Unfortunately, I was not able to return to Wesleyan for our 45th Reunion, but it was truly memorable. Class President Bill Quigley shares his reflections: “Our 45th Reunion was extraordinary—the weather was perfect, the campus was beautiful, and graduates young and old were vibrant. The company from ’73 was even better. To aid our memories, we each had a regular name tag and one with our freshman yearbook pictures. After Friday’s reacquaintance reception, Mark Helfat led an early Saturday discussion titled “I Never Knew You,” where we shared stories about our passions and paths through life post-Wesleyan. Don Stewart, Rich Jasper, Tom Lucci, William “Billy” Burke, Michael Gionfriddo, Steve Young, and others talked about how our tumultuous times at Wesleyan shaped our journeys. It was fascinating, and many wished it to continue long beyond the allotted time. We will do something similar for our 50th.

“A great picture of the now leveled Starship McConaughy with the words (courtesy of Mike McKenna) ‘Class of ’73 lasts longer than some buildings’ graced the T-shirts of Charlie Cocores, Tom Curran, Peter Bernstein, Ron Medley, Jay Rose, John Huttlinger, Jim Raymond, Mike Donnelly, and many others as we marched in the parade of classes. Also, wandering around the campus, High Street, Lawn Avenue, and Foss Hill were Tim Warner, Kie Westby, Ron Dennett, Tom Tokarz, Scott Karsten, Jonathan Raskin, Rudy Foy, Rick Edwards, Irv Estrin, and Bruce Fox.

“Steve Greenhouse was a presenter in a terrific Weseminar on journalism in the Trump era and Tom Kelly, Wayne Barber, and Jim Powers hosted a sobering and thoughtful session on health care. At that discussion Wayne introduced Josh Boger, who received an honorary degree at Commencement, with ‘I am in awe of this man who created an effective HIV/AIDS treatment, cured hepatitis C, and cured cystic fibrosis.’ Wow!

“Our Saturday night reception and dinner brought together Bruce Fox, Evans Jacob, Ron Johnson, Dave “Harp” Feldman, Charley Wayne, Dave Zita, and others to watch a wonderful slide show with pictures from our years at Wesleyan set to our era’s music. Granny Hale passed out a DVD he made of our 35th and 40th Reunions. Kudos to Wayne Barber for putting the slide show and our Facebook group ‘Wesleyan Class of ‘73 — Reunion Road Trip’ together. Check there to watch the slide show, see who we were in 1969–1973, and come to our 50th on May 25–28, 2023 to see what we become.

“Special thanks to the Reunion committee and Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 for their help organizing the event.”

Billy Burke, who returned from Colorado, thanks the committee members for a great program. He says, “Many warm memories, but the best experience was Saturday morning sitting in a classroom in Boger Hall (!) and having classmates share stories about what they’ve done since graduation or what Wesleyan means to them, or in my case, both. Wesleyan was an important part of my life. It helped me mature (eventually). And my life with Barbara (43 years), son, and daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids, is more than I deserve.” He says he is already excited about our 50th. He says, “Granny Hale has a project lined up: A memorial to McConaughy Hall! And don’t ever say MoCon! Would we call the Smithsonian ‘Smiso’? I think not. Granny wants a plaque with all the concerts and historic events listed. Like the time I threw a cube of Jell-O almost to the top of the flying saucer dining hall ceiling and caught it in my mouth. That’s a nice start, but I think composing a rock opera we would all perform at Reunion 2023 would really get our message across. Keeping with the musical theme, I think we should dress in bellbottom pants and tie-dyed shirts and sing karaoke, but only songs from 1969–1973.”

Rich Jasper says, “I arrived on Thursday because I wanted to soak up the experience. I thought the highlight was hearing about the journey through the Wesleyan experience and post-Wes. My only wish was that more time existed for everyone to share. We all experienced the national and local turmoil of 1969–1970. Wesleyan made us stronger and more cognizant of a dynamic world. I loved the timely seminar regarding health care and the contributions by classmates. The panel on the challenges of fake news in the information era was intellectually stirring and reminded me of what makes Wesleyan so special. Finally, it was just great to see old and new friends. New friends are the classmates I have grown to know and admire by attending Reunions over the last 45 years. A special shout out to Wayne Barber for the video clip and freshman photos.”

Finally, Michael Fossel, author of the memorable Reversing the Aging Process, writes that he is moving ahead with plans to go to the FDA with gene therapy to cure Alzheimer’s disease.

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

I begin with the sad news of Manfred Stassen’s death. COL students and other philosophers and Germanisten knew him as a one-of-a-kind teacher, philosopher, homme de lettres, and chess expert. An edited version of a tribute by Mark Gelber appears in the Letters section; the full text is on our class notes page at magazine.wesleyan.edu.

Elisa ’76 and I had a wonderful week driving to and from a meeting in Charleston, S.C., seeing several classmates on the way. One of our stops was Smithfield, N.C., which you will undoubtedly recognize as the home of Bob Spence. Not only did Bob return to his hometown after law school, he is running what was his father’s law practice, and living in his boyhood home. We were treated to a lovely dinner at the Spence Manse, catching up on the past 46 years. Bob’s lovely wife, Carol, remarked how Bob constantly talks about how much his time at Wesleyan, particularly the spring of 1970 in Paris with the COL, meant to him, and she was interested in finally meeting someone who was there with him. Bob is trying to figure out how to disengage from his legal practice, which is doubly hard for him since he has a profound commitment to serving his individual clients.

On our way back, we dined with Rob Gelblum and his wife, Mary Lou, in Raleigh. Rob is having a good deal less difficulty disengaging from practicing law and is doing more musical performing. His family moved to Carolina from Philadelphia right as he started at Wes, to the great consternation of Rob and his brothers, but he quickly grew to love the area and has enjoyed living there.

In Chapel Hill we visited with Elisa’s classmate, Ted Shaw ’76 and his lovely family. Ted, a renowned civil rights attorney, teaches at UNC School of Law.

And returning home through the Capital area we visited with Bonnie Blair, who is a double classmate of mine—law school, too. Bonnie is ratcheting down her practice and preparing for her son Ross’s wedding in the fall.

Bob Withey is living with Leslie Walleigh (Brown ’71), high on their well-gardened hill in coastal Rockport, Maine, where he plows yards of snow, builds even more rock walls, coaches tennis, and serves as an ad hoc counselor and formal librarian at Camden Hills Regional High School. Their two daughters, Charlotte and Lauren, and a grandson, Benji, live in Marin County, Calif., so maintaining a balanced environmental carbon account is challenging. Richard Aroneau ’71 and Barbara Biddle Richardson ’74 are the local Wes connections. Bob’s dad, George Withey Jr. ’45, an assistant VP for business affairs from 1969-1976, died in July 2017 at age 93. George and his wife, Nancy Roe Withey, had a very interesting life together for 73 years. A favorite memory for Bob was marching with his parents during Reunion 2010 beside fellow World War II alumni up High Street past Eclectic House where George lived as a student and North College where he worked.

After 39 years of day-to-day practice as a general internist and geriatrician, Peter Schwartz is retiring. He has some volunteer positions lined up and a variety of hobbies to which he hopes to devote more time. Visiting with family members and traveling should take care of the rest of his time. Son Jonathan Schwartz ’00 is head of middle school at the Green Hills School in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Peter has a son in Osaka, Japan. His daughter and all his other stepkids and grandkids (10 total) live with him in the Philadelphia area.

Mike Hurd’s son, A.J., is graduating high school this year. Plus, he just got a 9-month-old, 60-pound black lab mix rescue “puppy.” Following a familiar theme, Mike moved back to his hometown, New Hartford, N.Y., living within sight of his boyhood home. Mike is still working, for the Trane side of Ingersoll Rand, and still enjoys the people and the benefits and the reason to get out of his PJs every day. His brother, Doug ’76, lives nearby and they often talk about the differences as freshmen between ’68 and ’72. “From wild to focused in just a few years.”

Since hanging up his reporter’s notebook two years ago, Randall Pinkston has been trying his hand at teaching. He was an adjunct at Stony Brook University School of Journalism and the University of Mississippi Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

He wrote me from there, trying to remember what he forgot in law school (UConn ’80) so he could teach communications law in the May intersession. “Working around the clock—three-and-a-half-hour lectures for 10 days. Whew!” Randall says his wife, Patricia, still allows him to live with her in Teaneck. Their daughter, Ada ’05, is a Baltimore-based performance artist and teaches art in Lanham, Md.

Finally, Mark Gelber is about to receive the highest distinctions awarded to civilians by the Austrian Government—the Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst, 1. Klasse. That’s the Austrian Medal of Honor for Science and Art, First Class, folks. (Naturally, first class.)

Seth A. Davis | sethdavis@post.harvard.edu
213 Copper Square Drive, Bethel, CT 06801

Aloha, classmates! Not much news this cycle after a rather full one last magazine.

If you can believe it, planning efforts are underway for our 50th Reunion in 2021. Volunteers are needed to work on outreach and planning. Please contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 (klynch@wesleyan.edu) if you’d like to be involved.

I heard from Georgia Sassen, who reminds us that Harvard, in this case, is the town in Massachusetts, not the university. She is still in private practice in psychology, part-time, and now has more time for her poetry. She received a grant from the Harvard Cultural Council to give a reading there called “Ancient and Contemporary Women of Harvard: Poems in Their Voices.” She directs the nonprofit Building Resilience in Kids (BRIKontheweb.org) as her pro bono public mental health work.

Katy Butler has a Facebook group called Slow Medicine. It deals with issues of dying with dignity. She is the author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door, a must-read about the dying of her father, Professor Jeffery Butler, then her mother. Katy has a new book coming out, The Art of Dying Well: A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life. Check Amazon for release.

Over Memorial Day weekend I was on the Big Island (far from the volcano) in Kona. I was a delegate to the Hawaii State Democratic Party Convention (or the “Dump Trump Confab”). One of my fellow delegates was the illustrious Russ Josephson ’70. I still think it’s some kind of sign that the class of 1970 and 1971 class secretaries should live less than one mile apart on a remote rock, the most isolated rock on earth, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Are we a metaphor for how estranged our classes are from the main body of classes? Hope not. Anyway, being this is an election year, all the Hawaii politicians were present. Since Hawaii is virtually a one-party state we got to meet our next governor and other state leaders. Just love life here. Easy to make yourself heard and effect change.

I challenge you as you read this to send me an e-mail with news about you. Aloha for now.

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

Aloha, everyone. Greetings from Catastrophe Central, Mid-Pacific Division. Not a lot of news came in this time. For a while it looked like it was going to be “The Steves Column,” then it mutated into “The Steves, Roberts, and Jeremy Column.”

Steve Masten attended wife Ann’s 45th reunion at Smith. They married when she was a junior, so my calculations are they’ve been married 46 years. Wow, congratulations! Afterward, Steve and Ann visited with Charley Ferrucci ’69 in Connecticut. “Also had dinner with Wayne Slitt ’69. It’s always good to be reminded where you came from.”

Steve Talbot, who’s prolific on Facebook, posted that a friend “. . . talked me into walking the Path of the Gods, high above the Amalfi Coast. And like a fool, I agreed. The hour or so hike straight up from the town of Praiano to the rocky trail nearly did me in. But once on the relatively flat path it was all worth it. A spectacular view of the coastline. Precious few tourists on the trail, at least in May. The main person we encountered was a young Italian gardener who trekked up the mountains every day. Descending endless steps to the coastal road tested the old knees, but I was revived by a large glass of pure lemon juice, fresh squeezed from the prized Amalfi citrus. Straight, no chaser. [Wife] Pippa, meanwhile, was doing yoga moves down below, and we glimpsed Positano up ahead. Our total round trip: 10 miles and the equivalent of walking up 157 floors, according to my know-it-all phone.”

And the third Steve is Steve Ching, now retired from medical practice and living on the west side of Kaua’i. We run into one another from time to time. Last contact was Steve inquiring about a contractor to do some concrete work as part of a home remodeling project. (Hope it comes out as planned, Steve.) Meanwhile wife Mary was traveling “as our son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first child.” (Congratulations!) Steve says he’s trying to adjust to retirement.

Speaking of Facebook, Bob Stone, aka Robert Mark Stone, continues to publish his Trumpericks regularly. He took a short hiatus while on photo safari in Africa (from where he posted gorgeous photos), but he’s now back and writing. So much material!

And Rob Baker of Park City, Utah, and an occasional Kaua’i visitor, reported, “Our daughter Emily (Whitman ’02) and her husband Micah (Conn College ’06) had our first grandchild, Eli Patton Blazar, this May. We have been hanging out in Del Mar, Calif., for the event. I’ve found time to surf the North Country, too.”

Jeremy Serwer reported “. . . some 70-ish craziness, two-fold: (1) I had the honor of being accepted to this year’s FBI Citizens Academy in New Haven, a weekly class for eight weeks that introduces regular citizens to all that the FBI does—a public relations effort, for sure, and fascinating.” Jeremy’s conclusion is that “. . . 99 percent of the folks at the FBI are doing amazing things solving crimes, assisting victims and their families, protecting the American people, and honoring the Constitution.”

“(2) Closer to home, I’ve finally achieved the entry level to a relatively new American pastime I’ve long wanted to pursue: Cowboy mounted shooting. While horses and the Old West have been passions of mine for many years, combining six-gun target shooting with western riding is too exciting to describe. This season I’ll finally enter my first matches.” [I admit, one of the more unusual bits of news.]

Finally, Jeremy reports that “. . . wife Nancy is well; she has nine marathons under her belt, and has become a serious weight trainer. She’s truly ripped!”

As for us, we’re getting a new contractor, as the original one has totally folded. Aside from the April flooding (which left us with lots of mud, damaged materials, ruined personal items, and a bit of looting, just for some extra fun), we’re trying to proceed with the long-overdue construction of our house in Kalihiwai Valley. The major road work done last June mercifully held up for the most part. Damage done by an angry waterfall at a water crossing largely has been repaired by a contractor hired by the state to remove major trees lodged against the bridge supports.

After attending the Hawaii Democratic Party’s state convention recently (along with Neil Clendeninn ’71), I took a bus to Hilo and was able to see the volcanic eruptions on the Big Island (about 12 miles from our former home) by helicopter. (Some flooding photos sold to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser helped pay for the flight!) As is typical with me, I have posted lots of photos, both of the flooding and of the volcano, on Facebook.

REMINDER: Our 50th Reunion will be here in no time on May 21–24, 2020. Contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 (klynch@wesleyan.edu) if you’d like to be involved in the planning. “Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

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