Class Notes

Hi Wes friends!  I am writing these notes from Naples, Florida. Things are great in the Sunshine State, but I still remember wandering across the Wesleyan campus on a beautiful snowy day, or borrowing a tray from the dining hall to slide down Foss Hill (in lieu of a sled).  As the years pass, I’m even able to look back at some of those all-nighters and brutally difficult exams with rose-colored glasses. Okay, that’s probably more than enough nostalgia; I’m happy to share some news including travel overseas, a new film, and some amazing career updates.

Jamie Bachrach writes, “Tim and I are still running a wine logistics and distribution company based in Litchfield County, Connecticut.  Our younger daughter Esmee is a sophomore day student at the Taft School and plays soccer/ski races/rows crew, depending on the season.  She’s hoping to get her braces off before masks are no longer required at school; at this rate, she’s probably in luck. . . .   Our older daughter Logan is halfway through a three-year undergraduate degree in politics, philosophy, and economics at Oxford University and loves living (and traveling) abroad. She’s also managed to play soccer/ski race/row crew while in college.  With Tim’s sister’s family, the four of us had an amazing trip to South Africa in August 2021 to celebrate the life of Tim’s mom, who passed away a year ago—and to reunite with Tim’s extended family in Cape Town.  Next up for March 2022 (fingers crossed) is travel to Iceland to see the northern lights and to celebrate Tim’s 50th birthday.”

Jacob Bricca is celebrating the broadcast premiere of the documentary Missing in Brooks County, which he produced and edited–it aired on Independent Lens on over 450 PBS stations across the country on January 31, and streamed for free for the month of February. The film, which had a five-city in-person theatrical run and garnered over 20 awards at film festivals worldwide, tells the story of the migrant death crisis in south Texas through the eyes of two families who are looking for their missing loved ones, and was co-directed by his wife, Lisa Molomot.

Jodi Samuels writes: “I’m still enjoying my work as director of strategic support for colleges and scholars at the Foundation for California Community Colleges. My portfolio focuses on partnering with the community colleges to provide scholarship and emergency aid to students along with grants to the colleges themselves for certain types of educational programs. Over the past year, we’ve seen four people transition out of our team but have also welcomed five new team members, so the ‘great resignation’ has definitely had an impact, but we’ve also seen lots of new talent come into our organization. My spouse, Evan, and I managed to take a wonderful trip to northern Italy in early October for a small group tour that focused on the wine, food, and history of the region. This year, we’re hoping for travel to Hawai’i and Iceland in addition to our usual family destinations of Denver, Austin, and Chicago.”

Tristan Taormino just finished her first year of an MPH graduate program at George Washington University. Her new book, a memoir, will be published by Duke University Press in 2023. Tristan was recently named a Distinguished Sexual and Gender Health Revolutionary by the University of Minnesota Medical School Program in Sexuality for her two decades of work in sex education.

Dear Classmates:

Happy spring! I’m looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our 30th(!) Reunion later this year. But for now, here’s the news from the class of 1992.

Andrew Draper is working at an education-tech start-up from his apartment in Brooklyn, where he lives with his 16-year-old son. Leaving Brooklyn, Jonathan Liebson has jumped the East River again and returned to Manhattan. For the 20th anniversary of 9/11, he published a photographic memoir of that day with The American Scholar online.

Over the summer, I made a quick escape to the Pacific Northwest, where I got to see my senior-year roommate Simon Fulford, who is working at Parrott Creek Child & Family Services. They are launching a major capital campaign this year to increase their residential and community-based treatment programs. In addition, Simon will have a chapter titled, “Listen and Let Me Heal My Pain: Justice for America’s Children” published in the UK-based Monument Fellowship book series this spring. All the while he continues to look over his three boys (now 10, 14, and 19).

Anne Paris is also in Portland, Oregon, with her partner Ben Root, and her son lives with them half time. Anne is mostly working as a freelance writer and analyst, doing work for tech firms and education nonprofits. “During COVID I bought a camping trailer, and so I’m looking forward to doing some ‘work-from-camper’ road trips after my son goes to college in the fall of 2023. I try to squeeze in some time for poetry, painting, and traveling, and I’m looking forward to leading a writing and art residency in eastern Oregon in the spring.”

Sarah Guernsey is still teaching 6th grade math and is excited to be in-person after being virtual for most of last year. She and Adam Blumer ’91 are empty nesters, having sent both of their boys to college. Sarah just finished working as part of the transition team for the new mayor of Framingham; she was one of the co-chairs of the education subcommittee. After that she has been keeping active by serving on the executive board and the bargaining team for the teachers’ association.

Welcome first-time notes contributor Melissa Doty who lives in West Virginia and sums up the past 30 years as follows: “Current husband, Steve, and I share five adult kids who have pretty much flown the nest. Over the years I’ve been a mom, a business manager, and a nonprofit director, but in 2016, I started painting and now that’s what I do! (Come say hello over on IG@melissadoty.art.)”

Linda Perlstein lives in Seattle where she just started a new job at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with their Global Communications team to supervise writing projects, particularly those in the voice of the foundation and its leaders.

Joy Lewis writes that her son graduated Sidwell Friends School, Washington, DC, this past June and is now a freshman at Wes (class ’25).

Maurice Harris currently lives just outside of Philly and is working for the Reconstructionist movement of Judaism in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. His third book was published in 2019, and it’s called The Forgotten Sage: Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah and the Birth of Judaism as We Know It, from Cascade Books.

Chris Arndt is going on his seventh year in Telluride since moving out of NYC in 2015. His sons Alden (12) and Graham (10) ski downhill, cross-country, play lacrosse, and enjoy the outdoors. He continues to work on environmental issues some but spent a lot more time in the past few years getting back into playing bass and music, especially last year. He recently recorded an album in Nashville.  The album, Lost Bags, is a mix of new and old original songs, many of which date back to his Baggage Claim days at Wes. Check out more here:  https://mailchi.mp/7a6bfc1da80e/introducing-the-doc-project.

Jay Hardwig writes from Asheville, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife of 25 years, Nita Smith. They work as teachers for students with blindness and low vision. Jay recently published a middle-grade novel, Just Maria.  Just Maria is the story of Maria Romero, a blind sixth grader who is trying her hardest to be normal—learn more and order your copy at jayhardwig.com.

Lori Coyne started a new role with her firm in May 2021 as a senior environmental sustainability consultant in Environmental Resource Management’s (ERM’S) Sustainability, Strategy, and Disclosure service area. Lori is also an empty nester as her daughter went off to UVM (which she chose over Wesleyan!).

That’s all the news for now. Please send Paul and me your updates. And hope to see you at Wes in May!

Please write to your class secretary.

Hi all.  Here’s what we have:

Dave Dowsett writes from Portland, where he is practicing dentistry and focused on the connection between oral and systemic health—understanding how the mouth bacterial biome plays a role in disease and health. “It’s a cool, geeky way to really think about prevention rather than simply early diagnosis and treatment. I think my true love with health-care practice is caring for athletes of all ages and their unique needs. I am currently the secretary for the Academy for Sports Dentistry—a group of about 250 dentists across North America, who spend a lot of time making sure athletes are safe, performing at their best, and fixing them up when trauma happens. I’m looking after kids’ soccer clubs, my daughter’s high school teams, the Portland Winterhawks WHL/CHL hockey team, and even a few Olympians. It can be really fun, and you get to meet amazing people from all around the globe.”

Dave is “still married to his dental school love, Kristi (who stopped practicing almost 18 years ago after our first was born). She was raised in Honolulu, and we have been so very lucky to have spent lots of time there with her family over the years. I have three kiddos: Kekoa (15-year-old boy), a sophomore at my alma mater Jesuit HS—he is all theater, math, and art. Currently, he is playing the part of Sheldon Plankton in the upcoming performance of SpongeBob, the Musical in March. I see him at Wes so perfectly. Lehua (17-year-old girl), a junior at all-girls St. Mary’s Academy and a soccer nut. We watched the Wes women this fall make it to the national semis. Super cool.  We have a neighbor whose granddaughter is going to Wes next fall to play and this has really piqued Lehua’s interest, sooo . . . we’ll see. Maile (19-year-old young woman) is a first year at American University in DC, studying chemistry. She really wants to be a forensic scientist and would love to be Abby on the show NCIS.  She loves DC and the East Coast, so I may have lost her. . . .  When Kristi and I dropped her off last August, Laurie Malkin came down to spend the weekend. Had an absolute blast exploring the city, the food, laughing, and reconnecting. In fact, Maile and Laurie hit it off so well that Maile spent a good part of Thanksgiving break in Jersey and in NYC. She even got to go skating in Central Park and hang out with Bethel Gottlieb and her kids. I am still jealous.

“We plan to be back out visiting at spring break, in an attempt to do the college-tour thing. And the Broadway thing. And the trip-down-memory-lane thing.  Please COVID, give it a rest.”

The older daughter of Edward Ungvarsky and Olivia Smith ’91 is off to New York City next fall to Fordham University—Lincoln Center Campus, with an intended major of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies and a fashion marketing minor. “Yowza, they say! The kids and staff at Bridges Public Charter School, which Olivia founded to support children with and without special needs, have weathered COVID-19 well.” Ed walks their pandemic shelter rottweiler and practices some law.

Catharina (Lina) Schuetz (Will) writes from Dresden, Germany, with news that her eldest, Florian, joined the class of 2025 at Wes. “He is lucky to have real classes with live faculty, and is enjoying himself immensely . . .  I get nostalgic when he sends pictures from campus.”

Finally, congratulations to entrepreneur Raquel Graham who pitched her company Roq Innovation, which she founded in 2014, on Shark Tank in January, and landed a deal with two of the Sharks!  Raquel’s company creates innovative apparel accessories. The cаtаlog includes Nekz, а more mаnаgeаble аnd less cumbersome аlternаtive to scаrves; Heаdlightz Beаnies, which hаve а powerful light аttаched to them; and light-up gloves аnd heаdbаnds. Rаquel hаs been written up in Forbes and has аppeаred on Good Morning Americа аnd The View. Her products have been sold on the Home Shopping Network and featured on Mаrthа Stewаrt’s Americаn Mаde and on Oprаh’s Fаvorite Things lists. Raquel wants to keep innovating exciting products that make a real difference in people’s lives and plans to launch three new products in new categories. You can watch a clip of Raquel on Shark Tank at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkmfiS0GD9M. And this just in, Raquel was invited to speak at Wesleyan’s TedX event in April.

Wishing you all a wonderful summer and, as always, looking forward to hearing from you!

Peter writes for this issue.

With sadness we report that our classmate Alisa Kaufman passed away on March 20 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. After graduating Wesleyan, Alisa attended law school at University of California—Davis. She practiced immigration law in California, and is survived by her husband, three children, and two siblings.

Marjora Carter writes, “My first book was just published! Reclaiming Your Community: You Don’t Have to Move Out of Your Neighborhood to Live in a Better One.”

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has announced the appointment of Hubert Allen to its national board of directors. Hubert resides in Chicago, Illinois, and is the executive vice president, general counsel, and secretary at Abbott, the global health care company, where he leads a diverse global team of over 250 lawyers that interact with legal systems in more than 100 countries to support Abbott business all around the world.

Justin Gubar proudly reports, “My friend, Deirdre Davis, received a well-deserved promotion at the end of 2021. After joining American Express a little over three years ago, she is now vice president and senior counsel—Trademark & Copyright, IP Law and Strategy Group. No one better to protect your IP!”

Stephen Gannon has relocated from New Jersey down to Vero Beach and is enjoying the fantastic weather. I had dinner with Stephen and his wife Marta in December, and the new climate is certainly agreeing with them.

Lastly, I am happy to report that my podcast, The CPG Guys, is currently ranked #1 for Consumer Goods Industry podcasts according to Feedspot, and Shopify recognized it as one of the top 10, e-commerce–focused podcasts to follow for people in the CPG/retail industry. We just published our 175th episode.

Greetings, classmates! As I write, we are looking forward to our 35th Reunion and slogging through the dark days of winter in the U.S. Northeast. In anticipation of May’s Middletown events, the reunion committee hosted a Zoom social hour in the cold days of February. We split into first-year dorm breakouts and enjoyed reminiscing about when we were 18. And we brought some wonderful memories to life.

The Clark breakout talked about the noise of Olin construction and how it really upended morning sleep for many in the dorm—except for Michael Pruzan who is from New York City. To him, noise was noise. They laughed about the 8:30 a.m. weekly calls on the hall phone for Sue Romeo from her mom, who apparently hung on the line waiting for her, and Sue almost never arrived to pick up the phone. Then they remembered the amazing tip that Dave Perryman’s Clark roommates left him on his first lunch shift at Downey House. Amazing, that is, until he realized that Eric Apgar had rubber cemented all the coins and bills to the table. The group also discussed the great bathroom stall mystery of 1983–84, when some mischievous dorm mate stuffed a pair of blue jeans and shoes and propped it up in one of the stalls in the second-floor unisex bathroom. There, the solitary figure sat resolutely, maybe stolidly for several days. Like Rodin’s The Thinker, it was contemplating lofty principles, no doubt, until an intrepid group of students knocked on the stall door to see if everything was “okay in there.”

In the Butterfield group, Daria Papalia and I recalled Meteor Farm, a choral piece written by Professor Neely Bruce, that some of us performed in NYC’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. This was a piece where each person in the choir sang an independent verse simultaneously, until the group joined together to sing METEOR FARM all at once. I demonstrated and people were surprised that I remembered my unique words and tune.

Sue Roginski told the Butterfield group that she had a bit of time on campus last fall with Molly Rabinowitz and Paul Blanchard. They walked around campus and through downtown Middletown together during a very rainy Homecoming weekend at Wes. During the pandemic, Sue has been working online, thanks to Zoom. The dance nonprofit she is a part of first paused during 2020, and then moved their dance events to the virtual platform in 2021. What has evolved because of that work is now the first-ever dance film festival in the Inland Empire. Hope you all can check that out on June 25th (www.placeperformance.org)!

The Butterfield group was entertained when Dave Robinson showed us all Chris Roellke’s commemorative bobblehead. I’ll let Dave take it from here. He writes: “For those that missed it (i.e., anyone who hasn’t come across one of Chris’s many social media sites), Chris Roellke became the 10th president of Stetson University on July 1, 2020.  That’s right, “Rolks” is now a university president.  To be honest, much like the grade he got in Constitutional Law at Wesleyan, he owes his presidency largely to me and my backroom maneuvering on his behalf. All kidding aside, due to the pandemic, the celebration of his presidency was postponed for more than a year, but on November 6, 2021, Chris was appropriately honored with an official inauguration. I had the privilege of contributing a short video testimonial that was played alongside other testimonials, including one from Wesleyan’s own president, during the ceremony on the Stetson campus in DeLand, Florida. In recognition of my contribution, I received a limited-edition Chris Roellke bobblehead. I’m sure Chris tried to convince the school to put him in a baseball or basketball uniform; alas, the bobblehead is decked in the traditional cap and gown.  Nevertheless, go Rolks, go Hatters!”

The reunion committee had one more of these calls in the spring. It was a great build up to our 35th! I hope you were able to make more memories of our time on campus if you were able to go back in May.

Our class is still looking for one or two volunteers to be Class Secretary and gather stories to share with our classmates. If interested, write to me or to Liz Taylor ’87 at classnotes@wesleyan.edu.

We didn’t get many submissions for Class Notes or many volunteers to serve as secretary.  Via our Facebook group (255 members), we asked for submissions, and Emily Zaslow Hourihan commented, “I got nothing!!! Ha ha. Xox,” to which Steve Cadigan replied, “C’mon. I don’t believe you,” and she then said, “I’ve been in my bathrobe for three years!”  Also on Facebook, there was a lot of discussion about William Garson Paszamant, better known as Willie Garson to his many fans and throughout the entertainment industry—stage, film, and television. Best known for his role in the iconic HBO television series Sex and the City, he died of pancreatic cancer last September.

In case you missed it, the prior issue of the alumni magazine had a full-page picture of Michael Bay accompanying a story about the future of film and a full-page article by Steve Cadigan about his book on the future of work.  Because Steve had been LinkedIn’s first HR officer, I went to LinkedIn and discovered that several classmates have a great relationship with their employer. Later this year Becca Golden will be celebrating her 30th anniversary with the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, where she oversees national grant-making programs, and Forrest Maltzman will soon be celebrating his 30th year as a professor of political science at George Washington University.  Via Facebook, Steve also noted he had a chance last summer to visit Tony Zimmerman and his wife Anne at his home in Hartford, has been in regular touch with Gus Conroy who is in Houston—comparing notes on life and work—and also met up with Scott Donohue, who humbled him in a tennis match and then asked if Steve wanted to go on a bike ride up a steep mountain with him . . . no thanks.

How are the rest of you doing with your aspirations?  I also know that some have retired, while others are moving on in different ways.  Bridge Growth Partners, a leading technology investment firm, announced in November that it had appointed Jonathan Harber as senior advisor to identify and evaluate investment opportunities. He has expertise, insights, and relationships from more than 30 years as a pioneer in education technology. He recently was CEO for Pearson K12 Technology, overseeing a business unit with 1,000 employees and serving over 25 million students.  Another job change was Noah Pickus, who after 25 years at Duke University, joined the Minerva Project as chief academic officer and their associated university in the role of professor of social sciences.

Lastly, David Hill deserves our deep thanks, as he continues to serve in a leadership role in the university-wide Alumni Association.

Hello, Classmates!

Aaron Gershenberg has transitioned to Angel and Impact Investing, based in Park City, Utah, leaving Silicon Valley Bank (and SVB Capital) behind after 23 years. (He continues on as founding partner emeritus for SVB.)  He is looking forward to spending more time in Africa and Israel, and to looking for sustainable economic development models.

Michael Llewyn had an exciting fall running for borough president of Manhattan on the Libertarian Party line (despite not being a registered Libertarian).  He got 1.8% of the vote, focusing on “less zoning, more housing, lower rents.” You can find “Manhattan Borough President General Election Debate” on YouTube.  In and around the campaign, Michael got married in 2019 and lives in midtown Manhattan; he teaches at Touro Law Center, and blogs about land use issues at planetizen.com and marketurbanism.com. You can find his law review articles at http://works.bepress.com/lewyn.

Shawn Dove, who felt (like so many of us) that 2021 was an “intermission,” is facing the third act of his life with our shared milestone birthday. His major takeaway from the pandemic is to “stop lamenting my irretrievable and start loving my future self.”  “Sage”-ing instead of “age”-ing.  He has  sunsetted the not-for-profit Campaign for Black Male Achievement, and has launched the Corporation for Black Male Achievement—a publishing and consulting firm that curates “community building and leadership development engagements that elevate stories of loving, learning and leading Black men and boys.”   His book, co-authored with Nick Chiles (a Yalie, but all is forgiven), I Too Am America: On Loving and Leading Black Men & Boys was published at the beginning of the year. And he has started as managing partner of venture philanthropy firm New Profit. The firm’s mission is “investing in breakthrough social entrepreneurs by employing the rigor of venture capital and the humanity of the nonprofit sector. Excited about the focus of supporting Black and Brown social entrepreneurs.”

Ophelia Papoulas threw herself a rockin’ in-person party for her milestone birthday (in the lull between delta and omicron), and she appreciates her excellent timing. She adores her career in molecular research, which has allowed her to see real people in the lab every day.  We have mentioned Ophelia’s needlework-for-charity endeavor (dundysisters.com), which she runs with her sister Bettina; they have been donating proceeds of their work to mental health charities, as COVID has made needs in this arena skyrocket. On the home front, her son has turned 18, and after battling ADHD, OCD, and other mental demons, he has started at community college and is doing well.  She continues to see her longtime boyfriend, local musician/bandleader and Samsung recruiter David Cornell Hurd. She continues to care for her aging mother-in-law, whose dementia has worsened. She will be found around and about Austin, Texas (aka Musk-ville or Texla).

Until next time.

Forty years ago, we were navigating our first years at Wes! I’m grateful that so many of us have remained friends over the decades. Here’s news from some of those friends:

Marc Stein’s fifth book, Queer Public History: Essays on Scholarly Activism, was published by the University of California Press in March. “The intro includes some autobiographical reflections on our years at Wesleyan!”

KT Korngold has been accepted into a Montessori doctoral program through the University of Wisconsin–River Falls. She is part of the first cohort of this inaugural program, which began in May 2022. KT continues to direct the Montessori Children’s Center and Center for Montessori Education in West Harrison, New York.

Christopher Kylin dared me to include this note: “Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary has happened to [me] for over 2,133 days; [I anticipate] continuing this streak for at least another 7 days.”

Barbara Schwartz writes: “I hope everyone is doing okay in these crazy times. I have been doing okay. I am finally leaving the agency where I worked for 32 years. I was director of a therapeutic after-school program for homeless and at-risk children.  I am now just doing counseling and supervision in private practice. I still feel so young that it’s hard to believe we are headed toward 60 soon. My partner and I still hike every summer in a national park. I would love to hear from anyone who remembers me from Wesleyan.  I still have such fond memories.”

Joan (Edelman) and David Landon live in Walpole, Massachusetts. Dave is an archaeologist with UMass Boston and Joan is drug safety analyst with Harvard Medical School. They are empty nesters but are “expecting our first grand baby at the end of February and could not be more excited! We know everyone has had their own share of sadness over the course of the pandemic but we hope there has been some light as well.”

Amy Nash and I saw one another IN PERSON in Minneapolis in October. She is still working from home, coming up on 25 years as communications manager at MSR Design, a nationally recognized architecture firm. “I did manage to travel to NYC and Martha’s Vineyard last summer. While in NYC, I had dinner with Mike Groseth ’83. During last summer, I also had the pleasure of seeing Beth Purnell Gartman and Tim Dyke ’86 who were visiting Minneapolis on separate occasions. And last fall, I caught up with Caroline Hale-Coldwell and Nancy LaMarca Gordon, two other Wesleyan alumni who live in the Twin Cities. It was a great year for reconnecting with classmates even if it was a challenging year in every other way.” Amy also continues to write poetry.

Nancy Vélez, a fundraiser with over 26 years of experience in the nonprofit and higher education sectors, is the principal gift officer at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Nancy lives in the Bronx.

Bill Wrubel is “very excited to report that my daughter Maisie will be a [first-year student] at Wesleyan this fall, where she will be in the class with Andy Meier’s daughter Oona! They were both one-year-old babies on campus at our 20th Reunion in 2005.”

Hilary Jacobs Hendel works as an emotion-centered psychotherapist. Her 2018 book, It’s Not Always Depression, has sold over 100,000 copies worldwide. Hilary runs Emotions Education 101 classes on Zoom and published the Emotions Education 101 Turnkey Curriculum. Hilary also has many free resources on emotional health at hilaryjacobshendel.com.

That’s all for now. Write me anytime with your news and updates.  Take care, my friends.

Greetings! Time marches on and despite this never-ending pandemic, our classmates continue to thrive. I have spent the last two years working in urban education and when not putting out fires, reading, cooking, meditating, and trying to make sense of it all. I send everyone fond wishes for a happy and healthy new year.

Charlie Brenner left the University of Iowa, where he was head of biochemistry for 11 years, to become the inaugural chair of a new Department of Diabetes and Cancer Metabolism at City of Hope in Los Angeles. He started a virology project in the lab, met President Roth and Peter Gilhuly at the home of Luke Wood ’91 and Sophia Nardin ’91, and saw Brad Whitford ’81 play Ebenezer Scrooge. Living in Pasadena, Charlie works out on the Mirror and jousts on Twitter!

Franky De Poli lives in Argentina and owns and runs a company that sells equipment to fuel cars, planes, ships, and trains across Latin America. Franky remarried nine years ago and is delighted to announce the arrival of a new baby girl (Mia) in April. A true “modern family,” he has three wonderful children from his first marriage, two grandchildren, and all get along great, including his ex-wife. Franky remains in close contact with Paul Gross ’84 and met up on campus with Mike Whalen and Paul DiSanto ’81 when he last visited.

Judy Korin hunkered down at home in LA this past year and finished producing a documentary film many years in the making—Rebel Hearts. The movie premiered at Sundance and after a nice festival run, the film is now streaming globally on Discovery+. She enjoyed telling the colorful story of a group of progressive Catholic nuns in 1960s’ Los Angeles who stood up to the patriarchy of the church. Judy is excited to share it with the world!

Heather Rae sold everything and relocated to southeastern Florida to build out her functional health and genomics practice (cutting-edge science to assess root chronic health conditions: environmental toxins, nutrient levels, variants in enzymes (genes) of inflammation and detoxification, cellular voltage, and membrane lipids). Way to go Heather! Having just started to see an integrative and functional health doctor to address assorted ailments associated with growing older, I salute you!

Nancy Rommelmann launched a media company, PalomaMedia.com, in November, and is working on a book that includes her coverage of the 2020–2021 protests in Portland. She currently splits her time between NYC and Houston.

Despite being quarantined for most of 2020, Janet Binswanger managed to make the best of it, and got married on a beautiful sunny evening in September. She writes, “Neil and I have a blended family of 6 kids and are extremely happy together. I have the greatest job at Vynamic, a health-care management consulting company as their curator; curating all their events, team experiences: aka ‘Director of Happiness.’”

David Frankfurter and Anath Golomb shared their activities during the “plague year.” They (1) adopted a second puppy (of diverse breeds) brought up from Houston; (2) held in-class university teaching, while simultaneously managing Zoom students; (3) saw psychotherapy patients by Zoom from home, while said Houston dog barks at UPS trucks; (4) dined outdoors in 45-degree windchill; (5) enjoyed overly international Zoom seders; and (6) not getting COVID!

At the end of February, Megan Norris began a new position as CEO of Miller Canfield, the law firm for which she has been practicing for 35 years.  She writes, “Taking on the position as we come out of the pandemic is a bit of a baptism by fire, and 200 attorneys are a lot of cats to wrangle, but I have spent my entire career here and it is very satisfying to finish it out this way.” At the beginning of the pandemic, Megan’s daughter, Taylor Matthew ’17, moved back to Detroit from Boston for grad school. With an MA in teaching, Taylor begins her career as a teacher in the Detroit public schools.

Karen Miller Zoomed with a bunch of her field hockey/roommate crew: Gretchen Millspaugh Cooney from Pennsylvania, Sue Stallone Kelly from New York, Barb Bailey Beckwitt from Colorado, and Tammy Rosengarten Darcas from Australia. While a couple of them may have had a glass of wine, Tammy, being in Australia, enjoyed her morning coffee. Karen’s daughter finally got married after postponing it for a year and resides in Latvia while her husband plays hockey for the KHL of Russia. Her two other daughters moved back to the Connecticut area to be with their brother.

Glenn Duhl (with wife Peggy), Matt Ember, and Laurie Sklarin Ember ’84 had a couple great days together in California.

Lastly, I wish everyone a happy 60th. Many have wrote of their celebrations: Taya Glotzer and Michael Sommer, Tom Donnelly (and Heidi), Peter Jankowski (and Dottie), Frank Moll ’84 (and Diana), and Melanie Peters had a reunion to mark the occasion.