Happy fall! I hope these notes find you safe and dry. I don’t know about you all, but my summer was way too short. Although, I do welcome the cooler weather and changing colors. Here is what our classmates have been up to. Again, you all amaze me!
Cheri Weiss was ordained as a cantor in May from the Academy of Jewish Religion in Los Angeles. She is enrolled in their rabbinical school and hopes to be ordained also as a rabbi in May 2020.
Dave Grishaw-Jones writes: “I concluded a 16-year run as senior minister at Peace United Church in Santa Cruz. It’s been a delightful, challenging and exhilarating experience, start to finish! On Aug. 19, I’ll join my new friends at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C.” His new e-mail address is david.grishaw.jones@gmail.com.
Patrick Roth just released The Me in Medicine, a roadmap for making medicine better for patients and for improving career satisfaction for professionals. He will be teaching a class at the Seton Hall School of Medicine on professionalism (where he is the chair of neurosurgery). He is halfway through a master’s in public health at Columbia.
Deirdre Black and husband, Fraser, are moving to Accra, Ghana, where they will live until September 2019. She encourages classmates visiting or living in West Africa to reach out.
Andy Hollander, his wife, Dorothy, and his teenage sons, Caleb and Sam, live in Chatham, N.J. Andy is an intellectual property attorney with K&L Gates. He is president of the board of trustees of the Library of the Chathams and passionate about supporting public libraries. He also teaches patent law as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall Law School. In his spare time, he plays guitar and writes songs. Original songs and poems are at andrewmerrillcrane.com. He would love to hear from old friends and folks who care about libraries and songwriters.
Alice Jankell writes and directs theater in NYC. She is developing and directing a brand new musical by the legendary folk singer, Si Kahn. Alice and her husband, Jess Shatkin, have two almost-grown kids: Daughter Parker is currently studying in Moscow, and son Julian is an actor whose newest movie, What We Found, will be out in 2019.
Jan Elliott says: “It’s lovely living back in my hometown of Woods Hole. The summer was busy and included several music gigs, a Morris dance tour in Maine, teaching at Pinewoods music and dance camp in Plymouth, family visitors young and old, and a weekend at the Toronto Morris Ale. I’m home and ready for school to start—I teach dance and music at Waldorf School of Cape Cod—a recent highlight was jumping off the bridge into the Woods Hole channel with friends after dancing, to swim around the pier to a pub amidst bioluminescent critters and curious fish.”
David Campanelli and Catherine Maguire just graduated their son from Brown University magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in political science and history. Younger son Keegan is a rising junior at Vanderbilt in electrical engineering. David and Cat are counting on him to take care of them in their old age. Son #3, Bryce, goes to D.C. with Hamilton Place Strategies. Cat is a WAAV volunteer, interviewing prospective students and loves it.
Greetings from the Midwest. Alas, I (Joanne) have sad news to report—an indication of where we find ourselves along the path of this great journey we call life. But let me begin with happier news from a selection of our classmates.
I caught up with my old roommate Kathy Prager Conrad and her husband, Jamie. Kathy advises, counsels, and directs teams of talented young people in the tech sector in her job as director of digital government at Accenture, where she builds on the work that she did in the Obama administration to modernize government using digital services and technology. She finds time to travel, most recently to Croatia. Kathy’s daughter, Liza ’11, has relocated from Brooklyn to Atlanta to work as the deputy data and digital director on Stacey Allen’s gubernatorial campaign (results unknown at this time). Caroline ’14 is working in film as a writer, producer, and director, balancing “professional work” with pro bono work in areas of her passion. Kathy’s sister, Ellen Prager ’84, a renowned marine biologist and educator, will publish her book, Dangerous Earth: What We Wish We Knew, in December.
I caught up by phone with both Rick Ciullo and John “Wally” Walden ’82. Rick, who retired last year from Chubb Insurance still keeps involved in the insurance world in Hartford but remains in New Jersey, where he can better enjoy the company of his wife and his daughters, Meghan (a senior in high school) and Hannah (a sophomore in college). Wally, in Ontario, is happy in the world of technology and is enjoying life as empty nesters with wife Lisa while yet still trying to enjoy as much time as possible with his two sons.
Brenda Zlamany’s 100/100 is a stunning and poignant multimedia exhibition that includes 100 watercolor portraits, 100 photographs, and a short video of older and disabled residents of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale that the artist painted during 2017.
The paintings were exhibited at the Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection. She has received a Peter S. Reed Foundation Grant, a Fulbright Fellowship, a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, a New York Foundation for the Arts Artists’ Fellowship in painting, and a Jerome Foundation Fellowship. Yale University recently commissioned two large-scale group portraits by her for permanent public display on campus. What an accomplished career!
Greg Shatan moved son Max Shatan ’22 into his old freshman dorm, Foss 1. Greg reminisced about a recent collective 60th birthday celebration and Urban Renewal band reunion. Many of the core members were there, along with special guest musicians: Rob Levin, Joel Kreisberg, Bryant Urban, Carl Sturken ’78, Joe Galeota ’85, Jeannie Gagné ’82, Liz Queler, Billy Hunter ’78, Scot Hecker, Matt Penn, Bill Yalowitz, and Paul Spiro.
Greg joined the law firm of Moses & Singer as a partner in their intellectual property and internet/technology practices and became president of the New York chapter of the Internet Society, a group that promotes the open development, evolution and use of the internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world.
Barry “Pono” Fried’s business Open Eye Tours was inducted into the Trip Advisor Hall of Fame and received their coveted Certificate of Excellence for seven consecutive years. He creates custom interpretive hands-on experiences to Hawa’i based on his 35 years of teaching, guiding, and cultural immersion.
Ned Lerner rates high on the list of cool dudes (my words, not his, after telling my sons). He has been in San Francisco since 1996; for the past 13 years he’s been director of engineering at Sony PlayStation, whose team did “a lot of the heavy lifting” for the PS4. Ned left to start his fifth start-up, Hearo.Live, a live audience for everything using the power of voice, video, and touch. If anyone is big on eSports, games, or streaming, Ned invites you to meet him in Hearo: Ned#4868.
Stephen Misarski received his Doctor of Ministry from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. His concentration was outreach and discipleship which resulted in his thesis-project, “Training for Evangelistically Effective Churches in New England.”
It is with great sadness that I conclude with news of the passing of Kevin Osborn on June 15 from complications of lung cancer. He was a devoted, creative, working, stay-at-home dad, as well as a gifted writer, producing more than three dozen books on topics ranging from classical mythology to medical literature to sports, as well as books on parenting and titles for young adults on justice and tolerance. He wrote as a futurist in his later years. He had an encyclopedic memory and a love of puzzles, was also a die-hard Mets fan, and a man of great optimism. He will be dearly missed by his friends and family. Our deepest sympathy goes out in particular to his wife of 29 years, Susan Kiley ’83, and their four children, Meghan, Ian, Molly and Casey. Donations may be made to Tri-Boro Volunteer Ambulance Corps, PO Box 204, Park Ridge, N.J. 07656.
Thank you, Wes ’80 for writing. There were so many first-time and return writers that I had to cut the print column to half the size of what was submitted. In the print version, I urged you to put that magazine down and I hoped you would pick up your phone, tablet, or laptop and go straight online to view the notes in their entirety. Here, online, you will learn more about the lives of our classmates and can click on a few links they sent. I hope that the level of engagement in writing for our class notes column is an indicator that there will be many who, for the first time, will join us “Reunion loyalist” and attend our 40th in May 2020—where we can look back with perfect vision to what one of our classmates who recently wrote called, “a simpler time.”
Cheryl Salden Green writes: My husband, Jim, and I are very excited that our son, Mitchell, was admitted to Wesleyan early decision this year and will entering as a freshman this fall. Mitchell fell in love with the school when we visited during Alumni Sons and Daughters Weekend during his junior year (in spite of the fact that Jim and I went there)! Jim and I met in Foss 7 the first day of freshman orientation in August 1976 (and got married 15 years later, after Jim finished his medical residency and I was out of law school). We have been on campus more during the college application process in the last two years than we have since graduation. I am a real estate attorney in Rhode Island working in-house for CVS Health. Jim and Mitchell (who recently became an eagle scout) are both active volunteers for Boy Scouts and other groups. We live in Foxborough (home of the Patriots). I would love to hear from some of our Wesleyan friends.”
Bruce Post writes: “My second novel, Eris Adrift, was published in May and is available at Amazon, as a paperback and also on Kindle.”
Nancy Stier writes: “I recently spent a wonderful evening here in NYC with classmates Art Feltman, Thom Kleiner, and David Kohane, a dinner we arranged to celebrate our big birthdays this year.”
Paul Edwards writes: “In July 2017, I moved to San Francisco with my family to take up a new position at Stanford University, where I am William J. Perry Fellow in International Security at the Center for International Security and Cooperation. I’ll be a lead author on the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, a four-year task that’s both an honor and a ton of work. My wife, Gabrielle Hecht, also took a Stanford position in the history department. Our 15-year-old son, Luka, is finishing his first year of high school, playing soccer, and writing poetry, fiction, and rap. Two sightings of the aggressively shaven Alan Jacobs, on his way to Norway to make a film about the 1911 race to the South Pole. (Memo to Alan: Norway is nowhere near Antarctica.)”
Jacquie and Andrew McKenna writes: “Greetings from Boulder, Colo. Our family is back in Boulder after our girls, Xan (16) and Juliana (14), lived for five months in Monteverde Costa Rica with local families and attended the Monteverde Friends School for a semester. They are both basically fluent in Spanish and much more aware of their own traditions after living in a very different culture. They also survived the eye of Hurricane (in Spanish “Tormenta”) Nate—cut off for a week from water and electricity, surrounded by mudslides in every direction but well taken care of by an amazing community.” During these five months, Jacquie and Andrew lived in Monteverde for a couple months volunteering with the local community on solar and conservation, traveled throughout Central America for a couple months and returned to the States for a month as empty nesters (very strange)! Speaking of empty nesters, we sure are aware how time is passing as our oldest daughter obtained her driver’s license this month and is talking about colleges and our younger daughter graduated from middle school and heads to high school next year. As we all say, “where does the time go?!?!” Before we know it, we’ll all be back at Wesleyan celebrating our 40th Reunion year—FORTIETH! Yikes!”
David Claman, PhD, writes: “I recently earned tenure at Lehman College in The Bronx, one of the senior colleges of The City University of New York. I teach music theory, composition, and electronic music. With tenure comes a much-needed sabbatical. I’ve fortunately been awarded a Fulbright-Nehru grant for research and teaching in India next year. So, in September my wife, Sunita, and I will once again relocate to India for many months, this time to Delhi. I will be affiliated with The University of Delhi, composing, teaching, and learning more about Hindustani music. The experience I had learning South Indian music at Wes with T. Viswanathan PhD’75, T. Ranganathan, and K.S. Subramanian PhD’86—among the finest musicians I’ve ever worked with—has stayed with me and continues to play a part in my life. But at this point I’m interested in learning more about music in North India which is significantly different.
“The rest of the time, we live in Jackson Heights, Queens, N.Y., with our dog named Boffin who was rescued off the streets of Delhi three years ago. I’m also in the final stages of putting together a CD of my music for Albany Records. Several of my compositions are posted here, as well as on YouTube and Spotify.”
Peter Scharf writes: “I continue my itinerate life as a visiting professor at various institutions. Last November I completed a three-year appointment at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, and at the end of July I take up an appointment in the Language Technology Research Center at the International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad. I’ll teach a course on Paninian linguistics for non-Sanskritists, the aim of which will be to get the future writers of machine translation of Indian languages to include concepts from their own currently neglected Indian linguistic traditions. In the meantime, I keep adding texts, lexical resources, and linguistic technology to the Sanskrit Library website.”
Jeff Green writes: “I started working part-time in the emergency department of a new hospital in Ashdod, Israel, and continue to work in a couple of ERs in Wisconsin sporadically, dividing my time between Israel and Milwaukee. Our oldest daughter is a doctor in Australia, our youngest is in the Israeli intelligence service, and our son (Wesleyan Class of 2015) just got a record deal in LA. Check out his tune—Bring Me Down by Double Twin.”
Walter Calhoun writes: “I presently live in Highland Park, Ill. I have not had steady employment since I was hit by a car as a pedestrian on May 22, 2002 when I was sent 30 feet in the air and suffered a severe head injury after landing on my head and face. Miraculously, I did not break any bones. I was, however, in a coma for close to 30 days and then further hospitalized for another six to seven months as I attempted to recover from my various injuries.
“After I was discharged from the hospital, I continued to try and develop civil defense business in the mid-size defense firm where I was a partner. Ultimately, I was no long able to try lawsuits to verdict like I had before and by 2008 left the practice of law for good. By that time, I was living with my daughter, Sammy, who had obtained her degree in religion from St. Anselm in Manchester, N.H., and had begun work at CDW Corp. We lived in Glencoe, Ill., together for three years until we were joined by my son, Daniel, who was then taking a break from college. Sammy has been working at CDW in Bridgeport, Conn., while living with her fiancé, Brian. They plan to marry on Oct. 12, 2018 art the Bronx Zoo in NYC. Daniel graduated from Lake Forest College in Illinois cum laude this past June and has accepted a position in finance at Ayco. I have tried to keep in contact with Steve Freccero who was nominated to serve as a California state judge after a position as an assistant U.S. attorney and becoming a partner in private practice and Labeeb Abboud who is a general counsel for a company in NYC Blessings in joy.”
Melissa Stern writes: “My mixed media installation project The Talking Cure just finished up a fabulous run in St. Louis at The Kranzberg Center for Contemporary Art. It goes back on the road again in a few months. Stay tuned for details on where and when. Right now ,I’m working like mad getting ready for my solo show at Garvey Simon Gallery in NYC, which opens in October. Hope to see some Wes Tech folks there. I also start teaching at Parsons School of Design this Fall, so it’s going to be a jam packed couple of months!”
Cindy Ryan writes: This May I received my second master’s in clinical mental health counseling – expressive arts therapy from Lesley University. Along the way I had the fortune to be supervised by Deb Madera ’95, who founded one amazing mental health treatment facility, Cultivate Care Farms, where I interned. Expressive arts therapy combines beautifully with animal and farm-assisted therapy! This past year I Interned at an exceptional integrative care facility with cancer patients and their families. As my two adult kids, Juliet and Jonah, have long since found their successes, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting back to the books, finding a new passion, and reinventing myself by harnessing the power of creativity to help others.”
Ellen Haller writes: “I’m writing this while completing my sixth AIDS/LifeCycle, a seven-day, 545-mile charity bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angles. I ride because I was in medical school in 1982 when the AIDS crisos first hit, and I’ve lost countless patients to this disease since those dark days. I ride because AIDS is still here. I ride because California is beautiful. And, I ride because I love cycling! My main news is that, after 30 years on the full-time faculty at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, I’ll be retiring as of June 30, 2018! I’m looking forward to more cycling and also to continued ice hockey playing; yep, I still play! Huge thanks to Wes where my hockey addiction first began.
David Luberoff, Jenny Boylan, Eric Segal
David Luberoff writes, “At the urging of Jenny Boylan, Eric Segal and I traveled down to Middletown on May 26to join her for the gathering of former Argus editors and writers that marked the paper’s 150th anniversary. We had a wonderful afternoon starting with lunch at O’Rourke’s and then a long stroll around the campus, highlighted by a visit to the Argus’ former home at the corner of Church and High Streets, which now houses the school’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (and looks a lot better than it did when it housed the Argus). After taking some selfies there, we strolled through the Butterfield dorms and around campus, including a recollection-filled hiatus sitting on Foss Hill, where we ruminated on the unexpected paths our lives have taken. We ended at Russell House for a reception where several decades of Argus alumni told similar tales of late nights, crises, take-out food, and a variety of important experiences and lessons that we’ve taken forward, even as most of us moved into non-journalism professions. All in all, a fun and touching day.”
Greetings to all. This issue’s column has the uncanny privilege of featuring two of our classmates who have just released new books.
Elise Bean has just come out with Financial Exposure: Carl Levin’s Senate Investigations into Finance and Tax Abuse, which draws upon her 30 year of experience working as an investigator for Senate Levin (including 15 years of service on the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations). Notably, Elise mentions that a significant theme in the book involves the favorably bipartisan nature with which much of the congressional investigative work has taken place during her years there. She was recently back on Wes campus for Family Weekend to discuss the book in a Weseminar. Elise retired from her investigative congressional work in 2015 and remains in Washington, D.C., where she runs training programs for congressional oversight investigations and performs nonprofit work.
Helen Reiss has released The Empathy Effect: Seven Neuroscience-Based Keys for Transforming the Way We Live, Love, Work and Connect Across Differences. Helen is founder and chief scientific officer of Empathetics, Inc., and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Congratulations!
As the warm summer temperatures have been disappearing along with the abundance of daylight, we have some greetings from classmates to share here. Earl Phillips has received the prestigious designation as Lawyer of the Year for 2019. Earl’s practice has had a strong focus on environmental, energy and safety/health considerations. Heartiest congratulations go to you, distinguished Counselor.
Peg Batchelder writes that after being laid off from Bristol-Myers Squibb last May, it seemed fated for her to take an early retirement. Peg’s partner, May Coryell, retired that June, and they spent the summer packing for the big move to their condo on Maui. As one might imagine, retirement has been wonderful; they can’t imagine being happier anywhere else!
Paul Meisel’s oldest son, Peter, and his wife, Liz, had a boy named Riley on July 14. On the professional front, Paul has some children’s books coming out: Anna and Samia, a true story about a woman named Anna Merz who saved rhinos in Kenya; My Happy Year by E. Bluebird, a nonfiction diary of an Eastern bluebird; and See Me Play, a beginning reader. Paul’s I See A Cat, won a 2018 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award from the ALA.
A touching note from Jane Eisner: “Mark Berger ’76 and I welcomed Sadie Avital, our second grandchild, in August. Sadie and her big brother, Colin, live in Brooklyn, and we see them as often as humanly possible. She is named for my mother, Sadie, and I’ve learned that having your daughter (Rachel Berger ’06) give birth to a daughter and name her for your mother is truly one of the great joys in life.”
Lisa Brummel has been on tour visiting Switzerland and Germany on route to Israel. Lisa met up with Wendy Brown Giardina. I made sure there was up-to-date contact information for Rachel Helfer and Micah Balf.
Jane Goldenring has a Christmas movie, A Majestic Christmas, coming out this holiday season. Jane spent a lot of time in Montréal creating a winter wonderland in 90-degree weather. She has safely returned back to southern California to teach a graduate producing course at USC.
In Maine, Jay Kilbourn recently retired and is spending time as a citizen lobbyist with Citizens Climate Lobby, focusing on getting bipartisan support for the Carbon Fee and Dividend. This is a strategy to dramatically reduce carbon pollution and climate change, while growing the economy! Exciting to have a favorable solution to a critical global problem that enjoys support from Rs and Ds in this divided world. Following in his father’s footsteps, Doug Hauschild felt compelled to get involved again as an Eagle to teach merit badges. He is now signed up to teach eight merit badges (including the three citizenships) and has enjoyed the honor of sitting on or chairing 25 Eagle boards of review.
Catherine Compton Swanson is celebrating 25 years of marriage to Gary Jon Swanson. Catherine is a retired museum archivist. Along with their Brittany spaniel, Tucker, they enjoy their lake house at Otsego Lake in Northern Michigan and a cabin on Rangeley Lake in Maine. Catherine and Gary live in Lexington, Mass., and enjoy the symphony and the great town library. Yikes, we are neighbors!
Finally, one surprise in my life has been that my services as a wedding officiant have been much in demand. I just completed wedding number five in the Boston area this summer. In order to comply with California requirements, I became an ordained minister through the Universal Life Church which has garnered some prestige and/or legitimacy, along with a coveted clergy parking pass.
As these notes will be read at the end of 2018, I would like to wish all a very happy and healthy holiday season and new year.
Jay Abramowitz lives in Santa Monica, Calif., and is married with three children. He used to write comedy for television and now directs live TV and writes stories. See the stories at: hollywooddementia.com.
Susan Avitzour and her husband Daniel’s sixth grandchild was born in June, her youngest daughter Ayala was married in August, and she is semi-retired though continuing her psychotherapy practice part-time. Daniel has a neurological condition that requires him to use a wheelchair much of the time, but their family has stepped up to help whenever needed.
Meredith Bergmann’s design was chosen for the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Woman Suffrage Movement Monument in NYC’s Central Park.
Melissa Blacker and David Rynick ’74 have been together since 1977. Their daughter is expecting her first child and their first grandson in early February. They are both Zen Buddhist teachers and run a temple in Worcester, Mass. (worcesterzen.org). Everyone is invited to visit.
Matt Cartter, a state epidemiologist, loves the fact that he gets to combine his Wes education with his medical education. For an interesting example, see ctdigitalnewspaperproject.org.
Jon Cleworth is a physical fitness advocate and credits Wes Crew for instilling that in him. Jon is fighting MS and primarily uses a rowing machine to stay in shape.
David Cohen enjoyed his annual weekend with Steward Shuman, Matt Paul, and Michael Greenberg and their spouses on the south shore of Long Island.
Joe Cox‘s son, John, is a sophomore at Emory and runs for the cross-country and track teams. His daughter, Brooke, is finishing her senior year at the College of William and Mary (“WM”) and majoring in international relations. Her honors joint degree program with WM and the University of St. Andrews gives Joe and his wife Mary the chance to visit Scotland from time to time. Joe is with a small biotech company that completed its first human clinical trial last year (bolderbio.com).
Photo by Bruce Temple
Bruce Demple and his wife, Sue, just returned from a fabulous two-week trip in Brazil including five days in the jungle of Amazonia where one evening they scaled ropes 120 feet to get above the jungle canopy. Bruce spoke at two scientific conferences there, one in Sao Paolo and another in Foz do Iguacu.
Steve Duncan and his wife, Lynne Cohen Duncan ’78, sat out Hurricane Florence at home in Chapel Hill, N.C., and managed to miss all but some high winds and about 10 inches of rain.
Don Fallati and his wife, Ruth Pachman ’78, attended the graduation of their son, Mark, from Swarthmore in May. Mark made it to the NCAA tennis championships again this year, capping off a great college athletic career. Don and Ruth live in Larchmont, N.Y. Don has his own marketing consulting firm, and Ruth is managing director at a New York financial public relations firm.
Leslie Gabel-Brett is a consultant to the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy and recently traveled with spouse Carolyn to see some of the national parks in Utah. Leslie will be teaching a course at Wes again in the spring.
Joellyn Gray puts in a plug for Bob Craft’s son, Will, who writes an investigative journalism series in a podcast called In the Dark. Joellyn’s son, Duncan, has written some great movie reviews at theperpetualpresent.com.
Byron Haskins is in the midst of a four-week exploration of Italy with his wife, Gabrielle, whose father’s family heralds from Tuscany. They have visited lots of places and Byron celebrated a birthday with dinner at Momma Rosa’s in Milan. Byron is enjoying the respite from the U.S. 24-hour news cycle and is collecting ideas for future short stories that he plans to write.
Alan Miller reports that the News Literacy Project, a national educational nonprofit that he founded and leads as CEO, celebrated its 10th anniversary earlier this year. NLP’s Checkology virtual classroom is now used by middle and high school teachers in every state in the U.S. and 97 other countries. In August, Fast Company praised NLP and said that its courses, which discriminate between real and false news “should become a fundamental building block of our students’ education.”
Nat Needle is teaching piano to students of all ages and organizes and emcees an open mic that brings people with and without disabilities together as performers and audience members. He welcomes contact from old friends at nat@natneedle.com.
Debra Neuman took an amazing two-week trip to Italy last summer with three women friends. They hiked, biked, walked endlessly, and enjoyed great food and wine.
Jack O’Donnell’s daughter, Maggie ’19, is a senior at Wes and it has been a perfect fit for her. Jack says that she has taken full advantage of all the school has to offer.
Marc Stier is the director of a progressive research, advocacy, and organizing group, the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. The Center is running a statewide issue advocacy campaign called We the People that is setting an agenda for state legislative elections in 2018 and beyond.
Barbara Strauss’ daughter, Rebecca Ingber, is a law professor at Boston University and in September testified about security and executive power issues at the Senate Kavanaugh hearings. Her son-in-law argued his first case in the U.S. Supreme Court this past spring, and her daughter, Hanna Ingber ’03, was appointed as the editorial director of the New York Times this year.
Becky Vose just retired from 20-plus years of being a lawyer for the Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project at Boston College Law School. She and her husband, Steve Schreckinger, have three adult children: Anna, a teacher in Colorado, Ben, a writer for Politico, and Michael, an analyst at the State Department.
Had dinner with Bruce Tobey ’75 in Chicago recently and went to a magic show with Nancy ’78, Larry Schulman ’78 and his wife, Chris, where Larry became part of the show. Also reconnected with Mark Allard ’74, Tim Donahue ’74, and Bill Zimmerman ’74 after many years as well as Ed Kenney ’75, George Surgeon ’72, Mark Willis ’75, and several other Wes grads.
Sincere apologies to Richard Hume! The university editing process accidentally swapped wives and children, trading Lesley (planning travel to Scotland with Richard for her retirement/anniversary celebration) with Laura (Paul Bennett’s wife and Scottish dancing partner). Oops!
Richard, professor at the University of Michigan, teaches, runs his lab, and directs the undergraduate neuroscience program. While his retirement isn’t looming, Lesley retired in June. They celebrated their 43rd anniversary with Brooklyn-dwelling daughter Rebecca ’01, followed by the Scotland trip in July. Meanwhile, Paul Bennett enjoys retirement and volunteer work. Laura and Paul are the Scottish Country Dancers who recently traveled to the “home country.” Their two sons in Brooklyn and Detroit were mistakenly added to Richard’s family in the last class notes. Paul would be delighted if at least one son would move back to the Bay Area. Richard would be delighted if we could keep his news straight.
Apologies for referring to Dan Gold as “Don” in the last notes, but Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen, and Sam Waterston, stars of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie know his name. “What a blast to work with such great pros and shoot at Paramount Studios in Hollywood so I can sleep in my own bed every night,” he says.
I caught up with Martha Meade ’76 in L.A. She is thriving and related the tale of discovering her unknown talent for and love of visual arts. She and Steve Miller celebrated their son’s Wes graduation this spring, followed by a cross-country drive home.
Karin Johnson, looking forward to retirement and hopefully traveling from her home in Japan for Reunion says, “All of you remain in my memory, forever young (!) and dear to my heart.”
Amy Bloom reports, “Another novel brought into the world, another amazing grandbaby (Zora Pearl!), and a happily retired husband.” They are working hard in small ways for political change.
Jay Geller is associate professor of modern Jewish culture at Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School. Fordham University Press published his monograph, intriguingly called, Bestiarium Judaicum: Unnatural Histories of the Jews.
“L’chaim!” Jodie and Jeff Morgan have expanded their Covenant winery in Berkeley to Israel’s Galilee region, where their daughter Zoe works with them. Covenant wines are sold and appreciated worldwide.
Front row left to right: Joe O’Rourke, Steve McCarthy, J.D. Moore Back row: Paul Margolin, Vinnie Broderick, Dave Rosenthal
J.D. Moore enjoyed a New Hampshire kayaking reunion Paul Margolin arranged. Paul, J.D., Joe O’Rourke, Steve McCarthy, Vinnie Broderick, and Dave Rosenthal had great discussions on the water and swapped tales around Paul’s firepit at night, followed by breakfast at a classic diner (featuring the Belichick omelets?).
Lisa Anderson has, after 30-plus years, sold to her junior partner the law firm she founded with a beloved colleague who died of cancer. Lisa is transitioning to her next “as yet untitled” chapter. Still working some for the law firm, she’s also designing and facilitating workshops on navigating difficult conversations, looking at issues of race and immigration status, and coaching Unitarian Universalist churches searching for new ministers. Lisa raved about a Wesleyan Institute of Life Long Learning writing course she took. She visits kids on each coast—especially their new grandson, Rowan, near North Cascade National Park in Washington.
Bob and I had a summer Memphis-to-Massachusetts odyssey delivering our son’s minimally muffled car. Stops included the beautiful home of Linda and Ed Van Voorhees in Nashville, who reported, “After an ancestral visit to Bob’s ‘cousin’ (Jack Daniel) and dining on Loveless Café fried chicken and fixin’s, the Californians drove eastward ‘loud and proud.’” Ed and Linda work part-time and keep busy with tennis and grandchildren (#6 was born during our visit). We stopped in Dolly Parton’s hometown but missed her and rolled through the Smokies to visit Alan Spiewak ’74 and Patricia Gutzwiller, who hosted our stay, extended for brake repairs. Caught up with Brian Steinbach and Mary Reyner in D.C. between their volunteer gigs. Outside New York, we spent a low-key couple of days with Jean Barish ’74 and her sons, Dean ’17 and Drew Sterrett, working on a startup. Last stop was Boston, where I saw Rachel Adler Hayes. Post-retirement, she’s busy “organizing everything in sight and tossing a lot of it, planning travel and catching up on TV shows.” Her big project was renovating her parents’ old home in the Catskills. Next spring Rachel and John plan to hit five of the seven states she hasn’t seen.
The best part of our trip was catching up with Wes friends—I recommend it! Stay in touch and send news my way.
Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com 860 Marin Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955
Lindsay Wilson and family, our thoughts are with you as we remember Randy Wilson.
Harry Randolph “Randy” Wilson III was born on Nov. 20, 1952 in Lebanon, Pa., and passed away on July 57, 2018. Randy died doing what he loved, enjoying the great outdoors with his wife, Lindsay.
Randy graduated in 1970 from Mt. Lebanon High School, where he ran cross- country and track. During his high school summers, he was a camp counselor and played summer league baseball.
Randy attended the University of Pennsylvania from 1970 to 1972, but transferred to Wesleyan University in Connecticut to complete his degree. Randy graduated from Wesleyan in 1974 with a BA in history. During his college years, Randy ran cross-country and worked on the college newspaper.
It was at Wesleyan that Randy met Lindsay and from there he traveled with her to Stanford. Randy graduated from Stanford in 1976 with an MA in journalism. Randy had a number of jobs at newspapers ranging from the Mill Valley Recordi n California, to theHayward Daily News in California, to the Capital Gazette in Maryland, to the Maine Times before he arrived at the Arizona Daily Sun in 1995.
Randy will be greatly missed by his wife, Lindsay, daughter Caroline, canine outdoor adventure companion, Skye, sister Polly Ballantyne and family, brother Chad Wilson and family, and cousin Jon Bricker and family.
A celebration of Randy’s life was held on Monday, July 16 at the Coconino Community College Lone Tree campus commons. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Randy Wilson Journalism Award for Northern Arizona University journalism interns.
Donald Reid published Opening the Gates. The Lip Affair, 1968-1981 (Verso), a look at what was going on in France while we were in college.
Monique Witt writes, “Ben finished his European tour and stopped off in NYC before he left for China to play Blue Note Beijing and see the Great Wall. Dev is building the large space in East Williamsburg and moving forward with the R&D. Steven is still so busy, but has worked with an extraordinary entrepreneur most recently. I’m just making jazz, recovering from blowing out my knee running, and tending to two Cymric kittens we adopted in March.”
Stu Forman continues to be the medical director of Gilead Community Services, a mental health agency started by 2 Wesleyan students in 1968. He looks forward to seeing everyone at our Reunion.
Jonathan Weiss lives in Andover, Mass., site of the gas explosions. As of Sept. 22, he had no gas heat or hot water and it wasn’t anticipated for weeks. Otherwise, he works as psychiatrist in North Andover, two kids are happily launched. Son Samuel in Silicon Valley in his start-up, daughter Hannah ’12 lives in Brisbane, Australia, doing environmental work. “Hello to classmates!”
Gray Cox continues to enjoy teaching philosophy, peace studies, and language learning at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, spending increasing time with his grandchildren, performing original music for rallies and social gatherings (graycox.bandcamp.com) and working on a third book dealing with AI and Gandhian solutions to our existential threats. He misses the bull and comradery of CSS Beer and Bull in the old days though he has long since been happy to forgo the inebriation rituals associated with it.
Lloyd Komesar reports that “the 4th Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival was, by any measure, our best yet. A record number of attendees came, boosted in part by the huge contingent of wonderful Wes folks who showed up: Wendy Starr, Bill Burton, Harold Sogard, Lyn Lauffer, Carolyn White, Pat Mulcahy, Judy Hirschberg Atwood, Tom Frei, Bill Pearson, Wayne Forrest, David Weller ’75; and so many more—Rose Komesar ’07, Michael Sandler ’07, Mike McKenna ’73, Todd Jick ’71, Steve Goldschmidt ’72, Mike Arkin ’72 [whose film, Honeypot, won Best Short Narrative], Seth Davis ’72, Elisa Davis ’76, Joan Gamble ’80, Bob Kesner ’67, Connie Des Marais ’17, Sivan Cotel ’05, Maggie Masselli ’16 and her husband Pierre, Mark Masselli ’09, Mark Davis ’96, and filmmakers Ethan Mermelstein [RAMP], and Daniel McGuire ’86 [Balian]. And probably a dozen more people to whom I was never introduced. The numbers keep growing and I hope that more of our Wes sisters and brothers will join us for the 5th Annual Festival next Aug. 22-25. It truly is a joyous time.”
Several classmates including Wendy Liebow, Scott Burson, Dean Richelin, and Sharon Purdie attended Barbara-Jan Wilson’s retirement party at the home of Amy and Joshua Boger ’73 at the Seaport in Boston. Wonderful company, food, drink, and views of Boson Harbor and the skyline!
Also, our 45th Reunion is coming up. Mark your calendars for May 24-26, 2019. We’re still looking for people to get involved and join the Reunion committee. Please email me or Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 (klynch@wesleyan.edu) at Wesleyan if you would like to join the committee.
Bruce Fox writes that although he lost in the Democratic primary for a seat in the New Hampshire Senate, “the nice news is that the race has enabled me to reconnect with some Wesleyan friends and meet some new ones.” Tom Kelly and Tom Lucci visited him around the time of the election and he had many phone conversations and e-mails with others who gave financial and moral support. Bruce says, “I had an hour-long conversation with old friend, Kie Westby, who also had an unsuccessful foray into politics a few years ago, was particularly worthwhile with lots of old stories, some advice, and lots of laughs shared.”
Michael Morales has a detailed update on what he has been up to and some memories from our days at Wesleyan. Flashing back, he was the assistant student manager at McConaughey dining hall. “Many students requested I bring out chocolate mint ice cream. Although he was in a frat at the time, Bill Belichick ’75 snuck in a couple times for our great food (and maybe to meet some co-eds).” For two years he was captain of the wrestling team and now he is grant writing and fundraising at Springfield College (the Milwaukee campus). Earlier, he taught Creative Writing for Social Change. Michael says that soon he’ll be traveling through Wisconsin in giving workshops and seminars. He is writing a book, The 1-Minute Expert: How to Be Recognized as an Expert in 1 Minute or Less. He went to Stanford for a PhD and decided he didn’t want it and left with a master’s. He then went immediately to SLAC and was on the team that earned two Nobel prizes in physics. While he was not one of the professors who was named, he was one of the 100 of graduate students that assisted with the basic research needed for the Nobel prizes.
Michael went to Harvard for executive training in community and economic development. He says, “I have been sharing the knowledge and strategies for many years.” A great deal of his work and study at Wesleyan and Stanford were in psychology. He is the guest coach of two Olympic wrestling champions who live in Wisconsin and are his longtime friends and is a guest coach for a three-time Olympic boxing coach. He coaches technique and mindset and has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, CBS, and Fox News.
Michael was also executive director of a U.S. Department of Commerce program where over $1.1 billion in government contracts came through his office and they helped small businesses to get part of the multi-million dollar contracts. This included women-owned and veteran-owned businesses and others helping minorities and the disadvantaged. He was vice president of a $52-million educational foundation and he interviews Stanford University freshman applicants for the admissions office as an alumni volunteer.
Robert Abrevaya’s 13th edition of The Robert William Abrevaya Show was produced in June at The Comedy Store. He calls it stand-up comedy by the official comedian for the 2020 elections. Six of his shows and autobiographical information are available at vimeo.com/RWAShow. At The Comedy Store, he has been the closing act most potluck nights since (at least) 1983 on Sunset Boulevard. He is on Twitter @AbrevayaR. His new Facebook page is RealRobert William Abrevaya.
From Middletown, Bill Corvo is busy with renewable energy development. Bill is manager of Connecticut Energy & Technology, LLC (beaconfallsenergypark.com), a Connecticut-based renewable energy development company. They have “permitted the largest fuel cell technology project in the U.S.,” to be located in Beacon Falls, Conn. The project is “fully permitted and shovel ready—63.3 megawatts of Class I renewable power.”
The ever-faithful Michael McKenna wrote in to say he had his first cortisone shot in his right knee “after the ortho actually laughed when he looked at the MRI! Rugby and soccer days catching up I guess, but otherwise feel pretty good.”
It was a busy spring for Bruce Hearey. He was awarded an MA in humanities from John Carroll University (alma mater of Don Shula and Tim Russert)—it took him 10 years, and he greatly enjoyed what he correctly identified as the COL experience, taking courses in history, literature, and art history. He wrote his thesis on Charles Ives (tipping his hat to the late Dick Winslow ’40, who introduced Ives to Bruce in 1971), got much better grades than he did at Wesleyan, and refuses to answer any questions about what he will actually do with that degree. Then, at his 50th Andover reunion, Bruce was inducted into their sports hall of fame, where he joins Bill Belichick ’75, Andover class of ’71, and George Bush, Andover class of ’43. Most important (and not to slight the news in my next paragraph), Bruce became a grandfather. Son Leif Dormsjo ’97 and his wife, Kristin, welcomed Sven Olsson Dormsjo into the world.
Bruce journeyed to Santa Fe to attend Bruce Throne’s wedding to Alaina Speraw. This is Bruce Throne’s second and last wedding. Earlier in the year he took Alaina to her (and Wesleyan’s) first alumni event in Santa Fe, and she now understands the Wes Diaspora and how women changed Wes for the better after they enrolled.
Leon Vinci celebrated his 50th high school reunion in, yawn, Middletown. He was in the second graduating class at Xavier High School. Leon is living in Roanoke, Va., and although in a “semi-retired status,” is doing health and environmental management consulting work.He is an adjunct professor with Drexel University and active in chair positions with national professional organizations addressing climate change. If that isn’t enough to keep him busy, he sits on the national Joint Task Force for DHS and DHHS in the area of public health and healthcare emergencies; and he chairs a subcommittee on cybersecurity and public health and health care emergencies. And next year he will be able to brag that all of his kids have attained their master’s degrees—Laura has her MBA now, and Doug and Michael are getting their master’s degrees then.
John Manchester’s novel, Never Speak, is due to be published in January. You can learn more at johnkmanchester.com. Note the blurb from Steve Schiff.
Keeping with the theme of Wheeler’s Egyptian Dog (they opened for the Byrds at the hockey rink—remember?), Dan Gleich is anticipating a San Francisco meet-up with Manchester, Schiff, and Peter Stern. Dan says he is edging into retirement—working half-time, but not feeling any less busy.
Win Watson succinctly states how Wesleyan helped him:
“a. Took neurobiology and oceanography senior year, as well as an education class. Now I am a full professor teaching neuroscience at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), and my research involves marine biology.
b. Soccer team: I still play a bit, but more important, I coached my son’s youth teams and at one point we won a state championship.
c. Golf team: Still play and I’ve had my share of success.
d. Fraternity and friends: I can still drink and goof around with the best of them.”
Moving over to the other UNH, the one in New Haven, the following from the recently retired Michael Kaloyanides: “Sheila and I will be sailing on the fall Semester at Sea around the world voyage. I will be a visiting professor teaching courses on world music and the history of Rock and Roll. Sheila will be the lifelong learner coordinator on the ship. This will be our sixth voyage with the program and we will be visiting Spain, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Burma, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Hawaii before disembarking in San Diego. We now have three grandchildren under the age of 2-and-a-half: Julia, Jane, and Will. Son Nathan lives in Northport, N.Y.; daughter Alexandra is an assistant professor of religion at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte; and daughter Elizabeth is legal counsel for the Bose Corporation and lives in Needham, Mass.”
Jerry Ryan is retired and living in Greenville, S.C. He plays golf, does volunteer work, and travels.
Speaking of travels, Elisa ’76 and I went to Paris in June, where I chaired a panel on international law and climate change at a big ABA conference. Besides just being there and revisiting some favorite spots from my 1970 COL semester (the only thing missing were the pinball machines in the cafes), the highlight was visiting and having dinner with Bonnie Krueger and her husband, Thomas Bass. This was the end of Bonnie’s final term running Hamilton College’s program in Paris, and we got to sample some of the wines, cheeses, and saucissons they have accumulated over the years. After we left, Bonnie got swept up in the fever of France’s World Cup triumph, which was celebrated openly and loudly throughout her Saint Germain neighborhood.
In August we had our annual trip to Lloyd Komesar [’74]’s Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. Not only was it better than ever, but our own Mike Arkin actually appeared in one of the films, as Harvey Weinstein. Very creepy. First time attendees included Mike Busman, Harold Sogard ’74, and Judy Hirschberg Atwood ’74.
Please help us get a big turnout for our 50th Reunion in May 2022. Yes, it’s a long time away, but we are seriously reaching out to everyone. Please send news, and help us contact folks who have not been at prior Reunions.
