestigious awards, and thank you for helping to keep us safe!

Matt adds, “As a famous predecessor once said, ‘First 40 years for God and country—now I am a mercenary!’ I now look forward to my daughter’s, Isabelle ’16, wedding to Parker Wilson ’15 next spring and some lazy fly-fishing!”

Coincidence department: Matt concludes by letting us know that the Parker Wilson is our own Nancy Parker Wilson’s son—“small world!”

Small world indeed! Congratulations to Matt, to Nancy, and to your families!

More and more of us seem to be at the end of long and distinguished careers. After 30 years as a professor of environmental science, urban planning, and sustainable design at the University of Illinois, Daniel Schneider has joined the ranks of those retired and moved back East, “to the Taconic Hills near western Massachusetts, where I’m setting up a shop for my furniture making. My son, Jacob, is working in D.C. as an EMT/emergency room tech, and my daughter, Rose, has just started at Bard College.”  He adds that “I can be reached through my old email, ddws@illinois.edu or my website, danielschneiderfurniture.com.”

Daniel shared with us a picture of him with his two children:

Delcy Ziac Fox, our tireless class agent, writes that the former residents of InTown 21 had a series of mini-reunions recently: Delcy herself met Jim Sullivan ’82, P’19 for dinner in Barnstable Village, Massachusetts; Jim and his son, Owen Sullivan ’19, met for dinner with Gary Shapiro in Brooklyn, New York; and Miriam Stern Sturgis, husband, Gary Sturgis ’77, and Delcy met for dinner in cyberspace.

Delcy tells us that she is retired now, as are Miriam and her husband, Gary. Gary Shapiro is still a teacher at Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences in Brooklyn, New York. Jim is inpatient medical director at a substance use organization, High Point Treatment Center, and son Owen is management consultant with Potomac Point Group. 

The deadline for this edition of the notes was August 26, after the Democratic Convention and before the September debate, which at press time was still scheduled.  We know that the Wesleyan community is a cross section of the country as a whole, and, if you remember the brilliant and remarkable virtual presentation our own Christopher Graves presented for our last reunion—in the context of vaccines—that our nation is very much segmented into four very different categories. He shared with us that we have much to learn about how to communicate not only with those who share our values but also with those who do not. The word “together” does not always apply.

That said, Will Galison wrote a song for the Harris/Walz campaign (you can find it on YouTube). He said, “my last overtly political video (much more ambitious) was in 2008, and it was made an official song of the Obama campaign, being played at fundraisers across the country.”

I end on a personal note, as I have the space to do so. I have joined the ranks of many of you now eligible for Medicare. I hit the big 65 on March 18, and my dear wife, Elizabeth, gathered my three children from the diaspora to join me for dinner at Jean Georges at Columbus Circle, in Midtown Manhattan.

In this picture, you can see yours truly, who forgot to take his napkin out from under his chin 😉 with my wife, Elizabeth, and my children behind us, in ascending order: my son, Lee, 20, who came down from upstate New York, is now in their junior year at the University of Rochester; my daughter, Soshannah, 35, who came down from Burlington, Vermont, and is now a Head Start teacher in North Providence, Rhode Island; and my son, Dan, 39, who is in marketing and came east from Scottsdale, Arizona.

I have enjoyed adding the pictures and not having to count the words. And speaking of counting, I just realized that we have less than two years to our next reunion. I’m looking forward to it already!

In memoriam for Aleta Elaine (McClam) Staton written by Wesleyan classmate and dear friend, Allison Brown.

“When she enrolled at Wesleyan University, Aleta had not planned to pursue a degree in the performing arts, but the sounds of the orchestra, the rhythm of the drums, the harmonies of the choirs, the lights of the stage, and the applause of the audience called to her. The theater and the arts became her home. Wesleyan gave Aleta the platform to develop and nurture her innate talents as a phenomenal and charismatic actor, an elegant and powerful dancer, a strong and interpretive vocalist, and most importantly, an unconditional and supportive friend to everyone.

“A friend to everyone that met her, Aleta was an integral part of Wesleyan’s African American community. Whether it was getting your hair braided or cut, like the neighborhood barber or beautician, she was always the shoulder you could lean on, a confidant, and a consummate supporter and advocate.

“After graduating, Aleta dedicated her life to the cultivation of artist in Middletown as well as her New Haven community, serving as an educator, an arts administrator at Long Wharf Theater, as the former Cultural Affairs commissioner and chair, as director of Community Engagement at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, and as an actor in plays as powerful as Ntozake Shante’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.

“As an educator within her community and a lecturing professor at Quinnipiac and Yale Universities, her students ranged in age from pre-K to mature adults. For Aleta, theater and the arts were her teaching instruments about life, its struggles, challenges, joys, and hopes. She worked tirelessly to inspire the lives of all she came in contact with. Her life was the theater, its people, its growth and evolving diversity, and the impact it has on culture and society.

“When asked about her approach to teaching, Aleta said, ‘Through the years, I have come more into my own as an instructor. I’ve found everybody has a way of communicating. There is no completely prescriptive way of teaching this or that. You have to discover along the way what parts of you can connect with them that you need to share every day . . . I have a lesson for every increment of the subject matter, but the lesson can veer to the right or the left or explode in the center, and those are the magic moments in class! I live for that. . . .’

“For those who knew Aleta, they understood that her own personal struggles and health challenges took a back seat to the work she knew she could accomplish. Aleta ‘lived a full life,’ one that will continue in the lives of her daughter, Jade, her sister, Laura, and all of those who were blessed to have met and been inspired by her.

“On September 25, 2022, while speaking to an audience that came to support her, Aleta said, ‘I am just like y’all. You know, been through, going through, we’ll get on the other end. I don’t know how this is gonna turn out, but it’s already written. So, I have nothing to complain about, I have nothing to worry about. I will be fine. . . .’”

“On July 4, as people celebrated America’s freedom, the curtain closed as Aleta Elaine (McClam) Staton took her final bow.”

The obituary for Aleta: Aleta Staton

Melissa Stern: “It’s been a very exciting time in my family. My son, Max W. Friedlich ’17, has a play on Broadway. It’s called JOB, and I admit we’re all still a little gobsmacked that this has happened. A year ago, we were literally stapling the set together in a tiny theater downtown. And now it’s on Broadway. It’s been nuts!

“I have a solo show opening at DIMIN NYC in Tribeca. I am very excited about it and happy to be working with this fab gallery. It’s called A Leg to Stand On, sculpture, drawing, and assemblage. It opened on September 6 and runs till October 19. (406 Broadway, 2nd floor; Leg to Stand On)

David Hafter: “After 42 years of providing mental health and clinical supervision services, my run comes to a welcome end in December. I run a team of clinicians who provide services for Medi-Cal clients. I will continue doing trainings for the agency a few days a month, but the rest of the time in retirement will be devoted to writing—a novel and a play in the works—and playing with this great band, Wealth of Nations (named after the original WoN from Wesleyan with the original band members from Wesleyan: myself, James Marcus ’81, Kathy Bergeron, and Vic Tredwell). The current band has a blast together.”

James Kent: “I remain in touch with our Wes E&ES professor Pete Patton, who had near-death experience with a pulmonary fungal infection he picked up [in] Death Valley, and as of two years ago, he was going back to—Death Valley! Crazy is a required component in E&ES. Our other professors, Greg Horne and Jelle de Boer, have passed. I went to Jelle’s memorial and told bad jokes about his Dutch accent.”

Amanda Hardy Sloan: “I have found, after picking up riding again at age 50, after my kids were grown and flown (I had been an avid teenage rider and had to give it up at Wes because I couldn’t afford it), that many, many women our age are riding again. Women of ALL backgrounds and abilities. There are many opportunities for women like us to ride. It is so therapeutic and both physically and psychologically good for us!

“I could not afford a horse of my own when I was younger, but hubby, Chris, and I found ourselves in a position to be able to do so on a modest level as we neared retirement. My dear mare was introduced to me by the trainer I was riding with at age 52, and I just fell in love with this horse. She is probably the only horse I will ever own. I’ve had her for 15 years, and we know each other backward and forward. She is now age 23, so slowing down a bit, but we only pleasure/trail ride, so it works out well.

“Mika is a registered Foundation Quarter Horse with champion bloodlines (but even if she wasn’t, I’d love her just the same!). She came east to Massachusetts when her Utah ranch had to be disbanded in the economic downturn of 2008–2009. She was pregnant with a filly. The truck she was on coming East hit an ice storm and flipped over. She was scraped up badly, but no bones broken. The truck with her on it continued to the upstate New York breeding farm that had purchased her. When they saw her injuries, they refused her. She was put back on the truck and went along with two young geldings to Horseplay Stables in Massachusetts, where I was riding. Our kind owner/trainer, Terri Hoy, accepted her, cared for her, cured her, and delivered her filly, Lulu, not long after! It was then that I started riding her and later purchased her. We had many years of trail riding, pleasure riding, and even a dabble into dressage with Horseplay!

“Recently I have moved Mika, as she is aging, to a small family farm in the town where I live. Attached are some photos of a trail hand walk we took with my husband, Chris, and our dog, Sabina, when we first moved to this new barn.

“Professionally, I am a landscape architect! This is my second career; I switched to it in my early 30s after working in nonprofit public relations during my 20s. I have loved the profession—a combination of environmental awareness, advocacy, design, knowledge of nature, and doing a lot of drawing! I am pretty much retired now. I continue to serve as a board member of local environmentally oriented organizations.”

From me, Jaquie: “I don’t know about all of you, but this summer has screamed by for us. Andrew McKenna (hubby extraordinaire) and I have both of our girls home—our older daughter, Xan, just graduated from Williams (a double major in studio art and comparative literature, with a minor in Spanish) and is working four to five part-time (some paying) jobs and also doing volunteer work in the arts as she figures out what the next step is for her (ideas and connections welcome); and our younger daughter, Juliana, a rising junior at Eckerd, spent the summer working on her dive master for scuba diving, lifeguarding, and looking for a marine biology internship for next summer (again, ideas and connections welcome).

“I’ve been taking a summerlong course to become certified as a pollinator advocate. (My head is bursting with all the in-depth information we have learned from this program that is focused on native plant species and native pollinators—absolutely fascinating and so critical for our survival.) And Andrew is hyper focused on his work at the Boulder Airport.

“It’s so special for us to be having family dinners together most nights—lots of laughter and many adventures together as well. We have had a revolving door of visitors—family members and friends. And we have been working on big challenges—Andrew, Xan (committee coordinator), me (committee treasurer), and many others are working hard to save Boulder Airport (trying to get Boulder City residents to vote ‘no’ on two measures on the ballot calling for the closure of the airport. I am happy to report that the measures have been withdrawn, though the work continues to be sure we promote and protect Boulder Airport. And we’re also working with BlueWave Postcards to try to save democracy (Xan is one of the artists—her pastel for the Arizona card just got sold out).

“On November 6, I go in to get my left knee replaced—talk about a game changer on so many levels and a fairly sedentary end of the year as I work hard on PT for my recovery (send all your positive energy on November 6 and going forward—it will be greatly appreciated)!”

Our 45th Reunion is coming up in 2025!!! I’ve signed on as reunion chair and welcome a co-chair and volunteers to make this reunion memorable. Also open to ideas for class speakers both for us and for panels.