Tag: 1973

We have news from across the country. Mike Robinson regrets having to back out of our recent milestone Reunion and will try to visit this year but has 2023 written in red in the centennial calendar. Meanwhile, he reconnected with a rowing teammate, Vinnie Broderick ’75. Vinnie, who runs a summer rowing camp in Vermont, met up with Mike’s rowing coach brother and tracked Mike down in Baltimore and York, Pa. The visit yielded a reconnection for Mike with Phil Calhoun ’62, past rowing coach, as well as  stories of shenanigans during the rowers’ spring training in Florida.

From Lafayette, Colo., Mike McKenna has been appointed to the USA Rugby board of directors. Mike says, “I look forward to combining my passion for the sport and professional experience to help further strengthen our great game both here in the U.S. and within the international rugby community.” Mike has been active for decades helping the Wesleyan rugby club and founded the Old Methodist RFC, strengthening alumni ties. Congrats, Mike!

Peter Gelblum devotes his time to the worlds of theater and social justice. He is president of Mountain Community Theater in Ben Lomond, Calif. Over the last few years, his “work” at MCT has included playing Brutus in Julius Caesar and one of the convict-angels in My Three Angels, and directing Miracle on 34th Street, the Play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Other Desert Cities, Damn Yankees, and my favorite, August: Osage County. He writes, “At other local theaters in the astonishingly vibrant theater scene in Santa Cruz county, I’ve recently played Judge Haywood (the Spencer Tracy part in the movie) in Judgment at Nuremberg and directed several shows for an annual festival of 10-minute plays.” He has also produced two productions of Climate Change Theater Action in Santa Cruz.

For several years, he has been on the board of directors and executive committee of the ACLU of Northern California and the chair of the Santa Cruz county chapter of the ACLU. “In those roles, I’ve gotten to work with other activists, elected officials, and law enforcement leaders to address issues such as protecting the rights of the large homeless population, militarization of police, police transparency and accountability, surveillance, racial justice, and immigration rights,” he says, adding he is currently on the sheriff’s advisory team for the county. Peter says “My wife, Michele, and I love it here in Boulder Creek among the redwoods. The only downside is that our combined three kids and two grandchildren are scattered around the country, so we don’t get to see them as often as we would like. In light of that, I’m especially thankful for those modern wonders of airplanes and video chat.”

Robert Abrevaya says the 14th edition of The Robert William Abrevaya Show was produced Dec. 28. Comedy by “The Official Comedian for the 2020 Elections.” He says seven of his shows and autobiographical information are available at vimeo.com/RWAShow. At The Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard, he has been the closing act most potluck nights since (at least) 1983. His new Facebook page is RealRobert William Abrevaya. He is also on Twitter @AbrevayaR. And he invites you to call him at 323/926-6115.

A busy Tom Kelly is splitting his time between Phoenix and San Diego and now has four grandchildren who range from 4 months to 4 years old. He is working with early stage health care companies with “strong value propositions” in an industry that he believes could be involved with “massive disruption.” He is “trying to tilt Arizona blue with moderate success.”

For those of you who are doctors, I have to mention this personal medical note. Some alarm bells went off over a year ago when I my A1C count hit 7.2 and I went in to the Type 2 Diabetes danger zone. I went cold turkey on the sugar after decades of guzzling Coca-Cola and M&Ms. In three months, my A1C count dropped to 5.8 and in 6 months it dropped to 5.5. My doctor said the drop was “freakish” and had not seen such an A1C drop before, along with everything else that improved. I also dropped from 181 to 162 pounds—too big of a drop, one doctor said. Must admit I feel better and have lost the “glucose belly.” In light of all the commercials about lowering your A1C count, my wife thinks I should write a short book about this.

On a final note, this time last year many of us were getting ready to attend our 45th Reunion. All who attended said it was fantastic and afterwards were eager to start planning for our 50th Reunion (May 25-28, 2023). We’ll be reaching out to folks to collect up-to-date contact information as we want as many as possible to make it back to Middletown. If you want to get involved or haven’t heard from a Reunion committee member, contact Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 at klynch@wesleyan.edu or 680/685-5992.

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

Bruce Fox writes that although he lost in the Democratic primary for a seat in the New Hampshire Senate, “the nice news is that the race has enabled me to reconnect with some Wesleyan friends and meet some new ones.” Tom Kelly and Tom Lucci visited him around the time of the election and he had many phone conversations and e-mails with others who gave financial and moral support. Bruce says, “I had an hour-long conversation with old friend, Kie Westby, who also had an unsuccessful foray into politics a few years ago, was particularly worthwhile with lots of old stories, some advice, and lots of laughs shared.”

Michael Morales has a detailed update on what he has been up to and some memories from our days at Wesleyan. Flashing back, he was the assistant student manager at McConaughey dining hall. “Many students requested I bring out chocolate mint ice cream. Although he was in a frat at the time, Bill Belichick ’75 snuck in a couple times for our great food (and maybe to meet some co-eds).” For two years he was captain of the wrestling team and now he is grant writing and fundraising at Springfield College (the Milwaukee campus). Earlier, he taught Creative Writing for Social Change. Michael says that soon he’ll be traveling through Wisconsin in giving workshops and seminars. He is writing a book, The 1-Minute Expert: How to Be Recognized as an Expert in 1 Minute or Less. He went to Stanford for a PhD and decided he didn’t want it and left with a master’s. He then went immediately to SLAC and was on the team that earned two Nobel prizes in physics. While he was not one of the professors who was named, he was one of the 100 of graduate students that assisted with the basic research needed for the Nobel prizes.

Michael went to Harvard for executive training in community and economic development. He says, “I have been sharing the knowledge and strategies for many years.” A great deal of his work and study at Wesleyan and Stanford were in psychology. He is the guest coach of two Olympic wrestling champions who live in Wisconsin and are his longtime friends and is a guest coach for a three-time Olympic boxing coach. He coaches technique and mindset and has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, CBS, and Fox News.

Michael was also executive director of a U.S. Department of Commerce program where over $1.1 billion in government contracts came through his office and they helped small businesses to get part of the multi-million dollar contracts. This included women-owned and veteran-owned businesses and others helping minorities and the disadvantaged. He was vice president of a $52-million educational foundation and he interviews Stanford University freshman applicants for the admissions office as an alumni volunteer.

Robert Abrevaya’s 13th edition of The Robert William Abrevaya Show was produced in June at The Comedy Store. He calls it stand-up comedy by the official comedian for the 2020 elections. Six of his shows and autobiographical information are available at vimeo.com/RWAShow. At The Comedy Store, he has been the closing act most potluck nights since (at least) 1983 on Sunset Boulevard. He is on Twitter @AbrevayaR. His new Facebook page is RealRobert William Abrevaya.

From Middletown, Bill Corvo is busy with renewable energy development. Bill is manager of Connecticut Energy & Technology, LLC (beaconfallsenergypark.com), a Connecticut-based renewable energy development company. They have “permitted the largest fuel cell technology project in the U.S.,” to be located in Beacon Falls, Conn. The project is “fully permitted and shovel ready—63.3 megawatts of Class I renewable power.”

The ever-faithful Michael McKenna wrote in to say he had his first cortisone shot in his right knee “after the ortho actually laughed when he looked at the MRI! Rugby and soccer days catching up I guess, but otherwise feel pretty good.”

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

Unfortunately, I was not able to return to Wesleyan for our 45th Reunion, but it was truly memorable. Class President Bill Quigley shares his reflections: “Our 45th Reunion was extraordinary—the weather was perfect, the campus was beautiful, and graduates young and old were vibrant. The company from ’73 was even better. To aid our memories, we each had a regular name tag and one with our freshman yearbook pictures. After Friday’s reacquaintance reception, Mark Helfat led an early Saturday discussion titled “I Never Knew You,” where we shared stories about our passions and paths through life post-Wesleyan. Don Stewart, Rich Jasper, Tom Lucci, William “Billy” Burke, Michael Gionfriddo, Steve Young, and others talked about how our tumultuous times at Wesleyan shaped our journeys. It was fascinating, and many wished it to continue long beyond the allotted time. We will do something similar for our 50th.

“A great picture of the now leveled Starship McConaughy with the words (courtesy of Mike McKenna) ‘Class of ’73 lasts longer than some buildings’ graced the T-shirts of Charlie Cocores, Tom Curran, Peter Bernstein, Ron Medley, Jay Rose, John Huttlinger, Jim Raymond, Mike Donnelly, and many others as we marched in the parade of classes. Also, wandering around the campus, High Street, Lawn Avenue, and Foss Hill were Tim Warner, Kie Westby, Ron Dennett, Tom Tokarz, Scott Karsten, Jonathan Raskin, Rudy Foy, Rick Edwards, Irv Estrin, and Bruce Fox.

“Steve Greenhouse was a presenter in a terrific Weseminar on journalism in the Trump era and Tom Kelly, Wayne Barber, and Jim Powers hosted a sobering and thoughtful session on health care. At that discussion Wayne introduced Josh Boger, who received an honorary degree at Commencement, with ‘I am in awe of this man who created an effective HIV/AIDS treatment, cured hepatitis C, and cured cystic fibrosis.’ Wow!

“Our Saturday night reception and dinner brought together Bruce Fox, Evans Jacob, Ron Johnson, Dave “Harp” Feldman, Charley Wayne, Dave Zita, and others to watch a wonderful slide show with pictures from our years at Wesleyan set to our era’s music. Granny Hale passed out a DVD he made of our 35th and 40th Reunions. Kudos to Wayne Barber for putting the slide show and our Facebook group ‘Wesleyan Class of ‘73 — Reunion Road Trip’ together. Check there to watch the slide show, see who we were in 1969–1973, and come to our 50th on May 25–28, 2023 to see what we become.

“Special thanks to the Reunion committee and Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19 for their help organizing the event.”

Billy Burke, who returned from Colorado, thanks the committee members for a great program. He says, “Many warm memories, but the best experience was Saturday morning sitting in a classroom in Boger Hall (!) and having classmates share stories about what they’ve done since graduation or what Wesleyan means to them, or in my case, both. Wesleyan was an important part of my life. It helped me mature (eventually). And my life with Barbara (43 years), son, and daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids, is more than I deserve.” He says he is already excited about our 50th. He says, “Granny Hale has a project lined up: A memorial to McConaughy Hall! And don’t ever say MoCon! Would we call the Smithsonian ‘Smiso’? I think not. Granny wants a plaque with all the concerts and historic events listed. Like the time I threw a cube of Jell-O almost to the top of the flying saucer dining hall ceiling and caught it in my mouth. That’s a nice start, but I think composing a rock opera we would all perform at Reunion 2023 would really get our message across. Keeping with the musical theme, I think we should dress in bellbottom pants and tie-dyed shirts and sing karaoke, but only songs from 1969–1973.”

Rich Jasper says, “I arrived on Thursday because I wanted to soak up the experience. I thought the highlight was hearing about the journey through the Wesleyan experience and post-Wes. My only wish was that more time existed for everyone to share. We all experienced the national and local turmoil of 1969–1970. Wesleyan made us stronger and more cognizant of a dynamic world. I loved the timely seminar regarding health care and the contributions by classmates. The panel on the challenges of fake news in the information era was intellectually stirring and reminded me of what makes Wesleyan so special. Finally, it was just great to see old and new friends. New friends are the classmates I have grown to know and admire by attending Reunions over the last 45 years. A special shout out to Wayne Barber for the video clip and freshman photos.”

Finally, Michael Fossel, author of the memorable Reversing the Aging Process, writes that he is moving ahead with plans to go to the FDA with gene therapy to cure Alzheimer’s disease.

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

Alain Munkittrick has an important update. He says that he and Rosemary (who met at Wesleyan) are “excited, first time grandparents, having greeted Finn Munkittrick to the world in October.” They live in Portland, Conn., and are busy at work as architects for the restoration of three historic buildings on the former Elmcrest campus as a part of a $30-million development Brainerd Place.

Michael McKenna writes that he is still working out of global HQ in the barn behind his home in Vermont where he and Lynn have lived for 11 years. “Loved my time in NYC but really enjoy consulting both non- and for-profit clients on strategic communications,” says Mike. He gave his first talk at SXSW in Austin on How Social Media Creates Tunnel Vision. He also joined the board of The Conversation US, an online news source featuring content provided by university experts. Mike says he started a term on the Corporate Communications Advisory Council at UVA’s Darden School and also had his first trip to China to visit a new client in Shanghai. He says he asked classmate and Chinese expert Claire Reade for her good advice before leaving. Mike also sponsored the annual Middlebury film festival founded by Lloyd Komesar ’74. He says it is a “wonderful event” that attracts a lot of Wesleyan alumni. Mike and Tom Kelly, Tom Halsey ’72, and Rob Calhoun ’72 hosted a dinner for the Cardinal football team when they came north to play the Panthers. Mike calls it a “year of firsts” and says best of all was being father of the bride for his daughter Lee who married a wonderful guy who had known her since the seventh grade. He says both of his children live in San Francisco.

Phil Levienwas reading Hearts by Willy Holtzman ’74 and enjoyed it as much as The Morini Strad and Something You Did. Phil let his students at SBCC’s School of Extended Learning know what a “good read” the plays were and what fertile ground they provided for scene work.

James Powers writes that owns a condo on Music Row in Nashville, is serving on the 45th Reunion committee, and looks forward to seeing everyone this May. Working at Vanderbilt he found two generations of Wesleyan graduates drawn to healthcare policy. Jim, a geriatrician, and Laura Keohane ’03, a health policy faculty member, were approached to write a volume on U.S. healthcare changes. He called it a “daunting task” following the 2016 Republican landslide election. They produced a volume, Value Driven Healthcare and Geriatric Medicine: Implications for Today’s Changing Health System, scheduled for publication by Springer in 2018.

Steve Kallaugher tells me that he is still going back and forth to Swaziland, where he says his Little Young Heroes program has “blown up.” He says they have two offices, a staff of 27 people, and programs reach more than 11,000 orphans and vulnerable children. Plus, they started a community-based savings/micro-entrepreneurship project for their female caretakers. It now has 2,900 members and they’ve already saved over $150,000 to lend to each other. Steve also says a screenplay he wrote 20 years ago suddenly “got hot” in Hollywood this past summer and it’s been optioned by a “big time” producer.” He says, “I wrote it so long ago, it took me two days to find a copy after he emailed me saying that he wanted to read it. Only in the movies.”

Michael B. Robinson, who says he was “the linebacker not the fullback,” writes that he retired from Baltimore City Schools in 2014 and moved into a retirement community in York, Pa., in 2016 with his wife, who is disabled. Mike reports that he is “energized by the competitive political climate in Pa with a strong Democratic governor maintaining in a state that supported our new president. He hopes to renew acquaintances at our 45th Reunion.

David “Harp” Feldman mentions that his newest harmonica book, Harmonica Aerobics, is now in print, published by the Hal Leonard music company. “Why,” Dave asks, “is this newsworthy?” Because he dedicated the book to his great friend Paul Van Stavern ’74.

In an act of self-preservation (since David only knew two Peter, Paul, and Mary songs, and played them incessantly), while living at the late, but hardly lamented, Vinci Apartments on William Street, along with Gary Larkins and Jonathan Burr, Paul bought David two used records. Paul then informed him, at the time, that David could either learn to play blues and rock harp, or Paul would kill him while he slept and a “strange, esoteric, career was born.”

Class President Bill Quigleyhas been busy helping his son deal with post-hurricane issues in Puerto Rico, where, at this writing, an astounding 32 per ent of the island is still without power following the storm in early September. Bill is also helping him start a business. On top of that, he tore a muscle in his leg and was stuck in a boot for more than a month. Billand our 45th Reunion committee have been trying to contact all of you by e-mail or phone to encourage you to join us during the weekend of May 24-28. You may have already heard from me or Bill or other intrepid committee members including Wayne Barber, Joshua Boger, Michael Donnelly, John Feinblatt, Granderson “Granny” Hale, Mark Helfat, Evans Jacobs, Ronald Johnson, Tom Kelly, Ron Medley, Jay Rose, Charley Wayne, and Jim Powers.

So far we have scheduled a healthcare and technology seminars featuring our classmates, a class conversation about different paths we have traveled in life since graduation, and a Saturday class reception, and dinner featuring faculty and staff guests Norm Shapiro and Steve Butler. And my former film professor Jeanine Basinger tells me she looks forward to seeing you as well. Bill reports that more information is available on Reunion 2018 including suggestions on where to stay. You are also urged to join the Facebook group: Wesleyan Class of ’73 Reunion Roadtrip. He notes that Wayne Barber and Mike McKenna are among those who have posted so far. Bill says the Facebook group will have a lot of stories and photos.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with each other as inch closer to another milestone reunion in Middletown. Hope to see you there.

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

NEWSMAKERS | 1970s NEWSMAKER JOHN HUTTLINGER JR. ’73 John Huttlinger Jr. ’73, CPA, was the 2017 recipient of the 14th annual Michael H. Urbach, CPA Community Builders Award by the New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. The award recognizes exemplary achievements of a certified public accountant who serves in leadership positions on charitable organizations’ boards of directors. Martha Spear of the Rotary Club of Lake Placid, who nominated Huttlinger, stated he “is the finest CPA-volunteer I have ever worked beside in my nearly 30 years of nonprofit employment and leadership.” Huttlinger serves as a board member for several community organizations including the Adirondack Film Society and the Rotary Club of Lake Placid. An economics major at Wesleyan, Huttlinger earned an MBA from Rutgers University.

Joshua Boger has been busy. After stepping down as chairman of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees and after 17 years on the Board, he says he deliberately stayed away to give new chairwoman Donna Morea ’76 some “breathing room.” In the fall of 2016, he was approached by his good friend Setti Warren, mayor of Newton, Mass., about helping him run for governor in 2018 against Charlie Baker. Joshua has been chairman of the campaign. In June, he simplified his calendar, stepping off the Vertex Pharmaceuticals board after almost 28 years, after founding the company in 1989. He says, “The campaign has been asking people, ‘What kind of Commonwealth do we want to be?’” He’s been dealing with issues including growing income disparities, the possibility of extending free college to everyone in the state, public transportation, renewable energy, energy conservation, and improving health care. In his spare time, he has been finishing up chairing the $750M campaign for Harvard Medicine (“The World is Waiting”) for the Harvard Medical School and chairing the Celebrity Series, Boston’s largest nonprofit presenter of live performing arts.

He also said, after 26 years “living in bucolic Concord, Mass., with my wife Amy” they “junked all of our suburban hand-me-down colonial furniture and swapped it for steel-and-leather-and-stone Italian modern, and moved to Boston’s hottest and hippest area, the Seaport, into a rooftop condo looking out directly onto Boston Harbor. It is, without apologies, our doomed attempt to act and become younger, and so far it is working wonderfully.” He says he exchanged 1,000 miles a month of commuter driving for 10,000-plus steps a day, “walking to most of my city commitments. He says Amy walks three block every day to her own ceramics studio, where she works seven days a week. In September they opened up their own art gallery (Dirt & Light Arts) with a joint ceramics (Amy) and underwater photography (Joshua) show, which got nice crowds for its nine-day run. For Joshua, it was his 10th major photography show, all but this one were solo shows—in the last few years.

He says their three boys continue their independent and creative ways: Zack ’06 lives in Brooklyn (with his wife Arielle DiGiacomo) and is the senior editor for documentary and reality TV shows, most recently The Vanilla Ice Project; Isaac ’09, after a stint as an EMT, has pivoted and built his own business in Seattle (Mixed-Up Events, LLC) as a producer of electronic dance music (EDM) concerts; and Sam (“the one we lost to Brown ’12” ) works for Google as a software engineer, recently moving from a three-year stint in London for Google to working remotely from Pullman, Wash., “following his heart.”

Our class president, Bill Quigley, writes that he and his wife have been distracted. His family has had a place in Puerto Rico (Palmas del Mar) since 1985. Their oldest son has been living there and Hurricane Maria’s eye passed directly over them. Bill and Dee managed to speak with him by phone after the storm hit and also received texts from friends saying he’s ok while living with “no power, no cell service and not much food. Bill was concerned about what he felt was a poor response by the government to “fellow citizens in need.”

From New York City, Jonathan Raskin tells me that he has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Louis Armstrong Educational Fund. He says it was started by Louis Armstrong himself and funds many organizations that are committed to jazz education. “As one who loves jazz, it is a real treat to be involved with them,” says Jonathan. He says by chance he assisted Armstrong when he was ill in his last year of life as he worked as an orderly at Beth Israel Medical Center. “I will always remember how he smiled at me as if I mattered,” he says, “small world.”

Michael Fossel says his global biotech company (Telocyte) is moving ahead, now with full funding, to their FDA trials targeting Alzheimer’s disease. “We’re confident that we can do something quite remarkable,” he says. “We’ll see what happens.” In addition, his latest book, The Telomerase Revolution, is now out in paperback, in seven languages and 10 global editions. “It will never pay my mortgage, but it’s doing well and getting rave reviews,” he says. “Much more importantly, my gardens and my granddaughters are all doing well.”

Congratulations to John Huttlinger who was the 2017 recipient of the 14th annual Michael Urbach CPA Community Builders Award that recognizes exemplary achievements of a certified public accountant who serves in leadership positions on the Board of Directors of charitable organizations. He was honored for his knowledge, experience and service to non profits. John was a founder of the Adirondack Film Festival and the Rotary Club of Lake Placid, N.Y. called him “one of the finest CPA volunteers ever.”

David “Harp” Feldman writes that he is once again, after nearly 50 years, living with his parents. However, as he puts it, “At least it is they who have moved in with me (and with Rita, in our remote mountainside home in Vermont). I had to fly down and retrieve them from a rather poorly appointed hurricane shelter for Irma refugees from the Florida Keys. Fortunately, my dad (91) is a retired NYC fireman and my mom (87) a retired RN, so they were able to tough it out. Once the hurricane season is over and their mobile home has been made habitable again, I’ll bring them back and get them settled in.” Dave continues to write books on mindfulness, and on harmonica, and to create corporate and other group presentations featuring Harmonica-Based Mindfulness™.

As we saw this past hurricane season has impacted classmates. For some of us, it has been overwhelming. Rudolph Foy put out an alert. He tells me he experienced two Category 5 hurricanes around his home in St. Thomas and may need some help in the aftermath of Irma and Maria. You can reach him at rrfoy@midwest.net.

Kie Westby writes that on Sept. 9 on Martha’s Vineyard, “I had the coolest job in the world—walking my daughter down the aisle” and watching her join the man she loves. He called it “unbelievable” and said it “does not get any better.”

Peter Bernstein writes that in early September their daughter Rebecca ’08, who lives about two miles from he and his wife, married Justan Dakes, her high school sweetheart. “Wedding was at the fabulous Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, N.Y. It brought back memories of wine tasting road trips our freshman year,” he said. Several of Rebecca’s Wes friends joined in the celebration, and spotted in the crowd was Jay Rose and his wife Marilynne. In addition, their son Ben (U of Florida ’10) of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., announced his engagement to Natalie Kovacs of Lighthouse Point, Fla. Peter said he and Jay recently went golfing with Mark Helfat. “A great time was had by all and nobody got hurt,” he said. He and Karen also celebrated their 33rd anniversary.

Finally, a reminder that we have another exciting Reunion coming up: our 45th on May 24-27. Hope to see you there.

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

From Williamsburg, Va., we have an update from one of my East College roommates from senior year, John Spike. John is still assistant director and chief curator for the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary, where, over the past five years, he’s curated four major loan exhibitions from the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, Casa Buonarroti, and other important Italian museums. The exhibitions have been devoted to original works by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, and this year, Botticelli. All four exhibitions, after originating under his curatorship at the Muscarelle, have gone on to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His wife, Michèle, teaches at the William & Mary Law School, where she has been promoted to visiting professor. He says last year his son Nicholas, now 34, and his wife, Marcela, gave John and Michele their first grandchild, a boy, Santiago Spike.

From Vermont, our intrepid, indefatigable, and ever-faithful correspondent David Feldman, AKA David Harp, just did three “speaking gigs” in three consecutive days in three somewhat widely separated places (after not having done too many lately)—Chicago, Springfield, Ill., and Burlington, Vt. He reports that the speaking component (two large events of about 70 minutes each with 300-plus attendees on harmonica-based mindfulness as it applies to people working in the mental health field, and one smaller event for CPAs) “felt fine.” He adds, “It’s a bit hubristic to say, but I felt pretty much at the top of my form, corporate speaker-wise. But the traveling felt awful. The airports and traffic in the cities bugged me more than usual—is road and air traffic getting busier and less enjoyable, or is it just me? Or both? Or perhaps it is just a function of living most of the time in rural Vermont.”

Sheryl Auerbach says Jerry Richter, her husband of 35 years, passed away almost five years ago. On December 13 of last year, she married Evan Feist, a widower, whom she met through JDate. Evan is a retired veterinarian, and they share a lot of interests, including golf (although she says she’s a mid 30s handicap and he’s single digit), bridge, and birthdays. Sheryl notes that her birthday is July 20, Jerry’s was July 23, and Evan’s is July 22.

From New York City, another one of my very colorful East College roommates from senior year, Edward “Eddie” Nathan, sends us a second note saying that “44 years feels about right to collect sufficient experience to sustain a brief note to my quondam classmates.” He has had two careers: first as an academic, then as a creative director in advertising, most of it in health and wellness. “It’s a living,” he says. He and his wife reside in Brooklyn, though his work is in Pennsylvania. “Two fine grown daughters, one of them in Finland.” He says his beautiful wife is also New York’s “most decorated dog groomer” (see her website, Soniaspetgrooming.com). For the record, he says he would like to note his “one enduring contribution to Wesleyan. No one will recall, except me, that I was the first to use the ‘Wes’ prefix in identifying our athletic teams for the Argus, e.g., Wescrew, Weslax.” He says he had the occasion a number of years ago to write a “Wescheck” in support of his daughter’s application to Wesleyan. “I claim credit as having inspired the name of this tariff, and fully expect to be telling this story, inflated with ever greater significance, as I continue to slide comfortably into senility,” he says. He sends “All the best to my Wesbros.”

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com

Donald Zilkha writes that he and Virginia have three sons and says, “With any luck, my youngest will apply to Wesleyan.” Don has spent much of his career as an investor in restructuring, venture, and private equity, including Colt’s Manufacturing in Hartford. He’s had “the good fortune to have traveled extensively, often for business.” He has also lived abroad for several years and is “quite involved in food and wine.”

Daoud Haroon spent summer 2015 engaged in “continued musical and spiritual research” in Thailand with an interesting stay in Istanbul. He spent portions of the month of Ramadan in both countries. Last May and June, he and his wife spent a “chilly South African winter” in Johannesburg in Soweto and the outlying townships. He made many new friends among the growing dance and arts communities that surround both: Moving Into Dance Mophatong [midance.co.za] and Artist Proof Studio [artistproofstudio.co.za].

They also stayed for a month at a guest house located in Camps Bay, on the ocean side of Table Mountain, between Hout Bay and downtown Cape Town. He reports, “Contrary to popular belief in the States, apartheid is still alive and thriving in South Africa under ever new guises.” He had an opportunity to interview a broad scope of whites and blacks from many diverse racial, ethnic, and political backgrounds and, “they all agree that, like racism in America, apartheid will continue to flourish for a long time into the distant future.”

He continues to practice his instruments and is now trying to write a story a day. Anyone interested in his adventures can check him out on mancebomosaic.com.

After a long absence, Edward “Eddie” Nathan, one of my senior year roommates from East College, says he had little contact with Wesleyan, except to “chide it for having discontinued my alumni magazine. I used the conversation to inform the Wes rep of my singular contribution to Wesleyan history: the prefix “Wes,” which I had attached to our athletic teams as a reporter, and later sports editor, at The Argus, e.g., Wescrew, Weslax. Imagine my thrill, many years later, when the admission office invited me to mail in a ‘Wescheck’ in support of my older daughter’s application.” He concludes, “This is as close to immortality as I am likely to come.”

George “Bud” Brainard is a professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Since the 1980s, he has taught medical school and done research on the biological and behavioral effects of light on humans. He says, “My laboratory has worked with NASA on various light-related projects. In 2008, we began collaborating with Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center (JSC), and Harvard on developing and testing a solid-state lighting system to be used on the International Space Station (ISS).”

His lab was honored with the JSC Director’s Award for Innovation in 2015. As of early January, eight of the solid-state lights they helped develop were installed on ISS. “Ultimately, all of the lights in the U.S. portion of the space station will be replaced with the new solid-state lighting,” he says. They are doing a study on astronauts on the ISS to see if this new lighting system can improve sleep and daytime alertness.

Over the years, he sees classmate Fred Markham on a routine basis since he is also on the faculty at Jefferson. He periodically sees classmates Steve Kallaugher and enthusiastically supports Steve’s work on the Young Heroes Foundation. He periodically sees Mickey Rubinstein, and once in awhile Steve Grilli, Steve Berman ’72, Jim Shepherd ’72, and honorary classmate, Donny Shea.

Martin G. Bunin has joined Farrell Fritz’s Bankruptcy & Restructuring Practice Group as partner. The law firm says, “Marty’s experience includes the representation of committees in Chapter 11 cases, with an emphasis on unsecured creditors’ committees in cases filed by hospitals and other healthcare businesses, resort hotels, manufacturers, service businesses and owners of real estate. Additionally, Marty is a mediator in bankruptcy and bankruptcy-related disputes in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere.”

Sheryl Richter says that after her husband passed away more than four years ago, she met a “terrific guy” through online dating. His spouse had also passed away. She and Evan Feist, DVM, were married on Dec. 13. They share common interests, including golf and duplicate bridge, although, she adds, “I don’t think it’s fair to lump my golf into the same sentence as his (he’s a single-digit handicap golfer).”

Finally, there is sad news to report about Garrett J. Delehanty, known as an avid golfer, reader, and traveler, and for his sense of humor and the stories he would tell about his family. Garrett died last Nov. 13 at the age of 64 after being hospitalized for an illness. He had just celebrated 40 years of practicing commercial real estate law.

Until next time,

Peter D’Oench | Pgdo10@aol.com