Class Notes | 1980s

Hello, classmates! This month we feature a Class of ’84 book club.

Lee McIntyre has a new book coming out in May entitled The Scientific Attitude (MIT Press, 2019), which concerns how to think about what is distinctive about science, with an eye toward defending it against science deniers. The blurb on Amazon reads: “Attacks on science have become commonplace. Claims that climate change isn’t settled science, that evolution is ’only a theory,’ and that scientists are conspiring to keep the truth about vaccines from the public are staples of some politicians’ rhetorical repertoire. Lee McIntyre argues that what distinguishes science from its rivals is what he calls ’the scientific attitude’ caring about evidence and being willing to change theories on the basis of new evidence.”

Francesca Jenkins (who writes under the name Arya) announces her short story collection, Blue Songs in An Open Key, was published by Fomite Press in November. Reviewing it for Booklist, Mark Levine noted, “These are powerful stories with appeal to more than just jazz aficionados.” Besides her literary goals, she had a rich experience as a disaster volunteer with the Red Cross, deployed to help those impacted by hurricanes in North Carolina.

Michael “Misi” Polgar teaches at Penn State Hazelton and has written Holocaust and Human Rights Education, published by Emerald. The book addresses “crucial questions” of how to explore the narrative of the Holocaust by “exploring the way in which we teach and learn about [it].”

Julie Reiss has edited and published an anthology on art and the environmental crisis titled Art, Theory and Practice in the Anthropocene (Vernon Press, 2018).

Apart from the book announcements, we heard from Paul Baker who got his bachelor’s in art history at Wes and went on to a master’s in 1987 at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Paul is a professional sculptor in San Francisco, working in the medium of “found objects” in his own studio.

Paul is working on an elaborate project based on The Grand Tour as it was taken by the upper class in the mid-1890s, heavily inspired by his History of Photography course. He imagines a fictional character, an amateur photographer, whose steamer trunk full of camera gear is stolen on the way to Constantinople; then goes around to the bazaars in the city and buys old lenses and other gear—and builds his own cameras. Paul is constructing the most elaborate and beautiful and creative “cameras” using a wide variety of found objects. You can see some of his work at c-clampstudios.com. He was strongly influenced by Prof. John Risley’s Visual Connections and wood working studio and the ambience of the “monolithic” CFA.

Paul would love to hear from alumni whose relatives made the Grand Tour, especially to exotic locales like Egypt, Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Lands. You can visit his website or write to me and I’ll put you in touch.

We got word that Doris Barry passed away on June 11, 2018. Ricardo Granderson sent a loving tribute: “She had a 30-year career on Wall Street where she managed and inspired staff while battling lupus. A woman of faith who loved her family and friends, Doris was a member of Delta Theta Sigma and on the board of trustees at Concord Baptist Church, where she inspired many of the church’s best and brightest to attend Wesleyan. Doris loved Wesleyan, and her legacy will be evident in the scores of students who attended Wes because she was the university’s number-one cheerleader, especially for first generation students of color.”

Finally, a public service announcement from the Reunion committee, who want to remind everyone to head to campus May 24-26 for our 35 Reunion, featuring a ’84 dance party with “Kung Fu,” a Foss Hill Roll, and the requisite cocktails and dining. I will be there this year and will look for “live news feeds” from you all.

Michael Steven Schultz | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu

Greetings. Having just shoveled in preparation of freezing temperatures and the coming ice storm, I’m now warm and cozy inside compiling these notes. You are an amazing group of individuals—Go, Class of 1983!

Mary Freeman’s husband, Andy Levin, was elected to the U.S. Congress to represent Michigan’s 9th District! Lots of her Wesleyan friends followed the campaign and cheered them on. They’re excited to be a part of this next chapter in U.S. history.

Michael Sommer and Taya Glotzer are empty nesters in northern New Jersey. Michael is a trial lawyer at Wilson Sonsini in Manhattan and Tanya practices cardiac electrophysiology. Her hospital system opened a new medical school: Hackensack Meridian-Seton Hall School of Medicine, and she now works with medical students—a new challenge and opportunity. Their son lives in LA and is a software engineer for Hulu. Their daughter is a third-year medical student at Hofstra on Long Island.

Cheri Weiss was ordained as a cantor/hazzan by the Academy for Jewish Religion in May and is studying in the school’s Rabbinic program. She founded the San Diego Outreach Synagogue, an independent Jewish congregation blending tradition and creativity (sdo-synagogue.org) and the San Diego Jewish Community Choir (sd-jewishcommunitychoir.org).

Kate Rabinowitz lives in East Hampton, N.Y., and appreciates the alumni events, especially in New York theater! She runs the Anna Lytton Foundation (annalyttonfoundation.org) with husband Rameshwar Das ’69 in honor of their 14-year-old daughter who was killed in 2013. Kate runs arts and wellness programs in local schools in her daughter’s honor. Her son is graduating from Skidmore in environmental science and geology. Kate is grateful for her time at Wesleyan and what a privilege it is to have an education, tools, and ability to make a difference in the world.

Charlie Brenner writes from Iowa City, where Nancy Rommelmann visited for a book reading. Charlie has done a lot of travel associated with the science of nicotinamide riboside (NR) and launches of Tru Niagen in Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand. His new scientific story about NR addresses the metabolic stress associated with pregnancy and postpartum. A mouse on NR has increased lactation, weight loss, and babies more developed and capable. He is excited to see the clinical trials.

Eileen Kelly-Aguirre, back from running School Year Abroad’s school in Spain after serving three years as executive director, is happily living in her hometown of Washington, Conn., with her partner, Jack.

Janet Binswanger has the greatest job ever: The Curator; affectionately called the director of happiness for Vynamic; a health care industry management consulting firm, based in Philadelphia, with offices in London and Boston. She is aggressively hiring in 2019, so if you know folks who might be interested in joining this dynamic group, e-mail jbinswanger@vynamic.com.

Kirsten Wasson lives in LA, working as a college counselor and internship coordinator at a private high school. She performs stories at events around the city and publishes poetry and nonfiction in literary journals. Hiking, biking, paddle-boarding, and biannual trips to Mexico keep her relatively sane.

Glenn Lunden is obsessed with trains and was named acting deputy chief of rail planning for NYC Transit. He is in charge of planning and scheduling the operations of the New York subway.

Sue Peabody’s book, Madeleine’s Children: Family, Freedom, Secrets, and Lies in France’s Indian Ocean Colonies (Oxford 2017), won three book prizes, including the Society for French Historical Studies’ Pinkney Prize for the best book in French history published by a North American author. Sue is a professor of history at Washington State University Vancouver since 1996.

Jeff Scott practices law in LA at the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, where he is co-chair of the firm’s litigation practice. He sees Patrick Dooley ’84, Steven Maizes ’82, Steve Marenberg ’77, John Keaney ’84, and Judy Korin—all of whom are in LA, too. He took his boy/girl twins to Wesleyan for the Sons and Daughters program, and bumped into a few old friends: Paul DiSanto ’81, Mark Molina ’81, Bill Frischling ’86, and Pat Ryan ’85. He was pleased about how enthusiastically his kids were about Wesleyan.   

Sheila Spencer was unable to attend the 35th Reunion because her daughter graduated from high school. Her son attends Reed College in Portland, Ore., and her daughter attends Sarah Lawrence College. She met up with Janice Okoomian and Kenneth Schneyer at SLC parent weekend.

Namaste,

Laurie Hills | lauriec@rci.rutgers.edu

Class of 1982 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship
Matthew Frishkoff ’21, Philadelphia, PA

First off, thanks to Michael Ostacher, whom I was pleased to see after 25 years (yes, we both look exactly the same), for volunteering to share the class secretary job. Michael is at Stanford doing psychiatric research, treating veterans, and teaching undergraduate courses on addictions and the opiate epidemic; he and his wife have a daughter in high school and a son at American University. Which explains why he has all that spare time to do the notes, i.e. the goodness of his heart.

Thanks also to Ginny Pye (check out her lovely new book of stories, The Shelf Life of Happiness), Walter Massefski (a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopist working as core manager at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), and Danielle Rudess (neé Nancy Kornbluth) for offering to share the job. I caught up with Danielle after her keyboardist/composer husband Jordan’s world tour, and persuaded her to come salsa dancing.

Jeannie Gagné has had a busy year, completing her 19th season as voice professor at Berklee College of Music, teaching a course online (check it out if you’d like to improve your pipes), as well as teaching and performing in Kenya, China, Hong Kong, and Santa Fe. She sang at the Urban Renewal reunion party with musicians Rob Levin ’81, Joel Kreisberg ’81, Bryant Urban ’81, Joe Galeota ’85 (also a Berklee prof), and many others. Her family renovated the top of their barn in eastern Massachusetts, once a hay loft, into a recording and workshop space, where her son, Dylan Wolff, is recording an album, and Jeannie is writing new songs.

David Loucky, professor of trombone and euphonium at Middle Tennessee State University, performed at the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Igor Stravinksy’s A Soldier’s Tale with Nashville’s new music ensemble, Intersection, along with Wynton Marsalis’ companion piece of the same instrumentation, A Fiddler’s Tale.

After 25 years in magazines, Janet Wickenhaver Allon has a new gig working for NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, as associate commissioner of marketing and communications of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (perhaps she will use her editing skills on that title, formerly known as the Film Office, but now encompassing film, TV, music, publishing, advertising, digital content—and, get this, the Office of Nightlife). Janet lives in Dumbo and just sent her youngest off to college.

Sabina Brukner is the literary manager of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, now in its 104th consecutive year bringing Yiddish theater to audiences in New York and beyond. She served as a Yiddish coach and script supervisor for Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, directed by Joel Grey.

Suzanne Kay is producing a documentary about Ed Sullivan’s little known support of racial justice and the impact of his show on American culture. She is also part of Daughters of the Movement, working with others whose mothers were on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement (in her case, mom Diahann Carroll) to put together a podcast and speaker series.

Matthew Capece has been admitted to the DC bar and honored with the Samuel Gompers Award from the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions.

Clara Silverstein published her fifth book and first novel, Secrets in a House Divided (Mercer University Press), about the complicated relationship between two women, one white and one African-American, in Civil War Richmond. Clara and her architect husband George Schnee ’80 are living in the Boston area and traveled to Indonesia last year to meet their son, who was studying gamelan and linguistics—bringing them full circle, as they met in the gamelan group at Wes.

Denise Joseph married Jonathan Watson in Newton, Mass., on July 14. Alice Apley, Beth Ross ’83, Laurie Trupin, Heather Baker, Liz Feigelson, Kay McCabe ’83, Marion Wilson ’83, Andrea Smith ’83, Deborah Schneider ’78, Clara Silverstein, and George Schnee ’80 attended, providing a wonderful song/dance rendition of “I’ll Be There.”

Finally, we end with sad news. Ed Goss wrote, “I am very sorry to say that Bob Marraffa died on Dec. 6 of pancreatic cancer. He was truly grateful for his tremendous life, which included a great four years at Wesleyan, where he was a government major, captain of the football team, played two years on the hockey team, an assistant coach of the women’s hockey team, and president of DKE. He leaves his wife, Jackie ’84, whom he married 34 years ago in the Wesleyan Chapel; three sons; Bob Jr., Jack, and Nick ’18; and a grandson named Robert (for him). Bobby started his own very successful business 30 years ago, and his oldest son, Bob Jr., will continue as president. Many Wesleyan friends were present at the memorial service, including Dr. Mike Rosenblatt ’80, who coincidentally oversaw Bob’s medical care at the Lahey Clinic outside of Boston, where Mike is the chief medical officer.”

And, we were sorry to hear that longtime newspaperman Alvin Morris, who was an older classmate of ours—he was a 39-year-old freshman—has passed away. He is survived by his family including his wife, Mary ’77.

Laura Fraser | laura@laurafraser.com

David I. Block writes: Hi, all. Greetings from Brooklyn! While you are likely reading this in the spring, these time-capsule class notes were due on the Monday of Martin Luther King’s birthday weekend, by which time the government had been shut down for a month. With any luck, as you read this, the government has been up and running for a little while, at least.

As you read this, tax season is over. As I write this, it is about to begin, with IRS workers who are not getting paid. My office just moved 20 blocks south down Broadway, after 22 years on West 57th Street. I finally bit the bullet and will become a Certified Financial Planner by November (I am already licensed to supervise stockbrokers), and I’m doing business, financial, and general coaching on the side. That gives me three full-time jobs. I joke that “people come in to have their taxes prepared, and leave feeling better about their moms.” My 14-year-old is in ninth grade and has come to enough Reunions that they are already scheming to figure out how to get into Wesleyan via early admission.

Alvin Peters writes, “Hurricane Michael (Oct. 10, 2018) has substantially destroyed my neighborhood in Panama City, Fla. Ironic, that climate change helped heat up the Gulf and magnify this storm into a major destructive force in a county that voted 75 percent for Trump.”

Paul Godfrey writes that his son, Charlie, is in grad school at UW. Paul is the president of the Minnesota State Bar Association and coaches a community team of high schoolers.

Michele Choka joined the board of Boingo Wireless, Inc. as an independent board member.

Barnaby Dinges has a memoir that is being published this spring called Ragged Run. “It covers my brother, Casey ’79, and my challenging childhood in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s dealing with the deaths of our parents and subsequent struggles. It includes sections from my mother’s journal, which I found in a warehouse during the WesU years. It’ll be available on Amazon. Special thanks to Phyllis Rose ’82, Larry Zuckerman, and Mary Murphy for their help with the manuscript.”

Barry “Pono” Fried’s Open Eye Tours, which offers custom private tours on the beautiful island of Maui, has won the 2018 Trip Advisor Hall of Fame Certificate of Excellence. He has been “enhancing Hawaiian journeys with fascinating cultural interpretation and a 100 percent personalized itinerary, since 1983.” Congrats, Pono!

On a more somber note, in the last note I wrote, I hoped for “less-bidity,” yet we lost two more classmates since the last issue. We lost Michael Kucinskas on Oct. 16. He majored in theology, played on the football team, and was a Chi Psi brother. He worked as an information technology consultant for Mass Mutual, and then Cigna, before becoming a partner of Factorum, Inc., a computer consultant company. He loved golf and was an advanced scuba diver. He is survived by his wife, Carol Petruff, M.D., two brothers, and a large extended family. We will miss his presence and his wit.

And then Steven Hiscox passed away on Nov. 20. Michael Trager and Tom Miceli attended a wonderful memorial tribute, which celebrated Steve’s life “the way he would have wanted it—filled with heartfelt tributes, and plenty of food and beer.”

Tom recalls that “Steve was the prototypical Wesleyan student—academically smart in the usual ways, but with wide-ranging and unexpected interests. Steve was a music major who composed and played classical music for course credit, but then listened to rap music for pleasure, well before it was hip to do so. He made college look effortless—he was at once scholarly and down to earth, serious and affable. I well remember the time when he pulled an all-nighter to read Gone with the Wind in one sitting! His passions included pick-up basketball (he was a beast) and cars. He devoured Hot Rod magazine the minute it hit the newsstand and spent countless hours under the hood of his car acquiring the skills and knowledge that eventually led to his life’s work as the owner of an automotive training school. I regret that I did not stay in close touch with Steve after Wes, but I will always cherish our friendship during that formative time in our lives.” He is survived by his wife, Tammy, and a large family that includes his brother, Dave Hiscox ’79.

Here we are, at 60 or close to it. That once seemed old. Sometimes it still does. Yet too many of us did not make it this far. In two years, we have another Reunion. I hope we all make it there in good health . . .

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

Joanne Godin Audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com

Stuart J. Hendel ’80, passed away  on October 20, 2018 at the age of 60, after waging a courageous battle against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).  Diagnosed in 2016, Stu, in typical form, turned his  considerable intellect and business savvy, toward raising funds to help find a cure for this horrible disease.  For example, since 2017, Stu hosted two fundraisers in New York City that raised almost $3 million for Project ALS, with the funds going toward ALS drug testing studies being conducted at Columbia University and at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University. Scott Philllips ’80 and Richard Cohen ’81 attended the 2018 fundraiser this past January, and, while speaking was difficult for Stu at that point, they both reported a large smile instantly spreading across his face upon seeing them.  It took Scott back to his days with Stu in 1976 in Clark Hall freshman year when they met for the first time and coined nicknames for each other that they used for more than 40 years.

Richard in 1981 followed Stu to Cornell Law School, where Stu once again distinguished  himself academically without taking himself too seriously, winning traits of his that stayed with him throughout his life.

After Cornell, and following a short stint with a large NYC law firm, Stu embarked on a very successful career in the “prime brokerage” business in the NYC area, spending time at firms such as Morgan Stanley, UBS, Bank of America , Eton Park Capital Management and most recently, with Lightkeeper LLC.

Stu will  be missed by all of us who had the good fortune to have known him, but especially by his family, including his spouse Leslie of 28 years,  and their three children, Michael, Evan and Lauren.

Thank you to Scott Philllips ’80 and Richard Cohen ’81 for this heartfelt tribute.

Steven C. Hiscox ’81, who passed away on Nov. 20 2018, was the prototypical Wesleyan student—academically smart in the usual ways, but with wide-ranging and unexpected interests.  Steve was a music major who composed and played classical music for course credit, but then listened to rap music for pleasure, well before it was hip to do so.  He made college look effortless—he was at once scholarly and down to earth, serious and affable.  I well remember the time when he pulled an all-nighter to read Gone with the Windin one sitting!  His passions included pick-up basketball (he was a beast) and cars. He devoured Hot Rod magazine the minute it hit the newsstand, and spent countless hours under the hood of his car acquiring the skills and knowledge that eventually led to his life’s work as the owner of an automotive training school.  I regret that I did not stay in close touch with Steve after Wes, but I will always cherish our friendship during that formative time in our lives.

Thank you to Tom Miceli ’81, P’12, P’17 for this heartfelt tribute.

Michele and I are thrilled to kick off this edition of class notes with a first-time submission from Marjorie Levine-Clark. She and Michael Levine-Clark ’92 dropped off their new frosh daughter, Isabel ’22, at Wes. They are so excited to be back at Wesleyan, living vicariously, and report that Foss 3 looks the same as it did 30 years ago and still has no air conditioning. Marjorie is a history professor and associate dean for diversity, outreach, and initiatives at the University of Colorado-Denver, and Michael is dean of libraries at the University of Denver. They’ve been out west for almost 20 years and love living in Denver. She plans to come to Reunion!

Keeping with the alumni legacy theme, Christopher Roberts writes that he is “pleased (and perhaps more than a little terrified) to report that my daughter, Beatrix ’22, is starting Wesleyan this fall. As a double-legacy (her mother is Alexis Neaman Roberts ’90), Beatrix assured us several times that she was not interested in going to Wesleyan. I guess she changed her mind . . . But now her two younger sisters are really, really sure that they don’t want to go to Wesleyan . . .” Christopher is living in Austin, Texas, where he works at The University of Texas alongside Ward Farnsworth. They had a visit from Stephanie Dolgoff a few months ago. Jeremy Dobrish ’90 and his family spent a week with them last year. He is hoping for more Wesleyan visits this year, though probably not during summer when it’s—almost literally—110 degrees in the shade.

Staying in the Lone Star State, Kelem Butts brings news from Dallas. “My girlfriend of 23 years, Lori Feathers, just pulled off a very Wes-like coup. She retired from practicing law and opened an independent bookstore here in Dallas, Interabang Books. It just earned kudos from D Magazine as the best independent book store in Dallas. I also just had lunch with Caroline Bhupathi ’20 who is working for Girls Who Code here at AT&T (side note, AT&T provides funding to this awesome organization). It’s so encouraging to talk to young Wes students who are totally awesome. Oh, and I am still doing corporate philanthropy at AT&T and I love it.”

Dave Keller just signed a record deal with Catfood Records of El Paso, Texas, and will be going into the studio at the end of June to record a batch of new original soul songs. Jim Gaines, who produced Santana’s mega-hit, “Smooth,” will be producing his record. He’s very excited! He’s living in Montpelier, Vt., and touring as much as possible, while raising two teenaged daughters.

Michelle Gonzalez added a second master’s degree in 2017, this time in clinical social work. She is working with those living with HIV/AIDS, taking care of (or trying to be cool for) her 16-year-old son and living in Providence. She published a paper about “non-offending mothers in child sexual abuse cases” and is teaching online at New England Institute of Technology on health care management and social marketing for MPH students. If you aspire to visit Providence, look her up!

Your erstwhile class secretary, David Milch, joined Baruch College as director of the master of arts in arts administration program and a distinguished lecturer. He also reports that he spent a wonderful vacation in June with Glarb (low-rise) housemate, Libby Neuman Bunn ’90. “Libby and I met up with Alex “Indy” Neidell and had an amazing time drinking and reminiscing our way across Berlin. I returned from that trip to journey to D.C. for the Pride March, where my daughter and I stayed with other Glarb housemate, John Hlinko, and dined with yet another Glarbster, Topher Sebest. Nothing like putting 10 sophomores in the smallest bedrooms ever to create life-long friendships! We are also happy to announce that Adina Hoffman’s new book, Ben Hecht: Fighting Words, Moving Pictures, is forthcoming in February from Yale University Press’s Jewish Lives series.”

S. Topiary Landberg just started a very exciting two-year Mellon Curatorial Fellowship at the Oakland Museum of California and is finishing up a PhD in film and digital media at the University of California, Santa Cruz—expecting to defend by June.

Abby Smuckler is planning to come to Reunion (yay!). We’re sure many more of you are too; and we can’t wait to see you! As we continue to gear up for our 30th Reunion (May 23-26, 2019), we are still in need of volunteers to get involved with planning. (Thanks to those of you who are already on the committee!) If you are interested, please contact: Megan Lenzzo, assistant director of annual giving at mlenzzo@wesleyan.edu. Go Wes Class of ’89!

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

Michele Barnwell | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Peter writes for this edition: Jim Most ’89, Joe Grasso ’86, Greg White, Jim Maynard, Phil Guidrey, Matt Nestor ’87, Jim Cashin ’89, Steven Therrien, and Jeff St. Sauveur gathered to honor the life and support the family of our friend and teammate, Greg Ballarino, who sadly passed away last spring after an illness.

Bronwyn Poole updates: “After more than 15 years in Chicago, my husband, Peter, and I have decided it’s time for a new adventure. We’re moving to Santa Fe in 2019. If anyone would like to visit, please come and experience the City Different! It will be bittersweet leaving our friends in Chicago, but we’re looking forward to hiking in the mountains from our backyard and walking to the Plaza for festivals.”

Natasha Judson writes in: “I’m preparing to lead my third trip for Williams College students to India, coming up this January for their winter study course. We will study at a Tibetan monastery in the south of India and practice Iyengar yoga next to the Ganges up north in Rishikesh, while volunteering at a school for kids living in the slums.”

Alex Bergstein was running for State Senate to represent Greenwich and parts of Stamford and New Canaan in the Connecticut legislature, and she won! “This seat has never been held by a Democrat, but it’s time for that to change. Campaigning has been an extraordinary experience because every day I get to do what I love—discuss serious issues and real solutions. I find that people are hungry for the truth and for a reason to hope.”

David Lazer shares: “I guess my big news is the release last week of my new book, Politics with the People: Building a Directly Representative Democracy. It is a reform proposal, in which we argue that the relationship between citizens and their elected representatives can be strengthened through regular (and specially structured) online town halls. It is based on a series of field experiments my collaborators and I did around online town halls, involving citizens meeting with their members of Congress. More info at politicswiththepeople.com.”

Hannah Doress: “I just started as a resource conservation climate specialist at County of San Mateo, recently cofounded the Bay Area Hub for the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and spoke at the California Adaptation Forum representing Women’s Alliance for Climate Justice. Living in San Carlos near San Francisco in Silicon Valley—come visit!”

Stuart Ellman reports, “I have gotten together with Mark Niles a few times since our sons were randomly paired as freshman roommates. Very nice coincidence.” Gail Agronick had lunch with Mark when he was dropping his son off and advises: “I really enjoyed spending a few days at Wesleyan last spring during WesFest with my daughter, Addie. The performing arts continue to thrive on campus and the food is much better than I remember!”

John Ferrara chimes in: “I had one child, A.J. ’18, graduate from Wesleyan this year, while I sent another child, Claudia ’21, into her freshman year at Wesleyan. Note to self—you do not get a family discount!”

Neil Benson and his wife, Lori Price ’87, advise their “oldest son, Oliver ’22, is happily ensconced at Wesleyan and is having a great time so far. He lives in Bennet (the new dorm where once MoCon did dwell). We can’t wait for parents’ weekend!” Neil got out of the music business and now owns a restaurant, Red Zebra, in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. Lori is a senior VP at Cornerstone Research in NYC.

Peter V.S. Bond | 007@pvsb.org 

Hillary Ross | hrossdance@yahoo.com

Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for keeping the notes coming.

Susan Arndt: “I married my one true love, Tracey, in 2015 and we have a little boy, Thomas, 3. He and his big brothers from my first marriage are totally besotted with each other, which makes me very happy. Jake is 14 and Angus is 12 and we are all three working hard to let them become their own people and still get a bit of love and care from mum when it counts. I work with start-ups to help them get to scale (having been involved in seven so far). I’m working for Founders4Schools, which connects professionals with secondary school students (many from disadvantaged backgrounds) who want to learn more about career opportunities. We’ve already touched the lives of 200,000 students in the U.K. and have great ambitions to grow. I keep in touch with Amy Baltzell, Stacy Owen, and Peg O’Connor.”

Scott Pryce: “Living in the D.C. area with family (wife and boys, ages 10 and 12). Last May, Chris Lotspeich, Dan Sharp ’88, Rob Campbell, and I reunited for what the Scots call ‘hill walking.’ And we did some cultural tourism visiting the family seats of various namesake, ancestral clans: Campbells, Sharps, Macdonalds (Chris), and MacLeods (Scott). Truly a once-in-a- lifetime experience with old friends!”

Joan Morgan: “I took an unexpected break from my dissertation writing when I was asked by Atria to pen a book on the 20th anniversary of the iconic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. She Begat This: 20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was released in August.”

Rebecca Zimbler Graziano met up with Steven Shackman and Ira Skolnik to see a Mets/Red Sox game in Boston in September. As seniors in 1987, they may have gone to opening day at New York’s Shea Stadium, but Re-University, and she visits Amy Mortimer-Lotke and Eric Lotke frequently when she gets to campus. Amy and Rebecca were lucky enough to grab a day with Grier Mendel in D.C. last April.

John and Trish McGovern Dorsey successfully launched child #1 to Hamilton College, class of 2022. He is spending his first semester on the Hamilton freshman exchange program in London with 37 of his Hamilton classmates. “His adventure has allowed us to see more of David Josephs and his lovely wife, Holly Bishop, who are living in London on a short-term exchange with DJ’s Visa gig. We enjoyed many family travels this summer, including a 20th wedding anniversary trip to Scandinavia and our annual visit with Holly Campbell Ambler and her family in Vinalhaven, Maine.”

Ken Mathews: “Just wanted to inform my Wes peeps that in addition to my wife, four kids, and two golden retrievers, I just welcomed our first grandchild on Jan. 26. Her name is Nova and she is incredible. Once she learns to talk, the plan is to call me Poppie. Two of my kids work in the fashion industry. One as a runway model and the other as a designer. They surely did not get their looks or artistic talents from me. With any luck I’ll be finishing my 35th and last year in public education by our 35th Reunion.”

Lori Benson: “Neil ’86 and I dropped oldest son Oliver ’22 off for his first year at Wesleyan. We are proud and excited for him. It was fun to be back on campus, and I must admit I was a bit jealous—it looked like such fun to be starting out in college. To add to the awesomeness of the day, Nelly Taveras was also there dropping off her daughter, Sophie ’22.”

John Snyder is “now a partner at Amherst Pediatrics in Amherst, Mass., enjoying the paradise of the Pioneer Valley with my daughter, Maggie.”

Amy Baltzell: “I am going into my annual conference as president of the Association of Applied Sport Psychology in October in Toronto. My new book is out: The Power of Mindfulness (2018, Springer). I just become a reiki master level 2, teacher. My three kids have all decided to row this fall.”

Cobina Gillitt: “During a sabbatical last spring semester to research a book on contemporary Indonesian theater and censorship, I stayed in Jakarta with Indonesian director and playwright, Putu Wijaya, who directed Roar at Wesleyan, starring several Wes ’87 students in 1986 during our junior year. Between March–May, I performed in his newest play, JPRUTT, with his company, Teater Mandiri. I wasn’t the oldest performer in the production, but I was the most senior, celebrating my 30th anniversary as a member of Teater Mandiri.”

Amanda Jacobs Wolf | wolfabj@gmail.com

[Ed.’s note: This is Amanda Jacobs Wolf’s last column as class secretary and we want to extend warm thanks for her years of service in this role.]