Class Notes | 1970s

After what seemed to be a long cold winter, we’ve managed to cobble together a surprising number of beautiful days to provide the Northeast with a real spring season. In short-sleeved polo I write to you with the latest news from our class. There often appears to be a theme running through groups of notes I receive. This time around, it was grandchildren.

George Fredric Jones Cruickshanks is the new grandson to proud grandparents Karen and Don Cruickshanks ’75, born in April.

Jonathan Gertler’s first grandchild was born to his oldest son, Chessin. Son Charles, 28, is getting his PhD in climate physics and chemistry at MIT, and youngest William, 23, just spent a year in Kenya working on sustainable agriculture and technology infrastructure for a firm with an office in Nairobi. Jonathan and wife Jane are doing well; he has a third album of all new songs due out around September.

Iddy Olson loves the mixture of entrepreneurship with her consulting practice two days a week and working the other three days a week for a boutique executive coaching firm in Chicago. Iddy moved into a beautiful rental house with her fella in May. Her son, Des, and her daughter-in-law have given her a grand-puppy and are expecting their first child in December.

Hope Neiman reported on the history made in Wesleyan sports. Men winning lacrosse was noteworthy. Women’s tennis team went to the NCAA tournament, and they made it to the round of eight—best finish ever by a Wes team. Then, Wesleyan sent two men and two women to the individual tournament. All were played at Claremont McKenna. Eudice Chong ’18 and Victoria Yu ’19 had made it to the NCAA finals to play against one another and were in the semis for doubles. In fact, for the first time ever in NCAA history, one person, Eudice Chong, took the championship in all four of her years. [see p. 14]

Jeff Gray reported Gamma Phi DKE held its annual open house during Reunion and Commencement. Dave Thomas and Tom Roberts were part of the crew of alumni who helped set up. After the open house, while the folks who actually had Reunion went to their respective class dinners, all headed down to La Cantina Restaurant in Middletown. They were joined by Jeff Shames who was on campus for the next-day graduation of his nephew.

Jane Goldenring was at Wesleyan in May to teach a two-day seminar to the film department’s graduating seniors about working in the film and television industry. Jane was joined in Middletown by Kate Seeger.

Laraine Balk Hope writes that in retirement, the cliché that there’s never enough time to do everything is very true. She is consulting on a limited basis and generally enjoying the flexibility to exercise more, improve her French and take other classes, read, and catch up with far-flung friends and family, including Arlene Lappen and Janet Malkemes.

Lisa Brummel’s son, Adam, graduated from high school; he plans to attend American University in the fall. Son Noah is spending time in Israel. Lisa and husband Joel will be visiting him this fall.

Michael Rittenberg is the last of six original partners of his urologic practice. He is working way harder than anticipated but thrilled to report that son Daniel will complete his urologic residency and join the practice in July 2019. His other three children are grown, independent, and prospering in their professional lives.

Michael Foxall is trying to get in touch with Bob Rees.

Peg Batchelder has retired from veterinary practice and pharmaceutical research and is living the good life on Maui with May Coryell, her partner for over 30 years.

Peter Guenther is attending his son Geoff’s medical school graduation from Tulane; he’s going into pediatrics and will be at Children’s National Hospital in D.C. for residency.

A couple of sad notes: Sarah Kendall wrote that her partner, Wolfgang Natter ’78, passed away suddenly. He was VP of academic affairs at the College of St. Scholastica. They had wonderful times in their brief time together—especially exploring the northland of Minnesota. They were fortunate to have found each other after a 40-year interlude from being “siblings” at Alpha Delta Phi. Sarah will be moving back to New Hampshire this summer. Mary Rindfleisch passed away in April. Mary was a long-time community and arts supporter, in particular building the Ridgefield, Conn., library. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sarah and to the friends and families of Wolfgang and Mary.

Gerry Frank | Gfrank@bfearc.com

Summer greetings, classmates! Hopefully everyone is enjoying all the pleasures of the season. The most important news would be our successful and well-attended 40th Reunion over Memorial Day weekend. Thanks to a lot of organizational and creative effort on the part of our Reunion committee and university liaisons, all the activities went off without a hitch. Our first class gathering took place on Friday in the new resource center where the library was dedicated and named for the class of 1978, in honor of its generosity during its 40th Reunion year. A plaque commemorating our gift includes a quote by Toni Morrison, which reads, “If there’s a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” As to our generosity, it’s a pleasure to report that we met our 40th Reunion fundraising goal of $400,000 for the Wesleyan Fund and $5,000,000 in multi-year commitments.

Saturday kicked off with an organizing breakfast meeting for women athletes (thanks to Suki Hoagland and Fran Rivkin). An energetic group of ’78s rallied for the class march to Memorial Hall and many attended the box lunch under the big tent afterwards. Eclectic held an afternoon party with many ’78s in attendance. Our well-attended class dinner was held in the ’92 Theatre. Irma Gonzalez did a fabulous job of MCing the evening and we had a hot-off-the-press university update from Michael Roth. During our meal, the mic was passed around and classmates shared their Wesleyan experiences. An added bonus to the weekend took place off-site up in Foxboro, Mass., on Sunday where our own Men’s Varsity Lacrosse team competed in and WON the Division III National Championship! There were many alumni and students in attendance to watch the exciting game.

To the 63 classmates who were able to attend our Reunion, surely you are treasuring many special moments—and to those who weren’t able to attend, you were missed. For everyone’s enjoyment, Kathy Mintz put together a photo album. Thank you, Kathy.

Andrea Gabor sent in news of her new book, After the Education Wars, published in June by The New Press. Her earlier books include Einstein’s Wife, The Capitalist Philosophers, and The Man Who Discovered Quality. Andrea is Bloomberg Chair of Business Journalism at Baruch College.

Ken and I celebrate 15 years as co-secretaries and are on board for the foreseeable future. However, the columns are only interesting if you send us news!

Susie Muirhead Bates | sbatesdux@hotmail.com 

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

It’s officially summertime. Not that many submissions this issue. C’mon, send in your news please. Or are you saving it for our 40th next year?

Tina Binns Palmer: “We became grandparents in October for the first time as son #1 and wife became parents of a wonderful and happy son. Early this November, son #2 and wife will join the club and welcome their first child. Meanwhile son #3 is digging in various parts of Greece while pursuing his master’s in archaeology.”

Jane Marcellus: “I am part of an American Journalism Historians Association team building a database in anticipation of the centennial of the 19th Amendment. I had an essay ‘The Growing Rock’ published in the Gettysburg Review and a #MeToo piece in the Washington Post.”

Caroline Norden: “After working for 25 years on land protection and stewardship projects for various land trusts, I am now a stay-at-home mom, caring for two teenage daughters. I am excited that my eldest will be entering Wesleyan as a freshman this fall. I’m looking forward to becoming reacquainted with the college.”

Kimberley Carrell-Smith: “I’m still a professor of practice in public history at Lehigh University, where I also direct the interdisciplinary Community Fellows Graduate Program. As a former dumpster diver with 20 years and counting since my first university ‘garbage’ forays, I run a huge university-community sale project that collects student castoffs at the end of the year and turns them into gold through an enormous community sale. The aim is to channel high-end reusable goods into a sale in my low-income neighborhood surrounding our campus, inviting folks to buy with dignity at bargain prices. We made $20,000-plus this year for school field trips and programs for neighborhood kids! Pretty good haul for all items at about 25 cents to a dollar or two. Where else can you buy Prada or Versace apparel, a fan, a bucket, a pan, and a chair, and walk away with change from $20?”

Andrew Tanzer: “My book, Robert Kuok: A Memoir, has sold about 160,000 copies, mainly in Southeast Asia, and will go on sale in the U.S. market in September.”

Mecklenburg County Manager Dena R. Diorio announced that W. Lee Jones Jr. has been named as the new park and recreation director. Jones, a licensed architect and member of the American Institute of Architects, currently serves as the division director for Park and Recreation’s Capital Planning and Alliance Development Services. He is responsible for coordinating the planning, design, and construction of the department’s facilities and overseeing the development of many partnerships. Over the years, Jones worked on several notable park projects, including First Ward Park, Romare Bearden Park, and the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex at Matthews.

From my partner in notes, Ann Biester Deane: “So proud of my son, Carter ’18, the sixth member of our family to graduate from Wes! Off to Cologne next year on a DAAD fellowship.” Six Wesleyan grads! It’s a dynasty.

Yours truly, Gary Breitbord, has been spending time with the usual cast of characters from DKE/Wesleyan. I know I keep writing about this group, but the bonds are stronger than ever, even 40 years later, and since no one else wrote in, I figured I’d bore you one more time. Many impromptu get togethers surrounding two noteworthy highlights: A fun reception at the DKE house on the Saturday of Reunion weekend then the next day at Gillette Stadium where the Wesleyan Men’s Lacrosse team won the NCAA Division III Championship!

The Reunion reception didn’t disappoint with classes from 1958–2013 (like Bart Bolton ’58 to Zach Binswanger ’13) and those in between well-represented. From our time on campus, the class of ’78 was in the house: John McDermott, Ralph Rotman, Bill Ahern, Paul Nelson, Jeff Nesson, Bill Weiss, Jeff Binswanger, and Michael Klingher. Also, in attendance representing the DKE Alumni Board of Directors: Jeff Gray ’77, Dave Thomas ’77, Tom Roberts ’77, Dave Bagatelle ’86, Scott Karsten ’74, and the illustrious Joe Britton.

There was a large Wesleyan contingent (the graduation ceremonies in Middletown precluded a much larger showing) cheering on the men’s lacrosse Cardinals in their unprecedented accomplishment. I was fortunate to join a legion of lacrosse luminaries including Pat McQuillan ’75, Jim Daley ’75, Charlie Cocores ’74, Bill Devereaux ’75, Jock Burns ’72, Al Poon ’76, Dave Campbell ’75, Pete McArdle ’75, and Peter Guenther ’77 in celebrating this Wesleyan milestone. And to our own class of ’79 lacrosse playing stud, Jono Cobb, it’s a different game than when you and I played, my friend.

Gary Breitbord | gbreitbo@aol.com

Ann Biester Deane | abdeane@aol.com

Class of 1979 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship Fund

Julian Carraway ’18, Sociology

Happy Spring! My first PCA race of the season will be at Road Atlanta in April (ABD).

Ann Kaplan never ceases to amaze! “Last fall, I organized a conference, Duty to Warn. The speakers were psychologists who outlined their concerns about the president’s dangerousness. There’s nothing like successfully herding a group of NYC shrinks to give a person a sense of bewildered accomplishment. In August I dived the Lembeh Strait in Indonesia. The strange life there includes hairy frog fish, blue ringed octopi, stargazers, seahorses, ghost pipefish, devil fish, and scores of nudibranchs. I attended a Vinyasa yoga retreat in a villa in Nice. In addition to hours of yoga instruction, the retreat included meditation, indulgent food, and great wine. LuxYoga sells a T-shirt that reads: “F*ck Kale. Eat Butter.” Last year, I was promoted to vice president at Council for Aid to Education, where I have worked for 17 years as a researcher and writer. I spent much of 2017 working with a brilliant coder, Jacob Drew ’98, on a benchmarking platform for advancement professionals. Our new application just launched and has been very well-received.”

Martha Bush remarks, “After a wonderful run of 25-and-a-half years at SIGMA, I will be leaving as of the first of the year. I will be doing a couple of personal projects that I hope to tell you about later in 2018.”

Matt Jarvinen reports that Ralph Maltese and his bride, Sheila Peck ’81, visited him in Colorado last September. Ralph was named “Most Valuable Wedding Guest” by the family when his godson, John Jarvinen, was married in the hills west of Denver. Ralph stuck around for a few short hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park, topping out at an elevation just over 13,000 feet.

Melissa Stern ’80, Jim Friedlich ’79, and Max Friedlich ’17 spent a wonderful Christmas Eve with Tom Valtin, at Tom’s home in San Francisco. Jim hung out with Ralph Maltese in San Jose, last month. Tom is working at The Sierra Club as he has since Wesleyan. Ralph now runs operations for The Santa Clara Food Bank, serving hundreds of thousands of meals daily to the region’s most at-risk populations.

Robert Kuhn notified us that “after 11-plus years in Florida, my husband Steven and I moved back to the Northeast in April (with our two Irish Terriers). In fact, we moved to Salisbury, Conn., one town over from where I went to boarding school (Hotchkiss). We were ready for a change and needed to exit overcrowded South Florida—we just didn’t know we’d end up in a community I was a part of in the early 1970s! We’re very happy so far and look forward to reconnecting with northeastern friends and making new ones. Anyone in the area, feel free to reach out!”

Joy D’Amore moved to Philadelphia from Dallas in December to start as director of executive search at CBIZ CMF. She leads searches for CFOs for middle-market private equity-backed portfolio companies nationwide. On a personal note, Joy had a wonderful surprise. Thanks to Ancestry.com DNA testing, she discovered that she has four younger half-brothers who live in the Richmond area. Joy had been adopted at birth and grew up an only child. She met her brothers over New Years and is very happy to be developing a close relationship with them and their families, including seven nephews and two nieces. Joy had met a half-sister six years ago from her maternal side and stays in close touch with her and with her 14-year-old niece.”

Katharine McKenna visited her daughter, Eliza ’20, at Wes. Katharine continues to paint Wyoming and the West. Her paintings will be on exhibit at the President’s Office Gallery at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn until May. Still travelling, she visited Scotland and Costa Rica with upcoming trips to Las Vegas and Paris.

Andrew Tanzer reveals: “I just published my first book, Robert Kuok: A Memoir, the story of a low-profile, enormously wealthy Malaysian-Chinese tycoon. Published in English in Singapore and Chinese in Hong Kong, the book sold more than 100,000 copies in Southeast Asia in its first two months and will go on sale in the U.S. this spring. After 25 years in journalism, mostly in East Asia, I switched to private wealth management in 2011 and became a chartered financial analyst in 2012.”

Jono Cobb writes: “No big news on the home front but I want to encourage folks to get to the polls this November! If you think your vote doesn’t matter take a look around at the current situation in our country.”

Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre invite everyone to join them at Afropop’s 30th anniversary gala on May 3 at City Winery in NYC. Harry Belafonte is honorary co-chair. Aurelio Martinez and Mokoomba will be inducted into the Afropop Hall of Fame. Afropop’s galas are always exceptional (afropop.org/page/gala2018).

Gary Breitbord | gbreitbo@aol.com

Ann Biester Deane | abdeane@aol.com

Class of 1978 Endowed Scholarship Fund

Matthew Richard Grimaldi ’21, Florence, MA

Alison Gilchrist is enjoying life on the coast of Maine. She volunteers at the Penobscot Marine Museum’s photo archive, as well as for the Midcoast Restorative Justice Project as a mentor. She’s catching up on her travels, and is appreciative of it all: “My kids are all doing well, I’m healthy, I have great people and family around, including brother Geoff ’92 and his family. I’m so lucky!” Nice.

Richard Order is serving on the board of the Mandell Greater Hartford Jewish Community Center and is co-chair of its Jewish Film Festival. He continues his work as a partner in the legal firm of Updike, Kelly and Spellacy, in Hartford, Conn.

Marisa Smith continues dual careers as both a playwright and a theater book publisher. Smith and Kraus Publishers have surpassed its first quarter century, with 700 titles in print. About 10 years ago she got the bug to write plays herself and has become an award-winning playwright. Upcoming productions include Sex and Other Disturbances in May (Portland Stage, Maine) and Venus Rising in January 2019 (Northern Stage, Vermont). Her oldest son, Luke, is married and works as an attorney in San Antonio, Texas, while second son Peter is a sommelier in Los Angeles.

Our 40th Reunion is coming up on May 25-27. Hope to see many of you there.

Susie Muirhead Bates | sbatesdux@hotmail.com 

Ken Kramer | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

As much as I enjoy an email update from fellow class members, nothing beats running into folks, accidentally or planned, for an actual face-to-face meeting. Such was the case visiting with Liz and Will Sillin at the opening on an art show in Lexington, Mass., where Will had several fine pieces of work on display. Joining in to support the artist was fellow architect Rob MacNeille and wife Kim. We made a New Year’s resolution to get together and compare notes early in 2018. Rob has an amazing design and construction practice based in Essex and Wellesley, Mass. At Thanksgiving, my family had a Reunion gathering in Bermuda where, after a fine dinner out, we ran into Kathy (Asquith) Franklin. Kathy was on a wedding venue scouting trip with her future daughter-in-law and family. We both laughed at the incredible coincidence. It was great to see Kathy as we missed catching up during last May’s Reunion.

Several other folks wrote in wishing well to all in the New Year, including Kate Seeger and Lisa Brummel. Wendy Giardina has started studying Japanese in preparation for a March trip. This will be Wendy’s 11th language. In addition, Wendy is doing some translation for a French publisher and has begun attending an ornithology course in nearby (for her) Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Janet Malkemes sent along her annual update, which included a report on her recovery from the removal of a cancerous tumor from her intestine. She has returned to work this New Year cancer-free with great appreciation of the medical staff that provided great care, as well as a support network of wonderful family and friends.

Dave Schreff enjoys his investing and board work in pro and college sports, media, and product licensing. His two sons are married and he sees their sister in New York frequently.

Buzz Cohen has staged-managed Oedipus El Rey for the Public Theater. Last summer Buzz was the stage manager for Shakespeare in the Park’s Julius Caesar and received the Del Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Art of Stage Management.

Brad Arrick is a clinical professor of medicine at Dartmouth College, where he has been chief of hematology/oncology. He completed a master’s in healthcare management at Harvard. Brad and his wife are looking forward to their son graduating high school next year.

Sadly, Dave Loder informed me of the passing of Tom Tucker in late 2017. Tom was a survivor of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York. He was a chief underwriting officer at Hartford Insurance Company’s Commercial Markets Division. Remembrance gifts may be made in his honor at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving (HFPG.org).

Finally, Bob Rees was delighted to meet up with Don Lowery at Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis. Don, a former New England Patriot PR director and confidante to Coach Bill Belichick ’75, expressed disappointment that the Minnesota Vikings had failed to reach the “Big Show,” where Don suggested that the Vikings would have been torn to shreds. If there is one thing I have learned as a Patriots fan and believer in karma, it is best to leave some things unspoken.

Best wishes for a healthy and joyous 2018.

Gerry Frank | Gfrank@bfearc.com

Class of 1976 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Valerie Acosta ’20, Bronx, NY

Susan Avitzour and husband Dan returned from a trip to Tenerife, Canary Islands, where they went on a dolphin- and whale-watching boat trip. They have five grandchildren with a sixth expected in June. Susan is semi-retired and looking for a literary agent for her novel. Unfortunately, Dan is having some health problems.

Carol Bellhouse had dinner in LA with David Bickford, Chris Vain, Juliet Green, and Susan Gans ’75. She attended the Sundance Film Festival. She has five films in the works.

Richard Berka provided the sad news that his  wife, Carmen Valle, a physician, passed away in 2014 after a long battle with breast cancer. Their son, Richard, Jr., got his master’s in marine biology at James Cook University in Australia and is going to  veterinarian school in Perth. Their daughter, Della, is a sophomore at Yale. Richard is in-house counsel at Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., and lives in Brightwaters, N.Y.

Sidney Cohen and wife Carol live in Pleasanton, Calif. Sidney works for Medtronic in clinical research overseeing cardiovascular research. He recently became a grandfather and spends as much time as he can visiting his grandson and family in Philadelphia. Sid would like to hear from all: sidneyacohen@mac.com.

Lawrence H. Davis and wife Ronna visited Wes in October and enjoyed visiting the Earth and Environmental Sciences department. Last year, they visited Cuba and Spain, and this year Lawrence is planning a fishing trip to Bolivia and a trip to Estonia. Son Max returned to the U.S. after seven years in Israel, and daughter Ilana ’06, who is the mother of their two grandchildren, is continuing her law career.

Michael Donnella, who is living in El Dorado, Ark., had a Wesleyan football weekend in LA hosted by David Carlisle, who is the president of Charles Drew University. Mike reports that David has brought the university from the brink of closure to a thriving concern. Michael Bell and James Gaither ’77, and two of Mike’s children, joined him for the game. Mike enjoyed Christmas/Hanukkah with Ely Leichtling and Sally Merrell of Milwaukee.

Elizabeth Eisenmann learned carpentry while building a new studio in her basement for her collection of “vintage” Singer sewing machines and cabinets. She went on her first cruise to the Caribbean.

Ronald Epstein’s book Attending Medicine, Mindfulness and Humanity has just come out in paperback. See pp. 20–23 for more on his work.

Barry Fogel is beginning his 36th year in environmental law. Daughter Ella is a junior at Santa Clara University. Barry stays in touch with John Brainard, Eddie Sanchez ’74, and Steve Levin ’75, Jeff Van Nest ’75, Mark Nickerson ’75, and Jeff Prystupa ’75.

Jeff Frank is looking forward to selling his moving business and retiring in the next couple of years.

Karen Gervasoni says this column enabled her to get in touch with Larry Gilius, her old Wes boxmate. They discovered they both have adopted daughters—Lia from Vietnam and Linnea from China—who are high school juniors. Glad you could reconnect!

Debra Haffner, in her second year as the settled minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston, Va., has done her 14th protest march in D.C. since last year’s election.

Peter Hansen and wife Gail now call D.C. home. They are both doing part-time consulting, she in public health and he in construction marketing.

Josette Hendrix has been working in the Pacific Northwest through a small NGO that she founded which nurtures intercultural understanding (nwlacc.org). She has three children and is now a grandmother. She lives on Whidbey Island on a small biodynamic farm that welcomes young aspiring farmers to apprentice for a season. She hopes to reconnect with some classmates.

Jaimee Kurfirst Mirsky is finishing up her second 20-year career (first was in advertising TV production, then high school English teacher). Jaimee has been married for 38 years and has two children who teach. Her first grandchild is on the way.

Abe Yale‘s youngest son, Alex, married Amy Gold on New Year’s Eve in Boston. The newlyweds went gorilla tracking in Uganda, on safari in Tanzania, and relaxing on the beach in Zanzibar. Alex works for Facebook and Amy for Google, both in NYC. Daughter Alison is about to give birth to granddaughter number two. Congratulations, Abe!

My family spent Christmas in London where we visited our daughter, Lindsey, who is living abroad until June. It was great having everyone together. We had some fun, and I met up with my friend Paul Hannon, an Irish journalist with whom I shared a London flat the year after graduation.

The Wesleyan Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon (Gamma Phi) had its 150th anniversary this year, and a lot of the brothers were back to celebrate. I was sorry that I had to miss it, but glad to see that so many of the old gang got together.

If you have not written in a while—or ever—please do. Nicholson 6, Harriman Hall, West College, Chi Psi: speak up!

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

Class of 1975 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Carolina A. Montano ’21, Homestead, FL

Apologies to Steve McCarthy! Somehow the cybersphere routed into oblivion the emails he had sent me last fall. A bit belatedly, here is Steve’s news: “Aside from my usual investment and foundation work, I have been active with three ongoing creative endeavors: This is my 14th year as a mentor and judge for the NYU/Stern $300K business plan competition. During every month of the school year a team of 25 to 30 coaches, in conjunction with faculty, conduct workshops on developing and executing formalized pitches across three ‘silos’—traditional, technology, and social impact. It’s very interesting and rewarding. During my past 17-plus years as president of a small ’virtual’ nonprofit theater company (shakingthetree.org), my colleagues and I have written 14 one-act plays about family dynamics in business, wealth management, and philanthropy. We work with artistic directors and actors from LookingGlass Theater in Chicago and Alley Theater in Houston to deliver the pieces live. Over the past six years I have been a partner and executive producer on several iconic (90-minute) corporate and individual biopics/documentaries—Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf, Crazy About Tiffany’s, Harry Benson: Shoot First (all available on download). We at Quixotic Endeavors (QE) have several other projects in various stages of completion for The Carlyle Hotel and Norman Rockwell.”

I received a call from my almost-neighbor, Dennis Chin, who lives in Sonoma County. It was great to catch up with him and hear about his semi-retirement. He’s continuing to work and teach in orthopedic surgery part-time, while keeping up with the nine kids (almost all on their own now). We’re hoping to get together this spring.

Janet Bradlow and her husband, Joseph Schmitt, have moved. Joseph is retired, and Janet is semi-retired (emeritus agent with Prudential) and able to work anywhere with a phone, computer, and fax. So why not work from the beautiful beaches near Honeymoon Island State Park? Thus, they bought and renovated a condo in the Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. They discovered the downside of their view during Hurricane Irma, when water came through their balcony doors! The move put them close to Janet’s parents, now over 90. The whole family recently went on a cruise to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary. Janet couldn’t wait for the renovation project and move to be over but says, “I will miss NYC. I never lived anywhere else except when I was at Wesleyan.”

Janet let me know that Nancy Carol (Smith) Blemly passed away in November 2015, after a difficult battle with cancer that prevented her from attending our 35th and 40th Reunions. Nancy and Janet were friends from freshman year on. Nancy’s third husband, Mike Blemly, and her son, Ben Hamilton, from her second marriage, survive her. Janet fondly recalled attending Nancy’s first wedding, and Nancy attended Janet’s in 1999.

Arthur Gaither said, “Retired life is becoming more enjoyable. I spend time leading worship services at a small church and as backup babysitter for my granddaughter, Anaya, 4, who is my best buddy. I also handle the domestic stuff so Alfreda ’74 can continue to work for the State of Connecticut. We celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary on Nov. 25. Kinda scary. Shoutout to Andy Barnes in Arizona!“

I also heard from Jeff Cellars, who retired from the Foreign Service after spending 28 years as a diplomat in Hungary, Bahrain, Washington, Munich, Cyprus, Berlin, Belgrade, Bern, and NYC. Jeff said he and Bethanne, his wife of 38 years, were moving to Vermont. Not quite sure how he will keep busy in this new stage of life, but he has a children’s book in draft and is cooking up some other ideas

An evening with Wes alumni in San Francisco called “The Power of an Idea” brought out a few familiar faces. I didn’t see any classmates, but ran into Harold Sogard ’74, who is now retired and caught me up on the self-proclaimed “Born to Lose” suitemates who lived near us in Lawn Avenue dorms freshman year. Also got a chance to talk to Wendy Wheaton ’78 and Jon Nimer ’80.

I want to end with a shout-out to Brad Kosiba and Ed Van Voorhees (who just became a grandfather again!) for being the in loco parentis stops for our son and daughter as they made a January road trip from Massachusetts to Memphis, where Ethan was starting a six-month “co-op” work experience as part of his Northeastern University Mechanical Engineering program. I’m told the hospitality in Chapel Hill and Nashville was superb, and it was fun to share our kids with my longstanding, but rarely seen, friends.

As soon as you put this magazine down, please email and send me your news for the next issue. My deadline is a few weeks after the class notes arrive at your door.

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

Ken Jacobs writes, “My law firm, Smith, Buss & Jacobs, has grown to 17 lawyers over the past 25 years. In January we’re adding Robert Spolzino, a former appellate division judge, as a name partner, together with two other partners and three associates. We now represent over 350 co-op and condo associations in the New York metro region, including Co-op City. With Bob, we are adding a substantial municipal and litigation practice in Westchester and Long Island. I expect our profile to increase significantly in these practice areas over the next 12 months—it’s going to be an exciting ride.

“My wife, Sharon, and I adopted our children over our late 40s, so we’re about 10 years behind most of our peers in lifestyle changes. We like to say that it keeps us young, but we’re chained to the high school/college cycle for another decade. In the meantime, I’ve finally learned to like rap. Last spring my daughter Sasha and I started West Coast swing lessons as a way for Dad and daughter to bond. She stopped when school started (and she met her first boyfriend!), but I’ve continued. Meanwhile I read bridge books and play when I can, which is much less often that I would like.

“We moved from NYC to Westchester for kids, and then to Upper Saddle River, N.J., so my kids could attend Waldorf schools. My son Andrew is on the autistic spectrum—discussing how that has affected our lives would take an entire page, but it’s not the right stuff for an alumni newsletter. We have learned a lot and can offer a lot to younger parents who may be dealing with the same issues.

“Professionally, my firm has law offices in Westchester and NYC. Most of my personal clients are in NYC, but my co-op/condo colleagues in NYC now consider me as their ‘upstate’ liaison. I’ve worked from time to time on condo offerings with Seth Davis ’72. He’s a director at Warburg Realty in NYC.

“I enjoy reading your notes. It’s fascinating to see how many classmates have made their mark in unusual fields and what lifestyle choices they have made. When my kids are launched, we look forward to enjoying the same freedom (again!).”

John McLucas, in his 34th year as a professor of Italian and Latin at Towson University near Baltimore, has just published his first novel. Some passages in Dialogues on the Beach(BrickHouse Books, Baltimore, 2017, available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble) may remind some classmates of Wesleyan in the early 1970s.”

Jai Imbrey is overjoyed that at long last the book she put together, Mosques: Splendors of Islam by Rizzoli, has come out at such a time when it is key to recall the extraordinary artistic contributions that Islam has inspired—a book edited by two Jewish women! In the great Apfel-imbrey tradition.

Join Carol and CharlieCocores on their Habitat for Humanity trip this summer in Krakow, Poland, from  June 22 to July 2.Join this 10-day trip to Poland to help build for families in need of decent, affordable housing. Event code: GV18566. “You’ll fly into Krakow, Poland. We will be working either in Pszczyna and/or Gliwice. For our cultural experience we’ll visit the famous Krakow Salt Mines and Auschwitz. Program donation: $1,900 (flight not included). 40-plus percent of this is a direct contribution to Habitat’s work; the rest covers your trip expenses.

Habitat Poland is serving families on the economic margin that work, but can’t afford decent housing. Despite recent reforms, overcrowded and damp housing without proper sanitation is still the reality for far too many of Poland’s low-income working families.

The team will get their hands dirty on the build site with various tasks. Throughout the week you’ll tour local markets, visit museums, learn more about Gliwice through a walking tour, visit the world-famous Krakow Salt Mines and Auschwitz. You’ll stay in double occupancy hotel rooms near the project site and enjoy dinners out at local restaurants. Contact Charlie at cocoshfh@gmail.com or 860-304-2668 if you’re interested.

Monique Witt reports, “we had two painful family losses, but we are rallying. The guys are good. My elder son, Dev, is moving to a huge warehouse in Williamsburg with his pro-audio partner to continue his tech startup/engineering/sound technology. My younger son, Ben, continues to record, to tour and to play in NYC. Beginning in March, he has consecutive tours in the mid-west, Canada, Japan, the west coast and Europe. He’s just recorded a second album with his touring trio, and his recent album, Instead, is selling well. He anticipates two more albums toward the end of this year, one on accordion.

“OneTrickDog* will release three more albums in the coming months (we released six last year, one mentioned for Blues Album of the Year). As we develop the upcoming Sound Works, we will briefly slow our recording projects. Steven is working too hard, as am I, but that’s normal.”

Carolyn White contributes, “I, too, went to the Middlebury Film Festival and it was really good and a lot of fun. I plan to go again in 2018 and encourage others to consider it! We could make this be an annual class reunion.

“Lloyd Komesar makes everyone, especially Class of ’74 people, feel so welcome and special. The films are top-notch and very interesting. Mark your agenda for weekend before Labor Day.

“My daughter Geraldine got married to a nice young man, Ryan Kurtz, and classmatesLindley Huey and Michel de Konkoly Thege shared in our joy. I have two adorable French-American grandchildren, Celian and Alana who live, unfortunately, in Toulouse, so not exactly next door, but I manage to see them via Whatsapp and regular visits to France.

“I continue to teach NAMI Family to Family classes and play on two tennis teams at the Mount Auburn Club near Cambridge.”

Gray Cox continues to enjoy the teaching philosophy, peace studies, and language learning at College of the Atlantic in the town where he grew up, Bar Harbor, Maine. He is the clerk of the Quaker Institute for the Future and is always looking for others interested in taking part in that think tank for spirit-led research on social and environmental issues. His own research and publication of late has focused on nonviolence, dialogical reasoning, and ways of biasing the odds towards development of ethical systems of AI. He also continues to compose songs which can be heard at graycox.bandcamp.com.

Stu Forman continues to serve as medical director of Gilead Community Services in Middletown, which was started in 1968 as a project of two Wesleyan students. He remains married to the love of his life, Amy (approaching 39 years), and now has the pleasure of working with his lovely daughter, Emily, who was recently hired as a psychotherapist by Gilead. “Add in three standard poodles, and I’d be a swine to complain. My only regret is not getting to write any more pornographic football articles for the Argus.”

Michel de Konkoly Thege provides, “I was fortunate enough to be a guest at the wedding of Carolyn White Lesieur’s daughter, Geraldine, who got married in a very festive French-American ceremony in Jersey City on New Year’s Eve. My wife and I see Susan and Dan Kenigsberg both in New York City and in eastern Long Island, where we both have homes and have shared many excellent dinners together.”

Randolph Smith’s seventh golf book should be out this spring. Entitled Golf’s Price,it’s a novel involving a tournament and subsequent TV reality show powered by a “devil’s bargain.”

In the twilight of his career, Bill Burton has returned to his geographic roots in Connecticut (3 years of prep school, four years at Wesleyan, 1 year of finding self) and is doing geologic mapping for the U.S. Geological Surveyin the Woodbury-Southbury-Roxbury area, west of Waterbury. Bill’s focus is determining the source of high uranium occurring in private water wells that are drilled into bedrock. His field headquarters in Woodbury is the spacious home of two renowned Yale geology professors. When back home in northern Virginia, Bill’s volunteer activities include beekeeping, board member of the local Audubon Society chapter and a committee on nighttime lighting, and helping run a local astronomical observatory. His wife Laurel is writing her fifth sci-fi-fantasy novel. Bill looks forward to finally getting up to Lloyd Komesar’s film festival in Vermont this summer.

Lloyd Komesarreminds everyone, “Here’s an open invitation to all my classmates to join a growing contingent of Wes grads for the 4th Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival on Aug. 23-26 in beautiful Middlebury, Vt, the beating heart of the Champlain Valley in central Vermont. Great films by first- and second-time filmmakers will be on tap along with every conceivable craft beverage you can imagine. Our friends at Stonecutter Spirits, owned by Sivan Cotel ’06, always hosts an informal gathering for Wes attendees and Sivan’s barrel-infused gin goes well with conversation and good times. You can find us at middfilmfest.org. Let me know if you are planning to come so we can communicate directly.”

Sharon Purdie | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Alain Munkittrick has an important update. He says that he and Rosemary (who met at Wesleyan) are “excited, first time grandparents, having greeted Finn Munkittrick to the world in October.” They live in Portland, Conn., and are busy at work as architects for the restoration of three historic buildings on the former Elmcrest campus as a part of a $30-million development Brainerd Place.

Michael McKenna writes that he is still working out of global HQ in the barn behind his home in Vermont where he and Lynn have lived for 11 years. “Loved my time in NYC but really enjoy consulting both non- and for-profit clients on strategic communications,” says Mike. He gave his first talk at SXSW in Austin on How Social Media Creates Tunnel Vision. He also joined the board of The Conversation US, an online news source featuring content provided by university experts. Mike says he started a term on the Corporate Communications Advisory Council at UVA’s Darden School and also had his first trip to China to visit a new client in Shanghai. He says he asked classmate and Chinese expert Claire Reade for her good advice before leaving. Mike also sponsored the annual Middlebury film festival founded by Lloyd Komesar ’74. He says it is a “wonderful event” that attracts a lot of Wesleyan alumni. Mike and Tom Kelly, Tom Halsey ’72, and Rob Calhoun ’72 hosted a dinner for the Cardinal football team when they came north to play the Panthers. Mike calls it a “year of firsts” and says best of all was being father of the bride for his daughter Lee who married a wonderful guy who had known her since the seventh grade. He says both of his children live in San Francisco.

Phil Levienwas reading Hearts by Willy Holtzman ’74 and enjoyed it as much as The Morini Strad and Something You Did. Phil let his students at SBCC’s School of Extended Learning know what a “good read” the plays were and what fertile ground they provided for scene work.

James Powers writes that owns a condo on Music Row in Nashville, is serving on the 45th Reunion committee, and looks forward to seeing everyone this May. Working at Vanderbilt he found two generations of Wesleyan graduates drawn to healthcare policy. Jim, a geriatrician, and Laura Keohane ’03, a health policy faculty member, were approached to write a volume on U.S. healthcare changes. He called it a “daunting task” following the 2016 Republican landslide election. They produced a volume, Value Driven Healthcare and Geriatric Medicine: Implications for Today’s Changing Health System, scheduled for publication by Springer in 2018.

Steve Kallaugher tells me that he is still going back and forth to Swaziland, where he says his Little Young Heroes program has “blown up.” He says they have two offices, a staff of 27 people, and programs reach more than 11,000 orphans and vulnerable children. Plus, they started a community-based savings/micro-entrepreneurship project for their female caretakers. It now has 2,900 members and they’ve already saved over $150,000 to lend to each other. Steve also says a screenplay he wrote 20 years ago suddenly “got hot” in Hollywood this past summer and it’s been optioned by a “big time” producer.” He says, “I wrote it so long ago, it took me two days to find a copy after he emailed me saying that he wanted to read it. Only in the movies.”

Michael B. Robinson, who says he was “the linebacker not the fullback,” writes that he retired from Baltimore City Schools in 2014 and moved into a retirement community in York, Pa., in 2016 with his wife, who is disabled. Mike reports that he is “energized by the competitive political climate in Pa with a strong Democratic governor maintaining in a state that supported our new president. He hopes to renew acquaintances at our 45th Reunion.

David “Harp” Feldman mentions that his newest harmonica book, Harmonica Aerobics, is now in print, published by the Hal Leonard music company. “Why,” Dave asks, “is this newsworthy?” Because he dedicated the book to his great friend Paul Van Stavern ’74.

In an act of self-preservation (since David only knew two Peter, Paul, and Mary songs, and played them incessantly), while living at the late, but hardly lamented, Vinci Apartments on William Street, along with Gary Larkins and Jonathan Burr, Paul bought David two used records. Paul then informed him, at the time, that David could either learn to play blues and rock harp, or Paul would kill him while he slept and a “strange, esoteric, career was born.”

Class President Bill Quigleyhas been busy helping his son deal with post-hurricane issues in Puerto Rico, where, at this writing, an astounding 32 per ent of the island is still without power following the storm in early September. Bill is also helping him start a business. On top of that, he tore a muscle in his leg and was stuck in a boot for more than a month. Billand our 45th Reunion committee have been trying to contact all of you by e-mail or phone to encourage you to join us during the weekend of May 24-28. You may have already heard from me or Bill or other intrepid committee members including Wayne Barber, Joshua Boger, Michael Donnelly, John Feinblatt, Granderson “Granny” Hale, Mark Helfat, Evans Jacobs, Ronald Johnson, Tom Kelly, Ron Medley, Jay Rose, Charley Wayne, and Jim Powers.

So far we have scheduled a healthcare and technology seminars featuring our classmates, a class conversation about different paths we have traveled in life since graduation, and a Saturday class reception, and dinner featuring faculty and staff guests Norm Shapiro and Steve Butler. And my former film professor Jeanine Basinger tells me she looks forward to seeing you as well. Bill reports that more information is available on Reunion 2018 including suggestions on where to stay. You are also urged to join the Facebook group: Wesleyan Class of ’73 Reunion Roadtrip. He notes that Wayne Barber and Mike McKenna are among those who have posted so far. Bill says the Facebook group will have a lot of stories and photos.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with each other as inch closer to another milestone reunion in Middletown. Hope to see you there.

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com