Hi, Wes friends. We have some exciting updates this issue—new jobs, empty nests, documentary premieres, and other updates. As always, we appreciate hearing from you, so please keep sharing updates!
Julie Anderson writes, “I am in the process of transitioning to a new job as head of school of Rectory School in Pomfret, Connecticut. Rectory is a junior boarding and day school serving students from pre-K to ninth grade. My husband and I recently purchased a home in Maine, where we look forward to spending time during vacations. My oldest child is a recent graduate of Wheaton College in Massachusetts and works for a nonprofit that supports employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. My youngest will be a junior at Hampshire College, where he is engaged in theater and gender studies.”
Shana Ciociola Boniface emails, “I’m still in Montclair, New Jersey, a town so filled with Wes alumni that there are three of us on my block, all in vastly different graduating years, but still, what are the chances?! In other Wesleyan-related news, my older daughter will be attending Wesleyan in the fall as a recruited rower! We are so thrilled for her!”
Jacob Bricca writes, “I’m happy to report that two documentaries that I worked on recently made their premieres. I was at the world premiere of The Chaplain and the Doctor, which I edited, at the San Francisco International Film Festival in April, and was thrilled to collaborate with Ted Reichman ’95 on the music for the film. The doc is about two extraordinary women trying to fix a broken health care system in Oakland, California. I also celebrated the release of Marriage Cops, which I co-edited, at the HotDocs International Documentary Film Festival in May. It’s a cinema verité account of a group of female police officers deputized to provide marriage counseling in northern India. Each will be released to the general public later this year.”
Dave Davis provides an update: “Greetings from sunny Manhattan Beach, California! Lynne and I recently celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We have two amazing daughters—our eldest is heading into her senior year at UC Berkeley, and our youngest will begin her college journey at Vanderbilt this fall. With both girls off to school, we’ll soon be empty nesters! On the professional side, I co-founded a start-up in 2023 called Calliope Networks. We focused on licensing audiovisual works to generative AI companies for model training. Late last year, we were acquired by a larger start-up called Protege. I now lead Protege’s content licensing division, and I’m happy to report it’s been a great ride so far.”
Jodi Samuels writes, “My spouse, Evan, and I are now splitting our time between our townhouse in Sacramento, California, and an apartment in downtown Evanston, Illinois (just a few blocks from the Northwestern campus), so that we can be closer to his family in the Chicago area. Our two kitties are gradually getting adjusted to flying back and forth with us (wish they could get their own frequent flyer accounts! ). We spent New Year’s in Vancouver, British Columbia, again this year and participated in another Polar Bear Swim in English Bay on January 1. Other international travel included a week in Singapore in March and a weeklong river cruise in Lyon, France, with some of Evan’s family. Finally, as part of my path toward transitioning to an encore career in the language professions, I’m now part of the French volunteer translator team for Kiva.org, a great microlending organization.”
Steve Wald emails, “Rachel Whitaker and I celebrated 32 years together in early June. Nineteen years in Urbana, Illinois, just down the street from the wonderful Evelyn Shapiro ’87. Rachel is the Harry E. Preble Professor of Microbiology at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; I am living a SiSP graduate’s dream as director of government relations for the College of ACES (agriculture), here in the heart of the Corn Belt. Did you know Wesleyan was home to the nation’s first agricultural experiment station in 1875? In frequent touch with classmates . . . Wes equipped us for this awesome, awful moment. Hold strong!”
Hope everyone had a great summer! Here’s the news!
First up, some fantastic literary achievements from our classmates. Amy (Andrews)Alznauer has a new book published this past March: The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape. Beth Shakman Hurd’s latest book, Heaven Has a Wall: Religion, Borders, and the Global United States, was published by University of Chicago Press. In May, Jonathan Liebson published Hello (and Goodbye) to All That with Post Hill Press, a memoir of a changing New York since the new millennium.
Kevin Prufer has been named the 2026 Texas poet laureate! Kevin continues as professor of English and director of the creative writing program at the University of Houston. Also in academia, Abby (Smith) Saguy received the 2025 Open Inquiry Award for Teaching from the Heterodox Academy, recognizing her work promoting viewpoint diversity in her sociology courses on sex and gender.
On the career front, Christine Bolzan has a new job as vice chancellor of experiential education for Northeastern University. She had a chance this spring to catch up with Robert and Elena (’93) Allbritton in Washington, D.C., learning about the launch of the Allbritton Journalism Institute.
Dr. John “Juan” Luque was recently awarded a Fulbright grant to spend a sabbatical in Quito, Ecuador, working on a cancer prevention project.
My old housemate, Simon Fulford, is opening a brand-new, 40-bed, youth residential treatment campus this summer in Portland. Simon notes that Oregon ranks as one of the worst states for kids to access behavioral health services, and they’re working to fill that gap. His youngest son is entering ninth grade, his middle son will be a senior, and his eldest (22) is back in the Pacific Northwest after almost three years in Argentina.
Joy Rhoden watched her son, Nolan Lewis ’25, graduate from Wesleyan this past May. Nolan double majored in neuroscience and CEAS and is now living in Brooklyn pursuing both his music career and neuroscience. Joy continues to serve as co-chair of the Wesleyan Black Alumni Council through June 2026.
Rob and Dorothea Harper-Mangels also welcomed their son, Ramey ’25, into the ranks of Wesleyan alumni this May. In June, they caught up with former housemates Maria Truglio and Rich Dansky in Stamford, Connecticut. Maria was visiting the Beinecke Rare Books Library at Yale for research (where Rob works as an associate dean).
Darcy Dennett has been working for JPMorganChase, making a few short pieces on the art installations that are part of the new headquarters in NYC.
After 30 years in the Boston area, Lori Oakes-Coyne and her husband, Greg, moved back home to central Maine and are loving the quiet. Their daughter, Kate, just graduated from University of Vermont this year with a dance/physiology double major, interested in movement therapy.
Also in New England, Joan Matelli spent her summer studying for the Massachusetts bar exam. She’s also made time for a few Red Sox games with Matthew Wein, as they try to do every summer.
Byron King continues to enjoy life in Baltimore, writing code and leading software teams. Last month, he met up with Julien Farland in D.C. where their families had a great time catching up. Byron’s daughter, Merriwether King ’27, is enjoying her summer off before starting her junior year.
Out in Colorado, Chris Arndt and his wife, Patty, are coming up on their 10th anniversary of living there. This fall both their sons, Alden (15) and Graham (14), will be attending St. Andrews boarding school in Delaware. Chris continues working on clean energy initiatives and is getting back into music recording under “The Doc Project.”
Sarah Leavitt is now director of curatorial affairs at the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., working with executive director Beatrice Gurwitz ’01. Their current exhibition, LGBTJews in the Federal City, runs through January 4, 2026.
Michelle Elisburg’s daughters have graduated and moved on—Elana from college to Kansas City for work and Abby from high school to study abroad before college. As she prepares for empty nesting, Michelle became board certified in breastfeeding and lactation medicine. She is a founding participant in this new specialty, helping non-English-speaking refugee and immigrant patients.
Louie Maggiotto has launched a new career as an independent educational consultant, turning his side hustle into his main hustle after getting two kids into college. He coached 14 seniors last year and is growing a new crop this cycle. His website is OurCollegeCounselor.com.
That’s all for now! As always, I love hearing from everyone. Remember, the magazine is only published twice a year now, so if I didn’t hear from you this time, I’d love to hear from you for the next notes!
After more than 20 years of service in the federal government with the General Services Administration, Jim Ghiloni decided to take Elon Musk up on his offer to pay him in full for the rest of the calendar year to not work for the government and is now waiting his official retirement date. He is now leveraging his experience in government contracting and procurement as a consultant and generating more than enough work to keep busy. Jim reports that GSA came out of the transition less traumatically than agencies like USAID or State, but it still saw significant impacts. For the price of a cup of coffee, he will spill the tea to anyone in or visiting the D.C. area.
Narda Jones, after a storied career that began in AmeriCorps, moved to the Senate, White House, and the FCC (where she served as chief of staff to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel ’93), has also departed federal service. After some time off, she joined the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies as a senior fellow, supporting legislative affairs and stakeholder outreach efforts to promote equity-centered technology and economic policy.
David Thomson is in his last year of his term as chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court, the second Wesleyan graduate to serve as chief justice, with the first being Richard Bosson ’66. David is thankful for the opportunity to reconnect with Butterfield alums Yuki Shimmyo Dumaresq and Galen Plona in New York, where they saw The Picture of Dorian Gray and took a visit up to campus, which they plan to reprise in 2025. While at Wesleyan, David visited Professor Alyx Mark’s classes to discuss judicial decision-making, law school, and his clerkship opportunity program.
Jen Craig Fletcher, in Sydney, along with Kristi Hanson in Melbourne, are the 1991 representatives for Australia. In July, Jen escaped the cold and wet, heading to Northampton, Massachusetts, for mini-Wes reunions, first with Joanie Menefee, Laurie Woods, and Silvia Mayo Molina; then with Joanie, Joseph Entin and Sophie Bell at their lake cottage in Chesterfield, Massachusetts.
All who gathered are all educators: Dr. Joanie Menefee is a creative writing professor at the University of Wisconsin at Stout; Dr. Joseph Entin is a professor of English and American studies at Brooklyn College; Dr. Sophie Bell is a writing professor at St. John’s College; Dr. Laurie Woods is a reading interventionist at Bridges Public Charter school in D.C. (founded by Olivia Smith ’90); Dr. Silvia Mayo Molina is a former middle school principal in Middletown; and Jen is head of English at St. Charbel’s College (high school) in Sydney.
From educators to getting educated: After 30-plus years in the Boston high-tech start-up scene, Nikolaus Bates-Haus changed careers to forest ecology. After a year of incidental coursework and two research assistant positions, he began a PhD at Boston University in September 2025.
Sarah Lewis Chaskes does both! She continues to teach sixth grade, plans to complete her master’s degree in education, with a concentration in social justice, in December 2025. Michael Chaskes edits unscripted television and was granted membership in the American Cinema Editors (ACE) honorary society. Recent credits including With Love, Meghan for Netflix and Deal or No Deal Island for NBC.
Cameron Gearen marks 13 years of Gearen Consulting, her educational consulting firm that supports students and families through the college application process. Cameron’s main hobby is songwriting, singing, and playing guitar; and you can find her single “Arkansas” on streaming platforms.
She’s married to Eric Savlin, a graphic designer, and they live outside of Chicago. Her older daughter is in LA, and her younger daughter (Oberlin ’24) had a successful Fulbright year in Taiwan. Cameron reports on quality in-person time with Zan (Susanna) Barry, Whitney Lukens, Nicole Fluhr, Sophie Bell, Joseph Entin, Stephanie (Donohue) Pilla ’90, and Sarah Ellenzweig ’90.
Julie Huck’s enjoyable life includes visits with her adult kiddos in San Diego and at Fordham in NYC, fundraising for Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, and spending time on or in the Minneapolis lakes. She says, “If you’re passing through for a conference or en route to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, please say hello!”
Randall Cook celebrated his daughter’s, Rose Cook ’25, graduation from Wesleyan in May, and snuck in some reunion time with Merri Rosen ’90.
Which brings notes to a close, with a reminder that it’s our reunion year in 2026. Until then, stay in touch.
Al Viegas writes with the unexpected news that he will be starting in September as an astronomy professor and observatory director at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York. After 35 years in finance, Al has always wanted to teach and is really excited about becoming a part-time professor. “I am still four to five years away from retiring, so this will be mostly a night gig, but it sets me up for another decade or two after retirement working with kids and teaching science, which is great! Ironically, while I did not major in astronomy at Wesleyan, I actually chose Wesleyan because of Van Vleck Observatory! So, life has had a nice boomerang effect here and I am psyched!”
Lara Goldmark wrote in while relaxing in the South of France with her mother’s side of the family, in the same little town where she got married 27 years ago. “At the wedding, back in the day, were several folks who are all doing great—some attended the recent Wesleyan reunion this May and then went on to an off-campus swim team gathering: Maria Floyd Cohen ’91, Susie Wigdale ’89, Jil Zilligen, Courtney Fahy ’89, and Mark Mullen ’89. My co-founder and I recently stayed at Mark’s apartment in Barcelona when we went to pitch her business school buddies to invest in ZForm, our app to eliminate bureaucracy. We hire Wes grads btw. 🙂 End of this month am looking forward to seeing Drew Weissman ’88; he married one of my best friends from high school and they are also doing great.”
Victor Khodadad continues to be heavily involved with his opera company, New Camerata Opera, which is based in New York City. “The 501(c)3 nonprofit organization produced an immersive and thought-provoking production of Peter Brook’s La tragedie de Carmen at The Nagelberg Theatre in Manhattan in the fall of 2024. NCO is also committed to education in the arts and has recently presented all three of its children’s operas—Party at the Opera, Peter Rabbit, and Rumpelstiltskin—at NYC schools. Victor recently joined the board of directors and is gearing up for the next main stage production. More information is available at www.newcamerataopera.org.”
Becky Lloyd DesRoches had a great time catching up with so many classmates at our reunion and plans to make many mini-reunions between now and our 40th. Becky writes of two highlights from the year. In May Becky got promoted to associate professor of psychology at Regis College—“long time coming. The best spring highlight was playing in the South African Grannies International Football Tournament at Nkowankowa Stadium. Yes, I’m that kind of soccer mom—my kids don’t play anymore but I do.”
Tim Freundlich did the pandemic two-step and moved from San Francisco to Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 2020, with Gus (now 16), Milo (now 19, and who just finished his first year at Holy Cross), spouse, Julie Dowd, and small dog, Russell, and a bigger dog, Lexi. Tim has recently co-founded another “impact investing” endeavor, CataCap.org (and still is working at the firm he founded, ImpactAssets).
Finally, Nadine Angress writes that she had a great time attending our 35th Reunion and connecting with many people she hadn’t seen in years. Nadine also went to the Rhode Island home of Jen Zoltners Sherer ’91, “where we had a mini- reunion/memorial with swim team friends to celebrate Ernie Luikart who died in the fall of ’24. From the Class of 1990 there was Jil Zilligen, Wendy Herrick, Ed Brown, Greg Lesser, [and] Dave Griffith. [Other Wes attendees] were Renée Carl ’91,Maria Floyd Cohen ’91, Bill Fabbri ’91, Ann Goebel-Fabbri’91, Courtney Fahy ’89,and Missy Brown ’89. It was wonderful to remember our cherished friend while also enjoying reconnecting.”
That’s all for now. Wishing everyone happiness in the upcoming holidays. I will be back in touch early next year.
Happy fall, classmates. Steve writes for this column.
Josephine Colon wrote in to catch up with life events and smiled at my reference to ’88ers “gittin’ old!” You see, she was originally in the Class of ’76, took a personal leave, and returned—with two small boys—to graduate with us in the Class of ’88. To her Wesleyan bachelor’s degree in government, she added a master’s in education and a postgraduate certificate in teaching middle school math from Quinnipiac University. After a career in human resources in Manhattan, she returned to Connecticut, changed careers to certified school teaching, and retired in 2015. She now enjoys giving back through volunteering, mostly as a literacy tutor, and does her own art. “Much peace to all of you!—Josephine.”
Robert Garcia joins the list of ’88ers who are published authors. His memoir Bobbito’s Book of B-ball Bong Bong hit the shelves in July and was published by fellow Wesleyan alum Johnny Temple at Akashic Books. It’s an intimate view into his life as a ballplayer, announcer, and performer and dives into the folklore and history of the game.
Jenifer McKim is working in public media and was recently promoted to editor of investigations and podcasts at GBH News in Boston. She’s bumped into several Wesleyan alums in recent travels—people doing mission-driven work—and remains always proud of the connection.
Cynthia Hall has been living outside Worcester, Massachusetts, for 10 years with her twin boys, Allo and Ozzy, who just turned 18. She moved to Massachusetts from Venice, California, and says that the opportunity to work at University of Massachusetts Medical School is worth enduring the cold New England winters. Spring may have been “crazy with graduation and applying to colleges,” but brought great results: Allo is starting at University of Massachusetts at Amherst in civil engineering; Ozzy will join the pre-pharmacy program part time at Quinsigamond Community College. Cynthia likes to take the opportunity to warm up by visiting Los Angeles annually and plans to meet up with Adam Sigel ’91, Janet O’Shea ’90, and Jason Matzner ’92. She recently caught up with Lisa Bender and Andy Ruskin ’87 in Washington, D.C., and says everyone is well . . . and sandwiched between aging parents and raising teenagers!
A good number of us are overseas. In the “travel abroad” division:
Benjamin Junge is enjoying a “glorious” writing fellowship in São Paulo, Brazil, for the rest of 2025. When he’s on this side of the equator, he teaches anthropology at SUNY New Paltz and conducts research on citizenship and democracy in Brazil.
Andrew Goldman, a professor of history at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, is very honored to have been selected as the professor-in-charge of the Intercollegiate Center of Classical Studies (ICCS, or The Centro) in Rome and will lead a faculty team in 2025–26 to instruct undergraduates on the archaeology and history of ancient Rome and Italy. This is his third time at the program, first as an undergraduate in spring 1987, and then as a junior instructor in 1999–2000. Now he hopes to give his students the same amazing experience that he had almost 40 years ago. Andrew also joins the published list; his book, Ancient Cities, co-authored with friend and colleague Charles Gates, was issued by Routledge last year. This new third edition showcases his expertise on Roman archaeology and will be translated into Turkish later this year. Life in Spokane and at Gonzaga has been quiet and largely fulfilling. Andrew and his wife, Amy, had a wonderful time in early June visiting Boston and catching up with old friends, staying with Holly Campbell Ambler ’87 and her husband, David, as well as a long, tasty vegan lunch with Hillary Ross ’88.
An update from Stephen Morison Jr., who you may remember moved to Marrakesh, Morocco, last summer. First, on the day he wrote, it was 100 degrees and climbing (whoo!). He’s had a terrific first year as head of the American School of Marrakesh, a K–12 school with a rich history in the region. His partner, Emily Allen, also works for the school, and their daughter is earning a master’s in architecture at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Stephen and Emily get to see Paul Gosselin in Paris frequently, and they keep in contact with Wendy Blum ’87, Steve Kullback ’89, and Nancy Nachbar ’89. “I feel lucky to have been able to maintain these great friendships. In fact, Paul and I log onto the internet every Sunday and do a calisthenics workout together, continuing a tradition that began in college, then was revitalized during the COVID years.” [Editor’s note: anyone our age who can still do calisthenics in 100-degree weather should publish the secret.]
If I may take the liberty to add my own contribution: I lost my father in April 2025. He was 104, a veteran of World War II, and thank heavens, lucid and able to the very end. In his lifetime he traveled to 164 countries on every continent. His granddaughter, my daughter Aubrey, starts college this fall at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, studying fashion design. She will be just three and a half miles from where her grandfather was born, in 1921, in Brownsville, Brooklyn, one week into the Harding administration. Full circle.
Thanks for sharing your news and please keep it coming.
We are deep into the celebration season of 60! Happy birthday to all! Eric Leifer wrote to say that when he reflects upon those of us turning 60 this year, he thinks that we are the lucky ones. Salud!
Trish McGovern Dorsey shared news from a big Wesleyan gathering. She says, “We had a total of 19 people in Nashville over a holiday weekend, including our significant others. We sampled musical venues on Broadway (of course), saw some minor league baseball, took group line dancing lessons, exchanged joke T-shirts and books, and visited many of the city’s great museums. Most importantly, we picked up right where we left off the last time we were all together. It was special beyond words. Grateful to this group for the past, present, and future!” The group, photo below, included Trish, John Dorsey, Holly Campbell Ambler, Debbie Martin Gould, Chris Gould, David Igler ’88, Cindy Willard Igler ’88, Sue Romeo Malestein, David Glotzer, David Witkin, David Josephs, Dennis Mahoney, and Doug Koplow.
A big Class of 1987 60th birthday celebration in Nashville, Tennessee.
Ian Rosen has moved from his sustainability business to a pharmaceutical start-up, IntraBio, focused on treatments for neurodegenerative disease. Their flagship product received FDA approval for neurological manifestations of an ultra-rare disease; they are looking for European approval. They are busy with other applications to the FDA and Phase 3 clinical trials for other treatments. Ian’s eldest daughter, Isabel ’24, is working as a paralegal for an immigration firm representing asylum seekers, and he couldn’t be prouder. His youngest daughter is entering her senior year of high school and starting the university process. His wife continues her many business activities. All good!
After more than 20 years at CUNY, Rebecca Bratspies will be moving from the Big Apple to the Big Easy, leaving NYC and joining the faculty of Tulane Law School. She is the first holder of the Oliver Houck Endowed Chair of Environmental Law. She’d love to know if any Wes classmates are in NOLA.
Lisa Pavlovsky and Elissa Wolf-Tinsman in Monterey, California
Lisa Pavlovsky made some great class connections recently. She ran into Ron Fortgang at a Bay Area alum event and then joined his 60th birthday celebration on Zoom with Steve O’Neal. In April, Lisa met up with Elissa Wolf-Tinsman in Monterey. Elissa lives in Denver but was visiting her daughter in California where she teaches. They had a great few days catching up. In May, when Lisa was in NYC for her son’s college graduation, Vivian Trakinski gave Lisa’s family an amazing behind-the-scenes tour of the American Museum of Natural History, where she is director of science visualization. The Invisible Worlds exhibit she spearheaded is truly extraordinary.
Lisa Pavlovsky (front, left) and her family with Vivian Trakinski (front, right) in New YorK City.
Michael Bennet is currently serving as the senior senator from Colorado in Washington, but he is running for governor in Colorado in 2026, and many of our classmates are actively working for his election.
Muzzy Rosenblatt celebrated 25 years of leadership at Bowery Residents’ Committee—a nonprofit organization focused on helping those facing homelessness. At a BRC gala this summer, Michael Bennet was on hand to honor Muzzy. Those of us who knew Muzzy at Wesleyan thought he might be the NYC mayor eventually, and his work for BRC is right in line with our expectations. In August, BRC opened the Robert C. Wood Apartments, a housing development that honors Wesleyan professor Robert Wood, one of Muzzy’s key mentors. Who can forget Bob Wood, his government classes, and his wooden worry beads?
Anthony (“Tony”) Salerno was awarded the 2023 Ameriprise Client Experience Award, working in the financial services arena.
I have news of my own to share! I have recently earned my Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® designation. This is not a career change, but an addition to the editorial and project management work I do in educational publishing. Like many of you, I have been getting the crash course in aging as I help my mom, and I see how stressful the health, social, and financial issues challenges relating to getting older can be. So many people are unprepared for these challenges and are forced to make critical decisions in moments of crisis. I am looking forward to helping people thoughtfully anticipate, understand, and manage their options. Hopefully, our own aging challenges are decades away, but there is so much we can do now to be prepared!
We, Deb Alter-Starr and Scott Michaud, are thrilled to be the new class secretaries for the Class of 1986! And we’ve got lots to cover, especially since 2026 is our 40th anniversary . . . seems like yesterday we were celebrating Zonker Harris Day on Foss Hill!
For more about me (Scott), see this relatively recent Wesleyan Magazinearticle. I’ve also attended a happy hour with Susannah Goodman ’87, and talked with Sarah Tilly, Kristin Bluemel, and Ellen Santistevan.
Debbie here. I loved reading classmates’ accomplishments, abundant humor and memories shared. It’s fun to reconnect with my friend Scott from our infamous WestCo dorm, now, allegedly, a hotbed of nudity! I was treated successfully for triple negative breast cancer in 2024, uncovering a BRCA1 gene in our family. (Happy to network on this.) I retired from medical social work, have a nonprofit, Napa Valley to Ukraine, and resumed volunteer work as a Latino community ally, mobilizing our agricultural community to protect immigrants.
On to the news!
To start with, several of us made it to campus for Nietzsch Factor’s 50th anniversary reunion (which was great!) this spring. Over 100 Nietzsch Factor alumni descended upon WESU for a long weekend of reminiscence, celebration, and oh-so-much good-natured heckling. Attendees included 1986 classmates David Weber, Bill Wehrli, and Arnie Cachelin, and Andy Norman ’85/’86.
As an aside, Wesleyan’s women’s Ultimate team—the Vicious Circles—won this year’s D-III national title, playing brilliantly (Go Vicious Circles!)—this is a first for Wesleyan, men or women.
Some sad news:
Sue Erikson-Bidwell shared: “It is with great sadness that I am writing to inform you that I have learned of the passing of a dear classmate of ours, William (Bill) Lanza. Bill passed away in the late winter/early spring of 2022 and leaves behind his loving wife and son, as well as many friends that will miss him. Bill lived a successful and low-key life as an attorney, family man and expert pool player. I have fond memories of freshman year watching late-night TV (M*A*S*H, Twilight Zone, etc.) with Bill and his hall mates from Foss 7. I don’t recall seeing many class notes from the rest of that crew and I hope they are all doing well. After graduation, I have great memories of Bill convincing my husband and I to join his competitive pool team in the Hartford area. In my case, they just needed another warm body to fill out the team. Luckily Bill’s expert playing would cover for my not-so-good skill, but either way it was always a fun night out with friends. It will be a sad reunion year without Bill there to join us.”
The family of William (Bill) Gerber shared unfortunate news in a press release last July: “We are heartbroken to share that our beloved father and husband Bill Gerber passed away at Yale New Haven Hospital at 4:11PM today. . . . To say that there is now a gaping hole in our lives is an understatement. . . . [P]lease take a moment to remember and celebrate someone who was so selfless and who loved his friends, family, job and his hometown of almost 30 years so much. Despite the physical issues he was experiencing as a result of what was determined to be a large, aggressive, malignant brain tumor, he worked long days and attended evening meetings up until the day before he went into the hospital. The Town of Fairfield was incredibly lucky to have him as its leader. And our family was beyond blessed.—Jessica, John and Gillian Gerber”
Bill was the first selectman in Fairfield, Connecticut, and served in public office there for 10 years. He lived there with his wife, Jessica ’90, raising three children, John, Gillian, and Teddy. Teddy died in 2010 from a rare cancer at the age of nine. Since his son’s death, more than $1.6 million for pediatric cancer research has been raised in his honor, according to Bill’s obituary.
Danial “Dan” Handelman passed on April 17, 2025. His friend Dave Calem ’89 said that“Dan really lived the values he learned at Wesleyan.” Dan was known in Portland, Oregon, as a “pioneer of police oversight” and was the co-founding member of Peace and Justice Works, a nonprofit organization that promotes nonviolent conflict resolution. There were many articles written in tribute of Dan. Here are a few:
From Lucy Seham Malatesta: “My husband and I retired this spring and have moved from New Jersey to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, effective last [July]! It’s a big shift after 32 years in the same suburban New Jersey home where we raised our three kids, but we are looking forward to all the nature and culture the Berkshires has to offer. My recent Class of ’86 sightings include traveling to Philadelphia to enjoy Karen Escovitz in her amazing band, BlocoFunk. It was a blast. I also had a lovely reunion with Sarah Tillyas we toured the Morgan Library in NYC and caught up on each other’s lives.”
From Kevin Williamson: “I’ve spent the last three years making a documentary about my neighborhood called The Price of Progress, LAX and Its Neighbors. It’s about all these neighborhoods around LAX that were built in the ’40s and ’50s and were then torn down in the ’60s when LAX expanded. They left all the streets and sidewalks and just leveled the houses, leaving us with all these ghost towns. I’m currently entering it in festivals and am looking for a distributor who can pay for the finishing costs.” Kevin shared the link to his film with us.
From Erika Levy: “I’m still living in New York and loving my work at Teachers College, Columbia University, as a professor of communication sciences and disorders, despite all of the recent turmoil at Columbia. Am receiving fun invitations to present my work in person in Brazil, among other destinations to which we will travel. Both children are in college now, with our daughter graduating from Wesleyan in spring 2026. I definitely plan to be at our 40th(!) Reunion and am very much looking forward to connecting with my classmates there!”
From Ellen Santistevan: “I’ve been doing more motorcycling this year than I have in a long time. I hope one day to understand the internal combustion engine.”
Bennett Schneider at a No Kings protest
From Bennett Schneider: “I chatted with Michael Roth ’78 about art and activism at the annual Film & Theater Alumni get-together in Los Angeles this June. I went to the event with Lisa Rosen and Wan Yeung MA ’17. Wan and I live very near each other in LA and have dinner together several times a week. I had lunch recently with Al Septien ’85 and Michael Steven Schultz ’85. In my own news, having been teaching workshops on Combining Art & Activism, including one at the Faculty of Arts of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEMéx) in Mexico City. Accordingly, attended the No Kings protest dressed as a hot dog and carrying a rubber chicken. Lastly, does anyone know of a Wesleyan World of Warcraft guild?”
From Lisa Porter: “I am living in NYC where my day job is currently the voice and dialect coach for the national tour of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I [was] in the Bay Area in August and September playing Suzanne again in an original cast remount of Eureka Day. I recently hiked the Camino in Spain with my sister. I see Shawn Cuddy, James Hallett, and Melinda Newman very often.”
From Hal Phillips: “What ho, WesKids. Sorry to have been aloof but a surfeit of WesExposure of late, and our pending 40th Reunion, moved me to write. And yes, he added selfishly, Bloomsbury will publish another book of mine in January 2026. Sibling Rivalry: How USA vs. Mexico Became the Most Contentious, Co-Dependent Derby in World Futbol arrives just in time for the 2026 World Cup. Fear not: No punches pulled on the politics. Also, the primary editor on this book [is] the inimitable Stephen McDermott Myers ’87.
“Meantime, I experienced a fairly wondrous hang at the April 2025 100 Years of Wesleyan Soccer gala. Total delight to spend time on campus again with David Perryman ’87, David Slade ’87, my co-captain Rob Macrae, Sean Kelley ’85, Bruce McKenna ’84, David Carnoy ’87, Adam Rohdie ’89, Andrew Lacey ’89, John Nathan ’84, Scott Kessel ’88, Eric Apgar ’87, and Vinnie Caride ’85. Let me also report that, early in COVID, the vaunted WesGolf team started holding reunion rounds that engendered, as only golf can, marvelous six-hour hangs with the likes of Ted Galo ’85, Rich Gibbons ’87, John Brais, Stu Remensnyder ’84, Jon Gould, and Matt Shatz ’89.
“I find the irony here to be pretty thick. Sports were so very low-key at Wesleyan during our shared time there, to the point of manifest dismissal. That soccer and golf have helped preserve all these relationships so well strikes me as a notable riposte. Another observation: I can still identify these old men by their postures, their gaits, and laughter. Playing sports together, spending so much time as part of a pack, is a lasting form of intimacy. They don’t talk about that sort of thing in Lord of the Flies.
“I’m in closer touch with five of my Butterfield C, 530C, freshman hall mates: Dr.David Rose lives north of Melbourne with his Australian wife, Dr. Sharon Davis. He got a PhD in biology but has since applied his work life to bioinformatics. . . . Dennis Carboni lives with his wife, Barbara, on outer Cape Cod. He earned a master’s in ecological landscape design but today works boutique construction, manages ice rinks (inclusive of Zamboni driving) and DJs for the cool kids in Provincetown. . . . Dr. John Sledge lives in LA with his wife, Dr. Isabella Sledge. He practiced orthopedic surgery, but today he’s chief scientific officer at a lab that develops blood tests for the early diagnosis of cancer. . . . Dave Terry lives in White Plains, New York, with his wife, Alexandra. He taught high school Spanish for years but today provides translation services to the New York State court system. . . . I live in southern Maine with my wife, Sharon Vandermay. After 10-plus years in daily newspaper and magazine worlds, I continue to operate the content/digital marketing agency I founded in 1997, though I’m slowly transitioning to the more chill, 60-something acts of writing books, visiting my kids in Montana, fronting an alt-country band, and playing the world’s top 100 golf courses (70-odd down, 30 to go).”
Greetings, ’85ers! I saw a lot of you at our reunion and missed many of you who couldn’t make it. Time marches on, but I thought we all looked pretty good!
Hillary Hess writes: “I rode up to Reunion with my freshman-year roommate, Caroline Wilkins [that’s ME!]. A highlight for me was the gathering at the boathouse—Emily Denham Swomley, Margaret Bracken Thompson, Caroline, and I rowed a four, guided by the current assistant coach and current rowers. (The previous evening, Dave Barr had said to us that he wasn’t rowing because he was afraid of hurting something—saying what I was thinking, but we all got back to the dock unhurt and kept the boat on a more even keel than I expected.) Terry McClenahan represented the class for the men’s team, and former coach Pat Callahan ’71 joined us on the apron. Outside the senior art show, I ran into French majors Jeanne LaVallee and Ellen Campbell. At the class dinner, I caught up with fellow rowers Wendy Buffett and Denise Pasche and coxswain Paula Carbone.”
Hillary and I also caught up with Mike Jacobs,Bill Duryea, Jill Hamada, and Diana Lefer at a lovely class dinner held at the new Fries Center for the Arts, named for our 230 Washington Street housemate, Mike Fries, for whom Bill Wrubel gave a lovely introduction. Bill also led the class in a moving memorial to classmates who’ve passed away, inviting us to name friends we’ve lost and hold them together in our hearts.
I also heard from several classmates by email:
Dr. K.T. Korngold writes: “I graduated this May with an EdD in Montessori Studies from University of Wisconsin–River Falls, and my case studies are included in the newly published book by Patrick Frierson, Maria Montessori’s Philosophy, Following the Child (Oxford).”
I heard from Beth Purnell Gartman who has served as a school-based psychologist since 1989, including the last 11 years dedicated to supporting elementary-age students at a small independent school for neurodivergent learners. Now she’s embracing a new chapter: “I will be transitioning to part-time work as an independent educational consultant. In this new role, my goal is to empower families by helping them identify and prioritize their children’s needs, navigate school choices to find the ideal fit, and implement diverse strategies to support their unique learning styles.”
She adds, “The ’85 crew is still going strong! Amy Hamburg Shir, Jenny Henkind, and I have made it a tradition to gather annually for a long weekend trip. This year, I’m delighted to host the group here in Atlanta. My new home, which my kids affectionately call my ‘next phase of life’ home, is a true gem. I purchased this 1952 mid-century- modern beauty a year ago from dear friends. The groovy, 1960s, kidney-shaped pool adds to its charm, making it an ideal spot for entertaining. Should your travels ever bring you to Atlanta, please don’t hesitate to reach out, as I have a wonderful guest suite ready for visitors.”
Marquis Lobban missed our reunion but writes: “I currently reside in Los Angeles with my new wife, Nkem. My new wife came with a bonus daughter. So now, I have three children and am a newly minted granddad. My work as a commercial real estate developer requires many trips to the East Coast. I wish everyone in Class of ’85 many blessings!”
Shelley Stark lives in Attleboro, Massachusetts, with her husband, Louis, and works at Arcadis, a global engineering firm managing the document control department. “My son, Spenser, remains in school at Bridgewater State and my daughter, Holland, graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2023. I see good friends and fellow alums Rosilyn Ford (frequently), Leslie Turner ’88, and David Shopper ’82 when I can.”
Rosalind (Brown) Stewart wrote that she hasn’t attended a reunion or written to the class notes for years, so she filled me in: “I have lived in London, UK, with my husband, Ian, since 1989. I haven’t been to a Wesleyan reunion since, although I did log on to our virtual one in 2020, which was great fun. I had planned to attend this year, but our daughter (we have three adult children) had just graduated from her master’s program at Penn that same time. So, I met up with some Wesleyan friends of mine to create a series of ‘mini’ reunions instead. First, in April, Cindy Van Wynen, who was on my floor in Foss 10 back in 1981, returned to London to spend time with her daughter. We spent some happy times together, going to a play (Shakespeare’s Richard II), the Saatchi Gallery, and the ballet at Sadler’s Wells. Then in May, just after said daughter’s graduation, Ian and I went to Washington, D.C., for a couple of days and had dinner with Derek Reisfield and his wife. I had lunch the next day with Ira Dassa and then met up with Robin Wolser Guinot, who has temporarily relocated with her job to D.C. So, although I missed the whole shebang in Middletown in May, I did see four of my friends, all from the Class of 1985 this spring.”
Rosalind adds that she and Cindy, who lives in Nassau, Bahamas, keep in regular contact with Janet Macomber Williamson, who lives in Portland, Oregon: “We three spent a week together in February 2023 in the Bahamas, first Nassau and then Eleuthera, to celebrate our collective 60th birthdays that year. It was the first time we had spent time together without family and spouses since 1985 . . . and what fun it was!”
John Vigman also wrote from across an ocean: “Greetings from Tokyo. Still working, been at Veolia here in Japan since 2011 but nearing retirement and thinking of moving to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, learning Spanish and relaxing a bit. Anyone in Tokyo for beers and yakitori, let me know.”
Barbara Schwartz shared, “I’m trying to see how to make a difference when the world is so painful. I am a therapist and continue to counsel and supervise. I volunteer with SURJ (Showing up for Racial Justice) and attend meetings with Color of Change. They both are great organizations that give hope that we can do something besides bemoan how bad the country/world are. For some peace, I hike somewhere each weekend and spend two weeks hiking each summer. This summer we are going to Joshua Tree, Phoenix, and Sedona. This fall, we are going to San Fran where I will have the pleasure of seeing Marc Stein.”
Hilary Hendel with her new book
Hilary Jacobs Hendel had exciting news: “I’m going to be a grandmother, and I’m launching my new book at the end of September called, Parents Have Feelings, Too: A Guide to Navigating Your Emotions So You and Your Family Can Thrive. This book is important for parents with children of all ages from zero to 100 years old. Here’s a recent picture of me with the book cover.
Hilary had promotional events planned at the Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side and the New York Public Library at 42nd Street in late September.
Dave Given at the Missoula Pride festival
Dave Given has retired to Montana! “After careers in pension actuarial (me) and corporate finance (Irene), we moved 2,500 miles from Natick, Massachusetts, to Lolo, Montana, and retired early in 2022. Zero regrets! Golden retrievers, horses (her thing), volunteer work, and plenty of off-roading and hiking. Right now, the magpies are squawking in the orchard because the cherry trees are LOADED this year. The picture is me with dogs at the Missoula Pride festival and along the shore of Lake McDonald up at Glacier National Park.”
Dave and dogs at Glacier National Park
Dale Hernsdorf is based in LA and is a goldsmith: “I make one-of-a-kind pieces in high karat gold with curated gems and the occasional ancient rare coin. The line, cleverly named ‘Hernsdorf,’ has done well. I love what I do. My daughter, Annie, is marrying Brett Keating ’15 later this summer.” Here is one of Dale’s pieces:
Mark also recently signed a contract with New York Review Books for his revised translation of the Cuban author Virgilio Piñera’s novel René’s Flesh and Cold Tales, a dramatically expanded collection of stories of the same title, originally published in 1987 and based on his 1985 College of Letters thesis!
He adds:
“Inspired by a local resistance gathering, I designed and made a banner with my daughter, my friend Yvon Augustin and his daughter, and with two other friends. [It was designed and] made to activelycounter the forces of fear and hate that have grown so loud recently in our country—especially for people ‘of the global majority’ and other marginalized and oppressed groups. We’ve been holding it over highways in Boston during rush hour and we marched with it in this year’s Boston Pride parade.”
Boston Pride Parade
Finally, “While my 15-year-old daughter, Carmel, is hanging out with a bunch of summer camp buddies at a rented house in Cape May, New Jersey—with chaperones!—I will be visiting my dear old friend, Catalina Ríos ’84 in Philly.”
Now that we are only publishing notes twice a year, there will be a long lag between sending me your updates and their appearing in print.
My apologies to Rick Okuno, who sent in an update last December, and I missed including him in the notes that were about to be published. Rick is in Tokyo with his wife and two daughters. He left a late-career government position with the Financial Services Agency last year and joined a mental health organization. He reflects that Japanese society struggles with a lot of stigma related to mental health, so he is finding being an advocate to be a fascinating challenge. Rick is happy to host an authentic Japanese meal for anyone who wants to look him up when visiting Tokyo!
Eric Caplan was back on campus after 40 years to teach, as a volunteer, a winter 2025 course on the history of psychiatry. His class of 45 students—athletes, artists, and others, covering 15 different disciplines—made his return a meaningful experience. Eric felt like Rip Van Winkle, waking to find the (Wesleyan) world has gone on while he was asleep. He was living in a house just off campus and reliving his Wes years by attending student events (cheering the men’s basketball team in the Final Four, going to student theater, and sitting in on lectures).
Finally, my Gingerbread housemate, Melissa (Duggan) Pace, is publishing her debut novel with Henry Holt Books and Macmillan: The Once and Future Me. It’s a psychological thriller about a woman who wakes in a 1954 mental hospital with no memory; just a menacing little voice in her head she tells no one about, convinced she couldn’t possibly be the delusional schizophrenic doctors say she is—or something else entirely. Melissa wonders if she is the oldest debut novelist ever (or just feels like she is).
My Wes news is also LA based. I visited my son in Taiwan this year and used LA as my to/from launching pad. I lingered in LA for a couple of days and had a great lunch at the fabled Nate ’n Al’s deli with Al Septien’85 and Bennett Schneider ’86. Al is off to Mexico City to co-executive produce a series for MGM and Amazon, El Gato, based on the Richard Dominguez comic book.
That’s it for this issue. Talk to you all in six months.
