Tag: 1992

Hello, Class of 1992! It’s a new year and there’s plenty of news to share.

I start with sad news. Mary Newton Lima passed away on October 5 from cancer. She is survived by her husband, Ivan, daughters, Julia and Cecilia, her parents, Jim and Ann, and brother, Steven. A celebration of life was held in Falmouth, Massachusetts, in November, attended by Samantha (Ball) Karmel, Marit Alanen, Laura Fedolphi Marshall, among other classmates. Our condolences go out to Mary’s family and friends.

Since it is admissions season when I write this, we have a lot of Wesleyan legacy kids to celebrate. The Class of 2030 will include children of ’92 alums, including two from Seattle. Linda Perlstein’s son, Milo, was admitted ED and will be studying film. Corinne Drumheller’s daughter will also be joining the incoming class. And perhaps more to come once regular decisions are announced. In any event, they will have company: Jennifer Mittelstadt’s daughter just started at Wes this fall, joining her son who is currently a junior. Jennifer and her husband, Aaron Matthews ’93, are keeping the Wesleyan tradition going.

Speaking of Seattle, Scott Shapiro has been busy. He visited campus for the Admission 101 boot camp, then stayed in Boston to visit his son, Steele, a freshman at Northeastern. From there he took the train to Providence, staying with Jonathan Bell and Sarah Zurier, where they had dinner with Joe Hoefferle and his wife, Sabrina Witherby ’93. Then it was on to New York for brunch with Greg Vinton and his wife, Sunita Subramanian. And speaking of Boston-area connections, Christine Padian Bolzan’s daughter, AnnaSophia, is also a freshman at Northeastern with Scott’s son. Christine has a new job as vice chancellor of Experiential Education at Northeastern.

At a Wesleyan event in December, I ran into Susan (Hunt) Stevens, who is doing well and is on start-up number three with Tessi, using AI to help rebuild after natural disasters. In other professional news, Beth Shakman Hurd has a new book out—Heaven Has a Wall: Religion, Borders, and the Global United States from the University of Chicago Press. Oliver Lu received an MA in critical psychology from Prescott College and is now the assistant squash coach at Franklin & Marshall College.

David “Shadrack” Smith has big news: his documentary, Public Access, was accepted by Sundance! The film explores New York’s first public access channels. His partner, Charlotte Mangin, started a new job as director of development at DCTV in New York. And also in the world of arts, Elizabeth “Lisa” Liang premiered her new solo show Home at the Jaxx Theatre in East Hollywood—an intensely personal piece about her relationship with Guatemala. And Darcy Dennett is finishing two years at JPMorganChase, doing videos on art installations by Maya Lin, Leo Villareal, and Gerhard Richter.

My old housemate Simon Fulford opened a new $30M residential treatment campus for Parrott Creek Child & Family Services in Portland, Oregon, providing 40 residential beds to youth. Simon recently caught up with Anne Paris at her art studio in Portland.

Chris Chesak continues as executive director of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and is wrapping up his term as president of the Society of American Travel Writers. Jeremy Hornik is still designing slot machines in Chicago and now has a co-worker who was born after he started there. He and his wife, Sheila Quirke, have two children and recently hosted Jean (Gibbons) DiMaria. Karl Mergenthaler checks in from Westport, Connecticut—advisor at Morgan Stanley, married 20 years with two great daughters.

Joan Charlotte Matelli went back to Italy for the first time since the pandemic and also visited Kate Hellenga ’88 in San Francisco and met up with Matthew Wein in Berkeley. In more personal reunion news, I went to San Diego for a conference last summer and met up with Katheryn Berla, Hal Skinner, Diana (Strauss) Casey ’91, Liz Martin ’91, and Dan Grant ’91 for an Alpha Delta Phi meetup. It was great to see everyone!

Meredith Tarr writes from New Haven, where she’s worked at indie label MPress Records for over 20 years, tour managing artist Rachael Sage.

Welcome to several first-time contributors! Andrea Seebaum is living in Healdsburg, California, growing olives for olive oil. She frequently sees Emily (Johnson) Henn ’94 and Stephen Henn ’94. Ben Parrillo has taken time away from acting to build custom off-grid homes with his company Bunkrhome, currently finishing his own home in Joshua Tree with his wife, Sepi, and daughter Leon Soleil. And Marit Alanen shared that she just retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after 20 years.

That’s all for now. Please send me your news!

Adam

Hello, Class of 1992!

Hope everyone had a great summer! Here’s the news!

First up, some fantastic literary achievements from our classmates. Amy (Andrews) Alznauer has a new book published this past March: The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape. Beth Shakman Hurd’s latest book, Heaven Has a Wall: Religion, Borders, and the Global United States, was published by University of Chicago Press. In May, Jonathan Liebson published Hello (and Goodbye) to All That with Post Hill Press, a memoir of a changing New York since the new millennium.

Kevin Prufer has been named the 2026 Texas poet laureate! Kevin continues as professor of English and director of the creative writing program at the University of Houston. Also in academia, Abby (Smith) Saguy received the 2025 Open Inquiry Award for Teaching from the Heterodox Academy, recognizing her work promoting viewpoint diversity in her sociology courses on sex and gender.

On the career front, Christine Bolzan has a new job as vice chancellor of experiential education for Northeastern University. She had a chance this spring to catch up with Robert and Elena (’93) Allbritton in Washington, D.C., learning about the launch of the Allbritton Journalism Institute.

Dr. John “Juan” Luque was recently awarded a Fulbright grant to spend a sabbatical in Quito, Ecuador, working on a cancer prevention project.

My old housemate, Simon Fulford, is opening a brand-new, 40-bed, youth residential treatment campus this summer in Portland. Simon notes that Oregon ranks as one of the worst states for kids to access behavioral health services, and they’re working to fill that gap. His youngest son is entering ninth grade, his middle son will be a senior, and his eldest (22) is back in the Pacific Northwest after almost three years in Argentina.

Joy Rhoden watched her son, Nolan Lewis ’25, graduate from Wesleyan this past May. Nolan double majored in neuroscience and CEAS and is now living in Brooklyn pursuing both his music career and neuroscience. Joy continues to serve as co-chair of the Wesleyan Black Alumni Council through June 2026.

Rob and Dorothea Harper-Mangels also welcomed their son, Ramey ’25, into the ranks of Wesleyan alumni this May. In June, they caught up with former housemates Maria Truglio and Rich Dansky in Stamford, Connecticut. Maria was visiting the Beinecke Rare Books Library at Yale for research (where Rob works as an associate dean).

Darcy Dennett has been working for JPMorganChase, making a few short pieces on the art installations that are part of the new headquarters in NYC.

After 30 years in the Boston area, Lori Oakes-Coyne and her husband, Greg, moved back home to central Maine and are loving the quiet. Their daughter, Kate, just graduated from University of Vermont this year with a dance/physiology double major, interested in movement therapy.

Also in New England, Joan Matelli spent her summer studying for the Massachusetts bar exam. She’s also made time for a few Red Sox games with Matthew Wein, as they try to do every summer.

Byron King continues to enjoy life in Baltimore, writing code and leading software teams. Last month, he met up with Julien Farland in D.C. where their families had a great time catching up. Byron’s daughter, Merriwether King ’27, is enjoying her summer off before starting her junior year.

Out in Colorado, Chris Arndt and his wife, Patty, are coming up on their 10th anniversary of living there. This fall both their sons, Alden (15) and Graham (14), will be attending St. Andrews boarding school in Delaware. Chris continues working on clean energy initiatives and is getting back into music recording under “The Doc Project.”

Sarah Leavitt is now director of curatorial affairs at the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., working with executive director Beatrice Gurwitz ’01. Their current exhibition, LGBTJews in the Federal City, runs through January 4, 2026.

Michelle Elisburg’s daughters have graduated and moved on—Elana from college to Kansas City for work and Abby from high school to study abroad before college. As she prepares for empty nesting, Michelle became board certified in breastfeeding and lactation medicine. She is a founding participant in this new specialty, helping non-English-speaking refugee and immigrant patients.

Louie Maggiotto has launched a new career as an independent educational consultant, turning his side hustle into his main hustle after getting two kids into college. He coached 14 seniors last year and is growing a new crop this cycle. His website is OurCollegeCounselor.com.

That’s all for now! As always, I love hearing from everyone. Remember, the magazine is only published twice a year now, so if I didn’t hear from you this time, I’d love to hear from you for the next notes!

Adam

Greetings all. Hope that 2025 has gotten off to a good start for you all. Lots of news to report, so here I go . . .

First up is my frosh year roommate, James Wilton, who is still living in North Carolina and continues to manage operations in the Southeast for Genesis10. His son, Jack, is now in Fort Myers, Florida, working for Colony Hardware as an operations supervisor (graduated from NC State in 2023). Both of his daughters, Carley and Lola, are enjoying their college years at NC State University (one a senior, elementary education; the other a sophomore, sports marketing), and James and his wife were able to attend a bunch of NC State games this year.

Speaking of undergraduate days, in November I went down to Wes with my daughter, Lila, to attend the Admission 101 program. While there, I caught up with Linda Perlstein, who came from Seattle with her son, Milo. Linda recently left the Gates Foundation and is now supporting Melinda French Gates at her company, Pivotal Ventures.

On the other end of the college process, Karen Cacace is looking forward to returning to Wesleyan in May with her husband, Mike Flynn ’93, to watch their daughter, Sophia, graduate.

Todd Graham and Julie Schwarzwald ’88 met up this winter in Minneapolis–St. Paul and combined their efforts to organize a large and successful Wes alumni happy hour. Todd leads socioeconomic and land development forecasting at a metro planning agency.

Beth Shakman Hurd is a religious studies and politics professor at Northwestern. She has a new book coming out in the spring, Heaven Has a Wall: Religion, Borders, and the Global United States, published with the University of Chicago Press.

Also in the writing business, Jen Crittenden reports that she just wrote the book to an original “raucous musical comedy about friendship, rebellion, and autonomy”—Regency Girls. Set in 1810 England, it tells the story of Elinor Benton, who finds herself unmarried and pregnant. Facing certain ruin, she gathers up her three best friends and sets off on a life-changing road trip to find Madame Restell, renowned for helping women with “female troubles.” Regency Girls will be premiering at The Old Globe theater in San Diego this spring.

Also out West, Ben Parrillo is taking a hiatus from entertainment (with his wife, Sepi, and their 7-year-old daughter, Leon Soleil), building houses in Joshua Tree, California, through his company Bunkrhome.

Jody Sperling and her dance company, Time Lapse Dance, are featured in the documentary Obsessed with Light, which was released in theaters in December. This winter, Jody and dancers are heading on a three-city tour of Egypt—they’ll be performing at Alexandria’s Bibliotheca, among other venues. When not traveling, Jody lives with her daughter, now in eighth grade, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  

In some very sad news, Carlos Perez reports that his family lost everything in the fires that recently swept through California. Steve Scholand offered Carlos his family home in Connecticut to have time to heal and recover.

And to close things out, we have a first-time notes contributor in Dale Griffith (Go Dale! I love hearing from new folks!). She has a lot of news to catch us up on. After Wesleyan, she taught for 10 years at York Correctional Institution for Women in Niantic, Connecticut. While at York, she worked with author Wally Lamb to publish a collection of the York women’s stories, published by HarperCollins in 2001. After some time in North Carolina, she returned to Connecticut, started teaching English at Middlesex Community College in Middletown, then became full-time faculty. After retiring there in 2016, she came full circle, working with the Wesleyan Center for Prison Education by teaching a course on public speaking at York Correctional.

That’s all for now. I love to hear from everyone, so please keep your news coming!

Hi all:

It’s class notes times again. I have just returned from a five-month sabbatical in New York City at the Russell Sage Foundation. I was jointed there by our classmate, Abby (Smith) Saguy, who was on leave from the UCLA sociology department. It was great spending time with her, and the (social) highlight was when Simon Fulford joined us for a fantastic dinner with Abby’s husband, Dotan. I also got to see a lot of old Wesleyan friends including Jill Slater, Doni Gewirtzman ’93, and Jane Thompson (including a fun weekend when Laura Hill joined us for NYC adventures). I also managed to catch up with a bunch of former Argus editors, including my co-editor in chief Mike Santoli, as well as Jason Rekate ’93, Andrew Siff ’90, and Alex Navarro-McKay ’90. My time in NYC ended with a big reunion with a large contingent of the 1988–1989 Clark Hall RA staff—David Patterson ’90, Linda Turnbull ’90, Nina Grekin ’90, and Claude Szyfer ’90. It was fantastic to be able to spend so much time with everyone!

In other news, Kate Edwards started a new job at Axalta in a research group working on matching paint colors after an auto body shop repair—and hopes no Wes alum needs this service! Her oldest kid starts at York University in Toronto in the fall.

Jody Sperling is still dancing and choreographing in NYC where she directs her company, Time Lapse Dance, and is eco artist in residence at New York Society for Ethical Culture. On the personal side, she’s currently planning her daughter’s Bat Mitzvah!

Kathryn Berla reports that her she and her son, Johnathan (14), had the pleasure of spending their annual San Diego vacation week with the Diana Strauss Casey ’91 and Hal Skinner families in July. Dan Grant ’91 and his sons joined for a few days from Marin County, as did Liz Martin ’91 from the D.C. area. They all had tremendous fun seeing the range of children (ages 13–22) body surfing and exploring the Ocean Beach community together.

In another huge reunion, Tim Proskauer and Mari Valerio Ferrari hosted a bunch of ’92ers in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Blues and Brews regulars in attendance included Chris Arndt, Chris and Sara Mulhauser, Ben Ratliff, Jay Hardwig, Nita Smith, Ben Harris, Eric Halperin, Susannah Fox, and Brian and Francesca Wolff (along with two Wolff cubs, Ellington and Rosie).

Chris “Chez” Chesak continues to live with his wife and daughters in Cincinnati where he runs the Outdoor Writers Association of America. He’s excited to also be president-elect of the Society of American Travel Writers and to take over as their president during their convention in Istanbul this fall.

Joan Matelli finished up her last law class at Northeastern and is now one more experiential co-op away from becoming a lawyer.

In the spirit of “take this job and shove it,” my former Clark hallmate Anne (Jennings) Paris quit her job, participated in the FathomPDX interactive art experience in Portland, and then went to Burning Man. Let us all know what comes next Anne!

Another former Clark hallmate, Sam Robinson, writes that his daughter is a rising junior at Vassar College. They are a star on the women’s rugby team, sing a cappella, and will likely go to med school. Sam is retired from architecture, being diagnosed with spino-cerebellar-ataxia in 2019. He stays busy with his awesome property in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia, political volunteering, and sailing (when he can!).

Finally, Asya Geisberg bears sad news about one of our classmates. She writes: “I’m saddened to write about the very quick illness and departure from this world of Deb Whitney. Deb lived an incredible life on both coasts, with a career in film, TV, assisting Barbra Streisand in LA, and finally two decades as a paramedic in New Hampshire, where she was pursuing an MA in public health. Deb was beloved and respected by many in the medical community and leaves behind her longtime fiancé, Art, as well as extended family. Heather Nash and I are grateful we were able to visit Deb in April.”

Heather Nash adds the following tribute: “Thirty-six years ago, I walked into my dorm room on my first day of Wesleyan University, carrying a life-size poster of Humphrey Bogart only to discover that my new roommate, Deb Whitney, had brought the exact same one. This was my intro to the amazing person who would become one of my dearest friends and such an important part of my life. Deb loved Wesleyan, classic films, documentary-making, music, learning Russian, dogs, and sitting down for a good cup of tea with a friend. She moved out to LA after college to break into the film industry, worked in production and for Barbra Streisand for a bit, but ultimately pursued a career as a paramedic back East, where she took such loving care of her patients and co-workers. Deb loved her family and friends deeply and was one of the most open-minded, supportive, and nurturing people I knew. I am so grateful Asya Geisberg and I had the chance to visit her near Boston a few weeks after her cancer diagnosis this past spring. I feel blessed to have had her in my life and still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that she is no longer here. My heart goes out to her partner, Art Patriquin, her mom, Susan, sister, Emily, her nephew and niece, Art’s daughters, and the rest of her family. Deb, you were so very loved. Chris and I have told Ella all about you and we are going to watch Casablanca this weekend in your memory. Here’s looking at you kid. . . .”

Hello, Class of 1992!

My desperate plea for class notes material brought on a flood of responses. So much, in fact, that I have more news than I can fit into the 800-word limit of a single column. So, if your update did not make into this set of notes, fear not, you will have prominent placement in the next edition!

My old housemate Simon Fulford continues to live in Portland, Oregon, where he has been the executive director of a child-and-family-serving nonprofit. Last October they broke ground on a $25 million youth residential treatment campus—Oregon ranks pretty much worst in the nation for addiction and recovery services for kids and adults. Simon’s two youngest sons are seventh and tenth graders, providing all the joys and challenges that come with that. His eldest, now 21, currently lives in Buenos Aires.

Dr. John “Juan” Luque is a full professor at Florida A&M University, in public health in Tallahassee, Florida. He was recently elected president of the American Association for Cancer Education. He spends his free time playing tennis in USTA league and defended his title in the annual local mixed doubles Sweetheart Tournament in February. He is also training his elementary school-age daughter in tennis so he can have a second career as a coach.

Cathy Keane continues to live in St. Louis where she has been teaching classics at Washington University since 2001.

This year Sara (Davidson) Flanders opened a yoga studio in Providence, Rhode Island, where she lives with her husband and 10-year-old kiddo. It’s the first yoga studio in Rhode Island that’s donation based with a majority of teachers of color and teachers in the LQBTQ community.

Dan Wulf recently musically directed Working for the third time (all three versions) for his 27th Watertown (Massachusetts) High School musical. Dan also conducts the Boston chapter of HaZamir, an international Jewish choir, and crossed paths with Allison (Wienir) Wissot ’93 at the annual festival performance weekend.

Valerie Nozick was recently promoted to chief commercial officer at Europcar Mobility Group USA/Fox Rent a Car. Last fall she joined Fox to establish the sales and marketing group and to get back to the travel industry. When not traveling, she spends her time at home in Seattle with her husband, Dan, and their spoiled dog, Geoffrey.

Kathryn Berlá was inspired by her experience with our 2022 30th Reunion and continues to see Wes folk. She was happy to connect with John Melnick and Hal Skinner (and their children) visiting NYC in December, and then again with Hal and Jonathan Liebson in February on another quick trip to the city.

Sam Ernst is living in the Berkshires, teaching middle school, and emptying the nest of his three collegiate children. Sam recently finished a tour of the last dregs of the ski season, along with the eclipse, in northern Vermont and New Hampshire: Magic, Sugarbush, Stowe, Bolton Valley, Mad River, and Tuckerman’s. The trip left him pining for a reunion of the Wes ski team, so be sure to get in touch with Sam if you find yourself in New England.

Matt Wein is now leading corporate law and compliance at Bay Area-based gene-editing biotech Metagenomi, which just completed a successful IPO in February. He’s residing in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and splitting his time between San Francisco and Boston.

Jen Mittelstadt reports that she and her husband, Aaron Matthews ’93, were thrilled be back on campus this year to drop off their son, Lucas Matthews, as a Wes frosh. She’s a professor of history at Rutgers University and Aaron is a documentary filmmaker. They live in Brooklyn with their daughter, Adelaide, who will be applying to college next year. 

Darcy Dennett is on hiatus from TV production, working on a corporate project for JPMorgan Chase & Co. She just ran the NYC Half, albeit it somewhat slowly in an effort to get into better shape for the Brooklyn Half in May. 

Rick Barot’s fifth book of poems, Moving the Bones, will be published in October 2024. He’s been a visiting writer at the University of Utah this year but will soon be back at his regular gig, directing the MFA program in creative writing at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.

That’s all for now. But even though I have some extra news for the next column, I’m always looking for your updates, so please continue to send me your news—I would especially love to hear from you if it’s been a while since you last checked in. Your classmates want to know what you are up to!