Editorial Offices
P.O. Box 676
Williamstown, MA
01267-0676
See
you
See
youthere!
there!
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
June 12-15, 2014
MAY 2014
Williams
P E O P L E l M AY 2 014
THANKS FOR THE RIDE
“You, my fellow
Williams alumni,
are among the most
amazing people on
the planet. On top
of everything else
you do in and for
this world, you are
fiercely dedicated to
your college, to its
students and to your
fellow alumni.”
— Dennis O’Shea ’77
President, Society of Alumni
[email protected]
Two years ago next month, I climbed the stairs onto a stage in Chandler
Gym, took my seat and watched reunion classes march in.
It was fun to look at—carefree and festive. My classmates and fellow
alumni were full of energy and life. Balloons flew, kids ran around, and the
place was buzzing.
A half-hour later, I was elected president of your Society of Alumni. I left
my chair to run the rest of the annual meeting. And things suddenly looked a
whole lot different.
It’s hard to explain, really, but everything was bigger, more serious, more…
well, just more. Standing at that podium, it somehow wasn’t just the reunion
classes out there. It looked like all of you had marched into Chandler and
were gazing up at me.
It was partly, of course, how honored I felt. But it was more than that: It
was the responsibility that had just become mine. Responsibility to build on
the work of 133 predecessors. Responsibility for a 191-year Society of Alumni
tradition of service to Williams and each other. Responsibility, in some small
measure, for the connections between Williams and more than 27,000 of you.
Thank goodness the college has such a dedicated and creative alumni
relations staff. Thank goodness also for the society’s Executive Committee,
my VP—Leila Jere ’91—and so many of you who work for Williams every
day in so many ways. I have reason to hope that, together, we have fulfilled
those responsibilities.
We’ve worked on new ways to link alumni with students and prospective students. We’re making better use of technology and will continue to
improve. We’re starting to use data to drive alumni programming in a way
that Williams has never done before. We’re rededicated to serving every
alumnus and alumna, no matter their age, sex, background or location on the
globe, and we will make real, systemic advances in that area. We’re just now
launching new initiatives to bring together alumni with similar professional
interests. We’re re-examining the recruitment, training and stewardship of
those who volunteer for the college and the society.
Most important, by the time I retire next month and Leila steps up to the
podium for her first look out at assembled alumni, we will have in place an
overall strategic plan. That plan will pull together all this work and tie it to specific goals to be achieved between now and the society’s bicentennial in 2021.
So what have I learned in these two years? A lot more than I have room
for in this space. But here’s some of it: I’ve learned that you’re served by an
incredible professional alumni relations office led by director Brooks Foehl
’88 and backed by all of college relations; by the entire administration, faculty
and incredible college staff; and by the trustees. My thanks go to all of them.
And I’ve learned—relearned and had reinforced, actually—that you, my
fellow Williams alumni, are among the most amazing people on the planet.
On top of everything else you do in and for this world, you are fiercely dedicated to your college, to its students and to your fellow alumni.
Thanks for the ride. Keep bleeding purple. Go Ephs!
INFLUENCING THE
UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE
When describing the college’s commitment to Williams students of today,
President Adam Falk often shares the following statistics: 1 in 7 students has
at least one parent who attended Williams. Another 1 in 7 is a first-generation
college student.
Take a moment to think about that.
Colleges generally use the term “first generation” to describe students
who are the first in their families to graduate from a four-year college or university in the U.S. Much work has been done at Williams and places like it to
ensure that students from these backgrounds are aware of and have access
to the opportunities available to them in higher education.
Williams also has an obligation to provide resources for all students once
they arrive on campus, particularly students without established networks
of support (or even an understanding that such networks exist). Leading the
work on this front, Rosanna Reyes joined the Dean of the College’s Office last
summer as dean of first-generation initiatives. Mike Reed ’75, VP for strategic
planning and institutional diversity, is also engaged in this work. He oversees the Diversity Action Research Team (DART), a campus think tank that
uses data to better understand issues of diversity and inclusion. DART also
proposes institutional strategies to facilitate the college’s continued commitment to building a community where all can live, learn and thrive.
Williams has evolved in many ways over the past 50 years, opening our
student body to greater religious diversity, to greater diversity of secondary
schooling, to coeducation and to greater diversity on the basis of ethnicity and
national origin. Throughout each transition, the college has emerged stronger for the changes it has undergone. And in each case we, as alumni, have
played a central role in strengthening the community our students will enter.
As members of the network our students are joining, you have the ability to influence the undergraduate experience more than you know. When
you recommend Williams to a student from your region, you become the first
person in his or her network. When you work with the career center to hire a
student for the summer, during Winter Study or into his or her first job after
Williams, you perpetuate the network. Even simply making sure your career
data is up to date means that an undergrad or fellow alum can seek you out
for advice and direction.
All this already happens within our network. Strengthening it for all
Williams students and alumni is our collective charge.
Best wishes from Williamstown,
“When you recommend
Williams to a student
from your region, you
become the first person
in his or her network.”
—Brooks Foehl ’88
Director of Alumni Relations
[email protected]
Editorial Offices
P.O. Box 676
Williamstown, MA
01267-0676
See
you
See
youthere!
there!
MAY 2014
5
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
June 12-15, 2014
Williams
P E O P L E l M AY 2 014
Williams.People.May2014.Covers.FINAL.indd 1
4/12/14 2:07 PM
On the Cover
Ephs from the classes of 2006
and 2007 gathered at the
Oct. 12, 2013, wedding of
Cristin Wilson ‘06 and James
Robinson III in Las Vegas, Nev.
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Alumni Photos
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Class Notes
7
Weddings
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Births & Adoptions
111
Obituaries
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WILLIAMS PEOPLE
MAY 2014
Volume No. 108, Issue No. 4
Editors
Amy T. Lovett
Francesca Shanks
Design & Production
Diane Gottardi
Address Changes/Updates
Bio Records
75 Park St.
Williamstown, MA 01267-2114
tel: 413.597.4399
fax: 413.597.4178
email: [email protected]
http://alumni.williams.edu
Editorial Offices
P.O. Box 676
Williamstown, MA 01267-0676
tel: 413.597.4278
fax: 413.597.4158
email: [email protected]
http://alumni-news.williams.edu
Williams Magazines
(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
William A. Gutierrez ’16
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Williamstown, MA 01267 and
additional mailing offices.
Postmaster:
Send address changes to
Bio Records, 75 Park St.,
Williamstown, MA 01267-2114
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ALUMNI PHOTOS
Visit http://bit.ly/15MSmOG for information
on how to submit photos for consideration.
1. 1990 classmates (from left) Beth Worley Farman-Farmaian, Brooke Sabin and Susan Gray Gose spent a long weekend hiking
in New Mexico in July 2013. 2. A February 2014 ski reunion in Sun Valley, Idaho, brought together 1968 classmates (from left) Tad
Piper, Bob Stanton and Tod Hamachek. 3. Dan Voorhees ‘63 and his daughter Jennie Voorhees Hamill ‘96 celebrated the family’s
newest addition, Phoebe, in October 2013. 4. Hai Zhou ‘11 (left) and Meredith Nelson ‘09 visited the Williams campus during
a February 2014 business trip with their Boston startup, EverTrue. 5. 1987 classmates (from left) Karen Adams Finley, Jordan
Hampton, Haley Clifford Adams and Ann Marie Plankey caught up during a dinner for female alumni of the 1980s and 1990s in
Boston in January 2014. 6. After a Santa Fe, N.M., Hockey League playoff game in December 2013, Clayton Jernigan ’99 (left) got
together with Jim Norton ‘78 (center) and John Bessone ‘78.
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7. Laura (Titus) Tang ‘89 (left) and her father Curt Titus ‘54 spent time with Stacey Baradit ‘09 in Southbury, Conn., in July 2013.
8. Tom Ewing ‘87 (left) and Bill Huckle ‘78 ran the Hokie Half Marathon in Blacksburg, Va., in September 2013. 9. 1963 classmates
(back row, from left) Morris Kaplan, Gordy Prichett, Murray Ross, David Jeffrey and Jim Blume traveled to London with their
significant others for a theater tour in January 2014. 10. John Simons ‘61 caught a 13-pound striped bass in California’s Sacramento
River Delta in February 2014. 11. From left: Shakierah Fuller-Cowan ‘03, David Bartsch ‘74 and Enith Martin Williams ‘83 met up at
the Jamacia Stock Exhange Investments and Capital Markets Conference in January 2014.
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12. 1981 classmates (from left) Marc Tayer, Rob Kukulka, Bill Reynolds and Steve Jenks traveled to Alta, Utah, for their annual ski
trip in winter 2014. 13. Cindy (Craig) Johnson ‘88 enjoyed a surprise visit from Mike Harrington ‘88 and his family in Jacksonville,
Fla., in February 2014. 14. Mary (Buss) Reale ’93 (seated) hosted classmates (from left) Robb Friedman, Jeff Hummel, Anne Conrad
Hummel, Jen Raney Harris, Lynn Kim and Matt Smith in Boston for a Twelfth Night of Christmas party in January 2014.
15. Sandra Burton (center, standing), the Lipp Family Director of Dance at Williams, joined alumni at the Brooklyn Academy of
Music in February 2014 to support Jason B. Lucas ‘02, Rob Michelin ‘03 and Ben Sands ‘02 at the opening of their production The
Legend of Yauna. 16. Tom Gardner ‘79 (right) looked up classmate Russell Yeh and his wife during a trip to Hong Kong in January 2014.
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17. Pictured are 20 of the 30-plus geosciences alumni and faculty attending the annual meeting of the American Geophysical
Union in San Francisco in December 2013. 18. In July 2013 Carlyle Massey ’04 (second from left) hosted classmates (from left) Erin
Kempster, Torrey Baldwin, Michelle Cuevas and Corie McDermott in Cambridge, Mass. 19. Jennifer Sleeper ‘07 (left) and Kristen
Anderson-Lopez ‘94 celebrated at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, Calif., after the movie Frozen—for which they did
finance and songwriting (respectively)—won multiple Oscars in March 2014. 20. 1981 classmates (back row, from left) Pat Rondeau
and Kevin Hinchey and (front row, from left) Bill Novicki, David Greaney and Sue (Meshkoff) Greaney ’82 and their spouses, along
with Katie Rondeau ‘14 (far right), got together in Williamstown to cheer on the men’s basketball team in January 2014. 21. Don
White ‘74 (left) spent time with John Cole Jr. ‘39 during a February 2014 visit to the Arizona nursing home where Don’s father lives.
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22. 2013 classmates Emma Laukitis (left) and Alex Highet spent eight days exploring New Zealand’s North Island, including a hike
through the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, in March 2014. 23. 1964 classmates (from left) Jack Beebe, Al Hageman, Chris Hagy, Skip
Gwiazda and Leo Murray had a minireunion in Burma in January 2014. 24. Sandra Jelin Plouffe ‘97 (second from left) hosted a
Williams/Friends Seminary School gathering in NYC in December 2013 that included (from left) Nick Evert ‘14, Christian Hoyos ‘17
and Troy Whittington ‘11. 25. Shawei Wang ‘96 (left), Alexandra (Steinberg) Barrage ‘97 (center) and Mike Tae ‘97 (second from
right) and their families met for brunch and a visit to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., over Labor Day weekend 2013.
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WEDDINGS
Williams People publishes photographs of weddings,
commitment ceremonies and civil unions.
For detailed instructions on how to submit your photo,
please visit http://bit.ly/ephphotos.
Elissa Hardy ’06 & Keith Washburn
Wellesley, Mass., Aug. 11, 2013
Rachel Bloom & Adam Cole ’03
Amanda Robinson ’01 & Robert Goodkin
Quincy, Mass., Oct. 13, 2013
Laguna Beach, Calif., June 29, 2013
Katherine Baker & Morgan Barth ’02
Shelby Kimmel ’08 & Paul Hess ’08
Rhinebeck, N.Y., July 13, 2013
Groton, Mass., May 19, 2013
Alyssa Pelletier & Mike Hackett ’04
Weare, N.H., July 20, 2013
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Mireya Hurtado ’97 & Monica Henao
En route from Chicago to Williamstown to serve as the keynote speaker for the 30th anniversary celebration of the women’s,
gender and sexuality studies program at Williams, Mireya (second from left) and her partner Monica (third from left) got married
in Manchester, Vt., on Oct. 25, 2013—their 16th anniversary. The couple met in Chicago, and Monica attended Mireya’s Williams
graduation in 1997. Carla Gutierrez ’98 (left) officiated the wedding, and Vickie Vertiz ’98 (third from right) was master of music.
Sydney Tooze ’12 & Alex Taylor ’10
Rock Hall, Md., June 22, 2013
Mary Brevdo ’00 & Dan Eisenbud
Berkeley, Calif., May 12, 2013
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Cristin Wilson ’06 & James Robinson III
Las Vegas, Nev., Oct. 12, 2013
Karen Mangold & Zach Cook ’96
Rochester, N.Y., Aug. 17, 2013
Emily Bethea & Nathan Cardoos ’02
Spencer, Mass., Oct. 5, 2013
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Liz Pierce ’08 & Ryan Belmont ’05
Ryan and Liz (each holding an end of the Williams banner) met in the Winter Study class “How to Build a Computer” in 2005.
Though the class was Ryan’s first choice and Liz’s last, the two hit it off. Their first few dates were at Tunnel City and the Forge, and
after Ryan graduated and moved to Boston, they continued to see each other on weekends. Some 30 alumni, including entrymates,
rugby teammates and Liz’s father, Leslie Pierce ’56 (center), attended their Aug. 17, 2013, wedding in Salem, Mass.
Amanda Knorr & Dave Culver Senft ’07
Annie Snodgrass ’05 & Zach Dennett
Sheffield, Mass., Oct. 5, 2013
Chevy Chase, Md., Nov. 16, 2013
Joanna Pei Breslow ’07 & Ryan Boyd ’05
Katherine McAllister ’07 & Christopher Paone
Washington, D.C., Aug. 10, 2013
Mount Desert Island, Maine, Aug. 17, 2013
Kate Beswick ’05 & Andrew Johnston
Rye, N.Y., Oct. 26, 2013
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Mary Catherine Blanton ’06 & Bailey Jones
Houston, Texas, Oct. 12, 2013
Brad Wasserman ’96 & Scott Graves
Caroline Byrnes ’06 & Sean Mulloy
Ellicott City, Md., Nov. 17, 2013
Chicago, Ill., Sept. 21, 2013
Kristen Emmons & Mark D’Arrigo ’99
San Francisco, Calif., June 1, 2013
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Brett Moody ’07 & Chris Bodnar ’05
Chris and Brett (front row, center) were introduced at a Williams baseball team party and saw each other again at Homecoming in
2006. They kept in touch, and in May Brett met up with Chris in Baltimore, Md., for the Preakness Stakes. At the time, Brett was on
her way to Hilton Head, S.C., for senior week, and Chris was in town for job interviews. They started dating after Brett graduated
and Chris moved to Baltimore, and they got married in Jamestown, R.I., on June 29, 2013. The bridal party was comprised entirely of
Williams alumni, with the exception of their siblings.
Helah Robinson & Matthew Teschke ’06
Sarah Burnham & Fulton Breen ’03
Bluemont, Va., Oct. 19, 2013
South Haven, Mich., July 14, 2013
Margit Sande-Kerback ’05 & Christopher Rocchio
Tyringham, Mass., Nov. 16, 2013
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If your class isn’t listed, please submit notes to Williams People,
C L A SS N OT E S
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.
1936
Please submit notes to Williams People, P.O. Box 676,
Williamstown, MA. 01267, or [email protected].
1938
Please submit notes to Williams People, P.O. Box 676,
Williamstown, MA 01267, or [email protected].
Class secretary George McKay passed away on
Jan. 22. An obituary will appear in the next issue.
1939
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Karl Mertz, Mangels Ranch, P.O. Box 1509, Aptos, CA
95001; [email protected]
Greetings from your class secretary plus class
agent who is still trying to find a member to
represent us at our 75th reunion and to reach 100
percent in our Alumni Fund drive. So far we’re
at 53 percent. Let’s celebrate our 75th with 100
percent! We also want to give very special thanks
to those loyal widows who contributed in memory
of their husbands, namely: John Beal, John Cooper,
Carl Glock, Al Jarvis and Bill Simpson. We all miss
these old friends.
If you studied the photos in the January People,
#27 showed Alex Carroll wearing his Joseph’s Coat,
which he received at our last reunion acknowledging his tireless work for the college. Gordon
Hutchins’ daughter Ellen says that although he’s in
a rest home and using a wheelchair, he’s still “sharp
as a tack on most things.” Tried without success to
get Bruce Burnham, who lives in Pittsfield, to represent us on June 12, but, unfortunately, although in
good health, the logistics do not work out.
Dave Ransom says he keeps healthy by swimming and adds that, while it’s been a hard winter in
Hartford (which is nothing new to you Easterners),
he’s had electricity and so has stayed warm. Had
a nice chat with Bill Nelligan, our remaining MD,
who is also in good health, still likes to dance and
relishes his time at Williams (as we all do). In fact,
Alex Carroll suggests you tell me one of your favorite memories of Williams and I will pass it on.
Enough for now—remember the Alumni Fund
goal of 100 percent for our class!
1940
Please submit notes to Williams People, P.O. Box 676,
Williamstown, MA 01267, or [email protected].
1941
Pete Parish, 350 East Michigan Ave., Ste. 500,
Kalamazoo, MI 49007; Wayne Wilkins, 240 South St.,
Williamstown, MA 01267; [email protected]
Jim Fowle was leaving for his “apartment on the
sea in Siracusa” on Feb. 10. The quotation is from
Jim’s biography in our 50th Reunion Book; the
apartment is in Sicily, of course. He has made
an annual winter trek there for 28 years, 22 with
Alison and six since her death. This year will be a
bit different. Their two daughters and other relatives were to keep him company during his stay
until April 2. (We 90-year-olds appreciate that
supportive arrangement.) A bonus was to be five
days in London en route to this paradise. I am told
that the apartment overlooks the Mediterranean on
three sides!
As you readers must realize, Jim has been among
the most loyal classmates in submitting material
for the 1941 column. He writes his story in legible longhand. That’s a real treat with emphasis on
anyone who can do it. By the way, Jim was our ’41
summa athlete.
Word from Tod Blodget comes via telephone. He
has been gracious in remembering almost every
holiday. The last call questioned what has happened
to our major sports versus Amherst (I had no
answer). We do have via email a beautiful photograph of Tod sitting erectly in a truck during the
July 4 Winnipesaukee parade. It looks like a Boston
duck boat. He and Margie tough out the winter in
New Hampshire. Good for them; it’s healthy.
Once again we express our sadness in the passing
of a classmate. John H. Rice died on Oct. 29, 2013,
at age 94. He was a remarkable athlete. He recalled
with pride two particular games at Williams: “In
the fall of 1940 we almost beat West Point at
Michie Stadium,” 19-20. Later that winter, “We
did beat Yale as Whoops Snively’s unorthodox
hockey defense baffled Yale,” 5-2. He received an
MBA from Harvard in 1943, spending much of his
life in the business world with the family business
R.H. Rice Co. in Pittsfield from 1949 to 1984. He
was very active in local politics and was a contributing columnist and book reviewer for the Berkshire
Eagle. His leisure sports included tennis, rowing
and skiing. He and Bob Keller presented an eightoared shell to Williams during our 50th reunion.
Just prior to that time he had logged his one millionth vertical foot of helicopter skiing in British
Columbia. His most remarkable feat perhaps was
beginning to take piano lessons at age 35, progressing to giving concerts to local nursing homes in
his busy retirement. Really an all-around guy! He
admitted two marital failures, which did yield two
happily married daughters. For his last 36 years, in
his words, he kept company with Janet Pinkham;
it continued to be “a joyous relationship.” In 2003
they moved to Piper Shores in southwest Maine.
A celebration of Jock’s life will be held in June this
year at the Onota Lake Club in Pittsfield.
Finally, I have a copy of the very first ’41 news
in the December 1941 Alumni Review written by
Craig Lewis. Some 34 names are mentioned. If any
of you survivors are curious, I’ll be happy to send
a copy to you. At the same time, Pete Parish and I
would be grateful to get any class news. Let us hear.
My telephone: 413.458.9104. Thanks from all of
’41. —Wilk
1942
Thurston Holt, 4902 Willowood Way, Norman, OK
73026; [email protected]
One day on a 1993 visit to Laguna Hills, Calif.,
my sister-in-law Juanita and I walked up one of
the hills, tennis rackets in hand, to the courts at the
top. Juanita was in her 60s, I was in my 70s, and
we were happy to still be able to play our favorite
game. After the hitting session, we stayed around
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and chatted with those at courtside. One person we
met was a splendid man with the military posture
my father had tried to instill in me. He had a sunny
smile. We were surprised when he said he was 84
and no longer played tennis but came to the courts
frequently to watch the tennis and socialize.
He told us about his life and ended with, “I have
my memories.” From his radiant expression we
knew they were precious.
Williams Class of 1942 honorary member
Marilyn Ball also has her memories. Here is the
first poem in her book Stepping on Water and Stones:
Lake Powell Poems.
Ravishing Old Memories
In waning years I yearn for/ Sandstone canyons
of Lake Powell,/ Its mysterious comfort hidden
there./ Our Mojave desert reaches out curved arms/
Like a siren, calling to the Colorado River.
My juxtaposition of dream and reality/ Shows
me I cannot do long trails or ski/ But I can recall
the loved, vast watershed/ of Lake Powell. So I take
the/ Chambered nautilus of my mind, enter/ Its
coral-pink, curved spaces, travel semi-desert,/ Find
primrose and musty sunflowers, reach gorges/ And
canyons of pink-red stones and water...
Oh, days boating, children’s ski time: sleek/
Bodies swimming in liquid light, hands out/ To an
orange tongued fire. Five point stars/ Brilliant in
golden, moonlighted water/ Among the stones that
wash and chill me again.
Marilyn writes: “This book of poems is about
the human experience of learning the Colorado
plateau and watching the great river backed up
… with a coastline of 1,900 miles of ins and outs
and many beautiful red sandstone canyons, small
beaches for camping and native animals and birds.
It was the habitat for probably the Anasazi Indians
900 years ago.”
For a copy of Stepping on Water and Stones,
contact Marilyn Ball, 4455 Ironwood Drive, St.
George, UT 84790, 435.656.4341. Marilyn is a
member of the League of Utah Writers. In a contest last year her book won honorable mention, and
three of her poems won first place.
She shared an adventurous life with her husband,
Ralph Ball, who died in 2009. That included cheering him on as he ski raced and free-skied in the
U.S. and Europe through his 89th year.
Knowing John Carr had been vice chairman of the
aircraft manufacturer Grumman (now Northrup
Grumman), I telephoned him and read him a
squib from the January-February issue of Foreign
Policy magazine: “The Northrup Grumman X-47B
unmanned combat air vehicle landed successfully on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush,
becoming the first unmanned vehicle to land on an
aircraft carrier.” I asked John what he thought of
military drones. “I’m in favor of them,” he replied,
“because they can save pilots’ lives.” Another time
we’ll discuss when they should be used.
John and his wife Ruth live in a retirement community in Bethesda, Md., that has different levels
of care, a swimming pool and a gym. I told him
that when I was a teenager, I read a little book on
calisthenics by the legendary Yale football coach
Walter Camp, and then I devised an eight-minute
routine of the pushups, deep knee bends, whirl8
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ing arms, etc., featured in the book. The beauty of
this routine is its shortness. I’ve done it for about
80 years. Since we had referred to Yale football,
we enjoyed recalling what Herman Hickman said
right after he was appointed Yale football coach:
“My ambition is to keep the alumni sullen but not
openly rebellious.” Not to worry. The Yale football
teams he proceeded to coach were superb.
There are about 50 residents in John and Ruth’s
retirement community. Hearing that, I read over
the telephone a report in the April 2011 issue of
Williams People: “Our man from Maine, Thurston
Holt, has uprooted himself and landed in Norman,
Okla., in a retirement community near his daughter.” My “retirement community” consists of one
resident—myself—and a house on an acre-and-ahalf close to Thunderbird Lake State Park.
John and Ruth’s son Jeffrey is a painter and
travels so much that he does not have a permanent
residence. If it is too cold in Alaska, he will travel
south. His favorite foreign country is the Philippines, where he was when John and I talked. He
took Typhoon Haiyan there very hard.
John and Ruth are glad to have their daughter
Elizabeth and her family within 10 minutes of
them at their retirement community, as I am glad
to have my daughter Sally within five minutes of
my “retirement community.”
Ted Carter and Charlotte Rising, widow of Dick
Rising ’40, have been together for 14 years. When I
telephoned, Ted told me of how their fondness for
each other transcends the humdrum of living in a
retirement home at Medford, Ore. Travels relieve
the monotony.
Ted’s son Todd lives in Italy a little north of
Rome. He is a linguist who works on dialogue
and coaching for Italian TV movies. In our 50th
reunion book, Ted wrote, “For a ‘career highlight’
I would pick the opportunity to run the West
Coast manufacturing operation of a Cleveland
company whose enlightened founder and president
encouraged our hiring minorities, the handicapped,
convicted felons, etc., long before ‘equal opportunity’ and ‘quotas’ were in vogue. My four years at
Williams were enlightening, maturing, broadening, enjoyable almost to a fault and have had an
extremely positive impact on all the years since.”
To me, Ted expressed the “enjoyable almost to a
fault” as “too much fun, too little study.”
When I spoke to Byron Benton, he was watching the ice hockey game between Switzerland and
Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
(Canada won.) “Life is a trial,” he told me. I found
out that was mostly because of difficulty hearing. I
raised my voice, and we had a fine conversation.
“I read the Hartford Courant every day, and always
the obituaries,” he said. We discussed the book
People of the Monuments: Old South Burying Ground,
Hartford, Conn. They Fascinate and Amuse by Byron
Benton and Kelly Gineo. One profile of those buried there is of Mary Juliana Seymour Chenevard,
1769-1843. Mini-excerpt: Daughter of Thomas
Seymour, first mayor of Hartford, and Mary Ledyard Seymour, she was a celebrated beauty noted as
the original of the character eulogized by lexicologist Noah Webster in his An American Selection in
Reading and Speaking. She was known throughout
1942– 43
her life for her exceptionally distinguished bearing,
which may have come from her mother, who was
described by Cass Ledyard Shaw in her book about
the Ledyard family as “a stern, unbending lady with
her hair ruthlessly slicked back from a face as if
carved from a block of stone, with an eagle nose, a
sardonic mouth and dark shrewd eyes.”
Noah Webster’s 1801 book Grammatical Institute
of the Human Mind was a selection of lessons in
reading and elocution. He used Mary Juliana as
his model for exercises and starts his description
of her with, “Juliana is one of those rare women
whose personal attractions have no rivals but the
sweetness of her temper and the delicacy of her
sentiments. An elegant person, regular features, a
fine complexion, a lively, expressive countenance,
an easy address, and those blushes of modesty that
soften the soul of the beholder; these are the native
beauties which render her the object of universal
admiration.”
To obtain a copy of Byron’s book, which I highly
recommend, contact him at Byron Benton, 300
Avery Heights, Hartford, CT, 06106-4261, or
860.953.2753.
1943
Bill Brewer, P.O. Box 289, Galesville, MD 20765;
[email protected]
Being secretary gives an excuse to call a few of
our survivors and email some others. A pleasant
task, chatting about life and how it feels to be in
our 90s, but wish it could be in person. Need a
magic carpet.
Please send news, whether phone, email, text
or—a nice surprise—snail mail. Apologies to those
I have not yet caught up with.
Our Minneapolis classmate Mal Clark has
turned over driving to his wife Jean, but luckily his
children and grandchildren are nearby. He survived
the worst Minnesota winter in many years without
escaping to Florida and by reading the Patrick
O’Brien series, most of which take place in tropical
seas. Like all of us, Mal says he is dealing with “the
parade of advancing years.” A nice phrase.
Malcolm MacGruer, whose name must be used
in full to satisfy my editor but is known to all as
McGurk, was also in the path of winter snows
in Connecticut but keeps his head tucked in and
sharp by making crossword puzzles. He tells me
he does one a week, which must be some kind of a
record. Please, McGurk, don’t stop making the Eph
puzzle for our 1943 newsletter.
If I figure correctly, Hank McKown has lived in
Oak Ridge, Tenn. for 68 years. As reported in our
50th reunion book, he worked for the Manhattan
Project and then for Oak Ridge National Laboratories, spending a few years in Austria with the
International Atomic Energy Agency. Hank is an
analytic chemist with a specialty in mass spectrometers. What many of us may not know is that
ORNL is one of our great national research institutions, and has many science programs in addition to
its nuclear work. What they do, and what Hank has
done, benefits all of us.
Ed Reade is living comfortably in Tampa, Fla.,
after a career of teaching at Deerfield but also after
what many of us would consider a second career
at his home in Vineyard Haven, Mass. He was
active in town government, church and yacht club
affairs—and those of you who have lived on the
New England coast know that these are the most
important institutions in any town. He has passed
on the teaching tradition to one of his sons, who is
at Trinity-Pawling School in Pawling, N.Y.
Daves Rossell lives in Great Barrington, some 40
miles south of Williamstown. He and Irene are fans
of Jacob’s Pillow, the great dance center in Becket.
Irene, writing as Irene Willis, has published three
books of poetry. Not easy to publish today—or for
that matter to write. Daves is reading some Henry
James at the moment, The Bostonian, and of course
Portrait of a Lady, and I mentioned our classmate
Alan James’ book about the letters between Henry
James and Viscount Wolseley, the most famous
(after Wellington) English general of the 19th century. Daves’ father was a naval officer and for several
years taught at the Naval Academy in Annapolis,
not far from the home of your secretary.
Joe Sizoo and Barbara are in Williamsburg, Va.,
and summer in Cape Vincent, N.Y., in the Thousand Islands. Way back when, Joe and Len Eaton
intended to room together, but the war intervened,
and Joe finally finished college at George Washington University in DC. He had a distinguished
career in the FBI and followed that up with Barbara’s antique business in Williamsburg. Along the
way he owned, raced and cruised a 6-meter sloop
on Chesapeake Bay—get him to tell you the story
of the narrow escape when his balky Seagull engine
failed near Hell Gate in the East River.
Walt Stultz says that he and Jean are “getting in
motion,” a real understatement since they were in
France last year and plan to be in Alaska this summer. Walt likes to talk about politics, understandable since he was once a staffer on Capitol Hill.
We mourned the present shortage of moderate
Republicans in the Javits/Case/Saltonstall/Chaffee
tradition, conservative when it came to money but
more liberal on social policy.
South of Boston on Buzzards Bay, Dick Shriner and Liz look out over Quissett Harbor and
remember all the sailing they have done on the bay
in the brisk sou’westers of summer. Fortunately one
of Dick’s eight children keeps a Herreshoff 12½
nearby, which he can use when the mood strikes.
As recounted in our 50th reunion report, Dick got
out of the shoe business just before it collapsed in
the U.S. and watched, with some sadness, the fate
of competitors who had not foreseen the end.
Linc Stevenson phoned from his condo at the
Ocean Reef Club, south of Miami, where he snugly
avoids the storms of winter and considers how
many birthday and Christmas presents he must buy
for his 10 grandchildren. Linc says that his three
sons are “more successful than I am,” which might
be true if money is the only measure—which it is
not. Summers, Linc and Ann live at a retirement
community in Rye, N.Y.
Again from our 50th report, you know that Nip
Wilson flew Navy Corsairs (Vought F4Us) on many
hazardous missions during the Korean War. The
Corsair was one of the last—and some would say
the best—of the great Navy reciprocating engine
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fighters. And his carrier, the Valley Forge, was one of
the last straight-deck carriers. Nip did not mention
that he wrote a book about these experiences. It is
an absorbing read. If you are very, very nice to him,
perhaps he will send you a copy of Hello Cherry
Tree—A Korean War Diary. (An offer which I am
completely unauthorized to make.)
Speaking of writing, your secretary has finally
finished a memoir, an exercise that has taken him
much too long. Collot, his wife, has been patient,
but her patience was rewarded this winter by a fall
on the ice and a nasty broken arm. So we have been
holed up in our DC house waiting for spring.
1944
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Please submit notes to Williams People, P.O. Box 676,
Williamstown, MA 01267, or [email protected].
Bob Luttrell writes, “I am still alive and well
(except for seven years of painful post-shingles
neuralgia). I retired two years ago at age 90 from
my private practice of psychiatry. Although I
enjoyed my practice, to my surprise, I have not
missed it. Instead, I have immersed myself in
retirement: catch-up reading, increased exercising and socializing. My wife Roberta and I live on
Long Island. N.Y., so attend plays, concerts, and
dance performances on L.I. and in nearby NYC.
It was a harsh winter in NY, but I have escaped to
St. Petersburg, Fla., for the winter season. A good
marriage, exercise and lucky genes have kept me in
good spirits and health. College seems so long ago,
but it was my first introduction to a wider world
that I now have the time to explore.”
1945
Frederick Wardwell, P.O. Box 118, Searsmont, ME
04973; [email protected]
Stu Coan has been in touch to report that the college has provided him with details on the finances
of our World Fellowship Research Program and
the Florence Chandler Graduate Fellow. These are
the programs the college manages, but our class
created and initially funded them. Last fall at the
minireunion we heard reports from the eight 2013
students and the Chandler Fellow. They were supported by our program, whose dedicated endowment is now nearly $4 million. Not a bad legacy.
Jan Brown, Bob Earle’s daughter, wrote that
while Bob’s mind was still first rate, his hands don’t
work well enough to write, so she was passing on
what was on his mind. That, it turns out, is how
fortunate he feels to have six grandchildren, one a
hockey goalie in college in Minnesota, two married
and living in Ohio and South Carolina, and three
in southern New Hampshire. Jan says Bob often
speaks fondly of his time at Williams.
Bud Edwards sent his “best regards” to all his
classmates and went on to tell of his exercise
routine and academic work, which is extensive or
appalling, depending on how you take it. It should
spur us on, but: He works out for a half-hour
before breakfast, later swims a quarter-mile each of
crawl, backstroke and breaststroke, and then hits
the books by taking some sort of academic course
or other. He claims to weigh 140 pounds, probably
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less than at Williams. Sort of makes me sick.
Joan Jobson (Mrs.Ted Jobson) has had enough of
the east coast of Stamford, Conn., including much
damage from Hurricane Sandy. She now plans
to move to a retirement home, Meadow Ridge,
100 Reading Drive, Reading, CT, 06848, near
her daughter. She says there is a time and place
for everything, and while she will miss the ocean
sunsets she was seldom there in the summer and is
pleased to be simplifying her life.
Harold Gilboard and wife Iris celebrated 65 years
of married life and report an enjoyable life over the
last 14 years in Laguna Woods, Calif. Their son and
daughter moved there from Boston, and none of
them say they much miss shoveling snow.
Dave Goodheart praises his neighbors for keeping
his driveway open during the winter storms of ’14,
especially when the snowplows created two- and
three-foot snow banks when they passed by. Dave
says he and Lib are in pretty good shape, and he
hopes my bees are doing well.
Emmet Herndon in Boise, Idaho, is still running
his moving company, playing easy tennis doubles
and enjoying the company of the same wife over all
these years. Fran Lathrop reports his granddaughter Sara Lathrop has been accepted at Williams
and that her sister Brittany at the University of
Vermont won the 18 and under National Alpine
Slalom event. He also claims about 33 grands and
great-grands. He says that wife Betty plays a fair
amount of tennis and that he cross-country skis
about once a week. Louis Pitt is still part of the
“righteous remnant,” and that longevity seems
random and unfair. He lives at Carleton-Willard
Village, Bedford, Mass., and while he has given up
the chairmanship of the library there, he spends
a lot of time helping and reading. Croquet, the
Boston Symphony, museums and the Parish of
Epiphany on Sunday morning are regular activities. While the 65th anniversary of his ordination
into the Episcopal priesthood with lots of family
members present was good, the highlight of the
year for him was a trip to England. He saw several
friends from his days in Zambia, Zimbabwe and
Botswana, preached three sermons in one day, and
visited the Dorset Coast and more friends. In a
sermon in Barking, England, he remarked that God
works in mysterious ways, and I think we can all
agree on that. Don Potter and four family members
went trekking in Ireland last summer looking for
family roots and found them hard to dig up. The
week before writing his dishwasher froze up, and he
thought, “What a way to usher out Epiphany.” Art
Stevenson was in touch with Art Nims and praised
him for devoting his life to public service as judge
of the U.S. Tax Court. Tim Tyler reported leaving
Denver, Colo., for the trip of a lifetime—a 10-day
cruise by Oceania Cruises to Tahiti and other
French Polynesian islands. The ship had 793 staff
serving 1,250 guests. There were lots of places to
swim and snorkel, remarkable food, plenty of excursions ashore and great weather. From that soft environment it was back to snow and cold weather in
Colorado and time to break out the skis. Bob Welch
lost his wife Carol in 2010 but feels blessed and
lucky to have a beautiful daughter, two fine sons
and seven grandchildren, all healthy and showing
1943– 47
promise. He spends a fair amount of time on the
Internet and with his daughter and grandson, who
live next door in Chatham, Va.
Katy Winant (Mrs. Jake Winant) from Williamstown said she was sorry to miss our fall minireunion hosted by Fred Scarborough and Gay, and
that without Jack she feels out of the mix, but is
otherwise just fine. Your secretary, Fred Wardwell,
and wife Ann are busy with a grandson’s wedding
and will soon be occupied dealing with the few
bee colonies that were left after a bear had dinner
last fall. Snow on the ice has limited the winter’s
iceboating, but several days on the ice were great,
and it seems a satisfactory activity for this 91-yearold as one generally lies down and scoots along
making the wind do most of the work. I have given
up trying to do lots of things on our more or less
farm, and now to my delight they are done due to
hired help. Lastly, and hate to end this way, but the
college has let me know that John Townsend died
in late January.
1946
Bill Shellenberger, 4031 Kennett Pike, Unit 52,
Wilmington, DE 19807; [email protected]
Have been on the phone, trying to get some news
out of you all. I’ve been calling on some regulars—and those from whom I have not heard since
college days.
The first of these random calls was to Jack
Greenberg. He had a full scholarship but had to
deliver The New York Times and Herald Tribune at 5
a.m. daily plus wait tables for meals. He joined the
Navy, was sent to Columbia for officers’ training
and subsequently taught radar in Washington State,
where he met his future wife. He returned to Williams after the war because they required credits
to let him graduate. He then moved to Seattle,
Wash., and went into business with his father-inlaw. Eventually, he started his own outerwear firm,
Seattle Textile. He retired after 20 years because
the “needle” business had moved to the Far East.
He then went into commercial construction and
real estate. He’s very active in Jewish affairs and has
established several Jewish schools. His children live
in Israel. Because of his difficulty hearing me, and
vice-versa, the above may not be entirely accurate.
If so, my apologies, Jack.
Harry Davenport was next. He lives in a retirement community in Towson, Md. Had a stroke 10
years ago but now plays nine holes of golf twice a
week. Nine holes, senior tees, but that’s great at our
age. He has two daughters and one son. Most if not
all of his Alpha Delt delegation—Em Brown, Lew
Lincoln, etc.—have died. No recent Williams news.
He was a combat engineer and landed in Normandy on the sixth day. In the bulge suffered from
trench foot and still has trouble with the cold.
The third longtime no-see, no-hear was Gus
Klein, who lives with his son. He started an X-ray
analysis spectrometer business that he eventually sold to the Swiss firm Siemens. Gus was an
excellent skier. He skied until last year but stopped
because if he fell he couldn’t get up. In 1952, he
came in 16th in U.S. national skiing. He also won
the tri-state (N.Y., N.J., Pa.) slalom one year. His
son came on the phone to say his sister went to
Williams and that his father has recent memory
problems—like a lot of us to varying degrees.
Christmas cards are a good source of news. Class
widows have been helpful writing. Judith Whitely is
well, enjoying grandchildren and still going to her
place in New Zealand every Christmas through
Easter. The 24-hour flight is getting longer each
year. Leigh Beeman might attend a minireunion
depending on where or when.
Barbara Pieper is well and has taken cruises with
her daughter.
I phoned Dan Case and his wife Carol in Hawaii
before Christmas. They are doing fine. He doesn’t
like to travel, but she does. She had been in San
Francisco and elsewhere. Said their son Steve Case
’80 (started AOL) and his wife were coming to
visit. Reminding me of our trip to South Africa a
few years ago with mutual friends, Carol asked if I
had hit any warthogs with golf balls recently, as I
did twice there.
Only other personal news, emulating Larry Heely,
I played the Lone Ranger in our retirement home
cabaret skit last October. Instead of galloping on
stage, I hobbled. The average age of the performers
was in the 80s.
Larry Heely called. He is still doing his theater
bit and gets around his NYC neighborhood on his
walker. He called John Chapman, who subsequently
called me. Chappie’s doing well and lives by himself
with his dog. Still hunts deer and walks in the
woods with a ski pole for balance. Stopped playing
golf last year. Larry still makes the Alumni Golf
Tournament yearly with his son-in-law, as Chappie
used to do. Chappie says that Larry must be trying
to be the oldest player there.
John Cleveland sent a card complaining of the
cold in New Orleans—down in the 40s—poor boy!
He noted the book about his partner Lin Emery’s
sculpture was written by Phil Palmedo ’56.
Bob Buttell and Helen continue to remain active.
They are both retired university professors, he of
English from Temple, and Helen from Acadia. We
used to have dinner with them occasionally before
the Philadelphia Orchestra. We had to forgo the
pleasure because of the 30-mile drive to and from
Wilmington on I-95. Hope to get together for
lunch soon.
Talked to Dick Schneller to thank him for his
work as a class agent. He and Helen are fine.
Our president and federal judge, Dick Deveboise,
reports that he no longer goes to the office, but his
aides come to his home and take his reports back to
court. Like another wise man, Samuel Johnson, he
suffers from the gout.
Finally, my phone remains 302.656.0459, but my
email has changed to [email protected], and I
would greatly appreciate more news.
1947
John C. Speaks III, 33 Heathwood Road, Williamsville,
NY 14221; [email protected]
A letter from Dick Crissman that should be of
interest to our class: “Members of the Class of
1947 were mainly Navy V-12 students sent for
pre-med and pre-dent programs. In our room at
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East College we all went on to med school careers
prior to retirement. Dean Cook was a psychiatrist
in Topeka, Kan., Jim Curry was a radiologist in
Mansfield, Ohio, and I was a general surgeon in
Grand Rapids, Mich. Jack Dewey (deceased) was
an allergist in Omaha, Neb. Dean is in the Master
Gardener program growing fruits and vegetables
for church and other charity programs. Jim sings in
the symphony chorus in Mansfield and takes very
advanced lessons in card playing. I live on a cattle
farm in western Michigan and play tuba in a large
regional band in Scottsdale, Mich. All of us have
families with a bunch of very successful kids too
accomplished to document. My address is 7525
Alaska Ave. SE, Caledonia, MI 49316. For a smile,
check out YouTube: Dick Crissman. There is a neat
copy of this floating in the ether out there.”
Secretary’s note: How about some of the rest of
you dropping me a note as to what you are doing
now. You probably have a lot of old classmates who
would like to know.
1948
John A. Peterson Jr., 5811 Glencove Drive, #1005,
Naples, FL 34108; [email protected]
Heard from Chuck Klensch, who hit 90 last fall.
He and Elsa still reside in Manhattan, but she
spends a fair amount of time in Sydney, Australia,
at their second home.
Dick Gray drove down from his home in Gulfport,
Fla., to the Southwest Florida Regional Airport
in Fort Myers to meet your secretary and Welles
Adams ’46 for lunch. The three of us try to do this
several times a year.
Outside of this I’ve heard zilch from classmates
beyond death notices. Farnham Lefferts died on
June 14, 2013, and Lew Lawton died on Jan. 3,
2014. On behalf of the class, we send our condolences and best wishes to their respective families.
1949
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Chuck Utley, 1835 Van Buren Circle, Mountain View, CA
94040; [email protected]
Ed Maynard claims, “Nothing extraordinarily new
but am still reasonably fit and active. Just came in
from cross-country skiing. Cold—13 degrees, but
good dry snow. Tennis game slowing down but still
fun. About to start another term teaching Harvard
Med students, maybe my last. Serving as chairman of the board of our retirement community is
challenging but rewarding. Otherwise spending as
much time as possible with children and grands,
but as yet no great-grands. Happily, our summer
house in Maine is where we all assemble. Hoping
for a big 65th in June.”
Alex Clement “spent Christmas and New Year’s
with daughter’s family in Alexandria, Va. With
Carolyn gone, I couldn’t hack it at home, and the
visit gave me the opportunity to see some of my
grandkids. Toured the White House, Capitol,
National Cathedral and the Washington Masonic
Memorial in Alexandria. Never had before visited
the latter but well worth it. Am trying to avoid
vegetating so joined a small chorus in town and
will also return to my church choir. Life without
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music would be hopelessly barren. Also looking for
some kind of meaningful volunteer work. As some
may know, I was a member of the Williams Octet.
We have held reunion concerts every November
for 35 years, and the men I sang with when they
were undergrads are now returning with their kids.
Many of these men are like a second family for me,
and their support has been enormously helpful—a
great peripheral benefit of being part of the Williams Family. Deo Gratias!”
Ron Chute says, “Activity since our recent move to
Chester, Vt., has centered around sorting boxes of
stuff, dodging contractors’ equipment and dealing
with the famous cold, snowy weather. Come spring
I hope to find some aging tennis players; meanwhile, I’m setting up attic space for my painting
studio that will be immune to curious grandchildren. Our son Dave and family come up weekends,
and we get to dog sit while they are skiing at
Okemo. Next summer we hope to explore Vermont,
and Nancy wants to create a garden for all those
plants she hauled up from Connecticut. Still thinking about reunion—would be good to catch up.”
Through family connections, Giles Kelly was in
Florida and on the beach last Christmas, “and at
92, I attended my first rock concert there. It was
a blast. Sitting on a picnic table that night with a
beer in hand watching the fun and frolic was, well,
awesome. The kids were dancing with hoops and
with each other. I was learning hand shaking is out
and hugging is in—even among the guys.”
Oren Pollock tells us, “Williams alumni in
Chicago and yours truly continue to volunteer in
a Chicago middle school one Saturday a month.
We’re in our 15th year of monthly Saturdays in two
Chicago middle schools. One school closed, and
we landed in the second, where the principal was
the first school’s assistant principal. I am planning
a solo trip with Williams alumni to the Bordeaux
country of France in late May just a few days before
our 65th. And life is not the same without Sam, but
I do have two daughters who are looking after me.”
Joe Takamine died Dec. 18, 2013, in Santa
Monica, Calif., at age 89. Many of us were not
aware that Dr. Jokichi Takamine III was a nationally renowned physician for his lifetime of work
and devotion in the field of alcoholism and drug
dependency. After graduating from Williams and
NYU Medical School, he completed his residency
in internal medicine at Wadsworth VA Hospital in
LA. A private-practice physician since 1957 and
staff member at St. John’s Hospital and Medical
Center, “Dr. Joe” and two colleagues founded the
St. John’s Chemical Dependency Center in 1974.
He held medical directorships of the chemical
dependency units of several LA-area community
hospitals, was a faculty member at UCLA Clinic,
U.S. Naval Hospital and UCLA Research Center
and received an appointment to the American
Medical Association Committee on Alcohol and
Drug Abuse. As the namesake and grandson of
famed Japanese biochemist Jokichi Takamine, he
was truly “one of a kind” and dedicated his life
to helping others. Joe is survived by his daughter,
Deborah Moyer.
1947– 51
1950
Francis J. (Jack) McConnell, 1155 Wildwood Lane,
Glenview, IL 60025; [email protected]
I am sorry to report our class has lost four lions:
Andy Heineman, longtime partner with the New
York Proskauer firm and consummate rainmaker;
Dan Roach, longtime Buffalo trial attorney and
head of his own firm; Edgar Bronfman, major
Williams benefactor (science center); and Hilbert
Schenck, noted science fiction writer and author of
engineering textbooks. I had an email from Gregory
Frank saying that, besides his many legal accomplishments, Dan was “one of the finest human
beings” he had ever known.
Katy Simpson and Judy Blakey are planning
a trip to the Mayan ruins in Honduras, Belize,
Guatemala and Cuba. Ed Rogers and his wife Gail
have been married 35 years and have five children
and five grandchildren. Ed took early retirement
from NY Telephone at age 52 and started his own
business selling rowing shells, kayaks, canoes and
sailboats. Ed and Gail have retired to Cape Cod,
where they enjoy biking, trail walking, kayaking
and swimming in the “very cold” ocean waters.
Tim Louis and his wife Julie are feeling “very old,”
as their second daughter recently retired. Both are
in good health and are enjoying life in Scottsdale,
Ariz. They are expecting their fifth and sixth greatgrandchildren.
Doug Coleman had a good visit in Seattle with
Charlie Schaaf watching the Amherst game. Doug
had dinner in Florida with Ellen and Pete Thurber
and lunch in Vero with Claudie and George Razook
and Sally Wyer. Doug and Sandy visited Tom Healy
and Joanie and your secretary and Lynn in Tucson.
The weather in Tucson has been unbelievable.
Every day has been in the 70s or 80s.
I talked with Kevin Delaney about the book Citizens of London (a must-read) in which Edward R.
Murrow is featured prominently. Kevin spent two
years with Murrow when they both were stationed
in Hong Kong. Bill Gehron and his wife live in a
Delaware retirement community. At Bill’s suggestion, the community is establishing a productive/
observation beehive and Monarch butterfly station
on the grounds to help the dwindling population
of both species. Both are very important pollinators with a vast flight radius. Dunc Roberts reports
that they survived the flooding in Colorado, barely.
Seventeen inches of rain fell within a two-day
period. New carpeting, drywall and paint repaired
the damage. Dunc has given up skiing and squash
for golf. Ford Schumann and Susan spend their
winters in Arizona. With six dogs and four horses,
they don’t lack for company. Ford has had three
hip replacements, laser back surgery, eye surgery,
a pacemaker and atrial fibrillating. He and Susan
hope to make the minireunion next fall. Tom Pugh
writes from Connecticut that he is growing tired of
the snow and record cold. Tom hikes with a group
of guys with interesting careers. It is good exercise
and lively conversation. His wife Babe had a bad
fall but is recovering nicely. Mickey Ocojomo has
Parkinson’s. Mickey and his wife are hibernating in
freezing northwest Ohio.
1951
Gordon Clarke, 183 Foreside Road, Falmouth, ME 04105;
[email protected]
As 1951’s secretary, I have written and edited
at least half a dozen of these columns, all without
reporting on myself. This time, you will get a bit of
Gordon Clarke’s biography for two reasons: First,
all but three of our classmates have hibernated and
sent no material at all; and, second, it is so darned
cold that I need to write to keep warm!
Eighty years ago (more or less), my dad worked as
a salesman for a manufacturer of paper products—
multiwall cement and lime bags and the like. His
desk was in a Manhattan skyscraper; to reach his
sales territory, he took the sleeper overnight to
Chicago. From Chicago, he could travel west to
the Pacific and north to Canada and still not leave
his assigned marketplace. When he planned one of
his four annual selling trips, he allowed six or more
weeks for the journey. I have met several of the
purchasing agents upon whom he called and was
sworn into the Navy by a former airline pilot who
had flown him to and from Fargo, N.D., in an old
Ford Tri-Motor plane that passed for an airliner in
those days. Selling in those days had at least some
of the elements of the Wild West. Dad must have
been effective because his boss decided that he was
wasting company time and money getting to and
from Chicago, so they promoted him. With that
promotion came a residential relocation in February from the New York suburbs to their Chicago
counterpart. I don’t recall the move at all, but I
recall meeting our new neighbors, the Lyfords, who
had two sons just slightly older than I. I also recall
the grand snow banks in front of the house as well
as the bitter wind that blew all the way from the
North Pole. Mostly, I recall being scooped up by
Mr. Lyford and delivered to my mother, complete
with frozen ears, nose and cheeks. As “soft” easterners, we clearly weren’t prepared for the rigors of the
windy city! Today, the prognosticators discuss the
“polar vortex.”
As I wrote that last paragraph, Jack Rogers’ email
arrived with this “tag” on his signature line: “learning how cold Chicago can be.” I wonder if someone
had to pick him out of the snow bank, too. He gave
no particulars, but I could feel his pain! Jack’s contribution prompted me to pull out a photo album
dating to 1941. There, in a photo of Miss Gillette’s
sixth-grade class at the Hubbard Woods School,
were your secretary, John Snyder and Dick Lippincott. We were a bit scrawny but otherwise clearly
prepared to become part of Williams 1951!
Don Gregg is at it again. He writes, “For the
fourth year, I am teaching a course at Winter Study.
I have 19 students and the class is titled ‘CIA and
the War on Terror.’ I asked for foreign students
and got them—from Korea, Iran, India, Norway
and Egypt. It is a great experience and, as always, I
feel that I learn more from the students than they
learn from me. We are into role playing and have
already had a hot debate about Mr. Snowden. He
was defended and attacked vociferously. In the
end, the class voted that he should be criminally
prosecuted if and when he returns to the U.S., as
he has done great damage to necessary intelligence
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procedures. Two of Snowden’s strongest defenders
were foreign students from Norway and Korea.
One of his strongest attackers is from Iran. It is a
great privilege to be able to do this.”
Finally, Dave Fischer reports making two contributions back in December: the Alumni Fund and
notes. As an associate agent, I would like to think
that I could condition my small team of classmates
to support both goals. However, that doesn’t seem
to work, so I will happily settle for their decisions
to support the fund.
Dave closed down his private oncology practice
20 years ago and has since been working three days
per week as vice chairman of the Yale New Haven
Hospital Cancer Committee, supervising its tumor
boards and quality improvement program. Last year
he was awarded the Richard Blumenthal Patient
Advocate for Life Award from the Connecticut
Hospice in Branford, Conn. (Editor’s Note: if
memory serves, the late Jake Nolde ’50 was one of
the first patients to live his final days in Branford.) Dave’s book, The Clinical Cancer Program
at Yale, was published in recognition of the 200th
anniversary of the founding of the Yale School of
Medicine. Dave says he plans to “slow down and
spend more time with my wife, Ina,” and to keep
in touch with his three children and four grandchildren, who are spread from New York to North
Carolina to San Francisco.
1952
Alec Robertson, 3 Essex Meadows, Essex, CT 06426;
[email protected]
Well, it has been a cold and snowy winter so far
in Connecticut, and we are envious of our classmates who are basking in the sun in Florida, Arizona or other warm climes. I suppose spring will
come, and not too soon. Providing a fine speech
in February at the Southeast Connecticut World
Affairs Council meeting in Old Lyme, we had the
pleasure of hearing Maryam Elahi ’83, recent founding director of the human rights program at Trinity
College, speak on the “Unlikely Partnerships in the
Struggle for Human Rights.” She was excellent.
President Bill Missimer wrote: “During these
snowy, freezing days at the farm, it’s helpful to
remember the wonderful Williams trip Jane and
I took late last fall to the Iberian Coast. It was an
educational cruise with stops along the way and
lectures by our classmate and friend John Hyde and
two others. The entire experience was great—sights,
weather, food and knowledge. So when I’m on my
Kubota tractor plowing the white stuff, I can shift
gears by recalling Barcelona and Gibraltar.”
“Holding steady at 19F and only a light snow.
John Freese, deep in Texas.” (I guess you could call
that a Deep Freese.)
Mary and Jack Ordeman sent Bob Rich a postcard
saying that Thanksgiving was celebrated at their
Nassawadox, Va., home, joined by their four
children with friends, two grandchildren and three
dogs. Jack and Mary wisely left their home and
temporarily moved to a local motel. Jack provides
advisory services to the Ward Museum of Wildfowl
Art and is very much involved in the economic,
political, environmental and social activities and
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M AY 2 0 1 4 P E O P L E
concerns of Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore
(CBES) and its monthly publication Shore Line,
a journal of natural resources, public affairs and
culture on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
“I’m currently reading Monuments Men and
am reminded how fortunate we were,” chimed in
Woody Waesche. “The manner in which S. Lane
Faison Jr.’s ’29 many contributions were realized is
‘appropriate’—sorry, I believe that’s the manner in
which he would have described it.”
Bill Hatch reported, “We sold our house in Florida
last winter, and we are now renting an apartment
from January through March at Harbour Ridge.
As a renter it is not quite the same, but better
than being in Ohio this winter. I am having back
problems, and that has restricted my activities—no
golf, but I am able to play tennis with a considerable lack of speed. The Olympics have been fun to
watch, and we hope all will be safe. Great weather
and beautiful scenery. Pat is fine and surviving having to put up with me.”
“We have just bought and moved into a delightful home here in Green Valley, Ariz., about 30
minutes south of Tucson,” reported Swifty Swift.
“The temperature on Sunday will be over 70 and
even warmer during the week! Sorry about your
snow and ice!”
Bob Bischoff commented: “Here in Sleepy Hollow, there are mounds of snow and ice—so many
and so prolonged that Marigold and I have booked
a May cruise in the western Mediterranean just to
have a prospect of warmth and vernal vistas. We’ve
interested two daughters in accompanying us, and
it thus it will be a good family occasion. Once in
a while we escape the midwinter doldrums with a
trip to NYC to see a play or a ballet and thus keep
ourselves engaged in the life of the city.”
Jay McElroy replied: “In answer to your comments
about those in the South, Mary and I fortunately
bought a place at Johns Island, Vero Beach, last
May. We are glad to be missing this winter. Johns
Island has a large contingent from Williams. So
far everyone I have met knows our classmate, and
my roommate, John Hyde. A number have been on
trips with him, and it has made Mary and I want to
go also. I continue to serve on three finance committees, one for a school, one for a charity and one
for a country club. I continue to work on investments both personally and for a charity. It was fun
until the market this year. I also continue to work
out five days a week. It gets harder each year, but is
worth the effort.”
Bob Riegel and Keren “visited Haiti and the
town of Cange, where our diocese has worked for
30 years. A special treat was seeing the new school
called Center for Formation Fritz Lafontant. This
school is teaching skills in agriculture, building,
woodworking, business methods and ethics. We
saw many of the 10,000 banana trees and visited a
goat project providing goats for every family in the
area. Heineken beer has purchased the Haiti beer
called ‘Prestige’ and is working with the school to
grow the grains needed for production. The first
class has just graduated. This is my first call in giving. We will be on rivers in France for several weeks
in April. In June we will be taking our granddaughter on a nine-day trip in Costa Rica. I’m trying to
1951– 53
get my traveling in while my knees are still working. I still take services at various churches. Keren
still does counseling and provides leadership for
councilors and play therapists in the region.”
Ludwig Peter Ochs ’52 (stage name) wrote from
Austria: “Vienna hasn’t had any snow to speak of,
and temperatures pretty normal for this time of
year. Keeping warm working on our production of
Winnie & Adi (Churchill and Hitler) all in their
own words, with Churchill speaking German, i.e.
‘Moege grosse Teil Europas … groesste stunde.’
Due on the boards come Aug. 20, here in Wien.
Could use an angel or two; the production is sure to
lose money. It’s a labor of love, and a chance to go
on stage again.” (Good luck, Herr Ochs.)
“I used to handle the snow with ease,” says Jim
Manning. “Now two shovels full and I am finished,
Joan takes over for an additional four shovels, and
finally the person with the plow and snow blower
finishes the job. In February and March I admire
the foresight of our southern friends. In July and
August most of those friends are in Maine or on
the Cape. So some people should be allowed to live
the ‘good life,’ while some of the original settlers
‘man the home front.’”
Bob Kimberly wrote: “We made two quick trips
to Arizona since the last notes. I’m writing poetry
and playing bridge when I should be exercising to
keep my body working instead of my brain.”
Fred Goldstein reported: “Spoke to Pete Ingersoll
and he seems to have recovered from hip replacement quite well in Salt Lake City, where he has a
daughter looking out for him. I had to be in San
Francisco on business in November and managed
to meet with Caryl and Pete Mezey for a lovely
dinner and visit. I have been catching up with our
far-flung classmates, helping Doug Foster with
the Alumni Fund. Manny Holguin is well and
still working down in Chile, and Jaakko Hintikka
has recovered from an illness and is busy with his
research in Helsinki. Hope all is well with the rest
of the class.”
“We’ve been back in our house since Christmas,”
reports Bob Huddleston, “except for a week in January when we went to the south rim of the Grand
Canyon so that the floors could be finished. It was
cold, but almost no snow. In December we also
spent 10 days in Los Cabos, Mexico, where there
was no snow. Very nice, but too early for the whales.
We did see volunteers launch baby sea turtles into
the Pacific, which was interesting. For the most part
we enjoyed the sun and good food. Now Vicki’s off
to Haiti on another adventure.”
“Best regards from Don Wyman in Marblehead
and enough snow to sink battleships! The good wife
got a day off from teaching, and the two of us were
marooned for the day. Luckily we were dug out by a
strong group with plow—and life goes on!”
I am sad to report that Henry “Pete” Pickard died
on Dec. 12, 2013, in Kenilworth, Ill. Pete spent
most of his career running the family business
Pickard China, one of the few family-owned fine
china businesses in the U.S.
Sorry also to report the death of Edwyn L.
“Wyn” Shudt, a prominent Troy, N.Y. attorney
who died on Jan. 31, 2014, after a long battle with
Alzheimer’s disease. After graduating from Wil-
liams, Wyn received his law degree cum laude from
Albany Law School. He served in the U.S. Navy
and practiced law with distinction in the Albany/
Troy area. Wyn is survived by his wife of more than
60 years, Elsie Hayner Shudt, a son, a daughter, five
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
When you read these words, the sun will be out,
and the joys will have overtaken the glooms. Please
stay well, and I hope to see you at our annual minireunion Oct. 10-12, 2014, in Billville. Make your
reservations NOW!
1953
Stephen W. Klein, 378 Thornden St., South Orange, NJ
07079; [email protected]
Thanks to Bob Howard and all who responded
to his request for news From Florida, where none
of the classmates seem to be missing either the
Chicago or Northeast winter, a consolidated report
from George Hartnett, John Beard and Bob McGill
on an annual dinner in Vero Feb. 21. Those involved
were Daphne and Bob McGill, Sandy and John
Beard, Linda and John Whitney, Karen and Jim Truettner, Inge and Gordon Canning and Marianne and
George Hartnett. On Feb. 22 most or all gathered
at a local watering hole to hear Williams President
Adam Falk give a “state of the college” talk. John
Beard adds that he’s happy to report that he missed
all of the 2014 polar vortexes. He said Florida has
been warmer and less windy than in 2013 and thus
perfect for being and doing outdoors. He played
golf with Jim Truettner in mid-December, and Jim
remains a master of this devilish game.
Wally Scott retired from the Kellogg School of
Management at Northwestern on Aug. 31. What
that means is that he is doing the same thing but
they aren’t paying him. He says his health is good
after a tough time two years ago and that Barbara is
wonderful and sticking with him so far.
Some recent and future travel plans: In the
spring, the Hartnetts and the McDermotts headed
to the caves in southwestern France. Pete Fetterolf,
because he’d never been there, is headed to India
and Nepal. Sharon and Jim Tompkins just came
back from three weeks in southern Mexico, visiting
his youngest son, who lives there with his wife and
two children. Jim turned 83 in mid-March and
is still chugging along. Susie and Ron Dubin just
returned from a two-week visit to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. Tom Brucker and
George Stege and their spouses will be languishing
at Kona on the big island, Hawaii. They all were
celebrating their Seahawks’ Super Bowl demolition
of the Broncos. Sarah and Tony Butterfield were
sent to Paris and Rome for Christmas by their
daughter and her husband. They drove out to the
American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, and Tony
was the last nonmilitary to be able to officiate for
the flag ceremony due to the rule change on Jan.
1, 2014. Also, by way of celebrating Barbara’s 80th,
Barbara and Bob Howard will be spending five days
of luxury in Bermuda.
Stuart Jay advises that Jim Tompkins has written a
very droll book titled The Inheritance.
Bob Tucker reports that he just finished the 60th
anniversary year of the Ski Industries of America
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national snow sports trade show. “As I looked
around at the makeup of buyers and sellers alike, I
had the eerie (and accurate) notion that I must certainly be among the very oldest of the participants.
As is normal, the ski industry’s busy business days
are typically followed by rousing, happy gatherings.
The party that most interested me was the SWIX
party consisting of Aquavit, raw salmon (lox) and
some Norwegian drinking songs. (I had attended
the University of Oslo after finishing at Williams.)
To my total surprise, I was honored by SWIX and
presented with the Krystal Award ‘In Recognition
Of 50 Years of Extraordinary Efforts and Stamina
In An Ever Changing Industry.’ After an earlier
career which included working in six European
countries in the aluminum industry, by 1964, I
found myself manager of the U.S. Olympic Nordic
Ski Teams and returned from Innsbruck to an
opportunity to join the fledgling U.S. ski industry.
Fifty years later, my life continues to revolve around
skiing and snow. When asked when I am going to
retire, my usual response is, ‘And start living a life
that isn’t nearly as much fun?’”
Bill Miller says, “Suzanne and I are well and happily busy with our sons Will Miller ’82 and Chris
Miller ’86 and their families. I am still very much
involved with efforts to improve relations with Iran
as well as continuing my work to advance democratic governance in revolutionary Ukraine. I am
scheduled to make several trips to both countries in
the coming months. If you live long enough, good
things can happen. Another edition of my poetry
will be published this summer.”
Pete Sterling reports the donations of contributing widows to the Alumni Fund and wishes to
recognize this group. Big thanks to Louise Belt,
Sue Burrows, Dorothy Calkins, Lydia Campbell, Bev
Fletcher, Marilyn Geddes, Jean Ingwersen, Jinny
Monteith, Carolyn Peirce, Bailey Symington, Susan
Turben and Barbara Weedon.
Finally, Sue Burrows sent a terrific note: “I cannot
believe it has been three years since Bill Burrows
died, and as much as I loved Naples for 18 years, I
decided it was time to sell the house and move back
to Erie, where both our children reside. I enjoyed
the September class notes reference to Pete Sterling’s coat. I sent the article to Tara Walsh, whose
father is Thomas Walsh, formerly of Amherst and
the House of Walsh. I play Trivia with a group here
on Mondays—about 25 of us—two teams. At my
turn, I had to choose between places or wild card. I
chose wild card and the question was asked, ‘What
is the mascot of Williams College?’ I started laughing so hard that I could hardly get the answer out.
All were asking ‘How did you know that?’ Then on
Tuesday on NBC’s The Today Show, the subject was
affordable colleges and they mentioned ‘Williams
College, if you could get in, and their mascot is the
purple cow.’ Two days in a row of references and so
many fond memories. Many thanks to all who sent
me notes and gave me support three years ago. They
were appreciated.”
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1954
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Al Horne, 7214 Rebecca Drive, Alexandria, VA 22307;
[email protected]
Bob Cluett, looking back on our sophomore year,
recalls that he and his roommates in #1 Berkshire
Hall that year, Bob (Buck) Burroughs and Jack
Donahue, “probably could have been voted the three
members of ’54 least likely to succeed.” By the end
of that academic year, all three were gone. Yet two
of them wound up as university professors with
PhDs and the third as a certified public accountant
and financial manager. “My own modest assessment
of our three careers,” Bob Cluett writes more than
60 years later, “is that Fred Copeland ’35 was right
about us; Williams just wasn’t a good fit.”
“There’s always regret,” Bob Burroughs observed.
“I’m sorry I left.” Going into the Army, he spent 15
months in Korea, arriving just after the war ended.
“I loved Korea,” he said, but “I didn’t like the Army
much.” Once home, he used the GI Bill to get his
BA at the University of New Mexico, became a
high school teacher in Albuquerque, got a master’s
in English, then went to Stanford to get his doctorate. By 1967 he was teaching English at Humboldt State in northwestern California. “I loved
classroom teaching,” he said. By the 1980s he had
started painting watercolors, and after he retired in
2000, he and his wife of 48 years, whom he met at
Stanford, began traveling to Greece and Italy. He’s
now learning modern Greek.
Jack Donahue, who vividly remembers his parting
interview with Dean Robert R.R. Brooks at the
end of that sophomore year, went into the Air
Force from Williams ROTC for “four glorious
years,” mostly in Biloxi, Miss., before completing
his BA at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland in
1958. From there, he joined Deloitte & Touche,
one of what were then the Big Eight accounting firms. That was followed by a drugstore chain
in Syracuse and stints as chief financial officer of
rehabilitation facilities for the learning disabled in
Watertown and Malone, N.Y. He visited Williamstown once, in 1985, and was amazed at the
changes. After retiring in 1998, he moved to the
Florida panhandle in Navarre, near Pensacola.
As for Bob Cluett, he says he “found the barracuda-tank anonymity of Columbia such a good
fit that I stayed for three degrees and 17 years (BS
’54, MA ’61, PhD ’69)” and wound up as chairman
of graduate English at York University in Toronto.
“In one of life’s transcendent ironies,” he adds, he
became “a trustee of the Morehead Foundation,
underwriting the undergraduate study” of Adam
Falk, “the great and groovy guy who is now the college’s president. Talk about repentance for the sins
of one’s youth!”
Another look back comes from Dick Payne, who
writes that he and Joan “were married in June of
’53 and spent my senior year living down in the old
barracks, along with Janie and Bezo Thomas and
Dottie and Dave West. What a great year it was! To
celebrate our 60th, we renewed our wedding vows,
followed by a simple and lovely reception with family and dear friends, including Jack Brennan.”
Now for some sad news. We lost two more classmates in February, Bill Brennan and Brad Grinnell.
1953– 55
Bill was a physics major who went on to a career in
optical science with companies in Massachusetts
and Oklahoma before retiring to Flat Rock, N.C.,
where he died. Brad, who majored in psychology,
took over his father’s travel business in Rochester,
N.Y., with his brother until retiring and moving to
Chicago. And in January, Dana Fearon lost Janet,
his wife of 53 years. A Wellesley graduate, she was
a major contributor to Dana’s work as pastor of the
Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, N.J., helping
to start the church’s weekday nursery school and
teaching there for 13 years. In 1979, she became
the founding director of the Charlotte Wilson
Newcombe Foundation, based in Princeton, which
has funded scholarships for thousands of college
and university students.
From Oregon, Cal Collins reports “a great visit
and lunch with Esther and Rod Starke in their
home and country club after Christmas. Mary Jane
and I took a monthlong slow car trip down the
beautiful Oregon and California coasts to Palm
Desert and Phoenix, where a granddaughter lives.
The only glitch was a mid-trip head-first fall down
a flight of stairs which could have terminated the
trip and me, but I had luck again on my side.”
Hugh Germanetti says that he and Nancy have
now logged their 100th country, Ukraine, while on
a Black Sea cruise, docking at Odessa and Yalta and
visiting “the Russian submarine pens in Sevastopol,
an otherwise quaint city.” Another round number:
Dan Tritter was on a Williams trip to Australia and
New Zealand when he turned 80: “As it happens,”
Dan notes, “’54’s youngest was this bunch’s oldest.”
Another transition was reported by Dick Gordon:
In 2012, he and Dona moved from Riverside,
Calif., where he had practiced rheumatology and
taught at the University of California medical
school, to Palm Coast, Fla.
From New York, Jack McGrath writes that he is
still “practicing law and managing the insurance
brokerage my father started in 1928,” and that his
wife Patti, “continues to raise funds for charities
and works with a nonprofit consulting company.”
Jack says he’s stayed in touch with a number of
classmates, including Joe Albertson, Dan Callahan,
Dana Fearon and Dan Tritter.
Also still working is Joe Foote, who has produced
“a big, beautiful, coffee-table book of historic 1950s
photos of Point Hope, an Inuit village on the
northwest corner of Alaska.” Joe says the book “was
produced under the auspices of the Smithsonian
Institution, which wanted the photos to show ice
conditions in the late 1950s. The Smithsonian has
recently taken contemporary photos to demonstrate changes as the ice cap melts.” Joe wrote the
introduction and edited all copy and captions.
The book sold out quickly, but Joe can send you a
free copy while they last. Any class member who
wants a book should send his name and address to
[email protected].
Joe also reports that on a trip to DC, he stepped
up to the ticket counter at Reagan National Airport
wearing his purple ’54 Tempus Ludendi reunion
jacket, to check in for a shuttle back to Boston. The
U.S. Airways agent asked, “Oh, are you just in from
the countryside?” Puzzled, Joe said, “What?” The
agent continued: “I mean, do you work with cows?
I see that you have a cow on your jacket.”
Let’s hope we won’t need those purple cow rain
jackets during reunion weekend. See you there.
1955
Norm Hugo, 37 Carriage Lane, New Canaan, CT 06840;
[email protected]
Salutations to all who made it through the long
winter. Sadly we lost two wonderful classmates:
Eric Gustafson (Oct. 9) and John R. Wierdsma (Oct.
14). Detailed obituaries were not available at this
writing. The Class of ’55 has lost 60 classmates
from a roster of slightly over 300. Be happy so
many are still with us, and keep in touch with
each other. Spoke with Charley Bradley, previous class secretary who retired because of cortical
basal ganglion degeneration. The diagnosis was
established at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.,
on a visit arranged by Jim Leones’ son, who is on
the staff. Charley gets around with a walker and has
endured a few falls. Amazingly, he has retained his
wonderfully wry sense of humor, and by the end of
our visit I felt rejuvenated. Thanks, Charley.
President Bob Behr forwarded an email from
Ashley Cart ’05, associate director of alumni relations: “I wanted to let you know that we have set
the date for the fall 2014 Greylock Guard Minireunion! It is the weekend of Oct. 10-12—Saturday
football weekend against Middlebury. On Saturday
there will be an all-class tailgate lunch at Weston
Field, plus a lecture on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, and a Jazz Band concert on Friday
evening at The Log organized by alumni relations.”
In another email from Bob Behr about the minireunion of 2013: “A group of ’55ers and spouses
enjoyed each other’s company at Sandy Laitman’s
home for a Homecoming gathering. The star of the
evening was Steve Gordon, recipent of Peter’s Coat
for his outstanding contributions to class solidarity through creative editing of our yearbooks for
the 25th and 50th reunions. Those in attendance
included Sandy and his daughter Cathy Burke and
grandson Paul, Dorie and Steve Gordon, Carolyn
and Bob Behr, Phil Smith, Carole and Don Kelley,
Mary Louise and Merce Blanchard, Alleson White,
Maria and Dick Hale, Gil True, Betsy and Whitey
Perrott, Cathleen and Jim Colberg, Sharon and John
Dubois and honored faculty members Bernice and
Joanie Shainman, Bud Wobus, Marc and Lauren
Gotlieb (’55 memorial professor), and Balder Thorhallson (University of Iceland ’55 visiting professor
of international studies).” Bobby Behr continues to
run the highly successful alumni travel group.
The burgeoning Williams alumni group in Vero
Beach staged a three-day minireunion in March
which invited not only the locals but alums,
focusing on ’55 through ’59. ’55’s charming hosts
Sandy and Ted Bowers hosted a cocktail party that
included among others Debbie and Bill Montgomery, Betsy and Whitey Perrott, Len Platt and Margot, Bev Shaw Hayford, Myra and Frank Isenhart,
Ronnie and Bob Wilkes, Cynthia and Paul Quinn
and Pinky and Bill Regan. Great camaraderie and
fellowship were the order of the day. Special events
included an art lecture by a Williams professor and
an off-Broadway musical production, South Pacific.
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One evening was a general banquet attended by
approximately 140 people. Prior to the reunion
Sandy and Ted Bowers took a Williams tour to
the Galapagos. Ted must have had a free day and
signed up.
Merce Blanchard related what a great Christmas
and New Year’s he and Mary Louise had with the
children and grandkids. Also, he took an intensive speech therapy (LSVT) course which greatly
improved his speech from his Parkinson’s Disease.
Letitia and John Carter have continued their most
generous philanthropy in Rhode Island, stretching
into the millions and supporting The Rhode Island
Innovation Fellows (six), charter schools, Rhode
Island College and grants to 72 third-grade classes
in and around Providence. Kudos to them for
being outstanding citizens and great examples for
the Class of ’55. Kathleen and Jim Colberg took a
Viking Cruise on the Danube and were impressed
by Prague, followed up with a week in London and
were about to depart on a winter visit for St. Petersburg and Moscow followed by a spring visit to
Paris. I remarked that he must have a great pension
plan and he replied: “The best, a working wife.”
Sharon and John DuBois are enjoying life in rural
Massachusetts. Dubie sold his house in Panama
and is busy doing physicals for the armed forces
in Springfield. He spends spare time at basketball
games at Williams with Marty Deely. Bob Diamond
has grandkids and sons in France (Manuelle’s influence) so visits often and links up with Irwin von
den Steinen, and they have remained close through
the years. Bob spends a couple of hours a day writing a memoir. He also has a circle of 50 foreign
national email friends with whom he circulates
various print articles of U.S. happenings which
engender much interest and activity. Manuelle and
Bob spend lots of time with a group that works
to keep seniors in their homes and out of nursing
facilities. Stays in touch with Maureen Savadove,
who visited Frank Rosenbach. Bob and Manuele
stay in close touch with Elena and Bill Shaw. Elena
sent this email to the Diamonds: “Surgery is done.
There were a couple of issues that made the process
longer, but the valves are new (mitral) or repaired
(tricuspid) and the maze procedure (fibrillation) is
complete. He is in very good hands. A great team is
looking after him. Will know more later. Keeping
fingers crossed now for a speedy return.”
Had the chance to chat with Gus and Larry
Frank. Gus is getting on well after a total hip
replacement, while Larry deals with sciatica via
physical therapy. Larry is working on an exciting
new book examining Dickens and Hamlet. Erv
Holmes and Joan are getting along nicely. They
took a trip/cruise through the Panama Canal and
rainforest and found it completely enjoyable. Also
took a river cruise in Europe. Both are active in
local church activities and participate in same with
their grandkids.
Communicate with Dave Lindsay by email on a
daily basis, and he has a vast repertoire of material,
an example of which is included from a recent salutation: “You mentioned that Paul Quinn had two
knee replacements. Paul and I were dear friends at
Williams. Paul and I met when we opposed each
other in a tennis match during our senior year in
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high school; Paul went to Valley Forge Military
Academy, and I went to St. Andrew’s School in
Middletown, Del. After the match, while talking,
we realized we would both be going to Williams.
At Williams, we roomed together, with Larry Frank,
during our sophomore year. Paul and I did a lot of
things together, including working two summers
for the Socony-Mobil Oil Co. in Eastern Pennsylvania, walking pipelines checking for possible leaks,
cutting overgrowth along the oil pipe right-of-way,
and re-tarring underground pipes at substations.
Paul was the best man at the marriage of Connie
and me during the mid-semester of our senior year.
Are you ever in contact with brother John Gehret?
He and I played football against each other in
high school in the Wilmington area and roomed
together during our freshman year at Williams.
You should have seen the beat-up rug in our room
on which John was constantly practicing his golf
swing. John was a very good athlete in high school.
He used better judgement than me, not going out
for freshman football. Do you remember a guy
named ‘Sherry’ or ‘McSherry’ who was in our class
freshman year? I went out for freshman football
as a 150-pound halfback. I was beaten out by
190-pound Dave Sterling, who had been first string
All-State New Jersey for two years and 210-pound
Sherry or McSherry, who had been All Boston for
three years. I can find no record of him in the latter
years of our stay at Williams.” Beef Heppenstall
is doing fine and remains in the active practice of
law albeit to a lesser extent. Wanted to get in touch
with his old Shadyside Academy sidekick George
Kessel, so we provided address and phone number.
Spoke with George a while back, and he was peppy
and upbeat—same as always. Spoke with Jean Weir,
and she informed me that Peter was in residence
in a facility for Alzheimer’s disease in Shelburne,
Vt. John Gehret still animated but with a bit of
balance problems. Using a walker. Has a winter
place in Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic, and
a rotating ownership with his old golfing buddy
Ed Mauro ’54. Jeff Henriques still plays a mean
game of tennis at Candlewood Lake, Conn., and
scarcely notices a very mild case of Parkinson’s.
John Newhall continues to lead an interesting and
vigorous life with almost daily cross-country skiing
and swimming. Dedicated to enjoying the things
he can do and not missing the things he can’t do.
Has a pleasant social life with four merry widows—stressed it is platonic—and a golden retriever,
Lucy. Fred Paton visited with Len Platt and enjoyed
reminiscing about old times. Sees Bill Quillen ’56,
who had a distinguished legal career, and Ed Cook
’38. Fred keeps up with current events by reading
five newspapers daily even though he has lost vision
in his left eye. Still able to drive during the day.
Fred Towers is snugly ensconced in Naples, Fla.
Has his big house in Maine up for sale. Because
of some balance issues he has sold his picnic boat
but replaced it with a Tesla electric car, the best car
he has ever owned. Total recharge overnight for a
range of 250 miles on a 120AC line. Goes from
0 to 60 in under four seconds—really blasts away
at red lights. Ken Meyer has a mild kidney disease
controlled by medication. He is president of a local
tax district. Volunteers at a thrift shop in a state
1955– 56
training school for the learning disabled. Says it
is not sexy but is remarkably successful, and the
enrollees are very satisfied. He and Janet make sure
to get out twice weekly to enjoy an active social life.
Tommy White is remarkably healthy considering he
had prostate cancer, and an MI and stroke, all of
which are cured. He and Sue have a summer place
in Brandon, Vt. He is considering selling because
the drive from North Carolina is getting to be too
much. Visits Billville every summer. John Sause is
enjoying good health and keeps busy doing local
historic research of the Eastern Shore. Has taken
a couple of Williams alumni trips and is eyeing
another to the Adriatic. He and Judy celebrated
their 50th wedding anniversary. Still sees Tom
Gresinger socially. Our erstwhile spectacularly successful alumni class agent Whitey Perrot relays that
he continues to secure high participation from our
classmates for the Alumni Fund. Whitey’s reputation as the most successful class agent remains
intact. He and Betsy sold their house and moved
into new digs in the Isles of Waterway Village
and changed phone numbers (772.492.3472 or
802.236.1718). Whitey had his annual physical
with good results. Remember, our 60th is coming
up in 2015.
1956
Bill Troyer, 1014 Forest Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302;
[email protected]
As a previous class secretary for two times in the
past 25 or so years, I thought I did a respectable job,
but Vern Squires’ performance was not just respectable, it was superb. He, like I, tried to be inclusive,
but he beat me on that one, but there were still too
many non-responders. By that, I mean that in the
past seven-and-a-half years more than 50 living
members of ’56 were not mentioned at least one
time. I will do my best to work that down to a more
respectable number and will be attempting to communicate with many of you.
The topic that concerns us all is our health,
including exercising and social involvement, which
can mean almost any contact with other people on
a regular basis, and continued employment, community and family involvement. Let us know what
you are doing.
Toby Bottome and Ruth had a busy year traveling,
reuning with their children and some 10 grandchildren. Toby’s newsletter celebrated its 31st year.
The Venezuela economy is experiencing 50 percent
inflation and the attendant shortages of consumer
staples and political unrest, but it was a good year
for the Bottome family.
Bill Evans sent an addendum to the letter he
sent to Vern earlier. Bill was severely injured in
an accident many years ago in New Mexico and
is still having medical problems. Recently he lost
one of his lower legs due to inadequate blood flow
and had been confined to bed for four days when
I talked to him. He wanted to tell us about the
athletic accomplishments of his children. His son
Bill was captain of the Wesleyan (Ohio) football
team. His daughter Catharine L. Evans ’83 was
co-captain of the Williams basketball team, and his
granddaughter Carol Behling was captain of Wit-
tenberg College volleyball team and Div. III player
of the year. In her junior year, Carol’s team was Div.
III National Champion. Incidentally, she has a 3.78
GPA. She will remain at Wittenberg as an assistant
coach next year.
Ken Harkness has been working with the Chinese
Chamber of Commerce helping American companies establish branches in mainland China. Now he
is going to place one of his own. Hugh Dean connected him with an orthopedic surgeon and chiropractor who wants to market a unique suspension
device to patients suffering with back pain. Over
seven years, more than 2,000 patients have used it
to obtain relief from pain. Seventy-eight percent of
those who were advised to have surgery were able
to cancel the surgery. I will keep you posted as this
project progresses.
Pete Lewis, Al Foehl and Russ Salmon, now
deceased, lived across the hall from me in Lehman
freshman year. I didn’t see Pete again until the
Oxford trip before our 50th, so I called him in
Hawaii. Pete worked for 36 years for the holding
company for Hawaii Electric Corp. and said he
looked forward to going to work every morning. He
retired in 2005. His and Mary Lou’s home is on the
side of a mountain with a waterfall in their backyard. Pete is also what the Hawaiian legal system
calls a per diem judge, which means he can perform
marriages. In over 30 years, he has performed 6,000
marriages, most in the backyard of his picturesque
and romantic home. For many years Pete was the
honorary counsel for New Zealand in Hawaii.
Many years ago Pete and Mary Lou acquired a
house in Queenstown on the South Island, which
they use for recreational purposes. Queenstown is
the No. 1 tourist attraction in New Zealand, with
the lure of fishing, mountain hiking, etc.
Pete and Mary Lou see John Barton and Mary on
their visits to Hawaii, and another Californian, Jim
Symons (a now-retired Presbyterian minister), who
Pete says has a mind loaded with ideas.
I caught Jim Hayne in Deer Valley, Utah, where
he and Roxie have a second home for skiing in the
winter and marvelous scenery any time they can get
away from San Antonio. Jim is now retired from
the family insurance business. Now all he has to
do is look after his own family’s affairs. They see
the Harknesses and are looking forward to seeing
former roommates Phil Palmado and Tom Lincoln
in Vero Beach.
When I called, Bill Jenks was out playing golf in
Tryon, N.C. My backyard was full of snow. It just
didn’t feel right. Bill is chairman of the board of the
hospice in Tryon, in his last year of a six-year term.
He clearly has enjoyed his work, and both he and
Mary Clare act as patient volunteers (a non-medical position). They sit with patients and their families and caregivers and talk. Early in his term, Tryon
(which has a population of 1,500) built a 12-person
inpatient facility costing $6 million, so that it was
available to its outpatient clients. Currently it has
about 100 patients per day, mostly from the surrounding area in southwest North Carolina in the
foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
In the summertime, Bill and Mary Clare reside
in Canada on an island on Lake Ontario close to
where Kirk Gardner and Bob Bethune and their
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families have summer homes. They usually get
together with their children and grandchildren a
couple of times in the summer.
Wally Jensen retired from the active practice of
medicine in La Jolla, where he ran the intensive
care unit and has become an author. His first book
is Their Unbridled Rivalry, only 186 pages. Commenting on the length of Wally’s book, Buster
Grossman opined, “Wally obviously was never
trained as a lawyer who bills by the word.” He then
softened his remark by reminding us that F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was only 145 pages.
Wally sent me a short review, which I will include
in its entirety in a later column. John Garfield has
the ideal job for a retired teacher. I learned about
this as a result of reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s
new book, Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William
Howard Taft, & The Golden Age of Journalism. In
it James Garfield, Class of 1856, is mentioned
prominently, so I called John to find out the family
connection to him. He quickly clarified that Kearns
Garfield was a great uncle and was an Ohio Garfield and not a New Englander, like John’s family.
John went on to tell me about his current teaching
job with the Institute for Life Education at Dartmouth. This is his sixth year of teaching one winter
course to an adult class, which he finds challenging
and rewarding. He doesn’t lecture, issues no grades,
doesn’t have to read any term papers, and it’s only
two hours per week of teaching a discussion of the
historical issues contained in the syllabus he gives
to each participant at the beginning of the course.
Both John and Sylvia are doing well.
Sig Balka continues to pursue his passion for
art, his vocation as chief legal council for Krasdale
Foods, and his role as what I would call a cultural
critic. When we talked he told me that he had been
working hard at Krasdale, as late as midnight many
nights. He and Ellie spent time with Dave Kleinbard and his wife, who is ill at the Kleinbards’ home
in New Paltz, N.Y., where Dave and Maureen
spend most of their time now. Sig and Ellie also
spent time with Bill Zeckhausen and Barbara during a Williams travel study trip to the Carribean.
In Williamstown Sig and Ellie attended a program about the history of Jewish life at Williams
at a meeting to celebrate the anniversary of the
Williams Jewish Religious Center.
And one last thing: Sig published a letter to the
editor in the Nov. 18, 2013, issue of The New Yorker
on his views of problems with the legal profession.
1957
Richard P. Towne, 13 Silverwood Terrace, South Hadley,
MA 01075; [email protected]
Strange feeling to be writing a column for the
May edition of Class Notes in early February,
staring outside my window at the daylong snowfall.
Barely a dusting by John Sudduth’s standards up in
Watertown, N.Y.! Dave Hillyard checked in from
New York, reporting “I’ve been living in NYC for
51 consecutive winters, and this is the worst by far!”
By May it’ll be a distant memory! News from classmates in 2014, however, contains several references
to the chill of winter, as you’ll later read.
Phone calls and holiday notes at Christmas let
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me catch up with several ’57 friends. Charley Berry
called about the class Alumni Fund gift just before
the holiday. He’s in touch with Ted Baumgardner,
who is still active on the tennis courts of Winter
Park, Fla. Sounds like Ted’s athletic genes are
still quite functional. Duane Yee played freshman
baseball with him and said he thought Ted had the
perfect name to be stenciled into a wooden bat or
the heel of a glove: “A Ted Baumgardner Model.”
That didn’t happen, so he became a lawyer instead.
After his years as a general counsel for the U.S.
Navy he landed in Winter Park, where he retired
from private practice and general counsel to ECC
International Corp. in Orlando. Wonder how well
I’d stand up against him in a doubles game?
Charley still has an abundant inventory of his
Himalayan mountaineering book, which he artfully
inserts into the conversation: perhaps planning a
promotion at next year’s fall reunion if wife Kathy
doesn’t plan a garage sale this spring, he says.
Then there’s Peter Elbow. We talk about doing a
movie and dinner in Amherst where his wife Cami
does yeoman (should it be yeowomen?) service for
the best independent movie theater you can find in
these parts. We go there a lot. We defer until the
Elbows return from Alaska, where Pete’s daughter
and her family live and the cross-country skiing
in December is good. His athleticism and musical
talent put me to shame!
Henry Bass and Susan send a card each Christmas illustrated with one of Henry’s landscape
drawings. Photographed by Susan, these cards
have become the most creative messages we receive
from any of our friends. This time it’s a scene from
a January visit to Mount Cook on New Zealand’s
South Island, where Edmund Hillary of Everest fame practiced his mountaineering technique.
Athletics never was Henry’s “thing” that I know
of. Debating was. Now he reads multiple news
media almost daily and stokes his fires to support
the causes he and Sue favor: environmental and
preservation issues within the Boston area.
Ted Graham wrote from the North Kingdom, as
Vermonters like he and Barbara call the region just
below the Canadian border. Both of them exemplify
a “green” lifestyle few of us could emulate. Their
Christmas included two daughters and six grandchildren. “The help of our 26 chickens (and two
dozen eggs a day going to the food bank or co-op)
gives us companionship when family is absent.”
He’s retired from the College Board consulting
he’s done for so many years. That allowed the two
of them to return last fall to Santa Barbara, Calif.,
where his teaching career began at Cate School.
His call to former colleague Yates Satterlee found
Yates still teaching English as a second language
at the community college. That’s where he met his
wife, Maria Theresa, while she taught English there
in 2002. The Satterlees live in a charming house
near the center of Santa Barbara. When I visited
them with my son several years back, I found the
house to be a combination of Yates’ creative craftsmanship, personality and Mexican decor. Yates said
then he’s the slowest learner of a second language
he knows but makes it work among a family “half
of which are Mexican and some with less skill in
English than I do in Spanish.” Spoken like the
good teacher he is still!
1956– 58
Dave Connolly and Judy yearn for a 10-day stay
in Florida after entertaining the Connolly tribe at
their New Jersey home during Christmas. “I woke
up wondering who would be down for breakfast!
Two of our children with spouses, significant others, friends, cousins, seven grandchildren, dogs. Very
confusing and tiring!” Like all the other ’57 AH&L
majors, he reads history a lot these days, especially
about WWI, in which his dad served.
Dick Flood rang in while driving back to his home
in Canaan on the Mass Pike. Are you supposed to
use a cellphone at 70 mph? I guess so, if you’re over
70 and a class president! He’s excited about the
reviews he’s gotten about the ’57 Scholars Program
(as well he should be). I lost track of what else he
said when I interrupted him with a weather report
about the forthcoming blizzard!
Phil Lundquist and I emailed about his hometown of Atlanta, just as my TV was full of reports
about how its mayor told everybody to leave work
in the midst of a rare ice and snowstorm while
forgetting to say “not all at once!” Phil told me
about one of Atlanta’s worst problems: too many
people driving on undersized highways. In the ’70s,
when Phil came to Atlanta, the population was 1.6
million. Today it’s about 6 million. “A young town
attracting promoters, college kids, entertainers,
off-season athletes, entrepreneurs and N.Y. chefs,
Atlanta gives new meaning to the word ‘networking,’ Phil writes. He still does Williams recruiting,
along with 250 other alumni association locals
while his wife Cindy manages a retirement consulting business for which he works part time. At
lunch with Don McLean occasionally, they compare
insights on the Braves, Falcons, politics and ways
to negotiate the traffic snarls. Catches up with Bob
Ause and Martha too. He and Cindy expected to
“spend a few nights in Florida this February” with
the Auses. He notes that Harry Drake is still active
on the Milwaukee financial service scene, advising
Bud Selig and others at RBC Wealth Management
on how to run baseball and invest money.
Ted McKee has longevity, at least as far as a
reputation for making an impression is concerned!
Amherst ’55 class secretary Rob Sowersby emailed
me about Ted after a cross-country ski outing in
Northbrook, Ill., with John Gepson ’65. John shared
our last issue of Class Notes, which recalled a
meeting with Ted on a commuter train in Chicago
around 1970. They had met at a wrestling tournament during Ted’s freshman year. Rob’s brother and
Ted were matched up. Jammed together in the four
seats of the commuter car with Rob’s neighbor who
introduced them, Rob began speaking by asking
Ted “How’s Tony Ferguson?” Small world! Ted,
who validates the story, now lives near Denver close
to two of his children but misses Sedona, where “I
enjoyed running the art gallery (now closed) and a
marvelous lifestyle. Retirement doesn’t always agree
with everyone. Too much sitting around the house
watching depressing news.” How about drumming up copy, Ted, for your friendly class secretary?
You can cover the entire West, reaching out to the
California crowd for the Class of ’57!
“She’s still the athlete and health-conscious one.
I favor vodka and other delights. Opposites do
attract and in so doing take care of one another.
Healthwise, we’re good to go as the used car folks
say.” So says Mike Milligan speaking about his wife.
Lucy and Mike are living in Naples, Fla., now and
Cincinnati/Canada the rest of the year. Is that a
country or a city, Mike? Retired from Procter &
Gamble, he still “misses the dustups and going
down the pole every morning but have found solace
in second guessing about every luminary except
Justin Bieber and the Kardashians that appear on
Internet news.” He will find time soon to breakfast
with Williams President Adam Falk, however,
because “it’s the time of life when college presidents
suddenly find you interesting.” Indeed.
“Nobody does it better,” ex-scribe John Pritchard
tells us, describing fellow Williamstown resident
and former football and wrestling competitor
Frank Uible. Fall is when he and Frank join a
legion of Williamstown residents and local alumni
at something called the Quarterback Club for a
Wednesday lunch at The Log. Players and coaches
gather to dissect the team’s chances for the forthcoming Saturday game, analyzing all the statistics
and scouting reports assembled about the Ephs’
next opponent. For years now, Frank has produced
a report to be read at the luncheon. “Witty, clever,
often prescient,” Frank’s reports have become a
highlight, enjoyed by team members and football
staff alike. That’s no surprise, since in our day, Frank
was a hard-hitting tackle as well as a heavyweight
wrestler who frequently grappled with Pritch,
himself a wrestling squad member. After Williams, Frank earned a law degree from University of
Michigan and joined a company in Cincinnati that
lent him part time as a talent scout and recruiter for
the Cincinnati Bengals. His football insights were
honed to perfection by the experience. Those skills
he displays at The Log every Wednesday with a
“poetic” set of football facts and impressions for the
pleasure of all who attend. Not bad, Frank. Pretty
good use of your acquired talent over a lifetime!
Finally, this from ex-roommate Duane Yee, who,
unlike all others mentioned earlier here, still has
plenty to do as he told me in his email. “My Variety
School annual golf tournament will be held this
coming Friday. It’s been going for 17 straight years.
We get anywhere from 100 to 140 participants in
a modified three-person scramble held at one of
the many good public courses, and we clear about
$15,000 to $23,000 on the event. A lot of work, but
a lot of fun, and no one goes home without a nice
prize. One of the biggies this year is a foursome at
Charles Schwab’s very private, very posh course on
the Big Island. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
It’s Hawaii’s answer to Augusta, I guess.” Anybody
ready to join Duane’s worthy cause in 2014?
1958
Dick Davis, 5732 East Woodridge Drive, Scottsdale, AZ
85254; [email protected]
The Brigham & Women’s Hospital held a marvelous tribute to Ron Anderson on his retirement
last September. Many prominent figures attended
this invitational event, and a scholarship honoring
Ron was established in the amount of $1 million. Lou Caplan and Brenda and David Grossman
and Jill were there. Lou writes: “The Brigham has
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always been known as a highly academic researchoriented medical center. Ron was originally chosen
to be the “rheumatology clinician” so that others
could continue their bench research. Ron won their
respect and hearts with his enthusiasm, extensive
medical knowledge and wonderful handling of
so many chronically ill rheumatology patients
over a span of 40 years. He has been our family
rheumatologist, seeing me (gout), my wife and my
mother-in-law. He is a wonderful physician and
friend.” Lou says he and Ron still play tennis on
grass at Longwood and that Ron “has gotten better
with age.”
Here’s a story times four. Bob Salisbury and
Toni’s granddaughter Elizabeth Salisbury was
accepted early decision to be in the Williams Class
of 2018. She is the fourth generation to be an Eph.
Elizabeth’s parents are Matthew Salisbury ’87 and
Jeannie. She lives in Charlotte, N.C., and attends
Groton. Our Bob’s father Robert Mills Salisbury
was ’28. Elizabeth’s uncle Bert Salisbury is Class of
’83. Bob says he and Toni will be enjoying trips to
Williamstown over the next four years.
Peter Levin’s granddaughter Marissa Shapiro was
also accepted early decision to the Class of 2018.
Marissa and her folks live in New York, where she
attends Hunter High School. Her folks went to
a mix of Yale and Harvard, and dad is a trustee at
Swarthmore. Peter and neighbor Arnie Sher will
join Bob Salisbury at Williams events.
Tom Synnott put together the holiday lunch this
past December, and it was a big winner. Judy Donner attended and was joined by Dave Allan, Fred
Clifford and Barbara and their daughter Vivienne,
Tom Connolly, Bill Harter, David Kane, Whitey
Kaufmann, Dick Lisle, Rich Lombard, Lynn Patterson, Bruno Quinson and Arnie Sher. Joe Young was
out of the country pursuing a new program for the
active elderly, of which Joe is surely one. Congratulations on carrying on the great tradition.
This from Carl Vogt: “I joined some golf buddies
to play in Ireland last spring and am scheduled
for more in the Scottish Highlands next summer.
Given the state of my game, it helps to be mellow.
Margrit and I recently returned from a trip to
Rome and Malta. We joined Jack Platt and wife
Paige along with another couple of friends on a
cruise ship for the return home across the Atlantic.
Lots of good memories, including Jack’s coming
into possession of the cut records from Hopkins
Hall our senior year. No surprise that he became a
celebrated CIA officer, featured a few years ago on
60 Minutes.”
Just before the Super Bowl, Ted Wynne wrote
from London: “London has gone over-the-top for
the NFL. We have three regular season games in
2014, and for Super Bowl there are several public
venues for all-night sessions to watch the game and
party the night away. The Brits are a lot less bullish
about Downton Abbey,” Ted notes. “They call it
‘Downright Shabby.’”
Fred Clifford and Barbara did a Williamssponsored cruise to Australia and New Zealand in
January. “Fantastic,” says Fred. Marcia Schoeller was
on board, as was Dan Tritter ’54. Fred says the band
were to be in Vero, Ponte Vedra and Palm Beach
March 20-27.
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Bill Taggart and Lil were off to Mexico in late
January. The destination was Plaza del Carmen,
which is in the Riviera Maya, which runs south
from Cancun. Bill had a touch of pneumonia this
winter, and el sol is Rx. Bill and Lil are inveterate
Mexico travelers, and if I’m heading that way on a
way-down basis I’m consulting with them.
Tom Shulman and Ellie sojourned to La Quinta
Resort and Club in Palm Springs this winter as
they have for the past 25 years. Tom plays tennis
every other day, and he and Ellie golf on the other
days. Tom says the weather in January was the best
they ever experienced. It was mighty nice here in
Phoenix, too, after a little freeze in December.
Cool-weather Californian Phil McKean had a
misstep and a fall and fractured a patella but found
a Stanford doc who can heal it up without a cast.
The major loss, Phil says, is that it will cut into his
ski season, which is further jeopardized by the lack
of snow in the Golden State. Phil and Deborah
stay very busy with activities and causes centered
on the Claremont Colleges. Phil keeps in regular
touch with Don Morse, fellow Maine skier Charlie
Hudson, Steve Rose and Eric Butler ’57.
Whitey Kaufmann’s term as a board member
(and most recently chairman) of the University of
the Arctic expired, and, maybe to de-chill, he and
Karen took off for Turks and Caicos. A series of
injuries and strains had left Bruno Quinson in need
of a new left knee, which he got in January. Whitey
and Karen visited him and Minkie in the hospital
and found Bruno chipper and itching to get home,
which he did the following day. Bruno and Minkie
were off to Barbados in mid-February with many
family members. After that the focus will be on a
40th anniversary celebration at the Century Club
for the Graywolf Press, where Bruno is a board
member, and a 20th anniversary celebration for the
Barrington Stage Company on July 7. I understand
that the latter will be quite a gala, as it should be.
Twenty years of great shows have gone by fast.
Spence Jones has a new email address:
[email protected]. David Phillips also
has a new email address: david1936phillips@gmail.
com, and Ted Wynne now has a supplementary
email address: [email protected]. Gee wiz!
Rich Wagner and Ginny had dinner with Bill
Dudley and Donna. They live only a few miles from
each other, and Easton, Md., is common ground.
Rich likes Bill’s book on the maritime history of
the Chesapeake Bay. It’s a good read and beautiful,
he says, and I say, amen. Rich says he and Ginny
are part time near-Seattleites, and the team obviously heard his “Go, Seahawks.”
Jim Becket maintains his astonishing pace of
activity: “I was three weeks in India filming the
environmental activist Vandana Shiva doing her
awesome life story, and I’m translating a book in
French about her, which is a challenge. Sons of
Africa film is in distribution and at festivals. Watching that now will have to stand in for me actually
climbing Mount Kilimanjaro again. And I finished
a fun film of my English recently knighted banker
brother-in-law conducting Handel’s Messiah. Ray
Montgomery and Shannon are wintering here in
Ojai, which has been really nice for us, and we
spent a lovely Christmas together. Ray is busy writ-
1958– 59
ing more “choose-your-own-adventure” books, as is
Shannon, who runs their very successful brand and
company. We are in touch with some classmates as
we try to slow the “shuffle off the mortal coil.” The
Bard is the Bard, but with Jim and others we may
get to know a jet age version of a shuffle.
Jim Bowers and Susie hope to get out here, maybe
Sedona, soon. They’ve been in Turks and Caicos
and to the Canadian Rockies recently. They have
spent considerable time thinking about making the
most propitious disposition of the family farm. A
land trust is one option under consideration.
I got a great end-of-the-year letter from Bill
Booth. He can’t imagine a time when he’s been
happier. First, Trice is back up and going after
surgery and a broken leg. She is back in her
medieval women’s choir, helping out at a school and
doing some cross-countrying. Bill skis and rows in
abundance and also sails in the summer. He has a
shop and designs and fabricates furniture, working
at that almost daily; rowing is daily. They have a
country house but live mostly in an apartment away
from the noise and din of busy Seattle, which they
still visit for cultural activities. Wintertime affords
time to read, and Bill was especially impressed with
Hedrick Smith’s ’55 Who Stole the American Dream
and Prof. James MacGregor Burns’ ’39 Fire and
Light: The Enlightenment and the American Experiment. Bill would like to see broader prosperity.
Send us another one of these anytime, Bill.
I got a fine note from Dick Siegel in February:
“Pam and I spent a lovely evening in Williamstown
with Ann and Tom Connolly, with a good dinner at
Mezze followed by an enjoyable performance at the
college theater. The past several months since the
last ’58 minireunion, where we saw David Grossman, Ernie Fleishman ’59 and many others, have
been rather busy with trips in October to Portugal
(Porto and its environs) and Montreal for lectures,
good dining, visiting friends and some sightseeing.
Pam and I spent most of December visiting Cambodia and Vietnam on a most interesting, beautiful
and thought-provoking trip, this time with no
lectures. I am teaching a graduate course at RPI
this spring semester on nanostructured materials,
limiting travel over the next few months to shorter
ones mostly for work in the U.S., which I still
enjoy greatly and find quite energizing. On one of
these this week, we ran into Stuart Crampton at the
Albany airport on our way to Chicago for a board
meeting at my company Nanophase Technologies,
which I founded along with a venture capital firm
in 1989. Our Williams contacts are always fun.”
Jack Talmadge is a major patron of the volleyball
arts in San Diego, and I’m finally clear on which
teams he supports. It’s not SDSU, which has the
great basketball team this year. Jack has contributed
equipment to San Diego University and to the
University of California at San Diego, where Dick
Attiyeh retired as a faculty member. SDU made it to
the Sweet 16 in its division, and Jack is the recipient of a “Tritons Volleyball No. 1 Fan” T-shirt from
the players at UCSD. He has obviously elevated the
state of the art. As I write this, he’s off to watch the
major tennis tournament at Indian Wells.
Joe Young saw a picture of house-partying Larry
Nilsen on Facebook on Feb. 13. We didn’t know
we were subjects for the ages—I think I recall that
edition of The Record. We don’t aspire to be real
powerful, but we hate being powerless as it seems
so many here and there are these days, so Jim Conlan has his kick-in home generator honed for bear.
What a winter just about anywhere east of western
Oklahoma.
Carl Smith and his wife Julie ( Julia Clancy-Smith
and Charles D. Smith) coauthored a documentary
history of the modern Middle East and North
Africa that appeared in August. It was given the
best book award for a book on undergraduate education at the annual meeting of the Middle East
Studies Association in October. Carl spent the fall
semester in Milwaukee, where Julie had a visiting
professorship in women’s history at Marquette University. They loved Milwaukee, but while there Carl
suffered an intestinal emergency in November that
left him unconscious and on life support for four
days. He’s back in Tucson and recovering nicely
now, thanks largely to good therapy and Julie’s care.
He and Julie look forward to summer in Santa
Cruz, Calif., where they will be near their daughter
and grandson. Glad you’re back, Carl. Carl’s message is “walking is good—keep on walking.” Even
mall walking on bad days, Carl adds.
There’s been a toll on our membership. I only
recently learned that Ben Hull passed away on April
10, 2013. Paul Watson passed away in San Francisco on Oct. 2. And Gary Hochberg passed away in
Florida on Nov. 20.
You can’t help but remember Big Ben’s broad
grin. Gary was one of the first classmates I met,
and you can’t forget his energy and enthusiasm. I
saw a lot of Paul, and I was hoping to spend three
more years in New Haven with our class poet after
Williams, but the CIA called. Sandy Hansell, who
was close to Paul, said that Paul served in Asia and
did international finance in San Francisco after
his retirement. Chet Lasell and Kate both knew
Paul from way back in Connecticut environs, and
Paul was part of a group that included Dave Jayne,
Doodles Weaver and Stuart Crampton that toured
Europe between junior and senior year.
Rob Hall lost his wife Karen on Nov. 13. She had
fought Parkinson’s for nearly four years.
As the season runs out it’s a joy to report that
’58 had a great turnout for the five-year reunion
in Vero. Out-of-towners Lou Lustenberger, Dave
Allan, Jim Kolster, Jim Bowers, Brad Thayer, Dave
Cook and Ron Anderson joined Vero residents Tom
Schwarz, Walt Kasten, Dave Sims, John Hutchins,
Ed Hughes, Bob Kingsbury and Chet Lasell, et uxes
and friends for the festivities and, needless to say
but certifiably, a great time was had by all. More
details later.
1959
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Dan Rankin, 1870 Bay Road, #213, Vero Beach, FL
32963; [email protected]
With good reason the college is often on my
case about being too long-winded in writing these
notes. I’m constantly going way over my allotted
2,500-word limit, and the school’s censors are obligated to chop up my brilliant prose. I did, however,
learn a good lesson from the Christmas card sent
M AY 2 0 1 4 P E O P L E
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by Joe Prendergast and Marlene. The card read, “All
family members are the same but some are a little
heavier. … Everyone is doing what s/he was doing
last year. … Everyone is reasonably satisfied with
his/her life. … Everyone is happy to get together
on the holidays!” Perfect! Joe’s roommate and old
Cranbrook buddy, Cliff Colwell and Carolyn, were
almost as succinct when they wrote, “We’re in good
health and meaningful pursuits: environmental
preservation, orthopaedic research, trips to South
Africa and Montana, reading, time with our grandchildren, other family members and dear friends.”
Now let me explain, I do like long notes from
classmates, but it’s a nice change of pace to receive
concise messages also. While brevity may be the
soul of wit and lingerie, when it comes to writing
these notes it’s another story. So take your nap now
before I hit my stride.
I had a wonderful exchange of emails with Ken
Hanf, who has lived in Europe nearly his whole
career. He was one of the very best students in
our class, and his Junior Phi Beta Kappa and cum
laude status made that clear. To no one’s surprise
he earned a PhD from UC Berkley before heading
overseas to teach and do research on questions of
public management and sustainable development/
climate change in Berlin, Rotterdam and, for the
last 14 years, in Barcelona. What was most impressive about his writing was his ability to reflect on
life, family, vocation and community. His introspection struck a chord with me: “Even though it is all
‘meaningless’ at present, as we get older there are
increasingly more occasions where we sit and ask
ourselves honestly who we are, and what have we
made out of what we were given to develop.” Ken
points out there are many stories, parables, tables,
etc., that might provide justifications and explanations for what we’ve done and not done, but most
of us eventually conclude we have no regrets. He
expressed it with far greater sophistication by saying, “Je ne regrette rien… The only regret I do have
is that I let my music fall by the wayside; I always
envied Warner Kim in the fraternity house, when
he’d sit down at the piano and play so beautifully.
Something I’d still like to be able to do for my own
enjoyment.” The amusing and annoying aspect of
the wrestling match Ken describes is this: Are we
upset because we had many talents we never developed, or are we bothered because we had so few
talents to start with? An excellent point to ponder,
but one we may find is an unresolvable issue. He’s
right on the mark when he states, “We could
philosophize more on all of this, and each person
will have his own accounting to do, but if you
think the columns in the ledger add up acceptably,
that’s enough. I’ve tried to be honest with myself,
disappointing as it sometimes is, but I have always
recognized and enjoyed the accomplishments
and successes of my friends and colleagues.” Few
responses to my pleas for info and stories have been
this thoughtful and forthright. I admire so much
Ken’s soul-baring and know he’d be outstanding
company to have dinner with. I’d be delighted to
hear from other classmates who have looked back
and taken stock of their post-Williams lives.
“I’ve finally decided what’s wrong with my
brain—on the left side there is nothing right, and
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M AY 2 0 1 4 P E O P L E
on the right side there is nothing left.” While this
is the problem I face in retirement, there are many
in our class who are still working and very active.
Tony Distler, distinguished professor emeritus at
Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., writes that he’s
“retired” but is still teaching courses at various
venues in the area: “The Biz of Show Biz,” “From
Page to Stage,” and “Producing in the New York
Professional Theater.” He also is now in his 39th
year as one of two PA announcers at the Hokies
football games and notes Tech’s mascot is almost
as silly as our Purple Cow. He likened himself to
Douglas MacArthur addressing Congress in 1950
when he stated, “Old soldiers never die.” Apparently scholars seem to follow the same path. Tony
would be interested to know how other “retired”
teachers cope. Bill Moomaw struggles with the
same affliction. He was planning to retire in the
spring of 2013 but now plans to retire from the
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts
this spring. It will be a huge loss for the college.
“Moo” fled Boston this past February to speak
to our Vero Beach Williams group and then had
to fly back into the teeth of a strong nor’easter
that had dumped 10 inches of snow on his car
at Logan. As both an academic and a medical
doctor, Slate Wilson continues teaching at Oregon
Health and Sciences University in Portland. Now
in his 40th year, he is no longer operating but
sees many outpatients and runs the surgical skills
lab for residents. Furniture making is still in his
mix as well as composing and playing symphonic
music. From San Anselmo, Calif., we learn that
Carter Coleman has just joined a startup company
called PulpWorks as director of business development. This firm has patent-pending technology to
replace PVC and “blister pack.” Carter can’t retire
since his wife, Kay, was just re-elected to the city
council for another four-year term. Up on the coast
of Maine in Bass Harbor, Paul Frost is teaching a
course titled “Do You Want to Write?” sponsored
by Acadia Senior College. I’m sure it would do
me some good, however the 1,800-mile commute
would be difficult. Tony Volpe continues to write
his biography for the benefit of his grandchildren
and also volunteers as a career coach at a nonprofit
outplacement agency. Evidence that Jack Hyland is
still spry and diligent is the publication of his book,
The Moses Virus. Though a thriller novel, you will
find two themes beneath the surface: the spread of
a deadly virus and the problem of global starvation
or malnutrition. Jack’s website, jackwhyland.com,
carries a lot of information on the book. Let’s hope
it does as well as Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.
I’ve told Jack to bring a nice supply to the 55th.
Since his Andover days, Peter Bradley remains an
avid and erudite reader and suggests we check out
Louise Penny’s Still Life and two books by Tom
Drury, The End of Vandalism and Pacific. Peter likes
and welcomes the idea of book recommendations
from classmates. Holly Cantus continues to live in
McLean, Va., remains active and serves as chairman
and CEO of The ILEX Group. In December he
was appointed to the Aerospace Advisory Council
by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. Island living has
kept Ted Sage busy for 22 years as he teaches math,
robotics and computer programming on North
1959
Haven Island, a community of 350 people some
10 miles off the coast of Maine. Winter must have
been fun up there. A group we should all be proud
of, and that is constantly working for the college,
is the Alumni Fund gang: Bart Robinson and Tony
Volpe lead the way with the support of Al Benton,
Henry Cole, Bev Compton, Chuck Dunkel, Dan Fanning, Tony Harwood, John Kimberly, Dick Lee, Bob
Lowden, Bob McAlaine, Hugh Morton, and Ty Smith.
Thanks also go to Jack Hyland and David Thun, who
chair the planned-giving program for the class. I
realize how important their work is when I hear
President Adam Falk explain the numbers 30-6090. Full tuition is about $60,000 a year, but it costs
the school $90,000 to educate each student, and
when financial aid is figured in, the college takes in
about $30,000 per student. There is no question our
contributions are very important.
“If you can’t afford a doctor, go traveling and at
the airport you’ll get a free X-ray, pat-down, and if
you mention Al Qaeda, you’ll get a free colonoscopy and prostate exam.” Despite this warning
we do have classmates who cover the globe. Bob
Gould and Sheila left their home in Scotland to
spend July in their Canadian cottage and visited
Toronto and Niagara before returning to the Isles.
December brought them back to Canada to experience a white Christmas. Bob is busy as director of
the Grassmarket Community Project. Bob Platt
indicates he and Pam have vacated their Montana
home for the “warmer” climes of their Maryland
place. The brutal fall floods that did a number on
Colorado never really caught Jim Pickering and
Pat, since they were on the road: first in South
Carolina and Houston, and then sailing the coast
of Vietnam, starting in Hong Kong and ending in
Singapore. David Earle and Alix journeyed from
Chicago to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to see
how the Matisse and Picasso paintings from the
Chicago Institute of Art appeared in the Kimbell
Art Museum. They met up with Grey McGown,
who fed them a “grand pork rib dinner prepared
by John Castlman ’61 and Vicky.” A solid group
of ’59ers was on schedule to travel to Vero Beach
for the five-class reunion (’55-’59). Tom Albertson
and Kitty, Al Benton and Sherri, Tom Christopher
and Judy, George Dangerfield and Margaret, Tom
Davidson and Connie, Bob Lowden and Bev, Bart
Robinson and Ingela, David Thun and Barbara, and
Jerry Tipper and Betsy were to be joined by locals
Hanse Halligan and Judy, Tom Hayne and Martha,
Dan Rankin and Susan, and Dave Taylor and Scotty.
This five-class gathering off-campus was a first of
its kind. Height of the season: March 5-9. The sun,
the ocean, golf, a fine performance of South Pacific,
the U.S. Navy Seals Museum, the Vero Beach Art
Museum, etc.
Many people talk about tomorrow as though it
were a mystical land where 99 percent of all human
productivity, motivation and achievement is stored.
However, if you graduated from college 55 years
ago, yesterday can have plenty of meaning. Peter
Fessenden has many fond memories of Weston
Field: Football games but also the workouts
with Tony Plansky, running in track meets, “my
participation in the Lehman Cup freshman year
and coming in fifth with George Sudduth, Tony
Harwood and Bill Moomaw.” Stu Wallace remembers his athletic days on the playing fields and
has made a nice gift to the school for the Weston
project. Joe Prendergast remembers that his last
class at Williams was taught by S. Lane Faison Jr.
’29, “and I vividly recall stepping outside among the
flowering trees, into a bath of sensual aroma and
blossoms of beauty, exactly as Faison had promised.” Vero Beach resident Fay Vincent ’60 reports
he and Jim Richardson converse by phone nearly
every day and often find themselves down memory
lane. The same thing happens when I call Peter
Willmott to discuss planning for the 55th. What do
you know? Spring Street, Baxter Hall, the Freshman Quad or the Walden Theatre come into view.
Many classmates have had fond memories of our
fallen friends Graham Shipman and Palmer White.
Bo Kirschen recollects hanging out with Graham,
Dick Cole and Frank Read, and they referred to Graham as the “gentle giant” who marched to his own
drummer and took solitary hikes. “He tended to
develop an overwhelming desire for pizza about 9
or 10 p.m., prompting an emergency call to Mama
Girgenti’s. … He would always share generously,
which made his room a popular gathering place.”
Bob Greenspan remembered him as “Ships,” Andy
Packard recalls him as a friend even when he might
be making noise next door during Andy’s sleep
time, and David Boothby and Ted Sage had good
memories of Graham. Allison White, Palmer’s
widow, has stayed in touch with Norm Cram and
informed him that Novato Hospital, where Palmer
served as medical director, honored him in December at its “Tree of Lights” ceremony and by hanging
a plaque in Palmer’s memory. One of the very best
“memory people” in the class is Ernie Imhoff, who
can tell us anything we might want to know about
“old” Williamstown. Now, after traveling to Lake
George in October, he can provide the details of
Eph Williams’ last days and the eventual transfer of
his body from Lake George to Thompson Memorial Chapel. Ernie has also spent many months
photographing the wonders of seasonal change in
Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park. It’s a remarkable collection and can be found at mydroodle.wordpress.
com. Do check it out.
“I didn’t make it to the gym today; that’s five
years in a row.” Had I spent more time in the gym
I might not have needed open-heart surgery three
years ago, and Alex Reeves may feel the same way.
Alex had his mitral valve repaired in September
and is now recovered and still chasing the perfect
trout in Virginia, Vermont and even in Patagonia.
Jerry Tipper is attempting to match the exotic
fishing spots Alex frequents by traveling to Florida,
the Bahamas, New Brunswick and the Saint Paul
River in Canada. While Geoff Morton continues
to globe trot, he will take time off to have a hip
replacement in late April and recover just in time
to attend our 55th in June. Chip Ide may hold the
record for surgical replacements: “two hips, two
shoulders and one back.” Do you remember the old
radio show Can You Top This? with Peter Donald
hosting and Ed, Harry and Joe offering competing
jokes? For now, Chip seems to top all ’59ers. Bo
Kirschen reports he’s “reasonably ambulatory” and
is looking forward to making it back to WilliamM AY 2 0 1 4 P E O P L E
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stown for the 55th. And that’s exactly what all good
’59ers should be doing. So don’t forget the reunion
runs from June 12-15. I hope you’ll all come, and
please remember these gatherings are not just
endless cocktail parties. There’s plenty of good
connecting, discussing, listening, playing, laughing,
remembering and appreciating one another. And I
shall publicly acknowledge at the reunion the name
of the first person to correctly identify the movie,
actor and year of the following line: “Fasten your
seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”
One final thought: Put the politicians on minimum wage and just watch how fast things change.
1960
Michael Penner, 38334 South Desert Bluff Drive, Tucson,
AZ 85739; [email protected]
Recent months have brought death to four
members of our class. As we grieve the loss of classmates, we should appreciate and honor the remarkable achievements of this small group. Brad W.
Perry died Nov. 27, 2013, in Winchester, Va. Brad
received a PhD from Columbia University and
did postdoctoral work at UC Berkley, all in physics. Brad taught physics at Trinity College before
transitioning to economic analysis as a postdoctoral
fellow at Yale, followed by four years in environmental sciences at UVA. In 1972 he joined the
consulting firm Chase Economics and later moved
to Townsend Greenspan. In 1987 Brad returned
to Philadelphia and Wharton Econometrics until
retiring in 2002. Brad was a lifelong musician who
sang with numerous groups. He is survived by his
wife of 50 years, Katherine Sproul Perry.
Joseph W. Wheelock Jr. died Dec. 17, 2013. Stu
Eilers referenced Arlo Guthrie’s post regarding Pete
Seeger’s death. “Well, of course he passed away, but
that doesn’t mean he’s gone.” Sad news from Williamstown and another reminder of our blessings.
Duncan Brown reports: “Here is what I know of
Joe in recent years when he resided in Williamstown with his beautiful and most supportive wife,
Ann. First and foremost, he was truly loved by all
for his wit and brilliance interspersed with a good
four-letter word when you least expected it. His
golf game remained sub-par throughout the years,
but he set a high standard that we at Taconic Golf
Club continue to use as our yardstick: 1) There will
be no profanity on the course, especially after a
dubbed stroke; 2) Any shot that moves the ball 12
inches closer to pin is considered by Joe as not bad;
3) Golf attire can include good-looking knickers; 4)
Letting the golf bag and pull cart go merrily down
the steepest incline without human attachment
was considered healthy for the clubs when they
upended near the bottom and were strewn all over
the grass.”
While not doing endless detailed work for our
various class reunions, Joe volunteered in North
Adams doing tax returns for the elderly who could
no longer manage their tax forms. He also served
as treasurer of a nonprofit that gave food and clothing as well as heating assistance to the poor. His
Catholic faith never faltered. He would keep his
friends in stitches with his black Irish humor.
An email from Ernie Imhoff ’59 reported on Jan.
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3, 2014, “I learned today of the tragic death of our
onetime fellow Deke and Williams colleague Lewis
“Lou” Terrill, who had a remarkably productive
career as a political science professor and department head at San Diego State University, mayor
and city councilman of Del Mar, Calif., and leader
of many community efforts to improve the quality
of lives. Lou was struck and killed by an Amtrak
train Jan. 3 as he tried to save his dog Abe from
being hit by the northbound train. Lou was walking with his unleashed dog on a bluff over the
tracks when the train horn reportedly spooked the
pet, according to reports. The dog ran toward the
tracks, and Lou ran after him to keep him away
from the train. The dog crossed the tracks safely, but
Lou was hit and killed on impact, officials said. His
friends called it a terrible tragedy. Lou is survived
by his wife, Juvenile Court Judge Carol Isackson.
Lou was a leader of the area Planned Parenthood,
American Civil Liberties Union and several other
groups. Lou was my roommate at the Deke house
my senior year when the fire hit us. We kept in
touch for a while after college, and we visited him
and Carol in Del Mar some years ago.”
Dr. Deane W. Merrill Jr. died Feb. 16, 2014, in
Ashville, N.C. He and his wife Anna Christine
moved there in 2006 from Shelburne Falls, Mass.,
to which they had returned (buying an ancestral
family home built in 1852) following retirement
from Cal-Berkeley. Buck Frederickson recalls an
enjoyable half-day Briggs-led hike with Deane at
the 50th reunion when he learned about Deane’s
interest in genealogy but very little about physics.
Colin McNaull ran at the Williams College
Aluminum Bowl in October. It was his 57th year of
running at Williams. It was a long day trip up, running and then coming back. He did finish and feels
quite good about that. Colin has summarized his
recent activities as follows: “Civil disobedience: I
have been engaging in all sorts of new activities this
quarter. The latest is riding through the National
Forest here during the sequestration period when
it was closed to the public. Fortunately for me, the
government had not funded the installation of new
gates or persons to man them as they had for DC,
which would/could have been used to keep people
and horses out or to have us arrested.
“Peace movement: I did what I could to prevent
Obama from taking us into another war in the
Mid-East and was pleasantly surprised and relieved
when Putin arranged a face saving-way for the U.S.
to avoid another no-win war.
“Poll worker: Our town of Hector, N.Y., has the
same population of Hinesburg but with a much
bigger area with six polling places. I was a poll
worker at one location from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. It
was a long day that did enable you to meet ‘neighbors’ for the first time.
“Jury duty: I received my first call to be on a jury.
Unfortunately/fortunately, it was sent to me by
mistake because I live in the correct county to serve
on federal juries in Syracuse.”
Jim Hartley sent news of his activities on his
once-a-decade schedule. He looks forward to his
next message in the 20s for obvious reasons. Last
year Jim published his autobiography, titled It All
Began on Halloween. It was written for one purpose:
1959– 60
to record information for his family. “While I
had it published by a ‘print-on-demand’ company,
that was simply to get it into a format so that
my children could hide it away on a bookshelf. I
sent it to them as a Halloween gift, and I think at
least two of the three have read it (perhaps even
all three). They seemed especially to enjoy reading
about themselves! It’s not as if there was really
anything great in it, but it did tell them about my
life and experiences. My memory was not all that
good, but I had saved my appointment books since
1963, so I had a lot of data recorded. Suellen and
I are approaching a big change in our lives, as we
are moving into a ‘continuing care retirement community’ next month (The Terraces of Phoenix). I
have always said to people that they ought to make
a decision like this ‘before they have to,’ so they
can make the decision themselves. We certainly do
not have to make this move at this time, but we are
looking forward to not having to take care of property and all the nuisances that go along with home
ownership. Life should be easier for us, and I hope
we’re not bored. I don’t think we will be. This past
summer was my seventh working in the guest relations department for the Arizona Diamondbacks,
and I have enjoyed that. I have decided, however,
not to continue in that position. Suellen and I have
purchased ‘weekend series’ season tickets, so we
will go to each Saturday and Sunday home game
during the year (28 games). Instead of leaving her
at home when I go to a ball game, we’ll be going
together. For my mental challenge, I am working
on writing a historical novel that will follow the
life of a person born in the year 22 CE in Palestine
to parents who were very involved in the development of the early church. The purpose of the book
is to describe what happened in the early decades
of the church. I am seeking to make sure the book
has historical plausibility, that all of the events and
conversations might really have taken place. I am
doing a lot of reading of New Testament scholars,
and I sometimes feel I am getting more confused
about what happened with each new book I read.
Since the earliest members of the movements that
became the Church were practicing Jews, I am
learning a lot about Judaism in the late Second
Temple era.”
Sandy Saunders has kept it a deep dark secret
that he has devoted most of the last 50 years to
environmental activism. This started with the
founding of Scenic Hudson, working with his
father, Alexander Saunders ’28, and Clearwater, the
Hudson River sloop, a Pete Seeger project. Recent
years have been devoted to the Tappan Long Island
Tunnel. This project is politically incorrect, with
New York’s Gov. Cuomo dreaming of twin bridges
(an environmental disaster promised to last for 100
years) for $4 billion to $10 billion and five to 10
years to build. The tunnel Sandy designed, working
with German tunnel expert Martin Herrenknect
in October 2003, was laughed at in New York
State but built in Shanghai in 22 months for $800
million. Sandy has a historic farm that hosts a twomonth outdoor art show in September and October of each year. This year he may add some opera
in June. Jerry Bernstein’s board approved plans for
the real estate project he has been working on for
the last 13 months. They signed a deal to buy an
$89 million office building. Another year or so to
work with designers planning the interior and Jerry
can retire and ride off into the sunset. Dick Holliday
has retired from the printing press “gig” and filled
the void with several volunteer activities. He is
participation chairman for the Newport Bermuda
Race and chairs the YMCA annual fund drive.
Dick worked very hard as our class agent and has
increased participation to more than 75 percent. He
urges all classmates to support the Alumni Fund
and raise our participation level even higher.
Peter Berkley reports: “With our three children
and five grandchildren spread across the western
U.S., Nancy and I decided to renovate a home in
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., in 2013. The work and
the move from our former home nearby consumed
us for almost the entire year. The results of the
renovation are terrific, but I feel safe in saying that
this was the last time we will undertake a project of
such magnitude. Among our first overnight guests
last fall, shortly before our entire family arrived for
the holidays, were Ned Benedict and Jill and Phil
Scaturro. We are all Florida residents these days
and make a real effort to stay in frequent contact.
It’s been more than 57 years after we entered the
Class of 1960 together from Millburn (N.J.) High
School, along with our good friend Fred Coombs,
who remains a New Jersey resident.” Keith Griffin
and Dixie spent the holiday season on a cruise to
South America, the Falkland Islands and Antarctica. “The trip was memorable, especially Antarctica, with its starkly beautiful mountains, immense
glaciers, impressive icebergs, pure air and solemn
silence. We saw whales by the score and penguins
by the thousands and, as a bonus, we enjoyed
returning to Chile, where we lived for two years
more than 50 years ago. Ironically, it was warmer
in Antarctica than in much of the U.S. while we
were there!” Dave Banta reports that one of the
joys of retirement has been reading books. He just
read one that might be of interest to Eph history
buffs: Destiny of the Republic, a biography of James
A. Garfield, Class of 1856, the 20th U.S. president.
He was assassinated six months after being sworn
in. He graduated from Williams in two years, with
honors, and was a DU (a personal interest). His son
Harry Garfield, Class of 1885, became president of
Williams College.
Ron Stegall had a lovely time with Cotton Fite and
Diane, Jerry Rardin ’59 and Sue, and Don Campbell and Elizabeth in England at Kath Campbell’s
wedding in August. Ron then had a retreat to the
Cotswolds with this group, which meets annually
to read a Shakespeare play and help each other
on their journeys. Life on the coast of Maine is
rich and satisfying. Ron is involved with advocacy
and legal assistance on behalf of poor immigrants
and with the local historical society and a concert
association, the theater program of the local opera
house, assisting a new church community and a
surprising amount of mentoring young people. Ron
says he “expects to do some London theater and art
and architecture of Berlin with Williams-sponsored
groups this year. I would be happy to add the
activity of welcoming classmates to this beautiful
spot this year! The task of discovering Solo Me
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continues, but with the satisfying realization that
‘me’ is an amalgam of all that Lael and many others,
including the Williams crowd, added to my kit, my
behaviors, my interests and the totality of what I
am today.”
Cotton Fite had a fine time in England for the
wedding and mentions the group visited numerous
pubs and enjoyed one of the Bard’s productions at
Avon. Eating particularly well enhanced a sense
of gratitude for rich lives and good companions.
Over the past few years Cotton has reconnected
with Al Miller, now living in Arrowsic, Maine. As
some of you know, Al’s career included clowning
(intentional and otherwise), teaching here and in
Lebanon, directing a theater in nearby Brunswick
and, in spite of himself, doing an assortment of
good deeds. He’s an enormously gifted drama
director of teens and young adults. We connected in
Palestine/Israel last April with mutual friends there,
and again last summer in Arrowsic with Abdelfattah (Abed) Abuseour, a remarkable Palestinian
doing fabulous work with young people in the Aida
refugee camp. I joined Al the following week in AlRam, just outside Jerusalem, where he led several
workshops with an amazing Palestinian school
counselor, Nasser Hamamreh. Despite a decidedly
dicey situation throughout Palestine, people like Al,
Abed, Nasser and many others swim against the
tide. Though the evidence of aging is never far, I
know how fortunate I am and have been. I wish all
who remain on this side continuing blessings.
1961
Bob Gormley, 1775 Drift Road, P.O. Box 3922, Westport,
MA 02790; [email protected]
It’s February still, in one of the several winters of
my discontent, so I’ll strive to be upbeat. Let’s see,
I won’t start with Linsky’s triple bypass or Urbach’s
stroke. That wouldn’t be fun. I’ll jump directly to
Jay Tarses, always fun, and his note on teaching a
Winter Study course at Williams. In the old days,
we shuffled back to the frigid Berkshires after New
Year’s and got right into spring courses. Spring
didn’t come until May, but so what. These days they
offer an amazing array of inter-term seminars and
field experiences, many in warmer climes, to lighten
and enhance the regular classroom learning. This
winter Jay was engaged to offer a popular choice,
TV- and media-related, on “How to Make a Web
Series.” I would have liked to have been a fly on the
wall there. Jay reports: “It was a terrific class and
the kids were fantastic: bright, attractive, enthusiastic, mostly freshpeople and sophomores. What was
disconcerting was that two of the kids were grandchildren of ’61ers. That’s right, grandchildren, god
damn it! Kayla Shore ’16 is John Simons’ grandsomething and Grace Sullivan ’17 is Bruce Hopper’s
definite granddaughter. Tell Bruce that she was
about the most competent, capable kid in the class,
which she actually was. And cute. But Bruce was
pretty cute too, wasn’t he?” I never thought of him
as cute, but he was a competent bridge player and
became an outstanding MD.
John Simons meanwhile allowed that Kayla was
not only his sister’s granddaughter (therefore his
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liams in the years since he walked the halls. By
the way, he’s finally in retirement as a California
administrative judge, still living in Sacramento
but escaping often to Portland, where they have a
place, and fishing as much as he can. He’s peppered
me with fish tales from his travels to Christmas
Island (bonefish) and Key West (tarpon), northern
California (salmon), Belize (license), the Louisiana Gulf regularly and now a 13-pound striped
bass from the Sacramento River Delta in February. I knew they had “strippers” out there, but not
“stripers,” an Eastern fish, but John knew they
were stocked there from N.J. in 1879. Probably the
strippers, too.
Dick Beckler fits nicely following old friend Jay.
He’s still practicing law in DC with Bracewell &
Giuliani and, like a few others I’ve heard from,
denies being almost 75 by claiming younger
entrance to Williams. He took an interesting trip in
December to Lebanon: “It was my first trip to that
part of the world and a real eye-opener. I traveled
down the border with Israel and west to the Syrian
border. Sad to see these Syrian refugee camps—also
somewhat unbelievable to go along stretches of
highway that are marked with Hezbollah and then
Al Qaeda flags. We spent most of our time with
friends who are Lebanese Christian Armenians,
and among them was a wide divergence of views.
By the time you throw in all the other elements—
Israeli, Syrians, Shiites, Sunni and other Arab
tribes—I see little chance of peaceful negotiations
ending in a truce. We did manage to do a day of
snowmobiling in the mountains of Lebanon, and it
was gorgeous. The Lebanese people are great hosts,
of course, and the food is fantastic.”
Dave Hall invites us to share the beauty of his
retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia at
Wintergreen Resort, about 30 miles west of Charlottesville. “Think very muscular Berkshires,” he
says. “My wife died in 2002, and I moved here in
2005. My home is on the third hole (snarky par 3)
of a Rees Jones course, with another Ellis Maples
course up at 3,800-foot elevation. Plus there’s a ski
area I frequent, trout streams, bike trails, etc., with
UVA nearby for culture. A great place to retire.”
And David has been doing some very creative
woodworking too, if you remember his overhead
hanging at our 50th class dinner.
He doesn’t let the moss gather under his feet
either. In October, he traveled to Turkey with a
focus on Istanbul history and culture. “Highly recommended! Huge mosques, magnificent silk carpets, colorful spice market, great food, hyperactive
water ferries and taxis and a culture that goes back
to the Hittites (5000 BC).” Reflecting on his 75th
year, he adds plans for “several weeks at our family
island on Lake Loughboro, Ontario (Pete Raisbeck
can affirm the place), a cruise on the Black Sea and
back to Istanbul. And whatever my two kids cook
up to surprise me. Come fill your glasses up.”
Wayne Jackson checked in to wish us a healthy
New Year, though he recoiled at my greeting you all
as “good people” since he claims he never was. He
was just back from the Dominican Republic with
wife Juliette, youngest daughter and grandson, visiting his oldest daughter and two granddaughters
who emigrated there from his Bermuda. He recom-
1960– 61
mends DR and is proud of his daughter, who took
her kids there to expose them to another culture
where people have to live on what they have, and to
learn Spanish. Wayne also has a son in Atlanta and
admits he was glad to have them all off on their
own but now wants them all together at Christmas.
A condition most of us experience.
Bruce McBean is another happy soul. On Nov. 14
he married his partner of 39 years, David J. Lavelle,
in NYC. He notes: “Unfortunately we live in Florida, which doesn’t recognize the union (and will
probably be the 49th state—just before Texas—to
do so. Although we were registered partners in
Hudson County, N.J., and Broward County, Fla.,
marrying the same partners did not require us to
first dissolve those partnerships (as N.Y. law would
otherwise have required us to do).” Thankfully, it’s
not 1961 anymore.
Many thanks to Sam Brown ’64, who contributed
a touching tribute to Brian O’Leary, whom we lost
in 2011. Unfortunately, it’s a bit long to be offered
in full so I edit: “Brian had a 1950 Ford sedan
and a girlfriend in the Boston area; I also had a
girlfriend there and biweekly aspirations but no
car. We became good traveling companions in the
spring of ’61. Brian also had a dry Irish wit. One
time, his girlfriend was with us heading back to
Williamstown where we passed some towns with
interesting names and he wanted to impress her.
‘Leominster,’ for example, was really ‘Leo-minister’
not ‘Lemon-stir,’ he explained in deadpan, because
it was founded by a minister named Leo. Farther
on we passed Athol, the name of which Brian
refused to parse because, he said, it would be indelicate. Another time we had a car full of returning
students approaching the Mohawk Trail outside of
Greenfield on a perfect spring day, and he whisked
into a general store, returning with a six-pack of
Buds, one for each opened with his ‘church-key’
like some butler, and drove us into the Mohawk
Trail State Forest, the lot of us totally relaxed as we
approached finals.”
Brian, of course, went on to become a research
physicist, later working with Carl Sagan, and an
astronaut with NASA readied for outer space
though he never got there. Sam has contributed to
the Alumni Fund annually in Brian’s memory.
On that note, I think I’m ready to take up the
heavier lifting. Marty Linsky, always fit and a compulsive runner, had a scare with open-heart surgery
involving a triple-bypass and valve replacement
in January. However, before I could smirk about
what good all that pavement pounding comes to,
he rushed to assure me that his doctors declared
that if he hadn’t been in such good condition and
caught the problem when he did, he wouldn’t have
bounced back so quickly and felt so good about the
future. Marty teaches careful planning and agendabuilding as keys to leadership, but he enjoyed being
surrounded by loving family and having no agendas
for a few days, even saying some goodbyes, just in
case. As a role model, his mother then celebrated
her 100th birthday in a casino setting she loves, and
Marty’s looking to his next 25 years.
Jim Urbach’s tale was a little more harrowing.
Jim was also in great shape, a retired MD and
well on with his new hobby and career as a nature
photographer. Maybe you remember his work from
our 50th. Anyway, during 2013 he was constantly
on the go, shooting (with camera) great gray owls
in Canada and Texas for shorebirds, warblers
and white-tailed kites, San Francisco Bay Area
for clarks and western grebes. Then on to Mount
Evans (west of Denver), where they scouted up to
14,200-feet driving, not hiking. Birders and nature
lovers should check his website, www.jimurbach.
smugmug.com. Anyway, home for a hot Fourth of
July and a stroke he never saw coming. A cautionary tale for us. After 20 days in rehab at Winter
Park Hospital in Florida, it was on to outpatient
rehab in October. He sends profound thanks to the
therapists who worked to help him get back most
of the way. He’s able to hit tennis balls again and is
hoping for a serve in 2014, also to be able to carry
his 500 lens again. Good luck, Jim and Kathy! Their
three children and three grandchildren are getting
on well, and such an experience draws them closer.
George Lowe, Laurie Hawkins, Paul Boire, Dave
Whittemore and Al Lapey, hockey players of old,
gathered together with the Wally Bernheimers at
Boston’s wide open Fenway Park on one of the
coldest nights in January (temp down to 8) to
watch Williams vs. Trinity in men’s hockey as part
of the Frozen Fenway college series. I wisely stayed
home, as did Gordie Stevenson, who claimed he
had a meeting. Gordie did, however, lay out extensive plans for 2014 and his 75th year. He’s unable
to gain access to Iran, where he really wanted to
go, but does plan to climb Croagh Patrick, the
holy mountain of Ireland where Patrick was said
to lead retreats—only 2,500 feet up but where
some are said to finish the climb on their knees in
true penance. I doubt he needs it, but I’d love to
see a pic of those bloody knees! In July, he’ll also
combine attending the annual John Main Christian
Meditation Retreat in Chicago with seeing the
Cubs/Cards as Wrigley Field celebrates its 100th
anniversary as one of America’s great baseball
venues. Nice combo, serving many values.
Charlie Dana and Ann continue as one of our
most-traveled couples. Last June they attended a
Williams alumni excursion to South Dakota and
Wyoming National Parks with Prof. Bud Wobus.
Also along were Norm Cram ’59 and Dierdra. Norm
was a JA for ’61 and a DU leader. Charlie and
Ann were also in NYC from their Ohio digs over
Christmas at the Princeton (Williams) Club, where
they enjoyed dinners with Tom Hayne ’59 and
Martha and Steve Kiechel ’67 and Julie. This July
they’re off to Alaska with a Williams gang.
Sorry to interject another sad note, but Bruce
Harper passed away Jan. 25 after a long struggle
with emphysema. Wife Jean Harper wrote to advise
us, but his formal obit will not appear until the
September issue of People. You may remember
Bruce, writes Jean, “as part of the Delta-Psicles, a
St. Anthony Cycle Brigade.” Secret fraternity talk.
After graduation, Bruce entered the Navy as an aviation officer candidate. He was commissioned and
became an aviator, flying anti-submarine Grumman
S-2 Trackers off the USS Randolph until 1967. For
the next 25 years he remained in the Naval Reserve,
at one point assigned to the Supreme Allied Command, Atlantic, and later was selected as the first
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reservist to attend the senior officer orientation
course for Europe at Oberammergau. He retired
in 1991 as a captain, later working for Olin Corp.,
and finally joining his father, Gale Harper ’28 in the
family-owned Harper Buffing Co. He is survived
by Jean, three children and four grandchildren. Our
condolences go out to them.
Wally Bernheimer came through with a lastminute word to make us all feel better. He and Roz
were up in Williamstown for a show opening at
WCMA Feb. 28 where he ran into Jerry Caprio ’72,
director of the Center for Development Economics. Jerry once again hails ’61 for our generous class
reunion gift to fund the endowment for CDE. It
is already making a huge difference to the center.
The quality of foreign students they are able to
recruit are now a level or two higher than before,
and therefore the quality of class discussions and
papers is that much better. In addition, they are
able to bring in students from more impoverished
areas (e.g., South Sudan) who could never afford
CDE before. It’s heartwarming to hear of the good
we have begun. Jack Wadsworth, take a bow for
leading that charge.
Finally, a nicely typed, personally signed note
mailed the old-fashioned way from Joe Armstrong.
Ah, tradition! That’s up from lovable Fred Mayer,
who often calls and hand-writes notes, defying
all technology. Joe assures us he’s almost retired,
having sold his firm to the employees for whom he
sometimes consults. He and Ann fell in love with
New Zealand last year and will return for a month
in March. Superb fishing for big brown trout (better get over there, Simons) but also great people
(“no egos, jerks or McMansions—is it possible to
run a country like that?”). Also went to the high
Arctic to fish for char where the fish were plentiful
but the country harsh. Got chased by a rogue bull
musk ox and one storm with 107 mph winds blew
his cabin four feet and knocked over the outhouse.
And you think fishing’s all fun? This summer they
celebrate their 50th and will take the family to Zermatt, where the young ones can do some mountaineering and skiing. Joe’s going to avoid popping
his replacement hip again by taking it easy.
Apologies to a couple of the usual suspects not
appearing in these notes since their news was
minor and they will understand. Sincere thanks
to all those who did reply. A reminder that the
fall 2014 minireunion will be Oct. 10-12, football
versus Middlebury, Berkshire foliage and the usual
collegiality. Meanwhile, be at peace.
1962
William M. Ryan, 112 Beech Mountain Road, Mansfield
Center, CT 06250; [email protected]
Let’s get the sad news out of the way first. Kelly
Beard ’96, daughter of Barbara and Rob Beard,
died in September 2013 from cancer. Kelly was
enrolled on a full scholarship at Andover-Newton
Theological Seminary, training to be a minister
in the Unitarian church. “During her long ordeal,
Williams connections helped a great deal, and her
’96 classmates were wonderful,” Rob told me. “Her
ashes were scattered on Cole Field. We are recovering, but it will be a long haul.” I know you join me
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in offering our deepest sympathies to the Beards.
Happier tidings: Paul Hill has been elected to the
board of the Trust for Public Lands, the largest
land trust in the country. Ann and Pablo have been
very active in trying to preserve and protect the
natural environment that surrounds their summer
home in Stanley, Idaho. They are also major players
in the Ashland, Ore. (their winter home) Shakespeare festival. Paul has gotten into “resistance
stretching” (sounds like an oxymoron to me). Their
granddaughter was just accepted into Dartmouth
but she has a boyfriend who is a Williams student.
Peter Thoms sent me a link to a 90-minute interview of Toby Cosgrove by Brian Lamb of C-SPAN
which aired in September. Peter comments: “Toby’s
demeanor is understated but deeply engaging. He
covered a remarkable breadth of issues and experiences, some dispassionately and at other times,
very personally and passionately. Toby’s dyslexia,
discovered when he was in his 30s, is an important
part of the interview.” Here’s the link, and I recommend you set aside some time to watch it: http://
bit.ly/tobycosgrove.
Colleen and Jim Van Hoven spent five weeks traveling the West in their RV in the late summer and
early fall. “A week in Grand Teton National Park
with a day in Yellowstone, traveled to Sandpoint,
Idaho, to spend a week with Colleen’s sisters and
her new grandniece, visited Banff, Lake Louise and
Glacier National Park. Also did some genealogical
research in Western N.Y. and central Iowa on both
our families. All in all, a wonderful time. I read a
lot of Wallace Stegner during our travels—arguably one of the best authorities on the west and a
wonderful author.”
Ash Crosby continues his wide-ranging and
geographically widespread performance roles:
“Highlights of the topsy-turvy world on stage and
screen included: “Friar Lawrence in Romeo and
Juliet, the Blind Hermit in a new stage adaptation
of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and a set of one acts
off-B’way titled Wrinkles, about the joys and oys of
aging. I also shot my first horror film in New Jersey
portraying—obviously—the mad scientist. What a
hoot! Am now working on a couple of ‘indie’ films
before returning to Tennessee and Shakespeare in
March.” Never know where we’ll see Ash next or
who he will be.
Frank Wolf began a new job about 18 months ago
as executive director of the Child Welfare Fund.
“I am enjoying learning about a whole new field,”
Frank reports. The Child Welfare Fund concentrates on NYC, where it funds and promotes public
awareness of the new science of infancy and its
implications, public policies to reduce early childhood stress and trauma, and treatment programs
for parent-infant attachment.
Jameson Campaigne attended an alumni event in
Chicago to hear Williams professor McAllister talk
about conservatism. According to Jameson (and I
dare not paraphrase): “It was most embarrassing; he
did not know anything about the subject and I told
him so in the Q and A session, … I volunteered
to do a seminar with one of his classes when we
are visiting our daughter in Saratoga Springs and
sent him a half-dozen books on the topic.” Have
you been invited, Jameson? He and Caroline have
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four children and a dozen grandchildren and had
them all together just before Christmas at a rented
lakeshore house in Coloma, Mich. Jameson remains
in “very good health” and “is an avid fisherman
and bird hunter with four-dozen ducks and a pile
of ruffled grouse in the freezer.” He looks forward
to “clearing out a few more liberal senators and
congressmen in the upcoming election.”
Spike Kellogg, Lin Morison and Frank Morse got
together for lunch in December along with Spike’s
Holderness roommate who worked with Lin at the
First National Bank of Boston and knows Frank
from sailing/boating in Marblehead. Frank is now
the commodore of the Eastern Yacht Club in
Marblehead, the job that Spike’s roommate had a
while back, and Lin lives very close to Gillian and
Spike, a short walk away. “Lots of shared memories
of very happy times. More to come, too.” Spike,
Gillian and Jane and Dick McCauley “infiltrated the
Class of ’61 trip to Andalusia, España. Being part
of this group, which also included Professor William Darrow interpreting architecture and religion,
while numerous other guides led us from Sevilla to
Cordova to Granada, to Malaga and Jerez was an
over-the-top experience.”
I received an email from Graddy Johnson in
October attached to which was an email to him
from Ruthie Watts, which related an amazing
story. Jimmy and Ruthie had a child, Sally, who
was infected with measles encephalitis at age 14
months which resulted in her losing almost all
cognitive ability and left her in an autistic state.
In 2003, Jimmy founded a golf tournament in his
beloved Cashiers to raise money for charity. After
his death in 2007, his former company took over
the tournament and renamed it the “The Jimmy
Watts Memorial Tournament” and asked Ruthie
to what charity she wished the proceeds to go. She
selected the Georgia Chapter for Autism, and that
year the gift was $15,000. Fast-forward to 2013,
and the Georgia Chapter for Autism raised more
than $200,000 from the Jimmy Watts Memorial
Golf Tournament! What a fine tribute. If any of
you would be interested in contributing or playing,
contact Ruthie at [email protected].
Asked about plans for his 50th anniversary,
Banger Lang sent me a wedding photo of his
daughter Amy Lang ’97 in 2011. Go figure. We
attended that wedding along with Ellen and Roger
Wales, Dinny and Barney Shaw, Sue and John
Sargent, and Greg Lang ’87. Thankfully, all of Missy
and Banger’s kids are now married, so I shouldn’t
have to do it again.
Gil Leigh reports that he often chats with Steve
Telkins at the Central Library in Arlington, Va.,
where Gil does some volunteer work. His partner
Chris “continues to work as a systems analyst in the
Department of Labor Statistics while she struggles
with the retirement decision. She has been working
since she was an early teenager and doesn’t know
what she will do with herself in retirement.”
George Downing is getting back to the states frequently (from Paris) to conduct short clinical psych
seminars at the New School for Social Research in
NYC. He often then travels to Connecticut where
he consults for an organization called Child First.
“They have 15 sites throughout the state and do
very fine in-home therapy work with messy situations involving parents and kids, 0-4 years old.”
He and his wife Carole celebrated their 40th with
family and a big Paris dinner.
Voices of the Seldom Heard: Jim Harrington lives
in Santa Fe, N.M., near his two children (one is
Richard Harrington ’91) and two grandchildren.
When I reached him, he had just come off the
ski slope with the entire clan. “I’m still into racing
bikes and skiing,” he said, “though my back aches
a bit more, and I can’t do as much of it as I would
like.” Most of his life is devoted to pro bono legal
work for Common Cause (he is the state chairman)
and a Mexican immigrant group. “And I’m learning
to play the trumpet! (All you’ll need is taps, Jim.)
After 42 years with Brown Brothers Harriman,
Denny Blagden retired seven years ago. He and
Pat continue to live in Short Hills, N.J. Their two
children and three grandchildren are close by. The
Blagdens take about four cruises per year, the most
recent to Eastern Europe and to Myanmar. “Fascinating architecture and temples,” Denny offered.
“And I get up to Williams every homecoming and
play and march in the band at halftime. I think the
next oldest participant is class of ’96.” Denny hopes
to catch up with Archie Palmer, his former roommate, who also lives in N.J.
I asked you to write to me about your upcoming
or recently celebrated 50th wedding anniversaries,
and many did. It’s appropriate to lead off with the
couple that led us off—Elsie and Ed Cordis will
celebrate their 55th anniversary in May. They were
married on May 1, 1959, our first year at Williams.
They celebrated their 50th with a concert by the
Drifters at the U. of Conn. A month later, they
were surprised by their children with a schooner
trip out of Mystic with 40 family members and
friends. “The sunny day was a perfect temperature,
and there was time to visit with everyone on board.
Our life together has been enriched by many summer sailing trips, so this was a thoughtful and much
appreciated gift.”
The Most Unlikely to Celebrate Their 50th award
goes to Carol Ingall and Steve Brumberg, who were
married on Jan. 5, 2014. Attending the wedding at
the New York Jewish Theological Seminary where
Carol continues to teach were about 100 of their
friends and family, including Bonnie and me (Steve
and I go back to eighth grade together), Nancy
and Joe Bassett ( Joe resplendent in his self-crafted
purple and gold yarmulke), Steve’s brother, Leonard
Brumberg ’65, and Steve’s son, Josh Brumberg ’92.
It was a delightfully happy occasion with some of
the most thoughtful of talks, including one by the
aforementioned Rev. Joe. Steve plans to retire from
full-time teaching at the Brooklyn College School
of Ed. at the end of the semester.
Judy and Bruce Grinnell celebrated their 50th
in June 2012 by renting a large estate in the small
town of Le Thor in Provençe, France. All three
kids, spouses and grandkids were with them for all
or part of two weeks. “It was the best,” Bruce said.
“I would walk to town every morning with some
of my grandchildren to have a morning croissant
and buy a couple of baguettes for the day. The
experience was most memorable. We’d do it again
in a second.”
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The Crowley clan gathered in Chatham, Mass., to
celebrate Dan Crowley and Suki’s 50th last summer.
All the kids and grandkids were there. Dan reports:
“Fifty years of fun and love is a huge gift to unwrap
and enjoy, so we are still working on this. The hard
part of this year was our discovery that with our
aging comes some fragility. Suki has had recurring
stomach pains for three years, and with this comes
some anxiety. We are dealing with it, so, despite the
tough times of late, sing the song of optimism that
Suki sings.”
From Steve Huffman: “About a week after our
graduation John Reid and I were on the SS United
States bound for England. There I met Sally Fleury
of Sacramento, and that was the beginning of the
end of my bachelorhood. To celebrate, we will take
our children, including Mark Huffman ’88, their
spouses and our eight grandchildren to Maui for a
week in June.”
Dinny and Barney Shaw observed their 50th in
2012 at their cottage on Keuka Lake surrounded
by the results of their union. Jeanne and Andy Hero
celebrated their 45th last summer “without fanfare.”
They plan a trip to Russia this fall. “I have been
interested in Russia since my studies at Williams
with Fred Schuman,” reports Andy. Sandra and
Dick Pierce will be celebrating their 50th this year
from a new home overlooking Tampa Bay in St.
Petersburg, Fla. They sold their home in Austin,
Texas, and “are delighted to be here—back on the
water after a long dry spell, out of home ownership
at last and forever and sliding into senior living
with all its perks (no lawns, no gutters, no snow).”
Mike Cannon and Susie had their 51st in November, but the real excitement was “spending four
months touring the West in a new RV. Thankfully,
the RV lasted, and so did our marriage. I’m currently planning my second back surgery in February, and we are hoping for a second RV tour, this
time east of the Mississippi. Bob Hallman, Hilda
and Kit Jones and we spent New Year’s Eve and
Day at Kit’s getaway condo on Sea Island, Ga. “We
had great fun recounting the glory days of roadtripping to Skids, Bennington, etc. Of course the wives
were bored, but they shared stories of nursing their
husbands through retirement.” Finally, Barbara and
Bill Whitman spent Christmas in Africa with Laura
Whitman ’89, Fife Whitman ’92 and their spouses
and grandkids on a National Geographic trip to
Tanzania. Not their anniversary, though. Their 50th
occurs this year.
Keep celebrating folks! And tell me about it!
1963
Phil Kinnicutt, 341 Iliaina St., Kailua, HI 96734;
[email protected]
Echoes of our fabulous 50th continue to reverberate through the class. First of all, let’s congratulate Brooks Goddard and John Bell for service above
and beyond for their work on the 50th reunion
supplement. They each received handwritten notes
from a classmate who prefers to remain anonymous: “I hasten to write you of my joy and delight
at reading the supplement to the class book, for I
know that both of you were instrumental in putting
it together, as you were with the original issued last
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spring. They were and are labors of love and now
valuable contributions to our class’s self-understanding and human spirit. Therefore, both of you
and many others involved in bringing these books
into being and getting them distributed to all are
greatly to be praised, thanked and congratulated.
“Thank you for this labor of love. For those of us
who were for whatever reason unable to attend the
reunion events, these books, with their photographs, testimonies and information are a cherished
opportunity to re-commune with classmates of
long ago and far away and to reflect seriously upon
the meanings of our common yet separate life
experiences and trajectories. Thank you especially
for including my own offering in perfect fidelity.
Again, yours has been an offering of love and of
hope, and it is indeed a success. Thank you for this.
It is much appreciated.”
The supplement is certainly a 44-page “labor of
love,” filled with additional “late” bio information
on classmates, reunion photos with some priceless
captions and what the authors call “miscellaneous
ramblings.” It is definitely a “must-read.”
Ned Grew wrote that although he was ambivalent
about taking part, he was glad that he did make the
effort. “Still rankles that Blume managed to team
himself up most of the time with Lenny on the
tennis court, boosting his overall score on the coat
tails of Lenny’s racquet prowess,” he added.
From Jay Rohrlich, “Well, the warm feelings
from the 50th have persisted. I’ve enjoyed email
exchanges with many classmates, had a wonderful
dinner with Ella and Elliot Urdang and my wife
Patti, and then followed up with a friendshiprenewing solo date with just Elliot and me. I’m
looking forward to getting together with George
Kolodner in the spring when he comes to New York
for a psychiatric meeting. Jim Blume spent several
hours with Patti and me in Hillsdale on his way
to Williamstown for the minireunion weekend in
October, and rekindling that old friendship was
touching and easy and fabulous.” Jay also reported
that his Raynaud’s phenomenon had been cured by
acupuncture and that he and Patti were headed for
two weeks in Holland and Belgium in the spring.
Travel news from Mike Gerhardt and Doree, who
continue to be on the move. They got back from
China and Tibet in mid-October and then headed
to Florida in January for a five-week driving trip.
Gail and Winston Wood left for Europe immediately following the 50th where they spent three
weeks in a series of rented cottages in rural France
with lots of driving in between. They had plans
to go to Australia in February. Jill Wruble ’83 and
Bernie Wruble are seeing lots of Williamstown
and other college towns in order to follow Austin
Wruble ’17 and the wrestling team. The family,
including Mattia Wruble ’14, spent Christmas in
San Juan. No Eph bikinis were spotted.
A long note from John Bell contained the following news: Bear Burnett, Bill Walker ’64, Mac
Dick and John have continued their pattern of
having lunch about every month. Mac is the proud
grandfather of a delicious granddaughter, Lexi, and
he is tickled pink with his daughter’s first child.
Bear continues to work out daily, alternating swimming and exercise machines, volunteering at a local
hospital and serving on a bunch of boards.
1962– 63
Rick Berry hosted Jim Sykes and John at the
lovely condo Rick and Kelly have in Westerly, R.I.
Per John, it is a lovely spot and the golf courses on
the water take your breath away, to say nothing of
golf balls.
John reports that he had a bunch of bones in his
right foot fused in January. The operation went well,
but he has not been able to drive. His wife Lyn has
MS, and that has made it hard for her to walk or
drive, so he is enormously grateful for the kindness
of friends and some strangers too. His note closed
by saying that he feels “most fortunate to be where
he is at this point in life and values the friendships
that began in the Purple Valley so long ago.” To
that I respond, “Amen!”
And still another London adventure for the
members of the class as reported by our esteemed
president, Jim Blume. “Four ’63ers and their
spouses—Hobby and David Jeffrey, Jill and Gordy
Prichett, Betty and Murry Ross and Kathryn Frank
and I—embarked to London on Jan. 2 for a 10-day
theater tour, which was sponsored by Theatreworks,
A Colorado Springs theater company where Murray is the artistic director. From my perspective, the
entire 10 days were filled with wonder and joy.”
David commented on our trip: “We saw eight
plays, including Candide, Henry V, The Book of
Mormon and Mojo, quite a variety. Murray led daily
discussions (which were performances in themselves) and pre- and post-theater performances.
He is a gifted teacher who skillfully engaged us
in discussions of the plays, provided experienced,
intelligent insight and made it all lots of fun.”
Gordy added, “Murray was exemplary in his
choice of plays, his daily insightful analysis and his
enthusiasm for the ’60s reminiscing over a beer or
a cup of coffee with surprise guest Morris Kaplan.
Murray has run this trip for 15 years, and it is a
must do every year for a hard core of trip alums.
“I don’t have too much to add except to say that
for Kathryn and me the experience was thrilling. From our perspective, as a group the plays
were only mediocre, some good, some bad, but in
the next day’s discussions, Murray made them all
come alive. He has a marvelous ability to encourage comments from participants, which enables a
compelling dialogue to occur. In addition, which
neither David or Gordy mentioned, we had three
guest speakers: Michael Grandage, the director of
Henry V, Richard McCabe, the lead actor in Fortune’s Fool, and Matt Wolf, the theater critic for the
international New York Times. An added fill-up was
Morris’ appearance at one of our discussions.”
Jim Sykes is officially retired and will be racing his
sailboat in June in the Bermuda race from Newport
with all three kids on board. He thinks Bill Hubbard
may also be in the race. “One last go at it,” he says.
Stu Brown continues to enjoy the Bay Area weather
and hiking in Yosemite, and Clay Davenport made
it back for the minireunion in October. He and Jan
are spending time in Florida this year to check it
out while he works out of the Palm Beach office
and she trains and shows a new horse.
Evidently Dave Hartwell had one of the finest
surprises of his adult life last fall when the organizers decided to call the science fiction event in
Williamstown that he was coming to participate in
The David G. Hartwell ’63 Science Fiction Symposium. Per Dave, the October event included some
of the best science fiction writers alive. Dave also
wants to thank classmates and their families who
offered sympathy and in some cases gave actual
professional help when his 11-year-old daughter,
Elizabeth, decided to do acrobatics at the reunion
class reception when the sun came out, and fell on
her head just before dinner. Liz is fine, he says, and
remembers the weekend fondly, as does Dave.
Remembering Louise Ober ’64 continued. I
received a nice note from Steve Birrell ’64 that
filled in many of the blanks about Louise’s life after
Williams. He included a lovely piece written by
Peter Dodge ’64 that appeared in the 25th reunion
class book and is excerpted below.
“After senior year, she went on to get her degree
with honors in English literature at Berkeley.
While there, she also received a national award for
short-story writing. Her acting advanced as well,
and, in 1969, she starred in the Columbia Pictures
Production of Riverrun.
“The following year she married Peter Kovach
from Boston. From 1970 to 1973, Louise and Peter
traveled extensively in the Far East, and Louise
wrote several travel articles for the magazine Pacific.
In Japan, she became well known on Japanese Educational TV as a teacher of English. She and Peter
were separated in 1973.
“She then moved to Alaska, where she filmed
wildlife with (the late) Howard Bass ’63 and
continued to write—specifically on alcoholism and
drug abuse as a grant writer for Mauneluk Associates, a statewide social service agency. Her final
illness, cancer, brought her back again to the town
founded through the charity of Ephraim Williams.
She died at summer’s end in 1978.”
One of the more frequent class communicators over the years has been Perry Gates and his
nonprofit organization, Projects Inc. An October
email update from Perry plus a long note from John
Bell in November about Brooks Goddard’s efforts
for the Teachers for East Africa Alumni program
reminded me of a number of class notes entries and
many conversations that I have had with classmates
since our 45th reunion. My strong impression is
that we are an active and contributing group in our
communities, no matter where we have chosen to
hang our hats—and this includes both full-time
and volunteer work.
Perry has been the president of Projects Inc. for
as long as I can remember. It’s a company that has
had an impact throughout Maine connecting the
needs of youth and the elderly in the communities
it serves. Most recently, the Administration for
Native Americans awarded the Maine Passamaquoddy Indian Tribe a three-year, $1.5 million dollar grant to develop its sugar maple land holdings
and to enter the North American maple industry.
Projects Inc. was instrumental in making that happen. See http://www.projectslearning.org/.
Brooks has been dedicated to TEAA for many
years, devoting considerable time and energy to
a program that is currently assisting 15 secondary schools in East Africa serving a total of 8,000
students. Brooks is the volunteer chair of the Steering Committee and the group has embarked on an
M AY 2 0 1 4 P E O P L E
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ambitious three-year fundraising effort to support
and expand its programs. http://tea-a.org/.
The above comments are illustrative of the kinds
of things so many of our classmates have been
involved with … starting with the high percentage of our group who went directly into the Peace
Corps and other similar organizations in the years
after graduation … and continuing on to this day as
we “ease” into retirement. It is this kind of commitment and volunteer service that makes a real difference in our own country and around the world.
I think these efforts should be recognized and
would like to feature our nonprofit and community
service activities in the next set of class notes. Yes,
I know, I am asking you to toot your own horns a
bit, but we have earned the right to do so—and I
think our classmates would be really interested to
see what you are up to. Who knows what might
develop after you tell your story in these pages! So
send me the stuff, damn it!
Just before deadline, I sent a note to Dick Nesbitt
’74, our director of admissions, asking if there was
any news re: returning veterans and Williams, and
he responded with, “There is nothing to report so
far in the regular decision round.” Look for information on the college’s outreach efforts and veteran
interest in the next edition of these notes.
And finally, the life is complicated department.
You may have noticed in the January issue that the
wedding photo of Peter Callaway and George Wittenberg appeared in the weddings section but the
wedding announcement with dates did not appear
in the list of weddings that followed the photo
section. I did a quick check and discovered there
were other photos that suffered a similar fate so I
did some research.
FYI, this is how Williams People works. Information for Alumni Photos, Class Notes and Wedding
Photos can be submitted directly to the publication
via email ([email protected]) or by me as
your class secretary ([email protected]).
If you want your wedding information to appear
simultaneously in the list of weddings, however, it
must also be submitted to the college’s Biographical Records office ([email protected]). The
same process applies to the Births & Adoptions
and Obituaries sections. Evidently the Biographical
Records office pulls additional information from
Williams People once it is published.
Correction for the January edition. The “Gordie”
in Roger Williams’ anecdote about a reunion breakfast “incident” at the ’6 House was Gordon Davis,
not Gordon Prichett.
My apologies for the error… It was all mine.
1964
50
th
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Martin P. Wasserman, 13200 Triadelphia Road,
Ellicott City, MD 21042; [email protected]
Our 50th reunion is just weeks away: Wednesday, June 11-Sunday, June 15, 2014. There is still
opportunity to attend, so check out our class
website, www.ephs1964.com, so ably created and
managed by Skip Dunn. You will need both your
email address and a specific password to enter the
site. Or, send me an email at mpwasserman@jhu.
edu, and we will work out the details! As of March
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1, there were more than 60 class members planning
to attend with many others still “considering.”
I am pleased that I will get to see so many old
friends and people who contributed to the person
that I am today. I sincerely hope that you will join
us, even if you are unable to attend for all of the
exciting events!
In my last class notes, I accidentally attributed
Larry Modesitt’s life story to Tom Healy. After
being informed by Larry, I sent out an email
correction (and apology) and informed Tom that
I would update his information in this current
note. Tom and Erin survived the Colorado floods
because their home is located well above the flood
zone of Boulder Creek. Fortunately the only
damage they suffered was caused by a blocked
downspout allowing some water to get into his
office, leaving him with the task of removing and
replacing some carpet tiles.
Tom then performed a “weather analysis” and
noted that the area has had five major flood events
in the past 125 years and concluded that “the storm
of the century” was actually more like a “once every
25-year event“ and that “flowing water does its
damage regardless of source.”
As soon as Boulder Canyon Highway was
repaired and open, Tom purchased season tickets at
Eldora Mountain Resort for himself and his grandson. Patrick is in the ninth grade and carries a class
schedule that allowed the two of them to snowboard and cross-country ski together frequently.
Tom notes that at the 9,000-foot-high resort, there
is much more snow this year than a year ago, when
“I was skiing on rocks through much of February.”
Discovering some osteoarthritis in his hip (many of
us share that one!) he notes that he must cut back
to “one-and-a-half hours on the easy trails instead
of two-and-a-half on intermediate ones.”
Tom plans to continue his practice as a CPA,
although he finds that as he gets older, “I’m ever
more willing to get second opinions from others;
I understand better what I don’t know.” Recognizing what you don’t know is a really important trait
that I think a number of us might attribute, in
part, to our Williams experience. In tying together
the Modesitt/Healy confusion, I learned from
discussions with them both that Tom’s church
raised money for organizations near and dear to
both Larry and Abby. It turned out that it is a small
world, and there was a bit of a silver lining in the
mistake that I made.
Tom Howell writes that although he had both
knees replaced last fall, six weeks apart, “the new
ones seem to be working well, although I still
feel some stiffness.” Nevertheless he and Karen
took a Williams/Smith trip to New Zealand and
Australia in late January, joining Jud Phelps and
Bonnie on the journey. Although they passed on
bungee jumping, the group did enjoy snorkeling
on the Great Barrier Reef. Tom mentioned that he
has “really enjoyed working with Ben Wagner and
Steve Doughty on the 50th reunion class book. “It
has reconnected me with a lot of old friends whom
I am looking forward to seeing in June.” Although
he told me that he credits Ben and Steve with most
of the work, I have reason to believe this undertaking has been a “mutually shared” endeavor! Thanks
1963– 64
to all for your efforts. Particular thanks to Steve
for his efforts to assure the “memory” of classmates
no longer with us will survive and be a sincere and
emotional part of our 50th reunion celebration.
It appears that I am not the only one making
mistakes. While mine are personal, others, caught
by Yale Political Science Professor Dave Cameron
(to distinguish him from the Prime Minister of
Great Britain) can be of international proportions.
Peter Buttenheim noted a letter to the editor in the
Financial Times attributed to Dave. Dave has been
teaching for 40 years about the European Union
and European politics. “My primary focus over the
past several years has been the Eurozone debt crisis
but, as these letters to the FT suggest, I also have
a strong interest in post-Soviet politics.” In this
particular letter, Dave is concerned about the controversy and conflict between Ukraine and Russia,
which developed prior to and unfolded during the
Sochi Olympics. I spoke with Dave, and he briefly
informed me that he believes the European Union
and the U.S. should have interceded and offset the
influence of Russia, which is leading Ukraine away
from joining the western European nations. He is
fearful that we are losing an opportunity to woo
this eastern European nation and allowing it to
join a Russian-led economic group and potentially
become a military ally of Russia as well. As I write
these notes, Ukraine is in disarray, and its Russianleaning president has fled. By the time you read
these words, I hope we will have settled this matter
and arrived at a successful outcome.
Peter Buttenheim traveled to Maryland’s Eastern
Shore to attend a book signing by Terry Finn in his
hometown of Chesterton. This is Terry’s latest book
and a tribute to his interest in wartime history:
America at War: Concise Histories of U.S. Military
Conflicts From Lexington to Afghanistan, in which
he writes about our nation’s 12 conflicts beginning with the Revolution. Peter also is proud to
announce the publication of his daughter Jennifer
Buttenheim Eremeeva’s first novel, Lenin Lives
Next Door: Marriage, Martinis, and Mayhem in
Moscow, which describes in humorous fashion her
life married to her HRH (“Handsome Russian
Husband”) and the fact that one must “really want
to go to Russia” to put up with the “idiosyncrasies”
(my interpretation) of living there. Both books are
available at Amazon.
Jim Caldwell writes that he is uncertain about
what to expect at the upcoming reunion, “which
will be my first,” but plans to attend at the urging
and encouragement of several of our classmates.
In the process, Jim is preparing a talk about his
50-year career as an artist and architect. He shares
his concluding remarks with us: “I am now 71, and
most of my friends have retired. But I am lucky
that I can continue being an architect, a painter and
a teacher for many years to come. Two of my role
models are the architect David Tucker, for whom
I worked in Squaw Valley in 1970, still designing
houses at 84, and Wayne Thiebaud, still painting
and teaching at 93. I feel that my life has been a
search for success and fulfillment, not only as a
creative person, but also as a teacher, a husband, a
father, a father-in-law and now a grandfather. Our
third grandchild has just arrived. I feel lucky and
blessed that I have had plenty of successes to look
back on. If I were run over by a truck tomorrow, I
would feel that I had left my mark, I had made a
difference.” Could it be stated any better?
Peter Wiley shares Jim’s anticipatory anxiety,
stating, “I am gearing up for my first reunion after
a 50-year absence. I’m a bit wary. Will I recognize
anyone? Will anyone recognize me? What the hell?
It will be fun. I’ll print large letters on my name
tag.” I think we will recognize you, Peter, although
the “big letters” will be important for all of us! Most
assuredly we recognize and appreciate the fine work
you have done and the important contributions
made by Wiley Publications over the past century.
During the time I was requesting contributions for this newsletter, many of us were suffering through storms of monstrous proportions,
particularly on the East Coast. This led to several
responses but also the following commentary,
such as this note from Dennis Helms: “We, too,
are having fun with ice and snow. If only we could
ship some of this to the West, we would all benefit
relieving them from their epic drought and us from
continual shoveling of the driveway!” Dennis reiterates the marvels of medical/surgical care, including
a laminectomy and fusion last summer and plans
for knee replacements this year (see Tom Howell,
Dennis). Nevertheless, prior to this year’s operation,
Dennis is planning a golf trip in the spring and
continuing to work on the 50th Reunion Committee. The rest of the family is all busily engaged, with
his wife working hard to establish a new mergerand-acquisition business, his daughter working
for a small medical device company and his son in
Miami trying to open a beer bar.
Richard Kipp wrote, “Rather than snow, central
New Jersey is seeing mostly rain, affording me the
time to do catch-up tasks at my desk. For some reason, your mention of Williams memories brought
to mind that, if my recollection is correct, ours was
the first class that had a majority of public school
students.” And just as that thought was lingering,
Rich notes that he received a call from Bill Tuxbury
allowing for the two of them to get caught up on
their respective life trajectories.
Rich had lunch with his sophomore roommate,
Garry Clifford, and his wife Carol at the Publick
House in Sturbridge, Mass. Garry remains active
as a professor at UConn, a position he’s held since
right after completing graduate school. “I dare say
he’s a rarity among us in having remained with a
single employer his entire working life.”
Class President Gay Mayer conceives of an
interesting metaphor as he ponders what ordinarily occurs outside his window and considers our
upcoming 50th reunion. “I am watching a house
get torn down across the street, but they are taking
a day off from work during this current snow storm.
It is very sad to realize all the memories that are
disappearing as the house is gradually deconstructed. I hope that we all have a chance to build
new memories at reunion in June.” Because this
has been a terrible winter with the cancellation of
many flights, he and Mary are planning to drive to
Florida in late March to visit Ginger and Bill Ruddiman, Jean and Steve Doughty, and Carolyn and
Vince Farley along the way. He reminisces, asking
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the question, “Wasn’t this road trip the way we all
traveled from place to place back when we were
celebrating our fifth reunion when we didn’t have
to worry about canceled plane flights?”
Dick Tucker and Rae will be returning to Doha,
Qatar, in March to participate in the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Carnegie Mellon
University in Qatar. Dick served on the original
curriculum planning committee and was also the
interim dean there during 2010-11. He continues to teach courses in applied linguistics back in
Pittsburgh and also serves as the university’s Title
IX compliance officer.
Adwoa and Biff Steel continue to “commute”
between Accra, Ghana, and Boston, where they
visit family in both New England and New York.
He reminded me that his parents are members of
the assisted-living community at Sweetwood in
Williamstown, where they’ve lived since 1966. This
has led to annual visits to the college for the past 55
years, beginning with his 1959 college tour!
Biff teaches a master’s degree course in microfinance at the University of Ghana and consults
with the World Bank and International Fund for
Agricultural Development on various African
projects. He remains focused on his main area of
interest (micro-enterprises and finance) but is able
to travel extensively (Argentina and Uruguay last
year; Cambodia and Thailand this year). They both
will eventually live permanently in the DC area.
Reunion will be an opportunity to “see old friends
and get to know some I didn’t in college, and also
enjoy a Williams family reunion with my father
William Warren Steel ’37 and my children Anim W.
Steel ’94 and Melissa Steel King ’95.”
Also joining us for the reunion will be Paul
Crissey, who will be making the complicated
journey from Concord, Calif., where he continues
to teach high school drama. Since the reunion falls
during final exam week at school Paul arranged
with his principal to allow him to offer exams early.
They are primarily performances, which he can
grade immediately. This year’s spring musical will
be Fame the preceding week, so it will be “a hectic
time immediately followed by a rewarding time to
spend with old friends and fellow classmates.” Paul
is particularly appreciative of those on the reunion
committee who managed to establish the Louise
Ober Fund honoring our only female classmate, a
wonderful person and, let’s acknowledge it, a real
groundbreaker for the college! She was my friend
and is totally deserving of being honored for showing such class of her own by being the only female
member of our class. Paul offers that “life is going
well: happy marriage of 37 years to the love of my
life, my son getting married last summer, the teaching career going well and still enjoying directing
the students. Life is good.”
And life has been good to Barb and me. We
joined the spouses of brother Michael Wasserman
’68 and Tad Piper ’68 as well as Bruce McClear ’66
on a Williams alumni safari trip to Tanzania guided
by Professor Hank Art and his wife Pam. Our
guides were outstanding, and we saw an incredible
array of animals in the wild, including the wildebeest migration across the Serengeti plains. The
expanse and freedom of both predator and prey was
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M AY 2 0 1 4 P E O P L E
exhilarating and made us each wonder about the
beauty and ecology of our small planet and how we
must all play a role in contributing to the immense
biodiversity of all of the creatures on Earth. To
that end, Barbara and I then went to visit Chimp
Haven, a federally supported sanctuary for retired
chimpanzees, to see those animals living in freedom
in Louisiana. We had testified on their behalf a year
ago in the Senate. In response, NIH last June freed
the vast majority of these animals, agreeing that
they are no longer needed for research purposes. In
a similar effort, I am currently preparing testimony for Congress that questions the usefulness
of research studies conducted on rabbits, guinea
pigs, mice and other rodents. I shall advocate for
the newer non-animal methodologies that provide
more useful information for improving people’s
health. This has become a real passion for the two
of us, and we have a very special place in our hearts
for our “brethren” with whom we share this planet.
See you all in June! —Marty
1965
Tom Burnett, 175 Riverside Drive, #2H, New York, NY
10024; [email protected]
Secretary Tom Burnett reports: As the big reunion
approaches in approximately one year’s time, I want
to remind readers to visit the reunion website at
www.eph65fiftieth.com for continuously updated
news and alerts of upcoming events. Dusty Griffin
and John Storey helped create the website, and they
are constantly adding new material. Classmates are
also urged to participate in the class survey, which
can be found on the reunion website. Mike Annison
and his consulting company Westrend have prepared the survey. The results will be compiled for
all classmates to review. Finally, we know that we
are all procrastinators willing to pull “all-nighters”
when required, but the class bios should not be
emailed to John Storey just ahead of the reunion
date. John and Martha are working diligently to
complete the class book, so we all need to give
them some help by getting our 500-word bios, with
recent photos, to them this year. Please take some
time to work on this document and get it to John
and Martha as soon as possible. The email address
is [email protected], and he thanks all of you
who have already sent him your material. We are
planning a fall minireunion in Williamstown, and
the Oxford University event is scheduled for June
23-30, 2014.
In early February, I reached out by email to
several classmates from whom I had not received
recent news and was pleased with the response.
Mike Piel had lived in Denver for many years and
built a family medical practice there. His wife Carol
Gregory is a hospital administrator and, four years
ago, she was offered the opportunity to become
the chief nursing officer in Dallas at Medical City
Hospital. Mike was able to transition his Denver
practice to new owners and join her in Dallas. He
looks forward to the day when she can retire too,
but right now they are enjoying Dallas and their
five children (between them) who are “scattered
across the country.” Mike fully expects to join us for
the big reunion next year.
1964– 66
Bob Lisle completed a 40-year medical career
in Baltimore, which he continues on a part-time
basis in South Carolina, where Nancy and he have
moved. Their three children are doing well—Liz
is newly married and works as a fabric designer in
LA; son Andrew is an artist on Cape Cod; and son
David is a sports medicine doctor in Burlington,
Vt. Bob and Nancy have three grandchildren whom
they see as much as possible. Bob has always been
interested in photography, and his work has been
the subject of gallery shows in New York. He has
also written a book, Photography Remembered, that
was published by the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk,
Va. Bob is planning to attend the reunion.
Dean Bandes retired at the end of last August. He
has taken up piano lessons and plays the baritone
horn with the Boston Symphonic Band. He and his
wife spend time with their only grandchild, a girl
who will be 2 in November. They maintain a second
home in Maine, where Dean tends to an apple
orchard, “plays” in his wood shop and snowshoes
through the woods during the winter months.
Barrie and Tom Gregory sold their home in Garrett County, Md., in 2012 and moved to the Willow Valley Retirement Community in Lancaster,
Pa. Tom has retired from his dental practice. They
are getting used to a new lifestyle, but the cultural
events in the area keep them busy, and Tom is quite
happy to give up the maintenance duties of single
home ownership. He looks forward to attending
the reunion.
After some 40 years in Harrison, N.Y., Joanne
and Dan Aloisi sold their home in 2012 and moved
to Bonita Springs, Fla. Dan retired in 2011 after
spending 38 years in the furniture industry (design,
remodeling, sales and marketing). Joanne retired
from 30 years of teaching third grade in Harrison.
They are both active with volunteer activities in
Florida and still maintain their summer home in
Brewster on Cape Cod. Their three children and
four grandchildren live in the Northeast, so Dan
and Joanne are never permanently in Florida. He is
still close with Mike Brewer, Westy Saltonstall and
Gerry Wheaton. He hopes to attend the reunion.
Rob Oehler has been working hard with Dusty
and Dave Coolidge on class gift and fundraising
efforts. He has really made an effort to attend the
many events that will lead up to the reunion. Last
fall he was the guest of Jim Munroe and Betsy at
their home in Santa Barbara, Calif. Rob and Jim
had not seen each other since graduation, and they
enjoyed catching up with each other.
I congratulated David Stern on his warm and
highly informative memoir on Professor Clay
Hunt. I urge all classmates to read through the
memoirs on the reunion website. I was especially
moved by David’s wonderful piece on Hunt, who
had a big personal influence on me during my
pursuit of English major credits. David and Nancy
live in Oregon. Their son Newton is a copywriter
in Santa Monica, Calif., and younger son Aaron is
a music composition major at Whitman College in
Walla Walla, Wash.
I received a brief note with a photo from Curt
Mills and his son Will at a sculling race at the head
of the Charles River in Boston. Curt has been
teaching sculling in the Adirondacks when he is
not practicing in his internal medicine office in
upstate New York.
Steve Goldring sent me a brief note on his move
to NYC eight years ago from the Harvard Medical
School. He is now chief scientific officer at the
Hospital for Special Surgery, linked to Weill Cornell Medical School. He oversees the research programs there. His wife is co-director of the cartilage
biology program. They have two adult children, one
in NYC and one in Boston. Steve still maintains a
vacation home in Wellfleet, Mass., on Cape Cod.
Steve’s email address is [email protected].
The annual letter from Jean and Sam White was
worth waiting for. Sam just won’t quit—not just the
consulting gigs or the teaching or the local community work at Milwaukee’s Global Water Center,
but the guy is still playing (and scoring) hockey
and a chasing down tennis balls with abandon.
Forgot to mention his role at running the School of
Continuing Education with its 74 employees and
many students. Fortunately, he takes time to enjoy
the four grandchildren (each of their two older sons
has two children) and to visit youngest son, Ty, who
is engaged in a media career in San Francisco. Sammis, you remain a whirlwind of productive energy,
and it will be so good to see you next year.
I reached out to Lee Modesitt, since I knew he
has been living in Utah and I had not heard from
him recently. Turns out, he and Carol Ann have
lived in Utah for more than 20 years, longer than
the 18 years I spent there before discovering Williamstown. Lee has had an amazing career. He has
published 64 novels, eight of which have made the
bestseller list at The New York Times or USA Today.
He is by far our most published classmate. His latest volume is Rex Regis, and there will be two more
coming out later this year. Carol Ann is a full professor and heads up the voice and opera program
at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. Their
eight children are highly educated and productive,
leaving Lee to be the least educated of his entire
family. His editor is David Hartwell ’63, and Lee
sees other Williams contacts, including his brother
Jeff Modesitt ’67 and his cousin Larry Modesitt ’64.
He remains in contact with Dick Karsh, who lives
in Colorado Springs, near Lee’s brother Jeff.
Harriet and I continue to work full time and
enjoy our three grandchildren, two girls in NYC
and a grandson in Denver. The exciting family news
for us is that granddaughter Ruby Rose Fefferman will be attending kindergarten at Friends
Seminary this September, grandma having recused
herself from the admission director role during the
application process.
1966
Palmer Q. Bessey Jr., 1320 York Ave, 32H,
New York, NY 10021; [email protected]
In most of the central and eastern parts of the
country (including Williamstown), it was a brutal,
cold and all-too-long winter, and the mailbag is a
little spare for this edition.
The weather did not stop the annual, now
20-year-old tradition of the Class of 1966 NYC
Dinner with No Special Agenda from happening at
the end of January. The venue was new. No longer
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a College Club but a French restaurant, Centro, in
the Met Life Building (the old Pan Am building) in the middle of Park Avenue next to Grand
Central. Despite the cold and the weather, there
were 13 class worthies in attendance who brought
warmth to the gathering: Bill Bowden, Wink Willett, John Carney, Mike Burrows, David Tunick, Bill
Adams, Jon Linen, David Kollender, David Corwin,
Bob Rubin, Jody Dobson, Lance Knox, our class restaurateur and me. All are active, busy and engaged,
some still for pay. The evening came close to
having an agenda when someone polled the group
about the one thing they worried about most. The
responses fell into one of three categories: health
issues and loss of capacity; the world our children
will inhabit with seemingly less opportunities for
success and self-expression; and a society characterized by increasingly sclerotic and dysfunctional
public institutions. We did not dwell on these concerns but were able to move on to updates about
planning for reunion and about class events coming
up this year, including the presidential forum at the
end of April and a family clambake on Long Island
Sound in June.
Others also remain active and engaged and
reported in but were not able to attend, including
Joe Feely and Gill Conrad. Jim Harrison asserted
that he had to miss the event because he was going
to be in the Maldives for his 70th birthday, not
because after dinner brandy and port had been
nixed this year. Graham Cole had weather issues but
also reported that he was fully booked with family
events and reveling being with his grandson. Con
O’Leary remains active in the Connecticut court
system and had a conflict. Roger Ruckman was tied
up with patient care responsibilities and could not
get away from Washington. David Tobis, Charley Randolph and Jonathan Smith were all living
happily in warmer climes (California, Florida and
Hawaii). Tom Gallagher, Robert Cunningham and
Karl Garlid had health-related issues of a family
member or of their own. No cause for alarm, they
reported, but not anything they could ignore.
Now that he has retired from teaching Russian
studies at Middlebury, Michael Katz was able to
spend February in Guatemala and Belize, traveling
and snorkeling. He remains active by accepting
commissions to provide new translations of works
by Russian literary figures such as Tolstoy and
Dostoyevsky.
Another academic, Dan Conn-Sherbok, has been
retired for four years from the University of Wales.
He and his wife Lavinia divide the year between
a flat in Kensington in London and an old coach
house in Wales. They continue to publish books, the
latest in January (The Illustrated Guide to Judaism).
Dan has also published various fictional stories,
liberally illustrated with his cartoons and described
as “comedy with a dark, cynical side as well as an
enjoyable story.”
Peter Koenig in London keeps in contact with
Rabbi Dan and has got early agreement on a
commission for cartoons for the reunion book.
Peter, John Gould and I have made a good start on
fleshing out some of the details for the book and
will be in touch.
There will be a Class of 1966 website set up
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under the guidance of web master Bill Adams. It
will be the main portal for all things relating to the
reunion, including news of events, submissions for
the reunion book and eventually for registration.
You will hear more about it soon.
Budge Upton and David Tunick were working
out the details of the upcoming presidential forum
for our class with Adam Falk’s office. There was to
be a wide range of college participants including
past presidents Oakley and Chandler, seasoned
professors, men’s and women’s athletics coaches
and a museum director. Andy Burr reported with
glee that he and Ann (both architects) now have a
grandchild, Sebastian, who lives in Brooklyn with
his parents (both architects). Their second daughter,
Mary Burr ’08, is about to graduate from the Yale
School of Architecture. Is there a pattern here?
Susan and Bill Adams are enchanted with their
first grandchild, Charley, born to Carolyn Adams
’02 and Chris Lowell. Susan and Bill fled the horrific New England winter and arrived in summer in
Australia, where they visited cities, the outback, the
Great Barrier Reef and tropical rainforests. They are
both retired but finding that retirement can be busy
and fulfilling.
Also thrilled with new grandparenthood are Jim
Meier and Judy. Their grandson was born in October. Jim completed the 85-mile Canadian Cross
Country Ski Marathon again in early February.
He continues to lead his consulting firm and is a
committed board member of Search for Common
Ground, an organization dedicated to peace-building operating in 35 countries around the world.
Far from the frigid, snow-covered Canadian tundra, Kent Titus reported that he and his wife Sherry,
Teddy and Charley Gibbs, and Suzan and Bill Kirby
met up in Pismo Beach, Calif., to help celebrate
David Harrison’s 70th birthday, a bash organized by
his children. The four couples were in each others’
weddings many long years ago. Seventy is another
landmark, and it was clear that “there are no friends
like old friends.” They all remain active in either
medicine or law.
David Tobis and his wife, former Bennington
student Risa Jaroslow, moved to Oakland, Calif.,
more than a year ago. His work is international,
so that he needs only an Internet connection and
proximity to an airport. She had tired of managing,
choreographing, dancing and fundraising for her
dance company in New York. That work was easier
in the Bay Area, and, besides, their children and
grandchildren are there. They planned to gather
Michael Katz, Felicia and John Citron and a gaggle
of kids, grandkids and friends for the first night of
Passover. A celebration of liberation and reunion
for all.
And furthest of all from this cold winter of 2014,
Win McKeithen wrote from Thailand, where he had
helped Nick Wright ’57 with a portion of a Winter
Study program he organized involving the study of
weaving in Thailand and Laos. Win got to take the
students around Chiang Rai and had a ball.
Hope we got to see you at the presidential forum
at the end of April.
1966– 67
1967
Ken Willcox, 178 Westwood Lane, Wayzata, MN 55391;
[email protected]
Leading off this issue, which finds your humble
secretary still mired in ice and snow, are several
messages from classmates reporting in from distinctly more pleasant climes. Jack Hunt had all three
of the Hunt girls, including Laura Hunt ’97 and
Dr. Lisa Hunt ’03, and three grandchildren at their
house in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., last Christmas. It was the first time they had all been together
for Christmas in years. On the tougher side, Jack’s
father died just before his 97th birthday. He was a
graduate of the USNA ’40 and survived the sinking
of his ship, USS Oklahoma, on D-Day. He was a
pioneer in transitioning the Navy to jet fighters as
a test pilot and aviation armament expert. He will
be missed. On a happier note, Jack said he had a
wonderful dinner with Lisa and Jake Taylor while
he was in Houston tending to his father’s affairs.
From even sunnier Miami, Joel Rosenthal and
Emily celebrated their 45th anniversary. He notes
that they met each other in Mark Ellis’ room in
December 1965. He says, “Having a therapist for
a wife entitles me to reveal the secret of a long
relationship: separate bathrooms.” Emily had
emergency carotid artery surgery last fall. Meanwhile Joel’s herniated disk has not interfered with
his saltwater fly-fishing for bonefish and tarpon.
In his law practice, he is busy retrieving assets lost
to victims of the Allen Stanford $8 billion Ponzi
scheme. Joel and Emily enjoyed a museum trip to
Amsterdam last October.
Chuck Glassmire wrote just after he had returned
from his daughter’s wedding in San Diego. He
says the score is now all four kids finished college,
and two married. So parental support is approaching the finish line. He continues to work on their
retirement home in Falmouth, Maine, around the
corner from the ocean. They need to get it finished
by their planned retirement in June 2015. He
will be back on the Appalachian Trail again this
summer. He comments that with all of the positive
changes in education, he still finds teaching engaging. He runs two to five miles every day.
Katy and Lenny Goldberg had a wonderful trip
to Prague, Budapest, Vienna and Venice last fall.
On return, they attended a memorial for Lenny’s
mother, who passed peacefully at age 101 last June.
Lenny and Katy are still working, but Lenny says
he has downsized his office and is focusing on bigger, long term projects. Their kids live in Portland,
Ore., and Brooklyn.
Also in Portland is Hank Grass. He met up with
Peter Banks, his three-year Williams roommate,
in Scottsdale, Ariz. Peter is living in Tucson. They
had a challenging hike up Camelback Mountain.
Peter is finishing up his career as a hematological
pathologist. Both Hank and Peter plan to attend
our 50th. Hank reports that he’s healed from his
recent injuries, so he’s back in active mode.
Dave Rikert, yet another Portland classmate,
wrote that in spite of the fact that snow is a rarity
out there, he was looking out at eight inches of the
white stuff. Daffodils were trying to struggle up
through the drifts. Dave says he’s very content in
Portland, where he is teaching and has a B&B.
Mark Richards says all is well back in Brattleboro,
Vt. He returned there after Williams and the Navy
and subsequently never left. In fact, his family
goes back 200 years there. Mark has successfully
transitioned the family business to his two sons
Peter Richards ’95 and Drew Richards ’99. Mark’s
daughter Annie Richards ’01 also lives in Brattleboro, where she operates a successful business
dealing with children’s mental health services. The
Richards enjoy seeing John Hufnagel and Warner
Fletcher when they are at their place in Maine.
Jonathan Vipond checked in to say that all was
well in spite of all the snowstorms they put up with
this past winter. He continues to be very busy with
his law practice.
Ron Bodinson wrote on the anniversary of the
Beatles’ U.S. invasion. He reported that John Arnold
and he had gone to DC over winter break. John
brought along that first Beatles album to “find out
what everyone was talking about.” They wound up
playing it all semester. Ron and Nada’s late winter
plans included a Panama Canal cruise, then on to
Kansas City to visit Irwin Blond over a pizza dinner.
Ron had lunch at the Williams (Princeton) Club
in NYC. He described it as very clubby, but he felt
it could use some Williams photos and trophies to
invade the Tigers’ space.
Andy Cadot said Marty Samuels hosted Lindsey and him for a very nice lunch in his beautiful
book-filled office at Brigham & Women’s Hospital,
where he is head of the neurology department.
Marty has been anointed as a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels following his
delivering a number of lectures there. Andy writes,
“Marty has been super in helping me understand
and plan for the treatment of my Parkinson’s.”
Bill Clendaniel checked in from Palm Springs.
That was an interim stop on their way to New
Zealand for a month. He said he would hold off on
any news until after that adventure.
Malcolm Getz has been part of the opposition to
a plan to convert traffic lanes to bus-only lanes in
the middle of Nashville’s main downtown artery.
He has given 20 public talks to various groups over
the past year. He writes, “The democratic process
is a wondrous thing and has some possibility of
derailing the plan. To add to the complexity, my
employer lends formal public support to the plan
but, at the same time, supports academic freedom
and encourages me to engage the issue. The process
reminds me of Gaudino.”
Tom Ehrich’s first grandchild was born on
Thanksgiving Day. Three weeks later, a second
grandchild was born. Gabriel in California, Sarah
in NYC. Then in January he gave birth (a figure of
speech) to Fresh Day, a digital magazine that brings
together his writing and consulting work in a
weekly magazine. It offers “fresh words about faith
and faith community.” www.freshday.org.
Gregg Meister and his wife Gail took their second
trip to Cuba in February. Their previous visit was
10 years ago. He would welcome the opportunity
to tell classmates all the details of this “People to
People” opportunity. He said the price was under
$2,000 and included meals and hotels, mostly in
Havana but also in the Bay of Pigs location. He
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reported the people were gracious in spite of the
difficulties with the embargo and other issues.
Your secretary enjoyed a fun lunch last November
with a group of Williams ’67 alums in St. Paul. It
included Jim Allen, Van Hawn, Rich Gehrman and
Jack Sjoholm. All looked in good shape and were
in great spirits. Jack is retired, and Jim is thinking about it. Van is still hard at it and also chasing
grandchildren. Rich is busy leading his nonprofit
organization, Safe Passage for Children, “which
lobbies for legislation to protect children.” Also
joining us were Rick Moore ’68 and Dobby West
’68. Meanwhile I continue in our manufacturing
businesses when I can grab some time from my
mayoral duties (Wayzata, Minn.). The latter have
turned out to be much more time-consuming than
I had anticipated.
That wraps up this issue. By the next edition we
should have some reports from the April Mystic
Seaport gathering. Enjoy the spring and summer.
1968
Paul Neely, 2505 Cedar Point Drive, Wayzata, MN
55391; [email protected]
Notes related to age keep creeping into class
notes. Dick Heller puts his positively: “I get a kick
out of the retirement notes. Amanda and I are both
self-employed and continue to be happily busy, so
we don’t give retirement much credence. My work
in leadership development, training and coaching is
as busy as it’s ever been. Must be something about
wanting to learn from the ‘grey eminence,’ but
I’m very active with clients, old and new. We had
a great trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest last
spring with Harriet and Michael Wasserman. We’re
doing the Williams trip to Apulia (southeastern
Italy) in June and pairing it with some time in Sicily and the Amalfi coast. My life in the arts is now
as spectator, so we’ll be in the Berkshires for culture
on and off this summer. Somewhere along the line,
after the hip replacement, prostate (seed) treatment and clinical trial resulting in remission from
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, I’ve managed to be
awfully healthy for a geezer. Knock on something
or another. It’s just depressing watching our class
notes barreling toward the front of the book.”
Also touting the alumni travel program is Dave
Eblen: “After retiring in 2008 from 37 years of public school teaching and administering (the last 17 as
a suburban school superintendent), it has been a joy
to move at my own personal bell schedule. Susan
joined my retirement life in 2009 after 27 years
of public school teaching at the high school level.
Working in adjoining districts with similar demographics, she kept me grounded with a teacher’s
perspective when I started to whine about their
inflexibility, and I reminded her that not all administrators were egomaniacs when she suggested that
superintendents didn’t respect their faculty.
“Let me use this forum as an enthusiastic
endorsement for the Williams alumni travel study
program. Susan and I just returned from New Zealand/Australia, our fourth trip in four years, and we
are already looking forward to more in the future.
Beginning in 2010 we have traveled to South
Africa, Northern India and Patagonia. The group
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sizes of about 25 provide a diverse group of alums
and spouses who come from an interesting array
of careers, travels and other personal experiences.
The professors who accompany the trips always
add a special dimension by providing enlightening mini-lectures and engaging conversations. For
us, these alumni programs embody the Williams
commitment to lifelong learning by providing rich
educational experiences in a collegial forum.”
Likewise, Ann and Trav Auburn and Anne and
Bill Ronai spent a week in the Galapagos on a Williams trip.
Among shorter notes: Mark Pearlman “retired
from private pediatric practice about three years
ago and after a three-week hiatus became a fulltime employee of Allscripts Healthcare, a national
electronic health records company. I travel the
country going to clients of our TouchWorks EHR,
doing post-implementation assessments and training, among other things. I am enjoying the change,
though wintertime travel does have its challenges.
Andrea and I are enjoying our home in semi-rural
Parker, Colo., a suburb of Denver. We have three
acres, lots of deer, a large vegetable garden and a
120-mile mountaintop view from our deck.”
John Kinabrew reports on a joint function with
Amherst and Williams alumni. “A panel of people
who have been instrumental in reforming how
public education gets done in New Orleans were
there for an open forum. Both schools were very
well-represented on the panel by dedicated people
who have done really great work. It made me proud
to be an Eph and a lot more optimistic about the
long term future of this city I love.”
Austin Wand retired last September after nearly
40 years of practicing medicine, almost exclusively
diagnostic radiology, most recently at the VA
Hospital in Cincinnati. “My wife Janet and I then
moved to Las Vegas because of tax reasons and
lifestyle. We have really enjoyed the great weather
so far—have yet to experience the brutal heat of
summer—and the tranquil lifestyle away from the
Strip in a gated retirement community. We are,
however, willing to show visiting classmates the
entertainment opportunities of the Strip should
they so request.”
And Ted McMahon chimes in with this and a
handsome picture of his handiwork: “Welding/
metalwork has been part of my retirement plan for
five years. This is a gate commission—four months
of part-time work. Uses an entirely different part of
my brain than pediatrics! Dirty, loud and just a bit
dangerous.”
Finally, two more serious notes: First from Doug
Ebert. “I have been living in Bloomfield Hills,
Mich., for the last 20 years having previously
sojourned in Fort Wayne, Ind., Miami, New York
and Chappaqua, N.Y., (all in the inverse order).
I spent most of my working years in the banking
business, which is what caused all of the previously mentioned moves. In 2001, after having sold
the bank I was running for the second time to a
foreign owner, I decided that maybe I should find a
new career path. I wound up as the chief operating
officer at Cranbrook Educational Community, a
large nonprofit educational organization and one
of the premier private schools in the country. I did
that until 2009, when I decided retirement seemed
1967– 69
like a good idea. To keep my mind somewhat
engaged and my body out of the house on occasion,
I now serve on five boards, sitting on the executive,
finance and investment committees of three and
the investment committees of the other two.
“My wife Linda is the person who keeps me
organized and together. She has gotten me through
two hip replacements, one hernia, one ruptured
tendon in my foot and a Whipple procedure at
M.D. Anderson in 2005. Now it is my turn to be
the caregiver, as she was diagnosed with breast
cancer last October. The prognosis is good, as she
found it early and about that time the FDA had
just approved the use of a new drug for the type of
early stage cancer that she has—HER2-positive.
Linda is going through the chemotherapy sessions
now and then on to surgery, radiation and continued infusions through November.”
Doug and I have corresponded about this, since
my partner Edie Davenport Thorpe (some of you
will remember her from college days) has her own
battle with breast cancer. He welcomes contact with
others in similar circumstances.
Bob Stanton lost his wife to cancer last year. He
reports that he “went to Florida in February for the
first time since Debby died. She started competing
in horse shows in Wellington in 1979, and we had
been going every winter since. We sold our farm
this past June. It was a bit emotional but good to
see lots of old friends in the horse world and get
over one more hurdle. I continue to work full time
in orthopedics, and I’m truly glad to have my job to
distract me.”
From Florida, Bob went to Sun Valley to join
Cindy and Tad Piper and Barbara and Tod Hamachek. Tod followed up on that visit, saying, “It has
been great fun reminiscing, laughing and skiing
on the best snow and weather we’ve had all winter.
After the four days, Bob is determined to return
next February with his son in tow who was a classmate of our son (1997). All of us ski at the same
level and with the same determination to overcome
and/or deny our aging bodies. Tad and I are thrilled
to have our own team doctor ever present.”
1969
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Rick Gulla, 287 Grove St., Melrose, MA 02176;
[email protected]
The Rev. Chris Kinnell is retiring from full-time
pastoral ministry in June of this year. He and
spouse Gretchen will be returning to their home in
Syracuse, N.Y., and are looking forward to traveling
and spending time with their children and grandchildren, who are living North Carolina, Manhattan and Madrid, Spain.
From Michigan, Dick Tobin, guidance counselor
at Greenhills School in Ann Arbor, and spouse
Peggy, number-two administrator at a local K-8
independent school, have plans to retire from their
respective schools together, about two years out,
Dick estimates. For now, though, “I happily get
out of bed in the morning and head for Greenhills School in my 32nd year. My older daughter
continues to be my colleague as Greenhills’ theater
director.” Dick and Peggy celebrated their 40th
wedding anniversary last August and have “the
rare advantage of being in the same town as our
granddaughter, now 3 years old, whom we babysit
for on a regular basis.” Dick stays in touch with
roommates Cleve Thurber in Grosse Pointe, Mich.,
and Phil Dunn in Gloucester, Mass. “One notable
development of this last year is that Steve Rensch,
the remaining member of our Williams foursome,
reached out via email some months ago, after
decades in which we were out of touch. It has been
a pleasure to correspond with him.” Dick plans on
attending the reunion and looks forward to seeing
all classmates, “together ideally with Williamstown
resident, friend since high school and my freshman-year roommate with Scott Paist, Tim Carlson
’70, whose sojourn in the Peace Corps meant ’70
graduation but who is certainly one of us in spirit.”
Eric Kelly, professor at Ball State University,
says he is “enjoying teaching more than ever and
decided that was probably a good stage at which to
begin to wrap up. Thus I am entering into a phased
retirement program that will let me teach in the fall
semester and largely have the spring semester off
(will teach one online course) for the next two or
three years—my choice.” Eric has also moved into
a smaller home in Muncie, Ind., and sold his house
in Cotopaxi, Colo., for a house in Salida, “a delightful artsy community on the Arkansas River with
a yoga studio that I enjoy a lot—and where I have
made a number of friends. We are a 20-minute
walk along a hiking-biking trail from the galleries
and restaurants of downtown. Hope to be spending
a lot more time back in my home state as I move
into retirement. In the meantime, I am developing
online courses, using mixed media—lots of work,
but I am enjoying the process and am generally
pleased with the result.”
Plastic surgeon Dick Peinert is “still working—two
and a half more years of tuition—and would like
to work until 70 or so and then see how things are
going.” Dick reports, “Liz and Gordy Bryson were
up to our summer home in Scituate over Labor
Day. Took them to a Boston College football game
and got to watch Gordy predict with about 90
percent accuracy what the next play would be based
on the defenses!” Dick also met up with Jon Petke
in October on a trip to California and attended a
minireunion of Berkshire House residents at homecoming in Williamstown, with Tom Small, Rich
Bullitt, Carl Manthei, Geoff Wickwire, Bob Brokaw,
Jim Dunn, Jon Pascoe, Mike Goodbody, Scott Murphy and Terry Palmer. Terry says he’s “back living in
Colorado after doing some research back east for a
multimedia project on the Golden Age golf course
architect Seth Rayor.”
Mary Beth and Sal Mollica now have three
grandsons, the last of whom was born in September. “We are still volunteering, mostly in Bridgeport
schools, and enjoying our summers in New Hampshire, especially with the young ones. We spent a
couple of weeks in Utah touring the National Parks
before they got shut down, and my brother and
I joined our good friend from Jackson, Wyo., for
some fly fishing in Yellowstone, where the weather
ranged from great to snowy to horrific. Life is good,
and I wish all of our classmates well.”
Also reporting an addition to the family are
Beth and Rick Corwin, whose first granddaughter
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was born in January, bringing the number of their
grandchildren to three.
Bill Hoffman also added a family member, with
grandson Owen appearing in November. Now
retired, Bill and Marie have turned their efforts
to volunteering. Marie has traveled to El Salvador with her Engineers Without Borders team
and engages in health education and advocacy as
a volunteer at Washington, DC’s Bread for the
City’s free medical clinic. Bill works in the feeding
program at Miriam’s Kitchen and in its advocacy
network aimed at ending chronic homelessness. He’s also been active with “DC Vote” to get
District of Columbia citizens a voice in the federal
legislative process.
Wes Howard made four trips to Mexico last fall,
“working a little on my Spanish and teaching a
course in a master’s in law program at the law
school La Universidad PanAmericana in Guadalajara. Luckily for all, I taught the class in English,
with the law school providing simultaneous translation for half of the students who preferred listening
in Spanish. I developed the course, which I called
‘U.S. Laws Impacting Mexican Investors.’ It covered 10 various topics, including such things as our
constitutional system, torts, contracts, real property,
securities regulation, taxation and immigration
laws for foreign investors. The best part was the
connections and budding friendships I made with
law school students and other visiting faculty, most
of whom were Mexican lawyers. The university has
invited me to teach a class on business associations, corporations and limited liability companies
during the summer. I owe much to those Williams
seminars where I first learned the Socratic method
(from the receiving end). I was able to draw students into my hypothetical examples and into brief
dialogues, thanks to my having been in Professor
Gaudino’s pressure cooker once or twice.”
Fletcher Clark continues to “develop my lateblossoming career as a singer-songwriter. I have
self-published my personal hymnal and now have
a performance-ready repertoire of over 60 original
tunes which I perform at area listening clubs,
festivals and house concerts, either solo on guitar
or with supporting sidemen—mandolin/dobro,
acoustic bass, clarinet/flute. For the fourth season,
every month I produce and host evenings with the
songwriter at Lockhart’s historic Dr. Eugene Clark
Library (the oldest in Texas), exploring the art and
craft of songwriting.” Fletcher’s guest in February
was Bernice Lewis, who lives in Williamstown and
teaches songwriting to Williams students. “Imagine
our mutual surprise last spring at the Kerrville Folk
Festival when, while assisting her in setting up her
tent, I casually asked where she was from, and the
rest of it all spilled out.”
Lloyd Constantine notes “with pride Williams
professor and noted author Jim Shepard’s praise of
son Isaac Constantine’s ’00 novel Jeremiah’s Ghost,
available on Amazon, iTunes and Barnes & Noble
Nook. Book is brilliant, especially the long poetic
passages.” Lloyd says the book contains many Williams scenes, as “the novel is coming-of-age genre.”
Finally, I end with a salute to Reunion Chairman Bob Grace, who is hard at work on planning
for our 45th June 12-15. Bob and Class President
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Alan Dittrich report that plans are coming together
nicely and should make for a thoroughly enjoyable
weekend. Letters were sent to classmates in March
outlining the details. Hope to see many classmates
return, so reserve the dates.
1970
Rick Foster, 379 Dexter St., Denver, CO 80220;
[email protected]
Thanks to all of you who responded so promptly
to my request for news—some news arrived in my
inbox even before I sent the email! Moreover, the
number responding was so great that I was forced
to edit somewhat what everyone wrote in order not
to exceed my word limit. My apologies for deleting
your best lines.
Paul Miller sent news about lots of Ephs: “New
Year’s Eve, Lea and I went to Put and Charley
Ebinger’s house for a wonderful evening with them
and other friends. A great celebration, and I think
we managed to ensure the survival of the champagne industry for another year. On New Year’s
Day I went to Pat Bassett and Barb’s new place in
Virginia (they moved from Old Town Alexandria
to a community in Gainsville near Manassas with
a nice golf course). The Bassetts had invited Peggy
and Peter Rice ’68 and Marilyn and Don Harrington
’71 for the holiday, and since the weather was relatively balmy (50 and sunny) the four Ephs headed
for the golf course and a round that miraculously
had almost as many good shots as good laughs.”
Per Paul, “Since we all played lacrosse at Williams,
we had any number of surgical repairs available as
excuses if needed, but they went unused.” Paul also
told me that he’d heard from Peter Thorpe, currently working in Rwanda. Peter says, “I am back
in Kigali for another six months and then I will
be returning to the U.S. In the end I’ve decided to
re-up with this organization (Rwanda Girls Initiative). I will be working with them on fundraising
and sustainability issues (same ol’, same ol’, eh?). I
will relocate to Seattle.”
Bill Courter meets with Chris Selvage monthly
for lunch, and he emails Hill Hastings on a regular
basis. His book is “doing OK, and I have really
enjoyed all of the radio interviews (most of the
hosts have been surprisingly supportive and well
educated), covering most areas of U.S. and Canada.
Google is running more ads for my book, starting
next week—but that’s just the ‘boring’ business
part of the fun process of writing.” Bill has started
a second nonfiction book. For him, “The best part
of retirement is that it feels like a return to college.
Each day I have a chance to educate myself by
attending some Internet programs on subjects of
interest. For those of us with a passion for learning,
which is probably true for a lot of Williams graduates, retirement offers a surprising return to the
virtual classroom.”
Bill Carney published his second book, Mountain,
An Evolutionary Epic. He describes it as “an epic
poem on the history of the universe, told around
the campfire and unfolding in concert with the
individual stories of young backpackers in the High
Sierra.” Check it out at www.williamcarney.net.
Jerry Stolz had lunch in January with Rob Her-
1969– 70
shey, Harvey Levin, Paul Miller, Bob O’Connell, Dick
Ginman and Dick Spiegelman. “We all toasted to the
fact that none of us would get into Williams today!”
Mark Lyon wrote from Austin: “As usual, I am
convinced that my changing perspective on life,
etc., is not unique and basically follows the age
(both mine and the world at large). I am still ‘in
harness’ with no plans to retire or change jobs in
the near future. Health is good—maintained with
exercise, a concept completely foreign to me at
Williams. Accomplishments last year: got new
amateur astronomy observing site two hours west
of Austin (dark skies!), but failed to accomplish
getting any of my telescopes on site; added Alaska
to states visited, with only South Carolina left
unvisited—no plans whatsoever to get to South
Carolina at any particular time. Failed to see
anyone from Williams again this year. Remain
longterm hopeful.”
Tom Crowley had an eventful January, with a
health scare followed by a decision to move to a
new state: “I started off the year with a bang, going
to Columbia Presbyterian for bypass surgery. Had
no symptoms ahead of time, consistently going
to the gym three or four times a week (including
the day before surgery!). Caught the problem on
a regular checkup with my cardiologist. I’ve had
coronary artery disease for over 10 years but felt it
was pretty much under control with diet, exercise
and medication. Guess again. The folks at CP
ended up doing five grafts. The good news part is
I feel great! They tell me the heart is strong, with
zero damage, and the recovery thus far has been
incredibly easy with a minimum of pain.” Tom
had high praise for Columbia Presbyterian and its
doctors and nurses. As it turns out, per Tom, “Craig
Smith acts as chairman of the department of surgery and surgeon-in-chief for the whole cardiothoracic unit. It was Halley Moriyama who pointed it
out to me when he heard I was going to CP for the
surgery. Craig was kind enough to check in on me
while I was there, so I felt I had a guardian angel
looking out for me. Immense kudos to Craig and
his entire staff.” Tom’s moving news: “Lynda and I
are gearing up to move to Pennsylvania later this
year. We have a ‘carriage house’ being built in a 55+
community in West Chester, Pa., which should be
ready for occupancy by mid to late summer. It puts
us (more or less) equidistant between our three kids
and their families and still gives me access to New
York and Philadelphia as I scale back my business
activities to part time. The plan is to spend half the
year there and half the year in Maine.”
Jeff Krull and Alice connected with Jenny and
Lee Owen and Shirley and Jack Maitland on a fall
trip to Florida: “We met at a bar owned by Nick
Nicholas, a high school friend of Jack’s. It was a
really great get-together, and we vowed to do it
more often. Lee and Jenny now spend a good part
of the year in Jupiter, and Jack and Shirley live in
Pompano Beach.” Jeff said that his and Alice’s son
and daughter-in-law and granddaughter live in
the area, so they anticipate more opportunities to
meet up in the future. Jeff has also been in touch
with Janelle and Sluggo Stearns, who are now in
Thailand but will be in the U.S. this summer.
Sluggo Stearns advises that “Gary ‘The Rouge
Baron’ Benson, Jack ‘Mr. Yack’ Maitland, Kim
‘Monty’ Montgomery, Lee Scott ‘Mr. Ree Ree’ Owen,
Dr. Jeff ‘Blowidoud’ Krull and Jim ‘Sluggo’ Stearns
will be in the Purple Valley June 23-25 with many
other distinguished guests attending. Bets as to
how many participants end up in jail and for how
long can be placed at www.itsforsure.com.”
John Black reports, “Linda and I joined our family
at daughter Emily’s home in Ridgefield, Conn.,
for Christmas—to await the yuletide birth of our
fourth grandson. Cameron John Courtiss arrived a
couple of days late, on Jan. 2, depriving his parents
by 48 hours of their hoped-for 2013 tax break
but otherwise a 100 percent satisfactory little lad.
We were treated to a Christmas Eve snow that
delighted our Phoenix grandkids.” John said that
he looked forward to some part-time tax prep work
and many more trips to New England and Arizona
to play with his four grandsons.
Richard Wendorf wrote: “I’ve now lived in England for four years, which feels quite comfortable
despite the weather, the taxes and only occasional
forays with my two children, now fully fledged. I
feel totally immersed in English social and cultural
life, and yet I’m always an observer at the same
time. I continue to scribble, publishing a few drips
and drabs each year. You are all most welcome to
visit here in Bath—or in London, for that matter,
where I have a lovely partner and spend a good deal
of time.”
Andy Rahl has entered the ranks of the retired:
“I retired from Reed Smith at the end of 2013 and
am now spending most of the winter in Naples,
Fla. So far, that has been great, and so is our family:
Kaitlin (Rahl) Brandt ’02 is teaching high school
English and living in Waban, Mass., with her family—Nick Brandt ’02 and children Jamie and Lila;
Stephen Rahl ’05 is in NYC and has just started
on his MBA at Columbia; and Kevin got his MBA
(actually MIST) last spring and is working in DC
For now, Leslie is continuing to work in NYC
and Florida as president of her own firm, Capital
Market Risk Advisors.”
While traveling in Israel in mid-January, Jim
Rubenstein and Andrea visited with Ian Fierstein
’71, who has been living in Jerusalem for about
20 years. On the way back to Minneapolis, Jim
stopped to visit Phil Greenland in Chicago and
caught the final moments of the wedding of his
daughter Shira. Jim said that Phil has been to both
of his children’s weddings, and Jim has made it
to the weddings of all four of Phil’s children. Phil
became a senior editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Jim closed his email with
this musing: “With all our kids married off, now we
talk about possible retirement. Funny how this has
entered the conversation with almost all my peers
over the last few years.”
Rod McLeod sent a comment on the political
system in the Middle East and news of his and
Naomi’s upcoming travels: “All good here in the
land of milk and honey. Kerry is contributing to
the economy by his peripatetic shuttle diplomacy.
Unfortunately, his efforts will amount to only much
sound and fury, not results. Proof is the near-daily
continuation of rocket attacks launched from Gaza
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or the Sinai. But hey, that’s what makes living here
vibrant as hell.
“Naomi and I made a spur of the moment trip
to Copenhagen over the Christmas holidays
to assuage my desire to see bright Christmas
lights and decorations and maybe snow. We got
everything but the snow. Had a great time. The
Danes take their Christmas holidays seriously, so
the entire city pretty much shuts down on the 24th
and 25th, except for the tourist catering things. But
that just gave us the opportunity to experience the
quietude of Copenhagen throughout the quiet city.
It was sublime. But, damn, the city was expensive,
due to the highest minimum wage and tax regime
in the world… Heading to Ecuador and Peru next
week. Am taking my first Williams alumni trip
(to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu). Should be
interesting. I looked at the guest list and unfortunately didn’t see any other Class of ’70.
Bill Lawson sent the following: “I am fully retired.
I have been consulting in the health care field
in the areas of marketing, market research and
business strategy and have enjoyed it a lot, after
retiring from Eli Lilly and Co. in 2003 after 28
years. I went back to school and earned my masters
in social work (MSW) from Indiana University,
graduating in 2005. I must admit I think I was the
oldest student and probably the only one that read
every single assignment and never missed a class. I
worked with court-mandated people with chemical
addictions and then in an elementary school in
a poor area of Indianapolis. In my school were a
number of homeless children as well some from
broken families whose stories sometimes broke my
heart but also taught me about resilience. I am off
with my wife Cathy of 35 years to St. Barthelemy
this coming Friday for two weeks of R and R. In
late March we return to St. Barth to stay with
friends to watch the bucket, a race of the world’s
largest sailing vessels. In June we are off to Oia on
the island of Santorini for 10 days, staying at the
Hotel Mystique, and then back to our summer
home on Lake Charlevoix in northern Michigan
for the summer. Our oldest son, William, 32, is
a practicing lawyer. He and his wife Stephanie
have a son, Liam, who is 16 months old, our only
grandchild. Our younger son, Andrew, 27, is finishing up his degrees in automotive technology and
automotive management and plans to open up his
own shop after some on-the-job training at one
or two of the major automotive companies. He
was on an Indy Car team and traveled around the
world working at the races. I am in good health and
am enjoying the winter here in Indianapolis but
need some warmth soon. The deep freeze becomes
tiresome after a while. I can’t understand why each
year my class moves closer to the front of the book
in the class notes. I used to think those with their
45th anniversary were the old ones, and now our
class will soon become members of that august
group. It is fun to read about the successes of my
classmates both in careers and family.”
Each of Fred Eames’ four kids was married in
the last two years, and he is now a grandparent:
“Grandson Milo Allyn Eames was born Dec. 6 to
our son Kevin and wife Stephanie, who live just an
hour away in North Bennington—so we can make
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frequent trips to watch and play and help! It was
good to see Kevin Sullivan briefly at homecoming
in November, after a quick morning hike up Pine
Cobble. I see Don Berens frequently now since
we are both singing tenors in the Mendelssohn
Club chorus of Albany. I think we might persuade
the group to sing ‘Neath the Shadows’ with us
sometime. We had one of those Williams-Williams
weddings in May—my oldest daughter Jennifer
Eames ’01 and Alex Lees ’02. It was in a courtroom
in the Moynihan Federal Building in Manhattan—
unusual setting, perhaps, but really nice, a wonderful event, not just legal, but with much warmth and
joy and love—but no photographer!”
Thanks to all for writing.
1971
John Chambers, 10 Ashby Place, Katonah, NY 10536;
[email protected]
Thanks to all who contributed to this edition of
the class notes; your varied reports follow here, with
special appreciation from the scribe. Those who
have not contributed, be forewarned—I was not
kidding about chasing you down on the phone. My
victim this time was William Fitzhugh Massengale,
once our class speaker, now perhaps North Carolina’s leading practitioner of death penalty defense
law. Willie (Bill on his law office answering tape)
and his partner take pride in slowing down capital
punishment in their state: no executions in seven
years and only one prosecution in the last four
years, which they defended.
It isn’t all such serious work—there is the farm
in Grassy Creek, a variety of fruit trees Willie has
planted in the orchard, a family that includes Sally
and their three adult children. He keeps up with
Johnny Ager, sometime farmer and recent candidate
(as a Democrat!) for North Carolina’s Republicancontrolled state legislature. Farmer/lawyer Bo Brush
checks in too, though reports have Bo down to a
mere 16 foxhounds; we all do make some compromises as we go on in years, I suppose.
My best laugh came when Willie asked when our
40th reunion would be. After regaining my breath,
I think I extracted a promise that he would show
up at the 45th. Do we need a speaker?
Class lifestyles do show a farming trend, which
in turn can lead to certain seasonal dilemmas. Jay
Fahn, with his now-traditional update, comments,
“Bison herd doing well in spite of this winter’s
harsh conditions. Any more snow and those sixfoot fences will be five-foot fences!”
Our esteemed Class President Steve Latham had
a different approach to winter: “Jorie and I recently
returned from a trip to my favorite winter retreat
in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, where
I spent a month practicing for retirement, which,
unfortunately, does not seem to be right around the
corner. We were joined for part of the trip by Janine
and Bruce Smith, who observed … that the temperature difference between Milwaukee and Punta
Cana was about 100 degrees.” (Our illustrious
practicing-for-retirement president offered a photo
of himself and Bruce after a round of golf at Punta
Espada, but it won’t go in the notes, lest those of us
locked into winter experience pangs of jealousy.)
1970– 71
Steve continued, “We spent a great four days at
Steve Lawson’s film festival in Williamstown the
last weekend in October, guests of Steve Brown
and Sue Brown. Mary and John Untereker came up
from Houston and Arria, and Jack Sands made a
shorter trip from Boston. The weekend started out
in great fashion as we watched the Bosox win game
six of the World Series, followed by a final round at
Taconic with Jay Healy ’68.”
Never mind practicing for retirement, some of
us are really retired. How about this from George
Ebright: “Patti and I have flown south with the
snowbirds to escape the winter of 2013-14 in
Michigan. Even the propane delivery driver refused
to risk sliding into the ravines that surround the
dirt road to our house. We drove to Tampa for
friends’ wedding on New Year’s Eve at the Tampa
Zoo. Zebra and elephants trumpeted the couple.
“In January I retired after 25 years of teaching,
and we sold our Chicagoland house by August
to live permanently near South Haven, Mich.
On Dec. 7, we celebrated our son Geordie’s 21st
birthday at Western Michigan University, where he
is a junior engineering major. In September Patti
and I celebrated our 25th anniversary in Paris. We
were attending the wedding of a dear friend at a
chateau outside Paris. Then we toured Normandy
with stops at Monet’s Giverny (thought of Paul
Tucker ’72), Rouen, the D-Day beaches and the
U.S. cemetery. Normandy needs to be on everyone’s
bucket list.”
Most of us are getting dozens of mailings about
Medicare in our snail-mail boxes. (Keeps the
post office in business, right? Could give oldsters
a hernia trying to lift those fat packets, though.)
But some of you caught my mistake in the email
request for notes, like Nancy Tisdall, “It’s Medicare,
not Medicaid! Big difference.” I stand humbly corrected and devoutly hope we all get Medicare, and
don’t have to think about Medicaid…
Unless, of course, we eschew retirement and
instead get ourselves elected to public office, like
Rick Beinecke: “Back into politics! Was elected as a
delegate to the Massachusetts Democratic convention in June. I have fond memories of my first,
while at Williams, when I worked for Kevin White
’52 and Mike Dukakis.”
Debby Sweeney Wick reminded us that not every
classmate lives to retirement age, but some of us
have Williams progeny to carry on: “Every time I
see class notes I am sad that my Jack Sweeney (who
died in 1994) is not able to be a part of them. So I
decided to send an update on his family. Christopher Sweeney ’97 lives in Chicago and is a partner
at Water Street Health Care Partners. Sarah Sweeney ’99 teaches media art at Mercer Community
College in New Jersey. She is married with two
children: Jack, 5, and Ellie, 10. Ann is a fellow in
pediatric critical care at Duke University, also married. Kate teaches second grade in Oakland, Calif.,
and is getting married in July. I have retired from
my career as a nurse-midwife and am now teaching
nursing at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
I live in Yarmouth Port on Cape Cod with my
husband Phil Wick ’56, whom you may remember
as financial aid director at Williams. This is probably the only time I will ever do this ‘class notes’
thing, so I just want to say that I hope all of Jack’s
classmates are well and have gotten the chance to
live out some of their dreams.” Debby and Phil live
at 66 Willow Street, Yarmouth Port, MA 02675,
508.362.7974.
We lost another classmate, Joan Hertzberg, back
in October 2013. Every time we get news like this
from the Alumni Office it produces chills. Here is a
link to an obituary: http://bit.ly/JoanHertzberg.
Perhaps we can take some comfort in knowing
that other classmates not only continue living and
working but also help to prolong and enrich the
lives of those with whom they work. Bill Sweney
offered this testimonial that he found in a flyer
from the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara, Calif.,
written by an MS patient there: “Dr. Paul Willis’ wealth of knowledge is only matched by his
consideration of me, as a person and as the patient,
in a holistic manner. I believe he genuinely cares
about all aspects of my life as they come to bear on
my condition.”
Another tonic is to catch up about our children.
And then, sometimes, they have children! Doug
Donaldson announces that he is now the proud
grandfather of a baby girl, Mackenzie Donaldson
Stuart, born Jan. 15. Here is another bit of grandchild news, guaranteed to warm the heart of every
classmate, from Dan Hunt: “I am thrilled to relay the
news that Jennifer Page Hughes ’00, the daughter
of our classmate and my beloved roommate Phil
Page, now with her husband Ian, has a baby boy
named Ethan Phillip Hughes, born at 6.8 pounds
on Feb. 11.”
Oh, and before that was the Williams/Amherst
weekend last November. By hiding from the
cold at the Taconic Clubhouse, I managed to see
Paul Schneider, Gene Bauer and Mike Rade come
shivering in off the golf course. Mike wrote just
last week to say: “My son Matt Rade ’04 spent an
elective month as part of his third-year surgical
rotation at my hospital. It was a real high scrubbing
with him on a bunch of cases. I’m trying hard to
convince him to be a surgeon, but as always Eileen
is stepping in telling me to stay out of his decisionmaking process. She’s obviously right, and that’s
why I married her 40 years ago.”
Also at the game, but eluding my scrutiny or
reporting, were other classmates—my apologies
for impaired memories. Joe Fitzgerald filled me in
on one pack of harmonious rascals: “Jim Heekin,
Bob Miller, Jim Vipond and I huddled together
in the stands for the Williams/Amherst game in
November. We were delighted when Williams
scored a TD early and we heard the band strike
up the familiar refrain of ‘Yard by Yard.’ But I had
forgotten what terrible singers those guys are. The
first stanza was painful, and then it got worse. The
only solace to the 20-7 Amherst win was that I
didn’t have to hear them sing it again. My harmony
was completely lost on them. Still, it was a great
visit with plenty of laughs.”
Attaway, Joe, leave em laughin’! Or crying, but
give us something for the notes! Or send a photo.
—Respectfully submitted, John Chambers
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1972
Jim Armstrong, 600 West 115th St., Apt. 112, New York,
NY 10025; Julie Rose, 27 Norfolk Ave., Northampton,
MA 01060;[email protected]
It was a pleasant surprise to catch Judy Stein
on the national news recently, demystifying a
Medicare issue. Judy, the founder (1986) and executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy,
told NBC that much of Medicare is an Alice in
Wonderland experience. Since we’re all going to fall
down the rabbit hole soon, you might want to take
the opportunity to dive into the center’s website,
http://www.medicareadvocacy.org, for a wealth
of really helpful information. Judy lives in Storrs,
Conn., with her husband of 20 years, Ken Dardick,
a family physician; together they have four kids
and nine grandchildren. She writes, “My daughters
are terrific. Kate, 37, and her husband have three
children. She graduated from Yale in English and
anthropology and is now in her first year of nursing
school, having taken two years to get her science
prerequisites. Rachel, 35, has two little ones and is
a professional photographer. She graduated from
Brown and then got an MA from NYU. She had
her first solo show in NYC this summer, published
a book, Flying Henry, and also has a wedding photography business.”
Last time we reported that Bob Gordon was in
the midst of a tough re-election campaign for the
New Jersey State Senate. The good news is he
won. “It was the most difficult race of my life,” he
acknowledges, noting that he set a personal record
of knocking on more than 6,300 doors in his quest
to gain votes and support. He also walked more
than 200 miles (and lost 10 pounds). In February,
he sent this update: “I was sworn in on Jan. 14,
and I maintained my position as Senate majority conference leader and chairman of the Senate
Legislative Oversight Committee. The latter has
given me an opportunity to investigate a number
of controversial issues, including the performance
of New Jersey Transit (e.g., the failure to protect
equipment during Hurricane Sandy and the failure
to estimate passenger volume at the Super Bowl);
the performance of Sandy relief programs; and
the very serious organizational flaws at the Port
Authority of NY/NJ. These are truly boom times
in the Chris Christie oversight business. As I read
the daily headlines on ‘Bridgegate,’ I can’t help but
remember the time I spent in Washington in the
1970s (with a large number of ’72 classmates). The
arrogance of power that gave us the White House
plumbers and Watergate is the same force driving
behavior in the Christie statehouse. It’s been fascinating to be observing events at close range.”
Chris West has also been knocking on doors,
pursuing a long-held passion for politics. “At my
advanced age,” he writes, “with scores of classmates
retiring or at least thinking of retiring, I have
thrown caution to the wind and am running for
the House of Delegates in the Maryland General
Assembly. So, in addition to practicing law full
time, I’m asking strangers to give me money and
frequenting neighborhood associations, volunteer
fire company bull roasts and street fairs. The allimportant primary election (all-important because,
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atypical for Maryland, which is a deep blue state,
my district is overwhelmingly Republican—it
voted 59 percent for Romney) is on June 24. If
I win the primary, then I can cruise through the
general election in November. Perhaps I should call
up Mark Udall, John Malcolm, Don Beyer and Bob
Gordon and ask for tips.” With our group of ’72
politicians, sounds like we should definitely have a
support group. Who knows, maybe there’ll be more
candidates out there. Any takers?
John Kincheloe writes that in addition to teaching
history and performing with his own band, Blues
Maneuver, he likes to sit in with his kids’ band,
Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds. “From time to
time, depending on the venue, I get to play some
percussion on their last three or four songs, and
that is a lot of fun. They’re touring nationally and
just sold out a big place called the Brooklyn Bowl.
They go back out pretty soon, but my daughter,
Arleigh, who’s the lead singer and songwriter
for the band, is joining me here in the Catskills
tomorrow for most of this next week. She likes
to hide out here and write songs and let her dad
take care of her for a little while. My son Jackson,
who’s a fantastic harmonica player with the band,
spent most of last week here with me as well. The
drummer is my twin brother George’s son, Bram,
so there is a heavy Kincheloe cousin thing going on
in the middle of an eight-piece band that’s gaining
momentum in a rather insane business. My band
also has a horn section, but that’s about where the
similarity ends. We rock weddings and small festival/parties (and class reunions!); they’re doing it for
real. … The best thing I did last summer was play a
gig in Cooperstown, N.Y., and then drive all night
to Tom Scatchard’s beautiful place in Charlotte, Vt.,
for a rugby team/golf reunion. After four hours of
sleep, I awoke to a beer pop-top going off near my
head and the melodious voice of Peter Hopkins ’74
saying, ‘All right, that’s enough lying around. Time
to tee it up!’ The rest is rather hazy history.”
From New London, N.H., Peter and Deb Rucci
sent a Christmas card full of family news, including
the happy announcement of the arrival of both a
granddaughter (Lauren) and a grandson (Ryan) to
daughters Amanda and Carolyn, respectively. Since
the families live in southern New Hampshire and
Boston, they’re able to visit often, especially during
ski season. Deb reports that son Edmund Rucci ’08
is at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and is spending the semester in Buenos Aires.
This winter, Deb and Peter have once again been
volunteer skiers at Mount Sunapee, working for the
New England Handicapped Sports Association, a
nonprofit that aims “to integrate individuals with
disabilities into society through social and recreational activities.” They also volunteer in a variety
of capacities at the nearby Fells Historic Estate and
Garden. Although it’s been a long winter in New
Hampshire (and pretty much everywhere else),
Deb added an enthusiastic P.S. in a mid-February
email: “We just had 18 inches of snow, everything
is beautiful, we snowshoed yesterday and are skiing
today. Life is good!”
We interrupt these notes to bring you an important message from David Webster, our esteemed
class president. David is anxious that we all be
1972– 73
aware of our class website, visit it frequently and
be willing and able to post news and information
there, much as we have done over the decades with
our class notes in the Alumni Review and now Williams People. The website is www.purplecow72.com.
Go check it out today.
It was great to hear from Ernie Smith, who writes,
“I had my left hip replaced last November and
highly recommend the procedure to any of our
classmates who may be suffering from osteoarthritis of the hip. I put off having the work done
for seven years before finally deciding to move
forward. Hated to watch Williams lose to Amherst
in the last football game at Weston Field, but the
sun did come up the next morning, so I suppose
I will get over the loss with sufficient time. Also,
losing to Amherst is a good reason to destroy the
field and replace it with a luckier one. Got a nice
note from Dave Shawan’s sister Dianne Shawan
Luke (honorary ’72), who tells me that former
Williams art professor Marc Simpson will be
writing a book about the renowned art collector
Ferdinand Howled—Dave and Dianne’s greatgreat uncle—who donated 271 works of art by
19th- and 20th-century American and European
artists and also helped finance the construction of
the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (subsequently
renamed the Columbus Museum of Art). Very
impressive. … Finally, I have the pleasure of corresponding occasionally with Lew Steele, who shared
with me a note from a colleague of his, discussing
Lew’s decision to retire. It’s quite a tribute to Lew’s
service to others.”
The note Ernie forwarded about Lew is quoted
here with Lew’s reluctant approval. It’s from the
supervising state review officer in the New York
State Education Department’s Office of State
Review. “From personal experience I can tell you
that since he joined OSR in 2001, Lewis has spent
countless hours, often working very hard in the
night, to discover the factual and legal nuances of
each case he has worked on. He has always offered
thoughtful consideration to his colleagues and
the state review officers on the most recent case
law, guidance, ways to improve decisions, macro
language. He has shown such great interest in
special education and the students with disabilities
whom we serve … I find it difficult to imagine
State Review on a daily basis without him.” Lewis
reports that he has started off his retirement by
obtaining a temporary, part-time position with
Vermont Legal Aid. He’s working with Maureen
O’Reilly ’82 in the agency’s Rutland office. While
in Montpelier for a meeting, he ran into Wendy
Hopkins coming out of a coffee shop—“she with a
cup of tea! We then took the opportunity to storm
the State House, where we not only ran into the
governor but—more important—were successful in
finding and visiting with state representative John
Malcolm. So who says nothing good happens when
you’re not expecting it?”
Hank Maimin wrote from Lenox, Mass. (“30 short
minutes from Williamstown and just up the road
from Tanglewood”) with the following update: “I’m
completing my 15th year as school business administrator for the Lenox Public Schools. I attended
the Williams-Amherst basketball doubleheader,
accompanied by Bruce Grinnell ’62 and others. We
saw the women eke out a victory but also watched
the men fall to the Lord Jeffs. I’m catching the
Winter Olympics hockey games on TV and
thinking about my frosh roommates and hockey
players, Frank Briber and Brian ‘Boom-Boom’ Patterson, wondering if at this point in their lives they
would be better prepared for hockey or curling. My
daughter Rachel was ordained as a reform rabbi by
the HUC-JIR in New York and is now serving the
Isaac Mayer Wise Temple in Cincinnati, while my
son Ben works in Manhattan for Opus 3 Artists, a
firm that manages the careers and touring activities of classical orchestras and musicians. My wife
Elizabeth Baer is a Latin teacher in the Berkshires,
and her son Wilson Baer is following in her
footsteps as a Latin teacher in Marlborough, Mass.
Younger son Daniel Baer is a junior at Hamilton,
running cross-country and indoor and outdoor
track while double-majoring in economics and
political science.”
Finally, as many of you already know, we lost
another classmate, Tyler Griffin, last November.
Ty was a dynamic member of our class, from his
All-American squash playing and tennis to his
memorable theater performances, including Sizzle
our senior year. His passion for theater lasted a
lifetime, with multiple performances, including
Gilbert and Sullivan productions in the Philadelphia suburbs, where he lived. Ty also loved to fly.
One of the enduring memories Julie Rose has is of
a perfect spring evening at Williams that included
soaring over Petersburg Pass with Ty at the controls
of a single-engine plane. We extend our warm
memories and condolences to Ty’s wife Mary Griffin, his son Tyler III, and his family. David Webster
and Chris West, Ty’s freshman roommate, both
wrote moving tributes to Ty. They can be found on
our website.
1973
Nan Elliot, P.O. Box 101195, Anchorage, AK 99510;
Dan Farley, 6875 Avenida Andorra, La Jolla, CA 92037;
[email protected]
Dear classmates, With glasses lifted in cheer,
your literary cupids wish you all a belated and very
happy Valentine’s Day. Light is returning to the
north. Hallelujah. And if the folks on the East
Coast would stop hogging all the snow, we’d be
even happier up here in Alaska.
One of the first to write was Bobby Peck
Rothrock, who had us laughing with her humor
and élan. We closed our last report with word of
her wild ride since our reunion last June. (“This
prompted a bunch of very sweet emails from many
classmates, which warmed my heart more than I
can say,” wrote Bobby). In October, her goal was to
be skiing this February. We are delighted to report
she was not only schussing slopes in Maine but also
frolicking “topless” in the Caribbean.
“The place we stayed happened to be located
right next to a ‘naturist’ resort which was not so
much focused on nature in the sense of plants
and animals but rather in the sense of fully nude
sunbathing. Well, this turned out to be a great
opportunity to take off my stuffy, hot wig (a form
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of ‘topless’), since everyone’s eyes were elsewhere.”
That’s the good news!
The bad news is that only three of you responded
to Dan Farley’s first request for news. Dan is soliciting again this time, and again I am writing. (What
is wrong with this picture?) Shakespeare, aka
Dapper Dan, dashed off a cryptic email to me that
he was on the road, first with the Marvelous Lucy
Calkins’ traveling roadshow (more on that later)
and then for “V-ball in Vegas.” (It seems Dan’s
daughters are on their way to the athletic hall of
fame.) So, here am I, your other lowly scribe, in the
dark, with no chocolate, trudging on like George
Mallory—“teeth into the wind.”
Dan and I wondered what sort of mischief the
other 386 of you are up to. And how to cajole it out
of you. So, we thought, in honor of Saint Valentine,
we would take a thematic approach. We posed four
questions. That prompted a few more responses.
Some of you answered the questions. Some of you
just went merrily off in other directions. Here’s the
roll call.
Question #1: What currently brings you joy
(outside of and in addition to romance, children
and grandchildren)?
Joe “Dart” Standart wrote one word: “Botswana.”
But he also included a stunning photo of a cheetah,
in regal repose, worth a thousand. His photos are
world-famous.
Bing Bingham sent a recent photo of what brings
him the most joy—his two beautiful daughters,
Elizabeth Bingham ’11 and Katherine. “Both will
be doctors someday,” he noted proudly, then added,
“Giving a concert with Joe at our 40th reunion was
pretty cool too!”
Tom O’Connor is thrilled to be taking yoga classes.
“At the first class, the teacher asked if I had ever
done any yoga before, and I replied, ‘Not in the
last 40 years, but I did take a few classes in college.’
(Does anyone else from ’73 remember taking yoga
in the gym from Dixie?)” He admits he never
considered yoga again until last summer, when he
was casting about for exercise that might sustain
his interest for a year or two. “The first few classes
were really tough (and they still are), but something
clicked,” he reported. Happily, he said, yoga focuses
on flexibility, balance and strength and is good for
the brain, but he also allowed it is very humbling.
(“Since when did my knees develop wrinkles?”)
“What I really look forward to is the feeling of
deep, peaceful relaxation at the end of a tough class.
I have dabbled in meditation since my Williams
days with limited success. Apparently yoga was
developed to prepare mind and body for meditation
and I now see how this works.”
James Fraser-Darling wrote: “The high point of
2014 so far has been my meeting Johnson Chang
at his London club for a piano recital followed by
dinner. Johnson’s fellow club members were very
convivial and welcoming and in awe of Johnson’s
disquisitions upon China’s contributions to global
civilization. It was the first time that I had seen
Johnson in 41 years, when we had been members of
the Foreign Student Society at Williams.”
Question #2: If you were going to give advice to
someone half your age about the essence of life,
what would it be?
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Peter Klejna (Williamsburg, Mass): “My advice
to someone who is 31 is: ‘Get into photography.’
Visual intelligence is as real as social intelligence.
The process is still nascent when the shutter clicks
on an individual image. That’s me, then.” With that
sign-off, Peter included four photos of scenes that
inspired and captured his eye and camera.
Peter Pierson wrote: “If I have learned anything
in my 40-odd years of pastoral work, marriage, life
experiences, therapy and child/grandchild rearing,
it is that most advice is unhelpful. Compassionate listening has a much better track record in my
books. When asked for advice these days, I flip an
internal switch for a pre-recorded message which
says, ‘Stop, listen and learn.’ My need to be needed
sometimes overrides this recording, and I spew
out advice. Can’t help myself. What does this have
to do with the essence of life? My motto the past
few years has been this: It’s all about grace. Grace,
as I see it, is best mediated through compassionate listening: to self, to others and to life. I’m daily
learning the implications of all this and working it
out on my blog: www.justofftheportbow.blogspot.
com. Thanks for asking. Peace.”
Question #3: Share with us a recent book, movie,
play or other that entertained, enlightened, or just
flat-out satisfied—or annoyed. (And we won’t
source you if you don’t want!)
Frank Chapman wrote: “If you want a good read
that will keep you up nights and reaching for that
third cup of coffee in the morning so you can keep
your eyes open when you get to the office, I suggest
you pick up The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James
Brown. It is the story of nine college kids from
working-class families during the Depression at the
University of Washington. These nine young men
grew into a mystically-bonded, eight-oared rowing
crew. With the confluence of an Englishman, who
crafted their racing shells from Pacific Northwest
red cedar and spruce into living things (and understood rowing in a way not understood before then)
and two extraordinary coaches who forged the
team, this particular crew earned a spot on the U.S.
Olympic Team in 1936.”
Frank was not a rower at Williams. He was
on the ski team with coach Ralph Townsend.
“Coachie” as Townsend was affectionately known,
had a marvelous habit of nicknaming his skiers,
of whom there were Huey, Dewey and Louie.
Chuck Hewett ’72 was Huey. I took Chuck’s job in
Alaska—assistant to the director for then-proposed
Lake Clark National Park—when he went off to
Yale Forestry School back in 1975. Caribou, aka
Bruce James ’72, was another one of Coachie’s skiers in those years, as was Binker, aka Dave Blanchet
’72. Binker has dominated the Nordic ski scene
here in Anchorage for the past 40 years—in all
ways—racer, coach, volunteer organizer and blithe
spirit. (He sends warm regards, Frank.)
Lynne Ruben Lewitt writes of her recent favorite
movies: Philomena and The Monuments Men. “I
saw The Monuments Men because of the write-up
in Williams Magazine. A bit heavy on the military
music, it still gave some very sensitive brushstrokes
to the Holocaust theme. Although there was no
reference to S. Lane Faison Jr. ’29 in the movie, I
was so impressed that he was involved. I had several
1973– 74
classes with him and was at his home many times,
and he modestly never said a word. The whole
concept—saving a civilization, its art and artifacts,
because, if you don’t, then what have you really
saved?—is so easy to consider now but was pretty
novel then.”
It seems appropriate under this question also to
highlight those of us who have written books. Steve
Hobbs (Lafayette, Calif.) completed a photography
book titled The Lafayette Reservoir: A Visual Celebration. He says it is “a tribute to a much beloved
local icon. The reservoir is used by walkers, hikers,
fishermen, kayakers, picnickers and cyclists. It is
inhabited by more than 70 species of birds, including bald eagles, osprey, heron and, my favorite, the
American white pelican. Landscapes are spectacular—fog and mist in early mornings, gorgeous
sunsets, steep hills and a rugged trail above the
water. All this is two minutes from downtown.
“The photographs are accompanied by my anecdotes and essays—to which I add, I hope, education
and humor. I also include personal narratives from
others who love this place. I see this as a legacy
project—a way to record what the world looks like
through my eyes and how I approach and inhabit
that world.” Steve says sales to date have been
“gratifying,” but most important to him is that the
volume has “really touched” his fellow “reservoirists.” The best way to order Steve’s book is to email
him at [email protected]. He said he
can arrange to have the book mailed to a classmate.
(The book is $70 plus shipping.)
Martha Elliott, in her book The Man in the Monster, to be published next year by Penguin Press,
wrote about a 10-year conversation she had with
a serial killer who was eventually executed by the
state of Connecticut. “I am hoping that, at least, it
makes people think about the death penalty—especially when it comes to mentally ill people. In my
view, taking a life is wrong no matter who does it.
I am very much opposed to the death penalty, and
it haunted me that the state I lived in, Connecticut,
would be the first New England state in 60 or more
years to execute someone.”
I asked Martha what she learned about herself in
the process. She wrote back: “I learned that I was
much more judgmental than I had thought. I came
to believe in the profound Quaker tenet that there
is a bit of the divinity in all of us and that is what
we should look for, not the bad.”
Question #4: Tell us what you were like when
you were 7 years old? What did you want to be?
(This question comes from a British film series
called Seven Up, a fascinating look at the lives of 20
children from all walks of life who were first interviewed at age 7 and every seven years thereafter.
Julian Beckford wrote: “At 7, I wanted to be a
cowboy. I also wanted to play with electricity. I was
almost electrocuted. I no longer want to be a cowboy. But I still want to play with electricity. God
and I have a special agreement now. And I try to be
careful.” However, Julian has not entirely forsaken
his love of cowboys. He is researching Chinese
cowboys in the U.S., particularly during the time of
the Civil War. So if you have any leads, phone in.
Meanwhile, Julian is “foolhardily shoveling snow—
in the Deep South!”
Dede Gotthelf wanted to be a bride. “I loved the
way they had cans making a lot of noise on the
back of cars, wore huge white dresses and threw
flowers.” She added: “Please let classmates know
that I have a historic rooming house in Harlem for
guests if they don’t want to stay at the Waldorf or
the Pierre—and your knees are in good shape.”
Dan Farley cannot remember when he was 7. But,
while watching “v-ball in Vegas,” he wrote about
watching our own rock star, Lucy Calkins, in action.
“My work in publishing has rarely been so fulfilling
as in the last several months. I’ve had the opportunity and privilege to attend and support Lucy
Calkins in her work. Lucy is a professor of children’s
literacy at Teacher’s College, Columbia University,
and the founding director of its renowned Reading
and Writing Project. She is one of our nation’s
preeminent thinkers and leaders in the teaching of
reading and writing. I’ve watched Lucy speak to
policy makers, school principals and teachers. She
is greeted like a rock star. I have been in audiences
now with thousands of other attendees; I have
been inspired by her and watched her excel as the
model teacher all Americans would want for their
children. Wow. (At one educator event, I also had
the pleasure of reconnecting with Bo Baird ’72, head
of middle school at the Pike School.)”
Jeff Seitelman has a private practice in psychoanalytic therapy and is awaiting promotion to full
professorship in clinical psychiatry at the University
of California, Irvine. Julie Kaufman has seen Patricia
Deneroff and Sharon Mosse ’72 a few times in the
past few months for dinner and theater in New
York, while she has been visiting her mom. Mark
Donahue still works as a financial planner in Southern California. And to round it out, Dave Futransky
wrote: “It was great to be at reunion and reconnect
with so many people. The panels were great and the
‘gallery’ (courtesy of J.O. Neikirk) was a lot of fun.
Kudos to all who worked so hard to make it such a
success.” We second that.
In conclusion, if you have any “world questions”
you would like to pose to the class for our next
report come springtime, send them along. Otherwise, just send chocolate. Up here, in the Far North,
dog-mushers are about to take off on what is known
as “The Last Great Race on Earth”—the Iditarod
Sled Dog Race—which follows the old gold-rush
and mail route 1,200 miles across Alaska. I’ll be out
on the trail! Don’t forget to send the chocolate.
1974
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Jonathan W. Fitch, 5 Cedar Hill Road, Dover, MA 02030;
[email protected]
Dear friends of the great Class of ’74, our 40th
reunion is nearly upon us. If you have not made
plans to attend yet (and let’s be honest: the last
minute is the time zone in which we operate best),
there is still time. Plan to get there on Thursday
night so you can go the BBQ at Hy Conrad and
Jeff Johnson’s place in Pownal, Vt. The kickoff
dinner will be catered by Hoppy Valley Organics
and the Hoppy Valley Green Mountain Tasting
Center, the new enterprises of Peter Hopkins. A
preview of what Peter has in store for us: tastings
of Vermont beer and wine paired with assortments
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of Vermont cheese, charcuterie and other Vermont
specialty foods. (Have a look at what Peter is up to
at facebook.com/hoppyvalleyorganics!) Other high
points of the weekend include a panel discussion
led by classmates on the topic of “Where Do We
Go From Here? Next Chapters of Our Lives;” a
showing of Paul Stekler’s new film Getting Back
To Abnormal; a screening of Mr. Gaudino followed
by a panel on the Gaudino legacy; a welcome-back
dinner followed by trivia on Friday night; docentled tours and our class dinner at MASS MoCA;
and of course a golf outing at the Taconic Golf
Club. Thanks to our reunion chairman Jeff Elliott
and a cast of other committee members for putting
together a weekend that promises to be a blast.
Now to the news. Joelle Delbourgo says, “I’ve
been thriving as head of my eponymous literary agency, Joelle Delbourgo Associates, which
I founded in 2000 after holding senior editorial
positions at Random House and HarperCollins. I
work with a wide range of fiction and nonfiction
authors helping to develop their ideas into saleable
books, but even more gratifying, advising them on
career development as writers.” As to her family,
she says, “My two children are doing very well.
Caroline, 28, is an analyst in healthcare in the DC
area, and Andrew, 24, is working with Teach for
America.” Travel is a high priority for Joelle, who
pledges, “My personal goal for 2014 and beyond is
to travel more and have more fun (what a concept!).
I was in Paris in February, where it was in the 50s,
reconnecting with family, my native language and
culture, and of course the food, which is incredible as ever, most notably the pastries, and I hope
to make this an annual trip.” The tango is another
passion. “Two years ago, I discovered Argentine
tango, which led me to immerse myself in the
world of Latin and ballroom dance. I now study
dance four nights a week, and I love it. I’m not
a fabulous dancer yet, but I love the process of
learning something new, which involves movement and music and a world of likeminded people.”
At press time, Joelle was not certain whether she
would be attending the reunion, but if she does we
most certainly will expect tango lessons! Randall
Perkins practices the fine art of designing stunningly beautiful books in Manchester, Vt. Her latest
project hits our demographic head-on. She says,
“For all you new grandparents who live far away
from grandkids, check out (and purchase multiples
of ) myfarawaygrandma.com, which I designed/
produced for friends. No, it may not be purchased
on Amazon.” Randall will be assuming the role of
chairwoman of Planned Parenthood of Northern
New England, an organization in which she has a
longstanding leadership role.
Speaking of grandchildren, Erik Thorp writes,
“Carmany (aka Peanut) Heilman ’76) and I have
had two major changes in the last year. In August
we had our first grandchild. Elise Alexandra Thorp
was born to our son Galen Thorp ’04 and Christy
in San Diego. Galen continues to serve in the Navy
as an F-18 pilot. Carmany is really into being a
grandmother (hard to believe), with multiple trips
to see and take care of her, and when not around
her fawning over the latest videos we seem to get
daily. How did anyone in our class ever become
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a parent, much less a grandparent?” Erik and
Carmany have also moved to northern Michigan.
He says, “In April we moved full time to our family
cottage on Mullett Lake, at the northern tip of the
lower peninsula. We picked quite a year to move, as
this is probably the coldest and snowiest it has been
in this area for at least 50 years. There have been
quite a few mornings we have awakened to temperatures lower than minus 20 degrees. We wonder
if the four feet of snow on the ground will melt by
May. Carmany has retired from teaching, but I am
continuing to work in the construction materials
market. I spend quite a bit of time traveling, but the
Internet makes it all possible when I get back. Lots
of opportunity for golf in the summer, partridge
hunting in the fall and cross-country skiing in the
winter. It has probably been even more of a change
than we expected, but it will make the roll on into
retirement down the road a ways pretty easy.”
We too have been blessed by the arrival of our
first grandchild, Winnie, born in December to
daughter Emily Fitch and Brian McHugh. They
also live in San Diego, which Deb and I have discovered has good nonstop jet service from Boston.
We were on hand for the birth and then back in
March for a longer visit. Not quite 3 months old,
Winnie is an absolutely perfect child with a sunny
disposition, good manners, extraordinary compassion, high intelligence and determination to change
the world for the better. Raffi is her favorite performing artist. And she is so cute. All of this can be
confirmed on my Instagram and Facebook pages.
Carol and Rich Levy traveled to Vietnam for two
weeks in January to visit their son Michael Levy
’12, a rock climbing and kayaking trip leader for
an outfit called Asia Outdoors, located on Cat Ba
Island in Lan Ha Bay in the South China Sea at
the north end of the Gulf of Tonkin. Rich reports,
“Long travel for us to get there and back, but it
was a fabulous trip and especially fun to spend the
entire trip with Michael—Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh
City, Mekong Delta, Hue, Hoi An and three days
of kayaking, rock climbing (I loved it—maybe my
next sport!), jungle trekking and motor biking on
Cat Ba Island. Great food, really interesting tourist
and historic sites (ancient and not-so-ancient,
including places whose names are burned in our
memories). We really liked the Vietnamese people,
who on the whole genuinely seemed to like Americans.” Rich says a trip to China may be in the
cards next because Michael plans to join Insight
Adventures, an outdoor and touring organization in
Yangshuo, China. Congratulations are in order to
Carol and Rich on the engagement of their daughter Rachel Levy ’09 to Caleb Balderston ’10 (son of
Tom Balderston ’78 and Betsy Balderston ’79). Jeff
Thaler writes that he has completed the seventh
successful Winter Study program of Williams-atHome in Portland, Maine. Jeff will be one of the
panelists honoring the legacy of Professor Robert
Gaudino at the reunion.
We haven’t heard for a while from Janet Keyes
O’Connell, who reports her pleasure in attending
the graduation of her son, Kevin Keyes O’Connell
’13, last year. Janet says, “Visiting him in Williamstown was a very happy time for me. After a somewhat rocky start—he transferred to Columbia for a
1974– 75
year and a half but then returned to Williams—he
ended up thriving at Williams.” As to other realms
of her life, she writes, “I’ve been married for almost
30 years to Ryan O’Connell (Harvard ’73), and we
live in Larchmont, N.Y. I am a financial planner,
and as I wind down my business, I have become
more involved with several local charities and nonprofits. My daughter Elizabeth, Trinity College ’06,
lives and works in NYC.” Tom Hodgson writes that
he and his wife Susan Brownell Hodgson have finished a house they designed and built on property
on Mount Greylock in Lanesborough, Mass. Looking ahead, Tom says, “Susan will retire as director of
the learning center, English teacher and soccer and
squash coach from Brooks School this spring. She
plans to spend lots more time in the Berkshires.
For three to five more years, I expect to continue
to teach (philosophy) and coach (boys varsity
squash) at Phillips Academy.” Tom also directs a
joint Phillips-Brooks urban squash program run by
SquashBusters for middle and high school students
from nearby Lawrence, Mass., and he operates
Phillips’ summer program in China. Tom’s son Tad
Hodgson ’03 is married to Liz Chase ’03, and they
live just south of Boston; their daughter Katie lives
and works in healthcare in Denver.
Before we leave the subject of squash, David
Maraghy writes, “While my 30 years in sports has
been mainly professional golf, in the last two years
I have become involved in professional squash. So
this may interest some of our classmates who still
play squash and were part of the excellent program
at Williams. In 2013 we ran the North American
Open here in Richmond, which is an elite-level
professional squash event with the best players in
the world. It is streamed live to millions around
the world on Squash TV, and the semifinals and
finals are carried on ESPN 3. In March 2014, we
will host a most prestigious event in the squash
world, the World Series Finals, which features the
top eight players in the world. The Power Courts
PSA World Series Finals will be here in Richmond
March 15-19.” David reports, “My son Jack will
be going off to college next year, to a Little Three
member which begins with a ‘W’—but not Purple
Valley. He applied early decision to Wesleyan. He
was taken with the curriculum and the film studies
program there. We are thrilled for him … even
though he will be a traitor to the family.”
I’m looking forward to being at the reunion and
hope you will make it there. I ask you: When is
Williamstown any lovelier than in June? What
better place is there to reclaim the idealism in your
18-year-old brain—the very idealism our panel will
surely identify as needed in the next chapter? And
where can you find better company than among
our classmates, who are—as we are fond of singing
of ourselves—still crazy after all these years. Come
and enjoy!
1975
Julia Berens, 22 Sperry Lane, Lansing, NY 14882;
[email protected]
Time for a save the date: The Williams Class of
’75 40th reunion (yes, you read that correctly) is
June 11-14, 2015. It’s more important than ever
that we gather before we forget even more stuff;
whether long term memory is a blessing or a curse
is still up for grabs. If you are interested in helping
with reunion planning, please contact our class
president, Tim Reny ([email protected]) or me
([email protected]). If we can delegate the
various activities of the weekend to many, we can
probably prevent a meltdown of the last classmate
standing (aka the reunion chairperson).
Space restrictions don’t allow me to say much
about our many accomplished offspring, but Ed
Mazdzer’s son Chris deserves a shoutout for his
participation on the U.S. men’s luge team at the
Winter Olympics in Sochi. NBC broadcast a
luge run with Chris wearing a camera to remind
some of us why we have never tried the sport of
luge. Another noteworthy offspring is Jacqueline
Meadows’ son Jordan, who will turn 40 this year.
Some might remember that Jacqueline crossed the
stage in 1975 to receive her diploma with Jordan
in tow. Kudos to the first mother of our class!
Jacqueline has stayed in touch with Lezli White and
Susan Sutler ’74. On the other end of the parent
spectrum are Lindsay and Peter Keller, who finalized the adoption of Janiah in November (after
33 months as foster parents). At age 60, Peter has
children ages 23, 20, 18 and 7. No mention of
retirement in his email.
Alicia Kershaw was profiled in the Wall Street
Journal’s “Second Acts” feature for her work with
GallupNYC, a therapeutic riding program she runs.
Seeing the kids connect with the horses is most
rewarding. “When they’re on the horses, they are
calm, focused and at peace. For so many of our kids,
riding has transformed their lives.” Having retired
early from her career as a lawyer, Alicia reports,
“I’m having the time of my life.” Frank Richards
forwarded a fascinating article from the Atlanta
Journal Constitution detailing his efforts to eradicate
river blindness in Africa. He coordinated a program
in Central and South America, which is close to
success. In the article, Frank acknowledges a rocky
start at Williams, dropping calculus freshman year
and showing up late for a final in chemistry, thanks
to roommate Andy “Bear” Peterson, who, the
night before the test, convinced Frank they needed
“refreshments” to continue studying. Learning from
his mistakes, Frank became studious, and, according to Walter Clark, “He made being a nerd kind
of cool.” As the leader of the Carter Center fight
to eliminate the disease, Frank remains optimistic,
despite the many challenges. President Jimmy
Carter has traveled with him and considers Frank
“one of my heroes.”
Submissions of “six words for 60” continue. Joe
Gold apologized for his initial entry: “Well, here’s
my life at 60.” He went on to say he practices
ophthalmology in the Berkshires and plays jazz
piano. The proud parent of three children ranging
from high school sophomore to college freshman
to graduate student, Joe is married to Claudia, a
pediatrician who specializes in developmental and
behavioral pediatrics. He has stayed in close contact
with fellow eye doctor Steve Phillips in Seattle, and
he sees Ed Cahill when he travels to Boston. His
email concluded with an improved six words for 60:
“I hope everyone is as blessed.”
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“Where did you leave your keys?” are the six
words Dean Cycon submitted. Perhaps some of
you just made sure you know where your keys
are. Ellen Davis’ “friends, family, fauna, flora, foci
now” summarizes her enviable life with husband
Brian Dreyer in South Carolina (winter) and
Westport, Conn. (summer). Two grandsons from
her daughter have enlarged her family, and her son
Chris DeNicola ’05 and wife are settled in NYC. She
is happily looking forward to helping her parents
celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary.
Several classmates joined together to ring in the
New Year. Maria and Ned Reade, Liz Haff and Hank
Haff, and Pam Hawkes and husband Scott Teas
joined Suzanne and Bill Flynt at their idyllic farmhouse in Dummerston, Vt. Pam and Scott shared
stories of their stays in Africa to help build homes
and schools. Ned aptly described the ease with
which classmates “fall back into trusting conversations about life’s changes.” Ned also noted a chance
meeting on the Trinity Pawling squash courts as he
prepared for a match with Avon. After introducing
himself as “Ned Reade, JV squash coach,” Dave Jarvis introduced himself as an Avon parent. Neither
recognized the other until they heard the names,
recalling they had played freshman soccer together
in the fall of ’71. Unable to accept the commission
from Trinity Pawling to sculpt a bronze lion, Walter
Matia found a budding artist to do the job; Ned
suspects Walter still might have had something to
do with the design.
Reporting the race highlight for the year, Chuck
Chokel finished 16th at the World Triathlon
Championship in London out of 85 competitors
from 40 countries. He is ranked 55th out of 1,000
who race in the U.S. in the 60-64 age group.
Anton Bestebreurtje attended a Christmas
party at the home of Kirk Renaud; Chuck Ossola
and Mike Doochin were there as well. A seminar
sponsored by the DC alumni association featured
local alums involved in commercial real estate; Bob
Pinkard, one of the stars of the show, was supported
by Anton and Eric Pookrum and his daughter Amina
Pookrum ’09. In December Anton discovered that
the trespasser in his yard was Morgan East buddy
Gene Frogale, who was providing a close-up view of
Anton’s Christmas lights to his granddaughter!
Liz Titus attended a 2013 energy summit convened by Martha Coakley and the Massachusetts
Attorney General’s Office where Janet Gail Besser
’79 was a speaker. Liz vacationed with good friend
Andy Bader ’72, cross-country skiing in Norway
and visiting Kiev, Ukraine, shortly before the protests there became violent. Andy is currently serving in the Peace Corps in Ukraine, and Liz got an
up-close look at a country where “so many people
are firmly committed to asserting civil rights.”
Never a dull moment for Debba Curtis, who fell
down the stairs before Thanksgiving and broke
her neck and compressed her spine. She is still
immobilized from chin to navel, but doctors assure
her she will not require surgery and will recover.
In happier news, she has joined the ranks of proud
grandmother to a grandson living in Dubai; she has
yet to meet baby Mikhail Edward. Best wishes to
Debba for a speedy recovery!
Ginny and Guy Creese enjoyed a Williams
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alumni trip to the Galapagos Islands and Machu
Picchu in February. Barbara Austell and Rhett
Austell packed up to travel to Los Angeles to
babysit for two months for their new grandson
Sebastian, son of Kate Austell Elortegui ’03, who is
returning to her job teaching seventh- and ninthgrade English. Rhett successfully completed four
marathons in 12 months. Gina Campbell is busy
at work on her next book and is “not ready to age
gracefully anytime soon.” Dave Fox has a new job
as Midwest regional sales manager for Roundstone
Captive Management, a reinsurance for employers
that offers medical benefits on a self-funded basis.
Continued congratulations to Claire Blum, who
is “so happy to be cancer-free.” She says the last
three years have been a huge learning curve, steeper
than any at school. Robert Kittredge has published
aMusings; the modern essay; he notes the irony “that
an English-averse student who took zero such
classes at Williams would be a published author.”
Many of you, including Steve Stephanian, noticed
the striking resemblance of Nora Kern ’12 on the
cover of the Williams People January 2014 issue to
her mother, Melissa McGuire. I can attest that the
resemblance is uncanny, not just in appearance, but
in behavior as well! With few golfing opportunities
in the winter, Steve has ramped up the yoga, often
the only guy in the class. He is still working to
improve his piano playing and is cooking comfort
food; Berkshire pork is highly recommended. Steve
got together with Michael Hensley in November,
meeting at “Plan B” (burgers, beer and bourbon) in
West Hartford, Conn., where he got the scoop on
Mike’s New York Marathon run.
Paul Skudder wrote of a volunteer commitment
in November/December 2013 serving injured
troops from the war in Afghanistan. Injured troops
are transported to Germany, where civilian volunteer surgeons provide care so that military vascular
surgeons are available for duty in Afghanistan.
His observations: “The experience was at once
humbling and moving. The injuries of war are
gruesome. The soldiers are the bravest and most
grateful patients I have cared for in my career. The
active-duty surgeons I worked with may be the
most dedicated physicians I have worked with in
my career.”
Suzanne Fluhr and Steve Albelda (aka Mr. and
Mrs. Excitement) are in Hawaii for three months
where Steve is working and Suzanne continues to
luxuriate in the perks of being the trailing spouse.
Donna Lindsay-Goodwin is braving the cold and
snow of Minneapolis and working as president and
CEO of DLG Creative Weddings and Events; she
wants to thank all those who have “liked” her page
on Facebook.
Larry and I escaped the winter that will not
stop with a visit to Naples, Fla., where we saw
Mike Watkins and Ellin Goetz. Mike continues to
do an amazing job with the Naples Beach Hotel
and Golf Club. Here in the Finger Lakes region
of New York, we have been spared the disruptions
experienced by so many on the Eastern seaboard.
I am optimistic that by the time you read this, the
polar vortex will be a distant memory. Many, many
thanks to all of you who submitted news; you make
this job easy!
1975– 76
1976
Jane Ray Kell, 2110 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta, GA
30318; [email protected]
Hi, everyone. I hope you’ve managed to survive
this cold winter with a little less trauma than we
had here in the sunny South. I was one of the
millions of Atlantans struggling to get home during what is now called “Snowmageddon,” which
dumped a full inch and a half of snow on our freezing roadways. I was one of the lucky ones, arriving
home in a mere five hours after an odyssey of travel
by car, by rail and on foot. Others took more than
24 hours to get home, and our office shut down
completely when round two presented itself two
weeks later!
In contrast to January, the holidays were balmy
down here, and I had the pleasure of seeing Bill
Keenan at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Bill
is back in Atlanta, living near Emory University,
and we’ve been in frequent contact. Just after the
holidays, I had a pleasant surprise in learning that
Susan Evans’ brother, Chip Wood, lives just a
stone’s throw from me! He learned of the connection from Susan’s son George Evans ’04, who lived
in Atlanta while a student at Emory Law School
and came to my home for Williams events.
Joe Singer continues to teach at Harvard Law
School, where he is “writing a bunch of law review
articles about the subprime crisis and how the
banks have messed up the property system in
the U.S., not to mention reducing our daughter’s
college fund by 30 percent just as she entered her
first year of college.” Joe was on sabbatical last year
and visited friends and gave talks at conferences in
South Africa and Luxembourg on property law and
theory. “Fascinating seeing how South Africa is trying to both protect property rights and make sure
everyone gets some,” he writes. Joe’s daughter Mira
is about to finish college and just finished the first
draft of her second fantasy novel. Her first (Stones
of Power) is directed at young teens and is on sale
at Amazon. Joe’s wife Martha Minow is finishing her fifth year as dean of Harvard Law School,
and Joe is continuing to play violin and viola in
string quartets with friends, “right now running
through all the Haydn quartets one after the other.”
Joe’s biggest news is that he is cancer-free, having
survived a scary episode that prevented him from
attending our last reunion.
Ruth Anderson’s youngest daughter Allison is off
to college next year. Her oldest, Zachary, has been
out of college a year and is now applying to go back
to grad school in math and engineering. Middle
child Natalie is graduating from Penn State this
year with a degree in theater and starting a nationwide job search. “So, long story short: next year I’ll
be an empty nester, and I don’t know where any of
my three kids will be yet!”
“Weather aside, we are loving Vermont,” writes
Sandy Bragg, who with wife Kristi (Beyer) Bragg
moved north in 2013. “Kristi has made lots of new
friends, and I’ve made more friends here in a few
months than 28 years in N.J.,” he writes. “Maybe
it’s because there are so many ex-hippie types up
here. We expected flinty New Englanders who
would be tough to get to know, but the reality is
more diverse. The long winters help in a perverse
way: By the end everybody is suffering from cabin
fever and happy to see other humans.” Sandy and
Kristi are the proud grandparents of Quinn, who
was born to son Nate and daughter-in-law Beanie
in January. “We have been captivated by her brilliant progress to toddlerhood,” Sandy writes. “We
suspected but never fully appreciated how great
grandparenting is: all fun with very little real work.
Especially while Quinn is entertained by a funny
face, a talent within my limited repertoire.” Kristi
is chairman of the board of the local co-op, “a
wonderful country store that is a center of our community here in Shrewsbury.” She also is singing in
a local hospice choir—and has dusted off her viola
da gamba and begun playing early music with some
of the other local talent. Sandy, meanwhile, has
“gone virtual” with his NYC-based company and
has taken on the additional role of town auditor
for Shrewsbury, a role that dates back to the 1700s.
Son Nate is working long hours at the management consulting firm Casey Quirk while daughter
Susannah is working on screenplays and “living the
life of the starving artist” in London.
Jim Fieber reports that his sons Brian Fieber ’03
and Gregory Fieber ’03 have joined him at The
Fieber Group after 10 years of investment banking
and private equity experience. “I cannot tell you
how gratifying it has been over the past six months
having their energy, enthusiasm and zeal in the
office. With all four of our children living in NYC,
Debbie and I are having fun spending more time at
our home in the city.”
“I have been busy with event planning to benefit
the nonprofit I direct,” writes Susan Collings, who
runs The Art Connection in the South End of
Boston. First, the illustrious Professor Paul Tucker
’72, on the faculty at University of Massachusetts,
Boston, and one of America’s foremost authorities in Monet and Impressionism, was to join The
Art Connection for a talk on collecting art at the
studio of artist Dorothy Arnold. Then The Art
Connection’s signature fundraiser “Art BINGO”
was to be part of ArtWeek Boston on May 3. In
the meantime, Susan planned to attend the March
14-16 reunion of Williams’ ski team. “I was only
on the women’s ski team freshman year, but it was
the all-important very first season of a women’s
ski team at Williams! The group organizing the
reunion is particularly interested in having some of
us old timers come with stories as to how it was in
the ‘early days!’”
Finally, Chris Oates, Deb Heineman and others
are busy at work on plans for a Class of 1976 60th
birthday party in Naples, Fla., on June 13-15. Ellin
Goetz and Mike Watkins ’75 have graciously offered
favorably priced accommodations at the Naples
Beach Club, and planning is under way for a
weekend full of events. For those who can’t make it
to Naples but still want to participate in a collective
birthday bash, additional celebrations are likely to
take place at several different locations in the fall.
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1977
Deborah DePorter Hoover, 7480 Herrick Park Drive,
Hudson, OH 44236; Sandra Lorimer Lambert,
149 College Road, Concord, MA 01742;
[email protected]
The theme for this season’s class notes is transition and connection. We are eagerly awaiting the
transition to spring after a cold and snowy winter
in the Boston area and taking a brief respite
between storms to compose these notes—hard to
believe that you will be reading these notes in May!
First, we must bid farewell to the season just
past. Rick Bartlett sent a lovely Christmas card of
his family from the snow-covered cornfields of
Pennsylvania. Rick is entering his fifth year as a
physician instructor for an OB/GYN residency
program that delivers more than 1,000 babies a
year. Rick’s own family has recently expanded,
welcoming a granddaughter, Violet, who is just over
a year old. Rick still finds time to travel and visited
with friends from Graz, Austria, where he spent the
summer before Williams (1973) with The Experiment in International Living.
Jeb Seder sent New Year’s greetings from the
City of Light. He was pleased to stay in Paris for
the holidays, with all three of his children visiting
as well as several friends from the school they have
attended or currently attend: Hampshire, Trinity and Goucher. During one of the many visits, a
Trinity College student participating in his wife
Francie’s program “remembered the authority and
dignity of Dean Sara Peavy at St. David’s School
in NYC, a school that ends in the eighth grade, so
an impression was firmly made.” Earlier in the year,
Jeb visited with Bill Spriggs over lunch, after Bill
ran into him at the American Cathedral in Paris,
and added, “Bill is doing well, masterminding the
AFL-CIO and living in the suburbs of DC.” Bill is
chief economist at the AFL-CIO and professor of
economics at Howard University.
The Williams expatriate community apparently
had a busy fall—Jeb noted that the WilliamsAmherst game was rebroadcast in Paris for the first
time, “managed by Yetunde (Ramsey) Schuhmann
’95.” Dave Rogers and Jeb attended a private art
showing organized for alumni and students by
David Dewey ’82 and John Malcolm ’86 of the
Williams Development Office. He added, “It was a
treat to bump into, among others, Lynn McConnell
and Stuart Staley ’88 and see a terrific collection of
British contemporary art.” Jill Stephens and husband Peter Gloyne visited from Seven Oaks, U.K.,
while daughter Emma was studying in Paris. Jeb is
happy to report, “Jill’s responsibilities as an English
judge do not require the wearing of a wig.”
In January, Anu Vuorikoski was among those
honored by the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California in connection with
the celebration of “50 years of women at HBS.”
Anu, an ’82 HBS graduate, and the other honorees are profiled in a new book titled Inspiring
Women: Celebrating Harvard Business School Leaders
for their impact through their leadership roles in
both for-profit and nonprofit organizations while
also volunteering time to give back to the broader
community. The 114 honorees were nominated and
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chosen from more than 1,200 female graduates of
HBS who reside and work in Northern California
and spanned six decades of HBS graduates.
While they miss the big-city life in Taipei,
Lynn Smyers Eusden and Alan Eusden successfully settled back into their home near Corning,
N.Y., last summer, and enjoy being closer to their
families. Alan is semi-retired from Corning and
continues do some consulting and coaching. Their
youngest son, Greg Eusden ’13, is now working at
Parthenon Consulting in Boston and lives with
Dan Rashin’s son. Their daughter Caitlin Eusden
’10 is also in Boston working for Wayfair, and their
oldest, Will Eusden ’08, just started this fall at Tuck
studying for his MBA. Lynn and Alan visited with
Chris Lovell in the White Mountains last summer,
and although their golf game was rained out, “luckily beer can be drunk in any weather.” A roommate
reunion with Jeff Davies and Brent McKinley was
planned for the end of February. Lynn reported
seeing Brent during the summer and fall, as Brent
traveled back and forth from Connecticut to
Cleveland to visit her sister Elizabeth. After living
with breast cancer for 17 years, Elizabeth, who
was featured in a recent New York Times article,
“How Doctors Die,” succumbed in November.
Also expressing sympathy on Brent’s loss of her
sister were Jeb Seder, Peter Sheil, Holly Boyer Scott,
Amy Sterling ’78, Joninna (Sadoff) Simpson, David
Simpson ’78 and Jill Stephens.
Alissa Ballot’s plans have come together, and
she will retire from NextEra Energy Inc. in July.
Unlike the rest of us who yearn for the warmth
of the sunny climes, Alissa is moving north and
has bought a small co-op apartment in a Mies van
der Rohe-designed building in Chicago, and she
hopes to spend summers and early falls there. She
is grateful that life is busy and interesting, and she
is spending much of her time working, renovating
the Chicago apartment and caring for her elderly
parents. She writes, “I hope to volunteer at the
Chicago Architecture Foundation, the Art Institute
and the Steppenwolf Theater Company. I miss the
vitality of city living and am really looking forward
to getting back to it.” She adds: “Winters in Florida
of course.”
Returning to the business world, Chris Vogelsang has completed the purchase of Prentice
Office Environments, an office furniture dealership
in western New York and authorized Steelcase
dealer. Chris enthused, “It’s great to be back in the
contract furniture industry and the creative process.
Putting my art design background to good use!”
Roger Wilson is embarking on a new venture he
calls “Civic Decisions” that was “inspired, actually, by a Williams course with James MacGregor
Burns ’39 that stuck with me.” He adds, “The aim
is to help active citizens succeed in public affairs.
I feel like all my years of building publishing and
information enterprises was just preparation for
this challenge!”
Michael Beschloss has been appointed a New
York Times contributing columnist on history. In
addition to writing his mainly online history column, Michael is also finishing a book on presidential leadership during times of war. He comments
that he enjoys coming back to the college to watch
1977– 78
his son Alex Beschloss ’16 pitch for the varsity
baseball team and to visit Professors James MacGregor Burns ’39 and Susan Dunn.
Judith Deutsch Kornblatt visited Boston this fall
as outgoing president of the Association for Slavic,
East European and Eurasian Studies and spent an
afternoon catching up with Sandy Lambert. It was
a cool fall day, and we basked in the sunlight on a
bench in the public garden as Judith described her
transition from department chair to nursing school
student, an amazing transformation that showcases Judith’s intellectual curiosity and empathetic
character! Even though she has moved on to nursing, she recently co-edited Thinking Orthodox In
Modern Russia: Culture, History and Context. Judith,
with her co-editor, “provides a historical overview
of Russian Orthodox thought and a critical essay
on the current state of scholarship about religious
thought in modern Russia,” according to Amazon,
which will carry the volume this summer.
Sandy heard from her suitemate Judith Weil
Epstein, who wrote, “Thought of you this weekend
when we saw The Monuments Men. It tells quite a
story, and it amazing to think that S. Lane Faison
Jr. ’29 was one of them.” Judith is still practicing
law in NYC with her husband Lloyd Epstein ’74
and is the proud grandmother of two little girls.
She added, “Lloyd and I spent 10 days taking care
of them last month in Jerusalem while their mom
traveled to California to see her grandparents. It
was great.”
The always busy and creative Martha Williamson
figured in two submissions. Nina Girvetz visited
with Martha and reported that besides serving on
the Williams Board of Trustees and taking care of
family, Martha is producing and writing a show for
the Hallmark Channel called Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Nina, whose son is Martha’s godson, added
that she is “thrilled and proud of her.”
Carol Soybel Baertges and her husband Dan
received a surprise call from Martha Williamson
last winter, while Martha was visiting NYC with
her two daughters. Carol recounted, “The oldest,
Isabelle, had taken ill, and Martha was calling from
the hospital. We jumped in the car, raced uptown
and had a rather unusual midnight get together.
But what do you expect from two old drama
majors? It was perfectly fitting for Martha and me,
and Bernie Bucky would have been proud!” Carol
continued, “I’m still delighted by the minds and
souls of adolescents and still teach comparative
literature at the Rudolf Steiner School in NYC—
it’s my 36th year, believe it or not. For the last seven
years I’ve also been serving on the Leadership
Council of AWSNA (the Association of Waldorf
Schools of North America), traveling often in the
work of evaluating, mentoring and accrediting
the 150-some odd Waldorf Schools around the
country. I represent the Mid-Atlantic region of this
national association and enjoy the professional conferences and educational development work that I
organize and coordinate as part of this position.”
Carol also provided a picture, “so that Deb
DePorter Hoover, my old roommate from Gladden House, can see what young grandma-hood
likes like. It’s so much fun!” Carol’s daughter Sarah
graduated from Columbia as an environmental
global policy major and taught at the Columbia
Secondary School of Science and Technology
before marrying three years ago. Carol says, “She
has two adorable little girls. As a young mother,
she’s juggling parenthood with trying to finish
graduate school, so I get to do a lot of babysitting!
It’s a delight to watch a whole new generation
begin their life’s journey—amazing how adept my
2 1/2 year-old Becky is with a cellphone!” Carol’s
son Maximilian also lives in NYC and seems to
have inherited the performance gene. Carol notes,
“As a Berklee grad, Max continues as a musician.
His band does the Brooklyn scene—but his career
is in the hospitality and restaurant business. He’s a
manager at a New York French bistro downtown.
This pays for all those bass guitars that live in his
apartment.” Carol’s own graduate studies “have followed a long but persistent path; I’m in the middle
of my PhD dissertation in comp lit, and there’s
money being wagered in my family as to whether
I’ll make it before I turn 60! It’ll be a close race,
and a much-needed sabbatical next year will allow
me to get to the research in Germany needed to
finish.” Our money is on Carol!
We continue to be impressed with the energy
and enthusiasm of our classmates! It’s great to hear
from you. Please keep sending us your news!
1978
Maggie O’Malley Luck, 751 Cypress Drive, Boulder, CO
80303; [email protected]
Hello to everyone from Colorado. A common
theme in the replies to my request for news has
been the winter we have endured. Hopefully that
will be just a memory by the time you are reading
this. It is wonderful to hear from you, about your
families, your passions and your work, and how
they all seem to overlap in a multitude of ways.
Karen Simmons reports that her company
Rowgue is running a couple of competitive rowing
camps in Portugal this spring. After that part of the
trip, she and John Simmons are headed to Dublin
to visit their daughter Nellie for a week. Other than
that she spends her time painting large landscapes
in oil, using as much purple paint as she can.
Moving on to the “Green Acres” part of her life,
Lisa Capaldini is now raising two goats, three ducks
and eight hens. On her days off she loves to have
her coffee with the animals. In October she rescued
a dog who wasn’t working out as a cow herder—but
it turns out he is very good at herding goats. She
is also happily obsessed with horseback riding and
just hanging out with horses. There is amazing trail
riding nearby, and Lisa is loving the whole thing:
mucking the stalls, brushing them, riding them
(hasn’t fallen off in a while) and hanging out with
her riding friends. She writes that it’s a wonderful
way to both exercise and relax, but whoever said
“healthy as a horse” has never owned one!
Amy Sterling-Bratt writes that Boston alums got
together over the winter. Debby Green organized it,
and present were: Liza Olsen Waters and Muddy,
Julie Dunn, who is running for treasurer in Arlington, Mass., Brent Shay, John Winkleman, Emily
Glimp, Piper Orton, Anne Shellenburger Levy, Dan
Bruns and wife Jean, Don McCaulley, Paul Rovinelli
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and Sally Kruse Hughes, who made it down from
Vermont. Anne Shellenburger Levy is a college
counselor at the International School of Boston.
John Winkleman is a neuropsychiatrist/sleep doctor at Mass General. He has three kids, one at
Columbia, one a freshman at Yale and another in
high school, and lives in Lexington, Mass., with his
wife Janet, who is also a prominent psychiatrist. He
sees John Bedford Lloyd in N.Y. when he visits his
daughter at Columbia.
In addition to making it the Boston gathering,
Sally Kruse Hughes has been reinventing herself
after suffering from debilitating Lyme disease and
no longer being able to work. She has plunged
herself into the world of art and was juried into
three shows at various galleries this past year and
exhibited at a few more. All this is very exciting for
her, as she had little prior painting instruction. Her
younger daughter, a third-year med student, was
married last fall, and the older one will marry this
June in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Travels have included
Sweden, Switzerland, California, Seattle and
Hawaii! She writes that she is lucky to be married
to someone who is invited to speak at conferences in fun, faraway places. I want to add that
Sally’s journey with this disease and her recovery
have been amazing. Some of our phone conversations—while she was in a bad phase with Lyme
and I had a good case of chemo brain—were pretty
humorous.
Joining Julie Dunn in the political arena is Jim
Cohen. After many years of being a quiet Democrat, he has become more vocal. He now chairs
the Stow Democratic Town Committee and has
organized public forums every two years on behalf
of the committee. Topics reflect the party’s values
such as wind energy, health care reform and gun
violence. He has been a delegate at the Massachusetts Democratic Convention several times and is
excited that this year they may be nominating an
Eph for governor (Martha Coakley ’75). Jim says
that this has been a great way to get to know other
people in town who share his political views and to
do more than just cast a vote.
After offering his Super Bowl condolences, Eric
Pyenson admitted that football isn’t one of his
favorite sports. Baseball, on the other hand, is a
passion, and his oldest son has inherited it. Craig
is currently in Melbourne, Australia, broadcasting
for the local pro baseball team in the Australian
League, the Melbourne Aces. No trip down under
is planned, but Eric and Andrea were heading out
to visit their younger son, Luke, in London, where
he’s working on his MA at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. The
degree is in the anthropology of travel, tourism and
pilgrimage. Eric’s wife Andrea finished her third
cookbook. It’s called Grilled to Perfection and will
be out this spring. While contemplating what his
next work gig will be, Eric has been concentrating
on some healthy habits by playing a lot of squash
and creating the ultimate kale smoothie. He says it
makes kale somewhat appetizing, although it still
looks like a green, primordial sludge in the blender.
Will Noel welcomed a third grandchild this past
year, and this fortunate babe is the daughter of
Laura Borland ’06 and Seth Borland ’03. Will was
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spending a good part of the year remodeling the
house and preparing for the next wedding in April.
He writes that, like Carl Bettinger, he is winding
down his legal practice; unlike Carl, he has not yet
moved to some idyllic locale.
After having so much fun at reunion, Nancy Gray
wrote that to say how much she enjoyed seeing
everyone and reuniting with roomies Debby Green,
Ellen Foley and Mary Donahue. Nancy is still working part time as a private practice psychotherapist
for children and families in Foster City, Calif.
Her son Alexander is a junior in high school and
looking at colleges. Williams is on his list at the
moment, but we all know how things can change
in a year. She had coffee with Dave Simpson, who
is now working in Palo Alto for a startup that helps
nonprofits adopt green energy. She says he looks
exactly the same as when we were in college. Nancy
and Cathy Falsone Swan try to get together at least
once a year for a “gab fest” and a Broadway show.
Cathy lives in Westport, Conn., and teaches art at a
private school. Nancy is trying very hard to kidnap
her for our next reunion.
In response to my solicitation for news, Sally Fri
wrote that it was fortuitous because she had lots
of free time while recuperating from back surgery.
A ruptured disk had been flaring since last May,
but Sally was still her wild self at reunion, despite
the pain. She was thrilled to say that she woke up
in the recovery room with immediate relief from
sciatic pain. She can’t wait to get back to hiking, dancing and all her other activities. She did
acknowledge a silver lining in that she has taken up
swimming for exercise, which she absolutely loves.
She spent 10 days over the holidays in Dominica
in the Caribbean and was blown away by its beauty.
She continues to love doing project work for nonprofit organizations, mostly in women’s reproductive health in the developing world. She figures she
is now a snowbird, with seven months in North
Carolina and five in Vermont. She feels blessed that
she still has a strong community of friends in Vermont from her 20 years there back in the ’80s and
’90s and can work from anywhere. “Life is good!”
she concluded.
Hot off the presses, Herb McCormick sent me a
link to a Wall Street Journal review of his new book,
As Long as It’s Fun: The Epic Voyages and Extraordinary Times of Lin and Larry Pardey. The Pardeys
have spent more than 30 years sailing and writing
from all over the world, and Herb was the Pardeys’
editor at Cruising World. The review said that the
Pardeys’ story was much richer having been told by
Herb. It’s already downloaded to my Kindle and
next on my list.
One more year of teaching at Cate School,
outside Santa Barbara, and then Mary Fish Arango
and her husband Peter are looking to retire. Mary
loves the puzzle of teaching math in a way that
helps students believe in their own ability, and Peter
is a master teacher of English who manages to
write more than a book a year—sometimes fiction,
sometimes college guides, sometimes a historical
play. They are gradually preparing for a move to
Ashland, Ore., in summer 2015, where they plan to
pursue writing, educational consulting and photography. Mary continues to do public service with her
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three border collies, all of whom are certified for
deployment to national disasters to comfort victims
and rescue workers. She also competes in agility,
consults with families about dogs and occasionally
breeds a litter of border collie puppies.
Although the winter has been cold this year, Jim
Little says he can’t complain after what he has read
about the northern climes. He’s just hoping it will
keep the mosquito population down this summer.
He and wife Cathy are doing well and were looking
forward to a trip with some friends to Israel in
May. He says it’s been fun refreshing his Middle
East history knowledge by reading a few books
over the last few months.
Winter doldrums had Mario Chiappetti and
Lydia Chiappetti looking forward to the spring
and a trip in early May to Tucson and then to the
Grand Canyon. They met up with Brian Harrison
and Bill Whelan and Natalie at Amherst to see the
men’s and women’s basketball teams play against
The Lord Jeffs. Mario did mention that Bill and
Natalie’s niece, who is co-captain of the women’s
team, jumps higher than Bill did when he was playing. Mario and Brian then attended the Williams/
Amherst games in Williamstown. Tim Layden and
Janet also cheered on the team before Tim left for
Sochi to cover the Olympics.
Robin Sullivan writes that she and Dan Sullivan are loving life in Cleveland and were excitedly awaiting the birth of their first grandchild
on Valentine’s Day. Dan recently received the
prestigious Bruce Hubbard Stewart Award from
the Cleveland Clinic. The award recognizes house
staff and professional staff who combine scientific
skills, compassion and sensitivity toward patients,
and encourages the realization that optimal care
combines both technical skill and an understanding
of the emotional and intellectual needs of patients.
With one daughter spending a year traveling
around Southeast Asia, Richard and I have been
bitten by wanderlust again and are heading out for
a two-week camping trip to Baja, Calif. Armed
with Herb’s book, painting supplies, suntan lotion
and a rooftop tent on the 4x4, we are all set. This
will be my second trip to Mexico this year, as I
spent two and a half weeks in January with Bill
Schulze’s wife Pat near Puerto Vallarta.
Thanks to all for the news, and please keep those
emails coming. Hasta proxima. —Maggie
1979
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Barbara H. Sanders, 3 Stratford Road, White Plains, NY
10603; [email protected]
Although our collision was way too brief, I was
fortunate to run into Manette Jen McDermott, Diane
Hughes and Pat Strong on Martha’s Vineyard
last summer. Manette says, “We were hangin’ out,
catching up, and we had a glorious time. We paddle
boarded, kayaked, built a fire on the beach, played
tennis, ate delicious food … enjoyed precious time
with each other, something we have come to value
tremendously as life has presented its challenges.
Diane and I just returned from a spectacular week
on the waters of the Caribbean. I was invited to
join her family as we enjoyed the warmth of some
of the most incredible islands. We experienced the
absolute joy of musicians sharing their passion with
people who love jazz. It was a remarkable week
… and I felt so honored and grateful to have been
included. It most certainly was a trip filled with
laughter, thought and moments where we were
moved to absolute tears—watching and listening
to producer and composer Marcus Miller (Diane’s
brother-in-law) inducted into the hall of fame.
What a beautiful week that filled me with me such
inspiration and appreciation.
“Our youngest, Chih McDermott ’14, recently
finished Williams. His major was English and his
passion is spirituality and Christianity. He and I
have been asked to speak on a panel for Claiming
Williams, addressing legacies of color. I’m looking
forward to being back on campus and certainly am
looking forward to the conversations that will arise
from this panel. I continue to learn a ton about
life and people as I make my way through this
fascinating journey. After my visit to Williamstown,
I’ll visit two of my children who are now living in
NYC. Ren McDermott ’07 is still teaching special
education on the Lower East Side and performs
musical improv in the evenings, so I’ll be able to
catch one of her performances. Riki McDermott ’09
is busy with social media and marketing for ESPN
and loves her job. Tai is our third, and he decided to
try a school other than Williams. He’s studying to
be a fireman/paramedic—lots of work.
“Chih and I ran in the Los Angeles Marathon
in March. We participated with a group called
Team World Vision. Our goal is to raise money to
help children in Africa have clean water. It’s been
a remarkable experience training with my son. This
will be my first (and probably last) marathon. I figured it is truly for a great cause, and I’m not getting
any younger, so I need to do this while I still can.
“I’ve been busy working on the idea of a startup—
trying to decide if I’m crazy amidst all that already
exists in my life, but also realizing that I’m open to
possibilities and that I keep running into people
who are making it possible. I teach sign language
to cerebral palsy kids, and I’ve been striving to keep
my parents in healthy states of minds and bodies
… and the startup has nothing to do with anything
that I’ve ever done in my life! Brian McDermott (aka
husband) and I are grateful for the NOW, and we
always do our best to stay positive.”
Craig White has been appointed to the board of
trustees of Western Reserve Land Conservancy,
one of the top land trusts in the nation. The
organization has preserved more than 38,000 acres
in northeastern Ohio and helps to revitalize urban
centers across his beloved home state.
Peter Monson says, “I can’t remember when I
last submitted anything for the class notes, but
inasmuch as I am planning to attend our 35th
reunion this year, I thought I would offer a few
items of possible interest to our classmates. After
living for 10 years in DC, my wife Rebecca Lloyd
(Mount Holyoke, ‘82) and I have lived for the past
22 years in Evergreen, Colo. Yep, we’re 7,000 feet
above sea level, in the foothills west of Denver.
Needless to say, we love it here, and have raised our
16 year-old son, CJ, to appreciate the outdoors as
well. I am an attorney, and for some 32 years I have
practiced Indian natural resources and water law
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for the U.S. Dept. of Justice—first in DC, then in
Denver. I retired from DOJ last summer, and have
spent a great deal of time in unpaid pursuits such as
school board, community organizations, participating in the ‘sports car culture’ in Colorado and, of
course, skiing as much as I possibly can, at least
in the winter. Our son is soon to be a high school
junior and is doing very well both academically and
athletically. We hope to show him Williams and
possibly some other colleges while we are back east
for reunion.”
With two kids in college on the West Coast,
Marcia Johnston Wood hopes to get back to the
Purple Valley for reunion. “This year will also be my
father’s 60th Williams reunion!” We hope that both
can make it in great health and spirits!
“I will be one to run, not walk, to see The Monuments Men,” proclaims Lindsay Anderson. “After
reading Williams Magazine, I became aware of
how fortunate I was to have had conversations
with fellow Eph art students in Professor S. Lane
Faison Jr.’s ’29 home. My son Trevor, a former Tufts
Jumbo, is now a UW Husky. He has worked with
Paul Allen’s Vulcan and is an architecture/engineering student who wants to see building ‘greener than
green.’ I like to think I had something to do with
his thinking. My daughter Olivia has also returned
from Beantown, where she was studying health
sciences at Boston University. She ran the Seattle
half-marathon in November in… Let’s just say she
‘creamed’ my time. It’s great to be in touch often
with Eric Sundin, Dana Gaines, Tom Piazza, Dana
Thayer and many others.”
Bill Couch says, “My wife and I plan to come to
the reunion in June—I will start my diet now! I
am still with IBM and traveling Monday through
Thursday as required. Not ideal, but neither is
unemployment! Son Will just graduated from the
Navy’s Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I.
He is headed to Pearl Harbor, where he will be stationed on the USS Chosin. He was commissioned
in the same building as I nearly 35 years ago! Son
Chandler is with the Marines near San Diego and
loves being an infantry ‘grunt.’ Helen and I expect
to visit both this summer.”
Cathy Jackson Edington is “training for the
2014 Boston Marathon with the Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society’s team. Can’t let a couple of
bombs keep us down. Dave and I enjoy both sons,
daughter-in-law and grandson (named Jackson!) all
living with us while their house is being built.”
Stine Ball says, “Not too much exciting, but
things are good here in Marin (just north of San
Francisco). I’ve been working at an agricultural
land trust here for about five years and love it. My
husband has a money management business in
Sausalito. Our daughter Sara is living and working (yay!) at a law firm in San Francisco. Our son
attends Colby College and loves it, except for the
frigid winter temperatures. He still manages to
go surfing in Maine, though—with a very thick
wetsuit. My husband connected with Bill McCalpin
through business, and Bill joined us at our house
for Thanksgiving dinner this past year. It was fun to
catch up after 30-plus years.”
Our class notes wouldn’t be complete, and Stew
Menking wouldn’t be in prime form, without news
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like this: “I don’t want to brag, but I was named
‘patient of the month’ at my dentist’s office. For
real—they had me come in for a photo shoot and
to receive my prize. Now my photo is hanging in
the reception area of my dentist’s office! I have
enjoyed my brush—and floss—with fame, and will
be sad when I have to give up my golden crown
(without root canal) to my successor!”
Phil Shuman had fun covering Super Bowl 48
(hey, let’s skip the Roman numerals!) for Fox 11
News. “The temperature jump from LA to NYC
reminded me of Williamstown. Times Square
turned into one giant Fox-related outdoor party—
so were 13 blocks of Broadway. By the time you
read this, the game will be a distant memory, but
I didn’t get to watch the blowout from heated
press seats in the end zone. I got snowed out (or
in, depending on how you look at it) of my flight
home the next day. Like many, I almost spent the
night in the airport. It was the end of a wild week
in the tri-state area. I tweeted a lot, which news
managers now see as the next big thing in journalism. Hopefully Fox will send me to Glendale, Ariz.,
for the next Super Bowl, but perhaps not because
the game will be shown on NBC, not Fox.”
Joanna Monroe Polefrone sends regrets: “I will be
missing reunion again—there is always something
going on. This year it is my son’s wedding the week
after reunion. He is currently in his first year of the
PhD program in English at Columbia. He met
his fiancée while attending New York University
and hopes to stay in New York. My other son is
in Brooklyn, so our travel time is mostly taken up
with trips to New York. My husband Frank works
for a New York company, so he is there often
enough to watch some Penguins or Steelers games
with our sons. After I retire from private practice in
psychology in April, I hope to travel more myself.
Pittsburgh is a great place to live, and we wish more
people would visit!”
Tom Gardner was in Hong Kong and saw this as a
wonderful opportunity to look up Russell Yeh and
his wife Yolanda. They had a great time at dinner.
Russell encourages any classmate traveling to Hong
Kong to do the same!
Bill McCalpin reports that he has had several big
changes in his life. “After seven wonderfully flexible
years of being on my own professionally, I’ve gone
back to the world of having a real job with organizational and people management responsibilities. I
never thought I would do it again, and once in the
role, it didn’t take long to remember why I walked
away from it in 2006! But, the new opportunity was
too tempting to pass up. Second, after a childhood
in the Midwest and most of my adult years on the
East Coast, I’m trying out life on the left coast. San
Francisco is my new home. I think I might have
picked the right year to miss winter in New England. The Bay Area’s version of this season is quite
an improvement. Stine Ball and her husband have
kindly welcomed me to the area. I look forward to
connecting with other Ephs in time and to joining
our reunion in June.”
Several months ago, one of my sisters mailed a
package to me. In her attic, she came across a box
with some of our father’s belongings, including six
large envelopes, each with the first names of their
1979– 80
children written in my father’s handwriting. My
envelope included two items of interest. One was
a handwritten letter dated Sept. 15, 1975 (posted
with a 10-cent stamp), from S.U. Box 319—the
first letter I wrote to my parents after arriving
on campus. I told them that my textbooks came
to a grand total of $57.50. … I told my parents
that after several phone calls, I learned that the
Treadway Inn (the immediate ancestor of the
Williams Inn) and all lodging in the vicinity had
been booked several months earlier for Parents’
Weekend, so perhaps they could come visit me
another time. Fast-forward four years—the second
correspondence to my parents was dated May
24—postage had experienced inflation to 15 cents.
Inside was an invitation with the purple and gold
college seal and engraved with raised, black print
in Castellar font. The card requested “the honor of
your presence at its Commencement Exercises” on
June 3, 1979. Inside was a smaller card with raised
borders, simply inscribed: “Barbara B. Hunter.”
The honor of your presence is requested at our
35th reunion. If you haven’t made your plans yet,
it’s not too late. See you in June!
1980
Laura Pitts Smith, 1828 Old Yellowstone Trail S.,
Emigrant, MT 59027; [email protected]
As these notes meet the submission deadline, I
think Becky Webber is the lone contributor celebrating the fall of yet another snowflake. She says,
“Seriously, I LOVE this! Am going out skate skiing
today as soon as I can. It’s in the 20s, which is the
new 70s.” She was bracing for a February pasta
party with 35 Nordic skiers, a vet appointment with
two cats and two dogs and two days of state Nordic
meetups in Rangeley, Maine. She’s plenty busy with
two at home and two in college and a full-time
legal career.
Sloan Graff’s take on the weather/life in Louisville made me laugh: “Just shoveling snow and
watching the mail for notice of cancellation of my
health insurance.”
Even Chip Oudin experienced some real winter
weather in Houston, but he was headed to Florida
to play golf with Ed Bousa. Ed and Chip have
been partners in team events for 37 years. Ed also
played in Florida with John Moore last winter, and
he describes John as an excellent player Williams
missed recruiting “back in the day.” Ed’s younger
daughter, Bridget Bousa ’17, is finishing her freshman year, providing Ed with four more years of
visits to campus.
Nancy Lane was celebrating rain in the San
Francisco Bay area. She reports, “I have never been
so happy to hear the sound of wet car tires… It
reminds me of our freshman year, when the California kids were disbelieving that they could take
showers without turning off the water between getting wet, soaping up and rinsing off. My youngest
is in his senior year of high school, so I am looking
forward to a life free of IEP meetings, parent association meetings, chivvying people for school support donations and especially carpooling. All that
free time will go into learning opportunities for me:
continuing glassblowing, beginning welding and
perhaps a new language. I’ll be in New Zealand
later in the month for a wedding and to work on
retirement house plans with my Kiwi husband.”
Lisa Marder is breaking her silence: “Just wanted
to share this little story about an almost 35-year
friendship. Jennifer MacIntyre, Barb (Lyons) Pickel
and I were all in the same entry freshman year—
Morgan Middle East. When I was hit by a car
in the Tyler driveway sophomore year, Barb was
there to take care of me. When Jennifer injured her
knee sophomore year, Barb was there to take care
of her. Of course after graduation we all went our
separate ways, although staying in touch over the
many years. This past fall we had a ‘girls’ weekend in
NYC. Little did we know then that both Jennifer
and I would be laid up at the same time with winter injuries. Jennifer injured her knee again slipping
on ice, and I broke my ankle during the first snowstorm of 2014. Living in the Boston area as we
both do can be tricky in the winter! Wouldn’t you
know that our dear friend Barb would take it upon
herself to drive from Mt. Kisco, N.Y., first bringing
lunch and groceries and spending the afternoon
with me at my home on the South Shore, and then
driving into Boston to bring Jennifer groceries and
dinner, and spend the night with her! ” Lisa met
her husband in graduate school (he’s an architect),
where she got a master’s in landscape architecture,
and they have lived south of Boston for 25 years
and have two sons, now 21 and 24. Lisa is an artist
and a teacher.
It has been quite a while since I have heard from
Nancy Dougherty and Don Dougherty ’81. Nancy
reports, “We enjoy seeing Lisa and Steve Jenks ’81,
Matt St. Onge ’81 and Betsey St. Onge ’81 and
other Williams friends in the Boston area. Becky
Chase and I took a fabulous trip to Paris last year
to visit her daughter Kristen on her Bates semester
abroad; we also have a wonderful tradition of
meeting in Newport each July for the ATP tennis
tourney. Great fun! Don and I have started venturing to Naples, Fla., for some of winter. A welcome
change. Our oldest son, Nick, has evolved his BU
senior engineering design project into a startup,
Verbal Applications, an innovative, cloud-based
communication platform designed to improve
patient communication and quality of care. Mass
Challenge finalist, TEDx talk, recently engaged.
We’re thrilled to have a beautiful young woman
added to our family of three boys! Middle son
Andy just graduated from Haverford College. Varsity tennis player. Psychology major. Music minor.
Analytic/stats wiz. Job hunting. Youngest, Ryan, is
a rising senior at Tufts University, double majoring in electrical engineering and computer science.
Lovin’ everything ‘techie.’ Upon empty nesting
I re-entered the workforce as a biotech analyst/
consultant and presently head up development
efforts for the Lyme Disease Research Foundation.
LDRF’s leading-edge clinical research program is
generating important medical evidence to improve
the understanding of the pathophysiology of Lyme
disease and identify biomarkers for improved
diagnostics.”
Ann Oberrender Noyes has gone back to work
outside her home. She explains, “After completing a ‘back to work’ program called reacHIRE, I
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have been placed as a financial analyst in a small
company that owns 35 Panera Bread franchises.
Working 20 hours a week is barely manageable,
and I have new respect for my full-time working
friends. Lots of yoga and paddle tennis, mothering
the three kids when they are home from respective
colleges, and enjoying the empty nest with Nick
Noyes ’79 round out my world. Our youngest, Eliza
Noyes ’16, is playing ice hockey for Williams.”
Lee Szykowny is going through some interesting
transitions. She reports, “I was practicing psychiatry
and thinking about mindfulness and alternative
therapies when my dog and his friend ran into me
and broke my ankle. So I used the rehab time to
start learning yoga and decided to pursue that. I got
certified to teach and last winter started teaching
a class for new beginners. Also did more training
in yoga for people who have experienced trauma.
So this week I begin my new adventure at OSU
(where I trained in psychiatry) offering a weekly
one-hour movement and meditation class to
caregivers. It is part of a research program in which
we are studying ways to reduce stress on clinicians
and caregivers, hoping to preserve their skills and
interest in practicing so that we don’t lose them
to burnout, and also lose the wonderful experience and wisdom they have to offer patients and
their own colleagues.” Lee sees Nancy McManus
Flaherty, Monica Grady and Jeene Weeks Hannigan
annually. She also saw David Sterling and Kim Sterling at a Williams event in Austin, Texas.
Chuck Hirsch celebrated with the Seahawks in
January and then welcomed the first teenager into
his home with son Sam’s bar mitzvah. He also has a
10-year-old daughter. Chuck is methodically building his firm, MHz International Group, which “is a
platform that is doing work between and in China,
Korea and the U.S., helping to transact in various
ways in various sectors including consumer and
commodity trading, media, etc.”
John Thurner has transitioned to full-time
consulting work in the Boston area and, despite a
recent total knee replacement, has plenty of time to
play softball. He urges everyone in the area over 55
(isn’t that all of us, by now?) to check out EMASS
(Eastern Mass Senior Softball league). The league
plays all over New England and also works toward
rebuilding connections with Cuba through friendship games. His son, who loves singing and acting
and also speaks fluent Chinese, is completing his
freshman year at Skidmore.
Thomas Calloway is joining CVS Caremark and
relocating to Providence. He reports, “I have spent
the past two years working on healthcare research
for the accountable care market. I started by adapting DoD attitudinal research that helps predict
which patients will have superior health outcomes
for the accountable care environment in key disease
categories.”
The Berkshire Eagle ran an impressive story on
Andy Kelly, detailing the Winter Study course
on jazz improvisation and street performance he
taught this past January. The class culminated in a
final concert that resembled a New Orleans carnival. Proceeds went to a Pittsfield elementary school
to fund the purchase of instruments for students.
Richard Seroussi reports, “Last year, for Columbus Day weekend, we ended up in Billsville for our
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annual reunion. Brent Shay ’78 was our host from
Boston. The others in our group included Paul
Goren, John Duffield, Margie Duffield ’82 and Jim
Levinsohn. We got to the cabin and, although it
was musty, it turned out to be a great place to hang
out for the weekend. We mastered the wood stove
and on Sunday morning hiked up the Hopper.
We took a nostalgic tour through campus. I knew
nobody, and Brent Shay knew everyone. Highlights
included John and I finding our physics honors
theses buried deep in the science library, apparently in pristine and in fact untouched condition.
… We also found a group sewing costumes for the
next Williams play, and Brent recalled his own
time helping there. I was dismayed that the Sawyer
Library was going to be 86ed—but Brent, with the
zeal of a former trustee, assured me this was all for
the better.”
Fred Thys ventured to Williamstown to interview
Adam Falk for a series on the cost of college. Over
Thanksgiving, Fabienne Marsh Mandal ’79 enjoyed
Fred’s hospitality in Weymouth, Mass., with her
daughter Juliette, a freshman at Simons Rock.
Michael Battey seems to be all over the place, as
usual: breakfasts with Mark Lanier in Brookline and
later with Brooks Tanner and his wife and daughter
in NYC; while in NYC, he joined his middle child,
Walker, who was on his midterm break from the
Salisbury School in northwest Connecticut; and
this spring he went to N.C. to visit his daughter at
Elon, where he hoped to run into Charlie Gledhill
and Tracy Merrill ’82 and Joe Merrill ’82 and their
respective daughters.
Congratulations to Joe Carrese! He reports, “I
have been in touch with Steve Rebarber—went
sailing with him on the Chesapeake Bay several
months ago—and former wrestling teammate Hal
Zendle ’79, whom I email with regularly. I traveled
to New Zealand in June to spend a couple weeks
hiking and skiing with my son Chris, who had
just completed a semester abroad at the University of Otago. I was just promoted to professor at
the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins. My
major area of focus has been bioethics education
for medical students and residents, so all those
philosophy courses with Rosemary Tong have come
in handy. I have been remembering, gratefully, the
late James Skinner, professor of chemistry and premed advisor to our class. He was a strong advocate
on my behalf to skeptical medical school admission
committees. (Perhaps my grades in organic chemistry were an issue!)
Pano Pliotis reports, “This summer, we are planning our first proper family vacation in the U.S.,
heading to northern California, Big Sur, Yosemite,
etc. While living in London for all these years now,
we have visited the NYC area consistently over
the years seeing friends and family but have never
toured any part of the U.S. Looking forward to visiting Steven Hall in San Francisco. Over Christmas
we had a minireunion with Ann Eakland Geismar
and Joe Mellicker in NYC.” Kathleen Kelliher also
chimed in from the U.K. She and her husband
are finishing their last year of life tied to school
holidays. I was inspired by the annual week that she
spends with her dad in Florida. I never considered
the word “bonding” at this point in life with a parent, but Kathleen reminds me how poignant it is.
1980– 81
I love snippets: Sonia Weil blessed her seventh
continent this Christmas: Antarctica. She warns
us not to buy krill oil! Ben Cart and Sarah Austell
Cart ’81 are still at two grandchildren, splitting
time between the Florida Keys, the Poconos and
S.C., depending on the fishing season. Sarah
writes, sings and does charity work, and Ben still
works for Petrox. Sally Brown went to Delhi in
March for the Gates “Reinvent the Toilet” meeting.
NuzziJacuzzi, Gus Nuzzolese, just purchased a hot
tub. (Do you still use your panini maker, Gus?).
He reports, “Having many wonderful emails via
Ken “Hollywood” Hollingsworth’s birthday email
group including Steve Leous, Law Professor Chuck
Cercone, the entertaining Dr. Mike Curran, Jim
“Disco” Desimone, who now runs marathons, and
Dave “Mazoo” Massuco, the body builder. Heading to Ocean Beach, Fire Island, for vacation and
celebrating my July birthday month.”
Carl Tippet is taking advantage of these waning
years of physical fitness and spending more time
cycling and skiing out west with his wife. They
are empty nesters and even have grandchildren,
although Carl says he’s not quite old enough or
mature enough to be a grandparent. He sees Dave
Young in Cleveland from time to time and talks to
Van Townsend frequently.
Van sent a hysterical email that began with a
trip to Williams with his daughter’s boyfriend,
a potential XC/track recruit. “The timing was
fortuitous, for we witnessed the D3 Regionals
and were blessed to see yet another notorious
attempt to kidnap the mascot bear. The visit was
epic, replete with party at Spencer House, where I
had to convince college security guards that I was
not some outsider adult entering this party. Turns
out one officer looked familiar, and we discovered
together that he started his stint in our senior year!
Tom Costley ’82 and Liz “Bubbles” Costley ’81
graciously hosted us at their beautifully appointed
house. To top the weekend off, I had an intellectually stimulating breakfast with my history advisor
and dear friend, the legendary professor John Hyde
’52, at The Chef ’s Hat up on Route 7.”In the
summer, Van joined a multigenerational crowd of
Ephs on Cape Cod to celebrate Bart Mitchell and
Susan Seibert Mitchell’s 25th wedding anniversary.
Between the lobsters, the beaches and the biking,
Bart says Van entertained the 20-somethings with
his “irreverent and infectious, rebellious, nonconformist style full of rants and literary references and
inspiring sense of fun.” Van has two daughters, one
at the University of Georgia and the other at the
University of Tennessee, and a son who graduated
from Dartmouth and works in finance. Van (and
I) will close by saying, “My Purple Cow friends
and genetic progeny have provided more healing
miracles than chemo ever could. Cancer docs need
to bottle this magic and run a clinical trial!”
1981
Alexis Belash, 1466 Canton Ave., Milton, MA 02186;
[email protected]
This was the issue for some old roommates and
poker/bridge partners to write in. Starting with
freshman roommate Dave Durell, who sent the
briefest of notes: “Anne and I are sitting in a Christian missions class when your message arrived, and
you are halfway around the world in Malaysia.”
Freshman entrymate John Berkey writes: “I’m still
on the faculty at Davidson College in North Carolina. But we’re enjoying our empty nest by leaving
it. With both kids off in school (one at Wesleyan,
one at Andover), we are taking a sabbatical this
spring in NYC, sampling the city’s restaurants,
walking as much as possible and trying to finish
some long-overdue writing projects. We enjoyed
seeing Katherine Precht and her family when they
passed through Davidson last spring en route to
Florida, and Ann Morris this past fall when she
brought her daughter to visit the college.”
Sophomore roommate Bill Green: “I’m still making a living in real estate and construction, mostly
high-end residential. … Linda, my youngest, a
high school junior, and I are out in Telluride, Colo.,
for at least a year. I am skiing, mountain biking,
hiking, four-wheeling and generally trying to take
advantage of living in a vacation paradise while
building a custom home. We still have some ongoing projects in Connecticut, so at some point I will
have to fine-tune living and working in two places.
Our older girls are both in college, a junior at MIT
and a freshman at Bates. Our youngest is looking at
art schools, so Williams parents’ weekends won’t be
in my future.”
Fellow sophomore roommate Bill “Bolo”
Reynolds: “I attended the 22nd annual Ephs
weekend of skiing out in Alta, Utah, with Marc
Tayer, Rob Kukulka and Steve Jenks. Contrary to
Peter Barbaresi’s suggestion that our 25th reunion
shirt be permanently retired to the closet, we are
proud to wear the Class of ’81 ‘cow-a-bunga’ shirt,
designed by Steve Jenks.” Someone is not counting
years, because Steve Jenks attended the 21st Alta
Ephs extravaganza “that brings together 25 or so
members of the classes of ’79-’81. Enjoyed great
skiing and the opportunity to show the famous
‘cow-a-bunga’ shirt.” Another attendee didn’t
hazard a guess as to how many Alta trips there have
been. Rob Kukulka reports: “In addition to Alta ski
trip with Tayer and Bolo (and 15+ other Ephs from
1979), spent a day showing Joe Cotter around Abu
Dhabi in early Jan. when he was on a layover from
visiting his brother in Tanzania. Holidays were
spent exploring the souks, beaches and wadis of
Oman with the entire family.”
Despite his disdain for our reunion shirts, Peter
Barbaresi sent a photo of “Amy Warren ’01, associate director of college counseling at St. Margaret’s
Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.,
with senior student Alexa Barbaresi, who sport
their Wacky Tourist Day costumes. Young Barbaresi marks this occasion with her circa 2006 alumni
shirt once (and probably only once) worn by her
father at that reunion.”
Peter has “had the pleasure to see Tim Barrows
’79 and his wife Peg on several occasions as our
daughters both attend Pomona College and play
on the Pomona-Pitzer soccer team. My middle
daughter, Alexa, is going to Trinity next year
and also playing soccer. Also have caught up on
multiple occasions with former roomie Lee Wahl as
our youngest kids (15-year-olds) are, yep, playing
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soccer. Lee has a volleyball-playing daughter at
Bowdoin, and his eldest son has graduated from the
Naval Academy and is now in San Diego. As for
me, I have spent an increasing amount of time in
China as my company has been training multiple
provincial teams and athletes for the Chinese
National Games, and we are now bidding on doing
the same for the Chinese Olympic teams leading
up to the Rio Summer Games.”
Checking in from Saratoga Springs, N.Y.,
Christel Albritton MacLean writes: “We are enjoying
a fast-paced, hectic life with two restaurants, a
cold pressed juice bar, a real estate company and a
consulting business, plus lots of volunteer work. I
have managed to take the crazy lifestyle that I had
in NYC, where I spent 10 years on Wall Street, and
somehow bring it to Saratoga! My husband Colin
and I run all of our businesses together, which…
works really well for us. Our sporty, musical daughter Lucy is 10 and into travel soccer, piano and
clarinet. Our 2-year-old chocolate Australian Labradoodle Griffin is also a big part of our lives. We
travel into Manhattan as often as possible where we
see Keith Scott whenever he isn’t in Paris for Chanel. In addition to many other Williams pals, we
regularly keep in touch with Robert Kukulka and
Sofia and dear friends Betsy (Stanton) Santarlasci
’83 and her husband Joe, who zip between NYC
and Rhode Island.”
Keith Berryhill and Diane Berryhill send greetings
from Marietta, Ga. “Diane left large law firm life
after 17 years for a real estate boutique firm in
Atlanta. Both the atmosphere and the opportunities presented are quite liberating.”
Keith is in transition as well: “For the last 11 years
I was basically stay-at-home dad/part-time swim
coach. During that time I also finished a master’s in
exercise physiology. As I was beginning to prepare
for a new career, I became a full-time caregiver for
my aging parents, a story that I am sure is all too
familiar to many of us at this point in our lives.
Sadly, I lost both of my parents during this last year.
After some time off to reflect and recover, I am
happy to report that life has taken an interesting
new direction. I was invited to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to participate in a
national team training camp and coaches development program for USA Modern Pentathlon. …
Pentathlon is one of the oldest and most obscure
sports in the summer Olympics, involving swimming, running, fencing, shooting and equestrian.
I am now hoping to start an athlete development
program in Atlanta to identify talented athletes and
prepare them for elite-level competition. Apparently swimmers and swim coaches are particularly
suited to the demands of pentathlon training. There
are only about 10 men and 10 women in the whole
country at the elite level.”
Sarah Schmidt says: “Chris and I were honored
to host President Adam Falk at our house one
evening in January along with a crowd of St. Louis
Ephs who were happy to meet him and hear the
latest news from the Purple Valley. In addition
to alumni, we had some very gung-ho parents of
current and former students. A friend of mine who
went to Princeton later demanded, ‘How did you
get the Williams president to come to St. Louis?
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The Princeton president never comes to St. Louis.’
I replied that Williams is simply cooler than
Princeton, and has a cooler president and more
intriguing alumni. She punched me. I am tutoring
GED students in downtown St. Louis, coaching
fifth-graders in playwriting and enjoying my last
years with a kid in the house.”
Denise Harvey sent this along: “I had the pleasure
of accompanying my daughter to Williams for the
start of her freshman year. I expect her experience
to be much different from mine but wonderful in
its own way. The frosh entry life, as well as her initial WOOLF trip, has been a great way for her to
meet some of her classmates. As for me, I stopped
practicing law in NYC about seven years ago, when
my husband and I decided to move to Connecticut.
Since then I have volunteered in various capacities
for school and community organizations. Currently I am serving my second four-year term as an
elected member of our local board of education.”
Carolyn Mathews apparently spends part of her
summers next door to me in Sconsett, Nantucket.
Unfortunately we leave as she is arriving. She
reports, “I met my husband Curt, a petroleum
geologist, here in Dallas on a blind date. It turned
out we had a shared love of the island. His grandparents had bought one of the Underhill cottages
in Sconsett back in the ’20s, and Curt spent every
summer there growing up. My great-grandparents,
military like his family, lived around the corner
from his grandparents, and it turns out that they
were friends! I came to Dallas in 1991 after doing
a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at MD
Anderson, and work and teach at Baylor University
Medical Center. I also practice integrative medicine
and medical acupuncture and have been director of
integrative medicine since 2010. Curt and I have
two children: Church, a senior at Woodberry Forest, and Marion, a freshman at St. Andrew’s School
in Delaware.”
Ted Congdon writes: “After many years in
executive search for and with large organizations, I
started my own company this fall to build a private
practice in career advising and counseling—Granite Peak Advisors. I am working with early- to
late-career folks, all looking to make the most of
their skills and find rewarding, or more rewarding,
work. I am doing a significant amount of work
with recent graduates seeking a strong foothold
in the workforce. When I took human capital as
part of my economics major, never did I imagine
that would become my field. We are enjoying some
great new connections with Williams people in the
Bay Area and love seeing Williams through the
eyes of our freshman daughter. Thanks to Melissa
Mechem Congdon ’80 for 30 wonderful years, and
to Armstrong House (current abode of our daughter) for setting us up!”
Lori Hvizda Ward reports, “I’m entering a sort
of third career. In November, I was elected to the
board of education in Thompson School District,
which serves Loveland and Berthoud, Colo. The
district educates approximately 16,000. My public
schooling in North Adams and my excellent education at Williams are finally both being put to good
use. I have three kids in the district. Alexandra will
graduate in May and will attend the University of
1981– 82
Northern Colorado to study music education. Kellis is an eighth-grader, and Julia is in third grade.”
When Lynn Bunis wrote me, she was “just back
from a Williams fundraising weekend—very
interesting, very purple. My daughter is finishing
a Winter Study on pie—we are hoping to sample
some while she is home for a few days before
second semester begins.”
Lauretta Clough has discovered “the gods of
coincidence have surfaced in the DC area.” She
reports crossing paths with Patrick Crump, whom
she hadn’t seen in 32 years, on a woodland trail in
DC last summer. A trail she never walks on, in a
town far away from where Patrick lived. He has
since moved close by with his family, and since the
initial encounter, which left them nearly speechless,
they have bumped into each other twice. Maybe
majoring in French does that for old friends.
Charlie Lafave took a 10-day trek around Mont
Blanc last August, crossing the Italian, Swiss and
French borders on foot. Says he’d recommend the
trip to anyone with healthy feet and a willingness
to walk up and downhill for eight hours a day. He
was headed off on another adventure in March,
but hadn’t decided where, and is off to Alaska
this summer to photograph grizzly bears. He was
surviving the winter in his log cabin, writing short
stories and caring for the cat he rescued from the
cold. I can vouch for his writing—it is fascinating
and entertaining.
Ted Allen writes: “I reside in Clinton, N.Y., where
I’ve been a mason contractor and was offered a
position as an adjunct professor of masonry at the
local community college. I have four children; the
oldest daughter is married and living in Denver.
My second daughter, a high school senior, has been
accepted and is trying to decide between Washington & Lee or Colgate University for college. My
son is a high school sophomore who plays varsity
football and hockey. My youngest daughter is
about to finish her first year of preschool. Life in its
myriad array of experiences continues to challenge
me to find the hidden mysteries and inner beauty
in each moment, the gift of each dawning day. As
of late, I’ve been working on a series of travel stories
that span the last four decades.”
Ann Brown submitted: “Am happy to report that
all is well in DC, where I live with my beloved
10-year-old daughter, Anna. I work as a psychotherapist in private practice, where I sometimes
get to collaborate with Jody Tabner Thayer. Anna
and I love seeing the Betsy Clark Robertson and
Anne Ricketson Avis families during our summertime trips north. I also keep in touch with Michael
Sardo, Connan O’Brien Ashforth, Paul Rogers ’79,
Molly Murphy Bruton, the Kohuts and Robert
Duke, who heads the drama department at the
Brearley School in NYC. We were beyond honored
to attend the recent memorial service at Lincoln
Center for Edgar Bronfman ’50, Matthew Bronfman’s father. Was a fantastic celebration of the life
of an extraordinary man.”
Congratulations to Laura Cushler. “My news is
that I was selected as the staff judge advocate for
the 9th Mission Support Command in Honolulu,
Hawaii, and began the position at the beginning of
January.”
Preddis Sullivan is the new director of professional services for Delta Dental of Pennsylvania.
He will be responsible for quality of care programs
and activities, and the grievance and appeals
departments for the group of companies with a
service area that spans 15 states plus DC. He last
served as the dental director/clinical director at
Blue Shield of California. Previously he was chief
dental officer at PacifiCare Dental & Vision. Preddis received his DDS from the University of Illinois
at Chicago College of Dentistry and an MBA from
the University of Illinois, Chicago.
By the time you read this I will have chaperoned
35 expat kids on a ski and snowboard trip to Japan.
In addition to coaching varsity girls soccer, boys
rugby, middle school soccer, Frisbee, touch rugby
and shot put I have been studying ceramics. The
twins and I managed some scuba diving in Bali for
Christmas. With their futsal team they won the
U17 gold medal at the Volkswagen Cup in Kuala
Lumpur for their third year running.
Our rebuilt home in Boston is nearly done, and
we hope to stay there this summer.
I can’t wait to hear what the immediate future
holds for us all.
1982
William K. Layman, 8507 Garfield St., Bethesda, MD
20817; [email protected]
Welcome to the inaugural 2014 Golden Jaguar
Awards, live from the Staples Center here in beautiful downtown Los Angeles! The stars are really
out tonight, parading the red carpet, getting ready
to claim tonight’s ultimate prize: the small, gleaming statuettes in the shape of receding hairlines and
slowing spreading crow’s-feet. Yes, it’s the first celebration of Outstanding Midlife Crisis Moments!
I’ll be your host—but let’s skip the gently mocking monologue laced with references to Twitter and
“selfies” that middle-aged people wouldn’t really
know about and get right to the awards! Let’s welcome the fabulous James Franco, star of 127 Hours.
James Franco: Well, hey, uh…OK! The nominees
for Most Adventurous Midlife Crisis. First up,
we have Hendy Dayton, who “just got back from a
spectacular bike trip to Patagonia in Argentina with
22 other great women, biking all day and dancing
the night away. Jon and I are working in Boston
this winter so as to be able to watch our oldest son’s
last season with the Williams College men’s hockey
team.” All right—hiking and watching hockey!
Also nominated is Sue Connor, who was just off
“skiing in Italy and France. Then on to Sochi, Russia, to watch our youngest, Jake Adicoff, a longtime
cross-country skier, compete in the visuallyimpaired category at the Paralympic Games March
7-16! Our other son, Willie, and his girlfriend Julia
Seyferth ’12 will be joining us.”
Franco: Impressive! But the award for Most
Adventurous Midlife Crisis goes to Chris Smythe!
“Thanks, James. Wow! Hola from frigid Cleveland!
As part of my midlife crisis (v.2.0), I am leaving
this week to go on a trek in Nepal. Besides meditating on a mountain, a small group of us plan to
trek the Annapurna Sanctuary and climb up to the
Annapurna Base Camp. Wish me luck!”
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Franco: Good luck, Chris! But let’s get to the
nominees for the award for Most Remarkable
Midlife Career Surge with our next presenter, star
of that old movie 9 to 5, Dolly Parton!
Dolly Parton: Hey, y’all! Now you people seem
to be getting better as you get older—just like me!
The first nominee was promoted to professor of
medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine
and to senior VP for quality and population health
for Baystate Health, a four-hospital health system
in western Massachusetts. That’s Evan Benjamin!
Our next nominee is Miriam Sapiro, who, “after
four terrific years at Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative, has decided that it is the right time
to take on a new challenge, following the Kathleen
Merrigan model. It was wonderful to reconnect and
work with her while we were both in government.”
But if you like a good union story like I do, then
you’ve gotta hoot for our next nominee: Carol
Sutton! For the first time since graduation from
college, she’s not in the classroom this year. “I
was elected president of the Greenwich Education Association (teachers union) and began my
two-year term last July. It’s a hell of a time to be
advocating for public school teachers, what with
Common Core, new state assessments and new
state-mandated teacher evaluations in Connecticut.
But I figured, at this time in my career, why not go
out in a blaze of glory?” Pretty impressive, right?
But the winner of the award for Most Remarkable Midlife Career Surge is… Sally Kornbluth!
She will be Duke University’s next provost, effective July 1. The Harvard of the South, so you know
that Dolly loves it! Sally is a James B. Duke Professor in the department of pharmacology and cancer
biology at Duke and the vice dean for basic science
in the school of medicine, which means that she
oversees the school’s biomedical graduate programs,
manages the school’s laboratory space and core
research facilities, works with department chairs
on faculty recruitment and retention, and develops
new programs to support research by faculty and
students. Yee-haw, she’s good!
Parton: And now, because this is one of those
interminable awards shows, let’s have a montage of
short clips of middle age accompanied by me singing an undercaffeinated ballad so that our home
audience can use the facilities or get a sandwich.
[Montage—still images in black-and-white Ken
Burns-ing in and out in soft focus so that everyone
looks younger]: Will Foster, moving from Georgia
Tech to Emory University Goizueta Business
School… Sara (Bahn) Kaul meeting her bother in
Cape May, N.J., this past November and learning
about the cuisine of Poland at the Polish Cultural
Center… Annick La Farge publishing the fully
updated and revised second edition of her book On
the High Line: Exploring America’s Most Original
Urban Park… Kim Carpenter, a self-employed
marketing consultant, issuing a heavy sigh while
chained to her desk in the absence of deathdefying, heart-wrenching, adventurous or amorous
tales to tell… Missy Pelham, teaching yoga while
living in her new townhome “in the ultra-hot
’hood of East Passyunk Avenue in South Philly, a
foodie hot spot with celebrated chefs opening new
restaurants every month”… Eileen Schlee, living
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in Suffolk, U.K., playing golf and looking forward
to six months in NY in 2014 with her husband
Clive, while her youngest, Isabel Schlee ’17, enjoys
her freshman year at Williams, her older brother
finishes at the University of Leeds, and her older
sister contemplates life after Oxford… Bruce Kelly,
in front of his home during winter doing nothing
but “shoveling, f-ing shoveling.”
Our next presenter loves hanging out with his
other movie star friends who make him seem less
like that fat guy from Superbad with every passing
year. Welcome Jonah Hill!
Jonah Hill: Oh, hey! I was just hanging out with
my pal “Leo” before coming over here. Man, he is
so cool! Marty Scorsese thinks Leo and I are so
cool together right? I mean, how lucky am I? Here
are the nominees for Best Midlife Hanging! Not
that I’m middle-aged yet, though—I’m actually
getting cooler all the time, I think.
Our first nominee is Sheldon Ross, who, despite
running the Chicago Community Emergency
Response Team, also “got a chance to hang with
Lee Allison, who still tiptoes though my house in
the middle of the night occasionally.” He also had a
great dinner over the holidays with Beth and Darryl
White in their new house on Lake Erie in Avon
Lakes, Ohio. And visited with Chuck “Windex”
Warshaver out in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he spent
time in his famous “Hot Tub Time Machine.” “We
hooked up for dinner with Kristin Bloomquist, who
looks and feels great.”
OK, totally cool, but our next nominee is Will
Hodgeman, who reports two “clandestine meetings
of wayward members of the CDS (Closet Drinking
Society) in the office of the Hon. Mayor Michael
P. McGinn of Seattle, Wash. One with Will, Mike
Johnny “Run with the Big Dogs” Olvaney and Dave
“Hooter” Weyerhauser, and another involving Rory
“Going with the Flow” Dunn, Dave Weyerhauser
and John “Stuey” Stillwell checking in by Apple
FaceTime. Awesome!
But the winner of the Best Midlife Hang Award
is clearly Jim Leonard, the 15-year head of school
at Santa Fe Prep, who hung out with the talented
and babe-alicious Anna Gunn—Skyler White in
Breaking Bad—when she “spoke at our commencement last year and reminded us all that, actually,
high school matters, for that’s where she discovered
her passion for the stage.” Get up here, you incredibly cool guy!
“Thanks, Jonah! I want to thank Story Leonard
’84 and our two oldest girls, Kelsey Leonard ’15
and Molly Leonard ’16, as well as Campbell, who is
joining Santa Fe Prep’s seventh grade next year. I
love you guys—now go to bed so Daddy can hang
out with Leonardo DeCaprio!”
Your Host: That’s our show for this year! If you
want to attend one more big celebration, however,
please consider attending the Celebration of the
Life of Kippy Liddle at the Head of the Charles,
Oct. 18-19, 2014. For more info, write Kate Gray at
[email protected].
1982– 83
1983
Beatrice Fuller, 404 Old County Road, Severna Park, MD
21146; [email protected]
Polar vortex? Snow in Atlanta? I asked classmates
to share winter stories, tales tall or true, to share
ways of dealing with the winter blues: books read,
music listened to, jokes told, projects completed or
delayed. Winter in Maryland has been cold, long
and snowy. We had our fifth snow day today—and
we have a delayed opening tomorrow, and my walks
to school are COLD. But the days are getting longer, and the sunsets have been exquisite. I have been
dealing with winter by baking for my boys, sending
packages to my college freshmen, procrastinating
on organizing files and watching Downton Abbey.
Here are some better strategies than mine.
Stephen J. Flaim writes: “I dealt with winter in
the Northeast by bailing out and taking the kids
to Disney World in Orlando. Was lucky enough
to catch the first warm week of the winter—temps
in the low-to-mid 80s and low humidity. ” Banu
Qureshi writes from Maryland: “Having been
totally sucked into the financial and time pit known
as dog rescue, I am happy to say that I had two
foster dogs adopted today, and one of the adopters
may decide to take two, which would mean three
dogs gone this weekend! A record, and really helpful in bringing my foster dog numbers down to a
manageable level. Of course there are always more
badly behaved incoming dogs to fill the void and
drain the bank account. My kids are both midway
through high school, so we are dealing with the
double whammies of ‘What will we be driving,
since there’s no way we are going to be seen in the
wrecks that you drive?’ and ‘What do you mean,
we should consider going to the state university
so we can save money for grad school?’ Ah, don’t
we all just love the entitlement of this generation?
When I tell my kids that I worked four different
jobs during my first two years at Williams, and I
had fun doing it, I get this blank expression that
clearly conveys, ‘Why exactly are you telling me
this, Mom? What does that have to do with my
future emancipation, I mean, college experience?’
Meanwhile, my social life has ground to a halt,
so there is no time to visit with college buddies;
although with social networking, I feel oddly
connected. When they invent a social network
that involves drinking wine rather than typing messages, I will feel less ‘remote’ and considerably more
content. One of the things that has been gnawing
away in a troublesome way is the fact that all of my
friends and I now need reading glasses. We really
have crossed the hump, no matter how we pretend
to ignore it. So we might as well enjoy the time we
have with our family and friends, because like this
cold and snowy winter, it will all be in the past one
day soon.”
From the West Coast, Carol O’Day writes, “Steve
O’Day and I don’t have polar winter stories to share,
since we live in the land of 72 and sunny here in
LA. In fact, we shook our heads in wry amusement this week as newscasters on all networks in
LA announced updates on ‘Stormwatch 2014’ in
anticipation of rain. Given the significant drought
in California, the rain is not unwelcome, but people
here actually stay home, cancel appointments and
shop for staples when rain is forecasted. We spent
several weekends on campus this past fall cheering the stellar Eph volleyball team, on which our
daughter Emily O’Day ’15 plays, to a NESCAC
championship and a berth in the NCAA DIII
Sweet 16. Emily is enjoying NYU’s Paris study
abroad program this semester, and we will visit her
there in April.”
Jamie Crist, writing from the DC area, notes:
“The first few snow events were kind of fun. Our
office even closed for a day. But now we have snow
competing with crocuses and daffodils. We’ve had
enough! Down with the polar vortex. Or should I
say up? On a more positive note, we attended our
first Renaissance Weekend in Charleston, S.C.,
over New Year’s. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s
worth checking out. No, it’s not about costumes
and re-enactments. It’s four days of talks and workshops on a wide range of topics—both attending
and contributing. Reminded me a little bit of being
back in college. The artwork process has started
for my next book—The Survival Guide to Making
and Being Friends for kids. It’s a lot of fun seeing
how the entire project shapes up. The book should
be out this fall. Writing for Free Spirit Publishing
continues to be great fun for me!” Melanie-Anne
Taylor PhD sends “just a quick ‘hello’ note to let you
know that I have survived the polar vortex in DC
and am counting down the days to Kate TaylorHasty’s ’14 graduation from Williams this coming
June 8! I also had the pleasure of meeting Kim
Tooles’ son Remy Damper ’14, who, like Kate, lives
in Dodd House and will graduate this spring. …
Kate and Remy had never met until I introduced
them a few months ago! It’s a small world, but
apparently not that small.”
Elizabeth Nielsen writes: “Last weekend I was in
Texas for a board meeting and got to spend two
days visiting with Sherry Blum and Don Becker.
We visited the Alamo and San Antonio’s Riverwalk
as well as the Whole Foods ‘mothership’ in Austin.
Sherry and I took long walks and talked nonstop. I
had the privilege of watching her teach a wonderfully clear college logic class, much clearer than the
one I had to take! I am still marveling that I have
been approved for ordination and will be ordained
as a Presbyterian minister on April 13. Throughout
my years in seminary I never thought I would end
up ordained. My husband Steve Nielsen ’85 and my
friends have been a real encouragement to me and
believed in me when I had doubts. It seems that 52
is not too late to find a new beginning!”
Maryam Elahi says, “I just had a ‘Williams women’s’ dinner with Kathy Berry ’57, the oldest living
woman to have graduated from Williams—before
the school went coed—and with Laura Winston ’75
and Bonnie Bennet ’75. We all live in southeastern
Connecticut on the shoreline and are enjoying our
occasional dinners. Since September I have been
president and CEO of the Community Foundation
of Eastern Connecticut. I am truly enjoying getting
to know my community, the needs, challenges,
generous and caring people and nonprofit orgs.”
Don Carlson offers us a small window into life at
Williams. “I just finished up a memorable month
of teaching a Winter Study class on sustainable
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business models. After a month on campus, I was
surprised. We visit Williamstown pretty regularly
on the way to/from our place in Vermont. From
an arm’s length perspective, I was feeling that the
college was becoming too intense and stressful,
too aggressively ‘claimed’ by subgroups that were
shattering the sense of community, and way too
politically correct about everything. As so often
happens, I was deliciously wrong on all counts. It
seemed very much like the same college we went
to, with all its warts and glories. Almost eerily so.
Still, no one ‘dates’ anyone for fear of what happens
when they break up; still, every single student is
friendly, respectful, diligent and eager to learn; still,
they are whip-smart (as smart as us, not smarter)
and a joy to teach. Still, the college is probably too
small and insular; still, most everyone plays a sport
and is fanatically devoted to it (in fact, that seems
to have ratcheted up a bit). Bottom line is I wound
up falling in love with the people and the college all
over again. I had a chance to spend some time with
both Adam Falk and John Chandler (who retired
to Williamstown some years back when his wife
Florence was very ill). John (at age 90!) articulated
an inspiring vision for the future of the college:
Stop competing with other small liberal arts colleges; Williams won that competition hands down
15 years ago. The relevant competition now is with
the big research universities, and the best way for
Williams to compete effectively is to offer crossdisciplinary programs that engage with and apply
critical thinking to real-world issues of leadership,
policy, business and social progress. Damn, this college president stuff comes naturally to him. Wish I
could think that gracefully and precisely. Yes, I got
very lucky. I got to live in a beautiful house on Scott
Hill, take my kids and dog hiking in the snow
across the ridges to Stone Hill and teach every day
in a classroom with a panoramic view of the mountains. My students took field trips to Troy, N.Y., to
spend a day with a company that makes an easily
biodegradable mushroom-based substitute for
Styrofoam, and they got their hands dirty actually
shaping the product in the factory. Then they spent
an intensive day in NYC meeting with top-tier
investors and entrepreneurs in renewable energy
looking at deep ocean wind farms, ubiquitous solar
and novel services-based models for energy supply.
I learned a ton from them! So now I’m teaching
(Bard MBA program, Williams, Goldman Sachs),
helping out the companies in which I’m an angel
investor and generally loving life. Also on the
lookout for the next interesting business challenge
on the horizon.”
I close our notes this time with the sad news that
Regine Plummer passed away on July 8, 2013. Her
friend, James Caffrey, her family and many close
friends were devastated. Regine—bright, warm and
deeply loved—sparked in everyone the feelings of
being drawn to her and wishing to learn more of
her. Sylvester Summer has created a website: http://
bit.ly/ReginePlummer. Anyone wishing to contact
her husband can obtain information from Jill
Wruble ([email protected]).
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1984
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Sean M. Crotty, 58 Wilton Road, Greenfield Center, NY
12833; Carrie Bradley Neves, 1009 Route 3, Halcott
Center, NY 12430; [email protected]
1985
Wendy Webster Coakley, P.O. Box 1640, Lenox, MA
01240; [email protected]
Nothing makes a class secretary happier than to
hear from a first-time correspondent. So, thank
you, James Heyman, for making my day with this
gem of an update: “After Williams I spent six years
at Berkeley and two at UC Santa Barbara before
coming to Macalester, a liberal arts college in St.
Paul, Minn., to teach physics. A number of Williams grads are on the faculty here,” he wrote. “Lisa
and I were married in 1990, and Madelyne, our
oldest, was born in California. She graduates from
USC this spring. Sophie, 18, and Joe, 13, were born
in Minnesota. We’ve had opportunities to live in
Sweden and Austria along the way. Life is good!”
Will Prickett and Elizabeth Edwards Prickett
toured the NESCAC and enjoyed ’85 minireunions
with Mace Foehl-Hemphill nearly every weekend
this fall, since their daughters are teammates on
Wesleyan’s field hockey team. Mackey Hemphill
is a junior forward/attack, and Sarah Prickett is a
freshman goalie.
Ian Finley and his wife Karen Adams Finley ’87
have launched their eldest, Katherine, at Hampshire College. “Very different than our first years at
Williams, but definitely good for her,” Ian reported.
Bob Ause and his wife Tammy are getting used
the idea of being empty nesters after this summer.
“We’re not quite sure how we feel about this but
are glad that our daughters both will be in state,”
Bob said. “Our older daughter is at Hope College
in Holland, Mich., and our younger daughter will
start at Michigan State in September. Sadly, no
interest in Williams or Cornell, Tammy’s alma
mater.” Bob, who leads an upstanding life as a high
school science teacher in Ann Arbor, Mich., had
a blast from his WRFC past. One of his students
happens to be the niece of Bob’s rugby teammate
Mike Curtin ’86—who also, it should be noted, is
the picture of respectability today as CEO of DC
Central Kitchen. “This was discovered at a parentteacher conference when the student’s mother told
me that her older brother had played rugby at Williams and thought that I might be the same person
who played with him, but she wasn’t sure because
of a certain nickname,” Bob acknowledged. “Yes, I
sheepishly said, that was a nickname I was called
at the time, but one that did not express my worldview! Mike, aka ‘Sparky,’ was given a nickname with
greater longevity. And, yes, I still have my WRFC
jersey that I wore at our 25th reunion, which is in
wearable shape but seems to be shrinking.”
WUFO vet Hamilton Humes is getting a lot
more visits to the Purple Valley these days, now
that his father Sam Humes ’52 lives in Williamstown, his brother Hans Humes ’87 has repaired
his weekend house in Pownal, Vt., and his nephew
Willem Humes ’16 has matriculated at our alma
mater. Hamilton—who’s coordinating Hurricane
1983– 85
Sandy water infrastructure rebuilding projects at
the EPA and planning how better to integrate
green infrastructure into disaster rebuilding across
the country—occasionally crosses paths with Joan
Becker Kelsch, who oversees green building projects
for Arlington County, Va. He also sees Whitney
Wilson ’90 on the soccer sidelines, as they cheer
on sons Elias Humes and Kyle Wilson, 9-year-old
teammates. Wife Marianna is now heading HR for
the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and
15-year-old Kees has started playing ultimate like
his dear old dad. However, “He’s most proud about
helping kids with special needs to learn to love Tae
Kwan Do as much as he does,” wrote Hamilton.
Lucy Gardner Carson’s daughter Molly has been
selected to represent the state of Vermont at this
summer’s Miss International pageant in Jacksonville, Fla. A sophomore at Clarkson University,
Molly is also an Airman First Class with the
Vermont Air National Guard. Fittingly, her chosen
platform is the Wounded Warrior Project. “The
funniest part is that she didn’t tell us she applied
until after she won,” said her proud mother. “She
probably figured—no doubt correctly—that this
would be startling news for a family of geeks whose
idea of a good time is reading snatches of the
dictionary to each other!”
Caren Nelson Pennington sent in a fabulous
roundup of an impromptu Doughty House
reunion/50th birthday party in January at the
Southborough, Mass., home of Lori Symanski Williams. The group included Liz Mangee Jones all the
way from Palo Alto, Maria Mori Brooks from Pittsburgh, Sarah Hart Wills from Keene, N.H., Karen
Morehead Baldwin from Wellesley, Mass., Helen
Kaulbach from Marblehead, Mass., and Caren from
Glen Ridge, N.J.
“We found out that most of us, apparently very
uncreatively, celebrated the big 5-0 by going to
Italy last summer,” Caren wrote. “I went with Kay
Lackey and her family; Kay and I both worked
as lawyers at the SEC years ago. We agreed that
we all look exactly the same as in college! Lori
is a nurse at the university and in an ER, with
three children (two girls, one boy) in college and
high school. Maria has an interesting hospital job
involving something like statistical mapping of
biomedical information about women’s health; she
and Rob Brooks ’84 have two sons at Williams
and a daughter. Helen is an endocrinologist with
a teenage son and daughter; she and her husband
run their own medical practice. Sarah has a private
social work practice in which she helps teenagers
deal with risky behaviors such as cutting (scary
to learn how common this is now); she lives in a
community with plenty of opportunities for crosscountry skiing and hiking. Karen, the mother of
two college students and one younger daughter,
has three jobs—school library, public library and
bookstore—enabling her to spend most of her time
happily reading children’s books. Liz, who used to
be in banking, has turned her formidable organizational skills toward ensuring that her family (two
girls plus one son at Williams) misses no sporting
event or college tour; she loves living in California,
although the drought is terrible. I am a securities
lawyer (most recently chief compliance officer for
a hedge fund), but I spent the last year at home
with my 11 and 9-year old-sons, watching a lot of
Phineas and Ferb and avoiding looking for another
job, much to my hardworking husband’s chagrin.
Not sure how long this will last!”
Les Johnson has checked a big item off his bucket
list: “By varying degrees, and over decades, I’ve
been encouraged to expand this little egocentric
world of mine. In mid-December another tiny
step along that path landed me among the massed
choruses performing the fourth movement of
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the University of
Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. A PBS
camera crew recorded the event, so it may show up
on a TV screen near you.” Les sings with the basses.
Jeff Louis wrote from London: “We moved
here in order to give our children an international
experience for ‘a year or two.’ Seven years later we’re
still here, loving our life abroad. The children now
range in age from 9 to 16 and are in four different
schools (in four directions of the compass). I commute back to the States a few times a month for
business, but otherwise it seems that home is in the
U.K. Cheerio!”
Diane Wonnell Shannon is planning a September
wedding in Boston. “My fiancé Sam Dennis is an
architect I met at church. Between us we have three
teens (weirdly, all left-handed). We look nothing
like the Brady Bunch, but we’re adjusting well
enough!” Diane is thriving in her second career as
a medical writer. She’s also done some speaking
about physician burnout and why she left medicine.
“Seems to be a hot topic these days, and I’ve written guest blogs and done radio interviews about it
as well,” she said.
Urban designer Suenn Ho is also enjoying a
second professional act: She and her husband John
Flynn left their corporate architecture practice
in Portland, Ore., to strike out on their own,
something she described as “liberating, exciting,
with adventures ahead!” One of their big commissions is the city of Astoria’s Heritage Square. Phase
one of the 65,000-square-foot project is complete,
and Phase two is about to kick off. Check out its
progress at www.gardenofsurgingwaves.org.
According to Suenn, the risks of starting their
own business have already been outweighed by
their newfound creative freedom and work-life
balance with daughters Claire and Margot. “John
was the managing director for the former firm’s
regional office. He said that he will throw up if he
sees another spreadsheet! He is now drawing and
designing and solving problems as an architect, and
having fun. Yes, this was a pay cut for us, but we got
a life in return!”
Paul Meeks has a new job as director of institutional investing at Saturna Capital, where he also
serves as portfolio manager for the firm’s Sextant
Growth Fund. This necessitated a move from
his and Mary McPhail Meeks’ gracious home in
Charleston, S.C., to Seattle, but the peripatetic
Meekses—who’ve lived on both coasts as well as
the Midwest—are pros at relocation.
Anne Melvin is still with Harvard but in a brandnew capacity. “I left front-line planned giving
fundraising last spring and became the director of
education and training. Instead of asking people
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for money, I’m now training the fundraisers on the
intricacies of asking for money… I love the teaching and speaking aspect of it, and I’ve been doing
speaking on fundraising nationwide to planned
giving groups around the country, so this is an
extension of all that. The other part of my job is
on-boarding and staff education for the 390-plus
staffers here in the central university fundraising
office plus the Harvard Alumni Association. There
are about four people behind every front-line fundraiser, and they need training and education, too.
There’s never been a head of training before, so I’m
drinking from a fire hose, but it’s been fun.”
Homecoming provided plenty of opportunities
for alumni bonding. Kudos to Phil Lusardi and
Mary Nealon Lusardi, who hosted the Class of
1985 tailgate for the second year in a row. Classmates dropping by included the Rev. John Denaro,
Margie Duffield, Chris Harned, Ken Irvine, Sean
Moore, Ted Thomas, Cathy Wick and her husband,
Rob MacLean ’84.
After the game, Mike Coakley and I bravely ventured over to the Amherst victory tailgate, where an
alarming number of Ephs—I’m talking about you,
Chris Chapman, David Gow and Jack McGonagle
’84—were celebrating with their sons, who all play
for the Lord Jeffs. Amherst’s dean of admission,
Tom Parker ’69, was also enjoying the festivities, not
looking the least bit conflicted. I must admit, their
good cheer was infectious.
We ambled over to The Log and paid homage to
the late, great Weston Field with some of Mike’s
football elders from back in the day, namely Tom
Casey ’82, Tim Curran ’82, Jeff Kiesel ’82, John
Lawler ’82, Craig Overlander ’82, Jeff Skerry ’82,
Mark Pine ’83, Joe Markland ’84, John McCarthy ’84
and Bill Sperry ’84. We then pub-crawled across
Spring Street to the Purple Pub, where we connected with my old DC buddy Jeff Sher ’86 and his
lovely daughter Olivia, a recent Bates grad who is
Teaching for America in Houston.
My new job at Williams took me to Austin in
January for the joint meeting of the Alumni Society’s Executive Committee and the Alumni Fund’s
Vice Chairs. In between meetings, I enjoyed spending time with Randy Rogers and Lesley Feltman
Rogers (Randy is a vice chair in addition to serving
as our class VP), as well as other Eph volunteer
leaders, including Suzy Akin ’84, J.C. Calderon ’87,
Jacqui Davis ’87 and Katie Kessler Chatas ’88.
Sadly, not all the news out of the Lone Star State
is carefree. Heartfelt condolences go out to San
Antonio resident Francie Billups Mannix on the
sudden and unexpected loss of her husband John.
In addition to his beloved Francie, John Mannix
leaves behind their children Marguerite, Felicia and
John Luke.
And, dear class, please hold Peter Bruun and
Serafina Krag ’86 close to your hearts. Their eldest
daughter Elisif was making strides toward recovery
when, as Peter so eloquently posted to his blog, “the
undertow of heroin overcame her.” He continued:
“Stigma remains a huge barrier for those suffering
from behavioral disorders; those with addiction and
related conditions are too often still seen as weak or
morally flawed. My daughter was neither weak nor
morally flawed. She was beautiful and strong, and
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she succumbed to a tragic affliction. I choose not to
be hushed about the circumstances of Elisif ’s death.
What killed her is affecting thousands like her all
around the country, and there is no shame in that.”
1986
James Peter Conlan, Tulane D-2, San Juan, PR 00927;
[email protected]
Sports news dominates the class notes this season. Writing from Krasnaya Polyana, Russia, Chris
Clarey and Victor Mather of The New York Times
Sports Department covered what Chris describes as
“definitely a strange Olympics.” Despite “not much
atmosphere outside the venues, balmy temperatures, occasional rain and a climate better suited
to late spring than high winter down by the coast
in Adler where the ice sports are being contested,”
Chris reports that the event “has actually gone
much better than expected.” Tasty local Georgian
cuisine, spectacular mountain vistas which Chris
calls “Alps-worthy in places,” always improving
accommodations and the especially enjoyable
events of slopestyle, men’s giant slalom, men’s
downhill, snowboard cross, men’s half pipe, women’s
figure skating and the biathlon have kept Chris in
good spirits, as did “the energy and optimism of the
young Russian volunteers, who come from all over
this vast, still misunderstood country.” In the press
room at the alpine skiing events, Chris ran into Tim
Layden ’79, who, according to Chris, “is writing and
writing very well” at Sports Illustrated.
Steve Troyer is leading a community-based
effort to buy a ski resort in Bear Valley, Calif.,
where he and his wife have owned a home for
years. “The resort has had its ups and downs since
it was founded 48 years ago,” writes Steve, “and
the current investment partnership wants to sell.”
Making the most of Williams connections, Steve
spoke with his dad, Bill Troyer ’56, classmate of
Phil Palmedo ’56, brother of Vermont’s Mad River
Glen ski resort founder and Williams alum Roland
Palmedo ’50, and father of fellow rugby old fart
Chris Palmedo ’88. Chris put Steve in touch with
the folks who helped Mad River Glen restructure
successfully in 1995, and they helped Steve figure
out how to get the venture off the ground. In
November Steve launched the exploratory initiative, and, by February, Steve had founded the Bear
Mountain Valley Co-op, bvmcoop.org. “The last
interesting Williams element to the story,” writes
Steve, “is I learned we have a new neighbor up here,
Greg Balco ’92, who owns a vacation house here in
the village.” It turns out that Balco’s parents often
hired a local girl named Liz Pratt, who was the
daughter of the last private owners of Mad River
Glen before they sold to the co-op.
After seven months of “sweat equity,” Steve’s venture capital startup has incorporated and secured
seed funding. “We are operating in stealth mode, a
common Silicon Valley phrase for ‘Don’t ask what
we are doing, since we won’t tell for a while.’” Steve
assures us it’s “a great team with a very successful
investor involved,” and he looks forward to sharing
more soon.
“Highlights of this snowy winter,” writes Tedie
Jones Bastian, “have been cross-country skiing
1985– 87
with my husband and breaking a trail through fresh
snow in the woods with our kids and dog on a
‘snow day.’” Tedie was reminded of what fun it was
to rehearse and perform with Ephoria at Williams
when she watched an a cappella singing group from
her son’s high school. “I’m happy to say,” writes
Tedie, “that my musical tastes have moved beyond
Pat Benetar’s ‘Fire and Ice’ and Chicago’s ‘Hard to
Say I’m Sorry’ as my family plays and listens to all
kinds of music.”
Matt Dodds, with his wife Anne and two children,
“have settled into a domestic Vermont routine.”
With both kids growing up so quickly and their
oldest, a senior, now applying to college, Matt finds
it “a little surreal to think that in two more years
our kids will be out of the house.” Matt recently
received a letter from the AARP. Though he deems
this letter to be “an additional harbinger of advancing senescence,” I invite you to join me in refusing
to admit that any one of our classmates is receiving
such a letter simply because of his chronological
age. Living in a perpetual state of denial of how
long ago 1964 actually was, your class chronicler
finds it far more comforting to postulate that the
AARP singled Matt out for membership because
of his star power as an old school celebrity owing to
his self-confessed “perverse pleasure in playing and
growing the sport of hickory golf ”—a nostalgic
version of the game that harkens back to a time
when clubs were whittled as opposed to forged.
As it happens, hickory golf is a sport in which
Matt Dodds is a rising international star. For those
of you, like myself, who were unable to adjust the
rabbit-ears on your black-and-white TV set to see
Matt successfully represent his country against
the European side in Ryder-Cup-style matches,
the Feb. 3, 2014, issue of Golf World magazine
chronicles the throwback tournaments of what it
calls the “30-odd antiquarians in funny pants” who
represented Europe and the U.S. in a game that is
more committed to craft culture than to metallurgical science. Matt’s ardent hope is that “Rudy Goff
is, somewhere, smiling and thinking of his very
unpromising student.”
May these notes find you and yours healthy,
happy and willing to share your thoughts, experiences and accomplishes in the next edition. Paz,
salud y alegría a todos.
1987
Jeffrey A. Heilman, 426 67th St., Fl. 2, Brooklyn, NY
11220; Jill Shulman, 135 Red Gate Lane, Amherst, MA
01002; [email protected]
It’s another snow day. At this rate, my kids will
attend school through July. My father Jeff Shulman
’60 once had a friend who was retiring during those
infamous blizzards that pummeled the Midwest
in the 1970s. Dad asked, “So where are you going
to retire?” His friend replied, “I’m going to attach
a snow shovel to the front of my truck and settle
where the first person points to the shovel and asks,
‘What’s that?’”
Part of me feels similarly, as I await news about
the delay, cancelation or miraculous takeoff of our
family’s flight to Florida for February break. The
other part of me is enjoying the silent winter dance
outside my kitchen window. I’m grateful the storm
hit this week instead of last because I was able to
travel to Boston to celebrate the bat mitzvah of
Judy Crown Craver’s daughter Anna, along with
friends Lee Briggs Couch, Jordan Hampton and
members of our families. Lee teaches math at King
Low Heywood Thomas in Connecticut, Jordan
is a nurse practitioner at Chelsea High School
in Boston, and I work seasonally at the Williams
Office of Admission and privately as a college essay
consultant. (A shout out to Duncan Brown ’60 and
wife Susan, proprietors of the comfy “inn” where I
stay when I’m in Billsville.) Now that I think about
it, the majority of our Goodrich House contingent
followed the “education” pathway, as Annie Gilbert
Coleman teaches in the Department of American
Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Molly
Bourne is an expat in Italy teaching art history,
and Katie Kerr Clarke teaches primary school in
Chicago. Of course every “family” has its renegades.
Judy Crown Craver practices psychology in Boston,
Katie Anthony Miller practices law in DC, and
Sheila Coogan is a vascular surgeon in Houston.
If I say they are like the “Fonzie” characters of
Goodrich House ’87, I realize that no one younger
than the Class of ’90 will have any idea what I’m
talking about.
Little class news initially came in. I had only
received one email, and I was so grateful to my one
and only news source, that I began an ode to her:
Ode to Laura Cook Booth
On sleepless nights with no good news/ Or even
news not quite so merry,/ Not a single soul from
our fair class/ Had written a word to thy class
secretary
Except for my old friend Laura Cook Booth/ (By
“old” I mean our relationship)/ Who wrote to me of
those she’d seen/ At a soccer game and on a trip.
I soon realized that an English major did not
a poet make, so you will be relieved to hear that
I abandoned verse in favor of a straightforward
accounting of Laura and husband John Booth’s
encounters with John Deveaux and his wife Sarah
at their daughter’s soccer game and then again to
ring in the new year. The Booths also dined with
Laura’s JA, Andrew Canning ’85, and wife Karen,
an evening that included “lots of fun Williams talk
with the requisite food and drink.” They’ve kicked
off the college hunt for the oldest Booth daughter,
who is a junior, and I do hope that Laura and John
pop in if they’re in my area on that college safari, so
I can properly thank Laura for her efforts.
Eventually a couple more emails trickled in, for
which I was also deeply grateful. One was from
Denis Newcomer, who wrote from his new home
in Bucks County, Pa. He’s an “empty nester,” as
his son Jake attends Millersville University, and
his daughter just returned from a semester abroad
in Perugia, Italy to the University of Richmond.
Denis attended his 30th high school reunion with
Michelle (Missy) Wilcox, and afterward they met
Carin Delisle at a bar where “the music was so loud,
we had to move to the back of the bar to chat and
catch up.” He added, “In our younger days (i.e.,
right after graduation), the three of us often went
out dancing around the Hartford area and could
handle the loud music.”
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Karen Adams Finley, class VP, reported that she
has seen more classmates in the last few weeks than
in the past year combined. Among them were Kerry
Cullen Morgan, Charles Norton and family in Stanford, Conn., and Thayer Tolles, who granted Karen
and her home-schooled son Matt a private tour
of the most recent exhibit Thayer curated at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American West in
Bronze, 1850-1925. Though I’ve spent much of the
winter holed up reading the applications of future
Ephs, Karen arrived here in Amherst periodically
to transport her daughter Katherine to and from
Hampshire College, where Katherine’s a freshman. When here, Karen whisked me out into the
daylight for a few much-needed rays of vitamin D.
(Please, oh higher power, let my airplane to Florida
take off between storms!) Another Eph who gets
me out of the house is Holly Perry ’82, who is part
of my biannual book group. (Yes, bi-annual is all we
seem to be able to manage these days.)
There’s a bit more action in the Boston vicinity.
The catalyst is Jordan Hampton, who organizes festive dinners for local Eph women. Anne Melvin ’85
hosted the February dinner, and in attendance were
Ann Marie Plankey, Kate Shaw Patterson, Kate
Pugh, Karen Adams Finley, Haley Clifford Adams,
Sue Thomas ’88, Karen Friedman ’81, Camille
Preston ’93, Nora Harrington ’88, Susan Daudelin
’83, Sarah Murphy ’86, Lisa Buxbaum ’88 and Nancy
Dougherty ’80.
As of the meeting of the Society of Alumni at
reunion, Jordan Hampton will be the VP of the
Society of Alumni from June 2014 until June 2016
(with Leila Jere ’91 presiding as president). Then
Jordan will be elevated to president from June 2016
until June 2018. Congratulations, Jordan! I can’t
think of a more worthy recipient of this honor than
our former president of the Class of ’87.
Finally, Sean Denniston wrote from DC, “There
are only two Ephs total in the entire Department
of Transportation. We can do better!” He is on
the board of the Athenaeum Art Gallery in Old
Town Alexandria, in Alexandria, Va., and extended
an open invitation to all Ephs in the area to the
gallery’s events. Sean concluded, “Even for a Bostonian like me, it’s getting old, and cold.”
I couldn’t agree more, Sean. I’ve checked the
departure information for my Florida flight at least
20 times in as many hours, and it still looks like
it’s on time. Here’s hoping that the flight actually
departs tomorrow evening after this storm has
passed through, and that many of you in the great
Class of ’87 will send your news in the general
direction of Jeff Heilman for the next class notes.
Warmly, Jill.
1988
Peter Grose, 1 Hampshire Woods Court, Towson, MD
21204; [email protected]
Our class has some exciting baby news to report.
Adam Lesser and his wife Tracey welcomed Jane
Delaney Lesser on Jan. 26. He was wondering if
the maternity ward has AARP discounts. Gerry
Kirschner’s addition is that he and his wife adopted
a baby boy in October. Tristan Thatcher Kirschner
was born Oct. 24, 2013, outside of Atlanta, Ga.
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Gerry then got to appreciate what the future has
in store for him when he had dinner with Richard
Ward ’89 and his 13-year-old son in New York
when they were there to cheer on the Seahawks in
the Super Bowl.
We had quite a bit of news of classmates visiting
with other Ephs. Catherine Eaton Coakley sees Tim
Hamilton regularly, and she and her husband Rob
Coakley ’86 hosted a Super Bowl get-together that
included Ryan Friend ’03 and his wife, Natalie, and
John Kelly ’03. Catherine and Rob still make it to
every Homecoming.
Tracey Heilman spent a weekend in Austin for the
Alumni Fund Vice Chairs meeting. The Society of
Alumni Executive Committee was there also, so
she hung out with Katie Chatas and Brooks Foehl
all weekend. She and Brooks got in a nice eightmile run around UT Austin and the river. She and
Katie did a little shopping at a huge cowboy boot
store in Austin.
Eleanor Congdon was thrilled to meet Rodney
Cunningham for noodles and to talk about careers
when she went to DC on Jan. 2 to give a paper in a
session of the Society for Italian Historical Studies
at the American Historical Society conference. She
said she was even tacky enough to wear a Williams
T-shirt.
Ellen O’Connell and Britta Bjornlund had a late
night out in New York (home in bed by 9:30 p.m.).
Ellen’s son Gordon and Britta’s daughter Dasha hit
it off playing tag in the icy Manhattan streets.
Cindy Craig Johnson had a surprise visit in Jacksonville from Mike Harrington and his family. Mike,
his partner Dave Breen and their boys were en
route from Boston to Orlando (they drove family
vacation style!) to enjoy a Disney vacation with the
kids. Cindy reports that Mike’s boys, Declan and
Noah, are charming and extremely well behaved
(despite the fact that they had been in the car for
two days when she met them for breakfast).
Sarah Loebs Werkman shared that Sarah McMillan bought a fixer-upper house in Missoula, Mont.
(three hours from Spokane), turned it into her
dream house and accepted a job as senior attorney
with WildEarth Guardians. Russell Werkman said
that he and Sarah have watched many hours of
basketball, as their son’s varsity basketball team is
doing well in postseason play. He has also added
early morning walks in the park with their puppy,
Blue, to his routine. In my last notes, I incorrectly
called the puppy Montana. Russell’s school is moving from AP to IB. My last notes had it reversed.
There was quite a bit of publishing and artistic
news. Dave Kane reported that Joe Thorndike had
an article in Forbes magazine in January on envy
and the income tax. Dave and Yang Lu ’14 have
published an article about a package, written in
the R programming language, for analyzing the
performance of equity portfolios in the latest issue
of The R Journal. The project began after Yang
worked for Dave during a summer internship.
Kathryn V. White wrote that soon after graduating
from Williams, she discovered the great beauty of
the Pacific Northwest by embarking on a crosscountry bicycle trip with Lauris Wren and another
friend of theirs. She returned for graduate school
and hasn’t left. Currently, she is enjoying writing
1987– 90
a book as well as short stories. Things continue to
go well for Vicki Rummler with her music in Paris.
She just did a fascinating show with piano, tenor
sax and vibraphone and is now getting ready for a
couple of solo dates in Geneva. She is working on
her third album with the cutting-edge a cappella
group Les Grandes Gueules and working on her
third solo album. Teresa Spillane is working on a
children’s book about the swan boat having a leak
in their pond and the crisis that ensues. She is
staying active professionally with a thriving private
practice, sitting on a few dissertation committees
and enjoying teaching and mentoring of all sorts.
She has 16-year-old triplets. Sophie is at Groton
playing varsity squash and excelling academically,
Catherine is at St. George’s, living for life on the
water, and Flora is a day student at Beaver Country
Day, determined that the world would be a better
place if she ran it.
Bob Gallagher stayed active with sprint-distance
triathlons. He really enjoyed reunion and finding
out about very cool ’88 and ’87 Ephs in Europe,
Russia and Asia. His son made the JV basketball
team, and his wife has a job at Pace University
working for the president and planning five- to
10-year strategies. His daughter has given some
great viola concerts in grade school.
Maureen (Brand) Velazquez and Eric Velazquez
are pleased to report that their son Luc has successfully joined the Bucknell University Class of 2017.
Brian Kornfield’s new sport is Ping-Pong and he
was about ready to join a local Ping-Pong league
and see how well he can do against teenagers whose
serves have so much spin on them that he can only
dream of returning them. He said it is much less
stressful on his old joints, and, judging by the age
of some of the players at the Ping-Pong place, you
can play into your 70s and 80s. He and his wife are
also excited that they wrote their last college tuition
checks for his two stepdaughters.
Derek Molliver accepted a job in Portland, Maine,
at the University of New England in its center
for research on chronic pain. He currently lives in
Pittsburgh, where he met his wife Michal and had
his daughter Sarah (she’ll be 2 in May).
Jim Elliott ran a successful Kickstarter campaign
to raise money for a free podcast/website that he
created. He was staggered and humbled to receive
17 contributions from Ephs, 15 of which were
from the Class of ’88. We truly have a great alumni
network. Go Ephs!
Alicia Bjornson took her second trip to Cuba with
the American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
of Historic and Artistic Works. She described the
trip as a once-in-a-lifetime experience in which her
group met conservators, architects and preservationists working throughout the island. The trip
included visits to Havana and Cienfuegos’ botanical
gardens, Ernest Hemingway’s home at Finca Vigia,
and seven of Cuba’s eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the archaeological landscape of
the first coffee plantations in the southeast of Cuba
and the Viñales biosphere in Pinar del Rio. Returning to winter in New Jersey was tough.
On turning 50 in January, Jim Munson finally
decided to write in for what he thinks is the first
time since graduation. He has kept busy build-
ing the business he founded four years ago, The
Brooklyn Roasting Co., which produces its own
coffee and has cafés in Brooklyn and Japan. On top
of that he has assumed the homeschooling of his
14-year-old daughter, Iris. Jim and Iris are learning
from each other and loving the arrangement.
Kate (Saunders) Hodgson is still bridging (she
says sometimes the bridge feels like a tightrope)
veterinary medicine and human health care in One
Health in Community Practice. She is applying for
funding and grants to support a number of ongoing
projects where companion animals are part of the
human health care plan. She and her husband are
parents of twins who turned 13 and became true
and complete teenagers. She keeps reminding
herself that it is that same stubbornness that they
show now that will get them through graduate
school later.
JR Rahill was in Savannah, Ga., with his squadron
for two weeks, flying large force employment exercises with F-22 Raptors, F-15 Eagles, other Guard
F-16s and T-38s in the warning areas out over the
ocean. Both of his boys are playing hockey and
getting ready for baseball season. His wife Cathy
loves her job in the UVM athletic department. He
enjoyed reunion and invites Ephs and their families
to stay with them in Vermont.
25
th
1989
REUNION JUNE 12-15
David Bar Katz, 138 Watts St., Apt. 4, New York, NY
10013; Shannon Penick Pryor, 3630 Prospect St., NW,
Washington, DC 20007; [email protected]
Dear fellow ’89ers, We’re all going to be seeing
each other in a couple months for our 25th, and
we’ll be catching up then, so since we all are so
much better in person, we look forward to hearing
all your stories face to face!
1990
Catherine Ann Brennan, 2018 Rosilla Place, Los Angeles,
CA 90046; [email protected]
Amy (Mower) van Kampen is “living in Cooperstown, N.Y., with my husband Matthew and my
daughter Patricia, who will be 20 this summer and
who is a sophomore at SUNY Potsdam. We have
two very unruly German shepherds and three cats.
I am the director of endoscopy and telemedicine
at Bassett Medical Center, and my husband is a
pharmacist at the same hospital. … I quit smoking
about 16 years ago and started exercising. I’ve been
doing endurance events for about five years and
have completed six marathons and a few triathlons,
including one ‘half ironman.’ Thus, the next big
event on my horizon is the Mont-Tremblant Ironman in August. My only goal is to finish the race
within the allotted 17 hours. We also took up scuba
diving (it’s a togetherness thing since my husband
has absolutely no interest in swimming, biking or
running). Anyway, life has been pretty good to us.”
Stacey Minyard is “working at Cabrini College, a
small Catholic school with top Div. III men’s basketball and lacrosse. Over the last year I saw Beth
Gannon, who visited with daughter Julia for my
husband’s 50th. Polly LeBarron and I had dinner
when she was in town for business … Mo Holden
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and I met at a one-day conference but had our
visit cut short. Finally, since Labor Day I see Ted
Ruger on a regular basis, as our sons are in the same
class at school. I’m looking forward to seeing more
classmates as we prepare for our 25th.”
Andy Bernheimer wrote from a very snowy NYC:
“The office is buzzing along with several new
projects in design and construction (check out the
website)—a couple of private residences, a community center in Brownsville (Brooklyn), an office for
a fashion agency and a large mixed-use residential
tower in Fort Greene (Brooklyn). Teaching is also
going well. I am still the director of the M.Arch
program at Parsons so a full-time academic on top
of running an eight-person practice. My family is
doing well, our kids are 9 and (about to turn) 7,
enjoying NYC public schools and looking forward
to all the looming standardized tests. My wife is
living the life of a financial tech startup founder, so
working very hard. Not much to complain about in
these parts other than sleep deprivation (but that’s
our own doing—not our kids’!).”
In addition to her work as a professor of English
at Furman University, Melinda Menzer has taken up
long-distance, open-water swimming. Not content
to have survived the Alcatraz Sharkfest, she is now
training for a 10-mile lake swim in Minnesota in
July. Her swim blog (Google 10-mile swim blog)
has some good tips for swim training, including
how to avoid kicking your university president
when he hops into your lane when you are doing
the breaststroke! (Answer: Direct your kicks toward
the person in the adjacent lane.)
Great to hear from classmates who haven’t
appeared in these pages before! Chris Wright: “Following graduation, I spent 14 years in Bozeman,
Mont., skiing and fishing and getting a PhD in
landscape ecology in my spare time. There I met
my lovely wife Gretchen Meier (Colorado College
’90), a knitter and quilter. Our first son, Liam, was
fortunate to be born a Montana native in 2002. In
2004, to great heartbreak, we sold our 700-squarefoot house down by the old Bozeman railroad
station (seen in A River Runs Through It), and I
took a postdoc with the U.S. Geological Survey in
Sioux Falls, S.D. That turned into what seemed like
a terminal sentence as a postdoc with USGS, then
at South Dakota State University. Luckily I’m now
an assistant research professor at South Dakota
State. No tenure track and all soft-money funding,
but so far I’m making it work. In the meantime,
we now have four kids: identical twin boys Sean
and Keagan, 8, and Linnaea, 4. Kind of like family
planning gone bad! But thankfully we didn’t end
up with four boys, or I’d truly be at wit’s end. All
in all, I’m living the hippie dream, ferrying my kids
around in a red VW bus—tormenting them with
the Grateful Dead channel on Sirius. I never in my
wildest dreams thought I’d settle in the Midwest,
but it’s not so bad in a Prairie Home Companion
way.” Chris’ work analyzing trends of grassland
conversion to cropland in the Midwest was also
written up in an article about Monarch butterfly
habitat loss in The New York Times last December.
Judy (Fleishman) Silver lives in Ridgefield, Conn.,
and is an English teacher and field hockey coach
at Ridgefield High School. “I have the pleasure of
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playing Mo Flaherty Minicus’ Darien team each
season. It has been so much fun connecting with
Mo through field hockey. We scout teams and help
each other out, just as all devoted Ephs should do
for one another! My two daughters Rebekah and
Natalie, ages 16 and 14, are also avid field hockey
players, and we travel up and down the East Coast
to play in tournaments. In addition to my teaching
and coaching, I am collaborating with my husband
on new, web-based tools for teachers. WriterKEY.
com was released in January 2014. More tools are
being released in the coming year. All of these
applications are designed to help teachers be
more effective and efficient. Doug, my husband,
has presented it at a TED-style talk at Columbia
University’s EdLAB.”
Whitney Wilson “started in September as a patent
judge on the patent trial and appeal board at the
Patent and Trademark Office. We hear appeals
from people dissatisfied with the outcome of the
examination of their patent applications and preside over administrative trials regarding the validity
of issued patent claims. One of the judges who
started with me (Brian Murphy) is a Williams parent—Laura Murphy ’11—so I’ve been able to hear
a little about the college for current students. I also
heard from Brendon Kane that he has moved back
to Atlanta from Kansas City, while Bruce Young
has been reveling in the most successful Duke
football season in at least 30 years.”
Marc Caltabiano lives “in San Francisco (actually
Burlingame), but my job is with TripAdvisor, which
is based in the ‘burbs outside Boston (Newton). I
joined them in February (running the product and
strategy for the division that focuses on businesses)
but also was working for another tech firm in the
Boston area for six years before that. This means
I’ve been going back and forth about every other
week for six-plus years. I mean, you’d think I could
find some tech job given where I live and not have
to commute to Boston! So while the commute is
definitely crappy, the miles cover my vacations, and
it allows me to keep a closer connection to my East
Coast family and friends. … I actually have made
it a point to visit Williams about every other year
or so, which has been fun.”
Brooke Sabin lives “just outside of DC with
my husband and two Russian wolfhounds that
occasionally allow us on the furniture. I’m a
writer-editor-sometime photographer for the
Washington edition of Where magazine, ‘where’ I
get to investigate the fun (non-partisan gridlock!)
side of the city. Last summer I spent a wonderful
long weekend roaming mountains in New Mexico
with Beth Worley Farman-Farmaian and Susan Gray
Gose (and was almost able to keep up with those
two hardcore hikers!).”
Carolyn (Bachelder) Torres has been teaching for
23 years, from first through 12th grades, and was
named the New Mexico state teacher of the year
for her work as a third-grade math and science
teacher! She was headed to DC in April to be recognized and meet the president, and she has a year
of events ahead of her, serving as a spokeswoman
for education, going to space camp and generally
hanging out with other superstar teachers. Her
husband David is brother to three Williams alums,
and although he tried to break with this family
1990– 92
tradition, he fell into Carolyn’s arms, so perhaps
we can at least consider him an honorary alum!
Carolyn and David have two boys ages 17 and 15,
as well as twin girls who are 13.
And we end with Monique (Waddell) Thomas’
great news that her niece has been accepted early
decision at Williams! It is so great to hear about
what so many of you are up to! Thanks for the
news, and please send more!
1991
Christine W. Choi, 85 1st Place, Apt. 2, Brooklyn, NY
11231; Ramona Liberoff, 34 Charlotte Road, Flat 4,
London EC2A 3PB, United Kingdom; Pete McEntegart,
34 South Venice Blvd., Unit 2, Venice, CA 90291;
[email protected]
I read recently that our mid-40s are the “rush
hour” of life. Combine that with the deep freeze
that hit much of the U.S. (“polar vortex” passed into
common parlance), and I am not surprised that
extracting news from the Class of ’91 took a few
attempts this time. I almost thought I’d have to do
a statistical report on those who are on LinkedIn
(pretty fascinating stats on alums on the network).
I was saved by some actual submissions, and I am
very grateful to those who provided me your news.
Mary Moule writes on behalf of husband Greg
Woods that he “has officially started as a Federal
District Court judge, having been recommended by
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, nominated by President
Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.” Greg
was not available to comment because he was
at “judge training!” Mary herself, as reported by
Melissa Fenton, is serving on the Executive Committee of the Society of Alumni for Williams and
is also serving as board chair of Vorhees College.
Soo La Kim and Alexa Sand cross-referenced
each other. They met in Chicago because Alexa
published her book “after almost a decade of
research, writing, revision, called Vision, Devotion,
and Self-Representation in the Late Middle Ages,
from Cambridge University Press.” Alexa lives in
Logan, Utah, “a quiet town tucked into a mountain
valley, a little like Williamstown but with much
bigger mountains, better snow and more cowboy
boots.” On her visit to Chicago, Alexa was introduced to Soo’s two boys, Spencer, 5, and Charlie,
2, who are “just as cute and lively and smart as you
would expect.” Soo is at Columbia College Chicago, working in academic affairs, and she writes
of surviving the successive polar vortices (proper
plural, applause) and “planning to spend summer
in Berkeley, Calif.” Soo also works with Joel Foisy’s
younger brother Andre, and Joe was in town for his
wedding. Joel, who chairs the math department at
SUNY Potsdam, has a wonderful life full of music,
homegrown food and outdoor fun with his wife
Gretchen and their two boys.
Chris Aylott is coming up to a launch milestone:
“For the last year I’ve been designing a Star Wars
game for Disney Mobile—expecting to release
worldwide during the spring. Otherwise, it’s the
usual routine of school, soccer and convincing the
kids that yes, bedtime happens every night.”
Jennifer (Austin) Flanigan writes from Paris.
When last I saw her she had four children—three
boys and a girl—and they have extended: “At the
end of November 2013 we adopted Lucien, who
was 17 months old at the time, and our family is
complete!” Jennifer is also working part time as the
general counsel of Horizons University.
Marc Klaus writes that all is well in Stockholm.
Despite distance, he caught up with Raj Venkatesen
and Greg Bronstein just after New Year: “Their
families were vacationing together in Costa Rica,
and I drove up from where we were staying to join
them for lunch.” Greg is in Atlanta; Raj is in San
Francisco (where he sees Eric Grosse frequently,
who is building another startup, chairish.com).
Robin Neidorf works for a UK.-based firm,
FreePint, as director of research. She advises us not
to worry about the value of a liberal arts degree:
“Know that your kids will get an education that
will enable them to think laterally through business
problems, build collaborative teams and take a
long view. My daughter Talia is a sophomore and
is thinking about small liberal arts schools where
she can pursue visual art and theater.” Robin is
planning a weekend with Amy (Whritenour) Ando
’90 and is making an effort to organize business
travel to see Judy Conti, Stefi Ehrlert (in Berlin) and
others. She offers, “If anyone wants a Minneapolis
getaway (perhaps when it’s not eleventy-hundred
degrees below zero), let me know.”
Anna Tanner highlighted a terrific lecture by our
very own Williams professor, Joe Cruz. Anna raves,
“I just took a 19-minute detour in my day to listen
to Joe’s fabulous TEDx talk on the mind/body
problem. Make yourself even smarter and take 19
minutes of your day to listen too.” Here’s the link:
http://tedx.williams.edu/videos/
Melissa Fenton claimed that she had sent all her
news in last update but still managed to reference
a few friends (thanks for your super connectivity, Melissa). She finished “for the third year in a
row, directing the sixth-grade Greek play at my
son’s school, The Cathedral School of St. John the
Divine. My son Jordan played a warrior who fell
in love with a self-sufficient woman who loved to
hunt.” Melissa sees Ray Neufeld, another parent at
Cathedral, who showcased some of his photography in the parent art exhibit.
Erica Dankmeyer is on a sabbatical from Williams and living in sunny San Francisco for several
months. Melissa saw Doug Camp, who is doing
well in Virginia with his own video company called
Naked Eye Productions. He also runs a summer
camp in New Hampshire every year.
A number of people sent regards but didn’t
contribute news. Perhaps my fellow class secretaries
Pete and Christine can get them to open up as the
deep freeze thaws toward spring. Christine herself
said that she had dinner with Mary Moule and
Melissa Fenton, and perhaps I can encourage her to
share highlights next time. Happy spring!
1992
Heidi Sandreuter, 130 West 79th St., #11A, New York,
NY 10024; [email protected]
When you are having lunch, dinner or hors
d’oeuvres of any kind with the president of the
U.S., you, too, can have the honor of kicking off our
M AY 2 0 1 4 P E O P L E
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class notes. Today Don Graves—“POTUS’s point
person”—leads our ’92 scoop. When I saw a picture
on Facebook showing Don having a meeting with
POTUS, I demanded details. “I am still working
in the Treasury Department and the White House
and was appointed as the federal lead on Detroit
and its recovery. I travel to Detroit each week
and had dinner with VP Biden and new Detroit
Mayor Duggan when the Veep visited the Auto
Show in January. [Biden] is hilarious and phenomenally smart, by the way. He is also as loquacious
as he seems, but in a really good way. We talked
about Detroit and workforce issues and cars.” A
couple weeks later Don had lunch with President
Obama and Mayor Duggan when POTUS went to
Michigan to sign the Farm Bill at Michigan State.
Turns out Mayor Duggan asked Don, “Who [am
I] going to meet with next that could top the last
month—the Pope?”
Don sings in a DC group with Ned Johnson
’93, Glenn Northern ’91, Andy Eklund ’07 and Dan
Winston ’09.
Logan McDougal shared a dispatch from Ukraine.
Having lived and worked there for three years,
Logan and his family are moving back to the U.S.
this spring. “We have had an unbelievable time
exploring this part of the world—including all
the craziness—but are looking forward to getting
home. The last few months have been surreal in
Kyiv, with ‘normal life’ impacted by the recent
political and economic crises. I don’t know how
everything will end but am not optimistic about a
peaceful or developmental solution.” The McDougals are planning to land in San Francisco, where
Logan saw Lon Troyer and benefited from the great
counsel of Kate Steinheimer and Peter Klivans
regarding California schools.
Also overseas, and hopefully staying there long
after her husband finishes his PhD in the next few
months, is Jan Gruenke. “Still living in Edinburgh,
Scotland,” writes Jan, “and I’m finding that my
vowels sometimes come out of my mouth dressed
in tartan. Any conscious attempt I make at a Scottish accent is still horrendous. Our 5-year-old son is
in the Steiner school, and I keep wanting to enroll
myself in kindergarten there as well. But then I
remind myself of all my grey hair and go to work.
My main business, The Balanced Runner, is growing bit by bit. I finally completed the core action
program, a series of audio Feldenkrais lessons to
improve your running form. And I recently learned
that one of my running form recommendations is
being used by the U.S. Air Force, which I’m really
thrilled about. Hopefully this year I’ll be teaching
natural running workshops in London, New York,
Madison and possibly Paris and Oslo, so if you’re
in any of those areas, please get in touch!” Jan, you
really should add Baltimore to your impressive city
list. Keep reading to learn why.
Ashley (Edgar) Milliken returned home to
Norwich, Vt., after living and exploring for seven
months in Asia with her family. “We have settled
back at home and are fully involved in the crosscountry ski seasons, with both daughters, Carly, 11,
and Perrin, 13, racing locally.” Peter Milliken ’90
and Ashley had fun running the local Bill Koch
League youth ski program. “Continuing what has
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become an annual tradition, we’ll be skiing into
Zealand Hut in the White Mountains for an overnight with 40 of our ski club members.” The Millikens cheered on some local athletes competing in
the Sochi games: three skiers on the biathlon team
plus multiple Vermonters and New Hampshirites!
When was the last time we called out New Hampshirites? Recognize solid pronouns. The Millikens
also grew their family by one, adding Suki, an adorable black cockapoo who my cockapoo can’t wait to
meet. Ashley stated, “Life is good in Vermont!”
Charles Picard is moving to the Bay Area. “We
will be leaving the frozen tundra of Spokane thanks
to the efforts of my wife Deanna Zibello ’98. She
will be moving from her present position at Gonzaga to St. Mary’s College (Moraga, Calif.) in the
fall. This is a step up to a tenure track position, and
we’re both delighted that we’ll be able to bring up
our son Xander in the Bay Area. We look forward
to connecting with old Williams classmates and
friends when we get settled in.” Xander is now 14
months, which doesn’t leave Charles with “a lot of
mental energy at the end of the day.”
Making an appearance in these notes after a bit
of a hiatus is Wil Warren! Wil checked in from the
NYC ‘burbs to assure us that “nothing too exciting
has been happening.” I know that can’t be true
because Wil and his family live in my hometown
of New Canaan, a corner of Connecticut where
everything exciting happens at the Mobil station
phone booth. Wil and his wife Emily—who was a
high school classmate of Jen Plansky McKinley—
are having fun raising their three kids, James, 14,
Chuck, 12, and Cassie, 8. “I continue to work at a
private equity firm, Lexington Partners, in NYC.
It will be 20 years in June. Wow,” writes Wil, who
also gives a shout out to one of his partners, David
Outcalt ’89.
Wil continues, “I remain close with Brian Taptich
(San Francisco, CEO of Bitcasa), Blake T. Davis
(Bridgehampton, Bridgehampton Capital Management) and Paul Fortin (Boston area, Harbor Island
Capital) to name a few. I also just ran into Andrew
Zinman in Grand Central the other day. He is a
lawyer at Curtis Mallet and lives in Irvington, N.Y.”
I’d like to pause for a moment to recognize Paul
and his better half, Susan Fortin, and everything
they do for our class as head agents for the Alumni
Fund. As a JV agent, I am continually impressed
how they corral the troops to reach out to all of you
and ask for your continued support of our beloved
Williams. Their dedication is incredible and their
contribution, priceless. Thank you, Susan and Paul.
Kerr Houston is still teaching at MICA in Baltimore, but he’s also been moonlighting as a local art
critic (and taught a spring class at Johns Hopkins
on the subject) and as a bit player in his 4-year-old
daughter’s ever-expanding role-plays. This summer
Kerr and his clan will head to Cape Town, where
wife Lisa will be directing a Hopkins public health
summer program.
Holly Hedeman reported that she has nothing to
report.
Abigail Solomon recently stopped her sit-ups to
say hello at our local gym on the Upper West Side.
Her trainer gave me the evil eye as we recounted
highlights from her swank Thanksgiving balloon
1992– 93
viewing party. Abigail treated me to a highlight
during the holiday—seeing the bursting parade
balloons netted on West 77th Street from a warm
apartment above. And while seeing the Pillsbury
Dough Boy was a thrill, the best sight of the evening was Abigail’s son, Jasper, sacked out in his crib.
Andrew Everett is “still waiting for Heidi to come
visit him in Vermont.” Will do, Andrew, just as I
owe a visit to Susan Snyder in Boston to witness
the valuable scoop she and her boys have to share.
Andrew was elected to the board of the Northern
Vermont Youth Lacrosse League. In addition, he is
co-president of Shelburne Youth Lacrosse, where
he will coach the boys’ fifth/sixth grade team this
year. Coach E—perfect.
David Weck is launching a number of new
products under the brand WeckMethod. Check out
the new BOSU Elite, the RMT Club (rotational
movement training), a CoreFIST hand wrap and
seminars, online training and certifications at
weckmethod.com. David adds, “My kids (daughter
will soon be 7 and son 5) are my greatest joy. They
live a mile away from me with my ex-wife. She and
I have a great relationship, and I see them all the
time. We are in San Diego, and I’m across the street
from the Pacific Ocean.”
David keeps in touch with Jim Mawn, Bodhi
Amos and several others via Facebook. “Bodhi is
teaching and coaching football at Episcopal High
School in Alexandria, Va. He loves training and
lifting weights with his student athletes, and he’s
a 40-plus thick and strapping Bo-Hunk”—Weck’s
words, not mine though I do not doubt—“and he
can’t believe how fast the kids are growing up.”
Jim and his wife Erika have two young boys,
Jimmy and Ryan. It appears to David that Jim’s
work ethic displayed at Williams has served him
well as a lawyer successfully dabbling in various
ventures. And it sounds like David wants to start
planning a camping or rafting trip to catch up with
his boys. Fellas, call each other and make it happen.
Barb Behling Rosa was voted chief resident
starting in May (“but of course duties are already
starting”). Barb is now more than halfway through
her four years and remains very happy to have
made the switch to medicine and will likely become
a generalist PM&R. (Tune in to the next notes to
learn what that means.) Barb is also “just about
to take the leap of faith and start my own private
office hours this spring. Somehow my ambition got
the best of me, so I started a new service (manipulative medicine) through our department, and I
am currently contributing to a chapter in Oncology
Rehabilitation written by my attending physicians.”
When not saving lives, you may find Barb picking up puppy poop. “We adopted a puppy, Bella,
to replace my poor dog, Emma, who passed away
from heart failure at 15 years of age. Bella has, in
the last six months, outgrown our 3-year-old dog
George and has brought out my husband’s ‘daddy’
side that I’ve never seen before. We have no children, so I think that it’s acceptable at this point to
talk about our canine kids.”
At the end of my recent solicitation for news to
share in these notes, I asked some questions to get
your juices flowing. That is one way to get a reaction out of Josh Brumberg. To the question “What
2014 resolution do you hope to have kept and
cranked on by the time the notes are published?”
Josh answered, “Provide good copy for Heidi on
the goings on of the Brumberg family.” Josh also
offered his take on the greatest story of the Winter
Olympics: the temperature—“Who picks a summer resort for a Winter Olympics?” Tom Warren
guessed a Pravda headline: “Putin Wins Gold in
Giant Slalom!”
When picking the country to win this summer’s
FIFA World Cup, Josh called out Brazil, Kerr
Houston elevated Holland, and Cherie (MacCauley)
Weldon wrote: “Seeing as I am married to an Englishman, I have to pick England for the World Cup
winner. Naturally, I’ll be cheering for the USA as
well though and eagerly watching the antics of Luis
Suarez from Uruguay (since he is the top point
scorer for Liverpool (the Weldon family’s preferred
team in the Premier League).”
And I have a bit of news to report. After 14-plus
years, I left Pepsi-Cola in January to lead women’s
marketing at Under Armour. For those astute
geographers, you may be wondering if I am moving
down to Baltimore—home to Jim Ryan, Kerr Houston and Christie Williams Wyskiel ’94 and Matt
Wyskiel ’91, among many other Ephs. Nope. I will
be commuting to Baltimore from NYC for the first
several months but then be based out of UA’s NYC
office. Interesting that Don Graves shared that his
nickname growing up was Pepsi “because it was
what my Mom craved when she was pregnant with
me. My grandmother said I would be Pepsi when
I came out, thus…” I asked Don if his sister was
nicknamed Under Armour. Alas, no.
On a serious note, I’d like to make a purple plea
and ask all of you who aren’t already in the Be The
Match bone marrow registry to please log onto
bethematch.org and request a swab kit. This ask
is inspired by my amazing Williams field hockey
and lacrosse teammate, Ashley Deeks ’93, who
was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia a few
months ago. We want to stock the registry with
potential marrow matches and take care of our
fellow Ephs. But, who knows, if you aren’t a match
for Ashley, you may save the life of another mother,
wife, sister, friend. I thank you. Go Cows.
1993
Anne Conrad Hummel, 5 Bittersweet Court, Centerport,
NY 11721; [email protected]
Happy spring! It is hard to imagine it coming
any time soon as I write these notes looking out
at mounds of snow plowed onto the edges of our
driveway and look forward to a high of 24 degrees
today. I know those crocus and daffodil bulbs are
under there somewhere and will have appeared by
time this edition of class notes is published.
Heather Espinosa has been busy at work, focused
on various bank regulatory issue topics and was
named to the Council on Foreign Relations as a
term member representing Citigroup. She commented, “CFR events are a lot like Williams—great
seminars with various luminaries of our time!”
Heather has also been hard at work with the
Alumni Fund and requested a reminder to get
donations in before the end of June.
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Kimberly Cleland shared the sentiments of more
than a few of us about the cold weather, stating
that her son Xavier has had more snow days in one
winter than she thinks she had in her entire school
career. Kim comments, “I don’t deal with cold
very well, and am wondering how I survived four
winters in the Purple Valley. Wouldn’t have traded
them for anything, though.”
Reeny Malhotra sent news from Hong Kong,
where she has been living with her family for four
and a half years. Reeny produces and co-presents
a finance radio show as well as an award-winning
weekend show called Asian Threads on RTHK,
which is the public broadcaster in Hong Kong.
While Reeny likes Hong Kong, she and her family
really miss California (they relocated from San
Francisco) and are constantly looking for every
excuse to be back there beyond the obligatory
summers, ski weeks and Easter. She has a new connection in the Berkshires now, as her daughter Ilya
“got sick of our so-called ‘fibs’ about moving back”
and decided to go to school at Northfield Mount
Hermon, about 40 miles from Williamstown.
Reeny’s son Arya is more of a California boy and “a
bit of a wild card,” so plans for him are less defined.
Reeny also finds time to be a class agent and did
her due diligence in reminding me to make my
donation to the Alumni Fund!
In early January, my husband Jeff Hummel and
I made our annual trip to Boston to attend a
Twelfth Night of Christmas party hosted by Mary
Buss Reale and her husband Steve. This event is
always well attended by area Ephs, and we enjoyed
catching up and reminiscing with several classmates and their families. Jen Raney Harris and
her husband Ben live in Providence, R.I., where
Jen is a family physician as well as mom to two
boys. Jen was thrilled to report that her oldest
son Gabe is exhibiting her love for books and
has been nicknamed “The Man of Many Words”
by a classmate at school. Robb Friedman and his
wife Elisa Dugundji Friedman ’91 were also there
with their two sons. Robb was selected as medical
director for the new Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer
Center at BID-Needham, scheduled to open this
summer. Lynn Kim and her husband Hyun Chung
are both in the medical field (Lynn works for
Harvard Vanguard part time as a radiologist), and
we enjoyed hearing updates about their son and
daughter. An appearance by Camille Preston, husband Mark Newhall and son Preston was a definite
highlight of the party; Preston is adorable, and he
was very tolerant of the many female partygoers
oohing and ahhing about him. It was also great
to see Andrew Kirkpatrick, who continues to work
for Adobe Systems and lives with his wife Cheryl
and three children in Concord. Matt Smith and
his wife Kiran were finally able to make this year’s
soiree! It was great to catch up with them and hear
about their three girls and life in Needham. We
are looking forward to another trip up to Boston
in May for a dual celebration with Mary and her
family: her eldest daughter’s first Communion, and
her youngest daughter’s (also our goddaughter’s)
second birthday!
Jeff also reconnected with Eugene Kim and Chris
Walker in New Orleans last month; the three
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freshman entrymates spent a large part of their
long weekend eating in many of the city’s amazing
restaurants, then burned off many of their beignet
calories during an extensive walking tour of the
French Quarter and time spent at the WWII
museum. They also enjoyed dinner with Tim Lupin
and his wife Anamaria Villamarin-Lupin ’95, who
live in New Orleans and helped to recommend
many of their restaurant choices in the city. Eugene
flew in from Greenville, S.C., where he practices
anesthesiology, and Chris is finally relocated back
to DC after living abroad for several years working
for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition.
So here’s to warmer temperatures and feeling
summer in the air when the next edition of Williams People hits our mailboxes; please feel free to
send me news at any time, solicited or unsolicited,
for future class notes! And please remember to give
to the Alumni Fund if you are able; donating is
quick and easy at http://give2.williams.edu.
1994
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Elizabeth Rappaport, 9 Killington St., Chappaqua, NY
10514; [email protected]
And the winner is … Kristen Anderson Lopez!
Kristen and her husband Robert Lopez took
home an Oscar (yes, the little gold statue) in March
for writing the winning song of the year, “Let It
Go,” from the blockbuster animated film Frozen.
Congratulations to Kristen. It’s an honor to all of
us to be affiliated with such a success.
Classmates saw the televised awards and wrote in
to me to note Kristen’s win. Hillary Twining wrote
from East Dover, Vt., to give a “shout out.” Go
’94—what a great moment.
From the depths of January in DC, Erin Caddell
wrote that it felt like a Williamstown winter. Erin
and his wife Grace live just outside the city with
three children, ages 9, 6 and 3—two girls and a
boy in the middle. Erin is the director of research
for Capstone, a policy analysis firm that advises
institutional investors on how government actions
impact their investments. Erin said this is a growth
business, as the government has a role in the fates
of many industries. He sees many DC classmates
such as Jake Russin, Bernie Kluger, Laurel Blatchford, Josh Kussman and Nate Sleeper.
Erin wrote that Mike Strauss moved last fall to
Manila, where he took a job with the Asian Development Bank. He’s working on our reunion plans,
so he (and I) hope you will all join us there.
Laurel Blatchford announced the birth of her
and Bernie Kluger’s second daughter, Lucinda
Blatchford Kluger, last September. She’s coming to
reunion too! Laurel and Bernie bought a home on
Capitol Hill, and Bernie works at the federal Office
of Personnel Management. Laurel left government
and works as an executive at a national affordable
housing finance and community development organization called Enterprise.
Liz Rosan Kirkwood wrote after her second year in
northern Michigan that her family has been doing
lots of skiing and beer drinking to get through.
Her kids Ella, 7, and Miles, 5, ski twice a week. The
beer drinking is in part because her husband Pete
Kirkwood ’93 opened the Workshop Brewing Co. in
1993– 95
Traverse City, Mich., last August. They are all looking forward to summer, when they perch the sandy
dunes for a view of Lake Michigan. Liz says she’s
coming to reunion.
Elizabeth Culpepper wrote in to report (two
years later) that she has twins, Sophie and Gryffin.
Elizabeth is still teaching first grade at Durham
Academy, and they live in Durham, N.C. She and
her husband visited with David Bilik and his wife
Kari (Larsen) last summer and staged a minireunion including the families of Hillary Twining
and her husband Dave Mannion, Heather Moore
Wood and her husband David, and Heather Curnutt
and her significant other Steve Gaffield. Elizabeth’s
looking forward to the real reunion in June.
Steve Dean saw a Brooklyn Nets game with
Felipe Ossa. Erika Bailey is still working in Kansas
City as a professor of voice and speech in the
theater department at the University of MissouriKansas Theater and received tenure this year.
Cynthia Sharpe visited with David Markus after
New Year’s, and she introduced him to the “glories
of KC BBQ and lousy Midwest weather.” She’s
busy on projects spanning the globe, and her son
becomes a middle-schooler next year.
Denise Molina visited in London with Ali Garbarini and Micah Singer just after Thanksgiving last
year. Ali and Micah were with their son Zeke, who
was 7 at the time. They all went to Dominic Ellis’
older son Dylan’s fourth birthday party.
Jen Wingate was promoted to associate professor and awarded tenure at St. Francis College in
Brooklyn. She teaches art history and American
studies there. Jen was happy to see Elizabeth
Burnett at a Women of Williams event where she
also caught up with Williams art history professor
Carol Ockman. Jen and her husband Steve Dean
occasionally see Lisa Kaplan in DC Lisa works at
the State Department and lives on Capitol Hill
with her three daughters. Jen wants all her friends,
even West Coasters, to come to reunion!
Andrew Ferguson, an associate professor of law
at the David A. Clarke School of Law in DC, was
asked to narrate and star in the new “welcome to
jury duty” video shown to all prospective jurors in
the DC Superior Court. I can see who will be next
to take home Oscar gold! Andrew said the film
helps spread the word about why jury duty matters.
The title of his book: Why Jury Duty Matters.
Brad Smith and his wife live on Capitol Hill. He
wrote about Laurel and Bernie moving just a block
away. Brad sees Jake Russin nearby. Brad and his
wife Mary are always making improvements on
their 110-year-old row house.
Brad started a position as a senior adviser in
the Chemical and Biological Defense Division of
the Homeland Security Enterprise. He has been
on loan from the University of Pittsburgh and
the UPMC Center for Health Security to the
Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects
agency. He’s worked to connect the groups together
after many initiatives and venture-backed startup
companies before taking on his new role. He is
working on developing new tools, technologies
and knowledge products to protect the U.S. from
chemical and biological threats.
As for me, I’m looking forward to reunion and
catching up with all of you. Til June, Liz
1995
Anamaria Villamarin-Lupin, 535 Arabella St., New
Orleans, LA 70115; Nancy O’Brien Wager, 1049 Linwood
Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55105; [email protected]
First, the baby and wedding news—always so
fun to share. Mark Cordes shares the good news
of his wedding to Virginie last August in Bar
Harbor, Maine. “We had family and friends along
and all enjoyed an afternoon schooner sailing
in Frenchman’s Bay, a shore-side Maine lobster
bake rehearsal dinner and our wedding in a nice
church in Bar Harbor. Doug Brandoff ’95 was in
the wedding. We then stayed in Bar Harbor for the
honeymoon and kayaked, biked and hiked through
Acadia National Park. We took a sunset opencockpit biplane tour around Mount Desert Island.
We discovered that we were big fans of popovers at
the Jordan Pond House. ”
Shelby Benton gave birth to Emma Grace Benton on Feb. 5. “If anyone’s counting, that makes 5!
She’s beautiful, of course, and we’re all doing well.”
Teresa Rodriguez has been inspired to run in
this year’s Boston Marathon. She is participating
on behalf of her many friends who were affected
by last year’s tragedy, and to raise funds for and
awareness of the good work of the Dorchester Boys
and Girls Club—a section of the city that lacks the
resources of more affluent parts of town. Teresa’s
grateful for the support of those who have given,
and she’s aiming to make it by sundown.
Julie Heller began a new product management
role at Best Buy and is surviving the polar vortex
(as of this writing). “We recently got a new sheltie
puppy to train for agility trials. This increases our
menagerie to four Shelties (or three and a half,
since the new arrival is only four and a half pounds
at 12 weeks) and one geriatric cat.”
Sacha Place writes, “My new music group, Great
Noise Ensemble, just released its first CD in
December. The album is called Guerrilla New Music
and features new compositions by several American
composers—I can’t believe we’re on iTunes, finally!
Our 10th season begins in 2014, and we’re playing
at the National Gallery of Art and the Kennedy
Center in DC this spring.”
Sheri Esteban-Elie writes, “In addition to the
usual chaos of the holidays with three small children, I decided to make a major career move at the
same time. After nine years as a psychologist with
the N.Y. State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, I transitioned into private practice
at the beginning of January. It’s definitely quite a
contrast working in a small group practice after
being in a very large state agency for so long. It’s
also the first time I have ever been self-employed,
and there’s lots of information and a steep learning
curve that goes along with that.”
Jon Werwaiss warmed up the winter with Williams friends. “In December we had a very nice visit
from Anamaria Villamarin-Lupin and Tim Lupin,
who were making a New York-Connecticut holiday
visit. They were momentarily kid-free and in town
to watch a Saints game. They were the picture of
relaxed parents that I aspire to be. Team Werwaiss
then went to Hawaii for Christmas, where we saw
Owen Bittinger and his family. During their visit
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to the Disney hotel and water park, our clans got
together for some great beach time and a very nice
dinner followed by a session of rolling down hills
on the golf course (Owen and I abstained). But that
was not enough, so Team Werwaiss headed to DC
for President’s Weekend. Between multiple trips to
the air and space and postal museums we managed
to get in a very nice visit with John Carlin, Sarah
Newman, Marc Johnson, Sarah Knight and Dave
Brownstein and their kids. I think between our kids
we have much of the classes of 2028-33 accounted
for (admission department—take note!), or at least
a formidable team for hide and seek. I must say, it is
remarkable how little we have all changed.“
Laura Brown Coulam writes from Nashville,
where she, her husband and three sons (now 2, 6,
and 8) have lived since 2012. She has a part-time
faculty position at Vanderbilt as a clinical neuropsychologist. “I know we all turned 40 this past
year—I celebrated by parasailing in Florida with
my husband. Now THAT was memorable!”
Mahri Relin’s two-year-old fitness company, Body
Conceptions, is doing well. “We have four instructors, and we offer public classes and private training
sessions in our dance-based fitness method all over
NYC. We have been featured in Vogue, Redbook,
Fitness Magazine, the New York Daily News, DuJour
and The New York Times, and we are also becoming
increasingly known for our expertise in pre- and
post-natal fitness. We are excited to be expanding
abroad this year, which is our most exciting news.
I would love to welcome any Williams folks to my
classes as my guest their first time. Just get in touch
with me through www.bodyconceptions.com!”
Flo Waldron and I compared notes on snow
depth, with her south-central Pennsylvania locale
beating Saint Paul—until the day I wrote these
notes. We are now having the winter the rest of you
think we always have. I’ve always felt slightly guilty
for convincing someone during freshman orientation days that we Minnesotans dug tunnels to reach
our cars in the winter, but my guilt is now replaced
with pride in my prescience!
Keep the news coming, folks! It is always great to
hear from you all. —Nancy
1996
Lesley Whitcomb Fierst, 50 Scottsdale Drive,
Fredericksburg, VA 22405; [email protected]
Tuan Anh Nguyen responded first to my call for
news, so she gets the opening spot. She is still happily living in Portland, Ore. “My daughter Hayden
started kindergarten this year, and my son Hiathan
is in fourth grade. I spend most of my time trying
to keep up with them. We got baby chickens this
summer and on New Year’s Day received our first
egg! Ephs in town, come over for an omelet or frittata or quiche.” Brad Wasserman writes, “I got married to my partner of eight years, Scott Graves, on
Nov. 17, 2013, in Ellicott City, Md., my home state.
After a short honeymoon in DC, we returned to
our home in Raleigh, N.C. We then honeymooned
in San Francisco in December. Ephs at the wedding included Michael Wasserman ’68 and Martin
Wasserman ’64.” And from Ron Chowdhury: “Chan
and I are now parents of two little Aquarians. Lila
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Xuân Chowdhury shimmered into the world at the
end of January. Big sister Ada Mai, who turned 3
just a few days after Lila’s arrival, is thrilled but a
little mad that we didn’t name her sister ‘Sally Suzy’
per her clear instructions. Ada doesn’t give up easily,
though: before Lila and Chan came home from the
hospital, Ada directed her uncle to draw up a big
sign saying ‘Welcome Home Sally.’”
Let’s go next to our international crew. Kyle
Downey returned to NYC for the holidays. “I met
up with Micah Edmond and toured the Cloisters with Warren Woodfin. I am still working in
electronic trading IT at Morgan Stanley HK, but
our family has started preparing to relocate back to
New York in the summertime after almost seven
years living in Asia, first Shanghai and then Hong
Kong. It may be a sign the financial crisis must be
healing if the 2007 ‘Shanghai, Dubai or goodbye’
cohort is coming home. Here’s hoping for a good
2014.” Shing Chi Poon writes, “We moved back to
Hong Kong in late August to be closer to family.
It was a tough decision, given we lived in the U.S.
for so long. However, it’s nice to be reconnecting
with family and have our kids get to know their
grandparents better.” From Silas Beebe in January:
“Unbelievable, unlikely serendipity smiled in far
flung Porto, Portugal, just a few days ago when I
ran into Dan Polsby. We were both eating at a wonderful restaurant so small it only has four tables. I
had finished and almost made it out the door when
Dan noticed my name and reservation written on
the window. We nearly missed each other! I was
there working at a shoe factory, and he was there on
vacation with his wife.”
Geoff Zampiello and his wife Amanda welcomed a baby girl, Morgan Anne Zampiello, on
Dec. 8, 2013. David Panush and his wife Nicole
are celebrating after getting married in DC last
October. David writes, “The wedding was beautiful
and amazing, and I was lucky enough to be joined
by Adam Smith and his lovely wife, Gogi.” Jeremie
Perry is “continuing along the midlife career path
but had a great side trip to Fenway to watch the
Sox take game 1 of the ALDS. While there caught
up with former XC/Track teammate Liam Pisano
’97.” The adventures of Rachel Allyn and Tim
Farnham continue. “We were in Tulum, Mexico, in
early December for a friend’s wedding. That was
spectacular. We also had a little fun celebrating my
40th birthday in Denver with Chuck Tamblyn on
Dec. 31, so it was a mini Class of ’96 reunion.”
Julie Weed has a news-packed update: “In my
little life, I have been having the most wondrous
school year of all. This group of kids that I have
this year make me feel like a phenomenal educator
and also seem to be my reward for teaching for a
decade. I can’t tell you how amazing this school
year has been, even though the copier never seems
to work and one of my class pet rats died. Also, I
worked this fall with Cville Pride to organize the
second annual pride festival. It went off without too
many hitches, but my own personal highlight was
being in the entourage for Lady Pride at the Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers (I was ‘RED,’ and
I was known for pulling packets of Skittles from
my bra and flinging them at people. Some even
paid for the privilege). This arm wrestling thing is
1995– 97
a great event for anyone looking for a cool way to
raise funds—check out the info at clawville.org, or
contact me for inside details on how it is run. I also
got to spend some wonderful time with Cora Ganzglass ’97 when she and her husband and new baby
moved to Charlottesville for a month during her
maternity leave. I am so impressed that they were
so adventurous with a newborn! Finally, at the end
of the year, the wife, daughter and I took a wonderful vacation to Panama to meet my mother’s family
and toodle around in tropical paradise. I saw lots of
cool animals and plants, but … my biggest find was
a giant swollen tick—3x bigger than my thumbnail!
For some reason, not many people are eager to look
at my vacation pictures.”
Last November, Anna (Cederberg) Heard started
a new job “with an organization called International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) that
promotes use of evidence in policy-making and
program implementation. We fund impact evaluations, systematic reviews and replication studies,
among other things. I’m responsible for much of
their HIV/AIDS program. Work sent me to South
Africa for an HIV/AIDS conference in December, which coincided with the passing of Nelson
Mandela, and it was a very interesting time to be
there. Miles is still enjoying preschool, and Kai is
having fun at day care. We are optimistically getting ready to enroll him for preschool in the fall but
are still unsure whether he’ll be ready. His August
birthday is not working in his favor!” Elizabeth
Waugh-Duford started a job at the beginning of
January. “I am the homeless programs coordinator
for the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness, which is a collaboration of housing and
service providers, local governments, faith-based
and other community groups, local businesses, the
UNC-Chapel Hill community and volunteers.
We are working to prevent and end homelessness
in Orange County, N.C., by increasing access to
housing, employment and services. I am loving the
work, but it is a huge adjustment for my family,
as I have not worked full-time outside the home
since before my oldest daughter was born over
seven years ago! My children (Ben, 8, Stella Rose,
7, Olivia, 6, and Callie, 5) continue to be hilarious
and awesome, as well as challenging (four is a lot of
kids, and my husband and I generally refer to them
as The Horde. Our house is EXTREMELY loud
when all four of them are there). In November, I
saw Tiffany Steinwert at a random exit on I-85 as
she drove through N.C. on her way to South Carolina to celebrate Thanksgiving with her husband’s
family. Yes, we planned to meet at an exit—that is
how desperate we were to see each other! We found
a great taqueria and had about an hour to catch up.
Hoping for much longer visits with Tiff and other
Williams friends in 2014!”
At the time of her email, Katie Sawyer Rose was
“having my second solo art show at my gallery in
SF ( January through March 2014). I have also
been awarded a grant for a second residency at
Vermont Studio Center, so I’ll be headed back to
Vermont this fall. I’m planning on building a large
sculptural installation while I’m there, which is
a big departure from my usual work. I’ll be sure
to let you know how it goes.” Heather Wilkinson
wrote: “I am moving to Seabrook Island, S.C., and
opening up my own medical practice. I will also
be working with horses and utilizing their gifts of
perception to help people heal.” And Mike Brush
writes, “It’s been a little while since AJ (Bernheim)
Brush or I has written so here’s our update. We’re
excited to welcome Kim (Tabtiang) Evans and Ben
Evans back to the Seattle area after five years away.
AJ is approaching 10 years at Microsoft, and I
became chief of ophthalmology at Group Health
Cooperative at the beginning of the year. Our boys
Colin and Ryan are 12 and 9—the younger one has
expressed clear interest in becoming an Eph.” Of
course, what Mike omitted is that they therefore
have begun intensive brainwashing via hypnosis on
their older son.
Turns out that as of my job change this past July,
Josh Wilsusen and I now work in the same office
building. We met in our first days at Williams
(because Josh was roommates in Sage F with Gordon Singer, who was my friend from high school),
and then Josh and I both ended up at Georgetown
Law together, so Josh must be thinking that he
can’t seem to get away from me. We did have coffee
a few weeks ago, and it’s amazing how you can
simultaneously feel like no time has passed and that
it’s been more than 20 years since we first arrived
in Williamstown. And just as I appreciated getting
news about Peter Woodward from his dad a few
issues ago, I was happy to get an update on Warren
Eng and his crew from Warren’s wife, Cynthia King,
who is one of the doctors in the practice I go to.
Warren is the chair of his anesthesiology practice,
Chris Murphy is doing the U.S. senator thing (why
not undersell that one, right?), and John Botti is
the associate headmaster at the Landon School in
Bethesda, Md. When I Googled Landon and John
Botti to make sure I had his exact title, it pulled up
a link to a story publicizing John’s appearance on
an episode of Jeopardy! about two years ago. I could
not believe it—I mean, how many times do I have
to say you don’t have to wait for a baby to be born
to write in and report news?! Kudos, John. (And if
you were trying to keep that on the DL, sorry—but
you know me well enough to know that the DL
has never been where I live.)
Let’s close with our first-timer this issue. Heather
(Williams) Mitchell writes, “I have been terrible with
formally keeping in touch with Williams folks even
though (thankfully) I run into many while I am
traveling for work or when folks come through the
Midwest. … My husband Kenny and I have now
lived in Chicago for almost (gasp) 10 years this
August. We have an amazing 7-year-old daughter
named Carter. I am chief administrative officer at
Capri Capital Partners, a real estate private equity
firm, headquartered here in Chicago. If anyone
finds themselves in the windy city, please look us
up!” Hope 2014 is off to a great start for all.
1997
Jeff Zeeman, 5301 1st Place N., Arlington, VA 22203;
[email protected]
Let’s start with the movers and shakers on the
career front. Everything is well with Charles Imohiosen and his family. Charles’ older daughter started
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kindergarten this year, and his younger daughter
will be joining her next year. Charles completed
four-plus years as an appointee with the Obama
administration in September and, in January, was
appointed by Gov. Cuomo as chief operating officer
for the Empire State Development Corp., the chief
economic development arm of New York State.
Patricia Porter was hired by Aon Hewitt in July.
She works onsite at T-Mobile HQ in Bellevue,
Wash., as a project coordinator. After 16 years of
coaching college soccer, Eric Watson took a position
at Vassar College in the alumni development office,
working on its annual fund. Eric is very much
enjoying being at home more with his family: Paola
Gentry ’98, Oliver, 8, and Aracely, 11, after spending the past three years commuting between New
Paltz, N.Y., and Utica, N.Y. Congratulations to
Jesse Brackenbury, who was appointed as executive
director of the nonprofit that runs the Greenway
in Boston.
Garet Libbey shares a slew of news: “2013 was
a year of big changes for us. Matt Libbey ’98 and
I both started new jobs. Matt moved to a new
company that specializes in consulting for private
equity firms based here in Cleveland. The greatest
benefit from my perspective is that it does not
demand as much travel, which has been great for
our family. I know Matt sees other benefits as
well. I began in June as co-director of the middle
school I have been working in since we moved to
Cleveland. I still get to teach a bit too, which is
nice. In between these two changes, we bought an
old Shaker Heights house and spent the summer
working with an architect (George Clemens ’86)
to design and plan the renovations. We moved in
the night before Thanksgiving, just in time to host
turkey dinner for Matt’s parents (whom we also put
to work unpacking boxes, watching our 5-yearold and 1.5-year-old, and moving furniture!). The
workmen still linger, but we do not feel like squatters anymore.”
Heather Pierce’s first-ever submission to class
notes was worth the wait: “I welcomed twin girls
into our previously fairly quiet house. Marie and
Audrey arrived just in time for Thanksgiving and
have been giving us quite a lot to be thankful for,
including, on occasion, the miracle of two babies
asleep at the same time. We were lucky to have a
wonderful visit from Steph Slattery, whose skills
as a talented friend, weaver and pediatrician have
all come in very handy. Husband Mark Schofield
and I are glad that we moved from NYC to DC
in 2010, as we have more breathing room, but we
do miss the plentiful take-out options these days.
We have our hands full, but new grandparents Tom
Pierce ’68 and Lu Ann Dillon were so inspired by
the prospect of late-night bonding time with the
girls that they moved from Denver to Ashburn, Va.,
and have been frequent visitors.”
Nat Gillespie is living in DC with his wife Elaine
and son Darren, 4 1/2 and daughter Eva, 1 1/2 .
Nat has been working at the U.S. Forest Service
HQ the past three years as assistant national fish
program leader. Nat reports, “We are enjoying
our place after a long renovation a few years ago.
I’ve been keeping up with some Ephs over the
years from our class and others and hope for an
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in-person reunion in California with a handful this
April.” Chetan Rao provides this epic update: “I’m
living in DC, conjuring up the good old Coyote
Mourning/Armstrong Basement days by launching
a new rock band called skypunch—www.skypunch.com. Unfortunately nobody in it has a name
as interesting as ‘Seamus Fernandez,’ but we do still
have a fun time rocking out. Hello to Seamus, Josh
Falk, DeWitt Clinton, Mike Vazquez, Conrad Oakey,
Karen Tarbell, Hedge and all the other Coyote
Mourning folks over the years.”
Dave Vosburg, Kate Vosburg ’98 and the kids are
enjoying their yearlong sabbatical in England, and
they’ve also wandered into Wales and Scotland.
One highlight was having a 13th-century medieval
tower in Caernarfon all to themselves for three
nights! On the chemistry side, Dave was delighted
to be selected a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar
(Tom Smith ’88, now the Williams chemistry
department chairman, is also a past winner).
Lots of marriage and baby news to report. Will
Crane writes, “Suddenly I have multiple things to
report. First, I recently found out that I’m being
bumped into management. As of Sept. 1, I’m
the regional geology supervisor for the central
and south Atlantic for BHP Billiton Petroleum.
We’re still trying to figure out just exactly what my
mandate is since that’s a huge expanse of territory
to evaluate, but still it’s a new challenge for me.
More importantly, thanks to positive action from
the Supreme Court, my partner and I flew from
Texas to California and got married over Labor
Day weekend. We are still not recognized in Texas,
but the day before our wedding the IRS announced
that it was now recognizing same-sex marriages for
joint tax returns. Maybe someday Texas will end
up on the right side of things, but in the meantime
we’re still married. Other than that, all four of the
stepkids are doing great, and I’m still trying to
convince the youngest to at least apply in Williamstown. I’ll keep working on him.”
Tim Billo and his wife “welcomed our first child
into the world in October 2013. A baby girl,
Ellinor Linnea Billo. It’s been quite an amazing
experience so far, despite sleep deprivation. …
My wife and I were married summer of 2012. We
honeymooned in Patagonia, early 2013. I am still
teaching at the University of Washington in the
biology department and environmental studies
program, where I’ve been for the past two years. In
addition to local courses, I still lead an annual study
abroad program in Peru for both of these departments.” Jane Lee says she “missed our 15th reunion,
but I had a really good excuse: I got married. (It
was the only weekend that worked.) Then, on Oct.
25, 2013, my husband Ken and I welcomed Dexter
Moon-Ho Kim to the world. After a few months
of newborn chaos, we seem to have settled into a
relatively peaceful routine. Of course, this could
change at any time.”
Emily Eldredge is “excited to report that my
sweetie Paco Torres and I got engaged during a trip
to Paris this January! We’ve been friends since 1998
and dating since 2009. The next day, we enjoyed
brunch and dinner with the wonderful Hussain Aga
Khan. What a blast we had catching up until midnight!” Sabrina Oei’s son Byrnes Gunnison OeiJohnson was born on Oct. 31, 2013, at 3:47 a.m.
1997– 98
“He is quite our little Halloween treat, and brother
Lachlan, 3, is not living up to his promises to throw
rocks at him, spit on him or otherwise terrorize
him.” Peter Sinclair provides a typically laid-back
update: “Livin’ in sunny SoCal. Happily married for
seven years now, with a young girl (Mary, 6) and
boy ( John, 4). Loving the West Coast.”
This edition is chock-full of news of classmates
publishing books. Lauren Araiza’s first book, To
March for Others: The Black Freedom Struggle and
the United Farm Workers, was published by the
University of Pennsylvania Press. In the book
Lauren explores the approaches toward multiracial coalition-building within the black freedom
struggle by analyzing the relationships between five
major civil rights/Black Power organizations and
the United Farm Workers, a union of primarily
Mexican American agricultural workers during the
1960s-70s. She has been told that it’s already being
assigned in university courses on social movements.
Dawn Biehler’s book, Pests in the City, is now out
from University of Washington Press. In her email
to me, Dawn buried the lead by omitting that the
book is subtitled “Flies, Bedbugs, Cockroaches and
Rats” (for real), and is guaranteed to convince all
city-dwelling readers to move immediately to the
suburbs. Dawn also notes that, in the fall Nathan
Day captained the DC Canoe Club’s six-person
canoe in the Molokai Hoe race, which crosses the
41-mile channel between Molokai and O’ahu. They
came in 67th of 100-some boats, which isn’t bad,
considering they practice on the Potomac and not
the open ocean. Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr
were surprised to find their names in the Dec. 20,
2013, issue of Entertainment Weekly, not because
they are entertaining, mind you, but because their
book Ten Thousand Stories is, apparently, “clever,”
“interactive” and “endless.” This spring, they will
give a TEDx talk on the odd logic of collaboration.
Steph Slattery reports that Brian Slattery’s fourth
book, The Family Hightower, will be published in
September (and is available for preorder on Amazon). Steph and Brian spent another lovely New
Year’s with Dawn Day Biehler and Nathan Biehler
and Chuck Wall and Tara Duffy, as they have every
New Year’s since 1999-2000. Late in January, Steph
went to DC for a few snowy days to meet Heather
Pierce’s adorable twins. Steph notes life is otherwise uneventful. Work is good, Leo is loving first
grade, and they are looking forward to spring.
Since I am apparently the only member of our
class who has yet to publish a book, I’d better get
cracking. Considering that my best chance to be
published involves falling in love with a sentient
operating system who spontaneously culls the
greatest hits of my class note submissions into a
book-worthy compilation, I am counting on all of
you to keep feeding me top-notch material.
1998
Jediah White, 503 South Prospect Ave., Madison, WI
53711; [email protected]
Short notes this time around, since many of
you share my opinion that February is best spent
hibernating. So how about a few little things to be
happy about?
Nathan Robison and his wife entered parenthood
on Dec. 15. Mateo David Robison was born with a
healthy set of lungs and vocal chords, and Nathan
is enjoying the new era of sleeplessness. “Our
experienced friends seem to be equally divided in
counseling us that it only gets better versus it only
gets worse from here.” My experience is certainly
the latter, whereas Diana (Villamarin) Solazzo holds
out hope that next year might be easier. She writes,
“Carl and I had our son on Oct. 29, Luke Carlo.
We are overjoyed with having a daughter and son,
and our family is now complete. Our daughter
Adriana (19 months older than her brother) loves
being a big sister!”
Katie (Golden) Kelter welcomed Josie Sage
Kelter, born on Dec. 7. And Bevin Hartnett and
son Christopher doubled their family last fall. “I
got married to a wonderful woman, Audrey Chen
(University of Texas ’07) and, within a week, we
became parents to a young man from our church,
Robert, who was losing his residential placement
inside the Texas foster care system. Needless to
say, we are house-hunting for a larger space! With
birthplaces in Colorado, Taiwan and Romania,
the other members of my family have never made
it to Massachusetts, so we have plans for a New
England trip this summer to see what all the fuss is
about an alleged purple cow.”
Chris Elkinton visited Williamstown with his
family last summer, though they missed the reunion
festivities. He writes: “Life here in Portland, Ore.,
is good if fairly uneventful. Our two boys, Kellan, 3
1/2, and Jasper, 15 months, keep us busy and quite
entertained. I continue to enjoy my work in offshore wind energy with a renewable energy consultancy. We did manage to get east last summer and
met up with Seth Battis and Jordi Battis and young
Gershom ‘down the shore,’ which was a treat.”
Kate Vosburg says, “Life in England is good!
We’re halfway through our year here, having seen
many castles, punted the Backs, visited amazing
museums, squashed along beautiful paths and
generally enjoyed a slower pace of life. We just got
back from spending the weekend in a tower of the
medieval city walls of Caernarfon, Wales (built
1284). We dressed up in medieval costumes for a
special meal of mac and cheese (as authentic as the
little kids can go food-wise). Six more months of
fun to come!”
Skipping across a couple ponds, Conrad Oakey
reports, “I finished my MBA at Fuqua (its crosscontinent program—five countries in 16 months)
and am enjoying having a bit more free time.
I’m staying with my family business NovaTech
(novatechweb.com) but getting more into strategic
planning, international expansion and our communications and decision systems.”
Andrea Stanton “kicked off 2014 with a trip to
Beirut—my first time back to Lebanon in a few
years. It was great to be back—especially given
the sunny 65-degree Mediterranean weather. I
presented a paper at a conference hosted by the
American University of Beirut, my first post-PhD
employer, and did research interviews for a project
on higher education issues among displaced and
refugee Syrians, which a friend at UC Davis is
spearheading. In more Williams-y news, Nathan
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Foster, Kirsten (Smith) Johnson and I loved seeing
Veronica Roberts and hearing her speak at the
Denver Museum of Contemporary Art in November. I remember meeting Veronica at a Log Lunch
my freshman year and being impressed even then
by her poise and knowledge—both of which have
only grown exponentially since!”
Veronica’s home base is now in Austin as curator
of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Blanton.
Liz (Craft) Ferguson hosted a Williams alumni
meeting there; President Falk spoke, and Veronica
offered tours that were very well received. Liz is
starting a job as a senior associate for talent management at Dimensional Fund Advisors, where she
is proud to mention that Nobel Laureate Eugene
Fama is on the board.
Dena Zaldua-Hilkene has a new job as development director for the Eugene Symphony in
Eugene, Ore. If any Ephs want tickets to the
symphony when they’re in town, Dena encourages
you to get in touch!
And our last word belongs to Rosa Carson,
whom we haven’t heard from for a while. “In the
last couple of years, I’ve bought a house in Union
Square, Somerville, Mass., with friends and started
working at athenahealth in Watertown, Mass., as
the “minister of fun” for the R&D team, which is
basically the most awesome job I could imagine.”
Hard to top that. Happy spring, everyone!
1999
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Erik Holmes, 2014 Belvedere Ave., Charlotte, N.C.
28205; Nathaniel B. White, 11 Interlaken Road,
Lakeville, CT 06039; [email protected]
I begin with a reminder: Our 15th reunion is
just a month away. I know it’s hard to believe it’s
been that long since we were handed diplomas and
went our separate ways, but it’s time to come back
together and celebrate. If you haven’t yet made
plans to join the festivities, please do so. You may
use these notes as a cheat sheet for what some of us
are up to now.
While many of us left Williamstown upon
graduation, Becky Logue-Conroy is on her way out
of the area now. Her husband Chris got a job as a
major league umpire last June, so Becky, Chris and
their twin girls, Maeve and Meiris, moved in January from North Adams to Doylestown, Pa., to be
closer to bigger airports. Becky continues to work
on planning children’s activities for the reunion,
despite the relocation. Becky and the “Ms” got
together with Anazette (Williams) Ray for Zettie’s
daughter Addison’s fourth birthday party in N.J.
Davina Kunvipusilkul wrote from Bangkok,
where she is an executive risk management officer
for the Bank of Thailand. She is joined at work by
Surach Tanboon ’98 and Rungporn Roegenpitya
’01. On Nov. 10 Davina married Poom Siriprapasiri
(Harvard ’03) in Bangkok. Sukpinnarat Vongsinsirikul ’94 and Karn Tepvorachai ’03 were present. Ifie
Okwuje is still working for the State Department as
a member of the Foreign Service. She’s posted now
in Santo Domingo, from whence she will be thinking of Williamstown come reunion, which she will
miss. Ifie is married to Joachim Bruess, and their
Lego-engineer son Jan is almost 5.
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Drew Richards wrote for the first time in a long
time. Drew is married and has two daughters, ages
5 and 2, and lives near his hometown of Brattleboro, Vt. Drew works with his dad, brother and
cousin at The Richards Group, a regional provider
of insurance, employee benefits and retirement
planning services. Drew sees classmates occasionally, including Christian Dankers and Justin Belcher.
While I haven’t seen Justin in quite some time,
Justin’s wife, Julie Zlotnick Belcher, posts lots of
adorable pictures of their children on Facebook.
Also in VT is author Dayna Kaufman Lorentz.
Dayna finished the third and final book in her mall
disaster series, No Dawn Without Darkness, which
should come out in July. Dayna and hubby Jason
Lorentz ’96 and their daughter Evelyn recently
celebrated son Joshua’s first birthday. Mary-Jane
Rubenstein also has a new book out, Worlds Without
End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse. MJ is in her
first year as chairwoman of the religion department at Wesleyan. Josh Lewis changed jobs, leaving
Digitas for a new role at Fidelity Investments. He
continues to live in Needham, Mass.; his daughter
is in first grade, and his son is getting ready for
kindergarten in the fall. Dr. Heather (Genovesi) Einstein wrote from Hartford about a minireunion at
her house. There was chaos aplenty as Jessie (Fried)
Strauss, Leigh (Olmsted) Blood and Catherine
(Polisi) Jones brought their spouses and children.
Heather hypothesizes that the amount of noise
seems inversely proportional to the size of the children. Perhaps they’ll test this again in a few years
when the kids are larger. Dede Orraca-Cecil and
her four kids had to abort their attempt at joining
the party due to weather, but they waited out the
storm in a Chuck E. Cheese’s, so her kids weren’t
too disappointed. Here in the northwest corner of
Connecticut, my wife Julie Rusczek and I live one
building over from Heather (May) Eckert ’00 and
her husband Mike, and our daughter and their
twins are in the same preschool class. Julie managed
to take our kids up to North Adams for one final
visit with Becky Logue-Conroy and her twins before
their move. How she pulled this off during hockey
season ( Julie coaches girls JV, I coach boys varsity)
is beyond me. We’re looking forward to a shorter
commute to this reunion than the last.
We have a large NYC crowd. Kate Ervin graduated from her psychiatry residency at Harvard
Longwood in June and spent the summer in Maine
with her kids Miles, 4, and Will, almost 2, before
moving back to New York. Kate and her husband
Andrew Kaplan bought a house in Larchmont
in January and are settling in nicely. Robin Paul
Kelleher reports on the birth of her third son,
Quinn, on Oct. 27. Quinn joins older brothers
Lachlan, 4, and Callum, 2. Robin caught up with
Katie (Walsh) Gardner, visiting from St. Louis, and
New Yorker Danielle (Kunian) Wallis over brunch.
Ginny Suss lives in Brooklyn, where she runs two
music-related web companies, okayplayer.com and
okayafrica.com. She started the latter with Vanessa
Wruble ’96 three years ago, so she gets to catch up
with Alexis Wruble, who lives in Boston, somewhat
regularly. In addition to her web companies, Ginny
continues to work for The Roots, now the house
band for The Tonight Show. Ginny also gave an
1998– 99
update on Peter Rosenfeld, who plays upright bass
in the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal. Stephanie (Sewell) King reports that her family (Jon King
’98, Graham, 4, and Alexander, 9 months) had a
lot of fun sledding in Riverside Park this winter.
Stephanie is amazed at how much Alexander
already wants to keep up with Graham, and at how
much Graham keeps asking about when they next
get to go to Williamstown! Rich von Bargen and
Suela (Nako) ’00, in contrast, took a break from
winter in NYC for a visit to Aram Maradian ’97 and
his family in Scottsdale, Ariz. Rich and Suela’s son
Alexander turned 1 on New Year’s Eve. Rich saw
Christine Leahy and Marie (Glancy) O’Shea at the
Williams Club for a presentation by philosophy
professor Alan White. It was the first time the
three of them had seen each other since a similar
presentation by Prof. Shawn Rosenheim in 2006.
After a year back in New York, following three
in Paris, John Olson and wife Joy and son Jaime are
relocating to San Francisco, where he lived right
after graduation. Cathy Warren and Scott Snyder
have left New York for Jupiter, Fla. Scott is working
at The Scripps Research Institute, and Cathy is
taking a year off teaching to be with son Sebastian,
who will be a year old by the time you read this.
Cathy and Sebastian got together with Jillian (Marcus) Zalewska and her daughter, who is a month
older than Sebastian. Jillian and her family live
about an hour and a half south of Cathy and Scott.
Working our way to Philly, Dave Neubert passed
the emergency medical services board, so he is now
dual certified by the American Board of Emergency
Medicine in emergency medicine and emergency
medical services. He is one of only 195 doctors in
the country to have attained the EMS board certification. Laura (Jacobs) Kravis moved to another
DC charter school and has jumped back into the
classroom for the first time since son William was
born four years ago, teaching fifth-grade reading
and writing. Daughter Emily, 2, has taken to going
to bed with a stuffed purple cow, a gift from Emily
Eakin. Jon Kravis is still prosecuting murders in DC,
so there are lots of interesting stories to be told
once the kids are in bed. The Kravis clan gathered
with Emily (Christiansen) Glendinning and Dave
Glendinning at Hans Davies’ and Jennifer Walcott’s
home to watch the Eagles playoff game.
Co-Secretary Erik Holmes and his wife Shannon Reid and their son Declan are settling into
life in Charlotte, N.C. They bought a home in
a neighborhood with lots of other families, and
they get to see their own families more often now
that they’re back on the East Coast. They added
to the family by getting a miniature pot bellied
pig named Priscilla. Matt Whalin, reflecting his
Minnesota upbringing, was amazed at Atlanta’s
inability to handle snow and ice. Other than the
cabin fever of seven straight days out of school
for the kids, with barely passable roads, Matt and
Sarah (Moline) Whalin are enjoying their work and
their kids. Benjamin has been enjoying pre-K, and
Matt reports Ethan is at a very cute age. Nat Roland
reports that the winter weather seems to stop at a
line about 200 miles north of Tampa, and he wishes
more alums under the age of 60 realized how nice
it is to live in Florida. Nat and his wife Samie
(Kim) Roland ’01 welcomed their second child,
Ezra Clarke Roland, on Dec. 19, joining older
sister Clara. Nat reports that there’s not much time
for anything other than work and kids right now;
he continues as an attorney at the same firm he
joined 11 years ago, and Samie finished a pediatric
ophthalmology fellowship in July and is in private
practice in Tampa.
The Midwest contingent wrote in also. James
Sieradzki and his wife Audra have been in South
Bend, Ind., for five years, and they have three kids:
Janelle, 5, James Bryant, 4, and Violet, 18 months.
James is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in
sports medicine, and he especially enjoys working
with the Notre Dame lacrosse teams. Audra works
in commercial real estate development and specializes in household schedule management. James saw
Jon Shade, Jon Francis, Julie Cantatore-Francis, Mike
Hodel and Chris Rodriguez at Fred Licon’s wedding
in Las Vegas in March 2013. Jeff Edmonds lives
in Nashville with his wife of 10 years, Lourdes
Cuellar. Their daughter Panambi was born last year.
Jeff is the academic dean at University School of
Nashville, and he still finds time to run a lot.
In New Mexico, Heather Kovich enjoys her work
as a family physician on the Navajo reservation
in Shiprock. Heather welcomed her second child,
Russell Patrick Weber, on Jan. 16.
The California contingent of our class is going
strong. Zach Grossman is plugging away at the
tenure track in the econ department at UC Santa
Barbara. Cara Yoder Matzen is teaching math in
Carlsbad and enjoying time with husband Evan
and sons Rigel and Theo, who share a Music
Together class with Phil Weyman’s ’98 son. Cara
had a visit last summer from Junghee Yang ’00
and her family. San Diego resident Laura Moberg
Lavoie had lunch with Ian Eisenman, who studies climate change for the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography at UCSD. Laura had plans to visit
Mike McAdam and Kelly (Shinn) McAdam and sons
Will and Owen, who was born in early January.
Mark D’Arrigo lives in San Francisco, where he
works in the legal department at Lending Club.
Mark got married last June to Kristen Emmons
(UC Berkeley ’01) in San Francisco, with the reception in Sonoma. They were joined for the celebration by Matt Terzella, Roosevelt Bowman, Jeff Kaye,
Josh McNutt, Tamaan Osbourne-Roberts and Najeeb
Khoury. San Franciscan Tracy Foose welcomed
Celia Margaret MacDonald on Dec. 13, joining big sisters Sophie and Marlow. Clarissa Shen
welcomed her third child, Benjamin Xiang-yi Lin,
on New Year’s Eve, just in time to make sure Benjamin has fireworks on his birthday for life. Clarissa
writes that she and husband James are living with
the disequilibrium of three kids and two startups,
she at Udacity and he at BetterChinese. Leigh
Winter Martin managed to have her twins at the
publication deadline for these notes. She and Justin
and big brother Burke welcomed Keane Winter
Martin and Trevor Winter Martin on Feb. 17.
I hope to see many of you back in Williamstown
in June. If you can’t make it, know that you’ll be
missed. In the meantime, keep the news flowing in,
and enjoy the spring.
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2000
Jon Pearson, 91 Sidney St., Apt. 903, Cambridge, MA
02139; [email protected]
We are going to start this time with some very
bad news: Last fall, our classmate Shaun “Preach”
Duggins passed away after a short illness. Shaun is
survived by his wife, Tory Nims, and I’ll let her tell
the story in her own words: “Shaun Duggins, far
better known as Preach to the Williams community, passed away on Nov. 1, 2013, in Dallas, Texas.
In late August, he started feeling short of breath
and was diagnosed with a treatable lung condition but quickly became a medical mystery as his
lungs were self-destructing. Even after losing him,
a team of pulmonary specialists in Dallas, through
consultation with the Mayo Clinic, are continuing
to try to evaluate and learn from his case. Preach
was one-of-a-kind in every way. With happier
thoughts, Preach and I finally got around to getting
married on July 5, 2013, and had an amazing wedding in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina.
He was in the final lap of his doctoral program at
Georgia State University in community psychology.
His dissertation was focused on school bullying, a
very important topic in our world these days. Since
Williams, Preach held many counseling jobs and
roles in Boston, Atlanta and Dallas, working with
at-risk adolescents to change the course of their
lives. The outpouring through social media on the
people he touched has been unbelievable.”
My condolences to Tory and all of Shaun’s loved
ones. He will be dearly missed.
When terrible things happen, it’s nice to have
your updates to lift the spirits—especially updates
from those of you who don’t check in very often. So
with that in mind, let’s start with Kristina Gehrman,
who sent in either her first or second contribution
to the notes since graduation. Since getting her
PhD in philosophy from UCLA in 2011, Kristina
has been an assistant professor at Miami University, “which is secretly not in Florida but is instead
a public university in southwestern Ohio, near
Cincinnati.” Kristina got married in August 2012
to Paul Nichols, a Reed College alum who hails
from Albany, N.Y., and got his PhD in philosophy from UCLA. Alums in attendance included
Alicia Gerfen ’99, Ian Eisenman ’99, Mark Ellis ’67
and Warren Suss ’67. “My dad, Rich Gehrman ’67,
married us, with the authority given to him by the
Universal Life Church (the church of the Internet),
and the M.Div. he got from Harvard in the ’60s.”
This fall, Kristina is planning to leave Miami to
join the philosophy department at the University of
Tennessee in Knoxville, “where Paul and I will be
slightly closer to solving our ‘two-body problem,’
and where we will both be thrilled to live near
mountains again.”
Gusty Babson sent her first update since around
2004. In October, Gusty welcomed a little girl,
Amelia Fox Philbin. She and her husband have
to thank Andre Mura at least in part for their new
miracle, since he introduced the couple. Gusty
has been in DC for the past 10 years working in
the field of international education and public
diplomacy, most recently at the State Department.
“We own a small home in Columbia Heights with
a peach tree and fig tree. Life is good.”
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Bria Larson is a long-time reader, first time contributor. She wrote that 2013 was a whirlwind year
for her. Bria opened her own acupuncture clinic
in San Francisco, got married and had a baby boy.
“We are enjoying our bundle of joy immensely as
well as getting reacquainted with 4 a.m.” She also
occasionally sees Alison Davies and her little one
for Williams Class of ’35 play dates.
Jocelyn (Riedl) Weiss, Nick Weiss and Hilary
Barraford helped Jess Coffin Butterick celebrate her
35th birthday on Oct. 4 in LA. In December, Jess
and Jocelyn took Jocelyn’s daughter Katherine to
The Nutcracker for her first ballet performance. “It
shouldn’t surprise you that even though she was
only 4 years old, Katherine had the nicest manners
of all the children in attendance.”
Time for some lightning round. The first of
this edition’s Brevity Award winners is Lauren
Applebaum: “Are we too much of a Santa Monica
cliché if I tell you that we moved into a house this
summer and just got chickens for the backyard?”
She also enjoyed two visits this winter, one from
Jeff Herzog and another from Megan Bott. Next
is Class Notes All-Pro Raph Rosen: “My wife
Jolina and I had a baby boy in early December. His
name is Nathaniel Jacob Rosen, and he’s lovely and
chubby!” Robin Severud married Clarke Dempsey
on Oct. 5, 2013, in San Francisco. “It was a crazy
amazing weekend celebration shared with Morgan
Heintz Lintz, Kate Schulte, Erin Anderson Prichett,
Glenn Prichett, Kati Haack Morris, Kate Simon Hall
and Peter Hall ’99. Miles Baltrusaitis and his wife
Heather moved from Chicago to a house in the
suburb of Palatine. The move was precipitated by
the imminent arrival of a forbidden MLE, which
was going to make their two-bedroom condo in
Old Irving Park inadequate for their needs. Wrapping up the Lightning Round we have Yng-Ru
Chen, who is a mother of two, lives in Brooklyn and
works at a startup called Tattly, which my super
top-secret class secretary research skills (Google)
tell me is a company that sells temporary tattoos
designed by well-known artists. “I head up Tattly’s
custom products and partnerships. It’s a lot of fun.”
In contrast to Lightning Round, let’s say hello
to Jon Kallay, who outdid himself. He begins:
“Alicia (Currier) Kallay asked me if I have time to
write something witty on our behalf, but I figure
that it’s really your job to turn the raw material of
our humdrum lives into comic genius. In fact, our
contributions to the class notes in recent years have
been so spotty that I’m not sure what still counts
as news, so I have half a mind to report everything
that’s happened to us in the past four years and
leave it up to you to scour the class note archives
for redundancies. For instance, are you aware we
have kids? Oren, 6, Liam, 3.” Pretty good start, but
there were about 350 words of gold after that, some
of it borderline unprintable (but awesome), so I’ll
have to summarize the rest. Jon and Alicia welcomed a new addition, Lila, a black lab. Apparently
Alicia lobbied heavily for Lila’s acquisition, only to
find that she is allergic to Lila, which Jon reacted
to (at least in his email) with a certain degree of
schadenfreude. The emailed continued with some
possibly ironic gloating about the “World Champion Seattle Seahawks,” a recount of meet-ups with
2000– 01
Dennis Debassio and Kevin See and Virginia See,
and a reminder that Alicia is a high school English
teacher while Jon is a developer at a startup called
Luum, which I understand is in the business of getting people to feel good about carpooling.
Let’s stay in the Seattle area for a bit. Emily Boer
and Jared Drake continue to adapt to life as parents
of Vivian, who is now almost 2. “After surviving
the no-sleep, colic newborn period, which left us
housebound for a year, we are now enjoying getting
out and about again.” The Drakes’ 2013 included
trips to Mexico, Italy, Germany and Austria for
vacations, with Spain in the plans for 2014. “We
figure we need to milk only buying two airplane
seats for three people as long as possible.” Emily
traveled to Boston in October to cox a Williams
alumni boat in the Head of the Charles Regatta
and also had a minireunion with Katharine Lusk,
Matt Fineman, Geordie McClelland, Allison (Jacobs)
Friedmann and Paul Friedmann, Dennis Debassio,
Jon Kallay, Eric Soskin ’99 and John Williams ’98.
Emily helpfully reminded me to mention Katharine Lusk’s star turn on NBC Nightly News, on
which she was interviewed by Maria Shriver about
Boston’s equal pay initiative. This came during the
same week when Shawn Boburg was playing a key
role in breaking the story about the Chris Christie
traffic jam scandal in New Jersey. Mike Hacker got
in touch to discuss John Magary; at the time of this
writing, John was set to premiere his first feature
film, The Mend, in Austin at the South by Southwest 2014 Film Festival. John wrote and directed
the movie, which also features music composed by
Judd Greenstein ’01. John’s film was one of eight
selected from 1,324 submitted for the festival’s
main narrative feature competition.
Rebecca (Atkinson) Anderson remarks that
she’s “now fully immersed into the ‘settled’ era of
my life.” She and Andy Anderson ’99 have lived
in Trukee, Calif., for eight years now. Andy is
an avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche
Center, and Rebecca works at the Alliance for
Climate Education (ACE) as director of science
and education. Huck, almost 4, spent his winter
working on his hockey skills at their local pond.
Rebecca enjoyed a visit from Tara Crowley over
Thanksgiving, “where I got to introduce her to my
new favorite sport of paddle boarding.”
My lovely entrymate Nancy Moeur finished nursing school last May and in July started working
as an RN on the burn unit at the Level 1 trauma
hospital in Syracuse. “It’s also an intensive-care unit
for all types of patients, so there’s more to learn
every day! I’m enjoying the new career and all the
challenges it brings (or at least most of them!)” Jen
(Page) Hughes and her husband Ian welcomed
the arrival of baby boy Ethan Phillip Hughes, on
Feb. 11. Vital stats include a weight of 6 pounds, 8
ounces, and a full head of hair. “His middle name
honors his late grandfather Phillip Page ’71, which
makes his initials E.P.H!”
Steve Roman is working at a new startup in
downtown San Francisco. “Here’s hoping there’s
a market for pay-per-mile insurance.” He ran into
Torie Gorges on his way home from work one
day this winter and remarks that Becky (Iwantsch) Roman was disappointed to miss out on the
encounter. Steve and Drew Sutton ran their fourth
Los Angeles Marathon on March 9.
Class notes all-pro Grace Burson gets the coveted
closer role for this edition. She happened upon
Mike Ramberg and Ali Michael in the dinosaur
exhibit at the Academy of Natural Sciences in
Philadelphia with their respective children. “Other
than that, I’m still living in a college town in a
valley in New England, still single-parenting, still
performing the crazy juggling act known as parish
ministry, and still being amused by the monumental stupidity of my backyard chickens.”
For those who like to keep count, that was two
backyard chicken references.
2001
Liana Thompson Knight, 135 Pleasant St., Richmond, ME
04357; [email protected]
It’s a short column this time; I guess most of us
were hunkered down at home trying to stay warm.
Hopefully by now the polar vortex, snow and other
traces of winter are just a memory and spring is in
bloom (or approaching) wherever you are.
Nifer (Knight) Hoehn welcomed a baby boy, Lawson Naylor Hoehn, on June 24, 2013. She and her
husband Ramsey now have Lawson and Woody, 9.
Rob Seitleman’s second daughter, Amelia Cydney,
arrived six weeks early, on Jan 5. Both mom and
baby are doing well. Rob is teaching theater at
Mountain View High School in the South Bay
(San Francisco) and is still acting, directing and
writing professionally.
Todd Swanson Merkens welcomed daughter Elsa
into the world on Jan 9. He and his wife Ara are
doing well adapting to life with a second kid, and
big sister Anja, 3, has been over-the-moon excited.
Abbey Eisenhower and Philip Groth ’00 had their
second son, Felix, on Jan 15. Abbey writes that big
brother Henry, 2, is slowly adjusting to his new
reality. They live in Somerville.
Erin (Palazzolo) Loparo had an art exhibit on
display as part of the Brookline Town Hall Walls
from February through April. The exhibit, Shhh...
Don’t Wake Baby, featured sketches Erin created of
her children during their naps.
Timothy Karpoff married Fiona McDowell in
April 2013. In January, Tim left the Obama administration after five years of working on financial
services issues and became a partner at Jenner &
Block. He and Fiona were planning a move to a
townhouse on Capitol Hill.
Fumi Tosu, his wife and their son have been on
the move: New York to Tokyo to Rome over the
course of about six months, with a move to Tanzania in the works. They plan to stay there for at least
two years!
2013 was a year full of changes for Lloyd Nimetz.
Lloyd sold his last software company, moved back
“home” from the Bay Area to NYC after 16 years
away, got engaged in Rome and started a new
private school in NYC as part of a company called
Dev Bootcamp that teaches people to code and
helps them start careers in software development.
Kivlina (Shepherd) Block continues to work as a
real estate manager and spends the rest of her time
at Girl Scout events with her daughter, 8, at Boy
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Scout leadership retreats with her son, 14, and on
her knees cleaning up after her 3-year-old. She says
she has mastered the art of making hollandaise and
crème anglaise sauces, has utterly failed at keeping
her house clean and thinks she has all her priorities
in the right place.
2002
William Henry Davidson, 219 East 69th St., Apt. 11J,
New York, NY 10021; [email protected]
Over the holidays, I spent two weeks in Jupiter,
Fla., and played a rainy round of golf with Billy
Marino. My wife Blaire and our three kids (Lucy,
Harry and Alistair) also spent a lovely afternoon
with Derrick Estes, his wife Lindsay and son Lawton at the home of Derrick’s parents, Geo Estes ’71
and Laura Estes ’71. I think we may have scared off
Derrick from having more children anytime soon,
however, from the chaos that descended upon them
when we arrived.
In November I attended a memorial dinner in
honor of Matthew J. Kelleher, who passed away in
a 2003 accident. A gift was made to the Kelleher
Field Fund at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School
in Alexandria, Va., Matthew’s hometown. In
attendance were John Babcock, Blair Bartlett, Colin
Brooks, Chris Bruno, Erik Fagan, JJ Hanley, James
Kingsley, Michael Minnefor, Max Niederste-Ostholt,
Mark Scialabba, John Vance, Thomas Welling, Charlie Davidson ’04 and Max Davidson ’61.
Afterward, a few of us met up with Dave Rowe
and Laddie Peterson, who are now engaged! As
Dan Cotuno put it, “David is finally parting the Red
Sea and diving into marriage with Laddie. Their
undercover love affair began at the 10-year reunion.
David will bachelor in St. Maarten with a bunch
of friends from the ’01, ’02 and ’03 classes, while
Laddie will not bachelorette at all, due to new rules
David has laid down.”
Mark Scialabba called on Feb. 8. He is now
engaged to his lovely fiancée Meredith. Mark is
currently the director of player development for the
Washington Nationals and is looking forward to
hitting up spring training and escaping the snow.
Laura Crum moved to DC on July 1, 2013, and
took a product strategy role with EverFi, an online
education company. On Oct. 19, Laura got married
at the Swan House in her hometown of Atlanta,
Ga., and had many Ephs in attendance. Maggie
Clark and Jessica Paar came down early. From
Wednesday to Sunday, they “invented new dance
moves, wore sparkly things and gorged themselves
on Southern food and alcohol.” Laura’s husband
went to Dartmouth, and Katie Worth McCarthy
shouted “Safety school!” right after the Williams
picture, which prompted another one. After a long
debate, Laura “submitted the pretty one.”
Eric Olsen-Getty was arrested on May 20, 2013, in
Raleigh, N.C., while engaging in civil disobedience
as part of the Moral Monday movement organized by the NC NAACP. But like everyone else
arrested on that date he had his charges dropped
this month. “I’ve been helping organize the ‘Jericho
runners,’ a loose group of runners and walkers
who’ve been circling the NC General Assembly
and capitol buildings during Moral Monday pro86
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tests.” Eric also ran his first marathon in November.
The nonprofit youth program he works for is going
through a merger, and he is “enjoying the opportunity to build a new organization and the new
responsibilities and challenges it brings with it.”
Kisha Watts is leaving The Taft School in Connecticut to become dean of admission at Cushing
Academy in Massachusetts. Although bittersweet,
she’s looking forward to this new challenge and
returning to MA, where she will be able to reconnect with several old friends. Kisha saw Carisha
Swanson in New York, where they “practically
ordered the entire menu” at a tapas restaurant.
Amber Moore reports “The last four months have
been incredibly difficult for my family; however,
we are recovering because of all of the support
we have received, much of which has come from
members of the Williams community. While we
spent several months requiring 24-hour care, I am
happy to report that we continue to recover to the
point that we recently moved from my parents’
house back to our condo in Boston.” Amber has
started the long process of returning to her job as
chief medical resident at Beth Israel Deaconess.
Her husband is becoming more mobile as well and
is planning his return to work over the next several
weeks. “So, all in all, we are incredibly thankful that
we have been able to return to our work and more
importantly, for the safety of our son. I will never
fully understand why we were the victims of such
an unfortunate accident; however, I am now more
grateful than ever for our friends and health.”
Sara Hart-Unger relocated over the summer with
her husband Joshua and daughter, Annabel, almost
2, from Durham, N.C., to Miami Beach. Sara’s
husband is a vascular surgeon working with his
father, and she is practicing pediatric endocrinology
in nearby Hollywood, Fla. She would love to connect with Ephs in the area.
Michelle Ruby met up with Jessica Ohly, Mark
Robertson and Anna, Nate Cardoos, Jamie Morrison,
Dave Glick, Brad Nichol and Nicole Theriault ’03
at Jessica’s family home in Killington, Vt., over
Martin Luther King weekend. Sadly, because of
work, Michelle was only able to join the crew for
22 hours and missed most of the mountains of
gourmet food that were cooked and consumed,
as well as epic fire-building. “In the tradition of
Mark and Ben Chaffee’s botany project, Mark and
Nate wrote a parody song all about aebelskivers,
which I’m still waiting to hear (only got snippets).
Mark and Dave filled the empty growlers from the
weekend with Vt. water to bring back and use in
their home brewing the following weekend. I’ve
actually seen quite a lot of the Boston crowd of
Mark and Anna, Dave, Jessica and Nate lately, as
I’ve made it through my first year of home ownership in Nashua, N.H., and Jessica has been gracious
enough to host me for city visits now that I have a
little more free time.”
Brad Nichol moved to Houston, Texas, and is
working on a new real estate fund with Boxer
Property.
Nyshant Nishar was not, as previously reported, at
Nathan Cardoos’ wedding at Zukas Hilltop Barn in
Spencer, Mass., on Oct. 5.
Ben Isecke married Anna Parnes on Jan. 19. They
2001– 03
“theoretically have a Williams picture, but it will
have to wait for the next issue.”
Selma Kikic returned to DC after a six-month
stint in Germany where she finalized her MBA
studies at WHU Otto Beisheim School of
Management. She has taken a finance job with
a boutique investment bank, which focuses on
middle-market companies in technology, media
and healthcare sectors. “While it took me time
to get used to DC after leaving NYC and living
abroad, I am happy to say that I am loving it here
now.” She works a lot, and her favorite activities
are playing indoor and outdoor soccer to keep fit
and riding around town on her Vespa, “which is
just beyond fun.” She has already made a bunch of
new friends and says, “My sister and her husband,
both Bowdoin College grads, live here, so my
social life is fairly active.” She hopes to attend some
Williams-sponsored events in the near future and
connect with fellow Ephs.
Will Gilyard and Afton Gilyard ’05 are both
still doing well and “taking the education world
by storm.” The Gilyards hung out with Emily
(Tomassi) Grant ’05 and Dave Grant in Hartford.
“Good times had by all!”
Nicholas Minekime wrote from New York, where
“we’re enjoying one of the snowiest winters in
many years.” It’s been his first winter living anywhere with snow since he was at Williams. Nick
has signed up to be a class agent this year and has
a new appreciation for anyone who has ever helped
raise money for anything, especially the college.
Tanaya Plowman Kolar is settling into a new
house that they spent the summer remodeling.
They spent a fabulous weekend with Dan Center
’01 and his family on their now-annual trek to Sun
Valley to participate in the Boulder Mountain ski
tour (skate ski race). They have a had a good year
reuniting with girlfriends from Williams (Sarah
(Barger) Ranney, Annie Weiss, Brooke Ray Smith,
Jenny Wetzel, Hilary (Hackmann) Redden) as well as
folks from Tanya’s brother’s (Jonathan Plowman ’00)
class at his wedding in Sun Valley at the beginning
of the summer.
Andrew Stanley and wife Jessie are proud parents
of a baby girl. Her name is Isla Claire Grandgent
Stanley, and she was born on June 18, 2013.
Sarah Philipp is still working as a flight surgeon
with the Navy in Jacksonville, Fla., but her days
there are numbered. “I’ll be out of the Navy this
June and don’t know where I’m going yet but have
applied to ER residency programs. Match day is
in late March, so I’ll know more then.” She has
been traveling a lot and enjoying her free weekends
before residency starts. Luis Taboada let Sarah stay
with him in December when she was in Philadelphia for a couple of interviews. “It was great to
hang out with him and catch up a little bit!”
Past secretary Daniel Elsea is creative director
for the Buildings + Places group at AECOM, the
global design, infrastructure and engineering firm.
He is living in London (now approaching his fifth
year there) and he is back and forth to Hong Kong.
“My partner and I commute between the two cities.
(He is working on setting up M+, the new modern
and contemporary art museum there, working
for the former director of the Tate Modern.) We
regularly attend the openings hosted by art dealer
Johnson Chang ’61 and saw Noelle Ho ’02 at the
opening of the M+ architecture collection, which
features the work of her father Tao Ho ’61. I am
also a post-graduate at the University of Oxford,
where I am pursuing a master’s degree in sustainable urban development on a part-time basis.” Dan
keeps in touch daily in a Whatsapp group with
Sergio Espinosa, Shenil Saya, Mark Robertson,
Michael Nazarian and their most recent addition,
Luis Taboada. He sees Shenil often in Hong Kong,
and they ran into Yui Tsao the other day while
they were walking down Queen’s Road. Dan’s good
friend Mary Banker ’97 has moved to East London
with her British husband, and they see each other
often for jaunts around London Fields, Dalston
and Whitechapel.
Sadaf Ahmad saw Caroline Fan ’03 and Enuma
Menkiti ’01 in DC. Enuma and Sadaf skated on
a rink in Rockville, Md. Sadaf also reconnected
with Abid Shah in Dupont Circle more then 12
years since graduating. Abid is pursuing a master’s
degree at Georgetown University School of Foreign
Service. She is most excited to proudly support
the campaign of her “BFF” Erika Beltran ’01 for
State Board of Education in Dallas, Texas. As a
Maryland resident, Sadaf laments not being eligible
to vote in the election in Texas.
2003
Claire Raffaelli, 56 Old Spanish Trail, Portola Valley, CA
94028; [email protected]
Thank you to all who have shared news, stories
and photos in recent months. I have heard from
(or heard news of ) about 20 percent of our class
during the first two rounds of my writing our class
notes. If you haven’t submitted recently, I urge
you to do so. I’d love to share news from as many
of our classmates as possible. Similar to Perry
Kalmus’ Valentine’s Day love letter, I continue to be
awestruck by the awesome things our class is up to,
whether at work, at play or at home.
Matt Casey dropped a line from Sochi, Russia,
where he was covering the Winter Olympics for
NBC Sports. Matt made several trips up to the
mountain venues but worked mostly from the
international broadcast center.
Vivien Shotwell’s novel Vienna Nocturne was
released in late February. Vivien went to Williamstown in March to appear on a panel called “Making a Life as a Fiction Writer After Williams.” She
will also be joining Alex Meriwether ’02 as part of
an event with the Harvard Bookstore!
Ayesha Fuentes is completing her training in
conservation with projects in Bhutan and Cambodia. Though this involves a separation from Ephs in
LA for 10 months, she looks forward to entertaining West-siders Pete Van Steemburg, Michael Heep
’99 and Kai Collins ’98 with stories of inadequate
plumbing, beasts of the Himalayan forest and
exotic public holidays when she returns in June.
Rob Gonzalez wrote that he and Jeremy Redburn
raised $8 million in venture capital for their startup,
Salsify, in Boston. Salsify provides cloud-based
product content management solutions in the
e-commerce space.
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Nicole Theriault returned to NYC to teach preschool. In the past year, she pursued her interest in
mindfulness and education, completing both children and adult yoga teacher training courses. Nicole
hosted a baby shower in honor of Karin Rosenthal
and Ryu Yokoi ’01 at their home in New Jersey that
was also attended by Alicia Andrews, Jasmine Mitchell and Bethany (Sayles) Yu. Several Williamsthemed onesies and bibs were created at the event.
Nicole and Alicia live in adjacent neighborhoods in
Brooklyn and see each other frequently.
At first when I read Courtney Janney’s submission
I thought she was pulling a fast one, but, folks, this
is actually her day job. Courtney has been busy at
Smithsonian’s National Zoo in DC caring for the
giant panda cub, Bao Bao, as well as hand-rearing
a newborn sloth bear cub. A number of Courtney’s
photographs of the panda cub have been used by
media outlets around the world over the last couple
months. In February, Courtney and her family
relocated to Memphis, Tenn., where she is curator
of large mammals. She manages four teams encompassing elephants, giant pandas, grizzlies, black
bears, polar bears, sea lions and primates.
Karthik Ramanathan left New York for Shanghai
for new professional pursuits as an independent
contractor. He will be doing work in property
development, including outreach in the countryside, and participating in a cultural exchange.
Nina (Trautmann) Chaopricha led a Cornell
service-learning trip to Yunnan, China, in January.
Her group helped a Naxi minority village ecotourism cooperative develop new marketing ideas and
brochures. The group also interviewed smallholder
apple farmers to help address challenges with nutrient, water, pest and disease management.
Lindi von Mutius saw Jasmine Mitchell in February when she was in Philadelphia for a Mellon
Fellowship Conference at UPenn. They caught
up over a delicious dessert. She also sees Marsha
Camilla Lynch, who works at the UPenn Hospital as
a radiologist.
Beyond writing novels, raising millions and caring for giant primates, our class is sneaking in some
time for fun.
Jordan Goldwarg and a large group of classmates
continued a tradition of spending New Year’s
together. This year they did so from two locations.
In Manchester, Vt., Kristin Hunter-Thomson and
Malin Pinsky hosted Jordan and his fiancé Sam
McVeety, Nick Nelson, Sarah Klionsky and their son
Max, as well as Liz Mygatt. In Salt Lake City, Utah,
Kimmie Beal and Angus Beal, Mel Scheefer, Zinnia
Wilson ’05 and Bekah Levine and her partner Kyle
Cutting convened. Linked via Google Hangout,
the group rang in 2014 together.
Kristin and Malin are enjoying watching their
son Linden grow up and explore the snow in
Princeton, N.J.
Kimmie Beal and Angus Beal are excited to be
moving back to New England this summer! Angus
finishes residency in June and starts at Eastern
Maine Medical Center. They are buying a farm
in Belfast, Maine. I hear it has big fields and thus
plenty of room for camping Ephs.
Anri (Wheeler) Brenninkmeyer and Dave Brenninkmeyer were in Utah for a week in January,
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visiting Irene Yoon in Salt Lake City, checking out
the Sundance Film Festival in Park City and skiing with friends at Alta and Snowbird. They were
hoping to get their older daughter, Summer, on skis
later this season.
Mayo Shattuck and his wife Rose also “Sundanced” this year, joining me and several others for
our seventh year at the film festival. We watched an
unhealthy number of movies, took advantage of the
nearby ski slopes and made good use of the house
shuffleboard table. We felt like Williams students
again as we crammed into packed pubs late into the
night trying to stay warm.
Adam Cole shared the big news that he married
Rachel Bloom over Columbus Day weekend last
year. In attendance were Dave Lewis, Keiller Kyle
and Rabbi Eric Woodward, who gave the blessing
before the meal. Adam and Rachel live in Cambridge, Mass., and are house-hunting in Boston.
Adam continues to teach math as well as coach
swimming and golf for Needham High School. He
completed his master’s in education with a concentration in mathematics in February.
Last up is what I’m going to call the multiplier
effect. In the last round of notes there were five
babies to report upon. This round, 11! We must be
in our early 30s or something…
Jeff Padilla and wife Katherine Padilla ’08 had
their third child, Angela Grace Padilla, on Oct. 24.
Courtney Atkinson ’11 came from Virginia for a few
days to stay with Jeff and Katherine and help watch
their other kids. Scott Faley ’05 also came from
Maryland to visit the newest member of the family.
David Morris and wife Deanne played the double
baby card announcing the birth of twins, Colin
James and Juliet Faye, on Nov. 5. Amidst the craziness, they are seriously grateful for the little ones.
Peter Tucker and Emily (Glenn) Tucker welcomed
their second child, Charles Glenn Tucker, on Nov.
8. Charles is named after his paternal grandfather,
Charles William Tucker ’67. Peter and Emily live in
Los Altos, Calif.
Randi (Lewis) Flaherty and her husband David
Flaherty welcomed daughter Charlotte Eleanor
Flaherty on Nov. 17 in Charlottesville, Va.
Brigitte Teissedre and husband Lucien Patterson
shared the happy news of the birth of their daughter Noémie Adele Patterson on Nov. 19.
Mitchell Green and his wife Lisa welcomed their
second daughter, Grace Virginia Green (GG for
short), into the world on Dec. 4. Lindsay, who
turned 2 in late December, and their three French
bulldogs are adjusting to Grace well. Dad is proud
that Lindsay has been on snow skis 15 days this
winter and can go down the bunny hill without
falling! Talk about setting the bar high!
Jon Hatoun and his wife announced the birth
of their first child, Juliet, on Dec. 27. Jon reports
that Juliet is helping to (very rapidly) fill their new
home in Jamaica Plain!
Jonathan Pahl and his wife Jessica welcomed their
first child, Rebecca Claire Pahl, on Jan. 5. At birth
Rebecca weighed 8 lbs., 5 oz., and measured 21¼
inches. Mom, dad and daughter are loving getting
to know one another.
Last but certainly not least, Jen Feldman-Brillembourg announced the birth of her twin boys, Xavier
2003– 04
Arturo Brillembourg and Alejandro Brian Brillembourg, on Jan. 28. Jen and her husband Arturo are
overjoyed to have them in their lives.
Other than playing hooky at Sundance, my biggest news was a trip back to Williamstown in February—my first in 10 years (gasp!). I was welcomed
by a blizzard and Hot Tomatoes pizza. All felt right
in the world. Until next time, Claire
2004
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Cortney Tunis, 150 The Riverway, Box 802, Boston, MA
02115; Nicole Sasha Weber, 141 Joralemon St., Apt. 3E,
Brooklyn, NY 11201; [email protected]
Nick Wood has joined the faculty of Chestnut
Hill College in Philadelphia as assistant professor of psychology in the Masters of Clinical and
Counseling Psychology Program, and he is very
pleased with this transition into academia. Nick is
also in the process of starting a psychology practice
in Center City Philadelphia. He and his partner
have enjoyed Philadelphia alumni events, like
touring the Barnes Foundation and City Hall, and
they had a great time at Bob George’s wedding on
Lake Champlain last summer, where they saw Kate
Berens Bucki, Elizabeth Healy ’02 and Joe Lott ’03
and met their children!
At a birthday celebration, Ben Fleming, an avid
curler since just after graduation, expressed his
disappointment to Zak Haviland and Devin Fitzgibbons at being left off the team traveling to Sochi.
April King is in LA, and reached her one-year anniversary as a talent agent at ICM Partners. She was
named to the 2014 Hollywood Hot List by Essence
Magazine—so it’s going OK!
Last fall MJ (Prest) Lanum took a job working for Bart Clareman ’05 at Tiggly, a startup that
designs learning toys and iPad apps for toddlers.
Her family moved from Lake Tahoe to Westford,
Mass. Around the New Year, they snuck in a trip
to W-town as a preview of Reunion Weekend, and
they can’t wait for June!
Emily Isaacson Tzuker is conducting at Bowdoin
College in 2014 and living in Portland, Maine,
until June. She would love to see Ephs in the area!
Gianna Marzilli Ericson and Keith Marzilli Ericson
welcomed daughter Francesca Ruth into the world
in October. Francesca shares a birthday (one year
apart) with entrymate Alex Gordon’s daughter,
which guarantees that they’ll be friends for life.
Jonathan Cartagena and his wife Joanna had a
baby boy on Jan. 24, the day after the late Pavel
Hristov’s birthday. Mom and son are doing great,
and Jon can’t wait to bring him up to the Purple
Valley to get him some purple Williams onesies.
Khari Stephenson made the list of best-ever
lower division players to have an impact in Major
League Soccer. Khari has appeared in 32 games for
the Jamaican National Team as well as playing for
Kansas City, San Jose and Real Salt Lake. The full
details are on the MLS Soccer website, http://bit.
ly/soccerranking.
Mary Flynn writes: “The best part of my year was
when Anne Lewis and I went to visit Jess Au in
N.C., where she was finishing her spine fellowship.
We went to the Dirty Dancing festival in Lake
Lure, where the movie was filmed, and yes we did
all carry watermelons—and got the buttons to
prove it!”
Inspired by Eli Lazarus, who first shared the quote
“Buy land, they’re not making it anymore,” Shamus
Brady and his wife Anthea did just that in February. Shamus has also begun a vigorous training
routine not for the Boston Marathon, which he
plans to run for the ninth year in a row, but rather
for Sean Hyland’s ’07 bachelor party. Hopefully
this one will not be written about in the Record like
Bill Ference’s ’07’s was.
Laura Day Giarolo writes: “Rolo and I welcomed
our daughter, Kathleen Savaria (Katy), who was
born on Jan. 3 in the middle of 2014’s first big
snow storm. We’re all doing well, and Katy looks
forward to meeting more of the next generation of
Ephs at reunion.”
Chuck Jakobsche is promoting the Worcester
Argentine Tango Club. Anybody interested in
learning this beautiful and social dance should feel
free to contact him. (Social tango is nothing like
what you have seen on TV, or performed on stage
or in ballroom competitions.) Vivien Shotwell ’03
and Erika Latham ’06 are also avid tango dancers.
Meredith (Olson) Clifford and Sean Clifford ’05
welcomed their second child, Jack David, into the
world in November, and he has already outgrown
his 2-year-old sister, Eliana. Ronni Weinstein, Mike
Needham and Brian Lowe ’06 have already met the
big guy. Sean and Meredith are having a blast with
Megan Samenfeld-Specht ’02, Jeff McBride ’02 ( JA
to us ’04s) and their daughter Charlie, who is Ellie’s
best buddy.
Samir Thaker and Abby (Kelton) Thaker welcomed son Simon Kelton Thaker on Jan. 7, 2014.
He’s a cutie!
Ryan Sochacki accepted a position as an assistant
VP in the private bank at Credit Suisse. He is
very excited for this new chapter in his life and
consistently runs into Williams alumni throughout
the day. Adam Grogg has happily re-settled in DC,
where he is an attorney with the Department of
Justice. He happy to report that Steve Seigel, when
he’s in town on break from law school in New
Haven, and his husband Justin Wilson are better
hosts than ever.
Lex Urban reports, “Over the holidays, John
Haywood, myself and Andrew Murray traveled to
Chicago to see Daniel Murray. Daniel made us all
attend a ‘hot yoga’ class as he was recently certified
as a Corepower yoga instructor. Results were: I
almost fainted. John took his shirt off midway
through to the delight of some females in the back
row, and Andrew did the child’s pose the entire
time as he sweated out the ‘toxins’ from the previous night’s adventures.”
Eve Biddle and Josh Frankel have a daughter!
Phoenix was born in August. She’s doing great and
getting along smashingly with their dog Butter. Ria
Berns and her man, Gus, came to visit when Phoenix was born. Charlie Davidson has been working
closely on the Wassaic Project along with Eve and
Bowie Zunino. They are gearing up for summer
programming upstate from May-October. Ally
Matteodo enjoyed playing a court denizen at the
Worcester Art Museum’s “Flora in Winter” event.
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ments inspired by those works, and Ally couldn’t
believe she had never been to such an enchanting
museum so close to where she grew up. Other
highlights of January included Ally’s first viewing
of Jersey Boys, which she loved, at the Hanover Theatre. In March Ally was to appear in the web series
Karma as attorney Jacqueline Andrews.
After living in Minneapolis for three-and-a-half
years, Ashley English finally remembered that
winters are a lot more fun when you get outside
and play in the snow, so she took up cross-country
skiing. It’s not quite the same as the true Winter
Study experience snowboarding five days a week
and partying every night, but it’s been a fun break
from dissertating. Michelle Cuevas’ second novel
is coming out this September from Penguin, titled
Beyond The Laughing Sky, about a boy who hatches
from an egg and longs to fly. She also just signed a
new deal (Penguin as well) for a 2015 novel called
Confessions of an Imaginary Friend, and her first
picture book, titled The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles,
illustrated by Caldecott medalist Erin Stead.
After seven years in Boston, Amanda Stout is
excited to move to Baltimore. She accepted a
position at transportation planning firm STV Inc.,
and she would love to reconnect with Ephs in
Baltimore! Anna Brittain moved from DC back to
the Napa Valley and is working on starting her own
wine tour business focused on environmentally and
socially responsible wineries (check out obsidiantours.com). In September Anna attended the
wedding of Andrea Matsuoka and Samuel Raskin
in Morro Bay, Calif. It was a beautiful day! Brendan
Docherty finished a rough draft of a fantasy Western novel. He’d love to hear from any classmates
who have written or are in publishing to hear about
their experiences or any advice.
2005
Aron Chang, 1432 6th St., New Orleans, LA 70115;
Charles R. Soha, 150 Huntington Ave., Apt. NA6, Boston,
MA 02115; [email protected]
Sean Clifford reports that his wife Meredith
Clifford ’04 gave birth to their second child, Jack.
Kurt Brumme was married in October, enjoyed an
impromptu Williams reunion and looks forward
to the other weddings he’ll attend this year. Noah
Allen is in his third year of urology residency at
the University of Cincinnati. Amy Sosne and her
husband Ben had a baby boy, Jack Jeffrey Sosne, on
Dec. 10. Phil Smith got together for dinner at Han
Dynasty with Kerel Nurse, Veronica Mendiola, Evan
Schutz, Eric Hsu, Crystal Son, Elena Bonifacio and
Brianna Lowndes. Phil’s one word: “Tasty.” Vishal
Agraharkar writes in with a novella of his own: “I’ve
been really cold lately.”
Jane McCamant is weathering the cold in Chicago, where she’s resolved to do more of her own
research and less classwork while pursuing her
sociology PhD. She explained the history of the
Williams-Amherst rivalry to a fellow international
student. Raphael Jeong is having a blast waiting
tables at a Korean restaurant in the busy tourist
district of Myungdong in Seoul, South Korea.
Katie Dolbec will be working as an ER doctor
on the coast of Maine in July after completing
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her sports medicine fellowship. Hannah Stauffer
married Baltimore native Tap Kolkin on Aug. 10.
They met while teaching at Gilman School. Brittany Esty, Kara Weiss, Daniela Bailey, Lili Zimmett,
Evan Couzo and Mike Chaberski all “sweated their
faces off ” dancing at a ceremony that Hannah and
Tap wrote themselves, featuring a lawn party with
kegs of local beer. Margit Sande-Kerback married
Christopher Rocchio in Tyringham, Mass., on
Nov. 16—a wonderfully festive occasion with dear
friends from Williams.
Mariah Robbins and Dave Roth moved from
Cambridge to Seattle in August and got engaged
in October. They ran into Mariah’s Fay 3 entrymate
Jaime Hensel, who also just relocated to Seattle.
Kevin Kingman and Abigail Wattley welcomed
baby girl Elizabeth “Libby” Kingman on Nov. 30.
They’ve enjoyed introducing her to fellow Ephs,
including Jason Davis, Maryl Gensheimer, Anna
Soybel ’11 and Meaghan (Rathvon) Lisman ’06.
Elena Bonifacio and Ashley Weeks Cart were
in Austin, Texas, for meetings of the Society of
Alumni Executive Committee and Vice Chair
Committee. Late night taco truck consumption
was at an all-time high. Over Homecoming weekend, Ashley and James Cart had fun catching up
with Joanna Leathers at a Young Alumni (Ashley
reminds us we get to call ourselves that for only one
more year!) party at Goodrich.
Who will be the first Williams visitor to Jonathan
Landsman’s new gardens? Jonathan is now the
director of the landscapes of Manhattan’s public
parks north of 155th Street, which most famously
includes the fortress-like park containing The
Cloisters and many other smaller and lesser-known
properties—“A humbling and challenging amount
of responsibility.” Jonathan was first introduced
to the signature garden in this area, Fort Tryon
Park Heather Garden, by Joanna Korman ’07 and
Graeme A.B. Schranz ’04, in 2009.
Hilarie Ashton’s had a whirlwind winter, performing in the 2014 Winter Follies showcase in
Gowanus, Brooklyn, and also completing 100 hours
of yoga training. She’s really excited for the spring
semester at CUNY. In March, she was to present a
paper at the Society for the Study of Southern Literature’s annual conference, and she was beginning
preparations to teach at Queens College.
Lindsey Taylor sailed through last year’s mild
New England winter but this year learned all about
the joys of commuting into Boston via commuter
rail when there is an actual winter going on. On
forced “work from home” days, Lindsey’s border
terrier puppy made the experience very pleasant.
Joyia Yorgey and Brent Yorgey ’04 are still living
in Philly. They and their son Noah escaped the
snow for a week in San Diego, where they saw
Elaine Denny ’04. While walking through Balboa
Park, Joyia had fond memories of spring training
at Point Loma Nazarene University with the Williams track team in 2002.
Scott Pierce and his wife Jessica had a lovely fall
weekend in Williamstown with Mary Etta and
Geof Schoradt ’06, Beth Fischer and her fiancé
Tommy Richey and Noah Bell and his fiancée Orly
Pearlstein, which included visiting campus and the
Clark Art Institute and hiking to Stony Ledge.
2004– 06
Scott moved to Jersey City in November and took
a job as an attorney.
Fran-Fredane Fraser met up with Rod McLeod
over the Christmas holidays while passing through
London. She introduced him to Nandos chicken
and says her good deed for 2014 is done. Kyle Skor
is preparing for his upcoming solo painting show in
Beijing and subsisting on a diet of kimchi, various
earthy teas and something loosely translated as
“mountain black fungus.”
Zach McArthur is enjoying his first year teaching
math at a high school on the north side of Chicago.
He writes, “My kids are awesome; there have been
lots of Purple Cow stickers earned by the freshmen
for perfect test grades this winter. I tried to spur
my juniors and seniors—who are pretty weak at
math—into making videos by uploading a (slightly
embarrassing) sample called ‘Mr. McArthur Sings’
onto YouTube. They think I’m pretty whacked, but
I got a lot of great videos in return.”
Grace Tomooka reports that her four kids are
growing like weeds: Vincent is 7 and in second
grade, Erin is 5 and in kindergarten, Mary is almost
3, and Annie is 16 months. Grace has adjusted
to being at home with her children full time, has
started teaching natural family planning and has
begun to use solar power.
Chelsea (Pollen) Cohen and her husband
welcomed their first child, Shira, into their lives
last October. The couple moved from Boston to
Baltimore shortly after and enjoyed hosting many
visitors in their new home, including Molly Sharlach and her husband Kevin.
Ricardo Woolery married his high school sweetheart, Caville Stanbury, in Jamaica on Dec. 21.
Several Ephs joined their celebration, including
Fran-Fredane Fraser, Laurie-Ann Jackson, Zophia
Edwards, Tameka Walter and Owuraka Koney, Samson Ampofo and Tamika Murray-Harrison ’03.
Susie Theroux lives in Berkeley, where she’s a
postdoc at the DOE Joint Genome Institute. In
June she plans to marry her high school sweetheart,
Jonathan Ventimiglia.
Annie Snodgrass married Zach Dennett on
Nov. 16 in Chevy Chase, Md. Danner Hickman,
Mike Chaberski, Izzi Stone, Jordan Bate ’06, Litia
Shaw, Kristen Lacey ’04, Abby Whitbeck, Trisha
O’Reilly ’07, Ariel Zetlin-Jones ’04, David Seligman,
Jen Foss-Feig ’04, Brittany Esty, Jason Davis, Kara
Weiss, Maryl Gensheimer, Evan Schutz and Molly
Popkin were in attendance.
Beth Mulligan married Erik Shumaker on Oct.
26 in Chappaqua, N.Y. Lauren (Levien) Nagin
joined in on the festivities as a lovely bridesmaid.
Beth’s been working as a staff psychologist at the
VA Boston Healthcare System for over a year.
Noah Capurso is a third-year psychiatry resident
at Yale. He and his wife Allison got to spend some
time with Brian Saar and Maggie Saar and their
super-cute daughter, Gillian.
Sabrina Wirth is busy with her architecture career,
finishing her curatorial practices in architecture
degree at Columbia and planning a wedding this
summer. Justin Anderson got married in August
to Marie Taylor, and the couple bought a house in
Seaford, N.Y., on Long Island.
Daniel Krass is thrilled to be moving to the
Phoenix, Ariz., area for an externship in the audiol-
ogy department at the Mayo Clinic. He expects to
hardly know a soul when he gets to Arizona—so
’05s out there, give him a shout. In Nashville, he’s
been playing dueling piano gigs at the Big Bang,
which has another location in Tempe, about 20
minutes away from work. Daniel plans to travel
to Australia and possibly New Zealand, and he is
especially looking forward to seeing Melanie Beeck
’04 and her family in Melbourne during the trip!
As a PhD student, Ross Smith has been continuing to learn about how blood vessel pathologies
contribute to certain eye diseases. He’s looking forward to traveling to Tenerife in the Canary Islands
with his fiancée Samantha. He’ll see if cross country practices up the side of Mount Greylock will
prepare them for running to the top of the Teide
volcano. Ross has been enjoying a warm Swedish
winter where the ice is unfortunately not thick
enough to try his fancy new skates on the lakes.
Liz Suda married Gael Forterre in Bretagne,
France, on Aug. 17. After seven years dating, the
couple got engaged in Indonesia in 2012. Fun fact:
Liz was introduced to Gael by her Morgan West
first-year roommate Magali (Sutton) Moisselin,
whose husband Paul was roommates with Gael in
New York. Liz and Magali’s JA Rob Carroll ’03 flew
from Brazil for the ceremony; other classes represented were ’74, ’75, ’04 and, of course, ’05!
Betsy (Flint) Engle and her husband Anders were
overjoyed to welcome Magnus Henry Engle to
the family on Feb. 1—just in time for spring class
notes! Caleb Bliss finished his PhD in biostatistics.
Robin Bliss is happier than Caleb is because she
doesn’t have to listen to him talk about his dissertation anymore.
Marissa Doran is law clerking and living in San
Diego, and she would love to see anyone who
makes it anywhere nearby. She saw Meg Giuliano
when she was out there on an epic road trip.
Marissa plans to move back to New York (rumor
has it near Julia Prieto and Adriel Cepeda-Derieux)
in the fall.
Lili Zimmett moved to Paris last summer and is
teaching English literature at the Lycée International. She enjoyed seeing so many happy Ephs at
Hannah Stauffer’s, Liz Suda’s and Daniela Bailey’s
weddings!
2006
Ariel Peters, 626 Independence Ave. SE, Apt. 206,
Washington, DC 20003; [email protected]
John Symanski married Maggie Quackenboss last
July; it was the “perfect Wisconsin summer day,”
he said. George Rodriguez was the best man, Brian
Lowe was a groomsman, Drew Raab and Sean Clifford ’05 were ushers, Jamie Kingsbery was a reader,
and Todd Shayler, Nick Maselli, Meredith Clifford
’04 and Cathy Marbach ’76—John’s mom—were
also present for the festivities.
Matt Teschke wed Helah Robinson in October in
Bluemont, Va., with Matt Hsieh, Meg McCann, John
Bennett, Steve Acton, Jim Prevas, Bryan Dragon, Ainsley O’Connell, Chris Geissler, Kim Heard Geissler,
Anne Louise Ennis and Nick Perry ’04 in attendance.
Aaron Reibel, who was serving in Afghanistan, was
there in spirit!
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John Silvestro was deployed for the second time
to Afghanistan, this time as a Marine C-130 pilot.
He caught up with Sally Dickerson, Pat Spellane
and Patrick Hederman over the holidays in NYC.
Beth Ann Amendt, Meaghan Lisman, Ali Macdonald, Phoebe Fischer-Groban and Robin Bliss ’05
celebrated Kate Sauerhoff’s bachelorette in sunny
San Diego in February—and spent the weekend
wondering why they don’t all live in California.
Beth Ann was training for the Boston Marathon
and anxiously anticipating spring’s arrival.
Meanwhile, Miami’s lack of seasons had Erika
Latham feeling disoriented. She traveled to San
Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Puerto
Rico for tango events.
Mary Beth Anzovino completed her chemistry
PhD program at the University of WisconsinMadison. Seth Daniels and Lisa Daniels were
support-eph and attended her dissertation defense.
Mary Beth, Sam Clapp, Sara Beach, Karl Naden,
Leah Weintraub, Katie Mygatt, Lucy Cox-Chapman,
Emily Bonem and Tomio Ueda rang in the new year
at Leah’s family cabin in Vermont before Mary
Beth moved south to start a postdoc at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Miami was experimenting
with its first-ever January term when she arrived,
which made her nostalgic—especially because the
temperature felt more like Western Massachusetts
than Southern Ohio: “Thanks, polar vortex.”
Andrea Burke was finishing up her postdoc in
environmental geosciences and geochemistry at
Caltech. She was sad to leave LA but excited to
become a professor at the University of St Andrews
in Scotland in the earth and environmental sciences
department. In addition to teaching and research,
she was looking forward to exploring new interests—golf and whiskey—and hoped to connect
with other Ephs across the pond.
Jimmy Canner landed a job in investment banking
at Royal Bank of Canada’s NYC office. He’s back
to old shenanigans with Will Kuntz, Pat Spellane,
Jamie Lee, Patrick Hederman and Ned Hole ’05 and
is engaged and planning an August 2015 wedding.
Susie Reid and Chris Yorke tied the knot last
August in Olympic National Park. They “partied
with a bunch of Williams peeps,” then quit their
jobs and moved to Palau for a year. Susie is counsel
to Palau’s supreme court, and Chris runs his own
architecture studio, designing houses for expats.
“I’m the tallest person in the country,” he said,
which may explain why he was recruited to one of
the best basketball teams in Palau.
Caroline Byrnes attended Chris and Susie’s wedding and saw Josh Bolton, Elspeth Mitchell and Melanie Hobart again the following month on her own.
She and Sean Mulloy made it official in Chicago in
September. Everyone was happy to be together, but
they missed Chris and Susie, who were already on
island time.
Ian Bone and Miguel Ferreyra said their vows
atop Sheep Hill in Williamstown in October. Mary
Singer was Ian’s maid of honor, and a bagpiper led
everyone down the hill to the reception, which
took place in a centuries-old farmhouse. (They
even hiked Mount Greylock the next day.) Twenty
alums made the trip to the Berkshires, including
seven of Ian’s Fay 3 entrymates and Ian’s family
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members Arthur Lafave ’76 and Rebecca Lafave ’76,
James Lafave ’03 and Danielle Lafave ’02 and Claire
Lafave ’12.
Ian and Mike had another party at the Pierre
Hotel in New York before jetting off to Buenos
Aires. Mary, Ben Berringer, Joe Hutchinson, Nikhar
Gaikwad, Gillian Weeks and Tiffany Chao were
part of the southern-hemisphere portion of their
roving, monthlong wedding adventure. “Argentine
weddings tend to go late into the morning, so we
felt pretty respectable ending the evening around 4
a.m.,” Ian said. After a brief recovery period, they
headed to Puesto Viejo Estancia for polo lessons
and a match. Ian’s team beat Mike’s, with Tiffany
scoring the final goal. Ian returned to the States on
Christmas Eve and is settling into life in NYC.
In November, Drew Newman ’04 and I marked
10 years as a couple by throwing a big party—
and getting married. Rick Spalding officiated in
the Sol LeWitt galleries at MASS MoCA. We
also recreated Mountain Day for our guests and
climbed Pine Cobble the morning of, apple-cider
doughnuts in hand, with our dog, Tallulah, leading
the way. Unfortunately, Jae’s Inn in North Adams,
where we went on our first date, is now defunct, but
otherwise the weekend was full of memories from
the past decade, shared with some of our favorite
people, including more than 40 Ephs.
Anna Schlechter, now Anna Salinas, is living in
Memphis with her husband Gabe and their son
Joseph David Salinas, who was born in October.
(She and Gabe met dissecting a cadaver while in
med school in San Antonio!) She’ll finish up her
residency at the University of Tennessee in June;
after that, she plans to work in the pediatrics ER at
Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.
Ethan Dahlberg graduated from Michigan’s MBA
program last June and moved to Seattle with wife
Ashlee Dahlberg (17!). They have a house, a dog
and, now, a son! James Anderson Dahlberg arrived
in February.
Robin Stewart and his girlfriend Megan relocated
from Washington State to Washington, DC. He’s
still with his Seattle-based software company
because he created a DC branch.
Joe Shoer and Justin Brown ’05 joined Dave Butts
at the Draper Lab, the research-and-design company where Dave has been working for a few years.
All three were in the Bronfman basement together
in the summer of 2005 doing physics research—
and this reunion may even be the beginning of a
Williams “guidance and navigation” mafia.
Katie Krause and Emily Novik have also reunited;
they’re roommates in Atlanta, where Katie is in
her first year of a public health PhD program, and
Emily is a first-year resident in psychiatry, both at
Emory. They’re having a blast and see Todd Shayler,
who works at Georgia Tech, from time to time.
Adam Bloch’s latest adventure occurred after
being abandoned by two friends in the Arizona
desert: “I was about ready to collapse after four days
without water, but at the last moment I stumbled
across a mud pit which led to a natural spring.
Since then I’ve set up a rest stop, selling water at
inflated prices to thirsty travelers. Times are changing, though, and the spirit of the frontier is fading.”
Finally, Brad Brecher completed the Krispy
2006– 07
Kreme Challenge in February. He ran two-anda-half miles, ate a box of doughnuts, and ran
two-and-a-half miles back to the starting line. “The
winner accomplished this Herculean feat in 30:10.”
Brad’s time was 52:53: “I ate the first eight in under
three minutes, but it took me another ten minutes
to choke down the remaining four.” He ventures
that it was the most difficult athletic competition of
his life. Way to go, Brad! #brechfastofchampions.
2007
Caitlin Hanley, 445 East Ohio St., Apt. 2404, Chicago, IL
60611; [email protected]
This edition of class notes begins with an update
from our class president—Anna and Dave Brown
celebrated the arrival of their first son, Robert
“Robbie” Brown, on Dec. 17. “Both Momma and
son are great!” Dave writes. Life has been busy in
Boston, but he has managed to see a few Ephs,
most recently for the celebration of Chris Upjohn’s
30th birthday.
Dan Binder caught up with Dave and met baby
Robbie while in Massachusetts for Christmas. He
also had brunch with Matt Kane before they both
flew out. Back in Chicago, Dan has connected with
Aashish Adhikari, Jason Ren ’08, Evan Miller ’06 and
Nate Klein ’06 on a few occasions while “trying to
avoid freezing to death” in brutal Chicago winter!
Ben Echols is enjoying his position as a software product manager at Location Labs in San
Francisco. Zach Grossman, Rohan Mehra and Owen
Simpson made a visit to SF for a New Year’s party
at the house of Dani Wolinsky ’08, which was a
“blast!” The group spent the weekend beforehand
wine tasting in Napa. Ben also hangs out with Mike
Davitian and Matt Kane around town every so often.
Alyssa Howard graduated from the Yale School
of Drama this past spring with an MFA in stage
management. She moved to NYC in September
and was stage-managing her first off-Broadway
production, the Ma-Yi Theater Company’s The
Wong Kids In The Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go!
at La MaMa. (In the chaos of getting the show
open, Alyssa was informed by Jess Silverstein that
Julian Mesri ’09 was running a show at La MaMa at
the same time.) This was Alyssa’s second time with
Wong Kids, having stage-managed the production
at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis
in the fall. In mid-February, Alyssa escaped the city
to work on a senior production with Bard College’s
theater department until early April.
Michael Fairhurst moved to Denver last summer
and works at a civil rights law firm while trying to
get outside as much as possible. Abby Taylor is in
vet school at Ohio State University, where she was
about to start clinics in April. She regularly meets
up with Katie Chatas ’84 for dog park trips!
In October David Senft married Amanda Knorr.
The wedding was “masterfully officiated” by Aroop
Mukharji ’09 and Daniel Yudkin ’08, and the wedding party included Daniel Wollin, Matthew Earle
and Auyon Mukharji.
Auyon reports, “Things have been going well
with Darlingside.” The indie folk quartet wrapped
up a tour in the Midwest and Southeast back in
November, in collaboration with Heather Maloney,
a friend from Northampton. Darlingside is now
putting the finishing touches on a joint EP they
recorded with Heather to be released on her label,
Signature Sounds. Their plans include an international folk conference in Kansas City, more
recording in early spring and getting back on the
road this summer.
Before graduating from Harvard Business
School in June, Fola Folowesele and John Hillman
co-captained the soccer club to an MBA Olympics
gold medal in Paris, France.
From Minnesota, Brandi Brown writes: “Honestly,
I’m almost seven years out from Williams and I’m
not remotely sure what I want to be doing with my
life… Still living in freezing Minneapolis.” (Don’t
worry, Brandi. I think we are all still trying to figure
out what we want to be when we grow up!)
Karen Olson writes from Minneapolis, where she
moved in August to start a job in strategic business
development at 3M after graduating from the Tuck
School of Business at Dartmouth with her MBA
in June. She has enjoyed getting to know the Twin
Cities and has added yet another winter sport
(cross-country skiing) to her repertoire. Karen has
reconnected with Martha Rogers, Emma Reynolds,
Emily Bruce, Anna Morrison and Grady Newman.
Over the summer Karen was on a wedding roadshow, including serving as maid of honor to Kate
Larabee (who married Sam Tuttle) and attending
Haley Tone’s wedding (to Riley Maddox ’08) in San
Francisco in July. “The biggest and most recent
news is that I got engaged in mid-January!” Karen
reports. Her fiancé Casey is a Dartmouth graduate
whom she met in Boston before going to Tuck.
Casey moved to MSP with Karen, where he works
remotely for a Boston-based startup.
Darius Long began a job at Dartmouth College’s
development office last November, after working
in marketing in New York since 2007. He writes:
“It has been a refreshing transition to the nonprofit
realm. Life in the Upper Valley is pleasantly reminiscent of my time in the Purple Valley, and I even
have an opportunity to play some rugby, which I’ve
not done since my days with the WRFC.”
Martin Williams is in the third year of a PhD at
the London School of Economics. He spent all of
2013 in Accra, Ghana, doing research and playing
saxophone in an afrobeat band and was adopted
by the family of Baafour Otu-Boateng, who is back
home in Accra.
Elizabeth Atkinson completed her PhD in
evolutionary biology, working on an interdisciplinary project across neuroscience and genetics. She
reports: “I got interviewed in my first press talk in
November, and it’s fun to see the media picking up
stories about my thesis results!” (http://bit.ly/brainfindings) The day after her degree was conferred,
she left the country for a monthlong tour of Asia.
This summer she will start a postdoctoral position
in human evolutionary genetics.
Over the past year, Liz hosted Alison Davies
while she was touring grad schools, visited Jessie Yu, Thomas Kunjappu ’06 and Jay Bid ’06 in
Chicago and met up with Chris Furlong in DC over
Christmas break. She also met up with Remington
Shepherd ’08, in graduate school at Wash U.
Chris Furlong started a job last summer working
for a real estate developer. He continues to keep
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involved with the Williams DC alumni group,
which held several successful events, including a
panel on real estate and economic development and
a tour of the Bluejacket Brewery.
Finally, one of our classmates will be joining the
ranks of Williams professors! Lauren Williamson
writes: “I’ll be defending my dissertation at Duke
on March 28 and graduating with my PhD in
psychology and neuroscience in May. The BEST
news, though, is that I’m taking a visiting professor
position in the psychology department at our dear
alma mater. Dr. Noah Sandstrom will be gone for
two years (to be the director of the Oxford program
with his wife, Dr. Marlene Sandstrom), and I will
be a visiting professor in his place. I am over the
moon about returning to Williams on the other
side of the classroom and so excited to meet new
Ephs as their teacher and mentor.”
Thanks for the updates! It was a pleasure to hear
from you. Wishing you a wonderful summer!
2008
Sarah Bonn, 110 East 84th St., Apt. 5D, New York, NY
10028; Tim Geoffrion, 45 Trowbridge St., Apt. 5B,
Cambridge, MA 02138; [email protected]
The Class of 2008 is off to a strong start in
2014. Our classmates have been busy traveling to
exciting places, trying new things, making their
way through graduate school, going on assorted
adventures and, most importantly, making time to
visit with other Ephs.
Starting from the West Coast and heading east,
Stevon Cook is running for the board of education
in San Francisco. This is a citywide election and
will take place on Nov. 4. It’s Stevon’s first political
campaign, and he has already seen an incredible
response from the Williams alumni network and
the San Francisco political community. He planned
to visit Williams in the spring to discuss public
service at the community level and the need for
more young people to run for office. Follow him on
Twitter @StevonCook or visit his website, www.
StevonCook.com.
Ana Sani had dinner in San Francisco with Courtney Samuelson and Jake Randall ’07.
Courtney and Jake also received a visit from Charlotte Van Wagenen and Scott MacKenzie ’06, who
took a trip to San Francisco with Jessie Hole and
Ned Hole ’05. The four visited with Ephs including
Katherine Fischer, Mimi Connery, John Kildahl ’06
and Matt Brown ’06. While there, they watched the
San Francisco 49ers game at Katherine’s reportedly swanky new apartment near Golden Gate
Park. Charlotte and Jessie have been bundling
up for their daily early morning runs in Brooklyn
and remain undaunted by the polar vortexes being
experienced on the East Coast.
Ben Bullitt is planning to move to San Francisco
after he graduates from Harvard Business School
in May. In January, he and second-year HBS classmate Jess Beck traveled with 28 of their classmates
to Japan, where they took a class on how businesses
have succeeded in recovering from the March 2011
earthquake and tsunami.
Anna Merritt has been enjoying living in Palo Alto
with her fiancé Dean Weesner ’11. The pair became
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engaged around Thanksgiving. Last spring, Anna
graduated from the psychology PhD program at
Stanford and then started working at Yahoo in
September, doing analytics for its talent team. Over
the holidays, she returned to Northampton, Mass.,
and snuck in a visit to NYC over New Year’s.
While there, she caught up with several Ephs
including Kristina Brumme, Daniel Yudkin, Polo
Black-Golde, Joe Song, David Kessel and Eugene
Korsunsky. Though she had a great time, she was
eager to return to the sunny weather.
Katie Warren is busy with her second year of law
school at UC Berkeley, but she has made sure to
find time in her schedule to do fun things as well.
She celebrated her birthday by spending a weekend
in a deluxe suite in Las Vegas. Other Ephs who
joined her included Hugo St. John, Cooper Jones,
Marina Harnik, Corey Beverly and Will Ford. The
group of revelers also ran into Mike Vrla. Now back
at school, Katie has returned to her newest hobby
of guerilla gardening. Katie describes the activity as
“planting blossoms beyond your boundaries,” which
entails sneaking into public spaces at night to plant
flowers, pull weeds and generally contribute to the
beauty of abandoned and neglected spaces.
Moving further east, Laura Walls reports that
she will be moving to Denver, Colo., in the spring.
She’ll be working as a PA in pediatric gastroenterology, and she’ll be living much closer to Bret
Scofield, Mack Chaffee and Sam Blackshear.
Evan Barrett is also living in Colorado. Last year
Evan received his master’s degree in architecture
from Sam Fox School of Design at Washington
University in St. Louis, Mo. There he engaged
architecture and design both in theoretical and
real-world projects with Axi-Ome LLC, where he
focused on designing and executing highly detailed
models and creative representations of projects
in an effort to draw upon the artistic perspectives
inherent in architecture. Now back in Colorado,
Evan is working with CCY Architects, where he
hopes to fuse his techniques of conceptual-based
design projects with CCY’s practical design expertise, providing clients with spaces and experiences
that are unique and functional. Evan continues to
follow his passions for skiing, cycling, kayaking and
running. Since graduation, Evan has traveled extensively throughout the world, spending time living
in Seoul, South Korea, as well as Barcelona, Spain.
Elizabeth Kohout reports that all is well in Austin,
Texas. She’s very excited because the butcher shop
and supper club where she works, Dai Due, is about
to open a restaurant. Until now, they’ve been working out of a commissary kitchen and selling food
from a booth at the farmer’s market. Elizabeth will
be on the new restaurant’s pastry team but hopes to
still spend a day or two a week doing savory prep
and continuing to learn about butchery. The new
restaurant will have an open kitchen format, so if
anyone plans to visit Austin, Elizabeth encourages
them to look up Dai Due and come in and say hi!
Jesse Levitt spent the last semester of grad school
on sabbatical in the Reno-Tahoe area, catching up with Morgan Goodwin, relearning how to
snowboard after many winters in Baton Rouge
and enjoying everything the Sierras have to offer.
A Thanksgiving trip to LA allowed a run-in with
2007– 08
Jordan Landers ’09 for impromptu blues dancing
when their coffee shop was overrun by a jazz band.
Driving back to Baton Rouge from Reno for the
new semester, Jesse ran into Anne Royston at the
local Salt Lake City hipster bar and learned about
how the other half (humanities) experiences grad
school. The trip had a pleasant completion in New
Orleans as he welcomed Sunmi Yang back to the
States after her Australian sojourn.
Katherine Huang is still at JPM Private Bank in
Hong Kong,and is now VP working on regulatory
initiatives. For the past 18 months she has crossed
professional paths with John Withers ’10 in London
as part of a global team working on the same initiatives in different offices, which she describes as a far
cry from taking the same East Asian studies classes
in the Purple Valley! Katherine spent the Chinese
New Year with her family traveling to Japan for the
first time (Kyoto) and met up with Professor Sam
Crane on his visit to Hong Kong in January.
Edmund Rucci is in his second year at Kellogg
(with several other Ephs), and he spent the winter
quarter studying in Buenos Aires. After classes
finish, he was traveling to Brazil, Chile, Bolivia and
Peru for most of February and March before completing his final term at Kellogg in the spring.
Adam Banasiak enjoyed a well-timed research
trip in January to Everglades National Park. There
he and two classmates from the Harvard Kennedy
School gathered data for their master’s thesis on
the economic impact of the National Park Service.
After wrapping up work, he was joined by fellow
geoscience major Anna Weber for a trip to the Keys
and Dry Tortugas National Park, where they spent
an unusually rainy and foggy three days racking up
a trio of superlatives: sighting the endangered Key
Deer (the smallest deer species in North America),
exploring Fort Jefferson (the Western Hemisphere’s
largest masonry structure) and finding the U.S.’s
southernmost menorah. When he returned to
Boston, Adam caught up with Sara Carian, who
had passed the California Bar, and was in town for
a new associate training with her firm, Bingham
McCutchen. Adam and Sara were joined by Betsy
Todd, who is finally back to having fun after recovering from surgery in the fall.
Jared Oubre is “wintering” in Boston as he rounds
the corner into his final semester of theological studies. His Fridays include mentoring kids
at a local charter school in Dorchester where he
imagines he might find himself in the classroom
in some teaching capacity next year. He joined
Matt Simonson for a crusty, icy run upon a local
golf course. Jared reports that life is always new in
Boston, as the weather this year has kept everyone
on their toes.
In Boston, Greg Schulz was asked to serve as a
double for Zdeno Chara in a hockey commercial
for Warrior hockey sticks. Though it was fun to
shoot some pucks with Chara and benefit from a
bunch of new free gear, Greg says it will likely be
his first and last appearance on TV.
Charles Christianson has also been hitting up the
rink and says he has been playing more hockey
than he ever thought imaginable while at Tuck
School of Business. Charles also found plenty of
time for skiing over the winter.
Mike Darling reports that life is good in Portsmouth, N.H. He finished law school last spring
and spent the summer at the beach studying for the
bar exam, which he passed. He was subsequently
admitted to the bars of both New Hampshire and
Massachusetts. Now Mike is working at a firm in
Portsmouth and looking forward to the spring,
when he will begin coaching a youth soccer team.
The highlight of this past fall (besides the Red Sox’s
World Series triumph) was the much-anticipated
nuptials of Will Ford and Mandy Breen. There were
a number of other Ephs in attendance, and Mike
reports there were strong showings made by Cooper
Jones, Stuart Jones (no relation), Johnny Greenwald,
Mike Hagerty, Mike Hagerty’s moustache and
Eugene Berson. Guests who received an honorable
mention for attendance included Katie Warren and
Hugo St. John. There was a cameo appearance by
Nate Elwood, and several other Ephs made valuable
contributions as well.
Henry Burton returned from his Peace Corps
service in Benin, West Africa, over the summer
and then promptly started his first semester of
graduate school at the Woodrow Wilson School in
Princeton, N.J., where he is working on a master’s
in public policy. Henry visited Ben Kolesar in DC
and Jason Ren at his home in Dunellen, N.J., where
he and Jason made dumplings with Jason’s parents
and went to one of Jason’s favorite arcades.
Andrew Wang has also been on the East Coast.
After finishing a yearlong judicial clerkship with
a federal judge in January, Andrew met up with
Gordon Philips and Ben Springwater in Philadelphia for a day of oysters, liter-mugs of beer and
late-night cheesesteaks in February. They also ran
into Nancy Haff at a barbecue place, and Andrew
reports that she generously suffered their company
for a couple of hours. Since then, Andrew has
rejoined the New York corporate law firm Sullivan
& Cromwell LLP as a litigation associate.
Johnny Greenwald met up with Gordon Philips,
Alex Brooks and Kelsey Jones on New Year’s
Day to catch up and enjoy a few of Philadelphia’s
most famous fare. Johnny will be graduating from
medical school in May and doing his intern year
at Bethesda Navy Hospital, which he reports is
coincidentally the closest hospital in the country to
the Landon School for Boys (Go Bears!).
Whitney Redline is finishing up at Drexel University Hospital in Philadelphia, rotating in the medical ICU, which she describes as the most intense
rotation she’s had so far. She’s also completing the
grueling process of interviewing for residencies.
Sarah Bonn is keeping her fingers crossed that
Whitney ends up nearby at Mount Sinai.
Besides collecting updates for these class notes,
Sarah Bonn has taken as many opportunities as
possible to travel in recent months, including a
trip to Israel with her parents Jill and Joe Bonn
’75, a ski vacation in Park City, Utah, and a 10-day
work trip to film commercials in LA. While in LA,
Sarah met up with Will Ford and his wife Mandy,
and the three hiked Runyon Canyon with the
Fords’ beloved basset hound, Bogart. Sarah and
her boyfriend Steve were to vacation on the Isle de
Bastimentos, Panama, in March, staying in an overthe-water bungalow, going on snorkeling trips and
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trying to see as many two-toed sloths as possible.
Jon Prigoff has nothing new to add since the last
edition of the class notes, but he wanted to be sure
to be mentioned here so as to be recognized by his
grandfather, Milton Prigoff ’44.
Last but not least, Tom Sargeantson writes that
he spends his time contemplating the upcoming
summer backyard volleyball season as well as the
absurdity of Dave Turner’s jump serve.
Please continue to send us your updates as 2014
progresses. We look forward to hearing from you!
2009
REUNION JUNE 12-15
Mijon Zulu, 377 East 33rd St., Apt. 8H, New York, NY
10016; [email protected]
So, here we are. We are ever closer to our
five-year, realizing that we are coming back to
something so familiar as similar yet changed
people. I hope we are far less concerned with what
we thought we would be doing at this point and are
more concerned with how we can make what we do
the best that it can be. It is truly inspiring to look
back over the past five years and see how all our
hard work has resulted in something unexpected,
deserved, and something that we can look back and
be proud of. Even if you don’t have your dream job,
location or life, I hope that the notes help you see
that with time comes change, and with that, we are
another step closer to your version of success. Congrats to everyone, and I cannot wait to see as many
of your wonderful faces as possible at reunion.
Now, to the notes!
We educate ourselves everywhere, and some have
finished. Last fall, Becca Gordon finished her MA
in education from Columbia and has been teaching
ninth-grade English at a NYC public school ever
since. In December Emilie Voight received an MA
in geography from Queen Mary University of
London and then relocated to France to work for
the European Forum for Urban Security.
We educate ourselves everywhere, and some are
almost done. Ben Bodurian is in his final year of
law school at UVA, Robin Kuntz is finishing up
at Berkeley Law, and Jessica Hubbard is doing a
final semester at LSU to complete a UCLA Law
degree (http://bit.ly/JessicaHubbard). During her
free time, Ms. Hubbard posts on her blog, www.
jesshubbard2014.wordpress.com. Naya-Joi Martin
will complete an MBA at Emory and reports meeting Harvard Law student Bret Thacher at a sports
business/law case competition. George Miller will
graduate from Sloan in June and is looking to use
modeling to improve the sustainability of complex
systems such as energy or manufacturing in China.
Liz Kantack will get her MA in teaching from Bard
in May and is training for the Boston Marathon.
Finally, Caroline Kan and Jared Lunkenheimer will
graduate from medical school at the University
of Rochester in May. They were still matching
when notes were submitted, but Ms. Kan will do
anesthesiology, while Mr. Lunkenheimer will do
family medicine.
We educate ourselves everywhere, and some carry
on. Since finishing her MFA in metal/jewelry/
CAD-CAM at the Tyler School of Art in May of
last year (here is her thesis: www.evestreicker.com),
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Eve Streicker traveled for a bit before starting a
graduate gemologist degree. Stewart Buck is in his
third year of medical school in Atlanta and cannot
wait to apply for a residency in orthopedic surgery.
Edward Newkirk now teaches multivariable calculus
and is heading into the last year-and-a-half of a
math PhD from Brown. Molly Klaisner began
work on a dissertation project on intertextuality in West African film for her graduate work in
comparative literature at Harvard. She is a teaching
assistant for a class on Spike Lee and another on
North African literature. Finally, Natalia Gonzales
is in the fourth year of a human genetics PhD
program at UChicago, where she focuses on drug
abuse and psychiatric traits. Over Thanksgiving,
Ms. Gonzales met up with Yawen Lu at the Gonzales family home in Denver for a weekend of home
cooking and Black Friday shopping. Since finishing
his pre-med post-bac studies at Northeastern, Ryan
Olavarria has been traveling and interviewing for
medical school. As soon as he hears a yes, he will
begin planning a trip abroad to celebrate before the
next eight years of schooling and training.
We live in the East. In Connecticut, Jessica
Rodriguez is working for a private investigations
and security consulting company. Ms. Rodriguez
enjoyed her birthday and the holidays with Lauren
E. Finn and wasn’t too far away to miss the joint
birthday celebrations of Zack Stone and Dan Benz
in NYC. Attendees of the event also included Barrett Allison, James DiCosmo ’08 and Ben Horwitz.
Finally, also in Connecticut, Rahul Bahl is still
chipping away at GE Capital while using his vacation time to visit Kari Lyden-Fortier near Billsville,
Brandon Halloway and Wes Johnson in Chicago
and Chris Chiang in DC.
In NYC, Jonathan Earle returned stateside from
Moscow but has continued to work on Russiarelated projects, such as NBC’s coverage of the
Winter Olympics in Sochi. Riki McDermott is
working at ESPN on a digital/social media content
creation team within the marketing department
and works right across the street from Molly Hunter,
who works at sister company ABC. Helen Hatch
started a job at Sotheby’s New York as a junior specialist in impressionist and modern art in December and has been using her free time to race with
Stan’s No Tubes p/b endurance WERX, a domestic
elite women’s cycling team based in NYC. Lisa
Sloan may be finishing her PhD elsewhere, but she
has been busy in New York helping her sister prepare for her wedding, doing dissertation research
and having minireunions with Keebler Carey,
Anthony Molina, Alicia Santiago, David Edwards
and Amanda Santiago ’08 over the holidays. Alicia
Santiago is the owner of a co-op and teaches
special education at a high school in Queens.
Lauren Garcia works for AG/Adriano Goldschmied
selling premium denim to stores throughout the
East Coast and Midwest, while some guy named
Mijon Zulu is still nuts over Bonobos (the clothing
company, not the primates—no, really).
In Baltimore, Lindsay Millert has taken on several
additional responsibilities as a planning manager at
Under Armour Outdoor while sneaking away for
trips with her longtime boyfriend in Manchester,
Vt. In DC, Kristen Emhoff works at Opower, an
2008– 10
energy efficiency software company with none
other than Jay Cox-Chapman.
We also live in the West. Down in New Orleans,
Owen Martel completed his current journey, Walk
the West (http://walkthewest.wordpress.com/). In
Santa Fe, N.M., Jim Lowe is a coordinator of data,
assessment and compliance for the Department of
Education. Fort Worth, Texas, housed a rodeofilled minireunion hosted by Katherine Conaway.
Attendees included Lori Griffin, Tanya Pramatarova,
Emily Flynn, Emily George and Katie Grace. Ms.
Conaway is a producer at a design agency in
Brooklyn. In Cali, Andy St. Louis returned from
Seoul in October and is now working at Blum &
Poe, an art gallery in Culver City. In Dallas, Monsie
Munoz lives with her partner and teaches middle
school history and coaches field hockey and soccer
at the high school level. Patty Liao relocated to California. Daniel Bulaevsky joined Sam Empson and
Andrew Miao at Promontory, where he works on
consulting financial institutions—mostly financial
technology and technology companies, particularly
those in cloud computing, payments, credit, funding and digital currencies. Sadly, the latter two work
out of NYC, but Mr. Bulaevsky is not complaining.
Finally, Pei-Ru Ko is starting a real life Storytime
(remember those Sunday night storytelling events
in Paresky?). The mission is to deepen the sustainable/local food community through authentic
storytelling. It has been challenging spending
two-and-a-half years in SF and working to regain
health from an autoimmune condition, but Ms.
Ko is now coming through it stronger and more
excited than ever about the power of food!
Sometimes, we live elsewhere. Elissa Brown is in
Norway for the year on a Fulbright research grant,
exploring how the Norwegian value of friluftsliv
(“open-air life”) has influenced national pedagogy
and how teachers can incorporate outdoor learning
experiences with traditional education. Ms. Brown
also started a global food photography project:
SpreadsOnBreads.tumblr.com (please check it out
and submit). In Asia, Brian Bistolfo is living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and encourages visits. Finally,
Stacey Baradit, still in Shanghai and applying to
grad school, met up with two undergrads who were
passing through for their Winter Study (funded by
the Gaudino Fund) project on “otherness” in China.
Finally, we love weddings anywhere. In January, Aroop Mukharji ran into Teddy Kernan on an
overnight flight from Quito to the U.S. en route to
Rahul Shah’s wedding in Phoenix (also attended
by Kristen Emhoff). In April, Hannah Ratcliffe and
Harris Paseltiner got married in Austin. Attendees
included Caitlin Colesanti, Lauren Garcia, Clare Gallagher, Gabrielle Woodson and Britt Spackman.
And, if that is not enough, look forward to details
for the weddings of Rachel Asher and Sean Hyland,
Emily Fowler-Cornfeld and Jim Clayton ’08, Rob
Buesing and Jessica Kopcho (bridesmaid: Katherine
Conaway), Liz Kantack and Tom Dyrenforth (West
Point ’06) and Kari Lyden-Fortier and Brandon
Botto.
Phew! We are awesome. Thanks for the pleasure
of sharing your lives with us. Till the next, YCS
2010
Catalina J. Vielma, 833 West 15th Place, Apt. 312,
Chicago, IL 60608; [email protected]
For a minute there, your class secretary thought
it would never stop snowing. (Note to future self:
at the time of this writing, I am assuming the snow
pack has melted. If wrong, please move south.) It
has been a real pleasure to hear from our classmates
around the country. We’re going to start this class
note session the best way, the West Coast way, to
get us feeling nice and warm before we trudge east.
Jessy LeClair is pursuing a doctorate at the
University of California, Santa Barbara. She has
an article under review from her micro-aquatic
ecology studies at the Kyoto University in Japan as
a Fulbright Fellow, and a handbook chapter in press
from her cultural neuroscience studies at UCSB.
The Kyoto article focuses on picoplankton at Lake
Sanaru, Japan, and her handbook chapter dives into
gene-culture interaction. She is living the Williams
interdisciplinary dream! Sam Jackson writes in from
San Francisco, as he traded in Boston sunrises for
California sunsets. He’s looking forward to seeing
too much of his Milham friends and hanging out
Dan Waters ’11. Embracing the outdoors is Daniel
Gura, who writes from beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyo.
He’s working for a wildlife conservation nonprofit
and living in a log cabin with Lucy Rollins ’12.
They share the neighborhood with Adam Carman
’10 and Dan’s twin sister, who live in a yurt. While
the rest of us squeeze into subways and buses, Dan
came across three moose on a recent “commute”
to work. Abby (Islan) Schilbach enjoyed Salem,
Ore.’s, snowy winter. Abby is working at the Food
Share and managing the nonprofit’s annual appeal
while her husband Sascha is burning the midnight
oil (and then some) in law school. It’s tough, but
he loves it. The two of them are on a bowling team
and adopted a little pup named Francis from the
local humane society. I can’t attach a photo here,
but know that puppy photo was the best thing
anyone sent me for this edition. Let this be an open
call—send in the pet photos! Enjoying the Grand
Canyon State is Allegra Hyde, who is working on
her MFA in fiction from Arizona State University
and soaking up the sunshine alongside the cacti.
This summer she’ll be traveling to Singapore to
teach creative writing, and she hopes to run into
other Ephs while she’s there!
Surviving vortexes, the Midwest contingent of
Janay Clyde and I still sing “Sweet Home Chicago.”
Janay was married this past November, surrounded
by a dozen Ephs, and called it “overwhelming
awesome.” She’s in her third year of teaching art
at Learn Charter School Network, and she’s been
proud to curate two corporate-sponsored art galleries exhibiting students’ work. Janay is thrilled
to work on the third art gallery this year, too. I’ve
been smiting old man winter with a golden doodle
puppy, who joined our household this March. I’m
going to leave you with that and look forward to
many visits from classmates once this goes to press.
NYC’s band of alums is alive and well, I’m
happy to report. They once again stole the crown
from all other cities for most class notes—thanks!
Eben Hoffer is in Brooklyn “making theater,” as
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he calls it. He’s looking forward to acting in Big
Green Theater, which is a project where Bushwick
fifth-graders write plays with ecology themes and
“professionals” (his words, not mine!) like Eben
help put it all together. He spent time with NYC
transplants Tarra Martin ’11, Carl Whipple ’12 and
Cate McCrea ’13. Paul Fraulo spent Super Bowl
weekend with Mike Tcheyan, who swung through
NYC for the big game. They had an awesome time
reuniting “The Apartment.” Samantha Post is living
on the Upper East Side and started a job teaching
first grade at a new charter school in East Harlem.
The hours are long, but she is loving it. She’s also
spending time with Margot Bernstein, who worked
on a stellar exhibition at Columbia University’s
Wallach Art Gallery called Goddess, Heroine, Beast:
Anna Hyatt Huntington’s New York Sculpture, 19021936. Dan Chu dropped me a one-sentence note
filled with much happiness, letting us know that he
has moved in with Ellie Wawrzaszek! Congrats—
may you two enjoy the awesomeness of shared
Netflix accounts and much more.
Bex Gilbert is finishing her first year at the Yale
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Her winter probably beat your winter, as she
rediscovered volleyball and went on a class spring
break trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands to study coastal
development in the Caribbean. This reminds me
to find a new line of work. She’s hoping to spend
the summer in Boston or Portland, as she pursues
internships in fishery management or marine spatial planning. Either way, she’s hoping to see more
Ephs, including Emily Porter.
Sy Schotz operates a small farm in Western
Massachusetts. The farm consists of more than
10 acres of forest, field and wetlands—where he
grows vegetables, perennial crops and a young
forest of trees. Sy also raises goats, sheep, cattle,
llamas and chicken—among so much more. Sy
has his eyes on bees next and is always looking
forward to new helpers. If you’re interested, please
reach out to him via email or Facebook. In nearby
Northampton, Mass., Maki Matsui lives with his
wonderful husband Anderson Paes. Maki directs
a choir, sings and is working on a teaching license
in music while getting ready to apply to doctor of
musical arts programs—a very happy and full plate!
Jenny Schnabl wins this edition’s funniest class
note award and writes in from Boston. She ran the
Disney World Half Marathon in January with her
tall, dark and handsome fiancé Leland Brewster ’11.
She said the 13.1-mile run at the happiest place
on earth produced “fever-dream-levels of fantasy
insanity.” Also in Boston is Lydia Barnett-Mulligan,
who spent the winter playing Anya in The Cherry
Orchard at the Actors’ Shakespeare Project and
casually inviting herself over for dinner at the home
of her newly minted alumni brother Owen BarnettMulligan ’13. Well played, Lydia. Lindsay (Merrell)
Clark is back in the US, making the change from
the UK to Boston this spring. She had a great time
catching up with Ambika Thoreson ’10 and Meagan
Muncy ’11 in NYC in December.
Finally, here is a class note that doesn’t even need
a location to make it awesome. Mike Drzyzga got
an awesome, killer, “very nerdy” tattoo. If that grabs
your attention, contact him for info—I can vouch
that it is awesomely nerdy, indeed.
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2011
Caroline Chiappetti, 504 Clinton Ave., Apt. 3, Brooklyn,
NY 11238; [email protected]
The Class of 2011 is doing its part to lend
Eph-to-Eph marriage statistics their muster. In
this edition’s most heartwarming news, a number of freshman-year couples are engaged! These
announcements sparked a group of friends to send
fictionalized class notes submissions based on the
“What if we were marrying the people we dated
freshman year” hypothetical. This fictional version
of the class notes will be available upon request.
Sage D (or, as Chris Fox has coined it, “Sage
Domesticity”) suitemates Dave Phillips, Dan
Costanza and Leland Brewster are all engaged to
freshman-year girlfriends (respectively, Leigh Davis,
Becca Licht and Jenny Schnabel ’10). Dave and
Leigh live in Philadelphia, where Dave works for
Deloitte Consulting. They are planning an August
wedding near Leigh’s Boston-area hometown.
Dave and Leigh report great recent successes in
pickling, “with ambitions to break into the Philly
farmers market scene.”
Dan and Becca are enjoying planning a Williamsy wedding (though Dan is told he cannot
actually decorate with purple cows or oars) for September in Vermont. They attended Chris Fox’s 25th
birthday party in Brooklyn with a host of Ephs
including Clare Quinlan, Madeleine Jacobs, Carla
Cain-Walther, Nathaniel Basch-Gould, Chloe Brown
’10 and Caroline Chiappetti. Dan and Chris enjoyed
a follow-up burger man date at Dan’s favorite local
Brooklyn dive bar, Cody’s.
Though they did not start dating until sophomore
year, Michelle Noyer-Granacki and Lucas Bruton met
their first week of Williams during the “Exploring
the Arts” orientation program. Six-and-a-half years
later, Lucas proposed to Michelle on New Year’s
Eve in their Chicago apartment. The class secretary
will be serving as maid of honor in their July wedding in Santa Barbara and is working on arranging
a surprise performance by Wilson Phillips.
Dean Weesner and Anna Merritt ’08 are also
engaged! “Spending three years of Williams in a
California-to-Berkshires long-distance relationship
was totally worth it,” wrote Dean.
Thuy Phung has spent the last few months
celebrating her wedding to Tuan Hoang-Trong.
They tied the knot in two ceremonies—one in
Hue, where Tuan is from, and one in Hanoi, where
Thuy is from. Attendees in Hanoi included Chung
Truong ’09, Lori Chang, Aom Wisa Kitichaiwat ’10
and Aom’s mother. The Williams delegation then
continued on to Sapa, a mountainous region in
northern Vietnam, to distribute through their project “Shoes for Sapa” shoes and socks to more than
3,000 ethnic minority children who were coping
with the coldest winter in decades.
Thuy then returned to DC, where she works on
climate change for a consulting firm. She and Tuan
held a wedding reception including Jeff Yuzhong
Meng, Candace Gibson, Madura Watanagase ’12,
Kenny Yim ’09, Holti Banka ’10 and Faraidoon
Nayebkhill ’10. “Everyone admired the engagement
photos Faraidoon took for us, and Kenny read us
a beautiful poem he composed!” Ceyhun Arslan,
2010– 11
Tanvir Hussain ’10 and Marsha Villarroel ’12 missed
the reception, but Ceyhun visited Thuy the weekend before, and Tanvir and Marsha sent their best
wishes from Boston!
Mike Geary and wife Katie moved into a new
house in Rochester, N.Y. in anticipation of baby
Lucy Geary, born March 18. Pre-parenthood,they
enjoyed the company of Cullen Roberts ’12, Davis
Filippell ’12, Matt Wyatt ’12, Nick Pugliese ’12 and
Olivia Delia ’12, who traveled to Rochester for a
six-hour winter trail race.
Next, let’s raise a glass to the artistic and creative
accomplishments of the last few months.
Jacob Walls will finish dual programs in music
composition and theory at the University of
Oregon this spring. “In November I was fortunate to work with over 40 fellow Univ. of Oregon
musicians to put on a recital of the hour’s worth of
music I’ve written to date. To be on the receiving end of so much talent and hard work is
humbling—I know that I’ll still be carrying all that
energy with me even once I leave Eugene.”
Over the winter Tom Sikes’ band, Great Caesar,
released a new music video (“Don’t Ask Me Why”)
focused on the issue of sexual equality. The video
was picked up by Upworthy and promoted by Russell Simmons, Deepak Chopra and Akon (yes, that
Akon). When not writing and performing with
Great Caesar, Tom works in advertising in NYC.
Evan Maltby is still happily, and busily, a member
of the Bats, the resident acting company at The
Flea Theater in NYC. He also works as a house
manager at Barrow Street Theatre, an Off-B’way
house down in the West Village. He went on his
first tour with a professional show: Alexander and
the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
(based on the children’s book of the same name). “It
was a three-month, multi-state tour—and during
a weekend off in Chicago, I got to see a bunch of
other Ephs!” writes Evan. “The very generous Lucas
Bruton and Michelle Noyer-Granacki hosted me …
and the first night I was in town the three of us got
drinks with Vashti Emigh ’12 and Chris Fox, who
was coincidentally in town that weekend. The next
day, I visited the zoo with Su-Mai Lin and even
managed to find time to hang out with Aspen Jordan, who was also serendipitously visiting Chicago
that weekend. Just before I left … I even got to
sneak in brunch with Eric Phillips ’09.”
Annelise Hewitt produced a web series for MTV
called Esther with Hot Chicks. Her current project is
producing a science podcast for the author Arthur
Phillips. “I live in LA and do a terrible job of hanging out with other Ephs who live here, especially
Elizabeth Twaits. Jordan Dallas ’13 has an Instagram
account now (@jordnd) so that’s the most exciting
new thing in my life, really. I’ve started an application to join the Peace Corps sometime next year.”
We continue to make time to visit our classmates
in far away places. Annie Neil and Jackie Russo
visited Kara Duggan and Elizabeth Danhakl in San
Francisco. The quartet performed a live rendition
of Annie Lennox’s “Walking on Broken Glass” on
Fisherman’s Wharf in honor of their teammates
from the Class of 2011 women’s soccer team: Tyler
Rainer, Julia Schreiber, Annelise Snyder, Sara Wild,
Anne Marie Burke and Annie Hanson (Note: Annie
Hanson wasn’t actually on the team).
Jillian Hancock is in her last semester of grad
school at Washington College in Chestertown,
Md., getting her master’s in psychology. Before
Maddy Wendt’s last semester of grad school at
Smith College began, she visited Jillian and ended
up snowed in Maryland! Their Williams education
was put to good use as they tromped around in the
snow and shoveled out these “Southerners.”
Nicole Ballon-Landa, Emily Avis, Melissa Pun ’10
and Aly McKinnon ’12 surprised Eleanor Levine in
St. Louis, Mo., where Eleanor is getting her MSW
at Wash U, for her birthday. They ate a lot of BBQ
and toured Anheuser-Busch. “It was amazing and
incredible!” wrote Eleanor.
Iliyana Hadjistoyanova received her MA from
University of Texas Austin and moved to DC to
start a job with Advisory Board International. Catalina Stoica visited DC in February to attend the
SOME (“So Others Might Eat”) Junior Charity
Gala and auction with Iliyana.
Many classmates reunited for the Super Bowl.
Sarah Dewey ventured to DC to reunite with Bob
Camp, David Fitzpatrick, Alex Mendels, Tommy
Murray (visiting from San Francisco) and Connor
Olvany (visiting from Chicago). JFK and Pulitzer
photos were explored at the Newseum, potentially
alcohol-infused bacon was eaten/imbibed, and
shuffleboard was played with passion. The boys
gathered to watch Super Bowl XLVIII with some
other Ephs, including Tom Kildahl, while Sarah had
front-row seating at the airport bar while waiting
for her flight back up to The Village Beautiful.
Evan Maltby, Charlene Thomas and Tommy
Nelson gathered at Tess McHugh’s apartment in
Brooklyn to watch the game. DC-based Cameron
Nutting and Aras Holden traveled to the mountains
of Pennsylvania for skiing, snowboarding and football with Christophe Dorsey-Guillaumin ’10.
Laura Pickel enjoys weekly Sunday brunches
in NYC with ’11ers including but not limited to
Mary Freeman, Jen Oswald, Tarra Martin (who
recently relocated to the Big Apple), Liz Zhu, Sasha
Zheng, Meredith Annex and Kyle Victor (who lives
in DC but made a guest appearance one week).
“The brunches culminated in a Super Bowl party
where we attempted (pretty successfully) to build a
snackadium (a ‘stadium’ of snacks),” wrote Laura.
Later in February, the Thomas Street boys (and
related company) traveled to Bozeman, Mont., for
their annual ski trip, compliments of the all-toogenerous Schnuck family. Attendees included Todd
Schnuck, Tommy Tysse, “Patty” Barren, Jeff Putnam,
Tom Kildahl and Chris Rudnicki. Jonah Zuflacht
unfortunately could not escape the shackles of
medical school to attend.
Cecilia Davis-Hayes is in her second semester of
medical school at Columbia. “I am now officially
one of those obnoxious medical students whose
vocabulary has practically doubled, and I can’t help
but use this new breadth of expression. Unfortunately this results in statements like: ‘Oh Bob
Costas has pink eye—is the discharge purulent
or watery? Because if it’s the former, it’s probably
bacterial, not viral.’ After six months in NYC, I’ve
finally learned which trains are express, but I’m ages
away from becoming a New Yorker!”
Nick Arnosti is still working toward his PhD and
taking advantage of the freedom that the life of a
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student offers. He looked forward to a trek to the
Everest base camp in Nepal in March.
Bhavya Reddy started a master’s program in
civil (environmental) engineering and then had a
couple of “incredibly frustrating” days to register
for classes. “It really made me miss how easy things
were at Williams.”
Lots of news came in from Cambridge, Mass.
Andrew D’Ignazio lives with Dan Doran ’12 and
Stuart Horgan ’12 on the fairer side of the Charles.
They welcomed the arrival of Tom Vieth ’13, “known
by his alias ‘Big Cat’ due to his propensity to lounge
about the house all day save the quick bursts to the
Chipotle that opened in nearby Central Square.”
They looked forward to spending the winter skiing
with Ryan McChesney and Greg McElroy ’12, who
live in the Back Bay across the Charles River.
Sophie Robinson works for a social justice nonprofit in Cambridge. She loves the Boston area and
enjoys winter activities like skiing and skating. She
has also been very involved in the Williams divestment campaign, which asks the college endowment
fund to divest from fossil fuel companies.
Hai Zhou and girlfriend Zhaoning (Nancy) Wang
wrote in from Cambridge, where they have lived
since graduation. Nancy is still working diligently
toward her PhD in economics at Harvard, while
Hai is enjoying working at EverTrue, a startup with
the mission of building better alumni relationships.
“We are thrilled to have another Eph, Meredith
Nelson ’09, just joining our team. In fact, we just
had a ‘homecoming’ trip back to Williams and met
with some folks at the Alumni Relations Office
including Brooks Foehl ’88.”
JJ Augenbraun is in Cambridge, working for an
energy efficiency company called EnergySavvy.
“We have three other Williams alums working at
the company (Scott Case ’98, Tony Barnes ’98 and
Liz Visconti ’13) … which means we are, like, 10
percent Ephs!” While in Burlington, Vt., for the
Better Buildings by Design conference, JJ and Tony
had dinner with a couple of Ephs in the energy
efficiency/sustainability industry—Charley Stevenson ’93 ( JJ’s former boss) and John Rahill ’68. JJ
also went to Montana for some skiing at Whitefish
Mountain and reunited with one of the people who
hosted the Tour De Ephs bicyclists, Bob Chambers
’68. In Boston, he hangs out with Janna Gordon,
Lauren Shuffleton ’12 and Katie Flanagan ’12.
Ellen Song not-so-secretly wishes she were living
in Boston, where she visited Rokimi Khwalhring,
Will Lee and Will Quayle. She is still “stuck” in her
PhD program at Duke and so won’t have many
updates for the next five years, but she sees a bunch
of Williams people on her breaks from school.
Katie White is back from Laos and working with
Sam Baldwin ’10 at DRD Investments in Billsville.
Will Harron made it to Homecoming in November and stayed at the “Eph-alum halfway house”
run by Meg Bantle ’14 and Lizzie Kildahl ’14; he was
glad to be able to hang out with marching band
alums Jon Schmeling ’12 and Dodi Exume ’13. After
the game, he ran into Megan Rose Donnelley. They
hung out in Sweets & Beans and used the Wi-fi
to Skype with Will Slack in order to satisfy their
Susie Hopkins fix. Will Harron works at an outdoor
education center in the Adirondacks.
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Will Slack is still working and traveling with
Epic in Madison, Wis., but is considering graduate
school possibilities. He saw C.J. Flournoy in Memphis, a bunch of Ephs in DC and several Ephs in
NYC. When weather forced Will to change his
flights, Ben Kaplan was an awesome last-minute
host in NYC. He was also hosted by Meredith
Annex and saw Marcello Halizer ’12, Mattie Feder
’13, Tara Deonauth ’13, Britt Baker-Brousseau,
Semira Menghes and Jesse Youngmann.
Andrei Baiu started a job in January with Sagacious Consultants as an adviser/consultant for
healthcare organizations using electronic medical
records—specifically Epic software, where Andrei
used to work with Will Slack and Christopher Holland. He and Veronica Rabelo live together in Ann
Arbor, Mich.,with their two cats. Veronica is in the
third year of her PhD in women’s studies and psychology at the University of Michigan and happily
fills her days with research, classes and teaching.
News from afar: Kate Anderson is living in Xela,
Guatemala, where she is studying Spanish and
traveling and hiking. She is heading next to Mexico
for some sea kayaking! Stephen Webster sends
his regards from Beijing, where he is still learning
Mandarin. Until next time!
2012
Kyle Vincent Martin, 786 Nostrand Ave., Apt. 2, Brooklyn,
NY 11216; Kendra Demetria Sims, 19 1/2 Quincy St.,
Somerville, MA 02143; [email protected]
If I had to sum up the notes for winter, it would
be with one word: minireunions. No matter the distance or temperature, nothing held our class from
having planned and inadvertent meet-ups.
Newton Davis vacationed to South Africa, where
he saw Bridget Ngcobo. Sayantan Mukhopadhyay
traveled throughout northern India with Charlotte
Kiechel before relocating to New Delhi, where
he hosted Vanessa Soetanto and Lowell Woodin;
they are currently doing a Fulbright in Mongolia
and working in Mumbai, respectively. Tori Borish
and Sonja Thalheimer embarked on a backpacking trip in Patagonia. Jonathan Draxton visited
Leila Crawford, who is studying at Cambridge. The
other Cambridge had its share of Eph run-ins
as well. Literally. Grace Babula raced with Emily
Niehaus, Emily McTague, Mark Springel, Thomas
“Kucz” Kuczmarski and Matt Wyatt. Grace writes,
“Good times getting fit with my Cambridge Ephs!”
Laura Shuffleton had “an Eph-filled (Super Bowl)
weekend” in nearby Somerville, where she works on
the editorial team for Bain & Co. Another sportsrelated reunion happened in Rochester, N.Y., where
Olivia Delia, Mike Geary ’11, Matt Wyatt and Nick
Pugliese competed in a snowshoe race. Olivia
returned from competitive racing in France to train
in a leadership program for Landmark while prepping for the MCAT. Nick returned from playing
professional soccer in Afghanistan to collaborate
with Noah Schechter in making a documentary
about his experience. Nick accompanied Matt Madden, Amber Cardoos and Takuto Sato to Houston
to visit Anders Schneider, who teaches physics for
Teach for America. Sydney Pitts-Adeyinka shares
her excitement of teaching pre-K in Dallas. Laura
2011– 13
Berk visited Texas to attend SXSW. She continues working with various Las Vegas startups. Syd
(Tooze) Taylor hosted Dorothy MacAusland in
Chicago to make macaroons. Elizabeth Jimenez met
up with Julia Van Hoogstraten ’11 and Ari Benjamin
’13 in Mexico City, where Jordan Freking-Reyna
is planning to move. Jordan teaches English and
reports: “Teaching (English) is not for the weak
of heart.” Emily Schwab can attest to that, as she
continues teaching ESL in Providence. Roop Dutta
is in his second year of med school. Meanwhile,
Meghan Breen is in her first year of medicine at
the University of Vermont. Kelsey (Ham) Morgosh
has been accepted into medical school. Wherever Kelsey matriculates, Andy Morgosh plans on
attending seminary school. Jack Berry capitalized
on his MD-PhD interviewing process by seeing
many classmates, including Jiji Ahn in St. Louis;
Greg McElroy, Nathaniel Kastan, Rachel Zipursky, Juliana Stone and Hannah Wilson in NYC;
Chloe Feldman-Emison and James Mathenge in
Boston; Siwol Chang in DC and Matt Crimp in
San Francisco. Matt works at a community health
center and met up with Nick Lee ’11, Dale Markey
’11, Leah Lansdowne ’11 and Lindsay Olsen to
play Rail Baron on Valentine’s Day. Also in the Bay
area, Dominique Rodriguez services the community through TFA and serving delicious tacos in
the evenings, waiting for generous tips so she can
start paying off loans. Other Ephs reporting from
California are Monel Chang, who finished her stint
at Earthdance Creative Living Project; Nicole Wise,
who is excited for adventures with her new car; and
Jeanette Rivera, who caught up with Gregory Sherrid in San Diego. Aven King reports from Hawaii,
where she works as an assistant account executive
for Anthony Marketing Group.
2014 brings its new batch of ’12s to the Big
Apple. Alison Pincus works at Ogilvy & Mather
Advertising, and Sara Harris is on the staff at the
Public Theater. Elizabeth Fox began her new position as associate artistic director at Playwrights
Horizon while performing in a movie by Mario
Mastromarino. Aaron Seong replaced Kyle Villanova
to become Wendy Magoronga’s roommate in Astoria. Kyle left the Northeast to return to Australia.
Mary Claire Brunelli began teaching French at an
all-boys private school in Manhattan, while Sabine
Chishty is in her second year with Blue Engine,
teaching at the Bronx Leadership Academy II. She
lives with Lily Wong and John Maher in Hamilton
Heights. Michaela Morton works in realty in that
neighborhood when she is not performing or
teaching herself. Aron Holewinski also started working in real estate by striking up a conversation with
his current boss at an Easthampton bus station.
New York would not be New York if it weren’t
a place for constant impromptu meetups. Just ask
roommates Westcott Gail and Faust Petkovich, who
were surprised by yours truly (Kyle Martin) at their
housewarming party. Furthermore, I had a surprise
drink with professional basketball player James
Wang before he returned to China for his season.
When not teaching in New Jersey, Daquan Mickens
visits Brian Thomas, Jonayah Jackson, Evalynn
Rosado and Mike Nelson to enjoy the NYC nightlife. Ryan Scott traveled from DC to see Steve
Maher, Justin Troiani, Pat Morrisey, Ben Contini,
Evan Cohen, Dan Fieber and Mike Acierno. Ivette
Stanziola, Meeka Halperin and Elizabeth Greiter
rang in the Chinese New Year and Groundhog Day
at Alex Schulte’s apartment. Ali Mitchell came to
Brooklyn to ring in the New Year with my roommates Amy Darling and Rebecca Eakins. Ali works
at Mystic Seaport as a blacksmith.
Erik Anderson writes, “No real updates, but
good to hear from you.” Naima McFarland put my
over-the-top email in check by simply responding,
“Showtime?” Katy Gathright was overwhelmed
and couldn’t pick one thing to share with me. Lucy
Rollins is also overwhelmed as she juggles four
jobs in Kelly, Wyo. She enjoyed the quiet and long
winter. Sarah Witowski understands “quiet and
long winters” as she continues teaching English in
Russia and sees Peter Reznik, who moved out there.
Sarah got the opportunity “to hold the Olympic
torch at work.” And with that image, I find it most
appropriate to end these notes. Keep the fire burning (even in times of extreme cold). Thank you.
2013
Lindsey Graham, 12 Lexington Ave., Apt. 1, Somerville,
MA 02144; [email protected]
2013s sent in updates in February 2014 from
places as far ranging as LA, Thailand and Chile,
cataloging their meaningful works and wacky
exploits. Without further ado:
Krista Pickett and Michelle Almeida shared stories
of their life together in Williamstown. Krista
reported: “I’ve still got purple on the brain, and by
the time these class notes are published, I’ll have
successfully admitted my first class of Ephs (they’re
amazing)!” She got the chance to ring in the New
Year in Boston with Caleb Hoffman-Johnson and
Peter Skipper. Michelle wrote that she “traveled to
Austin, Texas, on a business trip for alumni relations and got a chance to meet up with Laura Villafranco.” In February Michelle was planning a trip
to Reno, Nev., to visit Alice Sady, who spends most
of her time on graduate studies at Johns Hopkins.
Cedar Blazek is living in a co-op household in
Northampton, Mass. working as an energy specialist at the Center for EcoTechnology. She has been
spending quality time with Mopati Moraki ’11, who
lives around the corner from her.
Rebecca Shoer is living in the Golden Triangle in
northern Thailand, working for the American nonprofit Think Elephants International as a research
assistant. She performs elephant cognition research
and runs education and guest programs for two
resorts. She encourages everyone (especially Natalie
Johnson, who is living in China) to come visit her
and meet her elephants!
Ari Benjamin is teaching in Mexico City but planning summer travels through South America and
the U.S. before he moves to Chicago in August.
Clara Noomah is working as a research assistant in
a marine biology lab at the Pontificia Universidad
Católica de Santiago, Chile. She writes: “Hit me up
if you are looking for a marine biology connection
in South America, or just traveling.”
Chris Fogler spent all fall pinching pennies and
learning how to fix cars for his uncle in Bangor,
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Maine, to save up for a grand bicycle tour through
South America with other Overland leaders. On
Jan. 2 he hopped a plane to Quito, Ecuador, and by
February he was in Cusco, Peru, planning the next
leg of his journey to Bolivia. In the spring he heads
back to the Purple Valley to work with Overland
and then jet off to France to lead his third Overland trip from Paris to Nice!
Hannah Hindel started her last semester of
studying Chinese politics at the Hopkins-Nanjing
Center in Nanjing, China, in February. She
founded a debate team at the school (she “missed
the WCDU!”) and has been singing in the Nanjing
University Choir. Roxy Wang ’14’s parents have
taken Hannah under their wing while she is in
Nanjing. Hannah visited Thailand (with Carly
Valenzuela) and Vietnam and Cambodia (where
she saw Jimmy Grzelak). Jimmy and Hannah
celebrated Valentine’s Day together in a Spanish
restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. Her most flavorful story involved being cast as a contestant on a
Chinese variety show, where she danced, sang and
acted (in Chinese!) in the role of a Broadway singer
of the Chinese model opera The White-Haired Girl.
Patrick Lin is back home in Sydney, Australia,
attending law school at the University of Sydney.
He says that he misses Williams but has had the
exciting and unexpected opportunity to catch up
with a few Ephs “down under!” He writes: “I met
up with Henry Coats ’14 in Melbourne in December; we enjoyed a day at the cricket for my birthday.
I also had the pleasure of seeing Joowon Choi ’15,
who was here on study abroad. I caught up with
Adam Hines ’11 (who is working in Sydney) and
also got to hang out twice with my JA, Henry Mills
’11, who was visiting Sydney last year. Only a few
weeks ago, Kyle Villanova ’12 moved to Sydney
for at least the next six months, so we have been
catching up.”
Hailing from what I, as a native New Yorker, will
always think of as “the city,” Brandon Abasolo is
managing the government relations department at
CleanEdison, which provides training for industry
certifications in clean-tech (renewable energy and
sustainability). He rang in the New Year with Alex
Rich, Peter Young, Wade Davis, Tommy Gaidus and
Peter Watson. Sarah Rowe also celebrated the birth
of 2014 with Ephs by attending Heath Goldman’s
party with Claudia Corona and Miranda Bona, who
flew in from California. Sarah has been spending
her weeks learning about the retail industry and
arguing with her non-Eph NESCAC officemates
about Williams’ athletic prowess. Sarah also spent
two “great weekends” with Jennifer Luo, one involving skiing in Vail, Colo., and the other as they
“tried what felt like most of the dessert places in
New York.”
Jess Stertzer also lives in New York and works as
litigation paralegal at Hughes Hubbard & Reed.
She sees Radina Angelova and talks to Julian Drobetsky ’14 regularly. Alex Manter works as a NYC
paralegal with Mike Moss ’11 and Kate Gallagher
’12. Meg Steer works as a paralegal in NYC and
lives with Andrea Remec down the street from Nate
Barker. She also sees Zach Tarlow, Kristen Sinicariello and Charlie Sellars frequently.
Before the buckets of snow fell, Charlie Sellars tried his hand at competitive eat-racing (why
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was this not an organized sport at Williams?) by
competing in the New York Pizza Run. He reports:
“Every time I finished a lap, I had to eat a piece of
pizza before I could keep running. Somehow took
second, after which they rewarded me with more
pizza.” Charlie also went to Santacon with his
current roommate Zach Baca and his freshman-year
roommate Wyatt Sparks after taking an autumnal
trip to Boston to visit Scott Sanderson, Mir Henglin
and Olivia Uhlman just in time to see the Red Sox
win the World Series.
In February Blair Robinson’s AmeriCorps team
was deployed to NYC to work on Hurricane Sandy
relief for two months. She said there is still considerable devastation. She caught up with Charlie,
Alex Highet and Kristen Sinicariello in the city.
Audrey Kwon is living and working in Queens.
While waiting to hear back about applications
to master’s programs in social work she cooked a
minireunion dinner with Wen Han for Eugene (You
Jin) Shin, Yiqin Jiang, Bryn Dunbar, Cecelia Kam
Shan Ho and Shirley Li. In early February Audrey
visited Boston with Bryn and got together with
Danny Guo, Ginette Sims, Sora Kim, Yiqin Jiang,
Kevin Garcia and Jamie Baik ’14. At Ginette’s suggestion they went to a dueling piano bar where they
“watched beautiful renditions of ‘Teach Me How
To Dougie’ and ‘I Just Can’t Wait To Be King.’”
Jack Saul works for Restless Books, a publisher
of international fiction, based in Brooklyn, where
he moved in with Samantha Teng and Elise Baker
this year. Elise is doing research for a human rights
organization in NYC and trying to teach herself
Arabic. She writes: “I’m living and cooking delicious meals with Jack and Sam in Crown Heights
and spending free time with Evan Grillon, Henry Su,
David Nolan and anyone else willing to venture past
the line of gentrification.” The trio hosted Sarah
Freymiller for a week in February while she tutored
fifth-grade students at Central Queens Academy.
Sarah is “no longer shopping at Trader Joe’s, running or sporting T-Swift bangs.” Now she is subsisting on an egg-based diet and has started writing
for Bustle.com’s entertainment column. Sam and
Elise joined Sarah, Lindsey Graham, Amanda Correnti, Jennifer Turner, Meghan Kiesel, Katie Holmes
and Marissa Thiel in Boston in January to snuggle,
drink and try and fail at candlepin bowling. Greg
Eusden, Owen Barnett-Mulligan and Will Speer
made guest appearances. Meghan wrote: “Based on
the sheer number of Ephs I managed to see that
weekend, I’m even more convinced that everyone I
know is in Boston now!” In February Meghan was
planning trips to escape the terrible winter weather
in Chicago—one to NYC in May after a weekend
in the Purple Valley to cheer on her brother Steven
Kiesel ’15 in a lacrosse game.
Also in Boston, Michael Girouard is living with
Maddie Mitchell and doing health policy research at
Massachusetts General Hospital.
Several Ephs are working in education. Abbie
Deal is working in the Charlottesville city school
system in Virginia at an alternative education
school for children with disciplinary issues. She
coordinates the online learning for the school,
including tutoring in all social sciences and sciences, tracks students’ progress through the courses
2013
and enrolls students. She also coaches crew for
a local high school and rowed in a single at the
Head of the Charles in fall 2013. On the weekends
she works as a therapy tech at an inpatient rehab
hospital.
Dominique (Dodi) Exume is living in DC and
serving on the MetroDC ReadingCorps, an
AmeriCorps program where she works in a school
to help students in kindergarten through third
grade reach grade level in reading. She’s planning
on getting her teaching certification once this
program ends in June.
In February, Rhi Alyxander was preparing to teach
summer school at Capitol City Public Charter
School in DC and wrapping up her residency year
at the Inspired Teaching School.
Gabe Lewis has been teaching geology in New
Zealand to American students and learning about
glaciers and volcanoes in the field. He had time
to grab coffee with Sarah Rowe in NYC over the
winter. Between April and September he plans to
hike the Pacific Crest Trail before starting a graduate program in geophysics in the fall.
Amanda McLaughlin is working on a PhD in
English at the University of Buffalo. She taught a
college-level English class for the first time in the
fall and reports that it is “fun, but definitely a different experience being on the other side of the desk!”
In January, Kevin O’Connell bonded with Haley
Eagon as they teamed up to study for the LSAT.
Kevin has been meeting periodically with Andy
Quinn and Jacob Gelman in DC for “the Thursday
night group,” a discussion of politics and current
events over beer. He wrote, “We welcome the
addition of Scott Fyall, who joined Andy at the
American Enterprise Institute.” On Sundays Kevin
has been getting together with Haotian Xu and
other alums to play squash.
Bryce Mitsunaga moved to Orange County in
California and started work as a geologist at Iris
Environmental (with the lovely Miranda Bona) in
January. Nicolei Gupit works in LA as a communications assistant for Zócalo Public Square
Reunions with Esther Cho and Jalynne Figueroa.
Cary White moved to New Orleans in February
and started working for furniture makers. He’s “eating very well and listening to some great music!”
and saw Trey Meyer at an alumni event.
As Ephs, many people cultivated a love of skiing.
In February, a big Williams crew—Chloe Kuh,
Laura Wann, Kristine Nakada, Cait Clark, Sam
Vilaboa, Chelsea Davies, Jimmy Ray, Sam Brinkley
and Rob Brackup—met up for a weekend of skiing
in Vermont. According to Chloe, the highlight was
that Kristine wore a smock for the larger part of
Saturday night. Chloe wrote: “It was also exciting
that Chelsea and Cait learned to ski, Rob skied
really fast and charmed the townspeople, Chloe and
Sam spoke Portuguese and Spanish to each other
while snowboarding, and Sam Brinkley got his first
lower body workout since graduation. Everyone
was excited to see Laura, who had returned from a
month of yoga, watercolor painting and traveling in
India. Jimmy couldn’t handle all the fun and had to
go to bed early on Saturday.”
Out west, Ryan Jenks invited Kyle Bolo (in Madison Wis.), Erich Trieschman (in DC), Jamie Rosten
(in Somerville, Mass.), Owen Barnett-Mulligan (in
Boston, Mass.) and Chad Lorenz (in Cambridge,
Mass.) to his home mountain in Breckenridge,
Colo., for their own version of Winter Carnival in
February. From Chad’s description they had a wonderful time and felt like the kings of the mountain.
Back in Mass, Chad hosted Rhys Watkins from
DC, Tat Udomritthiruj from NYC, Samir Ghosh,
Olivia Uhlman, Tom Crawford ’12, Luke Breckenridge ’12, Emily Whicker and Jamie for dinner over
Valentine’s Day weekend. They rounded out the
evening with a dance party at ZuZu’s in Central
Square in Cambridge.
Ian Nesbitt lived near Burlington, Vt., over the
winter, working as a Nordic ski coach at Saint
Michael’s College and as a photographer and
reporter for NCAA Division I Skiing’s Eastern Conference. He began his “dream job” as a
geoscientist specializing in data collection and
automation for e4sciences | Earthworks LLC, an
environmental consulting firm, in March. There
he will be able to bring his EphCatch-fixing skills
to real-world databases. He expects to be living in
Hoboken, N.J.
Emily Levy wrote from New Haven, Conn., where
she has been doing autism research in a lab. In
the past year she has hosted Olivia Uhlman, Erica
Wu, Devon Drew and Claire Seizovic and has hung
out with fellow residents Zach Shapiro and Erik
Levinsohn ’12. Emily writes, “If any Ephs are in
need of great pizza or a break from the city, holla
at me!”
Effua Erica Sosoo is working as a research
assistant at the Mood Disorders Institute at
Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y. This
past November she attended the Association of
Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies in Nashville,
Tenn., with her thesis advisor. She writes, “It was
my first psychology conference, and by the grace of
God, it won’t be my last!” At her job she has learned
how to conduct clinical interviews, use physiological equipment to measure people’s heart rate, facial
movements and electrodermal activity and became
a certified phlebotomist. She has been preparing to
apply to clinical psychology graduate programs.
Class President Sarah Rowe sends a special
shout-out to our class for a memorable and
trouble-free homecoming weekend. She wrote:
“I’ve heard really positive things from people on
campus (including security, no less!)” and reported
that more than 220 members of the Class of 2013
came to Williamstown for the festivities.
By the time this comes out, I will have finished
my master’s degree in education at Harvard and
will be in the process of moving back to NYC from
Cambridge. As always, feel free to send in updates
at any time, and hit me up if you find yourself in
NYC and want to grab a drink or see Shakespeare
in the Park/Celebrate Brooklyn performances! Till
next time! —Lindsey
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WEDDINGS
1979
Steve Jackson & Lisa M. Bostnar,
Sept. 14, 2013
2004
1990
Ruth Burday & Robert Barsanti, June 29, 2013
Bill Barbot & Erin Ritch, Oct. 19, 2013
Doug Barnaby & Sarah E. Baker, Nov. 8, 2013
Carolyn Robbs & Jeffrey Bilanko, May 11, 2013
Mike Hackett & Alyssa Pelletier, July 20, 2013
Fern Senior & Kristin Thomas, September 2013
Ariel Zetlin-Jones & Patricia E. O’Reilly,
Oct. 5, 2013
Sarah Jensen & Christian E. Lowe, Oct. 12, 2013
Drew Newman & Ariel Peters ’06, Nov. 2, 2013
1991
2005
Sophie Muir & Christopher Rothschild,
Oct. 26, 2013
1992
Eric Verby & Jessica Ng, Sept. 7, 2013
1996
Zach Cook & Karen Mangold, Aug. 2013
1998
Chloe Taft & Jason Kang, June 22, 2013
Chris Bodnar & Brett Moody ’07, June 29, 2013
Addie Robinson & Sean Slack, July 13, 2013
Charles Baschnagel & Catherine Dorothy
Kozak Adams, Nov. 9, 2013
Margit Sande-Kerback & Christopher Rocchio,
Nov. 16, 2013
2006
Evelyn Spence & William Glenn Callahan,
Sept. 7, 2013
Julia Esko & Jared Powell, June 27, 2013
Elissa Hardy & Keith Washburn, Aug. 11, 2013
Emily Grannon & Timothy C. Fox, Oct. 12, 2013
1999
2007
Mike Sullivan & Natalie Monk, Sept. 6, 2013
2000
Mary Brevdo & Dan Eisenbud, May 2013
2001
Kalia Glassey & Samuel Douglas Crowder,
Sept. 1, 2013
Heidi Montoya & Antonia Martinez-Perez,
Oct. 11, 2013
Brian Haklisch & Amy Catlin, Oct. 12, 2013
2002
Morgan Barth & Katie Baker, July 13, 2013
Forrest Wittenmeier & Minh Thu, Sept. 7, 2013
Kate Forssell & Jay Kennedy, Sept. 14, 2013
Nathan Cardoos & Emily Bethea Cardoos,
Oct. 5, 2013
Rebecca Steuer & Christopher Hochreiter,
Dec. 22, 2013
2003
Wesley Fox & Elizabeth Jones, Feb. 2, 2013
Diane Reis & Alexander Boquist, April 2013
Rogelio Salinas & Sydney M. Andrews,
June 1, 2013
Rory Kramer & Lindsay Mack, June 22, 2013
Fulton Breen & Sarah Burnham, July 14, 2013
Luke Hyde & Kelley Kidwell, Sept. 28, 2013
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Kate Larabee & Sam Tuttle, May 25, 2013
Katie Baldiga & Lucas Coffman, Sept. 7, 2013
Helena Harnik & Matthew Charles,
Sept. 7, 2013
Colin Carroll & Karin Knudson ’09,
Sept. 22, 2013
2008
Paul Hess & Shelby Kimmel, May 19, 2013
Alexa Herlach & Or Shotan, August 2013
Kristin Sundet & Casey R. Pavek, Sept. 6, 2013
Martin Rotemberg & Alex Roth, Sept. 28, 2013
2010
Larry O’Boyle & Sarah Webb, June 15, 2013
Alex Taylor & Sydney Tooze ’12, June 22, 2013
Janay Clyde & Nashon Jackson, Nov. 10, 2013
2011
Mike Geary & Katherine Mumma Geary,
June 22, 2013
BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS
1987
Chloe Kay Guttentag to Adam Guttentag,
Sept. 13, 2013
1988
Tristan Thatcher Kirschner to Gerry Kirschner,
Oct. 24, 2013
Simon Patrick Burton to Pat Burton,
Sept. 24, 2013
Paloma Madeline Baker Kibbey to Elizabeth
Baker, Oct. 17, 2013
2001
Robert Jenks Whipple to Jill (Vogel) Whipple,
March 25, 2013
Sarah Elizabeth Baker to Aileen (Keenan) Baker,
May 21, 2013
Lillian Bryce Gardner to Mike Gardner & Katie
Walsh Gardner ’99, July 11, 2013
Annabel Olivia DeWolfe to Alex Ware DeWolfe,
July 20, 2013
Anthony James Salerno to Tony Salerno,
April 13, 2013
Lia Foster to Nate Foster, June 4, 2013
Miles Jacobson Sheedy to Ellen (Jacobson)
Sheedy, June 25, 2013
Beckett Drew Batliner to Courtney (Bennigson)
Batliner, July 30, 2013
Christopher Caldwell Donehue to Sarah (Thomas)
Donehue, Sept. 6, 2013
Dashel Roger Fisher to Robyn (Goldman) Fisher,
Sept. 15, 2013
Finley Rose Eliassen to Shekinah (Cohn)
Eliassen, Sept. 24, 2013
Elijah Julio Martinich to Jen (Hahn) Martinich,
Sept. 26, 2013
Lila Shen Bergeron to Joe Bergeron & Geraldine
Shen, Sept. 27, 2013
Eleanor Asako Munson to Katy (Miyamoto)
Munson & Art Munson, Oct. 3, 2013
Carys Elizabeth Edwards to Beth (Cadogan)
Edwards, Nov. 22, 2013
1997
2002
1991
Henrik Joseph Carlson to Brian Carlson,
Aug. 29, 2013
Henry Tucker Tortolani to Lee Schroeder,
August 2013
1993
Adam Arleigh Carl Piquado to Paul Piquado,
Aug. 20, 2013
1996
Irene Zalea Roe to Henry Roe, June 2013
Callahan Paxton Howard to Melanie (Lerch)
Howard, Sept. 13, 2013
1998
Emma Louese Przybilla to Jennie Lockhart
Przybilla, June 28, 2013
Anna Ruth Oppenheimer to Cyd (Fremmer)
Oppenheimer, July 14, 2013
Colden John Hill Wheeler to Matt Wheeler &
Ginel Hill ’00, July 16, 2013
Holden Connor Dalton to Erin (Thelander)
Dalton, July 2013
Peter Williamson Freitas to Micaela Coady,
Aug. 28, 2013
Josephine Pearl Neuhaus to Tammy (Brown)
Neuhaus, Sept. 16, 2013
Finn Horowitz to Jason Horowitz, Sept. 25, 2013
1999
Lincoln Robert Michel to Sylvia Englund Michel,
July 2, 2013
Brooks Hamilton Fusco to Larsen Fusco,
July 25, 2013
Quinn Jacob Melnick to Ted Melnick,
Aug. 8, 2013
2000
Mckenna Moorhead to John Moorhead &
Jonnifer (Vasse) Moorhead ’02, July 14, 2013
Boden Charles Stipinovich to Katharine Lusk,
Sept. 4, 2013
Cyrus B. Cooperman Thiboutot to David
Cooperman & Lucy Thiboutot ’05, June 18, 2013
Logan James Doob to Ben Doob & Zibby
(Stokes) Doob ’03, July 29, 2013
Darcie Burns to Josh Burns, Aug. 7, 2013
Alistair Blair Wilde Davidson to William
Davidson, Sept. 18, 2013
Aya Claire Michener to Brian Michener,
Nov. 4, 2013
Henry Weber Gross to Michael Gross & Anna
Kneitel, Nov. 10, 2013
2003
Clark Michael Rowland to Julia (Benson)
Rowland, June 25, 2013
Charlotte Ann Sanderson to Graeme Sanderson,
Aug. 25, 2013
Annabel Helen Otis to Caroline (Crocker) Otis,
Sept. 14, 2013
Caroline Annelle Borland to Seth Borland &
Laura (Noel) Borland ’06, Oct. 1, 2013
Charles Glenn Tucker to Emily (Glenn) Tucker &
Peter Tucker, Nov. 8, 2013
Sahana Menon Sawyer to Rob Sawyer,
Jan. 12, 2014
2004
Bobby James Sullivan to Lexi (Lee) Sullivan &
Justin Sullivan, July 26, 2013
Anna Beatrice Tzucker to Emily Isaacson,
Aug. 8, 2013
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BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS
Kathleen Savaria Day Giarolo to Laura Day &
Andrew Giarolo, Jan. 3, 2014
2005
Oswald Burr Gardos to Andrea (Berberian)
Gardos, July 15, 2013
Claire Mae McNally to Geoff McNally,
July 18, 2013
Eloise Kivitz to Julia (Tingley) Kivitz &
Jeff Kivitz ’06, Aug. 6, 2013
Ari Robert Sunshine to Anna (Brosius) Sunshine,
Sept. 15, 2013
William Wilde Wallach to Brittany (Binet) Wallach,
Sept. 28, 2013
2006
Oberon Paul Martin to Estalyn Marquis,
Sept. 26, 2013
2007
William Cole Paster to Katie Cail Paster &
Matt Paster, Aug. 9, 2013
Robert Charles Brown to David Brown,
Dec. 17, 2013
2008
Aela Rose Ayer to Meg (Gleeson) Ayer &
Kyle Ayer ’09, Sept. 15, 2013
OBITUARIES
1940
ROBERT C. BOARDMAN, April
17, 2013. Bob served in the U.S.
Army after graduation and then
was a reporter with the New York
Herald Tribune (1945-55). After
another decade in public relations
at the Bell System, he became
director of public information at
the National Audubon Society
(1965-87), where he enjoyed
“trying to persuade people that
we need a healthy environment
if we want to have a healthy
economy and The Good Life.”
He raised his family in NYC
and retired to Virginia. He was
predeceased by Jean, his wife of
65 years, in 2011. His survivors
include two daughters.
1941
JOHN H. RICE, Oct. 29, 2013.
Jock was born and raised in
Pittsfield, where he returned
after earning an MBA from
Harvard (1943) and working for
Montgomery Ward in Chicago.
Back home he worked for his
family’s company, A.H. Rice Co.,
as a management consultant and
then president. He managed the
company for years after its sale
to Gerli & Co. and served as an
adviser until his retirement. He
worked to improve race relations
as a Pittsfield city councilman
and chairman of the Planning
Board and wrote a weekly
column for the Berkshire Eagle.
He also served on the Berk­shire
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Natural Resources Council, to
which he gifted the Onota Lake
Camp—where the Williams
crew practices—in 1994. He was
on the boards of Jacob’s Pillow
Dance Festival, the Red Cross,
the United Way and the Lenox
Club. He was a Dale Carnegie
instructor for three decades. He
was most proud of logging one
million vertical feet of helicopter
skiing in British Columbia, a
goal reached just before his 50th
reunion. He is survived by his
longtime companion, Janet, three
children, five grandchildren, one
great-grandchild and nephew
Peter G. Rice ’68.
1943
GIFFORD HAVENS, May 27,
2010. Gif was a captain in the
21st Bomber Squadron with the
Army Air Corps, where he was
a meteorologist running weather
recognizance missions during
WWII. His love of weather
interpretation, astronomy and
science won him the nickname
“Grandfather Science” and
led to a career as a lab instructor and science teacher at the
Lawrenceville School near his
home in West Trenton, N.J. He
was predeceased by his wife,
Janet. His survivors include two
children, four grandchildren and
two great-grandchildren.
1944
J. SHEPPARD POOR, Dec. 15,
2013. Shep joined the Navy after
two years at Williams, serving as
a WWII pilot and earning seven
Battle Stars. In 1947, he graduated
from Harvard’s MBA program
and started work at Morgan
Stanley, where he eventually
became a partner. He had two
“tours” living and working in
Paris, where he opened and
ran a branch of the bank, and
he traveled extensively around
the globe. He tried to retire in
1979, but after a year he was
back at work, living in London
and serving as vice chairman of
Morgan Guaranty. He retired for
good in 1985 and stayed in his
longtime home base, Locust, N.J.,
where he was chairman of the
Riverview Foundation for many
years. Shep loved ocean sailing;
after his first race in 1956, he was
hooked. He was predeceased by
his wife of 64 years, Lee, who
served as cook on many of those
long races. His survivors include
three daughters, four grandchildren, and cousins E. Ward Poor
’55 and Henry W. Poor ’61.
ALBERT F. REILLY, Dec. 5, 2013.
Al entered the U.S. Army after
graduation and was a sergeant
with the 45th infantry division
in France and Germany. He
returned to academia on the
GI Bill and earned a PhD in
chemistry from SUNY Buffalo in
1950. After several years working
as a research chemist at various
corporations, he became the technical director of Sheller-Globe
Corp. and worked in Detroit and
then in Toledo, Ohio. He retired
in 1989 and, four years later, was
devastated by the loss of his wife,
Shirley, to leukemia. He played
golf and tennis but spent most of
his leisure time “gardening,” as
he called it, on his 66-acre farm
in Howell, Mich. His survivors
include two children.
1945
S. CUSHING STROUT JR., Nov.
21, 2013. Cush had an active
teaching and publishing career.
He acquired an interest in sleightof-hand magic in his childhood,
and he continued to entertain
audiences until as recently as his
80th birthday party. His Williams
career was interrupted by his
service in WWII, but he returned
to graduate with honors in 1947.
He completed a master’s in
American history from Harvard
and returned to Williams to teach
history (1949-51). He earned his
PhD in American civilization,
also from Harvard, in 1952, and
then taught at Yale and Caltech
before a long career as the Ernest
I. White Professor of American
Studies and Humane Letters at
Cornell University. He retired
in 1989. His writings on many
aspects of American literature and
history were widely published,
as were his essays on magic and
detective fiction, his other interest. In the summer of 2013, he
reviewed a book about Sherlock
Holmes in the Sewanee Review.
Among his survivors are his wife
of 65 years, Jean, three children,
including Benjamin P. Strout
’75, four grandchildren and one
great-grandson.
1946
RALPH A. GRAVES, June 10,
2013. Ralph left Williams to serve
as a cryptographer for the Army
Air Force during WWII, and
he enrolled at Harvard when he
returned stateside. After graduation he joined the staff of Time
Inc. as a researcher, taking the
reins as managing editor of Life
magazine a few years later. He led
the weekly through several turbulent years and printed its last
edition in December 1972. Some
of his editorial decisions sparked
controversy, including publishing photographs of American
soldiers killed during a week of
fighting in the Vietnam War and
reminiscences from former Soviet
Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev.
He retired as editorial director
in 1983. His survivors include
his wife of 55 years, Eleanor,
four children, two stepchildren and 11 grandchildren and
step-grandchildren.
1947
ROBERT C. MACPHERSON, Oct.
12, 2013. Bob came to Williams
through the V-12 Program and
served as a U.S. Navy lieutenant,
junior grade, during WWII. He
remained active with veterans’
organizations for the rest of his
life, most recently as finance
off­icer for the American Legion
Post 91 in Yarmouth, Mass. Bob’s
career was in sales. He worked at
SD Warren Paper Co. and raised
his family in Hingham, Mass.
He later went to work as re­gional
­­
manager at Scott Paper Co. and
REL Graphic Systems before
retiring in 1989. His survivors
include his wife of 23 years, Betty,
five children, 11 grandchildren
and four great-grandchildren.
JOHN H. RICE ’41
S. CUSHING STROUT JR. ’45
1948
LEWIS M. LAWTON JR., Jan.
3, 2014. Lew earned his MA in
physics from Williams (1949) and
went on to a career in engineering
and what he called “high technology.” He played an important
role on the teams that developed
guidance systems for the Titan
missile and the Gemini and
Apollo Space Programs as well as
the inertial guidance systems for
Doppler and the Boeing 747. Lew
enjoyed the Illinois countryside
as a fly fisherman and a hunter.
He was predeceased by a son. His
survivors include his wife of 57
years, Marlene, two children and
one grandchild.
FARNHAM LEFFERTS, June 14,
2013. Farnham was with the
V-12 Program and served in
the U.S. Navy during WWII.
He started his career in NYC
at Tiffany & Co., where he
worked for 25 years and rose to
the rank of president. After his
second child was born, he built
a homestead in Milton, Conn.,
called Stonelea. After Tiffany’s,
he worked in Litchfield County
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as a realtor and webmaster for
local small businesses and also
designed an electronic device
that stores medical information.
His survivors include his wife
of 62 years, Irene, four children,
seven grandchildren, three greatgrandchildren and cousins Gillet
Lefferts Jr. ’45 and Nicholas E.
Lefferts ’80.
ROBERT EMMET MCCABE JR.,
Aug. 29, 2013. Robert received
an MD from Cornell University
in 1953 and served as a surgeon
with the U.S. Army in Germany
(1955-57). He then joined Saint
Luke’s Hospital in NYC as a
transplant surgeon and became
a pioneer in clinical kidney
transplantation and preservation. A charter member of the
American College of Surgeons, he
gained notoriety in 1979 when he
matched the kidneys of a 14-yearold Virginia girl who died in a car
accident with a 36-year-old man
in Moscow, Russia. He retired in
1989. The McCabe family traveled the world during ski trips. In
retirement he and his wife, Kathy,
made Vermont their permanent
home and built a house on Hell’s
Peak. Kathy, to whom he’d been
married for 58 years, died in late
2012. Among his survivors are five
children and nine grandchildren,
including Robert F. Smith ’10.
1949
HARRY C. MCDANIEL, April 4,
2013. After studying chemistry
at Williams, Harry earned a
master’s in mathematics from the
University of Cincinnati (1964)
and went on to a 36-year career
in product development and technical management with Proctor
& Gamble. He enjoyed the formulation of perfumes and flavors,
many of which became successful
products on the open market.
He spent much of the 1980s and
1990s working as a consultant,
surveying essential oil production in Moldavia, evaluating raw
materials for flavor formulation
for health care products and
earning a patent for his method
of producing durable lustrous
coatings used in artists’ paints.
He made his home in Cincinnati,
Ohio, and traveled extensively,
including as a volunteer with the
International Executive Service
Corps. His survivors include his
wife of 58 years, Marian, three
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children, six grandchildren and
four great-grandchildren.
PETER W. STITES, Oct. 16, 2013.
Pedro attended the University
of Cincinnati’s teacher’s college
(1952) and earned a master’s
in Spanish from Middlebury
College (1958) before becoming a
Spanish teacher in his hometown
of Cincinnati and adopting the
Spanish version of his name. He
spent 25 years working at his high
school alma mater, Walnut Hills
High School. In retirement, he
was a Williams class secretary
for many years, work for which
he received the Thurston Bowl
in 1999. Birthday cards were his
favorite way of keeping in touch,
and he mailed some 800 per
year to classmates at Williams
and Walnut Hills and to former
students. His survivors include
his wife of 57 years, Edna, two
children, three grandchildren and
cousin John W. Thoman Sr. ’49.
JOKICHI TAKAMINE, Dec. 18,
2013. Jo earned his MD from
NYU in 1953 and went on to a
career in the field of drug and
alcohol dependency treatment.
He spent 54 years in private
practice in Los Angeles while also
serving on the staff at St. John’s
Hospital & Medical Center—
where he co-founded the
Chemical De­pendency Center in
1974—and as the medical director
of the chemical dependency units
of several L.A.-area community hospitals. He was a faculty
member at the UCLA Clinic,
the UCLA Research Center and
the U.S. Naval Hospital, and he
was appointed to the American
Medical Association Committee
on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. He
was a veteran and active member
of the Brentwood Presbyterian
Church. Among his survivors is
his daughter, Deborah.
WILSON WILDE, Nov. 25, 2013.
Bill served with the U.S. Navy at
the end of WWII and during the
Korean War. He then got a job in
the investment department of the
Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection
and Insurance Co. (HSB). More
than four decades later, he retired
as CEO, a position he’d held since
the age of 43. He was recognized
as CEO of the Year several times,
and in 1990 he was named CEO
of the Decade by Financial World
Magazine. Praised for increasing HSB’s assets by 500 percent,
he also raised the bar on safety
in all energy-related industries.
He served on many professional
boards, including the American
Insurance Association as director,
the Hartford Insurance Group
and the Insurance Association
of Connecticut. He developed
large collections of impressionist
art (now housed at the Florence
Griswold Museum) and antiques,
all crafted in Connecticut. He was
a longtime trustee of the Loomis
Chaffee School, his high school
alma mater, and he received honorary degrees from the University
of Hartford (1984) and Trinity
College (1992 and 1997). In 1999
he received Williams’ Kellogg
Award for his distinguished
career. He was predeceased
by a son in 2006. Among his
survivors are his wife of 60 years,
Joan, three children including
Richard A. Wilde ’85, and seven
grandchildren.
1950
EDGAR M. BRONFMAN, Dec.
21, 2013. The child of Jewish
immigrants from Eastern Europe,
Edgar grew up to have an enormous impact on the lives of Jews
around the world. He once said
he wanted every Jew to “be as
comfortable in his skin as I am in
mine.” As president of the North
American branch of the World
Jewish Congress from 1979-2007,
he was proud to help Soviet Jews
remain in their home country
or freely emigrate if they chose.
He also fought for the families of
Jews who died during WWII to
be compensated for land stolen
by the Nazis and Communists
and to recover money deposited
in Swiss bank accounts by Jews
who were sent to concentration
camps. A risk-taker and aggressive negotiator, he led the family
business, Seagrams Ltd., serving
as president from 1956-94. His
board memberships and affiliations included the Bank of New
York, E.I. DuPont de Nemours
& Co., and the Gulfstream Land
& Development Corp. He was
associated with many philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, including the Boy Scouts
of America, the Council on
Foreign Relations, the Federation
of Jewish Philanthropies, the
National Urban League and
the NYC Interracial Council
for Business. The Edgar M.
Bronfman Science Center at
Williams, constructed in 1968,
was named in his honor. That
year, he received a Williams
honorary Doctor of Laws. He
received the Presidential Medal
of Freedom from President Clin­­
ton in 1999. In 2005 he received
a Will­iams Bicentennial Medal
for distinguished achievement.
Among his survivors are his
fourth wife, Jan, seven children,
including Samuel Bronfman
II ’75 and Matthew Bronfman
’81, 24 grandchildren, including Alden Connor ’07 and Dana
Bronfman ’09, two greatgrandchildren, nephew Stephen
Bronfman ’86 and cousins Linda
Thompson ’84 and Abigail
Lash ’92.
ANDREW D. HEINEMAN, Nov.
5, 2013. As a high school student
at Horace Mann, Andy wrote
an essay called “Happiness”
about life at the Jewish Home
and Hospital for the Aged (today
the Jewish Lifecare System),
where his father was a trustee.
Years later Andy became the
organization’s board chairman,
led its first capital campaign and
forged new and lasting ties with
local organizations. A Yale Law
School graduate (1953), he joined
Proskauer Rose. In 1963 he was
named partner, a position he
held until his retirement in 2002.
He also served as a trustee of the
Mount Sinai Hospital Medical
School, was on the boards of the
Ernest & Mary Hayward Weir
Foundation and the Abelard
Foundation, and was a member
of the New York Governor’s
Commission on Minorities
in Medical Schools. He was a
Williams trustee. He collected
antique glass and was an avid
birder and a nautical historian.
He spent every summer in the
Thousand Islands region of the
St. Lawrence River with his family. Classmate Ford Schumann
painted his portrait on that river,
surrounded by birds; it hangs in
a dance studio in Goodrich Hall
at Will­­­iams. Among his survivors
are six nieces and nephews,
in­cluding Deborah K. Heineman
’76, Matthew D. Heineman ’79,
Kathryn Heineman Calabretta
’81, Annemarie Heineman ’83
and Nicholas A. Scaglione ’16.
THEODORE H. LICHTENFELS,
Nov. 26, 2013. Shortly after
graduation, Ted participated in
the Experiment in International
Living. Through the program’s
homestays, he came to understand the different cultures he
encountered throughout Europe,
which solidified his belief that
connections across boundaries are
essential to the human experience. Upon his return to the
States, he moved to Rhode Island.
He served as president of W.R.
Cobb Co. until 1995 and was
in partnership with his brother
for many years. In retirement,
he moved west with his second
wife, Ann, and managed a small
orchard in Washington. His
survivors include his wife, three
children and six grandchildren.
DANIEL T. ROACH, Oct. 21, 2013.
Dan graduated from the University
of Buffalo Law School (1953) and
went on to serve as a sergeant with
the U.S. Army’s 28th Infantry, 8th
Infantry Division, until 1955. Later
that year, he joined a law firm
in Buffalo—now called Roach,
Brown, McCarthy & Gruber—and
became its managing partner in
the 1970s. He had a reputation
as one of the city’s finest trial
attorneys. He was inducted into
the American College of Trial
Lawyers, and the Erie County Bar
Association named him Defense
Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1994.
In 2008, he was given the award
for civility by the Western New
York Trial Lawyers Association.
He tried cases into his 80s and
worked at the firm until a month
before his death. He was chairman
of the board of the Buffalo & Erie
County Public Library and on
the board of the region’s County
Public Library Foundation. He was
predeceased by his wife, Karin, in
2011. His survivors include four
children—Mary K. Roach ’78,
Daniel T. Roach Jr. ’79, Katherine
B. Roach ’87 and Michael J.
Roach ’88—and 11 grandchildren,
including Matthew L. Roach ’08
and Alison K. Roach ’16.
EDGAR M. BRONFMAN ’50
ANDREW D. HEINEMAN ’50
BENJAMIN N. TAYLOR, Sept. 24,
2013. Ben earned an MA (1955)
and a CAS (1963) from Columbia
Teacher’s College and went on to
a 30-year career at the West Side
School—his alma mater—in Cold
Spring Harbor, N.Y. He lived in
nearby Huntington with his first
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wife, Marge, who predeceased him
in 1975. In retirement he moved
to North Carolina and later to
Pompano Beach, Fla., where
he was an active member of his
church. He was predeceased by
his second wife, Ann, in 2011,
after 29 years of marriage. Among
his survivors are two sons, two
grandchildren and cousin William
F. Taylor ’59.
1951
PETER O. JOHNSTONE, Sept.
16, 2010. Peter served in the U.S.
Army during the Korean War
and then spent a few years working in advertising in NYC. He
decided the field wasn’t for him,
moved to the Finger Lakes region
of New York in 1976 and opened
a winery. He co-owned and
operated Heron Hill Vineyards,
overlooking Keuka Lake in
Hammondsport, N.Y., until his
retirement in 1996. Peter once
said of his life as a vintner, “It
seems like someone tapped me on
the shoulder and said, ‘You don’t
have to work this lifetime.’” His
survivors include a daughter and
a grandson.
ERNEST K. LEHMANN, Dec. 13,
2013. Ernest spent two years in
the Army in engineer intelligence
before resuming his career in mineral exploration with Kennecott
Copper Co. In 1958 he set out on
his own, working as a consultant
and then later founding Ernest
K. Lehmann & Associates (later
North Central Mineral Ventures),
serving as president and CEO
from 1966 until his death. His
projects included development
and evaluation in the Americas,
Europe, Africa and the Far East.
At its peak, the business, based in
his hometown of Minneapolis,
Minn., employed 40 people, many
of them geologists who graduated
from Williams. He was a trustee
of the A.I.P.G. Foundation and
Quetico Superior Foundation;
was director, VP and president
of the American Institute of
Professional Geologists; and
served on the board of directors
of the Franconia Minerals Corp.
and the Minnesota Exploration
Association. Among his survivors
are his wife of 60 years, Sally,
four children, including Walter
G. Lehmann ’85, and two
grandchildren.
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EDSON B. MOODY, Nov. 10,
2013. Edson left Williams after
three years to pursue his medical
training at the University of
Nebraska, where he earned a
BS (1952) and an MD (1954).
From 1958-60, he was a U.S.
Air Force captain. He then
moved to Hagerstown, Md. His
four decades as an internist at
Washington County Hospital
included long tenures as chief
of the departments of medicine
and nuclear medicine and, most
rewarding, as director of an alcohol and drug treatment program.
He was a member of the Medical
and Chirurgical Faculty of
Maryland, the American Medical
Association and the American
Society of Nuclear Medicine.
His survivors include his wife of
15 years, Evelyn, four children,
three stepchildren and seven
grandchildren.
1952
NORMAN S. BEYER, Aug. 7,
2013. Norman played the clarinet
in local bands everywhere he
lived, most recently with the
Sunshine Band at Penny Farms,
Fla. He also sang in the church
choir, was an amateur photographer and supported the arts in his
local communities. The crowning
achievement of his long career
as a radiation physicist with the
International Atomic Energy
Agency came when the group was
awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace
Prize. His work took him all over
the world, and he loved travel.
He made his home and raised
his family in Elmhurst, Ill. His
survivors include his wife of 61
years, Ann, three children and six
grandchildren.
1954
JOHN S.C. HARVEY III, May 21,
2013. John attended Williams and
earned his AB from Haverford
College (1954) and LLB from
Harvard (1957). He worked at
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co.,
where he was promoted from
attorney to assistant general counsel, retiring as associate general
counsel and assistant secretary in
1976. John lived in Haverford, Pa.,
and kept a summer home in Seal
Harbor, Maine. He was predeceased by a daughter. His survivors
include his wife of 29 years, Joan, a
son, a stepdaughter, two grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.
1955
W. ERIC GUSTAFSON, Oct.
9, 2013. Eric earned a PhD in
economics from Harvard (1959)
and went on to a career in
de­velopment economics. He was
a senior lecturer at UC Davis for
almost 30 years. From 1963-74 he
spent time in Pakistan and India
with the Institute of Development
Economics. He became a member
of the Religious Society of
Friends in 1960. His survivors
include four children, seven
grandchildren, brother Thomas
Gustafson ’69, nephew Timothy
Brittain Gustafson ’98 and niece
Emily Gustafson ’04.
1956
DONAL C. O’BRIEN JR., Sept. 10,
2013. Don earned an LLB from
the University of Virginia (1959)
and went on to become a partner
at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley &
McCloy, from which he retired
in 2011. He was attorney for the
Rockefeller family. He lived in
Connecticut and spent summers
on Nantucket. He belonged to the
boards of many foundations and
organizations (often serving as
director or chairman), including
the Quebec-Labrador Foundation,
the JDR 3rd Fund and Winrock
Farms. An early conservationist, he led the National Audubon
Society for 15 years, encouraging
the organization to engage in
large-scale conversation efforts.
In 2010 he was awarded the
Audubon Medal, the society’s
highest honor. He also led the
Atlantic Salmon Foundation and
spent more than two decades as a
member of Connecticut’s Council
on Environmental Quality.
His survivors include his wife,
Katie, four children, including
Constance O’Brien Ashforth
’81, 11 grandchildren, brothers Stephen O’Brien ’66 and
Jonathan O’Brien ’60 and niece
Jennifer O’Brien ’83.
RICHARD B. PERRY, Sept. 23,
2013. Dick earned an MS in geological oceanography from Texas
A&M (1959) and a PhD from
George Washington University
(1970). His research involved many
trips to the Bering Sea, where he
developed a system for mapping
the sea floor. He worked with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration for more than
30 years and raised his family in
Rockville, Md. In retirement, he
and his wife became year-round
residents of Cape Cod. His survivors include his wife of 32 years,
Patricia, two children, a grandson,
brother Blair L. Perry ’51 and
nephew Andrew B. Perry ’92.
1957
DEWITT DAVIS IV, Sept. 24,
2013. Dee earned a master’s
degree in engineering from
George Washington University
(1964) and was an account
executive at Smith Barney before
joining the U.S. Navy. His
naval career spanned 28 years
and took him to NYC, DC and
Hampton Roads, Va. He worked
in computer software management as a commander and head
of safety and education training, and he served as a marine
consultant after retiring from the
Navy. He was awarded the Green
Cross for Safety in 2001 and the
Distinguished Service to Safety
Award in 2006. His survivors
include his wife of 44 years,
Clare, and two children.
FRANK R. DENGEL II, Oct.
3, 2013. F.R. earned an MBA
from Northwestern University
(1961). He was a U.S. Air Force
captain and then took a job on
the floor of the New York Stock
Exchange, where he worked for
seven years before returning to
his hometown of Milwaukee
with his wife, Mary. There, he
worked in investment banking
and retired in 1998 as VP of First
Wisconsin National Bank. He
was president of the board of
the Village of Fox Point and the
Wisconsin Society to Prevent
Blindness. He also served on the
boards of the Salvation Army, the
University School of Milwaukee
and Children’s Service Society.
Among his survivors are his
wife of 50 years, Mary, two sons
including F.R. Dengel ’87, and
two grandchildren.
1958
AMEDEE W. DEAN, Sept. 16,
2013. Medee served in the
U.S. Air Force before earning
his MBA from Northeastern
University (1968) and beginning
a career in manufacturing, first
with the Solarex Corp. and then
Sigma Systems. He became the
VP of operations at Universal
Security Instruments in 1989,
a position he held until his
retirement in 2011. He lived in
Maryland. His survivors include
his wife of 55 years, Lu, three
children and six grandchildren.
ARTHUR B. HULL III, April 10,
2013. After graduation Ben served
as a U.S. Air Force captain. When
he returned to his hometown of
Southampton, N.Y., he went to
work in the family business, Hull
Chevrolet-Olds, and became
president and co-owner. He loved
living in a small town and running a small business. He retired
in 2001 and spent his time skiing
(downhill and cross-country) and
playing golf, tennis and paddle
tennis. He was predeceased by
his wife of 50 years, Kathleen, in
2012, and by a son in 1967. His
survivors include four sons and
two granddaughters.
PAUL M. WATSON, Oct. 2, 2013.
Paul earned a bachelor’s degree in
foreign trade from the American
Institute of Foreign Trade (1965).
He became an investment
banker with Continental Bank
and Mellon Financial, where he
served as VP and division manager, and then with the Bank of
California, from which he retired
in 1995. Among his survivors is
his wife, Chona.
1959
D. GRAHAM SHIPMAN, Nov.
26, 2013. Graham moved to San
Francisco to work for Bank of
California, Bank of America and
Wells Fargo before becoming
VP of the Residential Funding
Corp. in 1989, a position he held
until 2001. He and his wife of 39
years, Dede, lived in Lafayette,
Calif. After Dede died in 2004, he
moved to Mount Shasta, Calif.,
where he spent time with friends
and family, hunted and fished,
and read up on military history.
He is survived by many friends
and family members.
PALMER H. WHITE, Sept.
4, 2013. Palmer attended
Northwestern University Medical
School before joining the U.S.
Army in 1964. He was stationed
in Germany and then served at a
small field hospital near Venice,
Italy, for several years. He
completed his residency at UCLA
before moving to Novato, a small
town in northern California
where he spent the rest of his
life. For nearly three decades he
was dedicated to improving “the
whole medical scene in Novato,”
working in the emergency room
every other night and weekend, serving as chief of staff at
Novato Community Hospital and
volunteering to create a system
that would provide medical care
to uninsured children. He helped
the town to open a new hospital
in 2001. The Marin Medical
Society honored him with the
Physician of the Year Award
in 1996. After retiring from his
surgical practice, he and his wife,
Allison, a nurse, opened the Laser
Light Treatment Center. His
survivors include his wife of 38
years, five children, five grandchildren and nephew W. Bradley
White ’79.
1960
JAMES W. PILGRIM, Sept. 28,
2013. At the age of 3, Jim was
already shining shoes for a nickel.
As a teenager he mowed lawns
to fund his high school sports
activities. After Williams he went
on to a career in life insurance,
serving as regional director of
Connecticut General for more
than 20 years before becoming
VP of Frankona America. He
retired as VP of Swiss Re America
in 1999 and moved with his wife,
Thelma, to Plainfield, Mass.,
where her family had a 100-acre
homestead. From there, he could
attend every home game of his
favorite baseball team, the North
Adams Steeplecats, and serve as
a board member of nonprofits
working to improve health facilities and public education. His
survivors include his wife of 35
years and three children.
LOUIS M. TERRELL, Jan. 4, 2014.
After studying political science
at Williams, Lou earn­ed a PhD
from Stanford (1968) and went on
to a more than 30-year career as a
political science professor at San
Diego State University, including
12 years as department chairman.
He also served as a city councilman and, in 1981, mayor of his
hometown of Del Mar, Calif. He
was on the board and executive
committee of the ACLU Affiliate
of San Diego and Imperial
Counties. Within months of joining the boards of the San Diego
chapter of Planned Parenthood
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and the Foundation for Change,
he was named board president. He
died trying to save his dog from
an oncoming train. His survivors
include his wife of 28 years, Carol,
stepchildren Joel S. Isackson ’91
and Amy B. Isackson ’95, several
grandchildren and brothers Henry
S. Terrell ’64 and Stanley S.
Terrell ’70.
1961
ALAN N. RACHLEFF, Oct. 18,
2013. Gibby earned his MD from
Yale (1965) and joined the U.S.
Navy, where he served as a general medical officer on a squadron
of destroyers during the Vietnam
War. His career as an anesthesiologist started at ColumbiaPresbyterian Hospital, where he
was on the teaching staff for five
years. He lived in Great Neck,
N.Y. He loved his work and spent
long hours in the OR, but he still
found time for sailing and racing
small boats. Over the years, he
raced in New York, Minnesota,
the Caribbean, Italy and England.
In 1986, a new job, new relationship and opportunities to sail
took him to Minneapolis, Minn.
He later returned to New York
and worked at North Shore
University Hospital for many
years. Married and divorced
twice, he had no children.
RICHARD WARCH, Sept. 14, 2013.
Rik earned his divinity degree
and his PhD in American studies
at Yale before being hired by the
university to teach history and
American studies (1968-1977).
During his time in New Haven,
he was appointed to several
prestigious positions, including
associate director of the National
Humanities Institute and associate dean of the university. He
enjoyed academic administration
and left Yale for a post as VP for
academic affairs at Lawrence
University in Appleton, Wis. In
1979 he became the university’s
14th president, a job he held until
2004. During that time he initiated sweeping changes, reviewing the university’s curriculum,
re-establishing a freshman studies
course, expanding the music
conservatory and transforming
the landscape of the campus.
He is credited with rebuilding
Bjorklunden, Lawrence’s “northern campus” in Door County, and
weaving it into the experience of
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M AY 2 0 1 4 P E O P L E
all Lawrence students, many of
whom he knew by name. In 2009,
the newly built campus center
was named for him and his wife,
Margot. His survivors include his
wife of 51 years, three children
and four grandchildren.
1964
GEORGE COOPER IV, April 28,
2012. George earned his MD
from Cornell (1968). After a
research position with the Mayo
Clinic and a fellowship at Duke
University, he became an expert
and leader in heart physiology
research. He directed cardiovascular research at the University
of Iowa and taught medicine and
physiology at Temple University
before moving in 1985 to South
Carolina. There, George taught at
the Medical University of South
Carolina and then directed its
Gazes Cardiac Research Institute.
He was also chief of cardiology
with the VA Medical Center in
Charleston. His research earned
several awards, including the
Louis N. Katz Basic Science
Research Prize of the American
Heart Association and the
Carl Wiggers Award from the
American Physiology Society’s
Cardiovascular Section. His
survivors include his wife of 30
years, Elizabeth, four children,
four grandchildren, and nieces
Ingrid Dankmeyer ’89 and Erica
Dankmeyer ’91.
1966
DAVID COOK, Oct. 8, 2013. Dave
developed a love of the outdoors
and the state of Maine as a child
attending Camp Kingsley. In
1970 he made Yarmouth, Maine,
his permanent home after working for IBM in NYC for nearly a
decade. He and his family lived
on a 100-acre blueberry and
Christmas tree farm, built a sales
and marketing business and then
moved into real estate sales. He
became a broker in 1992. Among
his survivors are his ex-wife,
Olis, three children, including
Katherine C. Thomas ’93, and
five grandchildren.
1968
KEVIN J. DOUGHERTY, Dec. 11,
2013. Kevin earned an MBA from
Columbia University (1973) and
went on to a career in finance,
starting out at Banker’s Trust
Co. and First National Bank of
Boston. In 1981 he became VP
of the Massachusetts Capital
Resource Co., and in 1985 he
moved to 3i Capital Corp. before
becoming the managing director
of the Venture Capital Fund for
New England in 2001. He and
his family lived in the Boston
area, and for many years he was
a trustee of the Newton Country
Day School. He moved to
Williamstown in 2011 and spent
time playing golf and hockey
in the Purple Valley while still
remaining active with his work.
His survivors include his wife
of 39 years, Moira, children
Margaret R. Dougherty ’02 and
Michael C. Dougherty ’04 and
niece Kathleen M. Ryan ’05.
1972
TYLER J. GRIFFIN JR., Nov. 4,
2013. After a brief career in sales,
Ty opened up the Tyler Griffin
Co. and spent the rest of the his
career as an entrepreneur. A
national squash finalist during
his time at Williams who ranked
seventh worldwide, he played
competitive tennis for the rest of
his life. He also spent a great deal
of time singing and acting, performing in a variety of musicals
and operettas. He is survived by
his wife, Mary, and a son.
1974
COLIN B. CLIFFORD, Oct. 18,
2013. Colin owned and operated several restaurants in the
Seattle area, including Clifford
Restaurant, Jerseys Sports Bar
and The Giants Causeway. A
major aspect of his life was his
quest to bring a pedophile accused
of multiple crimes to justice, and
he acted as a source for multiple
journalists as they pursued his
former teacher, who was eventually exposed as a predator. Colin
died due to complications of
long-term diabetes. His survivors
include four siblings and many
nieces and nephews.
CLAIRE C. TAMM, Oct. 4,
2013. Claire earned a JD from
Columbia in 1977 and worked
for several law firms, including
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Finley,
Kumble, Wagner; and Rosenman
& Colin, before starting her own
practice in NYC and Millbrook,
N.Y. Among her survivors are two
sons and three brothers, including
Rex J. Coons ’78.
1976
ELIZABETH N. MEANS, Sept. 13,
2013. Betsy was a marketing executive with Doyle Dane Bernbach
and Clairol and joined Citigroup
as director of branding, advertising
and new product development.
After 25 years, she left the corporate world to make a difference in
the lives of children. A longtime
volunteer for organizations such
as the Association to Benefit
Children, she earned an MA from
Columbia Teachers College (2006)
and spent several years teaching English and language arts at
LaGuardia and Hunter College
high schools. She was marketing
adviser to the Chapin School in
NYC and co-founded Think Tank
for Education to improve the quality of education in the U.S. Among
her survivors are her husband of
32 years, Stephen H. Gardner ’75,
three children, including Elizabeth
D. Gardner ’08, and niece Allison
Gardner ’10.
1977
SUSAN LEE, Nov. 6, 2013.
Susan was a nurse practitioner
who focused on providing health
care to the underserved. She
earned her master’s degree from
Pace University’s Family Nurse
Practitioner program (1983)
and worked at the South Cove
Community Health Center in
Boston from 1983 to 1991 and
at Anthony L. Jordan/Westside
Community Health Services in
Rochester, N.Y. from 1992 until
2013. She spent much of her free
time backpacking, hiking and
birding. Her survivors include
her husband of 30 years, Stephen,
her father, three sisters and several nieces and nephews.
1979
ANDREW P. KANE, Oct. 21, 2013.
Andrew earned an MS from
Cornell (1981) and an MD from
Boston University (1986). He
trained in family practice in West
Virginia before starting his career
as an ER physician. He lived in
Maine for several years and then
settled in New Hampshire, where
he worked at the Lakes Region
General Hospital in Laconia (19992013). He spoke English, French
and Spanish and loved traveling with his family. Among his
survivors are his wife of 27 years,
Martha, and four children, including Rebecca A. Kane ’10.
1983
DIANE A. KOSKINAS, May
29, 2013. Diane spent a year at
Williams and graduated from
Wellesley. She was a scriptwriter
at Castle Rock Studios before
earning a master’s degree in mass
communications from Emerson
College (1997), where she was
a script supervisor. She spoke
openly about her struggle with
bipolar disorder, saying that
it alternated between “crisply
vibrant experiences” that she
wanted to make the most of and
crippling depression. Her survivors include her mother, two
sisters and two nieces.
RICHARD WARCH ’61
REGINE A. PLUMMER, July 8,
2013. Regine earned her MA in
accounting from NYU (1984) and
went on to a 24-year career as a
partner at the Padded Wa­gon, a
professional moving com­pany in
the Bronx. Her survivors include
her longtime friend Jimmy.
MICHAEL S. WEINER, Nov. 21,
2013. A Harvard Law School
graduate and clerk for U.S.
District Court Judge Lee Sarokin
of Newark, N.J., Mike joined
the Major League Baseball
Players Association in 1989 as
assistant general counsel. With
the exception of a few years as a
partner with the firm Margolin
& Neuner, he remained with
the association for the rest of his
life, serving as general counsel
and then, beginning in 2009, as
executive director. Trusted by
players, managers and executives,
he was an informal presence at
the negotiating table—clad in
blue jeans, flannel shirts and
white high-top Chuck Taylor
All-Stars. He forged agreements
with team owners that enhanced
drug testing and fostered years of
labor peace after decades of strife.
He also coached little league
and taught Sunday school at the
Jewish Center of Northwest New
Jersey, which recently named its
Hebrew school for him. In 2012,
he announced that he had a brain
tumor but continued to work
while undergoing treatment, even
after losing his ability to walk or
use his right arm. He received a
Williams Bicentennial Medal for
achievement in 2013. His survivors include his wife of 27 years,
Diane, and three daughters.
ELIZABETH N. MEANS ’76
SUSAN LEE ’77
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1984
DORIS (WEISBUCH) SOMAN,
July 14, 2013. Doris was a mother
of two when she enrolled at
Williams. She went on to earn an
MA in counseling from Antioch
University (1988) and worked
for many years as an individual
and family therapist in Pittsfield,
Mass. She lived in France for several years and honed her cooking
skills at the Cordon Bleu school,
visited Kenya and volunteered
with hurricane relief efforts in
Honduras following Hurricane
Mitch. In retirement, she rescued
and raised Boxer dogs, placing
them in suitable homes throughout the Berkshires. She was predeceased by her daughter Sylvia.
Her survivors include a daughter
and three siblings.
1996
SARAH KELLY BEARD, Sept.
28, 2013. Kelly was a junior
advisor and a member of the
Gargoyle Society at Williams,
where she played rugby and golf.
She earned a master’s degree in
education from the University
of Virginia (2001) and taught
and tutored elementary school
students in Charlottesville and
Richmond, Va., before returning to Massachusetts to pursue a
master’s in divinity at Andover
Newton Theological School.
Battling cancer, she lived in
Newton, near her twin sister.
Other survivors include her
fiancée, Sarah, her mother, her
father—W. Robinson Cook
Beard ’62—and cousins John
Beard Jr. ’53, Geoffrey Evans
Beard ’90 and Amelia T.
Beard ’06.
2000
SHAUN D. DUGGINS, Nov. 1,
2013. At Williams, Preach was
a popular junior advisor, played
ultimate Frisbee and was known
for his contagious smile. He went
on to Georgia State University
to begin work on a PhD in
psychology. While there he fell ill
with a respiratory issue and died
suddenly. Family, friends and
colleagues say he was someone
they could turn to for help in any
situation. His survivors include
his parents and his wife, Tory G.
Nimms ’00.
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2010
ZACHARIAS H. MCCLENDON,
Dec. 18, 2013. An honor student
in high school, Zach played
upright bass and cello in the
Honor Orchestra for the state of
Mississippi. He studied chemistry
at Williams and earned an MS in
biology and medical science from
the University of Mississippi
(2011). He was in his first year of
an MBA program at Ole Miss and
had recently learned of his acceptance to the university’s medical
school at the time of his death.
Zach was a trained American
Medical Response paramedic,
interned with several orthopedic
surgeons in his hometown of
Gulfport and planned to work
with communities in need after
medical school. He was killed
during a robbery of his home.
He was predeceased by a brother.
His survivors include his parents,
grandmothers and five siblings.
SARAH KELLY BEARD ’96
OTHER DEATHS
WILLIAM R. CROCKER ’40,
date unknown
EDWARD A. DALY ’50,
Dec. 11, 2010
JAMES A. RICHARDSON ’49,
Aug. 23, 2013
GEORGE R. BROOKS ’51,
May 14, 2006
WILLIAM B. EDGAR ’55,
Aug. 7, 2013
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.
SHAUN D. DUGGINS ’00