Class Notes – Page 96 – Wesleyan Magazine Classnotes

Class Notes | 1970s2021/02/10

CLASS OF 1975 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

Pencil in our belated 45th Reunion for May 28-30, 2021. As a fun alternative, we pivoted to a 1975 “Re-ZOOM-ion” with 40 attendees. Brief scoops:

Barbara Bachtell is an artist and arts/nonprofit administrator in Cleveland. David Bickford is locked down in LA with his Thai masseuse wife. Jill Lesko, is sheltered in Nantucket contemplating her next career chapter after marketing, executive coaching, and teaching yoga. Janet Bradlow retired to Florida to be near family. Janet Brodie is doing creative arts therapy remotely at Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital. Perry Cacace, NYC lawyer working from Chappaqua, has four grown sons and a grandchild. Barbara Coven is practicing pediatrics in New York after an early-career odyssey around the South Pacific. Gary Davis is consulting on real estate development from home in a building he designed on Central Park North. Jeff Dunn is photo-documenting the COVID-era in the Boston area. Cathy Gorlin is confined to Minneapolis and is missing visits with her son in Denver and her daughter and grandkids on the East Coast. Tim Hill and Janet Schwaner retired in Wellesley, Mass., with kids in British Columbia and Ann Arbor and two grandkids. Tim runs a newly-online duplicate bridge club, and Janet plays cello and guides at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Bill Holder remains in Middletown and has five grandchildren. Bonnie Hunter Samuels is a master gardener isolating in Oregon. Emely Karandy is a plastic surgeon and realtor outside Philly. Risa Korn is practicing internal medicine outside Boston and missing hugs with two local grandchildren. Brad Kosiba is keeping busy near Chapel Hill, keeping bees who work despite COVID. Debbie Kosich quarantined right after moving into a new Houston condo. Nancy Luberoff is hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and living by a Chapel Hill lake after her career in the Jewish community. John McNeill retired from Methodist ministry and volunteering as a community mediator near Rochester, N.Y. Pat McQuillan ’75, MA’81 is teaching at Boston College. Steve Miller and Martha Meade ’76 are sheltering in Pacific Palisades. Jeff McChristian is cutting his commute thanks to COVID and loving the boutique small-business law firm he joined in Hartford. Before COVID killed travel, Jeff and Pat traveled to Channel Islands, the Cotswolds, and Guatemala. COVID scratched two planned trips—Silk Road countries and Bhutan. J.D. Moore ’75, MALS ’80 is celebrating six years as a Connecticut trial judge and his new house near Jeff’s. Mark Nickerson is teaching trauma therapy in Massachusetts. Bruce Paton is teaching college online now from Sunnyvale, Calif., where he chairs local sustainability efforts. Becky Peters-Combs is retired from teaching in Denver and became a guardian for a former student, adding to her four kids. Ed Rosenbaum is living in New Jersey and thrilled that his daughter (a rabbi and cantor) is expecting her second child. COVID grounded Dave Rosenblum from his Los Angeles-New York travel routine as a retired consultant serving on corporate and nonprofit boards. Kathy Scholle is a retired attorney who sells real estate in Connecticut and has two grown kids and “almost” two grandchildren. Lucille Semeraro is a retired pediatrician enjoying hobbies. Gary Steinel, retired teacher, is riding bikes and brewing beer in Colorado. Rob Stockman is teaching part-time at Indiana University and running Wilmette Institute, an online education provider for the American Bahá’í community. Charlie Stolper is living in Austin (where his son works for Google), recently retired from advising venture companies.

Bruce Weinraub survived COVID-19 in March but has felt its longer-term effects on his medical practice in Northampton, Mass. Read about it in the Commonwealth Magazine. Check out his music side career on YouTube. COVID brought Suzy and Dave Rosenthal’s first grandchild. They drove from Buffalo to Denver for a two-week quarantine before they could hold him. Read about it in the Boston Globe. Dave’s editor of Side Effects Public Media, a collaborative publication covering health care issues across the Midwest. Jeff Morgan runs Covenant kosher winery in California and Israel with his wife, Jodie, and daughter Zoe. Jeff and Jodie just published their ninth cookbook, The Covenant Kitchen. Vinnie Broderick is hanging up the canoe paddle after 24 years running the New Hampshire summer camp where he and Bob Knox went as kids. Looks like the camp’s 125th anniversary will have to wait a year! Cheryl Vichness is “chilling in Baltimore” still working for a small management consulting firm but retired from Johns Hopkins.

Bill Devereaux and Emely Karandy shared word of Peggy Bouffard’s death from ALS last August. After Wes, Peg completed medical school at the University of Cincinnati, interned at Mass General, and returned to Cincinnati for pediatric residency. Peg was a beloved pediatrician in New Jersey for over 35 years. As her disease progressed, she moved to be with her children in Pennsylvania. Bill knew Peg from their high school days in Rhode Island. Emely, Deb Benton, and Brett Sherman roomed with her at Wes and attended her funeral. Emely writes, “Peg was a friend for life, sharing wisdom and love without judgment, dished out with a hug and a laugh. In spite of her brilliance, beauty, and accomplishments, she was never boastful, and carried herself with quiet grace.” She is survived by her daughter, Gretchen ’07, and son Adam, three grandchildren, and four sisters.

Cynthia M. Ulman | cmu.home@cmugroup.com
860 Marin Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941-3955

Class Notes | 1970s2021/02/10

CLASS OF 1974 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

The 50th Reunion is May 23-26, 2024. Reunion news and find out about regional events can be found at wesleyan.edu/classof1974. Join the committee and work on outreach, programming, or fundraising. Questions or want to get involved? Contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 at klynch@wesleyan.edu or 860/685-5992.

June Jeffries ’75 noted the passing on April 11 of Peter Greene, M.D. For many years Peter was her family dermatologist. His ex-wife and June worked together, and their families spent many holiday dinners and other good times together. He died suddenly and unexpectedly in Washington, D.C.

Nan’l “Nate” Winship continues to own and operate a small farm growing vegetables and berries in central New Hampshire. As the growing season gets underway, this promises to be a very busy year as more people seek out locally grown products. It has been great to welcome Wayne Forrest ’74, MA ’77 and Tom Frei on visits to Tanna Farm, and he got over to give John Hickenlooper ’74, MA ’80 a man-hug at a campaign event in a nearby town last year.

Monique Witt reports in two parts. First is from mid-January. “We’re still building the new sound space in East Williamsburg and finishing four discs, including Ben’s new sextet album (Nebula Project), which will soft drop in February and officially drop in June. Dev is in L.A. for NAMM, launching the Solarium pro-audio monitors; Ben is touring throughout the Southeastern states, then through Europe, starting in Italy, back to the West Coast, and finally Canada. Steve and I, the same.”

….and now (mid-May):

“We are sheltering in place in Manhattan (Ben, Steve, and me) and Greenpoint, Brooklyn (Dev and Jenn). Ben’s U.S., Canadian, and European tours have all been pushed forward a year, so he is working with Concerts in Motion, doing daily live streams for shut-ins, hospitals, and similar organizations. Additionally, he does a weekly jazz live stream and a number of Zoom concerts for the venues at which he was booked. Steve’s working way too hard still but from home, and I’m doing board work (intensive staying up to date on pandemic regs), but Ben’s teaching me to cook, and we run every day in Central Park (masks, gloves, and social distancing). Ben and Dev are mastering the fourth album scheduled for release in July. Hope everyone is keeping well.”

Carolyn White’s news: “I have transitioned over to Zoom to teach the NAMI Family-to-Family class and it is going better than expected. We might just continue using Zoom. It beats having to deal with traffic every Thursday evening. I am looking forward to a new grandchild for 10/10/20 (good date!) who will be stateside. I have two adorable grandchildren in Toulouse, France, but, the question is when will I feel comfortable enough to travel to France to see them? Skype and Zoom will have to suffice for now. I hope everyone and their families are able to stay out of harm’s way.”

Peter Welcher’s updates: “I’m still working, for a network consulting company I and others started, (Chesapeake) NetCraftsmen. Now over 70 employees are busy during COVID onset supporting remote access for hospitals and government sites in Maryland-D.C. area. Plan to retire in next couple of years. Our kids are all employed at the time I write this. Paul works for USDA doing foreign service work, back in D.C. after three years in Thailand. Alison works for the State Department in D.C., Africa desk. Emma manages a team of six doing marketing for a large bank among others. Gwen is on a product marketing team for LifeStraw. No grandchildren yet.”

Wayne Forrest writes, “2019 and 2020 have been tough years in my household as my wife Jean has had serious medical issues. Multiple surgeries and countless anxious moments have been mixed with incredible closeness and unity of purpose. It was hard to miss our 45th Reunion last year as it fell on a surgery day. We felt the love from many classmates who knew the reason for my absence. COVID-19 has been a blessing in disguise as it has kept Jean away from the infected New York public hospital where she worked and me close by her side. The virus shut down all my extracurricular musical experiences in the orchestras and bands where I play tuba. Hopefully the summer brings them back. I stopped commuting to Manhattan in early March, but where I live (Westchester County) quickly became a hotspot. Thankfully, of the dozen or people I know who caught the virus all, except one, made it through.”

“Discovering the All Trails app has allowed my wife and I to plan hikes nearby that at first were uncrowded but have now become increasingly populated by people who don’t move over and don’t wear masks. But the best social distancing activity for us has been riding our pedal-assist e-bikes. You still get a great workout on these ‘cheaters’; they give you no excuse to not go out for an hour two up and down our hilly Hudson Valley terrain.

“Meanwhile I am still managing the American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (AICC) as well as its non-business correlate, the American Indonesian Cultural and Educational Foundation (AICEF). AICEF has been collaborating with Wesleyan to amplify the Javanese gamelan music program, providing funding to allow the university to engage a dance teacher. We’re also supporting Lloyd Komesar’s Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival connecting it to a film festival in Bali. With AICC, I began a campaign to get much needed N95 respirator masks to doctors all over Indonesia.

I have to say that although I have many problems with Facebook’s ad-driven business model, principally, their lack of transparency and accountability for perpetuating lies and falsehoods, it remains a welcome place to connect with alums and classmates. I really appreciate reading the thoughts and goings on from Nate Winship, Pat Mulcahy, Bill Burton, Naaz Hosseni ’74, MA’75, Lyn Lauffer, Tom Alexander ’70, MA’77, Michael Mininsohn, Tom Kovar ’76, Neely Bruce, Sal D’Alessandro ’72, MALS ’96, Mark Masseli, Todd Jick ’71, Nat Needle ’76, Jack Freudenheim ’79, Tom Ross ’67, PhD ’85, Alan Feinstein ’70, Harold Sogard, Arthur Fierman, Leslie Rudden ’77, Joseph Getter MA’99, Curt Steinzor ’77, and others.

“Finally, the virus has pushed us apart but also closer together. I am seeing family and friends on Zoom I would not have seen in years in-person.”

Howard Shalwitz reports, “After four decades, in September 2018. I stepped down from the artistic leadership of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. I feel both lucky and a bit guilty that I did so before the pandemic—although my successor, Maria Manuela Goyanes (Brown ’01), is carrying on with exceptional energy and vision: woollymammoth.net. I’m happily ensconced with my partner of 40 years, Jeanette Reitz, at our home in Alexandria, Va. Continuing to do some fundraising for Woolly, teaching, gardening, chipping away at a book about theatre, and starting a multi-year project to connect new American theatre leaders with their counterparts in Poland. It’s been exciting to read about classmates like Joan Braun who are involved in supporting their local theatre companies, especially with the challenges ahead!”

John Shapiro reports, “I am currently camping out in our home in Westchester, N.Y., with my wife, Shonni Silverberg ’76, my older son, Zach, and his fiancée, my younger son, Nathaniel, and his girlfriend, and two dogs! We are all well, but I’ve had to cancel my son’s wedding for the time being.

“Given that Shonni is a doctor at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, and my son is a legal advisor on medical ethical issues at New York Hospital, we have been very caught up with the challenges surrounding the coronavirus. My younger son meanwhile had to cancel what would’ve been his third off-Broadway production.”

Sharon Purdie | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Class Notes | 1970s2021/02/10

CLASS OF 1973 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

How life has changed for so many of us. As of this writing in early May, I have spent every work day for the past two months at my CBS station, WFOR-TV, covering so many aspects of the coronavirus from the economy, unemployment, medical care, massive food distributions, survivors, and those who have sadly lost their lives in this crisis. One survivor in New York City is our esteemed classmate, Dr. Jonathan Raskin, whose story is coming up.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, we have some sad news to report that 69-year-old Robert Joseph Campbell of Cromwell, Conn., passed away on May 18 from complications from COVID-19 after a short illness. Robert was active in politics and was known for his care and work for those with special needs.

From California, Phil Levine writes that he and his wife are doing fine. He says, “We FaceTime with our children and grandson and see plays on Zoom. It’s not the same as being in the same room, but it helps.” He says he sees his students at SBCC School of Extended Learning online two nights a week. They are finishing up a virtual poetry reading for retirement homes and a homeless shelter and have a virtual A Midsummer Night’s Dream slated for late May.

“I think we are all grateful for this social interaction, especially since many of the students are older and living alone,” says Phil. “So, life goes on; but it sure will be nice to gather in person again…safely, of course. I am grateful that we are all well here, and I am especially happy that my Wesleyan pal, Jon Raskin, won his bout with COVID-19. I am indebted to him for making me realize early on to take this illness seriously.” Sadly, Phil’s mother died March 11, and his family would have all assembled in New York City for the funeral. As it turned out, they did a videoconference for the ceremony.

Jonathan Raskin writes that “the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated as Mark Twain recounted, but in my case it was a bit too close.” He says he struggled through the COVID-19 pneumonia and, “I am happy to now have antibodies!” For more about his battle and recovery, he says check out YouTube and enter “New York pulmonologist” and “get the gory details.” Jonathan thanks you—“my Wes buddies”—for keeping him in your thoughts during the time he was ill. “Please stay safe and be vigilant,” he says. “We are now senior citizens and part of the ‘at-risk’ community. We just think 70 is the new 50 and I am here to tell you that’s fake news.”

From Lake Placid, N.Y., John Huttlinger says he and his staff at Adirondack Audit company have been working in isolation “but at least we are working!” He says he has been participating in Kappa Nu Kappa alumni video chats, which he says “have been great.” At last word, John was trying to find a way to reach Tim Mooney.

Hope you are all finding new creative things to do. My wife, Connie, has been creating cloth masks for those in need, and she and my middle daughter Dana have been finding one family in need per week to help with food and much-needed other contributions here in South Florida. My oldest daughter Jennifer—a nurse and assistant to a pastor at her Gloucester, Va., church—has helped pioneer a nationwide Sunday broadcast of her church service and my youngest daughter Holly—a wildlife biologist and artist in Highlands Ranch near Denver—is teaching art courses through Zoom and has built up many projects through the internet.

Hope you are finding new or creative projects, perhaps something different every day, and being careful.

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

Class Notes | 1970s2021/02/10

CLASS OF 1971 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

Aloha. I hope you all are physically and mentally well during and after the quarantine. I got stranded in New Jersey and could not get home to Hawaii, so I spent my time in the epicenter. Thanks to all who sent brief 50-word updates.

John Schimmel is the executive producer of two films: A documentary about the Dalai Lama called The Great 14th: Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama In His Own Words and Shaquille O’Neal Presents Foster Boy, which is based on true events and is about abuse in the for-profit foster care industry. See the trailers on Frame of Mind Film’s YouTube channel.

Mike Thompson: “As the class agent for my Hotchkiss class, my fellow agent and I sent out a brief email message last month—just to wish everybody good health and safety. It went to 67 classmates. To our delight and surprise, to date, 54 of them have responded, almost all of them multiple times. They have logged in from all across the country and around the world, and our little message sparked a desire to reconnect and recollect our days together. I wonder what sort of a response you’d get from the Wesleyan Class of 1971?”

Katy Butler has helped organize an ongoing monthly Zoom candlelight vigil sponsored by Reimagine and the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. “On the 9th, starting in April, at noon Pacific time, we light candles and hold them to our screens to acknowledge the mass grief of the COVID pandemic. (The first was on the first of April.) It’s beautiful and powerful, and you’re welcome to join us. We end with ‘Lean on Me’ by Bill Withers. I’m hoping it will be replicated by other institutions.”

B. Michael Zuckerman retired in February after 37 years’ service as director of the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities in Cape May, N.J. He lives with his wife of 42 years, Evelyn, out in the wetlands bordering the intracoastal waterway.

C.B. “Kip” Anderson writes: “Richard Aroneau and I were just beginning to plan a Wes-fest on his lakeside property at Alford Lake in Maine. Anyone from any class who lives in Maine or can make the trip from elsewhere were to have been invited to spend the day or pitch a tent. But right now, and for the foreseeable future, such gatherings are not feasible.”

Miguel Gomez-Ibanez writes: “I have retired and now am president emeritus of North Bennet Street School in Boston. I have returned to my previous career as a cabinet and furniture maker, but doing it all for free.”

Michael Brewin: “In 1970, the Connecticut Arts Commission asked me to coordinate music for the first Earth Day. Classmate Dave Lindorff and I performed at events statewide, including the capitol. Earth Day helped jump-start the environmental movement. My album Guitarsoul is at michaelbrewin.com (and Amazon).”

Blake Allison asks: “Are you still doing the vanilla plantation?” (Answer is no; I stopped to sell two of my Kauai lots.) “Not a lot to report here as I have been in quarantine on Martha’s Vineyard for two months. Luckily, I’m with my wife, Lindsay, and son Sam ’06. So, our 50th Reunion is coming up next year! I’m motivated to be there in part because it would have been my father’s 80th Reunion, and he was a huge Wesleyan booster. I’m still architecting, and sort of hope to return to the office soon.”

First-timer Malcolm Cochran writes: “Here’s the CliffsNotes: Artist, educator, father, grandfather, single, out, gay man living in Columbus, Ohio. For more, please see my website: malcolmcochran.com—and me at the Reunion.”

Fran Pawlowski says: “Our lives in Gallup, N.M., have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 virus. With a population of 20,000 residents, Gallup is surrounded by the Navajo reservation and is very dependent upon Navajo shoppers for its economic well-being. On some weekends, as many as 60,000 Navajos do their shopping here. Unfortunately, hundreds of Navajo people have become infected with the virus—and several have died. One member of my wife’s family (an uncle) has died from the virus, and his wife will probably die soon. The lockdowns which have occurred here recently were ordered by our governor for the mutual well-being of Gallup residents and Navajos. Our prayer is that the disease will peak very soon, begin to decline and ultimately disappear, so that everyone, in our area and all over the world, will again live virus-free. My wife and I ask readers to add their prayers to ours.”

Finally, the 50th Reunion is May 20-23, 2021. Reunion news and regional event info can be found at wesleyan.edu/classof1971. Join the committee and work on outreach, programming, or fundraising. Questions or want to get involved? Contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 at klynch@wesleyan.edu or 860/685-5992.

That is all for now. Be well and safe and see you May 2021.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Class Notes | 1970s2021/02/10

CLASS OF 1970 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

It was the Reunion that never was and the Reunion that never happened before for anyone, all rolled into one. I think we always knew that our 50th class Reunion would be different because, well, because we’re different, but this was markedly different. True, we didn’t get together physically, but we did get together virtually, with classmates participating from Japan to the East Coast.

The Reunion book probably has arrived in your mailbox just by now. It’s a masterful work. Despite writing class notes for 35 or 40 years now, I still have found all sorts of interesting biographical information that somehow never was shared with me for the column all these years. Super job John Griffin, Ted Reed, Jeff Sarles, John Sheffield, Maurice Hakim, Jeremy Serwer, Prince Chambliss, Diana Diamond, Kate Lynch ’82, and Elizabeth Watrous MALS ’02 (the latter two of the Wesleyan staff). An addendum with more classmate bios will be forthcoming.

The first part of our virtual Reunion was the president’s toast on Friday evening that I missed somehow, but I was able to Zoom in on the social hour that followed and on a group discussion about business on Saturday. The former was hosted by John Alschuler and Diana Diamond, and the latter hosted by John Griffin, Jeremy Serwer, and John Alschuler. The social hour involved about 35 attendees chatting in rotating break-out rooms. The Saturday business discussion was interesting but concerning. The element of uncertainty hung over both events. The virtual commencement occurred on Sunday. Check the Wesleyan website for video, for films by Bill Jefferson and Steve Talbot, draft board stories, and more.

Aside from the Reunion itself, I had several emails with news. Go to magazine.wesleyan.edu for the full notes.

Rob Baker and Sandy remain in Park City, Utah, but visiting with kids elsewhere. Rob’s retired, active in several sports, intellectual pursuits, and in the community.

Gerald Everett Jones has won four book awards this year. Gerald’s most recent awards were for How to Lie with Charts, a business book, and Preacher Finds a Corpse in the mystery/crime category.

Steve Talbot is active both in broadcasting and politically. He wrote, “North Carolina public radio just posted two new videos from the series of shorts I senior produced with a local filmmaker, one about the first African American woman elected sheriff in the state’s history.” Steve is busy with another Vietnam documentary called The Movement and the “Madman.”

Congratulations to husband-and-wife team Diana Diamond and John Alschuler, who were honored during Reunion weekend with the Outstanding Service Award, given to alumni, parents, or other members of the Wesleyan community for their outstanding volunteer service to the University, their community, or the nation. They co-hosted the virtual social hour on Friday.

Tony Balis sent out a beautiful email entitled “A Marshall Plan for America.” “Let’s create a 2020 Marshall Plan, involving every aspect of our national life, by recommitting private wealth towards public good. Let’s invent a humanistic capitalism that works in partnership with federal and local government yet without fealty to it, that provides security, safety, and dignity for all of us, helping rescue our only home in the process.” Contact Tony at peace@humanity.org.

In New Zealand, Peter Ratner wrote: “I do not have much to report except that my decision to move to New Zealand looks better every day.” He and Carol truly retired and are living in Greytown, a small community about an hour-and-a-half from downtown Wellington. “We live in a lovely old villa built around 1887 with enough land for some chickens, a very small orchard, and some vegetable beds.”

John Sheffield wrote, “Patiently waiting for safe reentry opportunity here in NYC, post-COVID-19. Getting to do many homebound projects formerly shelved as low priority (e.g., digitizing several thousand Kodachrome slides).”

We haven’t heard from Stuart Frank in a while, and now I know why. He’s been busy writing books.

Steve Ossad wrote regarding a large number of posters a friend created for the 50th Commemoration of the War in Vietnam [which the Vietnamese call the American War]. See them at vietnamwar50th.com.

Peter Kalischer is still in Japan, lying low in Tokyo but participating in our Zoom events. His daughter, Dani, resides in Brooklyn but has been holed up in New Zealand, a good place to be.

Steve Ching, MD is a part-time Kaua’i resident. “I have an emeritus appointment at the University of Rochester and do some occasional teaching with residents and medical students.”

Elbridge Smith and Bill Tam, both O’ahu attorneys (Elbridge focused on employee rights law and Tam, a retired water law expert) have been emailing recently with me and Peter Kalischer, who (like me) spent a semester in Hawaii during our Wesleyan years. Elbridge expressed what may be a common view of this reunion: “All our [senior year] finals were canceled as I recall. Maybe apropos that so is Reunion? Too bad; it would have been my first.”

Kalishcher, meanwhile, wrote a lengthy remembrance as a warm-up for the bio book, with an interesting perspective of 1966 Wesleyan and full of interesting stories. One example, some horticulture in Lawn Avenue. Maybe ask him for a copy.

Reunion dates next year are May 27-30. Let’s plan on a reunion then, whether in person or virtually. Stay tuned for more virtual class events. As always, send news. Meanwhile, stay well.

Russ Josephson | russ_josephson@yahoo.com
P.O. Box 1151, Kilauea, HI 96754

Class Notes | 1960s2021/02/10

CLASS OF 1969 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

Denny Marron “prays that all are safe from the hideous virus and work to deter its spread. We’re well-sheltered in Madison, Conn., and family is safe in Massachusetts.”

Dave Driscoll says, “Lots of yard work. Weather’s fine. Bingeing on streaming services. Have two Siamese rescues.”

Charlie Morgan “stays close to home to avoid virus. Was on Senator William Baroni’s defense team in aftermath of Bridgegate. His conviction was reversed. Big victory in front of SCOTUS.”

Tony Mohr “wakes up, eats, walks dog, reads, swims, eats, naps, walks dog, reads, eats, walks dog, sleeps. Wake me when this sci-fi movie ends.”

Steve Broker ’69, MAT ’72 writes, “Linda MAT ’71 and I reduce our exposure to the virus. Plenty to do while social distancing, gardening, and birding. Saddened by so much loss. Best wishes and regards to classmates.”

John Fenner is newly married and goes to court via Zoom in Hollywood, Fla. “I owe, I owe, so it’s off to work I go, in the front room.”

Pat and John Wilson are “isolated and well in Ann Arbor. May retire when commitment to Karma Vehicles ends.”

Wayne Slitt has “relocated to Tampa. We love the weather and sports here, particularly pickleball. Hope to return to Connecticut for summer.”

Jim Drummond does “trial and appeals work. Approved in Texas to act in court-appointed death penalty cases. Thank You For Death is the working title of my novel. Stay in contact with Jeff Richards and Bruce Hartman. Enjoying reruns of shows produced by Bays ’97 and Thomas ’97.”

Andy Burka says, “Louisiana’s governor has a steady hand. Have spent 45 years in New Orleans with marriage, family, friends, and a clinical psych practice. Must feel good about Wes because I can recall many of my professors’ names.”

From Steve Knox: “Retired and moved to Asheville as the virus hit. Social distancing has kept us from some helping with children and grandchildren. Caroline ’03 is on the front line as a doc. Don’t drink the bleach.”

Jim Adkins “had to cancel all trips and is now stuck at home wondering if there will ever be a return to normal. At our age, getting sick isn’t a good idea.”

Pete Arenella is “sheltering in place in a rural Mexican village, where my wife grew up. Daughter Katherine received her doctorate in psychology. Not feeling confident because of age, high blood pressure, pneumonia history, and low-T. Hope all Wes friends are virus-free.”

Jane and Bob Watson “telehealth with all our therapy patients. NYC is a hotspot, so we stay inside. It’s getting boring.”

Mike Fink writes, “All well, homebound, enjoying food, movies, music, and books. Girls all good with employment prospects. COVID hysteria seems driven by excessive fear. Stay safe and sane.”

Bob Otto says, “Lots has changed since our magical Reunion. Last fall we traveled, now that’s on hold. Stay home and stay healthy.”

John Bach is “an engaged Quaker exploring love in the time of the pandemic.”

Stu Blackburn is “enjoying birdcalls in lockdowned Brighton on England’s south coast. New novel, The Boy From Shenkottai, set in South India, out this fall.”

Dave Siegel is “in the UC Davis hospital with residents and students. Northern California has been lucky. Son Leon, Kings County, Brooklyn, has more ventilated patients every day than I’ve seen in total. He appears sanguine. His mother and I are not.”

Ron Reisner writes, “Mike Terry, Tory Peterson ’68, and I discussed Wes lacrosse and the school’s position WRT Amherst and Williams. Tory’s gift of birdfeeders and guides revealed a whole new nature in the yard. Am in regular contact with roommate Harry Nothacker who is in Philly.”

Bernie Freamon “teaches Islamic law, slavery, and human trafficking at NYU and in Zanzibar. COVID may change that.”

Bryn Hammarstrom, retired, “works at Temple University Hospital. No heroics, just a sense of community. With PPE, I’m not condemning myself to COVID. Was safe during AIDS epidemic.”

Tom Earle writes, “Hawaiian unemployment is 37%, no tourism. Maj and I retired last year. Painting interior of house and assisting with grandchildren.”

Visakha and Ken Kawasaki are “locked down in Sri Lanka, still trying to spread peaceful Buddhist practices.”

Bob Dombroski says, “Rabbits, deer, and mallards rule here. One perverse thrush throws herself against my subterranean office window—she wants in; I want out. Anita and I are at last grandparents.”

Steve Mathews sent a COVID-humor video, and Charlie Elbot described a post-Wes Grand Tour. Michael Fairchild shared a YouTube video he made called Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

The condo is our fortress, hiding us as if we were invisible. From family and friends come news of terrible things, and the virus is only one of them. The deer have returned to eat the emergent greens as Connecticut returns to life.

Charlie Farrow | charlesfarrow@comcast.net
11 Coulter Street, #16, Old Saybrook, CT 06475

Class Notes | 1960s2021/02/09

CLASS OF 1968 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

I have been doing this for well over 40 years and—because I found you to be a delightfully spirited group back when whose trajectories have exceeded all my expectations—it has been a pleasure. But these are difficult/strange times to retain my usual good cheer: Not long ago I was caught up in the impeachment proceedings, but then thousands started dying, millions became unemployed and we, as members of a high-risk cohort, walk about with a target on our backs. While you know all that, I could not proceed without at least noting it.

Locally: for reasons that defy comprehension, my wife still loves me and gives me no option but to do things by the book. I like our governor’s leadership. Our son, Josh, was to be married to a good woman May 24 in Seattle. Heartbreakingly postponed. But we’re fine.

Pre-all this, Helen Dempsey had a lapse of judgment and married Bill Van Den Berg in a Unitarian service in the State College, Penn., area. We spent time together at the 50th and they are a fun couple. Andy Gaus—who is in Boston—and I had a great email exchange. We agreed that this is the time in our lives when we should do exactly what we want. For him, that was to self-publish a selection of his songwriting from his teens through his 70s entitled Songbag and available at Amazon.

John Poor died peacefully at home in Bronxville, April 13, of COPD. The Commodore “was a charismatic, smart, and generous man who…loved kids and art and sailing and the beach. He was very sharp and would do the Saturday crossword puzzle in minutes (and in pen). He truly loved life and lived it well” (from the NYT). Professionally, he was a well-regarded advertising executive with Blair Television and later Petry Media. Steve Carlson remembers him as a “fun and unique guy” who inherited his crossword skills from his mother and will be sorely missed.

It may seem a little unexpected, but Wig Sherman is the classmate with whom I stay in closest contact. We do not agree about anything (except some jokes) but serve as one another’s portal into alternate universes. However, our discord is brotherly. The May 7 arrival of Elizabeth Bean made him a grandfather for the first time. A devoted friend, he keeps up with the guys from the Lodge and is currently supporting Bob Newhouse, who retains a strong spirit as he contends with some medical issues.

Erica MALS ’91 and Nason Hamlin, one of our most elegant couples, retired to (and hunkered down on) Washington’s San Juan island. “Adequate supplies, gardening, reading, jigsaw puzzles, a beautiful setting, and lots of fresh air. The big downers are not being able to hug our grandchildren…and the cancellation of three musical string quartet workshops (Bruges, Sooke, BC, and Seattle)” as well as Nason’s barbershop quartet.

I am not a phone guy and normally wouldn’t suggest this, but the times are not normal, and a call from any of you about anything would be most welcome. After noon or early evenings, s.v.p. Be safe. Stay well.

Lloyd Buzzell | LBuzz463@aol.com
70 Turtle Bay, Branford, CT 06405 | 203/208-5360

Class Notes | 1960s2021/02/09

CLASS OF 1967 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

Classmates,

I was cruising along, teaching two courses (one, Personality, the other, The American Upper Class), when, during our spring break in late March, we were informed that all classes were shifting to an online format. Things changed suddenly here and everywhere, and like so many teachers around the country, I finished those two classes online (learning, in the process, new pedagogical lingo, like “synchronous classes” versus “asynchronous classes”—mine were asynchronous). Things are still up in the air for the fall semester, but I have decided it is time to retire. For one thing, I don’t want to end my long and enjoyable teaching career trying to teach online. But also, equally important, Guilford College, where I have taught since 1974, has furloughed 133 people so far and is about to furlough or terminate more, including teaching faculty. I do not want to be teaching and drawing a salary when my younger colleagues are losing their jobs. I am still trying to figure out what this change will mean.

Not a lot of news about our classmates which, given our age and susceptibilities, probably falls in the no news is good news category. Before the coronavirus crisis hit, I did get word of international travel by two classmates. In November, Bill Klaber, a graduate of the College of Social Science (CSS), and the author of a number of books, spoke at the Dublin Festival of Politics about many questions that surround what he calls (in the subtitle of one of his books) “the unsolved murder of Robert F. Kennedy.” He is also doing podcasts and is working on a series that looks at the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. A Wesleyan publication quotes him saying, “People sometimes refer to me as a conspiracy guy, which serves to dismiss my work. I’m an evidence guy.”

Jim Cawse and his wife, Marietta, took the other international trip in January. Here is how he described the origins of the trip in an email to me: “Last May I chanced upon an advertisement for a cruise through the Spice Islands of Indonesia. It caught my eye because 142 years earlier, my great-grandfather, Captain James Cawse, piloted his clipper ship the John R. Worcester carrying a million pounds of tea through that exact region. He was accompanied by my great-grandmother, Emma Browne Cawse, and she kept a diary, which I now hold. It makes for romantic reading as she calls out the exotic names of the islands and talks about an informal race with the famed Cutty Sark. You may remember that I made books out of the diaries and showed them at our 45th Reunion.”

Jim and Marietta were able to visit some of the very same islands described in the diary. They also spent some time in Australia and New Zealand. Then, Jim writes, “We got back Jan. 27, and as we came out from under jetlag, we started reading rumors about some virus…”

I’ll end with a quiz for you guys. I received a letter dated May 11 from Michael Roth ’78 (president of Wes), Donna Morea ’76 (chair of the Board), and Essel Bailey ’66 (trustee). You probably got this letter, too. They wrote, “In mid-January, we learned that Wesleyan will be the recipient of two large bequests totaling $6 million: one from the late Dr. Roger Cyrus ’61, the other from the late Edward McCune ’67.” I don’t remember Edward McCune, so I immediately turned to my ’67 facebook (the original Facebook in my life, published 17 years before Mark Zuckerberg was born), but there was no sign of Edward McCune (it goes straight from Michael McCord, Germantown Friends, to James McEnteer, Culver Military Academy [!]). I then turned to our 50th Reunion book (and its addendum): no sign of McCune. So, somebody clue me in. When did he join our class, and what can you tell me about him?

Take care. Be safe.

Richie Zweigenhaft | rzweigen@guilford.edu

Class Notes | 1960s2021/02/09

CLASS OF 1966 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

Don Craven has retired, his remarkable career as medical researcher and educator featured in The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 8, 2019), the article noting that Don served “as a professor of medicine at Tufts University and the chairman of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Prevention at the Lahey Clinic Medical Center since 2001. Prior to these illustrious roles, he was the professor of medicine, microbiology, epidemiology and biostatistics at Boston University from 1989 to 2001. Alongside this appointment, he also served Boston City Hospital in multiple capacities, including as director of the AIDS Program, associate director of medicine, director of AIDS Public Health, and hospital epidemiologist. Previously serving Boston University as an associated and assistant professor in the School of Medicine in the 1970s and 1980s, he commenced his career as a research associate and senior surgeon with the U.S. Public Health Service and a research associate with the National Institutes of Health Bureau of Biologics from 1976 to 1979.” During his distinguished career, Don published some 200 “articles on hospital epidemiology and AIDS.” In January, Jeff Nilson had lunch with Don, Harold Potter catching up with Don in March for “a very enjoyable lunch.”

Here is a photograph of Don and Jeff.

Jeff is still working on his book for children while taking a stab at poetry:

“I am trying to write like the good Dr. Seuss
But my rhymes are too weak and my meter’s too loose
I employ anapests while I’m beating a drum.
Ta ta DUM ta ta DUM ta ta DUM ta ta DUM
To write like the good doctor, oh, how I have tried!
But I’ve ended up committing anapestacide.”

On the theme of public service and exemplary careers, Jeff Evans writes: “On March 27, I ended 51-and-a-half years of uninterrupted employment by the U.S. Agency for International Development….” That is 18,769 days with USAID, serving our country from Viet Nam to Sri Lanka, to Russia and beyond. Jeff’s journey is not over. He has become “a part-time consultant to USAID’s Bureau for Global Health—at least for a few months—self-quarantined but working from home as is my wife, Aija, who teaches Latvian language and culture for the State Department. My goal is to see the last two of my six children graduate from college (one will next week) and get on with their lives and to continue a happy family life.”

Jeff’s KNK fraternity brother, Stephen Giddings, has followed a similar career path, Steve serving for “25 years as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development,” retiring in 2006 but going on to enjoy “’semi-retirement as a part-time consultant’” with USAID “for the past 13 years.” Steve writes, “2019 was an eventful year for my family when my wife Stephanie and I celebrated our 50th anniversary with a party in suburban Washington, D.C. in August, attended by all (surviving) members of our wedding party of 1969, including best man and KNK fraternity brother, Jeff Evans, sons visiting from Japan and Kenya and daughter from Kuwait, our two grandchildren and friends from near and far. I also reconnected this past summer with Peter Monro, who lives in Portland, Maine, about an hour from our summer place on the Maine Mid-coast. Peter and I were roommates living with our French family during our junior year in France in 1964-65 as students in the Sweet Briar College program. Finally, I discovered at the annual meeting this past summer that Joel Russ is the president of the newly formed Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust which helps to protect watershed areas in the Damariscotta/Pemaquid area of the Maine Mid-coast.”

As Steve notes, ours is a “small world,” and quite a wonderful one in that Joel, who among his many contributions to the public life of Portland and to the State of Maine “spent nearly four years as vice president of development (and a stretch as interim CEO) for a Portland, Maine, nonprofit, LearningWorks, which had, among other programs, an English as a Second Language program for immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.” Joel and Jeff reached out to help Barry Thomas as he prepared for his trip to Burundi. Barry returned from Burundi in early March, sending me a moving account of what he and his partner, Connie, were able to accomplish, a few of the highlights being the launching of a preschool program, providing a nourishing cup of porridge each day to some 450 children and their mothers, and supporting in various ways the ongoing work of D4C.

Bob Dearth writes that he finds Barry’s work “inspiring.” I find what Bob has been doing, passing along his wisdom and experience, providing guidance, to his Chi Psi brothers at Miami University and the University of Kentucky, also inspiring. Bob’s sustained contributions over many years grew out of his experiences at Wesleyan, where we received little guidance, if any, on the dangers of hazing and drinking. Bob knows what he is talking about, which no doubt these young men understand. Well done!

Rick Osofsky captures what many of us feel in reading about the exemplary lives of our fellow classmates: “Barry’s story is just amazing and heartwarming…I have to humbly thank both Barry and his wife—they are truly the embodiment of our better angels. It astounds me to discover both the character and humanity of so many of my ’66 classmates that I really never knew as we regularly passed each other on campus so many years ago. Though I did know who Barry was, I don’t believe we ever met—my loss.”

As for Peter Monro, he continues his peripatetic ways: “In September, I walked on the Via Podiensis, heading west from the volcanic city of Le Puy-en-Velay, hoping at least to reach the monastery town of Moissac in about a month. But the hills, steep chasms, wind, cold, and back spasms defeated me in a mere week, so I bailed. I recuperated for three days in sunny Barcelona, leaving just as the anti-Spain riots broke out, to hike for a week on the Camino Frances in Spain heading toward Burgos. Since the weather was warm, my back functioning again, the trails more gentle, and a friend Mary Lynn from an earlier trek to accompany me, a lovely time was had by both of us.”

Peter goes on to share the good news that “I’ve finally gotten around to dispersing my landscape architectural work products—the paper and digital landscape designs, historic site reports, and conservation plans of my 20-year plus practice in downtown Portland, Maine. (I had an earlier 15-year career in newspapers.) When I contacted the Maine Historical Society about their potential interest in my work, I thought they might be interested in my public projects—parks, cemeteries, historic gardens, and the like. But their archivist, upon visiting my office, agreed to take all of my projects in Maine, even including non-historic private residences. I was surprised and pleased. Within a year or so, the projects will all be accessible to the public, digitally catalogued and searchable. I hadn’t thought to have a legacy like that.” Congratulations, Peter.

On the coronavirus front, Joel Russ writes: “These are most interesting times. I hope you and your family are doing well in Colorado. Carolyn and I are ‘hunkered down,’ but I get out for a five-mile run (alone) every day, in spite of the recent snow.” Essel Bailey and his wife, Menakka, “are housebound in Ann Arbor where UM is very closed down but we are fine as are our kids.” Essel notes that “Wes is managing as best we can.” Cliff Shedd writes that “Michelle and I and family are holed up and holding up pretty well in Houston, although boredom has been stalking us persistently.” For Thos Hawley and his wife, Marijke, the virus has led to quite an adventure. On March 12, they left for a cruise on the upper Amazon only to find themselves four days later quarantined for two weeks in Iquitos, Peru. See the Postcards from Iquitos for Thos’s riveting, wry, wonderfully written account.

In closing we celebrate the life of Thomas M. Francis, who died on Dec. 7, 2019. Hardy Spoehr writes: “sorry to hear of To’s passing. I played with him on the football team…a great tackle!” David Griffith, also a teammate, tells us that he can still “hear that great deep laugh. He was in Mystical Seven. He was immensely strong, a great football player, and I saw him toss that hammer in practice and tried it myself with him watching…no way. He was a gentle giant with amazing speed and fluid coordination…all you need for that impossible sport!” Thomas led an exemplary life, and then too, he still holds the Wesleyan record for the hammer throw! Here is a link to Thomas’s obituary.

LARRY CARVER carver1680@gmail.com
P.O. Box 103, Rico, Colorado, 81332 512/478-8968

Class Notes | 1960s2021/02/09

CLASS OF 1965 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

Dear classmates, here’s the news:

Bob Mabon writes: “Last saw you at the 2005 Reunion, which I attended with Nan and Steve Hart and his wife, Jeanette. That’s when I heard the sad news about Sandy Creed’s illness. I corresponded with Sandy, and we reminisced about our superb trip to Europe. It must have been a great joy to Sandy and Alex to have three of Sandy’s best friends, you, Warren Thomas, and Charlie Orr, there at the end of his life. My father also succumbed to melanoma in 1996, which originated during the war when he was badly sunburned in North Africa.

“To Marine Corps OCS after law school, one year on active duty, and in the reserves for five years, retiring as a captain in 1974. Amazingly, Bob Del Bello and I were in the same OCS platoon. In the 50th Reunion class book, I wrote, along with you, a tribute to Sandy, and one for Bob, which recounts my experiences with Bob in the Marines.

“Retired from investment banking in 2010, having spent the last 17 years in London. Nan and I travel to the U.S. annually, except this year due to COVID-19, to see our two daughters, who live in NYC and Boston, respectively. We have four grandchildren. In 2010, we bought an apartment in a brownstone in Park Slope. It was built for the last mayor of Brooklyn in 1885. Our home in South Kensington was built in 1844. We frequently travel to Europe, especially Italy, where we lived in Venice from 1989 to 1992, before moving to London. (Steve and Jeanette live in Paris, and we see them often.)”

Carl Calendar writes: “At Brookdale Community College at the Jersey Shore for 48 years, ending up as dean of humanities. Still give lectures for the lifelong learning program. I worked three years in the summers for the state department in Malaysia and Borneo, promoting better writing and press freedom. And, had summer grants to study Shakespeare at Princeton and Exeter College, Oxford. I have traveled widely, including walking 200 miles on the Camino de Santiago where I earned my Compostela. Married to Jody Shaughnessy Calendar, former managing editor of the Asbury Park Press and Bergen Record. We have two sons: Bart runs his own communication company in Montpellier, France, and Shane is a corporate attorney in New Jersey.”

Gar Hargens writes: “In Beantown last weekend to watch grandsons Grayson and Holland (senior co-captain and sophomore) play two basketball games for Newton North High School. I connected with Susan Mead for a long-overdue lunch and reminiscence about Kirt and Wesleyan. She has four terrific grandkids and splits time between Cambridge and Marion. In December, Missy and I were invited to Costa Rica to meet 2-month-old granddaughter, Charlie Collett Hargens, my seventh grandchild. Youngest daughter Kendra ’04 is a senior designer for Patagonia, and with generous maternity leave, elected to introduce Charlie to surfing on the West Coast and have us down.”

Jim Henderson writes of the young man—a gifted singer—whom he, wife Connie, and a loving community have supported, and who just completed his sophomore year at James Madison University on a full scholarship. Homeless through most of high school, he lived with Jim and Connie before college.

Jim and Connie visited with a former exchange student they hosted in the 1980s from Dusseldorf. They remain active with book clubs, classes, and a number of civic and charitable organizations. They traveled in England last summer, which tied into Connie’s longtime love of English gardens and participation in a woman’s Shakespeare class that has been active for over a century. They live in Carrollton, Va., and would welcome hearing from friends who are visiting the area.

Arthur Rhodes writes: “Just retired from Rush University Medical Center. Leslie and I will be spending more time with our combined families of five children and 10 grandchildren in Chicago and New Orleans. Homes in both places. Surprised how each day flies by when I am not seeing patients.”

Roger Spragg writes: “At UC San Diego for 50 years, now retired from the department of medicine and patient care but continuing some mentoring and investigative activities. Carole and I celebrated our 50th anniversary last winter with our two sons and their families at our home near Whitefish, Mont. Travel, hiking, and reading on some subjects I neglected at Wesleyan are major activities. I’d enjoy hearing (rspragg@ucsd.edu) from Wesleyan friends.”

Dick Travis writes: “In June 2019, Evelyn and I celebrated our 50th anniversary with our first return to Glacier National Park since our family was there in the summers of 1983 and 1984 when I was at the park with the U.S. Public Health Service. Then off to Banff National Park, Lake Louise, and other parts of the Canadian Rockies. Most of our life now revolves around church and grandchildren’s activities. Our grandchildren range in age from 22 in graduate school to a 9-year-old, and we are thankful to be in their lives.”

Due to the pandemic, we had our 55th Reunion online, nicely organized by Wesleyan (Mark Davis and Ann Goodwin ’79) and our fine leaders, Hugh Wilson and Mark Edmiston.

Because of a commitment, I got in on the conversation a bit late, but enjoyed seeing everyone on the zoom and hearing their voices.

Participating in the call were: Tom Bell, John Dunton, Gary Witten, Fred Nachman, Fred Joseph, Major Moise, Dan Gibbs, Art Rhodes, Win Chamberlin, Richard Smith, John Hall, Tony Schuman, Peter Kelman ’65, MAT ’66, Bob McLean, Jim Henderson, Steve Halliwell, Phil Russell, and Clyde Beers.

To cap off the good chat and family/professional updates, Jerry Melillo ’65, MAT ’68 was asked for his assessment of the future given the reality of climate change. Among other potential results he mentioned are cyclones, hurricanes, oil spills, etc. from a warmer Gulf Stream, and additional compound events. A sobering, but important, message on which to end our evening.

Thank you all for participating!

Sad news to report: Professor Norm Shapiro, Hon. ’72 and Jono Hildner passed away.

Philip L. Rockwell | prockwell@wesleyan.edu