Class Notes | 1960s

Jim Workman reported recently, “As I suspect is true with most of our classmates, we are traveling as long as we’re mobile.” I say, good point. They travel to the south of France, Florida and the North Carolina seashore. I’m happy to announce that he and his Green Bay neighbors have “largely gotten over the loss of the Packers to Seattle.”

How many of us from the class of 1964 remember our first week at Wesleyan and the symposium we were introduced to. I remember it well, as it was entitled “Mass Media, Mass Culture.” I recall how I was suddenly engaged in the topic when I found out what the word “media” meant. Television and the Internet would transform the culture, including the sports world.

Inside the modern world we live in, I would like to acknowledge Bill Belichick ’75. Super Bowl 49 was one of the most exciting and dramatic I can ever remember. I assert that the outcome was predictable to our fellow alumnus and his Patriot players, because preparation is the secret ingredient to success. Imagine a fellow Wesleyan product could very well be the most effective and accomplished professional football coach. I admire his calm demeanor and constant focus on the prize.

Garry Fathman, professor of medicine, Stanford, has been invited to give the commencement address at Washington University School of Medicine. Quite a nice addition to his career.

Arlene and Mark Dahl e-mailed me a copy of their Christmas letter. They are both retired, with Mark gradually spending less time keeping up with dermatological advances. They live around Scottsdale, Ariz., have a summer place in Minnesota, and a condo in Sun City, Ariz. They travel frequently, including Greece and Turkey last year, visiting biblical sites to enliven their Christian faith. Mark has journeyed to Chile on a number of trips including the Chilean Atacama Desert. They count eight grandchildren and all beyond the baby and toddler phase, including one a college graduate. No major health problems have been an issue.

Lou D’Ambrosio is enjoying retirement and ended his position as a reserve officer with the Indio, Calif., Police Department after six years. His daughter, Kara, birthed a boy in November, breaking a tie with one of each gender from before. Lou meets, periodically, with Wink Davenport and Jay McIlroy for lunch and they are well.

Ted Ridout and wife announced the addition of Rusty, “a totally charming and affectionate mini-long-haired dachshund.” The dog has plenty of energy but four feet of snow in the last 10 days has challenged his short stature. I’ve lived in Central Florida since 1975 and in 1977 we had about one hour of snow that was sticking to the cars. Not a flurry since that day when TV bulletins were telling people to stop making phone calls that were overwhelming circuits. “Hi, dear, hurry and look out the window. It’s snowing!”

If you’re on the road and come upon a 20-ft, 1979 Toyota minicamper it could be Henry Lanford and wife Ann traveling small roads, visiting small places and loving it. They are also busy as grandparents. He retired after 30 years in the yacht building business in Southwest Harbor, Maine.

Robert Maurer is working on publishing a debut novel, Passing Through (The Nineteen Sixties): On American Radicalization.

Surprising notification from Frank Sutterlin, who was with our class freshman year and is retired now after 44 years as a Presbyterian minister, working in insurance and recent employment as dental hygienist. Enjoying retirement with wife Lyn and finding opportunities not available in his working past.

TED MANOS, M.D. | ted_manos@yahoo.com

Error Message: Last issue, when I outed the Hon. Leonard Edwards as one who sneaks in at night and works secretly on a jigsaw puzzle, thus violating his marital vow (“We shall work on this together, not in secret, alone, whilst the other is asleep!”), I called Mrs. Edwards “Marcia,” when in fact she is the E.M.H. (Ever More Honorable) Margaret (or Margie) Edwards. My bad—or mea maxima culpa. Now that’s out of the way…

Not having any family members still living in the East, January of last year, Virginia and Steve Humphrey moved west to Napa, Calif., to be closer to their children. Their daughter and two children live there and their son, also with two children, lives in Denver. Their grandchildren are between 10–13 years old. Steve still plays a lot of golf but now plays more of the golf course than when was younger. Only one of his grandchildren, a 10-year-old, shows any interest in the game. He retired at the end of ’13 but still does some consulting with some of his former clients. When I talked to him he was relaxing in the sun down in Cabo San Lucas, having been there for several weeks. Along with golf he finds that Western wines, especially Cabernets, enhance his retirement. He and all the rest of his family are enjoying good health and most of the year, the weather in Napa is wonderful.

Richard Currie, retired in ’03, still enjoys volunteering as a driver for Meal on Wheels and coordinates the food bank for the area around Belle Vernon, Pa., where he and his wife of 49-plus years live. Both he and Sue have always been active in their church and both were certified lay preachers. But several years ago, Sue felt called to become a Presbyterian minister and after three years in seminary has become one and now heads a congregation of 150 people, so Richard now calls himself a househusband/chief-cook-and-bottle-washer. He has become quite good at both, especially the former, as he uses the Internet to get all sorts of recipes. He does not need the Internet for the latter. Due to the needs of her congregation, their ability to travel is much curtailed but Richard has long been interested in singing, which he does a lot—both in choirs and with the Westmoreland Choral Society. They have two children: a daughter, 45, who is a professional stage manager in D.C., and a son who recently moved out to Burbank, Calif., where he’s quite excited doing his work in computer animation. He and Sue are working on how to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, which is coming up soon.

Lee Hunt, who spent only his freshman year with us, is semi-retired but still does some consulting work with a number of construction companies. He recalled several friends at WesU, Jim Dooney, and two others who are now deceased, and while he’d expected to return, never did. He and his wife, Evelyn, married for 25 years, live near Richmond, Va. Lee learned woodworking from his dad and does a lot of restoration work—furniture, grandfather clocks, but mostly antique motor boats. His most recent restoration was of a ’55 Chris Craft Capri runabout, one of only 43 ever made. With a fellow restorer, he has just started working on another wooden boat, a 20′ Ancarrow “with a monster Chrysler engine” which was capable of going 90 mph when first built. The Ancarrows were well known for their great speed but he doubts that they will even try to get it up to that speed when they’re finished. He and Evelyn are planning to take a Viking cruse this coming September to Sardinia and the Mediterranean.

Also retired, Dick Ort and his wife, Mary Catherine, are living in Williamsburg, Va. They’ve been married either 36 or 37 years. (Depends on who I talked to and I talked to each separately. I suspect this paragraph will help get that question resolved.) But be that as it may…like the rest of us, Dick is getting older and his knees often curtail his running, which he enjoyed and would like to return to as soon and as much as possible. They also interfere with his playing softball, which he had enjoyed for much of his life. Dick, when with Chubb, had much to do with their initial sponsorship of Antiques Roadshow, a concept initially transplanted from its UK origins. Besides becoming a show much enjoyed by viewers (of which I am one!), he was often told by very grateful antique dealers that it helped drive the prices of antiques way up. However, they complained that it also made their job of buying so much harder, as now bidding at auctions is much more competitive with way more amateurs getting in with hopes of finding great, unrecognized treasure. Dick has always been interested in history, especially military history. He focuses on WWI and the Civil War. He defied me to mention a Civil War battle the location of which he had not visited. (Panicked, I could only come up with Gettysburg which he’s visited more than 40 times.) He has also visited WWI battlefields in France and Belgium, though not to the same extent. But over there he says the food is much better after hiking the terrain. He says he learns a great deal about military strategy—what went on and why—by looking over the actual sites.

Fritz Henn is “slipping more and more into retirement.” Though he has closed his lab in Cold Spring Harbor, some of his ongoing drug trials continue, trials of what he hopes will be a more effective antidepressant. One such trial is of a drug class he patented for which he won the Colvin Prize, the largest prize for work in mood disorder research in the world! (Check it out on YouTube.) Fritz and his wife, Suella, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by meeting up in Heidelberg, Germany, with their children—son Steve ’94 (married to Emily ’94) and their three girls; and their daughter, Sarah, her husband, and their son and daughter. As Fritz and Suella had spent 12 years living there, they wanted to show their family some of their favorite old haunts. The Henns now live in DC, near their daughter and her family. The grandchildren keep them busy.

From Lake Oswego, Ore., Mike Marble retired “slowly”—from ’95 on he gave up his private practice as an orthopedic surgeon, but continued to come in to assist in operations. There were two particular plusses in this: of course, the continued income. But it was also especially nice that if something came up later that needed more attention, he was not the MD called back in. He did other kinds of part-time work too. He would review matters involving accidents resulting in medical-legal arguments over surgery/payments. Mike has been married to Debra for 47 years and they have two daughters. Like Lee, Mike also likes woodworking and makes “simple, useful things, like tables or bookcases.” He enjoyed sailing and has a 20’ day sailer and did a lot of riding on a recumbent bike. However he fell last July and has spine issues and at the moment, partially limited mobility, which he hopes will be resolved in time with PT. Debra, a watercolor artist, has gotten a job in Federal Courts as a court room artist. She is employed by newspapers to do this. Due to the economy, such work is becoming scarcer. If the case does not involve a jury, some judges will let her sit in the jury box. But if there is a jury and it’s a “hot” case, she has to get there early and find a seat for herself. And no, she has not yet worked a case involving a particularly notorious villain.

Sad news: John E. Peterson, of Santa Cruz, Calif., died Jan. 30, 2014, of a rare brain disease. A well-written and extensive obituary can be found on Google. He is survived by his wife Mary, his daughter. Ingrid, and sons, Wylie, Price, and Webster. He and Mary have three grandchildren.

He was a member of DKE, very active athletically and also took up paragliding, which was not an athletic option at WesU in the ’60s. He also served in the Peace Corps in Ghana. If you would like to share condolences or good memories of John, you can do so at pacificgardenschapel.com.

BYRON S. MILLER | tigr10@optonline.net
5 Clapboard hill rd., westport, ct 06880

Robin Berrington spent three weeks last year touring castles in Japan, and attended an opera festival in Dresden, where he discovered that nearby Leipzig is a new “with-it” city. Back home, he took on new duties as a docent at the Washington, D.C., Freer-Sackler gallery, and became co-chair of the Freer Friends Council, in addition to continuing to serve on the boards of the International Student Conference and the Post Classical Ensemble. Each year he joins friends in the Hudson River Valley for the Bard College Musical Festival.

Bruce Corwin reports good health news—a new working kidney donated by his son, David. Bruce is active on the Board of the Martin Luther King Foundation, and is proud that they opened a new hospital in southern Los Angeles. He reports he is in touch with Jay Levy ’60, Dave Sherman ’61, Steve Trott and Rick Tuttle, “all of whom are doing well.” Walt Fricke reports that he is busy skiing, and continuing to both race and officiate at Porsche Club events. This summer he and his brother, Al ’66, are going to circumnavigate Vancouver Island.

Bob Gause is “still working at my first job, now going on 40 years, in pediatric orthopedics in Bangor, Maine.” However he has managed to avoid Maine winters by sailing a catamaran he keeps at Bocas del Toro, Panama, where he also has written four novels, and is working on his fifth. You can check them out on Amazon or Kindle. With daughter Kathryn’s upcoming May wedding in Montana, he and his wife Nancy “are doing the clockwise RV tour of the USA in a 24’ camper as a test of marriage.”

Bruce Menke and his wife, Karen, moved from Houston to Athens, Ga., to be closer to their two sons, both professors at the University of Georgia, and four grandchildren. He says that UGA has a very active program of Lifelong Learning Institute classes and activities for retirees. He says “our welcome mat is out” for classmates in the area, which is only an hour and a half from Atlanta. He can be reached at kbmenke@earthlink.net.

Charles Seibert, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Cincinnati, is teaching at the university’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Hank Sprouse is using his wood carving talents to help two groups of veterans: He conducts two wildlife carving classes in the Arts in Healing Program at the Veterans’ Hospital in West Haven, Conn.; and he carves Golden Eagle heads, which are placed on walking canes for the Wounded Warriors.

Steve Trott has been on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for 27 years. He’s now in part-time “senior status” but says he may “hang it up completely at the end of the year.” He notes that he performed his first same-sex marriage last November, and commented, “Did I ever think we would come this far this fast over the last five years?”

Richard Whiteley reports on continuing his work of “helping individuals and organizations rediscover their spirit,” which he says has included four sets of activities: writing books (four to date, #5 in progress); speaking to groups (over the years close to one million people in 30 countries); sitting on boards; and conducting a healing practice in Boston using the techniques of shamans. He said he is “blessed” that he and partner Catherine Gerson have “warm, caring relationships” with his three sons and four grandsons, all of whom live within 15 miles. Sports are still important, but he shares everyone’s lament that “results on the courts and courses are significantly diminished.” Richard revealed that for the past nine years, he’s been dealing with the presence of Parkinson’s Disease, but says that in his case the progression has been “glacial” and that he is looking to the future “with a positive attitude.”

Finally, a sad note. The wife of Peter Nuelsen, Joyce Morral, informed us that Peter passed away Dec., 31, 2014. Our condolences go to his family.

DAVID FISKE | davidfiske17@gmail.com
17 W. Buckingham Dr. Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971

“Time just keeps on clicking by!” reports Eric “Swede” Wilson, who claims he’s “still alive, kicking, and working. My daughter, Avery, got married three years ago, and is now living in San Diego, Calif., with her husband Conan. My son, Eric, his wife, Julie, and grandson Ethan live in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with us where he has a solo bankruptcy legal practice. He is a big Alabama Crimson Tide fan, and drags me along to a lot of the home games. My third son, Martin, still lives in NYC, where he is employed as a publicist with Harper Collins. He has just completed his second young adult novel, and it is undergoing editing. Health remains good with all of the family.”

“Well. We are a year older!” claims (or is it complains, or maybe proclaims) Bob Carey. He goes on to describe his “trips to Israel with some students to study boundaries and identity,” and his visits with the Littles and the Woodburys. Bob continues to explain: “I have become very much involved with a Lumina project here at Empire State College. It has to do with how we work with adult students who are finishing their degrees. Although very college specific, it raises all sorts of interesting questions about how we, in fact, come to know things. Of course, when I start talking about it, I find myself alone at the chip and dip bowl. Such are the vagaries.”

Here was an unexpected note from Brad Beechen, presented in his own words. “Brad writes regarding a small world encounter. His fraternity brother, George Kangas ’60, mailed him to say he and his wife had attended a program at their Bradenton, Fla., church where they listened to a highly enjoyed concert performed by ‘very accomplished musicians,’ a fellow named Jon Magendanz and Jon’s sisters, Donna Guarino and Felice Farrell. The program notes enclosed with George’s letter indicated the siblings have performed internationally.” In response to Brad’s encouragement for more explanation, your class secretary’s exposure to music has been lifelong, a result of being raised by musical parents. During attendance at Wesleyan, instruction continued, a benefit from a music scholarship, on the violin with three years study in Hartford and one year at Yale. Ensemble concerts were given at Honors College with my sister, Donna, and Ray Rendall, and, of course, there was the chamber orchestra and the pep band. That’s enough promotion, but do look for me at the 75th Reunion Parade!!!

An additional bit of Wesleyan history presented by Foster Morrison: “It was interesting to read about the renovation of that ancient 20-inch refractor at Wesleyan. I had some limited experience with it and other telescopes on Foss Hill, since I had three semesters of astronomy, an intro course and a research seminar with Prof. Thornton Page, and a summer job after graduation. He got me into Sigma Xi and as a co-author of a publication in the astronomical journal. I did dabble a bit in satellite orbits and satellite geodesy. In retrospect, I should have taken Prof. Eichhorn’s celestial mechanics course and learned programming on his first-ever-at-Wesleyan computer. I crossed his path again at the Army Map Service, where he had a summer sabbatical and I was programming a Honeywell mainframe and adding a curve-fitting capability to an obsolete satellite orbit theory.”

Congratulations are in order for Paul Dickson’s continuing accomplishments in the literary field. Rave reviews have been published in the UK’s Authorisms, The Guardian, and the Times of London, all which came out in the month of Paul’s 75th birthday. Also, with additional pieces later published in the Guardian and in the Daily Mail, as well as a promise of a second printing of his book, Paul was very excited about his 75th year.

Finally, on a sad note, the passing of Weldon John Smith Sr., on Aug. 5, 2014, is noted. Classmates are referred to the online obituary section of this publication for more complete coverage of Weldon’s family and graduate work.

Respectfully submitted,

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, Fl 34205

Chris Campbell wrote: “I recently read a narrative about a young woman who slips and falls concussively against a large boulder. She is diagnosed as suffering from either mild aphasia or dissociative amnesia. The main result of this situation is that she has great difficulty in speaking normally. Her mind is alert, but in trying to express herself she tends to use a steady stream of synecdoche, a figure of speech which the Greeks described as using a ‘part’ for the ‘whole’ or vice versa. I was inspired by that odd condition, and began looking for everyday examples of synecdoche in contemporary English. A very common example of synecdoche is the use of ‘wheels’ to mean an automobile or ‘packing heat’ to mean carrying a firearm. These days we say ‘plastic’ when we mean a credit card. Hippies customarily said ‘threads’ to mean clothes. Most of us will say ‘pigskin’ when we are thinking about football. Now I am trying to build a large collection of modern-day examples of synecdoche. If any classmate can think of an example, I would be pleased to receive it at crc@navpak.com. If I am able to build a big enough list, I will write an article about this interesting figure of speech.”

John Berry wrote: “My wife, Mary, and I are just back from two weeks in Greece, with a week spent on Crete, where we stayed in a 500-year-old house in the ancient port town of Chania, built by Venetians when they controlled that part of the world. Our daughter, Clay, who is the Treasury attaché in the U.S. embassy in Moscow, was there with her husband, Bikas, the International Monetary Fund’s resident representative in Russia, and our two granddaughters, ages 3 and 7. After their two-year stint in Moscow, this summer they will be back living close to us in Alexandria, Va., where we have lived in the same house for 45 years. For months Clay has been traveling regularly to Kiev because of the U.S. involvement with the beleaguered Ukraine. Earlier we spent Thanksgiving in Seattle with our son, Michael, a senior software manager for Adobe Systems, and his wife, Catherine Berkenfield, a professor at Bellevue College.

“Mary, a writer, has also become an excellent photographer. Two years ago a portfolio of her pictures of the Salar de Uyuni, a huge salt flat in Bolivia, won first prize in the fine arts division of an international competition, the winners of which were on display for weeks at the National Geographic Society museum in Washington. Meanwhile, she continues to row competitively, both sweep and sculling, and did so in the Head of the Charles Regatta each of the past two years. She plans to be in an eight again this fall at an international masters competition in Belgium.

“I continue to write regularly only for a quarterly magazine, International Economy, but also enjoy occasional free-lance jobs as they come along, such as book reviews for USA Today. And I’ll be at our 55th in May.”

John Dobson wrote the following: “Nici and I continue to love Big Sky, Montana! In early September, however, we traveled to the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland, Surrey in England, Normandy, Paris, and then back to the Connemara Peninsula, Ireland. Several days after our return to Montana, we ventured on to Kauai, Hawaii, for 11 days. In mid-October, we joined Caren and Dick Gorenberg in Durham, for our 50th Duke Medical School Reunion. Our fall travel was capped off by six weeks at our home in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands. It seems like a lot of travel in a fairly short length of time, but we both thoroughly enjoyed each trip. We are now back in Big Sky and are fully embroiled in a great ski season!”

Jim Dover is active in the Bridgton Senior College, both as an instructor and board member. The highlight of 2014 for Jim and Sue was the trip taken to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. They visited Normandy, Brittany, and the Loire Valley of France for about two and a half weeks. They were then joined by two children and their spouses, along with three grandchildren, for a week in Annecy, their favorite town in the French Alps, and a final week in Interlaken, Switzerland.

Peggy and Dave Hale spent 12 days in Panama. In addition to transiting the Panama Canal on a small boat, they visited a number of places where traditional activities were happening. They made candy from sugar cane, corn, and cheese tortillas, along with traditional hats and dresses. They enjoyed a home-hosted meal in an Embera Indian village, where Peggy got a tattoo. Dave swam in the Pacific, kayaked on Lake Gatun, and briefly joined two traditional dance groups.

Wesleyan University: 1910–1970: Academic Ambition and Middle-Class America by Dave Potts has been published. It’s a sequel to an earlier volume that covered the period 1831–1910. Dave gives an unprecedented level of attention to the board of trustees and finances. These clearly related components are now introduced as major shaping forces in the development of American higher education. Extensive examination is also given to student and faculty roles in building and altering institutional identity. Threaded throughout is a close look at the waxing and waning of presidential leadership. All of these developments, as is particularly evident in the areas of student demography and faculty compensation, travel on a pathway through middle-class America. Within this broad context, Wesleyan becomes a window on how the nation’s liberal arts colleges survived and thrived during the last century. Dave says: “The fastest way to get a hard copy edition at the most competitive price is via the Wesleyan Press/University of New England Press website using the 30 percent discount code: W301.”

Stanley N. Katz, lecturer/professor, Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, wrote this review: “This superb follow-on to Potts’ first volume on the history of Wesleyan University maintains the exceptional quality of its predecessor. College histories tend to puffery, but this one is a solid, critical, and knowledgeable account. Potts here establishes himself as one to the finest historians of higher education, and Wesleyan gets the sort of history a great institution deserves.”

Oscar Lanford III died Nov. 16, 2013, after a battle with cancer, at the age of 74. After his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan, he received a Ph.D. from Princeton in 1966 in quantum field theory. He began as assistant professor and later became professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. This was followed by professor of physics (1982-1987) at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France. He moved in 1987 to the department of mathematics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and retired in 2005. He continued teaching at the Courant Institute until 2012.

Oscar was an expert in quantum field theory, statistical mechanics, and dynamical systems. His publications were influential to the development of mathematical physics. He was the recipient of the 1986 U.S. National Academy of Sciences award in applied mathematics and numerical analysis and he received an honorary doctorate from Wesleyan.

Oscar is survived by his wife, Regina, and their daughter. On behalf of the Class of 1960, I express our condolences to his family and friends.

SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com
2700 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98229

John Bach says, “If you need a Quaker chaplain in Boston, visit me at Harvard.”

Tony Mohr is chair of a California state-wide judicial committee and has a guest room that opens onto a pool.

Doug Bell’s Uruguayan farmland investment fund is two years old. “Carolyn is studying fascial stretching—remember Rolfing. I’m in touch with Harry Nothacker and Steve Smith, who is Grasslands’ forestry advisor.”

Bob Otto, from Seattle, and David Freedman, from San Juan, visited Guillermo Prada-Silva in Silicon Valley.

Mike Fink writes, “The lack of hard work and productivity doesn’t bode well for our children’s future. Our entire family helped Katey begin freshman year at the U. of South Carolina. Girls have more stuff than guys. I’m in good health, as are my wife and children. These are rocky economic times to be a real estate developer.”

The University Press of the South published Jeff Wohkittel’s fourth book of poems, The Eagle and the Parrot, available from Amazon or UnPrsouth@aol.com.

Read KenKawasaki’s “A Midsummer Miscellany” at brelief.org/reports/report-71.htm.

Steve Broker taught birding and ecology at Camp Pemigewassett in Wentworth, N.H. “My father, Tom ’36, was the waterfront director while at Wes and Cornell Law. He was introduced to Pemi by Edgar Fauver, WesU physician, one of the camp’s founders in 1908.”

Peter Pfeiffer’s book about independent logging in Maine, Hard Chance, Tree Farming in Troubled Times, is available. “We’re experiencing extreme weather. Lightning everyday, with tornadoes, microbursts, and flash floods. Lots of damage. I am profoundly nervous to see climate change like this.” Pete’s book is available on Amazon and maineauthorspublishing.com.

Charlie Morgan reports from “Bonita Springs. I consult, play tennis, and travel researching my Hungerford family roots. Nine grandchildren keep me busy the rest of the time.”

Bill Sketchley says, “No surgeries or hospitalizations. Hooray! Good health, good neighbors, as far as it goes. Life is good.”

Gordy Fain ’70 writes, “Berta and Henry Samson continue to serve optometric patients in New Haven. He was my first health care professional to take notes on a PC. I remember walking to the campus infirmary. Dr. Crampton reassured me that exam time pains were not a dangerous illness. I’d walk back to Olin, saying a quick prayer.”

From Ron Reisner, “Great June golf outing for the basketball team—Martello, Gregor, Sitarz, Knox, Kelly, Dwyer ’68, Emerson ’68, and myself. Football coach Mike Whalen ’83’s foursome won. I’m in my 14th year as a NJ judge. I’m on committees that investigate parole questions for non-violent criminals and that create jury instructions for criminal cases. Grandchildren are 2 and 4.”

John Mihalec visited Shenzhen. “I attended a reception for five Hong Kong students who will join Wes 2018. Great kids. Not sure how much they wanted to hear testimony from people my age.”

Harold Davis and Tom Goodman were brief. From Harold, “Hope all is well.” From Tom, “Alive.”

Charles Elbot writes, “I’ve retired from the Denver Public Schools. I continue part-time leadership coaching. Caught up with Harvey Yazijian ’70 and Elliot Daum ’70. Wesleyan surely attracts and educates great people.”

Harry Nothacker has qualified for the World Ironman Championship, in fall 2014, in Kona, Hawai’i.

Bob Berkowitz writes, “I couldn’t make Reunion because my brother had health issues. My Wesleyan education had wonderful effects on me. I’m still a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, caring for youth and families with major mental health problems. The kids often have allied health problems, too. I’ve been department chair and have helped establish a full range of programs, including research and training new practitioners. Wesleyan blended science, humanism, and activism for me. I met my wife at Wes. We’ve been married 43 years, have a son, and just became grandparents. My best wishes to all.”

Late August. Deb’s at her writing group. There are art openings in Essex and Centerbrook tonight. A number of friends will be showing. Chester Fair tomorrow. I love the plant and animal displays and the caloric food.

I work on the farm everyday—painting the wooden parts, cleaning the cellar and barn, restoring the studio, dealing with invasive insects. Carpenter ants and wasps have found their Plaza Hotel.

We had wonderful family times in the summer of ’14. Two weeks on Fire Island with Liz, Josh, Abby, and Benton, long weekends with Annie, Jeff, and their dachshunds.

The world has elements of a horror show—ISIS, Hamas and the Israelis, Ebola, and Ferguson—we wonder what we did to deserve the peace we enjoy.

Deb and I send love to you all.

CHArLIE FARROW | charlesfarrow@comcast.net
1 Cold Spring Rd., East Haddam, CT 06423 

I will open with a lovely letter I got from Guy Baehr as it is a model for you all: “I guess I’ve been putting this off for a decade or two, But I thought I’d send you an update now that I seem to have come to a convenient turning point. Which is to say that I am now finally and firmly retired to a small town on the north coast of the Dominican Republic.

“I’ve built a house here, sold my house back in New Jersey and am looking forward to making friends among the expats and locals here, enjoying the Caribbean climate, and watching the fascinating process in a country of 10 million people moving, sometimes fitfully, from being a Third World country to an almost Second World country. (I guess that’s my CSS training.) Also I have a long connection to the Dominican Republic that started when I came here as a Peace Corps volunteer right out of Wesleyan and continued with a later marriage to a Dominican woman in the U.S. that lasted for 24 years.

“Most of my professional career was spent as a reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest newspaper. It was a rewarding and interesting career that let me cover a wide variety of people, from homeless people to Mikhail Gorbachev to survivors of the attack on the World Trade Center escaping Manhattan. I hope I left the state a little better than I found it. When the Internet started killing the newspaper business, I switched to teaching investigative reporting at Rutgers.

“With exquisite timing, I stopped working for pay shortly before the Great Recession, bought land here in the Dominican Republic and started building a house. It’s taken me until this year to finally move down here year-round. I’ve found the process challenging, absorbing and rewarding. Now I’m settling down to enjoy the more conventional pleasures of retirement: building small sailing dinghies, making new friends, and spoiling my 1-year-old grandson on periodic visits back to the U.S., not during the winter if I can help it.”

Rich Zweigenhaft ’67, a professor at Guilford College and co-author of Diversity in the Power Elite: How It Happens, Why It Matters, was cited prominently in a June 28th New York Times article on gay CEOs.

Bob Runk ’67’s musical career continues. He is writing/singing/recording. In 2013, he got nearly $55 in royalties from people downloading his stuff, and he has a wonderful website, the Runkus Room, at bobrunk.com. I caught Wendell Wallach, a fellow at Yale’s interdisciplinary Center on Bioethics, on a NPR talk show on July 1st, discussing the larger implications of some of our technological advances.

On the way up to Quebec, Judy and I stopped in Norwich, Vt., at the lovely hillside home of Andrea and Rich Kremer ’69 for a delightful dinner on the deck. Their big news was the birth of their first grandchild, a boy, in the spring. Andrea is adjuncting at Dartmouth, teaching freshmen writing intensive courses that focus on issues in medical ethics, while Rich is auditing all kinds of improbable courses. He is still consulting some but summers are pretty much dedicated to keeping the woodchucks out of his gardens.

In the crazy, tumultuous fall of ’67, I was befriended by Larry Dunham MAT ’69, a kind, spirited, accepting fellow. He was married—still is—and the father of two great kids who now have five of their own to whom he is a devoted grandfather. (The thing that really amazed me back in the day is that he was a graduate of the same repressive boarding school I attended and, nonetheless, had evolved in an open, wonderful way.) Anyway we reconnected after all these years and picked up where we left off. He lived in St. Paul and, finding his temperament ill-suited to traditional employment, worked on the railroad and then as a long-haul truck driver. Retired for a couple of years now, he is spending more time in the East to be closer to his daughter, Johannah ’91, and his son, Wheatleigh, who is a Yale graduate and an entrepreneur. Active in the McCarthy movement, Larry remembered Dave Siegel ’69 and Dave Caswell ’69 warmly.

I want to quote from a May 8th editorial from the Washington Post at some length: “On the merits, the race in the Democratic primary for attorney general in Maryland is a slam-dunk. State Sen. Brian Frosh of Montgomery County, who is among the most admired, intelligent, civil and hardworking lawmakers in Annapolis, should win the nomination in a walk.

“Over the course of nearly three decades in the legislature—much of that in leadership roles—he has been the author and driving force behind landmark laws to improve firearm safety, safeguard the environment and protect Maryland consumers. Other lawmakers take cues from Mr. Frosh when it comes to public ethics. Measured by achievements, qualifications and breadth of experience, the other candidates are not in Mr. Frosh’s league.

“At once self-effacing and substantive, Mr. Frosh has inspired bipartisan respect as a legislator who gets big things done without unduly tooting his own horn. He has shaped and sponsored much of Maryland’s most important environmental legislation for years. He wrote laws that cracked down on identity theft and teen drunk driving and has been one of the Senate’s most effective strategists in tackling gun violence.” (The best man won here; Brian took the primary handily.)

Locally, I am not completely sure what to do with my newfound freedom. Went to my 50th high school reunion, which even my wife enjoyed. Volunteering for Governor Malloy’s reelection bid. Laid low this summer as our condo has a pool and a beach, and feels like a resort. Trying to find my legs here.

Please do follow Guy’s example and update me on how you have been spending the years. It makes me feel like I am doing something of value here and not just rattling on for my own amusement. 

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

I did not have room for all the vivid memories that you all (as we say down here) sent me in response to my March 2014 e-mail blast asking for information and memories. First, a few more memories, and then I’ll catch you up on info about some of those who wrote.

Peter Kovach wrote about a number of lasting memories. Here’s one of them: “The paradigm-shaping moment in my life occurred in the spring of ’66, after returning to Wes from doing a year of penance for freshman wildness at the New School in New York, rooming with Tom Sloane ’68, in a parallel exile. And it involved a challenge from Jim Helfer (now Jim Stone), a professor who shaped my world view and, far more than any academic during three degree programs, changed my life. He had challenged me to spend my junior year at Banaras Hindu University in India to pursue my declared major in history of religion. I laughed it off. Then one April morning, I woke up in a sweat and, in a moment of epiphanic clarity similar to the one where I knew I would go to Wesleyan, I knew I was going to India. I banged on his office door (where he slept in those days) at about 6 a.m., and we opened Downey House to work out the details over tea.”

Steve Duck wrote the following: “You asked what event stuck out most vividly for me: I would suggest that I was emotionally and psychologically so ‘asleep’ that I missed huge chunks of ‘amazing’ that Wesleyan had to offer. But what does come to mind are: the camaraderie of the Commons Club men, or the experience of serving as a friend at the psychiatric hospital across the hill.”

Don Stone wrote this: “An event involving Wesleyan that has stuck with me? The Wesleyan-Tuskegee exchange when I was in Alabama very soon after the Selma march. Out of which experience I helped Prof. Dick Winslow ’40 organize the Wesleyan-Smith Glee Club southern tour—to Tuskegee, Morehouse/Spelman, Duke, and so forth, riding on the bus next to my first real girlfriend—who was from the South. And there was music, too!”

And, from Jim Vaughan: “Good Wes Tech memory: Skateboarding down the College Row hill to High Street with Dean Mark Barlow ’46.”

The last recalled memory (for now), is from Dirk Dominick: “Seeing the presidential helicopter parked in the middle of the freshman football field at Amherst College where JFK was in town to dedicate the college library. I remember Jim Branigan, my roommate and fellow football fool, telling me that we should go and see the president, since we might not get another chance. I, as usual, resisted at first, feeling there is always a second chance…. After a while, I realized Jim was correct and I saw the president. The assassination that so quickly followed awoke me to the reality of life and made sense of all the warnings I read in literature. Carpe diem was no longer just a cute Latin phrase but a warning, a very dire warning, that life can be short. Thank you, Jim Branigan!”

And now, some news about those who wrote. Three of those who wrote have had careers as physicians. Jeff Hicks has been at the University of Rochester Medical Center since 1980, and has been chief of cardiac and thoracic surgery there since 1990. He served on the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and recently completed a four-year term as president of the Thoracic Surgery Directors Association. He still does clinical work, including transplants, artificial hearts, and adult surgery.

After Wesleyan, Steve Duck went to medical school at Cornell, and then to Washington University in St. Louis and the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, where he became a pediatric endocrinologist. He was at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee for 17 years, where he was the head of the pediatric endocrinology program, and then he moved to Evanston, Ill., to join Northshore University Healthsystem. When he wrote to me he had been there 22 years, but, as he put it, “I have my eye on retirement.”

The third doc who wrote, Andy Barada, retired in Jan. 2014, after 35 years “taking care of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and other serious inflammatory conditions.” A week after he retired, he was diagnosed with nephritic syndrome, and learned a week later that the cause was multiple myeloma. As of July 2014 he was six months into chemotherapy, receiving hemodialysis, and slowly improving. He and his wife (Placide) have two children and four grandchildren.

Whereas Steve Duck has his eye on retirement, and Andy Barada did retire, Bob Callahan tried retirement and didn’t like it. Here’s how he explained it in his e-mail: “I tried retirement recently and failed miserably. I had been associate vice president for development and assistant dean at Florida International University’s College of Arts and Sciences. I thought beachcombing and boating would fill my days. Mistake. Now back to work at Miami Dade College, the nation’s largest undergraduate institution (176,000 students) and the grantor of more degrees to minorities than any other school in the nation.” Bob also wrote that he had remarried: “I married a year ago, to someone I had known for 30 years.”

Other classmates, too, have married in the last few years. Hoff Stauffer wrote the following: “I live in Gloucester with my new wife and our two kids (son, 9, and daughter, 7). Our home overlooks the harbor, and I sail my 38’ boat in the summer. We moved to Gloucester because of its natural beauty and the diversity of the community. The kids are doing well in public schools and are very active in sports (soccer, gymnastics, and hockey).”

Finally, a few of you responded to a question from a previous set of class notes about favorite professors. Bob Runk wrote that “Karl Scheibe was also my favorite professor.” Andy Barada noted that, “On further thought, I have great memories of one-on-one for one year with Earl Hanson!” Mike Feagley wrote the following about Willie Kerr: “I have traveled to Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sapporo, Madrid and Pamplona on business this year, thereby avoiding most of one of the nastiest Chicago winters in recorded history. I credit Willie Kerr, one of my favorite Wesleyan characters, with teaching me that all those other places are likely to be warmer than Chicago.” 

Richie Zweigenhaft | rzweigen@guilford.edu

Aloha, all classmates. Well, by now summer is a distant memory and we’re headed for our first snow, if it hasn’t already occurred—at least where many of you live!!! In the course of months I am glad to report that I have heard from a number of you.

It was great to get a note from Clark Byam, of Pasadena, Calif., who celebrated 42 years with the same law firm in September. Still, as a partner, remarkable achievement. He reported that he fulfilled at least one of his bucket list items with a family Amazon rain forest trip to Peru. He notes: “It fulfilled all my expectations and the guides on board were very knowledgeable… Saw all sorts of birds, monkeys, fish, plus some exotic and rather dangerous creatures, including anaconda, boas, poisonous dart frogs, piranha (even fished for them), and a bird-eating spider the size of my fist (only half grown).” After this, he and his wife retreated for 10 days in British Columbia—a great place to recover! Clark also committed to attending our 50th. I believe he is our first commitment in print!!!

In August, we got a great call on a lazy afternoon from Bruce Cost, who lives in New York City. He and his wife (also a Wesleyan grad) were here in Hawai`i for a brief time, and we had a chance to partake in a meal together. Bruce is an accomplished cook and author of numerous articles and books on ginger. His latest adventure is “Bruce Cost Ginger Ale” which you can procure on the East and West coasts—google the product and you can find out where to get the best ginger ale you’ve ever tasted. Bruce’s home in New York sounds like a bit of a hub for Wesleyan activity, with such folks as fraternity brother Kit Laybourne and his wife Geraldine, and it was great to catch up on the whereabouts of Bruce’s family members who really span the world.

Pete Spiller from St. Augustine, Fla., e-mailed me with a great photo and footnote about Wesleyan. Did you know that there is a Wesleyan Lake in Ontario? It’s at latitude 51.20 degrees and longitude 91.66 degrees. Pete is a great canoe paddler and paddled through it this summer on a 22-day canoe expedition to the north. Other news from Pete was that he retired as president of the Board of the Florida Shipowners Group, Inc. on April Fools Day last year (appropriate for a Wes grad) but continues as vice chair of the board for the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum. He notes, “Classmates are encouraged to visit our ancient city,” so right about now if there is any snow on the ground, it would be a good time to call him. He wanted me to pass along his e-mail: PedroSpiller@aol.com. He ended with a great quote from Mark Twain, which is applicable to us all now that most of us have reached seven decades on this earth: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” A personal note: There are very few Spoehrs in the United States and very few from my father’s side of the family. Pete is a paddling buddy with my second cousin, Pete Spoehr, who as the “Monarch” of our family still paddles his own canoe. I only hope that my body (and mind) allows me the same.

Also, we had a great note from Rick Crootof and wife Linda, who are now in New Hampshire. Rick is president of the tennis club and takes his tennis very seriously. He reported on some health issues facing our classmate Robin Burns. Robin, all our thoughts and prayers are with you. He also noted that another classmate, Jack Knapp, and his wife, Carla, who live in Chicago still make the trip back east to the wilderness of New Hampshire every year to escape Chicago’s urbanization. Rick’s son, Matt, has just started physician’s assistant studies at Idaho State and we wish him all the best in this. Having just retired from the health care field, it will be the PAs and nurse practitioners who will be the “work horses” of our future health care.

Let me end this with just a few comments about a wonderful trip my wife Joyce and I took in August on the ship Crown Princess down the inland passage from Whittier, Ala., to Vancouver. If any of you are looking for a wonderful experience which isn’t too touristy and offers a wonderful perspective on nature, wilderness, and life in general; take this voyage—it’s not paddling on Lake Wesleyan but for those who cannot paddle but want to see wilderness, it’s a good second place!

And finally, let me put a plug in for using Wesleyan’s webcasts. The technology is great and you will see the campus and, best of all, the young men and women of old Wes. Simply go to the Wesleyan website; choose “athletics” and look for the webcast schedule and button for connection. The football games and other athletic contests are great to watch. Wesleyan this year is defending its Little 3 Championship—Go, Coach Mike Whalen ’83 and staff; Go, Wes!

A big thank you to all of you who have shared bits of your lives with us. And as we move towards the holiday season…a very Mele Kalikimaka and Hau`oli Makahiki Hou to all of you and your `Ohana (families).

Hardy Spoehr | hspoehr7@gmail.com
1833 Vancouver place, honolulu, hawai’i, 96822
808/944 8601

The big news remains Thursday, May 21–Sunday, May 24, 2015-—our 50th!

A growing group of us are formulating plans, and we are eager to include everyone who’d like to be part of that activity. Just let me know and I’ll pass on your name to Dave Dinwoodey, who is serving as our convener.

In that regard, we had a very well-attended and productive meeting on Sept. 30 at John Hall’s law firm in New York City. In attendance were:

Rob Abel—Ophthalmologist, teacher, author, and educator. Rob has founded a vitamin company; he is helping start free eye clinics in low-income communities; and he is also helping to foster peace among Palestinians and Israelis. Rob planned to come to Homecoming and our 50th Reunion planning sessions instead of his academy of ophthalmology meeting, where a lecture on three ophthalmologists-turned-mystery writers was to be presented. The three ophthalmologists: Arthur Conan Doyle, Robin Cook ’62, and Rob!

Bob Barton—Retired fund development professional/consultant; now, mainly farmer and senior basketball star, along with teammate Jay Clapp.

Bill Blakemore—Still at ABC News after nearly 50 years covering the Vatican, volcanos, wars, politics, and just about everything. Also, he’s doing a great deal of lecturing and writing on global-warming and its effects.

Win Chamberlin—Nearly-retired NYC real estate developer; involved in Community Services Society in NYC and other charities, including rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. Wife Lee is retiring from her work as an attorney for NYU Law School.

Don Crampton—Retired insurance executive in Chicago, but still does some consulting. Also, tireless Wesleyan Fund leader for our class.

Dave Dinwoodey—With law and teaching careers behind him, he is now back working full-time with a smaller law firm and enjoying it. However, he and Mary Ellen make plenty of time for four Boston-area grandchildren, travel, biking, and racquet sports.

Mark Edmiston—Career in publishing now has him founding a digital food magazine. Has served on Wesleyan’s Board and recently finished his term as chair of the Children’s Aid Society of New York.

John Hall—Senior partner at Debevoise & Plimpton. Spending time with the firm’s associates helping low-income defendants in Alabama and Texas. Very involved with several nonprofit schools in NYC. Stays in shape biking and hiking with wife Annie; recently returned from China and Tibet.

Kirt Mead—Now with Leading Edge Forum in London. Firm’s mission is teaching high-tech folks to communicate with business folks.

Tony Schuman—For past 35 years professor of architecture, New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. Specializes in solutions to community challenges and is very involved in the Newark community.

Hugh Wilson—Professor emeritus, York University, Toronto. Specializes in vision and brain function and imaging. Wife Fran also retired professor. Both travel widely and are still working on research papers, books, and speaking engagements. Also, wine experts! (Hugh was ill, so participated by conference call.)

Bob Leonard—Professor of Theater Arts at Virginia Tech, as well as part of our outreach team. He is also director of their MFA program and primary adviser in the stage management, directing, and public dialogue MFA programs.

We discussed programing for Reunion, such as seminars on global-warming and its effects. Looks like Jerry Melillo, presidential advisor, will be able to participate, along with Bill Blakemore and others from the Wesleyan family.

A main focus will also be plenty of time just to reconnect with classmates and to discuss whatever comes up! Our Outreach Committee is active in contacting everyone and encouraging everyone to return.

There are Wesleyan seminars being scheduled in Chicago (12/2/14), Boston, New York, and Los Angeles on various topics for our class (and other alumni in the area). Stay tuned for your invitation.

Further to the Reunion, our Outreach efforts are resulting in some good conversations and information concerning the activities of our classmates such as John Hall’s contact with Drew Hult. Drew hopes to attend the Reunion, which is great to hear. He is married to Kaye and has three children, two sons and a daughter; the sons are married and have produced four grandchildren; his daughter is single. Drew is a CPA in Huntington, N.Y., and enjoys his work very much.

Had a terrific visit to Chappaquiddick (Martha’s Vineyard) over Labor Day weekend at the home of Brad and Dick Morash ’64. Joining us were: Marie and Mike Angelini ’64, D. Anne and Rick Atherton ’64, and Arlene and Rusty Messing ’64. (I was included because they needed an underclassman to beat on!) Judging from the levels of activity and engagement of everyone in the group, it’s clear there is lots of achievement, energy, and involvement post-50th.

In October, the Hartford Courant carried a story on the great coaching achievements of Bob Michalski. In 38 years (1967–2005) as head coach of cross country and track at Xavier High School in Middletown,Bob’s teams won 58 state championships and five New England titles! Amazing, particularly because these were two sports he did not participate in himself in either high school or college. Congratulations, Bob!

PHILIP L. ROCKWELL | prockwell@wesleyan.edu 860/693-1832