Eugene Stanley ’62, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Leicester in July. Stanley has had a long academic career teaching physics, physiology, chemistry, and biomedical engineering at MIT and Boston University. His main research focus is the statistical physics of materials. Stanley is an honorary professor at Eotvos Lorand University and at Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Pavia, and is a chair or member of several science organizations. Stanley majored in physics at Wesleyan and earned his PhD from Harvard University.
A book co-edited by Richie Zweigenhaft ’69 and Gene Borgida ’71.
Visakha and KenKawasaki’s “Don’t know Whether to Laugh or Cry,” is posted at brelief.org. They have maintained a level of humility and compassion longer than most.
Bob Dombroski said, “Anita and I spent the winter in South Carolina lowcountry. Daughter Ariel is at Columbia pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology. Back to Traverse City, Mich. Check out the new biography of Richard Wilbur. I remember him as a teacher and neighbor in Portland.”
Lynne and Bryn Hammarstrom are “both retired, living on a side-hill farm in Tioga County, Pa. Active in blocking chemo-fracking. Can’t stop it, but try to make it less damaging to air and water. Daughters live in Greensboro, N.C.”
Harry Nothacker urges classmates to read the op-ed by President Michael Roth ’78 in The Wall Street Journal from May 11.
Pete Pfeiffer “hopes my black-sheepish behavior won’t hurt our class image. Politics is exciting these days. Nobody has any idea where we’re headed.”
Bill Demicco “retired after 47 years in medicine. Living in an old farmhouse in Maine. Painting watercolors, but undiscovered. Still married to Marie. In touch with Phil Wallas.”
Tom Earle is a “grandfather of three. Spent Christmas in Australia. June in Italy with wife’s Norwegian family. Recommend SPQR by Mary Beard for Roman history. Aloha.”
Ron Reisner “retired from New Jersey’s Superior Court after 15 years as a trial judge. Now part-time with a large North Jersey firm. Saw Wes beat Tufts in lacrosse. Played golf with Dick Emerson ’68, Pat Dwyer ’67, Jack Sitarz, Jim Martello, Bob Woods ’70, and Fran Spadola, who lives at Pine Wild Golf Course in Pinehurst, N.C., and other 1960s Dekes at the basketball golf outing.”
Paul Melrose sent photos on Facebook.
Steve Knox’s “daughter, Caroline ’03, gave birth to Jensen Knox Lindow on February 26, the first Knox boy of the new generation. Always a good turnout from our era at the men’s basketball golf outing.”
Fran and Paul Dickman “toured North and South Cyprus, focusing on archaeology. Multiple sites. Neolithic, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, French, and Ottoman buildings and ruins. Reducing my pediatric pathology work.”
Tony Mohr’s “60s are behind now, age as well as decade. Just finished a messy trial between mother and son. My essay, Rainy Day Schedule, is in an anthology of California writers—Golden State 2017.”
Alex Knopp “looks forward to 10th year of teaching in the Yale Law School Clinic, fifth year with NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and second year as president of the Norwalk Library. Wife Bette finished her first time-travel novel.”
Patty and Paul Nimchek send “congratulations to Jim Martello, who was inducted into the Wesleyan Baseball Wall of Fame. Jim’s 16-inning 1-0 shutout of Amherst was one of the night’s highlight stories. Jack Sitarz driving in Greg Wrobel was the difference.”
John Bach had a letter to the editor in The Nation.
Charlie Morgan “helped found the Hungerford Family Foundation, a genealogical association. I edit the Hungerford World Tree, which placed second at the National Genealogical Association conference in Raleigh. I am also an officer of the Mayflower Descendants and the Myles Standish Colony.”
Carol and Maurice Hakim ’70 bought an antique home in nearby Clinton. We get together for dinner and evenings out. They maintain a residence in Palm Beach Gardens. Maurice has a bottling plant in Toronto for his organic tea products, while Carol works in commercial real estate. Their daughter, Alexandra, lives in NYC and works for Omni Communications.
Darius Brubeck’s “granddaughter Lydia Elmer ’17 graduated Phi Beta Kappa.”
Bob Watson “has a new hip and resumed running. Daughter Joanna is a graduate intern at Yale-New Haven. Son Mark is in Cartagena, where he manages property and is opening a restaurant.”
Don Logie ’68 wrote, “There’s a September American Bar Association Journal article describing Jamie Kalven’s efforts to expose and combat what appears to be rampant police brutality in Chicago. Many years ago Jamie completed a law book started by his late father, constitutional law professor Harry Kalven.”
Doug Bell’s company “harvested 550 acres of hemp, whose CBD is not intoxicating. Skype me at Douglassbell.”
Bill Schroder’s blog, “YourInnerRhino.com going well. Close to 1,000 posts.”
John Wilson “works for Karma Automotive in California. First car delivered. First grandchild (son) arrived January. Visited him in Barcelona in March. Great trip. Best to all.”
David Siegel said, “After 22 years of college tuitions, sent in last payment. Attended son Leon’s graduation from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Retirement beckons.”
Steve Broker and Linda MAT ’71 enjoyed “Utah and Arizona with Louise and Tom ’62. Zion, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon, and Colorado River.”
From Mike Fink: “Jenni, 25, lives in NYC, reports for IJR.com. Youngest, Katie, is a senior at the University of South Carolina. Oldest, Becca, still involved with competitive cheerleading. Whirlwind world keeps us young.”
Local: I had an urge to continue walking, so I used this winter to get my right foot reconstructed. Made me house-bound which, especially in view of the great and amazing things seizing our nation, left me glued to the tube (in deep denial, watching countless Law & Order reruns). Judy, as her just desserts for steadfastly seeing me through, went to a French immersion program near Nice in March. And in May, we took my hobbling to Ireland for 10 days. There we spent two days with an erudite and entertaining Irishman whose granddaughter Beatrix Herriott O’Gorman ’19—would you believe it?—is studying film at Wes. Loves it.
I had a chat with Tim Polk’s widow, Lucy. She and the kids are managing. Still teaching in St. Paul. Taken up golf. I met Wesleyan’s Imam, Sami Abdul Aziz, and his wife. Bright, personable couple who are the center of a vibrant community. Report good support from the administration. Harrison Knight polished up his pickle ball game in Bonita Springs last winter. Paul Spitzer was the subject of a lovely magazine article in Cornell’s Living Bird. Michael D. Terry ’69 was very explicit that “you do not take me or yourself too seriously” as he continues to write about his cancer journey. His treatment center, Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center, is using some of his material in their outreach. Bob Runk ’67 has always impressed me as a particularly good-natured guy and I’ve attributed his good vibes to his love for music. Well, it continues. Check out his new stuff on iTunes by searching for “Bobby Runk” and “RunkRock.”
Wig Sherman—whose good cheer and gossip over the years has made him your unacknowledged associate class secretary—and I caught up recently. After Wes, he served in ‘Nam in the Army working with IEDs—a most unenviable assignment. Then Wharton, and a very successful run on Wall Street. Mid-life two things converged which changed his course: second thoughts about his career, and the prolonged illness and ultimate death of his daughter, Whitney, at 13. He then got a master’s in education and planned to teach in his hometown of Wilton, Conn., but instead got approached about joining the Board of Education, which he did. (That precluded his teaching in town.) He toiled mightily and with distinction on the Board (“more hours than I ever put in on Wall Street”). As its chair, he addressed the graduating class several years, most thoughtfully ruminating—as the son of a gas station owner—on the meaning and obligations of affluence to the high school’s graduates in this very upscale town. In Vero Beach for the last five years, Wig keeps up with a lot of brothers from the Lodge. Ralph Boynton ’69 lives in his complex, and Bob Newhouse is planning to move in.
I caught up with John Mergendoller, a southern California native, now in the Bay Area. (There was a picture of him online and he looked both well and very California.) After Harvard’s School of Ed, he did his doctorate at Michigan and enjoyed a Fulbright in Geneva. Most of his career was with the Buck Institute for Education, an outfit that works face-to-face with 15,000 educators worldwide each year, advancing project-centered learning. John is quite involved with music, playing acoustic guitar and mandolin in groups. His wife, Jessica, has a doctorate in anthropology and taught at UCSF’s medical school. Their son, Jacob ’11, lives in Brooklyn and works in the tech world, while their daughter, Julia ’07, works at Berkeley’s Latin America Studies Center. He keeps up with some of his Beta brothers: Frank Phillippi, Bud Bourke, Bob Knox, and Dick Cavanagh.
Brian Frosh, a Columbia Law School grad, is Maryland’s attorney general. An April 11 article in the Baltimore Sun opined that he “doesn’t have an A-list air about him. But late in the afternoon on the General Assembly’s final day, he was greeted like a celebrity when he walked onto the floor of the Maryland Senate. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Thomas ‘Mac’ Middleton threw an arm around him. Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Chairwoman Joan Carter Conway kicked up a foot, and all three smiled broadly for a photo. ‘We love our A.G.,’ Middleton said.”
The occasion for the article was that Brian had “emerged from the annual 90-day [legislative] session as one of the major winners.” Drawing on ties he cultivated as a 28-year member of the General Assembly representing the Silver Spring area, Brian succeeded in gaining for the attorney general position itself a considerable boost in power. In this newly empowered role, he is expected to defend Maryland’s reformed money bail system, to fight against sharp pharmaceutical price increases, and for the rights of emigrants. Though a trusted figure in Maryland politics, he has ruled out a run for higher office.
In closing, I’d note I am writing this on May 26 and, if everything goes as it should, we will be together next May 26 celebrating our 50th—which to my mind, leastwise, is a big deal. Humor me and show up.
Kudos to Mike Feagley, Rick Nicita, the Reunion committee, and Wesleyan’s Reunion and Commencement machine for so effectively putting together our 50th Reunion. For me, both the planned events and the unplanned events combined to allow for many memorable moments and meaningful encounters.
The planned events included, especially, Friday morning’s innocuous sounding “continental breakfast.” At that event, in a room on the second floor of Olin Library, Howie Foster (that rare quarterback who becomes a psychoanalyst) proposed to the group of 20-25 that we collectively address one of four questions. I don’t remember all four questions, but it doesn’t matter, as we didn’t really address them. We did, however, have a lively and engaging discussion about the meaning of a Wesleyan education, about whether Wesleyan had become too left and far out to attract students it should be attracting, about whether Wesleyan was no longer as committed to real diversity as it should be, about why Amherst and Williams and even Bowdoin and Trinity have done better than Wesleyan on various ratings, and much more, until we were kicked out of the room so they could set up for the next event (I am sure conversations about these issues continued throughout the weekend).
The planned events also included a memorial service for those of our classmates who have died, a session conceived and planned by Brooks Smith, Peter Kovach, and Ted Smith. Peter opened the gathering with a poem. Ted read each of the 37 names on the college’s list of those of our classmates who have died. For about half the names, one classmate or another had prepared to speak for a minute or two and did, and then he or Peter dropped a piece of glass into a large glass bowl (a Kovach-inspired eastern ritual). For the other names, there was either a moment of silence, followed by Peter dropping a piece of glass into the large bowl, or someone spontaneously rose to speak about that person (as the Quakers say, moved by the inner spirit). So there we went, alphabetically, remembering those who died long ago, a while ago, or more recently. Andy Ackemann…Jim Branigan…Myron Kinberg…Henry Regnery…Andy Ullrick… The remembrances were moving, thoughtful, and sometimes funny (he set a chair on fire and threw it out the second floor window of Clark Hall?).
There were many seminars taking place on campus. One of my favorites was given by former faculty member, Leslie Gelb, who went on to work in various high-profile jobs, including writing for the New York Times and president of the Council on Foreign Relations, about why those who conduct our foreign policy continuously make mistakes (Gelb was introduced by Professor Emeritus Karl Scheibe). Another was a panel on political dysfunction with three knowledgeable and impressive Wesleyan alumni, one of whom was Senator Michael Bennet ’87. Yet another was a panel discussion about Hollywood featuring (our own) Rick Nicita and Professor Jeanine Basinger.
The planned events also included three dinners, all set in choice locations—the Thursday night dinner in the Patricelli ’92 Theatre, the Friday night dinner with the president (“Dinner with the President! Dinner with the President”—see Woody Allen’s Bananas for the reference) in Beckham Hall, Fayerweather, and the Saturday night dinner in Olin, overlooking the football field.
But it was the unplanned events that led to many memorable encounters. I was a bit late to one of the seminars, and by the time I arrived it was so packed that I couldn’t get in. I got a cup of coffee and sat down at a table in the Usdan Center, and over the next hour, old (and getting older) friends wandered by, stopped and sat down, and we caught up—John Neff ’66, Dave McNally ’66, Dave Garrison (there was one that got away—I saw across the room, but did not get to talk with, Harry Shallcross). It was like sitting in Downey House in 1965 or 1966, killing an hour in a most enjoyable way, talking with whomever walked by after they got their mail.
My favorite comment? “I climb trees for a living” (but, Jerry Smith went on to say, even though he climbs trees for a living, his Wesleyan education has enriched his life in many ways).
My favorite outfit? At the Saturday night dinner, blue seersucker jacket, bow tie, shorts, leather shoes, black socks (Sandy Van Kennen ’66).
As those of you reading carefully have noted, there was a crew of guys from ’66 hanging around. They had such a good time last year at their Reunion that they came back this year for more (the three I have mentioned, and, also, Larry Carver ’66 and Rick Crootof ’66). It was great having them there. Also floating around the periphery on Saturday were Sandy See ’68, and Rick Voigt ’68, in part to attend the annual meeting of the Mystical Seven, but also to do some preliminary planning for their 50th next year.
It is quite a production, preparing all these Reunions AND Commencement on the same weekend. I always leave these events in awe of Wesleyan, a class act, in awe of Wesleyan alumni in general (who give such good seminars, and ask such interesting and informed questions in such an articulate way), and in awe of my classmates for all kinds of reasons.
Congratulations to Gene Bunnell, professor emeritus, Department of Geography and Planning, University of Albany, on the publication of his new book, Transforming Providence: Rebirth of a Post-Industrial City, the subject being of pressing importance as we confront our nation’s decaying cities. Gene, who “studied for my PhD at London School of Economics and Political Science,” and his wife, Lynne, will “celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary later this summer by traveling to Scotland.”
A number of our classmates followed Gene into the academy, doing so with distinction. David Luft, professor of history at Oregon State University and author of numerous books, tells me he will send a fuller update once he has finished his latest book, The Austrian Tradition in German Intellectual History: 1740-1938/1939. For 39 years James Russell, also a professor of history, taught at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he served as chair of the department before retiring in 2009. He and his wife now live in Worcester, Mass. He added, “I still like to give lectures in the community on American history topics.”
Phillip Shaver ’66
John Lapp, having “left Wesleyan to marry Linda Conner and pursue a PhD in economics at Princeton,” took “an assistant professorship at North Carolina State University,” where he focused on “monetary economics and financial markets,” being “equally drawn to research and publishing, teaching and curriculum, and various aspects of administration.” He writes that it “all worked out well enough.” I’ll say. John retired in 2011 as the Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics. Professor of Psychology, Phillip Shaver, who retired from the University of California, Davis, in 2015, received this past September an “honorary doctorate in the social sciences from Stockholm University in Sweden. The award ceremony, formal dinner, and after dinner dance were held in the Stockholm City Hall, where Nobel Prizes are awarded. My wife, Gail, is receiving a similar honorary doctorate this September from the University of Oslo in Norway, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.””
We have professors, we have adventurers. Peter Monro, naturalist, newspaperman, and landscape architect, writes: “Although I was unfortunately unable to attend our 50th Reunion, its downstream plume brought me (and Jill) three mini-reunions here in Maine, with fellow Betas Jim Brink and Gene Bunnell and their wives. While the 50th Reunion was taking place, I was volunteering as an hospitalero, co-managing a refugee [camp] on the Camino de Santiago de Compostella pilgrimage route. I had just completed that trek as my personal challenge at 71. Learning to unicycle was my 70th birthday challenge.”
Peter Spiller, now living on Anastasia Island, chairs the Board of Directors of the St Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate. This past April, he and his wife, Debbie, “took a repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Rome followed by slowly wandering through that city plus Florence and Venice.” In August Peter took his “annual canoe expedition…from Sioux Lookout, Ontario, to and down the Albany River, fly[ing] out 22 days later from First Nation settlement Eabametoong.”
I I envy the Peters, and meanwhile, Richard John Rohfritch writes: “Larry, I’m jealous! For several years, my wife, Marta, and I have wanted to retire in Durango—just down the road from you.” Richard, who “retired after 45 years of working for big chemical companies” in Houston, has “become literary after writing business emails for so long—I’ve starting collecting and reading poetry, and I am compiling a bibliography of Donald Hall’s writings…I took freshman English from Richard Wilbur at Wes in 1967, but it took me about 50 years to get back to poetry.”
Frank Burrows and wife, Carol, have retired, living with beloved dog, Mandy, in Boynton Beach, Fla. They plan to escape the heat this year, renting a water front cabin in Maine with thoughts of kayaking. Great note from Robert Dearth, who “continues to work with the Chi Psi Fraternity chapter at Miami University…in Oxford, Ohio, as an alumni advisor and officer of the Lodge Property management organization. I also facilitate the alcohol awareness and anti-hazing annual undergraduate educational program mandatory for all new brothers of the Lodge.” Our inspirational leader, Robert Crootof writes: “After 40 years in our 300-year-old house in Norwich, Conn., we sold it (finally) in March, and will now divide our time between Wolfeboro, N.H., and Sarasota, Fla., with travel to visit children in Manhattan, Bozeman, and LA. We had many tears at leaving the family home, but more memories of having lived in a house which suited us so well for those wonderful years.”
Let me conclude with a celebration of generosity and thoughtfulness. Essel Bailey and his wife, Menakka, recently gave $4 million to Wesleyan’s College of the Environment, their total gift to COE now being $7.5 million. Congratulations and thanks to Essel and Menakka for this gift to our students—this gift to our planet—that will serve both for generations to come.
Dear Classmates, thank you for some very good responses to the recent request for news:
Fred Newschwander writes: “I am reluctantly realizing and accepting that my body is no longer young, so I am trying to adapt and maximize what it can still do. The downside: A spouse’s horseback injury and health issues led to mental health problems which led to an unwanted and untimely divorce. Therefore, at a time when I was working on my bucket list I no longer had anyone to play with. My friends say they are too old for the kind of activities I like to do. Those who are young enough still have jobs and on weekends are busy with family activities. The upside: The Bucket List check-off continues. I have completed a book of stories from my 38 years as a mixed-practice veterinarian. Last year I did a 10-day wilderness horseback tour of Iceland, riding 20-40 miles per day in the rain between wilderness huts. This summer I am returning to Botswana for a rerun of a horseback camera safari where we ride across the veldt between rustic tent campsites. Continuing a love first developed by choir director Richard Winslow at Wesleyan, free moments are filled by singing at nursing homes in an a capella octet. My horses have already worn out a set of horseshoes this spring.”
Tony Schuman has been appointed interim dean of the college of architecture design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He observes: “At a time when a number of you are dialing it back a bit, I am dialing it up. The dean of my college retired last fall after 25 years on the job. I am not a candidate for the permanent position, but I agreed to steer the ship until the new chief is in place.”
Condolences to Paul Larson’s family. In a very fine obituary he is: “remembered for his compassion for others, his kindness, his spirit, and his generosity. His unconditional love for his family was always his first priority. He was quick-witted and always had a joke at-the-ready. He believed laughter was the remedy for all. He truly loved his country, Christmas, and the 4th of July, as well as boating and beach vacations in Maine. He also was a diehard Red Sox fan. He was a friend of Bill’s for 15 years, which brought him serenity and peace. He firmly believed in giving back to one’s community. He served as a Darien youth sports coach, Holmes School PTA co-chair, and Darien Boat Club officer. Paul served on the Darien RTM and the Board of Education. He was a member of Darien Kiwanis Club, Darien Men’s Association, the Country Club of Darien, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. After moving to Norwalk in 2004, Paul became an officer with the Norwalk Association of Silvermine Homeowners, a volunteer at the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, and a member of the Norwalk Community Chorale.”
Paul was born May 22, 1943, in Bristol, Conn. As a Cardinal, he captained the track and cross country team and was a member of Kappa Nu. Paul received his MBA from Rochester and was a U.S. Naval Reserve supply officer aboard the U.S.S. Caloosahatchee, and retired as a Lieutenant Commander. He began his career as a securities analyst at Chase Investors Corp., was then an assistant vice president at the General Electric Pension Fund, and finally an equity analyst/portfolio manager with General Reinsurance.
Steve Flance writes that Gary and the Wombats provided some of that good old rock and roll for the New Mexico Children’s Foundation in April. The Jacob’s Robe Wombats continue to serve worthy causes and to amaze all of their grateful fans! For me, anyway, one of my greatest college memories!
Bob MacLean writes: “Just passed my 40th year as a professional ski instructor. Still flying and part-time flight instructor with an interest in an air charter business out of Palo Alto.
“Two years ago started a new business in the food world. We are introducing Yolá yogurt topping in grocery stores, competing with Reddi Wip out of a pressurized can, bringing a yogurt product to that category. Check us out at yolawhip.com.
“Lots of travel, not unlike my life in high tech and medical devices from which I retired 12 years ago. Winter finds me in Colorado enjoying the outdoor life. Fall and spring in Baja, Mexico, and the rest of the year staying in touch with family and friends and challenging myself with an occasional golf game with Phil Russell, Pete Whiteley, and Lynn Edwards. Old roommate Ralph Jacobs remains a constant source of entertainment on and off the airwaves.”
Bertel Haarder spent his junior year at Wesleyan (1964-65) and credits his experience in Middletown as a positive influence in making policy as Danish minister for education and research for 15 years. He writes: “After more than 35 years in the Danish Parliament and 22 years as cabinet minister for ten different ministries, I’m now back in Parliament, running for a seat in the upcoming election. We have removed all age limits in the public administration so, my age—72— is no problem. I’m very engaged in European and Nordic cooperation. For seven years I was in the European Parliament, and recently I was president of the Nordic Council. In Denmark we note with satisfaction that the American president is not speaking for the American people nor his administration when he salutes Brexit and courts Marine le Pen. A century of warm and cold wars have taught Americans—I hope—to value European cooperation.”
Wolf Brueckmann writes: “This may be my first update for class notes in 50 years, but I have decided to follow the ‘better late than never’ precept. I am about to celebrate the first anniversary of my move to Luray, Va., from the Washington, D.C. area, where I spent most of my professional career since leaving Wesleyan. My work was centered around a variety of international economic and business themes, involving various roles such as association executive, lobbyist and university teacher.
“Luray lies in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, and I now enjoy both river and mountain ranges from close up. An added bonus is having Nick Anderson as a close neighbor. My special retirement treat is that I can devote time to oil painting, which I was able to do only intermittently on weekends in the past. I am proudly following the progress of my daughter Loni, who is going into her third year at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School (she just passed her Medical Board exams). I very much enjoyed seeing classmates at the 50th Reunion, which already seems a long time ago.”
Peter Kelman shared that he and his wife, Therese Mageau, moved to Northfield, Vt., shortly after Reunion, in hopes that it would be easier for his mother-in-law who has dementia. His son, Sam Kelman ’03, lives there with his wife and children.
Peter also wrote of his travels over the past 18 months. “10 days on an education-focused stay in Cuba; an eye-opening month in China (primarily to visit our daughter and her children who are living in Shanghai while our son-in-law works for Apple Computer, but we also spent two weeks on a private tour of ethnic minority villages in southern China); two weeks on the West Coast (including the Turner Classic Movie Festival in Hollywood) and Southwest (to visit Therese’s Mom, combined with some walking and bird-watching); a 20-day walking trek across England, and another month in Asia to visit our daughter and grandkids (this time also seeing Beijing, as well as parts of Vietnam, and Cambodia—all quite inspiring, especially in contrast to the ugliness of our country at this time).”
He’s also blogging about the election, President Trump, the Republicans, the Democrats, etc.—“stressing the positive as much as I felt it.” He says, at its peak, he had over 150 readers, but since leaving for China in mid-March, he hasn’t had the time or the inclination to continue. For those who may be curious, his “optimistic-progressive blog” can be found at morningpete.com.
Bertel, Bob, Steve, Tony, Fred, Wolf, and Peter: Many thanks for your thoughtful communications and warmest wishes!
Quotation from a friend of about our age: “I had always thought it would take much longer to get to be this old.”
This was part of an update I received from Duane Starr, but some of our classmates didn’t reach our age. I think mostly of Stephen Thuet, who was killed flying a combat mission over Vietnam. I’ve visited the Vietnam Memorial a number of times, never failing to spend a moment in front of his name etched in the black marble. I remember some of the controversy when the design of the memorial was first released. It’s a profound experience each time, recognizing heroes in a conflict that should never have been. The moment President Kennedy was killed, these heroes were sentenced to their fate.
Interestingly, in preparing my notes, I received sharing from Ron Young ’65 because of a mix-up in classes. In 1995, he attended a meeting of middle-aged anti-war activists and octogenarian former OSS (predecessor organization of the CIA) officers who had served with Ho Chi Minh’s Vietnamese forces fighting the Japanese occupation during the closing months of World War II. The American officers supported Ho’s appeal to President Truman urging U.S. support and recognition for Vietnam’s independence. Truman never replied. Instead, the U.S. financed the French war to recolonize Vietnam. It’s worth reflecting on how our country might be different today if we had recognized Vietnam’s independence in 1945, and initiated normal relations then, rather than 50 years later following our American war.
Chris Chase shared that wife Karen (a non-smoker) was discovered to have a small tumor in her right lung. The mid and lower lobes were removed in early December. Thankfully, neither chemo nor radiation was required. Recovery has been steady, and for this and other reasons, they’ve chosen to enter a retirement community in Hanover, N.H., earlier than planned. With tongue-in-cheek, they find downsizing fun. Chris completed his report with these words: “Still, the last couple of years have had their joys. We have been able to spend time with our now 6-year-old grandson. I have enjoyed reading what I want to and when, from dry treatises on wealth distribution (anyone else read Piketty?) to family documents in Italian, to poetry in Old French, having learned these languages in the last three years.”
Duane Starr and wife Nancy are still living in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Duane retired from Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Global Security Directorate in 2011 and does occasional work there as a “casual employee.” He puts together computer models of uranium enrichment cascades. His recent work included participation in an assessment of the Molecular Laser Isotope Separation (MLIS) for enriching the 235 isotope of uranium. When he removes his thinking cap, woodworking, hunting, fishing, and singing are his passions. Like others of our mid-70s age, a significant amount of time is spent in doctors’ offices.
Speaking of doctors, Dave Best retired, about three years ago, from a very rewarding practice of nephrology, with a sideline of biomedical ethics. He and his wife have been living at the same address in Virginia Beach, Va., for 41 years. They are building a home in Cape Haze, Fla., hoping to have it ready early next year.
In July 2016, Dan Davis, M.D., retired after 19 years with the FDA Division for Bone, Reproductive, and Urologic Drugs. It was a fine second career after 20 years in private practice in obstetrics and gynecology in western Massachusetts. He enjoys skiing, golf, and tennis, and has been doing some part-time consulting this year. His wife, Suzanne, is an ordained United Church of Christ minister and very busy with her church work. They travel more now and hope to see their three grandkids more often.
I wrote a book about my attending baseball fantasy camps in the 1980s, and I have Hollywood people looking at a possible movie. I became friends with many of the former players from the old Brooklyn Dodgers, and it has been a personal loss when many of them have passed. The amazing thing that happened for me was playing baseball at an incredible level in front of my heroes. In 1986, 16 Hall of Fame legends who coached the campers named me the most valuable player. I called my dad at that time, and his reply was priceless: “Now, you’re MVP?”
Bill Roberts made a point to go and scout out the class of ’62’s Reunion to “get back into the Reunion planning mode” in preparation for our 55th next year, which will be as usual, over Memorial Day Weekend. He said it was both interesting with good class presentations, speakers, and fun. He talked with the class members of ’62 who’d organized their Reunion, as well as with their alumni office co-planners. We are now looking for eager volunteers to assist in planning our Reunion and welcome ideas of activities for the weekend. The game’s afoot! And it is not too early to go directly to your calendars and mark the date.
Fritz Henn wrote: “I am still reordering my life following my wife Suella’s death nearly two years ago. We were married 51 years. I have started a final clinical study on a new target we discovered which appears to play a major role in depression. We are using deep brain stimulation in intractable cases of depression with some, but not uniform, positive results. Nonetheless I decided to turn the study over to a group at Baylor and have retired from Mt. Sinai. My last psychiatric talk will be next week in Berlin” (where he actually was when I initially tried to call him; he could only talk briefly and in a whisper) “where I am on a jury and we will give a single investigator 4 million euros (Frensenius Foundation Award) in the hope of finding a major game changing approach to treating depression. Amazing process of selection international jury, remarkable proposals and a hopeful way to conclude my psychiatric research life.”
When I next talked to Fritz, he was back home and was well-satisfied with the recipient of the prize. While he still lives in D.C., he’s bought a summer house on the eastern shore of Maryland and is hopeful to turn it into a ”summer camp” for his five grandchildren, ages 8-16. All of them will gather there in June. Buying that house and fixing it up he says was part of the “reordering” mentioned above. As was his taking the two eldest kids to Africa—Numibia and Botswana—where they went to several game preserves and saw the big five as well as many, many other African animals. The three youngest have already picked the Galapagos when they get older and their turn comes.
One of Fritz’s sons, Steve ’91, and his wife, Emily ’91, both went to WESU. He bragged on Steve’s success with a new app he’s created, “60DB,” with which one can find and play any podcast, anytime, anywhere. Steve lives out in Menlo Park, Calif., and daughter Sarah lives next door in DC. He says her closeness was a great emotional help to him after Suella’s death. He is seriously considering and being urged by friends to write about Suella’s life. I got on that band wagon, too, and I am planning to put him in touch with a successful professional writer who teaches writing in college and helps first time writers (like three friends of mine) write their first book Fritz said he had lectured at WESU two years ago and found the students very mature and interesting to teach. While we were talking, Fritz was pounced on by a large, apricot-colored French poodle that he was babysitting while its usually disinterested owner was off in some kind or treatment. I got the distinct impression that if the owner returned and did not want his dog back, Fritz would be happy to adopt it.
John Coatsworth wrote, “I have been teaching history and serving as Columbia’s provost since 2011. Living in NYC with my wife of 53 years, Pat. Our daughter, Anne, lives with her husband, Jon, and two adorable grandkids (Emma, 10, and Alex, 8) just a few blocks away. My last book was a co-authored world history textbook published by Cambridge.” Initially John was a member of the class of ’62, and as such, was also a member of the first class of the then-new College of Letters where his interest in history started. But as his mother got sick, he had to drop out to work and joined our class upon his return. Before spending the last six years at Columbia, he spent 22 years at the University of Chicago, rising from assistant professor to full professor. He then spent 13 years at Harvard teaching Latin American affairs, and also as director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Affairs.
Now his duties as provost require that he travel a lot to South America, and more recently, to Europe as Columbia has a worldwide network of related or cooperative programs. Pat is now retired, but worked as a librarian at the University of Chicago, and was an administrator at Harvard while there. He fondly recalls his time at the John Wesley Club, “a great home for all campus radicals and misfits! We had some unusual speakers—Jack Kerouac, who was boring (not high/too high?) and a communist, Herbert Aptheker. I don’t know how we got him, but he was very interesting. I think the administration was upset by his presence.”
His senior year, John was the dorm monitor for JWC, which in practicality, meant that he felt responsible for letting all members know when an administrator arrived on a weekend and might check that anyone with a date had his door open and one foot on the floor. A rule not always followed anywhere on campus. John says that “NYC is a Disneyland for grown ups—theater, museums, and all those restaurants which we ruthlessly take advantage of!” His final comments: “Boy, has Wesleyan changed over the past half century! Greetings to all!”
John’s junior and senior year JWC roommate was Martin Nicolaus, who also responded to the alumni office’s request for news for this column and is appearing for the very first time in these notes. He wrote from his home in Berkeley, Calif. “My mind must be turning to mush as I’m abandoning my categorical rejection of all alumni connections by answering your appeal for ‘news.’ OK. After a fun career doing this and that, much of which the interested person can look up on nicolaus.com/2011/07about-edden/et, I recently retired from the practice of law in Berkeley. I also retired from the leadership of a nonprofit I had founded that created a network of recovery meetings for people wanting to get free of alcohol and other drugs via a positive, secular pathway: LifeRing. Much of my energy now goes to celebrating the beauties and combating the uglies of a local park, Cesar Chavez Park, in the Berkeley Marina, the subject of a blog I write fairly regularly. I also write a more occasional blog on a variety of topics ranging from international politics to local events to electric cars at nicolaus.com. I suppose it’s incumbent here to also mention the books I’ve had a hand in writing: Translation of Karl Marx’s “Grundrisse,”Restoration of Capitalism in the USSR; authorship of three books on recovery; translation and editing of Suddenly Jews; editing of ‘Creating the Eastshore St. Park’; authorship of text and photos in ‘From Trash to Treasure: The Splendors of Berkeley’s Cesar Chavez Park’.” Later when I we talked on the phone he said he’d had a practice in civil law (landlord/tenants—mostly on the tenants’ side) for 29 years in Oakland and Berkeley. He’s been married to his wife Sheila for 10 years. Retired now, she was formerly the superintendent of schools for Alameda County. Martin has two children from a previous marriage who are now in their 30s. He and Sheila enjoy traveling and once spent a month in Ecuador. He enjoys biking, gardening, and DIY stuff around the house. He recalled joining EQV our freshman year and then leaving, eventually joining and living in JWC.
After 53 years, Steve Miller is tired of the West Coast and is determined to move to Chicago, which is his wife Carolyn’s hometown. They have been married 21 years. When I called, he was actually busy with packing and moving plans, which included finding an apartment just big enough for them and their two big dogs. Let me take a slight digression here: Their two dogs are a large standard poodle and an equally large English setter. He is a great enthusiast of the later breed which he says mostly goes unrecognized on both coasts but is much admired in the Midwest. He’s fairly confident it will not go unrecognized in Chicago.
Back to their move—Most of their furniture will soon be shipped ahead of them and they follow on December 1. Steve has been fully retired for six years. “Not having won the lottery…” said Steve, when talks of retirement began at Cal State (East Bay), where he was a full professor in the department of management. He initially took part-time retirement, meaning he could stay on for five years part-time. During his teaching career, he had also been an adjunct professor at Stanford and Cal Berkeley “for variety.” He is very happy with the education he got at WESU, praising the great teachers and the breadth of courses. He picked one example—since we were required to take electives, he picked a course on theater, a subject he knew nothing about. But as a result, he developed a lifelong interest in theater and later became a docent for the Berkeley Repertory Theater. And he told how his art appreciation course got him his first job. He was being interviewed for a consulting job at Ernst & Ernst when he noticed and commented on the “nice Monet” on the wall. Well as it turned out, a fellow Monet admirer was exactly what they were looking for! But as he’d gotten his PhD in organizational psychology in ’69 and was teaching part-time in the evenings, he eventually decided that a job with only two weeks off a year was not for him and full-time academia, with its great long summer vacations beckoned. So he took his admiration of Monet and moved on. Showing good sense, he had spent a long time in graduate school from 1963 to 1969 so as to maintain his deferment and stay healthy by avoiding the war.
Steve has two daughters age 34 and 41, from a previous marriage, one in Utah and the other in Minnesota, and two granddaughters, 6 months and 5. He had a last memory of WESU. “Very early in the fall of our freshman, we were lined up in alphabetical order, which meant you and I were standing beside each other. The dean (probably Barlow) said ‘Look at the person standing to you right. He will become very important in your life.’ You didn’t.” Not one to take offense, I have not included here the very subtle hints I got whilst talking to Steve, that he’s moving to Chicago either to escape prosecution of, or is really in the Witness Protection Program.
Please feel free to let me know if you want to hear about a particular classmate or about one who has never appeared in this column.
A theme to not only our own 55th Reunion, but the entire Reunion and Commencement Weekend, was a tribute to the indomitable, friendly spirit of Gina and John Driscoll, who received the Raymond E. Baldwin Medal, Wesleyan’s highest alumni award, for their years of extraordinary service to Wesleyan.
Tributes from Wesleyan officials and members of all classes showed the love and appreciation for John and Gina beyond just our class. They received a long standing ovation when the alumni association president praised them at the Saturday Wesleyan Assembly. At our post-assembly lunch, President Michael Roth ’78 thanked them for their service. At our class dinner Saturday night, former president Colin Campbell, our honored guest, spoke eloquently about their dedication to the entire university community. And the Douglas Cannon made its first appearance in 10 years in John’s honor (more about that later)!
Twenty-three members of our class joined the festivities. On Friday afternoon, Robin Cook [see page 79] participated in a WESeminar, “A Conversation with Wesleyan Writers,” and many class members were invited to the president’s reception honoring leadership donors and volunteers. Our initial class event—the 55th Reunion Reception—was then convened at the Patricelli ’92 Theater.
Saturday morning, we gathered for coffee at Boger Hall for a wide-ranging conversation, led by Bruce Corwin, class president, on members’ own lives, and reflections on the impact of the Wesleyan experience. Following the traditional Parade of Classes and Alumni Association meeting, we joined Reunion classes from 1940 through 1966 at a catered luncheon.
Our class dinner was held in the atrium of the Gordon Career Center. One of the highlights was the awarding of Wesleyan University Service Awards to Phil Calhoun and Jim Gately. Phil was honored for his service in the Admission Office, as acting secretary of the university, as an assistant to President Campbell, and as “an enabling founder, benefactor, and head coach of the first Cardinal crew team.” Jim was honored for being “an active force” in our class in organizing Reunions, encouraging support for the Class of ’62 Scholarship fund and the Freeman Driscoll International Scholarship, and hosting Wesleyan events in Philadelphia. We shared a moment of silence after the names of 35 deceased class members were read aloud. Bruce closed the dinner by urging everyone to start thinking about making our 60th Reunion another success.
Thanks to the members of the class who participated in Reunion Committee phone calls to plan the events: Robin Berrington, Phil Calhoun, Bruce Corwin, Dick Dranitzke, John Driscoll, Dick Dubanoski, David Fiske, Jim Gately, Dave Hedges, Bob Hunter, Bob Krugman, Gene Peckham, and Rick Tuttle.
Oh, yes. The Douglas Cannon. Early arrivals to the Saturday night dinner were treated to the sight of the Douglas Cannon sitting on the reception desk. Wesleyan photographers were on hand to take a picture of John Driscoll with the cannon, and shortly afterwards, officials took it away. You may recall that during our college years, the Cannon had been stolen in November 1959 and then recovered and remounted in April 1961. After many subsequent removals and reappearances since that time (Wikipedia has a good history, if you’re interested), it was last seen briefly at a 2007 Inauguration reception for President Roth.
There has been speculation that the Cannon is actually in University hands. Hmm. When the cannon arrived, there were over a half-dozen university photographers, public relations officials, and security personnel on hand. After the brief photo-op with John, the Cannon was quickly covered and whisked away—with the efficiency of a U.S. Secret Service operation—into a waiting Wesleyan security van. Hmm. The Wikipedia article was updated by the next day to refer to the Cannon’s “reappearance at the Class of ’62 Reunion dinner.”
At the Saturday morning session, Bruce expressed regret that our class agent, Phil Putnam, was unable to make the trip from his home in Essex due to a longstanding illness. Phil subsequently said to me by telephone that he was undergoing treatment that he hoped would lead to PT and then being able to get around with a cane. Sadly, instead Phil took a turn for the worse. At the end of June, he passed away in the Middlesex Hospital Hospice unit. Phil had a great spirit, and served our class well. He will be missed.
John Hazlehurst is “transiting” from the Colorado Springs Independent/Colorado Springs Business Journal to establish two glossy magazines, Colorado Fun and Cannatimes. He’s still doing high-altitude long-distance bike rides.
Steve Trott has become involved with the Boise Philharmonic Association, which he says is “a long way from ‘Michael’.” He chaired the committee selecting the conductor/music director and was in charge of programming the past two seasons. He writes, “My sophomore class in Music Appreciation at Wesleyan with a professor whose name I can no longer spell—Alex S.— got me started, for which I am very grateful.”
The timing was perfect for Joe Miller, who wrote: “You hit me on my 78th birthday, and I’m feeling frisky enough to pitch in this time around. Three years retired from teaching African history at the University of Virginia and finding the ‘sweet spot’ of this stage, I’m now at my own pace. What the youngsters out there bring to the encounter is energy and imagination, and what I have to offer at this point is experience. They write the books and I try to help them make the most of all that good work. My oldest daughter, a Mayan archaeologist, has a freelance career in tourism and horses in Yucatan, and my youngest son is in 11th grade at our local Friends school. We have no plans to abandon our hilltop here in Charlottesville with the view of the Blue Ridge. For years the D.C.-area Green Scum (Alpha Delts to the uninitiated)— Dickson, Bloomfield, Wagner, and I, plus one or two from ’62) got together regularly, but we haven’t been so good about it lately.”
This was a cute response from Howie Morgan:
Singing as we travel and reach!
Residence now in Vero Beach.
Keeping a place in Deer Isle, Maine
But Home is still in dear old Wayne!
Trying to keep those libs from the door,
Hope old Wes has their feet on the floor!
Ain’t life grand?
From Larry Krucoff: “After leaving Wesleyan, I ended up in Chicago, where Carole and I got hitched. I worked my way through graduate school in anthropology, and went into marketing research. In 1971, I started my own firm and ran it until retirement in 2015. Carole worked in museum education, becoming head of education at the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago. Now retired, she continues her museum associations by being a docent at the Art Institute of Chicago. While I was working, I tried to develop retirement skills. These developed into golf, baking, cooking, writing, play readings, and traveling with Carole.”
Dan Elliott is in assisted living in Cleveland with “a swimming pool and a work-out room with beautiful physical therapists who work me out. My Wesleyan daughter is in Cambridge, doing criminal justice projects. My youngest is married, employed as an athletic trainer, part-time with the Brooklyn Nets and with Long Island University. My son, Dan, participates on the Surface Transportation Board in D.C., and is married to an electrical engineer, with two stepsons. My son, Tim, does computer installation projects and lives here in Cleveland.”
Pete Drayer and wife Sandy are still in a retirement home. He is a senior judge until the end of this year.
Paul Dickson’s latest book, Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son, was published in March by Bloomsbury Press. He is working on a book tentatively titled The Rise of the Fishbowl Army, which is about the 1940 peacetime draft and the creation of a modern army in the days before Pearl Harbor.
Al Williams and Ed Knox get together regularly with Wendy and Huguette-Laure. “Being in D.C., health issues and grandchildren must now vie with politics as topics of conversation.” They are interested in catching up with other alumni.
From Foster Morrison: “There is a serious mismatch between the goals of the human species and the capacities of planet Earth. The people in charge want exponential growth to go on indefinitely, but the size and resources available on this finite spheroid are limited. Setting aside a few nature preserves will not mitigate the consequences of unceasing growth, whatever they may be. It’s difficult-to-impossible to predict exactly what will happen, but it probably will be global catastrophe.”
From Bob Hausman:
Unlikely am I to be found
In the Wesleyan annals of renown,
Yet I do try the fates to confound,
By remaining at best above ground.
Hausman has two sons and seven grandchildren. He went to St. Paul, Minn., in 1977 to teach at Luther Seminary and has been there ever since. “Between my children and grandchildren,” he writes, “we have made our mark at Carleton College, Macalester College, Hamline University, St. Thomas University, and the University of Minnesota. Unfortunately, I have been unable to persuade any of them to matriculate at Wesleyan. There are still two more grandchildren in the public schools and one in the womb, so who knows?”
John Rogers reports living at the Del Webb Sun City Community in Indian Land, S.C. “Great retirement area with golf course, two community centers, walking trails, and three pools. I retired from financial services in 2013, after 46 years, and am enjoying time with five children and 14 grandkids in Maryland, New Jersey, and Kentucky. We have traveled to Alaska, Iceland, Norway, France, Nova Scotia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, and many national parks.”
Glenn Hawkes’ son, Jesse, is an actor and human rights activist living in NYC. They came to Middletown in April to attend the Samuel and Dorothy Frankel Memorial Lecture delivered by a Wesleyan alumna. Both enjoyed an afternoon coffee with Emil Frankel, who had just driven over from UConn, where he had a speaking engagement. Glenn reports: “Much of our conversation centered on ‘3rd floor Clark’ our sophomore year—Bob Hausman, Swede Wilson, Ernie Hildner, Jack Woodbury, Jack Mitchell, and Russell Mott.”
Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, Fl 34205
Eugene Stanley ’62, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Leicester in July. Stanley has had a long academic career teaching physics, physiology, chemistry, and biomedical engineering at MIT and Boston University. His main research focus is the statistical physics of materials. Stanley is an honorary professor at Eotvos Lorand University and at Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Pavia, and is a chair or member of several science organizations. Stanley majored in physics at Wesleyan and earned his PhD from Harvard University.
