Tag: 1984

Hello, Classmates. This is Michael Steven again, reporting, Roger will be your host next time around.

Mark Randles brings us sad news about classmate John Koch, who passed away on Jan. 30 from complications following a cardiac arrest in August caused by a blood clot. John was a member of the cross-country team at Wesleyan, as well as the Restless Knights (and was often heard singing as he made his way across campus).

Ellen Prager acknowledges Mark in turn: Mark’s daughter, Ellie, has become one of Ellen’s best test-readers for her Shark Rider series. (The second book, for middle graders, will be published in May.)

Tom Oey has been living in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China (home town of his wife, Liping Zhang) since 2003. They have two children, Beatrice, 13, and Mark, 10. In October 2013 Tom began a second PhD in global studies at Leipzig University, Germany, writing a dissertation on A Comparative Cultural History of Java and the West, 1814-1817.

Roger Mitty continues his transition from being a practicing gastroenterologist into a suit-wearing hospital administrator. He is now CEO at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center of Boston, where he had practiced for 20 years. He’s still practicing a bit, but is spending more time with spreadsheets than with colonoscopies these days.

Stephanie Fleischmann has been busy writing. Her musical, The Secret Lives of Coats (music by Christina Campanella), premiered at the Redeye Theatre in October, and made two Best of Minneapolis lists. She’s working on opera librettos for two world premieres: The Property, a Klezmer opera based on the graphic novel by Rutu Modan, for Chicago Lyric’s Lyric Unlimited; and The Long Walk at Opera Saratoga in Saratoga Springs. She teaches playwriting at Skidmore College.

Michael Lewyn is maintaining a website on the public transit system in Kansas City, to encourage less reliance on automobiles. mlewyn.wix.com/autofreekc

Cathy Reich is sad to report the death of a dear friend, Susan Eakins, who was founder and operator of Montana’s only vegan farmed animal sanctuary, New Dawn. Cathy took over for her friend, overseeing the rehoming of the remaining animals. Some of the cows were relocated within Montana, including the Unsinkable Molly Brown cow (who escaped from a slaughterhouse, led the police on a six-hour chase, and received an official pardon). She is working to ban trapping on public lands, and to outlaw “varmint-killing” tournaments. She recommends Wesleyan’s “How To Change The World” course on Coursera, when it is offered again.

Paul Landau got promoted to full professor at the University of Maryland History Department, renewed contact with the family of his old research assistant in Botswana, and began writing a new book on revolutionaries in South Africa in the early 1960s. Not to mention developing a fear of transoceanic air travel. He has two daughters: Zoe, who makes better jokes than he does, and Penelope, who has taken up figure skating. His wife, Emily, is at work on a book about country music, murder ballads, and social history (while teaching).

J. Peder Zane writes that the University of South Carolina Press will publish his fourth book, a collection of newspaper columns, titled Off the Books: On Literature and Culture, in May.

As recently reported on Wesconnect, in February Shawn Dove began serving as CEO for the Campaign for Black Male Achievement. The program was previously a part of the Open Society Foundations but will now operate on its own. Shawn, who previously managed the campaign at the Open Society Foundations, will bring his 20-plus years of experience working in education, youth development, and community building to his new role. He and his team aspire to: “ensure the growth, sustainability, and impact of leaders and organizations committed to improving the life outcomes of Black men and boys.”

Finally, I want to give a public shout-out and huge thanks to Stuart Remensnyder, who came to my rescue last month. We sent my son off on a bus back to college on a Saturday, not realizing that the dorms weren’t open until the next day; Stu lived close by and swooped in to take him in. Good thing I was nice to him during our year in Gingerbread House.

Michael Steven Schultz | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu

Roger PincuS | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu

Roger was at the Reunion, and gives this report:

Our class had a strong and lively turnout for our 30th Reunion on Memorial Day weekend, with the numbers picking up substantially by Saturday night, just in time for the open bar reception in Usdan’s west dining wing. A surprise performance by the Wesleyan Cardinals, joined by founding member Mark Randles, was one highlight that evening. Classmates figured prominently in the weekend’s programming, with Karen Donfried receiving a Distinguished Alumna Award and speaking at the Phi Beta Kappa initiation, ESPN executive Rob King appearing on the WESeminar panel “The Changing Face of Sports,” and marine biologist and author Ellen Prager giving a WESeminar talk entitled “Dive into the Story: Ocean Science and Storytelling, Fun for All.” He reports that everyone enjoyed catching up with one another and, in some instances, meeting classmates’ spouses and children. He noted an especially impressive contingent from the 1980–81 Foss 9 freshman dorm, including David Booker, Liz (Buffy) Martin Brouckman, Jim Glickman, Ina Jacobs, Lee Markowski, Cindy Schultze Newell, the aforementioned Mr. Randles, and Heidi Ravis.

Stefan Selig was confirmed as Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade in June. According to the Commerce Department press release, he will “help lead our recently launched NEI/NEXT initiative—a program to build on export achievements under President Obama’s National Export Initiative to help even more businesses reach the 95 percent of customers who live outside our borders.”

Mike Lewyn reports that he is spending the 2014–15 academic year in Kansas City as a visiting professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Arya Francesca Jenkins gives us an interesting update: “I am living in McDonald, Ohio, a remote region of this state and the world, where I have the opportunity to write to my heart’s content. I write jazz fiction for an online quarterly, Jerry Jazz Musician, and regularly publish nonfiction, fiction, and poetry in literary journals and magazines. A few months back, I was elected a director of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Initiatives, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the living conditions of female Tibetan Buddhist monastics. Our programs benefit young and aging nuns and orphanages in Tibet and India. As I have long been a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and a friend of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, whose work has inspired DGLI, I am thrilled to be part of this endeavor. A New York tour is planned for December 2014 and January 2015 that will include stops at the Rubin Museum and The Tibet House in New York City, so perhaps some Wesleyanites will join us there.”

Vicky Fish sends in a short and sweet update to say she and her husband, Hugh Huizenga, are sending their twins off to college. Noah is going to Hamilton and Andrew to Wesleyan, where he has been assigned to Butterfield, just like she was as a freshman! Her first book of short stories, A Brief Moment of Weightlessness, was published in June by Mayapple Press.

Margaret (Marmie) Bowman is still working at the Walton Family Foundation as deputy director of their environment program. She is focused primarily on addressing the problems of water scarcity in the Colorado River basin. She lives in Tacoma Park, Md., with her husband and two kids, both of whom are in high school, so most of her life is spent at sporting events and other parenting adventures.

David Blauer recently gained Series A venture capital for his third software start-up, called Bjönd. Based in Boston, Bjönd makes novel workflow automation, decision support, and behavior change software that applies to most industries. Their first application, called BjöndHealth, invents and automates hyper-personalized workflows that clinicians, social workers and family members execute collaboratively to intervene with patients suffering complex diseases and conditions. The Bjönd staff includes other Wesleyan alumni—CTO and co-founder, Ben Flynn ’03, and engineer, George Bennum ’09.

Michael Steven Schultz | mschultz84@wesleyan.edu

Roger PincuS | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu

Roger Pincus is your host this issue. Thanks to everyone who’s submitted news to us—here it is:

Michael Misi Polgar is an associate professor of sociology at Penn State University in Hazelton, Pa. His work includes sociological research on gendered variations in service learning. He and his wife, Michele, are happily busy with three daughters, but he finds time to volunteer in his community as a soccer coach.

Andy Peretz has avoided the winter blues as he practices commercial litigation and entertainment law in South Florida, where he represents entertainment companies producing music festivals and cruises. He also plays drums in area bands. The music-loving gene has been transmitted to both Andy’s teenage son and daughter, who enjoy attending rock shows with their dad.

Laura Simon remains in Connecticut working as the wildlife ecologist for the Humane Society of the United States. She proudly reports that her 10-year-old son, Jack, participated in a successful lobbying effort that culminated in a new state law giving students a choice to opt out of dissection.

Paul Gross has spent the last five years applying everything he learned in business to medical research by becoming board chair and the most active volunteer for the Hydrocephalus Association, the largest patient advocacy organization, for his son’s common but poorly treated brain condition. Paul had founded a clinical research network in neurosurgery a few years earlier and merged the two organizations so they wouldn’t be competing with one another for funding. He serves on the advisory council for one of the National Institutes of Health and travels often between Seattle and D.C. In his free time, Paul races mountain bikes in his home state of Washington.

Speaking of biking, Aaron Gershenberg has done several fundraising rides per year since graduation; last year, his team (Silicon Valley Bank) raised almost $1 million for Best Buddies, an organization that benefits the intellectually and developmentally challenged. Aaron also has joined the board of First Move, an organization that promotes the inclusion of chess in the second and third grade classroom. He works closely with Magnus Carlsen, current world chess champion.

Steven Herzog has been living in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, with his girlfriend/partner, Carrie Jabinsky, for about five years; they have a 3-year-old daughter, Sasha. Steven’s two older daughters are both doing well—Rachel is a junior majoring in classics at Barnard and Charlotte is a freshman at Kenyon planning to double major in theater and math. Steven continues working as a litigation counsel for Paul Weiss in New York, handling commercial cases and pro bono work on death penalty cases. He invites any classmate in or visiting New York to look him up.

Jeff Mehlman reports that he and wife Lynne Bono Mehlman are still in North Andover, Mass., where they have lived for more than 25 years. Jeff continues to work as a management and information technology consultant in the capital markets and Lynne is an accomplished painter in the classical tradition: lynnebmehlman.com. Their son, Jake, and daughter, Julia, are sophomores at the University of Denver and Bowdoin College respectively. Jake took a year off between high school and college, during which he walked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. He now enjoys his access to the Rockies and competing in rugby. Julia is thriving academically and as president of her social house. She also has had success competing as a sprinter.

Mark Randles continues to be a ball of fire when it comes to socializing with other Wesleyan alums. In March he attended a birthday party for Melany Kahn ’86 in New Hampshire. He reports that Michael Bailit and Jim Glickman were among those present. Days earlier, Mark spent time with David Booker, Mike Murphy, and Shakir Farsakh. David is a lawyer with Credit Agricole, Mike is with Morgan Stanley, and Shakir is with the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration. By the time you are reading this, Shakir may be reporting to Stefan Selig, whom the President has nominated as Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.

Chuck Schneider is enjoying touring in support of his novel, A Portrait in Time, which was released in print in January 2014. And Michael Lewyn’s book, A Libertarian Smart Growth Agenda: How to Limit Sprawl Without Curbing Property Rights, was published by Lambert Academic Publishing. Mike continues to teach at Touro Law School and blog on urban affairs.

Finally, class co-secretary Michael Steven Schultz is happy to announce that his son Quinlan will be a freshman at Hampshire College this fall. In addition, Michael Steven was delighted to catch Beth Kaufman ’86 and Mark Miller ’88 with their band, Spuyten Duyvil, at Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville, Pa. Beth is a powerhouse singer and anyone in New England or the NY/NJ/PA area should keep an eye out for their tour dates at sputyenduyvilmusic.com.

Michael Steven Schultz
mschultz84@wesleyan.edu

Roger PincuS | rpincus84@wesleyan.edu

Happy winter, fellow classmates. Roger Pincus and I (Michael Steven Schultz) are your new class secretaries, and this is our first set of notes. I won the coin toss and will be your host this month, and Roger will take over next time. Thanks to all who took the time to send us a little news.

Chuck Schneider mentions in passing that he is a practicing medical oncologist at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute in Newark, Del. But he’d really rather talk about his fiction. A Portrait in Time, a thriller set in the contemporary Paris art world (and in 19th-century Paris, as well), is available in an Amazon Kindle edition (and soon in print). (charlesjschneider.com)

Paul Baker checks in from San Francisco to let us know about his November art show, featuring some new works. He and Scott Schryver call themselves “Art Men” (artmenart.com). The opening featured a signature whiskey-based cocktail called the “Jackson Pollock” (In past years, Paul was an exhibit designer at the Cleveland Museum of Art).

Don Rea left Bucknell University after 16 years and is now the technical manager of Arts People in Portland, Ore., (providing online ticketing and donation services to nonprofit theater and art organizations).

Mike Heydenburg checks in to say that he can’t really talk about much of what he’s doing, but he did get his second master’s of science from the National Intelligence University.

Lawrence Wiedeman also is unable to discuss too many details of his work, but does take time to mention a cardboard paddlewheel boat, a cow chip hurling soda bottle rocket, and 1930s golf clubs, among his non-work distractions.

Rick Davidman continues to work as an art dealer in NYC. He owns DFN Gallery (dfngallery.com), which is no longer a physical space but creates art exhibitions in several venues. Rick also acts as financial adviser to many artists, dealers, architects, and other members of the art/design world.

Hsiao-chiung (Helene) Li went to Hong Kong in 1993 after law school and still hasn’t left. She is no longer practicing law, but is married and is raising a family there, and often acts as a Hong Kong interviewer for Wesleyan.

Ellen Prager is back from the Galapagos Islands. As science adviser to Celebrity’s small cruise ship, Xpedition, she is able to make the trip several times a year. Like many of our classmates, she is also an author—her children’s illustrated book, Sea Slime: It’s Eeuwy, Gooey and Under the Sea, comes out in February, and she is starting a middle-grade fiction series with the book, The Shark Whisperer (available in February).

Michael Lewyn lives in Midtown and teaches property and environmental law at Touro Law Center on Long Island). He publishes articles on municipal planning and related issues, most recently in the Real Estate Law Journal. His writings appear regularly on two urban-planning blogs, the Planetizen (planetizen.com) and the Congress for New Urbanism (cnu.org/cnu-salons).

Joel Fein is part of Osler Circle, an almost-all-doctor Beatles cover band from CHOP (Childrens’ Hospital of Philadelphia), and played a gig at World Café Live in November (oslercircle.org).

Sally Bromage Suhr is celebrating 25 years of marriage and an empty nest (in Marietta, Ga.). She has left her second-grade teaching job after 11 years. Her daughter, Abby, graduated from UGA in May and is a kindergarten teacher at a charter school in Brooklyn; Dylan is a junior at Georgia College; and Anna is a freshman at Savannah College of Art and Design. She wants to know if Cathy, Melissa, Liz, Tammy and Jon are coming to Reunion.

Speaking of Reunion, Gail Jenkins Farris is already planning the 30th Reunion and is looking for submissions for a slide show (send to gailfarris@aol.com). Her daughter, Kim ’14, is graduating this year, and daughter Jen ’16 is also at Wesleyan (currently a sophomore).

See everyone in May?

Michael Steven Schultz and Roger Pincus
mschultz84@wesleyan.edu
Rpincus84@wesleyan.edu