Class Notes

Greetings, once again, from Brooklyn. I never know when these will find their way to your mailbox, months after I write them. I write this in June, as I am about to visit my oldest son in Arizona, and, more importantly, his 2-year-old girl. He is a year from 30, and his sister just turned 25. Yes, their youngest sibling is still 9, as I write this, but some of you must have children who have hit 30 already. How do you cope with the knowledge that your child has hit the big 3-0? And, as important, if not more so: Can you still trust them?

Brian Ford reports that his book came out last year: Respect for Teachers: The Rhetoric Gap and How Research on Schools is Laying the Ground for New Business Models in Education, which examines and critiques the privatization of the public education system.

Gene Norden writes that after Wes, he got a law degree from Duke and an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago business school. “I practiced law and was a wealth manager for many years, and recently made a career move to become director of trusts and estates at Bonhams auction house in New York. I love being in the art world and have never been happier! I remain very close friends with Tom Danziger, who is uniformly considered one of the top art lawyers in New York, and who has been invaluable in helping me make the transition.”

Steve Blum, who blogs at negotiatingtruth.com, finally finished the book he has been working on since he was class secretary. Negotiating Your Investments joins knowledge from his two longtime careers by applying negotiation methods he has taught at Wharton for two decades to investing and finance strategies from his practice.  Steve wonders aloud about the loss of dignity involved in begging classmates to read the darned thing.

Paul Godfrey is proud to report that his son, Charlie, graduated with distinction from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with degrees in math and physics. Next year he will be going to graduate school at the University of Washington headed towards a PhD in math. And, he will be a graduate teaching assistant. “Since I took self-paced calculus at Wes on a pass-fail basis and got a P, followed by a huge sigh of relief, this makes perfect sense.”

After a 25-year career as a broadcast photojournalist, Kit Tyler founded The American Mercury Inc., a media production company specializing in broadcast documentary programs. Kit has created dozens of series and programs on a wide range of topics from Autism to climate change to Western history.  Saving The Bay, a history of San Francisco Bay, won several Emmy awards. His latest work, Becoming California, the environmental history of California will premier in the fall of 2014. Kit lives in Sacramento, with his wife, Libby. They have two sons, Nicholas and Henry. 

Wesleyan friends Nancy Traub Chirinos and Charlie Spiegel recently traveled together to Seattle to celebrate Nancy’s younger daughter Eva’s graduation from University of Puget Sound, and to show Seattle Univ. to Charlie’s daughter, Nora.  “We continue to ask Nancy’s daughters, who are in college, if they want to stay in touch with their friends for their next 35 plus years,” Charlie adds, “although we progressively less articulate the exact number of years.”

Nancy is a marriage and family therapist intern at S.F.’s Marina Counseling Center. Charlie is a family lawyer/mediator in solo practice, and recently completed re-writing a California-wide low-cost divorce educational presentation to include same gender couples (divorceoptioninfo.com). “So we do weekly morning exercise walks up S.F’s Twin Peaks, and often swap case tips, and recognize how lucky we are to still live one block from one another. Join us some morning.”

David Todd informs us that “Since graduation, a collection of men from the class of ’81 has gathered now and then for a weekend in the wild. In April, Rich Eastman, Danny Haar, Chris Heye, Joel Kreisberg, Tom Land, Beck Lee, Kevin Osborn and I traveled to upstate New York to navigate a treasure hunt, hike together while all still can, and play poker. Kevin, as usual, won. Other outings have included Ryan Helwig, Rob Levin, Ted Parker and Perry Pockros. See the photo: classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/

And finally, I will make one more shameless plug for my cousin, Gabrielle Fondiller ’07’s not-for-profit Hatua Likoni (hatualikoni.org). It’s a community NGO working to promote education and employment among youth in Likoni, Kenya. Through scholarships, mentoring and career guidance, Hatua helps Likoni’s top students gain the skills, credentials and networks they need to contribute to and benefit from Kenya’s growing economy. As you consider end-of-year charitable gifts, please keep this in mind.

David I. Block | david.I.block@gmail.com

JOANNE godin audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com

There are many happy returns from the April 1099 request for class notes—no extensions required!

Ken Miller writes: I won the 2014 ASJA Award in science/technology writing for my story “Mushroom Manifesto” in Discover. It’s a profile of the visionary mycologist Paul Stamets, who was inspired to study fungi as a teenager when psilocybin mushrooms cured his severe stutter. Stamets has discovered ways to use mushrooms for some highly unorthodox purposes, including cleaning up oil spills and atomic fallout. You can read the article here: bit.ly/Q2df2R.

Suzy Shedd writes: Hey, Kim—Great to hear things are going so well for you! I’m happy to say that I have added the position of Disabilities Support Specialist at Goddard College to my menu of work activities. Meanwhile, Vermont is FINALLY seeing signs of spring–mud season!

Faith Elizabeth Fuller writes: I am still in Berkeley, Calif., renting my Oakland house out to my daughter and a large group of 20-somethings. I am on the board of the “Prevention Project,” a national coalition to promote the use of research in the social sciences to save lives and reduce government costs. It’s a great project, because it can appeal to us liberals who want government to step up to the plate and to conservatives who want to reduce government spending; preventionproject.us. It ties into my efforts to reduce incarceration levels for drug offenders in California by offering rehabilitation as an alternative to prison. I am working as a consultant (proposal writer and evaluator) to the courts in four bay area counties: Alameda, Solano, Marin, and Francisco.

My son, Jack Madigan (age 26) went to Israel to shoot a documentary called The Village of Peace. It is the story of a group of African-American Hebrews who went to Israel in the 1970’s to form a Utopian community. It is quite an amazing place, and the film was showcased at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in February. My daughter, Ali Madigan (now 25), has been working with a British artist named Kesh and also is finding her own creative success.

Ellen Haller writes: “After stints as the director of the psychiatry residency training program and the director of clinical services, I’m now happily the director of the adult psychiatry clinic at the University of California, San Francisco, where I’m about to enter my 26th year on the full-time faculty. Outside of work, I still play hockey regularly and love playing in tournaments including one in Florida (naturally) for women over 50 and the Gay Games later this summer. A big shock is that a) my kid is now finishing his junior year in high school, and b) he is interested in applying to Wesleyan (Yay!). We’re off for a tour of several New England schools over spring break. Can’t wait to see the campus again!

Wendy Buskop writes from Houston, Tex.: The Wesleyan experience of getting one out of their mindset has helped me write and issue about 900 United States patents. I enjoy all the energy- related, maritime-related, and software patents. It’s been fun to patent arctic expedition vessels and fast ferries for clients that invite you to take a ride… I especially like the rides on 400 foot vessels that go 40 knots like giant speedboats. Come see us at the following Trade Shows: South Texas Oil Show, San Antonio: July 9th & 10th, Booth 693; Permian Basin Oil Show, Midland: October 21st-23rd, Booths B83 & B114.”

Cathy Andronik is writing her doctoral dissertation on recent Australian literature for teens, focusing on Aussie authors who have been honored with the Printz award. She should receive her degree from Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, by the end of 2014.

John Singer writes: “Have seen a lot of alums in the past several weeks. Had lunch with Dave Fagelson and Jon Nimer, while Jon was visiting DC for work. Had dinner last Friday in Philadelphia with Peter Eisenhardt, Brad Moss and Lew Gitlin ’79. Sadly, Peter was in the US for his father’s funeral. I also regularly see David S. Block ’81. Our wives were roommates at Penn; our children were classmates and go to the same summer camps.

“In December, Karen and I celebrated our 25th anniversary. Our son, Charlie, is a sophomore at Tulane, and our daughter, Amy, is a senior at the Bryn Mawr School, where I regularly see former Clark Hall neighbor, Maureen Walsh ’79, the headmistress. Amy will be a first year student at UVA in the fall. Coming up on 20 years at the Federal Trade Commission. After doing mostly appellate work the past 13 years, I just switched back to doing primarily trial work after being asked by the Director of Consumer Protection to start a new enforcement program concerning deceptive on-line negative option sales. All in all, life is pretty good as we approach our 35th(!) Reunion.”

Walter Calhoun writes: “I am going to San Francisco for my aunt’s, Gertrude Martin’s, 100th birthday party on April 19. Gertrude Martin was married to Louis Martin who received an honorary degree from Wesleyan at our graduation ceremony in 1980 ( I know you remember!). Hope to see Steve Freccero, an assistant United States attorney, who prosecuted Ted Kaczynski the Unabomber while I am there.”

Mike O’Brien writes: “On Feb. 2nd, I joined Dave Stern, Tom Kovar ’76, and a large number of singers, guitarists, drummers, bass players, pianists, and far more ukulele players than you would think likely, at the 6th Annual Beatles Open Mic, an event organized by Dave, in Florence, Mass. I was part of the house band, and over the course of the evening played guitar, keyboard, bass and drums. A personal highlight for me was doing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with Dave on lead vocal and me on lead guitar, a complete role-reversal from the days in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s when he and I played in bands together. One of these years, we will get Jack Freudenheim ’79 to join us for this shindig.”

Melissa Stern writes: “I’ve just returned from a six–week artist residency in Israel. Had great adventures working in South Tel Aviv, far off the tourist trail, in a neighborhood of artists, manufacturing, refugees and motorcycles! Here’s a link to my blog, where I chronicled some of my adventures: speakingintongues.melissa-stern.com/. I continue to write about art for CityArts, here in NYC and once I get un-jetlagged, I look forward to getting back in the studio!”

Liz Sikes writes: “It was a heck of a winter, wasn’t it? Only news from here is that after spending the last two summers in Bremen, Germany on a Hanse fellowship (to study how ancient carbon may be getting into our estuaries). I am really looking forward to being parked back on the east coast for the summer. I’m hoping to be up on the Cape, too, doing some work at Woods Hole. My daughter is surviving her first year at Wes and pretty well—but that’s not really news is it?”

KIMBERLY OFRIA SELBY | kim_selby@yahoo.com

The winter only reluctantly released its grip here in the Northeast. The temperature hit 60 today so there is hope that spring will indeed arrive and that Wesleyan will be thawed out by our 35th.

Just enjoyed another dinner with the Dunn Gaherin crew. Acclaimed author Pete Pezzelli ’81, whose latest novel, The Glassblower’s Apprentice, was just released, attended all the way from the great state of Rhode Island. Jeff Burns ’80, chief of critical care at Children’s Hospital Boston, and Mike Rosenblatt ’80, chief medical officer of Lahey Clinic in Burlington Mass., ensured that the usual cast of miscreants—Gary Breitbord, Tim Fitzgerald, Jeff Gray ’77, Tim O’Brien ’81, and Billy Stack ’81—survived the evening. That festive gathering was closely followed by Opening Day at Fenway Park in celebration of their 2013 World Championship attended by Messrs. O’Brien, Gray, and Breitbord as well as George DuPaul all the way from Macungie, Pa. Dave Thomas ’77 and his son, Spencer, joined for some post-game merriment.

The following is from a recent article in the New York Times: “As president and chief executive of New York Public Radio, Laura R. Walker, 56, oversees metropolitan area stations including WNYC, WQXR, and New Jersey Public Radio. She lives in Brooklyn Heights with her husband, Bert Wells, 56, a lawyer, their 14-year-old daughter, Claire, and their cockapoo, Aki. Their son, Evan, 22, is a senior at Yale and often comes home for the weekend because he is writing his senior thesis on the 9/11 Museum.”

Joseph S. Britton, a highly respected family law attorney with Begley, Carlin, and Mandio, LLP, has written the recently published Library of Pennsylvania Family Law Forms, 2nd Edition.

Congratulations to Jack Buckley, making a difference in kids lives and being recognized for it. “Carsten Haber, a board member of Center for Student Coastal Research (CSCR), points out that whereas many people have helped in ensuring the success of CSCR as an educational and environmentally active facility, Jack is the one that started it all with his vision, foresight, and determination. For those reasons, Buckley has been selected as the Cohasset Mariner Citizen of the Year.”

Sarah Maynard writes “Well, I’m not sure I want to lead with this, coming up on our Reunion, but I am a grandmother. Daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Jerome Chiu, welcomed Eleanor Appleton Chiu and Hudson Maynard Chiu on February 8!” OK, the ice has been broken. Sarah has courageously come forth admitting she’s a grandparent. Fess up. Who else?

Bill Levinson writes “I am still living happily in the bubble of New Hope, Penna., with my wife, Julie. I regularly play and record music at our studio and performance space called For the Music Only. We have produced some notable shows here, including Garland Jeffreys, Chuck Prophet, Alejandro Escovedo, and Bernard Purdie. I am writing from Key West, our winter bubble, where I have been playing piano and accordion with friends at the local gin mills, piers, beaches, and bars. Julie and I are celebrating 20 years of lucky love and marriage. “

W. Lee (Willie) Jones writes from Charlotte, N.C., “I serve as the director of the Capital Planning and Alliance Development Services Division of the Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Department. We recently completed the award winning Romare Bearden Park.”

Theodor Feibel recently had a viewing of his Chromogenic Image “Young Woman Sitting at Table” at the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts in New York City.

Heard from Jane Marcellus, Ph.D., who writes, “I have been promoted to full professor at Middle Tennessee State University, where I teach media history and cultural studies in the School of Journalism. I also have a forthcoming book, Mad Men and Working Women: Feminist Perspectives on Historical Power, Resistance, and Otherness.

Kim Carrell-Smith has a little to tell: “I’m now officially an empty-nester and proud mother of two daughters—one a Professor of English Language at a Chilean university (Tufts ’11) and the other a public librarian in Baltimore (Goucher College, ’13). My husband and I both teach at Lehigh University and I also direct/teach for an interdisciplinary master’s program in which students work in local nonprofit agencies for a full year as part of their MA curriculum.”

Craig McLaughlin is hanging out in Santa Cruz writing and performing regularly as a personal storyteller. A second edition of his textbook, Health Policy Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Approach, will be out in July. His coauthor is his father, Curtis McLaughlin ’54. A collection of stories from his performances, which together compose a memoir, came out this September. It is called Lions and Tigers and AIDS! Oh, My! and, yes, some of the stories are set at Wesleyan.

Kathy Herron writes: “My career has taken an exciting new path. After 28 years of being in full-scope midwifery, I have stopped the obstetrics portion of my practice. I have taken a full-time faculty position with the Midwifery Institute of Philadelphia University. I am still doing gynecology at the independent midwifery practice I started in 2000, Full Circle Women’s Health. It’s great not being on call anymore, but I miss the births and the wonderful people I have been working with at our local community hospital, including fellow alum and Chief of OB, Dr. Larry Mendelowitz ’72. I still live in Pleasantville, N.Y., where my husband, Peter Scherer, is mayor and owns a graphic design firm. Caroline (Skidmore ’10) is the stage manager for a local theater company; Ben (University of New Haven ’13) plays guitar for the band Palehound and is currently on tour at SXSW in Austin.

The Emmy award-winning Barbara Grunbaum has produced, written, and directed a new DVD released in March titled Community Cornerstones: Historic African American Communities from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. More information can be found at HeritageMontgomery.org.

Howard University announced that one of the nation’s leading pediatricians, Joseph L. Wright, M.D., M.P.H., will chair its Department of Pediatrics June 2014. “We are thrilled to welcome a leader with the experience, expertise, and passion that Dr. Wright brings,” said Mark S. Johnson, M.D., M.P.H., dean of the College of Medicine. “Dr. Wright is nationally renowned for his advocacy, public policy and research endeavors. His commitment to outstanding patient care and service to the community are consistent with our core values here at Howard.”

And lastly, John Papa writes, “I had another Sky View Concert series fundraiser at my house in Avon, Conn., to the tunes of The English Beat. Dancing to the Ska music from Wes was co-sponsor John Majewski, Neil Fitzgerald, Bob Burnett, Billy Schmitt, John Gaebe ’77, Paul Malnati ’77, Sean Mckeown ’77, and Jim Carey ’77. People came from all over the country for this great outdoor event. Figuring out now who the next band will be but the clue is ‘I don’t want to go home’. Also just got back from a get-together in Key Largo with 16 Chi Psi’s and one DKE, hosted by John Gaebe and Neil Fitzgerald. After a breakfast at Riviera CC in Miami with Coach Mike Whalen ’83, we were off to the Keys for golfing, boating, and fishing amongst a few other adventures. The Chi Psi’s made an effort to convert the one DKE, Jim LaLiberty ’77, but even with a potential trade, a signing bonus, and a pillow case walk, he stayed true to the boys on High St. The other Lodge men at the event were Bob Latessa, Bill Schmitt, Bob Burnett, Tom Dwyer, John Majewski, Don Dandelske ’78, Buddy Taft ’77, Sean McKeown ’77, Willy Sillin ’77, Paul Malnati ’77, and Dennis Harrington ’76. Best few days of our lives!”

And may that be the same sentiment after our 35th Reunion in May.

Gary Breitbord | gbreitbo@aol.com

Ann Biester Deane | Abdeane@gmail.com

Greetings, classmates! Thanks to your overwhelming response to the request for updates, we have a full column plus more news and photos online.

Bob Kalb is a professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he is primarily involved in research. His NIH-supported lab is working on two main projects;­—one with relevance to childhood intellectual disabilities and autism, and the other focuses on childhood and adult motor neurons diseases (Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS). Rob and his wife have two sons in their 20s pursuing careers in business and film.

Mary White Giffin sends a shout out to the “other” Mary Frances, Joel, Kate, Anne, and Monica. She splits her time living in both D.C. and Rhode Island, working for the federal government on health policy.

Tim Hollister’s new book for parents of teen drivers, Not So Fast, has had a successful national launch, nsfteendriving.com. Proceeds are going to the Reid Hollister Memorial Fund, which helps low-income families in Greater Hartford with infant and toddler education costs, and several national traffic safety programs.

Marian Read Place reports, “I’ve just published Slowing Down in a Speedstressed World: Practical Skills & Kindly Advice (2014, Amazon), integrating my background as a psychotherapist with the wisdom of numerous interviewees. Offering small steps toward changing a stressful, over-hasty pace of life, my book reveals the connection between slowness and calm, identifies faulty thinking that accelerates our pace, and provides skills for working with the anxiety that inevitably arises when we downshift in our hurry-up world. Readers, whether employees, retirees, parents, or job seekers, will find chapters specific to their challenges. Here’s hoping the book is helpful to busy Wes folk. Questions and networking ideas welcome. marian@slowlutions.com.”

Joe Haddad is excited that his son, Caleb ’17, is enjoying his freshman year at Wesleyan. Joe’s work is good and he spent a week in Lesotho last year, where he’s helping Columbia start the country’s first medical school.

Bill Friedler’s boutique law firm, Friedler Law Group, has joined the firm of Conn, Kavanaugh, Rosenthal, Peisch & Ford LLP in Boston. He will keep himself busy managing the trusts and estate planning and probate administration matters of this new firm.

Lisa Landsman sends her best to all Wesleyan folks and writes that she lives just outside D.C., with husband, son, and standard poodle. After spending the fall planning her daughter’s wedding (which went beautifully), she may consider becoming a wedding planner! Wes folks at the wedding included Diane Burstein and Lisa Halberstadt. Before becoming a wedding planner, she’s finishing up an MPH at Johns Hopkins so she will look for a job doing law/public health first.

Rich Kozlowski, who lives in Gales Ferry, Conn., made a fairly dramatic career shift from a systems analyst in the Navy R&D field to an armed guard at Millstone Nuclear power plant in Waterford, Conn. He loves the job, but not the long hours. He lives in a multi-generational home where the “grandchildren are a hoot, but very active, and his energy level has a hard time keeping up.”

Nancy Chen has moved to Fort Collins, Colo., from Long Island, N.Y., for the mountain lifestyle. Her older daughter, Ariane, is in college at Chapman University in Orange, Calif; her younger daughter, Isabelle, is a junior in high school. Nancy is working on her first book, an autobiographical memoir, and seminars for her professional and personal development business.

Bruce Phillips still enjoys working as a family doc and also practices a lot of yoga, plays tennis, and takes singing lessons. He’s still happily married to Judy and his two daughters are graduating from college. He thought Cheryl Cutler might be amused to know that he performs in a musical once a year and this year he choreographed most of the numbers.

David K. Greenwald is the marketing and production adviser for the upcoming movie project Sammy-Gate, a dark, political satire, that asks the question “Might Sammy Davis, Jr. have been the catalyst that caused Watergate?” Director Noel Lawrence ’93 and his co-screenwriter have unearthed the clues to keep conspiracy theorists up at night. You can get a sneak preview of Sammy-Gate at facebook.com/sammyfilm.

Tom Bledsoe, his wife, Lexi Turner ’83, and family live in Newton, Mass. He and Lexi met after Wes, at the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership where they were both working and which Tom ran from 1990–97. For the past 15 years, he has built and run the Housing Partnership Network (housingpartnership.net), a cooperative of the nation’s top social entrepreneurs in the housing and community development field. They help nonprofit leaders and organizations collaborate through peer learning and shared business platforms. Their teams in Boston and Washington, D.C., include Wesleyan grads Danielle Samalin ’00, who runs their homeownership initiatives, and a partner at Wells Fargo, Megan Teare ’91.

Their daughter, Maddie, has just been accepted into next year’s freshman class. The proud parents look forward to spending more time in Middletown and traveling the NESCAC circuit to watch Maddie and the Cardinals basketball team play throughout New England. Tom is trying to keep up better with classmates and recently had lunch with David Karnovsky and Sue Kaplan in NYC, where David is moving into private law practice after many years in city government and Sue is working on community health issues at NYU.

Our family reached several milestones in the last year: Our 25-year-old daughter married her high school sweetheart last June (fully honing my wedding planner skills), our youngest went off to college in the fall, and Nick and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in May. I’m continuing to enjoy life/wellness coaching as well as the freedom to travel more now that we’re empty nesters. But, we love that our kids are still home often, in fact, several have announced they’ll be around “for the summer”…so much for the empty nest!

Renny Smith, Julie Scolnik, Elizabeth Weiss Ozorak, and Jeff Nesson all sent photos along with their news which can be found at magazine.wesleyan.edu. Click on “Class Notes” and go to 1978. Wishing you all a wonderful summer. Please keep sending us your news, especially if we haven’t heard from you in a while.

SUSIE MUIRHEAD BATES | kmkramer78@hotmail.com

Ken Kramer | sbatesdux@hotmail.com

It boggles the mind to think how much more difficult the task of Class Secretary would have been in the days before e-mail. You’ve all made my life easier by replying to my pleas for class notes and updates. Many thanks! What also delights me are the number of first-time contributors we are still hearing from after all these years. Here we go:

Jay Kilbourn wrote about his profession combining business and ecology. Jay is VP of the firm Resource Solutions ,which is doing a host of good things: making composts from bio-solids, assisting paper mills in recycling their products, and assisting farmers in New England and New York with fertilizer alternatives made from wood and other materials. All of the work is part of thinking known as industrial ecology, to redesign industrial processes so that waste will be intentionally recyclable and a more valuable resource.

Bob Nastri has been nominated to the State Superior Court by the Governor of Connecticut. Sarah Schultz O’Loughlin is a school psychologist at a Charter Public School in Norwood, Mass.; she lives in Hull, Mass., is happily married to husband Spencer, and has four sons. I was impressed to hear that her sons are in business together.

Eric Simons, a frosh hallmate of mine, writes from Colorado about building a new home in the hills of Buena Vista, soon departing from Boulder. Eric, always the outdoorsman, has been developing and building wind farms around the globe. He’s married to his nearly retired corporate lawyer wife, Linnea, and has three grown sons. Eric would love to hear from Jack Brandon, Lee Brown, Greg Powell, Sarah Plotkin, and Leah Schmidt.

Carol Cooper has a 2013 music feature for the Village Voice, on the yearly Globalfest international artist showcase, which is up for a Pulitzer Award. In addition, she is teaching creative writing at the Manhattan Center for Science and Math. By the time we read this, John Fink will have made his way to New York for TV business and hopefully met up with Rick Dennett and Peter Guenther. Buzz Cohen has begun previews for his 62nd production as stage manager at the Public Theater in New York. Buzz manages one show per season at the Trinity Rep in Providence. Julie Shapiro is teaching law in Seattle and is proud of her son Eli ’17, a freshman at Wesleyan. Will Altman has been busy publishing works on the following: Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche: The Philosopher of the Second Reich; Martin Heidegger and the First World War; Plato the Teacher: Crisis of the Republic; The German Stranger: Leo Strauss and National Socialism. All books are published by Lexington Books. Will has retired from more than 30 years teaching in public high schools to devote himself to research and writing. He resides in Florianopolis, Brazil.

Jim Melloan wrote of leaving his position at Inc. Magazine to move back home to Westfield, N.J., to care for aging parents as well as do freelance writing and editing. On Sundays, Jim co-hosts a music jam at a place called Old Man Hustle on New York’s Lower East Side. He is in touch with Tom Kovar ’76, David Oppenheimer ’78, Jack Freudenheim ’79 (and his band Borough Boys), Ann Beutler Millerick, Professor Neely Bruce, John Williams, and Kit Reed.

Hank Rosenfeld’s book on Groucho Marx is receiving rave reviews in Italy. Sue Guiney wrote in about her new novel in her Cambodian series: Out of the Ruins. Sue has spent several months in Cambodia this year teaching a workshop in a shelter that is part of a different NGO: Enfants du Mekong. It has been helping kids in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam for over 50 years.

Mark Beamis wrote about remaining sane and serene as well as adjusting to the change in mayor in Boston. Jerry Stouck and wife visited their Wesleyan junior son David ’15 late last year in China and reports David’s siblings are all fully engaged in academics: both as graduate and undergraduates. Laraine Balk Hope wrote late last year describing her economist work at the Inspector General’s Office for the U.S. Postal Service. Her husband, John, is teaching biotechnology at Johns Hopkins. She is spending time with her extended family in the UK including a new grand-nephew. Lisa Nelkin and husband Bret are retired and living in Colorado Springs, traveling RV-style throughout the US and Canada. Lisa has a daughter married and living outside Baltimore, as well as a certified therapy dog.

Jerry Caplin is busy renovating homes in Charlottesville with his company, Silk Purse Properties, creating affordable rentals for blue collar families. He appears to be loving every minute of it. By the time we read this, Deb Mercer should have returned from her husband’s birthday celebration in France. Jane Goldenring has been a visitor in New England during this relentless winter to film Boychoir with an all-star cast including Dustin Hoffman. In addition, her new Disney Channel TV movie, Zapped, will be aired this summer. Finally, Peter Oldziey writes noting however the technology has changed things such that appreciation of music, or how he organizes his outdoor adventures, he still relaxes in jeans and tie-dye shirts just as he did at Belknap or on the Lodge or Upper Porch. “The more things change the more they stay the same.”

Ain’t it the truth!

Gerry Frank | Gfrank@bfearc.com

I was pleased to hear from Dan Bellegarde whom I last saw on a night out at a jazz club in New York City so many years ago. Dan and his wife, Marcia, are living in Vienna, Va. Dan has been with the State Department for 26 years and will retire Nov. 30 with 27+ years of service. Dan and Marcia met on Dan’s first tour with the foreign service, and they have two children. Stephen is 24 and an air traffic controller in the Air Force. Isabelle is 12 and in the 7th grade. They just moved to a new home and, after all the moving around for work, plan on staying put for a while. Good luck to you in retirement­—please stay in touch.

Carol Bellhouse continues to write and seems to be more prolific with each passing year. She has four books coming out in 2014 and the seven books she has already published can be found in print or via download at Amazon or CreateSpace or in local bookstores (for those of you lucky enough to still have them). Emboldened by this year’s harsh Chicago winter, I suggested to Carol that we have an alumni snowfall competition. That was before I realized she lives in Leadville, Colo., at about 10,000 feet above sea level. Even with some poetic license (or outright lying), Chicago can’t beat the five feet of snow then in Carol’s backyard. But we are contenders of a sort. As I write this on April 14th , after the third worst winter in Chicago (recorded) history, it is snowing briskly. This is not supposed to happen.

Barbara Birney is working as a volunteer at the Lumo Community Wildlife Sanctuary for six weeks on the development of income streams for local residents as a way of mitigating conflicts related to wildlife-human co-existence. She would be interested in hearing from any other alumni who are working on similar conservation efforts.

Steve Goldman was recognized by The American Registry as one of North America’s top attorneys. Way to go, Steve! Steve recently has been doing the college tour with his son Zach. Unfortunately for me, Chicago area schools were not on the tour. However, Steve and I have tentative plans to get together in Northfield, Minn., later this year.

Alan Haus continues to carry the flag for the Class of ’76 in San Francisco. He became the head of the intellectual property practice at his law firm there. Alan has three daughters. He could not convince the first two to consider any college more than ten miles away from the Pacific Ocean, let alone a campus in Middletown, Conn. Two years from now he will have one last shot at that, with daughter number three. We shall see . . .

Chris Mahoney married Joan Barrett in Aug. 2012. They met at the UVA business school back in the day. They live on a farm near Gettysburg, Pa., and also have an apartment in NYC. Joan has a pack of beagles which she actively hunts. Chris, who retired from Moody’s in 2007, has a financial blog: capitalismandfredom.blogspot.com.

Alan Miller, the president and CEO of The News Literacy Project, is continuing his excellent work in educating young people on how to know what to believe on the Internet. A story about the organization he founded, which has programs in the Chicago, New York and D.C. schools, was featured in the Wesleyan magazine. If you missed it: magazine.wesleyan.edu/2014/02/26/news-literacy-project-launches-online-curriculum/.

Ted Shaw, as you no doubt have heard by now, was going to be this year’s Wesleyan commencement speaker. Congratulations, Ted! I am sure that you will inspire everyone.

Bruce Tobey ’75 a fellow DKE and an honorary member of our class, has started a real estate business with some of his family members. It is called Tobey Seaport Properties and its website is: tobeyproperties.com. Good luck with it, Bruce!

Byron Haskins writes that he is a proud father. His daughter, Anna R. Haskins, PhD, who married Steven E. Alvarado, PhD, both on the faculty of Cornell University, on March 29, 2014, also published her first solo article in an academic journal. It is “Unintended Consequences: Effects of Paternal Incarceration on Child School Readiness and Later Special Education Placement,” Sociological Science, April 2014. The wedding was wonderful and a great mix of sociologists and people doing the things sociologists study.

This is a big birthday year for most of us. Why not write in something about yourself or share some of your observations on becoming more worldly and wise? For my part, I pledge to reach out a bit more and find at least some of you on Facebook and other social sites. But don’t wait to be asked. Write something in about yourself, your family, or your friends for the next quarter.

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

At age 60, I tried a personals ad to fill a void in my life, and it worked! Here’s what I wrote to my Wes classmates: “Middle-aged, married, female Secretary seeks news to share. Births (probably grandchildren these days), marriages (kids or yours), worklife changes, retirements, travels, and other doings all welcomed. Class Notes deadline looming; write soon!” Sixteen folks responded pronto, and their news follows.

David Weinstock wrote from the Vermont Studio Center, where he was spending an intensive week with 60 other writers and artists, including Jake Nussbaum ’10 and Hilary Mullins ’84. He was waiting to receive from Olin Library a pdf of his long-lost senior thesis, “New Poems, 1975.” Older son Ben is graduating from Wheaton College (an English major) and younger son Dan is completing his first year at Lehigh University (materials science and engineering). David’s wife, Ann, has returned to Middlebury College’s development staff, now representing her alma mater’s graduate and special programs (Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and Language Schools).

Bruce Paton’s term as chair of the management department at San Francisco State University is ending, and he’ll take over as faculty director of graduate programs for the College of Business. He’ll run SFSU’s MBA program, the MS in Accounting, the executive MBA program, and hopefully revive a dual degree program with the University of Nice in France. Bon voyage, Bruce?

Jane Hutchins and Janet Brodie planned to get together in Boston with Risa Korn in mid-May. Details to follow.

I received a reciprocal personals-ad-style reply from Ed Van Voorhees: “Cranky classmate enthralled with birth of first grandchild, Lucy, Denver, Colo., born April 2 to son and daughter-in-law (what’s-their-names).” Their names are now Lucy’s Mom and Lucy’s Dad.

Len Burman writes, “I am not in the habit of responding to personal ads,” but respond he did, although he’s still married to Missie. (They met at Wes.) “I returned to D.C. to head the Tax Policy Center (again) after a four-year stint at Syracuse University. I’m still teaching one course for SU, in Washington over the January short term, and currently hold the Paul Volcker Chair there. We have a 2-year-old granddaughter, who lives in upstate NY and is completely adorable. Two of our four adult kids live in DC. One is finishing up an MPA at Syracuse and hoping to get a job here.”

For one of the first times in 39 years, David Nelson checked in. David’s finishing his sixth year as rabbi and faculty member in religion at Bard College in the Hudson Valley, a position he loves. “Marrying off our youngest son in June—in attendance will be, inter alia, our grandson who will be 17-months-old at that point. The sad news came a couple of weeks ago when I heard of the death of Chuck Raffel ’72, who was very involved in Jewish life at Wesleyan and with whom I had stayed in touch over the years.”

Bliss White McIntosh and Maryann McGeorge found one another serving on the same small board of directors of a classical music organization called Music From Salem. Funny thing is that they never knew each other at Wesleyan!

Given local seismicity, it’s reassuring to hear from a Bay Area classmate, “No earth-shaking news from me!” Paul Bennett is still working at Chevron after 34 years, still married after 28 years, and has two 20-something sons living in NYC; one in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn and one (Wes ’13) in Manhattan. Paul is grateful for the excuse to visit NY a couple times a year. Now that they’re fully empty-nesters they’ve started working through the “one of these days” trips—two years ago was Slovenia/Croatia, and Botswana Safari/Cape Town; last year was hiking the Cotswolds in England; this year is Ireland and Turkey.

Jan Schwaner writes, “I am enjoying retirement from the hectic world of front-line pediatrics. I have thrown away my alarm clock and spent over 1/3 of the days last year out of state, visiting family and friends as far away as Australia, keeping track of my ailing parents, attending chamber music camp at Bennington College, and paddling my kayak. I plan to play baroque trios at Bennington next summer with Scott Brodie ’74.” Jan’s husband, Tim Hill has retired from the computer industry and is running a duplicate bridge club full time and directing tournaments. In that role he crosses paths with Peter Marcus ’77, a fellow tournament director. Jan and Tim flew to Sydney in March to meet their 2-week-old granddaughter, “the most fabulous baby ever born.” When she moves with her parents to Philadelphia in September, the Schwaner-Hills look forward to becoming interfering grandparents. Younger son, Peter ’08, plans to marry his boyfriend in June, coincidentally on Jan’s and Tim’s 39th anniversary.

Cathy Gorlin vacationed in Florida this spring, in Naples where she enjoyed dinner with Bill Hutchins ’73 who is a radiologist in Naples and fellow Minnesota native. They recalled Wesleyan Minnesotans getting together on occasion to watch Mary Tyler Moore on TV throwing her hat up in the air on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. In mid-August, Cathy’s son, Ross, will be moving from Hawaii to Denver and will be looking for an emergency medical services job; let Cathy know if you have connections in Denver that can help him find work in that field. Ross will be traveling around Asia for two months prior to moving back and spending a few weeks of August with Cathy and her husband. Their daughter, Lauren, got her MBA from NYU last May and works for Google in NYC. Cathy continues to head the family law department at Best and Flanagan and to practice family law full time in Minneapolis. She vacations at their summer home in Copake, N.Y., so she welcomes opportunities for visits there or in NYC.

It was wonderful to hear for the first time from Carole Evans Sands in Keene, N.H. A highlight of her spring was meeting her three-time Wes roommate, Jill Rips, with Jill’s daughter, Sian, and Carole’s daughter, Alyssa, in Somerville for a long evening of Wes stories and lots of laughs. They hadn’t seen each other in a dozen years and missed old friends Dana Asbury and Wendy Goldberg. Jill was touring colleges with Sian, a junior at a U.N. model high school in San Antonio. Jill is still “the heart, soul, and brains of the San Antonio AIDS Foundation.” Carole left Keene State College’s Child Development Center last June after 25 years. She writes, “You get a clock at 25 years; decided I just didn’t need or want to hang in for 30 and a rocker. Our home was also becoming an empty nest with son Evan off to Pace University Lubin School of Business in Manhattan this year.” (Alyssa graduated from Wheaton in 2011 and works at Education First in Cambridge.) Carole now enjoys a full-time position with much less responsibility at Little Harrisville Children’s Center—a 40-plus-year-old nonprofit child care center, where farm families and professionals and lots of artists and assorted entrepreneurs make up the small friendly community.

Tina Hahn Jacobson has joined the “One Grandchild Club.” Two of Tina’s kids are in Atlanta, and one is in NYC. Check out her painting: Tinajacobsonfineart. While retirement is not yet in sight for her husband, it is an occasional topic of conversation.

Roger Weisberg reports that their oldest daughter, Allie ’05 and her husband, Peter, have a 1-year-old baby. Allie founded Recess, an arts organization, five years ago, and Peter works as an attorney for MFY Legal Services. Middle son, Daniel, is graduating from Yale Medical School and starting his residency in internal medicine at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Youngest daughter, Liza, is completing a two-year stint as a trial preparation assistant at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and will start law school at Harvard in September. Roger and Karen continue their respective work in filmmaking and foster children’s advocacy. Roger’s current project is editing a new PBS documentary, Dream On, about the vanishing American Dream.

Tracy Winn just completed a residency at the MacDowell Colony for the Arts where she worked on a manuscript for a second book of linked short stories. She is (like many of us) helping her mother prepare to move into a continuing care community and cleaning out the family home.

David Bickford’s news may surprise those who knew him at Wes. “I coached an All-Star game of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls, one of the top ranked track all-female roller derby leagues in the country, so their ‘all stars’ are some of the best players in the sport. I like to think my rousing halftime speech inspired the come-from-behind win.”

On May 1, Paul Gionfriddo became president and CEO of Mental Health America, the oldest national mental health advocacy organization in the United States. MHA is based in D.C., and has 228 state and local affiliates. Paul and Pam now live in two places—their home in Palm Beach County, Fla. (where Pam is still CEO of the county MHA affiliate), and an apartment in Alexandria, Va. (MHA has become something of a family affair—daughter Lizzie works for the Connecticut affiliate.) Paul’s new book, Losing Tim: How Our Health and Education Systems Failed My Son with Schizophrenia, now has a firm publication date from Columbia University Press: October 2014.

With respect to my “personals” ad, a few folks took a cheap shot at whether I qualify as middle-aged. While many of you are retiring and counting grandchildren, I still have a kid in high school, and several years of college tuition in my future. If that doesn’t make me middle-aged, I don’t know what does. I’ll just have to live to 120 to prove it!

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive. Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

]

Rob Ingraham writes that as well as attending our 40th Reunion, he also attended his daughter, Blair’s, graduation. She is now working in NYC. His son, Tucker ’16, completed his freshman year at Wes. Tucker is spending a second summer working for the Patriots under the watchful eye of Coach Belichick ’75. Rob is now 36 years in the sports marketing business. Stress reduction comes in the form of playing guitar in a ’60s/’70s R&R band. He also keeps busy with volunteer work focused on land preservation, as well as drug and alcohol programs aimed at students and parents in their community.

Carolyn White-Lesieur lives in the United States again after over 32 years in Paris—in Cambridge, Mass. She is very involved with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) as a teacher for their Family-to-Family course and on the steering committee of the Cambridge Middlesex affiliate. Just trained to become a family support group leader. To balance that out, she plays on two tennis teams at the Mount Auburn Tennis Club. She also interviews a few students every year for Wesleyan.

Judy Jay writes: ”After 27 years in [medical] partnership with my husband, Barry Shapiro, we closed our private otolaryngology practice two years ago. He joined a large multi-specialty group and I work part-time as a medical consultant for a private company doing medical coding review. I’ve enjoyed my free time and have been able to spend more time skiing, scuba diving, biking, and, simply living without the anxiety of running a medical practice. Our elder child, Rachel (Amherst ’09, Michigan law ’14), will return to NY in May with a job in a Manhattan firm, and our younger child, Rob (Cornell ’12), loves working at Group M ESP doing sports media marketing.

Ruthann Richter recently returned from Uganda as a global justice fellow with the American Jewish World Service. She has since been writing and speaking about her experiences and will be doing some advocacy in Washington to support U.S. polices that may have an impact on the conditions there, which were truly heartbreaking.

Chuck Gregory and Lorraine celebrated their 30th anniversary in March. Chuck continues to do Web development, publishing, and co-hosting The New American Dream Radio Show, which moved this year to Revolution Radio at freedomslips.com. Visit theshow.newamericandream.info.

Patricia Mulcahy is still an editorial consultant. See the website, brooklynbooks.com, for a look at projects. She is also a member of an indie editor group called 5E: Five Editors. Five Perspectives, and has started to do more workshops and teaching assignments. After 20 years living in Brooklyn, she moved to Jackson Heights in Queens—very multiethnic.

Victoria Ries writes: “After Wesleyan, I earned a PhD in Christian theology from the University of Chicago Divinity School. I have worked in the Archdiocese of Seattle for 35 years. For the last 25 years, I have been appointed by the Archbishop to provide leadership and pastoral care for two parishes. I have also been an adjunct faculty member at the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. I married Sam Saracino ’73 in June 1975. We have lived in Seattle, Wash., since 1979. Our son, Daniel, 32, lives in Madison, Wis., with his wife and two young sons; and our daughter Martha, 29, is a prosecutor in Fresno, Calif.”

Charles Cocores writes: “I’m still working as the educator in residence and certification officer at Connecticut College. We have four grandkids. Carol and I are Habitat for Humanity Global Village leaders and between us have done or run trips to Kauai, Molokai, Big Island, Portugal, Guatemala, Honduras, and a few other U.S. locations as well. We’re planning a Jan. 2015 trip to Cape Town, S.A. Let us know if you’re interested.”

Joan Catherine Braun writes: “I am thrilled to have been chosen as a Bay Area CFO of the Year finalist in the nonprofit category. Not bad for an English and East Asian History major!”

Jan Eliasberg has moved “home” to New York City. Her daughter, Sariel, was accepted Early Decision at Barnard. Jan’s episodic television directing career continues to blossom. Her episode of Unforgettable was the show’s season premiere, airing on April 4th. The drama she directed in Charleston, S.C., Reckless, was aired in June. She is also writing and directing an indie feature entitled Traveling Light, adapted from her own novel, and is developing a television series. She will teach at NYU Film School in the fall.

Blaise Noto is living in Chapel Hill, N.C., and relocated his marketing and public relations firm to the Raleigh-Durham Triangle. He is teaching motion picture marketing and distribution at UNC School of the Arts’ School of Filmmaking (one of the top film schools in the country), and also teaches a number of Communication courses at William Peace University in Raleigh. Last year, he was nominated for an Emmy as a producer of the documentary feature film When the Mountain Calls: Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan.

Chris Moeller reports from Minnesota that last fall Lee Coplan had dinner with them. Their daughter got married in March. In May their son graduated from the Univ. of Minnesota with a degree in electrical engineering.

Jose Goico writes that he and Annie have three grown children. Jeremy, 30, owns a business, Black Tie Ski Rental Delivery Service, in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. Madeleine, 26, is the administrator of the Hebrew and Judaic Studies Department at NYU, where she did her undergraduate studies, and is completing a master’s degree in public policy and administration at the Wagner School. Sara is in Iquitos, Peru, completing two years of fieldwork for her PhD in linguistic and cultural anthropology at UC, San Diego. Annie is the CFO of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.

Jose continues to work directly with children, adolescents, and young adults, the last 11 years as an educational therapist, and 23 years as a bilingual urban classroom teacher. He continues to play lots of music, mostly live with a great cover band, The Cartells (thecartells.com). Last year he released Secret Sign, a CD of original music three years in the making. Look for it on iTunes.

And now… some photos from Reunion. Send me more and we’ll post them.

SHARON PURDIE | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Phil Levien writes that “It was quite a year for my wife, Darlene, and me! Both of our children got married. Our daughter, Katie, married her longtime beau, Jason Babineau. They are settled in San Diego, where she works in social media for SONY, and where she and Jason met seven years ago. Our son, Josh, married his sweetheart, Simone Wyrick, and they are in New York, where he is working in digital marketing for Universal Music.” Phil says he also performed a 10-minute monologue written by his wife for a local charity event. It was a site-specific show based on a local historical figure. “It was the fourth time I’ve played a role she created and the first time I have acted for anyone but my students in almost 20 years,” he says. “I had a great time! Perhaps, I’ll do some more acting when I retire from my wonderful day job: teaching.”

Dana Barrows tells me “all is well” and he is still living in West Springfield, Mass., where he has been since starting law school in 1974. He has been with Northwestern Mutual more than 38 years as estate and business planning specialist. He says he is focusing on working with “high net worth entrepreneurs on all aspects of their personal business and estate planning.” He had navigated rotator surgery on both shoulders the past year-and-a-half and is pleased to say he is playing “quality golf again and will ski all winter.” Dana says his four daughters are “thriving, as are my two granddaughters living in West Hartford. I see them often. They are a joy and most precious gift.” Dana says he was “present for the thrilling victory over Williams for the Little Three championship, an elegant day on our beautiful campus.”

Rich Jasper enjoyed seeing folks at the 40th Reunion. “As the years pass,” he writes, “I am ever more thankful to have attended Wesleyan. I am particularly proud of the Wesleyan commitment to minorities during the turbulent 1960s. It was fascinating to view segments of the Grateful Dead in concert May, 1970. What a freshman year.” Rich says he was a panelist at Harvard Law School, Oct. 9th, 2013. The topic was capital punishment in America. Rich has been involved in federal capital defense for the last 20 years. He called it a “productive discussion of the issues.” He represented the defense perspective. He said a former federal prosecutor who tried Oklahoma City bombers represented the government perspective.

David Feldman has been doing a lot of work helping Mike Robinson, who is coping with Parkinson’s Disease. He writes, “From bringing him to our 40th class Reunion (and getting my car towed from in front of Granny Hale and Rich Jasper’s hotel in Hartford, and having to spend the night with Mike on Granny’s couch (Note to Self: Bring earplugs next time you sleep on Granny’s couch; he snores) to Mike’s surprise birthday party on July 22 in New Haven (with a lot of WesU brothers in attendance, along with Mike’s extended family), he’s the one I stay in most touch with.” David has seen Mike at least four times since our Reunion. “Since I was able to help get him physical therapy, his speech, eating, and ability to move have improved markedly—I’m very happy about that,” David says.

He also says his newest program, which he is teaching at the New York Open Center, is called Harmonica-Based Mindfulness. Its central thesis: “Breathing focus is the core practice of mindfulness, since it is the most reliable way to short-circuit unuseful fight or flight responses which cause anger and fear. When one cannot control anger or fear, mindfulness is impossible. The harmonica is the easiest way to teach groups or individuals breathing focus. Once breathing focus skills are achieved (called pranayama in yoga or Buddhist teaching), and anger and fear controlled, the more advanced steps of mindfulness become relatively easy. To find out more, go to: harmonicabasedmindfulness.com.” David is also doing a lot of work with thanatology (death and grieving issues), attending many funerals. His final deep thoughts: “Let old arguments and distancing go by, contact your friends and loved ones, apologize or explain as need be, and stay current with those you care about.”

Tom Pfeiffer also enjoyed seeing many of you at the 40th Reunion, adding “I’m alive and kickin’ up here in Wisconsin after an unusually long winter that is loath to give way to spring.”

David Swanson is a grandfather: “Our first grandchild came into the light at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan July 2013. How wonderful!”

On that note, my oldest daughter, Jennifer, is expecting a second child named Zoey at this writing in April, so Connie and I will soon be grandparents for a second time. Our first granddaughter, Taylor, is 14.

John Bocachica tells me he is in “semi-retirement” and notes he is “only working a few days per month by choice and looking forward to my 40th anniversary with my dear bride.”

pETER D’OENCH | Pgdo10@aol.com

This rough winter was particularly rough on the Class of 1972. On Feb. 15, Michael Heilpern died peacefully at his home in Claremont, Calif. Michael and his wife, Linda, started a typesetting business in California in 1979, and saw it grow and change into a Web consulting company that serves membership organizations, public agencies, and local businesses. He was actively involved in establishing online communities—spaces where people with common interests, devotion to a shared cause or geographic proximity, could connect. Among these were ClaremontCalendar.com, featuring community events in his home community, and LAjazz.com, a resource for Southern California jazz musicians and aficionados. He was involved in a variety of community and conservation causes, most recently a public policy document outlining a responsible strategy for the maintenance of Claremont’s trees.

On March 13, Eddie Ohlbaum lost his fight against cancer. Eddie was a professor at Temple Law School for years. He ran the school’s highly regarded trial advocacy program, founded Temple’s innovative LL.M. in Trial Advocacy program, and was a founding board member of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project at Temple. More importantly, Eddie was profoundly loved and respected as a teacher and mentor by decades of Temple students. Check out the outpouring of tributes at law.temple.edu/SitePages/Ohlbaum-Tribute/. But here’s mine:

“Eddie was my classmate at Wesleyan and we lived on the same hall freshman year. He was an always active, exciting, funny, energetic guy, who was ever true to his principles. Even then he was a true champion of justice and equality, and lived his Jewish faith every step of the way. I have many fond memories—wild times in the hall, sleeping on the same floor for the November 1969 peace march in Washington, his unannounced and unsanctioned visit to our archeological dig in Beersheba (and his unceremonious ejection from the camp by the head archeologist’s wife), and his constant, positive presence on the Wesleyan campus. He was truly one of a kind and he will be sorely missed.”

And this note from David Layne ’10, the secretary of his Wes class and Eddie’s student at Temple. David compiled portions of remarks he made at the tribute at Temple: “Professor Ohlbaum was a brilliant educator, but his brilliance was about more than how incredibly knowledgeable he was with the rules of evidence and its caselaw. He was brilliant as a professor and advocate because he had an uncanny knack for understanding what it takes to connect with people. Couple that with the fact that class with him was never dull. I’ve spoken with friends at other law schools who’ve told me how they hate evidence class, and that I am crazy for having loved it so much, and that’s 100 percent Eddie’s fault. His enthusiasm was infectious, and he brought the mundane to life whenever he was behind the podium for lecture (although I always found it ‘curious’ how he managed to consistently weave himself into his criminal fact patterns, such that our first exposure to the excited utterance was Eddie jumping in front of the podium, with a fictional knife in his back screaming ‘Ohlbaum did it!’)…I can say with confidence that Eddie Ohlbaum epitomized what it means to be a Temple lawyer and a Wesleyan Cardinal. No one believed in the students more here at our law school, or cared more about their success ,than Professor Ohlbaum. He was absolutely cherished here at Temple Law—and he will be missed—but his legacy carries on in scores of students who are unquestionably better trial advocates for having known him.”

Mike Busman’s first book, American Moment, has been released on Amazon and Kindle, and is going into wider distribution. The book lays out the case for a new party that will follow a reasoned, middle path towards a sustainable future. Favorable reviews and comments have been piling up, and you can also check out Mike’s blog at AmericanMoment.net where you can read more and get personally involved.

Bonnie Krueger is directing Hamilton College’s Paris program for the ninth time, located in the same Reid Hall where she studied in 1971. “Back then, we wrote aerograms and never called home; now students Skype and post selfies to Facebook. But Paris still works its magic.”

Roger Jackson has begun a three-year phased retirement from Carleton College, looking forward to more time for writing, travel, and teaching in other contexts. In that spirit, he spent the fall of 2013 as Numata Visiting Professor in Buddhist Studies at McGill University in Montreal, where he and his wife, Pam, lived downtown, enjoyed the city’s many delights, and tried their best to translate Québecois into Parisian French. Roger continues his work on Tibetan meditation traditions, Buddhist poetry, and the place of Buddhism in modernity. In recent years, he has reconnected with Frank Levering ’74, whose 60th birthday he helped celebrate by scaling Long’s Peak with him, a slog of epic length that proved neither of them are in their 30s anymore, in body if not in spirit.

Pete Clark’s book, Masterminding the Deal, came out in August. It was covered in the Economist, Institutional Investor, and Financial Times, and Pete was interviewed on BNN TV Canada.

From Win Watson: “Win Watson update. Three grownup kids. Two grandkids. Farm in Madbury, N.H. Full professor at UNH. Just had my first successful radio-controlled airplane flight. More importantly, just received the Brierley Award as the Best Teacher at UNH this year.”

Last June, Yale University published Steve Alpert’s collection of Indonesian art and textiles, Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia from the Dallas Museum of Art. The book has a number of authors, including Steve, and has been critically well-received. Sir David Attenborough has called it “the best book ever written on Indonesian art.” To celebrate Indonesia, and the book’s launch, a Who’s Who of Wesleyan alums and master gamelan players, led by Professor I.M. Harjito, his wife, Denni, Wayne Forrest ’74 and Sam Quigley ’74—and Alec McLane (director of the World Music Archives), Joseph Getter MA ’99 , Chris Miller MA ’02, Anne Stebinger, Barry Drummond, Leslie Rudden ’77, Mark Perlman PhD ’94 and others—all brilliantly accompanied famed Indonesian puppet master, Ki Purbo Asmoro, while he performed under the stars at the Nasher Sculpture Garden. Eyes of the Ancestors was awarded the 2013 Prix International du Livre d’Art Tribal. Wayne wrote to say “that the ghost of David (McAllester) is shining on us.” “Amen,” says Steve. “Wesleyan, largely through its dedication to world music, including its gamelan orchestra, gave many of us our first glimpse of one of the world’s most fascinating countries and its many diverse cultures.”

Finally, I was honored to be part of a most unusual event last December. Andy Feinstein celebrated the 50th anniversary of his bar mitzvah by having a second bar mitzvah! Along with Rich Easton and Paul Vidich, I was present as Andy led the sabbath service, read from the Torah, and (surprisingly) held forth on many topics of great meaning. Andy’s journey through life has not been an easy one, and this occasion marked the celebration of his coming to terms with that journey and himself. In his own words:

“This transition is to a higher level of personal honesty, to accepting and being compassionate with myself, to being comfortable in my own skin, to accepting love from others, and to loving others for who they are. This Bar Mitzvah is a celebration of my journey… Over the last 50 years, I have overcome challenges that I thought would kill me. You have, too. We have survived hardship and felt joy. We have buried people close to us and have welcomed new, fresh souls into our lives. We have gone through a lot. And, we are here. So, because you and I have made it to the Winter Solstice of 2013, it is right to have a big party.”

A big party of which I was honored to be a part.

SETH A. DAVIS | sethdavis@post.harvard.edu
17 Wolf Road, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520