Tag: 1971

Aloha, classmates. Here are the notes I received:

Mark Lerner says, “On September 30, 2024, after 49 years of service, I retired from the U.S. Labor Department as a senior attorney in the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the solicitor’s office. I get to spend time doing my wife Inna’s favorite activity—fitness.  Our older son, Misha, is a graduate student at UC Berkeley, pursuing a doctorate in Slavic studies. Our younger son, Sammy, graduated from Washington and Jefferson College and is planning to pursue a career in genealogy.”

Warren White makes the following suggestion: “DMV residents should consider the Richmond, Virginia, Fan Historic District Holiday House Tour.As a volunteer docent for the past five years, I recommend a guided tour of the largest, intact, U.S. Victorian district while it is decorated for Christmas.”

Edward Swanson sent holiday cheer with a poem:

FOR MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY AT THIS HOLIDAY TIME! 

Last Christmas I sent you a poem

It wasn’t too good, but it was my own.

This year, yet again pressed for time

I’m sending these words again in a rhyme.

It’s been a hard year here, I have to admit.

To get through these months has taken some grit.

The fire from Eaton nearly got our poor home

And though it was spared we had to leave it too long.

A broken arm made things quite hard for a while,

And deaths of good friends seemed to put sadness in style.

But all of you give me great comfort and cheer.

And I want to say thank you at this time of the year.

I have fond memories galore of places and things

And each of you is in there like a bright shiny ring.

Happy holiday, dear friend, may the new year bring you

Good health and good cheer, and lots of fun too!

On a sad note, Ed also sent word of his freshman roommate’s passing, that of  Vladimir “Walter” Zdrok ’72: https://neptunesociety.com/obituaries/milmont-park-pa/walter-zdrok-12259273.

From John Schimmel : “I remain the extreme opposite of retired. Still commuting to the UK to work as executive producer of narrative content for the video games Squadron 42 and Star Citizen; still teaching screenwriting at UC Riverside’s low-residency creative writing MFA program; still rolling spec projects up the hill. Managed (finally) to get my wife, Maureen, to the UK for a two-week, theater-and-museum holiday. . . .”

Harrison Rue “retired” in 2024, after 11 years leading Honolulu’s and then Hawaii’s transit-oriented development (TOD) programs. Before returning to Honolulu, he was a lead consultant to federal agencies under President Obama’s sustainable communities’ partnership. Hank is starting to draft his next book, but if you want to “focus local” on your own neighborhood, check out his “Real Towns: Making Your Neighborhood Work”—a free download on his LinkedIn page. 

“After retiring from a 50-year stint in the rabbinate, I now reside with my wife, Helen, in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina,” says Brett Goldstein.

Dave Lindorff says, “I’m still ‘committing’ journalism, trying to expose the corruption, criminality, and mendacity of the U.S. government and the obscenely wealthy ruling elite who fund its leaders. Lately, Joyce and I have been spending half the year in Cambridge, where she is a lifetime fellow at Clare Hall, a graduate college there, and half the time home in the Philly area, where she’s still a Temple professor.” He also notes, “Unfortunately, we will be in Cambridge for the third term there, which starts on May 2 and runs through the end of June, so I won’t be able to make the epic 55th (!) Class Reunion in person. I hope there will be some opportunity to meet online.” 

Joe Keller spends year in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, playing golf and boating. Still managing a commercial real estate portfolio—retirement is overrated. Continue to go to Wes Homecoming but amazed at how much Wes has changed ideologically in 55 years. Hoping DKE reopens—site of many good times and friendships.

“I was back on campus for Homecoming in October and really enjoyed the “past 50th Reunion Lounge in the PAC for the game. I am enjoying semiretirement in Denver after selling my business and am looking forward to our 55th Reunion in May. I have also invested in a start-up, which has added a new dimension to my workday.  In my spare time I am trying to learn Japanese. It is the most challenging learning I have ever undertaken. I enjoy regular contact with Greg Friedman, Jim Tober,John Hastings, and Rich Suval via text and Zoom (courtesy of Greg), writes David Siegel.

“When I joined demonstrations against the government in ’68 and ’70, I never thought I’d be doing it again 58 years later. Never thought I’d be alive 58 years later, but that’s another story,” writes Stephen Voorhies.

Marvin Williams is alive and has nothing new to add.  

Ran into Stephen Ferruolo at No Kings rally in La Jolla, California, where we both reside. He provided a picture of us on the corner. Been attending many of these rallies around the country—there always seems to be one everywhere I go, including red states!

Take care everyone and remember the 55th Reunion is coming up May 22–24. Hope many of you can attend. Aloha.

Aloha, classmates! Here is the longer version of your class note for this issue of the alumni magazine—more than twice as long as the 800-word magazine limit. Thank you for these wonderful notes.

Bob Yaro writes, “I retired 10 years ago from my day job in Manhattan, where I ran an urban policy group, and five years ago from teaching urban planning at Penn. I continue to engage in efforts to build high-speed rail in the Northeast and across the U.S. and to rebuild New York’s Penn Station. And I’m in my sixth year as chairman of the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, Rhode Island—reflecting my lifelong passion for classic boats. My wife, Susan (Smith ’72 and Wes 12 College Exchange), and I are headed to Nantucket and the Vineyard this summer on our newly restored wooden powerboat, where we plan to visit Blake Allison and his wife, Lindsay, at their place on Chappaquiddick Island. We delight in having our kids and four grandkids (ages 6–10) all close to home in Guilford, Connecticut —but unlike many of you who’ve lived all over the world, we’ve only gotten 21 miles from Middletown in 55 years!

From Stephen Ferruolo: “Time flies. . . . We are just back from Stephen’s (Wes ’20) graduation at SLS (Stanford Law). It was an impressive celebration, somewhat overshadowed by recent events. As much as the speakers tried to be encouraging to the new law grads and to inspire them to resist and not capitulate (as the nine prominent law firms have done), there was a clear sense that we are in uncharted territory, and no one knows where this all will end. Most evident was that there are likely to be many fewer international students at Stanford (and other U.S. universities) in the years to come.

“I have nothing much to report, other than Stephen’s graduation and that I have decided to continue to teach full time for a while longer. I continue to serve as a member of the Board of Trustees of Kuwait International Law School and was in Kuwait in May for a board meeting.”

Warren White says, “I recently joined a VMHC tour of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which is celebrating the 250th anniversary in good style. The tour included Elfreth’s Alley, possible work site of my indentured, 1745 immigrant-ancestor Joseph Wilkins Marshall. The Bellevue Hotel provided very comfortable lodging and while someone mentioned this was the origin of Legionnaires’ disease in 1976, it did not occur on our trip.”

C. B. (Kip) Anderson writes, “It’s been a long time. I always enjoyed our encounters, whether as fellow students or as alumni. Life is weird. I alternate now between fooling around with my three grandchildren and falling back on my longtime bad habits: gardening, writing poems, drinking single malt Scotch whisky, and cultivating cannabis. About the last, I must admit that it was much more fun when it was illegal, but its legalization is about the only thing I have good to say about Massachusetts.”

From Phil Rauch, “Officially retired the end of January 2025 after two years of ‘of counsel.’ We are spending the summer/fall in our house in Vermont, where I am volunteering, hiking, fishing, and playing golf. Also spending more time with the grandchildren. Still on the Wesleyan board but will go off next year. Still traveling a fair amount—last trip was to Morocco.”

And from Andrew Glantz: “Greetings from Scottsdale. Roberta Adams, my wife of 39 years, and I continue to enjoy life and work here in Arizona, although Roberta is retiring in January. She has been the director of Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant at Phoenix Children’s/Mayo Clinic since 2002. I’m still making furniture and teaching furniture making and design. I taught at the Wendell Castle Workshop in June, as I did last year. This is an amazing school, situated in Wendell Castle’s old studio. We spent three weeks in April in Australia, most notably on an island in the northwestern part of the Great Barrier Reef, a great snorkeling and diving area. I’m in the throes of renovating our kitchen—we have been here for over 20 years, and it has just made it to the top of the list. Lots of changes and destruction and great fun. Come on out and visit!”

John Schimmel writes: “I had the opportunity to visit Bob Wienner in hospice before brain cancer took him from us in June of ’24. (His obituary can be read here.) Bob was pretty thoroughly nonverbal by then but, blessedly, he could still laugh. We did a lot of that, especially on the day our Wesleyan roommate Jeff Waxman ’70 joined us. And speaking of Jeff, I just learned that we are going to be in London at the same time in August, great news since we don’t get nearly enough time to visit. Jeff will be visiting his son. I’ll be in the UK for work for most of the summer (I’m still producing narrative content for Cloud Imperium Games, and I’ll be seeing a first cut of a generative AI film I’m producing), but then my wife and two of our three kids are meeting up in London at the start of a much-overdue holiday for Maureen and me: London for fun; Manchester, so she can see the game studio; Edinburgh for the theater and fringe festival; Dublin for more theater. Our youngest has been living with us as she solidifies her transition out of college and into the workforce, but she’s looking to move out soon. Empty nest awaits us.”

From Katy Butler:“I’m not sure I’m transitioning. I still cling to my identity as a writer and often get up at 4 a.m. to write, though it’s harder to find publishing outlets, due to my age and changes in the media landscape. (I think I already let you know I was a finalist for a National Magazine Award in 2025 for an article in Tricycle, the Buddhist magazine.)
Exercising has become a half-time job, necessary for my survival and ‘healthy aging.’ I have to follow the advice in my own book (The Art of Dying Well). I swim three times a week at a community pool and just started weight training at the local community center. My energy isn’t what it was: I take a nap every afternoon or I’d fall over like a redwood tree. I have returned to my earlier infatuation with Zen and joined a local sitting group.

“In the meantime, my relationship with Brian Donohue, my second husband, continues to deepen. His touch gets more tender, I grow more honest and open, I get along better with my two stepsons, and we both get happier, more self-aware, and more grateful.  We are both in awe of what’s possible so late in life. We aren’t rich, but we’re lucky enough to have no money troubles and no debt and to live in a beautiful place, two blocks from a Whole Foods. (You should see the camellias in the backyard when they are blooming in late winter!)

“We have updated the upstairs bathroom and added grab bars. We know we should add a walk-in shower downstairs but find it too daunting! Projects I would have rushed into decades ago with little anxiety are emotionally harder now. 

“Brian continues to lead sing-alongs once a week in a memory care unit—they respond to him more and more by the week. It’s a ministry, a calling, and the source of a little income. I am working on a memoir of growth and healing, still trying to slim it down and figure out what the ‘plot’ or elevator speech is and mindful that it can’t include everything about my adult life but the kitchen sink. I have lost my hotshot New York agent over this project, which she abhorred. It’s a labor of love, not a money project.”

And a non-transition note: From the proud poppa, a press release from Steve Leinwand about his son, Ethan ’05:

Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation

Ethan Leinwand brings a powerful and deeply authentic voice to the world of early American piano music. Specializing in barrelhouse blues and St. Louis-style piano, Ethan’s performances are a raw, rhythmic, and riveting celebration of a tradition that helped shape the foundations of jazz and ragtime. His unique blend of musicality, storytelling, and historical depth makes him a standout in today’s traditional music scene. 

Based in St. Louis, Ethan is deeply immersed in the city’s rich musical legacy and has become a leading voice in preserving and promoting its distinctive sound. He is an active member of Friends of Scott Joplin, a St. Louis-based organization dedicated to honoring the legacy of the King of Ragtime. Through this work, he also helps organize and host the monthly Ragtime Rendezvous, a community-centered event that brings musicians and fans together to celebrate ragtime and early jazz. 

In addition to his work as a performer and advocate in St. Louis, Ethan serves on the Board of Directors for the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation, where he plays a key role in supporting the festival’s mission and artistic direction. His involvement reflects both his passion for the music and his commitment to ensuring its future.

Whether he’s delivering a gritty blues number, an energetic stomp, or a soulful slow drag, Ethan captures the heart of a bygone era with integrity and spirit. His music is alive with character and history, and his performances leave audiences feeling as if they’ve stepped back in time—and discovered something timeless. 

We’re proud to welcome Ethan Leinwand back to Sedalia, where his artistry, leadership, and dedication to community continue to make a lasting impact on the ragtime world. 

That’s all for this time. Keep sending those emails on how you are progressing in this life. Take care and peace!

Aloha! Here is a more extensive and unedited notes and pictures I received from our classmates:

I’m sorry to report the passing of Dave Reynolds, as was reported in the class note for 1967. His friend, Ned Preble ’67, wrote: “Dave Reynolds ’71 died on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at his home in Hampden, Massachusetts, after yearsof illness stimulated by Agent Orange during his service in Thailand. His wife, Heather, his son, Nat, and his wife, and Dave’s sister were with him. He and I stayed in touch from September 1963 until he died. He was a doctor, having pursued his MD and career conscientiously, from postgraduation through his ER tech job in the army, more pre-med courses and health care jobs. There will be a celebration of life October 6, 2024, featuring Steely Dan music. I will never forget his wise laugh and his broad shoulders that once kept NYC subway doors from closing on me.”    

An obituary can be found here.

Jay Resnick sadly reports David Foster died on September 2, 2024, of pancreatic cancer. An obituary can be found here.

Sorry to report that I also learned of the passing of our classmate, Robert Wienner, on June 26, 2024. His obituary can be read here.

Stephen Ferruolo: Re: “Work to Do After the Election” by President Michael Roth. Steven says: “I have never been prouder to be a Wesleyan graduate.” Here is the link to the letter from President Roth, written last November: Work to Do After the Election.

Katy Butler:

“Dear Friends,

“I am writing to share my new, very personal article, published today in Tricycle Magazine called ‘Abortion and the First Precept; Understanding Abortion as the Alleviation of Suffering.’ This is my own story of two pregnancies and my ‘choice,’ as I saw it, between abortion and ruination. 

“Only now, since the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled a national right to abortion, have I thought back 50 years and examined my actions in the light of the precepts and my values. I offer a moral defense of abortion by situating this commonplace, difficult event not in an ideal universe but within the lives of real women, including mine.

“I hope you enjoy it and pass it on to anyone you think might find it helpful.

“I am grateful to Tricycle for lifting their paywall. Please feel free to forward this free link to anyone who might enjoy it, and feel free to share it on social media.”

I recommend downloading the article and read it. It is very illuminating.

Ed Swanson sends a poem and thoughts:

‘Tis twelve nights before Christmas
(Where has the time flown?)
And I’ve finally decided
To jot some words down.

Each year I play poet,
Or at least give it a try,
So I can playfully tell you,
And without any lies, 

That I find you quite special
And I want you to know
That I treasure your friendship
(Even when it don’t show).  

There’s a glow in my heart

As I remember each one

Of my family and friends

And the good times—such fun!

This season’s quite special

And the time’s flying by

So I’ll wish you these words

Ere it’s time for good-bye:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Ed says, “Slowing down but still working and still loving the weather of California versus Connecticut; not looking forward to the next four years; great memories of Wes.”

Alan Epstein writes: “Hope you and your family are doing well and thriving. I do have some news to [share,]my wife and I switched homes with my son, Aaron ’01. He now lives in our large house in Pasadena, and we took over his apartment, one mile away, in order to downsize our living experience. He is a very successful ob-gyn physician/expert in maternal fetal care with four offices in Los Angeles area.  My other son, Seth, is working for me in the lab half a day, and then in the afternoons, he is a coach for the La Canada High School baseball team, where he also gives lessons. Both are happy, which is a real positive. My granddaughter is now applying to college and is hopeful that she will get one of her first choices. On a very positive note, my wife has now been declared free of cancer five years after diagnosis with ovarian cancer and treated at City of Hope Medical Center. I am still working full time at USC Keck School of Medicine and am excited with my research there. I am close to completing studies on a universal tumor vaccine and an oral treatment to quench major mechanisms of tumor-elicited immunosuppression. When both treatments are used together, we see complete regression in triple negative breast cancer mouse models. I am now working to get these products into a start-up company and hope to do the first clinical trials here at USC. This research will be the culmination of my research career, and I am very hopeful that this work will be a substantial contribution. Thanks so for relaying this into your notes. All the best.”

David Barrett ’71, MAT ’72: “I am years into retirement now, devoting my time to civic work in Hartford, where I have lived more than half a century (transitioning into a tidy condo after my wife passed away. Didn’t need a big house and garden any longer.) I am chair of the Board of Directors of Hartford Public Library and also serve on a Hartford Foundation for Public Giving committee that awards community grants in Hartford. Both are rewarding volunteer opportunities.”

Dave Lindorff: “No transition yet. This year is different and exciting though, as my wife, Joyce, is on a year’s sabbatical leave, which she’s taking at Cambridge University. She’s been named a fellow at Clare Hall, the only graduate-level college in Cambridge and is a visiting professor of Early Keyboards at the university’s Department of Music. I am along as spouse, and it’s the perfect opportunity to do more research and update and expand a paperback edition of my latest book, Spy for No Country, that came out in hardcover in December 2024. I’m getting access to six file drawers of teenage, atomic spy Ted Hall’s writing and correspondence that was discovered last year in the family home by his surviving daughters as they were clearing it out to put it on the market. The files were found after their mother, Ted’s widow, died a year ago last June; [they were] in her bedroom closet. I’m hoping it will be a goldmine of insights into Ted’s thinking during his spying and in the years afterward. We are thinking about finding a way to stay here with [my wife] continuing as the music department’s harpsichord teacher, and me continuing with my journalism. We’ll see. . . .”

Ian Hunter: “Both my daughters have gone into academia. One teaches at Boston College, the other at University of New South Wales (Sydney). Both teach statics. Two grandchildren so far, both boys. Have yet to retire but getting closer.”

Scott Gilbert and Anne Raunio ’72 moved to Portland, Oregon, to help raise their granddaughters. Scott, a developmental biologist, says that retirement is like metamorphosis: some structures grow, some structures are jettisoned, and some structures are repurposed. Now without an office, he writes his books from his granddaughters’ playroom, watched over by Barbie and several Disney princesses. “Best wishes!”

William H. Boulware:“Hello, Neil. First, thank you for keeping the lines of communication open all these years for our class. I’m in relatively good health, but still my body often reminds me I’m getting old, especially my short-term memory. I need a new hard drive for my brain. Does anyone out there know where I can find one? And I always thought getting older [meant] I would have fewer responsibilities, instead I seem to have more. I blame my wife.”

Jay Resnick: “Transitions in my life: The most significant transition was the death of my beloved wife, Judy Sarubin, in August 2023. Sending you best wishes for a healthy and happy 2025.”

Anthony Wheeldin: “No real news, but I did want to thank you for serving as class secretary for all these years.”

Bill Bruner: “Not much has changed for me as I’m still practicing medical ophthalmology here in Cleveland half time, transitioning to full retirement at 90! I have four grandchildren ranging from two to eight years old. I’m still married to my wife, Susan, and it will be 50 years this coming June. We have a small vacation home on an island here in Lake Erie called Kelleys Island. We call it a ‘poor man’s Martha’s Vineyard’! Best greetings to all my classmates and hope to see you all at our 60th Reunion! I’ll try to make that one!’

Dick Scoggins: “I am living in Los Angeles with my wife and my daughter and her family. My son and his family live 10 miles from us. Quite a change after my wife and I lived in England for 16 years. Lots of Wesleyan people out here in the industry. My son graduated from Wesleyan and that is what led him into the TV/movie industry out here. Quite a journey!”

Jeff Mojcher: “Nothing special to report as yet, but soon to retire!” Jeff, write some more! We have not heard from you in a long while.

Malcolm Cochran: “After seven years of extensive renovations to property I bought in 2017, my lifelong dream of having my studio and living together has materialized. I celebrated on October 5, 2024, with an open studio and a poetry reading by my friend of 59 years, Wesley McNair. Family and friends totaling more than 65 attended on a glorious warm, sunny, fall day. I capped off the month with a two-week trip to Italy to research compositions at an archive of music composed in the WW II concentration camps that I will adapt for an upcoming installation project.”

Above and below are three photos from Malcolm’s open studio held on October 5, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio.

“Thank you for serving so long and diligently as class secretary—Malcolm Cochran.”

Greetings and aloha, 1971 classmates,

Here are the transitions I received:

Don Schellhardt was wondering if transitions meant “passing on.” Emphatically, NO, but those will be duly noted. We decided at our 50th to address in the class notes changes in our lives as we progress through our eighth and ninth decades and beyond (if we make it that far). So, inform us all on what transitions you are making in this life.

Don also writes, “After living in Northern California for five years, I grew weary of high rents and missed the gentle beauty of the East. Now I live five miles south of the Mason-Dixon Line. . . .  I am also seeking opportunities to speak in public about mental health issues.” (Don Schellhardt, new contact information: 90 Manor Drive Apartment #103 Hagerstown, MD 21740; holyokerange1124@gmail.com; 203/312-3921.)

George Lehner (galehner@gmail.com) received the President’s Award at the White House Correspondents’ Association. George served as the association’s counsel for 18 years. You can read more here: WHCA award.

John Hester and wife, Elaine, visited Warren White in Richmond, Virginia, in July, in between tours of Japan and the Dalmatian Coast. Warren is a volunteer prep cook for Feed More, a 34-county/city community feeding program, and volunteers for the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. The late Rick Ketterer ’69 was remembered as John’s Delta Tau Delta brother and the articulate tour guide who introduced Warren to WesU in fall 1966. (Warren L. White, 1025 W. Grace St., Apt. 515, Richmond, VA 23220–3634; 615–678–9146; warrenwhite1949@gmail.com.)

For the second year in a row, Bob Yaro sailed his wooden Herreshoff sloop to Martha’s Vineyard where he rendezvoused with Blake Allison at his home on Chappaquiddick Island. Blake took the helm for a sail on Nantucket Sound and also led a guided tour around Chappy. And Blake’s wife, Lindsay, served dinner on the deck overlooking Edgartown Harbor.

Dick Scoggins “here in Glendale, California, since 2020, after 16 years in England working with a mission agency that focuses on the Muslim world. Before that I was a pastor (believe it or not) at a church in Warwick, Rhode Island. I went to graduate school at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and ended up surprisingly finding Jesus. While I was in England, my two children moved out here to Los Angeles to get in the movie/TV industry.  So, once we were done in England, we moved to Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles. My son, Nathan ’99, is also a Wesleyan grad. Quite a journey and still evolving as I became convinced in England that we needed to have a multigenerational family model. So, our daughter and her husband live with us with their three kids, and my son and his family live 10 miles up the road from us. Quite a journey!”

Joe Summa asks if this is transition news. YES!  “I’m still practicing labor and employment law in Connecticut and [am] still heavily involved with inner-city basketball programs for youth.  In terms of Wesleyan news, however, I have just been informed by the athletic department that I will be inducted into the Wesleyan Hall of Fame on November 1, 2024. [Here is the link: 2024 Hall of Fame class] It has been great hearing from former teammates and friends and hopefully will reconnect with more over the next few months. Thanks.” (Joseph B Summa, Summa & Ryan P.C., 228 Meadow Street, Suite 303, Waterbury, CT 06702; office: 203–755–0390; cell/text: 203– 597–7440.)

Dave Lindorff says: “About to begin an exciting adventure. My wife of 54 years (we married in a tree on Foss Hill at sunrise in June 1970 with friends on other branches) [and I] are about to head off to Cambridge University for Joyce’s nine-month sabbatical as a fellow at Clare Hall (where we’ll be living) and a visiting professor of early keyboard music in the music department. While she is performing and doing work on a book, I will be free to pour through six newly discovered file drawers of materials belonging to Ted Hall, the teen atomic spy at Los Alamos who gave the Soviets the entire schematics for making the plutonium bomb used on Nagasaki. I am hoping over that period to receive newly re-declassified FBI files on both Ted and his older brother, which should be worth a new update chapter in the paperback edition [of Spy for No Country]. There should also be lots to write about from the UK, which is moving left while most of the rest of Europe—and possibly the U.S.—moves right.”

C.B. “Kip” Anderson writes: “It’s been a long time, especially due to the fact that I was unable to attend our 50th. Transitions can suck and be beautiful at the same time.  A little about mine:

“My semi-retirement from the business of gardening has allowed me to spend a lot more time on reading and writing poetry. But, dammit, my most compelling preoccupation is associating with my three grandchildren. There you have it. If you would like to read some cutting-edge formal poetry, then just send me your land address and you shall have it.” (cbanderson49@gmail.com)

My transitions: Bought a townhouse in La Jolla, California, across from UCSD. Still living in Kauai. So, I guess I have a new definition for bicoastal. Working for a biotech company developing a new drug for HPV+ induced cancers (head and neck, cervix, vaginal, vulvar, penile, and anal). A surprising increasing number of these cancers despite the vaccine for HPV, especially in 50-year-olds and older (partially related to sexual practices and can take 20 years to develop). It fits in with my previous work in new cancer drug discovery and also development of antiviral drugs. Now a project putting the two into one drug. It’s fun and keeping me occupied.

This week as I write this, I have experienced the transition of the other kind. Two friends in one week passed on beyond the rainbow. It seems peculiar that our brains stay young and make us, or maybe just me, think I am 50 but the body says no, much older. But I am dealing with that. Good exercise, an Oprah diet, travel and friends in many places, that’s the stuff of life. We should enjoy it while we can because when it stops, as Tim Walz says, “then we can sleep.”

Until the next Wesleyan alum magazine time, aloha all, and keep the news of transitions coming.

Aloha, here are the emails I received for this time.

Alan Epstein writes: “Hope you and your family are doing well. I am still working full time at USC and am involved in two new start-up companies that will keep me pretty busy along with university work and a constant stream of students being trained in the laboratory. My son, Seth, is working part time in the lab with me and then coaches high school baseball and loving it. My other son, Aaron ’01, is now in private practice and has an active, four-office, OB-GYN [group] where he practices maternal fetal-care medicine for high-risk pregnancies. Busy like most with four grandchildren ages 9–16, which mostly keeps my wife very involved. Not much more to add except that I recently completed the best Indian Head cent collection, which is a lifelong hobby of mine that enables me to get my mind off research and make new friends. Looking forward to seeing the next issue of Wesleyan Magazine to see how everyone else is doing. All the best.”

From Dick Scoggins we hear: “Hopefully this is our last one. We moved from England to Los Angeles in 2012 after 20 years in the UK working with a mission organization for Muslims. Our son (Nathan Scoggins ’99) and his family had moved to Los Angeles in 2000. They live about 10 miles away from us. Our daughter and her husband had moved out here in 2005. They have three children and live with us in a multigenerational home. While I was in England I was struck by the fragmentation of family and felt that we needed to move back to the USA with our kids in order to build an extended family network. I continue to work in person with people here, and also online with people around the world, focusing on character building and building strong families.” 

And from Anthony Wheeldin: “Retired from the bench in August 2023.  Still work part time to cover various calendars leaving lots of time for grandchildren, family, and fun.”  

Sadly, a transition from Jay Resnick: “Tough year for me. My wife was diagnosed with cancer and died five weeks later on August 30, 2023. I am continuing to learn Yiddish and just finished my first semester of Latin. Zay gezunt (Yiddish: ‘Be well’).”

John Schimmel sends this: “Biggest transition for us: my youngest is finally graduating her five-year college program. One friend translated that news as, ‘You’re getting a raise.’ Other than that, no major changes. Still married to Maureen Donley, still producing narrative content for Cloud Imperium Games and for my own projects, still teaching in UC Riverside’s Low-Residency MFA Creative Writing program.” 

Mike Yamashita: “Sorry, Neil, I’ve been flat out on multiple assignments since Lil and I met you for that memorable evening at your island paradise.

“Hokkaido: Made great progress on my book on Japan, getting the weather I wanted— two weeks of heavy snow. Hokkaido is normally the snowiest place on the planet, this year being the exception up until the blizzards we experienced in late February. The book will focus on my love affair with Japan from the first visit on a ‘roots’ trip after Wes graduation in 1971, to my first story for National Geographic on Hokkaido in 1979, up to the present, revisiting the 10 National Geographic magazine stories and three books I’ve done on Japan—working title, Full Circle. 

“North Vietnam in March: Shooting for a Chinese cell phone company, capturing seasonal change from winter to spring in a country that loves flowers. Flowers were everywhere on the streets of Hanoi in February and March for Tet and International Women’s month celebrations, when bouquets are traditionally gifted. More photography for OPPO in Brazil in May. 

“My retrospective book on China titled, East Meets West, is in the final layout stage, to be launched in June. It will be the first in a five-volume series entitled A History of China Through Foreign Photographers’ Eyes, mine covering the last 40 years to the present. 

“Next trip: Leaving for Venice for the Biennale on April 17, with major events celebrating the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s death. A new edition of my book on Marco Polo is being published in Chinese, and a traveling exhibition is touring Italy. If anyone is in the Liguria Region in the vicinity of Genoa, please stop by Castelnuovo Magra; [it is on] display till October 13.

“I also have some speaking engagements coming up toward the end of this year and next in Des Moines and Kansas City. I will keep you informed as we get closer to those dates.  

I am an umbraphile! My fifth total solar eclipse was done on April 8, 2024, in Lake Placid, New York, the day after my birthday. It all started as a kid in Boston (number one)—cloudy, only experienced darkness. Number twp was in Oregon; number three in Chile; and [for] number four, I traveled to Antarctica and only saw darkness, but obviously a trip of a lifetime. And now the great North American eclipse and, of course, I had to find totality not just 99%. Totally lucked out in that it was a clear day but the moment the moon finished eclipsing the sun (or moon ole sol) it clouded up. But a total eclipse is so extraordinary and magnificent. Love it. So now off to the next one . . . more on that later.

Aloha for now. Send more transitions.