Tag: 1970

Aloha, everyone.  We have lots of news.

First, from what I can tell, our classmates in LA seem to have been lucky in not losing their homes in the fires. Bob Stone published some hair-raising accounts and photos on Facebook.  Guy Prevost posted a “safe” message on FB too.

In book news, Ted Reed’s new book is Unions Flying High about airlines’ unions. I love the publicity photo in which he’s wearing a Wesleyan hoodie. Eric Blumenson’s ’68 book is Why Human Rights? A Philosophical Guide. I’ve seen a lot of email comments on the book. Here’s a wonderful review by Stevens Ingraham:

“Wishing to echo others who have offered applause for your new book. Two paragraphs into the intro, this aging head sees that it is not exactly the stuff of cocktail conversation.   But such soaring themes!

“Deceptively simple . . . starting with the analysis of human rights through the prism of a moral mandate.  Intuitively, yes, of course: human rights are, or should be, rooted in deeper soil than the stuff of  ‘mere’ law . . .  statutes, treaties, even constitutions. We thrill to the courage shown by Gandhi, King and Mandela in opposing unjust laws for this very reason.

“Anyway, way to go, Eric, in taking on such an ambitious project. (I’ll be one of those guys in the back of the class hoping you won’t call on me to expound further, OK?)”

Steve Talbot’s movie The Movement and The “Madman” was scheduled for broadcast in Kentucky on Inauguration Day. Not long ago, it was aired in Vietnam as well. In Steve’s words:  “I just received word from VietnamTV1—the major national broadcaster in Vietnam—that they aired my documentary, The Movement and The “Madman,” in prime time last weekend. . . .  I am elated and very moved. Even though my film focuses on events in the U.S.—on Nixon/Kissinger and the anti-war movement in 1969—the whole context is the war in Vietnam. After it aired on the PBS series American Experience last year, one of my goals was to get it shown in Vietnam.

“Now, at age, 75, it feels like my life is coming full circle—from my days at Wesleyan protesting the war with so many of you in our class and making my first anti-war documentary, March on Washington, with Dave Davis, David White, Bill Tam, and others, to actually going to North Vietnam in 1974 to make a film there with Dave Davis and Deirdre English, to now having my most recent film broadcast on national TV in Vietnam. Things like this make getting old worthwhile!”   

Joining the retirement community are Brian Silvestro and Alan Dubrow. Brian’s retirement from 50 years of law practice was on January 1. Brian wrote, “What’s next? Good question. First and foremost, there will be more trips to San Diego, Chicago, Colorado Springs, and Richmond to visit more often with our four boys and their families. Jane retired five years ago or so, after 25 years of teaching. That should open a whole new world for us to live with no pressure to meet work obligations or deadlines. I can’t even imagine what that will be like! There are also a number of volunteer opportunities for me on the horizon. Starting to sort through those now.”  

And Alan Dubrow, who recently surfaced and got connected with Gus Spohn, wrote, “I am retired from my academic nephrology practice. Married 32 years to Stella, who is a nurse. We have always lived in the Big Apple, traveling a lot, mainly to France and Italy. You couldn’t pay me to move from New York. The weather here is better than that in most parts of the country.”

Jeremy Serwer wrote concerning our upcoming 55th Reunion: “Since I’ve been asked by the alumni office to chair outreach again for our 55th Reunion, we’re calling on all classmates who can make the trip to actually do it. While [so far] there are no specific plans other than a class dinner, we all will be able to avail ourselves of the numerous activities planned by other milestone classes. We’ll also have a class ‘lounge’ somewhere on campus (centrally located, of course!). And, of course, the more who attend from ’70, the better it gets: lots of catching up to do!” We are also looking for classmates to volunteer outreach efforts to other mates for the reunion. Please to contact me directly: jeremy@theserwercompany.com, or jeremy@wesleyan.edu.  Contact access to classmates will be provided.”

Personal note: I urge you all to attend the reunion. Not to be morbid, but we’re not getting any younger. I know there already are some related activities planned, including taking in some Red Sox–Mets games at Fenway just before reunion. See what you can cook up before and after reunion. 

For those who don’t receive emails from globetrotting Marcos Goodman, I’m including an entire email about his trip to Ecuador in December. If you’re interested in travel writing that includes a lot of history, you might want to get onto his email list. 

ALTITUDE SICKNESS IN QUITO

“I was in Quito, Ecuador, the highest capital city in the world, for nine days, and I was in bed for most of the first eight of them. I did pick up some interesting tidbits which I’ll share, and then I’ll go into altitude sickness.

“On my rare forays outside, I noticed that the traffic lights weren’t working. That was because the electricity was out for the entire city, except for those who had private generators. Think of what the traffic is like, or crossing the street, or being in a city with a lot of crime, and no lights. Starting in April, the electricity had been shut off for up to 14 hours each day, although right now it’s down to just a few. This is because Ecuador is reliant on hydroelectric plants, and there has been a severe drought for a few years. They really have no even moderately short-term solution. So, the well-to-do have generators, and the poor live in darkness. So it goes.

“Ecuador is the only country other than Panama, El Salvador, and a few tiny ones, that uses the U.S. dollar as its currency. It makes conversion rates easy. However, they generally use Ecuadorian-produced coins instead of U.S. coins. That’s because U.S. coins don’t have a numerical value stamped on them, and many people who don’t speak English can’t figure out how much the coins are worth. So far, I haven’t been able to find other countries where the coins aren’t denominated. 

“For many years, Ecuador was one of the safer countries in the region. Not anymore. That’s because Peru and Colombia are the major cocaine producers in the world, and the past few years the routes have switched so that Ecuador has become the superhighway of world cocaine export, and the crime followed. Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest port and city, has been the worst hit, as that’s where the boats leave from, but the crime has spread. The murder rate has gone from about 6/1,000 in 2017 to about 45/1,000 this year, which some people say is the worst murder rate in the world. However, it’s not, because a number of Caribbean islands are as bad or worse!

“Oil is by far the greatest source of income for the country of Ecuador. It’s 30% of the country’s exports, and the state-owned company rakes that in to provide the bulk of the national income. A lot of that oil comes from what’s left of Ecuador’s Amazon basin holdings, after Peru took most of it in the 1990s. The second largest export is fish, mostly tuna, making it by far the biggest tuna exporter in South America. Unfortunately, I can’t find out who’s the big tuna kahuna.

“Then come bananas. Danny Noboa was elected president when he was 35 and is the youngest president in the world. He is the scion of the richest man in Ecuador, who is the owner of the biggest banana company, making Danny the richest-man-to-be. He went to NYU, Northwestern, and Harvard, while marrying Gabriela Goldbaum, from whom he is still having a very nasty divorce. Although there are few Jews in Ecuador, she’s Ecuadorian and her lineage is Jewish, as I checked her genealogy, and her grandparents were Katzes. I do my very important research! Okay, on to altitude sickness.

“I arrived in Quito late, took a cab directly to my Airbnb, and went to sleep. As usual, the first thing in the morning I began to walk out to a calisthenics spot. However, I could barely make it across the street. I didn’t know what I had, but I had something. I made it back to my Airbnb and went back to sleep.

“Was it Montezuma’s Revenge? Well, I certainly had diarrhea among other things, but my main symptom was that I had zero energy and was having a hard time breathing. It took me a couple of days before I learned that I’ve really gotta start doing my research ahead of time, not after I arrive, as is my normal procedure.

“So, I finally discovered that I had altitude sickness. Dumb tourist! It turns out that Quito has the highest elevation (9,350’) of any other country’s official capital. Notice that I said ‘official’ capital, because La Paz, Bolivia, is much higher (11,942’), but it’s only the ‘administrative’ capital of Bolivia, where all of the governmental bodies do business. Bolivia’s constitutionally official capital is Sucre, which is just a tad lower than Quito at 9,220’. Bogotá, Columbia, at 8,612’, is the third highest official capital, but I’m skipping Bogota except for the airport transfer. 

“The main thing with altitude sickness is that the altitude offers you less oxygen, the result being that you don’t have any energy, among a number of symptoms. So, during my nine days in Quito, I was only out of my Airbnb for less than an hour each day, very slowly trudging to do some essential things, with long stops to sit down and rest every block. The rest of the time, I was lying down or sleeping, generally 12 hours per day. Luckily, Quito doesn’t have a whole lot of sites that I was interested in seeing anyway, so I didn’t miss out on a whole lot. Also, it was threatening to rain most of the time, and the crime rate is such that I may have been best off just lying in bed, sick or not, which is only a slight exaggeration.

“I normally try to avoid taking drugs to solve my rare health issues, which is not always the smartest approach. But after four days, I finally walked next door to the pharmacy and got the recommended medical solution. Once again, I say ‘medical’ solution, because the common folk solution is tea from the leaves of the coca plant, the basic ingredient of cocaine. Although you need a prescription of the medical solution in the U.S., no prescription was needed in Quito. Maybe I should have gone into a cafe and ordered some coca tea, because the medical solution didn’t do bupkis for me. My last day in town, I forced myself to take the hop-on-hop-off bus up to the equator museum, which was interesting. That was the extent of my touristing in Ecuador.

The good and intriguing thing for me about this altitude sickness was that I lost eight pounds. Now, you really can’t trust what almost all people say about losing a lot of weight fast, as it’s almost always from dehydration or starting with wild overeating followed by purging from whichever end. However, you can trust my weight loss for a few reasons. First, I weigh myself on the same scale at almost the exact same time every morning after taking a pee. Second, except for rare exceptions, I eat the exact same food every day, with the quantities weighed out on my food scale, which I carry with me. Third, I drink the same amount of measured fluid, mostly lemon water and a couple of cups of coffee. On the rare days that I splurge at the bakery, I can almost see the result the next morning, and I eat less afterwards to compensate. Other than those rare splurges, my only other variables are exercise, which is almost the same measured amount five days a week, with a day off for travel and a day off for another exercise break. But totaled up, my exercise calorie expenditure is almost the same every week. That’s except for my nine days in Quito, when I had almost no exercise calories expended.

“Although I was just lying around, I still ate my normal diet. So, my calorie intake from food was the same, but I had almost no calorie expenditure other than the calories used to sustain living. And I still lost eight pounds. I could see it in the mirror. How could that be? I don’t know yet. One possible factor is that you weigh less with an increase in altitude. However, that’s not it, as the decrease in weight from increased altitude is miniscule, .02 pounds for me.

“Another factor could have been hydration, even though I was careful to drink even more liquids than my normal quantity. I was definitely breathing deeper and more rapidly in order to compensate for the lower amount of oxygen, and the exhaled breath contains moisture, which could have added to hydration weight loss. But I doubt it. Lastly, my increased liquid intake could have been overcome by increased urination, which was definitely going on, as I had to get up to pee just about every hour throughout the day and night. Too much information?

“I’m writing this from my third day in Cali, Colombia, and I’ve regained two pounds, but I’m still a skinnier me. I’ll probably never figure out the weight loss and just have to chalk it up to more of the great mystery. But I’ve recovered my energy, and I’m off to see the sights each day. Not that there’s much to see in Cali, Colombia. At least so far.

“Here’s the video, what there is of one: https://youtu.be/r1hlf2fRZTQ”

Here on Kauai, we are keeping on keeping on. Six months after our visit to New Zealand, I’m still pining for New Zealand. We’re trying to get the house ready for sale and I’m preparing for knee replacement early in April. 

I wish everyone well and hope to see many of you at the reunion.

Aloha, everyone. We live in interesting times. Who would have thought that we would see a presidential campaign like the one we’re in, with the first incumbent president since 1968 pulling out of the running, with RFK Jr. throwing his support to the Republican Party’s nominee, and with a mixed-race woman (married to a Jewish guy) in a position to become the country’s first female president?

We’ll begin with news from Howard “Howie” Borgstrom, perhaps the first time he makes an appearance in the column. He wrote, “Not too much news here in Virginia. My wife, Carol, and I are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary this month, first with a family dinner and then with cake and refreshments the next day, after church with our faith family. I keep busy with yard work here in Alexandria and at our ‘farm’ on the Shenandoah River. Plus, during inclement weather, I am actively dostadning, a Swedish word which translates ungraciously as ‘death cleaning.’ We have lived in the same house for 47 of our 50 years, more than enough time to accumulate stuff. My father left me a slide projector, screen, and two huge containers of slide carousels covering back to WWII! I am also the primary caregiver for my wife, who has been diagnosed with FTD (the same form of dementia as Bruce Willis), so the materials I discover in dostadning have to be explained, as if the first time, to Carol.”  

Had this a while ago from David White: “Okay, after a long lapse: I was invited by the New York Public Library’s Performing Arts Library to do an oral history concerning my life and 28-year performing arts producing career at New York’s Dance Theater Workshop. It encompassed six hours of comprehensive interviews, now digitally archived at the library, as well as a camera recording. The interviews should be available online (assuming you really don’t have anything else to do). The 10 years I later spent in a similar role on Martha’s Vineyard as artistic director of The Yard performance and educational center remains to be covered. I retired from there in 2020.

“I want to add a shout-out to Steve Talbot and his collaborators on the success of the documentary, The Movement and The ‘Madman.’ I worked with Steve, Dave Davis, and others from Wes’ progressive forces of 1969/1970 on portions of that film made at Wes, covering the 1969 March on Washington against the Vietnam War and supporting the civil rights struggle.

“Of course, we former student activists are intensely observing a new generation of passionate activists as they both act and learn through a new (and often unruly) protest movement. Despite unacceptable violence toward Jews, Muslims, and other groups, this is indeed a moment of societal self-education—as it was five-plus decades [ago].”   David invites you to join him on the Threads social platform. He says, “So far it’s a refreshing, progressive, content-strong, nonevil place.” He’s also on Facebook.

Russell Bradshaw wrote in April, and I don’t see his note in the previous column, so here goes: “I retired after 30 years teaching, associate professor Lehman College CUNY. Now live in Stockholm, Sweden, with my wife (of 50 years), Gunilla. Presentation on social ‘influence processes’ at the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) in Barcelona in July: ‘You’ll See It—When You Believe It’: The Role of Belief in Cult Recruitment.”

This note from my KNK brother, Gerry Cerasale: “At our age it’s time to retire. 😂  I’m still enjoying my time on the Eastham Select Board. However, I’m continually amazed at the ‘pressing’ issues that citizens raise. Eastham is in the midst of facing a state mandate to put in sewers and [a] wastewater treatment plant, covering new bonds for installing a new water system (before 2020 there were no fire hydrants in town), and paying its part of a $170 million high school; and the pressing issues from many citizens are pickleball courts and usage and dog walking. I’ve learned that many times it’s the little things that count.”  

Had this brief note from Peter Ratner in New Zealand: “I think you have my news.”   Indeed, I do, because Vera and I got to New Zealand (via a quick stopover on Christmas Island and two days in Fiji) for a truly unforgettable 19 days of exploring on North Island in June. Peter’s been there since the early ’80s, practicing law. It’s an amazing country. I truly can see why my father fell in love with it in 1947 when his naval ship, damaged in the ice in Antarctica, was towed there, “forcing” him to spend a month on South Island. All I can say is that I wish I had visited Aotearoa a long time ago. But back to Peter: he’s retired and married to a lovely, retired nurse named Carol, with a blended family spread from New Zealand to London to Australia. He and Carol are great fonts of information about New Zealand, great tour guides, and great hosts. They have a gorgeous, historical house in Greytown, over the mountains from Wellington. They unfortunately are selling it and returning to Wellington full time. (But fortunately, a daughter lives near the Greytown house.) Cheers! “She’ll be right.”

After a long pause, I heard from Corey Rosen who says, “I am still working (mostly as a volunteer, close to full time) for the organization I founded 44 years ago, the National Center for Employee Ownership. We will grow to 23 staff by the end of the year. We focus on research, information, meetings, and outreach to help encourage more companies to share ownership broadly. This May, I was one of the featured guests on Freakonomics, which did an hour-long podcast on the subject.”

I hear frequently from Jeremy Serwer, the Brooklyn Cowboy of northern Connecticut.  Here is an email that he sent to a group of classmates: “Life really does have some simple pleasures. I always wanted to ride a horse in a parade. This year’s Memorial Day was my third straight doing so, representing America’s oldest theft detecting society—The Woodstock (Connecticut) Theft Detecting Society, founded in 1793. I’m the treasurer, as well, and a designated ‘pursuer’ per the original society constitution: It’s the pursuer’s job to posse down and catch (primarily) horse thieves. 

“Fortunately—and perhaps gratefully—there are no covenants in the society’s constitution prohibiting Jewish guys from handling the money, which goes to paying the costs of chasing thieves, etc. Today, it’s all symbolic: We have an annual luncheon in January, read the constitution (called for in the constitution), collect the 25 cents dues, and have a guest speaker—for which my connections to law enforcement folks have been invaluable.

“Wouldn’t the Woodstock founders (12 of them, from Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1684) be surprised; [the newspaper] picture below contains the proof. The other rider is one of my farm neighbors who also serves as a pursuer. The cowboy garb is off by a century, but often requested and welcome. And I was tempted to wear my six-guns . . . for which very few would have cared, but alas, open carry was outlawed in Connecticut earlier this year.

“The parade lasts about 10 minutes (a quarter mile), so you can’t blink. They follow it with speeches honoring veterans, those lost in wars, a firearms salute, music by the Woodstock Cornet Band (ongoing since the 1850s), an occasional low-altitude U.S. Air Force flyover (amazing how they time those), and we hang out on the town green for kids to come and greet the horses.

“I finish up with a quick gallop the length of the green back to the horse trailer. Fun in the country, and my idea of at least one retirement gig.”

Gordon Fain sent a great email to encourage attendance at the reunion in May: “Here’s a quick note to recommend our May 2025 Reunion in person as an economical weekend with a great variety of in-person informal coffees and receptions; film and lectures; and interactions with current senior and young scholars. Also talking with a woman Fulbright Scholar from India, a young unicyclist from Connecticut, and alumni from classes of ’67 through ’69 was great for me and my wife, Lila. Dave Freedman ’69 invited me [to this year’s Reunion weekend], and I enjoyed it so much I came back a second day. Good hotels on Main Street Middletown and in Cromwell. Alumni Affairs keeps costs fair, with many free venues. If you want golf or farm market fruit, they are near at Lyman Orchards, Middlefield. Bradley International Airport–Hartford is one hour by car and easy drive.” 

Robert Stone (aka “Stony” and “Robert Mark Stone, the Trumperick master”) recently visited Nantucket with family. Photo with wife, Nancy Baxter.

Finally, I am glad to report that the trio on O’ahu are great dinner companions. I was fortunate to be able to get together with them a few weeks back. Great company, great minds, great conversation. Here, from right to left:  Elbridge Smith, Bill Tam, Peter Kalischer, and myself.  (BTW, I didn’t suddenly widen 35%. That’s lens distortion.)

OK, so you all be well. Write if you get work and meantime, hang by your thumbs. (Good job if you get that reference. We need some more B&R in our lives.)

Aloha, everyone.

Bob Apter wrote, “I’m continuing to enjoy life in Sedona, hiking and exploring new avenues of thinking about the universe!

“I’m still doing telemedicine for COVID with myfreedoctor.com but at a much-reduced level of activity, partly due the expiration of the COVID emergency, which previously allowed me to prescribe in all 50 states, partly due to COVID being less severe and less on people’s minds.

“I just did a presentation on COVID to an Arizona Senate committee at an intergovernmental conference. It was a four-and-one-half hour hearing, of which my presentation was about 30 minutes.

“As always, if anyone is visiting Sedona, please look me up and I should be able to show you around.”

George Nash is experiencing the effects of our extended years on the planet. I’m sure several of you can relate. “Old age is a bitch! Been plagued by back problems requiring surgery the past year. But otherwise just keeping on. Retired from active diversified small farming. Now just keeping enough animals around to amuse our Airbnb guests. Retiring also from full-time participation in the Christmas tree business after 49 years. Our youngest daughter is now doing a great job of managing it and cultivating several of our grandchildren for the next generation. Family keeps expanding. Nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. We’re expecting a few more in the next few years. Our family dinners are positively Brueghelian.”

Bi-stater Rob Baker wrote, “Sandra and I travel between Park City and Princeville [Kauai]. Our charitable work focuses on Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield, Vermont, The Namahana School in Kilauea, the Kauai Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, and Reef Guardians on Kauai. I hope to continue surfing, skiing, and riding my bikes for as long as possible.” (More power to you and thanks for supporting good island causes.)

Tony Balis is inspiring in continuing to work to improve the planet. He wrote, “The Humanity Initiative (www.humanity.org) is now entirely re-imagined. We are emphasizing the three primary challenges that confront humanity: ending war, solving climate change, and saving democracy. 

“Also, we’ve added a new feature that allows people to customize donations to the top 35 NGOs across the continents. I’ve been working on THI for 37 years now. Finally feels that we are achieving substantial traction. Please take a look!

“Regards to all, Tony”

Connecticut resident Gordon Fain sent a memory-filled note: “In a quiet and persistent way, Seth Kaufman built our class into a real scholarship-fund powerhouse for over 25 years as class agent for ’70. Wesleyan wisely awarded him recognition. Seth was among many ’70 men who went to law school and he successfully did legal work in NYC.   

“Sad to see loss of class secretary  Lloyd Buzzell ’68, my crew ‘mate.’ Lloyd captained the Wes team that had a great Dad Vail Regatta showing in Philadelphia under Coach Calhoun (who is quoted about Lloyd in our magazine that just arrived). Among other crew members was Bob Carter, the junior varsity ‘stroke,’ Peter Etkin, JV coxswain, and more. Dr. Nason Hamlin ’68 and other seniors helped us with the spring crew camp at a Connecticut lake, Fred Coleman ’69, and others. Still today, both Trinity and Wes put fine eight-person crew teams on the Connecticut River.   

“Hoping you and Dr. Neil Clendeninn ’71 can do an article on what Wesleyan tourists can best see and how to stay in the Hawaiian Islands. As I avoid plane rides beyond six hours without  breaks, I’m unlikely to see ya in Hawaii, but think many readers of all classes would enjoy suggestions. For example, how get through high prices? [Tip: Do a stopover somewhere on the West Coast. Only five-and-a-half or six hours from there. Re prices: budget and enjoy savings on winter clothes.]

Colin Kitchens posts frequently on Facebook, often about animals in need of our support, politics, and film-related subjects. He wrote, “Life is quiet and full of dogs. I am trying to figure out how to be useful before they discover that discover that I’m not. Hearing issues have resulted in a cochlear implant, which limits being an air controller. I have been writing, along with all of the rest of you. I hope the rest of you are enjoying your families and psychotropic Rx.”  [His favorite song is one of Jimmy Buffett’s last, My Gummy Just Kicked In. No, I just made that up. The favorite part; the song is real.]

One of our European residents, Ross Mullins in Geneva, sent some photos with Wesleyan friends.

Brothers-in-law Steve Talbot and Dave Davis both wrote about a project they are doing. Steve described it as“a great opportunity for two old friends, Wesleyan classmates, and documentary filmmakers like us to work together. It’s also a chance for Dave and me to return to the city where we were born and raised and went to high school together.”

Here are the details:  “Public TV in LA gave us an R&D grant to get started, allowing us to research the story and go through 30 boxes of photos, private letters, and newspaper articles about Clifford Clinton that are stored in the UCLA archives. It’s a real ‘Chinatown’ story—crime and politics! Now we are out hustling for production money. Stay tuned.

“While we were in LA, we were able to catch up with Wesleyan (and high school) classmate Guy Prevost, who is still chasing the Hollywood dreams, and remains as sharp and funny as ever.  

“P.S.: March 28 will mark the one-year anniversary of the debut of my documentary The Movement and the ‘Madman’ on the PBS series American Experience. Anyone interested can catch it on PBS Passport, Amazon Prime, or Kanopy, the library streaming service.”

Dave’s email included a lot of details about their project: “Steve Talbot and I are in early stages of developing a television documentary based on the life of my grandfather, Clifford Clinton, who led a campaign against a corrupt mayor and police chief in LA in the 1930s. It’s a classic film noir tale, but all true.        

“Here is a synopsis of the story: Arriving in Depression-era Los Angeles, a young entrepreneur, Clifford Clinton, opens two innovative, imaginative cafeterias he calls Clifton’s. They become very successful, welcome Black patrons during a time of de facto segregation, and provide free meals for the hungry and desperate. Asked to investigate fraud and spoiled food at the county hospital, Clinton uncovers a vast network of citywide corruption run by the mayor and a violent police lieutenant. Clinton and his allies become targets of newspaper smears, threats, and bombings, culminating in a sensational police trial and an unprecedented citizen’s movement that ousts the mayor.”

Dave added, “I am now semi-retired from my job at Oregon Public Broadcasting, after 28 years.”

Peter Traneus Anderson sent this: “Hello to the classmates I never knew. I entered Wesleyan as a junior transfer student, so missed freshman orientation, and buried myself in the physics department as a closeted-electronics engineer in Bud Bertman’s low-temperature research group. I retired out of a plant closing in 2010. Thanks again for Wesleyan 70 Fiftieth Reunion book from 2020.  [Come to our reunion next May and meet the gang.]

Among the more healthy members of our class is Mark Geannette.  Mark wrote, “My wife and I just returned from a ski trip in the Dolomite Alps of northeast Italy. Happy these legs can still do that! In May we head back to our apartment in Alghero, Sardinia, for two months. Best regards, Mark”   [Thanks for the chance to live vicariously!]

Sweden resident Russ Bradshaw summarized life briefly, “I retired after 30 years teaching—associate professor Lehman College CUNY. Now live in Stockholm Sweden, with my wife (of 50 years), Gunilla. Presentation on social ‘influence processes’ at the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) in Barcelona in July: You’ll See It—When You Believe It: The Role of Belief in Cult Recruitment.” [Pretty timely, eh?]

Over on Oahu, Elbridge Smith continues practicing law. He shared some news from many years ago [better late than never!]:  “I gave myself an early law school graduation present taking myself and my (then) wife to New Zealand for Christmas holidays in 1976–77.” 

I’m reporting from Kalihiwai Valley, where we recently had three feet of water in the valley, enough to destroy a couple of vehicles we had parked by the (elevated) house. Replacing them with similar vehicle, which will be nearly the same models and years [an ’03 Jeep Wrangler and an ’06 Toyota Tacoma], but in (apparently) better condition. Appreciating a good insurance company. Meanwhile, getting through year 13 of teaching middle schoolers (think of herding cats and instructing chickens) while planning our June trip to New Zealand, including trying to learn more about photography with a mirrorless camera, and getting ready to sell our dream house so we can actually consider retirement.

Plan now for our reunion next spring, everyone. Let’s make it bigger than our delayed 50th. 

Just heard that David Redden died recently.  Please see the obituary here.