Class Notes

Hello fellow ’95ers! Lots going on this time—let’s jump into it.

My co-secretary, Katy McNeill, writes: “I’m excited to share that after three years of studying part time, I have completed an MBA from the University of Warwick Business School. A broad-based degree for leading organizations, I also focused on organizational behavior. Next, I’m thrilled to have a new position in which to apply it—directing an initiative at a scholarly society. I just started as program director of DataWorks! at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). This new initiative will foster data sharing and reuse in the biosciences, which can both advance knowledge and foster open and reproducible research. Anyone working in this field—I’d be keen to connect!”

Patrick Hutter-Bluml writes: “I moved back from being a chef and househusband to freelance 3D artist, but I also started advanced studies in 3D modeling and animation for film. So, yeah, I’m basically a student again and loving every bit of it. During the pandemic I assisted in a project organized by an American university, for which my team did a particle simulation used for predictability of aerosol dispersion.”

During the pandemic, Roxane Williams returned to graduate school for a second advanced degree and made the shift from working in tech and volunteering as a crisis counselor to becoming a full-time mental health clinician, hoping to reach and help folks before they get to a crisis point. She largely works in trauma treatment with individuals and couples for whom PTSD is a factor, and also specializes in work with LGBTQI+ folks, especially with members of the trans community, as certain archaic laws require therapeutic support for those opting for surgical transition. Roxane appreciates the wonderful gift of finding her “calling,” albeit later in life, and is grateful to know what it is to be in love with her work! She also acts as a mental-health first responder at Burning Man and has built large-scale art off and on for a decade or so. Roxane lives in the Bay Area with a menagerie of pets and two grown/launched kids who humble and amaze her with both their worldliness and their loveliness, as both are pursuing their higher education and their careers with a bent toward public service.

My man in Oakland, Matt Duffy, sent in some news: “I am reporting that I continue to work as a superintendent of schools here in the Bay. I recently had an awesome reunion lunch with fellow ’95 alums Sherwin Yoder and Brooke (Leinwand) Jackson and Randy Jackson after many years apart! I also still stay connected with Malcolm Edwards! Best regards to my fellow Wes alums.”

In June 2022, Sabrina Prince was finally able to celebrate her COVID elopement with husband Nenad Apostoloski with family and friends, including Jacqueline Moon in beautiful Chantilly, France.

Looks like it was a blast!

Beth Shilepsky Price writes from Charleston, South Carolina: “Still slogging along as a family medicine doctor. Trying hard to unwind outside of work with my husband, three kids (David 18, Madeline 15, and Lily 13), three dogs, and two horses. David and I competed in an 18-mile NATRC competitive trail ride this spring on our horses and had a blast. We had a super visit with Kristin Dunn ’96 and her 9-year-old daughter Vanessa while they were in town recently. She is still living in Long Beach, California, and doing amazing work (https://www.kdbooks.com/). I think I was the last Wes alum to see Hamilton—it came to town in July and far exceeded my expectations!! Amazing!! As of last night, we also have seven more furry (temporary) additions to the family—our golden retriever gave birth. Hope everyone is doing well!”

Shayne Spaulding is living in the seaside town of Swampscott, Massachusetts, with husband Josh Shepherd and two boys, Wiley and Kieran (ages 14 and 11), and dog Hershey. Shayne is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, a D.C.–based social-policy research organization, and had the joy of getting together recently with Gabriella Klein, Jennifer Quest-Stern ’94, Kevin Fairley ’94, and Liz Stites in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and swimming in the beautiful waves of Barney’s Joy Beach. “Enjoying being 50 and treating each day lived as a gift.” Sounds right to me, Shayne!

Susannah (Hearn) Kerest reports: Enjoying year 12 living near Lake Champlain with Vermont’s lovely mountains not too far away. I’m taking a break from the nonprofit fundraising world after over two decades, and recently joined a communications and public relations firm called Junapr. Career transition is an unexpected, but welcome brain challenge. Loved being back on campus as both of our kids have toured [Wes] in the last couple of years. Launching kids is not for the faint of heart. While we’ve stayed close to home during these COVID-y times, so appreciate the occasional touch points with classmates Carolyn (Barth) Renzin, Brendan Coughlin, Elizabeth (Meltzer) Bloom, and Constantine Davides as well as rowing pals Meredith Weaver ’96, Enas (Estafan) Hanna ’94, and Wendi Schenkler-Samway ’94. If anyone is visiting the Burlington area, reach out!

Gina Schimpff is super excited to have son Tyler Schimpff begin his Wes experience in Clark this fall, and even more excited that Laurel Williams Wise has her son Will also starting at Wes and they will be hallmates! And continuing the family traditions, Nora Cabrera writes that she and husband George Cabrera ’89 have just taken their son Antonio up to Wes—he will also be class of 2026.

From Greg Rolland: “Living a good life here in western Massachusetts. I’m 10 years in managing finances at Deerfield Academy and my wife survived being head nurse at the Academy through the pandemic (hats off and thank you to med folks!). Our three daughters now have one year together in high school, and the eldest included our alma maters (Bryn Mawr and Wes) in her cut of prospective colleges. These days I’m regularly grateful for the lens of my Wes history education— and I’m very glad to have shared time through the pandemic with alums Peter Follet, Stephanie Flaherty, Justin Stern, James Becker ’97, and Santiago Vazquez ’93.”

Parker Dockray is still living in Oakland, California, and working in reproductive health, rights, and justice; her organization All-Options is funding abortion care, providing diapers, helping people navigate this new mess of abortion laws, and fighting for the compassionate and just world we all deserve. She’s grateful to all the Wes friends who have shown up in so many ways and says look me up if you come through town!

Finally, yours truly is still living in the Hudson Valley and working for StudioLabs, a great digital product shop. Here’s a pic from a trip Lucky (14), Sybil (9), and I took to the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Las Vegas with family back in June.

I turned 50 in September and got to celebrate with friends including Leila Goldmark and Mike Kleinsteuber . . . and, as one of the first from our class to make the semicentenary transition, I can assure you that it’s not too bad.

Summer is over and the kids are back to school. My daughters Sarah and Norah (teenagers now!) are heading to the 8th grade. Time flies.

John Pollock visited Chicago for work in April 2022 and we had a great afternoon catching up over Thai food.

Aram Sinnreich sold his first novel, a literary science fiction story about a software coder who gets stuck in a glitch that sends her on a backward trajectory through time. The book, entitled A Second Chance for Yesterday, was coauthored with his sister Rachel Hope Cleves, and will be published by Rebellion Books under the pseudonym R.A. Sinn in summer 2023.  Congratulations to both!

Aram also is collaborating with Jesse Gilbert. Together they are completing work on a nonfiction book entitled The Secret Life of Data, due to be published by MIT Press in 2023 or early 2024.

Aram also with his wife Dunia Best produced an album of original music, recorded in their home during COVID-19. The album, entitled Bedfellows, was released by German record label GMO on July 8th, and is available on all streaming platforms, as well as vinyl record and CD. More information at duniaandaram.com.

News from overseas: Dave Campbell has extended his stay in Japan to a fifth year and is looking forward to post-pandemic visits from family and friends. Tim, Ruth, and Priscilla are now out of college and into the workforce (finance, social work, and nursing, respectively). Mary will be starting at Baylor University in the fall, while Phoebe will enter 8th grade at International School of the Sacred Heart there in Tokyo. Dave is eager to host visitors. He writes, “With kids leaving the nest, Brenna and I have more room for visitors as COVID restrictions subside. Reach out if/when you’re able/ready to visit!”

Back stateside: Susannah Paletz continues to live in Maryland with her husband and daughter. Through a series of fortunate events, in August 2021 she became a tenured associate professor at the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, leaping from a soft-money funded professional track position. She adores her collegial, quirky, multidisciplinary college, students, staff, and faculty of all types.

Sasha Chanoff writes that he is married to Marni Chanoff and has two kids, Hayden, 14 and Lailah, 12. Sasha and his family live in Somerville, Massachusetts. Sasha leads RefugePoint, an organization he started in 2005 to find solutions for the most at-risk refugees.

If any of you are visiting or passing through Chicago, I would love to get together.  Please keep in touch!

Aaron Siskind writes, “Hello from the Maryland suburbs of the D.C. area from me, my wife Sindi, and our teenager Mel; I’ve been working as an economist for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (which you might know from The Smartest Guys in the Room—not referring to our agency, natch) since 2004. While we’ve generally been isolated just like everyone else during COVID, I have managed to have several mini-Wesleyan reunions over the last few months. In April, I was able to get together in Durham, North Carolina, with Richard Dansky ’92, Steve Karon ’92, and Chris Joyal ’95. We’re all in a fantasy baseball league that we started while at Wesleyan and have kept going all these years. While we were down there, we went to a Durham Bulls game where I was able to also meet up with Deborah Lowenthal Sorin ’94; she lives in the Durham area with her husband Dan and their two kids. In June, Kerry Brenner ’94 and I were able to spend some time with Rachel Deyette Werkema ’94, who was passing through the area with her husband Joel and their twin daughters (rising high school seniors) on a fairly epic college tour/road trip (visit to Wesleyan planned for late August). Kerry, who also lives in the D.C. suburbs with her husband Morrie Dworkin and their two kids, graciously hosted all of us so we could have some time to see each other and catch up. Kerry works on science education at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and Rachel is a lecturer in the economics department at Wellesley College. Finally, in early July John Pollock ’94 was in the area to speak at a conference on his specialty—the right to counsel for low-income people in civil cases—and we were able to meet him and his son Merritt at the newly renovated Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and had a wonderful day with the two of them.”

Dan Crane now makes documentaries. His directorial premiere, Let Me Be Me, about an autistic boy who grows up to be a fashion designer premiered last year at DOCNYC and is available on most VOD platforms. A documentary he wrote about professional lacrosse called Fate of a Sport premiered at TriBeCa this summer, and The End of the World — a film he produced with Matt Tyrnauer ’91 about Bennington College premieres at Telluride in September.

Bill Wiggins writes, “After 25 years working in financial regulation in Washington, D.C., (much of it with Jake Lesser ’91) and surviving the prior administration and COVID by writing a wildlife/history novel, I was recently named CFO of the National Endowment for the Arts. If you’re in D.C. or coming through, let me know.”

Jason Levy is living on Long Island with his wife Neda and two sons (ages 7 and 9). He’s serving as deputy CIO for Educational Technology Strategy for the NYC Department of Education.

Chris Osmond writes, “I was so proud to watch our eldest son Sammy Osmond ’22 graduate last month! I’d talk about what he’s doing next, but I suppose he’s got his own alumni update to do now. Go Wes!”

Anne Beaven writes, “Very excited to be traveling again after a long COVID hiatus. Margaret, Eli, and I went to Barcelona in March and right now we are in Australia seeing Margaret’s family for the first time in three years.”

Eve Abrams created and was the lead producer of the podcast, Hot Farm, from the Food and Environment Reporting Network. Alison MacAdam ’99 was Eve’s editor!  Hot Farm tells the stories of the people who grow our food—people whose stories offer solutions for how we can keep eating in the age of climate change. It’s the perfect mix of science, policy, and personal narrative, and miraculously, an upbeat series about, arguably, our biggest problem.

Abigail Lorber Clarkson writes, “I have made a career change to public librarianship and am finishing up a master’s of Library and Information Science degree. I also in recent years began studying piano again after carting my piano around North Carolina and Texas but not playing it for over 20 years. I currently live with my family and pets just outside Asheville, North Carolina.”

Greetings and salutations from just outside D.C.

I’ll start this edition down in North Carolina with an update from James Wilton, national account manager and managing director for Genesis10. The former WESU DJ and campus heartthrob is a volunteer coach for football and wrestling. He sends word that his eldest son Jack is a senior at North Carolina State studying business; older daughter Carley is also at North Carolina State working toward a degree in elementary education; and his younger daughter Lola is a senior in high school. Wife Tracy is in her fifth year as a teaching assistant for exceptional preschool students.

On the other side of the world, Kristin Elisabeth Sandvik Lush sends word from New Zealand where she is working as an academic editor and “soaking in the homeyness of home and enduring the teenageyness of my kids as we travel around, have little adventures, and spend time with extended family and friends.” Kristen returned to the U.S. this fall for a balloon festival in New Mexico and visits to National Parks and the upper Northwest.”

It was fun to see the class of ’92 well represented at this year’s Emmy Awards. Francesca Harewood, senior vice president, Business Affairs at NBCUniversal, posted great pictures of her with Mike White who won multiple Emmy Awards for writing and directing The White Lotus. Meredith Tucker also won this year for her role in casting The White Lotus. Besides winning for being an excellent cook on short notice according to Oliver Ryan, Meredith now owns four Emmys and Mike has three. Not too shabby class of ’92!

Of course, an even better place to see the class of ’92 was at the 30th Reunion in May. It was wonderful to be back on campus and spend time with classmates. There were plenty of drinks, stories, songs, dancing, and lots of joy catching up with friends and remembering how special our time at Wesleyan was. The other fun thing about writing notes after reunion is I get to say, “it was great to see” and I’ll lead off by saying it was great to see Soo Lim on campus. Soo, visiting career services advisor at Boston College Law School and Matt Schortmann, vice president, and head of Institutional Product & Strategy at Columbia Threadneedle Asset Management, recently celebrated their 26th anniversary. With their two daughters—Liv a sophomore at UVA and Sophia a senior at Northeastern—in college, the empty nesters have recently discovered a love for TV tray tables, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy as they plan their next adventures.

It was also great to see Oliver Ryan. Oliver continues to live a highly suspect entrepreneurial life as founder and CEO of Count.It, a tech start-up that powers wellness challenges for groups, mostly companies. Oliver sends updates on a number of classmates. “I had a great time catching up with everyone at the reunion, and road-tripping back to NYC with Sam Robinson, whose daughter Bella just started at Vassar. In the summertime, I share an old barn on Long Island with various Wes friends, including Meredith Tucker, Kris Rucker, and Lewis Canfield ’90. Kris is a partner at a chic creative agency in New York, runs the National Air Guitar Championships, and is launching a new tech business in his spare time. When not tending his garden in Williamsburg, Lewis has thrown himself into renovating a magical warehouse in Vermont. Over July 4th, Brian Wolff came for a visit with wife Francesca and kids Ellington and Rosie. That weekend we also had a surprise visit from Jacky Jennings, husband Doug Bothner ’91, and friends. We all sang the Wesleyan fight song. Ok, no, we didn’t, but only because Mark Mullen ’89 wasn’t there. Lewis and I are also in a band with Ben Rader called The Classic, which is anything but. Ben is the one who made the important point that you don’t need to be good (or young) to be in a band. Speaking of musicians, I saw Chris Arndt over the summer at the annual kids versus parents capture the flag game. Let it be known that the parents won. Again. Probably for the last time.”

And it was great to see Ruthbea Yesner, vice president, Government Insights, Education and Smart Cities at IDC. She sent in an update that she “loves her job, which has grown in scope from urban technology and smart cities, to police and justice, transportation, and water and sustainability. I work with tech vendors and state and local governments to adopt new technologies to make the world more livable.” I had a great time at the reunion and just felt transported back in time. I had the pleasure of driving down with Katherine Petrecca, who now runs the women’s division at New Balance, and I drove Matt Young and Adam Berinsky back to Boston. Last thought—there were too many people to name at the reunion that were an absolute joy to talk with. But shout-out to all of them! I’m lucky to have been able to spend formative years with such an amazing bunch.”

And it was great to see Neal Klinman back on campus for the first time in 20 years. “I’ve been wanting to reach out since attending our 30th Reunion this spring. I really enjoyed what was my first return to Wesleyan and Middletown since our 10th Reunion. I enjoyed a hot solo afternoon exploring by bicycle, and I took many photos of favorite places such as the Butterfield courtyard that I crisscrossed for three years and multiple summers, the boathouse and riverfront, downtown, the amazing arts center complex with its active gallery, printshop, and architecture studio, the cemetery where I built character running hills with the crew team, the ‘presence of the absence’ of MoCon, etc.” Neal has been teaching at the same public school in Cambridge where he has taught since 1999. He and his wife Debb live on the shore of the beautiful Chandler Pond with their three crazy but talented teens, two dogs, a secondhand canoe, and a garage full of bikes.

And it was great to see my old hallmate Sam Longley. Foss 7 was well represented this year. He writes, “Hi, fellow 1992ers! It was great to emerge from my ‘COVID shell’ to see so many folks during our reunion. I have been working as a technical sales engineer at Neo4j, which is the first company to bring a graph database to the commercial market (does anyone remember graph theory from math class?). My son Winston is a tween sixth-grader, and enjoys the cross-country team, all things Star Wars, and playing online games with his friends. My daughter Charlotte has hit the 10th grade with a running start, and has found, in volleyball, a rewarding activity and group of friends. She got to experience a night in the Clark dorm during the reunion and enjoyed that experience. My wonderful wife, Grace, has been doing double duty—taking care of the whole lot of us as well as working at our nearby school system.”

And finally, it was great to see my fellow class officer Teresa Ho, managing director at JP Morgan Asset Management. She adds that Karen Earle’s daughter is now a first-year at Wesleyan. Karen is an endocrinologist at Sutter Health. Really there were a lot more people I can say it was great to see—Jane Thompson, Jake Wizner, Adam Berinsky, and Rob Rich among many others but I have to stop somewhere.

Speaking of stopping. This year marks my 30th year of writing the class notes. To borrow a phrase from Bilbo Baggins, 30 years is far too short a time to write about such excellent friends and classmates as you, but it’s time for me to announce this is the end of my stint as class secretary. It was a ton of fun to plan all the senior-year social events with Bill Siegel, Teresa Ho, and Shalei Simms Pilgrim, and I have loved keeping up to date with everyone through the notes, but I am passing the baton. You are now in the good hands of Adam Berinsky who now has logged at least 20 as co-secretary and perhaps you. More to follow on how we backfill as Adam is looking for someone to share the duty.

All the best,

Paul

Peter H. Kim, professor of management and organization at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, is in the final stages of copyediting his first book. How Trust Works: The Science of How Relationships are Built, Broken, and Repaired, encapsulates more than 20 years of research on trust and will be published by Flatiron Books, August 2023. Peter and his wife, Beth Fortune, an interior architect, live with their chihuahua mix in Santa Monica.

            Sarah Blustain joined ProPublica in January 2021, to help lead the Local Reporting Network, which coordinates with local and regional newsrooms to create year-long investigations.

            Nikki Harmon is the program director for SIFTMedia 215 Collective, a cooperative that centers Black and Latinx women-identified media artists who work in the Philadelphia area. Nikki produced two short films this year and Tonight, We Eat Flowers, premiered at the BlackStar Film Festival in August. She is also the author of two novels centering on Black lesbian women, When I Was Your Girlfriend and Neither Here Nor There. Nikki and her partner of 21 years, Kelly, are the parents of three teenagers: Eli, Selena, and Natalie.

            Betsy Klimasmith, an English professor at UMass Boston, participated in a week-long seminar at the American Antiquarian Society called On Stage: Spectacle in the Nineteenth-Century America, led by Wendy Bellion, who is a professor of art history and associate dean of humanities at the University of Delaware College of Arts and Sciences.

Betsy writes, “Wendy put together a brilliant seminar that brought together a multi-disciplinary group of scholars to work on visual materials related to early U.S. theater and performance. What a treat it was to be a student in Wendy’s class—it brought back memories of some of our best classes at Wes.”

Speaking of Wes, Betsy’s son Isaac ’20 enjoyed his delayed commencement this June, and married his college sweetheart, Mariel Baitenmann-Middlebrook ’20 in July.

            George Irvine, married to Wendy Bellion, is also at University of Delaware, as associate vice provost for Professional and Continuing Studies and Online Initiatives, helping nontraditional students advance their education. Their son, Luke, heads to Fordham University, excited to study the liberal arts in NYC and eat awesome pizza.

            Rebeca Rumayor reports her son James is thriving at Indian Springs School in Pelham, Alabama, where as a ninth grader he takes on the added responsibility of being an RA. Rebeca is looking forward to once again volunteering at Sundance Film Festival in January 2023.

            Laura Fine lives in the Boston area and is preparing to be an empty nester. Her son Henry will begin junior year at Connecticut College and daughter Hannah is about to start her first year at Wesleyan.

            Greg Mandel is now the provost and chief academic officer at Temple University in Philadelphia, as well as the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law. He’s adjusting to life as an empty nester and contemplating that his kids are the same age (or older!) as we were at Wesleyan.

            Ann Goebel-Fabbri is officially back in the office after more than two years of conducting tele-psychology from her third-floor-attic guest room. Ann is happy to return to in person, though some patients prefer the convenience of telehealth, so she’ll be in “hybrid” practice for the foreseeable future.

Ann and Bill Fabbri are anxious and excited for their daughter Kate’s first year at Oberlin. The transition will no doubt be assisted by the many other Wes alum parents also dropping off their kids in Ohio.

More drop-offs with Wes connections: Carrie Mosher Gadaleta’s daughter Jessie and Michele (Barth) Still’s son George both start Lafayette College in Pennsylvania this autumn.

Carrie is executive managing director at JLL. She just published her first book, Feed Your Future: Morsels on Building a Meaningful Career, a compilation of her LinkedIn stories from the past four years. Her goal with the posts and the book is to inspire and grow the next generation of leaders in commercial real estate and beyond. Carrie’s older daughter Shelby is class of 2024.

Michele, when not coordinating drop-offs with childhood friend Carrie, checks in on daughter Anna in D.C. and son Henry in NYC. While still Houston-based, Michele has her eye on New England, with a recent property purchase in Vermont. We all know Texas still needs her, with her efforts on behalf of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and various political campaigns.

            Joshua Samuels is now vice chair of pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science in Houston, the same school where his oldest daughter just started medical school.

            Beth Haney and Scott Moore celebrated the graduation of daughter Lea Moore ’22 in May. They connected with Gregg Ribbatt ’90, many members of the class of 1992, and both Chris ’89 and Johannah Townsend whose daughter Rachel ’22, graduated as well.

Beth continues her role with Avenues for Youth, a nonprofit focused on supporting young adults experiencing homelessness. Scott is focused on all things start-up. One endeavor is the Wesleyan-focused WeSpark! and includes classmates Cecilia Pohorille McCall, Kiff Gallagher, and Lexy Funk, as well as alums from other years. The goal is to help aspiring and existing entrepreneurs across the alumni base. https://www.wesleyan.edu/alumni/connect/WeSpark.html. Scott is also a partner in Colaboratory.io, a new platform to facilitate brand x brand collaborations.

Cecilia and Jonathan Moss independently stopped in the Twin Cities to visit with Scott and Beth this year, and they expect more classmates to hit them up in St Paul!

Speaking of Jon Moss, he persuaded Brian Harlin to join him in a dragon boat race event at the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club. Brian connected with rower Mark Hunter ’92, who is prospering personally and professionally in Burlington, Vermont.

Brian also reports on serendipity, as one of his closest high school friends, Mark Sullivan, married our classmate Janine Manzo Sullivan. Their kids, like Brian’s, “are successfully moving off to college and life is good.”

I was also on campus at this year’s Reunion & Commencement weekend, though for a more somber affair as the swim team memorialized Michael Mahon ’89. This bittersweet gathering brought together many friends from many class years, but it was special to see all of the class of ’91 swimmers: myself, Jennifer Zoltners Sherer, Maria Floyd Cohen, Dana Schultz, Doug Bothner, Bill Fabbri, and Ernie Luikart (who is also claimed by ’90).

Take care and stay in touch!

Hi all! Here’s what we have since our last issue:

Alfredo Viegas writes that his oldest Alessandra ’20 “will be heading to USC this August to start her MFA and we will be making it a cross-country drive from NYC. Along the way we will meet up with my other daughter, Ariana, who will be a rising junior at Colorado College. My son Alex will also be a rising junior at Boston University. Likely, there is grad/professional school for the other two so it looks like no early retirement for me!”

Amy Zucker Morgenstern is going back to school to pursue a Doctor of Ministry in theology and the arts at the United Theological School of the Twin Cities, while continuing as a minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, California, where she has been since 2003. “I want to use art to further energize my congregation’s justice work. When I double majored in religious studies and studio art and did political work at Wes, I never imagined how those three threads would keep intertwining all these years later.” Amy also wrote that she was sad to learn of the death last month of retired professor of religion, Jeremy Zwelling. I would add here that while I was not a religious studies major at Wes, I share wonderful memories of Professor Zwelling, his personal kindness and his passionate and insightful teaching.

Victor Khodadad “will be singing the roles of Faust and Gonzalve in a French double bill of Lili Boulanger’s Faust et Helene and Maurice Ravel’s L’heure espagnole with New Camerata Opera in September of 2022. The production will take place at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn, New York, and will be sung in French and accompanied by orchestra. Please visit www.newcamerataopera.org for more information. Victor is a member of the company’s Artistic Committee and helps to lead the company with all elements of production including its children’s opera branch Camerata Piccola and its online video opera branch CamerataWorks.”

Tim Hintz is still living in Brookline, Massachusetts, and has been working as a counselor at one of the schools in town, “so I have a miniscule commute and then often keep in touch with people on my longer, after-school walks. I talked about schools and kids with Amy Robins of Milton, Massachusetts, and kvetch about local politics with Denise Casper, who lives in Brookline as well. I was reminded this year of the column that Andrew Siff wrote about me, Bill Sherman, and Andy Spear our senior year at Wes. We were rather enthusiastic and vocal fans of Wesleyan football, which seemingly made for good copy for the Argus. In 2022, I have been fortunate to visit all three of them in their homes—Spear is in his hometown of Berkeley, California, teaching high school; Siff is in NYC reporting on the news (he and I attended the middle-age sing-along at Madison Square Garden known as the Billy Joel residency. Siff is still 100 % on his game in Billy Joel knowledge). I finally saw Bill in Seattle at the end of a camping trip to Alaska with my family. He is still working hard for the attorney general to make sure that Washington’s air and water is clean. Also working hard is Meg Steele, whose history tours of Bath, Maine, are a must if you are visiting the MidCoast region.”

In April, Stephanie Donohue Pilla started a new job as assistant director of leadership giving at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. “If any of you attended or your kids attend/ed, please reach out to me; I’d love to connect!  In May, I spent a lovely afternoon in downtown NYC with Cameron Gearen ’91who was in the city for a wedding. In early August, I was in San Francisco, via Hawaii, and had lunch with Carolyn Gencarella. She had just returned from a trip to Spain and Portugal with Peter Brastow. Unfortunately, I didn’t see Peter because he was still in Europe on sabbatical. Their oldest son graduated from Lewis & Clark last spring and their younger son is a junior at UCLA. At the end of August, I spent time with Janet Hamada and her family for a few days in between East Coast college visits for her daughter who is a senior in high school. In September, my daughter started high school at Convent of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls independent school where Peggy Savino serves as the head of the Upper School!”

I’m sending in these notes as I head to Cape Cod for a week away with my husband David and three children (Eliza, 24; Jack, 21; and Camryn, 16). Summer will be long over by the time you are reading these notes, so signing off, I wish you all a fall/winter of health and happiness. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Y’ALL. Get the popcorn. Our Wes ’89 classmates shared some of their fave food/food hack and snack stories and they are here for you to graze thru. (See? I’m still totally corny and mercilessly single too. Gah! #sendhelp. I’m taking apps … as in appetizers! :))

Erik Attkisson leads with a passionate ode to cheese fries. He described them as a “no doubter” and the prime source of his frosh 15. He reminisced about how he “always found a willing partner to commiserate with” and “solved the world’s problems over” them. However, after “four years of indulgence he never wanted to eat any more. . . .”

Kelem Butts writes, “Living in Low Rise, I used to cook steak for dinner, this was grade-Z quality from Waldbaum’s mind you. But I was not an effective cook and I constantly cooked it on the top shelf of the oven, which would lead to smoke and a fire alarm at least once a week. But how cool was it to be able to eat what you want every night?” He provides a further food-related update: “In May of this year, housemates from Intown 21 all met in New York for dinner, as it’d been some time since we’d all been together, COVID you know. We dined at Congee Village Restaurant in Chinatown and my god was it fun. Greg Berman, Josh Drew, Kevin ‘Juice’ Majewski, Mark Saudek, spouses/significant others, and me. We dined in a private room designed for karaoke; I can neither confirm nor deny that we did a lovely rendition of Guns N’ Roses Paradise City. A joyous time was had by all.”

Carrie Holden Emmerson offers a veritable cornucopia of food memories. She recalls Dave Lahey, Adam Long, and John Hlinko making Taco Bell tacos their go-to dinner. Also, that Adam Weiss considered oatmeal an all-purpose meal. She also remembers Liz Gossels and Lisa Paolillo helping with carbo-loading on Friday nights before soccer games with fettuccine Alfredo.  She had never had it before and has loved it ever since. Also, senior year, Kelly Morgan’s mom visited one weekend and made a REAL MEAL of beef stew. There was also an awesome potluck Thanksgiving dinner with other folks who stuck around senior year.

Likewise, Reggie Jenkins would make REAL FOOD like roasts (!) in his kitchen in High Rise. He still makes magnificent food to this day. Junior year, she remembers Rosemary Reilly testing the “doneness” of our spaghetti by throwing it up on the ceiling. Sophomore year, she recalls Ed Thorndike and his girlfriend cooking meals for us once a week at Delta Tau Delta.  Maybe a precursor to WesWings? Other memories involve ramen, mac and cheese, pasta, and of course, CHEESE FRIES, as well as the sundaes at the pub. She mourns the days when she was exercising a lot more and could eat such things without worrying about adding extra pounds by even looking at it.

Also weighing in on CHEESE FRIES is Alisa Berman. They were “her food”—never had them before Wes and hasn’t eaten them since!

From Lynn Rosenbaum, the following food-related confession. “When studying in SciLi, I often visited the snack vending machine on the first floor. One evening, I discovered that when I pulled the handle, the snack came out—without putting in any money! I got a bunch of free snacks and might have tipped off a few other people.”

Michelle Cleaver relates a couple of quickie one-pot meals: couscous, hot dog, peanuts, and broccoli. Or baked potato, dill pickles, garlic, cheese. She also recalls that between herself and my fellow foodie, Anneliisa Aubrey-Walton, they had two hot plates and a toaster oven or two, which led to many wonderful meals in their Butterfield hall.

If alcohol counts as a food, then we can include Liz Marx’s memory of Sandeep Wahdwa blasting Born to Run on Friday afternoons while breaking open Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers.

David Bradley relates the “unexciting but true” observation that ramen figured large in his Wes dining. There was much controversy about preparation despite the mathematically small number of possible variations: Noodles into boiling water? Boiling water over noodles? Drain? Don’t drain? And critically, how much of that spice packet to add? As for the actual ramen variety/flavor, I’m not sure that mattered!” He also reports he’s in Kigali for the year on a Fulbright U. S. scholar grant, helping the University of Rwanda develop training programs in pediatric cardiology, taking time away from my work at the University of Michigan to commit some time to global health. Happy to connect with any Wes alums!

Jeff Brez offers a first-year memory from Butterfield C of snacking on “sleazy cheese” (Cheese Whiz) on crackers (or heck, just plain!) and enjoying “goldfish in a cloud” in MoCon, which was Pepperidge Farm Goldfish with cottage cheese. He also reports that he left the UN Secretariat in New York and “with my husband and two children moved to Rome” where he works for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

No food updates, but Garry Schumacher reports that his wife Nicole, and youngest son Stormy (now in high school) live pretty much across the street from the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville. They often see Ethan Garber ’90 who also lives there. And Bev Tomov (Wachtel) ’92. Anyone passing through is invited to say “hello.” His two older kids have just completed their degrees, one a bachelor’s and one a master’s, and so for the first time in years they have a hiatus in making tuition payments! Very exciting!

Lynn Lazarus and Andrew Shear relocated back to NYC last fall during COVID to be closer to family. Andrew just started a job as the director of post-conviction litigation at the Innocence Project. Lynn has been venturing into modern healthcare and working doing telehealth for two start-ups. She is enjoying taking a break from a physical clinic after spending a lot of time during COVID in full PPE. She specializes in seeing patients while on an island, so far working from Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and Deer Isle, Maine, in addition to Manhattan. Their kids are both in NYC. Sam is a senior at Bard College and Leah is a junior at the New School. They are very happy to be back close to family and friends after 15 years in Oakland. “We’ve seen lots of Wes folk, including Jonathan Fried, Stephanie Dolgoff, Dave Milch, Art Halpern, and Greg Benson.”

Dave Milch also adds: “On a happy note, it was great to catch up with Josh Feldman at the ‘every-five-years’ celebration that Jonathan Fried and his Brooklyn-friends-since-kindergarten host that I’ve been fortunate to be ‘grandfathered’ into. Josh was visiting the East Coast from his digs in the Bay Area where he continues to build beautiful things (literally and metaphorically). On the sadder side, I was able to attend the dedication of a tree on Foss Hill in memory of our dear classmate, Mike Mahon who passed in 2020. Thanks in large part to the organization and love of the Wesleyan swim team (of which Mike was a member), the beautiful tree was planted at the top of Foss Hill between West Co and the Observatory. There was a lovely group that gathered to pay tribute to Mike and share stories of his unique and spirited friendship.  I hope everyone will be able to visit campus and take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the tree, and feel Mike’s warmth, friendship, and love of all things Wes when they do.”

Let’s plan on that for the 2024 Reunion. And also, Michele Barnwell may actually be open to going out for “apps” 🙂 IJS . . . If you’re in North America (or wherever planes fly) get app’ me. HAHA! (There’s no end to the corny, y’all. Save yourselves. 🙂

Hillary writes for this issue.

My fellow class notes solicitor/writer Pete Bond reports, “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position at Fetch Rewards: senior vice president, Commercial Solutions and Business Development. I am honored to lead the team developing commercial solutions around quantitative research and user-generated content and the business development professionals supporting CPG customer teams calling on Walmart/Sam’s Club and Kroger!”

Dave Silverberg let us know that he’s Ashland University’s director of K–12 Professional Development in northeast Ohio and has conducted curriculum audits for over 40 school districts in Ohio and beyond. Dave is happily married with two teenagers and takes surf lessons whenever visiting the coasts.

Pete Ganbarg writes, “My podcast Rock & Roll High School just completed its second season with now over 30 episodes available and more coming. We started the podcast as an opportunity for our listeners to learn more about the history of contemporary music directly from the legendary people who helped create it. Our guests have included The Temptations, Todd Rundgren, Graham Nash, Kenny Loggins, Peter Frampton, Nile Rodgers, Clive Davis, The O’Jays, and more.”

Sid Ray reports that she, Mark Niles, Stu Ellman, and Gail Agronick all have children who graduated from Brown University in 2020.

Christie Trott writes, “The past few COVID years have been pretty busy for me out here in sunny Northern California! I co-founded a new K–8 school for gifted kids called Tessellations, which is currently located in Cupertino, California. We have over 130 students enrolled and 37 staff heading into year three. I’m a humanities teacher/administrator at the school and I’m loving it! I’m also a busy working mom of two teenagers.” Christie got to accompany her husband on a recent work trip to Zurich this summer and has been in touch with Wendy Blum ’87, Steve Morison, and Paul Gosselin. She hopes to see more Wes people at some upcoming reunions.

Julie Schwarzwald says, “It has been an interesting several years, to say the least. I am happily ensconced in my job as a synagogue education director with responsibility for preschool, religious school, adult education, and more. Having become a rabbi three years ago, I also have the privilege of independently officiating at life-cycle events. I am discovering the wonderful world of dating apps (!!). In August, I visited Hawaii with my younger son, a graduation trip postponed from June 2020 and my 50th state. I am loving and embracing my mid-50s and I have plenty of room in my West Orange, New Jersey, townhouse should you find yourself in the area!”

Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz’s new book, Menopause Bootcamp: Optimize Your Health, Empower Your Self, and Flourish as You Age, was released in October.

As for me, I loved catching up with Andy Goldman recently on Zoom, and hearing about some of you from him! Stay well and keep your news coming.

Several months after our 35th Reunion, I’m still smiling as I think of the wonderful conversations I had with so many of our classmates. Here’s an update:

Michael Bennet headlined a panel discussion about the state of American democracy, along with Robert Allbritton ’92, the founder and publisher of POLITICO. Many of the ’87 crew were in the audience at Crowell Concert Hall to hear the analysis. Take away for me: stay involved. Jeremy Mindich was on a panel about angel investors and how they decide how to invest capital.

Always looking for news to share here, I set up a table at the dinner to collect memories, and I shamelessly begged for participation. I got some notes. Naomi Mezey remembered having Michael Bennet as a TA for Modern American Novel, getting to be in Kim Sargent’s dances, and having a “spring fling” with Matt Paul during senior week that would change her life. In a separate note, Matt corroborated the story, adding that it was Bruno Weintraub’s senior week party where they met. They are now married and living in D.C.

Ken Mathews called out to me from his car near SciLi on Friday morning, but we missed seeing each other the rest of the weekend! Ken retired from his position as the supervisor of math at the New Haven Public Schools in June.

All over campus, we reconnected as if no time had passed. At our class dinner, I heard many conversations about the stage of life we’re in. Some are parenting kids who are navigating high school, touring colleges, or just out of school and working out the beginnings of their careers. Some are thinking about whether to retire or go the other way and amp up our careers. Some are hoping to travel. Some are downsizing; some are helping our parents. We stayed in the ’92 Theatre long after plates were cleared, pondering the questions, sharing the experiences, enjoying the company.

Those who couldn’t join us sent us some reflections too.

Giles Richter writes, “I was sorry to miss reunion this year, but I am still glowing from the great experience I had at the 25th, lingering in the shade by Butterfield C and the old Asia House at 200 College Street to reminisce about lifelong friends. Among them, I just got to see John and Susan (Toothaker) Skovron who visited with me this spring, and Debbie Krisher who I saw on my first trip back to Tokyo since the pandemic started. I am still working at Stanford managing the IUC Japanese overseas intensive program I attended 30 years ago.”

Alisa Kwitney remembered meeting her RA, Holly Harrison ’85—the start of a lifetime friendship. Now Holly and fellow alum Jim McManus’ (’85) daughter is starting as a freshling! Alisa also reports that her graphic novel GILT will be out soon, and you can tune in to Endless: A Sandman podcast to hear her memories of working on the comic and how the ’90s series was adapted into the Netflix show.

Michael Morris sent in these memories:

• Meeting my wife Djenne-amal Nubia at a MoCon dance party in ’83 while she visited her cousin Lyle Ashton Harris ’88
• Sitting in Downey House for hours after dinner with Zahara Deardre Duncan ’88, Joan Morgan, and Marilyn Anne McDonald Hendricks, dreaming about how we would change the world!
• Sitting in the sun on Foss Hill, listening to the smooth sounds of the Neville Brothers performing live.
• Seeing Jesse Jackson’s speech at Crowell Concert Hall. Who knew it was a prelude to his ’88 run for POTUS?

Michael Morris sent in his ID card. When we were students, we used our Social Security numbers for everything!

Despite the heat and humidity, the reunion on campus generated smiles and hugs, hundreds of group photos and selfies, a thousand small conversations, a million reconnections. The joyful weekend brought us back to our days as Wesleyan students. All too soon, we scattered back to our home bases, aging 35 years in the process.

Florence Dore has two new releases—a CD, Highways and Rocketships, and a new book, Ink in the Grooves: Conversations on Literature and Rock ‘n’ Roll. She says, “At Wes, I was a dB’s fan and an English major, studying Keats and rehearsing with my own band in an underground tunnel. After classes, in the glare of lamps stolen from dorm rooms, I sang, careful not to put my mouth too close to the microphone, experiencing a tiny, potent shock when I lost myself in the distortion and forgot. I married Will Rigby and got my PhD.

We have a Facebook group, a Spotify playlist, and a drive photo album of pictures from Reunion. Send me an email and I will share the information!

Till next time, friends!

Here’s some news from fellow ’86ers:

Jaclyn Brilliant writes: “A fond hello from New York City! I’ve spent the past 30-plus years working at Notre Dame School of Manhattan, a small high school in NYC’s West Village, including 10 years as principal—quite the ordeal during the height of COVID times! I’ve stepped down from that role starting with the 2021–22 school year but still work at the school as an English teacher and in the communications department. I’ve been married to Anthony Jenks ’85 for going on 33 years, and we have two adult daughters: Madeline, an attorney in D.C., and Josephine, a graduate student in art conservation at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. Empty nesters now, we moved out of our Brooklyn home and into an apartment in Midtown Manhattan a few years ago. Long walks along the East River with Nina Mehta, phone calls with Ann O’Hanlon, and lots of fine takeout sustained me through the COVID crisis. Anthony and I welcomed a puppy, Bonnie, and are now enjoying the chance to really explore our new neighborhood, travel, see live performances, and perch at restaurant bars again.”

Ellen Santistevan shares: “I can report that I have seen no one from Wes in years, although I recently had a very brief email exchange with John Tauxe ’84, who happens to live moderately close to me in New Mexico.

“My work as a craniosacral and visceral therapist has kind of exploded, and I have been teaching classes in ethics and bodywork, having finally come to recognize that ‘less is more’ when it comes to both work as well as teaching.

“I got to go to Yellowstone National Park in February with my other alumni association (from NM Tech) and fell absolutely in love with the landscape. I was absolutely transfixed by the vibration of the earth as the geysers rumbled and erupted. Although I did really want to pet one of the wooly cows, I refrained and stayed safe.”

Eric Howard sends in this update: He “is very excited to have started a new position: CEO/executive director of the Timber Framers Guild, a community of business owners, employees, and others who care about post-and-beam and timber-frame structures from the perspective of architecture, engineering, construction, renovation, and/or ownership. Some love the beauty or are excited by the sustainability angle; others appreciate on the art of creating or repairing a structure that will last 250 years. Guild members span the North American continent, and some are overseas.” Those who might want to take a weeklong class on timber framing (or send their child to a class) should contact him.

Julia Barclay says she has “a hybrid collection of essays, stories, and a stage text coming out in October entitled The Mortality Shot, which will be published by Liquid Cat Books. The material was written in the past five years and includes reflections on death of family and friends, intimations of all of that from childhood, and on my own mortality dealing with long-haul COVID. It also touches on process of my late-in-life (last year at age 57) diagnosis on autism spectrum, about which I am now writing a memoir. My website: TheUnadaptedOnes.com is where I announce new work, list services such as writing workshops, coaching, and gentle yoga for healing, and also write about life stuff on a blog. I was commissioned to record all of my experimental stage texts (22 years of them) for a 22-hour radio show RadioArtZone, broadcasting in Europe and online. That broadcast [occurred] in mid-September.

“Alums I have seen and been in touch with recently include Renee Bucciarelli ’83, Shawn Cuddy, Nathan Gebert ’85, Spencer Reece ’85, Bennett Schneider, Lisa Kaufman ’80, and Jenny Boylan ’80. Also chat online with West Coasters, Orna Izakson ’87, Don Rea ’84, and Andy Laken ’88. The whole Wes community is a thing of beauty and remains the reason I am happiest I attended our strange little university.”

Ralph Saverese reports that his book See It Feelingly was recently translated into Japanese. He and his son DJ have been teaching online creative writing workshops to intergenerational and inter-abled groups across the world.

From Lisa Porter: “I am currently working as the interim resident director and co-head of voice and dialects for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in San Francisco. I have been acting—Julia in Pam MacKinnon’s Fefu and Her Friends at ACT and going into rehearsals in a month as Gruach (Lady MacBeth) in Dunsinane at Marin Theatre Company. My daughter Maggie just graduated from Northwestern. While currently in the Bay Area, I am contemplating a move to NYC. In the last few months, I have seen Melinda Newman, Bennett Schneider, Pauline Frommer ’88, Kevin Pratt ’87, Ernie Laftky, Shawn Cuddy, and James Hallett, which has been amazing!”

Erika Levy is still enjoying her work as professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Teachers College, Columbia University. She lives in NYC with her husband and her son. She is thrilled that her daughter will be starting at Wesleyan in the fall! She loves staying in touch with her Wesleyan friends.

Ethan Halm took a new job as the vice chancellor for population health at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, and is the deputy chief population health officer in the RWJ Barnabas Health System in New Jersey. He is excited to be taking on these new challenges and being back in the Northeast.

And finally, we are sad to report that John “Johan” Booth passed away on June 29, 2022. His obituary can be read at https://www.gatheringus.com/memorial/john-johan-booth/9381. His brother David also wrote about John, which can be found here. David shared that his brother’s life work was in the U.S. Antarctic Program. “He worked at Palmer and South Pole Stations as a science technician. He loved the social life of the South Pole, where a small staff community would fend for itself during the long isolation of dark months. He loved the physical beauty of the South Pole, where the aurora danced overhead. He loved the varied science conducted at the Pole, where his intelligence, meticulousness, and curiosity found purpose. He loved mentoring others in that science. He loved sharing about Antarctica through countless visits and slideshows in schools and community settings, and through a celebrated email correspondence chronicling both the social and the scientific aspects of life on the ice.”