CLASS OF 1974 | 2023 | FALL ISSUE

Reminder: Reunion dates: May 23–26, 2024. Consider joining our 50th Reunion Planning Committee. Participate as little or as much as your time and interest permit.  We have monthly Zoom calls. Also, continue providing ideas for our reunion. Contact me (Sharon Purdie, spurdie@wesleyan.edu), Lucy Diaz at (ldiaz@wesleyan.edu) or Mandy Broulik at abroulik@wesleyan.edu to join the committee or to suggest ideas.  See Pam’s review below to read what you have to look forward to!

Second Reminder: Please complete the short reunion survey if you have not done so.  You can access it here: 50th Reunion survey.

Pam van der Meulen’s review of  the Class of ’73 50th Reunion in May: “I attended the Reunion along with Sharon Purdie and Alfreda Gaither, to get ideas for our upcoming 50th. It was so much fun getting to know people and hanging out with them. It didn’t matter that I knew only one ’73 classmate at Reunion. Many had not seen each other in years, sometimes as many as 50 years, and they had a great time connecting and reconnecting. So, I am sure that our reunion will be so much fun, and I urge people to attend! I have also developed friendships with classmates I know only through reunions, and more recently through working on the Reunion Committee. It is not too late to join the Reunion Committee: it requires only a one-hour Zoom meeting every month—and like much at Wesleyan, these Zoom calls aren’t even required (and there are no grades). Hope to see more of you on the committee soon.”

Norma Williams

Norma Williams was honored by the Real Property Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association as its Outstanding Real Estate Lawyer at an Installation and Awards Dinner on May 23, 2023. Norma has practiced as a transactional commercial real estate attorney for her entire career since her graduation from law school at University of California, Berkeley in 1977. The criteria for the award included excellence in practice, leadership, and contributions to the legal profession.

Monique Witt reports: “Professional demands have kept us all busy. Ben has been on U.S./European tour with Rickie Lee Jones and was featured with his sextet in the May issue of DownBeat magazine. He’s currently returning from [a] Midwest tour with his sextet (Nebula Project) and will join multiple Brazilian groups for NYC dates. Dev is working on new product development and joint ventures for ExMachina. Steven is traveling and I’m recovering from knee surgery following a sport injury.”

James Kempf updates us: “I am thinking of coming to the reunion next year but I am not sure since I live in California. My wife, Renate, and I have resolved to only fly every other year to reduce our carbon emissions and while next year is our flying year, we have another trip planned, to Europe where Renate’s family lives. I may take the train, it’s three days or so from California to Connecticut, but I could then visit with my family in Pennsylvania. Renate won’t come in any case; she does not enjoy gatherings where she doesn’t know anyone except me. And, actually, I have not been in touch with any other classmates since a year after leaving Wesleyan except for Bob Gershen. He and I have an interest in start-ups working on decarbonization.

“As for me, after a short stint in the Peace Corps subsequent to graduating from Wesleyan in 1974, I earned a master’s and PhD in systems engineering, with minor in computer science, at the University of Arizona; met in Arizona and married Renate in Germany; and we moved to Silicon Valley in 1984. I’ve lived there ever since, working for high-tech companies, primarily large companies like Sun Microsystems or Ericsson. I semiretired in 2020 and have been working on software for renewable energy companies and building decarbonization since, trying to move the energy transition forward. Right now I am the CTO at a start-up based in Seattle, building a virtual power plant system. I also am a member of an angel investing group for cleantech start-ups, and work with them on assessing start-ups with a decarbonization mission. In our spare time, we enjoy hiking, music (baroque and Renaissance as well as EDM Trance), theater, including baroque opera, and road trips in California and the West Coast.”

Blaise Noto has lived in Chapel Hill for the past 12-plus years, enjoying being back on the East Coast (via 10 years on Maui). While in Chapel Hill, he has taught communications, public relations, and digital media at a few North Carolina colleges including UNC School of the Arts, and is still actively involved in a number of committees in the motion picture academy, as well as in the Wesleyan Alumni Admission Volunteer Program. In September, he moved back to his native New York but this time upstate to the Clifton Park/Halfmoon area. (Retiring? He’ll see!) He is looking forward to coming back to Wesleyan for our 50th, catching up with friends, and the brothers at DEKE.

John McLucas is exploring options for translating his latest novel, The Boxer’s Mask, into Italian. It takes place in Rome during the pandemic and looks at the challenges of language acquisition and living abroad. He is also, at long last, correcting the proofs for his translation of Tullia d’Aragona’s epic Il Meschino (1560), forthcoming from the University of Toronto Press in its The Other Voice series, which publishes bilingual editions of books written by women in Renaissance Europe.

During a recent visit to New York, John had a wonderful lunch reunion with Jon Raskin ’73 and Steve Greenhouse ’73.

News from Gray “Jon” Cox is as follows: “I continue to enjoy teaching philosophy, peace studies, language learning, and AI-related stuff in the program for Human Ecology at College of the Atlantic in my hometown, Bar Harbor, Maine, and serve as clerk for the Quaker Institute for the Future. I am especially excited to be sharing my latest book, Smarter Planet or Wiser Earth? Dialogue and Collaboration in the Era of Artificial Intelligence, which is now available at all the usual online places as well as the publisher. Anyone interested in a review copy can download a PDF at www.smarterplanetorwiserearth.com for free or get a paperback if you are thinking of using it as a text or for reviewing it for a journal, newspaper, or newsletter. Write me at gray@coa.edu.

“I am continuing to enjoy writing songs and have included some in the book. I had a delightful time with a bunch of CSS folks in a Zoom call that Larry Green organized this year and look forward to more opportunities to reminisce and catch up as our 50th year reunion approaches!”

Christopher Moeller reports, “In late winter Carolyn White-Lesieur contacted me on behalf of the Reunion Committee. Although we had barely known each other at Wesleyan 50-plus years ago, her calls were a treat that I enjoyed immensely.

“On my request Carolyn provided my contact information to Cathy Barnes. Cathy and I exchanged several emails. Coincidentally, my wife and I had already scheduled a trip to San Francisco to visit one of her friends. The three of us met for dinner with Cathy and her husband, Peter Busch. Remarkably, Peter attended two years of high school with me in Dayton. Although we tried, it’s hard to cram 50 years into one evening!”

Rick Kronick and his wife Amy’s two daughters and their husbands moved across the street from them for a magical two years during the pandemic, one family coming from Philadelphia and the other from Seattle. Both girls had two-and-a-half-year-olds when they moved to La Jolla, and each girl got pregnant and delivered babies while in LJ. One set of in-laws also moved to a few blocks away, creating the La Jolla version of the shtetl. Sadly, everyone moved away in July 2022; the good news is that the Philadelphia family moved to Berkeley, where Dorothy is an assistant professor at the Goldman Public Policy School.

“Following the magical two-year interlude during the pandemic, it has been a tough year. I shattered my pelvis in a bike accident at the end of January (complete with surgery and 19 screws and plates), my 97-year-old mother died in March, and Amy has developed serious cognitive impairment along with her multiple sclerosis. The good news is that my recovery has gone well—back up to cycling 140 miles per week, some swimming, yoga, and even a bit of shuffling. I’m working at creating a new kind of partnership with Amy and looking forward to celebrating her 75th birthday on August 19 at a party with 20 of our friends.

“I’m not quite smart enough to retire from the faculty at the UC San Diego School of Public Health, and continue a bit of teaching, as well as my Don Quixote-like attempt to convince policymakers that Medicare Advantage plans are being overpaid to the tune of something on the order of $1 trillion over the next decade, which even by D.C. standards is a fair amount of money. Governor Newsom appointed me to the board of the newly created Office of Health Care Affordability, which promises to be an adventure.

“Although we did very little traveling in the winter when I was hopping around on a walker, we’re back to pretty regular trips to Seattle and Berkeley to visit our quite delicious and amazing grandchildren (not that I’m biased) and their parents.”

Rick Kronick and his grandchildren

John Gardner is semiretired after 45 years of work as a teacher, coach, and administrator at Avon Old Farms School. He has continued coaching hockey—this will be his 49th year coming up—and doing alumni development functions. He has also started a new business in helping to get male and female hockey players into New England prep schools, pathwaytoprep.com.

Ron Cartin shares: “Still living in Costa Rica and working as an actuary in the Costa Rican Social Security. I still love tennis but had to quit playing some years ago because of a retina detachment. Would love to get in touch with some of my friends from the Class of ’74 (specially friends from the varsity tennis team in the years 1970–1974 and from the Eclectic fraternity).”

Scott Burson informs us: “It’s been at least 20 years since I have contributed anything to class notes, but preparations for our 50th Reunion have unexpectedly flexed a nostalgia muscle. This entry should hold for another 30 years. Wendy Liebow and I married in 1979, have two adult daughters, and have lived successively in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Seattle, Washington, and Lexington, Massachusetts. After graduating from law school, I practiced law for three years. Discovering how poorly socialized I was to law firm life, I escaped to get a degree in librarianship and a seven-year career as an academic law librarian. The career thing finally stuck when I became an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, working in the Seattle and Boston regional offices over 31 years. I retired in 2018 after concluding that I did not need to continue to subject myself to the insanity of the Trump administration. Haven’t looked back. Haven’t looked forward or sideways, either, but I take well to leisure.

“Other than my retirement, the recent headline is the relocation of both of our now fully launched daughters. Allison ’07 now lives in Freeport, Maine, working for the East Coast Greenway Alliance; Esther (nominally 2010, but transferred and graduated from Swarthmore) has just started as an assistant professor of psychology at Smith College. I hope to see many of you at our 50th Reunion.”

Jill during her summer hiking tour of the Alps

Jill Fuller-Johnston reports: “In December 2020 I lost my husband (an English-French horn player) after a long and difficult period of increasing dementia. It was during the very strict lockdown in Germany, so it was a very lonely time for me. To maintain contact with the community, I continue to work, but with a somewhat reduced workload. I still teach cello three days per week at the music school and am playing chamber music with excellent colleagues—in a string quartet and a piano trio—so I still have to practice regularly. Still living in the Sauerland, one of the most beautiful regions in Germany. This summer saw me hiking from hut to hut in the Swiss and Italian Alps, followed by visits to Ticino (Italian Switzerland) and Vorarlberg (Austria.) Then the whole family finally came to visit: my daughter with her family from England and my son with his family from Bonn. Despite the fact that it rained the entire time, it was an enjoyable visit because the small children are all the same ages (two and six) and the adults also get along well.

“Since May 2022 a Ukrainian family has been sharing my house with me.”

Claudia Catania updates us: “Just returned from Lloyd Komesar’s ninth annual Middlebury New Filmmaker Festival, which served four days of fascinating films. I highly recommend it to all for next August. Some of the Wesleyan grads partaking were Wayne Forrest, Sarah Cady Becker, Arthur Fierman, Bill Pearson, Rick Gilberg, Steve Goldschmidt ’72, Mike McKenna ’73, Michael Arkin ’72, Todd Jick ’71, Bob Becker ’71, Janet Biehl, Caroline White-Lesieur, et al!

“On the home front, my husband, John Cady ’71, and I enjoy having our older son, Max, just back from New Zealand and now a STEM teacher at Design Tech in San Francisco. Our son, Gavin, owns and manages from afar his restaurant, 1000 Figs, in New Orleans even though he lives with his wife, and their one-, three-, and five-year-old sons in Denver. John and I are planning to live in Denver a number of months per year, so give a holler if you know any folks we should look up!

Claudia Catania

“I’m no longer leading Playing on Air, the audio drama series of short plays I founded (playingonair.org; you can stream it or go to the podcast), but am enjoying newfound freedom as I weigh a world of possibilities. Travel ranks high. Sempre Avanti!”

In August, the board of directors of The Music Center (https://www.musiccenter.org/) announced the appointment of several new board members including attorney Richard (Dick) Kendall. As one of the nation’s largest performing arts organizations, The Music Center presents world-class dance performances, nationally recognized K–12 arts learning programs, digital arts experiences, and free and low-cost public concerts and events. In addition, The Music Center manages four theaters, Jerry Moss Plaza, and Gloria Molina Grand Park, on behalf of the County of Los Angeles.

“Each leader of our newest cadre of board members has been positively impacted by the arts throughout their successful lives and storied careers,” said Cindy Miscikowski, board chair of The Music Center.

Dick attended his first opera, Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, when he was 12 years old. Accompanying his grandmother to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, he recalls how stirred he felt while watching the fabled production—the experience cemented his lifelong dedication to the arts. Dick, a partner at Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP, with more than 30 years of complex litigation experience, joins The Music Center’s board of directors alongside his wife, Lisa See. He has his finger on the pulse of the performing arts field; he serves concurrently as a board member of BroadStage. Having witnessed firsthand some of the challenges facing performing arts venues and theatrical stages following the pandemic, he is determined to help The Music Center and Gloria Molina Grand Park thrive. Dick is also a member of the Human Rights Watch Southern California Committee and has served on the boards of Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and Western Center on Law and Poverty. He holds a juris doctor from the USC Gould School of Law. He and his wife live in Brentwood.

CLASS OF 1974 | 2023 | SUMMER ISSUE

Reminder: Consider joining our 50th Reunion Planning Committee. You can participate as little or as much as your time and interest permit. We have monthly Zoom calls.  Also, continue providing ideas for our reunion. Contact me (Sharon Purdie, spurdie@wesleyan.edu) or Mandy Broulik at abroulik@wesleyan.edu or Kate Lynch at klynch@wesleyan.edu to join the committee or to suggest ideas.

Harold Sogard updates us on his trying to start a new career as a voice actor: He was  signed by an agent in January and has started auditioning for a variety of interesting gigs. “Haven’t gotten hired for anything yet, but at least I’m getting some at bats!”

Monique Witt reports that the last few months were both sad and joyful. Ben got married on seven-day’s notice at city hall at noon; then he and Yoko drove to Baltimore an hour later for residence with the Baltimore Symphony. Dev has been doing IP for his new tech. Sadly, Steven’s father died at 99 and it has left a huge emptiness—the last living grandparent. OneTrickDog* has had four albums to get out, and the labs are very busy.  Ben’s official release of A Thousand Pebbles was at Smalls and was terrific. The reviews have been very strong. The CD release [includes] two sets from Smalls [and they] are up on YouTube and Facebook.

Jim Gilson sent in this report: “Two pairs of roommates assigned to 202 Washington Street our freshman year, along with their spouses, have continued to see each other over the years, including more frequently connecting on Zoom during the pandemic. Mark Decker still lives in northern New Jersey and works as general counsel for a large privately held company. His former roommate, Jim Gilson, relocated to Alexandria, Virginia, in 2016 when he retired as general counsel of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, though he continues to work on occasional nonprofit governance and law projects, including volunteering as a museum accreditation peer reviewer. Rip Dauster retired from a high school teaching career in southern Connecticut and, together with his wife Marjorie Allen ’76 (who recently retired from the Connecticut attorney general’s appellate division) has taken advantage of their time and Rip’s photography talent to share photos of their several trips to Europe. Paul Liscom continues to live in Boulder where he has greatly scaled back on his home-building business but continues to take on a few projects, including supervising and doing much of the labor on a major trail restoration and boardwalk enhancement in the upper elevations of the Rockies.

“Over the last year or so, the Zoom call group has been able to expand. Don Middleton—another 202 Washington Street ‘alum’—has joined in. Don continues to practice urgent care medicine and live in the south coast area of Massachusetts. Larry Green also has joined the calls; he still is practicing law at a Boston firm but has enjoyed being able to work more frequently from his house on the coast of southern Maine. Larry agreed to serve on the class reunion committee, helping to plan some panel discussions that already sound intriguing.

“As their time has become more flexible and COVID restrictions have lessened to some extent, couples in this group have been able to stop in on each during their travels and, health permitting, are hoping for a few times we all can be together even before the class reunion in a year.”

Howard Curzer recently published a book entitled, Virtue Ethics for the Real World: Improving Character without Idealization (Routledge 2023). A brief description of his book may be found here:

He is till teaching in the Texas Tech University Philosophy Department and is married to Anne Epstein. His daughter, Mirah Epstein Curzer, is an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. His grandson, Jonah (age four), is training for the Olympic cuteness competition.

Bob Baum recently returned from Senegal—from the same village he started going to the summer after we graduated from Wesleyan. He was adopted by a family there and he is now the oldest living family member. It was his first time back in four years. This summer he become chair of the new Department of African and African American Studies at Dartmouth.

Christopher Moeller shares, “My wife and I are still retired. The entire family is reasonably healthy. Finally, after three years of pandemic restrictions, we feel somewhat safe going out to concerts, dances, and other performances. I hope that trend continues! The only recent news (last August) is that our son Steffen and his wife have adopted a newborn and named him Owen, and they are thrilled.

“In February, Carolyn White-Lesieur, sent an email to me of the upcoming reunion and to offer to have ‘a conversation.’  She and I each sent a few emails, then had a lengthy phone call that covered many aspects of the last 50 years, or perhaps just a few. I asked Carolyn to pass my contact information along to a number of others who were significant to me during my year and a half in Middletown. Perhaps some will follow up!”

In February my husband Ted Sybertz and I went on a National Geographic expedition to Anarctica. The trip was fabulous and included  hiking, viewing lots of penguins, seals, whales, and icebergs, as well as kayaking, taking the “polar plunge,” and attending lectures by scientists conducting research during the expedition.

Our condolences to the family of Randy Brown who passed away on April 20, 2023, due to complications from a stroke that he suffered on Christmas Day of 2021. At his death, Randy lived in Boulder Creek, California. He was the author or coauthor of several books and pamphlets about the history of the greater Santa Cruz area and was a regular speaker at historical gatherings. He was also passionate about the history of baseball, in particular, the Negro leagues.

Randall “Randy” C. Brown ’74

Randall “Randy” C. Brown ’74 passed away on April 20, 2023. His brother wrote:

I’m writing to let you know that my brother Randy ’74 passed away on April 20, 2023, due to complications from a stroke that he suffered on Christmas Day of 2021. At his death, Randy lived in Boulder Creek, California.

After Wesleyan, Randy worked at a variety of jobs, and resided in Staten Island, San Francisco, and North Carolina. He returned to California about 30 years ago. Randy was the author or co-author of several books and pamphlets about the history of the greater Santa Cruz area and was a regular speaker at historical gatherings. He was also passionate about the history of baseball, in particular, the Negro Baseball leagues. At his death, he was researching the earliest history of some of those teams.

Randy is survived by his three younger brothers, Bert of Santa Cruz, California, Curtis of Taiwan, ROC, and Greg ’80 of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and Palm Springs, California.

Greg Brown, ’80

CLASS OF 1974 | 2023 | SPRING ISSUE

Reminder: Consider joining our 50th Reunion Planning Committee (https://www.wesleyan.edu/alumni/connect/class-pages/1974.html). You can participate as little or as much as your time and interest permit. Join us on our monthly Zoom calls and continue providing ideas for our reunion. Simply let us know via this form: https://mccdjnp6y05t8wfdqrbdfjcbwgc4.pub.sfmc-content.com/c3m3ac3lekq, or you can contact me (Sharon Purdie, spurdie@wesleyan.edu) or Mandy Broulik at abroulik@wesleyan.edu or Kate Lynch at klynch@wesleyan.edu to join the committee or suggest ideas.

Bill Gustus passed away on September 19, 2022. Bill double majored in government and sociology while at Wesleyan. He leaves his wife, Laura Caron-Gustus, and his nine children. My condolences to his family and classmates. His obituary can be read here and below.

William J. Gustus, of Lunenburg, Massachusetts, passed away in his home on Monday morning, September 19, 2022.

Bill was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on January 9, 1953, a son of the late Walter and Rita (Fleming) Gustus and grew up in Wilmington, Massachusetts. A graduate of Wilmington High School, Wesleyan University, and New England School of Law, Bill joined the Peace Corps and served in Malaysia for two years before embarking on a career in law and local government.

Bill owned and operated Settlers Crossing Golf Course in Lunenburg and the Westminster Golf & Country Club in Westminster with his wife and business partner, Donnie Lyons. Prior to his retirement he was the town administrator for the Town of Lynnfield, and the chief administrative and financial officer for the Town of Lunenburg. His career also included serving multiple roles in Middlesex County government, general counsel at Cummings Properties, and being appointed CFO for the City of Gloucester.

He enjoyed many years of worldwide travel with his wife Laura, family, and many of his closest friends.

Bill leaves his wife, Laura Caron-Gustus of Lunenburg; his 9 children, Casey Gustus and his wife Cathy of Wayland, Kelly Gustus and her husband Jeremy of Wayland, John Gustus and his wife Emily of Wrentham, Timothy Gustus and his wife Kara of Melrose, Michael Gustus and Jeffrey Gustus both of Woburn, his stepchildren, Jason Brailsford and his wife Mariah of Lunenburg, Tanya Eberlin and her husband Craig of Ashburnham and Kristin Trumble and her husband Matt of St. Clair Shores, Michigan; his brother, Stephen Gustus and his wife Tracy of Sommerville, 13 grandchildren, former wife Theresa Gustus of Wayland, and many nephews and nieces. He is predeceased by a brother Leonard Gustus.

Monique Witt reports: “Ben soft released his fifth album, A Thousand Pebbles (his second with the Nebula Project sextet) and debuted it at Ravinia. Dev hosted AES (American Electronics Show) at the ExMachina Soundworks space in Bushwick, Steven’s firm was involved in the Twitter purchase, and I’m dividing my time between three upcoming albums and the Soundworks.”

Chuck Gregory has enjoyed success as the Senior Warden at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, facing the dual challenges of a rector search and the COVID pandemic. The church is thriving with new rector, Grant Wiseman. Chuck’s term will finish in January 2023.

For our 45th Reunion, Chuck sang with a group of alumni at Eclectic. They called themselves the Fossils of MoCon. He hopes to be part of something similar for our 50th.

Dave Skinner, Rob Ingraham, and Doug Cole were among attendees at a celebration for Dave “Duke” Synder, their former hockey coach, during Homecoming weekend (November 5). See below for a picture of the three of them, along with Bill Burke ’73, with Duke and his wife Diane. John Gardner attended as well. It was a wonderful reunion of 40 or so former hockey players from the ’70s and ’80s teams. Duke was a great coach and mentor to them all

From left to right: Rob Ingraham, Dave “Duke” Snyder, Diane Snyder, Bill Burke ’73, Doug Cole, and Dave Skinner (team captain ’74)

Arthur Fierman writes: “My wife Shelly and I had a great time in August with Wesleyan classmates and other grads at the eighth annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, produced by Lloyd Komesar. This was our fourth fest (one year remote due to COVID) —the films, interviews, and related events are amazing. It has been a great way to reconnect with classmates. Hope to see more of the Class of ’74 there next year!”

For the past few years, Harold Sogard has been taking classes in voice acting with the goal of starting a new career.  He’s now reached the point where he has produced demo tapes and is circulating them to agents in the hopes of getting signed and then getting some actual paying gigs. You can check him out at www.haroldsogard.com.

Pam van der Meulen updates us: “I enjoyed re-connecting with Sharon Purdie, Jean Barish, and Adrienne Bentman during Homecoming, following the 50th Reunion planning session with members of the classes of ’73 and ’72.  Adrienne spoke at the Title IX seminar that morning and was inducted later that evening into the Wes Athletics Hall of Fame. Congrats, Adrienne! On a personal note, we bought a vacation home in the Berkshires last spring, in the Otis Wood Lands, which we absolutely love, and I’ve started playing pickleball.”

CLASS OF 1974 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Chris Neagle writes, “My move to a very small law firm in a very small town did not work out as hoped, so I am now happily practicing Maine real estate law part time from my home in the woods with part-time help. My first small business. Checkout neaglelaw.com.”

John Ayer reports, “After a life of varied experiences (few of which depended on my fine education) I have retired after a 30-year stint at Foxwoods Casino—the only job I ever took intending it to be temporary; ha ha on all the others!”

Ileen Rosenthal updates:

“1. I am CEO and co-founder of an educational software company called Footsteps2Brilliance. We create Model Innovation Cities—turnkey, bilingual, citywide initiatives that help children prepare for kindergarten and read proficiently by third grade. All of our content is in English and Spanish. Middletown, Connecticut, is one of the school districts that we work with. Last year, during COVID, the superintendent asked us to triangulate his pre- (fall) and post- (spring) third-party assessments. Students using our software improved their reading scores by 175 %!

“2. Footsteps2Brilliance also has been asked to co-produce a bilingual interactive television program with PBS that will use 28 of our books. After viewing the program, parents will be able to download the books and do interactive educational games with their children.

“3. Our daughter Alex Rosenthal ’17 married Keith Spencer ’16 on June 25, 2022. They met each other in Alex’s freshman year and have been an item ever since. They had a great wedding with lots of friends from Wesleyan and beyond.”

News from Monique Witt: “NYC has opened up, so Ben is once again touring and finishing the release of his fifth studio album (the second with the Sextet and Nebula Project). Dev just announced the new gear releases. Steven is too busy still; WLRK litigation is representing Twitter, and I am splitting my time between the Sound Labs and the island with upcoming albums. The new normal in NYC is kinda like the old: the L train arbitrarily stops service at Bedford, so from there it’s the G at Lorimer to the Court Square E to 57th to walk halfway across the world to find the 6. Good to be back.”

Karla Bell moved this spring, to a home with half the space, most of it still covered in boxes. This is chaotic enough, but she is spending this summer and early fall attending her children’s weddings. Her daughter’s was July 23 and her son’s was in mid-September, and both are in California during what is predicted to be scorching days. Her trip packing is truly frantic as she tears open boxes searching for those damn shoes.

In Wes news, she planned to spend some time with her roommate, Juliette Kendrick, in August, preferably near a beach, or anywhere the breezes can soothe frazzled, aching 70-year-olds. To amend that: CUTE, frazzled, aching 70-year-olds. Of course, they’re still blond.

Melissa Blacker ’76 and David Rynick are plowing through the wedding anniversary milestones and appear to be achieving their dream of growing old together. Their Zen community, Boundless Way Zen, has thrived through the pandemic, now operating online as well as in person, including people across the country and around the world. If you’re looking to do nothing, come join them at www.worcesterzen.org.

John McLucas writes: “I retired in 2020 from 36 years teaching Italian at Towson University in Baltimore—directly into the pandemic lockdowns. Finally, in October 2021, I was able to take a twice-delayed trip to Italy and reconnect with old friends there. My translation of the Italian epic poem “Il Meschino” (“The Wretch”) by Tullia d’Aragona (1560) is finally forthcoming from Iter/University of Toronto, the culmination of a project started in 2003.

My third novel, The Boxer’s Mask, is just out from BrickHouse Books. It tells the story of a charismatic young actor at the start of his career in modern Rome, and of a circle of English and American expats who become fascinated by him. Communication is already challenging across linguistic and cultural differences, and then COVID adds new layers of complexity.”

Larry Green is now living full time in Ogunquit, Maine, with his wife Denise. Larry continues to practice law as a senior partner with Burns & Levinson in Boston, generally working remotely, and is devoting more time to family, including five grandchildren, and writing. Larry has published three short books under his Hebrew name Lev: Alphabet of the Invisible, Mastering the 4th Dimension, and Weaving Your Thread through the Tapestry of Judaism. The books may be found at levgreenbooks.com or on Amazon. Larry otherwise reports that he very easily transitioned to age 70, very appreciative of his many blessings in life, including family, friends, health, the Ogunquit seashore, and synagogue involvement.

Gray Cox sends greetings from Bar Harbor, Maine, where he continues to teach philosophy, peace studies, and language learning at College of the Atlantic, employing skills in interdisciplinary study he picked up in CSS. He continues to draw on insights from Louis Mink and Brian Fay in research that has led to a book that will be published soon by the Quaker Institute for the Future called Smarter Planet or Wiser Earth? Artificial Intelligence and Collaborative Wisdom. Along with a tribe of kids and grandkids, he loves to write, perform, and record songs of love and peace (see some at graycox.bandcamp.com).

Jonathan Eddison shares: “In early June, the West College alumni subgroup of friends, degenerates, patient spouses, cynics, and radicals known loosely as “Born to Lose” had a 52nd Reunion (of freshman year) gathering at Rick Gilberg and Elisa Cohen’s house on Martha’s Vineyard. Present were: Andy Char (Honolulu), Charley Blaine (Seattle), Henry and Debbie Willis (Los Angeles), Harold Sogard (Marin), Joe Loewenstein (St. Louis), Jonathan and Diane Eddison (Austin) and Peter Heyward (Washington, D.C.). Lloyd Komesar, an honorary member, and his wife Maureen joined us. We had too much fun for our aging bodies. We spent nearly as much time talking about our medical issues as we did on national politics.”

“Born to Lose” Reunion Martha’s Vineyard, June 2022. 
Back row, left to tight: Henry Willis, Rick Gilberg, and Joe Loewenstein
Seated, left to right: Jonathan Eddison, Harold Sogard, Andy Char, and Peter Heyward

Sandy Newman writes, “Just celebrated my 46th anniversary with the wonderful love of my life, Chris Owens, who recently retired from running a low-wage worker organization. We’ve lived since 1978 outside D.C., where our 39-year-old has now been in love with the same good guy for a dozen years. She’s a joyful, exuberant, Zumba and barre teacher and math tutor, who is also exuberant about life, which brings me great joy. (Thank goodness the teen years are long in the past). As for what I’ve been up to over the years, I’ve started and run a voter registration organization and a couple of advocacy nonprofits and have now spent many years advising donors on where they should put their contributions to have the biggest impact on protecting democracy and winning elections. Often, there are noncandidate contributions that can have many times the impact that contributions to candidates can. Most of my time goes to evaluating organizations, often spending months digging into randomized controlled trials on each of a single organization’s tactics. Happy to share conclusions as a gift to friends and classmates.” SandyNewman@gmail.com

Left to right: Arthur Fierman, Shelly Fierman, Lyn Thurber Lauffer, Carolyn White-Lesieur, Jane Siebel with Wayne Forrest

The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF) was in its eighth edition in August 2022. Created by Lloyd Komesar,it is a lot of fun and Lloyd always makes everyone feel very welcome!

Sharon sailing in Rhode Island

My husband Ted Sybertz and I continue to enjoy sailing on our 42-foot X-Yachts boat from our home port in Jamestown, Rhode Island. In the winter, we ski in Park City, Utah, and in-between, we kayak, swim, bike, and run in Vero Beach, Florida—the joys of retirement!

Finally, here are some additional photos of our classmates!

Henry Avis-Vieira at his office, WesBruin Capital
Howard Curzor
Alan H. Kleinman May 2022, taken in Provence
Christopher Moeller (left) and Lee Coplan in 2013

CLASS OF 1974 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

Charisse R. Lillie has been named one of 2021’s most influential Black corporate directors by Savoy Magazine. Charisse is CEO of CRLCONSULTING LLC, a full-service consulting firm based in Philadelphia.

In the book Evergreen Cemetery of Santa Cruz, authors Traci Bliss and Randall Brown bring to life the tragedies and triumphs of diverse individuals who helped shape Santa Cruz, California, and its values that endure today. The Evergreen Cemetery, founded in 1858, served as the last resting place for many of the region’s earliest settlers, entrepreneurs, and artists. The property was given by the Imus family of cattle ranchers who had narrowly avoided the tragedy of the Donner Party more than a decade before. Along with these pre–gold rush California pioneers, the community buried several notables including London Nelson, an emancipated slave who became a farmer and donated his property to the city schools. Also interred at the cemetery is journalist Belle Dormer, who wrote about President Benjamin Harrison’s visit to Santa Cruz and its world-famous redwoods, and businessman Wong Kee, a tireless leader of the town’s Chinese community.

Randall is a Santa Cruz County Distinguished Historian, who serves on Santa Cruz’s Historic Preservation Commission. He also serves as a featured history columnist for the San Lorenzo Valley Post. He is the author of The San Lorenzo Valley Water District: A History. 

John McLucas’s third novel, The Boxer’s Mask, is forthcoming from BrickHouse Books in Baltimore. It traces the rise of a young actor in contemporary Rome, and his interactions with a circle of Anglo-American expats who variously adore and objectify him. John has enjoyed pandemic opportunities for Zoom and phone reunions with Lyn Thurber Lauffer, Steve Cutts, Eric Neuman, Dan Kenigsberg, Scott Brodie, and other classmates.

Monique Witt’s son Ben was nominated to the American Pianist Competition. He has material recorded (unmixed and unreleased trio, solo, sextet), and new work from his Berlin residency. Back from his European tour, he’s on tour in the South. Her son Dev just finished his production space for ExMachina, and their Pulsar monitors were chosen for an international award for technological innovation in sound (SOS, December 2021). His space was featured on the Today Show. Monique is between Greenpoint, at the old facility, Bushwick, and LIC, at the label. Steven finished the year still working too hard. They all got COVID, musicians as well, but everyone is fine now.

 During the pandemic, to get outside and socialize, Pat Mulcahy joined a cycling club in Queens that meets every Sunday, weather permitting, at the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. This is a very mixed group in every way: About a third of the 35-person crew is made up of native Spanish speakers. Recently she bought an electric bike to give her a boost on hills. (She takes a fair amount of ribbing from her cohorts. . . . ) Every time she posts a biking picture on Facebook, Wayne Forrest chimes in. He and his wife are also avid e-bikers. Now Harold Sogard has apparently joined the cohort! And Lyn Lauffer says she wants to come down for the Five Boro Bike Tour (40-plus miles, in May).

Motto: The class of ’74 is not made up of slackers. You’re a prime example! Never was. . . .

On the work front: Pat is still editing and doing collaborative writing. Her newest project came out this March 2022 from Mango, a relatively new press in Miami: The Answer is You: A Guide to Creating a Life Full of Impact by Alex Amouyel, executive director of Solve at MIT, an accelerator program for inventors and social activists. Alex is one of her only millennial clients. It’s good to stay in touch with the younger generations.

Randy “R.N.A.” Smith’s latest historical novel for golf fans is out in April.  Quadruple Birdie highlights the human frailties of four famous Texan pros during 1950 and beyond, as narrated by their erstwhile counselor.

Lloyd Komesar reports, “After staging a successful in-person 7th Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival this past August, attended by 40 Wes grads, we are full-steam ahead with our 8th Annual edition, slated for August 24–28.  I invite my classmates to attend and enjoy the films, the panels, the parties (all outdoors), the beauty of small-town Vermont in late summer, and the joy of the conversations and friendship renewals that go on every year. And a special shout out to Wayne Forrest for spurring the creation of the AICEF Prize for Cross-Cultural Filmmaking that debuted at MNFF7 and will continue at this year’s fest. AICEF (American Indonesian Cultural and Educational Foundation, which Wayne oversees) has enabled us to collaborate with the Bali International Film Festival in a wonderful filmmaker exchange that brought a terrific Indonesian filmmaker to Middlebury this past August. Thank you, Wayne!”

CLASS OF 1974 | 2021–2022 | WINTER ISSUE

Jan Eliasberg spent most of the year doing a “virtual” book tour for her debut novel, Hannah’s War (Little, Brown and Co.). Among many highlights was an “all Wesleyan Zoom book club,” organized and hosted by Stephanie Rosenfeld ’82. Paul Vidich ’72, author of The Mercenary, named Hannah’s War one of the ten best books featuring female spies. Hannah’s War was recently named a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in Fiction.

Jan has partnered with producers Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman (Star Wars: The Last Jedi; Knives Out; Tales of Love and Darkness) and their company, T Street, to make the film of Hannah’s War; she’s currently adapting her book into screenplay form.

Jan’s daughter, Sariel Friedman ’19, spent 2020 immersed in political campaigning: first for Biden/Harris in Pennsylvania, then for Ossoff and Warnock in Georgia.

John Gardner writes, “I completed 46 years of work at Avon Old Farms School this past May and have semi-retired. I still will coach the hockey team and help with admissions and alumni and development in the upcoming year to keep me busy. While I was full time at Avon, I was a math teacher, advisor, athletic director, provost, and for the last 21 years, the associate head of school. A great lifestyle and always fun working with teenagers. I live off campus now in Simsbury, Connecticut, with my wife, Miriam, and enjoy my four grandchildren who live nearby.”

Monique Witt shares, “Ben is back on tour, Dev is launching the second line of monitors from ExMachina Soundworks, Steve just signed up the Canadian National/Kansas City Southern and MedLine deals, and I’m prepping the upcoming recording sessions: solo piano, trio and sextet. I’m also back playing daily tennis and reading more math again (which is hard).”

News below provided by Harold Sogard:

Scott Karsten died suddenly from a heart attack in January. He was on the wrestling team at Wes. He became a very successful trial lawyer in Connecticut, and led the suit by Deke against the University.

Steve Burton sadly died by suicide sometime late last year or early this year. He was, along with our other recently passed classmate Dick Fairbrother, a starting guard on the basketball team at Wes. He went on to a long and distinguished career with the global advertising agency, DDB.”

Scott Langner died in May. He will be known forever among those who were at Wes at the same time as “the Wave.” Here is his obituary: https://obits.al.com/us/obituaries/birmingham/name/j-langner-obituary?pid=198428200&fbclid=IwAR1GPJIYVoj7JQ9TurbYEwLXkAizAFLFhuLiUM-SYHSvrD9YW3GDMvCSc6o

Claudia Catania reports, “Our grandson, Linden, turned three in June. His brother, Paxton, is a robust 10-month old. As of a year ago, their family moved to Denver although they still have a thriving business, their restaurant 1000 Figs, in New Orleans. Our other son, Max, teaches digital art at High Tech High, which is a charter school in San Diego committed to experiential learning. John Cady ’71, my husband, and I are officially living in Hillsdale, New York, although I still shuttle to New York for meetings and recordings. If you like good storytelling, acting, and podcasts, subscribe to Playing on Air! We just recorded Hank Azaria and Jonathan Groff for the first time back in the studio since early March of 2020. Remote recording was getting crazy. Much better now! Also better with Harold Sogard on our board!”

Suzzanne Rosselot shares, “I was a transfer student and so appreciated my education at Wesleyan. My retirement date is June 24. I am closing my private practice after 45 years as a clinical social worker. I loved my work and I look forward to leisure time and spending more time with family.”

Charlie Cocores continues to be very active with Habitat for Humanity. Read on . . . “We have had Harold Sogard on a few Habitat builds in the past . . . he was a great asset to the group! We’re retired in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Carol and I are organizing a Habitat for Humanity build for the local Georgetown, South Carolina, Habitat Affiliate. We did two Georgetown County Habitat for Humanity week-long builds. The builds were October 6­–13 and October 20–27, 2021.  If you’ve never done one of these they are rewarding, fantastic fun, new friend making and memory making! They are also a way to ‘try out’ volunteer tourism for a future Habitat International build in another country.

“Each week-long build includes two cultural-historical-recreation days. . . . Evenings include going out to dinner, then usually to hear music, socialize, dance or have a drink. We have had people in their 20s to their 80s participate in the past, and there is some job or task almost everyone can do at their own pace. The point of the builds is to raise money for the local Habitat’s work, laugh, make friends, and do some good for the local community. The work includes some new construction, repair work on houses, volunteering in the HFH Restore and various other jobs . . . .

“House recipients actually buy the home and pay for it over decades with a no-interest mortgage, the tradition of which is directly from the Bible. Recipients, most whom would not qualify for a conventional mortgage, must work to pay for the Habitat mortgage and also put in hundreds of hours volunteering on their home or for Habitat in other capacities. It truly is a ‘hand up not and out’ model.”

For more information contact Carol (860–304–2667) or Charlie Cocores (860–304–2668) at cocoshfh@gmail.

Randolph “R.N.A.” Smith writes: “My eighth golf book should be out by December.  Quadruple Birdie is a historical novel focused on the mental and physical trials facing Ben Hogan and his Texan rivals on the tour in 1950.”

Sharon Purdie writes, “Our son, Jeff, and his wife, Alyssa, are the proud parents of Blake Sybertz, born on May 13. Other than visiting them, we continue to enjoy running, bicycling, swimming, skiing, kayaking, and sailing on our new X-Yachts 4.3 sailboat.”