Tag: 2000

We’ve got some more babies joining our class! Karen Ferreira Amis and Greg Amis welcomed their future Wesleyan alumnus, Leonard “Leo” Amis, into the world on Jan. 3rd of this year.

Melissa Stevens and Rob Debbane had a son, Max Alexander Debbane, born Feb. 16th.

Elisabeth Watson (Schreiber) wrote: “My husband, Simon, and I welcomed our daughter, Maeve, into the world on the 18th of March, born at home and under water in Falmouth, England! Big brother Aidan loves his new little sister. I’ll be back teaching fitness classes on the beach to mums and little ones in a few weeks, once the dust settles.”

Anne Obelnicki and her husband, Chris, had a baby boy, named Alden, on November 14th.

Rhiannon Luyster writes, “My husband and I have been settled in Cambridge, Mass., for seven years now and love our quiet neighborhood near Harvard Square. I am teaching at Emerson College in the communications sciences and disorders department (with fellow Wes alum Joanne Lasker ’84) and continue to do autism research at Boston Children’s Hospital. This past September we welcomed our son, Hugh Luyster Polley. We can’t imagine a more charming little person to have in our family!”

Michelle Wimberly-Speach gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Isabel in October 2013. Michelle and her husband, Kheimon Speach, have two other children, Sanaa (age 10) and Kheimon Junior (age 7). Michelle is also in the process of obtaining her master’s degree in human resources and professional studies at Pennsylvania State University.

Ali Haider is working as an interventional cardiologist for a private practice in Western Massachusetts in the greater Springfield area.

Shawn Green now works as a physics tutor at the Berkshire School and has adopted a puppy.

In 2005 John Mailer co-wrote the book The Big Empty with his father, Norman Mailer. This book is the source of material for Two Mailers, a new play that brings this father-son dialogue to life on the stage. Actor Paul Sorvino of Goodfellas fame plays Norman, and Jordan Belfi of Entourage plays John Mailer. For more information, see: argonautnews.com/the-big-empty-comes-full-circle-in-two-mailers/.

Jordan Lloyd Bookey started her career as a teacher, then pursued an MBA at Wharton, and remained in education, leading Google’s K-12 team for several years. About a year ago, she left to start her current company, Zoobean, with her husband, Felix. At Zoobean, they curate apps and books, and then personalize them for each child (like Pandora for children’s apps and books). They were featured on Shark Tank on April 18.

Hilda Ives Wiley andAvery Esdaile
wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Andrea McKnight received the honor of being named a 2013 Massachusetts Rising Star by the Super Lawyers Committee. She writes, “It is exciting news and I am thrilled! I recently moved to Cape Cod to take my shot at running my own law practice. I have affiliated myself with a lawyer who has 30-plus years of experience, so fingers crossed!” Lauryn Siegel is still doing a million things in Brooklyn, including video, advertising, and multi-platform art projects whenever time allows. She also says, “I am thrilled to announce that my family added yet another Wes alum when my brother Ross Siegel married Sonya Penn ’01! The wedding, held in Napa Calif., included a lot of alums from a range of years, including my cousins Leslie Title Fine ’94, Ed Fine ’95, Josh Shimkin ’99, Danielle Lazier ’99, Courtney Orange ’01, Sarah Dalsimer ’01, and Kira Akerman ’10!” 

John Buffalo Mailer sent the following update: “These days I am serializing a tattoo memoir in the next 10 issues of Inked Magazine, am acting in a Matthew Barney movie called River Of Fundament that comes out in February, and am working on a graphic novel adaptation of my movie Hello Herman (which just came out on DVD and stars Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead).”

Joseph Vidich founded Kin & Company, an innovative architecture practice working in Brooklyn, specializing in the design and fabrication of custom products, furniture, and architectural interiors. Joseph also teaches architectural studio and technology courses at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and at the College of Technology at the City University of New York. He lives and works in Brooklyn.

Jenny Saranow Schultz, her husband David, and their 15-month-old daughter are now out on the West Coast, enjoying life in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco. After leaving journalism for the corporate world two years ago, Jenny is now back to writing in her spare time, blogging daily hints to help make parenting easier and cheaper at HintMama.com (and she can also be found at @HintMama on Twitter and at Facebook.com/HintMama).

Erica Johnson Strauss writes: “After working for 12 years at Madison High School in San Diego, I got the opportunity on Oct. 1, 2013, to move to Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla, where I am teaching 7th grade English. I am very happy and excited about the change! My oldest son, Carter, will start kindergarten in the fall of 2014 and will now attend school in La Jolla, because I work there. Reed, my youngest son who is now 2.5, will follow him in a few years. Matt and I are very excited about this professional change; it came at the right time!”

Jonathan Schwartz writes “Onna Solomon (’01, University of Michigan) and I have been having a wonderful time with our son, Lev, who turned one in late November. Also, in July, I became the head of the middle school at Greenhills School in Ann Arbor, Mich. Before moving into this post, I taught English at Greenhills; now I still teach one section of 8th grade English each day, and the rest of the time, I undertake the big job of overseeing this truly awesome middle school.”

Ben Baumer is releasing a book, The Sabermetric Revolution: Assessing the Growth of Analytics in Baseball, co-authored by Andrew Zimbalist (P’02) in February:

Elizabeth Darlington sent the following “Paul Edlefsen and I are living in lovely Seattle in the very house where Paul grew up. Our daughter, Eleanor, is 4 and we just welcomed our son, Arthur O’Neill, two months ago! Paul is doing HIV vaccine work as a biostatistician and I am working at an Episcopal church that is being transformed into a community arts space. We love seeing Wes friends when we can here in the northwest corner of the country, and we are looking forward to the next Wes reunion in Middletown!”

Christian Frattasio writes: “Greetings from Hanover, Mass. My wife, Catherine, and I welcomed our third child, Grace Ann, on Sept. 10th. Grace joins 5-year-old big brother Samuel, and 3-year-old sister Audrey. Mommy and tiny Grace are doing wonderfully!”

Hilda Ives Wiley and Avery Esdaile
wesleyan2000@gmail.com