Charlie Selig marked his 89th birthday in February still enjoying life to the fullest with winters in Boca Raton, Fla., and summers in Westchester. His wife, Madalyn, whom he married seven years ago, has given him “the greatest life to enjoy,” enhanced by visits from his son and grandchildren. Charlie follows Wesleyan football and hopes to get to a game next fall.
Jim McKeon’s wife, Betty, wrote that he had died a year ago, but his granddaughter was doing well at Wesleyan in the sophomore class.
Bert Roberts said he was sending his first message to a classmate since 1951. He had spent most of his years since then working as an executive with a wholesale electrical distributor, mostly with an industrial clientele. Prior to that, he had an Air Force tour. He and his wife, Joyce, spent their 67 years raising two daughters and seven grandchildren. They’d been fortunate enough to travel to Europe four times and even had time to enjoy Alaska. Bert said he’d slowed down greatly during the past year but hopes to try golf again this summer.
Harry Webb’s wife, Sylvia, gave a lengthy report on Harry’s death in New Britain, Conn., where he had enjoyed a long and distinguished law career, serving with two law firms and then founding his own as he approached retirement. He served on local, county, and state bar associations. He was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed running, hiking, tennis, and skiing into his 80s, and was an avid traveler, visiting Alaska, Turkey, Normandy, the Baltics, and South Africa. He leaves his wife, a son, three daughters, and 10 grandchildren. Harry entered Wesleyan with our class, but transferred to UConn, where he graduated in 1953, earning a law degree from UConn Law, and a master’s degree in tax law from New York University.
Howard Goodrich from Indianapolis wrote that he and his wife, Darlene, were still enjoying a full life—he will be 90 in September—for which they’re very fortunate and grateful. He wrote, “May peace and grace attend your lives.” Thank you, Howard. He also sent 24 lines of verse entitled, “In Times Like These,” ending with: “Our culture in Division / Longing for that fresh breeze / To articulate and change it / In the times to come.”
Bill Mitchell is “still alive and kicking here in the mountains of North Carolina.” He took one trip to New Jersey and several to the Atlantic area to visit family and attend his granddaughter’s graduation in St. Louis.
Biff Shaw and wife Jean take advantage of their close proximity to Wesleyan. They attended the dedication of Wesleyan’s refurbished tennis course paid in part by a gift from our own Dave Jones.
Dave and his wife couldn’t attend the dedication, so Dave asked Biff and Jean to stand in for them. Last summer, Bill and Jean attended the dedication for a wonderful gift of art to the Mattatuck Museum, also made possible by Dave Jones, which and he Ann were able to attend, along with Barney Kathan.
Dear classmates, we regret to inform you that three of our classmates passed away. Richard W. Ahlers, from Pittsburgh, Pa., died March 14, 2018. He was an Alpha Delt at Wesleyan. Dick worked for U.S. Steel Corp. for 34 years in Ohio and enjoyed his cottage on Lake Manitou in Canada. He is survived by a large family, including one great-grandchild.
Roger W. Haskell, from Hempstead, N.Y., died Dec. 28, 2017. He was a Sigma Nu at Wesleyan. After an internship in Toledo, Ohio, Dr. Haskell spent 25 years with the public health service in Seattle and was awarded the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Meritorious Service Medal twice in his life. He retired to a 140-acre farm in central Oregon. He is survived by his wife, Edna, and their family.
John C. Roy, from Paterson, N.J., died May 30, 2017. He was a Psi U at Wesleyan. After medical school and orthopedic training in NYC, Dr. Roy practiced at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey, serving as chairman of various committees. He retired in 1993. He was affiliated with the Lutheran Church in Mendham, N.J., and Lebanon, Tenn. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn, two sons, a son-in-law, and six grandchildren.
BUD DORSEY | margiedorsey5@gmail.com 121 Renegar Way #105, St. Simons Island, GA, 31522 | 912/638-5616
Somewhere between my writing this column and your reading it, my 96th birthday came along to remind me that I am actually mortal, subject to all the whims and vagaries of what my doctors wryly call “the aging process.” Thus, teased into thoughts on aging and the great adventure that lies beyond it (and having nothing from you old classmates), I offer the following reflections on being around for, perhaps, too long.
Why is it that although night falls, it’s day that breaks?
It’s a scientific fact that if your parents were childless, you will be, too.
If you lay a group of lawyers end-to-end, they’ll reach.
My grandfather was an Irish magician. He could walk down the street and
suddenly turn into a pub.
I learned a certainty in combat: friendly fire isn’t.
Dave Rosenthal is senior director of news and public affairs for WNED/WBFO, the public television and radio stations based in Buffalo, working on projects around racial equity, mental health, and refugees. He gets together with Steve McCarthy, Paul Margolin, J.D. Moore, and Joe O’Rourke for a weekend every year.
Rachel Hayes stepped down as vice president of public engagement at Oxfam America and is now working part-time. She will consult for a business development firm in Boston. She is enjoying early retirement with travel in the future. Her son, Spencer, is doing well at Marist.
Brian Steinbach writes with sad news, “On Feb. 3 I found my 29-year-old son, Stephen, dead of an accidental overdose of heroin that was laced with fentanyl. And while too much attention is directed to illegal immigration and allegedly unfair trade, the real threat is the flow of fentanyl and other harmful drugs from Mexico and China. It is some consolation that Mary and I are not alone in this experience—it seems everyone knows someone else that this scourge has affected, or it has directly affected them.”
After 28 years, Jeffrey Cellars retired as a diplomat and moved to Vermont with his wife, Bethanne. He wrote, “While I consider options for occupying my time including consulting for the State Department, I am perfecting my role as grandpa to our granddaughter.”
Paul Gionfriddo wrote, “My 32-year-old daughter, Larissa, died from metastatic breast cancer. For two years, she was a cancer thriver, serving as a spokesperson for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The Megyn Kelly Today show, which featured her as a guest in a segment in October, did a beautiful tribute to her after she died.” Paul is president and CEO of Mental Health America. His wife, Pam, retired and they will be moving their “permanent” home back to Middletown this fall.
Nancy Goguen Lippincott works at The Meadowbrook School in Weston as the development coordinator. She would love to hear from other Boston-area alumni.
Paul Bennett is enjoying retirement and is involved with many nonprofits. He’s helping to found a new Cristo Rey High School in Oakland, Calif., and working one day a week at the St. Vincent de Paul homeless center.
Richard Hume, professor at the University of Michigan, and his wife, Laura, who recently retired, are Scottish country dancers and traveled to Scotland to dance. They celebrated their 43rd anniversary in New York with daughter Rebecca ’01. They have sons who live in Brooklyn and Detroit, and a son and two grandchildren who live in Chicago.
John McNeill retired after 36 years as a United Methodist pastor. He and wife Martha will move to Fairport, N.Y., on the Erie Canal near Rochester. He stays in touch with Natalie Hanson ’76, who retired from pastoral ministry last year.
David Bickford produced New York writer Gina Femia’s For the Love Of (Or, the Roller Derby Play) at Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood. Susan Gans, Steve Miller, Martha Meade ’76, Juliet Green’76, and Alexis DeLaRosa ’96 attended the premiere.
Bill Devereaux wrote, “Sam Miller passed away in May after a valiant struggle with cancer. He had actually survived a fight with this awful disease about 10 years ago but had a recurrence. He was a great and interesting guy who could relate to just about anyone and everyone. He had a successful career in the theater world and was known by his friends as a great husband and father. The world was a better place with him in it.”
Bill attended the wedding of Dr. George Powers ’74. Jim Daley, Pat McQuillan, Alan Poon ’76, Dave Campbell, Peter McArdle ’76, and Pete Guenther ’77 were all living large in Bill Belichick’s box at Gillette as they watched Wesleyan Lax win our alma mater’s first national title.
Karen ’77 and Donald Cruickshanks welcomed grandson George Fredric Jones Cruickshanks on April 4.
Don Gold is an A camera operator on the Netflix show Grace and Frankie. He and wife Nancy get together with Chris Vane and Dave Babcock and their families.
Karin Johnson has been teaching at Aoyama Gakuin Junior High School in Toyko since 1983. Sadly, her husband, Yushi Nomura, a teacher and artist, passed away from colon cancer. Her daughter, Yuka Kristi, 23, is working on a master’s at International Christian University in Tokyo.
Cathy Gorlin was sworn into the U.S. Supreme Court bar. One of the highlights was getting to ask Ruth Bader Ginsburg a question in a small group.
Cathy recently got together with her dear friend, Christine McCoy McNeil.
Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com 860 Marin Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955
Skip Adamek is enjoying competitive golf, tennis, and fishing in North Carolina, and looking forward to a visit from Steve Farrell, Jim Cornell, Paul McDermott, and, just maybe, Teddy Shaw.
Lois Becker, Mark Stratton, Joanne Lukitsh, and Reilly Shannon are traveling in Europe together where the first stop was the London production of Hamilton. Next up is Paris, Provence, and points east!
Jon Cleworth, former captain of the Wes crew team, is doing his best to stay in shape and keeps in touch with Jimmy Joy MALS ’72, former crew coach at Wes, who recently was honored by the NYAC.
Bruce Demple and his wife, Sue, met up in February with Rich Gallogly and Bonnie Katz ’77 for a long weekend of skiing at Sunday River Maine. Bruce’s daughter, Marie, lives in Brooklyn and works for Comedy Central, while his younger daughter, Zoe, has moved to Pittsburgh. Bruce published a complex NASA-funded research study on the unique qualities and toxicity of moon dust.
Mike Donnella was a guest on an NPR affiliate and was interviewed about his photography. Check out redriverradio.org.
Jeff Frank’s daughter got a fellowship to work for the education department in Israel for one year, and his son, George, is training to fly F-16s for the Air Force. His oldest son works for the FBI in D.C.
Joellyn Gray is just back from a 12-day tour of gardens and cathedrals in Southern England and is happy to share travel tips.
Peter Hansen and his wife, Gail, are in Madagascar for a month, visiting friends who work for the World Bank. They plan to stop in Kenya before coming home.
Libby Horn’s daughter, Stephanie, got married in April on the Oregon coast. She was an infant at our 10th Reunion!
Jeffrey Kahn, fellow CSS classmate, reports that on May 31, he retired from the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Agriculture after 40 years of government service. Jeff is now traveling to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Jeff, the Kazakhstan chocolate is great!
Tom Kovar had a June mini-reunion with Mel Blake, Karen Gervasoni, David Harmin, and Karen Williams Harmin at Mel’s house in Portsmouth, N.H. All are doing well.
Wendy Lustbader attended a psychotherapy training program in Seattle where the keynote speaker was Ron Siegel. Wendy thanks Ron for the advice and encouragement he gave her years ago and compliments Ron on his many achievements.
Peter McArdle went to Foxboro Stadium in May to watch Wes take on defending national champ Salisbury College in the Men’s NCAA Division III Lacrosse Finals, which Wes won! Dave Campbell ’75, Jeff Gray ’77, Charlie Cocores ’74, Jim Daley ’75, Pete Guenther ’77, Dave Thomas ’77, Gary Breitbord ’79, Jock Burns ’72, Mark Fredland ’74, and Pat McQuillan ’75 and his son Casey joined Pete for the game. Bill Belichick’75 was unable to attend, but graciously hosted everyone in the Belichick family box. Pete also saw Jeff Nesson ’78 and Seta Nazarian ’79 there. A great win for Wes witnessed by a great group of folks. Just a week earlier, Pete and his wife Mary’s daughter, Brittany, graduated from Simmons College with a master’s in special education.
Jaimee Mirsky is about to retire from her second career as a high school English teacher, and her husband, Jay, is also retiring. They will have welcomed their first grandchild in July. Congratulations on both fronts!
Debra Neuman is enjoying what may be her final career chapter as the executive director of development for Enders Island, a Catholic retreat center in Mystic, Conn. Her son, Josh, is pursuing a master’s in agronomy at Oregon State, and Josh’s wife, Meagan, is enjoying her first nursing job in Corvallis.
Michael Stopa has moved to San Mateo to be a senior manager for artificial intelligence and machine learning research for Konica Minolta. Daughter Randy graduated from Oberlin last month, daughter Robin graduated from Haverford last year, daughter Kaileigh will soon be a junior at Tufts, and son Kip will be a high school senior.
Cheryl Alpert and her son, Eben, had a great time on a trip through Portugal to celebrate his 25th birthday. Eben is a business analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers in NYC and younger son, Chason, is working in D.C. as analyst for Booz Allen Hamilton. Cheryl recently has changed firms and is now with William Raveis Real Estate in Brookline, Mass.
My personal news is slow right now, but a lot is happening in the next few months. I hope that you all enjoy the summer. If you meet up with a long-lost classmates, ask them to write in. Best regards.
After what seemed to be a long cold winter, we’ve managed to cobble together a surprising number of beautiful days to provide the Northeast with a real spring season. In short-sleeved polo I write to you with the latest news from our class. There often appears to be a theme running through groups of notes I receive. This time around, it was grandchildren.
George Fredric Jones Cruickshanks is the new grandson to proud grandparents Karen and Don Cruickshanks ’75, born in April.
Jonathan Gertler’s first grandchild was born to his oldest son, Chessin. Son Charles, 28, is getting his PhD in climate physics and chemistry at MIT, and youngest William, 23, just spent a year in Kenya working on sustainable agriculture and technology infrastructure for a firm with an office in Nairobi. Jonathan and wife Jane are doing well; he has a third album of all new songs due out around September.
Iddy Olson loves the mixture of entrepreneurship with her consulting practice two days a week and working the other three days a week for a boutique executive coaching firm in Chicago. Iddy moved into a beautiful rental house with her fella in May. Her son, Des, and her daughter-in-law have given her a grand-puppy and are expecting their first child in December.
Hope Neiman reported on the history made in Wesleyan sports. Men winning lacrosse was noteworthy. Women’s tennis team went to the NCAA tournament, and they made it to the round of eight—best finish ever by a Wes team. Then, Wesleyan sent two men and two women to the individual tournament. All were played at Claremont McKenna. Eudice Chong ’18 and Victoria Yu ’19 had made it to the NCAA finals to play against one another and were in the semis for doubles. In fact, for the first time ever in NCAA history, one person, Eudice Chong, took the championship in all four of her years. [see p. 14]
Jeff Gray reported Gamma Phi DKE held its annual open house during Reunion and Commencement. Dave Thomas and Tom Roberts were part of the crew of alumni who helped set up. After the open house, while the folks who actually had Reunion went to their respective class dinners, all headed down to La Cantina Restaurant in Middletown. They were joined by Jeff Shames who was on campus for the next-day graduation of his nephew.
Jane Goldenring was at Wesleyan in May to teach a two-day seminar to the film department’s graduating seniors about working in the film and television industry. Jane was joined in Middletown by Kate Seeger.
Laraine Balk Hope writes that in retirement, the cliché that there’s never enough time to do everything is very true. She is consulting on a limited basis and generally enjoying the flexibility to exercise more, improve her French and take other classes, read, and catch up with far-flung friends and family, including Arlene Lappen and Janet Malkemes.
Lisa Brummel’s son, Adam, graduated from high school; he plans to attend American University in the fall. Son Noah is spending time in Israel. Lisa and husband Joel will be visiting him this fall.
Michael Rittenberg is the last of six original partners of his urologic practice. He is working way harder than anticipated but thrilled to report that son Daniel will complete his urologic residency and join the practice in July 2019. His other three children are grown, independent, and prospering in their professional lives.
Michael Foxall is trying to get in touch with Bob Rees.
Peg Batchelder has retired from veterinary practice and pharmaceutical research and is living the good life on Maui with May Coryell, her partner for over 30 years.
Peter Guenther is attending his son Geoff’s medical school graduation from Tulane; he’s going into pediatrics and will be at Children’s National Hospital in D.C. for residency.
A couple of sad notes: Sarah Kendall wrote that her partner, Wolfgang Natter ’78, passed away suddenly. He was VP of academic affairs at the College of St. Scholastica. They had wonderful times in their brief time together—especially exploring the northland of Minnesota. They were fortunate to have found each other after a 40-year interlude from being “siblings” at Alpha Delta Phi. Sarah will be moving back to New Hampshire this summer. Mary Rindfleischpassed away in April. Mary was a long-time community and arts supporter, in particular building the Ridgefield, Conn., library. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sarah and to the friends and families of Wolfgang and Mary.
Summer greetings, classmates! Hopefully everyone is enjoying all the pleasures of the season. The most important news would be our successful and well-attended 40th Reunion over Memorial Day weekend. Thanks to a lot of organizational and creative effort on the part of our Reunion committee and university liaisons, all the activities went off without a hitch. Our first class gathering took place on Friday in the new resource center where the library was dedicated and named for the class of 1978, in honor of its generosity during its 40th Reunion year. A plaque commemorating our gift includes a quote by Toni Morrison, which reads, “If there’s a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” As to our generosity, it’s a pleasure to report that we met our 40th Reunion fundraising goal of $400,000 for the Wesleyan Fund and $5,000,000 in multi-year commitments.
Saturday kicked off with an organizing breakfast meeting for women athletes (thanks to Suki Hoagland and Fran Rivkin). An energetic group of ’78s rallied for the class march to Memorial Hall and many attended the box lunch under the big tent afterwards. Eclectic held an afternoon party with many ’78s in attendance. Our well-attended class dinner was held in the ’92 Theatre. Irma Gonzalez did a fabulous job of MCing the evening and we had a hot-off-the-press university update from Michael Roth. During our meal, the mic was passed around and classmates shared their Wesleyan experiences. An added bonus to the weekend took place off-site up in Foxboro, Mass., on Sunday where our own Men’s Varsity Lacrosse team competed in and WON the Division III National Championship! There were many alumni and students in attendance to watch the exciting game.
To the 63 classmates who were able to attend our Reunion, surely you are treasuring many special moments—and to those who weren’t able to attend, you were missed. For everyone’s enjoyment, Kathy Mintz put together a photo album. Thank you, Kathy.
Andrea Gabor sent in news of her new book, After the Education Wars, published in June by The New Press. Her earlier books include Einstein’s Wife, The Capitalist Philosophers, and The Man Who Discovered Quality. Andrea is Bloomberg Chair of Business Journalism at Baruch College.
Ken and I celebrate 15 years as co-secretaries and are on board for the foreseeable future. However, the columns are only interesting if you send us news!
It’s officially summertime. Not that many submissions this issue. C’mon, send in your news please. Or are you saving it for our 40th next year?
Tina Binns Palmer: “We became grandparents in October for the first time as son #1 and wife became parents of a wonderful and happy son. Early this November, son #2 and wife will join the club and welcome their first child. Meanwhile son #3 is digging in various parts of Greece while pursuing his master’s in archaeology.”
Jane Marcellus: “I am part of an American Journalism Historians Association team building a database in anticipation of the centennial of the 19th Amendment. I had an essay ‘The Growing Rock’ published in the Gettysburg Review and a #MeToo piece in the Washington Post.”
Caroline Norden: “After working for 25 years on land protection and stewardship projects for various land trusts, I am now a stay-at-home mom, caring for two teenage daughters. I am excited that my eldest will be entering Wesleyan as a freshman this fall. I’m looking forward to becoming reacquainted with the college.”
Kimberley Carrell-Smith: “I’m still a professor of practice in public history at Lehigh University, where I also direct the interdisciplinary Community Fellows Graduate Program. As a former dumpster diver with 20 years and counting since my first university ‘garbage’ forays, I run a huge university-community sale project that collects student castoffs at the end of the year and turns them into gold through an enormous community sale. The aim is to channel high-end reusable goods into a sale in my low-income neighborhood surrounding our campus, inviting folks to buy with dignity at bargain prices. We made $20,000-plus this year for school field trips and programs for neighborhood kids! Pretty good haul for all items at about 25 cents to a dollar or two. Where else can you buy Prada or Versace apparel, a fan, a bucket, a pan, and a chair, and walk away with change from $20?”
Andrew Tanzer: “My book, Robert Kuok: A Memoir, has sold about 160,000 copies, mainly in Southeast Asia, and will go on sale in the U.S. market in September.”
Mecklenburg County Manager Dena R. Diorio announced that W. Lee Jones Jr. has been named as the new park and recreation director. Jones, a licensed architect and member of the American Institute of Architects, currently serves as the division director for Park and Recreation’s Capital Planning and Alliance Development Services. He is responsible for coordinating the planning, design, and construction of the department’s facilities and overseeing the development of many partnerships. Over the years, Jones worked on several notable park projects, including First Ward Park, Romare Bearden Park, and the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex at Matthews.
From my partner in notes, Ann Biester Deane: “So proud of my son, Carter ’18, the sixth member of our family to graduate from Wes! Off to Cologne next year on a DAAD fellowship.” Six Wesleyan grads! It’s a dynasty.
Yours truly, Gary Breitbord, has been spending time with the usual cast of characters from DKE/Wesleyan. I know I keep writing about this group, but the bonds are stronger than ever, even 40 years later, and since no one else wrote in, I figured I’d bore you one more time. Many impromptu get togethers surrounding two noteworthy highlights: A fun reception at the DKE house on the Saturday of Reunion weekend then the next day at Gillette Stadium where the Wesleyan Men’s Lacrosse team won the NCAA Division III Championship!
The Reunion reception didn’t disappoint with classes from 1958–2013 (like Bart Bolton ’58 to Zach Binswanger ’13) and those in between well-represented. From our time on campus, the class of ’78 was in the house: John McDermott, Ralph Rotman, Bill Ahern, Paul Nelson, Jeff Nesson, Bill Weiss, Jeff Binswanger,and Michael Klingher. Also, in attendance representing the DKE Alumni Board of Directors: Jeff Gray ’77, Dave Thomas ’77, Tom Roberts ’77, Dave Bagatelle ’86, Scott Karsten ’74, and the illustrious Joe Britton.
There was a large Wesleyan contingent (the graduation ceremonies in Middletown precluded a much larger showing) cheering on the men’s lacrosse Cardinals in their unprecedented accomplishment. I was fortunate to join a legion of lacrosse luminaries including Pat McQuillan ’75, Jim Daley ’75, Charlie Cocores ’74, Bill Devereaux ’75, Jock Burns ’72, Al Poon ’76, Dave Campbell ’75, Pete McArdle ’75, and Peter Guenther ’77 in celebrating this Wesleyan milestone. And to our own class of ’79 lacrosse playing stud, Jono Cobb, it’s a different game than when you and I played, my friend.
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 from Brooklyn. We will start with an erratum: My fellow SiSPer Ariel Rubissow Okamoto wrote last issue that she is with her husband in the Bay area, which is decidedly on the left coast, not the east coast. I’m sure most of you had figured that out. And daughter Tira is working on the San Francisco Pre-Disaster Challenge of Resilient Design. Our apologies for sloppy proofreading.
Good news department: Paul DiSanto and Gordon Cooney joined former Wesleyan Lacrosse teammates Peter Guenther ’77, Dan Lynch ’80, Bruce Bunnell, and number-one fan Seta Nazarian ’79, along with thousands of Wesleyan faithful at Gillette Stadium, to watch the Cardinals win their first NCAA National Championship.
Joan (Fishman) Herrington is chair of the department of theatre at Western Michigan University. She works professionally as a director and dramaturg, with a recent stint at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
David Lynch joined the Washington Post in November as global economics correspondent and writes about trade and globalization, including the various fronts in the president’s trade war.
Steven G. Blum spends most of his time worrying about other people’s financial lives, teaching other people’s children (at Penn and Wharton), and fending off challenges from his own kids. He would love to hear from any classmates who live with teenagers and have any ideas whatsoever.
Lora Brown Premo is a freelance writer in Colorado Springs. “I have gotten it together again after being widowed in 2011 (my second husband).” She is very proud of her son, Jason, who spent six years in the Air Force as a cryptolinguist with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He took six months off to run the get out the vote effort for Bob Kerrey of Nebraska’s Senate run in 2012. He attended Amherst College on a full scholarship and graduated in 2016, Phi Beta Kappa, with the economics department prize for best thesis. He double-majored in economics and math has accepted a full scholarship for the economics PhD program at Northwestern University. Makes a mother proud!
After five years enjoying all that Japan has to offer, especially the glorious hiking just a short train ride away and rambles by the river nearby, Elaine Kurtenbach has moved to Bangkok to continue as Asia business editor for The Associated Press. It’s a first time to live in and explore Southeast Asia after a career spent mainly in China and Japan.
Dan Greenberger won a third Writers Guild Award for his work on CBS, and by sheer coincidence, the award was presented by his Wesleyan roommate, Bradley Whitford. He said, “It really was one of the proudest moments of my life. Go Wes!”
Brenda Zlamany’s 100/100, an exhibit of 100 watercolor portraits of residents of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale,is scheduled to open on September 17 in NYC.
Charlie Spiegel reports on the June wedding of Nancy Traub Chirinos to Greg Larson. The wedding took place on Billy Goat Hill across from the couple’s San Francisco home. Nancy is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Happily, Charlie’s family law mediation office is only one block away from Nancy’s office. He’s also active in promoting resistry.net and travels to Republican congressional districts in California’s central valley once a month thrrought November. His partner’s grand=niece starts at WESU this fall so he expects to travel back in September
Picking up his daughter from her junior year at Hofstra, Charlie found himself saying, among other wishes for her senior year, that he hopes she graduates before her school has its mass gun shooting, a sentiment he wrote about to Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “Sigh. Resist.”
Alyson Myers directs a scientific team in the Gulf of Mexico to farm seaweed at large scale for carbon-neutral fuel, feed, and other products with the Department of Energy. She’s yet to be swept overboard in spring seas.
On a sad note, Mitch Briskin died on May 27, after a long illness. Mitch’s son, Will Briskin ’21, just completed his freshman year at Wesleyan. His wife, Laura Gardner, notes that “I lost the love of my life, the sharpest man I’ve ever known, the best companion ever. Our children lost a thoroughly devoted, fun-loving father, a constant in their lives (and occasional nudge). Friends lost one of the funniest and most dynamic intellectual sparring partners they’ve ever known. Yet we also gained insight into true courage and grace; how love eases even the worst suffering; how being present is all that is needed.”
Ellen Jewett, Katie Fox, Jessica Barton, Alyson Myers, and several of Mitch’s sophomore roommates, got together in D.C. Ellen said, “We toasted Mitch and all our fond memories of that year.”
Amidst this morbidity, I’m reminded that Annie Dillard called art “anti-entropic.” Things fall apart, yet art pushes back with creation of more things as others decay. We, too, fall apart. We decay. Yet many of us continue to create, through our work and our art. We become anti-entropic forces in our own right. And, we have procreated. Our children continue to defy entropy with their works and deeds, whether at Wes like Will Briskin and many others, or in cryptolinguistics, or in whatever your children do.
And, just before going to press, we also learned that Kevin Osborn and Peter Wojnar passed away. We will have a more complete entry on Kevin and Peter in the next issue.
Here’s to fighting entropy. And, to “less-bidity.”
