Class Notes

Please write to your class secretaries.

Please write to your class secretaries.

Greetings from Chicago! My law firm merged with Atlanta-based Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP and I continue to practice employment and commercial litigation with a little bit of immigration law too. My daughters, Sarah and Norah, who recently turned 14, are graduating 8th grade in June.

On to other news. I had reported in a prior note that Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert were collaborating on a nonfiction book. They recently completed and submitted the manuscript for The Secret Life of Data, which will be released by MIT Press in spring 2024. Congratulations to them! Aram and his sister Rachel Hope Cleves also have a forthcoming science fiction novel entitled A Second Chance for Yesterday. It will be released by Solaris Books in August 2023 under the pen name R. A. Sinn.

Joe Pickard reports that his family has relocated (again) to the Bay Area in order to be closer to his daughter who started her collegiate career at University of California-Davis. Joe recently started a new position at Sandia National Laboratories as an ES&H coordinator for Sandia’s Livermore, California, facility.

Raya Salter started her own organization, the Energy Justice Law & Policy Center. She also is an appointed member of the New York State Climate Council and finalized the state’s climate plan. She also went viral after testifying before Congress about big oil and earned an attempted takedown by Tucker Carlson. Raya mentions that she saw Ingrid Lunden, Melinda Lombard, and Hayley Buchbinder in NYC in September 2022, along with David Buchbinder ’90.

I last reported that Dave Campbell extended his stay in Japan to continue to work at Dell Technologies in Tokyo for a fifth year. Dave and his family are leaving Japan later this summer.  He and his wife Brenna ran into Wes alums Grace Rubin ’18 and Lucy Rubin ’17 at a Harry Styles concert at Ariake Stadium.

Josh Protas sent a pretty hilarious update about a prank he pulled on John Lewis. In Josh’s own words: “April 1, 2023, will mark the second anniversary of the proclamation by Mayor Ruthann Fuller of John MacDougall Lewis Day in the City of Newton, Massachusetts. What on earth could John Lewis have done to warrant such recognition? The answer leads back to Wesleyan and several friends from the class of ’94 —Jon Bender, Gabe Meil, Tomer Rothschild, and me. John is one of the most caring and compassionate people you will come across. He is also one of the most gullible. And our group of friends has regularly exploited this to our great delight and amusement through a number of pranks, often executed on April Fools’ Day. Fortunately, John also tends to be a bit forgetful, and he regularly fails to remember how devious his friends truly are and he continues to fall for our pranks. In 2021 I reached out to the office of the mayor in Newton (where John lives with his family) about the idea of a proclamation to recognize John’s graciousness and good humor in being on the receiving end of pranks by declaring April Fools’ Day as John MacDougall Lewis Day. As it turns out, two of the mayor’s brothers (and many of her constituents) went to Wesleyan, and she was game.

“Below is the text that I submitted, which was pretty closely incorporated into the official proclamation issued by Newton mayor Ruthann Fuller. She even went to John’s house to personally deliver the written proclamation so that he would know it was for real.”

Recognition by the City of Newton, Massachusetts of John MacDougall Lewis, city resident, husband, father, and mensch

John MacDougall Lewis deserves public recognition, not for his contributions in healthcare management, not for being a caring and compassionate husband and father, not for being an upstanding citizen of Newton, not for being a kind and loyal friend, but rather for his exceptional ability to be on the receiving end of April Fools’ Day pranks.

For many years, John’s friends from Wesleyan University secretly conspired ongoing and escalating pranks to unleash on John, many, but not all of which, occurred on April Fools’ Day. As April 1st approached each year, John either completely forgot about the repeating pattern of history or let his airs of suspicion inexplicably drop. In stunning displays of gullibility and/or a misplaced faith that his friends had reformed their ways, John fell for pranks over and over again (the bag of rocks hike, the airport extra cargo fiasco, the cancelled wedding venue hijinks, the fictitious Golden Shovel award, and the office laptop imbroglio stand out as favorites). What is remarkable about John MacDougall Lewis is how he accepts being pranked with grace, laughter, and respect for the effort put in to fooling him.

We can all use a little more laughter, especially during these challenging times. John MacDougall Lewis can take a joke like a champ and has an infectious laugh that brings joy to those around him.

John’s friends hope that by declaring April 1st John MacDougall Lewis Day in Newton, Massachusetts that John will forget all about the pranks we have pulled on him over the years and will not seek revenge.

And finally, Josh updates that he is “very excited by a career change and a deep dive into the world of vermiculture. With my wife Abby Foss and our children Eli, Noah, and Cory, we have launched District Vermiculture (DV) in Takoma Park, Maryland.” Abby also continues to teach AP Literature at a public high school in Silver Spring.

Operating out of a decommissioned air force hangar, DV has a large footprint and has rapidly expanded the scale of its composting operations. DV was recently recognized by the Vermiculture Association of Mid-Atlantic Producers (VAMP) at the National Vermiculture Expo as Emerging Vermiculturist of the Year and won gold ribbons for worm casting quality and soil complexity. Most exciting, DV has landed Sesame Street’s Slimey as DV’s official “spokesworm.”

That’s all for now.  If you are passing through Chicago—or are in Chicago—look me up!

—Samera

Julie Hanauer writes, “I’m still working as a full-time psychology professor at a community college, but also started ‘adjuncting’ classes at Stony Brook University. It’s been a nice transition and provides me with a great balance of students to keep me on my toes! I’m also getting married in June to an amazing man who keeps me constantly laughing and has become a wonderful soon-to-be stepfather to my two kids who are 12 and 15. I consider myself to be an extremely lucky person in a multitude of ways.”

Jacob Bricca’s second book was published in January by Oxford University Press. Titled How Documentaries Work, it is a behind-the-scenes, under-the-hood view into how meaning is created in nonfiction films and television shows. He also recently made a trip to Washington, D.C., with his wife and collaborator Lisa Molomot, to meet with congressional staffers about their film, Missing in Brooks County, which chronicles the migrant death crisis in south Texas. They brought two subjects from the film on the trip and lobbied for increased resources for identification and recovery efforts, and for a demilitarized approach to border security.

Bill Capuzzi writes, “Had a chance to hang out with the one, the only, Sean Cronin in November. We met in Delaware to see his daughter play in a hockey tournament. So great to hang for a night with Sean. Not surprising, we closed down the bar! Love him!”

Leigh (Gutsch) Lehman moved from San Francisco to Bend, Oregon, a couple years ago with her husband and two teens and is loving the slower pace and plentiful outdoor air. Please look her up if you ever pass through central Oregon!

Abigail Lorber Clarkson writes, “When I graduated from Wes, I took one month off and then started my master’s in education program. Two career changes later I am now happily working in a public library and recently earned my master’s of library and information science degree. For anyone contemplating a career change in middle age, I’m here to tell you, you can do it!”

Diego von Vacano has been advising Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales, head of the MAS Socialist Party, and his team in terms of lithium policy and anticorruption.

Tim Olevsky writes, “I was excited to get a chance to sing at Carnegie Hall back in October (not as a soloist, just as a chorister, but it was still pretty exciting!).”

Michelle Gagnon writes, “My first adult novel in over a decade is coming out on May 16. Killing Me is a humorous, feminist, neo-noir thriller about a former con artist who escapes one serial killer, only to end up in the crosshairs of another. And coincidentally, my editor at Putnam is fellow Wes alum Danielle (Springer) Dieterich ’13! I’m also finishing up a master’s degree in clinical psychology at Antioch University, while doing my therapy hours at the LA LGBT Center, working primarily with homeless teens and young adults. I’ve got one kid headed off to Princeton in the fall as a soccer recruit, and another entering senior year, so empty nesting is on the horizon. Hoping I can combine my book tour with a stop by Reunion in May, but that time of year will be unusually hectic with graduations.”

Cain Dimon writes, “All is well here in North Carolina. Trying to make it to the class reunion. After introducing my son to Wes this past summer during college tours, he has decided to attend Wes next year and is now in the class of 2027! Crazy to think about but looking forward to being back at Wes more often.”

Andy Nordvall’s older daughter, Athena Ngov-Nordvall, will graduate from high school this May. She’s a West Coast girl, though, so he couldn’t nudge her to Wesleyan despite her fervent interest in acting and costume design.

Dan Crane writes, “This June I’ll be at the Tribeca Film Fest with a documentary I wrote about legendary newsman Dan Rather, directed by Frank Marshall—if you’re at the festival, let me know! More docs are in the works.”

Thanks, as always, to everyone who wrote in with their news. Please keep it coming and we hope you had a great time at Reunion!

Please write to your class secretary.

Ann Goebel-Fabbri learned that not all too-good-to-be-true invitations are spam. After daring to hit “reply,” it turned out to really be an invitation to join a team of international experts informing an Inquiry from the UK Parliament, including former prime minister Theresa May. The Inquiry sought information on treatment recommendations for eating disorders in Type 1 Diabetes, Ann’s area of expertise.

Ann and Bill Fabbri’s daughter Kate “is enjoying her first year at Oberlin along with so many Wesleyan alumni kids that we’re no longer sure if Oberlin is the Wesleyan of Ohio or if Wesleyan is the Oberlin of Connecticut.”

Three of Ann and Bill’s Intown 21 housemates have kids at Wesleyan: Debbie (Skolnik) Rosenberg’s son Evan ’26; Achilles (Kiley) Papavasiliou’s two daughters, Phoebe ’26 and Alexis ’24; and Marni (Beck) Pedorella’s son Charlie ’24. Marni’s daughter Ava attends Northeastern and Ava hangs out with Bill and Ann to help their adjustment to empty-nest life.

Carrie Mosher Gadaleta’s daughter Shelby ’24, a junior at Wesleyan, lives in Low Rise and plays for Vicious Circles. Carrie tailgated at Homecoming 2022 and reports the students are incredibly impressive and experienced “a proud moment at alma mater.” Also at the tailgate: Joe Dalton and Cecilia Pohorille McCall.

Carrie works in commercial real estate for JLL in the New York tristate and greater Philadelphia regions. Carrie is Wesleyan’s regional representative for Westchester County, New York, and plans to host a summer event for incoming frosh.

Speaking of Cecilia, as director of Alumni and Parent Engagement at Wesleyan, she provides guidance to a group of alum including Scott Moore, Lexy Funk, Kiff Gallagher, and Pradeep Khurana on a project called WeSpark!, shining light on innovation and entrepreneurship and connecting the Wesleyan community.

Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky produced and directed a docuseries for ESPN+ called Bananaland, which follows the Savannah Bananas minor league stunt baseball team on their 2022 seven-city “World Tour.” The Bananas look like a cross between regular baseball, pro wrestling, and a circus. The New York Times said, “This five-part series . . .  is a ton of fun; the show moves between tryouts and front-office goings on, and everything has a festive, behind-the-scenes-at-the-circus air.”

Look for Laura Belgray’s first book, Tough Titties, on bookshelves in mid-June. Published by Hachette, it’s a true late bloomer, coming-of-age story set in NYC, complete with social humiliations, dating disasters, and work and adulting fails. Or, as her husband calls it, “Loser Sex and the City.” She promises “there’s a little Wes in it.”

Dan Mackta has been the managing director of Qobuz, the French high-quality music service, for five years. Dan, along with Jerry Reid and Dan Krainin, celebrated at Henry Turner’s wedding in western Massachusetts in autumn 2022.

After 30 years in D.C., Jamie Treworgy returned to Maine life, moving to Harpswell in 2021. Maria Snyder got the Maine memo, too, relocating to Portland after leaving a tenured academic position in the Midwest. She works as a freelance editor and translator and is also the member of an immigration legal services team, helping refugees and new immigrants. Maria ran into her former Russian House housemate Stefanie Trice Gill ’92 at a dance party, “where else?”

James Marohn lives in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, and is in his 30th year teaching elementary school kids in an after-school program in Newton. James hosts trivia events in the Boston area, and you can see him in person at the Corrib in West Roxbury. James used to see Michael “the Quizmaster” Lourie frequently, until Michael’s move to Florida. It was awesome to see Caroline Perez when she came to Boston for the Laver Cup in 2021!

Have you seen the international tour of West Side Story? Kate Huston Lambert’s son Ashton Lambert is part of the company through spring 2024, traveling throughout Europe and to several cities in Asia.

Tasos Theodorou writes from Dallas about an online reunion with the cast, crew, and musicians of Working, the musical put on by his frosh RA David Milch ’89. It was a great catch up and the first time they all got to watch the performance together!

Risa (Lasher) May celebrates 25 years of marriage to Brad and the 20th anniversary of their childcare center business in the D.C. area. As one of our dedicated class agents, Risa loves making and maintaining connections with classmates, to which I can certainly relate!

Alys Campaigne now leads climate initiatives for the Southern Environmental Law Center. The change finds her reconnecting with fellow SISP classmate Kevin Greiner. Alys finds herself on the Wesleyan campus to visit her daughter, Livesey ’24 (as well as visits to Haverford to see her son). While in Middletown she’s seen Silvia (Maleville) Molina and Tony Maxwell ’90.

To close, I’ll take this line from Alys’s message to me: “Every year that goes by reaffirms for me what we all know—Wesleyan’s best attribute is its exceptional and loyal alum.”

Ted Bardacke just completed his fifth year as CEO of Clean Power Alliance, the nation’s largest provider of 100% renewable energy, with over 1 million customers in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Ted recently “spent an evening in LA with my thrice-Wes roommate Robert Featherstone ’89, who is shooting a documentary on the history of Ultimate. And still always find time to visit a few times a year with fellow SoCal Wes grads David Igler ’88 and Cynthia Willard ’88, with whom we are currently commiserating about the (hellish, for the parents) college application process for our four boys around the same age.”

Speaking of the college application process, I loved being back on campus last September with my youngest child, high school junior Camryn. Camryn and I toured campus and attended the information session, but the highlight of our visit was meeting up with Sarah Ellenzweig’s oldest son Charlie ’25, who is currently loving his sophomore year at Wes.

Finally, we were saddened to learn of the passing of our classmate Laurie Harrison. As written by Marc McKayle ’88, Laurie was “brilliant, charismatic, funny and authentic.” We extend sincere condolences to Laurie’s friends and family.

Wishing all of you health and happiness this summer.

Please write to your class secretaries. 

Hillary writes for this issue.

Alisa Newman reports that her daughter fell in love with Wes after being convinced to take a tour, and she’ll be joining the first-year class this fall.

Steve Almond writes, “I’m living outside Boston, teaching creative writing at Wes, and excited that the paperback of my novel, All the Secrets of the World, will come out in spring 2023. Twentieth Century Fox has optioned the book for TV, and they’ve made another novel of mine, Which Brings Me to You, into a movie starring Lucy Hale.”

Rich Silverman has retired from the entertainment industry and is working as a real estate agent for Corcoran in NYC, which he’s finding fun and rewarding. “I’ve closed purchase, sale, and rental deals all over Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens and I seem to be a strong contender for rookie of the year.” In his free time, Rich loves discovering new restaurants and also enjoys attending book discussions. “Most recently, I listened to Wes alum, Andrew Meier ’85, discuss his new book, Morgenthau: Power, Privilege, and the Rise of an American Dynasty; Andrew was kind enough to sign my copy at the event. I had a wonderful time this past September at the annual Wesleyan football event hosted by Dave Thomas ’77, and it was gratifying to see the team perform so well. I’d love to connect with any Wes alums in NYC. I’ll always make time for a coffee meetup or a drink. My phone is (310) 413–6654 and my email is Rich.Silverman@Corcoran.com.”

Julie Lenner launched her own consultancy last year after 25-plus years in senior leadership roles in the nonprofit sector, including cofounding All Stars Project of Chicago. She’s happy to discover that helping multiple organizations simultaneously is just as gratifying as working to further one organization’s mission.

Paul Lewis reports, “After four years of work, my new book was just published, Manual of Biogenic House Sections (ORO Editions, 2022), which argues for how plant and earth-based materials can be a catalyst for a reinvention of how we build, by sequester carbon, engage regenerative life cycles, and create healthier spaces for living. It’s a follow-up to the book I wrote with my two partners in 2016, Manual of Section, which has now been translated into seven languages and is frequently found dog-eared on students and architects’ desks. We produced an exhibit about the new book and the problem of carbon released in the making of building materials, which has traveled from Princeton to the AIA NY Center for Architecture and is now at UVA, with many other venues planned for the coming year. I continue to teach at Princeton School of Architecture, and my firm LTL Architects recently completed a new residence hall at Carnegie Mellon University.”

Finally, after working at the Museum of the Moving Image for 34 years—the last 12 of which he served as executive director—Carl Goodman is now president and chief executive of the Florida Holocaust Museum.

Stay well and keep sending us your news!

Hello classmates! When I sent out an urgent request for notes because I lost the deadline in my inbox, you over delivered! Maybe this is a new strategy.

Gennifer Weisenfeld’s new book is Gas Mask Nation: Visualizing Civil Air Defense in Wartime Japan. She is the Walter H. Annenberg Distinguished Professor of Art and Art History at Duke. Her husband, Derek Jones, a principal at the architecture firm Perkins+Will, won an North Carolina AIA award for his library design.

Grattan Baldwin and his wife Cristina welcomed a baby girl, Maria Luce Frederica Baldwin, in March. Luce is strong and healthy, and her parents need sleep.

Hemanshu Nigam runs a new group at Venable LLP, an American Lawyer Global 100 firm in D.C. Venable Blue is a legal and consulting service that helps clients protect their reputation and manage risk online.

Did you see Daniel Rauch quoted in places like CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal? Dan advocates for pediatric inpatient care nationally, bringing attention to the decades-long reduction in pediatric hospital beds, especially in rural and underserved communities.

Sebastian Bennett’s novel Seasons of Yen, based on his experiences in Japanese advertising, was published in 2021, and his story collection, A Taste of Heaven, hit shelves in 2022. Sebastian gave ChatGPt the same 1983 challenge West College gave us: Why is a mouse when it’s spinning? Sebastian suggested it was a trick question that required a creative answer, and the AI engine returned, “The answer to this classic riddle is: The mouse is spinning because it wants to turn into a rat-tat-tat!”

Simon Connor runs a psychotherapy group practice in Seattle, hangs out with his eight-year-old daughter Gemma, and plays in a rock band with David Goldberg, Louie Hallie (son of late philosophy professor Philip Hallie), and Josh Cohen (nephew of late psychology professor Jeremy Zwelling).

Dr. Leslie Cannold lives in Melbourne, Australia, writing a column in Crikey often focused on learnings from the U.S.’s fragile democracy. She joined the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership as Head of Programs, working with Australia’s most senior public and private sector leaders.

Kim Wishart teaches anatomy and somatics to university dance students in Victoria, Australia. This brings her back to 1983, when she took Susan Lourie’s class at Pine Street studio. That class set her on a path of exploring and teaching movement through experiential learning, along with the general Wesleyan encouragement to experiment, create, and improvise. Skills for life!

Josh Bellin’s 2023 novel, Myriad, is a sci-fi thriller about a time-traveling law enforcement agent who goes back in time to stop crimes that have already been committed. This is his “adult” debut since he has published mostly young adult novels, but Josh says it is only for an older audience and not too salacious

John Dorsey’s younger child’s current housing lottery experiences remind him of the 1986 housing lottery. The group negotiations based on the size of the space; the thrill of getting a high number and perusing the offerings! John wound up in 2 and 4 Knowles Avenue, a house that no longer exists, on a street that has disappeared, with people who would continue to be part of his life—David Igler ’88, David Josephs, Holly Campbell Ambler, Sue Romeo Malestein, and Doug Koplow.

Lisa Pavlovsky works for a nonprofit called 10,000 Degrees, placing volunteer tutors in our country’s schools with the most need. She reports that Ron Fortgang continues to work in the field of negotiation; Elissa Wolf-Tinsman teaches at Colorado Academy; and Vivian Trakinski works at NYC’s Museum of Natural History, developing digital experiences. The museum’s newest wing includes a large-scale immersive venue called Invisible Worlds that Vivian’s been working on since Trump was elected president!

From London, Liz Rabineau says tourists are definitely back. She is a busy yet unofficial concierge service, greeting traveling family and friends. Liz enjoys the visits from President Roth ’78, who was hosted by 1987’s own Ian Rosen (also P’23) and his wife Sagra Maceria de Rosen in their Westminster home.

Shortly after the underwater volcano that sent a tsunami toward the island Kingdom of Tonga, Joe Crivelli linked up with friends Giulio Masasso Tu’ikolongahau Paunga  and Jon Hare, Zooming between Suva, Fiji, where Giulio was serving at the University of the South Pacific, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to catch Jon who is the Science and Research Director, Northeastern Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, and Vicenza, Italy, where Joe lives. They also connected Giulio to Jim Flynn (not the same Jim from our class of ’87) at Woods Hole where their researchers are doing important work in that region of the Pacific Ocean.

Josh Calder was featured in a Romper article called “What Our Kids Lives Might Look Like According to Futurists.” He told Molly Langmuir ’03, a fellow Wesleyan alum, that there are many positive paths forward, all enabled by not despairing. Google the article!

Thanks for the fast turnaround! Till next time.