Tag: 1986

A long note from Hal Ginsberg: “Many thanks to Sandy Goldstein for organizing a Delta Tau Delta reunion in downtown Manhattan. A cross-section of mid-to-late-80s classes were there: Sandy and me, Rick Davidman ’84, Soren Pfeffer ’85, Steve Shackman ’87, Jim Freeman ’87, Bill Houston ’87, Ira Skolnik ’87, Dan Levy ’88, Scott Ades ’88, David Morse ’88, Ed Thorndike ’89, and Mike Marciello ’89.

“Atlantic seaboard Delts from Montpelier and Boston all the way to Palm Beach traveled by plane, bus, train, car, subway, and our own two feet to share memories and catch up on a Friday night. Some hadn’t seen others in well over 30 years. We started with drinks at a Union Square watering hole then proceeded to a nearby Italian restaurant where a multicourse repast was supplemented by numerous bottles of Tuscany’s (near) finest. Not wanting to end the evening, we moved on for a nightcap. Steve graciously hosted a lovely brunch the next day at his apartment. It was a great weekend!”

Hal was struck by the varied professions that we entered over the years. “Perhaps unsurprisingly, some of us went into finance. Others became doctors, lawyers, and business consultants. But one of us is a wine merchant, another is a real estate agent who doubles as a burrito shop owner, a third was an art dealer, a fourth a religious studies professor. I am now in my third and fourth acts. After practicing law then operating a radio station, I have been writing freelance and am acting as co-chair for the progressive group Our Revolution in Montgomery County, Md.”

Sally Spener writes, “In February, my husband and running partner, Sergio, and I completed our first marathon after taking up distance running in 2017 with the Jeff Galloway ’67 training group in El Paso, Texas. By press time, we will have completed the Ciudad Juarez Marathon as well. We enjoy weekend training runs along the Rio Grande.”

Hazlyn Fortune lives in Oakland and is an administrative law judge at the California Public Utilities Commission. “I’ve been at the Commission for over 18 years on a variety of energy and telecommunications issues. I’ve been a commissioner advisor and supervised a staff of nine implementing statewide energy efficiency programs. I love to garden, travel, dance, and cook, and look forward to hearing about everyone else in class notes update.” 

Beth Kaufman and Mark Miller ’87 shipped their daughter off to her last year of college, packed up their life, sold the Yonkers house, and moved to Harlem. “It’s a year of transition and a new chapter. The move puts us closer to friends and family. It also puts us closer to Mark’s new board game café, Hex & Co., on the Upper West Side. I got my certificate to teach English as a second language and I’m aiming to find work near our new home. Finally, after deciding to put our music on the back burner for a bit, I’ll be taking my band down to Jamaica for one final show in late October.”

John Ephron’s younger son, Sam ’22, just started as a freshman at Wes, happily ensconced in Butterfield C. John says it was nice to stroll the campus, and he’s looking forward to getting back more often.

Jaclyn Brilliant’s daughter, Josephine ’18, graduated from Wesleyan in May. “It was a ton of fun for us to be back on campus for the celebration. My husband, Anthony Jenks ’85, and I got to briefly catch up with Ann O’Hanlon during a trip to D.C. over Labor Day—drinks, HQ online trivia game, and nostalgia prevailed. I like to think the spirit of Jinny Kim was with us.”

Jim Clark: “I’m running the World Technology Network, a global association of the most innovative people in sci-tech—helping our 1,500 elected fellows know about each other’s innovations, and convening conferences with the U.N. and others on such topics as renewable energy, the future of work, and the governance of A.I.

“In addition to consulting, I’m also involved in political work, especially over the past two Trump years. Divorced 10 years, with two still-keeping-me-busy daughters (now 19 and 23), I see a lot of movies, still dance at festivals, write/perform poetry, take photos, hang out with my BFF since Wes days, Peter Benson, and marvel at the speed of time.”

Andy Clibanoff and his wife, Denise, are thrilled that their children (Callie ’19 and Leo ’22) are at Wes. Both kids experienced “the Butts” just as Andy did when he became good friends with Tanya Kalischer ’85 and Chris Coggins ’85, whose son, Noah Kalischer-Coggins ’22, is also living there. Andy is active in Wesleyan’s Philadelphia area regional alumni group and planned a happy hour and concert by the Wes alumni duo, The Overcoats. He and Denise hosted the Philadelphia Summer Sendoff. Nearly 75 students and family members attended in August. Professionally, Andy is an organizational and leadership development coach serving the sports and entertainment, technology, health care, and entrepreneurial environments. 

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

We have fewer submissions than usual for this issue, so as class secretary, I am using the extra space to mention our cohort of class agents. John Gannon, David Hill, Michael Levin, and John McIntyre were in touch asking if I might put the word out that they’d welcome some help connecting with and contacting fellow members of our class. Perhaps some female members of our class might wish to help diversify the volunteer leadership! Please e-mail me if you’d like more information.

Here are some notes from several classmates: Down in D.C., Scott Michaud is the senior speechwriter for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He has a 5-year-old daughter (Class of 2032!) and another little girl due in July. He is still playing ultimate, still seeing other members of Nietzsch Factor at ultimate tournaments, and still playing summer league ultimate on the D.C. Wesleyan alumni team. He says, “Best wishes to all my Class of 1986 classmates and to the Class of 2018!”

Lisa Porter is living in Berkeley, Calif., where she is the head of voice and dialects at the American Conservatory Theatre and a lecturer at UC Berkeley. “I act professionally and just finished productions of two very successful new plays—Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector at the Aurora Theatre and The Eva Trilogy by Barbara Hammond at the Magic Theatre. My daughter, Maggie, will start at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in the fall. I also am the lead artist in a participatory Shakespeare theme camp at Burning Man. I keep in close touch with Melinda Newman and Shawn Cuddy.”

Monica Jahan Bose is busy with art and advocacy work around gender issues and climate change. She is working on a long-term feminist project called Storytelling with Saris and had a solo show, Weather the Storm. She is collaborating with homeless women in D.C., One Billion Rising in Miami, and women from her ancestral island village in Bangladesh, making saris about climate change and doing elaborate outdoor performance art actions. On a trip to Athens, she hopes to reconnect with Nada Bahu Pentaris. She wrote, “I’m so happy that my spouse (Michael S. Bennett ’87) will join me in Athens for a week so that we can relive our visit there in our 20s! Our older daughter, Tuli (“paintbrush” in Bangla), attends UC Berkeley and loves it. She is active with the Cal Dems and has started the Bangali Student Association. Our younger daughter, Koli (“flower bud”), is finishing eighth grade at a Spanish-English bilingual public school.”

Peter Crivelli is on the board of the Serviam Girls Academy. Based in Delaware, where he lives, Serviam is tuition-free, independent Catholic middle school in the Ursuline tradition for young women of all faiths from low-income families. The school has been very helpful in preparing the young girls for success in high school and beyond.

The film made by Ralph Savarese’s son won a Peabody Award. According to the jurors, the film is “a bold step forward in inclusive filmmaking that allows David James Savarese, a nonspeaking young man with autism, to tell his own story, focusing on accomplishment and possibility, not limits and barriers.” One of nine winners in the category of documentary films, Deej is the story of his journey. Last year he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Oberlin College.

Belinda Hanson, founding partner of Hanson Crawford Crum Family Law Group based in Silicon Valley, has opened a second office in San Francisco. Her firm is celebrating their 20th year in business.

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Many thanks to the classmates who respond to my requests for updates for inclusion in the magazine (and online). Last year, 81 classmates were mentioned in our column, and this issue includes six reports from classmates who didn’t write last year. If you haven’t seen recent news from your friends, please ask them to submit something for the next issue or to post it on our Facebook group.

Marsha Cohen recently celebrated her 20th year in her dream job as executive director of The Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) in Philadelphia. HAP is a legal services agency annually assisting over 3,000 homeless individuals and families, youth aging out of foster care, and homeless veterans with their civil legal needs. On the personal front, she’s celebrating 21 years with husband Peter; and raising two boys, Max (17) and Will (15). “I continue to enjoy regular visits with my dearest friends from Wesleyan: Vicki Strauss Kennedy ’87, Margaret Hagar, and Rebecca McLeod-Barnett.”

For Mike Sealander, his work life has been the same for the last 17 years. “My wife Robyn and I have a small architecture firm in Ellsworth, Maine. Our work is largely in the education sector for area colleges and public schools. We do a fair share of science-related work, including a marine research and flowing seawater facility in Beals that is now under construction.”

Hunter Silides has moved toGreensboro, N.C., where she has been called to be chaplain for the Canterbury School. Canterbury is an Episcopal PreK-8 school on 37 wooded acres. “It’s my dream job. I took a risk this year and switched coasts to return to my first love, being an Episcopal school chaplain (I should say my first love as a priest!). Moving cross country with a husband and four kids is *hard* but worth it. Our daughters, Gracie and Hope, are both freshmen at historic Grimsley High School. Our eldest son, Stephen, is a freshman in the Flagship Chinese Program at San Francisco State and heads off to Taiwan in a few months. Our second son, David, will graduate from Claremont High in Claremont, Calif., in June and plans to go home to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks next fall. My husband of 20 years, George, can finally move here to Greensboro! Thanks be to God! This long-distance thing is not for me. I’m so grateful to be doing work I love, and to be supported by my wonderful family after all those years on the mommy track! I’ve enjoyed seeing Arthur Haubenstock ’84 and Judith Hill-Weld. I will miss visiting Bennett Schneider in LA. My kids absolutely adore him and I haven’t found anyone quite as colorful here in the ‘shallow south.’ Y’all come visit us, now!”

Alex de Gramont: “As an international arbitration lawyer, I travel constantly. In every region of the world I visit, even the most conservative people I meet are stunned by what is happening in the United States. I don’t know which is more difficult: trying to explain it while abroad, or having to face it when I return. The best (and only) escape, I suppose, is family. Our 17-year-old, Nicolas, is going to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., to study marine biology. Our 10-year old, Gabriel, is in fourth grade and wants to be an ‘animal scientist.’”

Margret Hagar:“I love my job as general counsel for Nobel Learning Communities, not least because I never know which challenge each day will bring. Erik and I are now empty nesters which is partly liberating but mostly strange. (We have two daughters; younger is a frosh now. Could not persuade either of them to apply to Wes, sadly.) Also experiencing déja vubecause our 21-year-old daughter is now spending junior year spring semester in Paris as I did. Revives vivid memories not just of the amazing time I spent there but the bonds formed in the Wes Paris program with two of the dearest friends anyone could ever have.”

Ethan Knowlden had the opportunity in July of last year to take his wife to see Wesleyan for the first time. “As we stood at the top of Foss Hill she commented on how small Wes looked. Of course, she’s a University of California, Davis grad where there are 35,000 students! I had a change of jobs in 2017, twice in fact. I started and ended the year at Medicines360, a San Francisco-based nonprofit pharmaceutical company whose mission is to expand access to medicines for women regardless of their socioeconomic status, insurance coverage, or geographic location. I head the legal and compliance functions there. But for five months I served as general counsel for Accela, Inc., a cloud-based software solutions provider, leading them through their acquisition by a private equity fund. I have to admit I prefer working for a mission-driven organization! Finally, we had the pleasure of having Kevin Freund visit us here California. And we enjoyed seeing Kevin’s parents while vacationing in Scottsdale, Az.”

Sam Connor: “During a spate of creative activity in the fall I finally launched some personal music projects that I have been writing and recording with friends and professional musicians over the years. Albums:Togo Songbook, Made in Burma, and several singles are finally up and available for free on Spotify and elsewhere. I credit Wes with promoting enduring creativity and meeting superb musicians who crushed it in the studio: Banning Eyre ’79, Ralph Gasparello ’84, Eric Rosenthal ’87, Simon Connor ’87, Dirck Westervelt ’82, and master drummer Kwaku Obeng Akoi ’14, and others all represented on the Togos Songbook, as well as singles “Allez Au Marche” and “Lost Man.“

Emily Cowan reports on her singing: “I’ve been enjoying writing songs for friends. Highlights: my sister’s wedding toast (did you know that the Yiddish word nachissrhymes with office?) followed by fifth and 10th anniversary songs to the tune of “Hello Muddah Hello Faddah,” a Haman song for a Billy Joel Purim spiel (“Only the Jews Get Hung”), a Bernie Sanders song to “Charlie Darwin” by The Low Anthem, and, while not a song, “Hillary R. Clinton Will You Please Win Now,” inspired by Dr. Seuss’s book “Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now.” So nice to have a place to brag about my oeuvre!”

Best wishes for the summer,

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

“When I was at Wes, I was initially opposed to bringing kids onto this crazy planet. But then, at some point, I decided that the most radical thing I could do was to raise great kids—kids who would be part of making the world a better place. It turns out, I was prescient beyond my years. Now in my ‘back 50,’ I feel particularly good that I’ve made the world a better place by bringing three extraordinary humans onto the planet—now fascinating young adults whom my radical, feminist former self would have loved!” Does anyone agree with these sentiments of Elaine Taylor-Klaus?

“I’ve had a super year fighting against this dumpster fire of an administration. Participating in the resistance movement has been a source of joy and inspiration the likes of which I haven’t experienced in over 30 years of activism. Whether joining the crowd of 750,000 at the LA Women’s march, or rallying with 75 people at the Kauai ‘Show Us Your Taxes’ protest, I’ve been overwhelmed by the camaraderie, patriotism, and creativity on display. And it’s a great way to catch up with fellow Wes alumni!” And maybe some agree with these sentiments from Lisa Rosen.

Carlie Masters Williams: “This has been an incredibly challenging year for us here in Washington, DC. We thought politics couldn’t get any worse and lo! We were wrong. But the protests have been incredibly invigorating. I am excited to see people speaking out about the things that matter to them. The Women’s March was a sea of pink hats and women speaking loud enough to be heard across the country. We hosted seven southern women I know through work and it was a beautiful thing. We will continue to shout about facts and data and science until we can drown out the voices of ignorance. As for physical feats? My office did the 100 push-up challenge this summer. As a group I am proud to say we did literally HUNDREDS of push-ups and had a good time doing it. I bought everyone a jump rope as a prize at the end. That requires a whole ‘nother level of coordination so I am not sure we are going to be doing Double Dutch anytime soon.”

Lucy Seham Malatesta was sworn in as a CASA (court appointed special advocate) on September 11 in Newark. “In this volunteer position, I advocate for children who have been removed from their families and are ‘in the system.’ With access to school and medical records and the right to contact teachers, professional providers, and visit the child at his/her residence, I present my findings to the court quarterly to help determine the best next steps. ‘To be for the child’ is my response to the current state of our country and our world.”

Jeff Liss: “My wife Susan and I love living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan since we became empty nesters (children number five and number six are now in college). I am currently between jobs, doing some independent consulting and also fulfilling one of my bucket list items as an adjunct professor, teaching digital marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I met up with Geoff Weinstein in San Diego during the summer. I also run into Dan Seltzer in the city every so often.”

Debbie Halperin: “While there is so much in the world that I don’t feel very good about, I also have a lot to be grateful for. I feel good about my family (celebrating 24 years of marriage this year to my husband Gil) and my kids who are in 11th and 12th grade. I feel good about the wonderful friendships I have formed over the years that sustain me, including those I met freshman year at Wes, Sarah Bosch, Nancy Cagan, Emily (Zaslow) Hourihan and Joanna (Feinberg) Miller. I feel good that my parents are healthy and close by. I feel good about relaunching my jewelry line, maycamehome.com after many years’ hiatus. Finally, over the summer we visited Tokyo for the first time and survived an emergency landing on the way home—so I feel good that those pilots were well trained!”

Tomas Mendez: “I’ve been in advertising for 50 years and it’s been pretty great. This year, for the first time ever, I’ve gone to the ‘client side.’ I’m at Dell EMC and really like it. It is so much less intense than the agency side. My wife Tracy (Juilliard ’96) came out of dancing retirement a couple of years ago and is so amazing—our son Daschle, 9, and I got back from seeing her perform about an hour ago (as I write this) and it was awesome. Over Labor Day we got together with Garth Battista ’85 and his wife Lilly in Maine. They sailed in on the boat Garth built himself and used my mooring near our family summer home on South Harpswell. At least 10 folks from ’86, ’87, ’88, and ’89 have been there so hopefully you guys are reading this. By you guys I mean Chris Gould ’87 (great chatting the other day!), Linnea Berg ’88, Mike Edson ’87, Bill Love, Mark Woodbury ’87, Lisa Bogan ’87, Anna Luhrman, Paul Sutherland ’85, Allegra Burton ’87, Michael Tomasson, and I’m sure a couple of others who my aging brain isn’t conjuring up. I stop at Wesleyan on the way up and back from Maine (live in New York) so I’ve been visiting Wesleyan twice a year for 30-plus years and for those who haven’t visited in a while, I highly recommend it. The place is insanely amazingly fancy and has so much more land, versus the lovely but humble physical plant and grounds we all experienced.”

Lydia Crawford learned to drive a manual as an adult (husband is British and he really wanted a manual transmission car, so she agreed to have him teach her—and they are still married!). “Our son Owen is happy as a sophomore at Lawrence University in Wisconsin (about a five-hour drive from Saint Paul where I have lived since finishing law school in Virginia) despite going through a college application and selection process that should not be emulated by anyone. Our 15-year-old daughter Vivian is willing to engage in fairly meaningful conversations with me somewhat frequently and has learned that rolling her eyes at her parents is not appreciated. I am able to keep pretty physically fit (despite back surgery last February), including going to a 6 a.m. workout class where I regularly see Beth Haney ’91. My husband and I adopted a stretch of state road in southern Minnesota (a Department of Transportation program) where we pick up trash periodically and now some friends are coming along to help. Who knew that picking up trash could be so social!”

A traveling summer for Ben Schneider: “Washington, D.C. for the National LGBT Resistance March and the Profession of Vows ceremony for the Washington D.C. Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, home to Maine for the Yarmouth Clam Festival with Dan Kolbert and Greg Wildes. Then to Seattle to officiate at a wedding, my 15th time. Then Lithuania to teach meditation. And, finally the North Carolina Smokey Mountains as the keynote speaker at the annual Fall Gay Spirit Visions Conference. Bought a bike, walked away from a serious car accident, and went to a doctor for the first time in 20 years. Still see Melinda Newman and Lisa Rosen all the time, as well as Kevin Pratt ’87.”

Sam Atkinson is still umbilically attached to Boston. Peter Hammond and Mark Woodbury ’87 made their annual pilgrimage last weekend to join him for a mini-reunion.  Sam sees Tom Matlack once a year at a big card game. He’s kept in touch with Tony Antonellis and Kevin Freund (his Clark 312 freshman roommates, along with Pete) and two close friends both from Cheltenham, Pa.: Paul Levitan ’85 and Margery Bank Bates ’87 (who is moving to Nantucket), but misses Liz Turner (“love you, Blue Lady!”) and “Chucker-V” Vuono.

Emily Hourihan: “Sorry, Wes. We are a Tulane family now (Avery ’14, Zoey ’15, and third daughter, Charlie ’21). Highlights: My 35-year-long friendships with Debbie Halperin and Laura Harrington. Seven wonderful years with husband, Todd Magazine. Boston Marathon in 2016, and, most recently, my first Ironman-70.3 in Atlantic City (6:37.13). Very proud of that one!”

Ellen Santistevan says: “If I am ‘halfway’ between graduation and retirement, I think I am way behind the curve. I spent most of the first ‘half’ odd-jobbing and raising my children. In the second half, now, I am learning to take care of myself, and studying to do things that I am really good at and enjoy. Deepening my studies and practice of craniosacral therapy is probably the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. I will probably always be in service to others, whether to my family or my clients or the various causes that I care about, but discovering that it’s ok to say no and to have good boundaries has been life-changing. Sounds simple, perhaps even dumb, and yet…”

Samuel Connor is also feeling good. “Feeling particularly good about my decision in 2015 to start my own business (running a consulting group focusing on innovative cause marketing). The variety of work coupled with the immeasurable value of flexibility to be with my three teenage sons has been super.” Kate McIvor also made a career change. “After working in public health in Helena, Mont., for 25 years, I now own a fabric store in Missoula, Mont. Learning how to run a very small business has been a welcome challenge for me. And, my core purpose remains the same: to uplift and empower people to be healthy. How does a fabric store help people be healthy? By providing the tools and materials necessary to slow down and create for ourselves and others; and, by reducing the need and desire to buy cheap, fast fashion.”

Steven Cohen feels great about finally getting married last year! “I met Müge on eHarmony. Our first date was an architecture lecture on the Guastavinos, a father and son from Spain who created beautiful tile ceilings and domes all around New York. Müge’s mother had worked as an architect on the design of Lincoln Center and can trace her lineage back to a Sultan and a sect that migrated from Spain to Ottoman Empire during the Inquisition. I’m also finding out how hard it is to learn to speak Turkish!”

Sue (Erikson) Bidwell took advantage of “local summer” at the Jersey Shore, otherwise known as when the vacationers go home. “I’ve spent my bonus time painting the outside of the house, and that is what I feel particularly good about. It’s my Zen time to contemplate the world while actually accomplishing something. I’m blessed that I can take my laptop with me and still work remotely as the office support for my husband’s company while enjoying these other perks at the shore.”

Zahara Heckscher:  “What I feel good about at this point in my life is having a son on the cusp of adulthood who is kind person, full of delight, and a husband who loves me despite my flaws. I had a long career doing nonprofit work but what I feel best about professionally are the books I’ve written and contributed to, including a little book of poetry I just published, and my father’s memoir about escaping the Nazis. Because of health challenges (breast cancer) my life has slowed down. I have a heart full of gratitude for the support of network around me including my sister and her family moved from Hawaii to be close to us. Life continues to be rich and meaningful. Life is good. I wish for classmates the ability to slow down and appreciate life, and focus more on what’s important—without having an illness that forces it!”

I think we can all agree to that.

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Jeffrey Mendelssohn: “Happy to report I’m alive and well in the Bay Area, working at a clean-tech startup focused on wastewater reuse. It’s been a fun coaster ride, even more so with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in office. My 13-year old son Gryffen woke up and became a teenager yesterday. Bad news: he’s now as tall as me and thinks he knows everything. Good news: he is memorizing Hamilton and ran for student council. Somehow, I think he has some Wesleyan blood in him, and I’m proud. This weekend I’m taking him for a butt kicker hike up Half Dome. We’ll see if he still speaks to me after that…”

Julia Lee Barclay-Morton has created a website for people to share stories about their grandmothers (or other older female ancestors) in her zeal to rewrite the 20th century archive. Feel free to check it out, submit stories and/or join the forum: ourgrandmothersourselves.org. Can’t get more Wesleyan than that, now can it?

Christine Fleming is living in Boston with her husband and two sons, one of which is approaching college and interested in Wesleyan—hard to believe how time flies! “Although my professional life has taken different and surprising turns in the road over the past 30 years, I did settle into a partnership at a global actuarial consulting firm making good use of my math major. I often think fondly of my math professor and advisor, W.W. Comfort—such an influence on my life, who so generously gave me a “mercy” B in Real Analysis senior year (thanks Wis!) With fond memories of Wesleyan, I eagerly look forward to visiting with my boys in the near future and wish all my classmates the best.”

Judith Hill-Weld noted that Professor Gertrude Hughes “shaped my Wesleyan career beginning to end: she allowed me to join her Four Poets/Emerson seminar as a first semester freshman, and she supervised my thesis. A brilliant mind and generous teacher. Anne Greene shaped much of the middle, and I was thrilled to be able to give her a quick hug at our 30th, in miniscule thanks for everything she did for me at Wes.”

Peter Crabtree is still enjoying life in in Portland, Oregon. “I am fortunate to have a thriving psychology practice focusing on adults and adolescents. My wife, Carolyn, and I are moving toward full empty nest status. My son, Owen, is a rising junior at Whitman College and my daughter, Ella, is a rising senior in high school. We will be visiting Wesleyan together in a couple weeks, but as of now she is leaning more toward Williams or Amherst Noooooo! I see Tony Green often, and I run into my old friend Carolyn Tesh ’87 here and there. I hope to attend at least one Reunion before I’m too old to enjoy it! Take care everyone.”

Alex Rothman and Nina are also bracing for the transition to an empty nest. Their youngest son, Simon ’21, is off to Wesleyan this fall. “Spent a great few days in April birding the Southeast Texas coast with Dave Warne, where we learned that a large coffee is 32 ounces and soup can be ordered in three sizes: cup, bowl, and bucket.”

Sam Connor and his wife Claudia just returned from India where they traveled for their eldest son Caleb’s high school graduation from the Woodstock School in Mussoorie, Asia’s oldest international boarding school. Son Luca was also there for a year, and both kids found it very stimulating and quite rich in many ways. Caleb is attending Ithaca College this fall. Luca and Gabriel will be continuing in the local school system in Norwalk, Conn., where the family has lived for nine years since returning from 10 years overseas. Claudia is CEO of a Connecticut-based nonprofit serving refugees and immigrants, called the International Institute of Connecticut. Sam runs a firm providing strategic guidance to the nonprofit and commercial sectors around shared values for social justice.

John Bogosian is excited about moving his business (zingFit) and family (wife Diana and Leo, 8, and Kali, 6) out West to Boulder, Colo. “Give me a shout out if you are in the area, and want to grab a beer, or meet up on the slopes (but don’t move here; lifestyle is really lacking).”

Timothy Dyke ’86, MALS ’89 published his first book of poetry, Atoms of Muses, with Tinfish Press in the spring of 2017. “Tinfish also published my chapbook, Awkward Hugger, in 2015. In addition to writing, I just finished my 23rd year teaching high school English at Punahou School, and my 32nd consecutive year in the teaching profession. I occasionally teach a student who eventually goes on to graduate from Wesleyan, and I am ever-grateful for the education I received in Middletown in the 1980s.”

Bill Greene’s daughter Corynn ’20 “had a great year and is now having a way more fabulous summer than I am. It was really fun being on campus packing her up and seeing her friends. I channeled my Wes DNA by marching with other biotech execs in the March for Science. It was just as much fun doing it as an adult, although the snacks were definitely improved. Still CEO of Iconic Therapeutics, living the dream by working 18-hour days and learning much more about HR than I ever thought I would. Enjoying getting reconnected with Wes folk since Corynn has joined the family. Had a great time catching up with Hal Ginsburg in Bethesda recently.

“In 2014, I sold the liberal talk radio station in Monterey, Calif., that I had operated since 2005 and returned full-time to Kensington, MD. I continue to be very active in progressive politics which includes writing and broadcasting on the internet. In April, the Baltimore Sun published my op-ed discussing how former NAACP President/CEO Ben Jealous, who is running for Maryland governor, could prevail in next year’s Democratic primary and then against the popular Republican incumbent. My wife, Mindy Burke, is an ESOL teacher at a public elementary school with a high percentage of low-income immigrants. My elder son, Michael, will enter Georgetown University in the fall as a sophomore transfer. Sadly, he showed no interest in applying to Wesleyan saying it was too liberal. My younger son, William, just completed his junior year in high school.  He is hoping to be accepted into a Naval ROTC program and to join the Marines as an officer upon graduation from college.   enjoyed visiting Wesleyan for our 30th Reunion last spring with Rick Davidman ’84 and was happy to see Bill Greene ’86, now a San Franciscan, when he recently came to suburban D.C. on business.”

Julie Stubbs is happily settled in the “Happy Valley” in Amherst, Mass., where she is the development director for the computer science/information science college at UMass Amherst. “Empty nesting is living up to its billing; my husband Petr Jirovsky and I enjoy our big mutts and the beautiful hiking trails in western Mass, and see our adult kids when possible. Kids: Ben is finishing his doctorate in microbiology at MIT; his twin brother Jacob is a computational biologist at the University of Pittsburgh; and Sarah graduates from the University of Edinburgh in a few weeks and then begins a marketing job in Boston. We traveled to Petr’s native country the Czech Republic en famille in April and the kids paid for themselves—wow! This new phase is as exciting as the last.”

Nancy (Dull) Heatley is now living in rural Perkinsville, Vt., with her Cornish husband, Gareth, two cats and dog. She has just taken a new job with the Society for Vascular Surgery running several education and communication programs from home so no commute! Nancy is also very involved in the local community on the Weathersfield Planning Commission and with local environmental issues with the Connecticut River Joint Commission.

Hunter Pearson Silides is “excited to have landed my dream job as the chaplain at the Canterbury School in Greensboro, N.C. My daughters (Grace and Hope) and I will be moving this summer and my husband of 20 years, George Silides, will join us in 15 months when our second son, Christian, graduates from Claremont High School. Our eldest son (Stephen) graduates this week from The Webb Schools of California and heads to the Flagship Chinese Program at San Francisco State in the fall. Had a lovely visit with Arthur Haubenstock ’85 earlier this month. Hoping you and all our classmates are well.”

Sue (Erikson) Bidwell finally has something worthy to report: “My youngest son, Sam, will be a member of Wes class of 2021 as a prospective math major! My older son is also pursuing liberal arts, but at Saint Michael’s College outside of Burlington, Vt.  My husband, Jeremy, and I are looking forward to trying this empty nest thing out.”

Cathy Cotins also has a child at Wes: “I’m excited to share that my younger son Cole Harris ’21 will be a frosh at Wes in the fall joining Wes class of 2021! He will be third generation at Wes which has me more excited than I expected. My dad is Arthur Cotins ’48. My older son will be a senior at Colgate University and I’m excited to be an empty nester. Life is awesome!”

Carlie (Masters) Williams still lives in Bethesda with her husband, Rick, and children, Katie (St Mary’s College of Maryland ’18) and Thomas (applying to colleges this year!). This summer they will be unchaperoned with both children away leaving them to manage the suburban farm, the backyard ponds, the dogs, and the bees in between rowing on the Anacostia. Carlie remains an HIV epidemiologist at NIH and can report that “yes, it is very hard to be a scientist these days.” Protesting skills learned at Wes are coming in handy as they man the resistance. This summer she saw Saundra Schwartz (classicist in the history department of University of Hawaii at Manoa) in NYC. Saundi and Allison Kaplan (journalist at Haaretz, Israel) saw each other in Boston where Saundi’s daughter, Elena, has recently graduated from Harvard. Ayelet Waldman (author in Berkeley, Calif.) and Saundi will meet up in a few weeks for Ayelet’s NYC book tour. As for Wes memories, when Carlie goes back to Wes, she goes to the boathouse. Go Wescrew.

Ann O’Hanlon is hoping that Carlie Williams keeps fighting that good fight: “I’m chief of staff to Congressman Don Beyer, who is vice ranking chair of the House Science Committee.  (The committee chairman is a climate change denier.) More happily, our eldest turned down parents’ alma maters (Wes and Carleton) and heads to Tufts in August, leaving us with just two kids at home.”

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: “I have thoroughly enjoyed re-connecting to Wes as my daughter, Syd ’20, joined the class of 2020—I’ve visited more in the last couple of years than I have in decades. Professionally, I was recruited to write a book which published last November, Parenting ADHD Now! Easy Intervention Strategies for Empowering Kids with ADHD. I have to say, chapter one offers a clear, succinct encapsulation of the essence of ADHD and its management. Personally, my husband and I have down-sized and moved in-town to Atlanta’s Beltline and Piedmont Park, where we plan to enjoy two more years of parenting-in-residence with our high school junior before he grants us the next best gift to grandchildren—an empty nest!”

Eric Hamre: “I can add a little from my end (Long Beach, Calif). Although I have been living on the West Coast for the last 20 years, it seems the East Coast keeps pulling me back. My older daughter, Sarah, just finished her freshman year at UMass Amherst where she plays for the Minute women softball team, while my younger daughter, Anna, has just finished her junior year of high school. As she is now well into her college search, the East Coast is calling her too!”

Eric Howard: “I’ve been adjusting to life as a divorced dad whose three kids are all in college while I’m the one who returned to the nest (living in my hometown and sharing a house with my 83-yr-old-mother). I was dating last year, but now I’m seeking happiness through Buddhist meditation, windsurfing, and walks in the woods.”

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Something different in this issue. Responses to the prompt: How are you contributing to society in diverse and extraordinary ways?

Molly O’Brien: “I wear several hats professionally, and one is developing media for museum exhibits all over the country. This doesn’t fall into the ‘extraordinary contribution’ category, but in this time of fake news and suspicion about news-as-propaganda, museums represent a trusted source of information, often presented in engaging ways. Our studio currently has three Wes alumni and an intern!”

Joe Cassidy: “I’m a fellow at the Wilson Center and write on two subjects I care deeply about: the international refugee/humanitarian system and the State Department. My last piece explored loyalty, bureaucracy, and the Trump Administration, and was published in Foreign Policy: http://atfp.co/2hJPOwQ.”

Randy (Levinson) Clancy: “As a co-founder of the CARLE Institute, a trainer for Border Crossers, and an independent consultant, I work with schools and organizations to understand and address racism. As a white woman, I strive to build accountable partnerships with people of color while focusing on the specific roles white people must play in challenging systemic racism.”

Marc Rosner: “I am transitioning between two careers. I’ve been a public and private high school science teacher and technology specialist for 30 years, and hope I’ve taught my 2,500 or so students well. I also have an estate business; my niche is appraisals and sales assistance for families who have inherited coins, jewelry, and other material assets. It’s very satisfying to break up needless fights between siblings, or to ensure a senior citizen gets the most for his or her personal treasures.”

Tamar Rothenberg: “I am a professor and department chair teaching history and geography at Bronx Community College-CUNY, where many students are immigrants or children of immigrants. Most are on financial aid, and most are the first generation to go to college. My goal is to help them find their academic footing, see themselves in complex global contexts, and think critically.”

Matt Pachman: “I currently serve as chair of the Ethics and Compliance Association (ECA). ECA is a best practice community of organizations committed to creating and sustaining high quality ethics and compliance programs within corporations, non-profits, government agencies, and academic institutions. ECA brings together professionals and academics globally to share benchmarks, techniques, research, and new ideas.”

Elaine Taylor-Klaus: “I help parents stay sane while raising complex kids. Five years ago, I created an online resource for parents of kids with ADHD and related challenges, providing support, coaching, and training that is both affordable and accessible. We set out to change the way that parents manage the challenges of raising ‘complex’ children, teaching a progressive, holistic ‘coach-approach’ to parenting. We now do this work with parents all over the globe.”

Sarah Holbrooke: “After over 25 years as a television news producer in NYC, I moved to Telluride to run a nonprofit providing STEM education for kids in rural southwestern Colorado. The research I did at Wesleyan stimulated my switch to science. My love of learning, nurtured at Wes, helps instill the same spark in the 7,000 kids I try to inspire each year.”

Judy Seiff: “I’m newly elected to my community’s school board. Through Yonkers Partners in Education, a superstar organization, I mentor students 9th through 12th grade. I am privileged to work with a new group of seniors annually as I assist them with all aspects of their college applications. The school’s extraordinary diversity reminds me of my alma mater, Bronx Science, where I also volunteer as a ‘practice’ college interviewer.”

Ellen Santistevan: “Taking compassionate action in the world, one client at a time. Through a combination of bodywork, deep listening, and nonjudgmental presence, I allow people to have an experience of themselves as valuable and valued human beings. Especially powerful for marginalized people.”

Charlie Berthoud: “I am surrounded by people doing extraordinary things. I have been a Presbyterian pastor for 25 years, with the last four here in Madison, Wis. People from our church are hosting homeless families at church, providing food and fellowship. Others visit shut-ins, help with affordable housing, work for racial justice, and share money generously with our partners—from domestic violence groups to schools in Guatemala. Together we try to love our neighbors.”

Joyce Burnett: “I remain passionate about health and fitness. I formed a company that focuses on increasing the daily intake of green leafy vegetables. Loice Mae’s Kitchen makes vegetable/fruit smoothies that make your colon dance (smoothkrew.com).”

Lisa Dipko: “I have learned the importance of human connection and ‘living in the moment’ during 16 years of social work with veterans who need nursing home care for dementia and other life-altering/ending conditions. I believe my struggles as a French major have given me an edge in understanding my patients’ communication when their speech becomes unreliable.”

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Thanks again to all of the classmates who came to our Reunion earlier this year. It was great to see so many people having a good time—from meeting with old friends to learning about interesting ideas by Wes alumni they hadn’t met before. It’s 4.5 years to our next big Reunion, but all are welcome to come to campus next spring to participate in Reunion and Commencement Weekend. I think some of us even have a child graduating from Wes next spring.

From our classmates, here are some updates. Ayelet Waldman has a new book coming out: A Really Good Day: How a Microdose Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage and My Life. Elaine Taylor-Klaus and her co-author, Diane Dempster, also have a book coming out: Parenting ADHD Now! Easy Intervention Strategies to Empower Kids with ADHD. Elaine’s middle daughter is a frosh at Wes, as is the daughter of William Greene, who is still in San Francisco and CEO of Iconic Therapeutics. And there are probably some others in our class who are now ’86, P’20.

Liza Baron and her husband, Bart, were given their first foster baby in June. He’s a 9-month-old boy, and they are hoping to adopt him if none of his family members qualify to get him. They will know for sure early next year. “It is tiring to care for an infant again, but we are so enjoying it, and he has brought us a lot of love and joy.”

Debbie Roff is concluding a stint as the coordinator of community service for the Kinkaid School in Houston, where she directed a program in which 600 students complete more than 4,000 hours of service through 90-100 projects per year. They have done the usual building houses with Habitat for Humanity, tutoring underserved elementary school kids, playing cognitive games with residents at retirement centers, and feeding the hungry. Her students also initiated original projects including a music enrichment program for children living in a shelter, after-school field trips for inner-city children to tour Houston’s bayou and forested wetlands, and a bocce ball tournament for 150 Special Olympics athletes who will compete on 20 bocce courts constructed on the school’s football field.

Kathryn Lotspeich Villano is still super involved with Lotus House Shelter for Women and Children in Miami. She’s facilitating the addition of a free clinic for guests and uninsured neighbors and hopes to integrate functional medicine group visits for chronic disease management. Also, active in this sector is Marsha Cohen, who is executive director of the Homeless Advocacy Project in Philadelphia.

Lucy Malatesta is still involved with the homeless outreach organizations: Family Promise of Morris County and Bridges Outreach in Summit, N.J. This spring, Lucy and her son put together a wonderfully creative event. He’s on a robotics team, so they linked up with a friendly rival team, made 150 brown bag lunches, and convened for a competition. After feeding and hanging out with various homeless friends, they put on a little robotics demonstration. “It was a terrible, windy, freezing day, but our homeless friends stayed and watched as if they were these kids’ uncles, aunts, or grandparents, not wanting to disappoint these young people who had made an effort to connect with them. It was so sweet and lovely and important. People cannot move forward if they don’t believe in their own humanity.”

On our Reunion weekend, Emily Cowan heard that she had been hired by Between Us Associates, a group psychotherapy practice in Manchester, N.H. “I’m very happy there, after years of scraping by and fretting in a solo private practice. For fun I went rock-climbing and visited friends in Massachusetts and Connecticut.” She also noted that two good friends each lost their mothers. “I discovered that it’s a sacred time, when the everyday is sometimes indistinguishable from the profound.”

Ellen Santistevan says that she collaborated with a trans-massage therapist to create an ethics class for LMTs called The Trans Body On the Table. “There doesn’t seem to be any other class like it in the whole country, so we are pretty stoked about that. Who knows where it might lead? But it’s very important work nonetheless.” Ellen also went through the program from the Celebrant Institute and Foundation to become a life-cycle celebrant. This feels like important work to do as well, at a time when ritual and recognition of many important life passages go unremarked except for weddings and funerals and graduations!

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

If you would like to know what happened at our 30th Reunion, please contact any of the classmates listed in our online notes at classnotes.blogs.wesleyan.edu —and click on “Class of 1986.” All were registered and attended, and we look forward to seeing you in about 250 weekends from now for our 35th Reunion (May 2021). Some also posted photos at facebook.com/groups/wesleyanclassof86/.

You can also go to the Class Notes online to see a partial listing of some of the websites that our classmates have. If you’d like to include yours in the list, please write and let me know. If you tell us about yourself and your work, we can include that info (and the site listing) in the printed magazine.

In news from some who didn’t come to our Reunion, Joe Cassidy retired from the U.S. State Department, having served at overseas posts in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South America during a 26-year career. He is joining the Wilson Center this year, with a focus on international refugee law and humanitarian mega-crises.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus, a parent coach and speaker/author on ADHD, says that she “is supporting the arts by consciously empowering my incredibly talented daughter to fulfill her dreams to be an actor. Forget the glamour—this industry takes incredibly hard work! Bex is currently filming Season 2 of Scream (MTV), and is officially a cartoon character (Pidge) in the re-release of Voltron. My role is to provide emotional support when it’s hard to keep going, and cheer her on every step of the way!”

Ellen Santistevan missed our 30th Reunion, due to her youngest son’s high school graduation and her daughter’s wedding, so “I can comfortably say that my life has never been more full.” For details visit: thirdgoddess.tumblr.com.

And many thanks to those who contributed five years ago to our class gift. There were some large gifts, but also many smaller ones (under $100). We funded the granite benches and terrace/patio between the new student center and the new career center (the Gordon Career Center, named after our classmate Andy Gordon), so it’s a very prominent location for this plaque that recognizes the class gift from our 25th Reunion. Many thanks to all who contribute to the ongoing legacy of our class, our legacy at Wesleyan, or our legacy through your paid or volunteer work in your respective home communities.

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu

Websites

julialeebarclay.blogspot.com
peterdurwood.com
zaharaheckscher.com
elizabethgraver.com
familyeyegroup.com/staff/dr-michael-pavlica
www.ralphsavarese.com
laphil.com/philpedia/bennett-schneider
sealanderarchitects.com
ayeletwaldman.com
If you would like us to mention your webpage in the next issue, please send it ehoward86@wesleyan.edu.

We will be meeting soon in Middletown for our 30th Reunion, so here is a brief update from some of your classmates.

Dan Barrett has a new book: Social Psychology: Core Concepts and Emerging Trends (Sage Press); he is a professor of psychology at Western Connecticut State University, happily married, and living in Redding, Conn. In the same field, Alex Rothman remains busy with research and teaching as a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota and continues to enjoy life in Minneapolis. Son #1 is at Bowdoin, so there’s only one at home who is barely surviving now as the sole focus of attention. Alex looks forward to catching up with folks in May.

Also in Minnesota, Lydia Crawford is still with Wells Fargo, working in the law department as a consumer credit attorney, and her husband Phil Davies is also in the financial industry as an editor writer for the publications of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. “Neither of us would ever have thought that our careers would lead us to banking, but such are the vagaries of life. Our two kids appear to have outgrown us in every way—Owen (17) quite literally, as he is the tallest in the family by several inches—although we do manage to have dinner together almost every night and have a little family outing most weekends just to take us away from our respective screens, work, activities, etc.”

Tavy Ronen lives in NYC with her 16-year-old daughter and is a finance professor at Rutgers University. She is the founding director of the Business of Fashion Programs at Rutgers Business School and of the Business of Fashion Research Center. Tavy is the academic affiliate of Stanford Consulting Group and provides expert testimony on securities litigation cases, primarily in matters relating to credit markets and market microstructure. When not working on the above, she runs The Yarn Company, a groovy art-fiber yarn store in Manhattan, which she owns with her brother.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus says her business, ImpactADHD.com continues to expand globally, providing behavior management and parent training for parents of complex kids around the globe. Last year, she did workshops in London and Melbourne and she’s also working on a book.

Paula Holm Jensen noted that after 22 years as a lawyer, 18 years in Portland, Ore., and 11 years in solo practice (IP, technology licensing and commercial contracts), she joined one of her long-time clients as general counsel this March. “For fun, I sing in a choir dedicated to performing Bach cantatas and other baroque works, and I root for Portland’s pro soccer teams: the Timbers, Thorns and T2. I haven’t missed a Reunion since graduation, so you’ll find me—as always—at Alpha Delt.”

Ellen Santistevan wrote about her children: “My children are taking center stage as they move into adulthood. My youngest son, Mark, graduates from high school this spring. My middle child, Dorothe, is getting married one week after that (and so I’ll miss Reunion). My firstborn child came out as transgender last spring and now goes by the name Felix. That’s been perhaps the biggest one to deal with, although overall, planning a wedding is more stressful. My eldest daughter, Lauren, has a sweet little girl that I get to baby sit sometimes, and her older son is going into high school this fall.”

Daniel Seltzer writes about his music. “I could write about empty nest, work stories, feeling my age…but I’ll just say that I’ve finally gotten back to playing music and love it passionately. While trying to make up for lost time, I’m playing funk/rock/blues/jazz with a variety of people in NYC and am always interested in meeting others who enjoy group improv with a deep groove. All the other stuff seems easier to deal with when you’ve got music in your life.”

Monica Jahan Bose is living in Washington, D.C., after many years in Tokyo, New York, and Paris. “I am still married to Michael S. Bennett ’87 (not the Senator!). We met in 1987 at Columbia Law and we have two daughters. I spend most of my time on what I call “artivism,” art and advocacy. Since 2012, I have been working on a collaborative project called Storytelling with Saris with women from my ancestral village in Bangladesh, drawing attention to issues of gender and climate change. This year, I am trying to make a film about the project.”

Brian Grzelkowski escaped D.C. after 10 years there. He moved with his son and wife Beatrix to rural Bucks County, Pa. “I had already switched from a career in international humanitarian aid to high school teaching, so trading a bustling city for an old stone house and some acres of land seemed like a good step in regaining quality of life. Beatrix has reestablished her psychotherapy and distance-counseling practice and I’m now rediscovering some of the outdoors and lumberjacking skills of my childhood in Maine. With the exception of regular taunts from brazen and hungry deer, we’re all settling in nicely, and hopefully a few Wes folks to stop by for a visit.”

From our Facebook Group, Nicholas Waltner says his daughter will be going to Wesleyan this fall. Timothy Burke notes he won’t be at Reunion; it’s exam period at Swarthmore. Andrea Wojnar Diagne is working to promote reproductive health in Africa. George Justice hopes to come to Reunion; he’s dean of humanities at Arizona State University and recovering (I hope) from his own nasty cancer year. Sandy Goldstein is living in Westchester, N.Y., and Mike Sealander “is alive and living in eastern Maine.” And the closing update: Steven Meyer and his wife, Julia, had a daughter in October—perhaps Elena will go to Wes 18 years from now!

Susanna Wenniger and Rudd Kierstead are still married after 23 years! Still living in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Rudd is still working in healthcare, now as director of Physician Network at Weill Cornell, and still creating amazing food for all their friends. Susanna is still working for Artnet.com as the senior specialist of photographs for the online auctions. She writes, “We have a 17-year-old and a 14-year-old who are polar opposites in every way imaginable. I see a lot of Shirley Hedden ’82, as our kids went to the same neighborhood school and we are still part of the same Mom group for the past 12 years. Rudd lunches with Ben Sternlieb ’85 on a weekly basis. And I was thrilled to get a visit last summer from Sarah Flanders, who is practicing as a psychiatrist in Pittsburgh. Seeing her again made me realize how much I want to reconnect to so many of the people whom I have fallen out of touch with! I hope to make it to Reunion.”

Several have written me saying, “We’re not yet sure whether we can make Reunion, but are going to try. We know it’ll be a lot of fun!” See you soon.

Eric Howard | ehoward86@wesleyan.edu