Class Notes | 1980s

Greetings Class of 1983 and Happy New Year! The good news is I have heard from many of you. The bad news is I only have 800 words. I did my best to edit your replies to include as much as possible.

In the arts world, Cheri Weiss, fourth-year cantorial student, released an album, Hineni: Music for the High Holy Days (hazzanit.com), which was distributed free to 1,000 shul-ins, chaplains, rabbis, social workers in hospitals, and retirement homes across the U.S. Tim Backer owns and operates an independent culture production house and released his collection, The Musing Gene; he attributes the source of his electric-guitar-rock-classical style to Wesleyan. Eve Annenberg wrote and directed two feature films, including Romeo and Juliet in Yiddish and produced eight indie films. Kate Rabinowitz runs the Anna Lytton Foundation for Arts and Wellness (annalyttonfoundation.org) in honor of her late daughter. Julia Kay’s upcoming book, Portrait Revolution, ships this spring. The book contains tips, techniques and inspiration for making portraits and is filled with 450 portraits by 200 members of Julia Kay’s Portrait Party, an international online community of artists.

In the academic world, Andrea Smith is professor of anthropology and department head of anthropology and sociology at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. Her research focus is on colonialism (French and US) and her new book is called, Rebuilding Shattered Worlds: Creating Community by Voicing the Past. Liz Hamilton works at Butler University as a department secretary and encourages classmates who hire to consider well-educated-but-been-out-of-the-workforce-for-awhile people! Kirsten Wasson works at a progressive high school as college counselor and internship coordinator in LA.

In the social action sphere, Jessica Cogen is the development and outreach director of Food for Others, a large food pantry/food bank in Fairfax, Va., providing free groceries each week to 1,800 families in need.

In the science and medical worlds, Charlie Brenner published the first clinical trial of nicotinamide riboside (NR), a vitamin metabolic booster he discovered 12 years ago and is now used over-the-counter by 200,000 people. Pat Roth is a practicing neurosurgeon in New Jersey and is chairman of the department of neurosurgery at Hackensack University Medical Center and soon-to-be chairman at Seton Hall University, too. He finished his second book, Keeping the “Me” in Medicine, which explores the power of the narrative in medicine to make doctors better doctors and patients better patients. Heather Rae is a certified integrative nutrition health coach and with husband and chiropractor, Aubrey, opened The Wellness Spot in Richmond, Maine.

In the business world, Raul Mercado is the director of New Jersey Institute of Technology Procurement Technical Assistant Center. He is responsible for the development, enhancement, and delivery of procurement and certification assistance programs, training technical support, and outreach to New Jersey-based small businesses seeking to sell to the public sector. Glenn Duhl joined Zangari, Cohn, Cuthbertson, Duhl & Grello, P.C., and is practicing management-side employment law and litigation. Glenn Lunden was part of the team at New York City Transit that opened the brand new and long-waited-for Second Avenue subway line which was first proposed in 1920. Rick Mandler celebrated his 25th year at the Walt Disney Company, mostly at ABC, working in a variety of capacities from legal to media and technology. He teaches TV management as an adjunct at NYU’s Stern Business School.

On the social front, Karen Adair Miller, Tammy Rosengarten Darcus, Gretchen Millspaugh Cooney, Sue Stallone Kelly, and Barb Bailey Beckwitt had a fun roommate getaway at the Cooney’s house in Nantucket. Glenn Lunden and his partner, Frank Meola, had a mini-Wesleyan winter reunion with Christina Meyer Wilsdon, Dan Schlein ’84, and John and Sarah Borden Holman. Megan Norris writes that after 15 years of Wes Board meetings, her tenure is coming to a close.

Lastly, I report my life is complicated and overwhelming at times as I juggle work, research, motherhood, and caring for my elderly mother with Alzheimer’s. The good news is my trio will graduate in May from college. The bad news is their graduations are all on the same weekend and on different coasts! Until next time…

Namaste,

Laurie Hills | lauriec@rci.rutgers.edu

David I. Block writes: “I have a running joke with a friend of mine. Everything she says or does reminds me of Wesleyan. Our families vacationed together in Florida. In the airport bookstore, staring at us, were rows and racks of Grunt, by Mary Roach, now in paperback. “Oh! She was in my class. We took a writing course together our freshman year.” My friend glared at me. “FIVE MINUTES!” My wife laughed. “It just took five minutes!”

David Miller had a wonderful time at the centennial celebration for Van Vleck Observatory. “It was a great complement to our class Reunion a month earlier. The VVO Reunion had great seminars, friends, and colleagues of all ages. While I stay in touch with Bill Herbst over the years, it was great to have a chance to say ‘hi’ to other faculty of our era (Art Upgren and Ed Weiss) and to hang out with a bunch of alumni that I knew “back in the day” (e.g., Bruce Phelps ’82, Taft Armandroff ’82, and Ron Klasky ’83) whom I do not get to see at our class reunions.”

[Ed. note: We regret to report that Arthur Upgren, Wesleyan’s John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, Emeritus, passed away January 21, 2017. Please see the obituary section for further information.]

Leslie (Sundt) Stratton had a memorable 2016. “I took a year-long academic research leave. Spent fall 2015 back in New England—renting a condo at the base of Killington in Vermont. Got a lot of work done and a lot of hiking. The hiking was in prep for a three-week vacation tramping around the parks in New Zealand in January. That marked the beginning of a spring term in Australia, much of which stay was spent at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, but we also managed side trips to Uluru, Cairns, and, courtesy of a conference I attended, Perth and western Australia. A great experience!”

Miriam and Gary Sturgis ’77 announce the births of their grandtwins, Meyer Aaron and Gabrielle Hadar Wexler in August to their daughter, Rebecca, and her husband, Bryan Wexler. More good news from the Sturgis family is the upcoming marriage of their daughter, Ariela, to Dan Paulsen this July.

Gary Shapiro graduated with a master’s in education from Pace University and is teaching AP Calculus and Algebra II/Trigonometry at Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences. He loves his new career.  

In addition to working as director of marketing and communications at Albany Valve & Fitting Co., Inc., Delcy Ziac Fox is working as the publicist for the New York Folklore Society, where Ellen McHale is executive director and Greg Shatan serves on the board of directors. “It’s great to be working with Ellen and Greg in support of the arts!” Delcy said.

Jon Sperry writes in about his work as actor and dialect coach, the latter of which really took off. “As a dialect coach I taught and worked with actors like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Russell Crowe, Sophia Loren, and Arnold Schwarzenegger! (Yes, really, he works with a dialect coach!) I enjoyed a long collaboration with Harvey Keitel, until I moved to Paris in ’96 to live and produce with my new wife who Harvey had introduced me to, Ivana Massetti. Ivana recently created the amazing gender equality movement Women Occupy Hollywood (check it out on Twitter @WomenOccupyHwd) and just became the Los Angeles representative of the organization ERA Action! I have had the joy of coaching such illustrious actors as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Debbie Reynolds!”

Neil Foote’s biggest news “is that my daughter, Alexandra, graduated from the London School of Economics with an MSc. in environment and development. She’s ready to take on the world, pursuing her interests in sustainability, climate change, and environmental economics. As a principal lecturer at the University of North Texas Mayborn School of Journalism, I’ve been super lucky to get Wesleyan alumni David Brancaccio ’82 and Jon Morgan ’94 to speak to my classes, and would love to invite other Wesleyan media professionals as well. I’m also co-director of the 13-year-old Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, one of the nation’s leading events for aspiring and established narrative nonfiction writers from all walks of life. This summer, we’ll have Sebastian Junger ’84 as one of our keynote speakers. Last October, the National Black Public Relations Society, of which I’m president, held its national conference in Chicago, and through my work with NBPRS, I participated in a discussion on diversity in the PR industry hosted by Chris Graves, chairman of Oglivy Public Relations.”

On a sad note, Mark Anderson passed away Dec. 19, after having had a heart attack about a week prior. Greg D’Auria writes, “My understanding is that he was not in any discomfort and that the boys were there for the last week.” Our condolences to his family.

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

Joanne Godin Audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com

Tom Loder writes: “Been lawyering in (of course, where else but) Philadelphia for 30 (okay “30-some”) years now, married late (of course), raising two now-teen boys, and happy to be in close touch over the years with Jimmy Schor and Bob Ferreira, and their wonderful and beautiful wives, Sharon Nahill and Amy Zinsser. How improbable is that?—Four from the Class of ’80 who married their Wes college sweethearts, who set the world on fire with their brains and daring (for my part, I’ve been nursing a very small campure with whatever kindling I can muster). And hospital titan (GC) Spence Studwell ’79, author Larry Levey (look up some of his great stories), Barry Williamson ’81 (who, inexplicably, Dos Equis somehow missed in its search for “Most Interesting Man in the World”), Kevin “Middletown” Markowski ’79 and  Ed Biester where, with his permission, I work at the same law Philly firm. Bob’s daughter Amy will graduate from Wes this year, and Ed’s daughter is a sophomore. My eldest was on campus for a college visit two weeks ago (had dinner with Bob and Amy on the trip), so it is apparent that the circle of Wes life remains unbroken. Crazy good, I guess you’d have to call it.

“Wow, right? Very grateful for these lifelong friendships. Many Wes classmates I miss and would like to hear from and reconnect with: Labeeb Abboud, Walter Siegel, Bucky Pereira (Buck: Bob Ferreira  still has some of your mistakenly returned Pereira test results from Herbie), Billy Burnett, Laura Nathanson, Lori Geissenhainer, Michelle LeBlanc, John Dionne, Jono Cobb ’79, Nick Donohue ’81, Joey Virgadula, Jeannette Talavera, Dan Lynch, John Padilla, and too many more to mention (the exit music is getting pretty loud already at this point). Next issue maybe. We’re still young and, as you aptly put it, still (in that indomitable Wes spirit) growing stronger, wiser, and more helpful to others.”

Mark Zitter writes: “It’s a time of transitions for my family. After 27 years of running my healthcare insights company, I’m promoting my president to CEO and transitioning myself into the chairman role. I’m busy starting up a philanthropic venture, The Zetema Project, a highly diverse panel of U.S. healthcare leaders that will convene regularly to debate key issues to better inform the dysfunctional national healthcare conversation. My wife Jessica, a physician specializing in end-of-life issues, will publish her first book in February. She’s featured in Extremis, a short documentary that won awards at several film festivals and was the first short doc picked up by Netflix. I’m chairing a series on end-of-life issues for the Commonwealth Club of California, so we talk about death all the time. We don’t get invited out much anymore.  My eldest, Sol, just started his freshman year at Brown, where he’ll focus on computer science and math. His sister, Tessa, is right behind him. By the time this is published my guess is that she will have applied early decision to Wesleyan! She wants to double major in theater and chemistry. I don’t think my alumni status had anything to do with this; it’s more about Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02. Our youngest, Sasha, is a high school freshman who is passionate about dogs. She has been invited to try out for the U.S. team that will compete next summer in Luxembourg in dog agility, a canine obstacle course. I’m in touch with our classmates Scott Hecker and Julie Burstein regularly, and would love to hear what Paul Singarella is up to.

Kenneth Haltman ’80 is the editor and translator of The Evolution of Taste in American Collecting by Rene Brimo, out now from Penn State University Press.

Kenneth Haltman, H. Russell Pitman professor of art history, has a new book release where he wrote the introduction and did the translation: The Evolution of Taste in American Collecting. According to the publisher, Penn State University Press, “In his introduction, Kenneth Haltman provides a biographical study of the author and his social and intellectual milieu in France and the United States. He also explores how Brimo’s work formed a turning point and initiated a new area of academic study: the history of art collecting. Making accessible a text that has until now only been available in French, Haltman’s elegant translation of The Evolution of Taste in American Collecting sheds new critical light on the essential work of this extraordinary but overlooked scholar.”

KIMBERLY OFRIA SELBY | kim_selby@yahoo.com

Hello, mates! Let’s start with Rob Miller, who is living in Chappaqua, N.Y., “on the other side of the tracks from the Clintons” and has two sons: Joshua, 13 and Daniel, 9. “I had my own entertainment agency for the past 12 years representing production companies mostly in the television world.” He sold the company at the end of 2015 to Creative Artists Agency. “The new pressure is not running a business, but rather my wife bugging me to retire,” he says.

He’s taken an annual Wesleyan ski trip with Thomas Parkinson, Andrew Parkinson ’80, Bruce Bunnell ’81, Earl Mix ’80, Greg Makoul, Danny Softness, Gordon Cooney ’81, Ed Stearns, and Bruce Crain, for more than 20 years, and says, “the competitiveness and camaraderie remain ever present.”

Vincent Bonazzoli has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer, an honor given to only the top five percent of attorneys in the state. Vinnie, who specializes in estate and elder law, lives in Swampscott, Mass., with his wife, Paula, and their two children.

Roger Hale has published a new novel, New Watering Holes, that explores the cultural intersection between India and China. As Roger describes it on the book jacket, the story delves into “some of the complexity of interpreting culture and cultural artifacts: Who has the right to interpret the culture of others?”

Toby Ewing writes, “After some 20 years working at Iowa State University, I moved to the Seattle area and now work for the Climate Corporation, a leader in digital agriculture.”

Laura Fraser and Peter Eckart ’86 were married at San Francisco City Hall on March 24. Laura says she wonders why she didn’t have the sense to marry a Wesleyan guy a few decades ago, but better late than never. After the ceremony, they partied at a neighborhood wine bar with friends including Wesfolks Mary Roach ’81, Jonathan Weber, Lawrence Comras, Maria Mead ’84, and John Baker ’84. Then they took off for an undiscovered beach in Mexico which they will not reveal.

Kaja McGowan wrote from Cambodia after wrapping up a “transformative” two weeks teaching a course for Cornell, where she is an associate professor. The course, Performing Angkor: Dance, Silk, and Stone, took Kaja and her students to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, including a visit to the religious site, Kbal Spean.

After writing for television for a decade, Peter Blauner has a new novel coming out, Proving Ground, which he says has gotten “kind words” from the likes of Stephen King, Richard Price, and Dennis Lehane. “It’s a modern day Hamlet revenge story set in Brooklyn,” he says. Reach him at slomoriot@gmail.com.

Beck Lee writes glowingly of later-in-life fatherhood and of his 6-year-old son, Truman, a Cub Scout, vegetarian, and animal lover, with two geckos, a fish and a frog. “My hat’s off to those with kids who’ve graduated college already, some of whom I daresay have kids of their own who are older than my Truman. But, I get to enjoy my son’s development in my dotage. There’s nothing better.”

Jennifer Rosenberg is in private psychiatry practice two days a week. “I live in Cleveland and will have been married to Samy Rosenberg for 30 years this August. Our oldest son, Eitan, lives in NYC and works for Spotify, our daughter, Michal, lives in Chicago and is pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology, and our youngest is a junior at Barnard.”

Martin “Chip” Shore writes, “After becoming a certified financial planner last year, I’m working on integrating financial planning into investment management. My wife, Shari, is practicing orthodontics in Brookline. Our son graduated from Vanderbilt last year and is gainfully employed in Chicago as a management consultant. Our daughter decided to go back to my roots and is in her first year at Colorado College. I’m looking forward to Reunion this spring and catching up with everyone!”

Congrats to Jim Stutz and his wife, Rosemary, soon to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary. Jim has been on the move, taking in various “awesome” music concerts with his kids (Guns ‘n’ Roses and Bonnie Raitt). His recent exploits included a scuba diving trip in Cozumel, Mexico, in 2015 and an African photo safari in February.

Matthew Capece and wife Alexis traveled to Crete for a friend’s wedding and were waylaid in Heraklion, where they passed the time amiably at a local taverna. “Live traditional Greek music,” Matt wrote. “Best flight delay in my life.”

Margaret Morton says she is “working at Eversource Energy and having the time of my life.”

Richard Klein is “a partner at the firm Romer Debbas LLP in Manhattan, heading up their co-op/condo and litigation practices.

John Johnson is the director of the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club in Brooklyn, serving over 300 kids a day. He is involved with the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), speaking to school groups and civic organizations. “Having lived with the diagnosis of bipolar disorder since age 17, my message of coping with and overcoming obstacles is a message of hope and acceptance,” he writes.

He keeps in touch with many Wes grads from our class, including Kweku Forstall, Ron Comrie, Cheryl Stevens, Robyn White, Kim Holt, and Billy Stephens.

Friends, I am signing off as your class correspondent. It’s been an honor and a pleasure to hear from old friends and to make new ones via these notes. Keep sending; I’ll keep reading!

Stephanie Griffith | stephaniedgriffith@gmail.com

[Ed. Note: We thank Stephanie for five years of service to Wesleyan, and we warmly welcome Laura Fraser as she returns to her role as class secretary. Laura can be reached at laura@laurafraser.com.]

← 1988 | 1990 →

NEWSMAKERS | 1980s NEWSMAKER DAVID MILCH ’89 David Milch ’89 was named the program director of the Leadership in the Arts and Entertainment Industries program at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT). This graduate program is a collaboration between NYIT and Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment in Manhattan. “I’m very excited to take the helm of this relatively new program with its focus on training the next generation of leaders within the arts and entertainment industries,” said Milch. “This program allows me to further my long-term work in empowering arts professionals and helping them understand their own value while providing them a greater ability to communicate that to wide ranging sectors of our society.” Previously, Milch was the associate director for student engagement at Columbia University. He was a program coordinator at Wesleyan, where he assisted in the creation of the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance (ICPP) and is a member of the Association of Theater in Higher Education. A theater major as an undergraduate, he earned an MFA in theater directing from UCLA.

Jonathan writes for this issue: We start with some props for our class secretaries. Your erstwhile ’89 scribe, David Milch, moved on after nine years working with Columbia University performing arts students, and started a new position at New York Institute of Technology as the director of the MA program in Leadership in the Arts and Entertainment Industries.

Meanwhile, the Bonnie to my Clyde of these class notes, Michele Barnwell, completed principal production of her documentary Party Girls: Exploring Politics in America, which follows a small group of millennial women of color (all first-time voters) who travel together around the country engaging in the political process. It’s a learning journey Michele describes as a summer-long slumber party…with a brain. Part of the doc airs online election week as a 6-part series via ITVS/PBS, and soon-ish as an indie feature doc.

Thomas Policelli’s eldest daughter, Katherine ’20, started at Wes, where she lives in what is now called “Butts C.” Tom is impressed by the amazing classes Wesleyan still offers, but also is struck by the available sushi and free-range tofu. He is rather disoriented to be the theoretically responsible adult against whom this generation is supposed to rebel, even if today’s rebellion is via app. For those of you beginning the college application process, he offers a plug (which your class secretary echoes) for Wesleyan’s annual alumni Sons and Daughters weekend in November. It’s a really good overview of the college application process with separate sessions for students and parents. Tom expects to participate again with his other children, ages 16, 14, and 10.

Marshall Brozost changed law firms, moving from Schulte Roth & Zabel to head the New York real estate practice group at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Alissa Berman is living in East Greenwich, R.I., with her boys, a high school senior and an eighth grader. She and her husband are divorcing amicably after 24 years of marriage. She is a stylist for the Cabi clothing company, where she does home shows and enjoys helping women feel great about themselves.

Indy Neidell, in Sweden, writes on the success of his YouTube channel, The Great War. It is nearing 400,000 subscribers, with more than 40 million views. He hears from teachers across the world who use the show in their classes and he consulted on the computer game, Battlefield, providing all manner of descriptive text, from the Hejaz Railway, to Lawrence of Arabia, to zeppelin warfare. He is also still touring with a few different bands and doing voiceovers for games and commercials.

John DiPaolo and his wife relocated in D.C., moving to Cleveland Park, where their daughter is starting kindergarten. His bike-commute to work is now twice as long, but because he rides along Rock Creek Park and the Potomac River, the natural beauty more than compensates. John has been at the U.S. Department of Education since 2011 and is now the deputy general counsel. As a political appointee, however, he’ll likely leave in January when President Obama’s term ends.

Elaine Perlman keeps busy as the director of the Peace Corps Fellows Program at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she prepares returning Peace Corps volunteers to teach in high-need public schools. This year, she painted school murals in the South Bronx and Harlem, taught middle school classes at the Harlem Educational Activities Fund, mentored a high school student through iMentor, and was an advisor for the Parents League. She attended a book presentation by Mike Rubens ’90, who just published The Bad Decisions Playlist, which was so compelling that Elaine read it in one day!

David Jonas lives happily in Westport, Conn., with his wife of 24 years. Their eldest daughter started her freshman year at NYU, and they have one more at home. Over the past year, he has been raising capital for a fund that invests in independent film productions.

Mike Olinger has been living in Brussels, Belgium, for the past two years with his wife and two teenage sons. Any classmates who make it over that way should look him up for moules frites and cold beer.

Howard Diamond is enjoying the Colorado lifestyle and serving as general counsel of Frontier Airlines. He celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary and attended his son’s college graduation and commissioning as a naval flight officer. He is also very proud of both daughters, one attending college and one in high school.

Adina Hoffman published Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architects of a New City, a biolographical triptych about three architects who helped shape the city in which she’s lived for the last 25 years. She now divides her time between Jerusalem and New Haven, and she is working on a short biography of Ben Hecht.

David Williams’ oldest son, Harry, is off to Boston University, where he will be studying mechanical engineering. Although Dafna (16), Seth (13), and Eli (11) are still at home, the family dynamic is shifting. His wife, Nyna Urovitch, is back at work after 15 years, teaching middle school math in a public school. David is still a healthcare consultant, but he also spends considerable time as president of Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, where he is leading a strategic transformation of the synagogue into a multi-organizational Jewish campus.

After 21 years, Lisa Nash gave up her chiropractor’s license and is starting a new chapter of life offering multi-disciplinary trauma transformation training as a Feldenkrais teacher, and as an ordained priestess in the ancient West African religion of Ifa. She continues to expand her residential healing and teaching center in Vermont, the Rainbow Serpent Mystery School, where four full-time residents share a kitchen, a bathroom, a ceremony and classroom space, and 21 acres, including veggie and herb gardens, fruit and nut trees, and chickens! The center offers retreats, workshops, and sanctuary for individuals, couples, and families in spiritual emergence/y.

David Eichler writes, “This will come as little surprise for those who remember the old days on Foss, but my digital marketing agency just spun off a sister firm called Decibel Green, specializing in, wait for it, cannabis and sustainability. Diane and I love living in Denver and would love to hear from Wes visitors.”

Finally, Broadway in Chicago’s annual free summer concert featured a performance from Hedwig and the Angry Inch by the show’s composer and lyricist, Stephen Trask.

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

MICHELE BARNWELL | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

Peter writes for this issue. Justine Gubar reports: “I’ve moved to Miami to work at Fusion, Univision’s English-language cable network and digital platform, as the supervising producer of investigations.”

Pat McDarrah connected with some classmates in San Francisco, notably Jono Marcus, Andy Weissman, Robert Wilder, and Michael Shaffer. Pat writes, “Rob’s new novel, Nickel, is now available in stores and online. Jono just became a father for the second time. Andy came out to Bay Area to see a Phish show with Wilder, and they also had a mini-Wesleyan reunion at Toronado. Shaffer just started at Dropbox after a long stint at EA (Electronic Arts). He has a new son named Dylan. I’m good. All settled into NorCal life and will celebrate six years here this December with my wife, Emma Gardner ’89. We are up in Petaluma, Sonoma County. Look us up if you’re visiting wine country! I still keep in touch with other classmates. Perry Klebahn is a professor at Stanford and makes occasional appearances out. Dylan MacDonald comes out for beers. I saw my freshman roommate Chris Strobel ’89. His family moved to Dallas.”

Steve Pike writes, “I have retired from the Foreign Service in July 2016 and am now assistant professor of public relations at Syracuse University’s S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. My wife, Jenny, my kids, Aubrey and Zach, and I are getting used to a whole new life in Central New York, and looking forward to staying in one place for a while instead of moving every two to three years!”

Harry Berger sends an update: “I have taken a position as the tier one Canada research chair in ethnomusicology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where I will serve as director of the Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media, and Place, and professor of music and folklore. It’s a great gig at an excellent university in a wonderful town, St. John’s. My family and I are very happy to have made the move.”

Rob Wrubel shares, “David Mendels and Leila Yassa put together a weekend for their birthdays and invited a bunch of Wes friends and their families to celebrate at Squam Lake in New Hampshire. We spent the last weekend of June with Rob Krulak, Judy Haas, Laura Flynn, Karin Stack, Ryan Alexander, Carrie Corrigan, and other friends. There were close to 50 people paddle boarding, swimming in the lake, and catching up.”

John “Sparky” Ferrara writes, “In July, a Chi Psi reunion party was held at my Massachusetts home. The celebration was a weekend-long party that included the 1980s campus favorite Tommy O’Carroll, Irish folk singer. Attendees (60-plus) represented 13 Wesleyan classes spanning over 35 years, traveling from 10 states. Wes ’88 alumni included Jim Van Hoven, Stephen Worth, Andy Campbell, and Roger Scholl, among others.”

Tim McCallum reports some major changes in his life: “In 2014, I sold my business. In 2015, I moved to Hawaii. In 2016, my first kid arrives. In 2017, I can’t even imagine…”

Linda Brinen-Stout writes, “We are living in Mill Valley, Calif., and I’m still at UCSF, as an associate professor of pharmacology. In July and August, my husband, 11-year-old son, and I took an amazing trip to Alaska to celebrate the combination of my 50th birthday and seven years of survival post-brain cancer. We took a small plane into McCarthy, Alaska and explored from there. Unbelievable sights and experiences on land, glacier, in the air, and on the water throughout the trip.”

Jennifer Taylor writes, “I’m three weeks into my new position as director of design and construction at OHSU in Portland, Ore. This is an exciting career shift for me from practicing architecture to working on the owner side overseeing the department that runs all the construction projects for the hospital and university. It also means a return to Portland from the Bay Area. My whole family is enjoying being back in our house and neighborhood! I also had the pleasure of seeing Dina Goldman and meeting her son when they passed through Portland.”

Peter V.S. Bond | 007@pvsb.org 

Hillary Ross | hrossdance@yahoo.com

Hi everyone! Please mark your calendars for our 30th Reunion, May 25 to 28. Don’t think about it, just do it!

The day I sent out my query for notes, I immediately received a few (understandably) excited responses: Brad Lubin moved his daughter into Clark today. “Looking forward to her getting her Wes on.” Then from Trisha Lindemann: “I’m at Wesleyan right now dropping off my son, Jordan ’19, who is entering as a junior transfer student. So I guess that is news!” And from Steve Warner and Martha Haakmat: “We just dropped our middle daughter, Georgia ’20, off to join the Wes class of 2020. Being on campus brought back such great memories. We were tempted to stow away in Georgia’s room and live our Wes years all over again. It felt so good to know that although Wesleyan has changed and grown with new buildings and air-conditioned dorms and amazing new facilities, the heart and soul of the school feels exactly the same. We are so excited for Georgia and her 780 classmates!”

And in other news: Just over a year ago, Gabrielle Sellei celebrated 20 years of practice by finally launching her own law firm. “It’s going very well and I am thrilled. My practice is about half business/transactional work and half entertainment law, particularly television, film and literary/writers. I get to work with some of the smartest, cleverest, and coolest people around, and I do my little part to make their thing happen; I feel extremely lucky. Dave Sinkway and I have a 15-year-old daughter, Lily, and a 13-year-old son, Adam, who get their athleticism from their dad and their snarky humor from their mom. Life is good here in Philadelphia!”

Robert Norden writes,“This year marks the 30th year of my owning and operating America’s oldest tavern, The 76 House, just outside of Manhattan in Tappan, N.Y. It was recently the centerpiece of the AMC miniseries, Turn, but is best known for our farm-to-table cuisine and craft brews and ciders all served with a large slice of history!”

Sumana Chandrasekhar Rangachar and her hubby, Raghu Rangachar, just celebrated their 25th anniversary out in Boulder, Colo., and were fortunate to spend two fabulous days with Johanna Van Hise Heart and Simon Heart, who are living there. Other Wes friends she has seen include Pauline Frommer ’88, Eileen Deignan, Ruth Bodian ’88, Lucille Renwick Archibold, and Michele Ahern. She is looking forward to our 30th (eek!) Reunion next year with as many of you as possible!

Amy Baltzell has big news this year: “In addition to having a child in elementary school (Zoey), middle school (Luke), and high school (Shayna), I wrote a new book, Mindfulness & Performance, with Cambridge University Press (2016). I also was just elected president-elect for the Association of Applied Sport Psychology.”

Sue Roginski: “I’ve been teaching, choreographing, and gearing up for Trolley Dances Riverside. In July, I was humbled with an award called Arts Honoree of the Month by the City of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Council. This recognition took notice of various projects that I facilitate within the nonprofit called P.L.A.C.E. Performance. Down time was definitely needed so I headed East to see family and made a quick stop in NYC to have dinner with Molly Rabinowitz and George Kirjanov. Hoping to catch up with more Wes friends in May!”

Ian Rosen writes from London. “Family is doing well. Five years in and my firm, Temporis Capital, is thriving. We are focused on investment management in sustainability and renewable energy.”

David Goldberg writes, “Simon Connor, Susan (Toothaker) Skovron, John Skovron, and I caught up and got back on the bus for a night with Dead and Co., at the Gorge in Washington. Thirty years after graduation, we’re still able to let our hair down and share some laughs and experiences raising our kids. (The Skovrons’ daughter, Rosie ’20, is headed to Wes this fall.) I’m just starting work on a City of Seattle environmental justice and equitable development initiative for Seattle’s industrial center in the Duwamish Valley. I’d love to hear from classmates working on these issues elsewhere.”

Kim Sargent-Wishart has big news. “I finished my PhD this year in performance studies at Victoria University in Melbourne. Titled Making Nothing Out of Something: Emptiness, Embodiment, and Creative Activity, it was an adventure in somatic research into human anatomy and embryology, creative practices of dance/filmmaking, contemplative photography, and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. It brought me right back to my Wesleyan days of studying John Cage and doing pedestrian dance, except now we have the Internet. Last year, my family moved down to Warrnambool, where we get to enjoy the beach on the rare days when the wind dies down. I’ve been involved in a local arts organization here, helping run a volunteer art gallery and shop and a new artist-in-residence program. I’ve also been consulting on an embodied leadership program, leading some photography and Body-Mind Centering workshops, teaching Pilates, and starting up a professional development program in Melbourne based in somatics and contemplative arts. My son, Jarrah, is a teenager now and rocking the violin, guitar, and trombone in several bands while questioning the value of a standard education. Luckily we like the same music. My son, Rico, is 9 and loves telling jokes. My partner, Llewellyn, is a full-time academic and also trying to finish his doctorate by next year. We’re hoping there’s a sanity light at the end of this tunnel!”

Josh Bellin’s next novel, the young adult science fiction adventure/romance, Freefall, has been accepted for publication, with an anticipated fall 2017 release date.

And finally, it breaks my heart to report that we lost a classmate recently, Anna Luhrmann Dewdney. I wish I had known her.

As for me, I think this stage in life is challenging, but interesting. And I’m hoping to find myself any day now. See you in May.

With love,

Amanda Jacobs Wolf | wolfabj@gmail.com

Thanks again to all of the classmates who came to our Reunion earlier this year. It was great to see so many people having a good time—from meeting with old friends to learning about interesting ideas by Wes alumni they hadn’t met before. It’s 4.5 years to our next big Reunion, but all are welcome to come to campus next spring to participate in Reunion and Commencement Weekend. I think some of us even have a child graduating from Wes next spring.

From our classmates, here are some updates. Ayelet Waldman has a new book coming out: A Really Good Day: How a Microdose Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage and My Life. Elaine Taylor-Klaus and her co-author, Diane Dempster, also have a book coming out: Parenting ADHD Now! Easy Intervention Strategies to Empower Kids with ADHD. Elaine’s middle daughter is a frosh at Wes, as is the daughter of William Greene, who is still in San Francisco and CEO of Iconic Therapeutics. And there are probably some others in our class who are now ’86, P’20.

Liza Baron and her husband, Bart, were given their first foster baby in June. He’s a 9-month-old boy, and they are hoping to adopt him if none of his family members qualify to get him. They will know for sure early next year. “It is tiring to care for an infant again, but we are so enjoying it, and he has brought us a lot of love and joy.”

Debbie Roff is concluding a stint as the coordinator of community service for the Kinkaid School in Houston, where she directed a program in which 600 students complete more than 4,000 hours of service through 90-100 projects per year. They have done the usual building houses with Habitat for Humanity, tutoring underserved elementary school kids, playing cognitive games with residents at retirement centers, and feeding the hungry. Her students also initiated original projects including a music enrichment program for children living in a shelter, after-school field trips for inner-city children to tour Houston’s bayou and forested wetlands, and a bocce ball tournament for 150 Special Olympics athletes who will compete on 20 bocce courts constructed on the school’s football field.

Kathryn Lotspeich Villano is still super involved with Lotus House Shelter for Women and Children in Miami. She’s facilitating the addition of a free clinic for guests and uninsured neighbors and hopes to integrate functional medicine group visits for chronic disease management. Also, active in this sector is Marsha Cohen, who is executive director of the Homeless Advocacy Project in Philadelphia.

Lucy Malatesta is still involved with the homeless outreach organizations: Family Promise of Morris County and Bridges Outreach in Summit, N.J. This spring, Lucy and her son put together a wonderfully creative event. He’s on a robotics team, so they linked up with a friendly rival team, made 150 brown bag lunches, and convened for a competition. After feeding and hanging out with various homeless friends, they put on a little robotics demonstration. “It was a terrible, windy, freezing day, but our homeless friends stayed and watched as if they were these kids’ uncles, aunts, or grandparents, not wanting to disappoint these young people who had made an effort to connect with them. It was so sweet and lovely and important. People cannot move forward if they don’t believe in their own humanity.”

On our Reunion weekend, Emily Cowan heard that she had been hired by Between Us Associates, a group psychotherapy practice in Manchester, N.H. “I’m very happy there, after years of scraping by and fretting in a solo private practice. For fun I went rock-climbing and visited friends in Massachusetts and Connecticut.” She also noted that two good friends each lost their mothers. “I discovered that it’s a sacred time, when the everyday is sometimes indistinguishable from the profound.”

Ellen Santistevan says that she collaborated with a trans-massage therapist to create an ethics class for LMTs called The Trans Body On the Table. “There doesn’t seem to be any other class like it in the whole country, so we are pretty stoked about that. Who knows where it might lead? But it’s very important work nonetheless.” Ellen also went through the program from the Celebrant Institute and Foundation to become a life-cycle celebrant. This feels like important work to do as well, at a time when ritual and recognition of many important life passages go unremarked except for weddings and funerals and graduations!

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Mary Beth writes for this issue. Vicente Caride joined Johnson & Johnson’s global strategic design office in New York City, where he is heading up digital design. Melissa Marks ’87 created an exciting site-specific art installation and exhibition in Vélez Blanco, Spain, this past August. Melissa’s Double Self Split was created as a spontaneous, three-week performance, with her painting covering 100 square meters of the courtyard of the Castillo de los Fajardo. The site-specific work is a reciprocal cultural gesture between Spain and New York, Melissa’s home, referencing the relocation of the original castle patio within The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sixteen large composite drawings were concurrently exhibited inside the 16th century Iglesia del Convento de San Luis. Melissa was honored by locals with the nickname “La Brocha” (The Brush), and the events were covered by the national Spanish press. Melissa and Vicente’s son, Archie, is enjoying his sophomore year in high school, is on the student council and is co-founder of the hip-hop club.

There have been lots of changes for Terry McClenahan and his family: “We moved from Manhattan to Buffalo as of August. My wife, Kara Kelly, M.D., is the new chief of pediatrics at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. I’m leaving a fantastic job at FSI Architecture and many years of chief refereeing and head coaching in the West Side Soccer League. Our 13-year-old son, Rory, graduated from The School at Columbia University on a Monday and we moved out the next Sunday. Before the final move, we lived for the summer near Asbury Park in Ocean Grove, N.J. Last September our gutsy 16-year-old, Katie, left to attend Buffalo Seminary (non-religious girls’ school founded 1851). As a boarder she joined the sailing team and aced all her courses! My great son, Matt, now 26, is completing courses in structural timber framing at Sterling College in Vermont. And soon I’ll send photos of our new dog!”

Crystal Turner-Moffatt was married this September at a waterfront sunset ceremony in Peekskill, N.Y., to Jayson Moffatt of Stratford, Conn. Crystal and Jayson honeymooned in St. Thomas, where they also had a romantic beach ceremony. Crystal has been the owner of CDT EHS Consulting, LLC., a safety consulting firm, since 2007. Crystal also works for MP Engineers and serves as a safety consultant for the Office of General Services (OGS) for the State of New York. The couple will reside in Milford, Conn.

Wendy Buffett writes, “There’s something embarrassing about realizing that ’news’ right now constitutes being in the middle of a kitchen remodel! I had a wonderful time going back to Wesleyan in May to celebrate the retirement of Abraham Adzenyah MA ’79 and to dance again with Denise Paasche on campus. Joel Kreisberg ’82 and I have been married for the past eight years and are still sending teens out into the world. His oldest is working in Chicago and his youngest is at Oberlin. My daughter is at UCLA and we have a junior in high school who is just starting the process of finding his next gig. I’m practicing integrative primary care in Albany, Calif., and am quite grateful to have two black Labs to walk around the neighborhood.”

Amy Huber writes, “After 25 years living abroad, I have just completed my first year back in the USA. My third career has turned into my true vocation. I am employed as a high school math teacher in my local community of Rockport, Mass., teaching calculus, pre-calculus, and algebra. My oldest son is pursuing a career as a performance artist in London. My second son is in Japan to do a PhD at Kyoto University after graduating from Brown. My third son is a junior at UCSD studying global health and politics. My fourth son is a high school senior and in no hurry to leave home! I am looking forward to attending the Head of the Charles in October to see Marta Benson ’84 and Amy Baltzell ’87.”

Craig Pospisil: “As I write this, my daughter has just celebrated her second birthday. Elmo from Sesame Street played a big role, appearing on a balloon, every plate, napkin, cup, and the cake, too. In non-Elmo news: My play, Months on End, had a successful run in Hong Kong this past spring that was extended and taken to Foshan and Guangzhou, China. My one-act play, There’s No One Here, was published in Best American Short Plays 2014-2015. My short film, January, was accepted into the Adirondack Film Festival and the Nottingham International Film Festival, so it’s been a busy time!”

Nick Hill lives in Needham, Mass. with his wife, Audrey, and his son, Kevin, who graduated from Mass College of Liberal Arts with a degree in environmental science and semiotics. Nick has been working in the energy management field for 30 years, “and suddenly I’m in a sexy industry! Wow, I’m now in Cleantech!” For the past 14 years, he has consulted with businesses, universities, and municipalities to manage costs via energy efficiency, renewable energy projects, and energy procurement. Nick volunteers as a mentor with the Northeast Cleantech Open, an “accelerator [program] for early-stage clean technology startup companies” in New York and New England. This past summer he ran their program for startup teams. Nick is a board member of his local “green” committee alongside Jim Glickman ’84. Jim’s an attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor in Boston. I remembered him from my days in the Olin Reserve Room, checking out two-hour readings to beleaguered government and econ majors.

John Vigman writes, “Working most of the time out of Tokyo and Hong Kong, anyone out in Hong Kong out there? If so, lets grab a beer: john.vigman@gmail.com.”

Lisa Nevans Locke received a Montgomery College Outstanding Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarly or Professional Accomplishments. The award reflects her work over the past 12 years as an adjunct professor of English, and her more than 25 years in journalism. In his remarks, Dr. Sanjay Rai, senior vice president for academic affairs who presented the award, noted her many journalism awards (including an Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors’ Award and a Society for Professional Journalists’ Dateline Award); previous work as a Congressional and White House correspondent; work for D.C.-area newspapers and magazines; and stories published in newspapers in places as far-flung as New York, Hawaii, and Hong Kong. Dr. Rai said, “This award recognizes your outstanding scholarly or professional accomplishment and sustained contributions to your department, your campus, the College, and the community.” He quoted a student who described her as “a teacher who speaks her mind to set an example to [students to] share their ideas with others.” Lisa has focused on teaching students from underrepresented communities and demographics who are frequently the first person or generation in their families to go to college.

CAROLINE WILKINS | cwilkins85@yahoo.com

MARY BETH KILKELLY | mbkeds@yahoo.com

Greetings, Fellow classmates. Michael Steven reporting this month. First up are my Gingerbread House alumni Peter Stine and Michael (“Misi”) Polgar. Peter, who chairs the department of physics and engineering at Bloomsburg University, reports the birth of his son, Milo, last April. Peter also referees roller derby. Misi lives with his family near Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and teaches sociology at Penn State; he’d like to hear from classmates on any topic, especially the Holocaust and human rights education.

Gail Farris joins the rest of us recent empty-nesters after dropping her son, Dean, off at Harvard. Her daughter, Kim ’14, is engaged and will marry her high-school sweetheart next June. Her other daughter, Jen ’16, just graduated from Wes this year.

Alison Picher is a registered reverend of psychic healing and reading, and officiated her first wedding this summer at (appropriately enough) the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. She is also a pet psychic, helping humans communicate with their pets. Her website is alisonstanton.co (that’s co, not com). Her husband, Chris Allan ’83, started a consulting business as a social change evangelist, doing international evaluations and trainings on climate change adaptation and development. He’s spent many months in countries near the Sahara Desert this year. His website is chrisallan.info.

Alison also tells a story of Lisa Rein and Bonnie Auslander searching for Bonnie’s cat in the Colorado mountains, and attending a Sting/Peter Gabriel concert in Seattle with Deborah Wang. Alison’s daughter, Nina, spent the year in Boston and ran into Andrea Roman in a coffee shop. Nina works at NIH in malaria research, and Alison’s son, Ben, has moved out and works at a health food store.

Steve Herzog only had time to write that his daughter is a senior at Kenyon.

Jonathan Sadowsky has a book coming out from Routledge Press, Electroconvulsive Therapy in America: The Anatomy of a Medical Controversy. He completed nine years as the chair of the history department at Case Western Reserve University and remains on the faculty.

Joseph Pieropan was named Prosecutor of the Year in recognition of his 29 years as an assistant district attorney in the Berkshire District Attorney’s office. He lives in Pittsfield, Mass., with his wife, Amy, seven dogs, and two cats.

Li Wen is a design principal at Gensler LA, directing a variety of projects. She lives the urban life in Central Hollywood, and is a board member of LA Contemporary Exhibits. She enjoys exploring the various natural and urban landscapes of LA and California.

Mitzi Fennel sent us a wonderful picture. She and her 77 Home Ave. classmates get together every couple of years, and this year she was in Cancun with David Booker, Lesley Berglund, Larry Hafetz, Kevin McGowan, and Jennifer Hutchinson McGowan ’85.

Finally, some very sad news. Our classmate, Nancy Myron Crown, passed away suddenly in June, leaving behind her children, Molly and Sam. Her sister Susan contacted us to make sure Nancy was remembered in this issue. Nancy went from Wesleyan to Northwestern University, and went on to develop affordable housing in cities around the country, eventually joining the Charlotte Housing Authority. Recently, her frustration with the divisive political climate in the country drove her to found (with her sisters) a grassroots effort to encourage civil political discourse called Bridge the Political Divide.

Buffy Martin Brouckman attended Nancy’s memorial service, along with Foss 9 freshman hallmates Ina Jacobs, Heidi Ravis, and Linda Clumeck. Buffy remembers walking the High Line in NYC with Nancy and a few other friends just last year. She hopes that her own daughters will form the sort of friendships she had with Nancy and their other freshman year friends.

A longer obituary can be found here. Nancy’s sister encourages us all to sign the petition at the website above; and in lieu of flowers, to make a donation to Loaves and Fishes.

Roger Pincus | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu

Michael Steven Schultz | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu