Class Notes | 1960s

Dear Classmates, Thank you for your responses to the latest request for news as follows:

       Bertel Haarder from Copenhagen, Denmark: “President of the Nordic Council of parliamentarians, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Royal Danish Theater. Twenty-two years as cabinet minister and 41 years as member of Parliament. My Wesleyan experience has been very valuable, particularly through my 15 years as minister for education and research.”

      Dan Hinckley: “Surviving the pandemic. We get our second Moderna shots Monday, February 22, which is a huge relief. Florida has managed OK given the massive numbers of over-65s around here. Kids and grandkids (in Switzerland and Maryland) are all OK, and we even got to see four of the five from the Swiss side for 36 hours last week, first time since exactly a year ago. We moved back to the U.S. in 2014 after 25 years in Switzerland for me and 45 for Katherine. Plan is to be back to Maine as usual by Memorial Day, with perhaps a trip to Switzerland in the fall.”

   Tom Bell: “Still living in Halifax, Nova Scotia and enjoying life here. The family is all doing well.”

      Clyde Beers: “Donna and I are now at our home on Grand Cayman. After a brutal two-week quarantine (never risked being sent to jail) we now have beautiful views, highs of 82 and lows of 75, zero non-quarantined cases and no masks on the whole island. So, a tough start rigidly enforced leads to lots of vacation positives compared to a super cold Pennsylvania. Back in Pennsylvania in time for serious gardening and seeing the rest of our family.”

    Carl Hoppe: “Slowly winding down my psychology practice after 49 years, I am devoting more time to doubles tennis.”

     Brian Courtney: “Retired last year after practicing dentistry for 50 years. It was always easy for me. Enjoyed good health and retired at the top of my game. Living on Lake Sinclair in Georgia.”

     Brian Baxter: “As I begin my fourth year as president of the board of our 731-unit condominium community of 75 acres and 12,000 trees on Little Sarasota Bay here in Florida, I continue to seek an appropriate balance between a volunteer job that can easily be more than full time and my retired life with my family. Developing policies, rules, and a culture of safety during this coronavirus pandemic has been a great challenge over the past year, with about one-half of one percent of our residents reporting coronavirus infections compared to over six percent of residents in the surrounding area.”

   Rob Abel’s latest book, Is Death Really a Mystery?, chronicles extraordinary reports from ordinary people who have had visitations while asleep or awake, as well as near death experiences. The book is available on Amazon. My wife and I both found it to be a very satisfying read. 

     Rob also offered some memories of Norm Shapiro, who passed away last year: “Over the years I would visit him on campus, send copies of my books and, in return, receive one of his magnificent opi with a humorous inscription. Without being overt, Norm would be intensely interested in (and committed to) the lives of all who wandered into his orbit. He was one of us and yet resided in a higher realm, to which we can only aspire. . . .”

     Rob also stepped up to help a recent graduate, Zoe Garvey ’20, who was hoping to conduct research during a gap year before medical school. They have now collaborated on several mind-eye connection studies and a presentation (“Harnessing Eyes for Capturing Mental Status”) for the American Psychiatric Association.

     Art Rhodes: “Still alive and retired. Wife Leslie Newman and I are spending our time with our collective five children and 10 grandchildren in Chicago and New Orleans. Wishing everyone well in life in the time of COVID-19.”

    Paul “Dutch” Seigert: “My law practice in New York City is booming because everyone is suing each other as a result of the pandemic.  Now, I am working 52 hours a week (i.e., 13 hours a day from Monday to Thursday).  On Fridays, I check into the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, where I am a professional poker player and play all day Friday and Saturday. I am back in Yonkers, New York on Sunday mornings to attend church services or my wife would kill me.

      “By the way, more than 50 years ago when I was in the military as an enlisted man and going to Vietnam, I met my Deke brother and a great guy, Tim Lynch, who was a naval officer, on a pathway at the Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippine Islands. Tim said, ‘Dutch, what are you doing here’ and I said the same to him.  But I forgot to salute him.  This has bothered me for many years.  Tim, I salute you!”

    Bill Brooks: “The big news—apart from surviving both COVID-19 and the greater evil of DT-2016—is that I will retire from teaching, fully, completely, and utterly, in July 2021. I’ll still go back and forth to and from Europe and England, but only as a visitor; thereafter my home will be in Champaign, Illinois.”

    Finally, on a sad note, in late February our class lost an outstanding individual, Peter Whiteley. A wonderful tribute to him by his son Mark can be found in the online version of ’65 class notes (magazine.wesleyan.edu).

     Wesleyan and countless alumni also lost in February a wonderful friend, Don Russell, who passed away at age 90. Don was very close to many ’65ers and attended a number of our reunions. He was admired as a highly successful coach, advisor, administrator, and community leader.

Steve Baker had two books published in September, entitled The Encyclopedia of Quizzes, Volume 1: Geography and History and The Encyclopedia of Quizzes, Volume 2: Sports, Culture, and Famous People. Each extensive volume contains over 700 quizzes to test your knowledge and expand your mind. One reader writes “These two books are a must for the COVID lockdown and the eventual return to the post-COVID travel with the trip to the airport, the wait for the flight to board, the long flights and the relaxation, wherever that may take you. Take Steve and his factual knowledge with you and you will be rewarded with contentment and will make your friends marvel at your expertise in Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit whenever you play!” You can find them on Amazon!

After graduation and acceptance at Columbia Law School, Julius Kaplan “realized that I had made a mistake. Instead, I stayed at Columbia and pursued a PhD in art history, during which I spent two years doing research in Paris on Fulbright grants. Upon return, I began teaching at UCLA and received my PhD two years later.

     “I married Robin Reiser, the first professional librarian at the Getty Museum, and spent most of my career at California State University, San Bernardino, where I was chair of the Art Department and then dean of graduate studies and research. I was active in the Council of Graduate Schools and on the advisory board for the Graduate Record Exam and the Test of English as a Foreign Language, but never stopped teaching and ended my career as an emeritus professor.

     “Robin and I are both opera fans and retired to New Mexico, the home of the Santa Fe Opera. We live in Albuquerque. I am a longtime member of the Board of Opera Southwest, Robin revived its Friends group, and we are both on the Board of Chamber Music Albuquerque.  Most important, we recently celebrated our 50th anniversary.”

     Lew Whitney wrote: “Not much has changed since our 50th Reunion. I remain chairman (not CEO) of Armstrong/Pike Garden Centers. Being chairman is ideal at this stage of life, allowing a balance between retirement time and work involvement.

     “My wife and I still operate our 43-foot sailboat in local waters during the summer months, and I still paddleboard, surf, and garden. Zoom provides all kinds of communication; wish I had bought the stock. I feel blessed to have lived when and where destiny placed me, the Wesleyan adventure being a significant part.”

     “2020 was a horrible year for me,” wrote Bill Owens. “Both dogs died in March (one fell into the pool at night and drowned, the other had cancer). In June, my wife of 37 years died of heart problems. In October, we rented a boat and scattered her ashes in the Gulf off of Destin, Florida, where she grew up. I’m now trying to find a new lifestyle safe from the virus.”

     Bo Grimes reports, “My wife, Sabra, and I moved three years ago from Baltimore to a very nice Mennonite retirement community, Tel Hai, in the midst of Amish farm country. For several months the pandemic ruled all. Nearly everything here was shut down, with meals, mail, and grocery orders delivered to our door while residents were pretty much restricted from leaving campus.  Restrictions have eased and some activities resumed but only with masks and social distancing. Our church reopened and we can go to grocery stores and doctor appointments. However, we mostly stay in our cottage, with brief forays for exercise or walking our 13-year-old miniature dachshunds! Otherwise, we watch a lot of TV, movies, and concerts provided to keep us safe at home.

     “For great reading try Gerald Durrell’s Corfu Trilogy, The Unexpected Professor by John Carey, and The Riddle of the Labyrinth, by Margalit Fox. Also, Fighting Pollution and Climate Change, by my high school classmate, Richard W. Emory, a retired muckamuck at the EPA. Don’t miss Why We Are Polarized, by Ezra Klein. Louise Penny’s sixteenth Chief Inspector Gamache novel, All the Devils Are Here, is superb.”

     The retired but still distinguished Judge Len Edwards has found much to keep him busy.  As he tells it, “We are hunkered down at home, reading, writing, doing puzzles, and gardening. Tomorrow, January 16, I will get my first vaccine shot.  I don’t think that changes anything until the second shot, but we’ve made it this far without joining the thousands of Californians who have the virus.

     “Fortunately, I have lots to do. I’m on three state-wide committees dealing with opioid suppression, juvenile law, and judicial ethics.  The most compelling book I’ve read is Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. I’m praying that Biden can pull our country out of the mess we are in.”

     Sad news from Bob Gallamore: “Our beloved Suellen has passed away. Sue’s diagnosis was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), after our ill-fated trip to Italy (Tuscany and Rome) in February. After landing we went straight to Johns Hopkins Hospital and spent five days there. Sue was hospitalized at our local Beebe Health Care again in July, December, and this January, becoming more dependent on external oxygen and adding a diagnosis of pneumonia, but she really wanted to be at home for her final days. She passed away peacefully and comfortably early in the morning of January 26, 2021. Her sons Scott and Greg and daughter-in-law Beth were here at the end—and, as she requested, her dog Will was still lying on her lap. You can read about Sue’s remarkable life accomplishments at Gallamore.com.

Ray Fancher (fancher@yorku.ca) is your new class secretary! Please send Ray your updates and news so we can include them in the next issue of the magazine.

“The new Wesleyan is great,” exclaims Sandy McCurdy. “We saw that at our 50th. But we old guys remember the thrill of being one of under 800 students, [enjoying] such features as excellent  science, religion, English, [plus additional] language departments to mention only a few. Where a star, like Richard Wilber, would lead my freshman humanities class of eight students and where Professor McGuire headed off with Yale’s Henry Sloan Coffin as a freedom rider. With the exception of no women being there with us, didn’t we have it good?” Dick Poulton appears to agree, adding his own thoughts: “Memories fade, of course, or get confused a bit! I learned too late in life the value of keeping some sort of written diary of people, places or events. My single year (1957-1958), as part of the Foreign Student program at Wesleyan, was a seminal highlight in my life in so many ways. Alas, my roommate, Trent Sorenson MA ’58, died a long time ago; my wonderful first girlfriend married one of America’s best-known astronauts; my good friend Ed Beckham ’58 became, I believe, dean of Wesleyan; I remember singing in a very fashionable ‘skiffle group’ created by Pete Rockefeller ’59; and I remember very clearly singing in the glee club under Ray Randell and in the choral society under Dick Winslow ’40, who both gave me a life-long addiction to their different types  of music! But I come back to my big question! Please, where can I read the reminiscences of my classmates? They might well help me to resurrect more valuable memories of what was one of the  most enjoyable and valuable years of my life!”

     Bob Hausman writes: “I have a condo in a senior co-op in St. Paul, Minnesota. Unlike all my traveling classmates, I pretty much stay put because I have mild dementia, but my Wes Tech education keeps me going mentally. I am blessed with my family right here in the Twin Cities. I have six grandchildren with one on the way. I am in touch with Glenn Hawkes and Emil Frankel.

     John Rogers responds with tongue in cheek: “Understand your regular request. Hope you get enough replies and sends. No need here yet for coroner’s inquest, or first Amazon package of Depends.

Still living in Sun City Charlotte for last seven years. Too much time in doctor’s office for senior care. Grateful for 59 years of marriage with joy and tears. But not sure now about Why, What, Who and Where.”

     Praise and recognition continue to address the writings of Paul Dickson. Denny Huston shouts: “Dickster, Congratulations! Unlike the rest of us, you are even stronger these days. We are all awed.” Ernie Hildner states: “With this wonderful accomplishment, you should put humility aside and bathe in the accolades. Well done! Bask in the pleasant warmth of deserved recognition.”

     Ernie continues to add: “For a few months now, some Alpha Delts have been enjoying biweekly Zoom calls organized by Doug Evelyn ’62, loosely emulating the discussions we had around the  Star and Crescent eating club coffee table back in the day. Usual participants include Bill Wagner, Paul Dickson, Bob (Gio) Palmeri, Tim Bloomfield, Ernie Hildner, and J.D. Huston, Brian Murphy ’62, and Doug. With a geographic spread from California, via Texas and Colorado, to the East Coast (Vermont to Virginia), and the wide diversity of careers and expertise spanning professor to scientist to diplomat to lawyer to curator to sailor, knowledge­—and/or opinion—can be found on almost any topic. As at the old Alpha Delta Phi coffee table of our youth, conversations range from current events here, there, and elsewhere to philosophy, ethics, civil rights, books and articles to read, etc. One conversation now mentioned a little about something that never came up at Wes, the participants’ health issues, as we all age as gracefully as we can. Good fun to socialize with fraternity brothers, especially in these pandemic times.”

     Jack Richards sends this update: “Enjoying being a retired old/young guy with 10 grandkids. I hope to teach the kids how to sail. Just bought a camp in the Adirondacks, and Carol and I just got our  first vaccination. We’re playing by the safe CDC suggestions. Hope all my classmates are, too. I’ve  scrubbed my hands so much I found the answers to a sophomore physics exam. A day with my roommates, Beau and Quent, is still on my bucket list.”

     John Dennis has been busy. He writes: “An update on my newly

published second memoir: . . . And Master of None was published by Primavera Press on Amazon, November 15, 2020. I am well into my third memoir and will update you on this and my soon to be  published children’s book Where’s Sharah?, which is the sequel to The Mouse in the Lemon Tree, also available on Amazon.”

     Finally, a follow-up to Paul Boynton’s search: I am grateful to all who were involved in that quest: Emil Frankel, K.C. Hayes, Jon Magendanz, Jack Mitchell, Tom Spragens ’63, Hank Sprouse ’62, and Chuck Work ’62, as well as Dave Snyder ’63 and Steve Humphrey ’63. Although I have listed those first names alphabetically, Emil, you and Jack gave me the most help and  encouragement, along with K.C. whose role was key by reminding me of Chris’s last name, which cut  the Gordian knot and enabled me to retrieve Chris’s email and phone number.” Paul and Chris have now connected.

In August, Sue and Jim Dover moved to the Highlands in Topsham, Maine, where they often see Ann and Bob Williams, who also live in that retirement community.

     Peg and Dave Hale continue in the Give-a-Lift program, giving rides to fellow seniors to medical and other appointments.

     Congratulations to Paul Tractenberg and three coauthors on the publication of Making School Integration Work: Lessons from Morris by Teachers College Press at Columbia University. Paul reported the following: “My wife, Neimah, and I are doing well, better than we might have expected. Because of age and underlying medical conditions, we have been in strict self-quarantine at our home in West Orange, New Jersey for almost eleven months.

    “We miss person-to-person time with friends, but most of all being able to hug our grandchildren, whom we see at safe social distances outdoors or on Zoom, but it’s just not the same. And now with two feet of snow and cold temperatures outdoor get-togethers don’t seem likely.

      “I’m staying remarkably busy with reading for a virtual book club I launched with seven friends, a short story discussion series at my synagogue, and one-on-one book and short story discussions with each of my two eldest grandchildren. I’m also staying involved professionally consulting with lawyers on several ongoing cases, preparing a chapter for a book of essays being compiled by Rutgers Law School entitled The Great Reckoning, and presenting lectures and being on podcasts about the Notorious RBG, who was a Rutgers Law colleague of mine for two years and remained a friend thereafter.

      “I’m managing to find time and energy to stay fitter and trimmer than I was at Wesleyan. When the weather permits, I take long walks outdoors and when it doesn’t, I use my new, state-of-the-art treadmill to do hikes and treks around the world. I add stretching and weights for a satisfying full-body workout.

      “Of course, I’ve stayed up on and even engaged in politics—until I can’t stand it and then I escape to streaming films and mainly historical series on TV.

     So, all in all, a surprisingly full and satisfying life despite the pandemic and the usually depressing political environment.”

      Jim Meyerhoff received a grant from the Department of Defense via the Geneva Foundation to study post-traumatic stress disorder. He is officially retired from U.S. civil service but maintains a relationship with federal labs. He is very happy to be free from the previous administrative responsibilities of being a lab chief. In addition, he is writing a review article on the brain-unique equivalent to the lymphatic system. He stays fit by running two miles every day.

Michael Lux is an attorney “practicing customs and VAT law in Brussels.”

Joe Murray “hunkers down in South Carolina, still coaches high school lacrosse, and misses London buddies Steve Bryant and Steve Pfeiffer.”

Pete Arenella has “lived a bi-polar life—great highs, severe lows. Now in a rural Mexican village—no paving or restaurants, partnered with Mexican soulmate. Miss my children. Son David, 35, is lockdowned in a group home. The mentally disabled community has suffered from COVID-19. Daughter Kat, 29, earned a psych doctorate and Zooms patients in Minneapolis. Hope all are safe and virus-free.”

Bill Eaton wrote, “Take heart attack and ambulance ride off the bucket list. Feeling fine and back to work. New granddaughter. Play bluegrass with the starkly amateurish Sweet Potato Fries. Does anyone at Wes remember our jugband Vulgar Boatmen?”

Stuart Blackburn “enjoys trips down memory lane with Steve Pfeiffer. A lot happened 1965–69.”

Ron Reisner is “part of an email cycle with Harry Nothacker and Mike Terry, often discussing surfing and golfing.”

Jim Drummond said, “My get rich quick scheme has been a long criminal defense career. I’m in touch with Bruce Hartman and Jeff Richards. Deb and I actually enjoy the desocialization, though one might consider significant other encounter sessions. Stay safe.”

Carl Culler “retired to a house on Lake Norman, North Carolina, to enjoy boating and fishing. Isolation is easier until pandemic passes.”

John Bach “hopes we are all well enough. Marilyn fell and fractured her shoulder. Chemo is slowing down the healing. A trifecta—cancer, fracture, virus. Lions, tigers, bears.”

Charlie Morgan “plays tennis and shops for essentials. Wife Lois got sepsis, a uti, and kidney infection. Hoping kidneys recover and she can quit dialysis. Other than that, life is good.”

Ric Pease “helps at Polly’s childcare center.”

John Hickey “enjoyed Bruce Hartman’s novel, The Philosophical Detective Returns. My law practice is limited to commitment hearings in Southeastern Massachusetts. Daughter is a clinical psychologist in California.”

Jack Meier is “saddened by Rick Ketterer’s death. There wasn’t a better person in our class. Claudia and I are moving to Bluffton, South Carolina. We will miss New England but not the politics. Looking forward to a new world. Stay safe but enjoy your lives.”

John Wilson wrote, “Cliff Saxton informed me of Terry Hallaran’s death. Sad news. Pat and I are hunkered down in Ann Arbor. I need to learn how to retire. We are grateful to be in good health.”

From Jeff Richards, “September, autumn leaves, a new school year. I remember Wesleyan. Semi-instant nostalgia, or is it just missing one’s youth? Who could have imagined a campus devoid of students 55 years ago. Wasn’t there an orange juice fast to protest the war? We elected the first Black class president. Right now we live in a polarized society. I’m busier than ever with benefits for the Actors’ Fund.” Check online for his Spotlight on Plays.

Don Luke is “looking for David A. Vaughan to help a Wheaton ’69 friend.”

Steve and Bonnie Knox “retired to Asheville where both daughters and their families are. Retirement is not what I envisioned. The world is crazy. Our families have jobs; we are together; we help with grandchildren; we cope. The presidential election can’t come soon enough.”

Catch up with Ken Kawasaki at brelief.org.

Dennis Marron and I will meet when COVID-19 allows. “A mini-reunion,” he said. “My best to you and all our surviving class members.”

Bruce and Jeanne Snapp “enjoy retirement. We’re working hard to get Democrats elected by helping with absentee ballots and polling centers. Older daughter Emily is in New Zealand where COVID-19 is controlled. Her sister Juliana is a trauma therapist in D.C. We hope for an end to the pandemic.”

Bryn Hammarstrom “RNs about 55 hours/month at Temple University Hospital. Still splitting firewood despite some aortic problems.”

Email me for Steve Mathews’ and Pete Pfeiffer’s submissions. They will make you laugh. Doug Bell said hello. Andy Gregor lives in a lovely home in Old Saybrook overlooking North Cove and the Connecticut River. If my vision could hook left 500 yards east, I could see the house from our deck.

Carol and Maurice Hakim ’70 live a short distance west on the Post Road. They’ve taken a utilitarian 1790 Dutch gambrel and made it fit for visiting royalty. Their Thanksgiving invites are coveted.

First debate last night. Quelle disaster! We hide from COVID-19. Our condo is a castle keep. On two sides water, trees and poison ivy. The front is impenetrable metal doors. A raised deck guards the rear. Overall, the feeling is of a treehouse.

Please say Rick and Terry’s names as we add them to Ed’s List.

Charlie Farrow | charlesfarrow@comcast.net
11 Coulter Street, #16, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 

After years of a terrible but spirited battle with health issues, on July 21, 2020, Bob Newhouse passed. It was on “a beautiful day in the place he loved best, his home overlooking the ocean in Nantucket, where he insisted going when it became clear that he might have only one more trip in him. . . . He was a truly gifted artist. He drew and painted and was a terrific cartoonist but it was his marvelous sculpting and woodworking that most will remember” (from correspondence from his brother, Steve). 

Again from Steve: “I taunted him by saying his trials and tribulations later in life were payback for his Baccanalian revelry at Chi Psi. . . . Some think he was the model for the cool and handsome Eric ‘Otter’ Stratton in Animal House.” Be that as it may, he still managed to have 

a very successful career at the financial giant Marsh McLennan.

Bill Beeman retired as the chair of the anthropogy department at Minnesota after a long—34 years at Brown and 13 years at Minnesota—and distinguished academic career. No fool, he is leaving midwestern winters for Santa Clara to join his husband of six years (after 30 years of togetherness), Frank Farris, who teaches at Santa Clara University. (He sees Ted Smith ’67 who lives in San Jose). Bill went to an island in the Persian Gulf the summer of 1967 with Sib Reppert ’67 and returned there for the fall semester of 1967 to do ethnographic work. It was transformational as it led to his senior paper which led him to the University of Chicago (provided he continue with Persian and Arabic). Traveled to Iran and Afghanistan until it was no longer possible. Taught Peace Corps volunteers.

I reached out to Bob Abrams, a Nicholson 6 graduate, and learned he is in St. Louis and a man of leisure. He has a son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter not far from me. His wife, Jan, is unhappy that the pandemic has prevented them from making their semi-annual visits. John Kepner who had a career in hospital administration, has been writing a blog entitled “Rounding Third Leadership Blog”(fenwaymanagementadvisors.org/leadershipblog). It is a deep, far-reaching and ambitious endeavor that covers a lot more than baseball. Meanwhile, his son, Tyler, actually covers baseball for the Times and had a book out last year, K, a History of Baseball in 10 Pitches, which spent a week on the NYT best seller list.

I have been speaking with my erstwhile comrade in chaos, Bob Svensk. Still working quite independently (partnered with his son, Andrew ’99) from a Southport office in a worldwide reinsurance business. (To understand it fully, it helps to have gone to Harvard.) Very involved with Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation and Southport Conservatory. Son Christian ’96 is an urban planner married to a transportation guru in Sacramento. Son Hallock is Williams ’07 and an attorney married to an attorney in L.A. Andrew’s wife is a NYC ADA. Bob and Annie have five grands but three are on the West Coast­—out of cuddling range. 

My editor gives me 800 words and I am not yet there. So: Dave Losee has become a beekeeper. Bill Currier ’69 is working hard on a pilot for a TV show. BiIl Nicholson continues to read his way through American history. We are fine: Judy continues to love me and really gives me no choice in the matter.

 I write in September, and, as a rule, I keep current events out of these Notes. But, as I make the rules, I can break them. And, though a divinity school graduate, I am not good at asking god for favors. But, I am praying for the unemployed, the hungry, the homeless, the sick and dying, that we address the many divides in our country and for an orderly transfer of power.

Lloyd Buzzell | LBuzz463@aol.com
70 Turtle Bay, Branford, CT 06405 | 203/208-5360

Classmates, 

After 45 years teaching at Guilford College, I have joined the ranks of the retired. On March 16, in the middle of our spring break, I was scheduled to give a talk, the second stop on my two-stop speaking tour for a book I wrote about the college’s long-running noontime pick-up basketball game, GEEZERBALL: North Carolina Basketball at its Eldest (Sort of a Memoir). COVID-19 had arrived, and many events were being canceled. The woman who had invited me to give the talk called that day to see if I wanted to cancel, and she and I agreed to go ahead with the talk. We did, a surprisingly good crowd showed up (one, a former student, had flown down from New Jersey for this event), and we had a good time. Had it been scheduled just a day or two later, I am sure we would have canceled. By the end of that week, the college had shifted all classes to online instruction, and in almost every way my life and the lives of those around me changed dramatically. 

By the end of April, as I celebrated my 75th birthday, I decided to retire. Then, like many old retired guys, I found myself thinking back to my early days, especially my decision in 1973 to move from Santa Cruz, California, to Greensboro, North Carolina, for the teaching job at Guilford, a Quaker-affiliated school. I realized, quite belatedly, that I was the first Jew hired at the college, and this has led me to write another retrospective account (another “sort of a memoir”), this one titled Jews, Palestinians, and Friends: 45 Years at a Quaker College (Sort of a Memoir). This project has led me to think back to the Jews and the Quakers I knew at Wesleyan. Among the Jews in the class of 1967 were the three Jewish amigos, Don Gerber, Myron Kinberg, and Bernie Steinberg—I could probably name all the other Jewish students in our class as there were not very many. The two Quakers on campus that I remember most clearly (in part because they were the first Quakers I ever knew) were David Swift, a professor of religion I was fortunate to take a course with, and Bill Dietz ’66 (generally referred to by Barbara Davidson as “Doctor Doctor Dietz”). Writing this book helped to take my mind off the woes of my little Quaker college, which is struggling mightily to stay afloat, and also helped take my mind off the woes of our country.

As it turns out, I am not the only one who has retired after a long academic career. Our classmate, Tony Caprio, stepped down in June 2020, after 24 years as the president at Western New England University. Tony was the longest-serving president in the school’s 100-year history. Remaining in office as a college president for 24 years is quite an accomplishment—tenured faculty, if they avoid what typically in the profession is called “moral turpitude,” sometimes hang on until they have to be wheeled out, but college presidents only can continue in their jobs if their Boards of Trustees decide to renew their contracts. Given that the average tenure for a college president these days is down to 6.5 years (it was 8.5 years in 2006), it appears that Tony survived and seems to have thrived in a challenging job. 

At the end of my last set of class notes, I gave a quiz in which I asked for information about “the late Edward McCune ’67” who left $6 million to Wesleyan and allegedly was a classmate of ours. I now have received some info on him which I will share in my next set of notes. Let’s have another quiz, this one with four, perhaps easier, questions. First, who in our class has the most grandchildren?  Second, who since graduation has lived in the most states (for at least a year in each state)? Third, who has been married the most times?

 Finally, the fourth question. I have seen Springsteen five times (always great), Dylan three times (awful each time), and John Prine and James Taylor five or six times. Rick Voigt ’68 tells me that he has seen Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, a band that includes some Wesleyan alums, five times. What musical performer have you seen the most frequently, and how many times?

 The answers to these questions might help you write your memoirs. Stay safe.

Richie Zweigenhaft | rzweigen@guilford.edu

RICHIE ZWEIGENHAFT | rzweigen@guilford.edu

Two hundred and thirty-two of us graduated on that Saturday, June 5, 1966, 20 pursuing careers in academe, many of those still going strong. Claude Smith, author of eight books and co-editor/translator of two others, has a new book out, Mists on the River by Yeremei Aipin. This collection of Khanty folktales, which Claude helped to translate and edit, his attempt “to keep Siberian literature alive,” introduces “children of all ages to the animal persons of Siberia, among them, Cuckoo Mother, Paki the Bear, and Sandpiper.” David Luft’s new book, The Austrian Dimension in German Intellectual History: From the Enlightenment to Anschluss, will be published this spring. David is “working on two other books: one on Czech intellectual history and one called Modernity’s Shadows: The anti-rational from the nineteenth- to the twenty-first centuries.”

And we have lawyers among the Class of 1966; perhaps few, if any, however, match Clark Byam’s “48 years with same law firm,” Hahn & Hahn. Clark has decided “to go of counsel in 2021.” His “main interests at this point are investing in the stock market, managing some charitable trusts I’m trustee of and trying to improve my golf game and hiking in the hills where I live,” which is Pasadena, California. 

COVID-19 is part of all of our lives, Hardy Spoehr sending an “Aloha” to all from Honolulu and writing that “the beaches are still deserted and the fish and ocean folk are loving it . . . so many turtles. We’re in the midst of our second lockdown in an effort to stem raising levels of COVID-19.” And Zoom has become a part of our lives as well, Harold Potter writing: “Zoom has been a welcome addition to ways to stay connected during the pandemic. Bill Machen, Joe Pickard, Stan Healy, John Howell and I and our spouses have been holding weekly or biweekly cocktail hours fairly regularly on Zoom. . . . It appears that everyone is retired and aging quite gracefully.” Harold adds this good news: “Lee and I do have another grandson, Trevor, born on June 3rd.” 

Barry Thomas also shares some good news “regarding our community support and development work in Burundi. Today we received notification that Dreaming for Change, USA, has been approved for 501 (3)c status by the IRS. This should inject some new energy into our fund raising to support the daily cup of porridge program, the preschool, and the scholarship program for high school girls. . . . . Oh yes, D4C has received a grant from the U.S. Department of State to implement a COVID-19 education and WASH program in the community.”

More good news from Rick Crootof. After successfully having both knees replaced this past winter Sandy Van Kennen “came for a visit yesterday [July 23]. Kittery is only an hour or so from Wolfeboro, so he drove his 1996 Volvo with 263,000 miles (the odometer stopped working he claims!) on a perfect weather day. The air and water temps were both 82 degrees. We had lunch of Linda’s pizza on the deck, and then we got two foam mats and spent two hours in the lake, paddling to the other side, and mostly drifting back with the wind. The knee recovery has gone well, Sandy’s legs are straight again, and he is taller and thinner, looking great, and his usual happy and optimistic self. If you want to see our hero swimming again, here’s the link.

In closing we celebrate the life of Peter “Pedro” Spiller, who died on May 30, 2020, in St. Augustine, Florida. Peter had won his battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but it had left him weakened, and he fell prey to sepsis. I did not know Peter well, but envied his dashing good looks and admire his successful and adventure-filled life. Hardy Spoehr writes: “Pete was an avid paddler and when he and his wife Debbie visited us a year or so ago, we all went paddling together. My cousin was his paddling buddy.” David Griffith recounts: “Peter Spiller was my classmate in CSS. He was a gentleman, truly, easygoing and seemed always to be smiling. I always thought that Peter had a wonderful hidden and powerful intellect, but I honestly don’t think he was seeking to achieve as much as to learn and to enjoy his life. Peter never lost his charm or his sense of humor.” As Rick Crootof poignantly puts it: “That something could take down a guy who could canoe 450 miles in northern Manitoba or Ontario and run 150 mile ultramarathons in Costa Rica in his 70s is disheartening.” Here is a link to Peter’s obituary.

LARRY CARVER | carver1680@gmail.com
P.O. Box 103, Rico, Colorado, 81332 512/478-8968