Tag: 1977

Lots of comments this round of notes from folks thinking about our fast-approaching 70th-birthday year, most of us in 2025. Yikes! People took to heart my comment in Lyris underscoring the need to stay connected for which I am a direct beneficiary. Sharing these notes:

Andy Darpino (aka “Darp”) writes about the joys in his next chapter after retirement. This includes independent consulting with the aptly named “Darp Business Consulting,” which he describes keeps him “afloat in ample supply of bourbon and cigars” as well as occupies his time enough to keep his marriage strong. I was especially touched by the joy that the extra time affords Andy to watch his two granddaughters grow and develop.

Sue Guiney and husband, Don, have been meeting up with Mary Jo Wade and Jack Gray in San Francisco for proper catch-ups, while enjoying their grandparenting duties. Small world—a considerable number of my family are now claiming the Bay Area as home. I had a visit in late February and got to hike through Marin as well as enjoy San Francisco proper, enjoying surprisingly sunny weather.

Felice Burstein reminded me that I am due for a visit north to visit with John Roxby and her.

Mark Ellison wrote in having enjoyed his 50th high school reunion and stated that he looks forward to our college 50th in just a few years. Consider this a shameless plug for our 2027 gathering at Wes.

Susanna Peyton is busy training new-parent instructors at Yale School of Nursing with her Operation House Call course. On the home front, aging pets and parents along with “bouncy grandkids” are keeping her busy. Susanna met up with friend Sara Pasti ’75 in Maine recently.

I never knew that Jerry Caplin breeds and keeps pet finches. Apparently while his kids are grown and spread around the country, his nest is newly replenished. Jerry’s company, Silk Purse, celebrated its 30th year offering affordable old-house rentals in Charlottesville. Congrats and well done!

Mim Wolf has “unretired” herself and “shifting her focus from being an intuitive natural health-care consultant to being an intuitive transformational coach: moving client’s past limitations of body, mind, ego, spirit, and soul.” Mim’s daughter is expecting her first child this spring in Denver. Her son is close by in Vermont, doing well. Mim and her partner of 25 years have rediscovered traveling post COVID.

Joan Martin is working to verify that the Clean Slate Law passed in 2021, enacted to effectively erase misdemeanors records and low-level felony records after seven years, is happening.

William Altman’s latest book, Plotinus the Master and the Apotheosis of Imperial Platonism, has been published by Lexington Books.

Taur Orange had a chance to connect with Jane Eisner at a Wesleyan event at VSA’s Theater on 23rd Street; the reunion was 45 years in the making.

Don Ryan got together with Cal Dysinger, George Capone, and Elliot Epner ’76 at Django Fest in Baltimore recently. Unbeknownst to me, George is a Django Reinhardt afficionado.

Catherine Compton Swanson is planning a river cruise trip through the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Switzerland this November. Any folks who have done a similar trip and have advice should reach out to Catherine at cathyswanson13@gmail.com.

Joan Goldfeder has been satisfying her traveling bug by hiking in the Lake District of Chile and, more recently, going on a hiking/bike trip in Morocco.

My travels have taken me, in addition to Northern California, to Chicago where I met up with Iddy Olson for a weekend of fine dining, music, and art. We had an amazing dinner with Iddy’s stepmother, over 90 years young, whom I get along with famously. Midst all the stories of her stepmom’s celebrity friends, was a weekend full of laughter. Unfortunately, weeks later, Iddy’s dear 95-year-old mom departed from this world escorted by family, friends, caregivers, song, and prayer. With all of life’s ups and downs, it is great seeing how our friendship has evolved and deepened these many years. I feel fortunate to experience this with Iddy and I will add to many of you whom I have had the pleasure to get to know better after leaving Middletown. After all, it is the people in your life that make all the difference.

Writing notes during the Thanksgiving holiday has filled me with an extra sense of poignancy as we find ourselves in a world seemingly more unstable and hateful than we have ever witnessed in our lifetime. Rachel and Mike Balf have been on many classmates’ minds, as well as in my thoughts, since the horror of October 7 in Israel. I am including Mike’s note here in its entirety:

“As you know Rachel and I are living in a war zone. Today (November 20) is the 45th day of war and my guess is that the combat will [still] continue when our classmates are reading this newsletter and possibly the next one as well. We are fine as a family, a kibbutz, and a community. We are not near Gaza nor the Lebanese border—although, if missile attacks from the north become more prolific, we are within range. I will not allow myself to turn this into a political diatribe. On October 7, 1,400 Israeli citizens, the majority civilians, were murdered in cold blood by Hamas fanatics who also kidnapped 250 hostages, many of them children, elderly, and simple civilians. Israel declared war and set out to return all the hostages and eliminate all the military capability of Hamas. Hopefully by the time that you are reading these words in your home the hostages will have been returned (at least the majority) to their homes and their families, though I doubt that the military operations will have ended. Our son, a called-up reservist, is on the outskirts of Gaza with his paratrooper unit. We worry but then there are tens of thousands of parents whose children are also out there defending the lives and livelihoods of our fellow citizens. I am not blind to the fact that there are humanitarian complications and that there are human tragedies on both sides. I have spent part of my adult life working for a two-state solution. I have heard that there are people who say ‘between the river and the sea’—I hope that there will come a day when we can say ‘between the river and the sea, neighbors we can be.’ I hope that wherever you are, you are working to fight antisemitism. We come from a great liberal tradition of defending the rights of all and I hope that can be maintained. We will continue that endeavor, and hopefully there will be an opening for peace down the road.”

Sue Guiney writes that while the world seems to get more and more dangerous and worrying every day, the summer had a real ray of hope—the birth of her first grandchild, Marcos Erix Santillana-Guiney (hoping that he turns out to be a good speller). The grandparent thing seems great. Otherwise, work is well, as Writing Through prepares for its 10th-anniversary celebrations—another ray of hope.

Jay Kilbourn writes after a challenging five years, marked by divorce, COVID, and remarriage, he has landed very happily with Wendy Berg. The Citizens’ Climate Lobby is where Jay is organizing and advocating for a national carbon-pricing policy. They spend time with John Wiliams, Daniel Cantor ’76, Michael Hamburger ’75.

Mark Slitt and freshman roommate Paul Boison continued their annual tradition of attending Homecoming together. The tradition usually includes a loss to whatever Little Three opponent we’re up against. But this year we routed Amherst 34–7.

Bob Glasspiegel and wife Sue moved from Connecticut for Kiawah River, South Carolina (near Charleston). People in their neighborhood are very friendly, much like freshman year when we start making friends from scratch. The big impetus was the warmer weather: year-round outdoor tennis and golf as well as the beauty of the area.

Jim Melloan reports that he’s retired from an editorial career in magazines and test-­prep books. He is Living in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and still doing a weekly radio show 50 Years Ago This Week, on the internet radio station Radio Free Brooklyn.

Arnie Alpert and a friend filed suit against the State of New Hampshire for removing a historical marker about the life of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, who was born in Concord and achieved notoriety as an effective agitator on behalf of workers. She was also known as a lifelong advocate for women’s equality and defender of civil liberties, especially during the country’s Red Scare. She had joined the Communist Party, for which she was tried and sent to prison under the Smith Act. It was Flynn’s Communist affiliation which drew the ire of the New Hampshire governor, who ordered the marker removed, even though all the proper procedures for establishing Flynn’s historical significance were observed, which is what the markers are supposed to demonstrate. The story has gained international attention. Arnie continues to fight the good fight. While these notes will be read in 2024, I want to send all the best wishes for a year of peace, kindness, and good health for us all. May the New Year be a return to greater civility.

Our latest class updates range from Hawaii to Paris (France) as well as points in between. Folks are clearly making up for lost COVID time by traveling the globe. Starting in Paris: Arlene Lappen, Joan Goldfeder, Joe Tringali, Nancy Milburn, and Wendy Giardina met up for what was, for most, a reunion of their “junior year abroad.” The photo below was taken by a hotel receptionist in Paris.

As I could well imagine, the gathering was a mix of great food and drink coupled with stories past and present. Joan is visiting Boston for a wedding, at which time we have plans to dine at one of my favorite French restaurants. In this way I get to feel like I was one of the earlier Parisian participants.

Wendy writes further that she had dinner with freshman roommate Lou Roberts (Mary Louise Roberts). She is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin. They’ve met a few times over the years when Lou comes to Europe—as she is frequently in Paris doing research.

Wendy’s summer included a week-long residency with an eclectic and eccentric group of artists/musicians/ academics/writers in a tiny town in Piemont, Italy, where the author of the book she  translated lives. The book is an “objet d’art” of limited edition (Poutresse by Jérôme Karsenti), so she got to see the finished book as well as do some readings of her own writings.

John Fink made an East Coast swing in first quarter of this year, allowing for the opportunity for a nice time in Boston, where he got to see old pal Bruce Springsteen in concert with Jim Udelson, dined with Jim and Jeff Shames, and then dined on consecutive nights in New York City with Peter Guenther and Rick Dennett.

Cathy Compton Swanson writes that she and her husband, both retired, have been enjoying their lake house in northern Michigan, which was designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright in 1953 and that has been in the family for 70 years. They are hard at work maintaining the house as well as enjoying the lake.

David Dranoff retired after 40-plus years as a finance attorney at Goldberg Kohn in Chicago. He will remain with the firm in a counsel capacity, primarily to conduct associate training sessions, but otherwise is heading off into the employment sunset. The big plans are to visit his kids in San Fran, New York, and Chicago. He is doing some volunteering and plans to pursue a variety of interests and play a lot of tennis! They are staying in Oak Park, Illinois, with no plans to move anywhere else.

Jane Goldenring graced the Boston area earlier this year. We managed to celebrate our Taurus birthdays despite the soggy weather. Her New England swing included receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award from her high school, Hopkins School, in New Haven. She got to speak to the entire student body about her career as a film executive and producer. I read and watched the speech, which was quite good.

Helen Taenzer Lott writes that both she and her husband are doing well. Helen’s new email is dcbags@sbcglobal.net.

Many folks, notably Andy Darpino and Jeff Gray, wrote to me to report the death of Steve Beauchamp, which appears to have been quite sudden. Steve and I go back to our first day at Wesleyan. He was living on my Butterfield suite freshman year. To say that Steve was a force of nature with his infectious laugh is a gross understatement. Steve possessed good acting chops as both teacher and performer. Plus, I remember almost dropping to the floor when I first heard Steve sing opera—an amazing voice. As Jeff wrote: “Steve leaves a legacy of love and passion that touched many. We are all better for having known him. He will be missed but not forgotten.”

Wendy wrote a line in her notes that has stayed with me about how lucky one is to have old friends, family, and be able to enjoy them. Throwing in good health, these are great things to appreciate.

How is it possible that it is already mid-March as I am writing these notes? Others before us recognized, as philosopher and psychologist William James wrote, that “The same space of time seems shorter as we grow older.” Turning to some notes from our classmates that often provide an upbeat tone, we have heard from several folks.

Cindee Howard enjoyed meeting up with Suzy Taraba, her former freshman-hall neighbor, at the end of Reunion. Cindee was reacquainted with Lisa Brummel at Reunion as well and the two, along with their partners, have struck up a nice relationship including dinners, theater, and concertgoing. I enjoy Cindee’s comment of how nice it is to “make a new/old friend.”

Mark Slitt writes that he retired from Cigna last June 30 and has been enjoying every minute of it, even on days when not doing anything in particular. He strongly recommends it! In January he took an amazing trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Sue Guiney wrote that she has been traveling to San Francisco to visit children, as well as to Cambodia—the first time in three years, visiting friends and working with folks on the project she founded: “Writing through Cambodia.” Jerry Caplin writes that his family is preparing for a trip to Ghana in November to celebrate his eldest daughter Sophie’s wedding. A second wedding, closer to home in Charlottesville, will occur next January. His other daughters are completing educational pursuits: one a master’s degree in social work, a second a PhD in chemistry, and a third is a senior at Duke. He is quite busy with affordable housing/historic preservation efforts; his company, Silk Purse Properties, now has 76 rentals available. Jerry finds the whole enterprise enormously satisfying.

In July, Hank Rosenfeld drops a new release from Backbeat Books called, The Jive 95, an oral history of KSAN San Francisco—at 94.9 FM, our nation’s first underground station—where he worked in the “Gnus” Department. “I was at KSAN in the late ’70s, after learning my craft from Middletown radio heads like Bob Rees, Don Lowery, Bob Glasspiegel, Ted Stevens, and other classmates. William Altman has two new books  published: Plato and Demosthenes: Recovering the Old Academy (Lexington Books, 2023; xxxiv + 246; https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666920055) and The Relay Race of Virtue: Plato’s Debts to Xenophon (State University of New York Press, 2022; xiii + 370; ISBN: 9781438490915).

Yoriko Kishimoto has the honor of serving as president of the board for Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District this year. “Midpen” owns and manages the greenbelt of open space in the San Francisco Bay Area and staff are experts in biodiversity, watershed management, trail design, and public access, etc. She has a place in Anderson Valley with her husband and is involved with the land trust there as volunteer president. Yoriko has offered to take any classmate out on a hike!

Francis Rath  is still going strong. He is no longer the chief public health coordinator and assistant emergency manager for the City of Manassas Park (Virginia). His wife of 43 years, Denise Thompson Rath ’78, is a former member of the U.S. Equestrian Team and owner of a very successful horse operation (www.greyfoixfarm.com).

Janet Malkemes is adjusting to life after the death of her mother Rebekah last July. “Mom moved to Charlotte just before COVID upended our lives in 2019, selling the family home in Pennsylvania. We enjoyed her final years, with her son Bob and daughter-in-law Charity living nearby. Otherwise, life in retirement continues nicely: annual family week at the Outer Banks, working with the International House of the Charlotte region, and supporting Democratic politicians.

“The Wesleyan Friday Zoom group that started during the pandemic [to which I, Gerry, participate] continues to provide excellent conversation and has been the entry to a monthly film group, proving that Wesleyan created wonderful, lifelong connections.”

Finally, I am sad to report, Amy Marshall lost her husband of 40 years, Tim Zenker MALS ’79, to Parkinson’s disease on December 4. He is survived by their three children: Fred ’09, Maggie, and Charlie. Amy lives and works in The Dalles, Oregon.

In spite of the single snowstorm of the winter season in the Boston area this week— leaving us with a mere few inches—unlike the rest of the state, springtime has returned very quickly with barely a trace of winter. Weather has been the major news worldwide. I hope everyone is staying safe and sound during these wild times.

The unusually warm November weather in New England (75 degrees) has made the onset of the holiday season that much more surprising, if not unreal. Nevertheless, folks have emailed from all corners of the globe.

Dave Levit and wife Ruth took a month-long camper van trip through the Southwest visiting the national parks as well as enjoying the sites of Santa Fe.

Iddy Olson has welcomed her first grandson, Merrick (joining two sisters), as well as announcing her “rewirement” plans for 2023, involving fewer coaching clients, adding more family time, volunteer work, and travel. Congrats!

Susan Leslie Raebeck and Barry Raebeck now have four grandchildren. They have retired as public school teachers after many years. Barry has a college admissions consulting business and has authored several books, the most recent of which, Joyful Teaching: Being the Teacher You Admired, to be published in March. Susan continues tutoring and sharing her love of life with family and friends all over the place. They met up in Tuscany with Liz Hancock Sillin, Will Sillin, Buddy Taft, and his wife Liz.

John Fink and Jim Udelson will be holding a minireunion at a Bruce Springsteen concert in March. As president of Aloha United Way, John has the pleasure of working with charities, locally helping tens of thousands of people.

Jerry Stouck and wife Mindy were finally able to visit their son in Hong Kong at Thanksgiving. The Stoucks make their home in Park City, Utah, where they spend winters skiing, summers hiking and golfing, and hosting friends.

It was a welcome sight to see John Perdrizet’s name among my emails. John has an “integrative mixed animal” clinic in Holyoke, Massachusetts, with his wife Frankie. They have three successful sounding daughters in the medical and public health arenas and a couple of grandchildren as well. John received a master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). He has a chapter in a new book on Complementary Veterinary Medicine, and will co-author a second edition of the only vet textbook on Tui-na ( TCVM medical massage/manipulation).

Andy Darpino is a doting grandpa of beautiful twin girls. He is surrounded by incredible women including his wife, three daughters, and the two newest members of the family. Andy retired at the end of 2022, allowing for even more time for spoiling the new arrivals and fishing the Jersey Shore.

Danny Ruberman reports that he and wife Ann are spending six months in Berkeley, where he’s part of a research program at MSRI (Mathematical Sciences Research Institute). It’s a return to a place where they were both graduate students. Danny loves talking math in person with lots of colleagues from around the world. After Berkeley, it’s off to Japan, specifically in Kyoto for a month and then in Tokyo for two months.

Jonathan Gertler writes with great pride about his expanding family and the fine work his children are doing in sustainability, climate, science, and medicine: In essence, making the world a better place. Jonathan continues to indulge his passions in fly-fishing and music along with his entrepreneurial and life science stuff.

Vanessa Burgess attended Dave Thomas’s annual football fundraiser at the Yale Club in September where she saw Don Citak, who had just returned from vacation in Sicily. At Homecoming, Vanessa experienced perfect weather for the defeat of Williams and claiming of the Little Three title.

A service for John Driscoll ’62 on Saturday morning was poignant—a reminder that life is about bringing joy into people’s lives as he always did.

Finally, two very sad notes to report on: Jane Eisner wrote in to say that Stephen Gavin died in September in Zagreb, Croatia, succumbing to an aggressive cancer that was diagnosed only months earlier. A memorial service will take place in Austin, Texas. At this writing, no date has been set. It is with great sadness that I report on the death of our beloved classmate, Don Spencer; he was such an important member of the Wesleyan family. His warmth, humor, and insights were valued by all. Don always managed great humor interwoven with the bravery he exhibited during his health struggles over many years. Don’s burial will be private in St. Augustine, Florida. Don’s wife Vicki and daughters will sit Shiva in NYC on dates and at times TBD along with a memorial in early 2023.Although more common at this stage of life, Stephen’s and Don’s deaths remind me to appreciate all that I have, especially good health along with the camaraderie of you all.

My best wishes and hopes for a happy and healthy 2023 go out to each and every one of you.