CLASS OF 1982 | 2026 | FALL ISSUE

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Kate Quigley Lynch does this for the whole university but since she’s one of ours, we will put this right here: “Could we put in a plug for the 45th Reunion, May 21–May 23, 2027?” Yes, we can. We hope that many of you can be there.

We asked for transitions, endings and beginnings, joys and struggles, and we got all of them but the struggles (and that’s okay). It’s great to hear about so many of you.

Suzanne Kay has a welcome update after many years, and we will give her some space: “I’m in production on a documentary about my late mother Diahann Carroll. I co-produced the documentary Sunday Best on TV pioneer Ed Sullivan and his role in showcasing Black artists.” It was a New York Times Critic’s Pick and mentioned on NPR’s top 10 as one of the great documentaries of 2023. She was associate producer on Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island, and she produced and co-wrote a feature film, Cape of Good Hope, which won many awards and nominations, including Honorable Mention for the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, National Board of Review, and NAACP Image Awards. She’s been published in HuffPost, The Southampton Review, and BigCityLit.

Ru Marshall writes: “American Trickster, my biography of the faux anthropologist Carlos Castaneda—20 years in the making—was just released by OR Books and has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly (‘This enthralls.’).”

Sasha Alpert produced a documentary that premiered in competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and has been picked up by HBO. “Seized is about a newspaper in Kansas raided by police in an overt attempt to stop the paper from reporting on their corruption. I am also lucky enough to be in close touch with many Wes alumni—Amy Schulman, Diane Kolyer, Elizabeth Keyishian, Elyse Klaidman, Kathy (Grunes) Moss, Ellen Rosenthal, Jane Hammerslough, Susanna Aaron ’81, Susanne Berne, and Janet Grillo ’80.”

Transitions news from Patty Smith: “I guess the biggest is that I retired after 40 years of teaching! I’ve spent the last 20 teaching dual-enrollment composition, American literature, fiction, and nonfiction at the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology in Petersburg, Virginia. I’m lucky to have enjoyed such a fulfilling career and am looking forward to focusing on my writing. In September, I am headed to a three-week writing residency at the Château Orquevaux in the Champagne region of France, where I hope to make significant progress on novel number 2.” Lots of travel planned with her wife, Cindy, to visit some other Wes alums, Mary Downs, Holly Brown, and Joanne Godin Audretsch ’81.

From Sabina (Cournoyer) Shelby: “After buying 52 acres of land in Amherst, Massachusetts, I began the long process of figuring out what, exactly, I had gotten myself into. The land had been headed toward development —15 houses, according to the designs —and I seem to have walked into the project rather backward: first save the land, then figure out how to pay for it, then discover what it actually wanted to become.

“For several years, I worked on implementing a forest management plan developed with the Audubon Society. Over time, I finally began to understand what this tract could be: a farm and forest enterprise rooted in biodiversity, conservation, and—somewhat to my own surprise—gourmet mushrooms.

“Having seen money come and go while working in sustainable agriculture in Peru, I wanted to try a different funding model this time. Instead of relying only on grants or donations, the idea was to build a business that could actually help pay for the land and the biodiversity improvements I envisioned. So, we built a state-of-the-art mushroom growing barn, launched Amherst Mushroom Company, and are now breaking even month to month—just one year after selling our first shiitake.

“We have decided that this story probably works best if we stay hyperlocal, and that is what we are doing. We sell at a few farmers markets and through local wholesale vendors, with the larger goal of proving that a small agricultural business can help support real conservation work on the land around it.

“So, to the clever people out there: If you have questions, connections, ideas, mushroom-buying leads, restaurant contacts, local food wisdom, conservation thoughts, or just a useful push in the right direction, I would love to hear from you. The Class of ’82 is still looking pretty good, but the clock is not entirely theoretical. I have given myself until we all turn 70 to see whether this farm-and-forest experiment can become what people probably mean when they talk about legacy: land protected, work worth doing, and an enterprise strong enough to outlast its founder. So don’t be shy or hesitant. This is our time.”

Courtney Briggs Melton has practiced law at Derrick & Briggs, LLP, for 32 years and currently serves as president of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation. She is based in Oklahoma City with her husband, Tim Melton, and their three girls, and has enjoyed reconnecting with Wesleyan friends while traveling, including Susan and Nick (’84) Webb, Susanna Gray, George Russell ’83, Janice Okoomian ’83, Belinda Davis ’81, and Peter Appelbaum ’81.

A quick note from Alex Thomson: “John Mooney, Kevin Foley, Bruce Crain, Dan Hillman, Stephen Daniel, Jack Taylor, Peter Frisch, Steve Mooney ’80, and Sue Jenkins Warren ’83 all gathered in Falmouth, Massachusetts, to celebrate the wedding of Sam, John Moooney’s youngest son, in June. A strong Wesleyan showing!” 

To end, I will let you know that Laura and Peter Eckart ’84 rescued a stray dog from San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, named her Chita, and I will attest, she is incredibly sweet and adorable. All three of them are very lucky.

Cheers! We hope that many of us can make it to the 45th!

Warmly,

Michael and Laura