destinations - Alumni News

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DESTINATIONS
Williams
P E O P L E l J A N U A RY 2 01 3
ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE RE ADING
“Why do it, then?
Simple: to do what
magazines do better
than anything. To tell
you stories. Stories
that bring you closer
to Williams and
Williams closer
to you.”
Thanks to the members of the
Magazine Working Group:
Joe Cruz ’91, associate professor
of philosophy; David Edge, senior
designer/art director; Jennifer
Grow, assistant editor; Ernie Imhoff
’59; Liza Johnson ’92, professor
of art; Sulgi Lim ’06, associate
director of admission; Kate Stone
Lombardi ’78; Amy Lovett, editor;
John Malcolm ’86, VP for college
relations; Dennis O’Shea ’77; Kate
Boyle Ramsdell ’97; Angela Schaeffer,
director of communications; and
Rob White, deputy director of
communications.
John M. Malcolm ’86, Vice President
for College Relations, talks about
Ephs at work both locally and
globally
In July 2011, a dozen or so Williams alumni and other folks got on a
conference call. You are holding the result of that conversation in your
hands. Well, half the result, actually. The other half—the new Williams
Magazine—also appeared in your mailbox not long ago.
The new look for the magazine and for Williams People is, to my mind,
bold, dramatic, engaging, attractive—and almost entirely beside the point.
That phone call launched an 18-month “redesign,” but the actual
graphic design work came at the very end.
Our real job was to rethink the magazine. Not entirely from scratch; the
century-plus history of the Williams Alumni Review was the starting point.
But we had to rethink the Review—and that history—in light of where we
are: a world where so much of what print journalism has done can now be
done better by other means.
So we started off by talking about the point of it all. Why, in this day
and age, should Williams bother to put together 40 pages worth of content,
consume ink by the barrel to transfer that content to paper, and pay the
Postal Service to ship that paper to you?
Well, the college shouldn’t do it, certainly, to tell you sports scores
you’ve known for weeks. Williams shouldn’t do it to tell you about breaking
news or campus events that can get to you quicker and cheaper if someone
shoves a few electrons around.
Why do it, then? Simple: to do what magazines do better than anything.
To tell you stories. Stories that bring you closer to Williams and Williams
closer to you. Stories about its people; stories about issues it faces; and
stories that respond to your hunger to learn constantly.
The magazine should tell those stories with honesty, integrity, creativity,
and style. It should tell them in a way that reflects what Williams is: a place
dedicated to advancing humanity through teaching and scholarship.
Once we’d decided all that, the rest flowed pretty naturally: departments and feature wells; templates and style rules. That’s all important,
but secondary. It’s all in service of the magazine’s mission. And it’s that
mission that Williams Magazine editor Amy Lovett and her team will keep
foremost in mind when they construct each issue.
One more thing worth addressing: the name change, from Williams
Alumni Review to Williams Magazine. Others will tell you I resisted it a bit.
Hey, I’m a sucker for tradition. But I relented easily enough, and I do get the
point. Though alumni are the largest and most important segment of the
magazine’s readership, it’s always been read by others—like parents and
the on-campus community. More to the point, it’s a magazine that aims to
do much more than a traditional alumni publication does.
So Williams Magazine it is. And Williams People. What do you think?
As always, you can reach me with your thoughts and suggestions—on the
magazines or anything else—at [email protected].
Dennis O’Shea ’77
President, Society of Alumni
DESTINATIONS
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Williams
P E O P L E l J A N U A RY 2 01 3
On the Cover
When George LeBourdais,
MA ’08 (center), approached
a group of hikers in the Sierra
Nevadas to ask for mosquito
repellent, he was surprised to
encounter Buster Grossman ’56
and Alejandra Rosales ’15. (He
recognized the Williams logo on
Buster’s cap.) See p. 4.
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CONTENTS
CLICK ON TEXT AND PHOTOS TO JUMP
TO THE CORRESPONDING PAGE
1936 • ’37 • ’38 • ’39
1940 • ’41 • ’42 • ’43 • ’44 • ’45 • ’46 • ’47 • ’48 • ’49
1950 • ’51 • ’52 • ’53 • ’54 • ’55 • ’56 • ’57 • ’58 • ’59
1960 • ’61 • ’62 • ’63 • ’64 • ’65 • ’66 • ’67 • ’68 • ’69
1970 • ’71 • ’72 • ’73 • ’74 • ’75 • ’76 • ’77 • ’78 • ’79
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Weddings
129
Births & Adoptions
130
Obituaries
2000 • ’01 • ’02 • ’03 • ’04 • ’05 • ’06 • ’07 • ’08 • ’09
2010 • ’11 • ’12
Class Notes
120
1980 • ’81 • ’82 • ’83 • ’84 • ’85 • ’86 • ’87 • ’88 • ’89
1990 • ’91 • ’92 • ’93 • ’94 • ’95 • ’96 • ’97 • ’98 • ’99
Alumni Photos
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
JANUARY 2013
Volume No. 107, Issue No. 2
Editors
Jennifer E. Grow
Amy T. Lovett
Design & Production
David Edge
Address Changes/Updates
Bio Records
75 Park St.
Williamstown, MA 01267-2114
tel: 413.597.4399
fax: 413.597.4178
e-mail: [email protected]
http://alumni.williams.edu
Editorial Offices
P.O. Box 676
tel: 413.597.4278
fax: 413.597.4158
e-mail: [email protected]
http://alumni.williams.edu/alumnireview
Williams magazine
(USPS No. 684-580) is published in November,
January, March, May, July, and September
and distributed free of charge by Williams
College. Opinions expressed in this publication
may not necessarily reflect those of Williams
College or of the Society of Alumni.
Student Assistant
Taylor Bundy ’13
Periodical postage paid at
Williamstown, MA 01267 and
additional mailing offices.
Postmaster:
Send address changes to
Bio Records, 75 Park St.,
www.facebook.com/williamscollege
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www.youtube.com/williamscollege
ALUMNI PHOTOS
1. Nearly 200 alumni from the Classes of 1960 through 2012 returned to campus in September to celebrate the 100th anniversary of
Williams cross country. 2. At her fifth reunion in June, Suzanne Geer ‘07 (left) saw Dick Wells ’49 (her father Jim’s classmate) and
Dick’s wife Ann, who live in town. 3. William T. Carleton ’35, the college’s oldest living alumnus, celebrated his 100th birthday with
four generations of family in New Bern, N.C., on Dec. 1. 4. A chance encounter on Nantucket Island in June brought together (from
left) Shawn Warren ’83, Yoshi Belash ’81, 2010 classmates Hanna Gisel, Anna Moseley, and Jamie Pickard, and Colin and Martha
Moseley, both ’82. 5. Felix “Buster” Grossman ’56 (left) and Alejandra Rosales ’15 (right) of Felix Ventures (an inner-city high school
program) ran into George LeBourdais, MA ’08, in the Sierra Nevadas in July. 6. Before hiking in Machu Picchu in June, 2009
classmates (from left) Mike Sacks and Rob Buesing spent time with Kelly Kirkpatrick and Nick Manice in Cusco, Peru.
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J A NUA RY 2013 PEOPLE
7. 2010 classmates Ethan Timmins-Schiffman (left) and Hannah Rosenthal ran into each other at the Golan Heights in Israel.
8. From left: 1984 classmates (front row) Bill Sawyers, Brian Angle, Jeff Brainard, and Dan Keating and (back) Rick Goldstein, Chris
Burton, Mark Kindig, and Steve Zlotowski spent a week in August backpacking through the La Garita Wilderness in Colorado.
9. From left: Sarah Barger Ranney ’02, Tenaya Plowman Kolar ’02, and Brooke Toczylowski ’03 and their sons gathered at Sarah’s
Berkeley, Calif., home. 10. Sage A entrymates and ’75 classmates Barbara Volkle, Elizabeth Titus, Deborah Grose, and Suzanne
Fluhr walked part of the Battle Road from Lexington to Concord in September. 11. Men’s golf team members and alumni gathered
in Williamstown in October to pay tribute to Rick Pohle, who’s retiring after 29 years as Eph head coach and Taconic Golf Club pro,
and his wife Cathy, who started women’s golf at Williams.
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ALUMNI PHOTOS
12. Members of the Classes of 1978 and 1979 gathered for the Alumni Golf Tournament dinner at Mount Hope Farm in August.
13. Doctors and 2003 classmates Binney McCague (left) and Christina Adams bumped into each other in the Atlanta airport during
travels for work in October. 14. Michael F. Sheehan ’03 (center) was ordained a Catholic priest in June at the Cathedral of the Holy
Cross in Boston. Joining him for the Mass were (from left) Erin Palazzolo Loparo ’01, Tricia Hennessey Helm ’01, Olesia Biskupska
Doran ’03, and Peter Feudo, former associate Williams chaplain. 15. From left: 2010 classmates Caitlin Eusden, Abby Islan, and Gigi
Campo, along with Abby’s mother Anne (Sneath) Islan ’80, hiked together in Park City, Utah.
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16. Jake Russin ’94 (front row, red shirt) and Bill Sittig ’63 (far left, white shirt) led the annual Williams DC Mountain Day hike to
Weverton Cliffs, Md., in October. Some 30 people signed up, with alumni representing classes in the ’60s, ‘70s, ’90s, ’00s, and ’10s.
17. Cascata golf course, outside of Las Vegas, was last fall’s destination for a group of 1986 classmates—including (from left) Tim
Petersen, Greg Stanger, Henry Kim, Howard Rosenberg, and Bob Hussey—who play together each year. 18. After a horse-riding
expedition in the Khangai Mountains and Gobi Desert, 1964 classmates Chris Hagy (left) and Leo Murray (right) visited Gantuya
Badamgarav, CDE ’06, at her recently opened 976 Art Gallery. 19. Members of the Classes of 1983 and 1984 celebrated the 50th
birthday of Val DiFebo ’84 (fourth from right) at a rooftop atrium at the New York Athletic Club in February.
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ALUMNI PHOTOS
20. 1967 classmates and their wives (from left) George Lee, Allan Stern, Jane and John Hufnagel, Yael Lipof, George Cannon, and
Paul Lipof tailgated before Williams’ homecoming game against Wesleyan in November. 21. In September, Chris Welch ’77 (left)
and Marc Johnson ’81 competed together in the inaugural Revival Race, a 100-plus-mile scavenger hunt through the back roads
of Southern Indiana. 22. 2011 classmates (from left) Caitlyn Cain, Stephanie Berger, Mary Beth Daub, Alison Agnew, and Jessie
Herzer met up in San Diego last summer. 23. In July, 1956 classmates (from left) Bill Merizon (with Martha), Gaysie Taylor (widow of
John), Kirt Gardner (with Nancy), and Bill Jenks (with Mary Clare) took a five-day whitewater rafting and fishing trip on the Middle
Fork of the Salmon River. 24. 1979 classmates (from left) Bill McCalpin, Mark Tercek, Michael Golden, Tam Murray, and Tad Seder,
along with Alison Murray ’08, ran a marathon/half marathon in Lewa, Kenya, in June.
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25. Ephs from the Classes of 2010-2012 met up during a summer NESCAC boat cruise in NYC. 26. From left: 1988 classmates Peter
Grose, Mark Raisbeck, Ray George, and Jim Elliott ran the Hartford Half Marathon in October. 27. During the Williamstown Film
Festival in October, Executive Director Steve Lawson ’71 (fifth from left) celebrated with classmates at a reception at the home of
Williams President Adam Falk (to Steve’s left). 28. Members of the Classes of ’05, ’07, and ’10 got together at Socarrat Paella Bar in
midtown Manhattan. 29. Fifteen Ephs from the Classes of 2007-2012 ran a three-day relay to the Headwaters of the Mississippi in
Bozeman, Mont. (The two alumni not pictured were running.) 30. 1961 classmates (from left) Wally Bernheimer, John Castleman,
Walt Henrion, Lou Guzzetti, and Steve Thayer visited the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, to view an impressionist exhibition
from the Clark in Williamstown.
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ALUMNI PHOTOS
31. Before the birth of her son Cole in August, Hagan (McCurdy) Kappler ’01 (left) snuck in a girls’ weekend in Williamstown with
classmates (from left) Kelsey (Gollop) Mayhall, Kate Bolduc, Katie O’Boyle, Amanda (Brokaw) Doherty, Cameron Walker, and Joey
(Shapiro) Key. 32. Williams-F entrymates and ’81 classmates (from left, front row) Beth-Anne Flynn, Sarah (Austell) Cart, Mandy
(Acker) Rice, and Anita (Rydberg) Swift, and (back) Karen Friedman, Cathy (Gernert) Ramsay, Lynn Brandi Bunis, Ali (Nevin)
Sheahan, and Judy Gast met up in Philadelphia to celebrate 35 years of friendship. 33. 1974 classmates (from left) Ed Ryan, Peter
Talbert, Gates Blodgett, and Heidi Jerome gathered at Peter’s house in Scottsdale, Ariz., to celebrate the memory of their late
classmate Ronnie Kraus. 34. In mid-June, 1984 classmates (from left) Dianne (Valle) Jewell, Sara Griffiths, and Catriona (Galloway)
Keller traveled to NYC to celebrate their birthdays together.
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35. Jamie Spallone ’87 (left), Connecticut deputy secretary of state, took Joe Ehlers ’87 and his family on a summer tour of the
statehouse, where they met Secretary of the State Denise Merrill (far right). 36. Psi U alumni (from left) Joe Young ’58, John
Palmer ’59, and Spencer Jones ’58 took a tour of the Bath Iron Works in Maine in September. 37. Ephs in Alaska (from left) Leah
Lansdowne ’11, David Hansen ’11, Dale Markey ’11, Matt Crimp ’12, Cat Lamb ’13, and Lindsay Olsen ’12 met up in Homer and took a
skiff out to an island cabin for dinner. 38. Cyclists Don Berens ’70 (left) and David Plotsky ’74 ran into each other in July at the Col
du Granier, waiting for Tour de France riders to pass by. 39. Morgan Midwest friends John Welch ’95 (left) and Holly Lowy
Bernstein ’93 reconnected after 22 years when they became neighbors in St. Louis, Mo.
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CL A SS NOTES
1936
Richard U. Sherman, Friendship Village Dublin,
6000 Riverside Drive, Apt. A109, Dublin, OH 43017;
[email protected]
1938
REUNION JUNE 6-9
George McKay, 2833 Wind Pump Road, Fort Wayne, IN
46804; [email protected]
With regret, we report the deaths of two more
classmates: Ed Wheeler and George Stokes. Ed was
a retired orthopedic surgeon and class treasurer. He
apparently took the class treasury, if any, with him.
This brings our membership to 10 survivors.
1941
Pete Parish, 350 East Michigan Ave., Ste. 500,
Kalamazoo, MI 49007; Wayne Wilkins, 240 South St.,
Williamstown, MA 01267; [email protected]
Submitted by Wayne Wilkins: That time is here once
again. This time I have little news to report for the
Class of 1941. True, our numbers are slipping, but the
survivors do like to hear from those still with us.
Back in early December I had a nice phone call from
Tod Blodget (yes, ’41 still uses the nice, reliable old
telephone). Tod was full of his usual enthusiasm as
he described Hallowe’en night at his house. He and
Margie had 270 trick-or-treat callers, seemingly all the
Wolfeboro and neighborhood folk. What’s more, they
were prepared to greet the colorful young people with
candy, cookies, fruit, and other goodies. Before I wrote
these notes I telephoned Tod and Margie and they
indeed verified the number 270. Can anyone in ’41, the
noted class of records, top this?
Sadly, I must make note of the passing of Winthrop
(Win) S. Pike, age 92, on July 6, 2012, at Brandywine
Senior Living in Princeton, N.J. Win served his war
years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, soon after our
graduation, with duty in the far Pacific islands ending
in Japan. His final post was at the Signal Corps Laboratory, from which he was discharged as captain in
1946. In civilian life he worked for the David Sarnoff
Research Center of RCA in Princeton for 40 years. He
described, in his 50th reunion letter, “many papers,
several awards, and about 29 issued patents.” In his retirement days he found time to be mayor of Princeton
Township for five years and spent 19 years as a member of the vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church in Rocky
Hill. He began playing the organ in his teen years and
remained an “avid musician” all his life. It was indeed
an active and most productive life. The class joins me
in its condolences to his wife Nancy. Her address is
501 Marten Road, Princeton, N.J. 08540.
1942
Thurston Holt, 4902 Willowood Way, Norman, OK
In the book So You Think You Know Maine, author
Neil Rolde tells about a Maine town in the early 19th
century contracting with a railroad to build a track to
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If there is no secretary listed for your class, please submit notes to Williams People,
P.O. Box 676, Williamstown, MA 01267 or [email protected]. If you are interested
in serving as class secretary, please contact the Alumni Office at 413.597.4151.
it. The deadline for completion was Jan. 1, and there
would be a substantial daily penalty if it was not met.
As construction progressed, the prospect of meeting
it dimmed. Then a cold spell froze the big lake near
the town. Instead of laying the rails around the lake
the railroad laid them over the lake ice and met the
deadline.
Dear readers, So You Think You Know the Williams Class of 1942. Then which two of the class have
been awarded the French Legion of Honor? Welcome.
Parking in rear, answer within.
Accompanied by family, these ’42 members and
honorees made it to our 70th reunion: John Gibson,
Phil Hammerslaugh, Liz Hannock, Thurston Holt,
Janet MacDonald, Fred Rudolph, and Gene Wolfe.
As has happened at many previous reunions, Fred and
Dottie Rudolph hosted a gala dinner for us.
Janet MacDonald and her daughter Liz came from
Sequim, Wash. Liz, a graduate of the University of
California-Chico, who had never seen an Eastern
college campus, praised Williams for its spirit and
architecture.
Janet recalled summering on Buskin’s Island,
Maine, and being invited for a sail on the yawl Ponecia
owned by Si’s brother. “Can’t do that,” she said. “If
I sail with you, we’ll run aground.” But she relented
and accepted. “On that sail we did run aground,” she
reported.
She told me her father and Leon Lynwood Bean,
founder of sporting goods store L.L. Bean, were close
friends and used to enjoy croquet and sailing.
The Society of Alumni at the annual meeting on
June 9 elected Demaris Hart and Soozie Sundlun
honorary members.
Byron Benton sent me the book People of the
Monuments Old South Burying Ground, Hartford,
Conn. They Fascinate and Amuse by Bryon Benton
and Kelly Gineo. I highly recommend it. One profile
is of Hannah Bunce Watson Hudson, 1749-1807.
Mini-excerpt: “Widowed in 1777, when her husband,
Ebenezer Watson, died, Hannah took over the Connecticut Courant and saved it in its worst crisis. She
saw it lead all American newspapers in circulation,
become profitable, and become the Patriot’s major
news source during the Revolution. … Four months
after she took over, Tories burned down her paper
mill in Manchester, Conn., with a loss of paper stock
and rags. She petitioned the assembly and was allowed
to raise a lottery to build a new mill.” To obtain a
copy write Byron at 300 Avery Heights, Hartford, CT
06106-4261 or email him at [email protected].
Felix Smith sent me his “How Bruce Sundlun
Became a Democrat.” Here it is in its entirety:
“When the news of Bruce Sundlun’s death came
to me last week, I had just recently had an occasion to
bring him to mind as someone who carried high principles effectively into politics and government and
in the Democratic party, including the two terms he
served as governor of Rhode Island. I happen to know
something about how that part of his career started.
“I remember long ago Bruce telling me of what
must have been a formative moment in his political development. Bruce and I were both students at
Harvard Law School in the class of 1949. We had
known each other, but not well, at Williams before
that, where we both started out in the class of 1942.
He and I did not run with the same group of friends
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and did not see much of each other, but I remember
this encounter and all the circumstances vividly.
“It was a cool but sunny day, a Wednesday in November 1948, the day after the extraordinary election
that continued Harry Truman in the presidency for a
full four-year term. It was an exciting day. I had just
heard from someone the news that the California vote
had finally been declared for Truman, and it looked as
if he had, against the predictions of the polls, beaten
Tom Dewey. It was lunchtime, and Bruce and I each
happened to be walking in different directions across
an open plaza-like area not far from Langdell Hall.
It was one of those exultant moments when you just
need someone to talk to about it, and it’s a relief to see
someone you know even if you don’t know him well,
so of course we stopped to talk.
“Neither of us knew anything about the other’s
politics, so there was a moment of tentativeness as we
sounded out each other’s reaction to the news. But it
soon became clear that both of us were happy at how
it had turned out. And then Bruce told me the story of
his rather extraordinary involvement.
“His father was a longtime political figure in the
Republican Party and knew all the leaders in New
York, and Bruce had been enlisted to help in various
errands and activities all through the primaries and
the election campaign. So he knew Tom Dewey and
his principal associates in New York, had worked for
them as an accepted assistant of his dad. He knew
them well. And he fully intended to vote for Dewey.
But, he told me, it was only when he was in the voting
booth that he realized he couldn’t stomach it. He
thought about it, and the people he knew so well, and
their principles; he knew Dewey himself--and he realized he couldn’t go for it. So, right in the voting booth,
he knew what he needed to do. To his own surprise,
he voted for Truman.
“In a very faint way, I knew the sensation. I, too,
was happy for Truman’s victory. And I, too, came of a
Republican family tradition in California. I had voted
by absentee ballot weeks before Election day--and it
was the last time I voted for a Republican for president in my life. After shillyshallying I had voted the
way I thought my family would want me to, not on
the basic of my own judgment. In the last few weeks
and days before the election, I had learned a lot, and
now I was ashamed of my vote. So I was thoroughly
excited and for Truman when the news came in.
“But Bruce knew the scene. And when the moment
came, he went with his conscience.
“I have always liked to think that that election
was decided the way Bruce experienced it--in the
voting booth, across the country. Of course, that’s an
illegitimate generalization. But things were changing
right up to the last minute. Even the last few days of
campaigning really did make a difference.
“And for Bruce, of course what he did that day really made a difference. He made his choice in politics
that day, and he went with his conscience. I imagine
he never looked back.
“In my romantic mind, that day made an even bigger choice for his life. From then, he could be a man
of principle, at ease with his conscience.
“And I was the lucky one. I heard the story from
Bruce the moment it was fresh. Its vividness in my
memory now shows how it impressed me. I still
remember the sunshine of that cool November
noontime. The whole brief encounter was recorded
in memory, with surrounding data, and marked
‘Important!’
“And here it is, 63 years later, still feeling fresh. For
me, I think it taught something long-lasting about
trusting oneself.
“And reflecting on it now, in the light of so much
that Bruce did later, I can see that it has another
importance in his life and even in the wider scene of
history. It was his first act as a Democrat.”
Harriet Chafee has moved to an assisted living
place in Providence, R.I. Referring to her house in
Barrington, she said, “It became too big. I’m fine now.
Don’t need any assistance, but it’s there in case.” She’s
turned over her waterfront summer place at Little
Compton to sons Mark and Bruce. We talked about
skiing adventures in Vermont, and I found out she is
related to former longtime Republican Sen. Lincoln
Chafee, who changed affiliation and is now the first
Independent governor of Rhode Island since John
Collins, who served 1786-90. Governor Chafee also
was co-chairman of President Obama’s re-election
campaign.
Dick Ray had a distinguished career as a geologist. I will be covering highlights in the May issue.
Meanwhile, here is how he describes his retirement:
“After my official working days I turned my attention
trying to learn something about the world of golf. My
wife was an avid golfer. I also had become a certified
director of duplicate bridge games for the American
Contract Bridge League and directed local games for
many years. For a considerable period of time my wife
and I played in local games as well as regional and national tournaments. The 1980s and 1990s were years
when my interest in landscape painting (in oils) had a
chance to develop, and I took a number of workshops
in Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Maine with nationally
known artists. I was active for many years in several
of our county art organizations. And for about seven
years I had a painting class in my basement. For me,
painting was primarily an enjoyable hobby. I had no
interest in joining an established gallery (or galleries)
or promoting the sale of my art work. My artistic
endeavors were put on hold in 2006 when my wife
began fighting the throes of Alzheimer’s disease. After
her departure I never regained the enthusiasm I once
had for the art world and today do almost no painting.
“Getting around is not as easy as it used to be. I am
now spending a lot of time exercising what few brain
cells I have left by playing duplicate bridge several
times a week at local games. I eat a lot of frozen dinners, go to bed late, get up late, follow the news on
TV, watch an occasional old movie (I can’t remember
the number of times I have seen Casablanca) and work
crossword puzzles. I am rattling around in a big 10room house that I need like a hole in the head. But I
like independence (can pound my piano at midnight if
I want to) and have no desire to move to some senior
facility. I am fortunate to have a son who lives nearby
and who keeps an eye on me. I live a somewhat vegetative life, but at 92 I am not complaining.”
Dick sent me copies of two superb landscapes he
painted. Thanks, Dick. I treasure them and will soon
frame them.
Norbert Baillen has been in Europe since the late
’40s. When I telephoned his Paris number and identified myself, he asked, “Are you calling from Paris?”
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“No,” I said. “From Norman, Oklahoma.”
One of the questions I asked was, “Are the French
pro-American?” “Yes,” he answered.
Norb praised the close relationship between recent
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel that is continuing with
Sarkozy’s successor, Francois Hollande, the first
Socialist French president since Francois Mitterand.
Hollande defeated Sarkozy for the five-year term,
Norb believes, because the French voters were chafing
under austerity measures.
He thinks the European Union is economically
endangered, but, “I believe the European Central
bank will help by coming up with something like your
QE 3.” (QE 3 is the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s third
quantitative easing, a bond program to stimulate the
economy.)
Norb spoke fondly of late classmates Craig Huff,
Dave Maclay and Shel Timberlake, and of Fred
Rudolph and Bill Sammons.
I told Norb that in 1937, as part of a family European trip, we visited the Paris World Exposition. We
were amazed to see at the entrance the big German
building and the big Soviet building facing each other
across the esplanade. Our hotel was on the Seine
River. One early evening from our terrace I saw across
the river on another terrace a big jazz band and heard
it start up. Somehow music when heard over water
sounds magical.
I brought up having France award the Legion of
Honor, its highest award, to both Norbert Baillen
and Bruce Sundlun. Norb told me Bruce’s had been
military—for helping the Marquis, a branch of the
French Resistance in WWII, after his B-17 Flying
Fortress bomber Damn Yankee was shot down—and
his was for civic accomplishments. Just three of many:
member of the President’s Advisory Council, cochairman of Alliance France-Amerique, and member
of the Koch Foundation.
Norb told Bruce, “The French expect you to wear
the decoration,” and he told me, “Being awarded
the French Legion of Honor is equivalent to being
knighted by England.” Imagine: Sir Norbert Baillen
and Sir Bruce Sundlun.
As always it’s sad to report deaths: Dick Whidden,
whose obituary is in this issue; Helen Hughes—I do
not have her obituary; Barbara Donahue, a longtime
resident of Longmeadow, Mass., graduate of Skidmore, and member of the First Church of Christ and
the Longmeadow Country Club.
Praise to the excellent obits of Philip B. Cole,
Emlen L. Cresson, and Joseph R. Santry in the obit
section of the September 2012 Williams People.
Correction: In the August ’11 issue the composer
of the song “Irresistible Force” is Johnny Mercer, not
Cole Porter, as I had it.
1943
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Malcolm S. MacGruer, P.O. Box 1069, Madison, CT
In a great phone conversation, Class Treasurer Walt
Stults tells us from his Maine home that he and Jean
at the end of October decided to pack up and drive to
their other domicile in Chapel Hill, N.C. A long trip,
but they have done it many times. Walt also tells us
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that he and is bride took two sea voyages this year, including one in the Mediterranean, where, from their
medium-sized liner, they were amazed at the size
of some of the cruise liners they saw—great, huge,
multi-storied things with thousands of passengers. His
ship carried about 600 travelers, and they were able to
get ashore easily from time to time. We also learned
that such a 3,000-passenger ship stopped in the harbor
in Maine and flooded the town with people! How do
they unload so many tourists? But they spend money
and that’s what it’s all about. Walt is looking forward
to our 50th reunion next June as we all should be doing. More on that event in the short future.
Good letters from Derick Brinkerhoff, who tells
us that he reads Williams People when it arrives and
that in the last issue he read from 1941 through 1945.
Caught up with news of Jim Fowle ’41; read about
Phil Hammerslough ’42, who is now not far away
from Derick in Rancho Mirage, Calif.; and read an
obit about Don Fuchs ’44 that omitted his playing
in the Williams Band. Derick remembers the band
bus trip to Princeton one October when we beat the
Tigers 19-7. (Ed. comment: the Purple was undefeated
until we met Amherst in our last game and ‘43’s Bill
Schmidt caught a pass for six points—but that wasn’t
quite enough!) Derick also remembered Carol Howe,
wife of the late Rev. Halsey DeW. Howe ’43, and
added that his wife Mary now has an oxygen tank
following her.
Bill Brewer says that “life is pretty quiet in small
town Galesville, Md., but that’s not all bad. We read
on the patio, go to the usual socials and lectures and
(in my case) play a lot of croquet.” He was at the Merion Cricket Club, near Philadelphia, for their annual
tournament and adds: “Never mind how I did.” He is
a big reader as he rereads books by Trollope, Melville
as well as reading novels by Egan and Banville. He
asks, “Who needs non-fiction?” Bill’s wife Collot
is still working, so they keep a partly rented house
in Washington. In New York daughter Gale will be
term-limited off the City Council and is running for
borough president of Manhattan. Fred Nathan gives
her advice and encouragement.
Roy Tolles’ wife Martha (a great ’43 supporter and
communicator) writes: “Roy’s law firm—the one he
helped found with six other lawyers in 1962—celebrated their 50th anniversary in a beautiful former
church in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 22.. The
firm now has over 200 lawyers and a great reputation.
He was given many kind words at the celebration and
a big hand. I am sure Roy’s valuable start at Williams
helped him in his career. I met Roy at Williams when
it was Mountain Day, and at Smith my roommate
knew his! I was so lucky!”
Bill Morrisey’s wife Barbara reports that she and
her daughter Barbara Morrisey ’76 have traced their
relatives so they could become members of the DAR.
They found two patriots who were relatives. Daughter
Barbara said it made history come alive for her. Son
Locke (accepted at Williams for class of ’75 but chose
to attend UCLA) died from melanoma cancer in December 2010. He was head of University of California
library in San Francisco, loved by his students, friends
and family.
Peter W. Getsinger ’75, son of our great classmate
Gordon Getsinger, has sent in the following note:
“With great sadness I report that Kappi Getsinger,
1942– 45
wife of Gordon T. Getsinger, passed away on April
7, 2012. She loved Gordon immensely and therefore
loved Williams College. She will be missed by all.
What a great woman.” McGurk adds that Gordon,
too, is missed by all of his classmates.
Malcolm MacGruer is busy in Madison, Conn.,
where he hopes to keep in touch with Williams and
the Class of ’43 by e-mail, phone, and the USPS. His
activities are a bit limited, for he finds that the ability
to remember where he left things ain’t as good as it
used to be. And spoons seem to have holes in them.
But he is hard at it writing and constructing crossword
puzzles. He produces at least one puzzle a week that
is distributed to solvers on the Internet. He and men
friends chase widows for fun and eat out in pubs
several times a week. He has developed a graduate
certificate for bartenders if they know how to fill a
wine glass full. These are awarded in ceremony, and
the bartender becomes a “Doctor of Bibulosity.” This
doctorate is a duplicate of one that hung in the Williams Club in NYC, and reportedly was created by his
father (Williams Class of 1914!). McGurk expected
the usual family gathering (24 folks last year!) at his
house again and expected to do the same banquet at
Christmastime. And we should remember the need to
support the Williams Alumni Fund. We have a new
member of the Alumni Fund team in Williamstown.
Her name is Laura Day ’04. Last year our participation percentage was 75.6 percent. Let’s see if we can’t
hit 80 percent this year to get Laura off to a grand
start. McGurk sends best wishes to all of Fabulous ’43.
It’s time to start thinking about our 70th reunion the
first weekend in June. Let’s plan to be in Williamstown for a special get-together—our honorable class
has won 12 consecutive awards for college support
through the Alumni Fund. There will be special
events, a parade in which we will ride, meetings
of all alumni at which we will sit up front and be
recognized, a report from President Adam Falk, the
Joseph’s Coat luncheon, new buildings and architecture to see and visit, banquets, etc., etc. Hope to see
you all there!
1944
Correction: Thanks to Dave Thurston for catching an
error in the September 2012 class notes. During WWII,
the Class of 1944 lost 15 members, not the 48 reported
in the notes.
1945
Frederick Wardwell, P.O. Box 118, Searsmont, ME
On a gray, cool Sept. 27, Williamstown was a great
place to be. This was the occasion of our class minireunion, which Gil Lefferts, Mary and Stu Coan,
Libby and Dave Goodheart, Gay and Fred Scarborough, Mrs. Ted (Joan) Jobson, Dick Morrill,
and Ann and Fred Wardwell attended. After a good
and social lunch on Friday at the Alumni House, fellows (recipients) of the Class of ’45 Fellowship Fund
reported on their research, travels, and experiences.
Including the Florence Chandler Fund, the total
endowment now stands at about $4 million, and is
thus able to finance one student for a year’s work, and
eight or more for a summer between semesters. The
reports were wonderful, and covered topics including
the effectiveness of NGOs in the Middle East, a study
of Africans in China, resettlement of North Koreans
in South Korea, resistance poetry in Palestine, Tunisians in Malta, and Dominicans of Haitian descent in
the Dominican Republic. Mohammed Abdul Lotif
’11, the Chandler recipient, studied for a year the
Baul tradition in Bengal and Bangladesh. To quote:
“The Baul tradition is syncretic in nature. Baul beliefs
draw heavily from elements of Hindu Vaishnavism,
Sufi mysticism, and Tantric Buddhism.” There are
elements of “wandering mystics” and their music
“reflects a rich aural tradition of vernacular Bengali”
with Baul songs revealing “heart-rending narratives of
internal struggle.” However esoteric Mohammed’s research seemed, as a poet he told of fascinating travels
and experiences during his year and wrote a remarkably expressive and sincere note of thanks to the Class
of ’45. Following the fellows’ reports, cocktails and
soda were served at the Alumni House, and then we
all had dinner there.
Saturday morning, Gil called the “class meeting”
to order. Our losses of classmates were enumerated,
finances discussed, and our class oversight of the
fellowship program reviewed. Adjournment came in
time to allow for lunch before the afternoon football
game against Trinity. Seating in the bleachers was
more or less by class, and, being senior, we gathered
at the 50-yard line just high enough to see over the
approximately 60 Williams teammates and their
coaches. The game was well played, exciting, and
narrowly decided in Trinity’s favor in the last few
minutes. The best was yet to come.
After the game we gathered at Gay and Fred Scarborough’s for cocktails, and after a time we elected
to take Gay’s offer to empty their freezer vs. fill the
restaurant reservations we held. Perfect hospitality on
the Scarboroughs’ part, and a wonderful time overall.
Home on the next day, Sunday.
Other reports: Howie Dodd sent an interesting
story about Williams in January 1943, about the
time everyone was trickling off to war. “The physics
department had constructed a ‘listening post’ for
airplanes in a shack on Northwest Hill with a rotating
tower for listening. The ‘ski group’ Ohler, Lathrop,
and Fisher, volunteered to take a shift from 8 p.m. to
midnight one day a week. They would drive up, take
some coffee and homework, and keep the wood stove
going. I became interested in joining them, but they
dropped out to ‘sign up,’ and I was left alone. Not
having a car, I would borrow Sam Ashumn’s bicycle
and pedal up the lonely dirt road in the cold of the
starry nights. By shining a flashlight, I could see deer
grazing in the fields watching me. About midnight
I could hear a car coming up the road and was then
relieved by Professor Weston and another teacher. In
the middle of March I was called by the Navy, and so
ends my story.”
Tom Dolan reported that he has seven great-grandchildren, and they and the rest of the family gather in
the Pennsylvania mountains for a time in the summer.
The whole family fills three houses. He has headed
the PA Nature Conservancy Chapter, does a lot of
bird watching, but does not keep a list of birds seen.
Bud Edwards said his sailing days are pretty much
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over, but over time he sailed pretty much around the
world, including passing through the Panama Canal,
and reaching New Zealand. He got to within 700
miles of the North Pole and caught a 545-pound tuna
near home. He is big on DVD teaching courses and
has completed 82, probably averaging 128 hours of
lectures each.
Dave Goodheart thinks he has visited too many
doctors’ offices, but doesn’t show it. He said his yard
work gets finished when he can find the hired help.
Bob Hart has a button to push to bring help if
needed in his retirement home, but so far it is just
a nuisance. His eyesight has never been great, and
now he is about to have drains installed in one eye
to relieve the pressure from glaucoma. During his
many years of living in Darien, Conn., he went to
Maine for summers and often connected with Bud
Edwards. Now the climate of Arizona suits Bob
better. In WWII, before his years in Connecticut,
he did weight and balance calculations for Air Force
planes flying the Hump, but he does not own a
computer now.
Mrs. Ted (Joan) Jobson attended our minireunion
and added greatly. While she has a house on the shore
of Connecticut, she seems to spend a lot of time in
Florida and central New York. Joan would be hard to
keep up with.
Gil Lefferts, our class president and leader, has quit
work and the commute to Manhattan, but with a cane
he gets around just fine. He elected to put his dog in a
kennel while attending our mini, perhaps not for the
dog’s pleasure.
Mrs. Bruce (Mary Elizabeth) McClellan has been
recognized with “the Admiral Achievement Award
from the Alumni Association of The Lawrenceville
School for her stewardship of Lawrenceville over
many years. Bruce and she went to Lawrenceville in
1950 from Williams, where Bruce was working with
Fred Copeland ’35 in admissions, and R.R. Brooks
in Deaning, and never left Lawrenceville, retiring in
1986 after 27 years of head mastering. Lawrenceville is celebrating 25 years of coeducation now, and
over time Mary Elizabeth has become an honorary
member of five classes. Three of her children and two
grandchildren are Lawrenceville graduates. At RiverMead, a CCRC in Peterborough, N.H., since 2005
with Bruce until his death in 2008, she has recently
completed two years as president of the Residents
Council. She spearheaded the publication of Wartime
Memories, stories of 60 residents at war and at home.
Included is an essay Bruce wrote while at Oxford
entitled ‘A Deserted Village,’ previously published
in ‘Artifacts ’48,’ and her own ‘No Ordinary Time.’
Copies of the book or their entries are available upon
request.”
Walter Minton was 16 years old on entering
Williams and went thence to Harvard. For mental
exercise he got a law degree from Columbia in 1982
and subsequently had two daughters graduate from
Williams in ’95 and ’97.
Dick Morrill attended our mini-reunion, and queried the fellowship speakers with apparent knowledge
of most of what they encountered. Dick was previously told to lose 40 pounds, did it, and is now going
after the next 40.
Ted Murphy was deep into writing up something
for a memorial service for his brother, who was with
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the American Field Service and had followed the 8th
Army up through Italy. Ted said the weather had
turned, his three-day-a-week golf was about over, and
now the winter would bring 10-pin bowling and an
occasional bike ride. One of his daughters has taught
English in Uganda and now holds a professorship at
the University of Buffalo.
Louis Pitt became an Episcopal Dean and for many
years managed cathedrals in Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Now he is the chief librarian at his retirement home.
Fred Scarborough, our chief resident in Williamstown, with wife Gay, is a superior host for those of
us who visit. He has lately acquired a superior, fully
reconditioned Model A Ford, but, wouldn’t you know
it, it wouldn’t start while we were there.
Lynn Waller spent 11 months on a ship during
WWII and then went to Ohio State and graduated
after a tour in Zurich as an exchange student. Wanting
to teach, and to live on Puget Sound (or some water
nearby), he got his teacher’s certificate from the
University of Washington and thereafter became the
principal of three different high schools, two of which
he engineered from scratch.
Bob Welch was caught reading off his computer,
which he says is the way to go. Of his two sons, one
owns a business in Alexandria, Va., and the other, an
engineer, has just gone to work for Teva Pharmaceutical, the drug supplier of one out of six prescriptions
filled in the U.S.
As with the death of Mark Twain, the death of
Tacey Hole, reported in the last class notes, was
quite erroneous. She does have Alzheimer’s disease.
Question everything you read! Reliable information
has been received however reporting on the deaths of
John MacFadyen, Jay Buckley, George Hyde, and
Bill Elder.
1946
Submitted by class secretary Gates Helms, who passed
away in November. An obituary will appear in the May
2013 issue.
Dear Fellow Survivors off the Great Williams Class
of 1946, there is a great paucity of incoming information from the survivors.
Larry Heely is an exception, submitting news every
issue. His latest: “Talked to Dick Debevoise several
weeks ago, who said that he was meeting with Phil
Hoff, originally of our class.” Larry closes with some
advice: “My one thought for the future for guys my
age is: Don’t do anything fast.”
I shall always be grateful to Norman Birnbaum
for having written me the following: “I continue to
write, am slowly moving forward, too slowly, with my
memoir and am now at my return to New England
in 1968 as the first professor of sociology at Amherst.
In the period I visited Williams often and noted
what was then the striking difference in atmosphere
between two places which were in many respects
very similar. Williams seemed more harmonious,
Amherst more quarrelsome—but perhaps my benign
impression of Williams came from not living there. I
have made two trips to Europe since we met in June
of 2011. One, alas, was for a last meeting with my beloved elder daughter, who died on her 53rd birthday
in Berlin, where she had lived for 32 years. She is
1945– 49
buried under a tall tree in a forest-like cemetery just
outside the city, and her son has just begun university
studies at the Free University of Berlin. I have not
recovered inwardly from the loss of a very warm
human being to whom I was very close. Fortunately,
she was able to visit me here some months before,
and on the way back we went together to London and
Oxford, so she could revisit places and even persons
she had known as a girl. It has been hard for me to
think of visiting Berlin, but I will do so shortly as
guest of the major German trade union, IG Metall. I
was in Bilbao in July as guest of the Jesuit University,
a very cosmopolitan and lively place anchored in the
culture of the Basque region but very European. (It so
happens that Alberta and I were in Bilbao a couple of
years earlier. I should add that they have a fine Gehry
museum there and a Koons puppy, which is a marvel.)
Stopped in Paris to visit with my youngest daughter,
who teaches philosophy (aesthetics and political
philosophy) at Paris-Saint Denis, a very multicultural
university.”
I have some news from Joan Gust in Naples, Fla.,
none of it good: “It is with great sadness I have to tell
you that Rocky died on Aug. 27, 2012. It was sudden,
and he went the way he wanted—quickly and left our
home feet first. Take care, and blessings.”
1947
John C. Speaks III, 33 Heathwood Road, Williamsville,
NY 14221; [email protected]
Some class information: At our 50th reunion, we
won the trophy for highest percentage of attendance.
For our 65th, nobody came. 70th anyone?
1948
REUNION JUNE 6-9
John A. Peterson Jr., 5811 Glencove Drive, Apt. 1005,
Naples, FL 34108; [email protected]
Thanks to Rhett Austell, I have one item for this
edition of class notes. Rhett sent me info re: Harry
Benton that appeared in the September edition of
the Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin. Rhett, I
appreciate it.
Harry Benton wrote from the Academy retirement community in Boulder, Colo., that he finally
stopped working and retired as CEO of his broadcast
company and now spends most of his time “smelling
the roses and playing some bridge.” His wife Ursula
is still holding her own (16 years with Parkinson’s)
in the nursing home in Boulder, and he generally has
lunch with her most days. He and his daughter Lorna
and grandson Alex, who also live in Boulder, were
able to join daughter Carol’s family in Huntington
Beach, Calif., for a Thanksgiving feast in 2010, where
a photo of Harry with grandsons Kyle, 21, and Tyler,
18, was taken. His son Paul, who now lives in Harry’s
former home in Snowmass Village, Colo., now has
two children. Harry says his health is good, though he
has given up skiing and their usual trip to Europe, but
five grandchildren in three families are a lot to keep
up with.
You’ll be receiving a notice from the College re: our
65th reunion June 6-9, 2013. Hope to see you there.
1949
Chuck Utley, 1835 Van Buren Circle, Mountain View, CA
Oren Pollock became the eyes and ears of fellow
’49ers during our minireunion the weekend of Sept.
28-29. Nero reported that 17 classmates and spouses
returned to the purple hills: Sheila and Joe Dorsey,
Ann and Dick Wells, Lisa and Ed Maynard, Tay
and John Thoman, Donna and Herb Cole, Barbara
Franklin and Wally Barnes, Emily and Charlie
Jarrett, and Sam and Oren Pollock. Mike Robbins
joined the party for Friday night’s dinner and the
pregame lunch on Saturday. Nero went on to say, “For
Friday night dinner, we enjoyed the fruits of our 50th
reunion gift to the college of the Atrium Gathering
Place, which is part of the science complex between
what were the physics and chemistry buildings. We
had an enjoyable cocktail hour and a tasty meal with
lots of good conversation.
“Our next event was Saturday morning at the
Taconic Golf Club, where Barbara Franklin, Wally
Barnes’ wife, described her work in the Nixon White
House and later in the ‘Bush One’ administration, as
covered in her recent book A Matter of Simple Justice.
Afternoon was a split decision. Some went to the
Trinity game (we were ahead for three quarters; the
fourth, however, belonged to Trinity, and with it the
game). The remainder of our group found the shops
of Spring Street more enticing.
“Saturday dinner was at Mezze, a stone’s throw
across the road from the 1896 House; good meal,
good conversation, and a very pleasant way to cap the
formalities of the weekend. Our HQ was the Berkshire
Hills Motel, and each breakfast became an opportunity to learn more about our respective lives. Having
reached a point in our lives where one-upsmanship
is no longer relevant, we enjoyed one another’s company to the fullest.”
In addition to minireunion information, Oren submitted his own goings on: “Sam and I had an August
weekend in San Diego, including La Jolla, with our
son who is permanently residing in weather-favoring
Southern California. Our Williams volunteer activity
in a Chicago public school was then in limbo owing
to the teacher strike, for which I had no sympathy
but admit to not being consulted.” His warning: “I am
about to don my class agent attire for another year.”
Wally Barnes provided additional details on
the “Barbara Franklin story” as well as his own
“retirement” news. He reported, “This past spring
and summer have been big in the Barnes/Franklin
household. On March 8 at the National Archives in
Washington, D.C., a book by Lee Stout was released
entitled A Matter Of Simple Justice: The Untold story
of Barbara Hackman Franklin and A Few Good Women.
It’s about Barbara’s early years in Washington, when
she was on leave from CitiBank in New York to work
in the Nixon White House as a special assistant to the
president to identify and recruit women for high-level
presidential appointments. It’s an unexpected but
true account of a successful Nixon initiative that was
overshadowed by the dramatic opening of China and
obscured by the fog of the Watergate scandal. Barbara,
as many do, never left Washington and ultimately
served as secretary of commerce in the administration
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of President George H.W. Bush. She and the author,
who is the retired archivist of the Penn State Library,
have been busy over recent months doing book signing events across the country.”
Wally added, “My excitement has been completing 70 years as a licensed pilot. I soloed on my 16th
birthday in 1942. It’s also been a weird and frustrating
year because in June of 2011 a Net Jets charter flight
used excessive power leaving the aircraft ramp at the
Gaithersberg, Md., airport and blew my plane into
another parked aircraft. Barbara and I were in Paris
on business at the time. Only in May of 2012 was my
plane flyable again. All year the insurance company
has been providing substitute aircraft which I’ve been
flying with varying degrees of frustration, effort, and
nervousness. Forty years ago I would have loved the
challenge, but this is not 40 years ago, and I am now
86. The surprise result of this total experience was
that I decided not to seek renewal of my FAA medical
certificate when it expired in November. A friend
suggested I also do a book. His suggested title: The
Fear Of Not Flying.”
Giles Kelly writes, “A coincidence is always fun to
discover: Harry Montgomery ’54 and I recently met
for the first time at a Princeton grad school reunion.
We were surprised to find our career paths were so
similar. After Williams we both went off to Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and after that had careers as economic
officers in the State Department’s Foreign Service.
By the way, did everyone notice that this year, in the
opinion of U.S. News & World Report, Williams and
Princeton are listed as top schools?”
Alex Clement: “Great weekend in Williamstown
this summer: time at the Clark Art Institute to see the
Chinese exhibit, a play at the theater and an evening
at Tanglewood to hear Yo-Yo Ma do the Elgar Cello
Concerto. A lot of rain, however. Picked up my annual gallon of maple syrup at the Davenport Maple
Farm on the Mohawk Trail. While in Williamstown
we stayed at the River Bend Farm B&B. The Lommises have become good friends, and we love the old
colonial atmosphere. We then visited our daughter
and her Episcopal priest husband in Mattapoisset,
where he preaches two or three Sundays every summer, which allowed for some family reunion time.”
Jim Geer gave us a look back at his pre-Williams
days and his favorite college reunion: “In 1942 I was
called to active Army duty three weeks after graduation from Manlius Military Academy as a young
second lieutenant. I served a little over four years in
the infantry in WWII, two of which were spent on an
Arctic outpost in Greenland. After leaving the service
in the spring of 1946 I entered Williams College
and then went to Harvard Business School, where I
graduated in 1951. I’ve had many reunions at different
schools, but one stands out at Williams: the 25th in
1974. This was particularly memorable as my father
Joseph W. Geer ’14, and my mother were back celebrating his 60th Williams reunion at the same time.”
On a somber note, Bob Jones died Aug. 14 in
Farmington, Conn., after a lengthy illness. He
had been a longtime resident of Brighton, N.Y., a
Rochester suburb, where he was a prominent figure
in rehabilitative medicine. In WWII, Bob served in
the 125th Engineer Combat Battalion, both building
bridges and as a combatant in the Battle of the Bulge.
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Following his graduation from Williams, Bob entered
Harvard Medical School and graduated as president
of the class of 1954. Dr. Jones began his medical career
at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston
where he became the coordinator of rehabilitation.
He was then appointed director of the Rehabilitation Unit at the University of Rochester Medical
School, where he held the title of associate professor
of preventive medicine and community health. Bob
later worked as a corporate rehabilitation consultant
at Eastman Kodak Co. until his retirement, when
he became active in several supportive professional
organizations dedicated to rehabilitative medicine and
to the employability of people with disabilities. Bob
will be remembered in Rochester as an accomplished
sailor, an avid tennis player, and a renewable energy
enthusiast. He is survived by his wife, six children,
and six grandchildren.
1950
Kevin F.X. Delany, 3143 O St., NW, Washington, DC
There’s an inherent danger in allowing the class
agent to write the notes. He might say something like,
“Send in your dough,” and “Remember, as Yogi said
‘a nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.’” But I didn’t
write it, you just thought it!
A small but select group had a great time at our
annual minireunion Oct. 10-12. Fred Lanes and
Morgan Murray arranged festivities under the watchful eye of President Stan Roller—a couple of fine
dinners, followed by Dixieland music courtesy of The
Williams Reunion Jazz Band. There also were two
interesting lectures: “The Rise and Fall of Fraternities
at Williams” and “Who stole the American Dream”
by Rick Smith ’55 based on his latest book.
Other classmates attending were Art Boehner,
Larry Fitch, Jim Burbank, Tom Hodgeman, Pete
Thurber, and Doug Coleman. There were also
six wives, two significant others and three honorary members: Pat Moody, Judy Blakey, and Kitty
Simpson. Saturday was beautiful, though the football
game was not. But look at it this way: new facilities at
Weston Field are officially on the way. It was particularly nice to have the three honorary members present. Our only regret was that more of our classmates
weren’t present to rekindle old friendships and see the
spectacular ever-changing Williams campus! So put
the mini on your calendar for next year.
On the more sober side, we lost Fadjo Cravens
(Feb. 19, 2012), William Fowler (April 29, 2012),
whose brother I ran into on a recent cruise, Philip
Russell (Feb. 4, 2012), Howard Wedelstaedt (Feb.
19, 2007), and Donald Ratcliffe (Dec. 11, 2006).
Unfortunately I don’t have more information on any
but Don, who lived in Solon, Ohio, and visited me in
Maine in 2005. Don was a stalwart defenseman on
our hockey team, which beat Princeton, Army, and St.
Lawrence.
We are now 192 from a class that graduated 334 and
had 89 sometime members.
As to war stories, I came across a memoir that Marcus Reynolds—with whom I roomed freshman year
and at prep school—had written for his family about
his tour of duty in Patton’s 13th armored division. He
1949– 50
never would talk much about it other than his conquest of some Fräulein, but here’s a few paragraphs
from his memoir, some of which has been restated for
brevity purposes:
“I was drafted at the end of my junior year in prep
school into the infantry and after the usual months of
grunt training my unit, Company B 67th Armored
Infantry Battalion, was shipped overseas in December 1944 and became part of Patton’s Third Army.
Our convoy was the largest that had ever crossed the
Atlantic—55 ships, plus destroyers, destroyer escorts,
and other types of protecting vessels. In spite of all
the precautions, the German U-boats knocked off
two of our ships—all hands were lost. We made no
pretense of picking up survivors, as the captain of
each Liberty ship was told to keep going … because
if they stopped, they, too, would become victims
of the U-boats. Due to the submarine danger and
Liberty ship’s slow speed, it took us 12 days … to get
to Le Havre. On disembarking, my company was
assigned to a little village, Lamerville-Bacqueville,
and because of my fluency in French [are you kidding
me?!] I became the company interpreter, helping the
company commander negotiate for water, rent, wood,
and services. The French really ‘socked it to us,’ as the
Germans had taken everything for free. In January
my company was moved by halftrack to the front. We
were involved in taking five small towns in southern
Germany and Austria: Bamberg, Siegen, Sieberg,
and Simbach in Germany, and Braunau in Austria
[Hitler’s birthplace].
“The first day in combat we lost several guys. …
After taking Bamberg we thought we would have a
couple days of R&R, but that wasn’t the way Patton
worked. He figured if we sat on our asses, the Germans would do the same. So off to the next town. I
will not attempt to describe the house-to-house fighting, but I’ll tell you it wasn’t pretty! The Germans
were very carefully dug in and knew every nook and
cranny of every town. We took Siegen and Siegberg
and after two days of heavy fighting and casualties
took Simbach … leaving us on the western shore of
the Inn river.
“We moved south along the Inn river until we got
to a heavily damaged partially submerged bridge
leading to Braunau. Our company commander asked
for volunteers to try to get across the bridge. I was one
of 36 volunteers, and I must say in retrospect it was a
pretty hairy situation.
“When we started over the partially submerged
bridge the Germans opened up with rifle and machine
gun fire, and our men were picked off, dropping into
the fast-running cold Inn river to certain death. I
don’t know how, but we got to the eastern end and
secured enough space to allow the rest of the company
with some casualties to cross. All 36 volunteers were
awarded the Bronze Star, many posthumously. We
took the town that evening and dug in, expecting a
counter attack which fortunately never came. Two
days later we pushed on and freed a prison camp
holding about 10,000 U.S. airmen. The war ended in
Europe 10 days later.
“We had three weeks of R&R and then shipped
back to Camp Kilmer and were given a 30-day leave.
Fortunately, before our company could get organized
again, the war in the Pacific ended and I was mustered
out in June 1946.”
Bud Cool submitted a “1950 Class Military History”: In talking with others in our class, I was surprised
to learn how many got swept up in the Korean War
after graduation and how many were also veterans
of WWII. I am in that group. However, I think that
I am the only one who served in both the Navy and
the Army. Is that a good thing? I was also surprised at
how many felt the experience was the best thing that
happened to them, although for many different reasons. I’m in that group also. On graduating from high
school in 1945, I enlisted in the Navy for ‘the duration
of six months.’ After boot camp I was assigned to a
brand new aircraft carrier (USS Tarawa) in Norfolk,
Va., and left on its shakedown cruise to Guantanamo
Bay. For six months we put the ship through its paces
and learned our jobs. My job was located seven decks
down in the main engine room just two feet above the
bilges. I know you have always wondered what the
bilges are like on an aircraft carrier: They are just as
unpleasant as on any other ship, only bigger.
“The Tarawa was ordered to the Pacific, so we sailed
through the Panama Canal (with lock clearance measured in inches) and up the west coast to Long Beach.
The war had just ended, and the Navy decided the
best thing to do with us ‘short-timers’ was to put us on
a troop train and send us back across the country to
Long Island for discharge.
“Total time elapsed in the Navy: 11 months, 24
days, 14 hours.
“After receiving a veteran’s bonus from the state of
Connecticut (very nice), generous benefits from the
GI bill (fantastic), a nice pin to wear on my lapel,
and a degree from Williams, I started my career on
Wall Street as a veteran of WWII. Six months later
I received my draft notice. I went through a long
period of thinking, ‘There must be some mistake,’
but I eventually accepted the inevitable. The Army
was offering a program starting on Governors Island,
which I could almost see from my office window,
leading to OCS at Fort Riley, Kan., provided I met
other requirements, so that’s what I did. Another boot
camp, some training, six months in Kansas, and I was
ready to go.
“I was assigned to the Army’s Transportation Corps
and was surprised to learn it has lots of ships, mostly
harbor craft but some larger ones as well. I drew one
of the biggest and so set sail again, only this time with
the Army.
“Now for the good part: Toward the end of my tour
I was sent to Goose Bay, Labrador, where a civilian
contractor was building a large airstrip to accommodate the B-36, a new bomber that I’m not sure
was ever built. The runway was one of many sites
being developed across the Arctic as part of the early
warning line. During my last two weeks in Goose
Bay I met Anne, a civilian nurse who was part of the
medical staff looking after the 300 workers on this
job. We managed to squeeze in two dates, and we
decided to get married! I went back to the States to be
discharged. She completed her contract in two months
and returned to her home in Canada. We were married there in 1954. The love of my life.
And that’s how I won the war.”
My apologies to those who may have sent in other
war stories, but there are always more notes to be
done. In the meantime, please send info on classmates,
stories, brickbats, whatever you think would be good
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for our next notes, which are due in February. My
thanks in advance!
—Scribe pro-tem Doug Coleman, 140 South Brown
Road, Orono, MN 55356; [email protected]; (t)
952.473.7236; (f) 952.249.1063.
1951
Gordon Clarke, 183 Foreside Road, Falmouth, ME 04105;
[email protected]
This assignment seems always to offer something
new. Until now, most classmates have waited till late
in the cycle to make their submissions (some even
after the due date). This time, two were even ahead of
the announcement, and a half-dozen poured in on the
day thereof. This variety serves to keep your secretary
alert. I start writing as a team of roofers arrives to
commence a major replacement over my head. Here
we go…
Dave Muhlenberg writes from his home in Fairfax
County, Va., that he “checks in only every few years,
and this time for no particular reason. (Rainy day?)”
He and his wife of 50 years, Margitta, are in good
health but have been hit hard by the recent storms,
which left them with only their generator for power
for five summer days. (Ed. note: Here in Maine we
lose power for five winter days from time to time, but
I have never had a generator failure because of the
95-degree summer heat, which happened to Dave!)
An upbeat email arrived from Bill Paton, who
writes that, aside from some early morning aches and
pains, he and Renis are “pretty well.” In addition to
playing tennis, he (on the banjo) and a retired doctor
(on the piano) have been playing and singing “the
old camp songs” in the assisted-living wards of local
retirement homes. “Last week we played at a home
for ‘atypical children,’ mostly Down syndrome. It was
amazing! They loved us! Wow! It was a wrenchingly
vivid reminder of how good my family and I have it
and how incredibly lucky we all are to be healthy.”
As I write this, Becky and Tim Blodgett are probably sipping their wine as their barge floats along a
canal in Burgundy. They joined a Williams trip lead
by John Hyde ’52 and promised to report for the next
issue.
When we last heard from Wally Bortz, he included
an itinerary that would take him to Ireland (for the
Bog Trotters Marathon, among other adventures)
and England, for a visit and lecture. All of this was to
be going on during the Olympics. We have space to
follow just one thread—the Bog Trotters Marathon,
which was due to be run in Stokestown, Ireland, on
July 21. Wally trained as usual: “Five 17-mile runs,
three 20-milers, and one 23,” only to learn that the
run was canceled. He decided to proceed anyway and,
“if necessary do an impromptu marathon somewhere,
sometime. … Left for Dublin with stinking running
shoes in our … luggage.” After a day off to deliver
a lecture, he flew to Oxford, where he “fulfilled a
long ambition of running on the same track where
Bannister first broke the four-minute-mile barrier
in 1953. … [Bannister] would have lapped me three
times.” Then back to Ireland, where a philanthropist
friend had persuaded the athletics staff at Limerick
University “to lay out a 13-mile course … around the
campus and along the banks of the Shannon River.
20
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… On Aug. 1, we embarked on the first International
Limerick Marathon with myself and a few others as
entrants. … A lovely route, and a few cheers along the
way. … I continued on happy and in high spirits until
around mile 22, when I started to veer off unsteadily
to the right. … This … had happened when I had
run the Boston Marathon and one other time during
training. … This time in Limerick was not grand …
fell off the trail one time … alarmed my pacer …
staggered along with my companion straightening me
up … fortunate that the river was on my left … or I
may have had an early plunge.”
Wally continues: “My diagnostic antenna was in
active mode … stroke … inner ear … balance center
compromised? About mile 24 my pacer and other …
friends ganged up … had to stop fearing something
frightful might happen … refused … I was aggressive
… didn’t make any friends … kept lumbering along
… supported by colleagues who kept me reasonably
upright until the Field House appeared at mile 26.
… Hallelujah … 42nd marathon, not with style but
with determination … second 13-mile loop took me
five hours for a total of eight hours. … Went out for
a well-deserved beer or two, and Chinese dinner. …
Sleep … came easily.”
Those beers must have induced an “epiphany,” because the next day Wally recalled an old skiing injury
to an Achilles tendon that “left my right lower leg
much smaller than the left. … At age 82, after many
hours of running in an … asymmetric fashion there
was a progressive tightening … of the muscles in my
right loin, which eventually seized up and my rudder
froze. … I have never given … acknowledgement
to the rest of me. … I figured that having 26-mile
capable legs was enough. … Resolved that next year’s
marathon training will … entail … attention to my
trunk muscles. … Next year I will run straight.” (Ed.
note: There is reason to believe that this was marathon number 43 for Wally).
Wally concludes, “Busily trying to clone … the 10week continuing education that I presented at Stanford in the spring, ‘Maximizing Your Life Potential.’
… I enjoyed it as much as the attendees.”
John Sziklas reports that he and his wife Jean are
enjoying continued good health, tennis, golf, and
“some downhill skiing, but only on the groomed
slopes!” They continue to do some traveling, favoring
cruises because they offer less “hassle.” They have
moved across town from their home of many years
to a fine continuing-care retirement community (Ed.
note: I know it well). John’s brother Ed Sziklas lives
up the road from me here in Maine and also enjoys
good health.
Meg and Don Gregg spent early July on a paddle
wheeler, travelling from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati
on the Ohio River. “It was a trip into our past, with
children waving at us from the … banks … signs
urging us to ‘Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco’ … and the
scars of strip mining all too visible. Coal is still king in
that part of the country. … Barges loaded with it. …
Freight-trains pulling it. … Power generators burning
it … spewing smoke into the sky.” Their accommodations were comfortable, and the food was excellent.
Don and Meg enjoyed the entertainment so much
that they danced all three evenings. Ever the collector
of intelligence, Don got to know a German-born
passenger who had lost both of his parents in Allied
1950– 52
air raids during WWII, been drafted into the German
army at 16, captured, and held prisoner. After the war,
he obtained a U.S. visa and emigrated, was drafted
and served in our army during the Korean War, after
which he went to college on the GI Bill, married, and
had a successful career outside of New York.
Bob Griffin writes that he had a quadruple heart
operation last January; it went well, but “some complications” delayed his recovery. He is working with
a YMCA trainer to improve his strength and looks
forward to resuming work on the book he had drafted
before the operation. (Ed. note: He didn’t mention the
subject.) Bob has had “much support” from his wife
Jamie and children Bob and Missy. He stays in touch
with his roommates Paul Shorb and Jack Cremeans
’50 as well as Chuck Halleck and Jack Hornor.
Pete deLisser is pleased that his latest book, Courageous Conversations at Work, at Home, is now available
at Amazon.com (Kindle) and at www.chandlerhousebooks.com (hard cover). Pete talks regularly with Pete
Fisher, Bill Rodie, Gordon Clarke, Wally Bortz,
and Bill Sperry. He and Carolyn ride their bikes six
to eight miles three or four times per week. Neither
of them seems to have slowed down, as she (as art
adviser/appraiser) currently has traveling art shows in
two separate museums.
Having lived for more than five years in their California retirement community, Jeanne and Chuck Halleck still recall the pleasant, small, orchard that they
had to leave behind; however, they don’t miss the care
and upkeep. In April, their daughter Heidi ’83 visited
with their granddaughter, Allie, who celebrated her
13th birthday while in California. In August, the
Hallecks traveled to Massachusetts for the wedding of
their son Jay ’05 to Olivia He ’06. They rounded out
their travels with visits to several of Greater Boston’s
special tourist attractions and finished the month with
a two-week stay on the west shore of Lake Tahoe.
Chuck remains active in “a local cooperative art gallery—showing mainly nature photographs. Jeanne
continues to … provide advice to public service
programs with which she was affiliated while working
at Stanford.” Chuck ends with a slightly plaintive
note: “Our faith in the ’49ers is finally paying off after
some dismal years, and we can actually look forward
to attending the games.”
John O’Herron wins the prize for good news and
brevity! “Have two grandkids [at Williams] this year,
so I look forward to a visit.”
Last but not least, our president, Dick Siegel,
reports that, as of the end of September, he will have
“finally ceased” his daily commute into NYC. He
says his work “with the MFGlobal Inc. and Lehman
Brothers Inc. Liquidating Trustee was fascinating,
educational, and enjoyable,” but the commute had
become too much. Dick and Ellen went to London
to celebrate their 50th anniversary. “One of the
highlights was an evening-ending champagne tour
of Buckingham Palace that concluded with our being
escorted through the courtyard and out one of the
gates to the astonishment of the on-looking tourists. I
offered to sign autographs but had no takers.” Upon
their return, one of Dick’s colleagues asked if he had
seen the Queen. Dick informed him that he “went to
bed every night with the Queen.” How about that for
gallantry!
1952
Alec Robertson, 3 Essex Meadows, Essex, CT 06426;
[email protected]
I am pleased to announce that Judy Makrianes, who
danced at the AMT with John Kulsar in Slaughter
on Tenth Avenue in “Zanuck in the Streets” May 9-12,
1951, and I have become an “item” again. We first met
in 1945 in East Hampton, some 67 years ago, and hit
it off from the beginning. It is a very good thing to
rekindle our relationship and for both of us to have a
second chance at love.
We had a great minireunion at the Middlebury
game, which included Ed and Fred Goldstein, Susan
and Jim Henry, Elizabeth and John Montgomery,
Nikki and Paige L’Hommedieu, Ann and Doug
Foster, Debbie and Joel Slocum, Joan and Paul
Doyle, Nancy and Bob Trone, Jacquie and Don
Martin, John Hyde, Emily Kraft, Sam Humes,
Alec Robertson and Judy Makrianes. Unfortunately,
President Bill Missimer had to cancel at the last
minute, as Jane had a bad case of poison ivy on her
back. She is better now. We had excellent cocktails
and hors d’oeuvres at John Hyde’s on Friday evening,
lunch at the Log, and Saturday dinner at Ann and
Doug Foster’s, who featured the Williams Octet. It
was terrific. Great food and fellowship.
I just got a nice note from Susie Collins, stating: “It
was so wonderful to be a part of your ‘Really Great
Class of 1952’ 60th reunion. I am sure I speak for
the other ‘honorary members’ in thanking you for
welcoming us and making us feel so at home. I would
also like to thank Sam Humes for storing our ‘Phinney’ all this time and making sure he was able to lead
the class in the alumni parade. (The children on the
sidelines sure got a kick out of his being there.) Look
at what fun you started, Swifty! Great job to all of our
super leaders.”
Ed and Fred Goldstein had a wonderful time with
Nikki and Paige L’Hommedieu in the Adirondacks
in July. “We picked up Emily Kraft on the way up and
enjoyed a lot of laughs. Marigold and Bob Bischoff
joined Paige, Nicky, Emily, Edwen, and I for dinner
one evening. We had planned to visit with Ann and
Duke Curtis and Ann and Doug Foster for a Sunday
afternoon at Tanglewood in August but had to bow
out at the last minute.” They were looking forward to
attending Pete Gurney’s play and dinner afterward
with the group in New York in October. “Finally,”
Fred continues, “I really was overwhelmed receiving
the Joseph’s Coat at reunion. It really belongs to all of
you in the Great Class of ’52. Thanks again for all of
the kind remarks.”
“I had lunch last week with Bob Huddleston, who
was a classmate and fraternity brother,” reported
John Philips. “He was in DC on business and seemed
well and happy in spite of his age. We ate in a strange
little place—I had curried woodpecker and he had a
frankfurter with mustard. I have several friends living
in DC, and they tell me that the economy is so bad
now that they have to hold up three people to get as
much money as they used to get from one. Thankfully most of us here at the old-folks home are either
retired or on food stamps. Sorry to hear about Irwin
Shainman—a very nice guy and a good teacher.”
Jack Harris volunteered that he and Bob Garfield
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spoke after he and Jennifer returned from Williamstown and the 60th. He was sorry not to have been
there. Bob felt it was very well run.
Jack said, “Last May, we moved to Ingleside apartments in Rock Creek Park, a very comfortable and
convenient retirement residence in the heart of DC.
Summer was spent in Indian River, Mich., at our cottage in Burt Lake—in the family since the early 1920s
and a great place for our three sons, their wives, and
grandchildren (seven) to come and hang out. If you
like fly-fishing for trout, this is a great spot with good
streams nearby. For several years now, I have worked
with the Board of Americans for Campaign Reform,
part of an alliance of groups committed to reducing
the toxic role of corporate money in elections and
politics generally. My wife Tucker supervises an adult
Christian education program at St. Mark’s Church on
Capitol Hill. A special pleasure is the two book groups
we’ve belonged to for many years. The nonfiction one
is sparked by the lively presence of George Kinter.
Healthwise there have been the usual hurdles—a new
left hip and a pacemaker, behaving at the moment.
We feel fortunate to have good friends alive, well, and
compos mentis. In March we plan to go on the Williams trip to Cuba.”
From Winnetka, Ill., Ray George reported that
he attended the annual luncheon with a Williams
gray-hair group that included John Montgomery and
Pete Pickard. “Bob White is usually in attendance
but could not make it. Betsy and I are off to Florida
shortly.” (Sorry you missed the mini.)
Bob Huddleston chimed in: “Vicki and I flew to
Washington last month for a board meeting in Silver
Spring, which gave us the opportunity to get together
with friends and family, including lunch with John
Philips, who lives in a large but very nice retirement
community nearby. Two old guys reminiscing at
Friday’s. The next week we drove to Colorado with
our daughter to see friends in Telluride and climb one
of the Fourteeners near Lake City. Needless to say, I
stayed below with the dog. There was a foot of snow
at the summit. We also enjoyed two nights of French
cooking at the lodge.”
Dick Somerby missed the mini since he was on
his way to Naples for the winter. “I plan to stay until
May,” he said. “After a surgeon ‘fixed’ my knee, skiing is no longer an option, so I vote for the warmth
of Florida. Spent the summer in Westchester close
to a son and daughter in New Canaan and a son in
Brooklyn Heights—seven grandkids in all. Another
son and daughter live in Houston with five grandkids
and, I can’t believe it, two great-grandkids—usually
see most of them in the winter as they find Naples too
attractive. Ask anyone visiting Naples to call me at
239.592.1194.”
Doug Burgoyne says he and Joannie were coming
up on their 60th wedding anniversary Dec. 27. He
particularly wanted to be remembered to John Hyde.
Pete Gurney couldn’t make the reunion. He wrote,
“Hope to see some of our class at my new play now in
preview at the Flea Theater. Maybe you’ll be there—
and maybe Judy will! I’m about to be 82, but life still
goes on. Wife Molly recently completed a ‘Century’
(100-mile) bike trip around the periphery of New
York. Our four children are gainfully employed, and
our eight additional hostages to fortune (our grandchildren) are for the most part staying out of trouble.”
22
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Bob Riegel reported that during reunion: “Keren
and I were on a fantastic trip starting in the lakes of
northern Italy, then to Verona, to Venice, and then
on to a five-masted clipper ship sailing down the
Croatian coast and ending in Taormina, Sicily. One of
the best trips we have ever taken. Met no alumni but
did meet a number of educators who gave Williams
the highest ranking. Also the ship grapevine indicated
that Williams lost to Amherst. Living next to the university I find myself pulling for the gamecocks—not
as fancy as the Purple Cow.”
I am sorry to report the loss of Bill Maclay on Aug.
28, 2012. Bill was windsurfing right up to the end,
irrepressible to the last. Bill attended Ned Collins’
memorial services last summer and was suffering
from cancer then. Bill lived in Chester, Md., and came
to Chatham on the Cape each year. He was an avid
and accomplished sailor, serving the Offshore Sailing
Team of the U.S. Naval Academy for many years, as
well as winning trophies recently in windsurfing for
the 80-plus participants. His enthusiasm was unrivalled, and he was an innkeeper for sailing youngsters
over the last 25 years. He is survived by two children
and two grandchildren.
Sadly, David MacLachlan also passed away, on
Sept. 2, 2012, in San Francisco. After leaving Williams
in 1952, Dave did graduate work at Boston University
and Columbia, served in the Marines and the Army,
and he worked as a field geologist for the Pennsylvania Geologic Survey for 37 years. The MacLachlans
moved to San Francisco in 2000 to be closer to their
children. Dave is survived by his wife of 57 years,
Jean, a brother, a sister, and several children and
grandchildren.
Unfortunately, we also lost Adolf W. Gessner on
May 15, 2012, and Frank Weeks on Aug. 3, 2012.
Their obituaries are in this issue. Condolences from
the entire class go out to their spouses.
That’s it for now. Hope everyone had a wonderful
Christmas, and we’ll look forward to a bright and
shining 2013, with peace and economic health our
major objectives.
1953
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Stephen W. Klein, 378 Thornden St., South Orange, NJ
Bob Morrison’s granddaughter Katie ’07 was
married in a grand Williams affair at Lake Winnipesauke in July to Matt Paster ’07. Bob took great joy
in dancing with his granddaughter. After 41 years in
Wellesley, the Morrisons have sold their house and
have moved to The Groves of Lincoln (Mass). Bob
says he and Gretchen will be at our 60th.
The 11th Ephrocks in Colorado, of which George
Hartnett was a co-founder, had couples from the
classes of 1950-65 for dinner. In addition to the Hartnetts, ’53 was represented by the Sterlings and the
Tuckers. Another co-founded Hartnett event, a north
shore luncheon for alumni from ’45-’54 took place
Oct. 3. From ’53 were George, Jim Truettner, John
McDermott, Don Rand, and Wally Scott. George is
back at playing golf and was astonished to find that after a three-year hiatus he is still able to hook and slice.
The Oct. 12-14 minireunion had an outstanding turnout. In attendance were Barbara and Bob
1952– 54
Howard, Lucy and Pete Fetterolf, Happy and Todd
Mauck, Mike Lazor, Mary and Jack Merselis, Anne
and Charlie Mott, Sally and Harry Molwitz, Carol
and Dan Fitch, Kathleen Piagessi, Nancy and Pete
Sterling, Granthia and Fred Preston, President John
Dighton, John Allan, Tess and Derry Kruse, Art
Murray, Dave Doheny, Barbara Weedon, Dudley
Baker, Bobbye and Bob Tucker, Maren and Tim
Robinson, Bob Sillcox, Joy and Walter Flaherty,
Daphne and Tiger McGill, Bob Bauer, and Elizabeth
and Bob Ouchterloney. The weather was excellent,
as were the festivities. Great work by Todd Mauck
and the usual hospitality by the McGills.
Doug Reed died in July, survived by his wife
Mackay, five children and several grandchildren. I
hope that everyone has had a chance to read Doug’s
essay about Williams and his years at Williams in
John Allan’s 50th reunion book. Although it’s not
long, it speaks volumes about him as well as his appreciation of Williams.
1954
Al Horne, 7214 Rebecca Drive, Alexandria, VA 22307;
[email protected]
For those of us who missed it, here’s a quick recap of
the October minireunion, a highly successful event by
all accounts. Class President Hugh Germanetti, who
made it from Austin to Williamstown on not one but
two brand-new knees, reports that 27 classmates and
companions attended and that the planning committee for our 60th reunion elected Jim Carpenter to be
the reunion chairman.
The weekend’s highlights included a seminar on the
rise and fall of fraternities with President Emeritus
John Chandler, which drew a full house on Friday
afternoon. “It was full of audience questions and
comment,” Dan Tritter writes, “lively, informative,
and free of adversarial cant.” On Saturday morning Rick Smith ‘55 discussed his new book, Who
Stole the American Dream?, in what Dan, Hugh and
John Beard described as an excellent presentation to
another standing-room-only audience. And our class
dinner at the Taconic Golf Club on Saturday night
was also happily attended, as you can see from Harry
Montgomery’s photographs on our class Facebook
page.
There were other events reported, both happy and
sad. Let’s start with a wedding and a birth, among
several items that reached me too late for the previous
edition of these class notes.
Here’s Jack Smith’s report from Hilton Head
Island: “I am happy to advise that I got married on
May 19 to a beautiful lady named Shirl. I robbed the
cradle! Shirl is 60 years old.” Jack had been a widower
for nine years and had survived a burst aortic aneurism. “Shirl took great care of me as a friend,” Jack
wrote, “so why not take care of each other through
marriage?”
The birth, announced by Jim Carpenter in June,
was of Andie Cook, Jim and Shirley’s first greatgrandchild and the daughter of Tracy Henderson
Cook ’03, the Carpenters’ granddaughter.
There have also been several moves. Tom Henderson sent word that in July 2011 he and Sally “sold a
house in Chatham, N.J., that we had lived in for 45
years to become full-time Floridians in a home on
Amelia Island, where we’ve been part-time residents
for the past 15 years. Our five granddaughters, who
all lived within 20 minutes of our home in Chatham,
had begun to scatter to further their educations and
employment opportunities, and more and more of our
friends in New Jersey had already fled to more benign
climates. For those who may not have done the math,
our taxes and household expenses have been substantially reduced by the consolidation. And I can drive
legally here for another seven or eight years, though
I’ve basically given up driving at night.”
Another move I hadn’t heard about was by Kitty
and Charlie Brown, from Colorado to Jackson,
Wyo., in 2007. “We have always loved living in or
near the mountains,” Charlie writes, “and the Tetons
have always been among our favorites. During the 40
years that we lived in Colorado, I climbed all 54 of
Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, climbed the Matterhorn
in Switzerland, the volcano Orizaba in Mexico, and
the Grand Teton in Wyoming. Kitty and I also made
a climbing trip to the Himalayas with the Colorado
Outward Bound School while I was one of the trustees. Since moving to Wyoming, we continue to hike,
bike, and ski the terrain in and around this wonderful
national park and will continue to do so as long as our
health permits.”
John Walsh moved back to New York from Rhode
Island and now lives on the East Side of Manhattan. Judith and Rich Bethune built a new house in
Ancaster, Ontario. And Mary Jane and Cal Collins
sold their house in Salem, Ore., and moved downtown
to a rented apartment. Their house wasn’t for sale,
Cal notes, but “a real estate agent sent a letter saying
he had a nice young couple who wanted to buy our
home.”
On the downside, we’ve lost three more classmates
and the wife of a fourth.
In June we lost Richard Wright, who lived in
Newport, Vt., taught high school English and led
meditation classes, owned a book and gift shop called
Tranquil Things with his wife Pat, and, among many
other unusual activities, was a dowser who co-wrote
two books on the subject.
In July we lost John Stevens, who lived in Wasau,
Wis., worked as an industrial engineer and then as a
commercial real estate appraiser, and had a passion
for music. One of John and Judy’s daughters, Sally
Stevens, has become an opera soprano.
In September, we lost Steve Herman, our classmate
for the first two years before he transferred to Northwestern. Steve lived in Winnetka, Ill., and worked as
a corporate lawyer until retiring at 59. I learned of
Steve’s death from Jack O’Kieffe, who roomed with
Steve and Ralph Smith in our freshman year.
And here’s the bad news from John Cardle: “I am
sad to have to inform the class that my wife Janet
died July 6 after a rapid progression of Myelodysplasia (bone marrow failure) complicated by a fatal
infection. We were married in 1956 when I was
starting my third year at the University of Minnesota
Medical School and had 56 years of a wonderful life
together, with four daughters and eight grandchildren. We added three foreign students for more to
do. Janet went to Wellesley (’56) but only got to
Williamstown for our reunions. She thought all the
class was great.”
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Now, some good news: Dick Hollington is continuing his climb up the political ladder. After being
appointed an Ohio state representative in 2010 and
2011, he reports, “I was elected earlier this year as
mayor of the village of Hunting Valley, a large metropolitan area of about 700 residents on the east side
of Cleveland. So much for good government and age
limitations!” The Hollingtons had “a splendid visit”
this summer with Barbie and Jerry Schauffler at the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Dick adds.
Pete Burgher writes that his “electrical equipment
company was sold in 2009, and with the proceeds we
have developed a system for piston aircraft engines
that enables fuel savings of up to 20 percent and can
handle whatever sunny fuel the EPA throws at the
general aviation industry. Meanwhile, I use my U.S.
Coast Guard Merchant Marine captain’s license to
captain an eco-tour boat as a volunteer in Florida’s
marvelous panhandle.” Pete and Elinor, his wife of
58 years, have eight grandchildren and one greatgrandchild.
Another classmate still working is Herb Elish, as
chief operating officer of the College Board in New
York. His wife Eloise has taken on the challenge of
“turning what was the country’s largest landfill into
an urban park. It is on the New Jersey side of Staten
Island and was a landfill I helped create when I was
sanitation commissioner,” Herb writes. “The intent is
to create a 2,200-acre park.”
Still working in education as well is Dave Griswold
of the Greenwich (Conn.) Country Day School,
who published a third edition this summer of his
classic guide, How To Study. This revision, he advises,
includes a new section on “how to use computers and
laptops to improve study skills.”
Ed Mauro also is still doing good work: “My wife
and I (we play even) are very fortunate to be able to
follow the sun in the endless pursuit of mastering our
golf addictions. You will find us at Casa de Campo
in the Dominican Republic, Pinehurst, N.C., and at
Narragansett, R.I., in the summer,” Ed writes. “My
giveback to the game continues to be Button Hole,
a short golf course and teaching center in the inner
city of Providence. Since our opening 12 years ago,
we have introduced the game to more than 15,000
young people. Our kids simply thrive on green space,
away from environments of concrete and asphalt
where fathers are hard to find. After signing up, they
go through fairly structured teaching programs, not
all golf. They start with taking hats off when inside
and learn to look one in the eye during a handshake.
Button Hole Kids are known in their neighborhoods.
While long-term social impacts are difficult to measure, we know from their schools, where we teach the
game in the wintertime, their class attendance is up.
And, certainly not a token by-product of our mission,
we can claim four golf college scholarships and many
state and regional golf champions who hit their first
golf balls at Button Hole.”
Russ Carpenter is also involved in a substantial
project. He writes that “after three strikes pursuing the
National Endowment of the Humanities for funding
for the documentary about my Field family in Stockbridge in the 1800s, our local public television station,
WGBY in Springfield, agreed to produce the film, and
we have received $50,000 from a local foundation as
a start to raising the full $200,000 budget needed for a
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60-minute program”
One of our prominent expatriates, Michel Balinski of Paris, has been sighted at least twice on our
shores this year. In July he was honored at the State
University of New York in Stony Brook, where he
once taught math, with a program of tributes as part
of an international conference on game theory. And
in October he was at MIT, where he once studied
economics, as a panelist in a conference on the U.S.
presidential election system. John Beard reports that
he and Molly “attended a joint birthday party given
by his daughter Maria for him (his 79th, if you can
believe it) and for her daughter (his granddaughter).”
Speaking of grandchildren, Jane Briggs writes that
Taylor’s grandson, Jason Briggs ’14, a computer science major, “spent a week with me in Maine and he is
great company. His parents are international teachers,
so he has lived all over the world.”
From Florida, Marv Schiff writes, “Myrt and I are
still playing tennis, and I am still practicing medicine
in Pompano Beach.”
And from Long Island, Vic Earle writes: “Teamed
with Joe Rice in tennis recently. He has recovered
from a leg injury and is playing very well, especially
when you consider he is much, much older than I.
Earlier, my grandson Ian (son of Susan Earle ’80)
carried me to another prize in a parent-child tournament.”
From Newport, R.I., Dave Moore reports that
while doing some genealogical research, he came
across this item: “I quote from a letter written in 1920:
‘Sarah Williams, who marred Perez Marsh, was the
young woman of 20 who refused her father’s cousin,
Col. Ephraim Williams, then a man about 40 years
old, and married the young surgeon in her cousin’s
regiment. Col. Williams agreed, if she would promise
to marry him, to make his will before leaving for New
York State and bequeath to her all his property. As she
refused, he later made his will leaving all to found a
free school which eventually developed into Williams
College.’ We all know Ephraim was killed in the
Battle of Lake George shortly after making his will.
Thank you, Sarah!”
Finally, a reminder from Russ Carpenter that the
college archives are “very interested in what you may
have saved from your student years, especially those
items that are possibly unique, such as letters, photographs (identified and dated), classroom notes, and
programs. If interested, please contact the archivist by
email at [email protected], by phone
at 413.597.2596, or by mail at Archives, 96 School St.,
Williamstown, MA 01267.”
1955
Norm Hugo, 37 Carriage Lane, New Canaan, CT 06840;
[email protected]
Charlie Bradley has retired as class secretary after
a wonderful stint as the person who was the glue holding us together. Many thanks, Charlie.
Since our last notes, we have lost Don Tufts,
Peter Hunt, Lee Snyder, Mort Weinberg, and
Terry Canavan. Spoke with Mark Cluett, who
attended Terry’s funeral services. He had played golf
frequently with Terry until the last few months. A
charity that was important to Terry was his interest
1954– 55
in microloans to small business owners in Latin
America. His experience as a banker in Latin America
provided him with the requisite background.
Don Tufts graduated from Hotchkiss and was a
Tyng Scholar at Williams. Dave Lindsay, a fellow
math major (only three in our class) said Don was
brilliant. He went on to MIT, earning both a master’s
and PhD. His doctoral dissertation solved the Nyquist
problem of jointly optimizing transmitters and receivers for transmitting PAM data over ISI channels. (I
don’t understand it either.) After leaving MIT he was
on the faculty at Harvard and later the University
of Rhode Island, making several more significant
contributions. A dedication to teaching was one of
his legacies. He was also active in the politics of East
Greenwich, R.I.
Peter Hunt died on Sept. 2. He was an avid sailor
and a lifelong environmentalist concentrating his life’s
work on cold fusion.
The Rev. Dr. Lee Snyder died on Sept. 9 after a
battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Lee was the valedictorian of our class. He earned a PhD in history from
Harvard and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, and he was an ordained Methodist
minister. He enjoyed a brilliant career in academics
with a particular interest in medieval history. He had
faculty appointments at New College, Ithaca College,
and Ohio Wesleyan University. He was well known
for his interest in teaching students.
No details available on Mort Weinberg as of this
printing.
And the art community of Portland, Maine, is still
reeling over the loss of Jim Goodbody.
Our annual homecoming/minireunion was kicked
off by Rick Smith, who dazzled us with a brilliant
talk, “Who Stole The American Dream?” which was
a précis of his book by the same title. Packing two and
a half years’ research into a thoroughly lucid exposé
of what has happened to America’s middle class is
no mean feat, but he executed same in a thoroughly
enjoyable fashion. It was naturally followed by
a standing ovation. Richly deserved. You will be
denied a seminal work if you do not get the book.
The afternoon featured a football loss to Middlebury,
fortunately held under sunny skies. The evening reception and dinner were held at Treetops and hosted
by our most congenial host Sandy Laitman for the
22nd consecutive year. Phil Smith was the recipient
of Peter’s Coat, with the following citation: “The
awarding of this year’s Peter’s Coat and commemorative tray is richly deserved. Peter’s Coat is emblematic
of devotion to the Class of ’55 of Williams College
and all its worthwhile goals as exemplified by Pete
Pelham. Our recipient has been a source of lifetime
fulfillment of these goals. Shortly after graduation he
participated in assembling the best student body in the
country, and his legacy continues to the present. He
has reached out to others—initiating and sustaining
philosophically and materially the Teaching Practicums in New York City schools. He is the epitome of
‘Bringing Williams to the World and the World to
Williams.’ As director and dean of admissions he has
constructed a diverse and accomplished international
class of student leaders. We proudly present Peter’s
Coat to Phil Smith.”
The social evening followed with libations, a
sumptuous repast, many remembrances, good
conversation, and a general feeling of good will.
Class luminaries present included Carolyn and Bob
Behr. Mary Louise and Merce Blanchard, Kathleen
and Jim Colberg, Maria and Dick Hale, Gerry and
Norm Hugo, Carole and Don Kelley, Sandy Laitman, Lennie and Jim Leone, Richard Maidman,
Betsey and Whitey Perrott, Margot and Len Platt,
Louise and Alan Reed, Rick Smith, Susie and Phil
Smith, Barbara and Gil True, and Joyce and Mac
Nelson.
Charlie Deasy is enjoying longtime retirement
from Bell Systems but lives near two sons and gets
to follow grandsons playing soccer. Lives with two
golden retrievers. Fred Bennett recently retired from
paper business and plays golf three times a week. Don
Everett sees Coley Yeaw and George Olmstead for
bridge each week through the Circulating Library
meetings. Also sees Bob Wilkes and Ted Bowers
when in Florida, where golf is a frequent activity
Norm Faulkner’s wife Sally died in December
2011, and he is getting married next December. He
gets together with Al Speidell on occasion. Al is still
practicing medicine.
Dick Gilcreast is still a professional photographer
and is also creating websites. He is leading an upcoming tour of the Society of Photographers at the Maine
Maritime Museum in Bath. George Hagerman is
still active, having recently sold his company. His
25-year passion of bike touring continues. His most
recent trip was through Germany, and he plans nothing—no reservations for anything, just pot luck. Next
trip is China. Dick Hale has recently sought relief
from spinal stenosis and appears to be healing well.
Peter Hall is active in the community of Wellfleet
and was recently honored by the Wellfleet Historical
Society—“salt of the earth” and was grand marshal in
the 4th of July parade. Peter was active at MIT with
military digital communications.
Sam Fortenbaugh is still practicing law and is
trés busy with his 8-year-old son. Still sails out of
Greenwich, but summer was interrupted by boat fire.
Roger (Mugsy) Ames, while retired from his paying vocation, is nonetheless as busy as can be. He has
been restoring/building houses for 15 years as part of
charity for the needy. He and his crew have done over
100 and made a great contribution to the community.
Jan Austell is semi-retired and is still an active
member of the Screen Actors Guild, appearing in
industrial films, commercials, and info TV. He had a
30-year career teaching English at The Kent School.
Dick Beatty enjoyed a Williams cruise on the Great
Lakes. He stays in touch with Williams through his
grandson, who is a sophomore.
When I spoke to Mel Bearns, he was 10 days post
hip replacement but was doing well.
Professor Ed Belt is still teaching at Amherst
and quite active in geology research. He says, “We
enjoyed a far-reaching discussion on global warming.
Still plays tennis three times a week. Took a Williams
Civil War tour and had a wonderful and educational
time.”
Myra and Poncho Isenhart and Sandy and Ted
Bowers also had a wonderful time on a Williams
Russian cruise. Richard Maidman still practices law.
Erv Holmes was in Paris, felt weak, and was subsequently diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. Erv has
been bitten by the travel bug and plans on becoming a
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charter member of the Williams travel group. Sherm
Hoyt is director of the Duxbury Bay Maritime School,
which teaches sailing to handicapped and inner-city
kids. It is an intense, summer-long program, and
they have educated 1,800 students. They have raised
$7 million dollars for facilities. He also serves on
the board of South Shore Conservatory, and they
have graduated 3,000 students. Finally, he is on the
board of Green Mountain Valley School, which is the
pre-eminent ski prep school preparing students for
elite educational institutions and international skiing
competition.
George Montgomery wonders why he is so busy.
Plays tennis twice a week. But he is doing great things
helping rehab Wounded Warriors, especially females.
Very proud of his two-star admiral son.
Bill Montgomery and Debbie have sold their place
in Aspen and moved to Basalt, Colo. Hosted the Eph
Rocks golf tournament, which included Mac Fiske,
Joel Strumph, and John Newhall. Moto kept his
machine shop and still turns out gorgeous wooden
bowls—professional grade. Bob Little went back
to his high school reunion and spent time with Bill
Fall, who was a classmate. Lists his charities as The
Salvation Army and 12 grandkids. Fred Paton has
moved back to Wilmington and is reacquainting
himself with other Ephs. Larry Pomerance is still
working managing money. Sees Steve Gordon and
reports he is well. Roger Friedman sent a letter
from his summer ranch in New Mexico, where he
delivered the 4th of July speech about freedom. The
speech was historically informative and inspiring.
The Sandy Laitmans spent vacation time at the
ranch. Bobby Behr shared with us the names of those
on recent alumni trips: Ed Belt, Civil War trip; Merc
Blanchard, baseball trip; Dick Beatty, Great Lakes
cruise; and Ted Bowers, Pancho Isenhart, and Bill
Prime, Russian waterways. Have a safe and wonderful winter. Will be in touch.
1956
Vern Squires, 727 Ardsley Road, Winnetka, IL 60093;
[email protected]
Sadly, this article must commence by taking note
of the loss of two more classmates. Jerry Davis died
in June. An economist at heart, Jerry was a keen
student of the Austrian economist and philosopher
Ludwig von Mises. Thanks to Jerry, many of us
were favored by copies of books and articles on the
Austrian School of economic thought. Also favored
was the college; Jerry was very fond of Williams and
was always generous at fund-raising time. Jerry is
survived by his wife Helen.
John Crocker passed away in August. John spent
his immediate post-Williams years in the Army,
serving in Korea, after which he returned to engage
in a wonderful array of business experiences, including establishing the Crocker Watch Co., developing
a classical music recording company, and building a
retail soaps and toiletries shop. John is survived by
his wife of 38 years, Jackie, and by two children.
One of the scarier aspects of being a scribe is the
chance that mistakes will occur, thereby necessitating an errata paragraph. From my last article, two
corrections are needed. First, I referred to Buster
26
l
Grossman’s time in the “1,000-yard freestyle.” It
was actually the 100-yard freestyle. Second, he met
with Bob Muir not in the latter part of our freshman
year (as I reported) but rather in October. Buster
had one other comment that I thought I might skip,
but his candidness is worth repeating: Our freshman
year was “the year I started diving for Williams and
lost to everyone we competed against.” Maybe so,
but he reversed that record soon enough. Another
correction, although actually not mine, came in from
Jo Anderson. He noted that he had not included
Jock Duncan in the information he gave me for the
item on the University School grads. I am glad to
insert in this article Jo’s request for an apology from
Jo to Jock.
On a nice, upbeat note, Tony Marano, through
his wife Mary, sent a card with a beautiful touch
of nostalgia. I quote: “These are THE days when
memories of Williamstown pop up so vividly. The
magnificent colors of the season lead our senses to
recall the football games and tailgating with friends.”
Tony, a/k/a “Champ,” is now retired, and he and
Mary remain in White Plains near their children
and grandchildren. As I reported in an earlier article,
the cardiac care unit of the White Plains Hospital
is named for Tony, a tribute to his long years of
dedicated service there.
Over the past several months, Williams-sponsored
trips have seen several members of the class enjoying
and appreciating new (to them) various parts of the
world. Betsey and Jo Anderson, not fazed by the
troubles in Greece, toured Athens, the Aegean Sea,
and Turkey. No other classmates were part of that
excursion, but Jo reported being with many enjoyable graduates and wives. Some highlights: a special
visit and private showing at the Bernacke Museum
in Athens (courtesy of a Williams graduate); several
island visits with their views of an early civilization;
visits to Izmir, Ephesus, and Pergamon; and a final
stop in Istanbul with its 25 million people and a
modern Muslim population.
In early October, Ronnie and Bill Potter spent 10
days in Sicily as a part of a Williams group led by
Michael Lewis, the Faison-Pierson-Stoddard Professor of Art. On this trip they were joined by Kay and
Wayne Renneisen. Bill reported, “We had a great
time. Lots of ruins and lots of wine.” Two years ago,
the Potters enjoyed a Williams-sponsored trip to
India.
Finally, in August; Judy and Vern Squires went on
the “Waterways of Russia” trip. This involved starting in Moscow, then traveling by boat on the Volga,
canals and Lake Lagoda in order to end up with two
fascinating days in St. Petersburg. Although primarily
a Williams-sponsored trip, we also had participants
from MIT, Mount Holyoke, Skidmore, Smith, Bryn
Mawr, the University of Iowa, and the University of
Kentucky. We were the only representatives of the
Class of ’56, but classmates may remember Myra and
Frank Isenhart ’55, Cornelia and Bill Prime ’55
and Sandy and Ted Bowers ’55. We were fortunate
to have as one of our leaders Bill Wagner, the Brown
Professor of History and the acting president of
Williams in the time period between Morty Schapiro
and Adam Falk. Bill drew on his 40 years of spending time in Russia for research to create singularly
fascinating lectures.
1955– 56
I have mentioned Bill Potter’s trip, but his letter
provided much other interesting information. Bill
and Ronnie are now Florida residents (Jupiter Island)
and spend November to May there. They maintain
an apartment in New York, their longtime home, but
they spend part of the summer in Vail, enjoying hiking, biking, fishing, golf, and a little skiing in March.
They have seven grandchildren. Bill reports that they
see the grandchildren a fair amount because—no surprise here—“they like visiting in Vail and Florida.”
In August, Bill had dinner with Paul Marcus. Paul
was recovering from a few health issues, but Bill reported that “he looked great.” Bill also sees with some
frequency his ophthalmologist Kenny Barasch. Says
Bill: “Ken looks like he never will retire.”
Kim Burbank had a long career in the practice
of law—more than 50 years. Perhaps many of you
received his “end of an era” email notice to the effect
that he would close his office in Pittsfield, Mass., and
move into retirement mode.
Tom Lincoln and Renee spent the summer in Casco, Maine, where they have had a cottage for more
than 40 years. The end of the summer called for the
return trip to Vero Beach, where they hoped to see
visiting classmates over the next several months.
Before heading south, Tom and Renee had lunch
with Weezie and Merce Blanchard ’55 and then,
to highlight their migration to Florida, they stopped
to visit Noanie and Jock Duncan at their home on
Amelia Island. (Noanie, incidentally, is doing well in
her recovery from open-heart surgery). In times past,
the Duncans went north to help make up the summer
“Class of ’56 Maine contingent,” but that trip did not
work out this year. Tom closed his note by commenting, “Hopefully we’ll see a lot more friends at the
Vero Beach ‘mini.’” (More on that project later.)
Bill Carr reports that he and Judy moved from
Beaufort, N.C., to the Splendido retirement facility
in Oro Valley, Ariz. He noted that one of the first
persons he met was an Amherst guy, Class of ’54, to
whom Bill promptly taught the Williams song. Bill
and Judy are doing some Arizona sightseeing in what
Bill describes as a “truly spectacular state.”
I wonder how many saw the article in the July 2012
issue of Williams Alumni Review on Robert Nutting
’84, son of our own Og Nutting. Robert has taken
over the operations of the 122-year-old Wheeling,
W.Va.-based Ogden Newspaper group, but the main
point of the article was Robert’s position as principal
owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 2012 was not the
season that the Nutting family hoped for, but, as
was said way back in our day with reference to the
Brooklyn Dodgers, “wait till next year.” In the course
of doing some follow-up on Alumni Review article,
I discovered that our Ogden Nutting received an
honorary degree from West Virginia University last
May. The news release on this event is too long to
quote in full, but here are a couple of paragraphs.
“Active in national and state newspaper and journalism associations, Mr. Nutting served on boards or
committee of the Southern Newspaper Publishers’
Association, the American Newspaper Publishers’
Association and the West Virginia Press Association,
which in 1994 named him a life member ‘in appreciation for years of outstanding service’ and in 2010
gave him the Adam Kelly Premier Journalist award.
… West Virginia University has recognized Mr.
Nutting’s service with the Most Loyal West Virginia
Award, the Distinguished Service award, and the
first Paul A. Atkins Friend of the Journalism School
Award. He has also been inducted into the Order of
Vandalia and the West Virginia University Business
Hall of Fame. In addition the Nutting Foundation
received the WVU Foundation’s Outstanding Philanthropy Award.”
Lou Friedman sent a kind of “bad news, good
news” letter. The bad news was that he had to spend
months in a hospital with a variety of issues and
almost died from a blood clot. The good news was, as
he put it, “I didn’t die!” He is now in the process of
regaining strength. He and Judi (Vassar ’57) remain
very active politically and environmentally at the
local, state, and national levels from their home in
Canton, Conn. Lou is on the board of directors of
Beyond Nuclear, a national organization working for
a world free from nuclear power and nuclear weapons, and Judi is the chairwoman of People’s Action
for Clean Energy, a local organization dedicated to
promoting the development of alternative sources of
energy and the efficient use of energy. Lou expressed
regret that he and Judi had not been able to attend
reunions, “but our memories are so strong individually and collectively.”
A card came in from Jim Taylor that started with
the announcement that he married Lenora Peterson
on Sept. 2, 2012. Congratulations, Jim. He is the skipper of a 56-foot schooner out of La Conner, Wash.,
located at the mouth of the Skagit River. La Conner
is an historic community founded in the early 1860s
and first settled by non-natives just after the Civil
War. Like many of us, Jim is “trying to lighten the
number of things in my life,” but that goal does not
dispel the possibility of being on the Antiques Road
Show in 2013.
Another “marriage bulletin” came in from John
Dew. John married the former Jane Riley in November 2011. They spent their first summer together in
the mountains of North Carolina and celebrated their
first anniversary at the magnificent Biltmore Estate
in Ashville, N.C. Congratulations, John. The much-anticipated national elections in Venezuela occurred in October. Among the commentators whose views were sought immediately after the
results were in was Toby Bottome, the president of
VenEconomy, the leading publisher of journals in the
field of business in Venezuela. Toby’s comments appeared in the Chicago Tribune and no doubt in other
newspapers throughout the U.S.
July 2012 brought together Martha and Bill Merizon, Gaysie Taylor, Nancy and Kirt Gardner, and
Mary Clare and Bill Jenks for a five-day whitewater
rafting and fishing trip on the middle fork of the
Salmon River, north of Sun Valley, Idaho. A great
photograph accompanied Bill’s note. It portrays
an extraordinarily healthy and youthful appearing
group. As Bill reported: “We all had an exciting and
fun time together.”
Another classmate who loves the outdoors and does
not let the advancing years slow him down is Mike
Shermer. He is still skiing and planning a weeklong
trip to Idaho in late January. He spent last summer at
Burt Lake, Mich., in the “Tip-of-the-Mitt” area (i.e.,
the north end of Michigan’s lower peninsula) and
was on the water as much as possible. Then he is on
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to his winter-spring home in Cedarburg, Wisc.
Another classmate who continues to challenge the
Great Outdoors is Ed Amidon. Still in Vermont after
45 years, Ed does some paddling in the summer and
cross country skis in the winter, although he has relegated to history his whitewater and northern Canada
tripping. Ed sees Marion and Jack Carter from time
to time as they live part of the year in Woodstock. He
crossed paths with Dick Beamish in Saranac Lake,
N.Y., where Dick recently retired as the founding
publisher of the Adirondack Explorer, a very successful
regional magazine. Ed recalled that two years ago
he reached a longtime travel goal by spending three
weeks on Tristan da Cunha, an island with a tiny
isolated community halfway between Buenos Aires
and Cape Town. Ed did not tell me, but I discovered
that the island has a rich history. In WWII the island
was used as a top-secret weather and radio station to
monitor U-Boat activity in the South Atlantic Ocean,
and at that time the only currency on the island was
the potato. More recently, the island received a U.K.
postcard to make it easier for the residents to order
goods online. Maybe in the next article Ed can tell
us what attracted him to this remote but fascinating
location.
A photograph from Buster Grossman includes
himself with two generations of Williams students:
George LeBourdais MA ’09 and Alejandra Rosales ’15. “Ale” was president of Felix Ventures two
years ago and is now the first of Buster’s students to
attend Williams. The picture was taken at the conclusion of a weeklong backpack trek to a campsite in
Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park in California.
As dusk settled in on their campsite, they recognized
that “it was one of those events that brings a smile
to both the face and the heart,” but Buster also noted
that he was “not sure that they were so smiley when
the bear we had told them about sauntered around
the perimeter of their campsite.”
In October, Buster and Bev journeyed to Williamstown to join forces with Ellie and Sig Balka and
Betsy and Phil Palmedo for the Williams College
Museum of Art annual Fall Fellows Weekend. (The
fellows program is an aspect of membership in
WCMA. Annual memberships range from $30 to the
Professor S. Lane Faison Jr. 1929 membership at the
top, with various levels in between. Fellows memberships start at $1,000 per year and enable participants
to enjoy, among other things, the museum’s travel
program.) The Grossmans, Balkas, and Palmedos
were able to spend some time with Tina Olsen, the
new Class of 1956 Director of the Williams College
Museum of Art. Hopefully everyone had a chance to
read the lengthy and interesting interview which Sig
had with Tina shortly after her arrival in Williamstown.
To close on a somewhat personal note, I never anticipated the kind words that Sig Balka expressed in
his Oct. 4 memorandum to the class, but I certainly
appreciated them. Staying in touch with so many
classmates through the secretary’s position has been
a real pleasure. Sig’s memorandum noted a proposed
2014 minireunion in Vero Beach on which he and
Bruce Dayton are working. March 5-7, 2014, are the
exact dates. Mark your calendars and let Bruce know,
at [email protected], if you are thinking of attending. On to Vero Beach!
28
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1957
Richard P. Towne, 13 Silverwood Terrace, South Hadley,
MA 01075; [email protected]
On an early morning walk amongst vivid fall foliage my cell phone rang. It was our ex scribe John
Pritchard returning from breakfast at the Nifty Fifties
diner on Route 7, being chauffeured by Steve Bullock. Bullock acquired an ’86 red Dodge or Plymouth
convertible, so you can picture the scene: two whitehaired geezers steaming along with the top down,
like Bo and Luke of the TV series Dukes of Hazzard,
awaiting admiring glances from Williamstown’s coed
population en route to class. Not very likely, guys!
Steve, John said, finally closed on the sale of his home
in Alexandria, leaving the way clear to becoming a
full-time Williamstown resident (subject to family
approval I’m sure) or succumbing to an irresistible
urge to sink the proceeds of the sale into an expanding
collection of classic cars.
Dr. Eric Butler (former hand surgeon) took a few
days of his vacation from Menlo Park and Prince
Edward Island, Canada, to visit Dee Gardner during
his recovery at Salem Hospital from stomach surgery.
Eric just wanted to be sure Dee was receiving proper
hospital care. Assured that he was, Eric returned to
pursuing other worthwhile works. He and his wife Susan do much community service, notably with animal
welfare agencies and Meals on Wheels in Menlo
Park and Prince Edward Island, the site of their
summer home. He reports they shared an experience
with Barbara and Ted Graham by helping a Williams undergraduate from Romania. The Grahams
sponsored Romanian Anna Antonova ’12 to enroll at
Williams four years ago. When she graduated in June,
her degree included a semester at Williams Mystic in
Connecticut, financed by a grant from Susan and Eric
Butler. Nice teamwork by both families!
Nick Wright has always liked to take the initiative. Since his days as director of the college Octet
and Glee Club, he still does more than most without
being asked. To celebrate the July 4th holiday, Nick
and Joan held a picnic at their Williamstown home,
inviting nearby ’57 classmates the Pritchards, Steve
Bullock, Frank Uible, Paula and Harold Byrdy and
Financial Aid Director Paul Boyer ’77 to be their
guests. What made it special was the Wrights invited
all 16 summer interns from the 1957 Summer Humanities Program group. Nick’s homegrown asparagus was featured on the menu. The students, some
from international homelands, others too far from
their U.S. hometowns, had a special July 4 holiday.
I should add Wright also has a unique sartorial flair,
which he displayed at the reunion by wearing a 1920s
purple smoking jacket acquired from Joan’s father,
Class of 1926. Phil and Tom Walsh would have been
envious of the fit.
Lack of space prevented me from telling you about
several other classmates who attended the June weekend reunion in Williamstown. Among them were
Martha and Doug Poole, golfers and party animals
second to none! Discussions with them made me
realize that a large number of returnees were athletes
who played on sports teams during our undergraduate
days. Was this the bond that brought us back? Doug
found himself among hockey teammates including
1956– 57
“Yogie” Berry, Dick Flood, John Holman, Howie
Patterson, Ted Swain, Tom von Stein, and George
Welles.
Baseball stalwarts were Flood (seemingly multitasking on the athletic field back then!) and Fearon.
Football players included Appleford, Berry, Dengel,
Gardella, Bob Lane and John Pritchard. Lacrosse
team guys included Tony Brockleman, Dave
Hilliard, and Ted Swain. Soccer mates found were
Bob Beebe, Howard Patterson, Peter Elbow (also
renowned as a skier), your scribe, and Hall Warren.
John Lewis and George Sykes together with Manager George Sudduth were our class contributors to
Coach Al Shaw’s basketball team. There were many
others I could tell you about, too. Cobden (squash),
Jackubowski (golf), Dolbear, Elbow (skiing), etc. So
you get the picture. Sports teams indeed have been a
link that attracts us to reunions.
Bob Fishback covered baseball in our undergraduate days as a reporter for the Williams Record. He reminisced by telephone with me about footballer Rupe
Lowe’s post-Williams career. Rupe returned to graduate in 1963 after serving in the Navy as a carrier pilot.
Thereafter he earned a master’s degree at Syracuse in
educational administration. He flew commercially for
Mohawk Airlines until retirement and then became
an active Coast Guard Auxiliary instructor and yacht
captain. Now that’s an adventurous career!
George Welles keeps busy filling in where needed
as an interim pastor for Episcopal churches and mentoring his family of eight kids and three foster kids
in Brockton. He goes wherever he’s needed, seldom
refusing the call.
My last column put Tony Brockleman on the hockey team (instead of lacrosse) and omitted Tony Smith
as a member, prompting a correction by Tom von
Stein, whose career with the SEC as an enforcement
director made me take immediate corrective action.
Thanks, Tom! We caught up with Tom at the October
Homecoming game to find he’s enjoying retirement
as an avid history buff.
Our departed classmate Phil Fradkin had a website
displaying some of the most artistic photographs
I’ve seen in a long while. Judge for yourself at www.
philipfradkinphotos.com. The website is called “Philip
Fradkin’s Photographs of California and The American West.” There is an obituary of Phil in the back of
this issue.
Alice and Joe Richardson were on my list of people
to talk to at the reunion, but we left too early to make
the connection. I had wondered how his retirement
from Franklin & Marshall before the 50th reunion
was going. I know he cooks a lot, has a huge garden
(I wanted him give me a few tips on growing a better
crop in mine, but it went for naught). Alice, a degreed
landscape gardener, must be the layout designer. Besides the interest in gardening, Joe and I share something else in common: fathers who were classmates at
Williams in 1921! Better send me some news, Joe, so
I don’t have to harken back to such ancient history in
future columns!
Are there any more gracious and friendly classmates
than Ginny and Brad Tips? Not that I could find at
the reunion, keeping me abreast of friends from Chicago and his fraternity buddies like Ed Hines and Ted
McKee with whom they keep in close touch.
“The trick in life is not getting what you want but
in wanting what you get after you get it.” (Katherine
Hepburn quotation from 50th reunion essay by Hall
Warren). Since Hall wrote this quote, he’s tried to
live by it, telling me that he recently left the sybaritic
world of Carmel, Calif., for a retirement-living community along the coast of southern New Jersey. He’s
keeping the location a secret to avoid overnight visitors. Not Florida climate but still highly enjoyable, he
says. Hall and friend Eileen Kirby joined the AH&L
alumni at the Fred Rudolph ’42 gathering. Hall’s still
gregarious, the same as I remember during our days
warming the Cole Field bench together while playing
soccer for Clarence Chaffee.
Oct. 15 is the traditional time for minireunions, and
’57 had a gathering for its annual affair at Weston
Field and Griffin Hall. Outdoors, a picturesque,
windy day with autumn colors to die for. Inside, Griffin was packed with an aging but energetic audience of
’50s and ’60s types to hear the lecture on the rise and
fall of fraternities given by President Emeritus John
Chandler, attorney Bruce Grinnell ’62, and 1957’s
Tony Smith and Dee Gardner. For over two hours,
the audience returned to its undergraduate years to
listen to an account of the before and after years of
“Total Opportunity.”
Pres. Chandler began the talk by defining the history of fraternities from their inception at Williams
beginning in 1834 to the moment when we arrived in
1953. Williams had only 119 students by 1872, but,
thanks to the efforts of Union College nearby, nine
fraternities! Fraternities grew rapidly, reaching their
Mansion Building era during the early 1900s as Williams transitioned from a college for aspiring clergy
and missionaries (think “Haystack Monument”) to
a “Gentlemen’s College” as Prof. Fred Rudolph ’42
coined the phrase. While one faculty wag referred
to them as “drinking and driving clubs,” others felt
strongly that they were more than simply elitist institutions because they served as undergraduate training
grounds, which could hone their members’ social and
political skills.
Tony Smith picked up the story of our era, tracing
the beginnings of a protest movement, which began
with “embittered members” of the Garfield Club’s
decision to disband in 1953 due to their isolation from
a fuller social life during their undergraduate days. He
became involved in what was perceived among some
within the class as an issue of inequity toward those
unable to affiliate with a fraternity. That led to his becoming a researcher and draft writer of a letter to the
college administration signed by 20 or so classmates,
several later class members and himself known as
the “Terrible Twenty Two.” “It might have been the
beginning of my inspiration to apply for membership
into the CIA” (his lifelong career), he opined.
Dee Gardner continued the tale. Steered by an
entrymate, Jamie Humes, who became his campaign director (known nowadays as an accomplished
author, historian, speechwriter for several presidents,
and public speaker), Gardner ran for freshman class
president under a slogan concocted by Humes that
said “Take all of us or none of us!” referring to the
fact that we were the first class to defer fraternity
entrance until our sophomore year. You remember
the rest of the details, I’m sure. Dee took special note
of the experience of Duane Yee at his fraternity and
mentioned one or two other similar fraternity cases
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during our student days. From their own memories,
the audience’s commentary filled in details.
For Bruce Grinnell ’62, this was ancient history
when his class changed college trustee game plans by
petitioning them to find a new system: a replacement
for the fraternity as the fulcrum of college social life.
The 465 names from an enrollment of 1,200 students
had the impact they desired. How the committees,
reports, meetings, resolutions, and actions that ensued
during the end of College President Baxter’s and the
onset of President Jack Sawyer’s ’39 administration
completed his story.
The lecture concluded with Dee Gardner’s explanation of his 1962 appointment to the college staff.
For seven years, he was involved with the fraternity
system transformation, beginning as staff assistant
to the trustee committee responsible for negotiating
the details of changing to a resident hall plan. Later
he became that committee’s secretary before joining
the administration as assistant and finally dean of
student affairs. The changeover entailed negotiations
with alumni, fraternity, student, and college officials
on innumerable details: fiscal, legal, logistical, and
governmental, each having overlap with the other.
Basic changes had to be resolved in every area to create a replacement for the system we found when we
entered as freshmen.
Before a rapt audience, the four speakers left ample
time for many reflections, comments, and applause.
Weston Field on Saturday was the site of another
gorgeous display of fall color as a gathering of 11 ’57
wives, husbands, and friends exchanged laughter
and tales of their activity since last June. Observed as
they enjoyed the college luncheon outside a colorful
tent were Kathy and Charley Berry, Anne and Tony
Brockleman, Betty and Dick Fearon, Sally and Dick
Flood, Dee Gardner and friend Mimi Hollister, John
Pritchard, R.A. Gallun, Tom von Stein, Anne and
George Welles, and your scribe. Seen from a distance
may have been others, but then, since I no longer can
see from a distance, these must be rumors of sorts.
I spoke to Dick Gallun about his retirement at
age 75 from FISERVE, the merger and acquisition
business he specialized in for 40-plus years before
he watched his grandson play tight end for Williams
(Sam Krieg ’13 is also a Phi Beta Kappa). From the
bleachers, R.A. noted, “Hockey players couldn’t sing!”
as the crowd bellowed “Yard by Yard” after the only
touchdown the team scored in the first half. Too busy
scoring goals, I guess.
News was sparse. Dick Fearon is too modest about
his golfing skills to boast about breaking 85 at New
Haven’s Yale Golf Course. Von Stein is immersed in
history readings but reluctant to provide more details.
Keeping track of spouses seems to be the lot of Annie
Brockleman and Annie Welles. Mimi Holland tries
to prevent Dee Gardner from capsizing his sailboat
in the winds of Marblehead harbor. And so it went
among the tiny gathering during the pre-game picnic
on a cool fall day in Williamstown.
The clan gathered at The Log afterward for a
reception it hosted for’57 Scholars and ’57 Summer
Humanities Program interns. Attending were four
of the seven scholars and two summer interns. They
celebrated Homecoming with the spectators from
the game augmented by Frank Wingate and Nick
Wright. Dick Flood reported the students “seemed
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highly impressed by our generosity and interest in
their Williams lives.” An informal reception has
replaced the annual Scholars Dinner that the class has
sponsored ever since the program’s beginning after
our 25th reunion. Next year plans are to promote a
larger turnout of undergraduates.
So what about the rest of you? Can you tell me
what’s new in your life? No? If not can you answer
this question AH&L classmate John Sudduth gave us
at the June reunion tribute to Professor Fred Rudolph
’42? What were the real names of faculty members
nicknamed Red Fred, Silver Fox, King Kong and
Massive Basalt? Answers to follow.
1958
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Dick Davis, 5732 East Woodridge Drive, Scottsdale, AZ
Even if I had Huntsian or Giffordean perspective
I don’t think I’d dig T.S. Eliot, but to use a phrase he
might have, between the writing here in late October
and the reading in likely January falls the election. It’s
major and no doubt a perspective changer one way
or another. So what else is new in this vibrant and
dynamic nation?
Fall and winter will pass and give way to spring
and summer, and you’ll want to make some of your
summer plans early. One thing to consider is summer
theater in the Berkshires. I’m indebted to Chet Lasell
and the Berkshire Eagle for the following.
In late June Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick
came to Pittsfield to dedicate the stage of the
“Boyd-Quinson Mainstage of the Barrington State
Company.” Julieann Boyd is the founding artistic
director and Mary Ann (Minkie to us) Quinson
is the founding board president of the theater.
Governor Patrick described the performance venue
as a “wonderful jewel of the Berkshires, and of the
state.” Minkie said, after a standing ovation from the
capacity crowd, “I’d like to thank two special people,
my husband and Julie’s husband.” Congratulations to
all from us lovers of the Berkshires.
Fiddler on the Roof was playing at the Barrington
Stage at the time. In the June 29 Wall Street Journal
the drama critic Terry Teachout wrote that Barrington “put on some of the best musical comedy
productions to be seen in New England (and) set the
bar high last summer when it mounted a Guys and
Dolls that was superior in every way to the inept 2009
Broadway revival.” Teachout also noted that the Barrington Stage “rang the cherries” with its pioneering
presentation of Freud’s Last Session. The bottom line
here: there’s great summer theatre in the Berkshires.
Google or whatever you do for scheds. I’m not sure
whether Bruno gets out on the stage very often.
Maybe only when one of the actors gets a malade vrai
or imaginaire.
From Joe Albright comes the following: “On
Sunday, Aug. 5, accompanied by a wonderfully
patient climbing guide. … I hiked seven miles and
6,000 vertical feet up to the Grand Teton base camp
at 11,600 feet. On Monday morning at 4 a.m., despite
a sketchy weather forecast, we roped up and started
climbing toward the grand summit of 13,700 feet.
We got up to about 13,300-13,400 feet when it started
pelting rain and one of the guides saw lightning.
1957– 58
We had to scurry off the mountain on rappel ropes.
There followed an [eight-and-a-half hour] hike back
down 6,000 feet from the base camp to the trailhead.
Although it was technically a failure, for me it was an
exhilarating journey that ended at 10:45 p.m. with me
feeling remarkably mobile, considering my 75-yearold knees.”
There are minis and maxis, but any mini is a maxi
if you’re there. This year was no exception. The
classes of ’58, ’59, and ’60 were together for the Friday
night dinner at The Log, and, following the annual
fête Chez Lasell ’58 enjoyed Saturday night dinner
at the Williams Inn. Lou Lustenberger and Anita
were there; Brad Thayer and Bee; David Grossman
and Jill; Ron Anderson and Barbie; Fred Clifford
and Barbara; Stu Crampton and Susan; David Kane
and Siegrun; Jim Bowers and Susie; Dave Allan and
Connie; Joe Young and Betsy; Spence Jones and
Susan; Don Conklin and Elizabeth; Bob Salisbury
and Toni; Denny Doucette; Bob Kingsbury; Skip
Martin; and Bruno Quinson. Not to mention Chet
Lasell and Kate and Rick Driscoll and Jeanne, who
did the yeoman work of putting it all together. Bob
Kingsbury and Fred Clifford wafted sweet chords
throughout the evening. Joe Young and others said
both lectures were superb, with packed houses. The
only downer was an Eph 11 outclassed by a concededly strong Middlebury team (now there’s a rarity)
which sported a transferee quarterback from Brown.
Ya can’t win ’em all.
Tom Kellogg missed the mini only because he just
bought a house on the Eastern shore of Virginia (the
Delmarva Peninsula), at Onancock, Accomac County,
where Onancock Creek flows into Chesapeake Bay,
and he and Mercy Ramsey had to be there that weekend. Tom says it’s a very laid-back place, a shorefront
property, far from the hustle and bustle of the Philly
environs. On a good day, ex rush hour, Tom can get
there in three hours.
The Chesapeake Bay area is tremendously popular
with ’58ers. Rich Wagner and Ginny are moving
from their home of 31 years in McLean to the little
village of Oxford, Md., also on the Eastern Shore.
Rich writes: “It’s a beautiful little town, close enough
to the DC area to commute a couple of days for both
of us to do a little work occasionally, but very rural
and watery. ’58ers will always be welcome.”
Dave Cook and Bill Dudley live on the Eastern
Shore. Joel Potter is in Worton and Ron Cullis is in
or around Chesapeake City. My roster says that Don
Olson lives in Easton. If you’ve seen or heard from
Don, let me know.
Rich Wagner, by the way, says he’s joined Jack Talmadge and Dave Plater in writing a family history.
He’s completed a 40-page synopsis covering the years
back to 1891 when all four of his grandparents made
the land-rush into the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
His next installment, he hopes, “will resolve the mystery of the nasty letter my great grandfather Wagner
got from his (Union) Civil War draft board.”
Rich is a Washington Nationals fan, and how they
deserve fans. From another bay all the way across the
continent, Carl Vogt says he wishes the Nationals had
been there when he was in Washington.
Carl and Margrit did get to Ethiopia and in late
August had just returned from Indonesia. “Very
different but fascinating countries … part of our
‘adventure’ travel for seniors program. I am ready
for a Williams trip and looking at Portugal with
Prof. Leyla Rouhi next year.” Carl also writes: “I am
beginning my second year on the board of St. John’s
School in Houston. Had it not been for the faculty
there Rad Byerly and I might never have heard of
Williams. Over the years quite a number of St. John’s
grads have become Ephs. We owe the school a lot.”
Speaking of Rad, Jim Hutchinson and Kay took a
trip to Costa Rica with Rad and Carol in July. Many
in our class have visited Costa Rica as I recall. Jim
says George Vare and Elsa were to stop by on their
way to Seattle in November. George, acknowledging
that some growers are apt to hype their crops a bit,
says this was a great year for his grapes. Oenophiles
take note.
In the last issue I reported that Larry Nilsen and
Barbara had 16 grandchildren. I was off by two. They
have 14.
Bob Guyett was on an extensive trip abroad in the
fall but planned to be at the December holiday lunch
and the 55th in June. Lou Caplan and Brenda were in
India in October and later plan to be in Brazil. At this
point they are scheduled to be in Barcelona early next
summer where their son is with the Doctors Without
Borders program, stationed in that beautiful city.
Come to think of it, Lou is kind of a doctor without
borders himself.
Jim Murphy and Connie were on Dingle Bay, on
the west coast of Ireland, County Kerry, in September. This must be some of the ancestral auld sod. I
chanced to see a special presentation of the devastation wreaked by the volcanic eruption on the southern
end of Montserrat. Jim confirms that it will be many
years, if ever, before that part of the island is rebuilt.
Jim and Connie’s place is on the north end of this
beautiful jungle island, which was unscathed. Jim and
Connie plan to go there at least one more year.
On another volcanic island far to the east, Ed
Hughes wrote in October that he was in Palermo,
where his Italian wasn’t worth much, given the local
dialect and idiom. Ed says anyone who appreciates
mosaics has got to get to Palermo.
Walt Kasten hopes that Chet Lasell gets back to
Vero thoroughly fit and rested and ready for major
fishing exploits. Chet skippers the pride of the fleet. I
know Hank Dimlich and Charlie Schweighauser do
fly fishing—who else is a committed angler? I can’t
say I am, but I had a day and a haul to remember at
Lees Ferry on the Colorado and one at Guaymas in
the Sea of Cortez. More often I’m just a seafood lover.
The Joe Youngs enjoyed the matchless hospitality
of the Spencer Joneses before the mini, and Joe and
Betsy took off afterward down the Skyline Drive to
the Carolina Smokeys.
Lou Lustenberger had a great time at the “very
mellow” mini—“everybody looked just the same
to me.” Lou has reduced his “country law office” in
Irvington to a “low burner.” He’s holding off talking
to Jim Conlan about the Yankees for a while. Sounds
like Lou is enjoying a family friends and neighbors
practice without a lot of attention to the bottom line.
You know about one man’s poison. Sandy Hansell
and neighbors are high as a kite for the Tigers, postYankees but not post-Giants, thus far. Sandy says
Obama is very popular in Michigan for having kept
GM and Chrysler alive.
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Thanks to Warren Clark, we have information on
Ridgway Banks. Ridgway is an inventor with an
intriguing invention product. As Warren describes it,
it is a low-cost energy source using the shape memory
properties of the alloy nitinol. As his daughter Zoe
Banks describes it, Ridgway is the inventor of the
“world’s first solid-state alternative energy machine.”
I’ll need scientific help on this, but Warren says we
can see Zoe’s award-winning video on it at https://
vimeo.com/45924783. Congratulations, Ridgway and
Zoe, and thanks, Warren. I asked him and Warren
says he usually goes by Warren now because his son is
called Renny.
By the way, when I hear of or from a classmate for
the first time, I spontaneously break briefly into a
dance, the Rumbookoochie. This is an eclectic dance
of varied Caribbean, Hopi, Cossack, and Brazilian
derivations.
Ben Foster usually provides me with some comedy.
I love it! Ben has changed his email address to [email protected]. The “bunny” component is
somewhat ironic, Ben notes; not only is it an old family nickname for him, but his garden in the Litchfield
hills is overrun by the cute little lagomorphs, and
neither the local predators nor his grandchildren will
cooperate in effectuating control of the lagopopulation.
Ben and Zay’s life is very outdoorsy and grandchild
oriented. They have grandchildren in Sweden, Walla
Walla, Richmond, and one coming in Buffalo. Ben
writes: “We spent much of May in Lerum, Sweden,
north of Gothenberg, where my son Jeremiah lives
with his wife Annika and daughter Hannah; many
idyllic settings with forests, hills, lakes, and streams.
Many summers we visit my son Caleb, a wine maker
(he owns Buty Winery) in Walla Walla, another
opportunity for scenic travel from Portland through
the Columbia River Gorge, one of my favorite places
in the U.S.”
Ed Snyder is still engaged in human relations and
executive recruiting but describes himself as semiretired. More importantly, he is now living in Tucson, that magnificent mountain-ringed community
to the south of us here. There is a new lady in Ed’s
life, Lois Holbrook. They live to the southeast of the
Old Pueblo, at the Voyager Resort, a fine-sounding
large multi-amenity facility near I-10. Ed and Lois
have invested in a rental for vacationers. Ed says give
him a call at 520.574.5487 (home) or 413.575.9546
(mobile).
Dave Plater endured days without power and 14
inches of rain in the late August deluge that hit Louisiana. That’s more rain than we see in at minimum
two years here. One thing you know—Louisiana has
to have a competent corps of roofers.
Bill Dudley keeps real busy. Lately he’s been chairing or participating in panels discussing the War of
1812. One was in Baltimore for the Society of History
of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) and the
other at the Pritzker Military Library in Chicago.
For details on those and related netcasts, get to Bill at
[email protected]. Bill and Donna kick back on
the Eastern Shore with their Samoyed pups.
I have seen a reference to Stephen Rose—we usually called him Steve if he’s our classmate—doing a
blog, possibly associated with the Daily Kos organization. One would have to do more digging than I have
32
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done yet to verify anything, but some classmates have
inquired. The blogs I’ve seen (some by others) are
very intensely political.
John Buckner and Lorraine enjoyed hiking in north
Sonoma County with George Vare and Elsa.
Ron Anderson enjoyed the mini. Ron writes: “I
am still pretty much doing what I have been doing
for over 40 years, practicing and teaching in the same
hospital, the Brigham and Women’s. I enjoy my work
and have pretty much given up the administrative
aspects, which was always the least enjoyable part.
Working with young physicians and medical students
has always been fun. Lou Caplan also continues
to practice and teach neurology across the street
at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. We
periodically see each other and played tennis a few
weeks ago.”
Phil Rideout and Flavia jaunted up to Denny
Doyle country, Rochester, in the early fall and took in
the seasonal beauty and the new wine around Seneca
Lake. Phil is another one who sparks my funny bone.
He has five grandnephews all in the Marine Corps
and six grandnieces who sing like the Von Trapps. I
also had a note from the Bison Body himself, noting
all goes well and awaiting a return to (“north of Skip
and south of Vero”) Jupiter Beach. Denny remains a
senior VP at Morgan Stanley.
I am sorry to have to report that Bill Fox lost his
wife Karen to cancer on Dec. 31, 2011.
Bill acknowledges that it’s been a rough year. It’s
likewise been a tough year in a different way for
Chip Wright. I very recently received the following
from Martha: “The news about Chip is sadly not so
good. As if mandatory retirement at age 70 were not
enough, Parkinson’s disease, then a traumatic brain
injury from a swimming accident in the beautiful
British Virgin Islands in 2011 have really kicked him
ferociously. Since then he has not really been able to
live at home and will soon move to a more comprehensive facility with a skilled dementia unit. Well
aware of what is happening to him, he remains cheerful and upbeat; and he cherishes his old buddies from
Williams. Dave Grossman has been a hero.”
Hang in there Chip and everybody. Save June 6-9
for Opus 55 and for dear old Eph. The newly remodeled Chapin Hall better have a strong roof.
1959
Dan Rankin, 1870 Bay Road, #213, Vero Beach, FL
It’s amazing how often the unexpected happens yet we
still never expect it.
Yeah, like your 75th birthday, your 50th wedding
anniversary, or your grandkid’s wedding. A slew of
classmates responded to my plea describing all kinds
of gala celebrations. In Sonoma County, Calif., our
triumvirate of Norm Cram, Chuck Dunkel, and Bo
Kirschen gathered in July with many others to toast
Norm and Deirdre on their 50th. Then a month later
the same troika met at Lagunitas Brewery for Norm’s
75th. Norm describes it as, “A clergy immersed in
suds.” All this partying ensured Chuck would feel
little pain when he went through hip replacement
in August—apparently that was the case and he’s
recovering nicely as I write in October. The reveling
1958– 59
reached its limits when some celebrant mistook Bo for
Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha. Bo explained
that any resemblance was purely physical—seems to
be the shape of the head and wire rimmed glasses. He
does realize the age factor is showing since salespeople
at grocery stores always ask if he needs help carrying
his newly purchased loaf of bread out to the car.
Bo serves as a reliable source of good info for Peter
Fessenden on maintaining a healthy heart. Fess and
Sandy have traveled a bit over the last year and are
beginning to think about checking out three stage
communities in Colorado and Arizona.
Ben Zox claims that age has done miraculous things
for his golf game. He made his first hole in one 10
days after he turned 75 and then 60 days later his
second hole in one. There’s hope for all of us. Ben
feels lucky that his son Bill ’89 has a vacation home
in West Stockbridge, Mass., which allows him to visit
Williamstown often.
Golf continues to have a strong hold on Hanse
Halligan, and he sends a revolting comment that he
“occasionally” shoots his age; others inform me he
“often” shoots his age—it seems unfair that we have to
live with talented folks like this. He and Judie Robbins
made it back for the October minireunion after summer trips to Ireland and the Tuscan hills of Italy.
Don Hart hit the trifecta with his 75th birthday,
50th wedding anniversary, and 25th anniversary of
his consecration as a bishop in the Episcopal Church.
Thirty friends and relatives showed up to cut the
ribbon as Carter Coleman crossed the 75-year marker
in San Anselmo, Calif., and he’s kept in line by his
wife Kay, who is the town’s vice mayor and will take
over the top spot next year.
Bob Gould and Sheila seem to bypass the personal celebrations and moved directly on to care for
grandchildren while their parents enjoyed a 20th
anniversary boat trip. The 75th milestone “somewhat
surprised and spooked”
Peter Bradley, who celebrated the day “in jocund
company of children and grandchildren.” He reports
he’s adopted Christopher Hitchens’ rallying cry: “I
am loath to repine in my decline.” If you’d like to get
a look at Peter singing and playing (I’m not sure what
kind of instrument, ukulele? small guitar? etc?), visit
this link: https://vimeo.com/5029316. Were enough
of us to sign on, perhaps it will go viral.
As I write in October I also know David Earle has
planned a splendid December gala in Chicago to
celebrate his 50th with Alix.
Ernie Imhoff and Hilda journeyed to Lake George,
N.Y., to mark their golden wedding anniversary with
30 family members. He finds more strangers call him
“sir” and quietly mutter, “poor fellow, what a shame”
as he wobbles along with his cane. Though he may
not be climbing high or climbing far, he still holds
true to the spirit of the Hopkins Gate.
Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill.
Taking pity on me for waving the crying towel and
sensing an aura of my desperation, dependable Dick
Moe came through by explaining that, “Since retiring
from the National Trust over two years ago I’ve spent
most of my time split between DC and Santa Fe,
writing a book about FDR and his decision to run for
an historic third term in 1940 with war breaking out
in Europe, Charles Lindbergh leading the isolationist
charge, and Wendell Wilkie dramatically capturing
the GOP nomination. It was one helluva year, I think
one of the most consequential of the 20th century,
and happily Oxford University Press agrees and will
bring it out next year.” Dick credits Jim Burns ’39
with triggering his interest in politics, particularly
Poli Sci 101 and Burns’ book The Lion and the Fox. As
Dick says, “A Williams education keeps paying rich
dividends.”
Tony Harwood finds it impossible to completely
retire; he continues to serve as a hospital trustee, still
manages to pass his flight physicals, and recently
earned his seaplane rating. He should have no trouble
winging into class reunions.
The students of Virginia Tech still energize Tony
Distler as he enters his 38th year as a PA announcer
for Tech football games and completes his chairmanship of a major capital campaign.
Honorary classmate John Chandler reports that at
89 he still walks his three miles three times a week in
about an hour. Excellent! My wife Susan still loves
John because he allowed her to beat him in the mile
race at our 25th reunion. He really is a true gentleman.
My life would be so much easier if Bob Platt would
just tell me he’s still working hard studying butterflies.
But, no, he keeps referring to “entomology and his
genetic study of Lepidoptera.” Anyway he and Pam
are continuing to work at the Calvert Marine Museum, and he just had a paper published in Maryland
Entomologist that contains “color photographs of some
of my hybrid and backcross admiral butterflies, now
all housed in the McGuire Center in Gainsville, Fla.”
He remains conscientious about staying in touch with
Dave Cooley in Montana.
What does it mean when something you buy comes with
a limited lifetime warranty?
Chip Ide reports he and Eve are planning to raze
their house, which was so badly damaged in hurricane
Irene. They did take a two-week trip to New England
and passed through Williamstown.
Bart Robinson and Ingela sold their spectacular
house (and my HQ during reunion weekends) in Williamstown last summer and fled to Florida in early
September.
Nick Smith’s vineyard in Stonington, Conn., still
flourishes but seldom allows him and Happy to escape
for some R&R. He cites one plus for global warming—grapes like it hot and dry.
In Columbus, Ohio, David Boothby continues
to manage his family’s real estate business, which
involves overseeing “office buildings, medical centers,
retail spaces, apartments, and even an old movie
theater.” David’s sister and brother-in-law, Barbara
and David Thun, stopped here in Boothbay Harbor,
Maine, as they cruised the New England coast in
August. The Thuns are impressive seamen as they ply
these northern waters.
While many classmates bounce between two homes
seeking warmer and cooler climes during the year, Bill
Norris has the most unique arrangement. He and Bua
spend much of the year in Northampton, Mass., and
then return to Bua’s native Thailand during the cold
months. Bill says learning Thai is not easy for an old
dog, but he persists.
In early 2012 our fisherman/storyteller Barry Mayer took down his shingle, packed his bag, and stopped
his radiology practice. He did so with reluctance: “As
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the assignments dropped I felt I couldn’t remain at
the top of my game any longer and decided to call it
a day. Doing so was a mixed bag. I no longer have to
pay for licenses in five states or maintain continuing
education credits. On the other hand the absence of
the stimulation and gratification of practice are gone
as well as readjusting to not having the same sense of
self-worth I previously enjoyed.” He does now have
the time to tie more flies, make more bamboo fly rods,
and catch more fish. He and Diana had dinner with
George Dangerfield and Margaret at the ’6 House
and enjoyed a long weekend visit from Alan Wurtzel
and Sheila. Dave Moore and Pris also caught up with
the Wurtzels in Niagara on the Lake, where they all
had dinner with Buzz Van Sant and Jule. Dave assures all of us they have resolved all the complexities,
complications, and ambiguities of the universe—Bless
you, David!
Word comes from Cliff Colwell in La Jolla, Calif.,
that he and Carolyn “had a blast” celebrating their
50th in Glacier National Park with family and sailing
the Croatian coast with four other couples. Dr. Cliff
and a partner have started a new company called
XpandOrtho (do not ask me to pronounce it) to help
finance the study of arthritic joint defects and develop
advancements in joint replacements. New knee recipient Peter Willmott could not make it to Williamstown
for the October mini-reunion due to a Chicago fundraiser he ran for the Clark Art Institute. Though his art
expertise may not match that of E.J. Johnson, Peter
is an up-to-date connoisseur who suggests we all visit
the Crystal Bridge Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas;
it has an outstanding American art collection. When
I pointed out that Bentonville was not the crossroads
of the world, he quickly replied that it was easily
accessible by direct flights from Chicago, Newark,
and Dallas. This being the case, Grey McGown, who
recently wrote about enjoying the Clark’s collection
of Impressionist paintings as they came through Fort
Worth, should have no trouble visiting Bentonville.
Grey linked up with John Castleman ’61 and Jack
Wadsworth ’61 at the Clark show and then became
a freeloader who allowed his younger friends to buy
him and Sue lunch at the finest Tex-Mex restaurant in
town. Grey lives with his shame quite well.
Young at heart—slightly older in other places.
Seeming to defy the laws of aging, Joe Prendergast
writes that his cardiologist tells him he has the heart
of a 12-year-old. Joe needs to remember that I have
the mind of a 12-year-old and a heart with a valve that
belongs to a cow. (Of course Marc Newberg claims
that valve came from a purple cow!) Joe attributes his
youthful health to his “stalwart classmates who flew
with me over ‘Brave Amherst’ the day of the big game
to taunt them with rolls of toilet paper thrown from
the cabin to unwind slowly in the 2,000-foot drop to
the campus.”
Another ’59er who found himself in hot water on
the Amherst campus following an athletic contest
is Geoff Morton, who now counsels young men on
their college choices at Saint Edward High School in
Cleveland. As part of his work he went to Denver to
attend the National College Admissions Conference
and amazingly found the Air Force Academy was
playing Navy in football. His appetite for first-class
athletics was further satisfied with a visit to the U.S.
Olympic training center, where the top 40 high school
34
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basketball players were competing. I don’t think we
have many classmates who know how to combine
work and play the way Geoff does. Andy Packard
comes close because “the play” is his work. He and Pat
own and direct the Saco River Grange Hall theater.
It’s a popular and exciting drama facility for people
in southern Maine. Their son Dana has directed
productions there and recently produced the awardwinning film 40 West. Sian Batchelder writes from
England about how much she enjoyed the celebration
of Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday—she managed to
visit the Counting House he used as Scrooge’s work
place. I was pleased to join Bob Lowden, Sam Parkhill, Jerry Tipper, Steve Bachand, John Palmer and
Denny, and Spence Jones ’58 & Susan in Lewiston,
Maine, for lunch before the Williams-Bates football
game. We hoped Frank Read would attend, but the
very in-demand ophthalmologist indicated he was
working on Saturday. From what I can learn anybody
who is anybody goes to Frank when they want only
the best care for their eyes. While the praise Jack
Hyland received in Columbia University’s Magazine
of the Teachers College was richly deserved, I took
issue with his statement that Williams students had to
declare their major at the end of their freshman year
and he was then pressed to choose physics. I know I
was far slower than most, but I’m sure I didn’t have to
declare anything until after my sophomore year. I shall
expect to hear from you folks who hold the correct
opinion—mine.
The best antiques to collect are old friends.
The October minireunion was once again a wonderful gathering of old friends. Slate Wilson, traveling
from Portland, Ore., and Tom Christopher and Judy,
joining us from Albuquerque, N.M., captured the
long-distance prizes. The crew from the Williamstown neighborhood—Jack Dietze and Maureen,
Pim Goodbody and Pandy, Bill Moomaw and
Margot, and Jim Richardson—provided the local
color. From nearby Massachusetts and Vermont came
Lonnie Fisher, Hanse Halligan and Judie Robbins,
Jay Hodgson, Barry Mayer and Diana, and Bill
Norris. NYC and its suburbs sent Tom Albertson
and Kitty, Bill Bailey, John Coffin and Anne, Tom
Davidson, Mike Grant and Betsy, Tom Hayne and
Martha, Dick Lee and Sally, and Marc Newberg and
Ruth. David Canfield and Ruth Axelrod, and Bev
Compton came from Maryland; George Dangerfield
and Margaret from Pennsylvania; and Geoff Morton
from Ohio. Dan Fanning and Sue were registered to
attend and had signed up to play golf, but Dan was hit
with a nasty case of Lyme Disease and couldn’t make
it. A highlight for me was making John Chandler an
honorary member of our class with his 1959 “diploma”
signed by James Phinney Baxter III, Class of 1914.
Since John started teaching at Williams in September
of 1955, when we entered as students, it seemed only
logical that he be included in our number. Lonnie Fisher walked away with the award for most
great-grandchildren, and Hanse Halligan and Judie
Robbins shook us all up when they won the prize for
most grandchildren with 19, that’s right 19. Hanse
refused to recite their birthdays. The two lecture/
seminars the college arranged for us were outstanding.
Friday afternoon’s “The Rise and Fall of Fraternities”
and Saturday’s session with Hedrick Smith ’55 about
“Who Stole the American Dream.”
1959– 60
Many of us feel stuck with a debt when we can’t budge it.
Once again under the leadership of Bob Lowden,
Bart Robinson, and Tony Volpe our class came
through for the 2012 Alumni Fund. We exceeded the
goal of $100,000 with a total of $114, 321 and had 74
percent of the class participating. Many thanks to the
efforts of Al Benton, Henry Cole, Bev Compton,
Chuck Dunkel, Dan Fanning, Tony Harwood, John
Kimberly, Dick Lee, Bob McAlaine, Hugh Morton,
and Ty Smith. Since I’m one who does not like to ask
folks for money, I appreciate your good work so very
much; that does not mean, however, I’m clapping my
hands when you ask me for money.
We were saddened to learn of the deaths of Warner
Kim and Buzz Martens. Warner had been a respected and influential voice in South Korean politics,
and Buzz was praised for the outstanding work he had
done in the furniture refinishing business in Maine.
1960
Michael Penner, 38334 South Desert Bluff Drive, Tucson,
AZ 85739; [email protected]
Frank Thoms and his wife are settled into their new
home in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico. Their newly
constructed house has lots of interior glass that makes
for wonderful light. There is a natural-light studio
for his artist spouse and an airy study for Frank. As
ex-pats in an extraordinary community, they have a
lively life, intriguing friends, and a plethora of cultural
events. Frank says the Mexican culture continues to
ceaselessly amaze; its people are warm and gentle and
so accepting of the new gringos in town. Frank reports
they will stay in Mexico for the fourth ashram of their
lives. A new culture, full of new challenges out of their
comfort zone, but full of possibilities.
Steve Kadish and his significant other, Anne
DesRosiers, are continuing their 16-year tradition of
taking a joint birthday trip abroad. This year it’s a
cruise from Barcelona and then on their own around
northern Spain and Italy. Anne is three days older than
Steve, so it is really a nice birthday tradition. Steve
continues his practice of tax law in Cleveland with
the added bonus of his son Matt Kadish ’84 joining
Steve’s firm two years ago. Steve says his life is good,
and he is trying to celebrate it every day. Sounds like a
great outlook that we all should adopt.
Dick Alford reports: “Mimi and I live a one-hour
drive from Williamstown. Today this allowed us to
drive up to see a football game (Ephs vs. Trinity). On
the way we took in the wonderful fall colors and marveled at the eight or nine giant wind turbine structures
that stand majestically on a ridge near Jiminy Peak.
At the game we sat where we always sit—30 yard line
on the Eph side. Over the years a group of Class of ’60
fans and a few outsiders gather at that spot. The group
at today’s game included Mary Lou and Jim Briggs,
Dunc Brown, Ned Benedict, Peter Muhlhausen, and
Bob Stegeman. Regular Joe Wheelock was absent,
and regular Foster Devereux was at the game but sat
with others. Our ’60s group also had a few ‘outsiders’ whom we encourage to hang with us. Today the
outsiders included Jim Richardson ’59, Pete Wilmott
’59, Oscar Dietz ’59, and Joe Low ’61. In spite of our
loud cheering, we lost the game because the best player
in the field (he wore a jersey with “1” on it) played
for Trinity.” Thanks for such a complete report, Dick.
Now we all know where to sit at future games.
Scott Kleiner reports from Romania as follows:
“Heather and I joined other members of the Athens
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship for a Thanksgiving pilgrimage to Transylvania this time last year. We
visited various sites involved in the establishment of
Unitarianism. There are about 700,000 Unitarians
there, mostly villagers and their descendants. We have
a sister church in Ocland, a village of about 200 with
a church dating to the 14th century. Transylvania remains very isolated, unspoiled, and lovely. I still teach
philosophy of natural science in the spring semester,
after which I plant a vegetable garden, albeit with help
from a retired landscaper with expertise in irrigation,
mulching, and composting. We have a large cistern
that collects rainwater from the roof. In spite of the
drought we feasted on collards, arugula, kale, Chinese
string beans, broccoli, and okra. I still frequent local
tracks for ‘driver’s ed.’ My latest ride is a ’07 Porsche
911 GT3, which has proven very reliable and easy
on tires and brakes. My bad knee is no hindrance in
accelerating, braking, and steering. Our daughter Catherine gets 20/7 in-home care for her MS disability. She
is nearly quadriplegic and blind. The other four hours
we are there, feeding her supper, discussing politics,
etc. She is very much to the left of Heather’s and my
pragmatic center, but what would you expect from a
Wellesley grad!”
Colin McNaull had just come back from a very
remarkable weekend at Williams celebrating 100 years
of cross-country running as an official Williams sport.
He says, “Age and class number now move you to
being first on the speaker’s platform at the new theater
where I represented and reflected on running in 1957,
1958, 1959, and 1960 under Coach Tony Plansky. Williams has only had three running coaches in 100 years.
Quite an amazing fact.” Colin walked the course but
did manage to win the walkers division in 50 minutes.
Other highlights from Colin were six days of cruising
from Portland, Maine, to East Boothbay and back with
his brother. No hurricanes this year. Colin continues
efforts to get the town of Hector to pass a moratorium
on hydrofracking since he sits on top of the Marcellus
and Utica Shale.
Eric Jaeckel writes from Boulder that all is well
with his mind/body and his son’s family in Moscow.
Idaho. He visits his two grandchildren in Idaho two or
three times a year to see them growing (Ellis is 7, and
Avery is 11) and playing soccer and volleyball. Eric’s
son Brad continues to manage the Washington State
University Organic Vegetable Farm Project, which
he helped establish in 2004. It is primarily a teaching
farm committed to using sustainable growing methods.
Volunteerism remains an important part of Eric’s lifestyle as a way to give back to the Boulder community.
Eric drives for Meals-on-Wheels and RSVP Medical
Mobility program. Eric is still going strong athletically with his two new hips. He played in the Denver
Replacement Parts (must have one new part) Open
Clay Court Men’s Doubles Tennis Tournament. Eric
sent his best wishes for a healthy year to members of
the Class of 1960.
John Good returned home after having about 60
to 70 percent of his stomach removed to fight gastric
cancer. It is an aggressive cancer and likely to return
if chemotherapy is not used to combat it. John was to
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start chemo a couple of weeks after he wrote me. By
using chemo, his chances of survival rise from around
30 to 40 percent to about 70 percent. This is John’s
second bout with cancer. Surgery and radiation beat
cancer of the neck in 2009. John remains optimistic
about the present battle, but he also is coming to
more realistic terms with his mortality and is working
toward accepting it. John, I join all our classmates pulling for you to beat cancer again.
Oct. 12-13 was minireunion weekend at Williams.
Attendees (some or all events): Ned Benedict (Jill);
Jim Briggs (Mary Lou); Duncan Brown (Susan);
Fred Coombs (Kathey); Foster Devereux (Penny);
Tom Dodds (Susan Bell); Carl Doerge (Meredith);
Lew Epstein; Buck Frederickson (Marie); Jon
Gilman (Julika); Nils Herdelin (Pat); Dick Holiday
(Ardis); Marshall Lapidus (Suzanne Gordon); Steve
Lewis; Allen Martin (Bonnie); Colin McNaull; Pete
Muhlhausen (Jeri); Jim Pilgrim (Thelma); Bob
Pyle; Bob Stegeman (Carol); and Kevin Tierney.
For those of you counting, that’s 21 classmates or over
10 percent of our class. Excellent participation!
The Friday afternoon panel discussion, “The Rise
and Fall of Fraternities” with Dee Gardner ’57, Tony
Smith ’57, Bruce Grinnell ’62 and former President
John Chandler, was very well done and extremely well
attended. President Chandler gave a very thorough
historic perspective dating back into the 1800s and
bringing us up to the mid-1960s. Dee and Tony, as two
of the 22 signers of the document in 1957 calling for
changes in the social structure of Williams, provided
their perspectives and their reason for feeling as they
did. Dee gave up his pursuit of a PhD in order to
return to Williams and implement the changes in
housing and dining facilities. Bruce described what he
did and why. It’s quite clear that the social structure at
Williams needed change, particularly with the move to
become coeducational.
Friday night our class joined the Classes of ’59 and
’58 at the Log for drinks, dinner, and jazz. Chet Lasell
’58 did the lion’s share of setting it up. Fun with tight
quarters. The lecture Saturday morning by Hedrick
(Rick) Smith ’55 on his new book Who Stole the
American Dream? was outstanding. It was standingroom-only, with folks even sitting on the floor in the
aisles. His scheduled hour presentation went for over
an hour and a half with numerous questions. He was
to be back in January 2013 for Winter Study with a
course on leadership.
The football game against Middlebury was a
disappointment with the Ephs losing 30-13. Saturday
evening cocktails and dinner at Susan and Duncan
Brown’s was wonderful (just like the Devereux’s
has been over the years). Our class VP Dave Banta
brought copies of an eighth-grade final examination
from 1895 in Salinas, Kansas, for distribution to the
group. Appropriate humility was experienced by a
few; but to no one’s surprise, a majority chose to ignore
their limitations. A group discussion concluded that
the minireunions are great fun and should be continued. Special thanks to President Buck Frederickson
for planning such an enjoyable weekend. Also, thanks
to Jim Pilgrim and to Buck for being my reporters
on the mini reunion events. Marshall Lapidus and
Suzanne recently bought a house in Williamstown,
replacing their summer home in Vermont, so our class
presence in Williamstown continues strong.
36
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1961
Bob Gormley, 1775 Drift Road, P.O. Box 3922, Westport,
It’s class notes time warp experience once again:
A lovely, warm late October day with yellow-brown
leaves tumbling gently from the trees as I write, but I
have to keep in mind that it will be a cold January day
in another year when you get to read these notes. We’ll
be inaugurating a new president we elected in November and about whom a few of you had comments back
in September, while others of you reflected on matters
as far back as campus days. It’s not always easy “living
in the moment” as we are called to do, especially at
this age.
So let me start with a couple of straightforward announcements. Wally Bernheimer, with John Denne
and John Byers, has an adventure option planned for
us. Patterned on the successful Oxford excursion in
June 2010, which was enjoyed by 16 classmates and
spouses, the next class trip is scheduled for Oct. 7-16,
2013, in Southern Spain (Andalusia), with stops in Seville, Cordoba, and Granada, and will include day trips
to Jerez (sherry region), Ronda, and Malaga (Picasso
museum), among other venues. We will be accompanied by Professor of Religion Bill Darrow, which is
appropriate given the religious diversity of the region,
including Christian, Muslim, and Jewish elements.
The art and architecture of Andalusia is stunning.
But the trip will hardly be all academic; there will
be plenty of good food and wine to sustain us and
some free time to explore on our own. Singles are also
welcome, and an effort will be made to pair them up
if they would like to share a room. The price of the
trip is to be about $5,000/person and is based on 20
individuals participating. A larger contingent can be
accommodated, which will bring the cost down some.
A group about the same size as Oxford would be ideal.
For further info, contact John Denne (jdenne@snet.
net), John Byers ([email protected]), or Wally
Bernheimer ([email protected]). You should have
received a flyer on this in November, and several of
you may have committed already. But, if not, please
hurry and sign up before they close it out. Sounds exciting, and they don’t even mention that Fred Noland
and wife Susan Hansen have a home in the region and
have hosted other classmates and contemporaries to
rave reviews. Got to see Noland if you go.
One who visited Fred in Andalusia is retired federal
judge George Lowe, who in addition to being of counsel to Bond, Schoeneck, & King, his former firm, has
been named to a state advisory committee to establish
guidelines for an NY program requiring 50 hours of
pro bono service prior to admission to the NY State
Bar. Also to a task force to expand access to civil legal
services in NY. Sounds like meetings could get in the
way of his retirement, but George has been dedicated
to public service throughout his career.
Two more quick travel notes: Art Waltman and wife
Carol Watson had just returned from Europe including
Turkey and Ephesus, where they were one day ahead
of Roz and Wally Bernheimer. The two couples met
up in London en route home. Are we becoming such
globetrotters that we cross paths in ancient lands?
Turkey has certainly been drawing our generation,
yours truly included. Dave Whittemore and Mary
1960– 61
had also gone on a Williams-sponsored trip to Turkey
and Greece last summer with one of our favorite professors, Magnus Bernardson, as guide. Dick McCauley
’62, who led their class reunion in June, and wife Jane
were along as well.
Marty Linsky, writing from his home in Italy just
to arouse my envy, was proud to report on the July
wedding there of youngest son Max, who was with
him at reunion. Bride and groom are Wesleyan grads,
but we’ll forgive that. “Three magical days” with the
mayor of Tarano officiating at the wedding ceremony.
Son number two was to be married in December in
Savannah, and Marty’s mother was turning 99 in
November, so it’s been all joy in the Linsky household.
To top it off, his brother-in-law unveiled his giant map
for display at MASS MoCA in October.
To wrap up on our earlier election 2012 focus, a
couple of late responses deserve attention: Kevin Morrissey pledged his vote to Obama, though he had seen
Romney as a decent family man and solid candidate
but short on specifics in his campaign. Kevin thanked
Lou Guzzetti for getting him to read a Mitch Daniels’
book before Daniels opted out of the race. Another
distinguished MD, Dave Shapiro, protested the more
than $2 billion in campaign money tossed at the media
when education, research, and infrastructure were so
much more demanding. Dave was in deluged Florida.
Steve Lazarus tuned in from another swing state,
Ohio, where he was pummeled with media promotion. Obama also got his vote, but he joins most of us
in pleading for campaign reform by 2016. Steve also
had encouraging news about Gibby Rachleff, who last
we knew was saddled with ALS. Steve had recently
visited Gib in Great Neck, N.Y., and, evidently, he
has a strange virus or other disorder that may run its
course and lead to recovery. He cannot use his arms
at the moment but is extremely positive and active
in his treatment, and classmate support would be
welcome. Steve Klein had written me when he heard
of Gibby’s illness and wondered about a certain gift for
his junior roommate with whom he had not been in
touch in years. He called Gibby, and both enjoyed the
opportunity. Meanwhile, I was happy to advise Steve
of this fortunate turn of events. This class networking
has clear advantages. Lazarus is still teaching Con Law
and enjoying it, while Klein is enjoying his retirement
in New Mexico.
Another positive recovery tale came from Jack
Heiser, who was hauled off for major surgery as he
was preparing to attend our 50th. After 14 months on
the DL, and after a lot of patience shown by his wife
(“Honey, while you’re up, would you bring me…”)
and extremely hard work, he’s back working ¾-time
in psychiatry with two new bionic knees and renewed
fervor. Says he’s already begun plans for our 75th!
Joe Low was attending a Broadway show (Once)
with Val and Bob Montgomery, in from California,
when he wrote. He had also been with the Castlemans,
Wadsworths, and Tarseses celebrating Susie Wadsworth’s birthday and was headed to Williamstown
to host a fundraiser for the restoration of the Mohawk
Theater in No. Adams. The Spirit of Johnny Cash was
the vehicle, a live show much like the Buddy Holly
show at our reunion, so Josiah is into this music. He
thanks Irv Shainman for music being part of his Williams education. Though I doubt Buddy and Johnny
came via Irv.
Another part-time Williamstown resident these days
is Dick Dodds, who wrote about enjoying his renovated cottage on Lake Champlain, ravaged by a flood
last year. He had quite a family gathered up there: son
Richard Jr. ’84 with talented trombonist son Henry,
13, and daughter Sarah, 11, who plays jazz piano,
dances, cheerleads, and writes. Son Matthew ’86
with son Forrest, 16, now driving and invited to join
Princeton’s Model Congress, and daughter Amelia,
winning ribbons in dressage and starring as goalie in
high school soccer. Dick’s wife Meg ’74 was recovering
from back surgery while Dick was “coping grumpily”
with diabetes and arthritis.
Harvey Plonsker, art collector, met up with friend
Max Davidson, gallery owner, at the Expo Chicago
art fair. He and Madeleine were also back on campus
for the September College Museum Fellows weekend
and raved about the Sol LeWitt process show there,
“The Well-Tempered Grid” in combination with the
outstanding LeWitt wall drawings at MASS MoCA.
Dick Beckler is now a partner at Bracewell and
Giuliani (yes, that guy) in DC. Daughter Liza had
captained Trinity’s women’s lacrosse team to an
NCAA Div. III national championship in the spring,
and Dick would like the Williams admission office to
note it! (My emphasis.) Clyde Buck has continued his
master touch with the photobooks such as he produced
after our reunion. He completed one in honor of Clarence Chaffee, our remarkable tennis and squash coach;
some copies are still available at the squash office at the
college and at the alumni office. Clyde is also willing
to assist anyone in the class who’d like to produce
their own commemorative album with commentary.
Contact him at [email protected]. He was
at Jackson Hole this past summer with his family and
five grandchildren, and he played some tennis there
with Bruce Simon ’68.
Sandy Williams is still active working as a partner
in the exec recruiting firm Witt Kieffer with clients
in health care and higher education. He also enjoys
serving as a trustee of the Chicago Academy for the
Arts, a private school for gifted artistic types. This fall
Sandy will be an executive in residence at the Cornell
University Sloan Program in Healthcare Administration. He knows his age like all of us since one of his
five grandchildren is now in first year at SMU.
Gil Kerr steered clear of political punditry this time
and expressed disappointment again in having to pass
up reunion in 2011. He sends his best to classmates,
however. Gil’s a willing and happy caregiver for his
wife but has had to miss our gatherings for the past
decade for higher personal values, and I suspect there
are others among you who choose to do the same. Bless
all of you for that. Bob Marrin in Kansas City has also
been held back due to disability but is aided there by
Irv Blond ’67 and Whitney Hosty ’03, so the Williams family reaches out.
Our onsite class president, John Denne, has been in
touch regularly and offered this report on the October
minireunion: We were a group of 16 (Nancy and
Paul Boire, John Burghardt, Kathy and John Byers,
Dianne and David Campbell, Joan and John Denne,
Bob Judd, Paul Mersereau, Anne Skinner, Rachel
and Jay Tarses, Mary and Dave Whittemore) at
Coyote Flaco on Friday night. Lively conversation,
fueled in part by coconut margaritas but mainly due
to good company. On Saturday many of us attended
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37
the outstanding talk by former New York Times writer
Hedrick Smith ’55 on “Who Stole the American
Dream.” That was followed by a tailgate lunch where
Carolyn and Peter Hager joined us and we were able
to mingle with other classes. Williams took a pounding in the subsequent football game with Middlebury
but a later reception at the Center for Development
Economics lifted spirits and gave us a chance to
meet some of the students grateful for our gift to
launch their Class of 1961 Center for Development
Economics Endowment. Steve Lewis ’60 greeted us
for the CDE staff. Bob Kaplan and Debra Stokes also
joined us, and the group finally migrated for dinner
to Jay and Rachel Tarses’ place, where they have
welcomed us so many times. A convivial time, and all
agreed these mini-gatherings were a great experience,
socially and intellectually.
John also sent around the September thank-you
letter from Jerry Caprio ’72, chair of the CDE, to
Jack Wadsworth for the tangible results of our class
gift. The CDE fellows in the Class of 2012 received
approximately $100,000 from the fund as it was getting off the ground, and this will increase substantially
over time. Previous funding is drying up, and we have
come to the rescue of this internationally important
program.
Lastly, Paul Boire writes to remind us of the existence and value of our class website. You go to http://
alumni.williams.edu, then classes, then ’61 in the class
website directory. Additions may be made at any time.
See you next in April. My beautiful fall weather
here in Southern Massachusetts just morphed into
Hurricane Sandy, so I have to look ahead and beyond
winter. All the more reason word from you would be
warmly welcome in coming months. Best wishes.
1962
William M. Ryan, 112 Beech Mountain Road, Mansfield
Center, CT 06250; [email protected]
Bonnie and I returned the day before I wrote this
from the Pass-the-Baton celebration weekend in
Williamstown. Typical Williams weekend in respect
to weather (highs in the mid-60s, low of 26, bright
sunshine, and driving rain) and conviviality (highs
all the time). President Carl Davis and 50th Reunion
Fund Chairman Bill Whitman successfully handed off
the baton to their counterparts in ’63, Bill McDaniels
and Lenny Bernheimer. The class determined that we
will hold reunions every fall from now on. Carl was to
send out the relevant info to all of you shortly after the
first of the year.
Sadly, there are three classmates whom none of us
will see again at a reunion—Steve Wilson, Taylor
Lonsdale, and Tim O’Leary. Steve passed away on
July 26 in Rogersville, Tenn., from complications
following surgery. Art Palmer and Chuck Porter
visited him at his home after attending a national
cavers’ convention in West Virginia in July. Chuck
reports: “We spent a very pleasant day and evening
at their rural home and talked over old times and
new projects. Steve had suffered from numerous
illnesses, was a cancer survivor, bloated from his
drug regimen, and in a motorized chair. But he was
in excellent spirits. Steve was a trauma surgeon
for many years, a superb teacher, a compassionate
38
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healer, and the kind of MD I’d want to have. It was
just awful to begin renewing our friendship and have
it terminated so abruptly.” Condolences to Sarah,
his widow. Steve Telkins remembered Steve as the
friend and doctor who stitched up their daughter’s
head after a fall on wet pavement in the Congo in
the 1970s. “He’d come to the Congo to gain the
equivalent of years of surgical experience in several
weeks,” and their families enjoyed several personal—and non-medical—visits together before Steve
returned to the U.S. Steve T. will soon undergo a
second hip replacement (same hip). “I’m so glad this
happened after our 50th and not before.” Steve also
plans to form a support group among our classmates
who have suffered from prostate cancer. There are at
least 23 of them by my count.
Taylor Lonsdale died peacefully three days later
after a long journey through Alzheimer’s disease.
Colleen and Jim Van Hoven and Betsy and Steve
Fowle attended the service in Hillstown, Pa., with
Betsy, an Episcopal priest, presiding at the graveside
service. Jim comments: “I learned a lot about Taylor’s
post-Williams life from the remarks many of his naval
friends made. Of particular note was the fact that
he graduated first in his class at aviator’s school in
Pensacola. What struck me most was the camaraderie
and lifelong friendships he had formed with his naval
colleagues. Many spoke with deep respect for Taylor,
the man and the officer. Sympathies from the class to
his wife Nancy and children Taylor and Whitney.
Tim O’Leary died on Sept. 29, from cancer-related
issues. He spent the bulk of his life teaching French at
the University of New Orleans. After Katrina wiped
him out, he retired and moved to New Mexico, a part
of the country where he had vacationed and he loved.
He was being treated for cancer at the DartmouthHitchcock Center and had moved to live with his sister
and brother-in-law in that area.
Let’s move on to happier topics. Jeff Rosendhal
is recovering rapidly from the stroke he suffered just
prior to our 50th. “I’m back to walking (instead of
staggering), my left arm is occasionally useful, and I
can drive again.” Jeff’s current project is providing
photographs for a Thai cookbook written by one of
his neighbors. Jeff has acquired a literary agent, Bob
Diforio ’63. “Not a bad thing to be involved in in
my ‘old fartdom’ years.” Also doing well is Jameson
Campaigne, who missed our reunion because he was
recovering from open-heart surgery. “I’ve made a
spectacular recovery, according to my surgeon. I was
comforted by the fact that he had trained under Toby
Cosgrove at the Cleveland Clinic.” Bob Mahland
had his hip replacement on July 2 and is ambulatory
and even playing a bit of golf. “Unfortunately, much
to my regret, the problems with my golf game were
not due to my bad hip.” Finally, Missy Lang, wife
of Banger Lang, who fell and broke her shoulder in
Williamstown on the Wednesday night of our 50th,
is completely recovered, as she demonstrated at our
mini. “Don was an amazing nurse.”
Ned Dougherty underwent major back surgery
on Aug. 13 and is recovering well, spending most of
the time at their summer home in Maine. “I am able
to walk along the ocean now, increasing my distance
a little bit each day. Unfortunately, I still spend a lot
of time on my back trying to avoid as much political
news as possible.”
1961– 62
We have a Chevalier in our midst. Fenner Milton
received this honor from the French National Order
of Merit for his “continuing valuable collaboration
with the French government in technological achievement and international Warfighter support.” Fenner
is the director of the U.S. Army’s Night Vision and
Electronic Sensors Directorate near D.C. Recipients
of this highly prestigious award are selected by the
president of France.
Finn Fogg asked that I correct an error in my last
notes. The NYC Legal Aid Society has an annual
budget of $200 million and a staff of 1,000 lawyers,
not $800 million and 300 lawyers, as I reported. “I
wish you were right,” said Finn. “If so, we’d have the
best-paid lawyers on the planet.”
Past President Spike Kellogg participated in an
event honoring 100 years of cross-country running
at Williams. Despite being the oldest runner (by far)
he wasn’t the last runner. In his words, “My time was
181 percent of the winner’s, but it was a short enough
course that they didn’t have to look for me with
lanterns.”
Despite the reunion seminar on the subject, Class
President Carl Davis is another who has failed
retirement. In July he began working for Cary Street
Partners, a wealth management and investment banking firm based in Richmond. Carl works mainly out of
his Beaufort, S.C., home.
Chuck Porter, the lead author of Great Fire: Troy,
New York, his hometown, says: “It’s a book about the
1862 conflagration which destroyed 671 buildings. It’s
been well-received, and we keep ordering new printings (available from Market Block Books in Troy).”
Speaking of great fires, Ann and Paul Hill experienced one near their summer home in Stanley,
Idaho. The fire destroyed over 100,000 acres of forest,
approached within a few hundred yards of their
home, and burned for several weeks. Their home was
saved, and Paul attributes that fortunate result to the
“extremely hardworking firefighters who spent days
clearing a fire lane around our house.”
The Japanese-themed B&B operated by Taeko
and Wif Floyd was featured in a Sunday Times travel
article. Wif commented that “the article has resulted
in quite a few calls and reservations from those in the
D.C. area.” I’ve been there and urge you to pay a visit.
And now the presidential election as prognosticated
by our class. I am writing this in mid-October, the day
after the second debate. Sixty-eight classmates cast
their ballots and predicted the results. Eight persons
were not sure how they would vote, 39 planned to
vote for Obama, and 21 for Romney. Many, like Dick
Judd, described their course as “choosing between the
lesser of two evils.” And even more decried the campaigns and the lack of ability to get anything done. Jim
Dufty: “No show of leadership on either side. No real
public engagement on longterm issues. Informed electorate a declining minority.” The predictions of results
was even more surprising to me, with 40 projecting
an Obama win, only 20 forecasting a win for Romney,
and eight unsure. Here are additional comments. Bill
Vaughn: “The best thing about the election is that
only one of them can win.” Dave Mellencamp: “I
will vote for anybody but Obama. If Obama loses,
cities will burn. If he wins, the country will continue
its precipitous decline.” Bart McDougal: “I think
Mitt was/is a very good businessman. Unfortunately,
that is not the main requirement for a president. I do
not intend to vote for him.” John Sargent: “Haven’t
made up my mind. Would like to vote for Romney
but his mouth keeps getting in the way.” Kris Atchley:
“A Romney/GOP victory would be a total disaster
for the U.S. The 1 percent consistently increase their
share of the pie. In Sarah Palin’s immortal words,
‘How’s that workin’ for ya?’” Marc Comstock: “Will
vote for Romney. Obama is all hat and no horse.”
Frank Ward: “My sense is that the Obama administration has finally turned the corner with employment
and needs another four years to get us back on track.”
Dick Swett: “Barack Obama is the stronger candidate.
In an economy where consumers drive 70 percent of
GDP, supply side economics do not create demand.”
Rufus Jarman: “Romney’s foreign-policy fiasco tour
has underscored my view that he should not run the
country.” Jameson Campaigne: “Needless to say, I
will vote for the rhetorical cripple (Romney) instead
of the narcissistic BS leftist.” Dick McCauley: “The
Ryan budget plan is fundamentally flawed and will
be a disaster for our economy.” Walt Stevenson:
“Obama’s leadership skills are non-existent, his
foreign policy is wishful at best, and his economic
program totally ignorant of free market capitalism.
Joe Biden would be a better choice, only because he is
too dumb to be dangerous. I know these comments are
not politically correct, but what can you expect from a
tea partier from the Midwest.” Kent Collins: “When
we arrived in Williamstown in the fall of ’58, the
Kingston Trio was hot. One of the more listened-to
songs was ‘The Merry Little Minuet.’ My thoughts
on the election mimic one of the lyrics in that song:
‘I don’t like anybody very much.’” Phil Wirth:
“Obamacare is a disaster. … It will really be a problem to manage health care with this unmanageable
legislation.” Archie Palmer: “Lynn and I sure hope
that Mitt continues to prove his woeful unacceptability and incompetence to serve as commander-inchief.” John Moynahan: “Romney; probably wishful
thinking but so many Americans, including my entire
family, saw so much of our investments and assets
evaporate under Obama.” Jack Shaw: “Obama has
passed his sell-by date.” Pete Hays: “Obama will win.
The GOP is getting scary with its credo of winning at
any cost.” Charlie Merrill: “I will vote for Obama. We
must stop widening the gap between the rich and the
poor.” Roger Smith: “I will vote for Romney. A probusiness atmosphere along with unleashing the power
of cheaper natural gas sources could really get things
rolling in this country.” Eugene Cassidy: “Romney.
Borrowing one out of every three dollars to run the
country is unsustainable.” Liz Hufnagel: “Obama—
because I love him and Michelle. I don’t trust
Romney. It will be like the eight years of silver-spoon
GWB.” Mike Scott: “I support Obama. We saw a lot
of Romney in this state, and he has always seemed
inconsistent in his views on so many important issues.” John Oberteuffer: “At this point I think it’s a
toss-up. (I hope that means a jump ball thereby giving
Obama the advantage.)” Tom Payzant: “The big
difference between the president and Romney is that
Obama understands that the president serves all the
people of the U.S.” Herb Allen: “Although a previous
Obama supporter, I won’t vote for him again. He’s
failed to lead in any meaningful way. I don’t know
if I’ll vote for Romney. I may write in your name.”
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39
Barney Shaw: “I’m voting for the empty chair that
Clint Eastwood was talking to.”
A couple of classmates who missed reunion wrote
to say how sad they were to miss it. Denny Bauman: “I’m in a small private practice and one of the
partners was gone for the month. After a long career
in cardiology, I’m now practicing in Elkin, N.C., a
small town at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
About 80 percent of our patient population is on
Medicaid and are generally quite ill, so there is no
lack of challenges.” Jere Behrman: “Sorry to miss the
50th but, I had a conflicting commitment to be at the
National Institute of Child Health & Development
Advisory Council to which I have just been appointed
to a three-year term.” Jere also has received a Bill and
Linda Gates Foundation grant for a multi-country,
multi-institutional, interdisciplinary study of early
childhood development in four countries: Ethiopia,
India, Peru and Chile. He was the recipient of an honorary degree last December from the University of
Chile for his four decades of research on the Chilean
economy. You’ve got five years to finish your work,
Jere. We expect you at the 55th.
And a few final comments about our 50th: Peter
Thoms: “For me it was like coming home. Thanks
to everyone… It’s hard to find adequate words.”
Bill Robertson: “Aside from the usual warmth I feel
returning to the Berkshires and renewing friendships
with college classmates, I was especially impressed by
two things: (1) how smoothly everything went and
(2) the very enlightening class reunion seminars.”
Phil Wirth: “Once more I felt how fortunate I was
to be part of this class. What a talented group!” John
Moynahan: “I was about to use your catch phrase
(‘Buddha sent me’) on a classmate I didn’t know
very well when he said heartily, ‘John how are you?’
Reunion was a wonderful experience.” Kris Atchley:
“Five days to reconnect with 50 years! I took 633
photographs. The 50th made me grateful to be alive.”
Bill Beadie: “By the time the weekend closed I had
become reacquainted with many of my classmates and
would have liked more time with them all. On the
other hand, by Sunday I think we were ready to head
out. At our age, we can only celebrate so much!” Finally, Dick McCauley reports that despite having one
of the lowest reunion fees in recent times, our class
recorded a $23,000 surplus for the weekend. Sounds
like a good time will be had at the 55th.
P.S. Remember my comment about Toby Cosgrove
touring me around the Cleveland Clinic while wearing one of his monogrammed doctor coats and Toby’s
stern admonishment “to keep my g.d. mouth shut”? A
week after the reunion I received a Cleveland Clinic
coat with Dr. William M. Ryan embroidered on it.
“Now,” Toby said in an accompanying note, “you can
say anything you please.” And I have!
1963
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Jim Blume, 23 Vicente Road, Berkeley, CA 94705;
[email protected]
I think it’s fair to say that the minireunion held
in Williamstown over the weekend of Oct. 12 was
a wonderfully warm, embracing experience for all
of us who attended. But while we revelled in each
other’s company over two dinners, one breakfast, one
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football game and two elucidating seminars, we also
accomplished a great deal in planning for our 50th
reunion in June. Bill Burnett, with exceptional efficiency, chaired the meeting in which sub-committees
reported on their efforts to date as well as their plans
for the reunion. I thought that citing the classmates in
charge of each area of planning might be worthwhile.
Brooks Goddard and John Bell are valorously at
work gathering biographies for our reunion book;
Roy Weiner is planning the three seminars which we
will present for the Williams community in June; the
Rev. Perry Kingman is in charge of presenting the
memorial service for classmates who are deceased;
George Kilborn, golfer extraordinaire, is our sports
authority; Bernie Wruble, a true fashionista, is
planning the parade wear for both women and men;
Gordy Prichett, a serious scrooge, is involved in
making reunion as affordable as possible; in a similar
fashion though with a totally different objective, Larry
Bernheimer is working assiduously to utilize Gordy’s
savings on the reunion to enhance each of our gifts to
the college in honor of our 50th. Other classmates in
attendance during the weekend were Steve Thomas,
Geoff Howard, Tony Mapes, Rick Berry, President
Bill McDaniels, Paul Michel, and Clay Davenport.
The weekend also featured two provocative seminars: one entitled “The Rise and Fall of Fraternities
at Williams,” which drew an overflow crowd. The
topic was particularly poignant for our class as we
lived through the turbulence created by the Angevine
Report and the beginning of its implementation
during our senior year. The other seminar was given
by Hedrick Smith ’55, a veteran N.Y. Times reporter
and author, who concisely and with impeccable logic
laid out the major thesis of his book Who Stole The
American Dream? At the completion of his talk Smith
received a thunderous standing ovation. I urge all to
read his thoughtful and penetrating work, which both
describes a) decline of citizen action and b) concomitantly the disturbing consequences of the widening
income gap in the U.S.
One of the highlights of the weekend was when Bill
McDaniels and Lenny Bernheimer accepted the
baton from several members of the Class of 1962, a
tradition that dates back to 1917. Bill and Lenny accepted the baton with charm, grace, and alacrity.
Indeed, the only sour note of the weekend was the
football team’s devastating loss to Middlebury.
It’s a difficult segue to news of the week-end to news
of classmates, but try I must.
At least four of our classmates have received awards
of distinction since the last notes.
Lenny Bernheimer was elected to the Squash Hall
of Fame; the accolade was formally announced at the
U.S. Open championships on Oct. 6, with the official
ceremony to be held in Boston in January. Not only
has Lenny won 38 U.S., Canadian, and world singles
and doubles titles, but he also has made his mark by
“giving back to the sport,” which has been so central
to his life. He is a former president of both the U.S.
and Massachusetts squash associations. He is also a
founder (along with Greg Zaff ’84) and chairman of
SquashBusters, a program that involves inner-city
youth in after-school programs, community service,
and squash instruction.
Lenny won his first U.S. championship in 1981 in
the 35-and-over age bracket. His most recent U.S.
1962– 63
title was three years ago in the 65-and-over doubles
bracket. He and his partner, Tom Poor, an Amherst
alum, have captured the last four Canadian titles
(2008-2011).
Lyn and Lenny’s son Jon, a doctor who recently
moved to South Africa with his wife Ingrid, had their
first child. Lenny and Lyn’s daughter Beth ’88 and
her husband Mike Harrington ’88 have four daughters and a son.
Steve Thomas, who, with his wife Ingrid, was one
of our stellar Oxford celebrants, wrote that he and
Bill Olmstead were to receive significant recognition
from the Radiological Society of North America in
November. Steve noted, “Quite a coincidence that two
’63ers will be the recipients in the same year of two
of the three highest honors given by the society.” It’s
actually an extraordinary achievement for both Steve
and Bill. In the description for the award the society
publication stated that Steve “is renowned for his
work in diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine,
but also for his tireless efforts to share his knowledge
and experience by volunteering and mentoring.”
Bill, meanwhile, is a staff radiologist at Baltimore
Veteran’s Administration Hospital and clinical professor of diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine
at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
His citation stated, “Dr. Olmstead has played a vital
leadership role in education of RSNA for 23 years.
His contributions to our entire educational program
in addition to his critical role as editor of Radio Graphics establish a steady foundation upon which we can
build.” Bill evidently took the helm of Radio Graphics
in 1990 and made it into the premier education
journal in diagnostic radiology by the time he retired
in 2011.
Earlier in 2012, Steve, who is a professor emeritus of
radiology and medical physician at the University of
Cincinnati, received the William D. Coolidge award
at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine
annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C. The award is
the highest honor bestowed on an individual by the
AAPM and recognizes an eminent career in medical
physics.
Our fourth honoree was Allen Mondell, who with
his wife Cynthia founded their company Media Projects in 1978. Since that time they have produced over
40 films. On Sept. 30, their work was recognized by
the Dallas/Ft. Worth Films community at the Video
Fest 25th.
Allen just completed Waging Peace: The Peace Corps
Experience, which weaves personal writings from
volunteers with profiles of four former volunteers
still making a difference. Since quite a few of our
classmates served in the Peace Corps, whose creation
affected all of us, it is highly probable that one of the
reunion seminars will focus on some aspect of the
Peace Corps and public service.
I thought I would briefly describe our class’s Oxford
adventure. I think all of us who attended thoroughly
enjoyed the experience. We visited castles large and
small, viewed the Bodleian Museum in Oxford on
numerous occasions, attended an all-black cast’s
presentation of Julius Caesar at Stratford, intermingled
and dined with Williams’ undergraduates who were
spending the year with the Williams-in-Exeter
Program, attended lectures about Churchill, English
architecture and the English Civil War, ate surpris-
ingly appetizing English food, hoisted a few pints and
more than anything, reveled in the camaraderie and
bonhomie of old friends.
I also managed to gather some new information
on classmates on the Oxford trip. Don Zaentz, our
class valedictorian, has three children, one living in
Massachusetts, presumably near Dorothy and him,
one in Chicago, and one in NYC. Don, after spending
considerable time in Iowa, has returned to Valatie,
N.Y. While he expressed regret about not engaging
more with classmates during his Williams’ years, he
explained that he was forced to study arduously in
order to maintain his scholarship. He also had to work
in order to maintain his financial aid. After Williams,
Don attended Harvard Medical School.
At the conclusion of the trip, Don remarked, “I really enjoyed the ’63 trip to Oxford with classmates we
haven’t seen in a long time (some not since college!).
Looking forward even more to the 50th.”
Paul Michel retired from the U.S. Circuit Court in
2010, where he was chief judge. He is giving speeches
and consulting, mostly on intellectual property law
and enforcement. Paul has two married daughters and
four grandchildren—two boys and two girls who are
between the ages of 5 and 16. Fortunately, both families live near to him. Paul and his delightful second
wife, Brook England, whom he married in 2004, were
key participants at Oxford.
Paul has had a remarkable career. He served as a
member of the Judicial Conference of the U.S., which
is the governing body of the Federal Judiciary Branch,
and was a member of the Executive Committee, to
which he was appointed by the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court.
Earlier in his career, Paul was chief of staff for Arlen
Spector, an attorney for the Church Committee investigating spying on Americans (1975-76) and assistant
special prosecutor (1974-1975) for the Watergate
Committee.
Clay Davenport is continuing to work managing
clients’ money at U.S. Trust. Clay and Jan have three
married children, two of whom are graduates of Williams and all of whom live in Connecticut. Clay and
Jan have eight grandchildren, as well. Clay expressed
excitement about a trip to Antarctica planned for the
fall.
Roy Weiner and his wife Marjorie have one
grandchild, Emily, who, at 3, “bears the full weight of
our grandparent devotion, poor girl.” Roy, a doctor
at Tulane University, wrote that “work still consumes
my professional passion, especially the programs I
lead that help bright young people achieve academic
success.” He added, “Reunion plans are exciting; looking forward to June 2013.”
Despite John Churchill’s persistent bout with
laryngitis, after Oxford, he and Robbin were en route
to visit their son, Craig ’86, and their daughter-in-law
Sara Labaree ’87 in France. Craig and Sara, longtime European residents, have three children. John
and Robbin also have two daughters who live stateside
and between them have three children.
John Dorman, who continues to practice medicine
at the Stanford Health Clinic, and his wife Charlene
have three children and five grandchildren. Charlene,
but decidedly not John, was a serious contender for
best dressed on our Oxford trip.
Reece Bader, who has threatened to retire at least
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four times, continues his legal practice as senior partner at Orrick, Harrington, & Sutcliffe. He contends
that his retirement will become a reality at the end of
2012. I remain dubious. After having been in charge
of Orrick’s Paris office for several years, Reece now
manages the firm’s 65 German lawyers. He recently
spent 15 days in Scotland golfing with his two sons
Lawson and Cole.
Out of the blue, I received an email from Win McKeithen in Thailand, who was an original member of
our class, wanting to come to the reunion. Win, who
graduated in 1966, did attend our 40th.
At least two other former members of our class,
Jim Moody and Larry Bauer, are planning to attend
reunion. On behalf of the Reunion Committee, let me
extend a welcome to all former members of the Class
of 1963 who care to join us in June.
My most loyal, as well as consistent, correspondent
is Mike Gerhardt. Would that more of you would
follow his steady and reliable path. Mike and his wife
Doree recently returned from a trip to Turkey. Last
winter, they spent a month in Tucson, golfing and
hiking, and a week in Barcelona. Mike was appointed
by Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chaffee to serve on the
Health Insurance Exchange Board for the state. “As
health geeks will understand, such health exchanges
are a central aspect of the Affordable Care Act, and RI
is way out in front of many other states in implementing this important legislation.”
Mike was also elected to serve on the Board of
Directors of the Providence Singers, a group devoted
to performing outstanding choral music.
Carroll Connard wrote in his modest, understated
manner, “I am not inclined to broadcast but am glad
to report that I have a full life trying to maintain a son
at Skidmore, where he is a sophomore, and a small
flock of sheep in Maine.” He saw Peter Coxe over
the summer and has returned to Williamstown for
graduations of nephews and nieces. “The 50th next
June will be the first reunion for me.” Carroll cogently
remarked, “Someone knowing once said that the best
friend in old age is a good education. I expect we will
find this true.”
Bob Critchell, who lives in Marion, Mass., and
Florida, is trying, or so he says, to retire, but “liquidity
issues are holding up the full winding down of my two
funds of funds partnerships. While I continue to enjoy
the related work, I won’t miss being responsible for
other people’s money.”
Critch keeps in touch with a variety of Williams
folks including David Jeffrey and Sandy McPeck.
Critch went on to report that he “is still married to
Carol, who has stuck around for 45 years (she is very
good at endurance). Our son, Brad, runs ICAP’s (publicly traded UK financial house) U.S. secondary market private equity business. Our daughter Dana ’97 is
an endocrinologist in Menlo Park, Calif. Between the
two of them, we have four grandsons.”
Bob (does anyone ever call him Bob?) continues to
avidly “race” sports cars. Critch contends (much to my
and the regret of others) that he plans to only “drop
into our Reunion.” We want more of you, Critch.
Skip Buck is semi-retired and looking for part-time
work. Skip is married to his second wife. His list of
progeny includes one son, one daughter, two stepsons
and four grandchildren. Skip enjoys sailing, exercising, and just plain sitting on the beach.
42
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I want to express gratitude on behalf of the class to
Phil Kinicutt, who has spent endless hours setting up
our website, which I urge all of you to visit. Phil and
Annetta went on a Williams-sponsored trip to Greece
called “Pearls of Antiquity.” Cecil Baker was on the
trip as well.
Finally, Gordon and John Davis and 24 other
members of the Davis family proudly attended the
rededication of the Williams Multicultural Center to
Alison Davis ’24 and John Davis ’33, their respective
fathers. Both Alison and John had extraordinary academic careers. The rededication included a reception
and The Davis lecture, given by Danielle Allen, on
Oct. 19. It was followed by a full and diverse program
of lectures and discussions on Saturday, including a
ribbon-cutting ceremony at which both John and
Gordon spoke touchingly about their fathers, who had
such a profound influence on a world that was changing. The Multicultural Center is now aptly called
The Davis Center. What a wonderful tribute to our
classmates and their fathers.
1964
Martin P. Wasserman, 13200 Triadelphia Road, Ellicott
City, MD 21042; [email protected]
Classmates, by now nearly everyone has reached the
age of 70. Thinking back to September 1960, can you
even imagine anyone becoming 50 years old, much
less three score plus 10. Those “dudes” were REALLY
old, man—and now, they is us!
We each have achieved that milestone from
different approaches. Biff Steel was less concerned
about turning 70 than awakening to learn “that
my son (Anim Steel ’94) has turned 40!” A similar
experience occurred when Dick Tucker realized that
his oldest grandson, Elijah, had begun his freshman
year at Fitchburg State University, majoring in
computer science. “Where has the time gone?”
Dave Marish has moved out of the neighborhood
(the metro Washington area). “Well, Marty, we are
no longer neighbors. Amy and I moved to Tijeras,
N.M. It’s a beautiful spot in the mountains about 15
miles east of Albuquerque, with big sky by day and a
million stars at night.” Having served in the Indian
Health Service in Gallup, N.M., when we completed our medical residencies, I was curious to learn
more about Tijeras. It is a little village nestled in the
Sandia Mountains, just east of Albuquerque, with a
population of 540 persons! It was inhabited during the
1200s and is rich in Hispanic and Native American
(Apache/Comanche) culture. During the 1930s it was
a primary center in the eastern Sandia range. It is a
beautiful location.
John Wester in San Diego has published a
chapbook of poems he wrote for The Anderson Valley
Advertiser between 2004 and 2012. My favorite one is
titled “Sentimental Journey”: “I never used to cry—/
Getting old, I guess,/Seeing good friends die/Before
we had a chance to bless/The times we shared/And
face to face/Smile over dreams we’d chase.”
Sadly, I must inform you of the passing of Dick Meierdiercks in October. Our prayers go out to his family
and friends. He will be missed.
Within a month of turning 70, Tom Howell retired
as general counsel from the American Bar Associa-
1963– 64
tion. He has “not yet established any patterns” but has
traveled, golfed, played squash and tennis, and gone
fishing on the Beaverhead River, in Dillon, Mont.
(another beautiful location). He has been advised by
Chris Hagy, who recently rode horses in Mongolia
with Leo Murray, to exercise for two hours daily,
but responded, “I don’t think my arthritic knees
would like that!” Tom’s greatest challenge to date was
“organizing ‘stuff’ in my home office and converting
from a PC to a Mac.” Traveling in the four corners
area of the southwest, Denny Van Ness writes that
he and Kate were enjoying the history and geology
of the area and that while they were vacationing his
60-acre grape “farm” was being harvested and that his
“winemaker customer” will be creating “another great
Syrah.” I pressed Denny for additional information,
but he said he did not have his own label, but that this
was merely a hobby. Don’t you all think that the class
secretary should get his own Syrah sample for tasting
and reporting back to the class?
Rich Garland, on the other hand, set up a personal
challenge. He began running marathons in 1989 only
to “retire” from that activity in 2004. As he thought
about turning 70 he considered, “I want to do something special to celebrate joining the septuagenarians.
Wouldn’t it be great to run a marathon after turning
70, but not just any marathon—why not qualify and
run the Boston Marathon in 2013 as a 70-year-old?”
And thus began his training in the spring of 2011. He
ran the St. George (Utah) Marathon in October 2011
and although “tough, it went well, and I qualified as
a 70-year-old by some nine minutes.” Rich is now
officially “un-retired” from marathons, and April
15, 2013, he will be on the starting line for the 117th
Boston Marathon. Quite an achievement, Rich. While
some of us will be finishing up our payments to Uncle
Sam, you will be running your butt off in Boston!
Wow!
It was good to hear from Jeff Appel, who turned
70 and retired from Fermilab after 37 years where he
most recently served as the assistant director for program planning. Jeff will continue his research interests
“on the Fermilab experiment on which I have most
recently collaborated,” CDF. I don’t know how many
of you are aware of what “CDF” does, so I decided to
research it. Jeff had only indicated that he had been
involved with the team that discovered the “bottom”
quark, and that the “top” quark was discovered before
he arrived there. CDF stands for Collider Detector
at Fermilab (CDF), a set of experimental collaboration studies of high-energy particle collisions at the
Tevatron, the world’s former highest-energy particle
accelerator. The goal is to discover the identity and
properties of the particles that make up the universe
and to understand the forces and interactions between
those particles.
There is more to learn; but what followed—hadrons, neutrinos, and hypothetical particle searching—
was well beyond what I learned in “pre-med physics”
at Williams and more in the realm of knowledge of
others such as Jack Leingang, who really impressed
me during freshman year with the depth of understanding he had in the “real world” of physics. Jeff
was doing some pretty heavy and important science
during his career. Hopefully we can convince him
and Marjorie to join us in 2014 and share some of his
professional undertakings.
Being retired, as we have learned, is not an “easy
and effortless” activity. John LeFevre left the Federal
Trade Commission in 1998 after 30 years as a staff
attorney to become executive director of U.S. Figure
Skating, the governing body for figure skating, in
Colorado Springs, for another six years. Throughout
his life, John had played many roles in this sport and
now continues to remain busy as president of the
Broadmoor Skating Club, a national training center
for U.S. Olympians and the sponsor of many national
and international competitions. When not skating,
John sings in the Colorado College Choir, which has
two major performances of choral works every year.
He sits on the boards of several musical organizations
and enjoys especially listening to his daughter play
the violin, an instrument which she has mastered and
upon which she trains others. John is healthy, obviously very active, and continues to quadruple axel his
way through life!
A friend of mine, who also lived in West Hartford,
Conn., Jamie Neidlinger, is having some health
problems but remains upbeat and joyful with Betsi,
his “high school sweetheart,” in Sioux Falls, S.D. He
writes of the visits and activities of son Bill, involved
in financial counseling, and daughter Liz, a landmanagement director for a petro-chemical company. I
think the study of geology has paid off for some of us!
We have shared many a discussion about our concerns
for some of the business and economic decisions we
have seen recently and our hope that we can get back
on track to a more collaborative and less competitive
environment. And speaking of that balancing act, I
must share with you a book suggested to me by Tom
Stites of the Banyon Project, who recommended The
Penguin and the Leviathan: How Cooperation Triumphs
over Self-Interest by Harvard professor Yochai
Benkler. Benkler argues that we as a society are not
necessarily programmed (genetically) to only focus
on self interest (despite the arguments of Richard
Dawkins, The Selfish Gene) but through understanding and implementing discoveries from neuroscience,
economics, sociology, evolutionary biology, political
science, and a wealth of other real-world examples we
can harness the power of human cooperation to improve business processes, design smarter technology,
reform our economic systems, maximize volunteer
contributions to science, reduce crime, and improve
the efficacy of civic movements. This is a very good
read and has helped me rethink and reprogram my
general view of human nature with a solid science
base of evidence.
There were several class get-togethers in the metro
Washington area. In early October, Barbara and
I hosted John Wilson, Gary Ratner, Gay Mayer,
and Suzanne and Skip Gwiazda for an evening of
discussion and vegetarian dining. Barbara has been a
vegetarian for seven years and keeps me eating healthfully at home (but making less healthy and more
guilt-ridden decisions when I am out dining away).
Our conversation bounced from enjoyment of animals
to “when will the election be over” to economic
decisions of the Fed, World Bank, and International
Monetary Fund. Other topics included education and
travel. The evening’s commentary was enhanced by
John’s bringing a business associate and friend Sayed
Nadeem Adil, who is currently in charge of Flow
of Funds accounts in the statistics department at the
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43
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and with whom he has
consulted in the past. Although Nadeem was not personally involved in the Cluett Center for Economic
Development at Williams, many others from the SBP
have been.
At the end of October, Harry Himmelman hosted
a group at Lias in Chevy Chase, Md., which is owned
by Chef Jeff, the husband of Norah O’Donnell, Chief
White House Correspondent for CBS News. Harry
and I were joined by Bill Chapman, Steve Birrell,
Terry Finn, Gay Mayer, Dick Hubbard, and Jay
Friedman. Conversation ranged from the size of today’s football players (humongous) and the drubbing
that Chappie’s nephew provided his Middlebury team
over Williams earlier in October. We also had an
independent discussion of how we saw the upcoming
elections. It was a pleasant evening—always great to
get together with longtime friends. And how easily the
conversation flowed among the eight of us. (And in
case you are interested, no, I did not remain vegetarian, but don’t tell Barbara.)
The really big event was the minireunion, where
over 20 classmates got together and enjoyed all
aspects of the weekend except for the Middlebury
game. Enjoying the lectures, group discussions, and
dining events were Lisle Baker, Larry Bauer, Bruce
Birgbauer, Steve Birrell, Bill Chapman, John
Foehl, Bill Frado, Nick Goodhue, Al Hageman,
Tom Howell, Jack Kuehn, Jack Leingang, Dave
Macpherson, Gay Mayer, Leo Murray, Joel Reingold, John Romans, Craig Schelter, Bob Stine,
Bob Summersgill, Tom Todd, and Bill Wishard.
Both Gay and Steve provided information concerning
the event, which now has become a multi-class activity including members of the classes of ’63, ’65, and
’66. Friday night’s joint dinner was “sold out” at the
Williams Inn, and, as Gay writes, “It was really good
to keep bumping into guys we had not seen in a long
time.” There are now specially planned activities for
the spouses including Friday’s gathering of the “1964
Women of Williams” at Polly Macpherson’s home for
lunch and a book discussion of The Sandcastle Girls
by Chris Bohjalian. These gatherings have become
increasingly popular and will continue as we move
toward our 50th reunion. On Saturday morning,
Hedrick Smith ’55 provided an excellent lecture/discussion on his recent book, Who Spoiled the American
Dream?, to a standing-room-only crowd in Brooks
Rogers. His book is must reading for anyone who
wants to understand how we got to today’s political
deadlock from the perspective of a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist. On Saturday evening there was a
class dinner at The Orchards restaurant, which was
a relaxed social get-together with fellow classmates
and spouses/partners. Of course there continued to
be meetings to discuss our upcoming 50th reunion
in June 2014 and how to increase the attendance of
our classmates. The weekend concluded on Sunday
morning with a stunningly engaging presentation by
Assistant Professor of History Patrick Spero, featuring
the class he teaches about political campaigning in
the early 19th century. He asks his students to create
presidential campaign ads based on the actual historical records of the words they used. It is an inventive
combination of modern media and historical records
and was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance.
Steve and Bill Chapman were still talking about the
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unique and clever presentations that were made by
current students when we all were together in Washington several weeks later.
I must conclude by stating that one of the real benefits of serving as your class secretary is that I get to
learn and report on what so many of us have accomplished during the nearly 50 years that have passed
since our graduation. I hope that during the 50th
reunion—and leading up to it—we can share what we
consider our most interesting and important activities
from planning to run the Boston Marathon (Rich
Garland), to writing a novel (Terry Finn), replacing a
knee (Dick Scott), getting packages delivered on time
(Dick Gold), and writing poetry (John Wester). Each
of us has something to add—a story to tell. I hope that
I can learn and write more about every single member
of the Class of 1964 from now until the big event in
2014! And don’t forget to hold the week of June 17-24,
2013, for our next “official” class event—a week in
Oxford, England, with classes, dining, cultural activities, entertainment, and mini-travel for ourselves and
spouses/significant others.
Be well. —Marty.
1965
Tom Burnett, 175 Riverside Drive, #2H, New York, NY
Jim Worrall was honored and given the Alumni
Fund Chair Award on May 5, 2012. Since May
1991, Jim has worked tirelessly to raise money for
the college in the Alumni Fund. The results for the
2011-12 year are now available, and, once again, Jim
and the Class of ’65 can take pride in their collective
efforts. Out of a class role of 245, some 215 donors
contributed $172, 610, nearly 5 percent above the
target amount. Great job by the class, and outstanding
leadership effort by Jim.
The Aug. 9, 2012, The New York Times carried a
review of the National Gallery of Art’s “Elegance
and Refinement—Still-Life Paintings of William van
Aelst,” curated by Arthur Wheelock, the gallery’s
curator of Northern Baroque painting.
The principal focus of this column will be the
efforts leading up to our reunion in 2015. As previously noted, the class gift will be comprised of two
separate funds—the Student Opportunity Fund and
the President’s Venture Fund. Dusty Griffin and Dave
Coolidge will be hosting a series of luncheon meetings similar to the one held June 4 in DC. The Boston
lunch was held Sept. 21, and the two scheduled events
are a luncheon in San Francisco, hosted by Karl Matthies and John McCoy, and a luncheon in NYC on
Dec. 13, hosted by Jere Thompson, Dick Aborn, Ron
McGlynn and myself.
The Oct. 12-14 weekend was the most important
event for the class in the fall. On Friday, meetings
were held by the gift planning and the reunion planning committees. There was a cocktail reception and
dinner with the Classes of ’63, ’64, ’65, and ’66 at the
Williams Inn. The evening gave attendees a chance to
catch up with friends from other classes. I particularly
enjoyed talking with Jim Blume and Brooks Goddard from the Class of ’63, and with John Linen and
Wink Willet from the Class of ’66. Saturday morning
offered a seminar led by Hedrick Smith ’55, during
1964– 66
which he discussed his latest book, Who Stole the
American Dream? Prior to the start of the Middlebury
football game, the four classes gathered for a buffet
lunch under a tent at Weston Field. The game result
was a disappointment, but the weather was perfect,
and the chance to catch up with other classmates
made up for the loss on the field. The class dinner was
hosted by Kathy and Phil McKnight at their lovely
home. With some 30 classmates and nearly 60 total
guests, the dinner party went off without a hitch. All
the lucky attendees owe a genuine debt of gratitude
to Kathy and Phil for their successful efforts. The
weekend concluded with a brunch at the Faculty
House led by Mary Richardson, who introduced a
faculty member of the history department, who gave a
fascinating presentation on the use of online databases
by history students and faculty.
Once again, Dorm Worrall was the HQ for many
of us staying in Williamstown that weekend. Priscilla
and Jim hosted Tim Reichert and me downstairs in
one room, with Diane and Ron Kidd in the adjacent
room, while Saranne Murray and Jack Foley
decamped upstairs. Sitting around the fireplace nodding off one by one was the perfect end to an eventful
Saturday. At Friday’s dinner, I sat next to John
Palmer and Bill Ouchi. Bill and Carol had just visited
Manhattan on their way up to Williamstown. Bill is
no longer teaching full time but is engaged in several
projects at UCLA, which he finds more time consuming but highly rewarding. John lives near Syracuse
and remains very active in public policy, having
worked on projects that help define the data utilized
by the staff in the final Simpson-Bowles report on the
nation’s financial problems and possible solutions. I
always enjoy discussing Colorado with Patsy Isaacson
and Jack Elgin, who live three hours from Denver
(when they are not at their Florida home), where our
daughter Nora lives.
I enjoyed speaking with Jim Knowles, who is
applying his financial skills in Thailand and won the
“prize” for having traveled the farthest to get to Williamstown. We recalled that we had met taking the
bus from New York in September 1961 on our way to
freshman year activities.
Stuart Johnson and I had not spent time with each
other since our days in Washington. Stu is active in
his criminal defense legal practice and is the current
president of the Aaron Burr Society. His partner Helena Lawrence is a paralegal in the Justice Department.
All of us at the McKnight dinner benefitted from
dishes brought by classmates living nearby. My personal favorite was the roasted vegetable risotto with
fresh items from their garden, prepared by Elizabeth
and Lenny Gibson.
It was a treat to speak with Curt Mills and his wife
Linda Christie. They have returned to the Gloversville, N.Y., area, where Linda is a director of a medical
facility, and Curt is practicing medicine three days
a week. Lucky patients, I would say, since I cannot imagine any doctor with a better, more positive
bedside manner.
Irene and Julian Gladstone came up from Philadelphia, and I had a good visit with them. Julian remains
active in his medical practice in the area.
Among others, I was able to spend time with Jim
Gage, Fred Ohly, Rick Conley, John Trainor, Dan
O’Flaherty, and Pete Richtmyer. Of course, I did
not miss the chance to discuss current literature with
Dave Wilson, even at my extended age, I am not getting too old to learn from my classmate friends. It was
a really great weekend, and thanks to the McKnights,
Dusty, and Dave for organizing it and making it a
success.
1966
Palmer Q. Bessey, 1320 York Ave., 32H, New York, NY
10021; John Gould, 80 Ocean St., Lynn, MA 01902;
[email protected]
Dan Cohn-Sherbok has a new book (number 89, if
I haven’t lost count), a fictionalized autobiographical
memoir, Not a Job for a Nice Jewish Boy. It is a Kindle
edition and available on Amazon. There is a section
on Williams, identified as Tewksbury College.
John Gould is also publishing a novel online. It is
appearing serially as he writes it. He was up to Chapter 9 when these notes went to press. Try Googling
“Carlton Sortwell.” John has been teaching a class
on The Sound and the Fury as part of a program for
adults called Beacon Hill Seminars. Over Thanksgiving he and Jane took in an early screening of Life of
Pi, a lovely film made more beautiful by having son
Gardner’s name flash by in the credits as one of two
assistant editors. In the spring John will return to
Bennington to teach his course on grammar, “From
Syntax to Style.” Back by popular demand.
Budge Upton continues to evade retirement. He
and his son Jake work together to pursue real estate
opportunities in Boston. Although the pickings are
slim, waiting for the markets to return, it helps to
have been around in Beantown for a while. Budge
and his wife Kyle keep in touch with Char, widow of
Dave Pfaelzer, and they traveled north over the summer to join Betsy and Bill Roe at their camp north of
Parry Sound, Ontario.
Steve O’Brien and John Ashton have joined
forces to try to restore a sustainable run of Atlantic
salmon to the U.S. waterways. The current focus of
those efforts is the East Machias River, a 60-mile
run in Washington County, Maine (the easternmost
county in the U.S., aka “sunrise county’). The project’s
inaugural dinner was held at The Country Club in
Chestnut Hill, Mass., in October and attended by
forty plus “Friends of Maine Salmon Rivers.” For a
suitable contribution to the cause, John will send you
a baseball cap embroidered with leaping salmon.
Larry Stone happily wrote that his new knee was
coming along so well that he was able to spend a busy
fall working on his farm in the Adirondacks in the
shadow of Whiteface Mountain and birdhunting and
guiding for woodcock and grouse with his French
Brittany. He has also been able to resume coaching
young ski jumpers in Lake Placid and playing local
gigs. He toured Switzerland and Norway this past
summer and recorded a new CD in Texas, Thistles
and Salt.
Carl Casselman and Ann were able to catch a
Jimmy Winchester concert last spring in Saratoga
Springs with John Carney and Sandi and Mike
Burrows. The show was excellent, and Jimmy was
as good as ever. Carl and Wink Willett connected at
their 50th reunion at Belmont Hill, and in August
they continued the conversation about, well, the
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last 50 years, by the lake at Ann and Carl’s home in
Washington County, N.Y. Maintaining his “iron butt’
reputation, Carl and his son Robert took a peakfoliage trip up to Chazy Lake in the Adirondacks to
visit Bob Brewer ’65, and they are already planning a
follow-up trip for the spring.
Jim Biehle went to his 50th high school reunion in
Tarrytown, N.Y., and was bemused because so many
old people showed up. He and Cynthia now have
seven grandchildren, four of whom live near them in
St. Louis. She is considering retirement soon, but Jim
still does school planning and architecture, concentrating on science facilities. He had a disk repaired in
September and was unable to play tennis for several
weeks. But it did not stop him from going on a twoday float trip on the lower Current River.
Bill Ewen went to the 50th reunion of his New
Trier High School class in Winnetka, Ill., where he
met up with Stew Leber as well as Williamstown
physician Win Steubne (Dartmouth ’66). Much
missed were Peter Dillingham and Hank Harrington. Bill and Katie took a Williams alumni travel
trip over the summer, following a portion of the
path of the Lewis and Clark expedition. They highly
recommend it as a rich liberal arts experience, with
talks covering history, geology, and ecology, and time
for hiking and kayaking.
Ron Worland has been retired for six months and
“sort of” enjoying it. He is glad to have sold his office
and found a responsible surgeon to take over the
practice. He is especially pleased not to have to deal
with Obamacare except to find a doctor for himself. He has been busy on medical missions to India
and China, vacationing in Maui and Mexico, and
planning a plastic surgery workshop on Tortola and
missions to Vietnam and Guatemala in the spring.
The “sort of” qualifier has to do with the health of his
wife, Lou. Those issues seem to have all been resolved
successfully.
Roger Ruckman reported two happy events. The
first was the marriage of his youngest son, Jonathan,
in June in Louisville, and the second was the birth of
his first grandson, Campbell Elliott, to his son Rob
Ruckman ’95.
Con O’Leary went to Williams in the fall for the
convocation and Bicentennial Medal awards. His
junior-year roommate, Norm Spack ’65, was recognized for his work with transgender youth. He met up
with Dick Dubow and his family, and they reported
that the talks were inspirational and the college looked
great.
Peter Koenig came west from London to attend his
50th high school reunion in New Jersey. He was able
to meet up with John Gould and me to begin planning our Williams 50th reunion book. More to come.
Hubert Van Den Bergh wrote from Lausanne,
Switzerland, where he teaches chemistry at EPFL.
He reported that Jeff Rosen visited from Baylor in
Dallas and gave a wonderful lecture about his research
on breast cancer. Hubert and Jeff both were chemistry
majors at Williams and have pursued careers in medical research. After a lovely lunch by Lake Geneva,
they resolved to meet again at the 50th in Williamstown.
In early October, there was a minireunion in Williamstown for the classes of ’63, ’64, ’65, and ’66.
This was an opportunity to reconnect with others
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who were on the campus when we were and for us to
continue to plan for our own 50th reunion (June 8-12,
2016). A good crowd showed up: Dave Tunick, Jon
Linen, Bob Krefting, Al Rork, John Gould, Wink
Willett, Punky Booth, Bob Rubin, Chip Malcolm,
Jodi Dobson, Bob Cunningham, Bill Bowden,
Joe Bessey, Bill Adams, Bob Valleau, and Stan
Possick, most with accompanying wives, partners, or
significant others. The weather was mostly spectacular, the company was convivial, and there was also
a football game, played valiantly by players from
Middlebury and Williams. Margo and Bill Bowden
hosted a fabulous class dinner (for those outside the
Northeast, that alone is a reason to make the trip next
year), and a good amount of time was spent thinking
about the details surrounding the main event of our
50th. You will hear more about these soon. There are
also a series of events leading up to the 2016 reunion,
both in and outside of Williamstown. One was held
in Washington the day after Election Day at the National Gallery, hosted by Rusty Powell. The next one
will be the NYC Class of 1966 Dinner with no special
agenda, to be held at the Williams/Princeton Club, 15
West 43rd Street, on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013.
Some reports from “Superstorm Sandy” came in
just before press time. Bob Roesler was relieved that
Northern Vermont was spared Sandy’s wrath—unlike last year with Irene—but he knows several who
were hit hard twice. Don’t mess with Mother Nature.
Instead of retiring last spring, he switched law firms
and thinks he now has got it right. The new position
is fun and has rejuvenated him professionally. He
and Kathi married off their youngest daughter, Caity,
over the summer, played golf, and enjoyed terrific
weather on New England’s West Coast. They met up
with Ted Noll and Sally Thompson. Bob reports that
Gar has not aged much and is enjoying retirement in
Montana.
Chip Malcolm also escaped the worst of Sandy. He
has modified his career too. After 6,000 deliveries,
he is giving up obstetrics and its lifestyle to focus his
practice on gynecology. He hopes that will give him
more flexibility to enjoy his three children and their
families, who are all close by in Middlebury.
John Gould sent this dispatch from the beach in
Lynn, MA: “Along with all the other flotsam and
jetsam, Jack Vroom was left behind in the wake of
Superstorm Sandy. He was visiting while attending
a conference in Boston and wound up staying till
Thursday! A good time was had by all!” And from
Vroom, upstairs at the Gould’s house: “It’s been all
Williams and Sandy and NESSCA (New England
Snotty Small College Association) for a week… Left
Dallas to spend the weekend in Cambridge visiting
my daughter Grace and attend a seminar… Graciously invited to spend the evenings at the seacoastresidence of John and Jane Gould… Also helped by
a nameless young lady from Williams ’09 wearing a
vibrant purple Williams T-shirt who gave me directions. Sandy eliminated two days of flights from Logan, so the kindly offer of three days’ lodging from the
Goulds has now matured into my being here nearly a
week! God bless PVC (Purple Valley Connections).”
Best wishes for the New Year and your own PVC in
2013. And, hey, keep in touch.
1966– 67
1967
Kenneth A. Willcox, 178 Westwood Lane, Wayzata, MN
It is with sadness that I lead this issue with the news
that we have lost another member of our class. Paul
Cowden passed away Sept. 23, 2012. He had suffered
from MS. Paul lived in Mount Sterling, Ky., with
his wife Suzanne. He received his law degree from
Vanderbilt. After a period in private practice, he
switched to the public sector. He had a remarkable
career serving Montgomery County as its county
attorney from 1978 until his retirement in 2006. He
was twice named County Attorney of the Year by the
Kentucky Attorney General. He was also named Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 2007 by the Mount
Sterling Chamber of Commerce. He was chairman of
the board of Mary Chiles Hospital and was president
of the Mount Sterling Rotary Club. Besides his wife
Suzanne, Paul is survived by two daughters, Kelly
Rehm Cowden and Lucy Spalding Cowden. Paul was
a well-liked and much respected classmate, and we
will certainly and sorrowfully miss him.
Linda and Dave Nash could be found in Croatia late
last summer. Dave was there to compete in the Super
Senior Individual World Tennis Championships. He
said they found the country and its recent conflictridden history fascinating. Dave lost in the finals
of 65-and-over doubles and won the consolation in
singles. Congratulations, Dave.
Also last summer, Chris Covington went on a
Williams-sponsored cruise with the Bobos, Comforts,
and Hawns, ruin hopping from Athens to Istanbul.
In late October, the destination was Turner Smith’s
on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Joining him there
were the Comforts, Gillespies, Hays, Olsons, Vipers,
and Bents.
Bob Conway, while in NYC on business in October,
visited the 9/11 Memorial. He looked for and found
Howie Kestenbaum’s name on the structure.
While in Portland, Maine, to attend some plays,
Andy Cadot appeared in a TV commercial for the
Plug-In Prius. He says his Prius averaged 67 mpg
for the first 8,000 miles. Andy and Lindsey put
their gardens in Roque Bluffs to bed in late fall, then
returned to Portland, where they spend the winter.
Chuck Glassmire returned to New England last year
and spent the year teaching at Worcester Academy.
During the summer break he hiked over 600 miles on
the Appalachian Trail. Next summer he hopes to add
another similar distance toward the goal of 2,178 miles
overall. He spends weekends at his home in Maine,
where he plans to ultimately retire in a few years. The
last of his four children is nearing college graduation.
In his retirement he plans to spend time with his
offspring and his two grandsons. Meanwhile he enjoys
teaching chemistry and running every day.
Bill Garth is happily retired in St. Petersburg, Fla.
He refers to it as the arts destination of Florida, with
the new Dali Museum, the Chihuly collection and
hot shop at the Morean Arts Center, the recently
expanded Museum of Fine Arts, and the new Western
Art Museum in the works. Bill was elected to the
Board of Consultants of the Florida Orchestra. The
orchestra is promoting a cultural exchange with the
National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba.
Hank Grass’ athletic career is being slowed by age
and injuries, but he’s trying to keep up his morale.
Meanwhile his family, grandchildren, and wife of 43
years are fine. He plans on being in Williamstown for
our 50th.
Gail and Gregg Meister immersed themselves in
Europe from September through early December.
Gregg said he was making up for regretfully not having taken art classes at Williams. They feasted on art
museums, roughly two dozen, in Holland, Scotland,
London, and Paris. They also studied Spanish in
Salamanca and practiced it in Seville and Madrid.
Germany and Switzerland were also destinations.
Hillary and Jeff Bowen were sorry to miss reunion,
but they were diverted by some illness in the family.
All is well now. They have added a Lab puppy, whom
they’ve named Goose. Last September, Beth and
Bryan Hickman paid them a visit. That gave them a
chance to share ideas on charter schools and potential
funding sources.
Hugh Smyser sends word that his older son Ben
married “a wonderful woman,” Eleanor Schoomer, at
a very romantic, happy event in Tarrytown. Peggy
and Mark Ellis, the Smysers’ closest friends and Ben’s
godparents, were in attendance. Ben is in his second
year at Emory Law in Atlanta. Their younger son
Ezra, after interning for dot-coms for a year, landed a
“real” job with an exciting startup that involves European travel. Hugh and Robin remain happy and busy
with her child psychology and his real estate.
Tucker Harrison and his wife have moved into a
smaller house in their community. They went from
3,000 square feet to about 1,500. The best part is they
are three minutes’ walk to the ocean. They have a nice
clubhouse, pool, a wonderful beach, snorkeling, windsurfing, very large turtles, and the chance to watch
and tickle small turtles.
Jack Hunt was joined by Lisa and Jake Taylor for
a pleasant dinner in mid-October. Jack’s daughter Dr.
Lisa Hunt ’03 is enjoying her cardiothoracic fellowship in Houston. Daughter Laura ’97 underwent gallbladder surgery but is fully recovered and back to her
hectic schedule. Jack has sold their house in Houston,
but they are still living in an apartment pending their
move to their house in San Juan Capistrano.
Mark Richards reports that his “five-mile rule”
continues to work well. That rule states that their
three children Pete ’95, Drew ’01, and Annie can
live anywhere in the world as long as it’s within five
miles of Lizzie and Mark. They had their fifth and
sixth grandchildren this year. Their company, The
Richards Group, continues to survive and thrive. He
says, “Life is good.”
Kathe and Bill Biersach traveled to Paris last fall
with Mary and Warner Fletcher as part of a trip to
Normandy and the Loire Valley. Warner asked for
a tour of the Normandy beach landings, and Kathe
wanted equal time in the Loire visiting chateaus. Bill
claims he is still losing money regularly to Doug
Mills in their golf battles. He says that Doug’s game is
progressing in the right direction, while his fades. Bill
takes comfort in the fact that he at least continues to
do well in sailing competition.
Your secretary managed to squeak through in a close
election for four more years as Mayor of Wayzata,
Minn. Actually, since it turned out I ran unopposed,
“squeak through” is probably not exactly the right
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term. Meanwhile Winnie continues to spend much
of her time in Ohio caring for her declining mother.
Enjoy the rest of the winter, and we’ll do this all over
again come spring.
1968
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Paul Neely, P.O. Box 11526, Chattanooga, TN 37401;
[email protected]
We begin with the most modestly stated submission to Class Notes ever. Andy Weiss says, “I don’t
have too much news. I’m getting very involved with
philanthropy. My foundation is focused on helping
poor people in poor countries and doing research on
what works. We provided clean water to 1 million
people in Haiti and are supporting eHealthpoints,
which is providing clean water in India. We are also
getting very involved in Rwanda, mostly in education,
agriculture, and health projects. We’d love to hear
from other alumni with expertise in these fields.”
So, anyone who has provided clean water to a
million people or similarly has not too much news is
welcome to contact Andy. In fact, though, his offer
is sincere. He welcomes hearing from those doing
similar work.
On a more personal level, we are always glad to
report this kind of news, in this case from Sherman
Jones: “There are a few of us who are still having
weddings and getting married—me for one. Last
Thanksgiving Day (2011) in Knoxville. To a woman
I met while a student in an American high school in
Germany in the early 1960s. We reconnected four
years ago when one of our black schoolmates found
about 15 of us through the Internet.”
Tom Pierce reports that “after two fantastic fantasy
years house-sitting for brother David in Los Angeles,
on July 1 the house was sold. But we were not. Lu
Ann and I are now partners in Pierce Management
Development, with no interest in retiring from our
exec coaching/training/facilitating biz. We decided
that Denver would be a dandy place to live and
work, lured by skiing, golf, airport connections, and
Chamber-guaranteed 300 days of sun. Per year, even.
On Sept. 6, the Vermont moving van arrived at our
rental home in Centennial with two years of forgotten
furniture. The next day, the self-packed pod arrived
from LA for self-unpacking.”
Tad Piper says, “We have completely flunked the
‘downsizing’ that most of our friends seem to be doing. While they are selling the house and moving to
a condo, we have purchased a farm with a big house
and, most importantly, a big barn where Cindy can
keep her horses. It’s a great place, and Cindy has a
grin on her face all day long. I am still chair of the
Board of Regents of St. Olaf College and enjoying it
very much. It’s great to spend lots of time with young
people and meeting the many challenges of higher ed
today. Both Cindy and I are on several other civic and
corporate boards where we hope we are offering some
of the wisdom and experience that go along with our
gray and no hair. Life is fun with many family activities, travel, and good health.”
Bob Chambers is trying to move: “We put our
house on the market here in Whitefish several months
ago, and, in keeping with the stellar economy, it’s
still for sale. In the meantime, we’ve plunked down a
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deposit on a smaller lot on the edge of town, still with
a great view of the mountains but easier to maintain. I
recently took my daughter Emily up to Calgary to see
Justin Bieber. Quite the experience. I’d also arranged
for her to meet him, and I think she’s still a few feet
off the ground. Not many other people there my/our
age, to say the least, so I felt pleased and out of place
at the same time. Thank God for earplugs.”
David Redman retired from Princeton Oct. 1 after
39 years of working in the graduate school office as
an administrator, initially in student life, then budget
and fellowships, then for most of the time academic
affairs. “I have no immediate plans to move from
Princeton Junction, where my wife Peggy and I
have lived since 1979. She continues to work at ETS,
and I am still figuring out what I want to do during
retirement, besides the obvious of more reading, more
garden and house care.
“I have begun taking piano lessons, as both a preemptive attack on mental deterioration and a distant
tip-of-the-hat to my freshman roommates Steve
Fisher and Bob Chambers, who are both very musical. Bob especially was an easy and elegant pianist,
and I recall my admiration at his ability to just walk
into the student union, sit down at the grand (or baby
grand?) piano at one end of the lounge and be able to
play anything. No music in front of him, no warmup, no practice. Just wonderful playing.
“One of the things Peggy and I will do during my
retirement is travel more in the U.S. and abroad. Very
soon we hope to travel to North Adams to see MASS
MoCA, and Williamstown, to re-visit the Clark. And
walk around the college for old times’ sake.”
John Kinabrew writes: “Since retiring many years
ago I have been doing volunteer work, serving on a
few boards, and spending a lot of time with grandchildren. Have a great wife, Cathie, and the blessing of
good health. I fish as often as possible, do a fair bit of
traveling, and often am reminded of what Williams
gave all of us—the chance to pursue a balanced and
well-informed life.”
In addition, there are these reports of contact with
Williamstown. Kent Van Allen writes, “I had a great
time this past spring playing golf at Taconic Golf
Club with Howie Steinberg. Reminded me of my
wasted spring senior year on the course with Bob
Klatell.”
Sandy Caskey liked being in Williamstown, too:
“I greatly enjoyed meeting with classmates last May
in a function of reunion planning. While web site
design is more of a sidelight for me (main focus at this
point: software entrepreneur, specializing in natural
language processing and speech recognition solutions),
I am really looking forward to creating a Williams ’68
presence on the Internet. Perhaps Facebook as well.
Other: I’ve been in Seattle since 1995, where wife
Carmen and I came to join Microsoft Research. It’s
a wonderful place with far more sunshine than most
would be expect.”
Doug Rae reports: “I found my way back to Williamstown last month for the first time in nearly 20
years, but it took nearly a month. I started at the Canadian border and walked the Long Trail the length
of Vermont, 275 miles. Over Stratton Mountain I ran
into a Williams group on a freshman orienteering
backpacking trip, who invited me to share marshmallows and s’mores around their campfire on their
1967– 69
last night. Rita and Bob Cricenti collected me from
Lincoln Gap (middle of nowhere, VT) and took me
back to New London, N.H., for a much needed zero
(mileage) day. And Professor Emeritus Roger Bolton
and Judy welcomed me to their home at the end of
my pilgrimage.”
Michael Yogman is still practicing pediatrics but
is also board chair of the Boston Children’s Museum.
“We are planning our 100th birthday in 2013 and
launching it with a summit at the Federal Reserve
Bank in April on the importance of new advances in
brain science in early childhood and implications for
kindergarten readiness and the development of human
capital.”
Finally, Ken Jackson reports: “I got to see Williams
friends this summer in spectacular vacation sites. I
spent a week with Don McGill in Montana, the most
time I have had with Don since the early ’70s. Don
had rented a house, and my wife Carol, my son Dan,
and I joined him for a week of fly-fishing, just after
Denny Kelly had left. Don was both host and guide
to the Ruby River, and Denny had left a few fish for
us. Then we joined Mona and E.J. Strassburger for a
long weekend at Diana and Charlie Lambert’s house
in East Boothbay, Maine, with a little fishing, a lot of
lobster, and endless talk.”
Want more reconnections? Be sure to be at our 45th
reunion in June.
1969
Richard P. Gulla, 287 Grove St., Melrose, MA 02176;
[email protected]
Richard Steinberg reports, “with greatly mixed
feelings, that I have just participated in my 16th, and
no doubt final, Williams fall move-in. Nancy and I
helped Emily ’13 get settled in her new room in Garfield. This was an easy one— only the second floor!
With our older daughters Dana ’02 and Jenny ’05,
and now Emily, we’ve now covered the campus from
Carter to Prospect and Tyler Annex to Garfield.”
A trip to New Zealand and Australia last year
impressed Dudley Staples with the region’s natural
history and beauty. If you go, he says, “Don’t miss
the tour of Australian art at Ian Potter Centre in
Melbourne—almost as good as an Art 101 lecture at
Williams. Only drawback of trip was the incredibly
long flight to and from Down Under, so you have to
stay long enough to make it worthwhile.” Dudley has
visited with Paula and Mike Himowitz and occasionally hears from Bruce Plenk, who is the city solar
coordinator for Tucson and a member of the Arizona
Rooftop Solar Challenge team.
John Pascoe continues to paint and sell wine and
urges classmates to visit johnpascoeart.com, “should
anybody like to see what I am up to.” John says, in
addition to getting his Medicare card, he’s now a
grandfather: “My latest project is Gjelina, now 1½,
daughter Zoe’s and her husband Dan’s pride and joy.
It is all good!”
Bob Lunn, at a time when many of us appear to be
retiring or throttling back, is still at it. “I retired from
Missouri State University’s faculty a year ago and
spent this past year as CEO of a regional health commission here in the Ozarks. We decided to scale that
operation way back, so I have gone to work for one
of my board’s stakeholders as director of leadership
development (resident wise old man) for a 10,000-employee, five-hospital health system, CoxHeath, here
in Springfield, Mo. I’m working for a new, young
CEO here for whom I have a lot of respect. I hope
that I can help him gain maximum traction over the
next three years and then, good health willing, head
for the beach.” With a daughter as a college freshman
and a son as a junior in high school, Bob says he “still
has some bills to pay.”
Wes Howard’s law firm was recently honored as
one of the best small businesses in Denver and one of
the best in the West. Despite that, Wes says, “I continue to hang out on Denver street corners with my
sign ‘will sue for food.’” Wes planned on seeing Dana
Comfort ’70, Neville Hughes, and Bob Kandel in
New York in early fall when he and Patti visited their
daughter, “spending her junior fall semester abroad in
New York studying the arts.”
Dick Tobin says his retirement as director of college
counseling at Greenhills School in Ann Arbor, Mich.,
is still a few years away. Dick has an “informal, comfortable pact to retire together” with his wife, who’s
the assistant head of an independent school for gifted
children. As she’s younger, Dick says, “I may move
on some four years hence as the Ancient Mariner of
independent school college counselors nationally. I’m
not grasping at holding onto my job but still quite
happy in it. Perhaps there’s truth in the old adage that
spending time around young people keeps one young,
despite the creaking of various joints.” Despite what
he says are dramatic changes in the college admission process over the years, Dick has had success
in counseling his students to Williams, as “a highly
reasonable if limited number of the graduates of my
particular school have found their way to Billville and
have had and are having extraordinary experiences
there. Williams remains a wonderful prospect for
many wonderful prospectives but just can’t accommodate all of them.” Dick also reports that his oldest
daughter, as Greenhills theater director, is a colleague,
and that she and her husband have a daughter right in
town, which allows him and Peggy to be grandparents
on a regular basis. “Our other two children are coastal,
in Brooklyn and San Francisco, respectively. Not bad
places to visit.”
The announced retirement plans of Bill Hoffman
(ending the ineffectual Cuba embargo and getting congressional voting rights for the District of
Columbia) “have gotten sparse attention since I took
the plunge at the end of February. Much more focus
has been devoted to our almost-2-year-old grandson,
digital photography (lens often aimed at said grandson), and the Obama re-election effort. I’ve done some
consulting for law firms with economic sanctions
issues, but not at the expense of sleep. The state of
politics in the country frustrates and scares me greatly,
even discounting my Inside the Beltway filter. I’m
hoping that voters will elect some centrists who can
actually get things done—while recognizing that this
is not a description of most candidates in either party
in 2012. Perhaps the year-end fiscal cliff will yet foster
meaningful congressional attention to a saner budget
and tax structure and move Congress away from its
endless debate of government’s role in policing the
bedroom, marriage, and family planning.”
Jim Barns writes that retirement “from day one, has
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been the best time of life. My guide has been simple:
seek people and activities I am comfortable with. I
have volunteer activities of great variety every day
and plenty of time for other pursuits. My daughter’s
attendance at Ohio Wesleyan has inspired my working with that fine school, and my Williams experience
has been a big influence.”
Sal Mollica reports, “Life is especially good with
two grandsons, 2 years and 8 days old [as of September]. Trying to give back a little by volunteer tutoring
and participating on boards in Fairfield County and
New Hampshire.”
Gordy Bryson, after nearly a lifetime in beautiful
Hawaii, has retired to Baltimore and, as a dedicated
(if retired) teacher and lover of learning, is “loving the
Enoch Pratt Free Library” in the city.
I end this edition of notes on another reminder:
Anyone wishing to lend a hand for the 45th reunion
committee can write to Class President Alan Dittrich
at [email protected]. Thanks to those who fill
this space. Stay well and in touch.
1970
Rick Foster, 379 Dexter St., Denver, CO 80220;
[email protected]
Within minutes of sending out my request for class
news on Sept. 19, I heard back from Bob Lee and
Bruce Michelson. Bob advised that he and Kathy
“had a chance to try the French diet for six weeks.
You know, the one where you eat well, drink even
better, walk a lot, and lose weight. We combined work
and pleasure during a stay featuring the Auvergne,
Lyon, and the Alps. A wonderful trip.” Bruce proudly
announced the arrival of a new granddaughter, Cora
Rogers, born in Madison, Wisc., in April. He also
reported that he and Theresa “took another student
group to the Ecuador cloud forests and the Galapagos
Islands in May; I gave a couple of National Endowment for the Humanities lectures in Hartford on
Mark Twain in July; and Theresa and I had a great
prowl around Newfoundland in August. Time to
settle down in Urbana for a while and get some actual
work done, as I’m still a prof at Illinois and enjoying
the life too much to want to retire.”
Patrick Matthews wants all to know that he now
is living just outside of Stockholm and working as a
therapist and trainer in Scandinavia, The Netherlands, and Germany. He gets to travel a lot and has
learned how to say “Cheese sandwich” in six different
languages. Friends from the class are always welcome!
Rod Titcomb, who hasn’t updated us on his activities for some time, sent me this: “It’s been a while
since I’ve checked in with the Class of 70. I find I
think more about the class as we slowly slip to the
front of the alumni magazine; my hope is that I’ll be
there when we reach the first page. I currently find
I am spending too much time on questions about
social security and Medicare when I would rather be
spending time with children, in-laws, and grandchildren (eight at last count). Cecie and I have downsized
and sold our home in Palm Beach; in exchange, we
have a smaller house in West Palm Beach and a small
condo in Steamboat Springs, Colo., which allows us
to avoid hurricanes in the summer and ski with kids
and grandkids in the winter. I am still working full
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time although I will retire on June 30. Perhaps that
will free up time to spend with Class of ’70ers. Have
seen Ted May at various golf events and both Halley
Moriyama and Rob Stone over the last year. Best to
all of our class.”
Dick Ginman’s son Alex ’07 was married 11 Aug. in
Guilford, Conn., to Ellen Wilk ’07. Ellen’s dad is Art
Wilk ’77. Obviously, the wedding was a real Williams
affair.
Sluggo Stearns wrote: “Greetings from Thailand! Janelle and I are still living the ‘slow life’ of
a sleepy Thai beach town. (Don’t get the image of
deserted beaches and no people!) It’s only an hour
from Bangkok (pop. 14 million), and Janelle rides
her bike 25 minutes to the local university of 30,000!
But our little part of town is fairly empty during the
week and crawling with weekend (almost 100 percent
Thai) tourists on the weekends! Although Janelle
still teaches a full load, I’ve been retired for a while
and get by shopping, cooking, walking, swimming,
biking, reading, and simply ‘living and breathing;’
house husbandry ain’t bad, life is good. In our spare
time, the going rate for a Thai massage is about $7.50/
hour! Plenty of room; all are welcome. We don’t miss
much about the States, but the Purple Valley is always
a pull.”
I reported in September that Don Berens came to
Denver during the summer to do some high-altitude
training for a then-upcoming trip to the French Alps
to cycle. In September, I wrote to him to ask how
it went. His reply: “The climbs were consistently
breathtaking, the food was often delightful, the
scenery was usually spectacular, and the racers were
briefly thrilling. After Colorado, the French elevations
(up to 6,600 feet) were not bad. Nonetheless, I got
my respiration rate and pulse up. The uphill grades
were not otherworldly … but those uphills went on
for miles and miles.” Don said he “liked the steep
downhill hairpins” and concluded, “There were eight
men and three women on our trip, all Americans,
ranging from a 27-year-old former college racer to
a 69-year-old survivor of triple bypass surgery. One
participant was David Plotsky ’74. After a week of
fabulous cycling, I met Maureen in Nice and we had
a relaxing time on the Cote d’Azur, with a couple
of nights in Calvi, Corsica, and a couple of hours in
Monaco. It was a great trip.”
Halley Moriyama reported on a very enjoyable
summer with lots of Eph sightings. “In late June, we
drove down to the Outer Banks of N.C., where we
have been vacationing for some 40-plus years. On
the way home, I played golf with Rob Hershey in
Virginia Beach and had a lovely dinner that evening
with Rob and Kathy. In July, Helen and I went to
California for a 40th wedding anniversary bash for
some good friends; we spent a few days in Napa on
the way to Carmel and had the good fortune to be able
to stay at Usha and John Burns’ lovely home. I have
lots of detailed notes and commentary on this part of
the trip if anyone is interested, including winery and
restaurant recommendations. From Napa, we went
to Carmel where we had lunch with Tom Jamison at
the Pebble Beach Club. California was followed by the
Alumni Golf Tournament in Williamstown, which is
one of the few places where I do not look out of place
dressed in purple. Later in July we went to Nantucket
for our traditional weekend with Put and Charlie
1969– 71
Ebinger, which was lots of fun as always. We ran
into Kennedy Richardson ’71 at an auction preview
there. The next day I placed a modest three-digit bid
on a large cow copper weathervane, but it went for
six digits—only in Nantucket! I will be fully retired
by the end of 2012, but we will continue to live in
Wellesley, Mass.”
John Burns wrote to say, “I suspect you will get a
much more in-depth write-up from Halley M., but
he and his lovely wife hung out in the Napa Valley
at our place in mid July. He has very complete notes
about the best wines/wineries that he visited, which
I am sure he would share with interested classmates;
he always had a full day of tours/tastings. We had a
great time with the two of them, but make sure he
gives you a complete rundown.” So, if any of you
want more details and recommendations on wineries
and restaurants in the Napa Valley, email Halley at:
[email protected].
No doubt, many of you suffered through the same
drought that we had here in Colorado. Jeff Krull
wrote to say, “We had a blistering summer here in
the heartland—and a dry one. My little garden really
struggled and in spite of my best efforts (well, maybe
they were half-hearted efforts), I experienced multiple
crop failures. At least I got some nice tomatoes and
enough basil to make several batches of pesto. Alice
and I enjoyed a couple of phone calls from Jennie and
Lee Owen and Q and Kim Montgomery. The four of
them managed to arrange a couple of meet-ups—once
in Jupiter, Fla., and once on Martha’s Vineyard—and
they called us both times. Great to keep in touch with
friends like that!”
Rod McLeod, currently residing in Israel, wrote to
say he didn’t have much news from that part of the
world, but then somewhat ominously observed, “War
with Iran has been pushed off to next year. The Arab
Spring might well have been one of those false springs
we experienced in Williamstown from time to time.
There is much frenzy throughout the region, but
without salient goals or discernible ends. Time will
tell.” Regarding his own life, Rod reported, “Naomi
and I had a wonderful journey throughout Scotland
this summer. I have started Hebrew lessons at last. I
figure the effort will at minimum keep the synapses
firing. Hebrew is much harder than ancient Greek for
sure.” Wait until you start Scottish lessons, Rod!
In the December 2010 issue of these notes, Peter
Thorp reported on his undertaking to open a science
and technology boarding school for high school girls
in Kigali, Rwanda. I wrote to Peter in October to ask
for an update. His reply: “Gashora Girls Academy
is just about to wrap up its second year of operation.
We will start our third year in January, so our first
graduating class will be in November 2013. This summer I led two of my students and another teacher on
a three-week, six-city, 25-university tour of the U.S.,
including a great visit to Williams which my students
loved. (I’ve just written an alumni/ae appeal letter
noting this, so this may well be redundant.) I continue
to be challenged and extraordinarily satisfied by the
work here in Rwanda, a true ‘phoenix’ of a country
having risen from the ashes of the genocide of 18
years ago. My girls are simply amazing—I have never
worked with such focused and dedicated students—
students who recognize that life-altering opportunities
for them are few, so they are doing everything pos-
sible to realize their dreams. One-third of them want
to be doctors, another third engineers, and the balance
will be computer/IT specialists, architects, businesswomen, pilots, etc. And every one of them wants to
contribute directly to the development of the country.
No ‘Me Generation’ young women here.”
I also have some interesting (at least to me) travel
news to report. In September, Julie and I flew to
Kyrgyzstan to visit my son Daniel McKenna-Foster
’07. Upon graduating from Williams, Daniel served
27 months in the Peace Corps in northern Kazakhstan. In between short trips back to the U.S., he has
been working for a cultural exchange outfit, first
in Kazakhstan and then in Kyrgyzstan. He and his
girlfriend Aikerim recently opened an internet café
in Karakol, a town on the east end of Lake Issyk-Kul
(a 2,400-square-mile salt water lake that is the second
largest alpine lake in the world) about a six-and-a-half
hour drive from the capital, Bishkek. Following 24
hours of travel (Denver-Frankfurt-Istanbul-Bishkek)
Julie and I arrived in the capital at 5 a.m. and then
made the long drive to Karakol in a cab with Daniel.
Although we like to think we are fairly seasoned
travelers, being in a country where the culture is
unfamiliar, we did not know the language, and could
not even recognize the alphabet was a challenge.
Fortunately, Daniel is fluent in Russian and as long
as he was with us, it was pretty easy. We were there a
week, and on the next-to-last day (back in Bishkek),
following a visit to the National Art Museum (lots of
interesting Soviet era paintings), we were fortunate
to stumble upon the Bishkek Hyatt Regency, where
we had the best orange chocolate mousse I’ve had
anywhere! Anyway, the next time you’re in Karakol,
Kyrgyzstan, stop in at Daniel and Aikerim’s Karakol
Coffee. In September, at least, it was rated number
one of six “restaurants” in Karakol!
We’ll, that’s all for now, except for this final note:
Although we have about 300 members in the class,
only about 247 have their email addresses on file with
the college. Those who do not aren’t receiving my requests for news for our class notes. If for some reason
you don’t have your email address on the College’s
list server, please send me your news by mail to the
address above or directly to [email protected] or
even by fax (303.860.7266 (w). If you do, I’ll get it in
the next issue of our class notes.
1971
John Chambers, 10 Ashby Place, Katonah, NY 10536;
[email protected]
Did you see the photo on p. 9 of this issue of President Adam Falk and our class members, including
Steve Lawson, taken during the president’s reception
for the 14th Williamstown Film Festival? By all
accounts October’s WFF was another critical and
popular success. In addition to those you see named
in the photo, others reportedly sighted that weekend
included Mary Untereker and Arria Sands, Jorie and
Steve Latham, and Doug Pickard.
Not content with film alone, Lawson has also been
on the radio: “Heard from ‘Wait Wait Don’t Tell
Me!’ fans across the country after I appeared on the
June 16 episode. I was the listener they were trying
to bluff, but no—encyclopedic knowledge of Justin
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‘Bieber Fever’ (and luck) carried me to the prize: Carl
Kassell’s voice on my answering machine.” Steve also
adapted Arthur Conan Doyle’s last Sherlock Holmes
novel, The Valley of Fear, for the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s annual outdoor epic.
Turning from film to the stage, Gordon Clapp
reports recent roles in new plays by David Rabe (An
Early History of Fire in New York), and Jack Neary
(Auld Lang Syne at Peterborough Players). Revisiting
a prior role, he was seen as the Stage Manager in Our
Town in New London, N.H. Looking ahead, Gordon
expects to do more with the piece he kindly shared at
our last reunion: “On Nov. 29-30 I’m taking the Frost
play to Amherst (yes....) for two performances. Hope
to get it elsewhere during 2013, which is the 50th
anniversary of Frost’s death. Amherst is a good place
to start since it was his bailiwick for a good part of his
teaching career.” Gordon said he was going to try to
see David Strathairn ’70 in The Heiress on Broadway.
Heidi and Paul Lieberman did see the play with
Robin and me; Strathairn has come a long way from
the basketball court behind Brooks House.
Paul Lieberman would not want us to miss the
film based on his writing, Gangster Squad, due after
a delay for January release. He lists the stars: “Sean
Penn as the bad guy (the gangster Cohen) and Josh
Brolin and Ryan Gosling as the cops chasing him.
Oh, Emma Stone plays the love interest. The movie
is quite fictionalized, in the Hollywood tradition,
but I also was able to tell the nonfiction story of the
secretive unit that battled the mob in post-WWII Los
Angeles, that in the book version of Gangster Squad.”
Liebo has done some publicity work, including
comedian-commentator Dennis Miller’s show, where
he says Miller declared, “I’m all in on this book… All
set on the mean Noir streets of L.A. I dig the circa. I
dig the milieu. And I dig the cast of characters.” The
trailer, just now running with Argo, looks to me like
big box office: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/
gangstersquad/.
How about some news of families and work? John
Walcott says that he and Nancy “watched our youngest daughter, Elizabeth, graduate from Colgate. I’m
now leading the national security and international
affairs team at Bloomberg News in Washington, communing occasionally with fellow alum David Shipley
’85 in New York, and teaching one semester a year in
the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown.”
Matty Mathieson checked in: “I’m now ‘semi’
retired and have stepped down as a center director
at SRI International. I continue to do some small
assignments such as a recent economic assessment of
Armenia and the design of technology parks in Saudi
Arabia, but my ongoing efforts are now focusing
on fiction writing, yoga, serving as treasurer at our
community association, singing in a Chinese choir,
and my never-ending quest to get ‘in shape.’ I’m now
under my college weight, but I’m doing my best to
lose another 10 pounds from the ‘right places.’”
Bill Briggeman mentioned Matty too: “I’ll be leaving Cranbrook after 10 years. … Accepted an adjunct
position at Allegheny College (in Meadville, Pa.,
just down the road from Matty Mathieson’s former
stomping grounds in Greenville, Pa.). … But the real
news is I’ll finally be living in the cottage Rebecca
and I bought about 10 years ago in western PA (5783
McDaniel Rd., Cochranton, 16314), where we’ve had
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too many bear sightings this spring. … Their presence
is beginning to reshape our thoughts about the long
walks we like to take along the country roads around
our place with our two large dogs.”
Bears for Bill, bison for Jay Fahn: “Early spring and
sustained warm weather meant getting the bison off of
hay bales and onto fresh grass a month early, much to
the delight of your correspondent and the herd. Due
to last summer’s extreme heat, the females postponed
breeding, so calving now expected July/August. …
No doubt this was all covered in Poli Sci 101 or some
other course, but I failed to take good class notes back
in ‘67-’68, so having to learn on the job.”
Mark Pearson may not have a herd, though he
ministers to a flock: “Raising funds for a residential
component to our whole-person healing center in
southern New Hampshire. So many people want to
come into residence to get the body-soul-spirit wholeperson treatment, and we keep having to turn them
away because there’s no inn for them to be in.” Mark
has a book in need of a publisher and would welcome
referrals.
Joe Maleson’s widow Jill writes with pride about
the wedding of “our amazing daughter, Sherrie Rose
Harris Maleson, [to] Michael Mayle on July 22. Sherrie Rose is a full-time kindergarten teacher at Yavneh
Day School in Los Gatos, Calif. She is also a professor
of early childhood development for Pacific Oaks College.” Jill gave voice to a feeling we may all come to
understand, saying, “At this joyous time, Joe’s absence
is keenly felt.”
With excitement worthy of a double event, Dick
Lamb announced: “Holly and I are new grandparents—twins, Spencer (boy) and Emerson (girl) to
David ’95 and Griffin, May 6 in Boston. I think that
makes them Class of ’33. And a weekly highlight is
Friday afternoon tee time with Pickard and Bauer!!”
Another new grandparent is Bill Wilson, who
managed to announce the little one’s birth in the
same message as his own marriage! “I got engaged
to the love of my life, Janice Marie. … Through my
marriage, I am blessed to have gained two grown
sons and a grown daughter to join my own grown son
and daughter. To add to the blessing, I now have two
more granddaughters (ages 6 and 4) to add to my own
granddaughter and grandson, who are now 12 and 10.
Now to the latest, right-off-the press news. Another
grandchild arrives! Grace Catherine Wilson was born
Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, to my son Rob (WRW III) and
Danielle.”
Kent Rude sent a note so rich in news that I have to
ask forgiveness for just providing highlights: “Have
had the busiest year on record in my psychology
practice, as (regrettably) autism is a growth industry.
… I speak/e-mail with Tom Jones regularly, and
we try to get together each summer when he and his
family come to New England. Tom is planning to be
on the Cape part of the summer, so I’m hoping that
he and I can get together with Roger Widmer, who
now lives full time on the outer Cape. I last saw Roger
at our yearly Celtics game in March, so am eager to
get down there and catch up with him and his wife
Barbara.”
Turning to family, Kent said, “Emily, our younger
daughter with autism, ‘ages out’ of school this year
when she turns 22. We are in the process of looking
at adult programs for her that will provide an ap-
1971– 72
propriate amount of employment, recreation, and
social opportunities. … Our older daughter, Monica
(WashU in St Louis, ’11) has just agreed to take a job
in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as a guidance counselor in a
private high school where her job will be to get as
many students as possible into U.S., U.K., Canadian,
or Australian colleges and universities.”
Hugh Hawkins continues to mentor new Williams
alumni, with better results than recent football scores:
“The 25th and 26th aides from Williams start this
week: Karyn Moss ’12,and Heather Valenzuela
’12. Kim Bui ’11 leaves for Rochester Med. Jamal
Jefferson ’11 goes to Boston for MATCH and then
to med school. Current score: Williams 26, Amherst
2, all others 41. No drop in quality or niceness across
the years.”
These notes are being written less than two weeks
before the November elections, and I am struck by
our tact on the subject. Joe Fitzgerald, for instance,
ends a bulletin with a graceful reference: “Had a nice
dinner with Dave Olsen and his lovely wife Susan
in the greater Cincinnati area in early October while
visiting my brother in law Tim Dunn ’77. … It was a
nice visit, especially in this key swing state pre-election, hanging out with people who would determine
the course of our country.”
Another swing-state reporter, Steve Brown, “ran
into Laura and Geo Estes at a sports bar in the
middle of nowhere in upstate PA. They both looked
great. … I was taking depositions at federal prison
in a prisoner civil right’s case.” See how Brownie is
setting a good example with pro bono work? But he
did comment on the election: “Great surprise! We also
discovered we were the only three undecided voters
in the U.S.”
On his own behalf, Geo confirmed the PA appearance but extended the travelogue: “Laura and I spent
a week in Jackson Hole during August with Kitty
and John Resor. John has built a magnificent resort
and golf course called Shooting Star at the base of the
Tetons. … Watched the cattle round-up on his ranch.
All in all, a special, memorable time. It was tough
getting back to work.”
Rick Beinecke, after work and family news, did
show his political colors: “I continue as professor and
chair of the Institute for Public Service and the senior
member of the Healthcare Department at Suffolk.
Meanwhile, completing a book that is a recreation
guide of the Mystic River, a history of the communities along it, and a discussion of environmental
issues. … My twin daughters are seniors at Tufts and
Roanoke. Doing some campaigning for Niki Tsongas
and Liz Warren.”
Even without taking sides, we can still educate
ourselves in politics and history, as Jack Sands
reminds us with his bulletins about the Class of ’71
speaker series. Our loyal and long-serving Class Agent
John Ackroff might turn the civics lesson toward a
reminder for anyone who has not gotten around to the
Alumni Fund by the time this is published. He always
reminds us that participation is a higher goal than
the size of the donation; let us hope that is true of the
election as well.
Finally, I should underline my usual disclaimer—an
apology for any errors or omissions resulting from my
own shortcomings, alongside profound thanks for all
that others contribute to these notes. I try to quote you
whenever possible, but the magazine editors suggest
“no more than three sentences per classmate,” which
does not begin to do justice to the stories you tell! If
you keep them coming, I will keep trying. Even a
one-sentence note can speak volumes, just like this
one from Dan Hunt: “Saw Doug Bryant at our high
school reunion. I wonder what it will take to get him
to come to our Williams reunion.”
1972
Jim Armstrong, 600 West 115th St., Apt. 112, New York,
NY 10025; Julie Rose, 27 Norfolk Ave., Northampton,
At our 40th reunion in June, we got the exciting
news that Charlie Waigi would be awarded the
Bicentennial Medal at this year’s convocation. For
those of you counting, this is the fifth medal for our
class. (Paul Grogan, John Malcolm, Eric Reeves,
and Mark Udall are prior recipients.) Charlie was
recognized for his admirable efforts in founding The
Jeremy Academy, which is located in his village of
Limuru, Kenya, and helping it grow and prosper
and expand. In 1999, Charlie and his wife Teresia
used their retirement funds to start an elementary
school with nine students. Now there are close to 500
pupils, from kindergarten through eighth grade. In
his remarks, President Falk cited Charlie’s outstanding achievement in fostering academic achievement
at the school, with 100 percent of its students going
on to secondary school (compared with a 10 percent
national rate). Bravo, Charlie!
The award ceremony in early September proved a
rallying point for many of our classmates, especially
those from Morgan West, Charlie’s freshman year entry. Attending the weekend functions were Gregg Peterson, Paul Grossberg, Jim Kolesar, Lew Steele,
Vern Manley, David Farren, Bob Gordon, John
Malcolm, and Wendy Hopkins. Gregg reported on
what sounds like an exhausting but exhilarating round
of festivities, including dinners, panel discussions,
snack-bar confabs with Phil Smith ’55 and Kenyan
undergraduates, and an early-morning breakfast
with Jerry Caprio, who was just off the plane from
an economic conference in South Korea. At the end
of the weekend, Gregg drove Charlie and his family
to Boston, where Tom Howley hosted a dinner with
Paul Grogan and Jim Heiberg in attendance.
It seems that once the Class of ’72 gets its teeth into
something, it doesn’t let go. As many of you know,
Charlie’s Morgan West pals were beyond persistent
in tracking him down for our 35th reunion back in
2007. Since then, many Ephs have responded with
enthusiasm and provided financial support for a major
expansion of Jeremy Academy. (In fact, a purple
cow flag now flies over the school.) This time round,
Morgan Westers were inspired to kick off a drive
whose aim was to gather $6,000 to be used to “raise the
roof” on a new building. In true Williams’ spirit, the
fundraising effort attracted many members of the class,
and the final tally was $7,497. Charlie was given the
good news at a gathering at Paul and Susan Grossberg’s
home in Berkeley, Calif., in the beginning of October.
As Lew Steele weighed in by phone from Shushan,
N.Y., Karl Mertz, Brad Paul, Bob Hermann, Charlie,
and Gregg Peterson all celebrated.
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Ned Palmer ’71 has been instrumental over the
years in helping our class first locate and then support
Charlie and his school. Commenting on the “small
world” aspect of our Williams-related lives, Harry
Kangis reports that his daughter Megan ’88, who
is our class’s web guru, just happens to also be the
instructor of the swimming class at the Bainbridge
Island (Wash.) Parks District pool that’s attended by
Susan, Ned’s wife. (Megan was identifiable, Susan
says, by her purple and gold flip-flops.) Also in
Harry’s missive was news of his and Julia’s dinner
in Jackson, Wyo., with Eliza Mathieu, “who tore
herself away from her big downsizing project to take
a break.” As Harry noted, most of us are just starting
to face the very daunting prospect of finally saying
goodbye to 40 years of collected “stuff.” He went on
to say, “Eliza made our week in the Tetons just that
much better, including finding us a photography tutor
and a great deal at Jackson’s best golf course.”
Jerry Carlson sent a couple of emails near the end
of the summer. The first was to report on a trip to
France. His wife Deb took part in a jazz camp in Saint
Cezaire, north of Nice, which was followed by a visit
with friends in the beach town of Cavalaire sur Mer.
The second acknowledged the resumption of work,
which, for Jerry, means teaching at the City College
of New York. “Just back from my first day of class
“Film History I: From Invention to Citizen Kane.”
Today they saw some of the first films from Edison,
the Lumière Brothers, and George Méliès. Nice kids.
Funny how they get younger every year.”
A last-minute email from Don Beyer at the beginning of November brought news from Switzerland,
where Don has been serving as U.S. ambassador for
the past four years. “Tuesday’s election drives our
future here. One way or the other, though, we expect
the next president will send someone new to serve
in Bern. And so I have no clear idea what comes
next. The family business beckons, but maybe not
too loudly.” Don reported on the whereabouts and
doings of his three daughters and one granddaughter. “Megan (meine Frau) is doing lots of work on
gender equity, deeply involved in trying to get gender
equity certification as accepted and widespread as
the environmental building community’s LEED
certification.”
Once again, we can report that our 25th reunion
gift continues to provide funds for current Williams
students to undertake summer internships. This year
we funded 10 students, all rising seniors, who landed
jobs in New York, Portland, San Francisco, Reykjavik,
and Cape Town. According to the thank-you notes
we’ve received, their interests were as varied as their
locations and included: childhood selective mutism;
bleeding disorders; seed funding for innovative entrepreneurs worldwide; economic development; Icelandic tourism; and the cataloging of a feminist archive.
In addition to gaining invaluable insights into their
particular field of endeavor, the interns commented
that the experience gave them both confidence and
a leg up in entering the “real world.” One intern’s
note included this particularly touching comment:
“Because of your gift, I was able to spend my entire
summer (14 weeks) with a world-renowned human
rights organization, working for something I believe
in more than anything else in the world.” What could
be better than that?
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Life passions aren’t reserved for the young. (Witness
Charlie’s endeavors.) Maybe we keep the sweetest,
most enjoyable, pursuit for later. The second—OK,
the third, fourth … fifth (?)—acts are now appearing.
In future notes, it would be interesting to report on
classmates who are following a new effort. Please let
us hear from you. Here are reports on three classmates
to start off with.
At reunion in June, Julie Rose noticed that Betty
Robbins was wearing an intricately beautiful necklace. It turns out that it had been designed and made
by Mary Anderson, who took a life-at-50 break to
start making jewelry. “I’ve been a jewelry lover since
I was a child,” Mary says. As one of her former Susie
Hopkins housemates, Julie never had an inkling of
Mary’s jewelry fascination. (However, back then,
the most likely jewelry was probably a mood ring.)
Mary keeps up her job as a corporate lawyer four days
a week. The rest of the week is devoted to jewelry
making at the 92nd Street Y. There she crafts oneof-a-kind pieces in 18- and 22-carat gold with pearls
and other gems. To find special stones, she travels to
gem fairs, including one in Tucson. It’s a lot of fun,
as she works with people on individual designs. Mary
is cheerfully philosophical about her jewelry making,
which she plans to expand to a full-time enterprise
once she retires. “Law hardly ever makes people
happy,” she quips. “Everything I do in jewelry making
makes people happy.” She sells to friends and at trunk
shows. If you are interested in learning more about
Mary’s jewelry, you can contact her at mwanderson@
nyc.rr.com.
Everyone in attendance at our class dinner last
June no doubt recalls with delight the fine wines we
enjoyed, which were gifts of Tom Thornton and
Brenda Mixson from their Napa Valley winery, The
Grade Cellars. Following reunion, Tom sent along
this update: “Our story begins when Brenda and I
visited Napa Valley and purchased our 32-acre ranch,
Winfield Vineyard, in 1997. For three years we commuted between coasts, learned grape farming, and
decided to commit fully to the wine industry. That
meant selling our Connecticut home and a successful
NYC architectural practice and constructing a new
life in Napa. We replanted the vineyard into multiple
blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon and sold its fruit to
high-quality wineries, and eventually we launched
the first vintage of our own Cabernet Sauvignon wine
under the label ‘The Grade.’ The name was taken
from a passage in The Silverado Squatters by Robert
Louis Stevenson describing the Old Toll Road, a narrow stagecoach route over Mount Saint Helena that
passes by our ranch. In 2008, we introduced ‘Sea-Fog,’
a single-vineyard Sauvignon Blanc whose name also
comes from Stevenson’s book.
“My winery project has many Williams influences: Charles Compton (chemistry); Toby Clarke
and Sheafe Satterthwaite (environmental stewardship); Tom Krens and F. Lee Hirsche (concept design
and marketing); Ralph Townsend (out-of-doors
adventurism); and the English department (Scottish
writers). My enthusiasm for Stevenson has led to my
serving on the board of the Robert Louis Stevenson
Museum.
“I still practice architecture, having designed numerous residences in a wide variety of styles in Connecticut over the past decade, including a facsimile
1972– 73
of a 19th-century stone Napa winery in Greenwich.
Currently, I’ve got drawings of two contemporary
homes on Long Island Sound and a dramatic underground winery and custom residence in California on
my desk.”
If you are interested in learning more about Tom’s
wines, you can contact him at tom@thegradecellars.
com.
Lastly, Barnaby Feder sent word by e-mail that he
has completed his move from New Jersey to Middlebury, Vt. On Oct. 27 he was formally installed as “the
settled minister” for the Champlain Valley Unitarian
Universalist Society in Middlebury, Vt.
We look forward to hearing from others and finding
out what’s happening in the lives of our classmates.
1973
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Cole Werble, 2540 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Apt. 204,
Washington, DC 20008; [email protected]
Well, we must be headed for a fabulous 40th
reunion. Not only are President Jackie Olivieri VP
Jay Nawrocki, and co-chairs J.O. Neikirk and Katie
Jacobs Eyre off to a strong start on the planning, but
also it is clear that everyone will have a lot to talk
about. You certainly aren’t wasting good stories and
news on the class notes. My suggestion to start the conversations early in print brought only a few responses.
The June 2013 raconteurs are saving up their stuff for
Agard House—our official home base for the reunion
events. The responses that I did get were quality
reports with good news and good twists of humor; they
indicate that the catching up in June will be interesting
and fun.
Your class president, Jackie, has been keeping in
close touch with Williamstown, hosting a planning
meeting in early May and then returning several days
later for a surprise retirement party for Professor Bob
Dalzell, an event that brought back 60 former students
for Dalzell’s final history class and was mentioned at
commencement in June.
After entertaining the Class of 1973 frequently with
his impromptu acrobatics and antics, Emlen Drayton
is continuing to entertain a new generation—indirectly through some very talented progeny. Emlen has
two children involved in film. His daughter Maggie
“just graduated from grad school at the University
of Miami in film production and is producing a full
length micro-budget bilingual feature film for her thesis about a fictional conflict journalist from Columbia
who escapes from captivity at the hands of the FARC
Guerrillas.” The film was selected as one of 10 (from
400 applicants) for the Independent Film Project and
“received a grant from the Columbian government
to help market it.” His son Henry “attends SCAD art
school in Savannah,” where he “produced a very funny
mockumentary about dumpster diving.” Emlen’s son
stars in the film also; it can be found on YouTube
under the title Diving for Answers.
Emlen’s eldest son, Fritz, is demonstrating the familial affection for trees as a tree surgeon. Emlen’s third
child, Emo, is also a naturalist: a tropical fish expert.
Emlen notes that he did pass on some of his tricks
along the way. “I did teach them all how to fall on a
mattress from the second floor of our barn, but it’s still
scary for an old dad.”
Also recognized recently for her success at entertaining is Dede Gotthelf, who was named Long Island
CFO of the year by the Long Island Business News for
her proprietorship of the Southampton Inn since 1998.
Dede has written previously to the notes to organize
’73 mini-events around NYC. The news of her award
was forwarded by Connie Rudnick.
Steve Harty remains a voice from ’73 among the
college trustees until 2016. Bill Simon’s 15-year tenure
as a trustee ended in June, but he continues a key Eph
assignment as parent of Eph son Griffith ’15. Steve
found time between trustee-dom and an extraordinary
work commute to make sure the notes were reminded
of Bill’s work for the college and to update on an unusual career change on his part. Steve now commutes
from the NYC suburbs to Kalispell, Mont. “About a
year ago I shuttered my consulting business to take responsibility for a flood insurance processing company
in Montana.” Showing that the 60 milestone can be
energizing, Steve said as the ominous age approached,
“I was looking for something—anything—that would
be new, exciting and challenging. Couldn’t be more
different from Madison Avenue.” Steve’s family (Cate,
who is working in advertising, and four daughters) remains back East with two daughters in North Carolina
(a college graduate working in Asheville and a college
freshman at High Point). Steve also has two younger
daughters (Lily, a high school junior, and Caroline, a
seventh-grader) at home with “their various activities
and interests.” Ah, middle school; that might help
explain the appeal of the Swan Range of the Rockies
and Flathead Lake.
Joe Hamilton writes from Louisville about his long
practice at Stites & Harbison and his relatively young
family. His law practice defending insurance companies apparently leads to some serious travel as well.
“I have worked on cases all over the country, from
California to Seattle, to Texas and in the southeast,
and across the Midwest in Minnesota and Wisconsin”
while also serving as a managing member of a family
energy business in Texas. It is fortunate that Louisville
is near the epicenter of these duties, or Joe would
clearly be logging Harty-like miles.
With his wife (and law partner) Shannon, Joe
also has a middle schooler (Claire, fifth-grade) and
elementary student (Bruce, fifth-grade). He also has
two grandchildren, ages 3 and 2. Joe Jr., the father of
the grandchildren, is Louisville’s director of homelessness. Joe’s other adult son, Mark, is pursuing “a career
in music as a songwriter and as a performer, both solo
and in a band.” Joe is feeling the strong pull of the
Berkshires. “I am going to try very hard to get to our
reunion next spring. We have had our daughter and
son on the Williams campus, and I look forward to
doing so again.”
Elton Smith writes from Houston that he is “looking forward to reconnecting with classmates and
visiting the campus.” Elton has some advanced degree
information: His daughter Maya received a PhD in
Romance languages and linguistics from Berkeley in
May and is teaching and doing further research there;
his son Jonathan received a MA in international affairs
with a concentration in media form the New School in
New York. Jonathan earned the degree while working
at the video-on-demand service Epix.
Frank Andryauskus reports an amusing encounter
with multitasking progeny. The email request for
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55
news reminded him of the upcoming June festivities.
He turned to his daughter Kaitlin, expressing surprise
at the realization that his 40th was approaching imminently. Frank takes up the narrative with an account
that may ring true with other members of ’73.
“Kaitlin looked up from multitasking between
email, texting, and alternately watching the Democratic convention and the Giants/Cowboys game.
With a confused and stunned look on her face Kaitlin
said ‘Who? What? YOU!?! Uncle Bruce!?! OMG! 40
YEARS? Are you talking about a college reunion?’”
The gravity of the years began to sink in on his
daughter. “Kaitlin continued, ‘That’s a reeealy loooong
time. … Unbelievable. … WOW! … That’s nice. …
Oh my…’ Kaitlin finally recovered nicely with, ‘Well,
congratulations … you don’t look or act like you are
about to have a 40th reunion!’” His daughter’s shock is
not holding Frank back from socializing with his aged
peers. He says he is looking forward to the reunion.
Scott Hopkins is looking for photo evidence of a
big bash from June 1973 in preparation for 2013. If
anyone has photos of a graduation eve event at Cluett
House, he would like them to share them. To refresh
cobwebbed memories, Scott was the motivator and
organizer behind a big party on the night before
graduation at Cluett House. As he explains, it began in
April 1973 as an idea to reconnect some of his freshman entry friends and family for graduation weekend
and quickly expanded to a party with a list of 118 class
members (or about 400 people). Scott recalls enlisting
the help and support of food services to set up the
event; but his account of the event describes organizing
skills by an Eph senior equivalent to a good general:
from arranging a trade of “service for a dinner meal
credit for everyone” to ordering “lobsters from a supplier in Maine” and having them cooked “in the quad
kitchen and brought out” to pair with “steaks done
on site” and “borrowed lights from the theater.” The
party also apparently had “a couple of bands.” Scott
says that the Cluett event became the student-initiated
precursor of the Senior Dinner Dance—a fixture since
the mid-1970s.
I point out the Cluett event at some length because
it should start to bring back memories to a large chunk
of the class; it would be nice if people have photos to
share with Scott ([email protected]); and the
class planners should obviously keep Scott in mind as
we approach even more venerable reunion events in
2018 and 2023. That is an amazing talent that no doubt
has only gotten better with age.
1974
Jonathan W. Fitch, 5 Cedar Hill Road, Dover, MA 02030;
[email protected]
Several of our classmates report that they observed
the Big Six-O climbing mountains or scaling cliffs—
generally, it would appear, er, overcoming obstacles.
Jeff Thaler writes, “I had not climbed Mount
Washington in a few years, so wanted to get up there
again before turning 60. I went up in September on a
day that was supposed to be sunny and nice; of course
it turned out to be 70-plus mph winds on top, and rain
was coming in fast. I did think more than once that
while I hoped to be able to climb Mount Washington
when 70, I was not sure how that would go—I pushed
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hard up the mountain, and really felt it the next couple
of days!” Jeff sent along a photo of his beaming though
weary self, leaning on the sign at the summit—looking damn fit in a Williams t-shirt! Here’s how Rich
Levy describes the climb marking his 60th birthday:
“Carol and I spent nine days in early September hiking
on the ‘Haute Route’ between Chamonix, France,
and Zermatt, Switzerland. Our approach to trips like
this involves ‘hotel camping’—point to point walking
averaging about 10-12 miles each day, staying in small
inns or hotels with dinner and breakfast included
(preferably in a room with private bath), and having
our luggage moved daily by commercial carrier,
which normally would mean having to carry only the
basics in our backpacks for a single day. But this year
(unlike our walking trip in the Eiger/Jungfrau region
of Switzerland last September), we had to carry our
gear in three-day blocks because of cutbacks in the
Swiss Rail and Poste system that prevented us from
being reunited with our luggage every night. I must
say, it’s been many years since I carried 25-30 pounds
in my pack (including the heaviest item, water). The
trip itself was very strenuous—high mountain passes
(at elevations varying between 8,500 and 10,000 feet)
with significant elevation gain and loss (on the ‘biggest
day,’ we gained 4,800 feet up one side of a pass and lost
4,800 feet down the other side, all in the span of 11
miles), lots of steep pitches, boulder fields and scrambling. We lucked out with clear weather for all but one
hour of rain at the very end of one hiking day. And it
is very inspiring to have seen Mont Blanc at the start
and the Matterhorn at the end of the trail, in cloudless skies!! So, after walking about 80 miles, gaining
roughly 30,000 feet of cumulative altitude gain (and
losing most of that, too), and having some sore muscles
but a clear head, I’m ready to start thinking about how
to celebrate 61 and beyond.”
Paul Steckler reports that he and Joe Mulholland climbed over the milestone together: “When Joe
turned 60 this summer, he proposed that we do something different and interesting, like backpacking in the
Grand Canyon, a place I’d never been, even though
I’d lived in a ski town in Utah back in the 1970s. It was
a 60-40-30-10-5 deal. 60 years old (Joe’s there, I’ll be
there soon). 40-plus pounds packs. 30 miles, up and
down for 10,000 feet of elevation gain and loss, over
5 days’ hiking. Joe trained and was in great shape. I
found out that occasional games of tennis, golf, and
jogging a couple of miles a few times a week is not
adequate preparation! But it was amazing.” Paul continues his work as chair of the Department of RadioTelevision-Film at the University of Texas in Austin,
one of the top-ranked film production programs in
the country. As to recent projects, he writes, “I also
just finished a new documentary about New Orleans
after Katrina, Getting Back to Abnormal. Made it with
Louie Alvarez and Andy Kolker, the friends I started
my film career with 30 years ago in the Crescent City,
and Peter Odabashian, our editor on Vote for Me back
in the ’90s. The film will premiere at festivals and then
air on PBS next year. Here’s the trailer: http://vimeo.
com/49043056.” Paul also mentioned that Joe, who
is chair of the Harmony Department at the Berklee
School of Music in Boston, released his fourth album
of jazz compositions with his quartet, Unspoken. Paul
says, “You can hear what a fabulous jazz pianist Joe is
at the Top of the Hub, where he regularly performs.”
1973– 75
Nancy Contel reports exciting news about her work
developing a breakthrough cancer therapy. She writes,
“I’ve been working for the last 10 years at a small company, Incyte Corp., in Wilmington, Del., as a senior
director in a scientific/managerial role. We received
approval for a drug last year to treat a pretty devastating hematological cancer, myelofibrosis (MF). Jakafi®
is the first drug approved for MF and the first in a
new class of drugs called JAK inhibitors. Patient blog
comments are just incredible: ‘I was planning for my
death, now I’m planning for my life.’ So this has been a
very nice outcome of a 20-plus year career in pharma.
I’m not seeing retirement in the near future, as I really
like working with a community of bright folk. We
shall see how this part of life unfolds.” Is it tedious to
point out that Nancy also sought higher heights for her
Golden Jubilee? She says, “I celebrated my 60th with
my daughter, who turned 21 this year, at the top of the
Eiffel Tower at night with a champagne toast—not
bad! My daughter Julia is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis, where she is studying architecture.
She’s in Copenhagen this semester, so I visited her
there with a side trip to Paris and great times. Jules is
a remarkable young woman who is passionate about
architecture (thankfully, you have to be able to endure
the hours in studio), and she seemed to figure out, at a
younger age than I, the value in living a balanced life.
She’s a gem. Life is good!”
Speaking of gems and the good life, my daughter
Amber was married last July to her high school
sweetheart. Colette and Jack Dill were among those
celebrating the happy day with us.
Professor and Former Ambassador Paul Trivelli
writes, “Bowing to my family’s pressure that I stay out
of our house as much as possible during the day despite
my retirement from the Foreign Service, in August I
began teaching a course at the University of Miami—
“World Affairs” in their MA in international administration program. (Hopefully I know something about
the subject.) The experience has been a rewarding one,
but UM is certainly not the Purple Valley. Indeed, my
efforts to force the class to sing ‘The Mountains’ as a
course requirement alas failed miserably.”
The Purple Valley? Peter Riley writes, “Patsy and I
just returned from a weekend in Williamstown—my
first visit since 2001. Had a chance to have coffee with
Dick Nesbitt—great to catch up and learn of all the
great work he’s doing leading admissions. The new
library is going to be incredible, and I was surprised to
learn that Sawyer will come down, but understand the
reasons. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing the new buildings
(especially Paresky) and the old (Lehman between two
modern additions), as well as the wonderful college art
museum. Disappointed that the Za house is no more—
was looking forward to a grinder… Ah well.” Peter,
what about the enterprising guy who moved entry to
entry, into the wee hours of frigid nights, lugging a box
full of grinders and shouting, “Roast Beef?” I hope he’s
not gone too!
Congratulations to Bill Gisel, who has been elected
to the Board of Directors of The John R. Oishei Foundation, the largest private foundation in Western New
York. According to its website, the foundation’s mission is to be a catalyst for change to enhance economic
vitality and the quality of life for the Buffalo Niagara
region. In a press release, the foundation’s leaders say,
“We’re very pleased to welcome Bill to our board. He
brings over 30 years of nonprofit board experience and
a sharp business acumen with him and will be a major
contributor to our efforts. Bill’s business leadership
skills, his knowledge of the nonprofit arena in Western
New York, and his philanthropic mindset will be great
assets to our organization.” Bill is the president and
CEO of Rich Products Corp., a food products company with $3 billion in annual revenues. Over the past
three decades, he has served on more than 20 different
charitable, educational, civic, and corporate boards.
In our Department of Exceptional Children of ’74,
Bill Suda sent along information about amazing international development work being done by his daughter
Elizabeth ’05, founder and CEO of Article 22, which
markets handcrafts of artisans in Laos. One of Article
22’s products: peaceBOMB bracelets made from
Vietnam-era scrap metal. News reports on Article 22’s
website explain, “Each is hand cast by artisans who
collect scrap metal from the 250-260 million bombs
that were dropped over the Laos countryside. Between
1964 and 1973 this was the most heavily bombed
country—the U.S. dropped 2 million tons of ordnance
on Lao PDR, averaging one B-52 bomb load every
eight minutes for nine years. The artisans in Naphia
Village initially learned to cast spoons from this melted
scrap metal, which includes the stabilization fins of
cluster bomb casings, flares, certain fuses, and parts of
fighter jets. To make the bracelets, the scrap aluminum
is melted in an earthen kiln, cast in hand-sculpted
molds of wood and ash, and finished by hand.” Check
out this video, http://bit.ly/Sq7VDW, to learn about
the peaceBOMB project and the values it supports and
promotes. And buy one of the bracelets! Bill also sent
me a clipping that reports Rich Levy has been listed as
a “Super Lawyer” in bankruptcy and creditors/debtor
rights law by New York Super Lawyers—Metro Edition
Magazine (2012 edition). Congratulations to him!
Ann and Peter Talbert were hosts for a minireunion with Gates Blodgett, Heidi Jerome, and Ed
Ryan in Paradise Valley, Ariz., over a long weekend
in October. Peter writes that they all wanted to be
together to share memories of our dear classmate Ronnie Kraus on the anniversary of her death. Ann sent
me a museum-quality photograph she took of the four
(Heidi outstretched on the laps of the three others), a
perfect postcard of old friends in the company of each
other. I sent a text message remarking that they looked
fresh and fabulous and surprisingly clear-eyed. Peter
responded that the photo shoot preceded the popping
of the champagne bottles. (Yes, of course, a good practice.) And while thinking of those champagne bottles,
why not lift a glass to all of the Williams friendships
without end? Happy New Year to the Class of ’74!
1975
Julia Berens, 22 Sperry Lane, Lansing, NY 14882;
[email protected]
While the news submissions are a bit slimmer than
usual, the quality hasn’t suffered. Mastering the art
of typing with one hand, Gina Campbell sent news
while holding her newborn granddaughter in one
arm. She spent a month in Richmond helping her
daughter learn the ropes of motherhood and get some
sleep. She has spent much of the year working on selfstudy guides to the counseling/coaching techniques
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57
she uses and teaches. Gina is “fascinated by the role
of metaphors in our thinking and coping strategies,
and how to take full advantage of them as a helping/
healing professional.” She hopes the books will be
published by year’s end. Other happy news is that
her second daughter is getting married next summer.
Looking forward to work and family in the next decade, Gina is not bothered by her upcoming birthday.
I am hoping to get a report from Anton Bestebreurtje about the Halloween party hosted by Milt
Morin; as Anton says, Milt’s Halloween decorations
rival Anton’s Christmas adornments—“beyond
tasteless.” Bob Beck reports that he and Dave
Butts ’73 attended the Ryder Cup at the Medinah
Country Club in Chicago this year. Despite the
losing performance of the Americans, he said “it was
amazing to see Tiger Woods drop a ball on the pin
from 240 yards away with great precision.” They are
considering a trip to Scotland in two years for the
next Ryder Cup.
Remembered by some as the mother of Eeyore,
Andrea Diehl reported on two fabulous summer weddings. She wrote having just returned from Sardinia,
where she attended her Italian exchange student’s
wedding: “You haven’t lived until you’ve gone to an
Italian wedding! Twelve hours of festa, 400 people
(60 little kids), five hours of feasting on platters upon
platters of incredible food. Dancing. singing, more
food. I felt so honored, sitting in the parents’ pew
in the 11th-century church, watching Claudio and
Roberta be wed.” None of it compared, however, to
being mother of the bride in July when her daughter
Jessica Katz ’03 wed Mark Mazzenga in Bristol,
R.I. Her perfect day included walking Jessica down
the aisle, “dancing like crazy with family and friends
(including Janet Diehl ’81, stepson David Katz ’89,
and Melinda Rastetter Hamilton) and watching the
sun set into the water.” Jess and Mark live in London,
and Andrea’s son and wife live in Colorado. Andrea
also caught up with Kathy Bogan when she was in
Billsville for her son’s graduation in June.
Charlie Selcer writes that things are anything
but normal in the Selcer household. At the time of
this writing, his wife is running for Minnesota State
Legislature (despite being married to Charlie). Among
her supporters are Steve Kelley ’75, who gave them
all his excess rebar from his last race (used for lawn
signs), and Arne Carlson ’57, former Minnesota governor. Charlie says the timing could work just right;
as a CPA he is not home from January through April,
and that coincides with the legislative session. They
are empty nesters, as their daughter Danielle ’10 is in
her third year of teaching in Vietnam, and their son is
in film production school in California. He has agreed
to put his dad in every one of his films, “even if he
is the guy that gets run over by a sod truck.” Charlie
concluded his correspondence with the fact that he
is “still teaching ethics which shows that anything is
possible.”
A mini Sage A gathering of Liz Titus, Suzanne
Fluhr, Barbara Volkle, and Deborah Grose included
some sightseeing in Lexington and Concord. Liz also
caught up with Polly Wood Holland, who was in
Boston to visit her son, who is a student at Berklee
Music School. Polly shared photos of her daughter
Anabel’s August wedding in Vermont. Suzanne
escaped Philly as a tagalong with her husband Steve
58
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Albelda, who had a conference in Boston. They also
traveled to Burlington, Vt., where she visited with
Dinny Weed Adamson ’77, a Mission Park suitemate.
On the return trip to Philly, they stopped in Saratoga
Springs, where they caught up with Chip Foster, who
was recovering from all the horse racing visitors he
had hosted during the month of August. Steve was
also invited to speak to the pre-med society at Williams in the fall.
Tully Moss continues to teach corporate learning
and development for Harvard Business Publishing
and other clients in Southeast Asia. This fall he had
a brief visit in Connecticut, where he enjoyed the
fabulous fall foliage.
The Chinese translation of Peter Kiernan’s book
Becoming China’s Bitch and NINE More Catastrophes
We Must Avoid Right Now was to come out in the fall,
and the paperback edition comes out in the States next
year. The book won the International Book Award
and has made the bestseller lists for the N.Y. Times,
Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly.
Peter traveled to Williamstown for Sheafe Satterthwaite’s final class. “After four decades he concluded
by telling the students to get their papers in on time so
that he could thoroughly review them. And he closed
by saying ‘Be of good cheer.’ He ended it exactly the
way he ended every class for the intervening decades.
And then he left the room with a gentlemanly nod.”
How terrific that Peter made the trip for that last
class! Sheafe was, no doubt, deeply touched by the
presence of his former student.
Alicia Kershaw’s Gallop NYC received an award
presented at a Yankees game. She is doing CrossFit
and ignoring her milestone birthday. Dave Clarke
closed his medical practice in 2009 and has started a
nonprofit that teaches health care professionals about
physical illness linked to stress (ppassociation.org).
The work is well received and rewarding.
Steve Stephanian sent some “pity” news (feeling
sorry for the class secretary), but I’ll take it any way
I can get it. He has been in regular contact with
Mike Hensley and is trying to schedule a trip to
Mike’s West Virginia vacation house. In Connecticut,
Steve’s grandkids are now in school and “think they
are hot stuff.” His wife Peggy continues to help with
after-school care, and Steve gets called in for soccer
games and practices and expects he might be recruited
to help with their budding interest in piano. Steve is
thoroughly enjoying retirement with gardening, golf,
piano, yoga, and some surfing. Chuck Chokel had a
busy summer. In June he traveled to 16 states along
the East Coast and in the Midwest. In July he hosted
many guests along the New Hampshire seacoast,
and in August/September, he completed triathlons
without injury and qualified to represent the USA at
the World Championships next year in London. He
also spent a weekend with Tim Reny, Phil Less, Bart
Nourse, and Kurt VanSteemberg. I am waiting for
more details on that.
In his fourth year living full time on Cape Cod,
Paul Skudder is working hard and loving life. His
daughter Carolyn ’07 is a grad student in brain function at Harvard, and her husband Andrew Pocius ’06
is with Barclay’s Capital Investments in NYC, so they
travel back and forth on weekends. Andrew occasionally travels to Houston, where he visits Paul Skudder
’05 who is an oil/gas geologist there. In September,
1975– 76
Paul attended the 100th anniversary of the Williams College Cross Country Team. Other ’75ers in
attendance were Peter Flanagan Hyde and his wife
Sharon ’77 (Arizona), Charlie Safford (Atlanta), and
Scott Lutrey (Britain). They were among the eldest
10 at the event, which was well attended by Eph runners from several decades. They all ran a 5K reunion
race, and Paul reports that Peter is “remarkably fit
and fast.”
Scott wrote from North Yorkshire, England, and
also reported attending the runners’ reunion. He and
Ellen are looking forward to returning to Maryland
next summer where their house is paid for and the
kids are out of college. He is contemplating retirement
from DOD in the spring after 34 years.
Theodore Cox sent a shout-out to freshman roommate Mike Watkins, who helped to arrange an internship for Steve Golub’s ’74 daughter at his Naples
hotel. Ted and his daughters had a lovely dinner
with Mike and his family at their Vermont home this
summer. Ted’s description is worth repeating: “We
had been out of touch for so long, it was like a reunion
after the fall of the Berlin Wall or something.”
On my way to Boston from Burlington, Vt., over the
summer, I stopped in Hanover to see Harry and Connie Sheehy, and Ellin Goetz ’76 and Mike Watkins
joined us for dinner. Ellin and Connie engaged in
some competitive “Dance Wii,” where Connie had
the clear home court advantage, having practiced for
hours/days with her niece. In an effort to come up
with a few more “six words for 60,” Mike’s contribution was “Who is Farquhar? We don’t know.” Harry
added “Please: no phone calls during golf.” He also
penned one for a former roommate: “Joe LaPaglia is
big and phat.” Connie created two: “There’s nothing
like a good salad;” and reflecting on her car accident
on route 89 in Vermont, “Rolled the car but didn’t
pee!”
Hank and Liz Haff traveled to Martha’s Vineyard for Ned Reade’s August art show and Peter
Getsinger bought Ned’s watercolor of the Chappy
Ferry. His six-word memoir (which is really seven
words) is: “Summer Farms to work or paint.” He says,
“I either painted in fields and farmyards or occasionally worked on them harvesting garlic, potatoes, and
beans. I picked strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries and then painted those patches on another day
filled with pickers.”
Lee Nash Carey came up with “still rowing
backwards, happily growing oldwards!” She “braved
the Head of the Charles once again in 2012 in the
50s bracket” and hopes when she moves into a new
decade, she will look as if she is going faster. Her
youngest is now gainfully employed in Baltimore;
Lee reports that she and her husband are handling
the nightly dinner conversations pretty well, though
the topics are “trending heavily in the direction of
choosing retirement planners and which of our former students has now shown up as a parent at one of
our schools.” Her final sentiment, one that I am sure
many of us share, is that she wishes there were fewer
years between reunions. Perhaps a minireunion next
fall to celebrate the new decade would be fun.
1976
Jane Ray Kell, 4 Spring Lake Place NW, Atlanta, GA
Greetings, classmates! I hope this edition of class
notes finds you happy, healthy and enjoying the New
Year. Class president Chris Oates writes eloquently
to fill us in on the fall tailgate in Williamstown, which
around a dozen classmates attended: “Saturday, Oct.
13 dawned clear and crisp, a classic New England day
picture perfect for this year’s Class of ’76 fall football
tailgate. We set up our tent directly behind the north
goal post, and a nice breeze unfurled our Penny
Brewer special banner—‘We the Purple, Class of
1976.’ Although the football Ephs did not cooperate,
losing to Middlebury by a score of 30-13, the class
turnout was exemplary. Once again Debbie and Paul
Nelson were instrumental in coordinating our festivities, with Debbie providing delectable munchies,
sandwiches, and assorted dessert items. Also bringing
dessert was Joan (Shainman) Zegras, accompanied
by husband Peter. Enthusiastic participants included
Vernon Endo and wife Joy, Ray Bliss and wife Karen, Steve Hein, Vinny McLoughlin, Danny Yeadon,
Kathy Harris and husband John, Mary McTernan
and husband Tom Lee ’73, Liza Fraser, Paula Tabor,
Peter Remec and wife Eileen, Gus Nilson, and your
faithful reporter, Chris Oates. About 10 members of
the Class of ’75 joined our merry band. All made for
plenty of fun, food and fellowship. We hope you’ll
join us next fall!”
Tom Blake reports that his oldest son, Matt, 26,
got married in June to Lisa Esparza of El Paso, Texas.
“The wedding and ceremony were under a tent in
the field of our summer house in Ipswich, Mass.,
on a nice, warm summer day. There was a rainbow
at sunset, which made for a great backdrop. My
sister Susan Blake traveled from Portland, Ore.,
to be there.” Tom and wife Heather have two other
offspring at home and one in college. “We continue
to live and work in Belmont, Mass.,” he writes. “My
remodeling business has picked up a bit over the past
six months, which is a relief. Retirement is nowhere
in sight. I did a small project for Sam Wardwell ’77
and his lovely wife Maria, with whom I’ve stayed in
touch through the years.”
DC Dugdale hosted the Seattle area Williams
sendoff party for around 10 current students and
their parents. “It was a fun event mainly organized
by Michelle Pulling ’95 and staff from the college.”
DC and his wife also enjoyed a trip to the East to visit
their two children at the Eastman School of Music in
Rochester, N.Y., and Colgate University in Hamilton,
N.Y. “With mixed feelings we skipped Williamstown
because our Williams daughter Emily ’14 is in Granada, Spain, for the fall semester. She has had a great
experience working with the college’s study abroad
program advisors, and in Spain, so we are glad she is
there, but we would have liked to visit Williams.” DC
hopes that the fall 2013 Parents’ Weekend falls on a
date he can attend and has a home football game. “It
would be great to enjoy the fall season there.”
“Quite a bit is new in our world,” writes Cyndie
Spencer. “We sent our baby off to college, sold our
house in Madison, and moved even further west into
a new home in Scottsdale, trading lawn for desert.
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Denny took a job in June 2011 as EVP and chief of
surgery at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Julia and I
stayed in Madison while she finished her senior year
in high school. She is now very happy as a freshman
at Union, just over the hill from Billsville and from
my family in the Berkshires. Paul, about to turn 21, is
a junior at Macalester in St. Paul, Minn., co-captain
of the soccer team, and a math major. Andrew graduated from Macalester in May after four years playing
soccer, with a geology major and biology minor. He is
staying in the Twin Cities, working in admissions at
Mac while he takes classes in environmental studies
and economics, with an eye toward graduate school.
“As I sit surrounded by boxes and cacti, I finally
have to face my empty and quite disorganized nest,”
Cyndie continues. “Once all the stuff is stowed, and
as I get more familiar with my new community, I
hope to continue my work in fundraising. I also hope
that any of you traveling through the Phoenix area
will give us a call. We have ample and comfortable
accommodations for guests. My email and cell phone
remain the same.”
Meg Lowman continues her forest conservation
work both locally and globally. She reports that two
forests in Ethiopia are now walled and conserved
by locals, enabled by a unique partnership between
Ethiopian Coptic priests and Meg’s TREE Foundation (www.treefoundation.org). And she continues her
citizen science expeditions to the Amazon every July.
Lucy (Singer) and Robert Beck ’75 participated
in last summer’s trip, climbing into the canopy and
conducting biodiversity surveys. “Williams in the
Amazon is alive and well,” Meg reports, adding that
more information on her expeditions can be found at
www.canopymeg.com.
“At 58, for the first time in my life, I have balance
between work and play,” writes Cynthia Kirkwood.
“In August, I moved to a piece of paradise in Portugal
on the foothills of the Estrella Mountains. My
husband Huw, our son Caladon, and I are clearing 1.6
hectares of gentle sloping land with many wide terraces, four wells, and a tumbling down granite house
about to lose its fourth wall. Heaven! The builders
will begin restoring the house next month.” Cynthia is
writing a book to be titled When I Grow Up—A Year
in Provence, which documents her family’s journey
to Portugal. “We will own our water, electricity, and
food,” she explains. “Unplugging ourselves in Britain
from the fickleness of stock markets is one way to beat
the recession.” For the truly adventuresome who want
to check in on Cynthia in her paradise at Fiais da
Beira, she has handily provided the Google coordinates: 40 degrees 25’ 27.87 N and 7 degrees 55’ 18.64
W. I don’t think it comes with a phone number, but
she does have email if you want to reach out to her!
Debbie and Paul Nelson had a magical vacation
last summer a bit closer to home, in Canada, with
Chris Grant and his wife Martha. “Paul’s family has
a cabin on an island in the Georgian Bay on Lake
Huron that is a slice of heaven,” writes Debbie. “No
electricity, propane appliances, kerosene lamps and
spectacular almost ocean-like views. We spent our
days relaxing, taking boat trips to neighboring islands
in the bay, and enjoying the good company, great
food, and wine. Before joining us, Chris and Martha
paid a visit to Ted and Ginna Walsh in Buffalo/Lake
Erie on their way up north.”
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Susan Collings is enjoying having a niece at Williams. She says, “I was delighted to attend a Williams
away soccer game that pitted the Ephs against Colby
College in games that can only be called mudfests,”
she writes. “First the men played, and I had the good
fortune to find psychology professor Laurie Heatherington in the stands cheering on her son Than ’13,
who was goalie. Complete with a well-used cowbell
to signal each Williams score, she knew every player
by name and enhanced my enjoyment of the game!
Next came the WOMEN, which is what got me to
Waterville, Maine, on a foggy three-hour drive from
Boston in the first place. My niece from Seattle, Lindsey Vandergrift ’16, helped the Ephs to a muddy 2-1
victory. The Eph parents put on an incredible spread
after the game, which required extreme will power on
my part to avoid all the Halloween-decorated goodies
and stick to the salad. I have lost 60 pounds and am on
my way to losing 30 more.” Congratulations, Susan!
Again, I send my best regards to all of you and hope
you’ll keep the news coming!
1977
Deborah DePorter Hoover, 7480 Herrick Park Drive, Hudson, OH 44236; Sandra Lorimer Lambert, 149 College
Road, Concord, MA 01742; [email protected]
As we embark on our inaugural column of class
notes, Deb and Sandy are thrilled to have heard from
so many of you so soon after our 35th reunion! We’ll
start with those of you who missed reunion, with the
caveat that we hope to see you in 2017 at our 40th!
Climbing Mount Everest prevented Fred Simmons
from attending reunion—he lost 30 pounds during the
nine-week journey but reached the summit on May
19 during one of the most difficult and tragic spring
climbing seasons on record. Writing from Manhattan,
Calif., Fred reports that he and his wife Olga Mohan
have three children in college: Carolyn (Stanford ’13)
has accepted a job post-graduation with Goldman
Sachs Investment Banking Group; Michael (Brown
’12), majoring in mathematical economics; and Jim
(Middlebury ’16), playing football.
Anu Vuorikoski is sorry to have missed reunion
due to a graduation conflict and reports that daughter
Claire is now a freshman at University of the South
(Sewanee) in Tennessee, and son Will is a junior at
Whitman College. Anu enjoys teaching in the College
of Business at San Jose State University, where she has
served on the faculty for almost 15 years. She noted
that she loves teaching and feels “pride in contributing
to the education of the next generation. Every time I
walk on campus I feel this ‘yes.’”
Jennifer Fleischer celebrated her father’s 85th
birthday in Chicago during reunion but joined James
Roe and Seth Dahlberg in Shelter Island, N.Y., for
a minireunion later in the summer. Jennifer teaches
English at Adelphi University, while her husband
teaches urban policy at the New School. She observes
that her children are “launching”: stepdaughter Annie
(Skidmore ’11) works for a firm that develops and
manages its own fashion brands, including C. Wonder
(your 20- or 30- something will know the brand), and
lives on Mulberry Street in NYC, where Jennifer’s
grandparents and great-grandparents once lived. Jennifer’s son is in first grade, a different kind of launch!
1976– 77
Chris Vogelsang spent early June cruising the
Baltic on his honeymoon with his bride Karen. Chris
and Karen have combined households in Buffalo,
N.Y., and are spending their leisure time in Canada on
a bluff overlooking Lake Erie. Prior to the ceremony,
Chris and Karen visited with Barney Ireland and his
wife Liz in April at Barney’s family hunting property
near Thomasville, Ga., where Chris successfully tried
out his turkey calling skills. Barney recently retired
from Brownson, Rehmus, & Foxworth, an investment
and financial advisory firm based in Chicago, and
became a Florida resident, while Liz continues her
work at the same firm.
Even though Liz Alton was at reunion, she continued the party this past summer with husband Ray,
hosting Judy Marean Burton and Steve, and Martha
Cook Yergeau and family for a cookout on the deck
of Liz and Ray’s newly purchased house in Milton,
Vt. Although Martha and family have been vacationing at Smuggler’s Notch Resort for over 16 years,
they had no idea that Liz lived just 20 minutes away!
By their reckoning, they had not all been together
since graduation. Judy and Steve just happened to be
in Burlington attending a bee-keeping conference at
UVM. Ah, the power of reconnecting via Facebook!
Andrew Sisson completed a two-year stint in
Pakistan as country director for the U.S. Agency for
International Development. In September 2012, he
and his wife Karen moved to Jakarta, where he is
now USAID director for Indonesia. Andy is looking
forward to a safer work environment than his last
assignment.
After living and ministering in the Ukraine for
nearly 20 years, Sam Hanchett and his family moved
near Portland, Ore., last summer. Sam works in the
Word of Grace (Russian) Bible Institute, administering Bible courses over the Internet for Russian
speakers. He says, “We are enjoying the beauty of
the mountains, streams, and pine trees here in the
evergreen state!”
Continuing her work with the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives, Barbara Andree
reports that she taught at the International Law
Enforcement Academy in Gaborone, Botswana, this
past year. On her return home, she chose London as
a rest stop to see Phantom of the Opera but observed
that she traveled halfway around the world only to
watch the Phantom keep pining over this Christine
person! Renaissance fairs are keeping Barbara and her
husband very busy, but they have also managed to
take up home brewing and love it.
Alissa Ballot lives in Florida and is the VP and
corporate secretary of NextEra Energy, which owns
Florida Power & Light Co. and another company
that is the largest renewable generator in the country.
She balances her job responsibilities with caring for
her parents and writes sensitively of the difficulties of
caring for her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s.
Alissa looks forward to a move back north upon
retirement, at least part of the year, to a city offering
varying cultural and intellectual stimulations.
After 33 years at Cargill, most recently as head of
corporate marketing, Jim Hield retired in March and
pursued golfing, biking, and running. Well, at least for
the summer—in September, Jim started as president
of the WEM Foundation, a Minneapolis-based
private family foundation, managing the day-today
operations and advising the founders on strategy. His
wife Darcy continues as a principal/partner at bdh +
young, a commercial interior design and architecture
firm, and their oldest son Charlie also lives in Minneapolis and works as a digital specialist for mono,
a nationally recognized advertising and branding
agency. Youngest son Alex married in August and
lives in Boulder, Colo., working in store management
for Target, after graduating in May from the business
school at CU/Boulder.
Sara (Archibald) and Rob Lund ’75 are also Minnesota residents, living in Duluth. Rob continues in
dermatology, and Sara serves as hospital chaplain in
Superior, Wis. Their empty nesting is postponed by
Caroline, who “bounced-back” for graduate school.
Sons Nathan and Chris are both married and serve as
Army dentists, and Marian is at Gustavus Adolphus
College. Sara and Rob are also the proud grandparents
of Amelia, 2! After 20 years, the Lunds are still in love
with the boundary waters, Lake Superior, and all the
activities of the Great North Woods.
John Stalvey writes, “I got up close and almost personal with a moose” on his early morning run, coming
within five feet of an adolescent moose. He adds, “I
don’t know which of us was more surprised. By now
you’ve figured out that I am not residing in Kent,
Ohio, any longer.” John moved to Anchorage, Alaska,
in July to become the dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage after
serving on the faculty at Kent State University for 25
years and as associate dean for the College of Arts and
Sciences for nine years. John’s wife Marcy (Holmes)
Stalvey ’78, is still in Ohio until she finishes up a
reaccreditation project she is leading for her current
hospital. Older son Ross is married, living in Cincinnati, and younger son Conor is living in Morristown,
N.J., not far from where Marcy grew up. The Stalveys
spent a week in Falmouth, Mass., after Labor Day and
en route to the Cape had lunch with Peter Bergethon and his wife Cindy.
It was a proud moment for Tad Cavuoti as he
watched godson Sam Mazzarella ’12 (son of the
late Sandy Black ’76) and William Su ’12, a former
student of Tad’s, walk across the stage underneath
the purple and gold awning at graduation. Sam has
begun a masters program in choral studies at Emmanuel College of Cambridge University, but Tad
has a further excuse to visit the Purple Valley, as
Sam’s younger sister Amelia ’16 has just begun the
Williams experience. Tad has been teaching at the
Landon School for 35 years, where he is the choral
director. He reports that the Landon School boasts
a strong Williams connection: In addition to being
introduced to the school by David Beardsley ’80, the
faculty includes John Botti ’96 (assistant headmaster,
humanities, and ethics chair), Erin Duffy ’99 (history
and technology coordinator), Sacha Place ’95 (science, art history, and flute), and the third headmaster
was Malcolm Coates ’48! If you still have your 2012
Williams calendar, check out June—that’s Tad near
the bottom of the commencement photo under a giant
Williams golf umbrella!
Dan Rashin is making graduation plans for next
June as his son Sam ’13 is a senior at Williams. After
this past school year ended, Sam was home and on
the phone organizing his summer rental for a job in
Boston, at the last minute of course, with a classmate
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who happened to be Greg Eusden ’13. Dan asked
Sam if Greg’s parents happened to go to Williams and
of course you know the answer—he’s Alan Eusden’s
son! The two of them had a great summer together in
Boston’s Back Bay. Dan got the chance to meet Greg
one weekend and reports, “He is every bit the terrific
young man you would expect him to be.”
Byrne Kelly attended reunion with fiancée Karin
Theophile. Byrne is working in real estate development and writes, “Getting to design and build architecture is what I studied and set out to do at Williams,
but that formidable environmental studies department, the Hopkins Forest, the Outing Club and the
entire Purple Valley corrupted me (without regret)
into becoming a landscape architect and environmental planner.” Son Tyler Byrne, 22, is a secondsemester sophomore at Warren Wilson College in
Asheville, N.C., where he is working toward a B.S.
in environmental science in sustainable agriculture.
Daughter Clara Dodd, 19, has entered Virginia Commonwealth University and is pursuing a career as a
screenwriter.
Since reunion, Roger Wilson reports that he has
completed his third Blackburn Challenge 20-mile
kayak race, given his daughter away in marriage, run
a conference for the National Center on Biking &
Walking in Long Beach, Calif., and tackled a mountain century ride with his bike club. He notes, “I’m
aiming to work less and X-C ski more in the coming
season!”
A lot of partying and dancing took place when
Babe Kirk Unger and Pete Unger’s daughter Sarah
married PJ Biggs at Roaring Gap, N.C., in August,
according to Geoff Klingenstein, who attended
along with Barb (Lee) and Mike Eisenson, John
Reynolds ’78, Tim Belk, Holly Boyer Scott, and
Ramsay Stabler.
Dan Fox wrote that the Foxes recently celebrated
their 25th wedding anniversary. Their oldest son
graduated from college and is working full time. Two
younger sons are on the extended college plan. Empty
nesting suits them, and they are contemplating moving to a more sensible house. Dan observed that “living in the ‘battleground’ state of Ohio, I am polled by
phone nearly every day. Curiously only one pollster
bothered to determine if I am registered.”
Rich Spicer is focusing on the final stages of
doctoral work in the American studies program at
Boston University while working simultaneously as
a church music director near his current hometown
of Newburyport, Mass. Despite these commitments,
Rich also continues to perform occasional programs
of music from early America as well—most recently
over the summer for the National Park Service
(music in the life and times of George Washington
at the Longfellow House in Cambridge; and music
for the 200th anniversary of the battle between USS
Constitution and HMS Guerriere at the Charlestown
Navy Yard); and he still plays harpsichord each December at Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth,
N.H. (profiled in the Nov/Dec 2012 issue of Yankee
Magazine).
Continuing his lifelong passion for Latin American
poetry and literature, Steve White shared that he is
the guest editor of a special issue of Review: Literature
and Arts of the Americas on Latin American ecoliterature. This issue is connected to a series of events
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to be sponsored by the Americas Society in NYC in
November, including a keynote address by Mexican
environmentalist and writer Homero Aridjis. Steve
is Lewis Professor of Modern Languages at St. Lawrence University.
A practicing ophthalmologist in New Jersey, Don
Macdonald has traveled to Tanzania and Senegal for
the nonprofit he serves as trustee, Right to Sight and
Health, to teach the low-cost, small-incision cataract
surgery as well as eye plastic surgery. He reports, “We
partnered with the Peace Corps again and went to a
remote town where we were needed and we could
make an enduring difference.” Don has also been on
medical missions to Nicaragua and the Philippines.
Deborah DePorter Hoover had the pleasure of
reconnecting with Anne Waters Steele and husband
Andy along with Kathy Hart and husband Chris
LaCroix in Hanover, N.H., during her husband John
Hoover’s ’76 25th Tuck School reunion. Anne, an
elementary school paraeducator and life coach, and
Andy, Tuck director of development and alumni services, live on Mascoma Lake in Enfield, N.H. Kathy
is curator of academic programming at the Hood
Museum of Art at Dartmouth.
Although she lives in Concord, Mass., Sandy
Lorimer Lambert reports that she has purchased her
first ski pass—for Colorado—where both her children, Sally ’08 and Alec (Colorado College ’10), live.
Sally pursues her twin passions for energy conservation and Ultimate Frisbee in Boulder, Colo. (her team
finished fifth at the National Club Championships
held in October!). Alec is a fly fishing guide in Frisco,
Colo., in the summer and big mountain skier in the
winter. In the summer, Sandy and Deb spend time
together kayaking, hiking, and relaxing on Murray
Pond, near Little Lake Sunapee in New London,
N.H.
We are delighted to serve as your co-class secretaries and look forward to hearing all your news!
1978
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Jeff “J” DeLisle, 538 Bloomingrove Drive, Rensselaer,
Much of the news this time involves sports and the
outdoors. Sally Fri had considered making up a “giant
fib” to put in the column but decided against it. (This
was edifying, since I’d presumed she’s been fibbing all
along.) Sally has taken a page from Maggie Luck’s
book and mixed her work with an idyllic setting.
Over the summer she rented a rustic cabin in the
picturesque setting of Lake Champlain. Sally works as
a project consultant for not-for-profits, and so all she
needs is a laptop, which she has parked in front of a
double picture window. That she takes her morning coffee on the deck overhanging the water sounds
splendid; but that she uses the same location in the
evening for her famous “lemon drops” or wine, raises
safety concerns. Though the setting is private, she has
hardly been isolated, as she has reconnected with her
Vermont peeps. Sally came of age in Vermont, lived
there 20 years, and has a lot of emotional connections. Many longtime friends visited, including Kate
Stone Lombardi, no doubt dodging the paparazzi. In
September Sally visited Steve Maier and Priscillia
Bremser, and a bit later shot up to Maine to see Bob
1977– 79
Ashley and his wife. After that she went with some
other intrepid women on a canoe trip to visit the loons
and eagles at Quetico, the Boundary Waters north of
the Canadian Border.
That was during the summer. In February and
March of last year, Sally’s travel jones took her back
to places she visited previously, New Zealand and
Rarotonga—“so fantastic, it defies all description.” In
retracing hikes she made 26 years ago, she was pleased
to see the beauty she remembers was preserved, and
little had changed. New Zealand highlights were a
flight-seeing trip over the mountains and glaciers on
the South Island of New Zealand, the ice blue lakes of
Tekapo and Pukaki, kayaking in Abel Tasman Park,
and watching the kea parrots (alpine parrots) up in
the mountains. In Rarotonga, Sally looked up and old
friend, the local medicine man, who shared some of
his wisdom about healing plants and fruits.
Sadly, Sally’s mother, who suffered from incapacitating Alzheimer’s for the past 10 years, died last
fall. In working through her grief, she has had some
amazing “close encounter” experiences “which have
convinced me death is just one tiny step beyond this
physical existence.”
Mike Anton writes that after six summers of travel
baseball, the family decided to do something different.
Since his 1975 Winter Study scuba diving course
taught by Bob Kaufman ’60, Mike has been an avid
diver. After training at the Muir pool, the group of 12
(the “Clean Dozen?”) left snowy Williamstown for
the Florida Keys, where they completed their open
water certification. (Ed note: I’m pretty sure that was
the same week my Morgan West mates and I completed our open-container certification, culminating
in bringing a cow—worth 50 points!—to the Spencer
House scavenger hunt, only to come in second to the
group that provided a Williamstown police license
plate.) Mike is stuck for words to express the powerful
effect that course had on him. Suffice it to say he now
calls the Keys home for a happy part of the year. This
year, Chris completed his open water certification
at Looe Key, where he dived with a sea turtle. (The
experience was captured on video and posted on
YouTube.) In the true spirit of Free University, Mike
is pleased to honor Bob’s memory and passed his
experience along to his son.
Christopher is something of a baseball prodigy. In
2011 he won the Cooperstown Dreamspark Home
Run Derby. Mike has even higher aspirations for
Chris: belting them out of Weston Field against Amherst from 2016-2020. Attaboy.
In other Class of 1978 Winter Study Sports News,
Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden will be
offering a course on sports writing. Tim has received
widespread praise for “The Forgotten Hero,” the
heartwarming mystery behind how number 50 got to
be retired in Williams football. The piece has been included in the book Best American Sports Writing 2012.
In what can only spell doom for the next generation
of Texas baseball players, t-ball coach Jim Little has
hung up his spikes. For Jim, this affords more time for
fix-up jobs and swimming in the pool. Given equally
to Texan hyperbole one moment and parched understatement the next, Jim described a “second spring”
this past July, which he defined as a few days of green
grass and blooming flowers. Of the record-setting
heat wave and drought that preceded it Jim says they
had “no rain to speak of.” Jim’s older daughter Amy
married Nate Jones over the summer. They met when
she was a sophomore at Duke. Nate has completed
Divinity School, while Amy is finishing her fourth
year of med school after working at a diabetic camp in
North Texas.
Sue Stred celebrated her 30th anniversary with
her husband Hal Husovsky (Hamilton ’79). She also
celebrated her first hole-in-one on a 175 yard par-3
hole. She hit a 3 wood. As it was the last day of the
golf season, the clubhouse was undergoing renovation
and was nearly empty, sparing most of the expense
of the traditional burden of the acer. Sue toured the
Normandy beaches with her husband and mother
over the summer and came away with a sense of awe
and respect even greater than that which prompted
her to make the journey. Most of you know that Sue
is the class treasurer and also serves as Tyng Bequest
administrator.
Rounding out the summer, Dan Sullivan, with
Robin beside him, strode to the mound of Progressive
Field, home to the Cleveland Indians, and threw out
the first pitch. Dan had been so honored as part of
Cleveland Clinic’s employee appreciation day. Dan
threw a sinker but did not indicate whether it went
for a strike.
And from Bill Kister: “A reminder from our class
reunion committee that we’re hoping everyone is
making plans for our 35th reunion the weekend of
June 6-9. We have exciting events planned that will
be announced soon.”
1979
Barbara H. Sanders, 3 Stratford Road, White Plains, NY
Betty Agostino Sproul says, “It’s been a long time
since I have written. Leigh Costikyan Wood joined
me, husband Trip, daughter Lisa, and five others for
a three-day ‘rim to rim’ backpacking adventure of the
Grand Canyon in September. The trip was approximately 26 miles in total, descending approximately
5,000 feet the first day and then ascending 6,000 in
the next two days. After a long day we were able to
refresh at Phantom Ranch, a cantina in the canyon.
Unfortunately, we refreshed too well, as the next day
(the easiest of the three) turned out to be harder due to
consummation of spirited libations instead of water!
We arrived at our next campsite, Cottonwood, and
then the beautiful Ribbon Falls. The third day was the
most grueling, as we ascended 4,000 feet in nine miles
and had to continue to the lodge (another 1.2 miles)
to get cell phone reception. No worries, though. The
lodge provided welcomed beer and wine for all!” So,
the next time someone tells you to “go take a hike,”
make your way to Tucson—and Betty says to please
look her up!
Hal Zendle talks of a trip to Williamstown: “I
attended a very rare event at the Clark Art Institute.
… Art Garfunkel performed in the auditorium this
summer. Approaching the campus on Route 7 from
Vermont, I was astonished by the first sight I encountered on campus—a three-story parking garage adjacent to the Greylock Quad! Don’t get me wrong, I’m
all for progress. However, it occurs to me that when
we attended Williams, expansion was embryonic, and
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we had the privilege of enjoying a small yet spacious
campus, which was very much a part of its charm.
It saddens me that today’s students, while enjoying
the benefits of campus growth, will never know the
campus as we did.”
John Simpson writes from Beverly Hills. He may
have claimed that he “may be too old for this,” but he
sent a picture of his beautiful newborn daughter, Stella
Marie. Somehow I could just detect an enormous
sense of pride that was oozing from the text of John’s
message (and he has every right to be!). He and his
wife Alexandra are doing fine.
In Nepal, Betsy Harper installed a set of solar
panels on a school in a remote village. “I raised the
funds for the system which now powers two computers and four lights. Unfortunately, Nepal is much
changed since I was last here 22 years ago, due to
an ineffective and corrupt government. None of the
basic infrastructure of water, sewage, electricity, or
roads has kept up with the urban population growth.
Fortunately the mountains remain the most stunning
of any in the world.”
Marti Ikehara vacationed in Hawai’i for three
weeks in August. “For the first two, I went bird
watching on three of the islands with a group of
five (male) birdwatchers hailing from four different
cities in Italy. I met and birded with two of them in
Venezuela two years ago and had dinner with one last
October in Milan. During that stay, I visited much of
northern Italy with a tour group and also my niece
in Ferrara, who was spending her junior year abroad
from Middlebury College. I also visited my sister’s
family and older relatives (uncle is 92!) on O’ahu.”
To celebrate 30 years in California, Clinton Loftman decided to reconnect with his East Coast roots,
visiting New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine. “I visited
Keith Scott ’81 in NYC, Brent Shay ’78 in Boston,
Bill Webster and Diane Hughes (both ’79), their son
David Webster ’15, and Lucienne Sanchez—all on
Martha’s Vineyard. We had a ball!
Tad Seder writes, “Pam (my extremely patient
wife) and I traveled to Kenya to run in the Lewa
Marathon with the Nature Conservancy Team. TNC
CEO Mark Tercek had the courage to lead a mixed
group made up of other TNC staffers, board members, and donors along with these Ephs. The trip went
well, and minimal damage to Mark’s career occurred,
although there were a few stories told. We all agreed
that ‘what happens in Kenya stays in Kenya.’ Next up
was the Hood to Coast relay, a 12-person relay from
Mount Hood to the Pacific Ocean, which is 198 miles.
Mark Gerry joined the crew for the run, his second
relay. The team averaged eight minutes per mile
and is already signed up for next year. Pete May has
been a teammate in the past, along with the late Bart
Miller. Hopefully other Ephs will make the trek to the
Northwest in the future for this excellent adventure.
Phil Shuman visited Seattle in October to take in
the Patriots/Seahawks contest with his son Matt. The
Seahawks prevailed over the favored Pats. The locals
were very pleased, and as Phil, Matt, and I exited the
stadium in search of adult beverages, Phil observed, in
a still-strong Boston accent, that ‘it looks like they’ve
never won a friggin’ football game before!’”
Glenn Rogers continues to serve as the US Agency
for International Development representative to the
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African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His wife
Dominique is engaged with a local heritage preservation association, as large areas of Addis Ababa
are being demolished for a massive urban building
campaign. Construction of the light-rail system just
started. “Dominique and I travel within Ethiopia on
weekends, trying to avoid the June-September rainy
season. The coffee and juice shops are great, so come
visit.”
Fabienne Marsh writes, “I recently learned that
my California town was designed by Frederick Law
Olmsted Jr., and I am finishing an article about the
Olmsteds. I am also trying to come up with lines for
Disney’s upcoming prequel, Monster University (“Before There was Boo, There Were Lots of Boo-Boos,”
“The College of Your Screams,” etc.). My beloved
16-year-old son Paul landed a paid internship at
Northrop Grumman for the summer. I was so proud
that I drove him to work, without complaint, two
hours a day. My equally beloved though challenging
daughter Juliette is now 15 and loving Model U.N.,
speech and debate, and playing the princess of France
in Love’s Labour’s Lost. I miss all of you and all things
New England, and am very worried that I will not
be able to reverse-commute because of all the clichés
about the weather, which is sublimely Mediterranean.
As the single mother of two adolescents, I have no
personal life whatsoever, never refuse work, and will
be the first woman to join Match.com at age 70!”
All is well in Wayzata, Minn., with Kiki Spencer
Batina and family. “This summer our oldest son,
Tom, left for West Point, where he had a chance
to experience Camp Buckner, named after Chip
Buckner’s grandfather (as Stew Menking informed
me). He loved it, survived basic training, and is now
into the academic year. We get fun photos of him
leaning on Blackhawk helicopters or smiling out of
tanks. I have a daughter and son in middle school, and
I am still an active mom, driving to sporting events,
volunteering at school and the local library, and serving as a small group leader in Bible Study. We live
within a mile of Shaver Park, named after the family
of another classmate, Craig Shaver. While I haven’t
played hockey for a few years, I recently took up trap
and skeet shooting. I continue to enjoy trying new
things.”
In the fall Jonathan Sanoff joined Arch Perkins
(and his sisters Maggie and Lisa) at his country house
in the Catskills at Elka Park, N.Y. “We celebrated his
birthday by opening a fantastic stone bridge over a
stream, which Arch built in the woods near his house.
The bridge was made entirely by hand from native
stones. It was designed and built by Arch, with a little
help from his children and friends. Arch’s bridge
has, fittingly I suppose, an arch in the center, so it is
self-supporting. The tricky part on Sunday was to
clear away the wooden forms on which the bridge
was built and see if it would stand on its own, which
of course it did, beautifully. Arch’s appetite has been
whetted by the success of the bridge for other stone
building projects, but he has no current plans for a
gothic cathedral.”
We received word from two classmates who are
passionate about St. Louis, Mo. “I’ve been here for
almost four years now, and I am loving it.” That’s
what John Rindlaub professes. “I left my marketing
job at Express Scripts, having helped differentiate
1979– 80
and grow the company fourfold. Enjoying consulting
for The Right Brain Studio, a new product innovation and branding firm, while looking for my next
corporate gig, hopefully here in St. Louis. And playing
lots of squash, enjoying a little golf, as well as road and
mountain biking. I occasionally see Tom Albert here,
who takes his mountain biking much more seriously
than I do. It was great to catch up with Eric Sundin
and Dana Gaines on Martha’s Vineyard in July. And
to see some 27 Ephs at our 20th annual ski trip to
Alta/Snowbird in January organized by Tad Seder
and John Palmer.”
Jeff Brinker also lives in St. Louis, with his wife and
two young daughters. He says his proudest accomplishment of late is being the “second-grade representative in the father’s club of his daughters’ school.”
Jeff recently completed his term as president of the
Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers, an organization of approximately 1,300 attorneys who devote
their time to representing defendants and potential
defendants in civil litigation. He was recently appointed one of the Missouri state chairs and a regional
chair of the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (formerly Council on Litigation Management),
a national organization of approximately 20,000
professionals in the claims and litigation management industries (secretary’s note: please refer back
to the beginning for his proudest achievement!). Jeff
continued, “Greg Smith ’75 was in town recently, and
we were able to have dinner with him. He hadn’t aged
a bit in the 10 years since I saw him last. Greg and I
went to school together from sixth grade through college, and we talk regularly. He is doing very well with
AdMedia partners in NYC, and his and Deb’s twins
are now 16! He is still passionate about following the
St. Louis Cardinals exploits, which we have done
since we were in grade school together.
Amy Bug is a very happy woman. “After four years
of widowhood, I married Lawrence Frederick Graves
III (LG) on July 3, a local boy from Wayne, Pa. He
is a rock musician and music teacher to kids from age
18 months through high school (he teaches rock band
camps). My sons Moses and Murphy are delighted
to welcome their new dad to our family. LG fits right
into the chaos (dog, fish, frogs, rats, boys), and is a terrific partner in all ways. He has two sons, a daughter,
and three grandchildren. Our combined offspring
range from ages 16 to 34. Bill Whitney met LG; we
all had lunch in Philly when Bill came up to a conference of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
I have yet to introduce him to Pat Martin ’78 and
Rick Moog, though I hope that will come soon, as Pat
works at Swarthmore now. I’m still doing research in
materials physics, collaborating at UPenn and teaching at Swarthmore. In my downtime, LG lets me play
music with him (recorder, bass guitar), which is really
sweet since he’s a pro and I’m just an amateur. Wishing all of my fellow ’79ers all the best!” Bill echoed
Amy’s sentiments, describing LG as a charming and
great man. On Bill’s home front, he reports, “Our son
Zac ’12 graduated from Williams last spring. It was
great having him home for two months before he took
off to Japan for his first ‘real job’—working for the
JET program in Japan as a coordinator of international relations in the small town of Suzu. While we
were in the Village Beautiful, we enjoyed catching up
with Stew Menking at the alumni breakfast.”
And speaking of Stew (thankfully, for the third
time in this column!), he writes to say, “I’ve been
relaxing all summer, enjoying the fact that I didn’t
know when Labor Day was … because for the first
time in 21 years, I didn’t have to take a child to a
first day of school!”
While vacationing on the Maine coast over the
summer, Susan Shea and her husband happened
to see a poster for Barbara Ernst Prey’s watercolor
exhibit in nearby Port Clyde. “We drove down to see
it and were blown away. It was the first time I’d seen
her paintings in person—amazing talent.”
Marcia Johnston Wood says that she and husband
Tom “have sent both Emma and Jeremy off to college, so we’re at the dawn of experiencing the ‘empty
nest’ and a lot of ideas about what to do with the
supposedly new-found time. We both remain busier
than we probably should be, so if it only calms down
to a dull roar, that would be good. Balancing work,
I’m chairing the squash committee at Portland’s big
Multnomah Athletic Club, and it is a surprisingly
time consuming job!”
Charles Sena is enjoying himself in sunny
southern California. He also dropped me a hint,
looking for an excuse to fly eastward, inquiring as to
when our class will be having our next prodigious
Tri-State Dinner in NYC. Even though our beloved
alumni edifice on East 39th Street (aka the former
Williams Club) is just a memory now, I promise that
the gathering will be resuscitated this year.
So I’ve thrown my hat in the ring, for making a
New Year’s resolution (and one pertaining to Williams at that). If we haven’t heard from you yet, this
is a great time for a new beginning. Stay connected
to our class, wherever you are in life. And we hope
that 2013 will bring you much happiness and prosperity, to you and your family.
1980
Laura Pitts Smith, 1828 Old Yellowstone Trail S,
Emigrant, MT 59027; [email protected]
A class secretary’s reward lies in the steady stream
of information some faithful classmates provide and
the occasional landmine that explodes revealing
30-plus years of life from classmates who catch a wild
hare and write in. The former gives me the notion
that I am snuggly settled among family, while the
latter assures me that there are long-lost friends in the
far corners of the Earth who show up when you least
expect them.
Let me begin with a landmine. Dave Amlicke is an
interventional cardiologist in the greater Nashville
area. He stays in contact with John Krupczak, Andy
Kelly, and Marko Remec. He also talks regularly to
Carl Samuelson, his former swim coach. Carl and his
wife remain healthy and active. Dave reports, “I fell
in love with this part of the country when I did my
cardiology training at Vanderbilt University Medical
Center 20 years ago. My work involves placing coronary stents and other devices into coronary vessels in
order to improve circulation to the heart, i.e., prevent
heart attacks.” He has three children. Oldest daughter,
Erin, is a sophomore at Oberlin College and very involved with theater. Maire is a math and science whiz
with two years of high school left. She’s considering
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a combined college/med school program after graduation. Five-year-old Ben rounds out the household.
Like his dad, he loves to swim. Dave says, “I have
been married to my lovely wife, Michelle, for almost
10 years, and she is the dynamic force who makes all
things possible while I am working insane hours.”
Andy Cole dropped a similar bomb. He reports,
“I am a physician, and my specialty is physical
medicine and rehabilitation. I sub-specialize in the
non-operative management of spine, sports, and occupational musculoskeletal injuries. I was recruited to
the Providence-Swedish hospital system in January
2012, the fifth-largest nonprofit healthcare system in
the U.S. As the medical director for their spine, sports,
occupational, and musculoskeletal wellness programs,
I am responsible for designing and then implementing
an evidence-based musculoskeletal program.” Formerly, Andy worked with Richard Serrousi at Seattle
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine. He
looks forward to visiting the Matt Cole ’80 Environmental Science Library. Matt was Andy’s cousin.
Matt was killed in a car accident in 1981. Andy lives in
Bellevue, Wash., with his 15-year-old daughter Anne,
who is an avid equestrian and vocalist. They love to
cook and sail, and I am betting he has more Williams
College baseball caps than the rest of us combined.
While visiting Dave Thompson and Vianka Vives
’83 in Portland, Maine, the smell of lobster got Wade
Fenn reminiscing about Tyler house. Wade’s older
son, Alejandro ’16, was in the Frosh Revue in the fall,
while his brother, Baby Wade, hasn’t reached his first
birthday. Wade celebrated 10 years out of corporate
life (Best Buy) as he launched a new product, VOCO,
which uses voice/touch interfaces to stream audio and
video. I am proud to say we have some offspring serving in the military.
Annie Ko reports her 18-year-old just graduated
from basic training in Fort Jackson, S.C., and is now
stationed at Fort Lee, Va.
I hope Gus Nuzzolese succeeded in rustling up
an ’80s homecoming crowd in the fall. He enjoyed
connecting with Joe Flaherty at their Colliers International Convention in San Diego. Gus reports that
Joe and Nancy recently became grandparents. Gus
also connects often with Todd Erickerson ’77, who
is a dean at Westminster School and director of the
Crossroads Cooperative Learning Program. If you are
living in Dayton, shoot Gus an email, as he is often
there, watching his son play football. Gus reports
Mike Curran, Tom Keller, Brian Benedict ’81, Steve
Leous, and Dan Towle are all “strong and solid.”
Sarah Mollman Underhill and her husband Robert
received Concordia College’s 2012 “Presidential
Award for Excellence in Educational Service to the
Community.” The list of services they have rendered
in their community is truly humbling. A classmate
tipped me off on this award. Sarah, you’re an inspiration for all of us.
Kathleen Kelliher guided a large group of Williams
alumni (from the classes of 1960-2012) through the
Royal Academy of Art in London in September. The
Clark Art Institute’s impressionists were on loan there
as a traveling exhibition while the Clark undergoes
major reconstruction. Kathleen has been a docent at
the RA for 20 years. She began with a talk about the
history of the RA and proceeded to the Michelangelo
sculptures before viewing the exhibition itself. Her
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daughter Letticia started a nursing degree in the fall.
Living within two miles of the Olympic Park, Kathleen thoroughly enjoyed the summer games, including
attending a dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony.
Both her children had the privilege of working
through the Olympics.
Ray DeMeo’s son Ben ’15 is living in Fayerweather
and was persuaded to join crew. Ray says, “He wrote
… saying that he needed to buy his weight in spandex
to gear up to crew standards. No more freezing on the
boat in cotton tees like the good old days.” Another
son, Jack, is college bound next year and considering
Williams. His oldest completed a graduate degree at
Gallaudet and is working full time for a translation
agency for the deaf in D.C. Ray calculates that his
youngest child, Sophia, may be matriculating in 2024,
so early retirement is not an option. They live in
Northampton, Mass., in a cohousing community. He
explains that cohousing is not communal living but
housing that creates “intentional community.”
Marko Remec installed two impressive outdoor
sculptures for the Peekskill Project V, which can be
viewed through June in Peekskill, N.Y. They are contemporary totem poles, which create powerful, visual
comments on current social/political issues.
Doug Orr moved back to Annapolis last March.
Eleven years into his third career, Doug works for
the National Soccer Coaches Association of America
Foundation. (I had to be reminded he was our soccer
goalie, not a hockey player.) The foundation raises
money and awards grants to targeted urban soccer
coaches and soccer organizations to expand inclusion
for minorities in soccer. If you know a deserving
group, email Doug at [email protected]. He has spent
39 years coaching youth soccer. Earlier this year Doug
caught up with Bill Sprague at the coffee shop on
Spring Street.
Some interesting tidbits: Bruce Kneuer does some
innovative things with music and social media. It’s
whimsical and entertaining and definitely makes me
smile. Bart Michell hosted Chip Foley’s daughter
Olivia ’13 while she completed an internship at Mass
General Hospital last summer. Olivia is rooming
again in Greylock with Maddie Michell ’13 this year.
Be on the lookout for Wayne Eckerson’s latest book,
Secrets of Analytical Leaders: Insights from Information
Insiders. Laurie Mayers joined Moody’s Investors
Services as an associate managing director, taking up
responsibility for the rating of UK and Irish banks
and non-bank financial institutions. She dropped
her middle son off at RISD last fall, her older son is
studying philosophy at Bristol University, and she has
one 17-year-old left at home. Larc Abbot has room
for visitors in Rome, as her sons are in Milan and
London. She saw Liz Halsted and David Barnes
recently, as well as Heather Dayton Wilson’s
daughter Grace ’14, who is studying abroad in Florence. Larc plans to join classmates for a spa weekend
in Connecticut in February. Chip Oudin reports
that his daughter endured a monthlong lockout with
the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and his wife has
returned to a former passion, working with specialneeds children at a local elementary school.
Lots of summer fun to report. Trudie Larrabee
reports that in October she celebrated her “ninth
anniversary of working with my husband Ben in
our thriving fine art portrait photography practice
1980– 81
based in our home in Darien, Conn. When we started
working together it was like being married a second
time. My title is Ben’s muse and ‘the one who gets
things done,’ which both suit me well. This has been
the most fulfilling period of my working career and 22
years of married life.” They took an annual pilgrimage out to Nantucket over the summer, a combination of work and play. They are enjoying an empty
nest at home, which has liberating benefits only
Trudie would detail in an email to her class secretary.
(Volunteer to be secretary in 2015, and you will get
such privileged information!) Trudie stays in touch
with Betsy McGean, who is “traveling like a banshee
as she passionately campaigns across New England
to conserve land, including 18,000 acres of the High
Peaks of Western Maine. Betsy is the senior director
of philanthropy for the Trust for Public Land.
Michael Battey has officially launched his new
business (EBWM.com) but found plenty of time to
play in the Northwest last summer. From Marin
County, he drove to Calgary, where his kids dominated the annual Canada Day Youth Box Lacrosse
Tournament. He then joined Will Ballew and his
wife Coco in Missoula to celebrate July 4. Will and
Coco have two phenomenal tennis players, Anna
and William (WVB the fifth!). Young William and
his partner won the Montana state doubles title last
spring. Michael then traveled south to raft and fish
the Snake and watch the Jackson Hole Rodeo before
driving 925 miles home in one day.
Julia McNamee, Roslyn Sareyan Daily, and
Sue Kraus Harris missed the hilarity of a 39 Sage
E reunion in Chicago in July. Jill Simon Svaboda
reports, “I made a mad dash back from July 4 in
northern Wisconsin to meet Sonia Weil, who had
recently returned from a trip to the North Pole, and
Laurie Pitts Smith, who left the final stage of embryo
transplantation into the cattle herd to her husband
in Montana. Between raiding John’s ’79 wine cellar
and nonstop conversation, we managed to stumble on
one or two cultural events. Does a Jennifer Hudson
concert in Chicago’s Grant Park count as culturally
enriching … or just fun and free?” Jill and John have
an amazing house. There was this little button by
my bed on the third floor that I used to request room
service. Jill answered from the kitchen below, but her
only response was laughter. No breakfast in bed. The
years melt away when the three of us are together. I
suspect many of you experience that sense of adventure and vitality when you reconnect with freshman
roommates. It’s medicinal and uplifting, it’s laughter
and it’s tears; it heals whatever ails you. The notes get
all the good stuff, but I hear a hefty amount of tough
stuff that no one wants in print. As Dave Amlicke put
it, if his world sounds rosy “it’s because I grind hard
at my life and take nothing for granted.” Class notes
celebrate a lot of success and accomplishments, but
they don’t need to do that exclusively.
I want to close by letting Sue (Leary) Sipprelle
tell an inspiring story: “I went to Columbia Graduate
School of Journalism after many years at home with
the five kids and graduated with honors in 2008.
After completing the degree, I worked on a longterm
multimedia project with a former professor and some
of his teaching assistants, but I wanted to do a project
of my own. The Great Recession was in full swing,
and I could see the impact that it was having on our
peers, the boomers. I began conducting video interviews in early 2010 with Sam Newman, a filmmaker.
From 2010 to 2012 we traveled across the country and
filmed interviews with 100 Americans who were over
50 and out of work. I was inspired by Studs Terkel’s
masterpieces Working and The Good War to begin the
multimedia documentary project Over 50 and Out
of Work, but once Sam and I finished the interviews
and the website (http://www.overfiftyandoutofwork.
com/), we wanted to do more to show the destructive
consequences of job loss on Americans who are 50plus and their families.
“Set for Life, our documentary, follows three Baby
Boomers who struggle to recover from the devastating impact of losing their jobs in the Great Recession.
They try to hang onto their homes, health insurance,
and hope. Over time, they find their way to cope with
the drastic effects of unemployment on their lives,
but their futures are no longer secure, and they have
lost their unquestioning confidence in the American
Dream.”
The film aired at the Massachusetts Independent
Film Festival and won Best Feature Documentary
early in the fall. I hope many of you get a chance to
see it. Sue has two kids out of college and working, a
junior at Harvard, a senior in high school, and a sixth
grader.
Our next class notes may have a theme. Jill Simon
Svaboda suggested “Favorite Volunteer/Charity
Activity.” Anyone else have a suggestion?
1981
Alexis Yoshi Belash, 1466 Canton Ave., Milton, MA
I have turned into a full “bore” international soccer
dad. I helped coach my freshman daughters’ varsity
soccer team at the International School of Kuala
Lumpur. Isabel is the starting goalkeeper, and Ali
is a starting wing. It is a bit different from our old
travel teams in the states. We bussed to Singapore
for “friendlies” against international schools from
Singapore, Jakarta, and Bangkok then flew to a tournament in Bangkok that added Taipei and Manila to
the mix. The team won both divisions of their local
international school league. We managed to play 33
games (23-4-6) in the two-month season here. The
girls also play year round on Sundays with a local
club, of which I am the treasurer and occasional
coach. They both made the girls varsity touch rugby
team. I also coach middle school soccer and varsity
rugby.
While in Singapore I had dinner with Tom Miller
’82, and I hope to see old entrymate Todd Tucker on
my next visit. I had a nice dinner with Eph rugger
Andy Harris ’88 while he was in KL for a conference. Kate has been on the road nonstop, interviewing
business leaders all over Asia for an upcoming report
as well as teaching leadership development all over
Asia. I was able to join her in Phuket and Chang Mai.
Unfortunately the major provider of baseball coverage here is YES (Yankees Entertainment and Sports
Network); enough said.
Ali Nevin Sheahan writes: “Our Arlington home is
temporarily fuller again as our older two returned for
part of their summer breaks from Kenyon and UVA,
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and our 17-year-old twins keep up a steady stream
of high school friends. I’m still happily teaching
elementary science part time at our neighborhood
school, allowing me to pursue various volunteer and
musical/theatrical activities as well. My husband
Bernie still works for the International Finance Corp.
arm of the World Bank, traveling to Africa and Latin
America directing infrastructure investments. (I push
him to develop as many renewable energy projects as
possible!) At a work-related dinner party I attended,
I realized that the attorney for a particular IFC
project looked kind of familiar. He was introduced
as “Gregg.” An hour or so later we were seated next
to each other at dinner, and as casual conversation
covered kids (similar ages all looking at small New
England colleges) and hometowns (mine on Long
Island, but his in a Chicago suburb), I took a guess and
asked if he had gone to Williams, Class of ’81.
“Gregg Harris laughed and said he really had
needed to spend more time outside of the library, and
then we happily discovered mutual friendships with
Ann Maine, Phil Darrow, and Bill Holt, to name
a precious few. Otherwise, I keep in touch with a
pretty full contingent of Williams F’ers, and can tell
you that Sue Megna Hemond is busy refurbishing a home near Portland, Maine, as her two oldest
are now working in Boston, and a son is halfway
through Boston College; Ann O’Connell Toth has
a daughter at University of Michigan and another
starting at Denison in the fall (conveniently for me
down the road from Kenyon), keeping busy with
her law practice and yoga as well; Cathy Gernert
Ramsay is enjoying the gorgeous view from the
new Seattle home she and Alec share near the Space
Needle, while working at her kids’ old high school
on Mercer Island as a special-needs assistant and
watching her Colby-grad daughter negotiate a year of
jobs in Colorado (adaptive ski instruction and summer
adaptive recreation programs) while their son finishes
up at Berklee College of Music as a percussionist;
Anita Rydberg Swift is in the process of trying out
Portland, Maine, life with her husband Dave (a pilot
for Continental’s exec division), hoping they find it a
permanent home for their boating passions; and Judy
(Causton) Gast is surviving the trials of life with a
red-headed, independent teenage daughter (history
repeats?), as well as the antics of a younger one, while
working full time again as a management consultant
for a new firm, and enjoying cabin getaways with her
husband Bob on a lake north of their Toronto home.
I’ve also enjoyed recent brief check-ins from Beth
Anne Flynn and Hilary Hodgson, in sympathy for
extended family members going through cancer treatments. They sound well and, honestly, these days, it’s
just great to hear the voices of trusted old friends!”
John Faughnan writes: “Living in St Paul, Minn.,
with Emily Lagace, Tim, Ben, Brinna, Kateva (dog),
and Kangaroo (gerbil). Blog: notes.kateva.org (Yes,
named after the dog. I liked the sound of it.).” He
writes under the name John Gordon.
The biggest news chez Catto-Kohout is that, after
being diagnosed with metastatic cancer in her spine
and pelvis, a PET scan at Houston’s M.D. Anderson
Cancer Center in April revealed that Heather was,
miraculously, entirely cancer-free. The couple “celebrated the good news with a trip to Big Bend National
Park in May and are grateful beyond words for the
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massive and deeply humbling outpouring of love and
support over these last difficult months. (Heather’s
father, Henry Catto ’52, died on Dec. 18.) Thanks to
all for the prayers, good wishes, etc.
“In other news, we have hired our older daughter
Elizabeth ’08 as the director of marketing and community relations at Madroño Ranch: A Center for
Writing, Art, and the Environment, and she has done
an amazing job selling eggs and bison meat to various
restaurants and food purveyors in Austin and vicinity.
Son Tito graduated from the University of Texas at
Austin in May, and daughter Thea completed her
second year at Kenyon College and is looking forward
to spending next fall in Capetown, South Africa.”
Charlie Lafave sent “greetings from Waikiki. I was
actually in your neck of the woods, Thailand, Vietnam, and Bali. In Williams news, my niece graduated
in the Purple Valley! Makes 13 or so of us in the last
100 years!” Charlie writes very entertaining travel
pieces on his Facebook page. I finally found out why
he has the travel bug: He used to be with Abercrombie
& Kent, International, where he was responsible for
its North, South, and Central American business,
as well as its African, Middle Eastern, and Explorer
Shipping Corp. business tour company.
Bill “Bolo” Reynolds gets around as well: “We
were just north of you in Krabbi and Ko Phi Phi
Thailand last year. It was supposed to be a week of
R&R at the beach after two weeks of trekking in
Bhutan, but it turned out to be a complete washout
(it was not monsoon season), and we spent our time
drinking and getting Thai massages. Betsy and I and
a few friends from Vermont did the Druk Path trek
between Paro and Thimpu this past March.” Lorraine
Atwood’s big news is that, “Caroline, one of my
four children, will be starting at Williams in the fall.
Yeah.”
Rick Boyce was promoted to full professor at
Northern Kentucky University. He’ll put the raise
that comes with it to good use, as his oldest son will be
starting college in the fall. Last summer, he was part
of a group of musicians from the Cincinnati area that
travelled to Cavan, Ireland, for a massive traditional
Irish music competition. They didn’t win anything,
alas, but they had a wonderful time. “Facebook has
turned out to be a great way to reconnect with people
from the past, including Williams. Rick was especially
pleased to reconnect both electronically and physically with Jeff Perry ’82, who is now a music professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.”
The saga of fellow expat Rob Kukulka continues:
“Moved to Abu Dhabi in May. Joined real estate and
infrastructure dept at ADIA. After long and very hot
summer my wife Sofia and daughter Marcella joined
me here, and we are living in high-rise just off the
Corniche and a block away from the American Community School, where my daughter is a freshman.
Prior to leaving we saw Joe Cotter and Keith Scott
while on a visit to NYC. In early September on a business trip to the States had a great breakfast with Julia
Fiske and her husband Jim Parker at Walker Bros
on the north shore of Chicago. Two of their sons are
getting married next year. Looking for fellow Ephs in
Abu Dhabi.”
Marc Tayer reports: “Last night I saw legend Kris
Kristofferson at my local spot, the Belly Up Tavern
in Solana Beach. Hearing him play and sing ‘Me and
1981– 82
Bobby McGee’ was outstanding (even at age 76). In
August we took a memorable and relaxing family
vacation to Bora Bora (French Polynesia); beautiful
place and interesting to be ‘in France’ while in the
South Pacific!”
Margaret Stiassni: “I enjoyed an off-campus
reunion lunch with the versatile and talented Anita
Rydberg at my home in Edgecomb (near Boothbay
Harbor and Wiscasset), Maine. Anita and I actually
were buddies in middle school and met again at Williams, but I had hardly seen her since senior year. She
is svelte and as energized and dynamic as ever. She
and her husband have been ‘enjoying some time in
Maine,’ [and] we hope to see them more often.
“As a French teacher, community volunteer, mother
of high school junior, wife to an entrepreneur, I don’t,
unfortunately, keep up with my Williams connections
much, but I wish you all the best! If you’re in the land
of lobsters, maple syrup, Mount Katahdin, and Acadia
National Park, you’re always welcome to drop by; just
take Route 1 north from the border.”
Laura Cushler was promoted to colonel in the U.S.
Army Individual Ready Reserve.
John McCammond writes that his daughter is
enjoying boarding school at Milton Academy. Also,
he says that Steve Weitzen practices corporate law
in the NYC firm of Pavia & Harcourt and lives in
northern New Jersey. He is very proud of his three
children: Spence, 22, entered Yeshiva University’s
rabbinical school; Marc-Alain, 19, is spending his gap
year studying in Israel and will begin his freshman
year at Rutgers next fall; and Henriette, 13, is a budding dancer who is in eighth grade.
Kathleen McCleary, novelist, has a new book out,
A Simple Thing, from HarperCollins. Her first novel
(House & Home, Voice/Hyperion 2008) was well reviewed in the NYT, O at Home, Ladies Home Journal,
The Oregonian, and other publications. Susan Morse
’80 also has a book out, The Habit, a memoir about her
relationship with her elderly mother.
In closing, while down on Nantucket in June I ran
into my old freshman Shawn Warren ’83 along with
Williams rugby mates Colin Mosely and Martha
Paper Moseley ’82. They were escorting Hanna
Gisel, Anna Moseley, and Jamie Pickard—all Class
of 2010. Moments later I was almost run over by
childhood neighbor and schoolmate Dan Maynard
’83 on a bicycle!
Shawn lives in Manhattan and owns Shawn Warren
Designs, while the Mosleys are living in Seattle. Dan
is a SVP at The Floresta Group of companies, established in 2010 by private investors to design, finance,
and develop two of the world’s largest forest carbon
projects—one in Indonesia and the other in Brazil.
Missed Nevill Smythe by two days.
1982
Will Layman, 8507 Garfield St., Bethesda, MD 20817;
[email protected]
Hey, you been slinging bags at Kennedy Airport as
long as I have, you meet a whole lotta people. From
every old place and headed who knows where, right?
That’s why I love JFK. It’s a little smelly, sure, but the
airplanes aren’t the luxury rides they once were, huh?
People get a little sweat. Don’t bother me much!
Not that Liz Martineau didn’t smell like a rose when
I lugged her bags on her way back from a weekend up
at her college’s big celebration of 100 years of cross
country and 36 years of women’s cross country, or so
she said. She saw Dan Sullivan, Chuck Stewart, and
Steve Bellerose, who also was there to see his Colby
daughter play Williams in volleyball. “Some of us ran
the Aluminum Bowl 5K. The alums were trounced by
the current team, as expected. I was also outkicked by
my 13-year-old daughter Julia. But, hey, at least I ran
it.” I ain’t no spring chicken, what with being a skycap
from the old school, but Liz seemed like a kid to me.
No surprise that she said, “It was great to reminisce
and see our old coaches—who are still at Williams, so
we can’t be that old.” Nope.
Not that I can figure how these other young travelers
on their way back to New Haven could have kids
so grown that their nest is empty. Alison and Chris
Gruseke have three: Joe (Colgate ’10) and two at
this little school up in Massachusetts called “Williams.” And they went on and on about the place as
I rolled their luggage toward security. “James ’15 is
a sophomore with a vast room in Berkshire Quad,
majoring in math and economics (till one of them
kills him, he says), and Theodora ’16 is a dancer who
lives in the sea of freshman humanity that is Mission
Park.” This Allison lady, she’s a smarty-pants, getting
her PhD from the Department of Religion at Yale
(now that school I’ve heard of), writing and teaching a
course in the divinity school and spending time in the
Babylonian Collection, which, she confided to me as
she slipped a quick fiver, “is, in my opinion, one of the
Seven Wonders of the World—filled with art, cuneiform tablets, and scholars from all over the globe.”
People in airports can be grumpy, ’specially these
days, but they’re interesting cuz they’re moving
around. Like Annabelle Cone, another brilliant
woman who tips well. I grab her luggage and her
smile one day because she’s always on the move—a
Dartmouth professor, in fact, who can’t be pinned
down. Her school Dartmouth shipped her to all three
of its programs: in Lyon, Toulouse, and—ooh-la-la
the queen of the ball—Paris. (And I live in Queens.
Whaddaya gonna do?) She told me, to top it off, that
she was going to “‘summer’ at my place in Cornish.
The cats were grateful. My husband Remko was able
to be with me for some of the time, and both daughters
were in Europe as well, so I’ve managed to have family
time despite the distance from home.” A pretty swanky
life by any standard, I figure, but I was glad that the ol’
USA was still on her mind:
“With New Hampshire being a battleground state
in the 2012 election, I threw myself into volunteering
and wrote letters to various newspapers around the
state. Happily, some were published.” A patriot, that
Annabelle.
France is OK, if you ask me, but I’m more of a
London guy myself, what with the Olympics and
all. Which is why I like shooting the crap with this
guy Dave Weaver—lives over there and a flat-out
hilarious character. Like, he uses these real British
words now. Told me that the 2012 London games were
“brilliant,” and I think he said it with an accent. Then
he goes, “They were preceded by Jubilee, which was
wet.” Jubilee? I thought that was a fancy dessert you
can only get in Jersey. “Autumn has brought reminders
of Spain and the Euro, so it is all well over.” Turns out
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that Weaver is connected back to that Williamstown
place, too, and told me he’d recently run into Dan
Maynard ’83 (“literally—he on bike, me in car”)
right at the start of British rugby season here. He also
heard from Jon Dayton, “outlining the latest epic bike
trip this summer with Tom Costley, Charlie Pardoe,
Spike and the rest. All very impressive—hundreds of
miles per day, heart troubles, and the like.” Heh, “and
the like.” I told you the guy sounds English, right?
Now, if you’re working at JFK, you might actually
run into a New Yorker or two, right? Or someone on
her way to becoming a New Yorker, anyways. Like
Anne Predieri, who just moved here from North
Carolina. Man, did she have a ton of stuff to lug! “I
sold our house on an acre with the creek in the backyard that I played in as a kindergartner and a two-mile
commute with no traffic, and moved to a closet in
NYC with two labs. The dogs adapted immediately—
who can complain about a 24/7 ‘sniffing buffet’?!”
Anne is introducing a compliance risk management
discipline at JPMorgan Chase after so many lessons
learned at Bank of America, whatever the heck that
means, so I guess she’s some kind of NYC finance
type. But moving to a smaller place in NYC may have
stumped even her big brain. “We were so focused on
getting rid of four generations of items and furniture
for a living room with 30-foot ceilings that we never
made it to all the drawers or closets. Even a Santa suit
made it to New York instead of the Good Will pile.
We have furnished, clothed, and educated so many
villages with so many boxes of books, clothes and items
this summer, but Piero still had to drive an SUV full
of boxes of ‘sugar’ that never should have made their
way to the closet back south within weeks of arrival.”
Sounds to me like Anne probably should have found
a place out in Jersey for all her stuff, right? But, it’s
Jersey, so maybe that don’t work—heh!
Then there’s my buddy Doc Miller, Mike Miller,
that is. That guy is always on the move. I lifted a
few bags for him on his way back to DC from that
Williamstown place (again—what are they doin’ up
there that’s so important?). He was at something called
“Convocation,” where his pal Kathleen Merrigan
was one of the “Bicentennial Medalists.” She’s the
deputy secretary of agriculture, if you don’t know that.
(Skycaps ain’t uninformed people.) “She gave a couple
of great talks, including one at the Log about local and
organic farming during which she mentioned that she
used to work the bar while Diana Blough made pizzas
for Alpha Pizza Phi. Her more formal talk at the ’62
Center was about the lasting influence of her Williams
education—and particularly the seminar with James
McGregor Burns ’39, who I understand she saw
Saturday afternoon.” He knows this Tom Costley as
well—had a meal with him and his Overland crew
during their Friday morning staff meeting at Tunnel
City on Spring Street. “And at dinner one night I sat
with Dave Dewey and Eric Cochran, who is now a
trustee.” Back down in DC, Mike organized an alumni
event where Eric Schmitt spoke about terrorism and
signed copies of his book Counterstrike. “And I had
coffee with Jay Thoman—esteemed classmate and
chemistry professor—and Paula Moore Tabor ’76,
who works in the alumni office.” That’s the Doc: the
guy has all these fancy friends who do big things. Most
of my friends play pinochle and watch the Jets lose on
Sundays. But I like hearing these stories.
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How ’bout my man Jon Scott, eh? Another fella
scooting from DC up through the northeast corridor.
Tossed me his duffel and whisper and tale of fantasy,
connection, adventure, and intrigue if I do say so
myself. Works for Clean Water Action doing corporate
relations, development, and communications, and he
was headed to co-present at a conference run by Social
Media for Nonprofits. “This will be three trips from
New Hampshire to DC and back in two months,”
Jon told me as I greased the TSA guy for him. “An
exhausting pace for someone in his 50s—which was
my main recollection to this year’s reunion—what are
all those old people doing here?” But Jon don’t look a day
over 40 if you ask me. Of course, no one ever does!
Who am I forgetting? Chuck Warshaver came
through JFK as part of his new job as executive
director for a national nonprofit called Playworks.
“Playworks improves school climate, reduces bullying,
promotes fitness and increases student engagement in
school through play and physical activity. Through
both our training programs and our on-site direct service, Playworks teaches children to resolve their own
conflicts that arise at recess and carry over to the classroom, restoring valuable teaching and learning time.”
Wow, I thought to myself when I got over how much
he spoke like a living, breathing human brochure, that
is an amazing organization. He said, “It’s an amazing
organization, and I’m proud to be part of it!” Then I
put him in the mail as part of a fund-raising effort.
But the last person I gotta tell you about is someone
maybe you don’t remember that well. She left the
Purple Valley early after living in Morgan during
freshman year. But to run into her like I did and hear
her story, it’s something else. … Here’s our friend Sue
Conner, who lives out in Colorado with her husband,
steadfast companion, and fellow adventurer Sam
Adicoff:
“The overarching circumstance of my last seven
years has been our daughter Sarah’s cancer, its treatment, and her passing in January 2011. We tried
so hard to keep her with us but ultimately failed.
Amazingly, she was able to join Stanford’s class of
2012 for all of her freshman year and two subsequent
fall quarters. In between, we packed our lives full of
adventure, travel, love, crosswords, KenKen, doctor
appointments, TV, and a lot of pillow time.
“Our other kids are well. Willie is a junior at University of Denver, currently studying in Cusco, Peru. Jake
is a high school senior and cross-country ski racer.
“Now I embrace my family, keep busy, and don’t put
things off. In the latter category, during the last year on
skis I completed a pond skim, The Boulder Mountain
Tour 32K, and the Sammis-Camas Downhill. More
artistically, I am performed my own piano recital last
May. I am becoming an exercise fanatic, as that seems
to keep my demons at bay; since the alpine and crosscountry skiing season is over, I mountain bike or hike.
Not surprisingly, I am getting very little else done, but
I do make sure to spend at least a few moments in awe
of our gorgeous local nature daily.”
And, you know, that could describe my life too. I
take in the big birds here at JFK, naturally lovely, and
I take every day as it comes. I’ll be right here, but keep
traveling, keep in touch, and say hello. And I don’t
mind a good tip if I carried your bags with care.
1982– 83
1983
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Bea Fuller, 404 Old Country Road, Severna Park, MD
The air and apples are getting crisp, and the days
are getting shorter … must be time for a fall column.
I know I am a little behind some of you, but I have recently begun the journey of letting go of my firstborn.
He and I have shared some great trips visiting colleges
the past few months, and as much as I have been giving advice to seniors in high school for nearly 30 years
(what?!), I find the whole process a lot more daunting
up close. In my travels I have run into a few Ephs.
I caught up with Beth Connolly ’82 in Brunswick,
Maine, where she is running her own business helping students with college admissions (and traveling
all over New England to watch her kids play sports
at Middlebury, Holderness, Tabor, and Bowdoin). I
saw Sue Harrington Wells ’84 briefly for breakfast
as she is the head of Pine Cobble. She is doing a great
job and is understandably very busy. I ran into Todd
and Liz Gallun Kreig at the Williams-Trinity football
game; their youngest, a senior at Williams, had a great
game against Trinity. Apparently I almost ran into
Jeff Sutton, who was visiting his sons Nathaniel ’14
and John ’15. He was going the other way on Spring
Street… remember when it was NOT one way? Last
summer, I had a chance to have breakfast and a great
walk with Hunter Pynchon and Marc Sopher up
in the lovely Manchester by the Sea, where Hunter
lives. Afterward, Hunter and two of my boys and I
went whale watching for about four hours and then
arrived back in Gloucester for the annual 3rd of July
parade. We had some seriously great small-town fun
being stuck in the parking lot for two more hours
due to the parade. At least we had food, laughs, and
lots of great local color. A couple of weeks ago, I had
a surprise drop in from Rob Bowman and Dina
Espisito. They were in Annapolis for a marching
band competition with their girls. Great to catch up
with them after their sojourn in Africa. A few weeks
ago, I had a wonderful dinner with Marc Sopher and
Mike Treitler along with Jeremy Snow and his wife
Lisa Renfro, who hosted us at the Annapolis Yacht
Club—very chic. When I parted company, Jeremy,
Mike, and Marc were heading to see the nightlife of
Annapolis… And on to others’ news.
So as I prepare to embarrass myself all year by
crying at every “last” event in my son Devlin’s senior
year of high school, I am encouraged by and perhaps
jealous of a few classmates who have defied aging
and have jumped headlong into parenthood. In July,
Glenn Kessler and wife Kristina welcomed baby
Morris James Mustacich Kessler at a hefty 8 pounds,
6 ounces. Jim Corsiglia’s comment was: “Can’t imagine why he’d choose to plunge with such frantic haste
into parenthood.” Meredith McGill reminded me that
Nico Howson and wife Tori Langland “welcomed
baby Theo into the mix in September; their daughter
Cal seemed to be taking the new creature in stride.
There are some fabulous photos on Nico’s Facebook
page.” The great news for the rest of us is that we can
live vicariously through them for years to come.
On a more serious note, Michael Weiner began
treatment for a brain tumor in August. Thus far, he
is responding well to treatment but is still in the early
stages of what will be a challenging process. He’s
experienced few side effects from the treatment or
symptoms from the tumor and recently began taking
in baseball playoff games with family and friends. He
works as the executive director of the Major League
Baseball Players Association. I’m sure he’d be glad to
hear any words of support from his classmates. Please
let me know if there is anyone else from our class who
needs our support and positive karma.
Responding first to my email plea for news was
Sherry Blum, who writes: “Apparently I’m getting
better at not procrastinating. … I’m grading lots
of philosophy papers this week so that I have free
time next week when Don and I will travel to the
Berkshires to visit both our daughter Natalie, who left
high school two years early to attend Bard College at
Simon’s Rock Early College in Great Barrington, and
her older brother Gregory ’15. Being empty nesters is
not nearly the emotional ordeal that I expected it to
be, and I’m finding time to learn unusual things like
Burmese and aerial silks.” Sherry’s first-place response
earns her a Zonker Harris sandwich at reunion.
Congrats, Sherry. Come find me in June… Can you
believe we graduated 30 years ago?!
From the West Coast, John Graham writes: “I
finally had the chance to record at Abbey Road in
London—six sessions with some of the best players
in the world. We are still mixing it, but it is already
sounding great. The other news is that our foster
daughter, Kathi, has now been with us a year. She’s
a senior in high school and so is in the process of
visiting and applying to colleges and thinking about
careers and all that goes along with those things.”
Diane Elander writes: “Guess who I had dinner
with last night? Ellie Kerr! (Gartner) She was in LA
for business and a visit with her darling daughter
Hayley, who is a freshman at USC, a lacrosse player,
too! We had a great visit over dinner in Century City,
where Ellie was staying on the tab.” When she wrote,
Diane and Troy Elander ’81 were headed to Boston
to visit their daughter for parents’ weekend at Tufts!
Samantha is a soccer player, and they were looking forward to watching a game against Hamilton.
They recently had viewed Williams vs. Tufts on the
Williams live stream feed. Diane heard from Hildi
(Rosenberg) Silbert, who was headed to visit her
daughter at Bard. Hildi has three children, including a
senior “in the college search.”
Karen Lewis Alexander reports from Chicago:
“Last summer my husband Scott and I spent time
traveling the Midwest, following our son Myles as
he competed and successfully became the Midwest
Regional Triathlon Champion. Placing first in the
Midwest allowed him to qualify for Nationals, which
he dominated in his age division. We are now very
proud to say that he is a member of Team USA and
will go on to London to compete in World Championships next fall. In the last nine months, I moved
from healthcare philanthropy to cultural philanthropy and assumed the position of VP for development
at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The position
has allowed me to meet some of the world’s greatest
classical performers as well as to travel internationally with the CSO. We spent part of the early spring
in Russia and touring throughout Italy.” When she
wrote, Karen was preparing for a tour, “which will
take us to Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Seoul.”
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She planned also to take “a side trip with a group of
patrons throughout Vietnam. It is hard to believe that
my work allows me to visit the great orchestra halls
of the world, enjoy wonderful performances, and
meet extraordinary patrons who are genuine lovers
and supporters of the arts. If you plan to be visiting
in Chicago, look me up. There may even be concert
tickets in the offering!”
Marc Sopher writes about a trip to “Annapolis,
another picturesque waterfront. Mike Treitler, vet supreme of Santa Fe (Land of Enchantment and Freddy
Nathan), and I were weekend guests of Jeremy Snow,
who took Bea, Mike, and me out for a memorable
dining experience. All through the weekend, Jeremy
impressed us with his remarkable memory for arcane
data about our college selves. Tom Vellenga was notably absent from the weekend’s festivities and failed to
provide a note from his mother or his doctor excusing
him. I would be seriously remiss if I did not mention
the joy of seeing Rich Stern during my Annapolis
sojourn. Rich spends much of his time crisscrossing
the globe for the World Bank and made it over to the
Snow B&B for brunch, despite only being back in the
U.S. for a handful of hours. Mike returned to NH
with me for a few days of leaf peeping and the joy of
experiencing humidity. The best surprise sighting of
a fellow ’83er last fall was when Betsy Cardle Hinck
and I ran into each other in Williamstown at the
Purple Valley Classic, the annual X-C meet. Betsy
was doing the college tour scene with her daughter
Madeline. Betsy is clearly defying the aging process,
and I suspect she and Jeremy have discovered the
same secret. The same weekend I did cross paths very
briefly with Bernie Neuner, who was visiting his son
Kirby.” Marc was looking forward to fall Family Days
in October.
The only classmate to respond to my suggestion for
home improvement projects was Bruce Irving: “You
asked, perhaps kiddingly, for news of home improvement projects: truly there is much excitement in
Cambridge as the Irving family reclaims its backyard
from years of neglect. Shocking the toll being fulltime workers and parents takes on the landscape.
Now that one daughter is off to college, we’re putting
in a bluestone patio, etc., and re-imagining a space
that once held a sandbox, then a swing set, then a
trampoline, and then a jungle of weeds. May it soon
hold cocktails. Said daughter, Emily ’16, is a happy
denizen of Sage E. A recent visit with her and her
entrymates revealed a group of freshmen operating
on excitement and adrenaline—sound familiar? She’s
friends with the daughter of Pat Diaz ’81 and will no
doubt meet the daughter my old JA, Kevin Weist ’81,
as well as those of Marc Sopher and Jeremy Snow.
I’m looking forward to being with Marc and Jeremy
and the other uncool parents at Family Weekend. “I
will add that since I moved to my new home, I put
in a raised garden, grew some darned good radishes,
basil, and tomatoes, and one edible and five inedible
watermelons. Next year I am hoping to expand my
garden and hope my fig trees and blueberry bushes
contribute their fair share.”
Pete Worcester writes, “I had the pleasure of
finally seeing our good buddy Jona Meer finally
turn 50 in October ’12 and celebrate with his family
and friends. His wife Elyse pulled off the ultimate of
surprise parties—one could actually see the kid from
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Brooklyn’s hair turn grayer every minute! Way back
in February 2011, Todd Krieg, Phil Seefried, and
Jona Meer (we had a fun time seeing Mr. and Mrs. K
as well) had a great time getting together at Todd and
Liz’s wonderful beach house in Boca Grande—shared
some good Shakatak music and memories, while
engaging in some good fishing and enduring an epic
three-set tennis match! Looking forward to seeing our
awesome class in June!”
Matt Shapiro notes, “My family’s annual summer
week at the beach in Seaview on Fire Island featured
two Williams encounters. I ran into Josh Shapiro
’83, who spends summers in Seaview with wife Lucy
Corrigan ’84 and their daughters. I’ve seen Josh for
several Seaview visits in a row, but this year there
was also a surprise Purple Valley echo. At a dinner
party I met the hot new director of the Williamstown
Theatre Festival, Jenny Gersten, who filled me in
how the fest has evolved. She knows part-time Williamstown residents Sharon and Joel Hellman ’84
and their daughter Isabel, who interns with the fest
in between semesters at Hotchkiss.” At home in NYC
in the fall, Matt was having “hoop dreams” as his
5-foot-11, 13-year-old son Sam played for his middle
school team and the Gauchos, an AAU basketball
team based in the South Bronx. According to Matt,
Sam is “working toward playing for a competitive
Div. III team. Coach Maker, if you read this, know
that you’re always welcome at the Gauchos Gym at
Gerard Avenue and 149th St.”
Lis Bischoff-Ormsbee writes: “We’re down to one
in the nest. Mike ’13 is a senior at Williams; Katie
is a freshman at the University of Rochester; and
Megan has just started high school. She rightly says,
‘It’s so quiet around here!’ I really miss those two but
am hearing exciting things about college. Next, with
an eye to reunion, John Kaczynski and I are trying
to grow the agent team this year. If anyone wants to
make a few calls, let me know. We’d love to have you,
and I know that your classmates would love to hear
from you! Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you
all at reunion.”
Thalia Meehan writes, “I still work at Putnam
Investments in Boston after 23 years, running the municipal bond group. Our household is currently up to
three golden retrievers—two 12-year-old littermates,
and their 13-month-old great, great nephew. If anyone ever needs a fourth for golf, call. Look forward to
another reunion, though 30th seems impossible.”
Closing this column out, Bruce Leddy writes, “OK,
well I don’t want to give away all my news because
then I’ll be standing around the keg at reunion with
nothing to talk about (much like my posture at parties
when we went to Williams). It’s intriguing to think
that by the time this is published, we will know who
has won the big race in November. Oh, and who the
next president is, too (I was referring to The Amazing
Race). That is, unless before then we have discovered
an incoming and unstoppable meteor destined to
obliterate mankind, resulting in a few weeks of lawless
anarchy, unfettered sex, and abundant drug use (also
just like when we went to Williams, right?). While
such an Armageddon may sound appealing to many
of you, I hope it at least waits until we’ve had a chance
to see each other in June.”
Thanks, Bruce, for the important reminder and
plug regarding our 30th reunion, June 6-8. I hope that
1983– 84
some folks who have not been able to join us lately
can make it. My younger sons will be in the midst of
exams, but I am going to set my priorities and leave
them home! Hope to see you in a few short months!
Dave Shufelt and Jill Diamond Wruble are sending
updates about hotel rentals, so look for those emails.
Stay well, and hug your loved ones. Can you tell I am
having trouble letting go?! Yikes.
1984
Sean M. Crotty, 31 Carriage House Lane, Saratoga
Springs, NY 12866; Carrie Bradley Neves, 1009 Route 3,
Halcott Center, NY 12430; [email protected]
Colorful Greetings Fellow Ephs,
Fall in New England is magic, deer ticks and all. No
matter how many of those little buggers I have to pull
off our two dogs and one cat—“His Royal Fatness”—
nothing can dampen my excitement for the start of
the day on a cool, crisp morning in New England.
Maybe it’s that I grew up here, or because I spent my
college days with all of you here, but no matter where
my travels take me, I’m never transformed in body,
soul, and spirit the way I am in New England in the
fall.
Let’s dive right into the leaf pile and find out what
we can find. Hmm, not much. I feel like Linus looking for the Great Pumpkin. Did he ever find the Great
Pumpkin, by the way? What I do know is:
Debbie (Claypool) Anderson’s son Jared is one
talented young man. He is attending the Berklee
College of Music in Boston. He is a budding singer
and songwriter and is already very accomplished in
both, if you ask me. Search his page out on Facebook
and go find the videos of him singing some cover
songs with other Berklee folks, as well as singing some
of his originals. You’ll be glad you did. I spent the
better part of an hour watching and listening with my
daughter Molly, now 17 and a singer in her own right.
She kept saying: “That boy can sing, and soooooooo
cute.” I’d say a handsome young lad, but what do I
know? In any case, please go take a listen. He inspired
me enough to break out my own guitar for about half
a day, something I haven’t had “time” to do in a while.
Who knows where his songs will lead you?
I received a great email from my good friend and
onetime roommate, Dr. Tom Graham. It seems he
hosted the Taoiseach of Ireland at the Cleveland
Clinic. It brought back grand memories of old Irish
songs he learned from my continuous spinning of old
Clancy Brothers’ tunes for three years while living
next to him. He and my other Perry House thirdfloor mates—Joe Loturco, Tim Hinkle, and Stuart
Weinstein—found it in their hearts to all become
well versed in the verses (pun intended) of those old
Irish tunes. Now if we can only get Tom to sing on
key. Well, there was this one time. … The quick back
and forth between all of us at lightspeed over the
Internet for a day or so made me feel both very close
to all of them again and, yet, at the same time, so very
far away. And so it goes.
John Nelson sent a wonderful update: “As a
member of the Class of ’84, I’ve waited until now,
your moment of need, to finally send in my first piece
of alumni news. My wonderful wife gave me the
shock of a lifetime when she arranged for a surprise
reunion of Williams friends on my (oh the pain) 50th
birthday. Suffering from a bad head cold, I nearly
passed on our usual date night only to find a group
of Eph persons lying in wait for me at the restaurant.
I at first attributed their presence to a hallucination
brought on by my cold meds, but there waiting for me
were Tad Murphy, Bennett Yort, John Donovan,
Chuck Willing, Mark Acker, and Andy Moyad ’85.
Always amazing how quickly things fall back in place
and everyone picks up right where we left off the last
time we were together, no matter how long it’s been.
Before everyone headed off we enjoyed a wonderful
weekend together in Mystic, Conn., where I now live
with my wife and 3-year-old twins Ava and Christian.
I’m a physician at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital
in New London, Conn., where John Frese is on staff
as a gastroenterologist. No matter where you go, Eph
persons abound! Cheers.”
A few of our classmates’ sons were on opposite sides
of the field when Williams met Amherst during the
fall. Lined up with the Ephmen was Mark Payton’s
son Greg ’14, a wide receiver who had a break-out
game against Tufts last year. Across the field was
Jackson McGonagle, Jack McGonagle’s son, who
was putting up huge numbers as the varsity punter
for Amherst, even though just a freshman. Who
knows, next year maybe our homecoming game will
be decided by the plays of two of our “own,” but on
opposite sides of the ball. Last fall was the first time in
my life that I wished an Amherst football team well,
such is the strength of Williams friendships. Of course
there will be one game a year where I must still hope
they leave the field with heads held low, but I know
Jack understands that all too well.
Rebecca Williams, PhD, writes: “I’m a psychologist in sunny San Diego and just had a book published
called The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction (mindfulnessworkbook.com). It’s getting terrific reviews!” I
bet it is, and it was grand to hear from Rebecca out on
the West Coast.
And, this little teaser for inclusion in the next round
of class notes from Kaia Updike:
“Hey Sean! What’s your publication deadline? I
may have big news … but it’s not official yet. (Yes,
it’s music news … about a concert near the Purple
Mountains.)”
I certainly hope we hear more from Kaia on this,
and we’ll be sure to include any updates we receive.
Finally, it saddens me to have to inform the class
of the loss of Callie (Lombard) Sullivan’s husband
Tighe in October in a helicopter accident. I did not
know Tighe but had met all but one of his children
while visiting a few years ago with Callie at a
homecoming game at Weston Field. There we stood
near the end zone in the cold drizzle. Our shoes were
getting covered with mud, and our team was losing
the battle on the field. Yet, instead of me remembering
the rain and cold that day, my mind wanders to
those moments being filled with warmth, love, and
friendship. Callie and Tighe’s children were all warm
of spirit and bright of mind, just like their parents.
Hearing and reading more about Tighe and how he
lived his life, I feel a great loss in not having had the
chance to get to know him. Williams friends gathered
with thousands of others to celebrate his life. Callie
and the three Sullivan children—Jessie, Lila, and
Tiger—offered memories and tributes to Tighe at the
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moving service in Rowayton, Conn., to a crowd that
filled the church and parish hall and spilled onto the
sidewalks as well. Our warmest wishes are with Callie
and her family.
Fair winds and calm seas to all.
1985
Wendy Webster Coakley, 271 Pittsfield Road, Lenox, MA
Chris and Carol Weeks Acker may take the prize
for the most exciting summer vacation: Their daughter Rachael competed in the U.S. Olympic swimming
trials! While she didn’t make the team, Rachael swam
personal-best times in three of her four events, a good
harbinger for her swimming career at Cal Berkeley,
where she’s a freshman.
According to proud pop Chris, “Rachael’s coach at
Cal was the U.S. Women’s Olympic head coach, so
that’s very exciting. Cal had many swimmers at the
trials and in London, so she’ll be swimming in a very
fast crowd. We had thought that she would end up on
the East Coast for college, but the team played a big
role in her selection process. Selfishly, we get to see
her for another four years, which we love!”
In Omaha, where the trials took place, the Ackers
saw former Eph swimmers Peg Thoman Rachfal
and her brother Jay ’82, whose cousin Nick Thoman
made the team and later won a silver medal in the
backstroke. They also enjoyed spending time with
Laura Volpe Roche, who flew out from Chicago with
son Brian to cheer Rachael on.
Congratulations to another class kid, Drew Meeks,
son of Paul and Mary McPhail Meeks, who’s in his
first year at William & Mary. Drew was accepted into
an honors program that will send him to St. Andrews
in Scotland for his sophomore and junior years. Mom
and Dad are already making vacation plans; no doubt
Drew’s godfather Brian Rutledge is, too! And Lucy
Gardner Carson reports that her class kids, Nick and
Molly Carson, are freshmen at UVM and Clarkson,
respectively.
The Coakleys enjoyed several Eph-related sightings
on our summer vacation in San Francisco, the first
occurring on the airport shuttle in Hartford, where
we met Jane Rech Toll’s niece, who spotted our
son’s Williams basketball shorts. Turns out she was
a 3-month-old attendee at our graduation in 1985.
Then, at the San Francisco airport, we encountered
Tim McKone ’87, who’d flown in from Houston to
deliver his daughter to lacrosse camp at Stanford.
While Mike Coakley and our two lads made the
obligatory golfer’s pilgrimage down the coast to
Pebble Beach, I attended the nuptials of a radiant
Sumin Eng ’87 to Peter Elarde (Yale ’86) at a winery
overlooking Palo Alto, an occasion also witnessed by
Haley Clifford Adams ’87, Kathleen Woessner
Odell ’87, and Susan Spoor ’87.
Photographer Michael Kolster had an exciting
summer: His work was exhibited in New York City,
Richmond, Va., and at Bowdoin, where he teaches.
This winter, solo exhibitions of Mike’s photographs
will open in Florida, Maryland, and Texas. Details
can be found on www.michaelkolster.com.
Happy news from Jeff Bader and his wife Michelle,
who welcomed twins Asher and Rosie in April. Since
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Jeff figured two newborns weren’t going to keep him
busy enough, in August he was named president of
program planning, strategy, and research for NBC
Entertainment, following a distinguished 24-year
career at rival network ABC.
Fellow Angeleno Dan Blatt reports that he ran
into Randy and Lesley Feltman Rogers while in
Billsville for the fall meeting of the Executive Committee of the Society of Alumni. Randy was in town
for an Alumni Fund vice chairs meeting. Their son
Cameron Rogers ’12 is now in a chemistry PhD
program at Berkeley.
Back in LA, Dan and Phil Walsh saw Kate
Prendergast Mesirow perform at the world-famous
Comedy Store. “Kate wowed the audience with her
warm stage presence and perfect comedic timing,”
Dan noted. “She turned her maternal experiences into
a delightful standup routine and was one of a handful
of standouts in a very crowded program.”
Williams roommates Sarah Abernathy, Linda
Aaron Gillis, Paula Tuffin, and Karen Montzka
Wassarman enjoyed a minireunion in Wisconsin,
where Karen lives and where Linda has spent part
of every summer for her entire life. The roomies
provided an enthusiastic send-off to Karen’s son Doug
Wassarman ’16 before he embarked on his freshman
year at Williams.
Hunsoo Kim writes, “After 16 years at Bank of
America Merrill Lynch, I’ve chosen career retirement, my last post being in Hong Kong as head of
Asia Pacific research. Last May I relocated back to my
home country, Korea, and am now living in Seoul.
I’m currently contemplating what is next, including a
possible change in industries. We shall see!”
Dave Shedd relocated from Arizona to Southern
California, where he is able to get together with Mark
Van Norman on a regular basis. (Dave lives in Newport Beach, and Mark is in Redondo Beach.) “Mark’s
kids and my kids are the same age and just get along
marvelously,” Dave noted.
Life gets busier and busier for Brad and Leigh
Repko Case ’84. Brad is now the scoutmaster for
son Bradford’s 60-member Boy Scout troop as well as
leader of daughter Caroline’s 40-member Girl Scout
troop. In addition, he leads a book discussion group,
movie discussion group, youth Sunday School class,
and retreat at their church. Meanwhile, Brad wrote,
“Leigh mostly runs our other book club, which, after
19 years, still includes Chris Fleming, Martita Weil
Fleming ’86, Amy Smith ’84, Sheila Dacey ’87, and
Krystyna Isaacs Hatanpaa ’84. I finally finished the
chartered financial analyst process, which, as anybody
who has gone through it—including Paul Meeks and
Breck Knapp ’84—knows, is a big three-year load off
my mind.”
As an insurance geek—after 15 years in the business,
I can finally admit it—I was excited to see a photo of
our own Andrew Canning accompanying an article
in industry must-read Best’s Review. Andrew and
his partner—in real life as well as business—Karen
Wells head the investment advisory business at Towers Watson in NYC for insurance and reinsurance
companies. Professional kudos also go to Kim Eckrich
Oster, promoted to VP at First Solar, a leader in the
renewable energy industry, and to urban planner Jeff
Speck, who was retained by the city of Memphis
to conduct a major study of its riverfront. His firm,
1984– 86
Speck & Associates, is also engaged in projects in Fort
Lauderdale and Oklahoma City.
For those classmates who are not on the class email
list server, it is my sad duty to report the passing of
Bobbie Boykin—brilliant attorney, yachtswoman,
beloved wife, and mother of 10-year-old twin
boys—on Sept. 13. Like many of you, I was unaware
of Bobbie’s illness until I read her entry in our 25th
reunion book, in which she spoke with tremendous
candor about her 2002 breast cancer diagnosis, 2008
recurrence, and its implications for her future: “What
I thought was a relatively normal life turned into a
life that might be shorter than I thought it would be,
than I want it to be,” she wrote. “I have this sense that
I should share something meaningful with you. How
often do we have this opportunity? Of course, I don’t
know the meaning of life. I do know that I look back
on my time at Williams as a great time.”
This is the hardest thing a class secretary is asked
to do, so I’m grateful to those of you who submitted heartfelt tributes to Bobbie, which burnish the
many accomplishments documented in her obituary,
published in this issue of Williams People.
From Peter Minnium: “Bobbie was in Sage C with
me our frosh year. Her kindness and sense of humor
helped me immeasurably through a tough transition.
I can see her wry smile in my mind’s eye now and
easily recall the warmth of her presence.”
From Alison Fuller: “Bobbie and I played field
hockey and lacrosse together for four years at Williams. She was the key to our defense in both sports.
She loved it, and we loved having her back there to
take care of us. She spoiled me by never yelling when
I did not come back on defense; I can’t remember her
ever really yelling at anyone, but we all knew when
she did not approve of something. Bobbie was fair
minded and completely sportsmanlike; she was a quiet
leader. We were friends and collaborators on and off
the field; it is so easy to picture her smiling face, full of
sunshine and mischief.”
From Peg Thoman Rachfal: “Bobbie and I became
close friends during senior year. We bonded during
Irwin Shainman’s ‘Symphony 101,’ which required,
obviously, a lot of listening to symphonies. I remember waiting outside of class before one of the exams,
with my Walkman in hand and a set of ear buds. Bobbie and I decided that we could do some last-minute
cramming by each taking an ear bud. We listened
(and danced) together and received many strange
looks. I don’t remember if it was Beethoven’s Fifth or
Schubert’s Unfinished, but we had a good time and
learned our symphonies.
“Our family has vacationed in Nantucket for many
summers, and Bobbie began to join us in the mid-80s.
She would arrive by plane, with Maryland Crab in
hand, and would promptly be served a Bloody Mary
and all the Portuguese bread she wanted. One of the
best things about Bobbie’s visits to Nantucket is that
she just fit in with our family. She would get up early
and run on her own, play golf with my dad, hang out
at the beach with me, take walks with my mom and
stay up late talking about life, family, relationships
and what had happened during the past year.
“One summer, Bobbie was surfcasting with my
dad’s 13-foot rod, one that Bobbie, being tall, could
easily handle. I saw a bluefish strike her lure and
ran over to watch her reel it in. Bobbie landed the
biggest bluefish I have ever seen while surfcasting. It
was twice the size of any of the other ones we’d ever
caught—nearly 36 inches. While we were cutting out
the massive fillets, someone announced that we had
left the best part. With a fish that size we needed to
fillet the cheeks. I’m not sure who had this knowledge,
or who even knew how to fillet bluefish cheeks, but
sure enough, we filleted those cheeks, and I believe
Bobbie brought them home to share with friends and
family.
“The best thing about Bobbie’s visits to Nantucket
was that we always could pick up where we left off.
We did not do a great job of staying in touch during
the year, but, come summer time, Bobbie had a standing invitation to join our family. In fact, the spare
room in one of the houses we rented became Bobbie’s
room. I miss you, Bobbie, and will always think of you
on the shores of Nantucket.”
Many of you remarked on Bobbie’s vibrant presence when we gathered in Williamstown for our 25th
and, on that note, I also heard from Bobbie’s sister,
Betsy Boykin ’82: “She truly had a wonderful time at
her reunion. I remember looking at the pictures and
seeing it in her smile. Thank you all for contributing
to that.”
In 2007, this column reported the passing of Dori
Dewar Clarke. At that time, Bobbie sent me a note
that beautifully and succinctly conveyed the notion
that, regardless of how well we may have known
someone in life, the death of a college classmate—any
classmate—is an especially profound mark against
our own fragile mortality. Her words, heartbreakingly
prescient, bear repeating now: “I can’t say that I knew
Dori well, and I don’t have any stories to share. But I
wish with all my heart that she were still with us.”
1986
J.P. Conlan, Tulane D-2, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00927;
[email protected]
Despite our advancing age, the great Class of
’86 was quite active over the summer. Sue Bratton McGonigle and husband and class treasurer
Kevin McGonigle write, “Our oldest is applying to
college and has decided that he is interested only in
schools in New England and Europe.” Apparently,
the McGonigle clan traveled from Atlanta to New
England five times in five months, “including a trip
on April 27 when it was snowing on us! Amazingly,
John is still focused on going to school where there are
real winters!” Not tired of traveling, Susan and Kevin
took their three teens to China for three weeks. Upon
their return, Kevin wrote, “The kids have a newfound
appreciation for American food, clean air, and living in
a freestanding home.” Taking the motto “Climb high,
climb far” somewhat seriously, Kevin reported that
over the holidays they were planning to climb “Mount
Kilimanjaro with the three teenagers.” Kevin said,
“We need any well wishes that our fellow Ephs can
bestow!” Perhaps he and Sue should call Steve Troyer,
who spent his 20th anniversary with his wife Presley
in Yosemite, hiking 13 miles with about 1,300 meters of
overall elevation gain from the valley floor to Glacier
Point and back down past Vernal Falls. The hike, Steve
writes, “Made us feel young, despite the fact we had
dropped off our oldest son Wade at Humboldt State
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University in August, until the next day when the pain
made us feel old again.”
Others enjoying the great outdoors last summer
include Pete Dawson, who took his wife Nan and
sons Jack, 13, and Quinn, 11, to the Galapagos Islands
and Costa Rica: “What a trip!” Pete writes: “We swam
with sea lions, sea turtles, rays, dolphins, and a shark.
It was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime event. Truly
something everyone should put on their bucket list.”
Pete lives outside Cleveland in Chagrin Falls and is in
his 22nd year of teaching history just north in Mentor,
where he occasionally sees George Clements, Billy
Westbrook, and Dick Hollington. He still follows the
Eph football team and expected to “be at the telecast
for the Amherst game!”
Ann Montgomery Leafstead writes that last summer she and husband Carl Leafstead “visited Mount
Rushmore in South Dakota on our way to our annual
trek to Carl’s family’s lake house at Lake Okoboji,
Iowa.” Carl and Ann nearly ran into Craig Ward, who
was at Okoboji on his way back from taking his son
Chris to college. After completing six years as music
department chair at Trinity University, Carl is on sabbatical this year, researching a book on the composer
Bela Bartok’s years in the U.S. in the 1940s, near the
end of Bartok’s life. Last year Ann “lateraled over
from a small firm to a large Texas law firm, Jackson
Walker,” which she’s “really enjoying.” Ann and Carl
“had dinner with Lindsay (Rockwood) Irvin ’84 and
her husband Lennie at La Fonda Mexican restaurant
in San Antonio … and happened to run into Ellenore
(Knight) Baker ’86 there, too … in town visiting family,” and saw Mary Claire (Daviss) Munroe ’86 both
at her 30th high school reunion in San Antonio and at
the Race for the Rescues, “a race to support SNIPSA,
an awesome animal rescue organization that we both
support.”
Barbara (Kerker) Honig writes, “Everything is well
here in Maryland. My dermatology practice remains
as busy as ever. … My daughter Stephanie began her
freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania and
absolutely loves it. My son Evan is a junior in high
school. We are definitely not looking forward to beginning the crazy college application process again soon!”
As for adventures, “Evan and my husband Marc spent
part of this past summer in Honduras, where they did
some awesome work in a remote medical clinic high
up in the mountains … testing and fitting people for
much-needed donated eyeglasses as well as performing cataract surgeries in VERY primitive conditions.”
Apparently, they had such a rewarding experience that
the whole family may head to Honduras next summer.
Making me envy the change of seasons was Bill
Stahl, who writes, “My summer kicked off nicely with
a camping trip around Crested Butte. My daughters
(ages 8 and 5) are now old enough to solemnly assist in the sacred duties of tent-stake placement and
kindling-collection. … Now snow has fallen, drought
is over, woodstove is burning … just this morning I
managed to bury my daughter in snow, with only her
face exposed, by the time the school bus arrived. That
you can’t do in PR!”
Remarking on the proper care of fuel for woodburning stoves, expert in energy policy and executive
director of the Efficiency Maine Trust Mike Stoddard writes, “Autumn in Maine is nearly as beautiful as what we all recall from our days in the Purple
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Valley. There is that growing sense of urgency in the
air as Mother Nature reminds us it is time to get the
woodpile covered up and put away the accessories of
summer before the first snow falls.” Mike received a
note from Dr. Clark Otley, who reported his daughter
was visiting Williams with thoughts of applying for
next year; chastisement from Mike Krueger, who
blasted Mike and the rest of the gang (minus Marty
Collins, who visited Denver for a hockey tournament)
for not hitting the Colorado slopes; and news about,
but not from, Doug Robie, to the effect that Doug
is living north of Boston, does not have email, and
is too far away to see the smoke signals from Mike’s
wood-burning stove. Still playing hockey every week,
Mike admits his lack of hands and shot but no doubt
makes up for it with forechecking. “We all have a role
to play,” he writes.
Among those with a role to play in the London
Olympics last summer were Vic Mather and Chris
Clarey, whom The New York Times assigned to cover
the games. Living just outside of London for the past
17 years is Martha Amidon Ware, who currently
works for help2read, a nonprofit that trains community volunteers to support youth literacy in Africa.
“Anybody looking for a great way to spend some time
in Cape Town or Jo’burg,” Martha writes by way of
invitation, “is welcome to come and read!” For those
who can’t make it to London, Martha and her family
spend most summers in Vermont, and her sister Jane
Amidon ’88 moved to Boston, so she is hoping to be
in New England more often in the upcoming years.
Noting on Facebook the number of classmates who are
taking their children around to visit colleges, Martha
writes, “My three girls are heading that way, but eldest
is only 14, so still a few years to go.”
Robin Lorsch Wildfang is “still living in Denmark,
still teaching English, Latin, and Classical civilization
at a nearby gymnasium, still living with my husband,
our 9-year-old daughter Leah, and three Labradors in
an old house in the Danish countryside.” She writes
that she spent the second week of October climbing
mountains in Bergen, Norway. “Highlights of that
trip,” she reports, “were hanging out with my dearest
friend and lots of good cooking.” Robin was looking
forward to chaperoning 16 Danish 10th graders and
her daughter around Boston and then New York.
Having made such trips before, she expected that
highlights of that trip shall be meeting Michelle
Obama and seeing her kids’ faces when the lights
come on in NYC from the top of the Empire State
Building.
Bemoaning that his polo season in the Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg had ended, Henrich Hartwich
took the time to text from a Lufthansa A380 on the
tarmac en route from Frankfurt to Panama that his
18-year-old son is in a boarding school in Metz and his
financial advising of families in strategic partnerships
in a wide range of economic sectors has him shuttling
all over the world.
Ed Santaella reports he is living the good life teaching fifth grade at The Pike School in Andover, Mass.,
with his lovely wife Stephanie, who teaches third
grade at the same school. “My son Eddie is now in first
grade at Pike, and our daughter Lizzie joined us at Pike
this fall in the pre-K. We are completely and totally
immersed in the Pike culture … or is Pike totally immersed in the Santaella culture? It’s hard to say.” Lizzie
1986
and Eddie are beginning tap lessons and ice hockey,
respectively, when out of class.
Also balancing career and childrearing, Sara
Morgan, who’s worked for 24 years at Staples, “just
got flipped to a new temporary role to help ‘Reinvent
Staples.’ The executive committee is on a mission to
fix what’s not working, after so many years of astounding success.” Her children are in the fourth and fifth
grades, doing lacrosse, soccer, and karate. Nonetheless,
Sara’s anxious that they may be somewhat less overcommitted than other children their age: “I vacillate
between feeling like I’m a loser parent,” Sara confesses,
“for not engaging them in Russian math class and
Kumon and music lessons, and feeling like it’s fine to
just let them be independent, free-range kids who can
go play in the neighborhood.”
The challenge of balancing parenthood and work is
a new one for Paul Ketro, who writes, “My daughter
Violet Hadley Ketro was born to my wife Robin
and me on June 27. I had eight wonderful weeks of
paternity leave and spent a great summer with Violet
and Robin.”
Writing from the Pacific Northwest, where the
wheat crop was superlative, and standard breeds
abundant—“but no purple cows in [the] area since reunion”—Brian Mahon reports that his family, too, has
increased now with the finalization of the adoption of
his little boy, Nate. Congratulations, Paul! Congratulations, Brian! Many years of joy ahead!
Like-phrased congratulations go out to Mary Vaccaro, who was “married last summer on St. John,
moved into a new house in Fort Worth, then left for
four weeks to France” to continue the research that
she conducted last summer—on Italian drawings in
French regional collections, this time, largely in the
south of France.
Joshua Welch has stepped out of finance and ventured into agriculture full time after purchasing a dairy
farm in 2002: “Our place was a typical, small-scale
New England dairy which simply couldn’t compete
with larger grain-fed dairy operations. We have 40-50
acres of pastures, the key ingredient for successful agriculture in New England. … Beginning with
four animals in 2008, we now have one of the largest
herds of Australian lowline Angus beef cattle in New
England. Our 100 percent, grass-fed beef product is of
an exceptionally high quality.”
At the invitation of Susan Lockwood, a fellow
board member, Joshua joined the board of CFT, whose
purpose is to conserve working farmland in Connecticut.
Another classmate reporting a change in direction
is Winnie Martin. At the end of last year, Winnie left
legal services after 10½ years to become the legislative
director and counsel for her city council member Debi
Rose (North Shore, Staten Island), elected to office in
2009 and chair of the council’s Civil Rights Committee. Much honor has flowed Winnie’s way since
then: election to the Executive Committee of the New
York State Bar Association’s House of Delegates in
January; and re-election to a second term as president
of the Staten Island Women’s Bar Association in April,
complemented by a Ruby Award from Soroptimist
International for her work with the women’s bar. In
other news, Winnie “hung out with Jacqui Mitchell
a few months ago at Penn Station as she waited for
a train. She seems to have been in a time warp since
we graduated and literally has not aged one day since
1982!”
In other political news, Sally Hart Petersen won
the Democratic primary for Ann Arbor, Mich.,
City Council against the incumbent, and apparently
campaigned so well, she had no opposition in the
November election. With no more canvassing to do,
husband Tim Petersen joined Greg Stanger, Bob
Hussey, Henry Kim, and Howard Rosenberg in Las
Vegas in late September for their annual golf outing.
Scorecards stayed in Vegas…
Kudos to Madeline Hughes Haikala, who was
sworn in as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Alabama on Oct. 29. (News of this
accomplishment comes from friends Ellinore Knight
Baker and Debbie Semel Goldenring, who rightly
predicted that Madeline would be too modest to post
notice of this grand honor to the notes).
Mike Curtin, who, with wife Maureen McDonnell,
Tim Faselt, and their families spent time together
last summer with Ed O’Toole and his family at the
O’Toole family compound in Vermont, reports that
the equally modest Ed O’Toole received both the Benjamin R. Civiletti Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award
and the New York City Bar Justice Center’s Jeremy
G. Epstein Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service
for his work with indigent refugees seeking political
asylum in the U.S.” Heartfelt congratulations, Ed!
Kudos, too, to Paul Hogan who, as of July 2012,
became principal of Jesuit High in Portland, where
he has been teaching for 19 years and where daughter
Molly is a sophomore. “Our son Conor is now a freshman, playing rugby at the University of Montana,
so double dig that one,” Paul writes, in that cheerful
idiom that is his own. “We are still tight with many
Williams pals, especially veterans of the WRFC.” Paul
spent Labor Day at the Oregon coast with his lovely
wife Jennifer, “Pete Aiken and his significant other
Sarah, old Williamstown pal Tim Brooks, and a passel
of other friends and dogs, hiking, canoeing, picking
legal mushrooms, and having a good old time.”
Congratulations also go out to Jeff Weber, who was
appointed chairman of the board of The Carter Burden
Center for the Aging last summer. “I have sat on The
Carter Burden Center’s Board for the past 15 years
and am concerned about issues facing senior citizens,
particularly in the current economic climate.” Jeff also
chairs New York State Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s Working Group on Aging. Jeff and wife Stacey’s 18-year-old
son Harris ’16 is a freshman at Williams. Perhaps Jeff
and Stacey ran into Dan Damstra and wife Inga, who
reported that they were headed to the Purple Valley
for Family Weekend, where twin sons John ’16 and
Conrad ’16 set up residence as freshman in Sage B and
Pratt 4, respectively. Of such encounters, Debbie Semel Goldenring writes that she “had the pleasure of
seeing John Hagerty in the Purple Valley [in the] fall.
He kept me company as I walked the Taconic Golf
Course watching my son Jake ’15 play in the Williams
Fall Invite, which Williams’ men’s golf team won!
John and I both were marveling how time goes so fast
and how we didn’t take advantage of all Williams had
to offer us in our days there.”
Yet how great it is to go back.
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1987
Jeff Heilman, 494 Court St., Apt. #4, Brooklyn, NY
11231; Jill Shulman, 135 Red Gate Lane, Amherst, MA
Thank you, thank you, thank you was the gist of
much of the correspondence I received from our
classmates, many of whom were still reeling from
post-25th-reunion euphoria. Thank you to our class
leadership, who pulled off an extraordinary weekend,
and a personal thank you to Rob Weiman and Greg
Keller for maintaining our connections during the
five years between reunions as our class secretaries. I
now know how Greg and Rob felt as they approached
the keyboard to report class news (drunk with power,
obviously).
Now for the new news. It turns out that as we
reconvened in June in Williamstown, another reunion
was already brewing. It was the 100th anniversary of
cross-country at Williams, which took place Sept. 29,
featuring eight out of the 13 runners from our senioryear team, including Becky Conklin Purdy, Mike
Coyne, Jon Fisher, Tom Fitzgibbon, Mark Gilrain,
Dave Grossman, Chris Pasko, and Dave Prockup.
The wild card was Dave Futterman, who did not run
cross-country at Williams but clearly couldn’t resist
helping to organize and then attend another reunion.
He reported, “Jon Fisher proved to have the most
remaining speed (or at least regard for his health, or
both) of the group, finishing the hilly and challenging
5K in a nifty 20 minutes and change. The rest of us
took the scenic route but emerged uninjured.”
Mark Gilrain begged to differ. Mark took time
away from his partner Rob, his 5-year-old twins Dash
and Ephriam, and his work as a real estate agent in
Westport, Conn., to describe the weekend that “felt
profound to all.” He revealed, “Former stellar class
agent David Futterman … made a great showing in
the race, beating most of the ’87 crew.” Mark also recounted “tossing the cross-country team’s (extremely
shabby) bear mascot before the race.” Why a bear,
where was this shabby bear stashed for the last 25
years, and was the tossing of it a sanitary activity?
Perhaps Mark or someone else from the cross-country
team could enlighten us.
Tom Kaegi, a Williamstown MD who I’m sure
cheered our classmates over the finish line, reported
that he got to see “Fish, Prock, Gilrain, Coyne,
Futman, Pasko, Space, and Gibbone” at the crosscountry reunion. Tom wrote, “My 14-year-old son
saw this list of names and is wondering if everyone
in college gets a nickname.” I’m not sure about this,
nor do I particularly want to know if I was referred
to by a nickname in college, but it seems that if your
nickname is “Dave,” then you are destined to run
cross-country at Williams—even if it’s not until 25
years after you graduate.
The nickname query fueled Tom’s reminiscence of
1983, along with the following trivia question. “My
favorite memory is of freshman days, sitting in a circle
in the JA living room of Williams E (prepared to
discuss Waiting for Godot), and introductions ensued.
Andrew Smith announced, ‘You can call me Warpo.’
Jimmy Brawner ’85 asked, ‘Why?’ Po then answered.
… Can anyone guess/remember his response?” Well
I, for one, am on the edge of my seat. If anyone can
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answer this question, please write in ASAP.
The next cluster of emails I received reported yet
a third reunion, this one far from the Purple Valley.
Jim Wolf submitted the following: “I’d love to submit
an exciting bit of news, but all I can report is my
disappointment in NOT attending a local Houston
gathering of ’87 alums Steve Browning, Sheila
Coogan, and John Hund as they hosted our honorary
Texan Malcolm Smith in his recent visit to our fair
city. So I did NOT dine with them at one of our great
local restaurants, and I did NOT enjoy a visit with
them to Chez Browning, the home of our newest ’87
Houstonite. Instead I was (again) on a United flight
somewhere in mid-America not purchasing one of
their snack boxes and not enjoying an adult beverage.
I heard they had fun.”
Sheila Coogan, who DID attend the Houston
reunion after a long day saving lives (I presume) as
a vascular surgeon, returned home to her kindergartener, Katie, who had recently “learned the ‘F word’
from one of her little friends and asked if she could
name our new puppy the ‘F word.’ Thankfully, we
don’t have a puppy just yet and are not committed to a
name—we are open to suggestions.”
There was a lot of discussion about autumn. Gail
Henderson-Belsito eloquently reported, “As we enter
autumn here in North Carolina, as we watch college
football on television, as the daytime temperatures
plummet into the 70s (which is cool for us), we are
reminded of the beauty of Billsville in the fall. We are
reminded of the Berkshire hills ablaze with colorful
leaves, that scalding first sip of hot apple cider, tailgating and cheering for the Ephs down at the football
field and soccer fields, and we remember how blessed
we were to attend such a great college.”
While Gail and husband Steve Belsito mused
about autumn in Williamstown, Malcolm Smith was
actually experiencing it: “Fall is stunningly beautiful
this year. Crisp, clear, not too wet so far. The leaves
are changing already. … Today was one of those legendary Williams mornings: heavy dew on the grass,
chill in the air, bright sun peeking over the horizon
with its rays warm on the face. It was a day like this
30 years ago that I first set foot on campus as a high
school senior and fell in love with the place. (Nobody
told me about February through April.) And now,
here I am, 30 years later with a family of my own and
a lot of happiness and success, back in this same magical place and acutely grateful for all it has given to
me.” Along with the poetry, Malcolm reported that he
started his next business with business partner Kevin
Ellingwood ’89, using online media to help consumers engage around electricity.
As Malcolm and Kevin begin a new business, Dean
Papadopoulos wrote from Annapolis, Md., that he
just sold his software company Bay Bridge Decision
Technologies 12 years after starting it, and he plans to
take the year off before starting another venture. Jennifer Standish explained in an email the “various accounting stuff” she is doing, as well as her high learning curve as she fixes up her new (old) house in Santa
Rosa, Calif. I’ll bet all of us will look up and inspect
the acoustic ceiling when we next enter an Apple
Computer store, and we will think of Jennifer, who
does the international tax work for the company who
manufactured it. David Attisani (whose nickname,
Dave, leads me to suspect he may be spotted running
1987– 88
the famous marathon in his hometown of Boston)
chose to focus his report on his enduring pride for our
alma mater and his ultra-strict parenting: “All of my
children are still required to wear purple at least once
per week if they wish to avoid ex-communication.”
Katie Clarke flew to Seattle with her Cross Country
Chicks team of seven women, including Kendra
Kerr Olvany ’82, Sharon Swindell ’82, and Laurie
Egger ’82, to participate in the Susan G. Komen
three-day, 60-mile breast cancer walk. While there,
Katie dined with Sarah Pynchon and her husband
William. Katie was previously deeply committed to
this cause, but this was the first year she “walked the
walk” as a breast cancer survivor herself.
Jamie Spallone reported that his Spencer
housemate Joe Ehlers made up for missing our 25th
reunion via a summer driving tour of the Northeast.
Joe and his family visited Jamie at the State Capitol
in Hartford, Conn., where Jamie is currently serving
as deputy secretary of state. Joe had just come from
visiting Madeline Timin in Winchester, Mass., and
was on his way to visit Malcolm Smith (you know
where).
Jamie’s adventures and Eph sightings provide a
perfect opportunity to segue from the hard news into
a riveting game of “I spy.” Carol Smallwood Mullin
spied Maria Cook Robertson, Anne Marie Plankey,
Kerry Cullen Morgan, and Karen Adams Finley in
Boston over the summer, as well as Barb Halligan
and Jill Shulman in Amherst. In turn, I spied Kelly
Flynn Post in my email inbox, who spied a picture
of Cindy Morhouse Bardwill and Missy Wilcox on
Facebook, speculating that there may be a noteworthy
story behind the photograph. Kelly further spied
some technological correspondence indicating that
Haley Clifford Adams was attending Sumin Eng’s
wedding. I’m sure Sumin will be writing and sending
us a photo imminently. Right, Sumin? I’m not sure
technology sightings count here, but since I am inventing the rules, I’ll report that an email from Dave
Tager arrived in my inbox just moments ago, causing
me to wonder exactly how many Daves were in the
Class of ’87. Dave Tager spied Scott Messinger and
his wife Gloria in D.C., as well as Jim Elliot ’88 and
AJ Mediratta in NYC, where Dave resides. Dave also
spied an article in The New York Times quoting Jay
Altman, chief executive of FirstLine Schools, who is
doing inspiring work helping to transform previously
failing schools in New Orleans.
Though I am rarely at a loss for words, I do have an
imposed time deadline, as I’m awaiting Karen Adams
Finley’s arrival at my home during her daughter’s
senior year college tour. Stay tuned for the next Williams People, in which I am very hopeful that your
host and co-secretary, Jeff Heilman, will report on
Sumin’s wedding, the cross-country team’s mysterious teddy bear, the evolution of Warpo’s nickname,
a headcount of Daves in the Class of ’87, information
about the enigmatic photo of Cindy and Missy on
Facebook, another exhilarating round of “I spy,” and
any other news you have to offer. I extend my deepest
gratitude to all of you who wrote in. Please keep the
news coming!
1988
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Britta Bjornlund, 7504 Honeywell Lane, Bethesda, MD
20814; Carolyn O’Brien, 241 Huron Avenue, Cambridge,
There are so many reasons to come to the Purple
Valley for our 25th reunion next June, and we’re not
only referring to grilled honeybuns and Pappa C’s
sandwiches. There’s also the opportunity to share
memories, greet old friends, and make new connections. No one says it better than Brooks Foehl,
Williams’ director of alumni relations, who writes,
“Our family moved to Williamstown in 2001, and
the following spring the Class of 1977 held their
25th reunion. I distinctly remember looking out at
their group at the Annual Meeting and thinking two
thoughts: ‘Man, they’re old;’ and ‘That’s going to
be us someday, but it seems a long way off.’ Given
we were still a year shy of our 15th reunion, that all
seemed reasonable enough. Subsequent reunions saw
the 25th alumni from the late ’70s, the early ’80s
and, in recent years, those with whom we shared our
Williams experience come together in Williamstown.
Watching the folks in the Class of 1985 (who were
‘old’ when we arrived at Williams in 1984), our JAs
and the rest of the Class of 1986, and our closest
contemporaries in the Class of 1987, celebrate their
25th milestones was inspiring and has added to the
anticipation of our own moment together as a class.
I’ve never spoken to, or heard from, an alum who
regrets their decision to attend their 25th. I have heard
from folks who regret not being there. We have one
chance to come together as a class for our 25th, and
you have one chance to be a part of it. Let’s do what
we can to make the collective and individual effort to
be together in Williamstown June 6-9, 2013; we look
forward to welcoming you back!”
Yes, Brooks, man we’re old! And while we reflect on
our age and our experience at Williams 25 years ago,
some of us are also marketing the college to the next
generation. In fact, while Dave Kane participates in
our 25th reunion, his daughter Michaela will be interviewing at the college, thereby keeping up a family
tradition— Dave interviewed at Williams during his
father’s 25th reunion. Last summer Dave continued
another personal Williams tradition—he hosted four
Williams interns at his workplace. In addition, he
recently published a paper with a former Williams
intern Andy Liu ’10 that can be found at http://bit.ly/
TpFred. Dave and wife Kay (Fang) ’89 gathered with
several former Jake House residents from ’88 and ’89,
including Stefan Kargere and wife Karen Costenbader ’89 at the Connecticut home of Rob and Lynn
Neuner ’89. Dave wrote that Stefan “managed to kick
everyone’s butt in a round robin tennis game, include
the butts of two strong teenage boys.”
Perhaps it was her descriptions of Pappa Charlie’s
sandwiches or renditions of long games of Wales
Tails, but Claire Hsiang Marx also has family
considering Williams. She escorted her nephew to an
admissions tour of Williams in September and had the
chance to spend some time on campus with Brooks
Foehl and Tom Smith. She reports that there are
many new buildings, but Pappa C’s Richard Dreyfuss
was deliciously familiar. Back in NYC, Claire sees her
Sage E froshmate Katherine Wolf at CommunityJ A NUA RY 2013 PEOPLE
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Word Project (CWP) board meetings, an education
nonprofit that boasts Katherine as board chair and
provides creative writing-based arts programs to 2,000
public school kids each year. Jeanne Cloppse, Mark
Solan, Ellen O’Connell, Jane Becker, and Rebecca
Todd are among other Ephs who support CWP.
Claire spent time with KK Roeder, Vicki Distasio
Fuqua, and Suzanne Falcone MacLehose at Sally
Robertson Laroche’s house last fall, where they once
again were outnumbered by children. She keeps in
touch with Amy Searight, who now works at the U.S.
Department of Defense, and Gail Covington, who is
still at Morgan Stanley in San Francisco.
Catherine Eaton Coakley also had the opportunity
to visit Williamstown in the fall when she attended
the Williams vs. Middlebury football game. Although
Williams lost, Catherine was happy for the chance to
catch up with Brooks and Allison Foehl.
Chris Jones contemplates his age. “How do I know
I am old? I see regularly in the hallways of Horace
Mann 10th graders Jonah Greenberg (son of David
Greenberg), Aaron Schein (son of Mark Schein)
and ninth grader Matthew Bock (son of Tim Bock).”
Chris is still chair of the school’s math department.
He declined to send any information about the boys’
math grades, but we’re certain they’re great students
just like their dads.
Bob Gallagher is preparing for our 25th reunion
by reliving his youth on the back of a motorcycle.
He purchased a new Harley Davidson in March
and has reportedly put more than 4,000 miles on it
riding around NYC. Now we can only let his words
describe it, as there’s really no paraphrasing possible
here: “The point is that I pushed myself to BECOME
someone who rides, with a whole host of new friends,
personalities, takes on the world, events, etc. It was
fun to be this age and feel like a 14-year-old with
granddad’s tractor while pulling the bike away from
the dealer: I made several low-speed loops of the
dealer’s parking lot in first and second gear and finally
got bored—30 years melted away, and I knew just
how to pop the clutch out smoothly as I hit third, out
the lot, fourth and down the lane, lean onto the exit
ramp and fifth, vector onto wide open Interstate and
sixth, 55 mph, 65, 75 … damn, I’m doing 75 on ‘my
Harley.’ My life, my Harley. New brain connections,
new friends. … Oh, my tolerant wife and adoring
grade-school kids are a daily blessing to me after all
of the events which tempered my soul in business and
life since ’88.”
Now not everyone needs to come to Billsville on a
motorcycle. Brian Watson, for example, coming from
Canada, might prefer to travel via plane and rental
car. Brian writes that he spent the summer working
hard while enrolled in full-time classes at night and
on weekends to maintain his Canadian visa. He and
his partner Hiro plan to apply for landed immigrant
status (Canada’s version of a green card) soon. Brian
also enjoys Bob Gallagher’s posts on Facebook.
Also enjoying “Bobby G’s” Facebook posts is Kathy
McDonnell, who cites them as a great source of entertainment and support while she’s recovering from
recent health issues. Last summer she did have the
opportunity to travel to Italy, where she presented her
work with the Department of Homeland Security at a
conference on art crime and spent two weeks working
in the local museums.
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Jody Abzug Irzuk traveled abroad last summer and
lunched with Pavlos Yeroulanos in Greece. Pavlos,
Greece’s former minister of tourism, rolled out the
proverbial red carpet for Jody and her family. Jody
also dined with Kate Gerber Kennedy and husband
Michael in Chicago; and barbecued with Lisa
Buxbaum-Burke and family in Cape Cod.
Russell and Sarah Werkman also broke bread
with classmates last summer. They hosted Nils
Christoffersen and his wife Anette as they passed
through Spokane. Dining al fresco, they talked of kids
going off to college, foreign travel, and the American
Northwest. Most certainly, they also made plans to
see each other at the reunion. Later in the summer,
the Werkman family embarked on a Western camping adventure in our national parks. Russell was also
in LA, where he dined with Carrie Rheinfrank, her
husband Walter, and daughter Fiona at their house
in Topanga Canyon. After Russell fell in the pool (it
was dark, he explains), they relaxed in the hot tub,
enjoying views of the Pacific Ocean in the distance.
(We wish we could have been there, not only for the
beautiful views, but also to witness Russell’s dip into
the pool!)
Ken Marcus’ daughter is not considering Williams yet. She is 6 years old and keeps her dad busy
chauffeuring her to various activities like ballet and
swimming. Ken also finds time for other laudable
pursuits. Last year, he founded and built a new public
interest organization, the Louis D. Brandeis Center
for Human Rights Under Law. The National Law
Journal recently featured his first Supreme Court brief
as “Brief of the Week.” He boasts that the key to this
success was “of course not writing it myself. After too
many years as a litigator, it is great to be the demanding and unreasonable client instead.” He saw Stephen
Groh at the federal judicial investiture of Stephen’s
wife Gina. Stephen is a prosecutor in West Virginia
with two “ridiculously smart and precocious kids.”
John Keller is also shuttling his first-grade daughter
to activities, including ballet, gymnastics, soccer, and
drama. But he writes of two lucky moments: The first
was meeting Roger Daltrey (“a nice chap, but a tad
shorter than I had imagined”), and the second was
holding the Olympic torch while in the UK for work.
He participated in an annual baseball trek with Mark
van Norman ’85, Jeff Roth, Greg Lang, Gene Mazzaro, Jeff Heilman, Scott Messinger (all ’87), and
Dave Garfield ’89.
Karen Olsen also had the opportunity to meet
the rich and famous. While attending an Obama
campaign fundraiser in Geneva, she met with George
Clooney and reports that he “is as friendly and downto-earth as he is handsome and charming.” She did
not comment on his height, however! Still living in
Moscow as a consultant to a local NGO, Karen keeps
busy on programs for youth, kids with disabilities,
and women. She sees fellow classmates and Muscovites Rob Stubblebine and Steve Gutterman from
time to time. Last summer, she visited with Ken
Alleyne during “Jazz on the Vineyard,” a festival Ken
organizes for an educational charity SATO (Student
Achievement Through Opportunity). We can’t argue
with Martha’s Vineyard, Williams alums, and great
music for a great cause.
Speaking of a great cause, Esu Anahata and
partner Ina continued to spend much time in Burkina
1988– 89
Faso, where they were implementing their BARKA
Foundation’s first major water, sanitation, and hygiene
project in the remote village of Tantiaka. Their
activities included drilling a well for the community,
constructing composting gender-specific latrines, and
teaching basic hygiene. He writes that the project was
a resounding success and well covered in the country’s
national TV and radio stations. He keeps up his Williams connections, citing that more than a half-dozen
Ephs volunteer in the organization. In addition, like
other alums with teenagers, he recently brought his
daughter, a junior in high school, to tour the Williams
campus.
The trek from Matt Lapointe’s home in Tarpon Springs, Fla., to his law firm’s home office in
Manchester, N.H., each month is impressive. His
sons Ben, 11, and Michael, 10, are doing well, and
he’s pleased that, “so far, they still think that I know
something and am worth listening to.”
Megan Hawgood’s kids also think she’s worth
listening to. Because of her urging, she reports that
her son did not procrastinate getting his college applications done (no word as to whether he’s thinking
Williams or not). She’s also been busy building the
website for the Class of 72’s 40th reunion, which
leads us to wonder why we don’t enlist those talents
on behalf of the Class of ’88. She had a small-world
Williams moment when an alum from the Class of ’71
recognized her purple and gold flip-flops at an adult
swim class. She writes that she will be very sad to miss
the 25th reunion, but her son is graduating from high
school the same weekend. Not sure about her priorities, but there it is.
Nick Beatty writes that he and wife Alison and
daughters aged 6 and 8 have finally settled back in
British Columbia after spending seven years in transition in Cork, Ireland (as he finished medical school),
and Saskatchewan (where he did his residency). Fully
established in Victoria, he’s working as a hospitalist (hospital-based family medicine for those of us
who don’t speak British Columbian). He enjoys his
schedule as he works 12 days in a row and then gets
nine days off. As he and Alison plan to stay at least
until the girls complete high school, he sends warm
welcomes to anyone passing through or near Victoria.
Blake Robison also moved, from the DC area to
Ohio, where he is the new artistic director of Cincinnati Playhouse. He writes that in September he hosted
an alumni event at the theater, where he met a small
but devoted group of midwestern Ephs.
Turning to other devoted Ephs, Ray George
hooked up with Jim Elliott, Pete Grose, and Mark
Raisbeck, to run the Hartford Half Marathon. After
the race, the crew found themselves at a nearby pub
for celebratory beers and fried food. Sounds about
right.
Pete Grose also had a celebratory beer with Britta
Bjornlund at her new home in Bethesda, Md. Britta
also caught up with Mike Harrington and partner
David Breen while in Boston for work. Mike, David,
and sons Declan and Noah were preparing to host
more than 100 people from Declan’s preschool at their
house the next day. Mike always was an overachiever!
Jonny Hollenberg and his family got together with
Dave Glendon and family last summer in Maine,
where they partook in a bit of waterskiing. Dave was
a pro, and then it was Jonny’s turn. Fast-forward to a
trip to the ER, a few days of bed rest, some wonderful
pain medication, and a lingering disc issue. But, he
writes, “Given the hectic nature of life in general, the
few days of bed rest while on vacation was actually
quite relaxing.” He stays “active” in the local Williams alumni association, planning events with Joyce
Noonan Anderson, Geri Hugo Mohr ’86, Jen Koski
Washburne ’86, and Matt Fair ’91, among others. We
are not sure which is more upsetting, the thought of
rupturing a disc while waterskiing or the fact that that
is what it takes these days to earn ourselves a bit of
rest. Get better, Jonny!
In closing, if you haven’t already done so, consider
joining the Class of ’88’s Facebook page for more
reminiscing as we gear up to our 25th. And whether
you come to reunion or not (and we hope you come),
consider making a donation. Matt Lapointe writes,
“We are looking forward to presenting the college
with a great 25th reunion gift, and we want ALL OF
YOU to be part of it. Those of you who can make a
stretch and increase your gift—this is the year to do it!
Our real emphasis is on PARTICIPATION, however.
In the 25 years since we graduated, an astounding 92
percent of the class has made at least one gift to the
college. If you have never given, or haven’t given
recently, please consider making a gift THIS YEAR.
Looking forward to seeing everybody in June!”
See you in June. And until then, send in your news.
1989
David Bar Katz, 138 Watts St., Apt. 4, New York, NY
10013; Shannon Penick Pryor, 3630 Prospect St., NW,
Dear classmates, we’ve heard little from you in the
past few months! Hopefully, that means everyone is
traveling the world and will be returning soon to write
us about your adventures and accomplishments.
The Alumni Fund is in full swing, so it’s not too
late to make your gift now. We hope that many of you
will contribute your time and talents to organizing
our 25th reunion, set for June 12-15, 2014. The call
for volunteers has gone out, so mark your calendars
and sign up to help out! In the meantime, we’ve heard
from a few ’89ers who haven’t written in quite a
while. Sarah Cole lives with her family in NYC as a
tenured professor in the Department of English at Columbia University and has published her second book,
At the Violet Hour: Modernism and Violence in England
and Ireland (Oxford, 2012). Noriko Honda has moved
back to the U.S. with her family after 23 years in Asia,
18 of them in Hong Kong. “We have moved to San
Francisco for schools and to be closer to our families.
I am still at Capital Group and will be working out
of the SF office as a fund manager in our institutional
group. While I miss Hong Kong, and it is a bit of a
shock to spend my entire weekend driving my kids
around from one sporting event to another, it is great
to be back Stateside. I have seen Cooper (Campell
Jackson) and Jen (Morris Grossman) (and Naree
Wongse-Sanit Viner when she was still in LA) often
on prior visits back to LA where my company is
based, and I am looking forward to catching up with
Williams friends I haven’t seen in a long time. I would
love to hear from people and if they are in the area to
get together with them!”
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Dave Beischer writes, “Stewart Verdery came
through Durham … while giving a speech at Duke
Law School. Stewart is still running his lobbying firm
in DC. Also, just spent the past weekend at Kingsmill
Resort in Williamsburg with Mike Barbera for a golf
weekend. President Obama was at the resort, debate
prepping, but he declined to join our golf outing!
Deborah Synder and I remind everyone to mark
their calendars for our 25th reunion in June of 2014.”
Tom and Tina (Webster) Loose “took the kids on
a fabulous, wildlife-filled trip to Yellowstone National
Park and the Grand Tetons this summer. One of the
boys actually tried bison and elk meat while we were
there! Could be trouble. If they get too adventurous in
the food department, we might actually have to start
taking them with us on our more exotic expeditions,
like Peru last spring. (The ‘food barrier’ was always
such a perfect excuse to go on our own…) Caught
up with John ‘Bunnyman’ Bellwoar and his family
at their home in Connecticut while I was en route to
Boston with the kids and new puppy ‘Milo’ in tow.
Milo proceeded to throw up on the couch and get
in a fur-flying fight with the Bellwoars’ dog, so we
hastened on our way to see the cousins in Massachusetts. While in the Boston area, saw Tim and Heather
King Allen ’90 for catch-up lunches, leaving my poor
sister-in-law in charge of five kids and two dogs. We’ll
never be invited again! Everyone’s doing well: Tom
is in a new position at Merck, the boys are starting
eighth grade, and I’m learning to work Milo’s routine
into our already busy schedules—usually without
making him throw up.”
1990
Katie Brennan, 2018 Rosilla Place, Los Angeles, CA
We learned just before press time of the previous
issue that Bob O’Neil had passed away in July. Bob
joined our class as a junior. At the urging of his new
wife, Betty, he had returned to college at the age of 39
and attended Berkshire Community College for two
years before transfering to Williams. I regret that I did
not know Bob as, judging from his obituary and the
many tributes to him online, he was a wonderful person and a real hero to many. I was able to reach Betty
by phone and offer condolences from our class, and
she told me about some of the highlights of his life.
Bob grew up in Pittsfield but had the travel bug and
left to see the world, including 21 European countries,
Canada, and Mexico, and worked in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Bob and Betty met in Florida, but
she thought they should return to Pittsfield, which she
had grown to love on visits with him. He was hesitant
to bring a Florida girl to the northern reaches, but
Betty prevailed, and they began their new life together
back in his childhood home. Williams does not accept
very many “nontraditional” students, and Bob was
very proud to be one of the few and loved his time at
Williams very much, majoring in English and history.
He may have been unique as a Williams student in
working part time as a corrections officer to help pay
his way! Bob had a lifelong passion for basketball and
began his coaching career at Williams as assistant
coach to Harry Sheehy ’75 for the men’s JV team.
Sheehy remarked that Bob was a “true student of the
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game” and that “the other thing about Bobby that
I’ll always remember is he was just a sweetheart.
There are just people who have sweet spirits in this
life. Sometimes we’re blessed to know some of those
people. I’m blessed to have known Bobby.” After
Williams, Bob taught English and history for many
years, at both Taconic and Pittsfield High Schools, but
was best known for his exceptional coaching of girls’
basketball teams at both schools. He was considered a
mentor by many other coaches throughout the region
and on two occasions was named Girls Basketball
Coach of the Year. Bob and Betty’s daughter Angela
also took to basketball and last fall was a freshman at
Pittsfield with her dad as coach! Unfortunately, Bob
had recently received a diagnosis of ALS and was
not able to finish the season. Last spring, there was
an outpouring of love and honor for Bob’s contributions to his community, including his being awarded
the Key to the City of Pittsfield on Feb. 21 “in deep
appreciation for his distinguished service,” and the
designation of that date forever as Robert M. O’Neil
Day in Pittsfield. Betty told me that, even during his
illness, Bob would speak of feeling like the luckiest
man alive, with her and Angela being the loves of his
life. We are all honored to have had such a gentleman
in our midst.
Brian Stevens is the proud father of two boys now,
with baby Tyler born on Sept 24. “Baby and mom
are doing well, and dad is a complete train wreck. As
you know, I’m sure, sleep does not come easy. Then
when I think I am going to get some sleep I get called
to respond in for work for some crime. I am working
as a detective in the Suffolk County PD. I work in the
1st precinct, and it’s crazy! Whoever says crime is
down is lying! I live in Massapequa, which is nice, but
much to my dismay there have been no Rob Lambert
sightings. I also got together with some fellow Ephs
from the Class of 1990 like Chris ‘Rocco’ Parisi,
Chris Meyer, Dan ‘Big Sexy’ Yerxa, Jeff Stripp,
Mike Simpson, Rich Williams, John Perryman, and
Kevin Gilmartin ’94 in Rhode Island in July. Lots of
catching up and lots of laughs.” Rich added, “A great
time had by all. I think it was our 14th year of getting
together for three days over the summer. ‘The older
we get, the better we were.’”
Lots of news from Rachel Martin who is “living in the Oakland hills and loving being in the San
Francisco Bay Area. I regularly see my freshman
roommate Jackie Graves, who teaches English at
Laney College in downtown Oakland. She wrote an
adapted screenplay called Alice in Oaksterdam, which
premiered this past spring and was outstanding! Kevin
‘Tex’ Cook also has opened a fantastic restaurant-bar
called Disco Volante, which everyone should visit if
they get a chance. Real pommes frites with housemade bacon jam! Great music. I’d eat there weekly if
I could. Teaching U.S. history part time at University
of California-Berkeley again this spring semester,
where the students really are bright, dedicated, and
motivated. I was up in Alaska in August and saw
Christopher Michaeles ’89 and his lovely wife
Shannon Smiley and their six malamutes! Also ran
into our old J.A. from Williams E, Carter Zinn ’88,
when I was in Mill Valley (Marin County) in September. Carting around a totally cute 2-year-old and
doing well. Hoping to see my senior year Doughty
House roommate Sammy Rogers again when I visit
1989– 90
Colorado over New Year’s. She and her family live
near Boulder. We visited last March (2011) when I
went to town for String Cheese Incident concerts. I
heard from Pam Lotke in Tucson, Ariz., that she and
Sammy got together up in Washington earlier this
month, and all are well.”
In September I came across an article by Josh
Glenn in Nature, titled “The Radium Age,” in which
he discusses science fiction from the “forgotten” era
of 1904-33. Much more dystopian than the romantic
sci-fi era of Edgar Allan Poe and Jules Verne, writers
during the Radium Age were expressing an unease
with the future that new technologies like flight,
radioactivity, and the telephone might bring. I think
I need a new strategy for getting published in Nature!
Anyway, Josh has co-founded HiLo Books to reissue
Radium Age fiction and has much more going on. A
series of emails brought me up to date on at least some
of it. “This fall, Susan Roe and I are celebrating our
25th year as a couple. We’ve been married since 1995,
and our sons Sam and Max are now in ninth and sixth
grade here in Boston. As for me, I haven’t held a job
that I could explain to my parents since I quit my gig
as a Boston Globe editor and columnist in ’07. I scratch
a living consulting to advertising and marketing agencies as a brand and culture semiologist; if you want to
know what that means, there was a profile of me in
The New York Times last summer (in, of all sections,
“Home & Garden”). In recent years, I’ve co-authored
and co-edited the books Taking Things Seriously, The
Idler’s Glossary, and The Wage Slave’s Glossary; and
I’m editor of HiLobrow.com, which TIME magazine
named one of the 10 Best Blogs of 2010. I’ve got two
books out this fall: I’m co-editor of Significant Objects,
a collection of 100 stories, by 100 authors, about
unlikely objects; and I’m co-author of Unbored: The
Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun, a beautiful and
enormous collection of cool activities for kids aged
8-13.” As your secretary, I do try to do my research,
and I encourage you to look up the N.Y. Times article,
where you will learn that Josh is predicting that chest
hair will make a comeback, among other fascinating
things. And if you have a child in that 8 to 13 demographic who might be interested in how to optimize
a cookie recipe, how to shoot and edit a stop-motion
movie, the best ever clean hip-hop songs, or, my
favorite: “How to Criticize Everything,” you’ll have
to get them Unbored!
Last year Emily Donovan completed her coursework for certification as an alcohol and drug addictions counselor and now does volunteer work in addictions near Lexington, Mass. She has been making
the most of a difficult situation: afflicted with chronic
migraines, Emily has been unable to work since 2009,
and lives with chronic pain every day. “My theory,
however, is that if I am going to feel like garbage, it is
better to feel like garbage in, for example, the Cayman
Islands, than it is to feel like garbage on the couch at
home… Fortunately for me, I became disabled while
working as a litigator for a large national law firm, so
my disability insurance pays me enough to allow me
to live a modest lifestyle and travel a number of times
a year… Last October I spent a week in the Cayman
Islands, then three weeks in Brazil in February/March
including a riverboat cruise down the Amazon. On
the Amazon cruise, I was sick in my cabin for about
a day and a half of the five days we were on the river.
On the days I was well enough to be out and about,
though, I saw all kinds of animals, fished for Piranhas,
swam with pink Amazonian dolphins, and saw giant
Amazonian lily pads (among dozens of other things).
In May/June, I went on a cruiseship-type cruise from
Barcelona to Venice down the coast of Italy and up
the coast of Greece with a stop off in Dubrovnik in
May/June. We were lucky in that we were able to
spend a week in Barcelona before the cruise and a
week in Venice afterwards, so it was a great trip. Spent
a week in New Jersey with Maureen Kelleher ’88
where we also had lunch with Nancy Treutner ’88
in August and just got back from a week in the Vineyard.” Emily was “gearing up for” a cruise in Asia
(Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand,
and Singapore) in December/January with a side trip
to Ho Chi Minh City and AngkorWat. She says the
traveling goes way back, though: “I spent three out of
four summers in college in the Middle East (Jordan,
West Bank/Gaza, and North Yemen). I was scheduled
to spend my junior year at the American University
in Cairo but got sick and had to stay in Williamstown.
I went so many places during that time in my life that
when I was interning at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen,
I had to add extra pages to my passport. The fun part
was that the consular officer at the embassy let me
do it myself. There are still lots of places left to go,
though. With the exception of one night I spent in
Cairo when on the way to Yemen, I have never been
to Africa. This winter is also my first trip to Asia,
and I have never been to Australia. Believe it or not,
I have never been to California. … At some point, I
really have to do something about that.” I’ll say!
Anyone heard from Dave Pesikoff lately? Oh, you
have? And you, too?! What is he up to? He didn’t say?
Just asked what you are doing these days? Something
about Inquiring Minds? Who is Dave Pesikoff,
anyway? Who is the man behind the myth?! Does
he actually live somewhere? Well, yes, he does, as it
turns out. Some rare news from behind the curtain:
“I’m happily ensconced in Texas with my wife Sarah
and our two boys, Ethan and Jacob, who are in sixth
and ninth grade, [respectively], which means we have
lots of sports and Boy Scout activities on our calendar.
We cycle a lot together, and in the spring, Jacob will
graduate from our tandem to ride in his fifth MS150,
a 186-mile charity ride from Houston to Austin over a
weekend in support of the Multiple Sclerosis Society,
while Ethan will join me for his first MS on our tandem. Our venture capital firm Triangle Peak Partners
is doing well—we closed on $180 million-plus for
our second fund on the back of a successful first fund
begun in 2008. I was up in Williamstown for alumni
meetings … and had the esteemed pleasure of running
into Liz Beshel Robinson, who is now a trustee and
repping the Great Class of ’90 on the board. And
earlier last summer, my son Jacob and I hiked from
Aspen to Crested Butte. We visited the Montoya Rum
distillery but missed seeing Brice and Karen Hoskins,
who were in Maine seeing Karen’s family.” So there
you have it—just a regular guy!
And the other sweetheart behind the scenes, Hilary
Klotz Steinman, is still living in NYC with her
husband and daughters, in the first and fourth grades,
“sweet but a bit too sassy.” In her “never-ending quest
to get more Ephs to Rhode Island in the summer, I’m
glad to report that Frances and Dave Morrison spent
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the month in Weekapaug, R.I., before moving to
California. Cassandra Hiland and family stopped by
for a visit with the Morrisons during their East Coast
trek, and since Christina (Ohly) Evans and I were
just down the road in Watch Hill, we all got together
with our kids for a mini ’90 RI reunion.”
Seriously, many thanks to Hilary and Dave for leading our class Alumni Fund campaign again this year,
and a final message from them, “Thanks to all of you
who have donated to the 2012-13 Alumni Fund. If
you haven’t gotten around to giving yet, we hope you
will join us in supporting the Alumni Fund this year.
Help our class retain the trophy we won last year for
participation!”
Thanks for your updates—keep them coming!
Loved the Tweet from Gillian (Lippert) Marcus last
time. Send more Tweets! Haikus, sonnets, too…
1991
Pete McEntegart, 34 South Venice Boulevard, Unit 2
Venice, CA 90291; [email protected]
YouTube isn’t just for cat videos and “Gagnam
Style” anymore. It’s also where you can find the
8-year-old son of Anna Bardone-Cone absolutely
dominating on the basketball court while playing with
the University of North Carolina men’s hoops team.
No joke.
There’s a UNC tradition of the team playing an
unannounced pickup game on campus each spring.
Word spreads instantly, of course, and students stream
to the court to shoot free throws for the right to play
against the varsity. Young Addis Cone showed up that
April afternoon along with the college students and
made his free throw. Then in a break from custom
the varsity players let him play with them rather than
against them, presumably because it would be bad
form to dunk on an 8-year-old.
What nobody watching (except Anna, presumably)
knew is that Addis is a basketball phenom. Take a few
minutes to search on YouTube for “UNC basketball
plays pick-up at Cobb” for the Daily Tar Heel’s official
video, then scroll to about the three-minute mark and
prepare to be amazed. That YouTube search will also
turn up several bootleg versions of the same event
with catchier titles like “UNC Basketball Pick-Up
Game 8-yr-old MVP,” “UNC Basketball pick-up
game—8 year old is amazing!” and “Eight Year Old
Balls With UNC Squad Wow Amazing Talent.” Seriously, go watch.
Addis’s skills were so impressive that it helped Anna
receive tenure in July as a UNC professor in the
Department of Psychology. (OK, I’m sure she earned
it on her own merits.) Over the summer Anna spent
a few weeks in the Bay Area with her in-laws, where
she met Leila Jere for lunch. In September, she hosted
Jess Walker and her husband Scott in Chapel Hill,
both before and after Jess successfully defended her
dissertation at Virginia Tech. (So it’s Dr. Walker now,
thanks.) Jess and Scott have moved to Boulder, Colo.
I received no fewer than three firsthand accounts
of the Second Annual FreshGrass bluegrass festival
organized by Chris “Gis” Wadsworth at North Adams’ MASS MoCA Sept. 21-23. Chris Mersereau
reported that he “danced the night away” with the
likes of Gis, Sean Watterson, Matt and Seanna
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(Connor) Walter, Jason Gull, Williamstown’s own
Kathy (Judge) Igoe, and Melissa Fenton. What
Merse might not have known is that it was Melissa’s
birthday that weekend. I heard that from Melissa
herself, who wanted to give Gis “kudos for pulling
this together” and also reported that she bumped
into Andrew and Betsy (Pennebaker) Allen that
weekend in Williamstown.
What Melissa did NOT say is that when she saw
the Allens while driving down Spring Street, Melissa
“screeched to a halt and jumped out to give [them]
a hug, leaving the car parked right in the middle
of the street, which the super-chill Williamstown
drivers didn’t seem to mind.” That is the eyewitness
testimony from Betsy. Remember, people, I have eyes
and ears everywhere. Betsy and Andy were in town
mostly to see Matt and Seanna Walter and their
three kids; Seanna and Betsy were suitemates in Sage
B. The Allens also hit the Eph football game, visited
Rob Abel and family at their spread near Mount
Hope Farm, and were astounded to note how many
current Williams students seemed to be studying on a
beautiful fall Saturday. Come on, kids, live a little.
Melissa had a number of other activities to report.
Thanks in part to Hal Steinbrenner, she was a
regular at Yankees Stadium last year, including at the
stadium’s first-ever soccer match between two European clubs, a Madonna concert along with Sarah
Peterson and Dan Kaufman, and Game 5 of the
ALCS. Melissa also saw Erica Dankmeyer perform
in the Fifth Annual 360 Degree Dance Company
at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater and later ran
into Ray Neufeld randomly on the Upper West
Side of Manhattan while Ray was touring potential
schools for his children, one of which was Melissa’s
son’s school. Melissa also regularly sees Rebecca
Sokolovsky, “who is the coolest, calmest mom ever”
to twins Milo and Gideon.
Sometimes getting multiple, Rashomon-like reports
is the only way to get the full story. For instance, Tim
Hildreth wrote that he spent five days in Lisbon, Portugal, in early October and looked up Ana M. Pinto,
who now goes by the more mellifluous Ana Villa
de Freitas. Says Tim: “I hadn’t talked to Ana since
college, but we had a wonderful time reconnecting
over dinner and drinks.” Then I heard from Ana: “It
was great catching up with him, and he made a great
effort of pretending to understand my unpracticed
rusty English! It all ended abruptly as Tim felt ill after
I took him to taste a few of our port wines. I thought
the years at the Purple Pub would be enough, but
Tim succumbed to Portuguese port and we had to
take a cab back to his hotel instead of walking.” You’re
busted, Tim!
Tim and Lisa Leinau participated again last year
in the New Balance Reach the Beach relay in New
Hampshire, a 200-plus mile relay race. Meanwhile
Tim and husband Michael are building a house, while
professionally Tim was named VP, product marketing, for content products at Skillsoft, an e-learning
company.
Speaking of job titles, did you know that one of our
classmates is a Body-Inclusive Psychotherapist? It’s
true. “What’s a ‘Body-Inclusive Psychotherapist?’”
asked Francine Kelly, in what was thankfully not a
rhetorical question. “Well, we basically recognize that
the body is affected by what happens in the ‘mind’
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and needs to be included in any therapeutic process
that addresses mental/emotional healing.”
Eliza Shin is doing something that, as an aspiring
Hollywood writer, I understand a little better. Reports the Chicago-based actress: “You can tell folks
that I’ve got itsy-bitsy scenes in episodes 2 and 8 of
the new NBC show Chicago Fire. … If everybody
watches, I’ll get to be employed again and again.”
The show, from Law & Order guru Dick Wolf, airs
on Wednesday nights, and Eliza plays an ER doc.
Tim “Lush” Hanes plays a doctor in real life,
and his wife Jennifer is also an M.D. Reports Lush:
“I have the three best new people on Earth for my
children: Annie, 10; Ben, 8; Kate, 6. … And I want
everyone to know, global warming is real.” Anyone
who is Facebook friends with Lush will be surprised
he didn’t lead with his global warming warning.
Indeed global warming is a key Eph issue, since we
have Ephs all over the globe. Writes Lisa Kaestner:
“We are still living in Istanbul—count is at two
years—and liking it. We had a visit from Robin Neidorf last spring and took her to our favorite Bosphorus
fish restaurant.” That implies that Lisa has a plethora
of Bosphorus fish restaurants to choose from, which
makes me jealous. Another Eph globetrotter is Ivan
Sigal, whose decade-plus of travel and photography
in Russia, Central Asia, and Afghanistan has been
turned into a book being published by Steidl. That’s in
addition to an exhibition of the photos at the Corcoran
Gallery of Art in DC through January. Capital-area
Ephs should check it out.
Jane Desnoyers is still living in London and is an
English-style lawyer (a “solicitor”) for a U.S. law firm.
She enjoyed the London Olympics, especially when
the cycling road race zipped by on the street she lives
on. Last fall Jane served as a volunteer election monitor in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Jane also
saw Deirdre Pappalardo Gurney and family in late
July as they were passing through London (Deirdre’s
onetime home) on the way to their annual visit to
Deirdre’s in-laws in Wales.
In Rome, Robin Lloyd and wife Wendy saw Christine Choi at a wedding of a mutual friend. Reports
Robin: “Christine proudly shared pics of her beloved
new arrival, a suitably sophisticated flat in Brooklyn,
over five indulgent days of olive orchards, food porn,
mini-palaces, and laughter.” Robin is based in Seattle,
where he now sees less of Matt Turetsky (who has
finished a three-year work assignment in Seattle) but
does see Stein Soelberg in Atlanta thanks to his own
work assignment. Marc Klaus and family still live in
Stockholm, but they were hosted last summer in San
Francisco by Raj Venkatesan and Eric Grosse. Raj
writes that Marc’s older daughter, Freddie, rode her
bike across America, and the rest of the Klaus brood
joined her on the West Coast. In other Raj news, his
two boys (ages 8 and 10) are working hard on their
squash, soccer, and baseball, and they hope to go to
Williams squash camp someday.
But John Mulreany wins the prize for furthestflung dispatch: “Greetings from the Island of Stone
Money! I’m starting my second year here in Yap, an
island in the Federated States of Micronesia, about
400 miles southwest of Guam. I was sent here by
my religious order, the Jesuits, with another priest to
start the first Catholic high school here on Yap.” John
hopes one of his students will someday attend Wil-
liams, which could certainly use a few good Yappians.
(Yappers? Yaps?)
Now it’s time for some rapid-fire news. Barbara
(Elliott) Super reports that her son Matt (Kenyon
’15) met Obie-winning actress Birgit Huppuch in
May when she was performing in a Cleveland production of In The Next Room. Michelle Sanders says
she received an actual photo card via U.S. mail that
James Goodell and wife Laura welcomed their fourth
child, son Adam Richard Goodell, on June 12. Jackie
Weider Jones wrote: “I have a new puppy named
Oscar.” Seriously, that was her entire email. Deirdre
Pappalardo Gurney sent lots of news, including
that she and Sarah Peterson celebrated Melissa
Fenton’s birthday “25 years after we arrived at Sage D
together.” (How many times did Melissa celebrate her
birthday?) New York-based Deirdre also regularly sees
Tara Hurley and Dore Lebeau Toung and her two
kids; Barbara Kircheimer, who visits from Chicago;
and saw Manhattan visitors Jake Smith (from DC)
and Brenda Barry (from Boston).
Caleb Gordon wrote from a camping trip in
Florida’s Ocala National Forest along with wife Lisa
Alcala and their daughters Lily and Phoebe; and
David Bernhardt, wife Jen, and daughter Julia. Sadly
I didn’t realize Caleb lived in Gainesville, Fla., when
I went to the Florida-LSU game there on Columbus Day weekend with Jon Faini, Jeff Bond, Sean
Glynn, Mike DeMarco, and Jeff Miller on our fifthannual College Football Trip. Meanwhile Liz Rogers
wrote: “I’m living on Cape Cod in Bourne, singing
and song-leading, contra-dancing, enjoying a simple
and slow life, applying to grad school in psychology,
to start next fall, [and] about to start baking bread for
a local farmer’s market.” I’m hungry already.
Alexa Sand emailed from the Ahmanson Reading
Room at the Huntington Library in San Marino,
Calif., where the Utah State professor spent this past
semester as a fellow in residence. Cara Schlesinger is
the managing editor of Social Research and especially
enjoyed editing a piece in the fall 2011 issue in which
the author, a former warden of New College, Oxford,
noted that Williams “offers a liberal education second
to none in the world.” Well, no duh. Leila Jere wrote
from San Francisco that she randomly bumped into
Jenny Griffin as Jenny was on her way to ice skate
on a warm Indian Summer day. The next week Leila
sat next to Lindon Seed at an entrepreneurship
discussion at which Mariam Naficy was a panelist. As
a member of the Executive Committee of the Society
of Alumni, Leila also hung out in Williamstown in
September with fellow committee member Melissa
Fenton, who might have set a new record for mentions in one column.
Joel Foisy ran a half-marathon, his first-ever running race, and reported he was “still mostly able to
walk” the day after. Sumi Ports has a new position
as a job coach for developmentally disabled adults in
Putnam County, N.Y. Rayola Osanya-Nyyneque met
up with Adrena Ifill in DC in July at the International
AIDS Conference. Sara Gagnon Barbato and family
made their first trip to Disney World, which was
“exhausting from the first moment we decided to go
to the last load of laundry after unpacking, but worth
every effort.” Matt Wyskiel and wife Christy ’94 saw
Jim Higgins and family, along with Sean Culman ’89,
at an end-of-summer crab fest in Baltimore.
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Lee Schroeder attended a minireunion in Chicago
in October with Jessica Melcher Yansouni, Elise
Carson Carey, Alison Furniss Skurcenski, Laurie
Baker, and Katy Carr White. Reports Lee: “Everyone has beautiful families, ranging from Katy having
a freshman in high school to me having a 20-month
old; somehow I am always playing ‘catch-up’ in this
group of women!” Anne Platt McGinn and hubby
Joe ’89 traveled to Williamstown in September to
celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Eph crosscountry program. Remarkably, the men’s team has
had only three coaches in that entire century: Doc
Seely (1912-1934), Tony Plansky (1935-1978) and
Pete Farwell ’73 (1979-present). The only other ’91
harrier able to make it was Elise Dugundji Freidman
with hubby Robb ’93, while Anne reports that Bill
McKinley ’92 made the Plansky name proud in the
alumni race. (Bill is a Plansky via his marriage to Jen
Plansky ’92.)
Judy Conti is still living in Alexandria, Va., and
working in DC at the National Employment Law
Project. In October, Judy hosted Korey Ireland and
his wife Adeline as they were passing through DC on
their way back home to Berlin. Last summer Judy and
family vacationed on the Jersey Shore with Jennifer
DeMarrais and her two sons. Judy also reports that
she frequently sees Jessica (Baraka) Nolan and her
husband in DC and that the parents are already hoping for a double wedding between Judy’s two girls and
Jessica’s two older boys. Good luck with that!
Gretchen Piper writes that she landed a new
fundraising-consulting assignment with the YWCA
of Minneapolis. She and husband Scott live in Minnesota and “seem to have brainwashed” daughter Louise,
10, and son Sam, 9, who “can’t wait for snow.” They
better not talk to Lush. Finally Tom Morgan snuck in
right under the deadline with some news, most notably that he celebrated his 43rd birthday with Ephs including Matt Conlan, Ashley Clarey, Ashley’s hubby
Ian Gallagher ’92, Ian’s sister Amanda Gallagher
’90, and Frank Bodenchak and wife Dawn. Tom,
wife Loraine and kids Jack, 6, Ella, 5, and Reese, 3,
live on the Upper East Side, where Tom still works
for New Mountain Capital, and they frequently make
it up to their place in Williamstown.
That’s all the room we have. Please be as generous
in sending your updates to tri-secretary Ramona
Liberoff for next time. You can reach her at [email protected]. Thanks for reading, and please
enjoy the rest of your day.
1992
Heidi Sandreuter, 130 West 79th St., #11A, New York,
Hello ’92 Ephs!
Let’s start with a shout-out to Stephanie Phillips,
our outgoing class secretary, who wonderfully wove
together our ’92 adventures these past five years.
Thanks, Steph, for your time, dedication, and energy
as well as for making my transition as smooth as possible. I hope to tell our class tales with as much flair
and style and am thrilled to help sustain our connections between each other and with Williams.
OK … on with connecting… The person possibly
dealing with the most change in the past few months
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may be Abby Solomon, who married Jason Teuscher
over the summer, gave birth to Jasper Solomon
Teuscher, and made the big move across Central
Park from the east to west side of Manhattan. The
Teuschers actually landed around the corner from me
so I hope to meet little Jasper in the hood soon.
Tom Warren and his wife Beth have also added
a bundle of love to their lives in suburban Atlanta.
Eloise, 2, arrived last summer from China and joined
two older brothers, Patrick, 8, and Samuel, 3, and Dog
#2 that’s yet-to-be-named. (Finalists in the naming
contest include Milo, Hooch, Bongo, Max, Guinness,
and Captain Snowball. Votes will be collected in our
next ’92 notes.) Tom has been at the same law firm for
16 years but incredibly gets edged out in the longest92er-at-a-job category by Thomas LaPorte, who has
been at Dreamworks for 17 years. Thomas and wife
Maggie are experiencing the many joys of parenthood:
“As my kids emerge from toddlerhood, the parental
responsibilities morph significantly. We find ourselves
as drivers and coaches and music-practice enforcers
now instead of diaper-changers!” The overall longestat-the-job winner is likely Jim Ryan, who has been
at Citi down in Baltimore since graduation. I learned
this recently when the NASCAR gods worked their
Williams magic and placed Jim and me in the same
Tennessee hotel while attending the Bristol race. It’s
a very odd thing to mill around the mini-cereals and
cold eggs of a hotel breakfast and look up to see a
fellow ’92er. Odd, but wonderful just the same. Jim appropriately said, “Who knew that Williams prepared
us to be so involved in NASCAR?”
Classmates working some cool gigs include Dino
Delvaille, who is back from Copenhagen working
with his new artist Genasis, who is signed to 50 Cent’s
label. Dino also organized The Dark and Stormy Tour
with Collie Buddz and sponsored, of course, by Bermudas Goslings Black Seal Rum. Drink it up in a city
near you. “Other than that,” writes Dino, “I am the
proud father of Shiloh Monroe Delvaille, who turned
1 this past June. Best job ever.”
Managing a team responsible for driver licensing
policy and customer support for the DMV [that’s not
a typo] in Madison, Wis., is Alison Lebwohl. “One of
the high points of the job: telling people I work at the
DMV. And despite the crazy politics, I still love living
in Wisconsin,” writes Alison. This business school
grad fills her non-work time with two little boys and
three big stepkids. Theo, 5, wants to be an astronaut
when he grows up, as does his little brother George, 2.
Aside from being program head of the neuropsychology PhD sub-program in the department of
psychology, Queens College and The Graduate Center,
CUNY, Josh Brumberg claimed to have “nothing
really noteworthy” to share. We’re counting on some
noteworthiness next time, Josh.
One of the greatest jobs ever must be coaching, and
the Contes are killing it. Patty Conte is coaching high
school diving for the first time in Cheshire, Conn.
(“and loving it!”), and John Conte is coaching their
son’s basketball team for the first time this winter.
Marisa Brett-Fleegler, an attending in pediatric
emergency medicine at Children’s Hospital in Boston,
balances being a mom to Joshua, 9, Naomi, 7, and
Sonia, 3, with games of Ultimate at reunion. Writes
Marisa: “Had a blast at reunion, so much fun to see
and reconnect. I am always amazed that Williams
1991– 92
still feels like home, so many years later. (Yes, corny.)
Highlights were getting to share a house with Chip
Becker, his daughter Naomi, and my family, and, best
of all, going to the Ultimate Frisbee clinic down on
Cole field and playing an actual ultimate game with
kids as young as my 8-year-old, a bunch of current
students, up to alums from our year and beyond.” I
can’t believe more than 20 years have passed since
Marisa, Susan (Donna) Fortin, Heather (Warren)
Whitman, Jeff Aho, and I were studying in Aix-enProvence and wearing out our Eurail passes.
Karen Schroeder bravely changed directions with
her career. “After 20 years in federal consulting, I quit
my job and am now a first-year law student at George
Mason University. So far, I love it! Ask me the difference between assault and battery. (Check the next class
notes for Karen’s explanation.) I chose GMU because
I like the program (it is small and has very involved
alumni like Williams) and because the law campus is
an easy five-minute walk from my condo.
’92ers are a mobile bunch, as proven by Caroline
Smith Older, who relocated from Grand Rapids,
Mich., to the Oak Park/River Forest area of Illinois.
“We love being so close to Chicago, where we have
caught up with Williams friends Bethany McLean,
Zanna Goldblatt, and my former JA Kris Johnson
’90 and their families. For our children, Samantha,
5, and Andrew, 2, the ‘Bean’ is a highlight among
Chicago’s many cultural attractions. Now that we have
unpacked and the family is settled, I am beginning
my job search in the arts and cultural sector.” After 10
years in San Francisco, Tersh Barber moved to Seattle
with his wife Chappell, their daughter Virginia, 8, and
son Costin, 6. Tersh joined Microsoft’s retail stores
and online finance team and admitted that though
“I’m reluctantly trading fog for rain, I remain a Giants
baseball fan. Vamanos Gigantes!”
After living in Toronto for the past six years, Lora
(Verkouille) Gibbens returned to the East Coast with
her family and is thrilled to be back in Boston and
looking forward to getting back in touch with Eph
buddies in the area. Lora currently is a full-time mom
to daughter Lauren, 2, and in January planned to look
for a position in an English department of an independent school in Boston or NYC.
Eric Matson reported that Parry Graham celebrated
his arrival in Beantown by hosting a party at his new
place in Concord along with Tom Evans and Steve
and Brenda Simpson. Eric and Tom shared tales
from reunion and then rated excuses from Parry and
Steve about why they couldn’t make it. “Parry moving
to Massachusetts: legitimate. Steve attending kids’ soccer games: questionable.” Props to Eric for completing
his first sprint triathlon in September: “It was really
fun. During the swim I was the only one wearing an
old swimsuit instead of a wetsuit, and during the bike I
was the only one on a mountain bike instead of a road
bike, so I may need to upgrade my equipment if I get
more serious. (Though I’ll never get as serious as Bill
McKinley and John Staudenmayer, who have done
full Ironmans.)” That may be true, Nordic, but don’t
forget that Billy and John are cra-zy. Tomio Komatsu
returned to Asia as a senior investment officer based in
Jakarta, Indonesia, for International Finance Corp., a
member of the World Bank Group.
Holly Hedeman Lovvik visited her old hometown
of San Francisco in June and admitted, “I still miss
that place.” Holly hung out with Candace Kelly
and likely went clubbing in the Tenderloin, because
that’s how these gals roll. A few years ago Holly and
husband Paul moved to New Hampshire, where they
now balance daughter Olive, two dogs, and two fulltime jobs. This past fall treated the Lovviks to some
drop-bys from folks like Wole Coaxum. “With Exeter
Academy just five minutes down the road from where
we live, we make a convenient stop for Exeter alum,”
writes Holly. When not rising up the JP Morgan
ladder, Wole is in Larchmont, N.Y., with his wife and
daughters Quinn, 7, and Avery, 3. Or maybe he’s at
the golf course… “I’m working on improving my golf
game but have a long way to go,” he says.
Cherie (Macauley) Weldon had the great fortune
of attending two Williams reunions last year: “First,
our 20th, of course, and then, the 100th anniversary of
Williams cross-country running (for men, of course,
but 37th for women!). Among the hundreds of alumni
runners to return for a race in the Purple Mountains
were Sue (Donna) Fortin, Katie Queeney, Cindy
Mundy, Bill McKinley, Brendan Kearse, Gwen
Nagy-Benson and Molly (Martin) Vreeland. Naturally, we toasted our ability to actually finish the race
with a trip to the Pub.”
Props to classmates who make the extra effort to
stay connected. Case in point: Tim Snider, vintner
extraordinaire at Fess Parker in California, met up
with Dave Brule and Naeem Ali in Columbus, Ohio,
last fall to watch the Cal Golden Bears play Ohio State
football in the “horseshoe.” Tim writes, “It was a fun
weekend of golf, an entertaining game (even though
Cal lost by 7 in the end), and lots of good food and
wine. It was great to get caught up with Naeem’s wife
Kelly, whom we haven’t seen since their wedding, and
the rest of his family. Dr. Ali was a gracious host, and
we’re motivated to turn this into an annual event.”
In nuptial news, Eric Verby is engaged to Jessica
Ng, a UC Berkeley microbiology graduate. “We’re
scheduled to be married Sept. 7, 2013 (my 44th
birthday) in Berkeley.” Eric works for Jews for Jesus
in San Francisco doing street evangelism at AT&T
Park when the Giants are in town … a smart place to
evangelize since those baseball fans have seen proof of
some higher power.
On to our Wally World installment of family trips…
Kelly McCracken, her husband Mike, and their two
daughters, Edie, 8, and Lean, 5, were in DC to mark
Mike’s grandfather’s burial at Arlington Memorial
Cemetery. “We’re all feeling really proud to attend this
ceremony.” They visited the Smithsonian and nearby
memorials as well as broke some bread with Owen
and Heather Wilcox and Bill Barbot ’90. In August,
Andrew Perry (currently working as a math professor
at Springfield College) took a 2,500-mile car and train
trip with his wife Sara, daughter Rachel, 10, and son
George, 7. In DC they visited Peter Frechtel (a statistician at RTI Int’l.), his wife Michelle, son Ben, 5, and
newborn daughter Leah. In St. Louis they visited Chris
Cox (getting his math PhD at Washington Univ.-St.
Louis) and watched the epic 19-inning St. Louis Cardinals game on Aug. 19. Now that’s a lot of brainpower
in a seventh- (and 14th-) inning stretch.
Do you want to hear a really good road story? Well,
Eric “still rockin’” Kaye has not been able to generate one despite doing a bit of touring with his band
the Mickey Finns. “Other than getting to eat in new
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restaurants (amazing Kansas City BBQ) and catching
up with old friends, the road isn’t as crazy when
you’re 42 with two kids at home as it is when you’re
25 and single. Sadly, no wild tales of Almost Famouslike debauchery. I’ll try to come up with a better road
story for the next issue.” Eric did manage a most
excellent result when playing in Columbus, Ohio,
in front of Naeem Ali, who promised to make the
Vertigo “gettin’ back together” tour happen for our
25th reunion. Jim Scott sang with the Philadelphia
Pops Holiday Chorus this past holiday season. “The
chorus is comprised of 130 amateur and professional
singers from the greater Philadelphia/Southern New
Jersey area. As a hack singer whose most significant
singing credit is as a member of the Springstreeters,
I am honored to be a part of this—a true ‘bucket list’
opportunity!”
Toby Miller returned to NYC after spending a good
part of the summer in Northern California performing the lead in a production of The 39 Steps at the
Sierra Repertory Theater. Between performances,
Toby was able to see a few of Camille Utterback’s
“splendid public artworks in San Francisco and to
BART over to Oakland with Mark Sutton to watch
the other Hell’s Angels pummel my beloved A’s (go
Green and Gold).” Toby also mentioned “a short
film I did is *supposed* to come out soon, but heaven
knows when that’s actually going to happen.”
Cyndi Cass and Larry Skowronek are enjoying
life in Decatur, Ga., with three kids and all of their
pets (guinea pigs, dogs, cats, fish, and chickens, oh
my). Larry works in the software industry, while
Cyndi chases the kids and pets around with some
meaningful volunteer work mixed in. They see Jennie
Knight, who also lives in Atlanta, teaches religion,
and leads workshops on education and spiritual direction. She also does book-signings for her first book,
Feminist Mysticism and Images of God. Joining the
author ranks, Kerr Houston published his first book,
An Introduction to Art Criticism. He continues to enjoy
teaching a variety of subjects at MICA in Baltimore
and is planning to take a group of students to the
Venice Biennale this summer.
Susan Snyder moved to another Boston suburb.
I’m not sure where exactly, because she was very
stingy with scoop. “The most I’ve got for you is that
Valerie Roche, Erika (Breiseth) Brockman, Emily
Heumann and I are meeting for a girls’ weekend in
Miami Beach. Are we so Miami Beach or what?!”
I crashed the Milliken family vacation last summer,
which meant I hiked through the Collegiates in Colorado with Ashley Edgar Milliken, Peter Milliken
’90, and their amazing daughters, Perrin, 12, and
Carly, 10. It was a blast … and going to bed by 8 p.m.
was the cherry on top. By the time these notes hit,
Ashley and her clan will be in Taipei for four months
and then travel though mainland China for a few
more months. Writes Ashley, “We’ll all be studying
Mandarin, and Peter and I will homeschool the girls.
If folks are living in Taipei or China, give a shout!”
And Bob Riley is still rockin’ the biggest Little
Rock in Arkansas.
Thanks to everyone who submitted news. Brumberg, you’re up next time, buddy .—Heidi
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1993
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Chad Orzel, 1570 Regent St., Niskayuna, NY 12309;
[email protected]
One of the things that never ceases to amaze me
about this job is how often weird chance comes into
play. For example, back in July, I was headed out to
Oregon for a golf weekend with Andy “MC” Lee—
we played 85 holes in three days, which beat my total
for the previous three years combined—and while
waiting to board my flight from Chicago to Portland,
I ran into Kate Sharkey, who was on the same plane,
headed home to the West Coast. Also originating
in a Chicago airport, Elizabeth Johnson Hibner
writes that she was watching the Chicago news in the
aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and happened to catch
Luke Shullenberger being interviewed in O’Hare.
Luke and his family had been trapped in Chicago by
airport closures, and he was dealing with it more or
less as you would expect: by renting a car to drive the
rest of the way home to Vermont. (Luke confirms that
it was he, and that the drive along Lake Erie in 60
mph winds was fairly exciting.) And there are even
more fleeting chance encounters. On election night,
I was somewhat boggled to learn that a guy I played
rugby with (Chris Murphy ’96, a frosh when we were
seniors) has just been elected a U.S. senator, and while
groggy from staying up way too late watching election
returns, I ran across a Huffington Post article on sleep
strategies by Camille Preston (useful information, as
we have a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old, so sleep is hard
to come by these days).
The best chance encounter story, though, comes
from Holly Bernstein, who reports that shortly after
a new family moved in, one of her new neighbors
said, “My husband thinks he went to Williams with
you.” He turned out to be John Welch ’95, who
lived downstairs from Holly in Morgan, and who she
hadn’t seen since 1990. John’s an MD/PhD doing
research on leukemia, now working at Washington
University in St. Louis. It’s a small world (apologies
to any parents who have just gotten that Disney song
stuck in their heads for the next 18 hours…).
The biggest story of the fall was, of course, the
aforementioned Hurricane Sandy, which cut a swath
through the East Coast and messed up the weather
all the way up to Toronto. Lots of classmates were
adversely affected. Steve Possick was without power
for several days in Connecticut, as were Brad (Sharp)
and Kate Nicholson in New Jersey and Ethan Zuckerman and Rachel Barenblatt ’95 in Lanesborough,
Mass. The storm passed south and west of us, for
the most part, so I mostly experienced it through the
weird immediate-yet-distant world of social media—
learning via Facebook that a tree fell on Damon
Hemmendinger’s house, or that Paul Minnefor was
waiting hours for gas in New Jersey. Unsurprisingly,
the people who have been able to check in via those
channels are basically OK; we hope that all the many
others in the path of the storm made it through.
A few years back Pete Kirkwood helped found a
volunteer-based relief organization, All Hands Volunteers, and was putting together some relief efforts
in the aftermath of Sandy. Claire Benson-Mandl
wrote to remind me that the hurricane overshadowed
a big earthquake in British Columbia, which both she
1992– 94
and Chris Gondek made it through all right. Claire
also noted that her daughter started pre-school at the
school where Claire’s wife Natalie teaches, thus freeing her from pick-up and drop-off duty for the next
14-odd years, which makes me extremely jealous…
Also, having mentioned getting information from
Facebook, I enjoyed the pictures of Pittsfield police
chief Mike Wynn walking in high-heeled shoes for a
charity fundraiser. As there are days when I can barely manage to walk in sneakers, I’m very impressed.
Mike Lapin checked in from Seattle, where he’s
plugging along at Phillips Healthcare and coaching his
kids in soccer. Pan Wendt is an art curator in Canada,
married with three kids, and still occasionally hears
from Salvatore Salamone (Fayerweather 3, represent!) and Kristie French. Kevin Weng’s still making
me jealous of his research projects on tropical reefs in
the Pacific and celebrated the graduation of his first
grad student (a significant milestone for an academic).
Sharon Crary writes in between grading papers from
her students at DePauw to note that she ran an event
in NYC for Social Promise, a nonprofit she founded
to support health and education in Uganda (where,
coincidentally, a few of my own former students have
done nonprofit work). The not-previously-appearingin-these-pages Chuck Roth didn’t provide any actual
news but did email to call me a “tant,” in case you
were missing ancient slang. And Eric Jacobsen makes
me feel old by reporting on a visit to Williamstown
with his daughter, a senior in high school. (She was
too much a city dweller to appreciate the Purple Valley, but Eric says it felt like coming home.)
Of course, we can’t really be old as long as members
of the class are still having kids (as opposed to grandkids), and Carin DeMayo-Wall has saved us all from
decrepitude for this edition of the class notes, celebrating the birth of a daughter, Arden Beverly Wall, in
August. Carin and husband John Wall recently moved
back to Williamstown, where they have run into a
number of classmates, including Jen Raney Harris
and Stephen Grimm. Which brings this edition
back to the “chance encounter” thing, which is close
enough to full circle for me to stop here.
Of course, we can’t just end there. This is the
antepenultimate edition of the class notes for me, as
we have a reunion coming up in June, which many
people mentioned eagerly anticipating. Of course,
we can’t just have a reunion without being hit up for
money, so I’ve been asked to remind you to donate to
the special 20th reunion campaign and to offer hearty
thanks to those who have already contributed. Also, if
you’re into social media (which figured so prominently earlier in this entry), you can join the class
group on Facebook, and if you’re interested in helping
plan the reunion, contact Brian Foster (brian.foster@
tuck2000.com). And, as always, if you have news to
report, send it to me at [email protected].
1994
Elizabeth Randolph Rappaport, 9 Killington St.,
Chappaqua, NY 10514; [email protected]
Dear classmates, I hope you survived Hurricane
Sandy with your homes and cars and lives intact.
I live in Westchester County in New York, where
there were hundreds of downed power lines, huge
trees bursting through people’s roofs, and broken cars
galore. NYC, where I work, was dark downtown and
business as usual uptown.
Thank you all for writing in to report your news.
The fall brought news of our creeping up in age—
many of us have now turned 40—but also still plenty
of new babies, evidence of our youthful exuberance.
Kerry (Davenport) Fitzgerald and her husband
Kevin had their third child, Ryan Clay, in May. Ryan
has a sister, Katie, 5, and a brother, Jack, 2.
Susan Vaill, who still has the glamorous Hollywood gig of being an editor and director of the
TV show Grey’s Anatomy, gave birth in September
to Everly Clementine and was on maternity leave in
the fall. She and Star Hampton wrote in about a prebaby girl’s weekend they spent with Amanda Oberg
in Chicago in May. They ate well, “dusted off the
cobwebs of Art History 101 brain cells,” and toured
the architectural gems of the city. They also “never
stopped talking,” Star writes. Star is still in Providence, R.I., working as a urogynecologist
Nicole (Vennell) Roberts wrote for the first time
in a while. Nicole has two daughters, Michaela, 3½,
and Clara, 10 months; she describes both as “delightful, energetic, and inspiring.”
But Nicole writes in with unpleasant news as well.
She is fighting colon cancer for the second time and as
of September had suffered through chemotherapy for
six months. Nicole says her prognosis is positive, but
she’s on a rough road. She writes, “Hug the ones you
love. … And get ready for your colonoscopies in 10
years.” Nicole, I know all of us ’94s share in wishing
you only the best and a speedy recovery.
Leslie (Gray) Patterson reports that the past year
has been her most exciting yet. She got married in
July to Greg, and they toured and cruised around
Alaska before moving to their new home in Stow,
Mass. Anim Steel, Stacey (Gunthorpe) Reynosa,
Julia Gemma DiFilippo, and Janet Bertucci-Lynch
attended Leslie’s wedding. In April they became
parents of twin baby boys, Corbin Garrett and Cooper
Allan. Leslie has been a housemaster at LincolnSudbury Regional High School for 12 years.
Jane McAdams sent her first update to class notes
to let us know she’s been living in Chicago, where she
runs her own freelance editing business, Beaumont
Hardy Editing. She can do her work from wherever
because it is all based online, and Jane has been on
the move. With her 15-year-old nephew, Jane walked
the nearly 500-mile Camino de Santiago. That means
she walked across Spain—from St. Jean Pied de
Port, which is on the border of France, to Santiago
de Compostela. She and her nephew met “charming
people, ate a lot of octopus, and became connoisseurs
of one-star pensions.” Jane arrived in Santiago the day
Spain won the EuroCup and ended her trip with a
massive party.
Allyson Hightower ended the summer by spending
eight days at the U.S. Open, after which she started
graduate school. Allyson is working toward a dual
degree in education and social work in the infant and
family development and intervention program with
Bank Street and Hunter College School of Social
Work. Allyson reports that helping troubled kids is a
new field for her, but she’s excited to pursue the path.
Now for the 40th birthday parties. In a feat of
exquisite schedule coordination, Peggy (Drucker)
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Headstrom, Amanda (Turner) Phillips, Melissa
(Braisted) Nordquist, Amy Minnick, Amelia (Patterson) Fox, Christy (Williams) Wyskiel, Susan
(Wood) Waesco, Sarah (Davidson) Richmond,
Cory (Wickwire) Halaby, Kara (Berklich) Weber,
and Genny (Mann) Morris gathered in Paris to celebrate turning 40. The friends spent a week “catching
up, eating, drinking, shopping, laughing, and taking
in the sights.” It turns out “I never” is more fun with
French wine than the Beast in a plastic keg cup, Peggy
writes. The group claims to have “matured,” but they
allegedly wound up involved in a number of “shenanigans,” including being kicked off the train, harassing
a Kiwi bike tour guide, and fraudulently conveying
museum passes. Peggy says they reminisced about
their “days at Poker Flats, Mission, Blue House, Beer
Practice, Greylock and the Quad.”
Peggy says the gang is already planning for a 45th
celebration. … Can I come?
Elizabeth (Culpepper) Allan celebrated turning 40
with Hillary Twining and Heather Curnutt and their
husbands in North Carolina. Elizabeth’s husband surprised her with the guest appearances. Kari (Larsen)
Bilik and Heather (Moore) Wood attempted to join
but were thwarted by bad weather.
Elizabeth and her husband also have twins, Sophie
and Gryffin. They turned 1 year old in September.
Maria (Whitehorn) Votsch wrote to say her
spouse, along with the spouses of Colin Sellar, Kathy
(Alprin) Stowe, and Emily (Sprong) Suiter, organized a gathering to celebrate turning 40 in Boothbay
Harbor, Maine. “I still can’t believe the co-conspiring
spouses pulled it off,” writes Maria.
Happy birthday to all! Keep the updates coming.
Best, Liz.
1995
Anamaria Villamarin-Lupin, 535 Arabella St., New
Orleans, LA 70115; Nancy O’Brien Wagner, 1049 Linwood
Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55105; [email protected]
Dear classmates, something has shifted in the
last few months for us. A few brave comrades have
ventured across the frontier of their 40th birthdays,
and the accounts they are sending are suspiciously
positive. Things aren’t so bad, apparently. And with
four decades under our belts (and hips and jowls)
there appears to be some wisdom forming. Or at least
a bit more common sense.
First off, the baby report: Michael Ebert and
his wife Andie adopted a beautiful baby daughter.
Penelope Jane Ebert was born on May 29. Michael
reports, “Penny’s a pure delight, and she seems to be
taking quite kindly to her daily mandatory lessons in
jazz appreciation.” I can attest that P.J. is as cute as her
father states.
Chris Hagy and his wife Jenny welcomed their
firstborn on Oct. 15. Hannah Maribel Hagy was 9 lbs,
8 oz. Chris managed to send this news in just 24 hours
after the birth!
Brenna C. McDonald and her husband Sean McGann had their first child, Saoirse Megan McDonald
McGann, on Sept. 10. Little Saoirse (SEER-shuh)
arrived promptly on her due date, and Brenna says
the first order of business will be teaching her to spell
her name. Brenna is still working at Indiana Univer90
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sity School of Medicine and has an impressive string
of abbreviations following her name: PsyD, MBA,
ABPP/CN. She told me what that means, but I swore
to keep her secret.
Nina Young announced the birth of Augustine
Young Leadem on June 18. She was planning a clever
boxing costume for Halloween and writes that she is
teaching a little and still photographing, though her
attention has shifted from landscapes to Augustine
right now. Her work is at http://ninasyoung.com.
In Seattle, Amanda Kaplan and her husband Jeff
Truess welcomed their first child, daughter Sydney
Beth Truess. Amanda writes she “has been enjoying becoming a family of three (though my two
cats might say different). It’s also been great getting
parenting advice from Anamaria Villamarin-Lupin,
Emily Sterne, and Sarah Brill on the transition to
mommy-hood and was super sharing pregnancy tips
with Michele Kang Fagan since our girls were born
only a few months apart. Who knows, maybe they’ll
be Williams classmates someday!”
Rob Ruckman proudly writes from Manhattan,
“My amazing wife Stephanie and I welcomed our
first child into the world on Oct 7. Campbell Elliott
burst onto the scene (really fast labor) weighing 7
pounds, 4 ounces and was 19.75 inches long and, most
importantly, healthy as can be. I couldn’t be happier
learning the ropes of fatherhood.”
Elizabeth (Martin) Richards announced the birth
of baby number four, Henry Thomson, in June,
joining big sisters Lillie and Sophie and big brother
Mark. Liz is still living in Brattleboro, where she is a
pediatrician, and Pete works in his family insurance
business. Liz keeps up with Cory Nohl and his wife
Sarah a lot, as they now live and work in Brattleboro.
She also got a chance to catch up with the Becky and
Bobby Walker family in July and then Katie (Low)
Owsley and her family for a weekend on Nantucket
in August. In late September she ventured back to
Williamstown for a football game with Bart Ronan,
his wife Colleen and adorable daughter Greta. Teddy
Welsh is singing a lot (always with plenty of help)
and chairing his campus’ equivalent of a faculty
senate. He ran and survived his first marathon, the
Mount Desert Island/Bar Harbor.
Amy and John Lieb write that John is still teaching
and coaching at Roxbury Latin and has stepped into
the role of math department chair. John enjoys his
work and is using it as the topic of his master’s thesis
this year. Amy is now working as an independent,
solo strategy consultant helping Boston-area nonprofits create visions and strategies for increasing their
impact. Amy says, “I love the flexibility operating on
my own has given me. I only do the really fun stuff
and have none of the routine admin work that comes
with being an employee. Our girls are now ages 7
and 5; both go to the local elementary school here in
Boston, which all of us love. John and I are plotting a
trip to Barcelona without the kids in 2013 to celebrate
our 40th birthdays.”
Lisa (Masterman) Michaud: “I had an absolutely
fantastic summer traveling with my family, including
seeing both of my senior-year Fitch House suitemates:
Stina Bridgeman in New York, who hosted us for a
night during the Great Two-Week Road Trip, and Flo
Waldron, who was visiting her mom in Connecticut
with toddler Micaela and new baby Susanna. Now
1994– 95
I’m back into the academic year and not having
nearly as much fun or getting as much sleep. I think I
get as much sleep during the semester in this job as I
did when my babies were little!”
Eric Roiter sends an update that needs to be read
three times to fully appreciate. His triplets are 8 years
old and “probably doing all the things everyone else’s
kids are doing, just at the same time. Other than that,
business as usual, except we just welcomed a Labradoodle named Stanley to our family.”
Mark de Kanter and his wife bought a house in
Williamstown and spent most of last summer there.
“We are both boarding school teachers, so an escape
from campus to the Purple Valley is a welcome haven.
We would love to connect with any ’95ers who make
it back to Williamstown next summer! I see Beth
Wheeler Krasenman frequently, because we both
coach XC and like to bring our teams to the same local
parks. Other than that, I am still teaching science and
spending as much time with my children, Emmett, 11,
and Samantha, 8, while they are still happy to have
me nearby.”
Christina Royal sends in this big news: After
a number of years working for lots of wonderful
companies (PwC, Sharp, J. Crew, McKesson Corp.,
Microsoft, Ernst & Young, etc.), she decided to hang
her own shingle and branch out on her own. “I started
ROYAL Strategic Management in 2010, and I am
proud to say that we have hit the ground running. We
provide information technology and business strategy
consulting to Fortune 500 as well as mid-sized
businesses (and everything in between, of course!).
Our industry experience includes high tech, retail,
hospitality, advertising, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, and consumer-packaged goods. Our mission is
to solve complex business and technology problems
using straightforward, simple, and honest solutions.”
Christina adds, “Aside from that, I’m also preparing to
launch a nonprofit focused on public school nutrition
in the community where I live (Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brooklyn). … Things are good. I can’t complain.”
Colston Young has made a big shift, too. “I had
been working in San Francisco as a technology investment banker for the past seven years but moved … to
Des Moines, Iowa, and have founded a new nonprofit
organization called the Big Middle Alliance, which
is focused on trying to end the frustrating gridlock
in Congress. It’s an audacious mission, but I’m really
excited about the work. If people want to end the
gridlock in Congress (who doesn’t?) and want to learn
more about what I’m doing, they can check out the
organization’s website at www.bigmiddle.org.”
Tony Qaiyum was able to spend some time in
September with Cory Nohl and John Ruder, who
both came into Chicago for Tony’s younger brother’s
wedding. “We were able to dance and party the night
away at the reception. We were also able to spend
family time together, as the Ruders (Kate Ruder is
Brett Dalke’s little sister) joined the day-after-thewedding bowling party. Our girls, Saffron and Nola,
enjoyed hanging with Wes and Quinn Ruder.”
Gillian (Robertson) Molesworth-St. Aubyn writes
that she and Annie (Weisman) Macomber braved
planes, trains, and automobiles for a brief but fulfilling
encounter at the Boston Children’s Museum. Pizzas
were consumed, bubbles were blown, and years were
summarized in between the interactive ball room and
the Arthur display. Gillian, Sophie, 9, and Freddy, 8,
also enjoyed an annual summer pool party with John
Werwaiss and his wife Rosi, with Luke, rising 4,
and Dylan, 1½. “When rain stopped play, we played
in the rain before retiring inside for goldfish and
popsicles. All looking well. Children adorable.” Annie
adds that her daughters Caroline, 4, and Dorothy, 1,
were there, too, and they’re also adorable. She notes
that she can confirm the adorableness of John and
Rosi’s children, based on a May playdate. The Werwaiss kids apparently “schooled Annie’s LA girls in
the tougher ways of Manhattan playgrounds.”
In January 2011 Rachel Levinson joined the Brennan Center for Justice in its DC office as an attorney
in its liberty and national security program, doing
civil liberties and national security work. “I love it.
Most of the rest of my time is taken up with Sarah,
who’s super active and hilarious at 15-ish months.
And in the spring we were lucky enough to get a visit
from Archana (Unni) Tamoshunas, her husband
Mark, and their gorgeous daughter Nina. And I’ve
gotten to see Nina Pearlman and Neel Gandhi (and
his wife Sarita and their beautiful kids Sahil and
Ashima) when I’ve been in NY for work.”
Jonathan Eades was selected by my high school,
Fort Worth Country Day, as Distinguished Alumnus. “A heck of a humbling surprise!” Maria (Suro)
Leach claims that “life is very boring around here,”
then explains that she is living in Japan while her
husband serves aboard the USS Germantown. She’s
holding down the fort and raising her two kids. Hard
to believe, Maria! Becca Doucette is now a military
Arabic language instructor at the Defense Language
Institute in Monterey, Calif.
Sheri Esteban-Elie and her husband still live in the
Binghamton, N.Y., area with their three kids (ages 9,
almost 8, and 5½). She works part time as psychologist for the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, and her youngest is in kindergarten
now, so she has one day completely off each week.
“I keep having this nagging feeling that I have either
misplaced a child or forgot to go to work. Luckily
I’m working through that anxiety, and right now I’m
enjoying sitting in a quiet house writing this email
without multiple child-related interruptions. Yeah, I
think I can get used to this.”
Anamaria Villamarin-Lupin returned to the Purple
Valley in September and got all verklempt at the sight
of the Williamstown sign at the top of Spring St. “It
gets me every time.” She also got to enjoy some quality time with Sarah Brill and serendipitously bumped
into John Fagan and Michelle Kang. Upon her
return home via Boston, she spent more quality time
with Emily (Sterne) Schebesta and Sue (Le Page)
Wintner. She arrived at home with an elevated sense
of purpose as an Eph alumna and has busied herself
planning activities for her local alumni association,
of which she is co-president. She says: “Williams has
enriched my life in so many ways, and it thrills me to
foster a sense of connectedness in our small community of alums.”
Florence Mae Waldron is busy with her two girls.
Susie, 6 months, has just started solids and has been
enthusiastically feeding herself from Day One, while
Caela, 2½, still loves being a big sister. In August, Flo
was named chair of the board of a local adult learning program, Heritage & Horizons. She managed to
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pull together the keynote address on adult learning
for the fall symposium while keeping the toddlers at
bay. “My most regular Eph sighting these days is still
Keely Maxwell ’93. She and I are part of a small
circle of friends in the Lancaster area who swap baby
gear and get our kids together for play dates.”
As for myself, I am putting the spice into the sandwich generation. Between busting Momma outta the
big house and launching my youngest into preschool,
I am re-discovering fun. I had a fabulous weekend
with Julie Broehl Hesse, who is just as funny, beautiful, and kind as she was at college. We enjoyed a great
massage, a terrible opera, and a lot of laughs. Maybe
this mature thing isn’t so bad after all.
1996
Lesley Whitcomb Fierst, 245 Dale Drive, Silver Spring,
MD 20910; [email protected]
I can’t turn on the TV these days without being
inundated by political ads. And I am pretty sure I
am getting more text messages than the kids on Glee.
So let’s start with news from the battleground states.
Comforted after receiving tenure at Colorado State
last summer, Amy Prieto and her husband were able
to settle down a little bit and enjoy themselves. “We
celebrated by going camping for a week with Michael
Miller and Nzinga Kone ’97. Nothing like four adults,
two 4-year-olds, and a 14-month-old in a one-room
cabin.” Wow.
Tanya (Gogolak) Cote wrote, “Things are well
here in Denver. We have already had snow! Busy with
three in soccer and oldest Ryan prepping for a tournament in Vegas at the end of the month. Hoping to get
back East again next summer to DC and Boston.”
And Todd Poret wrote, “I am doing well up here
in New Hampshire. My daughter Zoe’s 3rd birthday
tomorrow is probably the biggest excitement for me
and my family right now. In my professional life, I
continue to work at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth, clinically as a pediatrician and educationally
with both residents and medical students. I stepped
down this year from my position as director of
medical student education in pediatrics for the Geisel
School of Medicine (formerly known as Dartmouth
Medical School) in order to get more heavily involved
in a major curricular redesign the medical school is
undertaking. I am the pediatric representative to a
working group focused on integrating patient care
through the entire four years of medical school. …
I had a great weekend visit with Tom Rogers, Gist
Croft, and Gist’s family.” Todd was “looking forward
to seeing Wendy Morris, Dan Josefson (formerly
Ionescu), and possibly Levi Sokol at our 20th year
high school reunion in NYC,” and he was “anticipating a visit from Mike Keim and his family in November. I hope everyone is doing well out there!”
Sean Ladley got married on May 5 in Asheville,
N.C. Sean reported that he and his wife Stephanie
“had a blast with all our friends and family and now
both happily reside in our new home in Charlotte.”
Also in North Carolina, Elizabeth Waugh wrote
with big news: “I am engaged! My fiancé is named
Tom Duford. He is originally from Brockton, Mass.,
and attended UMass-Dartmouth for his engineering
degree. Turns out engineering didn’t stick as a career,
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l
and he is now a police officer here in NC. We haven’t
set a date for the wedding yet and are just enjoying being engaged! With my two daughters (Callie, 3½, and
Stella Rose, 6) and his two kids (a son, 7, and a daughter, 5), we have a totally full house, but it’s a lot of fun,
and we are looking forward to officially blending our
crazy families together! I enjoyed a mini-Williams C
reunion in July in Syracuse, at the home of Tiffany
Steinwert, her partner Josh Arrowood, and their sons
Grady, 3, and Henry, 7 months, during that visit! Lisa
Howard and her daughter Nina, 2, also joined us.
This has become an annual summer tradition, and it’s
so lovely to watch our kids grow up together.” When
she wrote, Elizabeth was “headed up to Charlottesville
… to visit with Jen Rubenstein and her baby Zora
Raye, who was born in April.” The two planned to
“take in an Avett Brothers concert, so it should be a
great weekend all around!”
And before we leave the battleground states, I would
be remiss if I did not send a special shout-out to the
classmate undoubtedly most intimately familiar with
election battles during this election cycle—the newest
senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy. Congrats
to Chris!
Ann Dillemuth bought a condo in Chicago, “which
was a lengthy but exciting process, and last month
went to Zach Cook’s housewarming party for his
new townhouse, which he and his partner Karen just
bought. Ephs putting down roots in the Windy City!”
Also in Chicago, Alex Montgomery wrote, “On June
20, my daughter Zoe Katherine Joy was born, and I
officially became her mother (through adoption) on
June 25. I was there for the birth and took her home
from the hospital. She is beautiful and sweet; I feel so
lucky.”
From Duxbury, Mass., Robin (Keller) Elliott
shared the exciting news of the arrival of her fourth,
James Ryder Elliott, on Sept. 28. Robin wrote, “I have
quickly adapted to a few segments of sleep throughout
the night. Someone asked Ben about his new baby
brother, and he said, ‘He is nocturnal, you know.’ Big
brothers Charlie, Nathan, and Ben have been great
with James … and it is really fun to see their quiet,
nurturing sides, since I am usually witnessing their
loud, active sides!”
On Sept. 20, I got an email from Massachusetts
resident Meg Barber with the news of the Sept. 12
birth of her son Jesse Theodore Bate. Meg wrote,
“He’s awesome.” I am pretty sure that eight days after
my daughter was born, she was either a) clinging to
me, preventing me from typing, talking on the phone
or even breathing loudly, or b) unreservedly depriving
me of sleep, so that any emails I actually got to send
would have been incomprehensible to the recipient. (I
think I may have actually sent money to that Nigerian
prince in the first week after my daughter was born.)
So Meg, your son does sound awesome to give you the
space to send in your exciting news!
Karen (Robinson) Coyle and her husband John
were at a Patriots game in the fall and ran into Sean
Daugherty. Karen summed it up well: “Big parking
lot. Small world!” Peter Everett and his wife Veronica
decided to move back up to New England to be closer
to family and their daughter Anna’s grandparents.
“After looking at a variety of places we ended up, of
all places, in Amherst. So far, I have not received any
letters from the Williams alumni office indicating
1995– 96
that my membership has been revoked, and I’m really
looking forward to being able to see the WilliamsAmherst games in person (and to seeing any Ephs
who want to make the journey out here!). I’ve joined a
pediatric practice … in Northampton, and we’ve had
a great time exploring the area and being back in New
England.”
Out West, Molly (Kelleher) Myers welcomed
Grace Elizabeth Myers on July 1. She also visited her
family in DC, where she squeezed in time with Lydia
(Vermilye) Weiss and Lydia’s kids, Rex and Eliza.
Ron Chowdhury’s submission got me laughing
from the get-go: “Going to sit down and write you
now, before I put this on my to-do list of Doom,
where necessary tasks go to die. Things are good here
in LA. Ada is now 20 months. Her current favorite
words are ‘bike,’ ‘owie,’ ‘mine,’ and a very dramatic
‘oh, no!’ (Sometimes she holds her head in her hands
Home Alone-style when she says the last one.) She
has stopped sitting on the dog. I’m still spending my
days hanging out with people in prison and getting
condescended to by prosecutors—and still loving
every minute.”
Ron continues, “We were just up in the Bay Area,
where Chan (U.C. Berkeley ’96) bought Ada a stuffed
Oski and a bunch of Cal gear at the student union and
began the indoctrination process in earnest. (I need to
get some stuffed purple cows, ASAP.) While up that
way, we saw Lana Choi and her husband Kurt Decko
at their place in S.F. Lana made her famous French
toast, and Lana and Kurt’s son Andrew, 2½, and Ada
had a good time throwing themselves on the ground
together and yelling ‘oh, no!’ (I think it might be some
kind of earthquake-preparedness thing they teach the
kids here in CA.)”
Ron sees Matt McGough ’97 “just about every
Sunday,” when they play on the same soccer team and
“help ensure that our team maintains its position in
last place in the L.A. Municipal Rec League.” José
Márquez ’95 lives down the street from Ron in Eagle
Rock with his wife Ana and son Iñaki, 8 months. And
Eva Flodstrom ’97, her husband Dylan and son Sol,
11 months, live a “long 24 miles (and two climate
zones) away out in Venice. We both do manage to
make the trans-LA trek and see each other now and
then, mostly for major life events.”
In April Ron and his family visited Ted Park, his
wife Simi, and daughter Navia, 9 months, at their
home in Beacon Hill in April. While in Boston, they
also saw Sophia Kim. And on the same “East Coast
listening tour,” they saw Amaranta Viera, Alain
Cunqueiro, and Alain’s wife Allie in Brooklyn. “All
are doing well and looking smashing.”
In May, Ron was in Atlanta for work and “had a
chance to pop in on” Tom Rogers, his wife Hannah,
and daughters Dinah and Juno. “They have a pool!”
Ron concludes, “And going way back to last fall,
we had a really nice stay with Matt Abrahams and
Tania Shaw and their sons Owen and Eli up at their
place in Portland. Matt took me on one of those long
trail runs through the woods outside of Portland that
you’ve read about before in these pages. From what I
can tell from my reading of these updates, it’s a thing
Matt does with all visitors. I think it’s some kind of
weeding-out process. Matt’s run wiped me out so
completely that at the end I threw myself down on the
ground and cried ‘oh, no!’ I consoled myself later with
some Robitussin Voodoo Donuts (real thing).”
Zack Wiseman is in his fourth year of teaching
engineering at Catonsville High School, just outside
Baltimore. Zack is studying to earn his PhD in education while coaching and working with the Gates
Foundation on national educational issues. Anna
(Cederberg) Heard wrote, “We’re starting to look
for pre-school options for our oldest. Here in DC it’s
a confusing, intensive, slightly annoying process. You
apply for and prioritize any number of regular public
schools, separately apply to each public charter school
you’re interested in, and then you can consider any
number of private options. Our youngest is giving us a
run for our money, but he’s becoming more and more
fun each day. I’m starting to do a little consulting
work for the World Bank, which is interesting and
nice to get my feet wet again.”
In June, Alexis Gilman was promoted to deputy
assistant director of the mergers IV division of the
Federal Trade Commission. “Basically, my group
investigates hospital mergers and mergers in other
industries. It’s a great group of people, and I’m enjoying the move from private practice two years ago.
And last, but not least, our first child, Anson, [turned]
1 in November. The year has flown by in a blur of
exhausting and (usually) fun days.”
Just across the Potomac River in Virginia, Ana
Maria (Zavala) Kozuch, her husband Tony, and big
siblings Anthony and Clara were joined by Matthew
Francis Kozuch on Oct. 1. Ana reported that the family of five was doing great and enjoying settling in at
home together.
Check this out: Julie Weed even has her own news
column title. “News of the Wee(ir)d:” I have just
started my 12th year teaching middle school, and I
think I have just hit my wall for understanding the
hormonally-challenged 12-year-old. Seriously, nothing they do makes sense anymore. However, I HAVE
finely honed my debate skills on the ‘Who would
beat the other: Wolverine or Superman?’ argument,
but that’s from practicing with the other teachers. I’m
also getting involved with a new nonprofit organization for the LGBTQ community in Charlottesville.
We just hosted C’ville’s first Pride event, and it was a
big success, even though only one person dressed for
the occasion in their underwear. (Well, ONLY their
underwear, anyway.) According to an expert in such
matters, Charlottesville isn’t conservative, just lazy.
And finally, I have realized a dream and gotten a Prius
to drive around in. Apparently, the secret to great
gas mileage is to go super slow, as 30 mph is all I can
manage while watching all of those screens. I’m pretty
sure that I’m getting good practice for old age, what
with the slow driving and the walking back and forth
to unlock the door with my ‘smart’ key. Needless to
say, I do not have a ‘smart’ phone, so don’t expect any
butt-dialing from me.”
Porter (Harris) May wrote, “Peter and I welcomed our third child, Scarlett Eleanor, on Sept. 4.
Big sister Savannah and big brother Henry are both
very excited to have a new little sister. We now have
three children with birthdays in the same week. We
are thrilled to have another daughter and couldn’t
be happier to have added to the brood. That said,
I’ve already instructed Peter to stay away from me in
December. I will be spending my birthday with the
girls this year.”
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Also in NY, Purva Bedi reported, “I got married
in October 2010 to David Andrew Stoler (Brown ’96)
and last June gave birth to my lovely daughter Sanaya
… um, Williams 2030? I was in a film, Kumare, that
released this past summer and [was available on] ondemand platforms in November and also produced
a film, Daadi, starring my 87-year-old granny that
will be at film festivals this coming season. Still acting
in the theater as well and will be juggling rehearsals
with mommyhood in the fall.” And Amy Whitaker,
writer-in-residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural
Council, recently was quoted in a Financial Times
article about management education in the arts.
From Austin, Texas, Dan Bolnick “wrapped up a
busy summer that included field research in British
Columbia, a conference in Ottawa, a week of lectures
in Turku, Finland, a conference at the Monterey Bay
Aquarium (good place to bring young kids on a work
trip), and fun travel to Chicago and New England,
where I visited Evan Preisser ’93 and then visited
with Jim Heyes, Willard Morgan, Andrea Blaikie,
Dan Ebert, Brian Eng, Steven Hufnagel, and Nathan Foster ’98 at the Heyes resort in Orange, Mass.
Now I’m home with no travel in the next six months
(a nice break). Started the fall semester off with a bang
by putting in my file for promotion to full professor
(approved by the department yesterday).”
And a few southern states away, Monica Patel met
up with Brad Wasserman in Savannah, when he was
en route to Florida on a road trip. And Monica sent a
big thanks “for the emotional and moral support from
many members of ’96 during this challenging period
in my life.”
Unfortunately, I have to end with some terribly sad
news that arrived shortly before this column went to
press. On Nov. 17, Katie Birrell Utley died from cardiac arrest after a battle with pulmonary hypertension
that severely damaged her heart. Katie passed away
peacefully in a hospital in Richmond, Va., where she
lived with her husband Steve and their sons Chase
and Stephen Paul. Her family and many of her closest
friends from Williams and Richmond were there with
her. At Katie’s memorial service, friends and family,
fighting tears, told stories of Katie’s outgoing spirit
and calm confidence, her ever-present smile, and her
amazing love for her sons, her family, and her friends.
I’m sure many of us have memories of Katie—I know
I will hold mine close this holiday season.
1997
Jeff Zeeman, Department of Justice, 1400 New York
Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20005; 1997secretary@
williams.edu
Thanks to Bahia Ramos for her five years of topnotch service as Class Secretary. I’ll do my best to step
into her sizable (figuratively speaking!) shoes for the
next five years. Now on to the news…
Craig MacDonald missed meeting up with the
’97 football crew in Williamstown during the last
weekend in September, because he was in the process
of moving from Richmond to Northern Virginia. Ben
Partan has been enjoying a comfortable break from
his usual roughing it in Antarctica and Alaska, as he
is “in the middle of nowhere near the Equator in the
Pacific Ocean on Palmyra Atoll, enjoying the fine
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weather and snorkeling with manta rays and sharks”
(which, by the way, only live in the ocean because
Ben doesn’t).
Robin Bebee reports, “Dean and I are up in Anchorage enjoying some fresh snow. Our daughter Zola
was born on June 10, which is our excuse for missing
reunion. I’m working for an engineering and environmental consulting firm, schlepping around the state
looking at rivers (on a good day) or at culverts (on a
not-as-good day). Dean is Zola’s full-time devoted
servant. He is also working a few hours here and there
(mostly in the middle of the night), doing freelance
graphic design.”
Robin is but one of many classmates reporting baby-related news. Jonathan Levine and his wife Risa
Weinstein (Wellesley ’98) welcomed a new baby girl,
Yael Adira Levine, on July 19 (an auspicious birthday,
as it is shared by yours truly). Yedidyah has been a
great big brother, singing to her and giving her kisses.
Jonathan remains busy at Marriott, working in the
Marriott Rewards program doing customer analytics.
Kirsten Rigney and her husband John welcomed
their “fourth (and final)” child, Hazel, to the family
in May. Their other big news this summer was a trip
to the Olympics for their 10-year wedding anniversary. Kirsten notes, “I was worried that TV cameras
would have cheapened attending the actual event, but
I was blown away! London went all out, and seeing
the Games in person was incredible. Highlight of
the trip was when Jason Richardson, 110 HH silver
medalist, took our flag and wore it for his victory lap!
Hazel pretty much slept through the entire trip, but
she was invaluable for jumping queues and getting
liquids through security.” Laura Christensen Guthrie
reports, “Trent and I have great news to share! We
welcomed our second son, Colin Muir Christensen
Guthrie, on July 6. Quinn, 2½, is a great big brother,
and we are having a blast with them both.”
The baby-making news isn’t remotely over.
Jardayna Werlin Laurent writes, “My husband
and I were thrilled to welcome Rosalie Yarros Laurent to the world on Sept. 18. She made a dramatic
entrance in the front seat of our car, which at least was
pulled up in front of the hospital at the time. While
we considered the middle name ‘Mazda,’ we felt she’d
eventually hold it against us. I’m taking a short break
from work and then will return to my vet practice in
Somerville, Mass. Yeah, we also live in Somerville.
I never leave and am in the process of officially
becoming a townie.” That’s a wicked pissah, Jardayna.
Alyson Rodriguez, who is still living in London with
her husband, had her first baby, Oliver, born Sept.
22. Alyson says, “He is adorable, and we are very
happy. I can’t wait to order him a Williams T-shirt
soon to start prepping him for the next reunion! :-).”
Oliver will have some competition when applying to
the class of 2035, as Karen Tarbell Vasquez reports
that she and Mike Vasquez had a baby girl, Sarah,
in September. Her three older brothers love her (and,
I imagine, are already looking forward to eventually
scaring the living daylights out of any guy who dares
to asks her on a date). Becky Baum reports, “I had
my second child on July 16. His name is Alexander
Job Sylvester, and, while the whole family is thrilled
he is here, no one more than his big sister Lucy! Other
than that, things are pretty much the same here. We
still live in San Francisco, where my husband is a
1996– 97
high school special ed teacher, and I am still a deputy
district attorney at the San Mateo County DA’s office
(though on leave until January).”
Some news from our class literary contingent:
Fiona Maazel’s new novel, Woke Up Lonely, will be
published in April. Fiona assures me that my fears are
unwarranted and, notwithstanding its title, her book
is not a chronicle of my first two years at Williams.
Parade of new parents take note: Matthew Swanson
reports that he and Robbi Behr launched their new
children’s book and music club Bobbledy Books in
August. In addition to books, Bobbledy will publish a
yearly album by Drew Bunting, who is busy writing
and recording a whole bunch of new songs for kids.
Kris Bruneau writes, “I am still working (almost
four years now!) as a child life specialist at UMass
Memorial Children’s Medical Center in Worcester,
Mass. I still absolutely love being able to help children
and families through the challenges of medical treatment. About a year ago I was elected to the board of
New England Child Life Professionals and have been
enjoying working with them in the regional child life
community. In my free time, I am still singing with
Random Chants, a Boston area female a cappella
group that is currently one-third Ephs! (Maura Gallagher ’92 and Anne Marie Reardon ’95 are also in the
group.) I get to see many Williams alums, too many
to list here, on a regular basis, from the Class of ’92 to
’01. Boston really is a hotbed of Ephs!”
Nathan Day provides a veritable avalanche of
news: “Dawn Biehler completed the final draft of
the manuscript for the book publication of her dissertation at the end of the summer. Our daughter,
Alice, greatly enjoyed attending reunion with Dawn,
especially hanging (both figuratively and literally—
hanging off of things) with Kato Swanson. She also
loved an early fall visit to the Air and Space Museum
here in DC with Eli Boritz and his two children,
and outings and parties with Holly (Hodgson)
Stephens ’96 and her husband and children, along
with Laura Massie ’99, Brian Spitzer ’96, and their
baby daughter. For my part, I am happily invested in
my third year of teaching at Washington Latin PCS,
where I work with Martita Fleming ’86, and am now
chair of the English department for both the middle
and upper schools. I just finished a successful season as
captain and steersman of the men’s outrigger team at
the Washington Canoe Club, which I encourage DCarea Ephs to check out if they’re interested in getting
out on the water. My sister, Laura Day Giarolo ’04,
has returned to Williams to work in the development
office, and so I look forward to more frequent visits to
campus.”
Our Class Secretary Emeritus Kate Boyle Ramsdell reports that she is “still at Nobles, teaching
American Lit to 13 11th graders, being a dorm parent
to 48 great boarding students, academic advisor to
nine sophomores and juniors, and college counselor to
another 35. My own 9-month-old still isn’t sleeping through the night. (Even though everyone tells
me he can. Well, then prove it!) I’m pretty sure Dr.
Ferber has been spying on us, because every time I
turn a page in his sleep training manual, I think, in
the words of Groucho Marx, ‘I resemble that remark.’
OK, so no news flash here: parenting an infant is
exhausting. But when else in your life can you come
home from work and feel utterly proud about a
daycare report that reads: ‘4 poops!’ in huge letters.
Someday I’ll hang that right next to Whit’s college acceptance letters. (If they come. Yet to be seen if he’s as
prolific at anything as he is at pooping.)” Folks, when
you’ve spent as many years as Kate did performing
the yeoman’s work of class secretary, you’ve earned
the right to a wee bit of TMI.
Michel and Derek Ohly’s kids Lily and Miles
started preschool and kindergarten, respectively, in
the fall. Michel is using her new freedom to volunteer
in math classes at middle schools in Chelsea and
Arlington, Mass., and is hoping to eventually turn this
into a career as a middle school math teacher. Derek
is still living every teenage boy’s dream at the helm of
his start-up company, Zyrra, which sells custom-made
bras. The Ohlys are enjoying having a piano in the
house.
Luke Phinney teaches creative writing at Johns
Hopkins and is still doing the occasional bit of
architecture. He sees Eli Boritz and his wife Jess occasionally. They meet up and let the kids chase geese,
or snakes, or whatever, at Brookside. Luke’s older
son just started kindergarten, “which means we deal
with a lot of light sabers and gingerbread men around
here. Run, run, as fast as you can.” And speaking of
running, Michelle Adams reports that she ran a half
marathon in Boston in September to raise money for
Autism Speaks.
Sumi Kim writes, “Oh, you smoked me out. Here
I was posing as a Buddhist meditation teacher, but in
truth I’m a pole dancer in Cancun. Unfortunately, Jeff
Zeeman, I have no news! No babies, no marriages, no
divorces (that I’ll tell you about), no awards, no bonuses, no wild vacations, no new jobs … sheesh, what
a boring phase of life! (But I love it, of course).”
Jim “Moose” Stanton reports, “Life in the Stanton
clan is all good. Our home in Stamford, Conn., is
overflowing at the moment with my patient and
lovely wife, two boys (or domestic terrorists may be
the more apt description), a recently rescued yellow
lab, a live-in Brazilian nanny (don’t judge me), and
one decidedly pissed-off old cat. I have managed to
hold down a job amidst the mayhem and am currently
working for the Daily Mail Group (LSE: DMGT),
assigned to an executive post at one of their operating
companies: Environmental Data Resources. Please
don’t ask for more details as it takes me way too long
to explain my job, and I’m not even sure that I understand it myself. But they do pay me, which is nice. I
maintain excellent Facebook contact with many Williams alums and even find the time for an occasional
real-world interaction or two. Recently signed up to
be a class agent, so watch out for an incoming phone
call from Moose.”
Emily Eldredge writes, “I’m thrilled to announce
I’ll be giving a TED talk in Tucson on Nov. 15
about the Drawing Out Process and the three inner
‘character’ types who rule our emotions. I’ve also been
invited by the head of Arizona Corrections Counseling to bring the DrOP to former inmates in their new
substance abuse program in Tucson! I loved working
with inmates in Ohio earlier this year. I’m excited to
do so again.”
David Vosburg saw Franklin Mullins at the May
world premiere of the new science-faith documentary
From the Dust: Conversations in Creation in Palo Alto.
David was on a panel at the event, wrote a group
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discussion guide for the film, and has since authored
two related blog posts for The BioLogos Foundation.
Despite being a chemistry professor, he is currently
teaching a writing course that includes source texts
from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Ainulindalë, Stephen Hawking,
Genesis (presumably, written by God, rather than by
Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, although that would
also be pretty cool), and Mary-Jane Rubenstein ’99.
Class President Seth Morgan notes that it was great
to see everyone at reunion and expressed appreciation
for the work that Hallie Dagruma put into it. Seth
“loved being able to bring my wife and 2-month-old
daughter to the fun event. On the ‘outside of Williams’
front I changed jobs just before reunion, and my new
role at BNY Mellon is going well. With an office in
Boston I was able to go stay with Ted ’98 and Katie
Grannatt ’00 in August, followed by a weekend of golf
with George and Kari Watson, Jess Bongiorno, and
Jess and Gavin McLear, among others.”
I’ll add my own bit of news, as a large crew of Ephs,
including Brian Elieson, Brian Eng, Eli Boritz*,
Sarah Breckenridge, Jeanette Kim, Jon Zeppieri,
Balakrishna Narasimhan, Downtown Andrew
Brown, Jesse Brackenbury, and Eric Soskin ’99,
made the trek to Alexandria, Va., for my wedding
to Reina Malakoff (Hamline University ’01) in July.
Despite getting married on the hottest day in D.C.
history (106 degrees!), the air conditioning survived,
and a great time was had by all.
Jesse Brackenbury writes, “The reunion was a
great kick-off to summer, and I’ve seen lot of ’97 Ephs
since—at Jeff Zeeman’s wedding, a NYC trip (Brian
Eng, Sarah Cottay, Aleta Angelosante), food truck
lunches (Josh Solomon), and apple picking (Andrew
Brown and family). In September, I was back to Williamstown with my family to give a Log Lunch talk
about the Rose Kennedy Greenway. (The Greenway
is the park in downtown Boston created by the Big
Dig, and I’m the COO for the nonprofit conservancy
that manages and improves the park.) Unfortunately,
my son Henry and I watched Williams give up two
fourth quarter touchdowns to lose to Trinity.”
For those whose appetite for class news cannot be
sated by quarterly updates, be sure to join our class
page on Facebook, located at www.facebook.com/
groups/Williams97/. Finally, with just a few weeks to
go in the Alumni Fund, our Class Agents Kate Boyle
Ramsdell and Susan Costanzo want to thank all
of you who have given and encourage those of you
who’ve not yet gotten to it to make your gift before
the close of the Trophy Race in early March.
*Eli Boritz wins this edition’s award for most connected Eph, as he received three mentions by other
Ephs. Can someone receive four next time around?
1998
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Andrea Stanton, 734 St. Paul St., Denver, CO 80206;
[email protected]
Hello, and happy autumn from Denver, where we
have just enjoyed a mid-October snowfall, which I
hope portends a snowy ski season!
Kate Vosburg writes: “In September, I had the
joy of watching Nathan Robison marry Ada Santa
Cruz. Ada is good for Nathan,” she explains, “because
they had a grooving reception with great danc96
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ing—something Nathan would never have been able
to accomplish on his own.” Kate spent the reception
catching up with Mac and Steph Harman, who live
in Palo Alto; Eping Hung, who now lives in Oregon;
and Jin-Young Ahn, who is a busy mother to three
children. She also sees Pam Bromley regularly and
writes that Pam was approved for a semester-long
sabbatical in Germany—something to look forward to.
Kate is currently weighing whether to join the school
PTA: “It’s like the mob: once in, always in,” she says.
“I’m not sure if I want that level of commitment.”
In the meantime, she’s enjoying her “amazingly selfentertaining” 4-year-old twins.
Cat Bolten is in Sierra Leone on a research sabbatical and writes: “I have traveled from South Bend
to Makeni to work on issues of youth education,
unemployment, and political participation (hopefully
not violence) before, during, and after Sierra Leone’s
general elections this fall.”
And Lindsay Tucker took advantage of the telecommuting option to work from wife Marta’s family home
in rural Spain last summer. “The added benefit was
lots of eager hands to help out with our 8-month-old
twin girls,” he writes, “who eat with the fervor of a frosh men’s crew bent on gaining weight.” Happily, “both
parents and babies plumped up on my mother-in-law’s
cooking,” and they are now back in the “DelVal” and
“gradually emerging from the isolation imposed by a
napping and feeding schedule” for two.
The summer brought a bumper crop of babies to the
class. My fellow Denverite Jill (Strassburger) Barkin
writes with the happy news that she and husband
Adam welcomed their second son, Eli Zander, into
the world in July. “Big brother Jacob loves his baby
brother, and we are all doing well,” she says. Meggin
(Thwing) Eastman also had a July baby: daughter
Lillian joined older brother Nate and “is doted on by
all.” Brady Murray writes that wife Becca Rozell gave
birth to their daughter, Aya Mariah Jean, in October,
and that mom and baby are both doing well.
Chris Smith writes that he met up with Brian
Greenfield, Adam Barkin, Justin Borus, Brendan
McGuire, Evan Kurtz, and Seth Low in Williamstown for a June golf weekend, where they enjoyed
“four days of golf, poker, and relaxation.” “In between
rounds at Taconic and Waubeeka,” he writes, “the
boys took in lunch at Pappa C’s, weighed the character
of the new Pub versus the original, tried to remember
how to play beer pong, and calculated that the Slippery
B of 1998 has, to date, produced 20 children” under
the age of 5. He and wife Jessica hosted the first annual
Juliet Grace Smith Memorial Golf Tournament in
October, with Matt Kelty playing in the tournament
and several ’98ers sending donations. The tournament benefited the Georgetown University Hospital
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where Juliet spent most
of her life.
Tammy (Brown) Neuhaus writes that she and
Mary (Frekko) Kilavos organized a girls’ weekend in
San Francisco for Beth Lambert, Emmy Starr, Abby
Ramsden, Mindy Thompson, Kari (Thorsen) Norman, Christie (McGovern) Hussa, Sara Roth, and
Kim (Comeau) Webster. “We tasted San Francisco’s
best dim sum, had a Cinco de Mayo Mexican fiesta,
and spent a day drinking wine in Napa,” she says.
“It was truly wonderful.” At the end of June, she and
husband Isaac welcomed daughter Leah Bernice into
1997– 99
the world. “With her arrival, I left my ob/gyn practice
and have been enjoying an extended maternity leave,”
Tammy says, but the leave will end next year, when
they plan to return to city life. “Totally swimming
upstream as most everyone else there has a baby in SF
and then moves to the suburbs,” she says. Maryellen
Davis Collett writes that daughter Maya Marie was
born in March 2011 and that in August “I was awarded
tenure and promotion to associate professor of theology at Lewis University” near Chicago. She and husband Keith celebrated both events by buying a house
in Chicago. Sam Young writes that he caught up with
Nick Zammuto when Nick’s band played a September
gig in DC and attended a “behind the scenes” tour of
the National Tour led by Mike Hickey. Sam’s summer
travels included two weeks on Nantucket and “a week
of scuba diving in Fiji,” and—no rest for the weary!—
he followed these up in October by rafting the Gauley
River and running the Army Ten Miler.
Evelyn Spence writes that she spent a month last
fall at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in California, working on her first novel. “So far,” she writes,
the writing process “has involved a lot of gazing at the
Pacific Ocean.” Grant Koo writes that his first novel,
And the Past Went on Breathing, was made available on
Amazon in September, on Kindle as well as in paperback. He is at work on the next one, tentatively titled
The Day as Sentence. Meanwhile, he writes, daughter
Chloe (“’30, with any luck”) turned 4 last summer
and “already claims to be more intelligent than her
old man.” He and wife Sungji celebrated their “own
private Bloomsday four days before the rest of the
world”—seven years of marriage! And Lincoln Pan
writes that he is happily engaged to be married.
Ned Sahin writes that he and his wife have finished
up a year of “traveling around the world, with no
phone” and have returned to Boston, where he is
launching “a research and product development center
focused on brain-computer interface.” He has also
returned to rowing, racing in the 2012 Head of the
Charles in a boat filled with Williams alums. “I’m having fun settling in to Boston,” he says, “and doing a lot
of home renovations to an 1865 condo with some cool
historical mysteries hidden behind its walls.” Chris
Bell has also been doing some home work: he and wife
Sally spent the summer “getting our historic house on”
by painting their 1894 house, restoring its windows—
“sash cords and all,” and building an outdoor shower,
“which has led to a significant uptick in our water bill.”
He also presented a paper on early debates on highway
design and construction material at the “Preserving the
Historic Road Conference” in Indianapolis. “Little did
you know that people are actually vested in saving historic roads,” he writes, “or that such could be historic!”
Sam French, whose voice I was delighted to hear
on NPR’s Morning Edition in mid-October, writes
that his newest film, Buzkashi Boys, premiered in
Kabul on Oct. 4 and in December was shortlisted for
an Oscar nomination. “We’ve also been doing well in
international film festivals,” he writes, with awards
for cinematography, drama, and film in Rhode Island,
LA, and London, respectively. “Winning LA and
[London’s] Raindance qualifies us to be nominated
for an Academy Award,” he explains, “so cross your
fingers.” Liz Craft writes from Austin that she took a
new job as global talent and development manager for
a small company called Open Symmetry. “It’s a great
opportunity,” she writes, “as the company is looking
to triple in size over the next three years.” She adds:
“This is my ideal job!”
Lindsay Benedict writes from Torino that she finished an artist residency at the Pistoletto Foundation in
Piemonte, Italy, and continues living with “a bunch of
Italian artists.” “The summer was full of contemporary
art and friends,” she writes, including catching up with
Williams alums from various years at dOCUMENTA
and London’s Frieze.
Micaela Cody writes that her family is now living in
“the foothills of the Himalayas” in Dharamsala, India,
perhaps best known as the home of the Dalai Lama
and exilic Tibetans. She is doing public health work
there, while her husband focuses on technology and
human rights. They will be sent to Nepal and Thailand next, before returning to the U.S. “It’s so very
different from our life in New York,” she writes, “but
we’re enjoying it immensely, savoring rural life and
the incredible vistas (and the food, of course).” Micaela
adds: “My daughter is now obsessed with the cows
roaming the streets and the monkeys in the trees.” If
you’re heading to India any time soon, please visit!
Rik Dugan writes that he, Alex Harmon, and Bohn
Vergari completed the Sleepy Hollow Triathlon
in June. “We proudly ran for “Team V,” in honor
of Bohn Vergari Sr. and the Leukemia Lymphoma
Society,” he explains. “We are happy to report that the
efforts of our team raised over $100,000 for leukemia
and lymphoma research.” Brad Johnston writes: “I’m
in Kaua’i crashing Jessie and Gerht Lubitz’s wedding
anniversary.” He says: “I’m not a certified babysitter
yet, but I am trying to entertain their two little ones,”
and adds that Gerht caught up with Matt Wheeler on
his way west from Boston. Brian Safyan and Jonathan Oakman took a joint family vacation in October,
enjoying the catch up time. Finally, Jeninne Lee-St.
John writes that in August she and Keirn O’Connor
moved to Bangkok, where she is now the features editor for the Asia edition of Travel + Leisure magazine.
She adds: “anyone coming to Thailand—which seems
more likely than Saigon—should let us know!”
Thank you all for your updates, and I hope that you
all had a good autumn. We started the fall with a hike
up one of Colorado’s many “fourteeners”—probably
my one and only! And after that climb, the rest of the
fall was easy!
1999
Erik Holmes, 915 East Mayfair Ave., Orange, CA 92867;
Nat White, 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville, CT 06039;
[email protected]
I am amazed and humbled by what the members
of ’99 have been up to: People are moving across the
country and the globe; starting new jobs and earning
promotions; getting married and renewing wedding
vows; completing further education; having babies;
writing books; visiting with friends; earning major
awards; and a number of combinations of these awesome activities.
Two classmates, entirely independently, have moved
to Houston. Ben Warner and his family moved
in May, relocating from Sakhalin Island, Russia.
Geologist Ben continues his work with Exxon. They
managed a visit with U.C. Santa Barbara econ profesJ A NUA RY 2013 PEOPLE
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sor Zack Grossman and his family as the Grossmans
returned from vacation in Nicaragua. Later in the
summer, Andrew Henderson moved to Houston for a
job as assistant professor at the School of Public Health
of the University of Texas, working to bring together
sustainability, environmental engineering, and public
health. Dan Suver finished his eighth year of surgical
residency and fellowship in Seattle, and he and his
wife and toddler son have moved to Anchorage. Dan
reports that they’ve done some great fishing, but it was
beginning to feel like Christmas already in October.
Luckily his son is young enough not to know that it
isn’t supposed to start snowing in September, so at least
one of them is adjusting well to the change in climates.
By the time you read these notes, Dan Pozen, his
wife Heather, and their kids Evan, 4, and Tess, 1, will
have moved to London for two years. They are hoping
to hear from any Ephs who are already there or might
be passing through.
Tamaan Osbourne-Roberts and his wife Camille
(Barker) ’00 closed on a new house in the Denver
area in late October. Camille is transitioning to life as
a household CEO for Keston, almost 4, and Noelle, 1,
while Tamaan continues to work as a family physician
serving mostly low-income, Spanish-speaking patients
in the metro area. Showing his boundless enthusiasm,
Tamaan travels pretty regularly for his work, sitting
on a range of boards related to medical policy, and he
features in a TV show put together by the Colorado
Academy of Family Physicians to discuss health issues;
Tamaan expects to take on even more in the coming
year. John and Julie (Cantatore) Francis and their
sons August and Nolan moved to Riverside, Conn.,
near Catherine (Polisi) Jones and her boys Crieghton
and Teague (born Feb. 28) in Old Greenwich. The
boys from both families have had fun playing together
while the adults catch up. John works in New Haven
for the U.S. attorney’s office, and Julie is a pediatric
dermatologist in Bronxville, N.Y. Catherine works
at a small strategic communications firm focused
on alternative investment firms. Catherine and her
family went pumpkin picking and to the petting zoo
with Wilmot Harkey ’00 and his wife Papri and sons
Benny and Wes. New Jersey attorney Anazette (Williams) Ray and her family have relocated to Colts
Neck. Christine Chan and her wife Darcie Pickering
brought their 1-year-old twins over to help break in
the new place. Christine, Becky Logue-Conroy and
her twin 3-year-old girls, and Roosevelt Bowman
were at Anazette’s baby shower in early October, and
Christine, Roosevelt, Anazette, Matt Grainger, and
Josh McNutt threw a baby shower for Karen Hu last
summer. Karen and her partner Brendan Connell welcomed son Gabriel Dylan on Oct. 8. Karen reported
that she had already survived her first sleepless night
and was relying on people’s promises that it will get
easier. It will. Roosevelt has a new job at USB; with
that job came the opportunity to be a guest lecturer at
the University of Oregon.
Jennifer (Rottmann) Plante and her husband
Michael also welcomed their first child into the world;
Colin Michael Plante was born on Sept. 13. The Plantes live in Wabasha, Minn., a small town on the Mississippi River, and Jennifer was anticipating a return to
work as an assistant Olmsted County attorney before
these notes find their way to your door. Christine
Whitcraft and Jonathan Pompa were surprised by the
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three-week-early arrival of Alden Whitcraft Pompa
on Aug. 26. All are happy and healthy and adjusting
to disrupted sleep patterns. Christine is an assistant
professor of biology at California State University,
Long Beach. In Boston, Brooke (Harnisch) Roberts
and her husband Dan welcomed the birth of Owen
Douglas Roberts at the end of August. Brooke finished
her urology residency in July and is working in Boston
for the year before the family moves to my hometown
of Milwaukee next summer; Brooke will be taking on
a one-year fellowship in male reproductive medicine
and microsurgery there. Tennessee psychologist
Neelam Jain and her husband Eric Weber welcomed
daughter Devi Jain Weber on July 16. Kristen (Curtis)
and Nick Swan welcomed daughter Corinne into the
world in June, joining her 4-year-old sister Maren and
her 7-year-old brother Trevor. Maren’s godfather, John
Platt, made the trip from Seattle to Troy, Mich., for a
long weekend to meet Corinne and enjoy the Midwest.
We return to the East Coast to celebrate the arrival
of Emily Kravis to Laura Jacobs and Jon Kravis on
May 5. LJ reports that Emily is mellow and content
to watch big brother William fly rocket ships around
the house all day. LJ is a mentor teacher at her school
in DC, and Jon is prosecuting major felonies in DC
Superior Court. They get to see David and Emily
(Christiansen) Glendinning and Hans Davies and
Jennifer Walcott occasionally for dinner or playtime
with the kids. Hans and Jennifer started last summer
by flying to Las Vegas for their sixth wedding anniversary; they renewed their vows with Elvis. Later,
Hans and David headed to Atlantic City for a poker
tournament and some blackjack. At the end of the
summer, Jennifer was accepted as a partner at Deloitte
Consulting, where she has worked since graduation!
We have a couple more babies to report this time
around (and I expect more for Eric to write about next
time). Nashville pediatric cardiologist Jon Soslow
and his general pediatrician wife, Kylie Cormier,
welcomed third daughter Margaux Marie Soslow. Jon
reports that Margaux’s sisters are adjusting, and that
with three daughters he has grown to love pink and
know more about princesses than he thought possible.
Laura Massie writes that she and Brian Spitzer ’96
“had the immense pleasure of welcoming the world’s
awesomest baby, Eleanor Linden Massie, on March
6.” I’ll leave it to all the other new parents out there to
decide whether they have any contenders to put up for
this newly minted title.
Personal and Williams-related news has been a bit
slow for Eric Soskin, though that is sure to change. In
the meantime, Eric sent along some recommendations
for Eph-created works: a book by Alyson Hagy ’82, a
film by Sarah Thomas ’01, and an album by our own
Nick Zammuto’s new project, Zammuto. Eric wanted
to see Zammuto on tour, but the DC show was on Yom
Kippur, so he missed it. Sarah Carr has a book coming out in February, titled Hope Against Hope: Three
Schools, One City, and America’s Struggle to Educate its
Children. It tells the story of the New Orleans schools
post-Katrina through the eyes of a family, a novice
teacher, and a veteran principal. Justin Belcher met
up with several classmates in Williamstown last fall for
a weekend of golf at the Taconic. Justin was joined by
Drew Richards, Sam Webster, and Steve Lehman,
who was in town from Switzerland. According to
Steve, you need to earn a golf license to be allowed to
1999– 2000
play in Switzerland, and it sounds like Drew might
have been the only one of the foursome who could
have done so if the same rule applied in the U.S. Marc
Barreda finished his master’s at the Sandberg Instituut, and he’s making a go of life in Amsterdam. He’s
showing his work, doing some lecturing, and looking
for a teaching job. Justin Yarmark reports that all is
well in the Bay Area with Marie-Michel Tasse ’00.
Justin still tries to keep up with Frederick Winston
’97 on their mountain bikes, and he frequently sees
Dan Newhall ’01 and Chris Hale ’00. Justin is trying
to crack the senior housing market in Texas through
assisted living and memory care facilities. Michael
Sullivan is also in San Francisco, and he and Natalie
Monk hosted a party attended by Jeffrey Grant ’00,
Mariya Hodge ’00, Christia Mulvey ’97, and Wayne
Wight ’00. I can’t say more now about the reason for
the party, but you’ll hear about this pair again.
Julie Rusczek and I, along with our kids, Jasper and
Greta, had some Williams visits last summer. Becky
Logue-Conroy and her twins Maeve and Meiris came
to see us in Maine, where we were joined by Cara
Yoder Matzen and her husband Evan and son Rigel,
and in Connecticut. We saw Tim Stoddard and Emily
Gillmar ’00 and their daughter Emma in Milwaukee,
where we also caught up with my brother Jed White
’98 and his family.
Danielle Kunian Wallis got to see a lot of Ephs
over the summer, starting at the Vail wedding of
Alex Egan and Pranav Ramanathan. Nicki Strauss,
Robin Paul Kelleher, Eugenia Santiesteban, Olivia
Silver, Courtney Stokes Willett, Dave Willett, Dan
Pozen, Aaron Dupuis, Katie Walsh Gardner, and
Mike Gardner ’96 all joined in the fun in a slightly
larger mountain range than the Berkshires. In August,
many of the same people gathered in Ohio for Nikki’s
wedding to Luke Schroeder. Alex and Courtney were
bridesmaids for Nikki, and Aaron was a groomsman.
Danielle, Katie, and Mike enjoyed the celebration.
Believe it or not, these are the only wedding reports I
have this time around, so it’s on to awards.
Jessica Richman is having fun and earning recognition in both of her professional activities. She was
honored for the third year in a row as a Rising Star
for her legal work in products liability defense. Jessica
has been receiving kudos for her side venture, too, a
boxing and martial arts gym that she owns with her
partner, Jason Sargus. Brazen Boxing and MMA was
just voted the #1 Best Martial Arts gym in Philly, and
#3 Best Gym overall. One of their professional boxers
has moved up the rankings and will be fighting for
an IBF world championship in his weight class. The
final input this time, with a massive award to report,
goes to Santa Monica resident Joe Vanderwaart.
A software engineer at Google, Joe wrote with his
wife Elissa Hallem’s news. Elissa was awarded a
MacArthur Fellowship, aka a “genius grant,” for her
research on the neurobiology of parasitic nematodes.
She has gotten lots of national press, although it may
have died down by the time you read this. Elissa is an
assistant professor of microbiology, immunology, and
molecular genetics at UCLA, and she and Joe have two
daughters, Amy, 4, and Julia, 1.
That’s all the news this time around. Keep being
amazing people, and keep the news coming for the
next round of notes.
2000
Jon Pearson, 129 Franklin St., Apt. 218, Cambridge, MA
So it’s just a smattering of updates for us this time.
The pace of MLEs is declining, lives are settling into
a rhythm, and we’ll be a bit slow until you all start
winning Nobel Prizes. I get it, it’s cool.
MLEs are becoming more rare, for sure. And
something that’s really uncommon these days is
two members of our class marrying each other. But
that’s exactly what occurred on Oct. 13 when Becky
Iwantsch married Steve Roman in Aptos, Calif. It
was a beautiful, intimate affair that I felt very fortunate to attend along with a gaggle of our classmates:
Brad Geddes and Drew Sutton were groomsmen;
Anna Frantz and Debbie Ebert were bridesmaids;
and they were joined by all of the following, in
no particular order: Grace Rubenstein ’01, Chris
Foxwell (who made the trip from Amman, Jordan),
Will Darrin, Matt Levy, Kevin and Virginia See,
Haynes Cooney, Jeff Grant, Mariya Hodge, Torie
Gorges, Becky Hermes, Katie Sullivan, Pelagia
Ivanova ’01, and Alfonso Gonzalez del Riego, not
to mention all the husbands, wives, and significant
others. It was such a wonderful reunion that pressure
was instantly applied to the still-single among us to
get married, if only to ensure that the gang could get
together again. (I am doing my best to deflect such
pressure.) I’ll leave the last words on the wedding to
Torie: “Particularly enjoyable to the many Williams
alumni in attendance was the rendition of ‘Gangnam
Style’ performed by Jon Pearson, Haynes Cooney,
and Matt Levy. Sorry, ladies, they are all taken.” She
also said something about succulents.
Some of the attendees of the wedding were lucky
enough to spend time with Steve Gray during their
visits to California. Steve and his wife Ariel were very
busy last summer: In August, they sold their house in
Davis and moved to a new place in Santa Cruz, and
Steve started a new job as administrator of a hospital,
at which they had their second child, Avery Louise,
born on Aug. 29. Steve, Ariel, and big brother Zachary “are loving life.”
You demand more babies? Well, Brendan Nelson
and Nell Putnam-Farr are happy to oblige. Their
daughter Alexandra (“Alix”) Witherspoon Nelson was
born June 4, tipping the scales at 10 pounds, which
may be a record for these notes. Please feel free to
send me strongly written emails if I’m mistaken. Nell
reports that Alix’s older brother “has been incredibly
sweet, full of hugs and very protective of ‘his’ baby.”
Nell is working on a PhD in marketing at MIT Sloan,
and Brendan started a new job in New York at Axiom
Legal.
Shara Pilch has also, in her words, joined “the baby
club,” having welcomed Oren Gates Pilch on Sept. 6,
2012. Shara and her husband are “totally enthralled by
him and feel so lucky that he is a pretty mellow baby.”
The stats-inclined folks would want to know that he
was 7 pounds, 6 ounces, and 20.5 inches at birth.
Lindsay (Hatton) McClelland acknowledged in her
email that she and I have not run into each other yet
in Cambridge and that a chance meeting has become
less likely now that she and Geordie McClelland
have again “entered the newborn shut-in phase” due to
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the arrival of Agnes Carol McClelland on Aug. 26. To
add to the excitement, Lindsay went into labor at Abby
Sayer’s wedding. “So if this child doesn’t end up going
to Williams, it will be a raging cosmic injustice.”
If there were a Class of 2000 Class Notes Hall-ofFame, I think you’d all agree that two of the more
obvious inductees would be Grace Pritchard Burson
and Raph Rosen. They checked in this time with
very different updates. In typical Raph fashion, he
submitted his news in a single sentence, presented
here, unedited: “Hey, Jon. The biggest news is that I
got married (on Oct. 7).” Let me guess, Raph: The less
important news involved Segways, whimsical facial
hair, or thoughtful observations about science. Did I
come close?
Grace, on the other hand, was one of the first members of our class to get married and now reports that
she’s among the first to divorce. She and Josh Burson
’01 separated amicably about a year ago. She writes:
“I would be more than happy to be contacted by any
other ’00s who are going through separation/divorce.
Life as a single parent and parish priest in a small college town in central New Hampshire is stressful, but
good. We spent yesterday at the fair; it doesn’t get any
better than that!”
I always enjoy hearing from Farrah Mussani,
because invariably I’ll read that she has been stationed
in a far-flung place, working on something fascinating. This time, her update was even more exciting
because she shared the news of her April 28 wedding
to Laurence Morrissette, a fellow Canadian public
servant. The icing on the cake was news of the
couple’s September move to Nairobi, where Farrah
has been posted at the Canadian High Commission.
I don’t know about you, but I think “High Commission” sounds way more awesome than “Embassy.”
Meadow Linn co-authored a book with her mother called The Mystic Cookbook: The Secret Alchemy
of Food. It was released on Nov. 26. Meadow herself
is responsible for many of the book’s hundreds of
photographs. If you want more information about
Meadow’s work, check out the book’s companion
website: www.TheMysticCookbook.com.
Deb (Frisone) Young gets the anchor role this
time. No new MLEs for Deb (yet); she still lives an
hour north of New York with her husband and two
kids, working as a mom mostly, and as a self-employed pediatric physical therapist the rest of the time.
In September, she attended an alumni event at Williams celebrating the 100th anniversary of the crosscountry team. She was joined by Shad Miller, Steph
(Sewell) King ’99, Courtney (Bennigson) Batliner
’01, Elizabeth (Roller) Apgar ’01, and Meg (Tierney)
Gemborys ’01. “I had the honor of representing our
‘era’ of women running at Williams by speaking to
the attendees with Courtney Bennigson about what
it was like to be on the team during our years at Williams. Lots of warm, fuzzy feelings all weekend.” Her
kids, Dylan and Nora, got into the action, running in
the kids’ races over the weekend, performing, I am
told, admirably.
That’s all I have for you this time, folks. Incidentally, I made three trips to Williams in a two-week span
in October, and it never stops filling me with good
feelings. Hearing from and seeing you does the same.
I hope to see as many of you as possible at our next
reunion, but until then, keep filling my inbox!
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2001
Liana Thompson Knight, 135 Pleasant St., Richmond, ME
As odd as it sounds, it was easier writing this column
with a 6-week-old than it is with a 6-month-old.
Sleep deprivation was definitely easier to take while
on maternity leave! Given the preponderance of baby
news this time around, I think I’m not the only one
who’s sleep deprived. It was a busy summer and fall
for babies in the Class of 2001!
Elly (Spensley) Moriarty and her husband
welcomed twin boys, Larkin and Cameron, on June
23. Elly said that life since then has been hectic and
wonderful, and they couldn’t be happier.
Vanea Norris and her husband welcomed a baby
girl, Addyson Doris Turner, on July 6. They caught
up with Enuma Menkiti, Sadaf Ahmad, Erika
Beltran, and Sandina Green ’99 in DC at a welcome
party for the baby. Vanea completed her MSW earlier
last year.
Danielle Tarantolo, Sarah Schiavetti, Kristin
Wikelius, and Kristine Taylor all attended a baby
shower for Margaret (Radzik) Scoolidge in early
June. Margaret’s son, Wyatt Austin Scoolidge, was
born on July 18.
Vicki Phillips and her husband were delighted to
welcome Laura Phillips Craig on July 19. Vicki wrote
that big sister Rachel, 2, adores the little one, and that
Laura is a good sleeper.
Hagan McCurdy Kappler had a very busy summer—new house, new job, new baby! Hagan and her
husband moved from Seattle to Avon, Conn., where
Hagan is now working for United Technologies in
corporate development. They settled into their new
house just in time for the arrival of their baby boy,
Cole, born seven weeks early on Aug. 7. Cole spent
four weeks in the NICU but was home and doing well
by the time Hagan wrote me. Prior to Cole’s birth,
Hagan snuck in a fun girls’ weekend in Williamstown
with Kelsey (Gollop) Mayhall, Kate Bolduc, Katie
O’Boyle, Amanda (Brokaw) Doherty, Cameron
Walker, and Joey (Shapiro) Key.
Carissa Carter welcomed Desmond Leo Cardoin
on Aug. 13. Meg (Cooley) Garin and Matt Garin
welcomed Samuel Matthew on Aug. 19. Meg wrote
that it was an exciting week, as older brother Peter
turned 2 just five days later!
Liza (Walsh) Keenan and her husband had their
third daughter, Addison Ryder Keenan, on Aug. 21.
Liza said the whole family was doing well and loved
the new addition.
Dan Sullivan married Colleen O’Boyle in Pittsburgh on Sept. 17, 2011. Their first child, Nora Sullivan, was born on Aug. 22. They live in Jacksonville,
Fla., where Dan is serving in the Navy as a JAG
officer.
Matthew Speiser and Phoebe Geer were thrilled
by the birth of their son, Nathaniel Gardiner Speiser,
on Aug. 23. They were enjoying the first few months
of parenthood and reported having a very smiley
baby!
Amy Warren had twins on Sept. 18. Harper and
Graham joined older brother Mac, who is now 4. Also
on Sept. 18, Joe Seavey and his wife had a baby girl,
Yuna Faythe. They still live in Brooklyn.
2000– 01
Sebastian Gruender now lives and works in
Zurich, Switzerland. He and his wife welcomed their
second daughter, Julia Maria, on Oct. 2. Erin (Palazzolo) Loparo, husband Joe, and big sister Helen welcomed Michael Joseph, also born on Oct. 2. Writing
when Michael was just a week old, Erin noted that he
was already a mama’s boy.
Ben and MacKenzie (Hawkey) Cooper are the
proud parents of Iris Nell Cooper. She was born a
month before her due date, but was over 6 pounds and
doing well. MacKenzie and Ben were entertained that
she chose to show up on Oct. 11 (10/11/12) and joked
that she must have her father’s love of numbers.
Just to remind ourselves how fast these babies
will grow up, we’ll transition briefly from babies to
college-aged kids. Mimi Hua is excited to (probably)
be the first in our class to be the parent of a Williams
student; her stepdaughter, Carly Schissel ’16, is a
first year. Mimi is thrilled to visit Williams more
often and was looking forward to Fall Family Days
when she wrote in.
There are lots of entries for the ’01 Eph wedding
album this time around, as well. Phil Swisher was
married over a year ago, on Oct. 22, 2011, to Geraldine Alias in Freeport, The Bahamas. Enrique Perez
and Mike Black were groomsmen; Anna Swisher
’05, Trey Wright ’03, Jason and Hillary (Weinblatt)
Chapman, both ’02, and Dave Adams ’00 were also
in attendance. Phil and Geraldine live in Boston.
C.J. Navins married Michael Hacker on June
16 at the Governor’s Academy in Byfield, Mass.,
where C.J.’s grandfather Buster Navins ’35 worked
for more than 40 years. C.J.’s father Peter Navins
’70 and uncle Rusty Navins ’67 made the wedding a multigenerational Eph event. Liza (Walsh)
Keenan, Michele Kovacs, Jen (Berylson) Block,
and Kristen (Sullivan) McEntyre were bridesmaids.
C.J. reports that there were more than 30 Ephs in
attendance, including Kat (Dingman) Boger, Cate
(Olson) Jordan, Allison Stepp, Hilary Webb, Sarah
(Rutledge) Crump, Alice (Thompson) DiStefano,
Dorian Baker, Steve Owen, Ryan Spicer, Brian
Doherty, Amanda (Brokaw) Doherty, Michael
Cortese, Graham Pingree, and Tom Pickard.
Ryan Mayhew married Kristin Schnabel on June
23 in Boulder, Colo. Ryan noted that many Williams
classmates were present and that Keith Chu was the
best man.
Jon Duval married Melissa Arnot in Stanley, Idaho,
on July 7. Several Ephs made it for the occasion, including Brian Doherty, Mark Hamachek ’97, Adam
Cluff, Craig Wadman ’03, Joe Weiss, Eric Demment, Isaac Dietzel, Graham Pingree, Dan Matro,
Andrew Conley, and Joe Butler.
Mark Walrod and Hilary Williams were married
atop Mount Greylock on Aug. 11 in a ceremony
officiated by Rebecca Sanborn Stone and attended
by a large Eph contingent including Christine Pace,
Brian Werner, Graham Lee, Sandra DiPillo, Bailey
McCallum, Grace Rubenstein, Dan Center, Emily
Earle, Jason Lemieux, Beth Friedman, and Noel
and Lauren (Wiener) Johnson. Following their
wedding, Mark and Hilary were settling into life in
a small New Hampshire town. Mark was enjoying
his family practice residency, Hilary started teaching
graphic design and digital media at Colby-Sawyer
College, and they’ve taken up amateur chicken farm-
ing with the flock that they inherited with their house.
Josh Stamell married Sheila Carrasco on Oct. 7.
Chido Alozie and Mayur Deshmukh were in his
wedding party; Tyler Polk ’03 and Ryu Spaeth ’03
were also in attendance. The couple met in the MFA
program at the ART/MXAT Institute for Advanced
Theater Training at Harvard, from which they graduated in 2009.
Chris Ripley wrote that he had a great time attending three Eph weddings last year—those of Matt
Gunther ’00, Dan Newhall, and Nick Goggans.
Chris had recently taken a position as CTO of ProGiideDirect.com in Victor, Idaho. He was still living in
Austin, Texas, and said it was a long commute.
Dan Seaton and his wife have been living in Brussels,
Belgium, since 2008. They welcomed their first child,
Willem, in October 2011. Dan works at the Royal
Observatory of Belgium, where he is the principal
investigator for a solar telescope aboard a European
Space Agency satellite. On the weekends he writes
about European bike racing for the cycling news
website VeloNews. Dan returned to Williams in May
to talk to Professor Pasachoff’s astrophysics tutorial
on solar physics; one of the tutorial students, Muzhou
Lu ’13, was to be working on his thesis research with
Dan in Belgium over Winter Study. Andrew Sullivan
paid Dan a visit in August, and they had a great time
tasting obscure Trappist beer and taking a road trip
to Aachen, Germany, where they saw (among other
things) Charlemagne’s forearm bones, which are on
display in the Cathedral reliquary there.
Dusty and Caitlin (Carr) Lopez moved to Ann Arbor in July. Caitlin has joined a large private practice,
and Dusty is assisting with the men’s cross-country
team at the University of Michigan.
Gail Fergusen and her husband moved to Champaign, Ill., to start faculty/staff positions at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Gail reports
that they like Champaign-Urbana, and that she is in
heaven to be able to do West African dance and eat
Korean food again—two loves that originated at Williams. Their first overnight guests in Champaign were
Allison (Herling) Ruark and her family, who were
driving cross-country before moving to Swaziland,
where Allison will complete her dissertation in public
health.
Feyisara Akanki moved to Dallas following the
completion of her family medicine residency in NYC
and was interviewing for outpatient ambulatory care
positions. Feyisara reports that Jamilla Deria took a
job as director of programming at the Apollo Theater
and was living with Ian Brown and Jerome Parker.
Rob Seitelman started a new position as head of
the theater department at San Ramon Valley High
School and was slated to direct three productions this
year. His daughter turned 1 in August.
Dan Center switched jobs; his new position is with
a Gallatin Valley Land Trust in Bozeman, Mont.,
working to conserve land and build trails. Dan went
to a summer music festival in Targhee, Wyo., with
Tenaya (Plowman) ’02 and Nate Kolar ’05. At the
time of this writing, he was gearing up for Halloween
with a 2-year-old and looking forward to a winter of
snow and skiing.
Josh White completed his PhD at Johns Hopkins
in July. After spending a few weeks traveling around
Pakistan and India, he began a Council on Foreign
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Relations International Affairs Fellowship in DC in
October.
Marlene Duffy went to the Olympics last summer
as a women’s soccer referee and, notably, refereed
the opening game between Great Britain and New
Zealand.
Dan Perttu’s recent composition, “Gloamin—A
Fantasy for Flute and Piano,” was recently released
on a CD entitled LOCK and KEY on the Navona
Records label, which is distributed internationally by
Naxos.
Annie Richards spent time hanging out with Megan Samenfeld-Specht ’02 and her daughter Charlie
in Williamstown at the end of August. Annie was
hoping to get back to Williams for homecoming.
Derek Soto enjoys life at the Pentagon and was trying
to convince a contingent of Marines to try pumpkin
spice lattes at the Starbucks inside the building. Julia
(Cianfarini) Schmidt is also in DC and works at a law
firm. She met up with Roshni (David) Guerry, Beth
Friedman, and Moira Shanahan for a day of visiting
DC museums with Roshni’s son Liam.
We’re still living in Maine, where I’m working a
part-time office job at Bates College. At the end of
October, Clayton Spencer ’77 was inaugurated as
Bates College’s eighth president. I can’t say I know
her (yet), but it is fun knowing that there’s another
Eph on campus up here.
Have a good winter, and send me your news!!
2002
William Davidson, 219 East 69th St., Apt. 11J, New
York, NY 10021; [email protected]
I am extremely excited to be secretary and want to
thank Holly Kohler for her great work over the last
few years. My first foray into the writing of the notes
has been full of intrigue and secret-agent like feeding
of misinformation. Prank wars have been diffused,
and only the truth has been submitted.
My wife Blaire and I recently moved to a larger
apartment in order to accommodate our children,
Lucy and Harry, and all the accoutrements that follow
them. The move has cut a full seven minutes off my
commute to the NYC Office of Emergency Management in Brooklyn and has afforded us the opportunity
to have some outdoor space in the concrete jungle.
Hurricane Sandy made that commute impossible Oct.
29, stranding me in Brooklyn after all the bridges
across the East River were closed. After working a full
day in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) as
planning section chief, I was able to get in touch with
Chris Bruno, who allowed me to crash on his couch.
I have done little to no legal work over the past two
months and with the amount of work left to do with
the city’s response to Sandy, I don’t foresee returning
to normal duties any time soon. As planning section
chief I am responsible for compiling information
from field operations, writing situation reports, and
advising agency and city executives on next steps.
During the early days of the response I worked closely
with Emily Small ’00, who works at the Department
of Citywide Administrative Services. Having another
Eph in the EOC was a welcome addition and gave me
the comfort of knowing the job would get done.
I had been planning to go hear Aaron DeBevoise
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speak at Columbia Business School to a class focused
on entrepreneurism that night. Aaron, who is based
in California, is the co-founder and EVP of network
programming (entertainment sense of the word)
at Machinima Inc., the largest YouTube network
in the world, with over 2.25 billion global views a
month and 210 million monthly uniques. Aaron is a
co-founder and board member of the largest online
fashion and beauty video network, Stylehaul Inc.
Sam Wilson got engaged in Nantucket, Mass., over
Labor Day weekend to Amanda Armstrong (UVA).
Yours truly, Patrick McCurdy, and Charlie Davidson
’04 were honored and more than willing to help the
happy couple celebrate that weekend.
Tory Patterson and his wife Laura welcomed
Leonard Hodges Patterson on Oct. 3. Leonard joins
his 18-month-old sister Pfeiffer Christina Patterson in
Menlo Park, Calif.
Amanda (Gramse) Swiatocha returned from
three-plus weeks Down Under in New Zealand and
Australia for work and honeymoon. “It was the trip
of a lifetime!” Amanda got hitched on June 23 to
Mike Swiatocha in her hometown of Cape Elizabeth,
Maine, and CC Ciafone served as justice of the peace.
Amanda says, “She was exceptional. I told her she
should do that as a second career! It was perfect that
she served in this role, because, of course, she was
my freshman-year roommate, so I’ve known her
since Day 1 at Williams, and she also worked with
my husband at a law firm before I met him.” Other
Ephs in attendance were Carrie Nesvig, Laura Brand
Harrison, Laura Crum, Rachel Brodie, Katie Worth
McCarthy, Katie Effler, Jess Paar (“who did a
knock-out job reading a quote for us”), Maggie Clark
Babb, Trevor Babb, Reed Gramse ’70, and Hugh
Hawkins ’70.
Joanna Edstrom and husband Andy ’03 had their
first baby, Bruce Lincoln, in Santa Monica, Calif.,
on July 17. The baby is thriving, and Joanna reports,
“Andy and I love being parents.”
Sadaf Ahmad caught up with Austin Duncan
prior to his trip to Africa along with Heather Brutz.
She also saw Heidi McGowan at Heather’s fundraising party for Marriage Equality, where they “feasted
on dragon fruit and s’mores.” Sadaf got to see Baby
Addyson, daughter of Vanea Norris ’01, over Labor
Day weekend with Sandina Green ’99 and Enuma
Menkiti ’01. Sadaf bid “adieu” to Erika Beltran ’01,
who was moving back to her home state of Texas for
a job as director of policy for an education nonprofit.
Sadaf also ran into Renea Whitmore at an Ephs
career event. Sadaf got to attend the Democratic
National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., thanks to
Caroline Fan ’03 on behalf of the Asian-American
Action Fund. Her hope for 2013 is that she will continue to stay in touch with Eph friends, run into old
pals, and meet new ones.
Mike Paarlberg is at Georgetown, working on his
dissertation and teaching an undergrad seminar on contemporary Latin America in the government department. It can be found in the course handbook as “Latin
America’s Turn to the Left: from Chavez to Lula.”
James Kingsley and his wife Lauren welcomed
their son and future Eph footballer Jack Francis
Kingsley on Sept. 7 in NYC. James and Lauren’s goal
for 2013 is to get early admission for Jack into the
Class of ’34!
2001– 03
Travis Hobart got married to Laurie Brown on
June 2 at the Otesaga Hotel in Cooperstown, N.Y. In
attendance were Nishant Nayyar, Joseph Urwitz,
Jason Chapman, Jesse Davis, Andrew Thomison
’04, Christopher Kelley ’03 Melanie Hobart ’06, and
Travis’ freshman-year roommate John Thomison.
Liz (Hole) Knake and husband Rob had their
second child, William Mason Knake, on Oct. 3. Liz
says, “He’s a healthy, sweet baby, and we’re all well.
… Lisa Cohan has been ‘instrumental’ since William
was born, providing food, support, and child care.”
Sophie de la Barra finished her first training camp
as assistant coach of the Ice Fernz, New Zealand’s
National Women’s Ice Hockey Team. She is looking
forward to coaching the defense at the IIHF Division
II World Championships in April 2013.
Danielle (Torin) Lafave and husband Nick ’03
bought their first house, in Fauquier County, Va.. She
says, “It’s on 1.3 acres, with woods (and deer) in the
backyard, and we are looking forward to doing lots of
gardening, growing some of our own food, and perhaps even keeping a chicken or two!” Danielle is still
working as a small-animal veterinarian in Northern
Virginia.
Jessica Grogan and Jim Young got married on May
26 in Williamstown. In attendance were Cathy Bryant Van Orden, Kate Alexander, Candy Marlow,
and Duane Lee ’01.
Derrick Estes and his wife Lindsay are pleased to
announce the arrival of their first child, Pike Lawton
Estes, born Nov. 20. After what will be 11 years living in Manhattan, Derrick will be re-locating with
his family to London, and looks forward to establishing his Eph connection across the pond.
2003
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Anri Wheeler Brenninkmeyer, 4 Howard St., Somerville,
The summer was filled with weddings and births.
But first, news of a wedding from last year: Rebecca
Linder was married to James Blachly in November
2011 in Philadelphia. They met at a New Year’s
party in 2010 hosted by Judd Greenstein ’01. The
Blachlys now live in Urbana, Ill., where James studies
orchestral conducting and Rebecca works as the director of the Office of International Advancement at the
University of Illinois. Rebecca makes it to Chicago
frequently and saw Eliza Myrie and Lucas Goodbody for Ethiopian food. She would love to connect
with other Chicago Ephs. Rebecca officiated at Katie
(Rocker) Rayer’s wedding in June and was happy
to see lots of Williams kids at Zach Yeskel ’04 and
Heather Brubaker’s wedding.
Jessica Katz married Mark Mazzenga in July in
Bristol, R.I. They were happy to be joined by fellow
family Ephs, including Jessica’s mother Andrea Diehl
’75, aunt Janet Diehl ’81, and brother David Bar
Katz ’89, and friends who traveled from far and wide:
Deidre Fogg, Kate Hood, Alex Hood ’02, Jessica
Calfee Stahl, Ray Stahl, and Melinda Hamilton
’75. After the wedding, Jessica and Mark flew back to
London, where Jessica started her third year teaching
at The American School.
Jasmine Mitchell and Travis Batty were married
on July 28 at King Family Vineyards in Crozet, Va.
In attendance were Maggie Popkin, Elliot Morrison
’04, Anjuli Lebowitz, Adrienne Ellman, Michael
King, Kate Austell Elortegui, Jae Cody Engman,
Nicole Theriault, Jeremy Da, Lindi von Mutius,
Emily Siegel, Karin Rosenthal, Ryu Yokoi ’01, Maria Tope Akinyele, and Maria Lapetina ’04. Some
highlights of the weekend included a bouncy castle for
the rehearsal dinner, Indiana Jones adventure themes,
love from friends and family, and a great glow-stick
night farewell.
In August, Rob Gonzalez married Rachel King
Berlin ’05 at the Dorchester Heights National Monument in South Boston. Rob’s brother performed the
ceremony, and Jeremy Redburn and his wife Jennie
were the photographers. Rob and Rachel celebrated
on Sept. 15 in Boston with many ’03s and ’05s in
attendance and have several other mini receptions
forthcoming in NYC, DC, and SF, to be heavily attended by Ephs.
Brooke Toczylowski’s son Max River Gordon was
born on March 10. Brooke and Max had a minireunion in Berkeley, Calif., at the house of Sarah
Barger Ranney ’02 with her son Jackson and Tenaya
Plowman Kolar ’02 and her son Dash. Tenaya was
visiting from Idaho. Brooke lives in Oakland and
teaches at Oakland International High School.
Samara Poplack and her husband Adam Potter
welcomed their first child, Collin Grayson Potter, in
June. Dayna Baskettte, Tisha (Joseph) Holmes ’04
and Marin Randall sent their congratulations.
Tracy Cook and her husband welcomed daughter
Andie Cannella Cook on June 26.
Toya Williams and her husband Ryan Morettini
welcomed a daughter, Stella Elizabeth Morettini, on
June 30.
Josh and Claire (Magat) Raffaelli welcomed a
daughter, Quinn Arbor Raffaelli, on July 5. Quinn has
been an absolute delight and is already proving to be a
little adventurer like her parents. The Raffaellis are in
Portola Valley, Calif., and try to get out onto the trails
as much as their new life as parents allows.
Nina T. Chaopricha and her husband Pat had a
baby girl, Anya, on Aug 8. Anya emerged eight days
early; apparently she didn’t want to miss Nina and
Pat’s 08/08/08 anniversary celebration. Nina’s family
was away at a reunion, and she had asked the resort
to tell them the news at dinner. The resort forgot, and
her family found out when her cousin saw photos on
Facebook. Nina’s grandma assumed it must have been
a prank post with Photoshopped pictures, because
surely Nina would have called to tell them if she’d actually had a baby! The Chaoprichas moved to Ithaca,
N.Y. They have a guest room and welcome visitors.
Andrew ’02 and Ellie Beasley welcomed their
second child, Colette Virginia Beasley, on Aug. 23.
Maggie Popkin and Elliot Morrison ’04 welcomed
their son, Toby David Morrison, in September. He
has already had a number of Eph visitors and is looking forward to many more. Rumor has it that Goff’s
share price rose due to planned apparel sales increases.
Danni Lapin was promoted to supervising psychotherapist for her agency’s school-based mental health
programs in Yonkers, N.Y. She also presented in October at the Center for School Mental Health Annual
Conference in Salt Lake City. The poster presentation
was about vicarious traumatization of school staff who
work with traumatized children.
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After completing her MPH at Columbia in May,
Lisa Schulman started as a senior associate at The
Corkery Group, where she works on media relations
and analysis for their client, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Binney McCague finished her residency in med/
peds in Cleveland, Ohio. She is working for the CDC
as part of the Epidemic Intelligence Service. Her job
deals with occupational safety and health, which is
very interesting, and a hugely under-served area. Binney and her husband now live outside Pittsburgh. She
hopes that her move (a bit) eastward will mean she
can see more of her Williams friends. Binney bumped
into Christina Adams at the Hartsfield-Jackson
Airport in Atlanta in October. Christina was returning
home to North Carolina from the American Association of Family Physicians’ national scientific assembly
in Philadelphia, and Binney was on her way to a CDC
meeting in Atlanta.
Craving adventure and being closer to friends and
family and the unknown, Deidre Fogg quit her job
in San Francisco and moved to Portland, Maine.
Deidre writes: “So far, so good. I’m still looking for
a job (minor detail), but otherwise life in Portland is
truly amazing—everyone should come visit! I’ve also
been big on the Eph wedding circuit this past summer,
and it has gotten me really fired up for the 10-year
reunion.”
Rachel Horwitz received her PhD in oceanography from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute last spring and is at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point, for a postdoc. She was looking
forward to finding other Ephs in the Mystic/Groton
area.
Diane (Bennett) Fribance and her husband Jeff
planned a move to South Carolina in December.
Diane was to leave her position working as a postdoc
for the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space
Center in Mississippi, to start a tenure-track teaching
position in the Marine Science Department at Coastal
Carolina University in January. She is excited to
become a professor and move a little farther north.
The Fribances will be in the Myrtle Beach area and
are hoping to get lots of visitors since they’ll be in a
great vacation spot. Diane was in NYC for a research
conference and got to catch up with Chrissy Draghi
’04.
Mike Buscher plans to finish his emergency
medicine residency in June and then start a two-year,
critical-care fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh
in July. Before starting the new job, he hopes to make
a trip to El Salvador to visit Phil Dimon, who is there
with the State Department.
Father Michael F. Sheehan, FPO, was ordained
a Catholic priest on June 23 in a beautiful ceremony
at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. Several
Ephs were there to cheer him on in his vocation,
including Erin (Palazzolo) Loparo ’01, Tricia (Hennessey) Helm ’01, and Olesia (Biskupska) Doran.
Brigitte Teissedre, Caroline Fan, Kevin Hsueh,
Erica Dwyer, Janet Ho, Joo-Hee Suh, Linda Lau,
and Lisa Marco got together over the Internet in
late August; they reunited virtually via Google+
and had a fun one-hour video chat. They plan to do
this periodically throughout the year and encourage
everyone to give virtual reunion a shot. Brigitte and
her husband Lucien Patterson visited Monty Silva
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in Lima, Peru. The three traveled for one week
through the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu and had
an awesome time.
Angus and Kimmie Beal and their two kids visited
Bekah Levine in the centennial valley of Montana.
Kimmie described it as “like Yellowstone Valley
with no people and one dirt road.” They enjoyed the
yellow Aspens and delicious wild duck. Kimmie did a
10K mud run, and Angus is doing a cyclo-cross race,
because they both love “gimmicky sports events.” The
Beals enjoy waffles and hiking with Zinnia Wilson ’04
whenever she’s in town. They encourage classmates to
look them up if visiting Salt Lake.
David Brenninkmeyer and I hosted a fun birthday
dinner for Eain Williams ’01 and had fun catching
up with Freeden Oeur, who moved to Cambridge
in August. I joined the executive committee of the
Williams Boston Alumni Association and have been
enjoying meeting new people and connecting with old
friends. I hope to see more Boston area Ephs at one of
our many upcoming events.
2004
Nicole Eisenman, 141 Joralemon St., Apt. 3E, Brooklyn,
NY 11201; Cortney Tunis, 150 The Riverway, Box 802,
Boston, MA 02115; [email protected]
For this round of class notes, we secretaries thought
we would try something a little different—and ’04
Trauma-Rama was born. Here are the (anonymous)
highlights. A Midwestern Eph tells us: “Perhaps the
only embarrassing part of my trip east was that I ate
at Dunkin’ Donuts like six times in 10 days. These are
the things that happen when you live in Minnesota
and don’t have access to those sweet breakfast sandwiches and strawberry Coolattas.”
A doctor in our midst reports, “I was seeing patients
in the hospital and was trying to talk to this poor deaf,
demented woman. She had a sitter assigned to her.
So I’m wearing this not-so-deep (I thought) V-neck
and leaning over the bed in the direction of the sitter,
screaming into the woman’s ear. Her sitter starts
waving her arms wildly and yelling, ‘Doctor! Doctor!’
so I look up in a panic, thinking something is really
wrong, and she says ‘Doctor! I can see your boobs!’”
And finally, someone who shares Cortney’s AAA
embarrassment, this classmate “lost three alternators
on two cars over the course of six weeks, including on
the way back to NJ from a job interview at Williams
(in the parking lot of King Kone in Pittsfield—and
yes, I got myself some ice cream before I called AAA
that time).”
Thanks for the submissions—it is nice to get a
glimpse at the little things that don’t make it into the
traditional updates. Now, here is the news from our
class:
As usual, baby Ephs abounded. Elizabeth (Papa)
Simons and her husband Andrew welcomed Edward
Andrew Simons into the world on Aug. 17. Alex
Grashkina and her husband Alex Hristov welcomed
their daughter Nadia on July 11. Elliot Morrison has
been in New York for a year, clerking for a judge and
otherwise delaying the start of being a real lawyer. He
and his wife Maggie Popkin ’03 live in Park Slope
and recently got with the neighborhood program and
had a baby: Toby David Morrison, born Sept. 22.
2003– 04
But first they used the summer to have a few last prebaby hurrahs with classmates at a trio of consecutive
Williams wedding weekends (Jasmine Mitchell ’03,
Ohm Deshpande, and Zach Yeskel and Heather
Brubaker ’03). Nick Bamat, Adam Grogg, Nicole
(Eisenman) Weber, and Jeff Nelson have led a
stream of visitors since Toby’s birth, with Dr. Bamat
proclaiming him in excellent health, notwithstanding
his future anguish as a Mets fan. Adam and Jeff diagnosed themselves with disbelief that Elliot has a baby.
Adam Grogg wrapped up his year on the district
court in DC and returned to Yale, where he is the San
Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project Fellow for
the year. Adam is helping lead a clinic that he was
part of in law school that gets Yale Law students to
assist the San Francisco city attorney with an affirmative litigation docket that he pursues (i.e., find bad
people and sue them). He is teaching a few classes and
alternating between living in New Haven and San
Francisco.
Mary Flynn finished residency at UMass “finally”
and took a job as an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health
there. She works primarily in a small office that serves
a mostly Spanish-speaking, urban population.
Mary also got married to Jim Eakin. Lissa Ong,
Galen Holt, Lindsay Taglieri, Marina Vivero, Kate
Henry ’05, and Mark Robertson ’03 were there.
Last summer, Whitney Thompson traveled from
Utah to compete in her first slopestyle mountain bike
competitions, winning the amateur class at Dixie Trix
in Grand Junction, Colo., and then taking second in
Pro at Queen Of The Mountain in Sacramento, Calif.
She also got a picture in Decline Magazine.
Audrey Lumley-Sapanski attended the wedding
of the brother of Amy “Gamer/Lamey” Geant ’03
in August. They had a lovely time, and a small contingent of Ephs was present to heckle the Princeton
contingent. Audrey is hoping that before having to
attend another Princeton event, Williams regains its
stature in the Forbes ranks. It’s OK to be number one
and have no one know about you, but anonymity and
losing suck.
Christie Schueler had work from her dissertation
published, culminating her very successful academic
career. She also won a local bowling league, which
in New Jersey is more impressive since they’re still
evolving thumbs.
Chrissy Draghi is in the hunt for a Bernese Mountain Dog pup to be adopted this spring. She’s selecting
from several names and would like input. If you prefer
one of the following, please contact her directly: Van
Der Rohe, Gaudi, or the Situation.
Hannah Harte is chairing the California gubernatorial campaign of Steven Seagal, who is hoping to
parlay Arnold Schwarzenegger’s successes into his
own televised, Californian takeover. She’s facing two
challenges: lack of googleability due to the unfortunate
similarity of his name to Seagull, and their inability to
agree on a stylist.
Hannah, Chrissy, and Cortney Tunis got together
for a summer weekend on Martha’s Vineyard. Together they conquered Cortney’s fear of sailing, cooked
and ate many pounds of clams, and stayed up late.
Cortney saw Sophie Hood, Taylor Stapleton,
Nicole Cosgrove ’02 and Caitlin Stashwick ’02 in
New York for Kayla (Peek) Berube’s ’05 birthday.
Yes, they did karaoke and saw Pitch Perfect. Cortney
continues to work at Wheelock College as the resource
center manager. She lives in Boston and was visited by
Fern Senior for Ashley Carter’s absolutely ridiculous
30th birthday party.
Leon Webster finished a PhD in applied physics
from the U. of Michigan in July. Thanks to a tip
from Elaine Denny, during a visit to the Bay Area
Leon joined “West Coast Mountain Day,” planned by
Gavin McCormick ’05 and Brian Hirschman ’05 and
attended by Jesse Dill, Zan Armstrong, and Torrey
Wolfe, among several others.
Laura Day reports that the big news from the Day/
Giarolo household is that they’re in the extended process of moving back to Williamstown. Laura started
working for Williams in the Alumni Fund office (with
the classes of ’39-’70) in mid-August and is currently
living over in Adams (with a fantastic view of the
“back” of Mount Greylock … from the driveway,
though, not at all from the house); Rolo is grinding
out his last year at Seton Hall Law and plans to join
Laura full time in May.
Mark Orlowski reports the ranks of Ephs working
at the Sustainable Endowments Institute grew over
the summer from two to four when Katie White ’11
and Celeste Berg ’13 joined Mark and Emily Flynn
’09. Mark has been busy traveling the country, getting
more institutions on board with the institute’s Billion
Dollar Green Challenge.
Last summer, Ashley English reunited with a
number of Ephs during a 10-day trip to Massachusetts
for Deb Eames’ wedding and other fun. She saw
many Ephs at the wedding, including Dave Thome
’05, Alison Stewart ’03, Nick Perry, and Krista
Harrison. The Minnesota Twins also followed her
out East, allowing her to catch a Red Sox/Twins game
at Fenway with Bobby Muhlhausen ’05 and Dan
Narva ’05. Ashley also met up with Louisa Pitt and
Zan Armstrong on Martha’s Vineyard for a couple
of days.
Ashley English, Andrew Kao, Brian Kelly ’02,
Cortney Tunis, Christina Draghi, Hannah Harte,
and Shamus Brady had an impromptu online entry
reunion during the second presidential debate. It was
just like being back in the Lehman West common
room, minus the old cucumber discovered in the
couch.
Ryan Sochacki was lucky enough to marry Kara
Harrigan on June 23 in Charleston, S.C. Dan Douglas ’04 made sure the groomsmen were on their best
behavior while Jabe Bergeron ’04 made sure Dan
was on his best behavior.
Emily Bright Krusack is happy to announce that
her book for K-12 teachers, Powerful Ideas in Teaching:
Creating Environments Where Students Want to Learn
(co-written with Dr. Mickey Kolis), was to be released
in December. She writes from home as much as possible, while her baby girl is taking naps.
Michelle Cuevas relocated to LA and is working
with some folks developing her children’s books into
movies. She’d love to hear from other Ephs in the
area!
Melanie (Beeck) Gaudion writes: “We got married in Brazil last December and had so many of our
friends come for a few weeks. It was such a wonderful
and special celebration/trip! I am really loving my job
this year. I have the best Grade 5 class and am having
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fun learning about chemistry and doing crazy experiments in class.”
Adam Grogg, Steve Seigel and Steve’s husband
Justin Wilson spent a lovely evening invading the
picturesque, pastoral, and disgustingly cute farmhouse
of James and Ashley Cart ’05. It’s hard to beat an
afternoon of feeding chickens, quaffing pints of BBC
Steel Rail, and drinking in the stunning views over the
Pownal Valley.
Charlie Davidson writes: “Matt Rade, Kam Shahid (and family), and I made our annual trip to Katie
’05 and Rob Follansbee’s house in Cape Cod. The
next week, I saw Mike Crotty in Nantucket, where
we toasted his recent engagement over beers. I also
spent some time on the island with my brother Will
Davidson ’02, Pat McCurdy ’02, and Sam Wilson
’02 to celebrate Sam’s engagement. Basically, the summer was a three-month engagement party. While at
the Chicago Expo art fair in September, Eliza Myrie
’03, Lucas Goodbody ’03, and Daniel Morales ’02
were all nice enough to stop by my booth to chat. I
also ran into Johanna Rodriguez, who happened to
be wandering through the fair during a break from a
teachers’ conference. Along with the regular art-world
sightings of Walker Waugh ’02 and Kate Werble ’02,
Williams was well-represented at the fair with my
dad Max Davidson ’61 and his freshman roommate
Harvey Plonsker ’61 in attendance.”
Pete Endres live in Cambridge, sandwiched
between Molly Stone ’03 and Jamie Gerrity ’03, who
live next door, and Ashley Carter, who is down the
street. He’s been with the same wind developer for
five years and has the luxury of work-from-home,
which means he gets to bake bread and have lunch
with Ashley during the day. On the hottest day of the
summer Cortney Tunis, Ashley and Pete sweated
their way through a feast in Chinatown. Pete’s couch
has become a frequent stopping point for Mark and
Meredith Wallace, and Jason ’05 and Cecily Epstein
’06, among others.
Haden Lynch writes: “On Oct. 13, at the Stony
Ledges vista looking out over Mount Greylock, I was
engaged on what turned out to be a very crisp autumn
day. I then proceeded to the Williams-Middlebury
football game and met up with Joe McCurdy, Matt
Dahlman, Dan Giardina, and Jabe Bergeron, who
gave me a glimpse into my future wedded bliss by
leaving at halftime to go change diapers.”
Carly Massey graduated with an MBA from the
University of Washington in Seattle and promptly
moved back to Boston to work for Liberty Mutual
as part of a two-year management development
program. She attended Torrey Baldwin’s wedding
to Zach Fischer in Durango, Colo., with Jessica
Beck ’08 and celebrated with Michelle Cuevas, Erin
Kempster, Nate Winstanley, Corie McDermott,
Rana Suh Kannan, and Krishna Kannan ’03.
Emily (Clinch) Bryk writes: “I just started a new
job teaching elementary and middle school science in
Tuxedo Park, N.Y. (It’s pretty great. I have a massive
school garden and do a lot of work out there with the
kids.) Moving out of NYC, in general, has been nice.
[Last] fall my husband John Bryk ’02, our son, and
I have had a lot of time out in the state parks around
here. I saw Tracy Menschel, Emily Steinhagen, and
Isaac Gerber ’07 … at Emily’s son’s birthday party.”
Paige McClanahan: “I’ve been working as a
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freelance journalist for about two years now, based
first in West Africa and now in Oxford, England. In
September, my husband Oli and I were back in my
home state of North Carolina to see the wedding of
Emily Kirby and Paul Esformes. It was a great party,
and we got to catch up with a whole load of ’04s,
including Katie Ackerly, Emily Gustafson, Sarah
Pesin, Rachel Outterson, Maggie (McDonald) Potter, Kristen Englebrecht-Bleem, Jen Lazar, Daniel
Shearer, Amy Hobbie, and Anne Newcomer.”
C. Prosper Nwankpa writes: “My son, Jesse
Nwankpa, is now 1 year old! … I hired another Eph
for the first time ever, and wow, he turned out to be
my best hire yet. His name is Joshua Adeyemi ’09,
a software engineer. And in his first quarter in the
company, he won a Shining Star Award, which is
a huge deal because it’s given to a select few in our
1,200-person company.”
Ally Matteodo was excited to work as an extra on
the set of HBO’s Clear History, starring Larry David,
Jon Hamm, and Kate Hudson. The third season of the
web series Red Circles has begun airing, in which Ally
plays hard-hitting ADA Alexandria Jacobson, and she
is about to finish another short film called The Return
of the Cartoon Man.
Kat Burgess moved back to the East Coast after
five years in London. She lives in DC and works at
her British urban planning firm’s U.S. startup.
Jude Dumfeh writes: “I completed my residency at
Loyola in internal medicine and pediatrics. After finishing residency I had some time off over the summer
before starting a new job. … In NYC I got to meet
up with Keith Chu, Liz Lee, Mark Gundersen, and
Henry Abaatu. Also met up with Jackie Castro and
her family in Connecticut. Then stayed briefly with
Chris Vaughan in Boston, where I also caught up
with Theo Tanis. I made a brief trip to Williams to
see the Purple Valley again and to catch up with some
friends from the area. While there got to see Juan
Baena and Sulgi Lim. Finally made a stop in San
Francisco, where I was hosted by Prosper Nwankpa.
After all the travel I am back in the Chicago area.
I recently started working as a hospitalist (internal
medicine and pediatrics) at Gottlieb hospital.”
Josh Earn, Sam Gilford, Drew Newman, Ariel
Peters ’06, and Meredith Sanger Katz ’06 came
together to toast Jamaal Mobley and wish him farewell as he traded NYC for DC to join his Eph bride
Denyse Deane!
Finally, a little plug from our class agents: “Last
year, more members of our class showed their continued support for Williams than did members of any
other class. To the 374 of you who made a gift to the
Alumni Fund last year, thank you. We hope you’ll do
it again this year at http://give2.williams.edu. We’re
aiming to raise $38,000 with the support of 70 percent
of the class.”
2005
Aron Chang, 1432 6th St., New Orleans, LA 70115;
Charles Soha, 150 Huntington Ave., Apt. NA6, Boston,
We begin with news from abroad. CJ Bak is living
in Nairobi, where the Subway brand has made its way
to Kenya. CJ not only offers his services making foot-
2004– 05
long meatball subs but can also sell us a restaurant
in Africa. He’s established a new life goal: owning
the Subway on Spring Street. Chelsea Pollen greets
us from South Africa, where she and her husband
Jeremiah spent their honeymoon and checked out
wild African penguins. Chelsea notes that Jennifer
Hermanski ’06 and Molly Sharlach attended her
and Jeremiah’s wedding. Vladimir Andonov spent
some time in Bulgaria and London for the Olympics
last summer and caught up with Daumantas Mockus
’07. In June, Vladimir married Jenny Ying ’08 in San
Francisco. He is in business school at the University
of Chicago.
After finishing her MBA at the University of Texas
at Austin, Amy Dieckmann went on a culinary tour
of Austria and Budapest, led by Anna Swisher,
whose motto was “meat then sweet.” She also toured
the Mormon Temple Grounds in Salt Lake City with
Kara Weiss and followed that with a visit to Abby
Wattley and Kevin Kingman in Boston. While in
the Bay State, she, Ellie Frazier, and Barbara Chan
met up with Karen Untereker in Nantucket to meet
Karen’s toy poodle puppy. She wrapped up her trip
in Williamstown by attending Kerri McMahon and
Mary Baccash’s wedding. Joining Mary and Kerri at
their wedding were bridesmaids Tara Boyd, Lindsay
Dwyer, Natalie (Geier) Cohen, Brianna (O’Brien)
Lowndes, and Brittany Esty, among other 2005
classmates.
Congratulations to Elizabeth Landis, who earned
her PhD in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was hired as an assistant professor at
Holy Cross. Susie Theroux was finishing her PhD in
geological sciences at Brown in the fall and planned to
move to Berkeley in January to start a postdoc. Becky
Allen-Oleet is in her final year of a PhD program in
school psychology at UMass Amherst. She recently
married Joanna Oleet in Vermont. Kate Ambler,
Chris Eaton, Sarah Johnson, and Jasmine Smith
attended the ceremony. Jane McCamant started her
PhD application process after an Eph-filled trip on
the East Coast, where she visited Amy Katzen, Sara
Martin, Jaime Hensel, and Deans Peter Murphy and
John Gerry in Cambridge. She also went to DC to see
Tyler Corson-Rickert ’06 and Ari Schoenholtz.
Kristine and Oren Cass welcomed their first
child, Eliza Miriam, in September. All are happy
and healthy living in Boston. Oren graduated from
Harvard Law School and Kristine from MIT Sloan
School of Management. Andra Hibbert finished
her MFA in fiction last summer and with her fiancé
Emmet moved to State College, Pa., where she’s
gardening and teaching rhetoric and composition
at Penn State. Denise Nunes finished her master’s
in nursing and will be working at Rush University
Medical Center in Chicago. She had dinner with Eric
Hsu, Meg Bossong, and Papa Adams.
Louisa Swain started a master’s program at Bank
Street for Museum Education and Management last
fall. She had plans to attend the wedding of Sarah
Wilson ’04 in Sea Island, Ga., with Mary Stranghoener, who has fulfilled her lifelong dream of training Shamu at Sea World, San Diego! Katie Dolbec is
in her last year of residency in emergency medicine
at Maine Medical Center and was applying for a fellowship at the University of Utah. She was hoping the
snow gods would bring a fun-filled winter for her to
join fellow skiers Tim Stickney ’04, Sarah Torkelson
Stickney ’04, Mary Iaculli ’06, Christina Perron ’07,
Elissa Rehm ’06, and Joel Bradley ’06, on the slopes
in Portland.
Daniel Krass has found regular piano gigs in Nashville, where he is in his second year studying audiology at Vanderbilt. He welcomes anyone who wishes
to enjoy southern hospitality and notes that it’s great
having Sam Goldman back in town. Ari Schoenholz
has visited; he and Daniel road tripped to Memphis
and shared many meals, all of which included BBQ
ribs. Daniel also attended and performed at the wedding of Zach Yeskel ’04 and Heather Brubaker ’03
in August. Zach McArthur spent most of his summer
in Chicago in statistics classes at Northwestern, noting
that he can reject that the null hypothesis that his
presence does not affect the Cubs’ performance—the
Cubs went 7-3 in the games he attended this summer.
Barry Fulton started his second year at The Pingry
School teaching sixth-grade English and is now in
charge of all 90 sixth graders’ well-being, which he
notes is challenging but incredibly rewarding. He lives
in Somerset, N.J., and hopes to meet up with some
Ephs in the area.
Justin Brown was playing board games in Berkeley with Gavin McCormick and Margaret Pigman
’07 when, suddenly, Jonathan Landsman appeared.
Justin had thought Jonathan was in New York and
encourages advance notice when Jonathan comes all
the way to California!
Kyle Skor was taking his first children’s picture
book, Art with Claude, on a cross-country book tour
before moving to Beijing in November.
Margit Sande-Kerback is working as a hospital
chaplain at a women’s and children’s hospital in
Honolulu. She was looking forward to partying with
fellow Ephs at Julia Brown’s September wedding.
Purple, though without gold, has once again become
a staple of Wendy Stone’s wardrobe. She moved
back to western New York to become the head
lacrosse coach at Niagara University.
Reuben Albo bought a home in Santa Cruz, Calif.
He’s taken to ocean swimming with a wetsuit rather
than surfing. His 2-year-old daughter keeps him very
busy and now speaks in sentences and makes up her
own songs.
Ken Brown started the fifth year of his master’s in
forestry program at the University of Vermont after
spending his summer at Burton Island State Park on
Lake Champlain in Vermont. It did not flood this
year. In fact, the lake got too shallow, and some boats
hit bottom in the marina. Somehow we don’t believe
there still isn’t caption-contest potential here. Ken and
Jonathan Landsman collaborated on a Log Lunch
talk and then were led on a tour of the campus’s new
vegetable gardens. The two of them made it to the
Old Forge for wings with Matt Spencer. There was
a 45-minute wait to be seated, so they sat on the steps
and swapped stories from college. Jonathan writes,
“Time kind of flew by, and kind of not, because we
were all quite hungry.”
Vishal Agraharkar moved to Boerum Hill in
Brooklyn after spending an excellent year in downtown Detroit. While waiting for his apartment to
become available, Vishal spent three weeks living
with Pat Krivoshia and playing with his two dogs,
Barley and Hops.
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Ashley and James Cart’s second daughter, Courtland Whaley Cart, is now 1, and their eldest, Addison
Weeks, just turned 3. Ashley and James bought their
first house last spring, a small farm in Pownal, Vt.,
which is now home to a flock of chickens and a messy
array of kitchen garden beds. James works part time
for the college, managing student employment, and
Ashley is still in the alumni relations office, serving
as director of classes, reunions, and undergraduate
engagement.
Rachel Berlin married Rob Gonzalez ’03 in
August in the park by their home, with just their
immediate families in attendance. Rob’s brother
officiated. They’re now taking the party on the road
with low-key celebrations with friends and family and
planned stops in Boston, NYC, DC, SF, Denver, and
beyond over the next year.
Isabel Stone and David Seligman moved to New
Haven. They’re enjoying the best pizza in the world
and looking forward to reconnecting with classmates
in the area. David is clerking for a 2nd Circuit judge.
They live in an awesome factory building apartment a
couple of floors above Jen Foss-Feig ’04 and her cute
dog Macy. Steve Rahl has promised to visit.
Devin ’07 and Marcos Gouvea had their first child,
Monica. She was born in August weighing 6 pounds, 5
ounces, and measuring 21 inches.
Roger and Alison LaRocca ’06 welcomed their second child, Rose Beatrice, into the world in September.
Both Rose and her big brother Roger IV are big fans
of the Patriots and suit up for game day.
Eric Manchester met up with Charlie Giammattei, Dan Berger, Colin Bruzewicz, Chris Tom, and
Zach McArthur at Charlie’s beach house on the Jersey
Shore. “We pumped our fists, not our gas.”
Since taking up foxhunting, Lindsey Taylor has expanded her menagerie of pets from a couple of housecats to two cats, a Jack Russell puppy, and a horse.
Hilarie Ashton spent the spring and summer caring
for her mother, who is fighting cancer. Hilarie is lucky
enough to have an accommodating boss who has
arranged for her to effectively shift to part time. She
was also to present at two conferences in the fall: one
academic and one for her job.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Hilarie in this
difficult time, and also with Zinnia Wilson and the
family of Eric Tietze ’03. Zinnia is still working as a
wilderness ranger for the Forest Service in Wyoming,
but, for the first time since freshman year, she is doing
so without Eric, who died while the two of them were
climbing in the Tetons last summer. Zinnia would
be really grateful if those with memories, stories or
photos of Eric would send them to her at zinnyw@
gmail.com or P.O. 278, Moran, WY 83013. Please don’t
be tongue-tied, she asks. Any little story is better than
none.
Zophia Edwards married her sweetheart John
Lyneis back home in Trinidad last summer, in
between sessions of collecting data for her dissertation
in the dusty Trinidad libraries. She still has wonderful memories of tearing up the dance floor with Fran
Fredane Fraser, Tameka Watler, Owuraka Koney,
Ricardo Woolery, Laurie-Anne Jackson, Shannon
Gopaul, Tisha Joseph Holmes ’04, and Silvero De
Silva ’04.
Laura Wiens is planning her wedding to John
“Coop” Cooper next September. Both of them work
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for the Hospitality Workers Union, so they expect to
have a number of union-themed double-entendres for
the wedding. Laura is singing in a big band, called the
Jazz Conspiracy, and hopes to make it to New Orleans
someday to play with the big dogs of swing and blues.
2006
Ariel Peters, 626 Independence Ave. SE, Apt. 206,
It wasn’t a reunion year for us—at least not officially—but weddings are a close substitute, it seems!
Here’s last summer’s roundup.
Steve Myers and Hayley Wynn were married
in the Berkshires in June. It was a very Williams
wedding: Brad Chu and Chris Richardson were
groomsmen; April Champion, Ainsley O’Connell,
and Mary Catherine Blanton were bridesmaids; and
Darlingside played at the ceremony and reception.
About a dozen alums were guests at Erin
Blanchard’s July wedding in Bennington, Vt. She and
new hubby Jack Chen live in Seattle, and Erin is an
ELL teacher there.
Dan Gura and Laura Kolesar (11!) tied the knot
in Williamstown in August. It was a perfect summer
day, and Nat Bristol, Peter Desloge, Annie Harrison,
Elana Boehm, Maryanna McConnell, and James
Crowell ’05 were in the wedding party. Dan recently
moved to the Windy City, where Laura is a 3L at
Northwestern.
Evan Bick and Gillian Sowden’s family doubled
in size with the arrival of twins Ian and Stewart. The
little purple cows were born June 25. Evan and Gillian are hoping they’ll join the Class of 2033 (and that
Bud Fisher will still be coaching the Nordic team)!
Ian and Stewart made their Williams debut—in
kilts!—at Blake Albohm and Sasha Gsovski’s
September wedding on Martha’s Vineyard. Gillian
Weeks was the maid of honor, and Sasha may have
set another attendance record: There were “about 30”
Ephs present. (I think they lost count.) They were set
to return from their honeymoon on Nov. 1, 2012—10
years to the day after they started dating. Blake and
Sasha made it to three other Williams weddings:
Estalyn Marquis’ in June, Jesse Schenendorf’s in
July, and Lauren Edmondson’s just two weeks before
their own.
Alan Cordova moved to Houston in April to head
up solar-business development for EDP Renewables
North America (the successor to Horizon Wind
Energy, founded by Selim Zilkha ’46). His new job
has given him the chance to meet up with other Ephs
in the industry, including Owen Westbrook and
Sam Arons ’04. He and Nasser Al-Sabah attended
the wedding of Ersen Bilgin and Grace Song (12!)
in Ersen’s hometown of Isparta, Turkey, at the end of
the summer.
I was in Turkey around the same time—Drew Newman ’04 and I joined Mary Catherine Blanton and
her boyfriend Bailey on a cross-country road trip. We
slept in a cave, swam amongst Roman ruins, and stood
in line to smell Muhammad’s beard before setting sail
along the Turquoise Coast.
After four years of grad school, MC moved back to
NYC in the fall to work for Cleary Gottlieb. She lives
just a few blocks away from freshman roommate April
2005– 07
Champion; they hunkered down together during
Frankenstorm and watched Josie and the Pussycats
before the power went out.
Some wrote from sunnier climes. Adam Bloch had
been working out west at a small mining camp when
a stranger arrived out of the hills and everything went
wrong. Together, he, a simpleton named Coley, a gunman named Spear, and a woman with no name at all
rode into the desert and deep into American mythos
and paranoia: “I didn’t know what we were looking
for until it was too late, but the hot sun has a way of
stripping you of any sensible thought.”
Dan Burns is now a professor in the politics department at the University of Dallas. Hold on to your
cowboy hats: He got his PhD from BC, moved to
Texas, and proposed to his girlfriend Kim all in two
months’ time!
Rob Cooper got his PhD in molecular biology
from Princeton, though he never took a biology
course at Williams. “My bewilderment at how they
let me in has now been superseded by my bewilderment at how they let me out.” He was heading to
UCSD for his postdoc in November, but he found
himself back in the Purple Valley in October to give
a physics-department colloquium.
Rachel Winch is still in Tucson, where she works at
a public library and lives at The Restoration Project
at Casa Mariposa, a community that supports people
held in immigration-detention centers in Arizona.
Brad Brecher was deployed to Helmand, Afghanistan, with the 2d Marine Division in August 2011
and served as an operational law attorney there. Since
returning in February 2012, he has been working as a
prosecutor at Camp Lejeune and spending what little
spare time he has at the beach in Emerald Isle, N.C.
Alissa Caron is engaged! She and fiancé Kinal Lim
were busy planning two ceremonies one month—and
one ocean—apart: a Jewish wedding in Boston in
January followed by a Buddhist wedding in Cambodia
in February.
Surekha Gajria’s nuptials also had her crisscrossing the globe. She married Thorsten Neumann in a
civil ceremony in Hingham, Mass., in June. They
had a Catholic and Protestant ceremony in Germany
in October, which was followed by a reception back
in Hingham attended by Jonathan Dowse, Lisetta
Shah, and Katherine (Ackerman) Padilla ’08.
Taylor (Tyson) Haywood and Angie (Chien)
Calderwood ran the Chicago Marathon along with
their husbands John ’04 and Garrett. Of the 1.7 million spectators, Taylor’s parents stood out with their
purple-cow flag. “Ephette,” who has survived her fair
share of Williams weddings, inspired several other
alums on the course, too! Jen Kim ’07 and Daniel
Murray ’04 were cheering loudly at the finish.
April Champion participated in the Celebrate Israel
Parade in NYC in June and rode the Israel highereducation float up Fifth Avenue.
Hayley Wynn and I were so happy that she, Ainsley O’Connell, and Emily Miyares were able to visit
us in DC in September. The theme was #weekendofyolo. We went to brunch, the Smithsonian, and a
Baltimore Orioles game and celebrated female friendship, the First Ladies, and the fact that we’ve probably
outgrown anything associated with that acronym.
Sarah Louise Smith is great at meeting up and
catching up. She saw Thomas Kunjappu and EunSu
Chang in NYC and Jay Bid and Hanjie Yu ’07 in the
Second City.
Elissa Klein finished her master’s at Harvard
Graduate School of Education and moved to Chicago
to help a charter-school network turn around schools
on the South Side. She was brand new to the city and
was missing Boston, “where every other car has a
Williams decal!”
Megan O’Malley attended her sister’s wedding in
Kansas City; she said her family spotted a surprising
number of cars with Williams stickers while they
were there! Another wedding in England had her
playing the role of ambassador—for the Williams art
history department. She drew on her knowledge of art
and architecture while touring churches with friends
from other colleges.
Liz Woodwick is tied with Dan Burns for experiencing the greatest number of life changes as of late.
She bought a house with her boyfriend Jeremy, graduated from business school, got engaged, and started a
new job at Deloitte!
Joel Bradley and Elissa Rehm (13!) celebrated their
one-year wedding anniversary in September. Joel
is a medicine and pediatrics resident, and Elissa has
started a one-person IT marketing and sales company:
“We both get paid to work really hard and give questionable advice.” They love living in Maine, where
they take romps along the coast and in the nearby
mountains. They’re in good company: Mary Iaculli,
her fiancé Sam, Christina Perron ’07, Tim Stickney
’04, and Sam Kapala ’09 live there, too. They’ve also
welcomed visitors from points south, Ellie Schmidt
being one of them. “Keep them coming!”
2007
Caitlin Hanley, 1121 Arlington Boulevard, Apt. 608,
Arlington, VA 22209; [email protected]
With this summer’s reunion behind us, we have
officially launched our trek to the 10-year. Though
our 2017 descent upon the Purple Valley seems like
an eternity (and just too long to wait until we gather
again as a class), Grant Sanders nicely put it into
perspective: “At the 10-year, I am pretty sure we will
all be happy for the 15-year to arrive as slowly as possible!” A re-reminder for all of us that—between now
and our 10-year—we must embrace every minute of
our swiftly fleeting 20s!
In this spirit, the ’07 Ephs have been keeping characteristically busy with new ventures, spouses, cities,
moves, etc. Here’s the report.
With a lightening-fast first reply (an impressive
two-minute turnaround from Central Asia, nonetheless), Daniel McKenna-Foster reports that he recently opened a coffee house in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan
(www.karakolcoffee.com). He hopes to expand very
soon and admits to “becoming more of a capitalist
every day.” Matt Earle wrote from Phuket, Thailand,
where he was en route to Singapore with his sister
and brother Jonathan Earle ’09. Ultimately destined
for Kathmandu to focus on writing and meditating,
Matt launched a site (dukeofearle.com) to capture
his adventures and encourages comments from Eph
followers.
The ’07 Californian cohort continues to expand.
Last summer, Angela Doyle moved to San Jose and
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is teaching middle school math in Palo Alto. She
regularly attends church and has coffee with William
Parsons when he’s not writing his dissertation. Tyler
Gray relocated to Santa Rosa for his residency in
family medicine. Among his co-residents is Cathryn
Christensen ’01. Katie Fleming is in her second and
final year of grad school at UC Berkeley, where she
frequently sees Laura Wagner. Katie was training
for her first half-marathon, in mid-November, while
looking for jobs on the East Coast, as she “just misses
it too much.”
The Midwest also seems to be gaining momentum,
as Emily Bruce writes from Minneapolis: “I’m happy
to report a new housing situation. Nine years after we
met in Sage B, Emma Reynolds ’07 and I are roommates again. Anyone coming through the Twin Cities
should let Emma and me know; we’d love to see more
Williams friends!” Emily just arrived back after a year
of research in Germany for her history PhD and will
pursue a fellowship this year while continuing her dissertation. Anna Morrison also lives in Minneapolis,
where she works in digital/social media marketing.
Last summer, Ephs of multiple generations journeyed to Minnesota for her wedding to Peter Nelson.
Though the date coincided with reunion weekend, a
strong contingent of young alums attended, including
Martha Rogers, Hallie Davison, Sara Echenique
Diaz, Rachel Williams, Mitch Brooks, Tessa Kelly,
Emily Gladden, Doug Holm, and Jose Pacas ’08.
In Chicago, Grant Sanders has been working
on expanding his 501(c) organization, The SelfEmpowerment Foundation, which seeks to provide
educational, professional, and financial advisory
services to low- and moderate-income families and
individuals. He is structuring the foundation in parallel with his recent career landing at AIG VALIC as
a financial advisor. Kevin Kellert started business
school at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School
of Management with Brendan Mulrain, Sean
O’Grady, Alex Tanton, and four other Ephs (’08
and ’09). Given that Kellogg shares Williams’ purple
school color, the journey to Northwestern has been
coined as following the “purple brick road.”
Rounding out the Great Lake cities, Jess (Phillips)
Silverstein and husband Mike ’05 moved from NYC
to Buffalo “for the great weather (seriously!) and more
spacious digs.” Mike is embarking on a new career at a
law firm, while Jess is taking time out of the classroom
to read, write, and visit other Williams folks.
Also on the move post-reunion, Colleen Gerrity
and Alex Hogan headed off to Providence to begin
their pediatrics residencies. Despite an extremely busy
summer, they have really enjoyed their stay in Rhode
Island thus far. And in the spirit of spontaneity, Sarah
Corwin writes, “I moved to Seattle for no real reason,
other than that I felt like it.”
Among the first-time correspondents, Bryan Y.
Norton reports that he joined the Jesuits (Society of
Jesus) in 2008. He is now in his fifth year of formation
for priesthood in the Catholic Church, with another
six or seven left to go. Currently, Bryan is beginning a two-year master’s in classics at Washington
University. He stays in regular correspondence with
Paul Rogers, Joe Shippee, and Kathryn Rowland.
Joanna Breslow writes: “As my first contribution,
I thought I’d send in the news that I am engaged
to Ryan Boyd ’05, and we’ll be getting married in
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August 2013 in Washington, D.C!” Joanna has lived
in DC since graduation and is in her final year of law
school at American University.
Also in our nation’s capital, Chris Furlong, who
attended the fall Williams Cross Country 100th
Anniversary Reunion and moved into a new condo
in August. Dan Aiello still works at the Treasury
Department in its new markets tax credit program.
In early August, he caught up with a number of
Ephs at the wedding of Olivia He and Jay Halleck
’05 in Westport, Mass. Daumantas Mockus, Devin
Schweppe, Mike Gilmore, Upton Au, Akio Adams,
and Aashish Adhikari were in attendance, along with
multiple generations of Eph alums. After the wedding,
Dan spent a day in New York catching up with Jenny
Chen and Ananda Burra.
Continuing the ’07 wedding circuit, Becca Lawrence and Brian Simanek were married in Pasadena
at the Caltech Athenaeum. Bartley Tablante,
Courtney Bearns, Nick Gallucci, and Katie Stack
’08 were in attendance. Brian completed his PhD in
mathematics at Caltech in June, and Becca earned her
master’s in hydrogeology at the University of Nevada,
Reno, in August. They finally now live together
in Nashville, where Brian is pursuing a postdoc at
Vanderbilt University.
In NYC last summer, Hannah Gray married Rick
Moser. Among the many Ephs in attendance were
Hannah’s mother Miriam David ’79, sister Emily
Gray ’09, uncle Jonathan David ’81, Tova Meyer,
Ridhima Raina, Aleha Aziz, Rowena Ahsan, Jessie
Yu, Julia Ramsey, Anna Edmonds, Elizabeth Atkinson, Alison Davies, Nirmal Deshpande, Matthew
Keegan, Lindsay Bouton ’09, Becky Staiger ’09,
Thomas Kunjappu ’05, PJ Bonavitacola ’06, Chris
DiAngelo ’79, and Michael Rosenblum ’76.
Ren McDermott also writes from NYC, where “life
is definitely busy, but the good kind.” She is in her
sixth year of teaching (third grade at the Museum
Magnet School) and was juggling classroom responsibilities with caring for her puppy, Pirate, and training
for her first marathon. On Tuesday nights, she performs on a house musical improv team at The Magnet
Theater. Amidst her busy schedule, she still finds time
for “some Eph lovin.” Ren regularly catches musicals
with Emily Chepiga, who finished law school, and
frequently has puppy play dates with Miles Klee and
Cece Lederer ’06.
Auyon Mukharji announced the July release of
Darlingside’s debut full-length album, Pilot Machines
(http://vimeo.com/50507428). Still “feeling high after
their shows at reunion,” the string rock quintet (Auyon, Dave Senft, Sam Kapala ’09, Harris Paseltiner
’09, and Don Mitchell ’06) has been touring the East
Coast in support of Pilot Machines since its release.
Last but certainly not least, Elizabeth Pierce writes
that she defended her PhD in late July and started a
position as visiting assistant professor in the geosciences department at Wellesley College. She finds the
position “challenging and exciting,” but it’s “a bit odd
being called ‘Professor.’” Though Elizabeth will miss
the NYC Ephs, she’s excited to be close to the Boston
Eph contingent. The new position puts an end to the
NYC-Boston commute that she and Matt Davis, who
is pursuing a PhD at Boston College, have endured
over the past five years. (They will not miss Megabus!) Elizabeth and Matt give a “shout-out” to Natalie
2007– 08
Vokes, “who helped move two apartments’ worth of
stuff into a fourth-floor walk up.”
That’s what Williams friends are for. Wishing you
all the best for a happy and healthy 2013!
2008
REUNION JUNE 6-9
Julie Van Deusen, 64 Spring St., Westerly, RI 02891;
[email protected]
This past summer/fall was certainly a busy wedding
season for a number of ’08s. The Morgan East crew
reunited on multiple occasions for wedding celebrations. First, on June 17 when Jenny Ying and Vladimir
Andonov ’05 tied the knot at the vintage Palace Hotel
in San Francisco, witnessed by Lily Li, Michael Reynolds, Meghan Ramsey, Zoia Alexanian, Gabriel
Salinas, Kamen Kozarev ’05, Ivan Manolov ’05,
Yao Wu ’07, Nick Minekime ’02, and Anna Piralkova
’03. On June 30, Lily Li and Michael Reynolds read
vows to each other against the towering Columbia
River Gorge mountains, under the blessing of Jenny,
Vladimir, Meghan, Zoia, Gabriel, Jasjit Singh (honorary ’08), Henry Burton, Sara Siegmann, and Josh
Goldberg-Sussman ’09. Lily and Michael took the
joke on the first day of college that “looking left and
right, you may end up marrying the person sitting next
to you” pretty seriously. On Sept. 2, the same group of
Morgan East folks reconvened to celebrate the marriage of Meghan Ramsey and Alex Gill next to a lily
pond in a picturesque garden at Essex in Massachusetts. Also attending the wedding were Jenny, Lily,
Michael, Zoia, Gabriel, and Sesh Sundararaman.
In June, Silvia Semper attended Elizabeth Upton’s
wedding in North Carolina along with Talia Anders
and Erin Peaslee. Veronica Ivey and Tucker Sawin
’07 got married in July. Celebrating with them in
Seattle were several Williams friends, including Jack
Nelson ’07, Zack Brewer ’07, Katie Howard ’07,
Christina Perron ’07, Zach Grossman ’07, Sean
McKenzie, Henry Burton, Jose Pacas, Riley Maddox, McLane Daniel, Melissa Bota ’07, Caroline
Goodbody, Haley Tone ’07, Martha Rogers ’07,
Patricia Ludwig ’09, Professor Adams, and Alexa Adams. Veronica is finishing her second year of a master’s
program in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins. She and
Tucker love life on Capitol Hill in DC but are looking
forward to new adventures soon.
Christina Lee and Logan Gerrity ’09 tied the knot
in August in Rockport, Maine. They had a beautiful outdoor wedding in the harbor attended by many
Ephs, including Ben Grant ’09, Louisa Hong, Rob
Kalb ’10, Kevin Kellert ’07, Hanna Na (who played
violin for the ceremony), Nicholas Nottebohm, Jon
Ohueri ’09, Darnell Usher ’09, Isabel Vásquez ’14,
Hannah Wong, Nisi Zhang, and Christina’s cousins
Christine Yeoun ’13 and Jason Yeoun ’10. Everybody enjoyed a family style dinner of Korean BBQ
and Maine lobster. Christina and Logan now live in
Queens, where Logan attends law school and Christina
is a dog trainer. They are looking forward to visiting
Williams in June for our five-year reunion.
Katherine Krieg (KK) and Stefan Fischer tied
the knot on Aug. 5 at Kunde Vineyards in Sonoma,
Calif. Katherine comes from a true Williams family:
Her parents Elizabeth Gallun Krieg ’83 and Todd
Krieg ’83 were in the same entry freshman year. Her
sister Gretchen Krieg ’10, brother Sam Krieg ’13,
grandfather Dick Gallun ’57, and uncles Alby Gallun
’89 and Rich Gallun ’85 also attended Williams. And
Katherine’s new husband, Stefan, considers himself
an Eph at heart and even promised to “never cheer
for Amherst” in his wedding vows. In addition to her
family, a number of other alums also celebrated with
them, including Anouk Dey ’09, Molly Hunter ’09,
Ned Hole ’05, Jessie Hole, Jonathan Brajtbord ’06,
Sarah Jenks Brajtbord ’07, Jake Randall ’07, Scott
MacKenzie ’06, Courtney Samuelson, Mimi Connery, Julia Nawrocki ’09, Brian Morrissey ’09, Ana
Sani, and Al Mathews ’10.
Jessie Freeman married Ned Hole ’05 last summer
in New Hampshire. Charlotte Van Wagenen enjoyed
attending both KK’s beautiful wedding in a Sonoma
vineyard and Jessie’s wildly fun party at her farm in
New Hampshire.
Kate Harris and Pat Lucey got married last
summer and celebrated with a number of Williams
alums. On Aug. 17, Matt Stephan married Priscilla
(University of Rochester ’07) in Skaneateles, N.Y. Ephs
in attendance were groomsmen Eugene Berson, Nic
Miragliuolo, and Haz Swaleheen, as well as Eugene
Korsunskiy (who gave an amazing speech as part of
the wedding), Kate Nolfi, Nisi Zhang, Jose Valenzuela ’07, Lars Ojukwu ’07, and Justin Anderson ’06.
According to Eugene, they had a great time dancing
“like it’s 2008” with a lot of fellow Ephs. Many of the
attendees spent the week leading up to the wedding in
a couple of rental houses in Skaneateles Village. After
the wedding, Matt and Priscilla honeymooned for a
week in Cancun. And, after three years at Standard &
Poors, Matt took a job as a muni bond credit analyst
at Columbia Management in Boston. (It was an easy
move, as his new office is in the same building as his
old job, just 15 floors up!)
Taryn Rathbone and Mike Daub are both living in
the Bay Area. Check out the “Weddings” section for
a photo from their wedding (along with photos from
many of the weddings already mentioned). Corey
Beverly was looking forward to attending Diana
Jaffe’s December wedding in NYC along with Liz
Hirschhorn and Darcy Montevaldo. And Charles
Christianson is waiting to see which of his friends
will take the plunge next after rounding out a heavy
wedding season.
Moving on to career updates, Dan Golub is teaching
eighth-grade math and science at a public bilingual
school in Brooklyn. Ariel Heyman is in Oakland,
Calif., teaching ninth-grade biology by day at Oakland
Technical High School and Shotokan karate by night
in San Leandro. Joe Boivin ’09 was going to be a guest
speaker on neuroscience in Ariel’s class, and Elena
Wikner ’11 was sighted at Ariel’s school, observing
a math class shortly after she and Ariel went out for
Thai food together. After four years of consulting in
Boston, I (Julie Van Deusen) decided I was ready for
a career move and am now teaching math at Rocky
Hill School, a small, independent school on the coast
of Rhode Island. I share a classroom with English
teacher Nick Barker ’00 and also work with Terry
Coes ’71, a fellow math teacher. As part of my role,
I’m also the head coach of the cross country team. It
hasn’t taken me long to realize that my gymnastics/
diving background doesn’t really lend itself to devising
effective speed and endurance practices for runners.
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Nonetheless, I’m very much enjoying both teaching
and coaching.
Mike Kirwan left Boston and moved to NYC in October to start a job with the Robin Hood Foundation.
Will Jacobson and Jimmy Bierman both graduated
from Stanford Law School in June. On Oct. 1, Will
started work at Kendall Brill & Klieger, a boutique law
firm in LA specializing in entertainment litigation.
Last year, Silvia Semper graduated from the University of Arizona, Rogers College of Law, and joined
the civil litigation department at one of the largest
law firms in Nevada. She resides in Las Vegas. After
Jason Kohn’s Peace Corps service in Kazakhstan was
cut short when the program was suspended, Jason
decided to try again and is now serving as a volunteer
in Guizhou Province, China. He is teaching English at
a college there and spending every day wishing he had
majored in Chinese at Williams.
Next up: school updates. Max Pinto and Dixon
Hargrove are reunited at Dartmouth’s Tuck School
of Business on the same hockey team. Dixon has
showed some flashes of brilliance on the ice with a
few multi-goal games. Max is also serving as president
of the Tuck Student Board. Eric Ballon-Landa is at
UC Irvine in his third year of med school and states
that “rotations are fantastic.” Eric ran into Esther Jun
’10 (who is a first year at UCI) at a school event. And
during Eric’s outpatient ambulatory medicine rotation
in a Long Beach community hospital, he worked for
a month with Cassandra Parrott ’04. They realized
their shared Williams connection about 20 minutes
into their conversation on their first day. Nancy Haff
is finishing her clerkships year at Penn med and trying
to decide what area of medicine to go in to. In October,
she traveled to DC to spend a weekend with Simone
Levien and Caitlin Warthin. Katie Warren is a 1L at
UC Berkeley Law School. She is also proudly serving
as the East Bay rep for Williams’ heyfaybay crew
(alongside Cooper Jones and Eugene Berson, who
are serving as the San Fran reps).
Jared Oubre is back on the East Coast, finding
theological studies and running along the banks of
the Charles River to be a nice mixture. He enjoys
occasional weekends mentoring a young inmate who,
because of his good behavior while in jail, is able to
pursue a college degree. Last summer, Lidia Meshesha went on a backpacking trip to northern India and
hung out on the beaches of the Maldives with Fathima
Musthaq ’09. The trip was their last hoorah before
entering graduate school. Lidia is now attending The
University of Memphis for clinical psychology, and
Fathima is at Indiana University Bloomington for
political science.
Eugene Korsunskiy is back at Stanford after an
unforgettable 15,000-mile cross-country road trip with
his master’s project, SparkTruck (www.sparktruck.
org). He and his friends were on the road for four
months, visiting dozens of schools with an old delivery
truck full of tools, teaching kids to tinker, build, and get
creative. Miraculously, Eugene and the truck are still
alive, and Eugene is now doing a yearlong teaching gig
at Stanford, where he is helping to craft a new design
class for sophomores. When his travels brought him to
New York, he got to hang out with Kate Nolfi, who’s
doing one semester of her philosophy PhD program
at Rutgers. They also spent time with Daniel Yudkin,
Polo Black-Golde, and Joe Song, which was a blast.
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Over the summer, Jessica Rosten spent two weeks
in Jackson Hole, Wyo., with Tyler Auer ’07. There
they met Peter Schmidt, Ellie Schmidt ’06, and Will
Schmidt ’77 for a hike up to Lake of the Crags in
Teton National Park. Lily Li and Gavin McCormick
’05 organized a Mountain Day festival on Oct. 7 for
the Bay Area with the help of the Williams NorCal
alumni committee. They hiked to Wildcat Peak at
Tilden Park in Berkeley and sang a riveting round of
“The Mountains” while enjoying cider and donuts.
They had numerous Ephs attending, including: Alice
Li ’01, Ellen Stuart ’11, Molly Sharlach ’05, Nick
Arnosti ’11, Elise Piazza ’09, Catalin Lordan ’09,
Michael Reynolds, Art Munson ’01, Katy Munson
’01, Dominique Rodriguez ’12, Noah Bell ’05, Beth
Gelfand ’84, Hannah Hausman ’12, Robby Cuthbert
’11, Fiona Wilkes ’12, Beth Budwig ’02, Jake Manley
’06, Gavin McCormick ’05, Brian Hirshman ’06,
Jonathan Landsman ’05, Ashley Brock ’05, Elissa
Shevinksy ’04, Christia Mulvey ’97, Nathan Kurz
’96, Ralph Morrison ’09, and Han Giesecke ’78.
In September Chris Beeler, Matt Simonson,
Mack Brickley, Dave Rogawski, Lissie Robbie, Liz
Gleason, Corey Levin, Jim Clayton, Grant Burgess,
and Jared Oubre all enjoyed representing the Class of
’08 at Williams Cross Country’s 100th anniversary up
on the home course at Greylock High School. More
than 200 x-purple cow harriers showed up for the race
and weekend of festivities. Spirits were high, and the
team’s mascot stuffed teddy bear was tossed with a
forceful chant as alumni rallied at the start line to face
off against each other.
That rounds up this edition of our class notes. Be
sure to mark your calendars for our five-year reunion
(June 6-9, 2013). If you didn’t receive the save-the-date
in the mail, please make sure your contact information
is up to date on the Williams alumni website. I’m looking forward to seeing you all then!
2009
Mijon Zulu, 377 East 33rd St., Apt. 8H, New York, NY
In the wake of a hurricane and an election, I have to
admit that I am thoroughly overwhelmed. My heart
goes out to all affected by Sandy’s wrath. I pray that
whatever the damage to those affected, you passed
through the holiday season in the company of those
you love and who love you. At times such as these,
I am reminded by how lucky we are to have love in
our lives and, hopefully, love of our pursuits. So, let’s
celebrate that in this class notes and take that into the
New Year.
Thanks to those who love our schools. Jim Lowe is a
research analyst at the Public Education Department
in Santa Fe, N.M., while Matt Felser teaches middle
school Spanish and coaches golf and soccer in Vail,
Colo. Elissa Brown now sells innovative ice cream
with her business “Cows on a Bike” and teaches middle
school science and Spanish in Boone, N.C. In NYC,
Becca Gordon is working toward an MA in teaching
in English grades 7-12 at Teachers College, Columbia
University, while Claire Rindlaub is still in school at
Bank Street and teaches first grade at the Battery Park
City School. In the fall, Ms. Rindlaub completed a
Tough Mudder with Emily Smith and Jim Whit-
2008– 09
ledge. After 12 miles of running through mud, crawling under barbed wire and jumping off of 15-foot walls
into frigid water, Ms. Rindlaub had just stood in line to
use a hose and clean off when she heard, “OK, people,
let’s move it. This isn’t a spa.” And whose voice was it?
It was Antonia Clark, who has been working at Tough
Mudder for a couple of years now!
Thanks to those who love the law. At Cornell, Stef
Williams and Nicole McNeil are continuing to take
Ithaca and law by storm. Ms. Williams is an associate on Law Review, a judicial codes counselor—a
representative and advocate for Cornell students who
have been accused of violating the code of conduct in
disciplinary proceedings with the university—and will
be a summer associate for the New York firm Davis
Polk & Wardell (congrats!). Ms. McNeil continues
to work hard but also found her way to Ireland for a
break—where she got engaged (double congrats!!).
Also in law school, Ali Tozier is finally at U Maine,
while Ben Bodurian is a 2L at UVA and will be working in DC next summer.
Thanks to those who love saving lives. In Yacama,
Wash., Lauren A. Finn is finally in med school and
loving it, even though she is an East Coast girl at
heart. At U Rochester, Jared Lunkenheimer, passionate about rural primary care, joined up with the
National Health Service Corps and has been back to
southern Arizona twice to continue working with the
humanitarian aid organization No Mas Muertes, providing medical and other assistance to undocumented
travelers making the dangerous trek through the
Sonoran desert. At Emory, Stew Buck is busy with
boards and prepping for rotations while, at Columbia,
Jess Kopcho continued to inch closer to med school
via her postbac program. In August, she and Rob
Buesing spent two weeks traveling through Thailand
in August where they went rock climbing, hung out
with elephants, and met up with Ed Wichiencharoen
to watch his Thai TV show and catch up.
Thanks to those who love business. Alex Zackheim
returned from London in the summer to start at
Columbia in the fall, while Bryant Lewis and Naya
Martin began “B” school at Emory. In Cambridge,
George Miller is loving MIT Sloan, where he is digging into energy, co-directing the Clean Energy Prize,
and supporting the Energy Finance Forum.
Now, thanks to those who love the “real world.”
New Yorkers were dealt a huge curve ball this year,
but many managed in style. Prior to the hurricane,
Katherine Conaway (sorry for the previous misspelling) celebrated her new job as a production coordinator at Hush Studios (congrats)! Julian Mesri was a
fellow at NYTW while also working at the Lower
East Side Tenement Museum. During the hurricane,
roomies David Edwards and Nailah Wilds showed
that some wine and some houseguests—Bryant Lewis
and Morgan Philips-Spotts—make for a smashingly
good time.
In New England, Rahul Bahl is working for GE
Capital in Norwalk, Conn., while, in Boston, Andy
Ward is applying to neuroscience PhD programs
and continuing to research Alzheimer’s (he even got
blogged about at http://bit.ly/VbNeOT). After the
summer, Noemi Fernandez returned from Costa Rica
for dinner parties with Ryan Olivarria and her last
year as an admission counselor at Wellesley College
before going to graduate school. Emily Smith lives in
Brookline, Mass., and teaches as a first-grade intern at
Buckingham Browne & Nichols in Cambridge while
pursuing an MA in elementary education. In her free
time, she and Jim Whitledge enjoy Boston when he
is not studying for his postbac at Tufts, studying for
the MCAT, or doing research at the Lahey Clinic.
Sam Tarnasky spent the summer back in Canada and
returned in time to visit Jackie and Devon O’Rourke
’06 on Cape Cod and attend Rachel Barr’s wedding
in Vermont along with Joey Lye, Elissa Popoff ’06,
Wendy Stone ’06, Melissa Vandermyn ’06, and
Abby Taylor ’07. Ed Newkirk, is at Brown for his
math PhD.
In Philly, Brian Egan has begun to mark a year of
working at Wells Fargo in mortgage and financial
consulting. Alex Hoff is two years into her PhD in
clinical psychology at Temple. Ms. Hoff still lives with
Emily Behrman and has had awesome recent Ephadventures. In the summer, she spent a weekend at the
Behrman family’s summer house in PA with Lauren
E. Finn and Betsy Ribble, and in the fall she invaded
Boston for a Red Sox game and trip to the Sam Adams
brewery with Jess Walthew, Lindsay Bouton, Jared
Currier, Becky Staiger, and Taylor Wilson-Hill.
Anouk Dey hasn’t given up training for her Ironman, but she has relocated to Baltimore to work at
a fund that invests in innovation at T. Rowe Price.
Lindsay Millert left Baltimore for Williamstown in
September for the wedding of Chris DeBaere and Allie Morrow ’08. In DC, Patricia Ludvig is living with
Catie Lee. The two hosted Natalia Arango and Liz
Bacon for a visit in August. Former London resident
Aroop Mukhardji is now also in DC and is a new
member of the Executive Committee of the Society of
Alumni for Williams. (Hurray!) Mr. Mukhardji now
lives with Jay Cox-Chapman in the Dupont Circle
area.
To the west, Emily Olsen is in Hailey, Idaho,
teaching sixth- and seventh-grade writing and
science. In Utah, Brian Bistolfo is working as
wilderness therapy instructor. In Olympia, Wash.,
Aaron Schwartz is farming, tutoring, and software
testing for a nonprofit that does Ecosystem Service.
Still running like the wind, Macklin Chaffee ran a
three-day relay with 15 other Williams grads to the
headwaters of the Mississippi in Bozeman, Mont.
Thanks to those who love adventure. In Europe and
Asia, Emilie Voight (sorry for the previous misspelling) clinked glasses at one of Shakespeare’s old pub
haunts in England, while Alexa Valenzuela moved
back to the U.S. for grad school. Her ex-roomie,
Stacey Baradit, continues to work and live in China
as a manager of a team of Chinese website designers.
In August, Britt Spackman visited India with a childhood friend before returning to run Reach the Beach
with Kate Stephens ’10.
In Africa, Claire Whipple and Jake Koshland are
spending the year in Malawi working for a nonprofit
called Maloto. Ms. Whipple is teaching and writing
a blog (http://bit.ly/SotDbl), while Mr. Koshland is
working on empowering women with a tomato canning business. In Peru, Rob Buesing and Mike Sachs
spent a week hiking to Machu Picchu. When in Cusco,
before the trip started, they ran into Nick Manice and
Kelly Kirkpatrick, who were there for the summer to
learn Spanish and do volunteer work. In Guatemala,
Denise Duquette is running a social enterprise that
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she helped start called Unmarked Streets and has
sounded an open call for visitors. After graduating
from UT in May, Sarah Hill traveled to Spain to hike
the Camino to Santiago de Compostela before returning to Austin, where she teaches yoga and works at a
running store.
And, finally, thanks to those who believe in L-OV-E! Besides those already mentioned, engagements
are catching like wildfire. Trevor Powers proposed to
Kristen McInnis. Lauren Bloch got engaged! Annie
Hancock and Chris Fahey marked seven years of
college and real world dating by getting engaged over
July 4 weekend on the Cape! And, finally Mike Smith
surprised Lizzie Burns by proposing in October at her
home in Delaware while both of their families were in
town. Hurray!
If it isn’t obvious, we are now those people whose
friends are all getting hitched.
Catalin Iordan and Elise Piazza married at the Aurora Inn on Cayuga Lake in Upstate N.Y. Alex Ratté
’09 was the best man, Nina Piazza ’12 was the maid of
honor, and Shyla Foster, Yasmin Saaka, Samantha
Barbaro and Professor Brent Heeringa attended.
Dan Winston and Natalie Friedman ’10 tied the
knot in October.
Meghan Gleeson ’08 and Kyle Ayer were married
in NH on June 23. Chris Doyle was one of two best
men, while the groomsmen included Alex Kramer,
Frank Bergold, and Doug Washington ’08. Clearly
the event screamed EPH! Dominique de la Torre
’08 was a bridesmaid, and the event was witnessed
by Kristen Lemons ’08, James Bierman ’08, Lars
Ojukwu ’08, Whitney Livermore, Jessica Rosten
’08, Nicolette Savageau ’08, Andrew Gatewood
’10, Keith Butts, Francisco Bisono, Aaron Mieszczanski ’08, Barret Allison, Timothy Kiely ’11, Ethan
Cohen, Dan DiCenzo ’01, Mike Penza, Amanda
Nicholson, and Stef Williams.
Hurray for love, and hurray for us.
Till the Next, YCS.
2010
Ethan Timmins-Schiffman, 2415 East Prospect St.,
Seattle, WA 98112; [email protected]
Marriages are great. Love is in the air. Thus, this
edition will begin with matrimonial matters. Following
the section devoted to nuptial news are a few people
who are living with or near their respective significant
others. Lastly, there are plenty of people, including
yours truly, who did not include romantic news in
their notes but have been allowed to take part in this
procession of updates nonetheless.
Alex Taylor and Sydney Tooze ’12 were engaged
in May and moved to Chicago in August. Alex goes to
Northwestern’s medical school. Sydney is a research
assistant at the University of Chicago. Since arriving
in the Chicago area, the two have logged hundreds of
miles running along the Lakeshore Path that passes
by their apartment. They also visited Wisconsin for
“Mountain Day-style” cider donuts and apples.
Natalie Freedman and Dan Winston ’09 were married on Oct. 14.
In September Lindsay Merrell and Matthew Clark
were wed. There was not one wedding but a “transatlantic marathon.” On Sept. 23, the couple held a small
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ceremony in St. Margaret’s Chapel in the Edinburgh
Castle. The next day Lindsay boarded a plane for the
States. On Sept. 29, the two got together with friends
and family for a second wedding, this time at a vineyard in Lindsay’s hometown. Present were Ambika
Thoreson, Caitlin Eley, Hanna Seifert, Kristen
Williams, Meagan Muncy, and Jenny Coronel.
Caitlin shared a rendition of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116.
The bride added that she was happy that the wedding’s
location gave her an excuse to drive through the purple
mountains again. Lindsay now lives in Canterbury,
England, where there is a Canterbury Tales museum.
She works at Ashford Borough Council as a revenues
assistant. She is enjoying learning about the UK’s style
of local government and council tax and settling into
married life. She is also getting used to having a new
name. The couple met when Lindsay was studying
abroad at the University of Glasgow.
Caleb Balderston moved to Cambridge, Mass.,
where he lives with his girlfriend Rachel Levy ’09.
He is very happy working at a charter school in Hyde
Park.
Alex “Mok” Mokover is in California, rooting for
his beloved UCLA Bruins. Amidst this love affair, he
still finds time to listen to music, often that of Rakim
and Nas, particularly “Illmatic” by the latter.
Chris Ting started medical school at the University of Vermont in August. In Burlington, Chris is
cohabitating with Megan Behrend ’12. Chris reports
that this is going “nicely.” When he is not buried
in work, he usually chills with Alice Nelson or his
medical school classmate Taylor Goller. Rounding out
his Williams connections in the area is his professor
Richard “Mort” Wasserman ’71. Chris enjoys lots of
craft beer and awesome food, products of a strong local
farm-to-table movement.
Alice is in her last year of graduate school at UVM.
She wrote in after meeting up with Tracey Ferriter,
Whitney Kelly, and Whitney Thayer to run a super
hero-themed half marathon in New Hampshire. “We
ran the whole thing with capes on.”
Also in Vermont is Whitney Hitchcock. Whitney
is in her third year of studies at the Geisel School of
Medicine at Dartmouth. When she wrote in, she had
just finished her two-month internal medicine rotation
in San Francisco. While in northern California she
found joy in numerous dates with Chelsea Kubal,
Melissa Pun, and Alisha Cahlan.
Tommy Coleman wrote in but did not update us
on goings on in his life. Rather, he wanted to be the
first responder to my request for notes. As some of my
readers know, he or she who responds first to my email
receives a mysterious prize.
Alex Rubin moved from Arlington, Va., to Bethesda,
Md. He is doing commercial property management
and leasing work in DC. When he has the time, Alex
stays up to catch The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy
Fallon.
From Oct. 25-28, Jamie Quella competed in the
Club Ultimate Championships, the national championship tournament for the highest level of Ultimate
Frisbee. Jamie resides in Cambridge, Mass.
Sid Mehra is in India, working in graphic design,
traveling when he can, and learning more about “this
colorful, untamed country.”
I spent the summer traveling. I started out in Seattle,
where I lunched with Liza Curtiss. I then spent a
2009– 11
month in San Francisco. I played pickup basketball
with my JA Whitney Livermore ’08. Alisha Cahlan
and I hiked through the Presidio National Park, and at
Google’s HQ I had lunch with Mike Moorstein. Next,
along with Tanya Zhuravleva, I went to Israel, where
I ran into Hannah Rosenthal in the Golan Heights
region. After Israel, Tanya and I went to Istanbul. I
am now working on a farm in Tuscany, where I enjoy
learning about the ethics of animal husbandry. I will be
in Beijing in the winter, learning firsthand about street
food carts and other cool things.
October marked the sixth month in London for John
Withers. John grew up in London and is there again
to help J.P. Morgan “enhance and re-engineer internal
systems and policies in response to waves of regulatory
rules and guidance washing over the U.K. and the rest
of Europe.” He enjoys building up his old school’s
martial arts club and hopes to explore more of Europe.
He is also searching for a replacement for New York’s
Ippudo (ramen restaurant), “possibly the toughest
challenge I have faced in this move.”
Gigi Campo vacationed in Park City, Utah, with
Abby Islan, Caitlin Eusden, and Abby’s parents,
one of whom is Anne Sneath Islan ’80. A beautiful
photograph of the four Ephs shows them in the midst
of an epic 20- to 40-mile hike.
Nora Mitchell spent a few weeks this past summer
in South Africa, studying plants in the veldt, a term
that Wikipedia tells me is sometimes spelled “veld,”
and refers to regions in Africa, especially the southern
portion, covered in low scrub or grass. Nora’s trip to
South Africa commenced her PhD work in ecology
and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut. “So yeah,” she wrote, “I’ll be in the middle
of nowhere Connecticut for most of the next five-plus
years, with yearly expeditions to the Western Cape!”
In Brooklyn, Chloe Brown has been writing, serving
as the TA of a playwriting class, and, perhaps most of
all, working toward the launch of Tugboat Collective’s
first season and fundraising campaign. The collective,
which includes Eben Hoffer, Casey York, and Nathaniel Basch-Gould ’11, raised more than $10,000,
with donations from many Ephs. Chloe was excited
to start rehearsals in November for Moon & Marble,
a reimagining of Liza Curtiss’ senior thesis project.
(Liza will be in New York for most of November and
December.) In the fall, Chloe saw Eben in a beautiful (and also creepy) production of Woyzeck in Port
Townsend, Wash., and traveled to Boston to see Lydia
Barnett-Mulligan perform in Actor’s Shakespeare
Project’s Macbeth. “Sisters are doin’ it for themselves!
In a gender-neutral way, I guess.”
Also in Brooklyn, Marco Sanchez sports a handlebar mustache and plays his plastic trombone with
a blues rock group by the name of The Harmonica
Lewinskies. He misses Europe a lot. To ease the pain,
he celebrated his birthday in a local German bierhalle.
After spending two years in Boston, Tahsin Khan
moved to NYC. Tahsin is enrolled at the Mount Sinai
School of Medicine. “School is good, the city is great,
and it has been a remarkably rewarding experience so
far to work with patients and learn how to take care of
others.”
Kallan Wood wrote in while enjoying fall in New
York. She was happy to report that the Williams dance
department invited her to participate in a choreographic experiment with former NYC Ballet soloist
Adam Hendrickson. “Still just trying to live the dream.
… One day at a time.”
Charlotte Healy wrote to show off a photo of an
impressive Eph turnout at NYC’s Soccarat Paella Bar.
Photographed are Stephanie Swanson ’05, Giorgio
Mosoni ’07, Yibai Li, Owen Simpson ’07, Nick Rios,
Steve Abbott ’07, some friendly looking people who
did not go to Williams, and, of course, Charlotte.
Cat Vielma made her first post-graduate career
change. She said “Deuces” to the nonprofit sector and
“Holla!” to government work. She is now a multifamily underwriter at the U.S. Department of Housing
& Urban Development regional office in Chicago.
Steph Brooks visited her in the fall. Cat hopes to do
an East Coast trip—Boston, NYC, DC—in the spring.
In the meantime, she hopes folks can visit her in the
Midwest.
On Nov. 4, Kate Stephens took a break from Boston’s South End and began a three-and-a-half-month
overseas stint in Parthenon’s Mumbai and Shanghai
offices.
Meggie Nidever is in her second year of teaching
for the City of Austin, Texas. She teaches for an arts
education and outreach after-school program for teens.
The program is geared toward students who may not
have opportunities in the arts in their public schools.
To help pay the bills, Meggie also dabbles in repairing
computers. As Austin residents are wont to do, she is
enjoying Austin’s famous sunshine, live music, and
delicious food.
2011
Caroline Chiappetti, 504 Clinton Ave., Apt. 3, Brooklyn,
In late October, when I was writing these notes, the
combination of the upcoming election and a rapidly
approaching LSAT had caused my brain to temporarily dissolve into a handful of Mexican jumping beans.
Compiling this batch of notes proved to be a welcome
distraction from disparaging debates and logic games
sections, but in order to keep myself on track, I decided
to share our classmates’ news this time, with a few
tangential exceptions, in the order in which we graduated, alphabetically.
Ayyaz Ahmed wrote from Pakistan, where, in
addition to working for his family’s publishing house
in Lahore, he has been putting his Williams poli ec
major to good use. Back in 2011, Ayyaz, Asad Liaqat,
Diego Flores, and Yue-Yi Hwa presented a solution
to the problem of public sector corruption in Pakistan
based on a pilot project known as the Jhang Model as
their final political economy project. Only a little over
a year later, Ayyaz is now working for a consultant to
the World Bank, implementing the front end of this
project with the provincial government in Punjab,
Pakistan’s largest province.
Also putting his senior capstone project to good use
is Nick Arnosti, who last summer spent several weeks
in Scotland, presenting work based on his senior thesis
at the International Conference on Machine Learning. While in the UK he met up with several fellow
Williams alums in Edinburgh and Cambridge. Back
Stateside, Nick, along with approximately 40 other
Ephs of all ages, including Robby Cuthbert, Ellen
Stuart, Elena Wikner, and Hannah Hausman ’12
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attended the Williams Bay Area Mountain Day
festival on Oct. 7. “We ate donuts, drank cider, and
sang ‘The Mountains’ while looking out upon San
Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge,” wrote Nick.
(Sounds lovely! I think we have to bring this tradition
to NYC. Meet in the Central Park Ramble next year?)
Steph Berger returned home in July from her
deployment in the Arabian Gulf, where she received
a ton of Williams support thanks to “Adopt An Eph.”
“The highlight of my return had to be a visit from my
sisters of 2011, where we showed San Diego our classy
side at a polo match.”
A number of you responded instantly to my solicitation for notes, sharing that you were in fact with
Williams friends at that very moment! Leo Brown
was “drumming and chilling” with Josh Blanco and
Laone Thekiso ’12 in Brookline, Mass. Will Piereson
and Jen Potvin, both in DC in the same LSAT class,
each wrote in immediately to say that my email had
been a [pleasant, I assume] interruption from LSAT
studying.
Kaitlin Butler moved to Dublin, Ireland, in the fall.
“Beyond spending quality Dublin time with Leila
Crawford ’12, I’m looking very forward to spending
Christmas with Yue-Yi Hwa ’11 and cross-Irish Sea
visits with Hilary Ledwell ’12. … Especially given
YY’s overall cuddliness and excellence as a Christmas
companion.”
Life in Boston is “generally good and quite busy” for
Adrienne Darrow. “Though I miss my former Beacon
Hill roommates Anna Soybel and Kaitlin Konkel
’10, I’ve settled into a new apartment with more
space and fewer mice! I still can’t quite seem to find
the time to visit Chris Serna in New York, but I am
working on it. The highlight of the past few months
for me was running the Chicago Marathon in early
October, where I had the good fortune of running into
Liz Katack ’10, who was also running. The race was a
blast, and I qualified for the 2013 Boston Marathon. I
hope to see many Ephs along the course come April!”
Joey Kiernan, Shawn Curley, and Alex Treco ’12
actually just took over Adrienne, Anna, and Kaitlin’s
aforementioned mouse-infested apartment. Nevertheless, Joey writes, “Life is great! I’ve been flying to
Texas every week for work recently but still managed
to take few trips to NYC with Leland Brewster, Jenny
Schnabl ’10, and Shawn for the weekends to visit Dan
Costanza, Dan Kenefick, and Mike Abrams.”
Erika Denslow began her second year of law school
at the University of Tennessee in the fall and has a
clerkship at London & Amburn, a local medical malpractice firm. In her “spare time (which doesn’t really
exist)” she is planning her August 2013 Williamstown
wedding to Anthony Banks with help from maid of
honor Alex Peruta and bridesmaids Amy Harris and
Jacque Magby, who are in Boston, California, and
Chicago, respectively.
When Nancy Dong wrote, she had just spent a
weekend away from busy LA with Esther Jun ’10
and had caught “Snoop Lion” in concert with Oscar
Moreno and Faisal Khan. (To save some of you a
Google, Snoop Dogg apparently became Snoop Lion
last summer after a religious and artistic awakening.)
Nancy was matched with Jonathan Sokoloff ’79
in the Sponsor-a-Teacher Program, which matches
Teach for America corps members with community
supporters. It’s a small world! She also met up with
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Paloma Marin ’12 and Dominique Rodriguez ’12
while they were in LA training for their own TFA
experience.
In San Francisco, Tommy Hester and Wilson Barr
are starting an alcoholic beverage company (check
them out at twpitchers.com). Their first drink, Snake
Bite, is a mix of lager and cider and was to debut in the
Bay Area this winter. Can’t wait to try it!
Danny Huang is a computer science PhD student
at the University of California, San Diego, optimizing data centers and cloud services such as Facebook
and Google and reading research papers next to the
Pacific Ocean, a 10-minute walk from the department.
“I visited Steven Cheng ’10 in the San Francisco Bay
Area to catch up with the good old times of making
Cooking with Steven (in which I was the producerdirector) and to eat some quality Korean food. While
I have no plans of making another cooking show, I am
in the process of planning an existentialist short film
that involves a body in the trunk and a talking cat.” I
am intrigued.
Leah Landsdowne spent the summer in Bristol
Bay, Alaska, commercial fishing for salmon. Closer to
civilization, near Homer, Alaska, she met up with David Hansen, Dale Markey, Matt Crimp ’12, Lindsay
Olsen ’12, and Cat Lamb ’13. “We all skiffed out to a
cabin on a lovely little island in Alaska for a night of
fresh seafood and merriment. David Hansen brought
to the experience an appreciation for flame-broiled
sausages that surely cannot be matched.” Leah was
on a six-month adventure exploring New Zealand by
bicycle. Dale also wrote to share news of this fantastic
night. She is now busy in her second year of Teach for
America in Arkansas, so busy in fact, that she wrote
during one of her prep periods.
Andrew Liu quit his first “real” job three months
ago and moved from Baltimore to Boston in pursuit of
greener pastures. In Boston, he hung out with interns
Yang Lu ’14, Le Vu ’14, and Heidi Chen ’14 at his
company, where it was weird to not be the most junior
employee anymore! Now he is living with Joel Clemmer ’12 and regularly hangs out with Josh Wilson
and Johannes Wilson and goes to the same church as
Annie Park ’10 and Tasha Chu.
“Hello from Arcata on the beautiful Humboldt
Redwood Coast!” writes Stevie Luther. “Refuting the
wisdom that a poli sci and history double major just
has to go to law school, I’m whole-heartedly a treeloving environmentalist and now working part time
with a local nonprofit doing membership outreach
(check out wildcalifornia.org. It’s EPIC). My other
gig is as a sandwich construction artist at the local
sandwich place in Arcata called Hole in the Wall. I
take pride in making great sandwiches, a job I am more
than suited for after my time at Ephporium, slapping
together ham and Swiss. I do not run in to Williams
classmates ever, which sucks, but I miss the whole lot
of you! I will try to make the six-hour trip down to the
SF Bay Area soon and catch some Eph love.”
Michelle Noyer-Granacki and Lucas Bruton experienced their first LA earthquake in September. It was
around midnight and resulted in them standing in the
middle of the living room not quite sure what to do.
They have since made emergency evacuation plans.
While Lucas interviews with med schools, Michelle
spends her Sundays working on the set of Fox NFL
Sunday and meeting the cast of Community on set, pro-
2011– 12
voking undying resentment in Lucas and Greg Kim.
Clare Quinlan is “still chugging along in NYC, living in Brooklyn with Maddie Jacobs and delightfully
near our third musketeer Caroline Chiappetti. I’m
working at Greenberg Van Doren Gallery in Manhattan and am really enjoying the solid Williams ’11 crew
that’s sprinkled through Brooklyn and Manhattan. I
have just returned from a delightful visit to Boston,
where I got to catch up with Haley Steggall, Tess
Bingham, and Jonah Zuflacht.”
Melinda Salaman is still living in DC and working
at the Advisory Board Co. and absolutely loving it. “I
was recently promoted … and am now a research analyst on the higher education team, which essentially
means that I spend nine months at a time studying major challenges that confront community colleges across
the country. … Researching the plights of community
colleges … has made me even more grateful for my
Williams education. … Jen Potvin and Kyle Victor
now live in DC, and I see them both often, along with
Sasha Zheng. Considering we all spent junior year
abroad together, it feels almost the same, except the
food in DC is better than in England.”
Emily Spine is still in Milwaukee, in her second
year of teaching third grade with Teach for America.
She is thrilled to have another Eph in the city: Clare
LaFave ’12 recently moved to Milwaukee to intern
with an urban farm, Growing Power. Emily took a trip
to NYC in the summer and had a big reunion with a
bunch of other ’11s, including Carla Cain-Walther,
Cara Sipprelle, and Anne Kerth. She was eagerly
anticipating her first Homecoming as an alumna!
After experiencing “an amazing and somewhat
unplanned convergence of Ephs” on the campus of
Cambridge in the UK in June, Laura Staugaitis had
a lovely dose of Purple Valley nostalgia (Science Quad
picnic, ’62 Center theater) in August with Lydia Barnett-Mulligan ’10, Owen Barnett-Mulligan ’13, John
Hawthorne ’13, and Pat Barnett-Mulligan ’79. “And
I spent a few days helping Ben Swimm ’09 harvest
vegetables in the face of yoga-guru-induced adversity.
In more recent news I’m still living in Chicago and am
going to be starting work at a creative agency in the
next few weeks and have successfully lured Caroline
Henry ’10 to UChicago Law School and hosted Laura
Christianson ’11, hopefully similarly convincing her
of the charms of med school at/in (U)Chicago. I’ve
also seen Claire Seizovic ’13 a few times out here and
have been helping Eric Phillips ’09 fix-er-up his new
apartment.”
Fellow Brooklynite Andrew Triska is graduating
in May with his master’s in social work from Hunter
College and is trying to be optimistic that by the time
he graduates there will be a “glut of good psychotherapist jobs. … This fall and spring, I’m doing research
on how religiosity and stigma affect safe sex practices.
Life partner Sam Barbaro ’09 just hired Margaret
Moore ’12 to work in editorial at Routledge.”
Things have changed considerably in Katie White’s
life since she last wrote in. “A fellowship I applied to
through Princeton-in-Asia came through in mid-July,
and now I find myself sitting at a desk at the World
Wildlife Fund in Laos. I love it here so far! The work
topics are incredibly interesting, ranging from an
illegal wildlife trade campaign to hydropower projects
proposed for the Mekong River. … We eat coconuts
off the street every day and drink plenty of beerlao. …
I’m here for one year, with the possibility of renewing
for a second. Come visit!”
Thanks to all of you who wrote in—it is always so
fun to celebrate and commiserate with you as I put together this column. Till hill and valley gaily, gaily ring!
2012
Kyle Martin, 54 Woodland Road, Madison, CT 06443;
Kendra Sims, 29 Hoxsey St., Williamstown, MA 01267;
[email protected]
It is my pleasure to share the adventures of the Class
of 2012.
Some of us continued the festivities of Senior Week.
Eddie Nadel, Elike Kumahia, and Brian Kirchner
joined WUFO teammates Stephen Weiss, Anna
Annatova, Anna Heffernan-Fagone, Will Weiss,
David Monnich, Tom Crawford, Aaron “Ledge”
Freeman, and Mike Levy in going to the Bonaroo
Music Festival. The latter three now live together in
Brookline, where Aaron studies regional food systems
at Red Tomato, and Tom studies math at Boston College. Nearby, Stephen works with the Exeter Group,
and Annatova works at a school in Switzerland.
The 2012 Diasporas continued as Amanda EstevesKraus, Austin Davis, Nick Fogel, Francesca Barret,
and Laura Berk went on a birthright trip. Amanda
enjoyed “having intellectual vibrancy combined with
the sheer fun of Williams in your suitcase.” She and
Austin teach at the Hackley School and PhillipsAndover, respectively. Laura moved to Las Vegas and
is working as a Venture Fellow. Francesca and Nick
moved to Boston and are doing cancer research and
consulting, respectively. They accompany a horde of
’12ers in Boston. Francesca lives with Sonja Boatman
and Abi Stark, who works in the same building as
Kate Foley, Amber Cardoos, and Elizabeth Greiter,
who is rooming with Dave Samuelson! Rounding out
the scene are Alex Treco in Beacon Hill and Clarissa
Andre doing research.
Sam Mazzarella, Hilary Ledwell, Evelyn Denham, and Zina Ward promptly responded to my
email from a café in France while enjoying time before
classes at Cambridge. In Europe, Jackie Pineda studies Medieval literature in Edinburgh, Victoria Borish
works in Vienna, and Olivia Delia teaches in France.
Before that she hosted Davis Fillipel and Ford Smith
in Block Island and raced with Ford and many Ephs in
a 232-mile relay race in Montana.
Montana had its fair share of ’12. Aside from
Olivia, Chris Logan and Grace Babula visited Mr.
Smith and learned some wilderness skills. Amy Darling resorted to counting the fish while planning her
move to NYC. Walter Filkins passed the summer
fishing with his father. Lindsay Olsen and Marsha
Villaroel continue to spend their time around fish
in New Zealand. Lindsay caught 80,000 pounds of
Alaskan fish before beginning her Watson project,
and Marsha does salmon research. Elizabeth Dorr
recruits fish-lovers as an admission officer for the
SEA Semester program.
Sara Dorsey split her time kayaking at Zoar Outdoor and in West Virginia. She says, “I don’t where I’ll
be next, but it will most likely involve a tent and sleeping bag!” Jennifer Ann Morrison visited four national
parks, including Grand Canyon and Yosemite, and
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met Sara Clark and Marissa Roberts in DC. After
spending her summer in Colorado, Aven King moved
to Hawaii to work at a scuba shop. Sydney Tooze led
a backpacking trip in Sierra Nevada before moving to
Chicago to work in a psychology lab.
Sabine Chisty and Sabrina Marie bid the Windy
City goodbye before splitting to teach in NYC and the
Philippines, respectively. Sydney attended Chris Valle’s white-coat ceremony. Four other ’12s shared their
first-year med school experiences. Rachel Patel and
Roop Dutta are at UMASS-Worcester and Brown
University, respectively. Xiomara Pinto admits,
“With no snack bar, polar bear swim, reading period
or regular streaking, everyone is SUPER stressed out
all the time.” On the contrary, Ji Ji Anh Wohn traveled
around Korea with Donna Lee and Chanso Lee
before starting med school in St. Louis and also found
time for volleyball.
Former volleyball standout Zac Remilard has
moved to the Midwest, working for a startup making
sustainable plastics. His teammate Melissa WhitakerReyes is a Spanish teacher for TFA in Camden. Emily
Schwab uses her Spanish as an AmeriCorps member,
reading Huevos Verdes con Jamon to her students in
Providence. Hannah Saltzman works in public
service for Green Corps promoting legislation to label
genetically-engineered food.
After graduation Jeanette Rivera wedded Col.
Rodney Growler, with Emily Chapman in attendance. The newlyweds moved to California, where the
colonel is stationed at Camp Pendleton. Meanwhile,
Jennifer Rodriguez took part in a wedding in Mexico,
where Jordan Freking-Reyna and his newlywed
moved. He spent the summer being a “sexy househusband” before teaching English. Nina Piazza shared
her exciting experience attending her sister Elise
Piazza’s ’09 wedding before immediately returning
back to China to teach. Nina visited her roommate
Cam Nguyen in Vietnam. Joey Samuels wedded
high school sweetheart Jessi Merri with Francesca
Barret, David Marsh, Luc Robinson, Andrew
Lorezen, Cameron Rodgers, and Dan Gross in
attendance. The latter four decided to have their own
honeymoon and sailed to the British Virgin Islands.
Afterward, Dan moved to Syracuse, and Andrew
works for Google.
He is not alone in California. Thomas Bliska works
for an architecture firm. Ai Tran works in the Stanford
philosophy department, and Jack Berry is a research
assistant at its medical center. Dominique Rodriguez
and Chase Davenport are doing TFA in the Bay
Area. Dominique spends her time trying to avoid
words like stupid and heck. While training in LA, she
met Katie Aldrin, who works at the United Talent
Agency. Tyisha Turner also visited LA before moving
to NYC. LA native Estefeny Reyes finds time to do
cancer research, get a master’s, and parent her child!
Hayley Brooks and Raphael Menko are working on
her startup Learn2Earn in San Diego.
Holly Dwyer traveled up and down the West
Coast, visiting Kim Stroup, Zina Cigolle, and Mattie Mitchell in Seattle. Other road trippers include
Nicole Wise, Luke Brekenridge, Mariah Clegg
(via Greyhound), and Vince Nictasio. Vince settled
in Brookline with Brian Kim and Gregory Johnson.
Lisa Jaris also did a family road trip in Germany
before settling in Boston. Dimitri Luthi took the Tran118
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Siberian Railway and enjoyed it so much that the KGB
took his fingerprints because he overstayed his visa.
His fellow ski teammate Erik Anderson is traveling as
well throughout Afghanistan and Tajikistan working
telecom.
Leaving the Purple Bubble behind, most of us
stuck together. If you don’t believe me then just ask
consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where there’s
an entry of ’12s. Zach Evans, John Rabiner, Phil
Vestergaard, Regina Im, Siwol Chang, Elizabeth
Jimenez, Rodrigo de las Casas, Mike Ryan, and
Seamus McKinsey are working in various locations
in the DC area. While some started immediately,
others waited. Mike taught surfing and hosted Will
Morris and Chris Cleary in Nantucket, while Elizabeth enjoyed quality time at her family’s restaurant
(that was frequented many times by yours truly), and
Seamus McKinsey spent his summer recovering
from a bear attack. Yes, you read that correctly.
Zach visited Mimi Ludwig, who works on Capitol
Hill, and Ashoka Fellow Matiullah Amin. Other
DC ’12s include Jinyoung Park, who interns at the
Institute for Strategic Studies; Vanessa Harper, who
started her yearlong fellowship studying a synagogue;
Brian Li, who’s doing gene therapy research at NIH;
and Madura Watanagase, who hosted Susan Chen
in Thailand before working for the Federal Reserve
Board.
Many ’12s now call NYC their new home, or at least
a temporary meeting place. Raneia Ramadan, Kristen Tubbs, Adena Hernandez, and Ashely Turner
attended a Yankees game before separating. Raneia
and Kristen work in Cleveland, and Ashley teaches
in Boston. She joins Hilary Higgs and Marni Jacobs,
who also teach in the Boston area.
Mary Claire Brunelli moved to the city and started
her master’s in French at Columbia. Kesi Augustine
is a PhD candidate at NYU. Aaron Seong lives with
Andrew Nguyen, and they work together at AFE
consulting. Briana Thomas started her year with
NYC Civic Corps. Shela Suh works at a law firm but
mostly struggles to cope without Sushi Thai. Izzy Lee,
who works for Artsy.com, also yearns for “just one
more Pad See Ewe!” Connecticut native Steve Maier
enjoys the adjustment. He has seen Meeka Halperin
and hockey mates Ryan Purdy, Justin Troiani, and
Patt Morrisey. His teammates Matthew Berdoff and
Harry Marino also occupy NYC. Matt works part
time while writing his roommate’s official biography.
Expect the book in stores soon. Carolyn Geller and
Ryan Marrano find time in their schedules to have
lunch. They had a reunion with teammates Logan
Todhunter, Kathleen Morrison, and Bonnie
Patchen in Boston.
I had my fair share of NYC run-ins! I surprised
Sayantan Mudhapadhyay at his art gallery job in
SOHO. Will Weiss and I drove to Deon Soogrim’s
graduation party. There, I caught up with Hannah
Wilson before she and Natalie Davis went to Tanzania to teach English. Hannah now works for a health
center in Mozambique, and Natalie moved to Atlanta
with Matt Madden, who teaches biology for TFA.
Labor Day weekend I crashed on Mustafa Saadi’s
couch and saw Jennifer Monge, Leah Ehrenyu, and
Wendy Magoronga. The latter two live with Kyle
Villanova, Matt Staiger, and Emily McTague in
Astoria. Newton Davis also came from Philadelphia
2012
to visit for the weekend. In Philly, he bumped into
Katy Reiger, who works for the Vanguard Group.
Also there is Meera Sivalingam, who works in an
ophthalmology lab. On the other side of the state,
David Carlin has settled in Pittsburgh, hoping more
Ephs will come.
I dined in Little Italy with Pinsi Lei and Laura dos
Reis, who talked about their positions at a marketing firm and hospital, respectively. Afterward, I went
to Brooklyn, where Maya Harakawa coordinated a
gathering of Chad Young, Chris Estrella, Bridget
Ngcobo, Jess Torres and other ’12s already mentioned. So many ’12s in one place brought paparazzi
(just ask TimeOut New York). I crashed in Astoria with
Jess, who works with Steve Smith at a law firm. We
attended an ’11’s housewarming gathering on the LES,
where I caught up with Noah Schnecter, Daniel
Grossman, and Johnathan Draxto, who live in Astoria. Jonathan is remounting his one-man show Soldier,
and Noah works for Playwright Horizons. Also there
was Holly Crane, who lives with Margy Love. Last, I
went to Harlem and ran into Naima McFarland. Our
conversation quickly went to her reminiscing about
her farmer days. Afterward, I met Oriana McGee and
Allen Lum.
The inseparable duo Khalid Bashir and Michael
Nelson interned at an IT data service startup before
splitting. Khalid now teaches English at Lawrence
Academy, and Mike is coaching his former basketball
team.
Tim Goggins and Margie Fulton are history teachers and lacrosse coaches at Wyoming Seminary and
Blair Academy, respectively. Daquan Mickens taught
step and now tutors at a Newark charter school. When
Gregory Kaskan is not teaching, he is choral directing
at Eaglebrook.
Vanessa Santeano definitely wins for meeting
up with the most ’12s. She writes, “Must I say them
all?” Her list includes Claire LeFave, Stella Berke,
Kari Yook, Erin Lauer, Charlotte Kiechel, Grace
Gordon, and Amanda Reid before they left for Asia.
She and Lowell Woodin decided to join their friend
and moved to Vietnam.
Erin McGonagle reports from Cambodia on her fellowship, while Brent Eng started his fellowship project in Sri Lanka. Zehra Hassan assisted in creating
Pakistan’s first liberal arts college. Nancy Wang works
by Lily Wong in Hong Kong. Kate Shaper teaches
in Shanghai and visited Jane Mclellan in Seoul. Adam
Century translated a recent article about James Wang
playing professional basketball.
Matt Hosek wins for the farthest ’12; his work was
out of this world (pun intended). He studied comets at
the NASA space center in Alabama. Tom Kuriakose
teaches in Mississippi; Megan Breen studies rural
heath in Alabama; and Jonayah Jackson traveled
throughout the south, conducting interviews for the
Institute of Southern Jewish Life before returning
home. Sydney Pitts-Adekoya and Jamaal Johnson
returned to Texas, and Micheala Morton returned
home to perform her show Big Shoes throughout
North Carolina.
Teaching English abroad is another skill that multiple ’12s have acquired. Anthony Raduazo, Sarah
Witowski, and Don Maruyama teach in Chile,
Russia, and Japan, respectively. And Zac Whitney and
Tianyue Zhou are in Japan.
Many have remained around Williamstown. Mike
Mara continues his research and has some of his work
published. Other Berkshire-based writers are Inez Tan
and Kendra Sims. Inez manages an online Christian
journal, while Kendra contributes to the Berkshire
Eagle, assists the anthropology department, and farms.
Imran Khoja and Katy Gathright based their startup,
Designed Good, in Williamstown and received
help from Matt Piltch, Dan Doran, and Rebecca
Eakins. Monel Chang works at the Earth Workshop,
Residency, and Retreat Center. Lucy Rollins works
at a local farm but finds time to assist her former art
professor. Other Berkshire-based farmers include Jimi
Morales, Julia Seyferth, and Lauren McDonald.
Paisley Kang, Taisha Rodriguez, Jack Fitzhenry,
and Erik “Lumby” Levinsohn teach at the BART
charter school. Ben Oliva and Nikolai Mirkovic
joined the athletics program as assistant coaches. Ben
helps the football and baseball teams, while Nikolai
assists the wrestling team and works in a research lab
in Vermont. Also in Vermont are Felipe Colina, who
interned at a marketing firm for the summer, and Megan Behrend, who works in admissions at Burlington
College.
No matter where I went, ’12s were close by. I ran
into Jack Chen in Portsmouth and accompanied
Michelle Rodriguez to Costa Rica to produce a musical (where she now lives as a performing arts teacher).
There, I happened to spot Will Quayle at a random
hostel. Returning to Williams, I caught up with Nicholas Pugliese about his new position in Afghanistan.
On the Peter Pan bus to Billsville, I ran into Mindy
Lee. She explained her summer in India and her
reunion with Brian Thomas, who works at Harlem
Children’s Zone. I returned to Connecticut with Tyler
Chapman, who shared her summer adventures with
Jill Greenberg and Will Petrie in Europe, her weeks
with Kate Ellis working a field hockey camp, and her
“night out” with Amanda Weatherhead. Now that I
am dancing in Ireland, I celebrated homecoming with
Tess McHugh ’11 and Kaitlin Butler ’11 and visited
Leila Crawford.
After graduation, I was afraid to move on, but your
stories taught me one important lesson: life goes on.
Bridget Ngcobo said it perfectly in a conversation we
had at Tunnel City: “Things change and things don’t
change.” Our campus is bigger, and we have wider
range of professors and classes to select, but we are still
the same. Thank you for sharing your stories with me,
and Happy New Year.
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WEDDINGS
all dates 2012 unless noted
TARYN RATHBONE ’08 &
MICHAEL DAUB ’08
Williams People publishes photographs of weddings,
commitment ceremonies, and civil unions.
For detailed instructions on how to submit your photo,
please visit http://alumni.williams.edu/sendphoto.
June 9, Claremont, Calif.
REBECCA LAWRENCE ’07 &
BRIAN SIMANEK ’07
MARTHA JOHNSON ’97 & STEPHEN WILCOX
June 18, Pasadena, Calif.
Sept. 15, Dean, Mont.
STEPHANIE WISINSKI & SEAN LADLEY ’96
C.J. NAVINS ’01 & MICHAEL HACKER
May 5, Asheville, N.C.
June 16, Byfield, Mass.
KATIE LEWKOWICZ ’06 & CHRIS KIRCHGASLER
Aug. 25, Auburn, N.Y.
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LAURA KOLESAR ’06 & DANIEL GURA ’06
Family and friends from four continents gathered in Williamstown on Aug. 18 to celebrate the wedding of Laura and Daniel (center).
A highlight was the post-ceremony lawn games, which included a hotly contested Williams v. Atlanta match of Steal the Bacon—
Williams prevailed. The couple forgot their Williams banner, so they made do with a folded bag they had on hand.
BROOKE BOTELLO & NICHOLAS GOGGANS ’01
March 31, Fort Worth, Texas
JANE LEE ’97 & KENNETH KIM
DENYSE DEANE ’03 & JAMAAL MOBLEY ’04
June 9, Seaside, Calif.
June 9, Port of Spain, Trinidad
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WEDDINGS
TUGCE ERKAN & GURCAG POYRAZ ’07
April 27, Istanbul, Turkey
ERIN BLANCHARD ’06 & JACK CHEN
July 15, Bennington, Vt.
CYNDI WONG ’04 & DAVID GRUEN
JENNY YING ’08 & VLADIMIR ANDONOV ’05
June 23, San Diego, Calif.
June 17, San Francisco, Calif.
KATHERINE KRIEG ’08 & STEFAN FISCHER
Aug. 5, Sonoma, Calif.
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ELISE PIAZZA ’09 & CǍTǍLIN IORDAN ’09
Elise and Cătălin (center), who met as first-year students in Williams E, were married Aug. 11 in Aurora, N.Y., with friends and family
who traveled from as far away as China, Japan, and Romania. The bride’s sister Nina Piazza ’12 (third from left) was maid of honor.
The celebration continued Nov. 24 with a second reception in Bucharest.
THEODORAH MABILLE & GAPE MACHAO ’06
VERONICA IVEY ’08 & TUCKER SAWIN ’07
July 21, Seattle, Wash.
Sept. 8, Gaborone, Botswana
HANNAH GRAY ’07 & RICK MOSER
Aug. 19, New York, N.Y.
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WEDDINGS
CHRISTINA LEE ’08 & LOGAN GERRITY ’09
Aug. 4, Rockport, Maine
JULIA BROWN ’05 & KEVIN POOLE
AMANDA GRAMSE ’02 & MIKE SWIATOCHA
Sept. 29, New Haven, Conn.
June 23, Cape Elizabeth, Maine
SUMIN ENG ’87 & PETER ELARDE
KERRI McMAHON ’05 & MARY BACCASH ’05
July 7, Woodside, Calif.
Aug. 11, Williamstown, Mass.
MELISSA ARNOT & JON DUVAL ’01
July 7, Stanley, Idaho
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KAREN HSU & FUMI TOSU ’01
Fumi and Karen (front) were married June 9 at the Interlaken Inn in Lakeville, Conn. Guests came from Japan, Mali, Kenya, South
Sudan, and India to celebrate with the couple, whose wedding party included best man Ken Ryu ’02 (left, with glasses) and groomsman
Lock Reynolds ’01 (right, standing behind tree).
REINA MALAKOFF & JEFF ZEEMAN ’97
HANG GRACE SONG ’06 &
ERSEN BILGIN ’06
July 7, Alexandria, Va.
Aug. 25, Isparta, Turkey
HAYLEY WYNN ’06 & STEVEN MYERS ’06
June 23, Lenox, Mass.
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WEDDINGS
LEAH KING ’03 & WALSON METZGER
JESSICA KATZ ’03 & MARK MAZZENGA
June 10, Montego Bay, Jamaica
July 22, Bristol, R.I.
LAURIE BROWN & TRAVIS HOBART ’02
June 2, Cooperstown, N.Y.
ANNA MORRISON ’07 & PETER NELSON
LAUREN PHILBROOK ’09 &
STEVE VAN WERT ’09
June 9, Minneapolis, Minn.
June 16, Williamstown, Mass.
LINDSAY MERRELL ’10 & MATTHEW CLARK
EMILY MIYARES ’06 & MIKE OVEREND ’06
Sept. 29, Lowville, N.Y.
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May 12, Boston, Mass.
HILARY WILLIAMS ’01 & MARK WALROD ’01
Hilary and Mark (seventh and eighth from right) were married Aug. 11 on Mount Greylock in Adams, Mass., just over a year after
reconnecting at their 10-year Williams reunion. After months of a long-distance romance, they celebrated their union with Williams
roommates, housemates, co-JAs, Nordic ski teammates, and fellow Outing Club members.
GERALDINE ALIAS & PHIL SWISHER ’01
Oct. 22, 2011, Freeport, The Bahamas
JESSICA GROGAN ’02 & JIM YOUNG
KARA HARRIGAN & RYAN SOCHACKI ’04
May 26, Williamstown, Mass.
June 23, Charleston, S.C.
JASMINE MITCHELL ’03 & TRAVIS BATTY
MARGARET POST & GENE BERG ’74
July 28, Crozet, Va.
Sept. 30, Litchfield, N.H.
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WEDDINGS
1976
Mitchell J. Besser & Annie Lennox, Sept. 15
2003
1982
Lisa Yokana & Blake L. Auchincloss, July 8
Rebecca Linder & James Blachly, Nov. 26, 2011
Audrey E. Herzig & Keith W. Jackson ’06, May 26
Stacey Starner & Earl McAllister, Sept. 22
Morgan Steiner & Christian Botting, Oct. 6
1985
2004
Jennifer W. Bicks & Adam Peck, April 14
1986
Lisa Mazzotte & Antonio Resendiz, July 11
1988
Donna E. Lisker & Peter Schwaller, June 23
1990
Philip P. Coulling & Sandra Diane Hayslette,
Sept. 29
1992
Abigail Rose Solomon & Jason Teuscher, May 27
1993
Navin Girishankar & Sawdatou Wane,
Nov. 15, 2011
1996
Sean P. Ladley & Stephanie Wisinski, May 5
1997
Amina Abrahams & Kevin Patrick Graham,
June 16
Ohm Mohan Deshpande & Hamita Sachar,
Aug. 4
Marlena Briggs & Brett Korpela, Sept. 1
2005
Sara R. Gersen & Joseph A. Kerckhoff, Oct. 1,
2011
Vladimir Andonov & Jenny Ying ’08, June 17
2006
Brian H. Carey & Abigail Southard ’07, May 26
Hayley Wynn & Steven Myers, June 23
Surekha Gajria & Thorsten Neumann, June 25
Erin Blanchard & Jack Fei Chen, July 15
Laura C. Kolesar & Z. Daniel Gura, Aug. 18
2007
Alexandria N. Augustine & Michael R.
Miltenberger, July 22
Katharine Josephson & Thomas J. Wright, Sept. 2
Jonathan T. Turriago & Wesley Greyson Witcher,
Oct. 13
2008
Kelley J. Powell & Doug Welsh, Oct. 28, 2011
Kendell Newman & Jafar Sadiik, Feb. 26
Megan Brankley & Aatif Abbas, May 19
Lauren Kennedy & David D.T. Hargrove, June 30
Christina J. Lee & Logan K. Gerrity ’09, Aug. 4
Lashonda K. Williams & John C. Gardenhire Jr.,
Aug. 5
Greg Schultz & Whitney Ryan, Sept. 22
2000
2009
1998
Diana Villamarin & Carl Solazzo, Nov. 21, 2011
1999
Abib Tejan Conteh & Rebecca Kateri Ruekberg,
Aug. 26, 2011
Medha Jayant Kirtane & Mark Anthony Ferreri,
Aug. 11
2001
Fumitsugu Tosu & Karen Hsu, June 9
C.J. Navins & Michael Hacker, June 16
Ryan Mayhew & Kristin Schnabel, June 23
Hilary D. Williams & Mark D. Walrod, Aug. 11
2002
Amanda Gramse & Mike Swiatocha, June 23
Hilary Rachael Hackmann & Andy Guy
Redden, July 29
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Elise A. Piazza & Marius Cǎtǎlin Iordan,
Aug. 11
2010
Lindsay Merrell & Matthew Clark, Sept. 23
2011
Jeannette L. Rivera & Rodney R. Growler,
June 25
BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS
1980
Wade Fenn to Wade R. Fenn, March 9
1987
Daniel Antonio Calderon to J.C. Calderon,
July 12
1988
Jacob Abraham Haymov to Heather Cook
Haymov, July 24
1990
Tyler John Stevens to Brian J. Stevens, Sept. 24
1991
Lior Samuel Baskir Freedman to John A.
Freedman, Jan. 10
Delilah Rose Huber to David E. Huber, Jan. 22
Charles Kim Bush to Soo La Kim, Feb. 8
Emilia Grace N. Allison-Biber to Elizabeth
Allison, March 9
Thomas Henry Nolan to Jessica (Baraka) Nolan,
March 12
Cooper Dankmeyer Aalberts to Erica A.
Dankmeyer, March 23
Zora Raye Rubenstein Furia to Jennifer
Rubenstein, April 2
Lauren Alexa DeCamp to Lisa Blaskey &
Matthew F. DeCamp, June 28
1997
Julia Joyce Dorothy Myers to Jennifer A. Feighner,
Oct. 19, 2011
Mazhira Dahlia Harlan to Noah M. Harlan,
Dec. 25, 2011
Ryan Tzeje Cho to Karen S. Lee, Jan. 23
Stefan Arthur Henry Giese to Alyssa
Trzeszkowski-Giese, April 7
Luna Lee O’Sullivan to Roan J. O’Sullivan,
April 26
Hazel Springett Rigney to Kirsten (Paquette)
Rigney, May 20
India Elizabeth Jones to David R. Jones, Aug. 20
Samuel Bostick to Matthew Ellis Bostick, Sept. 8
1998
Clara J. Vennell Roberts to Nicole Vennell
Roberts, Nov. 24, 2011
Cecily Rose Lewis to Rachel (Booth) Lewis,
Nov. 26, 2011
Ruby June Fagenholz to Andrew D. Fagenholz,
Oct. 20, 2011
Catarina de Oliveira Tavares to Thais Mariz de
Oliveira Tavares, Oct. 29, 2011
Lucia Elizabeth Smith to Ana Aguilar & Taylor
C. Smith ’99, Nov. 6, 2011
Hazel Leung Wilson to Sarah W. Leung,
Dec. 22, 2011
Harper Ying to Jimmy Ying, Dec. 24, 2011
Myles Delaney Bell to James & Caroline
(Nesbit) Bell ’99, Jan. 16
Eve Ting Ryan to Michael J. & Meg (Ting)
Ryan ’00, Jan. 19
Gershom Brian Battis to Jordana (Schuster) &
Seth D. Battis, Jan. 29
Ethan Sanders Burns to Robin M. Sanders &
Brendan D. Burns, March 19
Elliot Micah Sterns to Tui Sutherland & Adam
Sterns, April 21
Benjamin Kelsey to William W. Kelsey, May 6
Kai Garrett Lawrence to Catherine Riihimaki,
June 1
Philo Bracken White to Jediah W. White, June 9
1995
1999
1992
Genevieve Gi Hoon Alvarez to Eleanor Rhee,
Nov. 13, 2011
Penelope Jean Ryan to David J. & Jennifer
(Galbraith) Ryan ’93, May 27
Jasper Solomon Teushcer to Abigail Rose
Solomon, Sept. 14
William Meehan to Andrea Walter, Sept. 14
1993
Stephanie Suzanne Reale to Mary (Buss) Reale,
May 6
1994
Raffaele Dante Amidei to Helen E. Spande,
April 29
Lily Emerson & Spencer Armstrong Lamb to
David W. Lamb, May 6
Kamal Batniji to Rami Kamal Batniji, Aug. 10
Zinnia Yuna Fagan to Michelle Kang & John
Fagan, Oct. 4
1996
Annika Elizabeth Kaczmarek to Mary Liz
Brenninkmeyer, Nov. 9, 2011
Charlotte Graham to Ian Campbell Graham,
Dec. 14, 2011
Robert A. Uh-Jin Tarbutton to Joan (Lee)
Tarbutton, Dec. 18, 2011
Leo Ladd Molinaroli to Lyn S. Aborn, Feb. 15
Maya Ideliz Berry-Candelario to Imelda
(Ramirez) & John E. Berry-Candelario,
Oct. 23, 2011
Josephine Amanda Rodriguez to Christopher R.
Rodriguez, Nov. 11, 2011
Sufi Zoom O’Shea to Marie (Glancy) O’Shea,
Nov. 14, 2011
Elizabeth Higgins Sigrist to Kathleen (Higgins)
& Matthew R. Sigrist, Dec. 15, 2011
Declan Timothy Holmes to Erik Holmes, Jan. 6
Bennett Owen Weber to Heather C. Kovich,
Jan. 30
Teague Jameson Polisi Jones to Catherine
(Polisi) Jones, Feb. 28
Eleanore Beach Petersen to Lindsay Beach
Petersen, Feb. 29
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BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS
Jaime Wyrick Olson to John H. Olson, March 15
Luke Ryan Lavoie to Laura Moberg Lavoie,
May 11
Riley Arden Belcher to Julie (Zlotnick) & Justin
M. Belcher, May 29
Liam Einstein to Heather (Genovesi) Einstein,
June 1
Ciaran John Joyce to Katherine Nolan Joyce,
June 1
Ethan Harris Whalin to Sarah Anne (Moline)
& Matthew K. Whalin, June 6
2000
Bennett Sumit Harkey to Wilmot Bain Harkey,
Jan. 6
James William Buzzell-Holmes to Jason William
Holmes, Jan. 29
Robert Christopher Morgan to Elise (Estes)
Morgan, April 4
Vivian Sarah Drake to Emily Boer & Jared A.
Drake, May 7
Maren Kelley Whitman to Cara Shortsleeve,
May 18
Alexandra Witherspoon Nelson to Eleanor
Lowell Putnam-Farr & Brendan Nelson, June 4
Theodore White Smeal to Benjamin Smeal,
June 5
2001
Isabel Miller Finn to Patrick & Kelly Steinmuller
Finn ’02, Dec. 28, 2011
Ryan Andrew Marines to Kenny & Jennifer
(Greene) Marines ’02, Jan. 12
Carlo Evans Murray to Danielle Feldman
Tarantolo, Jan. 20
Annie Lisa Thalhimer to Adam R. Thalhimer,
Feb. 3
Sebastian Lark Myers to Adrienne Gisele Wiley
& Grayson D. Myers, Feb. 23
Madeleine Rose MacDougall to Robert Arthur
MacDougall, April 23
Stella Jean Knight to Liana Thompson Knight,
April 27
August Russell Herrick to Elizabeth (Hamachek)
Herrick, May 4
James Arthur Fernbach to Philip M. Fernbach,
May 11
OBITUARIES
1935
The Hon. ROBERT J. KELLEHER,
June 20. Bob loved tennis from
an early age, played at Williams,
and met his wife on the courts in
Forest Hills, N.Y., the place of his
birth. He received a surprise offer
to captain the U.S. Davis Cup
team in 1962, and the experience
led him to the presidency of the
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Wilson Gerald Gregory to Kathryn Kelly
Gregory, June 5
Svetlin Aleksander Ko to Theodora Konetsovska,
June 7
Cole McCurdy Kappler to Hagan McCurdy
Kappler, Aug. 7
2002
Lucy Joy Powers to Eric C. Powers, Jan. 14
Charlotte Marie McBride to Megan SamenfeldSpecht & Jeff McBride, Feb. 22
Sophie Garceau to Alexandre Garceau, March 22
Annabel Hart Unger to Sarah Rachel Hart-Unger,
April 5
Catherine Alexandra Vance to John R. &
Caroline Norton Vance ’03, May 2
Carter Lowe Smith to Amber Bornhofft Moore,
May 19
Jack Francis Kingsley to James M. Kingsley,
Sept. 7
2003
Connor Logan Gormbley to Catherine R.M.
O’Donnell, May 31
Anya Trautmann Chaopricha to Nina
(Trautmann) Chaopricha, Aug. 4
Clara Rose Kelly to Collins Canada Kelly, Sept. 18
2004
Jackson James Gillis to Janette L. Funk,
Oct. 11, 2011
Abigail Bright Krusack to Emily Bright, Jan. 3
Eliana Margaret Clifford to Meredith (Jones) &
Sean D. Clifford ’05, Feb. 4
Gilvey Gray Barnett-Zunino to Bowen E. Zunino,
Feb. 8
2005
Vera Wiest to Leisa Rothlisberger Wiest, May 9
Eliza Miriam Cass to Kristine Elizabeth
(Osterman) & Oren M. Cass, Sept. 5
Maya Alyse Holland Takayesu to Alexandra G.
Takayesu & Peter B. Holland, Sept. 19
2009
Amaya Daisy Cruz to Tatiana Maria Fernandez
& Raul A. Cruz, June 17
U.S. Lawn Tennis Association,
where he successfully campaigned for the adoption of
open tennis. Yet tennis was
always what Bob described as
“an extracurricular activity;” his
passion was the law. Bob went to
Harvard Law School, graduating in 1938, and later served in
the South Pacific with the U.S.
Navy during WWII. He then
worked as a trial lawyer for
many years, first in New York
and later in southern California.
As assistant U.S. attorney for
Southern California, Bob handled
the treason case that became the
subject of the movie The Falcon
and the Snowman. In 1970, he was
appointed a U.S. district judge
1935– 37
and, at the time of his death,
was the oldest serving federal
judge. In 2001, Bob received a
Williams Bicentennial Medal
for distinguished achievement.
His wife of 40 years, Gracyn,
predeceased him in 1980. Among
his survivors are two children,
including Jeffrey Kelleher ’67,
and three grandchildren.
JOHN J. McINERNEY, May 17.
Mac quarterbacked a legendary
Williams football win against
Amherst, lettered in baseball
and wrestling, and never lost
a wrestling match. He earned
his law degree from St. John’s
University in 1938 and began a
successful practice on Long Island
soon after. He was elected president of the Suffolk County Bar
Association and didn’t retire until
the age of 89. During WWII,
Mac was the youngest lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army
Ordnance Division, where he
oversaw a billion-dollar budget.
His passion was sailing the Great
South Bay, which he did his
entire life, often with his children
as crew, and once winning the
coveted Queen of Bay trophy.
He sailed well into his 90s and
most enjoyed solo voyages on a
31-foot sailboat. Mac’s wife Ellen
predeceased him in 1975. Among
his survivors are five children,
including Carl McInerney ’65
and Thomas McInerney ’73,
two grandchildren, and nephew
Raymond S. Jackson Jr. ’60.
1937
IRVING GOLDMAN, June 11.
Irv graduated from Yale Law
School in 1940 and served in
WWII as group radar officer with
the 8th Air Force. He entered
the newly formed Air Force
Reserve after the war. Irv went
into practice with his brother in
Plattsburgh, N.Y., where he was
later appointed city judge. He was
elected as surrogate to Clinton
County and held that post for
22 years. From 1987-2002, Irv
was of counsel to the law firm
Stafford, Trombley, Purcell,
Lahtinen, Owens, & Curtain.
An active Democrat from his
college days, Irv campaigned for
local and national candidates his
entire life. He served as a board
member and president of Temple
Beth Israel in Plattsburgh and
chairman of the United Jewish
Appeal from Clinton County.
His survivors include his wife
Eleanor, three children, and four
grandchildren.
CHARLES A. REYNOLDS,
May 27. Charlie earned his
master’s in education from
Columbia University Teacher’s
College in 1947 and taught at
Greenwich Country Day School
in Connecticut until his retirement in 1980. He was rarely seen
without a book in his hand. As a
young man, Charlie spent summers as assistant director of Camp
Viking on Cape Cod, where he
taught sailing and marksmanship, and later at Camp Robin
Hood in Brooksville, Maine. He
was drafted to serve in the 557th
Air Service Group in WWII and
then was a reservist in the Korean
War. Predeceased by his wife
Betty in 1993, Charlie’s survivors
include a son and granddaughter.
JOHN C. SELVAGE, May 17.
Jack attended Harvard Business
School, where, despite failing
accounting, he took the advice
of a professor and went on to a
long, happy career as a CPA in
NYC, first with Arthur Anderson
and the Irving Trust Co. and
eventually for JP Morgan, from
which he retired in 1979 as VP/
deputy controller. His thesis on
“centless accounting” developed
into common practice after he
installed such a system with
great success at Irving. Jack
chaired a committee charged
with standardizing the format for
financial statements, a process
that was subsequently adopted
by the Federal Reserve Board.
Jack had a passion for airplanes;
as a child he built model planes
and took open-cockpit rides.
After several attempts to learn
to fly, he became a glider pilot at
the age of 67 and once clocked
two hours and 16,000 feet. Jack
was a longtime member of the
NYC Downtown Glee Club and
barbershop quartets, served as
a deacon in the Madison (N.J.)
Presbyterian Church, and sat on
the Madison Board of Education.
He was predeceased by his wife
Barbara and daughter Patricia.
Jack’s survivors include three
children, eight grandchildren,
15 great-grandchildren, brother
Irving L. Selvage ’42, and
nephew Chris T. Selvage ’70.
ROBERT J. KELLEHER ’35
JOHN J. McINERNEY ’35
JOSEPH W. HATCH JR. ’38
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OBITUARIES
1938
JOSEPH W. HATCH JR., June
17. Joe earned his MBA from the
University of Pennsylvania in
1940 and went into food manufacturing and distribution. Before
his retirement, he served as VP of
Colonial Stores, president of West
Import Export Co., president
of Goodwill of Atlanta, and
executive director of the Southern
Bakers Association. Joe was
particularly interested in juvenile
justice and, with O.J. Keller ’45,
co-founded Consortium, a rehabilitation organization for youthful offenders ages 13-16, with
the aim of keeping them out of
what he called “our overcrowded,
self-defeating, and very expensive
penal institutions.” In WWII, Joe
was a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and participated in the
invasions of Sicily, Italy, France,
Leyte Gulf, and Okinawa. Soon
after the war, Joe and his family
settled in Atlanta, Ga., where he
lived until his death. Joe established the Joseph W. Hatch Jr.
and Rosa U. Hatch Scholarship
Fund to help students from the
Atlanta area attend Williams.
His wife Rosa predeceased him
in April 2012. His survivors
include three children and eight
grandchildren.
JAMES L. O’SULLIVAN, April
10. Jim served in the Foreign
Service for 30 years, working in
Chungking, Hanoi, Rome, Tunis,
Kinshasa, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur,
and Sydney. In 1967, he was
asked to be a visiting diplomat at
the University of Louisville. He
returned there in 1971, after his
last post for the Foreign Service,
and became an active member of
the political science department
until his retirement in 1994. At
Williams he lettered in golf, a
passion that would continue until
his death. He played all over the
world, winning championships
and making a name for himself
in Italy, Tunisia, Louisville, and
Connecticut, where he lived in
retirement. Predeceased by his
first wife, Eleanor, in 1977, and
his second wife, Jean, in 2008, Jim’s
survivors include stepchildren,
step-grandchildren, and niece
Anne Elizabeth O’Sullivan ’07.
KENNETH H. ROOD, May 24.
Ken studied history at Williams
and earned his master’s in
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education from the University
of Chicago. His first teaching
position was in Hawaii, where he
was drafted to serve in WWII.
After the war Ken began a PhD
program at Yale but, before
completing his degree, took a
teaching job at the Hopkins
School in New Haven, where he
found his professional home. Ken
taught history, coached several
sports, and for a time worked as
principal before retiring in 1986.
His wife of 64 years, Nancy,
predeceased him in August 2011.
His survivors include a daughter
and granddaughter.
EDWARD M. WHEELER, June 25.
A graduate of Columbia College
of Physicians & Surgeons, Ed’s
medical education was interrupted by WWII, where he
served as a medic behind the front
lines with Patton’s Third Army.
He and his wife Deb raised their
three children in Chappaqua,
N.Y., where Ed was an orthopedic surgeon until 1975. They
then moved to Middle Haddam,
Conn., and Ed worked as an ER
doctor in Middletown. For the
last two decades of his life, Ed
and Deb lived in Shelburne, Vt.,
where Ed’s mother’s family had
worked to improve education and
health services and where he and
Deb spent summers with their
children. Ed’s survivors include
his wife of 70 years, three children, and several grandchildren
and step-grandchildren.
1939
ALBERT V. BENSEN, Aug. 27.
Ben enlisted in the U.S. Cavalry
soon after graduation, and in five
years of service he saw action in
France, Germany, and Austria
with the 106th Reconnaissance
Group. He earned a master’s in
teaching from Columbia in 1950
and had a long, successful career
as a teacher and coach at New
Canaan Country Day School in
Connecticut before retiring in
1979. He moved to Damariscotta,
Maine, staying active as a volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels, a
board member of Camp Agawam,
a member of the Schooner Cove
Advisory Council, and vestry
member and senior warden of his
church. Among his survivors are
his wife of 66 years, Barbara, four
children, including Garret M.
Benson ’70, nine grandchildren,
including Michael H. Bensen
’00 and Julia Alice Bensen ’03,
a great-grandson, brother Robert
R. Bensen ’44, and cousin David
S. Prouty ’70.
JOHN B. DAVIDSON, Aug. 13.
John was a competitive rifle
shooter, sailboat racer, and a
lifelong skier who would travel
abroad when there was “no snow
at Stowe,” his home mountain.
John’s last run down Stowe was
in 2008, at the age of 91. After
earning his PhD at MIT in 1942,
he worked for the war effort as
a chemist on projects ranging from drug synthesis to the
creation of additives to increase
the performance of gasoline.
He later worked at Cowles
Chemical Co. in Skaneateles,
N.Y., and at Virginia Chemicals
in Portsmouth, Va. His wife of 59
years, Helen, predeceased him in
2001. His survivors include two
children and four grandchildren.
ROGER W. MOORE, June 26.
Roger was a beloved doctor whose
family knew that on Christmas
morning, presents waited while
he did his rounds. After studying
biology at Williams, he went to
NYU and earned his MD in 1943.
He served as a captain in the
U.S. Army Medical Corps during
WWII and spent the rest of his
life tending to patients and raising
his family in Sharon, Conn. Roger
retired in 1996 after 50 years as an
internist and continued for many
years to serve as a medical adviser
to people in need. Roger loved to
sail. He and his family regularly
explored the New England coast
on one-week journeys, living
aboard a 30-foot sloop. In 1974,
Roger and three other men took
16 days to sail the 45-foot yawl
Perelandra from Nova Scotia to
Ireland, covering more than 2,300
miles and arriving several days
ahead of schedule. He was predeceased by his wife Jean in 2004.
Among his survivors are three
children and five grandchildren,
including Julia Kivitz ’05.
CURRIER SMITH, June 22. Bill
served as a lieutenant, senior
grade, in the Navy during WWII
and then settled in Concord,
Mass., where he and his wife
Evelyn raised their family. Bill
enjoyed his career as a salesman
with Crocker Burbank Paper
1938– 43
Co. but was less pleased when a
larger firm bought the company
and “promoted” him to sales
manager. He loved being “on the
front lines” of sales and so started
his own company, Minuteman
Papers. A lover of golf, Bill played
several times a week. In his 70s,
Bill started writing poetry and
stories and published four books
before his death. Predeceased by
his wife, Bill’s survivors include
two children, one grandchild, two
great-grandchildren, and cousin
Harvey C. Smith ’55.
1941
WINTHROP S. PIKE, July 6.
After graduation, Win served as a
radar officer in the Signal Corps
during WWII. He then moved
to Princeton, N.J., and began
a 40-year career at the David
Sarnoff Research Center of RCA
Laboratories. He worked on the
early development of color TV
and developed sensory devices for
the visually impaired, highway
vehicle control devices, portable TV cameras, and weather
balloon sensory instruments.
He held 17 patents and won
five RCA achievement awards
before retiring in 1987. He was
an active member of his church,
where he played the organ. In
retirement, Win’s enthusiasm
for model trains continued, and
he made recordings for the blind
and traveled the world with his
wife of 57 years, Nancy. He was
elected to the Princeton school
board and was its president for six
years. Soon after, he was elected
to the Princeton Township
Committee, eventually serving as
mayor. Win’s survivors include
his wife, six children, and nine
grandchildren.
THOMAS W. TENNEY, May 24.
Thos was a pioneer in the music
business and among the first to
bring stereophonic consumer
equipment into private homes.
Moving his young family to
California in 1950, he opened
Thos Tenney Music on Records
in Berkeley. The store quickly
evolved, and by 1960 Thos was
spending much of his time on a
newfound passion: photography.
He documented California in the
1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, and worked
for The New York Times Magazine
for many years. His photographic archives are permanently
housed in the special collections
library at UMass-Amherst. He
was predeceased by his wife
Maggie, also a photographer.
His survivors include two sons,
three grandchildren, and five
great-grandchildren.
1942
RICHARD M. WHIDDEN, April
21. Dick was an unwavering
optimist with an indomitable
spirit, and he loved his work
with Dancer Fitzgerald Sample
Advertising Agency in NYC,
where he spent his career handling the General Mills cereal
account. In retirement, he split
his time between homes in New
London, N.H., and Naples, Fla.
Together with his first wife,
Bambi, who died in 1993, and his
second wife, Joanne, who died
in 2005, Dick spent his retirement sailing, skiing, traveling
the world, and playing golf. His
survivors include four children,
five grandchildren, including J.
Christopher Bonner Jr. ’01, and
five great-grandchildren.
1943
WILLIAM W. LYNCH, Oct. 27,
2011. Bill served in Patton’s
Army in WWII and had what
he called “the good fortune” to
attend Cambridge University
for one term afterward. Back in
the States, he earned his PhD in
educational psychology from Yale
in 1950. He taught at Indiana
University School of Education
from 1952 until his retirement in
1987 and chaired the educational
psychology department. He took
a sabbatical when he received a
Fulbright to teach in Amsterdam
and again when he spent a year
as a visiting professor at the
Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation
at George Peabody College for
Teachers. During that time, he
met President Kennedy and spent
time with the Shriver family. He
returned to Bloomington and
helped establish the university’s Center for Innovation in
Teaching the Handicapped.
Bill and his wife of 67 years,
Cookie, who died in June
2012, were founding members
of the Unitarian Universalist
Church in Bloomington. His
survivors include two daughters,
three granddaughters, and one
great-granddaughter.
RICHARD M. WHIDDEN ’42
WILLIAM C. SCHRAM ’43
HUDSON MEAD ’44
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OBITUARIES
DUNCAN B. MURPHY JR.,
July 28. In WWII, Duncan was
a volunteer ambulance driver for
the American Field Service and
was awarded the British Empire
Medal for his work in the face
of danger. He saw firsthand the
horrors of the concentration
camps in April of 1945, when his
unit liberated Bergen-Belsen in
Germany. As a result he helped
found Witness for Peace in
1983 and protested U.S. foreign
policy in Central America in
the mid-1980s. His protests
included several monthlong fasts,
including one in 1986, when he
fasted on the steps of the U.S.
Capitol for 47 days to protest U.S.
aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.
He spent many years with the
Shiloh Community in New York
State and later worked as a tree
trimmer, traveling the country
to work for peace and Native
American rights. Duncan’s survivors include his brother Edward
G. Murphy ’45 and several nieces
and nephews.
WILLIAM C. SCHRAM, Aug.
1. Bill’s time at Williams was
interrupted by WWII, where he
worked in intelligence. During
a long night decoding cryptographic reports, he realized his
calling into the ministry. He
served as a Presbyterian minister
for the rest of his life, working
first in Port Jefferson, N.Y., and
then on the national staff for the
Presbyterian Church. He and his
young family moved to Pelham,
N.Y., where they spent 15 years,
and then to Dayton, Ohio. Bill’s
work took him to the British
embassy in Moscow in 1964, into
a private meeting with Pope Paul
VI in Rome, and to apartheid
South Africa to interpret the
church’s “Confession of 1967.”
He retired in 1987, spending
winters as minister-in-residence
at the Chapel by the Sea on
Captiva Island, Fla. He and his
wife Topper relocated full time to
Sanibel Island in 1991. He was on
the board of several foundations,
including Planned Parenthood,
Human & Children’s Services,
and the Affordable Housing
Board of Sanibel Island. Among
his survivors are his wife of 65
years, three sons, including the
Rev. William C. Schram ’74, and
six grandchildren.
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1944
EUGENE F. CONNALLY, June 12.
Gene was a fighter pilot in both
WWII and Korea, carrying out
more than 170 combat missions. He was honored with the
Distinguished Flying Cross and
the Air Medal for his service. He
received his MBA from Stanford
University in 1956 and then
worked at the Chevron Corp. in
California. Later Gene worked at
the New York State Department
of Social Services in Albany, retiring in 1986. He then volunteered
as a driver for the American
Cancer Society’s Road to
Recovery program, a job he held
for 10 years. His survivors include
a son and two grandsons.
HUDSON MEAD, June 24. Hud
served in the Navy for two
years after graduation and then
earned his law degree from the
University of Michigan in 1950.
He practiced law in Detroit for 50
years, many of them spent with
the firm Tolleson, Mead, Welchli,
& Dahn. He was interested in
history and the problem of overpopulation, and he served on the
board of Planned Parenthood, the
Michigan Historical Commission,
and the Detroit and Grosse Pointe
historical societies. He advised
the Detroit Artists Market and
senior center. Known to some as
“Huddy,” his sartorial habits were
well established, and most of his
outfits were topped by a fedora or
a homburg. Hud was predeceased
by his first wife, Frances, in 1998,
and is survived by his wife of 13
years, Mary, three children, and
several grandchildren.
ELIOT B. PAYSON, Sept. 2.
During WWII, Eliot piloted
a P51 Mustang. He started his
career in sales with SD Warren
Paper Co., a printing-paper
manufacturer, working in NYC
and Detroit and then at the
company’s Boston headquarters
before retiring as director of
advertising in 1984. He served on
the board of Consumers Water
Co. and in retirement volunteered at the Boston Aquarium
and Habitat for Humanity. He
loved living near the ocean on
Boston’s North Shore. He was
predeceased by his second wife,
Janet, in 2009. Among his survivors are two daughters from his
first marriage, two stepsons, and
cousins Douglas R. Coleman
’50, C. Payson Coleman Jr. ’72,
Christopher Brown ’73, and C.
Philip Coleman ’82.
1945
JAY S. BUCKLEY JR., April 11.
A chemistry major at Williams,
Jay earned his PhD in organic
chemistry from the University of
Minnesota in 1949. He and his
wife Marge settled in Groton,
Conn., where he was one of
the first four research chemists
at Pfizer. Forty years later, he
retired from Pfizer as technical information director, having
pioneered early methods of
searching research databases 20
years before the advent of the
Internet. He held several U.S.
patents, including one for the
production of Visine Eye Drops.
Jay loved to sail and started the
Pfizer sailing club. He was also an
avid skier and hunter and enjoyed
the search for pheasant with his
English setters. Jay was active in
founding the United Presbyterian
Church of St. Andrew in 1963
and spent eight years on the
Groton school board. He and his
family funded the Buckley Family
scholarship at Fitch Senior High
School. Jay’s survivors include his
wife of 63 years, four children,
and nine grandchildren.
1946
PAUL M. CUBETA, July 14.
After graduation, Paul taught
composition at Williams for a
short time and then earned a
PhD in English language and
literature from Yale in 1954. He
spent most of his academic career
at Middlebury College, where, in
addition to teaching Shakespeare
and serving in upper-level
administrative positions, he
was the assistant director of the
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference
from 1955-64 and then director
of Bread Loaf School of English
until his retirement in 1989. His
wife Beth predeceased him in
1990, shortly after they’d moved
to Washington, D.C. In retirement he was an adjunct professor
at the Johns Hopkins University
and American University. Among
his survivors are his companion, Franz Jaklitsch, three sons,
including Phillip Cubeta ’72,
and six grandchildren, including
Thomas Earle Cubeta ’03.
1943– 49
DOUGLAS S. GAMBLE, Sept. 4.
A member of the Navy’s V-12
program, Doug served on a
destroyer in the Pacific during
WWII. He earned his MBA from
Stanford in 1949 and spent most
of his career with Pacific Gamble
Robinson Co., retiring in 1988
as president and CEO. He and
his wife Jane moved to Seattle
in 1968, spending their winters
in California. He served on the
boards of the Seattle branch of
the Federal Reserve Bank and the
Seattle Symphony Orchestra, was
an energetic sports fan, and loved
to sail and ski. He was predeceased by a daughter. Doug’s
survivors include his wife of 49
years, three sons, three granddaughters, three great-grandchildren, and brother Donald P.
Gamble ’45.
ROCKWELL T. GUST JR., Aug.
27. Rocky was a part of the
Navy’s V-12 program at Williams
and interrupted his studies to
serve as a lieutenant aboard a PT
boat. He received a degree from
the University of Michigan Law
School in 1949 and practiced
law in Detroit for many years.
He had a lifelong interest in
politics and was tapped to run for
Michigan lieutenant governor
alongside George Romney. He
later was elected to Michigan’s
Constitutional Convention.
He and his wife Joan moved to
Naples, Fla., in retirement. There
he worked to develop affordable
housing in anticipation of the
coming baby boomers, a fight that
went all the way to the Florida
Supreme Court. Among his survivors are his wife, five children
from his first marriage, including
William H. Gust ’86, two stepchildren, 19 grandchildren, and
seven great-grandchildren.
1947
ROBERT A. MILLS, April 18. Bob
was admitted to Colby College
out of high school but instead
was sent to Williams as part of
the Navy’s V-12 program. After
graduation he began working in
sales in the South before returning
to Berkshire County in 1960. He
was a sales and marketing executive at General Electric until his
retirement in the late ’80s, after
which he became one of Canyon
Ranch’s first and longest-serving
employees as the outdoor fitness
guide. His volunteer activities
included setting up Riverwalk in
Great Barrington and serving as
an English-as-a-Second-Language
tutor. He also was a member of
the Stockbridge Bowl Association
and St. James Church in Great
Barrington. He was predeceased
by a son and stepdaughter. Bob’s
years, Cecily, and their “combined
family,” including five children
and six grandchildren.
1948
LINSLEY V. DODGE JR., April
17. Bud enlisted in the U.S.
Navy when he was 17 and came
to Williams through the V-12
program. During WWII, he
served on the U.S.S. Topeka in the
occupation of Japan. A freelance
writer for most of his career, Bud
was an engaged and informed
citizen, often sending clippings
of local and national news to the
Williams alumni office, writing
notes in the margins to help
the folks there understand his
viewpoint on how the world was
changing. Bud was the Class of
1948’s secretary for 40 years and
was elected class president at his
50th reunion. A lifelong music
lover, he played the keyboard,
the piano, the organ, and, in
marching bands, the drums and
glockenspiel. He was passionate
about changing Williams’ alma
mater from “The Mountains” to
“Neath the Shadow of the Hills.”
He also was an active volunteer,
serving on the board of the North
Berkshire Salvation Army and
ARC Blood Bank. His survivors
include four children and five
grandchildren.
HUGO S. HIGBIE, April 14.
Hugo returned to his home of
Grosse Pointe after graduating
from Williams and went into
real estate. His success led him to
found the Higbie Maxon Agney
Realtors group, and he spent 62
years selling real estate in what
he called “the best kept secret,”
his hometown. Hugo served on
several boards, including the
Episcopal Church Foundation,
Grosse Pointe University Ligget
School, and the Red Cross.
He sang in the Christ Church
Chorale and the Berkshire Choral
Festival in Sheffield. Hugo loved
to travel, especially to England,
with his wife Marian, who
predeceased him in 2007. Hugo’s
survivors include four children
and five grandchildren.
EDSON SPENCER, March 25.
Ed served in the U.S. Navy
during WWII and then attended
Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar,
graduating in 1950. In 1954 he
settled in Minneapolis and began
a 32-year career at Honeywell,
from which he retired as chairman and CEO in 1987. Ed was
a committed member of the
Ford Foundation, Carnegie
Endowment for International
Peace, the Mayo Foundation,
and the Minneapolis Foundation,
among others, and he was an
adviser to the Center for Victims
of Torture. Together with his
wife Harriet he was a founder of
the Yellowstone Park Foundation
and served on the advisory
board of the National Parks and
Conservation Association. He
spent five years in Tokyo in the
early 1960s and maintained an
interest in U.S.-Japan relations
throughout his life. Among his
survivors are his wife of 61 years,
four children, including Linda
Spencer Murchison ’75 and
Edson Spencer Jr. ’76, and nine
grandchildren, including Sarah
Murchison Campbell ’05 and
Clare S. Murchison ’08.
1949
ROBERT HOLMES JONES, Aug.
14. Jonesie went to Harvard
Medical School and, during
his residency at Massachusetts
General Hospital, discovered a
passion for rehabilitation work
after encountering patients struck
by the polio epidemic. In 1965
he became director of rehabilitation at University of Rochester
Medical School, where he also
taught. From 1973 until his
retirement in 1997, he worked
as the corporate rehabilitation
consultant at Eastman Kodak,
which suited his interest in
amateur photography. He loved
to sail and play tennis and felt
a responsibility to understand
global climate change, turning his
own home “green” over time. His
years, Willy, six children, and six
grandchildren.
GEORGE WRIGHT, May 14.
George briefly pursued business
after graduation but realized his
l
135
OBITUARIES
heart was in education. Returning
to his hometown of Boston, he
earned a master’s in education
from BU and became a teacher in
Brookline. He later became headmaster at Thompson Academy, a
school for troubled youth located
on Thompson Island in Boston
Harbor, where he encountered
students who greatly impacted
his heart and mind. With his
wife Nancy, he ran the school for
several years. In 1974 the family
relocated to Hanover, N.H.,
where George continued to teach
until his retirement. He then
became director of Upper Valley
Hostel, an affordable living place
for patients receiving cancer
treatment. In 2009, after 47 years
of marriage, George and Nancy
returned to the Boston area;
Nancy passed away later that
year. His survivors include son G.
Denny Wright ’87, six stepchildren, two grandchildren, and 12
step-grandchildren.
1950
ALBERT G. BLAKEY, May 8. Bud
graduated from Yale Law School
in 1953, spent two years in the
Army and then returned to his
hometown of York, Pa. He worked
for a law firm until, in 1972, he
was appointed judge of the Court
of Common Pleas, a post he was
re-elected to with bipartisan
support, until, as he said, “I ran
out of money to put my children
through college.” He formed the
law firm Blakey, Yost, Bupp, &
Rausch, where he became known
as a “lawyer’s lawyer.” He was
appointed special prosecutor by
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
in 2009 and remained active
in the law until his death. Bud
was a lifelong outdoorsman and
loved to ski, play golf, and travel.
Among his survivors are his wife
of 25 years, Judith, five children
from his first marriage, including
Albert Blakey IV ’79, Daniel
Blakey ’82, and Ann Blakey
’84, 11 grandchildren, including
Sophia A. Blakey ’13 and Avery
A. Pagan ’16, three stepchildren,
and four step-grandchildren.
WILLIAM A. MINGENBACH,
July 24. Bill studied art history
and physics at Williams and
earned a master’s in architecture
from University of Minnesota
in 1959. He piloted F-89s during
the Korean War. In 1961 he and
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his wife, Jane, went to Taos,
N.M., for their honeymoon, and
they never left. Bill, an architect,
inventor, and pioneer of solar
design, opened the first architectural firm in Taos and with
his partners designed a county
court house, a junior high school,
and the first solar-heated office
building in the state. His survivors
include his wife of 51 years, five
children and eight grandchildren.
HERBERT MOHRING, June 4.
Herb studied economics and
mathematics at Williams and
earned his PhD from MIT in
1959. He taught economics
for more than 30 years at the
University of Minnesota and got
what he called “time off for good
behavior” to work as a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins,
University of California-Irvine,
the Universities of British
Columbia, Toronto, and York,
and the National University of
Singapore. He was known for his
teaching style and the development of “the Mohring Effect” in
transit studies. He and his wife
of 50 years, Kalliope (Popie)
Marinou, traveled the world
together but made their home in
Minneapolis until her death 2004.
His survivors include three sons,
their families, and the family of
his second wife, Jane Larsen, who
also predeceased him.
JOHN C. WARREN, June 24. John
was a U.S. Navy pilot in WWII
and then came to Williams,
where he studied art history and
swam on the varsity team. He
became a high school mathematics teacher, working at Phillips
Exeter Academy for 30 years.
There he coached the crew team,
using a single scull to demonstrate technique rather than the
typical motor launch. He took a
sabbatical to study computers at
Dartmouth and returned to Exeter
to establish the first high-school
computer program in the country.
In 1985, he began teaching at
Burke Mountain Academy in
Vermont, which allowed him to
also pursue skiing, his favorite
pastime. Among his survivors
are his wife Nancy, five children,
including Ann Lockwood ’85,
and five grandchildren.
JOHN W. WIDEMAN, May 10.
Jack earned his PhD in education
from Harvard University and
worked as a professor of counseling psychology at the University
of Massachusetts-Amherst. He
made his home in the Amherst
area and retired from teaching in
1997. In his spare time, he created
masterful pieces from his woodworking shop and remained active
in progressive politics his entire
life. Among his survivors are two
children, including Thomas W.
Wideman ’92, niece Kathryn
Dingman Boger ’01, cousin Todd
T. Rogers ’01, two grandsons, and
former wife Mary Dingman-Abel.
1951
EDWARD C. STEBBINS, Aug.
29. Ned was Law Review editor at
Harvard Law School, receiving
his degree in 1954. He went on
to teach at the Judge Advocate
General School at UVA during
his service in the Army. He
and his family then moved to
Connecticut, where he joined
the NYC law firm Sullivan &
Cromwell. In 1964, he started
working for Freeport Sulphur,
where he held various uppermanagement positions and
retired in 1989. He volunteered at
Norwalk Hospital and the New
Canaan Library, rowed on “The
Ancient and the Honorable” team
at the Norwalk Yacht Club (winning several senior competitions),
and was a hereditary member of
the Society of the Cincinnati, a
Revolutionary War organization.
of 58 years, Bernadine, three children, and six grandchildren.
1952
ADOLF W. GESSNER, May 15.
At Williams Ed studied chemistry
and was a member of the Garfield
Club. He went on to earn his
PhD in chemical engineering at
MIT in 1954 and then worked
in Germany, the country of his
birth, before returning to the U.S.
He retired from Givaudan Corp.
in 1988. By his 50th reunion, Ed
was struggling with Parkinson’s
disease, which he said kept him
busy “swallowing pills and helping
others with the disease.” Ed was
a devoted family man, and his survivors include his wife of almost
30 years, Alice, two children from
his first marriage, three stepchildren, and several grandchildren
and step-grandchildren.
1949– 57
FRANCIS D. WEEKS JR., Aug.
3. Frank pursued accounting
and joined the Marine Midland
Trust Co. in NYC and Syracuse
before moving to Wenonah,
N.J., in 1960. There he became
a principal in E.P. Henry & Son,
producers of specialty concrete
building blocks. Upon his retirement in 1989, he and his wife
Peggy moved to Atlantis, Fla.
Frank loved to play cards and to
golf, passions he enjoyed until just
a few years before his death. He
also loved music and art, eagerly
sharing his interests with friends
and family. Among his survivors
are his wife of 55 years, three
daughters, including Jeanne
Weeks Hannigan ’80, and four
grandchildren, including Robert
T. Hannigan Jr. ’11.
1953
ROBERT O. COULTER, April 16.
Bob transferred from Williams
to Boston University, where he
received his BA in 1954, and
then earned his MBA from the
University of Pennsylvania in
1958. Together with his wife Page,
Bob made his home in North
Guildford, Conn. He worked
in the insurance industry and
in 1996 retired as chairman and
CEO of Insurance Management
Inc. Bob was a lifelong sailor
and gardener. He and Page spent
retirement traveling and visiting
their family, moving to Sandwich,
N.H., in 2003. His survivors
include his wife of 52 years, four
children, and 10 grandchildren.
RICHARD J. KAPLAN, April 23.
Dick earned his master’s in psychology at Columbia University
in 1954 and his PhD from UCLA
in 1957. He started his career in
operations research at the Rand
Corp. and in 1971 began a 10-year
career working at the University
of Michigan. In 1981 he returned
to Rand, from which he retired
in 1997. He split his time between
Santa Monica, Calif., and Biot,
France. His survivors include his
wife Jacqueline, two children, and
four grandchildren.
DONALD VAN ZELM
WADSWORTH, July 12. Don
was a descendant of Thomas
Edison and Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow and studied physics
at Williams. He earned his PhD
in geophysics from MIT in 1958
and made a career in defense
engineering, scientific research,
and teaching at the Naval
Postgraduate School in Monterey,
Calif., where he lived with his
wife Judith and children. A
lifelong mountaineer, Don hiked
the Andes, the Sierras, and many
points closer to home, and he
volunteered with the Boy Scouts.
He was an active member of the
First Church of Christ, Scientist.
His survivors include his wife
of 48 years, two children, five
grandchildren, and brother Roger
Wadsworth ’55.
PHILIP FRADKIN ’57
1954
JOHN STEVENS JR., July 19.
After graduation, John served
for two years in the U.S. Air
Force before earning his MBA at
University of Wisconsin in 1958
and settling down in his childhood
hometown of Wausau, Wis. He
worked for 11 years as an industrial paper engineer at Wausau
Paper Mills before becoming a
commercial and industrial real
estate appraiser, work he enjoyed
for 17 years. Music filled his
home and led him and his wife
Judy on frequent and far-ranging
trips to attend concerts. He
was active in the Universalist
Unitarian Church and with the
Wausau Conservatory of Music.
His survivors include his wife of
58 years, two daughters, and a
grandson.
ROBERTA M. BOYKIN ’85
1957
PHILIP FRADKIN, July 8. Philip’s
love for the West was born on a
road trip he took with his father
when he was 14 and simmered
within him until after graduation
from Williams and a two-year
stint in the military. Having gotten a taste for journalism in the
Army, he got a job selling ads for
a weekly paper in the California
Bay Area in early 1960s. He
eventually started to contribute
articles and was working for
the Los Angeles Times by 1964.
His coverage of the Watts riots
launched him to the national
stage and resulted in a Pulitzer
Prize. Though he was dispatched
to report on similar uprisings
all over the country, he wanted
a more peaceful beat. So, after
celebrating Earth Day in 1970,
he asked to cover environmental
news for the paper. He went on
to write 13 books, many of which
KATHLEEN BIRRELL UTLEY ’96
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137
OBITUARIES
focused on the legacy of environmental destruction in the West,
including Wallace Stegner and the
American West and a biography of
the artist/wanderer Everett Ruess,
who disappeared in the Utah canyon lands in 1934. Philip returned
to Williams in 2002 to teach, and,
in his words, he “rediscovered
the breathtaking beauty of the
Berkshires” and the “isolation of
that place.” In 2010, he put down
his pen and took up his camera,
discovering a more emotional
connection to the landscape.
Dianne and two children.
1959
RONALD G. WILLIAMS, April
7. Ron left Williams in 1959 and
moved to Cuba, where he taught
junior high school until he was
drafted into the U.S. Army and
deployed to West Germany.
There he met his wife Sofia, and
they started a family. In 1966,
he and his family returned to his
hometown of Athens, Ohio. He
completed his bachelor’s degree,
earned a master’s in education
from Ohio University in 1972 and
soon after began teaching earth
science and biology at his alma
mater, Athens High School. Ron
also served as the school’s athletic
director, and he led his teams to
many victories and was instrumental in implementing Title IX.
Ron’s survivors include his wife
of 47 years and two children.
1962
P. TAYLOR LONSDALE, July 29.
Taylor’s career as a Navy pilot
began one month after his graduation from Williams and offered
him the opportunity to live and
work around the U.S. After he
retired from the Navy in 1984,
he remained in Pennsylvania,
where he’d been stationed, and
spent the next 10 years working in operations analysis for
Lockheed Martin. He then spent
four years as a consultant in the
field of anti-submarine warfare.
He enjoyed flying, and in retirement he was first able to pilot his
own small plane, take up sailing
(about which he became passionate), and raise sheep on a farm in
Doylestown. He was active with
Interfaith Housing, Habitat for
Humanity, and Good Shepherd
Episcopal Church. His survivors
include his wife of 48 years,
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Nancy, two children, and three
grandchildren.
1985
ROBERTA M. BOYKIN, Sept. 13.
Bobbie earned a JD/MBA from
the University of Maryland in
1989 and was admitted to the
bar in Maryland, D.C., and New
York. She started her career with
Ober, Kaler, & Nortel, moving
to Ernst & Young in 1998, where
she was director of ethics and
compliance of the Americas. She
was the principal race officer of
the Larchmont Yacht Club and
was an avid golfer. At Williams
she played on the lacrosse team
and later loved her role as lacrosse
coach for her twin sons’ team in
Larchmont, N.Y. Among her survivors are her husband James, two
sons, her mother, and two sisters,
including Elizabeth Boykin ’82.
1996
KATHLEEN BIRRELL UTLEY,
Nov. 17. Kate moved to
Williamstown when she was 10
years old, after her father, Steve
Birrell ’64, took a job with the
college’s development office.
She graduated from Deerfield
Academy in 1992 with the second
fully coeducational class. As a
Williams student, she studied
art history and played lacrosse
and basketball, serving as the
basketball team’s co-captain in her
senior year. After graduation, she
worked in marketing at Copper
Mountain Resort and Vail Resorts
in Colorado before moving to
Richmond, Va., where she and
her husband Stephen made their
home. Kate continued in marketing, working at Trilegiant, before
returning to the work that drove
her passion in college. She became
the gallery manager at John
Barber Gallery in Richmond,
where she worked for several
years, and then was self-employed
as an art consultant. Kate then
became a realtor with Long &
Foster. She was recently diagnosed
with pulmonary hypertension, a
condition that affects the arteries
in the lungs and heart. Her survivors include her husband Stephen,
two sons, her parents, and cousin
Ryan McNeely ’06.
2003
ERIC TIETZE, July 12. Eric’s love
of the outdoors and the adventures he could find there drove
1957– 2003
him West after graduation, and
he spent the last 10 years of his
life working as trail crew in the
Bridger-Teton National Forest
in Wyoming. When he was not
rock climbing, river paddling, or
going on multi-day runs, he was
at home reading novels, cooking
over a campfire, or studying old
maps. He loved the Tetons deeply
and was engaged in an attempt
to climb the Cathedral Traverse
when he fell to his death. His
survivors include his parents, two
siblings, and his fiancée Zinnia
Wilson ’05, with whom he was
hiking at the time of his fall.
OTHER DEATHS
WILLIAM WINDOM ’46,
Woodacre, Calif., Aug. 16
W. FADJO CRAVENS II ’50, Fort
Smith, Ariz., Feb. 19
WILLIAM M. FOWLER ’50,
Carmichael, Calif., April 29
PHILIP W. RUSSELL ’50, Boulder
Creek, Calif., Feb. 4, 2011
HOWARD N. WEDELSTAEDT ’50,
Wayzata, Minn., Feb. 18, 2007
JOHN C. MORRISON JR. ’52,
York, S.C., Aug. 20, 2011
GEORGE H. REINBRECHT ’52,
Middleburg Heights, Ohio,
May 12, 2011
RICHARD L. WOOD ’52, Denver,
Colo., May 10
GEORGE P. FOURIER ’66, Las
Vegas, Nev., March 4
SETH R. BIDWELL II ’72, Delray
Beach, Fla., July 24
OF NOTE
The September 2012 issue of
Williams People identified Jay
B. Angevine Jr. ’49 as leader of
the “Angevine Committee.” The
committee was led by his father,
Jay Angevine ’11. The issue also
included the incorrect date of
death for Donald S. Chapman
’51. He died Feb. 2, 2012, in
Jensen Beach, Fla.
Obituaries are written by Julia
Munemo and are based on
information that alumni and
their families have supplied
to the college over the years.
To access more biographical
information on many alumni,
visit www.legacy.com or www.
tributes.com and enter a name
into the search box.
All dates 2012 unless noted
THINKING GLOBALLY,
AC TING LOC ALLY
As I pen this note, the winter holidays are on the near horizon, and
the College Relations team is wrapping its fall travel season. Engaging
Williams’ 27,000 alumni and 4,000 parents has taken us to a host of
obvious as well as obscure locales. Fall ports of call included nearly every
major metro hub in the U.S., as well as key points in Asia and Europe.
Many of us have, of course, been regular passengers on the spectacularly
winding Taconic Parkway linking the Berkshires to New York. Its grassy
berms have become a magnet for burgeoning herds of hungry deer. Tales of
artful—sometimes failed—dodging of buck and doe are a Mears and Vogt
House water-cooler staple.
As team members return to campus, they bring accounts of the remarkable undertakings of Ephs everywhere. Our alumni consistently take on
leadership roles in the ventures they launch or join and, regardless of
the nature of the enterprise, seem to retain both a deep-seated curiosity
and a certain “very Williams” modesty. Not to mention a powerful drive
to achieve. In the coming several years, our staff intends to partner more
closely with the Communications Office to bring you fresh tales of Ephs
grappling with and overcoming challenges both local and global.
The community impact of a cohort of Williams folk is perhaps no more
evident than in the northwestern Berkshires. I purchased a renovated home
in one of North Adams’ historic districts over the summer. Twenty-five years
ago, after the departure of the last of the major manufacturers, settling in
North Adams might have seemed a counterintuitive move. Not so much
now. The town’s linchpin institutions are achieving a level of visibility and
sustainability that bode well for future vitality. In working to understand
and then contribute to this emergent renaissance, I’ve discovered (perhaps
unsurprisingly) that Williams alumni and employees are partnering with
North Adams’ residents in a host of public and private capacities. The cast
responsible for MASS MoCA’s establishment is, as most of us know well,
replete with purple players. Ditto The Porches Inn. Perhaps less visibly,
multiple board positions at the North Adams Regional Hospital are held by
Ephs, as are a handful of important roles at the Massachusetts College of
Liberal Arts, brilliantly led through a period of expansion and repositioning
by MCLA graduate and President Mary Grant. From envisioning a revitalized
North Adams riverfront to incubating new small businesses keyed to the
region’s tourism and arts-centric opportunities, Ephs are collaborating with
non-Ephs in authentic service to the betterment of the Berkshires.
I recall driving away from Williamstown in the summer of ’87 with “Think
Globally, Act Locally” prominently, perhaps ostentatiously, plastered on my
tailgate. I’m happily humbled to continually discover the nuanced and personal ways Ephs as far from campus as New Zealand and as close as our
sister city North Adams are lending meaning to that mantra.
John M. Malcolm ’86
Vice President for College Relations
[email protected]
“Ephs are
collaborating
with non-Ephs in
authentic service to
the betterment of
the Berkshires.”
Dennis O’Shea ’77, President, Society
of Alumni, talks about the reimagining
of the Williams Magazine
Editorial Offices
P.O. Box 676
Williamstown, MA
01267-0676
REGISTRATION OPENS MARCH 15, 2013

destinations - Alumni News

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