Class Notes

As Bob Gershen reminds us, he bought and rebuilt a small ranch house in Detroit within walking distance of his daughter, Emily, and her family, including her two infants, Milo (age three) and Naomi (age one and one-half). “Living near our offspring is an unexpected joy. My daughter, Jayme, is a Miami-based filmmaker who had three films accepted this year into festivals in New Orleans, Middlebury, and New York City.  It’s also a joy to see your children excel at something I know nothing about. This year Thanksgiving was a wonderful gathering at which I did no cooking and all four of my children were together for the first time in 15 years.” 

Nancy Collins writes, “This was the highlight of my year. On November 3, 2024, the newest women’s crew shell was christened Spirit of ’74. The name came about from a conversation spring ’23 at the initiation of the Phil Calhoun Endowment Fund for the crew teams. I was there [with my] husband, Brian Mahoney ’73, who had Phil as a crew coach. I was introduced as being in the first women’s shell. A group of the varsity women, who had won the silver medal that spring in their division at the NCAA championship in this brand-new unnamed shell, were very interested in the stories of the beginning of women’s crew as well as other women’s sports in those first couple of years of women on campus. I was so surprised and pleased when informed of their name for that new shell and of the christening event. In the picture: me and Adrienne Bentman, Anne Williams ’75, Brian Dawe ’70 (who was actually responsible for recruiting women to start the sport), Brian Mahoney ’73, and George Surgeon ’72, who helped Coach Dawe coach.

“Before this event, I reached out to the other women with whom I had roomed and who had also rowed, Jane Witten, Val Talmage,and Eileen Devereux ’76 (who entered with the Class of ’75). All of the women said that crew (and for Adrienne who is in Wes’s Athletic Hall of Fame for other sports as well) was the best and most important part of their experience as Wesleyan.” 

Blaise Noto updates us, “Reunion was terrific! So, thanks to all those who made it wonderful. I am semi-retired and a living in Halfmoon, New York, which is between Albany and Saratoga Springs. I am a lecturer at Skidmore College, in marketing and public relations and enjoy being at Skidmore!! Also, I have been busy being a judge for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences: Student Academy Awards and the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting—[including] judging in Oscar categories [of] international feature films, animated feature films, and live action short films.”

Larry Green retired as of year-end 2024 following 47 years of trial practice in Boston, taking pride in his service to clients and his mentorship of younger attorneys over the decades. Larry is grateful that he is retiring in good health. He will be spending his time with a combination of nonprofit board service, consulting, writing, travel, and fitness. Larry and his wife, Denise, were blessed on November 14 with their seventh grandchild. They live in Ogunquit, Maine, enjoying daily walks along the Atlantic shore, and welcoming any and all visits from Wes alums.

Andre Barbera reports, “My latest study, Original Sin and Time, will appear early in 2025, published by Wipf & Stock. This message causes me to reflect for a moment on Wesleyan and our studies there. Those years and ethos seem long ago and far away.  I am grateful for the opportunity to have attended Wesleyan, and in some ways, I learned a lot while there. But judging from publications and class notes, I fear that now I would be a stranger on campus. Perhaps my two recent books (one on faith and works published in 2020) are indicative of a diversity of thought and opinion cultivated at our alma mater.”

Ellen Levy-Sarnoff writes, “Under my pen name, Nelle Lamarr, my new psychological thriller, All My Lies, will be released by Inkubator Books! It’s about a writer who does an unthinkable thing and pays the price. I think it’s my most fun, fast-paced thriller to date. If you love to read bestseller Freida McFadden, whose daughter is going to Wes in September 2025, you will love this book!” 

Claudia Catania reports, “I’ve been spending a lot of time in Denver with son, Gavin, and his wife, Theresa, and their three boys ages two, four, and six. I’ll be spending more time in San Francisco where son, Max, and his wife, Shira, and their in utero, Baby Bean, (a fourth boy) live. I returned to Playing on Air (playingonair.org) for a year or so to reboot, but [I’ve left]. Take it away, Joshua! Italy, here I come!”

Monique Witt updates us, “Mostly the same music news: we have some albums in the mix and master stage, when Dev has time to produce. Dev is hip deep in the new product lines, which he hopes to beta in the spring. Ben [was] in NYC for December as it is one of the heaviest performance times of the year. He [went] back on tour in January for about six months all over. I had a really interesting dinner with Kate Lynch ’82 and Dean Roger Grant from the new integrated arts initiative, talking about everything from jazz to philosophy to the visual arts—exciting time to be in the arts at Wes. We hope to do an evening of jazz and commentary early next year. Steven’s just beginning to think about retirement, which I imagine will involve some aspect of the guys’ music.” 

In September, Bob Baum published his new book: Ancient African Religions: A History with Oxford University Press. Now he is applying for grants for his next book on Senegalese women prophets.

Jane Burns notes, “My 2024 news is summarized in the attached newsletter from our research group and includes receiving an endowed chair and an article in the The New York Times that resulted in the Clintons reaching out to me to participate in the Clinton Global Initiative. Website: https://pediatrics.ucsd.edu/research/centers/kawasaki-disease/index.html” 

Harold Sogard was disappointed with the results of the November elections. He plans to work toward a different outcome in the 2026 elections.

Mark Decker writes, “This past year, Jim and Nancy Gilson, Paul and Kim Liscom, Rip and Marjorie (’76) Dauster, Don Middleton, Bruce Duncan, Larry Green,and Cele and I have been enjoying periodic group Zoom sessions.

“This past June, Cele and I enjoyed a trip to Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa. We highly recommend it.

“On August 1, after 34 years at The Connell Company, I retired. I am now volunteering my time as board member of, and legal advisor to, the Schiff Natural Land Trust. The Trust preserves and maintains the bulk of the lands in Mendham and Chester, New Jersey, which formerly served as the national training center for the Boy Scouts of America.”

Jim Gilson tells us, “Nancy and I had the pleasure of hosting Mark and Cele Decker and Don Middleton just after Election Day. Our visit together slightly mitigated the pain and fear of the results because we could share that pain and fear with friends. All of us— plus Rip Dauster, Paul Liscom, Bruce Duncan, Larry Green, and interested spouses (including Marjorie Allen Dauster ’76)—continue our periodic Zoom catch-up calls, and as many of us as are able plan to get together again late in May at the beautiful house Paul self-built in West Yellowstone, Montana.” 

Bill Pearson writes, “Our major news is that we had our first wedding—Nate Pearson, our eldest, married Raegan Allsbrook on August 24, at our home in Ledyard, Connecticut. This is where Jane and I were married. We had the Wesleyan Gamelan perform for our wedding. Nate and Raegan had his brothers lead the band. It made for a wonderful August day.

His brother, Howe ’12, a Wesleyan alum, is a musician who lives in New Orleans and has spent much of the past year touring with the Deslondes, a great Americana band. His youngest brother, Henry, is a middle school math teacher in Trenton, New Jersey, and co-leads a modern rock band, Uncle Skunk.” 

John Shapiro notes, “Needless to say, it was great to see everybody at our 50th Reunion. The big news in our life is that we have finally become grandparents with the birth of a granddaughter named Noa. At the moment, she and her parents are living in San Diego, where we have visited multiple times since her birth in early October. Ultimately, they will be moving back to New York City, which will be a much easier commute for us!”

James Krantz writes, “My son, Daniel ’11, and his wife have welcomed our first—and hopefully not last—grandchild into our lives. One thing I’ve learned is that all the cliches are true. It’s heavenly.” 

“Greetings from the great state of Maine (reservedly). This is G. Beecher Johnson (Gary Johnson). (Beechnut; aka Fagus grandifolia) now sending my love.” 

Henry Avis-Vieira had two knee surgeries last year, one in March and the other in August. He is finally close to normal now—hiking and jogging a little. What a year! He is still sending out pictures from our 50th Reunion.

Christopher Moeller shares, “My only news is very sad news for me. My wife, Sarah, lost her battle with blood cancer in September. I find grieving to be a terribly difficult process.”

Carolyn White reports, “I was disappointed not to be able to attend the 50th Reunion, but I had a mini-reunion with freshman-year classmates Ellen Driscoll, Ann Duncan, and Anne Jacobs. It is precious to have maintained this friendship.

“July and August saw me in Paris for the Olympics, which was brilliantly well-organized. My next activity will be to, once again, lead a NAMI Family to Family course, helping families deal with a mental health crisis of their loved one.”

Fred Hosea writes, “As a World Health Innovation Fellow, I’m heading an international prototyping team to develop an AI platform to assist innovators in health care devices and services in creating innovations that satisfy a wide range of critical success factors and stakeholder requirements. Am on the board of newly formed Universal Clinical Engineering Federation, modeled on Doctors without Borders, based in India, to send professional CE volunteers into disaster situations to help restore hospital services, which obviously involves painful analysis of Middle East hostilities, massive population emergencies, and unprecedented targeting of humanitarian volunteers, ambulances, hospitals, etc. Here in Ecuador, we’re facing a national plague of drug trafficking and crimes, combined with disruptive climate impacts causing daily 14-hour power outages for two months due to lack of rain to run hydroelectric generators. The current president, Noboa, has signed an agreement to establish U.S. military bases in the Galapagos Islands.”

Lyn Thurber Lauffer shares, “I’m very sad to report the loss of one of our classmates, Fred Freije, who graduated with us, and who passed away on September 17 of this past year in London. He had actually matriculated with the Class of 1967, though he left for various reasons in the years following, till his return to campus in 1973, when few of us encountered him. 

My own acquaintance with Fred, and his family, only occurred a couple of years ago, because of my membership on the 1974 50th Reunion Committee. When I volunteered to contact classmates about reunion, I zeroed in on him, because of his London address. My family travels there often, as our daughter lives in London, and I was intrigued to meet another Wes alum there. My husband, Ferdinand, and I met with Fred in April 2023 and became fast friends. It was soon very obvious how much Wesleyan meant to him, in spite of his unconventional path to a diploma. The short version of his academic journey was summed up by his son, Tom, in his eulogy at Fred’s memorial service in September, which he has kindly sent to me: 

“‘A talented track sprinter, [Fred] received scholarship offers to Yale and Wesleyan. Always contrarian, he unsurprisingly chose to go to Wesleyan, a place he would proudly claim as the only school to expel him three times and still graduate him on a full scholarship.’

“The reason for that final scholarship offer came from our own beloved Steve Buttner ’61, who lured Fred back to Middletown from LA, where he was trying to break into filmmaking, thanks to his close relationship to Jeanine Basinger and the early film department at Wesleyan. He spent his senior year living with, and caring for the children of Professor Tony Connor, whose daughter also traveled to London this fall to take part in Fred’s memorial service. All in all, it seems to me, a journey shaped by every possible path that Wesleyan has always provided for its students, no matter what their circumstances.”

Stephen Sullivan has made a huge decision saying, “After nearly 50 years of practicing architecture—40 in my own firm—I am retiring. I am handing the reins to my longtime associate, and I will continue to consult in the immediate future with my former firm. Meanwhile, I am building my ‘final-stage home’ on our farm on Lopez Island, in the San Juan Archipelago off the northwest coast of Washington State. My daughter and 6-year-old granddaughter live on the farm, tending a nursery, a flock of Soay sheep, and engaging in restorative agricultural practices.”

Stephen says he has been particularly interested in restoring wetlands on his land, and also says he has a “pottery studio where I will finally become the old potter I have always imagined that I would be. You may recall that I received a Watson Fellowship upon graduation from Wesleyan, and I had the privilege of studying with a generation of older potters in Japan from 1973 to 1974.” Stephen has been a runner for most of his life and still manages a daily five- miler in Seattle’s arboretum. “I feel lucky that I can still do that and have engaged a trainer at the gym to help stave off decrepitude a bit longer,” he says. Stephen, incidentally, wrote a book (published in 2021)—a career retrospective about how he understands the process of design.

There is indeed life after your productive career. Just heard from Robert Savage, a retired surgeon who had been an assistant clinical professor at the Harvard Medical School and past president of the New England Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. Robert was named artist of the month by the Wellesley School of Artists. Congrats! Robert noted that he started “painting for fun during COVID” and has a love of art history thanks in part to the legendary Wesleyan professor Sam Green. And Robert, my mother, Ellen D’Oench, would be proud of your work in your “second career.”

Dana Barrows sent me a note filled with news saying, “2024 [was] a wonderful, action-packed, meaningful year for us.” He says he continues his work as an estate and business planning specialist with Northwestern Mutual, “year 49, on my terms. Keeps my mind sharp and my professional relationships thriving.” He says that Holly retired from her 40-year career with IBM and Central Insurance in 2020.

Dana says they are very involved in their new community. He mentions On the South Coast of Mass, the Garden Club of Buzzards Bay, the Community Foundation of the South Coast, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, UMass Dartmouth, and their HOA at Westview Estates.

They went from her Connecticut College 50th Reunion on a Friday to his 55th Northfield Mount Hermon Reunion the next day. Her 55th NMH Reunion is in 2025.

Congratulations to Dr. David Weber who tells me that on January 1 he became president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. In a news release that went nationwide, the society noted that David is a “distinguished leader in infection prevention and healthcare epidemiology” and commended his depth of knowledge.

Brenda Kabel writes that she is practicing for both the Open and Women’s Connecticut State Pinball finals (for top-16 ranked players in each). She says she won the 2022 Women’s, but due to COVID, they had no North American championship that year. She adds, “Hoping to make it to that one this year and move my world ranking into the top 10 for 60 and older players. I do remember playing a machine or two in the Downey House back in the day.” 

Steve Young tells me “I am actively retired in New Hampshire. I write a column in a prominent Taiwan newspaper. As a child and later a diplomat, I lived on the island five times and visited it often. I was in Taipei a couple of months ago, delivering a keynote address to a sizable crowd of officials, businesspeople, and others.” He also says, “Enjoying life with my beautiful and talented spouse, Barbara Finamore, a published expert on Chinese environmental issues. We live in a 220-year-old home in Londonderry, New Hampshire, just an hour north of Boston. Built by my triple great-grandfather, who, as a young man, grabbed his musket and went down to Bunker Hill in 1776 to show those British we weren’t going to passively endure oppression. Two wonderful grandchildren and hoping for more.”

Bill Corvo writes that he has been busy with a number of projects. He says he recently produced a docu-film with an Italian film company on the work performed by his father, Max Corvo, during World War II with the OSS in Italy, and there is some fascinating material that could be featured on the History Channel. Bill says, “The key personnel he recruited to lead the Secret Intelligence Section of OSS in Italy were from Middletown and included Emilio Q. (Mim) Daddario ’39, attorney Vincent J. Scamporino, Sebastian Passanisi, Samuel Fraulino, Louis Fiorella ’41, and Frank Tarallo. Daddario and Fiorilla were both graduates of Wesleyan University.”

The film is named Max Corvo for Freedom. He says they had a showing of the film in Middletown at Middletown High School film auditorium earlier this year. The film premiered in Italy in July 2023, at the 80th anniversary of the invasion of Sicily, and held at the World War II Museum in Catania, Sicily. “It has been well received,” says Bill. “We have received best documentary film awards, including [from] the Rome International Film Festival as well as two major film festivals in New York City, and also the Dumbo Film Festival in Brooklyn, New York. The list also includes the Austrian International Film Festival as well as the Argentine International Festival and several Italian film festivals. We are working to bring the film to the internet.”

Bill has also been busy working with Professor Ellen Nerenberg, who is teaching courses in Italian language at Wesleyan and has been working with students to prepare a historical review of the Italian American history in Middletown. He provided them with a private showing of the movie as well. He also noted that Mim Daddario’s grandson, Matt Daddario, who is a professional actor, provided the English narration for the documentary.

Bill, who missed our 50th as he was in Italy, says that in 2024 he traveled to Copenhagen and Sweden, “both stunning. With six daughters, seven granddaughters, and two grandsons spread across the country, we stay very connected with family.”

Paul Van Stavern writes that starting in 1974 he was living either in Brazil or California for almost three decades and moved back to Brazil permanently in 2002. He says, “Last year I received the gigantic 50th Reunion ‘booklet’ by snail mail. It was fun to peruse. However, my entry was completely blank. I won’t coin the phrase ‘the right hand doesn’t know. . .’  but if they had my address, why didn’t they have my address? Never mind.” He now lives in Salvador, Bahia, on the Atlantic Coast at about 13 degrees south of the equator and very far east. And he notes, “Having grown up in Wisconsin and then lived in Connecticut, it is wonderful for me to live in a place where 70 degrees Fahrenheit is a record low.” He says if you are in the area, he would be happy to show you around. He said David Feldman visited him in 1976.

John Huttlinger says he is on a “slow path” to retirement from his CPA practice, while offering clients to other practitioners and continuing to work with selective clients. He is also active with several local nonprofit organizations including a home construction company. He says, “I helped form a nonprofit home construction company. We build homes for the local workforce community, which includes teachers, nurses, municipal workers, and other middle-income families. These families cannot afford to purchase homes in Lake Placid due to inflated prices caused by the second-home and short-term rental market. Our homes are priced at cost and there is great demand for them.” He is also active with the Lake Placid Film Festival, now in its 24th year. “Our programming includes a classic film series each summer, hosted by Wes alum Jeremy Arnold ’91,” he says. He has also had the opportunity to attend the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival each summer, where he caught up with organizer Lloyd Komesar ’74 and Mike McKenna who is on their board. John also made the decision to sign up for one more year of masters ski racing. “Given my age (I am the senior member of the group) and in deference to my new knee (May 6, 2024), I am approaching the season carefully,” he says. 

Back here at home as another example of a “small world.” Charles Cocores tells me that he and Kie Westby are members of the same golf club in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and live near each other and often play golf together.

And speaking of 50-year events, my wife, Connie, and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in Gloucester, Virginia, in early November, near Williamsburg where my oldest daughter, Jennifer, and oldest granddaughter, Taylor, are teachers at the same elementary school that our youngest granddaughter, Zoey, attends. Our youngster daughter, Holly (who is developing a nationwide reputation as an artistic book binder in Denver), her husband, and my middle daughter, Dana (who owns a hair salon in Fort Lauderdale) were all there. The moments were unforgettable. Connie and I met the night before graduation from Wesleyan and have been together ever since.

Have a great 2025!

Roger Jackson sends us one of the better travel updates of all time:

“As has been our wont in recent years, my wife, Pam, and I oscillated between travel hither and yon and time in our lakeside home in Minnesota. In the spring, we visited relatives on the East Coast, and in June saw family in the Bay Area (where, as a Universal Life Church minister, I presided over my nephew’s wedding). Throughout the year, we enjoyed delightful visits in various settings with our son and his wife and two young children. I made a solo trip to Oregon for a Buddhist retreat amidst 1,000-year-old Douglas firs, and Pam and I spent a month this fall in India, taking in a number of Buddhist pilgrimage sites we hadn’t seen in a while: Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Dharamsala. We were happy to be out of the U.S. on Election Day—indeed, as Trump passed 270, we were listening to a Tibetan monk discoursing on emptiness amidst the ruins of an ancient Buddhist university. Gave us a bit of perspective. The culmination of the trip was being part of an audience with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. He did not promise that on my deathbed I would attain total consciousness—but he held my hand for a few moments, so I have that going for me. Now that we’re home, and in the heart of the Minnesota winter, Pam is back to her online studies of Buddhist philosophy, while I continue to research and write; my book on the Buddhist poet-saint Saraha (dedicated in part to the memory of Professor James Helfer [Stone]) came out on Election Day, and I’m now in the thick of a project on Buddhism and the Beats. In the spring, inshallah, I’ll teach again on Buddhist meditation systems at Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon, and have been invited to lead a weekend seminar at a Buddhist center near Pisa, Italy, in the fall.”

The elusive Lenny Kalman reports that he is “still at it” as executive deputy director and chief medical officer of the Miami Cancer Institute. “We have,” he says with justifiable pride, “built a wonderful new ‘clinical academic’ cancer center to serve the patients of the region and beyond.”

Bob “The Whizzer” White attended the 2024 Newark Athletic Hall of Fame induction dinner in October, the first since his own induction last year. The Whizzer sponsored the Newark Wrestling Scholarship, which he hopes will be an incentive to bring wrestling back to Newark high schools.  And, even more importantly, Bob just completed his 700th lifetime dive, at Christmastime in Grand Cayman. He plans to dive on to 800.

George Surgeon attended Homecoming weekend and gives this report on the full slate of events:

“Our class was well represented at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony during Homecoming weekend. Rob Calhoun, Tom Halsey, and I were there to honor Phil Calhoun ’62 who was being inducted as the initial coach of the crew team and for his many other contributions to Wes over the years. Phil led the men’s crew to its first New England championship and the finals of the Dad Vail Regatta, the national championship back then, in 1967. In addition, Phil’s crews were victorious in four of the first five Little Three championships. If that was not enough, Phil also served as secretary of the University. Also honoring Phil were Vin Broderick ’75, Dave Siegel ’71, Larry Green ’74, Brian Mahoney ’73, and Nancy Collins ’74. Four members of the 1967 New England championship crew—the founders of Wesleyan crew—rounded out the Calhoun contingent (Bob Svensk ’68, Harrison Knight ’68, John Lipsky ’68, and Wallace Murfit ’68).

“At the next table was Joe Summa ’71, who, at long last, was being honored as the best point guard in Wesleyan history. Joining Joe were Bill Donovan, Jim Akin, and Jock Burns from our class and Frank Leone ’71. Also in the house were Peter Hicks and Mike McKenna ’73.  

“The 1978 women’s crew team that won the 1978 Dad Vail Regatta was honored as well. Introducing the crew was their coach, Pat Callahan ’71. Sitting with them was Adrienne Bentman ’74.

“Everyone looked fabulous, was full of life, told unbelievable stories, and when required, delivered inspiring speeches. There was something very special about being with all these wonderful people. The pains of the world seemed very far away that night.

“Speaking of Nancy Collins and Adrienne Bentman, they were joined by Ann Williams ’75 for the christening of a new women’s crew shell, the Spirit of ’74. It was a terrific event honoring these exceptional women and their coach, Brian Dawe ’70. While there, we celebrated the crews of the past and the NCAA Division III silver-medal-winning 2024 women’s crew and the gold-medal-winning 2024 men’s crew.  Hats off to the women’s crew coach, Pat Tynan, and Phil Carney, the head coach of the men’s crew.”  

Mitch Willey and his wife, Emily, introduced by former Wesleyan dean David Adamany, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary hosted by their daughter and son-in-law, Leah Willey ’03 and Seth Chokel ’03, in Charlottesville, Virginia, and co-hosted by daughter and son-in-law, Anna and Miles from Los Angeles. They were surrounded by their grandchildren and many members of their original wedding party, including 12 family members, Wesleyan friends, and others from around the country. After 20 years of practicing international corporate law, Mitch transitioned into the luxury hospitality industry, was the founder of Time and Place (a precursor to Airbnb) and was owner of the iconic Clifton Inn, a Relais et Châteaux hotel and restaurant. Mitch considers himself lucky to have been able to indulge his passion, undertaking the restoration of 89 historic private luxury residences on three continents over the last 47 years. Following her career as an executive in the aerospace and defense group of Honeywell, Emily transitioned into family mediation and yoga instructor in her retirement.

Steve Scheibe reports he is in good health, still doing a bit of consulting, and, as usual, just returned from Brazil. He is also playing pickleball and enjoying Encinitas.

John Manchester, while awaiting the next inspiration from his muse, has been playing a lot of Bach on the piano. After auditioning with an iPhone video of him playing a piece, John is starting lessons with a local pianist who studied with Claudio Arrau. “One of the premier pianists of the20th century,” John reminds those who need it. (Not I! I once heard Arrau in person!)

Bonnie Krueger spends half the year in Truro, Massachusetts, on the outer Cape. It’s a good place to receive visitors, including the family and her grandson, Oren, now five and a half. She published a New Cambridge to Medieval Romance in 2023 and is completing a monograph, Fictions of Conduct in Late Medieval France. But she’s happily distracted by a platter of oysters, a Portuguese fish stew, a swim, or a sunset. . . . Come visit!

Dr. Peter J. (“Jaigunda”) Clark was recently promoted to associate professor at the UCL School of Management in London.  His latest book (in progress) is Acquirer Success Program: Masterminding Mergers in the Era of Buyer Primacy. And his grandson, Bryce Caulfield, plays tight end for the Oregon State Beavers.

Aloha! Here is a more extensive and unedited notes and pictures I received from our classmates:

I’m sorry to report the passing of Dave Reynolds, as was reported in the class note for 1967. His friend, Ned Preble ’67, wrote: “Dave Reynolds ’71 died on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at his home in Hampden, Massachusetts, after yearsof illness stimulated by Agent Orange during his service in Thailand. His wife, Heather, his son, Nat, and his wife, and Dave’s sister were with him. He and I stayed in touch from September 1963 until he died. He was a doctor, having pursued his MD and career conscientiously, from postgraduation through his ER tech job in the army, more pre-med courses and health care jobs. There will be a celebration of life October 6, 2024, featuring Steely Dan music. I will never forget his wise laugh and his broad shoulders that once kept NYC subway doors from closing on me.”    

An obituary can be found here.

Jay Resnick sadly reports David Foster died on September 2, 2024, of pancreatic cancer. An obituary can be found here.

Sorry to report that I also learned of the passing of our classmate, Robert Wienner, on June 26, 2024. His obituary can be read here.

Stephen Ferruolo: Re: “Work to Do After the Election” by President Michael Roth. Steven says: “I have never been prouder to be a Wesleyan graduate.” Here is the link to the letter from President Roth, written last November: Work to Do After the Election.

Katy Butler:

“Dear Friends,

“I am writing to share my new, very personal article, published today in Tricycle Magazine called ‘Abortion and the First Precept; Understanding Abortion as the Alleviation of Suffering.’ This is my own story of two pregnancies and my ‘choice,’ as I saw it, between abortion and ruination. 

“Only now, since the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled a national right to abortion, have I thought back 50 years and examined my actions in the light of the precepts and my values. I offer a moral defense of abortion by situating this commonplace, difficult event not in an ideal universe but within the lives of real women, including mine.

“I hope you enjoy it and pass it on to anyone you think might find it helpful.

“I am grateful to Tricycle for lifting their paywall. Please feel free to forward this free link to anyone who might enjoy it, and feel free to share it on social media.”

I recommend downloading the article and read it. It is very illuminating.

Ed Swanson sends a poem and thoughts:

‘Tis twelve nights before Christmas
(Where has the time flown?)
And I’ve finally decided
To jot some words down.

Each year I play poet,
Or at least give it a try,
So I can playfully tell you,
And without any lies, 

That I find you quite special
And I want you to know
That I treasure your friendship
(Even when it don’t show).  

There’s a glow in my heart

As I remember each one

Of my family and friends

And the good times—such fun!

This season’s quite special

And the time’s flying by

So I’ll wish you these words

Ere it’s time for good-bye:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Ed says, “Slowing down but still working and still loving the weather of California versus Connecticut; not looking forward to the next four years; great memories of Wes.”

Alan Epstein writes: “Hope you and your family are doing well and thriving. I do have some news to [share,]my wife and I switched homes with my son, Aaron ’01. He now lives in our large house in Pasadena, and we took over his apartment, one mile away, in order to downsize our living experience. He is a very successful ob-gyn physician/expert in maternal fetal care with four offices in Los Angeles area.  My other son, Seth, is working for me in the lab half a day, and then in the afternoons, he is a coach for the La Canada High School baseball team, where he also gives lessons. Both are happy, which is a real positive. My granddaughter is now applying to college and is hopeful that she will get one of her first choices. On a very positive note, my wife has now been declared free of cancer five years after diagnosis with ovarian cancer and treated at City of Hope Medical Center. I am still working full time at USC Keck School of Medicine and am excited with my research there. I am close to completing studies on a universal tumor vaccine and an oral treatment to quench major mechanisms of tumor-elicited immunosuppression. When both treatments are used together, we see complete regression in triple negative breast cancer mouse models. I am now working to get these products into a start-up company and hope to do the first clinical trials here at USC. This research will be the culmination of my research career, and I am very hopeful that this work will be a substantial contribution. Thanks so for relaying this into your notes. All the best.”

David Barrett ’71, MAT ’72: “I am years into retirement now, devoting my time to civic work in Hartford, where I have lived more than half a century (transitioning into a tidy condo after my wife passed away. Didn’t need a big house and garden any longer.) I am chair of the Board of Directors of Hartford Public Library and also serve on a Hartford Foundation for Public Giving committee that awards community grants in Hartford. Both are rewarding volunteer opportunities.”

Dave Lindorff: “No transition yet. This year is different and exciting though, as my wife, Joyce, is on a year’s sabbatical leave, which she’s taking at Cambridge University. She’s been named a fellow at Clare Hall, the only graduate-level college in Cambridge and is a visiting professor of Early Keyboards at the university’s Department of Music. I am along as spouse, and it’s the perfect opportunity to do more research and update and expand a paperback edition of my latest book, Spy for No Country, that came out in hardcover in December 2024. I’m getting access to six file drawers of teenage, atomic spy Ted Hall’s writing and correspondence that was discovered last year in the family home by his surviving daughters as they were clearing it out to put it on the market. The files were found after their mother, Ted’s widow, died a year ago last June; [they were] in her bedroom closet. I’m hoping it will be a goldmine of insights into Ted’s thinking during his spying and in the years afterward. We are thinking about finding a way to stay here with [my wife] continuing as the music department’s harpsichord teacher, and me continuing with my journalism. We’ll see. . . .”

Ian Hunter: “Both my daughters have gone into academia. One teaches at Boston College, the other at University of New South Wales (Sydney). Both teach statics. Two grandchildren so far, both boys. Have yet to retire but getting closer.”

Scott Gilbert and Anne Raunio ’72 moved to Portland, Oregon, to help raise their granddaughters. Scott, a developmental biologist, says that retirement is like metamorphosis: some structures grow, some structures are jettisoned, and some structures are repurposed. Now without an office, he writes his books from his granddaughters’ playroom, watched over by Barbie and several Disney princesses. “Best wishes!”

William H. Boulware:“Hello, Neil. First, thank you for keeping the lines of communication open all these years for our class. I’m in relatively good health, but still my body often reminds me I’m getting old, especially my short-term memory. I need a new hard drive for my brain. Does anyone out there know where I can find one? And I always thought getting older [meant] I would have fewer responsibilities, instead I seem to have more. I blame my wife.”

Jay Resnick: “Transitions in my life: The most significant transition was the death of my beloved wife, Judy Sarubin, in August 2023. Sending you best wishes for a healthy and happy 2025.”

Anthony Wheeldin: “No real news, but I did want to thank you for serving as class secretary for all these years.”

Bill Bruner: “Not much has changed for me as I’m still practicing medical ophthalmology here in Cleveland half time, transitioning to full retirement at 90! I have four grandchildren ranging from two to eight years old. I’m still married to my wife, Susan, and it will be 50 years this coming June. We have a small vacation home on an island here in Lake Erie called Kelleys Island. We call it a ‘poor man’s Martha’s Vineyard’! Best greetings to all my classmates and hope to see you all at our 60th Reunion! I’ll try to make that one!’

Dick Scoggins: “I am living in Los Angeles with my wife and my daughter and her family. My son and his family live 10 miles from us. Quite a change after my wife and I lived in England for 16 years. Lots of Wesleyan people out here in the industry. My son graduated from Wesleyan and that is what led him into the TV/movie industry out here. Quite a journey!”

Jeff Mojcher: “Nothing special to report as yet, but soon to retire!” Jeff, write some more! We have not heard from you in a long while.

Malcolm Cochran: “After seven years of extensive renovations to property I bought in 2017, my lifelong dream of having my studio and living together has materialized. I celebrated on October 5, 2024, with an open studio and a poetry reading by my friend of 59 years, Wesley McNair. Family and friends totaling more than 65 attended on a glorious warm, sunny, fall day. I capped off the month with a two-week trip to Italy to research compositions at an archive of music composed in the WW II concentration camps that I will adapt for an upcoming installation project.”

Above and below are three photos from Malcolm’s open studio held on October 5, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio.

“Thank you for serving so long and diligently as class secretary—Malcolm Cochran.”

Aloha, everyone.  We have lots of news.

First, from what I can tell, our classmates in LA seem to have been lucky in not losing their homes in the fires. Bob Stone published some hair-raising accounts and photos on Facebook.  Guy Prevost posted a “safe” message on FB too.

In book news, Ted Reed’s new book is Unions Flying High about airlines’ unions. I love the publicity photo in which he’s wearing a Wesleyan hoodie. Eric Blumenson’s ’68 book is Why Human Rights? A Philosophical Guide. I’ve seen a lot of email comments on the book. Here’s a wonderful review by Stevens Ingraham:

“Wishing to echo others who have offered applause for your new book. Two paragraphs into the intro, this aging head sees that it is not exactly the stuff of cocktail conversation.   But such soaring themes!

“Deceptively simple . . . starting with the analysis of human rights through the prism of a moral mandate.  Intuitively, yes, of course: human rights are, or should be, rooted in deeper soil than the stuff of  ‘mere’ law . . .  statutes, treaties, even constitutions. We thrill to the courage shown by Gandhi, King and Mandela in opposing unjust laws for this very reason.

“Anyway, way to go, Eric, in taking on such an ambitious project. (I’ll be one of those guys in the back of the class hoping you won’t call on me to expound further, OK?)”

Steve Talbot’s movie The Movement and The “Madman” was scheduled for broadcast in Kentucky on Inauguration Day. Not long ago, it was aired in Vietnam as well. In Steve’s words:  “I just received word from VietnamTV1—the major national broadcaster in Vietnam—that they aired my documentary, The Movement and The “Madman,” in prime time last weekend. . . .  I am elated and very moved. Even though my film focuses on events in the U.S.—on Nixon/Kissinger and the anti-war movement in 1969—the whole context is the war in Vietnam. After it aired on the PBS series American Experience last year, one of my goals was to get it shown in Vietnam.

“Now, at age, 75, it feels like my life is coming full circle—from my days at Wesleyan protesting the war with so many of you in our class and making my first anti-war documentary, March on Washington, with Dave Davis, David White, Bill Tam, and others, to actually going to North Vietnam in 1974 to make a film there with Dave Davis and Deirdre English, to now having my most recent film broadcast on national TV in Vietnam. Things like this make getting old worthwhile!”   

Joining the retirement community are Brian Silvestro and Alan Dubrow. Brian’s retirement from 50 years of law practice was on January 1. Brian wrote, “What’s next? Good question. First and foremost, there will be more trips to San Diego, Chicago, Colorado Springs, and Richmond to visit more often with our four boys and their families. Jane retired five years ago or so, after 25 years of teaching. That should open a whole new world for us to live with no pressure to meet work obligations or deadlines. I can’t even imagine what that will be like! There are also a number of volunteer opportunities for me on the horizon. Starting to sort through those now.”  

And Alan Dubrow, who recently surfaced and got connected with Gus Spohn, wrote, “I am retired from my academic nephrology practice. Married 32 years to Stella, who is a nurse. We have always lived in the Big Apple, traveling a lot, mainly to France and Italy. You couldn’t pay me to move from New York. The weather here is better than that in most parts of the country.”

Jeremy Serwer wrote concerning our upcoming 55th Reunion: “Since I’ve been asked by the alumni office to chair outreach again for our 55th Reunion, we’re calling on all classmates who can make the trip to actually do it. While [so far] there are no specific plans other than a class dinner, we all will be able to avail ourselves of the numerous activities planned by other milestone classes. We’ll also have a class ‘lounge’ somewhere on campus (centrally located, of course!). And, of course, the more who attend from ’70, the better it gets: lots of catching up to do!” We are also looking for classmates to volunteer outreach efforts to other mates for the reunion. Please to contact me directly: jeremy@theserwercompany.com, or jeremy@wesleyan.edu.  Contact access to classmates will be provided.”

Personal note: I urge you all to attend the reunion. Not to be morbid, but we’re not getting any younger. I know there already are some related activities planned, including taking in some Red Sox–Mets games at Fenway just before reunion. See what you can cook up before and after reunion. 

For those who don’t receive emails from globetrotting Marcos Goodman, I’m including an entire email about his trip to Ecuador in December. If you’re interested in travel writing that includes a lot of history, you might want to get onto his email list. 

ALTITUDE SICKNESS IN QUITO

“I was in Quito, Ecuador, the highest capital city in the world, for nine days, and I was in bed for most of the first eight of them. I did pick up some interesting tidbits which I’ll share, and then I’ll go into altitude sickness.

“On my rare forays outside, I noticed that the traffic lights weren’t working. That was because the electricity was out for the entire city, except for those who had private generators. Think of what the traffic is like, or crossing the street, or being in a city with a lot of crime, and no lights. Starting in April, the electricity had been shut off for up to 14 hours each day, although right now it’s down to just a few. This is because Ecuador is reliant on hydroelectric plants, and there has been a severe drought for a few years. They really have no even moderately short-term solution. So, the well-to-do have generators, and the poor live in darkness. So it goes.

“Ecuador is the only country other than Panama, El Salvador, and a few tiny ones, that uses the U.S. dollar as its currency. It makes conversion rates easy. However, they generally use Ecuadorian-produced coins instead of U.S. coins. That’s because U.S. coins don’t have a numerical value stamped on them, and many people who don’t speak English can’t figure out how much the coins are worth. So far, I haven’t been able to find other countries where the coins aren’t denominated. 

“For many years, Ecuador was one of the safer countries in the region. Not anymore. That’s because Peru and Colombia are the major cocaine producers in the world, and the past few years the routes have switched so that Ecuador has become the superhighway of world cocaine export, and the crime followed. Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest port and city, has been the worst hit, as that’s where the boats leave from, but the crime has spread. The murder rate has gone from about 6/1,000 in 2017 to about 45/1,000 this year, which some people say is the worst murder rate in the world. However, it’s not, because a number of Caribbean islands are as bad or worse!

“Oil is by far the greatest source of income for the country of Ecuador. It’s 30% of the country’s exports, and the state-owned company rakes that in to provide the bulk of the national income. A lot of that oil comes from what’s left of Ecuador’s Amazon basin holdings, after Peru took most of it in the 1990s. The second largest export is fish, mostly tuna, making it by far the biggest tuna exporter in South America. Unfortunately, I can’t find out who’s the big tuna kahuna.

“Then come bananas. Danny Noboa was elected president when he was 35 and is the youngest president in the world. He is the scion of the richest man in Ecuador, who is the owner of the biggest banana company, making Danny the richest-man-to-be. He went to NYU, Northwestern, and Harvard, while marrying Gabriela Goldbaum, from whom he is still having a very nasty divorce. Although there are few Jews in Ecuador, she’s Ecuadorian and her lineage is Jewish, as I checked her genealogy, and her grandparents were Katzes. I do my very important research! Okay, on to altitude sickness.

“I arrived in Quito late, took a cab directly to my Airbnb, and went to sleep. As usual, the first thing in the morning I began to walk out to a calisthenics spot. However, I could barely make it across the street. I didn’t know what I had, but I had something. I made it back to my Airbnb and went back to sleep.

“Was it Montezuma’s Revenge? Well, I certainly had diarrhea among other things, but my main symptom was that I had zero energy and was having a hard time breathing. It took me a couple of days before I learned that I’ve really gotta start doing my research ahead of time, not after I arrive, as is my normal procedure.

“So, I finally discovered that I had altitude sickness. Dumb tourist! It turns out that Quito has the highest elevation (9,350’) of any other country’s official capital. Notice that I said ‘official’ capital, because La Paz, Bolivia, is much higher (11,942’), but it’s only the ‘administrative’ capital of Bolivia, where all of the governmental bodies do business. Bolivia’s constitutionally official capital is Sucre, which is just a tad lower than Quito at 9,220’. Bogotá, Columbia, at 8,612’, is the third highest official capital, but I’m skipping Bogota except for the airport transfer. 

“The main thing with altitude sickness is that the altitude offers you less oxygen, the result being that you don’t have any energy, among a number of symptoms. So, during my nine days in Quito, I was only out of my Airbnb for less than an hour each day, very slowly trudging to do some essential things, with long stops to sit down and rest every block. The rest of the time, I was lying down or sleeping, generally 12 hours per day. Luckily, Quito doesn’t have a whole lot of sites that I was interested in seeing anyway, so I didn’t miss out on a whole lot. Also, it was threatening to rain most of the time, and the crime rate is such that I may have been best off just lying in bed, sick or not, which is only a slight exaggeration.

“I normally try to avoid taking drugs to solve my rare health issues, which is not always the smartest approach. But after four days, I finally walked next door to the pharmacy and got the recommended medical solution. Once again, I say ‘medical’ solution, because the common folk solution is tea from the leaves of the coca plant, the basic ingredient of cocaine. Although you need a prescription of the medical solution in the U.S., no prescription was needed in Quito. Maybe I should have gone into a cafe and ordered some coca tea, because the medical solution didn’t do bupkis for me. My last day in town, I forced myself to take the hop-on-hop-off bus up to the equator museum, which was interesting. That was the extent of my touristing in Ecuador.

The good and intriguing thing for me about this altitude sickness was that I lost eight pounds. Now, you really can’t trust what almost all people say about losing a lot of weight fast, as it’s almost always from dehydration or starting with wild overeating followed by purging from whichever end. However, you can trust my weight loss for a few reasons. First, I weigh myself on the same scale at almost the exact same time every morning after taking a pee. Second, except for rare exceptions, I eat the exact same food every day, with the quantities weighed out on my food scale, which I carry with me. Third, I drink the same amount of measured fluid, mostly lemon water and a couple of cups of coffee. On the rare days that I splurge at the bakery, I can almost see the result the next morning, and I eat less afterwards to compensate. Other than those rare splurges, my only other variables are exercise, which is almost the same measured amount five days a week, with a day off for travel and a day off for another exercise break. But totaled up, my exercise calorie expenditure is almost the same every week. That’s except for my nine days in Quito, when I had almost no exercise calories expended.

“Although I was just lying around, I still ate my normal diet. So, my calorie intake from food was the same, but I had almost no calorie expenditure other than the calories used to sustain living. And I still lost eight pounds. I could see it in the mirror. How could that be? I don’t know yet. One possible factor is that you weigh less with an increase in altitude. However, that’s not it, as the decrease in weight from increased altitude is miniscule, .02 pounds for me.

“Another factor could have been hydration, even though I was careful to drink even more liquids than my normal quantity. I was definitely breathing deeper and more rapidly in order to compensate for the lower amount of oxygen, and the exhaled breath contains moisture, which could have added to hydration weight loss. But I doubt it. Lastly, my increased liquid intake could have been overcome by increased urination, which was definitely going on, as I had to get up to pee just about every hour throughout the day and night. Too much information?

“I’m writing this from my third day in Cali, Colombia, and I’ve regained two pounds, but I’m still a skinnier me. I’ll probably never figure out the weight loss and just have to chalk it up to more of the great mystery. But I’ve recovered my energy, and I’m off to see the sights each day. Not that there’s much to see in Cali, Colombia. At least so far.

“Here’s the video, what there is of one: https://youtu.be/r1hlf2fRZTQ”

Here on Kauai, we are keeping on keeping on. Six months after our visit to New Zealand, I’m still pining for New Zealand. We’re trying to get the house ready for sale and I’m preparing for knee replacement early in April. 

I wish everyone well and hope to see many of you at the reunion.