Tag: 1971

Aloha! Sorry for cutting most of your news as I am limited in words I can publish. I promise those who sent lots of news to have more in the next column.

Sad news, my good friend Kevin Kulick ’72 passed away Feb. 25 at his home in Buffalo, N.Y. I had seen Kevin two weeks earlier in Phoenix, where he was undergoing treatment. We discussed his course and I suggested he head back home. He was in good spirits and we had many laughs and reminiscing moments about our times at Wesleyan and our lives afterward. It caught me a bit off guard when two days after arriving home to family and friends he died. He will be missed, and these moments often bring us to the point of realization of just how short life is. Condolences to his lovely wife, Rise, and their children and families.

First time writer Mike Ronan says he’s retired to Panama, where he runs a coffee farm in the mountains with wife Pam after a career teaching at Houston Community College. His two kids are writers and filmmakers. Before leaving the States, he caught up with fellow oarsmen Michael Mullally in Montreal and Buddy Coote in D.C., stays in touch with Roy Cramer.

Demetrie Comnas and his wife, Ann, resettled in West Palm Beach, Fla., a couple of years ago, and are enjoying the sun, golf, and relative peace. “We get to Greece a couple of times each year, to visit brother Basil ’70. We see Cecily and Carey O’Laughlin and their delightful daughter Ashley.”

Kip Anderson writes, “I am happy to tell that my second book of poetry has just been published. It’s titled Roots in the Sky, Boots on the Ground. It consists of formal metaphysical poetry and is available from Amazon.” John Cuddy is in transition to full retirement, down to two days per week. Teaching one course in accounting at Towson University and soon pursuing volunteer opportunities. Bart Brush says, “After two years of retirement, I went back to work last August as a music teacher at Kayenta Middle School on the Navajo Reservation—my 17th year since starting in Utica, N.Y., in 2000. A career in education can be wonderful but does not make a lot of sense financially.”

Warren White continues to cook and bake for the poor and homeless. The number of meals prepared has increased by about 400 percent since 2013, surpassing Nashville’s high growth rate. John Rothman writes, “Philip Casnoff and Graeme Bush joined family and friends for the wedding of our son Noah this April in Palm Beach. I am still acting. Highlight of season 20 of Law and Order SVU: My judge was exposed as the ring leader of sex trafficking ring.” Bill Hicks has written extensively on Christian topics including two published books and a third book on the way. He enjoys life in Chattanooga, Tenn., with wife of 29 years, Ardena, and their two adult daughters, Rachel and Sarah. Mary McWilliams says after being widowed, “I finally found the second love of my life two years ago who is my companion for daily life and other adventures. My life is happily complete with friends and family, travel, board work, and now two grandchildren.” Mark Wallach started a new law firm and has five grands.

Katy Butler completed a successful nationwide book tour for The Art of Dying Well. Alvin and Cynthia James are semi-retired and living in Cedar Hill, Texas. Michael Brewin’s new album of guitar compositions, GUITARSOUL (jazz, world, classical), has been released. John Schimmel writes that the youngest of his three kids graduated from high school and he and wife Maureen face empty-nesthood. “A film I executive-produced about abuse in the for-profit foster care system will open the Nashville Film Festival. The film I wrote with the participation of the Dalai Lama is in pre-production. I continue on as senior producer of narrative content, developing stories and producing the performance capture shoots, for Cloud Imperium Games; and as part of the core faculty at the University of California at Riverside’s Low Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing arts. Last July, I performed in the 40th(!) reunion concert of the Broadway show, Pump Boys and Dinettes, of which I was a co-creator. Finally, I have just become active in the Alpha Delta Phi mentor’s program.”

Our 50th Reunion is May 20-23, 2021! That may sound far away but it will be here before you know it. Come to campus for a Reunion planning meeting on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019 and look for regional events to attend throughout the year. The Reunion Committee is looking for your input. If you know of anyone that’s been off the grid or if you would like to get involved, please contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 at klynch@wesleyan.edu or 860/685-5992.

Aloha until next issue. Again, apologize for cutting some of the news short but it will appear next time.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha, classmates. Let me start off with some sad news. Jonathan Felt died in October. He was originally in our class, but due to health reasons, graduated with Class of ’72. His death was sent in by his roommate, Patrick Callahan, and friend, Jake Weiss. His obituary was in the Ridgefield Press. Jon was an accomplished film producer and director. He had an eye for capturing the beauty around him and was quick to teach others who were just as eager to learn. Working with ABC 20/20 for many years, he spotlighted endless incredible stories for the world. Jon brought home numerous awards for groundbreaking documentaries like The Men Who Brought the Dawn, which highlighted the Enola Gay crew that dropped the first atomic bomb. He is survived by his two daughters, Danika and Alissa, granddog Mickey, and former wife yet cherished friend, Doreen Felt.

Our 50th Reunion is coming fast. Yes, 2021 will be here before you know it. Bob Millner attended a working meeting of the Class of ’70 and gave us a report of what we need to start preparing to do. The committee is seeking volunteers to help plan this important milestone. We could use people who would help put together a class book. It involves soliciting bios and submissions from classmates.

The committee is looking for class members of color to participate in organizing a program addressing the African-American experience in our class (which was the first one at Wesleyan with a significant African-American presence) and perhaps comparing it with that experience today.

The Reunion committee will be reaching out to folks to collect up-to-date contact information. Look for pre-Reunion regional events and if close by, attend! Want to get involved or haven’t heard from one of us? Contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 at klynch@wesleyan.edu or 680/685-5992. And, check out wesleyan.edu/classof1971 for the latest news.

That’s all the news I have this time. I will continue to remind you about the 50th Reunion so please volunteer to make this event the best Reunion milestone. Thanks, and aloha.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha, classmates. Planning efforts are underway for our 50th Reunion in 2021. Volunteers are needed to work on outreach and planning efforts. Please contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 (klynch@wesleyan.edu) if you’d like to be involved. The committee is looking for more members to help with planning. We are hoping to get many of our classmates who haven’t attended Reunions to participate in the preparation and attend this critical year event. It would be great to see a majority of the class come out and get reacquainted again. Please volunteer or, at a minimum, keep the dates in mind in 2021. (Seems far away but will be here before you know it.)

Larry A. Jones wants to say hello to the Wesleyan community. Larry and his wife, Audrey (Wellesley ’72) celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary with friends, including Lila Cruz Jacobs ’76 and Evans Jacobs ’73 on Martha’s Vineyard in August. As empty-nesters, Audrey and Larry penned their family memoir about raising their three ADHD gifted sons. Learn more about their book on their website, enabletables.com. The memoir, which demystifies ADHD in childhood and beyond, is a blend of love, humor and real-life irony. Falling Through the Ceiling, shedds light on the challenges of living and prospering with attention deficit hyperactive disorder.

Bud Coote writes, “I recently retired from the CIA after 44 years, where I worked on the Vietnam War after protesting it on campus. My focus shifted to the Middle East and former Soviet Union after Saigon fell. I currently work on the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C., think tank. I had dinner with fellow Wes oarsman, Mike Ronan, earlier this year and met up with John Reynolds, Rob Dewees, and Moe Benson for a mini-reunion in May.”

Saw Todd Jick at a Wesleyan event in NYC. His daughter, Adina, got married this summer and wanted a kickass hora and we should know that “TJ the DJ” delivered. Also saw Jake Weiss at same event. The event at the High Line in NYC included Dave Jones ’70, John Griffin ’70, Joel Bernstein ’70, Diana Diamond ’70, and John Alschuler ’70.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha, classmates! Not much news this cycle after a rather full one last magazine.

If you can believe it, planning efforts are underway for our 50th Reunion in 2021. Volunteers are needed to work on outreach and planning. Please contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 (klynch@wesleyan.edu) if you’d like to be involved.

I heard from Georgia Sassen, who reminds us that Harvard, in this case, is the town in Massachusetts, not the university. She is still in private practice in psychology, part-time, and now has more time for her poetry. She received a grant from the Harvard Cultural Council to give a reading there called “Ancient and Contemporary Women of Harvard: Poems in Their Voices.” She directs the nonprofit Building Resilience in Kids (BRIKontheweb.org) as her pro bono public mental health work.

Katy Butler has a Facebook group called Slow Medicine. It deals with issues of dying with dignity. She is the author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door, a must-read about the dying of her father, Professor Jeffery Butler, then her mother. Katy has a new book coming out, The Art of Dying Well: A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life. Check Amazon for release.

Over Memorial Day weekend I was on the Big Island (far from the volcano) in Kona. I was a delegate to the Hawaii State Democratic Party Convention (or the “Dump Trump Confab”). One of my fellow delegates was the illustrious Russ Josephson ’70. I still think it’s some kind of sign that the class of 1970 and 1971 class secretaries should live less than one mile apart on a remote rock, the most isolated rock on earth, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Are we a metaphor for how estranged our classes are from the main body of classes? Hope not. Anyway, being this is an election year, all the Hawaii politicians were present. Since Hawaii is virtually a one-party state we got to meet our next governor and other state leaders. Just love life here. Easy to make yourself heard and effect change.

I challenge you as you read this to send me an e-mail with news about you. Aloha for now.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha! If you can believe it, planning efforts are underway for our 50th Reunion in 2021. Volunteers are needed to work on outreach and planning efforts. Please contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 (klynch@wesleyan.edu) if you’d like to be involved.

Sad news. David Bonanno, 68, longtime editor of the Philadelphia-based American Poetry Review, died Dec. 8, from complications after a medical procedure.

Jodan Wouk is a docent for three institutions and a community and political activist. His son, senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, England, got married in Florence, Italy, last July. Constance Balides, at Tulane University, gave a keynote address, “Immersion As Cultural Logic, Contemporary Film As Symptom,” during the Berliner Festspiele conference on immersion and contemporary art in Berlin.

Peter Gutmann writes, “All are welcome to browse my site, classicalnotes.net, which focuses on the background and significant recordings of great music. Vital stats: living in Chevy Chase, Md.; wife Babette (VP of giant Westat research firm); sons Harold (sports writer) and David (commodities trader); and three grandkids.”

Kip Anderson is working on his second book of poetry. His son is about to undertake a career in personal training. Alvin and Cynthia James are doing well in Cedar Hill, Texas, and will celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary this year. Miguel Gómez-Ibánez is “in my last year as president of North Bennet Street School, a craft school established in 1881 in Boston’s North End.” He plans to return to furniture-making. Still living in Weston, Mass., since 1981.

Alan Van Egmond left the U.S. Senior Foreign Service in May 2017 after a 38-year career. He and wife Julie are based in Naples, Fla. In Vancouver, B.C., saw Marc Pickard ’70, and in Chestertown, M.D., Saw Vic Pfeiffer.” Sorry to Bud Coote never received your note, send it for next time. Katy Butler, in 2017, dedicated a bench outside Judd Hall to her late mother, Val, and father, Jeffrey, who taught history at Wesleyan. The Wasch Center for retired faculty honored Professor Rick Elphick, who completed her father’s last book, Cradock: How Segregation and Apartheid Came to a South African Town. [See pp. 40-41.] Katy and her longtime partner, Brian Donohue, got married in their backyard June after a 17-year courtship.

Sandy Gold says, “Attended Cornell Law School, became an assistant district attorney in Manhattan for three years. Since leaving, I have practiced in NYC, where I specialize in defending medical malpractice cases against doctors and hospitals. I live in Irvington, N.Y., with my lawyer wife of 43 years. We have two grown children (a daughter who is a law professor, and a son who works for Major League Baseball), and three young grandchildren.”

Jay Resnick wrote, “2017 brought David Foster to town. Had a great dinner with Andy Glantz in Scottsdale. In April I had a heart attack. In October, two brain bleeds, followed by three brain surgeries, followed by a week in intensive care, then another week in intermediate care. Still in physical therapy, relearning to walk, with focus now on balance.”

John Schimmel lives in LA “married 1986 to the stage manager of a Broadway show I co-wrote, Pump Boys and Dinettes, and we have three glorious kids, one in high school, one at Berkeley architecture school, one a film editor. I had a first career as a musician, a second in the film industry, and I now work for a video game company and am teaching screenwriting at UC, Riverside.”

Michael Mullally has owned his design-build company in Woodstock for 20 years, after a career in film and advertising in Hollywood and N.Y. Two grown children, Ryan and Tara, and one granddaughter, Alexandra.

John Rothman writes, “I’m starring in the critically acclaimed Amazon series One Mississippi, now in its second season. My career after 40 years as a working actor is flourishing!” (johnrothmanactor.com) “Robin Eaton and filmmaker daughter Alex came to the premiere of my latest movie, My Art. Wife Suzie is editor-in-chief and publisher of Workman. Daughter Lily is history editor of Time Magazine and was married last June. Son Noah is thriving as a manager/producer.”

Frank Alley says, “I retired last summer after 22 years as a bankruptcy judge, and am now teaching part-time at the U Oregon School of Law. Tammy and I have two daughters, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Living in Eugene, Ore.”

At his daughter Ariel’s Oxford PhD graduation, Dave Lindorff got short of breath and ended up in an NHS hospital. After five days of tests, he opted to come back to the U.S. He has treatable sarcoidosis of the lungs (he is better now). Total cost of his stay and treatment in the UK: $990. Total cost of just an MRI in the US: over $2,000. “We gotta do something here in the U.S. to fix this! For those who want a more detailed account, go to: lrb.co.uk/v39/n23/dave-lindorff/short-cuts.”

Dick Scoggins spent 16 years in England then moved to LA to be near his two children, Nathan ’99 and Joanna, who are both married. His daughter’s family (including two kids) live with him, and Nathan and his three daughters live in the next town. He continues to mentor missionaries around the world.

Stephen Ferruolo is in seventh year as dean of University of San Diego School of Law and son Stephen ’20 is working towards a dual major in psychology and government. Steve Leinwand was at the Shanghai and The Hague American Schools. Logged 240,000 air miles last year and not slowing in 2018. Trying to change the way we teach K-12 math to kids. Mike Thompson’s daughter, Blair, produced twin girls on Oct. 26—his first grands! He is in regular contact with Jon Felt, Pat Callahan, and Jake Weiss. Ed Swanson went to his hometown, Naugatuck, Conn., for 50th Reunion and saw Chuck Lucier ’70 and Jim Redwood.

Sorry to have butchered your notes but limited words. I was deeply honored when Katharyn and Richard Aroneau donated to Wesleyan in my honor.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714

Aloha and a big mea culpa. I did not seek news for this issue so I feel a little guilty. But wait! There is nothing stopping you guys and gals from e-mailing things to me at anytime. The magazine comes out three times a year, so if you think of something, or something special happens in your life, drop me a short note.

I did hear from Jeff Kraines and David Rabban about the passing of our classmate, Rick Schenk. He was an MD and went to Stanford after Wesleyan. Jeff made the comment “Looking at class notes is like marching around Foss Hill in the alumni parade. We get closer to the front!”

As I have said in the past when I have little or no news, you get to hear about my life. I spent the summer in New York, where, incidentally, there was no summer weather. I am working on a new business idea combining healthcare, lifestyles, and the Internet. Anybody interested in the idea, please contact me for more details.

I did manage to go to Oregon for the solar eclipse. For those of you not in totality you really missed an experience of a lifetime. I am hooked. I plan on going to South America in 2019 to see the one there. You just can’t imagine the scene. It’s no wonder in older days, murders, slayings, and overthrows happened when they occurred.

I have been intermittently on Kauai, which is definitely still home. Still love the peace, serenity and beauty of the place. The community is also very engaging. It is just a place I appreciate more after several months in hectic-driven New York City.

Family-wise, my eldest son is working in Silicon Valley in recruiting and human resources. He is married and has two sons, 1 and 2-1/2 years old. I am not “Grandpa,” as I tell myself I am too young for that moniker, so they call me Puna, which is Hawaiian and short for Punahele which means “my favorite.” Of course, I will be when they come often to visit me on Kauai. My other son just finished his residency in anesthesia in Houston and is doing a fellowship in pain. He is getting married in March. My daughter is with Four Seasons Beverly Hills in hospitality.

I was working full-time until April, now just consulting with some biotech companies and looking for some board of director positions or advisory board position in oncology. Any of you in biotech, think of me if you hear of openings.

I will end this discussion about me. I am enjoying my life and its many changes. Keeps me occupied and traveling around. Life is good. Hope all of you are happy and content. And I hope this will make more of you send me your information so you don’t have to read about me again. Aloha.

Neil J. Clendeninn | Cybermad@msn.com
PO Box 1005, Hanalei, HI 96714