Tag: 1982

Greetings, classmates! For those of you who have pondered what you can do with a degree in philosophy, Jonathan Weber has been named global industry editor, technology for Reuters—based in Singapore. To recap, Weber has had a string of tech journo jobs, including stints at the LA Times, editor of the Industry Standard, founder of New West Publishing in Montana when San Francisco’s first dot-com balloon burst (we’re waiting on the second), and founder of the nonprofit news startup, The Bay Citizen, in San Francisco. He joined Reuters in 2011 as West Coast bureau chief and then technology editor. Through all this, he has kept returning to San Francisco, which his friends there hope happens after this Singapore gig . . . but meantime, prepare the guest room; there’s a lot of Southeast Asia to explore.

Literary news: Peter Blauner has a new crime novel coming in September, Sunrise Highway, hard on the heels of his last book, Proving Ground, which came out last year and was the first novel he’d published after more than a decade of focusing on TV writing. Patty Smith’s novel, The Year of Needy Girls, is a LAMBDA finalist. She and her partner and are excited to become grandmothers in October; Patty teaches American lit and creative writing at the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School in Petersburg, Va. Chris Garson retired a few years back from Progressive Insurance and now writes fiction; his novel, Perk Noir, a cozy mystery, is about a retired NFL lineman who writes trashy spy novels but covets a Pulitzer. Virginia Pye’s collection of short stories, Shelf Life of Happiness, was published this fall. Suzanne Kay wrote “Not Talking About Race is Not Helping Any of Us” for the Huffington Post. Maya Sonenberg published a chapbook of fiction, nonfiction, and photos, After the Death of Shostakovich Père, with PANK Books this year. She is surviving her second stint as director of the creative writing program at the University of Washington and will be associate chair of the English department next. She and John Robinson are proud that their son has completed his first year at USC’s film school.

Josh Fischman wrote that in the midst of writing and editing about hurricanes and earthquakes (senior editor, Scientific American), he and his wife, Huichong, took in a dog that was displaced by the storms. Josh is in a cooking club with intrepid reporter, Tom Frank ’84, who is now on the investigative beat for Buzzfeed.

Anne Wise has been a staff physician at Neighborhood Family Practice, a community health center in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1995. They’re the designated refugee arrival provider for their county for families from Nepal, Somalia, Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, among others, and provide sliding scale coverage to patients without adequate insurance. She says her converted factory loft overlooking Lake Erie is so hip she should grow a beard.

Various tidbits of news: Bob Russo has become a certified archery instructor and teaches at his local Y. Carson Milgroom celebrated his 20th wedding anniversary and is still playing lots of amateur adult baseball in Newton, Mass., albeit on a shiny new titanium hip. Richard Klein celebrated his one-year anniversary as partner at the law firm Romer Debbas LLP, heading up its co-op/condo department. Jim Dray is chief information officer at an engineering firm called Thornton Tomasetti, based in NYC. Terri Seligman is a partner at the Frankfurt Kurnit law firm, practicing advertising and marketing law. She’s been married for over 30 years and she and husband, George Hagen have three kids—30, 27, and 17. Terri plays squash, does volunteer work, frets about the state of world, and occasionally sees Wesfolk: Sabrina Allan, Ellen (Friedman) and Sam Bender, Kathy Grunes, Elissa Jablons ’83, and Peter Blauner. Tricia Beard Mosher’s three children are launched, and she continues to have her own company consulting on child abuse and neglect systems in the U.S. Her empty-nest family (husband and two dogs) is happily enjoying Orlando without any snow in the forecast, but perhaps rising oceans. Susan Read is VP, portfolio administration, with an equipment leasing company, where she was the first employee when it started up in 1995 . . . which shows what you can do with a degree in social and cultural anthropology!

As for me, I recently danced in the Latin Dance Grooves contingent in San Francisco’s Carnaval parade. Studies show that dance is the best thing to keep you young, both mentally and physically, so I’m putting Intro to Dance with Cheryl Cutler MA’71 and a lot of African drumming and dancing to good use.

Laura Fraser | laura@laurafraser.com

Class of 1982 Endowed Wesleyan Scholarship

Matthew Aidan Frishkoff ’21, Philadelphia, PA

Greetings, classmates! I sent out my plea for notes right after the Women’s March and it was cool to hear that so many of you participated. Taking things a step further is Diane Kolyer, a founding director of NY4US, fundraising for progressive candidates running for state legislatures in battleground states …if you’d like to pitch in, visit ny4us.org.

Beck Lee is having a resurgent playwriting career; his Subprime will premiere at the Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis in May. Like his son, the play was born in Minneapolis and co-created with his ex-wife Andrea Iten Lee. Another classmate in theatre is Steve Budd, whose award-winning solo show, What They Said About Love, played at The Marsh in Berkeley last February and will be part of the Ottawa Fringe Festival in June. To put this in perspective, Steve turned down a role in a play at Wes at Theatre ’92 —Private Wars—because he was too nervous to perform. And, Sabina Brukner is the literary manager at the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene.

Naomi Fuchs is CEO of Santa Rosa Community Health in Sonoma County, serving low-income people with primary care, mental health, and dental services. Last October, when fire storms devastated the city, her organization lost its largest health center, which meant 24,000 people lost their medical home and 180 lost their place of work. “It has been a challenging time, to say the least,” she says. But they’ve made tremendous progress since rebuilding.

After spending his career working in refugee camps for the U.N., Steven Ablondi is now busy transforming Zamani, a town in post-apartheid South Africa. Memel.Global is helping neighbors build comfortable housing for the elders, and offering everyone access to organic, locally-grown foods, among other projects. Both Susan Sutherland and Michael Toohey ’81 will be visiting the project this year.

Karen Wise retired after 25 years from her position as vice president, education and exhibits, at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and now enjoys being a consultant. She went with Elizabeth Sands Petty to the new Museum of African American Culture and History in D.C., and caught up with Sheila Gaffney in NYC. She volunteers at Santa Monica High School and spends time supporting the congressional Climate Solutions Caucus, universal health insurance, and civil rights. “Relief comes from reading,” she says, “especially works by our classmates Suzy Berne, Peter Blauner, and now Patty Smith!”

Speaking of books, I sold my company, Shebooks, to SheWrites Press (no relation), which will keep the 75 e-books we published in print, including those by Ginny Pye, Jennifer Finney Boylan ’80, Bonnie Friedman ’79, and moi.

Jim Friedlander and wife Liz are busy with her U.N. work advocating for women’s rights and teaching yoga when she is not serving as general counsel for their firm, Arrangements Abroad. They travel extensively, frequently to Cuba for the Havana Heritage Foundation, trying to preserve the architecture of the city. Their oldest son is in his last year of med school.

Lavinia Ross is living and working on a small farm in western Oregon with her husband, Rick Ross, and nine cats. She’s still playing music, performing at the Spokane Fall Folk Festival in November. Those of you who are not allergic to cats can visit their farm at salmonbrookfarms.wordpress.com.

Michele Navazio is playing music, along with his wife, Rachel Ulanet, a Broadway diva he met when they were both in Les Miserables. Miki is a lawyer (running the buy-side derivatives practice for Sidley’s investment funds group), but most important, he says, they’re raising their daughters, Chiara and Alessia (12 and 9, respectively) to be “awesome, powerful (and kind and generous and brilliant) women.”

Also raising that kind of girl (he sent pix from the march) is Michael Ostacher, who had dinner in the Village with wife Laurie Ketter Ostacher, and Ellen Friedman Bender and Sam Bender, Michael Lucey and husband Gerry Gomez, “Everyone is older and nicer, which is lovely, don’t you think?”

Susan Peabody’s book Madeleine’s Children: Family, Freedom, Secrets, and Lies in France’s Indian Ocean Colonies has won the Society for French Historical Studies’ David Pinkney Prize for the best book on French history by a U.S. or Canadian author published in 2017.

More from the rest of you who wrote (thank you!) next time.

Finally, I’m so sad to report that our classmate, journalist Lisa Chedekel, passed away Jan. 12. The Hartford Courant, where she worked for several years, quoted colleague John Ferraro saying, “She searched for truth wherever it led. She was an advocate for the powerless and a thorn in the side of the powerful.” Lisa was a member of the team of Courant reporters who won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news covering a deadly shooting rampage. Several classmates attended her funeral. Among them, Catharine Arnold said, “She was an incredibly talented writer who wrote powerful articles that precipitated meaningful changes.” Mary Beth Bruno, who spend her first years out of college with Lisa at the New Haven Advocate, said, “She took to reporting like a reincarnated Nellie Bly. Fearless…”

I hope we can all strive to be fearless, in our own ways, in her honor.

Cheers,

Laura Fraser | laura@laurafraser.com

Greetings, classmates. I’m glad to be in contact with so many of you. Aside from sending me notes—thank you!—who knew that one of the enduring advantages of a Wes education would be to have so many killer competitors at Words with Friends? You know who you are, David Hessekiel, Alison Fagan, John Brautigam, Randy Frisch ’84, and Judith Newman ’81—can anyone beat Judith at WWF? WTF?

I received so many kind replies to my solicitation for notes that if you don’t see your contribution today, it’s because I’ve saved it for next time. It’s what we, in the increasingly archaic world of magazines, used to call “inventory.”

As I write this, a number of our classmates are training to row together in the Head of the Charles, October 21, including Kevin Foley, Alex Thomson, Rob Miller, Greg Lewis, Mike Greenstein, and David Myers. They’ll be pulling alongside youngsters Kelem Butts ’89, Paul Slye ’84, Tom Policelli ’89, John McIntyre ’86, and Terry McClenahan ’85, all undoubtedly celebrating by the time you read this.

Sasha Alpert won her third (but who’s counting?) Emmy, for Casting for a Reality Program, for Born This Way, about young adults born with Down syndrome who are pursuing their dreams. Congratulations (and great dress!).

Anji Fink Citron and Todd Herron ’83 had a full summer in Bellingham, Wash., hosting a gang of Wesleyan friends, including William Erb ’83 and his partner, Suzanne. William lived in London and Tokyo for 20 years and moved to LA in 2010 to take a job with biotech company Amgen. In August, Anji and Todd celebrated the wedding of their son Noah Citron ’12 and Rachel Santiago ’12 (a Wes romance, like that of their parents; they met the first day of freshman year in Foss 7) with attendees Danny Kummer ’81, an NBC attorney living in Brooklyn with his wife, Lisa; Ellie Hitzrot ’81, who lives in Arlington, Mass., with husband Stu Forman ’80; and Rachel’s great-uncle, Fred Grand MALS ’73. They hosted Cheryl Cutler MA ’71, founder of the Wes Dance Department, with her partner, John, from Ashland, Ore. Anji asked Chery if she wanted to pass any words of wisdom along to our class, and she said, in her inimitable way, “I think the most astonishing and perhaps unheralded thing that I’m finding is that life doesn’t diminish or retract in any way, but just expands-—it deepens and opens out physically, intellectually, and spiritually into broader and broader views and manifestations of vitality!” I share Anji’s feeling that Chery had a profound effect on her sense of self and body image at Wesleyan, and her sentiment: “I’m so grateful to Wesleyan for connecting me with some of the most important people in my life.”

Julie Abrams Faude had a busy summer traveling to Iceland, Norway, Bornholm Island for bicycling, the coast of Denmark, Copenhagen, the Czech Republic, and Austria, ending up at a theatrical, rabbit-hole themed wedding on Lake Como. She promises to share her travel tips, which took her the first half of the summer to research, if you get in touch. She’s working as a clinical psychologist at The Episcopal Academy in Radnor, Pa., and with private clients.

Neil Richman traveled from Monterey to crash a gathering of other Wes people, instigated by John at his family’s camp in Maine. He met up with Mike Levine, Bob Russo and their respective partners and dogs, and dragged Garrett Randolph along with him. They traveled two-and-a-half hours on the backroads of Maine in rain and mud to climb into a dinghy and ferry across to the camp. Skies cleared for a summer afternoon on the lake. Neil also attended California Brazil Camp as the doc for the 11th consecutive year.

Julie Kraushaar Zürcher moved to Muttenz, Switzerland in July, their third time ping-ponging back and forth, which she says keeps her on her toes, culturally and linguistically. She’s enjoying the “more subdued, pragmatic approach to politics and political discourse favored by the Swiss.” Her son, Bryce ’18, is set to graduate in May.

Rolando Arroyo celebrated his third annual Paella on the Beach this summer, and is shopping for a bigger paella pan. His family is hosting a student getting ready to start her first year of college in Caracas, Venezuela, but who can’t return because of the social economic turmoil, and so is staying on with them.

Suzanne Kay is producing Sullivision: Ed Sullivan and the Struggle for Civil Rights, a 70-minute documentary on Ed Sullivan and his little-known support of racial justice. She’s partnering with Sullivan’s granddaughter on the project. Suzanne’s mother, Diahann Carroll, was on the show nine times—as were other performers white audiences had never heard of but are household names today, such as Chuck Berry, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr, Pearl Bailey, Sam Cooke, James Brown, the Supremes, the Jackson 5, Leontyne Price, Johnny Mathis, and Harry Belafonte.

Dan Singer’s son Jake ’17 graduated this year, and Dan’s Foss 5 freshman hallmates, Dan Softness and Ken Kimmel, also had daughters getting their diplomas.

That’s my word limit! Please write me more for next time.

Laura Fraser | laura@laurafraser.com

NEWSMAKERS | 1980s NEWSMAKER GLENN LIGON ’82 Glenn Ligon ’82, renowned conceptual artist, curated the exhibition Blue Black, a selection of pieces ranging from portraiture to African and American folk art, for the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis, Mo. “The content of Glenn’s work is incredibly meaningful in the context of St. Louis, being the epicenter of the Black Lives Matter movement,” Pulitzer director Cara Starke told art critic Hilarie M. Sheets, writing for the New York Times. Ligon described an Ellsworth Kelly painting, “Blue Black” (2000), which hangs in the Pulitzer, as his inspiration, and he cited “a very funny aural hallucination where I kept hearing Louis Armstrong’s voice singing ‘What did I do to be so black and blue?’“ He used that color combination to explore questions about race, history, identity, and memory. An art major at Wesleyan, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the university in 2012.

Dear classmates, I’m having a déjà vu here, writing the class notes. After the marvelous Stephanie Griffith stepped down, it seems everyone else in the class stepped back, and I was left volunteered. That’s okay; it’s like studying an interesting longitudinal cohort, or having a niche reporting beat of a creative and, need I say, diverse group. Just please help me out by feeding me some tidbits now and then. Class notes are the original social media.

Our 35th Reunion was genuinely warm, entertaining, and thoughtful. The Reunion committee, spearheaded by Kate Quigley Lynch (clap, clap), pulled off not only a wonderful “Recommencement” show and shenanigans (thanks to Beck Lee, David Brancaccio, and Joe Barrett), but our class funded a Class of ’82 Endowed Scholarship, beating our $100,000 goal (kudos to Stephen Daniel for leading us). We made an enormous difference in the life of a kid who otherwise might not have the privilege we’ve enjoyed to go to Wes. We hosted Professors Richard Ohmann and Leon Sigal (both of whom had a huge influence on my understanding of media, from the outside and in, respectively) and Professor Andy Szegedy-Maszak. The other news from Reunion is that beneath the thin scrim of age, everyone looked fantastic, just like they used to, only better dressed. Also, the Douglas Cannon reappeared, mysteriously, and I personally touched it. More on that below.

David Brancaccio spoke at our “Recommencement,” digging deep, citing from texts on rituals and cultural meaning in higher education to support his point that “our graduation ceremony 35 years ago was a wonderful occasion and, at the same time, it sucked.” Indeed, he reminded us that June 6, 1982, was the worst storm in the area since a 1955 hurricane, dumping nearly a foot of rain centered on Middletown, forcing us to graduate in the hot, stuffy, inelegant hockey rink. The sketchy sound system kept us from appreciating the speaker, diplomat and novelist Carlos Fuentes. David unearthed the address and read a few gems, then conferred “recommencement” certificates on us with quotes from the speech (if you’d like the full text, just e-mail Kate at klynch@wesleyan.edu, easier than doing what David did, tracking it down in NYC library archives, taking photos, and transcribing).

Among his remarks, Fuentes told us, “I know that sooner or later, your generation will be facing, courageously and decisively, the human needs in this country: democracy not only in the voting booth, but in the working place; decentralization, reindustrialization, the stamping out of crime, better schools, thorough racial integration and sexual equality, the great technological breakthroughs that can only be achieved through the quality of higher education and investment in research, all of this inseparable from compassion and legislation favoring the poor, the elderly, the handicapped.”

Beck Lee, our witty MC, said Fuentes’ remarks were like a “message in a bottle…speaking to our future selves, when his words might hold the deepest meaning.” Fuentes’ words were prescient, and remind us, as Beck said, that “the spirit for rebellion that was engendered in us then, in the early Reagan years, would be needed now more than ever.”

And then there was the brief reappearance of the Douglas Cannon, which a few of us were lucky enough to see, though I am not at liberty to divulge the circumstances. As you might recall, the D.C. made a surprise appearance in the University’s sesquicentennial birthday cake in 1981 before it disappeared once again in 1982. I have it on strong authority that a few of our ‘82 classmates were the 1982 liberators of the D.C. and that following some extensive travel, they returned it to Wesleyan in good faith upon Colin Campbell’s last Commencement.

These “Doug Addicts” have communicated their strong wish that 1) Whoever is in possession of the cannon today has the responsibility and obligation to facilitate the cannon’s return to the Wesleyan community; 2) Every student should know the D.C. story and have the experience of seeing the D.C. sometime during their time on campus; and 3) Whoever has it currently or in the future, needs to record Douglas Cannon’s travels and locations so that the Wesleyan community stays updated on the adventures of the D.C., perhaps via Douglas Cannon’s Facebook page.

More news about our classmates in the next notes, stay tuned. But quick congrats to Deedie Finney, whose lovely introduction to the anniversary edition of She’s Not There, the memoir by wife Jennifer Finney Boylan ’80, proves JFB is not the only writer in the family.

And don’t miss Suzanne Kay’s new documentary film, Sullivision: The Ed Sullivan Story, which takes a surprising look at the man who was once television’s most influential personality and his little-known support of black artists at the dawn of television. Check out her FB page, Sullivision, for more info.

Finally, to you guys at the Reunion who suggested my new husband, Peter Eckart ’86, go for the record and not stop at marrying just two Wesleyan women: over my dead body. Then you’ll be stuck having to find another willing class secretary.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura Fraser | laura@laurafraser.com

Hello, mates! Let’s start with Rob Miller, who is living in Chappaqua, N.Y., “on the other side of the tracks from the Clintons” and has two sons: Joshua, 13 and Daniel, 9. “I had my own entertainment agency for the past 12 years representing production companies mostly in the television world.” He sold the company at the end of 2015 to Creative Artists Agency. “The new pressure is not running a business, but rather my wife bugging me to retire,” he says.

He’s taken an annual Wesleyan ski trip with Thomas Parkinson, Andrew Parkinson ’80, Bruce Bunnell ’81, Earl Mix ’80, Greg Makoul, Danny Softness, Gordon Cooney ’81, Ed Stearns, and Bruce Crain, for more than 20 years, and says, “the competitiveness and camaraderie remain ever present.”

Vincent Bonazzoli has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer, an honor given to only the top five percent of attorneys in the state. Vinnie, who specializes in estate and elder law, lives in Swampscott, Mass., with his wife, Paula, and their two children.

Roger Hale has published a new novel, New Watering Holes, that explores the cultural intersection between India and China. As Roger describes it on the book jacket, the story delves into “some of the complexity of interpreting culture and cultural artifacts: Who has the right to interpret the culture of others?”

Toby Ewing writes, “After some 20 years working at Iowa State University, I moved to the Seattle area and now work for the Climate Corporation, a leader in digital agriculture.”

Laura Fraser and Peter Eckart ’86 were married at San Francisco City Hall on March 24. Laura says she wonders why she didn’t have the sense to marry a Wesleyan guy a few decades ago, but better late than never. After the ceremony, they partied at a neighborhood wine bar with friends including Wesfolks Mary Roach ’81, Jonathan Weber, Lawrence Comras, Maria Mead ’84, and John Baker ’84. Then they took off for an undiscovered beach in Mexico which they will not reveal.

Kaja McGowan wrote from Cambodia after wrapping up a “transformative” two weeks teaching a course for Cornell, where she is an associate professor. The course, Performing Angkor: Dance, Silk, and Stone, took Kaja and her students to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, including a visit to the religious site, Kbal Spean.

After writing for television for a decade, Peter Blauner has a new novel coming out, Proving Ground, which he says has gotten “kind words” from the likes of Stephen King, Richard Price, and Dennis Lehane. “It’s a modern day Hamlet revenge story set in Brooklyn,” he says. Reach him at slomoriot@gmail.com.

Beck Lee writes glowingly of later-in-life fatherhood and of his 6-year-old son, Truman, a Cub Scout, vegetarian, and animal lover, with two geckos, a fish and a frog. “My hat’s off to those with kids who’ve graduated college already, some of whom I daresay have kids of their own who are older than my Truman. But, I get to enjoy my son’s development in my dotage. There’s nothing better.”

Jennifer Rosenberg is in private psychiatry practice two days a week. “I live in Cleveland and will have been married to Samy Rosenberg for 30 years this August. Our oldest son, Eitan, lives in NYC and works for Spotify, our daughter, Michal, lives in Chicago and is pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology, and our youngest is a junior at Barnard.”

Martin “Chip” Shore writes, “After becoming a certified financial planner last year, I’m working on integrating financial planning into investment management. My wife, Shari, is practicing orthodontics in Brookline. Our son graduated from Vanderbilt last year and is gainfully employed in Chicago as a management consultant. Our daughter decided to go back to my roots and is in her first year at Colorado College. I’m looking forward to Reunion this spring and catching up with everyone!”

Congrats to Jim Stutz and his wife, Rosemary, soon to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary. Jim has been on the move, taking in various “awesome” music concerts with his kids (Guns ‘n’ Roses and Bonnie Raitt). His recent exploits included a scuba diving trip in Cozumel, Mexico, in 2015 and an African photo safari in February.

Matthew Capece and wife Alexis traveled to Crete for a friend’s wedding and were waylaid in Heraklion, where they passed the time amiably at a local taverna. “Live traditional Greek music,” Matt wrote. “Best flight delay in my life.”

Margaret Morton says she is “working at Eversource Energy and having the time of my life.”

Richard Klein is “a partner at the firm Romer Debbas LLP in Manhattan, heading up their co-op/condo and litigation practices.

John Johnson is the director of the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club in Brooklyn, serving over 300 kids a day. He is involved with the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), speaking to school groups and civic organizations. “Having lived with the diagnosis of bipolar disorder since age 17, my message of coping with and overcoming obstacles is a message of hope and acceptance,” he writes.

He keeps in touch with many Wes grads from our class, including Kweku Forstall, Ron Comrie, Cheryl Stevens, Robyn White, Kim Holt, and Billy Stephens.

Friends, I am signing off as your class correspondent. It’s been an honor and a pleasure to hear from old friends and to make new ones via these notes. Keep sending; I’ll keep reading!

Stephanie Griffith | stephaniedgriffith@gmail.com

[Ed. Note: We thank Stephanie for five years of service to Wesleyan, and we warmly welcome Laura Fraser as she returns to her role as class secretary. Laura can be reached at laura@laurafraser.com.]

No big, overarching themes, but a pupu platter of tasty tidbits from the Class of 1982 in these notes!

I’ll start with my buddy Roger Hale, with whom I had a delightful, daylong visit in mid-September, strolling the streets of D.C. and exploring the Phillips Collection, an emporium of Impressionist art. Never a dull time with Rog. I am happy to report that he and his family are living happily in San Jose, Calif.

Harold Bordwin writes that he and his wife, Julie Broude Bordwin, ran into Bob Russo at the Newport Folk Festival. “It was our sixth year at NFF, and (we) expect to keep the summer tradition going forward,” he said. “We’re just back from a 10-day family vacation to Croatia and Montenegro with our boys, Jesse ’10 and Simon (Bowdoin, 2013).”

Speaking of Bob Russo, he has sent us an update as well, sharing that his younger son just completed his freshman year at Oberlin College, “which feels to me like Wesleyan moved to Ohio,” he writes. “Once again this summer, a group of us (Mike Levine, Anthony Pahigian, Mike Greenstein ’83, Steve Davies ’83, and Joe Barrett) got together on Chappaquiddick Island at Joe’s cottage and had fun fishing, kayaking, bike riding, and catching up.”

Julie Kraushaar Zurcher writes that she “is thrilled to be returning to the Wesleyan campus on a regular basis again!” Her son, Bryce ’18, was accepted into the film studies program and is loving his time at Wesleyan, “both in and out of the classroom,” Julie writes. “His work with the film board and Cardinal Pictures has made him friends for life and enriched both his knowledge of and passion for film. So proud of the many great opportunities Wesleyan affords its students (and alumni!), and happier than ever to be a Cardinal. I was fortunate enough this August to attend our local Bay Area Summer Sendoff, where I met many amazing members of the Class of 2020 and their families. Also reconnected with my dear friend, Anne Anderson ’82, whose daughter, Brooke ’19, is at Wesleyan.”

Mark Leuchten’s update (his first since graduation!) reads thusly: “A career in landscape design, feng shui, fatherhood, and a complete old house renovation have given way to a return to oil painting,” he says. “My wife, Patty, runs her own business in Princeton, N.J., where she walks to work. We have lived in town for 25 years. I built an art studio in the backyard and will be spending more time there now that our youngest daughter, Jolene, will be leaving home to join her sister, Emma ’19, at Wesleyan. (Yes, both daughters at Wesleyan—we’re so proud!) But first she’s off to Myanmar for the first half of a gap year. Our son, Michael, is on the West Coast finishing a film major at UCSC.”

Kudos are in order for Sasha Alpert. We have just learned that she was a co-producer on a just-released film, They Call Us Monsters. A documentary about the juvenile justice system, the movie has been making the rounds, including at the 2016 LA Film Festival.

Patty Smith writes, “I am thrilled to announce that my debut novel, The Year of Needy Girls, is being published by Kaylie Jones Books, (Kaylie Jones ’81), an imprint of Akashic Books (Johnny Temple ’88). It will be out on Jan. 3. She adds: “Hope to see some of you at book events this spring and summer. Ginny Pye will be interviewing me at one event in Porter Square Books in May. Check my website: patricia-smith.com to see if I’ll be reading anywhere nearby—I’d love to see Wes friends!“

One other note: The years continue to slip by, dear friends, and our 35th Reunion is just around the corner! Can you believe it? A little reminder to mark your calendars now, if you have not already.

That also means, after five years in this gig, that my time as your class secretary is quickly drawing to a close. If you’re interested in taking up the mantle, Cynthia Rockwell (crockwell@wesleyan.edu) and the wonderful folks at the alumni office would be delighted to hear from you! Until then, keep those e-mails coming to me for a few months longer!

Stephanie Griffith | stephaniedgriffith@gmail.com

35 Years! I don’t feel much more than 35 years old!  It was great seeing so many of you.  Joanne Audretsch and I were honored to receive Wesleyan Service Awards for doing what we do.  “The West Wing” of Usdan Student Center was dedicated to (and by) Bradley Whitford (congrats!). And, we got to see what we all look like so many years later.

Oh, and next time we meet, in five years, we will be eligible to collect Social Security! 😉

Tonie Kline is “working in pediatric genetics in Baltimore and  my eldest just graduated from Wesleyan!  My older son is at NYU and youngest son is in high school looking at colleges.  Had a fun time at the reunion catching up with friends from freshman year (so really 39 years!).”

Cindy Dorsey came down with her three daughters from Concord, MA, where she works as a psychologist. They met up with her brother Alan (class of ’83). “So fun to show my girls around campus. They couldn’t believe we did back flips out the second floor windows of Butterfield C during the blizzard of ’78 freshman year!  Having the chance to see and give a quick hug to Matty King, Peter Smith, Nancy Parker, Mike Toohey, Tonie Kline, Susan Stone, Matt McCreight, Pete Congleton, and Kate Quigley  made it so worth the trip- it was great to see you guys, after 35 years! Also nice to meet some classmates I never knew at Wes when we were there.”

Michele Choka attended her first reunion “(it only took 35 years!)” and visited with her 15 year-old son, who is interested in attending Wesleyan. “After the admissions orientation session, he asked me how I could possibly have gotten admitted to Wesleyan. :)”  Ah, kids…..

Michele works in the energy industry in Denver, CO as a VP, Human Resources.  “I also have been sitting on a public software company board for the last ten years; CallidusCloud based in Dublin, CA.”

Chris Graves “had a blast reconnecting with ’81 pals” including housemates Bradley Whitford, Dan Greenberger, Josh Manheimer.  “We recreated a photo from our senior year house. We also recreated a photo from a video shoot that included Brad, Erika Goldman, Christina Mata, Julie Jacobson, and cinematographer Paul Schiff. I am sure the value in that 35-year old video is in the payments I may receive to never show it to anyone.”

Chris has been awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship to continue his work on brain and behavioral science related to communications. “Ten of us–all somehow connected to behavioral science– will share the palace and will write all day, then come together in the evenings for debates and discussions. It will be a precious and rare opportunity. For about 8 years, I have been seeking out, collecting, digesting and collating primary research on cognitive neuroscience, behavioral economics, social psychology and narrative theory– then connecting them to try to arrive at more effective methods of communication (for example, how to change misperceptions or change someone’s mind on an issue or communicate climate change or vaccinations in a way that actually works). The final output is expected to be a book.”

David Miller writes that “while many of those that I spent large amounts of time with while I was a student were not able to attend (Paul Robinson, and Paul and Karen Neurath being notable exceptions) it was enjoyable, and somehow comforting, that I enjoy the company of Wes 81ers even if it seems that I am meeting them for the first time.  I enjoyed getting to know Matt McCreight, Alyson Myers and Joanne Godin Audretsch better (to name just a few), and hangout (after a 35+ year absence) with Hugh Judge and Andy Hamilton at the reception.  Discussing life on Foss Hill with Steven Blum, Dave Hill ’86 and Ralph Savarese ’86 brought back memories of many previous discussions. Getting a chance for a long chat with Delcy Fox is always a pleasure. My time travel experience was complete when I got to talk with Max Atkinson ’16 and his housemates after commencement.  All in all, a great time.

David went from Middletown to Houston “where I met up with the remote part of my undergrad NASA Robot-ops team, where we had rovers run from our home universities participate in a giant easter egg-like hunt on simulated Moon and Mars terrain.  The only team with an advisor that went to a school without an engineering program won big.  The run was captured on youtube:http://bit.ly/24hueNf.”

He adds, “I wish we had had more time to talk ourselves — of some reason this seemed a busier reunion than usual.”

David Lynch joined the Financial Times as a Washington correspondent, covering white-collar crime. He adds,  “I focus on the Justice Department and SEC.”

Cynthia Costas-Centivany writes from Vejer, Spain, where she and her family have spent part of every summer for the last 20 years.  She has an ongoing botanical garden project that she would like some Wes science departments to get involved in.

Brian Tarbox  received his  5th US Patent for “Tivo for Twitter”, a system to block and record social media posts for TV shows you record, and then play them back to you when you actually watch the show.  “So, no more facebook/twitter spoilers of the big game.”

Jim Steiker has spent the last 30 years in Philadelphia creating and building a firm to promote and accomplish employee ownership. “Have had the opportunity to live out some of the social change values I developed at Wesleyan though I never expected it would result in working primarily with entrepreneurs who want to create a legacy while cashing out of their companies. Now married to Wendy Epstein for 29 years after being introduced by Cindy Schrager (’81) with two very entrepreneurial twenty-something children (both in Brooklyn of course)  who appear as unable to work for anyone else as I am.”

Belinda Kielland writes that she was sorry to miss the weekend, as travels got in the way. She is living in Sag Harbor, Long Island, “with frequent forays into the city to keep abreast of the contemporary art world. I’m a strategic partner in OSL contemporary, a gallery in Oslo, Norway, where I lived for many years, and am proud to serve as President of the dynamic non-profit, Independent Curators International. Who knew where Mr. Paoletti’s Introduction to Art History would lead!”

She adds that her “adult children, Marika and Henrik, both live in London, so my international travels continue. Although it was strange to move back to the US after 30 years in Europe, I’ve now “landed” and have enjoyed the chance to re-connect with old friends. Had the happiest time recently spending some vacation days with Livia Wong McCarthy… she hasn’t changed a bit!”

Speaking of art, Brenda Zlamany wrote to tell me three of her recent accomplishments. She has a portrait commission for Yale’s Sterling Memorial library, of the first female Yale PhD recipients (https://yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/4278/pioneers); She has curated an exhibition at the Shirley Fiterman Art Center here in New York (http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/sfac/); and she has a portrait on view at the National Portrait Gallery in DC (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/every-three-years-artists-compete-on-view-national-portrait-gallery-winners-180958490/?no-ist)!

Congratulations!

Elisha Lawrence is “living in SF and working as AVP, Global Anti-Piracy & Content Security for ABS-CBN International. My daughter will be a junior next year at Wesleyan and my son will be junior at Stanford.”

James Marcus has been appointed editor-in-chief of Harper’s Magazine and is “very excited and honored to get the gig. Also, am finishing up a book I’ve been writing for three years, called Glad to the Brink of Fear: A Portrait of Emerson in Fourteen Installments. That will be published in 2017, along with Emerson’s Journals: A Selection, which I’m doing for Penguin Classics. All this will make for a busy spring, but in the nicest possible way.”

I end on a sad note. Paul DiSanto, who could only stay Friday as he attended his son’s UVM graduation over the weekend, notes that “one classmate we really missed at Reunion was Brad Toomey who passed away suddenly at home in Kansas City on April 7.  Brad loved Wes, and was a loyal and enthusiastic WAAV admission rep and a past WAF class agent and reunion chair. He would have loved to be with us at the Reunion, and was looking forward to Commencement next year, as his amazing daughter Mary is a rising senior psych major at Wes.   He is also survived by his wonderful wife Joan, and son Dan a high school senior.

Paul reports that he “was honored to attend the wonderful memorial service for Brad at the historic Unity Temple on the Plaza in Kansas City along with Tony DiFolco, Tim O’Brien,  Lou Scimecca , Rick Ciullo and Peter Campbell ’79. The many speakers talked about Brad’s love of live music, his intensity in sports and business, his wide ranging intellect, his impeccably detailed organization of the many ‘Vail Boys Ski Weekends’, his Irish wit, and most importantly his love for his family and friends.   I heard from a lot of Wes folks, and Gordon Cooney probably summed it up best on Facebook when he said that “Brad found ways to connect with literally everybody he met.”

David I. Block | david.I.block@gmail.com

Joanne Godin Audretsch | Berlinjo@aol.com

The latest edition of our Class Notes Gazette.

Rachael Steinberg Adler writes that she is now entering the third year since founding the Waterfront Playhouse & Conservatory in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“We are training professional actors in ensemble in the Meisner Technique of Acting, Alexander and Feldenkrais Movement Techniques, Linklater Voice Technique, Shakespeare, and more, both at the Waterfront and at our sister school in Barcelona, where I teach master classes each year,” she writes.

Rachael’s work in theater is “driven by issues of social justice, which my years at Wesleyan both reinforced and encouraged.

“I’ve found that training acting ensembles, rich in class and racial diversity, to identify and address the historic and personal issues involving judgment, bias, criticism, prejudice, grief and celebration to be, in combination with a vivid imagination, a most effective tool for unleashing the written word and bringing it into full dramatic expression,” she says.

On a more personal note: “I am having the time of my life raising my incredible 14-year-old dancer daughter Sonya, into whose ear I have been whispering “Go to Wesleyan, go to Wesleyan!” since she was 8! Keeping my fingers crossed!”

This from Peri Smilow: “Perhaps our classmates will be interested in knowing that I’ll be publishing my first book this summer. I’ve been a composer and touring musician of contemporary Jewish music for the past 25 years.”

She adds: “This summer will mark the publication of The Peri Smilow Anthology, a collection of sheet music for all of the original songs on my first four recordings (Songs of Peace, Ashrey, The Freedom Music Project and Blessings).

Peri says the anthology is “intended as a resource guide for cantors, song leaders, and other Jewish musicians, as well as non-musician Jewish educators and communal workers, about how to use contemporary Jewish music in all aspects of Jewish life.” (For more info: perismilow.com).

Steve Okun, in a short and sweet note, writes: “My son, Alex ’20, will be attending Wesleyan in the fall!”

Becky Shuster, to whom we extended our congratulations last issue for being named assistant superintendent of equity for the Boston Public Schools, adds in a brief note that she lives in Boston with her 11-year-old daughter, Sage.

Rob Lancefield—who in addition to being a member of the class of ’82, is also M.A. ’93 and PhD ’05—writes that he enjoyed playing a gig on guitar for the first time in way too long, with a group called the Abraham Adzenyah Tribute Band. The band, filled with Wesleyan alumni, was formed specifically for last May’s eight-hour extravaganza honoring Abraham Adzenyah’s retirement after 46 years of teaching Ghanaian music at Wesleyan.

The band featured, among other performers, Abraham Adzenyah MA’79, David Bindman ’85, MA ’87, Wes Brown ’74, and Royal Hartigan MA’83, Ph.D. ’86. The celebration was organized by Robert Levin ’81 and Doug Berman ’84. You can read about the event at this link: newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2016/05/09/adzenyah

Rob also mentions that Wesleyan is working to raise $300,000 to endow a scholarship in honor of Abraham Adzenyah’s legacy at Wesleyan. He asks that those interested in making donations contact Marcy Herlihy—mherlihy@wesleyan.edu or 860/685-2523.

Karen Mohr Maier says she has worked for years as director of research at the world-renowned Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. “I had the honor of putting together a permanent exhibit for the Baseball Hall of Fame honoring Dr. Jobe’s innovation in creating the Tommy John procedure that has saved the baseball careers of hundreds of players,” she writes.

“This is a permanent exhibit in the Baseball HOF’s new wing: A Whole New Ball Game, which features innovations that have impacted the game over the past 40 years.”

Daniel Meier writes that he lives in Berkeley, Calif., with his family and is teaching education at San Francisco State University, where he’s been for the last 20 years.

Once a year, he gets together with classmates Doug Jones, Peter Schochet, Dave Gaieski ’81, and Joe Merrill “for hiking, tennis, and sitting around and catching up.”

He’s also in contact with Roger Hale and a few other alums. He writes that he would “love to hear from other Wes alums around the ’81/’82 classes—Dave Preston ’81, Jeff Sayah, Lindsay South, Cindy Gherman, Christian Vescia and others.”

Martin “Chip” Shore writes: “I’m still with Fidelity (16 years!) and still loving it. I recently became a Certified Financial Planner and am trying to figure out how to take advantage of my new knowledge in the investment management work that I do.

“My wife, Shari, stays busy with her orthodontic practice in Brookline. Our son is graduating from Vanderbilt and is headed to Chicago, gainfully employed as a management consultant. We survived another college application process this year and our daughter is headed to Colorado College in the fall.”

“We are looking forward to being empty nesters, but nervous too, since so much of our lives have revolved around our children,” Chip writes.

Steve Budd writes: “I teach writing and lit. classes at a number of Bay Area colleges. I’m also a regular on the lively Bay Area storytelling, standup, and solo performance scene. I stay in touch with local alums Laura Fraser, Peter Eckart ’86, Marc Mowrey ’83, and Rolando Arroyo (whose sister-in-law, Carolina Grynbal, spent a year at Wesleyan and—how’s this for a coincidence?—is partnered up with my sister Sharon). Shoot me a line at stevebudd3@gmail.com.”

Rosemary Gombar Stutz says: “Did a lot of fun travel: Antarctica, Argentina, Niseko (skiing), Singapore, Raja Ampat (scuba diving), Myanmar (Burma), Taiwan, Italy (Matera and around), Zermatt, Switzerland (skiing, parasailing).

Her daughter, Victoria Stutz, a 2012 Georgetown graduate, just started a new job with Ernst & Young in New York. Her son, Eric Stutz, who got his master’s from U of Chicago in 2013, also works in the Big Apple as of this year, as manager for corporate strategy at SAP America.

In every issue, I hear from at least one member of our class—usually more—who hasn’t written before, which is gratifying. Updates happily accepted from repeat correspondents and newbies alike!

Stephanie Griffith | stephaniedgriffith@gmail.com