Tag: 1974

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.

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

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.”

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.”

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

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!

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!

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!”

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.”