Tag: 1976

I received a lot of responses to my requests for news this quarter, and I am not going to be able to fit it all in. Some will have to wait until next time. This column will focus on classmates who have not written in for a while.

Susan Peterson Avitzour, who has four thriving grandchildren, earned a master’s degree in English and creative writing last year. She continues to work as a psychotherapist but has also published four short stories and just finished her first novel.

Meredith Gang Bergmann sent me a wonderful photo of her presenting a bust that she created of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Justice. In New York this past October, Meredith’s husband, Michael, wrote and directed a libretto in an opera based on Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities. And, this past April, Michael’s film, Influence, for which Meredith did the production design and their son, Daniel,–– was the technical advisor won two awards at the Houston Film Festival.

Arvid Bloom is retired after 25 years as a psychology professor and has re-discovered an old passion for photography. Arvid also is learning guitar and is helping a museum to restore a helicopter from the Korean War era. He and his wife, Gretchen, also volunteer at a local animal rescue center.

Alida Jay Boye was stationed in Mali as counsellor for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2010-–2013. In appreciation for her work, she was knighted by the Malian Government and is now a “Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mali.”

Rob Briskin is a concierge internist in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He and his wife have twin 6-year-old girls.

Karen Adair Stephens Caplan is living in Wallingford with her husband, Dick. Their daughter, Samantha, lives in Carlsbad, Calif., and their son, Tom, is working as property manager with his dad. Karen has joined a hospital-based palliative consult team. She would love to hear from old friends.

Sidney Cohen (a doctor in cardiology and internal medicine with a PhD in biochemistry and biophysics) is now living in the Bay Area with his wife, the former Carol Fisher (second marriage). Sidney has three children: Jacob, who is a CPA and is married to Sarah Waxman; Rachel, who works at QVC; and Jonah, who is in med school in Israel.

Lawrence Davis and his wife, Ronna, will be away and regret that they are going to miss the Reunion. Their daughter, Ilana ’06, recently had her second child and their son just graduated from IDC Herzliya in Tel Aviv.

Ron Epstein is a family physician on the faculty at the University of Rochester. He and his wife Deborah have a son Eli ’11 who will be having an engagement party in Wenzhou, China, in March, followed by a wedding in Vermont. Their daughter, Malka, recently graduated from the College of Charleston. Ron is the president and Deborah is the artistic director of Pegasus Early Music, a NFP that serves Western New York.

Lenny Femino reports that our class had a great turnout for Homecoming and that, although the DKE House has been closed by the University, it was used for food and gathering after the game. Paul McMahon, Pete McArdle, Dennis Harrington, Bob Gandolfo, Jeff White, Al Poon, Dave Eckert, Jack O’Donnell, Steve Beauchamp ’77, Jeff Gray ’77 and his wife Joanne, Dennis Robinson ’79, and Scott Karsten ’74 among others, were in attendance.

Steve Goldman was elected managing partner of Robinson and Cole in Hartford. A trial lawyer at the firm since 1980, he has focused on insurance coverage and class action litigation, handling numerous federal and state appeals in multiple jurisdictions, including the Supreme Court of the United States.

Alan Haus writes about the upcoming election. He says that if Clinton wins, he may exercise his dual US/EU citizenship and move to Europe. And if Trump wins, he will find out how long it is before SpaceX is in full service!

Libby Horn’s chorus, Saratoga Soundtrack, came in fourth in the world in the small chorus division of the Sweet Adeline’s International Competition in Las Vegas this past October.

Nina Jaffe is on the graduate faculty of Bank Street College of Education in NYC, where she advises candidates involved in childhood education. Nina’s book The Golden Flower: A Taino Myth From Puerto Rico, was selected as a Staff Pick at The Bank Street Bookstore. Nina’s husband, Bob Armistead, is a special educator teaching in the South Bronx, and their son, Louis, is a free-lance film editor and producer.

Debbie King got (re)married this past June to Daniel Toth in Boulder, Colo., after a long engagement. Their daughters and granddaughters made up the wedding party. They honeymooned in Bordeaux, France, and the Cinque Terre in Italy.

Debra Gottheimer Neuman and husband, Paul, moved last year to Mystic, Conn., where they live in an 1806 cottage in the historic district. Last May, their son Joshua was married to Meagan Riley in Athens, Ga. The newlyweds are each pursuing MS degrees, he in plant pathology and she in nursing.

Joe Reiff’s book on the Civil Rights Movement. Born of Conviction: White Methodists and Mississippi’s Closed Society, has been published by Oxford University Press.

Lisa deSchweinitz and her husband will be downsizing into a co-housing community in their hometown of Anchorage. Lisa is a family physician. She does medical missions in Spanish-speaking countries and went to Nicaragua last fall.

Steve Smith started as a ’75 but joined ’76. He lives in East Flat Rock, N.C., with his wife Jean, who teaches in the local public school system. Steve did computer programming most of his career and now works for DHG in healthcare consulting in Athens. Their two children, Tara ’07 and Tyler, work in Charlotte, Tara as a librarian and Tyler as a computer programmer. Steve and Jean are active in the dulcimer club in Asheville.

Last December, Marc Stier became the director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, a leading progressive think tank in Pennsylvania. Marc’s book, Grassroots Advocacy and Healthcare Reform, was recently published. Marc’s daughter with Diane Gottlieb ’80 graduated from Hampshire College last spring.

Our Reunion is May 19–22, 2016. You can find more information at: wesconnect.wesleyan.edu, under “Events.” Hope to see you there.

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

Newsmaker: Michael Greenberg ’76, PhD

Michael Greenberg ’76, PhD, the Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology and chair of the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, was the co-recipient of the 2015 Gruber Neuroscience Prize. The Gruber Foundation cites him for spending “the last 30 years unlocking the mysteries of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the effects of experience on the brain, thus elucidating how nature and nurture are intertwined during brain development.” Most recently, his work has explored the ways that neural activity expresses itself in the wiring of the brain—and that disruptions of those pathways can lead to neurobiological disorders. His co-recipient, Carla Shatz, is professor of biology and neurobiology at Stanford University and former head of the Harvard Medical School Department of Neurobiology. In a statement, the chair of the Gruber Foundation selection advisory board for the neuroscience prize, Robert Wurtz, described Shatz and Greenberg as “extraordinary researchers… leaders in the neuroscience community…and exceptional mentors.” The Prize citation noted that “[T]heir groundbreaking studies have provided new insight into how neural circuit function regulates brain development and plasticity and how dysfunction can contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.” A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wesleyan with a major in chemistry, Greenberg earned his PhD at Rockefeller University and pursued post-doctoral research at New York University.

Dear Class of ’76, There’s no hiding it. In a short time, we will be having a big Reunion year. Classmates are coming together to make plans and think of things that will make it special.

Jamie Beck Gordon says hello and wishes everyone well.

Rob Cox and his wife, Maggie, had dinner with Steve Goldman in Greenwich Village in September. Rob asks all the CSS class to do their best to make it to the Reunion. I second that.

Elisa Serling Davis writes that, after many years of being in the Empire State, she and her husband, Seth Davis ’72, have moved back to Connecticut. Older son Mark married in April and is waiting for his master’s thesis in economics to be approved. Elisa’s father helped get Empire State College started while we were at Wes; her younger son Kevin is now finishing his degree there!

Oliver Griffith is still working in Paris as head of communications in Europe for IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. He’d be happy to welcome old Wesleyan friends visiting Paris.

Debra Haffner has announced her retirement from Religious Institute, which she co-founded in 2001, and is looking forward to a new vocational chapter.

Byron Haskins is a two-time grandpa, with Harriet and Solomon born late last year. Byron is still with Social Security, in disability policy. Let’s try not to bug him for too much advice at the Reunion.

Libby Horn and Mary Barrett are going to Las Vegas in October to compete in the International Sweet Adelines Competitions. They both are baritones and family nurse practitioners.

Jim Johnson is traveling all over the world as part of his work with Bike.Tours.com, a company that he started. Jim is an avid cyclist and has completed several triathlons.

Marty Leinwand is living and working in the Nashville area with his wife, Eileen, and contemplating where to go next. They have two daughters and five granddaughters. Marty says hello to Paul, Ray, Julie, Robbie, Stuart, and Greg. No last names, but you know who you are.

Jack O’Donnell’s youngest child just began her freshman year at Wesleyan, has made the crew team, and has joined numerous clubs. Jack will be at the Reunion.

Matt Paul, David Cohen, Mike Greenberg and Stewart Shuman know how to keep the fire burning. They had their annual summer get-together on Long Island with wives and significant others. Matt and his wife, Lisa, also welcomed a new granddaughter this year.

Joe Reiff has a book coming out this fall from Oxford University Press titled Born of Conviction: White Methodists and Mississippi’s Closed Society.

Steve Schwartz, who is doing forensic work and economic counseling, passed through Chicago a couple of weeks ago, and we had a good visit.

Let’s get together in the spring.

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

This summer Andrea Grubb Barthwell and her husband, David, are celebrating 35 years together. Their youngest son, Matthew, just finished Fisk and is headed to SUNY Stony Brook for graduate school in social work. Matthew plans to concentrate on social justice in relation to African-American teenage boys. Andrea keeps herself busy giving lectures on preventing and treating drug use by kids and advocating for more drug treatment centers.

Oliver Griffith is still working for International Finance Corporation, the private arm of the World Bank Group. Oliver runs communications and public affairs for Europe out of Paris. He plans to stay in France for the long term and has just bought a house in the country. He would welcome visits from old friends and classmates.

Dan Henry and his wife just returned from California, where they spent time with their granddaughter, Frazier Michelle Henry, who celebrated her first birthday. Frazier was born on Dan’s birthday last May—what Dan says is his best birthday present ever.

Jack O’Donnell is delighted that his daughter, Maggie, will be heading to Wes this September, the second of his four kids to do so. Jack also recently went to see Orleans in Tarrytown—a group that no ’76er could fail to remember for all the times they played at Wes. Jack spoke with John Hall afterward. Hall said he stays in touch with Fred Hollister ’73 and that he still vividly remembers turning around on an upstate N.Y. highway when a tollbooth attendant told him that his band was desperately needed at Wes to fill in for Marshall Tucker. Jack says the band still sounds good—and why not?

Martha Meade has a son who just finished his freshman year at Wes, and she and her husband visited the campus for her husband’s Reunion. Martha’s “Stream of Consciousness” won Honorable Mention at the Spring Juried Show of the Palisades Art Association and was on display at the Palisades Public Library. You can see some of Martha’s art on Facebook. Take a visit.

Libby Spader says that her Wes theatre degree comes in handy in her career as an international trainer in USAID’s legal regulations for foreign assistance. Libby travels the world delivering training workshops for a nonprofit called InsideNGO. Libby wrote from London and was heading out for a week vacation in Florence, but her trips more frequently take her to places like Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Bangkok. In October, she takes her first trip to Myanmar.

I am looking forward to summer after a particularly long Chicago winter and to taking a trip to Greece in the fall. Two of my daughters are away doing internships. One is studying math and Chinese in Taiwan and the other is doing a NASA program in Huntsville, Ala., that includes sky diving. My oldest, who graduated from college a few years ago, is going for her master’s this September in biostatistics.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the third time in six years. Great ending to the season.

Cheryl Alpert’s oldest son, Eben, will be graduating this year from Tulane with a degree in finance and her younger son, Chasen, is a sophomore at Washington and Lee where he was recruited to play soccer. Cheryl, who spent many years as a marketing executive, is now working as a volunteer with young entrepreneurs while her husband, Tom, has returned to architecture. Cheryl’s mom recently passed away, but not before reaching 100 years old. Cheryl, I hope you’ll consider being our class secretary some day!

Carol Bellhouse is keeping busy with book signings and talks. She now has 14 books in print.

Barbara Birney has settled into a small town outside of Portland, Ore., and would like to hear from any Wes grads out that way. “Settled” may be the wrong word, because in August Barbara is heading to Botswana for two years with the Peace Corps.

Melissa Blacker and her husband, David Rynick ’74, are the resident teachers at Boundless Way Zen Temple in Worcester, Mass., and invite everyone who likes to meditate to visit the Temple and gardens. David and Melissa’s daughter, Rachel, was married this past November.

Robert Buccino, a ’76er who took a year off after sophomore year, is celebrating 33 years of marriage to Mary Bresette. Their daughter, Leonora, is a junior at Grinnell. Rob recently published a book for ad agencies, titled The Pitch Book, that is available on Amazon. Rob and Mary live in Manhattan.

David Cohen reports that Matt Paul, Michael Greenberg, Stewart Shuman, and he just had their third annual get-together, which featured hiking, a great meal and wine, and endless conversation about Wes, politics, and much more.

Sid Cohen writes that, after a 20-year stint at UPenn School of Medicine, he worked at several large companies and start-ups in the cardiovascular and medical device industries. Sid and his wife, Caro, now reside in Pleasanton, Calif., southeast of San Francisco. They have three children who live and work on the East Coast. Sid would love to hear from fellow classmates at sidneyacohen@mac.com

The city of Madrid invited Bob Craft to tour the city as a possible location for a film. While there, he met two other film location managers. The three of them were featured in a televised newscast and in a photo in the Sunday paper.

Like many of us, Lenny Femino and his wife, Rona, are doing more traveling now that the kids have moved out. Lenny’s law practice is entering its 30th year, and he still finds time to run 30 to 40 miles per week. Keep it up Len, but don’t wear it out!

Elizabeth Eisenmann lives in Chelmsford, Mass., which is about 10 miles from the New Hampshire border. The snow this year has kept her busy, but she enjoys the workout. “Let the whiners threaten to move to Florida,” she says, “I will take nor’easters and blizzards over hurricanes and flying cockroaches any day.”

Debra Haffner has been ordained for 12 years and is ABD for her doctorate. She hopes to be Rev. Dr. Haffner by next spring.

Peter Hansen is trying to put more emphasis on the “life” side of the work/life balance equation, and he and his wife did a combined work/vacation trip to Taiwan last fall. Peter is spending more time than ever in D.C., but still regularly commutes to Kansas City, Denver, and Portland for his marketing consulting business.

Karen William Harmin and her husband, David Harmin, both are still working at Harvard Medical School and enjoying life in Cambridge. David became a grandfather last fall and they are enjoying it immensely.

Byron Haskins has also become a grandfather. His son, Josh, who is a director at ESPN, and his wife, Katy, who works at Yale-New Haven Hospital, welcomed Harriett into their family in October. His daughter, Anna, and her husband, Steven, who are both assistant professors at Cornell, welcomed Solomon into their family in December.

Alan Haus started teaching motion picture law and business to MFA candidates one afternoon per week at a local university in San Francisco.

Jim Johnson’s international bicycle tour business, BikeTours.com, has been expanding and now offers 550 tours in 75 countries. Jim, who now resides in Chattanooga, is very active in local bicycle and trails advocacy and is working on a number of projects to establish local parks and bicycle trails.

Ron Kirschner went from being a history grad student to becoming an ER doc; he changed directions again when he was hit by a car and severely injured. Ron is now the medical director of a Midwest poison center that is affiliated with the University of Nebraska Medical Center. They made the news when caring for an American physician who contracted Ebola in West Africa. Ron is married and has a daughter who will be turning 18 this spring.

Tom Kovar, like several classmates, is enduring the snow conditions in and around Boston. Tom recently heard Jay Hoggard, who lives and teaches in Middletown, playing with a local jazz trio and found Jay’s music “astonishingly great.”

Seth Lerer has finished his term as dean of arts and humanities at the University of California, San Diego, and is enjoying a sabbatical. This spring, Seth will be the Keeley Visiting Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford.

Gerry Rau writes from Taiwan and a decidedly different season and climate. He offers his good wishes to all.

Des Stern Whitney and his wife, Anne, have recently become empty nesters and are enjoying their new found freedom.

Thanks for writing. Keep in touch.

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

Well, I was a little late in contacting everyone and did not expect much. But I got a barrel of news, so here goes.

Sara Avitzour is an active psychotherapist whose lawyer days are long behind her. This semester she is finishing up her master’s degree in English and creative writing at Bar Ilan University. She has published three short stories so far and a full-length memoir. Sara has four grandchildren, three boys and one girl, ages 1 to 5.

Leslie Anderson won the 2014 National Genealogical Society Family History Writing Contest with a story about her great-great-grandmother Tabitha, who was born a slave to a wealthy tobacco planter in Virginia. When Tabitha was about 60, she purchased 16 acres from her former owner. The story will be published later this year in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Leslie is the project editor for an index of Virginia Slave Births published by Heritage Books.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Eisenmann writes that she has had three big life events in the past year. Her son and his wife (who live in LA) had twin daughters in Sept. 2013, her mom passed away on Oct. 1, 2013, after 18 years of living with Alzheimer’s disease, and Betsy retired in Jan. 2014, after 29 years as an RN, 28 with Lowell General Hospital.

Jeff Frank, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, got together with his three children for a week in Colorado Springs. (Hey, Jeff, my daughter went to college there.) Son George is a junior at the Air Force Academy; son Nathan, who is with the FBI, and his wife, Amanda, were in from Miami; and daughter Stephanie, who is a teacher, was in from Hawaii.

Karen Gervasoni, who was a great co-manager for the Wes wrestling team, and her husband, Tom Hansen, live on 100 acres in Kennebunk, Maine, with their son, Cole, who will be 16 in November. Karen is retired after 25 years as an actuary. She would love to hear from Janet Brooks, Kat Wilmore, and Diana Brody.

In July 2014, Cathy Gorin had a gathering of Liz Gissen Holder, Ed Papier, and Christine McCoy McNeil ’75 at her summer home near Copake, N.Y. At Wesleyan, they all had lived together at Kappa Alpha house (which was then university housing) and had come to this same summer home back in the spring of ’75. Their mini-reunion was full of wonderful stories and nostalgia.

Debra Haffner is still president of the Religious Institute, an organization she founded 14 years ago, to help religious leaders advocate for sexual justice, and she hopes to earn her doctorate in ministry by 2016. Her eldest got married in May and her youngest is a college senior. She just spent a week with Kath Booth ’78, her college roommate.

David Low, associate director of publications and arts and culture editor for Wes, just had his short story “Elevor” published at Solstice, a magazine of diverse voices. The story, which can be found at solsticemag.org/content/elevor concerns a young Asian woman’s adventures in NYC as she deals with claustrophobia.

Doug Hurd, who was a mainstay of the Wesleyan wrestling team, reports that his son Greg ’10 was a Division 3 New England champion wrestler for Wesleyan and went to Nationals twice. Greg is now in a PhD program in geology at the University of Texas in Austin. Doug’s daughter, Allison ’11, is pursuing dance in NYC. Doug, his wife, Cynthia, and family just returned from a trip to Cracow, Poland, and a hiking trip in the Tatra mountains.

Tom Kovar stays in touch with a lot of Wesleyan folks, including many who share his interest in music, including David Harmin and Karen Williams Harmin, Byron Haskins, Mel Blake, Marty Plotkin, Nat Needle, Libby Horn, Cheryl Alpert, BJ Buckley, Jim Fellows, Dan Cantor, and Winifred van Roden ’77. Tom, it is great that you keep in touch with so many of our classmates. Please encourage them to write in to class notes.

Gerry Rau writes that this fall over a dozen international students from various countries, none of whom speak Chinese, showed up at his church in Chiayi, Taiwan, and that the church is starting an English worship service for them. Gerry is coordinating the startup and will be speaking each week.

Mark Rubin attended Parents Day at Wesleyan this past September where Grace ’18, his youngest child, just started her freshman year. Mark’s niece, Lucy Rubin ’17, is also there. Unfortunately, Mark lost both his father and Eric, his younger brother, in the past 18 months.

This summer, Nancy and I had the pleasure of having Bruce Tobey ’75 and his wife, Pat, to our house for dinner. I also heard from Bill Devereaux ’75, who was president of our DKE chapter at Wesleyan. We have daughters at Bryn Mawr and Carleton and have met many interesting parents and alums from those schools. We both stay busy, and I have developed an interesting sideline by serving as an arbitrator and mediator in business disputes. Had an interesting case involving a well-known race car driver recently. During a break, he showed me a video of his 3-year-old driving an off-road four-wheeler solo and real fast through a bumpy field. When I asked him why his kid was not wearing a helmet, he turned to me with the most honest face and wide-eyed look imaginable. “Because his neck’s not strong enough to hold it up,” he said.

Well, we’ve run out of space. How about writing me for the next issue? 

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

I was pleased to hear from Dan Bellegarde whom I last saw on a night out at a jazz club in New York City so many years ago. Dan and his wife, Marcia, are living in Vienna, Va. Dan has been with the State Department for 26 years and will retire Nov. 30 with 27+ years of service. Dan and Marcia met on Dan’s first tour with the foreign service, and they have two children. Stephen is 24 and an air traffic controller in the Air Force. Isabelle is 12 and in the 7th grade. They just moved to a new home and, after all the moving around for work, plan on staying put for a while. Good luck to you in retirement­—please stay in touch.

Carol Bellhouse continues to write and seems to be more prolific with each passing year. She has four books coming out in 2014 and the seven books she has already published can be found in print or via download at Amazon or CreateSpace or in local bookstores (for those of you lucky enough to still have them). Emboldened by this year’s harsh Chicago winter, I suggested to Carol that we have an alumni snowfall competition. That was before I realized she lives in Leadville, Colo., at about 10,000 feet above sea level. Even with some poetic license (or outright lying), Chicago can’t beat the five feet of snow then in Carol’s backyard. But we are contenders of a sort. As I write this on April 14th , after the third worst winter in Chicago (recorded) history, it is snowing briskly. This is not supposed to happen.

Barbara Birney is working as a volunteer at the Lumo Community Wildlife Sanctuary for six weeks on the development of income streams for local residents as a way of mitigating conflicts related to wildlife-human co-existence. She would be interested in hearing from any other alumni who are working on similar conservation efforts.

Steve Goldman was recognized by The American Registry as one of North America’s top attorneys. Way to go, Steve! Steve recently has been doing the college tour with his son Zach. Unfortunately for me, Chicago area schools were not on the tour. However, Steve and I have tentative plans to get together in Northfield, Minn., later this year.

Alan Haus continues to carry the flag for the Class of ’76 in San Francisco. He became the head of the intellectual property practice at his law firm there. Alan has three daughters. He could not convince the first two to consider any college more than ten miles away from the Pacific Ocean, let alone a campus in Middletown, Conn. Two years from now he will have one last shot at that, with daughter number three. We shall see . . .

Chris Mahoney married Joan Barrett in Aug. 2012. They met at the UVA business school back in the day. They live on a farm near Gettysburg, Pa., and also have an apartment in NYC. Joan has a pack of beagles which she actively hunts. Chris, who retired from Moody’s in 2007, has a financial blog: capitalismandfredom.blogspot.com.

Alan Miller, the president and CEO of The News Literacy Project, is continuing his excellent work in educating young people on how to know what to believe on the Internet. A story about the organization he founded, which has programs in the Chicago, New York and D.C. schools, was featured in the Wesleyan magazine. If you missed it: magazine.wesleyan.edu/2014/02/26/news-literacy-project-launches-online-curriculum/.

Ted Shaw, as you no doubt have heard by now, was going to be this year’s Wesleyan commencement speaker. Congratulations, Ted! I am sure that you will inspire everyone.

Bruce Tobey ’75 a fellow DKE and an honorary member of our class, has started a real estate business with some of his family members. It is called Tobey Seaport Properties and its website is: tobeyproperties.com. Good luck with it, Bruce!

Byron Haskins writes that he is a proud father. His daughter, Anna R. Haskins, PhD, who married Steven E. Alvarado, PhD, both on the faculty of Cornell University, on March 29, 2014, also published her first solo article in an academic journal. It is “Unintended Consequences: Effects of Paternal Incarceration on Child School Readiness and Later Special Education Placement,” Sociological Science, April 2014. The wedding was wonderful and a great mix of sociologists and people doing the things sociologists study.

This is a big birthday year for most of us. Why not write in something about yourself or share some of your observations on becoming more worldly and wise? For my part, I pledge to reach out a bit more and find at least some of you on Facebook and other social sites. But don’t wait to be asked. Write something in about yourself, your family, or your friends for the next quarter.

Mitchell Marinello | mlmarinello@comcast.net

First of all, thank you for sending so much news!

Tom Kovar is living in western Massachusetts, working for the VA as a social worker and gigging with his band, the Retroverts. His son, Sam, is in fifth grade.

Carol Bellhouse has six books out on Amazon: three in poetry, two novels and one biography. She splits her time between her legal practice and writing, sometimes for the TV and film industry.

Meredith Bergmann celebrated the 10^th anniversary of the unveiling of her sculpture at the Boston Women’s Memorial on the Commonwealth Ave. Mall. See the video at: youtube/12t429KHAL8.

Ethan Bronner and his wife, Naomi, spent four years in Jerusalem, where Ethan served as The Times bureau chief. Ethan is now deputy national editor for The Times and Naomi has reopened her psychotherapy practice in Manhattan. Their son Eli ’10 is with a nearly all-Wesleyan tech company called Lua; younger son Gabe is a student in Manhattan.

Robert Buccino has just had a book published, The Pitch Book: New Thinking for New Business. It is a quick and interesting read with advice that can be adapted to many situations and businesses.

BJ Buckley has published a new poetry chapbook: Spaces Both Infinite and Eternal, which you can find at limberlostpress.com/buckley.html. BJ is working through state arts councils in Arts-in-Schools/Communities Programs located in western states. In December, she will be returning to the Sanford Cancer Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., to make art with patients and their families.

Rob Cox, Steve Goldman, and I were in CSS together. Recently, it was parents’ day at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., where we each have a daughter enrolled: Kelsey Cox, Sarah Goldman, and Michelle Marinello. Steve and his wife, Kathy Rosenthal ’78, and Rob and his wife, Maggie, had a great time, and Nancy ’78 and I are pleased to have another connection with them. I also heard from Jon Cleworth, another CSS classmate, that he is recently retired and living in Connecticut.

In October, Ely Leichtling, who rowed crew with Jon Cleworth at Wesleyan, had lunch with me in Chicago, and we discussed career challenges and our personal five- and 10-year plans. Ely (employment litigation) and his wife, Sally Merrell (heads up estate planning at her firm), are attorneys in Milwaukee. They are married 34 years and proud parents of two Carleton grads. They plan to visit Mike Donnella in Philadelphia over Thanksgiving. Mike also has a daughter at Carleton.

Jeff Frank owns a successful moving company in Columbus, Ohio (American Moving and Storage), where he is married with three children, the youngest a sophomore at the Air Force Academy. Jeff’s son, Nathan, works for the FBI; his daughter, Stephanie, teaches English as a second language in Hawaii.

Jeffrey Gottlieb, a psychiatrist, is presently doing forensic work in Middletown and sees the Wesleyan campus on a regular basis. He has three children, the youngest a junior in college, and has been married to Gina for 28 years.

Byron Haskins, our class secretary emeritus, is also an author and has two recent publications on Amazon, Lake Affects: Musing Around Michigan, Vols. I and II. 

After 35 years in the magazine business, Matt Roberts has retired from Condé Nast. Matt has a considerable Wes alumni network of his own. He and his wife, Cathy Mudd ’79, a psychotherapist, have a son, Alex ’02, married to Louisa Hay ’02. Their grandson, Dane, may be shooting for ’41.

Barbara Strauss, who has a matrimonial and criminal law practice in Goshen, N.Y., is receiving an award from Legal Services of the Hudson Valley for her pro bono work in grandparental custody. Barbara is married to Jeff Storey, who is the executive editor of the New York Law Journal. Barbara and Jeff have two daughters: Rebecca who teaches at Columbia Law School and just had an article in the Yale International Law Review about law of war issues and Hanna ’03, who is now with the New York Times and previously was a foreign correspondent in lots of places including Mumbai. Barbara and Jeff also have one granddaughter and two additional grandchildren on the way.

Amy Zuckerman reports she is still working on her honorary Wesleyan degree. She is the founder of Hidden Tech, a network that supports 2000 virtual business owners and recently formed the 2030 Studio, a multi-media coop business.

Michael Greenberg, Matt Paul, David Cohen and Stewart Shuman reported a recent enjoyable weekend together at Mike and Ros’ house in Wood’s Hole, Mass. In words that I hope are true for all of us, Matt said: “We look back fondly and realize that our best times together still lie in the future, thanks to the strong relationships fostered at Wesleyan.”

Mitchell Marinello
mLMarinello@comcast.net