Tag: 1961

Numerous replies were received regarding class members’ participation during the Vietnam era. Readers are referred to the class notes’ previous publication for the initial comments sent in. Additional replies are listed below.

“I’m glad your idea of focusing on Vietnam is bringing in many responses,” writes Larry Wiberg. “Wesleyan was an intense experience and I can still conjure up memories that seem only like last week! I received a medical school and medical training exemption during the Vietnam War.

“For 20 years of my 50-year psychiatric career, I was a psychiatrist for the Denver VA Medical Center Posttraumatic Stress Disorder program, serving a large population of male and female PTSD patients. Some were Korean veterans, but the majority were combat veterans (the women patients from that time were mostly in nursing or medical specialties serving in Vietnam and had taken care of the terminally wounded). The male PTSD patients in our Denver program were primarily combat veterans or veterans who had dealt firsthand with the results of combat. Treatment modalities were medication (marginally helpful; primarily antidepressants, nonaddicting anxiolytics, and sleep aids) and group and individual psychotherapy. When present, substance and alcohol use had to be dealt with concurrently. In doing the talk therapy part I would introduce myself as not having been in combat, but had I been, I am sure my remaining life experience would have been totally altered. It turns out that group therapy with me present, but not that active, was most helpful. The veterans were their own best therapists.

“Imagine being trained to kill, being threatened to be killed, or seeing others killed at an age we all were in our years at Wesleyan. This was the recurrent theme they all shared in one way or another. Granted there were veterans seemingly untouched by the experiences who did not present for treatment at any facility. Among the worst cases I dealt with were service personnel stateside who had to go to the doors of loved ones to announce a death. Vulnerability to PTSD has been hard to pin down in studies. For myself, I joined and retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve Medical Corp. I was a general medical officer for the Denver Marine Corp Reserve. I support some form of mandated federal service though it certainly does NOT have to be military. I look forward to what others in our class have experienced and a hearty ‘hello’ to all my Wesleyan buddies.”

Spike Paranya comments: “I was not really aware of anything to do with Vietnam at first when I entered the Corps. We had visiting officers from several countries in our class at Basic School, and I believe a few were from Vietnam. Of particular note was our End of Basic School Problem. The problem involved leading an amphibious assault onto the shore of a Southeast Asian country. Only two years later did I realize that it was the beginning of plans for actual landings on the shores of North and South Vietnam. I left the Corps in December 1964 and, as the war began to heat up, I went through a period of questioning myself as to where my loyalties lay with or against the growing war. It was about a year later when my Marine Corps loyalty separated. I joined my grad school roommates against the war. About 10 years ago I went to a reunion of Quantico Marine Corps athletes of the ’60s and heard many stories from those on the track team for whom I was the administrative coach. Most were in Basic School at that time, so many went to Vietnam. All the guys I knew returned alive, but everyone there honored one Marine who didn’t, a super guy and athlete who came from New York’s inner city. I watched every bit of Ken Burns’ special on the Vietnam War and was appalled with the politics going on behind our backs.”

Spike goes on to add: “In alumni news, Kathy and I twice got together with classmate Paul Vouros and his wife, Irene, this summer. Paul is just completing a gradual retirement from teaching in the chemistry department at Northeastern University. He has had a wonderful career there and his many graduate students have made him proud with their accomplishments in the field of chemistry.”

“I missed the Vietnam experience, but served five Navy years, including the Cuba blockade instead,” writes John Rogers. “We helped turn away Russian ships and brought U.S. Marines ashore, so I’m really grateful this crisis didn’t lead to something more. I still appreciate Wes, Navy, and business success despite some personal strife, although my 56-year marriage with five kids and 14 grandchildren have led to a wonderful life.”

It seems only yesterday that Bob Johnson and your class secretary were performing on the Venice Symphony stage. Bob died last fall, leaving a void in the southwest Florida community and its musical world. Word has also been received that Foster Morrison died peacefully at home in North Potomac, Md., on Oct. 13. His wife of 48 years, Nancy Lewis Morrison, was at his side.

Stay tuned, classmates, for an exciting conclusion to our Vietnam series in the next class notes.

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, FL 34205

Foster Morrison ’61 died peacefully at home in North Potomac, Md., on Oct. 13, 2018. His wife of 48 years, Nancy Lewis Morrison, was at his side.

We thank Foster’s wife for this information.

Previously, a suggestion had been made in our class notes column regarding the Vietnam War and its impact on the lives of our classmates. The response of members has been tremendous— so much so that it will take a few publications to include everyone’s comments. If your reply is not present in this edition, please be patient and your secretary will attempt, in time, to cover everyone’s view. It is never too late to submit new or additional thoughts.

Howie Morgan was one of the early responders to the request, writing: “Didn’t give a crap! I was in grad school and getting married. Lyndon Johnson got us in this mess! My wife, Betsy, was at Berkeley and marched in the protests until broken up by a Hells’ Angels motorcycle gang!”

Phil Rodd replied: “I never served, because I was married in 1964 and married men were not being drafted.”

Steve Smith relates that he was not a combatant, being “exempt since I was in graduate school in a PhD program at Tulane, preparing for a professorship in anatomy and neurobiology as a teacher in medical school. I guess they thought I might be as useful there as I would be wading through the swamps along the Mekong River. I supported our troops and was embarrassed by their treatment upon their return. I also felt, and still do, that we were foolish to go in and bail out an intensely unpopular French regime. We were set up to fail, since we were hardly looked upon as saviors, so we had virtually the entire population against us. Not a wise move! I wish we had learned our lesson, to keep our noses out of other peoples’ wars!”

Lewis Kirshner was actively involved with the conflict. He writes: “I served as a psychiatrist in the U.S. Air Force from 1969-71, stationed at Wright-Patterson in Ohio. These were turbulent times in the U.S. I was active in the anti-war movement, as a member of the Concerned Officers group. Much against my nature, I spoke at rallies and on the radio about our opposition. I treated many Vietnam casualties at our hospital and was also involved (as an expert witness) in military trials of men who refused to participate. Although I was warned/informed about the legal restrictions on my activities as an active duty officer, I was treated well by the Air Force and had a decent, if often frustrating, professional experience, in contrast to my highly conflicted feelings about being a part of the military! I recall the reactions after Kent State at our base, where many people criticized the protesters (although there was widespread anti-war sentiment even among careerists). I published an article in the leftist journal The Radical Therapist, founded by a militant colleague, that almost cost me a fellowship at Harvard after discharge, for fear they were taking on a flaming radical!

“Although I continued to support and counsel anti-war young people during that period, I regret that my contributions were in fact quite modest. Encountering and supporting Bernie reawakened some of these old feelings from the ’60s and ’70s about social change. Busy in professional and family life in a very blue state, I almost forgot the polarization, xenophobic tendencies, and deep racial injustices that were so much on the surface and seemed about to be confronted back then. In recent years, we have seen that this hopeful attitude turned out to be illusory. I don’t know whether this country is capable of facing its history and fulfilling those aspirations from the 60s. Time may be short.”

A quick reply from Bob Carey: ”Vietnam—burned my draft card, had some talks with the FBI, was on the bus a lot from NYC to Washington,” and Brad Beechen quipped: “No role, Jon.”

Paul Dickson delivered his latest book to his publisher, which will appear in bookstores on Sept. 1, 2019, marking the 80th anniversary of the beginning of World War II. “My book,” Paul explains, “is about the transformation of a U.S. Army that, in 1935, could fit into Yankee Stadium, into an army of 1.6 million the day of Pearl Harbor. It is also the story of how Secretary of War George C. Marshall gets this army in shape to fight Hitler’s armies in North Africa and Europe, but also to identify and promote the leaders he needed to win the war, i.e. Patton, Eisenhower, Clark, Bradley, etc. I have been working on this one on and off since 2005. It is tentatively titled The Rise of the Fishbowl Army, an allusion to the fact that the numbers for the 1940 military draft were plucked from a fishbowl. Not much from me on Vietnam. Spent early days of the war in the Navy and wrote about it from Washington as it dragged on.”

Respectfully submitted,

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, FL 34205

Bob Johnson sends his greetings touched with sadness: “Jan Westerman Jr., died in Los Angeles on Sept. 4, 2017, after a long illness. Jan had been the proprietor of his own paper and office supply company. He loved to sail, and he kept in touch with me regularly. He was divorced and left behind his ex-wife and his daughter.”

Phil Rodd checked in with a quick note: “Nothing special going on here, but if I think of something interesting, I will let you know.”

As a follow-up to Jack Richards’ comments noted in the previous column, (Issue 1, 2018) your secretary replied to Jack with the following: “A great submission, Jack, and I thank you for the quick reply. Your tour in Vietnam caught my eye, since I was in the Da Nang area at about the same time, 1967-1968. It might be worthwhile to survey the classmates, seeking those who also served there, and have them tell us their experiences and stories. I’ll do a bit more follow-up on that angle.”

Steve Wainwright writes: “I am still practicing law here at Wainwright, Wainwright, Wainwright, Wainwright, and Wainwright with my brother, Richard Llewellyn, age 85, and his wife Ona Mae, age 85.

Neal Schachtel writes: “During our evacuation from Irma we spent 14 hours on the road to Atlanta with wife, mother-in-law, dog, and cat. Since we had no power in St. Pete, we stayed at Bob Reiser’s for a week while he and Margaret went to Egypt. The return trip only took 10 hours and convinced us to move off the water.”

And, congratulations to Joseph Miller, history professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, who was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Joe has been back to Wesleyan a few times to lecture.

Sandy McCurdy recalls many memories: “I’ve not had a chance to speak to any of our classmates recently in person, though in my head, indeed, many conversations and recollections with: Larry Wiberg, Tom Peterson, Pete Odell, June Prince, Brad Beechen, Dave Sucher, Howard Morgan, and Jack Mitchell. Most recently, reading in the latest Wesleyan magazine, my eyes came across my Deke brother, Skip Silloway ’59, and thoughts returned full force to the days of yesteryear. Of the great times we had then, as a men’s college of under 600 souls, (actually more bodies than souls) having to ‘move out’ on weekends in pursuit of the fairer sex—not realizing, had we been gay, that said moving out would not have been necessary. But alas, some of our most brilliant and sensitive gay classmates would take their lives, feeling the isolation and condemnation of their nature. There were two young men in our class, whose names we know and honor.

“So, we left campus in our automobiles for luring destinations such as Smith (far away) or Conn College for Women (a nearer strike), stopping in Middletown near Goodyear’s to buy plentiful supplies of beer (illegally, but no problem) and then drive to our destinations, oblivious to our foolishness. No seat belts either, of course.

“And Skip and I: one fine day, he, two years (equaling two millennia then) older than I, decided to challenge each other in a drag race—he in his ’57 Chevy convertible and I in my ’57 Ford—stick shifts—how cool we were. Imagine: all without seat belts, we headed to the Merritt Parkway, found a straightaway stretch of the road, then waited for it to be empty for a moment, then headed out for the competition—which he won handily. The foolishness of it all, looking back, is breathtaking.

“I am thankful now that Wesleyan seems much more serious intellectually, though I do not idolize today’s youth and their capacities for nonsense on campus whatever its nature. Yet, the dominance of fraternities and fraternity life seems to have been diminished and overshadowed by serious intellectual pursuits—the latter always Wesleyan’s strong card. My votes that we Dekes give our old house to the University counts as a voice crying in the wilderness. That Amherst, Williams, and Yale have cut back or eliminated the brotherhoods—no matter. What do they know? Cheers to Wesleyan.”

John “Jack” Dennis published his new children’s book, The Mouse in the Lemon Tree, available on Amazon and first in a series to address kid literacy. “An accompanying animated video of the story explores just one phase of ‘advocacy animation’ that will allow us to explore how this book-video combination can increase its usefulness.” He will publish a second memoir this year that follows his first memoir, Jack in the Cracks, Primavera Press 2013.

Bob Hausman draws this column to a close with poetic verve:

“What expectest thou of this poor player, who,

on the stage of life,

strutteth and fretteth no more,

but, rather,

quietly entereth his dotage,

bereft of any tale to tell,

except that which might by any of us be told;

namely, that all things considered,

it is best

to still be found

above ground.”

Respectfully submitted,

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, FL 34205

The response to your secretary’s plea for class note material has always been gratifying and entertaining as well. For example, Allen Thomas replied: Dear Jon, I answer your call in kind:

Business as usual, still working away/ Now it’s the Russians, who pay for my day.

Law is my game, over 54 years./ London’s my home, but not the warm beers.

House in the Berkshires, share with grandkids/ Over the Atlantic, ’til aging forbids.

Health holding up, I’m still on the skis/Keeping up with the kids, no longer a breeze.

Life here is good, away from mad Trump/ Tho’ Brexit is likely, to give us a thump.

If doggerel’s the game: my contribution./ Rebirth of civility’s the only solution.

Vic Butterfield is needed, now more than ever

To leave our grandkids, a viable endeavor.

Congratulations to Robert Johnson for his financial support of the Florida Venice Symphony, recognized by his participation in two concert performances as a member of the percussion section. One might call it “getting a terrific bang for your buck.”

Congratulations to Dan Elliott, who writes: “My Wes grad daughter is getting married in Cleveland in October, and then, with hubby, moves to Palo Alto where he will be a radiologist at Stanford and she will do research in the criminal justice field—and I will be broke after the wedding.”

Lewis Kirshner writes: “I am happy to report that I am enjoying living for a year in Amsterdam while my wife is on sabbatical. I am busy doing internet psycho-analysis and teaching to faraway places. Here in town I’m taking studio painting classes, doing some writing, and biking around town. It’s a pretty full life that I am fortunate to have, and it’s not bad being an expat away for a while!”

Jack Mitchell provides workshops and motivational speeches throughout the world. His third book, Selling the Hug Your Customer’s Way: The Proven Process for Becoming a Passionate and Successful Salesperson for Life, is being published by McGraw-Hill this spring. Serving on the President’s Council, Jack writes: “The thing I am most proud of, regarding Wesleyan, is that our granddaughter, Dana Mitchell ’18, is graduating from Wesleyan this spring.”

Richard Poulton expressed enjoyment in receiving a poetic plea for information: “I enjoy the thought of being asked to contribute to Class Notes in this year, the 60th after I sorrowfully left Wesleyan! You might possibly recall that I was one of the 13 overseas students who were privileged to be on Wesleyan’s one-year Foreign Student program in 1957-1958, so my leaving in that latter year was inevitable. I had the good fortune to come back to England, to Cambridge University, whence I graduated in 1961, so I have always been happy to be counted as one of that class. I then took training as a teacher, and enjoyed a 35-year career in education before ’retiring’ and spending a further 12 years working in or for various charities, all of which related primarily to young people. I have been extraordinarily lucky in the places and the positions in which I have found myself—but to start on an account of six decades of ’Life, the Universe, and Everything’ is surely more than you were expecting or needing. I shall be happy if, through you, I can convey my heartfelt thanks to the University and especially to any members of the classes 1958-1961 for that formative year, which I value more than any other single year in my life. I would also be delighted to become an occasional correspondent with anyone who might just remember me, though I think the chances of that are very, very small!”

Jack Richards has provided this update: “I’ve finally retired after many pleasant and fun-filled years as an orthopedic surgeon. My somewhat unconventional personal life has led to 21 wonderful years of marriage to Carol. We have five ’kids’ and 10 grandkids (Brady Bunch). We live in Halfmoon, N.Y., and Bonita Springs, Fla. Like all of us, I’ve got a few health issues, but I still can get around the golf course and spend a lot of time singing in a barbershop quartet. As a good friend said to me at my 78th birthday party, ’You don’t look 78, but I can remember when you did!’ I spent one year over in Cu’ Chi, Vietnam in 1968. Great experience with the closeness you felt with the people around you, but full of tragic surgery. I couldn’t end the war so I had to send Russ Robertson over to mop up. I regret not keeping in touch with Wesleyan friends, but I often think fondly of Wesleyan days and classmates. How I’d love to spend one more night with my Psi U roommates Quent Roberts and Beau Bailey. Great years!”

Respectfully submitted,

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, FL 34205

Class of 1960 Charles W. Smith Class of 1960 Scholarship

Joseph Michael Ellis ’19, Government, Film Studies

Class of 1960 Richard H. Huddleston ’60, P’90 Wesleyan Scholarship

Glenn Smith III ’21, Roxbury, MA

Michael Harlan Blake died peacefully on Oct. 3, 2017, at Riverwoods Exeter after a more than 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Mike met Susan Welles Livingston in the fall of his senior year at Wesleyan. They were married in September 1960 and were together for 25 years. He finished his executive career with Harvest Capital Management of Concord, N.H., retiring in 2002. Mike lived in Marblehead, Mass., for over 25 years where he indulged his love of sports and the outdoors. He coached youth soccer, played in a men’s basketball league well into his 40s, sailed, skied, and hiked the mountains of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Colorado. Mike is survived by his former wife, Susan Livingston of Marblehead, and his four children. He was predeceased by his second wife, Penelope Stowell.

Chris Campbell suffered a mild stroke last fall. He credits his wife and a speech therapist with helping him reclaim his memory. Chris is also thankful to talented physicians and Medicare for his resumption of normal activity.

John Dobson and Nici reported that their house in Virgin Gorda, B.V.I. was destroyed by Hurricane Irma. They plan to sell the structure that remains “as is.”

Rick Garcia continues as president of the Bolivian Academy of Economic Sciences. At a meeting involving Latin America and Spain that was held in Madrid, he was thrilled to meet the King of Spain. Rick reported sadly that his wife, Gloria, died on May 1, 2017.

Jan Hogendorn died on Oct. 10, 2017, after a period of failing health. During his career he published more than 50 articles and essays, multiple editions of textbooks in introductory, international, and development economics, and three books on the history of agriculture, slavery, and abolition in West Africa. He was the Grossman Professor of Economics at Colby College until his retirement in 2003. In later life, Jan participated in local politics, serving as chair of the Vassalboro Democratic Party and several times as moderator of the Vassalboro Town Meeting. He is survived by his wife, Dianne, his son, Christiaan, who is an associate professor of economics at Wesleyan, daughter-in-law Erika Naginski, and two grandchildren.

Dave Hale has been doing volunteer work for the Food Shelf, Brockport’s local food bank. He has made presentations to students at SUNY about that organization. On a trip to a monastery in France, he made 270 steps up, but not down. He stumbled and fell twice. He then was taken to the emergency room for a series of inconclusive tests. His stable of doctors now includes a cardiologist.

Mankato psychologist George Komaridis has worked with returning veterans since the Vietnam War. He has listened to multiple generations’ nightmares and has done his best to help vets recover from physical wounds and emotional trauma. But George also knows that there are some whom traditional therapy and medications just can’t reach. “There is pain they can’t tolerate, and they’re going to do something because the pain is too much.” That extra step has long involved alcohol, but today, it often means relying on marijuana.

Bill Walker released another book in his Paul Muller series, called A Spy in Vienna, a dramatizing of the Nazi takeover of Austria in 1938. It’s the second Paul Muller novel set in Europe before World War II and is available on Amazon.

Harold Trimmer is heartbroken to report that his beloved partner of 27 years, Rosanne Werges, died Jan. 9, 2018, after suffering a massive cerebral hemorrhage at their Naples, Fla., home. She loved attending our class Reunions, the spirit of our class, and the friendships she made.

It is with great sadness that I report the death of my dear wife, Judy, on Dec. 24, 2017. We were married for 50 years. My thanks to all of you who have expressed their condolence to me.

SAL RUSSO | salandjudy@hotmail.com
2700 Kentucky St., Bellingham, WA 98229

While enjoying an afternoon coffee at Wesleyan, Glenn Hawkes and his son, Jesse, conversed with Emil Frankel and Jack Mitchell. Glenn reports: “Both Mitchell and Frankel have somehow managed to retain their handsome boyishness while enjoying their long and successful careers: Jack with his fine and far-reaching clothing business and his book-writing, Emil with an amazing career in D.C. and his serving as transportation secretary for the State of Connecticut.”

Hawkes continues: “I came close to falling off my seat in the coffee bar when Emil shared with us his decision to become an Independent, thus abandoning a half-century of leadership and love for the Republican Party. I think it was when we roomed together, graduate school days at Harvard, that Emil created the Ripon Society. I’ve also since left the Republican Party, accomplished some decades prior to Emil’s jumping off the ship. I’m still struggling to fundraise school fees for about 40 Rwandan secondary school students, hoping that I’ll live until the last student earns a diploma. That would be in 2021. As always, I welcome any interest you (or perhaps a son, daughter or grandchild) might have in taking a trip to Rwanda, where my second family and I have a nice home and guest house.”

Foster Morrison regularly presents thoughtful insights that may interest classmates. He writes: “One thing that has been long known is that such things often can change rapidly and extremely with small disturbances. Stability often is achieved by resonances, such as the periods of Saturn and Jupiter being 29.65 and 11.86 years for a five to two ratio. Pluto and Neptune never collide, though they overlap, because of a resonance. The same side of the Moon always faces the Earth. God’s will? Maybe God knows how to build things that last, but man does not or doesn’t care.

“Climate change seems to be moving slowly, but Hurricane Irma may mark the shift to a new peak for the energy in such a storm. Complex nonlinear dynamical systems may be stabilized by resonances (ratios of frequencies being small integers), but if these are disturbed, rapid disintegration often occurs. So Irma may (or may not) be sending us a warning that the climate in the North Atlantic may be getting much more unstable and dangerous. I think I’ve heard about another dangerous hurricane (Jose) already forming. The general principle is that slow, gradual change may destroy a stabilizing resonance and it will be difficult or impossible to restore it. Most scientists and mathematicians, being specialists, do not seem to be aware of this. Politicians, economists, bureaucrats, and journalists don’t understand anything. Specialists in celestial mechanics usually have some awareness of this property of nonlinear dynamical systems. I started out my career with satellite orbits, many of which have helpful resonances thoughtfully designed.

“The general principle is that establishing stability in complex nonlinear systems is challenging, but now made much easier with high-powered digital computers. God has been doing this almost forever and now we have to do it too instead of destroying His creations with our ignorance.”

Respectfully submitted,

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, Fl 34205 

The timing was perfect for Joe Miller, who wrote: “You hit me on my 78th birthday, and I’m feeling frisky enough to pitch in this time around. Three years retired from teaching African history at the University of Virginia and finding the ‘sweet spot’ of this stage, I’m now at my own pace. What the youngsters out there bring to the encounter is energy and imagination, and what I have to offer at this point is experience. They write the books and I try to help them make the most of all that good work. My oldest daughter, a Mayan archaeologist, has a freelance career in tourism and horses in Yucatan, and my youngest son is in 11th grade at our local Friends school. We have no plans to abandon our hilltop here in Charlottesville with the view of the Blue Ridge. For years the D.C.-area Green Scum (Alpha Delts to the uninitiated)— Dickson, Bloomfield, Wagner, and I, plus one or two from ’62) got together regularly, but we haven’t been so good about it lately.”

This was a cute response from Howie Morgan:

Singing as we travel and reach!

Residence now in Vero Beach.

Keeping a place in Deer Isle, Maine

But Home is still in dear old Wayne!

Trying to keep those libs from the door,

Hope old Wes has their feet on the floor!

Ain’t life grand?

From Larry Krucoff: “After leaving Wesleyan, I ended up in Chicago, where Carole and I got hitched. I worked my way through graduate school in anthropology, and went into marketing research. In 1971, I started my own firm and ran it until retirement in 2015. Carole worked in museum education, becoming head of education at the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago. Now retired, she continues her museum associations by being a docent at the Art Institute of Chicago. While I was working, I tried to develop retirement skills. These developed into golf, baking, cooking, writing, play readings, and traveling with Carole.”

Dan Elliott is in assisted living in Cleveland with “a swimming pool and a work-out room with beautiful physical therapists who work me out. My Wesleyan daughter is in Cambridge, doing criminal justice projects. My youngest is married, employed as an athletic trainer, part-time with the Brooklyn Nets and with Long Island University. My son, Dan, participates on the Surface Transportation Board in D.C., and is married to an electrical engineer, with two stepsons. My son, Tim, does computer installation projects and lives here in Cleveland.”

Pete Drayer and wife Sandy are still in a retirement home. He is a senior judge until the end of this year.

Paul Dickson’s latest book, Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son, was published in March by Bloomsbury Press. He is working on a book tentatively titled The Rise of the Fishbowl Army, which is about the 1940 peacetime draft and the creation of a modern army in the days before Pearl Harbor.

Al Williams and Ed Knox get together regularly with Wendy and Huguette-Laure. “Being in D.C., health issues and grandchildren must now vie with politics as topics of conversation.” They are interested in catching up with other alumni.

From Foster Morrison: “There is a serious mismatch between the goals of the human species and the capacities of planet Earth. The people in charge want exponential growth to go on indefinitely, but the size and resources available on this finite spheroid are limited. Setting aside a few nature preserves will not mitigate the consequences of unceasing growth, whatever they may be. It’s difficult-to-impossible to predict exactly what will happen, but it probably will be global catastrophe.”

From Bob Hausman:

Unlikely am I to be found

In the Wesleyan annals of renown,

Yet I do try the fates to confound,

By remaining at best above ground.

Hausman has two sons and seven grandchildren. He went to St. Paul, Minn., in 1977 to teach at Luther Seminary and has been there ever since. “Between my children and grandchildren,” he writes, “we have made our mark at Carleton College, Macalester College, Hamline University, St. Thomas University, and the University of Minnesota. Unfortunately, I have been unable to persuade any of them to matriculate at Wesleyan. There are still two more grandchildren in the public schools and one in the womb, so who knows?”

John Rogers reports living at the Del Webb Sun City Community in Indian Land, S.C. “Great retirement area with golf course, two community centers, walking trails, and three pools. I retired from financial services in 2013, after 46 years, and am enjoying time with five children and 14 grandkids in Maryland, New Jersey, and Kentucky. We have traveled to Alaska, Iceland, Norway, France, Nova Scotia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, and many national parks.”

Glenn Hawkes’ son, Jesse, is an actor and human rights activist living in NYC. They came to Middletown in April to attend the Samuel and Dorothy Frankel Memorial Lecture delivered by a Wesleyan alumna. Both enjoyed an afternoon coffee with Emil Frankel, who had just driven over from UConn, where he had a speaking engagement. Glenn reports: “Much of our conversation centered on ‘3rd floor Clark’ our sophomore year—Bob Hausman, Swede Wilson, Ernie Hildner, Jack Woodbury, Jack Mitchell, and Russell Mott.”

Jon K. Magendanz, DDS | jon@magendanz.com
902 39th Avenue West, Bradenton, Fl 34205