Tag: 1974

Ken Jacobs writes, “My law firm, Smith, Buss & Jacobs, has grown to 17 lawyers over the past 25 years. In January we’re adding Robert Spolzino, a former appellate division judge, as a name partner, together with two other partners and three associates. We now represent over 350 co-op and condo associations in the New York metro region, including Co-op City. With Bob, we are adding a substantial municipal and litigation practice in Westchester and Long Island. I expect our profile to increase significantly in these practice areas over the next 12 months—it’s going to be an exciting ride.

“My wife, Sharon, and I adopted our children over our late 40s, so we’re about 10 years behind most of our peers in lifestyle changes. We like to say that it keeps us young, but we’re chained to the high school/college cycle for another decade. In the meantime, I’ve finally learned to like rap. Last spring my daughter Sasha and I started West Coast swing lessons as a way for Dad and daughter to bond. She stopped when school started (and she met her first boyfriend!), but I’ve continued. Meanwhile I read bridge books and play when I can, which is much less often that I would like.

“We moved from NYC to Westchester for kids, and then to Upper Saddle River, N.J., so my kids could attend Waldorf schools. My son Andrew is on the autistic spectrum—discussing how that has affected our lives would take an entire page, but it’s not the right stuff for an alumni newsletter. We have learned a lot and can offer a lot to younger parents who may be dealing with the same issues.

“Professionally, my firm has law offices in Westchester and NYC. Most of my personal clients are in NYC, but my co-op/condo colleagues in NYC now consider me as their ‘upstate’ liaison. I’ve worked from time to time on condo offerings with Seth Davis ’72. He’s a director at Warburg Realty in NYC.

“I enjoy reading your notes. It’s fascinating to see how many classmates have made their mark in unusual fields and what lifestyle choices they have made. When my kids are launched, we look forward to enjoying the same freedom (again!).”

John McLucas, in his 34th year as a professor of Italian and Latin at Towson University near Baltimore, has just published his first novel. Some passages in Dialogues on the Beach(BrickHouse Books, Baltimore, 2017, available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble) may remind some classmates of Wesleyan in the early 1970s.”

Jai Imbrey is overjoyed that at long last the book she put together, Mosques: Splendors of Islam by Rizzoli, has come out at such a time when it is key to recall the extraordinary artistic contributions that Islam has inspired—a book edited by two Jewish women! In the great Apfel-imbrey tradition.

Join Carol and CharlieCocores on their Habitat for Humanity trip this summer in Krakow, Poland, from  June 22 to July 2.Join this 10-day trip to Poland to help build for families in need of decent, affordable housing. Event code: GV18566. “You’ll fly into Krakow, Poland. We will be working either in Pszczyna and/or Gliwice. For our cultural experience we’ll visit the famous Krakow Salt Mines and Auschwitz. Program donation: $1,900 (flight not included). 40-plus percent of this is a direct contribution to Habitat’s work; the rest covers your trip expenses.

Habitat Poland is serving families on the economic margin that work, but can’t afford decent housing. Despite recent reforms, overcrowded and damp housing without proper sanitation is still the reality for far too many of Poland’s low-income working families.

The team will get their hands dirty on the build site with various tasks. Throughout the week you’ll tour local markets, visit museums, learn more about Gliwice through a walking tour, visit the world-famous Krakow Salt Mines and Auschwitz. You’ll stay in double occupancy hotel rooms near the project site and enjoy dinners out at local restaurants. Contact Charlie at cocoshfh@gmail.com or 860-304-2668 if you’re interested.

Monique Witt reports, “we had two painful family losses, but we are rallying. The guys are good. My elder son, Dev, is moving to a huge warehouse in Williamsburg with his pro-audio partner to continue his tech startup/engineering/sound technology. My younger son, Ben, continues to record, to tour and to play in NYC. Beginning in March, he has consecutive tours in the mid-west, Canada, Japan, the west coast and Europe. He’s just recorded a second album with his touring trio, and his recent album, Instead, is selling well. He anticipates two more albums toward the end of this year, one on accordion.

“OneTrickDog* will release three more albums in the coming months (we released six last year, one mentioned for Blues Album of the Year). As we develop the upcoming Sound Works, we will briefly slow our recording projects. Steven is working too hard, as am I, but that’s normal.”

Carolyn White contributes, “I, too, went to the Middlebury Film Festival and it was really good and a lot of fun. I plan to go again in 2018 and encourage others to consider it! We could make this be an annual class reunion.

“Lloyd Komesar makes everyone, especially Class of ’74 people, feel so welcome and special. The films are top-notch and very interesting. Mark your agenda for weekend before Labor Day.

“My daughter Geraldine got married to a nice young man, Ryan Kurtz, and classmatesLindley Huey and Michel de Konkoly Thege shared in our joy. I have two adorable French-American grandchildren, Celian and Alana who live, unfortunately, in Toulouse, so not exactly next door, but I manage to see them via Whatsapp and regular visits to France.

“I continue to teach NAMI Family to Family classes and play on two tennis teams at the Mount Auburn Club near Cambridge.”

Gray Cox continues to enjoy the teaching philosophy, peace studies, and language learning at College of the Atlantic in the town where he grew up, Bar Harbor, Maine. He is the clerk of the Quaker Institute for the Future and is always looking for others interested in taking part in that think tank for spirit-led research on social and environmental issues. His own research and publication of late has focused on nonviolence, dialogical reasoning, and ways of biasing the odds towards development of ethical systems of AI. He also continues to compose songs which can be heard at graycox.bandcamp.com.

Stu Forman continues to serve as medical director of Gilead Community Services in Middletown, which was started in 1968 as a project of two Wesleyan students. He remains married to the love of his life, Amy (approaching 39 years), and now has the pleasure of working with his lovely daughter, Emily, who was recently hired as a psychotherapist by Gilead. “Add in three standard poodles, and I’d be a swine to complain. My only regret is not getting to write any more pornographic football articles for the Argus.”

Michel de Konkoly Thege provides, “I was fortunate enough to be a guest at the wedding of Carolyn White Lesieur’s daughter, Geraldine, who got married in a very festive French-American ceremony in Jersey City on New Year’s Eve. My wife and I see Susan and Dan Kenigsberg both in New York City and in eastern Long Island, where we both have homes and have shared many excellent dinners together.”

Randolph Smith’s seventh golf book should be out this spring. Entitled Golf’s Price,it’s a novel involving a tournament and subsequent TV reality show powered by a “devil’s bargain.”

In the twilight of his career, Bill Burton has returned to his geographic roots in Connecticut (3 years of prep school, four years at Wesleyan, 1 year of finding self) and is doing geologic mapping for the U.S. Geological Surveyin the Woodbury-Southbury-Roxbury area, west of Waterbury. Bill’s focus is determining the source of high uranium occurring in private water wells that are drilled into bedrock. His field headquarters in Woodbury is the spacious home of two renowned Yale geology professors. When back home in northern Virginia, Bill’s volunteer activities include beekeeping, board member of the local Audubon Society chapter and a committee on nighttime lighting, and helping run a local astronomical observatory. His wife Laurel is writing her fifth sci-fi-fantasy novel. Bill looks forward to finally getting up to Lloyd Komesar’s film festival in Vermont this summer.

Lloyd Komesarreminds everyone, “Here’s an open invitation to all my classmates to join a growing contingent of Wes grads for the 4th Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival on Aug. 23-26 in beautiful Middlebury, Vt, the beating heart of the Champlain Valley in central Vermont. Great films by first- and second-time filmmakers will be on tap along with every conceivable craft beverage you can imagine. Our friends at Stonecutter Spirits, owned by Sivan Cotel ’06, always hosts an informal gathering for Wes attendees and Sivan’s barrel-infused gin goes well with conversation and good times. You can find us at middfilmfest.org. Let me know if you are planning to come so we can communicate directly.”

Sharon Purdie | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

NEWSMAKERS | 1970s NEWSMAKER CHARISSE R. LILLIE ’74 Charisse R. Lillie ’74, businesswoman, attorney, and lecturer, received the A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. [Hon. ’96] Lifetime Achievement Award during the 29th Annual Pennsylvania Bar Association Minority Attorney Conference in October. The award recognizes the accomplishments of a lawyer or judge who has demonstrated dedication to the legal profession and the minority community through civil, community, or legal service. Lillie is the CEO of CRL Consulting. Previously, she was affiliated with Comcast Corporation, where she served as a senior vice president of human resources, among other executive positions. Earlier in her career, she was a trial attorney with U.S. Department of Justice in the Civil Rights Division. A history major at Wesleyan, Lillie earned a master’s from Yale University and a doctorate from Temple University. Wesleyan named her a Distinguished Alumna in 1993.

Jai Imbrey writes, “My Oberlin daughter Genevieve is marrying a Wesleyan lad, Jack Scott ’06, so all is well in the universe. I have completed a book on mosques published by Rizzoli, the first in 30 years to cover mosques worldwide with new photography and a chapter on Russian sanctuaries. The name of the book is Mosques: Splendors of.”

Jai’s husband, Bob, having weathered two hurricanes back-to-back at their home on St. Thomas, is now working to restore power and drinking water to the island at large.

Bruce Duncan reports, “By the skin of my teeth I was promoted to professor of physics at Fitchburg State University, effective this current term. Now I need to determine how to survive in retirement, which may come in a summer or two.”

Todd W. Grant and his wife traveled down the Oregon coast in May. They had perfect weather and beautiful scenery. In August, Todd and one of their sons backpacked for a week in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. The scenery was spectacular. Todd comments, “I feel fortunate to still be able to do these things.”

Lloyd Komesar enthusiastically reports, “The 3rd Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival was a rousing success, made all the more so by the fabulous Wes folks who attended: Rose Komesar ’07 (and Maureen Carn P’07), Bill Pearson ‘74 (and Jane Pearson), Jay Craven P’04, Wendy Starr ‘74 (and Jeff Kessler), Debra Salowitz ’74 and Neil Salowitz ’73, Carolyn White-Lesieur ’74 (and Jean Lesieur), Claudia Catania ‘74 and John Cady ’71, Lyn Lauffer ’74, Elizabeth Lauffer ’07 (and Ferdinand Lauffer), Seth Davis ’72 and Elisa Davis ’76, Todd Jick ’71 (and Wendy Jick), Bob Kesner ’67 (and Andrea Torello), Steve Goldschmidt ’72 (and Stacy Sussman), Michael Arkin ’72 (and Morag Hahn), Mike McKenna ’73 (and Lynn McKenna), Joan Gamble ’80 (and Chip Paison), Sivan Cotel ’05 (great party at Stonecutter Spirits!), Dookie Bennett ’03, Maggie Masselli ’16 and Pierre Plantevin ’16, Adam Mirkine ’17 (and Ilene and Andre Mirkine), Sofi Taylor ’17, Maya Stevens ’17, Connie Des Marais ’17 (and Jim and Lyn Des Marais) and Paul DiSanto ’81.

“We are reaching true critical mass for Wes in Middlebury! Thanks to all of you for making the trip and here’s to seeing more of Wes at MNFF4, August 23-26, 2018. Mark your calendars!”

Not much news this issue. Please consider contributing to the next request.

Sharon Purdie | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Peter Hayward reports the sad news that our friend and classmate, Robert Mankin, died in Paris, France on January 28, 2017, after a long illness. Robert was buried at the Cimetière Parisien d’Ivry.

Robert, who had lived in France since the 1980s, had a distinguished academic career there. At the time of his death, he was a professor of British history at the University of Paris, with particular expertise on the English historian and writer, Edward Gibbon (the subject of Robert’s doctoral thesis), and Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, David Hume, among many other interests.  From 2009 to 2013, he directed and breathed life into the University’s Research Laboratory on Anglophone Cultures, which became a university department as a result of his efforts.  Robert had also been serving for several years in Paris’s Cité Universitaire director of the Fondation Deutsch de la Meurthe, a graduate student residence and cultural center, which flourished under his leadership.

At Wesleyan, Robert was a College of Letters major (Peter believes his lifelong attachment to France began in his COL semester in Paris in the spring of 1972). He subsequently took additional time to travel and study abroad and graduated Wes in 1975. Robert was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and, in addition to his academic pursuits, he was an avid runner and club rugby player. Robert is survived by his wife, Danielle Torren, their son, Emile, and his mother, sister and brother in the United States.

Jerri Stroud and her husband, Mike Saville, will relocate to Seattle, Wash., later this summer, where they expect to have more chances to see 10 other Wesleyan ’74 alumni, including Charley Blaine and his wife, Chardel. “We’ve enjoyed seeing them on our trips there over the last dozen years.” Their son, Stephen Saville, is with Amazon, and they’ll be about 10 minutes’ drive from him and their granddaughter, Emily.

Monique Witt reports, “We are weathering a few serious family illnesses, but the music is going well. Two albums came home from press in May and three went to press soon after. We are excited about two particularly. My older son’s Grammy nomination has produced a great deal of work for the audio labs, so he’s very busy, having just returned from a late honeymoon in Paris and Nice.

“My younger son, Ben, has received exceptionally strong reviews for his first album Instead, including one from DownBeat Magazine, numerous U.S. reviews, as well as strong European reviews. He’s up on radio round the world, and has played jazz at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, Mezzrow, Smalls, and played Carnegie Hall in late May, in addition to the summer festival season and his weekly gigs.  So he’s pretty busy as well.

“I’m keeping the label running and playing doubles with a woman who plays with the Canadian National Team, so she carries us. Steven is still lawyering. So all good, I guess, except that I find it hard to read the news (something I used to do religiously).”

Jaf Chiang provided the following update. “A little less than three years ago my wife, Jeanne Demko ’75, passed away very suddenly. We married shortly after I graduated—so a total of 40 years. We did our share of wandering and meandering, but unlike Moses, it was a blissful period for us. She did get to see the ‘promised land’ as she saw both our children grow up to be independent, productive and full of compassion, as she was.

“I am still finding it hard to adjust to this.  I still live in the same house in Avon (‘Home is so sad. It stays as it was left, Shaped to the comfort of the last to go, As if to win them back.’–Philip Larkin) and still teaching gifted students in math. My daughter will finish her residency in Maine Medical this year and move to Kentucky to begin her fellowship in infertility. My son just finished the PhD phase of his MD-PhD program at Washington University in St. Louis and will begin his last two years of medical school later in June. And I will soldier on as well.”

Jan Eliasberg states, “I have moved into a three story brownstone in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, and discovered a passion for interior design. I’ve been restoring fine details of the original architecture (ceiling medallions, floor to ceiling shuttered windows, five original marble fireplaces), as well as mixing in more contemporary influences: mid-century modern furniture; vintage rugs from Morocco, and art acquired during my world travels. There’s a fantastic garden with climbing roses, hydrangea bushes, honeysuckle, and wild raspberries ripe for the picking. A wonderful place to call home. There are three bedrooms so let me know if you need a place to stay while visiting NYC.

“This year I was lucky enough to direct several episodes of the new CBS hit show, Bull, with Michael Weatherly. The show shoots on stages in Brooklyn so I was, literally, 10 minutes from work. Great fun and a great privilege to work on a show in its first season, helping to shape and define the style and tone of the series.

“In June and July, I’m off to Pittsburgh to direct two episodes of another new show, NBC’s Gone, with ‘Mr. Big’ himself, Chris Noth. I’m looking forward to exploring Pittsburgh, which is apparently a really hip, up and coming city—lots of young artists, foodies, cafes and places to hear cool music.

My daughter, Sariel Friedman ’18, just finished her junior year at Wesleyan, with a double major in American studies and film. She’s spending the summer in Germany taking a class at the Frei University. She then has a paid internship working with Steidl Publishing. Wesleyan has proven to be as ideal an experience for her as it was for me.”

Harold Sogard, Marion Stoj, Linda Rappaport, and Sharon Purdie attended the Donors’ Reception during Reunion Weekend—good turn-out for our class! It’s always fun to catch up.

Sharon Purdie | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Class of 1974 Endowed University Scholarship

Rami Hamati ’19, Manja, Jordan

During Homecoming weekend in October, women of our class celebrated our fifth Women’s Gathering at Wesleyan.  The celebration was suggested by Pam van der Meulen and organized by Nancy Stack, Sharon Purdie, and Pam. Attendees included Nancy, Pam, Sharon, Carolyn White, Judy Atwood, Jean Barish, Adrienne Bentman, and Lyn Lauffer. Plans are to have the next Gathering at our 45th Reunion in 2019. Women of our class, add it to your calendar!

Jane Burns provided the following update: “I live in La Jolla, Calif., and have been a professor at UCSD for the last 25 years. I study Kawasaki disease and am the director of the KD Research Center at UCSD and Rady Children’s Hospital.

“I received my M.D. degree at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1978 and completed my pediatric residency and chief residency at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colo. In 1983, I moved to Harvard Medical School and the Boston Children’s Hospital for additional training in pediatric infectious diseases and molecular virology. I joined the faculty at Harvard in 1986 and in 1990 moved to San Diego, where I joined the faculty at the University of California as an assistant professor.

“I moved up through the ranks and was appointed professor of pediatrics in 1999. I was appointed chief of the division of allergy, immunology, and rheumatology in 2000. In 2013, I stepped down from this position to devote all of my energies to Kawasaki disease research and KD patient care.

“Currently, I am director of the Kawasaki Disease Research Center at UCSD/Rady Children’s Hospital where I lead a multidisciplinary team that cares for 80-100 new Kawasaki disease patients each year and follows over 1,300 families in the KD Clinic.

“My passion for studies of Kawasaki disease has spanned more than three decades with my first publication on KD in 1982. In addition to my academic pursuits, I am the mother of two daughters, now age 31 and 35. My husband, John B. Gordon M.D., is an interventional cardiologist at the San Diego Cardiac Center who cares for adults with long-term sequelae of KD.”

Jan Eliasberg reports: “At a time when many directors’ careers are winding down, mine is firing on all cylinders, for which I’m deeply grateful. I’ve directed several episodes of CBS’ new hit series Bull, starring Michael Weatherly (formerly of NCIS), as well as ABC’s Conviction. I’ve also been chosen as one of 10women directors to work with Twentieth Century Fox on “re-booting” some of their biggest franchise films. I pitched a concept for Die Hard and will be working with Fox executives on developing my director’s take.

“On a more serious note, I reconnected with many Wesleyan friends at Seth Gelblum ’75’s memorial service. I knew Seth from Wesleyan and have been friends with his wife, Orren Alperstein, since grade school. The memorial was a magnificent testament to Seth’s warmth, commitment, passion, and huge heart. In tribute, the Shubert Theatre’s marquee was dimmed, something that honors the theatre greats—an honor Seth certainly deserved.

“My daughter, Sariel ’19, is a junior at Wesleyan, double-majoring in American Studies and film; it’s a great joy to see her reveling in her Wesleyan experience as I did. The essential values of the school remain unchanged.”

Jerri Stroud retired from the Better Business Bureau in St. Louis as of Jan. 31, 2017, after eight years with BBB (and 33 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before that). A move to Seattle could be in the offing, but nothing definite yet.

Monique Witt reports that, “we are still moving ahead with the discs in the cue: my son’s disc, Instead, will drop in March, Juan Carlos Polo’s Insomnio released in Peru and here in the U.S. this past month (Peruvian drumming). SaRon Crenshaw’s upcoming blues album is in the mastering phase and Wayne Tucker’s next album is in late mixing phase.

“Katini’ Yamaoka’s album Gone released to great reviews, and we’ve been getting tremendous press for Ben Sutin’s Tangibility. That end is good. However, one of the most extraordinary jazz trios I’ve ever recorded is breaking up to do real property development, medicine, and rock and roll. It breaks my heart, as it speaks volumes on how difficult it is for great musicians to make a living now, even when they’re booking world tours (as these guys are). The pianist said, “I want to do more than just survive. While it is wonderful to follow one’s passion, after 30, the reality of rent and medical coverage takes a huge toll on artists in every genre. So I’d urge anyone who can to support an artist.

“When I’m not doing the music, I’m working on a manuscript on modern war crimes and re-thinking the Rome Convention. Fascinating from the perspective of cosmopolitanism.  Boys are good.  Elder is enjoying married life; younger is crazy busy playing piano. Husband is contemplating moving us to Canada (joking sort of).”

Bob Baum survived a kitchen remodel—doubled the number of windows overlooking the Connecticut River and the Dartmouth campus. Became grandparents for the second time (two boys), spent a semester with religion students in Edinburgh, Scotland—a beautiful and relaxing time.

Claudia Catania reports: “After a long and courageous battle, Seth Gelblum ’75 passed away in August of 2016. He had recently won the first Tony honor ever bestowed on a lawyer. Living at the crossroads of almost every major theatrical deal, he was responsible for the unseen, but critical moves that make Broadway theater happen. He was the esteemed mentor, counselor, protector and friend to so many illustrious artistic figures that create contemporary theater. His widow, Orren Alperstein, orchestrated a beautiful memorial service according to his wishes. His brothers Peter Gelblum ’73 and Robert Gelblum ’72 and his sister, Laura, spoke of their childhood in North Carolina. His Wesleyan roommate, Cliff Chanin ’75, remembered him movingly. Steven Greenhouse ’73 recounted later years.

“There were many Wesleyan friends in attendance. I know I missed a number from our class like Anne Jacobs, but I did talk to Jan Eliasburg, Harold Sogard, Willy Holtzman, John Shapiro, Shonni Silverberg ’76, Steve Ross ’75, Vicky Bijur ’75, and John Raskin ’73. As we exited the beautiful service, the Broadhurst Theatre’s lights dimmed for a few minutes and Seth’s jovial face smilingly graced the illuminated overhead marquee billboard.

“John Cady ’71 and I have two sons. Gavin, 26, and his wife are opening their second restaurant in New Orleans. I urge you to sample their first, 1000 Figs! His mother proclaims it is sensational food. Our older son, Max, 29, having taught for three years in Cambodia at an innovative new school, Liger Learning Center, returned to the States to attend grad school at Harvard for a degree in innovation and technology in education. He now teaches digital art at High Tech High, an experiential learning charter school north of San Diego.

“I am the producing artistic director of a public radio show and podcast called Playing on Air and I shamelessly urge you to subscribe to its podcast. It’s short 10-20 minute plays are written and performed by our nation’s best. A shot of humanity in this rocky time ain’t a bad thing.”

Update from Sharon Purdie: “I continue to spend May-October in Jamestown, R.I., enjoying boating, biking, and swimming. November through April we live in Vero Beach, Fla., with the exception of six weeks in the winter when we ski in Park City, Utah. I try to visit Wesleyan at least once a year during the time we’re in Rhode Island. In November, I completed my first triathlon and placed first in my age group. Our son, Jeff Sybertz, graduates from Stern School of Business (NYU) in May. Our daughter, Sherry Sybertz ’10, graduated from Middlebury Institute of International Studies with an MBA in May and now works for Dole Food Company in Monterey, Calif.”

Sharon Purdie | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Here you will find the unedited updates from your classmates, since a shortened update was included in the print edition.

Charlie Cocores and his wife, Carol, organized a week-long Habitat for Humanity build in New London CT this July. Rich Bennick serves on the Habitat board with him. Harold Sogard volunteered for the build and a number of Class of ’74 members contributed to the project including Tom Barton and Tim Donahue.

Monique Witt and her family are still involved in producing jazz and blues, with four upcoming releases.  Of particular interest are the first studio album from blues guitarist SaRon Crenshaw, trumpet player Wayne Tucker’s second album, and her younger son’s first album of original material since the “Michiko Session Tapes.”  This one is also trio format, this time with jazz legends Billy Hart on drums and Curtis Lundy on bass.

Her own projects include several music videos and a recently begun research project for a book on Cosmopolitanism and Humanitarian Crimes.  Ben graduated this spring from Columbia (early phi bet and suma) and finished his program at Julliard.  He continues to perform and is now teaching as well.  Dev is getting married in October and continuing his work as a sound engineer and audio tech designer.  Steven resists retiring from Wactel, but they’re all good.

Fred Hosea provides a synopsis of his life after Wesleyan:  “Since my graduation in 1974, this is my first update. I sang, recorded and toured as a singer with Chanticleer in the 80’s, did a Ph.D. in psychology at the Wright Institute, and languished in depressing under-employment for years due to the idealistic, but now very relevant research I did on social ecology and the need for new, interdisciplinary models of professions, social planning and philanthropic strategy.  Was one of the founding organizers of the Green Party of California, and dedicated years of efforts to elevate the discourse and choices, to improve political culture and institutions in the US.  Also sang exuberantly with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, although most of us are not theists.  After working for 17 years in Kaiser Permanente in California — most recently as national Director of Research and Innovation in Clinical Technology, — I retired last year and moved to Cotacachi, Ecuador where I live in a beautiful country home, almost 9000 feet up in the Andes, in between two extinct, 15,000 ft. volcanoes, surrounded by 45 indigenous communities that I work with on cultural preservation.  I just finished editing a book for the World Health Organization to guide Ministries of Health in planning and operating complex technologies in healthcare systems.  Also co-authored a chapter in another book on Disaster Management. Today, I began teaching a course on The Art and Science of Innovation for students at Yachay Tech University, a visionary educational effort in Ecuador to create a knowledge-based economy, to replace over-dependence on mining and oil industries for national income.  Also am consulting to engage Yachay students in sustainable development projects in the surrounding indigenous communities where I live, addressing climate change, water mgt, alternate crop strategies; training indigenous midwives as community healthcare workers, using cellphones to link them to call centers; and doing a pilot project on using Common Operating Picture software (developed at Carnegie Mellon Univ/Silicon Valley) to improve disaster response capabilities and speed damage assessment. Am in a research collective looking at point of care diagnostics for heavy metal exposure.  Currently am studying how fractal theory can be applied to visualization of psychological structures and processes, and how certain “lower level” phenomena, such as cell apoptosis, can also be seen at “higher” systemic levels (like the self-destruction of empires, or of suicide bombers), and how those underlying forces are represented, and reinforced, in spiritual and political belief systems. Also, starting classes in Kichwa. In other words, a fairly typical Wesleyan career and life trajectory.

Michel de Konkoly Thege’s update is that “I am now a double Wes alum, since I completed an MPhil in the Wesleyan GLSP and received my degree at the May 2016 commencement (and I for sure walked). My master’s thesis centered on Paul Reynaud, a French center-right politician who was active in the 1930s. The great thing about doing this thesis was that my adviser was Nathanael Greene, who was also my adviser when I did my senior thesis; it was quite rewarding to work with Nat again. All in all, the MPhil was a terrific experience, and it was fun to spend a significant amount of time in Middletown as I attended classes and researched the thesis. I will be doing a WESeminar on the thesis during Family Weekend in October.

I am now teaching history and English electives to 11th and 12th graders at my school in downtown Manhattan; I also teach a class on school finance in the Klingenstein program at Columbia University – Teachers College. And am happily living in lower Manhattan with my wife as I have for the past 30 years.”

After 11 years at the Federal Trade Commission and 27 years at Jones Day, Toby Singer retired from Jones Day in mid-August.  She highly recommends retirement to anyone else considering it — She is keeping very busy with volunteer work and travel, as well as rediscovering how to cook, but she’s never in a hurry!

Jim Gilson reports that he and his wife, Nancy, have made some changes that have long been in the works. “I have retired after a number of years working as General Counsel and as an administrator for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the La Brea Tar Pits. I continue to consult and volunteer and am glad to have time for more of that, including serving on the American Alliance of Museums’ national Accreditation Commission, which allows me to stay involved with lots of great institutions and do museum-related travel. Nancy has scaled back to part-time, from-home work. In conjunction with those work changes, we have relocated from Los Angeles to Alexandria, VA, where we are enjoying living in a renovated Old Town townhouse among historic buildings, a few blocks from the Potomac and near all that Washington has to offer. Both our kids are in school in the east: Lisa finishing a PhD at Yale and Matthew transferred to GMU and studying to be a high school history teacher. Before we left LA, we were able to see Wesleyan friends Dave Rosenblum (’75), Bruce Corwin (’63), and Jude Schneider (’79 ?????), but we did have to pass up on the Yellowstone trip that Paul Liscom has hosted the past few years for Mark Decker, Rip Dauster, and me (and spouses) the past few years – maybe next year. We are looking forward to reconnecting with Wes in DC and making new friends.

Todd W. Grant sends greetings from Ann Arbor, where he has lived since 1977.  He states,

“I have no notes of enviable accomplishments.  I note simply that to be alive, healthy, and active a few months short of being 65 years of age is a treat the vast majority of humans throughout history have never had. My marriage of decades in length keeps getting better, and our twin sons at age 28 are making good headway in the adult world. And I am able to go mountain biking on weekends and occasionally get away to real mountains several times a year.  My wife and I spent a week in the Canadian Rockies in June.  One of our sons and I will be spending next week backpacking in the High Uintas Wilderness in Utah.

Harold Sogard notes how sad he is about the passing in August of Seth Gelblum ’75.  “He made me laugh at least a million times, both during and after our time together at Wesleyan.”

Lyn Lauffer reports, “The film festival was fabulous, and, as last year, I met Wes alums there, whom I hadn’t known before, and not only from ’74. Lloyd’s  (Komesar) work has had a great impact on the arts scene in Vermont, without question.”

Jonathan Weiss updates us – “I live in Andover Mass with wife Susan (and dog Louie.)  I work as a psychiatrist in North Andover, still interesting, usually fun, always too busy, and the commute is 10 minutes.  Our son Sam works in Palo Alto for a start-up he co-founded.  Our daughter Hannah (Wesleyan 2012) has lived for 4 years in Australia, the farthest English-speaking place on the planet.  Unfortunately she’s very happy there.

Besides enjoying New England seasons in Andover, we spend a few weeks each summer in Orleans, on Cape Cod, and go skiing at Sunday River in Maine.  I’ve been playing guitar in some informal gigs and that’s a blast. Would love to hear from people.

Lloyd Komesar reports, “The 2nd Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival was a great success this past August and I genuinely appreciate all my classmates and other Wes alums/parents who joined in the festivities this year: Bill and Jane Pearson, Lyn Lauffer, Wayne Forrest, Neil Salowitz ’73 and Debra Storey, Steve Goldschmidt ’72 and Stacy Sussman, Seth ’72 and Elisa Davis ’76, Todd Jick ’71 and Wendy Ehrlich, Audrey, P’09 and Joel Brockner, P’09, Joan Gamble ’80 and Chip Paison, Mike and Lynn McKenna ’73, Bob Kesner ’67 and Andrea Torello, Sivan Cotel ’05, Paul DiSanto ’81, Mark Masselli ’09, my daughter, Rose Komesar ’07, and my wife, Maureen Carn, P’07.

Our special guest this year, the legendary documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple, turns out be a P’04.  Who knew?  Barbara presented a 40th Anniversary Tribute screening of her first film, the Academy Award winning and still incredibly potent, Harlan County, USA.  We welcomed actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard for a lovely morning “Coffee with. . . .” conversation.  The acclaimed American author Russell Banks spoke eloquently about the “Book To Film” process.  Folks from The New York Times and The Nation were central to our panels.  And we screened 77 fine films by first and second-time filmmakers, including 35 Vermont premieres, with Wes filmmakers Beatrice Alda ’83, Juliet Werner ’03, Naomi Saito ’16, and Allie Miller ’16 all in attendance. Credit for MNFF’s growing popularity rests in large part with our gifted Artistic Director, Jay Craven P’04.  Yes, there is a Wesleyan connection pretty much in all corners of our Festival.  We’re having fun and I hope to see more classmates at the 3rd Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, August 24-27, 2017.”

Carolyn White attended the national annual conference of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) in Denver, Colorado last July. Our John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado, was a keynote speaker alongside former Congressman Patrick Kennedy. To the captivated audience of over 2000, John described , some of the many changes he has been able to effect that enhance the lives of those living with a mental illness. John canceled his presence at a significantly more prestigious event to address the NAMI families dealing with mental illness and she thinks that says a lot about him and his values. She read John’s memoir, The Opposite of Woe, and enjoyed it thoroughly, especially the parts about Wesleyan. It is amusing, thoughtful, and entertaining.

According to ArtNet News, “Following his short, two-year tenure as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s director, which he left in 2013, bespectacled gallerist Jeffery Deitch returned to New York City to set up shop again at his old space on 76 Grand Street in Soho.“

An article in the Denver Post on July 28 discussed Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper’s upcoming speech at the Democratic National Convention and the possibility he may be tapped for a Cabinet position if Hillary Clinton were to be elected.  The article also discussed portions of John’s memoir, The Opposite of Woe as quoted below:

“Hickenlooper grew up in Wynnewood, an affluent suburb about 10 miles outside Philadelphia on the Main Line.  He traces his family lineage to Anthony Morris, a central figure in the city who opened a brewery in 1687 and later became the second mayor of Philadelphia. A street in Olde City Philadelphia, Morris Alley, is named for him.

In his memoir, Hickenlooper recounts his childhood outside Philadelphia, particularly the death of his father 10 days after his eighth birthday. As a kid, he recalls being “the skinny dork with acne and the Coke bottle-thick eyeglasses,” and a “petulant loudmouth perpetually teased by my classmates.”

His behavior problems eventually prompted his mother to send him to the nearby Haverford School, a private, all-boys institution founded by Quakers, where he pitched seven scoreless innings for the varsity baseball team his senior year, giving the school the league championship.

Elsewhere in the memoir, The Opposite of Woe, Hickenlooper recalls the times he tried to grow pot outside his bedroom window and the time he took his mother to a local screening of the X-rated movie “Deep Throat,” one of a number of intimate revelations in the book.”

SHARON PURDIE | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Reminder: Invitation to all of our classmates to come to Middlebury, Vt., Aug. 25–28 for Lloyd Komesar’s Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. A large turnout for an unofficial ’74 “Northern Reunion” could be the start of a beautiful tradition!

Lyn Lauffer reports, “It’s been really fun for me to reconnect with Lloyd Komesar, following our last Reunion. We discovered that his wife, Maureen, and my sister, Sara, were tennis partners in the Middlebury Summer League! Also, last October, Bill Burton came to town for a conference, and he and I got together in Burlington for a great visit over a brew and dinner.

“In my own little corner of the world, I’m still happily working as the school librarian at an elementary (K-8) school. My husband, Ferdinand, is semi-retired, though still teaching math at community college. He’s an avid touring cyclist and will be biking in the Himalayas for a month this summer, after the two of us do a (tamer) tour of parts of Bavaria and the Czech Republic in July. We have one daughter in London, Emily, who’s a writer at MAKE Architects. The other daughter, Elisabeth ’07, just had her first book translation (from German) published by New Vessel Press. She works at Middlebury Interactive Languages.”

Jai Imbrey states, “I am personally enjoying the Brooklyn neighborhood renaissance with my work on European art at the Brooklyn Museum, a now hip and happening place spurred on by the new director Anne Pasternak. I often find myself swimming with green turtles when I dip into the waters of St. Thomas to catch a glimpse of my husband, who is starting a new business in Rhum Agricole. Love reading Beard’s SPQR and Carlo Rovelli’s Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and of course that sexy devil Knausgaard!”

For John Hickenlooper, “This is a really big year. After four years where we had the worst droughts, floods, fires, shootings, when I attended 62 funerals, and went through a separation and divorce, this year is the opposite of woe. Which happens to be the title of my so-called memoirs. I married an amazing woman Jan. 16, took my son to watch the Broncos win the 50th Super Bowl on my birthday, and on May 24th Penguin/Random House released The Opposite of Woe. Oh, my.”

Harold Sogard’s “two bits of news: 1. My wife and I went to Paris last fall to visit our daughter, Lucy ’17, who was there on the Wesleyan/Vassar program. On Friday, Nov. 13th, we flew with her to Berlin for the weekend. That night the terrorist attacks happened. We had eaten twice at one of the restaurants that was shot up. Lucy had tickets for a concert later that month at the Bataclan. We came back to Paris that Sunday. I’ve never seen so many police, troops, and automatic weapons in my life. It was all a very sobering experience. Vive la France!

“And 2. I’m about three-quarters of the way through my first year as a Wesleyan Trustee. I’m still trying to figure out just what it is that we actually do. But at least it’s given me a convenient excuse to get back to campus and visit my daughter there before she graduates.”

Bill Gustus retired from his position as town administrator in Lynnfield, Mass., in January 2015, after 28 years of working in various public sector management positions. He now cuts grass and works the pro shop at Settlers Crossing Golf Course in Lunenburg, Mass., a regulation sized nine-hole course he purchased a couple of years ago to keep him busy after retirement. He would love to play some golf with any Wes golfing alums wandering through north central Massachusetts this summer.

Jim Krantz states he is “very proud of (and trying not to live vicarious through) my wonderful children. Daniel ‘11 is now in his second year at NYU Law and will be at Skadden, Arps this summer. My daughter Sarah has taken a semester off from Barnard, where she studies Anthropology and Art History, to work on the Darwin Manuscripts project at the American Museum of Natural History.”

After four decades in Hollywood and the motion picture business, Blasé Noto is now a full-time Assistant Professor at Barton College in North Carolina in the School of Visual, Performing and Communication Arts.  He continues teaching part-time at UNC School of the Arts, School of Filmmaking in the Producing program.   Still loving being back on the East Coast and living in Chapel Hill and the Triangle.   Also, he gets a chance to see Carol and Charlie Cocores when they’re down in South Carolina.

Randy “R.N.A.” Smith’s fourth collection of golf stories will be published this summer. Titled He Lies Nine, this book features the conclusion to his serialized, futuristic novella Golflandia.

Monique Witt says, “same as always:  we dropped two new discs mid-march.  The next three projects for the label are interesting.  Dev is doing more pro-audio design work along with the customary sound engineering.  Ben graduates mid-May and heads down to the Jacksonville Jazz Festival Piano Competition, where he is a finalist.  So everything is good.”

Jan Eliasberg “had the pleasure, and the honor”, of speaking at the official launch of the Wesleyan Women’s Network in NYC on Wednesday, April 20th. The program, “Wesleyan Women Then & Now,” focused on Wesleyan women throughout the decades and featured a TED Talk-style speaker from each decade, 1970s to the present. Jan sat on the dais with a “jaw-droppingly brilliant and inspiring group of Wesleyan women”: Majora Carter ’88, urban revitalization strategy consultant and McArthur Genius Grant winner; Shola Olatoye ’96, NYCHA Chair & CEO; and Emily Greenhouse ’08, managing editor of The New Yorker.

The event was hosted by trustee emerita Susan Webster ’77, P’18 at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where she is a partner in Cravath’s Corporate Department and leads the Firm’s General Corporate practice. The event sold out within a week of the invitation going out and the room was filled with kinetic, ambitious, and intelligent women eager to connect and hear about how the gifts of a Wesleyan education help to forge an entrepreneurial path through the “real world.” President Michael Roth made an appearance, single-handedly representing “Men at Wes.”

Back in Middletown, Jan’s daughter, Sariel Friedman ’19, just completed her first semester and is absolutely thriving. With an ambitious plan to double-major in American Studies and Studio Art, and minor in Film Studies, she is crafting a diverse, rich and deeply individualized Wesleyan education.

SHARON PURDIE | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Class of 1974 Endowed University Scholarship

Rami Hamati ’19, Manja, Jordan

Charlie Cocores writes, “I’ll be leaving my second career as the Educator in Residence, Certification Officer, at Connecticut College in May. Hope to continue to teach some psych in local colleges. Carol and I are awaiting our 5th grandchild in April and couldn’t be more excited! If folks are ever in Old Saybrook, CT or Pawleys Island SC look us up!

Writing under a penname, Ellen Levy Sarnoff is a bestselling steamy Romance writer on Amazon. Among the authors who write these kinds of books, she has even been more popular than 50 Shades, E. L. James. She has made both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. LOL! What a career. From children’s television programming to this!

Bob Baum is enjoying life in the Upper Valley of Vermont and of being a grandfather. He just published a book, West Africa’s Women Of God: Alinesitoue And The Diola Prophetic Tradition, available from Indiana University Press.

Monique Witt and her One Trick Dog Records company are “deep in the production of the first four albums of 2016, the first a jazz fusion with Katini Yamaoka Dinkubahi that will be sent for broad distribution in Japan, the second, a delta blue with SeRon Crenshaw, then the Roy Assaf Trio’s new offering, and finally a debut album for my son, Ben. Everyone is busy. Ben will finish his programs at both Columbia and Julliard in May. He was elected early to Phi Beta Kappa. My elder, Dev, is engaged and will marry in the fall. Hello to Bob Baum.”

Doug Cole went to DC in February to meet their new Just born granddaughter, Lyra Abigail Cole. Grandchild #4. What fun! Also, he is celebrating 40th anniversary to Carolyn Loughlin this year; 30 years in their home in Woodinville, which has become wine capital of Washington.

As of February, Tom Barton had recently retired from a 32-year practice in orthopedic surgery in New Hampshire.

Nancy Collins reports that she “retired in August 2014 after 30 years as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. We now have a second house in Rio Verde, Ariz., where we are part time. My husband, Brian Mahoney ’73, is still working 50 percent at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and I still have my big vegetable and flower gardens in North Oaks, Minn. We are working on our skills in bridge, ballroom dancing, pickle ball and hiking, and advanced Spanish, and volunteering. We visit Dan (computer programming for Safe Net) in Milwaukee and Meredith PsyD (works for PACE University and has her own private practice) and her husband Armintas (Point 72 hedge fund) in Manhattan. We see Katie and Chloe and Sookie (her family of 2 Frenchies) in Minneapolis where she is an ER doc at Fairview Ridges and Southdale Hospitals. That is busy enough for us! Glad to be off the ever accelerating hamster wheel of work.”

This past winter, Kathy Scholle Hale had lunch with Bob Gershen and wife Debra Kaye who now live in Sarasota, Fla. Also for the first time in years, she had a long conversation with her old roommate, Brett Sherman, who is living in NYC with her architect-husband. Ironically they discovered that they each own a house in Westerly, R.I. Small world.

Jan Eliasberg shares, “I’m delighted to report that I am now the proud parent of a Wesleyan student — my daughter, Sariel Hana Friedman ’18. Sariel transferred to Wesleyan from Barnard and, within days of her arrival, was sending pictures of Foss Hill covered with snow and texts saying things like “I love this school!!!!!!!” (There might even have been a few more exclamation points). She has declared — in true Wesleyan fashion — that she’s going to double major in American Studies and Studio Art and minor in Film, concentrating on the production and history of design and the history of advertising and visual communication in America.

Because of her background and experience in graphic design, Sariel’s been hired to work part-time at Wesleyan’s Office of Communications, creating and designing advertisements for the Wesleyan Film Series, pamphlets and brochures for admissions and fundraising, and doing layout for the Wesleyan University alumni magazine. Several people were extraordinarily helpful in her transition: Andrew Stuerzel, in University Relations, and Tonya Strong, Dean of Admission for Transfer Students, who were gracious and helpful every step of the way.

I’ve been busier than ever with challenging, wonderful directing work. I’ve spent several months in Nashville, directing episodes of Nashville, created by Callie Khouri and starring Connie Britton. I’ve fallen in love with the music, the architecture, the food and the lively spirit of the city. I’ve also been involved in directing the first season of a wonderful new series called The Magicians, based on the best-selling trilogy of novels by Lev Grossman. The Magicians has been called “Harry Potter goes to graduate school,” which gives a flavor of this unique world — where magic is dark, sexy, alluring, addictive, and downright terrifying in equal measure. I adore the show, which has just been renewed for a second season. Among the writers is fellow Wesleyan grad, Henry Alonso Myers. Look for my episode on March 7th.

Chris Neagle reports, “I saw Chuck Gregory in Ft. Lauderdale last month (January), who I connected with on FB. He started with us but graduated in 1973 and moved to Florida. I last saw him during a 1976 law school vacation.

“His living room looked just like our old living room in a Washington Ave house we shared with others our junior year—full of electronics!  He hosts the weekly New American Dream Radio show on its website. He remains extremely liberal, fun to be with, and seems happy with life. Met his wonderful wife Lorraine and her African mouse, too.  He promised to come to our 50th.”

And Chuck Gregory says, “I recently got to see Chris Neagle for the first time since the ’70s. It was great to rediscover that friendship, and to find that we still shared many common views after all these years. I hope other old friends will look me up if they visit the Fort Lauderdale area.”

John Hickenlooper writes: “On Jan. 16 (yes, 1/16/16, and almost exactly a month after VT Gov Peter Shumlin ’79, married Katie Hunt) I married the remarkable Robin Pringle, who is VP of Corp Development for $45-billion holding company, Liberty Media. I can’t remember being this happy. We had a one-day honeymoon in Boulder, came back to see the Broncos beat the Patriots, and then went off to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. And. Then in late May Penguin Books is publishing my sort of memoir, The Opposite of Woe. A full but a happy year ahead.”

And from me—Sharon Purdie—My husband, Ted Sybertz, and I continue to split our time between Vero Beach, Fla. (kayaking, biking, swimming, hiking), Park City, Utah (skiing), and Jamestown RI (sailing, biking swimming, hiking). Our daughter, Sherry Sybertz ’10, will complete her MBA from Middlebury Institute of International Studies in May and our son, Jeff Sybertz, will complete his MBA from Stern (NYU) in May 2017.

SHARON PURDIE | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

Lloyd Komesar reports that the inaugural Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival was a great success. “Among the 1,000-plus people in attendance, we had an abundance of wonderful Wes folks [and spouses] with us, including Bill Pearson and Jane Pearson P’12, Claudia Catania and John Cady ’71, Wayne Forrest, Wendy Starr, Naaz Hosseini, Lyn Lauffer, Sam Miller ’75, P’09 and Anne Miller P’09, Tracy Killam ’75, Mike McKenna ’73, David Laub ’03, Rose Komesar ’07, Katie Reid Shevlin ’07, Kara Zedlovich Rzzuto ’07, Todd Jick ’71, P’11 and Wendy Jick P’11, Steve Goldschmidt ’72, Mark Masselli HON’09, Joan Gamble ’80, Ann Deane ’79, Bob Kesner ’67, Bill Holder ’75 and Mark Davis ’96. Promising Wes filmmakers were part of the festivities as well: Tyler Byrne ’09 and Conor Byrne ’11 (Foureyes), Aaron Kalischer-Coggins ’15 (All Systems Go) and, in absentia, Casey Feldman ’12 (Posthumanismaniarama!) and Raphael Linden ’15 (Wald). Of course, I am indebted to our great artistic director, Jay Craven P’04. And my sincere thanks to Jeanine Basinger for all her guidance and support.

For the curious among you, I am mighty pleased to announce the dates for the 2nd Annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival: August 25-28, 2016. You can find a list of all the award winning films and view the trailers from our first fest plus great photos and our highlight reel at middfilmfest.org. Hope to see many more of my classmates here in Middlebury next August for summer’s sweet finale. The films are notable, yes, but the friendships renewed and the conversations sparked, well, those are just glorious.”

Follow this link to an article from the local newspaper:

middfilmfest.org/addison-independent-film-festival-draws-raves-in-its-debut/

In it, Lloyd was quoted: “I was delighted with the audiences,” said Komesar, who this week will finally get a chance to catch his breath after his deft performance as top producer of MNFF, which boasted 93 short- and feature-length films submitted by newly minted filmmakers from throughout the world. Komesar gave ample thanks to his supporting cast, which included a small paid staff flanked by a group of dedicated sponsors and volunteers — including renowned Vermont filmmaker Jay Craven.“I feel this first festival was a resounding success,” Komesar said.

More information on MNFF, including how to donate to defray expenses for the event, can be found at middfilmfest.org.

Bill Pearson shares, “As with many from and near our class, I joined with Lloyd Komesar for the first Middlebury Film Festival (I’m also on Lloyd’s board). Lloyd did an amazing job and it was a big success, particularly for a first year event.

We’ve gotten to know Middlebury because our youngest son, Henry, is a junior there, having a good time. Squash team, math major, Chinese minor, playing in several bands. Howe, our middle and Wesleyan 2012 son, lives in New Orleans where he’s a musician and teacher. Nate, our eldest, lives in San Francisco and works for Tesla. All doing fine and providing us with good excuses to visit them. I’m still working as a consultant, combining my McKinsey and operating background with more recent management psychology work. Jane and I are traveling more and recently renovated our old place in eastern Connecticut and spending more time there. Cheers to all!”

Lee Coplan shares, “I had hoped to be at the reunion last year, and now a year has flown by. A couple of things prevented me from getting there last year.

My son, Ariel (who came our reunion 16 years ago), is a chef and (with my help) was in the process arranging renovations on his own restaurant in downtown Toronto. Thoroughbred Food and Drink opened last September. It was featured in the Village Voice travel column on Toronto last November, and then was included in December by the Voice as one of the top 10 destination restaurants of 2014. Earlier in his career, Ariel cooked at Michelin-starred Café Grey (Manhattan) and Number One Restaurant in the Balmoral Hotel (Edinburgh), before serving as a chef in Australia and back in Toronto. I hope Wesleyan connections will give Thoroughbred a try when they’re next in Toronto. It’s located close to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) center and King Street theaters and not far from the downtown business district and sporting venues.

I’ve also resumed my violin playing – something I largely put on hold while at Wesleyan. I’ve been playing in several klezmer groups for the past four years. We had a couple of gigs on reunion weekend last year – although truth be told, I would have passed them up if not for restaurant renovations keeping me in Toronto. Our most frequent performances are at old age homes, but we also play at community events (such as the Ashkenaz Festival and Jewish Music Week), weddings, bar mitzvahs, parties. My main group, Klez Konnection, is coming out with its initial CD shortly. I’ve recently started playing in a community string orchestra, as well.

My other son, Isaac, will be getting married next weekend (June). Isaac has been working on research and education on housing and homelessness issues, continuing on a path set in his MA in environmental studies (York University in Toronto).

My daughter, Eliana (who joined me at our reunion 6 years ago), has about a year to go on her BA in Sociology and Diaspora & Transnational Studies at the University of Toronto. She just completed a semester exchange in Utrecht. I benefitted, as I managed to travel with her before and after her term – Rome and Amsterdam in January, and Copenhagen and Berlin in May, although Eliana travelled far more when I wasn’t around.

I’d also like to mention that I had a lovely visit with Chris Moeller and his wife Sara about 18 months ago when I was in Minneapolis to be present when my advisor, Chris Sims, was feted by the University of Minnesota for his Nobel prize in economics.

I’m still working for the Ontario provincial government as part of the office of the Treasury Board. Our efforts are aimed at supporting the government in keeping on track to achieve a balanced budget by 2017-18. (Unlike most states governments, most provinces are not mandated to have a balanced budget each year.) And I’ve added our next reunion to my calendar.”

Jan Eliasberg writes, “Since I moved back to New York City last June, I’ve reconnected with many wonderful Wesleyan friends. I went to the theatre with John Shapiro & Shonni Silverberg to see The Erlkings, a moving play about Columbine written by their son, Nathaniel. Bill Pearson and I have had several wonderful lunches together in the West Village while Steven Goldschmidt helped me find the extraordinary loft in the Financial District where I’m lucky enough to live.

I am a Visiting Arts Professor at NYU Film School (teaching The Director’s Process and Advanced Television Writing) and love being colleagues with Janet Grillo.

This year my directing career has gone into overdrive. I just finished directing the second of two episodes of the fabulous Nashville, created by Thelma and Louise’s Callie Khouri, starring Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere, and a group of insanely-talented actor/singers and Nashville-based musicians. I’m off to Vancouver to direct a new premium cable show called The Magicians, adapted from the best-selling trilogy by Lev Grossman. And I recently completed writing my long-gestating screenplay — Before I Sleep — which I hope to shoot as an indie film in 2016.

My daughter, Sariel, is entering her sophomore year at Barnard; she spent the summer as the graphic design intern at Nylon Magazine and had her work published numerous times on the Nylon website. She was also the Art Director for The Columbia Spectator.

While everyone is raving (for great reasons) about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s magnificent Hamilton, I’d like to recommend the work of another Wesleyan Alum — Kim Wayans — who lights up the stage at The Public Theatre in Robert O’Hara’s Barbeque.

Nathaniel Winship bought a farm in Tamworth, NH (dba as Tanna Farm) last year where my second wife (Hope Requardt) and I are actively raising chickens and ducks and growing vegetables.

Ellen Robinson is still living in Hartford practicing OB/GYN. Planning on retiring 1/1/2017. So far two grandsons Xavier 6 and Theo 2. Her family is all good, healthy and thriving.

Monique Witt updates us on her music news. “OneTrickDog* dropped Ben Sutin’s new klezmer/jazz album Tangibility with his sextet Klazz-Ma-Tazz, and the reviews have been spectacular thus far. We are up on global radio, and live throughout the northeast. That was in August. We will drop Tom Larsen’s second blues album, Loving Losing (largely original material from People vs. Larsen), this week. But the single of the same name dropped in June on KCRW (LA), then was picked up world wide on radio. Starbuck’s has picked it up for their rotation, as blues is enjoying a revival right now.

On the boys’ front, my older son designed the twelve-foot column, multi-driver speakers for the Louis Vuitton Palm Springs fashion show. They’re clear and also mirrored, and can be seen on line. My younger son was involved in the jazz festivals: he performed at Mazden (with Curtis Lundy, Warren Wolf, and Wayne Escofry), at Richmond Jazz Festival (with T.S. Monk, Thelonius’ son, and the sextet), at Lincoln Center Out of Doors (with Ray Lugo), and at MusicFest in Philadelphia. He is currently finishing his last year at Columbia and Juilliard. Both boys continue to write and record their own music and continue to perform together.

On the theatre front, Split/Screen was performed at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June (Best of the Fringe Award, Most Interesting, and a Showcase Award). We were pleased with the reception, because it was one of only a small handful of serious plays out of 275. The Fringe attracts comedy and farce. We hope to reprise it at the New York Fringe Festival next year. And we continue to work on the TV series. So everyone is working hard.”

SHARON PURDIE | spurdie@wesleyan.edu

“Downsized and retired, Randy Smith reports that he is using some of his expanded leisure time to build a website for those who enjoy golf literature.  Golf-fiction.com offers short stories and novel chapters from all eras of golf authorship.”

Monique Witt writes that OneTrickDog* is dropping several more jazz discs this summer.  The production arm has a ten-performance run of a one-act play split/screen at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and a short film, creative dark, nearing completion.  Her older son (Avidon Audio Labs) engineered twelve foot Plexiglas speaker towers for the Louis Vuitton fashion show in Palm Springs (you can see them on line in Vogue; they’re beautiful), and her younger son (Ben) is performing with Curtis Lundy and composing for a video game in production.  Both sons are also working on albums to be released this year or early next of their own work, and she is writing and directing.  In addition, they’re scheduled for an exhibit this fall of two black and white street artists influenced by post war Japanese manga (Akira-style comics).  So everyone is busy.

Bob Baum has had lots of changes. Probably the biggest one is that he became a grandfather last August.  William is an utter delight.  He has been enjoying his return to New England.  Their house is on a bluff overlooking the Connecticut River and the Dartmouth Campus.  It’s about a 25-minute walk to work, where he teaches African Religions, African Studies, and Comparative Religions.  He hopes to see you everyone at the next reunion now that he is close by.

Karla Bell writes, “Big year for the family! My son Danny graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law in the spring, married his college girlfriend over Labor Day (2014), and started his clerkship with a federal judge. Having been discouraged and exhausted by her Teach for America tenure, my daughter Rachel is now employed at Forrester Research in Cambridge, MA, mentors promising students with the non-profit Minds Matter, and was just named Co-President of the Boston chapter’s Executive Committee. Adam, my youngest, is leaving New York to resume graduate studies. My stepson Philip Wallach ’05 and his partner Vera Krimnus ‘05, had the first grandchild, Bina, and moved to the D.C. area; Philip, who is at The Brookings Institute, published his first book. Kerry Wallach’02, and her partner Jess Fierstein ‘05,also moved to the D.C. area; Kerry is on tenure track at Gettysburg College, and Jess remains at Accenture. (Whew!) As for me, my health has improved some, but is still very unstable. I very much appreciated all of the kind messages sent from last year’s reunion, and apologize for not following up–that happened to be an extremely precarious time. I’m hoping to see all of you at the next reunion.”

Scott Brodie reports, “I am still teaching and “stamping out blindness as fast as I can” at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, with some time set aside as part of a team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center which treats retinoblastoma, the most common cancer of the eyes of children – in the last decade, we have reduced the need to remove the most seriously affected eyes from nearly 100% to no more than 5%.

This spring, I returned to Wesleyan and gave a lecture on the “Jordan Curve Theorem” to the undergraduate Mathematics Club. I was delighted to see not only a room full of enthusiastic and knowledgeable undergraduates, but two of the Professors who were most helpful to me back in my own days as a math major, Fred Linton and Tony Hager.

I continue to play the oboe and English horn in orchestral and chamber music settings as the opportunity arises – I played Stavinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” at Lincoln Center this past winter, and I am looking forward to joining Linda Rappaport at the Bennington Chamber Music Conference this July.”

Judi (Lawrence)’74 and Richard ‘74 Goodstein just became the very happy grandparents of Levi Max Goodstein, the day before their 41st wedding anniversary.   Judi is changing her psychology practice to four days and will travel every week from DC to Philly to spend a day with her grandson.

David Plettner-Saunders explains that “ …after years of reticence, I yield to your unending insistence to send news and contribute to the alumni discourse.

I loved learning from Facebook recently that classmate Andrew Char plays bluegrass with friends at a sunset jam in Haleiwa, Hawaii. And that he rails against the latest Hollywood movie set in Hawaii but featuring an all-White cast.

But more to the point, to share some classmate news, I am well and happy, living in San Diego with my dear wife and fellow arts consultant, Victoria. I run an arts consulting firm, The Cultural Planning Group, and spend 2 – 3 weeks per month on the road encouraging the development of the arts in cities throughout the US (on a good day). I am also a truly lackluster contributor to Wesleyan’s annual fund. I have mixed feelings about being the meaning of being an alumnus and confusion about the meaning of our shared experience, values and legacy as Wesleyan grads. This, I believe, qualifies me as representative of my class of 1974. But in truth, I do recognize and celebrate the values of inclusion, openness, and liberal education that Wesleyan embodies. I believe that Wesleyan was ahead of the curve in many things, such as coeducation, diversity, and redefining elitism in terms of actual achievement. I know that I was encouraged to pursue my goals in the arts, leadership and liberalism. And that John Wesley’s ideals have been reinterpreted for a new era.

So, I say again, thank you Sharon Purdie for being so persistent in maintaining contact and inviting your classmates to participate. And I thank the Wesleyan community for your forbearance in the dark ages of my class and the alienation of my era.

I send you all a bit of San Diego sunshine and some sand in your shoes.’

Blaise Noto is continuing to teach at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in the School of Filmmaking’s producing program. Most recently, he was able to spend time with long time friend and Paramount Pictures colleague Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, who was the UNCSA’s commencement speaker this year.

Also, he recently spent Memorial Day weekend in South Carolina visiting with Charlie and Carol Cocores. Great catching up and reminiscing about our days at Wesleyan and Deke.

Wayne Forrest has a summer intern from Wesleyan, Natasha Nurjadin ‘18.  She is from Indonesia.

In December 2014 Wayne took his daughter Jamie (23) to Indonesia for two weeks.  During the first week they visited Jakarta, where she met many of my Indonesian members, and toughed the choking traffic.  The second week they traveled to more serene locations: central Java (Yogyakarta) and Bali. They saw the world famous temples Borobudur and Prambanan where they were asked to pose for numerous “selfies” with Indonesian travelers.  One morning they woke up at sunrise and rode bicycles for hours through the rice fields of Java’s breadbasket. The settlements dotting the countryside seem little changed from when he first saw them 40 years ago.  In Bali, they arrived just in time for a huge royal cremation, a multi sensory experience one never forgets. It was extremely meaningful for him to show her the country he has spent much of his life trying to understand.

Harold Sogard is happy to report that he somehow managed to get elected to Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees.  He’s not sure whether he owes his success to having been positioned first on the ballot (because he was oldest) or to the various offers he made to classmates in return for their votes.  If he delivers on those promises, Joe Lowenstein will become Wesleyan’s new football coach, Rick Gilberg will become the hockey coach, and all members of the class of ’74 will be receiving retroactive full scholarships and forgiveness of any outstanding student loans for themselves and their offspring who attend(ed) Wesleyan.  He sends thanks to all for your support and promises to do his best to represent our class well.

Chuck Gregory continues to enjoy life in Fort Lauderdale with his wife of 31 years, Lorraine. He’s been co-host of The New American Dream Radio Show (http://newdream.us) since February 2011 and has a great time with that every Thursday night from 6 to 8 pm. He went to his high school reunion in May; maybe a Wesleyan reunion is in the picture in a few years (our 45th?).

Fr. Fred Enman, S.J. continues to work half time at Boston College Law School and half time at his non-profit Matthew 25 in Worcester, MA.  Matthew 25 will be dedicating its 10th house for low-income families in July of 2015.

Rick Kronick has temporarily (for 5.5 years and counting!) abandoned La Jolla for DC. He has had the professional experience of a lifetime working on implementation of the Affordable Care Act and on trying to make health care financing and delivery slightly less crazy, first as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in HHS, and, for the past two years, as Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  He and his wife Amy Bridges recently celebrated their 34th anniversary, as well as the marriages of both of their daughters.  Rick has retired (or so he claims) from flogging his body in training for Ironman events, but still drags it though triathlons of other distances.

Henry Avis-Vieira reports that his first book is finished.  Now comes the really hard work of (professional) editing and finding a publisher.

Charlie Cocores sees Blaise Noto a lot at this home in NC or theirs in SC. Charlie did a Habitat for Humanity in Flathead Lake Montana in July.

Kathy Scholle Hale and her husband Jon are coming up on 30 happy years of marriage in October. (Other friends, including Bob Gershen and wife Deb must be approaching the same milestone.) To celebrate, they bought a house near the beach in Westerly RI.   It’s a place to hang out with their grown children, Katie (28) a special ed teacher in Brookline MA and Ben (25) a commercial real estate advisor in Glastonbury CT. (Who forgot to warn me that keeping a house ready for summer renters is exponentially more complicated than maintaining your own house in the burbs?) She’s still living and practicing law in South Windsor, CT.