PEOPLE l JANUARY 2016 - Alumni News

Transcription

Editorial Offices
P.O. Box 676
Williamstown, MA
01267-0676
W I LL I A M S P EO PL E
JANUARY 2016
Williams
P E O P L E l J A N U A R Y 2 016
“We’ve launched
a competition to
find a new song
that is worthy of
standing alongside
(not replacing) ‘The
Mountains.’”
Leila Jere ’91
President, Society of Alumni
leila.jere@gmail.com
GREET US WITH A SONG
SHARE YOUR #EPHPURPOSE
By now, many of you know about and may even have participated in
Teach It Forward: The Campaign for Williams, which launched in early
October. In addition to the ambitious and unprecedented goal of raising
$650 million, Williams is aiming to engage 85 percent of alumni in the
campaign by inspiring them to give, attend events, volunteer or join us via
the web and social media.
Williams alumni take great pride in what we do for each other and our
communities. It is this devotion to collective action that makes many Ephs
proud to remain connected to each other and the college. The campaign
offers us a chance to celebrate more fully these efforts through an initiative
called Purple with Purpose, the engagement platform of Teach It Forward.
You can read more about Purple with Purpose in Alumni Relations Director
Brooks Foehl’s ‘88 essay on the inside back cover of this issue of People.
The campaign also gives us an opportunity to look back and examine the
traditions that have helped unite us around our alma mater.
Over the last few years, one of the great pleasures and honors I’ve had
has been to meet Williams alumni who graduated in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s.
It no longer surprises me when some of these men, now in their 70s and
80s, burst into fulsome song in celebration of life at Williams—at meals, at
reunion gatherings, you name it. In researching Williams song lyrics (and, in
the process, uncovering the lamentable fact that the most recent edition of
the Williams songbook dates to 1959), I came across an excellent illustrated
history, When Colleges Sang: The Story of Singing in American College Life,
by J. Lloyd Winstead (University of Alabama Press, 2013). The Greylocks
out there will be pleased to know that the writer’s acknowledgement opens
with a mention of Fred Rudolph ’42. Winstead describes the strong singing
tradition in American colleges that predated fraternity and fight songs, when
students would sing together for entertainment and as a way to comment on
current events on campus.
Today we sing “The Mountains” and perhaps a couple of other songs,
but many of the songs from 1959 no longer bind us together as they did in
generations past. So one goal of Purple with Purpose is to update the
Williams songbook to better reflect who we are today. To do that, we’ve
launched a competition to find a new song that is worthy of standing alongside (not replacing) “The Mountains.” Selections from the competition will
be compiled in a new Williams songbook that reflects the diverse and global
community Williams is today.
I hope that you will participate in this experiment to add new songs
to our old standards and write a new chapter in Williams history. You can
learn more about the competition and submit songs at alumni.williams.edu/
submit-your-song. You don’t have to be a professional songwriter or musician
to pull a few verses together. Even better, why not look up an old entrymate
or two and collaborate?
The college formally launched Teach It Forward: The Campaign for
Williams in early October, and I encourage you to explore the campaign’s
fundraising priorities at teachitforward.williams.edu. But I also want to draw
your attention to an initiative designed to engage the Williams community in
a deliberate and broad-based manner in support of the campaign.
First, let’s go back a couple of years. As part of the planning for Teach It
Forward, the leadership of the Society of Alumni explored deeply how
to engage alumni over the course of the campaign. Specifically, what could
we do to promote connections between alumni and the college beyond
traditional models? It was clear from the beginning that when the campaign
concludes, its success will be measured not only by dollars raised but also by
how well the college and the Society of Alumni have been able to engage the
entire Williams community.
Out of that thinking, Purple with Purpose was born. Building upon our
extraordinary history of collective action, volunteerism and alumni pride, Purple with Purpose enables and encourages all members of the Williams
family to strengthen our connections with each other and the college, show
how Williams has made a difference in our lives and share the ways in which
we Teach It Forward.
This is not a passive endeavor, and so I want you to understand what
we’re asking of you and how you can participate in ways that resonate with
you. Let me share a few possibilities.
Society of Alumni President Leila Jere ’91 writes about the Williams Song
Competition on the inside front cover of this issue of People. Read what she
has to say, submit a song, and encourage others to do the same.
Nominate a fellow alum for Regional Recognition. A sampling of what
people are saying about fellow Ephs:
• A 1992 alumna “has single-handedly changed lives, changed organizations, changed huge institutions, changed our city.”
• A 1974 alumnus “has been a force for education, social change and
environmental stewardship in our area and made Williams proud in
every measure of the liberal arts tradition.”
• A 1989 Eph’s “civic contribution has been their personal and professional focus over a 20-year career in international rescue, humanitarian
relief and poverty alleviation. Every day they deliver on the very values
PwP seeks to celebrate.”
You can share your own stories of impact and read about others at
purplewpurpose.tumblr.com.
You can also share memories of retiring faculty who have made a difference in your life, check out ways to volunteer with the college, network
with Ephs and more. Explore the full list of opportunities at teachitforward.
williams.edu/pwp. Then, join the charge, follow what your fellow Ephs are
doing, and share your own #Ephpurpose.
With best wishes from Williamstown,
“When the campaign
concludes, its success
will be measured not
only by dollars raised
but also by how well
the college and the
Society of Alumni have
been able to engage
the entire Williams
community.”
Brooks Foehl ’88
Director of Alumni Relations
bfoehl@williams.edu
125
On the Cover
Members of the NY Ephs alumni
association took a tour of the
Gagosian Gallery in June 2015.
5
4
contents
Alumni Photos
Class Notes
2
12
Weddings
118
Births & Adoptions
126
Obituaries
128
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
JANUARY 2016
Volume No. 110, Issue No. 2
Editors
Amy T. Lovett
Francesca B. Shanks
Student Assistants
Natalie DiNenno ‘18
Luke Higgins ‘18
Sarah Stone ‘18
Design & Production
Oberlander Group
Editorial Offices
P.O. Box 676
Williamstown, MA 01267-0676
tel: 413.597.4278
fax: 413.597.4158
email: magazine@williams.edu
http://alumni-news.williams.edu
Address Changes/Updates
Bio Records
75 Park St.
tel: 413.597.4399
fax: 413.597.4178
email: alumni.office@williams.edu
http://alumni.williams.edu
Williams Magazines
(USPS No. 684-580) are 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.
Periodical postage paid at
Williamstown, MA 01267 and
additional mailing offices.
Postmaster:
Send address changes to
Bio Records, 75 Park St.,
facebook.com/williamscollege
@williamscollege
youtube.com/williamscollege
@williamscollege
ALUMNI PHOTOS
1. During a visit to San Francisco in September 2015, Karen Ashby ’79 (right) saw Fabienne Marsh ’79. 2. 2011 classmates (from
left) Shawn Curley, Tess McHugh, Ifiok Inyang, Cameron Nutting Williams, Tim Lengel, Emily Spine, Joseph Kiernan and Caroline
Chiappetti gathered in Williamstown in September 2015 to plan their June reunion. 3. In October 2015, Sue (Leary) Sipprelle ’80 and
Dwight Sipprelle ’80 (back row, center) ran the Newport, R.I., half-marathon with family and friends, including (front row, from left)
Troy Sipprelle ’17, Cara Sipprelle ’11 and David Doggett ’12. 4. 1973 classmates (from left) Larry Shoer, Dave Butts, Jeff Hanes and
Dick Tavelli attended the wedding of Joe Shoer ’06 in Bolton, Mass., in September 2015. 5. Bob Panuska ’62 (center) welcomed
classmates Kit Jones (left) and Mike Canon to his summer home on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, in July 2015. 6. While hiking
along the McKenzie River in Oregon in August 2015, Stu McLaughlin ’94 (right) spotted the Williams T-shirt of David Pesikoff ’90
1
2
3
4
6
5
2
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Visit http://bit.ly/ephphotos for information on how to submit photos for consideration.
and introduced himself. 7. Members of the NY Ephs alumni association took a tour of the Gagosian Gallery organized by Aquilah
Gantt ’05 (far right) in June 2015. 8. Harry Tether ’67 (left) and Terry Sands ’67 went mountain climbing in New Hampshire in July
2015. 9. From left: Dick Peinert ’69, Beth and Rick Corwin ’69, Rick Renner ’69, Janet Friskey and Alan Dittrich ’69 met up during the
Williams Boston Association annual meeting in June 2015. 10. Tracy Heilman ’88 (left) visited Esu Anahata ’88 at his U.S. home base
in Burlington, Maine, in August 2015. 11. Jim Mabie ’57 (center) was in Glenview, Ill., in August 2015 to celebrate his 80th birthday
with (from left) Natalie Weyerhaeuser ’15, David Weyerhaeuser ’81, Martha (Mabie) Gardner ’91, Grace Mabie ’19, Sarah Mabie
Weyerhaeuser ’83 and Kaylee Weyerhaeuser ’11.
7
8
9
10
11
J A N UA RY 2016
l
3
ALUMNI PHOTOS
12. From left: Sophia Rosenfeld ’15, Iman Lipumba ’14, Jeff Thaler ’74 and Caroline Bruno ’15 visited Len Libby Chocolatier in
Scarborough, Maine, in June 2015. 13. In August 2015, (from left) Laura Brenneman ’99, Duane Lee ’01, Williams astronomy professor
Jay Pasachoff and Eric Pilger ’82 met up at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Honolulu, Hawaii.
14. Sarah Loebs Werkman ’88 (left) and Sarah McMillan ’88 celebrated turning 50 by walking 100 miles of Portugal’s Rota Vicentina
in September 2015. 15. Selena Tan ’89 (center) and Ken Lafler ’86 (far right) celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a BBQ
in Cambridge, Mass., in October 2015 with (from left) Sean McPherson ’88, Erich Groat ’86 and Randall Kromm ’86. 16. Sam Flood ’83
(second from right) organized a trip to the Kentucky Derby for classmates (from left) Mark Pine, Peter Saulnier, Bill Curcio, Tim Curran
and Kelton Burbank in May 2015. 17. Stan Fri ’75 (right) visited his former track teammate Mike Reed ’75 in Carlisle, Pa., in June 2015.
13
12
14
15
16
4
l
17
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
18. Joe Albright ’58 (left) hiked to the Grand Teton summit in Jackson Hole, Wyo., with a guide in August 2015. 19. In October 2015,
(from left) Toyin Dong ’93, Santi Goetzinger ’94, Mecha (Brooks) Inman ’94 and Lizzette Colón ’94 visited Williamstown with their
families. 20. Members of the Class of 1967 and their families toured the Gettysburg Battlefield in Pennsylvania in June 2015.
21. A performance by Gordon Clapp ’71 (center) in Stella and Lou drew classmates (from left) Jack Sands, Steve Latham, Sue
Brown, Steve Brown, Laura Estes and Geo Estes to Peterborough, N.H., in September 2015. 22. Empire Runners Club members
(from left) Beth Links ’09, Aldis Inde ’15, Andrew Gaidus ’11, Thomas Gaidus ’13, Sam Jackson ’10, Sam Blackshear ’10, Brandon
Abaloso ’13 and Bret Scofield ’10 ran a cross country race at San Bruno Mountain State Park in Brisbane, Calif., in October 2015.
18
19
20
21
22
J A N UA RY 2016
l
5
ALUMNI PHOTOS
23. In August 2015, (from left) Jeff Whitaker ’93, Robb Friedman ’93, Elisa Dugundji Friedman ’91, Jen Raney Harris ’93 and Camille
Preston ’93 climbed West Rattlesnake Mountain in Holderness, N.H. 24. Sheldon Ross ’82 (back row, left) and Chuck Warshaver ’82
(front row, second from left) celebrated their 55th birthdays in September 2015 in Scottsdale, Ariz., with (from left, back row) Steve
Doherty ’82, Jay Hellmuth ’82 and John Downey ’82 and (front row) Hugh Oxnard ’82, Marc Sopher ’83 and Jeff Morrison ’82. 25. In
August 2015, members of the Class of 1967 and their families got together at the Evergreen, Colo., ranch of Larry Ricketts ’67 (back
row, third from left). 26. 2011 classmates (from left) KK Durante and Sarah Weber visited Maddy Haff in Hanover, N.H., in July 2015
and climbed Mount Cardigan in the Lakes Region. 27. In August 2015, members of the Class of 2004 got together in Boston to cheer
on the Yankees.
23
24
25
26
6
l
27
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
28. 1945 classmates celebrating their 70th reunion in Williamstown in June 2015 were (from left, back row) Ted Murphy, Fred
Wardwell and Fielding Brown and (front row) Fred Scarborough, Art Nims, Gil Lefferts and Dick Morrill. 29. In July 2015, 1991
classmates (from left) Sal Vasi, Yung Moon, Chris Mersereau, Buff Winterer, Mark Elefante and Jamie Slater gathered together in
Boston. 30. Kevin Weng ’93 (left) visited Kurt Shaw ’93 in Florianopolis, Brazil, in June 2015. 31. Women’s crew team alumni (from
left) Tobie Cornejo ’94, Molly O’Meara Sheehan ’92, Yvonne Hao ’95, Jen Hood-DeGrenier ’95 and Lora Verkouille ’92 rowed together
on Onota Lake in Pittsfield, Mass., in September 2015. 32. Whiting Dimock Leary ’92 (left) and Emily Wasserman ’07 participated
in Ironman Boulder in Colorado in August 2015. 33. In July 2015, (from left) Jim Clayton ’08, Emily (Fowler-Cornfeld) Clayton ’09,
Lindsey Wu ’07 and Larry Wu ’78 met up in Pawleys Island, S.C.
28
30
32
29
31
33
J A N UA RY 2016
l
7
ALUMNI PHOTOS
34. Independent school teachers (from left) Monsie Muñoz ’09, Ellissa Popoff ’06, Taylor Stevens ’11, Khalid Bashir ’12 and Tim
Goggins ’12 attended the Teachers College Columbia University Klingenstein Summer Institute in Lawrenceville, N.J., in June 2015.
35. 1962 alumni and their spouses got together at Bristol Harbor Resort in Canandaigua, N.Y., in July 2015. 36. Eph members of the
Jeffrey family, representing classes from 1951 to 2012, posed for a photo at their family reunion in Columbus, Ohio, in June 2015.
37. Jack Hornor ’51 (left) celebrated the June 2015 Williams graduation of his granddaughter Kate Hornor ’15 (center) with her
uncle Yo-Yo Ma in New Marlborough, Mass. 38. In October 2015, Nikki Kimball ’93 (right), pictured with (from left) Mari Omland ’89,
Mary Barron ’92, Williams philosophy professor Joe Cruz ’91 and Kristian Omland ’91, gave a presentation in Rutland, Vt., after the
screening of the film Finding Traction, about her ultrarunning career.
34
35
36
37
38
8
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
39. Members of the Class of 1984 took a backpacking trip in Colorado’s Mount Zirkel wilderness in August 2015. 40. At their
25th Williams reunion in June 2015, 1980 classmates (from left) Nancy Nichols Dougherty, Trudie Larrabee, Becky Chase and Betsy
McGean celebrated their longtime friendship. 41. At a Pembroke Hill School reunion in Kansas City in March 2015, Aroop Mukharji
’09 (second from left) and Auyon Mukharji ’07 (right) realized their Williams connection with Jack Kroh ’62 (left) and Tom Stites ’64.
42. On a trip to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in August 2015, Rodney Cunningham ’88 (right) met up with Ahmed Geldiyer, CDE ’10, after
finding him in the alumni directory. 43. In July 2015, Suzi and Jim Case ’41 (at right) hosted a gathering at their home in Honolulu,
Hawaii, with (from left) Ed Case ’75, Suzanne Case ’78, Fred Dittmann ’75 and grandson Nathan Case.
39
41
40
42
43
J A N UA RY 2016
l
9
ALUMNI PHOTOS
44. 1957 classmates (from left) Bob Lane, Pete Fleming, Tom Slonaker and George Sykes celebrated their birthdays together in
Kiawah Island, S.C., in April 2015. 45. Cindy Soohoo ’88 (third from left) welcomed classmates (from left) Tal Klein, Beth Bernheimer
Harrington, Lisa Tenerowicz, Ellen (Wagner) O’Connell, Sarah Benioff, Katie Brackenridge and Christine Boddicker Roach to
her house on Fire Island, N.Y., in May 2015. 46. In May 2015, Todd Shayer ’06 (center) celebrated his birthday with classmates
(from left) Emily Novik, Kristin Moss, Beth Ann (Barnosky) Amendt, Katie Krause, Erin Tetler and Ward Schaefer in Atlanta, Ga.
47. Jennifer (Plansky) McKinley (center) and Bill McKinley ’92 (right) watched their daughter’s April 2015 lacrosse tournament
in Lexington, Mass., with classmates (from left) Heidi Sandreuter, Mark Niehaus and Ashley Milliken. 48. On the way to a
Williams Alumni of Color event in Chicago in October 2015, Sharifa Wright ’03 (right) and Dan Perkins ’78 (left) visited with
44
45
46
47
10
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
48
Clarence Wilson ’67 and his wife Helena (center). 49. 1964 classmates and Phi Gamma Delta brothers (from left) Al Hageman, Alex
McCloskey, Rob Garton, Quentin Murphy and Dick Hubbard gathered in Cabbage Key, Fla., in March 2015. 50. During their Williams
reunion in June 2015, members of the Class of 1954 and their families met for dinner at the Taconic Golf Club. 51. 2011 classmates
(from left) Rooney Charest, Lizzie Barcay, Katie White, Chandler Sherman, Lauren Anstey, Tommy Nelson and Tim Lengel spent
Memorial Day weekend 2015 in Williamstown and visited the Blue Benn diner in Bennington, Vt. 52. Raquel Rodriguez ’16 (center),
who was studying in Provençe, France, in April 2015, spotted four members of the Class of 1961—(from left) Walt Henrion, Harvey
Plonsker, Paul Boire, Lou Guzzetti, John Castleman and Art Waltman—by their Williams hats.
39
49
40
50
41
51
42
52
J A N UA RY 2016
l
11
CLASS NOTES
If your class isn’t represented by a secretary, please submit notes
to Williams People, P.O. Box 676, Williamstown, MA 01267 or
magazine@williams.edu. If you are interested in serving as class
secretary, please contact the Alumni Office at 413.597.4151.
1936
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Please submit notes to Williams People, P.O. Box 676,
Williamstown, MA 01267 or to alumninews@williams.edu
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Pete Parish, 350 East Michigan Ave., Ste. 500, Kalamazoo,
MI 49007; Wayne Wilkins, 240 South St., Williamstown,
MA 01267; 1941secretary@williams.edu
In the last edition of Williams People we counted
our living athlete-scholars. One was Jim Fowle, who
won the Karl E. Weston Prize for Distinction in Fine
Arts and the Canby Athletic Scholarship Prize at our
commencement. Sadly, even before the September
People was published, Jim passed away in July 2015.
Jim was ever loyal to Williams, writing regularly
in his beautiful hand, attending class reunions and
guiding his daughter to Williams. He had been an
officer in the U.S. Navy, serving on both fronts in
WWII. His career thence was in the art world via
a PhD at Harvard. He attributed this interest to
his studies at Williams under Karl Weston and “his
young colleagues Faison, Stoddard and Pierson”
(his quote). His teaching career included his years
at Harvard, Bryn Mawr and the Rhode Island
School of Design.
Perhaps he was best known to Williams alums who
visited him and Alison in their Siracusa, Italy, winter apartment while on trips abroad. Spring returned
them to Thetford, Vt., their home for many years.
Rob Bowman ’83 reported the death of his father
Frank Bowman Jr. “My dad passed away in June. He was 93. Although in declining health in recent
years, he had been pretty sharp to the end. As you
know well, it is still difficult to process the permanence of a parent no longer being around
anymore. He had a wonderful, long life. Here is
a link to the article written in our local paper this
June: http://bit.ly/1HccCwM. Unfortunately,
the article failed to mention his Williams pedigree! Dad was proud to be a Williams alumnus,
and he and my mom went back to reunions every
so often, including for the 50th. His wrestling
photos are still up in the old gym.”
Last August Pete Parish and Barbara hosted a
family reunion in Charlevoix, Mich., for five children
12
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
(including Will Parish ’75) and spouses, 13 grandchildren and spouses and seven great-grandchildren.
The family is scattered throughout the U.S., from
Connecticut to Michigan to Minnesota, Colorado,
Utah, Washington State and California. Despite
the travel required by some, 29 of the 35 members managed to come, and all enjoyed a wonderful
celebration.
Charlie Ferguson is still golfing and spending his
summers on Fishers Island, N.Y., managing his Red
Barn Art Gallery. He continues to paint small pictures but is also working on a large, 6’ x 8’ project. His
three daughters and three grandchildren visit him on
Fishers Island during the summer. His main complaint is that he has to use a cane to walk around,
when he’s not in a golf cart. You can visit him at
Seabury in Bloomfield, Conn., off-season.
Wayne Wilkins and Suki welcomed Pete Parish
and Barbara for a fall weekend in Williamstown
in early October. It was a football game between
Williams and Bates; bright blue skies, and the purple
mountains were lit with fall color. The Wilkinses’ son
Wayne Wilkins ’79 and his wife Kate were present for
the weekend festivities.
A reminder that our 75th reunion is June 9-12,
2016, and we hope all who are able will attend.
1942
Thurston Holt, 4902 Willowood Way, Norman, OK 73026;
1942secretary@williams.edu
Part of the adventurous life Marilyn Ball had with
her late husband Ralph Ball was skiing together and
cheering him on as he raced and free-skied in the
U.S. and Europe through his 89th year.
Marilyn and I recently shared a true ski story about
a Williams student. This student was confined to the
Williams campus because of his low marks when
there was a spectacular overnight snowstorm. The
snow was powdery, perfect for skiing. It was agonizing for the campus-bound student because he was a
superb skier.
Soon that morning several of his friends told him
of a ski outing they were planning and persuaded
him to join them.
So it was off to the famous Vermont ski resort
Suicide Six. The day on the slopes was glorious until
near the end, when the miscreant hit a hidden stone
and had a horrendous fall.
He appeared to have a broken leg. His friends
carefully lifted him and carried him to their car, and
they drove back to the Lasell gym, where they ever
so cautiously carried him to the squash court.
One of his friends then went to his room and
gathered a set of his squash clothes. At the gym they
gingerly changed their wounded friend from ski
clothes to squash clothes.
Then—and only then—did they notify medical
that there had been an accident on the squash court.
Ralph and Marilyn had a chalet at Aspen. Its
successor was an old cabin on a mining claim, and it
was called Little Dolly #5. As the crow flies it is nine
miles from Park City, Utah, the famed silver mining
hub. At 9,000 feet above sea level, it is in the vicinity
of Alta ski resort.
To visit her Little Dolly #5, Marilyn drives up
steep, winding Guardsman Pass, named after the
1936– 43
Utah National Guard, who during WWII had a
road-building training operation in the area. Many
years later leftover material from that operation was
used to pave the rocky road.
I welcomed a letter from Richard Ray. He wrote,
in part, “We talked a bit about the bridge world.
I remember our 11 a.m. classes at Williams that
couldn’t end soon enough for colleagues to rush off
to play bridge during the noon hour rather than eat!
Sadly, the bridge world has become much less attractive to young adults these days, and most are turning elsewhere for entertainment. I became enamored
enough with duplicate (tournament) bridge in the
early 1950s that I became a certified director for the
American Bridge League. I have run hundreds of
local games within the country over the years. I got
to play very little because of my directing duties and
never built up any number of master points. Since
the Culbertson/Goren days, the game of bridge has
become increasingly sophisticated with the evolution
of conventions and rules. And of course game directors today have to be very computer-savvy, which
I am not. But it is still fun to play and is one of the
few activities in which we over-the-hill folks can
participate.”
My middle brother Prescott Holt ’45 was the best
bridge player in my family. He took 252 master
points with him when he left this world.
Liz Hannock’s son Steve co-curated the art show
“River Crossing,” featuring the paintings of Thomas
Cole, Frederick Church and other artists of the 19th
century Hudson River School, America’s first painting movement. Works by contemporary artists were
also featured.
The show was held in home settings: Olana,
Frederick Church’s residence in Greenport, N.Y., on
one side of the Hudson River, and Thomas Cole’s
residence on the opposite side, in Catskill. My
daughter Meg and her husband Ted attended. Part of
their praise for “River Crossing” was the combination
of the past and the contemporary.
Tom Ward started painting after he retired and
settled in Arizona. His principal subjects were
landscapes of the Southwest. They sold well.
I recalled the dinner party Fred Rudolph and Dottie
Rudolph gave the class at our 65th reunion. We were
at round tables, so we could all hear each other. At
the end of dinner as we were breaking up, Tom came
over to me and said, “Thank you for entertaining us.”
That compliment was a delightful surprise because
I was only aware of having told some stories.
I thanked Tom again and told him that since then I
had thought up the insight that if you are depressed,
just think back to some of the compliments you’ve
received over the years, and good spirits will return.
1943
Bill Brewer, P.O. Box 289, Galesville, MD 20765;
With sadness I note that we have lost six members
of the class: Ralph Renzi, Harrison Eddy, Nip Mears,
Henry McKown, Joe Sizoo and Henry Pennell. Renzi
was a man of many accomplishments, known to most
of the class; Eddy was a psychiatrist who practiced
in New York and in northern Virginia; Mears was a
professor of geology at the University of Montana;
McKown was a chemist who worked for the Atomic
Energy Commission in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for his
entire career; Sizoo spent his career with the FBI,
mostly at headquarters in Washington; and Pennell
was a teacher at Avon Old Farms and Taft schools,
both in Connecticut. They will be missed. Their
careers illustrate the great diversity of our class. On a happier subject, your secretary asked Mal
Clark, who is the best cook in the Class of 1943, for
his recipe for oatmeal cookies. It is a large recipe—
Mal has a large family in Minneapolis nearby—but it
can be halved. If anyone wants to try it—the cookies
are excellent—let me know.
Our treasurer (we don’t have much treasure) Walt
Stults gives a report on the trip that he and Jean
made to Prague last summer. The idea was to take a
river cruise from Prague, but low water in the river
kept the riverboats from operating, so Walt and Jean
were bussed to various points of interest on the river.
Not a very pleasant experience. This may be their last
trip to Europe.
With hurricane Patricia threatening to dump a
torrent of rain on Houston, Texas, in October, I
called Frank Smith to see if he was prepared. Of
course, he was. It was just beginning to rain, and
Houston got plenty, but never the deluge that was
predicted. When I was with NOAA, my friends in
the Weather Service used to tell me, “Bill, we can
always tell you what the weather is going to be, we
just can’t tell you when.”
In Falmouth, Maine, on Buzzards Bay, Dick Shriner
reports that he and Liz are doing reasonably well,
except for eye problems that keep them from driving.
They were looking forward to Thanksgiving, which
they spend near their son’s house in Rhode Island,
taking over a small restaurant and having about 40
at the table. That’s not surprising; the Shriners have
18 grandchildren and a growing number of greatgrands. It has been a wonderful summer and fall in
Falmouth, frustrating in that they no longer have a
boat, but at least the veggie garden was productive. Ed Reade moved from Tampa to a retirement community in Easthampton, Mass., not far from the Five
College triangle and near Deerfield School, where
he taught for so many years. His wife Lippy died in
March 2015. Malcolm MacGruer, a.k.a. McGurk, president of our
class, is not well and is presently at a nursing home in
Greenwich, Conn., near his daughter Amanda, who
is taking good care of him and says he is comfortable.
Finding him involved a bit of detective work: talking
to some buddies at a restaurant in Madison, Conn.,
where he has been lunching every week, and talking
to the United Way of Greenwich, where Amanda has
been a volunteer for many years.
Here in Maryland, your secretary Bill Brewer has
been fighting the usual battles against advancing
years. So far, so good, but there is no winning that
one. He has sold his last boat—the dock is empty, but
as of October, the veggie garden was still giving kale
and Swiss chard. Collot is in Washington during the
week, trying cases and chasing malefactors for the
Federal Trade Commission.
Do let me know what’s up with you. I’ll pass it on,
and your classmates will be grateful.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
13
CLASS NOTES
1944
1945
Frederick Wardwell, P.O. Box 118, Searsmont, ME 04973;
Our minireunion the weekend of Oct. 9-10 was
pretty mini, but it was a fine time for those of
us who could attend: Gil Lefferts, Dick Morrill,
Fred Scarborough, Bud Edwards and Fred
Wardwell. Sally Lefferts, Ann Wardwell and Gay
Scarborough were there, too, to assist in driving and maintain decorum. Actually Gay played a
much larger role, keeping us advised of our schedule, making arrangements and rejecting a restaurant
meal in (our) favor of Saturday night cocktails and
dinner at the Scarboroughs’.
After lunch on Friday at the Alumni House,
we adjourned to its lower level to hear reports
from the travelers sponsored by our fellowship
and the Chandler endowments. Casey McClellan
’14, the Chandler recipient, led off with a fascinating talk on bell ringing in towers. She visited
Japan, Indonesia, Italy and England, and she had
good videos showing the bells and their mechanical details along with action videos of the ringing teams. We were fully interested. Casey also had
good public delivery. Six of the ’45 fellowship students followed, and all of them had traveled overseas. Subjects: social enterprise in Pakistan, women’s
experiences in Moroccan Family Court, Argentina’s
solution to America’s youth incarceration problems, the sociopolitical and cultural significance of
Gumboot dancing in South Africa, and including
overlooked married girls in the fight against child
marriage in Peru. Written reports were given out,
which are good reading.
The cocktail hour and dinner were at the restaurant Hobson’s Choice on Water Street, and that
worked out very well. Edwards and Morrill, who
were without daughters or wives, got stuck with a
disproportionate share of the bill, which was just
fine for the rest of us.
Saturday morning we attended a lecture by
English professor Alison Case. Her lecture concerned her new novel, and she read her speech and
long sections of the book. The professor’s handling
of the question and answer session at the end went
very well, and many people lined up afterward to
buy her book.
The football game Saturday afternoon against
Bates was in every way just as good as it gets. The
new stands are about perfect, especially for the slow
and careful walkers. Seats on the 50-yard line were
not reserved but apparently out of courtesy were
left open for alumni. The temperature was about
72, with only the slightest hint of a breeze. At
first Williams seemed to dominate, leading with a
touchdown. Then Bates took over and evened it up.
Passing for both teams made more yards than running, but the mix was good, and there was never a
dull moment. In the last 25 seconds Williams was
ahead by two points, Bates had the ball within an
easy three-point field goal range, and then a serious
14
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Bates penalty put them back beyond their kicker’s
ability. They passed, the receiver fumbled. Williams
recovered, the game was over, and you never heard
such a noisy explosion of shouts from the stands.
During halftime, research performed on the
program indicated Williams had nine assistant
coaches, and the 77 players listed came from
21 states. Eleven came from Massachusetts, nine
from New Jersey, seven from California and five
from New York. The Bates numbers were very
different. Of 68 Bates players, 34 came from
Massachusetts, one from New Jersey, two from
California and one from New York.
I suppose we all know that Col. Ephraim
Williams was killed in a war and that he left
money to establish a school in the boonies of
Northwestern Massachusetts. To my surprise last
summer I was given a book published in 1847 that
traces many Williamses in North America up until
the year 1845. Recognizing that by the numbers
Williams is the most used family name after Smith
and Jones, there are a lot of them. Eph got more
of a write-up than most in the book, but all in all
the Williamses appear to be a pretty impressive lot.
The Williamses listed as attending college: Harvard
118, Yale 60, Dartmouth 12, Williams 16, Brown
20, Amherst 6, Union 11, Hamilton 7. Twentythree other colleges were listed, many names of
which are not gone. Princeton’s name had apparently not been changed, but many Williamses went
to New Jersey schools I cannot identify. The first
Harvard man listed was in the class of 1683, the
first Williams man in the class of 1795.
Col. Ephraim was born in 1715, had five siblings and died just north of Fort Edward, N.Y.,
in September 1755. The battle with the French
and accompanying Indians was substantial. About
400 of the troops with Eph were killed, as were
about 1,000 French and Indians. The commanding French general and staff were captured, and the
French fled north to Crown Point on Lake George.
Col. Williams’ will was written up about two
months before his death while moving through
Albany, N.Y., with the regiment of Massachusetts
soldiers he commanded. To quote the will in part:
“It is my will & Pleasure & Desire that the remaining part of lands not yet disposed of Shall be Sold
at the Discretion of my Executors, within five years
after an Established peace, And the interest of the
money, and Also the interest of my money Arising
by my bonds and notes, Shall be Appropriated
toward the Support and maintenance of a free
School (in a township west of fort Massachusetts,
Commonly Called the west township) for Ever,
provided the Said township fall with in the jurisdiction of the Province of Massachusetts bay, and
provided, also that the Governour & General
Court give the Said township the name
of Williamstown…”
That all sounds pretty clear to me, and it has
worked.
We have lost three more of our classmates
as of this writing: Ed Bloch, Joel Lawson and
Phil Meeske.
1944– 49
1946
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Editor’s note: Bill Shellenberger submitted his last
notes shortly before his death on Nov. 24, 2015.
Rolfe Wyer died in December 2014. Could find
no record of him. The very sad news is that Dick
Debevoise died Aug. 15, 2015. Dick was instrumental in bringing our class together. Even though he had
resigned, he volunteered to replace Dick Schneller as
class agent when Dick became unable to do the job.
He will be sadly missed.
Norm Birnbaum sent a nice note thanking me for
condensing his letter. He also corrected my saying he
studied at Oxford; he was teaching as a member of
the faculty and was a fellow of Nuffield College.
I see Tom Hyndman about once a month. He’s
healthy and travels frequently with his good friend
Sue. Our 60th reunion will be on June 9-12, 2016.
Not many of us are in shape to go. Hopefully, those
who live nearby will represent us. Would appreciate
anyone planning to go to let me know. We need some
of you still-healthy guys to take over class agent, secretary and VP jobs.
On Oct. 19, 2015, received a very nice note from
Harry Davenport. Relates that he retired 27 years ago
as regional manager of a chemical distributing company, lost his wife Nancy in 2002, moved into a continuing care community, Blakehurst, in Towson, Md.,
in 2006. Played squash with a 94-year-old until two
years ago. Still plays golf one to two times per week.
Hard to find nonagenarians with whom to play.
He also participates in an annual variety show. Ollie
Lathrop was also a resident there.
This will be my last letter. For health reasons,
I have to quit. Thanks to all of you who helped over
the years.
1947
John C. Speaks III, 33 Heathwood Road, Williamsville, NY
14221; 1947secretary@williams.edu
As usual, I have nothing to report from our
dwindling and fractured class. Nothing in, nothing
out. Somewhere out there should be someone who
has news to share, wants to locate a classmate or
anything else. Please let me hear from you.
1948
John A. Peterson Jr., 5811 Glencove Drive, #1005, Naples,
FL 34108; 1948secretary@williams.edu
Richard McElvein writes: “Noting a dearth of information, I can report I am alive and well after a close
call with pancreatitis last April. It took me a long
time to recover, but I was able to get away for a short
time with my friend Priscilla Wilson and spent
Xmas at the Chatham Bars Inn. I then had a family visit to Virginia Beach. In the spring, Priscilla and
I spent several days on a jaunt to Charleston, S.C. In
June I was in Williamstown to visit museums and
had a chance to roam the campus. This fall I was to
go to Washington and Baltimore to enjoy the cotillion there, where my granddaughter was coming out.
She has just started at the University of California
in Berkeley. Right now, I am playing golf three times
a week and trying to improve my skills in portrait
painting. Next on the list of events is to choose where
we will spend this Xmas holiday. I have ample room
for visitors if anyone wants to enjoy Cape Cod.”
1949
Chuck Utley, 1835 Van Buren Circle, Mountain View, CA
Class President Wally Barnes and VP Dick
Wells are trying to decide whether to plan a minireunion next fall. Attendance at recent reunions has
been declining. So it would be very helpful if we
knew how many would try to come. If you would like
to see a minireunion scheduled, let Wally know by
phone (860.582.2500), email (wbskybight@cs.com)
or snail mail (1875 Perkins Street, Bristol, CT
06010). That information will help decide whether or
not to go forward with planning.
Oren “Nero” Pollock reported, “My daughter, her husband and I did Williamstown this past
August, starting with The Clark and its usual contents in the main building, plus an unexpected
special van Gogh exhibit with some really great
paintings. We also took in a Eugene O’Neill play at
the Adams Memorial Theatre. Here in Chicago, I
have been taking an Ancient Greek theater course:
Antigone last year and Oresteia of Aeschylus this
year at University of Chicago. Am about to undertake a Roman history and culture course there, too.
Williams alumni continue to volunteer at a Chicago
middle school: Our first exercise this year, fleshing
out a library with some middle school students.
We have been doing this for almost 20 years.”
Ed Maynard has closely watched his grandkids
grow. “Am down to my 10th and last grandchild
applying for college. He’s done well in a top-level
secondary school but has been advised not to apply
to Williams. Too high-pressured academically and
acceptance unlikely. Ah well, I was hoping for a
fourth generation, but hopes dashed. Only ones
accepted have gone elsewhere, i.e. Stanford. Weren’t
we lucky 66 years ago?”
Alex Clement found solace during this past hot
summer by making frequent trips to Mattapoisett,
Mass., to visit his daughter and family who have a
place on the water there. Lots of lobster! He also
“celebrated the baptism of a new great-grandson
on Jekyll Island, Ga.,” and then had a very short visit
in Williamstown to attend the memorial service for
Hank Flynt ’44, who Alex says suffered from a severe
case of dehydration and passed away in the hospital
in Pittsfield, Mass.
Jim Geer put focus on the family this time around:
“Last year my daughter Suzanne Geer Kijewski
’07 got her doctorate, and her husband Mike got two
master’s degrees from Boston University before moving to Tampa, Fla. My son Christopher and his wife
Kelly now live in Acton, Mass., where they have
two children, son Maverick James, 2½, and daughter McKinley Isabella, 1½. My other son Michael is
married to Maria, a Russian girl from Moscow, and
they live and work in Mountain View, Calif. My wife
Pat and I live in Dunedin, Fla., and also enjoy a place
in Boca Grande, where we spend all the time we can.”
Giles Kelly tells us, “Ann and I drove to Cape
Ann, Mass., in September to see the annual schooner
J A N UA RY 2016
l
15
CLASS NOTES
race at Gloucester, then to nearby Rockport to paint
watercolor scenes of salt marshes and the rocky coastline. Traffic was terrible everywhere, especially in our
hometown, DC, which was shut down to welcome
the Pope.”
1950
Francis J. (Jack) McConnell, 1155 Wildwood Lane,
Glenview, IL 60025; 1950secretary@williams.edu
The minireunion was lightly attended. New
President Fred Lanes drove from Boston on the
Mohawk Trail, enjoying the fall colors. The weather
was perfect. No rain! The Class of 1950 was represented by Pete Thurber and Ellen, and Kitty Simpson
(Mrs. Howard Simpson) and her gentleman friend
from Turkey. Dinner Friday night was at Mezze,
Saturday night at Hops & Vines. Williams’ football
team beat Bates on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.
The new stands allow a spectacular view of the
purple mountains. Following dinner Saturday, we
were entertained by the college jazz band, which
gave its usual stellar performance. I had an email from
Mike Carter reporting that they spent two weeks in
France, enjoying the food and wine. They will winter in San Francisco. Wally Stern is in his 42nd year
with the Capital Group in its New York office. He
is doing pro-bono work as chairman emeritus of the
Hudson Institute. His son is Willy Stern ’83; granddaughter is Rebecca Rosenblatt ’12. Kitty Simpson
and Judy Blakey (Mrs. Albert Blakey) joined the
Williams alumni trip to Verona, Italy, and had a
wonderful time.
1951
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Gordon Clarke, 183 Foreside Road, Falmouth, ME 04105;
We will start with a brief note from Dave Wilcox
(who, if memory serves, was the first doctor to give
me a flu shot, back when the needle was the size of a
#10 pencil). By the time we read this posting, Dave
and Jane will have relocated from the Cape to North
Hill in Needham, Mass., and will be looking for
Ephs in the neighborhood.
Tom Kent sums up a bit of the 65th reunion twostep this way: “My memory is shot, frequently have
a cane handy but … at least I’m vertical, and that is
a blessing.” He and Ann are living in a cottage in
a retirement community (The Hill at Whitemarsh,
Lafayette Hill, Pa.) Judy and Tom Costikyan live
nearby, as does the Kents’ son Tim, a Hamilton
magna cum laude graduate who now teaches Latin
and coaches tennis and golf at a nearby Episcopal
Academy.
We have very sad news from Wally Bortz, news I
record because it sends us a message from a classmate who chooses to “keep running” despite the pain
that has been part of his life for several years. “I am
still unsteady on my lonely feet after Ruth Anne died
from Alzheimer’s disease two months ago. Sixty-two
grand years, three horrid ones, now mercifully over.”
Wally continues, “So moving on. Big science paper
in print. Another aging book in near prospect. Aging
is negotiable. Choice vs. fate. Still running despite a
minor heart issue. Keep moving!” Thank you, Wally!
We will try!
16
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Risking the wrath of my editor, who may conclude that I am getting too close to politics, I will
report on what Don Gregg has forwarded. As a former ambassador, Don sent what he considers to be
“the most significant thing (he) has written over the
last several months”: an opinion piece for Ambassadors
Perspectives (a professional journal) commenting on
the “current nuclear deal with Iran.” It is the most
clear, understandable and persuasive writing I have
seen on the subject. It is a credit to Don and to his
profession.
Don Gregg followed up with a separate piece,
which starts, “U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon
is an old friend of mine. As a young Korean Foreign
Service officer, he issued me my visa when I went to
Korea as chief of station in 1973. We have stayed in
touch ever since.
“On Sept. 20, I invited him to play golf with me.
We had a very good time and beat our opponents 2
up in a friendly match.
“The day before we played, the Financial Times carried a long profile Ban liked very much. (The writer,
Gilliam Tett, described him) as a ‘hard-working, selfeffacing man in an extremely tough job.’ I have great
respect for him. Ban is saddened by the refugee crisis in Europe, approves of President Obama’s nuclear
deal with Iran, … thinks global warming must be
responded to more actively, is critical of North Korea’s
behavior and sees no strongly formulated Muslim
response to ISIS. He wishes that Saudi Arabia and
Iran would talk to each other civilly.” Don concludes:
“We are fortunate to have this fine man in such an
important, virtually impossible job.”
Now for a bit of good personal news. Dave
Muhlenberg offers: “Physically, pretty good shape,
ride my bike, cut the grass, hearing deteriorating, eyes
showing signs of (problems)—not complaining, considering age.” Now, here is Dave’s real reason for writing. “My 41-year-old daughter-in-law produced a set
of triplets, all boys, all fine, physically, thank heavens,
and were taken home yesterday (mid-July). So here
I am now with grandsons ranging in ages from 25
to 22 to 10 to zero—how many in our class can top
that?” Secretary’s note: Dave, this is a record, at least
during my watch!
Next, I will briefly introduce the five undergraduates (three men and two women) who benefited
as participants in our summer internship program.
This is the fifth time I have reported on the notes of
thanks that they all send. Without doubt, each class
has become better writers, and each class has reported
on increasingly useful work and learning experiences.
Here is this year’s: A student in the Class of ’17 who
spent six weeks working on an alternative sentencing program in the Pittsfield Juvenile Court as well
as an analysis of bullying in the Pittsfield schools; a
student who interned at a Family Success Center in
New Jersey, learning to run/manage a nonprofit outreach program; a student who spent her time in rural
communities in New Mexico, working with a family
physician treating patients with disabilities; a KoreanAmerican student who worked at a welfare center for
people with serious disabilities as caregiver, teacher,
translator and mentor; and a student who feels that
he is no longer “the Albanian student who is trying
to ‘make it work in a world that is foreign to him’” as
he works toward a PhD in psychology.
1949– 52
These young people are a credit to 1951 and to
Williams. It has been a pleasure to read their stories.
Now, stand by: Here comes Joe McElroy, writing at
warp speed. Joe has a new Ukrainian translator who
wants him to “come to Kiev. Not sure how safe.” This
worthy has handled Joe’s recent works (“two novels including the Iraq war book Cannonball, plus a
story and an interview I will never be able to read in
a literary mag out of Donetskaya. “Story ‘Court of
Last Opinion’ about the Citizens United Supreme
Court decision is just out in Fiction magazine, going
to Justice Ginsburg and to Bill Clinton, and being
translated in France, Sweden, Italy, we think Spain,
also Ukraine. Nonfiction book about water almost
ready for publisher. A novel Voir Dire about 9/11
period and the appeals process almost done, and
at last a novel, Fathers Untold, began when I was at
Williams in 1948-49. Son Boone McElroy, thriving in recording studio mid-Manhattan, is visible, if
barely, in the DeNiro film, The Intern. He’s scoring a
libretto of mine. Can’t seem to persuade the owner of
the top condo floor of my landmark loft building in
Tribeca to install solar.”
Finally, President Dick Siegel has asked that we
include an early reminder to the class that our 65th
reunion will be held the second weekend in June
2016 and that details will follow shortly. Those who
do not plan to stay in the college’s Dodd House
facility should make room reservations elsewhere as
soon as possible. —Gordon Clarke, secretary
1952
Alec Robertson, 3 Essex Meadows, Essex, CT 06426;
1952secretary@alumni.williams.edu
Dear classmates, a most enjoyable summer is now
past, and at the time of this writing we are well into
fall. Hope you are all well and having fun. I have
heard from a wide range of people and am pleased
to have them recount their various travels and
encounters.
Fred Goldstein reported, “We have never experienced a more beautiful minireunion weekend in
Williamstown. The weather was sunny and mild with
colors starting to turn on the mountains and just a
touch of chill in the air. We had a lovely dinner at the
Williams Inn on Friday night, a little tight but winning football game against Bates and a beautiful evening hosted by John Hyde at his house on Saturday
night. It was a tough act to follow the hosting of the
class by and Ann and Doug Foster at their house
after all these years, but John came through with
flying colors. We were entertained by the Octet as
usual—what a terrific group of young men. On hand
for the weekend were Class President Bill Missimer
and Jane, VP Jim Henry and Susan, Betty Ann and
Rick Wheeler, Jacquie and Don Martin, Nicky and
Paige L’Hommedieu, Ann and Doug Foster, Emily
Kraft, and Edwen and Fred Goldstein joined by freshman grandson Seth Goldstein ’19. Don’t know how
he does it at this stage of life, but Pete Gurney had
plays on the boards everywhere over the summer and
fall, with good reviews in the New York Times. Venues
included Westport, the Signature Theatre in New
York, and Broadway for Sylvia in the fall with an allstar cast!” Fred and Ed also had dinner with Marigold
and Bob Bischoff this last summer.
Pete Gurney himself made the following comments: “My theatrical life seems to have caught up
with me, with several revivals and a new play, one
after the other, all year long. I’m exhausted!” (Keep
truckin’, Pete. —Alec)
“The Mannings are still staggering around
Norwalk, leading a quiet life enjoying our children
and grandchildren,” reports Jim Manning.
Good news from Condit Hower, who says he “will
be singing in nursing homes with a local senior center
chorus. As an example of how good we are, I shall be
doing solos of ‘I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts’
in Cockney and ‘Candy Man.’”
Unfortunately, Swifty Swift was not able to attend
the minireunion but has great news for next year’s
plus our big 65th in 2017. “My son Josh Swift ’86
and wife Sonali Weerackody ’86 have bought half
of the old Cole Porter estate on North Main Street
(about a half-mile from the Williams Inn) and are
happy to have us use it for these next events. It has
two large houses plus a five-car garage with a threebedroom apartment over it, which together could
house a number of us. Plus they have a tennis court,
a huge swimming pool, lots of lawn areas for tents
and plenty of room for parking cars, etc. This will
hopefully fill the void left by the Fosters and could
be ideal for our Saturday night festivities! We’re off
to Arizona in a week—guest room/bath if you guys
get west! Great place for the winter—inexpensive
with a wonderful recreation association with tennis,
golf, concerts, courses, etc., so come visit us in Green
Valley, just south of Tucson! 520.625.1380. Cheers,
Swifty.” (Great news, Swifty! —Alec)
The best news I have from the Fuller household is
that they have two grandsons at Williams—Devlin
Nelligan ’17 and Julius Kindfuller ’19! It will be great
to be on the sidelines of the athletic fields again. Bob Huddleston reported, “Vicki and I are leaving for Cuba next Saturday—only for five days. She
has a workshop, and I’ll look to see if it’s noticeably
changed since we were there in 2002. I doubt it, at
least on the surface.”
A disability report came from Bob Kimberly:
“Nancy’s second ankle replacement started to fail
this summer, which meant she walked in increasing
pain. In October she had reconstructive surgery
and is now looking at four to six weeks of no weight
bearing and the pain that goes with healing.
Hopefully, she’ll be able to get around pain-free
again when it is all healed, and I’ll be able to report
we’re doing things again.”
And another disability report from Doug Burgoyne,
who had an operation to remove a tumor from his
pancreas. We hope to have some good news about
this shortly.
Even more dramatic came this missive concerning health and housing from Bob Riegel: “Due likely
to a blood oxygen problem, I had a grand mal seizure, the first one in 50 years. Spent three days in the
hospital. I am now on oxygen full time. Then you
may have seen flood damage to Columbia, S.C., in
the news. We were one of the houses losing the first
floor to rushing water filled with sewage. We were
taken out through rapidly moving water by boats,
and we are now staying in a nice house with very nice
friends. Rebuilding will be lengthy and expensive. At
least 6,000 families in Columbia have had similar or
J A N UA RY 2016
l
17
CLASS NOTES
much worse damage. However, we are alive with support from the cathedral I’ve served for 28 years. I may
have some financial help from family. It is an interesting time in our lives. My days of part-time pastoral
assistance at the cathedral have ended.” (Hope you
recover fully and soon, Bob. —Alec)
Since last checking in, Betsy and Ray George have:
“1. Taken a riverboat down the Snake and Columbia
Rivers from Clarkston, Wash., to Portland, Ore., with
side trips retracing a portion of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition; and, 2. From our stay at the Beekman
Arms Hotel in Rhinebeck, N.Y., traveled up and
down the Hudson River Valley for a week with a
group from the Art Institute of Chicago viewing
the art and architecture of the Hudson River Valley
School. Both trips were very interesting.”
Jim Henry chimed in: “Somewhat like Mark
Twain’s purported demise, my absence from homecoming was slightly exaggerated. The Williams Inn,
under new management, failed until the last minute to recognize my importance—or Susan’s—and
we arrived unenrolled. It was a very nice weekend, thanks to perfect weather, good company, John
Hyde’s hospitality, a very exciting football game, the
inn’s dormitory cuisine and a side trip to the Eric
Sloane Museum of Tools on Route 7. Go there if
you haven’t been, although I admit one person’s
(like me) treasure is another’s trash. Our summer
life consisted of our garden—great; golf—not so
great; and trout fishing, where Susan catches all the
fish. We hope to go to Cuba and southern Spain
this winter—and maybe some bone fishing—where
Susan still catches all the fish.”
Pat and Bill Hatch “are hunkered down in
Cleveland until February, when we will head for The
Moorings in Vero Beach, Fla., for the months of
February and March. Considering our ages, Pat and
I are doing well. Later this month we are planning a
trip to Denver, Colo., to see our granddaughter who,
having graduated from the University of Denver, has
elected to stay there. We will be accompanied by our
son and daughter-in-law, which should be fun.”
Judy joins me in wishing you all the best of health
and happiness at this Christmastide.
1953
Steve Klein, 10 Sunningdale Court, Maplewood, NJ
07040; 1953secretary@williams.edu Thanks to Bob Howard for pinch-hitting in the full
sense of the term last issue. He brings to mind one
Forrest (Smoky) Burgess.
The Oct. 9-10 minireunion featured good weather,
and Williams stumbling to a victory in football over
Bates. Dave Dohney took a photograph of the class
banner plus classmates at the former Weston Field,
which highlighted the agility of numerous classmates in getting to seats above the first row. Present
for most of the proceedings were John Allan, Sandy
and John Beard, Dave Dohney, Barbara Heistand
and John Dighton, Pete Fetterolf, Carol and Dan
Fitch, Joy and Walter Flaherty, Barbara and Bob
Howard, Tess and Derry Kruse, Happy and Todd
Mauck, Mary and Jack Merselis, Anne and Charlie
Mott, Judy and Art Murray, Kathleen Piaggesi,
Granthia Preston, Joanne and Mac Sims, Nancy and
Pete Sterling, Barbara Weedon and Linda, and Bill
18
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Williams. Compliments to Todd Mauck for his usual
outstanding preparations. Also noted, the next minireunion is Oct. 7-8, 2016, and Todd is also making
preparations for our 65th reunion in June 2018.
John Dighton met in Cooperstown for lunch
with Tess and Derry Kruse, attending this year’s
Glimmerglass Opera Festival. Bill Kimbrough says
he is actually putting on weight and may have to
consider going on a diet. Bob Howard and John Allan
will be making their annual visit to a Scottish rite
ceremony in Stamford, followed by their ritual lunch
at a local Italian restaurant. Bob claims to have no
interest in haggis. George Hartnett continues enjoying up to nine months of the year in Florida and sees
Jim Truettner and Don Rand.
I spoke with Len Scarfone, who is one of three
classmates from Drury High School in North
Adams. Paul Kronick and the late George LaMore are
the other two. Len stayed on at Williams after graduation to acquire an MS in physics and subsequently
spent 30 years as a physics professor at the University
of Vermont. He has since retired to Henderson,
Nev. Len spoke glowingly of the excellence of the
Williams faculty, noting especially their dedication to teaching and their high integrity. Talking to
Mike Lazor, Mike concurred that it is essential that
Williams maintains its high standards in the faculty
selection process. Mike referred to the recent scandal
with the University of Louisville basketball team and
admitted that it was not necessary for Fred Copeland
’35 to entice him with similar attractions.
Recently lost among our classmates is John
McDermott, who was a McDermott of the Chicago
law firm McDermott, Will & Emery, often said to
be America’s largest law firm. Survivors include his
wife Ann McDermott, son Edward McDermott ’93 and
two daughters. Slim Harkins, a staunch conservative
similar to John, is survived by his wife Marge Harkins,
daughter Diane Harkins Modesett ’85, two sons, plus
grandchildren. Gene Linett, who graduated from Yale
Law School after Williams, was a tax specialist.
Survivors include his wife Caryl Linett and two
daughters. David Palmer, who was treated for leukemia for some years, died in September. His treatment
included infusions, which, after the side effects wore
off, enabled him to travel and play the occasional
round of golf. David was a senior lecturer in management at Santa Clara University. Survivors include his
partner Marci Radins and two sons.
1954
Harry Montgomery, 610 Water St., Williamstown, MA
W’54’s minireunion in mid-October brought
the pleasure of the company of Sonnie and Bob
Murdock, Emily and John Miller, Dan Tritter and
Jacqueline Laroche, Carol and Johnny Johnston,
MaryJo and Russ Carpenter, and Dorothy and John
Lewy with son Mark Lewy ’79 and granddaughter Jacqueline Lewy ’17 (art history major).
Class President Bob Murdock shared his take on
the minireunion: “What a great crew of classmates
showing up for our fall mini. Small in numbers, but
the friendships that have developed are fantastic. We
all encourage more of you to join us at future gettogethers. You will have fun and be happy you came.
1952– 54
Sonnie and I enjoyed two separate dinners in the fall
with Millie and Wendell Elmendorf and with Sue and
Ed Miller. We upstate New Yorkers do this a couple
times a year and really enjoy it. We also added a marvelous lunch with Shirley and Jim Carpenter before
they left for a warmer climate. This year we missed
seeing our real good friends Ed Mauro, Charlie
Sheldon and Jeff Miller. We shall remedy this and
encourage all ’54ers to keep in touch with past
friends. It’s most rewarding.”
Yankees and Upstaters: Here in the Berkshires, our
choice of architecture, sports teams and governors has
long been stubbornly biased toward New England.
Even before the 1875 opening of the Hoosac Tunnel
afforded intercourse with points east including
Boston. Nevertheless, our economic and family links
to upstate New York are old, strong and durable.
On and off the cuff: Bob Cluett’s new book The
Gold of Troy describes how his family built an arrow
fortune upon celluloid collars and cuffs, then invested
much of it in Williams College (sports as well as academics) and town amenities. Bob is well into his next
book, also in the memoir genre. A bit player may
be Laurie Craig, who attended the same Rippowam
School in Bedford, N.Y.
The Clark family, astride Singer Sewing money as
well as the Hudson, today represents major cultural
ties between upstate New York and Williamstown.
Their paintings and money founded our Clark Art
Institute, and all those wonderful museums—not
just baseball—and the opera house in Cooperstown,
N.Y. We missed Glimmerglass opera this year, and
Beth and Graham Humes missed the Clark’s blockbuster van Gogh show, but Audrey and I caught up
with them in Cherry Valley and Cooperstown in late
September. Graham showed us the fruits of his environmental work in Cherry Valley, but the visit centered upon a book signing at the Fenimore Museum
by his neighbor Cliff Wharton Jr. Retired chancellor of the State University of New York system, Cliff
Jr.’s story is also that of his illustrious father, Cliff Sr.,
a longtime professional diplomat who was the first
African-American to break several major barriers
including entry into the U.S. Foreign Service.
Graham gifted me a copy of the Purple Cow showing “Harry Mortimer Montgomery” as managing editor. Explanation is not back to the future. In October
1921 my father (ex-Class of 1920, now Class of
1922) was back from the tank corps in WWI.
Notable in my summer was the visit from France
of two of my three grandsons, and the departure
of my eldest granddaughter, Rhea, for college. Her
choice, Tufts, might not have been predicted given
the purple blood of her parents, my social worker
daughter Sarah Montgomery ’86 and her teacher
husband Daryl Walsh ’87. (Then, voters too have
mixed views of dynasties.) Looking to the spring 2016 season, Cal Collins provides the following sports tip: “Keep an eye on the
lacrosse team for the next four years, for Calvin John
Collins ’19, my grandson!”
It’s real, not fantasy lacrosse here at Williams, but
Cal’s tip poses the question whether such insider
info may violate the rules of “Draft Kings” and
“FanDuel.”
Cal adds: “As for the political scene, I am just happy
that Donald Trump is not an alumnus of Williams.”
Friends in Rhode Island tell me that John
Miller and Emily are notorious for their quiet good
works in Narragansett and beyond. Reports sometimes emerge. What do you do for an encore when
you’ve wrapped up your high school’s 60th reunion?
John’s formula was getting to work outside. He’s been
recognized for long hours last summer restoring
native habitat along Lake Canonchet and Little Neck
Pond. He then prepared an illustrated “Stroll up
Central Street with John Miller” for the Narragansett
Historical Society’s Gansett Days celebration in
September.
Dan Tritter’s Newton High School class celebrated its 65th reunion. But before he and Jacqueline
departed the Cote d’Azur, Dan wrote he was passing
on that reunion in favor of our minireunion, which
included Russian professor Darra Goldstein’s lecture
on the aesthetics of presentation of haute cuisine. As
observed at our two dinners, one might discern a shift
away from the corporeal toward the visual, but our
Eph appetites remain strong.
Another leitmotif for our class is family, in or out
of wedlock. Jim Carpenter reports, “We had our
annual yearly family get-together on Fishers Island,
N.Y., as usual at son-in-law Michael’s parents family home. We try to honor five-year events that have
happened in the current year. This year we had a 60th
anniversary and birthdays: 80, 60, 55, two 30s and
two 25s. We also had a law school graduation. As
a special event, Connie Carpenter ’79 and Michael
were legally married. The original ceremony was performed by Michael’s brother Tommy, ordained in the
Universal Life Church. This ordination is a 20-minute online process and N.Y. state does not recognize marriages performed by these ministers as legal,
making a second, legal marriage a mandate. Shirley
and I also renewed our vows on another brother’s
boat going from Fishers to New London for a casual
lobster dinner at Abbotts. This time Connie, also
ordained in the same Universal Life Church, officiated, and all three of our children participated, which
was special. We are now starting our second season at
Bentley Village here in Naples. We went from being
the oldest couple at our last community to the youngest here. With all-important good health, things have
worked out well. We will be back in Billsville in May,
in time for reunion, and hope to stay there for the
mini in October.”
Good news from the fun-loving Carpenters,
though Jim hasn’t confirmed whether he has been
able to transfer his Eph 1954 vanity plates to the
Bentley.
Joe Albertson, another Floridian, wrote in August
with characteristic verve. “All went well last summer. My yacht REBEL is berthed again at our house
dock, good as new, after five months of work in the
boatyard! In a week we fly to London—at the RAF
Club, and then to Norway to meet our son and his
gal friend for Oslo and the fjords, then back to sail to
NYC on the QM2. Maybe next summer we’ll take
that hillside cottage in Pownal. Granddaughter Molly
Prindle’s ’15 June graduation was spectacular. I cornered a few of the most erudite-looking colorfully
gowned professors and told them 60 years ago we
had giants in all their fields—fine gentlemen, educators and talented writers. I could see in their eyes,
where did this octogenarian come from?”
J A N UA RY 2016
l
19
CLASS NOTES
Bob Brandegee, a consistent reporter, writes, “A
quick update from Pittsburgh. I think I’m the sole
Williams ’54 survivor in this most livable city. But
Williams is well represented in the ’burgh. I met
an illustrious young couple, for example, when Ada
and I hosted a dinner for about 25 of a Williams art
tour group in March, specifically Bob Nutting ’84
and Leslie Nutting ’85. Bob has morphed from owning and running newspapers in West Virginia to
owning and running the Pittsburgh Pirates. There
were also multiple other distinguished guests, including Dick Huppertz, who was in good fettle despite
health problems, and Buster Grossman ’56. I’ve
talked often lately with Charlie Foster, whose wife
Joanne tragically lost her only son in August in
a motorcycle accident. My physician son-in-law,
who had a stint in the LA coroner’s office, labeled
motorcycles vividly for his UCLA med students as
‘donor cycles.’ In early September, Ada and I flew
to Boston as the jump-off point for a cruise to the
Canadian Maritimes, stopping first for a visit with
my sis Sally, who’s married to Doug Brodie ’56. Our
cruise was cut off before crossing the border because
Ada suffered a siege of ‘benign paroxysmal positional vertigo,’ i.e., too dizzy for ocean voyages. Ada
and I were headed to Chatham, N.J., in mid-October for my 65th high school reunion. I continue to
scribble stuff for a friend who is close to commercializing a 1kW fuel cell power generation system.
Also for my son-in-law’s business, soon to offer systems for medical organizations which will integrate
information from both internal and external sources
and enable vast improvements in their operations
and governance.”
Looking to the broader community and the coming elections, Bob says, “I continue to be saddened by
the sordid spectacle of the Republican debaters. The
party is increasingly the captive of an extremist group
uninterested in discourse let alone compromising.”
1955
Norm Hugo, 37 Carriage Lane, New Canaan, CT 06840;
Sad news to begin with. ’55 has lost Mac Fiske.
During his undergraduate years he was a class
leader—elected as vice president of the Junior
Advisors and tapped for Gargoyle. He lettered in
hockey and tennis all four years. After graduation the
rest of this narrative was provided by Frank Isenhart,
his closest friend. Mac settled in Denver and went
into banking, and he was highly successful, to the
point that the Cannon family of Denver, a dynastic family, secured Mac as their CFO; he spent his
entire career with them. The three classmates, Ned
Heppenstall, Frank and Mac, were the closest of
friends. Mac suffered a mild stroke and went to the
hospital, where it was found that he had stage-four
pancreatic cancer; he died within the week. Frank
enclosed a letter, written to Mac’s children, from
one of the young interns who worked closely with
Mac and who was related to the prominent Denver
Cannon family. It says a lot about our pal. Abridged:
“Mac stands out as one of the great teachers of my
life. … You know how he loved music, sailing and his
family. He was always so proud of his children and
interested in every detail of your lives. During our
20
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
years of association, he loved to talk about you and
worried about the challenges you faced over the years.
… You are indeed fortunate to have been Mac Fiske’s
beloved children.”
Bob Carey died Feb. 17 after a long illness with
Parkinson’s disease. He graduated magna cum laude
with several awards in biology. After his graduation
from Harvard Medical School he spent two years at
Roswell Park Cancer Hospital, entering the embryonic field of oncology—at this time only one chemotherapeutic drug was available. He returned to Mass
General Hospital and practiced oncology/hematology for 41 years. He was known throughout for
his devotion to patients. A founding member of the
American Society of Clinical Oncology, he authored
more than 100 papers. Some of the chemotherapy
regimes he established are still the standard of care in
lung, esophageal cancers and leukemia.
The Oct. 10 minireunion was attended by an energetic group composed of President Bob Behr and
Carolyn, Al Reed and Louise, Gil True, Whitey
Perrot and Betsy, Alleson White, John DuBois and
Sharon, Phil Smith, Steve Gordon and Dorie, Merce
Blanchard and Mary Louise, and Norm Hugo and
Gerry. After a rousing football victory over Bates, the
group convened at the private dining room of Sushi
Thai Garden on Spring Street for à la carte selections and an open bar. Lively conversation and fraternity were the order of the day. Al Reed looked like
he was sent by central casting for a lawyer movie.
Other than a few balance problems, he was well. He
also sandwiched in a weekend with a granddaughter, a junior at Williams. Gil True educated us on
the adoption of the Purple Cow as mascot. Whitey
Perrot updated us on the Alumni Fund and its credit
to the campaign from 2015 to 2020. He was the
recipient of much praise for his outstanding success
as our class agent. John DuBois continues to practice
in Springfield and is enjoying life in Lee, Mass. Phil
Smith accepted being elected a class vice president
and updated us on the current fundraising campaign.
Merce Blanchard provided a history of Joseph’s Coat,
and Steve Gordon presented it to a richly deserving
Bobby Behr. Bobby also announced he was retiring as Williams’ travel guru after a long and successful career. Steve Gordon announced that his art is
featured as an exhibit at the Katonah Art Museum.
Ronnie and Bob Wilkes excused themselves from the
dinner to visit with their son back in Vermont.
Got a nice phone call from Dick Beatty, who is in
assisted living and finds the accommodations to his
liking. Sounded upbeat. Sam Fortenbaugh is close to
being fully recovered from his abdominal hematoma
and is busy with his son’s soccer and working fully as
a lawyer. Bill Shaw ventured down from Maine and
spent a week with Sam as a house guest. Gerry and
I shared a dinner with Sam and Sharon. Don Everett
and Cherie arrived in Vero Beach Oct. 4 for the winter after summering in Chatham, Mass. He plays golf
four to five times per week on the Cape. Sees a lot of
George Olmsted, especially over bridge. Bill Gould is
the third Chatham musketeer who still has the travel
bug. He and Sharon returned from a month-and-ahalf self-directed safari in East Africa—he emphasized how safe it is—and the best trip of his life. Also
fishes every year in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
Merce Blanchard chipped in with a nice handwritten
1954– 55
note, and one segment was an anecdote from his
younger days. While driving through South Carolina
he stopped at a gas station and paid with an Esso
credit card. The attendant inquired if he was related
to “Doc” Blanchard, and he replied first cousin, once
removed. The attendant returned the card without
charge and said that was good enough. Tony Moro
enjoys a heavy reading schedule and still applies the
same techniques he learned as an English major.
Continues to maintain good health, although slowed
by arthritic ankles, which confine him to bike-riding.
Stays in touch with Rick Smith.
Mel Bearns favored us with an email: “June was
frenetic as we started out with much celebration at
daughter Courtney Bearns Tablante’s ’07 graduation with a PhD in social psychology from Princeton.
Three days in Princeton, then home for five days
before heading to the L coast for Deere’s granddaughter Sophia, who graduated from the American
Film Institute with a master’s in cinematography.
Three more days of celebration in LA and then
north to the Bay Area to visit my elder son Mel and
his wife and daughter in Concord for several days,
then down to Santa Cruz for a visit with younger
son Stuyvie and his wife and daughter. Stuyvie and
Noelle opened Lupulo Craft Beer House in April
2014, and it has been phenomenally successful. After
a year of torture, they have finally completed a buildout that doubled their size, and it seems quite clear
sales for 2015 will go well over a million. Lupulo
has 16 taps that change constantly throughout the
day, as well as some 200 different bottled beers from
all over the U.S. and Europe. Their beers are craftdistilled cult brews from small breweries, and most
are unobtainable outside the immediate area of the
brewery, hence the popularity of Lupulo among the
ever-growing world of cult beer fanatics. You can
check the place out at www.lupulosc.com or email
lupulosc@gmail.com. If any of you ever get to Santa
Cruz, stop by and ask for Stuyvie. Tell him you’re a
classmate of mine, and it will be on the house.
“Back here in VA, I have become somewhat famous
as an illicit craft distiller of small-batch Bourbon. The
Stump Hole Distillery began in December 2013 with
a five-gallon handmade copper alembic pot still from
Portugal. I’d never distilled anything but had always
had a great desire to try my hand at it, so dived
bravely in. The original product was not the best but
drinkable, but since then the improvement has been
steady, as I have learned the trade. I’m now producing
some very high-quality small-batch bourbon, which
has been highly acclaimed by longtime bourbon
drinkers. We don’t sell, just produce for friends and
family. Between mashing and distilling it’s practically
a full-time job, but, as Deere says, it keeps me off the
streets, and I enjoy it. Tours and tastings always available, and we’re having a big T-shirt sale, so if anyone is in the area (Northern VA, about 40 miles from
DC) come on by—you can reach me at bearns@
comcast.net. And that’s about it for now. Best to all.”
Ted Oviatt sent a post-60th reunion email: “Thanks
to all you all who encouraged me in this crazy adventure. Five years of no running. (Dr.’s orders because of
an MRI of a deteriorating spine, then delays because
of a groin pull, and finally a bad attack of sciatica during this trip. I’ve used a wheelchair through the last
few airports.) However, the first day’s pentathlon saw
me get through with poor performances, but in all
five—even the 1500—(there was) no competition,
but I was second in age group because I got there
and did it. Today the butt was really aching, and I
threw about 50 feet (was throwing 80 a month ago)
in the discus. No awards there. I abandoned the steeple, went to watch Bob Culling win. Bob and I ran
against each other many times in California 15-20
years ago. I edged out Dick Jankovich, the guy who
beat me in the pentathlon, of second place in Indoor
Nationals in Chicago in 1994 by lapping the field in
the final 100. Sweet revenge if he had remembered it!
“This has been a wonderful trip. Being with the
family and seeing much-loved Belmont students,
colleagues and athletes—also seeing 60th reunion
classmates at Williams and staying with the Behrs
(friend, track captain, fraternity brother, successful
successor to my dad’s responsibilities at Tower Hill).
All of the above has been marvelous, and getting
through the pentathlon for a national medal fulfills
enough of the athletic part of my dream to send me
back to the Philippines a very happy man. Love and
thanks to all.”
Dave Murphy continues to challenge the medical profession, most recently with some GI problems, which have been cured. Was visited post-60th
reunion by Frank Isenhart and Joel Strumph and had
a grand old time reminiscing about Williams and
bygone days. Jim Cassidy is housebound but had a
nice visit with Jim Leone before Jim died. Lives in a
lovely Florida area designed by the Olmsted Co. of
Central Park fame. Bill Fall was in good humor and
fully recovered from gallbladder surgery. Absolutely
pleased with where he lives, a retirement village for
high-ranking field grade officers and diplomats.
The social scene is invigorating. As an example he
had dinner with one of the designers of the stealth
bomber and an ambassador to the Middle East.
Went to Cleveland and visited Bobby Little and relived old times. Bill has a timeshare in Hancock,
Mass., and plans to visit Williams and the Clark this
fall. Ned Heppenstall was terribly saddened over Mac
Fiske’s death. Beef states that he is enjoying life and
continues to practice law, albeit at a reduced pace.
Tried to entice him into a New York visit. Visits a
brother in New Hampshire and does the annual trip
east. Bobby Little works for several charities, encouraged by his wife Alice so she will not kill him. Was
heavily involved with The Salvation Army’s fund
drive and missed the 60th. Actively plays golf and
tennis. In robust health.
Rod McWhinney continues to do arbitrage for
the securities industry and has a personal travel
schedule that includes Iceland, Antarctica, the Arctic,
Norway and the UK. Recently was visiting his
sister and toured Williams, and thought the college
looked great. George Montgomery still living in
snowy New Hampshire and spends lots of time in ski
programs for the disabled, both civilian and armed
forces. Earlier this year he tore his medial meniscus playing tennis but is well on his way to recovery.
George Olmsted is busy caring for Mary, who is battling Parkinson’s. Larry Pomerance works part-time
in investments and has many of the same clients after
40 years. Had cataracts removed and was dazzled by
the results. Remains in good shape. After 20 years in
elected office, most recently as county commissioner,
J A N UA RY 2016
l
21
CLASS NOTES
Jack Pratt was not re-elected and so began his life as a
retiree. Dove in by having cataracts done. Otherwise
concentrating on living well. Bill Prime gets plenty
of exercise pushing Fifi in a wheelchair. Still rides
to the hunt but eschews the jumps. Still full of vigor
and good humor. Plays a mean round of golf. I had
a nice talk with Fred Towers, who was ailing but
still enthusiastic about his Tesla car—best car he has
ever owned. Al Speidel is continuing full bore in his
internal medicine practice and enjoying it less and
less. Otherwise enjoying life. Carl Rosen continues
to work full time—“because I enjoy it”—in the life
insurance field. In contrast to many classmates, he
stays in Toronto for the winter.
As I go through conversations with classmates, it
is clear our time horizons are shrinking. Think about
spontaneously picking up the phone to reconnect
with a classmate. You will be amazed how gratifying
this will be.
1956
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Bill Troyer, 1111 Ontario St., Apt. 1116, Oak Park, IL 60302;
Many thanks to all of you who responded to my
SOS a couple of months ago. The response was
strong enough to make a column out of it. The other
half of the class will be offered a similar opportunity
to respond soon if the Alumni Office hasn’t already
contacted you.
Bob Bethune wrote from Toronto and couldn’t
help himself when he saw my address was now on
Ontario Street, which he labeled “quasi-Canadian.”
He reported more health problems, which he termed
“minor.” He talked to Bill Jenks and Kirt Gardner by
phone at their summer residences in Ontario. Bob’s
brother Rich Bethune ’54 is still “kicking” but is
“long-retired” from the practice of medicine. I recall
Rich was a pretty good football player, too.
One of the pleasures of this job is eliciting a
response from a classmate who hasn’t been heard
from before. Bill Carr fits that category. I remember
his name and remember seeing him the first semester around the freshman quad, and then he disappeared. Bill writes, “I never saw the USPS more
efficient as when I departed Williams after midterms when a postman rushed in hand-carrying my
draft notice. Anyway, after 41.5 years as a Marine,
I retired to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Beaufort, N.C., seemed to be a bullseye for hurricanes. So it was off to the desert.” His only problem now is two Amherst guys are close neighbors.
Otherwise, he says, “Life is good.”
Bill Fisher left Buffalo 13 years ago to live in
Oceanside, Calif., where he was a professor at
MiraCosta College. Now retired, he is a trustee. His
wife Susan died three years ago, so Bill resumed playing gigs with his trombone in the LA and San Diego
areas, which gives him lots of satisfaction. He added
that he is “spending much social time with my close
friend and significant other, Nadine.”
Ken Barasch wrote from his Park Avenue ophthalmology office, where he still practices medical ophthalmology but does no surgery. He still sees Billy
Potter, whom he met on day one at Williams in 1952.
He still plays golf; still married to Lynne, for 57 years,
and looking forward to the 60th.
22
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Betsey and Jo Anderson had another great summer in Maine. They had many family visits and
many Williams encounters, seeing Noanie and Jock
Duncan, Renee and Tom Lincoln and Bob Fordyce
and Dave Snow. Betsey had several book signings for
her children’s book Maggie Goes to Maine, a true story
about the antics of their big black Lab dog written
in rhymes.
Peter Lewis, my neighbor from Lehman Hall, said
he and Mary Lou are enjoying retirement. Their base
is in Honolulu, but their playground is the world,
which they have seen much of and continue to try to
see the rest. They have six grandchildren that they are
watching grow up. Two of the boys are outstanding
water polo goalies, which is perfect for 6-foot-6 boys.
Peter is still active in several nonprofit organizations.
Roxie and Jim Hayne have 12 grandchildren, all
of whom live near them in San Antonio. They were
sorry to miss the Napa gathering since all who
attended had such a good time. They are looking forward to our 60th in June.
Art Hyde and Alison moved to an assisted living
facility in East Aurora, N.Y. Art said they have been
traveling to the Everglades, the Keys, Sanibel Island
and the Galapagos, and they are looking forward to a
family gathering in Northern Ontario in the summer
of 2016. Visitors are welcome in their new home. Art
has gotten a suntan in the courtyard.
Judi and Lou Friedman have been busy with their
work in NGOs. Lou is the chair of the board of
Beyond Nuclear, and Judi chairs the board of PACE.
They have been married 58 years and recently spent
three days with Lou’s Williams roommate Jeff
Smythe and a Swedish lady in Stockholm in August.
I received a bound book from Sig Balka that contained 51 short essays he wrote. Most of these were
presented by him, related to a donation from his
extensive art collection, or to celebrate an honor for
public service. In addition there is some correspondence with classmates from his class at Harvard
Law School, such as Supreme Court Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsberg. Many of the essays are related to
ethical and religious issues. You haven’t heard the
end of Sig’s “opus magus” in class notes. And Sig
will have it available at the bookstore on Water
Street at reunion time.
Ken Harkness and Toni took a river trip to
Northern Portugal, where they visited many vineyards that supply the world with port and sherry. Ken
said they had a blast.
Judy and Vern Squires’ big trip this year was to the
Rhine and other connected rivers, where many of the
last battles of WWII took place. Vern recommends
the museum in Remagen, which was the location of
the first crossing of the Rhine on the Western front.
1957
Richard P. Towne, 13 Silverwood Terrace, South Hadley,
Occasionally in Williamstown, Mother Nature
gets it right: brilliant fall foliage to make a visit with
the Class of ’57 picture-perfect. So it was at FarleyLamb Field in October, when a select group gathered
to dine on bowls of chili, sandwiches and cookies under a tent behind the newly constructed (and
thankfully nowadays handicap-accessible) grandstand
1955– 57
overlooking the field. Witnesses included Charlie
Alexander and Ann, Charlie Berry and Kathie
Berry, Dan Callahan, Ted Cobden, Dick Flood and
Sally, John Pritchard, Tom Von Stein, Peggy and me.
I discovered Charlie Alexander is still active in the
educational world as a trustee at Middlesex School,
an independent co-educational boarding and day
school located in Concord, Mass. The former football,
squash and academic dean of Groton School is happy
with his new role.
Charlie Berry set himself a new goal of shooting
his age of 80 at Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, Conn.
He’s working, if you choose to call it that, under the
tutelage of an assistant pro named Adam Raynaud,
also a member of my golf course in South Hadley,
The Orchards. Raynaud is a two-time winner of his
state’s PGA championship, a qualifier at this year’s
U.S. Open and winner of a Donald Trump TV celebrity golf challenge this past winter. His work is cut
out for him in teaching Charlie to play a round below
80 by next spring. More lucrative potential rewards
will come for Raynaud by playing on the dot-com
tour—without Berry. Footnote about Williams’ women’s golf team, which
won against Amherst and a dozen other colleges at
the Orchards in October. “These (girls) are good!” as
the PGA TV commercial says.
Dan Callahan won the distance award again, coming from Denver by way of NYC, where he attended
an investment advisers’ conference as head of
Callahan Capital Management. I’ve gotten to know
him better than I ever did as an undergraduate and
find his witty commentary made watching this football game worthwhile. His investment advice to me:
Patience mixed with prayer.
Ted Cobden, like the Floods and Pritchards, participated in the funeral service for Howard Patterson in
Darien, Conn., where Ted delivered the homily
for Howard, while John Pritchard and Kathy read
scriptures. They were joined by other class members including Charlie Alexander and Ann, Charlie
Berry and Kathie Berry, Dan Callahan, Dick Fearon
and Betty, Crosby Smith, Bud Sidles and Tom Von
Stein. Howard was an unusually gifted man: athletic
talent second to none, captain of our soccer team,
and an able leader by example on and off the field.
His Phi Beta Kappa award testifies to an intelligence that made him preeminent in his profession, in
which he served as president of Connecticut’s architectural society and won many awards for building
designs across multiple states and construction types.
Farewell, Howie!
Let me say how grateful I am to George Welles for
telling you Howard’s story and also those of David
Nevin and Stephen Hill since the spring edition. His
letters bring new meaning about how to remember a
departed classmate: with grace and dignity.
Stephen Hill’s death in Brattleboro, Vt., last
September ended a career of teaching and service to
institutions in Maryland and Vermont devoted to
helping those less fortunate than ourselves: victims of
domestic violence, poverty and substance abuse.
David Nevin lived in Saint Louis until his death
in August. Music was his major. Choral singing was
his joy. About him, fellow singer Nick Wright said,
“Alongside Bob Goss and Crane Miller, the survivors of our Renaissance singing group, the Williams
Singers, become still smaller. An excellent tenor and
musician, Dave was a quick study. [We were] aficionados of restoration catches, earthy, misogynistic,
often musically sophisticated [songs] popular in late
17th-century England. Today, alas, they are mostly
politically incorrect. He helped us visit Clay Hunt’s
Elizabethan poetry classes, where we gave a suitably
lusty performance of 16th-century madrigals and
male yearning. He could also croon with the best of
them as a member of the Octet, which sang at alumni
gatherings. Steve Bullock remembered Dave owned
a 1940 Nash that they together occasionally used to
ferry Bell Telephone engineers (known to them as
‘phoners’) to and from Albany to imbibe some liberal
arts.” Dave and Steve, two ’50s multitaskers!
Likewise a multitasker, Tom Von Stein has
embarked on a book-writing quest. At Farley-Lamb
Field, Tom told me his book is titled A History of
Knowledge. From the table of contents draft he
sent me, I’d say don’t look for this to be “light reading.” You will learn about stuff you may have briefly
touched upon in your history classics course (if you
took one) as Tom takes you from prehistory through
the Greeks and Romans to 20th century’s “age of
physicists.” Remember, Tom worked for the SEC as
a prosecutor of some pretty heavy white-collar criminals, so you know he has the determination to complete any given task.
“It dawned on me how ignorant I was at a DC
Williams function when some alumnus made an
intelligent comment about Descartes,” Tom said.
“I could not remember who he was, despite having taken two semesters of philosophy.” Go to www.
history-of-knowledge.com to learn Tom’s answers to
this and other stump-the-chumps trivia questions.
Henry Bass reminds me it was not Kentucky where
he championed debating but Tennessee. He attended
Sewanee Military Academy there. Fred Copeland ’35
promised him a partner as talented as Henry if he
chose Williams. Fred had the Hill School’s Jamie
Humes in sight. After defeating Harvard in 1953, the
two freshmen took on Norfolk Prison, a powerful
debate team. Despite black and blue marks, there is
no word on which side won. When Jamie quit college
debating, Tom Livingston ’58 became Henry’s partner.
“But Jamie was the best ever,” he says.
Speaking of Mr. Humes, my editor quotes a message from him as follows: “In February I appeared
on Fox A.M. to promote my new book, Churchill:
The Prophetic Statesman. At a confirmation ceremony
held at Eton Chapel, I met Prime Minister David
Cameron, whose godson was in the same class as
my grandson. In April, I addressed descendants of
U.S. presidents on ‘Churchill and U.S. Presidents
He Knew’ introduced by Susan Eisenhower in
Marshfield, Mo.” Jamie also has been kept busy by
book signings, which he notes were “well attended.”
Tony Atwell loves to combine his interest in golf
with academic study. Thus, each year he attends
a Deerfield Academy summer seminar where we
hooked up for a lecture and game at a tough nearby
golf course called Crumpin Fox. For a Texan used to
wide fairways, Tony plays above average. Now he also
knows more about art. He made me glad I accepted
his invitation to join him for both activities in July. John Childs told friends, “We’re entering Dick
Towne country,” while driving to play golf at my
J A N UA RY 2016
l
23
CLASS NOTES
home course in bucolic South Hadley last July. No
word on Jean and John’s score, but his Bay State
Seniors Association took over the place for a day’s
outing. “As emeritus members these days, we accrue
benefits like use of forward tees, doors held, people
calling you ‘mister,’ carts and full use of handicaps,
none of which did us enough good to win any prizes
that day! Not a problem or surprise, but we can still
participate in sports including downhill skiing, sailing and especially curling. ‘Jack of all trades, master of
none,’ an old adversary once said of me. How I hated
that guy!”
“I love writing my own propaganda,” says Eric
Dahlberg. “I wasn’t with the class long, but knew a lot
of guys from selling sandwiches and Cokes through
the dorms my freshman year: more enjoyable than
trying to solve Chem 1A problems. Too bad no more
Sun Valley Williams ski weeks where I re-met Hugh
Clark, Fred Johnson and Dan Callahan.” Those who
want to see how he and Janice survived and rebuilt
their home in Calgary can email him at ecdahlberg@
shaw.ca. It will make you glad you have not had the
experience.
Ted Graham says it’s been a season of family visitations in Vermont’s North Kingdom, where he and
Barbara have shown her family and their sons the
state’s world-famous foliage. “Never a dull time,”
Ted writes. The Grahams are into raising their next
generation, a joy for sure.
Chip shots: Was that Betty and Dick Fearon coming out of the Simon Pearce store in Quechee,
Vt., last August as Peggy and I drove in for lunch?
Did Sally enroll President Dick Flood in a “How
to Unpack Household Treasures After Moving”
class after their move to Rhode Island last spring?
Answer to be found in the next edition of ’57 class
notes.
Tom Slonaker says, “Loving it here in Northern
Arizona—the best four-season climate we’ve experienced yet. I do travel regularly to Pennsylvania, where
four of our six kids live, and am very active on the
board of Allegheny College there.”
Where have you gone if your name is Bill? I’m
talking about such notables as Bill Crawford, Bill
Cullen, Bill DeCamp, Bill Malcolm, Bill Martin, Bill
Scoble and Bill Truettner. Don’t hold back, lest I
turn on my creative fiction-writing urge. Never let
facts interfere with a good story, I say. Happy
New Year.
1958
Dick Davis, 5732 East Woodridge Drive, Scottsdale, AZ
It’s great to hear from a classmate not previously heard from, and this time it’s Whitey Trattner.
Whitey also goes by Walt, but said let’s keep it
Whitey here because that’s how he was known at
school. “One of the two,” Whitey says.
Whitey lives in Mequon, Wisc., the greater part of
the year and summers at Stone Harbor, N.J. He has
two sons who went to Williams. Steve Trattner ’84 is
into golf in a huge way, and Whitey says he actually
built Erin Hills, where the U.S. Open will be played
in 2017. Younger son Dave Trattner ’89 was for many
years in the front office of the Milwaukee Bucks,
working much of the time with the father of Craig
24
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Counsell, the new manager of the Brewers. When
you think about it, Purple Cows are naturally going
to thrive in the Dairy State.
Stone Harbor, north of Cape May, is special to
me—my family would go there for a week or two for
vacation right after WWII, and I caught my first fish
there. Whitey says Time Magazine rates it the fourth
best beach in the country. In August Whitey and
Joan drove up to visit relatives in Chester and took in
Williamstown and the Clark. Their daughter teaches
in Whitefish Bay, where the family used to live.
I’m not through with the multi-crittered Badger
State yet. Watching the PGA in August at the beautiful lakeside course at Kohler, I asked Bill Fox if he
had ever played it. Yes, Bill says, on one of its many
levels, and the experience was as grand as you’d know
it would be. Unless, of course, you were prone to slice,
like yours truly, in which case you’d be looking to
fight the whitefish to get the little white orb out of
the sand or gentle surf.
I’ll call Dr. David Friedberg again some Monday
night when the Packers are playing. I caught him that
way once a few years ago.
Our other Whitey, Bill Kaufmann, and Karen spent
the summer on Martha’s Vineyard. Skip Martin and
Nancy got there, too. I don’t think Whitey does a
blog, but he does almost the equivalent because he
frequently replies to a blog put out by a fellow named
Tony who is a friend of Skip’s. Whitey is generally a
highly articulate defender of the administration and
the “No Labels” movement. Whitey says he may not
lead his spinning class too much longer. Jim Conlan
often sees him leaving the NYAC facility as Jim is
going in. Bruno Quinson and Minkie were on the
Vineyard when Whitey and Bruno’s kids were battening down the hatches.
In September Sam Jones and Becky were off on a
cruise to the Croatian-Dalmatian coast, after which
they visited their daughter Elizabeth, who was serving as a subcontractor to the State Department at
the U.S. Pavilion at the Milano World Exposition.
Earlier they attended a family reunion in Toledo,
in part honoring Sam’s grandmother—“Golden
Rule’s” widow—who created and conducted the
Toledo Women’s Chorus. They also saw a Mud Hens
game—surely the premier name in Triple A. Sam
and Becky are working in the campaign in Maine to
create an early departure for Gov. Paul LePage.
David Kane has more information on Steve
Barnett. Steve did very well in the financial world and
slowed down early, largely due to a congenital eye
problem that tragically has left him sightless. Steve
has a summer home on Nantucket and gets along
very well with the help of good friends.
For the second straight year Joe Albright and a
friend climbed to the peak of Grand Teton Mountain
near his ranch in Wyoming. That’s a lot of feet of
rugged Rocky. Joe and Marcia purchased a home in
Tucson, where they will live in April and November,
probably slower times at the ranch. We’re getting
quite a group in the Old Pueblo. Joe will be joining
Carl Smith, Karl Hirshman and Ed Snyder, and Hank
Dimlich when he can get there from time to time.
I got a fine note from Prof. Charles Dew, our still
incredibly busy member of the Williams faculty.
Charles writes: “I am still teaching full time (primarily old and new South and the Civil War, and
1957– 58
Reconstruction) and enjoying it as much as ever.
Williams remains the special place we knew as students, so it is a no-brainer to keep teaching as long
as my health is solid and my mind has not turned to
mush. I do have a new book in the works. The title
is The Making of a Racist: Reflections on a Historian,
the South, and the Slave Trade. The more traditional
‘history’ part springs from a document relating to
the Richmond, Va., slave trade that is in our Chapin
Library.” Stay tuned for date of publication.
Joe Young and Betsy are going to make up for
some lost travel time not taken last year due to
one thing and another. They are going to take the
Amsterdam-to-Budapest river and canal tour and
then spend a month in England visiting friends.
Bless that go-for-it attitude.
John Hutchins passed away Aug. 10 in Chicago.
John had battled successfully with pancreatic cancer for many years. Hank Dimlich said Ron Anderson
marveled at John’s staying power. Steve Cartwright
and Elizabeth were with Suzy at the service in
Chicago. Regrettably Suzy passed away soon thereafter, from a malignancy. At this writing Chet Lasell
thinks there may be a service for both of them in
Vero. Chet says they had a slew of friends in Vero. I’m
not in Vero, but count me in the slew. I always had
a great time with John and Suzy. John had a strong
career in the medical products field.
I heard from many in the aftermath, including John
Ross. John lives in New Canaan, Conn., and I think
both he and his son are in the contracting business.
I know they’ve recently had Mets season tickets—
Bruno Quinson has been a guest.
John Buckner had an initially scary but ultimately
very heartening story. More than a year ago he was
diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He
underwent treatment and this past summer was pronounced cancer free. John says non-Hodgkins lymphoma is apt to strike as we get older, and he would
be glad to discuss the condition and his course of
treatment with anybody.
Karen and I were in San Diego in September,
and Jack Talmadge suggested we meet at the
Green Dragon Tavern for lunch in Carlsbad. The
Green Dragon is a replica of the Boston tavern
where Samuel Adams and his cohorts planned the
American Revolution. A beautiful memorial, with a
museum. Jack sponsored two of his girls’ volleyball
charges to the U.S. Olympic training camp. One of
the girls was a Native American from a Dakota tribe,
and the tribe, to show its appreciation, gave Jack a
gorgeous Indian blanket.
Zeke Knight and Ellen were scheduled to be back
in San Diego in December. They’ve enjoyed about 18
months in rural Massachusetts, Brooks Pond. A great
way to shift gears.
While Sheela took a short trip to Italy with friends,
David Plater plied the Northeast. He visited former Prof. Sheafe Satterthwaite, and the two of them
paid a visit to Bill Dow and Pat in Lake George. Bill
and Pat and their two sons run the Lake George
Steamboat Co., a fun and thriving business. David
next went to visit Rob Hall in Vermont, but unfortunately David came down with a cold and had to rest.
Rob took good care of him. David’s next visit was
to be John Miller, but John was having a heart procedure from which David understands he has had a
good recovery. Next he was off to Williamstown and
visits with Prof. Charles Dew and Dottie Rudolph
’42, widow of the late Fred Rudolph ’42. And to the
museums, which David says are beautifully run.
What a trip!
Skip Martin and Nancy couldn’t be at the mini
because they were in Boulder attending the marriage
of their son Jeff Martin ’92 to Jessica Dolfman. Five
of Jeff ’s classmates attended.
Fred Clifford is retiring as chairman of the Perkins
School for the Blind in Watertown Mass., and
therein lies a great story. Fred’s father was a pediatrician and made what Fred calls “house calls” at the
Perkins School when Fred was young. His father
noticed that many infants experienced blindness
after difficult, heavily oxygenated births and started
a movement to eliminate or change that dangerous
process. About the time of our 20th reunion, Fred
heard of a new head injury unit at Perkins, and as
we all know, worked to set up a trust to move Harry
Schmidt there. A little while later a colleague at
Kidder Peabody who was heavily involved at Perkins
asked Fred if he would join the board. Fred agreed
and was appointed to the board by Gov. Dukakis in
1986. He quickly moved to modernize the board and
its focus and procedures, and he soon became chairman. Perkins is the oldest and largest school for the
blind in the country, and Fred leaves it hugely developed into related areas, strongly financed and with
much greater visibility and smooth operating procedures. A great job by one of ours for a great cause in
the alma’s home state.
Bill Harter is scheduled to lead his annual tour
of Israel from Feb. 21 to March 4. The tour will
include a visit to the Palestinian Authority, including Bethlehem. You could get cracking and be there!
And Bill says if you’re ever on beautiful (and it is)
I-81, stop by Chambersburg, Pa., for a chat, coffee
and whatever.
Jim Becket divides a lot of his time between Delhi,
where he is filming his documentary, The Seeds of
Vandana Shiva, and Athens, where he is working on a
film about his former wife. He stays with his daughter in Athens and attended a major climate-change
conference in Paris featuring agriculture. Jim raises
money for his films at beautifully appointed dinners.
Rick Driscoll and Chet (and others present) report
a very enjoyable minireunion with two class dinners,
a tent-gate lunch, foliage, football and the famous
music of the WRJB. Those on hand included: Dave
Allan and Connie; Fred Clifford and Barbara; Don
Conklin and Elizabeth; Tom Connolly and Ann;
Denny Doucette; Rick and Jeanne; David Grossman
and Jill; Bob Iverson; Dave Kane and Siegrun;
Whitey Kaufmann and Karen; Bob Kingsbury; Chet
Lasell and Kate; Jock Purcell and Nancy, with daughter Amy and granddaughter Cece; Dick Siegel and
Pam; Carl Vogt; and Phil Wilcox.
Chet and Kate will be moving to an independentliving cottage at Glen Eddy, a full-service retirement
community in Niskayuna, N.Y., near Albany. This is
where their oldest son Chet and his wife Mary and
their 13-year-old son Chet live. Chet (there’s a lot of
Chets here) and Kate expect to move to “Nisky” early
next summer. They will be putting their house in
Williamstown up for sale soon. Wow, haven’t we all
enjoyed ourselves there!
J A N UA RY 2016
l
25
CLASS NOTES
Chet wants to see more of his grandson and his
lacrosse games. He’s also working on getting youngest
Chet into Williams.
Two more things of special note: Chet and Kate
have had wonderful neighbors in Prof. Charles Dew
and Robb. And, secondly, Chet doesn’t plan to cut
back his volunteer work for Williams and our class.
Sounds like a great move, only an hour away. They
will be there in the summertime, as per the present
schedule, Vero in the wintertime, as usual.
Bob Guyett with Sue, about to travel around the
world, was in Williamstown a week before the mini
for the kickoff of the new and vital fundraising campaign. Bob enjoyed talking with Steve Lewis ’60.
Fred Clifford and Barbara were there, too.
Denny Doucette attended another Williams
reunion, with his son Peter Doucette ’85, who was
at his 30th. Denny saw Russ Pope over the summer.
Russ had some motor home problems and couldn’t
stay in Bar Harbor as long as usual. He’ll be gearing up for South Padre Island this winter. Rebecca
Doucette ’95 is now home from her tour in the
Middle East.
During the mini, Phil Wilcox toured the new
library. Phil says don’t miss it when you’re there. I sure
spent plenty of good times in the old one, often running into Prof./Dean Scott.
After I wrote about Chip Wright in the last issue it
occurred to me that I, at least, hadn’t written much
about our outstanding stable of other world-class
lawyers. It’s late to get into that here, but, being a
scribe, I wanted to mention first a couple of predecessor scribes. Several members of the class have told me
that David Grossman has helped them greatly in one
way or another. I’m not sure of the scope of David’s
practice, but I know it includes real estate, and he
does plenty of it superbly.
David Phillips, on the West Coast, in Melvin Belli
country, has been a globetrotting barrister extraordinaire. He started off in mostly admiralty law (of
which I know nothing) and gradually expanded into
many other areas, including attending to the needs
of celebrities and stars, like Santana. I think David is
pretty much fully retired now; he’s had a good and
busy time.
I’ll deal with the rest of the start-studded universe
later, unless the laity shouts me down.
Jim Murphy says his grandson Conor Murphy won
the White House Science Award last year with his
exoskeleton project and made a presentation at the
White House. He is now a freshman at RPI and has
made contact with Prof. Dick Siegel.
1959
Dan Rankin, 1870 Bay Road, #213, Vero Beach, FL 32963;
“All of this happened, more or less.” Beginnings
are often better than endings, so let’s start off with a
nice reconnection. What I like so much about college
friendships is they weather the test of time. They’re
based more on who you are rather than what you
do or what you have. You can pick right up where
you left off 56 years ago. And so it was for me, when
totally by chance I ran into Dave McKown at a small
summer resort in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. He and
Louisa were attending a wedding, and I, uninvited,
26
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
was wandering through the crowd in a boorish manner when my Williams shirt caught Louisa’s eye. “My
husband went there.” Soon I was talking to her husband and asking what his class was? “’59!” “No way!”
At this point I think Dave wanted to flee, thinking this Williams classmate was going to hit him up
for money. “No, no, no Dave, but I do remember you
came from New Jersey and attended Pingree School
with Ken Hanf and our late classmate Chris Tatlock,”
I said. I had to admit to him that this surprise meeting was not just fun for me, but was going to supply
some good info for the class notes. (I’m shameless
about collecting material before my deadline noose
is cinched.) Dave is fine, has been living in Concord,
Mass., for the last 47 years and continues to work as
a financial analyst. I think he was concerned about
using the word “financial” for fear I might try to pick
his pocket. This was a serendipitous find, and I hope
it’s not another 56 years before we meet again.
Another pleasant surprise was a reconnection with
our Williams Entry B classmate, Ralph Jones from
Cedar Park, Texas (outside Austin). He describes
his career over the last 30 years as being a “hot dog
lawyer.” Translation: “A lawyer representing creditors
seeking reimbursement from those attempting to find
refuge in bankruptcy, but I’m now content to probate
the estates of my clients.” While amateur radio has
become a major interest in his life (his call letters
are W5MJ), he also spends time traveling to the
most remote and unique places he can find. “Right
now I’m the leader of an eight-person gaggle
going to the Kingdom of Tonga next February to
fill the ether with radio signals for 10 days. We have
a website: www.tonga2016.com.” He indicates this
project started out as a winter trip to the Pacific and
then gained momentum when others wanted in on
the act.
Though Maine is not the crossroads of the world,
it was a haunt for various folks to visit and gather
last summer. John Kimberly and his wife of 56 years,
Marion, spent a week away from their home in
Midland, Texas, vacationing in Boothbay Harbor.
Susan and I enjoyed an afternoon and evening with
the Kimberlys, recalling the many harrowing trips
between Mount Holyoke and Williams to see the
mates we’d marry within a week of graduation. John
still cherishes his geology major, and he continues to
work finding and producing oil and gas—that means
dealing with the puzzle of locating oil/gas, drilling for
it and living with the success or failure he achieves.
Tony Harwood appeared on Maine TV over the
summer when a reporter traveled “a piece downeast”
to cover a story on “knock-about sailing” in Winter
Harbor. He spoke well and knowledgeably on the
subject—quite impressive. He was not ready to
sign autographs but did fess up to his never-ending wanderlust. “Our six weeks here is about up
and then we fly our little puddle jumper of an airplane to Vermont tomorrow to visit my sister, then
to Atlanta for a week and finally to San Diego for
August to see children and grandchildren.” “Climb
high, climb far,” Tony. Checking in from North
Haven Island, Maine, Ted Sage once again sang
the praises of his island community 12 miles out in
the Atlantic with a year-round population of 355.
He continues to teach a STE(A)M enrichment
course two days a week at a small K-12 school. The
1958– 59
program uses robots to teach problem solving and
the fundamentals of computer science. When not
in the classroom he can be “found grooming our 26
acres of lawn, woods and community trails using
chainsaws, tractors and a wood chipper.” He loves
living in a caring, peaceful and beautiful place. How
many of us have dreamed of living on an island away
from a tumultuous and brawling world?
Five Maine ’59ers and one ’58er met for a lobster
and crab roll lunch before the Williams-Bowdoin
football game in September. Bob Lowden, John
Palmer, Sam Parkhill, Dan Rankin, Jerry Tipper and Spence Jones ’58 convened for an hour and a
half of camaraderie at Cameron’s Lobster Shack
and then enjoyed a convincing 27-7 win by the Eph
pigskin team. Steve Bachand joined us for the game,
and Jay Hodgson was found lurking among the
spectators since his grandson attends Bowdoin.
As the late Yogi Berra said, “You can observe a
lot by just watching” or listening. I learned that Bob
Lowden was faring well after major open-heart surgery in Portland’s Maine Medical Center and that
John Palmer, Sam Parkhill and Jerry Tipper are still
playing a very solid game of golf. Sam and Judy have
made an important decision to downsize from their
spectacular home on the coast in Freeport to a condo
in Portland. My sense is that many of us wrestle with
this concern as we close in on 80. A man of action,
Sam has also purchased a sparkling new 36-foot
Island Packet sailboat to cruise the oceans when he’s
not on the golf course. I was lucky to have a brief
conversation with Andy Packard at a Williams seminar at the Portland Golf Club. He and Pat continue
to successfully run the Saco River Theater. Frank
Read was present while the seminar was taking place
but claims he was given a pass to play golf and eat
lunch. I think (hope?) he’s struggling with his shame
and understands there is a “no cut” rule in retirement.
It was still nice to catch up with the miscreant
ophthalmologist before the program began.
“The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.” The fall minireunion was once again fun,
with stories, updates, remembrances, etc., exchanged
in a warm and genial environment. The group
included Tom Albertson and Kitty, Bev Compton,
George Dangerfield and Margaret, Tom Davidson,
Jack Dietze and Maureen, Pim Goodbody and Pandy,
Hanse Halligan and Judie Robbins, Barry Mayer, Bill
Moomaw and Margot, Geoff Morton, Dan Rankin
and Susan, Alex Reeves, Jim Richardson, David Thun,
Joe Turner and Pete Willmott. Friday night we ate
in the Faculty House with the Class of ’58 and the
Williams Reunion Jazz Band with John Halsey;
and Saturday night ’59ers enjoyed one another’s company over dinner at Hobson’s Choice.
Early Saturday morning, members from ’58 joined
us to partake in Dr. Alex Reeves’ discussion on
“The Cognitive Challenge of the Aging Brain and
the Dementing Process.” While I can’t recall a great
deal of it, I can report it was an enlightening session
with straight talk from the good doctor. I can declare,
if you don’t find Alex’s seminars stimulating, you
don’t find much stimulating. A Williams victory on
the football field against Bates kept spirits high, and
Barry Mayer’s storytelling at Saturday’s dinner, coupled with the erudition of classmates with trivia questions, made for a full and complete weekend. It must
be noted that Barry was in fine fettle after
facing serious heart surgery in June. Winners of
valuable and unique awards were Pete Willmott and
Joe Turner for traveling the farthest, Tom Albertson
and Kitty for being married the longest (58 years)
and Bev Compton for having the youngest child
(18). Information gleaned from listening to attendees included: Hanse Halligan shooting 73 in a golf
tournament, the Dangerfields’ extensive traveling to
exotic places like Zermatt, Switzerland, the possibility that Geoff Morton’s extensive excursions may
earn him part ownership of Southwest Airlines,
and that Pete Willmott often accompanies former
Williams president Morty Schapiro (now president
of Northwestern) on the sidelines at Northwestern
football games. Away from the classroom and operating room, Alex Reeves offered the insightful observation that “it’s getting late earlier.” As he views it, his
“summers seem to be ending sooner every year, and
fall again begins to steal the daylight, suntans fade
and a burst of color replaces the green to be followed
by interminable grey. Smart ones escape by running
toward the equator or beyond.”
Like Alex, Ernie Fleishman laments seeing “the
days grow shorter, but that will change on Dec. 21
when the cycle reverses.” At least the sun was shining when Ernie and Amy traveled to Provençe for
a “magical and wonderful” visit. Perhaps the most
intriguing bit of info came from Tom Davidson, who
responded to my request for news about hypothetical summer jobs in places like Amarillo, Texas. What
do you know? Bingo—Tom really did go to Amarillo
in 1974 as T. Boone Pickens’ general counsel, and he
does remember the benefits of hard summer work
from the time he spent at the Hill School through his
years at Williams.
There were classmates who wrote to indicate they
were sorry not to make the October reunion. Fred
Winston had to “turn off the water, cover the furniture and close up their cabin on Lake Superior,”
and Shadyside Academy’s distinguished graduate Bill Collins was attending Ann’s 60th high school
reunion. John Coffin noted he was acting as an
“incompetent nurse” to Anne, who was recovering
nicely from surgery. John indicated, however, that he
was pleased to join Jim Richardson and Bill Miller “to
cheer on Ty Smith” when Ty was married last summer. And John Chandler wrote that he was sorry, but
he had a chance to spend some restful time on Cape
Cod, and that’s where he’d be.
“It’s one of the blessings of old friends that you
can be stupid with them.” In an attempt to stay in
touch with Henry Foltz, I called him in Cleveland on
his birthday in September. Well, I thought it was his
birthday, but it turned out I was three weeks late. He
forgave me and graciously filled me in on University
School’s 60th reunion, also attended by Dave Moore.
They are the only two remaining U.S. classmates of
the five who came to Williams. Sad to realize we’ve
lost Geoff Covert, Ralph Lees and Bruce Listerman.
Henry and Caryn divide their time between
Cleveland and Delray Beach, Fla. Though Ernie
Imhoff graduated from Mount Hermon School,
he grew up in Williamstown and attended the
local schools for many years. With this in mind, he
returned for a “spirited weekend in September with
my fellow townie kids 60 years after the Class of
J A N UA RY 2016
l
27
CLASS NOTES
1955 graduated from the high school.” In an upbeat
phone conversation with Stu Wallace, we discussed
his sophomore year, which he spent at Northwestern,
and he recalled a memorable event. One afternoon
when he was out playing touch football with classmates, he let loose with a 60-yard pass. The following day the football coach called him in to ask if
he’d like to come out for the Northwestern team.
While he was flattered, our polite and stoic classmate
thanked the coach and explained he’d be returning to Williams in the fall of 1957. The California
boys—Chuck Dunkel, who moved into a senior facility in Santa Rosa, Cliff Colwell from La Jolla and Joe
Prendergast from Palo Alto—all attended their 60th
from Cranbrook School in Birmingham, Mich. Dr.
Cliff is “still working hard on stem cells and a potential cure for arthritis,” and Dr. Joe has now retired
from practice following what he reports was a “diagnoses of Fragile X Tremor Ataxia and Permutation.”
It’s been a blessing in disguise, since “Marlene and I
now have some time together for a change.” Chuck’s
neighbor Bo Kirschen, still alert and sprightly, knows
well the agony of class secretaries and was kind to
relate how he and Janet take occasional cruises and
watch over their basset hounds. No matter how
introspective he, Chuck and Norm Cram are about
the unimportance of the Williams-Amherst game,
it does bother them when the Ephs lose. Our doctor
friend from Atlanta, Bob Hatcher, continues to write
inspiring columns that remind readers “hugs, warm
smiles and friendly nudges that say, ‘I care’” are vitally
important in our human relations.
In the academic world, Mack Hassler published
“two poems in magazines with a fairly wide circulation, one in the June issue of ANALOG and
one in the September issue of Academic Questions.”
Professor Jim Pickering spoke to the Colorado State
Museum and Historical Society about the history of
Rocky Mountain National Park and conservationist Enos Mills, considered the father of the park. The
Baltimore spotlight has been focused on Bob Embry.
He received the Whitney Young Award from the
Urban League and was featured in an extensive Wall
Street Journal article about his work as head of the
Abell Foundation. A charitable foundation, Abell has
invested in startup corporations that work on environmental, technological and pharmaceutical issues.
Not all foundations have achieved the success the
Abell Foundation has. Though John Scales lives in
Alexandria, Va., and vacations in Martha’s Vineyard
and Maine, his last note was written from Dundee,
Scotland, as the Alexandria representative in the
Sister Cities Program. It’s too bad he didn’t link up
with Bob Gould, who is only a scant 60 miles away
in Edinburgh. From Santa Fe, Rich Moe is trying
to promote the paperback edition of his FDR book,
Roosevelt’s Second Act, and has written a link for the
HuffPost blog at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
richard-moe. Many of us remember the superb talk
Rich delivered in October 2013 about his book.
Endings are sad, and we close with a reminder
of the depressing news that we lost both John
Boyden and Peter Culman this past summer. John
had a fine career in business with the Timken Co.,
McKinsey & Co. and the United Technology Corp.
In retirement he served as a tireless volunteer at the
Shelburne Museum in Vermont and was honored by
28
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
being named a volunteer emeritus. Peter did remarkable work as the managing director of Center Stage
theater in Baltimore; served as president of the
League of Resident Theaters, a national group of art
theaters; and in 1992 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Maryland Institute College of Arts.
Rest in peace, guys.
“Well I reckon I got to light out for the territory
ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to
adopt me and civilize me and I can’t stand it. I been
there before.”
1960
Michael Penner, 38334 South Desert Bluff Drive, Tucson,
AZ 85739; 1960secretary@williams.edu
Bill Kieffer reports from Vienna that he gives
thanks he is still able to sing in the choir of the
Russian Orthodox Church and play trombone
(jazz and swing) and the flute (classical). “In the
Vindobona chapter of the Schlaraffia Society, several of us constitute a jazz band called the Vindobona
Old Stars. If you look up our name on YouTube, you
may enjoy a video of the jazz brunch we played,” he
says. Bill enjoyed a fine trip to Cuba in January with
a Williams travel study group, thereby setting foot on
Cuban soil for the first time since his family left the
island in 1947. In Havana, his birthplace, the group
shared an Art Deco hotel with U.S. government
officials, who were beginning the process of reconciliation inspired by Pope Francis. Bill sends best
regards to all.
Noelle Ho-Lam ’02 reports that her father, Tao Ho,
has been stabilized, with a few minor episodes keeping him hospitalized for observation in the summer.
The biggest highlight for him was the birth of his
fourth grandchild, a boy named Zheng Xing Lam in
April. Zheng is now 6 months old and enjoys playing
with his siblings and spending time with his grandparents three times a week.
For the past several years Jim Hartley has been
working on a book about the first century, CE,
and the writing of the New Testament. The book
has been self-published and is titled I Called Him
Uncle Jesus. The lead character is Zebedee, who as a
6-year-old met a new friend of his father who was
staying at their village. “I called him Uncle Jesus,”
Zebedee said, “because that is what my parents
said I should call him, even though he was not a
brother of either of my parents.” When Zebedee
was older, his daughter Judith encouraged him
to tell the story of his life. He had worked with
Paul and talked about his letters. He had met the
authors of the three gospels, who told him why
they wrote them. The book shows what life was
like in the 1st century and demonstrates how the
Christian faith grew from its Jewish roots. It also
provides insight into how the New Testament was
written. Jim reports it was a great relief to complete
the book. The website is www.icalledhimunclejesus.
com. The book is available on Amazon as well as
other places. Jim is beginning to work on a sequel
in which one of Zebedee’s descendants will run a
scriptorium and make copies of several canonical
and heretical books in the 2nd century. The purpose will be to show the great diversity in the second century of Christianity.
1959– 61
Matt Nimetz and Ann continue to live in NYC and
are staying pretty busy. Their daughter Alexandra
was married in September, and their son was married last year. Matt is on various for-profit and nonprofit boards in China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary
and in the Balkans. He spends a lot of time in airports. Matt values having a position on the visiting
committee of Williams’ Center for Development
Economics, which is doing a fantastic job educating about 30 mid-level government officials annually from emerging countries (mostly Africa, Asia
and Latin America). Through this program Williams
projects way beyond its weight in alleviating poverty
and developing modern systems in emerging areas.
Matt says he is retired, but I think his schedule would
put most of us to shame.
Harvey Brickley and Mary celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary on a Road Scholar tour of
Barcelona and Madrid. There was plenty of walking
involved. Harvey would like to retake his art exams
after learning so much on the trip.
Dixie and Keith Griffin made a quick trip to visit
friends Aziz and Mohua Khan on Long Island.
Their nephew taught some years ago at Williams
in the economics department. You might find it
fun to Google www.bosquebeast.com, issue no. 1;
Daughter Janice’s painting is on the cover, plus there
are four more in the text and some biographical
data about her.
Colin McNaull and his wife Earla Sue are very
thankful and relieved that the positive results are in
after she had cancer in both lungs surgically removed
over the spring and summer. The medical community
says the results from both lungs are clear, so she will
only need to be followed up every six months. She
was still recovering from her last operation, so they
couldn’t make it to the minireunion. She is feeling
so well that they did try a successful mini getaway to
the Adirondacks in time to see the lunar eclipse from
their host’s dock on Lake Eaton. They also rented a
horse named Mister through the end of October. It
was nice to be riding again.
Frank Thoms reports life seems to get better every
day, as living in San Miguel is truly delightful. They
have many friends, great restaurants and numerous
events to attend. Frank’s wife Kathleen Cammarata
continues to draw and paint in her remarkable fashion. Many say she is the best artist in San Miguel. I
don’t argue with that! Rowman & Littlefield published Frank’s book Teaching That Matters: Engaging
Minds, Improving Schools last year and were to publish a second, Exciting Classrooms: Practical Suggestions
to Ensure Student Success, in November. Frank says,
“Sometimes, I pinch myself having not only found
a publisher but also to have two books published.
Meanwhile, I am deep into writing about teaching
life in public school in Hanover, N.H.; in a progressive primary school in Oxfordshire, England; teaching English in the former Soviet Union in Leningrad,
Moscow and Alma-Ata, Kazakstan; and in a private
school in Worcester, Mass.; and consulting in the
last 12 years. It is very different writing, truly a new
adventure—most recently with great ideas from a
workshop with Richard Blanco, Obama’s poet laureate. I feel blessed to have good health and the desire
to write every day. If anyone told me at Williams that
I would still be active, energetic and productive at
77, I probably would have laughed. Yet, here I am—
and here are many of our classmates—still resonating. What a privilege!”
Steve Lewis reports a great week last summer
going to Botswana at the invitation of his former
boss and the former president of Botswana, Quett
Masire, for whom he worked when he was minister of finance and later became president. He was
celebrating his 90th birthday and asked if Steve
could come, and Steve couldn’t say no. There was a
party for family and close friends and then a luncheon for several hundred folks, many former colleagues and good friends. Steve was asked to speak on
behalf of his friends from overseas, which was quite
a privilege. Quett Masire is an honorary Eph, having received an honorary degree in 1980 at the same
commencement as Keith Griffin. There are a number of Botswana citizens who received their master’s
degrees at the Center for Development Economics
and who worked for Masire in senior positions when
he was in government. Steve had a chance to meet
up with Ken Matambo, CDE ’75, who has been minister of finance for the past five years. The trip gave
him a chance to see many friends and their families.
“If I had as much energy as the former president has
at 90, I’d be very happy—still raising cattle, growing
sorghum, new venture in cabbages for the local market, and frequently mediating disputes in neighboring countries in southern Africa. The sort of energy
and good works you would expect from an Eph!”
Steve says.
Jon O’Brien and Joan sold their home to their
daughter Elizabeth and her husband. They have
downsized into a small apartment in a retirement
community called Laurelmead in Providence, R.I. So
far they love it!
President Dave Banta reports on the minireunion:
“It rained on Friday, but it ended as we convened at
Jim Briggs’ for cocktails. At one point we all quieted down (no mean feat) to welcome and hear
from Amelia Black ’16. She spent the past year in
France as a recipient of the Class of ’60 Scholarship
Abroad Program. Amelia was delightful and informative and a welcome injection of vitality to the evening. Afterward, about half the group went off to a
local restaurant for dinner. Saturday, after the football game, a nail-biting victory over Bates, the class
gathered at MASS MoCA for cocktails and dinner arranged for by Duncan Brown (who else?).
After dinner Dave Banta gave the group some historic examples of the well-constructed insult as an art
form—examples ranging from Winston Churchill to
Mark Twain to Groucho Marx. These turns of phrase
are a far cry from the PC banalities of today’s public figures.”
Closing on a sad note, I have been informed that
Roggie Dankmeyer died about a month ago. Further
details will be provided upon official notice from the
college.
1961
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Bob Gormley, 1775 Drift Road, P.O. Box 3922, Westport,
Slim pickins with news from you this time, so I’m
hoping that many of you are saving up for our 55th
in June this year. It’s true that whatever bragging or
J A N UA RY 2016
l
29
CLASS NOTES
family tales you have to tell go better with pics on
your smartphone. Whoever thought we’d we talking about online pics and smartphones, or heading
to a 55th, for that matter? The classic film Back to
the Future, which celebrated a 30-year anniversary in
2015, projected a Chicago Cubs World Series win in
2015 after the team was shut out for 100-plus years.
It almost happened!
I was unable to get to the Columbus Day weekend mini this year, but John Denne faithfully reported
for the group who did: “We had a great weekend in
Williamstown. Everyone was on their best behavior, so nothing untoward to report. Attending were
Paul Boire and Nancy, John Byers and Kathy, John
Denne and Joan, Barrett Dower, Penny Low, Paul
Mersereau, Carroll (Jay) Osgood, Al Schiavetti and
Bobbie, Anne Skinner, Jay Tarses and Rachel, and
Tim Weinland. Lively conversation at Friday’s catered
dinner in the Reily Room at in the new Weston team
support building and Saturday’s dinner at Coyote
Flaco. After a rainy Friday, the weather was ideal
and the foliage at or near peak. The faculty lectures
were stimulating, and Saturday’s football game was
a close one, Williams holding on over Bates 16-14.
Many enjoyed a tour through the magnificent new
(old) library after the game. In the grandparent column, Paul Mersereau and Tim Weinland each have
a granddaughter, and Joan and I have a grandson in
the Class of 2019. Paul has another granddaughter in 2017. Each of us took the opportunity to catch
a meal with them while we were in town. I’m not
sure who else in ’61 currently has a grandchild at
Williams, but we are well represented on campus at
this time.”
Both of our John Allens wrote in this go-round.
Upstate NY John notes: “My wife ( Janet) and I are
among those who, at least for the winter months,
have moved to a warmer area. We spend about
four months in Durham, N.C., where our two
children and three (almost four) grandchildren live.
In addition to a small house in Durham, which our
son built for us using as much clay in construction
as the building inspectors would allow, we recently
bought 18 acres in Alamance County adjacent to
the 10 acres that our son and family live on. We
look forward in November to actually seeing the
property. It runs from the west end of our son’s
land to a creek that is farther west and is almost
entirely forested.”
John Trevett Allen, formerly “Terry” and now
Illinois John, isn’t going anywhere warmer but is
moving house. Their home in Danville has been in
the Allen family for 90 years, and “the stuffed attic
holds five generations of accumulated treasures. We
really don’t think our two sons (or their families) will
have much interest in holding on for another generation. So if you’re interested in a large Moroccan
brass tray, with ivory inlaid stand, or perhaps a copy
of a Memphis newspaper announcing the atomic
bombing of Hiroshima, or my great-grandfather’s
discharge papers from the Civil War, let me know.”
The house sounds great, with a frog pond and visiting
deer. Well, some of us may not be so romantic anymore about the deer. The grounds are also home to a
mighty red oak, some 16 feet in circumference. The
family has always done its best for ecology and will
miss it all.
30
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
John adds, more importantly, that he hosted Tianlun
“Peter” Zhang ’18, a sophomore at Williams from
Shanghai, as a summer intern in digital communication security, a topic for his legal research. “If Peter is
representative of current Williams students, the college should have no concerns for the future. He is
very, very smart, hardworking and disciplined. Some
security issues we examined are quite complex. He is
a quick study and mastered a good vocabulary of legal
terms in the art world. Moreover, he used them correctly. He was too polite to correct my English, but
I’m sure had occasion to do so. Very impressive.”
George Lowe continues to impress with his postlegal firm, post-judgeship accolades. A September
press release announced the dedication of the
George H. Lowe Center for Justice in Syracuse, an
honor supported by the Legal Services of Central
New York group, the Legal Aid Society of MidNew York and the Volunteer Lawyers Project of
Onandaga County. Their notice stated: “For many
years, Judge Lowe has been a moving inspiration
and supporter of our missions to provide free civil
legal services to low-income people. It is most fitting that our new office have Judge Lowe’s name
attached to it in recognition of his ‘one roof ’ dream
for organizations devoted to providing the services
of our three organizations.” It went on to cite his
many awards and accomplishments in this important pro-bono sector of the legal field and elsewhere. We add our congratulations, George!
The Canadian national parliamentary elections
were held Oct. 20, and Al Demb had a sign on his
lawn supporting the landslide liberal victor, Justin
Trudeau. He and Connie had waited nine years
for the political tide to turn, and they were overjoyed. Meanwhile, his Toronto Blue Jays were going
under to Kansas City in the AL baseball playoffs,
and they had also waited a long time for such a season. But, as I assured him, one out of two isn’t bad,
and the Jays will be back next year. His response:
“Nobody, except for Justin Trudeau, saw the election victory coming. The Conservatives were going
for an unprecedented fourth consecutive win. The
campaign was twice as long as usual, giving Trudeau
ample opportunity to overcome the ‘not ready’ negative ads while performing well in the debates. This
was a change election and Harper got nowhere calling out to stay the course. Voters were sufficiently
worried about a Conservative minority government
that they threw in with the Liberals, who ran to
the left of the New Democrats. Note to U.S. voters: The Liberals ran on a three-year deficit program
for job creation and infrastructure investment and
won. Both the Tories and New Dems ran on a balanced budget and lost. (How social democrats could
tout balanced budgets is beyond me.) It’s hope and
change time north of the border. Sound familiar?”
He also conceded that the Blue Jays weren’t up to
the baseball task in ’15 but lost to a talented, balanced and confident KC team, who deserved it.
Wife Connie is originally from KC, so maybe he
was just being nice.
Mike Dively reported on his swimming successes
in the Stockholm Euro Games over the summer.
He participated on three winning relays (average ages
above 60) with 900 others and won five individual
freestyle events (50, 100, 200, 400 and 800 meters).
1961– 62
He warmed up for a week beforehand by cruising the
Greek and Turkish coast. Play hard, work hard. But
all that at 76 is quite amazing.
Then there’s Jim Urbach, now recovered from stroke
and a long battle back, on a photography shoot in
the Tetons and Yellowstone, who suddenly came face
to face with a large moose. Fortunately they stood
side by side at a creek, and Mr. Moose was intent on
crossing to safety on the other side. Images captured
on his FB page. A Colorado shoot, just photography,
is coming up next.
We ’61ers are sure a travelin’ bunch, and Charlie
Dana and Ann may be up for the class Ferdinand
Magellan award for most traveled by our 55th. Last
spring, they made their annual visit to the Caribbean,
sharing a catamaran charter with Steve Keichel ’67
and wife Julie and Tom Nicholson ’68 and wife Cathy.
In July, they traveled to France with the Williams
alumni tour along the Rhône in Burgundy and
Provençe. That was the 16th Williams tour they have
taken, and they rave about them all. Just to make us
all the more jealous, they also planned a couple of
weeks in November on the tiny isle of Anguilla.
Jim Hodges, no slouch for travel himself, writes
that he and Sheila were wrapping up a five-week tour
of England. They started by attending the Burghley
Horse Trials, where they hadn’t been since 1974. This
major annual horse event draws “200,000 Brits and
10,000 dogs. Only in England.” To prove they don’t
see England as London alone, he reeled off five or six
rural towns in which they had stayed, places where
sheep outnumber people 20-1. More to come at
reunion, he promised.
Dave Whittemore and Mary, also vying these days
for the Magellan Award, took a monthlong cruise
from Barcelona through the Mediterranean and ending in Dubai. Now he knows what happened from
500-1500 AD, which, he claims, was missing in
history courses at olde Williams. They stopped at
major European and Middle Eastern ports of call.
Small beds crimped their sleep, but “seeing where
the Knights Templar Dominican friars ruled the
Mediterranean for 200 years was awesome. Two
thousand soldier/priests held off 40,000 Ottomans
from a fortification at the tip of Malta. Napoleon
finally crushed them with his huge army en route to
capture Egypt.” But, he warned, don’t go to the desert
countries in the August heat (high 90s and humidity); wait till mid-October.
Those of us who got down to the Peddie School
in NJ Sept. 4 for the memorial service to honor
the life of Tom DeGray were moved and humbled.
He left quite a mark. Lou Guzzetti and Joan, Wally
Bernheimer and Roz, John Whitney and Pat, Jack
Wadsworth, Al Schiavetti and I joined his widow
Ellen DeGray and family, and about 300 others, as
subsequent headmasters, former colleagues and students and his children shared remembrances. Ellen
later thanked us all and urged us to love our children
as Tom had loved his. His grandson from Alaska was
beginning his first year at Peddie the next day.
Then followed the sad death of Fred Briller in
October as I prepared these notes. Gil Kerr had
remained his close friend and alerted me when he
heard from the family. Gil also reported that he
talked with the elusive Roger Symmes, who roomed
with Fred three years was also deeply hurt by the loss.
Paul Mersereau, Jim White, Laurie Hawkins, Dave
Whittemore, Tom Fox and Gordie Stevenson all has-
tened to express their sorrow at Fred’s passing, and I
know others felt it as well. Another good man down.
Obit to follow.
On a happier note, my wife Bea and I attended a
fancy black-tie wedding in NYC in September, the
wedding party and celebrants led up Park Avenue
from St. Bart’s afterward by a brass band to the
reception. With Pope Francis in town and Obama
to address the U.N., the place was more of a madhouse than usual. The tourists took pics of us along
with the dignitaries at the Waldorf next door. But
the best part of the visit was the day before we spent
with Kevin Morrissey walking the Highline, first
time for all, from 30th Street down to the renovated
old meatpacking district and the new Whitney
Museum. It was a perfect fall day and a wonderful way to absorb the unity in diversity that NYC
reflects. Take time to walk the Highline when in
NYC, while the legs hold up.
On we go, counting our blessings, I trust. I also
trust you enjoyed your holidays, and we’ll be seeing
many of you in June as we celebrate our life together
once again.
1962
William M. Ryan, 112 Beech Mountain Road, Mansfield
Center, CT 06250; 1962secretary@williams.edu
Happy news! Nine classmates and wives gathered at the beautiful Bristol Harbour Resort on
Canandaigua Lake in New York in July to surprise
Barney Shaw with a four-day party. A bit of background: For several years, a group of classmates ranging from five to 15 has met annually for a few days
of fun and memories. Dinny and Barney were part
of this group, but, because of Barney’s chronic back
problems (which originated with a freshman football injury at Williams), they have been unable to
attend our recent excursions. So we decided to go
to him near his summer home in the Finger Lakes
region. It was a surprise that Dinny was able to
maintain by telling Barney that she had won a vacation in a “raffle drawing.” We had a ball! In attendance were Judy and John Huntington, Missy and
Don “Banger” Lang, Sue and John Sargent, Buffalo
Bob Mahland, Marjorie and Jay Johnston, Ann and
Paul Hill, Toby Cosgrove and Bonnie and me. We
toured, played golf, enjoyed the marvelous scenery,
took a long boat ride and had three delicious dinners. Comments from a few: Missy Lang: “As Don
and I traveled back home, we couldn’t help talking
about the ‘Barney Bash.’ There was a subtle difference between this and all our other amazing trips.
We all really know each other and care about each
other, and it showed.” Ann Hill: “This reunion was
memorable in so many ways, but the most meaningful was the obvious delight each has in the others’ company. A shared past certainly helps, but the
wonderful shared current and shared future are so
special and visible even to total strangers (like on
the dinner cruise). To walk in after 13 years and pick
up where we left off is awesome.” (Secretary’s note:
Ann had not been on an airplane for 13 years prior
to this trip.) Paul Hill: “When we look around, we
occasionally see friendships among a few couples
J A N UA RY 2016
l
31
CLASS NOTES
that have lasted decades, but to see this many tied
with strong bonds says this is truly a special thing.”
Additional news from the attendees: Paul is president of the Sawtooth Society, the leading nonprofit voice for the 756,000-acre Sawtooth National
Recreation Area in Idaho, where he and Ann live for
six months per year. With Paul’s leadership a key
element in the effort, President Obama signed a
wilderness bill in August, adding 275,000 acres to
be conserved forever. Paul also received the first-ever
lifetime achievement award from the Sawtooth
Society. Ann and their son Andrew conceived of
the Sawtooth NRA Trail Safety card and have
distributed more than 3,500 of them. (I have one!)
Jay Johnston reports that his book was in final edit
stages, due to be published in late 2015. The book
deals with Jay’s eight-and-a-half year battle with
his former employer, at the end of which Jay won a
$15 million settlement (most of which went to his
lawyers). He says: “I had to do it; I had no choice.
They were basically trying to send me to jail.” Don
and Missy got word while in Canandaigua that
their daughter Amy Lang ’97 was named a VP at
Staples. Sarge continues to shop for silver antiques.
He owns a Paul Revere teaspoon worth $3,500.
Buffalo continues to recover from his heart problems and is back on the golf course. I must report
that he and I beat Hunts and Jay in a golf match.
Jay, do you remember my 9-iron on the 18th? (As
long as I’m alive you’ll never forget it.) Hunts visited
Toby at the Cleveland Clinic a week after our outing, where they used the electric shock method to
put him back into normal rhythm. “So far, so good.”
Coincidentally, Jef Corson, John’s former roommate,
had been at the CC a few months earlier for a similar procedure. Thank God for Toby, who says he will
be working as the head of the CC for “about two
more years.”
More happy news: Susie and Mike Cannon and
Hilda and Kit Jones were guests at the home of
Lanie and Bob Panuska at their summer residence
near Inverness, Cape Breton. Says Mike: “Bob looks
the same, except for a head of curly white hair. He
retired a few years ago from his third career as a
successful commercial fisherman. His son Matt is
considered to be one of the top commercial fishermen in Nova Scotia. We had a fabulous three days
together highlighted by a snow crab feast overlooking Lake Ainslie on Cape Breton. The wives were
very patient as we relived our two years of roommate war stories. It’s funny how these old friendships pick up as if it were yesterday.”
Carol and Jef Corson were at Middlebury for his
son Flynn’s master’s degree in English from the
Bread Loaf program. They turned around, and there
was Joe Bassett. Jef was honored by the Einstein
Heath Hospital with a dinner. He has sold his watermelon company to Bayer Aspirin. “What a headache
that was,” said Jef.
Bill Robertson sent me photos of himself and Al
Oehrle taken at the Riverside Church in Manhattan
(see the last issue). Al was performing with The
Orpheus Club of Philadelphia as part of a program
of all-male choruses. “Each chorus sang separately
followed by a joint performance of all of them. Not
only did Al sing, but he played the piano for one
song,” Bill said.
32
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Carole and Ralph Temple traveled to San Diego
in July to visit Ralph’s daughter, who was emceeing a City of Hope fundraiser. They had a “terrific
long brunch with Bonnie and Steve Clarey and Rick
Seidenwurm and his companion Susan at Rick and
Susan’s new La Jolla condo on the ocean. Steve is still
very involved with the Osher Foundation program
at UCSD, and Rick helps with reading and writing assistance to inner-city students. Rick’s son Rob
Seidenwurm ’93 made a great run on Jeopardy.”
Ralph and Carole are still spending time with
the newest state university they helped found, UC
Merced. “We will surpass 10,000 undergraduates by
2020.” Ralph worries about climate change. “Our
Central Valley is stricken by the drought, with many
agricultural acres lying fallow. We’re hoping for El
Niño this winter.”
Sad News: Ron Battory died in July. Ron was
with us only for two years and earned his B.A. from
UMass-Amherst. His work involved computers, and
he worked for both General Electric and General
Dynamics in Pittsfield. He lived in North Adams, his
childhood home. He played saxophone and clarinet
in many jazz bands and performed multiple times at
the Williams Inn. Our sympathies to his former wife
Jean Battory and his two daughters.
We lost Ash Crosby in September. Ash was very
active in the theater after retiring from teaching for
30 years at two private schools (one of which, the
Rippowam Cisqua School in Bedford, N.Y., named
its theater after him). Theater was his passion, which
he began at Williams, and he acted in a great variety
of plays, ranging from Shakespeare to contemporary.
He was revered by his fellow performers. Our condolences to his four siblings, two daughters and five
grandchildren. And to us. He was a great guy.
Two spouses recently passed away, John Newton’s
wife Mary and Chris Sargent’s wife Anne. Mary was
diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, which had
metastasized to the brain. Fortunately, she did not
suffer long. Anne also passed away from cancer. Chris’
daughter Thayer married and joined the Sargent
Investment Group, which Chris heads. “I don’t know
how to retire,” says Chris, “and at this point in my
life I’m thankful for such a major distraction.” Keep
going, Newt and Chris!
Spike Kellogg sent me a eulogy for Roger Smith
delivered by Liz Allen, the daughter of Norman
Vincent Peale, at Roger’s funeral service. It is beautiful and moving, and I wish I could include it all, but
an excerpt will have to do: “There was nothing pretentious about Roger. He was what you saw. You
got what he was. Full of humor and good cheer,
he could deliver a board committee report on an
audit—thoroughly dry stuff like balance sheets,
pensions and health insurance—that was actually
funny. Other board members would anticipate—
literally wait for his reports as relief from dreary
meetings. He lifted tedious moments with sorely
needed moments of levity. That was his gift. He gave
us the gift of himself. Good job, Roger!”
And that is the last communication I had from
Spike. He died on Sept. 21, 2015, of a sarcoma
located in his left shoulder and neck. He had been ill
for about six months, and the diagnosis was difficult.
He was in serious pain for most of the time, and his
death was a blessing. I visited Spike along with Jack
1962– 63
Kroh about three weeks before he passed away. It
was painful to see this most fit person I have ever
known in such agony. We were so fortunate to have
him as our class leader for so many years. I know the
entire class shares my feelings of sadness and compassion for Gillian Kellogg and their family. He will
never be forgotten.
Organ Recital: Denny Bauman is recovering from
his fourth surgery in eight months. “This time for
arthroscopic knee surgery. Back to golfing and biking when the pain gets bored with inhabiting me. I
have recently committed to help with Habitat for
Humanity. We welcomed our first grandchild in
November, courtesy of Kristen, who is a nurse at
Ohio State U. Hospital.” Fin Fogg suffered from a
small broken bone in his neck after falling from a
coughing fit in the middle of the night as he tried
to stand up next to his bed. “I have to wear a bloody
brace 24/7,” Fin told me, “but the outlook is good.”
He remains the president of the NYC Legal Aid
Society. Gary Webster now wears hearing aids and
has undergone physiotherapy for back pain. “In June
I visited with Laura and Quig Conley in Redding,
Conn., and in their NYC condo. Laura is a docent
at the Met and steered me to two tours there and to
the Frick. Then we planned a fall trip to the Clark for
the van Gogh and the Whistler exhibits, plus MASS
MoCA and WCMA.” Bonnie and I enjoyed three
lovely days with the Langs at their summer home in
the Adirondacks. Also visiting was Bob Mahland and
Colleen and Jim Van Hoven, who live nearby on Lake
Champlain. Jim had another new knee; he truly is the
bionic man with four joint replacements. “Goal is to
be back on my bike by September.”
Voice from the seldom heard, and it was a welcome
and garrulous voice from Tom Scanlin, whom I
don’t think I have heard from in 40 years. I’ll try to
summarize his extensive letter. Tom spent 30 years in
Costa Rica as a teacher and counselor. After retiring
in 2000, he bought a house in Belgium. He became
ill, went to a “beautiful young lady doctor with his
adopted son,” and she cured Tom and married his
son. Tom then moved back to Montana, where he
grew up, and he continues to reside there. He travels back to Belgium frequently to see the family and
visits Central America at least twice every year. He
is the designated driver for several older folks in
Bozeman and was first in the state in the trivia game
QuizUp. (“Ballet, classical music, French art, poetry,
you name it. I learned it at Williams.”) A personal
note from Tom to his “dear college roommate Tony
Diller, with whom I have lost touch. Bless you, Tony,
for giving me confidence when I had none.”
Other news: Andy Hess is beginning to think of
retirement “not because of health or aging issues but
because I am simply having trouble putting up with a
new generation of hired faculty. Now it is only business and rankings. Scholarship is out the window.”
In preparation for retirement, Andy has secured his
“green card” for the European Union and will probably end up in their second home in Turin for most
of the year, except for the summer months, when
they plan to return to Nashville. Another physician who is tapering his practice is Mike Scott. “I
stopped operating in July, which was a painful transition, but I had to do it. I continue lecturing around
the country, recently in Portland, Ore., where I had
a lovely reunion with Ann and Erik Muller. I was
appointed to the Board of Registration in Medicine
in Massachusetts. We review the credentials of those
who apply for medical licenses and hear and deal
with complaints.” Mike and Susan celebrated their
23rd anniversary in 2015. Also spending part of the
year in Europe are Birgit and Jack Sabin; their plan is
to spend the summers there. “It is not possible to survive the summers in Florida, so we go to Odense in
Denmark, where I have a position at the University
of Southern Denmark. No teaching, just research.
Our house is 100 meters from the beach, so we can
swim in cold water.”
John Wilkinson continues to work full time “and
then some” as an arbitrator and mediator of complex
commercial cases. Find out the details on his website,
www.johnwilkinsonlaw.com.
Andy Hero reports: “Our daughter Eleanor Hero ’96
graduated in June with an MBA from the Rotman
School in Toronto. Jean and I attended and had a
wonderful time in that great city.” Since early June,
Barbey and Ned Dougherty “have been enjoying
life the way it should be in Biddeford Pool, Maine.
Two of our kids have nearby houses, and the third
has been staying with us with his family. We plan
to stay in Biddeford year round and have sold our
house in Albany.” Ned hopes that those of you traveling through Maine will stop and visit. Sally and
Steve Huffman took their longest trip ever this past
summer—six weeks in Italy. “It was our 10th trip to
that country but our first to Sicily. We then rented
an apartment in Bologna, where we saw old Italian
friends and enjoyed fabulous food. Now we’re back
in Sacramento, where I continue to ride my bike 200
miles each month.”
Finally, I received a book in the mail in September
from Andy Smith ’63: In the Ladies’ Room. It is
truly a very funny book from this two-time Emmy
Award-winning writer, and the dedication is to
Albert Oehrle (and two others) with the explanation:
“They read the manuscript more than once.” Albert
says it is “hilarious.” And you all know better than to
disagree with Albert.
1963
Phil Kinnicutt, 341 Iliaina St., Kailua, HI 96734;
On my way to the Oct. 9-11 minireunion in
Williamstown last fall, I stopped off in Worcester,
Mass., to visit with Perry Kingman at All Saints
Church. Perry has served in a number of mostly small
parishes in various parts of the country and in various capacities during his long career in the ministry, ending up at All Saints, the church of my youth.
The church was as stunning as I remembered and
perhaps even more so from my current perspective.
Perry has now retired and is enjoying life in the New
England area. He remembered the Williams Oxford
trip that he and Donna took as part of the 50th and
recalled that the great thing about the 50th reunion
and beyond is making new friends among classmates. So true!
The well-remembered two-and-a-half hour drive to
Williamstown from Worcester passes through Paxton
on Route 122 and on to Barre and Petersham before
connecting up with Route 2 outside of Orange. From
J A N UA RY 2016
l
33
CLASS NOTES
there it is on to Greenfield and the Mohawk Trail to
North Adams and The Village Beautiful. My timing
for the drive and the weekend was perfect, thanks to a
late fall foliage season, and as I headed west, I looked
forward to seeing old friends and enjoying a small
college football game without endless game-delaying
TV commercial breaks, 100,000 screaming maniacal fans and the super hype that is big-time college
football. It was a grand weekend. Bill Boyd was there
with Deborah, John Bell and Mac Dick indulged in
another epic 9- to 10-hour road trip from Michigan
to attend, and Jan and Clay Davenport, Geoff Howard
and John Stayton and daughter Jennifer Stayton ’89
were there in addition to yours truly. Former ’63 class
member Steve Hyde ’64 was also on the scene, and
Clay recalled his teaching and coaching at Tower
Hill School in Wilmington, Del. While at the football game in the new and very impressive Weston
Athletic Complex, we took a look at the plaque recognizing Jack Luetkemeyer’s 50th reunion gift “In
honor of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and the
Class of 1963 and in memory of Mike Reily ’64.” Our
class dinner Saturday night with the Class of ’64 was
held in the brand new and beautiful Reily Room in
the Weston Field House overlooking the football
field. It was a memorable evening and featured a new
video about Mike, The Forgotten Man, put together
by PT and Damon Navarro. To view that video and
others of the room dedication ceremony and speeches
made at the event, go to http://bit.ly/1MbNntm. Ben
Wagner ’64 and his team have done a remarkable job
on the Reily project. While on campus, I visited the
new Sawyer Library and dropped by the Center for
Educational Technology Class of 1963 Instruction
Room. It is located on the second floor (room 269),
overlooking the new Environmental Center, and our
50th reunion gift is recognized with a bronze plaque
on the wall near the entrance. A very nice facility!
On Friday afternoon, during a presentation to
alumni on access and affordability at Williams by
Provost and Professor of Philosophy Will Dudley ’89
and Deputy Director of Admission Liz Creighton ’01,
the subject of veterans on campus was raised. Prof.
Dudley reported that Jake Bingaman ’19, a 29-yearold ex-Navy Seal, is a freshman and doing very well.
He lives in a house provided by the college with his
wife and two children and has been “adopted” by one
of the freshman entries. Prof. Dudley said that in one
of the entry orientation exercises, students were asked
what would be the one thing they would bring to the
apocalypse. One responded a flamethrower, another
some type of gun. Jake said he would bring a pocketknife, and the student next to him smiled and said,
“I’d bring Jake.” The story brought the house down.
Lots of travel news to report from the class. John
Connor and Susan had the whole family at Villa
Michaela near Lucca in Tuscany to celebrate their
50th wedding anniversary. Daughter Seanna Connor
Walter ’91 and her husband Matt Walter ’91, son Josh
Connor ’96 and their families (four couples and nine
grandchildren) bicycled around the wall and out to
vineyards. John said, “The weather was great as well as
the fabulous food the villa fed us morning and night.
Memory of a lifetime… Susan and I are off for the
second half of October to Odessa, Ukraine, where I
will teach at the 17,000-student law school. Ukraine
is clearly on the right track if it is educating so many
34
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
to-be lawyers.” Hey John, that can’t be right! (But
he did say he would report back on what is actually
going on over there.) Molly and Bill Huppuch celebrated their first wedding anniversary in 1981 with
a trip to a family summer home on Lake Muskoka,
Ontario, Canada, with their 15- and 12-year-old
daughters from his first marriage. This year, to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary, they went to
France and biked each day for a week along the Oise
and Seine rivers from Compiègne through Paris (yes,
right through the middle of the city) to Moret-surLoing. He reports that their barge met the group of
14 at the end of each day and provided wonderful
meals and comfortable cabins for sleeping. Per Bill,
“It was a blast.” Afterward, they spent another week
exploring Tours and Paris. Mike Gerhardt and Doree
engineered a two-home summer exchange that
placed them in Little Chalfont, “a bucolic town about
20 miles from London. A week in the Basque country followed by two weeks in Paris was planned.”
Rich Castiello is still practicing medicine and
hopes to keep practicing so he “can get it right someday.” Actually, he is seriously thinking about retirement so he can enjoy his nearby grandchildren—10
at last count. Lael and Bill Carter sold their house
and moved into what he describes as “The Third
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” He describes the other
tenants as a funky international group of grad students, medical interns and residents that work at
the Cleveland Clinic University Hospital and Case
Western Reserve University. The move will facilitate travel and fun without fear of leaking faucets,
unmowed lawns or piles of snow. He is working on
his tennis game but is not ready to take on Dave
Lougee or Lenny Bernheimer yet. He is also still
actively involved with several organizations associated
with rebuilding things in Nepal, and he and Lael will
join nine others traveling there in March. Stu Brown
received a new left knee in September after struggling through the summer with worsening problems.
Speaking from personal experience, I am sure things
are a lot better now that he has had it done. My two,
done in 2009, are just great! Mark Smith has been
dealing with some serious health issues, but as of
this writing he was on the mend, per wife Judy. And
Brooks Goddard passed along a note from Reece
Bader about the ’70s, recounting a softball game
where Reece set a record for his law firm going 7 for
7 and Bill Riley ’64 went 6 for 6. Something about
bragging rights is involved here, I think.
Where were you in 1981, when Gordon Davis was
doing a rock concert in Central Park? Bob Seidman
wrote with total recall, “In 1981, Patti and I had
moved from our West Village apartment (two-anda-half rooms on Bleecker Street) to the then-new
SoHo. I was writing documentaries (I’d have to check
to see the dates), maybe the PBS film on Wallace
Stevens in the ‘Voices and Visions’ series? I was also
working on a novel, I’m sure. That one may have been
abandoned.” Class Prexy Jim Blume reports he was
in Berkeley but didn’t elaborate. And Bill Hubbard
checked in with a final note that during a recent
lunch with Gordy, he heard the story of how Gordy
had engineered the reconciliation of Simon and
Garfunkel after a 10-year estrangement and coaxed
them into doing that record-breaking concert in the
park. And, by the way, Bill, with son Bill IV, finished
1963
fourth in the IRC Class 3 Racer/Cruiser group in
this past summer’s Transatlantic Race in their yacht
Siren. They missed third place by 3 hours and 30
minutes after 11 days at sea. Evidently Gordy thinks
Bill has lost his mind for even considering it.
Terry Davis reports that, all in all, he had a very
good summer. He’s still working full time in administration for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in
Columbus, Ohio, and he and Barb celebrated
their 50th wedding anniversary at the Jersey Shore
with family and friends. They cruised the Danube
River from Budapest to Nuremberg at the end
of September. Terry’s band, Grassinine, has been
together for eight years and has risen to the top of the
charts (Columbus, bluegrass—very small field), and
has produced its first CD. Terry plays washtub bass,
and life is good, he says.
I received a nice, long letter from Jim Kidd filled
with news and commentary. “My wife Teri is retired
from the local school system and has become busier
than ever at Longwood University here in Farmville,
Va., a five-minute walk from our house (and site of
the 2016 vice presidential debate, source of much
excitement), accompanying the women’s chorus and
playing for a number of students, vocal and instrumental. It’s crazy. I keep a more low profile with a
monkish dedication to golf, the piano and reading.
We spent five days in La Rochelle, France, at the end
of a French study program that Teri attended for a
month, and I highly recommend it as a vacation site
with a fascinating history. My surprise gift was going
to a free outdoor concert on the other major island,
Isle de Ré, by one of the greatest and most fascinating musicians on earth, violinist/fiddle-player Gilles
Apap and his group (accordion, cimbalom, string
bass). He’s French-Algerian, plays classical, Celtic (I
first heard him in Portland with John Burke, famous
Irish fiddle-player; they toured together), bluegrass
(he formed an Eastern European bluegrass group,
the Transylvania Mountain Boys, which gives you
some idea of his sense of humor), and jazz. After
France, five days in England visiting my niece and
her family. They live in a chokingly picturesque village in Oxfordshire, Stanford-in-the-Vale, in a gorgeous old 18th-century house complete with twins,
dogs and cats. My golf game is a roller coaster, of
course, and I occasionally win in our senior shambles or get closest to the pin. Before Christmas, we
take a cruise to Cuba for a week with both children,
who happen to both be in Portland, Ore. I just hope
that I can bring back cigars legally for a couple of
friends (and myself ).”
Jim Blume sent along a narrative of his summer
adventures with Kathryn: “Kathryn and I went on a
spectacular Williams-sponsored cruise to the inland
passage of Alaska in the beginning of August. Pete
Lewicki and his wife Lynn were among the participants. They continue to live in Seattle, where both
their grown children also reside. Pete is a fabulous photographer and provided all of the others
on the trip memorable and stunning photographs
of our adventure. After a hiatus of a few days, we
embarked for the East Coast. On our first night,
we had a sumptuous dinner in Natick with Lyn and
Lenny Bernheimer and Jeanie and Brooks Goddard
at the Bernheimers’ house. The next day, much to
former No. 1 Williams tennis player Goddard’s
dismay, Lenny and I triumphed in a hard-fought
doubles match over Brooks and a friend. Lenny
took MVP honors.
“Our next encounter with Ephmen was with
Hobby and David Jeffrey at their charming home in
South Dartmouth, Mass. We’ve traveled to London,
Vietnam and Myanmar with the Jeffreys, so over the
years we have developed a warm, intimate and wonderfully enduring relationship with them. They are
the consummate hosts. The next day, we lunched
with Mary Lou and Mike Heath at a local seafood
restaurant. The Heaths have had a summer home
in the area for years. They have located their permanent residence to South Bend, Ind., after living in
Austin, Texas, for a number of years. Two of their
grandchildren attend Culver Academy, where one of
their daughters and her husband teach in the chemistry department. The next night we were invited to
dine at Gayle and Roger Mandle’s gorgeous home
in South Dartmouth. Gayle and Roger have remodeled a dilapidated home in spectacular fashion. It is
replete with antiques and wonderful graphics and
art. Gayle is an artist and interior designer of some
renown, while Roger continues to consult to various artistic endeavors. Kathryn and I were in awe of
the house and its wondrous setting. The next evening
we dined with Bob Critchell. Bob’s two kids are really
doing well indeed. Dana Critchell Beausang ’97 is
board-certified in both internal medicine and endocrinology and practices endocrinology. She is married to a Stanford scientist, has two boys and lives in
Menlo Park. Son Brad is a career New York investment banker, is married, lives in Greenwich, Conn.,
and has three boys.
“Finally, we returned to Boston, where Jeanie
Goddard and Brooks and Jeanie’s son Peter Goddard
’96, his wife Tasha and their children joined the
Bernheimers and us for a delicious seafood (lobster) repast prepared solely by Jeanie. Brooks had
disembarked to Minneapolis for a meeting of his
East Africa colleagues of days past. While there, he
reports going to a Twins baseball game with Andy
Holt and Phil Albert, who were in fine fettle. Our
last night was spent, once again, at the Bernheimers’
and highlighted by a visit by their daughter Beth
Harrington ’88 and her husband Mike Harrington
’88. Incidentally, Lyn and Lenny’s granddaughter,
Molly Harrington ’18, had just completed her freshman year at our alma mater. Throughout the trip,
Kathryn deserved unending credit for enduring all
the Williams reminiscences. She held up remarkably
well. Everybody felt she should be at least made an
honorary alumna.”
Class news: Gordy Prichett and Clay Davenport
have continued to do an excellent job with our class
fundraising effort. Total dollar giving is up, and so is
our class participation in the Alumni Fund. Way to
go, guys! And John Churchill’s hard work on a class
trip is really paying off. Looks like a great adventure
to the Baltic Republics in September.
And, finally, some sad news from Margaret
McComish in Williams’ college relations office. “It
is with a heavy heart that I am passing along word
that Richard Goodman passed away Aug. 27 after
two long years of illness.” She noted that she had
been in conversation with Richard’s son Michael
Goodman ’93, who asked her to share the news.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
35
CLASS NOTES
Michael said that the family had gathered with
Richard and that he passed away with the love of
his life, Wanda, at his side.
1964
Martin P. Wasserman, 13200 Triadelphia Road, Ellicott
City, MD 21042; 1964secretary@williams.edu
Classmates, when I requested that we focus this
discussion on community and philanthropic activities, I received several very exciting responses that I
will share with you shortly. But there are a couple of
activities that I would like to note at the outset that
describe “excellence” and “our Williams class community,” which I believe are also important.
I am unaware of anyone from our class who has
received recognition from the college and been
selected to receive a Bicentennial Medal. These medals honor members of the Williams community for
“distinguished achievement in any field of endeavor.”
They were established in 1993, on the occasion of
the college’s 200th anniversary. Of the five awarded
during the Fall Convocation this past September,
Jonathan E. Fielding, professor and co-director of
the Center for Health Enhancement, Education and
Research at UCLA’s School of Public Health, and
longstanding director of the Los Angeles County
Department of Public Health, was selected a recipient. Congratulations, Jonathan.
I was Jonathan’s suitemate in Currier Hall during
our sophomore year and can attest to his outstanding accomplishments and personal achievements
throughout his career in medicine and public health.
To serve in any leadership position for as long as
he did (having retired this summer) and in a community with the political and health-related challenges he faced in LA is truly a recognition of the
total quality of his work as a person, professional
and colleague. Jonathan has authored uncountable
journal articles, edited a book on current local public health practices and chaired a number of organizations and national public health committees. He
has been recognized for his efforts by the American
Public Health Association and has served the public throughout his career after leaving Williams for
Harvard Medical School. His career has been distinguished at every level, and now it has been recognized by Williams as well.
Steve Birrell, John Foehl, Bob Furey, Dave
Macpherson and Bill Frado were there along with
their spouses and Karin Fielding to spend the weekend in celebration of this accomplishment. The festivities began with President Adam Falk hosting a
dinner at Mount Hope Farm on Friday night, followed by a dinner hosted by John Foehl and Sarah at
their home on Saturday. I have been informed that
the second dinner was “more relaxing, if not raucous”
by one of the participants. Bob Furey, who also was
a suitemate during our sophomore year, provided
additional details regarding the award that recognized Jonathan’s “academic research and leadership
in public health, [which has] improved longevity and
the quality of life for millions.” Bob noted that the
Saturday morning Convocation at Thompson was “a
most impressive affair; the chapel was filled to overflowing with faculty, seniors and assorted guests” who
listened as President Falk reflected on the excellence
36
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
and values-basis of a Williams education and introduced a thoughtful talk by Michael F. Curtin ’86,
the CEO of DC Central Kitchen. Bob mentioned
that each of the medal recipients had a compelling
story to tell. As he returned home, Bob reflected on
his feelings “that there is something special about
Williams that goes beyond the tangible. There is
almost a ‘collective unconscious,’ to borrow Jung’s
phrase, that binds those of us from the Purple Valley
together.” Bob also mentioned that earlier in the
summer, John Romans and Dave Macpherson and
their families joined him and Janet at their lake house
for “swimming, strolling and reminiscing.” While he
did not include “eating and drinking,” he did add, “I
can no longer tell fact from legend, so I can’t attest to
the accuracy of our tales of long ago.” So I leave it up
to you to deduce what additional activities occurred
at the Furey Lake House!
Other activities on campus included Biff Steel and
daughter Melissa Steel King ’95 carrying the ’64
class banner during reunion over the summer and the
parade led by vintage cars driven by Frank Loscalzo
and Dave Macpherson. In October, over Columbus
Day Weekend (why DO we still celebrate this man,
who never set foot in the continental U.S. and has a
history of brutality that should be better understood
and taught to our elementary school students? But I
digress…), we held our minireunion and were welcomed by beautiful fall weather, an exciting football
win over Bates, two outstanding faculty lectures, and
dinners with cohorts from the classes of ’63 thru ’68.
Steve Birrell writes, “During the Saturday evening
dinner held in the Reily Room, we were able to preview a film being produced by Coach Navarro’s two
sons Damon and PT. The film memorializes Mike
Reily and his story, in similar fashion to Tim Layden’s
’78 wonderful account in Sports Illustrated.” He continues, “Kudos to Ben Wagner, who continues to provide the leadership to complete the effort to honor
Mike, which we began back before our 50th reunion.”
Tom Howell commented on how meaningful his
first time in the Reily Room was as he overlooked
the football field and enjoyed a delightful dinner
Saturday night joined by several members of the
Class of ’63, including Mac Dick ’63 and John Bell ’63.
Class members who attended the weekend included
Jack Beecham, engaged to Allie (both of whom spent
the weekend smiling), Steve Birrell and Polly, George
Boltres and Beth, Bill Chapman, Class President John
Foehl and Sarah, Bill Frado and Jane, Nick Goodhue,
Tom Howell and Karen, Steve Hyde and Alice, Jack
Kuehn, Frank Loscalzo, Dave Macpherson and Polly,
Gay Mayer and Mary, John Romans and Caroline,
Ben Wagner and Sandy, Nick Goodhue, and Bill
Wishard. Gay observed the changes that we contributed to Chapin and states, “It looks beautiful, and we
should be very proud of what is being accomplished.”
Gay also informed us that Doug Fearon, who has
spent most of his medical career in London, is in
NYC at Sloan Kettering, but has no further details
on Barbara and my classmate from Johns Hopkins
Medical School, where we both landed after graduating from Williams.
Having concluded our review of activities and
attendees during the October minireunion, I want to
return to our theme of contribution and community
service. Tim Tuttle has a novel idea that took hold
1963– 64
when he learned of President Falk’s and the trustees’
recent statement on Williams’ environmental impact
and the aggressive campaign to reduce the “carbon
footprint” of the college. To that end, he and Toby
have just completed the donation of 6,667 tons of
carbon credits to Williams. An independent source
has calculated that gifts of an additional 18,000 tons
would make the college carbon-neutral. Tim asks
if any of our classmates want to join him in providing this “gift” to Williams? We will have to ask Gay
Mayer, class agent, how our class can receive credit
for this “unusual” donation during our annual Alumni
Fund campaign. Tim also remarked that he recently
returned from a trip to England and Scotland, which
occurred through an invitation from his oldest grandson to join him and his new wife on their honeymoon. Tim wonders if any of our classmates have had
that kind of experience. Although we have no grandchildren, I can speak for Barbara when I comment on
how wonderful it must feel to have that kind of intimate family relationship. We have been celebrating
our 50th wedding anniversary for the past year with
our immediate families (Brad Wasserman ’96 and
Torrey and their spouses), first spending a delightful week in the Dominican Republic in the spring
and then, on the actual weekend in late August, being
with our children again for a splendid series of celebratory feasts and conversations.
Peter Buttenheim and Fran spend their summers
in Williamstown and then return to their home in
Wilmington, where they do extensive volunteer work.
Frances works with the American Association of
University Women and remains the president of the
condo association. They also serve the Food Bank of
Delaware and Lutheran Community Services but
try to retain afternoons to walk, read, go to the gym,
shop or “whatever.” Always a voracious reader, Peter is
currently reading Robert Caro’s huge book on Robert
Moses and all he did in NYC over many decades in
the 20th century. In recommending this tome, he
notes, “I have always wanted to read this book, and
the time has finally come.”
Following his spectacular accomplishments at
the Special Olympics in LA this summer, where he
managed to get 1,000 LA Rotary members, family and friends to sit together wearing bright yellow
T-shirts with beautiful multicolor Rotary and Special
Olympics logos during the opening ceremony, Bill
Wishard informs us of his activities and appearance in a documentary film honoring the recovery
of Page Jones, son of Indy 500 legend Parnelli Jones,
in Godspeed: The Story of Page Jones. The film narrates
the 20-year recovery period of the then 22-year-old
racecar driver, who suffered traumatic brain injury.
Bill notes that Page has “had an amazing recovery
from his life-threatening injury. The film includes
footage of racing, lots of rehab (including NYU
Medical Center Rusk Institute), his family today and
the first public ‘talk’ he gave (he couldn’t speak for six
months after coming out of two months of coma),
which I arranged at Pepperdine University through
the Malibu Rotary.” The nonprofit film is aimed as
inspiration for others recovering, e.g., soldiers from
Afghanistan or Iraq with land mine brain injury, and
for those athletes who now suffer from “football concussion.” Jay Leno, whose automobile collection is
legendary, is one of the co-producers of the film. The
potentially Academy Award-winning film debuted in
New York in October.
“Around Greenville,” Steve Doughty writes, “the
opportunities for volunteering are ever fresh and
wonderfully rewarding. For specifics, I’ll simply say
that, in the ‘we never imagined we’d do that’ department, for the past three months Jean and I have been
singing backup in a gospel chorus. Hitting the notes
isn’t a problem. Our director told us, ‘Just pick any
note. You’ll be OK.’ What’s tough is clapping on the
right beat and swaying in rhythm, so you flow in
perfect unison rather than bash hips. It’s tough work,
but we’re gaining!” I think you need to get someone
with an iPhone to record your “singing and swaying,” Steve.
Planning to retire at the beginning of 2016, Jay
Freedman “hopes” to conclude his law practice,
although he “will probably continue to spend some
time in the office, as old habits die hard.” But he will
focus more on his two mentoring projects. One is a
weekly reading program with a student in the DC
public schools with whom Jay has been working for
the past eight years since the first grade. Jay says it is
“very rewarding to work with the same student and
watch him grow. His father has been in prison since
we first met, so I have been a bit of a father figure.
Unfortunately, this particular program prohibits
any contact outside the school setting, so there is no
opportunity for weekend activities.” Jay’s only regret
is that the young boy is a Dallas Cowboys fan, which
“often grants him gloating privileges.” His second
program involves mentoring disadvantaged, firstin-family college students who receive scholarships
from The Economics Club of Washington. Jay meets
with the students before the school year begins and
then will periodically phone and email them during
the academic year. He deals with issues like roommate problems, study techniques, course selection,
time management, résumé presentation for summer
jobs, homesickness and “any other issues that confront students who have not had the benefit of being
exposed to experiences that make the transition easier.” This is Jay’s second year, and he expresses gratification in observing the students make the necessary
adjustments and advance to their sophomore years
with much greater confidence. The program will continue throughout their college years. This sounds like
a great project for any of us to get involved with. You
can take real pride in these community efforts.
The more I get to converse with Mike Bond, the
more I like and admire his efforts. I got to re-engage
with him during our 50th, and he continues to share
his amazing life with me and the rest of our class.
Mike continues to fight “lots of environmental battles, trying to protect wolves, whales, elephants and
lots of other creatures and places from the unrelenting cataclysm of humanity.” He is very involved in
Maine, fighting the spread of “useless wind turbines
across every beautiful mountain in the state,” working with Jonathan Carter ’73, Peter Beckford ’82 and
many others. Mike continues to work on Middle
East issues, particularly Islamic fundamentalism.
Much of his interest is centered on the plots of the
novels he has written. His sixth novel, Killing Maine,
has just been published, thanks to his longtime agent
and friend Bob Diforio ’65, and it’s doing very well.
Mike has concluded a 1,000-page novel of the ’60s
J A N UA RY 2016
l
37
CLASS NOTES
that will come out next year, in which “Williams
plays a significant part. It’s very interesting to think
how the college was back in the ’60s compared to
how it seems now.” When not writing or tilting at
windmills, Mike and Peggy are still climbing mountains. Together they hiked 300 miles in the Alps over
the summer and many more in France.
Of interest on the international front, Vince Farley
writes that he maintains his concerns involving former U.S. policy in Rwanda during the Clinton
administration and how his early writings concerning genocide were not heeded. He remarked how
depressed he was at our 30th reunion. But some
of this information is only now becoming declassified, and he feels vindicated (only wishes actions
were taken sooner). He notes that Samantha Power,
U.N. ambassador, includes one of his memos in her
Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Problem from Hell:
America and the Age of Genocide.
During the summer Paul Kritzer and Fran spent
time with Curt Green and Paula, who visited them
in Milwaukee. Paul played tour guide, introducing
the Calatrava-designed art museum, Miller Park, the
Fonzie statute and the Harley-Davidson Museum.
These items have all been added since Al Foster left
town. In a separate and “confidential” note to Al,
Paul invites him to return home, since “the statute
of limitations” has run out (but never provides additional details). The visit concluded with a tour of
Frank Lloyd Wright’s stunning estate at Taliesin and
a genuine Wisconsin cheese factory. Anyone wishing to share a similar visit and become an “honorary
Cheesehead” (and discover more about Al Foster’s
absence) can respond to Paul’s request that he and
Fran “don’t have to wait another 50 years for a classmate to visit us in Wisconsin!”
On the home front, Barbara and I continue to work
on a variety of health and community issues, including animal well-being (elimination from continued
medical research), child nutrition and obesity concerns and environmental sustainability matters. We
wish you all health and peace in 2016. —Marty
1965
Tom Burnett, 175 Riverside Drive, #2H, New York, NY
Secretary Tom Burnett reports: More than 20 classmates attended the “Pass the Baton” minireunion
over the weekend of Oct. 9-11 in Williamstown.
The event was well organized and offered many
enjoyable activities. Attendees had the opportunity to witness a stimulating presentation on
“Admissions and Access” where various funding alternatives were discussed in reaction to rising tuition costs. There was also a faculty lecture by
Professor Darra Goldstein on the “Visual Culture
of Food.” Alice and Dave Wilson hosted a class party
on Friday night that offered all of us a chance to
mingle and catch up following the highly successful
50th reunion in June. Bill Ouchi generously provided
a gift of special wines for the evening.
Saturday featured another faculty lecture followed
by a tailgate lunch at the Weston Athletic Complex.
Fortunately, the locals won the game, defeating
Bates 16-14. I enjoyed the game, sitting with Westy
Boyd, Jack Elgin and Jim Gage. Following the game,
38
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Gale and Dusty Griffin hosted a meeting of spouses
and partners to discuss the challenges of professional and volunteer work in our busy lives. Perry
Wheelock and Saranne (Foley) Murray were active
participants in that event. The formal Pass-the
Baton dinner for the Classes of ’65 and ’66 was held
at the Faculty House, hosted by Williams President
Adam Falk and the college development team.
Dusty Griffin and Dave Coolidge spoke during the
dinner to welcome the ’66 class officers who will be
heading up their 50th reunion activities. The weekend concluded with a farewell brunch at the Faculty
House on Sunday morning.
As expected, Priscilla and Jim Worrall were warm
and generous landlords for the weekend. Dorm
Worrall was packed with visitors Ron Kidd, Saranne
and Jack Foley, Perry and Art Wheelock, Tim Reichert
and yours truly. I can attest to the comfort of the
Worrall living room couch, where I spent precious
time napping on Friday and Saturday afternoons. The
Worralls were particularly happy, as their daughter
Abby had recently presented them with a grandson.
While perusing the newspapers in the Worrall living
room, I noted a feature story on the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts exhibition of 17th century Dutch paintings. Nosy me (in my role as class scribe), I asked
Artie what he knew about and thought of the exhibition. Oops, silly me, turns out the curator of the show
is one of his former students who dedicated her catalog of the exhibition to him. So modest; if one does
not ask, one could miss a lot!
While visiting with Dusty, I learned that Gale will
be honored by the volunteer group America Scores
at a formal event in San Francisco. The organization directs volunteer activity toward underprivileged
children, with a focus on soccer and poetry (composing and reciting). Gale has been an honorary board
member at the national level for several years.
The dinner Saturday night allowed me to catch
up briefly with several friends from the Class of ’66,
including Charley Randolph ’66, Wink Willett ’66,
John Linen ’66, Budge Upton ’66 and Bill Bowden
’66, all of whom have their work cut out for them to
match the success of our class event.
I enjoyed visiting with Jane and Bob Mayer at
the dinner. Their daughter Rachel Judlowe ’99 lives
in Manhattan, and her two sons attend Friends
Seminary School, where Harriet is the director of
admission, so we always have a lot to talk about.
At the dinner, I sat with Tina and Fred Ohly, who
are happy, beaming grandparents. Their grandson
John H. Ohly III was born in late July, and he will be
known as Jack.
John Storey passed on a news item he had received
from Ted Cornell about Ted’s activities in the
Adirondacks. Ted maintains his painting studio at
Crooked Brook Studios in Westport, N.Y.
In the wake of our 50th reunion, news items are
in short supply, so I will begin to seek out classmates in early 2016 for updates. In the meantime,
I did receive a welcome summary from Henry Lum.
Henry’s son Zachary Lum ’91 is with the Foreign
Service. He and his wife Liana and daughter Sabina
have been posted to Hanoi after three years in Prague
and two years in Budapest. They maintain a home
on the Cape, which allows Sally and Henry to spend
some time with them during the summer. Henry’s
1964– 66
daughter Kaimi Rose Lum ’94 is an associate editor with the Provincetown Banner paper and lives
near Sally and Henry. Kaimi and her husband Josh
have a 3-year-old daughter, Zoe. Son Silas Lum ’97
is a lawyer with Covington & Burling in New York
and lives in Maplewood, N.J., with his wife Pamela
Phillips Lum ’97 and their son Xander. Daughter
Rosy lives in Brooklyn and is a copywriter in marketing for Benjamin Moore. The youngest child, Hannah
Lum ’07, works in the theater in Providence and supports herself by curatorial work at the archaeological lab. Sally intends to continue teaching English
for one more year at Nauset Regional High School.
Henry is an active volunteer in the Truro community
and recently worked on organizing an exhibition of
the work of Edward Hopper, who spent much of his
time from 1930 to 1966 painting on the Cape.
At the party Friday night, I learned from Dave
Wilson about a three-week driving trip that he and
Alice took during the summer. They drove from
Williamstown to Colorado and back and stopped
in Cleveland to see Tana and John Carney ’66. They
stopped in Iowa, Alice’s home state, then drove
through the Badlands and Custer State Park on their
way to connect with Ham Duncan and his wife Kathy
at their ranch in Kremmling, Colo. They were joined
there by Patsy Isaacson and Jack Elgin, who then
hosted Dave and Alice at their home in Carbondale,
Colo. Patsy and Jack also hosted a dinner for the
Wilsons and Lynne and Steve Wolff, who live nearby
in Colorado.
1966
REUNION JUNE 9-12
50
th
Palmer Q. Bessey Jr., 1320 York Ave., 32H,
New York, NY 10021; John Gould, 80 Ocean St.,
Lynn, MA 01902; 1966secretary@williams.edu
We begin with a wonderful story from Bob
Mitchell. Mitch recently had a heart and liver transplant, and here’s his report, in its entirety: “Life is
really good with us now. After five months of pain
and torture, we are finally home in lovely Carlsbad
and enjoying the hell out of each and every day. The
worst, by far—the waiting for a heart, the cancer
scare and surgery, the waiting again, the transplants,
the recovery, the biopsies, etc.—is in the past now.
I have to go back to the hospital in LA for the next
two weeks (heart biopsies, blood work, clinics), and
then it’s only once a month until January, then once
every two months.
“We are filling our days with joy. Daily walks on
the beach and the Pacific, getting back to our routines, working around the house, catching up with
phone calls and emails and making plans for 2016:
a new dog, the 50th at Williams (preceded by a
four-day stop in NYC to see old friends and Susan’s
cousins) and a return to our beloved Italy (funds notwithstanding) in September. We have dear friends in
Fermo, Rome and Venice and are really looking forward to spending time with them. I am confident
that these plans will all happen. Most important, I
am loving life once again and will always be incredibly grateful for this second chance I have been given.
I am a very lucky man.”
Sadly, I have to report the death of Peter Hoyt
from gastric cancer, after a long battle. He was able
to spend some time in California with Harrop Miller
before returning to Missouri to enter hospice. His
daughter Beth Hoyt Bartlett ’00 wrote, “My dad loved
Williams. … I know how much he wanted to be at
his 50th and how difficult it was for him knowing
that he wouldn’t be.”
Dan Cohn-Sherbok announces with appropriate
pride: “That there was a competition at the Royal
Society of Arts in London to design a napkin, and I
won. They are printing 33,000 for the restaurant and
bar. It is of a rabbit painting Belshazzar’s Feast (by
Rembrandt).” Dan’s cartoons will adorn the Class of
’66 Reunion Book, and they are fabulous, indeed.
A vast amount of news about classmates will fall on
everyone’s plate when the reunion yearbook arrives in
the spring. So I’m not going to present a lot of stuff
here. Peter Koenig, Joe Bessey and I have been collecting biographies for the book. At this moment we
have 181 of them, and the book is being designed
and set even as I write. We had a minireunion in
October, and there’s a full report of it below.
Guy Fairstein reported that his daughter Lisa gave
him a DNA kit for his birthday. He has learned “that
I have 3.2 percent Neanderthal DNA (which some
may take as explanatory of certain things).”
John Carney has been doing outstanding work at
getting folks to write bios. He wormed responses
from Jack Secrist, Guy Fairstein, Alan Finke, Jim
Tansey and Ed Coaxum. He’s also been after Jeff
Millington and others. He deserves a medal!
Jim Harrison, proudly sending in his bio, writes,
“Just back from a trip to the Old Sod and to France,
feeling jet-lagged and virtuous (for not being the last
to get my blurb in).”
When sending in his bio, Dick Dubow wrote, “We
were just up in Williamstown celebrating Rosh
Hashanah with our daughter Sara, who teaches there.
Weather was good, and the college looks great. Will
be going back for Yom Kippur.”
David Kollender has been dealing with medical
problems affecting his wife and her mother. “It seems
that I am back in the role of old caregiver for the
really elderly once again, having already gone through
this with my mom several years ago.” Sympathies:
Most of us know exactly what that process is like.
In John Gould news, son Sam returned from
Australia and Malaysia on a pro squash tour. He
most recently played in Santa Fe, N.M., where Bob
Asbury took him out for lunch and proceeded to dish
dirt on me: “Donna and I had a wonderful visit with
Sam and his girlfriend Georgia. We swapped stories
of the old days.”
I’m typing this in Paresky Hall, once upon a time
Baxter, on the Sunday after the minireunion. Twentyone of us came to the Purple Valley. During various conversations on Friday and Saturday, Roger
Kubarych mentioned that his wife Janet Winn is
moving him to London for a new position in her
firm; George Helmer is delighted with the new
Class of 1966 Environmental Center, feeling that it’s
highly attuned to the ethos of Vermont; Joe Bessey
still owns and wears his purple-and-gold bow tie;
Con O’Leary was excited by Peterson’s Bowls, a Gill,
Mass., woodworking concern with a booth at the
Williamstown Farmer’s Market. I had a long talk
with Stan Possick about his terminal cancer patients
and the courage he has observed in working with
them—not a sad talk at all, really.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
39
CLASS NOTES
There was a bizarre football game against Bates,
fitting in with other bizarre football games we’ve
all seen on Weston Field: Williams fumbling on
Bates’ one-yard line, one extra point attempt that,
unblocked, went right into the ground and innumerable unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The refs
announced that one penalty was apparently forgiven
because Williams had “clean hands.” (?) Honest.
The final score was 16-14, the good guys winning.
There were a few loud comments from the ’66 area
of the seats, Charley Randolph’s notable among
them. David Tunick was accompanied by an elderly,
bemused cocker spaniel who wandered past me in
the bleachers but was snagged and gently returned
to his guardian. By the way, the new football field is
stunning.
At a reunion committee meeting, we talked
about—that’s right—the reunion! Connected by
phone were Jody Dobson and John Carney. Young
Randolph is in charge of outreach with the team
of John Schelling and Marty McLean, and they are
working tirelessly to figure out ways to reach classmates. So far (in October) out of the 163 personally
contacted, 112 have indicated definitely that they are
coming, with a number of other maybes. As David
Tunick noted, “For many of us, it will probably the last
time to gather as a class.” There are 265 of us nowadays, and we can pull ourselves together!
Tunick and Budge Upton reported on the venues
and events that they are working on. Right now they
are close to confirming the former Saint A’s House
as the reunion HQ, with, as Tunick says, “the ’62
Center serving as the modern, air-conditioned nexus
of several weekend class activities.” They are also lining up some provocative panels, including one—with
Peter Koenig as moderator—on press coverage of the
upcoming presidential election.
Allen Rork clarified the difference between the
Class Gift Fund and the Alumni Fund, urging us not
to forget the latter and reminding us that both contributions (gift and AF) count toward our towering
Reunion Fund total. Keep them both in mind, please.
Jon Linen, Wink Willett and Punky Booth (who
could not be at the minireunion) are the gift committee chairs, and the two present told the rest of us
about the status of our gifts. The environmental center has just closed the loop, taking it off town water.
It is now running on its own, off the grid, like Matt
Damon on Mars! We also heard about the other gift,
the Summer Opportunity Fund. On Sunday we saw
Dave Simon’s film about this venture, which our class
is initiating. Bill Adams is posting the film on the
class website. It’s utterly inspirational, and after we
saw it, one of the three pilot participants, Adrianna
DeGazon ’16, told us about her work over the summer
at the Center for Community Change in DC. You
can read her story—and those of the other two participants—on the website. Adrianna is a breathtaking young woman, and she made me feel a lot better
about the future.
Adams also has some other materials for the website—memorabilia brought by Bill Ewen and a bunch
of photos from the 25th, contributed by Julie Carey,
Ray Carey’s widow.
Finally, on Saturday night, we joined the Class of
1965 for the “Pass-the-Baton” dinner with Williams
President Adam Falk. At this august event, President
40
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Dusty Griffin ’65, aided by Dave Coolidge ’65,
passed the baton—a real one made of mahogany,
with a wide silver band around the middle—to our
President Bill Bowden and his assistants Linen and
Willett. (Dave, who is mighty tall, commented that
he was better at shooting than passing.) The tradition
of passing the baton, of which most of us had never
heard, began in 1967, when the Class of 1917 passed
this very object to the class of 1918, challenging them
to do all they could to make Williams a better school.
This thus marks the 48th passing of the baton. Makes
you think.
The other alums from ’66 who came, not mentioned above, are David Batten, Andy Burr, Jock
Kimberly, Chip Malcolm, Bob Roesler and Bob
Rubin. Many were accompanied by partners or
spouses.
So that’s it from Williamstown in October. Look,
if you’re still on the fence about coming back in June,
get off it and come. The class book should be arriving about the time this issue of the notes does. Look
it over. There are some wonderful stories about what’s
become of those guys you knew. I loved editing them,
and you’ll love reading them. All best to you. —John
1967
Ken Willcox, 178 Westwood Lane, Wayzata, MN 55391;
Leading this issue is a brief report on the weekend mini ’67 gathering in Gettysburg in late
September. Fifty members of our class, including
spouses, were hosted by Sally and Ted McPherson.
The McPhersons orchestrated dinners, breakfasts,
cocktails, transport and everything in between. That
included an incredibly riveting half-day tour of the
Gettysburg battlefield. Ted had arranged for the
national park’s top tour guide, who took us through
an hour-by-hour, day-by-day account as the battle
unfolded. She brought it all to life in a masterfully
compelling and even spellbinding narrative. In the
afternoon Turner Smith, a Civil War historian in his
own right, led us as we retraced the actual route of
Pickett’s Charge. Turner described for us the exact
status of forces at each stage of the advance. It was an
experience never to be forgotten and a truly memorable weekend. Enormous thanks to Ted and Sally,
Turner and others who helped make this possible.
Ken Levison writes that after several years teaching
German, eight years in the New York State Division
of the Budget and 27 years as VP for administration and finance at the State University of New York
College at Geneseo, he retired in December 2011.
He moved to Tucson, Ariz., in March 2012. During
his career he served on a number of nonprofit boards,
including as a trustee of a country day school. In the
course of that, he was honored as the nonprofit financial executive of the year in Rochester, N.Y., by FEI
and the Rochester Business Journal. In Tucson he is an
AKC dog judge and travels frequently in the U.S. and
Canada to judge shows. He even judged in Japan.
He is on the board of the Tucson Kennel Club and
is treasurer of the Dachshund Club of America. He
looks forward to our 50th.
Alice and Jon Cannon are still happily ensconced
in an old house in Charlottesville, Va. He is a professor at the University of Virginia law school. Their son
1966– 68
Ben Cannon ’02 is teaching at Horace Mann School
in NYC. Also in the city, their lawyer daughter Ariel
and her husband Mike have three children: Sam,
Nathan and Ruth. Jon finished writing his first book
last spring, Environment in the Balance: The Green
Movement and the Supreme Court. He adds, “Better
late than never.”
Bill McClung says he taught his last CS class last
May. He is now officially professor emeritus. He
plans to spend the next Williams reunion picking up tips on how to retire well from classmates
who preceded him. His wife Hannah Jo is continuing to teach voice at Doane College. She is about
six years away from joining him in retirement. Their
scholar son Andrew is still studying at Cal Tech in
pursuit of a physics PhD. Meanwhile, their rockstar
son Charles’ Minneapolis band, Carroll, was finally
signed by a label.
Hank Grass wrote in just ahead of his 70th, saying,
“No worries.” He is well except for a possible repeat
back fusion to repair a degenerative disc. He says he
is loving the grandkids.
Dave Nash continues to travel globally, involved
in world-class tennis competition—“While the legs
hold out,” he says. He was in Croatia for three weeks
and Venice for four days. His 70-and-over team
finished third place in the world competition. He
observes, “Ouch, 70 and over!” He is enjoying watching his grandkids, 11 and 8, play football. (Secretary’s
note: Congratulations, Dave. You make the rest of us,
or at least your secretary, feel like a slug by contrast.)
Rich Bernstein participated in the group swim
from the Statue of Liberty to the Freedom Tower.
He writes, “Even in the midst of busy New York
Harbor, one senses being a tiny speck in the vastness
of nature.”
Nancy and Art Lutzke attended a small but fun celebration for Al Gortz’s 70th in late August in Florida.
Art said that while he recounted some lesser-known
incidents from Al’s Williams years, the favorite topic
seemed to be Al’s golf game.
Jack Hunt enjoyed three days in Montana with his
daughter Lisa Marquerite Hunt ’03 and a close friend.
They had a couple of days fishing on the Madison
and then her first tour of Yellowstone. It was Jack’s
first visit back to the park since 1957. Following that
he attended the Borlaug World Food Prize event in
Des Moines with an old high school buddy.
Peggy and Mark Ellis invited Gregg Meister,
Warren Suss, Peter Hassinger and Hugh Smyser
and their spouses to spend the long Labor Day weekend with them at their pretty summer place in East
Hampton. Hugh wrote that they had a great time
catching up and solving the world’s problems. They
had to squeeze that in between eating, beaching and
lolling. Hugh added that he and Robin have become
grandparents of a “sweet, darling girl.”
George Cannon is still “lawyering away in
Springfield, trying to keep families together.” He
writes, “I am very interested in environmental/sustainable energy issues and am eagerly awaiting the
creation of a practical electric car that will take pressure off the atmosphere.” He is pleased to hear from
Bodinson and Lipof from time to time and runs into
Ron Kidd ’65 around town.
Speaking of Paul Lipof, your secretary hopes that
you all saw the photo of Paul posing in front of an
Israeli tank. It was taken this past spring during the
week when he volunteered on an IDF Army base
in Israel.
Chris Covington’s message was short and sweet: “I
hope all had a great summer, and hopefully we in the
NE will have a milder winter.”
Chris White, also in a concise note, reports that his
new hip is about six months old. He writes, “I thank
heaven for modern medicine.” He also observes, “I
am applying Xeno’s paradox to the question of retiring. Every time someone asks me about it, I say I’m
closer to retirement, but will I ever get there?” He
sends thanks to Laszlo Versenji (RIP) and Phil 101.
Rob Perlstein says he’s semi-retired, but it certainly doesn’t seem like it to your secretary. He spent
20 years in the USAF as an endocrinologist/internist/colonel. He ran the department of medicine
and an internal medicine residency program. For 11
years he was also the endocrinology medical officer
at the FDA. Now (in his alleged semi-retirement)
he teaches endocrinology and internal medicine at
the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
and the Uniformed Services University of the Health
Sciences. He also does consulting work for pharmaceutical companies developing pituitary diseaserelated drugs. He does that for about six months and
travels to see his daughters (31 and 28, in NYC) and
nephews the other six months. (Does that sound like
retirement to you?)
Joel Rosenthal suggests that he and Emily are
surgery of the month members at their local hospital. The list for both is lengthy, ranging from
carotid arteries to gallbladders to hernias. He also
had a shoulder replaced last January and a formerly replaced knee totally redone in July. Happily,
all turned out well, and Joel is able to comfortably
maneuver again in his kayak or flat boat to fly fish for
bonefish and tarpon. With no additional surgeries
planned for 2016, he and Emily have made reservations in Utrecht, Holland, for the Old Music Festival
in August. December marked the 50th anniversary
of when Joel and Emily met in Mark Ellis’ room in
Brooks House.
Your secretary, meanwhile, continues in the manufacturing world with our two companies. When I’m
not doing that, I am fulfilling my mayoral duties. My
term is up the end of 2016. I’ll have to decide soon
whether I’m up for another fall of campaigning. It’s
a lot of door-knocking. We’ll see.
That’s a wrap for this edition. Thanks for all your
news. Have a safe and healthy 2016, and I look
forward to seeing you in the next issue.
1968
Paul Neely, 34532 North 79th Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85266;
You have been receiving occasional mailings
about pre-50th reunion class gatherings from Class
President Ned Perry and others. Those invitations are
more timely by mail or email than the longer lead
times of this class notes magazine, so we’ll continue
to devote this space to the more personal but less
time-sensitive news.
But it’s worth mentioning here also that these
minireunions and other meetings have been warm
and fun events. (OK, your class secretary did miss one
J A N UA RY 2016
l
41
CLASS NOTES
night of the October minireunion with a mild heart
episode, but everyone else seemed to have a good
time, and I still made it to the second dinner.) I urge
you to think seriously about the opportunities those
invitations offer. They are good times.
Meanwhile, lots of good work is still being done by
classmates.
David Snydman sends along news once removed;
that is, it is taken from the Tufts University School
of Medicine Facebook page. (Dave admits he has
never logged on to Facebook.) “Congratulations,
David Snydman! In recognition of more than 30
years of expert mentorship to medical students,
residents, fellows and junior faculty, he has been
selected to receive the Infectious Diseases Society
of America’s 2015 Walter E. Stamm Mentor
Award. This prestigious award recognizes individuals who have ‘served as exemplary mentors, and
who have been exceptional in guiding the professional growth of infectious disease professionals.’
Dr. Snydman was acknowledged ‘for his strong
dedication to helping so many others meet their
career goals in the field of infectious diseases and
for serving as an excellent example of the type of
physician they hope to become themselves.’” Those
are great words for anyone at this point in our
careers. Dave says he is still full-time and chugging along.
Bob Heiss describes his status as pre-retirement
mode. “I have had the opportunity to do more writing lately, and I’m enjoying it. At work this included
co-authoring chapters of recent books on environmental enforcement networks and environmental
crime. (Although some of the criminal behavior is
rather lurid, the books are unlikely to become breakout bestsellers.) On the home front, I have been
writing an extended biographical sketch of my older
brother to share on the occasion of his approaching
significant birthday. The term for this is ‘legacy writing,’ I believe. Retrieving and weaving the family
history into a narrative is challenging and fun, and
it might prove useful to relatives with an interest in
genealogy in the future.”
Two years ago Bob Bendick moved from his role
as director of U.S. government relations for The
Nature Conservancy back to Florida to become
Gulf of Mexico program director. “I am enjoying
once again working closer to the ground—and not
missing the gridlock in DC. With the recent settlement between the government and BP of legal
actions resulting from the Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill five years ago, there is now at least $12 billion
for gulf environmental restoration to be made available over the next 15 years. This is a unique opportunity to take a comprehensive approach to fixing
some of the most serious problems of an exceptionally important ecosystem. I get to work with a talented team of mostly young people (the age of our
children) on such things as charting the migration
of marine species around the Gulf, buying critical
conservation land, creating a Gulf conservation
corps, rebuilding oyster and coral reefs, establishing
cooperative relationships with Cuban and Mexican
agencies, figuring out how repaired natural features
can shield communities from the impacts of storms
and, as always, advocating that governments do the
right thing for their natural resources.”
42
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Peter Naylor is still in Santa Barbara as a senior
professor at Santa Barbara City College. “I intend
to teach for two or three more years. After 20
years as a department chairman, I’m enjoying
only being responsible for teaching and writing
(including finance, economics, business and ballroom dancing). Susette is an architect in a 30-year
partnership. Tango is our hobby. My final project
is the integration of my teaching into one seamless course. (I remember that Garrett Thornburg
had issues when he complained that economics at
Williams was too narrow, ignoring business and
finance.) So my book has six segments: international business management, microeconomics of
markets, financial markets including managerial
finance, international economics, macroeconomics (open economy) and investing. I draw heavily from my experience in business and banking
and write in a conversational style. I believe that
the essentials can be mastered by anyone of average intelligence and serious intention. If they study
the complete work, they will be prepared to understand and participate in a modern open economy.
You might say the book summarizes what I wish
I had learned when I was in college. The title is
Observations of a Practical Economist.”
Bill Gustafson is still enjoying retirement in Bonita,
Calif. “We decided last summer it was time to downsize to a smaller, single-story home, so we bought
a fixer-upper in the neighborhood and spent seven
months remodeling. There were times I thought it
would never be finished, but we moved in last April
and really like it. My wife retired a couple years ago,
so we enjoy traveling—recently spent a week in Santa
Fe with friends, and we are going on a transatlantic
cruise next spring.”
1969
Rick Gulla, 287 Grove St., Melrose, MA 02176;
A baker’s dozen of classmates and spouses attended
the minireunion, held over a beautiful fall Columbus
Day weekend in October, re-establishing friendships
and preparing for the 50th reunion. Several others
participated in a conference call as part of the planning process. Those appearing in person included
Luisa and Alan Dittrich, Beth and Rick Corwin, Claire
and Skip Comstock, Candy and Dave Low, Karen
and Tom Parker, Dina and Dick Peinert, Sandy Smith
and Sally Sanford, Nassya and Aaron Owens, Henry
Walker, Bob Kandel and yours truly with spouse Joy
Camp. The planning continues as we approach 2019,
and more events, including regional activities, are
being considered, so stay tuned.
Mike West is still working and enjoying every
minute of it. “I returned to Gartner, an information technology research firm where I worked in the
90s. I was amazed they’d even consider hiring someone 67 years old, but here I am doing presentations,
writing research notes and handling inquiry discussions with clients.”
Mike says he rises at 5 a.m., walks the dog, meditates and works on his writing. So far, he has selfpublished five mystery/thrillers, along with several
books of poems. Mike notes that all his books are
available on Amazon (search for Michael G. West).
1968– 69
“Other than that, it’s all about my two sons, Harry
and Chris, and my dog Leo. Living on Martha’s
Vineyard year-round is a definite choice and one that
not everyone would enjoy. I sure like it, though. It’s a
world apart.”
Larry McCullough and his wife Linda Quintanilla
will be retiring in June to Austin, Texas, where Linda
has family. Larry will then have completed 40 years of
full-time teaching as a philosopher in medical education. He will keep his part-time position as adjunct
professor of ethics in obstetrics and gynecology and
of medical ethics in medicine, allowing him to “continue my now 33-year collaboration with Dr. Frank
Chervenak of Weill Cornell Medical College. I will
also be working on three book projects. There will
also be time for fishing in and around Austin and in
the Texas Hill Country, as well as sampling the many
fine Texas BBQ pits in the Austin area.”
From Peter Greenwood comes a celebratory tale
of Williams history and family: “Harold Barker,
Class of 1904, graduated without distinction; however, he was the social director for the class. In honor
of Harold, his grandchildren, great-grandchildren
and great-great-grandchildren gathered this July
in Westport, Mass., for a family reunion and traditional New England clambake. In all, 106 attended,
including Henry Drinker ’68 and Warren Barker ’75.
Representing the great-grandchildren were Dylan
Ragozin ’97 and Harriet (Greenwood) Ragozin ’97
and Jonathan Briggs ’01 and Phebe (Drinker) Briggs
’01. My wife Tracy (née Barker) was one of the hosts,
and we spent most of one day stuffing quahogs for
the event. We all felt that Harold would be proud.
Henry’s and my father-in-law was William Barker
’36, father of Tracy and Deborah.”
In August, Jim Barns had “a whirlwind 24-hour
visit to Williamstown. First a tour of the astounding
Sawyer Library, a meeting with the keen and congenial President Adam Falk, visits to the Clark (an
astounding exhibit of the landscapes of van Gogh)
and the stellar Williams College Museum of Art, a
ceremonial run on the new track, and, as a finale, a
play at the Adams Memorial Theatre. That kind of
interest and energy would have been beyond me as a
backward Eph!”
Grinnell College computer science professor Henry
Walker spent part of the minireunion weekend talking to computer science faculty and a computer science luncheon group. Last year was Henry’s final
one for full-time teaching, as he has a sabbatical for
the 2015-16 year. Starting in the fall of 2016, Henry
will be working at Grinnell at a reduced level for five
years, teaching one course and writing the curriculum
for the course. He will be fully retired in 2021, when,
he says, “It will be interesting to see what new adventures arise!”
Andrea and Bob Whitton missed the minireunion
in October but planned to meet in November on
Farley-Lamb Field (and “reverse the fortunes of the
football team, just by being present”) with Spike
Riley, Jim Ferrucci and Rich Pollet, plus significant
others, for food, fun, beverage and more.
Steve Brick filled in the gaps after decades of
silence, saying it’s “time to join the party in anticipation of our 50th, which we hope to attend. Some
may recall that I spent my junior year at the London
School of Economics. Among the many great things
that happened that year was that I met my wife
Ann. We married over Christmas vacation of senior
year and returned to Williamstown for the spring
semester.”
After graduating from law school at Berkeley and
serving as a clerk for a federal judge for a year, Steve
spent 28 years as a trial lawyer for a law firm. A superior court judgeship followed for more than 14 years,
mostly with civil assignments. “I especially liked my
five years handling complex civil litigation and my
one year as a justice pro-tem on the California Court
of Appeal. I have just retired from the court and look
forward to doing mediation and arbitration and public interest work during the third act of my professional career. Ann became the first woman partner at
the Howard Rice firm (now Arnold & Porter) and
then spent 19 years with the ACLU of Northern
California. She retired six years ago.”
Steve’s daughter Kate lives in Brooklyn and does
immigration policy work for the Partnership for a
New American Economy in New York, and daughter Rachel teaches ninth-grade English composition at Pritzker College Prep in Chicago; she ran the
Chicago Marathon for the first time. “In July we met
up with the kids in the Berkshires for a wonderful
long weekend of art, theater, dance, music and hiking,
all of which we love. Ann and I made a July resolution to start coming back to the Berkshires every couple of years, so 2019 is a real possibility.”
Sandy Smith retired from Cambridge Associates a
year ago, after 19 years advising investment committees of nonprofit institutions on how best to manage their endowments. “Shortly thereafter, Sally and
I downsized into a carriage house that we had converted into a retirement residence.”
Though retired, Sandy spent a week at University
College in Cork, Ireland, in February, mentoring
finance students and taking them through a Harvard
Business School case on endowment management.
He’s been invited to return in April. His family members remain active and productive. Spouse Sally continues to teach and perform early music and spent a
week in Japan in September teaching in a workshop
on J.S. Bach.
Daughter Samantha Smith ’09 was married in June
2014 to a member of her 2013 University of Chicago
medical school class. Both matched to Yale for their
residencies, she in internal medicine and pediatrics,
and he in internal medicine. Son Trip (Colby ’12) is
in his third year at Cambridge Associates and beginning to think about business school.
Marty Lafferty established the Class of ’65
Scholarship Fund at Niskayuna (N.Y.) High School
at his 50th reunion to honor the memory of his
younger brother Ron and classmates who have passed
away during the 50 years since graduation. The fund
will award a scholarship to a graduating senior who
has overcome the greatest adversity in preparing for
advanced education, and the fund, thanks to the generosity of classmates exceeding Marty’s challenge
to make matching contributions, will award annual
scholarships in perpetuity.
Beth and Rick Corwin continue to be snowbirds,
shuffling back and forth between Massachusetts and
Florida. “Really enjoyed seeing all the classmates at
the minireunion and was impressed by the great
vistas from within the new Sawyer Library.”
J A N UA RY 2016
l
43
CLASS NOTES
Sal Mollica “is still very much enjoying retirement, including yearly fly-fishing trips to Wyoming,
Montana and Idaho. It’s a great way to enjoy the
wonderful scenery and companionship of my
brother and a longtime friend. I’m also having a great
time with my three grandsons, who live nearby in
Connecticut and let me see the world anew as they
develop their personalities and skills. We spend summers on a lake in New Hampshire and our land trust
and regional conservation organization have successfully gotten over 75 percent of the lake’s watershed
protected by conservation easements. I still volunteer
tutoring reading in a Bridgeport elementary school.
Life is good.”
Tom Goodbody is “going to be a faculty spouse.
My wife Sandy is teaching a Winter Study this
January on ‘The Human Side of Medicine,’ which is
based on a practice course she has taught at George
Washington Medical School for many years. Only
it will be better. It’s for pre-meds, obviously, but
also anyone else interested in the issues. Somehow,
we thought it would be fun to spend January in
Williamstown—what could be better?”
Rikk Larsen checked in by phone after a long
absence. Rikk is still engaged in conflict resolution, mediation and training in and around Boston
with individuals, families, businesses and community groups.
Finally, on a sad note but with a thoughtful and
respectful gesture, Terry Palmer reports that several classmates gathered in Florida in November to
honor Carl Manthei, who passed away earlier this
year. Among those attending were Tom Small, John
Pascoe, Scott Murphy, Jim Dunn and Rich Stout,
who organized the meeting. That’s it for now. Thanks to all who contribute to
these notes.
1970
Rick Foster, 379 Dexter St., Denver, CO 80220;
Over the 45 years since we graduated, starting
almost as soon as we left Williamstown, we’ve lost a
number of classmates to accident, injury or illness. As
we approach our 50th reunion, the number of those
leaving us is increasing, as is to be expected. Yet it’s
gotten no easier to say goodbye to those with whom
we formed such close bonds all those years ago. Since
our reunion, we’ve learned of two more departed
classmates, John Therrien and Kieron Kramer.
Following are some classmate tributes to them.
From John Marshall: “John Therrien and I were
suitemates at Williams for three years, and we maintained contact during the many years he was working for Warner Bros. in LA. A few years ago Rod
Dow and I spent a great evening with John, Faye and
his boys in their La Cañada Flintridge home. It was
wonderful to share memories of Williams days. Then,
a few years ago, John called me, excited to tell me
that he had retired and that he was planning a move
to Washington State. I regret I lost touch with him
afterward. I am moved by John’s early death from
bladder cancer. I remember him with great affection for his quick wit, deep-throated laugh, kind eyes,
extraordinary singing voice and devastating bridgeplaying skills. And I will continue to miss being able
44
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
to contact him to compare notes on how our retirements are going.”
From Fred Rhame: “John Therrien was a good
friend. He sang at my wedding in San Antonio. We
took a boys’ trip to Jamaica, I think it was a spring
break. There we met and hung out with a young
screenwriter who was celebrating the wrap of his
new movie Electraglide In Blue, with Robert Blake.
This would be a really cool story, except the movie
was a dismal flop. I had a crush on John’s sister but
never told him (or her).” John and I hung out a lot
in junior year and the short senior year. Of course
we never inhaled. We mostly lost track through the
years but occasionally talked and traded Christmas
cards. I got a nice one from him this last year with
a healthy picture of him and very, very nice looking
family. Pictured were his wife and boys, Eduardo in
Whidbey Island, Wash., Clay in Eagle Rock, Calif.,
and Jordan at Willamette U. It mentioned that John
had had bypass surgery. I have reduced my schedule
and had plans to attend the reunion. Jennifer Wolcott
had to opt out. Hoping I might hook up with John at
the reunion, I made multiple attempts to reach him
at different numbers, one from the recent card, and
reached a dead end. Fearing the worst, I called the
Alumni Office, and they had not heard anything. As
I tend to do, I lost steam on the subject, regrettably.
John was very fun, smart, quick-witted and a wonderful singer and a good friend. I think he could dance
a bit. He appears to have raised a beautiful family.
What more can I say?”
Bran Potter wrote of Kieron: “As Kieron Kramer’s
sophomore roommate in the decorous heap called
Park Hall, I have many fond memories of his zest
for life and for the dramatic. What a force!” And
from Paul Miller: “Kieron Kramer marched to a different drummer. We shared a love of soccer and
played together at Williams. I know that remained
an important part of his life. He had a real zest for
things that mattered to him and a wicked sense of
humor. There was always an air of something funny
and conspiratorial going on. He lived most of his life
in or near Williamstown, but his relationship with
the college was unorthodox. Every year he would be a
last-minute donor. (I really think it escaped his attention most of the time.) I would call him and ask for
his support and just before the deadline he would
hand-deliver a contribution to the Alumni Office.
Similarly, he didn’t sign up for reunions but would
drop by unexpectedly to catch up with classmates.
It was always a pleasure to see him.”
As for happier news, Bran Potter reported that
his wife Cindy is enjoying retirement and that he is
still energized by his geology rambles in and out of
the classroom and section hiking the Appalachian
Trail. He was “delighted and moved to be present last May when Rob Hershey received an honorary degree from Sewanee for his brilliant and
generous career in education.” Bill Lawson wrote
that he and his wife Cathy are now fully retired and
have been doing a lot of traveling for family and
fun, including Paso Robles and Cambria, California,
Saint Barthélemy in the French West Indies,
Scottsdale, and Tucson, Ariz. They spend the summer at their second home on Lake Charlevoix in
northern Michigan and bought a larger boat, allowing them to travel farther and farther out into Lake
1969– 70
Michigan. He and Cathy are healthy and happy and
have a 3-year-old grandson, Liam.
Kelly Corr was chosen as lawyer of the year for
“Bet The Company Litigation” for Seattle by the Best
Lawyers in America 2013 publication. The idea behind
“Bet The Company Litigation” is this, per Kelly: “If
the future of your business depends on the outcome
of a case, i.e., if you lose it you could go out of business, you hire the best lawyer you can find to defend
you or prosecute your claim.” Hoping “to go out not
at the bottom,” Kelly has decided to go part time
with an eye toward retirement next year. He said that
he, his wife and their two children took a two-week
trip to the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador and Machu
Picchu in Peru. He says they are wonderful places
that all Ephs should put on their bucket lists. John
Cornwall retired from private practice in internal
medicine and is enjoying more time catching up with
and appreciating family, grandchildren, friends and
travel. Ken McCurdy wrote that he “had a lovely dinner with Barbara and Dick Cooch at Cape Arundel
Inn in Kennebunkport on Aug. 8, at which we happily reminisced about the 45th. The Cooches were
en route from their summer home in Damariscotta,
Maine, to Delaware.”
I saw Peter Schulman at our recent reunion, and
he promised to finally provide some material for
these notes. True to his word, Peter wrote, “My wife
and I enjoyed catching up with our classmates at the
reunion last June. Hope to see everyone at the 50th.
I am still hanging in as full-time cardiologist and
professor at the University of Connecticut School
of Medicine. However, I just stepped down as director of the university’s cardiology fellowship training program after 30-plus years—a position with an
average term of five years nationwide. The arrival of
our first grandchild (offspring of two Ephs) is making it tougher and tougher to continue working full
time. In looking ahead to the 50th, perhaps we can
get some classmates to mark the occasion with a 50k
bike ride.” Richard Wendorf reports that although he
missed the reunion, he made two trips to the college,
first to consult with the provost and college librarian about the future of the Chapin Library, and then
following his daughter Carolyn’s wedding in Lenox
in September. He commented, “The college looked
great: new library, plenty of green space where the
former Sawyer Library used to sit and upbeat updates
about the college’s future. It doesn’t hurt to have
$2.4B in the bank, so to speak.”
Chip Baker wrote, “I retired in May after 41 years
as a physician and 34 years as an academic general
surgeon with specialization in trauma/surgical
critical care. I am adjusting to retirement with my
friend, neighbor and classmate, John Hitchins. I’ve
been doing some teaching, traveling, getting more
much-needed exercise and putting the finishing
touches on my second book, Yoda Speaks, soon to
be available on Amazon. I really enjoyed our 45th
reunion; it was fun to see classmates and to note all
the changes—especially at Baxter Hall, the science
quad and the new library.”
Our illustrious Class President Lou Buck wrote in
part to describe early planning for the 50th reunion.
Lou has been actively involved with the planning
committee and also has had several conversations
with Gates Hawn, who has been a valuable resource
as the planning begins to shape (more on that later).
On a personal note, Lou said, “Nora and I had a
delicious lunch and spent a lovely afternoon in late
August with Lea and Paul Miller and a close friend
and former colleague of theirs at the Miller family’s
retreat on Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondacks.
Quite enthralled learning as much as we did about
Paul’s and Lea’s respective careers in journalism
and the Foreign Service, we found it difficult that
afternoon to leave such good company and such a
beautiful, serene setting.”
Sluggo Stearns says, “There’s not much to report
from the shores of the Gulf of Siam. We are well
and enjoyed the 45th and look forward to the 50th.
Unfortunately, we’re a bit far away for the minireunion in October, but greetings to all ’70s Ephs
who make it. Planning trips to Pusan, South Korea,
where we lived and worked for three years, and also
to Kyoto, Japan.”
An hour before I submitted these notes, I received
an email from Tom Hudspeth saying that in June he
retired from teaching and conducting research in
environmental studies at UVM for 43 years. One
of his major projects in retirement is coordinating a United Nations project recognizing UVM,
Burlington and northern Vermont as a leader in
sustainability, linked with other leaders around
the world. At our reunion, Tom toured the renovated Class of 1966 Environmental Center, which
he found to be “a very impressive Living Building
Challenge building.”
As our 50th reunion will occur just a few years
hence, from time to time I will be reminding everyone through these notes about planning for the event
and urging all to attend. As a first installment, I
report the following from the persons named below:
Amid beautiful fall foliage, Kevin Austin, Lou Buck,
John Burns, Kim Kelton, Ted May, Ken McCurdy,
Paul Miller, Halley Moriyama, Bob Ware and Chris
Williamson returned to the Purple Valley for a close
football victory over Bates, good food and conversation along with a series of meetings related to our
upcoming 50th reunion. John, who has accepted the
awesome responsibility as “fund” chair, flew in from
San Francisco for the event. We encountered a lot of
new information, including the kickoff of the Teach
It Forward comprehensive campaign and presentations by the provost and admission on the demographics of the current Williams student and what
he/she must pay: a small fraction of the actual cost
of a year at Williams. A multi-class dinner (’66’70) on Friday night provided a rare opportunity to
meet with adjacent classes. These and other meetings
prompted discussion about how we can re-engage
classmates to plan to attend our 50th and reconnect
with the college, which has changed so much, and
with each other. Denise Yonkoske, Lea Perez and
Kathleen Leahy, who also accompanied us, felt that
women associated with our class would be excited
to see Williams as it is today. We will have numerous opportunities in the next five years! Much more
communication will follow, and the use of email
will reduce our costs. Please update or provide your
email address to the Alumni Office or to Rick Foster
at home (Rickfoster4@msn.com) or at his office
(rfoster@hcnwf-law.com. Almost 25 percent of our
class of 298 depends upon snail mail. Furthermore,
J A N UA RY 2016
l
45
CLASS NOTES
a retirement may mean that our current information is outdated, so any updates you have would be
very helpful.
1971
REUNION JUNE 9-12
John Chambers, 10 Ashby Place, Katonah, NY 10536;
Remember when class notes used to arrive in print,
and we were toward the front of the section? Well
that was yesterday; our 45th reunion will be just one
spring equinox away by the time this edition of the
notes comes out, though I am pulling your news
together before the winter solstice.
Steve Brown has been finding time between
trips to Guantanamo to get the reunion organized. He reports: “Planning for our reunion—June
9-12, 2016—started in earnest the last weekend in
September at the golf course, over dinner and under
the watchful eye of the college. Since many of us
are retired or are working fewer days, please think
about arriving for our reunion on Thursday or even
Wednesday—it will give you more time to catch up
with classmates, visit some of the spectacular new
changes around the campus and take advantage of
many of the programs the college offers on Reunion
Weekend. Steve Latham, Sey Zimmerman and I got
the planning started at the Taconic on a Friday afternoon. On Friday night, we were joined for dinner by
Ellen and Gene Bauer, Karen and John Ackroff, Doug
Pickard and John Chambers—dinner went much
better than the golf as a result of our class president’s
culinary skills.
“On Saturday morning, the serious organization
started with the aid of the college and the arrival of
Mike Foley. Joining in by phone were George Ebright,
John Finnerty and George Reigeluth. Among others
already volunteering to help out are Jack Sands, Mike
Rade, Rick Beineke, Tony Goodwin, Dan Hunt, Nick
Tortorello, Jim Tam and Jim Mason. If anyone else
would like to join our reunion team, just shoot me an
email at stephen.brown@dechert.com. More info to
come over the next few months.”
That invitation stirred up a suggestion from Paul
Lieberman that we “do some videotaped interviews
at the 45th reunion, looking ahead to the bigger one
(amazingly) to come. As you probably know, the
50th reunion classes have begun putting together
impressive websites including some remarkable
reminisces of, for instance, old professors and classmates. Well, as good as those are, print presentations are very limited in today’s world—there have
to be talking pictures and real sound. So next June’s
gathering would be a good time to get videotaped
snippets from many attendees in a structured way,
inviting from each, say, one classroom memory, one
athletic memory, one prof memory, a classmate
anecdote, a frosh year one, etc.”
Hmm. Am I the only one who might duck that
camera, much as I would love to see what others
would say? And while I’m acknowledging secret
thoughts, I bet there are some of us who worry that
reunions turn out to be pocket-picking moments.
Not this one, if our planners have their way—the
strong sense is to keep the costs down and not go
beyond the usual Alumni Fund effort.
The emphasis is on participation, as evidenced by
46
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Brownie’s invitation to send him a list of 10 classmates you would like to see at the 45th who have
not been frequent reunion attendees. Here are a few
from my list: John McGill, Tom Morrow, Jim Vipond,
Tim Murnane, John Nelson, Willie Massengale,
Bob Toomey, Rick Crutcher, Jim Heekin and Don
McCartney.
My list would also surely include the people who
have given us glimpses of their lives in these notes.
Here are the latest examples:
Jane Gardner continues to invest her energy in
The Big Lift, a startup collective impact effort to
get all children in San Mateo County reading proficiently by third grade. Her update: “We are excited
to have been named a top 10 finalist in the Google
Impact Challenge (out of 800 applicants) for our
Inspiring Summers program. We are now eligible for
a $500,000 grant.” By the time this is published they
will know about the grant; for the sake of those thirdgraders, I hope the money comes through.
If you like that approach to service, try this one
from Dave Albert, CEO of Friendly Water for
the World, who sent excerpts from a press release:
“Olympia, Wash.-Based Clean Water Group
Eliminates Cholera in 26 Orphanages in the
Congo: In Goma, a city of a million people in eastern Congo-DRC, with 600,000 refugees ringing the
city. … Since January 2015, there have been more
than 100,000 documented cases of cholera, with
over 2,000 deaths. … Friendly Water for the World
(www.friendlywater.net) had trained two teams of
BioSand Filter fabricators (one made up entirely of
women rape survivors from the war). Over the past
two months, Dr. Kambale (the chief medical officer) and his colleagues have installed BioSand Water
Filters in all 26 orphanages and taught basic hygiene
and community sanitation. As of Sept. 2, there is not
a single case of cholera in any orphanage in Goma.” For service closer to home, check out Bill Wilson’s
Community Cable Television Ministry. Bill says,
“It is going very well and seems to be reaching
people in the Northern Berkshire area, including Williamstown. I record a new program every
Thursday featuring Bible teaching and evangelism,
and it airs twice during the week. … The corporation
that runs the public access channels awarded the
program ‘Best New Show’ at it’s annual meeting.”
Back in Williamstown, Steve Lawson made a big
announcement: “In the spring I stepped down as
executive director of the Williamstown Film Festival.
It’s been an exhilarating ride, but as the bible (or
Pete Seeger) tells us: ‘To everything there is a season.’ After 15 years in the job I felt it was time to pass
the torch, and this seemed like the right moment to
segue to new voices and directions. My successor has
exciting plans in store for the festival that promise to
build on all that we’ve achieved so far. WFF’s come a
long way since its tentative first steps, and I’m deeply
grateful to everyone who’s supported the cause. Here’s
hoping the first 16 seasons will prove to be the prelude to a dazzling future.”
It will take me some time to accept the fact that
Steve has given his creation, WFF, over to the care of
another. But there it is, among so many other adjustments we find ourselves having to make with the
passing of time. Does it feel that way to you?
—Respectfully submitted, John Chambers
1970– 72
1972
Jim Armstrong, 600 West 115th St., Apt. 112, New York,
NY 10025; Julie Rose, 27 Norfolk Ave., Northampton, MA
Your humble class co-secretaries love receiving your
news and updates, and we’re especially pleased by
those rare missives that arrive out of the blue without prior pleading or cajoling on our part. So kudos,
first of all, to Michael Pitcher, who sent the following email. “My son Quinn Pitcher ’15 graduated from
Williams this year and is currently living in Cape
Town, South Africa, and working for the Economic
Policy Research Institute. The institute’s mission: ‘We
are committed to pro-poor, equitable and inclusive
economic growth and to social protection for vulnerable people as a developmental response to poverty.
Through capacity-building work and technical assistance to country-led policy formation, we endeavour
to build South-South cooperation and develop local
knowledge. We are also committed to building and
sharing an evidence base on social protection that is
drawn from economic analysis and global lessons of
experience.’ Quinn is a good liberal, like his father.”
When asked about himself, Michael replied, “After
30 years as editor of The Southampton Press, I left the
job when my boys were 10 and 12 because I’d never
been able to spend any time with them in the summer. I took them out to Colorado for camping, fishing, river rafting and the total western experience.
Upon my return, I went ‘over to the dark side,’ as my
newspaper colleagues put it, and took over as director of communications for the presiding officer of
the Suffolk County (New York) Legislature, where
I remain.”
Tom Kerr reports that he started playing golf with
acquaintances from his church. “There are a lot of
regulars in the group who love to embellish, lie, cheat
and steal, all in the name of a better score or story.
One day I showed up to play wearing a Williams
shirt, and one of the group called me out on it.
‘Where did you get that shirt?’ he asked in a tone that
sounded more like a remonstration than a question. I
sighed to myself, thinking, ‘Now I have to go through
the whole spiel once again: It’s a purple cow, it’s the
mascot of a small liberal arts college in Northwestern
Massachusetts called Williams—no, not William
& Mary, Williams.’ All alums know the drill. But I
never got that far. He said, ‘You went to Williams?’
and I discovered that he and I are, to my knowledge,
the only two graduates here in the state of Nebraska.
His name is Tommy Thompson ’52. He’s sharp as a
tack and plays a miserly game of golf.”
“Since retiring, I’ve actually spent less time in my
garden than I should,” writes Melissa Clark, “and
periodically pay the price with an afternoon of weeding. But traveling to see my sons, who were both
in San Francisco last year, and traveling to photograph beautiful places have taken priority. This past
May I spent two weeks in England and Tuscany and
enjoyed it tremendously. Next year: Myanmar, the
Palouse and perhaps Mexico! My sons continue to
be the most important people in my life. Adam, who
turned 26 this year, changed jobs and is now working for a small private equity firm in the Bay Area.
He loves being in San Francisco when his work
gives him time to enjoy it. Alex, almost 30, spent 12
months clerking for a judge on the 9th Circuit in
San Francisco after graduating from law school. He’s
since moved back to DC and married his law school
classmate Bridget Fahey in mid-September. Both are
clerking again this year, and I have my fingers crossed
they’ll stay local after they complete their clerkships. Aside from that, I’m doing some volunteering
for Chris Van Hollen’s Senate campaign and for my
camera club. So a quiet life except for the traveling—
can’t wait to explore Asia next winter!”
Chuck Hewett sends news from Holden, Maine.
“Jackie and I are starting to plan in earnest for retirement several years from now. At the Jackson Lab in
Bar Harbor, I’m working to develop successors and
ensure long-term sustainability. My travels take me
all over the U.S. as well as to China, Korea and occasionally Europe. On the personal front, we’re selling our primary residence in Maine (a gorgeous
spot high on a hill with superb views and a delightful access to culture, the mountains and the coast)
and are nearing completion of a multi-month redo
of our lake house in Dedham, which will become our
Maine base. Jackie is now spending winters at our
home in Key West, and I get there as time and my
travels allow. My knees put an end to my running at
the beginning of last winter, and I’ve taken up road
biking—nowhere near as serious as Dick Easton, but
at least I’m getting a workout a number of times a
week. Daughter Elizabeth Hewett ’06 is a secondyear fellow in the emergency department at Boston
Children’s Hospital, son Nathaniel Hewett ’11 is an
affinity card banker with Capital One in Chicago,
and son Sam (Bates ’09) is pursuing a master’s in
architectural lighting design at Parsons, the New
School, in Manhattan. Still waiting (longing) for
grandchildren—all things in time.”
Congratulations to Bob Gordon on an exciting
development in his professional life. As reported by
the e-newsletter NJBIZ.com: “A high-ranking New
Jersey lawmaker has joined Avison Young as a consultant focused on growing its expertise in health
care, the real estate services firm announced. State
Sen. Bob Gordon (D-Fairlawn) has been hired as
a senior VP of consulting and advisory, according
to a news release from Avison Young. He will work
with the firm to help build its New Jersey real estate
practice, with a focus on health care. Drawing upon
more than a decade of experience at large management consulting firms, Gordon will work primarily on business development, focusing on medical
clients in the state as the firm adds a health care
practice to its real-estate platform. … Prior to joining Avison Young, Gordon worked for five years as
a management consultant with APM Management
Consultants, where he advised on mergers and other
strategic projects for major hospital systems, including the University of Pennsylvania Health System,
Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Emory
Healthcare. Earlier in his career, Gordon worked at
A.T. Kearney, where he was responsible for creating
business development and marketing strategies for
Fortune 1000 firms.”
The news from Lewis Steele is that his application
for admission to the bar in Vermont, a state adjacent
to his home in Shushan, N.Y., has been approved,
and his swearing-in ceremony will take place in the
very near future.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
47
CLASS NOTES
The word from Paul Isaac is that he’s “still living
in Larchmont, N.Y., with no plans to retire. Only
one child of four, Ben Issac ’07, went to Williams.
Abby, Johanna, and Sam have turned out to be fine
people in their own right, notwithstanding their
choices for higher education. My Williams involvement has mainly been on the visiting committee for
the Center for Development Economics, which Jerry
Caprio ably heads and which has become a much
more integral part of the college in recent years. I’ve
been teaching a Winter Study course almost every
January since 2007 and would recommend the experience to anyone inclined to consider it. Warning:
Properly done, it’s a lot of work—more work than
at least my day job. I still see a number of Williams
friends and regard them as one of the most valuable
and enduring consequences of college.”
From northern Virginia and also the U.S. House
of Representatives comes this report from Don
Beyer. “Grandson Will has just turned 2, and
granddaughter Ava is 4. Their mom Stephanie
is GM of our Volvo-Subaru-Kia dealership in
Alexandria and doing a terrific job. Daughter Clara
is a front-end web designer for Veracity Media in
DC, and daughter Grace is a junior at Rice, majoring in political science. My wife Megan is the
primary theorist working with me on women’s economic empowerment, which I believe is the key to
making our economy come alive. I’m the lead sponsor on a House resolution on the economic power of
women on corporate boards and recently created a
Men for Women Caucus in the House. I am busier
than I have ever been and feeling very fulfilled and
energized, despite playing defense every day. Just
the constituent work alone is rewarding, changing
lives in small ways, one at a time. And I am pushing forward on a variety of legislative initiatives,
some of which will actually become law (eventually). My side passions: Finishing the Appalachian
Trail, now at 1,253 miles (Springer Mountain, Ga.,
to the Hudson River, so far) and also trying to get to
Bridge Life Master status. Both of these obsessions
started in Williamstown freshman year. Coming up
shortly: Trips to Israel with J Street in November;
to Paris for the Climate Change talks in December;
and probably to Davos for the World Economic
Forum in January. By the way, my opponent in the
last race, a good guy, was Williams Class of 1996.
Too damned young.”
In our folder marked “classmates in the news” is
this clipping from John Jay College of Criminal
Justice: “The U.S. Supreme Court established landmark constitutional law on June 26 with its marriageequality ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, but Professor
Daniel Pinello of the Department of Political Science
has long been ahead of the curve in studying judicial and legislative battlegrounds in the struggle for
gay and lesbian civil rights. Pinello’s groundbreaking
book Gay Rights and American Law … analyzed 398
state and federal appellate court decisions between
1981 and 2000 and concluded, among other things,
that presidential party predicted case outcome far
better than any other personal attribute of federal
judges in his inquiry. Pinello followed up that book
three years later with America’s Struggle for Same-Sex
Marriage; a third, America’s War on Same-Sex Couples
and Their Families, is forthcoming. For those books,
48
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Pinello conducted nearly 300 in-depth interviews
with gay and lesbian couples in 10 states, as well as
with interest-group leaders and other relevant parties on both sides of the marriage-equality debate.
‘All of the interviews occurred prior to any significant
federal court intervention in the same-sex marriage
policy arena,’ Pinello pointed out. ‘That is, I spoke
with people before there was good reason to believe
that statewide marriage bans would go away any time
soon.’ Earlier this year, Pinello reached an agreement
with Yale University’s Sterling Memorial Library to
preserve and house his interviews as part of what he
described as the library’s ‘impressive LGBT archive.’”
Mary Widger and Stan Widger rented a place on
Martha’s Vineyard over the summer and were joined
occasionally by their daughter Emily and her husband Scott and also by their son Will. Mary and Stan
worked in a lot of golf, tennis, swimming and—their
words—“vegetating on the beach, just relaxing.”
After leaving Capitol Hill, Chuck Downs served
as executive director of the U.S. Committee for
Human Rights in North Korea. Upon retirement,
he decided that the small getaway place he had been
using near Boyce, Va., would no longer suffice, and he
acquired 30 undeveloped acres nearby—undeveloped
except for what is referred to as a cabin but which,
in fact, has three stories and offers great views of
the Shenandoah River, Mount Weather and various
other landmarks in a very beautiful part of the Old
Dominion. The “cabin” has room for his daughter
Emily and his son Andrew and their families. When
he is alone, his principal neighbors are bears, wild turkeys and a West Highland terrier. Chuck strives to
keep informed on North Korean issues and is called
upon from time to time for his expertise.
A late October weekend found Dori and Steve
Kirkland just back from their summer place in Maine,
on an island in Casco Bay, where the family has
been going for many years. There was a bittersweet
sense this year, since this was the first summer without Steve’s dad, who passed away in January. All of
Steve and Dori’s children were able to make it to the
island for at least part of the summer. Steve says that
he continues to put in long hours at his business and
is not yet thinking of retirement. His company’s work
in residential plumbing installation and repairs continues to do well.
1973
Nan Elliot, P.O. Box 101195, Anchorage, AK 99510;
Dan Farley, 6875 Avenida Andorra, La Jolla, CA 92037;
Lynne Lewitt wrote, “Our kids live farther away the
younger they are; Mattea, a licensed clinical social
worker, is in Philadelphia; son Jeremy, an engineer in
the software field, in Manhattan; and our youngest,
Rachel, teaches English as a second language to teens
in Sarawak, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. She
is there on a Fulbright, so thanks to fellow taxpayers
who are paying for her wonderful adventure. My husband Michael and I vacationed with Rachel in Japan
in June. Our favorite places were the vermillion Torii
gates outside of Kyoto, the serene bamboo forest near
Kyoto, the lantern walk in Nara and many shrines in
Nikko. As for me, after retiring as director of estates
at Bryn Mawr Trust. I’ve retained my legal license but
1972– 73
also acquired my real estate broker’s license. Helping
people attain their dreams with housing on the Main
Line has been lots more fun than the law. Michael
retired from working in emergency room medicine.
He spends time at a local wood shop and is enjoying
retirement. He had retired twice before, but the third
time seems to be the charm!”
Peter Pierson provided his family update,
“Our son Chase works for Kaltura from LA and
Woodstock. Josh Pierson ’00 and Kay Kamiyama ’97
are still at Fay School in Southborough, Mass.; he
runs his own salmon boat on Bristol Bay in summers. Grandchildren now aged 16, 6 and 3; all were
here in Grafton this summer for a family reunion.
Mary loves her part-time work at Williamstown’s
Pine Cobble School, and I have started a small
website design concern, Grafton Web Sites. I drive
through the Williams campus three times a week
and am regularly assailed by classroom anxieties but sometimes delightfully surprised by my
memories. Mary and I were walking on Stone Hill
recently, after viewing the Clark’s van Gogh exhibit,
and recalled a night spent up there with friends in
the spring of ’70. So much the same, including the
campfire spot, and so much changed.”
Good friend Bob Gross checked in: “We are still
living in Juno Beach, Fla., in Palm Beach County,
a stone’s throw from the ocean. Last November I
completed my 30th year as a judge. I am old enough
that my interns and law clerks are often the children
of friends and classmates, going back even to high
school. My job has the rhythms of a school year; I
have opinions (i.e., papers) to write, and we don’t sit
in August, so each September seems like a whole new
semester. I do a lot of teaching—new lawyers, new
judges, new prosecutors and public defenders—so I
do get variety. My wife Karen Seidler ’75 works for
Apple and still completes the Sunday Times crossword in pen. Our son Dan is starting law school
at the University of Miami, and youngest, Ben, is a
junior at Clemson. The family has finished grieving over the departure of LeBron for Cleveland.
Karen and I are about to leave on a bicycle trip in
Normandy; Mike Pucillo ’75 and his wife Debbie are
also on the trip. I should be in New York in October,
where I hope to see John Loeffler and John Alper. I’ve
kept in touch with Alper, who still works directing.
I had lunch with Janet Brown last October in DC,
and I am sure she is gearing up for 2016. I saw Mike
Prigoff and his lovely bride in the spring. Classmates
should definitely get in touch if they are in the area.”
Steve Harty shared his clan’s news: “It’s been a busy
summer for us. We moved from our home of 18 years
to a smaller place, same town, as part of a ‘downshift’
into retirement. I was dismayed but not surprised
by the stuff accumulated over the years, considering
that we lived there from the girls’ earliest days right
into college. On the other hand, I look with wonder
at the steamer trunk my great-grandfather brought
from Ireland with all his worldly possessions in it—
and realize how badly I’ve missed the mark on the
Zen notion of ‘non-attachment.’ Eldest, Alice, started
her MSW degree work this fall at Salem State. Julia
returned to Clark U after a summer working at a care
center for people with autism. Lily’s back in showbiz
at USC’s film school. Caroline, our HS soph, is stuck
alone at home with two inquisitive parents. And wife
Cate, having expertly and patiently engineered this
move, is doing great in her new business, writing copy
for real estate ads and other marketing needs. This is
my final year as a Williams trustee (the 12th); chairing the committees on honorary degrees and governance will keep me pretty busy. Never envisioned any
of this when I agreed to be class agent in 1976, but
what a great experience it’s been—as several classmates who’ve also had the honor will attest.”
New England seems always to be well represented. Martha Elliott reported, “Last fall I made
what I thought would be a temporary move to Maine
while I took my year off to write a novel thanks to
my Vassar Time Out Award. I completed that great
American literary work by June, having lived through
the worst winter in memory. Most faint of heart or
lacking proper L.L. Bean equipment might have
packed up and rushed back West, but I was never a
true Californian. I decided to throw all reason to the
wind and stay in Maine. I don’t have a real job (just
part-time at L.L. Bean, which gives me a 331/3 percent discount) and writing and editing assignments I
can scrounge up. I was banking (literally) on my new
book The Man in the Monster becoming a bestseller;
so far that has not happened, but I remain hopeful.
Other factors led to my decision: My son James is a
senior at Colby, and Hannah (his twin) moved with
me. My oldest, Hadley Cornell ’01, lives in Baltimore
with her husband and three kids. Maine is a very
Eph-friendly place. I’ve made contact with Jackie
Oliveri, Gaye Brown and Mary Schendel. I also mean
to contact housemates Tom Hyndman and Gil Birney
’72, but that day will come. I’ve started on another
book, this one on conscientious objectors in WWII
(my father was one) and another novel.”
Norton Rosenthal’s Dallas tale made me smile: “I
don’t see many, if any, Ephs around here, and, yeah,
no one has heard of Williams. Recently, I pulled up
to a red stop light in downtown Dallas next to a car
that had a Williams College sticker on it. I signaled
to the young woman who was driving to roll down
her window, and after she did so, I yelled out, ‘Class
of ’73,’ and she yelled back ‘Class of 2000,’ and the
light turned green and she went her way and I went
my way.”
And from that jewel of upstate New York, city
historian and ever gracious host Field Horne reported,
“In August, a party of six enjoyed Saratoga in season,
including the races, the yearling sales and dinner at
the newest restaurant: including myself there were
Nancy and Dave Wilder, John Neikirk, and Anita and
Chip Rowley.”
Of course there were travel reports. Dave Butts
wrote, “This has been a bucket list year for my family.
In June, Sue and I finally made it to Ireland in search
of our mothers’ all-Irish heritage, specifically the
Quinn and Nally families. We traveled along the
Wild Atlantic Way from Doolin in County Clare
through the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry to
Kinsale in County Cork. We found great beauty
while hiking and driving, friendly people who looked
related, and lively Irish folk music in the pubs. I also
managed to play Ballybunion Old and Old Head
Links in decent weather. In September, my son
David Butts ’06 and I played seven great links courses
in Scotland in 10 days, beginning in St. Andrews
and finishing at Royal Troon. Both were trips of a
J A N UA RY 2016
l
49
CLASS NOTES
lifetime. After we returned from Scotland, we went
to Joe Shoer ’06’s wedding; David was Joe’s best man.
Back in the DC area, our UConn grad daughter,
Kristen, works for LMO, a local advertising agency.
My wife Sue has moved to middle school special
education. I continue to work in my dental practice, dodging patients’ questions about when I plan
to retire. Jackie Oliveri and others in our class have us
considering Maine when that time comes.”
After sharing her love and hate for the Colorado
Rockies team, affection for Troy Tulowitzki and
infatuation with third baseman Nolan Arenado,
Meris Delli-Bovi wrote, “As for my non-baseball life,
after two insane but wonderful years as director of
marketing for the Ayuda Group, a WOSB/MBE
construction and environmental firm, I resigned and
took off six months to rest and contemplate retirement. Decided I wasn’t ready for that but was ready
for more playtime. So I went back to consulting on
billion-dollar proposals with Kiewit Infrastructure
for a few months of the year. I gave myself over
half the year off to travel, mostly within the U.S.
Traveled this summer from LA up to Reno with
my brother Rafe, killer legal adviser to vets, for his
DAV convention. Right now, I’m out in Highlands
and Cashiers, N.C. (the mountains near Asheville),
enjoying the fall foliage after driving up with a
friend from Palm Harbor, Fla., to stay in a cabin
here. Will head home to Boulder, Colo., in early
November, then out to NYC. After Christmas, I’m
leaving for a 10-day trip with a group of artists and
musicians to explore Havana, Cuba. I’m so excited
about that, as I want to go there before it gets too
Americanized. I plan to travel extensively in the
next few years, for as long as I’m able. Tell Dave
Futransky I’m using him as a role model.”
And from the other side of the Atlantic, James
Fraser-Darling penned, “Living in London means
there is no certainty of meeting other Williams
alumni. At the Ivy League Summer Reception held
at the Savile Club, I had the pleasure, however, of
meeting the lovely and charming wife of London
resident Andrew Miller ’82. At the same event I was
introduced to Sara Unzila Ahmed ’11, who told me
that she was the daughter of Javed Ahmed ’82. It is
good to know that the tradition of Williams descent
across the generations continues unabated.”
Of course, topics of community and connection
were very prominent this season. Mark Donahue jotted, “I started using Facebook—which has allowed
me to re-engage some of our classmates. Facebook
has proven to be a great tool to keep up with
folks—for example I’ve been corresponding lately
with Angus ‘Steve’ Laird, as Angus tries to protect
his ranch from the NorCal fires. I wonder if there
is a way to find out what other Class of ’73ers are
using Facebook.”
Sharing family stories, joys of travel, passion for
baseball, woodworking and more are among the goals
of our class notes. But beyond personal reporting
and third-person narratives, there are memorials and
eulogistic sharings. Jackie Oliveri wrote, “I wanted to
update everyone about Dave Pingree. Dave and Beth
were so very touched by those of you who emailed
and/or called. Your notes were so very important to
him and his family. Thank you, all. Dave died peacefully, at home, with his family around him, on June
50
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
30. He had been battling pancreatic cancer for several years. His family organized a ‘celebration of life’
ceremony on July 5 in Portsmouth, N.H. It all came
together quickly, so not many Williams people were
able to attend besides myself, Peter Hopkins ’74
and Wendy Wilkins Hopkins ’72, and Dave’s eldest
brother, Dick Pingree ’66. Although a holiday weekend, Dave’s NH friends and family came out in
droves. It was a beautiful day and wonderful tribute
to Dave. I only wish Dave could have been there to
hear all the lovely things people shared. Why do we
wait for death to tell people the simplest but most
powerful things about what their presence in our lives
means to us…”
And too many of you to name shared thoughts
and memories, prayers and condolences and wrote
in response to the news of George Rebh’s passing and his richly detailed obit in The Washington
Post. Understatedly self-described as a “creative person involved in a lot of different pursuits,” he was
acclaimed in a most moving manner by neighbor
and former Williams 12-College exchange student
(1978-79) Sarah Cash MacCullough ’80: “George
was a dear friend to our Arlington, Va., community.
He was scoutmaster, art mentor and so much more to
my sons and others, of course. And a dear friend and
inspiration to so many. George was rarely without
his beloved Williams baseball cap when I saw him—
before, during and after the time he lost his hair due
to his cancer treatments. He loved his alma mater.”
Several of you said no doubt heaven is a more
squiggly place now.
Tom Hyndman got in under the wire with his
submission: “Over a stormy mid-October weekend, Richard Muglia and Ellen graciously hosted a
gathering of ’73ers at their home in Wilton, Conn.
Lenny Vecchio and Anne, Amy and Skip Masback,
and Marlene Gallagher (wife of John Gallagher)
came from nearby towns. Mary and Robert Koegel
drove in from Rochester, while Patty and Marty
Doggett and David Driscoll made the trek from the
Boston area. Laurie and I traveled from Maine.
Happy to report that all are in good health, have
maintained their razor-sharp tongues and continue
to consume more than adequate quantities of
nutrition and libations. Over dinner Saturday
night we raised our glasses to our late classmate
and fellow Prospect House resident George Rebh.
Our thoughts and prayers were with Liz Rebh and
the children. Hopefully this gathering will become
an annual event.”
And speaking of looking forward, I’ve saved an
inspiring communication for last. Bill Broadbent and
his wife Camille have announced a wonderful “45 for
45 Challenge” in support of the Williamstown Rural
Lands Foundation, http://wrlf.org. This conservation
trust is 30 years old, is a credentialed 501(c)3 and
aims to preserve land in and around Williamstown
and to sustain preservation projects and land stewardship. So, in anticipation of our 45th reunion in
2018, the Broadbents have offered to donate a total
of $45,000 to the WRLF’s Broadbent Endowment
Fund for the 21st Century if the foundation can
raise an additional $45,000. What a great investment in the Williamstown we all love today and the
Williamstown of the future, with its open spaces and
special places intact.
1973– 74
So, when you take out your checkbook to
respond to Class Agent Julian Beckford’s pitch
for the Alumni Fund, perhaps consider a second,
meaningful gift.
1974
Jonathan W. Fitch, 97 Maple St., Sherborn, MA 01770;
This class report begins with congratulations to several classmates—first, to Michael Lucow on receiving the award of New York Special Education
Administrator of the Year. Michael says that his colleagues and wife Nancy enjoyed seeing the “shock on
my face” when the award was presented at a statewide
conference in Saratoga Springs last July. (Michael,
obviously only you were shocked by the recognition.)
Nancy has retired from her long career as an elementary school librarian. Their daughter Nina lives in
Asbury Park, N.J., where she manages cat adoptions
at the Monmouth County SPCA. A cat lover himself, Michael says, “As if there are no felines needing
adoption near Buffalo, two of our four strays are from
Nina’s family.” Matty Levine also wins our admiration for receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award
of U.S. Lacrosse, the national governing body of the
sport. Matty writes, “I continue on my journey as a
social entrepreneur. CityLax, a partnership with the
NYC public schools I co-founded back in 2006, now
supports over 50 teams in 44 high schools, or about
1,800 kids annually within the five boroughs of NYC,
in our mission to develop lacrosse and educational
programming in underserved schools and communities. I am most grateful that some of our wonderful
classmates have been consistent and generous supporters. Also, I continue to oversee a youth lacrosse
program I co-founded 20 years ago that now has
about 700 kids playing annually. So this lacrosse life
keeps me busy.” Regarding his award, Matty says, “I
humbly stood on a lot of people’s shoulders to accept
the award. You need a lot of help to do this stuff.” Jeff
Thaler has also reached a laudable landmark in his
decades-long leadership of the Gaudino Fund. The
Gaudino Fund offers Winter Study fellowships to a
small, fortunate group of students who live in homestays outside their cultural background and engage in
internships that, from all accounts, are life-changing.
Jeff was instrumental in founding the fund in 1975
and served as its chair for three terms. Gathered
in Williamstown to celebrate Jeff ’s service were Jim
Samenfeld-Specht, Paul Peterson ’73, John Neikirk
’73 and Dick Tavelli ’73. Jon Kravetz is the incoming
fund chair, and new member is Randy Thomas ’73.
Jeff says that he is most proud of creating the
successful Resettling Refugees and Immigrants
Winter Study in Maine. As an example, Jeff points
to Melissa Soule ’15, who lived with a Rwandan
family in Portland, Maine, while working at Casco
Bay High School in a variety of classrooms with
immigrant and refugee students.
There were a happy series of weddings of children
of ’74 over the summer. Rich Levy writes, “Our summer was highlighted by the wedding on July 18 of
our daughter Rachel Levy ’09 to Caleb Balderston
’10, son of Tom Balderston ’78 and Betsy Balderston
’79 at the West Mountain Inn in Arlington, Vt.
Fifty Ephs attended the festivities (a probable class
if not college record!), including Margie French and
Audrey and Jeff Elliott. My daughter Haley married
her longtime beau, Ricardo Barraza, during a spectacular weekend in Waterville Valley, N.H. Colette
and Jack Dill (and several Ephs of Haley’s generation) joined in the celebration. Haley is an elementary school counselor in an inner-city district, and her
husband is an administrator at a day and residential
center for developmentally disabled adults. Ah, they
are so happy together! Just what we parents love to
see.” Skip March’s daughter Whitney was married
in September on Cape Cod. Skip writes, “Feedback
was that it was a great party. They honeymooned in
Hawaii for two weeks. Someday Mary Lou and I will
get to go to Hawaii. We were not invited for the honeymoon.” Skip also announces, “Our first grandchild
arrived in April, compliments of our eldest daughter,
Lindsay, and her husband. He is, of course, getting
lots of attention, and he smiles almost all of the time.”
He also says, “I am a very fortunate father, as I really
like both sons-in-law and enjoy spending time with
them. We just need to make sure we don’t wear out
our welcome. We count our blessings.”
Larry Peltz writes, “In late June, we had a wedding
party for our daughter Haley and son-in-law Rafael
at our home in Lincoln, Mass. They were married in
Brazil two years ago, currently living in São Paolo,
and this was the celebration for their northern
family and community. Our son Miles is now back
living in Brooklyn after two years of traveling in Asia,
South America and Europe. Haley and Rafa went to
Hamilton College and had a great gathering of classmates. I only had one, and it was the former lead
guitarist of the Free Tumblers, Joseph Mullholland.
Joe is currently the chairman of the harmony
department at the Berklee College of music and
got together a fabulous band of Berklee professors for the occasion. This was particularly meaningful for
Nancy and me, as Joe also played at our wedding
31 years ago, and for Haley, who is a jazz singer and
had jammed with Joe some time last year. I got to
sing along with the band for a few verses of ‘Truckin,’
which was a thrill. This summer, Nancy and I spent
a lot of time at our cabin on a defunct reservoir in
Central Mass. It is off the grid, and we do very little there, the perfect antidote to working too much,
which we hope will gradually change.”
Did you say off the grid? Stan Sneath has taken a
step in that direction. He writes, “After 35 years in
the Philadelphia area, 33 of them in the same house,
I have retired from the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection and have moved to
Missoula, Mont. One thing I can’t figure out about
Montana, though—where are all the dental floss
ranches that Mr. Zappa promised?” Stan, after reading the lyrics to Zappa’s “Montana” carefully, I can’t
help you with that!
Thanks to Nancy Contel, who sent in a road trip
report. Nancy says, “Just back from a long road trip
with a few Williams connections. Spent time with
Susie Read Cronin ’75 at her lovely ‘camp’ in the
Adirondacks—hadn’t seen Susie for many years, and
it was as if no time had passed. There were five of
us, including her hubby of many years, Ted Cronin
’68. Susie and I used to head to The Purple Pub, pick
‘Chain of Fools’ on the jukebox and sing along—
mmm, after a few beers. Well, the singing continued.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
51
CLASS NOTES
‘Midnight at the Oasis’ while cooking dinner and
then during dinner. Was great to see her. Headed
to Williamstown with my brother, who just retired,
and showed him the town with a stop at the Clark
to see the Ando addition, which was really stunning,
peaceful. And some proud mama news—my daughter Julia just started grad school at the Harvard GSD
in architecture and is loving it. Of course, that was a
stop on the road trip.”
Tom Slattery writes that Liz and Newie Hastings
visited with Kitty and him at their home in New
Canaan, Conn. Tom says, “Both Newie and Liz are
licensed pilots. They left their Paso Robles, Calif.,
home in their single-prop Cessna and flew crosscountry with a few stops along the way, until they
landed in Danbury, Conn., and then made their way
by car to our house, where we all enjoyed a great
time! High school sweethearts, Newie and Liz are in
love as much as ever, and they send their best to the
Class of ’74. As do we!”
A few short tidbits pulled from the Class of 1974
Facebook page: Chris Corson’s elegant and moving
sculpture was featured in “Art in Clay III: Origins,” a
show at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition.
Chris writes, “Great show and a lot of really good
work. Very glad the hurricane decided not to come
ashore.” Bill Finn’s latest musical revue, You’re
Standing in My Way: A New Song Cycle, premiered
at the Barrington Stage Company in August. Rick
Unger chimes in: “I saw an excellent production of
Bill Finn’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at
the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pa. The
production got a rave review from Terry Teachout
of the Wall Street Journal.” Congratulations to Paul
Reilly on winning the Sailing Regatta, Class C,
last August at Lake Geneva, Wisc. President Grace
Terzian masterfully maintains our Facebook page
and has plans to take our social media savvy class to
a whole new level with the Class of 1974 Instagram
Hashtag Project. Here’s how it works: When you
post a photo to your Instagram account—of, for
example, a minireunion, wedding, travel adventure or
grandchild—simply add #williams1974 to the narrative. Please give it a try.
In the first entry of our updated class travelogue,
Rich Levy reports, “Carol and I capped off the summer, traveling in Portugal in early September. Great
country—wonderful food, great wine and fascinating history. For a port wine lover, as I am, it was especially fun visiting a number of wineries and having an
array of tawny, vintage and late-bottled vintage ports
placed before you to sample.” (I’m not sure I know
what a tawny versus non-tawny port tastes like.)
Rich continues, “Our itinerary included two great
cities, Lisbon and Porto; Coimbra, the seat of the
oldest Portuguese university (the tour of which, by
the way, included the old ‘academic prison’ from the
18th century, covering honor code and other violations); Tomar, the site of the oldest synagogue in
Portugal and a 12th-century castle and monastery
founded by the Knights Templar; the fabulous Douro
Valley, of course; and two days walking the beautiful
hills and valleys of the Peneda-Geres National Park
along Portugal’s northern border with Spain. And
getting around with drivers and guides arranged by
our travel agent made it a really nice trip (and a safer
one for us (and our sanity) and for the natives)!”
52
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
It appears that Lisbon is the latest favored destination of our travel sophisticates. Shortly after receiving Rich’s email, Bill Suda wrote, advising, “I suggest,
when traveling abroad, to consult with Rich Levy on
luxe dining. (I still prefer pub grub, but Annie rules
otherwise.) Rich guided my group to ‘Sea Me’ in
Lisbon, Portugal. We ate there last week; Rich and
Carol ate there about two or three weeks prior to
that. Tremendous seafood restaurant—among the
best meals I’ve ever had. I traveled with two other
Ephs, Nancy Gallt ’75 and Rich Huntley ’75. Nancy,
of course, is our beloved Craig Virden’s lifemate. I
note that Jerry Kapp had just returned from Lisbon
before I departed. He spent a week there with his
partner Kristina, who resides in Germany. Kristina
attended our 40th and gave credence to Jerry’s musings on aesthetics, both musical and visual. Those
German philosophers!”
Bob Rothman writes, “This summer Florence and
I had a great trip to Eastern Europe visiting Prague,
Czech Republic, Budapest, Hungary and Warsaw
and Kraków, Poland. Warsaw has a great new Jewish
Polish museum tracing 1,000 years of Jewish Polish
history. This was our second trip to Poland in five
years. There is an ironic parallel today with migrants
trying to enter Europe from the Middle East and
what happened to the Jews’ lives about 75 years ago
during the Holocaust in Europe.” Bob also writes
that his son Stanley is finishing law school this year
and is engaged to be married. Congratulations to all!
In October, I traveled to Vienna for the annual
conference of the International Bar Association, a
gathering of about 6,000 lawyers from more than 120
countries. The conference offered terrific programming in technical areas of interest to me and also
featured global leaders such as Jose Manuel Barroso,
the immediate past president of the European
Commission, and Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, speaking about larger social and political issues. Deb and
I enjoyed the museums, music and rich culture of
Vienna immensely. The trip was also in celebration
of our 10th wedding anniversary and included visits
to Innsbruck, Lake Como and Milan. Matty Levine
enjoyed a family vacation in a place close to home
for us all. He writes, “Sara, myself and our three adult
children spend time during the summer together
near Williamstown in Stockbridge, where my fatherin-law lives. Glorious to be in the Berkshires. Boston
Symphony concerts at Tanglewood are a frequent
stop, as is the Barrington Stage in Pittsfield, a fantastic regional theater where our acclaimed classmate
Bill Finn is a creative force in its major and cabaret
productions. Barrington Stage is leading a rebirth of
the city. Summer also calls for an annual golf reunion
with Dick Nesbitt and Don Allison. We are usually
treated to play at the Taconic track by Dick, who
dominates the play. This year we played down on my
home turf at Stockbridge Golf Club. Donny and I
should be Dick’s caddy.” Sounds like Dick plays a
good away game, also.
By now, most have heard that we lost Bill Jacobs, a
treasured classmate, who died last August in Brazil. It
was a shock to all, including those who had the good
fortune to see him hearty and fit at our last reunion.
Bill Suda captures the feelings of many: “I believe
that Budge had the biggest and most generous heart
1974– 75
in our class. God, he was fun, kind and thoughtful in
his beautifully unique way. For him, life was a joy! He
had lots of opinions, but it was life’s energy itself that
mattered. Sheer being! May he haunt our reunions
with that sense of joy.” Hail and farewell!
1975
Julia Berens, 22 Sperry Lane, Lansing, NY 14882;
Fall foliage is at its peak in the Northeast as I write
this column, which will be briefer than my last one
for a variety of reasons. Congratulations to Akua
Lezli Hope, who was awarded the Editor’s Prize
from Red Paint Hill Publishing for her poetry collection, Them Gone, which will be published in 2016.
Interviewed for a press release, Lezli says, “My parents were the children of emigrants from … Jamaica
and Montserrat. They grew up within four blocks of
each other in the mythic days of Harlem. I spent the
first six weeks of my life in my grandmother’s top
dresser drawer and learned my first life and math lessons in her store. My father grew up two flights down
from the poet Countee Cullen, who was his teacher
in junior high school. So there’s a history of struggle
and creativity that I want to convey.” Lezli also placed
first (out of 165 entries) in the short category of the
Science Fiction Poetry Contest with “Metis Emits.”
Among her numerous awards over the years is my
personal favorite: an Artists Crossroads Grant from
The Arts of the Southern Finger Lakes for her project “Words in Motion,” which placed poetry on the
buses of New York’s Chemung and Steuben counties.
In September The Vermont Country Store Cookbook
by Ellen Ecker Ogden and Andrea Diehl hit the
bookshelves. Food52.com named it one of the top
10 new fall cookbooks. One reviewer writes, “These
are homey recipes with wisdom and stories from
family members about apples, cows, farm smells,
thriftiness and life in the slow lane. … The Taste of
Country Cooking meets The Silver Palate.” Another
’75 author, Peter Kiernan, says his book American
Mojo: Lost and Found is now a national bestseller.
He has had lots of great interviews but says it’s hard
to top the one with Charlie Rose—“like dancing
with a great dancer—he makes anyone look good.”
Peter also sends a shout out to Peter Hillman, who
somehow managed to be his first Amazon reviewer:
“Yoyo would be proud of him (Hillman)—and fortunately he didn’t ‘shoot the dog.’”
In September Chuck Chokel competed in
the Aquathon and Sprint Triathlon World
Championships in Chicago, where he placed third
in the 60-64 aquathon (swim/run) and made it to
the podium. He finished 13th out of 61 in the sprint
triathlon. The event brought together 8,000 athletes from 68 countries. Fred Steuber wrote to praise
the artistic talents of Walter Matia. Fred attended
an event in Jackson Hole in August, and the closing dinner was at the National Museum for Wildlife
Art. The lead exhibit there is three wild turkeys created by Walter and given to the museum by the Leigh
Perkins family and Orvis.
In late August, Ben Duke had an unexpected but
welcome visit at his Colorado ranch from Dennis
Cahill, who filled Ben in on the June reunion.
Driving to the Colorado State Fair, Ben also had a
great phone call with Warren Barker. Ben has been
appointed/elected the chair of the board for the
Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, an
organization that over the last 20 years has conserved
more than 500,000 acres for ranchers and farmers.
Claire Blum happily reports that her eldest daughter
is moving to the Bronx for an administrative position
at a school that trains rabbis; her younger daughter is
applying to colleges. An avid gardener, Claire would
love to hear suggestions for how to get more efficiency from a drop irrigation system. Their farm’s production beds go to a local food pantry. Thanks to the
efforts of the California Environmental Literacy Task
Force and member Will Parish, California now has a
blueprint for environmental literacy for all 6.2 million
public school students. The next big step is implementation. His wife Julie is an active member of the
Trust for Public Lands California Advisory Board,
and son Nate teaches north of San Francisco; his son
Max works for a company that crowdsources funding
for venture capital-style investments in Barcelona.
Our wise first mother Jackie Strachan Meadows
sends encouragement to all the parents and grandparents out there. She says following the birth of her
son at the start of our senior year in September 1974,
she learned “what it meant to be a part of a vibrant
educational community and what it was like to be
nurtured and supported by the men and the women
at Williams.” Jackie expressed gratitude to Bill Berry
’73, Emmillie Fox ’73, Mike Reed, Suji Sutler ’74,
Vernon Manley ’72, Akua Lezli Hope and “freshman
roommates Barbara Banks and Marcia Ward, who get
to watch over us from the other side.”
Reporting from Cape Cod, Paul Skudder heard
great reports about reunion and had a nice visit from
Scott Lutrey and his wife in August. He hoped to see
them again as well as other “old-timers” at the annual
cross-country reunion in October.
In late June, motivated by the too-early passing of
teammate Jimmy Lee, Stan Fri stopped in Carlisle,
Pa., and had a nice visit with four-year track teammate Mike Reed. Despite not having seen each other
for 20 years, Stan and Mike had a great time catching
up on each other’s lives.
In July, Kirk Renaud organized a dinner for ’75ers
who didn’t get enough face time at reunion. In attendance were Kirk, Virginia Drewry, Jeff Jacobs, Lucy
Beck and Bob Beck, Milt Morin, Wendy Gradison,
Olina Jonas, Stu Vogel, Scott Lutrey, Mike Durst and
Anton Bestebreurtje. At the reunion there was talk
of a Philly gathering of ’75ers. How’s that coming
along, Tony Brown, Suzanne Fluhr, Fred Dittmann,
Joe Bonn and others? Not wishing to start a Morgan
East/West battle, I will, nevertheless, report that the
Virginia chapter of the “best entry ever, Morgan
East” had an annual luncheon in Fredericksburg in
September. In attendance were Gene Frogale, Rich
Finkelstein, Jeff Jacobs and Anton Bestebreurtje.
On a trip to North Carolina, I had a brief but great
visit with Henri Kieffer (whom I had not seen since
the early 1990s) and was happy to hear that he has
completely recovered from his harrowing “I’ve used
up all nine lives” experience in Italy in September
2014. I also had a much too short visit with Melissa
McGuire in Charlotte, but the quality was, as
expected, outstanding; the substance of the visit,
however, remains “in the vault.” Although it seems
J A N UA RY 2016
l
53
CLASS NOTES
ages ago now, Larry and I and Abby and Tim Howson
were all visiting our Vermont relatives in July and met
for lunch in Shelburne; I berated Tim for not attending reunion but quickly forgave him because of the
near-constant laughs he and Abby provided.
Allan Ruchman wrote to commend the organizers of our June reunion; he was grateful for the many
opportunities to connect with classmates in special
ways. Allan has been back to campus since reunion
and reports that the old library has been demolished
and the “open grassy plaza that has been created in
its place completes the vision for that area. There is
now a majestic view of Stetson and the mountains
from the Chapin Lawn extending even to Park Street
through the Paresky corridor.” Ned Reade had nothing new to report, but he continues to be grateful for
“all the support we as a class give each other through
adversity and sadness to celebrations and milestones.”
I will leave you with a surprise (courtesy of Bobby
Kittredge) that I am guessing some of you already
know; but in keeping with the college’s policy to
wait to report milestone events until they happen,
I will just say we had a 75/75 engagement that was
“birthed” at the Clark pond during our June reunion,
with nuptials scheduled for Williamstown in June
2016. Stay tuned…
1976
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Jane Ray Kell, 2110 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta, GA
Greetings, classmates. I hope you’ve had a good fall
and that you’re looking forward to reunion, which
will be here in just a few months. The dates are June
9-12, 2016, and the committee is busy planning a
great weekend for all of us.
A dozen or so classmates met in Williamstown in
late September to begin planning for the big event.
Chris Oates and Debbie McCarthy Nelson will be our
reunion co-chairs, and quite a few others have volunteered to help. Steve Castraberti is on point to find
a caterer and a band, and he and Deb Heineman are
working on playlists for Friday night and pre-dinner
Saturday. Joan Shainman Zegras and Tom Belden
are arranging a golf outing, and Suzi Stone, Debbie
Nelson and Paul Nelson and Jules Damion are working on a class tree, plaque or bench and are planning
a memorial gathering during the weekend. Other
volunteers include Kay Pesek Nixon and Jody Hale
Norton, who are working on gifts and giveaways,
Sue Collings, who is in charge of seeing that the
weekend is well photographed, Jim Trapp, who is in
charge of our website, and Paula Moore Tabor, Susie
Montgomery, Deb Heineman and myself, who will be
reaching out to you to urge you to attend.
Our reunion HQ will be Agard, with Garfield as
the overflow/“quiet” housing. It promises to be the
best reunion yet!
I was happy to hear from Jon Cole as I prepared
this edition of class notes. Jon reports that he
“took an early out offer caused by sequestrationrelated budget crunches” and retired from the
Environmental Protection Agency in May 2013
after nearly 26 years, the last 21 as a manager in
the criminal enforcement program, where he was
legal counsel director and then associate director
of the office.
54
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
“Around the same time we did a house renovation/addition including ‘aging in place’ thinking and a
music room. I sit in on guitar most Mondays with the
Capital Blues Ensemble in Old Town Alexandria,
Va., and sub with them now and then—rip-roaring
hot blues, R&B and slinky New Orleans flavors. A
friend asked me to join his indie rock project to play
lead guitar, so I get primal and loud there (lol). And
I bought a pedal steel guitar and am torturing myself
trying to learn that infernal but beautiful-sounding
instrument. And then there’s the continuing 40-yearlong trek trying to master jazz.”
Jon looks forward to playing more music, sailing
and “continuing to detox from a fairly dysfunctional
work environment and several years dealing with
parental decline and death,” including his mother’s,
which was particularly hard due to her dementia.
He says he is “now at the stage where I’ve mostly
forgotten the tough parts and realize how much I
miss them.”
Jon was in Williamstown in April 2015 for the
dedication of the new Class of 1966 Environmental
Center, including the re-dedication of the Matt Cole
’80 Reading Room, which was given in memory
of his late brother. Jon hopes to establish a fund in
Matt’s memory to provide paid internships to environmental studies students but for now is content to
enjoy the new space, which he describes as “a beautiful and impressive building combining old and new.”
He saw Gaye Symington at the dedication.
DC Dugdale had a great summer and fall, punctuated by a trip to the Bay Area in July, where he visited
with daughter Emily Dugdale ’14 and Pratt House
roommate Larry Hyde ’77, who lives in Palo Alto.
Later in the summer, he had occasion to host Pratt
House buddy Matt Rowe ’77, wife Layne, daughter
Allie Rowe ’16 and a son at his home in Seattle “for a
great evening of catching up.”
DC works at the University of Washington as the
medical director for care management and population health and as vice dean for clinical affairs
in the school of medicine. His work has brought
him in touch with Williams B entrymate Collie
Nelson, whose career has led him into the domain
of informed medical decision-making. “It was quite
a pleasant surprise to make this connection,” DC
writes. “He is recognized as an expert in this field.”
“I celebrated my 60th birthday two weeks ago
at the Rainbow Room with my family,” wrote Bill
Driscoll, who must be the youngest in our class.
“Since the Rainbow Room is 81, I felt positively
youthful. I’m in my 10th year of teaching English to
high school girls at the Convent of the Sacred Heart
in Manhattan; my wife is approaching her 20th anniversary with a company that sells financial data. My
son is working as a barista, and hoping for better
things; my daughter is a junior in the studio art program at NYU, the country’s most expensive school.”
Bill reports that the highlight of his summer was
meeting for brunch with Tom Piazza and his “better
half ” Mary Howell in Provincetown. Tom gave Bill
an advance copy of his new novel, A Free State, and
Bill found it to be “just terrific,” adding that the
highlight of the fall was hearing Tom “read from the
book and play some banjo in NYC.” Bill adds that
this year’s winner in the nonfiction category is Scott
Shane, whose book Objective Troy was published the
1975– 76
same day as Tom’s. “A really fascinating account of
the drone war in the Middle East and the execution
of Anwar Al-Awlaki,” Bill notes.
Two other classmates also commented on the
books by Piazza and Shane. “So, who has bought
these books? Read these books? I bought one each
locally and then more at book signing stops by the
authors,” wrote Wick Sloane, “jawdroppers both.”
Added Bill Moehle, “I was at Tom Piazza’s reading of
A Free State at Hobart & William Smith Colleges.
Tom was author in residence four years ago, and I got
a chance to meet a number of his colleagues afterward. The reading and his talk were magnificent, and
I plan to sit down and start reading it tonight.”
I heard from two classmates who are spending
the year in far-flung locations. Tom Gates stepped
down from his family medicine faculty position in
Lancaster, Pa., where he had been for the last 20
years, and in October relocated with wife Liz to
Malawi, where he accepted a long-term position with
Boston-based Partners in Health as medical director
of Lisungwe Community Hospital.
Teri Price Landers completed pre-service training
and was fully sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer
in Botswana. Teri and husband Gary will be serving there for the next two years, Teri working with
a local NGO on organizational development and
Gary at a junior secondary school. They are stationed in Gabane, which is very close to the capital, Gaborone. “If anyone finds themselves nearby,
please let us know,” Teri writes. “My Botswana
phone number is 267.76685749, and email is
teresa.landers@gmail.com. I also have a blog:
landersinbotswana@gtlanders.net.”
Deborah Gould was selected as a 2015 Cecil
Cutting Leadership Award winner. The award was
established in 2007 by The Permanente Medical
Group’s board of directors to recognize outstanding
physician leaders in the medical group. Dr. Cutting,
one of seven founding physicians of TPMG, emphasized the importance of physician leadership and
management. He wrote, “It is a most difficult role,
balancing the needs of physicians, patients, departments and the organization. Success will depend on
the leader’s ability to develop meaningful relationships of mutual respect and physicians’ willingness to
work together.” Congratulations, Deborah!
Also honored was Cappy Bond Hill, whom Wick
Sloane saw mentioned as one of the Ten Most
Innovative College Presidents by Washington Monthly
for her work at Vassar College. “Vassar has a reputation as one of the most elite colleges in the U.S.,”
the article opines, “the kind of school that took in
the daughters and (more recently) sons of the country’s wealthiest families. Hill, on the other hand, came
from an academic background working on college
affordability and access for low-income students. She
took over in 2006 after serving as provost at Williams
College, which underwent a transformation of its
own during her tenure, and she has proceeded to
push Vassar to great strides in those areas.”
According to the article, under Cappy’s leadership
Vassar shifted from 60 percent non-financial aid/40
percent financial aid, to 60 percent financial aid/40
percent non-financial aid and from 20 percent students of color to 40 percent students of color. The
shift entailed change in both focus and budget, with
$60 million of Vassar’s endowment going toward
financial aid now, versus $27 million when Hill
began. “It’s not a full-scale transformation of the student body, but it’s a blueprint for how elite schools
can balance remaining competitive in their traditional
student base of upper-class achievers while also committing to a more social justice-oriented mission of
diversity and upward mobility,” the article states, adding a quote from Hill: “Will it solve higher education’s problems? No. But at least it’s going in the right
direction, and if other schools in our sector did it, it
would be a great thing.”
Larry Hyatt wrote with the happy news of becoming a grandparent to “a beautiful baby girl.” He and
wife Carol live in Nashville, Tenn., where he is CFO
of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, a post from
which he plans to retire in July 2016. “After 35 years
in corporate financial management, including 18
years as CFO of six different publicly traded companies, I decided it was time to move on,” he writes.
“Carol and I are looking forward to the opportunity to travel and to start checking items off of our
bucket list.” In August, Larry and Carol took their
first Williams Alumni Travel adventure, a one-week
cruise on the Amazon River followed by a week in
the Andes visiting Cuzco, Machu Picchu and the
Sacred Valley. “Professor Hank Art, who taught me
environmental biology during sophomore year, was
the faculty tour leader,” he notes. “It was an amazing adventure.”
“Sometimes the status quo is just really fine, and
there’s no incentive to mess with it,” writes Heather
Neal Thomson. “Having gone from big pharma to
medium pharma, I joined startup pharma a couple
of years ago and am now working on that naloxone
auto-injector that saves people from dying of opioid
overdoses. It’s nice to wake up in the morning feeling useful to the world. The husband is still building
and restoring wooden boats, and the kid is living
the musician/composer’s life of pasting together a
million different income-producing activities. As
someone who has always just had a steady paycheck,
I admire him. And now that all my joints are falling apart, I’m really glad I played as hard as I did—
it would be awful to be this gimpy without any of
the wonderful memories of how I got this way. See
you at the reunion, since I’m still just over the line
in Connecticut.”
“Ron and I are doing well, enjoying being grandparents to two beautiful young boys, even though
they are too far away in Portland, Ore.,” writes Candy
Dann. “We are both still working full time because
we are lucky enough to love our work (Ron as a programmer for a healthcare software company and me
as a regional recycling consultant for local municipalities), but we are beginning to talk about finding our
‘retirement careers.’ We have had wonderful vacations
this year both with family in Bend, Ore., and with
biking friends in the Loire Valley, France. Williams
still holds a special place in my heart.”
“Always fun to see your emails and associate it with
our longtime friendship,” writes Jim Ware. “I saw
a birthday card that said, ‘Inside of every old person…(open card)…is a young person wondering,
‘What the hell happened!?’ Don’t you feel that way
sometimes? Jeez, has it really been 40 years since we
walked across the quad to get to class? I’m frequently
J A N UA RY 2016
l
55
CLASS NOTES
in meetings where I’m the oldest person. How the
hell did THAT happen?! There is one silver lining. In
the role of a senior adviser to leaders, it helps to have
lots of experience and some gray hair. Occasionally, I
even feel like I know what I’m talking about.”
“All kidding aside,” Jim adds, “I am wonderfully
blessed with a great wife, two fascinating daughters,
a mother-in-law whom I actually like and a 93-yearold mother who is still alive and kicking. And my
consulting partners who are kind and smart, a good
combination. My biggest surprise: A love affair with
a little brown mutt named Kobi. When I married my
wife, I was a cat person with little interest in dogs.
Then we rescued two beautiful German Shepherds,
which you can’t help but love because they’re so
damn gorgeous and smart. The surprise came when
my daughters insisted on another dog—they would
have 10 if they could—and we went to the shelter
and found a little beagle/dachshund/terrier-looking
mix that my girls fell in love with. I had no particular interest in it, given that I had been converted to
a ‘Shepherd man.’ But in the three years we’ve had
Kobi, he has completely seduced me and wormed
his way past the Shepherds to the center of my heart.
Life continues to be interesting, and I am reminded
constantly that I’m not in charge of the way things
are unfolding. The most recent proof: Kobi, whom I
never would have chosen to adopt.”
Finally, Debbie McCarthy Nelson and Susan
Collings had a great time at the reunion planning
meeting in September. “Save the date for next June,”
writes Debbie. “It will be a party to remember! If
you’ve never been back, now is the time to fix that!
Class President Chris Oates is assembling a planning
committee; ideas and volunteers most welcome!”
“Lots of fun joining the planning group,” says
Susan. “We anticipate Williamstown will be the place
to be from June 9-12, 2016!”
1977
Deborah DePorter Hoover, 7480 Herrick Park Drive,
Hudson, OH 44236; Sandra Lorimer Lambert, 149 College
Road, Concord, MA 01742; 1977secretary@williams.edu
“When the summer 2015 issue of Williams
Magazine arrived with Clayton Spencer’s picture
on the cover illustrating ‘Williams Women,’ I dove
right in,” writes Deborah DePorter Hoover. “I spend
a good deal of time thinking about the foundational
role Williams played in who I have become as a professional, mother and wife. Even today, I still work in
many situations that are predominantly male, and I
truly believe that those years at Williams in the early
days of coeducation prepared me to navigate these
circumstances with confidence and a heightened
sensitivity to the dynamics. I don’t recall major malefemale tensions during the college’s transition time,
but at the same time I know that we were among
the pioneers of coeducation, and that experience has
helped to shape my world to this day.”
Clayton Spencer, now president of Bates College,
was in the first class of females at Phillips Exeter
Academy and consequently knew all too well what
it meant to cross the Williams College threshold in 1973. She noted in Williams Magazine, “I
felt the doors were opening. I wasn’t the one pushing them, but I couldn’t wait to walk through. It was
56
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
inconceivable to me that I would not have the same
opportunities as boys and men.” When Clayton
heard that we were going to include the perspectives
of other classmates in our column, she said she was
anxious to hear what others think, now nearly four
decades from the day we set foot on campus. So here
are views shared by our classmates!
Nina Girvetz wrote, “I never dated in high school.
Not once. There were boys in my high school, but
I was geeky and shy and very busy with school and
ballet. I was pretty excited about the concept of
going to a formerly all-male college. I figured the
odds of my getting a date were good! The first thing
I noticed at Williams was that they were still sorting out the dorm bathrooms and gym facilities. But
I don’t remember being terribly inconvenienced. I
was on one side of Lehman Hall with roommates
Susanna Lang, Jane Hoppe and Dianne Thompson
(now Alex Neil) with a common basement laundry
room and walls with the boys on the other side. Jake
Prescott and I shared a wall. We developed a whole
system of communication by knocking and became
the best of friends.
“I had friends at home that teased me all the time
about all the boys I would meet, all the dates I would
have with a 4-1 boy-to-girl ratio. But on the weekends, it was disconcerting—you’d look around and
there were no boys on campus! They were at Smith
and Holyoke and Skidmore! It was such a disappointment. We expected it wouldn’t last. We girls
were so fun and cool and cute, how could they leave
us? I never once noticed any kind of sexism or favoritism in the classroom. And I looked hard—as in
those days, feminism bludgeoned us with how discriminated against we were and would continue to
be. Not at Williams. “My lifelong closest friends (and my wonderful
husband) are among the great men and women I
met at Williams. I value my Williams education
above all other experiences of the first four decades
of my life.”
Tom Carey shared, “While I am sure there was a
big adjustment for the first women at the college,
for me it was just normal. After going to a public
high school, attending a co-ed college was nothing
notable. When I graduated and went to work for a
commercial bank in NYC, half of the trainees
were women, and throughout my career I have had
female colleagues, superiors and subordinates. I
never aspired to attend an all-male school or work
in an all-male environment; I fully support gender
equality, and while there are clearly lingering issues
in some industries, I think that tremendous progress
has been made over the course of our lives.” Anu Vuourikoski commented, “As I was a foreign student as well as a woman, my experiences
were colored by both. I had expectations based on
some books and movies that probably were written in a different era. Initially, I felt like the guys did
not want an ‘inconvenient’ on-campus relationship
and preferred road-tripping to the women’s colleges.
That changed. Especially freshman year, I was constantly asked if I was going out somewhere because
I was not wearing painter’s overalls or jeans but ‘nice’
pants or even skirts!”
A few of our male classmates reminisced that they
recalled the odds for guys in our class being a bit out
1976– 77
of balance, since during this transition time, men far
outnumbered women on campus!
Mimi Sadler shared, “I went to Williams after
attending an all-girls’ school for 13 years. It seemed
as if the shift to coeducation at Williams was seamless and trouble-free. Teachers, administrators and
students all seemed delighted. I marveled at being
able to have my shin splints thoughtfully treated by
the same trainer who worked with the men’s teams. I
have no athletic ability but was able to avail myself of
great facilities and patient coaches (and classmates)
who taught me squash, lacrosse and field hockey;
instilling a lifelong habit of fitness that I don’t think
would have been encouraged at other schools.”
Liz Alton wrote, “My thoughts may be a little different than others, as I grew up in Williamstown.
While growing up, Williams was a very large part of
our lives. We attended hockey games, winter carnivals, football games, soccer games, theater productions and movie nights. My family would rent out
rooms for the students’ dates to stay for the weekends,
as they were not allowed to stay on campus. We met
Williams students, many of whom became very close
family friends and still are. All along, I would dream
of attending Williams. I kept wishing that Williams
would allow women into the school and felt sorry
for myself, as I never thought it would happen and I
would have to go somewhere else. As my time came
to apply to colleges, Williams was accepting women!
Then I was worried that I should ‘go away’ for college. So I looked at Dartmouth and Middlebury and
was always comparing them to Williams. I finally
just said, ‘I want to go to Williams,’ and applied
early decision and made it in! I was so excited that I
actually could attend and I had wanted it so much.
Everything was perfect for me at Williams. It felt
natural to me to be there. I had felt a part of Williams
for so long that being a student there just seemed
right. As I proceeded through my Williams education, it was not being a woman at Williams that was
profound, but being a woman wanting to attend veterinary school. But that is a whole other story!” “My story is slightly different,” writes Sandra
Lorimer Lambert. “I came from a Midwest public high school, and the biggest adjustment was not
coeducation but learning what a prep school was!
Williams instilled in us that the future was what we
made of it—we had incredible opportunities, and
as women we took our place shoulder-to-shoulder
with the men of our class, who were our peers and
incredibly supportive. We never doubted our right
and capability to be at the table. I remember being
placed sophomore year with Laurie Marino in Carter
House, the one house on campus that voted to stay
all-male—and whose wishes were not honored by the
college. It was with great trepidation that we moved
in, and we certainly navigated some difficult issues
that year. And yet, my best memories and strongest
friendships were formed with the men and women
of Carter House those three years—if I had it to do
over again, I would not have lived anywhere else on
campus.”
Carlton Tucker, former head of the Princeton Day
School Upper School, summed up his impressions:
“I loved the article highlighting Williams’ coeducation in general and Clayton’s story in particular. Out
of all the accomplished women in those early classes,
it is a huge tribute to Clayton for being selected.
Obviously, she has done much and, as a fellow classmate, I can only tip my hat to Clayton and say, ‘Bravo,
you’ve paved the way for so many women to follow
you and be inspired by you!’ … Williams was very
thoughtful and deliberate in its approach to coeducation. Whether intentionally or not, the remarkable President Jack Sawyer ’39 laid the groundwork
for this historic change for the college, particularly
by getting rid of fraternities. This led the college to
begin changing the social scene in the late ’60s and
early ’70s. I remember watching from afar as some
of Williams’ peer schools—Princeton, Dartmouth
and, later, Amherst—struggled mightily in their
efforts to go coed and just did not get it right in the
first iteration. Other schools had friendly (or maybe
even hostile) takeovers of their sister schools—
Brown, Harvard and Columbia (although Barnard
resisted). And, finally, there were women’s colleges
that began to take men, which took even more time
to fully transform their schools. And then some colleges/universities made the conscious decision to
remain single-sex schools. It was an interesting time
for coeducation at many colleges/universities … and
Williams did many things right.
“In my own educational path, Williams was
almost a ‘déjà vu all over again.’ My high school,
Canterbury (Williams: Jimmy Lee ’75, Peter Kiernan
’75, Monica Sheehan, Casey Kiernan ’78), was allmale for my first two years and then coed for my
last two years. This was a sea change for all of us
then and there, but I could see, hear and feel the
challenges that both the women faced and for the
school to anticipate and/or respond to. Many precollegiate schools went through these same struggles and are probably the better for going through
this important gender-educational issue. I saw the
old and new Williams. My brother Paul Tucker ’72
was at Williams when it was all-male, and it felt
all-male when I visited, although there were a few
women actually enrolled at Williams through the
12-college exchange program. Still, the feeling was
that in order to have any interaction with women
one had to either leave Williams or ‘import’ women
from nearby colleges. This seemed so antiquated
and even more so now that it has 40 years of coeducation. Williams was so much better of a place
for having women. It made the educational setting
more natural.”
We thank you for all the thoughtful and reflective insights on the early years of coeducation at
Williams. Back to the future (we are writing this on
Oct. 21, 2015, after all), we have some current news
to share.
In late September, Donald Macdonald was a
guest speaker at the Global Health Scholars at
Dartmouth Medical School, speaking on “How and
Why to do Surgical Missions in Africa.” Donald
continues to travel to Ghana and perform eye
surgeries with his nonprofit, Right to Sight and
Health. Donald also spent time this summer at the
Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Chris Lovell and Julie Lovell were on the wedding circuit last summer! In July 2015 they celebrated the wedding of their daughter Samantha
to Andrew Marsallo in New Hampshire. Among
the attendees were Michael Eisenson and Barbara
J A N UA RY 2016
l
57
CLASS NOTES
Eisenson, Joanne and Scott Conant, Jonathan Lovell
’67, Steve Jenks and Lisa Jenks ’81, Katie Scott ’82,
Katie Parker ’93, Ian Eisenman ’99 and Jonathan
Brajtbord ’06 and Sarah Jenks Brajtbord ’07. Chris
reports, “The wedding was perfect, the band was
incredible, and we couldn’t have had a better time.”
In early September, Chris and Julie joined Geoff
Kingenstein and Alix Kingenstein, Ramsey Stabler
and Holly Stabler and Babe Unger and Peter Unger
along with a host of others for Michael Eisenson and
Barbara Eisenson’s son David’s wedding in Aspen,
Colo. Chris adds, “This was also a spectacular and
wonderful affair. We are blessed to have such great
kids and amazing friends.”
Also celebrating a wedding was Daniel P. Davison
Jr., who married Betsey Weitner on Sept. 26, 2015,
in Lonesome Valley, Cashiers, N.C., in the Blue
Ridge Valley. Paul A. Gismondi (aka Gizmo) was
part of the officiating party and provided a Russian
prayer. Also attending were David Moffitt and his
wife Nancy, and Dan’s daughter Hallie C. Davison
’07, who was a bridesmaid. Dan observed, “The Blue
Ridge is great, but nothing beats the Purple Valley
in late September!”
Rose Ellis wrote that she and her husband
Russell Vowell have become certified Texas Master
Naturalists and interpretive guides at Enchanted
Rock State Natural Area and Old Tunnel State
Park. Both had a great week over the summer in
Utah on a Williams alumni rafting trip down the
San Juan River that was led by geology Prof.
Dave Dethier. Rose explained that the certification
program is a 12-week training program,
followed by mandatory advanced training and a
specified amount of volunteer hours. She noted,
“Thus far this year, we have each put in about
500 hours of volunteer time at Enchanted Rock,
which is about 30 miles from where we live outside Fredericksburg, Texas (90 miles west of Austin
and 65 miles northeast of San Antonio), and Old
Tunnel (think bat tunnel with 3 million Mexican
free-tail bats), which is about 12 miles from our
house. We lead interpretive hikes every Sunday at
Enchanted Rock and then sort park recyclables.
From time to time we have groups of Girl Scouts
and Boy Scouts, which are fun. We volunteer at
Old Tunnel one or twice per month and come
home smelling of guano.”
Rose and Russell are also members of the Texas
Native Plant Society. Rose commented, “Our
extensive native plant garden and 72,000-gallon
rainwater catchment system was on a green home/
sustainability home tour a few weeks ago. The two
of us talked about native grassland bison at Third
Grade Day at the Fredericksburg Nature Center
in May. We had a life-size bison banner made and
wore early German settler costumes. I would have
made a rotten settler—I tripped repeatedly on the
heavy long skirt, and it’s hard to see with a bonnet on.”
Rose and Russell also volunteer at the local farmers
market, May through November. They were planning
a trip to Big Bend National Park in early December
and then again in February for hiking trips. Rose
observed, “It is an incredible park. We are hoping
to go down the full length of the Grand Canyon by
dory in 2017.”
58
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
We so enjoy hearing about your careers and interests—especially as we enter the next stage of our lives.
You are all an inspiration—keep writing us with your
stories! Until next time, Deb and Sandy.
1978
Maggie O’Malley Luck, P.O. Box 322, Eldorado Springs, CO
I sincerely hope everyone had a good summer and
fall. Indian summer down here, but the first flakes are
draping the high mountains.
My apologies for leaving out news on Suzanne
Case’s change in position last class notes. Suzanne
had been with the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii for
the last 28 years, the last 14 as executive director. Her
new position is the equivalent of the top environmental official for Hawaii. She was nominated by the
governor and unanimously approved by the senate.
The news of Suzanne came from Jim Trapp ’76.
He says all is well in Michigan, where he lives on a
small, developed lake. Along with everyone else, they
had a horrible winter last year. There was so much
snow, they couldn’t get the propane truck up the
road for two-and-a-half months! While not digging
himself out of a snow bank, he works at the Nature
Conservancy in Michigan.
He visited John “Zip” Zurn ’76 at his home in
Newport, R.I.. Zip is the head of school at St.
Michael’s Country Day School. While there, they
took a sail around with Herb McCormick.
Joe Kiernan and Sharon Kiernan are still working full time and enjoying their jobs. Sharon is the
chief of the neonatal ICU at Holy Cross Hospital in
Maryland. Joe is still with Virginia Heart as one of
the interventional cardiologists. In addition to work,
they are being drawn into the fun of being grandparents. They see Joe’s college suitemates often, recently
finding time to play golf with Don McCauley. They
also dine out with Larry Wu and his wife Katie while
visiting their daughter in North Carolina.
Mary Fish Arango and Peter have moved to
Ashland, Ore. With their extra time, they have
been able to do more writing and photography and
recycling moving boxes, along with working on
pastures and fruit trees and fences and water pumps
and blackberries.
I love hearing about all the wonderful places classmates live. The award this time goes to Sally Price.
In May she moved to Spring Island, S.C., which has
been carefully developed to preserve 3,000 acres of
maritime forest. She works full time from home at
a small public policy firm she started 10 years ago,
after 20 years with PepsiCo. The view from her desk
overlooks three miles of marshland. She still travels to the Northeast, where she visited Diane Curtis
Goodman and Piper Orton as well as Sandy Lorimer
Lambert ’77. Speaking of Piper, we got together
for dinner while she was in town for a conference.
She was named the director of the women’s health
program within the Connors Center for Women’s
Health and Gender Biology. In this position she
leads program development.
Mario Chiappetti and Lydia Chiappetti had a wonderful summer visiting friends. They traveled to New
York for Walter Boyer’s 60th birthday, along with
Cuyler and Bill Kister, Bill Riegel and Elizabeth
1977– 79
Riegel, John Simmons and Karen Simmons, and Liz
and Cam Ferrante. They also saw John Bessone and
his son Peter in Williamstown. Gary Petrosino and
his wife Judy met them in Cape Cod for vacation.
While on Cape Cod they got together with Leslie
Fritz, Cordy Kelly and Cindy Galbancea.
Enjoying a sabbatical year, Bill Schulze went on a
safari in Africa with his wife Pat, and he has taken up
cycling. He has undertaken a few epic rides in France,
Utah and Wyoming. While Jim Little is still teaching
residents at the VA Neurology Clinic, he has retired
after 15 seasons as a Little League coach. He is now
involved in The Big Brothers/Big Sisters program,
claiming that he is probably one of the oldest “bigs.”
He says it keeps him young going out every week on
outings with his “little.”
Steven Rothstein met up with several classmates
in the last few months, including Dean Gianakos,
Eric Pyenson, Debby Green and Walter Ogier in the
east and David Simpson and Glenn Shannon in the
west. Now that his son Isaac Maze-Rothstein ’14
graduated, he hasn’t been visiting Williamstown as
frequently.
Summer is the time for weddings. My oldest, Kelly,
was married here in Boulder in August. Bill Schulze
and his wife Pat came out from Salt Lake for the ceremony. Tom Balderston ’79 and Betsy Balderston’s
’79 son Caleb Balderston ’10 married Rachel Levy
’09, daughter of Rich Levy ’75. In addition to that
group, and Rachel’s brother, Michael Levy ’12, in
attendance from our era were Tom Lee ’73 and Mary
McTernan ’76, and Mario Chiappetti and Lydia
Chiappetti, Bill Whelan and Nat, Tom Kondel and
Donna, Leigh Costikyan Wood ’79 and her partner
Jeff, along with numerous other, younger Ephs.
Summer also brings a chance to explore more
northern climes. Kate Lombardi and her husband
took a hiking trip to Denali National Park. The book
she is currently working on has changed course and
is now a nonfiction work on affordable housing. She
sees freshman roommate Sally Fri frequently, and, to
set the record straight, Kate wrote, “It was Sally, not
me, who mowed down the iguana with the rental car
on our last trip together! I’m still looking for photos
and evidence.”
Checking in from Portland, Ore., Peter Green is
working at the Catlin Gabel School and has run its
outdoor program for the last 10 years. Prior to that,
he was doing environmental policy work for the state
of Oregon. He and his wife try to travel and do as
much mountain climbing as possible while they are
able. We’re all racing the clock.
Liza Waters and Amy Sterling Bratt once again
did the Jimmy Fund Walk to raise money for cancer
research, completing the 26.2 miles on the Boston
Marathon course.
Liza is getting used to her 50 percent status at Pike
School. She is finding new things to keep her busy,
like volunteering, but is enjoying not having to grade
homework every night.
I’ll put my update here so I can close out with
a great note. Walking, running and hiking slowly
vanished from my life over the summer. My gyroscope has fled, so if you see it, please send to Boulder.
Cancer is under control, just pesky side effects of
brain radiation. But I have a list a mile long of other
things to do and learn. Maybe by next class notes I
will have figured out how to dictate so I can skip the
hunt and peck of my right index finger.
After a group of us got together for a weekend in
Falmouth, Liza wrote, “While there, Mary Donahue
pointed out to me that our Am Civ major was all
about making connections and looking for common
themes. I had one of those ah-ha moments when I
thought about how important connections between
people are to me. Did I learn that at Williams? Or is
that who I am? I am so thankful for our shared experience and that we were fortunate enough to have
been selected for the Class of ’78! We have an amazing group of classmates, each of whom has impressive stories to tell. What a special slice of humanity
we are! The face-to-face conversations get below
the happy, superficial pictures of Facebook, etc. We
all have had hardships to overcome, and each hurdle makes us that much more interesting and real.
Sharing with each other helps gives us many shoulders to help us carry those burdens and thus make
them lighter.”
I couldn’t have written it better. —Hugs, Maggie
1979
Barbara H. Sanders, 3 Stratford Road, White Plains, NY
January has different meanings to different people,
at different times in their lifetime, no less. Whether
you live in Southern California or Northern Maine,
near the Arctic Circle or the Tropic of Capricorn
(I don’t think we’ve had anyone near the Antarctic
Circle, at least not recently!), or New York versus Hong Kong, for that matter—wherever you are,
there is certainly something happening in life that
you may be passionate about and that others will find
interesting.
Lindsay Anderson writes, “We have a small community of Ephs here in Seattle. I am an associate
with ArtsFund, raising funds in support of performing arts, fine arts and literary arts. It is very rewarding
work because there is a mission to help heal people
through performance and fine arts. This is a strong
cause that supports young performers. I attended
our closing event with Marshall Partington ’77
and Michael Golden. Our twins, Olivia and Trevor
Partington, are back home in Seattle after Tufts and
BU. Trevor is a civil engineering major at UW, and
Olivia manages Soul Fitness in Seattle while continuing health sciences at Seattle Central. I keep in
touch with Dana Gaines, who never ceases to amaze.”
Tad Seder and Peter Davidson were on a 12person team that won its division in the Cascade
Lakes relay—a 216-mile jaunt from Crater Lake to
Bend, Ore. “It seemed like an excellent idea when we
signed up. But only 186 of 300 teams finished due
to the heat, altitude, dusty trails, etc. At one point, a
runner who joined at the last minute looked at the
heat (all 114 degrees of it!) shimmering off the parking lot. He said, ‘This reminds me of the scene from
Godfather 2 where Michael wants to join the Army
as WWII started. Sonny said, “What are you, stupid?
Did you go to college to get stupid?”’ He wondered if
getting talked into this foolishness was analogous. Oh
by the way, we signed up again for next year. I think
Einstein’s definition of insanity may apply.” Tad has
also been in touch with Howard Goodfriend.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
59
CLASS NOTES
Fabienne Marsh caught up with Karen Ashby
in San Francisco. “Back east, my daughter Juliette
transferred to Sarah Lawrence College, where she is
studying studio art and literature.” Fabienne is asking all of her beloved Williams New Yorkers to be
“on call” for mom, given how close Bronxville is to
NYC. Her son Paul is back in California, studying
for a master’s in computer science, and she’s thrilled
to have him closer to home.
Marti Ikehara spent three weeks in the state of
Sabah, on the island of Borneo, Malaysia, on a birdwatching nature tour. “I’m partial to the colorful
birds like kingfishers, sunbirds and trogons. We have
been seeing a lot of orangutans in the jungle. We saw
nine—a lot, as they live solitarily, not communally. I
had a four-day scuba trip on the island of Mabul, off
the eastern coast, diving at world-famous Sipadan.”
Continuing her work with the board of the
National Endowment for the Arts, Barbara Ernst
Prey’s responsibilities include voting on grants for
the Arts in America. “I was honored to take part of
the National Endowment for the Arts’ 50th anniversary celebration at the White House. My paintings are on exhibit around the world. I’ve been on the
cover of a number of magazines this past year and
in the Wall Street Journal. I look forward to seeing
Mitchell Reiss, who is the president of the Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation, where I serve on the
Colonial Williamsburg Museum board. Not surprisingly, he is doing a great job there. I have been
in touch with Franny Stewart and Elisabeth Keller
and recently gave a talk for Williams at the Sargent
exhibit at the Met. It was a treat to see some classmates. I have a home and studio in Williamstown,
so I run into Laurie Thomsen and Peter Thomsen,
Henry Lee and Kirsten Johanson. I enjoyed my visits
with Tam Murray and Lauren Ingersoll Murray ’80
(a grade-school friend), watching their son and my
nephew play lacrosse at Middlebury.”
And last but not least, the annual Tri-State
Dinner in NYC was a great success! There’s nothing like the energy, sights and excitement of midtown Manhattan. We had 23 people, including
spouses, partners, dates—you name it. As always,
there was great food, ambiance, conversation and, of
course, people. Attendees included Al Blakey, Chris
DiAngelo, Elizabeth Emmons, Dorea Ferris, Patti
Hart, Carol Kostik, Eric Kuzmuk, Stew Menking, Dan
Powell, Kate Wheeler Rock, Jonathan Sanoff, Mimi
Dore Scully, Dan Belshe Thayer, Andy Masetti, Chris
Broda and Miriam David. If you haven’t come in the
past, we hope that you can join us. In the meantime,
please collect, write (and send!) your reflections. We
look forward to reading about you in the next issue.
1980
Steven B. Rebarber, 6410 Dahlonega Road, Bethesda, MD
20816; Daniel P. Towle, 87 State St., PO Box 233,
Montpelier, VT 05601; Carrie Brown Wick, 158 Rainbow
Drive #5804, Livingston, TX 77399;
Submitted by Daniel Towle: Put your hands together
for the extraordinary time and effort Laura Pitts
Smith dedicated as our secretary for the last five years.
In June, I left the corporate world after 35 years
based in Hartford, Conn., to move to Montpelier, Vt.
60
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
With children launched and responsibility for only
myself, I simplified my life to move to the North
Country. Here in the Green Mountains I know at
last I am home, a ‘Vermontuh.’ Among my closest
friends from Williams are a group of eight guys from
Gladden House (aka Hamlow’s). Our group owes a
big debt of gratitude to Jay Skerry, who remembers
and sends out congratulatory, witty emails for every
birthday and anniversary of the other seven members. Jay runs a corporate law practice in the suburbs
of Boston and has been seen on the links with Steve
Yavner and Tim Langella. Steve recently left Fairfield
University to be an assistant professor at Central
Connecticut State University. Dave Srere is “reporting in from Summit, N.J., where, as a newly single
man, I taxi my kids around, try to ask them good
questions and try even harder not to think about the
fact that my 16-year-old daughter now has a boyfriend!” Andy Clark took a road trip with some of
Hamlow’s when he journeyed from DC to Virginia
Beach with Jay Skerry and Mike Walker to attend
the wedding of Karl von Allmen, son of Daniel von
Allmen, who was promoted to surgeon-in-chief at
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. This gathering was
also a celebration of Dan’s 35th wedding anniversary. “Suffice to say, we were all grayer, fatter, balder,
a lot more sober and somewhat better behaved this
time around.” Dan von Allmen wrote that, in addition to his younger son’s wedding, his older son “is
a second-year ENT resident at the University of
Cincinnati, which gives us ready access to our 2-yearold grandchild. Emily continues with volunteer work,
most notably Prokids, an advocacy group for foster children.” Tim Langella wrote that he and his
wife Kolleen Rask ’82 visited their youngest daughter, Stephanie, in Australia, where she was studying in Brisbane, and in St. Louis, where she is a
senior at Washington University. They also traveled
to see their oldest daughter, Shannon, who works
in Columbus, Ohio. Tim left the attorney general’s
office last year. He is officially semi-retired and slowly
easing into becoming a part-time mediator and arbitrator (www.LangellaADR.com) while playing a lot
of golf, including a hole-in-one. Stu Coulter is living
in Hanover, N.H., running his specialty boot business and making frequent trips to China. He and his
lovely bride hosted me in May when I was looking
for housing and work in Vermont.
Toni Ceckler lives near me in Montpelier and
teaches chemistry at Montpelier High School. Her
students tell me she is a demanding but fair teacher.
I spent time with her over the summer, including
attending the circus with her adopted twin 9-yearolds (whirling dervishes) and her husband Dave.
I was pleased to discover that Mike Hill has a
second home near me. He is practicing law in
DC and Vermont. Andrea Colnes lives in nearby
East Montpelier, “working to transition Vermont
to renewable energy through my role as executive director of the Energy Action Network. Jesse
is a freshman in high school and loving the whole
XC running scene.” She saw Marlies Carruth and
her husband Paul Strauss ’78 when they visited
Burlington over the summer.
Betty Keller reported that she was “blessed that I
was able to stay at home when one child was having challenges, but now all three are off living
1979– 80
independently, and I am looking at how best to use
my knowledge and skills moving forward.” As for the
children, Peter is a teaching fellow with Americorps
in Oakland, Calif. With his UVM computer science
degree, Sam is throwing pizzas to stay in Burlington.
Sarah was in NYC for the fall semester and Florence
for the spring semester, studying in one of the top
fashion design programs at Kent State University.
Nancy Van Duyne was very sad to miss reunion,
but her daughter Katie had just graduated from high
school (Maret in DC), and two years earlier she had
committed to a week in Italy in Tuscany. Katie started
at Wellesley College in the fall and loves being in
the Boston area. Nancy is still working for United
Airlines in DC and rebuilding a family home at the
Jersey Shore, where she visited with Sarah Mollman
Underhill in the fall.
Rebecca Smith’s son David Oakley ’11 spent the
summer in New Zealand doing geoscience research.
She and her husband Bernie Oakley enjoyed the 35th
class reunion very much and celebrated their 35th
wedding anniversary in August.
Maggie Crane Mumford long ago switched from a
busy obstetric practice to teach life sciences courses
and act as sustainability coordinator at Holderness
School. Both children are grown. “One has done the
Wall Street gig for a few years and is now working
for a communications company. Another is a junior
at Bowdoin but exploring New Zealand on a semester abroad. Our 13-year-old daughter is into way too
many sports, but we are enjoying postponing emptynest syndrome.”
Gus Nuzzolese celebrated the engagement of two
of his three daughters within two weeks after the
gentlemen asked for their future father-in-law’s
blessing. Tom Keller and his wife Diane hosted Mike
Curran and his wife Lucy, Terry and Renzie Lamb
and Gus and his wife on their sensational Martha’s
Vineyard estate. Gus is still relishing the 35th with
glorious memories from celebrating with Mike
Curran, John McGovern, Steve Leous, Ron Hayden
and birthday girl Sarah Mollman Underhill.
Lesley (Wang) Milovich has experienced some
great highs and profound lows. Having a wonderful 26-year career at Wells Fargo Bank has been one
of her great achievements. Going through a painful
divorce was one of those lows. However, seven years
later, she married a wonderful fellow and hopes the
hard lessons learned in life will keep her marriage
strong for the years to come. She recounts that “one
of her daughters has had challenges, and so she did
not get a high school diploma, and she needs support
as a disabled adult with her work. That said, she has
accomplished the three things I wanted for her—to
be happy with herself, to be independent, to love and
be loved. So as far as I’m concerned, she has achieved
far more than many others, and I am incredibly
proud of her.”
Ed Bousa proudly announced that his daughter
Marina Bousa ’13 married Patrick Morrissey ’12 on
Aug. 29, 2015. Guests at the wedding included John
McDowell and Julie and Chip Oudin. They were married at their home in Nantucket.
Sue Leary Sipprelle and Dwight Sipprelle
reported that their oldest daughter, Cara Sipprelle
’11, works as the digital and social media manager
at Success Academy Charter Schools, an incredibly
high-performing network of schools that serve predominately disadvantaged students. This year she
also ran in the NYC Marathon on behalf of Success
Academy along with 20 other runners.
Kathy Kelliher had a quiet summer in London
cycling along canals and the Thames. Her daughter Letticia finished her nursing degree at City
University London and is starting work at London’s
largest hospital, the Royal London. Her son Spencer
returned from his time in Colorado as a ski lift operator to start at Kings College, University of London.
Vanessa (McCoy) Clark said, “I am settling quite
nicely into my empty nest, watching my kids navigate
adulthood. My grandson has taken up karate, to my
amusement and delight. I am grateful and humbled
every day.”
Trudie Larrabee said the fine-art portrait photography of her husband Ben Larrabee took them to
Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Freeport, Maine,
this summer. While she and Ben were on Martha’s
Vineyard for a photo shoot, they were royally hosted
by Tom Keller and his wife Diane. Tom is in his
fourth year coaching football and lacrosse at MV
Regional High School. In June Trudie completed
her first open-water swim race in the one-mile New
Amsterdam City Swim in the Hudson River to raise
money for ALS.
Jennifer MacIntyre reported that she met up
in Williamstown with Lisa Marder, Barb Lyons
Pickel and Barb’s daughter Laura Pickel ’11,
who is also Jennifer’s goddaughter, to see the
van Gogh exhibit at the Clark and visit MASS
MoCA. Meanwhile, Jennifer attended a gala July 4
party at Scott Blair’s place in Hingham; Lisa, who
lives in Cohassett, was there too.
Steve Rebarber reports he met up with Joe
Carrese, MD. Joe, a professor of medicine at the
Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, has
been cited as an expert in medical ethics and was
invited to speak on Dave Marash’s ’64 Sante Fe public radio show. Mike Mahana is doing a master’s in
anthropology at Hunter College and plans to earn
a PhD studying the Greek gods as a model of consciousness, about which he has written several books.
Marco Remic, our talented conceptual sculptor, had
an exhibit from September to January at the Museo
de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico. From the RaleighDurham area, Susie Laidlaw reports that she moved
from Duke/The Fuqua School of Business to Fidelity
Charitable to work with donors to plan and execute their philanthropic giving. During her travels,
she ran into Lee Shackelford at the Dallas airport
as they were headed home. Lisa Lyne Tucker sent a
quick note that she was “beyond swamped,” in large
part due to her “four beautiful kids.” Libby Hohmann
reported, “It has been a very rough year for me. My
husband of 30 years died of aggressive prostate cancer
at home in June. It is hard being solo again; reconnecting with some old classmates, including Julia
Talcott, who lives within walking distance. Seize the
day and do not put off things that are important to
you, because life is short!” She also had a bad bike
accident in August but is recuperating. She is hosting
Jeff Graham for the Head of the Charles, where he
rowed in the old guys’ singles. Sonia Weil relayed an incredible story. Her son,
who is getting his MBA at the IE in Madrid, fell
J A N UA RY 2016
l
61
CLASS NOTES
23 feet through glass to a garage floor and is alive!
Among other injuries, he broke his shoulder and
a couple of teeth but is not paralyzed. “Let’s give
thanks for being alive, and let’s not take everything
for granted.”
Carrie Wick weighed in saying that after 16
years living and raising their three kids on the San
Francisco peninsula, she and her husband Bill moved
east after years of telecommuting. They spent the
summer traversing the U.S., then looking for a beach
home near Charleston, S.C. They enjoyed getting
together with Joe and Jane Ingalls Clabby for dinner
in Charleston.
Carol Newcomb relocated to San Diego (from
Chicago) in April and was busy over the summer
getting acquainted with this glorious city. She commented that she never married nor had kids, so it’s
amazing to hear about classmates with kids already
out of college. She is traveling and working as a
data management consultant with SAS. “But it hasn’t
been without its ups and downs, career transitions
and dry spells. Would love to connect with other
Ephs in the San Diego/LA areas!”
Congratulations to Will Ballew for his first-time
contribution. He keeps in close touch with Brooks
Tanner, Michael Battey, Mark Lanier and Mark
Schmidt. From the flatlands of Texas to the mountains of western Montana he has taken up triathlons
this year and continues to trail run, mountain bike,
road bike, fly fish and camp. He has a son studying
business at the University of Montana who “busted
his butt this summer fighting fires for the Forest
Service.” His daughter is a sophomore at Whitman
College in Walla Walla, Wash. She is active in an
a cappella group, sorority and tennis.
Mark Schmidt tells us that he is comfortably
engaged in his new career as the CFO of Salisbury
School in Salisbury, Conn. In May he and his wife
Maria looked around at their empty nest in Riverside,
Conn., and decided to make a big change. His oldest son is taking the fall semester away from Williams
by attending university in Brazil, while his younger
son is taking a semester away from his high school
to work in Maine on an organic farm and attend an
intensive environmental studies program.
Nancy Lane reported from Istanbul after traveling through Sultanahmet, across to the Asian side
and back. Her oldest son graduated from Occidental
College and is studying for graduate exams and
working. Her younger son is at community college
working through the challenges of self-motivation,
college-level production and quality. She’s in her seventh year at Scientific Learning, a software company
in Oakland whose products help kids who struggle
with reading.
Vivian Dorsel continues to publish upstreet (the
12th edition will come out in late June 2016), an
award-winning annual literary anthology. In early
November she was scheduled to host a reading of
four Pioneer Valley poets whose work has been published in upstreet. In mid-November she was heading
south to Charlotte, N.C., where she would be near
her son Mike Dorsel ’90, his wife Margot and grandsons Evan and Andy. Anne Islan sent a note that she attended a book
reading held by Kate Gray ’82 for her compelling
novel about bullying, Carry the Sky.
62
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Conrad Liles sent in an incredible story. He was
in Switzerland for a ski tour of the Bernina Alps on
the Swiss-Italian border when he “accidentally skied
over a cliff. I essentially died (literally) but miraculously was saved by the efforts of my friends, family,
the Swiss helicopter rescue,” the hospital and surgeons. He had more than 20 fractures and major
internal bleeding. After over four months of hospitalization, he returned to work full time at the
University of Washington, where he is associate chair
of the department of medicine, among other prominent roles. Doctors expect him to return to a near
pre-accident functional status. After our reunion Julie
Kosarin visited her father on the Ligurian Coast of
Italy, Stonehenge in the UK and the Georgian city
of Bath. It was a very busy autumn, as her son started
high school and joined both the high school band
and its marching band.
Thomas Stone sent word of meeting his Williams
buddies Pete May ’79 and Donald Tarinelli ’79
atop an Adirondack peak. Thomas initially started
Williams with them in the Class of ’79, but his
passion for skiing led him to take a year off in
Steamboat, Colo., where he now lives with wife
Robin and two kids, Christopher and Annabelle.
1981
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Alexis Belash, 1466 Canton Ave., Milton, MA 02186;
A hardy crew from ’81 met up at the Pub on a
beautiful September weekend. We were there to get
trained and discuss our reunion. Current thinking is
that since our HQ is at Tyler House, we would do
our Friday gatherings there. We are working on getting one of our local classmates to help host a cocktail party Thursday night for early arrivals. For our
Saturday evening dinner and festivities, we have
reserved Lasell gym, as it is large enough for us, central enough for everyone regardless of where you are
staying and weatherproof. We are hoping that The
Doctors might play for us. You will receive the actual
reunion information and registration around the
middle of March.
Attending the weekend were John MacCammond,
Shawn Burdick, Erika Jorgensen, David Kaplan, Pam
Hansen Platt, Kathy Shanahan, Nevill Smythe and
yours truly. One of our first official acts was to elect
Erika, Nevill and John as reunion chairs.
Talking about the reunion, we came up with a few
possible themes: “Make new connections” and “Meet
your classmates again for the first time!”
The reunion committee members all feel that keeping the reunion both informal and non-competitive
is important. We want to maximize participation and
minimize those things that may have kept classmates
away in the past. Hopefully this may help more of
our classmates opt to attend. Think of all the roommates you had in college—do you know where they
are or what they are doing? How about reaching out
and inviting one or two of them back to campus?
Did you know that Williams ranks second only to
Princeton for alumni reunion participation?
Our president, John McCammond, adds: “We
hope the reunion will be an event everyone wants
to attend; we are working to be as inclusive and
affordable as possible and would love to have the
1980-81
participation of all groups in the planning process
from the Math Club to LGBTQ to the Moo Cow
Marching Band.”
By the way, the newly and beautifully renovated
Log will be open for the reunion—they even saved
the old graffiti.
While in the Pub we also ran into Mark Lemos,
who was up visiting his son, who is a freshman
lacrosse player. Mark lives in Rye, N.H., and commutes to the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass.,
where he has an orthopedic surgery practice. Mark
was having a drink with David Dewey ’82, senior
development officer and director of special and capital projects.
As I write this, Dr. Erika Jorgenen is still working
at the World Bank as an economic adviser in the
Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management Global
Practice, where she focuses on the economics of
green growth and climate action. She recently led a
major program of analytic work and technical assistance on green growth for FYR Macedonia. Erika
is the lead author of a low-carbon growth country study for Poland. She is currently leading analytics for the Romanian government on climate
change and low carbon green growth. Over the past
20 years at the bank, she has worked as a macroeconomist in Europe, East Asia and Latin America.
(Secretary’s note: I have to admit I got his from the
Internet, not from her.)
V-Nee Yeh, succinct as ever: “Unfortunately am
going for double knee-replacement surgery early
October. Hope to be bionic. Our ’70s Steve Austin
makeover.”
Marc Tayer, busy as ever: “By the time these notes
are published, I will have published my nonfiction
book Televisionaries. It’s about the digital TV revolution and how it changed the media business, an
area I’ve been immersed in for the last quarter century. Liberal arts/MBA meets the tech world. Or, as
Mark Twain said: ‘Truth is stranger than fiction, but
it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities;
truth isn’t.’”
Ted Allen reports: “I had the unique opportunity this past summer to spend a couple weeks in
Williamstown working, of all places, in the freshman quad. A native Williamstownian I had mentored during my eight-year post-graduate stay in the
Purple Valley invited me to participate in revamping all the walkways that intersect in the quad. As
we removed and replaced this veritable nexus of herd
paths created over many decades of Ephs’ stepping
out to find their own unique path, I had many flashbacks to those freshman days nearly 40 years prior!
Truly an opportunity to put the Williams experience
into a new perspective!”
Come back to reunion and see his work (along with
a lot of new buildings)!
Steve Jenks says that he has “not much to report, as
Lisa and I have been submersed in grandparenthood.
Daughter Sarah Jenks Brajtbord ’07 and husband
Jonathan Brajtbord ’06 had our second grandchild in
late August: Annabelle Sarah Brajtbord. Everyone is
healthy and happy.”
Kyle Doherty Hodgkins “had a great visit with Julia
Fiske and her husband, Jim Parker, who were in town
for a wedding. The time flew by, but it was a treat
to catch up in person. I also experienced a bit of a
Williams arts trifecta not too long ago: In the same
weekend I saw John Morris Russell ’82 conduct the
Cincinnati Pops performing a semi-staged production of The Music Man, directed by Blake Robison ’88
(it was fabulous). Blake’s the artistic director of the
Cincinnati Playhouse in the park, and I know that
he and JMR had a great time collaborating. Then we
went to the Playhouse to see the production of Vanya
and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and I kept thinking, jeez, the guy playing Vanya looks so familiar—
and realized it was John Feltch ’80. So the insidious
Williams art mafia continues to dominate, even here
in the Midwest.”
My old entrymate and floormate Phil Darrow
submits: “I am happy to report that, having resettled in LA over a year ago for the rekindling of the
housing business, we have had the chance to rekindle (or establish for the first time, as the case may
be) good friendships in the no-longer-very-brown
haze with Jim Suhr, Lee Wahl, Laurene Von Klan
and Troy Elander and Diane Elander. A reminder
to me that the best thing about our alma mater was
and is the people.”
Jula Sampson reports: “Two years ago I took a beekeeping class at the urging of my husband. Loved it!
I have four hives and hope they make it through this
winter. Wondering if there is anyone else in class who
has taking up beekeeping? I would enjoy chatting
bees with them. My husband Paul is carving wooden
oyster platters for Oyster River Joinery, our new company. I am making the finish for them from beeswax
and mineral oil. It is very nice to have a side business
not related to construction, and we both enjoy working with our hands.” Bill Haylon, Dave Law and Bill Keville attended
the dedication of the new Nativity School of
Worcester gym in honor of Coach James Briggs ’60,
the longtime baseball coach at Williams College and
supporter of the school. More than 70 former players,
friends and family of Coach Briggs funded the renovation of the space. Among the Ephs in attendance
were Joe Flaherty ’80, Dorothy Brill Briggs ’82, Steve
Doherty ’82, Jack McGonagle ’82, Lew Collins ’88
and Sean Logan ’88.
Pete Didisheim says, “Maine is still ‘the way life
should be,’ as the billboard at the New Hampshire
border declares. Still enjoying my job as the advocacy director at the Natural Resources Council of
Maine, where I’ve been for 19 years. Great organization with huge influence on environmental
policy. Outside of work, we had a wonderful summer of kayaking and exploring new places. Lots
of people come to visit Maine, mostly in the summer, which is nice. Jim Levinsohn and Kirsten
Levinsohn stopped by to visit with Leslie and me.
… Our older son is living in Salt Lake City, working with teens who are struggling to get back on
a positive track. Our younger son was in Santiago,
Chile, for six months last year (we visited him
there, of course) and is back in Boston after a summer as a whitewater rafting guide in Jackson, Wyo.
He just started a job at Reebok HQ in Canton,
Mass. My big accomplishment of the summer was
completing the Mount Washington Road Race,
which I hadn’t done in eight years. The motto for
that run: ‘Just one hill.’ It just happens to be a
pretty big hill.”
J A N UA RY 2016
l
63
CLASS NOTES
Charlie Lafave reports he and Michael Hulver met
for the first time, 34 years after graduation. Turns out,
they never crossed paths in college, live 7,000 miles
apart today but enjoyed breakfast together one fine
morning in the fall in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. After
three hours, they’re still confused how they never met.
If you want to follow Charlie’s budding career as an
artist, check out his Facebook page.
Ann Brown is moving: “My daughter Anna and
I had a busy but productive summer. After years
of too much upkeep, we our sold our house in DC
Yay! Immediately afterward we collapsed for a
month in Nonquitt, Mass. Got to see some of Anne
Ricketson Avis and Greg Avis, who live nearby. Then
we visited Martin Kohout at a house he’d rented in
Williamstown. The extraordinary Joe Thompson
generously treated us all to a fantastic, lengthy tour
of MASS MoCA. How cool is that place?! Now we
are settling into our new, funky home, located at 43
West 43rd St., in NYC. Lovely, quiet neighborhood
with awesome food options. Still trying to wedge a
fraction of our belongings into this little apt., but it
has a dreamy terrace, like a tree house. Feeling blessed
and happy to be back here. Anna is loving being in
the sixth grade at St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s school,
up near Columbia. I hope to do substitute teaching around town at least until I can get my LCSW
license moved to NY. Am excited that Betsy Clark
Robertson’s family will soon be moving into the city,
too, directly across the park from us.”
Over the summer Nantucket could have been a
rich source for the notes. However, along with my
annual missing of the Smythe family, I was able to
overlap with, talk to but ultimately miss Patrick Diaz
and his family, and I almost missed Sarah Foster,
who was sitting directly in front of me on Jetty’s
Beach. Fortunately we spotted each other and our
mutual families, and Sarah was kind enough to follow up with some more information: “Readers may
want to know that I spotted you initially by your distinctive hat, which I recognized from your Facebook
page! We now have both kids out of college, a major
milestone. We are thrilled they have jobs and hope
they enjoy and learn from these first forays into fulltime employment. So far, so good. The DC area continues to be a nice place to live, after more than 30
years here, although many other parts of the U.S. (and
world) are increasingly appealing—for their proximity to wilderness areas, slower pace of life, less politically obsessed environment (and more bike paths)! I
do not see many DC-based Williams classmates as
much as I’d like but really look forward to getting in
touch at reunion.” I did join Nevill Smythe and Karen to finally watch
a Major League Quidditch (MLQ) match between
the Boston Night Riders and New York Titans to
determine overall seeding for the national tournament. Although Ryan Smythe was not playing, his
Boston team beat the NYC team in all three games
to complete a 13-0 undefeated season. They rode
this momentum all the way to Toledo, where they
again beat New York in the final, 120-90. You can
check out the official broom providers on the MLQ
Facebook page. We all went out for a massive sushi
dinner afterward.
A few weeks later I had a delightful dinner with
Ryan and Amelia Nierenberg (daughter of Val
64
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Colville). They were comparing notes on their college
experiences and grilling me on their parents’ college
experiences. Luckily no alcohol was involved. A few
days later Ryan moved to California for his final
semester on Emerson’s LA campus.
Speaking of Val: “Valerie Nierenberg and Rick
Nierenberg enjoyed having dear friends Beth Anne
Flynn, Pam Hansen Platt and Clayton Platt, Kathy
Shanahan and Karen and Nevill Smythe join the fray
to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. In addition to laughing and talking and generally catching up, we were
treated to spouses singing Simon and Garfunkel
tunes. While the five of us Williams folks hummed
along, Clayton played piano, his Princeton classmate
and Valerie’s pal Kathy Miller sang, and they were
joined by crooners Karen, Rick and our daughter
Amelia (Yale ’18). A good time was had by all! In addition to spending some time on Nantucket
over the summer, I took the twins to London for a
few days, then we revisited Malaysia for three weeks.
I dropped the girls off for a week to work in the
jungle with the Orang Asli (“original people”) while I
bussed across the country then ferried out to Tioman
Island for a week of scuba diving. It was my first
vacation alone in more than 25 years—different and
relaxing, and great diving.
Our second and third weeks were spent catching
up with old friends, playing soccer with old teammates and coaches and re-living some of the things
we enjoyed about Malaysia. On the way home I
left the girls for five days to explore Dubai and Abu
Dhabi with some local hosts.
Back in the States, Isabel went off to soccer
camp at Williams, while Ali traveled to Western
Massachusetts for a week of cross-country camp. The
camps proved worthwhile. Isabel’s team qualified for
the playoffs, and she has totaled four shutouts, while
Ali’s cross-country team was 10-1 heading into the
championships and then regionals. Ali was the top
senior runner on the team in her first season.
Now I am figuring out how to be single and helping my twins with their final year of high school and
their transition to college.
Mark your calendars now for June 16-19. See you
then.
1982
William K. Layman, 8507 Garfield St., Bethesda, MD
The fire snapped and licked the air near the camp,
its smoke drifting up in waves. We had a good view
of the moon that night, even if the clouds sometimes drifted past like the gauzy fabric of a nightgown. The smoke didn’t sting our eyes, but it floated
up into the night, making the starts look like dancing
balls of cotton. We were travelers together, just for the
night, perhaps. But our pasts were intersecting lines,
swerved together again for the night.
“Where are you headed next?” I asked wiry Joe
Alfano, whose skills we had all come to appreciate. “I’m off to Japan in a week to teach emergency medicine through Osaka University for the month of
November,” he said. Joe smiled and handed me a
half-eaten can of beans. “I did it in March and had a
great experience. Since then I’ve refined my ‘presentation zen,’” Joe said, cocked his head to the side and
1981– 82
found a grin in the air. “More Simpsons cartoons and
occasional music. Anaphylaxis is hard to identify, and
I open my lecture with Whitney singing, ‘How will
I know? How will I kno-ow-owww?’” Off in the distance a coyote howled in accompaniment.
“Of course,” Joe continued, “the trail has been
long getting here tonight.” He’d rowed down from
the mysterious “Head of the Charles, the largest twoday rowing race in the world, including Williams
crew and my teammates from Minneapolis Rowing
Club and 612endurance racing.” Joe waxed eloquent
about training, not on the mighty Mississippi but on
Lake Nokomis, “where a loon visits briefly each
spring and a bald eagle pair are permanent residents
who fish while we train.” Joe finished the race in the
middle of the pack of old men single scullers, rowing
on a frigid fall day in a very stiff headwind, not favorable to lightweights like him. “I mostly row because
it makes me feel good and keeps me off the streets at
night,” Joe scoffed, though rowing hadn’t kept him
from visiting us in Bethesda, Md., that same summer,
getting together with the old Harlem gang in a latenight club to visit Howard Shapiro, Will Layman,
Lorraine Driscoll, Jeff Hedlund, Amy Apperson ’80,
Alyson Hagy and Charlie DeWolf while listening
to my band, Better Off Dead, search for the blues
against a similar night sky.
“Very picturesque,” said Sean Bayliss as he
sketched with a twig in the dirt around our campfire. But Sean’s path was, quite literally, more artistic. “I have been fortunate lately to show my work
in upstate New York. Had a solo show in May with
Joyce Goldstein in Chatham, and I then had work
in a group show at the Dorsky Museum on the
SUNY New Paltz campus through Nov. 8.” The figure that started as a simple outline in the ground
had grown into a detailed, textured depiction of
Alfano’s most prominent feature: An unassailable
profile of dignity, yet hysteria. How had Sean done
this with a mere stick? “Of course, when I’m not
creating, I’m teaching art and AP art history in public high school and spending time with my wife
and 9-year-old son, which quite often consists of
running around the yard until I injure myself.” At
which point Joe stomped across his own likeness to
grab more wood for the fire.
We had all been surprised to see Matthew
Simon in these woods. We all recalled that he’d
been bedridden with chronic fatigue syndrome
from 1988 to 2003. But since then? Matt positively glowed like our fire as he recounted getting
“involved with some startups for a few years before
finding my way back to real estate. I’m now developing real estate on the obscure island of Eleuthera
in the Bahamas while living in Fort Myers,
Fla.” Married for 10 years to Oksana Bagdasarova
and dad to 4-year-old Andre—not to mention playing “many hours of pickleball every week” seemed
to suit Matt. Why would Matt travel all the way
from sunny Florida to join this vagabond’s conversation? “Hey, I was in Amherst, where I grew up,
a couple of months ago at a family reunion, and I
was telling the assembled relatives tales of exploring
the network of steam tunnels beneath the Williams
campus, which was an experience right out of the
Poseidon adventure. Does anyone do that anymore?”
We shook our heads, unsure of the answer. Did such
adventures still capture the imagination of college
kids raised on Xbox and Snapchat?
Chris Smythe had no idea, but, as he poked
a glistening sausage into the fire for cooking,
he glanced competitively at Simon. He’d also
been developing real estate. In the Bahamas?
No: “In Cleveland, AKA ‘The Paris of the
Midwest,’” he said. “Lots going on with LeBron’s
return and the RNC Convention next summer.”
Chris had just broken ground on “a large historic
rehab/adaptive reuse of an old brewery and Odd
Fellows Hall into 83 loft apartments. It’s been a
wild ride dealing with HUD, our tax credit investor, the National Trust for Historic Preservation
and these millennial renters. Even stranger to wake
up to a full-page article in the September issue
of Vanity Fair about our neighborhood. This ain’t
Brooklyn, N.Y., mind you.” We all agreed that neither Cleveland nor our pine-surrounded camp was
anything like Brooklyn, as well as agreeing that old
breweries, perhaps, should have remained breweries rather than turning into lofts. We were thirsty.
Eric Pilger knew about water. And also about long
voyages. “I recently lost five years of blood, sweat and
tears at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean,” he told
us. Pinger hinted that he lived in a clime even more
splendiferous than the Sunshine State. “My youngest son,” he said, “found himself a bride, removing my preeminence as the only married male in the
family. The plan is to ensconce the married couple
in some reasonable facsimile of a dwelling on our
recently purchased three acres of Big Island, Hawaii,
land, where he will then devote himself to his loves
of musical composition and sustainable sylvaculture.”
We had no idea what “sylvaculture” was, but we sure
did want to know how Eric had lost all that hard
work in the bottom of the ocean. “I was responsible
for the software on the primary payload, Hiakasat,
for an ill-fated launch of a Super Strypi rocket from
Kauai, Hawaii. Having worked on this project over
the last seven years, it was a truly moving to see it lift
into the sky on Nov. 3. It was truly disappointing to
learn that the second stage had never fired, and that
our spacecraft was now resting on the bottom of the
ocean somewhere south of the Big Island.” Eric suddenly reached out, grabbed Smythe’s
weiner off his stick and, NASA-like, launched it into
the air over our campfire. Happily, rather than landing in the Pacific, it shot directly into my mouth.
Yum. “Also,” he said, “my middle daughter Marissa
Pilger ’11 found herself a graduate program in
psychology that will pay her way through school.”
My assessment: Tasty. The sausage, that is.
Better than mere dining was the tale told by Kendra
Kerr Olvany about her founding in 2012 with her sister Katie of The Licorice Project, a community for
breast cancer patients, survivors and their families and
friends. The project addresses the practical, social and
emotional aspects of having breast cancer and strives
to complement what the medical community and
other cancer organizations are doing. “I love knowing that I am building a community and helping to
make a difference,” Kendra said. “Our initial goal
was to help make sense of all of the information that
you are flooded with following a breast cancer diagnosis (or really any kind of diagnosis). But the more
we interviewed patients and survivors, the more we
J A N UA RY 2016
l
65
CLASS NOTES
discovered that there was a great need for people
to connect with others who had ‘been there, done
that’ and could help manage expectations.” Kendra
looked like she did not belong around our campfire,
frankly, what with all the good she was doing. It was
good to have her.
We were also mighty impressed that Gweneth
Howard Mahoney had published a book, Two
Blossoms on a Single Stem: A Story of Immigration
and Sisterhood, a fictional account of two Irish girls
who came to the U.S. without their parents. Bob
Howard ’53 told us the tale while he brewed some
campfire coffee and passed it around to help warm us
up. Thanks, Bob, we thought.
“A toast, then,” said Jay Hellmuth, raising his tin
cup of coffee in the flame-lit air. “To what?” we all
inquired in unison. Fifty-fifth birthday, suggested Jay.
He had recently gathered in Scottsdale for a weekend
“courtesy of Chuck Warshaver.” “We all celebrated our 55th birthdays,” Jay
explained—himself, Chuck, Hugh Oxnard, Chuck
Warshaver, Marc Sopher ’83, Jeff Morrison, Sheldon
“Joe” Ross, Steve Doherty and John Downey. “There
was much reminiscing, and many lies were told,” Jay
said as he drained his hot java down his fib-tastic
throat. We then all claimed that we still felt 35, even
as our bones creaked with the effort of our swallowing. It was getting to be time to turn in for the night.
“One last word, though,” suggested Doug Cogan.
Doug stood up and suggested that we all remember our classmate Rick Belafanti, who had passed.
“Rick and I shared third-floor rooms in Lehman in
our freshman year. He was in a single, and I was in a
triple. Rick soon became one of my closest and dearest friends—despite taking the longest showers on
the floor. Rick and I both loved listening to records.
Rick grew up in New Jersey, so Bruce Springsteen
was his Boss. He introduced me to Elvis Costello and
the Talking Heads. I fell in love with them all! After
our freshman year, Rick moved to Dodd House,
where his second-floor room was the final hole of the
course. The Frisbee had to go up the stairs or through
his open window and hit Rick’s body—with force—
in order to determine the winner. “I saw Rick a few years after college and marveled
that he had already bought a beautiful condo in San
Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, where he graciously
allowed me to stay. He continued to introduce me to
enduring touchstones, like watching Late Night with
David Letterman. I miss Rick dearly. Some of the
happiest moments in my young life came when we
were together, down the hall or across the country. I
take comfort knowing that those moments can never
be taken away from us, even if Rick has been.”
That got to all of us, whether we lived in Hawaii
or Bethesda, Minneapolis or sunny Florida. Could
it be that our time was limited? Or were we all still
starting new things, rowing the Charles or launching
a rocket? There was pretty good evidence that every
day was both an end and a beginning. The fire was
dying out, but the sunrise was only a few hours in our
future. The light flickered and died, yet it promised us
a rebirth too.
I tasted the sausage a second time and went to
bed, hoping to hear from more friends and classmates tomorrow.
66
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
1983
Beatrice Fuller, 404 Old County Road, Severna Park, MD
Lots of news! I apologize in advance for the serious trimming I had to do to save space. News from
me: My son Devlin Nelligan ’17 and Nico Howson
met up in Beijing, China, where Devlin is studying Mandarin, and Nico was presenting a paper on
insider trading laws. Pretty cool! I also am happy to
report that Bill Weeks started a job with T. Rowe
Price and is splitting time between Westchester
County in New York, where he and his wife Yee Ling
live, and the company’s HQ in Baltimore. Over the
summer he attended a Williams alumni event in
Baltimore organized by Dennis O’Shea ’76, a classmate of his sister Francie Weeks ’76 and brother-inlaw Scott Shane ’76, who live near Towson. I hope to
see them soon!
Elizabeth Nielsen ran into my sister Kenwyn
Kindfuller ’82 and her husband Andy at the
Oct. 3 launch of Williams’ campaign (they were
visiting their son Julius Kindfuller ’19). Elizabeth
writes, “Friday night I had the privilege of speaking
to the Williams Christian Fellowship, who seem to
be several factors brighter than I was. My husband
Steve Nielsen ’85 and I went to several classes for
alumni and got to visit the newly renovated Log—
all the old things we love have been preserved. The
highlight of Saturday evening was the announcement of the new comprehensive campaign, Teach It
Forward, on a rock-star stage on the (former Sawyer
site) library quad, followed by student groups celebrating in song and dance. The incomparable Moo
Cow Marching Band led the crowd out of the quad
to watch a fabulous fireworks show over Poker Flats.
Standing in the cold with our arms around each
other while watching the fireworks brought back so
many memories.” Lis Bischoff-Ormsbee writes, “My
son Michael Ormsbee ’13 is on a Fulbright scholarship in South Korea, having a great time meeting people, learning Korean and teaching! Katie is a
senior at the University of Rochester, and Megan is
in full college search mode. Any recommendations
from you about what to do next in my life?”
Marc Sopher has a litany of Eph sightings to
share: “I am back from visiting Williams friends and
my daughter Meredith Sopher ’14. First stop was
Phoenix to celebrate Chuck Warshaver’s ’82 and
Sheldon Ross’ ’82 55th birthdays. Other ’82 pals
in attendance were Jay Hellmuth ’82, Steve ‘Dots’
Doherty ’82, Hugh Oxnard ’82, John Downey ’82
and Jeff ‘Mojo’ Morrison ’82. From there it was on
to the SF area and six days of cycling with Larry
Hebb, sharing his favorite rides near his home in Half
Moon Bay and his lake house near Yosemite. Then
down to Monterey to spend a long weekend with
Meredith, who is enjoying her master’s program at
the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
Michele and I had the pleasure of seeing our son Max
Sopher ’17 take part in the Williams campaign kickoff, where he played a solo violin piece and a set with
his rock band, Sophest (superlative of Soph). I also
spent some quality time with Bruce Goff. Earlier in
the summer, Jamie Keller visited us on the NH seacoast. Mike Treitler made the pilgrimage, too, escaping the New Mexico summer for time on the coast
1982– 83
and a hike in the White Mountains. I also spent a
beautiful afternoon on the beach with Kevin Weist
’81 and Kate Weist ’81 during their vacation in Wells,
Maine. Not long after, I joined Dan Sullivan ’82 and
Anne Melvin ’85 for the D2R2 (Deerfield Dirt-Road
Randonnee), a spectacular day of cycling and camaraderie.” Connect with Marc on Facebook—you can
see photos of these adventures and some great old
photos, perhaps of you.
Anniversaries and birthdays are great times to
gather. Ellie Gartner Kerr writes: “My husband Jim
and I celebrated our 30th anniversary in August by
throwing a party. We made it a weekend event with
golf, pool time, cocktails, dinner and dancing. Local
friends, siblings, parents, our 25-year-old son, who
lives/works in NYC, our 21-year-old daughter, a
senior at USC, and special people from Williams celebrated with us. Frank Fritz, our best man and Jim’s
best friend growing up in Babylon, N.Y., drove up
from Philadelphia and engaged the crowd with a
heartwarming toast. Diane Elander flew in from LA,
knew everyone at the party in no time, then taught
the jitterbug to willing dancers by night’s end. Sue
Kumleben, our maid of honor, came all the way from
London. Her genuine warmth and easy conversation showed friends here in Port Washington, N.Y.,
why she and I have stayed so close despite her being
so far away. Having Frank, Diane and Sue with us
reminded me how lucky I am to have such great
college friends.” Sue Kumleben concurred: “Frank
can still dance like a rock star and give great best
man speeches; Diane is still world-class gorgeous
and fun; Ellie and Jim are the most adorable couple
ever. The best part of getting together with classmates? It brings you right back to being 20 again—
much better than BOTOX.”
Moving on to Atlanta, Mitchell Anderson shares:
“My restaurant MetroFresh celebrated its 10th birthday with the release of my first cookbook, Food &
Thought—which is on Eph’s Bookshelf! The book is a
collection of recipes from the MetroFresh menu and
selections of my blog that I’ve been writing every day
for 10 years. Daniel Flaherty, who happened to be in
town the day before the release party, bought the first
copy. Austin Lehr and Debbie have been amazing,
buying a copy for everyone they know! The cookbook
is available through my website, www.metrofreshatl.
com. I went to NYC to cook at the James Beard
House—an incredible honor and crazy for me since
I still think of myself as an actor. The evening was
a benefit for the James Beard Foundation honoring Vincent Price’s landmark cookbook, Treasury of
Great Recipes, which Victoria Price ’84 has re-released
in a 50th anniversary edition. She was the hostess
of the evening, which featured three other talented
chefs. Robert Burge came with Dexter Paine, whom
I have not seen in almost 30 years. Also in attendance
were Joanna Adler ’85 and Nevill Smythe ’81. I’d love
to see y’all (see I’ve become southern after all these
years) in Atlanta. Please stop into MetroFresh and
say hello.”
Karen Clarke participated in Miami University’s
Earth Expeditions global field course in Mongolia
this summer (http://www.earthexpeditions.org/
higher_ed). Also, Rich Stern (still with the World
Bank) and his wife have “been living in Vienna
(Austria) for the past two and a half years as empty
nesters. Living a ‘city life’ in Europe has been a nice
change from suburban DC, and especially in Austria
we’re spending lots of time in the Alps. Now with
the refugee crisis coming through Vienna, we are
also volunteering—ranging from glamorous things,
like sorting donated clothes, to soul-filling things,
like spending time with refugee families and helping
them navigate getting settled. It’s a good life for now,
despite children both being somewhat adults living
far away in the U.S. We have a great guest room that
welcomes any Williams passersby.”
While traveling in the Middle East, Rob Bowman
writes: “Our lives continue to revolve around kids—
despite two now off in college. Christina, a junior
at Colorado College, still plays basketball, majors
in political science, minors in Spanish and film.
Williams-worthy news: She texts me (no calls!) that
her political science professor ‘knows us’—turns
out he is John Gould ’84, fellow swimmer. John told
Christina that another swimmer, Jeff Mills ’84, also
has a daughter attending CC and that Rob Summer
’84 was sending his daughter to CC. So a small cadre
of Williams offspring are being tutored by John
in Colorado—somewhat concerning for those of
us who knew John back in the day. For our second
daughter, Mariah, the call of California sun and the
prospect of swimming outdoors lured her to Pomona
College, where she is a Sagehen! Makes the Purple
Cow seem positively fierce and majestic! Our youngest, Robert, now has all of our attention and therefore misses his sisters tremendously. Last spring I
visited Tom Vellenga and family in Minnesota. Tom
left his position as the leader of a successful think
tank/NGO in St. Paul to try his hand in local government as a county manager. While at Macalester,
we stopped in to see Karen Black’s son, who was a
freshman. Karen wrote to inquire about conditions
in Egypt, as her son spent the summer studying in
Cairo. We also visited Mark Weeks and family in
Palo Alto and Becky Baugh and her family in Napa
Valley. We had earlier visited Mark’s daughter at
Middlebury, where she is a sophomore and co-captain of the basketball team—quite a feat to be elected
as a captain in your freshman year. I gathered a
group of friends to watch Phil Seefried and Gretchen
Seefried’s son perform stand-up comedy at a club
in DC. He was hilarious—more so for me because I
could see so much of Phil in him. As you can imagine, his son has lots of good material about his father.
My wife Dina Esposito continues to work at USAID
as director of Food for Peace and to travel frequently.
Her leadership has helped revolutionize U.S. food
assistance, bringing it into the 21st century. I’m still
at the Justice Department as the regional director
for Africa and Middle East, in the office that places
federal prosecutors overseas to assist other countries
develop justice systems. I supervise 21 legal advisers
in the region, which explains my current trip to UAE,
Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey.”
In the realm of nostalgic ruminating, Bruce Leddy
shares: “As we dropped our son off at college for the
first time at U Chicago, I felt like a circle had been
completed. I pictured September ’79 when my
parents dropped me off. Saying goodbye at Chapin
circle, my feelings cycling through excitement, fear,
sadness and anticipation. To be honest, I was swallowing down the giant lump in my throat, same as
J A N UA RY 2016
l
67
CLASS NOTES
two weeks ago with my son—hence the ‘completed
circle’ thing. As I nervously crossed the freshman
quad toward my entry and my new life of independence, I met the first of my suitemates, Mitch
Anderson, and immediately felt better. I hoped my
son would meet someone as reassuring on his first
day. Mitch helped haul stuff to the top of Williams D
where Bill Simpkins—confident, cosmopolitan DC
comrade—had commandeered the living room with
a gigantic drum set. My closet-like bedroom had
a foot of space between bed and desk, but at least
I could close the door. Judging by the drums, that
would probably be often. Our suite adjoined the
Williams C living room and a ritual soon evolved:
Every night at exactly 11 p.m., they cranked B-52s
‘Rock Lobster,’ we dropped what we were doing,
came to the living room, pogoed and writhed on
the ground for the duration of the song, then went
back to work. Our entry coalesced around the kind
and hilarious personality of our JA, Kevin Weist ’81.
We became groupies to Kevin’s new rock group,
The Doctors (Bill S. was the studly drummer). We
traveled in a pack—to meals, parties and mostly to
each other’s rooms. Late at night we’d spill out into
the cold of the quad and run around tackling each
other recklessly, no doubt burning off some frustration at having no chance at any of those girls in the
Freshman Facebook. Thirty years later I’m still wistful about what Williams was for me. For my son, I
hope for nothing less.”
Marianne O’Connor also has some poignant observations to share: “This is a different kind of post. It’s
about the really important stuff that so often goes
unshared because it’s hard and personal. The biggest things in my life over the past several years were
saying goodbye to my wonderful parents and trying every path imaginable to find a solution to the
debilitating chronic headaches that kept our teenage daughter out of school for almost three years.
Exhausted both mentally and physically, I couldn’t
understand why the calm seas of my life had turned
into such an unrelenting perfect storm. As I stop to
reflect on that turbulent emotional time, I find that
both situations changed my life for the better. I’m not
saying that I enjoyed visiting dozens of doctors, that
tears didn’t flow during the darkest moments, or that
I didn’t feel like an abject failure at points in that part
of my life’s journey. However, I learned some amazing, lifechanging lessons along the way. I learned
to live a day at a time, noticing the little things. I
learned the old maxim, ‘If you don’t have your health,
you don’t have anything,’ is true. I learned that dying
can hold some of life’s most beautiful and precious moments. I learned to let go of my predefined
notions about my children’s education and career
paths. I learned that it’s OK to ask for help. I learned
that I am even more tenacious than I’d ever imagined. And I learned that however much I wish, I’m
not in control of everything. For those lessons, I am
eternally grateful. I share this because most of us will
experience at least one major storm along our life’s
journey; the lucky will get through it; the really lucky
will learn from it.”
I close this column on the sad news of the loss
of FJ Bolger, who passed away on Sept. 29. Here
is the obituary from the Sonoma Index Tribune: “FJ
Bolger, of El Granada, Calif., formerly of Sonoma,
68
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
grew up in New Jersey, attended Williams College
and pursued a career as a video producer in the San
Francisco Bay Area. He loved to travel, sail the San
Francisco Bay and play harmonica. Always the life
of the party, FJ enjoyed being with close friends and
family, whether an extended Sunday brunch, or an
oyster and champagne picnic at the beach throwing a Frisbee with his girls. FJ was a creative, brilliant
mind, an enthusiastic, youthful spirit with a joyous
and infectious sense of humor, and, especially, a loving husband, father and friend. He leaves these gifts
behind in his daughters, Ava and Zoe. FJ was taken
from us suddenly and too soon. He was preceded
in death by his father, Frank. Those of us who knew
him, and especially his wife Lisa, his daughters, his
mother Kathleen, his sister Francine (Michael), his
brothers Jerry (Rene) and Chris, and his extended
family and many friends, will not forget what FJ
brought to our lives.” In lieu of flowers, a college
fund has been established for his daughters in FJ’s
memory: www.crowdrise.com/educationfundforavaz.
Please send more memories if you would like me to
share more next column.
1984
Carrie Bradley Neves, 1009 Route 3, Halcott Center,
NY 12430; Robert Kent, Temple Allen Industries, 687-J
Lofstrand Lane, Ste. 0CO, Rockville MD 20850;
Many warm thanks as always to those of you who
wrote in; for the January issue, the call comes during
the busy fall months, so your contributions are much
appreciated.
Jack McGonagle was an excellent help, a veritable
itinerant reporter with lots of great newsy bits, many
with a sporty backdrop. His tidings made me long
to be back in the stands at Weston, wrapped in various woolen things on a glittering fall day. “Given
my involvement (going on three years now!) with
Dorothy Briggs Brill, I see a lot of Williams folks.
Dorothy is well; she has a new job running HR at a
hedge fund in Greenwich, Conn., and a half-empty
house—one of her boys is a junior at Canterbury,
and the other is a freshman at a public high school in
Stamford. Two good kids. I also interact with many
Ephs year-round because of my involvement with
the Williams Sideline Quarterback Club—our version of a football booster club. Dan McCarthy ’87 has
been very helpful to me with ‘recruiting,’ and I’ve
recently gotten some additional recruiting help from
Mike Coakley ’85. I ran into Billy Sperry in (where
else?) the Purple Pub in early August when I was
in Williamstown; he was there helping his senior
daughter move into her Spring Street apartment.
He’s always well. Dorothy and I see John McNicholas
occasionally; his daughter Jenna is now a freshman lacrosse player at Middlebury. I had lunch with
Nelson Walsh a few weeks ago; he and Tory (Smith)
Walsh are doing great. Their oldest daughter, Virginia,
graduated from Hamilton in 2014, and daughter
Charlotte Walsh ’17 is at Williams. On TV a few
weeks ago, I saw B.J. Connolly coaching his Wofford
College football team against Clemson. And we see
Suzy Akin and her better half, Todd Truesdale, and
Callie Lombard Sullivan and her boyfriend, Hugh
Montgomery, often.” Jack was hoping to get to an
1983– 84
Eph football game in the fall and planned to see lots
of folks at homecoming vs. Amherst. “Suzy is planning to be there,” Jack says. “Her two sons are at
Williams now, too. Callie has three kids at Colgate
(!); I’m headed there in a few weeks for their last
home football game.
“Lastly, I ran into my fellow Charlestown Youth
Hockey, Boston Latin and Williams puck player John
Whelan ’82 at the Amherst-Colby football game
( John’s son Greg is Colby 2019 freshman linebacker),
and at Amherst-Bowdoin, I saw Tina Gimas ’83 (her
nephew is a sophomore WR at Bowdoin). While
Tina and I were talking at Amherst, we ran into Tom
Parker ’68. Tom admitted me to Williams twice and
my son to Amherst, so I still owe him lots! Dorothy
joined us there, too. The only way it could have been
a better Eph reunion was if fellow Amherst football
parents and Williams alums David Gow ’85, Chris
Chapman ’85 and Emily (Parker) Chapman ’86 had
been nearby.”
Sean Crotty didn’t make Homecoming but had
a good reason: “I accepted an offer from JetBlue to
become an Airbus A320 instructor back in May. The
next three months were spent learning the new airplane and learning how to teach the ‘JetBlue way.’ I
spend about 16 days a month in Orlando and the
other 14 or so at home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., so
not too bad a schedule. If anyone is in the Orlando
area, I do sometimes have the availability to get some
simulator time. For those with a burning desire to
see if they can land an airliner, I’ll just say I’ve gotten an 11-year-old to land the sim, so feel free to
reach out should you get down this way. My schedule
won’t allow me to see any football games this fall, yet
again—one of these years—but I do plan on heading
to a Sideline Quarterback lunch with my father this
week, so I’ll get my Renzie Lamb fix.”
Robert Kent reported being almost entirely consumed with preparations for an aikido and peacemaking seminar in Greece in October 2015—most
of the participants came from conflict zones in the
Middle East. The original plan was to raise $30K
to have scholarships and travel support for about 35
peace activists to attend. They ended up raising $75K
and had almost 100 people participating. Other
than a few who couldn’t get visas, everything went
smoothly and exceeded expectations. Rob writes,
“That violence flared up in Israel the same week
only proves how important it is that voices working against violence are made stronger.” The event
had the additional benefit of helping prepare Rob
to spend January in Williamstown teaching Waging
Peace: Aikido as a Tool for Personal and Political
Reconciliation during Winter Study for the political
science department. Lastly, and on a note one might
call completely different, Rob and Andrew Laitman
planned to catch the John Cleese and Eric Idle show
on Halloween.
Rob is also glad to report that Vicente Hill is alive
and able to chat on Facebook. Current news for
Vicente includes: 1) He was married on Sept. 12,
2015, to Aastral Frye; 2) He’s got one newly and one
nearly teenage daughter and is looking into plans for
moats and a gun tower; 3) His 13-year-old is already
5’ 11” and hooked on theater, and his 12-year-old is
an awesome athlete still looking for her niche; 4) He’s
still (since 2001) an ER doc working crazy hours for
Carolina Mountain Emergency Medicine; and 5) In
his words, “By the way, and I need to notify Marcus,
my wife sang the first two verses of ‘Bless the Broken
Road’ as part of her vows to me at our wedding. Total
surprise, and really beautiful.” Rob suspects songwriter Marcus Hummon might consider that tribute
almost as cool as getting the Grammy.
Jean Loew Hennessy writes, “Year two as U.S.
residents (specifically, Fort Washington, Pa.) has
commenced for Murray Hennessy and me. We’re
starting to feel a bit more settled. The good stuff:
having a minireunion with Audrey Albern Sheffield,
Robin Rodie Vitols and Kate O’Hanlon on a gorgeous, sunny weekend in Canandaigua, N.Y.; being
close to our oldest, now a JA at Williams; seeing
our middle child make what looks to be a successful start to higher education in a place that rivals
Williamstown for beauty (sorry, but it’s true—
Boulder, Colo., is quite something); and me getting
to coach our youngest daughter on the JV soccer
team here in PA. (Not always an unalloyed blessing,
to be honest.) There is nothing like being back on
the soccer fields of New England/the Midatlantic
in fall. Meanwhile, Murray gets to satisfy his
wanderlust by working for a variety of companies
from London to Jeddah to Madison, Wis.”
Neal A. MacDougall reports, “My family and I were
visiting LA from San Luis Obispo in August to see
the play Bent at the Mark Taper Forum and ended up
getting together with Cesar Alvarez, his partner Steve
Wicht and their son Caleb to have Sunday brunch
in Manhattan Beach.” (Secretary’s note: There’s an
adorable photo of this gathering, but Neal’s note gives
me a good chance to prompt—often, as in this issue,
photo submissions close due to space pretty early on,
so send quickly if you have a photo you’d like to have
included. Also note, photos need to be 1 to 2MB in
size. Thanks!) Meanwhile, read on for news from a
nearby SoCal neighbor.
Kerry Traylor says, “Hello after however many
years (at least 25)! After many moons raising three
kids in the DC area (briefly) and (mostly) in Del
Mar, Calif. (north burbs of San Diego), I poked
around for a while and then started what turns out
to be a pretty successful business, College Strategy
Experts, providing full-service admissions counsel
(e.g., How do you get the little darlings into college?)
and financial/merit aid work (e.g., How do you pay
these loathsome prices?). Turns out (shocking!) that
most moderately successful families have a wee spot
of trouble navigating all of these treacherous shoals.
So, yeah, success due to the fear factor. So much neurosis out there, it isn’t even funny. We are raising a
generation of depressed and anxious kids, unfortunately (which leads to the unlicensed family therapist part of my job). I’ve got one daughter attending
Tulane on an almost full ride (Williams admitted
her but declined financial assistance, and we are mere
mortals). She also went to various countries in Africa
and New Zealand for a gap year. I’ve got a son applying to many fabulous, expensive schools that will
appreciate (I hope) his charm, wit and lack of a clear
focus. The last one is at middle school and will kick
her siblings’ booties in all quantifiable measures of
success. Plus, she is so funny. … We go to a lot of soccer games, like you do, only we don’t wear sweaters at
the January games. In fact, we just roast and desiccate
J A N UA RY 2016
l
69
CLASS NOTES
and drink water that actually comes from a different state. You may remember that I taught aerobics at
Williams. How quaint. But nothing much changes.
Now I’m onto yoga and Zumba, certified for years to
teach the former.
“I love living 500 yards from the beach. You’ll have
to carry me out of here in a coffin. I love the liberal
ethos, the entrepreneurial culture, the ‘anything goes’
attitude of the Left Coast. Plus my golden retrievers stay sort of cool in the surf. My surfer son stepped
into a Vineyard Vines on our college swing back East
and almost passed out. Really, we here in Southern
California just don’t get it. But we try, and I keep
sending kiddos to schools back East with a reminder
that ‘you might feel a little out of place initially.’ As
I did my freshman year at Williams in my Dolphin
shorts. A free bedroom is always available here if you
want to ‘hang 10.’ And no pink whale ties. Good
Mexican food, too. (God, what passed for Mexican
food in Williamstown was an abomination. Has it
improved?) Would love to see any and all comers
from the Class of 1984.”
Tom Gaillard also has good stuff to share from
the wellness front (good inspiration for us all to
resist middle-aging): “There’s lots of movement in
our family this year: Eldest daughter Wallis graduated from Bucknell in the spring and moved to
Wisconsin, where she’s teaching environmental studies with Nature’s Classroom. Middle son Charlie
Gaillard ’16 is finishing up as a senior at Williams
(where it’s always fun to visit and run into fellow alums). And our youngest daughter, Katharine,
headed off to Bates in the fall (where, as it happens,
Steve Gardner’s son Quinn is a sophomore). So we’re
empty nesters; suddenly downsizing feels incredibly enticing. My wife Peg is busy with her massage therapy and is doing all sorts of yoga and other
wellness practices. And after 13 years at Bottomline
Technologies, I’ve resigned and am taking a few
months off before heading off in search of what’s
next. It’s odd, but in a good way, to step out of the
workaday race for a bit.”
It’s always a pleasure in these pages to have newold voices chime in for the first time, or for the first
time in a while. Jeanmarie Condon sent a great catchup: “I had a busy summer—I broke my foot by tripping on my own suitcase at home, coming in from a
red-eye flight. However, also this summer I was an
executive producer of two hours of TV I am proud of:
One was a virtual papal audience with Pope Francis,
in which we connected him via satellite with residents of nine homeless shelters in LA, recent and
undocumented immigrants on the Texas/Mexican
Border and teenagers at a high school in a violent
inner-city crossroads in Chicago. The second was
a documentary I wrote and directed called Cosby:
The Women Speak, in which we had 12 of the Cosby
accusers—several from each decade, starting in the
1960s—tell their stories at a level of granular detail
that had not been heard before. The Washington Post
praised it for bringing a new ‘humanity’ to the story.
I am also working on a fun YouTube docuseries for
Maker Studios, looking at the men and women who
fought in the American Revolution and how what
they fought for coheres the current political campaign. For classmates who plan to be at South by
Southwest in March 2016, I will be speaking on a
70
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
panel about the roles of different types of media in
the upcoming presidential election.”
Suzy Akin shares, “It was an intense year. I buried
my mother and my dog, completed my graduate
degree at Bread Loaf and settled into full-fledged
empty-nesthood. It’s time to figure out what’s next.
I just returned from a weekend at Williams for the
campaign launch—probably the coolest event I have
attended at Williams or perhaps anywhere else. So
much fun being back in a classroom with Williams
profs and also seeing current students in their element. I loved doing community service in North
Adams with a group of students as well—such
great, good-hearted, committed, warm students.
Reaffirming, to say the least.”
Finally, in this era of milestones, some timely seeming and others painfully untimely, it is with great
sadness that I write of the death on Oct. 15, 2015,
of Edgar “Ned” Buttner. Many of you have heard
by now, through the letter from our class president
Arunas Gudaitis or from friends, family or colleagues,
or obituaries or other memorials; Ned was well loved
and active in so many arenas. He succumbed to a
secondary lung infection in the wake of his courageous and extraordinary fight with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia. Ned is survived by his wife
Raluca Buttner and three children, Edgar, Grette and
Mika. His full obituary is in the New York Times, and
there are many lovely tributes on his and his friends’
Facebook pages. His obituary will appear in a future
issue of People, as well, and we class officers will be
asking for remembrances of Ned to share this spring.
Until then, we can celebrate his spirit in a moment
together here. I have information for anyone who
would like to contact his family. Take care, and best
wishes for a rewarding new year.
1985
Anne T. Melvin, 16 Ox Bow Road, Wellesley, MA 02481;
I must admit I’m a bit miffed. I sent out a bid
for news of our classmates, and the first thing people respond is some variation of “Hey, I’ve run into
your husband, Dan Sullivan ’82.” Hello, people?
Can we stick to the subject at hand? Our class? John
Butter writes: “Dan Sullivan ’82 and I are now colleagues in general internal medicine at Beth Israel
Deaconess Hospital, and he sat down next to me
at grand rounds yesterday morning, and we chatted
about Williams! My wife Sarah and our daughters
Elizabeth and Caroline have successfully transitioned
from Wilmette, Ill., to Wellesley, Mass., where Sarah
is the head pastor at The Village Church in Wellesley,
and I’ve begun my teaching and clinical practice at
Beth Israel. We took some time for travel between
jobs connecting with Oranuj Tantimedh ’86, who provided a culinary tour of Bangkok, and Marc Andre
Gutscher ’86 and his wife Frauke Klingelhoefer in
St. Malo, France. Marc and Frauke teach and conduct research in geology and care for their ponies
at their home in Brest. I’m also reconnecting with
some classmates in Boston. Maria Cervone joined us
for dinner in the North End and impressed us all by
speaking Italian.”
Art Hutchinson is another classmate who started
with props to my husband and a story I’m sure he’s
1984– 85
been saving up for years: “Circa 1996 or so, I turn my
ankle pretty badly while running around my home
in Newton. …Wife convinces me it may be broken and drives me to the emergency department
at Harvard Vanguard Kenmore. The doc walks in.
It’s your husband Dan.” Fast-forward to the present, and Art reports: “My wife Helen and I just married off daughter #1 (Kate) in late August. Giving a
short speech there was one of the hardest (but most
rewarding) five minutes of my life (and this from
a guy who speaks in front of groups several days a
week). They’re living locally (a stone’s throw from the
Boston Public Garden). We’re happy, and so are they.
Daughter #2 (Emily) graduated UNH in May with a
degree in mechanical engineering and instantly got a
great job. She’s living at home with us, saving money,
applying her cooking and wine-pairing skills a few
days a week to help pay the ‘rent,’ which we’re not
charging her and don’t ever plan to. In anticipation of
these big shifts in our household, the four of us took
a big, final family trip to New Zealand last January.
It was nice to grab a few weeks of summer (and Lord
of The Rings tourism) before returning for the Boston
Snowpocalypse (worst I’ve ever seen, and I’ve lived
here my whole life). Please give my best to Dan.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed his cycling-mad pictures on
Facebook.” Again with the references to my husband!
Well, at least some people aren’t blathering on
about him. Peter Burghardt says, “I was on a work
assignment in China for a couple of months this
spring and finally decided to move to another position at Fujifilm that requires less travel. It’s good to
be home. A couple of months ago we adopted a galgo
(Spanish greyhound) from a local rescue and have
enjoyed introducing him to life in New Hampshire.
Additionally, I have done a couple of fun gravel bike
rides this year: the Tour de Heifer, which was a taxing 7,000 feet of climbing in 60 miles, and also the
Vermont Overland ride. (Well done, Peter!) The only
Williams folks I’m in regular contact with are Kris
Karlson (also rides a lot) and Sara (Beadle) Reed ’86.”
Our 30th reunion in June was a wonderful event,
with many of us resuming our normally scheduled
lives after a brief 20-year or so stint raising children.
But two classmates are still at the beginning end
of that two-decade hiatus. Betsy Groh Ptak writes,
“David, my UW-Badger husband, and I have been
living in Portland, Ore., for 12 years now. When I
read about classmates sending their kids off to college, I sigh and go back to packing up lunches for my
fourth- and sixth-grade boys. I think my advanced
maternal age is just further proof that I was always
a little slower than most of my Williams classmates.
After 11 years of doing the stay-at-home-mom thing,
I have returned to work part time at a small private
school doing some administration and some teaching.
I still talk weekly with Anne Bridges Clayton, mostly
asking for advice on raising boys.”
Another late-to-the-kid-party-thing classmate,
Jeff Bader, writes: “It was an interesting reunion
for us. At the 25th we had a great time socializing
and staying up late into the night catching up with
friends. At the 30th it was all about wrangling the
twins and going to bed early because the kids are up
so early. It does feel like we are hitting the apex of the
offspring of the Class of ’85 hitting their college years,
but Michelle and I are in a very different place. Asher
and Rosie started their freshman year of preschool
this year and are still doing a very good job of staying
in touch. They don’t know what a credit card is yet,
so that’s still under control. We opted for a Hebrew
immersion program to expose them to a second language before they can protest. The teachers only
speak Hebrew from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., five days a week,
and the kids don’t seem to notice. We don’t speak
Hebrew, and if you ask them they say their teachers
speak French, so it’s a very interesting start to their
scholarly pursuits. We’re sure their little minds are
absorbing everything, and we are looking forward to
what comes out of their mouths as the school year
progresses. So we’re entering the years of play dates,
birthday parties, soccer, ballet and music lessons a little (lot) later than our peers. As you all know, since
you’re done with the heavy lifting, we’re perpetually
exhausted but loving every minute of it. I’m sure in
the future we’ll have great tales to tell! I’m going to
take a nap now.”
Former Secretary Wendy Webster Coakley nudged
me along in my new job as your scribe by forwarding
me a PR newswire piece on Holly Kulka reporting
that the rating service giant Standard & Poor named
Holly their global chief compliance officer in July.
Impressive job, Holly! The piece went on to report:
“Holly, a lawyer, is admitted to the bars in New York,
New Jersey, California and DC.” Humph. Not so
impressive. I’ve been admitted to bars in all 25 U.S.
states I’ve visited. Oh wait, maybe they mean something different…
My good friend and sophomore Mills suitemate
Emmy Olmstead reports that with her kids in college,
she and husband Ken Wyatt ’84 debated long and
hard about whether to move out of New Hampshire
to the western part of the U.S., where Kenny’s business, 44 North Vodka, does much of its business (distilled from 100 percent Idaho potatoes!). They ended
up selling their house and moving into a smaller,
simpler space across town instead of across country. Emmy would probably never admit it, but the
fact that a group of aging ruggers (Emmy, Sarah
“Smurph” Murphy ’86, Sara “Such” Suchman ’86
and I) get together for lunch in Cambridge three to
four times a year was probably a critical factor in their
decision to stay put. Just sayin’.
Randy Rogers has been busy. Not only is he a vice
chair of the Williams Alumni Fund, he’s a co-head
agent for our class. When he’s not fundraising for
Williams, he claims to have a day job, but I seriously
doubt it as he emails me back immediately any time
I reach out to him, and nobody with a job can be that
diligently responsible. Since he has so much time on
his hands, Randy wrote, “Lesley Rogers and I had
a fun time in early August on a Williams alumni
trip to Peru, on board a small ship for a week on the
Upper Amazon River. We shared the experience
with Walt Lehman and his wife Sylvia Strobel, who
have moved back to their native Minnesota from PA.
The highlight of the week was either the great wildlife we saw every day or the fact that we were the
youngest Ephs on the trip! Oh, and Lesley caught a
piranha!” Randy also played golf with co-head agent
Bill McClements, who reports, “I participated in the
2015 ‘Play the Jake’ golf event in Ridgefield, Conn.,
benefiting MS research. The event was conceived
and is run by Greg Jacobson ’82. He was captain of
J A N UA RY 2016
l
71
CLASS NOTES
the golf team when I was a freshman. A few years
ago, he was diagnosed with progressive MS. He is in
a wheelchair, but his spirit is undaunted. He has a van
that enables him to get around independently, which
is truly amazing. He is dedicating his energy to supporting the MS cause and bringing together people
to help. I played in a foursome with Randy Rogers
and was able to catch up after the round with Brian
Rutledge. It was a great event, and it is a great opportunity for Ephs and others to come together to support a great cause.”
A wise quote from President Abraham Lincoln
posted on Facebook caught my attention: “Don’t
believe everything you read on the Internet.” So true.
Nevertheless, I think this Facebook nugget I picked
up in September is true, so I’ll pass along the intel
that Michael Constantino was “on the boards” again,
singing the role of Tonio in Pagliacci with the Taconic
Opera Company. Bravo, Michael!
Well, it’s with a heavy heart that I must turn to the
necessary but unpleasant part of the secretary’s task:
Yes, reporting on classmates who have turned to the
Dark Side and sent their children off to Voldemort
College. Joan Becker Kelsch at least has the good
sense to show an appropriate amount of shame.
“My son started at … Amherst. I know, I know. He
is playing football along with Chris Chapman’s and
Dave Gow’s sons. I need to be in touch with those
guys! Hard to get used to rooting for Amherst. Pick a
little purple college in Western Massachusetts with a
weird mascot—all good!”
From the other side of the purple divide, Vidisha
Patel reports, “My son Chetan Patel ’18 and my
daughter Neena Patel ’19 are now both at Williams.
It has been fun seeing Williams through the eyes of
a younger generation but also to realize that some
things stay the same—tunneling, Snack Bar, Sunday
snacks, to name a few. While moving my kids in this
year, I ran into Meg Holliday Kelly, Joey Horn ’87 and
Sonali Weerackody ’86. It is empty nest time at my
house, and I have chosen to take time to travel and
reconnect with friends. Recently, I was in Chicago
and spent time with Gail Harris Thomason and
her wonderful family. I will be seeing Betsy Wright
Hawkings in DC as well.”
And then there’s my mole in Williamstown,
Katherine “Katie” Myers, who reports she got to
see Mike “Sparky” Curtin ’86 before he gave the
Convocation lecture and received the Williams
Bicentennial Medal for his tremendous work with
DC Central Kitchen. Katherine reports she was
looking forward to the Whitney Stoddard lecture
given by our own Jeff Speck. Congratulations, Jeff,
on being selected for this prestigious lecture! Jeff
also helped author some amazing short videos I saw
(posted on my own Facebook page if you want to
check them out). They’re a simple explanation of the
American “road diet”: how we use the road with cars,
and how we can modify our existing roads to make
them not only safer for drivers but also more welcoming for bicyclists. As Dan often bicycles to work,
I’m all in favor. Wait a minute, now I’m bringing him
up independently. Sheesh.
I have more updates from the class, but not the
space to do it, so I’ll sign off for now. You can send
me your news at 1985secretary@williams.edu.
72
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
1986
REUNION JUNE 9-12
James Peter Conlan, Tulane D-2, San Juan, PR 00927;
Kudos to former fearless leader Mike Curtin, who
received a Bicentennial Medal from the college
at Convocation on Sept, 19, 2015, for his ongoing work as CEO at DC Central Kitchen! Mike’s
speech at Convocation before the faculty and students about his friendships made at Williams was
inspirational for any Williams student or alumnus.
It can be found at http://bit.ly/1iuQWAs. Those
classmates of the great Class of 1986, and those
above and below who know the lifelong friends to
whom Mike referred, who studied under Professors
Peter Frost and John Hughes, and who took Math
107 back in the day, will find the speech all the
more moving. Attending Convocation in support of
Mike were his bride, Maureen McDonnell, Wendy
Webster Coakley ’85, Deb Semel Goldenring, Brad
Bissell, Mel Mahoney-Bissell, Pam Tabari-Johan,
Tim Faselt, Ed O’Toole, Steve Troyer, Mike Coakley
’85 and Ted Plonsker.
Congratulations also go out to Claudia
Rankine, who was awarded a Bicentennial Medal
for her poetry. The Aerol Arnold Chair of English
at the University of Southern California, Claudia
has published five books of poetry since 1995.
Her most recent book-length poem, Citizen: An
American Lyric (Graywolf, 2014), explores the
insidiousness of racism in America. Citizen won
the 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award for
Poetry, among other prizes. Williams President
Adam Falk’s commendation of Claudia’s poetry, listing the honors Citizen has received, can be viewed
at http://bit.ly/1Ottphx. As it happens, Claudia
read from Citizen at the Williams College Museum
of Art on Oct. 30, 2014. During this reading, she
emphasized in a calm and powerful voice the sad
but sadly unsurprising fact that the content of the
poem arises from conversations that Claudia has
had with friends and others about moments of racism, subtle and not so subtle, that our fellow citizens
have witnessed, too often experienced and too often
have had to tolerate, swallowing down anger until,
digested, these moments of indignity have come
to sit, uncomfortable and incorporated in the flesh
as memorable ache. Claudia’s reading of Citizen at
Williams and the discussion that followed the
reading can be viewed at http://bit.ly/1RBTJUy.
David Wagner, who joined the U.S. Foreign Service
in 2012 after a career in law and technology, finished his first posting as political officer in Benin,
West Africa. David is now serving as vice consul
in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with his wife Rindala and
their kids Julian, 6, and Sofia, 4, “who are growing up
thinking that monkeys and elephants are ordinary
parts of the scenery.”
Andy Mylott was to take his work-from-home job
to Tampa Bay, Fla., early in December to be closer
to his kids. He says, “The only other Williams guy I
know down there is Dario Arena,” also a recent transplant. As fond as Andy is of Dario, Andy would like
to cast a wider net. One of his goals is to find a supplementary source of income or a better paying position once in Tampa. So, other Tampa alumni, please
do make yourselves known!
1985– 87
Tim Harbold writes in from Wheaton College,
where he is a tenured and recently minted full professor. Tim describes Wheaton as “a terrific place
to work!” For those considering schools other than
Williams for their youngsters, Tim assures us that
Wheaton is a great choice: “Very strong academics combined with unusual personal attention,” Tim
writes. “We’re a top 10 Fulbright school and usually
ahead of the pack on curricular innovations.” Tim
and his husband Brad joined Kathy Haas when
she was in Boston for the Hub on Wheels bike
ride for dinner and a walk around North End,
fondly reminiscing of years past. Tim reports that
he and Valerie Anastasio, the descant to Tim’s
harmony on a regular basis since January ’83,
are enjoying themselves this year with their new
show, In the Mood, a celebration of the hit songs
of 1939. “Seven performances so far, a few others
on the books and open for bookings! There’s video
and info at valerieandtim.com!”
A sun salute to Anne von Arentschildt Dawson!
Confessing to being a bicoastal family, her two sons
are spending the school year in Southern California.
Charles is attending Harvey Mudd and taking a
class with a visiting Williams professor next term,
and Henry is a junior at Cate School, where Ben
Williams ’85 is headmaster, while she and husband
Michael remain in DC. Anne has been “refocusing the mothering instincts” by running the lower
school yoga after-school program at the Maret
School, whose headmistress is also a Williams grad.
“Slowly, we are incorporating yoga into the lower
school classrooms.” Among those down with the
warrior pose? “I have a devoted third-grade following,” Anne writes, somewhat mischievously adding:
“Yoga dodge ball helps.” After seeing Chocolatey
Special K in the cereal aisle, I have ceased to explore
such incongruities and leave further clarification to
the reunion events committee. Rich Miller reports “a busy few months in the
Miller household.” Rich and Carol’s daughter Lauren Miller ’15 graduated cum laude with
honors in classics and comparative literature from
Williams in June and is now in a PhD fellowship
program in classics at Berkeley. Rich and Carol’s son
George is a music composition major at Vanderbilt
University. If anyone is qualified to officiate the “It’s
the libretto! No, it’s the score!” dinner table debates
destined to arise from his children’s divergent academic interests, it is Rich, who, enjoying his tenure as president of the Metropolitan Opera Guild,
is “pleased to report that we have had a number
of Williams-related faculty members and alumni
engaged in our programs, not only here in NYC
but also in Williamstown.” While in NYC, Rich
has gotten together with many of our classmates,
including Tom Vitale and Dave Applebaum, typically
meeting at “a great Italian restaurant.” Things are
OK with him these days. Rich was preparing with
other Octet alumni for an Octet reunion concert
during Homecoming Weekend, and he is “certainly
looking forward to seeing everybody at this upcoming reunion” in June.
1987
Jeff Heilman, 426 67th St., Fl. 2, Brooklyn, NY 11220;
Jill Shulman, 135 Red Gate Lane, Amherst, MA 01002;
Submitted by Jeff Heilman: Spring being the season of renewal, I came home to the Purple Valley last
April for the first time in way too long. The occasion
in part was for a travel magazine assignment covering the Berkshires but also to reconnect with fellow
Californian Tom Kaegi.
No stranger to our fair campus, Tom settled here 22
years ago and has the area’s pulse well in hand as chief
of medicine at Williamstown Medical Associates.
He’s also a skilled practitioner of hospitality, warming
up the proceedings with his customary prescription
of single-malt Scotch. His generosity did not end
there. The next phase was his surprise rental of the
limo into which we and our muses, Kathy and Beth,
piled for a merry hour-long ride south to Becket,
Mass., and a hilltop sanctuary called the Dream
Away Lodge.
We’d never even heard of the place while at
Williams, but this bar-restaurant-performance space,
originally a late-1700s farmhouse, has a possessing legacy that includes Depression-era brothel and
speakeasy, and, in November 1975, a daylong bacchanal when Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and
other members of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue
stopped by.
For our quartet, it was a night to reunite and celebrate, including the raucous ride home with Jim
Reichheld livestreaming in from Boston via iPhone.
For the weekend’s conclusion, we visited with Kathy’s
parents, James and Janet Corkins, at their lovely
hilltop home facing Mount Greylock. That was an
unexpected treat. James is the former director of the
Williams College Health Center and served as Tom’s
mentor, with Janet formerly the center’s nurse in
charge. I remember both fondly, having spent many a
post-rugby game in their care.
In the spring, Jim and Tom returned the favor by
patching me in live to a distant Williams gathering.
While crossing Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan
one evening, I received their surprise Facetime call
from Key Largo, Fla., where they, along with Jon
Deveaux, David “Space” Grossman, Keith Goldfeld,
Rick Lipinski and Dave Prockop, were reviving and
reinventing spring break as only 50-year-olds can.
That is to say, with style and sophistication. I jest—
but for that brief moment in time, it was the best of
old times all over again. Wish I had been there and,
later in the year, in LA to see Space “hitting” the
dance floor, as reported by John Ahn.
As these and other experiences constantly remind,
the rewards of the extended Williams experience via
lasting connections and friendships can come in any
number of shapes and forms.
Through my far-roaming independent journalism,
I continue to feature Ephs in print, including Mike
Curtin ’86, CEO of DC Central Kitchen, honored as
this year’s Convocation speaker and as a Bicentennial
Medal recipient; Jim Munson ’88, founder of NYCbased Brooklyn Roasting Co.; and Barton George,
newly elevated to the office of the CTO at Dell in
Round Rock, Texas. And, finding the time for spontaneous reunions with Ephs like Jody Abzug ’88,
J A N UA RY 2016
l
73
CLASS NOTES
whose smile, grace and spirit in the face of health
challenges, à la Liz Gardner, can melt away the
hardest day.
Such is the opportunity also afforded by the class
secretary role, via which the reward is learning, and
sharing here, all manner of revealing, often surprising news.
Take Cindy Sue Morhouse, who continues to
attract media attention and make waves as a member of Allentown, N.J.-based Psychic Treasures
Unlimited, a group of spiritual healers and mediums
whose services include paranormal investigations,
psychic medium readings, meditation classes and
reiki healing. “We have even used our gifts to solve
criminal cases,” shares Cindy.
Anne Gilbert Coleman has “sort of ” learned to ride
the unicycle. “I did so without any trips to the hospital, although I do have a new empathy for Derek
Zoolander, as I find myself only able to turn to the
left,” writes Annie, who continues her work as associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of American Studies at the
University of Notre Dame.
In Daytona Beach, real estate developer Bill Brown
has added a new talent to his repertoire—oil painting.
Bill emailed some samples; he’s a natural, with the
influence of the self-confessed cocktails he enjoyed
while at the easel only enhancing the results.
NYC-based Brandt Johnson is on his own creative
streak. Following a series of well-reviewed stage outings and theatrical performances, he is now writing, directing and acting in a new comedy web series
called Brad Advice. “When the rich and famous need
advice, they turn to Brad Johnston,” writes Brandt.
“He’s full of it.”
In Charlotte, N.C., Scott Smith got an unexpected
knock on his door around the time of his 50th birthday celebration. “It was Chas Foehl, his wife Sarah
and Rick Orluk, who had come down from Maine
and Connecticut, respectively, for a surprise visit
arranged by my wife Mary,” writes Scott. “It was a
huge and happy shock, setting the stage for a night of
fun. Chas and Rick and their families are doing great,
and I really miss seeing them and all of the other
Ephs from our group.” Working at Lazard, Scott is
enjoying SEC football courtesy of Mary, an alumna
of the University of Georgia. “It’s slightly more
intense than Div. III football, although Williams
would have a shot at beating them this year,” says
Scott, who made his own pilgrimage to Williams
recently with godson in tow, and a schwag stop at
Goff ’s included.
A.J. Mediratta also enjoyed the company of Eph
friends at his 50th, including Dave Tager, Hans
Humes and “a bunch of ’88ers,” including Jim Elliott
’88 and Dekker Buckley ’88. “My wife threw a party
for me in part because I was turning 50 but probably more because, amazingly, we were still married,”
riffs A.J. “It was great fun, though my kids were a
bit traumatized when Hans gave a toast about me
getting arrested in college and then, along with
him, being escorted off an Acela and thrown into a
jail in Maryland. But, thankfully, we are all grown
up now!”
For San Diego-based Daphne Lurie, now in her
fifth year as director of the in-house counseling center at The Scripps Research Institute and “loving the
74
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
job,” turning 50 meant a family trip to Maui for snorkeling and ziplining. “It could not have been better,”
she writes. “My husband Steve and I have been married for over 16 years and have a wonderful, strapping (6’1”) theater-loving high school sophomore to
show for it.”
In fine fettle, too, is Steve Newton, who recently
assumed responsibility for 13 hospitals in the DFW
Metroplex region as president of north Texas operations for the Baylor Scott and White Health system.
Had she had the opportunity, the always entertaining Mary Keller “would have delivered the
following update as a singing toast.” Mary, Jill
Shulman and I will hold you to that for future editions. Here, meanwhile, is her cheery dispatch from
Wyoming, where Mary works as an academic professional lecturer in religious studies and an adjunct
faculty in the African-American and diaspora studies program for the University of Wyoming. When
not tending to “two teens, two dogs, four chickens,
two ferrets, lots of bicycles and a garden,” Mary is
“taking advantage of my early years as a candidate
for the Senior Winter Olympics by returning to
cross-country ski racing.” With the 2016 Wyoming
Senior Olympics being held in Cody, she suggests
that “anyone wanting a small field in a big state
should come out and celebrate your ‘pentadecadence’ by scoring medals while skiing adjacent to
Yellowstone’s East Entrance.”
With her other local recommendations including “winter camping to see the steam-frosted
forests of Yellowstone and listening to the furnacelike breathing of the bison, massive in their winter coats,” Mary is also focused on issues relating
to climate change and alternatives to fossil fuels.
Interested Ephs can connect with Mary at the 2016
National Bioneers Conference in Boulder, Colo., an
acclaimed annual event highlighting breakthrough
solutions for restoring people and our planet.
Lastly, we return to Williamstown, where Jordan
Hampton, as VP of the Society of Alumni, “had the
pleasure of visiting several times this fall” while
also celebrating the launch of Teach It Forward
(teachitforward.williams.edu), a campaign she calls
“the most ambitious in the history of the college.”
As she explains, the campaign “will help shape the
Williams of the future by funding a diverse student
body through financial aid, attracting over 100 new
faculty members, redefining the sciences on campus
and investing on learning opportunities beyond the
classroom. In addition to the monetary goals for the
campaign, the college is also making a priority the
engagement and connection of alumni in meaningful
ways besides financial contributions.”
Under the banner of “Purple with Purpose,”
alumni are invited to get involved in various ways,
such as submitting memories of a favorite retiring
faculty member, writing what might become the
next great Williams song and nominating a fellow
classmate in recognition of his or her service to the
community.
“I hope that some of you are able to attend a
regional campaign kickoff event,” Jordan says. “They
promise to be interesting and stimulating.” Another
reason to come home, she adds, is the freshly renovated Log. “They left all the good stuff, including
carved tables, patriotic paintings and old beer cans,
1987– 88
while adding new bathrooms, insulation and some
nice fireplaces. It is amazing.”
Purple with Purpose—there’s a world of possibilities out there. Go connect with an Eph today.
1988
Peter Grose, 1 Hampshire Woods Court, Towson, MD
Ajit Menon said he has not been very good at keeping in touch with Williams, but since he is getting old he thought maybe he should surface now.
He is a faculty member at the Madras Institute of
Development Studies in Chennai, India, where he
has been since 2006. He does research and guides
PhD students. His area of work is political ecology,
and he does research on natural resource conflicts in
forested and fishery landscapes in Tamil Nadu, which
is a southern state.
Ken Marcus published his second book, The
Definition of Anti-Semitism (Oxford University Press).
He is running around talking about it, especially at
law school chapters of the public interest advocacy
organization he started a few years ago, the Louis D.
Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
Maureen Velazquez started a job at Duke Medicine
in early October. After 15 years in the performance
improvement department, she agreed to lead the
information asset management efforts. She will be
helping the health care organization get the data and
answers it needs to improve patient care. Health analytics are the next frontier after converting medical
records to electronic health record applications. She
gets to work with some of the brightest colleagues
and most innovative approaches. There has been a lot of news regarding visits to
colleges with children. Sue Thomas visited Tracy
Heilman in Williamstown in September and was
delighted to have a whole weekend to catch up with
Tracy, Brooks Foehl and Lisa Tenerowicz as well as to
meet and draw inspiration from a wonderful group of
our most dedicated fellow alumni. She had the pleasure of driving through Williamstown quite a bit over
the past year, visiting colleges and dropping off her
son at RPI, where he is enrolled as a dual mechanical/aeronautical engineer in the Class of 2019. In
August, just prior to sending her one and only off to
college, she spent an amazing two weeks camping,
hiking, driving and boating her way through Nova
Scotia and Newfoundland. Nova Scotia is beautiful but will seem familiar to New Englanders, even
when rafting the tidal bore, whereas Newfoundland
is another experience entirely, and she found it well
worth venturing further off the beaten path. Lisa T
recruited Sue to help out with our class 50th birthday
party, so be sure to get in touch with Sue with ideas
of how to celebrate, and mark it in your calendars
when we settle on a date.
Teresa Spillane’s life has been dominated by the
college search, times three. She has visited many
schools on the East Coast and even an outlier on the
West Coast to accommodate everyone’s needs. Teresa
is busy and back to school herself, training to be a
psychoanalyst and mending from a recent amicable
divorce. As she says, life moves forward.
As her daughter is a freshman in college this year,
Mary Taylor Miller has recalled meeting all the great
people who became such good friends at Williams.
Mary is thinking of everyone who is hitting or
about to hit the big 50 and wishes everyone a big
happy birthday.
We also have classmates reporting interesting overseas travel. Katie Chatas accompanied her
husband Geoff to his INSEAD business school
reunion. She met up with Victoria Rummler, who
has been performing and composing in Paris for
about 20 years.
Alicia Bjornson had a busy year. She completed
21 years of service working as a historian in the
New Jersey State Parks. In October, she celebrated
her one-year anniversary at Wharton State Forest/
Batsto Village. In August she had a fabulous visit to
Iceland, the land of her ancestors, on the Snorri Plus
program, which connects North Americans back
to their Icelandic roots. She was able to meet family in Iceland and connect with cousins on the program. She was also able to meet work colleagues and
learn about the similarities and differences of their
professions. A highlight of the trip was having the
chance to meet two world leaders: past president of
Iceland, Madam Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, and the current president, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who met
with her team of Snorri Plus at his home. In early
October, she and a friend returned to Williamstown
to visit Andrew Laitman ’85 and Dan Armani ’85 for a
gorgeous retreat. Maggie Heaman wrote from San Juan, Puerto
Rico, where she was working on the final leg of
Katy Perry’s Prismatic World Tour. She had already
stopped in Lima, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro for Rock
in Rio, Curitiba, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Bogota,
and planned to go to Panama City, and San Jose,
Costa Rica, before heading home to San Jose, Calif.
Sarah Loebs Werkman and Sarah McMillan
celebrated the year we turn 50 with an amazing trip
walking 100 miles of the Rota Vicentina along the
southwestern coast of Portugal. They walked between
10 and 15 miles a day across beaches, on ocean cliffs
and through beautiful little villages. They traveled
together 25 years ago in Australia and are hopeful
that they will have another adventure 25 years from
now. Sarah adds that it is hard for her and Russell to
believe that their son Isaac is a senior and is applying
to colleges.
Paul Danielson is a colonel in the Army and lives
in St. Petersburg, Fla. His 3rd Group Special Forces
unit is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in the fall.
Paul’s wife has pointed out that he is getting to be a
bit too “long in the tooth” for such adventures so he
plans to retire from the Army after this tour and leave
it to the younger generation.
JR Rahill has been deployed for four months with
the Green Mountain Boys to the Pacific in two different locations. He is still flying F-16s and is riding
his mountain bike a lot there. He was looking forward to getting home; he was missing the family and
hoping that he would have some fall left when he got
back to Vermont. His wife Cathy loves working in
the athletic dept at UVM and plugging away on her
doctorate in education and leadership. Sky is 15, has
his permit, is still playing lots of baseball and wants to
play D1 baseball in college. Finn is 13, playing lots of
baseball and soccer and hanging out with his friends.
He went to Camp Dudley over the summer, across
J A N UA RY 2016
l
75
CLASS NOTES
the lake in NY, where Jon Edie and Tom Newhall
were both counselors for years.
Megan Hawgood had an interesting Williams
connection. Her brother forwarded a link from his
Sunday morning news broadcast (at the Cincinnati
NBC station). He was interviewing Blake Robison
(artistic director at the theater where she spent
her high school years ushering—the Cincinnati
Playhouse in the Park) about a play beginning
its run. Apparently Blake and Jonathan made the
connection, and Megan and Blake’s Williamsoriginated friendship was given a shout-out on local
TV. Megan has tried to keep her interest in theater
alive as an avocation, through local community
theater. Though it has been a while since she last
trod the local stage, she does regularly volunteer as
an usher (old habits die hard), and she is thinking
that when her now 18-year-old baby pushes off to
college next fall, she will have no excuses for not
auditioning again.
Mary Ellen Ulmer found some very oblique
Williams connections in her book club, where a
woman grew up with Tanya Stanciu and met Yuji
Shinozaki after Williams. The book club member
also grew up with the Kaplan family, of which Bob
(Bobby to her) dated her roommate, Lillian Kessler.
The world is a small and random place. Mary Ellen
lives in Beaverton, Ore. Her oldest child is applying to college, and Mary Ellen wrote that she is glad
she herself is not applying these days, since it is far
too competitive. Mary Ellen has been in touch with
Williams people on the phone for birthday wishes.
Her youngest child is a high school freshman. Mary
Ellen’s husband celebrated his 50th, and Mary Ellen
says she just feels old. She is no longer in the administration of her medical group but is back to being a
regular pediatrician and teaching med students and
nurse practitioner students. Someone did it for her, so
she feels like she needs to teach those who will take
care of us when we are old. Her motto is to eat right
and stay active to keep doctors at bay.
In other West Coast news, Suz MacCormack and
her family are still in the Presidio National Park,
where they see coyotes regularly. She is only 20 minutes away from her office. After spending the month
of August in Europe, her boys (12, 9 and 5) are
back in school and playing lots of baseball and soccer. While her Giants weren’t in the playoffs this
year (having won the World Series three of the last
six years, her boys believe it will happen next year),
Manchester United is (as of Suz’s update) top of the
tables (husband from Manchester, and kids are huge
fans), so all is right with the world.
Brian Watson and his husband Hiro have officially
returned to the U.S. They are in temporary digs in
Seattle but hope to close on a townhouse in Kent (a
Seattle suburb). He got hired full time at Nintendo
and is really happy about that. They were on their way
to see Barak Rosenbloom, who was throwing a party
for the running of the salmon.
Dave Kane had six Williams interns working
for him over the summer. It was very fun, and he
suspects that some of our classmates would enjoy
bringing Williams interns to their businesses as
well. Thanks to everyone for your updates.
76
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
1989
Leslie Jeffs Senke, 284 Partridge Run, Mountainside, NJ
Lots of names and news to include this time
around, so I’ll get right to it!
First, congratulations to Sarah Cole, who was the
recipient of a 2014 Guggenheim Fellowship for a
book project titled The Wells Era. Sarah’s research
focused on the work of H.G. Wells and his contemporaries; as she writes on the Guggenheim website,
“In this anniversary year of 2014, I [was] especially
attuned to the continuing importance of the First
World War as a subject of study. My own teaching and writing have in many ways been motivated
by the imperative to understand the war in deep
and expansive terms. For Wells and his generation,
the great goal was to see that such wars could never
happen again; for ours, it may simply be to comprehend them.” Having completed her fellowship,
Sarah is now chair of the Department of English and
Comparative Literature at Columbia University.
Also serving as chair—in his case, of the English
department at Johns Hopkins University, where he
is in his eighth year of teaching—is my fellow class
poet (and now real-life poet) Chris Nealon. Chris
published a book of poems, Heteronomy, last year and
just brought out a single long-poem chapbook, The
Victorious. Chris writes: “My partner, Rob Hardies,
who’s the senior minister at All Souls Church in DC,
spoke before the Pope at the Climate Justice Rally
on Sept. 24. He and I attended the fourth (!) and
most fully legal (!) wedding of Adair Fox and Shelley
Whelpton ’90 on Sept. 19, also in DC. The big news,
though,” adds Chris, “is that my son Nico is now in
preschool. I can’t believe it. What else? I see Kent
Whitehead pretty often; he made me regret not going
to our 25th.”
Professor-Chef Tim Shaw wrote in from the
Bay Area: “I graduated from Presidio Graduate
School with a master’s in public administration and
was immediately offered a faculty position at San
Francisco State University in the department of hospitality and tourism management. My main job will
be to revamp and update the student-run restaurant
and to introduce sustainability and farm-to-table
issues. … I have also been asked to be a judge on the
Biomimicry Institutes Global Design Challenge,
which offers a $100,000 prize to the best design project that addresses intractable food problems in global
food systems.” Congrats, Tim!
Congratulations are also due to Deborah Snyder,
who was honored by the Girl Scouts of Greater New
York as a 2015 Woman of Distinction. Deborah was
recognized for her commitment to public service
through her role as a managing director at Accenture,
where she specializes in helping public-sector organizations better achieve their goals.
Gemma Burgos went back to school this year to get
her secondary school credential in foundation math
at California State University, Northridge. Gemma
writes: “I am enrolled in the accelerated program. If
I am good with my time management, I should have
it by next June. So far, so good, but most days I am
not getting much sleep. I am really enjoying teaching
sixth-graders and working with my master teacher.
Why didn’t I do this sooner?” Gemma traveled with
1988– 89
her 92-year-old father to the Philippines for three
weeks over the summer, covering three islands. She
also met up with Eda Suh in August to celebrate her
birthday. Gemma sends best wishes to our class.
Fellow teacher (English, Brookline High School,
Mass.) John Andrews answered my prompt
(“What, if anything, would you change about your
Williams experience and why?”) as follows: “My
only regret about Williams was not going away to
study. I was too worried about missing something
on campus, but I should have taken the opportunity to live and study abroad.” He continues: “Life
is good—took a trip to California in August and
did some wine tasting with Todd Pelkey in a rented
red convertible (also known as the midlife crisis
special). Flying home, I found Christie Donahue
sitting six rows behind me. Hope to catch up with
her and Susie Everett this fall (Morgan East!). I
sing with a Boston-based chorus, Coro Allegro,
and when I picked up the music for our fall concert, I found we were singing a piece written by my
JA, Paul Rardin ’87. Mozart and Rardin—should
be a good show!”
Longtime reader, first-time contributor Selena
Tan sent news from Cambridge, Mass., where she
and Ken Lafler ’86 celebrated their 25th wedding
anniversary with a large backyard party. Guests
included Erich Groat ’86, Randall Kromm ’86, Alma
Lafler (Harvard ’13), Sean McPherson ’88 and Peter
Ruggiero ’88. Selena explains that she and Ken
wanted “to make up for the big wedding feast we
promised friends and family back in 1990 but never
delivered. At the party, we had one country band,
one surf/rock instrumental band, an impromptu duet
with a blues guitarist and a jazz singer, a triple-decker
cake and a ridiculous amount of BBQ!”
Also celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary
were Tina Loose and Tom Loose, who hit the milestone in July. Tina reports: “We ventured to Europe
for the first time with the kids! We hit Paris,
Versailles and Normandy. Great trip! Next, we went
to the Bahamas with John ‘Bunnyman’ Bellwoar
and his family, where coincidentally Dan ‘the Man’
Pryor and kids were staying in the house two doors
down! Enjoyed hosting alternate happy hours, and
Dan treated us to homemade margaritas and coconut chips! Big fun!” Tina adds that her twins now
have their drivers’ permits. Her advice? “You all
might want to steer clear of Pennsylvania roadways
for a while!”
Mary Iliff Ewenson and her husband Geoff celebrated a couple of professional anniversaries: They
founded their sailing magazine, SpinSheet, 20 years
ago and their powerboat magazine, PropTalk, 10
years ago. Both publications are flourishing, and
Mary writes: “I feel fortunate that my job requires/
allows me to spend a lot of time on and around
the water. Kirsten Hasenfuss Tolley lives nearby,
and we see each other often. She’s got a great dog
training business, so she’s responsible for our dog
Angus’ good behavior. This summer, Kirsten, her
husband George Tolley ’88 and Geoff and I saw the
Violent Femmes in concert. It brought back many
memories of freshman year. All good.” Adds Mary,
“Life has conspired against my making it to recent
reunions, but I’m always glad to see that so many of
our classmates have such interesting lives—and sad
to hear that some of our group have passed on.
It doesn’t seem real.”
Sarah Mitchell attended the Telluride, Colo., Blues
and Brews festival in September. It was her “first time
in Telluride, and it is truly a magical place. Festival
was so fun, and I got to see one of my favorite artists,
John Hiatt.” Back at home in Albuquerque, N.M.,
Sarah keeps busy with her booming practice as a
psychotherapist, not to mention her twin girls, who
have started middle school. “I cannot believe it,” says
Sarah. “They appear to be most excited about having lockers, of all things. They continue to be active in
piano and soccer and school activities.”
Doug Hunt was lucky to attend Jon Ward’s wedding in May. He meets up regularly with fellow
Seattleite Rich Ward and enjoys frequent dinners with
Lani Wolfe, Sarah Marcus Barton and Jen Gosselin,
who visits Seattle monthly as part of her work for
Amazon. Doug adds: “In December, I will be heading to London with my 10-year-old son Kepler in
tow to surprise him with tickets to the premiere of
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. He has no idea, and
it will be 1977 all over for me when I was 10 and saw
the first one at the Springfield Mall in Virginia. I
think I am more excited that he will be!”
Nancy Johnson is busy teaching (math, English,
life science and environmental science—can you say
Renaissance woman?) and parenting in southern
China. Nancy and her family enjoyed a summer vacation in Jackson, Wyo., and Yellowstone. Nancy writes:
“I still practice my explorations in the culinary arts on
my family and always get at least one ‘yuck’ from the
kids, but I would be bored to tears if I weren’t trying
something new every week.” Perhaps Chef Tim Shaw
can help with menu planning from afar?
Recently relocated to Arlington, Va., is Deborah
Panakkal, who is working on her doctorate and
eagerly awaiting the publication of her book Living
Mindfully: At Home, At Work, and in the World. Writes
Deborah: “I miss the incredible luxury of being a fulltime student as we were at Williams. I don’t think
there’s any way for undergraduates to understand
just how much of a privilege it is to focus 100 percent on studying, but later in life, it becomes clearer.”
Deborah met up with Katrina Bens in Bogota,
Colombia, in June, and says, “It was really fun and
nice to see how much commonality there is among
classmates, even when we hadn’t been close friends at
school. The reunion experience certainly reinforced
all that!”
Re-living their days on the crew team (and looking
like they’re still in college—send me some anti-aging
tips, guys!), Jeff Kip, Andy Hoddick, Todd Owens ’90,
Geoff Oxnam ’91 and Ian Smith ’92 all converged
on Cambridge, Mass., for the Head of the Charles
regatta in October. Sorely missed were David Bar
Katz and Seth Burns.
Chris Palmedo writes: “After 25 years living in
Portland, Ore. (yes, I left literally the day after graduation), I’m now an associate professor of media marketing and communications at the City University of
New York School of Public Health. My new office
is near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr.
and Malcolm X boulevards in Harlem. While I miss
Portland and all my Williams friends back there, I
would love to reconnect with folks in the New York
area. Hit me up if you’re interested—I’m easy to find!”
J A N UA RY 2016
l
77
CLASS NOTES
Class President Cooper Campbell Jackson left Sony
Pictures and joined 20th Century Fox Film as the
SVP of business affairs for worldwide home entertainment. Cooper says: “My kids finally thought I
was a little bit cool when I took them to a 3D screening of The Martian on the Fox lot.” Cooper has been
busy visiting with lots of classmates. “Naree WongseSanit Viner was in LA last week and joined Julie
Jacobson Kelley, Jen Morris Grossman and me for
a lovely outdoor brunch. Noriko Honda Chen came
through town on business. I see Mitch Wong and his
family on a regular basis, and Sarah Bott is my regular date for fun concerts around town!”
Heather Martinez Zona has taken up boxing.
Explains Heather: “My broken leg situation made it
difficult to run for awhile, and I was tired of feeling
globular. I will be going to Chicago for my grandfather’s 98th birthday. Still practicing law. Still have a
lot of animals. Thinking of heading to Cambodia in
the New Year.”
Chris Collingwood was in Brentwood, Calif., and
had this to report: “I was walking through Whole
Foods at around 10 p.m. when who do I see but
Tommy Chong. He smiled at me, and I knew
right there and then that everything was going to
be alright.”
Finally, I received a very eloquent and moving
email from Joaquin Campbell, who recounted a
recent visit with Donna Murch ’92, who returned to
Williams in October to deliver the annual Davis
Lecture. Joaquin and Donna discussed, among other
topics, their shared experience of being black at
Williams in the late 20th century and what Joaquin
describes as “the uncanny ability of Williams to injure
you and simultaneously nurture you.” This in turn
reminded Joaquin of his very personal experience “in
the midst of a tumultuous end to my college career
and the demise of the Cold War and how I shared
my experience with (then-President) Frank Oakley.”
Recounts Joaquin: “My family had a huge tragedy
in my senior year, and my parents did not make it
to graduation. So Frank Oakley invited me to be his
guest at his house after our commencement. I was the
only student in a ballroom full of distinguished guests
and the incredible commencement speaker, who was
Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, whose son David Cole
’84 had gone to Williams. As soon as Dr. Cole saw
me walk in, she yelled across the room in a loud fairy
godmother voice to let me know that she was my sister-mother-friend sent there to rescue me, declaring,
‘You, what’s your name? You and I are kindred spirits.’
We instantly bonded. Frank Oakley had set the stage
for two souls to get intimate. He had sanctioned an
invitation to be with him. One of the invitees was a
black female powerhouse president of a historic black
college in the South, and the other was a powerless
black male student from the South. Williams College
had once again furthered possibly great distress with
extreme satisfaction.”
Concludes Joaquin: “I wonder how many other
people had similar bittersweet experiences in our
Purple Valley.” I think many of us did, in many different ways, and with many different outcomes. College
was, for all of us, a time of growth and self-discovery;
sometimes painful, hopefully productive. I imagine
that many, if not most, of us felt both included and
excluded in complicated ways.
78
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Hopefully, with the passing of time, we now better
understand and embrace the ways in which privilege
and struggle and elation and disappointment intersect and provide us with moments of great joy and
sorrow and opportunity. How lucky we all are to have
been gifted with an education that gave us the voice
to speak our individual and collective truths.
And on that note, I leave you until next time.
1990
Polly A. LeBarron, 7 Cone Ave., Unit A, PO Box 117,
Housatonic, MA 01236; David L. Pesikoff, 1811 North
Boulevard, Houston, TX 77098; Hilary K. Steinman, 40
West 86th St., #17A, New York, NY 10024;
Your secretaries all made it to Williamstown in
the fall, led by Hilary Steinman, who had the pleasure of heading to Williams for Convocation in
September. While it’s hard to top the festivities of our
25th reunion in June, with so many wonderful classmates, nothing beats how beautiful Williamstown
is on a crisp, clear fall day. She also had the chance
while in Billsville to get the scoop on the new Purple
with Purpose campaign (teachitforward.williams.
edu/pwp/). For all our brilliant ’90 composers and
lyricists—Williams has launched a contest for a new
official college song to join the canon alongside “The
Mountains.” With all the talent in the class, we hope
some of you rise to the challenge and send in a submission. One of the other really exciting elements is
the “Celebrate Fellow Ephs” recognition program.
You can go online and nominate Ephs you know
who are making a difference in their community or
in the world.
We could not squeeze in all the reunion news in
our last issue of class notes due to space limits. So as
promised, here’s the rest of the news that flooded in
post reunion.
Former class secretary Christina Ohly Evans sent
a lovely note to help us out: “I am not sure where to
begin regarding our 25th reunion. … I went in with
high expectations, and it exceeded them on every
level. It was a pleasure to reconnect with so many—
even those that I am in regular touch with, including Cassandra Hiland, Hilary Steinman and David
Pesikoff, Jeff Biersach, David Morrison, Jeff
Friedman, Matt Tarses and so many more. It is rare
in these busy work- and kid-filled days that we get
the chance to connect for an entire afternoon, and
I enjoyed everything from the lightning-infused
dinner on Friday night to the parade and picnic
on Chapin lawn, where highlights included visiting with Net Roegge, Ragnar von Schiber, Alyssa
Doyle and Timmie Friend Haskins—all of whom
I don’t see nearly enough. What I loved best of all
about the weekend was learning about the incredible, diverse things people are doing with their lives.
From Brice Hoskin and Karen Hoskin making rum in
Crested Butte, Colo., to Kristin Frederickson working in landscape design in Boston, to Beth Worley
practicing pediatric medicine in the Bronx, to Win
Goodbody enjoying an outdoor-centric life in the
Pacific Northwest, everyone’s stories and experiences are inspiring. I particularly loved reconnecting
with the stellar Morgan freshman-year group—David
Bank, Kevin Confoy, Will Hong, Tiffany Holmes,
1989– 90
Siu Lung, Joanna Lowell and Josh Glenn among
them. One glaring absence from that crew was Amy
Kershaw, who couldn’t make it at the last minute
but who has promised to attend the 30th. My four
years at Williams were transformative, and I know
they were for my dad, Fred Ohly ’65, who was in
Williamstown celebrating his 50th that weekend as
well. Lucky us! The 25th brought into clear focus for
me how truly special our class is and I am very, very
proud to be a part of it. I hope to see more of you in
these years ahead and I also hope the conversations,
memories and the picture of Chris Hiland (honorary alum) dancing in Mission Park that weekend will
hang with me for a long while. Thank you, all!”
Beth Gannon sent her reunion thoughts: “I had a
fantastic time at reunion—spending time with classmates I knew and loved from my time at Williams
and having wonderful conversations with classmates I didn’t know nearly as well as I should have
as a student, Beth Broadrup Lieberman chief among
them. It was so good to see some people for the
first time in at least 15 or 20 years—Melissa Beach
Dresselhuys and Kim Tipper Clarke were such magnificent surprises! It was wonderful watching my
daughter bond with the children of my closest friends
from college. Stacey Minyard and I met on my very
first day (it might have been my very first meal) at
Williams, and watching our daughters hang out
together for the entire weekend was by turns frightening, hilarious and heart-warming.” It looks like we have some additional members
of the “still partying until (at least) 4 a.m.” contingent! Steve Linen sums up his reunion experience
with: “Too many conversations to be had, too little
time. But a hardy few did try. Amanda Gallagher,
Ginny Byers Churchill, Scott Nabel and I gathered
with the last of the grape for a final push to solve
old class mysteries—Judge Whitney Wilson presiding. It’s not clear if more questions were answered
or raised, and I’m pretty sure nothing was actually
adjudicated. Suffice it to say the transcript will never
be released, but much fun was had by all. Court
adjourned at 4:30 a.m.”
Russ Hollenbeck tells us, “Some things were
familiar. It was very funny to be standing in a
dorm bathroom with David Pesikoff again on a
Saturday morning with a slight headache, just like
junior year. The bathroom mirror is still too low for
me, and the dorm rooms still have that familiar smell.
Some things were new. The library, Paresky and the
stadium and new football field are all incredible. And
I was surprised when I ventured over to East 1, only
to find that my old freshman room (and that of my
cohort, Bob Howie) is now part of a spacious and luxurious common room, complete with sofas, a microwave and a big-screen TV. These kids today have no
idea how tough we had it. … Summer is predictably hot here in Houston, despite the recent encounter with Tropical Storm Bill, and our kids are each
enjoying camps for soccer (David, 13) and water polo
(Emily, 16). The newest development is that our teenage daughter is now driving—so beware the streets of
northwest Houston.”
We’re going to give Gillian Lippert the last words
on reunion, because hers are fantastic: “My path to
our 25th reunion went something like this: Williams
F > Jackie Graves > rugby > beer practice > Rachel
Martin > phone call 29 years later two weeks before
reunion telling me in no uncertain terms that I was
going. Thank you Jackie, rugby, beer, Rachel and cell
phones (though not necessarily in that order) for getting me to the reunion. It was surreal, sublime, surprising, sappy and yet—it was still the same. You
gotta love Williams for that. I do, however, have a
few questions: Who painted the portraits of John
Romans, Jeff Biersach, Christina Ohly Evans, Jackie
Graves and Ragnar von Schiber that are wrinkling
and decaying in an attic somewhere? I’d like that
contact info, please. Why did it take 25 years before I
ever talked to Steve Branoff? Why did Connie Davis
Manes spend the day at the wrong school? So what
if her son’s last lacrosse game was at Yale and it was
her birthday? Did David Pesikoff learn how to be
the most indefatigable person on the planet without ever being annoying, or was he born that way?
How did Kim Ryan Servin and John Servin ’89 manage to have kids together before they ever started at
Williams? Because that is the only way to explain
how their daughter is now a junior there. How is
Brooks Foehl ’88 exactly the same and more awesome at the same time? How did I not know Billy
Schwartz was at the reunion until after he left? Why
do I still know what icing and off-sides are, but I can’t
remember the name of my calculus professor who
generously taught me a semester of calculus in 15
hours one week before the final so I wouldn’t fail the
class? Is it just me, or does David Oman look exactly
like Gregory Harrison? And how is it still news to
some people that I was the one behind the dead fish?
It was great to see people I haven’t seen since 1990
and to meet people I wish I had met before 1990.
More than anything, it was great to get the kick-inthe-ass reminder that this is my class from Williams.
You are my peeps. It’s one time I’m happy to belong
to a club that’ll have me—the Williams Class of ’90
club—and be a lifetime member at that.”
And now we move on to the news from those who
weren’t able to make it back to the Purple Valley. Or
who managed to fit in additional adventures since we
were all together. Susan Pitcher writes: “I work as a
web developer and as webmaster for a large international development project primed by a company that
I have technically been at since 2003, maintaining
employment through a series of mergers, acquisitions
and divestments. Next month we go through iteration seven of the company identity, and I don’t know
what that name will be yet. When not at work, I am
reading (ditched the TV about two years ago), home
brewing, gardening, crafting, cycling (took over four
years to get to 5K miles on my car), helping out at my
dad’s house (he has Parkinson’s), hanging out with
my dog anywhere there is water or chipmunks (or a
fan/AC) and flying over the speed bumps on the hill
in front of my house on a drift trike (adult-sized big
wheel).”
Yoko Hirano has two boys who keep her really busy.
“I love having boys, though they are very physical and
need to keep active, so I need to keep active, too. I’ve
worked as an editor in educational publishing ever
since leaving Williams. I worked at Pearson for 16
years. I got to travel globally to do research in classes
and interview teachers, then moved to work freelance
for a division of Macmillan. This gives me more flexibility to be with my family and less stress with no
J A N UA RY 2016
l
79
CLASS NOTES
commute. I live in a beautiful bucolic town on the
Hudson River, Cold Spring, N.Y., which is about an
hour north of NYC. Lots of great hiking and friendly
people here.”
Matt Levin was very happy Tyler housemate Rob
Hoyt was able to swing north to see him at his central Vermont home after reunion. Matt is happily
ensconced in his 210-year-old house just outside
Montpelier with his family. His work for a couple of
community-based nonprofits, chasing two small kids
and an old house on a five-acre lot keep him busy.
He introduced Rob to that great Vermont traditional
dish, the creemee (number of e’s vary by region), and
caught up while his boys worked on their ice cream
cone management skills.
Fred Geiersbach writes, “I am enjoying my 14th
year of teaching at St. Andrew’s, where we now
have a raging music program. I don’t think I would
be allowed to teach all the music courses I do at the
college level, and though I am crazy busy all the
time, I’m also very happy—something many teachers are not these days. Yesterday was hot but dry
and perfect for mowing the horse pastures. I am
fulfilling my inner 8-year-old’s dream of driving a
farm tractor in a field every couple weeks. I choose
several instruments each summer that I practice
extensively on to get better, and this summer I am
enjoying Hofner classical guitar and working on
bassoon reeds. Flute comes first, but I am going to
make it to 10,000 hours on every instrument. My
son Xander is a senior next year and is very interested in Williams. We took the tour this spring,
and I was again impressed with the feeling of the
school after not having stepped on its beautiful
campus since I graduated!” Catherine Hirshfeld Crouch did not make
it to reunion, because June included her oldest (Timothy) graduating from high school and
a family celebration of her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Having missed the 10th reunion
for the birth of her daughter Amy, there seems to
be a pattern of major life events conflicting with
reunions. However, she will be an empty nester
by the time the 30th rolls around and intends to
come then. She enjoyed reading the reunion book
and was impressed by how many of her classmates
are still good writers, as presumably they were at
Williams—not to mention funny and profound.
Jonna Hooker Whitman and Doug Whitman had a
busy summer: “A week after attending reunion in
Williamstown, our family went to Italy for a whirlwind tour of Rome, Florence and Venice. On our
first night in Rome, we had dinner with Andres
Vatter, a Lehman East entrymate of Doug’s. Andres
and his family moved to Rome, where Andres grew
up, about one and a half years ago. He had been living in the Netherlands for about 15 years. Andres
works with the UN in Rome; his office is across the
street from the Circus Maximus. It was terrific having a local person arrange dinner that first night—
we were pretty jet-lagged! I shared several of our
reunion materials with Andres and filled him in as
best I could on the big weekend. It was clear that
he had read the 25th reunion book because he had
plenty of questions. It was great to see him and
his wonderful family. His daughters are learning
Italian, their fifth language!”
80
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Betty Dunkum Patten is now the CEO of Victory
Trial Consulting, a national, full-service trial consulting firm dedicated to providing clients with the highest quality jury and trial consulting services in the
nation. Her firm assists attorneys in virtually every
aspect of a case, ranging from the thematic development of case issues, trial communication strategies,
voir dire, jury selection, settlement videos, witness
evaluation and training and other consultation. Their
research activities include focus groups, mock trials, private trials and early neutral evaluation. Betty
says that the attorneys and law firms whom they
work with have often enjoyed considerable success, as
either plaintiffs or defendants. Betty says, “My family is doing well. My stepson Benjamin is a national
headhunter with Triumph Professional Staffing. My
husband David continues to work as a senior editor
with Newsmax Media.”
Dave Bank and Will LaFave want to welcome
Melissa Beach Dresselhuys as co-head agent!
Last, we end on a sad note. In July, David
Pesikoff’s wife Sarah passed away after a valiant battle with cancer over the previous 18 months. Our
hearts go out to David and his sons Ethan and Jacob.
1991
REUNION JUNE 9-12
25
th
Christine Choi, 85 1st Place, Apt. 2, Brooklyn,
NY 11231; Ramona Liberoff, 1 Eco Vale, London,
SE23 3DL, UK; Pete McEntegart, 1140 North LaSalle
Drive, Apt. 613, Chicago, IL, 60610;
Submitted by Pete McEntegart: Any time I visit
Williamstown, I confess that I become a little envious
of the Ephs who live there year-round. This edition’s
pole-position update from noted Billsville resident
Ann Marie (Marvin) Swann confirms that I have reason for such envy, but that thankfully it hasn’t gone to
their heads. As Ann Marie puts it, “Life in the Purple
Valley is pretty darn good. We never take for granted
how fortunate we are to live in Williamstown.”
One “good” thing is that it means nearly daily Eph
sightings. (Or even more frequently if you marry an
Eph, as Ann Marie did with Rob Swann ’90.) Ann
Marie frequently sees current field hockey coach Alix
Hyde ’93, especially because their daughters are the
co-captains of the Mount Greylock HS soccer team.
Ann Marie sent a picture of both Ephs posing with
their daughters in their soccer uniforms, and it’s not
hard to pick out which daughter belongs to which
mom—one daughter has red hair and freckles, and
the other is unmistakably a Hyde.
Ann Marie also ran a 100-mile relay race in July,
the Mass Dash, which traveled from the base of
Mount Greylock (yay!) to Amherst (boo!). The
six-member team all had Eph ties, including Ann
Marie; Williams President Adam Falk; Brooks
Foehl ’88 and his cousin Chas Foehl ’87; Blair Dils,
the brother-in-law of Jen Storey ’89 and son-in-law
of John Storey ’65; and Margaux Peabody, the sisterin-law of Bo Peabody ’94. The team had “an absolute
blast” and finished a very impressive second place in
the open division, just behind Colonial Team Red,
which I like to imagine honors the famed red sauce
from Colonial Pizza.
Ann Marie closed her letter by saying that she’s
looking forward to seeing everyone next June at our
1990– 91
25th reunion, which was a nearly universal refrain in
the updates sent for this edition. Indeed, it seems that
many folks are warming up for June with smallerscale Eph encounters. On that front, it’s hard to top
the minireunion hosted by Julie (Carroll) Fay over the
summer at her family’s lake house in the Berkshires,
in Becket. The unbeatable aspect wasn’t simply the
star-studded cast of attendees (more on that in a
moment) but the astonishing lawn ornament that
graces the house. On Mother’s Day, Julie arrived to
see that her Uncle Bill had planted in the turf a giant
(roughly 8 feet by 5 feet) Williams purple cow. Says
Julie in her Hatfield-native shorthand: “Neighbors
digging it. Will decorate for Xmas.”
Julie’s Eph-fest was billed as a girls’ outing, which
meant her housemates from Lambert House and
their female offspring. That included Ashley Clarey
with 1-year-old Felicity; Maral (Apelian) Banks with
daughters Taline and Julia; Danielle (Boyd) Heard
with daughters Aimee and Zoe; Jackie (Weider)
Jones with girls Nicole and Carolyn; and Julie and
her daughter Maggie, leaving sons Tim and Jack
at home. Phew, that’s a lot of X chromosomes. The
weekend was capped by a fireworks show orchestrated by Danielle that “almost lit the Berkshires on
fire.” Julie also saw Jackie’s daughter Nicole playing
Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical on opening night
at the Barrington Stage in Pittsfield. Writes Julie,
“She was amazing. Not sure where that talent came
from, but I know her mom never sang like that!”
In September the Berkshires hosted another event
that’s very popular with Ephs: the annual FreshGrass
Bluegrass Festival at MASS MoCA in North
Adams. FreshGrass is the brainchild of founder/organizer Chris “Gis” Wadsworth. Chris Merserau wrote
in to say that he and his wife Jill attended along with
Kathy (Judge) Igoe, Tom Harvey, Jason Gull, Sean
Watterson, Melissa Fenton and Denis Gainty ’92.
Adds Merse: “I urge all Ephs to attend the fest in
2016 for a really good time.” Merse frequently sees
Bill “Buff ” Winterer, Mark “Fonzter” Elefante and
Bill “Paco” Weiss, either as a golf foursome or at
Fenway Park.
Melissa Fenton sent in a FreshGrass report, saying:
“Make it there next year!” She swung by Williams
that same weekend as the college presented its
Bicentennial Medals, meeting up with Mary Moule
and hubby Greg Woods, Williams professor Joe Cruz
and Leila Jere, president of the Society of Alumni
and thus, in Melissa’s appropriate words, “our fearless leader.”
These days, it seems Melissa’s life is full of song.
Besides FreshGrass, Melissa and fellow Sage D-er
Sarah Peterson celebrated their joint birthday week
by seeing Darlingside, “the Williams band phenomenon,” at Rockwood Music Hall in Manhattan.
Speaking of Sage D’ers, Melissa also had a “fortuitous run-in with Jon Habjan,” who was visiting
NYC with his family. And in what will surprise precisely nobody who was at our 20th reunion, Melissa
has formed a six-piece band called Six to Midnight
and is singing classic rock cover tunes at venues including Greenwich Village’s The Bitter End
and Professor Thom’s. Attendees at her shows have
included Sarah Peterson and Mary Moule, Rebecca
Sokolovsky (who also hosts Melissa at regular “magical fort-building sessions” with Rebecca’s twin boys
Milo and Gideon) and Funmi Olosunde ’05. Adds
Melissa of her singing exploits, “Hoping that this
will be great preparation for our 25th reunion fun
for singalongs with Scratch The Band. You’ll know
exactly where to find me during reunion.” We never
doubted that, Melissa.
Kari (Van Winkle) Rust wrote in from Menlo
Park in Northern California. She had dinner with
her freshman roommate, Jess Walker, when Jess
was in town from Tucson on business for the U.S.
Geological Survey. Kari also got together on the
peninsula with Jessica (Melcher) Yansouni and Leila
Jere, as well as Erica Dankmeyer, who was visiting
family in the area. Kari also counts several Ephs as
neighbors. Rob Nordgren has moved to town, and
their respective sons are buddies in the same class in
school, and Kari sees a lot of Noriko (Honda) Chen
’89, since their girls play together on a competitive
soccer team.
Both Stein Soelberg and Wilson Clements
recapped the weekend they spent with their families
in the tiny Cumberland Plateau town of Beersheba
Springs, Tenn., which is roughly halfway between
Stein’s home in Atlanta and Wilson’s Memphis residence. Writes Stein, “Much fun and revelry was had
with some hiking/climbing mixed in.” Wilson comes
a little cleaner: “We also, of course, listened to the
Dead play ‘Cumberland Blues.’ There may have been
drinking involved.” We never doubted that, Wilson.
Wilson visited Robin Lloyd and his wife Wendy in
Boston in late August, staying at the Lloyds’ beautiful South End apartment. Says Wilson, “Robin is a
very accomplished mixologist.” I think we’re detecting a theme here.
Another theme I’d like to mention is the importance of the Alumni Fund, which is helmed by Stein
and Traci Miringhoff Wolfe. Understandably, the fund
will shift into high gear with our 25th approaching.
Says Stein, “Traci and I are working it hard but need
all the awareness from as many classmates as we can
to give early so we can get off to a strong start!”
Matt Wyskiel writes that he and Dan Newhall and
families enjoyed a day at the beach at Manasquan,
N.J., over the summer. In addition to giving Matty
a societally approved reason to take his shirt off,
the beach day provided a chance for Dan’s four
kids (two girls and twin boys) to hit it off with
Matty’s daughter and son. (For that, I reflexively give much of the credit to Christy (Williams)
Wyskiel ’94.) Meanwhile, Matt’s former Gilman
School classmate, Brent Powell, sent an update
from New Hampshire, where he continues in his
role as dean of faculty and academic programs at
The Derryfield School. Brent also teaches environmental studies and a new online class on the
“American food system” to students from around
the country. I don’t quite know what that means,
but it sounds delicious. (OK, I think it’s more
about sustainability.)
Speaking of sustainability—don’t tell me you won’t
miss these segues, folks— Gretchen Piper and my fellow tri-secretary Ramona Liberoff are hoping to put
together a forum at reunion about seeking sustainability via the world of nonprofits, NGOs and social
entrepreneurship. Sounds like a great idea, so please
reach out to Gretchen on the class Facebook page or
at gretchenpiper@yahoo.com if you’re interested.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
81
CLASS NOTES
The idea for the forum was hatched at a dinner
party hosted in London by Sophie Muir Rothschild
and her husband Chris as Gretchen and family wrapped up a vacation. Gretchen says the night
was a “true Sophie kind of party where she has
thought out who will be there, where they should
sit and even suggests topics that might bring out
the connections between her guests.” The guests
included Ramona and her husband Garry Felgate,
who also reside in London. It turns out that Garry
and Gretchen’s 12-year-old son Sam had numerous “hot political topics” to discuss, while Ramona
and Sophie engaged Gretchen’s daughter and mother
(both named Louise) in lively conversation. After the
charmed night, Sophie and Chris learned that their
niece Emma from France, who is currently attending school in Minnesota, needed a new host family. Up stepped Gretchen, who just so happens to
live in Minnesota. Adds Gretchen, “We’d never met
this amazing young woman, and are so glad that we
decided to welcome her into our home. We’re hoping
she’ll be with us at reunion too.”
There’s that magic word again: “Reunion.” Alas,
Ephs still need to go to work and pay bills as they
count down the days until June. On the bright side,
a number of Ephs are crushing it on the job front.
Take Tom Buck, who is a director at SSG Advisors
in Burlington, Vt., where he specializes in developing
innovative public-private partnerships in the developing world. One of the partnerships Tom helped put
together in the Philippines was awarded the prestigious Concordia P3 Impact Award, which is cosponsored by the Department of State and UVA’s
Darden School of Business. Secretary of State John
Kerry presented the award.
Rand Jerris was formally recognized on Oct.
22 as the 2015 recipient of the Schroeder Award.
The award is presented by the International Sports
Heritage Foundation for “meritorious service of lasting nature in the sports heritage industry.” Rand,
who is the senior managing director of the U.S. Golf
Association, earned the honor for his work as a leader
of the USGA museum and as a golf historian.
Kathi Fisler reports that she spent the first half of
fall semester teaching at the study abroad program
for her university (WPI) in Zurich. Writes Kathi, “It
was great to be near mountains again after 15 years
of living in flat Rhode Island.” Kathi also reports that
Bootstrap, the project that she co-directs to integrate
computing and algebra education in eighth- through
10th-grade math classes, is growing rapidly nationwide both in terms of partnering organizations and
funding. Devra (Bellin) Small is also an educator in
motion. After 11 “wonderful years” as an elementary
school principal in the Mineola School District on
Long Island, Devra has transitioned to a role with
district-wide responsibilities as the director of elementary humanities for the North Shore Schools
district. Devra lives in Huntington, N.Y., with her
husband, their 15-year-old son and their dog.
Robin Neidorf is thinking about schools for her
daughter, who is in the final stages of applying to
college. In fact, Robin wrote a remarkably eloquent
note about her daughter’s upcoming choice, closing thusly: “She will likely end up in a major city, in a
school with thousands in her class. And I know this
will shape her in ways we can’t even yet imagine. I
82
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
think it will be good for her, as Williams was good
for me. I hope it helps her solidify, and that she feels
throughout her life that this choice brings her to the
next right choices. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t
a bit wistful that her path isn’t taking her to the
Purple Valley.”
Michael “Bruiser” Abbruzzese emailed to say that
he had “two words” for me, then actually wrote four
words, none of which are printable in a family publication. (Midnight Run fans will likely guess the four
words in question.) Michelle Sanders has been having a cleaner sort of fun, finishing her third Pan Mass
Challenge bike relay. She rides the shortest route (25
miles) from Wellesley to Foxboro, which makes me
wonder what the longest route is. Michelle and her
husband also did some biking in Montreal and later
in Burlington, Vt., along the Island Line Road Trail.
Here’s hoping she had a chance to visit Tom Buck
while in Burlington.
Erik Sebesta has managed to combine business
and pleasure as one of the executive producers (along
with Hans Humes ’86 and Tom Matthews ’96) of the
new documentary Flatball: A History of Ultimate. The
Frisbee-focused film features Rob Rauch ’81, while
Eric Kaye ’92 is one of the editors and also created the
soundtrack. Erik and the other executive producers—
he self-deprecatingly says it’s “just a fancy term for
foolish investor”—hope to debut the Alec Baldwinnarrated film at a major film festival around the time
you read this.
As for your moderately humble scribe, my fall has
been about the two C’s: CharacTour and college
football. The former is the startup of which I am the
co-founder. CharacTour is (plug alert!) a new way
to find your next favorite movie, TV show, book or
video game based on what we think matters most:
characters. Please check it out at www.charactour.
com so someday I can be a major Alumni Fund
contributor.
The weekend of Oct. 3 marked the eighth annual
college football weekend for myself, Jeff Bond, Jon
Faini and Sean Glynn. This year’s trip was to College
Station, Texas, where we saw Texas A&M host
Mississippi State. We watched from prime seats that
were graciously provided by Mississippi State cooffensive coordinator John Hevesy and his wife Kelli.
John is the younger brother of former Eph QB Chris
Hevesy—who, not incidentally, was undefeated as a
starter at Williams. Two weeks before that, I attended
LSU-Auburn in Baton Rouge, La., with Matt
Wyskiel and two of his high school friends. There we
saw LSU running back Leonard Fournette shrug off
Auburn Tigers as easily and frequently as Matty does
his shirt. (Yes, I went back to the well.)
That’s it for me, as I’ll be hanging up my secretary’s
pen for the foreseeable future. Please send Ramona
your news for the next issue, and then I hope to see
you all in Williamstown in June for our 25th reunion.
I can’t wait!
1992
Heidi Sandreuter, 130 West 79th St., #11A, New York, NY
So this is not the way our Class Notes should
start—or maybe it is—by honoring the life of someone we’ve lost. Jeff Aho, who died on Oct. 3, started
1991– 92
his Williams career with the Class of ’92 and finished as a ’94. Coming from Spokane, Wash., Jeff
earned a full scholarship to Williams and studied
political science. I had the good fortune of getting
to know Jeff while we studied abroad in Aix-enProvence. Jeff had already been there for a semester before Heather Warren Whitman, Susan Donna
Fortin, Marisa Brett Fleegler and I arrived in the
spring, and he welcomed us warmly. Jeff was such a
sweet guy with a great smile—always with a sparkle
in those shocking blue eyes and eager to share the
nooks and crannies of a new town and the innerworkings of a new culture.
Christy Johnson shared, “Jeff was one of a kind. He
and I took an epic spring break road trip down the
East Coast in my parents’ car one year—sleeping in
the car a few nights and generally having a great time.
He will be missed.” Allison Handler remembered Jeff
as “kind, ready with a laugh and smart. And sparklyeyed,” too.
I’d like to share some wonderful descriptions of
Jeff ’s post-Williams life included in his obituary from
The Recorder of Greenfield, Mass.: “A lifelong learner
and researcher, Jeff was an educator of all things to all
people. Sharing his love and wisdom selflessly, connecting to people on a level that was without question genuine. … He loved food; raising it, growing it,
preparing it, cooking it, eating it and sharing it. … A
father first, a friend second; teaching his children to
learn and thus instilling in them the ability to succeed
and to seek happiness above all else. … Together with
his partner, Jesse, and their kids, they farmed at their
home in Heath: ‘WeCanFarm,’ a name and a concept, always striving for resilience and self-sufficiency
and living their beliefs together side by side.
“Jeff is survived by his life partner Jessica (Jesse)
Van Steensburg, his children Kieron, Hjordis and
Tove, his mother Frances Aho, his brother Gregg
Aho, a nephew and three nieces. Jeff lived with intention and with great meaning, loving in circles, forever and always, hand in hand, heart in heart.” If you
would like to honor Jeff ’s life, please consider contributing to the fund set up to support his children at
gofundme.com/keironhjordistove. Not surprisingly,
Jeff gave more than he saved, so every little bit will go
a long way to help his family.
Susan and Paul Fortin went to Jeff Aho’s memorial service and saw Adam Weiner, Tom Wideman
and Kris Delmhorst. “It was such a moving service,”
wrote Susan. “Jessica, his partner, had the strength
to sing some songs she had written for him. Many
of his friends spoke, and he clearly had a huge
impact on a lot of people. He lived in a small town,
and I think everyone came out for the celebration of
his life. Jessica mentioned that Jeff had a full scholarship to Williams. I know he was a loyal donor to
the Alumni Fund. He gave every year, and I think
he was truly appreciative of Williams. We had
an opportunity to write on a card with a prompt
‘When I think of Jeff…’ and I wrote that I think of
him in a café in Aix, greeting everyone like a local,
smiling and warm.”
I’d like to thank Adam Weiner, Jeff ’s great friend,
who informed me about Jeff ’s status so I could then
let our class know to send positive thoughts and
energy to Jeff and his family. And for reminding me
that these class notes aren’t just to spotlight “fun,
impressive and glamorous news. but truly a way we
can feel connected to one another as we make our
own way in the world (thanks, Cyndy Cass). I think
Frank Williamson summarized it best for so many
who expressed similar sentiments: “Thanks for using
the class list for this purpose. I feel out of touch with
classmates at times, as our lives naturally go their own
direction. Immediate needs and calls to action like
this do so much to help me—and I believe all of us—
feel connected.”
I know Jeff would want us to continue to celebrate
the life we are so lucky to live each day, so that is
what we will do in these notes. And I can’t think of a
better way to transition than to share Molly O’Meara
Sheehan’s update, the first she’s ever given, inspired
by the news about Jeff. “Now with (the) reminder
that I shouldn’t count on there always being a next
time, I’m finally writing to say how lucky I feel to
still have so many of the amazing people I met at
Williams in my life. I get to see Joe Sheehan every
day because I made the best decision of my life: To
marry him. We’ve lived in New York for the last
15 years and have twin 7-year-old boys. William
thinks Williamstown is named after him; his brother
Charlie claims ownership of Pappa Charlie’s. They
often travel several blocks north in Manhattan to
spend the night with their aunt Zita Sheehan ’93. “Last December, Sarah Ouchi kindly hosted our
family in LA, where our kids played in the backyard of David Nickoll ’93, 21 years after Sarah, David
and I all lived in Tokyo. We also talked to Josh
Becker ’91 by phone. In March, I toured a school
in the Bronx where student achievement improved
after Lynette Guastaferro’s incredible organization,
Teaching Matters, helped teachers there. I’m similarly inspired by the education work of Brooklynbased Simeon Stolzberg.
“When Helen Mirren came to Broadway to play
Queen Elizabeth in The Audience, the first person I thought of was Carolyn Koo, the most ardent
Anglophile I know. She came from Katonah, N.Y.,
to see the show with me in April. Later that week,
Kelly McCracken traveled from Vermont to stay in
our guest room after a surprise birthday party for our
friend Yasuko, who was visiting from Seattle with her
husband Tony Elison.
“Most recently, I spent a magical September
Saturday on Pittsfield’s Lake Onota, where the
current women’s crew coach Kate Maloney took a
few of us out for a reunion row in a four-person boat.
I sat in the three-seat, following the lead of stroke
Tobie Cornejo ’94. Jen Hood-DeGrenier ’95 was in the
bow. Lora Verkouille sat directly behind me until she
had to rush back to Boston for a wedding. Yvonne
Hao ’95 then replaced Lora in the two-seat, and
we heard loud cries of “Go, Mommy, Go!” from
Yvonne’s daughters, who were watching from the
coach’s launch, along with Jen’s children and mine.
How much better could we have been in the 1990s if
six crazed cheerleaders, ages 6 to 10, came to all our
practices?
“The day was so much fun, from the flat water and
fast-for-40-year-olds boat to dinner with our former
coach Chris Cruz, that we decided to do it again
immediately, or at least next year. From our class, we
were missing rowers Kris Davenport Toohey, LiseAnne Verhoogen and Allison Brown Moriarty, and
J A N UA RY 2016
l
83
CLASS NOTES
cox’n Bethany Moreton. I hope they’ll mark their
calendars for Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016.”
Speaking of Bethany Moreton, this professor of
history at Dartmouth moved back to New England
this past August and is “experiencing Williams déjà
vu constantly. My spouse and I live up a dirt road on
a hill in Vermont, wild turkeys hang out in the yard,
and I’ve gotten stuck behind a team of draft horses
on my way to work. It’s enough like living in the
Berkshires to feel like home already, and we meet
Williams alumni everywhere. Y’all let me know if
your kids matriculate here—I’ll do my best to welcome them!”
Put your hands together to acknowledge the
incredible accomplishment of the humble Kristin
Forbes, who was awarded a Williams Bicentennial
Medal in September for helping shape how we think
about the world economy. For those of you who need
a little refresher, Bicentennial Medals honor members of the Williams community for “distinguished
achievement in any field of endeavor.” Awarded at
Convocation, the official start of the academic year,
these medals highlight recipients’ career paths and
accomplishments and hopefully inspire Williams
seniors as they begin to think of life after college.
Kristin, an award-winning MIT Sloan School of
Management professor and external member of the
Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, was
the youngest-ever member of the White House’s
Council of Economic Advisers and was one of the
first thinkers on how to reduce the spread of economic crises from country to country. Kristin has
also been named a young global leader by the
International Economic Forum in Davos, and in
presenting Kristin with the medal, President Falk
called out her “goal to apply rigorous mathematical
analysis to improve societies and lives around the
world.” If that ain’t inspiration, I don’t know what is.
Classmates in the Convocation audience to witness
Kristin’s amazing recognition included Dave Brule,
who brought his prospect daughter Katie, Jen
McKinley and Bill McKinley, Stephanie Wilkerson
and Katie Queeney, who shared that “it was certainly
nice to be together for a short while.” Dave admitted,
“We were all shocked to learn that Kristin’s senior
thesis was 176 pages long!” Dave also admitted that
his college tour with Katie included a Taylor Swift
concert; “I now know how to ‘shake it off.’”
Whiting Dimock Leary earned an impressive medal
as well, completing the Ironman Boulder with her
husband Doug and friend Emily Wasserman ’07.
Whiting then completed her fourth Ironman
weeks later when racing in Chattanooga on
Sept. 27. Whiting is reportedly “happy to be in
the off-season now.” For the record, I’m always
in the Ironman off-season.
Scott Figgins had dinner with Becky Bond over
the summer and was “super grateful for her support
in dealing with being a caregiver for someone with
dementia.”
Amy Sachtleben visited NYC over the summer
and took time out of her busy schedule to meet me
in Madison Square Park for coffee. It was terrific to
catch up, and I unfortunately derailed our conversation when a producer from Funny or Die approached
us and asked if we wanted to be on a show. I quickly
agreed, hoping we’d cavort with Billy on the Street.
84
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Unfortunately the wait was much longer than anticipated, and I had to leave Amy sitting next to
Shake Shack. Amy stuck it out for a bit longer only
to be told they had too many blondes. Not so funny,
Funny or Die.
Word is spreading that Tom Evans has a great
new place in Medfield, Mass. Apparently his summer housewarming party included a bunch of Ephs
like Eric Matson, Steve Simpson, Parry Graham and
Susan Snyder. Eric’s family moved to a new condo in
Brookline, Mass. “We haven’t gotten our act together
to host a big housewarming party but hope to get
folks over ASAP.”
While touring through Boston this summer, I
managed to swing over to Newton to see Susan
Snyder and crash the baseball game of her sons
Jonny and Joey. In addition to seeing Susan’s hubby
Paul, I had the good fortune to connect with Susan’s
parents, Bertram and Betsy, whom I may have first
met in the mustard house on Water Street. After
the baseball game we headed back to Susan and
Paul’s beautifully renovated home and engaged in a
heated game of Apples to Apples. I appreciated the
boys’ piano playing at the end of the night to bring
my heart rate down. Erika Breiseth Brockman came
up in conversation since Erika was so sweet to reach
out to me when I was still in Baltimore working at
Under Armour.
I was fortunate to spend a wonderful summer
afternoon with Kris Davenport Toohey in Westport,
Conn. Sarah and Annie, Kris’ twin daughters who
had just graduated from fifth grade, asked me a few
questions about my cockapoo so they could put
together a strong presentation to convince their
parents to get a dog. (The jury is apparently still
out.) Six-year-old Parker was excited to march in
the Memorial Day parade. Kris showed me the
inner workings of the cool business she and her sister Kerry Davenport Fitzgerald ’94 started a couple years ago: Drive-By Gourmet, frozen meals for
busy families. As if Kris weren’t busy enough, she is
also painting gorgeous landscape oils that are being
shown in local galleries and sold online. Check
them out at krisdavenporttoohey.com.
I spent some time in Central Park kicking a soccer ball around with Abigail Lash and her fantastic
daughters Hattie and Lucy and wise husband Austin
Shapard. The afternoon was filled with talk about
Abigail’s real estate work, the girls’ Brearley escapades
and my slow reflexes.
In job news, my last day at Under Armour was
in March and over the summer I transitioned from
marketing into executive search at Spencer Stuart.
Also not in Baltimore because of his yearlong sabbatical, Kerr Houston spent the early fall in Buenos
Aires and Montevideo, spending a month in each
capital as he learned the basic contours of Latin
American modernism and conducted an extended
empanada taste test. Come spring, he’ll be back in
Bal’mer, working on a book and happily walking his
6-year-old daughter to and from kindergarten.
Alex Goldman is now a volunteer assistant attorney general in the New York Attorney General’s
Office, Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Consumer
Protection. Job description: good deeds.
Josh Brumberg has joined the CUNY Graduate
Center as interim dean for the sciences. To refresh
1992– 93
your memory, Josh is a neuroscientist and a professor of psychology at Queens College and currently
serves as the acting executive officer of the PhD program in psychology. And now in his spare time he’ll
be responsible for overseeing all the science doctoral
programs, including the health science programs.
He will also assist in implementing proposals associated with the recent report “Recommendations on
the Organization of the Doctoral Programs in the
Natural Sciences,” which include revamping recruitment and admissions, increasing stipend levels, curriculum reviews and strengthening teaching and
training in the bench sciences.
Let us always be thankful for and engaged in each
and every day given to us.
Go, Cows.
1993
Anne Conrad Hummel, 5 Bittersweet Court, Centerport, NY
Happy 2016! I am writing this edition of the Class
of 1993 notes at the end of October, and there are
only 10 short weeks left until we welcome the start of
a new year, bringing us that much closer to celebrating our 25th reunion! (Date in 2018 TBA.) Many
of my patients are in the throes of the college application process this time of year, and I have been an
enthusiastic recruiter for Williams as I realize more
and more what a unique and exceptional experience our college provided to us. I am already looking forward to spending another quality weekend in
Williamstown with our class—but alas, at the time
that I write this, we have 31 more months to go (not
that I’m counting)!
Nadine Block had the pleasure of seeing Devo
Goldman for dinner in Portland, Ore., when she
vacationed in the Northwest with her husband and
sons at the end of August. She had also enjoyed a
few beautiful days visiting Williams in September
as a newly appointed member of the Executive
Committee of the Society of Alumni (congratulations, Nadine!). Her first meeting with the committee coincided with Convocation, where she “was
humbled by the incredible accomplishments of the
Bicentennial Medal winners and amazed to see some
of the changes to the campus, including the disappearance of Sawyer Library (but happy to see it was
replaced with a beautiful new library and a welldesigned open space).”
It was great to hear from fellow general pediatrician Pete Putnam, who has been practicing in
suburban St. Louis for 14 years. Pete helped to
orchestrate an office move to a newly designed,
more efficient layout in March 2015. He and wife
Laura (Hemmeter) Putnam ’95 celebrated their
20th wedding anniversary in August. Their lives are
enriched by their two sons: Thomas, 15, and Matt,
12. Pete was selected as the scoutmaster for Boy
Scout Troop 300, which provides him quality time
with his boys. He was also enthusiastic about receiving a ukulele for his birthday, which he has been
having fun learning to play.
We have baby news to report with the Sept. 13,
2015, arrival of Calvin Francis Skrabutenas, son
of Kat Kollett and husband John Skrabutenas. Cal
was seven weeks early, but Kat reports he is “really
healthy and growing quickly—he only had to
spend two weeks in the special care nursery!” Kat
was grateful for the presence of Sara Staben at the
delivery. Sarah works as an OB nurse at the hospital where Cal was born and fortuitously was visiting
Kat on the day of delivery. Kat had been admitted
for bed rest; when the docs made the call to deliver
Cal via C-section, Sara scrubbed in and joined Kat
and John in the operating room! Kat writes, “It was
so nice to have a friendly face and someone I know
I can trust with me as we made some tough and
scary choices and then went in for delivery.”
Kevin Weng wrote with the cryptic news that “the
unexpected wedding of Michael Yarne provided the
opportunity for an Eph-a-thon in Napa Valley.” I
had not heard anything from the groom at the time
class notes were due but would welcome a follow up
from any Ephs in attendance (including Mike) for
the next issue!
Diane (Gran) Trotta wrote about many life events
from the past couple of years. Diane married Alan
Trotta (“who got his first taste of Ephdom at our
reunion”) in June 2014 and remarked, “I guess perhaps it’s true—good things (and people!) come to
those who wait!” She was thrilled to have Sefali
Bhutwala attend their wedding. After getting married
and moving “the essentials” to their home together,
Diane put her townhouse on the market. It finally
sold in September, after more than a year, to an individual whose financing had fallen through nine
months prior! Diane wrote, “It is so nice to have only
one home to maintain and not have the bulk of my
furniture tied up staging my condo. And did I say,
only one place to deal with snow removal in the coming months?” Less than six months after getting married, Diane also started a job at Yale Medical School,
having worked more than 20 years at one place in
various positions. Diane reported it definitely was an
adjustment entering academic culture and returning to the lab after working in a customer-service
oriented research core facility. However, she says, “I
love having my own data to analyze, and I’m now
enjoying a more intellectually stimulating position
in research. Hopefully the grant money keeps coming!” Diane was hopeful that life will calm down a
bit now. Her old piano from her parents’ home had
just arrived at her house, and she was “really looking forward to digging into playing again! That is,
once I unpack more tubs.” Diane saw Estella Barajas
a few times when she was in California, and she and
Alan met up with Estella in Carmel on their way up
to wine country. Diane also saw Neil Horne ’92 and
Stacy Horne (exchange ’92) a while back at Stacy’s
surprise 40th birthday party. Diane voiced a thought
that I’m sure many of us share: “Even if time passes,
it’s nice to know that the bonds of friendships from
Williams are lasting.”
Derek Catsam reported that our class had more
representatives than any other at the April track and
field reunion and celebration in honor of Dick Farley,
longtime Williams football and track coach. Derek
said that the event was well done, with a number of
classmates speaking about their memories of Farley
and what he meant to all of them. Derek was happy
to see Steve Lane, Lee (Kiechel) Koles, Jen Raney,
Jeff Whitaker and Robb Friedman. Derek hopes that
if he forgot anyone, others fill in the blanks! Derek
J A N UA RY 2016
l
85
CLASS NOTES
shared the exciting news that he was promoted to
full professor for fall 2015 and speculated that “the
next promotion comes with a Social Security check,
I suppose.” He was looking forward to attending the
Octet reunion at Homecoming, where he planned to
see Ned Johnson and 50 or so other Octet alums and
their families.
Camille Preston shared a photo taken with Robb
Friedman, Elisa Dugundji Friedman ’91, Jen Raney
and Jeff Whitaker at a gathering at Rattlesnake
Mountain in New Hampshire in October. Camille
shares that the older she gets, the more she savors
seeing classmates and learning from their sage parenting skills! Chad Orzel made a couple of trips to
Williamstown over the summer to look at art; his
first attempt to see the van Gogh show at the Clark
was thwarted, so he ended up going to MASS
MoCA and came back to the Clark a few days later.
Chad also took a little bit of a nostalgia walk and
echoes Nadine’s surprise at campus changes, commenting, “It’s really freaky to see a great big patch
of lawn where Sawyer Library used to be.” While
he didn’t run into any classmates, he did bump into
Charlie Doret ’02 while walking through the Science
Quad and reported that Charlie is now a professor in
the Williams physics department—“Just in case any
of us needed another reason to feel old.”
Paul Minnefor happily announced his marriage
to Julie Bianco (Mount St. Mary ’02) at St. Rose
Church in Belmar, N.J., in June. Many of Paul’s former football teammates and friends attended the
ceremony, with the reception following at The Mill
in Spring Lake, including Michael Abbruzzese
’91, Amy (Lamberti) Doherty, Sean Rorke, Robert
Neviaser, David Sullivan ’94, Syam Buradagunta
’94, Rob Bice ’94, Todd Machnik ’94, Brad Kroh ’94,
Stephen Edmonds ’94 and Nancy Byrne O’Connor
’95. Numerous other Ephs including Brian Stevens
’90, Dean Pignatare, Greg Catanzano ’94 and Steph
(Pare) Sullivan ’95 were invited but unfortunately
could not attend. In honor of the Jersey Shore and
his bride, guests danced to a lot of Sinatra and
Springsteen (the final dance was “Jersey Girl”) and
ate a lot of local fare (Taylor Ham, egg and cheese),
and the proceedings were closed with Kate Smith’s
rendition of “God Bless America.” Paul described
his wedding as “a great day and tremendous showing
from the Ephs in attendance.”
Chris Colburn started a job in mid-August as a systems engineer for Cars.com. Chris was surprised to
run into fellow employee Tanya Landsman ’96 at a
company meeting, stating, “It’s a good thing I had
on my Williams sweatshirt that morning, as neither of us recognized the other at first!” Chris was
also re-elected secretary of U.S. Masters Swimming
for another two-year term at the 2015 U.S. Aquatic
Sports Convention in Kansas City. At the convention, he ran into Felix Grossman ’56 at the
International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame
induction ceremony (Felix was inducted in 2013).
Mike Lapin met up with Rob van Gent, Dave
Young and Eugene Kim for a weekend of barbecue and beer in Austin in October. His trip included
dinner with Aaric Eisenstein ’91 one night, and
Mike wanted to reassure everyone that “all four of
us returned home safely at the end of our weekend.”
Linda (Allen) Overbay was happy to report that her
86
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
family relocated from NJ to Seattle over the summer,
back to where her two boys were born. She enjoyed
a couple of last visits with Mary Carney in DC and
Sara Osborn in Boston before driving cross-country.
On the way to Seattle, her family visited with Sharon
Glick and Jesse Carroll in Bozeman and Amy Dechet
in Oregon. By coincidence, Linda is coaching her
9-year-old’s soccer team with Jonathan Briggs ’01.
Cheryl Liechty wrote about a summer meet-up for
coffee and ice cream with Andrew Kirkpatrick and
family—not in New England, where Andrew lives
three hours south of Cheryl’s home on the coast of
Maine, but in Paris! As Cheryl says, “Too bad we
can’t make that an annual event!”
Heather Bensko described her busy year—her
2014 New Year’s resolution of achieving her architecture licensure turned from a marathon into a
sprint. She took and passed the seven architect registration examinations in three months and now
proudly displays some nice new letters after her
name— AIA, LEED ID+C! Heather also bought
a house in Connecticut over the summer and took
a position with MetLife as director, corporate real
estate, in NYC. Heather concluded, “Phew! It’s time
for a vacation!”
Erik Jacobsen’s travel allowed him to be both student and teacher. His first stop on the East Coast was
to give a lecture and teach a data visualization workshop at Southern Virginia University, which Erik
described as “a small liberal arts school in a beautiful
setting that made me think of Williams.” Erik experienced nostalgia for his Williams days of hearing,
playing and writing new music when he stayed with
a NYC friend who hosts a lot of new music concerts at Spectrum NYC, a technology-intensive site
for innovative music, multimedia and art. Erik was in
NYC to attend an inspiring data visualization conference called Visualized. He returned westward to lead
a pair of workshops at Stanford University, teaching
scientists the art (and science) of visual communication, which Erik described as “a much-needed skill
in the sciences.” Erik was learning a lot from online
classes in data science and d3.js (a JavaScript library
for producing dynamic, interactive data visualizations in web browsers), providing him with new data
visualization tools to work with. One of the interactive visualizations he created went viral and has been
viewed more than 100,000 times! Erik thought it was
“interesting to see that people have invested (wasted?)
more than 6,500 hours interacting with something
[he] created.” A short article on workforce diversity in
the tech industry that Erik wrote for Wired magazine
(an opportunity that came about because of some
of his research and a graphic he created for his blog)
should be out by the time these class notes are published. In addition to all of this, Erik has somehow
also found time to coach his 9-year-old’s soccer team,
and he enjoys spending time with his family.
Jeff Hummel and I have been spending many of
these fall evenings under the lights with coffee in
hand at our sons’ Little League games, and we will be
moving courtside as the basketball season approaches.
Christopher celebrated his first double-digit birthday in October, which was as unbelievable to me as
the fact that our last reunion marked 20 years from
our college graduation! Christopher came home
with a school project delineating how he sees his
1993– 94
life unfolding over the next several decades: after
he retires from professional basketball, he is going
to attend law school at age 40, go into practice for a
few years, and then start a band. Jeff and I support
this plan with the caveat that he purchases a home in
Williamstown for our retirement enjoyment!
Thanks to all who wrote in for this issue of class
notes, making it our “newsiest” installment yet! May
2016 bring you and your families peace, health and
happiness in the year ahead.
1994
Genevieve Mann Morris, 1203 East 19th Ave., Spokane,
WA 99203; 1994secretary@williams.edu
For a West Coast girl who grew up in the mountains and pine trees, my first visit to the purple mountains my senior year of high school was nothing short
of surreal. In my mind, it would look exactly as portrayed by John Cusack’s buddy in The Sure Thing as
he went to find his perfect East Coast girlfriend: A
quaint town with historic brick buildings, a perfect
white church, all surrounded by a rainbow of foliage. As we drove down Route 2 into Williamstown
in the fall of 1989, it exactly matched the picture in
my head, and I said (much to my dad’s exasperation):
“I HAVE to go here.” So every fall I remember with
such affection those years and that place. I invite you
all to stop your hectic lives for a few minutes and
remember hikes to Pine Cobble, putting on layers to
watch sporting events or head to the Clark, getting a
Dr. Strangepork at Papa C’s, crisp walks across campus to the snack bar for a bagel supreme, or whatever
you enjoyed during fall at Williams. On to the notes!
William O’Brien is busy educating the next generation and was rewarded for his heroics when
he won the Presidential Award for Excellence in
Mathematics and Science. In addition to the honor
he got a trip to DC to meet with scientists and policy makers as well as President Obama. He wrote,
“The $10,000 was kind of a big deal compared to
my teacher’s salary, so I turned it into a racing bike.
Unfortunately, the bike did not negate the effects of
mid-life, and I am not any faster going up hills than
I was before.”
Another classmate educating others is Cory
Wickwire Halaby, who is providing insight with
humor and compassion with her life-coaching business. Check out her new website: www.within
lifecoaching.com. Mitchell Young had quite an
achievement—he completed his PhD over the summer at Charles University in Prague. He added,
“The topic was policy instruments for funding and
evaluating university-based research in Europe, but
maybe that’s more detail than anyone wants. … It
feels great to be done. Now I’m working as an assistant professor at Charles University in the department of European studies.” Another classmate living
the life of academia is Brett H. Schneider, who lives
in Providence, R.I., where he has been an assistant
professor at RISD in the architecture department
for three years. He won an architecture competition
at the Chicago Architecture Biennial with a couple
of colleagues over the summer, “allowing us to build
an innovative all-wood pavilion on Lake Michigan
in Grant Park as part of the exhibition. It’s called
Chicago Horizon and will be adjacent to the Field
Museum and Shedd Aquarium indefinitely.” Check
it out here: http://bit.ly/1S2fugf.
Andrew Ferguson was tenurized (yes, that’s a word)
and promoted to full professor. In case you still
haven’t been able to buy his book because your local
bookstore can’t keep the shelves stocked, it’s probably
because Ralph Nader had this to say: “This is a brilliant and motivating plea to please serve when summoned.” Andrew met up with Dan Riff for dinner,
drinks and likely shenanigans.
The overall class notes winner this time around is
Wystan Getz: “I’ve now been in … Atlanta for nearly
20 years. Career wise, I am a lawyer who goes to court
over street crime. I’ve handled everything from traffic
to death penalty murder. For most of that time, I was
a public defender or independent contractor public
defender. One of my cases was dramatized on a
terrible show called Scorned: Love Kills. That client
was found guilty. The success I’ve had is because I
write well. I give Williams a shout-out for that. I
presently do the legal writing for the misdemeanor
prosecutor office in a county that was deemed ‘rotten’ by a partisan investigation. I put in to be a judge
but didn’t make the cut. I’m not really surprised; I
do have the black cat of Syndicalism on my Volvo
and think the governor who does the appointing is a
tool. You can also find my booking photo through a
Google search. In Zone 6 fashion I keep it 100. Free
Gucci Mane! Love, Wystan Getz.” It’s hard to go on
from there, but I must.
Nicole Vennell Roberts also sent some entertainment my way, including “key signs you’ve reached
middle age: 1. You suddenly have to start squinting to
bring the fine print into focus; 2. Your unintentional
silver highlights compete with your original hair color
for dominance; 3. The minivan hits 100,000 miles;
4. You feel like you know what you’re doing at work
just in time for the millennials to descend; 5. The kids
have more clothes than you do.” I don’t know about
the rest of you, but I consider myself a mere pup at 43
and nowhere near middle age.
Many of you are visiting each other these days.
Warms my heart. Gina Munoz was in Seattle for
work and met up with Sarah Davidson Richmond,
Emily Sprong Suiter, Peggy Drucker Headstrom
and Melissa Braisted Nordquist for dinner. Gina
noted, “It was fun to meet up and trade nonprofit
work stories and talk about all the crazy reunion
stories, mostly surrounding the ‘proposed acquisition of the purple cow in front of Baxter.’” If that
last sentence means nothing to you, you were with
the wrong crowd at reunion. Josh Frechette hosted
Rives Nolen, Mark Bussard and Chris McIlraith
for a few days in the Bay Area in early August. I
actually got two updates about this minireunion.
The first from Josh, who said: “Rives (and his wife
Stephanie), Chris (and his fiancée Veronica), me
and my wife Trixie and Mark spent a day hitting
up some of Sonoma County’s wineries—lots of
laughs and wine had by all. Hit Sausalito for some
tourist traps and spent a lot of time on the back
porch licking our wounds from being old and trying to keep up with our younger selves.” The other
from Chris’ fiancée Veronica Ioselev. In addition to sending a picture of the four, she shared,
“Chris hustled Macy’s to set off fireworks when he
proposed on July 4.”
J A N UA RY 2016
l
87
CLASS NOTES
Talia Goldfarb and Tatiana (Palmer) Rubio were
able to see each other twice in the past couple
months. Talia wrote, “We had one rendezvous at
my family’s lake house in NH this past summer and
another in September when I was in LA filming a
Shark Tank update that will probably air this fall. So
great to catch up, reminisce and reconnect. Just like
old times! Being on Shark Tank has been an unexpected crazy adventure. Working with Daymond
John has been awesome, and his partnership will help
take Myself Belts to new heights. The show taped an
entrepreneurial day with Daymond and a few of his
Shark Tank partners. It was very fun to get to know
some of the other entrepreneurs and to hang with
Daymond in the Hollywood Hills. We also partnered
with a large accessories manufacturer which is working on getting our belts into large retailers.”
A few of you have been on the move lately.
Becky Schaffner wrote that she moved back to
New England from Long Beach, Calif., in July
2014 to start a job with the Maine Department of
Environmental Protection. She added, “My husband
and I bought a house this spring in Edgecomb, near
Boothbay, and are enjoying having seasons again.
Nothing terribly exciting, but it’s great to be closer
to family and various Williams friends again.” Gina
LaVersa says of Becky Leibowitz Peterson’s move
back east that she’ll “actually have to get a hotel room
when visiting the Bay Area now, but it’s way better to have Becks and her family close by!” Gina and
Leigh Frost attended their 25th high school reunion
in Greenwich, Conn., enjoying old friends, and took
full advantage of the photo booth. Gina and her family were enjoying the start of the fall season and gearing up for Halloween. “We totally get into it. My
husband won’t dress up, but it isn’t stopping me from
joining my little superheroes with some Wonder
Woman bracelets and a tiara. (I won’t go any further
with that costume!) Also looking forward to making
a haunted gingerbread house with the kids.”
Jason Poling was ordained to the priesthood in the
Episcopal Church and will be planting a new congregation in the southwestern suburbs of Baltimore. In
other Baltimore news, Christy Williams Wyskiel has
had lots of excitement. She had her first piece published in the Huff (http://huff.to/1HUhWFs) along
with her regular badass activities as senior adviser
to the president of Johns Hopkins University. Yeah,
that. “On Sept. 30, Steve Case ’80 came through
Baltimore on his Rise of the Rest tour showcasing all
of the great things Baltimore has to offer in terms of
entrepreneurship. I got to help his advance team host
and serve as a judge during the Shark Tank event.”
Christy also met up with Amanda Turner Phillips on
the Vineyard over the summer and had fun watching
their sons enjoy each other.
Brad Smith made big changes, too. After threeand-a-half years serving in the federal government at
the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects
Agency, he “left government in July 2014 and spent
the next nine months reflecting on what should come
next. Fortunately, my wife Mary, family and friends
like Bernie Kluger, Laurel Blatchford and Jake Russin
were extremely supportive and helpful throughout. In
May 2015, I became director of policy at FasterCures,
an “action tank” committed to saving lives by speeding up and improving the medical research system.
88
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
I look forward to seeing where this next stage in my
professional life takes me.”
Then there were a few of you with less change in
your life. Joe Foster is “still in Seoul (13 years now),
still running a small education business. I stay in
touch with several former students of mine who
went on to become Ephs, especially Jeewon Yoo ’15,
Young Sun Lee ’16 and Soomin Maria Kim ’16, and
another recent student, Kyung Shin Kang ’19, just
made her way to the Purple Valley for the first time.
Steve Stillman is visiting me now, but I’ll return the
favor, visiting him in Bilbao in about a week. I’m
married with cat, recently grew a (more salt than pepper) beard and can’t complain about anything that
won’t make me sound like an insufferable ingrate.”
Kerry (Davenport) Fitzgerald remains in Westport,
Conn., with her husband Kevin and three children (Katie, 8, Jack, 5, and Ryan, 3). She is cofounder of a frozen food business with her sister
Kris (Davenport) Toohey ’92. It’s in its third year,
and she finds it exciting to execute and manage
the business. Kerry is on the board of trustees for
Earthplace, a local environmental learning center
where she is in charge of development and also volunteers her time at other local organizations. She is
looking forward to finally having all of her kids old
enough for some Jiminy Peak skiing this winter and
hopes to visit Williamstown then. Vikas Lunia visited Williamstown during a trip to see his folks in
Albany. He wrote, “My two girls, who are not exactly
‘museum people,’ actually enjoyed the amazing van
Gogh exhibit at the Clark. They also enjoyed all
the candy I bribed them with to go. We still live in
Dallas, where we have been building a house for what
seems like forever. The move-in date keeps getting
pushed out (surprise). Hopefully we will have our
own place before our next reunion! Outside of that,
I have been keeping busy with work and the kids.
We often hang out with the local Williams crowd,
including Shannon Morse ’92 and Arun Dhingra ’90.
Shannon and I run the local Williams alumni association. If any of your Williams friends are moving to
the Big D, send them our way!” I will end the notes with sad news and hopes that
it will give us all pause to hug those we love. Jeff Aho
(originally in the Class of ’92, but he graduated with
us) died Oct. 3 due to injuries sustained from a car
accident. Jeff is survived by his mom, Fran, his partner Jessica Van Steensburg, his three children from
a prior marriage, Kieron, Hjordis and Tove, and his
brother Gregg, sister-in-law Lauren and their four
children. Condolences may be sent to Jessica at
P.O. Box 719, Heath, MA, 01346. Jeff and I went
to high school together in Spokane. He was a very
sweet, funny guy who made friends easily and will
be missed.
1995
David Lee, 2771 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94123;
Nancy O’Brien Wagner, 1049 Linwood Ave., St. Paul, MN
Submitted by David Lee: As I write my inaugural
class notes, I find myself still glowing when I think
about all of you and our time at reunion this past
summer. While 20 years may have passed since we
last slept on bunk beds, it was amazing to reconnect
1994– 95
with so many of you and to catch up on lost time.
Post reunion, my family and I made the most of
the summer as a new teacher, embarking on what
my mom calls a “mooch march,” visiting friends
and looking for places to stay. My family’s first stop
was in Charlotte, Vt., to see John Streng and Jessie
Price’s amazing cottage on the lake and watch out for
escaped prisoners. John helped my son catch no less
than seven perch, skin them and then fry them up to
eat. Jessie should open a restaurant. It would be no
less than four stars (new Michelin rating). We were
joined by Alex Shawe and his wife Sara Meadows.
Alex is still working at KIPP in DC, where he is
the director of their real estate development group.
We then made the long drive to Castine, Maine,
where I left my wife and son and headed down to
Columbia University to begin the first of two summers at the Klingenstein Program, where I am working on a master’s in independent school leadership. It
was great to reconnect in NYC one night with Justin
Griffith, Frank Puleo, John Thompson and Brooks
Gibbins. Justin had moved out of NYC just a year
ago to Darien, Conn., but was looking to move back
to the city. The smell of garbage and honking taxis
were too much to leave behind. Frank, who I only
see not in San Francisco, is fit and playing to a single handicap. JT moved near the Gibbins on the
Upper East Side, where their girls get together often
for Saturday morning breakfasts. It was wonderful
staying with Brooks for several weeks while his wife
and daughters were out of town. He introduced me
to the HBO show Silicon Valley, and I have never
laughed so hard. It felt like junior year all over again
in Dennett. Brad Svrluga was the next classmate to
graciously lend me a place to stay in NYC while he
and his family spent time up in Maine. Thank you
all for your hospitality.
Brian Rooney writes in with a great excuse for
why he missed reunion. “My wife Tiffany and I
had baby number four: Duke Dennis Rooney.”
Congratulations, Brian and Tiffany!
Girish Bhakoo wanted to set the record straight
after the last update: “1) I have one son and
one daughter (not two sons). 2) I never lived in
Connecticut :) but we did live in Westchester
about 14 years ago for several years. Also, ‘in
finance, as always’ is still true. As well, I’ve had a
deep interest in various charter school and teachertraining organizations since graduation. This
engagement led me to founding a new social learning platform called L2O (like water for learning),
which came out in beta on iPhone in November
2015. So adding a bit of spice to life. My wife is
glad I’m doing a learning platform rather than
expressing my midlife crisis in more popular ways.”
At the Google Capital Security Summit on
Oct. 7, Sage E entrymates Gretchen Engster
Howard, a Google Capital partner and host of the
event, reunited with the Hon. John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security for the
Department of Justice and a summit speaker. John
also spoke at the Vanity Fair New Establishment
Summit the day before. Go Sage E!
Taking on rival entries, John Berkley (my roommate in Sage D) moved his family back to the Bay
Area after many years in Durango, Colo. Post Labor
Day weekend, he was still picking dust out of his ears
from the Playa. It’s been dry out here on the West
Coast, and we are hoping that El Niño brings some
much-needed rain and snow this winter.
Matt Governali writes that he and his wife
Stephanie and twin boys moved to the burbs of
Boston. He had a killer harvest of tomatoes over the
summer and is still enjoying lacrosse in the 40-andover league. The family spent time in Maine, where
Matt did his first triathlon. When asked why he
couldn’t make reunion, he mentioned something like
trying to find how many licks it really takes to get to
the center of a Tootsie Pop.
Lisa Michaud writes in after having a fantastic time
at reunion connecting with former Fitch House and
WARP buddies Flo Waldron, Stina Bridgeman and
Anne Del Borgo. “I started my first job outside of academia this summer. I’d been a professor for 13 years,
but now I’m a data scientist doing research for a software company. I miss teaching, but I don’t miss grading, and the thing I miss least are the crazy hours of
a professor with a heavy teaching, committee and
advising workload; for the first time in my professional life, I put in my eight hours at work and don’t
have to do it in the evening. I have time to watch TV
and to spend entire weekends with my kids without
worrying about being ready for Monday. And I am
actually getting decent amounts of sleep. It’s nuts!”
Greg Crowther is teaching anatomy and physiology
(“A&P” to insiders) at the University of Washington’s
Bothell Campus. “I continue to use music in the
classroom as well as more conventional methods.
This week I played the role of a ‘singing patient’ the
students had to diagnose. His symptoms included
hyperthermia, so the lyrics were set to the tune of
‘Hot Hot Hot.’ Eventually the class decided (correctly) that the patient might have thyroid cancer or
Graves’ disease.”
Sadly, in Greg’s new move to the Bothell Campus
he doesn’t see as much of Dr. Mopsy Pepper, who
is studying malaria parasites at U of Washington
and looking at how the immune system responds
to malaria. Joe Pew sent a text for his write-in. (Yes,
you can do that.) Joe states, “I get up, go to work, go
for my lunch run, come home, eat dinner (he’s an
amazing cook by the way), hate the Patriots and go
to sleep.”
Flo Waldron (who I tip my hat to as I write up our
class notes) is still living in Lancaster, Pa. Flo writes,
“Still blogging pseudonymously about my (mis)adventures in parenthood at supermomhacks.com—
still parenting 5½- and 3½-year-old girls who are far
too precocious for their own good. The older one is
now both a Daisy Girl Scout and a kindergartener.
We prepped her for the former with our first family camping trip since parenthood this past summer.
Still not entirely sure how prepping her for the latter turned out this way, but she seems to be a few
grade levels ahead in both reading and math. Hence
we’re working with her teacher to keep her from getting bored enough at school that she decorates the
classroom furniture with crayon graffiti. Our younger
daughter is into signing her name with what she
calls “über-E’s” (think an E with 2-5x as many horizontal lines as one really needs) and has developed a
frightening fashion sense. Besides vetoing my clothing choices on most days, she’s taken to cutting her
own bangs. The scary part is that she actually does a
J A N UA RY 2016
l
89
CLASS NOTES
halfway decent job at it. And while we don’t want to
encourage her in cutting her own hair, it’s hard to lie
when she asks, ‘How do I look?’”
Dr. Mandy Allison sent in one of my favorite notes:
“I haven’t sent any updates to Williams in years, but
I so enjoyed your teacherly approach of asking questions to get us to respond that I had to reply.” Mandy
lives in Denver, Colo., with her husband Chris
Carson, 10-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.
She’s a pediatrician working in an academic setting at the University of Colorado and Children’s
Hospital Colorado with an emphasis on school
health (she taught school prior to going to medical
school). Over Labor Day weekend, Mandy took a
fabulous trip that is becoming a tradition with a few
other families to a cabin outside of Pagosa Springs,
Colo., where she hiked, fished, stargazed and played
lots of rounds of Cards Against Humanity (not
with kids) and One Night Ultimate Werewolf (with
kids). Back to school is typically a busy time, as her
husband is a teacher and, as Mandy puts it, “My son
likes to raise hell at school.”
Adam Kaplan writes: “I enjoyed a family visit
to the Big Apple, where I met up with my peeps
Jeff Allred and Kathleen Sullivan. Jeff is a tenured
English professor at Hunter College whose office’s
gorgeous view more than makes up for lack of physical space. Kathleen continues to make waves in the
charter school world while enjoying her two beautiful kids and equally impressive brownstone apartment in Bed Sty.”
Jason Hoch writes in from the Purple Valley, “I
moved back to Williamstown at the beginning of
September to begin serving as town manager. I’m
thoroughly enjoying being here and working closely
with the college and community on a variety of projects. It is a little strange, though, cutting through
Greylock Quad on my way over to town hall after
living there for two years as a student.”
In closing, I wanted to thank our new slate of
officers. President Anamaria Villamarin-Lupin, VP
Jessie Price, Treasurer Brad Svrluga and, lastly,
John Lieb and Bobby Walker for heading up our
class agent team.
1996
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Lesley Whitcomb Fierst, 50 Scottsdale Drive,
Fredericksburg, VA 22405; 1996secretary@williams.edu
Hard to believe we’re in 2015’s home stretch as I
write these notes! Perhaps feeling the excitement of
our upcoming reunion, lots of you shared news!
Moving from west to east, Liv Osthus returned
with great reasons for her radio silence: “I had a baby!
Charlotte Anaïs was born on July 22. I was on my
way to a show but went to the delivery room instead.
My bandmate was with me, so we sang while she
was sliced out of me. Turns out the doctor and nurses
knew our hit song and sang along! Incidentally we
recorded said hit for the new Voodoo Doughnut
record label: http://bit.ly/1HWBEem. Also there’s
an opera based on my book Magic Gardens premiering this December. It’s not every day some wildly
talented composer walks into your strip club and asks
if he can make an opera based on your book. I collaborated with the composer, Christopher Corbell,
on the libretto. The music is sublime. A must-see for
90
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Portland Ephs. http://cultoforpheus.org. Having a
child is my favorite creative endeavor thus far. And
because I procrastinated for so long, I get lots of rad
hand-me-downs from all the parents who’ve gone
before me, like tiny leather pants from Jane Roper!
Hopefully next installment I’ll have more news about
the documentary that’s had people following me
these last two years.”
Katie Sawyer Rose wrote, “Art-life is hella awesome right now. (‘Hella’ is classic Oakland/East Bay
slang, and I sound ridiculous using it!) I have joined
the board of directors of Oakland Art Murmur, a
nonprofit arts organization that supports the amazing visual arts scene. I also have a two-month-long,
two-person show going up in November-December
at Room Art Gallery in Mill Valley, Calif. Plus, I
just delivered a nine-piece sculpture installation in
Atherton, Calif., for Pacific Peninsula Group.” And
Ron Chowdhury shared, “Having been promised a
record El Niño this winter here in LA, we’ve been
busy preparing Ada and Lila by trying to explain to
them what clouds and rain are. We were up in the
Bay Area in June and saw Dan Polsby and his family in Berkeley. During dinner, Ada and Dan got into
a deep discussion about whether Deinosuchus was
a real thing. Ada, drawing on her extensive Dinosaur
Train knowledge, explained that Deinosuchus was a
giant ancient alligator that preyed on dinosaurs too
close to the water’s edge and illustrated Deinosuchus’
hunting technique by wriggling on her stomach
under the table. Continuing our summer-long study
of extinct megafauna, the girls and I visited the La
Brea Tar Pits with Eva Flodstrom ’97 and her son in
September. The kids were fascinated by the sad tableau of a mother woolly mammoth trapped in a tar
pit as her baby and mate bellowed helplessly from
firm ground nearby.”
Amy Prieto shared, “My community (Fort Collins,
Colo.) has been designated a ‘place of invention’ by
the Smithsonian Institute. There are six of us ‘inventors’ being highlighted in its Lemelson Center
exhibit, and some of the battery technology I developed is on exhibit. The exhibit opened this summer
and will be there until 2020.” Monica Patel is “enjoying life in Savannah, Ga., and hoping to make it
to our reunion!” And from Corinna (Louis) Bench:
“If you recall, last time I updated you, I’d been
appointed to the local board of education to finish
out someone’s term. Well, looks like I’ll be officially
re-elected, as no one appears to be running against
me this November. And, no, neither the income
tax levy nor the renewal levy has passed yet. And,
no, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns on the school
board—far from it. Still, it’s fun trying to cast vision,
inspire the masses, solve problems and bring order
to chaos. Any tips on how to navigate the waters
of disgruntled citizens would be appreciated from
other school board alums.”
Elizabeth Waugh-Duford also read my guilt trip
and, boy, did I feel badly reading her response.
“After some serious health problems earlier this year,
I made the tough decision to leave my job at the
Inter-Faith Council, the local organization that provides food, shelter and other assistance to our community’s homeless and low-income residents. I am
still connected as a volunteer with a program called
SOAR, which helps fast-track disability applications.
1995– 96
So many homeless people are disabled because of
physical or mental health problems, and SOAR
trains social workers to be the conduit for the disability application process. It’s an honor to continue
this work with my former clients. I also work parttime as a Mary Kay beauty consultant—yes, a big
switch, but I love being my own boss, being able to
flex my schedule, plus I get to play with make-up and
help women feel authentically beautiful! It’s a wonderful business that empowers women to be leaders—plus the Mary Kay Foundation gives millions
of dollars every year to two of my nearest and dearest causes, domestic violence prevention and women’s cancer research. My daughters Stella Rose and
Callie are 9 and almost 7, and my stepchildren Ben
and Olivia are 10 and 8. It is a full house, especially
now that in addition to our two kitties, we have a
100-lb. dog named Lando Calrissian in the mix. My
house is never quiet. Ever. My husband Tom continues to work in law enforcement. It hasn’t been an easy
time for law enforcement families, but we are holding up. This summer I had a wonderful dinner with
Jen Rubenstein, who was in town for a conference at
Duke. It was wonderful to see her and to catch up on
the adventures of her little girl Zora. I am planning a
visit to see Jen Fain Greenwold and Tiffany Steinwert,
who has just moved from Syracuse to Arlington,
Mass., to work at Wellesley. I would love to see any
other Ephs in the Boston area too!”
Julie Weed “spent a day in DC with Marisa
(Castuera) Hayase and her family this past summer.
We walked our butts off, and in the midst of all the
museums, monuments and lures of roadside snacks,
we got to know each other’s kids. It became apparent
that we only have a few years before they completely
outwit us. Marisa continues to be the most delightful human, though she has apparently been living
in a pop-culture vacuum. Everyone should send her
the most vapid Internet memes possible before the
reunion so she can catch up!”
Holly (Hodgson) Stephens said, “This past July a
whole bunch of Ephs got together in the Poconos
for a long weekend. The kids (11 total, ages 0-10,
but mostly in the K-3rd grade range) and adults
played strategy games and enjoyed hiking at a
waterfall and Boulder Field. In attendance: my
family, Kate Marquis, Zach Cook, Susan Gillmor,
Emilie Grossmann, Gregg Theiss, Brian Spitzer and
Laura Massie ’99, Jen (Laundy) Meyers ’97 and
Amy Muise ’97.”
Debby (Palmer) Whitney and her family moved to
Haverford, Pa. “I still work as a pediatric hospitalist
at CHOP (The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)
and enjoy my job. There are a few Williams alums
in my division, and my annual calendar hangs in our
office. My 8-year-old son is following in my footsteps
by joining a local swim team. He seems to be a budding butterflier! I think this is payback because I find
it tortuous to sit through never-ending swim meets
in the sweltering heat. My kids are super excited for
reunion in June! They are convinced that they will
go to Williams. I must say I’m a little guilty of feeding them stories about how much I loved it.” Amy
(Smith) Dundon wrote: “I’m submitting my firstever update to our class notes. This past summer the
stars aligned to bring three Ephs together for an alltoo-brief visit. While Molly (Kelleher) Myers and
her husband Chris and daughter Grace, 3, were in
Groton Long Point, Conn., for vacation, Lisa (Libby)
Kuhns also happened to be nearby in Rhode Island.
Lisa briefly left her two kids Max, 3, and Meara, 1,
in capable hands and headed to Conn., and I hopped
the ferry over from Long Island with my husband
and our two daughters, Madeline, 7, and Eleanor, 4.
While it wasn’t quite as indulgent as the girls’ weekend the three of us spent in Napa Valley last year,
it’s always good to see each other, and we enjoyed
a lovely afternoon. And while driving to the meetup I tuned into the local NPR station and caught a
great interview with none other than U.S. Sen. Chris
Murphy! Molly, Lisa and I are excited about our
upcoming reunion and already busy making plans.”
Warren Woodfin responded to my coaxing: “My big
recent event was guest-curating a small temporary
exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, ‘Liturgical
Textiles of the Post-Byzantine World.’ Despite its
unsexy title and esoteric subject matter, it has gotten a surprising amount of attention. I got a really
nice blurb in the London Telegraph! Alas, it will be
closed long before these class notes go to press, but
it’s been a huge pleasure and privilege to do. One of
the starring objects in the show, an early 17th century Ottoman album, came across my radar thanks
to Emine Fetvaci. Come January, I’ll be headed off to
Jerusalem for six months on a fellowship at the Israel
Institute for Advanced Study at Hebrew University.”
Amy Whitaker’s news is: “I’m just about to turn in
a manuscript to HarperCollins for a book called
Inventing Point B. It comes out around the time of
our reunion. I’m otherwise working as an entrepreneur in residence at the New Museum Incubator
and looking forward to seeing my Williams E roommate Gail (French) Fricano on trips to Boston now
that my brother (Jeff Whitaker ’93) has moved
there. Also resurfacing from book writing hibernation and welcome getting to see the Williams crew
in NYC! Finally, I have been formatting footnotes
and thinking that someone should make an artwork
or book that draws on every sample reference in the
Chicago Manual of Style. (It’s wonderfully eclectic.) And, drum roll please, on p. 738 of the 16th edition of the CMS: an article by Dan Bolnick!” Joseph
Kenner and his wife Karine caught up with fellow
Ephs during the September reunion-planning weekend. “We had a great dinner at Hobson’s Choice with
Cornelia Alden and Krystal Williams. Many thanks
to the awesome Friday night hospitality of Jon Cluett,
who invited us over for an evening outside by the
fire. Krystal, Debby Whitney, my wife and I did a lot
of brainstorming that weekend, and we are excited
about our 20th reunion plans. Also, I am proud to
say that my wife is now a Hot Tomatoes convert.
We could not leave town without taking a large pie
home with us.”
Matt Kohn wrote, “We’re doing well just outside Albany, surprisingly centrally located, as you’ll
see. Adam just started fifth grade, and Justin kindergarten, so we have one year where they’re on the
same schedule. At least no more daycare payments!
We met up with Josh Grossman and Lisa (Matus)
Grossman and their kids this past spring when they
were visiting Josh’s parents. Ben Evans and his kids
visited briefly this past August while they were at his
folks’ place in Copake, and Matt DeCamp and Lisa
J A N UA RY 2016
l
91
CLASS NOTES
Blaskey-DeCamp stopped by with their kids on the
way home from his parents’ place in Chazy, N.Y.
We made a visit to Williamstown over the July 4
weekend and stopped at the Clark, just in time to
catch the opening of Whistler’s mother.” Pamela
Udomprasert has moved from Vermont to the NH
seacoast with her husband Chris Dueker ’95 and
two boys, ages 5 and 11. “Actually, I’m not sure
I ever announced my second baby in class notes
five years ago, so I’m sorry! I’m practicing general
pediatrics and have finally found a place where I
am happy.”
Penn Clarke “finally took the plunge and got married Aug. 29 to Meredith Kelly. Hey, it took 41
years, but it was well worth the wait! The weekend couldn’t have been more perfect—78 degrees,
sunny, with just a few clouds. We got married in
Vermont at Meredith’s family’s house in Weston,
which was just the most perfect setting. And we
had a solid Williams crew in attendance—Jonnie
Cluett, Brian Lee, Alexis Gilman (all groomsmen),
Damon Vangelis, Scott Sartorius, Charlie McNamara,
Matty Alsdorf, Jon Snow, Judy Lee, Sam Jones,
Carrie (Strauss) Dunn, Aileen (Keenan) Baker and
David Turner ’97, which made the day that much
more special. I wish I had more time to hang out
and catch up with all of them! I think I had about a
couple hundred 90-second conversations. Everyone
always says how fast the day goes, but I had no idea.
It’s still a blur. Not sure if that speaks to the level of
fun or the amount of drinks that were consumed!
I wish I could have been a guest at my own wedding. Despite being slightly depressed about how
old we’re getting, I’m really looking forward to the
reunion next spring! We’ve already booked our
room at the Cluett B&B. :) Can’t wait to catch up
with everyone, see what amazing things our classmates are doing and introduce Meredith to all
things Williams.”
Krystal Williams wrote, “In August, Frank Rosado
became the first Puerto Rican to complete the 1,200
km Paris-Brest-Paris on a fixed-gear bicycle. He
is the 13th Puerto Rican to finish PBP and holds
the fourth-fastest time at 81 hours and 59 minutes.
In September (on my birthday, no less!), I joined
Deb (Palmer) Whitney and Joe Kenner on campus to begin planning our reunion. While it’s hard
to believe that 20 years have passed since graduation, we are excited about the plans we have!”
Willard Morgan just completed five years as president of the Chewonki Foundation, including celebration of the organization’s centennial in 2015.
“In August my wife Jenn, with our daughters Sierra
and Zella, got together for a camping weekend in
Freeport, Maine, with Steven Hufnagel, Dan Bolnick,
Dan Ebert, Brian Eng, Jim Heyes and their families. We had a great time, and the kids formed a
happy pack in the campground. In early September
I made it back to Williamstown for a quick visit to
see Scott and Bernice Lewis and to see some of the
facilities’ changes, including the new Class of 1966
Environmental Center.”
Brienna Perelli-Harris has settled down in
Winchester, England, with her kids (Aralyn, 11, and
Caeden, 8) and husband Broderick. “I’m an associate professor of demography at the University of
Southampton. Winchester is only an hour from
92
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
London, which means that friends passing through
can come to visit! This summer I saw Pete Traube,
Kyle Downey and Zach Cook.”
OK, no free space to say anything besides: Write
again soon!
1997
Jeff Zeeman, 5301 1st Place N., Arlington, VA 22203;
Starting off with some career news, Jenn
Cartee stepped up to a new role as the executive
director of The Main Streets, a Boston nonprofit.
Jen’s organization is focused on the Greater
Ashmont Area of Dorchester, a one-mile stretch of
Dorchester Avenue. Similar to the other 18 Boston
Main Streets organizations, “We bring together
local businesses, residents, neighborhood organizations and community partners to strengthen the
business district and the entire community. I will be
building on a 14-year organizational history and am
very excited for this new phase of professional life.”
Noah Harlan was elected to the board of directors of
the AllSeen Alliance, the largest Internet of Things
industry consortium, which Noah admits is a “10
out of 10 on geekiness.”
After a decade living in South Bend and working at Notre Dame, Alexandra and David Nickerson
accepted positions at Temple University and moved
to Philadelphia. While it has not increased household harmony, their two boys seem to have embraced
the City of Brotherly Love. In light of predictions
of another snowy Boston winter, Josh Solomon welcomes Eph visitors with shovels and warm beverages
to his Arlington digs. Josh encourages those of you
who can’t help following the sometimes-circus that
is federal politics and need some inspiration to check
out Generation Citizen, where he has served as managing director for the last year. Generation Citizen
engages middle school and high school students to
work with local issues and political institutions to
make change happen and develop their civic muscles.
Steph Slattery and Brian Slattery have both had
an interesting year. Brian is now the arts editor for
the New Haven Independent, the local online newspaper. The newspaper started a local radio station,
WNHH. Brian produces some of its shows and also
has a weekly radio show, “Northern Remedy,” which
highlights music/musicians from New Haven. The
radio station’s signal only covers the New Haven
area, but all the content can be streamed on its website. In addition, the writing project that Brian has
been involved with, Bookburners, was released in
the fall. Brian is one of the small team of writers for this episodic online story that’s kind of like
what Buffy the Vampire Slayer would have been like
if done in weekly written episodes. You can subscribe at serialbox.com. Steph bought the pediatric practice where she has practiced for the past 10
years from its retiring owner. She’s continuing to see
patients while learning the business of medicine as
well and is thus far enjoying the change.
Jen Meyers and Jason Meyers had an amazing Eph-filled summer! Their new baby, Lucy,
now 4 months old, had fun meeting many of their
Williams friends, along with 10-year-old Naomi and
7-year-old Elijah. In July they went to the Poconos
1996– 98
with Amy Smith, Kate Marquis ’96 (whose impending wedding was the impetus for the outing), Holly
Hodgson ’96, Brian Spitzer ’96, Zach Cook ’96
and Susan Gilmor ’96, along with various spouses and
a whole flock of children. In August they were able
to connect with Steph Slattery and Brian Slattery as
well as Katy Ganino ’96. At the end of August they
got together in Boston with Julie Rapoport and
her husband and kids. Jen and Jason have been in
Hamilton, N.Y., for eight years, and a sign of Jen’s
aging practice is that one of her patients is applying
early decision to Williams this year!
Hilary Hutchinson had a lovely time on campus for a 24-hour recruiting trip for Google in early
October with Josh Ain ’03. She caught up with her
college professors Duane Bailey, Andrea Danyluk,
Bill Lenhart and Dick DeVeaux. Josh and Hilary
ran through how a technical interview question
works at Google, scaring off about 50 percent of
the room. Hilary saw Emily Manus and Kathryn
Anagnostakis several times over the past few months
leading up to Emily’s wedding in the Berkshires,
also in October. A good time was had by all, and
it actually snowed! Hilary hangs semi-regularly
with Rachael Moeller Gorman ’98 and her family,
who live nearby, and she runs into former lax buddies Cara Shortsleeve ’00 and Gretchen Howard
’95 at the office. Finally, Hilary took a fun “how not
to be a crap manager” class with Jon Riecke ’86 in
NYC earlier this year. Both are still employed, so
hopefully they passed!
Clare McClellan is in year 15 of teaching high
school Earth science in New Canaan, Conn. She
teaches chemistry now as well and so is also in the
middle of writing loads of college recommendations. So far, none for Williams. Clare’s daughters
were 3 and 7 in the fall and are about equal parts
fun and headache, as you’d expect. She attended
her 20th Williams-Mystic reunion and saw Darci
Gaiotti, Jenny Feighner and Ali Kopelman (missed Jo
Holbert and Chuck Wall, who were both stuck on
the West Coast). Also checking in from the Mystic
reunion was Jenny Feighner, who enjoyed seeing old
friends including Darci, Ali and Clare. Jenny continues to stay busy with three kiddos ages 8, 6 and 4 and
still really enjoys practicing hospital medicine at her
local small hospital in Hamilton, Mont. Jenny is still
medical director of that program and for two years
has taken on the role as chief of staff. Jenny’s family
loves living in the Bitterroot Valley, with horseback
riding, hiking, skiing, etc., all at their back door. She
highly recommends a visit!
Dave Vosburg hit a couple of Eph flats
(note: very different from “hitting a couple of
Ephflats”) over the summer, dog sitting for Pam
Bromley ’98 while at a conference in Berlin and
sleeping on the floor of Franklin Mullins’ apartment
(that’s right, he doesn’t even have a sofa) when Dave
spoke at Stanford’s Passion Talks. Dave is greatly
enjoying the company of Williams math professor Satyan Devadoss, who is visiting at Harvey Mudd
this academic year. Pete Sinclair reports that all is
well in Southern California. Chasing his 6-year-old
son and 7-year-old daughter around keeps him busy.
Life continues to unfold in unexpected ways, mostly
for the good. Peter occasionally run into Seth Bair in
NYC on business trips and sees too little of other
classmates in the non-digital world, but he is glad to
see through his social feeds how many of us are doing
so well.
Laura Hunt Newman notes that in August Seth
Bair and his family were in Orange County for a
family wedding. They stayed with Laura despite the
magnetism of the St. Regis and the ubiquitous (and
somewhat annoying) presence of their 175-pound
Great Dane. Laura was notified of potential dog fear
(identities will not be revealed), but everyone adapted
incredibly well. Everyone had a great time telling
stories and watching the kids play. Clearly everyone
will be comfortable in the Quad together in about
nine years (in Sage C, obviously)! The Newmans are
hoping for a reunion tour in NYC sometime soon,
sans giant dog (to the relief of several—or all—Bair
family members).
Nick O’Donnell remains a lawyer in Boston, doing
a lot of international and increasingly art-related
litigation work. Nick has spent the better part of
the last five years working about three months a
year total in Vienna, which has been a great professional experience, tempered by missing time with
four kids at home, now 10, 10, 9, and 6. Nick’s biggest work news of the year—surprising no one who
knew him in 1996—was a Holocaust art restitution
case filed for his clients against Germany that got
a fair amount of press attention. Nick and his wife
became licensed foster parents and welcomed their
first little charge. It’s been absolutely transformative. Nick also saw Sam Coxe in London in March,
which was great.
Seth Morgan attended Ken Harmon’s birthday
party in August in NYC with Maria Plantilla, Byron
Wetzel, Jason Liang ’96 and Rich Flynn. Seth and
his family met up with Matt Magiera ’00, Steve
Danbusky ’99 and Hallie (Zollett) D’Agruma to watch
the Williams men’s soccer team take on Amherst
in early October and support new head coach Erin
Sullivan ’96. Although the team didn’t get the
result, it was great to see everyone. On Oct. 6, Jess
Bongiorno gave birth to a little girl—Maren Jae
Bjorkedal. Jess, her husband Nik (Amherst ’97) and
big sister Mia couldn’t be more happy, or tired.
Congrats to Caitlin Rooney for winning the Papa
C’s sandwich challenge in the last edition of class
notes! I’ll be giving away four more sandwiches based
on significantly more challenging questions in the
next four editions leading up to the 20th reunion, so
be sure to read carefully!
1998
Jediah White, 503 South Prospect Ave., Madison, WI
I joked about this being the beginning of a spate
of midlife birthdays, and Pete Robinson was the first
to pick it up: “40-0! To celebrate, I spent a sweltering
weekend with my childhood buddies playing golf at
Streamsong Resort near Tampa as Hurricane Joaquin
saturated the East Coast. The trip was topped off
with a 1975 Dow’s Tappit Hen port, procured by
my friend who owns wine shops in London. A good
friend, indeed! I see Aaron Kammerer and Jim Bell
regularly and recruited Andrew Bishop ’13 to join
our trivia team, which resulted in our worst showing yet. Andrew is welcome to return if he studies
J A N UA RY 2016
l
93
CLASS NOTES
up. Over the summer I enjoyed a few rounds of golf
with teammates at the alumni guest, including Brian
Lee ’97, Martin Kurtz ’95 and Evan Kurtz. We all went
to bed a lot earlier than when we played as Ephs for
some reason. I also caught up with Brian Eng ’96 in
Maine, as Liz, Millie, 6, and I undertook building
and renting out a summer home in Kennebunkport.
Brian assures me I’ll be moving to Maine full time
soon. He may be on to something there.”
Luckily, Ned Sahin had several months to spare, as
he was elected to Boston Business Journal’s “40 under
40” list on the basis of his leadership of a tech startup
(www.brain-power.com) assisting autistic children.
It’s been quite a journey: “I bought an RV and traveled 4,000 miles to meet families touched by autism
and to tell their stories. We visited homes, schools,
care clinics, residential centers, etc., and have started
making videos to air some of the families’ stories.
We visited West Virgina, Tennessee and Missouri,
among so many others. We parked and slept in
Walmart parking lots. We really went in deep! We
also launched a Kickstarter campaign and very much
need your help in spreading word about it to your
social networks—the future of our ability to bring
help to people with autism relies on this. BrainPower.com/kickstarter. Thank you infinitely, fellow
Ephs!” Ned was invited to give the commencement
address at Milton Academy and emerged unscathed
despite being “embedded right in the midst of a millennial estuary.”
Mac Harman has been on the road and making
the best of it: “I just flew around the world (literally), which sounds much more interesting than it
is, to spend 45 hours on planes in a week. What was
more interesting is that I agreed to take sock puppets
of kids’ author Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie
characters with me on behalf of our son Jack’s kindergarten class. Elephant and Piggie then reported
my whereabouts back to the class by joining me in
photos. Fortunately I did not get in trouble for any
of their exploits.” I had the chance to see the unlikely
pair riding a camel, with Mac watching carefully for
their safety.
Emily Queenan embarked on a longer-term
journey: “Finally, after a year of navigating through
Canadian immigration and professional licensing,
my family and I have moved from Rochester, N.Y.,
to Midland, Ontario, where I have opened a family
practice. Fed up with the injustice and inanity of
the American private insurance industry, I closed
my practice in Rochester. After exploring different
options, my husband Rick and I decided to head
north. Our three boys (ages 8, 7 and 5) are settling
into school, Rick is making every effort to settle
us into our house while kid wrangling, and I’ve
been working hard to start up my practice. We’re
90 minutes north of Toronto, in the southern tip of
Georgian Bay, and we’d love to have guests! Life on
the bay is beautiful, and I’m grateful to work in a
place that treats health care as a human right and not
a commodity.”
Jeri Williams opened a medical practice, Jeri Yvonne
Movement Disorders Neurology Inc., in Bakersfield,
Calif., in July.
Brady Murray reports on a couple of new ventures in California: “On July 24 my wife Becca and I
welcomed our son Mikko to the world. Mom, baby
94
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
and big sister Aya, who turned 3 on Oct. 18, are
all doing well. By the time this is read I will have
launched a new app/website called Ask the Internet,
which is a fun and simple way to ask and answer the
world’s most pressing questions. It takes seconds to
create questions that your friends and followers on
Facebook and Twitter can answer. In addition to
posting questions for the world to vote on, you can
also vote on other people’s questions and share your
favorites with your social networks. I encourage all
my fellow Ephs to check it out.”
Liz (Craft) Ferguson and her husband Tyler had a
little boy, Patrick, in mid-June. “His two furry older
brothers are still a little unsure but seem to be adjusting just fine. We’ll see how that goes when he starts
crawling and stealing their toys. Back in May, Deb
Hirschmann came through Austin for Memorial
Day and managed to time her visit with the floods
and tornadoes. Once most of that blew through, we
got to meet for breakfast to catch up. It sounds like
she really took great advantage of all that Austin has
to offer while she was here. She even celebrated her
39th birthday with Veronica Roberts in Austin.”
John Bozeman reported the birth of a son. John
hasn’t written to Class Notes for a long time, but he
reflects that this old-school paper device has been
better than Facebook at keeping him connected.
A new addition brought some retrospection to Chris Bell: “I am particularly melancholic
about our move to Eugene, Ore., given the amazing yearly Halloween party that Chris Elkinton and
Melissa throw. It rivals the best of ye olde row house
Halloween fêtes, except keg stands are now optional.
… We landed a nine-plus pound lad named Pierce
Alden Bell on June 25, and he has been the joy of our
days and most hours of our nights. We are in a constant state of resisting the strange urge to nibble on
him. Aside from this we had the rare pleasure of seeing Bill Reeves multiple times lately—our sides still
hurt from his nonchalant humor. And in an equally
delightful happenstance—saw Tina Eide at a wedding
in the San Juan Islands and had a wonderful time
connecting about life.”
Assuming that Pierce survives his parents’ sharp
teeth, he may be able to meet up with Isabel
Josephine, born to Nathan Robison and wife Ada on
Sept. 3. “Her older brother Mateo (who turned 2 in
December) thinks that ‘Izzy’ is the best toy ever, useful for squeezing, pulling, poking, crushing and pretty
much any other form of affection you can think of.
My wife and I are discovering experientially that 2 is
both quantitatively and qualitatively different from 1.”
Matt Weber and Janee Woods Weber find themselves on the other end of the child-rearing spectrum. “Our son Jakob is now a senior in high school,
so we’ve been doing college visits with him lately. The
Williams Admission Office did a really nice program
for alumni parents of high school juniors/seniors that
was all about the college application process—highly
recommended. We don’t know if Jakob will end up
at Williams, but we’re encouraging him to apply. He
will not be applying to Amherst!”
Them’s fightin words, and Lindsay Tucker describes
another group of young Ephs practicing to eventually combat book stealers: “After spending two
weeks sleeping on my in-laws’ sofa bed in Santander,
Spain, I returned to the U.S. and managed to take
1998– 99
my 3-year-old twins up to Dix Hills, N.Y., for
Wankapalooza ’15, a two-day barbecue-margarita
daycare centered around the water element of Ross
Wank’s landscape architecture project. It was mostly
a younger crowd, but I managed to bump into Alex
Koppenheffer and Kristie (Rogers) Koppenheffer,
Jim Rowe and Jessica, Jon King and Stephanie
(Sewell) King ’99, Amanda (Griffith) Moore and
Biscuit, and of course Ross Wank and Marissa. The
1,100 kids in attendance had a blast waging a water
gun battle between the two floating lounge chairs.
Then they grew bored and turned their fire on the
defenseless grown-ups.”
And, to close, one more seasonal report from Gerht
Lubitz: “Summer in Cohasset, Mass., was fairly typical (warm, sunny, plenty of outdoor activities) and a
welcome reprieve from the more than 10 feet of snow
that fell over the winter. We did have to deal with
some home repairs necessitated by a 60-ton red oak
that landed on our house, but those are now nearly
complete almost a year after the October storm that
felled the tree. Working with our insurance company has been about as much fun as you can imagine,
although I have been able to commiserate with Ted
Grannatt throughout the ordeal since he has been living a similar nightmare while dealing with the damage from major ice dams. While summer has now
receded, fall has been beautiful thus far and filled
with new routines as my oldest daughter Alling, 7,
started second grade, and my son Brandt, 5, started
kindergarten. Their younger sister Henley, 2, tried to
join them on the school bus, but she was too little
to make it up the stairs. I was lucky to meet up with
Brad Johnston and his girlfriend Julie while my wife
Jessie and I were in the Seattle area for an October
wedding. We managed a hike up Mount Si and had
an enjoyable day in Seattle visiting the Space Needle
and other tourist hotspots.”
No droll closing comments from me. Life is busy
and beautiful and best enjoyed with company. I love
hearing from all of you!
1999
Erik Holmes, 2014 Belvedere Ave., Charlotte, NC 28205;
Nat White, 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville, CT 06039;
Another summer passed in a flash, over before
we could get used to complaining about the heat.
By the time you read this, barbecues and flip-flops
will be a distant memory supplanted by icy mornings and snowy windshields. To warm you up, we’ll
start with a look back at how some classmates
spent their summers.
Cara Yoder Matzen and her family (husband Evan
and sons Rigel and Theo) took their annual summer
trip to Thompson Lake in Maine and caught up with
Julie Rusczek and her kids. Cara is in her sixth year
teaching math at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad,
Calif. Julie’s husband, Nat White, missed out on the
fun as he studied to finish his master’s coursework.
Next up, he was writing his thesis in the fall while
holding down his teaching and coaching load at The
Hotchkiss School. Nat got to see Tim Stoddard and
Emily Gillmar ’00 and their daughter Emma before
they moved from Milwaukee back to Hawaii. Nat
also heard from Josh Pierson, who is teaching music,
coaching soccer and living in the dorms at Fay
School near Boston. Josh also spends summers captaining a fishing boat in Bristol Bay, Alaska, where
his crew includes Amsterdam-based glassblower
Marc Barreda.
Faithful correspondent Laura Moberg Lavoie has
seen a lot of pals Jennifer Walcott and Emily Palmer
Janz of late. In April, the trio had a girls’ weekend in
Puerto Rico, where they spent time poolside, drinking pink drinks and catching up, hiking in a rain forest and venturing into town for a couple of local
meals. They then reconvened in June on Cape Cod
for a couple of days; Emily and Laura brought their
families to stay in Jennifer’s grandparents’ home
in Cotuit. Laura reports: “It was fantastic to have
Emily’s kids and my son romp around and for the
adults to spend time together. We missed Hans
Davies, who was unable to get away from work.”
Later in the summer, Laura hung out briefly in
San Francisco with Will Slocum, and they traipsed
around the city looking for ice cream.
Will ran into Paul Alsdorf in the San Francisco
Ferry Building, and Paul discovered that he and Joe
Kauffman are work neighbors since both have offices
on Market Street. Paul, Joe and Eric Soskin met up
for lunch while Eric was visiting the fine city from
his home near DC. Eric also got to see Will and
his wife Zoe for several rounds of sushi, sake and
Sapporos. Over the summer, Eric, a lawyer for the
Department of Justice, brought his wife and two
children on a separate trip to Seattle and Vancouver
for the wedding of Liza Murcia ’00, where he also
saw Grace Lee ’96. Eric and family were also able
to meet up with John Rivera-Dirks and his family
(including new daughter, Bronwyn).
My co-JA Stephanie (Sewell) King and husband
Jonathan King ’98 added to their brood, welcoming son Tyler William King on Aug. 21. Steph now
has her hands full with three boys, a husband and a
golden doodle, all of whom compete for her attention. Baby Tyler, at 3 weeks old, enjoyed his first trip
to the Museum of Modern Art, where he got to
meet Kate Ervin Kaplan and Jan Postma and check
out the Picasso sculpture exhibit.
I also got to see Kate over the summer when I
took my wife and son to spend an afternoon and
evening with her and her kids at their lake house in
Maine (we were in nearby Brunswick for vacation).
Kate works as a psychiatrist in the New York area
and spends her summers up north in the land of
mosquitoes and lobstah.
Ema Williams, in San Francisco, welcomed a baby
girl about a year and a half ago. Brian Gerke and his
wife Michelle were joined by a son, Theodore, on
July 2. Brian still lives in Berkeley and works at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, supporting
U.S. energy efficiency policy as part of the president’s
climate action plan.
The Bay Area seems to be teeming with Ephs.
Jill (Morris) Green, while not a full-time resident,
works in the legal department of a cancer diagnostic company based in the Bay Area, and she commutes there about twice a month from her home
in Colorado. Jill’s daughters are in first and second
grade and are busy with solar system projects and the
like. She catches up with fellow Colorado residents
Andrea (Slate) Daily and Sylvia (Englund) Michel
J A N UA RY 2016
l
95
CLASS NOTES
as schedules allow. She’d love to hear from Ephs to
hang out with in either California or Colorado.
Leigh Winter Martin wrote that life proceeds more
or less uneventfully (a good thing, in my book),
and she and her family moved a couple miles
down the road from Palo Alto to Los Altos. She
is looking forward to the 40th anniversary celebration of the Williams Women’s Rugby Football
Club in April, where I’m sure she and a number of
our classmates will spend the weekend trying to
avoid drinking like 21-year-olds.
Roosevelt Bowman has moved to New Jersey
for a job as a foreign exchange strategist with
MetLife. His son Will celebrated his first birthday, and Matt Grainger attended the festivities.
World traveler Ifie Okwuje was posted to
Shanghai, China, for the U.S. State Department.
Ifie is looking forward to traveling around China
and the region with her family and absorbing as
much as she can. She also says she would love to
hear from any other Ephs in China and wonders
if there are any Williams-related events there.
Marina (Gisquet) Knight and her family relocated from Vermont to Park City, Utah, where
husband Chip Knight ’08 started a job as National
Alpine Development Director at the U.S. Ski and
Snowboard Association/U.S. Ski Team. Marina
continues to run the T2 Foundation, a nonprofit
organization that supports America’s elite skiers. Becky Logue-Conroy and her husband moved
just down the street from Doylestown to
Warrington, Pa., over the summer. She and Chris
and twin 6-year-olds Maeve and Meiris bought
a house and are planting roots in the area. In the
fall, Becky began pursuing her PhD in social work
at Rutgers University. In August, she, Rebecca
Missonis and Lindsay Beach took their families for an afternoon at Sesame Place, which
she reported was a great place for a mini-Williams reunion. Becky also caught up with Laura
Brenneman, Jill Murray and a number of Williams
softball players from other years at a party hosted
by Karen Tarbell Vazquez ’97.
Finally, I heard from Dan Nehmad, who is continuing his recovery from a traumatic brain injury
suffered in 2002. Dan was working as a journalist in Russia when he was struck by a car, and he
ended up unidentified in a coma in a Moscow
hospital. Recovering from a traumatic brain injury
is long, hard work, and Dan reports he is living in
Princeton and has made real progress through the
guidance of Buddhism, including meditation. He
has a part-time job at a law firm and does some
ESL tutoring, and he has turned his attention to
how he can use his experience to help others. Dan
said he is reluctant to guess what the future holds
for him: “My gosh, how things out in the ‘real
world’ can change so flippantly!” We’re all pulling
for you, Dan.
With that, I’ll close this round of notes. Here’s
to a healthy and happy 2016.
96
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
2000
Jon Pearson, 91 Sidney St., Apt. 903, Cambridge, MA
02139; Carrie Wicker, 256 Emerson St., South Boston, MA
As I look out my office window contemplating
whether “Tubthumping” or “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” was
the most embarrassing hit song of our college years,
here are your class notes.
Gusty Babson welcomed her second daughter, Maida Gray Philbin, on Sept. 17. Gusty lives
in DC and works for the State Department, and
she lamented that her closest Williams connection,
Andre Mura, has moved to San Francisco. Staying
in the Bay Area, many congratulations to Jillian
Pesin-Fulop, who also welcomed a second daughter,
Leah Rebecca Fulop, on Sept. 22. Apparently Leah
is proving to be a much calmer baby than big sister
Rosa, who is now 4 and still intense and very energetic. San Francisco resident Steve Roman checks
in with his patented bullet points, which I will once
again translate to prose: He is enjoying the “wonderful and exhausting journey of being a parent,” including numerous readings of Zoom Zoom Baby, and he
and Drew Sutton were planning to run the Beat the
Blerch Half Marathon in November.
Congrats to Kathleen Reardon, who in July was
promoted to the position of lead lobster biologist
for the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
The press release on the DMR website tells us that
“Kathleen is responsible for directing and coordinating a comprehensive lobster fishery monitoring program, including the lobster sea sampling program
and the ventless trap survey. In addition to lobster,
Kathleen will oversee management, coordination and
supervision of the scallop, urchin, shrimp and large
whale research and monitoring programs.”
Actual lyrics from “Blue (Da Ba Dee)”: “Blue his
house, with a blue little window. And a blue Corvette,
and everything is blue for him. And himself, and
everybody around.”
Class Notes All-Pro Torie Gorges also has a new
job, having joined Minds Inc., a nonprofit that
teaches mindfulness practices in DC-area schools.
Torie’s twins Molly and Andrew have entered kindergarten. “I think they might go on strike for more
recess pretty soon,” Torie writes. “I’ll probably join
them in that picket line. My sign will read ‘More
Recess=Fewer Tantrums At Home.’” Virginia (Pyle)
See graduated with her MS in speech language
pathology in August and started a job working with
speech- and language-delayed preschoolers through
the Edmonds, Wash., public schools. The Sees have
connected a few times with the elusive Rob Trumbull
since he moved to the Seattle area. Rob’s a lecturer at
the University of Washington Bothell, and I greatly
enjoyed his bio on the school’s website. Joining the
new job/advanced degree party is Class Notes AllPro Sara Caswell Kolbet, who received an MS in
communication sciences and disorders from Pacific
University in Oregon, which makes her, like Virginia,
a speech language pathologist. Also like Virginia,
Sara has a new job at her local school district. Sara
is planning a return to Williamstown in April 2016
for the Good Question 21st birthday reunion and
encourages everyone to attend their big concert if
they’re in the area.
1999– 2001
Duarte Geraldino had dinner with Andre Mura
and Kenric Taylor in San Francisco while in town
to research a story, presumably as part of his job as
a correspondent at Al Jazeera. Duarte also reports,
“I am finally settling down and buying a place in
Manhattan.” Jon Kallay of the Seattle Kallays sent his
class notes from a commercial airplane, and wouldn’t
that have seemed unlikely 15 years ago? Jon noted
that the two best things about his time at Williams
were meeting his wife Alicia (Currier) Kallay and discovering rowing. Jon stills rows competitively and
took his skills to the Head of the Charles Regatta
in Boston in October. As part of his visit, he reconnected with Paul Friedmann and Allison (Jacobs)
Friedmann, Matt Fineman, my talented former
coworker Dennis DeBassio, Geordie McClelland and
Lindsay (Hatton) McClelland, and Eric Soskin ’99.
“I’m proud to say that Eric, Dennis and Geordie also
took their turns down the race course in Williams
alumni boats, persevering against difficult conditions. I definitely hope to see Dennis and Geordie
rowing more regularly as they work past the insanity
of raising young children.” The full last paragraph of
Jon’s update was about parental challenges related to
ear infections, and I’ll leave it at that, because, as Jon
pointed out in his email, “It’s your job to condense
[these emails], not mine.”
“Tubthumping,” in which we are reminded incessantly that someone gets repeatedly knocked down
but that he will not stay knocked down, was ranked
number 12 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 20 Most
Annoying Songs of All Time. It is also probably the
most played anti-capitalist pop song in the history of
Garfield House, undoubtedly the campus’s bastion of
radical proletarian anarchism. By the way, you know
what placed 14th on that Rolling Stone list? Here’s a
hint: “I have a girlfriend … and she is so Blue.”
Nell Putnam-Farr is not blue, but she has been very
busy. She graduated with a PhD from MIT Sloan
and moved to New Haven along with Brendan
Nelson to pursue a postdoc at the Yale School of
Management. Nell and Brendan have enjoyed renovating a house “and have settled into a neighborhood
that bears a strong resemblance to Mayberry.” Ken
Ojukwu ’01 and his wife visited in October, and Nell
strongly encourages more of you to stop by.
I had a pretty fun summer and early fall myself. In
September, I met my dear friend and Fay 2 roomie
Chris Foxwell in Iceland for an epic eight-day road
trip around one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
We both had our first experience seeing the northern lights, we witnessed double rainbows shooting
out of waterfalls (so intense), and we got naked with
German tourists in the locker rooms of hot pools. In
other words, a typical week in Iceland. It was my second visit to the country after a similar 2009 pilgrimage with Steve Roman and Haynes Cooney, and I’m
already plotting a third. About a month later I traveled to Australia with my wife Julie for two weeks of
drinking flat whites, hugging koalas and scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Upon our return, we
headed almost immediately to Knoxville, Tenn., for
the nuptials of Haynes Cooney and his lovely wife
Claire. It was a real honor to be a groomsman for one
of the kindest and most gracious men I know—it’s a
privilege to have him as a friend. I also enjoyed catching up with Reggie Hall ’98 and Tom Grant and Kate
(Flynn) Grant. Plus, there was a My Little Pony con-
vention at our hotel; I’m told the panel on “Military
Bronies” was a highlight.
Class Notes All-Pro Elise (Estes) Morgan is reliably excellent at keeping us informed about not
only herself but also her friends. She reports that
Becca Parkinson visited in October to see her sister,
who had had a baby. Elise, Becca, and Ann (Brophy)
Flaherty had lunch at Kimball Farm in Westford,
Mass., and had fun watching their kids play volleyball. According to Elise, “Becca continues to lead a
hardcore life and loves mountain biking, hiking and
literally putting out fires—she has been working as a
firefighter in the Tetonia, Idaho, area for the last year.”
Lily (Filip) Trajman was full of panic in her email
after missing the deadline by about 24 hours, but
never fear, Lily—I’ve probably hit my deadline something like four times in 12 years as class secretary, so
who am I to judge? (Dear editors: You’re the best).
Lily and Allison Litten may live only three miles away
from each other in Vermont, but it took the Nike
Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco to bring
them together. “It was a gorgeous day with beautiful views, and we both survived. Hopefully now that
our rigorous training is over we can get together more
often.” Lily, her husband Omer and their three kids
moved from California to the Upper Valley in 2014
and live in a 242-year-old home that “allegedly served
as a stop on the Underground Railroad.”
Lauren (Singer) Cohee has moved from DC to
rural southwest Germany; her husband Brian is
stationed as a pulmonary critical care doctor at the
nearby U.S. Army hospital. Lauren completed the
clinical portion of her fellowship in pediatric infectious disease and is continuing her research on
malaria in school-aged children with the University
of Maryland and its field site in Malawi. Lauren
and Brian are parents of two boys, Oliver and
Elliot, whom I expect will soon be two of the most
adorable German-as-a-second-language speakers
on the planet.
OK, OK, because you asked, the most annoying
song of all time, according to both Rolling Stone and
your class secretary, is “My Humps.” We should consider ourselves fortunate that it was released several
years too late to be overplayed at our row house parties. Chumbawamba is one thing, but no amount of
Rolling Rock can ease the misery of being love-drunk
off that hump or mixing milk with that cocoa puff.
And with that…
2001
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Liana Thompson Knight, 135 Pleasant St., Richmond, ME
As we count down the months to our 15-year
reunion (don’t ask me how it is possible we have been
adults for that long), I thought I’d start this column
with tales of Ephs visiting other Ephs.
Last summer Beth Friedman visited Hilary
Williams (her co-JA) and Mark Walrod at their home
overlooking the mountains of New Hampshire.
After spending most of the summer hiking her way
through the 4,000-footers in the Presidential Range,
Beth felt right at home! In the fall Beth traveled to
Delaware for a reunion with Roshni (David) Guerry,
Julia Cianfarini, Lizzie Jacobs and Ryan (Grimaldi)
J A N UA RY 2016
l
97
CLASS NOTES
Pickard. Beth works as a senior project manager for a
school consulting company, traveling the country to
visit schools, coach principals and coordinate district/
state accountability systems. A major perk of this
work is that it allows her time and flexibility (absent
in her previous role as a principal), which she is trying
to really enjoy.
Liza Walsh Keenan wrote from Williamstown
in October, while she, Sean Keenan ’00 and their
three girls were there visiting with Amanda Brokaw
Doherty, Brian Doherty and their three kids; Jimmy
Sheehy ’00 and his wife and three kids; and Aaron
Dupuis ’99 and his wife. Then the women took the
kids on a hayride and explored campus, and the guys
had fun at the Taconic Golf Club. Liza commented
that it was “incredible to be back in Williamstown in
the fall!”
Anne Hereford had a delightful evening with Alan
Baldivieso and Jenny Wetzel ’02, whom she hadn’t
seen since their wedding 10 years ago, at their home
in Portland, Ore., in October. Anne commented that
it was great fun to catch up and reminisce and play
trains with 4-year-old Oscar and laugh and gasp at
the antics of 18-month-old Anita. Alan and Jenny
recently relocated from Anchorage, Alaska, and
are enjoying biking their kids around in the mild
Portland weather.
Last August, Anne saw Darah Schofield in Boston
while en route to witch camp in Vermont. Darah is a
lawyer and keeps busy with various athletic endeavors, international travel (including a surf vacation
with Anne last winter) and chasing her very obedient
and cheerful dog Otter.
Anne does water resources work in California,
working 30 hours per week so as to have time to play
adult softball, run a shift at the community bicycle
repair shop and attend hours of dog classes each week
aimed at getting her dog to be as obedient and cheerful as Darah’s!
Anne reports that Cathryn Christensen is generally splitting her time between NYC and Kigutu,
Burundi, where she is a key component of a nonprofit medical clinic/community center called Village
Health Works.
Judd Greenstein lives with his partner Michi and
their almost-year-old daughter Aki in Gill, Mass., a
little more than an hour east of Williamstown. They
still spend lots of time in NYC but are enjoying a different pace and answering different kinds of questions on their 100-acre former dairy farm, which they
intend to convert to a music festival and artist retreat.
Matt Atwood and Jackie Stein ’00 are in an adjoining house on the property, and Billie Mandle ’00
and Audrey Chen ’00 are nearby. Judd’s new opera,
directed by Joshua Frankel ’02 and choreographed
by Will Rawls ’00 (with a libretto by the Pulitzer
Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith), is slated to be
performed at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance
on March 12. If you’re visiting Williamstown, Judd
would love to hear from you!
Sarah Thomas finished shooting a lead role opposite Anna Gunn and James Purefoy in the first
female-driven Wall Street movie, Equity, which is
scheduled to hit theaters in 2016.
Tori Henrion Wier is now the proud holder of a U.K.
driver’s licence (yes, spelled with a “c”), having mastered the art of driving on the wrong side of the road.
98
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Seth Brown has not gotten married, nor had children, nor traveled to exotic locations, nor gained further degrees, nor acquired gainful employ, but he has
found happiness and so counts himself a success.
Jasmine Kellogg and her husband Aaron Carvell
’99 spent six years living in New Zealand and running a cafe/art gallery called Up the Garden Path.
They moved back to the U.S. (near Hamilton, N.Y.)
in October 2014 to be closer to family. Aaron is
working on a startup distillery with his family, operating out of a renovated barn turned still house on
an old farm property his family bought. Jasmine is
working at Colgate University managing the office
of the Picker Art Gallery. They have a 3-year-old son
named Orion Carvell.
Caitlin Carr Lopez, Dusty Lopez and their kids
have been in Ann Arbor for about three and a half
years. Caitlin enjoys her work as a breast imager
with Huron Valley Radiology, where she is a partner. Dusty continues to work with the men’s cross
country and track teams at University of Michigan
and is nearing completion of a graduate program
in higher education. Their three daughters (Nora, 7,
and Anna and Brenna, 4) are all doing what they are
supposed to be doing. Caitlin notes that they are still
looking for life’s pause button!
Brian Werner wrote from Denver, where he, along
with his wife and kids, were quite literally about to
take off for a month of adventure in Italy. They live
in Telluride, where they are juggling their businesses
and two young kids, Levi, 3, and Sula, 1. They owned
Telluride icon The Steaming Bean Coffee Shop for
the last five years of its life (it closed last spring) and
are now in the preparation phase of opening a new,
smaller juice, tea and coffee bar.
Rob Seitelman started a new adventure last fall,
working as an educational consultant in the Bay Area
focusing on college counseling, test preparation and
tutoring especially geared toward students looking for
programs in the performing arts. He counted himself fortunate to participate in a workshop last summer through Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Ground
Floor program. He also continued his work as a
speaker coach for TEDxChapmanU and gave a
TEDx talk. His girls Miranda and Amelia are 4 and
1½, respectively.
We had a number of new Ephlet arrivals last
summer and fall. Carissa Carter and her husband welcomed their second son, Dante Michael
Cardoin, May 20, and are adjusting to life with two.
Big brother Desmond enjoys having a captive audience for his breakdance performances. They live in
Redwood City, Calif., and Carissa teaches design
at Stanford.
Jen (Berylson) Block had her third boy on June 30.
His name is Alexander Joshua (“AJ”) Block, and he
joins big brothers Benjamin, 4, and Zacky, 2½. Jen
notes that it’s a full and loud house!
Kalia (Glassey) Crowder and her husband Doug
had their first child, Eleanor Marie Crowder, on July
5. Little Eleanor was born just 23 minutes after Kalia
got to the hospital; they figure she was trying to have
a July 4 birthday. Three months into parenthood,
Kalia noted that Eleanor was completely wonderful,
except when refusing to nap.
Jenny Jackson and her husband welcomed a daughter, Waverly Williams Liddell, in August. Jenny
2001– 02
comments, “Williams is a family name, but, still, go
Ephs!” They live in Brooklyn, and for the past 13
years Jenny has been a fiction editor at Knopf.
Erin Palazzolo Loparo and her family welcomed
their third child, Clare Elizabeth, on Sept. 18. Big sister Helen and big brother Michael love tending to
her and showing her off. Prior to the arrival, Jessica
Leibler hosted Erin’s baby shower just days after celebrating her own wedding.
Meg (Cooley) Garin, Matt Garin and their boys
Peter and Samuel welcomed a baby girl, Hannah, on
Sept. 21.
Shekinah Cohn Eliassen is excited to report a new
addition to her family: Isak Cohn Eliassen was born
Sept. 24, which was also Shekinah’s daughter Finley’s
second birthday. Shekinah notes that Isak was determined to share his sister’s birthday, but now that he’s
in the world, he’s a mellow, easygoing guy. Shekinah
and Melissa (Vecchio) Wood will have to compare
notes on having siblings who share a birthday.
In our house, I think it’s just as well that our kids do
not share a birthday. Stella Jean, 3, started preschool
in the fall and is happy to share with her friends but
still struggles to share with her sister Cordelia, 1. At
the end of October, I left my program coordinator
job at Bates College in order to spend some years at
home with our girls. In addition to taming some of
the chaos involved with having two small children,
I’m hoping that the time at home will also afford me
the opportunity (i.e., time) to pursue some of the theater and writing projects I haven’t had time for while
working an office job and raising small kids.
Many of you who wrote said that you were looking forward to seeing everyone at our reunion in June.
I hope that many of you will come for it, and I look
forward to catching up with you all in person!
2002
William Henry Davidson, 102 Locha Drive, Jupiter, FL
Jon Wiener asked that I share his gratitude with
everyone for the outpouring of support after his
bike crash last summer. “Hearing from old friends is
great medicine, it turns out.” Jon is recovering from
a second reconstructive jaw surgery and hopefully
will be back to work and water polo by the time we
are reading this.
Laurel Bifano Reach and husband Mark welcomed “our first kiddo,” Beckett Holden Bifano
Reach, into the world on July 18. Laurel is currently
living in Williamstown. She and Mark moved
back a couple of years ago—Laurel is a veterinarian at Greylock Animal Hospital, and Mark is a
development officer at Williams, so I know some
of us have met him. “We are so excited that Mark
Robertson, Anna and George have moved in right
around the corner from us in the Cole Avenue
neighborhood; we anticipate many future play dates
between Beck and George.” Anyone visiting the
alma mater should give them a shout.
Megan Samenfeld-Specht and Jeff Mcbride moved
from DC to Vermont in the spring. They are just
south of Burlington and love being back in New
England. Their son Parker was born in April. “He
is doing great, and our 3-year-old is loving being a
big sister!”
Laura Bennett neglected to inform Williams that
her daughter Elizabeth Marie Majsztrik was born
May 5, 2014. In June, Laura, husband Paul and
Elizabeth enjoyed catching up with Eric OlsonGetty and his wife Dayna and son Noah at their
home in Virginia.
Morgan Barth and wife Katherine are “thrilled” to
announce the arrival of twin girls, Eleanor Augusta
and Caroline Rachel, born on July 2. Morgan reports
that everyone is happy and healthy!
Nishant Nayyar and his wife Esther had a son,
Noah Kavir Nayyar. “Lots of sleepless nights, but
things have settled in a bit here in London.” Nishant
continues to work in private equity in London and
recently hosted Jesse Davis and Ali, who were in
London for the Rugby World Cup.
Megan (Delehany) Coslick and husband Brian welcomed a baby boy, Neal Connor Coslick, on June 19.
“Neal’s currently working on figuring out how to suck
his thumb without simultaneously poking himself in
the eye with his other fingers.” Megan will shortly be
heading back to work as a commercial real estate lawyer in Boston.
A preview of A Marvelous Order, the opera about
Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs that Joshua Frankel
is developing with composer Judd Greenstein
’01, choreographer Will Rawls ’00 and poet Tracy
K. Smith will be performed at the ’62 Center
at Williams on March 12, 2016, as part of the
CenterSeries. For more information please visit
http://mosesjacobsopera.com.
Noelle Ho-Lam met up with Dan Elsea in Hong
Kong while Dan was visiting the beautiful fragrant
city as part of his dissertation on the recent Occupy
Central protest. They had some very interesting discussions on the protest from an urban planning as
well as political perspective. “I also introduced Dan to
a few Ephs who were active during the protest to be
interviewed.”
Having spent 10 years working at Wells Fargo,
with her latest position as the securities business COO for the Asia Pacific region, Noelle has
decided to take a sabbatical to spend more time
with her growing family. “Although I no longer
join 1 a.m. conference calls three times a week, my
working hours certainly have not shortened. Turns
out taking care of three young children can be more
demanding than an 18-hour-a-day investment
banking job!” All the sleep deprivation and constant
running after the children aside, Noelle is loving
every minute of it and spending much more quality
time with the children and her family.
St. Louis-based Caroline Fan ’03 visited Sadaf
Ahmad in the DC area. “Caroline was pleasantly surprised by the Navy Yard waterfront. We gorged on
passion fruit guava sorbet at Ice Cream Jubilee and
toured H Street.” Sadaf met up with Sandina Green
’99 for the film Meet the Patels.
Over the summer, Hilary (Hackmann) Redden and
family moved from Southern Oregon to Bend, Ore.
(central Oregon), “which we love!” Hilary started a
job as a pediatric hospitalist, and she ran into Laurel
Hitchcock at the hospital, where Laurel is an adult GI
doc. Hilary and family also welcomed Eloise (Ellie)
Redden into the world on Oct. 14. “She’s healthy
and happy, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with her.
Amazing how such a little person can impact you so
J A N UA RY 2016
l
99
CLASS NOTES
much. Being a mom is even better than I imagined
it would be.” Hilary had a minireunion with Tenaya
Kolar, Annie Weiss and Sarah Ranney at Brooke Ray
Smith’s wedding in July.
Jamin Morrison and Jessica Ohly had a fantastic two-week trip to Peru over the summer. They
spent time in the Sacred Valley as well as the
Amazon River Basin. On Aug. 29, Jessica saw several Ephs at Seth Behrend’s wedding to Kari
Andersen in Rochester, Minn. In attendance were
Mark Robertson, Jamin Morrison, Ben Chaffee,
Topher Goggin, Nate Cardoos, David Glick, Brian
Michener, Terri O’Brien, Brad Howells and Brad
Nichol. Jessica is in her second year teaching fourth
grade at Colorado Academy, an independent school
in Denver. “This year, I have the honor of teaching
my first student who has a parent who graduated
from Williams.”
Tory Patterson and wife Laura welcomed another
little boy, Barnes, to the world, and Tory assures me
that Barnes loves the outfit Blaire and I sent. Barnes
joins Pfeiffer, 4, Hodges, 3, and Bixby, 1, at home in
Woodside, Calif. “It is crazy at my house, but the kids
are amazing!” Tory formally launched a venture fund
that closed over the summer called Owl Ventures.
It is a continuation of the venture capital work he
was doing at his prior fund, and they are investing
solely in education technology companies (software
in school space). The Wall Street Journal covered the
launch: http://on.wsj.com/1Y24IdJ.
Tory is “loving it, and scaling this new firm is like
a dream job for me right now. So lots of good stuff
happening—all too fast, but we are learning on the
fly on all fronts!”
All is well down here in Jupiter, Fla., and the
ocean breezes are bringing the temperature to perfect degrees. Harry has made a full and speedy
recovery from injuries he suffered from a freak barbecue explosion in April. Lucy loves kindergarten
and soccer, and Alistair is making all his teachers
swoon at nursery school.
I have been at Florida Power and Light for just
over a year and have worked on some great projects, including the authorization to build a new clean
energy power plant and our parent company’s merger
with another large utility. We are gearing up for a
rate case, and the work will not be stopping soon.
On the Williams front, I have volunteered to be an
alumni representative for the Admission Office and
have done two college fairs at local high schools in
the past couple of weeks. The students are engaging,
intelligent and enthusiastic, and with each conversation I am reminded of what a special place Williams
is to us all.
2003
Claire Magat, 1969 Palo Alto Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025;
2003secretary@williams.edu Hi, everyone.
So I usually try to group the notes into themes you
can skim through to get a sense of the various things
our classmates have been doing. There is a bit of a
narrower focus this time. Lately, it sounds like all of
you have been, well, having babies. We should really
call this an update about the Class of 2033. Here we
go, in order of arrival:
100
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Jae (Cody) Engman had a baby girl, Cora Elaine
Engman, on April 10. Jae met up with Maggie
Popkin and Elliott Morrison ’04 in Duluth, Minn.,
where they watched their sons Leo and Toby drench
themselves in public fountains and stick their toes in
Lake Superior.
Molly Stone Gerrity wrote in from Boston that
she and Jamie Gerrity had a baby boy, Oliver Wood
Gerrity, on June 10. Molly shared, “Everybody
is happy and healthy, and we somehow survived
the first few months! Jen Ashkenazi Guelfand,
Catherine Denver Fowler, Kathleen Smith Redman
and Lisa Schulman Johnson all had baby boys
within the last year as well, and we are excited to
get them all together at some point.” Molly and
Jamie had plenty of visits from Williams classmates in the past year: Jen Ashkenazi Guelfand and
her son Josh stopped for a day on her way back to
France after visiting her family in DC. Next came
Tom Kramer, who was in the Boston area visiting family. Parrish Isaacs also came north from
Texas with his baby boy, Henry, who is 10 days
younger than Oliver. Most recently, Katherine
Baldwin Andruskiewicz drove up to Boston from
Connecticut. Jamie works in commercial real estate
development, and Molly runs the special education
department at a charter school, Boston Prep.
Nina (Trautmann) Chaopricha welcomed her second daughter, Lena Chaopricha, on June 10. Nina
enjoyed taking her to meet other Eph babies at a
recent Vermont Ciderfest. Nina continues to enjoy
her work in program management at Cornell.
Abby (Davidson) Tadenev wrote from Bar Harbor,
Maine, that she and Mike Tadenev had their second child, Samuel Bryce, on June 16. Their older girl,
Molly, 2, even predicted his birthdate! Abby recounts,
“About 10 days before he was born, when I asked her
when she thought the baby would come, she said,
‘Sixteenth!’ I kept saying I was glad that someone was
finally telling me when he would come!”
Next up, Lisa (Schulman) Johnson and her husband Scott Johnson ’05 had a baby boy, Sawyer Scout
Johnson, on June 28.
Tracy (Henderson) Cook had a son, Grayson, on
July 3—a fireworks baby! Grayson joined his 3-yearold sister Andie, who is apparently having a blast
smothering her baby brother with love!
Guy Danella and his wife Callary (Cally) Allen
Danella had a baby girl on July 11. Wilde Callary
Danella was born at UCLA Westwood Medical
Center. Guy and Cally were married last August and
live in Venice, Calif.
Nick Nelson and Sarah Klionsky also added a new
baby girl, Lila, to the mix on Aug. 13.
Tina Howe, husband Brian and son Liam welcomed
baby Rory to their family on Sept. 2. Tina shared,
“Rory is doing great and enjoying lots of time with
his favorite Ephs, Maggie Popkin, Elliot Morrison ’04
and their son Toby.”
Steve Eyre and Caty Sumner welcomed their first
child into the world on Sept. 5. Steve says, “His name
is Jeremy Sumner Eyre, and everyone is doing great!
He is particularly enamored with our miniature
dachshund, who has quickly become his best buddy.”
Steve and Caty live in Dedham, Mass., where Caty
works as an emergency and critical care veterinarian,
and Steve works as a urologist in the Boston area.
2002– 04
Toya Williams and her husband Ryan Morettini
had a daughter, Gabriella Ava Morettini, on Oct. 13.
Gabriella joins big sister Stella. Mitchell Green reported that his wife Lisa gave
birth to twin girls, Sloane and Ainsley. So they now
have four girls under 4! Good luck!
And last, but not least, Andrew Ferrer and his
wife Caitlin had their first child in 2015, a baby girl
named Grace. They couldn’t be happier. Andrew and
Caitlin had a blast meeting up with Joe Gallagher in
Rhode Island for his wedding, which included Mike
Pinkel, Jon Chow, Jason Leith, Jen Barone, Katie
Saxon, Matt Ellis and James Hollyer.
Deep breath, everyone—we’ve made it through the
birth announcements. Time for some noteworthy
non-baby news…
Jen Doleac is spending a sabbatical year as a visiting fellow at The Brookings Institution in DC. Jen
is enjoying city life while working on a variety of
research projects related to crime, particularly the
effects of technology on public safety. Jen encourages
Ephs in the area to get in touch!
Freeden Oeur enjoyed a trip with his fiancée Julie
Blume to Kauai in September. Sounds incredible!
Dean Lao continues to live in Portland, Ore., working as a pediatric anesthesiologist. After finishing
the Mountain Lakes 100-mile trail ultramarathon in
early October, Dean was “glad to report that I’m still
able to walk and no longer have cankles.” Vivien Shotwell wrote in from Berlin. She’s become
obsessed with Argentine tango and has been to festivals in Croatia, Poland and Hungary. Vivien is working on a new book set in 17th-century France. While
you’re waiting for it to be published, you can pick up
the paperback of Vienna Nocturne, released in the fall.
Joe Lucia serves as assistant attorney general for
Massachusetts and says, “The experience of serving
the public and the citizens of the Commonwealth
has been satisfying beyond all expectations.” Joe
was elected to the board of the Massachusetts
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer
Bar Association in 2015. He purchased a condo in
Boston and is enjoying being back in the neighborhood of Dorchester, where he grew up. Rachael Holmes spent a few months in Puerto
Rico shooting the recurring role of Erica in season 1 of Mad Dogs (the American version), set to be
released early next year on Amazon. She reports it
was an amazing time, especially “reconnecting with
the ever wonderful Yailyn Martinez, who showed me
around and really made me feel at home in a new
place.” Can’t wait to see the show, Rachael! Jordan Goldwarg spent a weekend in Boston with
Nick Nelson, Sarah Klionsky, Angus Beal and
Kimmie (Kemper) Beal, Katie Stevens ’05 and others
watching the Head of the Charles.
Jeff Garland wrote in from Cambridge, where he
is a public defender and sees “lots of Williams folks
near and far.” Jeff ’s big news was getting married to
Astrid Werner on June 13 in Princeton, N.J. There
were many Ephs in attendance, including Tim Austin,
Zach Blume ’02, Teddy McGehee ’05, Michael
Strauss ’94, Katie (Marsh) Garvin ’05, Chris Garvin,
Neal Hannan, Jacob Eisler ’04, Angus Beal, Kimmie
(Kemper) Beal, Matt Ellis, Nick Nelson, Sarah
Klionsky, Ben Roth ’04, Dusty Lopez ’01 and Caitlin
(Carr) Lopez ’01.
Believe that’s it for this round. Thank you to
everyone who has shared their news—it’s always
wonderful to hear your updates, big and small. If
you’re ever in the Menlo Park area, be sure to
come by and say hi!
2004
Charlie Davidson, 48 Meserole St., Apt. 6B, Brooklyn, NY
11206; Benjamin Fleming, 418 St. Johns Place, Apt. 2D,
Brooklyn, NY 11238; Zak Haviland, 190 North 9th St., #1R,
Brooklyn, NY 11211; 2004secretary@williams.edu
Hello, Class of 2004! This edition of notes heralds the introduction of a few more tiny people to
the world and a few class members to professorships
around the country. Our influence spreads.
Cortney Tunis is now a resident of Cambridge,
Mass., and happily gets to see Ashley Carter and
Nicky DeCesare ’05 for dinners up and down
Boston’s Red Line. Cortney celebrated the wedding of Sophie Hood to Steve Gikow in Calistoga,
Calif., and spent the wedding weekend floating in an Olympic-sized, geyser-fed mineral pool
with Taylor Stapleton, Susan (Combs) Varcak, Jen
Feldman-Brillembourg ’03, Niki Cosgrove ’02, Caitlin
Stashwick ’02, Maria Drinane Kurlinski ’02 and
Ryan Kurlinski ’01. Brent Yorgey reports, “I, Joyia (Chadwick) Yorgey
’05 and our son Noah have moved to Conway, Ark.,
where I have just started a tenure-track faculty job
at Hendrix College. If you imagine Williams, but in
the south, and with not quite so much money, you
get a pretty good picture of Hendrix. We’re enjoying ourselves so far and are in the process of buying
a house. Not a whole lot of Williams alums around
here—feel free to come visit us! (Seriously, Arkansas
is beautiful.)”
Ben Fleming starred in his law firm’s adaptation of
Hamlet, playing the title role. He reports the experience as “Curious.”
Alaya (Kuntz) Swann is delighted with her new
position as professor of English at Collin College
in Frisco, Texas, where she teaches writing and literature, helps advise the school’s WARP equivalent,
and occasionally gets to lecture about fantasy and
science fiction. Eve Biddle has a new baby boy: Kodiak Frankel.
Hoorah! Welcome the bear. Eve was not an English
major.
Devin Fitzgibbons and Beth Potter welcomed
“unnamed baby girl” Fitzgibbons into the world!
Devin reports that he dropped Beth off in front of
the hospital, parked in the garage at 10:55 p.m., and
welcomed the youngling at 11:06 p.m. Ladies, it is
this easy for everyone who goes into labor. Honest.
Zak Haviland is still in NYC and says, “Hello.” He
encourages you to be in touch if you are ever in the
city but to please, please, please not leave voicemails,
as they are impossible.
Ally Matteodo was to perform in Open Theatre
Project’s SLAM Boston on Oct. 13-14. SLAM
Boston is a 10-minute play competition modeled on
a traditional poetry SLAM. Eight plays are chosen to
compete on both nights, with five randomly selected
audience members as judges. On the second night,
scores over both nights are tallied, and the winning
team of director, playwright and actors is announced.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
101
CLASS NOTES
Over the summer Ally visited old friends Hilary
Barraford ’00 and Justin Dittrich ’03 in California,
and later on in the summer met some new Ephs at
the Boston Williams in Tech event, including Erik
Sebesta ’91, Kevin Flynn ’08 and Jason Briggs ’14.
Ally is excited to announce she is an orange belt in
karate and has just finished filming the first episode
of High Heel Samurai: Power Trio. She is playing the
role of dojo owner Viola Talatetto.
Rob Follansbee reports “Charlie Davidson, Kam
Shahid, Matt Rade and I met up for a boys’ weekend
on the Cape at the end of September. My brother
Russ (Wesleyan ’09) and his college friends were also
invited, but only Russ was brave enough to join us
(something about tendonitis in their Beirut throwing arms). Our fishing excursion was canceled due to
high winds, and we cut golf short due to the same.
This left us with a lot of free time. We are not good
with free time. It was exactly what you would expect
from the four of us, only in a cleaner house than the
Slippery Banana. By the end of the weekend we had
learned a lot about Rade’s love of non-dairy creamer
and bathing in Koi ponds, that Kam still only lasts
two games in Beirut, that Charlie and Rob still
take college games way too seriously, and that Russ
learned not to talk trash about drinking games to
Williams men. On Sunday we all slinked back to our
homes full of regret and put on our best adult costumes for the work week.”
In secretarial news, Charlie ruptured his Achilles
tendon playing lacrosse in October. All flowers, condolence letters and pies can be sent directly to his
home or office. Please exclude jokes about aging athletes, glory days or crutches.
2005
Andra Hibbert, 148 Eastern Ave., Apt. 3, St. Johnsbury, VT
05819; Zachary Tomhave McArthur, 1455 North Sandburg
Terrace, Apt. 1403, Chicago, IL 60610; 2005secretary@
williams.edu
Happy fall, y’all! It’s October at the time of this
writing, and it wouldn’t be October without the
Cubs cruising through the playoffs. Wait, what?!
The Cubs are in the playoffs? The Cubs won a playoff series?! The Cubs are down 3-0 in the NLCS
and this issue is due before Game 4? Hope remains
alive among the Wrigley faithful that our next
roundup of class notes will include lots of reflections on the Cubs’ incredible comeback against the
Mets and their improbable World Series victory.
“GO CUBBBBBBBBBSSSSSSSSSS,” writes Eric
Manchester. Stay tuned. (Secretary’s note: We all
know how this turned out by now.)
Williams rang the bells for Mountain Day on
Oct. 16. Does anyone else miss Williamstown more
on that day than any other? Charlie Baschnagel
took a day off from his study tour in Japan to spend
that Friday hiking Mount Fuji with Jessie Yu ’07!
Fuji vs. Stony Ledge? Stony Ledge for the win! It’s
all about the foliage, right? And the donuts. The day
after Mountain Day, Jonathan Landsman officiated
at the wedding of Sean O’Brien and Allison Lee on a
blustery day in Rochester, N.Y. Jonathan’s reflections
about Sean and Allison’s relationship centered around
nature, especially focused on rites of fall like gathering harvest. Katie (Marsh) Garvin is “wishing there
102
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
was a way to teleport to Williamstown for an apples
and leaves fix.” She’s missing the New England fall
horribly because she and her husband Chris relocated
to Southern CA for a couple of years due to Chris’
job. (Side note: Chris is a Mets fan.)
“I am sad to be missing out on New England fall—
the colors are not nearly as nice here in Germany,”
Jasmine Smith writes. Jasmine is living in Berlin,
organizing activities for children at a refugee shelter. She was married to Simon Liebold over summer,
halfway around the world in Hawaii! Simon is not
an Eph, but Jasmine assures us he’s still pretty great.
Sara Martin is volunteering on an organic farm in
the quaint English countryside, which has included
attending an apple fest and riding a pony on the
moor. However, she claims to still be homesick for
New England in the fall. She has been promoted to
chief mate at SEA and will be flying to New Zealand
to work on the ship Seamans doing maintenance and
repairs before heading out to sea.
Kristine (Osterman) Cass and Oren Cass moved
back to the Berkshires, settling in Lenox. Oren is
working as a senior policy fellow at the Manhattan
Institute while Kristine is running a startup that
makes Anchor Nutrition Bar, “a nutrition bar that
prevents and relieves nausea (perfect for morning
sickness and motion sickness!).” That might be an
important tidbit for some because we oh-fives are
having a bit of a baby boom.
Andrea Berberian Gardos and her husband Steve
are excited to introduce their new baby girl, Lennox
Lillian, born May 27, to “all the other Williams
’05 babies.” What other babies, you may ask? Amy
Shelton’s daughter, June Tlapek Laughlin, was born
Aug. 24, 2015, and was immediately swaddled in a
Williams onesie. Amy (Shapiro) Sosne and her husband Ben welcomed their second child, Ruby Hope
Sosne, on Sept. 18; even their toddler Jack is adjusting well. Dellie (Sorel) Kress had a good reason for
missing our 10th reunion—her daughter Davina
Tilly Kress was born on July 15. Ashley Weeks Cart
and James Cart visited shortly thereafter to help the
whole family settle in to life with two kids. Justin
Anderson and his wife Marie had Ryan Howard
Anderson, born June 26. Ann (Woods) Worth and
her husband Dan welcomed a baby girl, Olive Ann
Worth, on Sept. 3 and promise to bring her to the
Purple Valley ASAP. Ann was sad to miss reunion as
well as “Amy Wicker’s epic wedding,” which included
Justin Timberlake serenading the happy couple live.
Say what? Ann and Dan are looking forwarding to
a visit from Tara Boyd to their home in Oceanside,
Calif., and Ann promises to “develop an appropriate
hashtag for all social media posts while she’s here.”
Jane McCamant and Hilarie Ashton are both pursuing the life of the mind. Hilarie has an article coming out in a book this year and is presenting at several
academic conferences and working on her dissertation, all in addition to teaching! She also teaches
kickboxing: “New York Ephs should get in touch if
that sounds fun to them!” Jane is in the third year
of a PhD at the University of Chicago, where she
researches the history of morality and rejects daily
the idea that her intellectual pursuits can’t also be
what she does for fun. She “misses Williamstown
more than usual as a result of our recent reunion” but
is “grateful to at least live in a place with deciduous
2004– 05
trees.” We agree, Jane: there is nothing like a good
deciduous tree to turn a day around! Nathan Kolar
teaches Spanish and human ecology to eighth- and
ninth-graders at the “completely awesome” Sage
School in Hailey, Idaho. He lives there with wife
Tenaya (Plowman) Kolar ’02 and their daughter
Sadie and son Dash, who just started kindergarten.
The whole family is “definitely hoping for an epic
winter!” They saw Katie Mercer ’03 and her husband
and twins, who visited Idaho in August.
Michelle Flowers married her fiancé Kash in
March and took a job with Nike in September,
which prompted a transplant from Brooklyn, N.Y., to
Portland, Ore. She is looking forward to Kash joining her in Oregon at the end of the year to help her
explore her new terrain. Pam Choi has been working as a trauma chief, transplanting kidneys. Pam has
run the Chicago Marathon, biked across Missouri
with her husband Nick and taken her toddler Calvin
to his first baseball game. Chris Eaton is an attorney
for Earthjustice in Denver, where Sara Gersen also
works. Justin Brown is working at Physical Sciences
Inc. in Andover, Mass., but lives elsewhere because
the practical joke opportunities with Cambridge
neighbor Joe Shoer ’06 are so extensive. Justin writes,
“I enjoyed spending a large portion of my summer
searching my apartment for ‘surprises’ that Joe hid,
only to read in the last class notes that it was all just a
clever ruse. Well done, Joe!”
Litia Shaw visited Chicago!
“Puss och kram,” writes Ross Smith, who is living the glamorous life of the Nordic PhD student
in Uppsala, Sweden. He is gearing up for his halftime review, which means longer days in the lab, but
he assures us that there is a secret snack drawer with
chocolate. Over the summer Ross and his wife took
several trips, including to Hawaii, where they dove
with manta rays, and “Swedish Hawai’i,” the remote
island of Gotska Sandön in the Baltic Sea. “I have
not yet convinced a load of fellow Ephs to come visit
the frozen wilds of Sweden but would be pleased
to show off the joys of Uppsala,” Ross offers. Paul
Sonenthal lives in Rwanda, working for Partners
in Health, where he helps staff the national cancer program. Afton (Johnson) Gilyard visited Emily
(Tomassi) Grant in London in August; they traveled
to Paris together to take in all the tourist attractions,
including the Paris Sewer Museum. “Let me tell
you,” Emily writes, “Paris in the sewers in August is
not a place you want to be.”
Daniel Krass is a certified and licensed audiologist working at the Stanford Ear Institute. His clinic
is across the highway from his elementary school,
so he is settling back into his old neighborhood
while also returning to his dueling piano career at
Johnny Foley’s. Dan plays many Friday and Saturday
nights; Bay Area Ephs, go give Dan $10 to play “The
Mountains!” Laura Futransky Mathews moved to
the West Coast last winter to work as an oncology
social worker and has especially enjoyed living near
fellow Oakland resident Susie Theroux. She also
had “a wonderful day reconnecting with freshmanyear roommate Joanna (Leathers) McDuffee and her
husband when they were visiting Napa.” But Laura’s
most wonderful day? She married Marques Mathews
in August! They were joined in their celebration by
many Ephs, including Michelle Flowers, Amanda Niu,
Karen Vanderbilt, Abby Whitbeck, Elena Bonifacio,
Laura Kaufman, Sarah Johnson, Sarah Meserve, Litia
Shaw, Katie (Marsh) Garvin, Chris Garvin ’03 and
Laura’s father David Futransky ’73. Joyia (Chadwick)
Yorgey moved with her husband Brent Yorgey ’04
from Williamstown (“sadface”) to the “sunny
south” in Conway, Ark., where Brent has a tenuretrack faculty position at Hendrix College. Joyia is
working remotely for Williams’ Alumni Relations
Office, and they are both tackling the next item on
the adulthood checklist: home ownership. “Yikes!
Am I really an adult now?” writes Joyia.
Dan Narva was married on July 11 to Melissa
Domizio in Essex, Mass., and Ashley Weeks Cart
served as their photographer. Ashley was able to be
just a plain old joyous wedding guest at the August
nuptials of Meg Bossong and Milton Ferguson at
Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield. Also in attendance were James Cart, Zach McArthur, Kendra
Totman Padilla, Nicky DeCesare, Alexei Greig ’03,
Papa Adams, Liz Pierce, Ryan Belmont, Kate Ambler,
Jen Steinberg, Lindsey Taylor, Melissa Daly ’03,
Lissa Ong ’04 and Sharifa Wright ’03. The length
of that list nearly rivals the number of ’05s bravely
dancing amidst the hundreds of ’10s in Goodrich
at reunion. On the van ride back to Williamstown,
Kendra, Zach, Nicky, Sharifa, James and Ashley burst
into an impromptu rendition of “The Mountains” as
they crested Route 2. An ensemble romantic comedy
should clearly be written about them.
Maybe the most enthusiastic submission this time
around came from Joanna (Leathers) McDuffee.
Joanna got married in February and “had so much
fun being back in the Purple Valley” for reunion
that she returned for an impromptu Williamstown
Theatre Festival and van Gogh viewing at the Clark
a few weeks later. On that trip, she and her husband
ran into Laura Kaufman and her new baby at Taconic
Golf Club and met up with Ashley Weeks Cart
and James Cart and their “adorable daughters” on
their farm in Pownal, Vt. Joanna also visited Andrea
(Berbarian) Gardos and her new baby girl Lennox in
Boston as well as Katie (Shattuck) Markov and her
new baby girl Isabelle in San Fran! Have a baby—
Leathers will travel! Finally, we check in for the first time with our
temporarily retired class secretary duo. Aron Chang
is still living in New Orleans and completed an
ambitious schoolyard redesign project, finishing just days before the school year started and a
monsoon hit the area. He is also working on water
management and “resilience-building efforts”
(sounds like Aron should be teaching high school
juniors!) in coastal communities in Connecticut,
Virginia and Louisiana. Aron’s partner in secretary
crime, Chuck Soha, has been all over the place as
well. Chuck left the country for July 4, spending
it “unpatriotically” in Halifax, Nova Scotia. But
Chuck made up for that faux pas by subsequently
hitting up 2/29 of America’s national parks:
Acadia, Crater Lake, Glacier and Yellowstone.
(Random aside: Was any reader aware there is a
national park in Ohio?) Chuck also attended Jay
Ross’ wedding to Polina Schwartzman and took
a Williams banner shot with Andrew Leeser, Phil
Smith, Pat Krivoshia, Bryan Birsic, Eliot Peyster,
Mark Rothman and Karl Johansen.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
103
CLASS NOTES
As for your current secretaries, we stitched
together these notes during a frantic week of gradereport writing (Zach in Chicago) and parentteacher conferencing (Andra in Vermont). To all the
new parents out there: In 17 years, when your kid is
a junior in high school, please remind yourself (and
your child!) that earning a B-minus in algebra is
not the end of the world. Also, if they are getting a
B-plus in an AP critical thinking class, they are fabulous even if they aren’t used to getting grades that
start with an eight instead of a nine. Working hard,
being kind to others and learning from their mistakes is much more important to their future. One
mediocre grade in math and English does not mean
that they are total failures (and thus destined to go
to Amherst). Also, we were serious about wanting
you to send up book reports, so keep that in mind.
’Til next time! —Andra and Zach.
2006
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Ariel Peters, 80½ Jane St., Apt. 2B, New York, NY 10014;
We lost Drees Griffin in September. He was our
class musician and a friend to all who knew him.
Sarah Louise Smith recalled, “There were only
three students from Alabama in the Class of 2006:
Drees, John Selden and me. I think Drees and I
had a kinship immediately just for that reason—it’s
nice to see a friendly face who knows a little about
where you come from. And Drees’ face was always
friendly. I’ll remember his consistent, wide smile
and easygoing demeanor. They brightened my day
at Williams, in Alabama and will always brighten
my memory of him.”
“Drees made an immediate and lasting impression
on me,” Willa Brown Abel said. “He was in my entry
at Williams, and we immediately identified him as
the kindest, most talented and simply most delightful of the bunch. He also seemed like he was in his
own orbit: While most of us were busy celebrating
being out of the house for the first time, Drees had
such a distinct mission. He knew what he wanted to
achieve and was willing to chart his own way there,
undistracted by all of the wild antics around him. His
sense of purpose was so distinct and special. During
our junior year he would stop by my room for an
occasional chat. I had this ancient rocking chair that
barely fit in my modernist, concrete room, and he
would perch on it, asking me questions and always,
always smiling. I think I realized then that he was
much more complicated than I had realized. I really
wish I had had more time to get to know him better.”
Alan Cordova played in the Williams Jazz
Ensemble with Drees: “He really embodied the spirit
of the group (and the art form more generally): jovial,
creative and selfless.”
As Esa Seegulam wrote in his email to our class,
“Drees was the epitome of humility, even as he
wowed us with his martial arts moves or dazzled
us with his exceptional saxophone performances.
His hearty chuckle and ever-present smile will be
greatly missed.”
Sarah Louise and Alan visited Matt Hsieh, Meg
McCann and their son Adam in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, and then toured the northern circuit of historic cities together. (Alan had just finished climbing
104
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Mount Kilimanjaro!) Sarah Louise also spent time
with Tseli Mohammed in Boston over the summer
and caught up with EunSu Chang and Jay Bid in
NYC for a quick brunch.
Steve Myers and Hayley Wynn Myers were excited
to announce the arrival of their son Henry, who
was born on Aug. 27. According to Steve, Henry
was looking forward to making his first trip to
Williamstown in June (and perhaps meeting some
of his future classmates).
Tim Pingree and Liza (Welsh) Pingree welcomed
Asa Robert on Sept. 20. Asa spent the fall being
indoctrinated into a large group of Williams family
and friends in Boston: “He seems to be taking it
quite well.”
Anna Gunning quit her marketing agency job and
started her own copywriting business: “The aim is
to see my kids for more than an hour a day!” She
reported business was brisk and hoped it was a good
omen for future success.
Speaking of brisk, it was a year of endurance athletics for Jessi England. She ran the San Francisco and
Boston marathons, and she finished her first Ironman
triathlon in Chattanooga, Tenn., at the end of
September: “It was a long, painful day, and I’ve rarely
felt such exhilaration as when I crossed the finish line.
I’m excited to do some sitting for a while!”
You may not want to hear this if you’re buried in
snow, but Erika Latham happily planned some breaks
from Miami’s warm weather. She tasted a tiny bit of
fall in NYC when she was there in October for tango.
She was looking forward to a tango marathon in San
Francisco in November as well as a trip to London to
visit her sister Taya Latham ’07 and to attend another
tango marathon, this time in Brussels, before the
winter holidays.
Meanwhile, Adam Bloch was mining salt on the
Araya Penninsula in Venezuela in the fall and helped
an old man save his horse-drawn streetcar line from
being overrun by the forces of Big Streetcar.
Big news for Heather Casteel and David
Rodriguez: They’re tying the knot in June, the week
after our 10-year reunion! They were both math
majors, but they didn’t know each other well in college. However, when they reconnected in NYC last
fall, “That was that.”
Macy Radloff married Jordan Vance on Aug. 22
in Cambridge, Mass. Liz Killien, Liz (Woodwick)
Schloeder, Andrew Pocius, Carolyn Skudder Pocius
’07 and Eric Katz ’90 attended. Macy noted that
Louisa Berky ’08, owner of Louisa B. Designs, made
Jordan’s wedding band.
Vickie Fernandez and Doug Wint said their vows
on Tunnels Beach on the island of Kauai on Sept. 20.
They were surrounded by their families, and Vickie’s
sister Veronika Fernandez ’08 was the maid of honor.
After a fun and relaxing honeymoon on the island,
Vickie and Doug returned to Brooklyn to celebrate
with their closest friends and family. Veronika made
a very funny and touching speech, and Jon Russell,
Melisa Russell Paige, Alex Smith, Adam Ain, Yariv
Pierce, Aston Gonzalez ’08, Matt Greenawalt, Meghan
Ryan and Emily Casden were there, as was Andrea
Burke, who traveled all the way from Scotland with
her husband James.
Addison Lanier marked his one-year wedding anniversary and realized he never submitted a note! He
2005– 07
and his wife Jane tied the knot on Oct. 11, 2014. She
isn’t an Eph, but they share a love of small colleges
in the woods ( Jane went to Dartmouth). Ted Unger,
Jeff Wilbur, Jeff Koegel, Ned Castle, Eva Lewin, Max
Pinto ’08, Danielle Callaway ’08, George Miller ’09,
Kate Stephens ’10, Mark Lanier ’80, Jane Garvey ’78,
John Lanier ’77 and Addison Lanier II ’76 were present for the big day (although John fell asleep before
the Williams photo was taken at 9 p.m.).
I opened my copy of The New Yorker when I was
riding the subway in the fall and was thrilled to
see Jiayang Fan’s name in print! Her article on the
investigation of a Chinatown bank appeared in the
Oct. 12 issue. Darlingside also made an appearance—quite literally, as the piece was accompanied
by sketches of all four band members, including Don
Mitchell—in the Nov. 9 issue. Those who missed it
will regret not reading about Don’s encounter with a
saliva-soaked Frisbee.
I also run into Blake Albohm and Sasha Gsovski
Albohm in person at our neighborhood coffee shop.
Blake and Sasha moved to NYC last spring and have
had fun with Williams friends on weeknights, rather
than during quick weekend visits to the city.
They loved attending Jeremy Wertzer’s summer wedding in Rhinebeck, N.Y., and were unsurprised that the Ephs easily showed the Bowdoin
and Dartmouth alums how to have a good time.
Blake, Ben Berringer and Jesse Schenendorf were
in the wedding party, and Tom Kelly, Jon Russell,
Melissa Russell Paige, Treb Allen, Marcela Di Blasi
’08, Jeanne Lehmann, Chris Gibson, Paul Lindemann,
Nikhar Gaikwad and Emily Casden were guests.
Chris Yorke and Susan Reid Yorke are still living in Portland, Ore. Chris designs flagship retail
stores for Nike in North America and is doing a few
independent design projects through his new company, Traceworks. Susan is working as an assistant
attorney general for the state. She was headed to
Williamstown in January to teach a Winter Study
course on the Supreme Court!
Jay Bid and Thomas Kunjappu got together with
Chris, Ian Schulte and Reed Harrison in Portland
during a Pacific Northwest road trip. They hit up
a basketball court to re-live some times from the
“Rejection Committee” days and extensively sampled
Portland beers.
In July Sarah Steege moved to Baltimore to work
at the Maryland Disability Law Center. She was
enjoying being a real lawyer, even if there was a lot
to learn. In her spare time she was exploring Charm
City and hoping for visitors!
Mary Catherine Blanton was happy to be back in
Houston, where she sees fellow Houston native Laura
Noel Borland. MC brought her husband Bailey and
daughter Edie to NYC in October. Drew Newman
’04 and I went for a long walk through the West
Village with their family of three and re-lived the
brief couple of months in the fall of 2014 when Edie
was in utero and we were still neighbors.
Finally, Andres Schabelman is splitting his time
between San Francisco and LA. He started a company called Showroom TV. Right now he’s looking
for a funder—that way he’ll be able to make it to
reunion (“wink wink”). Andres, I look forward to
seeing you and everyone else in the Purple Valley
in June!
2007
Caitlin Hanley, 445 E. Ohio St., Apt. 3416, Chicago, IL
Happy New Year! With the arrival of 2016, it’s
hard to believe that our 10-year reunion is nearly on
the horizon. With each round of class notes, I continue to be energized and inspired by the life updates
and many accomplishments of our class. I look forward to seeing what’s on the horizon in 2016!
Let’s ring in the New Year by celebrating the arrival
of our newest Ephs!
Morgan Thomas Shankweiler and her husband
John welcomed twin ladies Penn and Wyeth to the
world on June 18. They are the newest addition to the
“‘Shankweiler Zoo,’ which includes three stepsons,
two dogs, a dragon and a handful of tropical fish—
perfectly timed for maximum cuteness and perfected
party tricks come the 10-year reunion!”
Sara Echenique and her husband celebrated the
arrival of daughter Elena Isabel in July, welcomed by
big brother Nico, now 2½ years old. Elena has already
been to Williams (as Sara’s sister Carolina Echenique
’15 works in admissions) and is a fan! Sara still lives
in NYC, where her family had a fun play date at the
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens with Abby Southard
and Brian Carey ’06 and their adorable redheaded
son, and Martha Rogers and Jose Pacas ’08.
Megan (Bruck) Syal and her husband welcomed
son Lucian Bruck Syal on Oct. 17. One of his first
pieces of clothing was a Williams onesie from Ally
Holmes. Megan hopes to bring him to our 10-year
reunion!
Meghan (O’Malley) Thedford and Blake Thedford
of Seattle Wash., are overjoyed with the arrival of
their first baby girl. Vera Mae Thedford arrived on
Monday, Oct. 26, at 4:43 a.m., at a whopping 9 lbs.,
14 oz., and 21.5 inches long! Eph wedding bells continue to chime! Congrats to
our many ’07 newlyweds!
Sean Hyland attended Mike Davitian’s wedding
in September in Sebastapol, Calif. Other Williams
friends present included Andy Stevenson, Chris
Furlong, Mack Brickley ’08, Grant Burgess ’08, Corey
Levin ’08, Jim Clayton ’08, Emily Clayton ’09, Geoff
O’Donoghue ’06 and their various entourages. Geoff
served as one of the officiants, and fellow Lehman
entrymate Colin Carroll was a groomsman. Another
groomsman, Matt Kane, thrilled the crowded dance
floor when he performed a rendition of his famous
hit “The Real PT.”
Ren McDermott got married on Aug. 1, 2015, in
Calabasas, Calif. A great showing of Ephs attended,
including siblings Riki McDermott ’09 and Chih
McDermott ’14, Sage B entrymates Emma Reynolds
and Ellen Wilk, co-JA Will Rathgeber, Frosh Revue
friends Lauren Hester, Miles Klee and Jon Russell
’06, other pals Alison Penning, Nick Herzik ’10, Mason
Elizondo ’18 and Ren’s parents Brian McDermott
’79 and Manette McDermott ’79 along with their
friends Pat Strong ’79 and Diane Hughes ’79. Ren
and husband Eric also had an East Coast reception on Oct. 3 in Ridgefield, Conn., for friends
who weren’t able to make it to CA (or who wanted
to party with them twice!)—and even more Ephs
were there for that! After the August wedding, the
couple honeymooned in Europe—spending two
J A N UA RY 2016
l
105
CLASS NOTES
weeks driving around in a camper and then flying to Italy to spend a week in Rome and on the
Amalfi Coast.
Beth Lorge got married at sunset on Aug. 5, 2015,
in Maui, Hawaii, to fiancée Ramona, surrounded
by their closest family and friends. Beth is still
living in San Antonio, Texas, where she started her
second master’s at Trinity University. This one is in
school leadership. She is currently an administration
(assistant principal) intern at a middle school
in San Antonio.
In June, Robert O’Loughlin officiated the wedding
of Larry Dworkin and Kristina Yang (Stanford ’09).
Among the Ephs in attendance were Giorgio Mosoni,
Godfrey Bakuli, Owen Simpson, Rohan Mehra,
Zach Grossman, Perry Fridley, Lee Wang, Stephanie
Swanson ’05 and Nick Rios ’10.
Ashley McDonnell married Ryan Madigan,
a clinical psychologist, on Sept. 27 in Portland,
Maine. They had a few Ephs in attendance: Elizabeth
Dill, Ann Levin, Caitlin Sullivan and Greta Wilson
as well as Stephen Stephanian ’75 and Jack Dill ’74.
Ashley and Ryan live in Cambridge, Mass.
Ridhima Raina got married in March 2015, and a
bunch of Ephs attended, including Jessie Yu, Pam
Vachatimanont, Julia Ramsey, Eileen Kim, Thomas
Kunjappu and Jay Bid. Ridhima met husband
Bhuvan Jain (Berkeley ’06) during her MBA, where
she beat him in squash! Ridhima moved to LA from
London about a year ago. She still works for Bain &
Co. and was promoted to manager. She loves living
in sunny Santa Monica so far and looks forward to
having more Ephs around!
Chris Merwin married Sally Cobb ’09 on the Cape
in September. Ryan Fote, Charles Howard, Matt
Paster, Katie (Cail) Paster, Tyler Kyle, Billy Kelly,
Doug Holm, Skip McManmon, and Paul Morgan were
part of the ’07 contingent at the wedding.
Dan Binder attended Mike Fairhurst’s wedding over
Labor Day weekend outside of Burlington, Vt. Over
the wedding weekend, he spent time with Matt Kane,
Matt O’Donnell (who flew in from Tokyo) and Dave
Brown. It was the first time since graduation that the
group was together.
Diana Davis, Dominique Mack, Alyssa Mack and
Brendan Mulrain attended Kathryn Lindsey’s beautiful lakeside wedding to Aditya Khanna in August in
Hyde Park. Diana also saw Williams math professor
Cesar Silva at the wedding. In September, Diana and
Kathryn enjoyed a beautiful sail on Lake Michigan at
the Northwestern Sailing Center.
Dominique Mack is still living and working in DC.
She ventured out to Arlington, Va., for a Darlingside
show and was able to catch up with the band members as well as Fay 1 entrymate Ruth Steinhardt ’07.
On Nov. 1, Dominique traveled to New York to cheer
Alyssa on for her first full marathon!
In August, Emily Wasserman raced the Boulder
Ironman and finished third in her age group and
as the 26th woman overall. By finishing third, she
qualified for the Ironman World Championship in
Kailua-Kona, which she raced in October. Emily is a
litigation associate at a law firm in Denver. Chris Furlong celebrated his 30th in Vegas at the
end of July with Andy Stevenson, Corey Levin ’08,
Jim Clayton ’08, Emily Fowler-Cornfeld ’09 and Neal
Hannan ’03. Later in the trip, Chris got engaged to
106
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Annie Feutz (Colby ’08). Chris also started a job
working for an affordable housing developer in
Arlington in early July.
Branden Mirach is working as a bioprocess field
sales representative at Sartorius Stedim Biotech, covering the greater New York area. He moved to Kew
Gardens, Queens, N.Y. with his girlfriend, and they
love living there.
After nearly eight years at PeopleForBikes, a
national nonprofit that works to build more bike
lanes and paths, Kate Powlinson started a job as
road brand manager for SRAM, a bicycle components manufacturer. Kate and her husband will still
be living in Boulder, Colo., part time, but the change
will take her to Chicago—“just in time for what I
hear is a lovely winter!” Katie writes, “If any Ephs
in Chicagoland want to go for a bike ride, I’d love
to know. I promise we don’t have to wear the purple
cow-spotted spandex—unless you really want to.”
Katie (Josephson) Wright completed her PhD
coursework and received her doctorate in art history
from the Institute of Fine Arts (NYU) in September.
She also started a job as a curatorial postdoctoral fellow in the modern and contemporary art department
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She writes:
“I am enjoying the new position immensely, especially since the museum is a only a short walk from
my apartment; it’s the most pleasant commute I have
had since walking through the quads at Williams.
Emerging from my dissertation-induced haze, I have
also made a more concerted effort to get out of the
library and see friends. I had an awesome night a
couple of weeks ago with numerous fellow Ephs—
Dan Wollin, Eugenie Du, David DeVaughn and Sura
Tilakwardene, among many others—attending
Darlingside’s concert and album launch at Rockwood
Music Hall in NYC. They sounded incredible, and I
can attest that everyone had a great time.”
Brian Simanek and Rebecca (Lawrence) Simanek
’07 moved to Waco, Texas, over the summer. Brian is
now a tenure-track assistant professor of mathematics
at Baylor University, and Rebecca is working for the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Chris Ellis-Ferrara, Jon Misk and Jonathan Kuah
met for lunch when Chris was in NYC for a conference, and they were able to connect during a conference break. “It was great to see everyone again!”
Jonathan writes.
Peter Tosirisuk is still working for Palantir
Technologies, living in Oakland and flying a lot
(though less often in the last few months, now that
he is on a new project).
Taya (Latham) Kent’s first novel, The Blood-Tainted
Winter, the first in a mythological Norse series, was
released on Nov. 30. Be sure to search for her Ephinspired pseudonym, “TL Greylock,” on Amazon!
On Mountain Day, Hanjie Jesse Yu hiked Mount
Fuji with Charles Bashnagel ’05 and other participants of the 2015 Kakehashi Program, sponsored
by the Japanese government. She writes: “We didn’t
realize the coincidence with Mountain Day until the
next afternoon, but we celebrated the day’s spirit by
joining a group of Japanese yogis in their evening
drinking and morning calisthenics!”
It was really great to hear from so many of you!
Wishing you all the best for a happy and healthy
2016!
2007– 09
2008
Sarah Bonn, 110 East 84th St., Apt. 5D, New York, NY
10028; Tim Geoffrion, 45 Trowbridge St., Apt. 5B,
Cambridge, MA 02138; 2008secretary@williams.edu
Thank you, Class of 2008, for so many wonderful
updates.
First, the Class of 2008 has three new honorary members. Megan Bailey, Chris Rose and Katie
Stack all welcomed new babies into the world!
Megan Bailey had a very busy and joyous summer.
In addition to giving birth to her baby girl, Isabella
Charlotte Johansson, she finished her PhD in
molecular and cellular biology at UMass Amherst
and moved to Seattle to start a postdoc at the
University of Washington in Chip Asbury’s lab.
Chris Rose and his wife Madeline welcomed
their first baby, Connor William Rose, into
the world in September. Proud uncle Kevin
Rose ’11 already promised to buy Connor lots of
gear for his Eph debut, which was planned for
Homecoming Weekend.
Katie Stack Morgan gave birth to Garrison Kent
Morgan on Sept. 9. Mom, dad and baby Garrison
are doing well, and we’re looking forward to
Garrison’s first trip to the Purple Valley! Katie is still
working as a mission scientist on the Mars Science
Laboratory Curiosity rover at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The rest of the Class of 2008 were and are eager to
meet these new babies and congratulate the parents
at homecomings and our 10-year reunion.
We’re also excited to welcome many new spouses
to our ranks. Anna Merritt married Dean Weesner ’11 on July
4 in the Santa Cruz mountains. There were more
than 20 Ephs in attendance, including two of her
bridesmaids, who were also her entrymates from
Mo’ East, Jenn Sit and Kristina Brumme. The night
ended with a dance party reminiscent of First
Fridays, with guests enthusiastically shouting “to
the windows, to the wall!” After the wedding, Dean
and Anna honeymooned in Australia and Vietnam.
The highlight of the trip was a five-day trek through
Hang Son Doong, the world’s largest cave. They’re
still living in the Bay Area, where Anna works at
Yahoo and Dean works at Google.
In August Ben Sykes married Christine Han. The
day was beautiful, and they felt blessed to be surrounded by friends including Dan Golub, Sunny
Haft, Katya Prakash, Jeffery Lin, Elizabeth
Madigan, Jarrad Wood and Kevin Kellert. In September, Anna Weber and Zac Thomas were
married. Karen (Markman) Newburg, Nate
Newburg ’09, Eric Wirkerman, Matt Simonson, Ana
Correa ’07, Greg Tobkin, Andrew Goldston ’09, Adam
Banasiak, Erika Williams and Ben Wood attended.
Anna reports she also finished her MPH this year,
but contrary to false rumors spread by your embarrassed class secretaries, she has no immediate (or
past) plans to get pursue further degrees.
Also in September, Ben Bullitt married Jess
Kramer. The couple were married in Little
Compton, R.I., and met at Harvard Business
School.
Elsewhere, Ephs are starting new careers, moving
to new cities and seeing old friends.
Natashia Kadimik, Becky Nourse and Katie
Quayle spent a day in Seattle and then drove out to
Olympic National Park to hike in the mountains,
rain forest and along the coast in June. It’s become a
tradition for them to visit America’s amazing national
parks each of the past couple of years. They hope
to continue the tradition for many more years to
come and encourage everyone else to visit one of our
national parks the next chance they get.
Jenn Sit started a job managing the cookbook
program at the food startup Blue Apron and coauthored a West African cookbook titled SENEGAL:
Modern Senegalese Recipes from the Source to the
Bowl. It was released in September.
After two years on the East Coast working in specialty coffee and developing her own independent
films, Kyle Frederick returned to LA for a job at a
film production company. It’s a bittersweet transition
(oh, how she’ll miss that crisp fall air) made easier by
getting to reconnect with some Eph friends. Fellow
filmmaker Lauren Estevez and she grabbed drinks
with Will Jacobson shortly after her move to the City
of Angels and had a great time remembering what it
was like to be young and carefree in the Purple Valley.
But LA has its own special vibe, and she is excited to
be in the mix of things in the industry again. Henry Burton graduated from the Woodrow
Wilson School (Princeton) in June, and chose to
savor his freedom for the summer. He drove across
the country (visiting several national parks) with two
friends in June, hiked across Oregon on the Pacific
Crest Trail in August and traveled to Queensland,
Australia, with his brother Oliver Burton ’06 in
September. He visited Terry Tamm in Boston, Sara
Siegmann in Madison, Wis., and Caroline
Goodbody in San Francisco. Now all traveled out,
he’s settled down near Portland, Ore., where he
hosted Jason Ren and showed him around the area.
Caitlin Warthin is living in the Philippines as part
of a six-month practicum with a local reproductive
health NGO. She is in the second year of her master’s of public health program at Columbia but is relishing the opportunity to live abroad. She was thrilled
to host Ryan Karolak, Nancy Haff and Margaret
Ryan when they visited the Philippines earlier this
year, and she was looking forward to seeing Simone
Levien and Micah Halsey in October!
Lastly, one of your class secretaries, Tim
Geoffrion, moved back to his home state, Minnesota.
He was thrilled to learn that Tyler Hull and Will
Eudsen also moved there. Though he works in
MN, he regularly makes it back to the East Coast,
including a “leaf peeping” trip to the Purple Valley
with Andy Jang ’07 and Tiffany Yu ’12, among others.
Thank you again for all the updates, Class of 2008.
We look forward to hearing more from you all in a
few months.
2009
Claire Basham, 166 Smith St., Apt. 2A, Brooklyn, NY
This round of class notes is particularly special. We
have four classmates who wrote in for the first time
ever! It’s never too late to start, and I am sure you’re
all eager to hear what they’re up to, so I will start with
their news.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
107
CLASS NOTES
Brian Dolezal’s brief SparkNotes life update since
college is that he moved to San Francisco, started
working at Facebook and married Sarah Gabriel on
Sept. 12. Sarah Stone Fan wrote in for the first time
to announce the arrival of a future Eph with husband
Jason Fan ’08 in late October. David Ramsay wrote
his first note to say that he started working with Don
Wieczorek ’08 at Purple Valley Capital Inc., the company Don started during his senior year at Williams
in 2008. It’s an asset management firm that now has
a seven-year successful track record, with these two
Williams grads at the helm. Daniel Hong has been
working for more than three years in talent acquisition for the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health
System in New York. He is also attending graduate
school at St. John’s University part time in his second
year of a master’s degree in psychology. Daniel would
love to connect with and meet Ephs in the NYC
area, so please reach out to him!
I’m always inspired when people write to share
that they continue to love what they’re doing. Tim
Ryan loves his MBA program at UNC KenanFlagler! George Miller is still getting in the solar
groove, working at BlueWave Capital and developing solar energy from Boston. Ben Bodurian is entering his second year as an associate at Gibson Dunn
in DC, where he focuses on M&A, securities regulation and corporate governance. Morgan Phillips Scott
had his two-year anniversary in Chicago and is still
very happy there. In June he completed the Second
City Musical Improv conservatory and in July traveled to Mexico City and taught improv warm-ups for
an expressive arts training program. Following that,
Morgan completed a show run of La Vie Foheme:,
A Puppet Rock Opera. At the time of this writing, he
was prepping for the New York show and crocheting
things, working on items for a holiday pop-up shop
and shark-themed items for a friend’s Kickstarter
campaign. Phew!
As always, members of the Class of 2009 are
movers and shakers, traveling the country and the
globe. Britt Spackman left her job at FLAG Capital
Management in April and spent part of the spring
and summer traveling in Europe and working in
Ghana with a nonprofit founded and run by two
close friends. Britt moved from Boston to Seattle,
where she started doing business development for a
small startup called Volt Athletics. She’s exploring the
Pacific Northwest and has enjoyed reconnecting with
Seattle-based Ephs including Ethan Dahlberg ’06
and Ashlee Dahlberg ’05, Annelise Snyder ’11 and
Natalie Joffe ’08. Jessica Rodriguez had an adventurous summer. In a fairly last-minute decision, she
joined a friend for a blitz of a road trip, where they
hit 20 states and covered 4,700-plus miles in just 16
days. They got lost in the jungle at Animal Kingdom,
went digging for diamonds in Arkansas, celebrated
July 4 on Bourbon Street, two-stepped in Nashville,
donated blood at Saint Jude’s and visited the King
himself in Memphis. Jessica writes that she wishes
she’d had a bit more time so she could have taken
Ruth Aronoff and Jess McCall up on their offers to get
together. When she got home, Jessica was ambushed
by Lauren E. Finn while she was back visiting their
hometown and was tagged the new “It.” ( Jessica and
Lauren are in a country-wide game of tag with several other Ephs. They only play over the summer,
108
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
because that’s the easiest time for everyone to travel
and because a deadline makes the game feel more
urgent and exciting.) Farry Taraz was “It” at the end
of the 2014 game, and Lauren picked up where Farry
left off. It looks like Jessica is “It” until next summer.
Jessica still lives in CT and works in investigations,
which is definitely an adventure. She says you never
know what you’ll dig up about people. (Yikes!)
We have some graduations to celebrate! Bibi
Metsch-Garcia graduated from the University of
Michigan Law School in May and is now a law
clerk at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
in New York. Stewart Buck graduated from medical school last spring and is in an orthopedic surgery
residency at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte,
N.C. He saw a bunch of ’09ers in upstate New York
at Tim Batty’s wedding to his longtime girlfriend,
Katie Tronovich, whom Stew considers an honorary ’09 based on four years of visiting Williamstown
every single weekend! James Lowe finished his dual
master’s program at the University of New Mexico.
He earned his master’s in education administration
and curriculum and instruction and is currently the
coordinator of data, assessment and compliance for
the Central Consolidated School District. Lauren
Philbrook completed her PhD program in human
development at Penn State in June. In July she and
Steve van Wert moved to Auburn, Ala. Lauren
began a new job as a postdoctoral fellow at Auburn
University, studying at-risk children and families.
Steve is working remotely to finish his PhD in engineering science and mechanics from Penn State,
hopefully within this academic year.
As a class, we proved that May through September
is wedding season, indeed. Lindsay Millert kicked
off the ’09 weddings. She wrote enthusiastically, “In
May I got to marry my best friend, Doug, and am
proud to now be Lindsay Millert Melzig! The wedding was on a pond at the base of Mount Equinox
under a cool, crystal-clear Vermont sky; we were
surrounded by 100 of our closest friends and family members, including Christine Cohen and Chris
DeBaere and Allie DeBaere ’08. Everything went
flawlessly, we were so blessed! The rest of the summer was a whirlwind, but I’m thrilled to be settling
back into normalcy at home in Manchester, Vt., this
fall.” Kristen Milano married Ken Stannard at the
Seven Hills Inn in Lenox on June 27. Ephs in attendance included Dan Pesquera ’11, Katie Grace, Emily
Flynn Pesquera, Mika Peterman, Rachel Bring, Ali
Barrett, Shelley Williamson ’10 and Paul Grogan ’72.
Elizabeth Goggins and David Aitoro were married
in July in the Berkshires with many Ephs in attendance. Emily Smith and Jim Whitledge were married
in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., on July 25. Eirik
Buraas read a Norwegian poem during the ceremony,
and I was honored to follow Eirik’s reading with a
(tearful) rendition of “Your Song.”
There were two Eph weddings on Sept. 19! Sally
Cobb married Chris Merwin ’07 in Hyannis Port,
Mass. Fr. Gary Caster, Williams’ Catholic chaplain, officiated, and many Ephs were in attendance,
including Jessica Overlander, Meighan McGowan,
Stefanie Williams, Kate Ireland, Antonia Clark, Lizzie
Burns, Mike Smith, Tim White, Bucky Marshall,
Tyler Kyle ’07, Matt Paster ’07, Katie (Cail) Paster
’07, Ashley (Sewell) Ryan ’07, Skip McManmon ’07,
2009– 10
Charles Howard ’07, Ryan Fote ’07, Doug Holm ’07,
Billy Kelly ’07, Paul Morgan ’07, Julia Cobb ’16, Gigi
Campo ’10, Owen Holm ’10, Stew Gilson ’08, Andrew
Roberto ’08 and Rob Roberto ’82.
Also on Sept. 19, Mindy Misener married Kirke
Elsass in Detroit. A bunch of Williams folks were
there, including Julie McNamara, Beth Links, Karin
Knudson, Colin Carroll ’07, Ryan Ford, Natalia Rey
de Castro, Sarah Hill, Robin Kuntz, Lauren Philbrook,
Steve Van Wert and Patricia Klein. Mindy and Kirke
live in Ann Arbor, and in the fall, Mindy started a
teaching job at the University of Michigan’s English
department writing program.
Rachel Bring married Andrew Underberg on
Sept. 27 at Tribeca Rooftop in NYC. Ali Barrett
was maid of honor, and Kristen Milano and Mika
Peterman were bridesmaids. Jenny Danzi, Christine
Cohen, Martin Green and Godfrey Bakuli ’07 were
also in attendance.
I can add myself to this list of summer Eph
weddings! Hopefully these anecdotes don’t read
as an abuse of my power as class secretary. On
Aug. 15, Christopher Basham ’07 and I were married at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vt. The bridal
party and chairs were filled with friends I made
at Williams, including Claire Koshland and Jake
Koshland, Emily Whitledge and Jim Whitledge (and
Emily’s dad, McKelden Smith ’74), Kelly Kirkpatrick,
Sarah Hill, Rachel Hyland and Sean Hyland ’08,
Mijon Zulu, Ryan Olavarria, Cam Henry, Helen Hatch,
Nanny Gephart, KK Durante ’11, Jon Galinksy ’10
(whose girlfriend is my best friend from high school)
and my dad, John Rindlaub ’79. At our rehearsal dinner, Claire Koshland and Nicole Ballon-Landa ’11
(fellow former Ephoria members) sang their own
personalized rendition of T-Swift’s “Love Story” with
my siblings. More serious Eph vocal stylings happened during our ceremony, where Harris Paseltiner
and Aroop Mukharji sang “May You Find,” a stunning song they wrote for Chris and me, from under
giant golf umbrellas as rain poured down. We were
all pretty soaked when they started, but there wasn’t a
dry eye after the last chord.
I hope you all had cozy, healthy and happy falls,
filled with cider donuts, colorful foliage and some
tailgating, if you wish. Take a note from those classmates who wrote in for the first time and consider
doing the same! We’d all love to hear from you.
2010
Jamie Pickard, 415 Buchanan St., Apt. N, San Francisco,
CA 94102; 2010secretary@williams.edu
Hello, Class of 2010! I am delighted to serve as our
new class secretary, and despite my infamously poor
storytelling abilities, here goes nothing! Summer
and fall 2015 were monumental times for many of
us—from career changes and moves to engagements
and marriages, with fun reunions and hangouts in
between. On to the updates.
First up, the marriages! Congratulations are
in store for newlyweds Katie Dupre and Scott
Sobolewski, who were married in early June at the
Museum of Science in Boston, Mass. (an ode to
Katie’s astrophysics major). Best man EJ Toppin
showed off his speechwriting skills (he currently
works on the Hill in DC), and Ben Mackinnon, Nick
Daen, Gretchen (Krieg) Mathews and Ikenna Iheoma
were just a few of the many Ephs breaking it down
on the dance floor, First Fridays style. Christophe
Williams married Cameron Nutting ’11 on June 27!
They got hitched in St. Michaels, Md., surrounded
by friends and family, including dozens of alums
from classes 1950 to 2014. Another Eph-filled
wedding was the July nuptials of Caleb Balderston
and Rachel Levy ’09. Fifty Williams alums traveled to Arlington, Vt. (just a few miles north of
Bennington) to celebrate the couple, and Jamie
Quella, Sophie Vargas, Amanda Widing, Meg Zisser
and Eva Breitenbach were all in the wedding party.
Caleb reports it was “a beautiful ceremony outside before dancing the (very hot and sweaty) night
away in a barn, where we named the various tables
after buildings on the Williams campus.” Caleb and
Rachel then jetted to Greece before settling back
into their Cambridge, Mass., apartment. Rachel
completed her MBA and is working full time at
Social Finance U.S., while Caleb is taking on a new
instructional coaching role in his fourth year at the
Academy of the Pacific Rim.
In August, Torrey Taussig married Dicken Chaplin
’12 in Stowe, Vt. The two celebrated their big day surrounded by Jess Ray, Anna Moseley, Grace Baljon,
Ben Kelley, Meghan Gaffney, Ashley Parsons, Toby
Eyre, Jennifer Coxe, Mary (Gelber) Napoleon and
Kate Stephens.
The following weekend, Andrew Yoo and Taylor
French ’12 were wed in Thompson Memorial Chapel
in Williamstown. Those of us attending the wedding made the most of the summertime in Billsville.
After hitting up the Forge for dinner on Friday
night with Dave Golkin, Owen Holm, Ben Mackinnon
and Everett Case, Anna Moseley, Christina Sanders,
Christine Jones, Hanna Gisel and I started the wedding day with a girls’ hike up Pine Cobble. Later
that evening everyone tore up the reception dance
floor with the bride and groom and then made
their way to a Williamstown Theater Fest afterparty. Other classmates in attendance included
Andrew Bartsch, Ethan Buchsbaum, Mike Grover,
Grace Baljon, Ashley Parsons, Will Whiston, Chuck
Kollmer, Ben Kelley, Matt Zanedis, Steven Menking
and Henry Blackford.
Across the country in a dust storm in the Nevada
desert, Miju Han got married at Burning Man
with Anna Merritt ’08, Dean Weesner ’11 and Faye
Whiston all by her side. Henry Blackford entered
into married life when he wed Amherst alum (!)
Margy in Mystic, Conn., in September. I am proud
to report that the dancing from the Williams table,
which included myself, Hanna, Christina, Anna,
Mike Moorstein, Blake Schultz, Joe Geoghegan,
Charlie Cates, Andrew D’Ignazio ’11, Ben Kelley,
Ethan Buchsbaum, Nick Herzik and the recently
married Andrew Yoo and Taylor Yoo ’12 unsurprisingly showed those Lord Jeffs why they’re always
second best. Additionally, Paul Fraulo wrote in to
congratulate Will Bobseine on his marriage to Alina,
and William Hardy married Spencer in San Antonio,
Texas, in August. Congratulations to both Wills and
their new wives!
As for engagements, congratulations are in store for
Adrian Rodriguez on his successful proposal to Sonia,
and Jon Levinsohn on his engagement to Grace.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
109
CLASS NOTES
In September, Andrea Currie trekked up Mount
Greylock with her boyfriend, who had planned
the hike as a Mountain Day celebration, complete
with picnic lunch, hot cider and an unexpected
proposal! Andrea wrote, “The timing of the proposal was a wonderful surprise!” Capping off the
third leg of their extensive end-of-summer travel,
longtime couple Mike Vandenberg and EB Kapnick
were engaged in Florida over Labor Day. EB is
my current (but not-for-long) neighbor in San
Francisco, while Mike began work at a law firm
in NYC after graduating from Boston University
with his JD last spring.
Michael Drzyzga reported some big changes. After
realizing a PhD at Brandeis University wasn’t working out due in part to his sensitivity to something in
the lab, he finished his master’s thesis in chemistry
at Brandeis instead. Wishing you all the best in jobhunting, Michael!
A number of our classmates completed or continued their impressive and diverse studies last year.
Peter Tierney took a break from his PhD in paleontology at the University of Chicago to visit Allie
Gardner in Champaign, Ill., over the summer. Peter
is studying the ecology and evolution of reefs in
deep time, and the research is taking him around the
Midwest and the Northeast. In August, Allie met up
with Dr. Melissa Kemp at the Ecological Society of
America annual meeting in Baltimore. Melissa finished graduate school in biology at Stanford, studying biogeography and lizard communities in the
Caribbean, and she moved to Boston for a postdoctoral position at Harvard. After these fun reunions,
Allie is next hoping to see my beloved Willy C entrymate Allie Goldberg, who moved to Avon, Colo., for
a job as a science teacher.
As some classmates finish their post-graduate
schooling, others are embarking on the journey.
As chronicled on Instagram, Chris Warren enjoyed
“funemployment” over the summer, jaunting
through South America and Europe before starting business school at Kellogg (Northwestern)
in September. Chris hopes to get “dranks” with
Morty soon and should include Mike Grover, who
is now in his second year at Kellogg. Across town
at Booth (University of Chicago), Mike Moorstein
began his first semester in August.
Just before her engagement, Andrea Currie saw
Jamie Lahvic and Devereux Powers in Boston for
lunch, where they caught up over Ethiopian food.
Devereux is getting her master’s in sociology from
Brandeis.
Literally crossing paths with me on our ways to and
from Teachers College, Kallan Wood was busy in the
fall working at a high school downtown while going
to school full time. Kallan and Chloe Brown took a
long weekend to visit her sister Gillian Wood ’14 at
Princeton University, where Gillian works in admission. When they overheard students saying things
like, “It’s part of the patriarchy,” Kallan, Gillian and
Chloe could only remember fondly the experience of
being college freshmen.
Chloe’s Brooklyn roommate and boyfriend Eben
Hoffer reports that in addition to his happy and cozy
home life, he has been traveling a lot for work this
year, and at the time of this writing he was prepping to leave on a two-month European tour as a
110
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
production manager for Performance Space 122.
His work in contemporary theater brought him
to Williamstown to create a new production with
the Satori Group, with Caitlin Sullivan ’07, Spike
Friedman ’07, Greta Wilson ’07 and Quinn Franzen
’09. Eben has had quite the successful year, with one
project that he managed winning an Obie award and
three Bessie nominations for other projects on which
he has worked! Very exciting!
Andrew Forrest also has some impressive career
news to share. After spending nearly four years working at the media startup Upworthy, in September he
joined Hillary Clinton’s campaign as the director of
audience development. He sits with the campaign’s
digital team, and his role is to help expand the reach
of the campaign’s content and community online.
Andrew reports that it is exciting and very busy work.
Many of our classmates have found new work in
different cities and are exploring new areas of the
country and globe. Paul Fraulo moved to Stamford,
Conn., where he works as a patent lawyer at the
Whitmyer IP Group. At the time of this writing,
Christian Henze was living and working in London
for a few weeks with plans to be in New York in the
fall before returning to the Bay Area in the winter.
Former class secretary Cat Vielma wrote in from DC
while coordinating a move to Denver, Colo. She’s
excited to trade in late nights in a government building for late nights skiing the Rockies. In August,
Cat spent a lovely weekend with Sarah Franklin,
Stephanie Brooks and Brittini “Boss” Micham in
Connecticut. They rented a house overlooking the
Long Island Sound. The ladies caught up, cooked up
a storm and played one round of Kings just to “prove
we still could.” Sarah and Boss are in Boston putting their MDs to good use, and Brooks was in NYC
at the time of this writing. Cat also shared dinner
with Hannah Rosenthal in September, as she had a
layover in DC in between interviews.
After having a great time at reunion with Aaron
Slater and April Davidson, Sheriney Frederick and
Cassie Bagay went to New York, where they acted
like tourists, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, Tiffany’s and FAO Schwartz. Sheriney lives in
New Jersey, while Cassie lives in Hawaii, where she
landed a job as an associate attorney at private family law firm, DOI/LUKE. Cassie reports that work is
hard but rewarding!
I have also made a few major life changes over the
past few months. After completing a master’s in elementary education from Teachers College over the
summer, I moved to San Francisco in August and
began teaching special education at a KIPP middle school while living in Hayes Valley with Charlie
Gephart ’12. Special thanks to Marc Pulde and
Chelsea Kubal in helping to ease the notoriously difficult Bay Area apartment search. While Marc graciously gave me his fantastic apartment in order to
return to the East Coast after spending a few years in
the Bay with his fiancé Bailey, Chelsea still lives close
by with her husband of one year, Brandon.
On my farewell tour around NYC over the summer, I spent time with many Ephs, allowing me to
provide updates for this publication. Jared Quinton
and I took in a rainy day in Red Hook, Brooklyn,
N.Y., by feasting on lobster rolls after visiting Ethan
Buchsbaum, who was hard at work at The Still
2010– 11
House Group gallery and studio. In the fall Jared
began his master’s in art history from the Institute
for Fine Arts at NYU and was relishing in student
life again. My farewell tour also included a lovely picnic in Stuyvesant Town, where I reconnected with
Andrea Park, Steph Kim, Joe Mastracchio, Jim Dunn
and John Dingee. As I left NYC, Andrea had just
started a job at CBSNews.com, while Steph began
her 2L year at Duke Law School.
In October, Christina Sanders made a quick weekend stop in San Francisco en route to Seattle for
her first of many residency interviews. Christina is
in her fourth year at Columbia University College
of Physicians & Surgeons and will be specializing
in pediatrics. Journeying from LA to visit Christina
were Jesse Gordon and Noah Schechter ’12. The four
of us enjoyed catching up over a few drinks and a
riveting game of Settlers of Catan. Jesse is working
in the writer’s room at Netflix’s upcoming animated
series Green Eggs and Ham (be sure to add it to your
queue!). The show’s premiere in 2018 leaves Jesse
time to work on his golf game and stand-up routine,
but from his Catan skills last weekend, he should
use the time to improve his grain-for-sheep trade
(Catan shade!).
I close these notes with arguably the most unique
and entertaining update from a classmate. Formerformer class secretary Ethan Timmins-Schiffman
is still in Mali planting trees and educating locals
on nutrition as a member of the Peace Corps. But
a recent experience has opened Ethan’s eyes to a
new part of the Malian culture. Ethan reported:
“I’d say the big news in my life is that I became the
apprentice to the village jester. ‘Jester,’ however, isn’t
a perfect translation. Here, in the Sikasso region,
and more specifically the Senofou area, the town
jester often plays an important role with the village chief. Through humor and sarcasm, the clown
can influence the village chief ’s decisions. Some say
that the village chief will take all of a jester’s advice.
(I’m not sure if this is necessarily a good thing, but
it’s what they say.) I think I’ll finish my part of the
tree-planting project in February and then look for a
real job. But for the time being, I’m enjoying learning
from the head jester and dancing at village festivals
with the jester’s cloak.”
That’s it for this round of class notes. Please keep
sending your news, notes and photos my way! I look
forward to hearing from all of you, and I hope everyone has a safe and cozy winter!
2011
REUNION JUNE 9-12
Caroline Chiappetti, 59 Garfield Street, Apt. E, Cambridge,
TL:DR! Save the date for our five-year reunion—
June 9-12, 2016! Planning efforts are under way!
By the time you receive this edition of Williams
People, Boston will likely be buried under mountains
of snow, but today I write from a Cambridge coffee shop on the sort of deceptively chilly sunny day
that reminds me of fall in Williamstown. I have just
submitted my course preferences for next semester
and have come around to this grad school thing. I’m
grateful for the opportunity to indulge my academic
curiosity in things I didn’t get to study at Williams—
documentary film, feminist legal theory, the civil
rights era. I blame Williams for making me believe
an eclectic and liberal-artsy transcript is something to
be desired, but being back at school would feel like a
waste to me if it were not.
A winter edition of Williams People means lots of
summer weddings to report. Congratulations to all!
Our Class VP Cameron Nutting married Christophe
Williams ’10 in Saint Michaels, Md., in June.
Surrounded by Williams alumni from the classes of
1950 to 2014, and memorialized using the hashtag
#HappilyEverWilliams, it was a very Ephtastic event,
despite the torrential downpour and flooding.
In contrast, Class Treasurer Joey Kiernan has
wavered in his commitment to Williams—a week
after celebrating Mike Ryan’s wedding on Cape Cod
with Shawn Curley, Ifiok Inyang, Evan Skorpen
and George Sullivan, he got engaged to an Amherst
alumna! He started at Harvard Business School in
the fall.
Rachel Teitelbaum and Rusty Cowher ’12 got married on Aug. 1, 2015, in Middletown, Conn. Stephen
Simalchik ’13 officiated, and a bunch of Williams
buddies were in attendance to celebrate. Rachel and
Rusty live in the Bay Area, where Rachel is a public
policy student at Berkeley, and Rusty is in law school
at Stanford.
Dean Weesner wrote, “Seven years after a fateful
Girl Talk concert in Lasell brought us together, Anna
Merritt ’08 and I have gotten married. A big thanks
to all the Ephs who made it out to California for the
wedding. We had an adventure-filled honeymoon,
spanning three continents. Highlights included hiking through the world’s largest cave in Vietnam and
getting lost in a dust storm in a Nevada desert. So
excited about the reunion coming up, which I’ve been
looking forward to since about sophomore year.”
Tess Bingham married Ramesh Thondapu in
Colchester, Conn., in September. MD1 entrymates
Clare Quinlan, Carla Cain-Walther, Maddie Jacobs,
Christopher Fox, Caroline Chiappetti, might-aswell-have-been-entrymates Chander Sherman,
Jackie Berglass, Mimi McClatchey and an array
of Eph-plus-ones were thrilled to join Tess and
Ramesh at their elegant Indian-infused hoedown
under the stars.
Laura Corona wrote, “Harlan Dodson and I got
engaged this summer. I’m in my third year of
grad school in Albany, N.Y., and he just started
a job coaching basketball and teaching history
at Salisbury School in Connecticut. I’m thankful
pretty much all the time for the lucky set of circumstances that brought us both to Williams and
also thankful to Campus Life for putting us in the
same entry.”
Lots of classmates will be adding “Dr.” to their
names in the years to come, in an impressive variety
of fields. Jacob Walls moved to Philadelphia to start
a music composition PhD program at Penn. Bürge
Abiral has begun a PhD in anthropology at Johns
Hopkins University. Quaneece Calhoun graduated
with her master’s in clinical psychology in July from
the Michigan School of Professional Psychology
and is now in the doctorate program to obtain her
PsyD. Her anticipated graduation date is in 2019!
Bhavya Reddy wrote in on a day of great news:
“Just got a piece published today on the Guardian
website about climate action and found out a couple
J A N UA RY 2016
l
111
CLASS NOTES
of hours ago that I won a scholarship to a conference and get to be its photographer, so pretty
excited/nervous!”
Laura Staugaitis moved back to Chicago from
Denver. “Katerina Belkin came for mountain frolics
in Denver this spring, and I went to the Eaux Claires
Music Festival with Ben Swimm ’09 and Dan Gura
’10 in July, which involved excellent music and lots of
mud in our campsite, and we ran into Chris Law ’10,
who was also attending.”
Meghan Rose Donnelly wrote in with a fascinatingly terse report: “I’m in Hawaii, trying to turn my
summer with nuns in eastern Indonesia into a short
play. Love to all!”
Mo Zhu has been working as a software engineer at
a hardware consulting startup in the Boston area. “I
learned on my first day that I would be working with
Kristof Redei ’07. Tim Leclair is here rocking a sweet
apartment and working at Brandeis. We hang out
from time to time to reminisce about the old days.”
Brian Borah writes in from Bolivia, where he has
been living since early September: “Life has been
pretty adventurous and awesome. Through Loyola
University of Chicago med school, I am doing a yearlong global health fellowship with one other med
student and my sister (a nurse). We are working in a
rural clinic down here, alongside an all-Bolivian staff.
We are also acting as coordinators for the foundation that operates/funds the clinic, and as such we
schedule short-term med student and physician volunteers throughout the year. Most of them come
down for around a month at a time. If any Ephs are
in South America, or if any medical Ephs want to do
an elective rotation in Bolivia, get at me! Clinic info
here: http://bit.ly/1MChDvB. It’s an amazing place.”
Chandler Sherman moved to San Francisco at
the end of September and started a job at SolarCity,
advocating for solar policies around the country. “My
first week on the Best Coast has been magical and
filled with lots of Williams adventures with Julia van
Hoogstraten, Maddie Jacobs, Danielle Diuguid, Evan
Skorpen and Briana Marshall.”
Emily Spine is still living in Brooklyn, where
she now works as an administrator at the school
where she was teaching. “I went to Williamstown
for reunion planning weekend and finally had the
chance to visit the amazing addition to the Clark,
which I highly recommend everyone visits. I’ve also
been kickin’ it in BK with Jared Johnson and Lexy
Coleman. Over the summer, there was a minireunion
to celebrate the brief return of Jess Torres to NYC.
Many of her friends (like the illustrious Chad Young
’12 and Kyle Martin ’12) came out to hang. I’ve also
had the pleasure of running into many an Eph at the
Great Caesar shows I attended (including, but not
limited to Peter Drivas, Channing Tookes, Nathaniel
Basch-Gould, Carla Cain-Walther and, of course, Tom
Sikes). My final word is that I hope everyone is planning to come to reunion in June! See you then!”
Echoing Emily’s words, mark your calendar, save
your PTO, set up your Kayak flight alerts, and see
you in Greylock Quad under the stars in June!
112
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
2012
Kyle Vincent Martin, 475 41st St., Apt. 5, Brooklyn, NY
11232; Kendra Demetria Sims, 19½ Quincy St., Somerville,
I expected nothing less than burgeoning greatness
from a class of movers and shakers in the making.
Melissa Whitaker won a Fulbright Fellowship and
will move to Brazil at the end of February. Mariah
Brennan Clegg traveled to Paris with an EcoSocialist
group to protest and film the climate change conference, COP21. Carrie Chu has been teaching at
King’s Academy and exploring the beautiful country
of Jordan. Sydney Taylor and Ashley Amos enjoyed
competing in the Head of the Charles and other fall
crew races in the lightweight single.
Sydney Pitts-Adeyinka, we treasure your updates
and apologize for misspelling your name.
MA, MPH, MD, PHD. According to my mildly
sadistic statistics professor, a significant percentage
of us will end up with an alphabet soup of degrees.
Sayantan Mukhopadhyay moved to LA to begin
a PhD in art history at UCLA. He’s had Ephtastic
times with entrymate Katie Aldrin and folks such
as Noah Schecter, Sabrina Howard, Maya Hislop
’11, Lisa Sloan ’09 and Andy St. Louis. Ali Mitchell
is studying at Brown University’s master’s program in public affairs. Part of her program involved
going to Stockholm for two weeks to study health
care policy. Mindy Lee, studying industrial design
at Umea University in the north of Sweden, has
her fill of crawfish, black licorice and pickled herring. Anna Antonova finished her MA in marine
affairs at the University of Rhode Island and moved
to West Yorkshire as a Marie Curie Research Fellow
in Environmental Humanities at the University of
Leeds. As both academic research staff and a PhD
student, she is happy to join the ranks of ’12s working
toward the big DR!
Back in Billsville in May, Anna briefly took
part in WUFO’s Kraftees event with Will Weiss,
Luke Breckenridge, Deon Soogrim, Aaron “Lege”
Freedman, Tom Crawford, Haley Eagon ’13, Meagan
Clark ’13 and a variety of other WUFO friends. Anna
also met with Rak Dong Lim ’15 over the summer
in Bulgaria during his travels throughout the world.
Stephen Maier, in medical school, visited Meeka
Halperin in Atlanta, where Meeka is pursuing a PhD
in clinical psychology at Emory University.
Stephen also had the blessed opportunity to see
Patrick Morrissey marry Marina Bousa ’13 in August
on beautiful Nantucket Island. He ran into a gaggle of Ephs including Octavian Jordan ’10, Matty
Masucci ’11, Annie Hanson ’11, Ryan Scott, Justin
Troiani, Ryan Purdy, Ben Contini and Ben Oliva, as
well as John Wickman ’13, Patrick Blizzard ’13, Sarah
Eades ’13, Katie Pettengil ’13 and Alex Sera ’13.
Congrats galore for Vanessa Harper, who married
Josh Rosenberg in DC. The wedding was everything
that they could have hoped for, and she declares that
they’re kind of obnoxiously happy.
A number of you offered to be stops for any
’12 plotting a destination reunion. For great skiing or hiking this winter, look up Hanna Saltzman.
She works in Salt Lake City as a family planning
research analyst and, on the side, as a health journalist. Crash at the casa of Allan Gonzalez in Austin,
2011– 13
where he works for BBVA Compass as a commercial underwriter. Lucy Rollins, Emily Schwab, Emily
Niehaus, Nora Kern, Leah Landsdowne ’11, Lindsay
Olsen and Sara Dorsey spent a summer weekend
on a goat farm in Pennsylvania for their third annual
Thomas Street reunion, complete with pies and
wine. Sara teaches whitewater kayaking, climbing,
mountain biking and all other things fun and out
of doors at Smith College. The only part she dislikes is the office. Jordan Freking Reyna invites you
to look him up if you find yourself in northeastern
Mexico. Between work as an academic supervisor in
Tampico, celebrating Dia de los Muertos and enjoying more than three years of married life, Jordan
is studying German: “Time flies when you are
adulting.” David Monnich and Jimi Morales of The
Dank Band played a Dia de los Muertos Festival
in Mexicali. Away from music in Ojai, Calif., Jimi
works as a private permaculture consultant. Cap
your globetrotting by letting Aven King lead you in
her new job guiding in Antarctica. Aven can’t get
enough of the cold after finishing her job as a senior
deck hand in Alaska and a brief trip to Europe.
Christopher Logan sends a verbal snapshot of the
Big Apple experience: “I have been running a lot in
NYC, though I have no plans of ever running the
city. I’m doing the whole New York writer thing,
which is coming to seem more like a degree in whining about hipsters and discovering enough hints of
pomegranate in my espresso to be taken seriously by
those same hipsters. It’s a love-hate relationship, as I
still refuse to believe the bagels here are more special
than anywhere else. Self-deception is a cruel mistress.
The bagels are great!” Gonpo Lama is still enjoying
life in NYC, where he works with Jonathan Draxton
and Justine Neubarth ’13. On a recent Williams visit,
he complained to Kyle Martin about how wonderful
the new library is and how unfair it is that it wasn’t
built when he was around. At that time, Kyle was
performing during established choreographer Ron
K. Brown’s residency in Williamstown. To pay rent
and feed the artists’ life, including working with Earl
Mosely, Kyle continues doing personal training, leading dance class at various studios in the greater NYC
area and teaching drama at an after-school program
at a charter school in BedStuy. Pinsi Lei of Pinsi Lei
Creative wrapped up with event production for the
Clinton Global Initiative 2015 Annual Meeting and
met Bill Clinton plus a dozen other heads of state
and CEOs. While attending a marketing conference
in Boston, she went whale watching with Stephanie
Jensen and Jessica Noelle. Pinsi organized a NYC
Paint Night with Lauren Glaves ’11, Emily Chapman
’13 and English Cook ’13. She reunited with Willy B
entrymates Taida Smailhodzic and Alex Cameron.
Jessica Torres left her job at Media Matters in
DC for Philadelphia to work for the press team at
the Democratic National Committee Convention.
She’s super excited to sell her soul to Hillary Clinton’s
emails. I’m tapping my foot for those Torres 2026
emails. Also in Philly, Newton Davis is working and
getting his applications together for grad school.
West Coast, best coast? Laura Berk is starting her
second year in San Francisco and is happy to see old
friends slowly trickling to the Bay Area, including
Claire LaFave, with whom she enjoyed a lovely ramen
dinner in the Mission. Marni Jacobs, who moved to
Seattle over the summer, rooms with Jane Youngberg
’13 and teaches physical science at Rainier Beach
High School.
With his usual gravitas, Mike Ryan helpfully
reports gearing up for the annual Morris family
mixed doubles paddle tournament hosted by Will
Morris and his executive assistant Courtney Bogle.
Are you doing anything half as interesting? Please
send it in.
To assure you all that I grant requests, I’ll end with
the succinct poetry of Brian Thomas: “Nothin’ new.
Still alive. Feel free to direct quote, lol.”
2013
Lindsey Graham, 603 Ishram St., Apt. 3G, New York, NY
Greetings, ’13s! A big shout-out to a number of
folks who wrote in to update us for the first time!
(You know who you are.) The latest exploits of the
Class of 2013:
Taylor Bundy is working as an Alumni Fund
coordinator at Williams and moved into an apartment with Tatum Barnes ’15, who is working at
Williamstown Elementary School and Youth
Center.
Pat Lin is still hitting the books in law school in
Sydney, Australia, and is spending January working
in Hong Kong. Nykeah Parham moved from LA to Boston in
June and started working as an internship coordinator for a company called TechMission, which
serves the urban poor. She also started an MBA
program at City Vision University and Bakke
Graduate University. She hopes to connect with
Ephs in Boston!
Cary White also moved to the Boston area in the
fall to work at the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Cary
“crashed with Jung Chan Yee in Somerville for the
first week and caught up with Chad Lorenz, Jamie
Rosten and Eric Trieschman.”
Over on the West Coast, Nicholas Neumann-Chun
is “attending an intense coding boot camp in San
Francisco” from October to February.
Brandon Abasolo also writes in from San
Francisco, where he joined a running club. He
wrote: “I can’t seem to be able to escape the Purple
Bubble, as my teammates include Beth Links ’09,
Sam Jackson ’10, Sam Blackshear ’10, Bret Scofield
’10, Andrew Gaidus ’11, Thomas Gaidus, Wade
Davis, Celeste Berg and Aldis Inde ’15. Training
activities consist of scenic (and hilly) bike rides,
beach volleyball and a little bit of actual running.”
Nicolei Gupit has been “lucky to talk with Jalynne
Figueroa over cold drinks in Southern California.”
Nicolei learned organic farming practices while
WWOOFing near San Diego and is volunteering
in art classes in Orange County.
Grace LaPier moved to LA to start medical school
at the University of Southern California. Joining
her were Menghan Zhao, Matt McCarron ’14 and Ali
Tafreshi ’15. Before moving, Grace “had a great time
at Abbi Davies’ wedding this summer with so many
people from our class.”
Wedding bells also rang for Alice Sady, who got
married on Aug. 22, 2015, in Baltimore, Md., to
Peter Cocoros.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
113
CLASS NOTES
On July 26, Daeus Jorento and Rhi Alyxander wed
in a Williams-filled wedding in DC. Daeus’ captain
on the swim team, John Armstrong IV, was best man,
and former College Council Co-President Peter
Skipper served as a groomsman. Rhi’s guide as a
prefrosh, Evalynn Rosado ’14, entrymate Dominique
Exume and friend Deena Bak were all bridesmaids.
Madlyn Mgrublian writes: “On July 11, 2015, history was made when Laura Donnelly married practically-an-Eph Ian Gunn. This wedding weekend
had everything: travel delays, a surprise mandatory viewing of Magic Mike XXL, homemade bowls
made by the bride’s father and the world’s cutest flower girl. The event was well-staffed by Ephs:
Austin Brown ’12 and Madlyn were bridesmaids,
Gordon Smith, Joe Leidy and Dave Baker were ushers, and Claire Seizovic designed the incredible invitations. A good time was had by all, despite the fact
the DJ played ‘Ignition’ and not ‘Ignition (Remix).’”
Kristina Krone bought a house with her boyfriend
in Minturn, Colo., between Vail and Beaver Creek.
So far, Annie Leiter, Shannon Campbell ’14, John
Sanderson ’14, Whitney Mikell ’12, Katy Kirkpatrick,
Chris Fogler and Caroline Wilson have visited her.
She also traveled to Telluride to see Katy Kirkpatrick,
Victor Major ’15, and Adam Carman ’10. Katy and
Chris are also recent eastern imports to Colorado,
moving to Telluride and Denver, respectively.
Kelsey Roggensack is on a Fulbright scholarship and is teaching at a boarding school in
Gorontalo, Indonesia. She writes in with lots of
news from former swim teammates: KC Ha moved
to Brooklyn, and Liz Visconti relocated to a new
apartment in Boston and continues to work at
Energy Savvy. Logan Todhunter ’12 began medical school at the University of New England
in Biddeford, Maine, while Carolyn Geller ’12
began business school at Harvard. Ellen Ramsey
’11 began business school at the University of
Chicago. Before she left, Kelsey reunited with
many Williams alumni and current students in
Westchester County, N.Y., to celebrate Ryan
Marrano ’12’s law school graduation.
Caleb Hoffman-Johnson was stationed in Hawaii
mid-April in conjunction with his service in the
Marines as the 3rd Platoon commander, Echo
Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.
Since then, he has been deployed in Okinawa and,
as of October, was stationed in South Korea on
the island of PY-do (Baengnyeongdo to South
Koreans), conducting bilateral training with
Republic of Korea Marines just 10 miles from the
coastline of North Korea.
Viviana Benjumea wrote in fresh on the heels
of a weekend Sankofa retreat at Williams, where
she was joined by Phoebe Rosen ’15, Kenny Jean
’14 and Nneka Dennie. A new Sankofa member,
Melanie Graciani ’19, is coincidentally an alumna of
the TEAK Fellowship, the organization for which
Viviana works. Pinsi Lei ’12 and Michelle Almeida
visited the TEAK office when they volunteered for
an event, so Viviana sends a shout-out to them for
getting involved.
Katherine Nuñez ’16 and Viviana traveled
together in Brazil and Colombia in April for the
latter’s birthday. When Viviana visited California
she also had the chance to hang out with Dayana
114
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
De La Torre ’14, Janet Garcia ’16, Mitchell Martinez
’12, Kelsey Gaetjens and Menghan Zhao. Back
on the East Coast, Viviana caught up with Carly
Valenzuela when she came to the TEAK office for
lunch.
Forever adventuring and “seeking out a future
common abode,” Sally Mairs, Ari Benjamin, Anthony
Miceli, Kaison Tanabe and Samir Ghosh managed
to rendezvous in both Theth, Albania, and San
Francisco in fall 2015. Although Gabe Lewis was
sorely missed, the group is looking forward to his
presence on the next trip, slated for spring 2016.
Effua Sosoo started a PhD program in clinical psychology at UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall and
found Ryan Jacoby ’09 and Anna Bardone-Cone
’91 at the school as well. She writes: “I love it here
so far!” In her spare time, Effua also started a blog
about faith called “The Kairos Journal” with Shirley
Li, Andy Morgosh ’12, Kelsey (Ham) Morgosh ’12,
Keelia Riegg ’14 and Caleb Kim.
Emily Levy is “kicking back” at Jackson Hole,
Wyo., where she is a field education intern. She’s
been “soaking up the beautiful views and enjoying
moose encounters galore.”
Sarah Freymiller has been enjoying her work trips
to Buffalo, N.Y., where she was able to meet up
with her former frosh, Adrien Downey ’15, who is
coaching swimming at Buffalo State. She also spent
time with frosh-now-just-friends Liz Dietz ’15 and
Lily An ’15, and she, Justine Neubarth and Charlotte
Dillon ’14 hosted Michelle Rodriguez ’12 for an
apartment mini-concert in Brooklyn on Michelle’s
first-ever tour! Many Ephs attended and enjoyed
the cheese and apples from Cricket Creek Farm.
Katie Holmes’ company was acquired by Universal
Music Group, so now she works for its global
streaming marketing department.
Charlie Sellars, Alex Wheelock, Sam Teng,
Justine Neubarth, Lindsey Graham, Evan Grillon and
Henry Su convened at Sam Teng and Elise Baker’s
apartment in Brooklyn to celebrate Elise’s birthday in a fairytale-themed murder mystery party. It
apparently takes more than nine Williams degrees
to successfully figure out whodunit, but Sam’s chocolate cake more than made up for this disappointing result.
Charlie hosted a “rooftop boogaloo” that was
shut down “because some enterprising Ephs (who
will remain unnamed) decided to practice their
cross-roof Parkour.”
Sarah Rowe left her job at the Guggenheim
in September to join a startup in Connecticut
“focused on reducing costs and improving quality
for Medicare patients, mainly by getting patients
out of nursing homes and home faster.” She writes:
“I like to think that if I survived a senior week
with a tornado during Mount Hope, I can survive
anything—though Medicare is proving to be a lot
harder to work with than Hot Tomatoes was.”
Between jobs, Sarah took a two-week trip to
Norway and Germany, where she went hiking,
biking and kayaking from fjord to fjord.
Claudia Corona ran the San Francisco Marathon
over the summer. Miranda Bona rode alongside her for the last few miles and FaceTimed in
Sarah Rowe, Ian Nesbitt and Bryce Mitsunaga, who
formed a miniature Williams cheering section.
2013– 15
Bryce worked in New Haven doing geology
research in a Yale lab over the summer.
David Michael started as a strategy manager in
Microsoft’s Corporate Strategy Group in DC.
David and Dodi Exume welcomed Ariana Gonzalez
as their new roommate after Ariana graduated with
an MBA from IESA in Caracas, Venezuela.
Lindsey Graham survived an intense Civil War
themed bike trip with her father, John Graham
’78, in August and had a fantastic time living and
studying in enemy territory (Amherst College) in
July with Austin Sarat, a law and society professor. While in MA she reunited with Jen Turner
in Williamstown, taking a beautiful hike up Pine
Cobble, relishing the ice cream of Lickety Split
and attending a play at the Williamstown Theatre
Festival. Lindsey also squeezed in a classic Tunnel
City meetup with Professor Justin Crowe ’03. Back
in New York, she is working at a new school this
year, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the
Bronx, and singing with the New Amsterdam
Singers; she relishes the time she gets to spend
weekly with fellow member Holly Fisher.
Please feel free to write in at any time to share
news. You can reach me, your faithful secretary, at
graham.r.lindsey@gmail.com.
2014
Emily Dugdale, 169 Santa Rosa Ave., Apt. 321, Oakland,
CA 94610; 2014secretary@williams.edu
Dear Class of 2014: By the time this prints,
we’ll be tiptoeing our way into 2016! I wish you
the best as we head into our second (gulp) year
post-graduation—hopefully at this point we’ll
have traded our harrowing post-grad stories over a
homecoming drink at the Purple Pub.
I’m here to give you a few quick updates on what
our fellow classmates have been up to over the past
few months.
Some of us are exploring new job opportunities.
Julia Simon has taken a new job as operations manager for a startup in Boston called Cartfresh. Others
are pursuing a new degree—Daniel Schreiner is
studying classical piano performance at the New
School for Music in NYC. “While I am there I am
trying to get involved specifically in new music,
world music and avant-garde interdisciplinary performance,” he wrote.
Lily Morris also continues her studies in grad
school and was able to teach and conduct
research over the summer. Her boyfriend Chip
Herman came to visit in early fall, “and we saw a
Darlingside concert and went apple picking.” Well
done, guys.
As always, our class is extremely well traveled.
Keelia Riegg and her husband Chris Riegg ’15
road-tripped around the West Coast last summer, “visiting four national parks and a few Ephs
along the way,” she wrote. They stopped in on
Miles Horton, Marguerite Ferrera, Eric Coffin-Gould,
Dylan Griswold ’15, Amanda Su, Andy Morgosh
and Kelsey (Ham) Morgosh ’12, Taylor Halperin
and Andrew Nemeth ’15 before gearing up to move
to Gulu, Uganda, in December to work for the
International Justice Mission for a year. Keelia was
also getting trained to be a doula in December,
and she’d love to speak to anyone interested about
reproductive injustice in America—hit her up if
you’re interested!
Sophia Chen continues to live in San Francisco
but started a new job last fall at a commercial content production company called Kaboom
Productions. After a stint at Blue Bottle Coffee in
San Francisco (for those who are not familiar, it’s
amazing) and working freelance with documentary filmmakers, she went on a European adventure
with Nina Oberman, who was finishing up a year
of teaching in the South of France—to Germany,
Ireland, France and Italy. “We spent a month total
hopping around and bumped into Mike Neubauer’s
’15 cousin when we were hitchhiking in Southwest
Ireland!” she wrote. “Of course I Snapchatted
Neubauer, and he said he’s never been more surprised by anything, ever.”
Sophia also traveled to Williams for graduation
and stayed with Neubauer, funnily enough. “I got to
see off-cyclers Cole Leiter ’15, Miles Horton ’15 and
Phoebe Rosen ’15 graduate and had a blast hanging out with Niha Pendurthi ’15 and Clyde Engle ’15,
who took me to Last Chance.”
Others have packed up and started fresh in a new
city. Sophie Montgomery and her boyfriend James
Elish ’13 drove from Chicago to Philadelphia in
June “with our entire apartment packed up in a
U-Haul—we only got in three minor accidents!”
Sophie is working as a site director for 12Plus, a
school-based education nonprofit that works to
promote college-bound culture in neighborhood
high schools. “Adrian Castro ’14 was so kind as to
send me some Williams swag to share with my
students—they love hearing about college graduate experiences!” she wrote. Last fall they had Emily
Schwab ’13 over for “dinner and sparkling conversation—I’m hoping to do the same with as many
Philly Ephs as possible!”
And a lot of us continue to dwell in NYC. Helen
Song moved in with Karina Moy and continues her
work as a NYC Parks Department Conservation
Corps fellow, working at Fort Greene Park in
Brooklyn. Maya Hawkins-Nelson continues her
work in advertising at Deutsch and loves living in
New York. She’s still tight with Daniel Schreiner
and Neal Ellis and sees Massachusetts residents
Arsema Abegaz and Nataly Garzon frequently. “It’s
so nice to always be surrounded by so many Ephs!”
she says. Maya and Ashley O’Conner are also board
members of the NY Ephs alumni association, where
they’ve hosted at least one alumni happy hour and
hope to do more this winter/spring.
That’s it for now, and thanks to all who took the
time to drop me a line—I love hearing from you.
Best wishes for a happy New Year, and keep in
touch. —Emily
2015
Emily L. Fox, 230 Marsh Hill Road, Dracut, MA 01826;
Alina D. Penny, 4045 South Cambridge St., Chandler, AZ
Graduation marked a new beginning for us all.
Since starting “freshman year of the real world,” we
now find ourselves in a variety of places and situations. It’s hard to believe that we’ve gone from
J A N UA RY 2016
l
115
CLASS NOTES
occupying a 450-acre purple bubble to expanding in
areas across the globe. The Class of ’15 has been up
to phenomenal things! Now, more on that…
Chris Wilkinson married Gillian Foster on July
25. While the wedding was in Oklahoma City’s
St. Joseph’s Old Cathedral, most of Chris’ family
was able to attend, flying all the way from NYC
and London.
Jonathan Dely started a two-year jazz master’s
program at The Manhattan School of Music in
NYC. He has also been performing with a group
of Williams alumni, Darlingside, on top of booking shows around the country for both himself
and the band. As a rising, successful performer,
Jon says: “I love how entrepreneurial you have to
be as a performer, and I’ve learned so much about
the world and about myself in the process of
becoming one. In fact, I’m learning so much I feel
like I never quite left the Purple Valley.”
Zachary Grady has been in London getting an
MSc in applied sport psychology. Luke Pierce visited him in London, where they stayed with Chris
Conder. For Zach, it was “great to see a familiar face and the dwelling of a familiar face.” Chris
Weihs is also living in the U.K., pursuing a master’s in international relations at the University
of Cambridge. An anonymous source claims that
Chris “has now settled into his new dodgy flat.
The language barrier has left him gobsmacked
at times, but he finds the culture brilliant.” Chris
confirms that he does, in fact, have a dodgy flat.
In August, Clare O’Brien started a two-year
master’s program in public administration at
Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Samantha
Petti is in her first semester of a PhD program
in algorithms, combinatorics and optimization
at Georgia Tech, and Emalie Rott is in her first
semester at the University of Tulsa College of
Law. Emalie plans on taking summer courses in
Dublin at UCD Sutherland School of Law in
intellectual property and European Union law.
Over the summer, Ben Augenbraun moved to
Cambridge, Mass., to begin a PhD in physics at
Harvard. Ben writes, “My brother JJ Augenbraun
’11 also lives in Cambridge, and between him, my
former Where Am I?! leader Katie Flanagan ’13
and my good friend Alex Silver, I’ve gotten to see
a lot of Ephs these past few months. I still miss
living in the Purple Valley a lot, but running into
Williams people in Cambridge and Boston has
made the transition a lot of fun!”
Yazmine Nichols has also started a two-year
Master of Arts program at Union Theological
Seminary in NYC. She is currently a first-year
MA representative on Union’s Student Senate
(student government). Yazmine attended a
Williams young alumni mixer in September and
spent time with several alumni, including Qadir
Forbes and Jaliz Albanese ’14.
Emma Bick is attending medical school at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
While she loves med school, she misses living
in Poker Flats. Ali Tafreshi is also attending med
school, studying at USC in Los Angeles, with
plans to go into neurosurgery. He is a delegate at
the American Medical Association and a senator
116
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
at the graduate student government of USC. His
tech startup, Everipedia.com, which he started
with a few people while at Williams, is very
successful.
Michael Neubauer is doing a Fulbright research
grant in Xi’an, China, working in the same office
as Kaleigh Kenny ’14. His research focuses on the
education of rural children whose parents have
moved away from home to work. Michael has
joined the Xi’an Ultimate Frisbee team, which
placed fourth in the Wuhan Open tournament.
Charlotte Fleming is a Fulbright English teaching assistant at two elementary schools in Yilan,
Taiwan. She got a scooter license, and she ran her
first 5K. Charlotte met up with Julia Damion and
Sam Jeong, who are also teaching assistants in
Taiwan. In October, Charlotte, along with Cindy
Le, Amelia Ortiz and Michael Berry, had dinner
with Professor Kubler.
Many Ephs are teaching around the world,
including Emma Pingree-Cannon in Israel,
Jenna Maddock in Japan, Talia Calnek-Sugin in
Mexico, Kwasi Offei-Addo in Tanzania, Maryanne
Rodriguez in Turkey, Tara Miller in Norway and
Lani Willmar in Slovakia.
Cathleen Donohue is enrolled in the Teach for
America (TFA) program at Clark Prep in New
Orleans, teaching 10th-grade English. She is
also receiving a certification through TNTP
along with a master’s in education through Johns
Hopkins. She has found that urban teaching is
about “celebrating children’s strength and intelligence, their ability to overcome obstacles and the
loving communities that have supported them to
be their best.” Donnie Kost is also in TFA, teaching math to special education students at Central
High School in Providence, R.I.
Katie Buoymaster works as an English language professor at a university in Kütahya, Turkey.
Situated in the northern mountains next to a
river, the small city of Kütahya is reminiscent of
Williamstown. She was about to start teaching
free English lessons to Syrian refugees in town
on the weekends. Katie writes, “My time here has
already begun to serve one critical and compelling
purpose in particular, which is to remind me both
on intellectual and also on more intuitive, visceral
levels that the world is an enormous, exceedingly
complex and deeply rich place. It has been a humbling and powerful experience.”
Quinn Pitcher is on a 14-month fellowship with
the Economic Policy Research Institute, based in
Cape Town, South Africa. He is the project leader
on economic development-related projects across
Africa, working with governmental and NGO
partners on quantitative and qualitative researchdriven projects.
Michael Berry traveled around China and
Taiwan over the summer, teaching English and
studying Chinese. Ashley Kim traveled to Korea,
the Czech Republic, Germany and Hawaii over
the summer. She then moved across the country
to the San Francisco Bay Area to start her job as a
research assistant.
Chris Riegg and Keelia Riegg ’14 finished a
6,000-mile road trip across the U.S. They were
2015
preparing to spend 2016 in Gulu, Uganda, where
they will work to combat violent land-grabbing
with the International Justice Mission.
Austin Nguyen spent the summer road tripping with Hamza Farrukh and Jonathon Burne ’17
through the suburban sprawl and Pacific views
of California to meet up with Karen He, Sergio
Manrique, Dayoung Lee ’16 and Ali Tafreshi.
Austin then hopped around Japan to meet up with
Dylan Freas ’16, Omar Swiss ’16 and Mei Kazama
’16 in Tsukuba, Osaka and Tokyo. He now works
at TripAdvisor in Boston, where he is glad to be
anchored while working at a place passionate
about travel.
Alexandra Ting and Amir Hay moved to Kyoto,
Japan. Amir is pursuing his master’s at the Kyoto
University Graduate School of Biostudies. Amir
explains that Japan is known as the country of
contradictions, with the utmost cleanliness when
it comes to public facilities but a lack of soap
when it comes to public restrooms. Alex writes,
“Kyoto is beautiful, similar to Boston in its smallish, accessible, college-y, historic feel. The food is
incredible and surprisingly inexpensive.”
A whole crew of 2015 grads now reside in
Boston. It’s difficult to go anywhere in the city
without running into an Eph. Simone Frank is living with Ben Hoyle and Emily Fox in Somerville,
Mass. They live on the same street as Matt
Damon’s mom.
Elizabeth Berggren is in Boston, working as a
research assistant at Harvard Medical School conducting research in the Department of Health Care
Policy. She is working on many projects, including
health care markets and regulations and health care
spending and growth. She took her MCAT and
plans on applying to medical school soon.
Hannah Van Wetter moved to Boston, where she
works at Suffolk Construction. “Life in Boston
post-Williams has been peachy,” Hannah writes,
“I, along with a team of retired superstars including but not limited to Sarah Brink, Chris Seitz,
Samantha Vilaboa ’13, Caitlyn Clark ’13 and Chloe
Kuh ’13, have taken our skills to the social sports
soccer league, where we’re undoubtedly on track
to bring home the ’ship.”
Cole Townsend is in Boston, working at
Thoughtbot, a mobile and web app consultancy.
“I love my job, and I’m finally getting a salary for
the stuff I was doing on Tuesday nights anyway,”
Cole writes. He regularly visits the Williams campus and hosts XC undergrads in Boston. Cole and
other XC runners are focused on stealing back the
bear, the team’s prized good luck charm, which
was stolen by the XC team at Tufts.
Daniel Wohl is playing professional basketball
in Israel for Gilboa Galil, a club that competes
in the second division. Recently, his team played
against (and beat!) Ramat Hasharon, the team
that features his former co-captain from Williams,
Hayden Rooke-Ley.
After receiving Williams’ Hubbard Hutchinson
Memorial Fellowship for Dance, Veroneque
Ignace is continuing her research on black trauma
and recovery. Along with Jallicia Jolly ’14, she
is in the process of creating Resist. Restore, a
“global-health-arts” initiative aiming to address
trauma caused by state-sanctioned violence and
structural inequality. She is also a medical assistant in Brooklyn alongside Stan Monfront ’13.
Miles Horton works as a legal assistant at the
Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy group,
helping with litigation against coal-fired power
plants in the upper Midwest. He enjoyed returning home to northern California, where he now
lives with friends from high school in Berkeley.
After spending the past four summers interning at JP Morgan Chase, Qadir Forbes works
for the Disney Theatrical Group, based in NYC,
combining his business and finance acumen with
his passion for entertainment. Rachael Burns is
in training with an IT contractor in NYC. In
January, she was to move to DC to work at Fannie
Mae as a junior data scientist.
Timeyin Olumide spent the summer doing freelance design work at a company with Michelle
Almeida ’13 while hanging out with Randall Otis,
Long Dang, Maddie Montes De Oca and Shanice
Scantlebury. Timeyin is back in London, where
she lives and works as a planning executive for
a media agency. She is surprised to find that she
loves her job because she “thought you were supposed to hate the ‘real world.’”
Over the summer Daniel Siegel, Dan Whittam
and Michael Hellstern took a trip to Argentina.
Daniel also traveled to Montana to run the
Headwaters Relay (a 220-mile relay race) with a
group of Williams cross country alums going all
the way back to ’09. Daniel just moved to NYC
and started work at Oliver Wyman.
Dan Whittam, James Hitchcock, Tim Lattimer and
William Hayes ’14 now live together in a beautiful
townhouse in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in DC. Dan writes, “We hosted a housewarming party titled ‘Faces of Gentrification:
Diversity, Inclusivity and Natural Bohemian,’
attended by a number of Eph alumni. The party
was considered by all its attendees to be a rousing success.”
Thank you all for sharing! Congratulations on all
the transitions, accomplishments and milestones!
Until next time! —Your class secretaries, Alina
and Emily.
J A N UA RY 2016
l
117
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.
Laura Donnelly ’13 & Ian Gunn
Manchester, Vt., July 11, 2015
Victoria Fernandez ’06 & Douglas Wint
Jasmine Smith ’05 & Simon Liebold
Kauai, Hawaii, Sept. 20, 2015
(Photo from Oct. 17, 2015, reception in Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Kona, Hawaii, June 22, 2015
Sally Cobb ’09 & Chris Merwin ’07
Osterville, Mass., Sept. 19, 2015
Kristen Milano ’09 & Ken Stannard
Lenox, Mass., June 27, 2015
118
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Claire Rindlaub ’09 & Chris Basham ’07
Claire and Chris lived down the street from one another as kids and attended the same Connecticut preschool—but they didn’t meet
until they were both attending graduate school and living in New York City. Their wedding was held in Shelburne, Vt., on Aug. 15,
2015, with many Ephs in attendance, including Claire’s father John Rindlaub ’79. Aroop Mukharji ’09 and Harris Paseltiner ’09 wrote a
song for the ceremony, and Claire Whipple ’09 and Emily (Smith) Whitledge ’09 were bridesmaids.
Katie Romer & Paul Stansifer ’07
Meredith Kelly & Penn Clarke ’96
Cambridge, Mass., Aug. 8, 2015
Weston, Vt., Aug. 29, 2015
Alice Sady ’13 & Peter Cocoros
Alicia Andrews ’03 & Brian Dever
Baltimore, Md., Aug. 22, 2015
Bear Mountain, N.Y., Aug. 8, 2015
Rachel Levy ’09 & Caleb Balderston ’10
Arlington, Vt., July 18, 2014
J A N UA RY 2016
l
119
WEDDINGS
Dayna Baskette ’03 & Devon Browne
Brooklyn, N.Y., June 5, 2015
Megan Stachura & Robin Stewart ’06
Ren McDermott ’07 & Eric Rautio
Orcas Island, Wash., June 13, 2015
Calabasas, Calif., Aug. 1, 2015
Lauren Golden ’93 & Stanley Boskoff
New York, N.Y., June 14, 2015
120
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Ariel Ramchandani ’07 & Andrew Pizzi ’07
While living in New York, Ariel and Andrew met at a party on Long Island thrown by Hallie Davison ’07; they started dating a year
later. After living together in California and then returning to the East Coast, Andrew proposed on Shelter Island, N.Y., in 2013. The
couple served cider donuts at their Oct. 11, 2014, wedding in Philadelphia, Pa., as a tribute to Williams’ Mountain Day.
Andrea Burke ’06 & James Rae
Waterford, Maine, Aug. 23, 2014
Julie Button & Jon Pearson ’00
Esther Judelson & Benjamin Berringer ’06
Winterthur, Del., June 21, 2014
San Cassiano, Italy, Jan. 17, 2015
Karen Olson ’07 & Casey Diehl
Portland, Maine, Nov. 22, 2014
J A N UA RY 2016
l
121
WEDDINGS
Jonaya Kemper ’07 & Ryan Rice
Suffield, Conn., Aug. 14, 2014
Sabine Chishty ’12 & Zac Remillard ’12
St. Paul, Minn., July 11, 2015
Diane Gran ’93 & Alan Trotta
Christina Fanciullo ’09 & Harry Huberty
West Hartford, Conn., June 28, 2014
Cambridge, Mass., June 13, 2015
Elizabeth Goggins ’09 & David Aitoro ’09
Pittsfield, Mass., July 25, 2015
122
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Anna Swisher ’05 & Trey Wright ’03
Anna and Trey were track teammates at Williams and began dating in the spring of Anna’s freshman year. They brought beloved
elements of their time at Williams to their Sept. 20, 2014, wedding in Jonesborough, Tenn., including a pig roast, knock-you-naked
bars, for which Williams Dining Services gave Anna the recipe, many Eph wedding guests and a cake topper (see inset) made by
Anna’s stepsister that reflects how much the couple loves Williams—and how Anna loves living on a farm and raising chickens.
Marina Bousa ’13 & Patrick Morrissey ’12
Nantucket, Mass., Aug. 29, 2015
Margot Weller ’07 & Daniel Moccia-Field ’06
Meg Bossong ’05 & Milton Ferguson
Williamstown, Mass., July 25, 2015
Pittsfield, Mass., Aug. 15, 2015
Courtney Pigott & Sumant Bhat ’03
Lake Geneva, Wis., July 17-18, 2015
J A N UA RY 2016
l
123
WEDDINGS
Rachel Teitelbaum ’11 & Rusty Cowher ’12
Middletown, Conn., Aug. 1, 2015
Jordan Goldwarg ’03 & Sam McVeety
Winthrop, Wash., June 27, 2015
Melissa Running & Jan Spoor ’86
Lindsay Millert ’09 & Doug Melzig
Laurel, Md., May 16, 2015
Manchester, Vt., May 23, 2015
Sarah Nowakowski ’08 & Jeff Chamberlain
Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 27, 2014
124
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Cameron Nutting ’11 & Christophe Williams ’10
Cameron and Christophe met in 2008 during a Winter Study class about political engagement taught by former Massachusetts
Gov. Jane Swift and Prof. James McAllister. They bonded while preparing burgers for a Dodd Neighborhood event, and they ended
up atop Thompson Chapel on their first date. They were married in St. Michaels, Md., on June 27, 2015, with Eph guests representing
the classes of 1950 to 2014 and a #HappilyEverWilliams wedding hashtag.
Anna Merritt ’08 & Dean Weesner ’11
Los Gatos, Calif., July 4, 2015
Anna Weber ’08 & Zachary Thomas ’08
Hershey, Pa., Sept. 6, 2015
J A N UA RY 2016
l
125
WEDDINGS
1977
Michael Levine & Thomas Sedgwick, May 17, 2015 1986
Greg Heller & Hillary Fordyce, March 28, 2015 Jan Spoor & Melissa Running, May 16, 2015 1991
Ed Kearns & Sharon Sheueru Chen, Aug. 23, 2015 1992
Michael Bruce & Katherine Berg, July 20, 2015 1993
Lauren Golden & Stanley Boskoff, June 14, 2015 2003
2007
Conor Quinn & Kristen Kehoe, March 28, 2015 Ali Beswick & Michael E. Walsh, May 16, 2015 Larry Dworkin & Kristina Yang, June 6, 2015 Tyler Auer & Jessica Rosten ’08, July 4, 2015
Jennie Levitt & Luis Fracica, July 4, 2015 Jon Poppe & Anna M. Clark, July 18, 2015 Chris Basham & Claire Rindlaub ’09, Aug. 15, 2015 Kathryn Lindsey & Aditya Khanna, Aug. 28, 2015 Chris Merwin & Sally Cobb ’09, Sept. 19, 2015 2009
Em Flynn & James Pesquera ’11, May 2, 2015 Lindsay Millert & Douglas Eric Melzig, May 23, 2015 David Aitoro & Elizabeth Goggins, July 25, 2015 Emily Smith & Jim Whitledge, July 25, 2015 Daniel Klasik & Ethan Hutt, March 14, 2015 Marshall Dines & Devon DeVilling, May 2, 2015 Jeff Garland & Astrid Werner, June 13, 2015 2010
2005
2011
Michelle Flowers & Adam Kash, March 21, 2015 2006
Chip Gibson & Sydney Streets, May 30, 2015 Robin Stewart & Megan Stachura, June 13, 2015 Phil Foxworthy & Julia Travis, June 20, 2015 Blair Coffman & Tyler P. Martin, July 18, 2015 Daniel Moccia-Field & Margot Weller ’07, July 25, 2015 Henry Blackford & Marguerite DeClue, Sept. 19, 2015 Rachel Teitelbaum & Rusty Cowher ’12, Aug. 1, 2015 2013
DJ Polite & Shinelle Edwin, Feb. 14, 2015 Alice Sady & Peter James Cocoros, Aug. 22, 2015 2014
Janie Wilde & Daniel Zilkha, March 21, 2015 Jamie Dickhaus & Seth Bonacquisti, May 23, 2015
BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS
1993
Adeline Maizie Newhall to Camille Preston, May 17, 2015 1995
Jacob Henry Pearlman to Nina Pearlman, Feb. 2, 2015 Liliana Madeline Gingold to David Gingold, Feb. 23, 2015 Ilanit Kaplan to Adam Kaplan, Feb. 26, 2015 Nathan Murphy to Chris Murphy, Nov. 1, 2015 1996
Iris Gilman to Alexis Gilman, Oct. 20, 2014 126
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Duncan Hunter Brown to Connie Cocroft Brown,
Feb. 3, 2015 Dylan Michael & Rory Patrick Coleman to Julie Greenwood, July 11, 2015 1997
Ian Kleinman to Rich Kleinman, Nov. 12, 2014 Gwen Deourin to Julie Rapoport, April 1, 2015 Raphael Joseph Rossmiller to Colleen Reilly,
April 2, 2015 Ezra Samuel Altschuller to Sarah Altschuller & Dahna Goldstein, April 16, 2015 Frederick Martin Katz to Christia Katz Mulvey,
May 16, 2015 BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS
Madeleine Grace Estes to Barbarose Guastello,
May 21, 2015 Orion Soergel to Annaliese Beery, June 3, 2015 Lucy Fitzpatrick Meyers to Jason Meyers & Jennifer Laundy Meyers, June 5, 2015 1998
Anthony Joo Gyung Hwang-Terranova to Julie Hwang, March 9, 2015 Anna Mischa Neuhaus to Tammy Brown
Neuhaus, April 28, 2015 Cole Seojin Park to Eddie Park & Meg
(Randall) Park ’99, June 20, 2015 Colby I. Burnett Rubulotta to Erin Burnett, July 18, 2015 1999
Reese Hall to Peter Hall & Kate Simon ’00, May 26, 2015 2000
Clara Mariel Drake to Emily Boer Drake & Jared Drake, Feb. 6, 2015 Grace Maureen Sawchuk to Nicole Draghi, May 15, 2015 Sydney McBrady to Nancy Walworth McBrady,
May 17, 2015 Leo Alain Paul Soummer to Jennifer Kingsley,
May 20, 2015 2001
June Bonnet Salerno to Tony Salerno, March 17, 2015 Ramona Coco Mizuta Seavey to Joe Seavey,
June 1, 2015 Theodore Townsend Speiser to Phoebe
Geer & Matt Speiser, June 3, 2015 Alexander Joshua Block to Jen (Berylson) Block,
June 30, 2015 2002
Agnes Ruth Becker to Devin Becker, Jan. 28, 2015 Cora Allison Salter to Jon Salter, Feb. 28, 2015 River Vinicio Foote to Rachel Brodie, March 25, 2015 Eli Snyder Warshaw to Chris Warshaw, March 31, 2015 Zheng Xing Lam to Noelle Ying Ho, April 15, 2015 George Neil Robertson to Mark Robertson, April 26, 2015 Parker Allan McBride to Jeff McBride & Megan Samenfeld-Specht, April 26, 2015 Abigail Nichols Estes to Derrick Estes, May 2, 2015 Adrienne Clair Urwitz & Rose Isabelle Urwitz
to Joe Urwitz, May 6, 2015 2003
Miriam Zoe Hiller to Evan Hiller, Feb. 5, 2015 John Matthew Stahl to Jessica Calfee
Stahl & Ray Stahl, Feb. 23, 2015 Charlie Edward Mohl to Amy Lynn Graham,
April 3, 2015 Cora Elaine Engman to Margaret Jae Cody, April 10, 2015 Ansel Pinsky to Kristin Hunter-Thomson & Malin Pinsky, May 16, 2015 Lena Chaopricha to Nina Trautmann
Chaopricha, June 10, 2015 Oliver Wood Gerrity to Jamie Gerrity & Molly Stone Gerrity, June 10, 2015 Samuel Bryce to Abby Davidson Tadenev & Michael Tadenev, June 16, 2015 Sawyer Scout Johnson to Lisa JS Johnson
& Scott Johnson ’05, June 28, 2015 Grayson Cook to Tracy A. Henderson Cook, July 3, 2015 Wilde Callary Danella to Guy Danella, July 11, 2015 Lila Klionsky Nelson to Sarah Klionsky & Nick Nelson, Aug. 13, 2015 Jeremy Sumner Eyre to Steve Eyre & Caty Sumner, Sept. 5, 2015 Ainsley Devon & Sloane Harper Green to Mitchell Howard Green, Oct. 5, 2015
Grace Ferrer to Andrew Ferrer, Oct. 12, 2015 Gabriella Ava Morettini to Toya Williams, Oct. 13, 2015 2004
Hazel Foust Lanum to M.J. (Prest) Lanum,
March 17, 2015 Klara Jane Scroggins to Steve Scroggins, April 24, 2015 2005
Libi Rudoy to John Rudoy & Geshri
Gunasekera ’06, Nov. 10, 2014 Veyda James Crawley to Tim Crawley, Dec. 25, 2014 Stauffs Gillian Kolkin to Hannah (Stauffer)
Kolkin, Feb. 6, 2015 Arthur Van Heuvelen Shoemaker to Adam
Shoemaker & Elizabeth Sherburne Van
Heuvelen, March 4, 2015 Caroline Quinn Barhight to Lydia (Romano) Barhight & Matt Barhight, March 12, 2015 Eleanor Rothschild to Laura Beth Kaufman,
May 30, 2015 Jacob Dennett to Annie (Snodgrass) Dennett,
June 6, 2015 Naa Adjeley Tegan Koney to Owuraka
Koney & Tameka Watler, June 24, 2015 Davina Tilly Kress to Marie-Adele Sorel Kress,
July 15, 2015 J A N UA RY 2016
l
127
BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS
2006
Kathryn Elizabeth Lisman to Meaghan Rathvon
Lisman, Jan. 26, 2015 Finnoula Rose O’Rourke to Devon O’Rourke & Jackie (Goff) O’Rourke, March 11, 2015 Margaret Mae Harrison to Annie Denison
Harrison & Reed Martin Harrison, March 12, 2015 Callum Barbash to Ian Barbash, March 16, 2015 Zinnia Bei Chen to Erin (Blanchard) Chen, April 1, 2015 Coulter Allen Ward to Kate (Sauerhoff) Ward,
April 22, 2015 Lina Song Bilgin to Ersen Bilgin & Hang Song, May 10, 2015 Annabelle Brajtbord to Jonathan Brajtbord & Sarah Jenks Brajtbord ’07, Aug. 24, 2015 2007
Oliver Garam Kahn to Chris Kim Kahn, April 22, 2015 Will Brian Reggiannini to Lisa (Davenport)
Reggiannini, June 11, 2015 2008
Joy Cecilia Schumacker to Alec Schumacker & Jane (Kelley) Schumacker, Dec. 19, 2014
2011
Theodore Joseph Geary to Mike Geary, May 2, 2015
2012
Hunter Rorik Growler to Jeannette (Rivera)
Growler, April 3, 2015
OBITUARIES
1940
J. BROOKS HOFFMAN, June
11, 2015. Brooks earned his
MD from Columbia University
(1943) before serving in the
U.S. Army Medical Corps in
WWII. He then settled in
Greenwich, Conn., where he was
an OB-GYN. He retired in 1985
as chairman of the OB-GYN
department at Greenwich
Hospital. He was president
of the Greenwich Medical
Society, a ruling elder at the First
Presbyterian Church, a trustee
of Greenwich Country Day
School and a member of the Red
Cross, American Cancer Society,
Community Chest and other
organizations. As a Williams
alumnus, he was a class associate
agent, agent, 50th reunion fund
committee member, Alumni
Fund vice chair and regional
president. He helped with the
Chapin Library’s purchase of the
Declaration of Independence and
donated the first British answer
to the Chapin collection. He was
predeceased by his wife Jane in
2011. His survivors include five
children, seven grandchildren and
five great-grandchildren.
1942
PAUL MURRAY JR., May 20,
2015. During WWII, Paul served
128
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
in the 2nd Armored Division and
was injured during the Battle of
the Bulge. He graduated from
Army Armor School, the Army
Staff College and the Army War
College. He was an executive
officer of a tank battalion, the
Army attaché with the U.S.
Embassy in Taipei, Taiwan, and
an instructor of cadets and commander of garrison troops at the
U.S. Military Academy at West
Point. He commanded a brigade
of the U.S. Army 7th Division
in Korea and later became an
instructor at the U.S. Army War
College at Carlisle Barracks,
Pa. He was a member of the
National Security Council staff
in D.C., and his awards include
the Legion of Merit with two
oak leaf clusters, three Bronze
Star Medals, a Purple Heart and
a Combat Infantryman Badge.
He retired from the Army in
1973 as a full colonel. He was
predeceased by his daughter
Katherine Louise and by his first
wife, Jane. His survivors include
his wife Kathleen, his companion
Linda, two children and three
grandchildren.
1943
BRAINERD MEARS JR.,
March 30, 2015. Nip served in
the U.S. Marine Corps during
WWII. He earned his PhD from
Columbia University in 1950
and worked for four decades
as a professor of geology at the
University of Wyoming. He
completed the longest survey
at the time of the Kuskaquin
River in Alaska, monitored the
excavation and preservation of a
mammoth skull, lectured around
the world and published many
articles and a geology textbook.
The University of Wyoming
honored him with an outstanding former faculty award in 2003.
Nip lived in Laramie, where
he helped found the center for
retarded citizens (now ARK),
supported the public library
and Territorial Park Prison and
endowed the university’s geology
museum. He was predeceased by
his son B.B. His survivors include
his wife of 66 years, Anne, three
daughters, a grandson and niece
Margaret W. Cianfarini ’70.
RALPH R. RENZI, Oct. 10, 2015.
Ralph served as a sergeant
and second lieutenant in the
European Theater of Operations
in WWII, and he was awarded
a Purple Heart, among many
other military honors. A
Pittsfield, Mass., native, he was
a reporter for the Berkshire Eagle
and then worked for Williams
1940– 46
as news director and editor of
the Williams Alumni Review
from 1952-68. He also owned
and operated Renzi’s College
Bookstore for 16 years and wrote
a column for the Advocate for 25.
He was a founder and longtime
trustee of the Williamstown
Theatre Festival. He was predeceased by his wife Helen in 2012.
Among his survivors are four
children, including Maggie Renzi
’73, seven grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
1944
HENRY N. FLYNT JR., July 11,
2015. Hank served in the U.S.
Army during WWII. In 1950,
he became director of financial
aid at Williams. He was among
the architects of the need-based
financial aid system that now
predominates at Williams and
other colleges. He also was
associate dean of graduate fellowships and freshman soccer coach.
He retired in 1988 but remained
active in the college community,
managing the Williams Octet
alumni annual concerts fom 1975
to 2009 and serving as “czar”
of the faculty bowling league.
Among his many civic leadership roles, he was a president of
the Community Chest, co-chair
of Williamstown’s Bicentennial
Committee and chairman of
Historic Deerfield’s board.
He received the Scarborough
Community Service Award, the
Community Chest Good Citizen
Award, the Hayden Award
and an honorary Doctor of
Humanities from Massachusetts
College of Liberal Arts. As a
Williams alumnus, he served
on his class’s 50th reunion fund
committee. In 1999, the college
awarded him a Bicentennial
Medal. His wife of 64 years,
Mary, predeceased him in 2014.
Among his survivors are four
children, including William A.
Flynt ’75, four grandchildren,
including Molly C. Flynt ’09, and
many Williams cousins.
JOHN W. TALBOT, March 13,
2015. Jack served in the Pacific
during WWII and then began
a career with Berkshire Life
Insurance, returning to his
childhood home in Berkshire
County. He moved to the West
Coast in 1975 to open Berkshire
Life’s first branch west of the
Mississippi. He served on several
boards in the Berkshires and in
La Jolla, Calif. As a Williams
alumnus, he was an admission representative, class agent,
career counseling representative,
regional secretary and treasurer
and member of the regional
special gifts committee. He was
predeceased by his son Michael
in 1966 and by his wife Angela in
2008. His survivors include two
children and two grandchildren.
J. BROOKS HOFFMAN ’40
JOHN B. WILLEY, March 29,
2015. John served in the U.S.
Navy during WWII and then
joined the Connecticut General
Life Insurance Co., where
he worked for three decades.
He lived in Bloomfield and
Simsbury, Conn., and retired
in Martinsville, Maine. He
was a lifelong philatelist and
was an active member of the
First Baptist Church of West
Hartford, Conn. His wife of 51
years, Dorothy, predeceased him
in 1998. His survivors include
four children, 10 grandchildren
and a great-grandson.
PAUL MURRAY JR. ’42
1945
HAROLD N. GILBOARD,
June 1, 2015. Hal served in the
U.S. Navy during WWII. He
lived in Newton, Mass., where
he owned Barr Realty Corp. In
retirement, he moved to Laguna
Woods, Calif. His survivors
include his wife of 66 years, Iris,
and two children.
CHARLES PINKERTON JR.,
April 21, 2015. Charlie served
as a Marine in the South Pacific
during WWII. He lived in
Norwalk, Conn., and spent his
career as a sales manager with
International Paper Co., retiring in 1982 after nearly three
decades. He was a member of
the Sons of the Revolution and
as a Williams alumnus served as
a co-class agent for 10 years. His
survivors include his wife of 65
years, Lucy, three children, two
grandsons and brother Peyton
R.H. Pinkerton ’54.
HENRY N. FLYNT JR. ’44
1946
STANLEY M. BABSON JR.,
Feb. 22, 2015. Stan served in
J A N UA RY 2016
l
129
OBITUARIES
West Africa and Italy during
WWII. He earned an MBA
from the Wharton School of
Business (1949) and worked
as a CPA before entering
corporate financial management. He lived in Connecticut
and Maine for most of his life,
retiring as VP for finance for
Technicon and then working
as a consultant. He volunteered
at High Hopes, a therapeutic
horseback riding organization,
and at a local magnet school.
As a Williams alumnus, he was
class secretary for 12 years and a
class agent. His wife Milly predeceased him in 2011. Among
his survivors are three children,
including Bradley O. Babson
’72, seven grandchildren, including Oliver D. Babson ’97 and
Adam C. Babson ’05, and five
CARY N. CARPENDER, Feb. 13,
2015. Cary served in the U.S.
Navy Reserves in college and was
commissioned as a line officer in
the South Pacific after graduation. His joined JP Morgan in
1955 and later became a private
investment counselor. He lived
in Putney, Vt., where he’d spent
summers during his childhood.
He served a term as town auditor and was the chairman of the
Brattleboro Union High School
board for 10 years. He was predeceased by a half-brother.
1948
MALCOLM COATES, May 19,
2015. Malcolm served in the
U.S. Navy during WWII.
He earned his MA from the
University of Pennsylvania in
1960 and went on to a 35-year
career as a secondary school
headmaster at the Tower Hill
School in Wilmington, Del.,
the Lake Forest Country Day
School in Illinois and finally
at the Landon School in
Bethesda, Md., from which
he retired in 1990. He spent
the next decade as a senior
consultant for Carney, Sandoe
& Associates in Massachusetts.
He was a trustee of Pingree
School in South Hamilton,
Mass., and a founding trustee
of Esperanza Academy, a
tuition-free independent school
for girls in Lawrence, Mass.
130
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
He served as senior warden
of Trinity Episcopal Church
in Topsfield and was on the
boards of A Better Chance and
the Essex County Community
Foundation. Williams honored
him with a Doctor of Humane
Letters in 1984, and in 2012 he
received the Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Drum Major for Justice
Award from The Danvers
Committee for Diversity. His
years, Deborah, five children,
11 grandchildren and three
BENNETT V. DAVIS, June 7, 2015.
Ben earned his MA in international relations from Johns
Hopkins University in 1950.
He served as director of policy
and programs at the Defense
Intelligence Agency, retiring in
1995. He and his family lived in
Annandale and Leesburg, Va. He
was a longtime congregant of the
New York Avenue Presbyterian
Church in D.C. and served on
the church’s governing council.
He sang in the church choir,
the Masterworks Chorus and
the Chesapeake Chorale. He
was a Cub Scout pack leader, a
member of the Loudon County
Commission and a docent at
the National Archives and
the Historic Christ Church
Museum. His wife of 60 years,
Ardyth, predeceased him in April
2015. His survivors include two
children and two grandchildren.
ARTHUR V. LEWIS JR., March
14, 2015. Art was a U.S. Army
Reserves captain (1948-1966).
He spent nearly four decades
with Union Oil Co., retiring as
exploration manager in 1986. He
and his family lived in Colorado
and New Mexico before settling
in Ventura, Calif., in 1977. He
Ventura First Assembly of God
church, leading bible study
groups and serving meals to the
homeless. He also served on the
Ventura County Food Share,
Friends of the Library and as
a docent for the California Oil
Museum in Santa Paula. His
years, Lorraine, three children,
five grandchildren and cousin
Jackson E. Lewis ’53.
1949
PAUL C. COOK JR., April 27,
2015. Paul began his career
in insurance with Fidelity &
Deposit Co., serving in many
roles, including as VP. He then
established Cook Insurance
Agency, retiring as president
in 1998. He lived in Needham,
Mass., and Naples, Fla. As a
Williams alumnus, he was a class
associate agent. His wife Sally
predeceased him in 2009. Among
his survivors are his companion
Marilyn, two children, including
Martha C. Yergeau ’77, and six
grandchildren.
FRANK W. DONNELLY, May 25,
2015. Frank served in the Army
Air Corps during WWII, before
attending Williams. In 1968 he
founded F.W. Donnelly Co., an
importer and exporter of goods,
in Houston, and he served as its
president until his retirement
in 1991. He volunteered for
the Houston Hospice and the
Stephen Ministry. A soccer team
captain at Williams, he was an
early player for Houston United
in the 1950s. He was a camper
and outdoorsman, a Scout
Master and a deacon and elder at
the First Presbyterian Church in
Houston. He was predeceased by
his wife of 53 years, Eleanore, in
2005. His survivors include three
children and seven grandchildren.
ROBERT M. MAHONEY JR.,
Feb. 4, 2015. Bob earned his
MBA from Michigan State
University in 1963 and went on
to a career in investment banking
in Missouri. He served as the
president of Bormon Investment
Co. and as chairman and CEO
of Community Investment
Alliance. He then launched
Tri States Service Co. in 2006.
Among his survivors are his wife
of 65 years, Joyce, children R.
Michael Mahoney ’74, J. Patrick
Mahoney ’76 and J. Jeffrey
Mahoney ’78, three grandchildren, nephew Stephen G.
Murphy Jr. ’75 and niece Hannah
Mahoney ’81.
JOHN A. STILLWELL, Feb. 27,
2015. John served in the U.S.
Navy during WWII and was
recalled to serve in Korea in
1950. He spent 30-plus years as
1946– 50
an English teacher and coach
at his high school alma mater,
the Woodberry Forest School
in Woodberry, Va., earning
his MA in English from the
University of Virginia in 1961.
He served stints as director of
admission, academic dean and
assistant headmaster, and the
school honored him with its
Distinguished Service Award
and J. Carter Walker Award
after his retirement in 1990.
He volunteered as a teacher
for organizations including the
ABC Program and St. Anne’sBelfield School, where he was a
trustee. As a Williams alumnus,
he served as an admission representative and was a member
of his class’s 50th reunion fund
committee. Among his survivors
are his wife of almost 60 years,
Grace, three children, including John B. Stillwell ’82, and 10
grandchildren.
1950
JAMES A. ANDERSON, Feb. 24,
2015. Jim served in the U.S.
Army during the Korean War.
He started his career as an
actuary and retired in 1987 as
senior VP of First Colony Life
Insurance in Lynchburg, Va. He
was a fellow of the Society of
Actuaries and an active member
of the Presbyterian church, teaching Sunday school and singing
in the choir. He was a member
of Kiwanis and volunteered for
several organizations, including
Meals on Wheels, Adult Care
Center and ACE Tutoring. His
first wife, Joan, predeceased him
in 1986. His survivors include
his wife of 25 years, Mary, four
children, three stepchildren,
18 grandchildren and five
WILLIAM D. DAHLING, May 28,
2015. Bill spent three years on
active duty on the U.S. Navy
destroyer U.S.S. Perry. He later
worked as an account executive
at J. Walter Thompson Co., as a
trust officer at Detroit Bank &
Trust, and as executive director of
the Center for Creative Studies
at the College of Art and Design
in Detroit, from which he retired.
He lived in Grosse Pointe, Mich.,
where he was president of the
Phi Beta Kappa chapter and War
Memorial Association. He was
first vice chairman of Planned
Parenthood Detroit and a trustee
of the Detroit Community
Music School and Grosse Pointe
Public Library. He was an elder
at the Grosse Pointe Memorial
Church. As a Williams alumnus
he was an admission representative. Among his survivors are
his wife of 60 years, Nena, three
children, including William D.
Dahling Jr. ’78 and Peter W.
Dahling ’89, and a grandson.
ALVIN H. HATCH, Feb. 24, 2015.
Al served in the U.S. Army in
occupied Japan during WWII.
He earned a master’s in math
and physics from Northeastern
University (1955) and began
working as an engineer on early
mainframe computers with IBM.
He moved to Reading, Mass.,
where he spent nearly three
decades as a senior engineering
specialist with GTE/Sylvania
and Raytheon, retiring to North
Conway, N.H., in 1985. He
was active in the Prospectors
Ski Club in Kearsarge, N.H.,
volunteered as an EMT with the
North Conway Fire Department,
served as a Tip-Top House guide
on Mount Washington and
climbed all 48 of the 4,000footers in the White Mountains.
He was predeceased by his first
wife, Gretchen. His survivors
include his wife of 22 years,
Lois, two daughters and four
grandchildren.
MALCOLM COATES ’48
JAMES A. ANDERSON ’50
CHARLES D. MILLER, June 19,
2015. Chick spent more than
30 years with Robertson Paper
Co., retiring as VP. He lived in
Walpole, N.H., where he served
for 15 years as a selectman. His
community service included
serving as chairman of the Fall
Mountain Regional School
Board, treasurer of the Bridge
Memorial Library and president
of Meeting Waters YMCA. He
was a fisherman and woodworker.
He was predeceased by his wife
of 52 years, Helen, in 2004. His
survivors include four children
and eight grandchildren.
WILLIAM D. DAHLING ’50
MAURICE D. O’CONNELL,
April 20, 2015. Mickey served
in the U.S. Marine Corps during
the Korean War and then was a
J A N UA RY 2016
l
131
OBITUARIES
U.S. Army reservist. He earned
his law degree from Cornell
University (1956) and started his
career at Williams, Eversman &
Black, which became Robison,
Curphey & O’Connell, where
he was a partner for 52 years.
He was chairman of the Toledo
Bar Association Grievance
Committee, received the Kelb
Service Award in 1999 and
was a special hearing officer in
conscientious objection cases.
He was president of the Ottawa
Hills Board of Education and
a trustee for the Toledo Society
for the Handicapped, Woodlawn
Cemetery and the Easter Seals
Society. As a Williams alumnus,
he was a class associate agent and
co-agent, regional special gifts
committee member, admission
representative and admission
regional chair. Among his survivors are his wife of 63 years, Joan,
children Mark M. O’Connell ’76,
David L. O’Connell ’78, Ann M.
O’Connell ’81, Leila K. O’Connell
’84 and Ellen A. O’Connell ’88,
11 grandchildren, including
Caroline H. O’Connell ’11 and
Jesse Facey ’19, and nephew
Joshua G.G. Mellon ’88.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT, May 11,
2015. Chris joined the Air Force
after graduation and served as
a radar mechanic and company
clerk during the Korean War.
After earning an MBA from
the Wharton School (1957), he
worked at Boeing in Renton,
Wash., and later opened The
Musquaw Bookstore, which he
ran until his retirement in 1996.
He was chairman of Renton’s
Civil Rights Commission, volunteered with the Boy Scouts and
served as a Democratic Precinct
officer. In retirement, he moved
to Vancouver, Wash., where he
volunteered with the food pantry.
His survivors include his wife of
62 years, Marnie, two children
and two grandchildren.
1951
JOHN D. ELLIS, May 15, 2015.
Dave served in the U.S. Marine
Corps (1951-53) and Marine
Corps Reserve until 1959. He
earned his Bachelor of Laws
from Harvard University in 1957
and, after briefly practicing law,
decided to become a painter,
132
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
enrolling in the Art Students
League in NYC. A lover of the
sea, Dave spent summers in
Round Pond, Maine, eventually making it his home. He
supported the Penobscot School
for Languages and the DaPonte
String Quartet and helped establish the Anonimo Foundation in
Rockport, Maine, which supports
the arts in public schools. He was
predeceased by his wife, Joan. His
survivors include two stepsons
and their children.
WILL HOLT, May 31, 2015.
Will toured Europe on a motorcycle and served in the Air Force
after graduation. He then settled
in NYC’s West Village, writing
and performing folk music. He
recorded songs for labels such
as Coral, Elektra and Atlantic.
Artists including Peter, Paul and
Mary, The Kingston Trio and
Bob Marley recorded many of
his songs, such as the 1957 folk
classic “Lemon Tree.” He wrote
the book and lyrics for the 1969
musical Come Summer, his first
work to appear on Broadway.
In 1970, he won the Drama
Desk Award for most promising
musical writer and, in 1971, was
nominated for a Tony Award for
best lyrics for the rock musical
The Me Nobody Knows. He wrote
the book for Over Here! starring
the Andrews Sisters, and he
co-wrote Me and Bessie, about
the life of Bessie Smith. He
won the Drama-Logue Critics’
Award in 1988 for A Walk on the
Wild Side. His survivors include
his wife Dion, a son and two
grandchildren.
RICHARD CHARLES LIPPINCOTT,
March 10, 2015. Rich earned
his MD from Weill Cornell
Medical College (1955) and
went on to a career as a medical
doctor specializing in psychiatry. He directed mental health
programs for the states of New
Hampshire, Louisiana and
Oregon; taught psychiatry in
medical schools at the University
of Vermont, Tulane, Louisiana
State University, Dartmouth and
the University of Arkansas; and
testified before state legislatures
advocating for the inclusion of
mental health care coverage in
state and federal health insurance
programs. His wife Beverly
predeceased him in 2003. His
survivors include three children
and two grandchildren.
ROBERT MCCOOK JORDAN,
March 19, 2015. Bob served in
the U.S. Air Force during the
Korean War. He earned his MBA
from NYU (1958) and spent
most of his career with Bankers
Trust Co. in NYC. He retired as
VP and treasurer of the Council
for Aid to Education in 1992.
Bob lived in Scarsdale, N.Y.,
where he was an elder in the
Hitchcock Presbyterian Church.
a class president, class agent and
associate agent, regional special
gifts committee member and
50th reunion fund committee
member. Among his survivors are
his wife of 57 years, Susan, two
sons, including Robert M. Jordan
’81, and two granddaughters.
FRASER M. MOFFAT III,
June 9, 2015. Fraser served as
a lieutenant commander in the
U.S. Navy after graduation. His
business career brought him
to Hamburg, Germany, where
he worked at Owens Corning
Fiberglass, Merrill Lynch and
Lehman Brothers, from which
he retired in 1995. He was an
active warden at the Church of
St. Thomas a Becket and served
as an officer in the U.S. Naval
Reserve for many years. Upon
retirement, he returned to the
U.S. and settled in Montrose, Pa.,
where he’d spent childhood summers. He was president of the
Montrose Club and was active in
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. As
a Williams alumnus, he was an
admission regional chair. Among
his survivors are his wife Marion,
two children, including Philip F.
Moffat ’86, two grandchildren
and cousins James A. Edgar Jr.
’56 and William H. Edgar ’59.
HOWARD W. SMITH, June 20,
2015. Howie served in the U.S.
Army during the Korean War.
He earned a Bachelor of Divinity
from Harvard Divinity School in
1957 and served as an associate
pastor and minister to students
at Dartmouth College. He was
pastor of Christ Church in
Saxton’s River, Vt., was involved
1950– 57
with the National Council of
Churches in NYC and D.C. and
served on the Commission on
Religion & Race, the Chicago
Conference on Religion & Race
and the Connecticut Housing
Investment Fund. He lived on
the south side of Chicago and
later moved to West Hartford,
Conn., where he became a search
consultant for insurance, banking and real estate investment
firms. He hiked in the Tianshan
Mountains, the Alps and the
White Mountains. As a Williams
alumnus, he was a class VP and
president, served as reunion
chair twice, was a member of the
regional special gifts committee
and the Executive Committee of
the Society of Alumni and was a
class associate agent. Among his
survivors are his wife of 57 years,
Valerie, three children, including
Michael H. Smith ’83, and seven
grandchildren.
1952
PETER M. MEZEY, April 16,
2015. Peter served in the U.S.
Naval Reserve after graduation. He earned his JD from
Harvard in 1958 and moved to
San Francisco, where he spent
his career as general counsel
at U.S. Leasing, from which
he retired in 1995. He enjoyed
building furniture, remodeling
his house and playing tennis and
piano. He was president of San
Francisco’s board of education
and its Planning and Urban
Research Association. He was on
the boards of the Yerba Buena
Center for the Arts, Pocket
Opera and the California Bach
Society. His survivors include
his wife of 60 years, Caryl, four
children and six grandchildren.
FRED B. WEBSTER, April 14,
2015. Fred served with the
National Guard in Tripoli,
Libya, during the Korean War.
He started his career with the
John C. Paige Insurance Co.
and Dow & Pinkham Insurance
before forming the partnership
Webster & Goddard Insurance.
He and his wife ran his family’s
business, the Homewood Inn
in Maine, for many years. After
the inn closed, Fred appraised
antiques with the Cyr Auction
Co. and took his family on trips
around Casco Bay on his boat,
the Capt. Drinkwater. He served
on the Yarmouth Zoning Board
and Chamber of Commerce. He
was predeceased by his son Jeff.
47 years, Colleen, two children,
six grandchildren and three
1954
OLIVER V. LEE JR., May 6, 2015.
Ollie served in the U.S. Air
Force and earned his master’s in
engineering administration from
Southern Methodist University
(1967). He spent more than
40 years working at Lockheed
Martin, retiring in 1997 as chief
of engineering administration.
He lived in Fort Worth, Texas,
where he was chairman of the
deacon board at Broadway
Baptist Church, taught Sunday
school and volunteered at Meals
on Wheels. His wife Barbara
predeceased him in 2014. His
survivors include two children,
four grandchildren and cousin
Jonathan L. Richardson ’57.
JOHN C. WALSH, June 2, 2015.
John earned an MBA from
Harvard University (1956) before
serving in the U.S. Army. He
started his career in advertising at McCann-Erickson, later
becoming a manager and then
president of Leber Katz Partners.
He became director of annual
giving at Williams in 1986 and
then worked in development at
the Portsmouth Abbey School in
Rhode Island, serving as director
of special projects until 2012,
when he moved to London. As a
Williams alumnus, he was a class
associate agent and head agent,
a member of the 50th reunion
fund committee and a member
of the Williams Club Board
of Governors. He started the
Williams College Oral History
Project, for which he conducted
landmark interviews with
Williams president Jack Sawyer
’39 and members of Sawyer’s
administration. His wife of 39
years, Sally, predeceased him in
2012. His survivors include his
children Sheila Walsh-Wilcox
’83, Philip J. Walsh ’85 and Jenny
Walsh Singer ’99, three grandchildren and niece Alexandra C.
Phillips ’08.
WILLIAM G. WARDEN III,
March 18, 2015. Bill served in
the U.S. Air Force and then
joined the family business,
Superior Tube Co., where he
spent his career, retiring as
chairman of Superior Group
Inc. in 2011. He was a trustee of
Ursinus College, the Haverford
School, the Baldwin School, the
Independent Seaport Museum,
the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania and the Academy
of Vocal Arts. Bill was commodore of the Cruising Club of
America’s Chesapeake Station
and the Corinthian Yacht Club.
His survivors include his wife
of 60 years, Mary, four children, 11 grandchildren, four
step-grandchildren and two
step-great-grandchildren.
1955
ROBERT W. CAREY, Feb. 17,
2015. Bob earned his MD from
Harvard (1959) and worked at
Massachusetts General Hospital
as an oncologist and hematologist
for 41 years. He was a founding
member of the American Society
of Clinical Oncology, wrote more
than 100 medical articles and
was the principal investigator for
Cancer and Leukemia Group
B, a cancer research cooperative
group. He lived in Sherborn,
Mass. His survivors include his
wife Jocelyn, three children and
eight grandchildren.
IRA M. REISKIN, Feb. 15, 2015. Ira
served as an intelligence officer in
the U.S. Navy. He earned his MD
from SUNY Upstate Medical
School (1964) and completed his
residency at Children’s Hospital
in Boston. He was head of
psychiatry at Student Health
Services at Boston University and
practiced psychiatry at Nazareth
Child Care Residence and in
private practice for many years.
He lived in Newton, Mass. His
years, Helen, two children and
three grandchildren.
1957
HARRY S. DRAKE, Feb. 27, 2015.
Harry completed two stints
with the U.S. Army, including a
recall during the Berlin Crisis.
He worked for General Electric
in Chicago before returning to
J A N UA RY 2016
l
133
OBITUARIES
Milwaukee to become an investment officer at Paine Webber.
His most recent position was as
senior VP and investment officer
at RBC Wealth Management.
Harry was predeceased by
his first wife and his children
Elizabeth and Michael. His
years, Linda, five children, a stepdaughter and 11 grandchildren.
1960
GEORGE E. BOYNTON, March
28, 2015. George earned his
law degree from the University
of Baltimore in 1964. During
his nearly three-decade career
at Mass Mutual Life Insurance
Co., he served as president of
the agents’ association and won
several industry awards. As a
Williams alumnus, he was an
admission representative and a
member of the regional special
gifts committee. His survivors
include his wife of 54 years,
Elsa, three children and six
grandchildren.
1961
THOMAS A. DEGRAY, May 24,
2015. Tom earned his master’s
degree in mathematics from
Bowdoin College (1967). His
career in education included posts
as teacher, admission director and
headmaster, as well as coaching
football, wrestling and lacrosse
at independent schools such as
Lawrenceville, Western Reserve
Academy and Groton. He retired
after 12 years as head of school at
the Peddie School in Hightstown,
N.J., and moved to South
Carolina. His survivors include
his wife of 52 years, Ellen, three
children and seven grandchildren.
1962
ROGER W. SMITH, May 11, 2015.
Roger earned an MBA from
Columbia University in 1966
and spent most of his career at
Pawling Corp., including 30
years as its president and 25 as
chairman of the board. He was
on the board of the Rubber
Manufacturers Association and
was chairman of the board of
the Council of Industry. He
coached soccer and Little League
and was a Cub Scout leader. He
historical societies of Quaker
134
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
Hill and Pawling, N.Y., and was
president of the Quaker Hill
Burial Ground Association. He
also was chair of the Dutchess
Community College Foundation
board. He and his wife of
nearly 50 years, Betty, regularly
fostered black Labs rescued from
Tennessee animal shelters. As
a Williams alumnus, he was a
class associate agent. Among his
survivors are Betty, three children,
including Stacey Delamere ’90,
five grandchildren and two black
Labs, Dolly and Katie.
1963
EARL E. CRABB, Feb. 20,
2015. Earl graduated from the
University of Minnesota in 1966.
He designed the first online
banking program for Bank of
America and the first touchscreen program for a Canadian
tourist bureau, and he was
instrumental in creating bank
security and investment software
for financial institutions. He built
financial models for nonprofits
and owned and operated the
poster design company Humbead
Enterprises for nearly 50 years.
He also served on several
nonprofit boards, including the
California Jug Band Association
and the Pickle Family Circus. He
lived in the California Bay Area.
For the last few years of his life,
he was president and CEO of the
virtual community Well.com. His
years, Giselle Shepatin.
FRANKLIN S. EYSTER II,
April 18, 2015. Frank earned his
law degree from the University of
Pennsylvania (1968) and served
as the senior VP, general counsel
and secretary of the Atlantic
Aviation Corp. for 25 years. He
lived in Delaware and was on the
board of the Delaware SPCA.
a member of his class’s 25th
reunion fund committee. His survivors include his wife Carol, two
children and three grandchildren.
1964
ROBERT J. STINE, Feb. 22, 2015.
Two days before he graduated
from Williams, Robert married
his high school sweetheart,
Nancy. He earned a master’s in
teaching from Harvard in 1965
and taught math and chemistry
at the Iolani School in Honolulu,
Hawaii. He then earned an MD
from Vanderbilt University in
1972 and, following a residency
in emergency medicine, joined
the faculty at Johns Hopkins as
associate director of emergency
medicine at the Baltimore
City Hospital campus. From
there, he became director of
the emergency department at
Barnes Hospital in St. Louis,
Mo. In 1985 he returned to
Massachusetts as chairman of the
department of emergency medicine at Worcester City Hospital,
and later held various positions in
the University of Massachusetts
Health Care System, including director of the emergency
department at the Medical
Center of Central Massachusetts.
He retired in 2005 as a clinical
professor of emergency medicine.
His survivors include Nancy, his
wife of 50 years, three children
and four grandchildren.
1966
ALAN D. BOOTH, Feb. 18, 2015.
Alan served in the U.S. Air Force
as a second lieutenant. He then
joined the Owens-Corning
Fiberglass Corp. as a sales representative in 1970, retiring in 1998
as president of its InsulationNorth America division. He
lived in Toledo, Ohio, and
helped organize and coach the
first Ottawa Hills High School
hockey team there. He split his
time between Toledo and Tucson,
Ariz., where he ultimately moved
full time. He was predeceased
by his wife, Lorine, in 2002. His
survivors include two daughters.
JOHN M. LEFEVRE, June 11,
2015. Mac graduated from the
University of Michigan Law
School in 1969 before joining the
U.S. Marine Corps as a JAG officer. He spent several years at the
Legal Aid Society in Rochester,
N.Y., and moved to Minneapolis
in 1977. He spent 35 years at
Kennedy & Graven, Chartered,
where he was a partner, retiring
in 2012. As a Williams alumnus,
he was vice chairman of his class’s
25th reunion fund committee.
44 years, Marsha, three children
and four grandchildren.
1957– 75
1967
RICHARD JAMES PAS, March 24,
2015. Dick earned his JD at
the University of Wisconsin,
Madison, in 1970 and worked
as an economic analyst for
the Congressional Research
Service and as branch counsel
for the U.S. Small Business
Administration. He then served
as owner and president of
Heartland Home Mortgage Co.
for 20 years before his retirement
in 2011. He was a three-term
chair of the Democratic Party
of Waukesha County. As a
co-founder of the Trailbreaker
Run, he was an avid hunter and
angler. Among his survivors are
his wife Gerry, two daughters,
including Emily Isenberg ’98,
and five grandchildren.
1968
BROOKS J. BRAGDON, April 15,
2015. Brooks was a senior executive for a national lighting company in Brooklyn, N.Y., before
becoming a licensed real estate
broker in Cape Vincent, N.Y. A
member of the town board, he
also served as deputy town supervisor. He was treasurer of the
local Lions Club. His survivors
include several cousins.
1969
DONALD SPAETH, March 13,
2015. Don served as a first
lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne
Division (1971-1973). He was
an English teacher at Woodstock
Academy and the Hyde School,
from which he retired in 2008.
He owned String Tinkers, a
music store in Putnam, Conn.
Pamela, two children, his uncle
Robert W. Spaeth ’56 and cousin
Anthony P. Spaeth ’77.
1970
KIM R. MONTGOMERY, April 23,
2015. Kim earned his doctorate in dental medicine from
the University of Pennsylvania
in 1974. He started his career
in West Virginia, where he
worked for the National Health
Service Corps, before moving
to Vermont, opening a dental
practice in Bristol and living
in Cornwall. As a Williams
alumnus, he was an admission
representative and member of his
class’s 25th reunion fund committee. His survivors include his
wife of 40 years, Susan, three sons
and three grandchildren.
THOMAS I. WEBB JR., April 22,
2015. Tom earned his JD at Case
Western Reserve University
in 1973 and became a partner at the Toledo, Ohio, firm
Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick.
He served on the boards of
several organizations, including
the Medical College of Ohio,
Lourdes University, Maumee
Valley Country Day School and
the Toledo Symphony. He was
the Ottawa Hills commissioner
of taxation and president of the
board of the Arts Commission
of Greater Toledo. As a Williams
alumnus, he was a regional association president and admission
representative, a class associate
agent and member of his class’s
25th reunion fund committee.
28 years, Polly, four daughters and
nine grandchildren.
THOMAS A. DEGRAY ’61
1971
LORING COES, June 13, 2015.
Terry earned a master’s degree
in mathematics from Worcester
Polytechnic Institute (1986) and
started teaching at Georgetown
Day School. He went on to a
more than 40-year career as a
math teacher at the Rocky Hill
School in East Greenwich, R.I.
He was a 1987 Woodrow Wilson
Fellow, earned a Presidential
Award for Excellence in Teaching
Mathematics in 1988 and
received an honorary degree from
WPI in 1991. He testified before
Congress on educational matters,
contributed to textbooks and
journals and served on the boards
of regional and national mathematics education organizations,
including the National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics.
After years as Rocky Hill School’s
photographer, he opened Coes
Photography in 2010, specializing
in family and event photography.
of almost 43 years, Dana, two
daughters and a grandchild.
KIM R. MONTGOMERY ’70
JOHN M. CHANDLER ’75
1975
JOHN M. CHANDLER, March
7, 2015. Johnny earned his JD
from Cleveland State University
in 1982 and served as the
J A N UA RY 2016
l
135
OBITUARIES
assistant prosecuting attorney for
Cuyahoga County until 1989.
A self-employed attorney, he
was also a trustee for Children’s
Service. As a Williams alumnus, he was a member of the
Executive Committee of the
Society of Alumni and an admission representative. His survivors
include his wife of 27 years, Rita,
and five sons.
JAMES D. ROSENTHAL, April 26,
2015. Jim earned his MBA from
Columbia University in 1980 and
had a long career as a real estate
broker in New York. He enjoyed
the theater, opera and symphony,
and he was a devoted museum
patron. He and his husband
Marvin established the James D.
Rosenthal & Marvin Y. Schofer
Scholarship Fund at Juilliard. As
a Williams alumnus, he served
on the BiGLATA Executive
Committee and was a Williams
College Museum of Art fellow.
He was predeceased in 2013 by
Marvin, to whom he had been
married for 34 years.
1987
VALENCIA R. DAVIS, Sept. 19,
2012. Valencia earned her BA
from Oberlin College in 1988
and began work as a program
consultant at Arthur Andersen.
She then worked in information
technology at several companies,
including Safe Auto Insurance,
Price Waterhouse and Liberty
Mutual Insurance, where she
spent 15 years. She lived in
Cleveland, Ohio, where she was
a leader in the Bethel Baptist
Church. Her survivors include
three daughters, her parents and
three siblings.
1988
HOPE COOKIS-MCCARTHY,
May 13, 2015. Hope earned her
MSW from Smith College in
1993. She worked in New Jersey
as a social work consultant and
geriatric case manager. She then
moved to Southern Vermont
to raise her family, focusing her
career on children and adolescents as an intensive-needs
specialist, a pre-K teacher and a
playgroup facilitator in schools
and programs in Pownal and
Bennington. She also earned her
certification to teach middle and
high school science. Among her
136
l
WILLIAMS PEOPLE
survivors are her husband of 21
years, Thomas F. McCarthy Jr.
’88, two children, her mother and
cousins Deborah A. Haley ’81 and
Christopher J. Stefanik ’16.
GEORGE LAFAYETTE AUSTIN
KELLY III, April 12, 2015. Austin
earned his master’s degree in
architecture from Yale University
in 1993 and began his career
working in the design offices
of Frank Israel, Frank Gehry,
Eric Owen Moss and DMJM/
Keating. In 2000, he and his
wife Monika founded the firm
XTEN Architecture, designing
award-winning buildings such as
the Openhouse, Madisonhouse
and Nakahouse, all in Southern
California. He mentored young
architects at the firm and at the
Southern California Institute of
Architecture and the University
of Southern California, where he
taught. In addition to his wife, his
survivors include two children, his
mother, his father Prescott Vail
Kelly ’65, two stepparents, a sister
and two stepbrothers, including
Matthew Raffety ’94.
1996
SCOTT A. JENSEN, April 5, 2015.
Scott began a career in finance
at Commercial Credit. He then
worked for Citigroup and GE
Money for several years and
became head of risk operations
and analytics with GE Global
Banking in London. He then
worked as a group chief risk officer at 4Finance in Riga, Latvia.
His survivors include his parents
and two sisters.
2002
PAUL HOLT, May 19, 2015. Paul
was a champion for environmental causes. He also spent time
each week reading for the blind
and advocated for bicycle safety
in the Twin Cities, where he
lived. He battled with depression
for much of his adult life. His
survivors include his parents, two
siblings and two nieces.
2014
MORLENE T. MAGORONGA,
March 24, 2015. Molly came
to Williams from Goromonzi,
Zimbabwe. She majored in
psychology and concentrated in
Africana studies. She was a member of the International Club, the
African Student Organization,
the Minority Coalition and
the Christian Fellowship. After
graduation, she moved to Boston,
where she worked as a fellow at
Bridge International Academies,
a network of low-cost elementary
schools in developing countries.
Her survivors include her
parents and her sister Wendy V.
Magoronga ’12.
other deaths
ROLFE E. WYER ’46,
Dec. 14, 2014
PAUL E. LEIGHTON ’48,
June 12, 2014
DANIEL G. WHEELER ’48, 2015
JAMES F. CANTLON, ’70,
Feb. 14, 2015
JAY S. PRENDERGAST ’72,
Feb. 14, 2015
ROBERT H. HARRIS ’81,
Feb. 26, 2015
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.
“We’ve launched
a competition to
find a new song
that is worthy of
standing alongside
(not replacing) ‘The
Mountains.’”
Leila Jere ’91
President, Society of Alumni
leila.jere@gmail.com
GREET US WITH A SONG
SHARE YOUR #EPHPURPOSE
By now, many of you know about and may even have participated in
Teach It Forward: The Campaign for Williams, which launched in early
October. In addition to the ambitious and unprecedented goal of raising
$650 million, Williams is aiming to engage 85 percent of alumni in the
campaign by inspiring them to give, attend events, volunteer or join us via
the web and social media.
Williams alumni take great pride in what we do for each other and our
communities. It is this devotion to collective action that makes many Ephs
proud to remain connected to each other and the college. The campaign
offers us a chance to celebrate more fully these efforts through an initiative
called Purple with Purpose, the engagement platform of Teach It Forward.
You can read more about Purple with Purpose in Alumni Relations Director
Brooks Foehl’s ‘88 essay on the inside back cover of this issue of People.
The campaign also gives us an opportunity to look back and examine the
traditions that have helped unite us around our alma mater.
Over the last few years, one of the great pleasures and honors I’ve had
has been to meet Williams alumni who graduated in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s.
It no longer surprises me when some of these men, now in their 70s and
80s, burst into fulsome song in celebration of life at Williams—at meals, at
reunion gatherings, you name it. In researching Williams song lyrics (and, in
the process, uncovering the lamentable fact that the most recent edition of
the Williams songbook dates to 1959), I came across an excellent illustrated
history, When Colleges Sang: The Story of Singing in American College Life,
by J. Lloyd Winstead (University of Alabama Press, 2013). The Greylocks
out there will be pleased to know that the writer’s acknowledgement opens
with a mention of Fred Rudolph ’42. Winstead describes the strong singing
tradition in American colleges that predated fraternity and fight songs, when
students would sing together for entertainment and as a way to comment on
current events on campus.
Today we sing “The Mountains” and perhaps a couple of other songs,
but many of the songs from 1959 no longer bind us together as they did in
generations past. So one goal of Purple with Purpose is to update the
Williams songbook to better reflect who we are today. To do that, we’ve
launched a competition to find a new song that is worthy of standing alongside (not replacing) “The Mountains.” Selections from the competition will
be compiled in a new Williams songbook that reflects the diverse and global
community Williams is today.
I hope that you will participate in this experiment to add new songs
to our old standards and write a new chapter in Williams history. You can
learn more about the competition and submit songs at alumni.williams.edu/
submit-your-song. You don’t have to be a professional songwriter or musician
to pull a few verses together. Even better, why not look up an old entrymate
or two and collaborate?
The college formally launched Teach It Forward: The Campaign for
Williams in early October, and I encourage you to explore the campaign’s
fundraising priorities at teachitforward.williams.edu. But I also want to draw
your attention to an initiative designed to engage the Williams community in
a deliberate and broad-based manner in support of the campaign.
First, let’s go back a couple of years. As part of the planning for Teach It
Forward, the leadership of the Society of Alumni explored deeply how
to engage alumni over the course of the campaign. Specifically, what could
we do to promote connections between alumni and the college beyond
traditional models? It was clear from the beginning that when the campaign
concludes, its success will be measured not only by dollars raised but also by
how well the college and the Society of Alumni have been able to engage the
entire Williams community.
Out of that thinking, Purple with Purpose was born. Building upon our
extraordinary history of collective action, volunteerism and alumni pride, Purple with Purpose enables and encourages all members of the Williams
family to strengthen our connections with each other and the college, show
how Williams has made a difference in our lives and share the ways in which
we Teach It Forward.
This is not a passive endeavor, and so I want you to understand what
we’re asking of you and how you can participate in ways that resonate with
you. Let me share a few possibilities.
Society of Alumni President Leila Jere ’91 writes about the Williams Song
Competition on the inside front cover of this issue of People. Read what she
has to say, submit a song, and encourage others to do the same.
Nominate a fellow alum for Regional Recognition. A sampling of what
people are saying about fellow Ephs:
• A 1992 alumna “has single-handedly changed lives, changed organizations, changed huge institutions, changed our city.”
• A 1974 alumnus “has been a force for education, social change and
environmental stewardship in our area and made Williams proud in
every measure of the liberal arts tradition.”
• A 1989 Eph’s “civic contribution has been their personal and professional focus over a 20-year career in international rescue, humanitarian
relief and poverty alleviation. Every day they deliver on the very values
PwP seeks to celebrate.”
You can share your own stories of impact and read about others at
purplewpurpose.tumblr.com.
You can also share memories of retiring faculty who have made a difference in your life, check out ways to volunteer with the college, network
with Ephs and more. Explore the full list of opportunities at teachitforward.
williams.edu/pwp. Then, join the charge, follow what your fellow Ephs are
doing, and share your own #Ephpurpose.
With best wishes from Williamstown,
“When the campaign
concludes, its success
will be measured not
only by dollars raised
but also by how well
the college and the
Society of Alumni have
been able to engage
the entire Williams
community.”
Brooks Foehl ’88
Director of Alumni Relations
bfoehl@williams.edu
Editorial Offices
P.O. Box 676
Williamstown, MA
01267-0676
W I LL I A M S P EO PL E
JANUARY 2016
Williams
P E O P L E l J A N U A R Y 2 016

PEOPLE l JANUARY 2016 - Alumni News

Transcription

Similar documents

february 2012 newsletter - Merrillville Community School

Providing challenging, meaningful and engaging learning experiences

case study - Pitney Bowes

55th Reunion - Fresno High School Alumni Association

June 2012 - Dartmouth Class of 1983

Saint Raymond of Penafort Catholic Church

destinations - Alumni News

Splash Lagoon Family Fun Weekend!

3 - FAMU.edu