CLASS OF 1981 | 2026 | SPRING ISSUE

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Greetings from Bloomington, home of the 2026 NCAA undefeated national football champions: the Indiana Hoosiers! So proud of my adopted hometown team—go IU!
 
I was in Zurich this December visiting my middle son, and I had the great pleasure to indulge in a delicious, random, last-minute meal with my old C-2 roommate Deb Chapin—in a charming restaurant, over a bottle of wine, in downtown Basel on Christmas Eve—when we both discovered that we were in Switzerland at the same time. Here’s to spontaneity (and an excellent train system)!

Leora Freedman wrote in from California, where she has been working mostly in legal positions in higher education. She retired in August 2024, then served as a mediator and consultant last year, before deciding that she wasn’t quite ready for retirement. She recently accepted a position directing the Civil Rights Office at her alma mater, UCLA, and enjoys a five-minute commute to her office!

“About two years ago,” Leora writes, “Todd Martin graciously organized a really fun Zoom reunion for several Foss 10 and 10-person friends (Anne Standley, Mary Austin Dowd, Barbara Parrot Katz, Carole Muller, Lily Whiteman, and Stephanie Hutter ’82). We discussed how much we would like to reconvene with old friends at the next reunion (including John Ross, Greg Andris, Alan Mairson, and Sean Moran).” 

Speaking of Reunion . . . it is our REUNION YEAR and is sure to be a good time! Put the dates in your calendar: May 22–24, 2026. Registration opened in March, so be on the lookout for reminders and Zoom gatherings. And perhaps do as I did: Reach out to a group of old friends and start planning to meetup!

Chris Graves, now retired as global CEO from Oglivy, where he helped launch their behavioral science practice, founded his own consultancy called The Resonance Code, which deploys his award-winning behavioral science approach to better decoding humans and predicting (or understanding at least) behaviors. “I do pro bono work, such as serving on the board of www.Community.Solutions, a non-profit working to mitigate homelessness. I am also an advisor to the Muhammad Ali Center, and on the advisory board of an AI start-up that builds modular green power to get data centers off the grid.”  Chris adds that his daughter, Julia Graves ’17, married Keenan Burgess ’16 on a beautiful day in August atop the roof garden of the Aspen Art Museum. Julia lives in Brooklyn and works as a software developer for an AI company specializing in legal and financial services.

Paul DiSanto enjoyed dinner recently in Mystic, Connecticut, with Rick Ciullo, who was in the area from his home on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, for meetings at the Hartford Insurance Company, for which he still works. They were joined by Jim Baker and his wife, Diane, who live between Fisher’s Island, New York, and the Connecticut shore. Tim O’Brien and his wife, Linda, drove down from Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Pete Pezzelli came from Narragansett, Rhode Island. There was much talk of children, grandchildren, world affairs, and aches and pains, along with plans to see each other again at Reunion. Jim and Tim are retired but staying busy; Jim, in particular, with his four grandchildren. Pete is still running his family’s long-term health-care business. Paul shared: “Lynne and I have a two-year-old grandson, and we are glad he and our son and daughter-in-law are moving to Hanover, New Hampshire, soon from Denver. Our older son also lives in New Hampshire, so we are eyeing a potential move to the Granite State at some point, though I still greatly enjoy my work in the Wes Advancement office.”  

Barry “Pono” Fried is still operating theaward-winning, bespoke Open Eye Tours in paradise, interpreting and sharing Hawai’i’s vibrant culture, precious nature and wildlife, rich history, expressive language, myths and legends, music and art, tasty local food, humbling sacred sites, breathtaking beauty spots, less-visited authentic country villages, quieter places buses can’t access, and more, since 1983. With his master’s in education, and decades of teaching and guiding experiences, Pono offers authentic Hawaiian cultural immersion. If retirement beckons you to Hawai’i, reach out to him at www.openeyetours.com for what is certain to be an unforgettable adventure!

Charlie Spiegel attempts sanity from his law offices in the Bay Area in much of the same ways he did as a Wes student. He has been active as a leader of several political activist groups, raising money for swing-state grassroots voter organizations thru Action-SF.com, and organizing LGBTQ volunteers in TheBillys.org. “And I still use skills learned at The Hermes,”Charlie says, “to write and promote political letters to the editor of local newspapers. Shout-out to the national impact and leadership of Wes President Michael Roth. Further Wes-based sanity comes from regular morning city park walks with Nancy Traub Chirinos, visits to the suburban NYC home of Nick Radcliffe and Pam Bolton ’85, P’18, and international online communication with Anne Stevenson Yang.