Class Notes | 1970s

Another Labor Day weekend in Boston: Navigating the minefields of moving vans in the already congested streets makes one a bit less nostalgic for going back to school. The updates from our illustrious gang allows me to experience one of the best parts of September, being back in touch with so many classmates.

Here goes: New Manhattan residents Jane Eisner and Mark Berger ’76 have been able to reconnect with all sorts of Wes folks, including Don Lowery, Rachel Balf (visiting from Israel), Cliff Chanin ’75, Vanessa Burgess, and Ethan Bronner ’76. Rachel enjoys her new role as grandmother, which is a recent prevalent theme in these notes. Don Lowery also connected with Iddy Olson while on a recent trip to Chicago. Congratulations go out to Felice Burstein and John Roxby, who are new grandparents to a baby girl. The girl’s dad is Gabe Roxby ’06, so there is a lot of Wesleyan DNA floating around the family.

John Fink sent along an update from his trip earlier in the year: He was in Chicago (watching his son playing in the Western Amateur golf tournament), and connected with a former Wesleyan roommate, Dan Brugioni ’78. John attended a high school reunion, as he grew up in nearby Highland Park. While home in Hawaii is great, all three of his kids are finished with school and reside in Oregon, with a first grandchild due to arrive in mid-November. So, there are early discussions about possibly down the road spending more time on the mainland, perhaps in Oregon.

John Jackson sent along a couple of nice stories about Michele Roberts, who has been voted in as the new executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, making her the first woman to head up a major North American sports union. Fantastic! Jim Lyons sends along regards from Germany. Jim continues as a freelance writer and director: most recently of a new musical about the escape artist Harry Houdini at a larger, subsidized regional theater in Bavaria, as well as writing a WWI musical revue for a small Berlin venue, using original songs, letters, and documents from the era. He has been in touch with Rich Shulman, Mim Wolf, and Jim Melloan, and would like to hear from Phil Stern and Jeremy Caplin. It warmed my heart to hear that Jim is planning to attend our Reunion in 2017; it is never too early to plan! As it turns out, Jerry Caplin wrote in as well, about his first daughter leaving home for Duke University. Now Jerry, with a bit more free time, contact Jim Lyons!

Wendy Giardina wrote in about a wonderful trip to the U.S. earlier this year connecting with Laraine Balk Hope and Jeff Kahn ’76. Wendy has been spending a good deal of time reading 16th- and 17th-century French literature, as well as enjoying hiking and bird watching near her home in Switzerland. Don Ryan wrote in reporting on his son’s May graduation from Wesleyan: Don jokingly brought up the idea for a class contest rewarding the first grandchild to be accepted to Wesleyan. In keeping with a theme from these notes, there will be some serious competition.

Steve Beauchamp wrote about a near-death experience earlier in the year, including some very detailed photographs from his hospital bed recovering from staphylococcal bacterial spinal meningitis. Ugh!!! Luckily, Steve had great support from family and the Wesleyan community including: Dennis Robinson ’79, David Thomas, Vanessa Burgess, Paul DiSanto ’81, Don Citak, Kathy Mintz ’78, Bob Nastri, Jeff Gray, and Bill Belichick ’75. Steve is truly delighted to have made it through to continue experiencing life in his inimitable “go-for-broke” fashion.

Don Spencer and his wife bought a waterside house in Westport to settle into. They plan to build on the site so they won’t be moving from Darien for a couple of years. Daughter Jocelyn ’13 is working in Shanghai and will be starting grad school at the University of London in January. Younger daughter Alyssa is a sophomore at Clark University. Don arranged for Arnie Alpert to present the Oakwood Friends School’s annual Carolyn Dash Davis Gleiter Social Justice Lecture in May. Received a fine note from Ted Stevens, who has been continuing the visits to all the American baseball parks with a trip this past year to Milwaukee’s Miller Park. Ted is looking for updates from Mike Coffey and Iddy Olson. Joan Goldfeder wrote about her work as account director with Taproot, a not-for-profit whose mission is to engage professionals in pro bono service that drives social change. Joan is also launching a new marketing and creative content business with two partners. The company, Grace Creative, will specialize in reaching and motivating women in our demographic group: relentlessly young baby-boomers. Susan Jacobson sent along that in the past year she has joined a consulting firm, Robert Glavin, Inc., as a senior consultant. The firm works with nonprofit organizations on fundraising, governance and management. Richard Parad has a new position at work: co-director of the new Pediatric Newborn Medicine Clinical and Translational Research Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Daughter Becca ’09 just finished her first year of medical school. Son Matthew, the singer/guitarist/songwriter, has moved to LA to become a songwriter. Over the past 12 months he has written three songs that have hit the charts, and just signed a publishing contract with a company called Pulse Recording. Richard enlisted Jane Goldenring to help serve a role as a West Coast surrogate parent. Francis Rath no longer practices law but is still with the Loudoun County (VA) Health Department—as a member of the emergency preparedness group and the MRC coordinator. He is an active volunteer paramedic and assistant chief of the Loudoun County Volunteer Rescue Squad. Wife Denise runs a successful horse training and sales farm in Ocala, Fla.

Well, that about does it for now. My sincere thanks go out to all who sent along news. It means a lot to me and, so I hear, from so many of our classmates. My best wishes go out to all for a fine remainder to 2015.

Gerry Frank | Gfrank@bfearc.com

Well, I was a little late in contacting everyone and did not expect much. But I got a barrel of news, so here goes.

Sara Avitzour is an active psychotherapist whose lawyer days are long behind her. This semester she is finishing up her master’s degree in English and creative writing at Bar Ilan University. She has published three short stories so far and a full-length memoir. Sara has four grandchildren, three boys and one girl, ages 1 to 5.

Leslie Anderson won the 2014 National Genealogical Society Family History Writing Contest with a story about her great-great-grandmother Tabitha, who was born a slave to a wealthy tobacco planter in Virginia. When Tabitha was about 60, she purchased 16 acres from her former owner. The story will be published later this year in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Leslie is the project editor for an index of Virginia Slave Births published by Heritage Books.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Eisenmann writes that she has had three big life events in the past year. Her son and his wife (who live in LA) had twin daughters in Sept. 2013, her mom passed away on Oct. 1, 2013, after 18 years of living with Alzheimer’s disease, and Betsy retired in Jan. 2014, after 29 years as an RN, 28 with Lowell General Hospital.

Jeff Frank, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, got together with his three children for a week in Colorado Springs. (Hey, Jeff, my daughter went to college there.) Son George is a junior at the Air Force Academy; son Nathan, who is with the FBI, and his wife, Amanda, were in from Miami; and daughter Stephanie, who is a teacher, was in from Hawaii.

Karen Gervasoni, who was a great co-manager for the Wes wrestling team, and her husband, Tom Hansen, live on 100 acres in Kennebunk, Maine, with their son, Cole, who will be 16 in November. Karen is retired after 25 years as an actuary. She would love to hear from Janet Brooks, Kat Wilmore, and Diana Brody.

In July 2014, Cathy Gorin had a gathering of Liz Gissen Holder, Ed Papier, and Christine McCoy McNeil ’75 at her summer home near Copake, N.Y. At Wesleyan, they all had lived together at Kappa Alpha house (which was then university housing) and had come to this same summer home back in the spring of ’75. Their mini-reunion was full of wonderful stories and nostalgia.

Debra Haffner is still president of the Religious Institute, an organization she founded 14 years ago, to help religious leaders advocate for sexual justice, and she hopes to earn her doctorate in ministry by 2016. Her eldest got married in May and her youngest is a college senior. She just spent a week with Kath Booth ’78, her college roommate.

David Low, associate director of publications and arts and culture editor for Wes, just had his short story “Elevor” published at Solstice, a magazine of diverse voices. The story, which can be found at solsticemag.org/content/elevor concerns a young Asian woman’s adventures in NYC as she deals with claustrophobia.

Doug Hurd, who was a mainstay of the Wesleyan wrestling team, reports that his son Greg ’10 was a Division 3 New England champion wrestler for Wesleyan and went to Nationals twice. Greg is now in a PhD program in geology at the University of Texas in Austin. Doug’s daughter, Allison ’11, is pursuing dance in NYC. Doug, his wife, Cynthia, and family just returned from a trip to Cracow, Poland, and a hiking trip in the Tatra mountains.

Tom Kovar stays in touch with a lot of Wesleyan folks, including many who share his interest in music, including David Harmin and Karen Williams Harmin, Byron Haskins, Mel Blake, Marty Plotkin, Nat Needle, Libby Horn, Cheryl Alpert, BJ Buckley, Jim Fellows, Dan Cantor, and Winifred van Roden ’77. Tom, it is great that you keep in touch with so many of our classmates. Please encourage them to write in to class notes.

Gerry Rau writes that this fall over a dozen international students from various countries, none of whom speak Chinese, showed up at his church in Chiayi, Taiwan, and that the church is starting an English worship service for them. Gerry is coordinating the startup and will be speaking each week.

Mark Rubin attended Parents Day at Wesleyan this past September where Grace ’18, his youngest child, just started her freshman year. Mark’s niece, Lucy Rubin ’17, is also there. Unfortunately, Mark lost both his father and Eric, his younger brother, in the past 18 months.

This summer, Nancy and I had the pleasure of having Bruce Tobey ’75 and his wife, Pat, to our house for dinner. I also heard from Bill Devereaux ’75, who was president of our DKE chapter at Wesleyan. We have daughters at Bryn Mawr and Carleton and have met many interesting parents and alums from those schools. We both stay busy, and I have developed an interesting sideline by serving as an arbitrator and mediator in business disputes. Had an interesting case involving a well-known race car driver recently. During a break, he showed me a video of his 3-year-old driving an off-road four-wheeler solo and real fast through a bumpy field. When I asked him why his kid was not wearing a helmet, he turned to me with the most honest face and wide-eyed look imaginable. “Because his neck’s not strong enough to hold it up,” he said.

Well, we’ve run out of space. How about writing me for the next issue? 

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

Perhaps I’m not middle-aged anymore. Perhaps your trusty class secretary is slipping. The reminder message I thought I’d sent to all looking for news got composed but didn’t actually get sent at all! So watch for a message in your e-mail box soon, and if you send me updates, there will be notes for ’75 in the next issue.

In the meantime, here are the few tidbits I received over the transom: David Leisner sent a little preview of his recently released solo CD for Azica. There’s also a six-minute video that he had fun making on location in Abiquiu, N.M., in the beautiful Plaza Blanca (White Place). The inspired music is the third movement, “Farewell, R. W.,” of Facts of Life by David Del Tredici, whom David calls “one of our best living composers.” (Search for “Farewell, R. W.” on youtube.) Mitch Marinello ’76 may have this story, too, but ’75 comes before ’76 in class notes, so I get to scoop him.

Cathy Gorlin hosted a wonderful gathering of Wes friends at her summer place near the corner where New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut meet. Split between classes, the guest list was Liz Gissen Holder ’76, Ed Papier ’76, and our own Christine McCoy McNeil. She and Cathy reminiscing about Wes days living at Kappa Alpha and a spring ’75 trip to Cathy’s summer place almost 40(!!) years ago.

Speaking of 40, we have another Reunion coming up, so start thinking about making your way back to Wes next spring.

On the creative front, Kate Ballen has a new play that was produced in New York as part of the Fringe Festival in August. No One Asked Me is about undocumented teens living in the U.S., based on true stories of NYC students. Kate should know. She has been a college counselor at a Bronx high school for the past 10 years and has helped dozens of undocumented students navigate the immigration and college process.

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

Lloyd Komesar reports: “life in Vermont continues to expand in rewarding ways. With equal measures of available time and true motivation, I have founded the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival which will have its inaugural rollout Aug. 27–30, 2015. Bill Pearson is joining me in this endeavor. The Festival will focus on new filmmakers who are creating either their first or second full-length feature or substantive short film. Our website is middfilmfest.org and I can be reached through the festival at midd.filmfest@gmail.com should folks have questions.”

In July, Bill Burton saw the play, Stupid F#cking Bird, at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre, directed by Howard Shalwitz. Howard founded the theater 34 years ago and is its artistic director. The play was developed for Woolly Mammoth and won the Helen Hayes award for best new local play last year. After the play, Howard talked about its creation and direction to audience members. At the end, Bill introduced himself to Howard and wondered aloud why they had not met before—Howard said that at Wesleyan he was “buried in the philosophy department.”

Monique Witt and her family are still making jazz records, but are now getting more blues, hip hop, and rap in the recording/mixing facilities. Recently, they have been doing more video pilots for television arcs. The most recent is a trailer for “the ease of access.” They have a couple of pilots going out to studios in LA, and a new genre crossover video Monique is excited about.

Marion Hancock Fish ’76 has been selected as an Upstate New York Super Lawyer for 2014. Marion is a partner of the Syracuse, NY-based law firm of Hancock Estabrook, LLP. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement and is limited to 5 percent of the lawyers in the State.

Paul Liscom and his wife, Kim Pierpoint, hosted Rip Dauster, Mark Decker, and Jim Gilson, as well as their spouses (including Rip’s wife Marjorie Allen ’76) for a terrific several days in West Yellowstone. They hiked, laughed, caught up, cooked, read, laughed, saw the sights, laughed, … you get the idea. The three couples (other than Jim and his wife) first went to Grand Teton and between the two parks and four couples they saw moose, elk, bison, pronghorn, coyote, mule deer, eagles, osprey, Sandhill cranes, and lots of other wildlife, amazing geological activity, waterfalls, geysers, rivers, mountains, and canyons. They’re starting to think about next time.

Al Mydlinski reports that he visited Wes for the first time in 35 years this summer. Was interesting to say the least. He took his great-niece to visit, since it was on her list of schools. She liked it a lot.

David Rynick and Melissa Blacker ’76 continue to be the resident priests at Boundless Way Zen Temple in Worcester, Mass. They have lots of extra beds and a one-acre garden and invite any Wesleyan graduates in the area to stop by. Excerpts from David’s book This Truth Never Fails were featured in Best Buddhist Writing of 2013 and Melissa’s essay was part of the recently released book of stories of women and Buddhism: The Hidden Lamp.

Jim Farrell went to Wesleyan one weekend in August to sponsor a clean-up of the DKE house basement and kitchen. They want to try to start the DKE eating club all over again.

Jim Krantz is a principal of the consulting firm Worklab in NYC and is involved with a program in the Peruvian Amazon centering on sustainability of indigenous tribes and communities. Their son, Daniel ’11, is at NYU law school for a joint law and business degree after working in the technology start-up field. He remains active in the Eclectic alumni community. Their daughter, Sarah, is a junior at Barnard, majoring in art history and anthropology. Jim’s wife, Annie Boland, continues to practice as a child and adolescent psychiatrist, near their home in the Village.

Mike Heard was named US Forest Service National Volunteer of the Year for his work on trail projects on forest service land near the Big Sur coast of California. He thanks Tom Frei and the others who signed the photo at Reunion of Mike in his volunteer gear. He will be the volunteer representative in the Forest Service contingent in the 2015 Rose Parade. After that, Mike will re-enter the work force.

Pam van der Meulen had a wonderful time at Reunion, re-connecting with old friends, and particularly enjoyed the Women’s Gathering. She hopes the women from our class can re-convene sooner than five years. Pam continues to run a legal clinic at the Adolescent Health Center in New York. Her older son, Brian, graduated from NYU Law School last spring and now works as a tax lawyer in NY. Her younger son, Jeremy ’14, graduated from Wesleyan in May.

Pam writes, “Planning for Reunion put me in touch with old friends, and gave us a chance to catch up. In particular, I renewed ties with a fellow philosophy major, David Gillespie. He is a tax partner at Norton Rose Fulbright; he lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife, also a lawyer, and has a daughter and son, both in their 20s.

Lindsay Wilson couldn’t make it to Reunion, as she was presenting at a Women in French conference in Ontario, and Randy was also traveling that weekend on business. Their daughter, Caroline, just graduated this spring from the University of Arizona in Tucson with degrees in French and accounting.

Bob Baum is now a professor in the religion department and African and African-American studies program at Dartmouth.

Despite just a week away from hip surgery and on crutches, Henry Avis-Vieira made it to our 40th Reunion (a major adventure, since the train he took from D.C. was delayed about eight hours). Henry managed to reconnect with quite a few classmates, including some of his old anthro buddies like Henry Willis.

SHARON PURDIE | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Steve Kallaugher writes that he’ll be returning to Wesleyan “for the first time in years” this November, as he’s been invited to speak at the African Innovation Summit, which is being put on by the African Students Association. He is still running Young Heroes, the organization he founded in Swaziland. “We’re now supporting just over 1,000 orphans with monthly social transfer grants, medical care, and vocational/business training. I run a great trip there every year. People should check it out at swazicycle.dojiggy.com and join us next year.”

Steve says he has also “done gigs” in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan since he last wrote, working for a large agricultural organization. Otherwise, he says he is living “a quiet life” in rural New England, where he hikes the woods with his dogs and tends his new wildflower meadow and occasionally gets back on stage. “I just closed in Julius Caesar, in which I played the man himself,” says Steve.

Donald Zilkha tells me he has spent most of his career as an entrepreneur shifting focus and investment styles to “suit what seemed to work to build a comfortable lifestyle for my family while safeguarding my reputation.” He says, “I have weathered various financial storms and seem to have done reasonably well.” He says he has three sons and a wife “whom I truly enjoy.” And our heartfelt thanks to Donald for all he’s done for Wesleyan over the years.

Remember our 25th Class Reunion in 1998 when David Feldman led us through some innovative exercises with his harmonica and how he encouraged us to join him during his demonstration? Sixteen years later, David, who also calls himself “David Harp,” is still very busy with motivational techniques. He teaches students in New York about harmonica-based mindfulness. He also tells them about mindful breathing exercises and says he offers a few new HarMantras and “Kirtans” (spiritual songs for harmonica, in the Christian, Jewish, and Buddhist traditions). He says you can find out more information by going to davidharp.com.

David also writes: “New-work-wise, I’m finishing an advanced beginner to advanced level harmonica book and two-CD set for Hal Leonard Music. And (after testing it out on myself, then on my private phone and Skype clients this past year), I’ve just started unveiling—at Kripalu Yoga Center, and soon at the New York Open Center—my new work on applying mindfulness techniques to issues around what I call ‘the preference, desire, habit, and addiction continuum.’” He says the new work is “applicable to issues around unuseful needs or cravings of any sort: diet, attention, money, sex, love, risk, etc.” David also planned to conduct a one-day public workshop Sept. 6th at the Open Center. It was going to include blues, rock, folk, and classical harmonica (with emphasis on the first two styles).

I’ve now been at WFOR-TV, a CBS-owned station here in Doral since September 2007 and everything continues to go well. As an “older” reporter I focus as much as I can on enterprise stories and have found there is some advantage to being older. I tend to receive more news tips because I’ve been around longer and fortunately, more people trust me. So, no retirement in sight yet.

Look forward to hearing more of your news.

PETER D’OENCH | Pgdo10@aol.com

Newsmaker: Seth Davis ’72

Seth Davis ’72, an attorney and partner at Elias Group, LLP, was named vice chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Law (SEER) to become chair in 2014. SEER is a forum for strategies and information for environmental, energy and resource lawyers, representing nearly 11,000 members. In practice for almost 40 years, Davis has specialized in environmental law since 1980 and practiced at the Rye-based environmental law firm since 2004. He was involved in the negotiation of the cleanup of one of the country’s first multi-party Superfund sites, the Bluff Road site in South Carolina, and was actively involved in remediating hazardous waste sites throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico. A College of Letters major, he earned his JD from Harvard University School of Law and serves as an adjunct professor in Pace Law School’s environmental program.

Again, the news is sad. Much as I fear this is something to be expected with our age, I sincerely hope I can return to my usual cheerful, snarky style in the next issue.

Chuck Raffel died suddenly at his home in New Rochelle, N.Y., in April. Chuck taught Jewish philosophy for many years at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women. He was universally beloved by students and colleagues. The chair of Chuck’s department described him as “a consummate mensch and colleague, and a beloved teacher.”

Chuck was one of my closest friends at Wesleyan, especially during freshman year, when we both lived in Clark Hall and experienced the legendary “Don Juan class.” But I couldn’t put things any better than this excerpt from an e-mail from our mutual friend Mark Gelber:

“I have very clear memories of times spent with Chuck. We lived together the first semester of our senior year. He also visited me in Germany when he was on the Wesleyan program in Paris and he slept on the floor of my small Dachzimmer in Bonn. But, probably it was during our freshman year that he made the strongest impression on me. Before one would enter Clark Hall on most nights one was greeted by your booming voice and the melodies from Meistersinger or another opera. But, by the time one reached the third floor and came close to Chuck’s room, the sounds of The Band’s new album or Dylan or Johnny Cash were clearly audible. One entered Chuck’s room and there he sat, eyes closed, buddha-like, relishing every note and obviously enjoying a paradisiacal experience.

“Chuck’s ironic wit, sharp intelligence, and biting repartee combined with an uproarious and sometimes outrageous sense of humor to make him a terrific companion in almost any situation. He was much wiser than he knew. He became very close to George and Nina Sobelman after he returned from France and when I came back to Wesleyan after another semester abroad, he and you encouraged me to tag along and see for myself what was happening over there on Shabbat evenings. He also included me in a high-powered Rambam seminar which had life-lasting consequences for his intellectual path and career.

“I did not see him for well over 30 years and then owing to Michael Bober’s brilliant orchestration behind the scenes, I met up with Chuck and Bill Schultz in Manhattan for a drink and then Chuck and Michael came to a lecture of mine afterwards.”

Oscar Look died on July 10. I had not seen him since Wesleyan, but I offer these tributes, posted on Facebook, and shared here with permission of the authors. First, from Nat Warren-White:

“Oscar lived his life since leaving WesTech in his hometown of South Addison, Maine, where he fished for lobsters and ran his pound much as his father had done. Oscar served as the harbormaster for many years, was a devoted father to his daughter, Erin, and a deeply loyal friend, sibling, and son. He was a prolific poet and reader, the keeper of all forms of arcane knowledge, which he loved sharing. He will be sorely missed by many…a bigger heart and a truer man would be hard to find. Fortunately, he was able to get out on the water aboard his trusty lobster vessel, Southwind, the morning of the day he left us. I suspect his spirit is flying out to sea right now…the place he was happiest and most at peace.”

And from John Perry Barlow ’69:

“Here’s your last Oscar Look. He was the IIIrd by that name, a 5th generation lobsterman from South Addison, Maine, and unquestioned Harbor Master there for 30 years. When we were in college at Wesleyan, he rode a Royal Enfield with electrics by Lucas, or, as he called their maker, ‘the Prince of Darkness.’ Any moisture would shut them down. He threw himself at everything until there was nothing left to throw. They only made one Oscar Look of his model and that one was in questionable taste. The previous version, Oscar Look Jr. was on the Bataan Death March, as he informed me from his doorway when I turned up in the middle of a winter night looking for his son and was met by the sinewy Elder Look, shivering in a t-shirt and tidy whites. I was so startled by this declaration that all I could think to say was, ‘How was the food?’ ‘I’m going to like you,’ also declared Oscar Look Jr. Oscar Look III was never unkind to anyone in his life. Once, when giant (4’x12’) sheets of Thermopane were popping from their frames on the 60-story John Hancock Tower in Boston and sailing down to the perilous streets below, Oscar went down with a flatbed and gathered up enough windows to build himself a very large glass house for next to nothing. Nobody ever wondered if Oscar Look was a man, even when he had hair down to his butt. No one was ever in a room where Oscar Look was laughing without laughing, too. Like his father and grandfather, he kept a little museum of alarming marine biology: surprising creatures that had been yanked unwillingly to the surface with a tangle of Look Lobsters. He once trapped a lobster so large—60 pounds, I believe—that he gave it to the Boston Aquarium. Last I heard it was still there, growing bigger. He was a man of few words, all of them funny and accurately, if economically, applied. He literally wore himself out and on the evening of July 10, he was, at long last, fully depreciated. The sea is not deep enough for him.”

As I stood at Chuck’s gravesite, together with a number of brilliant, kind Wesleyan comrades, I could only think what a joy it has been to have been part of that community, and to have known such friends as these. Peace to you all.

SETH A. DAVIS | sethdavis@post.harvard.edu
17 Wolf Road, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520

 

Newsmaker: Michael Yamashita ’71

A photographer with National Geographic, Michael Yamashita ’71 received the National Journalism Award from the Asian American Journalists Association for his work, “DMZ: Korea’s Dangerous Divide.” The award, presented at the Unity Journalists of Color Conference this summer, recognizes excellence among Asian American journalists and outstanding coverage of Asian American issues. Yamashita’s most recent book, Marco Polo: A Photographer’s Journey (White Star, 2004), a 504-page photographic journal, retracing the 13th-century explorer’s route to China, is setting records as a bestseller around the world. It has been translated into 13 languages, and is again available.

Newsmaker: John Lippincott ’71

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) announced that it has named John Lippincott ’71, MAT ’72 (and father of Sarah ’07), as president of CASE. He had been serving as CASE’s interim president since January 1. Prior to assuming the interim role, Lippincott was CASE’s vice president for communications and marketing beginning in 1999. Previously, Lippincott served for nearly 12 years as associate vice chancellor for advancement at the University System of Maryland. A College of Letters major, he began his career teaching humanities courses at community colleges in Connecticut, New York, and Oregon.

Newsmaker: Barbara Casey ’71

Barbara Casey ’71 was honored at the 10th annual Angels in Adoption awards ceremony, held in Washington, D.C. The program is organized by The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute to raise awareness about children, in foster care and orphaned, in need of permanent, loving homes; Senator Arlen Specter nominated Casey, who directs Adoption Associates, LLC, a licensed Pennsylvania adoption agency, and also heads a law firm specializing in adoption issues. She is a fellow of the Pennsylvania Academy of Adoption Attorneys, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, and Resolve. She earned a master’s degree, as well as a JD, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Aloha, classmates; time for more news but none of you sent me anything in the last several months. I thought you guys and gals would just periodically drop me an e-mail without me having to remind you, but I guess not. So that means you get to hear about my life.

But before that, we received some sad news: James C. Nevius died suddenly on July 13, 2013. He was retired, having spent 25 years with Amerada Hess Corp., and then his own consulting firm. He left a wife, Angela, of 28 years, three sons and a grandson. He was 64.

I still think it is interesting that the secretaries of the Class of 1970 and 1971 live on a 550-acre rock in the middle of the Pacific and within a few miles of each other. Russ Josephson ’70 and his lovely and beautiful wife, Vera Benedek, stopped by recently for drinks and food on a typical beautiful Kauai day. Russ is in the process of trying to start building his house in the Kalihiwai river valley. His will be the first home in the valley. He seems to be enjoying Kauai, especially since he is no longer frozen in the north of Alaska. He drives around the island with his iconic license plate “YBCOLD”!

As for me, I have been in my home, overlooking Kalihiwai Bay and the ocean, for almost 12 years. Time flies! I am a part-time farmer with my 100 fruit trees, 1,000 tropical hardwoods, and 200 vanilla plants. I dabble in helping the Kauai planning department create policies and ordinances to keep the island rural and beautiful despite the inevitable growth both internal and worldwide. Our newest investors from Korea and China are buying up property at exorbitant prices. 

Most of my time recently has been spent trying to establish a palliative care medical practice team. Palliative care, like hospice, is for people with life-limiting or -threatening illness. We work with their treating physicians as part of a team, with a nurse, social worker, chaplain, and others, to provide relief of any physical mental, emotional, or spiritual suffering. We are attempting to make western medicine more holistic. The movement is going on across the country. Katy Butler mentioned it in her book and has a Facebook page “Slow Medicine” about palliative care and hospice care. If you or a loved one has a complex illness check in your area for palliative care; it can really be an aid to you and yours. Trying to get more insurance companies to cover it and make it more routine. It was deleted from the Affordable Care Act, because it was mistakenly credited with being a death squad, which is the furthest from reality for this specialty. Anyway, life is going well for me. Married off one son here on Kauai a year ago and he and wife are doing really well. Another son is in anesthesia residency and the daughter works in the hotel industry for Four Seasons. What more can a proud dad ask for than loving, independent children?

Well enough about me. Please on reading this send me some news about you so I have something to write about next time. All the best and Aloha…

NEIL J. CLENDENINN | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha, all. We don’t have a lot of news this time, unfortunately, but here’s what we have:

Stephen Policoff (“The Poet is In”—Hewitt Hall, 1966) wrote what sounds like a heart-wrenching tale of problems with our health care system. Here’s Stephen’s news: “My memoir about my late wife’s journey through New York Hospital Hell, Sixteen Scenes From a Film I Never Wanted to See, was published by Monkey Puzzle Press last January (and yes, it is just as frothy a read as it sounds). An excerpt from my second novel is in the current (summer) issue of the hipster dad magazine Kindling Quarterly. Another excerpt is in the upcoming issue of Provincetown Arts. The novel itself, Come Away, will be published in November by Dzanc Books.” Thanks for the news, Stephen. My heart goes out to you.

This time around we have a double first for this column, in my memory, at least. Two of you sent photos. It’s a sign of the times, for sure. Look for them online at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/.

One of the photos is from Jeff Sarles. Seems he and Gary Hill took in a Yankees-White Sox game. Says Jeff, “Russ: Attached is a photo of Gary Hill (on the left) and me (on the right) (both class of 1970) at a Yankees-White Sox game on August 23 at Yankee Stadium. If you run this, please be sure to note that Gary is a Mets fan and that I’m a White Sox fan so that no one mistakes us for Yankee fans.” Consider that gauntlet thrown down, Jeff. You didn’t mention the score, but I checked and it was 5-3 Yankees. As it happens, I watched a White Sox-Orioles game in June in Baltimore. With the storm break in the middle, the game went into 12 innings before the Os took it 5-4. Fourth row, just past third base. Great game! (Last-minute word:  Congratulations to S.F. Giants fans for winning a well-played World Series against the K.C. Royals.)

And speaking of baseball, turns out fellow fan Ted Reed exercised his editing powers helping our own Dr. John (Yurechko) write the following piece, accompanied by a photo: “How I Spent the 4th of July 2014:

“My Revolutionary War re-enactment unit participated in the July 4th festivities at Mt. Vernon, Va. I assumed guard duty near a strategic storage shed. I had my photo taken more than 300 times. Photos first with the wife, then husband. Photos with families of two, no three, four, five children. Mass photos with busloads of teenagers and busloads of veterans. People from China, France, the Philippines, India, numerous African nations, even Canadians and Brits. People who claimed to be relatives of John Paul Jones, Genghis Khan, the Saracens and rock’n’roll stars. Tall people, short people, fat people, skinny people. White, black, brown, tan, red people. Pregnant women. Women who wanted to be pregnant and women who did not want to be pregnant. Little old ladies who pinched me, wanting two . . .’C’mon Sweetie’ . . . no three, four pictures. Grandfathers who did not know how to take a cell phone photo. Boys with dreadlocks in attitude poses, arms crossed, chests puffed out. I did ‘Selfies’ with pre-pubescents. Action shots with bearded guys and blond gals wearing baseball hats or football jerseys. People from every state in the Union and a good percent of the United Nations. Kids with mothers threatening: ‘Bradley! Stand next to that nice soldier for a picture or else you won’t get any food for three weeks!’ Or ‘I’m a state senator from Illinois. How about a picture?’ One couple insisted I pose with their two dogs. What was I supposed to say? No? Sixteen tourists asked me if I was George Washington. Four of those asked me where my tomb was. ‘Did anyone ever tell you look like George Washington?’ Only two people asked me where the toilets were. There were Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, atheists and polytheists. Click, click, click! I was dragged into a portrait shot of an extended family from Puerto Rico, with me in the middle. I was captured by every type of camera imaginable: old Polaroids, Instamatics, brightly colored cell phones and lap tops, disposables, $3,000 professional lenses. That storage shed stood at a crossroads for a procession of All of Humanity. I’m now posted on various crannies of the Information vacation world—your very own July 4th photograph. That nice soldier who was not George Washington.” [Signed] “John Yurechko (Class of 1970), 1st Virginia Regiment of the Continental Line, McLean, Virginia.”

John, that’s a terrific account. I never understood reenactments—still don’t—but I was totally transported by your piece.

Expecting Steve Ingraham in a few weeks. News on that in the next column.

I thought we had more news this time, but I’m not finding it on my computer, so I guess I’ll end with best wishes for the upcoming fall season. Not too soon to plan to attend the class Reunion next May. Unless some miracle occurs, I can’t see making it; it falls close to the end of our school year, but I hope many of you will get there.

Don’t forget we have a Facebook page and that you can post news on WesConnect.

Take care of yourselves and don’t forget: We like visitors.

Russ Josephson | russ_josephson@yahoo.com
P.O. Box 1151, Kilauea, HI 96754

The winter only reluctantly released its grip here in the Northeast. The temperature hit 60 today so there is hope that spring will indeed arrive and that Wesleyan will be thawed out by our 35th.

Just enjoyed another dinner with the Dunn Gaherin crew. Acclaimed author Pete Pezzelli ’81, whose latest novel, The Glassblower’s Apprentice, was just released, attended all the way from the great state of Rhode Island. Jeff Burns ’80, chief of critical care at Children’s Hospital Boston, and Mike Rosenblatt ’80, chief medical officer of Lahey Clinic in Burlington Mass., ensured that the usual cast of miscreants—Gary Breitbord, Tim Fitzgerald, Jeff Gray ’77, Tim O’Brien ’81, and Billy Stack ’81—survived the evening. That festive gathering was closely followed by Opening Day at Fenway Park in celebration of their 2013 World Championship attended by Messrs. O’Brien, Gray, and Breitbord as well as George DuPaul all the way from Macungie, Pa. Dave Thomas ’77 and his son, Spencer, joined for some post-game merriment.

The following is from a recent article in the New York Times: “As president and chief executive of New York Public Radio, Laura R. Walker, 56, oversees metropolitan area stations including WNYC, WQXR, and New Jersey Public Radio. She lives in Brooklyn Heights with her husband, Bert Wells, 56, a lawyer, their 14-year-old daughter, Claire, and their cockapoo, Aki. Their son, Evan, 22, is a senior at Yale and often comes home for the weekend because he is writing his senior thesis on the 9/11 Museum.”

Joseph S. Britton, a highly respected family law attorney with Begley, Carlin, and Mandio, LLP, has written the recently published Library of Pennsylvania Family Law Forms, 2nd Edition.

Congratulations to Jack Buckley, making a difference in kids lives and being recognized for it. “Carsten Haber, a board member of Center for Student Coastal Research (CSCR), points out that whereas many people have helped in ensuring the success of CSCR as an educational and environmentally active facility, Jack is the one that started it all with his vision, foresight, and determination. For those reasons, Buckley has been selected as the Cohasset Mariner Citizen of the Year.”

Sarah Maynard writes “Well, I’m not sure I want to lead with this, coming up on our Reunion, but I am a grandmother. Daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Jerome Chiu, welcomed Eleanor Appleton Chiu and Hudson Maynard Chiu on February 8!” OK, the ice has been broken. Sarah has courageously come forth admitting she’s a grandparent. Fess up. Who else?

Bill Levinson writes “I am still living happily in the bubble of New Hope, Penna., with my wife, Julie. I regularly play and record music at our studio and performance space called For the Music Only. We have produced some notable shows here, including Garland Jeffreys, Chuck Prophet, Alejandro Escovedo, and Bernard Purdie. I am writing from Key West, our winter bubble, where I have been playing piano and accordion with friends at the local gin mills, piers, beaches, and bars. Julie and I are celebrating 20 years of lucky love and marriage. “

W. Lee (Willie) Jones writes from Charlotte, N.C., “I serve as the director of the Capital Planning and Alliance Development Services Division of the Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Department. We recently completed the award winning Romare Bearden Park.”

Theodor Feibel recently had a viewing of his Chromogenic Image “Young Woman Sitting at Table” at the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts in New York City.

Heard from Jane Marcellus, Ph.D., who writes, “I have been promoted to full professor at Middle Tennessee State University, where I teach media history and cultural studies in the School of Journalism. I also have a forthcoming book, Mad Men and Working Women: Feminist Perspectives on Historical Power, Resistance, and Otherness.

Kim Carrell-Smith has a little to tell: “I’m now officially an empty-nester and proud mother of two daughters—one a Professor of English Language at a Chilean university (Tufts ’11) and the other a public librarian in Baltimore (Goucher College, ’13). My husband and I both teach at Lehigh University and I also direct/teach for an interdisciplinary master’s program in which students work in local nonprofit agencies for a full year as part of their MA curriculum.”

Craig McLaughlin is hanging out in Santa Cruz writing and performing regularly as a personal storyteller. A second edition of his textbook, Health Policy Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Approach, will be out in July. His coauthor is his father, Curtis McLaughlin ’54. A collection of stories from his performances, which together compose a memoir, came out this September. It is called Lions and Tigers and AIDS! Oh, My! and, yes, some of the stories are set at Wesleyan.

Kathy Herron writes: “My career has taken an exciting new path. After 28 years of being in full-scope midwifery, I have stopped the obstetrics portion of my practice. I have taken a full-time faculty position with the Midwifery Institute of Philadelphia University. I am still doing gynecology at the independent midwifery practice I started in 2000, Full Circle Women’s Health. It’s great not being on call anymore, but I miss the births and the wonderful people I have been working with at our local community hospital, including fellow alum and Chief of OB, Dr. Larry Mendelowitz ’72. I still live in Pleasantville, N.Y., where my husband, Peter Scherer, is mayor and owns a graphic design firm. Caroline (Skidmore ’10) is the stage manager for a local theater company; Ben (University of New Haven ’13) plays guitar for the band Palehound and is currently on tour at SXSW in Austin.

The Emmy award-winning Barbara Grunbaum has produced, written, and directed a new DVD released in March titled Community Cornerstones: Historic African American Communities from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. More information can be found at HeritageMontgomery.org.

Howard University announced that one of the nation’s leading pediatricians, Joseph L. Wright, M.D., M.P.H., will chair its Department of Pediatrics June 2014. “We are thrilled to welcome a leader with the experience, expertise, and passion that Dr. Wright brings,” said Mark S. Johnson, M.D., M.P.H., dean of the College of Medicine. “Dr. Wright is nationally renowned for his advocacy, public policy and research endeavors. His commitment to outstanding patient care and service to the community are consistent with our core values here at Howard.”

And lastly, John Papa writes, “I had another Sky View Concert series fundraiser at my house in Avon, Conn., to the tunes of The English Beat. Dancing to the Ska music from Wes was co-sponsor John Majewski, Neil Fitzgerald, Bob Burnett, Billy Schmitt, John Gaebe ’77, Paul Malnati ’77, Sean Mckeown ’77, and Jim Carey ’77. People came from all over the country for this great outdoor event. Figuring out now who the next band will be but the clue is ‘I don’t want to go home’. Also just got back from a get-together in Key Largo with 16 Chi Psi’s and one DKE, hosted by John Gaebe and Neil Fitzgerald. After a breakfast at Riviera CC in Miami with Coach Mike Whalen ’83, we were off to the Keys for golfing, boating, and fishing amongst a few other adventures. The Chi Psi’s made an effort to convert the one DKE, Jim LaLiberty ’77, but even with a potential trade, a signing bonus, and a pillow case walk, he stayed true to the boys on High St. The other Lodge men at the event were Bob Latessa, Bill Schmitt, Bob Burnett, Tom Dwyer, John Majewski, Don Dandelske ’78, Buddy Taft ’77, Sean McKeown ’77, Willy Sillin ’77, Paul Malnati ’77, and Dennis Harrington ’76. Best few days of our lives!”

And may that be the same sentiment after our 35th Reunion in May.

Gary Breitbord | gbreitbo@aol.com

Ann Biester Deane | Abdeane@gmail.com

Greetings, classmates! Thanks to your overwhelming response to the request for updates, we have a full column plus more news and photos online.

Bob Kalb is a professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he is primarily involved in research. His NIH-supported lab is working on two main projects;­—one with relevance to childhood intellectual disabilities and autism, and the other focuses on childhood and adult motor neurons diseases (Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS). Rob and his wife have two sons in their 20s pursuing careers in business and film.

Mary White Giffin sends a shout out to the “other” Mary Frances, Joel, Kate, Anne, and Monica. She splits her time living in both D.C. and Rhode Island, working for the federal government on health policy.

Tim Hollister’s new book for parents of teen drivers, Not So Fast, has had a successful national launch, nsfteendriving.com. Proceeds are going to the Reid Hollister Memorial Fund, which helps low-income families in Greater Hartford with infant and toddler education costs, and several national traffic safety programs.

Marian Read Place reports, “I’ve just published Slowing Down in a Speedstressed World: Practical Skills & Kindly Advice (2014, Amazon), integrating my background as a psychotherapist with the wisdom of numerous interviewees. Offering small steps toward changing a stressful, over-hasty pace of life, my book reveals the connection between slowness and calm, identifies faulty thinking that accelerates our pace, and provides skills for working with the anxiety that inevitably arises when we downshift in our hurry-up world. Readers, whether employees, retirees, parents, or job seekers, will find chapters specific to their challenges. Here’s hoping the book is helpful to busy Wes folk. Questions and networking ideas welcome. marian@slowlutions.com.”

Joe Haddad is excited that his son, Caleb ’17, is enjoying his freshman year at Wesleyan. Joe’s work is good and he spent a week in Lesotho last year, where he’s helping Columbia start the country’s first medical school.

Bill Friedler’s boutique law firm, Friedler Law Group, has joined the firm of Conn, Kavanaugh, Rosenthal, Peisch & Ford LLP in Boston. He will keep himself busy managing the trusts and estate planning and probate administration matters of this new firm.

Lisa Landsman sends her best to all Wesleyan folks and writes that she lives just outside D.C., with husband, son, and standard poodle. After spending the fall planning her daughter’s wedding (which went beautifully), she may consider becoming a wedding planner! Wes folks at the wedding included Diane Burstein and Lisa Halberstadt. Before becoming a wedding planner, she’s finishing up an MPH at Johns Hopkins so she will look for a job doing law/public health first.

Rich Kozlowski, who lives in Gales Ferry, Conn., made a fairly dramatic career shift from a systems analyst in the Navy R&D field to an armed guard at Millstone Nuclear power plant in Waterford, Conn. He loves the job, but not the long hours. He lives in a multi-generational home where the “grandchildren are a hoot, but very active, and his energy level has a hard time keeping up.”

Nancy Chen has moved to Fort Collins, Colo., from Long Island, N.Y., for the mountain lifestyle. Her older daughter, Ariane, is in college at Chapman University in Orange, Calif; her younger daughter, Isabelle, is a junior in high school. Nancy is working on her first book, an autobiographical memoir, and seminars for her professional and personal development business.

Bruce Phillips still enjoys working as a family doc and also practices a lot of yoga, plays tennis, and takes singing lessons. He’s still happily married to Judy and his two daughters are graduating from college. He thought Cheryl Cutler might be amused to know that he performs in a musical once a year and this year he choreographed most of the numbers.

David K. Greenwald is the marketing and production adviser for the upcoming movie project Sammy-Gate, a dark, political satire, that asks the question “Might Sammy Davis, Jr. have been the catalyst that caused Watergate?” Director Noel Lawrence ’93 and his co-screenwriter have unearthed the clues to keep conspiracy theorists up at night. You can get a sneak preview of Sammy-Gate at facebook.com/sammyfilm.

Tom Bledsoe, his wife, Lexi Turner ’83, and family live in Newton, Mass. He and Lexi met after Wes, at the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership where they were both working and which Tom ran from 1990–97. For the past 15 years, he has built and run the Housing Partnership Network (housingpartnership.net), a cooperative of the nation’s top social entrepreneurs in the housing and community development field. They help nonprofit leaders and organizations collaborate through peer learning and shared business platforms. Their teams in Boston and Washington, D.C., include Wesleyan grads Danielle Samalin ’00, who runs their homeownership initiatives, and a partner at Wells Fargo, Megan Teare ’91.

Their daughter, Maddie, has just been accepted into next year’s freshman class. The proud parents look forward to spending more time in Middletown and traveling the NESCAC circuit to watch Maddie and the Cardinals basketball team play throughout New England. Tom is trying to keep up better with classmates and recently had lunch with David Karnovsky and Sue Kaplan in NYC, where David is moving into private law practice after many years in city government and Sue is working on community health issues at NYU.

Our family reached several milestones in the last year: Our 25-year-old daughter married her high school sweetheart last June (fully honing my wedding planner skills), our youngest went off to college in the fall, and Nick and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in May. I’m continuing to enjoy life/wellness coaching as well as the freedom to travel more now that we’re empty nesters. But, we love that our kids are still home often, in fact, several have announced they’ll be around “for the summer”…so much for the empty nest!

Renny Smith, Julie Scolnik, Elizabeth Weiss Ozorak, and Jeff Nesson all sent photos along with their news which can be found at magazine.wesleyan.edu. Click on “Class Notes” and go to 1978. Wishing you all a wonderful summer. Please keep sending us your news, especially if we haven’t heard from you in a while.

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Ken Kramer | sbatesdux@hotmail.com