Class Notes | 1980s

Greetings, classmates. I’m glad to be in contact with so many of you. Aside from sending me notes—thank you!—who knew that one of the enduring advantages of a Wes education would be to have so many killer competitors at Words with Friends? You know who you are, David Hessekiel, Alison Fagan, John Brautigam, Randy Frisch ’84, and Judith Newman ’81—can anyone beat Judith at WWF? WTF?

I received so many kind replies to my solicitation for notes that if you don’t see your contribution today, it’s because I’ve saved it for next time. It’s what we, in the increasingly archaic world of magazines, used to call “inventory.”

As I write this, a number of our classmates are training to row together in the Head of the Charles, October 21, including Kevin Foley, Alex Thomson, Rob Miller, Greg Lewis, Mike Greenstein, and David Myers. They’ll be pulling alongside youngsters Kelem Butts ’89, Paul Slye ’84, Tom Policelli ’89, John McIntyre ’86, and Terry McClenahan ’85, all undoubtedly celebrating by the time you read this.

Sasha Alpert won her third (but who’s counting?) Emmy, for Casting for a Reality Program, for Born This Way, about young adults born with Down syndrome who are pursuing their dreams. Congratulations (and great dress!).

Anji Fink Citron and Todd Herron ’83 had a full summer in Bellingham, Wash., hosting a gang of Wesleyan friends, including William Erb ’83 and his partner, Suzanne. William lived in London and Tokyo for 20 years and moved to LA in 2010 to take a job with biotech company Amgen. In August, Anji and Todd celebrated the wedding of their son Noah Citron ’12 and Rachel Santiago ’12 (a Wes romance, like that of their parents; they met the first day of freshman year in Foss 7) with attendees Danny Kummer ’81, an NBC attorney living in Brooklyn with his wife, Lisa; Ellie Hitzrot ’81, who lives in Arlington, Mass., with husband Stu Forman ’80; and Rachel’s great-uncle, Fred Grand MALS ’73. They hosted Cheryl Cutler MA ’71, founder of the Wes Dance Department, with her partner, John, from Ashland, Ore. Anji asked Chery if she wanted to pass any words of wisdom along to our class, and she said, in her inimitable way, “I think the most astonishing and perhaps unheralded thing that I’m finding is that life doesn’t diminish or retract in any way, but just expands-—it deepens and opens out physically, intellectually, and spiritually into broader and broader views and manifestations of vitality!” I share Anji’s feeling that Chery had a profound effect on her sense of self and body image at Wesleyan, and her sentiment: “I’m so grateful to Wesleyan for connecting me with some of the most important people in my life.”

Julie Abrams Faude had a busy summer traveling to Iceland, Norway, Bornholm Island for bicycling, the coast of Denmark, Copenhagen, the Czech Republic, and Austria, ending up at a theatrical, rabbit-hole themed wedding on Lake Como. She promises to share her travel tips, which took her the first half of the summer to research, if you get in touch. She’s working as a clinical psychologist at The Episcopal Academy in Radnor, Pa., and with private clients.

Neil Richman traveled from Monterey to crash a gathering of other Wes people, instigated by John at his family’s camp in Maine. He met up with Mike Levine, Bob Russo and their respective partners and dogs, and dragged Garrett Randolph along with him. They traveled two-and-a-half hours on the backroads of Maine in rain and mud to climb into a dinghy and ferry across to the camp. Skies cleared for a summer afternoon on the lake. Neil also attended California Brazil Camp as the doc for the 11th consecutive year.

Julie Kraushaar Zürcher moved to Muttenz, Switzerland in July, their third time ping-ponging back and forth, which she says keeps her on her toes, culturally and linguistically. She’s enjoying the “more subdued, pragmatic approach to politics and political discourse favored by the Swiss.” Her son, Bryce ’18, is set to graduate in May.

Rolando Arroyo celebrated his third annual Paella on the Beach this summer, and is shopping for a bigger paella pan. His family is hosting a student getting ready to start her first year of college in Caracas, Venezuela, but who can’t return because of the social economic turmoil, and so is staying on with them.

Suzanne Kay is producing Sullivision: Ed Sullivan and the Struggle for Civil Rights, a 70-minute documentary on Ed Sullivan and his little-known support of racial justice. She’s partnering with Sullivan’s granddaughter on the project. Suzanne’s mother, Diahann Carroll, was on the show nine times—as were other performers white audiences had never heard of but are household names today, such as Chuck Berry, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr, Pearl Bailey, Sam Cooke, James Brown, the Supremes, the Jackson 5, Leontyne Price, Johnny Mathis, and Harry Belafonte.

Dan Singer’s son Jake ’17 graduated this year, and Dan’s Foss 5 freshman hallmates, Dan Softness and Ken Kimmel, also had daughters getting their diplomas.

That’s my word limit! Please write me more for next time.

Laura Fraser | laura@laurafraser.com

NEWSMAKERS | 1980s NEWSMAKER ANTONIE KLINE ’81 Antonie Kline ’81, MD, is the recipient of Global Gene’s RARE Champion of Hope award, which recognizes individuals and organizations for their notable efforts in rare disease advocacy, science, collaborative sciences, and medical care and treatment. Kline has been the medical director of the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation since 2001, and has worked with families with this condition since 1993. Kline is the director of pediatric genetics at the Harvey Institute for Human Genetics at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. At Wesleyan University she majored in math, and earned her Doctor of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College.

Greetings from Brooklyn! My daughter, Emma, had her bat mitzvah on September 9. She made it relevant and profound, and her parents are very proud! Now, your news…

Mid-September, Alvin Peters wrote that he is “dodging hurricanes in Florida’s panhandle. Water and gas sold out. Climate change deniers wandering around like zombies.”

Lisa Jo Rudy is living on Cape Cod with her husband and two children, where she freelances while writing and directing plays in Falmouth and Woods Hole. She discovered her inner iPhone photographer, and became a juried artist at the Cape Cod Art Association. She was thrilled to connect with Cori Adler ’82, whose daughter Mitzi ’21 is a freshman.

Judith Newman is having fun with her new book “about raising an ‘average’ kid on the spectrum—To Siri With Love. The New York Times called it ‘uncommonly riotous and moving’ and the Washington Post compared me to Nora Ephron so you gotta love that, right? It’s on a few best-seller lists, though the way they construct these lists—well, they have many categories, and for all I know there are a total of three books in the categories I’m number one in. But, let’s just go with ‘best-seller’ shall we?”

Greg Murphy is now a private banker with U.S. Trust. Son James will graduate from Annapolis in 2018, and daughter Kathleen will likely enter the U.S. Naval Academy in June. Daughter Bridget is a varsity rower at UConn.

Stephen P. White was in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1981-1987, and then the Army Reserve from 1992-2011, with deployment to Korea, Bosnia, two years in Iraq and Afghanistan, and three years at the Pentagon. Retired now from both the military and Verizon, Stephen is working with his wife, Gayle, in real estate investments. He volunteers in the Holyoke, Mass., Veterans Treatment Court, mentoring veterans involved in the legal system. He returns to campus with Pete Congleton and Andy Parsons ’84 to Homecoming/Parents Weekends.

Miriam Stern Sturgis and Gary Sturgis ’77 announce with great joy the nuptials of daughter Ari to Dan Paulsen in July on the grounds of their beautiful 10-acre home in Essex Junction, Vt. In attendance were their newest grandchild Aiden (son of daughter Talia), and Dan Vogt and Delcy Ziac Fox. Gary Shapiro is now a calculus teacher at the Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences.

Charlie Spiegel received an award in April from ourfamily.org, recognizing his work cofounding that organization for LGBT parents in the Bay Area over 15 years. “I’m still active supporting the organization, and that community, acting as a consensual dispute resolution attorney and mediator for gay and straight relationships from start to finish: prenuptial planning, adoption and surrogacy, and mediated divorce.  I imagine, in common with many classmates, this phase of my professional endeavors has involved moving my working space to the bedroom in my house that my daughter used before college (seeing clients elsewhere). And since others announce their relationships, I’ve been dating a wonderful new man since summer 2016, and we celebrate monthly anniversaries because otherwise we’ll never get to the number of annual anniversaries others celebrate!”

Brenda Zlamany had an art exhibit at the Derfner Judaica Museum, which featured 100 watercolor portraits of the residents of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, as part of her Itinerant Portraitist project. Previous efforts include 888: Creating a Portrait of Taiwanese Aboriginals, which was funded by a Fulbright Grant. “In each project, I choose a specific demographic and discover something new. With the Tibetan nomads and monks, I was interested in the interior gaze. With 100/100, I am interested in aging: What is important at the end of life? In the face of loss: loss of loved ones, mobility, senses, taste, hearing, sight….  Is there still the possibility of joy? The role of memory. What experiences from the past fuel happiness?”

Paul Harris worked with The Carbon Underground, “a nonprofit focused on reversing climate change through regenerative agriculture. I’m learning about soil carbon sequestration, cover crops and holistic grazing; what it will take to certify food and fiber as regenerative; and what kinds of help farmers will need to transition from conventional to regenerative.  After decades of working on industrial energy plants I’m now visiting grass-fed dairies. My wife and I live in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., and our daughters are well launched, one in San Francisco, finishing med school, the other in Tanzania, working on preventing violent extremism.”

Mark Saba had two books published this summer: Calling the Names (poetry, David Robert Books) and Ghost Tracks: Stories of Pittsburgh Past (short stories, Big Table Publishing). Both available on Amazon.

Peter Gryska reports from Houston: “Flooded as a result of Hurricane Harvey with 14 inches in the house. We will tear down and build a new house five feet higher. The interesting part was finding boxes full of 35-year-old notes from Andy Szegedy-Maszak’s Greek history lectures.”

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

Joanne Godin Audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com

Jonathan Mink writes from Rochester, N.Y.: “My first class note in many years. I have just returned from giving a couple of lectures in Yangon, Myanmar, at the 16th ASEAN Pediatric Federation Congress. This was the first international pediatrics conference ever held in Myanmar and would have not been possible prior to Myanmar opening up in 2010. I had some concerns about going to Myanmar, and supporting their economy at this time, but the opportunity to advance pediatrics education in a resource-poor country outweighed those concerns. Visiting Yangon was an amazing experience. Interesting history, impressive pagodas, wonderful food, and incredibly friendly people. Professionally, I work at the University of Rochester and love it here. I am president of Child Neurology Society, the primary North American professional organization for child neurology, for the next two years. This gives me an opportunity to be an ambassador for my field, but also to have some influence on public policy regarding care for children with disabilities due to neurologic disease. Janet Cranshaw ’82 and I have been married 32 years. Our daughter, Laura, graduated from college in May, and our son, David, is in his second-ish year of college.”

Scott Hecker writes from San Diego: ”The latest exciting news for me is the FDA approval of Vabomere, a combination antibiotic product for treating those nasty superbugs in hospitals that are constantly in the news. It contains the new beta-lactamase inhibitor “vaborbactam,” a product of an eight-year project to discover and develop a member of a new class of molecules to address a particular type of bacterial resistance. Getting a drug on the market is a dream that is only enjoyed by a small fraction of researchers in pharmaceutical discovery, so this is a big one!”

Melissa Stern writes from India: “I’m visiting an NGO that works with Dalit (untouchable women) to give them access to education and job training. They run boarding schools for orphan girls, training programs in needlework skills ,and university training. Today I met a young woman, a former orphan, found by this group, The Sambhali Trust, and punchline is that on Thursday she starts law school. Pretty mind- blowing. My exhibition, The Talking Cure, opens in St. Louis at The Kranzberg Center for Contemporary Art in January. I will go out there to work with art, theater, and writing students in conjunction with the show. It’ll run for six months. Head’s up St. Louis Wes folks! I am now represented by Garvey Simon, a wonderful gallery in Chelsea, and will be opening a solo show there in 2018. A big year ahead!”

Kim Selby, class secretary, writes from Cape Cod: “Congratulations to Jon, Scott, and Melissa, for their contributions to their fields. It is amazing to hear about the opportunities that 37 years of work can bring. Right now, we are approaching the mid-point between our 35th and 40th class reunions. It is an exciting time of life to connect with classmates. A rewarding and interesting way to connect is to become a class secretary. If anyone of you is interested in engaging classmates as class secretary, let me know.  I am happy to share the joy that comes from this enriching activity.”

KIMBERLY OFRIA SELBY | kim_selby@yahoo.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Michele Barnwell | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peter V.S. Bond | 007@pvsb.org 

Hillary Ross | hrossdance@yahoo.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amanda Jacobs Wolf | wolfabj@gmail.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Roger Pincus | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu

Michael Steven Schultz | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu