Tag: 1970

I’m sorry to have to report the loss of two other classmates. Just as the last column was going to print, I received word that Bob Segal had died. Bob was a religion major at Wesleyan, then earned an MA and PhD in religion at Princeton. He went to Europe years ago after teaching at several colleges and universities in the U.S. He taught at several places in Europe, the last being the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. More information here and here.

During reunion, John Talbot wrote to let me know that his former roommate Calvin deGrasse had died on April 24. Calvin, you recall, was from St. Kitts. Here is a piece that I received from his widow, Elizabeth deGrasse:  

“Calvin Ivan deGrasse was born on December 15, 1946, to Doris Buchanan and Fred Crooke in the town of Sandy Point on the island of St. Kitts, in the British West Indies.

“A consummate learner from grammar school, Calvin earned the highest scores of his class and was subsequently featured in the local newspaper and radio station. He went on to earn admission into Wesleyan University in Connecticut during a time of great racial segregation and cries for equality and inclusion in the United States. At Wesleyan, he was among the first students of color to integrate the University, subsequently graduating in the Class of 1970.  In his later days, he would fondly remember the friends he made during his time at Wesleyan. Calvin continued to pursue his education earning a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia University in 1978. Bachelor of Laws with second class honors (lower division) in 2002 from the University of London.

“For a time, post-Wesleyan, Calvin returned to St. Kitts where he served his country as minister of communication under the Llewellyn Bradshaw administration. After leaving government, Calvin returned to the United States where he pursued various endeavors, including working at Mellon Bank, serving his community via his own company, Liamigua Shipping, and working at the New York Stock Exchange until his retirement.  

“Calvin was charming and charismatic. He had a great smile and a fantastic sense of humor. He was a natural leader and an excellent communicator. He could talk for hours, joyfully and passionately about history, politics, law, and family. He was loving, encouraging, supportive, and honest. He was generous with his time and resources, and he put the needs of his family and friends ahead of his own. He also loved to eat!

“After a long illness, Calvin transitioned to the ever after surrounded by his beloved wife and two children.

“He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Elizabeth deGrasse; siblings Jocelyn Tatum, Warrington Tyson, and Marlene ‘Pat’ Crooke; his daughter and son: Michelle deGrasse and Calvin deGrasse Jr.; nieces and nephews: Natasha Tatum, Warrington Tyson Jr., Tiffany Tyson, Brandon deGrasse, Lennox deGrasse Jr.; grandchildren: Daniella Semper, Hugh deGrasse, Jeremy deGrasse; and many in-laws and countless other family members and friends, some from his childhood days, who loved him dearly.”

We will miss him, as well.

Reunion was fun, although sparsely attended by classes celebrating post-50th reunions. The following folks made it to Middletown this time:  Bob Stone, Ralph Moore, Joel Adams, Jeremy Serwer, Josh Barrett, Pete Stein, Howie Borgstrom, Bob Ament, David Geller, Darwin Poritz, Jerry Schwartz, Jeffrey Elson, and me. As usual, there are new things to see and a variety of activities to attend. Two highlights were a presentation about what the future of the country looks like and a presentation by Wesleyan president Michael Roth. Dinners were with other post-50th classes.

Other news: Jerry Schwartz wins the brevity award. He commented about the reunion: “It was good to see everyone.” The second-place winner is Steve Masten. Steve wrote that he was “unable to attend Reunion because it coincided with (wife) Ann’s retirement celebration. Hope you all had a good time.” (We did!)

Right now, I want to urge everyone to start planning for our 60th Reunion. Let’s face it, folks, we’re not getting any younger. Let’s make the 60th Reunion huge!

In lieu of a standard news offering, Brad Matthews sent a very thoughtful miniessay about life, knowledge, curiosity, etc.: 

The wise man is one who, knows, what he does not know.—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching.

“Perhaps like you. . .

“I increasingly recognize that I am no wise man, but I am enjoying feeling like I am getting a better understanding of this translation of Lao Tzu’s original words.

“I am focusing much of my remaining time collecting and linking information, seeing glimpses of patterns leading to flashes of understandings of existence.

“I incessantly cogitate on the increasingly obvious, unknowable, micro and macro expanse of reality—including, but in no way limited to, our bodies, minds, emotions, relationships, self-governance, societies, humanity, and our world, as well as the implications of quantum physics, quantum computing, AI, explorations of outer space, etc.

“I find myself noticing and reappraising the myriad of my life’s experiences—reconsidering and redescribing the particles and wholeness of my life. Relieving myself from judgements of past ‘should haves’ and current/future ‘shoulds’ is an enjoyable work in progress.

“As complexity and chaos are now more visibly outer and inner norms in reality, I find a kind of peace in coming to terms with the ying-yang of this life. Recognition, respect, acceptance, and appreciation for all that has been, is, and will be seems to bring me a calming sense of order. And so, I continue to function, similarly and differently than in times past. My functioning for hire as an international organizational development consultant has ended. Now, I focus my functioning almost wholly on my curiosity, caring about and with others (including my 14.5-year-old pup), peace of heart and mind, and maintaining my health to enable it all. I do not desire a long life. I just seek a rewarding life for whatever time I have left, hoping that at my completion I am relaxed and gently smiling.”

One of the pleasures of writing this column is the occasional appearance of someone who has been missing in action for years. This time, we welcome Andy Edlen. Andy’s email described a long career involving music, from working in Jimi Hendrix’s studio, playing backup for performers, “making music and sound effects for computer game companies, a brief appearance in a documentary about Hendrix, etc. Andy lives in the San Francisco Bay area. He writes:

“Apologies for my radio silence and nonparticipation. As the calendar careens forward, it seemed time to catch up. On the heels of graduation, thanks to a call Jeff Wanshel ’69 got from a high school friend of his, John Emulin, leader of a band called Lothar and the Hand People, who told Jeff of a job opening, I went to work at Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios on 8th Street in Greenwich Village, a bare week before Jimi’s sad passing. Over the next couple of years, I went from gopher (go fer this. . .) to night manager to staff engineer. Lots of brushes with fame and brushes with the greed and venality of the record biz. The ensuing decades were filled with a blur of bands, some time on the road backing up Bobby Freeman (‘Do you Wanna Dance’ and ‘The Swim’ in a kind of white-boy soul revue. :-}. Then a couple of decades making music and sound effects for computer game companies in the Bay Area, where I’ve resided since 19(gulp)73. And over the last decade, I’ve been doing IT at UC Berkeley.

“My brother Steve and I have a number of songs up on SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/user-568633504 that you and your readers might enjoy. And I escaped the cutting room floor in a movie about the studio’s early days, findable on Amazon as Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision. The editors kindly included my sentient moments from the interviews, and it’s a pretty fair time capsule of that window in the studio’s history.

“I’m in touch with precious few friends from the era, and I hope this Class Notes appearance may help remedy that.”

Had a note from Jerry Cerasale. Jerry wrote, “The only news I have other than my knees are talking to me every day is that I was re-elected to the Eastham, Massachusetts, Select Board and was elected by the board to be chair. It’s a bit late to start my political career!”

This from Steve Talbot: “Here’s an item, as San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen used to say, I’ve been up to some wildly disparate things: I spent nearly three amazing weeks in Vietnam in April as an invited guest to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. The trip of a lifetime. Emotional. Uplifting. Then I spent a weekend in LA in June reuniting, after 60-plus years, with Jerry Mathers (the Beaver) at a Hollywood autograph show, a first for me. It was nostalgic and a bit surreal. Came home to San Francisco to join an enormous, inspiring No Kings protest. What can I say? We keep on pushin’.”

Peter Ratner wrote from New Zealand: “Not much to report. As I think you know, we have sold Greytown [a gorgeous old country house] and are back in our old house in Seatoun [Wellington]. We miss the quiet of Greytown, but it is nice to be back by the sea.

“After almost 10 years of being tenanted, the house is looking a bit sad, so we are in the midst of a major renovation. Until that is finished our only significant outside interest is helping to look after our youngest grandchild.  

“We are planning to go to Scotland, London, and New York at the end of October for the wedding (after 20 years and two children) of our London daughter. Most of the kids will be there.

“Just saw the latest version of the Count of Monte Christo at the French Film Festival. When Edmond Dantes is in prison, the guards came along every day to bang on the bars and ask, ‘Are you alive?’, to which the prisoner responds, ‘I live,’ and gets his daily meal. I feel like this is now our version of the same ritual—I am pleased to be able to report, ‘We live.’”

Brian Silvestro wrote: “Retired after 50 years of practicing law effective January 1, 2025. Living in Black Rock, Connecticut. Our four sons live in San Diego and Colorado Springs and Chicago and Richmond. We have five grandchildren with another on the way. Jane and I can now travel as we please. And we are doing just that.”

Foremost Hawaii-water lawyer Bill Tam published a chapter on Hawaii water law (1973–2000) in Wai Wai (an anthology).  Bill, Hardy Spoehr ’66, and others organized the first Wesleyan alumni gathering in Hawaii in 10 years (Michael Roth is scheduled to address the group via Zoom).

Per Bill Tam: David Davis retired from a 29-year career at Oregon Public TV. Accolades from those Dave worked with and mentored are pouring in. His steady leadership and vision turned Oregon Public TV into the third-most powerful PBS station in the country, behind only New York and Washington, D.C. 

We have three offerings in our book department this time.

Jamie Kirkpatrick’s The People Game is the third in the Declan Shaw trilogy. It should be published by the time you read this. Here’s the synopsis:

“Declan Shaw is an Irish journalist who has just been named the Washington bureau chief of The Manchester Guardian. This follows his wartime assignments in Tunisia and Palestine, the settings of my two previous novels, This Salted Soil and The Tales of Bismuth.

“The People Game, the third novel in the Declan Shaw trilogy, begins in 1950 when Shaw arrives in Washington. Over the next two years, he covers multiple important events: the Korean War, the senatorial and presidential campaigns of 1952, the McCarthy hearings on Capitol Hill, and the civil rights movement in Washington, D.C. Declan also meets and interviews several important personalities, among them Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, American spymaster “Wild Bill” Donovan, Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Congressman Jack Kennedy, civil rights activist Mary MacLeod Bethune, and many others.

“Declan falls in love with Tay Riggs, scion of the eponymous Washington banking family. They marry just before Declan is offered a visiting fellowship at Washington College in Chestertown on Maryland’s bucolic Eastern Shore. Tay, Declan, and their infant daughter Phoebee decamp from Georgetown and move to Chestertown where Declan leads a seminar in ‘new journalism’ and uses his contacts in Washington to bring an array of noted speakers to campus.

“The People Game explores the events and people of an important era in American history. Moreover, its underlying theme is the story of Odysseus, his trials and tribulations after the fall of Troy, and his eventual homecoming, years later, to Ithaca. The People Game is the final chapter in Declan Shaw’s personal odyssey.

“The book is divided into 81 chapters, with a prologue and epilogue. There are also author notes.”

Steve Ossad’s new book is Chasing the Shadow: Mickey Marcus’s 200 Days of Destiny. Here is a brief description:

“More than just a citizen-soldiers’ biography, this book explores how local NYC hero Colonel David ‘Mickey’ Marcus helped shape U.S. civil affairs and military government policy during and after WWII, including the war crimes trials. Even more relevant today, from his visit to the just-liberated Dachau Concentration Camp to his appointment as Israel’s first general in 1948, Marcus’s last days dramatize the deep spiritual and national security ties between Israel and America. Chasing the Shadow offers a fresh perspective on shared military history, how legends arise, and the origins of American policy in the Middle East.” 

Steve wrote: “Attached is the press release for my third biography, Chasing the Shadow: Mickey Marcus’s 200 Days of Destiny, available on Amazon. My last book on General Omar Bradley won the Society for Military History Writing Award for biography.”

Press release:

“The life of David ‘Mickey’ Marcus has become the stuff of legends and myths (even fantasy), conspiracy, wild exaggeration, and untethered embellishment. The image of Marcus cast by the character portrayed by Kirk Douglas in the film version of his life still dominates most evocations of the man, for good or ill. And these days, reactions to the book or film rest mostly on the current headlines rather than the historical context of the struggle in which Marcus died, or the events that cast him as a real-life player in an event marked by destiny. 

“Chasing the Shadow: Mickey Marcus’s 200 Days of Destiny is the first comprehensive and balanced biography of David Daniel ‘Mickey’ Marcus, a founder of American Civil Affairs and Military Government doctrine and practice and a seminal figure in early Israeli military history. Far from merely a tribute to Mickey Marcus’s legacy, Ossad’s work serves as a critical tool for understanding the realities of mid-20th-century warfare in a postwar colonial struggle and the dynamics of U.S.-Israeli military and political relations in 1948, the critical year for Israel’s struggle for independence. Indeed, Chasing the Shadow is a valuable read for those interested in Middle East history, Jewish military history, and a fascinating character whose story is told in an engaging, informative, and insightful narrative.”

Stuart Frank wrote: “My only real news is that my latest book, 35-plus years in the making, titled Biographical Dictionary of Scrimshaw Artists, is scheduled to be published in August by Amazon Books through Scrimshaw Forensics®. It has 1,450 biographical entries, 9 appendices, and 12 indexes.”

There was a book launch on Cape Cod in August, and the book is available online at  Books@ScrimshawForensics.net.

A limited number of keychains/zipper pulls commemorating the 55th Reunion are available.  One side has a geographical information about Wesleyan in the format of a geophysical marker.  The other side has the reunion information. If interested, please contact me by email.

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.)