Tag: 1972

I must begin with some sad news, as we have lost one of the true icons of our class. Dave Revenaugh died in February after a lengthy illness. Everyone will remember Dave as the star running back on Wesleyan’s undefeated team in 1969. The image of him scoring the winning touchdown in the epic win over Williams is forever etched in my mind. The following year Wesleyan repeated as Little Three champs—and we went through a very long stretch of time before that happened again. But let’s also remember Dave as a truly delightful, if Rabelaisian, individual. He was a constant, active presence on campus, someone who enjoyed life immensely and made everyone around him enjoy it too. He made a career as a builder, specializing in “green,” sustainable projects. No one who knew him will soon forget Dave. The world has now become that much duller.

Geoffrey Smith passed away last June in Virginia. Jeff worked for the IRS for 40 years. He was remembered in his Centreville community for his many years of coaching softball and basketball with men and women with special needs.

Fred Moore passed away Feb. 16. Fred earned an MBA from Columbia and qualified as a CPA, enjoying a long and varied career in the corporate world and in banking, most recently as vice president of Structured Securitized Products for ING Financial Services, Inc. We who remember him as a track star at Wesleyan are not surprised to know that he kept up with competitive running until he became ill.

Dennis Kesden is moving into a new phase. He and his wife, Sherry, sold their ophthalmology practice and office building, and became employees of OCLI, the largest eye group in the New York metropolitan area. They work Monday to Thursday for three weeks, then take a week off and go to Phoenix to see their daughter, Cindy; son-in-law, Jay; and grandchildren, Spencer and Hannah. Their son, Dr. Mike Kesden, is a tenure-track physics professor at U.T. Dallas, and the winner of a Sloan Fellowship. Dennis has targeted this December as his retirement date. Dennis plays a lot of golf, but Sherry’s idea of relaxation is performing 18 cataract operations a day.

Sherry Hilding is still working as a special education teacher at Windham Tech HS in Willimantic, Conn. She also was recently certified as a TRE-tension/trauma release provider, takes a lot of yoga, and continues to teach an eclectic exercise class. And last summer she attended a ‘super fantastic” workshop at Omega Institute led by Bobby McFerrin.

Pat Bailey is still living the dream in his home, Chateau Calypso, in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. “This past July I was the International Sailing Federation’s technical delegate in charge of the Sailing Competition at the Pan American Games. Our event was acclaimed the best ever in the history of the Games! Not too bad for a simple island boy and as always I am thankful for my well rounded education at Wesleyan ’68-’72.”

Paul Vidich’s novel should be published by the time this column is in print. I can’t wait to read it. Paul’s home town buddy Vin Suprynowicz has also transitioned to the fictive mode. To quote from the book jacket of his latest novel,

“Deep in the Nevada desert, in a hidden mansion full of old books and vintage clothes, guarded by five-and-a-half anthropomorphic cats and a family of Attack Roadrunners, Vin Suprynowicz went cold turkey from a 40-year newspaper career. They said he’d never write anything over a thousand words again. But with the help and encouragement of the Brunette and a few close friends, he came back. With The Testament of James he proved them wrong. Now comes the second drug-enhanced adventure of Matthew Hunter and Chantal Stevens, The Miskatonic Manuscript. In an earlier life, Vin wrote Send in the Waco Killers, The Ballad of Carl Drega, and the freedom novel The Black Arrow.”

Leon Vinci is back “east”—Roanoke, Va., to be precise, after 12 years as a county public health officer in Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado. Two sons and a grandchild live nearby. (His daughter works on Madison Avenue in “the Big Apple.”) Leon is CEO/President of Health Promotion Consultants, a health and environmental consulting firm. In Colorado, Leon met up with Rick Berg for some mountain/trail hiking on the western slope. (Okay, Rick! Two consecutive issues!) Leon is proud to announce that this is the 175th Anniversary of the founding of Chi Psi, and he will be attending the conclave in Williamsburg, Va. The Lodge at Wesleyan is the third-oldest chapter.

Peter Schwartz works in a large geriatric medical practice in southeast Pennsylvania. He and wife Leigh celebrated 20 years of marriage and the birth of their 10th grandchild (six for him, four for her). Son Jonathan ’00 is head of the middle school at The Greenhills School in Ann Arbor. Son Jeffrey lives in Japan while the other children are closer by.

John Paul Maynard is completing his fifth year running the website, Islamic Civilization, hosted by the alumni office of Harvard University. In September, he completed Twelve Capitalisms: An Economic History of Civilization. In spring 2016 his second book of poems, Turning the Barbarians, will be published by the Levelers Press.

This from Rob Gelblum: “Trying to exit my 30-year environmental law career (including 25 with the State of North Carolina, ending three years ago), though music will take up a certain amount of time. Meanwhile, Mary Lou continues to render therapy part-time to the severely autistic. Reuben (29) is new to Seattle after relocating there with his partner (she’s starting medical residency there), and Morris (just turned 28) continues to grow Sweeps (sweeps.jobs) while living outside Chapel Hill. Both sons did that UNC-CH (where their parents met as 32-year-old grad students) undergrad thing. A downsizing scenario involving leaving Raleigh after 28 years for a few acres west of Chapel Hill, with ML’s handicapped older sister/ward and sister’s caregiver living in one little-if-not-tiny home and us in another, may be in the cards. It’s ironic to think that, when my parents announced in Philly in June ’68 they were moving the family to some place called Chapel Hill, N.C., I said something like, ‘Thank goodness I’ll never have to live down there with you, since I’ll be starting Wesleyan in the fall.’ Best to all ’72ers.”

And of course, a final word from Bob White: “An article is coming out soon, targeting me and my work on the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis. Ouch! It is a good thing that I went to Wesleyan and this is just business as usual to deal with such contention. Stay tuned.”

Thanks, folks! More in four months!

SETH A. DAVIS | sethdavis@post.harvard.edu

213 Copper Square Drive, Bethel, CT 06801

Rick Berg and his wife are back from Bhutan, where he was writing software for the Royal Thimphu College. “That,” he says, “was a wonderful and enlightening experience, but after two years at Himalayan wages there is no question of retirement. Besides, I need something to do, since I’ve given up climbing after several bad falls. So it’s back to New Mexico, where I’m writing software for DataWizards, a small company I share with three partners, and hiking on the weekends. Occasionally I do get back East, where I get to see Bernie Crawford, who is a surgeon in NYC.”

The following major news bulletin is submitted verbatim and without further comment: “Much to the surprise of all concerned, Steve Roper finally married his long-time amiable consort, Nancy J. Stack ’74, in April of 2015. This shocking turn of events was aided and abetted by Steve’s ’72 classmates, J. Bryan Flynn and John R. Rivers, along with honorary classmate, Carol (Beardsley) Rivers. The happy couple will continue to reside in Melrose, Mass., where Steve has retired after 31 years of attempting to keep the Mass. Dept. of Transportation from violating all known federal and state historic preservation laws. Nancy J., although entertained by Steve’s adventures in the trackless morass of Medicare/Social Security, continues to labor as a hired gun planner/project manager in Boston.”

John Manchester and his wife, Judy, have moved to Oakland, close to sons Shawn and Chris, who are both enjoying high-tech success, and grandson Jackson, who is a nuclear-powered age 3. John is in his 11th year of pursuing a second career as a writer after the Internet destroyed his old one as a composer. He is still holding out for traditional, over self-, publishing. His latest is a thriller with a backstory based on the Wesleyan ’60s.

Jerry Ryan, after buying or financing nursing homes for various companies over nearly 35 years, is retiring to Greenville, S.C., next spring. Presumably, Jerry left nothing but satisfied customers in Greenville. Jerry has four grandchildren between his wife’s two and his own two.

After over 30 years of designing and producing computer games, and before that, paper-and-pencil games, Arnold Hendrick and his wife, Georgeann, have retired to “sagebrush steppe” country of Meridian, Idaho, just outside of Boise. Except he hasn’t really retired at all: he’s still employed making computer games for a virtual company.

After almost 40 years in New Jersey, Doug Stivison and wife Heather moved to the beautiful southeast coast of Massachusetts, where Doug took up the position of pastor of the Congregational Church of South Dartmouth. The iconic 200-year-old church is just two blocks up from the waterfront of Padanaram Harbor….well known to sailors as the site of the Buzzards Bay Regatta. Doug had the pleasure this summer of walking his daughter, Megan, down the aisle, then turning around and officiating at the wedding. Singing at her sister’s wedding was Beth Stivison ’09.

After completing a long-dreamed-of circumnavigation aboard his 43-foot South-African-built cutter, Nat Warren-White has returned to his home state of Maine, where he is writing about his adventures. To date, Ocean Navigator, has published 14 pieces written about all legs of the journey and Nat is busy looking for a publisher to help edit and create a book stitching these “chapters” together. Nat and Betsy, together since ’75, have just been blessed with their first grandchild, Diego Antonio, born June 15 to son Josh and his partner, Maria, in Berkeley, Calif. “What a thrill —and great to join the club and be able to share grandparent stories with Peter Stern and others, plus have an excuse to spend more time on the Left Coast.” Nat continues to act and coach executives through the Ariel Group in Boston (arielgroup.com) while practicing as a drama therapist. The theater company he helped start in 2004, AndStillWeRise (andstillwerise.org), comprised of ex-prisoners and their loved ones, continues to thrive in Boston and will be appearing at the North American Drama Therapy conference in White Plains, N.Y., on Oct. 15. Any and all WEStech friends are welcome to visit in South Freeport, Maine. Nat enjoys being in regular touch with Joel Bernstein, Jim Pickering, Stephen Policoff, Peter Stern, Peter Love, Inara de Leon, Paula Harrington and others from our sweet bygone WESU days, but still misses Oscar Look dearly. A book of Oscar’s letters and poetry, published by his daughter, Erin, is available on Amazon…just search Oscar Look and it’ll pop up!

Andy Feinstein continues to work, expanding his law firm, which specializes in representing students with special needs and their parents. “I see Rich Easton on alternate Friday mornings at the Stonington Men’s Group and just missed Paul Vidich’s 65th birthday party last Sunday evening.”

Mark Frost’s weekly newspaper, The Chronicle, celebrated its 35th anniversary on Sept. 2, still “locally owned, locally committed” and having its best year ever. Mark is following with interest the Wesleyan Argus controversy—and hoping the Argus and Wesleyan will stand their ground in defense of a free press and free speech.

Bruce Hearey’s son, Leif Dormsjo ’97, got married this past April to Kristin Barcak, in a lovely weekend celebration in Charleston, S.C. Having worked in Maryland state and city government for well over a decade, Leif is now the director of transportation for the District of Columbia. Son Owen will be graduating with a PhD in economics from UCLA next June, and hopefully will be more than gainfully employed when this gets printed. Bruce finished a year as president of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and is now back to practicing law. He and wife Stephanie are downsizing, as they are a short year away from empty nest status. They are leaving leafy Shaker Heights and migrating a few miles west to a condo townhouse in Cleveland’s increasingly cool Uptown area. The three flights of steep stairs do not intimidate them, whether Bruce gets that long delayed hip replacement surgery or not.

“Despite the pessimism of all these Republican loudmouths, life to me at 65 seems pretty good,” writes Bruce. “I am bemused by the stuff on campus: Deke suing the University, the University shutting down Psi U, students wanting to shut down the Argus…I guess [expletive deleted] keeps happening on campus no matter the generation.”

Finally, this has been an eventful year for me. My son Mark was married on April 18 to Jenny Bonacore Adolfson. I may be a latecomer to the marriages-of-children scene among this crowd, but I must confess it was one of the happiest days of my life. And, as you can see from my new address, Elisa and I have happily relocated to a wonderful new townhouse near Danbury. (Thanks in part to Fran Pennarola ’73, who handled the closing). No, this is not retirement, but it is the end of 60 years of Davis family presence in the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, and that was not devoid of emotional pangs. It’s great to be back in Connecticut after 43 years, and it makes for a shorter drive to our 45th Reunion, which will be here soon.

Thanks, folks! More in four months!

SETH A. DAVIS | sethdavis@post.harvard.edu

213 Copper Square Drive, Bethel, CT 06801

First, my humble apologies to Ron Ashkenas, whose name was omitted from the list of attendees at the George Sobelman Celebration last fall. I would blame the Wesleyan editors, but he knows better. Ron attended a fundraiser for Chabad of Wesleyan in New York this spring, honoring the retirement of Professor Vera Schwarz, who happens to be Ron’s machateinista. “Seems like the current Chabad rabbi, Levi Schechtman,” Ron writes, “is stirring up some of the old Sobelmania spirit … Friday night dinners at his house, little kids running around, etc. It was nice to hear about it.”

I am thrilled to report that Steve Schiff has been heavily involved in the production and writing of The Americans on TV, for which he and his colleagues were recognized with a prestigious Peabody Award. The Americans, which tells the story of a KGB “sleeper” couple in the Washington suburbs during the Reagan Administration, is just about my favorite show, and if you aren’t watching it you should. Steve wants everyone to know that all of the particularly sexy episodes were written by him.

Mike Kaloyanides announced the retirement of his briefcase, given to him by his mother, after 39 years of being carried by Mike to classes at the University of New Haven. I believe that Mike, as well, has taken on emeritus status. Mike has been teaching music at UNH for those 39 years, and was much beloved by the student body. Not a surprise.
Bradley Paddock, a distinguished otolaryngologist in the Albany area, is part owner (don’t ask me which part) of a thoroughbred named Mexican Groove. The horse had some bad racing luck in Florida and is, at the time of this writing, being shipped to the Big Apple. By the time these notes are printed, Brad will probably have made a fortune on him at Saratoga. (Aren’t you all amazed that I wrote this entire paragraph without a joking reference to Brad’s surname?)

Jim Cacciola has surfaced on Facebook. He is now retired from his medical practice and spending a lot of time in Florida. Jim points out that the Scott Cacciola who covers the NBA so ably for The New York Times is his nephew! Jim also points out that Scott’s success must be due to his studies at Columbia School of Journalism when Dave Klatell ’70 was the Dean.

Well, there it is. Could it possibly be that we have heard nothing from Whizzer White this quarter? No, wait, there’s an e-mail coming in…

“This is what was recently written about our Butch Carson (now known as Bill Carson): The general manager/CEO of Samtrans, Caltrain, SMCTA ‘has appointed Bill Carson, director, human resources. Bill is no stranger to the district, having spent the last 22 years in human resources as employee relations officer, then manager, employee relations and civil rights, and most recently as acting director, HR. Before joining the district, Bill was employed by the HR departments at Bechtel Inc., and United Airlines, and held various supervisory positions in staffing, compensation and benefits, training and development, EEO, and affirmative action, service awards programs and advanced program development. Bill has a BA in psychology from Wesleyan University and a juris doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law.’

“Of course, I like to take credit for Butch Carson’s early management experience because he was my resident adviser on Harriman Hall our junior year at Wesleyan. This was the Wesleyan experience at its best.”

Thanks, folks! More in four months!

Thank you, one and all—nothing but good news this time! This very morning on Facebook I read that Paul Vidich is writing a novel, due to be published in spring of 2016. “It will be positioned as a Cold War spy novel wrapped inside literary fiction, à la Alan Furst, John Le Carre.” I can’t wait!

Chick Hancock wrote, inspired by John Perry Barlow’s ’69 obit of Oscar Look: “I was the fifth generation of my family to go to Wesleyan. My dad was in Alpha Delta Phi. God only knows in what form it exists today. Anyway, when we visited it in 1968, it had changed somewhat from 1936. He said, ‘We, juleps in hand, used to sing across the street to the Psi U’s.’ … When I was at Wesleyan, it was my great luck that David McAllester was teaching the Intro Anthropology course. That led to me becoming an Anthro major, writing a grant proposal that to this day I don’t understand, and teaching on the Navajo Reservation. This led to me becoming a Harley-Davidson dealer, flatteringly profiled in the alumni mag. About 10 years ago I visited Wesleyan with my younger daughter and sat in on a class. In filed the entire hockey team. I didn’t think that this bode well for class discussion—sorry, guys. What followed was extraordinary give-and-take. We subsequently visited another member of the Little Three where the professor had to beg the students to speak.”

Andy Feinstein happily lets me know every time Harvard Law professor Steve Shay is quoted in the New York Times. And Andy himself was quoted extensively on the subject of the Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate’s report on the Sandy Hook tragedy.

Brian Hersey—bless him—took issue with my characterization of the usual tone of this column, finding it more “convivial” than “snarky.” “We’re more into mellowness than snarkiness with our age now and, in fact, the insertion of a nap break into our reading of your reports may be required by many of us, given the adrenalin rush it induces,” Hmm. I might have to insert such a break into the writing of the column now…

Charlie Smith, my junior year suitemate, wrote, following the announcement of my election to the ABA environmental section chairmanship, to remind me that I got my start in environmental law working on a National Science Foundation project along with him and future hydrologist Glenn Harris. Charlie lives in Bowling Green, Ky., which, to his surprise, was named by Forbes magazine as the third best place in the USA to which one might retire. Charlie now plans to check out the first- and second-place cities. He was present at Western Kentucky’s epic 67–66 victory over previously unbeaten Marshall. This is football we’re talking about now. The Western quarterback threw eight touchdowns, and deprived Marshall of a New Year’s bowl bid. Charlie has been at Western for 20 years, the last 12 as professor of library public services. He has authored research publications in both geology and musicology. In 2013 he received the President’s Call to Service award, a national-level recognition of volunteerism. And he was elected to the Linnean Society of London.

Could six months go by without a word from Bob “Whizzer” White? Of course not.

“Bob White reports the birth of his grand-niece, India Carson, who was born Oct. 10th, weighing in at 7.2 lbs. The mother, Theresa, Bob’s nephew, Tre, and Granddad Bill “Butch” Carson, are all doing well. For your amusement: St. Croix Diving December 2014: 16 dives; cumulative number of dives: 515. A typical day of diving: I am the one in the red fins; also, 1:04–1:20 is me—note the air bubbles coming from both ends, 3:24; the predator with the big fin on its back is not me; and why did I feel safe with the sharks circling us?—answer: there were two absolute beginners in our group (the sharks know who is who by the arms and legs flailing around). youtu.be/aQApCMnD0LM Insight into the origin of the Whizzer… My interest in diving started with TV character Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt. Mike Nelson, a former Navy diver, did judo—another interest of mine as a kid—in many of the episodes on land and in the water. At the time, I could not do judo. Wrestling became my passion. Recall that my freshman year roommate, Robert Weinberg, was a black belt in judo and brought judo to Wesleyan. Now you understand that my ‘methods of madness’ (a title borrowed from Professor Benjamin Braginsky’s book) were not random events.”

One might point out that some guy named Shakespeare had something to do with that title.

This past October I was privileged to be at Wesleyan for a celebration honoring Rabbi George Sobelman, who died a few years ago. George’s wife, Nina, and all four of their children—many of whom we remember as youngsters running madly around the Wesleyan campus and are now all quite prominent in diverse fields. Also there representing our class were Mike Busman, Karyn Scher, and Rivka Raffel, wives of Eddie Ohlbaum and Chuck Raffel. David Rabban ’71 was one of the organizers, and also among the attendees were Andy Baker ’71 and Todd Jick ’71, Jeff Richards ’69, Bob Wolkoff ’73, Pam van der Meulen ’74, and doubtless others to whom I apologize for my failing memory. A wonderful occasion to remember special times with a very special man.

SETH A. DAVIS | sethdavis@post.harvard.edu
17 Wolf Road, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520

Newsmaker: Seth Davis ’72

Seth Davis ’72, an attorney and partner at Elias Group, LLP, was named vice chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Law (SEER) to become chair in 2014. SEER is a forum for strategies and information for environmental, energy and resource lawyers, representing nearly 11,000 members. In practice for almost 40 years, Davis has specialized in environmental law since 1980 and practiced at the Rye-based environmental law firm since 2004. He was involved in the negotiation of the cleanup of one of the country’s first multi-party Superfund sites, the Bluff Road site in South Carolina, and was actively involved in remediating hazardous waste sites throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico. A College of Letters major, he earned his JD from Harvard University School of Law and serves as an adjunct professor in Pace Law School’s environmental program.

Again, the news is sad. Much as I fear this is something to be expected with our age, I sincerely hope I can return to my usual cheerful, snarky style in the next issue.

Chuck Raffel died suddenly at his home in New Rochelle, N.Y., in April. Chuck taught Jewish philosophy for many years at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women. He was universally beloved by students and colleagues. The chair of Chuck’s department described him as “a consummate mensch and colleague, and a beloved teacher.”

Chuck was one of my closest friends at Wesleyan, especially during freshman year, when we both lived in Clark Hall and experienced the legendary “Don Juan class.” But I couldn’t put things any better than this excerpt from an e-mail from our mutual friend Mark Gelber:

“I have very clear memories of times spent with Chuck. We lived together the first semester of our senior year. He also visited me in Germany when he was on the Wesleyan program in Paris and he slept on the floor of my small Dachzimmer in Bonn. But, probably it was during our freshman year that he made the strongest impression on me. Before one would enter Clark Hall on most nights one was greeted by your booming voice and the melodies from Meistersinger or another opera. But, by the time one reached the third floor and came close to Chuck’s room, the sounds of The Band’s new album or Dylan or Johnny Cash were clearly audible. One entered Chuck’s room and there he sat, eyes closed, buddha-like, relishing every note and obviously enjoying a paradisiacal experience.

“Chuck’s ironic wit, sharp intelligence, and biting repartee combined with an uproarious and sometimes outrageous sense of humor to make him a terrific companion in almost any situation. He was much wiser than he knew. He became very close to George and Nina Sobelman after he returned from France and when I came back to Wesleyan after another semester abroad, he and you encouraged me to tag along and see for myself what was happening over there on Shabbat evenings. He also included me in a high-powered Rambam seminar which had life-lasting consequences for his intellectual path and career.

“I did not see him for well over 30 years and then owing to Michael Bober’s brilliant orchestration behind the scenes, I met up with Chuck and Bill Schultz in Manhattan for a drink and then Chuck and Michael came to a lecture of mine afterwards.”

Oscar Look died on July 10. I had not seen him since Wesleyan, but I offer these tributes, posted on Facebook, and shared here with permission of the authors. First, from Nat Warren-White:

“Oscar lived his life since leaving WesTech in his hometown of South Addison, Maine, where he fished for lobsters and ran his pound much as his father had done. Oscar served as the harbormaster for many years, was a devoted father to his daughter, Erin, and a deeply loyal friend, sibling, and son. He was a prolific poet and reader, the keeper of all forms of arcane knowledge, which he loved sharing. He will be sorely missed by many…a bigger heart and a truer man would be hard to find. Fortunately, he was able to get out on the water aboard his trusty lobster vessel, Southwind, the morning of the day he left us. I suspect his spirit is flying out to sea right now…the place he was happiest and most at peace.”

And from John Perry Barlow ’69:

“Here’s your last Oscar Look. He was the IIIrd by that name, a 5th generation lobsterman from South Addison, Maine, and unquestioned Harbor Master there for 30 years. When we were in college at Wesleyan, he rode a Royal Enfield with electrics by Lucas, or, as he called their maker, ‘the Prince of Darkness.’ Any moisture would shut them down. He threw himself at everything until there was nothing left to throw. They only made one Oscar Look of his model and that one was in questionable taste. The previous version, Oscar Look Jr. was on the Bataan Death March, as he informed me from his doorway when I turned up in the middle of a winter night looking for his son and was met by the sinewy Elder Look, shivering in a t-shirt and tidy whites. I was so startled by this declaration that all I could think to say was, ‘How was the food?’ ‘I’m going to like you,’ also declared Oscar Look Jr. Oscar Look III was never unkind to anyone in his life. Once, when giant (4’x12’) sheets of Thermopane were popping from their frames on the 60-story John Hancock Tower in Boston and sailing down to the perilous streets below, Oscar went down with a flatbed and gathered up enough windows to build himself a very large glass house for next to nothing. Nobody ever wondered if Oscar Look was a man, even when he had hair down to his butt. No one was ever in a room where Oscar Look was laughing without laughing, too. Like his father and grandfather, he kept a little museum of alarming marine biology: surprising creatures that had been yanked unwillingly to the surface with a tangle of Look Lobsters. He once trapped a lobster so large—60 pounds, I believe—that he gave it to the Boston Aquarium. Last I heard it was still there, growing bigger. He was a man of few words, all of them funny and accurately, if economically, applied. He literally wore himself out and on the evening of July 10, he was, at long last, fully depreciated. The sea is not deep enough for him.”

As I stood at Chuck’s gravesite, together with a number of brilliant, kind Wesleyan comrades, I could only think what a joy it has been to have been part of that community, and to have known such friends as these. Peace to you all.

SETH A. DAVIS | sethdavis@post.harvard.edu
17 Wolf Road, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520

This rough winter was particularly rough on the Class of 1972. On Feb. 15, Michael Heilpern died peacefully at his home in Claremont, Calif. Michael and his wife, Linda, started a typesetting business in California in 1979, and saw it grow and change into a Web consulting company that serves membership organizations, public agencies, and local businesses. He was actively involved in establishing online communities—spaces where people with common interests, devotion to a shared cause or geographic proximity, could connect. Among these were ClaremontCalendar.com, featuring community events in his home community, and LAjazz.com, a resource for Southern California jazz musicians and aficionados. He was involved in a variety of community and conservation causes, most recently a public policy document outlining a responsible strategy for the maintenance of Claremont’s trees.

On March 13, Eddie Ohlbaum lost his fight against cancer. Eddie was a professor at Temple Law School for years. He ran the school’s highly regarded trial advocacy program, founded Temple’s innovative LL.M. in Trial Advocacy program, and was a founding board member of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project at Temple. More importantly, Eddie was profoundly loved and respected as a teacher and mentor by decades of Temple students. Check out the outpouring of tributes at law.temple.edu/SitePages/Ohlbaum-Tribute/. But here’s mine:

“Eddie was my classmate at Wesleyan and we lived on the same hall freshman year. He was an always active, exciting, funny, energetic guy, who was ever true to his principles. Even then he was a true champion of justice and equality, and lived his Jewish faith every step of the way. I have many fond memories—wild times in the hall, sleeping on the same floor for the November 1969 peace march in Washington, his unannounced and unsanctioned visit to our archeological dig in Beersheba (and his unceremonious ejection from the camp by the head archeologist’s wife), and his constant, positive presence on the Wesleyan campus. He was truly one of a kind and he will be sorely missed.”

And this note from David Layne ’10, the secretary of his Wes class and Eddie’s student at Temple. David compiled portions of remarks he made at the tribute at Temple: “Professor Ohlbaum was a brilliant educator, but his brilliance was about more than how incredibly knowledgeable he was with the rules of evidence and its caselaw. He was brilliant as a professor and advocate because he had an uncanny knack for understanding what it takes to connect with people. Couple that with the fact that class with him was never dull. I’ve spoken with friends at other law schools who’ve told me how they hate evidence class, and that I am crazy for having loved it so much, and that’s 100 percent Eddie’s fault. His enthusiasm was infectious, and he brought the mundane to life whenever he was behind the podium for lecture (although I always found it ‘curious’ how he managed to consistently weave himself into his criminal fact patterns, such that our first exposure to the excited utterance was Eddie jumping in front of the podium, with a fictional knife in his back screaming ‘Ohlbaum did it!’)…I can say with confidence that Eddie Ohlbaum epitomized what it means to be a Temple lawyer and a Wesleyan Cardinal. No one believed in the students more here at our law school, or cared more about their success ,than Professor Ohlbaum. He was absolutely cherished here at Temple Law—and he will be missed—but his legacy carries on in scores of students who are unquestionably better trial advocates for having known him.”

Mike Busman’s first book, American Moment, has been released on Amazon and Kindle, and is going into wider distribution. The book lays out the case for a new party that will follow a reasoned, middle path towards a sustainable future. Favorable reviews and comments have been piling up, and you can also check out Mike’s blog at AmericanMoment.net where you can read more and get personally involved.

Bonnie Krueger is directing Hamilton College’s Paris program for the ninth time, located in the same Reid Hall where she studied in 1971. “Back then, we wrote aerograms and never called home; now students Skype and post selfies to Facebook. But Paris still works its magic.”

Roger Jackson has begun a three-year phased retirement from Carleton College, looking forward to more time for writing, travel, and teaching in other contexts. In that spirit, he spent the fall of 2013 as Numata Visiting Professor in Buddhist Studies at McGill University in Montreal, where he and his wife, Pam, lived downtown, enjoyed the city’s many delights, and tried their best to translate Québecois into Parisian French. Roger continues his work on Tibetan meditation traditions, Buddhist poetry, and the place of Buddhism in modernity. In recent years, he has reconnected with Frank Levering ’74, whose 60th birthday he helped celebrate by scaling Long’s Peak with him, a slog of epic length that proved neither of them are in their 30s anymore, in body if not in spirit.

Pete Clark’s book, Masterminding the Deal, came out in August. It was covered in the Economist, Institutional Investor, and Financial Times, and Pete was interviewed on BNN TV Canada.

From Win Watson: “Win Watson update. Three grownup kids. Two grandkids. Farm in Madbury, N.H. Full professor at UNH. Just had my first successful radio-controlled airplane flight. More importantly, just received the Brierley Award as the Best Teacher at UNH this year.”

Last June, Yale University published Steve Alpert’s collection of Indonesian art and textiles, Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia from the Dallas Museum of Art. The book has a number of authors, including Steve, and has been critically well-received. Sir David Attenborough has called it “the best book ever written on Indonesian art.” To celebrate Indonesia, and the book’s launch, a Who’s Who of Wesleyan alums and master gamelan players, led by Professor I.M. Harjito, his wife, Denni, Wayne Forrest ’74 and Sam Quigley ’74—and Alec McLane (director of the World Music Archives), Joseph Getter MA ’99 , Chris Miller MA ’02, Anne Stebinger, Barry Drummond, Leslie Rudden ’77, Mark Perlman PhD ’94 and others—all brilliantly accompanied famed Indonesian puppet master, Ki Purbo Asmoro, while he performed under the stars at the Nasher Sculpture Garden. Eyes of the Ancestors was awarded the 2013 Prix International du Livre d’Art Tribal. Wayne wrote to say “that the ghost of David (McAllester) is shining on us.” “Amen,” says Steve. “Wesleyan, largely through its dedication to world music, including its gamelan orchestra, gave many of us our first glimpse of one of the world’s most fascinating countries and its many diverse cultures.”

Finally, I was honored to be part of a most unusual event last December. Andy Feinstein celebrated the 50th anniversary of his bar mitzvah by having a second bar mitzvah! Along with Rich Easton and Paul Vidich, I was present as Andy led the sabbath service, read from the Torah, and (surprisingly) held forth on many topics of great meaning. Andy’s journey through life has not been an easy one, and this occasion marked the celebration of his coming to terms with that journey and himself. In his own words:

“This transition is to a higher level of personal honesty, to accepting and being compassionate with myself, to being comfortable in my own skin, to accepting love from others, and to loving others for who they are. This Bar Mitzvah is a celebration of my journey… Over the last 50 years, I have overcome challenges that I thought would kill me. You have, too. We have survived hardship and felt joy. We have buried people close to us and have welcomed new, fresh souls into our lives. We have gone through a lot. And, we are here. So, because you and I have made it to the Winter Solstice of 2013, it is right to have a big party.”

A big party of which I was honored to be a part.

SETH A. DAVIS | sethdavis@post.harvard.edu
17 Wolf Road, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520