Greetings and Happy New Year! Just a few notes this issue. Here goes. . .
Cheri Weiss moved with her husband Dan and their two little dogs, Hope and Josie, to Hawaii. She writes, “The dogs were totally confused at first (and I don’t think they appreciated the journey) but everyone has now adapted to our new home. The people are wonderful and kind, and it is really a wonderful adventure for our family.”
Cheri Weiss
Wayne Logan is in his 25th year of teaching law with the last fifteen at FSU. He has a book coming out this fall—The Ex Post Facto Clause: Its History and Role in a Punitive Society (Oxford Press) and is anxiously awaiting the bidding war on movie rights!
Rainer and Helen
Helen (Uddoh) Matausch and her husband Rainer sent a picture from Tunitas Creek Beach in Northern, California! (Yes, they are on the beach!) Helen has been in the medical industry for over 20 years and currently works for an acute behavioral health-care hospital. She finds it very challenging, never boring, and most definitely needed. Her goal is to get a doctorate in psychology focusing on counseling adolescents. Though not an easy age to deal with, Helen writes, “I have an affinity toward them! Wish me luck!”
Nicholas Herold and his partner Emily have been in Maine for three years, hosting short vacation stays at their Portland Victorian home in South Portland and in Eaton, New Hampshire. They are also real estate agents (residential and commercial), but their main focus is to provide an awesome experience for guests (Wes alumni receive a 10% discount). With COVID, the first floor became a rental apartment, they cooked their meals on a camp stove in the barn (ignoring as best they could the aromas of rodents and gasoline), and the cute little outbuilding where Emily and Nicholas had been sleeping became a private room for guests. Now they offer just three spaces and since they are private and more luxurious, it’s less work, despite an increasingly full calendar.
They are developing plans to work with reproductive health-care providers in Maine to use their resources to help women get the support and care they need. Loving to travel, they visited Portugal, Holland, and Belgium, and Chile last year. Last tax season they hired David Block ’81 to do their taxes and was a great experience!
Heather Rae sold everything in Maine two years ago and landed in southern Florida where she is building a private practice in terrain-based functional health, specializing in genomic biochemistry and detoxification. Her plan to leave the U.S. in 2020 to travel was thwarted by “COVID” restrictions, as she refused to take “COVID” tests or injections. Heather posts regularly on Telegram about scientific fallacies of “germ theory,” the “NO VIRUS” challenge, “vaccines,” and how individuals can attempt to remove environmental toxins contributing to their chronic health conditions.
I sent out a nudge about class notes and since you’re all dutiful A students at heart, I got a bunch of good material. Thank you.
First up is Ginny Pye who has, yes, another novel—The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann—coming out in 2023. If anyone needs inspiration for a later-in-life career, look no further. I saw Jenny Boylan ’80 in New York at a diner near where we used to share an apartment and passed along how pleased Ginny was to get a blurb from her without even asking. Jenny shrugged. “She’s a wonderful writer.” As her former publisher at Shebooks (My Mother’s Garden), I agree.
Suzanne Berne also has a new novel, The Blue Window, out in January. She and her husband Ken Kimmell have seen a lot of Wes friends recently: Rick Goldstein, Raf Ornstein, Elyse Klaidman, Martha Murdock, Shirley Hedden, Jane Hammerslough, and Ezra Palmer’81, Ginny Pye and John Ravenal ’81, and Jessica Barton’81.
Patty Smith is also writing up a storm, with a flash fiction piece showcased in a Page to Stage performance in Richmond, Virginia, and a couple of essays coming out soon in an anthology. She’s still teaching creative nonfiction and American literature at the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School in Petersburg. She and her wife also recently Zoomed with Michael Lucey, Holly Brown, Jenny Curtis, Anne Wise, and JoanneGodin’81.
Terri Seligman is still lawyering, married to the same person, and her kids are all grown up. She has a wonderful new hobby: playing with two Afro-Brazilian percussion groups, one all women (Batala) and one co-ed (Mambembe). “It’s been fabulous getting back to music, and fun to be a performer again.”
Christian Vescia enjoyed the reunion, as he has in the past—he and his wife Lucia reconnected at our 10th Reunion and married two years later. He retired from full-time work in October, leaving a Silicon Valley fintech start-up (Affirm) where he worked designing training programs and curricula. Now he’s busy with travel (Hawaii), exercise (swimming), gardening, guitar lessons, political activism (he’s keen on Andrew Yang’s Forward Party), and general puttering. Lucia is working part time doing physical therapy and sensory integration work with young kids.
Daniel Meier has been in touch recently with Peter Schochet, Joe Merrill, Dave Gaieski’81, Doug Jones, and Roger Hale. He hopes to return to campus next year; his niece is Wes ’26.
The “Stupid Dogs”—Jack Taylor, Bruce Crain, Dan Hillman, Kevin Foley, Stephen Daniel, John Mooney, Alex Thomson, and Peter Frisch—gathered again, as they have every year since graduation, “an event that’s ever more precious with the passage of time,” says Jack.
From left to right: Bruce Crain, Dan Hillman, Kevin Foley, Stephen Daniel, John Mooney, Jack Taylor, and Alex Thomson.
Congratulations to Charita Brown, who was recognized as a “Woman of Integrity” honoree at the Black People Rock Honors Ceremony (Maryland) for excellence in mental health advocacy, and who was also awarded a mayoral citation from Baltimore mayor Brandon M. Scott.
Susan Smythe says she and her husband Robert are enjoying working in the same place—Swarthmore College—where Robert, after a career in theater, is running the bakery in the school’s new sustainable and beautiful dining center, for which Susan was the project manager. (I don’t remember a bakery at MoCon…)
Paul Meltzer has been focused on local politics in Denton, Texas, a city of about 140,000 (“larger than South Bend, Indiana,” he points out). He served as a city council member, and mayor pro tem, fighting for a balanced, environmentally sensitive approach to growth. He challenged the incumbent for mayor and, as they say in the Olympics, “silvered.” He’s currently president of the Denton Rotary Club, writes regular columns in the Denton Record-Chronicle, and is working on a documentary following 10 aspiring actors from a previous chapter in his life. He’s still happily married to Bonnie Friedman’79, also retired from teaching creative writing and enjoying much more time for her own writing, and they’re more frequently at their place in Park Slope, Brooklyn, available to catch up with NYC friends.
Mark Sirota visited Joe Barrett at his family home on Chappaquiddick, almost to the day the 44th anniversary of the first and only other time they were there together, October break, frosh year in 1978. “I didn’t catch a fish this time either,” he says.
Beck Lee is hard at work on an initiative to forestall polarization and demonization of those who are unlike ourselves. His “can we all get along?” work, via the nonprofit Cultural Fluency Initiative, will celebrate cultures of all kinds and promote cross-group understanding and collaboration. “It all stems from my great good fortune over the years to have worked with cultural groups, artists, and leaders from so many interesting countries, walks of life, and perspectives,” he says.
Martin “Chip” Shore was bummed to miss our reunion, but he and his wife Shari were off with their son in Tahoe. Chip stopped work in January and spent most of the year skiing, playing tennis, biking, and working on his “honey-do” list, in addition to taking care of his parents. Unsure if he’s going back to work (it interferes with skiing, just saying), he’s volunteering to promote gender equality, transgender awareness, and financial education.
Like a lot of our classmates, Catharine Arnold and her husband John Bozzi ’79, are enjoying being “Nana” and “Papi” to their grandsons. “Lots of things have changed since our sons were babies—nothing in the crib, Snoos, sleep sacks, etc.—but nothing beats that beautiful smile and hug when they see you.” Greg Lewis, an owner and CEO of Aerosol Dynamics, also has a baby granddaughter, another who is a freshman at Columbia, and a grandson in grad school at Brown.
We’re grateful Lavinia Ross survived a near-fatal heart attack in June. “Every day is a gift,” she says.
Jim Friedlander wrote in with some up-to-the-minute news: Bonnie LePard was on the official guest list for the Macron state dinner at the White House on December 1.
Greetings from Brooklyn! We went to Maine last July and broke bread with old friends Seth Mirsky ’82 and Nicholas Herold’83. It was good to see them and their significant others. I also saw Jenny Boylan’80 here in NYC as part of her book tour for Mad Honey, co-written with Jodi Picoult. But enough about me. You all sent me about 1,500 words of news that I now have to pare down to 722. Here goes:
Paul Robinson reports that the Annie Haslam lead singer of the ’70s band of the Renaissance, has a “legacy” band of which he is a fan, and coincidentally Dave Miller was able to get him an autographed copy of a live album from years ago. “The ’70s live, people!”
Liz Rees reminisced about living on Foss Hill freshman year, and going to dance class in tights and a down jacket. She has a MA in poetry and teaches creative writing to everyone from school kids to grad students, and private workshops that are “like, conducting a post-MFA salon or workshop that lasts 15 years.” She has also published five books of poetry. She’s looking to connect with “any Wesleyan folks who live or summer in Downeast Maine.”
Sandy Herzlich writes that he and his wife Barb Martin Herzlich are now successfully retired in Wayne, Pennsylvania. They have three grandchildren. Barb is a “very successful potter” and Sandy is coaching local HS football. They returned for Homecoming. He was “especially pleased to be able to catch up with our classmates Tim O’Brien, Tony Difolco, and Paul DiSanto. Tony and I had the privilege of serving as honorary co-captains for the football team in the game against Williams. Photos of the event make us look like old men being helped onto the field by strapping young players. Probably because that’s a pretty accurate rendering!”
Laurie (Conrad) Kramer retired three years ago from her job as a software engineer in the genomics department at Princeton University. “An interesting use of my English major!” She lives in central New Jersey “with my husband Phillip and our dog and keep busy playing competitive bridge. I’d love to hear from some of my Wes friends.”
Wayne Pepper attended Homecoming weekend this fall in order to visit his nephew Adam Pepper-Macias ’25. He was delighted to see that Adam has followed in his footsteps by becoming a member of Alpha Delta Phi. Wayne gave Adam a tour of the CFA Theater, reminding anyone they encountered that he directed his senior thesis on the main stage.
Ariel Rubissow Okamoto launched a new San Francisco Bay Area climate resilience magazine called KneeDeep Times; we are indeed knee-deep in all kinds of challenges and messes these days. Ariel mentors emerging reporters, photographers, and artists. She is proud to report her daughter Tira is researching climate equity issues as a graduate student at Simon Fraser University, and her daughter Mikki is an architect in San Francisco. Ariel and her husband Paul continue their work to save the planet —he teaches sustainable design at the University of San Francisco. Ariel is also nearing completion of a memoir of her days as a Napa Valley vintner, for which she once appeared on the cover of Wesleyan’s alumni magazine. “Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end . . . .”
Charlie Spiegel will be celebrating his 65th (ugh, but along with many of you! Medicare) birthday mid-April in beautiful San Miguel de Allende (SMA) Mexico, where he celebrated his 60th with among others, Nancy Chirinos (Traub). “You are all invited, otherwise you will need to wait five more years, until we are, umm, well you do the math.” Attendees will include Nick Radcliffe and Pam Bolton ’85. Laura Fraser ’82, who is hosting in absentia, met with Charlie and Kate Rabinowitz ’83 to help plan the event. Charlie says: “We’ll celebrate at an authentic Mexican restaurant in the chef’s carport near where my partner Lon has a small house. BTW, Anne Stevenson Yang and I met up recently to swap stories of current national (Nevada, with Action-SF.com, a group I help coordinate) and local (Connecticut) election volunteering.”
Chris Graves recently hosted a minireunion of classmates from both prep school and Wesleyan, including Professor Jim Terry.
Chris worked full-on throughout the pandemic on the behavioral science of vaccine hesitancy. “I fielded the country’s largest behavioral science-specific study to decode the ‘sensemaking genome’ of the many ways people are hesitant when it comes to vaccines. The Rockefeller Foundation and Milken Institute asked me to chair a work stream on a global task force seeking to craft a blueprint for a better pandemic early warning system. I supported the WHO, UNICEF, Save the Children, and the Chicago Department of Public Health as well with behavioral science insights.”
Willie Lee Jones shared a great article about him and good things happening in the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Parks and Recreation Department, which he heads:
“County’s Park and Recreation Department and Director Receive Top Honors”
“The Charlotte American Institute of Architects recently awarded Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Director Lee Jones with the AIA Charlotte Citizen Architect Award at its 2022 Design and Service Award Ceremony.
“The AIA Charlotte Citizen Architect Award recognizes the work of architects who serve as elected or appointed officials, public administrators or institutional leaders and establish and contribute to the development of laws, regulations, policies, or initiatives that promote excellence in architecture.
“In addition to Director Lee’s award, the County’s Park and Recreation Department received the Great Public Space Award for Romare Bearden Park at the City of Charlotte’s Urban Design Awards. The goal of the local awards program is to recognize and celebrate quality urban design in Charlotte, while encouraging continued community discussion around what makes for unique and great places.”
Director Lee Jones with the AIA Charlotte Citizen Architect Award
Lauren Steiner sent us this update: “Smack in the middle of the pandemic, two years ago, I decided to move to Asheville, North Carolina, after 33 years in LA. I call it my third act. Act 1 in the Northeast. Act 2 on the West Coast. Act 3 in the South.
“I fell in love with this small city in the Appalachian Mountains 10 years ago and started seriously thinking about moving here five years later. It took the pandemic to light a fire under me. I moved with my 25-year-old son who easily found work in the restaurant industry in this thriving tourist town. I love living on 2.5 peaceful, quiet acres on the top of Butler Mountain at 3,500-feet elevation where I am an easy 15-minute drive from downtown. I love the fact there is no traffic here and so much to do and see in the realms of art, crafts, music, beer, food and outdoor recreation.
“I am still doing political activism and am happy to report Madison Cawthorn is no longer my congressman, although we got a more intelligent Republican, who will probably be worse. My Facebook/YouTube interview show The Robust Opposition is six years old now.
“And because of the appreciated value of my LA house, I now have the privilege and pleasure of adding philanthropist to my roles and am happily supporting many local causes and organizations.
“If anyone should find themselves my neck of the woods, please don’t hesitate to look me up. Laurensteiner57@gmail.com.”
Michael Sills is still in Dallas working as a noninvasive cardiologist in a very large “hybrid” group. He has stepped down as managing partner but remains program director for their training program and the imaging department at Baylor University Medical Center. “I am continuing running distances when I can but am most proud of our four children who have given us eight grandchildren. I don’t see retirement in my future as I keep committing to new projects.”
Daphne Raz writes: “My husband Phil and I still live outside of Lexington, Virginia, and are entering the phase where work for money is optional. We think about moving closer to family, but this is a great place to be with climate warming, less great for the culture wars. Still, someone has to do it!”
Ben Solnit lets us know about happenings in his life. “I continue to work as a part-time lawyer for Connecticut Legal Services in Waterbury, Connecticut, doing consumer law for the elderly. Sadly, I am now older than the low end of our definition of ‘elderly’!
“I am president of Morris Land Trust, an all-volunteer conservation organization in our hometown of Morris, Connecticut. Check us out at www.morrislandtrust.org.
“My wife and I have recently volunteered with Washington Refugee Resettlement Program and New Milford Refugee Resettlement. Each is a co-sponsor with Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services of New Haven and each welcomed a family of six from Afghanistan to New Milford, Connecticut, in April of 2022. Audrey tutors them in English and I am working on their asylum applications.
“Our older daughter Rebecca is a human resources consultant for Veris Insights in Washington, D.C. and recently competed at the Women’s National Club Ultimate Frisbee Championship in San Diego. Our younger daughter Anita is a licensed clinical social worker for Mt. Sinai in NYC, treating children and adolescents; she also is a volunteer with Mt. Sinai’s human rights program.”
Martha Bush shares: “This past spring, my husband John Tracey and I celebrated the marriage of our daughter Lauren. I ‘semiretired’ from being the chief marketing officer at our regional foodbank, Foodlink. I’m still doing a bit of consulting while trying to figure out this retirement thing.”
Peter Cherr sent us this wonderful update: “I shared a while ago about my ‘Haiku in the Time of Corona Virus’ Project that I began in March of 2020 when corona virus hit and it was truly bad. My hope for ‘Haiku in the Time of Corona Virus’ was, and is, that each day I might bring some inspiration to others, perhaps a bit of peace and calm, and even humor, during these trying, stressful times, perhaps offer some solace and give people a moment of respite from all the craziness around us . . . that it might be of help to people in some small manner.
“On April 12, 2020, the project officially began by launching on Instagram, posting a new haiku with an accompanying photo every single day, and by having a haiku (not put on Instagram and without a photo) from the project published by kindovermatter.com, who since then have continued to publish haiku pieces once a month. Since the launch of my project, despite having fallen and shattered my shoulder and losing much use of my left hand, I have not missed a day of writing a new haiku and posting one with a photo on Instagram. On November 1, I wrote my 1250th haiku for the project. If people would like to check out my project on Instagram, my page is @peter_c_cherr and the project is #haikuinthetimeofcoronavirus and they can find addition haiku pieces monthly in the Poetry Corner of kindovermatter.com.”
Cynthia Aaron left the medical directorship at the Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center in Detroit after 17 years and is currently semiretired. She moved to Dover, New Hampshire, because she missed New England and is enjoying living closer to family.
Julie Scolnik writes that it is enormously gratifying to finally see her memoir, Paris Blue, in print after 40 years of wanting to share this story. She loves the emails from her readers who tell her that they couldn’t put it down and that it brought back stories of their own. She recently won the Pencraft Award’s first place in memoir. Wesleyan figures prominently in the story, in her post-school, year-abroad experience. In October 2022, she returned to Reid Hall in Paris (where she first arrived to take classes in 1976) to play a concert and give a talk on her book. Julie also just released a CD with her daughter, pianist Sophie Scolnik-Brower, of the complete flute sonatas of J.S. Bach.
J.D. Solomon reports that he just published a historical novel set in 1928 in his hometown of Bay Shore, New York. Home News involves ruthless bootleggers, a trouble-prone war veteran, a cub reporter at a struggling small-town newspaper, and a popular police lieutenant assigned to a case that no one wants solved.
Doug Quint spent 35-plus years as faculty at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor and transitioned to emeritus professor of neuroradiology and MRI last summer. He plans to continue tennis, bicycling, and old guys softball.
Be sure to mark May 25–28, 2023, on your calendars; it’s our 45th Reunion! More information is sure to follow, and please keep sending your news our way.
The unusually warm November weather in New England (75 degrees) has made the onset of the holiday season that much more surprising, if not unreal. Nevertheless, folks have emailed from all corners of the globe.
Dave Levit and wife Ruth took a month-long camper van trip through the Southwest visiting the national parks as well as enjoying the sites of Santa Fe.
Iddy Olson has welcomed her first grandson, Merrick (joining two sisters), as well as announcing her “rewirement” plans for 2023, involving fewer coaching clients, adding more family time, volunteer work, and travel. Congrats!
Susan Leslie Raebeck and Barry Raebeck now have four grandchildren. They have retired as public school teachers after many years. Barry has a college admissions consulting business and has authored several books, the most recent of which, Joyful Teaching: Being the Teacher You Admired, to be published in March. Susan continues tutoring and sharing her love of life with family and friends all over the place. They met up in Tuscany with Liz Hancock Sillin, Will Sillin, Buddy Taft, and his wife Liz.
John Fink and JimUdelson will be holding a minireunion at a Bruce Springsteen concert in March. As president of Aloha United Way, John has the pleasure of working with charities, locally helping tens of thousands of people.
Jerry Stouck and wife Mindy were finally able to visit their son in Hong Kong at Thanksgiving. The Stoucks make their home in Park City, Utah, where they spend winters skiing, summers hiking and golfing, and hosting friends.
It was a welcome sight to see John Perdrizet’s name among my emails. John has an “integrative mixed animal” clinic in Holyoke, Massachusetts, with his wife Frankie. They have three successful sounding daughters in the medical and public health arenas and a couple of grandchildren as well. John received a master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). He has a chapter in a new book on Complementary Veterinary Medicine, and will co-author a second edition of the only vet textbook on Tui-na ( TCVM medical massage/manipulation).
Andy Darpino is a doting grandpa of beautiful twin girls. He is surrounded by incredible women including his wife, three daughters, and the two newest members of the family. Andy retired at the end of 2022, allowing for even more time for spoiling the new arrivals and fishing the Jersey Shore.
Danny Ruberman reports that he and wife Ann are spending six months in Berkeley, where he’s part of a research program at MSRI (Mathematical Sciences Research Institute). It’s a return to a place where they were both graduate students. Danny loves talking math in person with lots of colleagues from around the world. After Berkeley, it’s off to Japan, specifically in Kyoto for a month and then in Tokyo for two months.
Jonathan Gertler writes with great pride about his expanding family and the fine work his children are doing in sustainability, climate, science, and medicine: In essence, making the world a better place. Jonathan continues to indulge his passions in fly-fishing and music along with his entrepreneurial and life science stuff.
Vanessa Burgess attended Dave Thomas’s annual football fundraiser at the Yale Club in September where she saw Don Citak, who had just returned from vacation in Sicily. At Homecoming, Vanessa experienced perfect weather for the defeat of Williams and claiming of the Little Three title.
A service for John Driscoll’62 on Saturday morning was poignant—a reminder that life is about bringing joy into people’s lives as he always did.
Finally, two very sad notes to report on: Jane Eisner wrote in to say that Stephen Gavin died in September in Zagreb, Croatia, succumbing to an aggressive cancer that was diagnosed only months earlier. A memorial service will take place in Austin, Texas. At this writing, no date has been set. It is with great sadness that I report on the death of our beloved classmate, Don Spencer; he was such an important member of the Wesleyan family. His warmth, humor, and insights were valued by all. Don always managed great humor interwoven with the bravery he exhibited during his health struggles over many years. Don’s burial will be private in St. Augustine, Florida. Don’s wife Vicki and daughters will sit Shiva in NYC on dates and at times TBD along with a memorial in early 2023.Although more common at this stage of life, Stephen’s and Don’s deaths remind me to appreciate all that I have, especially good health along with the camaraderie of you all.
My best wishes and hopes for a happy and healthy 2023 go out to each and every one of you.
What we lack in quantity of notes, we more than make up for in wonderful detail from the people who wrote. Thanks so much to Byron, Liz, and Cindy!
Byron Haskins writes:
“Gabrielle and I continue our adventure in Montreal which, other than spending almost the entire summer at our home in Michigan, involves living in one, and now a nicer, old apartment on the west side of the city. But, like every other place coming out of the COVID hangover, we haven’t seen much of the city other than family. We did manage to help organize a tenant’s association before moving out. They really need one. Don’t get me going about real estate investment trusts as landlords . . . .
“And on another unpublishable topic, we are trying to sell her family property in Shefford—you can get the full story by going to my music website www.ignorantsavants.art. If you know anyone who wants a 1.2-acre riverside property with well and septic (the building needs a complete makeover or demo) for $200K U.S., this is the place! The ultimate plan is to return to a politically liberal Michigan and work to keep it a learned oasis of moderation in the upper Midwest.
“Meanwhile . . . I’m using all my free time continuing to learn to make music in intentionally eccentric ways and posting the attempts on SoundCloud under the ‘ignorant savants’ moniker—and on www.ignorantsavants.art. My goal is always to take a work from a germ of an idea to a completed piece (sometimes with an accompanying video) in less than 48 hours. I always give credit to Carol Bellhouse for stopping by my house, showing me GarageBand, and asking me if I could create music soundtracks for her poetry-art videos (https://carolbellhouse.com/movies/). It’s just fun, and if I were not retired, I’d consider it all a waste of time. I call it keeping my neural networks functioning while my spouse continues to work in traditional ways.
“I continue to intend to do more for the classmate conversation videos and, one day, Joanne Lukitsh and I will have coordinated time to turn it into something really amazing.”
LizdeSchweinitz writes:
“I really did graduate from Wes U in 1976, tho’ I knew few from that class, having started out in the class of 1977. A year at Wes, a year at Bowdoin, a year at Wes, and out and off.
“The best memories of Wes? My freshman hallmates in Clark Hall, mothered by our RA Adrienne “Boom Boom” Bentman ’74, with a roommate (Kath Booth ’78) that later Eurailed around Europe with me, where we ran into another hallmate on a train in Norway, of all places (she had been visiting her Sicilian relatives). Delta Tau fraternity, where I had numerous friends and lovers. Being on the women’s crew team in 1975–76, rowing in the same shell as later Olympian rower Kathy Keeler ’78. The Cris Williamson concert at McConaghy. Impossibly finding the contact lens that popped out of my eye into the grass of the football field when playing tag football at night. Fellow students who introduced me to NYC jazz, rock climbing, consciousness raising groups, and more. Teachers who took the time to get to know their students, and introduce a science person to Chaucer, studio art, and economics. The satisfaction of getting a good education at somewhere other than Harvard or Yale, with more fun and less stress. Go Wes!”
Cindy Arnson writes:
“After 27 years at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars—16 of them as director of the Latin American Program—I ‘retired’ in May 2022. The word is in quotation marks as I’m still working a lot and look forward to staying engaged on Latin American issues—teaching, consulting, and especially traveling. So, to use Ruth Messinger’s words, it’s more like a ‘rewirement.’ My husband Gerry preceded me into retirement, so we definitely look forward to more time on the road! Our three adult children are a never-ending source of pride. Our oldest, Zack, is in the U.S. Foreign Service, currently posted in North Africa; our twins Jeanne and Micah are separated by distance but still close as only twins can be. Jeanne is a graduate student at GW in clinical mental health counseling (thank you, class of ’76 dear friend Wendy Lustbader, for all the advice and encouragement!); and Micah, in the tech world, has moved to LA with his fiancée Maya. The wedding is in June 2023. Life is full and we feel very blessed.”
Emerging from COVID lockdown has brought lots of news—three times what fits the printed magazine, but the full scoop is here with some photos to boot!
This is the column where I notice the balance of employed and retired classmates has dramatically shifted now that we are approaching the end of our seventh decade. To illustrate that point, I’ve separated these notes into two sections.
At Work
Bob Daniel and Cynthia Ulman at Arches National Park
I successfully relaunched my nonprofit consulting practice in 2021. Last September, Bob and I spent most of our time on the road exploring the Southwest. We were on our way to a family wedding in eastern New Mexico and decided to drive via as many national and state parks as we could hit in Utah (nine) with stops at Mesa Verde and Aztec National Monument on our way through New Mexico. We picked up our son and daughter in Albuquerque en route to the wedding, and they made the return trip with us by way of Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, and the Grand Canyon. We did a combination of tent camping and hotel stays and had an amazing trip despite some too-hot-to-hike weather. On our way home, we all had lunch with Joe Antolin ’76 who moved from Chicago to Albuquerque a few years ago. Thanks to Brian Steinbach for letting me know Joe was there. Thanksgiving weekend brought Martha Faller Brown, Bruce Paton, and Tim Brown’72 to my house for leftovers brunch. Whenever Tim and his wife, Rosie Piller, come to the Bay Area—usually two or three times a year—we all get together for a hike or a meal or both.
Nancy Lippincott works at The Meadowbrook School, a progressive K–8 independent school in Weston, Massachusetts, as the school accountant and doing classroom work on literacy development with the youngest students, Junior Kindergarteners. “After successful sequential careers in human resources, then fundraising, and now elementary education, I am divorced and live outside of Worcester,” she says. “My three kids have finally all launched—two reside in Massachusetts and one in upstate New York—no grandkids but plenty of ‘grandpets.’” She managed to avoid COVID as of October 2022 and otherwise was enjoying an active life with her dog who is her best friend.
David Leisner says, “Right now, professionally, I’m on fire! So much going on. I have three albums coming out within a few months of each other. October saw the release of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin, in my arrangement for guitar, with baritone Michael Kelly, on the Bright Shiny Things label (on Spotify, Apple, and all streaming platforms, as well as for download and in CD form). November features the release of Letter to the World, a recording of four of my compositions for voice and various instruments, on the Azica label. The same label will release my latest solo album (digital only) in early 2023, with 19th-century gems for the guitar. This summer I wrote two commissioned pieces, one of which is a concerto for guitar and full orchestra, called Wayfaring, commissioned by guitar legend, Pepe Romero, who will premiere it at the new Hamptons Festival on Long Island next summer. Meanwhile, during the pandemic, I commissioned five excellent, well-known composer friends to write short pieces for me, and these beautiful pieces will be premiered on April 20 at the Morgan Library’s beautiful Gilder Lehrman Hall in New York, in a concert that will also include excerpts from my upcoming solo album. So, life is good on this end.” It was good to hear that things are going so well for David!
Another New Yorker, Don Perman wrote that he is delighted to have a job at The New York Times. When I asked what he did, Don explained he’s with the group that moderates readers’ comments about articles. He sends best wishes to everyone.
Jeff Morgan at Covenant Winery
Meanwhile on the West Coast, Jeff Morgan and his wife Jodie continue to operate their urban winery in Berkeley, California: Covenant. They have two adult daughters also working in the industry; one at Covenant and the other as the publicist for a celebrity chef and restaurant group. Covenant’s wines are distributed from Tokyo to California and the continental U.S., Canada, the U.K., Israel, Mexico, and beyond. Jeff invites anyone visiting the Bay Area to come visit their 9,000-square-foot winery right in West Berkeley’s “drinks district” at 1102 Sixth Street. On another note (pun intended) Jeff mentioned, “During COVID, I noticed my tenor saxophone was pretty dusty. (I hadn’t touched it for over 20 years. And my last gig in New York was at Gotham Bar and Grill in 1995.) So, I started practicing again. And now I’m playing out a bit, starting with a quartet at our winery’s jazz series last summer. Really nice for this Wes music major to have rediscovered the joy of playing music. Speaking of which, I’ve been in touch with Oliver (Ollie) Griffith ’76 who has retired from his day job as a U.S. consul abroad. His last post was in Paris, where he’s living today and playing his saxophone too.” For a few photos and an article on Jeff’s latest debut, see https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/07/01/jeff-morgan-covenant-wines-jazz-west-berkeley
Another classmate still working while balancing his day job with music, is Bruce Weinraub. He is continuing his private internal medicine practice despite the rigors of dealing with COVID on a daily basis and says, “I’m a dinosaur in that realm” of not following the wave out of private practice. Bruce adds, “I’m having the privilege of studying with blues piano master Eden Brent from Mississippi via Skype. Check her out.”
Cathy Gorlin updated me that her son Ross has now graduated from medical school and started his residency in family medicine at Swedish Hospital in Denver. Their daughter Lauren lives and works at Google in D.C. During her “spare time” she’s working on her master’s in counseling and being mom to her son who is in first grade at the local Jewish day school. Cathy can’t believe he is already six years old. She makes lots of trips to D.C. and Denver, and she works remotely in Naples, Florida, from January to April, escaping from the cold Minnesota winters.
Corinne Kratz is on the move in early 2023. She spent January in a writing residency at the Bogliasco Study Center for Arts and Humanities in Italy working on her current book. Then she’ll head back to South Africa in March for the annual African Critical Inquiry Program Workshop. This year it is on the theme Archiving Otherwise: Sound Thinking and Sonic Practice.
At Play (Otherwise Known as Retired)
Janet Brodie reports that her regular Zoom calls with Risa Korn and Jane Hutchins were “a rare upside of the COVID pandemic.” Janet recently retired after 33 years as a creative arts therapist in the Psychiatry Department at Yale New Haven Hospital. She admits she “couldn’t walk away, so is still working two days a week.” Speaking of Risa Korn, she retired in early 2022 and welcomed her third grandchild, Robert James (Bobby) Neenan, born in October to her daughter Melanie and Ben Neenan. Risa’s youngest son, Sam, practices medicine in Washington State and is engaged to be married in 2023. Risa and I had a wonderful time together on her way back to Boston from seeing Sam and visiting Jane Hutchins in Vancouver, B.C. We hiked, hung out, ate well, and had gorgeous California weather the entire time.
Jeff McChristian writes, “After 45 years practicing law in various firms in and around Hartford, I am ‘hanging up my cleats’ December 31, 2022. I have enjoyed it immensely and will miss the intellectual stimulation and many deep relationships I have forged with clients and colleagues, but it’s time to kick back and enjoy my ‘golden years.’ Retirement plans include catching up on traveling my wife Pat and I missed during the last 2 ½ pandemic years. We have already planned a cross-country road trip in January along the southern route, to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where my son Tyler and his wife Liz live. My daughter Erin and son-in-law Stephen, based in Greenville, South Carolina, are digital nomads who have spent the last three winters there working, living with, and skiing with Tyler and Liz. We’ll share a late family Christmas. So far, no grandbabies, and I’m jealous of classmates who are enjoying wonderful connections with theirs. In early February we’ll head to Guatemala, where Pat participates in her third community mosaic project in San Lucas Toliman, a largely Mayan community on the shores of Lake Atitlan; then off to Italy (Rome, Florence, and Tuscany) for three weeks in April; a self-guided cycling tour in Denmark or Provence in early June; an 11-day tour of Morocco with Erin and Stephen in October; and a two-week tour in Patagonia in January 2024. Gotta make hay while the sun shines, right? In between I’m sure I will find things to keep me busy around the West Hartford house we have lived in for 31 years, and plan to remain in for the foreseeable future (Dave Rosenthal’s sister, Diane Thomas’78, is one of our many fantastic neighbors). Also on the list: remodeling our master bath, hanging out drinking coffee (and stronger stuff) and playing music with some of my buds who are already retired, and generally loving life. I really can’t wait!”
Russ Munson, living in Chester, Connecticut, retired last year after two decades in practice as a family physician there and two as a physician executive at hospitals and health plans in the region. He and Deb, married 45 years, spend a lot of time in traffic traveling to visit their daughter on New York City’s Upper East Side or their son in D.C., and the three grandchildren they have produced. Retirement allows Russ time for thrice weekly tennis and catching up on a backlog of nonmedical reading he’s been wanting to do. He keeps in touch with Roger Weisberg, Karen Freedman, and Harold Horowitz. For the past 40-plus years, Russ and Deb have spent most Februarys on Sanibel Island, which was devastated in the fall by Hurricane Ian. Russ reflects, “As sad as I am about likely missing a year or two, I feel very sorry for the folks who live there year-round and have lost a little piece of paradise . . . at least for the short term.”
Recently a number of our classmates ventured to New Hampshire as guests of the gracious Vin Broderick. According to Joe O’Rourke, “We had a terrific time reliving the good old days while catching up with our current news. It was great fun, but Vin made us hike to the point of exhaustion.” As you can see in the photo, the crew included Paul Margolin, Steve McCarthy, Dave Rosenthal, Joe, and Vin. J. D. Moore and Mark Flinchum had hoped to join this outing but were unable to make it.
From left to right: Vin, Paul, Steve, Dave, and Joe
Brad Kosiba has found beekeeping “intense this summer, as we tried to step up our game getting higher quality queens into our hives. Mercifully the church construction project is now complete and fading into memory and I am back to just leading maintenance. My house manager experience at Delta Tau has served me well!” By the way, Brad and Dorothy married off two of their three sons in the spring of 2022, so it was quite a season of celebration for their family.
June Jeffries at the White House, December 1, 2022
June Jeffries skipped a mid-October reunion planning meeting with the message, “Greetings all from the Mississippi Delta!” She was riding around, going to sites associated with Emmett Till, then to the B.B. King Museum. Her mother is from the Delta, and June has been going there for her whole life but has friends who had never been to Mississippi and were afraid to visit, so she became their tour guide and had a great time. On December 1, she topped that by attending President Biden’s welcoming ceremony for French President Macron in the Rose Garden. I insisted on pictures so she sent me one of her and the event swag, one of the two presidents mounting the podium, and a shot of the Bidens’ German shepherd romping in his fenced yard with a woman who she later realized was Jill Biden in exercise gear. June thinks her invitation to the event was due to her penchant for becoming a pen pal with presidents, starting with emails to Obama and most recently with one to Biden about the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson, to which he responded with a very nice letter in July. Stay tuned for June’s continuing adventures—after the Rose Garden visit, she wrote to Joe requesting to visit the Oval Office for five-minutes so she can see the bust or Rosa Parks that is there. Rosa Parks was a close friend of June’s, and June attended the National Gallery’s ceremony unveiling the bust.
Becky Peters-Combs is retired from teaching but she continues to direct plays (the count is up to 154 shows in the last 47 years). Becky relishes her time with her husband of 40 years, her four adult children, and her one grandson—all in Denver. Her other passions include her three koi ponds, gardening, tennis, travel, gratitude, and keeping in touch with her former students.
Ed Van Voorhees announced, “I must own up to another granddaughter born two weeks ago. I think this is the last. Linda and I are doing well and traveling more—France, Barcelona, and lots of domestic destinations.” Meanwhile, John Tabachnick has been retired for a year now and says that he loves it. “Got to spend time with kids and grandkids. Doing some volunteer work and reading for enjoyment instead of medical journals. Not much travel yet but hope to do more this coming year.”
Richard Hume sent in a longer note. “I’m in my 40th year on the faculty of the University of Michigan, in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Development Biology. I just finished a nine-year stint directing our undergraduate neuroscience major, which graduates about 200 students a year. I’ll be phasing into retirement soon, with my final semester of teaching and university service in the winter term of 2024. Still active in research, with a major paper relevant to Parkinson’s disease published in Cell in June 2022 and just starting a new short-term project with a colleague.” In retirement, he and Lesley are looking forward to more travel, including visits with their daughter Rebecca ’01 in Brooklyn and their son Michael, an attorney in Chicago who shares custody of their two grandchildren, Jackson, 10, and Olivia, 8. Michael remarried last fall, and his second wife comes from a large family, so it sounds like Richard hopes more grandchildren will be coming. Richard is looking forward to being at our 50th Reunion, which will also be a family affair, as it will be the 40th for his cousin Daniel Katz ’85. Daniel and his wife, Molly ’87, will also be there to celebrate the graduation weekend of their daughter Elizabeth who is named for Richard’s now-deceased younger sister. She succumbed to cancer at age 37 and started as an undergraduate at Michigan the year Richard joined the faculty. Richard recently endowed several awards for students in the University of Michigan honors program in her memory.
Rachel Hayes is delighted to report that she and her husband finally returned home after an 18-month displacement due to a major fire in their house. Although they were still living with daily visits to wrap everything up, they’ll probably be through even that phase by the time you read this and will be left with the joy of being home in their beautifully rebuilt home. With their son, Spencer, having completed his degree from Marist College, she can now sigh and say, “All’s well.”
Carl Cavrell retired from teaching eight years ago and began working as a substitute teacher at his son’s school. Five years ago, he got divorced and is raising four sons. His oldest just started at Bryant University doing track decathlon, his youngest plays Premier soccer, and “the middle two boys unfortunately are playing football. Neither will end up with Belichick, I have to say!”
Ellen Kabcenell Wayne, who we haven’t heard from for years, took time to write from Alexandria, Virginia, tracing her path since she departed our class in 1974. Her entire story follows.
“I left Wesleyan a year earlier than most of you because I was in a big hurry to get married to Charley Wayne ’73, who had already graduated and was studying law at the University of North Carolina. From my current point of view, it seems like a silly thing to have done; I should have enjoyed all four years at Wes and then moved on to marriage, new location, etc. On the other hand, it’s hard to feel too bad about something that worked out in the long run. I spent my first year in Chapel Hill in a typing pool at the UNC Institute of Government (can’t say I liked it, but it was a good life lesson), overlapped with Charley in law school, then graduated and we moved to Alexandria, where we still live. I got a job in the employment section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice while Charley worked for a law firm in D.C. It was a great place for me to learn to litigate, but eventually a change in government administrations seemed likely to block us from doing the work we had focused on previously. So, I moved to a private firm that allowed me to continue the kind of litigation I enjoyed and valued.
“Life went on. Charley and I had three sons (two of whom are now Wes grads). I felt I’d spent enough time practicing law and decided to get a master’s in conflict management at George Mason University. After graduating from there, I got a challenging and fun job teaching graduate students at the University of Baltimore. Then a colleague I’d met while at the University of Baltimore called to tell me about a position in the General Counsel’s Office at the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). A friend of hers was looking to hire a lawyer with expertise in conflict resolution, and I was well qualified. DoDEA oversees the K–12 schools serving the children of DoD employees stationed overseas and on some of the U.S. bases as well. The office was 10 minutes from my home, and it also offered the opportunity to travel to the schools to provide trainings, etc. It gave me a chance to see places I might never have seen otherwise. I have now retired. We are fortunate to have two of our sons and their families living in this area, which gives us lots of opportunities to see them and the three granddaughters. Our eldest son lives with his wife and his son in Rotterdam, which is a lovely place to visit. I’m looking forward to our reunion and hope to see many of you when it comes around!” We’ll be glad to see you too, Ellen!
Condolences
Ann Dallas sent me sad news. Her husband, David Ringold, died quite suddenly in early October. After 38 years of marriage, it’s been quite an adjustment for Ann. “But,” she says, “retirement has many benefits, including more time with our son’s family, and time to consider what the next steps might be.” Ann has a one-year-old grandson, who I hope brings joy and light into this difficult time.
David Weinstock has been in Vermont since 1995. He is semi-retired, but reports on theater and opera productions for the local paper. He also leads the Otter Creek Poets weekly workshop, formerly a strictly local group, but now meeting in “hybrid” Zoom mode (email david.weinstock@gmail.com if you’d like to join or visit). David’s poems will appear in Captaincy from Finishing Line Press in 2023. His wife, Ann Jones-Weinstock, retired from fundraising for Middlebury College, her alma mater, and is now working postretirement as executive director of the Trout Lily Foundation. Their older son Benjamin, 30, lives in Portland, Maine, pursuing digital art and working on a farm. In April, their younger son Daniel, a material science graduate student at Cornell, died unexpectedly at age 27. David says with poetic economy, “We are getting through that, each in our own way.” We wish David and Ann comfort.
Our class lost Jamie McNiff in May 2021. Wesleyan found out and notified me just this past fall. Thanks to Bill Devereaux for sending this memory: “Jamie was the epitome of a student-athlete. A good hockey player who played for the enjoyment of the sport, but an even better student. You could always count on him for an astute and often humorous observation of the absurdities of life.”
Better yet, mark your calendars now for our 50th Reunion weekend, coming May 25–28, 2025. It’s snuck up on us quicker than we could ever have imagined. We already have a committee hatching plans for a fabulous time, and we’re counting on a strong turnout. Don’t Miss It!
Bill Gustus passed away on September 19, 2022. Bill double majored in government and sociology while at Wesleyan. He leaves his wife, Laura Caron-Gustus, and his nine children. My condolences to his family and classmates. His obituary can be read here and below.
William J. Gustus, of Lunenburg, Massachusetts, passed away in his home on Monday morning, September 19, 2022.
Bill was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on January 9, 1953, a son of the late Walter and Rita (Fleming) Gustus and grew up in Wilmington, Massachusetts. A graduate of Wilmington High School, Wesleyan University, and New England School of Law, Bill joined the Peace Corps and served in Malaysia for two years before embarking on a career in law and local government.
Bill owned and operated Settlers Crossing Golf Course in Lunenburg and the Westminster Golf & Country Club in Westminster with his wife and business partner, Donnie Lyons. Prior to his retirement he was the town administrator for the Town of Lynnfield, and the chief administrative and financial officer for the Town of Lunenburg. His career also included serving multiple roles in Middlesex County government, general counsel at Cummings Properties, and being appointed CFO for the City of Gloucester.
He enjoyed many years of worldwide travel with his wife Laura, family, and many of his closest friends.
Bill leaves his wife, Laura Caron-Gustus of Lunenburg; his 9 children, Casey Gustus and his wife Cathy of Wayland, Kelly Gustus and her husband Jeremy of Wayland, John Gustus and his wife Emily of Wrentham, Timothy Gustus and his wife Kara of Melrose, Michael Gustus and Jeffrey Gustus both of Woburn, his stepchildren, Jason Brailsford and his wife Mariah of Lunenburg, Tanya Eberlin and her husband Craig of Ashburnham and Kristin Trumble and her husband Matt of St. Clair Shores, Michigan; his brother, Stephen Gustus and his wife Tracy of Sommerville, 13 grandchildren, former wife Theresa Gustus of Wayland, and many nephews and nieces. He is predeceased by a brother Leonard Gustus.
Monique Witt reports: “Ben soft released his fifth album, A Thousand Pebbles (his second with the Nebula Project sextet) and debuted it at Ravinia. Dev hosted AES (American Electronics Show) at the ExMachina Soundworks space in Bushwick, Steven’s firm was involved in the Twitter purchase, and I’m dividing my time between three upcoming albums and the Soundworks.”
Chuck Gregory has enjoyed success as the Senior Warden at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, facing the dual challenges of a rector search and the COVID pandemic. The church is thriving with new rector, Grant Wiseman. Chuck’s term will finish in January 2023.
For our 45th Reunion, Chuck sang with a group of alumni at Eclectic. They called themselves the Fossils of MoCon. He hopes to be part of something similar for our 50th.
Dave Skinner, Rob Ingraham, and Doug Cole were among attendees at a celebration for Dave “Duke” Synder, their former hockey coach, during Homecoming weekend (November 5). See below for a picture of the three of them, along with Bill Burke ’73, with Duke and his wife Diane. John Gardner attended as well. It was a wonderful reunion of 40 or so former hockey players from the ’70s and ’80s teams. Duke was a great coach and mentor to them all
From left to right: Rob Ingraham, Dave “Duke” Snyder, Diane Snyder, Bill Burke ’73, Doug Cole, and Dave Skinner (team captain ’74)
Arthur Fierman writes: “My wife Shelly and I had a great time in August with Wesleyan classmates and other grads at the eighth annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, produced by LloydKomesar. This was our fourth fest (one year remote due to COVID) —the films, interviews, and related events are amazing. It has been a great way to reconnect with classmates. Hope to see more of the Class of ’74 there next year!”
For the past few years, Harold Sogard has been taking classes in voice acting with the goal of starting a new career. He’s now reached the point where he has produced demo tapes and is circulating them to agents in the hopes of getting signed and then getting some actual paying gigs. You can check him out at www.haroldsogard.com.
Pam van der Meulen updates us: “I enjoyed re-connecting with Sharon Purdie, Jean Barish, and Adrienne Bentman during Homecoming, following the 50th Reunion planning session with members of the classes of ’73 and ’72. Adrienne spoke at the Title IX seminar that morning and was inducted later that evening into the Wes Athletics Hall of Fame. Congrats, Adrienne! On a personal note, we bought a vacation home in the Berkshires last spring, in the Otis Wood Lands, which we absolutely love, and I’ve started playing pickleball.”
Jay Rose writes that thanks to the efforts of Hank Shelton ’72, a number of Delta Tau Delta members from the classes of 1970–73 held a mini-reunion Zoom call. Representing the class of 1973 were Bud Brainard, Scott Fleischer, Paul Fletcher, John Franke, Mark Helfat, and Jay. Thanks, Jay, for all your efforts.
Rich Ladd tells me he finally stopped working in November as his son graduated from Boise State and his daughter had their first grandchild. He adds, “We are planning to stay in Washington State and enjoy its beautiful landscapes, but we will be traveling the roads of the U.S. in 2023–24 and plan to be present at our 50th Reunion.”
Peter Gelblum writes that the community theater that he’s been president of for the last five years, Mountain Community Theater in Ben Lomond, California, did not produce any live shows in 2020–21 because of the pandemic. He says that during those years, in addition to producing a bunch of short Zoom videos, MCT paid the costs for him to create his first film, about the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire. Peter writes, “In August 2020, the fire killed one person, burned 86,500 acres, including 97% of Big Basin Redwood State Park, California’s first state park, and destroyed 911 homes in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. My wife and I were evacuated for 2 1/2 weeks, with the fire coming within about 100 yards of our house. In early 2021, I interviewed people who lost their homes in the fire and people who fought the fire, transcribed the interviews, created a script using only the words from the interviews, cast actors to play the people interviewed, and filmed them.” Working with a professional editor, they scored the film and backed the actors with images donated by several local professional photographers and painters. He says the result was a 90-minute-long piece of “verbatim film.” He says he has hosted many local screenings at everything from fire stations to big-screen movie theaters, with all admission donations going to the local volunteer fire departments and a fund for fire victims. Peter adds, “I’m now working on raising funds to get it online for free viewing. Other than that, since 2020, we’ve taken two, seven-week, 8,000-mile, cross-country trips to see friends, family, and amazing places in the motorhome we bought to avoid flying and staying in hotels while the pandemic was raging (as millions of others did). Now, I’m back to directing plays and working on ACLU and other local social justice issues, taking shorter RV trips, seeing as much live music as possible, and enjoying visits with our combined three grandchildren who, unfortunately, are scattered around the country.”
Stephen Sullivan sends greetings from Seattle. He tells me that since graduating from Wesleyan, he has had a “dream career as both a potter and an architect.” In 1973–74, he spent a year in Japan studying Japanese folk pottery as a Watson Foundation fellow. “What a great gift the Watson Fellowship was, to embark at age 20 upon a world very different from the one we inhabit today,” he said. “I was welcomed generously by the people of Japan, and decided that I would become a professional potter, like the masters with whom I had studied there. The reality of American culture convinced me a few years later to give up my dream of being a potter, and to study architecture.”
Stephen graduated from Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1981 and moved to Seattle with his partner and future wife. He has been there since that time, and recently celebrated the 35th anniversary of the founding of his architectural practice, Stephen Sullivan Designs, PLLC, www.stephensullivandesigns.com.
He is still working in his architectural practice, while he maintains a ceramics studio on his farm on Lopez Island, in the San Juan archipelago. He says, “The Lopez Island farm is committed to soil regeneration practices as well as wetland restoration and tree planting. My daughter and granddaughter live on the farm.” Looking back at Wesleyan, Stephen notes, “Wesleyan’s art department, with its extraordinary teachers, was an important starting point for me. We were so fortunate to have passionate teachers devoted to the educations of their students.”
From Indiana, Stephen Butler says he plans to attend our 50th Reunion and is struck by how quickly 50 years seem to have passed.
And finally, I hope to see you back on campus at our 50th Reunion: May 25–28, 2023. First, keep an eye out for the 50th Reunion Class Book, which will be mailed to your home in late April 2023. This wonderful keepsake will include biographical submissions by classmates, memorabilia, photos, and reflective essays touching upon themes ranging from rugby and football to political protests, and from once-in-a-lifetime concerts to life-changing conversations.
