Tag: 1973

We have updates from some of our prolific film directors and reflections from our 50th Reunion.

After our reunion, Michael Shoob writes that he had not been back to campus since our graduation so he says, “it was quite a mind-bending experience for me. Being there for the first time in half a century reminded me of one thing: I felt lucky to have had the opportunity to come to Wesleyan, and I’m sure many of our classmates felt the same way.” Michael reports in early April that he had finished shooting Road to Everywhere, a new feature film that he was directing and writing. He says Road to Everywhere “is a follow-up nearly 30 years later to my film Driven, which I also wrote and directed, about a group of LA cab drivers. Driven premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 1996.” He says, “A number of the actors from the original film reprised their roles and they had a memorable experience shooting the movie in Los Angeles and on the Navajo Reservation in Page, Arizona.” He says they anticipate a festival run for the film starting in the fall and adds, “None of this would have happened without Wesleyan.”

Billy Burke says, “Occasionally, another warm memory from our wonderful 50th Reunion pops into my head. The President’s Dinner on Friday night was held in Beckham Hall, a beautiful venue. Highlights included remarks by President Roth, amiable bar staff who know how to make a gin and tonic (Mike Robinson was designated driver), and the musical stylings of Blackwall Hitch. Many thanks to our classmate, Paul Fletcher, and the other members of that fabulous band. The ’60s–’70s music and associated slide presentation choreographed to each song brought it all back.” Billy says he’s been having a great time working with his son and his son’s new law partner on messaging and marketing. They became best friends in the Marine Corps while serving two combat tours in Iraq. After their enlistments were up, they went their separate ways. Billy reports, “Each earned his BA and JD. They just formed a law firm right here in Centennial, Colorado. I’m very proud.”

Ron Medley says he has managed to use his “Middletown hideaway to pretty good advantage since our reunion. My brother and sister, Jim and Linda, had a wonderful time reenacting our last visit to Middletown together, which was over 50 years ago. Amanda Broulik and Lydia Casparie from Wesleyan met us with a golf cart and we had a blast tooling up and down Foss Hill on a beautiful July afternoon. And, I’ve had two meet ups with Rob and Rich Charney, solving the world’s problems and dissing the Oscars over pasta at Mondo’s. Coming soon: an oral history presentation before Professor Jesse Nasta’s African American Studies class on the racial history of Middletown.”

Marc Levin says he had two major film releases in April: On April 16 his latest HBO documentary, An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th  premiered on HBO and MAX. He says, “The film looks at the evolution of political violence through the lens of the Oklahoma City bombing—from the roots in the early ’80s to the reverberations up to January 6. With the threat of political violence and civil unrest growing every day, this film is especially timely and relevant. It is the history of now.” Then on April 26, his feature film Slam, which won the Grand Prize at Sundance and the Camera D’or at the Cannes Film Festival, was re-released in a newly restored digital 4K version thanks to the the Academy of Motion Pictures, the Sundance Institute, and UCLA. The film was also featured at the UCLA preservation festival on April 6  (SLAM | UCLA Film & Television Archive).

Marc also has a documentary on guaranteed income, It’s Basic,  traveling the festival circuit. He says it won best documentary at the LA Downtown Film Festival, and had a screening on April 9 at the Cleveland International Festival: https://www.clevelandfilm.org/films/its-basic.

He says, “Busy spring for us here at Blowback Productions.”

Dr. Michael Fossel, known worldwide for his work including his book, Reversing Human Aging, has a brief update, telling us that his new Academic Press textbook is out. 

Finally, we are all deeply saddened by the loss of the spirited Dave Moffenbeier. As if it were yesterday, I remember his intelligence in the classroom and his talents on the Wesleyan football team. A group of us huddled up and recruited Dave to join us in the spring of senior year on the rugby fields. He was an integral part of that team that went undefeated. His middle name could have been “Invictus.” Class secretary Seth Davis ’72 writes in his notes: “Another loss, although not from our class, but another good friend and Delta Tau brother, was that of Dave Moffenbeier ’73.  Moff fought tenaciously against a vicious form of cancer for over 20 years before leaving us in February.”

That’s the latest news from you for now.

It was a pleasure to see the always colorful Bill Burke (returning from Colorado) at our 50th Reunion, and he told me he shared these thoughts with the Class of 1974 at their 50th Reunion planning meeting during Homecoming weekend. He said they were impressed with what we accomplished including:

• 96 attendees—a new 50th-reunion record!
• 80% donor participation versus 51% average for previous 50th-reunion classes
• 126 biographies submitted for the class book

Bill also writes, “But the significance of our reunion goes beyond those stellar numbers. Throughout the weekend, during the dinners, WESeminars, and social activities, there was a positive undercurrent. And it wasn’t, ‘just my imagination.’ There were, truly, ‘good vibrations’ in the air.”

He says, “By the time we gathered on Saturday at Olin Memorial Library for our class picture and final dinner, there was a feeling that the Class of 1973 had bonded in a way and to a degree as never before. Old friendships were strengthened, new connections were made, and, with the turbulent times of the early ’70s behind us, past ghosts laid to rest. Writer Michael Korda said, ‘One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.’ Whether you were able to attend our 50th or not, your input is valued.”

Congrats to Paul Buell! He writes that he and his Carol (Wellesley ’73) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 16, 2023. He says a number of close family members and friends attended their renewal of vows out at their little church in Maryland’s horse country, including Rob Randall and his wife, Kathy.

Joshua Boger writes that he came out of “retirement,” which he calls an “undefined word,” in April 2023 to join Alkeus Pharmaceuticals as executive chairman, working almost full time now to help to grow a small organization to be ready to file for approval with the FDA of a new drug to slow or stop the leading genetic cause of blindness in children and young adults: Stargardt’s disease (or in some places called “juvenile macular degeneration”).  

Joshua says, “The company has completed the necessary clinical trials for approval in the U.S., we believe, and we could be on the market at the end of 2024 or early 2025. There is a huge amount of work that needs doing first though. The disease is more common than cystic fibrosis, but almost nobody has heard of it because, up to now, absolutely nothing could be done about it. Children are born with normal sight and go blind between about 9 and 25. It is a recessive genetic disease, not ethnically linked, and it usually comes as a complete shock to new parents, who typically have no blindness in their families. We have a pill [taken] once a day that can slow progression or possibly stop the blindness altogether. Beautiful science and great possible outcomes. Worth ‘un-retiring’ for!”

Joshua also says he just came back (in late November) from the largest scientific meeting of ophthalmology, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, in San Francisco, attended by fully a third of all retinal specialists in the country. “One of the lead investigators in our trials, Dr. Christine Kay, presented to a packed audience the full dataset of the trial that will form the basis of our FDA submission. It was well received,” he says. In a panel discussion afterward, with leading experts not involved in the trial, they were asked, “Which Stardgardt’s patients would you give this Alkeus drug to [assuming approval]?” Joshua says, “The immediate answer from one of the panel, uncontested by the others, was, ‘All of them.’ That just raises the pressure on us to get it done.”

Lastly, Mara Baldwin ’06 wrote to say that her father, James David Baldwin, passed away on October 23, 2023, at the age of 72. David was a biology major and a member of Chi Psi. His obituary can be read online at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu/obituaries.

That’s the latest from our classmates.

Class president Bill Quigley writes that the 50th Reunion was “poignant and healing.” He said there were great seminars, including the Two Nations Now One: 50 Years of Shared Love for Wesleyan, hosted by Wayne Barber, Rich Jasper, Ron Johnson, James “Diego” Howard, Josh Boger, along with Dean [Stephen] Butler on Zoom. “There were 50 Blacks and Latinos in our class—25 of them identified as premed when they came to Middletown. Twenty-three of the 25 became doctors. Many were first generation to attend college and Wesleyan changed their lives as it did for many,” he says.

Bill writes, “Most poignant for me was when Mike Shoob told his story of personally living The New York Times article our freshman year, “The Two Nations at Wesleyan University,” during that seminar. When Mike went to tell his suite mate on Lawn Avenue, Charles Trahan, to turn down his stereo, he got punched in the face. He never talked to Charles again at Wesleyan but always felt bad about that. He then handed the mic to Charles who was sitting behind him. Charles said that he always felt guilty about what he did and apologized to Mike. They hugged. Pretty dramatic and it felt like real closure for our turbulent years at Wesleyan. I ended up flying with Charles Trahan on my first leg home and we had a great time talking about the reunion.”

Bill also says the film from Donald Zilkha, Steve Goldschmidt ’72, and Granderson Hale showing the incredible behind-the-scenes work they did for so many concerts at Wesleyan was very special, and I had no idea how much they had to juggle.

He also says the 50th Reunion ’73 book was “extraordinary—kudos to Mark Helfa, John Huttlinger, and Jim Powers. In keeping with one of our themes of the last couple of reunions (I Never Knew You), I have kept the book on my desk since reunion and read it often—fascinated by the lives and thoughts of our classmates. Kate Quigley Lynch, Amanda Broulik, and Lucy Diaz did an incredible [job] organizing and facilitating the reunion.”

My East College roommate from freshman year, Timothy Bahti, says, “My word to our classmates, such as it is, is that it was a pleasure to see them all again, and to get to know—belatedly—a number for the first time. I look forward to seeing them again—when? At the 60th Reunion? I encourage us all to give to the Dean Stephen Butler Fund, in honor of our freshmen dean and in the service of financial support for first-generation Wesleyan students. To those of the class going to the world rugby championship in France this fall: enjoy Paris!”

Dr. Jonathan Raskin writes, “Very sorry to have missed the 50th Reunion but was on a trip in Egypt . . . third time trying to get there due to COVID . . . and family members really wanted to go, so we did visit and had a really great trip. I hope others have a visit there on their ‘bucket list.’”

He says, “My news is that I have been made a clinical professor of medicine in the Mount Sinai Health System . . . an honor capping off decades of the commitment to teach, publish, and care for others . . . something I still do embracing hard effort and humility.”

            Mike McKenna says it was wonderful to connect with so many friends at the 50th Reunion. Over the weekend he caught up with Rick Edwards and his wife, Jackie, Dave and Sheila Bong, and Mark Eaton. He writes, “Really enjoyed seeing Tim Warner and Charlie Wayne who were first-year roommates and lived across the hall from me on Foss Hill. Both are also Western Reserve alums and Tim later served as the Reserve Board chair for years. Had lunch with Tim last week at the faculty club at Stanford where he is in the administration and colleagues with Condoleezza Rice. Also loved catching up with distinguished alumna Claire Reade and her husband the great Dr. Earl Steinberg. Talking with Rich Jasper about the work he continues to do advising young lawyers with clients on death row was also inspiring.”

Mike adds, “Inspired and humbled is a good way to sum it all up, I guess. I was particularly happy that so many Black classmates made the effort to come back. Learning about their family and career successes (so many doctors!) since our graduation made me feel so grateful for Wesleyan and the time we shared together. My overall thought was that I left campus this time, if not exactly feeling old, feeling aware of being part of a unique generation. Raised by parents who went through the Depression and World War II and their values, we hit an exciting period of history that changed all of us and shaped who we later became. I feel genuine affection for those who shared the experience.”

            Bill Burke flew to Connecticut from Colorado for our reunion and says, “The Reunion Committee, guided by an outstanding team from Wesleyan, did a terrific job. Sincere thanks to Mandy Broulik, Kate Quigley Lynch, and Lucy Diaz.” I agree.

Bill also says, “Our memorable reunion combined with Homecoming events last November (reunion planning meeting; reception for hockey coach Dave Snyder and his wife, Diane; catching up with hockey teammates; and beating up on the Williams football team) has been my best Wesleyan experience since graduation,” adding, “How do you follow up on a best 50th Reunion ever?”

My West College roommate from senior year, Dr. Brian Mahoney, says he was sorry to miss our 50th but “I had total knee surgery and would not have been able to make the trip nor move around Wesleyan had Nancy Collins ’74 and I had made it.”

Brian writes, “There is some fun news for all Wesleyan crew participants over these decades. On Saturday, September 30, at the halftime of the home game with Hamilton football they [announced] the NCAA Regatta Finals Silver Medal winners of both the men’s and women’s crew. They [also announced] the establishment of the Calhoun ’62 Men’s Crew Foundation and the so-far unnamed Women’s Crew Foundation. That afternoon George Surgeon ’72 and I [sponsored] a banquet in Beckham Hall to honor the legacy of Phil Calhoun ’62 for reinvigorating—first by rowing, then [by] coaching—the men’s crew (there were no women undergraduates in 1969, so women’s crew did not start until 1972, with my bride, Nancy Collins, rowing). Phil did this as an avocation while he worked in President Etherington’s administration. . . . Phil Calhoun coached me for two years and George for three years. The successful men’s and women’s crews of today were built on the granite bedrock legacy of Phil Calhoun. Contact Wesleyan Giving if you would like to donate to either/both of these 503 c-1 qualifying funds.”

Brian eloquently spoke about what Wesleyan has done for him. He says, “I graduated Wesleyan with three life-changing gifts. Number one, my bride Nancy and I are going strong after 52 years. I got the education that led to my career path in medicine at the programs of my choice. [And] crew taught me the value of lifelong fitness to which I adhere to to this day.”

It was an honor to see so many of you at the very special reunion. My daughter Dana and I shared some nice moments with my former East College roommate, Eddie Nathan, and his lovely wife at dinner. He seems not to have aged and is as colorful and articulate as ever, as are so many of you who I saw on that memorable weekend in Middletown.

“How do we follow up on that?” as Billy Burke asked. I’m sure we will.

Finally we received word that our esteemed classmate Lloyd Mueller died on June 10. Lloyd had retired as the senior supervising epidemiologist for the Connecticut Department of Health and is remembered by many for accomplishing a great deal for public health in Connecticut. He had been a member of the New Haven Quaker Meeting Association and Yale Humane Association. He is survived by his wife, daughter, and two sons, and we will miss him and his notes to us over the past 50 years.

Until next time,

Pete

From Colorado, William “Billy” Burke writes, “I’m so excited about our upcoming 50th Reunion! It has already been terrific seeing classmates during reunion planning meetings on Zoom. I also had the good fortune to attend a planning meeting on campus the morning of Homecoming where the Class of 1972 shared tips from their 50th. It was the start of a busy day.”

He adds, “The next stop was the Spurrier-Snyder Rink where hockey coach Chris Potter hosted a very special reception organized by Billy Devereaux ’75 and Jim LaLiberty ’77. About 30 Wes hockey alums honored Dave (Duke) and Diane Snyder. After watching the football team demolish Williams, several of us enjoyed dinner with Dave and Diane. Great stories, memories, and even a few tears. Not sure if you heard that Duke was recently the recipient of the John ‘Snooks’ Kelley Founders Award, as someone instrumental to the growth of hockey in the U.S. It was presented by the American Hockey Coaches Association.”

Billy says it was a fantastic time on campus. And he adds, “Of course, in the last dozen years or so it’s always bittersweet to walk down the steps from Foss Hill to the Vine Street tennis courts. It’s a nice grassy slope with a flower bed. But it’s no McConaughy Hall. I know the University had their reasons to tear it down but I want to preserve the memory of our very own flying saucer. So, I’m composing a rock opera that will memorialize the venerable venue. So far, I have the opening number and a high-level storyboard. As you may have said in your early reporter days, ‘Film at 11.’”

Michael Fossel writes that “Retirement is a silly idea, so we’re moving ahead with our biotechnology company and planning our FDA human trials.” He says they have a commitment for essentially unlimited funding, which should enable them to target both the dementias and cardiovascular disease. “In the meantime, I’ve agreed to be the editor and senior author for a new Elsevier Publishing medical textbook on aging, age-related diseases, and the prospects for curing them. Much more fun, however, is building a new ‘hygge’ loft over the garage and getting ready for a glorious summer of gardening,” he says.

Stephen Sullivan writes he is not sure if he be able to make it back for our 50th Reunion but he says he looks forward to reading the news of our class.

From South Carolina, Kie Westby writes that he has moved to Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Kie says he had a stroke in March of last year but reports, “I have recovered fairly well. Just started playing golf again. Am retired from the law practice.”

My senior year East College roommate, Dr. Brian Mahoney, writes that he and Nancy Collins “are now 51 years together and counting. Both retired physicians. Three great kids with in-laws and five grandchildren. The most recent is Cullan, born November 29, 2022, which means ‘handsome boy’ in Gaelic. He is a real Gerber Baby.” Brian says they hope to be at the 50th Reunion. He is having a total knee surgery on April 19.

Our colorful and eloquent classmate Eddie Nathan writes, “I’ve joined the committee planning our 50th Reunion. I’ve enjoyed reconnecting, though my sievelike memory doesn’t attach adequate history to the other men on the committee. Even so, it’s gratifying to see and hear them. I accept that the years have opened me a bit more to emotional recollections and gentler feelings, though I still cringe at the sound and smell of infants.” And he thanks us “for keeping these nourishing connections alive.”

And in light of that, at this writing, it looks as if we are going to have a very nice turnout of our classmates for the reunion. I’m sure I enjoyed seeing you on what I’m sure was a very special and memorable time in Middletown.

Jay Rose writes that thanks to the efforts of Hank Shelton ’72, a number of Delta Tau Delta members from the classes of 1970–73 held a mini-reunion Zoom call. Representing the class of 1973 were Bud Brainard, Scott Fleischer, Paul Fletcher, John Franke, Mark Helfat, and Jay. Thanks, Jay, for all your efforts.

Rich Ladd tells me he finally stopped working in November as his son graduated from Boise State and his daughter had their first grandchild. He adds, “We are planning to stay in Washington State and enjoy its beautiful landscapes, but we will be traveling the roads of the U.S. in 2023–24 and plan to be present at our 50th Reunion.”

Peter Gelblum writes that the community theater that he’s been president of for the last five years, Mountain Community Theater in Ben Lomond, California, did not produce any live shows in 2020–21 because of the pandemic. He says that during those years, in addition to producing a bunch of short Zoom videos, MCT paid the costs for him to create his first film, about the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire. Peter writes, “In August 2020, the fire killed one person, burned 86,500 acres, including 97% of Big Basin Redwood State Park, California’s first state park, and destroyed 911 homes in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. My wife and I were evacuated for 2 1/2 weeks, with the fire coming within about 100 yards of our house. In early 2021, I interviewed people who lost their homes in the fire and people who fought the fire, transcribed the interviews, created a script using only the words from the interviews, cast actors to play the people interviewed, and filmed them.” Working with a professional editor, they scored the film and backed the actors with images donated by several local professional photographers and painters. He says the result was a 90-minute-long piece of “verbatim film.”  He says he has hosted many local screenings at everything from fire stations to big-screen movie theaters, with all admission donations going to the local volunteer fire departments and a fund for fire victims. Peter adds, “I’m now working on raising funds to get it online for free viewing. Other than that, since 2020, we’ve taken two, seven-week, 8,000-mile, cross-country trips to see friends, family, and amazing places in the motorhome we bought to avoid flying and staying in hotels while the pandemic was raging (as millions of others did). Now, I’m back to directing plays and working on ACLU and other local social justice issues, taking shorter RV trips, seeing as much live music as possible, and enjoying visits with our combined three grandchildren who, unfortunately, are scattered around the country.”

Stephen Sullivan sends greetings from Seattle. He tells me that since graduating from Wesleyan, he has had a “dream career as both a potter and an architect.” In 1973–74, he spent a year in Japan studying Japanese folk pottery as a Watson Foundation fellow. “What a great gift the Watson Fellowship was, to embark at age 20 upon a world very different from the one we inhabit today,” he said. “I was welcomed generously by the people of Japan, and decided that I would become a professional potter, like the masters with whom I had studied there. The reality of American culture convinced me a few years later to give up my dream of being a potter, and to study architecture.”

Stephen graduated from Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1981 and moved to Seattle with his partner and future wife. He has been there since that time, and recently celebrated the 35th anniversary of the founding of his architectural practice, Stephen Sullivan Designs, PLLC, www.stephensullivandesigns.com.

He is still working in his architectural practice, while he maintains a ceramics studio on his farm on Lopez Island, in the San Juan archipelago. He says, “The Lopez Island farm is committed to soil regeneration practices as well as wetland restoration and tree planting. My daughter and granddaughter live on the farm.” Looking back at Wesleyan, Stephen notes, “Wesleyan’s art department, with its extraordinary teachers, was an important starting point for me. We were so fortunate to have passionate teachers devoted to the educations of their students.”

To find out more about his work in the past 50 years, he sends these links: https://a.co/d/2OpFCw7 and https://oroeditions.com/product/architecture-as-art.

From Indiana, Stephen Butler says he plans to attend our 50th Reunion and is struck by how quickly 50 years seem to have passed.

And finally, I hope to see you back on campus at our 50th Reunion: May 25–28, 2023. First, keep an eye out for the 50th Reunion Class Book, which will be mailed to your home in late April 2023. This wonderful keepsake will include biographical submissions by classmates, memorabilia, photos, and reflective essays touching upon themes ranging from rugby and football to political protests, and from once-in-a-lifetime concerts to life-changing conversations.

Rich Ladd in Olympia, Washington, writes that after an entire career in commercial and mortgage lending, he plans to stop working this year when his son graduates from Boise State. He adds, “My wife and I will drive the U.S. on our own time, so hope to be in Middletown for the 50th. We miss Tom Pfeiffer.”

Michael Fossel writes, “Like some others I know, I can never seem to retire. I’m running a biotech firm, chairing global conferences on gene therapy, neurodegenerative disease, and age-related disease, and writing articles and books. I’ve agreed to write/edit (I write 4/14 chapters and have coauthors for the other 10) a new textbook for Elsevier Publishing on aging, age-related disease, and our prospects for curing age-related diseases. Should be a good, solid clinical book. On a more worthwhile note, I have acres of gardens that I tend here in Michigan.”

Michael B. Robinson tells me that he met up with stalwart class agent Jay Rose at the Valley Forge Historical Site on July 5th. He says, “Jay, a history buff, oriented me to a meaningful site from the U.S. Revolutionary War period. I reminded him of my efforts to get him to row crew at Wes as we shared stories of mixed success on the football field.” Michael says, “Jay seems an expert at contributing to all around him but also enjoying life all the while.”

John Spike writes, “Michèle and I divide our years into four slightly less-than-three-month residences in Williamsburg, Virginia (home of the College of William & Mary where Michèle taught in the law school founded by Thomas Jefferson, and I curated the art museum), and in Florence, our home since 1989.”

John also writes that he is the world’s foremost authority on the careers of two brothers from Taverna, Italy, who were born there in the early 17th century and who made significant careers in Rome and sent back more than 20 important paintings and altarpieces.

John says, “In late June, the people of Taverna pleasantly surprised me by unanimously naming me presidente of their new Archivio Pretiano (Preti Archives), which is now under construction inside the principal palace on the main piazza of the town—thanks to funds received from the European Community. It will be my objective to create this facility into a research library and center for the study of the art and history of the region of Calabria and indeed all of Italy south of Naples and north of Sicily.”

Todd Stone writes that he continues his painting practice as an artist in residence at the World Trade Center. “I painted solo in my studio on 71st floor of 3WTC through the emptying of downtown during the pandemic,” he says. In September he exhibited his work at the NYC Culture Club in the Oculus for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. He says, “You can take a virtual visit at my website ToddStoneStudio.com. My artist book Witness Downtown Rising: Twenty Years of Painting the World Trade Center is available on the website store.”

And as we approach our 50th Reunion next year, James Powers says the Reunion Book Committee is hoping you will join them in writing and submitting your individual biographies as part of treasured reflections for the reunion book to Geralyn Russo through grusso@wesleyan.edu. It will take a few moments but your memories will last a lifetime and will no doubt have so many connections to our time at Wesleyan and afterward. James says you can reflect on your strongest memories and what you have been doing for the last 50 years and who you are today. And feel free to tell us how Wesleyan made a difference in your life.

There may have been one person, one professor or one event that had a lasting influence on who you are today.

I’ll never forget how the influence of John Frazer and Jeanine Basinger encouraged my love of film and then on to the Wesleyan Film Board senior year and then on to film connections forever. Or how Wesleyan Argus editor James Repass ’71 encouraged my move to a career in journalism. Or how freshman-year advisor and English professor Joe Reed pushed me toward a freshman-year course in the humanities, saying, “You must do this because you may never read authors like Plato ever again.” Or Joe’s courses on film and author William Faulkner. And in the influence of our president, Colin Campbell.

To locate a classmate or to participate in planning programs, contact Mandy Broulik at abroulik@wesleyan.edu. Go to wesleyan.edu/classof1973 for more information. This is our year to celebrate this incredible milestone!