Tag: 1976

Thanks to everyone for responding to my blatantly guilt-inducing plea for notes. You really came through! And it was so gratifying to hear from people we haven’t heard from in a very long time (if ever).

And, yes!  It’s the year of our 50th Reunion! If you’ve missed the steady trickle of email about the reunion, let me know. There’s a lot going on, and I’ll be happy to catch you up (and make sure you’re in our database for future news).

Al Cohall sent a note!: “Hi everyone! I just retired after a long career at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where I developed several programs for vulnerable populations (young people at risk for, or living with, STIs and HIV), as well as formerly incarcerated individuals with significant medical, mental health, and substance use issues. I also ran a CDC–funded Prevention Research Center and an STD/HIV Prevention Training Center. I had the opportunity to teach at both the School of Public Health and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. It was a blast! Now I get to relax, exercise, write, and spend time with my wonderful wife, five kids, and three grandkids.”

From Rob Williams: “I plan to be at the reunion. For the past five years I have been an infectious disease physician on the island of Maui in Hawaii. This is a great place to work as the lifestyle is much slower than southern New Jersey, where I had been working for the previous 33 years. Most of the family is on the mainland, and we are expecting grandbaby number eight in January. I keep in touch with Pete McArdle, Dennis Harrington, and Harry Loeshelle. Next week I am expecting a visit from Bob Thompson who will vacationing on Maui. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in May.

“Attached is a picture of myself, Pete McArdle, and Dennis Harrington. This is after the Trinity game in 1975. It’s the last football game the three of us ever played.”

From Fred Fuchs: “I spent 12 years in LA with Jay Abramowitz, Bruce Singer, and Lars Fredrickson. I am still in California, but [in] the Bay Area, and have a film club the last five years with the guys each month, with also Sid Rothberg, Hank Alter ’77, and Dave Apicella.  We meet each month online.”

From Mel Blake: “I’m happily retired for three years and enjoying life with wife, Rebecca, in Portsmouth New Hampshire. Taking advantage of good health to travel, play tennis, and take long walks in our beautiful historic town. I’m looking forward to seeing classmates at the reunion!”

Faith (Breslow) Szydlo updates us that she’s living in the greater Boston area and has recently retired from a career as a software engineer. She’s happily spending time with her granddaughter.

Elyse Grasso writes: “In 2025, I published the first two novels in a fantasy series. I am working on the third volume.”

Deepest sympathy to Ken Carpenter for his very recent loss: “[My] wife of 48 years, Susan (Johnson) Carpenter ’77 passed away peacefully, at home surrounded by family, the morning of January 4, 2026.”

Meredith Bergmann had a very productive year. She created a monument for a park in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, that will be unveiled in June; it’s currently at the foundry. Her sculpture, Mother & Child with a Glock, won best in show from the New England Sculpture Society’s Mattatuck Museum show.

In poetry, Meredith’s chapbook A Special Education was reissued, and several of her poems were published in various publications in 2025.

Her biggest news was finishing filming Pointing Fingers, the first commercial, full-length feature film written by, about, and starring people with minimally-speaking autism, currently in postproduction. The film was written by Meredith’s son, Dan Bergmann (a playwright and activist who lives with minimally-speaking autism), and directed by her husband, Michael (a writer and film director). Meredith was DP and production designer.

Joe Mabel writes: “As an administrator and contributor to Wikimedia Commons (like a job except for the getting paid part), one of many things I’ve been up to is cross correlating old photos of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest (clear up into Alaska, at times) in four different Seattle institutional collections. I’ve found a surprisingly high error rate in the titles and descriptions. At this point, I’ve had easily over 1,000 corrections and additions accepted by one or another collection. Here’s a link to an illustrated lecture about that I gave in 2023: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmabel/Final_draft_of_talk_for_WikiConference_North_America_2023.

“Also, in terms of connecting to other Wes alums, last spring I was in Los Angeles and had lunch with Martha Meade (who was burned out of her longtime home in Pacific Palisades and is currently living in Thousand Oaks); this summer I saw Kerri Rubman and her husband, David, when they visited Seattle (where I have been based for almost half a century); and on an October 2025 visit to NYC, I got together with David van Biema ’80 and Jim Melloan ’77 at Caffe Reggio, a Greenwich Village coffeehouse where I was a weekend regular during my high school years. 

“Looking forward to seeing people at the reunion or possibly in NYC the week after. Or in Seattle in the summer, if anyone is headed this way.”

Deborah Lyons writes: “Having retired from Miami University (after 36 years of teaching, not 21 as it said in the last notes), I am moving back to New England at the end of May, either to Northampton or elsewhere in Massachusetts. I welcome any advice about choosing a new home. My email is still lyonsd@miamioh.edu.”

Bruce Demple seems to have had the best possible year! He tells us: “2025 began with my wife, Sue, completing chemotherapy, and no additional treatments were needed. We celebrated with our first-ever trip to Hawaii in February. We had a few wonderful days on the Big Island, one of which involved the morning spent on a lovely beach and sunset up at 9,000 feet on Mauna Kea. Lots more on Hawai’i too. We spent several more days on Maui with longtime friends from my Berkeley grad student days—they’ve been asking us to visit there for years. Returning by way of Berkeley, we learned that our younger daughter there was pregnant. That was the second such news, as our older daughter in Brooklyn was expecting, too, in the spring. Granddaughter Daphne arrived at the beginning of May and granddaughter June in mid-September. Girls rule! It’s been such a joy to watch them develop and work on exploring the world, while being informed about the proper way to care for babies. . .  We had the first all-family gathering in Berkeley for Thanksgiving; Sue and I came back to Berkeley for the Christmas–New Year holidays, which was great fun. Amongst the family excitement, we did some traveling in the summer, including a visit to Sue’s family and our friends in England, with a several-day foray to Berlin, seeing my 85-year-old dear friend Klaus, whom I met immediately in the months before WesU when I went to work in a factory in Göttingen, West Germany. I know his family well, through kids and grandkids, too, so it was very rewarding after a six-year break. In early October we attended a scientific meeting in Trondheim, Norway, which was Sue’s first visit to the country (and maybe my eighth). Rainy but beautiful. Oh, yes, one thing I let my colleagues know at the meeting: At the end of 2025, I would be retiring (past tense now appropriate). That’s definitely a bittersweet decision: Being a research scientist and university professor really was my calling, found somewhat by accident late in my college career. I will miss that and I will miss the students too. But family beckons!”

Leslie Gabel-Brett writes: “I am looking forward to teaching my course again this spring at Wesleyan, Social Activism and Theories of Change. I am working with my co-teacher, Beverly Tillery, to revise the syllabus to reflect the very challenging times we are in. I am also looking forward to attending our 50th class reunion!”

Laurette Tuckerman sends greetings!: “Hi, classmates! The short story is that I married and moved to Paris in 1993, where I’ve worked as a scientific researcher (in fluid dynamics, numerical simulations, and bifurcation theory) ever since. I have three children, all around 30 years old, and I can’t make it to the 50th Reunion because I am organizing a contra dance weekend. Come by to visit!”

Susan (Peterson) Avitzour writes: “The past half-year [2025] has been relatively quiet for me, after the craziness of the June war with Iran. I’m extremely thankful for the Gaza ceasefire and the return of the hostages and still managing to hold onto my hope for a far, far better future for all of us in this tormented corner of the world.

“On the personal level, I’m doing very well, other than normal age-related orthopedic complaints—  though it turns out that even at the age of 70, one can find solutions and get back into reasonable shape! I’m spending most of my time nowadays working on my writing (to which I’ve returned after a yearslong dry spell), learning my part and singing in a choir, birdwatching, and of course spending time with those of my descendants who are living in Israel.

“Half of my children and just over half my grandchildren are now living in the Bay Area (Berkeley, etc.), so we’re planning a trip to the States in May. I had hoped to be able to attend the reunion, but unfortunately, I can’t be on the East Coast at the relevant time. I hope that those of you who can make it to the reunion will have a blast!”

And from Doug Hurd: “I finally did retire. After Wes, then professional school, DDS, married a wonderful gal, spent some time as a researcher and teacher, interrupted by a really bad auto accident, then private practice in upstate New York for 38 years. My wife and I have made the most of this beautiful part of the state that we live in, been involved in our community in areas we felt worthwhile, and now have more time for travel.

“I did visit and keep contact with Wes, but mostly with members of the art department where I worked for awhile as a student (not my major). Finally, it was my children that kept me coming back.

I have two children, both graduated from Wesleyan with honors. My son has a PhD in geology, and while at Wes, was a New England wrestling champion (I wrestled for four years also). My daughter graduated with high honors in dance, now has a master’s in nursing.

“I am hoping to make it to the reunion.”

From Barb Birney: “It’s been fun to spend time with my dad, Bob Birney ’50, filling in details for a biography that I’m writing. He is 100 years old and resides in Williamsburg, Virginia. I asked him a question that I suspect no one has asked since he graduated. I asked him who recommended in 1946 that he go to Wesleyan. After some casting around, he tentatively called up the name of a boyhood friend. I called the alumni office to find out if a Willard Lockwood (’46) had ever graduated from Wesleyan. For sure, Willard went to Wesleyan on the Thorndike Prize and graduated in 1946. Dad is in a nursing home with some paralysis, but the mind is as sharp as ever.

“I’ll be visiting with friends on the East Coast around Reunion time, so please let me know if you want to get together. Email is: barbarabirney@msn.com.”

We heard from Larry Gilius!  He tells us: “I’m writing this on my third day of retirement. And I can say that retirement is a good invention. I enjoyed the past 19 years as head of the Writing Center and other operations for Mount Hood Community College, east of Portland, Oregon. I particularly enjoyed the brave, resourceful, and big-hearted students there, who taught me so much. But it is interesting and very promising to ask about each day now, ‘What do I need to have happen today to feel fulfilled?’ rather than ‘What should I do for my employer today?’ I think I can get used to this. Nancy, my wife of 34 years, and I are enjoying having our daughter visiting from Scotland. She completed a master’s program last year at the University of Edinburgh in ‘high performance computing’—supercomputing. (OK, I’ll brag. There were 800 applicants for the 40 spots. She was the only student accepted from the U.S.) She works now for Great Britain’s main center of supercomputing in Edinburgh. That means an excuse for us to travel there, which we’ve done twice in just over a year, including a September journey to the magical Isle of Mull on the west coast. I’d visited there in the summer after my first year at Wes and have wanted to return all my life. We’re also enjoying a new home after 20 years in Portland. We’ve joined the Adam’s Creek Cohousing Community just east of Portland in Hood River, at the east end of the amazing Columbia River Gorge and at the base of Mount Hood. Cohousing means our own condo but also shared facilities like a ‘common house’ for some meals and activities, and shared responsibilities for governance and life together in a multigenerational community of like-minded souls. It’s been a fabulous new way of life, another thing I can easily get used to. Sending my best wishes to all.”

Cheryl Alpert notes: “I remain a REALTOR® in the greater Boston area but have pivoted my focus to rightsizing—‘rightsizing a home does not define increasing or decreasing the size of your home. You are adjusting your home size to better fit your needs,’ meaning that I act as a consultant to help you better understand what you are seeking and why as well as prepare to move. I am still potting and have found an amazing ceramics instructor, community, and studio that I love. I see Rook Van Nest and Jeff Dunn ’75, both live in my town, and J. Mark Beamis ’77 on occasion.”

David Harmin and I are doing well. David just completed his first year of full retirement and is clearly very, very happy about not having to get up early to go to work. Being in complete command of your time—for the first time since, oh, 1958—is a fantastic experience. We try as often as possible to see Tom Kovar,Mike Greenberg,Nina (Rusinow) Rosenstein, and Marjorie (Allen) Dauster. Doesn’t happen as often as we’d like! David returned to campus in early October to sing Neely Bruce’s “The Bill of Rights”; Janet Brooks was part of the chorus. And we both went back to campus in late November for Neely’s performance of “The Songs of Richard Winslow.” We both have very fond memories of Dick; hearing his work performed was deeply affecting.

I’m sorry to share the very sad news that Lynette Vialet passed on in 2024. She had been an ob-gyn in Colorado for many years. A colleague wrote of her: “I wrote this speech on the day my mentor and the woman who delivered my daughters died. We all remember that special mentor in our lives. Lynette Vialet was the epitome of strength and resilience. She was a flight surgeon in the air force, one of the most respected physicians in our hospital, and a Jazzercise instructor. She knew just what to do in every situation. She took incredible ownership of patients, and it was my honor to work with her. She was one of us. One of the best of us. She was magical.”

As of this writing, I’ve heard from these folks that they’re planning/hoping to attend the reunion:

Andi Grubb Barthwell

Meredith Bergmann

Mel Blake

Jon Daniels

Talya Fishman

Fred Fuchs

Leslie Gabel-Brett

Oliver Griffith

Debra Haffner

David Harmin

Byron Haskins

Dan Herr

Doug Hurd

Joanne Lukitsh

Wendy Lustbader

Deborah Malamud

Martha Meade

Cathy Popkin

Bob Thompson

Rob Williams

Many of the people who have attended our Zoom sessions have indicated that they’re leaning toward attending, but I haven’t included their names because they haven’t definitively said “I’m coming!” I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouth. . .

Mark your calendars! The 50th Reunion will be held May 21–26, 2026. Because it’s our 50th, there will be special events on Thursday night just for our class. You have the option of staying in one of the dorms (or at a local hotel). Reservations for dorm rooms will open one day early for the Class of ’76. We should know late next winter/early next spring when we can register for rooms.

Changes to class notes: From this point forward, the alumni magazine (and, obviously, class notes) will be published only twice a year. Everything else remains the same, including the 800-word limitation for the published version. 

Nicolas Collins published a new book this year. This one wins my personal award for best title of 2025: Semi-Conducting—Rambles Through the Post-Cagean Thicket. You can find it on the Bloomsbury website. There’s a companion website featuring audio and video files mentioned in the book: https://www.nicolascollins.com/semi-conducting/.  

B.J. Buckley tells us about her latest book of poetry, Night Music: “My latest book of poems is just out in December 2024 from Finishing Line Press. It’s available on their website, on Amazon, and directly from me at wild4verses@yahoo.com. The gorgeous cover is by Wyoming artist Dawn Senior-Trask.”

Tom Kovar reports: “My son is now a college graduate. Oh, and I’ve run into Jay Kilbourn ’77, our former classmate (now ’77), a couple of times, as he now lives here in town. Other alums I’ve seen include Jonathan Gertler ’77 and Randy Austill ’81, who started as ’77. And John Daniel ’75 and Cynthia Ulman ’75. Maintaining email connections to a host of others, from ’75 through ’80.”

            Tom performed with his band, The Retroverts, at Luthier’s Co-op in Easthampton, Massachusetts, last April; Randy Austill  sat in and recorded the gig. You can hear them at https://bit.ly/Retroverts-2025-04-26_at_Luthiers. 

Matt Cartter writes: “My daughter Eileen is a staff writer at GQ magazine. Last week, she asked me if I would be willing to be interviewed for a Father’s Day article: “14 Style Rules GQ Editors Learned from Their Dads.

            “Eileen’s post, near the bottom of the article, starts with a photo of me and my brother, Chris, standing outside of the Butterfield Colleges in the fall of 1972. What a great Father’s Day present!”

            Thanks, Matt, for including the photo!

David Cohen writes: “I just published my book entitled Reflections on Goose Pond—Stories of a Berkshire Mountain Lake. This book was the culmination of a 50-year love affair with this little lake nestled high in the mountains of western Massachusetts—now very happily my full-time home.”

Tom Army tells us: “Dave ‘Duke’ Snyder died in October 2024, and the Wesleyan community, especially the ice hockey community, feel a great absence at the loss of such a remarkable coach, mentor, and friend. His memorial service was held in April in the Memorial Chapel. Don Lowery ’77 heads a committee of former players that established the David F. Snyder Memorial Endowment Fund to honor the legacy of Duke. We are very close to our million-dollar goal. My own family is well. My wife, Virginia ’79, and I live in Little Compton, Rhode Island, where Virginia serves as rector of the local Episcopal church. I continue to teach part time at a local community college. After retiring from the headmaster business, I went back to school full time and earned my PhD in history from UMass Amherst. Our five daughters, two granddaughters, and son-in-law are a constant source of joy and blessings.”

Susan Avitzour and Martha Meade had a mini-reunion! Susan was visiting family in Northern California and Martha made the most of the opportunity. Susan writes: “Martha Meade flew up here on Monday and stayed with us overnight. I hadn’t seen her since we graduated 49 years ago! We talked, inter alia, about our both being (kind of) refugees, albeit with good temporary homes and thus on the luxury track. Yesterday we went together to San Francisco MOMA. It was truly wonderful to have such a good chunk of quality time with her. Here we are at dinner Monday evening.”

Debra Haffner shares her good news with us: “My news is that I’m getting married to Joel Miller on October 19 this year in Boston. We are currently serving as the co-ministers of the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton, Massachusetts, and I’d love to hear from Wes classmates in the Boston area!”

Elyse Grasso says: “I have started a small publishing company, Superior Magpie Press, mostly to publish my own stuff. So far this year I have published two fantasy novels: Heir of the Bindings: Elderkin Chronicles Volume I and Broken Oaths and Boundaries: Elderkin Chronicles Volume II. Both are available in e-book and POD paperback from most online books sources. The third book is progressing and may be out by the end of the year.”

Deborah Lyons tells us: “After 21 years of teaching at Miami University (in Ohio), and quite a few years bouncing around from one institution to another before that, I have retired. Sadly, all signs point to this being an excellent time to get out of academia, especially for those of us in ‘unprofitable’ fields like classics. The trend away from the humanities led to my university getting rid of nearly all the language majors. At the same time, the Ohio legislature has banned DEI, making it hard to keep teaching my courses on ‘dangerous subjects’ like sex, gender, and religion. I hardly need to add to this the all-out attack on higher ed carried out by the current administration. Amid these depredations, I have been heartened by the eloquent and courageous statements by Wesleyan’s own Michael Roth ’78. 

            “On a happier note, our long campaign to unionize bore fruit and we just got our first faculty contract. 

            “I plan to relocate to New England within the next year. I am considering my native Massachusetts but also Connecticut and Rhode Island. Middletown is on my list. Advice is welcome! (lyonsd@miamioh.edu).”

Pam Raab reports: “Warm greetings to my classmates of 1976, from Pam Raab, who came to Wesleyan on the Twelve College Exchange and stayed for the rest of the college ride. I’ve been ever more grateful and proud of my WesU heritage as the years have drawn on. I live in Manhattan and have been a practicing psychotherapist (now part time, as I cruise toward retirement) for 45 years. Special memories of living in Michael Millen’s crazy house and screenings of Casablanca organized by Jay Kilbourn ’77.”

Michael Sachs reports: “Met Jay Abramowitz at Love Coffee on Ocean Park 90405. He had a cappuccino. I had the drip.”

Elisa Davis writes: “One of the best film art houses in the country is the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York. They featured part of a video interview with me, [which was played] before some of the films shown in May 2025.

            “It’s on the main website right now (scroll down to the second video on the page), at https://burnsfilmcenter.org/support/connecting-our-community-film/ but after this month, I think the only way to see it is through this link: https://vimeo.com/1080226296

            “There’s also a tiny clip of me in this video, made for the year-end. Blink and you’ll miss me, but I can say I was in a video with Ron Howard:  https://vimeo.com/1032417262.

            “Last month in Philadelphia, I had a chance to have dinner and catch up with my Wesleyan roommate Connie Bodine McCann. What a treat!

            “In January 2021 (remember the pandemic?), I started a weekly virtual discussion group in which we each took turns choosing a film from the Criterion Channel to watch on our own and then discuss on Zoom on Friday nights. Remarkably, it’s still going on, more than four years later—although we now meet on Sunday evenings. There are a few Wes folks in the group, including David Low and Joe Reiff from our class, and my husband, Seth Davis ’72.

            “Here’s a link to the films we’ve seen: https://letterboxd.com/elisadavis/tag/criterion-film-club/films/.

          “Finally, Seth and I were delighted to host one of those Wesleyan alumni meetups in February. We had a light supper followed by a screening of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows. None of the attendees were at Wes at the same time. They included Dylan Osborn ’05, Sabine Celestin ’00, Peter Treffers ’63, and Matthew Spain ’95. It was a wonderful evening, and I hope there will be another opportunity to do something similar.”

Nat Needle says: “At my piano students’ annual recital on June 7, 30 students, kids, teens, and adults, all brought their authentic personalities to the keyboard and made a lot of beautiful music. During our international potluck reception afterward, many students and their parents remarked on the sense of community they experienced within this artistic group. Naturally, I was pretty happy to hear that! The theme of genuine community continued over the July 3–6 events celebrating the 50th anniversary of Oddfellows Playhouse. I got to spend precious hours with old friends, most intensively with OP co-founder, Alida Jay Boye ’76, down the hall from me in the same lodging! For the Oddfellows Playhouse 50 documentary, reunion photos, and more: https://www.oddfellows.org/.”

Joe Fisher was named the 2025 Hinghamite of the Year:  https://www.hinghamanchor.com/joseph-fisher-named-2025-hinghamite-of-the-year-he-does-so-much-for-the-community/

See you in May 2026!

My deepest condolences and sympathy to all our classmates who were affected by the Los Angeles fires. I know of at least one classmate who lost her home, and I’m certain there are others. (With so many of us working in the film/TV industry, it’s inevitable that some of us lived in the Palisade, Malibu, Topanga, or Altadena.) My heart goes out to you, not just for the loss of your home, but for the loss of uniquely beautiful neighborhoods. I hope the eucalyptus, jacarandas, and oleanders grow back quickly, and that you’re all home again as soon as possible.

Rob Briskin missed the deadline for the last notes by just a few days! Here’s his news from last fall: “It’s been a very long time since I posted anything so here it goes. This is my 40th year in private practice in concierge internal medicine in Jupiter, Florida. I have been on staff at an excellent and rapidly expanding community hospital, Jupiter Medical Center, since 1986 and serve on their corporate board. In the year 2000, I found the first concierge practice in Palm Beach County. I also served on the national board of the American Society of Concierge Physicians about 20 years ago. I have been very active throughout the years in trying to make affordable health care available for all Americans, and I presented in 1996 to the Faith Caucus of the American Public Health Association on using community and faith partnerships to fill in the unmet health-care needs of communities. It was very well received, but Don Quixote ultimately fell short! I have also served on the National Physicians Council for Healthcare Policy in Washington, D.C., a few years ago under Congressman Pete Sessions.

“On a personal note, I have four children ranging in age from 14-year-old twins to my 27-year-old son, who just started law school at the Denver University Law, and a soon-to-be 29-year-old daughter in her second year of a PhD program in clinical psychology at the University of Miami. I live in beautiful Palm Beach Gardens at the Mirasol Country Club with my lovely wife, Limor, who I adore, our twins, a cat and an Australian shepherd named Layla. I also founded a classic rock club at Mirasol, which is going strong in its second year. Of the past two years, I have seen an abundance of concerts, including the Eagles, Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Dave Mason, the Rolling Stones, John Fogerty from Creedence, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Santana, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Beach Boys, the Allman family revival, the Temptations, and a plethora of very good tribute bands! I’m slated to see Billy Joel at the Hard Rock Café in Hollywood on January 17 for my 71st birthday! I am very active with pro-Israel and Jewish causes and attend the Chabad in Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Beach Synagogue, and Temple Judea. I love pickleball, do spin, and enjoy working out, [as well as] some running and hiking with my wife. We also love to travel, but this is somewhat limited due to the fact that I still work full time and enjoy it immensely. I am a prolific editorialist, and I have published over 100 letters to the editor in The Palm Beach Post. I had one letter published in The New York Times in 1996, which was a legacy to Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead!

“I would love to hear from any of my former classmates.”

Robert Briskin ’76, MD, FACP
210 Jupiter Lakes Blvd.
Ste. 3205
Jupiter, Florida 33458
561-746-9404 (o)
561-346-5504 (c)

Alan Miller notes: “In June, during the East-West Center’s International Media Conference, I received its award for Journalists of Courage and Impact, which ‘recognizes the contributions of exceptional journalists from across the Asia-Pacific region.’ I was a student participant at the center in Honolulu, Hawaii, following graduation from Wesleyan.

“In September, the Alumni Association at Ridgewood (New Jersey) High School named me and three other graduates ‘Distinguished Alumni.’ The honor ‘recognize[s] the achievements of alumni who have made significant contributions to society through their personal lives, individual passions, talents, professional accomplishments, and/or community service.’ The awards cited both my careers as a Pulitzer Prize–winning former reporter with the Los Angeles Times and as the founder and former CEO of the News Literacy Project, the largest provider of news literacy education in the U.S. NLP’s award-winning programs and resources are being used by middle school and high school educators and students in every state in the country.

“I was previously honored by Washingtonian magazine as a Washingtonian of the Year in 2020 and was named one of five recipients of the 2022 AARP Purpose Prize, awarded to people age 50 and older ‘who use their knowledge and life experience to solve challenging social problems.’ The East-West Center also presented me with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022.”

Nic Collins has a new book coming out! Bloomsbury says in part: “The book follows a personal chronology of observations and experiences with music, technology, economics and culture—from youthful encounters with John Cage and Minimalism, to the Downtown and East Village scenes of the 1980s, the assimilation of avant-garde sensibilities into European concert halls and global pop, the burgeoning of sound art, and the transformative influence of digital technologies both positive and negative.”

And Oliver Griffith also has a new book out! You can find A Sense of Place:  Journeys of a Musician Diplomat on Amazon. It recounts his career as a foreign service officer in Africa, South America, and Europe while continuing to work as a jazz musician. 

Cheryl Alpert writes: “My oldest son, Eben Timko, married sweet Melissa on November 2 in New Orleans, where they met at Tulane. I have never been to a more spectacular wedding and dance party in my life. The Second Line parade was so joyous! Jon Spector ’78 and spouse, Wendy, came all the way from Vermont to attend. 

“I’m in my sixth year as a REALTOR®, and it’s a very strange market out there after the National Association of Realtors went through major litigation, interest rates went up and down, and up and down, and inventory is sparse. Ceramics is my safe haven. I have a little show this month and am joined by many other local artists including Anne Van Nest, wife of Jeff Van Nest ’75.”

Byron Haskins shared joyous news: “My eighth and newest grandchild, Edie-Jayne Rose was born in Meriden, Connecticut, to my oldest son, Josh, and his partner, Katy, on December 13. Josh works for MSNBC and it was great to see Jen Psaki announce Edie’s arrival to the world on her show. Josh directs Inside. Gabrielle and I were in Connecticut but not long enough to stop in Middletown. After Meriden, we headed north to secure our pied-à-terre in Montreal before returning to Michigan for the holidays. Wishing everyone the best we can get out of 2025!”

And, finally, David Harmin and I have been having a wonderful time for the last six months.  After 20 years of having the best possible time working in Mike Greenberg’s lab at Harvard Medical School, David eased into part-time status in July and eased out of the lab altogether on January 1. He has worked steadily since he was a teenager and is having a glorious time being gainfully unemployed. We got together with Tom Kovar, celebrated the wedding of David’s son, Calvin, and then moved him out of his office on December 19, as HMS closed for winter break.

Congratulations to Barbara Strauss! In May she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Orange and Sullivan Counties for her stellar career in family law in the Hudson Valley.  

Hubert Horan reports: “Late on this news, but when I had to pass through Philadelphia last September for a flight back home to Phoenix, I reached out to InTown 22 roommate David Loder ’77 to see if he was available to get together for dinner. He was not only available but reached out to our other three roommates—Bernie Possidente, Andy Silverman, and Ted Smith, who all agreed to drive to Philly for the occasion (from Saratoga Springs, suburban Boston, and northern Virginia respectively). David graciously put all four of us up for the evening at his lovely home in Chestnut Hill, very close to where Ted and I had once lived. Had not seen any of them in person since graduation, but all were doing well, and it was like we were picking up conversation from last month. Also, a couple weeks ago (in May) my wife and I got to spend time with Bernie and his wife when we were passing through Albany.”

Deb Neuman writes: “Barbara Strauss and I spent a wonderful first week in August at her beloved Lovell, Maine, resort, Quisisana. A week of amazing food, relaxation by the lake, reading, walks, Broadway-level summer stock performances (also opera and chamber music) and, best of all, wonderful friendships.”

From Susan (Petersen) Avitzour, who previously shared with us the joy of her marriage to Fred Landman in August 2023: “Fred and I did have our chuppah as planned, despite the Iranian missile attack the night before (which I like to call our ‘pre-wedding fireworks’). It was a joyous event, with people in the mood to celebrate not only Fred’s and my good fortune but also the ineffectiveness of the Iranian attack.”

Meredith Bergmann’s latest works were unveiled on August 17 in Ithaca, New York. The life-size bronze statutes portray Frances Perkins, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, and Lucy Brown, an Ithaca activist and beloved Cornell staff member (who is still alive at age 91!). The unveiling ceremony, Meredith’s work, and tributes to Ms. Perkins and Ms. Brown can be found at https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/08/. 

Tom Kovar responded to my plea for notes with this: “Okay, okay! Starting to enjoy my very recent retirement after a 46-year career as a clinical social worker. Some ongoing medical struggles, but things seem to be improving in that arena. Hoping for more time now for all sorts of creative and social activities! Keeping my brain active with participation in my local trivia night on most Thursdays.”

Cindy Arnson “spent the summer gearing up to teach a new fall class at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, on conflict resolution and peace processes in Latin America.” While officially ‘retired,’ she also traveled over the summer to Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama for various speaking gigs, conferences, and board meetings. She and her husband, Gerry, were able to gather all their adult offspring in July for a belated 70th birthday celebration on the island of Kauai (Hawaii). On the way back to the East Coast, she and Gerry also spent a few wonderful days in Seattle visiting with Wendy Lustbader and husband, Barry.

David Cohen recently enjoyed a mini-reunion: “This photo was taken just last night [August 2024] at a terrific Italian restaurant on Long Island. Matt Paul, Mike Greenberg, and I gathered, with our spouses, for our annual weekend get-together, this year at Matt’s house on the south shore of Long Island. We were sad that Stewart Shuman had to bail out at the last minute. As usual, we ate and drank well while talking lots of minor topics like science, kids, politics, careers, world events, Wesleyan, Wordle, Spelling Bee, and the meaning of existence. All mixed up with glorious, late-summer sunshine, a long walk on the beach, a beached shark encounter (successfully saved), and an invigorating swim.”

Craig Tighe writes: “I will be spending the next academic year studying climate change and technology at Stanford University as a Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI) fellow.”

B.J. Buckley has good news to share! “I have two new poetry books! Flyover Country—which is available from Pine Row Press (or signed copies directly from me at wild4verses@yahoo.com)—came out in June, with a gorgeous ink transfer print/watercolor cover by South Dakota artist Mark Zimmerman. Night Music, with scratchboard cover art by Wyoming artist Dawn Senior-Trask, is forthcoming in late November from Finishing Line Press.” Their website also has the blurbs and sample poems. There’s also more info and sample poems on B.J.’s website: wild4verses.wixsite.com/b-j-buckley.

B.J. also writes, “I’m also happy to say that for the first time since the pandemic, I have a couple of arts-in-schools gigs in February and March 2025 in the far northeastern corner of South Dakota. Looking forward to seeing if my driving-through-blizzards skills remain intact.”

Nic Collins has joined the ranks of retired folks! “In May I retired after 25 years of teaching at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, joining our classmates who chose the milestone age of 70 as the time to move on. This was made easier by the administration’s decision to eliminate my department (the oldest program in Sound in an American art school), and it feels more like quitting a day job than ending a career. I’m currently immersed in final production stages of my fourth book, music life continues (based mostly out of Berlin), and West Falmouth, Massachusetts, provides my saltwater reward. Anyone interested in buying a beautiful pre-war co-op apartment on the lake in Chicago?”

Jim Johnson has a marvelous travel blog that’s well worth reading (jimstravels.substack.com). He writes: “I just completed four months in the Balkans and the Caucasus. Most of the trip was return visits to some of my favorite locations: Istanbul, Bulgaria, and small villages on three Croatian islands. I also made my first visit to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. My primary focus has been writing about my experiences and observations in my blog and for an anecdotal-style book about my half-century of travel. I’d been a part-time freelance travel writer for several decades and, now that I’m retired, have gotten back into it. Writing and travel have been lifelong passions, and it’s great to have both so central to my life. Of course, I also set aside plenty of time to relax and regenerate.

“I had the great pleasure of attending an East College(ish) mini-reunion this summer with Beth Penney Gilbert, Janet Brooks, Elana Rudavsky, David Harmin, and Marc Stier. (Thanks to Beth’s husband, Tom Gilbert, for being a wonderful host, and to Marc’s wife, Diane Gottlieb ’80, and his daughter for putting up with all the reminiscing!) We were so fortunate that Marc and his family were in Massachusetts for summer vacation! It continues to amaze me that the second I hear someone’s voice, the years fall away, and I see them as they were when I first met them in 1972. What a wonderful group of people.”

Adrienne Scott and Sandy Guydon sent this sad note: “Please say prayers for our dear classmate Lynette Vialet who, as of this printing, is in hospice care in Denver, Colorado, after a courageous battle with lung cancer. Feel free to reach out to us: adriennescott297@gmail.com or slguydon@gmail.com.”

I am very sad to report that Joanne Perpetua passed away in February 2024.  You can find her obituary at https://www.peckservices.com/obituary/Joanne-Perpetua.

Martha Meade has been a painter in Los Angeles for many years now. In January she reported: “A great start to the year! My painting, La Vie en Rose, has been accepted into the group show BLOOM @ Shoebox Arts @ The Brewery Artist Complex in downtown LA.”

Mike Greenberg was awarded an honorary degree at Wes’s commencement on May 26, 2024.  You can read about all the honorees and their impressive accomplishments here.

Charlie Sedell passed away on January 27. His obituary notes that he worked at Electric Boat as a welder for 37 years; his Facebook page reveals that he was a true artist, creating extraordinary historical replicas of useful objects. After retiring he worked with the Waterford Historical Society to restore their model blacksmith shop to a working shop.

Seth Lerer has two publications of note. In January The American Scholar published his lovely essay “Bicentennial Beginnings”; you can (and should, particularly if you studied with Richard Wilbur) read it here. Routledge Press just released Seth’s Introducing the History of the English Language, available at www.routledge.com. Seth retired from UCSD in June 2023 and decided to unretire in 2024. He will be a visiting professor of literature at Claremont-McKenna. The students are lucky to have him!

From Bob Craft: “Two years ago my wife and family moved to Portland, Oregon. We love Portland, it’s very green and wet. My son, William Craft, has been made the data editor of The Guardian (investigative journalism).”

From Tom Kovar: “As you know, I am celebrating my 70th birthday by retiring, shortly afterward! Can’t wait.”

From Jack O’Donnell: “I turn 70 this month of April and although I’m playing it down, my family insists on playing it up and I’ll be playing along. . . .”

Barb Birney was “planning to visit Carol Bellhouse in New Mexico and then drive to Camp Wood, Texas, via Carlsbad Caverns to view the eclipse directly in the path of totality.”

Ken Carpenter, astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, was selected in early 2024 as a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Fellow, to develop a mission concept for placing a UV/optical interferometer on the lunar surface, by leveraging off the Artemis moon base infrastructure. The NIAC Phase 1 Opportunity is among the most competitive in all of NASA with a roughly 4% success rate. The announcements of the Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI) selection can be found at these sites:

https://www.nasa.gov/general/niac-2024-selections

https://www.nasa.gov/general/lunar_long_baseline_optical_imaging_interferometer

https://hires.gsfc.nasa.gov/si/aesi.html

From Deb Neuman: “As I march toward my 70th birthday in October, life is continuing to present new opportunities and challenges. It seems I will never retire! In March I accepted a new position as director of development for Safe Futures, whose mission is to stop abuse, restore hope, and save lives of people impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking in southeastern Connecticut. I’ll be working to raise the remaining $3 million needed to build the Center for Safe Futures Family Justice Center in Waterford, Connecticut.

“For me, this is like coming full circle from my first job in a nonprofit (after 22 years at IBM), heading external relations for CARE, the international poverty fighting NGO. I can’t think of a better cause to serve during the remaining years of my professional life.

“On the personal front, I am now in the fourth year living on my own after my husband’s death. I still miss him very much, but have found good friendships locally that make life rewarding. Our son, Josh, has moved to nearby Taftville, Connecticut, after many years in faraway locations. I’m glad to have him closer.

“My late in life hobbies, in addition to cycling, now include tap dancing and pickleball. I love pickleball, but unfortunately have developed my first sports injury—pickle elbow, aka, tendonitis.”

From Betsy Eisenmann: “In Chelmsford, south-side daffodils in full bloom took a March snowstorm in stride, with most still standing up once the snow melted. Have fingers crossed that the buds of flowering shrubs won’t get frostbitten before they bloom, as happened last year. The Big Seven-O on February 2 and took a (return—Dad was stationed in Pearl Harbor 1970–72) trip to Hawaii with family toward the end of the month. Note to self: jet lag is much easier to get through at age 18, than at 70.”

From Kyrie O’Connor: “My husband, Van Dittmer, and I left Texas in 2017, when I retired from newspapers, and moved to a log cabin on 20 acres in very rural Vermont. He makes and sells Shaker furniture. I just cause trouble. Between his kids and mine, we have five grandchildren living, literally, from Maine to California. We thought we’d have traveled more by now, but the pandemic knocked that into a cocked hat. This year, we’re getting rolling again. I’d love to hear from Wes folks.”

From Lenny Femino: “I have been blessed to have reached 70, still married to my beautiful bride with two daughters that are healthy, happy, and working in their respective fields. But it is the grandchildren that have blown me away. It has been such a gift that surprised us once they came into this world. I still work, but on easier matters so that I am around to enjoy the family and my precious grandchildren.”

From Chris Mahoney: “I am married to Joan Barrett whom I met at the Darden School (UVA). I retired (I was retired) from Moody’s in 2007. We split our time between Eleuthera and a farm near Gettysburg. Joan is the president the National Beagle Club (I’m not kidding) and has a pack of 24 beagles, which she hunts all the time. I have nothing to do with that activity. I collect cars, that’s my hobby.”

From Bruce Demple: “We experienced this year’s event from Wimberley, Texas, where our older daughter had a wedding celebration about a week earlier (more on that in a moment). In our part of Texas Hill Country, it was pretty cloudy, but we did get occasional glimpses with gaps in the lower clouds, and those became increasingly, with even a diamond ring effect before the actual one, thanks to the effects of the high clouds. We shuffled constantly between eclipse glasses, sunglasses, and no glasses. The abrupt appearances of the eclipse in progress were accompanied by simultaneous whooping from a few parties in the nearby hills. So, we had the sense of being in a bigger group even if we couldn’t see it. The clouds didn’t cooperate at all during totality, but it became almost pitch black with an astonishing speed. I came to realize that in 2017 out in crystal-clear Wyoming, there had been twilight all around, as though sunrise or sunset was occurring equally in every direction.

“But no beefing about that because the high point of our trip had already occurred: our older daughter Marie and her husband Latane’s celebration. They’d already gotten legally hitched at Brooklyn City Hall several months ago, but this event both had a big emotional impact on the whole crowd, not just Sue and me, followed by a party that was epic. Lots of musicians, and they know how to do that.”

From Nat Needle: “It’s April! My 32 piano students of all ages and I begin preparation in earnest for our annual recital, June 1 this year. All expect to perform; as of today, all have selected their music! As usual, it’s a lush mix of genres based on divergent interests, including original compositions and arrangements, and a few arrangements that I’ve had to create for them. In 2023–24, I engineered more opportunities for students to perform throughout the year, and encouraged some to perform at local ‘open mics,’ in their faith communities and in their schools.

“I still intend to go, as gracefully and harmlessly as I can, from teaching full time to half time so I can get into more public community activity. This includes performing as well as organizing events and projects in harmony with my friends here who are pointed in an evolutionary direction. Come find me nat@natneedle.com.”

David Harmin said: “Hi, everyone!  Still buzzed from seeing Monday’s totality in Monteplier, Vermont.  Have loved working in Mike Greenberg’s lab, but I’m looking forward to retiring at the end of the year.”   David and I are excited to be celebrating our 70th birthdays this fall by traveling to North Carolina for the wedding of his younger son.

From Marc Stier: “OK, since you asked. Ever since I heard that the CP USSR had a position called “chief ideologist” I’ve wanted to have that job for the Democrats. Last May I created a new organization called the Pennsylvania Policy Center that is the functional equivalent in Pennsylvania. We are working now on campaigns for tax justice, a higher minimum wage, and full and fair funding of our public schools.”

From Susan (Petersen) Avitzour: “On the personal level, things are good. Fred’s and my deferred chuppah is set to take place this Sunday – unfortunately after your deadline, so I can’t send photos from this wedding. I’ll be going to the chuppah wearing a sling, though, having fractured my shoulder last week—but fortunately the sling will match the color of my wedding dress!        

“All this feels somewhat frivolous, I know, given the general situation. Fred and I are desperately and perhaps quixotically hoping for a ceasefire and hostage/prisoner exchange, the sooner the better— even more quixotically—one that may lead to a just and lasting solution for all of us in this tortured corner of the world.”

From Gary Halberstadt:

“Hiya Class,

Never check in but after viewing otherworldly full eclipse in home in Indy why not?

Still solo pediatrics;

amazing wife of 39 years;

three kids, one grandkid, and one guard cat;

daily music food and outdoors;

will try to make 50th.”

Bob Osborne continues to enjoy teaching voice as a faculty member at Columbia University/Barnard College and Vassar College. He splits his time between New York City and the Hudson Valley, grateful to be able to attend the Met Opera one day and shovel manure the next. Still active as a baritone, he recently sang a recital in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Dusting off recipes from his days in Middletown, he actively replenishes his homemade granola stores.”

From Steve Goldman: “After 44 years, I am retiring as of May 1 from my law firm, Robinson + Cole. The firm, founded in 1845, consisted of 66 lawyers when I began in 1980, and its only office was in Hartford. It is now 255 lawyers with offices in nine cities. I have been fortunate to be able to grow with the firm and have taken on a wide range of roles, including serving as the managing partner for several years and starting an insurance coverage litigation practice that now consists of over 40 attorneys in multiple jurisdictions. My career has also allowed me to be inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Coverage Counsel. The cycle of life continues—I’ve now concluded that it is time for the next chapter, and I’m very excited to take on new challenges. In a strange way, it feels like being a freshman at Wesleyan all over again: little terrifying but also incredibly exciting as I explore new things that I can get involved in. I continue to live in West Hartford with my wife, Kathy ’78, and our four children are all embarked on exciting careers of their own.”

From Meredith Bergmann: “In a few weeks, on the 15th and 18th of May 2024, we will be celebrating the unveiling and dedication of my first new work of public art since the 2021 unveiling of my FDR Hope Memorial on Roosevelt Island, NYC .

“This new work is a commission for the historic town center of Lexington, Massachusetts. The monument, the first to celebrate women as participants in this place—often referred to as the birthplace of American liberty—is a free-standing ceremonial bronze gateway standing 12-feet high on a circular granite plaza. Among symbolic animals and plants, portraits of 24 women from Lexington’s history are sculpted in relief, with 12 different women and girls portrayed on each side. Visitors can stand in the central gateway and join hands with them.”

The unveiling ceremony took place on May 15, and on May 18, there was a  “Meet the Artist” event followed by the dedication.