CLASS OF 1986 | 2016 | ISSUE 2

1986 WEbIf you would like to know what happened at our 30th Reunion, please contact any of the classmates listed in our online notes at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu —and click on “Class of 1986.” All were registered and attended, and we look forward to seeing you in about 250 weekends from now for our 35th Reunion (May 2021). Some also posted photos at facebook.com/groups/wesleyanclassof86/.

You can also go to the Class Notes online to see a partial listing of some of the websites that our classmates have. If you’d like to include yours in the list, please write and let me know. If you tell us about yourself and your work, we can include that info (and the site listing) in the printed magazine.

In news from some who didn’t come to our Reunion, Joe Cassidy retired from the U.S. State Department, having served at overseas posts in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South America during a 26-year career. He is joining the Wilson Center this year, with a focus on international refugee law and humanitarian mega-crises.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus, a parent coach and speaker/author on ADHD, says that she “is supporting the arts by consciously empowering my incredibly talented daughter to fulfill her dreams to be an actor. Forget the glamour—this industry takes incredibly hard work! Bex is currently filming Season 2 of Scream (MTV), and is officially a cartoon character (Pidge) in the re-release of Voltron. My role is to provide emotional support when it’s hard to keep going, and cheer her on every step of the way!”

Ellen Santistevan missed our 30th Reunion, due to her youngest son’s high school graduation and her daughter’s wedding, so “I can comfortably say that my life has never been more full.” For details visit: thirdgoddess.tumblr.com.

And many thanks to those who contributed five years ago to our class gift. There were some large gifts, but also many smaller ones (under $100). We funded the granite benches and terrace/patio between the new student center and the new career center (the Gordon Career Center, named after our classmate Andy Gordon), so it’s a very prominent location for this plaque that recognizes the class gift from our 25th Reunion. Many thanks to all who contribute to the ongoing legacy of our class, our legacy at Wesleyan, or our legacy through your paid or volunteer work in your respective home communities.

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Websites

julialeebarclay.blogspot.com
peterdurwood.com
zaharaheckscher.com
elizabethgraver.com
familyeyegroup.com/staff/dr-michael-pavlica
www.ralphsavarese.com
laphil.com/philpedia/bennett-schneider
sealanderarchitects.com
ayeletwaldman.com
If you would like us to mention your webpage in the next issue, please send it ehoward86@wesleyan.edu.

CLASS OF 1987 | 2016 | ISSUE 2

Hello beloved classmates,

I crashed the first day of Reunion weekend this year, so am full of renewed affection for our alma mater. I swear that campus gets more beautiful every time I see it. Here we go:

Claire Conceison has left Duke University for a new appointment at MIT as Quanta Professor of Chinese Culture and Professor of Theater Arts.

Tim Sheridan just published a new kids ebook to support the Sanders campaign. It’s called A Birdie for Bernie and it’s free when you donate to the campaign. Info at birdie4bernie.com.

Elliot Mark wrote in: “I still live outside Boston, where I’ve been since graduating law school in 1990. My wife, Kathleen, and I have three children, and unbelievably, our oldest daughter is about to graduate from high school (Muhlenberg, class of 2020), our youngest is having her bat mitzvah, and our 15-year-old son is already taller than both his parents and shows no signs of stopping. I see Cam Mears pretty regularly and am in touch with Hal Marcus, Chuck Taylor, and Lauren Ariev Gellman ’88. Had the pleasure of hanging out with Dan Weese and Cheryl Towler and their three children when I visited Chicago to see the Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well shows last summer. Looking forward to our 30th reunion next year!”

Alisa Kwitney went to see Holly Harrison ’85 and Jim McManus ’85 at Holly’s first solo art show, The Language of Lines, at the Abigail Ogilvy gallery in Boston. Alisa also visited Prof. Kit Reed while on campus with her daughter. Alisa is writing a miniseries for DC Comics and developing Liminal Comics, an imprint with Brain Mill Press. Her 10th novel, Cadaver and Queen, is forthcoming.

From Susan Malestein-Romeo: “This year will be 25 years married to my wonderful husband, Robert Malestein. Yes … someone has put up with me that long. We live in Bridgeton, N.J., a very rural town that is about 45 minutes northeast of Atlantic City. Rob is a judge for the Superior Court of New Jersey and currently sits in the criminal division. I have been a family law attorney since 1990, running my own office. It is hard to believe I have been practicing law that long!! I feel like I should be really good by now 🙂 My husband and I are blessed with two daughters, Samantha, who is a sophomore at The College of New Jersey and plays rugby for her school (just like her mom), and Carly, who is a junior in high school.”

“All’s well for the Paseltiners,” writes Linda Paseltiner. “Phil and I won the Commencement jackpot this spring with each of our boys graduating—elementary school, high school and college. In August we will celebrate our 25th anniversary. So, a big year all around for us.”

Jonathan “JB” Davis writes that “While the post-layoff stay-at-home dad/soccer coach/serious home cook things continue to be awesome, the kids no longer require as many hours a day (Joe is almost 15, Eli is 11, and Abby is 9), so I looked for ‘what’s next’ and am now a startup co-founder.” Here’s our site: month16.com.

Erika Ranee had her first solo art show this spring at LMAK gallery in NYC. It was titled Gasoline Rainbows and featured a new series of paintings and her recent foray into works on paper. Erika was a 2009 artist-in-residence at the Abrons Arts Center, and was awarded a studio grant from the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation in 2011. Her work has been shown in several exhibitions including The Bronx Museum, The Last Brucennial/2014, The Parlour Bushwick and recently at BravinLee programs.

This winter Eileen Deignan caught up with Johanna and Simon Heart in Boulder, Colo. “Sumana Chandrasekhar Rangashar’s family hosted us this spring in New Jersey. I catch up with Doug Neuman periodically here in Boston. Ira Skolnik and I practice right down the street from each other. Had a happy reunion with Shiyoung Roh at a hospital function; she is an ophthalmologist at Lahey Clinic. On a professional note, I was voted a member of my hospital’s board of directors.”

Stephen Warner and Martha Haakmat “are beyond thrilled that our daughter, Georgia Warner-Haakmat ’20, will be attending Wes! As for the two of us, we both continue to be deeply and happily involved in education, Martha as Head of School at Brooklyn Heights Montessori School and me as Head of Lower School at Allen-Stevenson in NYC.”

Hannah Doress ’88 writes in about Alane Freund: “It is an exciting time for Alane Freund—she put her MS, LMFT and Equine Assisted Growth and Learning (EAGALA) training to work to found Heart and Mind Equine, where she offers weekend retreats, psychotherapy and leadership development programs for the 20 percent of the population that is highly sensitive. Heart and Mind Equine is developing a national reputation, drawing attendees from around the county and collaborating closely with high sensitivity field pioneer Dr. Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person. Media coverage of Alane has sometimes called her ‘the horse whisperer’ because of her skill in rescuing, gentling and incorporating wild horses into her work. Doress ’88 and her son Abe have taken part in her youth leadership development programs with these horses [which explains our enthusiasm!]. Alane lives and works with her partner, Monica Zimmerman, an equine specialist and midwife. Her son, Asher Padua-Freund, is a high school student with an interest in neurology.”

Scott Pryce is spending his time between Miami and Washington these days, and would love to catch up with classmates in both cities. “I am in touch with Dan Sharp ’88, Chris Lotspeich, and Rob Campbell from our class. We had a fun reunion with a few other classmates like Alex Scott, and also Colin Campbell at Rob’s wedding last year.”

That’s all the room we have.

Best always,

Amanda Jacobs Wolf | wolfabj@gmail.com

CLASS OF 1988 | 2016 | ISSUE 2

Hillary writes for this issue.

Lisa Renery reports that she recently left Ancestry.com for a design research role at UBER’s San Francisco headquarters. She is one of two other Wes alums on her team (Jenny Lo ’10 and Hilary Hoeber ’96). Lisa’s been having fun commemorating/commiserating with classmates Rick Stein, Paulette Taylor and Brad Kramer about their (our!?) milestone birthdays.

Laura Wiessen writes in for the first time(!), sharing that after years of being a news and documentary producer in New York and Chicago (with a stint in Jerusalem), she married in 2008 and is living in Gloucester, Mass., with her husband and two girls. Laura says this move is quite a change from her urban lifestyle, and wants you to let her know if you’re in Gloucester.

Majora Carter’s company, StartupBox, and Birch Coffee will open a new café in the South Bronx. StartupBox also acquired a historic rail station and plans to transform it into a restaurant incubator. Majora says “both of these projects are part of my theory about self-gentrification, i.e., the creation of great economic development projects, by and for the people currently living in low-status communities, before they get traditionally gentrified, builds resistance to brain drain because the smart, hardworking people born and raised in those communities (the ones like me, who were taught to measure success by how far they get away from their hometowns) will want to re-invest in their own communities instead of fleeing as soon as they can.”

Andrea Gural has been busy “managing life and general chaos with four boys.” She recently switched jobs and is now working as director of Budget and Analysis at NYU Global Programs, which is NYU’s study-away program. She had been looking for a move to nonprofits and education, and says this is a good fit with her global work experience.

Rob Wilder’s first novel, Nickel, will be published by Leaf Storm Press in September. Author Augusten Burroughs states that “no one has ever written about the pains of being a teenager—physically and psychologically, inside and out—quite like Robert Wilder in his startling debut novel. He has created indelible characters in Monroe and Coy—funny and sad and strong and broken—and Nickel is about as real as it gets.”

Christina Pugh received a 2015–16 Guggenheim fellowship in poetry, and has two poetry books in the works: Perception and Stardust. She will share more info with us when the books are available.

PETER v.s. BOND | 007@pvsb.org

Hillary Ross | hrossdance@yahoo.com

CLASS OF 1989 | 2016 | ISSUE 2

Damn. When Michele shakes the tree, she shakes it hard. We even got a few first timers, so we’ll lead with those.

Amy Berk has reinvested in her home in San Francisco, where her two kids attend Creative Arts Charter School. She is starting a new venture to help recenter and reset creativity: reapprojects.com. She sometimes sees Michelle Matz and recently reconnected with David Auerbach.

In Portland, Ore., Michael Aiello is finishing a visiting artist show at the Blackfish Gallery. He presented six pieces from work sponsored by a grant from his Regional Arts & Culture Council called “Our Fates Are Connected.” Michael is now creatively transitioning back to songwriting. In June, he will be in Northern New Mexico, humbly listening for the words that are hidden in the tunes, and is grateful to his daughter and love for the opportunity….

Dina Goldman has been a production designer for film and television (primarily) in NYC for almost 20 years. Her current project is an independent feature based on the life of J.D. Salinger, turning the city streets back to the way they looked in the ’40s and ’50s. When not working, she’s enjoying life with her husband and 9-year-old son in the West Village.

Allison Downer is now the associate executive director of the Department of Psychiatry at Rikers Island, where she provides psychiatric services for the country’s first specialized jail for 18–21 year olds. She was encouraged to reach out because of all the “cool people” who are sharing their good deeds.

Hope Ring is still a family doctor, still happily married, with daughters now 11 and 17, who are far more passionate about social justice than Hope was at their age. With the prodding of Jeanne Kramer-Smythe ’90, Hope is now an associative member of SFWA, writing under Hope Erica Schultz.

Congratulations to James Eli Shiffer who just had his first book, The King of Skid Row, published by The University of Minnesota Press. He completed this account of the seamy history of his adopted hometown of Minneapolis while keeping his day job as an editor and columnist at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He is a co-historian with his wife, Kirsten Delegard ’90, the creator of the Historyapolis community history project. Last year, he joined Paul Rooney, David Williams, and many other Argus alumni advocating for free speech at Wesleyan and against efforts to defund the Argus.

After 10 years at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Phineas Baxandall moved on to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a think-tank that focuses on helping people with low and moderate incomes. Phineas will be working with campaigns to pass a ballot initiative that would raise taxes on incomes over a million dollars to fund education and transportation. He recently visited Cuba with his long-time partner, Sarah Hill, and his children. Son, Julian (16), just started an ultimate frisbee team at his high school in Cambridge, Mass. In January, several Wesleyan alumni attended a memorial service for Phineas’s mother, including Stephanie Dolgoff, Elizabeth Schmidt, Robert Featherstone, John Stamm, and Eric Lotke ’87.

The paperback edition of Alex Chee’s new novel, The Queen of the Night (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is coming out this January, along with a new edition of his first novel Edinburgh. He also will have an essay in this fall’s Best American Essays 2016, and has two upcoming visiting writer gigs: at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the fall, and then at the University of Massachusetts Amherst MFA in the spring. He recently saw Janine Mileaf, who runs the Chicago Arts Club.

In April, Adam Rohdie, Andrew Lacey and Mike Charlton, and their spouses all attended JazzFest in NOLA. While the music and food were outstanding, part of Saturday’s show was rained out. Somehow they persevered, finding their way to the French Quarter and enjoying themselves despite the weather.

John Hlinko is living in Washington, D.C., doing his best to save America from Trump (and itself) by running Left Action, a two-million-strong national progressive activist community. His wife, Leigh Stringer, is about to release her second book, The Healthy Workplace, which he will shamelessly plug on Facebook, via e-mail, and in Wesleyan class notes. John is about to move to a house that was built in the 1850s as a church, which might be the first time he’s been in one in decades.

Laura Safran Shepard and her husband, Drew Shepard, are on the move after relocating back to Connecticut from Thailand in 2014. Colgate-Palmolive has tapped Drew to manage Western Europe, starting next month, and they will be moving to Paris. Despite not knowing a single word of French, they are very excited. They will miss their daughter who is headed off to college, but they know she’ll be super happy at school.

If anyone has plans to visit Toronto, they should look up Marisa Cohen, who is tagging along as her 13-year-old daughter, Molly, plays Alice in the Canadian premiere of Matilda the Musical. You can most likely find Marisa in a coffee shop trying to keep up her freelance magazine/web writing career while sampling Canadian delicacies like Labatt’s, Smarties, and ketchup crisps. Her husband, Jeremy, and daughter, Bellam, are staying in New York, but will make lots of border crossings to visit. Depending on how the election goes, they may just stay up north. (Kidding—sort of.)

After 18 years as an academic librarian at Bryn Mawr College and the University of Michigan, Susan Turkel is going freelance! She’s researching, editing, and doing a little Web design for faculty and others. Check her out at susanturkel.com. When not working, she’s usually found at a contra dance.

Finally, congratulations to Ed Thorndike, whose restaurant, WesWings, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a big party at Beckham Hall with about 400 guests, including the senior class.

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

Michele Barnwell | fishtank_michele@yahoo.com

CLASS OF 1980 | 2016 | ISSUE 1

Karen Murgolo is still surviving in book publishing and is editorial director of the nonfiction imprint, Grand Central Life & Style, at the Hachette Book Group. She works with fun chefs like Mario Batali, edited Ellen DeGeneres’ Home book, and is editor of Gwyneth Paltrow’s bestselling, It’s All Good, and upcoming It’s All Easy. Fun fact: She is currently working with Candace Nelson ’96, founder of the Sprinkles Bakeries and judge on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars on her amazing cookbook, The Sprinkles Baking Book: 100 Secrets From Candace’s Kitchen.

Janet Grillo directed the feature film Jack of the Red Hearts, starring Famke Janssen (X-Men, Taken) and AnnaSophia Robb (Carrie Diaries, The Way Way Back); the story of a teenage con artist who convinces the desperate mother to hire her as live-in caregiver for her child with severe autism. Jack Of The Red Hearts won the Jury Prize at the inaugural Bentonville Film Festival, founded by Geena Davis to promote gender equality in filmmaking; played festivals here and abroad, winning 11 awards; and will open in 25 AMC theaters nationwide on Feb. 26th. It will air on Lifetime in April, Autism Awareness Month.

F.X. White writes: “My three children are growing up too fast. Sophia is looking at colleges, and I hope she considers Wesleyan. I’ve been active on the Bernie Sanders campaign, and in fact am running as a delegate for Maryland’s Eighth District pledged to him. Still haven’t made it to a Reunion in all these years, but keeping in touch with a bunch of Wes folks on Facebook, which has been fun. Working as a software developer and writing a book about the year off I took in ’78. The education I had in the COL still sustains me. Recently started a book club with some neighbors. Also coaching a fourth-grade soccer team. Life is good. Best to all.”

Peter Scharf writes: “I’m also in Boston, rather Cambridge. I’m cataloguing the 1700 Sanskrit manuscripts at the Houghton Library at Harvard with the help of two assistants from India. We’ve finished about half of them as of now (Feb. 3) and include them in our Sanskrit manuscript catalogue at sanskritlibrary.org under Reference. I plan to head back to IIT Bombay to teach linguistics in the fall.”

David Hafter writes: “Like many of my classmates whose parents struggle with health and life-management issues, I have my challenges. Otherwise, however, I feel pretty lucky. My 50s have been more exciting than I anticipated. For a therapist, getting older is generally a good thing and I am enjoying running a program for Yolo County schools, where we do one-to-one brief therapy (early intervention), group counseling and mental health presentations/assemblies. I also do trainings for clinicians around California. For fun, I re-formed my Wesleyan band, Wealth of Nations, with a great group of guys who, like me, started playing music young and never stopped. I have gone from solo performing in the basement of Wesleyan frats, to playing with the Original Wealth of Nations (with James MarcusKathy Bergeron and Vic Tredwell) at Wesleyan to the new full, seven-piece rock band, playing my originals, lots of Dead covers and other great music from our era. Playing with these guys is more fun than I could put into words. My son, Noah, also a singer/guitar player, is settled in Seattle. So, no complaints here, at least not now; I’m enjoying the moment.”

Wendy Buskop writes: “Daughter Jacqueline ’19 is now in her freshman year. She needs internships in earth and environmental science, if anyone can help out. Contact her at jbuskop@wesleyan.edu. Celebrating 25 years this year of Buskop Law Group—a private practice law firm providing patent drafting, filing, and issuance of patents and trademarks, with five patent attorneys and clients in 23 states and 15 foreign countries.”

Your own Jenny Boylan has left the faculty of Colby College after 25 years, and taken on the new role of Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University. “This has me in the classroom in New York in the spring semesters; each May I return to Maine, where my wife, Deirdre Finney Boylan ’82, and I live on Long Pond, in Belgrade Lakes. It’s been a super busy and crazy time, and I beg for you to forgive me for the inevitable alumna boast-o-rama. Ready? I continue as the national co-chair of GLAAD, the media advocacy nonprofit for LGBTQ people, and also serve as a trustee for the Kinsey Institute for Research on Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. On the writing front, I’m a contributing opinion writer for the op/ed page of the New York Times, with an essay appearing about every six weeks or so, or whenever I can think up something to say. My new novel, Long Black Veil, comes out in spring of 2017 from Penguin Random House; let’s call it a literary thriller with a twist. And I’m introducing my new line of fragrances, called KABOOM. No, wait, I’m only kidding about the fragrance. But I am not kidding about this: I’m a consultant and a cast member on I Am Cait, the E! Network reality show about Caitlyn Jenner, on which my primary role seems to be explaining to Cait that Everything She Knows is Wrong. It’s a weird position for me to be in, since playing yourself on TV turns out to be harder than pretending to be someone else. But I continue to believe that visibility brings acceptance, so on I go.

“I loved seeing so many old friends at Wesleyan at our Reunion, and receiving the Distinguished Alumna award from the University was one of the great honors of my life. It is weird to think that I am being feted for being an out trans person; the very thought of coming out when I was a Wesleyan student seemed like the most unlikely turn of events I could imagine. But the world has changed, I reckon. Just like a lot of people I know. And my beloved Wesleyan classmates not least.”

KIMBERLY OFRIA SELBY | kim_selby@yahoo.com

CLASS OF 1981 | 2016 | ISSUE 1

Joanne writes this time: Greetings from the heartland! Although my eyes gaze upon an idyllic Indiana landscape where a pair of fawns cavort in the snow, my thoughts have skipped ahead to the possibilities of spring, and with that, our forthcoming (gulp!) 35th Reunion. We hope that many of you have reserved the week-end of May 20–22, for a return visit to our alma mater for what is sure to be a wonderful weekend filled with rekindled friendships, warm memories, and much catching-up! The Reunion Committee has done a phenomenal job and has come up with a great slate of events which can be accessed online at wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/class-1981. If you have not yet reserved, it’s not too late! Just follow the links at the website above—registration is fast and easy. And definitely check out our Wesleyan Class of ’81 Reunion webpage on Facebook for some interactive fun. We need your input and comments there for a real trip down “Memory Lane.” The members of the committee have collectively donated countless hours of time, energy and creativity to the planning process. On behalf of the entire class, I would like to thank my co-chairs, Delcy Ziac Fox and Nancy Parker Wilson, as well as Kofi AppentengBart BrebnerRick CiulloKathy Prager ConradPaul DiSantoSharon FiersteinJohn GiammatteoLisa GreimKeith KrakaurElisha LawrenceBeck LeeLiza Page NelsonLivia Wong McCarthyMatt McCreightDave Miller, Dave ResnickBradley Whitford and last but not least, our fearless liaison at Wesleyan, Kate Quigley Lynch ’82. Come early enough to join us for a cocktail party on Friday night. Our class dinner on Saturday evening will feature a few exciting guests: a current professor, Courtney Weiss Smith, as well as all-time favorites Rich Adelstein and Andy Szegedy-Maszak. The time in between will offer Wes seminars, impromptu get-togethers, and other forms of fun and frolic. As events get finalized, the Reunion Page will be updated—so make sure you check it frequently, particularly as May approaches. Looking forward to seeing you in Middletown on May 20th!

Keith Krakaur writes from across the Big Pond, where he and his wife, Nancy, recently relocated. Keith is a partner at Skadden Arps, where he has worked for the past 21 years, and will continue his white-collar criminal defense practice out of their London offices. He acts as the head of the firm’s enforcement and investigations practice in Europe; Nancy will be moving her photography career over with his. As for the kids? “Well, our three sons, Matthew ’14 (23), Daniel (21), and Jonathan (18) will have to suffer the hardship of visiting us abroad as they pursue their television writing, music, and who-knows-what careers in the U.S.,” says Keith. “On days when I think how lucky I am to have an interesting job that has allowed me to see and meet people in most corners of the world over the years, my family is happy to remind me that at least I tried to be as creative as they are when I was in college!” Certainly, that is one of the benefits of our Wesleyan education: the opportunity to explore unchartered territory, try new things, and yes—even “be creative” when we never really thought we were! Thanks for the reminder, Keith.

Delcy Ziac Fox notified us that she left the world of higher education for a foray into the private sector. She is now director of marketing and communications at Albany Valve & Fitting Co., Inc., in Schenectady, which is a newly created position. Albany Valve is a distributor of Swagelok fluid flow components. “Working with industrial customers is a 180-degree turn from my 16 years in higher ed,” explains Delcy, “but the marketing principles remain the same. One of the best things about the new job,” she notes, “is that the distributorship has an office in Essex Junction, Vt., the home of Gary ’77 and Miriam Stern Sturgis ’81. Delcy, Gary, and Miriam enjoyed reminiscing over dinner recently when Delcy and her daughter visited UVM. We may move here and there and around the world, but old Wesleyan friendships never die!

Dave Robertson wrote in from his office at the Wharton School, where he is a professor of practice, to let us know about a new radio show he hosts. He can be found on Sirius XM’s Channel 111. The show, Innovation Navigation, is recorded live every Tuesday between 8 and 10 am. It is also available as a podcast on iTunes. Dave’s guest on May 19th was old friend and classmate Matt McCreight. Matt does innovation consulting for Schaffer Consulting. “We had a wonderful conversation about the meaning of ‘innovation’ and how companies can become more innovative,” recalls Dave. To hear Dave and Matt, you can download this particular podcast at bit.ly/innonavipod. For more on the show, see the website: innonavi.com.

Kathy Prager Conrad, her husband, Jamie, and daughters Liza ’11 and Caroline ’14 recently returned from a magnificent journey to Antarctica. “It was extra special to be able to be all together for such a fabulous trip,” says Kathy. Despite almost being thwarted by a major blizzard in the D.C. area, they were able to make it to Buenos Aires in time. After a few days of enjoying the local sites, they embarked on their cruise. Looking at Kathy’s pictures on Facebook had me both in awe of the beauty of the place and its wildlife—and shivering! “Yes, I really did the polar plunge,” recounts Kathy, commenting on a photo of her entering the water in a blue swimsuit, feet-first. “Water temperature was an invigorating 30 degrees F (it doesn’t freeze because of salinity)!” She adds, “The shot of vodka and hot chocolate warmed us right up when we scrambled back aboard!”

That concludes our news for this trimester. I will look forward to catching up with you at Reunion May 20th to the 22nd.

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

Joanne Godin Audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com

CLASS OF 1982 | 2016 | ISSUE 1

How can we not start with a wedding?

“I got married last June to Sally Rosenberg in Washington, D.C., at a cool venue overlooking the Mall,” writes Bruce Charendoff. “Our closest friends officiated. We took our honeymoon in South Africa and are living in Chevy Chase, Md., where our families (her two boys, my two girls) have blended well. Sally is a lawyer and children’s book author, whose first novel is being turned into a musical.”

Bruce adds that last year marked his 25th anniversary running government affairs and philanthropy programs at Sabre, a travel industry technology company.

Michael Haney and his wife, June, marked 25 years of marriage last summer with a trip to Edinburgh. He says, “We continue to develop film projects, and I dream of directing theater again.

“Our twins, Alex and Angie, have started their sophomore years at USC Cinema and Columbia, and they are growing up to be fascinating, independent, wonderful people who will make the world better,” says Michael. “I am running my own business as a private investigator, licensed in three states (who saw that coming?). Our specialty is locating and recovering unclaimed property.”

Peter Blauner writes that his new crime novel, Proving Ground, is due out next year. He is also working for the CBS show Blue Bloods as a co-executive producer, “which in this case is a really just another name for a writer,” he says.

John Johnson lives in Long Island with his wife and 10-year-old daughter. “My older daughter (who is 33!!) is about to make me a first time grandfather in March,” he writes.

“I’m a director of the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club in Brooklyn, where we serve more than 300 children per day. I’ve been in the youth development field over 25 years as a teacher, mentor, coach, counselor ,and administrator.”

John adds that he’s in touch off-and-on with several of our classmates, including Kweku (Dwayne) Forstall, Ron Comrie, Nasser Ega-Musa, Robyn White and Kim Holt.

Rabbi Jeff Glickman and his wife, Mindy, recently began translating values from their sermons into games. Their games, based on teachings from the Talmud, don’t have words and underscore the values of patience and humility. Jeff and Mindy were named a finalist for the Rising Star Designer of the Year award by toy and game professionals. One of their most popular games, “Don’t Be Greedy,” is manufactured by the company Melissa and Doug. Jeff said that in the past three years, nine companies have licensed their ideas. “All games model values,” he said. “People learn while playing.”

Jeff has been a rabbi at Temple Beth Hillel in South Windsor, Conn., for the past two decades and also serves as chaplain for the local fire and police departments. Mindy owns and operates a men’s formal wear business and leads Jewish heritage tours.

Bonnie LePard was named executive director of Oatlands, a 415-acre self-supporting National Trust Historic Site and National Historic Landmark, in Leesburg, Va. Prior to that, she was the founder and longtime executive director of the Tregaron Conservancy in Washington, D.C., after working as an environmental crimes prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Suzanne (Suzie) Farman lives in Brookline, Mass., with her wife Wendy and their 17-year-old daughter Hannah. Suzanne is a special education teacher in the Cambridge Public Schools in her 28th year of teaching.

She writes that her daughter with David Eggers, Amanda ’17, is in her junior year at Wesleyan.

“David is an arborist/tree climber, and he lives in Framingham, Mass., with his wife, Lise, and their twin 9-year-olds, Julian and Marley,” Suzanne writes.

Suzanne has a number of abiding ties to the Wesleyan community. Her next-door-neighbor is Beth Bellis Kates ’81 and she is in regular contact with Emily Pereira Bachmann ’88 and Tom Bachmann ’88. She ran into Rob Lancefield at Wesleyan last spring, when she went to see Amanda’s West African Dance performance, and regularly sees Donald Berman ’84. “Just went to his amazing piano recital at the Longy School of Music where he is on the faculty,” she writes.

Becky Shuster writes that in November, she was named assistant superintendent of equity for the Boston Public Schools.

Carson Milgroom recently had hip replacement surgery and is doing very well. “I expect to be back to playing baseball by mid-summer,” he says.

Sharon Marable lives in Sharon, Mass. She accepted a new assistant medical director position at Tristan Medical in Raynham, Mass.

Carlos Hoyt writes: “I have a book coming out,” and refers us to an Oxford University Press link about the work, which explores issues of race and racial identity: blog.oup.com/2015/11/correcting-the-conversation-about-race/.

Joe Barrett reports from Seattle that he is “cranking hard on my fifth e-commerce start-up. Betsy ’12 and Andrew (Dickinson ’14) are doing age-appropriate things and are the loves of my life. Great summer get together with Anthony Pahigian, Tom DavisJohn BrautigamBob RussoMike Greenstein, and Steve Davies ’83 on Martha’s Vineyard. Open invite to all to come visit when in Seattle. Reach us: 425/503-6997 or jbarrett@omniretailgroup.com.

Tricia Beard Mosher writes: “I continue to work as a consultant in Social Work and Public Service, Trish Mosher Consulting (original!) tmosher.com.

She adds: “I live in Orlando with my husband (yes, he works at Disney World), and our three children are adults or almost there. Our oldest daughter is studying to be an ASL interpreter; our son is studying and playing basketball at Earlham College (not necessarily in that order), and our younger daughter is still in high school and pursuing drama, performing in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer.”

Jim Friedlander and Liz Irwin continue to lead high-level educational tours around the world: “Recently Jim founded the Havana Heritage Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving the architecture of Havana during this period of transition for the country. Liz has recently been appointed as an official delegate to the United Nations and is advocating for women’s rights and climate issues.”

Joe Fins and his wife, Amy Ehrlich, celebrated son Harry’s bar mitzvah in New York in January. “We were joined by Wesleyan friends, Bart Brebner ’81 and Karen Liepmann ’83, Jeff Susla, Eva and John Usdan ’80, and Professor of Letters Emeritus Paul Schwaber and Rosemary Balsam-Schwaber.

Maya Sonenberg writes: “John Robinson and I continue to live in Seattle, where I’m teaching in the creative writing program at the University of Washington. He’s active on the boards of several local arts organizations, and we’re doing our best to raise a couple of amazing teenagers!”

She adds that a chapbook of her fiction and drawings, titled 26 Abductions, has just been reprinted and can be ordered at thecupboardpamphlet.org.”

Finally, I had the great pleasure of joining my former Butterfield freshman hallmate Roger Hale and his bride of many years, Elizabeth Chien-Hale, at a very fun Thanksgiving fete in Durham, N.C., along with other relatives and friends. I’m twisting Rog’s arm to send his own update for next issue, but suffice to say he continues to be the insightful thinker and tireless globetrotter I’ve always admired, in addition to being one of my dearest friends.

Your updates eagerly awaited!

Stephanie Griffith | stephaniedgriffith@gmail.com

CLASS OF 1983 | 2016 | ISSUE 1

Summer is over and the September back-to-school craziness finally subsided. Today I bought some mums and pumpkins to welcome fall. Thankfully, Hurricane Joaquin headed out to sea and all New Jersey had was lots of rain. I hope these class notes find you safe and warm enjoying the next change of seasons.

Harry Gural started a new job as Democratic staff director for the Joint Economic Committee, a House-Senate committee that produces reports and holds hearings on economic issues. Glad to be back on the Hill after a year-and-a-half working for a nonprofit on corporate tax policy, he writes, “The Senate is eerily quiet—guess I’ll always be a House guy. My four years with Barney Frank were about as good as it gets.” Harry sees David Hart, who lives just a couple miles from him in D.C. and speaks to Alison Neely and fellow head resident Marty Dobrow.

Helen Kohane Kobek published a new book Everyday Cruelty: How to Deal with Its Effects without Denial, Bitterness, or Despair. “It is a guide to understand what everyday cruelty is, how it affects us in body, mind, emotion, spirit, and behavior. The book explains what it is about everyday cruelty that makes it so hard for us to ’shake’ and then offers hundreds of tested, practical strategies for dealing with this challenging daily experience.”

David Steinhardt, also recently rewrote and published his honors thesis, once a novel, into a 46,000 word novella. It is a “psychological and political pilgrimage thriller of ideas, now called The Book of Paul or Yet Another Columbus Avenue Jaffa Gate Type Situation.”

Ken Schneyer’s latest story, “The Plausibility of Dragons,” will appear in Lightspeed Magazine in November. He teaches legal studies and literature at Johnson & Wales University in Providence. Spouse Janice Okoomian teaches gender and women’s studies at Rhode Island College and this term has a new course called The Whole Enchilada: Food, Gender, Identity, Power. Daughter Phoebe studies dance and Latin at Marlboro College in Vermont and son Arek’s passion is theater and creative writing in high school.

Nicholas Herold sent an update of his activities the past few decades. “In keeping with my lifelong disinterest in doing anything long enough to become an expert, or anyway, highly paid, I started working as an EMT in the Boston area…I’m riding in the back of an ambulance, having just dropped off an elderly man at a rehab center. He has had a full life himself, having been career Army and Air Force, and as a Navy careerist, provided coffee service to aliens in Roswell, New Mexico. He was kind enough to make me a sergeant. As for me, I was a bartender at a country club and a high end restaurant, worked to get Massachusetts’ universal health care law passed, did health care services research, was the business manager for a health care for the homeless organization, and fished 20 tons of herring out of the Bering Sea. For several years I’ve provided pro bono management consulting services to nonprofit organizations, most recently the Arlington International Film Festival.” Nicholas is close touch with David Eggers ’82.

Cheri Litton Weiss married Dan Weiss in 2012. Dan is a hospice and palliative care nurse studying for his doctorate in nursing (DNP). Cheri finished her second year at the Academy for Jewish Religion (AJRCA), where she is studying for the cantorate, her lifelong dream. She continues to run her real estate company, Top Coast Properties in La Jolla. Between selling homes, attending weekly classes in Los Angeles, and watching daughter Emma play water polo for UCSD all over California, she does a lot of driving and has discovered the beauty and entertainment value of audio books.

Matt Ember and Laurie Sklarin ’84 celebrated daughter Sydney’s wedding. Younger daughter Jamie Ember ’16 was maid of honor and accompanied by Arthur Halliday ’16. Classmates Glenn Duhl, Mark A. Armstrong, Melissa Duggan Pace ’84 and husband Chris Pace ’82, Jeff Resler ’84 and Ed Decter ’79 attended.

Brad and Lele Galer celebrated their 27th anniversary and are now empty nesters. Their sons are spread across the U.S. Alex is an editor for the comic book company BOOM! Peter is a senior at Vassar, and Simon is a sophomore at Connecticut College. Lele is an established artist (painting and steel sculpture) in the Brandywine area of Pennsylvania, and Brad is chief medical officer for Zogenix Inc. Brad and Lele founded in 2005 and run the Galer Estate Vineyard and Winery in Kennett Square, Pa., which has become a nationally acclaimed winery, winning more than 90 blind wine competitions in Napa, Sonoma, and the Finger Lakes. They invite Wes friends to stop by and share a glass on them!

Eileen Kelly-Aguirre finished her first year in new position as executive director of School Year Abroad, a high school study abroad program/school in its 50th year. Glenn Lunden is “now an official beggar on behalf of Wesleyan, courtesy of the ’This Is Why’ fundraising website at wesleyan.edu: thisiswhy.wesleyan.edu/home/story_detail/249.”

Rita Fernandez Lurito is an empty nester and travels a lot. Her youngest son is a junior at Wes and spent the summer in Japan. Rita and family developed and launched a free wine app to help select wine tailored to your taste and budget. “Corkscrew” can be downloaded from the Apple Store or directly at smarturl.it/Corkscrew.

Lynn Ogden dropped off daughter Emilie Ogden-Fung ’19 at Clark Hall after a two-week trip to France and London. Lynn joined Boyden Global Executive Search as partner in the San Francisco office for consumer and nonprofit clients and recently had drinks with Dan Vigneron. 

Mitchell Plave’s son, Aaron Plave ’15, graduated from Wesleyan this past May, majoring in computer science. Aaron works as a Web designer and computer programmer for the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena. Daughter Leah studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (CCM) with Yehuda Hanani, a well known cellist. Mitchell continues to enjoy the banking regulatory and legislative practice at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, D.C.

Karen Adair enjoys retirement but says she is busier than ever. She sits on the Wes Athletic Advisory Council and the Northwood School board in Lake Placid, N.Y. All five of her family members are off doing their own thing. Karen writes, “The book The Life Changing Art of Tidying Up has truly influenced my daily existence. Gotta tell you…all is cleaned out and tidied up. The poor kids will never recognize a thing!”

Thanks for the info on favorite books and volunteer activities. Until next time, namasté,

Laurie Hills | lauriec@rci.rutgers.edu

CLASS OF 1984 | 2016 | ISSUE 1

It’s Michael Steven this month, and we have a short list of updates to kick off 2016.

Big news from CFA director Pamela Tatge. Pam, who has led the CFA for 16 years, was just named executive and artistic director of Jacob’s Pillow, the long running dance festival in the Berkshires.

Blake Nelson’s young adult novel, Recovery Road, was made into a TV drama for ABC Family, and premiered at the end of January. You can easily find ways to stream episodes of this series.

Stephanie Grant continues to teach fiction writing at American University, where this spring she hosted Wes grad, the novelist Alexander Chee ’89, whose novel The Queen of the Night was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in February. Most recently, Stephanie published an essay about her mother’s postpartum depression on the New Yorker site: newyorker.com/books/page-turner/postpartum.

Paul Landau’s daughter, Zoe Lillian Landau, is celebrating her bat mitzvah. Her sister, Penelope, is still a couple of years away. Paul’s partner, Emily, published a book about interracial houses of prostitution in the turn-of-the-century, newly Segregationist New Orleans, called Spectacular Wickedness, two years ago. He is hard at work on his third book, this one about Nelson Mandela and other participants in the near-revolutionary situation in South Africa in the very early 1960s.

Margaret Bowman left her job as deputy environment program director at the Walton Family Foundation and is now a consultant on western water and impact investing. She’s still helping to ensure that there is enough water across the American West for rivers, communities, and agriculture, but now she is focused on ensuring that private investments can help drive the needed changes

Roger Pincus | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu

Michael Steven Schultz | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu

CLASS OF 1985 | 2016 | ISSUE 1

Class of 1985 Scholarship

Ali Friend ’19, North Easton, Mass.

Lucy Lehrer and I had fun texting while watching Grease Live on TV. (Is TV a thing anymore or was that streaming?) I know you’ll agree that Lucy and Marc Sholes ’84, in the ’92 Theater were the best Patty Simcox and Eugene Felsnic ever. Lucy Lehrer is a licensed clinical social worker/therapist in Manhattan.

Hilary Jacobs ’85, P’18, is a psychotherapist and author and I have enjoyed her New York Times Opinionator pieces over the past few months. I caught up with her over dinner recently, and she let me know her exciting news that she will be publishing a book with Spiegel & Grau in 2017. If you are curious to learn more until her book comes out, visit her blog at hilaryjacobshendel.com.

Joel Goldberg is senior counsel for Netflix in their LA office. His daughter, the talented actress and singer Julia Goldberg, alerted his loyal Wesleyan friends that Joel was featured on the cover of Boston College Law School Magazine. Congratulations, Joel! “It’s not like I’m jealous,” said John “JK” Kilborn, a Boston-based EPA lawyer, also a BCLS alum and very much a Goldberg devotee. (I agree with JK that the next, best scoop will be about government lawyers working in obscurity.) John and Lisa Riceman Kilborn ’86 live in Winchester, Mass., and have two daughters. Lisa is working on health and tech marketing projects through the Complex Stories collective (complexstories.com) with Jim McManus ’85. Lisa spent a number of years as a marketing executive in the technology sector, and is now enjoying her expansion into varied industries and is delighted to work with Jim. Jim is a prolific fine artist (jim-mcmanus.com) as well as accomplished visual communications designer.

Can’t wait for the revival of Becky Mode ’86’s 1999 comedy Fully Committed, opening this month on Broadway, starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson playing 40 different roles. I know that Becky and Chris Erikson ’87 (guitarist and NYC journalist) have also been super busy raising their two kids in Brooklyn: every once in a while I bump into Becky on the F train and catch up on family and neighborhood stuff. She never mentioned the Broadway show; I got a mailer!

I attended Sons and Daughters weekend in November 2015 with my youngest, and recommend it for anyone with family members starting the college application process, and not just for those thinking of applying to Wesleyan. I really enjoyed seeing so many familiar faces including Molly Renfroe-Katz ’87Jon RoemerJennifer Flackett ’86Amena AliBarbara BeckerPauline Frommer ’88Patty DeBenedictis PopovTimothy ClarkRichard YanceyCaroline Wilkins, and Eileen Coppola and everyone’s kids, of course.

Richard C. Yancey (AIA, LEED AP) is the founding executive director of the Building Energy Exchange, Inc., (be-exchange.org), an independent, nonprofit organization that connects the New York real estate and design communities to energy and lighting efficiency solutions through education, exhibitions, technology demonstrations, and research, at their resource center in downtown Manhattan’s Surrogate Courthouse. He and his wife, Inger Staggs Yancey, have three sons and live in Brooklyn. Inger is a New York and Washington State-registered LEED accredited architect and the founder of Brooklyn Greenroof; she designs and builds systems for supporting live plants on rooftops, and has numerous projects on display at brooklyngreenroof.com. Rich and Inger are proponents of passive house design and I always love learning from them about the latest in quiet, cost- and energy-efficient buildings.

Jon Roemer (jonroemer.com) continues to amaze and delight with gorgeous photography and now, a specialty in architectural video. We missed Grace Farrell Roemer at the Sons and Daughters weekend, but Grace attended a few years ago with daughter number one, so this was Jon’s turn. Grace stays busy as associate director of survey research at Mathematica Policy Research in Princeton, where she specializes in federal data.

Everybody’s busy! What’s next? Until next time, be well!

CAROLINE WILKINS | mbkeds@yahoo.com
MARY BETH KILKELLY | cwilkins85@yahoo.com