Amherst Today

ALSO INSIDE FALL The 1896 alum 2017 who unearthed our mammoth skeleton is still frustrating and surprising scientists Amherst today.

As the College’s first Army ROTC FUTURE student in two decades, Rebecca Segal ’18 is part of the long, rich, VETERAN complex story of Amherst and the military. XXIN THIS ISSUE: FALL 2017XX 20 28 36

Veterans’ Loomis “The Splendor of Days Illuminated Mere Being”

FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO AN THE PROFESSOR WHO THE COLLEGE REMEMBERS “ACADEMIC BOOT CAMP” UNEARTHED AMHERST’S ACCLAIMED POET AND THIS SUMMER, AMHERST’S MAMMOTH SKELETON IN LECTURER RICHARD HISTORY OF TEACHING 1923 IS STILL FRUSTRATING WILBUR ’42, WHO DIED MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY AND SURPRISING THIS FALL. BY KATHARINE SCIENTISTS TODAY. BY KATHARINE WHITTEMORE BY GEOFFREY GILLER ’10 WHITTEMORE

Inside the College’s Beneski Museum, a local scientist realized that this Tyrannosaurid jaw is different from any other he’s seen. (And he has seen quite a few.) Page 28

Photograph by GEOFFREY GILLER ’10 2 “We take pleasure in First Words A career in pediatric cardiology seeing the impossible inspires a young adult novel. appear possible, and the 4 invisible appear visible.” Voices Readers consider such far-reaching Historian Thomas W. Laqueur, invited to Amherst as issues as China’s one-child policy, a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, during his October nuclear war and the search for lecture on how and why the living care for and extraterrestrial life. remember the dead. PAGE 12 6

College Row Support after Hurricane Maria, XX ONLINE: AMHERST.EDU/MAGAZINE XX researching bodily bacteria, Amherst’s “single finest graduate” News Video & Audio and more Jeffrey C. Hall ’67 was named What does a mammoth sound 14 a winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize like? In anticipation of the The Big Picture in Physiology or Medicine. He unveiling of the new mascot logo, and two fellow scientists were we filmed students doing their A drone’s-eye view of autumn recognized for their discoveries best (speculative) mammoth of the molecular mechanisms JEFFREY C. HALL ’67 impressions. The results were... 16 controlling circadian rhythms. interesting. Beyond Campus JOURNALISM: A small box turned out Actor, playwright and scholar Professor emeritus and Pulitzer Lisa Biggs ’93 William Taubman to contain huge news was part of the Prize winner PUBLIC HEALTH: Biologist Kathryn Five College Theater Alumnae discusses his new biography, Hanley ’89 keeps one step ahead of of Color Residency this fall. In Gorbachev: His Life and Times. the Zika virus preparation, she reflected on The book is the culmination of 11 her time at Amherst and the years of research and interviews. CANCER: Med student Jacob Reibel BENJAMIN GOLD ’11 ’10 helps patients tell their stories importance of making theater, then and now. “My job didn’t exist when I graduated,” says Catherine 42 As Benjamin Gold ’11 answered Brownstein ’97. “But I was able Amherst Creates questions from Amherst pre- to find it and succeed because CULTURE: Sex in the ’90s with David med students, the young doctor Amherst taught me how to adapt, Friend ’77 remembered what drew him to think critically and carve out a BIOGRAPHY: Professor William the College in the first place. place for myself.” LISA BIGGS ’93 Taubman on Mikhail Gorbachev OPERA: The Scarlet Professor TV SERIES: Cold War cop comedy POETRY: Let Us Watch Richard Wilbur EDITOR WE WANT TO HEAR Amherst (USPS 024-280) Emily Gold Boutilier FROM YOU is published quarterly (413) 542-8275 Amherst welcomes by Amherst College at 49 letters from its readers. Amherst, Massachusetts magazine@amherst. 01002-5000, and is Classes Please send them to edu sent free to all alumni. magazine@amherst. Periodicals postage paid at ALUMNI EDITOR edu or Amherst Amherst, Massachusetts 110 Betsy Cannon Magazine, PO Box 01002-5000 and additional In Memory Smith ’84 5000, Amherst, MA mailing offices. Postmaster: Please send Form 3579 (413) 542-2031 01002. to Amherst, AC # 2220, Letters must be PO Box 5000, Amherst DESIGN DIRECTOR 116 300 words or fewer College, Amherst, MA Creating Connections Ronn Campisi and should address 01002-5000. Cover photograph by ASSISTANT EDITOR the content in the Dana Smith, Oct. 23, magazine. 2017, at 2:30 p.m. 120 Katherine Duke ’05 Contest SENIOR WRITER An art history challenge Katharine Whittemore XXFIRST WORDSXX

I walk in the room. The young woman on the exam table gives me a brief smile. The crisp, white sheet draped over the round of her belly flutters as I shut the door. I put down her chart and introduce myself. Ms. M is I ask Ms. M some questions about her health. The fleeting smile halfway through her pregnancy. Her anat- returns as she answers. Her fingers tighten. I slide into my seat and take omy scan two days ago was incomplete. The hold of the ultrasound probe. I want to reassure her. I can’t until I’ve fetal heart wasn’t seen well. So she’d been checked her fetus. At a large referral center, referred to me, the pediatric cardiologist. roughly a quarter to a third of fetal echocardiograms, ultrasounds of the fetal heart, will be abnormal. When I come across a fetus with a heart that has developed improperly, where parts are absent or in the wrong place—think of a toddler’s sketch of a person with only one eye and an arm coming out of the head—I put down the probe, flick on the lights and turn to face the parents. I take them into a room with a table and comfortable chairs so I can draw, with colored markers, the heart By Ismée (Bartels) Williams ’95 of their fetus. I explain what can be done. Their baby’s heart is sick. Their baby needs a surgery as soon as she’s born. Without it, she will die. Even with surgery, there is a chance their baby might not make it. But we will do everything to fight for her if that is what they choose. I hold their hands, pass tissues and wait for the question that every family, regardless of background, asks next: Is my child going to be normal? They want to know if their child will go to regular school, ride a bike, grow up and have a family. Every time my answer is the same: We don’t know. Advances in medical care allow most babies with severe heart defects a chance at survival. Yet more than half of these children will suffer neurodevelopmental setbacks. The spectrum ranges from minor learning disabilities and attention-deficitdisorder to autism and severe intellectual handicaps. We often don’t know why this happens. We don’t know who will be affected. The only option is to watch the baby closely over the first few years of life and intervene as delays are detected. It is an entirely unsatisfactory situation. Which is why, in addition to being a clinician, I am also a researcher. My probe sweeps from one side of Ms. M’s abdomen to the other. I see that her fetus is tucked in a ball, arms and legs in front of the chest, hiding the heart. I ask Ms. M to turn onto her side. This does not help. I explain the situation and ask if she’d like to go for a drink of water. Toward the end of my cardiology training, I went

2 AMHERST FALL 2017 back to school for a degree in biostatistics. I sought was a lesson from my grandparents who fled Cuba out mentors. I wrote grants. I ran a study investigating and had to start over, from my mother who applied early predictors of neurodevelopmental outcomes in three times to medical school and disregarded the children born with congenital heart disease. I wanted letters that suggested she try nursing. more information so I could tell parents something I realized I needed to tell a different story—one other than, We have to wait and see. reflective of my experience being raised bymis abuelos Then I read a novel. I was on bed rest, pregnant while my parents worked, and of being a physician WILLIAMS, a with my third child. I loved fiction, but hadn’t caring for Spanish-speaking families in Washington history major found time since Amherst to read beyond medical Heights. I put aside my first manuscript and wrote at Amherst, journals and statistics textbooks. Perhaps pregnancy about a young Dominican-American woman pregnant is a pediatric hormones and my anxiety over a threatened preterm with a baby with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in cardiologist and birth were partly to blame, but that novel opened a which the left side of the heart is missing. Within the the author of the young adult novel door to a room in my brain that had been forgotten. I year, I sold this novel. Water In May felt awakened—and I wanted to write something that My main character is based on many patients I’ve (Amulet Books, would make another person feel that way. treated: young women, some still in high school, 2017). Find her During the remainder of my pregnancy, I wrote a each pregnant with one of the 40,000 babies born at ismeewilliams. novel. Over the next few years, I crunched data from every year in the U.S. with heart defects—a number com. my research, scanned pregnant bellies and edited equivalent to roughly 1 in 100 births. Like my patients, my manuscript in odd, stolen moments. I attended this character has questions. Like her doctor, I don’t writers’ conferences. I wrote and rewrote. I queried have all the answers—but my research continues. agents and editors—more than a hundred of them. Ms. M is back on the table. She’s fallen asleep; this Most never responded. is not uncommon in the dim, quiet ultrasound rooms. I was no stranger to rejection. I had written medical I squeeze more gel on her abdomen. The fetus shifts. articles and grants and knew acceptance on first Not a lot. But it’s enough. The heart comes into view. I submission was rare. Perseverance was necessary. It let out a sigh. It’s normal. k

Illustration by HARRIET LEE-MERRION AMHERST FALL 2017 3 XXVOICESXX

ALSO INSIDE SUMMER As lead counsel 2017 for Virginia CURRENT CAMPUS teen Gavin Grimm, Josh began as an onerous legislative Block ’01 is part of a high- profile battle Amherst Thank you, Amherst, for showing in civil rights. restriction on parental freedom (in the Summer 2017 issue) the What’s life been like for might inadvertently be perpetuated the only children reach, inclusiveness and diversity born under China’s as a willful expression of freedom one-child policy?

Anthropologist of today’s College. I would have Vanessa Fong ’96 by the children of the very parents knows the answers. loved attending the school pre- who wanted but were not allowed sented there. to have more offspring? JIM BENDER ’61 MICHAEL ROBBINS ’55, M.D. Klamath Falls, Ore. Amherst

CHINA’S ONE-CHILD POLICY “I wasn’t THE GEWERTZ EFFECT Thank you for publishing “Only surprised to What a pleasure it was to read Time Will Tell,” by Katharine learn that about Vanessa Fong ’96 (“Only Whittemore, about the research by both Fong and Time Will Tell”) and Carolyn Sufrin had anthropology professor Vanessa taken a class Sufrin ’97 (“When Med School is Fong ’96 on the lives of only chil- with Deborah Not Enough,” Beyond Campus) dren born under China’s one-child sional jobs. I am pleased that the Gewertz early in the latest issue of the alumni policy (cover story, Summer 2017). government has recently chosen on. Their magazine. Each is doing important At a reunion a decade or so ago, to terminate the one-child policy; experiences work—in very different contexts— chimed with I had the opportunity to address it has had the intended effect and my own.” to challenge assumptions and my Amherst class on the topic of now can be lifted. deepen understanding. I wasn’t industrialization of the People’s ARTHUR E. HIGINBOTHAM ’58 surprised to learn that both Fong Republic of China, with the cre- St. Paul, Minn. and Sufrin had taken a class with dentials of having developed an Deborah Gewertz early on. Their industrial markets strategic plan As a psychoanalyst who has taught experiences chimed with my own. I for my employer. This plan was and done therapy with Chinese na- had little inkling of what anthropol- implemented by the first wholly tionals as part of a psychoanalytic ogy was, or could be, when I found owned foreign company on the program using media like Skype, myself in Professor Gewertz’s mainland. I am impressed by what Professor course on the anthropology of food. In that presentation, I asserted Fong’s study of children reared That class, and the path it set me that the one-child policy, by limit- under China’s one-child policy on, gave me tools for thinking I still ing population growth, was neces- revealed about changes in attitude appreciate many years later. sary for development, and that about gender equality and the KAYLIN GOLDSTEIN ’92 it would save China from having importance of high achievement Boulder, Colo. hundreds of millions being born among women. I am equally in- into poverty. I pointed out that trigued by what she did not study MUTUALLY ASSURED the policy would tip the gender about the children but is implied. DESTRUCTION balance in favor of males, would What are the psychological effects The article “Debunking the Bun- result in these children having to and relational consequences of ker” (College Row, Summer 2017) provide support for parents and being the center of parental aspira- opens with, “There are times, in grandparents without help from tions (“a world of ‘little suns’”) and higher education, when you wish siblings, and would eventually not having to share parental atten- for a lot less relevance” (emphasis create a labor shortage. tion and an interpersonal world in the original). I was pleased to learn from your with siblings? One day prior to the issue’s article that “singletons,” as only The single reference to this arrival, I had mountain-biked children are described, are likely issue, clearly intended as a bio- past the Bunker, as I have previ- to go to college and hold profes- graphical aside to the important ously done. Then, on the day of research itself, states that Fong the issue’s arrival, our nation’s TELL US WHAT YOU THINK decided not to get married and commander-in-chief threatened have children because her impres- nuclear annihilation against North We welcome letter submissions sively successful career was more Korea, which I don’t recall has been that respond to our magazine articles. Letters should be 300 important, a decision couched as previously done (whether the threat words or fewer. Please send them though it were a logical either/or or the actual annihilation). to [email protected] or choice. It leads me to speculate Although the relevance of this Box 5000, Amherst, MA, 01002. about another research project. piece on a long-decommissioned Might it be, for example, that what Post-Attack Command and Con-

4 AMHERST FALL 2017 trol System facility was striking, science major under Professor Earl the 1907 opposition of Mars in also striking was the flippant in- Latham, I wrote an honors thesis the southern hemisphere, Lowell accuracy of this condescending on Gordon Hirabayashi, who dared chose Todd to head an expedition dismissal: defy the executive order and was to view and photograph the planet “That area? It held 175 cots and imprisoned. It took Hirabayashi from a high desert site in Chile. As enough rations for 35 days: a laugh- four decades to overturn his con- a reward for his friend’s support, able amount of time to expect victions. Todd arranged to have Amherst radiation to disperse.” For my Amherst thesis, my confer an honorary degree on That was hardly the expectation, roommate John Lyon ’61 helped Lowell. though. me with the English. I was given So, as it turns out, there is an Instead, the expectation was a prize of $50 for this thesis, and Amherst twist to the search for ex- that the top brass of the Eighth spent all of it to make a call to traterrestrial life. Air Force headquarters would be Japan to my fiancée, whom I had DAVID STRAUSS ’59 evacuated from nearby Westover not seen or talked to in more than Kalamazoo, Mich. Air Force Base to order a nuclear two years. The writer is a professor emeritus counterattack against whatever KOICHIRO “FUJI” FUJIKURA ’61 of history at Kalamazoo College nation had attacked our nation Kyoto, Japan and author of Percival Lowell: The with nuclear weapons. Science and Culture of a Boston Thirty-five days was, if anything, ECLIPSES AND ALIENS Brahmin (Harvard University Press, a laughably excessive amount of I read with great interest Julie 2001). time. Even just three and a half Dobrow’s account of David Peck days, or 35 hours, or three and a Todd’s eclipse expeditions (“The MAMMOTH OPINIONS half hours would probably have Star-Crossed Astronomer,” Sum- Perhaps we could name the new been sufficient. mer 2017). It is indeed a sad story, mammoth mascot “Trumpie,” or, The Bunker’s purpose cannot as she demonstrates. Todd’s undis- more formally, George W. Trump, be called laughable, as the Bunker ciplined imagination and bad luck as he was duly elected while losing was perfectly well-suited for its clearly undermined his efforts to the popular vote. intended purpose. learn more about the sun. KEVIN CLARK ’78 You can instead choose to call it In the course of tracking down Franklin, Tenn. madness. eclipses, Todd became a believer But, more accurately, it was in the existence of extraterrestrial Really? You quote a survey of “MAD” in all capital letters: an life on Mars. That issue, as Dobrow alumni who answered a December essential component of the “Mu- indicates, was very much under 2015 “poll” as if it were scientific tually Assured Destruction” doc- investigation around 1900. How- and the data valid? Someone must trine, which, despite the acronym, Corrections ever, Todd might not have been have missed a few science, sociol- was predicated on the rational be- Because of edit- drawn to it had he not fallen under ogy and statistics classes. havior of each adversary’s leaders. ing errors, the the spell of Percival Lowell, an WILLIAM S. SHAW ’67 We can only hope now the lead- Summer 2017 amateur astronomer and Boston Centennial, Colo. ers of the United States and North class notes in- Brahmin. Korea are—despite their various cluded an incor- By 1895, Lowell had already THE POETRY CONTEST rect class year for public pronouncements—at some Anne Ha ’93, and built an observatory in Flagstaff, I loved Alessandra Bianchi Her- level sufficiently rational to avoid the Summer 2017 Ariz., where he produced evidence man ’86’s poem (Contest, Summer the nuclear annihilation that the article “Lucky that Mars was covered with a net- 2017)—the sort of poem The New Bunker was expected to order. Soprano” omitted work of canals built and managed Yorker used to publish when it still JONATHAN S. SHEFFTZ ’89 the first name of by technocrats to supply water for had pretensions to being a seri- composer Aaron Amherst Jay Kernis. a dry planet. In so doing, Lowell ous literary magazine. The poem launched a bitter debate on the makes a worthy companion piece WHAT’S AMERICAN? subject among astronomers. to James Merrill ’47’s poem about Katherine Duke ’05’s article on Under Lowell’s tutelage, Todd the RCA Victor album cover dog. new courses in American stud- became an early supporter of the JON PEIRCE ’67 ies (“What’s American?” College idea of intelligent life on Mars. Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Row, Summer 2017), discusses Lowell, in turn, financed Todd’s a class trip to Washington, D.C., 1900 eclipse expedition to Tripoli, See page 120 for the fall contest—an to learn about the 1942 executive but not before recuperating from art history challenge—and answers order allowing the internment of depression at the Todd house to Professor Catherine Sanderson’s Japanese Americans. As a political in Amherst. And, at the onset of summer contest. —Editor

AMHERST FALL 2017 5 NEWS AND VIEWS FROM College Row CAMPUS

XXPEOPLEXX Espero que Esten Bien “I hope they are well,” the College’s Puerto Rican staff, faculty and students told each other, as they sought to reach loved ones and found ways to aid their stricken island.

Lourdes Torres knows how to get help to those in trouble. That’s what she does as a dispatcher for Amherst College Police—and that’s what she did after Hurri- Dispatcher cane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 20. Lourdes Torres, Indeed, she acted with dispatch, immediately above. At left, Eva Cordero reaching out to La Causa, Amherst’s Latinx student ’18 (in white organization, to put out a donation box in their José dress) works the Martí Cultural Center. Then she collaborated with donations table. another Amherst staffer with ties to Puerto Rico: her good friend Bulaong Ramiz-Hall, director of the Col- lege’s Multicultural Resource Center (MRC), who

prepped a more elaborate donations table and quickly ’17 TAPFUMA TAKUDZWA CORDERO: MARIA STENZEL; TORRES:

6 AMHERST FALL 2017 got the word out to the College island, three of her aunts were NEWCOMERS community. unaccounted for. “It’s not an Soon after that, Torres joined easy situation,” she said as she a 24-person email support group worked. “They’re running out of Why Classmates Matter for staffers of Puerto Rican de- drinking water.” scent, jump-started by Eva Diaz, D.J. Williams ’20 bought a cup- The people around you “will be instru- registration assistant/reception- cake and pin. “I wanted to find a mental in how you decide to live your life ist in the Office of the Registrar. way to help with disaster relief,” and contribute to the world,” the dean of The group was occupationally she said. “I figured I’d give up my admission—who’s been in their shoes— diverse—groundskeepers, pro- usual bubble teas for a while, and told first-year and transfer students. fessors, IT and HR staffers, be less consumerist and make at prep cooks and more—with one least a small impact.” overarching concern in common: One student handed over Make yourself known. That each yearned to hear from and $100. Others who had experi- was one piece of advice assist loved ones on the island. enced hurricanes firsthand of- that Dean of Admission “There is no worse feeling than fered their knowing empathy as and Financial Aid Katha- coming to work and sitting at well as donations. rine Fretwell ’81 gave to Dispatch, looking at a small TV, The money ($1,500 and count- the 489 newest Amherst seeing live what was happening ing) and goods went to two aid students this fall. “This on your island, everything blow- organizations. The MRC is also is not a passive environ- ing everywhere,” says Torres, working with the swim team— ment,” she said. “Be pre- whose family is spread out from they are known to train in Puerto pared to participate.” San Juan to Utuado to Corozal Rico—to schedule more tabling Out of a record 9,285 to Carolina. “My hands felt tied, around campus. applicants for the class of like I was desperate.” That same week after the hur- 2021—known as the bicen- Torres’ fears, of course, were ricane, Chief Human Resources tennial class, because it will graduate when the College echoed among a huge diaspora; Officer Maria-Judith Rodriguez, turns 200—Amherst admitted 1,198 students, and 473 there are more Puerto Ricans whose office features a giant blue enrolled. Of the 464 applicants for transfer admission, living on the U.S. mainland (5.1 ocean-and-sky photograph of her 34 were admitted and 16 enrolled. million) than on the island (3.5 native Arecibo, organized a lunch These new students speak more than 45 languages. million). Ramiz-Hall, who has for Puerto Rican staffers. About They have founded bird and philosophy clubs. They have family in Ciales, in Bayamón and a dozen attended, including worked with veterans and Holocaust survivors, served on beyond, explains the plight of her Professor of French Rosalina de fire rescue squads and competed in canoe polo. compatriots at the College: “We la Carrera; Juan Cruz, dining ser- Their average ACT composite score is 33—a record wanted to not just feel hopeless- vices assistant; Luis Hernandez, for a class at Amherst. Their SAT composite score (the ness.” director of IT support services; “old test”) is 2232—also a record. And their average So, on Sept. 26 and 28, the and Yesenia Vega, custodian. score on the redesigned SAT (first introduced with this MRC set up its disaster-relief Many had not met except class) is 1469. donations table at Keefe Campus through the email group. But au- Amherst teachers and peers will influence their “abil- Center, focused on Puerto Rico, thentic emotions cut through any ity to make sense of the world,” Fretwell told the class, but also collecting for other lo- initial awkwardness. “Everyone and “will be instrumental in how you decide to live your cales reeling from recent natural was kissing on the cheek and say- life and contribute to the world.” CAROLINE HANNA disasters, from the Caribbean to ing, ‘Cómo estás?’” recalls Torres, Mexico to Texas. smiling. Most were still in the THE BICENTENNIAL CLASS, As a “Made in Puerto Rico” dark about their families’ fates, BY THE NUMBERS playlist filled the air with the with nearly all of the island’s cell bright throb of salsa music, stu- phone service down. Rodriguez dents streamed to the table with brought a large map of Puerto % % the Terras Irradient logo. There Rico, and they each marked their 38 16 43 8 were several draws: cupcakes for places of special concern. Self-iden- U.S. sale, topped with icing that was In spite of the stress and sor- Countries tified U.S. Non-U.S. states arranged to resemble the Puerto row, “it was great to have that students of citizens represented represented Rican flag, plus pins that Ramiz- sense of community,” says Tor- color Hall had bought to celebrate Na- res. “It was like no titles mat- tional Hispanic Heritage Month. tered, no education level: You’re % % Eva Cordero ’18 was one as human as me. You are affected 55 11 16 32 student who staffed the table, the same way I am affected. accepting money, batteries, flash- There were no barriers.” Recipients of First- gen- Youngest Oldest KATHARINE WHITTEMORE Amherst eration college student’s student’s lights and first-aid kits. On the financial aid students age age XXRESEARCHXX It’s the Little Things What’s the connection between gut bacteria and good health?

There’s a saying that goes, “Pay at- Purdy is isms. The research by Purdy and tunately for us, pathogens have tention to the little things, because conducting colleague Josh Sharp of Northern a workaround: if they are able to one day you may realize they were research that Michigan University may one day take up, or “eat,” the molecules may one day the big things.” Assistant Professor help improve help improve treatments for chol- that our microbiomes secrete, they of Biology Alexandra Purdy has treatments for era, a disease that affects hundreds can wreak havoc and multiply. devoted her career to uncovering cholera. of thousands of people each year. Purdy’s grant project focuses the enormous impact of some very In the intestines, each human on what happens when a specific little things: the trillions of micro- being naturally carries between 1 pathogen—Vibrio cholerae—eats organisms that live on and in the and 3 pounds of bacteria. Called the molecule acetate, “which is human body and that influence the gut microbiome, this collection produced by our normal gut bacte- everything—from our immune of bacteria is integral to staying ria from the fiber or plants that we systems to our digestion. healthy and alive. The definition eat,” she says. Acetate is one of a Now, with more than $500,000 of a “good” microbiome is still group known as short-chain fatty in collaborative grant money from murky, but it’s clear that helpful acids, which are associated with the National Science Foundation, bacteria play a role in defending positive gut health. The health of she is studying how gut bacteria af- us against pathogens, which are the host organisms—fruit flies, in fect the health of their host organ- disease-causing bacteria. Unfor- the Purdy lab—can suffer if theV.

8 AMHERST FALL 2017 Photograph by JESSICA SCRANTON cholerae consume their gut acetate in great enough quantities. What does this research suggest about human health? “Cholera

may be deadlier in people who are MARIA STENZEL losing more of their acetate to the acetate-eating bacteria,” Purdy says. Q&A: Ray Suarez, PBS BROADCASTER, Purdy and Sharp will also study MCCLOY VISITING PROFESSOR OF other bacteria that are naturally AMERICAN STUDIES “programmed” to eat acetate, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can be devastating to the THE REPORTER-TEACHER Suarez has been a correspondent for lungs of cystic fibrosis patients PBS NewsHour and host of for Al Jazeera America. Now he and to burned flesh. The question Inside Story teaches courses that play off his reporting on faith and in both labs will be how scientists politics. One such course, “From the Moral Majority to might target the regulatory sys- the Rise of the ‘Nones,’” explores the growing influence of tems in disease-causing bacteria, Americans with no religious affiliation. to cause them to eat less.

Does that class contain a mix of religious and unaffiliated Purdy and a colleague have students? found a biochemical pathway I thought it would be mixed, because among people born between 1980 that appears to create the and 2000, the rate of unaffiliation is roughly 35 percent. That’s higher conditions for disease. than it’s been in two centuries, but it’s not 100 percent. But my entire class is unaffiliated. Some were brought up in a household where there was a religious identity. Some never had one. Some bailed out in high Already, Purdy and Sharp have school. It’s a mixed set of roads to a very common destination. discovered a special biochemical pathway in V. cholerae that ap- How are the class discussions? pears to “flip the switch” on the Very interesting. They want to understand the country better, because bacterium’s gene and create the they’re still a pronounced minority. Even if you’re secular, though, there conditions for disease. Over the are all these religious themes we don’t think of as expressly religious: next four years, they hope to shed calling somebody a “Good Samaritan,” “apple of my eye,” “brother’s light on the role of the microbiome keeper.” Our culture is suffused with that stuff, partly because of the in causing organisms to thrive or grandeur of the King James Bible. decline. Amherst students will take part Since we’re speaking about faith, can you share a little about your in Purdy’s research. In addition, own? the grant project includes funding I am a lifelong, regular communicant and took my three kids to church for mentoring and the creation every Sunday. One of them is now an Episcopal priest. And I live right of educational programming for around the corner from my new church, Grace Episcopal in Amherst. elementary and middle-school students. What are you writing now? “I’m excited to talk about the I’m starting a book about the fight over what the country will be in 2044, role of microbiology and the role when the U.S. Census Bureau says we’ll become a “majority-minority” of microbes in our life,” Purdy country. These last couple of years remind us that the notion of this being says. “I feel like I’m revealing to a white, Christian country is not going to just quietly fold its tent and people a world they didn’t know move on. K.W. was there.” MARY ELIZABETH STRUNK ONLINE More from the interview: amherst.edu/magazine

AMHERST FALL 2017 9 XXCOLLEGE HISTORYXX The Single Finest Graduate The Rev. Phillip A. Jackson ’85 inspired the class of 2021 through the story of Charles Hamilton Houston ’15, mentor to Thurgood Marshall.

At this year’s DeMott Lecture, the Rev. Phillip A. Jackson ’85 made his deepest points by pointing. “That is our single finest graduate ever,” he said, pointing toward the east wall of Johnson Chapel, to the portrait of Charles Hamilton Houston. “He is the finest that we have produced—and no one knows about him.” Jackson made sure the class of 2021 knew about him. Houston was the grandson of slaves and the only black member of Amherst’s class of 1915. After experiencing, in Hous- ton’s words, “the hate and scorn showered on us Negro officers by our fellow Americans” in World War I, Houston vowed to fight for his people by studying the law. He became the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review and a protégé Henry Hastie ’25, who became Jackson is the him.” As he quoted Houston, of Supreme Court Justice Felix the first black federal judge in the vicar of Trinity Jackson wiped away a tear—as did Church Wall Frankfurter. United States—and whose portrait Street. He is many in the audience. Houston became a law profes- is displayed on that same wall in the 10th person Jackson is a trustee of Amherst sor at Howard University and Johnson Chapel. to deliver the and the vicar of Trinity Church launched a series of cases with his Houston died four years before DeMott Lecture. Wall Street in Manhattan. Born in student Thurgood Marshall (“kind Marshall famously argued Brown v. Chicago and educated at Yale Law of a party boy” until Houston said Board of Education. On his death- School, he has also ministered in “I need you,” joked Jackson). In bed, Houston asked his friends to Detroit, Houston and Phoenix. one anti-discrimination case, the give his 6-year-old son a message: “Historically, he was brought into plaintiff was Donald Gaines Mur- “Tell him I went down fighting that parishes that were in trouble finan- ray ’34. Houston groomed other he might have better opportuni- cially and spiritually and turned compatriots, notably William ties, without bias operating against them around,” President Biddy Martin said in her introduction. Jackson is the 10th person to deliver the annual DeMott Lecture. Given to first-year students at the end of orientation, it is named for the late Professor of English Benjamin DeMott. Jackson’s lecture pointed to two other greats besides Houston “who went to a sacred place of encounter, and open us to lives lived in deepest consequence with that state.” To that end, he played off the readings he’d assigned the incoming students: a short essay,

10 AMHERST FALL 2017 MASCOT

“The Sanest of Men,” on ancient The Big Reveal Chinese poet T’ao Ch’ien, by The unveiling of the mammoth logo was one highlight David Bentley Hart, and a short of a successful homecoming weekend. book, Rural Studio: Samuel Mockbee and an Architecture of Decency, by Andrea Oppenheimer Dean and Timothy Hursley. The reverend got a little irreverent about T’ao Ch’ien especially. T’ao was a master of hsien, which can translate as “idleness,” though not laziness. It’s more, Jackson said, “the sublime capacity for total contentment for doing nothing—when nothing needs to be done.” He teased the students that they don’t need to check their phones in “idle” moments, don’t need to fill everything up with busyness. “To get here to Amherst, you got good at doing,” he said, smiling. “Sometimes to do well is to do nothing.” Jackson also mentioned the white Southern architect Samuel Mockbee, who quit his conven- tional architecture practice upon seeing the grave of civil rights activist James Cheney. Mockbee set off, with his students at Auburn University, to design and build remarkable homes out of salvaged materials for poor residents in Alabama. Jackson shook his head in admiration. “‘Poor people deserve beauty,’ said Mockbee. As architects, we are given a gift. The question to us is the same as it was Picture a huge silvery sheet, purple, fierce, stylized but looks like an animal that can for him.” Jackson pointed at the like a drive-in movie screen not cartoonish. Cheers fill bulldoze Wesleyan tomor- class of 2021: “Do you have the before the previews start. the air, as a grove of raised row.” courage to make your gift felt on It drapes the brick façade smartphones capture this You got that right, Ben: earth and felt for good?” of Fayerweather on the Fri- moment in Amherst history. In the last two minutes of As Jackson came to the end of day evening of homecoming “I’m definitely proud. I’m Saturday’s football game, his speech, he again pointed up weekend. Nearby, hundreds so glad we have a symbol we the Mammoths edged out to the portrait of Houston, and all of students and alumni are can all rally around,” says the Cardinals, thanks to a eyes rose to see the man now made milling about. Olivia Pinney ’17. thrilling 51-yard touchdown known. At 8 p.m., President “I like it more than I ex- rush by Hasani Figueroa ’18. “He is the best we are,” said Biddy Martin takes the pected to,” concedes Jon The final score was 21-17. Jackson. “He’s Amherst College. stage, and her voice booms: Ralph ’86. “I like that he’s The team took the field And now you are Amherst College. “After 2,000 suggestions a fighting mascot and not a by running through a large Will you be the best you can be? and 9,200 votes… We. Are. ready-to-go-extinct mas- paper banner of the new Will you take his legacy and treat it The. MAMMOTHS!” Tug- cot.” Mammoth logo. And the like the gift that it is? Welcome to ging on ropes, the facilities Dominique Manuel ’20 stands were positively Amherst. Welcome home.” crew pulls down the sheet smiles. “I am satisfied: it’s purple, full of fans wearing The crowd jumped up and ap- to reveal the new mascot strong, not cheesy.” shirts emblazoned with the K.W. TAKUDZWA TAPFUMA ’17 (3) ’17 TAPFUMA TAKUDZWA plauded for a long, long time. K.W. design underneath. It is Adds Ben Gilsdorf ’21, “It new College mascot.

AMHERST FALL 2017 11 XXIN CLASSXX Of Monsters and Memorials A visiting expert spoke to students in an art history course, “Witches, Vampires and Other Monsters,” about how and why the living remember the dead.

Why do we create memorials, and why do they resonate? Historian Thomas W. Laqueur posed these questions on a Tues- day in October to students in Professor Natasha Staller’s class “Witches, Vampires and Other Monsters.” The upper-level art history course explores cultural connotations of “the monstrous” and how people imagine evil. Staller invited Laqueur to her class as part of the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s Visiting Scholars Pro- gram, in which undergraduates meet and exchange ideas with scholars in the arts and humanities. Laqueur, who specializes in the cultural history of the body, led a discussion with students about Holocaust memorials and the AIDS Memorial Quilt—and, more generally, about how and why the living remember and honor the Laqueur dead. specializes in the cultural history In preparation, Staller’s students of the body. watched Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, a 1989 documentary about the AIDS quilt. They also Students in the class talked about read Laqueur’s review of the 1996 nificance of these deaths,” he said, book French Children of the Holo- how people have both vilified and “whereas a memorial of seemingly caust: A Memorial, edited by Serge memorialized Holocaust victims endless names feels more about Klarsfeld. and those who died of AIDS. the totality.” The class conversation on Oct. 3 The day after the class, Laqueur explored both the vilification and expanded on his ideas in a public the memorialization of Jews who ness of “a terrible disease that no lecture. He said caring for and died in the Holocaust and people one was really paying attention to remembering the dead can help us who died of AIDS in the 1980s. at the time.” feel closer to them. Paraphrasing “Like the witches we studied One student wondered aloud to art critic Dave Hickey, he com- earlier,” Staller says, “they were her classmates about the intention pared the notion of feeling close to despised and demonized by many behind memorials, asking, “Are the dead to watching a magician in society, who believed they de- they for families and descendants, perform: served every punishment and a or a way to remember and not “If what magicians did were in hideous death.” repeat history?” fact real, we would lose interest,” Laqueur suggested that memori- Another spoke of the ways in Laqueur said. “We take pleasure als like the quilt, with its 48,000 which memorials feature people’s in seeing the impossible appear panels commemorating people names. “I once saw a memorial possible, and the invisible appear who died of AIDS, can change where families were grouped visible.” Feeling closer to those historical narratives: those who together, which gave immense who’ve died, he said, “is magic we

died were able to increase aware- context to understanding the sig- can believe in.” RACHEL ROGOL MARIA STENZEL

12 AMHERST FALL 2017 EXPERT ADVICE Digital Africas By Rhonda Cobham-Sander / the Emily C. Jordan Folger Professor of Black Studies and English

If you’ve read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah, you know that her heroine, Ifemelu, uses satirical blog posts to comment on her experiences at home and abroad. Or you may have noticed that Adichie’s TED Talk “We Should All Be Feminists” has been repackaged by everyone from Beyoncé to fashion designer Maria Grazia Chiuri. Ifemelu and her creator, Adichie, are not the only African writers making names for themselves in cyberspace. My course “Digital Africas” explores the myriad ways in which widespread access to smartphones in Africa has changed how writers circulate their work and how African readers access it. Online media in Africa are abuzz with new writing, some in English, some mixing English with African languages and hybrid forms.

LITERARY JOURNALS Chimurenga (chimurenga.co.za, South Africa), Jalada (jaladaaf- rica.org, Kenya) and Saraba (sarabamag.com, Nigeria) lead the pack, carrying everything from flash fiction to sexting stories. A Jalada story in Kikuyu by the Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o has been translated into 60 languages, 40 of which are African, and translations still flow to the journal’s website. New online literary publications seem to spring up every month. One of the most sophisticated, Enkare (enkare.org), is co-edited by Alexis Teyie ’16, now back home in Nairobi. It has snagged contributions from Junot Díaz and Taiye Selasi while also offering a platform to new writers.

SERIALIZED NOVELS In southern Africa, online serialized stories are the rage. Mike Maphoto’s Diary of a Zulu Girl (diaryofazulugirl.co.za) boasted 17 million readers at the peak of its popularity. Maphoto now employs a stable of writers to keep churning out his sensational- ized page-turners. Copycat stories, like Diary of a Single Mum and traditional spirits join forces in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon (by Juniah Ngwira, Malawi) and Diary of a Cheating Husband (by (Simon & Schuster, 2015) to declare, “We are the internet,” ex- Thulani Lupondwana, South Africa), are published on Facebook udes all the otherworldly frisson of Darth Vader announcing and boast thousands of loyal followers. to Luke Skywalker, “I am your father.” A. Igoni Barrett’s Black- ass (Graywolf Press, 2016), about a black Yoruba man who POETRY AND ESSAYS wakes up white, combines the world-altering conventions of Work by African writers has found a continental and interna- science fiction with theroman à clef. In it, a writer, also called tional audience via social media. When Binyavanga Wainaina Igoni, spends a lot of time on his computer trying to work out came out in response to repressive new anti-gay laws in Nigeria his relationship to the racially altered protagonist. and Uganda, his essay “I Am a Homosexual, Mum,” published on africasacountry.com and chimurenga.co.za, triggered a cas- VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHY cade of stories, essays and poems about LGBTQ Africans. Some Kenyan photographers and poets created the Koroga project are featured in online journals like Brittle Paper (brittlepaper. (koroga-blog-blog.tumblr.com), which produced chains of com). The ICC Witness Project (iccwitnesses.tumblr.com), a poems triggered by photos triggered by poems. After making chain of anonymous poems, gives voices to the witnesses who the first African music video to go viral, Jim Chuchu made were disappeared before they could testify at the International exquisite film loops foregrounding the male body, as a way to Criminal Court about the violence surrounding the 2007 Kenyan talk back to a society that has not embraced his films about elections. the LGBTQ community as eagerly as it celebrated Makmende, the Blaxploitation hero of his viral video. And Ghanaian satiric SCIENCE FICTION duo Fokn Bois, which started out posting music videos and The online appetite for science fiction among African readers spoken-word poems on YouTube, has now graduated to full- has boosted print work in the genre. The moment when aliens length folk operas shot entirely with smartphones.

Illustration by ANTHONY RUSSO AMHERST FALL 2017 13 XXTHE BIG PICTUREXX Fall from a Great Height

This photo, taken with an aerial drone in 2016, gives us a grand view of autumn at Amherst, from College Row to Stearns Steeple to the athletic fields and far beyond.

If you would like a reprint of this photo, email [email protected] with your name and address, and we will send you a complimentary copy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL NJOO ’20

14 AMHERST 14 AMHERSTFALL1 2017 FALL 2017

What’s

Beyond Campus in the Box?

One of Bruder’s earlier articles went viral, won an award for social justice journalism and led to a deal for her second book.

16 AMHERST FALL 2017 XXJOURNALISMXX

She knew the sender’s name was fake. She encourages the individual to act, to defy the ominous mythology of knew the contents were a secret. With- competence and control.” out knowing much else, she helped to break “Our hope in telling this story,” she says of the Harper’s piece, “is one of the biggest news stories of our time. that it brings some huge, abstract issues—government surveillance, privacy activism—down to earth BY KATHERINE DUKE ’05 where ordinary people can more easily engage with them.” Readers have told her the article “reads like a movie,” and she and Maharidge plan to expand it into a book. “Snowden’s Box” is not Bruder’s fi rst feature for Harper’s. Her 2014 feature “The End of Retirement: When You Can’t Aff ord to Stop Working” went viral, won a James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism and led to a deal for her second book (the fi rst being On May 14, 2013, Jessica Bruder ’00 came home to her Brooklyn apart- 2007’s Burning Book: A Visual ment to fi nd a box in front of her door. She knew that the sender’s name History of Burning Man). Bruder and return address, as well as the label that said the box held architec- spent two years driving around tural materials, were likely false. What was actually inside? It was a the country in a van, getting secret, kept even from her. the stories of aging Americans As she had been instructed months earlier, Bruder took the box, who are eking out livelihoods unopened, to the Manhattan apartment of Dale Maharidge, a close friend as itinerant workers. She is a from her days at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. longtime contributor to The New Maharidge, in turn, handed it over to documentary fi lmmaker Laura York Times and was previously the Poitras, who fi nally opened it. And out leaked one of the biggest news editor of CNNMoney’s Innovation stories of the decade. Nation column. She also teaches The box turned out to contain instructions and data from Edward journalism at Columbia University. Snowden, the former Central Intelligence Agency employee and Nomadland: Surviving America government contractor who had decided it was time to reveal thousands in the Twenty-First Century was of classifi ed documents related to the National Security Agency’s many published by Norton in September, global surveillance programs. Starting in June 2013, Poitras and other and the author has spent this fall journalists broke the story around the world. Snowden, who has since back out on the road, doing a series found asylum in Moscow, is condemned by some as a traitor and honored of readings. As I interviewed her by others as a defender of citizens’ rights to privacy. by email for this article, the van Bruder and Maharidge opened up about their involvement in the broke down. Bruder blamed a NSA leaks in the May 2017 cover story for Harper’s magazine, titled fried battery and alternator, but “Snowden’s Box.” I thought: Chewing gum and duct “I’d never been so close to something I knew so little about,” Bruder tape. wrote. “It was bewildering, like having a front-row seat to a play performed in a language I didn’t understand.” For the public to fi nd Jessica Bruder ’00 out about this high-tech, high-stakes, international issue, she and a few others had to serve as physical links in a fragile human chain. This taught MAJORS: her “one of the great lessons of adulthood,” she wrote: “that most of English and French the institutions and endeavors we regard as ironclad—from parenting “Our hope in telling to politics—are actually held together with chewing gum and duct this story is that it tape.” She described this reality as both terrifying—“because it exposes brings some huge, abstract issues the precariousness of the existing order”—and liberating, “because it down to earth.”

Duke is the assistant editor of Amherst magazine.

Photograph by TODD GRAY AMHERST FALL 2017 17 Before

transmissible through sexual contact,

Beyond Campus the Outbreak through blood transfusions, and from mothers to infants before or during birth. By late 2015, the whole world was growing terrified of Zika. It had reached numerous Latin American and Caribbean countries and triggered an official national emergency in Brazil. It was linked to a potentially fatal nerve disorder called Guillain- Barré syndrome, and the fetuses of Zika-infected mothers were found to be at increased risk of congenital microcephaly, a severe malformation of the brain. When the public health community realized the urgent need for Zika vaccines and treatments, they

XXPUBLIC HEALTH had Hanley’s team to thank for much of the existing preliminary research. She’s been studying Zika for nearly a decade—which made “But you can only test vaccines and drugs in model her research invaluable when the disease began to spread. systems, and we didn’t have any for Zika virus,” says Hanley. So, in partnership with colleagues at the University of Texas medical branch, she began studying it in mice with compromised immune systems, BY KATHERINE DUKE ’05 discovering that the virus replicates in their brains and testes, and that “the older the mice, the more likely they were to survive the infection.” Now they’re treating some of the mice with fluoro- When her biology lab started researching Zika in quinolones, in the hope that these antibiotics can be 2008, “nobody was interested in the virus at all,” says effectively repurposed to treat Zika. The team has also Kathryn Hanley ’89. Since its discovery in monkeys Kathryn Hanley been comparing African, Asian and Latin American in the 1940s, it had crossed over to infect very few ’89 strains of Zika to see whether the virus is evolving to human beings, all in Africa and Asia, and the symp- MAJOR: be more infectious to mosquitos and humans. toms weren’t life-threatening. “A virus that gives you Biology Hanley worked earlier in her career at the National maybe a fever and a mild rash is just not terrifying, Institutes of Health on a dengue vaccine (now in right? Given all the other public health problems in “A virus that Phase III clinical trials). But she found her calling the world, why would you devote time or resources to gives you long before that. “I tell people I met my first great love maybe a fever investigating something that just doesn’t make you and a mild at Amherst, and that was evolutionary biology,” she very sick?” rash is just says. After her first course in the subject, she “never Hanley’s lab, however, was already investigating not terrifying, looked back.” right?” the genetics and ecology of other arthropod-borne Indeed, she looks forward. A study she’s leading in viruses—including dengue, chikungunya and yellow Manaus, Brazil, anticipates the possibility that Zika fever—so they added Zika to the list. She and her could “spill back” from humans into monkeys. Now colleagues at New Mexico State University and part- that the disease has been confirmed in Mexico, her ner institutions screened mosquitos, monkeys and team hears it “knocking on the door” of New Mexico, humans for infection in the jungle of southeastern so they’ve been monitoring mosquito ecology across Senegal. the state. And her current sabbatical project at the Meanwhile, Zika went “on the march,” as Hanley Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, puts it. It showed up in more than 100 people on N.Y., focuses on the recent emergence of the tick- Micronesia’s island of Yap; a few years later, it broke borne Powassan virus in New York and New England. out in even greater numbers on other Pacific islands. Viruses evolve quickly, she knows, and it’s vital to stay

While usually spread by mosquito bites, it also proved one step ahead. HANLEY KATHRYN COURTESY

18 AMHERST FALL 2017 Reibel interviewed all of these people. Among them: Andrew, age 5, who has cystic fibrosis (top left, with his mom); Carrie (middle, with her son), who reads her poem “No,” about chemo; and cancer patient Ron (bottom), who said “the most important thing is to share your emotions.”

to highly personal. Reibel has found his subjects at the local Hope Lodge, In Illness, a nonprofit that offers patients a free place to stay while traveling for medical treatment. In one recording, for example, a Finding mother talks about staving off death to attend her son’s high school graduation. In another, a caregiver reflects on the concept of “death with dignity”: When her time comes, she tells Clarity Reibel, “I don’t want to have a lot of tubes and Band-Aids and black-and- blue marks. I want it to be a peaceful death.” In recording such stories, Reibel helps people speak openly and for posterity about their feelings at a time of peril. He sees this work as a way to put into action the humanistic philosophy and tradition of public service that he first learned at Amherst, from pre-med adviser Richard Aronson ’69. Underlying that ethos, Reibel says, is a quest to “create conditions X CANCERX under which all people have the full equal opportunity to thrive in body, mind and spirit.” Drawing from his own experience, a medical student is help- After each interview, Reibel gives his subject a re- ing other people explain what it feels like to be a patient. cording to keep as an heirloom. For those willing to share their stories with a wider audience, he’s created three- to five-minute YouTube BY ERIC GOLDSCHEIDER clips. “I pulled out the best anecdotes that I thought would be useful to other people,” he says. One key message is that patients handle serious illness differ- Thinking back to his own cancer treatment, Jacob Jacob Reibel ’10 ently—whether through humor, through anger or with Reibel ’10 wishes he had done more to record his a mix of emotions. MAJOR: thoughts and ideas. As for his own health scare, Reibel never thought French Back then, he was applying to medical school after he would die from testicular cancer—its survival rate two years spent teaching English in France and two His project, is 99 percent if caught early. But he says that having more doing research at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Vermont to urgently reconfigure his routines to incorporate Institute. Today, he remembers the fear that came Voices, is based mentally and physically taxing therapies made him on NPR’s with a diagnosis of testicular cancer—but he also looks StoryCorps reevaluate aspects of his life. For him, a big lesson was back on that time as one of renewed clarity and focus. model. realizing how much solace he takes from nature. Now fully recovered and in medical school at the Reibel hopes the recordings and videos will be University of Vermont (where he is in the midst of meaningful to patients and their families, as well as to third-year rotations), Reibel is helping other people strangers. He knows that having listened to these record stories of their own illnesses. stories will make him a better doctor, too. k His project, Vermont Voices, is based on the NPR StoryCorps model, in which people make audio re- Goldscheider, an Amherst-based writer, is a frequent

COURTESY JACOB REIBEL JACOB COURTESY cordings of conversations that range from whimsical contributor to the Beyond Campus section.

AMHERST FALL 2017 19 VETERANS’ DAYS

For nearly two centuries, Amherst has taught veterans, and it’s been a triumphant, complicated, promising march of setback and progress.

By Katharine Whittemore Illustration by Adam McCauley

I. The Readying

THE FORMIDABLE JOSHUA BUCK, AN EX-ARMY SNIPER AND DRILL SER- geant who served three tours in Iraq, is debriefing a bunch of veterans on what’s called the “de-greening” process. That’s when you take off your Army greens, take up your GI benefits and take on the huge transition from the corps to the campus. Fifteen vets lean on his every word. They’re sitting in Fayerweather Hall, a warm Monday in August. It’s the first day of class for the Warrior-Scholar Project, an immersive, week-

20 Amherst Fall 2017 AMHERST FALL 2017 21 long “academic boot camp” for veterans THE ADMISSION OFFICE going back to school, featuring rigorous support (gratis) from Amherst faculty and IS STEADILY staff. I’m embedded with these veterans all week—a week that crushes my previ- INCREASING ous record of being called “ma’am.” Buck is a psych major at Worcester ITS TROOP STRENGTH. State University. He’s also a Warrior- Scholar alumnus and the veterans’ guide to making it in an academic setting. “I Rebecca Segal ’18 was an authority figure for 10 years,” A neuroscience major, she calls booms Buck. No kidding. He’s 31, a big, herself a “future veteran” and is bearded guy whose arm is tattooed with Amherst’s first Army ROTC student the names of eight fellow vets who’ve in 20 years. She trains at UMass. died during or after their service. “I had to learn to be wrong in the classroom— for close reading. And the buck stops scolds. Instead, he exclaims, “Fabulous, and be wrong in front of people in the age with Buck: He hectors these vets never fabulous—I see you’re thinking!” bracket whose asses I used to kick.” That to cut class (“I don’t care if you’re tired, The Warrior-Scholar Project was gets a good snort-laugh. “But I made an sick or hungover”), because it takes twice launched in 2011 by two Yale grads, and effort to get to know those students, work as long to make up the learning lost. Use has subsequently been hosted by some in study groups with them and break office hours, he says: “Professors are usu- 15 colleges and universities. In addition down that weird wall between us.” ally overjoyed to talk to someone who’s to lessons by Sarat and Murphy, the Am- Weird walls. It’s true that many loom an adult.” And thoroughly research those herst stint featured classes with Geoffrey between veterans and traditional stu- faculty members so you don’t get one Sanborn from the English department dents at small liberal arts schools like who “makes you fall asleep in class.” and Rick Griffiths from Classics. This Amherst. There are several fear factors, No chance of napping as Austin Sarat summer was the WSP’s first at Amherst, I think: a) the age difference; b) the gulf bounds into the room that Monday. The though the mutual ties go back longer, in life experience; c) the military-civilian William Nelson Cromwell Professor of thanks to Mark London ’74, who has sat disconnect, even distrust. This week’s Jurisprudence and Political Science is on the WSP board from its early days. warrior-scholars range in age from 22 to here to teach a seminar on the U.S. Con- The WSP is not a direct recruiting tool, 32, for example, and they carry a certain stitution. He scans the veterans’ name but it is splendid for alerting veterans ineffable maturity. All week, I’ll flinch plates: “Cameron! What’s a good thing to opportunities at Amherst—which are at their casually devastating comments about democracy?” he fires off. Cameron steadily expanding. President Biddy during classes: In a discussion on the Wilson, a nuclear electrician’s mate who Martin has said she is “eager to bring Gettysburg Address, an Army sergeant served on a submarine and was stationed more veterans into the Amherst student quietly mentions he knows what it’s like in Guam, seems a bit taken aback. But he body.” It can only help that a CBS This to see friends die. In a class on ancient gives it a shot: “The people are free to do Morning segment on the WSP was filmed Roman warfare, one vet speaks their and think what’s best for them.” at Amherst on Day 5 of the program. shared perspective: “When we read his- Sarat pounces: “The people can do “The Warrior-Scholars Project is very tory, we think about some poor soldier what’s best for them. OK, I want to go personal to me,” London told the vet- who caught a bullet or bomb there.” to Smith College. It’s a women’s college erans that vivid August week. “When I Several of these warrior-scholars hope and I’m a man, but I think it’s best for was at Amherst, we were an outpost of to go pre-med. Others want to study me.” But Smith won’t let him in. “Is that dissent against the Vietnam War. We philosophy or marketing or international democratic?” Marshall Roe, who worked were right to protest, but we were wrong relations. This week, though, they’ll dive on the Navy’s anti-ballistic defense in the to leave behind the people who fought into the Warrior-Scholar Project’s own Persian Gulf, cites Federalist No. 10, in that war, to make them feel like pariahs. curriculum on democracy and liberty, which James Madison writes of protect- We did a disservice to an entire genera- tackling readings from Thucydides to ing “different and unequal faculties.” tion, and failed to take advantage of their Sojourner Truth to Walt Whitman to Are Sarat nods vigorously: “Now we’re unlimited potential to do good things in We Rome?, by Amherst board of trustees cooking with gas! Smith is a private in- civil society. It’s a goal of mine to make chair Cullen Murphy ’74. stitution and so can decide not to admit sure that doesn’t happen again.” They will also get a crash course on men. In democracy, you treat like things how college isn’t the military. Asking alike—unless there’s a good reason not II. The History questions is imperative, for instance, not to.” The energy in the room is all but insubordinate. You order your own time, giddy—many gut laughs, and applause MARSHALL ROE COULDN’T SLEEP. THIS rather than follow orders. A distinct fight- at the end—but also sometimes tense, Californian Navy vet was so adrenalized ing tone invades the advice, with “battle since Sarat relentlessly calls on each by his week at Amherst—“one of the plans” for writing well, or ways to master warrior-scholar. When some can’t fetch best experiences of my life,” he’d told “ninja reading,” which is warrior-speak up a quick answer, the professor never me emphatically—that he had to walk it

22 AMHERST FALL 2017 Photograph by DANA SMITH AMHERST FALL 2017 23 off. For days, I’d heard him speak up in gan Hall until 2015 (it’s now on loan to tures of France, Italy and Germany, was class, citing the Magna Carta, Napoleon, a North Carolina museum). Of 344 Am- a good fit. Cryptography courses were a the Spartans. As Thursday waned into herst men to serve in the Union forces, stretch, as was the “pre-meteorology” Friday, there he was, pacing the campus 38 died. Seven others served in the curriculum for the Army Air Corps. under a big oblong moon, poring over Confederate army, with two casualties. These “pre-mets,” as they charmingly various scenarios for his future. Nonetheless, to be candid, Amherst lay called themselves, held raucous reunions I like to think he had ghostly company. far from the battlefields and thus “contin- at Amherst well into the 1990s. It was For Roe strode the same ground where ued serenely on its way,” in the Civil War great fun reading up on them in the ar- generations of Amherst men once geared years. Or so wrote Donald N. Bigelow in a chives at Frost Library. They had to suffer for battle. trenchant article in 1945 for the Amherst through an intense, accelerated course To begin with the Civil War: After Fort Graduates’ Quarterly titled “Amherst in load of physics and math, and “each Sumter was fired upon in April 1861, the Wartime: A Contrast: 1865–1945.” quarterly exam was like walking on a slip- College’s few Southern students left as There was nothing serene about the pery log over a stream of hungry alliga- fast as hell can scorch a feather, as the World War II years here, Bigelow reports. tors,” as one alumnus recalled. In 1994, saying goes, and a clutch of Union-loving Amherst men left in droves to enlist they had the best percentage reunion students lobbied to form an all-Amherst but were replaced by other servicemen turnout of any Amherst class to date, and Army company. John Albion Andrew, brought to campus for training. They they belted out songs with made-up lyrics governor of Massachusetts, essentially packed dorms and fraternity houses at like “We had swell times at Valentine / At told them to cool their jets: “College men three times the usual capacity. Amherst Uncle Sam’s expense.” like you will be needed by your country was part of a consortium of schools retro- Frost has a haul of boxes labeled “War as officers in new regiments … where you fitted to train different forms of service. Materials,” and I sifted through docu- can be much more useful than herded This included housing a Navy pre-flight ments from the Civil War, the two World together in one company.” school, prepping elite candidates for Wars and Korea. I read how the faculty Somewhat reigned in, the students West Point and overseeing certain AST voted to teach new military training nonetheless took it upon themselves units, as in Army Specialized Training, courses for World War I’s doughboys. I to train before they could even enlist, though the grunts joked that AST stood learned of “GI Village,” built for married goading the Springfield Armory to supply for “A Steady Torture.” servicemen on the eastern campus after them with muskets. (Condemned mus- Indeed, all servicemen trained ardu- World War II, and of the dedication of kets: the College administration, wisely, ously. Between classes, they plunged into the War Memorial honoring the fallen would only allow guns that couldn’t actu- Amherst’s 500-yard outdoor obstacle from both World Wars. How meaning- ally shoot.) A third of the student body course (21 obstacles, including the deli- ful that it’s sited at the most magnificent ended up joining the Union forces, which ciously named Thief Vault), said to be the place on campus—where you can’t help was less than most colleges, many of country's most difficult campus training but take the long view. which emptied out clean. obstacle course, the devilish brainchild Though Amherst men did indeed get of physical education professor Albert III. The Difficulty parceled off to separate companies, a Ernest Lumley. Meanwhile, professors number wound up together in the 21st worked overtime to teach subjects in AND THEN, VIETNAM. THAT’S WHEN Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer In- and out of their wheelhouse. The Army’s Amherst’s veteran story becomes (words fantry, including Frazar Stearns, class of Unique Area and Language Program, are weak) complicated. The College 1863, son of College president William with instruction in the languages and cul- was famously embroiled in the anti-war Augustus Stearns. Frazar’s commanding officer was Col. William S. Clark, class of 1848, who had taught chemistry at Amherst. In March 1862, in New Bern, N.C., some 300 Confederate soldiers HIS WORLD WAS rose up and fired at the 21st. Classmates to the left of him, classmates to the right, ROCKED BY READING Lt. Stearns was killed in the first fusillade. Emily Dickinson poured out her sor- FEMINISM AND WAR row in a letter to her young cousins: “Tis the least that I can do, to tell you of brave FOR SOCIOLOGY CLASS. Frazar—‘killed at Newbern,’ darlings. His big heart shot away by a ‘Minie ball.’ I had read of those—I didn’t think Frazar Ryan Cotter ’18E would carry one to Eden with him.” She His first year on a nuclear added: “They tell that Colonel Clark submarine, he was allowed to read only one thing: three huge binders cried like a little child.” detailing every system on the sub. The College felt the tragedy keenly. A cannon captured at New Bern sat in Mor-

24 AMHERST FALL 2017 Photograph by DANA SMITH AMHERST FALL 2017 25 movement, serving as the bricked back- Saigon in 1975 to Sept. 10, 2001, the vet- the U.S. Department of Veterans Af- drop to manifold strikes, protests and eran presence at Amherst became a kind fairs educational fund. The College also fasts. In 1967, classmates linked arms to of “soup sandwich,” to use Army slang— participates in the Leadership Scholar stop an Army recruiter from setting up a it was impossible to hold onto. Program, in which the U.S. Marine Corps table at Valentine. In 1968, two students, Paul Rieckhoff ’98 recalls his Amherst helps qualified Marines apply to four- one dressed as Death, the other as a Ma- years: precisely one ROTC student there, year colleges, and in VetLink, which pairs rine, strode together through Val to pro- plus himself, bent on joining the forces. high-achieving veterans with academic test Navy recruiters on campus. In 1970, Rieckhoff spoke to me from the New York mentors. In 2015 and 2016, Victory anti-war slogans were spray-painted on offices of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Media recognized Amherst as a Veteran the War Memorial. In 1972, 400 Amherst of America, the organization he founded Friendly College. Last spring, the College students, 20 professors and President in 2004. started the U.S. Servicemember Travel John William Ward and his wife, Barbara “I had an Army recruiter meet me at Grant Program, an application-based Carnes Ward, were arrested at a protest the Campus Center my senior year,” initiative that provides travel funding for at Westover Air Reserve Base. Rieckhoff says. “If he had been a 9-foot- qualified prospective student veterans to Two years later, though, Ward was tall pink Martian, he would have stood visit campus. This year, Amherst’s Com- regularly, cheerfully having coffee and out less than an Army recruiter at Am- munity College Transfer Open House cigarettes with Don Dietrich ’76, a Viet- nam veteran who’d served four years in the Navy. One of three vets on campus at the time, this Chicopee, Mass., native “VETERANS ARE NOT A transferred from Holyoke Community College, where he’d been class valedic- CHARITY,” SAYS PAUL torian. While his wife, Rita, worked, Don would tow their little boy along to RIECKHOFF ’98. campus. Chris Dietrich (who would grow up to graduate from Amherst in 1991) “THEY ARE AN INVESTMENT.” crayoned in his coloring book, under the doting eyes of staff members, while his dad studied—often, at Ward’s standing herst College. When I joined the military, fell, significantly, on Veterans Day. invitation, in the president’s office at people thought I was a maniac.” Alexandra Hurd ’06, associate dean of Converse Hall. After 9/11 he and his National Guard admission, oversees applications from Some staff and faculty were veterans in unit were called up to work at Ground transfer students, the main pipeline for those days, and Ward himself had served Zero, and he later served as an infantry incoming veterans. “The reason why with the Marines in World War II. “Like rifle platoon leader in Iraq from 2003 many join the service is to serve the pub- any good intellectual, he wanted to look to 2004. New wars led to new ways at lic good, which aligns with the mission of at all sides,” says Don Dietrich of Ward, Amherst. In 2008, the Post-9/11 GI Bill the College,” Hurd says. Or, as Rieckhoff a man who could protest the Vietnam rebooted funds for educating this new puts it: “Biddy gets it. Veterans are not a War while mentoring one who’d fought generation of veterans, and alumni have charity—they are an investment.” in it. “The students didn’t ostracize me, established five scholarships that give exactly, but they avoided me,” Dietrich preference to veterans: the Richard ’67 IV. The Now adds. “If it wasn’t for those contacts with and Karen LeFrak Scholarship Fund, the faculty and administration, Amherst Veterans Scholarship Fund, the Lloyd G. TO BRING IT RIGHT TO TODAY: I WISH I would’ve felt very lonely.” Schermer ’50 Scholarship Fund, the Rich- could bugle forth all the current vets’ sto- Dietrich came back to work in the ard William Gustafson Scholarship Fund ries right here (but you can visit amherst. admission office after he graduated, and (in memory of Richard’s brother Peter edu/magazine to read my interviews with from 1977 to 1981 he coordinated and ’70) and the David A. Read Memorial them). As a decent enough synecdoche, enhanced the College’s transfer program: Scholarship Fund, named for a ’47 alum- though, I’ll introduce you to Ryan Cotter “We wanted more and more vets. In lots nus who died in the Battle of the Bulge. ’18E. We met at Frost on a mild Septem- of ways, they are more responsible and Since 2010, the College has enrolled 17 ber day and talked about everything from motivated than traditional students, be- veterans, with five on campus this year, submarines to stress to sonar to spouses. cause education becomes a mission for including Nathan Needham ’18E. An Air Cotter, 33, a first-generation college stu- them.” At the time, he added, Amherst Force vet and Spanish major who served dent from New Paltz, N.Y., had to hack was “the envy of other small liberal arts as an intelligence liaison for special ops out a way to pay for his education—and colleges” for attracting veterans. in Latin America, Needham was also the his younger brother’s, too. He worked in But as more transfer slots went to indispensable campus program coordina- a lumberyard, detailed cars, taught mar- women in the early coeducation era, tor for the Warrior-Scholar Project. tial arts and squeezed in classes at SUNY as most veterans tapped their GI Bill The admission office is steadily in- Ulster community college. for state schools, and as a shaky peace creasing its troop strength, as it were. All the while, he hungered to go to a stretched, in this country, from the fall of In 2009, Amherst began taking part in four-year school in the SUNY system but

26 AMHERST FALL 2017 didn’t know how to make that real. “I can ended up majoring in sociology—Leah Recently, the Amherst College Military remember sitting in the lumberyard on Schmalzbauer, professor of American Association ginned up the “MRE Chal- a break, trying to get through Plato, or studies and sociology, has been “abso- lenge.” This involved prodding various Greek classics, just something to tie me lutely fantastic,” he says, and his world members of the Amherst community to what college kids were reading,” was rocked by reading Feminism and (including a very game Biddy Martin) to Cotter says. “But, of course, it’s not the War: Confronting U.S. Imperialism in a sample and react to the military’s Meals same thing, reading it by yourself.” class with Hannah Holleman, assistant Ready to Eat rations, aka Meals Rejected Friends had joined the Reserves and professor of sociology. Following gradu- by Everyone. (Yes, there is a video.) gotten GI Bill benefits to pay for college. ation, he expects to teach and coach at Members also invited the entire football Cotter took note, and upped for the Navy. The Gunnery, the rural Connecticut prep team to watch the Army-Navy game on a He went on to train at Connecticut’s school where his wife is dean of students. big screen at the Greenway dorms. Over Naval Submarine Base New London to Once I talked with Cotter, I reached pizza before kickoff, the students “just become an electronics technician, gradu- out to Austin Sarat, who went to college, got a natural conversation going,” recalls ating first in his class of 32. After that, he I should say for context, during the Viet- Segal. “People got to ask questions long served on the USS Hampton, a 120-per- nam War escalation. “We have flipped on their minds—anything, like ‘Why are son nuclear-powered attack submarine from wholesale denigration of veterans your uniforms different?’ It felt great to that plied the oceans, maneuvering near to wholesale veneration,” he noted of help bridge the gap.” Asia, the Middle East, Africa and beyond. today’s era. “Neither of those positions is When Segal mentioned this football (Cotter dropped the phrase “Somali particularly healthy.” What about teach- gathering, I flashed on a memory. It was pirates” while we chatted but, like all the ing those veterans? “It’s salutary for all one of the last days I spent with my late veterans I met, he politely stonewalled of us to be in the company of real human father, holding hands as we watched a me on sensitive aspects of his service.) beings who make abstractions come alive Patriots game on TV with all the other That first year on the sub was unremit- and complicate those abstractions.” veterans at Soldiers’ Home, in Holyoke, ting. You can’t bring in outside reading, Ryan Cotter and Nathan Needham, Mass. When I visited this remarkable listen to music or watch TV. Instead, and their friends in the newly energized veterans’ care facility, I often stopped you are handed three huge binders that Amherst College Military Association, at one wall in particular. An anonymous detail every system on the craft. “It’s a continue to complicate those abstrac- poem was framed there. It’s called “It Is brute-force way of learning,” says Cotter. tions—and break down those “weird the Veteran,” and though these gentle- “You’re trying to drink from a fire hose, walls” that warrior-scholar Josh Buck men were at the end of their lives, and basically, from day one. They’re like, posed as an obstacle to push past. Here Amherst’s current veterans are near the ‘Here you go. This is what you have to on campus, they’ve gotten creative, in beginning, its message transcends the know, but it’s on you to get it done.’ I’m part thanks to the pioneering Rebecca divides of time. I’ll quote it in part: studying all about sound propagation, Segal ’18. Segal is Amherst’s first Army and Pascal’s law, and how pressure, tem- ROTC student in 20 years. She trains at It is the Veteran, not the reporter, who has perature, salinity all affect sound. Then UMass and will enter the Army as a given us freedom of the press. ... It is the Veteran, not the campus organizer, also how to network computers. Elec- second lieutenant after graduation. A who has given us freedom to assemble. ... tronic troubleshooting, and what that neuroscience major, she transferred here It is the Veteran, not the politician, who has looks like. How to rewire circuit boards. from George Washington University. given us the right to vote. I’m drawing really detailed schematics “I wanted a school where education It is the Veteran, who salutes the Flag, over and over and over again.” and teaching were prioritized, and where It is the Veteran, who serves under the Flag, To be buried by the flag, At year’s end you go through a har- ROTC was available too,” says Segal. So the protester can burn the flag. rowing three-hour test administered by “Amherst rose to the top of the list: at lots your superior officers. Many wash out. of schools, you have to drive as much as On campuses everywhere, where as- But Cotter passed, and became a sonar 90 minutes to get where the ROTC is. sembly and protest infuse the youthful tech, or “ping jockey.” As he recounted Biddy and Suzanne were all in for it, and generations, where ages and life stories all this (I blanched just at the thought there’s been so much institutional sup- and outlooks differ, it demands great per- of missing Netflix), I realized that most port,” says Segal, referring to President sonal and institutional dedication to turn veterans who have come to Amherst are Martin and Chief Student Affairs Officer anyone—warrior or not—into a scholar. exceptional, yes, having studied hard Suzanne Coffey. My dad’s GI Bill years at a small liberal both in the service and in community col- Ever since Segal first stormed the arts college changed, utterly, the arc of leges, too. Yet they have also withstood Valley, she’s been dreaming up ways to his life. At Amherst, I’ve learned how circumstances that most undergrads can- connect with her Amherst classmates. that trajectory can rise and fall and rise not fathom. For instance, she brought her fellow again. But right here, right now, students After five years in the Navy, Cotter ROTC members to campus to share their who’ve served are getting the education enrolled at City College of San Francisco, training regimen with the football team. they deserve. k netted all A’s, and got accepted into a “It was a chance to be side by side, mili- Stanford summer program for veterans. tary and nonmilitary,” she says, smiling. Katharine Whittemore, senior writer at He came to Amherst because he wanted “Nothing cements a relationship like get- Amherst, wrote the Fall 2017 cover story to be in a small, liberal arts setting and ting through a brutal workout together.” about professor Vanessa Fong ’96.

AMHERST FALL 2017 27 LOOMIS ILLUMI- NATED

He unearthed a mammoth skeleton and brought it to campus. Almost a century later, scientists are still making new discoveries among his finds. STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY GEOFFREY GILLER ’10

Amherst Fall 2017 Even on his year off, Frederic Brewster Loomis could not escape the dead. Loomis found this The year was 1923, and this Amherst professor of geology, paleontology and herbivore biology—also a member of the class of 1896—was traveling south to Florida skull on a 1919 expe- with his family, ostensibly “to enjoy the orange and grape fruit groves, the dition. It’s truck farms and sea beach.” But in Washington, D.C., the vacation morphed now in the Beneski’s into a business trip when he visited the Smithsonian National Museum of natural Natural History. There he found a shipment of fossil reptiles from South Africa history collection. in need of a home. He promptly arranged for them to go to Amherst. Nine hundred miles away and a year earlier, an orange grower in Melbourne, Fla., had discovered some unusual remains in a swamp on his property. He had reached out to scientists at the Smithsonian, where Loomis, during his stop in D.C., got wind of the find. On arriving in Florida, the professor got in touch with the grower, who invited him to stop by to have a look. At the swamp, Loomis declared the specimen to be “the teeth of the Columbian mammoth,” and, as he later recounted, “We all got busy and dug out nearly a complete skeleton.” They set aside the skeleton for a local museum Loomis in and returned to the dig, uncovering a second Patagonia, mammoth. That one would quickly become the where his team dug centerpiece of Amherst’s natural history collection, up what housed at the time in Webster Hall. Now, almost a looks like century later, the specimen has found renewed fame a cross as the inspiration for the College’s mascot. The new between mascot solidifies Loomis’s skeleton in a place of a rhino and an ele- prominence at the College—and perhaps it will, over phant. Page time, make Loomis as familiar a name as that of 31: Some Edward Hitchcock, Amherst’s third president and of his U.S. collector of the Beneski Museum’s dinosaur tracks. specimens. With the mammoth’s star now on the rise, it’s a good time to reassess the contributions of Loomis— a forgotten figure in paleontology. Without him, science—and Amherst in particular—would have many fewer fossil specimens. One of them, the lower jaw of a dinosaur, is the subject of a current research project that may soon reveal a new species. So let’s take another look at the popular professor who chatted his way into homes in Patagonia, who took undergraduates on harrowing digs, and whose sparse record-keeping sometimes frustrates modern

paleontologists, who, according to one, have found ARCHIVES COLLEGE more evidence of what the professor ate for lunch than where he collected his specimens. from New York, the professor and his team stopped PATAGONIA in Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Buenos Aires to One of the best-known—and best-documented— procure supplies. Next they bought horses near the Loomis excursions was to Patagonia in 1911. Charles coast in Argentina. On Aug. 20 they started their Darwin and others had already demonstrated that fieldwork. the region, encompassing 300,000 square miles of Shumway kept a terse diary detailing the expedi- Argentina and 131,000 of Chile, harbored rich fos- tion. Of the first day in the field, he wrote: “Walked sil deposits, especially 17 Miles. Climbed 200 feet several times. Patagonia. of early mammals. Yet Upper Cretaceous. Oysters. Shark’s teeth.” the vast area remained As the expedition progressed: “Feeling rotten.” largely unexplored. And, later: “Rode Paddy.” (Paddy was a horse.) After two fruitless “The Patagonia of our “Got thrown and dragged thirty feet. Sole came off months his team found childhood geography shoe and saved my life. Bruised.” fossils, and half an hour was a no man’s land,” Loomis’s diary gives a more harrowing account of later, Loomis felt Loomis wrote in Hunt- the Paddy incident: Turner’s hat blew off, startling “fifteen years younger.” ing Extinct Animals in the horse, which responded by throwing Shumway, the Patagonian Pampas, who caught his foot in the stirrup. “The horse turned his book documenting 3 times around & then bolted,” Loomis wrote. the trip. He wanted to “Shumway was dragged around & about 25 or 30 determine whether the feet when the sole of his shoe came off & released ancestors of modern him.” Amazingly, Shumway escaped with no major horses, elephants and possibly even humans had injuries. originated there, an idea first put forth by Florentino Loomis and his charges wandered around Patago- Ameghino, an earlier paleontologist who worked nia, camping near canyons in the scrubby brush and extensively in Patagonia. chasing down leads gleaned from the notes of earlier To help answer this question, Loomis brought explorers. They ran into people who would tell them along Waldo Shumway, class of 1911, and Philip they had seen bones in some spot or other. Such tips Turner ’12, along with Billy Stein, an experienced were “exactly what we most wanted,” wrote Loomis. fossil collector. Loomis’s Amherst classmates pro- But many proved disappointing—until mid-October, vided the funding. Departing on a steamship in July when the team uncovered what turned out to be “a

30 AMHERST FALL 2017

32 AMHERST FALL 2017 skull thirty-eight inches long, with tusks in the upper decided that the Patagonian animals were not the jaw fully ten inches in length.” ancestral source of mammals elsewhere—a conclu- It was a nearly complete skull of Pyrotherium. This sion that matches current understanding. “A lot of ancient creature—which looks like a cross between these animals were unique to South America,” says an elephant and a rhino—was heretofore known Lucas. “They’re not the ancestors to groups we see only from a few teeth that an earlier paleontologist elsewhere in the world.” had found in the same region. Spencer Lucas, a curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of THE CRITIC Natural History, says the Loomis specimen remains “Loomis was very important to Amherst College,” “the best skull that’s ever been found” of the genus. says paleontologist Margery Coombs, an emerita Today it’s on display in the Beneski at Amherst. professor at UMass who taught vertebrate paleon- Loomis, an affable man, was good at talking his tology and served as an adjunct museum curator at way into homes and other forms of shelter. One Amherst for many years. Loomis’s influence, she rainy day in Patagonia, his team arrived on the says, is most obvious in the natural history collec- property of a pair of brothers. Loomis talked to one tion, which contains thousands of his specimens, of them, ostensibly to ask not only from the digs in Florida and Patagonia but permission to camp on also from a dozen or so expeditions that he took with their land. But after Loo- Amherst students to the American West. mis chatted him up for a Among these specimens are holotypes of dozens “He has more records while, the man invited the of species: the first specimens collected and used to of what he had for visitors in for “a cup of tea describe a new species. Also, by trading his own lunch than where he or something.” Loomis fossils for those at other museums, Loomis procured collected stuff,” says wrote, “‘Tea’ proved to be additional items for Amherst, including the saber- one scholar. Scotch, and ‘something’ toothed cat skeleton that today slinks along near the developed into a good sup- base of the mammoth in the Beneski. “If you didn’t per”—surely preferable to a have Loomis, you wouldn’t have a lot of those speci- damp camp meal. mens,” says Coombs. After getting word about And Loomis’s tradition of bringing students into a man “who had found a bone,” Loomis arrived at a the field carries on today. For my own fieldwork for small hill. “It did not take half an hour to be sure that my senior thesis in biology, for example, Professor the point for which we had been seeking for over Ethan Temeles led me and another student on an two months was before us,” he wrote. “In that time I expedition to the Caribbean to study hummingbirds grew at least fifteen years younger.” Loomis and the and flowers. (Our lodging was a bit more comfort- students spent the next three weeks at the site, wak- able than that of Loomis and his charges: we stayed ing to calls of “Roll up your beds, boys!” from Stein, in a small hotel.) The experience of going out and the fossil collector, before dawn, breakfasting at 5 collecting data and specimens is an invaluable one, a.m., and then setting off to find where their horses giving a deeper understanding of both the system had wandered during the night. “By seven we closed The Florida up the tent and started heading for the hill, each mammoth, man with his pick in his hand and a bag on his back, now on display containing hammer, chisels, awls, brushes, cloth for at the bandages, flour, shellac, and a canteen of water,” Beneski. Loomis wrote. Right: The shellac was for the fossils. “While perfect in Shumway form, they were soft and fragile,” wrote Loomis, and digging out an elephant successive coats of shellac hardened and preserved skull in them. (Today, scientists use more sophisticated Patagonia. compounds.) To keep skeletons safe on their long journey to Amherst, they used cloth and flour to create plaster jackets, from which they would have to again be painstakingly extricated. Loomis and his students returned to campus just in time for the start of the spring semester. In total, they brought back nearly 300 specimens, mostly consisting of fossilized animal skulls and other bones. Loomis published two books about his work in Patagonia: one a general account of the trip for a popular audience and the other a scientific look

at the specimens he had collected. Ultimately, he ARCHIVES COLLEGE

AMHERST FALL 2017 33 A field being studied and the vagaries of fieldwork. As scientists vigorously debated where exactly Pyrothe- label in the rium Beneski of Coombs says, “It’s no small thing to take a bunch fell in the tangled, branching bush of evolution. fossilized of students out into the field and be responsible for In his book about the Patagonia expedition, Loomis horse teeth them.” As the runaway horse in Patagonia proves, argued that it was most closely related to elephants from one expedition that was even more true in the early 20th century. and mastodons, but a few years later he changed his Loomis But while he was out there in the field, Loomis mind, concluding that the ancient beast was in fact took to often neglected to write down basic information, in- a marsupial. Simpson disagreed, however, writing Melbourne, Fla. cluding the locations and geologic formations where that, while the skull was important and impressive he found his specimens. In general, paleontologists in its completeness, “Loomis’s description was in- of his era were less diligent about recording such adequate and partly inaccurate and his conclusions details, Coombs acknowledges. And Patagonia and definitely wrong.” the American West were poorly mapped out back Simpson doesn’t elaborate on what he found lack- then, compounding the problem: “He was riding ing in the Pyrotherium’s description. As for Loomis’s around with a wagon, going from here to there—he incorrect conclusions, Simpson was writing with probably didn’t even know exactly where he was at “the benefit of half a century of hindsight,” notes times.” Still, his record-keeping has long vexed other Spencer Lucas, the New Mexico paleontologist. scientists. “He sometimes has more records of what “What Loomis wrote about Pyrotherium … is per- he had for lunch,” Coombs laments, “than where he fectly good science for its day, considering what collected stuff.” was known.” (Today, scientists tend to classify Location records weren’t his only weak point. Pyrotherium on its own separate branch, remote George Gaylord Simpson, considered one of the from all recent mammals.) Simpson even objected to great paleontologists and evolutionary theorists of the fact that a later paleontologist, visiting the same the 20th century, harshly criticized his elder in the area where Loomis collected the Pyrotherium skull, field, writing in 1984 thatwhile “Loomis was a sin- referred to the spot as Loomis Hill: “That,” Simpson cere, industrious, and likable man,” his scientific wrote, “gave far too much credit to Loomis.” accounting of the Patagonia expedition “is so replete Did Simpson’s criticisms go too far? Lucas thinks with dubieties and with downright errors, both as to so. In his estimation, Loomis’s work in Patagonia stratigraphy and as to paleontology, that it cannot remains “a substantial contribution to our knowl- be considered a real contribution to South American edge of the South American record of Tertiary geology or paleontology.” mammals.” And “considering that Loomis was one Take the Pyrotherium skull. Twentieth-century of the first to study the Deseadan rocks and fossil

34 AMHERST FALL 2017 mammals in detail,” says Lucas, “the ‘dubieties’ and But something about the specimen looked off to ‘downright errors’ Simpson refers to are relatively Dalman, based on how the fossilization process of few.” Lucas suspects that Simpson’s disparagement the jaw had occurred: it was darker in color than was driven in part by professional jealousy. most of the other fossils from that geological for- My take is this: Loomis was a talented profes- mation. He thought it might instead be from the sor and an enthusiastic field researcher. He could Kirtland Formation, making it a few million years probably have been more assiduous with his field older—and maybe a different species. notes, but to completely discount the work he did in Dalman asked Kate Wellspring, the museum col- Patagonia is unfair, considering both the discover- lections curator at the time, to take the fossil down ies that have arisen from his finds and the differing from the display for a closer look. Bringing it to a standards for field notes at the turn of the century. room in the basement, Dalman was able to see the And Loomis’s work extended beyond the field and side of the jaw that was hidden when it was on dis- the classroom: he was president of the Paleontologi- play. Immediately, he says, he saw something that cal Society in 1920, and was partly responsible for was “different from any otherTyrannosaur that I adding the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology to the have seen.” (And he has seen quite a few). Society in 1934. The section would later become the To the untrained eye, the differences aren’t huge: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. “He does have a two openings instead of one beneath one of the place in the pantheon of American vertebrate pale- teeth, and a distinct part of the jaw where a liga- ontology,” says Coombs. “It’s not a huge place, but ment would connect. But, to Dalman, it was clearly it’s definitely there.” a new species. A paper describing the evidence for that conclusion, including a few specimens at other A NEW DINOSAUR? museums, is currently going through the peer review Some Loomis specimens have led to contemporary process; Dalman expects it to be published soon. discoveries. In 1992, paleontologists described And, yes: the new tyrannosaurid will be named after a new species and genus of sauropod (the huge, Loomis. long-necked dinosaurs that include Apatosaurus) In July 1937, Loomis died suddenly from a brain based on specimens that Loomis collected in east- hemorrhage while fishing with his family off the ern Wyoming. But the name given to the ancient coast of Alaska. He was 63, and had been slated animal—Dyslocosaurus—is further evidence of the to chair the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology professor’s shortcomings: it combines dys (“bad”) meeting later that year. A newspaper article in the and locus (“place”). “The provenance data,” the Springfield Union noted that “about half of the enter- 1992 scientists asserted, “are unsatisfactory and ing freshman class had elected Prof. Loomis’ course raise a major question about the significance of on ‘Man and His Environment,’” and three other the specimen.” Despite a professors would be taking it over in his stead. In “thorough search” by the one memorial tribute, fellow paleontologist Walter authors through Loomis’s Granger noted the contributions Loomis had made A recent study holds field notes at Amherst, to the Amherst natural history collections. “Truly they found no mention of the Amherst Museum will be Fred Loomis’ monu- that Amherst’s the fossil; the only infor- ment,” he wrote. tyrannosaurid may be mation accompanying it Amherst’s magnificent natural history museum— a new species—to be is this frustratingly vague considered among the best college natural history named for Loomis. wording: “vicinity of Lance museums—would not be what it is today without Creek, eastern Wyoming.” Loomis. And while Amherst no longer focuses much More recently, in 2011, on paleontology, it has a strong track record of turn- Robert Hunt, a University ing out stellar geology majors, including the current of Nebraska paleontologist, head of the Smithsonian, Kirk Johnson ’82. named a new carnivore genus and species, Delotro- Loomis’s grave is about 2 miles from the Beneski chanter oryktes, based on material Loomis collected Museum. To find it, I had to leave the main path in 1908 at Stenomylus Quarry, now part of Agate in the cemetery, bushwhacking through mountain Fossil Beds National Monument. laurel and fighting off mosquitoes, then wandering In 2012, Sebastian Dalman, then an independent around until I found the marker, overgrown with researcher living in western Massachusetts, was ferns and obscured by dead leaves. Doubtless it doing research on tyrannosaurids. Hearing that has few visitors these days. But Amherst has a new Amherst had a tyrannosaurid specimen—part of a mascot, the world could have a new dinosaur, and lower jaw—he paid a visit to the Beneski. Loomis Loomis’s legacy may, too, rise again from the layers had collected the fossil in New Mexico in 1924, dur- of history. k ing the same yearlong trip that yielded the Florida mammoth. Loomis had labeled it as coming from Geoffrey Giller ’10 majored in biology and French at the Ojo Alamo Formation—which would make it Amherst. He is a science and environmental writer and around 67 million years old. photographer.

AMHERST FALL 2017 35 “THE

SPLENDOR

Amherst remembers the late, masterful poet Richard Wilbur ’42 By Katharine Whittemore OF

MERE BEING”

36 AMHERST FALL / 2017 Wilbur in 1965. By then, he'd published five poetry books and two translations from Molière. AMHERST COLLEGE AMHERST N 1947 THE POET LOUISE BOGAN REVIEWED, in The New Yorker, a young man’s first book of I poems. “Let us watch Richard Wilbur,” she wrote. “He is composed of valid ingredients.” Those ingredients could be contradic- tory—the college rebel later known for his traditional formalism, the man of utter modesty unchanged by so many glittering accolades. But these ingredients remained, to the last, valid and (to quote a 1956 poem) “keeping their difficult balance.” Richard Purdy Wilbur ’42, one of Amherst’s most distinguished and beloved alumni, died on Oct. 14 at age 96. He was the nation’s second poet laureate, a peerless translator of Molière, Racine and Corneille, and the Tony Award-nominated lyricist for Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. He also earned two Pulitzer Prizes for his meticulously passionate body of work that celebrated, to quote another poem, “the splendor of mere being.” In summing up his life, it is impossible to resist citing his own verse. He died, for instance, in the manner he described at age 77: “in good time, the bedstead at whose foot / The world will swim and flicker and be gone.” Wilbur was living in a nursing home in Belmont, Mass., and is survived by four children (including Nathan Wilbur ’73), three grandchildren (including Liam Wilbur ’14E) and two great-grandchildren. His wife, Charlotte, known to all as Charlee—a Smith student he met while at Amherst, regularly walking or hitching the 9-mile distance to see her—died in 2007. “He was remarkable man whose decency and humanity are as memorable as his verse,” said Amherst President Biddy Martin the day after his death. “These From his home in Cummington, Mass., qualities, along with his wit and intelligence, live on Wilbur wrote on a manual typewriter in a studio converted from an old silo. in his work and in what we continue to learn from his example.” Born in New York City in 1921 and raised in rural North Caldwell, N.J., Wilbur started at Amherst as the often satirizing Amherst President Stanley King for famous Hurricane of 1938 struck. He never forgot bellicosity in the run-up to World War II. Wilbur was witnessing the devastation from North dormitory as “vehemently anti-interventionist” before Pearl the maples of College Grove “lay down” one by one Harbor, explain Robert Bagg ’57 and Mary Bagg in from the gusts, as he recalled to Samuel Williston 2017’s Let Us Watch Richard Wilbur: A Biographical Professor of English David R. Sofield, with whom he Study (see review, page 48). Wilbur even compared taught poetry courses at Amherst. FDR’s lend-lease policy to a “runaway toboggan” Over time, Wilbur shared many stories with Sofield racing toward U.S. military involvement. about his Amherst years. An English major, Wilbur But then came Pearl Harbor. Wilbur’s most famous pledged Chi Psi, which was full of football players. Amherst Student editorial appeared the day after the Thinking he should also try athletics, Wilbur took up attack. It ran on the front page, the headline blaring in boxing. When he came to the Chi Psi house one day large type, all caps: “NOW THAT WE ARE IN IT.” with a black eye from sparring at the gym, a fraternity Wrote Wilbur: “We needn’t rhapsodize over our brother (and the football team’s center) pulled him intervention like the editor of the Williams Record, but aside and said, “We didn’t pledge you to be an athlete. we should suppress our obstructing doubts ... confin- We took you into the house to raise our academic ing our thoughts to the job before us, and to the post- standing.” war world, which it will be our great pleasure to put There wasn’t so much raising at first: Wilbur’s fresh- together. Now that we are fighting, what is needed is man and sophomore grades fell because he devoted unanimity and determined action. … If we feel any excessive time to writing for The Amherst Student and allegiance to the race in general, we will strive to make Touchstone, the student literary magazine—which the post-war world more hopeful and less combustive tagged him as “a pub-crawling, gamboling, cartooning than the world of the past twenty years, to which we humorist.” In both words and pictures, he was bold, are now bidding a noisy farewell.”

38 AMHERST FALL 2017 of my conscience for forty years now, and if I have ever written a true and clear line or sentence, there are two Amherst teachers to whom credit is due.” Outside the classroom, Wilbur “covered up a certain social awkwardness by carousing and being outrageous,” as he told the publication Between the Lines in 2000. He met Charlee on a blind date in March 1941. She was poetry editor at Smith’s monthly magazine, and the daughter and granddaughter of Amherst men. The pair fell fast in love, shared many plates of spa- ghetti at Joe’s restaurant in Northampton and married just after he graduated in 1942. On their honeymoon in Maine, they practiced Morse code, because Wilbur hoped to join the Signal Corps Reserve upon their return. He trained at Camp Edison as a cryptographer, and did well—until the authorities resolved to dissolve his access to solving.

HE PROBLEM? HIS TIES TO COMMUNISM: IN a 1939 issue of the Student he unsubtly used T the byline “Lenin” in a Q&A with Earl Browder, then secretary general of the American Communist Party. And his fellow servicemen noted that he subscribed to the Daily Worker. Wilbur was a progressive, not a communist, but the distinction was too fine for the military. It didn’t help that he acted “as if the army were just another educational institution willing to respect his exuberant free speech,” write the Baggs. Politically

AMHERST COLLEGE AMHERST grounded dismissals from the Signal Corps were commonplace. Wilbur was tossed out. He ended up serving with the 36th Infantry Division at Cassio and Anzio in Italy, in the southern invasion of France and along the Siegfried Line in Germany. Most of his fellow soldiers were Texans. “He experienced heavy shelling, and often,” says Sofield. “He lost many IS GRADES PICKED UP THE LAST TWO good friends.” Poetry became a way to frame and es- years at Amherst, with all A’s his senior cape the trauma of the foxhole. As Wilbur once said: H year. In a class with Professor of Philosophy “One does not use poetry for its major purposes, as a Sterling Lamprecht, Wilbur skipped hand- means of organizing oneself and the world, until one’s ing in the first several required papers and world somehow gets out of hand.” instead wrote a long essay about the evolu- After the war, Wilbur received a master’s degree tion of Christianity from Luther onward. “This is an from Harvard, forged a friendship with Robert Frost astonishing performance,” wrote Lamprecht in the and published his first book of poetry,The Beautiful paper’s margins. “In more ways than one, you leave Changes. Throughout his illustrious literary career— me with nothing to say.” he published some 30 books of poetry, essay col- Wilbur particularly admired English professors lections and translations, and won some 20 prizes, Theodore Baird, George Armour Craig, George Roy including the National Book Award for Poetry, the Bol- Elliot and George Whicher. As he reminisced in a 2009 lingen Prize for Poetry and the Dram a Desk Special interview for the College’s website, “They all, bless Award—Wilbur strengthened his already strong bonds them, took me seriously as a writer of poems. They to Amherst. told me what was wrong with what I was doing and In the 1960s he began bequeathing some manu- how I could make it better, as well as what I ought to scripts to the College’s Archives & Special Collections. read in order to be properly inspired.” Amherst has since acquired more than 60 boxes of In 1980, Wilbur wrote a recollection of the teach- original manuscripts, artwork, correspondence, busi- ers who stirred him: “Like his great senior colleague, ness records and ephemera, and will now house his Theodore Baird, Armour Craig was forever asking the remaining papers. And once the family moved to embarrassing question, ‘What do you mean?’ That nearby Cummington, Mass., in 1969—where he demand for self-questioning/precision has been part pecked on a manual typewriter in a studio converted

AMHERST FALL 2017 39 SAMUEL MASINTER ’05 At his 90th birthday celebration in Cole Assembly Room, Wilbur read his poem “Out Here,” about a snow shovel still leaning against a house in July.

from an old silo—Wilbur often came to campus to read from the mundane to profound. Once we were driving his work and to teach. through a dark patch of forest and I asked him what he In 1989 he was named the College’s Robert Frost was thinking about. ‘Oh, I was thinking about beeches,’ Literary Fellow. And in 2008 he returned to teach as he said. ‘Beech trees hold their leaves longer any tree the John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer—the same post in the winter. I’ve always admired them for that.’” once held by Frost. Wilbur also instructed at Wesleyan, Creel, an English major, took the Wilbur/Sofield Wellesley, Harvard and Smith. In the 2009 Amherst class on lyric poetry. He memorized several Wilbur interview, he spoke of teaching poetry: “In every class poems for these drives, including 1950’s “Ceremony.” of poetry writing, I imagine that only two or three out He spoke the 18 lines, hands on the wheel as the scen- of the 15 will prove to be publishable poets, but that ery slatted by. Afterward Wilbur asked Creel what he doesn’t matter. The important thing is to get oneself thought of the poem. The student said he loved these eloquently off one’s chest.” lines especially: But ceremony never did conceal, Save to the silly eye, which all allows, HEN IT BECAME TOO DICEY FOR HIM TO How much we are the woods we wander in. drive, students ferried Wilbur the two- Wilbur agreed those were the best lines, then casu- W hour round trip between Cummington ally added: “The rest of it I could take or leave.” and the College. Roger Creel ’13, now a Creel was also Wilbur’s driver for Biddy Martin’s dancer with the Louisville Ballet, was 2011 inauguration, at which he read his poem “Alti- one such chauffeur. “Professor Wilbur tudes,” in which Amherst is domed by “a wild shining was a bear of a man, a tender bear,” Creel recalls. “And of the pure unknown.” It is worth emphasizing that he would lumber out of his house and fold himself into Wilbur was an unostentatious Christian, a poet who my little Honda Fit. His capacity for conversation went believed his job was to observe and commend God’s

40 AMHERST FALL 2017 creation. As he told one interviewer: “I find sancti- regarding in the way a lot of writers are. He was gener- mony and cocksure atheism equally disagreeable.” ous to everybody,” says Sofield. On the weekend of Wilbur’s death, Sofield was Adds Cullen Murphy ’74, chair of the College’s prepping for his class, English 240: “Reading Poetry,” board of trustees, “Dick Wilbur’s voice, in life as in about to launch the second week of a two-week unit his poetry, was one of deep humanity—elegant, often on Wilbur’s work. “He is one of the small handful of playful and brimming with what he called the ‘glorious best poets in the second half of the 20th century,” says energy’ of creation.” Sofield. “And a lot of people who really live lives in Wilbur died at the height of fall foliage season, and it and around poetry would agree with me. In this class, seems fitting to conclude with lines from one of his I’m teaching W.H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, Anthony autumnal poems. “October Maples, Portland” was Hecht, Philip Larkin, James Merrill [’47] and Richard read at Converse Hall, in 2011, for a celebration of his Wilbur. All wrote in received forms and invented new 90th birthday: forms as needed for each poem, and Dick was as much The leaves, though little time they have to live, a master of poetry in his time as any of them.” Were never so unfallen as today. Anyone who met Wilbur was struck by his kindness, And seem to yield us through a rustled sieve his cleverness, his courtliness. “He was never self- the very light from which time fell away. k

A TRIBUTE FROM

At first star-struck, an Amherst English professor became Wilbur’s tennis partner and, later, his teaching partner. / BY DAVID SOFIELD A FRIEND

I must have met Dick Wilbur at a dinner whom he evoked in a major long poem. talk with the fraternity lads (Dick was that Bill and Marietta Pritchard had for For me the pivotal, or at the least the a notably loyal Chi Psi). Dick told the him after one of his periodic readings representative, poem here is “April 5, College president that, yes, he would do at the College, but I remember being 1974,” a poem he could not have writ- it, if I would agree to teach with him. Of too star-struck to say much to him. ten had he not been an acute reader course I agreed, if not without some ap- I’m afraid that my admiration for what and a good friend of Robert Frost. It’s prehension, knowing, for example, that Dick did with words, ideas and feelings a small miracle of language, perception Dick’s store of memorized poems was was such that I could do no more than and music—and of analogy. In his great truly vast. acknowledge that I was, well, a fan. By late poem “Lying,” Dick offers a defin- So for seven years, from 2008 to the 1970s Richard Wilbur was, by coming line: “Odd that a thing is most itself 2014, we did teach together. In time mon consent, the dazzling virtuoso of when likened.” I more or less overcame my fear post-World War II poetry in English. His The other change was the result of and trembling. Charlee Wilbur died third book, Things of This World (1956), one of the happiest accidents to come in 2007—do read and reread Dick’s won all the prizes, as it should have. And my way: Dick’s beloved wife, Charlee, three late love poems, “For C.,” “The he was hard to imitate, although many asked me, at another post-reading din- Reader” and “The House.” On her death tried: it is not given to more than two or ner, if I played tennis. I did. She asked if Dick must have been—no, he was—at three poets in a generation to have the I would like to be Dick’s doubles partner something of a loss; as many have education (Amherst!—in his case, and in a game against two local attorneys. noted, their marriage was a supremely then the war and then Harvard), and the Sure, I said, and it came to pass. fortunate one. So his returning to the ear, and the inventiveness to carry off Exactly what came to pass I could classroom at age 87 turned out to be, poems as rich, as profoundly satisfy- not have begun to foresee. We prevailed I think, consoling. And it was useful, a ing as, say, “A Baroque Wall-Fountain over the law, barely, and then we had word Dick used carefully. He once rein the Villa Sciarra.” There are numer- post-match gin and tonics (mint from sponded to the question—why did you ous others. Dick’s garden in Cummington, Mass.), start writing poems?—posed to him by Then two things changed. In his next and then we swam in Dick and Charlee’s his geology-major student driver, with books of poems he began to dampen the pool, and then we talked a bit about po- this short sentence: “To be useful.” And fireworks a bit, with the result that etry. he was that, to students at the five one’s admiration gradually deepened And then, after years and years of colleges where he taught—Harvard, into gratitude that someone out there more tennis and talk, Dick was invited Wellesley, Wesleyan, Smith, Amherst— was fully experiencing a recognizable, to become the John Woodruff Simpson and as he will be to those future readers an available world—the created world, Lecturer at the College, the position fortunate enough to find his work. R.I.P. of course, but also that of people clos- created after World War II to bring est to him and those who happened his Robert Frost back to Amherst a couple Sofield is Amherst’s Samuel Williston way, like the Roman “Mind-Reader” of times a year to give readings and to Professor of English.

AMHERST FALL 2017 41 ARTS NEWS AND Amherst Creates REVIEWS

CULTURE The Real National Pastime In the 1990s, did a preoccupation with sex lay the groundwork for today? | BY RAND RICHARDS COOPER ’80

42 AMHERST FALL 2017 Illustration by VIVIAN SHIH recall my surprise, sometime Cheeky flippancy strikes an odd Iin the late 1990s, when a note in a book of this size and schoolteacher colleague of my scope. How can a copiously foot- wife’s mentioned a sex-toy noted cultural history, which cites club she had joined, a kind of Marcuse while promising “a codex Tupperware group that met for understanding,” also include monthly to share ideas and the chatty exclamation that “this is products. Such matter-of-factness so not about Bill Clinton”? Perhaps about long-taboo subjects, it Friend is trying to mirror the para- turns out, was the hallmark of the doxes of American culture itself, United States in the 1990s—or our ready mix of high and low, the so says Vanity Fair editor David solemn and the salacious. But it Friend ’77 in his aptly named new can make for uneven reading. book. The amount of information Its thesis is that the decade’s synthesized in these pages is mind- preoccupation with sex—from blowing—OK, humbling—and scandals, to sexual enhancements eventually becomes overwhelm-

of all kinds, to the pornification of BISHOP JUSTIN ing, as if Americans think, talk daily life—“laid the groundwork and act out about sex and sex only, for our current age,” as Americans, Friend offers reportage too, Friend is a 24/7. Anyone up for a game of ensconced “in a giddy interreg- doggedly tracking down and inter- Vanity Fair chess, or a hike in the mountains? num of narcissism, solipsism, and viewing such forgotten figures of editor. His new I found myself wondering about book argues skyrocketing mutual funds,” took ’90s notoriety as Lorena Bobbitt that matter-of- Friend’s ultimate take on the phe- their erotic obsessions public. and Heidi Fleiss. Participatory factness about nomena he so richly documents. Naughtiness, Friend holds, be- journalism acquires a whole new long-taboo At one point we visit a Manhattan allure when the subject is, for subjects was the sex emporium, where women ad- instance, bikini waxing, but our hallmark of the mire handcuffs and penis-shaped United States in An excellent chapter author forays intrepidly into the the 1990s. sports bottles. When Tom Wolfe “ on the R&D of Viagra arena. The pièce de résistance is merrily skewered this sort of thing, is both informative his excursion to a therapy center he kept our vanities firmly fixed in in San Francisco, where he joins the crosshairs of satire. and witty. an audience observing a session of For Friend, dismay contends OM: orgasmic meditation. with delight, criticism with cel- Throughout this naughty book, ebration. The results are scenarios came the dominant mode of fin- the author’s incorrigible punning— where a reader both laughs and de-siècle American life. calling urologists at an erectile- winces—as when, in his rather The Naughty Nineties is noth- dysfunction seminar “peers in the admiring take on Howard Stern, ing if not ambitious, moving penile colony,” to take one of many Friend interviews the contro- from anthropological analysis of examples—challenges a reviewer versial publisher (and Stern pal) Sex and the City bus tours, to the to double down on his own saucy Judith Regan, who offers a tribute hermeneutics of the Demi Moore innuendo. Can I praise Friend’s to Stern’s priapic powers and pregnancy photo, to the politics penetrating insights into American confesses to having once taken a The Naughty of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to the popular culture, or his blow-by- Nineties: The pencil eraser and poked his penis ordeal of the Anita Hill/Clarence blow description of the Lewinsky Triumph of the through his pants (“and it was American Libido Thomas hearings. The book is scandal? alive!”). By David well-stocked with pithy insights— Friend’s prior book, Watching the Friend ’77 We are more than halfway

“Celebrity schadenfreude was World Change, took on a serious, Twelve through this vast catalogue of becoming a national pastime”— even grave topic, analyzing images American brazenness when Friend and indelible quotations, like that of 9/11, and the new book’s rollick- interviews a Florida local-news from a breast-implant surgeon who ing bawdiness sits uneasily with a reporter who in 1995 was assigned comments that “Houston is a very more academic impulse, making to do a story on penis-enhancing overaugmented city.” for a curious hybrid. The Naughty underwear, and had to visit local An excellent chapter on the Nineties is a 640-page tome that bars to ask men if they would wear R&D of Viagra is both informative often sounds like a magazine it. “I was ashamed,” she recalls. and witty, noting that the work essay, replete with the journalistic Phew. Finally. took place in a Pfizer lab near present tense and breezily trans- Canterbury, England, “practically gressive chapter openings (“Let’s Cooper is contributing editor at the birthplace of the ribald tale.” talk about the ’90s vagina”). Commonweal magazine.

AMHERST FALL 2017 43 BIOGRAPHY Ideals Man Gorbachev boldly made his own history, but certainly not just as he pleased. | BY PAUL STATT ’78

became his wife and indispensable helpmeet. Their love story is one reason that Taubman’s biography flows like a novel. The elegant, intelligent “Lady Dignity,” as the Soviet newspaper Izvestia remembered Raisa at her untimely death in 1999, deserves a biography of her own, to judge from this one. With her help, Gorbachev rose to party prominence—and again, a good crop helped. Food short- ages plagued the USSR, but in 1978 Gorbachev received another honor, for a triumphant harvest. As a young minister in Stav- ropol, he visited a village with the Dickensian name Bitter Hollow (Gorkaya Balka). Taubman reports Gorbachev’s impression: “low, smoke-belching huts ... desolation and horror, from the fear of being buried alive. ... How is it possible, ho was the first president of theme: “How did Gorbachev how can anyone live like that?” Wthe Soviet Union? The last? become Gorbachev?” Taubman explains Gorbachev’s The answer is Mikhail Gorbachev, During a triumphant Western rise, “despite the most rigorous who climbed to the top of the Krem- trip in 1987, the Soviet leader imaginable arrangement of checks lin leadership in 1985, threw open insisted, “I am just like other and guarantees designed to guard its windows to the world in glasnost, people. I am a normal person.” against someone like him,” as the reconstructed its foundations in per- How did a mere person become result not so much of his political estroika and finally brought it to ruin the historical personage remem- skills (which often failed him) as of in 1991. The question we were all bered for negotiating peace in the his dogged belief in his ideals. asking as the USSR collapsed haunts Cold War, the ban—almost!—of The story is far from simple. us still: How did that happen? nuclear weapons everywhere and Taubman’s research is prodigious, William Taubman’s richly re- the end of Communism? and his 880-page tale is surpris- warding Mikhail Gorbachev: His Life In answering that question, a ingly suspenseful. (Especially and Times is a history of a tumultu- dedicated historical materialist exciting is the 1991 coup d’état ous era and a biography of a fasci- might note the role of agricultural attempt.) “Gorbachev is hard to nating statesman. As a biographer, production—grains and other understand,” Gorbachev himself Gorbachev: His Taubman’s technique is to ask a Life and Times foodstuffs. Working summers with lot of questions, and his rhetorical his father on their collective wheat By William Taubman style of incessant interrogation is Taubman, farm in the Caucasus, Gorbachev Bertrand Snell evidence of admirable humility and Professor of at 17 earned an Order of the Red curiosity. Taubman wants to know Political Science, Banner of Labor. It was signed Emeritus everything about Gorbachev but has by Joseph Stalin himself. Proudly to accept that perhaps, like Russia, W.W. Norton wearing his medal, the young Gorbachev cannot be understood by communist studied law at Moscow the mind alone. University, where he met philoso- The book’s first question is its phy student Raisa Titarenko, who

44 AMHERST FALL 2017 Illustration by REBECCA CLARKE Opera

AN OLD CRIME, A NEW OPERA Two Amherst professors teamed up once insisted to Taubman in an with students and professional actors to dramatize the true, local interview. Taubman speculates that story of a Smith faculty member’s arrest. | By Rachel Rogol the leader came to be psychologi- cally dependent on being lionized abroad. This is hard for those of us who still admire Gorbachev to hear. Taubman avoids the American commonplace of joining Reagan Sawyer, the opera’s and Gorbachev in an eternal hand- composer, at a rehearsal. He says the shake. Reagan has a role, but so story is “well-suited do Kohl, Mitterrand and Thatcher. to the medium of An apt American life to parallel opera.” Gorbachev would be not Reagan but Henry Wallace, the progressive farmer and vice president who was a champion of the “common man” and FDR’s New Deal but foundered in his utopian idealism. “One thing Gorbachev rejected from the start was any attempt to recast the Soviet system by means of force and violence,” Taubman writes. “This was Gorbachev’s sharpest break of all with tradition.”

He avoids joining On an otherwise normal fall day in 1960, The Scarlet Professor “ Reagan and Gorbachev police arrested a Smith College professor Composed by Professor of Music Eric Sawyer, named Newton Arvin. A nationally renowned directed by Associate Professor of Theater and in an infinite handshake. Dance Ron Bashford ’88 literary critic, he was detained and publicly Smith College, September 2017 humiliated for possessing homosexual erot- ica, then a crime that carried a maximum His Life and Times achieves its five-year prison sentence. hospital where Arvin voluntarily committed epic sweep because Taubman skill- This September, nearly six decades later, himself following his arrest. fully demonstrates how Gorbachev, two Amherst professors brought Arvin’s The Scarlet Professor was presented by echoing a famous Marxian dictum, story to life on stage in The Scarlet Profes- professional performers Sept. 15–17 and by boldly made his own history, but sor, a new opera composed by Professor of Five College students Sept. 23–24. The dual certainly not just as he pleased. Music Eric Sawyer and directed by Associate casting, Bashford says, allowed profession- Gorbachev inherited the burdens Professor of Theater and Dance Ron Bash- als to realize the premiere as fully as pos- of Soviet and Russian tradition; ford ’88. sible, while also giving students the benefit Taubman’s narrative integrates that “It’s part of our history,” Bashford says, of rehearsing alongside professionals and nightmare with Gorbachev’s philo- “and resonates with things we are thinking having their own performances. sophical idealism. about today.” Several Amherst students were involved Some of us will always remember Based on Northampton writer Barry behind the scenes, too. Theater and dance the cameo that Gorbachev played Werth’s book of the same name, the opera major Julia Lauren Thompson ’19, for ex- in Wim Wenders’ strange film Far- blends real human drama with scenes from ample, began assisting Sawyer last year, away, So Close! (1993). Out of office, the novel Arvin wrote about most passion- researching Arvin’s history and organizing sitting at a desk in a reunited Berlin, ately: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet auditions. already rejected by Russia, Mikhail Letter. Thompson sees the opera’s themes as Gorbachev—a guardian angel “Having a literary critic as a central char- particularly relevant today: “Arvin was a bril- looking over his shoulder—recites acter calls for dramatizing the life of the liant, successful man trapped in a loneliness these lines from the poet Fyodor mind,” says Sawyer, “a wonderful challenge largely of his own making. The opera invites Tyutchev: “Some say a country can and one well-suited to the medium of opera.” thinking about how to be a better friend and only be forged with blood and steel. A darkly comic mix of history and fiction, colleague in the face of hardship.” We shall try to forge it with love. this new opera takes place in the days sur- Then let’s see which lasts longer.” rounding the professor’s detention. The Rogol covers the arts in the Amherst setting is the Massachusetts state mental communications office.

TAUBMAN: MICHELE STAPLETON; OPERA: SKYLHUR TRANQILLE ’18 OPERA: MICHELE STAPLETON; TAUBMAN: Statt is a Philadelphia-based writer.

AMHERST FALL 2017 45 TV SERIES Authentically Fake What if Sylvester Stallone were a proud Romanian communist? The result would be something like this buddy-cop parody. | BY JOSH BELL ’02

he first episode of Comrade None of that is true: Comrade TDetective opens with two The show was Detective is an entirely original members of the creative team dubbed into meta-narrative from creators Brian explaining the concept of the English by an Gatewood ’00 and Alessandro all-star cast led show directly to the audience, but by Channing Tanaka, who wrote all six episodes it’s still tough to get a handle on Tatum and in the show’s first season. Shot in what exactly is being presented. Joseph Gordon- Romania with Romanian actors, Of course, it doesn’t help that Levitt, as well as it’s been dubbed into English by the explanation provided by star/ comedy fixtures an all-star cast led by Tatum and such as Jenny executive producer Channing Slate and Nick Joseph Gordon-Levitt, along with Tatum and British journalist Jon Offerman. comedy fixtures such as Jenny Ronson is complete fiction. Slate, Nick Offerman, Jason They give a straight-faced Mantzoukas and Jake Johnson. account of a lost 1980s Romanian Structured like an ultra-macho cop drama, a piece of Cold War American action movie from the Comrade Detective propaganda produced by the gov- 1980s, Comrade Detective is less a Created by Brian Gatewood ’00 and Alessandro Tanaka ernment to promote communist parody of Romanian pop culture ideals. Newly rediscovered, the than of American ideas of what Amazon Studios show has been dubbed into Eng- Cold War-era communist pop lish and is now being shown for the culture might have been. What if a

first time to Western audiences. Sylvester Stallone or Chuck Norris STUDIOS AMAZON

46 AMHERST FALL 2017 Short Takes

hero were a proud Romanian SIT! STAY! And dog-ear these pages from Amherst communist? The result would be alumni. | By Katherine Duke ’05 something like Comrade Detective. Tatum provides the voice for Bucharest police detective Gregor Anghel (played onscreen by Florin Piersic Jr.), whose partner Constantin is murdered in the first episode. In classic buddy-cop fashion, Gregor is paired up with rural detective Iosef Baciu (voiced by Gordon-Levitt, played onscreen by Corneliu Ulici), who helps in- vestigate the death. Although the reckless Gregor and the more mea- sured Iosef clash at first, they move past their differences, thanks to a shared dedication to communism. The excesses of capitalism fuel the conspiracy behind the murder. That gives the creators and director Rhys Thomas plenty of opportunities to indulge in ste-

With his book Rescue Road, Peter Zheutlin ’75 provided the canine cover story for Clues that lead to Amherst’s Fall 2015 issue; now he follows it up with Rescued: What Second-Chance Dogs “ the culprit include a Teach Us About Living with Purpose, Loving with Abandon, and Finding Joy in the Little Things Ebby’s Tale: From Shelter to Stage Monopoly board and (TarcherPerigee). , by Bob Madgic ’60 (River Bend Books), is also a literal shaggy-dog story. Jordache jeans. Not a dog person? Try Seven Birds, by Amy Sargent Swank ’84 (CreateSpace).

reotypes: clues that lead to the Megan Brown ’95 discusses American Autobiography After 9/11 (University of Wisconsin culprit include a Monopoly board, Press). And here are two examples of the genre: This African-American Life, by Hugh Jordache jeans and a Michael B. Price ’63 (John F. Blair), and News from Rain Shadow Country, by Tim Wheeler ’64 Jackson-style glove. “Everyone in (BookLocker). the U.S. seems to have AIDS,” a diplomat says. Employees at the John M. Vine ’66 provides A Parkinson’s Primer: An Indispensable Guide to Parkinson’s U.S. embassy sit around eating Disease for Patients and Their Families (Paul Dry Books). Will Creed ’65 warns us, Don’t Twinkies. Meanwhile, in the bar Repot That Plant!: And Other Indoor Plant Care Mistakes (Button Street Press). that Gregor frequents, patrons are glued to televised chess matches. Timothy C. Lehmann ’90 considers The Geopolitics of Global Energy: The New Cost of The show remains remarkably Plenty (Lynne Rienner Publishers). faithful to its conceit, and while the humor is never laugh-out-loud Norman C. Tobias ’75 examines the Jewish Conscience of the Church: Jules Isaac and funny, the creators find new layers the Second Vatican Council (Palgrave Macmillan). Kathleen E. Smith ’87 takes us to to essentially the same joke as the Moscow 1956: The Silenced Spring (Harvard University Press). Amy L. Stone ’98 revels in case gets more and more compli- Cornyation: San Antonio’s Outrageous Fiesta Tradition (Maverick Books). cated. Thomas shoots in a style closer to modern serialized TV From co-editor Theodore Levin ’73 comes The Music of Central Asia (Indiana University than ’80s Eastern Bloc program- Press), and farther in the east rises the Iron Moon: An Anthology of Chinese Worker ming, but the locations, costumes Poetry, translated by Eleanor Goodman ’01 (White Pine Press). and performances give the show an alternate-universe verisimili- For more poems, enjoy an Italian Summer, by Seth Frank ’55 (Shakespeare & Co.); travel tude. It’s authentic in its fakery. down Water Street, by Naila Moreira ’00 (Finishing Line Press); or get This Deep In (Hummingbird Press) with Skeleton, Skin and Joy (Finishing Line Press), both by Charles Bell is the film editor atLas Vegas Atkinson ’66. Weekly.

Illustration by JOHN S. DYKES AMHERST FALL 2017 47 POETRY Becoming the Grand Old Man What made Richard Wilbur ’42 the poet he was? | BY TESS TAYLOR ’00

mherst has a remarkable Arecord as a poet’s town, was undignified for a man who and one of its stateliest figures is believes that complaining, by its Richard Wilbur ’42, a standard- nature, is a weakness.” (Is explor- bearer of his generation, who ing the personal necessarily a died Oct. 14 at the age of 96. (See form of complaint? What is wrong “The Splendor of Mere Being,” with weakness, in a literary sense?) page 36.) In his book Shelf Life, It is harder still not to wince at a the critic William Pritchard ’53, passage that describes Wilbur’s an early and ongoing champion mother as socially ambitious, not- of Wilbur’s modern formalisms, ing that “her driven nature back- recalls looking forward to Wilbur’s fired” when “she was sidelined by readings in a 1950s Cambridge exhaustion after a miscarriage.” scene that included Graves, Moore I felt the authors might protest and Lowell. Numerous poetry too much in fending off criticism volumes, two children’s books, that Wilbur’s work is lacking in two Pulitzers and many celebrated emotional depth. Yes, Wilbur lived translations later, Wilbur a certain kind of privileged life— rightfully earned critic David Orr’s and he also wrote good poems that affectionate moniker “Grand Old are sure to endure among read- Man of American Poetry.” to live comfortably, while verse Wilbur in 2005 ers. He also embodied a life spent Let Us Watch traces Wilbur’s translation seems to have been a at home in making—at a scale and with a con- process of becoming grand, good fit for Wilbur’s own sense of Cummington, sistency most artists never reach. Mass. His poetry compiling a decade of interviews formal, courtly wit. Indeed, Wilbur was rooted in After reading the book I found with the poet and his late wife, espoused a gentlemanly ideal in lyric tradition. myself thinking again of the con- Charlee, as well as consulting his own life. scientious objector turned poet Wilbur’s reviews, diaries, letters The life was not without hard- whose first real sojourns to Europe and ephemera. We wend from his ships. These included having a were as a soldier, watching the childhood as the son of a freelance schizophrenic brother and an world erupt. At Amherst, on the artist in New Jersey, to Amherst autistic son—both in eras before outbreak of war, Wilbur urged years writing Student editorials at accurate diagnosis and clear medi- fellow students to suppress their the prelude to World War II, often cal treatment options were avail- doubts and confine their thoughts as a conscientious objector. able. Wilbur and Charlee went to “the post-war world, which it We follow his deployment to do through a period of overwork and will be our great pleasure to put radio work in the army in France overconsumption of sedatives and together.” Perhaps his rootedness and Italy. We follow trips to 1950s alcohol. But all in all, Wilbur lived in lyric tradition had to do with a Paris, where he watched Molière with greater luck than many of his lifelong dedication to attempting plays and made friends with artist poetic colleagues. This brings up a to forge some version of a durable Alberto Giacometti. Wilbur’s was question: Might his gentlemanli- modernism, one that would never a beautiful artist’s life, perhaps ness—in art, especially—render his again need to shatter. quintessentially so, complete with poetry a bit “suburban,” as Horace Sometimes we are of course years at the American Academy Gregory once charged? shattered, and sometimes we do in Rome and letters traded with Indeed, if Wilbur long served need to reinvent. But Wilbur’s Let Us Watch Elizabeth Bishop, James Merrill ’47 as a poetic grandfather to Am- Richard Wilbur: guiding charge to reassemble the A Biographical and Ralph Ellison. herst, there are also parts of this Study durable is also deep: in life and in It was a lucky life in other ways biography that now need some art we continue to need vessels By Robert Bagg as well. Wilbur earned a fair in- grandfathering in. It is hard not ’57 and Mary that can last, sustain and hold. k come from his translations of to hear tone-deaf moments in Bagg University of Taylor is the author of , Molière plays, particularly one such phrases as, “He never felt Massachusetts Work & Days that became the era’s standard. an impulse to write confessional Press which The New York Times named

Royalties allowed the Wilburs poetry; he sensed that the genre one of 2016’s best books of poetry. COLLEGE AMHERST

48 AMHERST FALL 2017 To reach your class secretary, go to the alumni directory at www.amherst.edu/amherstprofile Classes (login required) or call (413) 542-2313.

1942 two of them Amherst graduates (Kather- as possible, and a continuation of enjoy- ine ’96 and Nathaniel ’01), all help a lot. able life in your new surroundings. The Hurricane Class remnant (Amherst That’s impressive! Playing the viola in a ERIC HAMP is living in a care facility; ’42) still consists of eight survivors, as of chamber music group sustains him, and daughter Julie Love says that she would the end of this last quarter (Sept. 1). Not all I enjoy talking with him about music, as I find it awkward to attempt to care for him of these are in free communication with try to fulfill a longtime resolution to get to full-time. Though Eric has some limita- us; some are behind the doors of care fa- know the last Beethoven string quartets tions in physical autonomy, his mind is cilities, a couple physically active but no (Opus 127–135) before I pass on. clear, and he does a lot of reading, both longer mentally “with it.” Life moves on. BURT HARWOOD struggles along with for pleasure and as a partial continua- Our star is probably ALAN MILLER, who his macular degeneration, down to hav- tion of his professional interests. He also is also the youngest of us. Alan misses ing only one good eye that he can read maintains lively communication with col- his wife, recently deceased, but during with, yet courageously keeps up with it. leagues, mostly former students. 2017 has been through a season of fam- His wife’s vision is similarly impaired, but Our supply of contributions from wid- ily events. One grandson graduated cum she makes more use of gadgets. ows has been dwindling, as might be ex- laude from Wheaton. Another graduated DICK WILBUR has had a difficult spring pected, as most of us are less engaged, These dapper from the Wheeler School and will start with physical problems, ending with these days, in travel and going out for gentlemen were at Grinnell in the fall. That boy’s father, a hospitalization from which he is just social occasions. Marcelle Stuart, for ex- members of Dan Miller ’85, was Head of Wheeler for now recovering. He was living alone in ample, now spends almost all her time Amherst’s crew 11 years and has just retired. Alan con- the house in Cummington, Mass., but at home in North Gardner, Mass. Mary team in 1872. tinues to live alone in the house (since has now moved to the Boston area, where Kneeland also stays home, but finds ex- (We assume 1964). However, all five offspring, two he can be more directly supported by his citement in following the TV career of her they didn’t wear of them Amherst graduates (Dan ’85 and children, especially daughter Ellen. We grandson Chris Licht, who has recently these suits while Matthew ’68), and eight grandchildren, wish you, Dick, as much of a full recovery been nominated for an Emmy. I checked rowing.) COLLEGE ARCHIVES COLLEGE

AMHERST FALL 2017 49 1942–1950

in with Barbara Hastorf and Joan Gray and a granddaughter and her three chil- living and raising her two boys in Mary- at The Sequoias in California. Both are dren. “No more driving and no more land.” So nice to hear Claire is well and getting along well, though they have no YMCA swimming, but much enjoying to be reminded of Tommy. particular news to contribute at this time. being taken to their school basketball, BUD GORDON is still doing well in his Finally, myself: I have had a respite from softball and track games.” super retirement community in Mary- medical complications since the last re- BILL CLARKE and Penny, after 57 years, land. “Never bored. So many activities, port. I am still working, though I think have sold their house and moved to Riv- concerts, theater.” that I will officially retire from psychiat- ermead, a retirement home in Peterbor- CHARLIE WEINER: “We are very fortu- ric practice this October; I will then be ough, N.H., where croquet is the big game nate, as we are still standing up and mo- 97 years of age, and it seems to get in- and for which a background in billiards is bile. We realize how lucky we have been! creasingly incongruous for me to keep helpful. Our congratulations on their 72 We are still living in Stamford, Conn., on practicing medicine. I have plenty of years of marriage, which indeed must be in the winter and at our other home on enjoyable hobbies to devote my attention close to a class record. Shelter Island for about 3–4 months in to, or to be overwhelmed by. To be sure, I I just learned of the untimely death of the summer. We recently visited Machu am constricted by an overhanging sched- BILL HART, who passed away at The Sum- Picchu in Peru, a great trip but a bit more ule of daily medications, as well as the mit home in Hockessin, Del. Bill was a walking than I needed! We have sold our need to work in three-times-a-day cath- member of Chi Phi, with an enjoyable big boat and now have a 22-foot outboard, eterization. This is like Benjamin Franklin sense of humor. He was a close friend which is easy to navigate and a hell of a lot in his old age, if I can choose whom to be of many classmates, including JIM AM- cheaper to store. I have not been back to compared to. But this all can be adjusted MON, AL EATON, KEN HARDY, JOHN the hill, but one of our New York grand- to, and goes more smoothly with practice. PECK, BOB O’CONNOR and many more. daughters is now at UMass in Amherst, Bill Whiston Life remains interesting and fun, and for He played winning varsity football and so will probably get up there to see her. was the only that I am grateful. baseball for three years and was a devoted The to-do about Lord Jeffery Amherst is > RICHARD S. WARD supporter of Amherst. ridiculous!” ’43-er at the [email protected] In a few months, Tina and I will be mov- The HOWARD GELIN clan is all well. 2016 and 2017 ing to Indian River Estates in Vero Beach, Now have seven great grandchildren.

1943 Fla., and we’ll keep you informed of our Amy is still living in Shanghai, and loves reunion, and address and a possible phone change. it. She and a friend have a business de- he plans to A very cheerful note from DAN HALL. He Meanwhile, there are 20 or fewer 1944 signing clothing, producing it, and selling thoroughly enjoys frequent visits from members left, so many thanks for sending at trunk shows and online in China. I also attend our family and also the beautiful scenery of or phoning recent news, including those am far too occupied with friends, shows, 75th in 2018. the Monadnock Region of southwest New from our special widows. visiting family across the United States. Hampshire. He takes walks daily, and says > GORDON “PETE” COLE Let’s have more news, please, from that life is much more enjoyable after cat- [email protected] spouses of our old friends and classmates. aract surgery. > HOWARD GELIN BOB MCADOO [email protected] is determined to get back 1946 to playing golf: “Still up and at ’em!” BOB MERRELL AMOS PRESCOTT says he is still hanging in says, “We have put our 1948 there, and he and Lee are in great shape. home in Vero Beach, Fla., for sale and BOB MONROE celebrated his 96th birth- moved permanently to Maine, spend- HARRY SIDERYS writes that he has been day. His son says he is still an OK driver. ing winter months in the Highlands of fighting metastatic melanoma for two BETSY SHENK VANSAND sadly lost her Topham and summer months in our years with OPDIVO. So far so good. Don’t husband, Dan, on March 29, at age 98. home in Christmas Cove. My health is forget your sunscreen. Her daughter, Amanda, lives nearby, her good. I would like to know how many BRADLEE GAGE reports that he certain- sister visits her about every six weeks, and classmates are still alive.” The College ly enjoyed the recent reunion and con- her son visits two or three times a year. reports 38 are still alive. There were 162 versations with fellow alums, and adds, BILL WHISTON was the only ’43-er at freshman when we started. “Yes, after 66 years in the fishing tackle the 2016 and 2017 reunion, and he plans I have had several conversations with business, I feel it is time to offer the busi- to attend our 75th in 2018. GEORGANN MASTIN (Mrs. Charles). She ness for sale. It is on the market and we’ll Here is a cheerful note from DOLPH hopes a grandchild will come to Amherst, see what happens. It is a fun industry. Got ZINK: “Went through a rough spell about so is keeping Charles’ 1943 Olio in hopes. an opportunity to go to Europe, Australia a year ago with two falls resulting in brain However, she forwarded me a book of and New Zealand with my wife for fish- surgery, but have had a miraculous come- Amherst songs, which includes “Old Am- ing tackle shows and to meet with sales back, and they tell me I look more like herst’s Out for Business,” which would reps and to be tourists. I see Jack Flynn 75 than 95.” be a good replacement for “Lord Jeffery ’47 on occasion in New Hampshire. I am > MONTY HANKIN ’43 Amherst” sung at football games. Also in good health—play nine holes of golf, included was “You and Amherst”—how but that is enough.” BRUCE BOENAU 1944 to give money to Amherst. : “An enjoyable hobby > DICK BANFIELD I can do in the summer here in the midst PRESTON “ROGER” BASSETT is enjoy- [email protected] of orchard country is to make jams and ing physical therapy sessions for good jellies. I immodestly claim that mine are balance and strength. This is enviable to 1947 better than anyone can buy in the store. those of us averaging 96 with the best of And it solves a Christmas problem: what retirement. Roger is still happy in their I received a note from Claire (widow of to give to friends and relatives. Try it— home of 47-plus years, along with free TOMMY O’CONNOR): “Having just moved it’s fun.” movies and popcorn at their town library. into a condo, I’ve been going through old From MARTY VOGEL: “Returned to Am- He sends best regards to all. papers and pictures from the past. Tom’s herst. Very few old-timers left. My reason HAL SALZMAN reports that he and BOB graduation photo and his political career for returning was that my daughter, Dr. PREBLE are still surviving, enjoying the photos brought back a lot of old memo- Deborah Vogel ’82, was speaking as part of warm Florida weather and the care at ries. The home Tom and I shared with our a panel discussion, ‘From Big Food to Big Fleet Landing in Atlantic Beach, Fla. children just got too big for me. Both sons Disease.’ Still hanging in. My wife and I go BILL BELLOWS, a retired basketball practice law and are raising families of for walks; I read a lot and go on occasional coach, has moved closer to his two sons their own. Daughter is a retired lawyer trips. We live in a condo in Boston. Have

50 AMHERST FALL 2017 a vegetable garden on the patio. We are Steady correspondent DAVE MEGIRIAN enjoying lettuce and tomatoes.” sent a note about a book tip from his BOB SCHLEIN: “Sorry I couldn’t make it daughter concerning the diary of a Dutch- to the 70th reunion. Still living the good man, which was a very funny read. His life between Florida and Canandaigua, family have all been great readers, having N.Y.” grown up without a television. Through Ruth, widow of JIM BARKER: “This June the years, I have been struck by the vir- headed for London with three friends. Af- tual inclusion of all my college pals who ter several days with my daughter, Vicki, continued to be very active readers. Intel- we set off for the charming Cotswolds and lectually curious indeed. stayed with friends in Shropshire, own- From our other president (the real ers of a stately home. The walled gardens one): PETE MOYER still exults in his Lake were glorious, and the stately home a pic- Tahoe hacienda with family visits and is ture of Downton Abbey. A good time was planning once again to attend homecom- had by all.” ing. At fall gatherings, FRED GARDNER, I thank all of you. And I look forward to LINN PERKINS and yours truly usually get hearing from you and others in the future. to Pratt Field. I have learned that NORMAN MONKS And here is a blast from the past: A re- died in November 2016. Please read cent issue of Sports Illustrated had an ar-

the In Memory section for BOB EISEN- ticle featuring famous boxing bouts and ARCHIVES COLLEGE MENGER’s and NORM MONKS’ pieces. I which writer covered the event or did the am very sorry. They will be missed. story. One was the fight between Rocky From JOHN TODD: “I think often of my j Mystery > CELESTE RINGUETTE W’48 Marciano and Archie Moore—and the Amherst days and how they have forti- Machine writer was our own EZRA BOWEN. Ez and fied and enhanced my working life. My We know I started college together in the summer professional careers—with IBM (sales and almost 1949 JIM YARNALL of 1944 (along with and project management), Cresap and Paget nothing about Summer 2017: The eclipse. Hurricane DAVE KUNZ), shortly before we all left for (management consultants) and the Todd this 1943 Harvey. Charlottesville. Barcelona. Na- military service, and Ez had that terrible Organization (development and instal- val collisions. But fairly quiet for our class. shipboard accident. (You may remember lation of nonqualified retirement plans) photo. The We have just one passing to report, that that both his mother and his aunt were have been especially focused on clear- device has a of RALPH GOULD. Please see In Memory. famous writers). thinking analysis, the basis of which was label reading Doffing his green eye shade for more To end on a high note (pun intended): the study at Amherst. I think also of the “Caution: JOE KINGMAN WOODY suitable headgear, is head- Our illustrious mountaineer, many lifelong friendships I made there X-Rays When ing to Wyoming and Montana for his an- KINGMAN, had long yearned to summit and treasure. Ann and I are about to cel- Open.” What nual fly fishing venture. Joe has been do- Mount Everest. He might make it after ebrate our 10th anniversary living here at ing this for 50 or 60 years and delights that all. Claire advises that their grandnephew White Sands, a senior residence in beauti- is it? Where he can still do it at age 90: “tight lines.” expects to summit mid-May and will carry ful La Jolla, Calif. White Sands has nearly was it? Clue Have exchanged several coast-to-coast a little bit of Woody in his backpack. Wow! 300 residents and is located right on the us in at communications with BOB MARTIN cov- As the Brits would say: “Keep calm and Pacific Ocean beach. There is lots to do: magazine@ ering present reading suggestions, his ex- carry on.” Hope all hands stay healthy and I have been on the Council, and am now amherst.edu. periences as a senior lifeguard at Jones continue to support our friends in Texas. the chair of the Finance & Budget Com- Beach (on Long Island), his regular visit > GERRY REILLY mittee and also of the Benevolence Com- to their place in Arizona for September [email protected] mittee. It is quite a change from living at and then a 20-day cruise planned for De- our home in Flintridge, Calif., (adjacent to cember. No rocking chair for the old pilot. 1950 Pasadena) very happily for 44 years. We My “label king,” CHAN OAKES, just have been visited here by PAUL COONEY turned 90 and, for some odd reason, is It’s not because Vera and ED ROWEN love and CHUCK WINANS and their spouses. daily reminded that he is not quite the the 120-degree heat that they are spend- HARVEY and Lucy HOPKINS live close by ever-youthful lad he was for so long, ing the summer in Arizona; Ed is unable in Rancho Santa Fe, and we see them of- and wonders how this phenomenon came to fly back to their Guilford, Conn., home ten. San Diego is a great place to visit, so about so swiftly. Don’t we all? on the shore “until he regains his strength give us a call when you are here and we From sunny California, LEE REDFIELD from a stroke which was followed by five will show you around.” admits to some of this but stays “young” falls. Ed’s doctor diagnosed his problem PAUL MARIER recalls “Amherst’s life recalling his memories of Amherst. Were as ‘a severe case of ‘TMB’ (too many goals: Perform with hard work and in- it all that easy. birthdays)!”—a frailty all of us share with tegrity, improve country and community, One who thinks it might be is DON RIEF- you, Ed, but that you both deal with it sets highest value for family and friends.” LER, visiting his Harbor Springs hideaway us all a model of equanimity. RAY VIGNEAULT: “I treasure the mem- in Michigan before returning to his lush This time around, I invited classmates ories of Amherst in the 1940s but greatly home in Florida. to share “any lifelong grasp you value regret its departure from Judeo-Christian Totally optimistic and young at heart, on some reality which you trace to your morality in the last 70 years. My greatest LINN PERKINS sends a reminder to all Amherst years.” I assured them also that joy, [derived] from faith in Jesus Christ, ’49-ers that our 70th reunion is just two “we’d all welcome your sharing any grati- has guided me for more than 30 years.” years away, set for May 2019. No com- tude you feel for having focused on some JACK WALKER: “The good news here is ment from your secretary, lest we jinx method to ‘keep in shape’—physically, or that our grandson Henry Walker, the son this occasion. mentally, or in spirit.” of Will Walker ’86, is on his way to Am- Recalling a bit of College history, PE- From Montana, former tennis star RICH herst as a member of the class of 2020!” TER TALBOT remembered Professor GRANT offered these answers: “Four REED STEWART: “Amherst led me to Salmon’s role with the army in Europe and fleeting magical years / Packard, Sprague, teaching overseas—first to Liberia and his advisory role for “cultural preserva- Salmon, Ziegler, Green—all developed in then to Kenya. That led to Clark Univer- tion” with Gen. Eisenhower. After fire- me a love of learning + teaching. Bless sity degrees in geography and anthropol- bombing Kassel, they chose not to bomb them! DKE House—joy! Working on gui- ogy and thus to a long-lasting college pro- nearby Marburg, where Pete’s wife had tar. Gym three times a week. Still in love fessorship. Who could ask for anything gone to school. with wonderful wife.” more?” (Astounding parallel to EDGE

AMHERST FALL 2017 51 1950–1953

QUAINTANCE’s professional career, BRAILEY (address unknown if still alive) oak forest—with great views of Mount which began with teaching English at and next door to CHARLIE CHAPIN. Monadnock north in New Hampshire. Robert College, Istanbul, and ended five Always the competitor, but with his Polly works on her Emily Dickinson bi- years ago with a professorship teaching Olympic yacht racing days in the past, ography, and Chuck on his book on the literature to undergrads and, in noncredit DON COHAN decided to liven up last founding of Hampshire College. As their courses, folks over 50, through Rutgers summer by acquiring a 40-year-old 90s approach, they may move full-time to University.) Etchells racing sailboat and competing their Amherst condo. They enjoy August JOHN MUNN III: “Joann and I manage in the Martha’s Vineyard Cup three-day at their Cape Cod cottage, anticipating to keep busy with three children, eight racing event. One of his grandchildren, visits with DAVE SHELDON and JOHN and grandchildren, and three great-grand- an Amherst grad, served as half of his Nancy KENDALL. Traveling focuses on children—with more on the way, prob- two-person crew. Racing was canceled trips to visit daughters in Seattle and San ably. I do a lot of walking to keep in shape.” the first day due to rough weather. But Francisco. A third daughter is in Boston. DEAN WOODMAN: “My wife, Jane, and with 65 boats competing, Don won the From his desk, AL MOOG can work full- I are in good health and enjoying our new second day and was ahead the third un- time on the Moog Institute finances, but, life in Palm Beach (moved here five years til his boat’s mast broke! Deft use of jib due largely to breathing difficulties, he ago from California). Five children and and spinnaker allowed him still to place finds extensive walking a problem. In eight grandchildren. Still investing in ear- first in his boat class. (I didn’t ask how contrast to years past, he no longer seeks ly stage technology companies—six—all many!) Don figures he’ll do what he can foreign travel or participates much in out- are still alive! No new GoPros yet.” as long as he can, but reported when we door activities. The annual highlight now KINGSLEY SMITH recalls “reading talked in August, and with racing a good for him and his wife, Jean, is the Thanks- Hamlet in separate English classes from month behind, that his hands had just giving season and the arrival of their three “There will both Ted Baird and George Elliott, and recovered sufficiently from handling the children and a large percentage of their be a long but learning how subjective great scholar- boat’s lines, sheets, etc., so he could hold 10 grandchildren. ship can be. Hearing enlightened and a glass of water without shaking! GEORGE SCANLAN and his wife, Bar- unimportant plausible religion from John Coburn and DAVE FULTON remains the jovial per- bara, remain comfortable in their retire- meeting of Robert Brown in chapel, and later from sonality we all recall, but was slowed ment community home near Wilming- James Martin in a seminar on Niebuhr down by a heart attack last April. Stents ton, Del. George’s eyesight problems the Apathy and William Temple. Learning both the and related treatment have been quite are such that he leaves driving to Barbara League depth and joy of scholarship from John successful, and he is back in full swing and uses a Kindle for reading. They par- Moore, the most winsome genius I’ve in his retirement community activities af- ticipate in duplicate bridge sessions with sometime ever known. Joe Barber initiating me ter spending last winter and early spring local friends. Long-distance trips are not after supper. into modern literature with Joyce and in Florida. Worn-out knee joints create on the agenda. They feel fortunate that Eliot. The cocktail party at Kappa Theta walking problems. A cane helps, but golf- two of their three children live close by. Attendance is where I met Breezy Evans, blind date of ing days may be over. Three of four chil- DAVE SHELDON was packing for his an- required but a Williams friend down for the 1948 Big dren live in the nearby Cleveland area. nual trip east when we talked last sum- Game; she was Smith ’51 and became my SKIP HUNZIKER is settled in with his mer. Among other stops on his itinerary, not urged.” wife 66 years ago.” And when Kingsley wife, Norma, at their Martha’s Vineyard he visits CHUCK and Polly LONGSWORTH and KELL SMITH roomed in Pratt, they home year-round. They hoped to get to at their Cape Cod summer spot. Fishing came upon a Harvard Crimson article homecoming this fall. He has an aide each for striped bass (apparently known to fish- about “The Student Apathy League” day who reads him the newspapers, etc. ermen as “stripes”) from shallow beach that sounded like a good idea for Am- The availability of audiobooks is a big waters is usually on the agenda. During herst “as an alternative to the hyperac- plus. Norma grew up on the island, so she the year at home on Bainbridge Island tivity epitomized by GEORGE ATHANA- has plenty of friends and relatives nearby. off the Seattle coast, Dave keeps in shape SON of blessed memory. BURT RANDALL RAY JONES remains active in his bar- with canoeing, swimming and running. and CHOLLY PENNIMAN were among the bershop quartet, singing to civic, church DICK SNODGRASS spent last summer charter members, Cholly arranging for and other groups in the central Oregon at his vacation home on Mount Desert Is- this announcement in Valentine: ‘There area. He was recently recognized by the land, just off the Maine coast. His place, will be a long but unimportant meeting of National Barbershop Society for his 50 plus that of one daughter, and another the Apathy League sometime after sup- years of continuous performances. He previously owned by his deceased par- per. Attendance is required but not urged.’ plans to continue singing until they carry ents that Dick still owns, all sit beside I later tried to open a branch in the Marine him off the stage. He also sings the praises the island’s largest lake and provide lots Corps, but we could never get onto the of his home base in Bend, a town of some of space for Dick’s four other children, Plan of the Day.” 100,000 about 3,400 feet above sea level, grandchildren and two great-grandchil- PAUL COONEY reports: “In 2015, just replete with skiers in winter and vacation- dren, all of whom come and go at one time after reunion, I found out I had a cancer in ers in summer. or another during the summer months. my prostate gland—recurrent from 2002. I caught ART LICHTENBERGER as he Dick has fully recovered from his physi- I am receiving the latest chemotherapy and Anne were returning for a few days cal mishap of last year. He appreciates his and we will know in another month how from their summer place in central Ver- good fortune. much good has been done. I am very lim- mont to their retirement community villa Last July, VAN TINGLEY and wife Lucie, ited in my activities, and I resent being in Southwick, Mass. Art sustained a slight at home in Yarmouth, Maine, enjoyed a called an Amherst Mammoth.” Cheers! stroke late in 2016. He has fully recovered, two-week visit with two of their grand- > EDGE QUAINTANCE and his only recollection of the event is children, 9 and 11, traveling with their > [email protected] the long, bumpy ambulance ride from mom from the Denver area. This October Vermont to Westfield, Mass. They try to they planned to cruise up the Rhone River 1951 keep up with the doings of their seven to Switzerland and then down (or rather grandchildren, who live in seven differ- “up”) the Seine from Paris to the sea, with CARTAN CLARKE left Amherst after our ent states. Two of their children live in the a side trip to Normandy. It’s Denver for freshman year, but still receives this mag- Charlottesville area of Virginia, while the either Thanksgiving or Christmas, and azine at his Sea Island, Ga., retirement third is in New Hampshire. then skiing close to home this winter. No facility. He uses a wheelchair, but hearing CHUCK LONGSWORTH reports that he real health problems, so go while you can! and eyesight are good, and he gets about and Polly are in good health and spend Both ALLAN TULL and his wife, Elaine, with his wife, Helen, doing the driving. most of the year at their 450-acre “farm” have been coping with heart problems Cartan was in Morrow Dormitory near AL in Royalston, Mass.—mostly pine and this year. With medical appointments

52 AMHERST FALL 2017 at center stage, they postponed their felled by a stroke, our dear little cat of The class is fortunate to have widows usual cruise vacations until 2018. When 21 years died, I had to stop driving and whose love for the class and the College I called in midsummer they had just cel- sold my VW Golf, also gave up my bicy- continues. CHUCK BEECHING’s wife, Ma- ebrated their 65th wedding anniversary, cle, but now in rehab and counting my rie, writes, “Sorry to have missed reunion. with close-by daughter and also son many blessings, which include 60 years It was the 25th for daughter Karen Beech- from “back east” in attendance. Allan of happy marriage, a comfortable farming Giorgio ’92 as well! I am so grateful to still drives around the Dallas area, but house in a handsome city, frequent visits ALASTER MACDONALD for recruiting her not like the Texas natives, who he says by beautiful parrots and a library of inter- those many years ago! All is well here in put “pedal to the metal” at every chance. esting books.” Lexington[, Mass.]. P.S. Karen bartended When reached last July, JACK VANDE- Comments DICK SODER: “Still in North that 40th reunion in ’92!” VATE reported that he and his wife, Ann, Carolina and reporting (from four daugh- And from BIRGITTA WILSON: “My hus- were in the midst of preparing for their ters) eight grandsons and one grand- band, WILLIAM H. WILSON, died Dec. 2, move to Marietta, Ga., in August to be daughter and now six great-grandsons 2016. He was very proud to be an alum- closer to one of their sons. Another son and one great-granddaughter, scattered nus of Amherst.” We encourage Birgitta lives near Athens, Ga. Like many of us, all over: France, New Hampshire, North to attend the October class function at they figured the time had come to pack Amherst. JOHN HERZOG up after 51 years at their eastern Ten- “Always a smile on his face , “Zog” to all of us, is DAVE KEAST nessee homestead and to move farther and an upbeat approach to writing an obit for in the Amherst south, nearer two-thirds of their family. life.” In Memory section of . They (A daughter lives in Iowa.) Jack’s devotion were co-members of Kappa Theta, and to his unpredictable golf game is giving roommates at Amherst and in Beacon way to more time at duplicate bridge. Carolina, San Francisco, Utah and Ken- Hill. Dave met his wife, Estelle, through The College The College advises that Beselot Birha- tucky. A big female-to-male trend going a girl Zog was dating. The Keasts and the advises that nu ’17 from the Bronx, N.Y., was awarded on!” Herzogs are near neighbors in the Boston the THOMAS H. WYMAN Prize last spring. GORDY HALL writes, “I’ve finally come area and have kept in touch over the years. Beselot Beselot majored in anthropology. She to my senses. When I quit sailboat racing Another blessed soul is BOB ROMER, Birhanu ’17, an seeks a dual degree in medicine and pub- in 2014 I bought a motor yacht, thinking who has agreed to do an obit for NORM lic health and then to practice emergency that I’d run around the NE coast visiting DOELLING. This was a request from anthropology medicine. I have her “thank-you letter” friends. Not only have I not done that, I JEANNIE DOELLING, Norm’s widow, who major from the that I can email to those who would like haven’t used it for anything else either. So is planning to attend the Oct. 6–7 mini to read more about her. I’ve put it on the market and gone after reunion. She’ll be staying at the Romer Bronx, N.Y., Last summer, we lost both JOHN a cruising, live-aboard sailboat, which is homestead in Amherst. was awarded “MOOSE” MCGRATH and TED NUGENT. what I should have done in the first place. The backstory here, Bob explains, is: the Thomas H. HOBIE CLEMINSHAW has composed a I’m in hopes it will be life-prolonging.” “I can never fully pay back for the many piece for John found in the In Memory From ALASTER MACDONALD: With times in the ’80s when I crashed at their Wyman ’51 Prize section of this issue, and this reporter, pleasant memories of the 65th, he and Sue house while my late wife was getting last spring. with assistance from GARY HOLMAN, are “now creating new summer memo- chemo at Mass General, and then in the has done the same for Ted. ries at our cottage in Small Point, Maine. ’90s when I was running marathons, > EVERETT E. CLARK One memory I can do without is a bit of spending about 10 marathon weekends [email protected] Lyme disease I contracted gardening. The at their house. They live at about the 16.5- social pace picks up through August, and mile mark, just at the start of the dreaded 1952 then we return to Chevy Chase[, Md.,] to Newton Hills.” Yes, Bob has been running prepare to cruise up the Danube from Bu- marathons and teaching physics all these Mercifully, only one departure to report dapest to Prague. (Got a good rate on a years! since the summer notes. PAUL GEITHNER starboard oar.) Hoping to make the Oc- The customary kudos to BOB SKEELE, JR., a class stalwart, passed away on Aug. tober class gathering.” our president and treasurer, who not only 1. A celebration of his life was held in Sara- EARL TAFT’s miraculous lifestyle con- organized the 65th but stepped right back sota, Fla., on Oct. 27. An obituary will ap- tinues. He and Hessy are back in New in to put together the fall mini reunion. pear in Amherst in due course. NICK EV- York from a semester at UC Berkeley. He does it all. ANS wrote, “Always a smile on his face This summer they were in Washington, From your co-secretary: The citizens and an upbeat approach to life.” where Hessy ran a symposium on water of Martin County, Fla., just defeated a These classmates just missed the sum- at a meeting of the American Chemical proposition to increase the sales tax from mer notes deadline: Society. Then back to New York for the US 6 to 7 percent to finance various environ- TED BEDFORD writes, “One can still Open. Hessy continues at the Museum of mental projects. So much for the pock- smile when observing a 65th wedding an- Natural History. etbook bowing to socially responsible niversary even if classmates who attend- Earl retired last spring but is still do- public works. All the best to this very ed the ceremony unfortunately cannot ing mathematical research, working special class. join the observance, or be amazed when with younger colleagues, and bridge > JOEL FAIRMAN a great-granddaughter at 18 months re- and Hebrew conversation. Next January [email protected] cites the alphabet in song. Sorry to have it’s the national meeting of the American missed the reunion.” Mathematical Society in San Diego. For 1953 From JOHN SIHLER in Eugene, Ore.: Hessy it’s the first meeting of the Atlan- “Still around. Wish I could get east to a tic Basin Conference on Chemistry in Jazz was an important part of ED reunion. My memories of Amherst are Cancún, Mexico. Then back to NYC to BONOFF’s life back in student days, and great! Bless you.” prepare for a spring 2018 trip to Israel it still is. For some 30 years, Ed has gath- “Sorry I couldn’t make our 65th re- and Paris. They are hoping to attend the ered musician friends at his home every union,” writes SANDY SCHREIBER. “I annual New York spring class dinner. As Tuesday for rehearsal. Last Jan. 17, they planned to, but a GI bug put me down for a to family, one granddaughter is begin- went to a studio in Greenwich, Conn., week and it was too much. All better now. ning her junior year at Tulane and will to record 11 of Ed’s compositions and On to the 70th.” He added a P.S.: “In a go to Austria for the second semester. A arrangements under the banner of Ed retirement home and loving it.” grandson is entering UC Berkeley. Boy- Bonoff’s Rhythm Devils Jazz Band. If a And from Australia’s DAVE PFANNER: girl twin grandchildren are starting their description is needed, call it small-band “2017 did not begin well for me; I was senior years and visiting colleges. swing. The resulting CD, a labor of love,

AMHERST FALL 2017 53 1953–1955

is called Loon Walk. Ed will generously From Bozman, Md., on the Eastern 1 administered to us on Jan. 28, 1950. It’s provide a copy to any who drop him a Shore of Chesapeake Bay, BOB MASON the Hostile Indians deal. Classmates who line. Please see the alumni directory for writes: “We are still in the waterfront would like a copy can make a request to Ed’s address or call the alumni office at house we built over 30 years ago to retire me via email and include some personal 413-542-2313. into. However, with arthritis and many news. A note from president DAVE BLACK- other things, we are about to move to a > GEORGE GATES BURN: “Sharon and I are doing OK. I don’t senior community where everything is [email protected] walk too well anymore, for a variety of done for you. We are starting to clean reasons, but that doesn’t keep me from out the house—ugh!” Bob is still making 1954 playing duplicate bridge several times a boat models, for sale at the Chesapeake week. It’s nice to have something I can Bay Maritime Museum. Sad to say, we have recently lost two more still do reasonably well!” After 20 years as a volunteer docent classmates. STEWART ANDERSON VER- BOB KIELY keeps going. He has the at the renowned Washington National NOOY, M.D., a well-respected and innova- “emeritus” title in the Harvard English Cathedral, JACK CHAMBERLAIN has tive physician in central New York State, department, but he is still teaching. This stepped down, leaving behind such re- died in his Venice, Fla., home on Feb. sponsibilities as leading tours, taking 20. An In Memory piece was crafted by money and answering questions. Jack and DAVE TAPLEY and appeared in the sum- Marietje traveled to Iceland last year and mer issue, and, more recently, WILLARD On the Rhodes take frequent trips to her native Holland. J. “PETE” MORSE, M.D.’s death on Dec. 2, TOM JOYCE and Barbara have been 2016, was reported to the College. He was 1954: Jim Barnes, on his way with Patience to their sum- splitting their time between Florida and a non-graduate, but subsequently did re- mer cottage on Gull Lake, Minn., sent along the news that a home in the Connestee Falls community ceive undergraduate and medical degrees his memoir, Unforeseen: The First Blind Rhodes Scholar, near Brevard, N.C., but they plan to put from University of Vermont. He also had will be published later this year. A must-read for ’54-ers. the North Carolina property on the mar- a long career in medicine, as an ob/gyn ket. They would then be living all year in and FAA physician. TOM BLACKBURN, a gated community called Ravinia Villas who had been in contact with him, has fall he is teaching a freshman seminar on in Tampa, Fla. “I have no major health prepared his In Memory piece. “Beauty and Christianity” and a gradu- problems, but I’m starting to slow down On May 27, son Bruce ’89 and I, along ate seminar in “Rhetoric and Belief.” a bit,” Tom told me. with one of my grandsons, ventured over Bob enjoyed the 25th reunion of Adams Also from North Carolina, LARRY to Amherst for another off-cycle reunion House Harvard class of ’92. He writes: “I DECAROLIS writes: “I’m happy to report visit. We missed connecting with co-sec- was house master of Adams (preceded Betsy and I continue to enjoy life in a con- retary BOB ABRAMS, who had been there by Reuben Brower) when they were stu- tinuing-care retirement community here the previous two days, in part to attend an dents. I actually remembered most of in Durham. Health issues are well under event presented by his daughter Annah their faces, though not all their names. control with the help of a top-notch medi- ’87 on the 26th, but again were rejuve- It was a particularly talented group: doc- cal center at Duke. My most fun activity at nated by the visit and the programs that tors, lawyers, writers, a theater director, present is playing ping-pong (especially we attended. musicians, the poetry editor of The New when beating someone younger than For me, it was wonderful to have lunch Yorker, the founder-pianist of Pink Mar- me). I’m looking forward to ‘pickleball’ and catch up with Mal Druskin ’52, whom tini and the star singer.” coming to our facility next year.” (Scribe’s I also followed to NYU Med and hadn’t And then there’s BILL PRITCHARD, note: Pickleball is yet another of those hit- seen in a very long time, and to say “Hi” who is still teaching at Amherst despite something-over-the-net games.) to Mickey Schultz ’57, whose brother Tony emeritus status. His course this fall is STEVE JACOBSON writes that he has ’55 had been my roommate junior year at “Great English Writers from Ben Jonson completed writing two full-length plays Phi Gam. Mal and Mickey were there for to Samuel Johnson.” Bill has been doing in the last two years. Steve has bought a their 65th and 60th! lots of reviews lately and is planning to new house in East Hampton on Long Is- Bob sent along a note from HERRY CAT- make another collection of them. land and sold the old one. He continues: TELL that he received too late for the last FRANK WURMAN, living outside Phila- “I am still collecting art. The collection issue. Herry wonders if there would be delphia, still practices law, but on a part- is now in three houses—in Manhattan, any interest in an informal 64th reunion, time basis. “I still serve some old clients East Hampton and Miami Beach. I’m when he could also finally visit Emily when they have things that need to be doing it for the love of art, since I’m too Dickinson’s house (!) and where we might done,” Frank told me. In June, Frank and old to worry about investment values. I have a small gathering of those who could Nancy took a cruise on the Seine, starting travel to art fairs in London and Paris and make it to Amherst for the free lodging, in Paris and winding up in Normandy to found out on a trip to Russia before the reasonable meals and stimulating events. see the beaches and grave sites of the D- election how much they love DT there, He reports that, despite two knee re- Day invasion. There were great side trips although a Senegalese doorman at a posh placements, fused arthritic ankles and to places like Claude Monet’s gardens at Russian hotel thought otherwise. I am a repaired right rotator cuff—successful Giverny, Frank said. happily married to Susan, who’s spent products of his orthopedic colleagues—he BOB CHIPMAN checked in from Fernan- her whole life in the art world and has a still plays golf several days a week. He also dina Beach on Amelia Island in northeast great eye for quality art.” tells us that he and Bobbie, who is also Florida, where he and Edie are pleased This from BLAKE CADY: “Electric car in well, attend frequent symphony events at with condo life. Still, the two have enough garage—now I don’t have to apologize to the Kennedy Center, so well managed by health issues to have chalked up “some children and grandchildren for not having MARSHALL RUTTER’s daughter. 55” doctor visits this year through mid- done enough for their planet. There is still Thanks to DICK STURTEVANT for re- July, resulting in “obscene” expenses. much to do in years to come.” minding us what it was like “back in the Bob writes: “One of our main activities From South Carolina, we have this up- day”! Lots of memories. CARL APTHORP seems to be ‘restauranting.’ We have, beat note from JACK WALTER: “Life is calls our attention to an article in the July/ most days, reduced our meals to two good. Lucky with good health, good fami- August issue of (gulp) Harvard Magazine and find breakfast and a second meal ly, good golf. Being moved to this amazing entitled “An Educated Core: Rethink- late in the day (name it what you will) to city of Greenville 50 years ago has been a ing What Liberal Arts Undergraduates be quite adequate. The island has dozens continuing delight.” Ought to Learn and How.” He opines on and dozens of interesting restaurants of Shuffling among old stuff, your scribe how it vindicates Teddy Baird’s ideas that all stripes.” located a copy of the final exam of English drove our core curriculum and notes that

54 AMHERST FALL 2017 teaching with a focus toward employment a week in the old Borscht Belt Catskills any and all news and hope that all of you has left the humanities a casualty. More town of Kerhonkson to attend the North enjoy keeping up with classmates as our memories! American Jewish Choral Festival, fol- numbers continue to dwindle. SETH DUBIN and Barbara flew to Lon- lowed by a trip to California to visit his I’m looking forward to a nine-game NE- don in mid-June for the memorial of daughter and a new great-granddaugh- SCAC football season and resuming my Anthony King, a friend for 55 years and ter and also to visit an ill friend who is reporting to all. And I continue to parrot Britain’s leading expert on British and a mutual friend of DON LINDBERG. BILL the words of my son Bruce, class secretary American political structures and elec- BRADFORD and GENE SPECTOR are still for 1989: “With love for Amherst and the tions, for whom Seth gave one of the at it, too. Any I have missed? class of 1954.” eulogies in the Houses of Parliament. In After receiving an Amherst News an- > HANK TULGAN July, they spent three weeks at their announcement on the new course called [email protected] nual visit to the chamber music festival “Latinx,” he suggests adding one called DAVE SIMPSON in Marlborough, Vt. “Evils of the USA.” re- 1955 DEAN LAUX checked in to report attend- sponded, “Who needs a course? They’re ing his oldest granddaughter’s wedding plain to be seen all around us. (Which is CURT BARNES is still building houses in Denver. She has a Ph.D. in child psy- not to say there are no virtues.)” on Nantucket Island. Over the past two chology and her husband is about to re- Another recent traveling couple, Jan decades, he figures he has built over 150 ceive his, so they will be a doctor-doctor and DEAN BUTTS, enjoyed a nine-day houses. The construction business was couple. The book Dean has been work- Rhine River Viking cruise starting in an outgrowth from the real estate office ing on, entitled From Hell to Heaven, has Basel, Switzerland, and ending in Am- he and his late wife had on Nantucket. been published. I have ordered a copy and sterdam. Those cruises are legendary. Curt is a construction supervisor licensed will give a review in a future column. In Paula and DAVID KIRSCH made their by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Florida, Dean continues to write a regular annual visit to Truro, Cape Cod, in Au- He spends about a third of his time as the 1955: The Lucie column called “Remembrances” for the gust with their four adult children and appointed verger at St. Paul’s Episcopal Awards named Boca Beacon and to volunteer at Venice spouses and eight grandchildren, in- Church there. Steve Schapiro Regional Hospital. But he has also re- cluding granddaughter Allie, who has For the past nine years, TICK LITCH- Photojournalist of cently expressed some interest that he just received her MBA from Peking Uni- FIELD has lived at a retirement center in the Year for 2017. and Micki have in returning to Massachu- versity in Shenzhen, China, where she Pompton Plains, N.J. He uses a battery- Steve recently gave setts, where they still have family. Am- has lived for five years, becoming fluent driven wheelchair to motor to the dining a talk and a show of herst, perhaps, where GEORGE WATSON in both writing and speaking Chinese. hall to pick up his meals and bring them his civil rights pho- and CarlyJean already have relocated. The Kirsches will have had their annual back to his room. Tick is still a voracious tographs at the new DAVE ESTY has forwarded the interest- reunion with SAM GOTOFF and his chil- reader, now reading about 25 books a National Museum of ing saga in which he assisted Rebecca Se- dren and grandchildren—three genera- year. Tick was a history teacher before African American gal to receive credit for ROTC courses she tions of friendship! he moved into administration, so most History and Culture had taken before transferring to Amherst Nice to receive a brief note from STEVE books relate to history. in Washington, D.C. so as to graduate on time with the class WHITMORE, who reports that he is “still Although JAN FARR is “partially re- of 2017—and become the first commis- kickin’”! tired,” he still goes daily to the Syracuse sioned ROTC (Army) product in so very Bob has also passed along a message office of the law firm where he has worked long. Apparently, Amherst had never from JON ROSENTHAL that he suggested for over 20 years. He regularly arrives by taken steps to designate ROTC courses was not worthy of a class note—but it is, 10 a.m., but rarely will stay after 3 p.m. Jan unaccredited after our AFROTC program as all contributions are. He relates that he has a couple of clients, one a municipal ceased operating! As I recall, Rebecca had and Bernice have been spending the win- group with health plans where he is the a table at Pratt Field during homecoming ter months in what was Bernice’s studio secretary. He gives some advice and at- last fall for veterans (and others) to visit. in Amherst to avoid the dark Maine win- tends meetings and conferences. PETE ROGERS commented positively ters. This year they will be reclaiming the HANK COON lives in South Dartmouth, on the common-sense decision that the house and renting out the studio. Their Mass., with his sister-in-law. They take College finally made, CARL PELLMAN architect son, who relocated from Oregon annual visits to Florida and Arizona shouted, “Brava,” and I only said, “Bra- to Maine, only 40 miles from their home and usually have a couple of trips in the vo.” (How many of us have listed “Vet- there, lures them back from Amherst in backlog. Hank has been researching and erans” in the Affinities section on the more favorable weather. compiling a family history to pass along Amherst website, as I have?) Congratulations to RON COPSEY and to his children. This now includes 16 fam- Pete tells us that, in the early ’60s, he MAURY LONGSWORTH for getting 81.8 ily lines going back to the 1600s. Having and Betty spent seven consecutive Christ- percent of our now 116 classmates to moved to the Boston area, he had to con- mases in different homes. After Betty contribute to the recent record-breaking vert to being a Red Sox fan. died in 2012, he moved from Scottsdale, alumni fund drive! FRAN and Maureen RAINEY live in Ariz., to Minneapolis to a rented condo Kudos to Biddy Martin for her mes- Oklahoma City and are Oklahoma Uni- with one kitchen drawer, then tried and sage on the disastrous white suprema- versity football fans. Now that an NBA flunked senior living and now is in a three- cist march in Charlottesville, Va. We take team is in their city, they often attend bedroom townhouse. He says, “Lessons pride in her communication. Her words several of the Thunder games. This past learned: [moving] is more expensive and befitted a president—and, thankfully, she winter the Raineys went to Cabo San Lu- takes longer than you think.” is ours. Several of you sent notes about cas with their eldest son and spent the RAY and Maria TURNER, also always on the day and words of praise for Biddy; I Christmas holidays in Florida with their the go, took a three-week trip to Croatia hope that I am remembering all who did: youngest son. They returned east in Feb- and London and then returned for anoth- CARL PELLMAN, TOM ARMSTRONG, TAD ruary to see their actress daughter-in-law er visit to “adult summer camp” at Chau- POWELL, DAVE ESTY and MARSH RUT- in a show. tauqua in August. Hoping to connect with TER, who sent a recollection of being in RON TONIDANDEL and son Jeff, the them when they come up from D.C. to see Spain at another troubled time, in 1939, number-one seeds, won the USTA Na- their grandson, who will be a freshman. followed up by a lighthearted list of amus- tional Ultra (over age 80) Father-Son Your secretary isn’t the only octogenar- ing insults. Hard Court Championship in Claremont, ian doc still employed! CARL PELLMAN Bob, who has alerted us to the multiple Calif., on June 11. It was a hard-fought spends several days a week in his new po- attempts to resurrect a mammoth (!), will match in which the winners trailed 1–3 sition as a urologist at the Northport, N.Y., be up for our next column at rabrams19@ in the first set and 2–4 in the second set. VA hospital. In July, he and Doris spent comcast.com. As always, we appreciate The final score was 7–5, 6–4.

AMHERST FALL 2017 55 1955–1956

CHARLIE KOPP still practices law in of water sports and also help Hod out utes, according to our man in Sylva. Philadelphia, although, he says, not as around the house and yard. Since the last notes, we’ve lost JIM much as in the past. For 35 years he has When possible, HUGH and Katie JENKINS, whose short obit is in the In been involved in the world of politics, pri- MOULTON enjoy traveling—especially Memory section, along with one for DOUG marily as a fundraiser. Charlie laments on “smaller” cruise boats. Two years ago, HAWKINS, of whose passing last Novem- how much politics has changed—from they flew to Greenland and then sailed ber we received a belated notification. just “contact sport” to vicious and full of on the long-sought Northwest Passage to The 60th birthday of a volleyball team- anger. Charlie reports he enjoys sticking Alaska, thanks to melting of the ice cap mate from TED RODGERS’ stay at the Uni- around the Philadelphia area, where he near the North Pole. The summer of 2016 versity of Cambridge, England, brought has many friends and a great “support found the Moultons spending two weeks Ted and Barb recently to the Bay Area. system.” on the Baltic Sea, leaving from and return- “Yes! I played on the Cambridge Univer- Though JOHN LEWIS was “somewhat” ing to Copenhagen. This year took them sity VB varsity during a sabbatical year, reluctant to move into a retirement com- to Lake Como and northern Italy. 1977–78. Beat Oxford in the varsity match munity four years ago, he now admits he While in Paris recently, ANDREW in five sets at Crystal Palace to earn my likes it. He and Cathy enjoy the wide vari- PIERRE and his wife had the great Cambridge half blue tie.” Your secretary ety of activities there and interacting with pleasure of being invited by STEVE and bride joined the Rodgerses for an en- other residents. John is able to continue KIRSCHENBAUM to his most attractive joyable meal in downtown San Francisco, his involvement with Cleveland’s Play- and interesting art-filled apartment for where they spoke of an all-family (20 to- house Square Foundation. He remains an elegant Sunday lunch. Steve lives on tal) get-together in Seattle in August, in- on the board of this organization, which the Seine in the center of Paris. The apart- cluding the Hungarian members of the is responsible for bringing good shows to ment is on the Avenue de New York, with family, who would be flying in from Bu- When the over 1 million customers each year. a magnificent view including the Eiffel dapest. While continuing at their digs on route for a RICHARD BAUM is a retired pediatrician Tower. Andrew closes his report with “I’ll the backside of Oahu, Ted and Barb are living in Denver. He reads about history confess—I’m jealous.” looking into downsizing from their Seat- fundraising and cartography. Richard has developed C.R. ROGERS rides his trusty three- tle home into a retirement community in bicycling a late-life romance with a lady friend who speed bicycle all around Cambridge, the area, where their three daughters and lives on Sanibel Island on the west coast Mass., and tries to walk an hour a day to families reside. event in July of Florida. On Sanibel, Richard partici- keep his leg bones in shape. From a soc- IRV GROUSBECK comments briefly: had to be pates in discussion groups, one of which cer player background at Amherst, C.R. “We love the trade.” he compares to our sophomore “Ameri- follows English Premier League “foot- Your secretary had a nice lengthy chat shortened to can Studies” course. Richard also enjoys ball” and is a Manchester United fan. with Weeza, RUSS KNOWLES’ widow. 77 miles due taking photographs of the many birds and C.R. continues with jazz piano lessons. Russ was a nuclear submarine command- to washouts, alligators one finds there. A former member of the Zumbyes as an er with more than three years logged un- JIM and Nina HANKS live in Mashpee undergraduate, he is trying to learn to ac- derwater. Weeza was four years Russ’ se- Dave Lemal on Cape Cod and had a boat, which Jim company himself on the piano. nior, yet sounds like she is his daughter. ’55 added enjoyed using and did his own mainte- We are sorry to report that DON MAC- Like Russ, she is an athlete and still plays nance on, primarily because he did not DOUGALL died in June. See the remem- an occasional set of tennis—not bad for another 23 like how others did it! Recently Jim had brance for Don in the In Memory section. a recent great-grandmother, courtesy of miles at the a clamshell driveway installed. This was > ROB SOWERSBY her youngest son, Russell III. All her chil- a disappointment, since he had visions [email protected] dren—Tim, Beth, Ginger and Russ—are end, because of digging enough clams to pave it; what on the East Coast with their families. he had trained he had accumulated fell well short of the 1956 Easily the most mentioned subject supply needed. among the class communications I have for the 100! When the 100-mile route for a fund- Pyongyang, Charlottesville and Houston received recently is the questionable raising bicycling event in July had to be don’t make it pleasant or easy to keep up choice of the new College mascot. In shortened to 77 miles due to washouts, with the news. The doings of the great honor of that event, our poet laureate, DAVE LEMAL added another 23 miles at class of 1956 should provide slightly bet- ARNIE POLTENSON, has risen to the oc- the end because he had trained for the ter reading. casion and delivered an appropriate opus. 100! Although Dave was passed by a great JERRY HARVEY reports that he has Originally your secretary wanted to in- number of riders, he finished sooner than been expressing apologies and sympathy clude Arnie’s “Requiem” in the ’56 class in 2016. He raised the fourth highest to friends and relatives in Texas for the notes in the summer issue of Amherst, but amount among the cyclists. Dave’s son damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. Jer- after consulting the secretary’s handbook was there to cheer him on. ry says, “Now I know how anyone named I found a trifecta of guidelines with which This past July SHEP and June SHEP- Katrina probably felt in 2005.” it would run afoul: “Notes should be lim- PARD moved from their longtime home Along these lines, I have been asked if ited to news (1), and should not include in Lake Leelanau, Mich., to an indepen- any ’56ers live in or near Houston. None editorials (2), essays or poems (3).” Thus dent-living retirement community 30 in my records. The College shows we have it is available only via email and snail mail miles away. The Sheppards are taking three Texans: JOE DUNWOODY in San An- upon request. advantage of the many activities offered tonio; JOE MOLDENHAUER in Austin; ARNIE POLTENSON laments the pass- to residents, including concerts. Shep is BOB TRIMBLE in Carrollton, near Dallas. ing of DICK WOLFF, his sophomore room- a member of a monthly book club and The population of Sylva, N.C., is 2,644 mate (along with LARRY YOUNG). “We hosted the group’s September meeting. souls, one of whom is KY SYLVESTER. spent many vacation days with the Wolffs June and Shep are starting the process of Sylva was in the band of solar eclipse to- and the (JAY) JACOBSONS, often at the finding a new church for themselves in tality for about two minutes on that mem- Wolff camp in the Poconos and other Traverse City. orable day, Aug, 21. The experience far times at the Stratford Shakespeare Fes- Although HOD MOSES still has an ac- exceeded Ky’s earlier expectations. The tival in Stratford, Ontario.” tive driver’s license, he has sensibly opt- influx of spectators swelled the popula- In late April, on the president’s 100th ed out from driving anymore. He enjoys tion by a factor of 10 or 12, per Ky’s esti- day in office, JOE DUNWOODY joined watching golf on TV. He also reads a fair mate. The weather was perfect, and the more than 200,000 like-minded protest- amount. Since Hod and Lela live on a lake crowd was very mellow and respectful of ing citizens in Washington, D.C., for the in New London, N.H., they seem to attract the environment and each other. Totality People’s Climate March. He quipped that family visitors more often in the summer! itself was spectacular and much akin to his favorite protest sign was attached to Their children and grandchildren partake dark twilight, an unforgettable two min- a dog and read “Alternative Cat.” Back

56 AMHERST FALL 2017 home Joe had his letter to the editor pub- I was greeted by STEVE DAVIS at the beautiful, soul-inspiring Champlain Val- lished in the June 14 edition of the San Northampton train station. Steve drove ley. Early morning swims and lots of hik- Antonio Express—News. me cheerfully to Chi Psi. I was so sur- ing provide all the stimulation I need. And ED DIBBLE advises: “Still in good prised that such a young student could now we are back home with the glorious health; active in Springfield College’s own such a big car! A few months later I Wisconsin autumn weather to keep us seniors’ program, teaching and reading joined Chi Psi. In April 1956 when I was moving.” poetry in spring and fall semesters, plus putting final touches on my economics From RANDY TYLER: “To celebrate my organizing bus trips and luncheons for thesis for Professor Thorp, they decided 83rd birthday I spent five beautiful August members. In August I preached on the I should offer a ‘pin’ to Marianne, a senior days in the rural town of Westport, Mass., 300th anniversary of the church on Long at Mount Holyoke. Together for 61 years, where my daughter and her husband had Island where I served in the ’60s. Calista we have a wonderful family: Marianne just bought a waterside cottage. A boat and I will travel to Cuba in January with and I, three daughters (one an engineer, trip around the Westport harbor and an Road Scholars.” one a neurologist and one an environ- open-air luncheon at a local winery were From Bumblebee BOB WEIL: “We still mentalist), plus eight grandchildren and just two of many memorable events.” go back to Santa Fe every 90 days. … Still a 1-year-old great-granddaughter. A recent driving trip to Southern Cali- have the Restaurant and family to look “The whole Roos family celebrated my fornia found Ruth and PETER LEVISON at. … My son Robb now has seven grand- 80th birthday, a surprise, on the island of as overnight guests at the Encino home children, which gives me seven great- Porquerolles, off the French coast near of Marcia and DICK VOLPERT and their grandchildren, so try to see them once a Toulon. This summer the weather on the world-class, five-star hospitality, on the year at least. Have a friend who owns a Côte d’Azur has been beautiful but much day of the solar eclipse. Truckloads of townhouse in Santa Fe—he & his wife live too dry—not one drop of rain since May, food, drink and conversation were con- in Valencia, Spain—so I am able to rent probably due to climate change, which sumed, dissected and resurrected far At the People’s when we come back and forth.” your Trump does not recognize. We en- into the night, discussing totality, vital- Climate March To supplement the formal obit for DOUG joyed sailing in our wonderful 94-year- ity, morality, mortality and equality in an HAWKINS: memories of Doug were as a old traditional small wooden fishing boat, attempt to solve a few of the problems of in Washington, very crisp ROTC commander on the pa- which recently was added to the list of the universe. D.C., Joe rade grounds as well as the center (at may- boats with the French official ‘Patrimonia’ With an assist from the magic of tech- be a towering 6 feet, 6 inches) and captain heritage/landmark status.” nology, Dick has been able to maintain his Dunwoody of the Lord Jeffs basketball team. Doug From ROLAND KALLEN: “My phase-out legal activities at roughly half-time, work- ’56’s favorite amazingly still holds three Amherst Col- from the 52 years of professorship posi- ing a lot from home and going to his office lege all-time rebounding records, career tions at Penn started July 1, when I entered only as necessary. He continues to make protest sign was and season! Career rebounds: 844 (1953– a sabbatical year. This will be followed by gains on his remarkable recovery from his attached to a 56); season rebounds: 316 (1954–55); sea- four years half-time and finally emeritus, spinal episode. Fiercely determined, he son rebounds per game: 16.4 (1954–1955). the end stage. It has been said that emeri- works through his rigorous rehab routines dog and read In those days Amherst played only about tus means ‘without merit.’ Steffi and I will several hours daily, every day of the week. “Alternative 20–22 games a year, versus upwards of 26 travel during this period, to Cuba plus Deep in the woods of Green Lake, Wis., now, or 30 if in the playoffs, making his other undecided destinations. your president—the sane one, TIGER WEI- Cat.” records all the more remarkable. “We spent the summer in Wellfleet, LLER—together with HENRY PEARSALL DICK WINSLOW went to his 65th Mount Cape Cod, our second home. This loca- (and unnamed others?), is plotting a ’56 Hermon reunion, which ART RENANDER tion allows the five grandchildren and mini reunion at an as-yet-unknown time also attended. their parents to spend time with us. The and location. As soon as he can get a mini Dick sent his article about his rafting: a area alumni association met, and we reunion chairman approved by the Sen- two-week, 94-mile, 1,500-foot descent of heard Professor Ron Rosbottom discuss ate, we may learn more details. the remote, “tumultuous” Firth River in his next book. Happily, TOM SWATLAND A recent email from the College touts the uppermost western corner of Cana- was there also. a live-streamed lecture by the Rev. Phil- da’s Yukon Territories, to the bone-chill- “A brief visit to Tucson in the middle of lip Jackson ’85, to the incoming class of ing Arctic Ocean. Because of its location, winter allowed us a most enjoyable few 2021, titled “Some Thoughts on Mean- the Firth receives scant attention—per- hours with JACK FEINBERG over an ex- ing and Being (and Mammoths, Old and haps 100 people a year. Dick’s four-boat, tended lunch. He is in great shape and New).” This event is the annual Benjamin 20-person group had to endure torrential looks almost the same as when he left the DeMott Lecture for first-year students, foul weather that caused swollen and im- college in ’56. And he is as curious about made possible by a gift from ALAN LEV- possible rapids. Five or six layers of cloth- many things as always.” ENSTEIN, who established a fund in De- ing were the norm to combat chilly, wind- LARRY YOUNG writes that, last month, Mott’s honor. Good going, Alan. In your swept conditions. The water, though, was “en route to a NASA/National Academy wildest dreams you never expected your pristine and safely drinkable, as the main of Medicine research review in Washing- name would be in the same paragraph as cause of pollution, beavers, find the area ton, D.C., I engaged myself in discussion the Amherst Mammoths. too cold even for them and thus do not with the guy next to me on the flight from On Aug. 25 EUGENE KLEINER opined venture that far north. One narrow riv- Boston. I told him that I was having din- from Seattle that “Trump is not all bad.” er channel consisted of four successive ner with three Amherst classmates—and He refers to his 7-year-old grandson as his Class IV+ rapids, through which only that, no, they were not scientists. In fact, “emotional center, a real kick.” the guides rode in the specially designed one was a judge (SANDY CHAITOVITZ), A nice conversation with ART ELLIS $8,000 rafts. The paying passengers had one was a musician (MIKE RITTER), and found him in good spirits a few hours a treacherous enough scramble around one was a journalist (ROGER WILLIAMS). before attending a Patriots game in Fox- and down the wet rocks to where the rafts ‘How lucky you were to have such diverse boro, Mass. His bypass procedure several were moored. The final optional ritualis- friends from college,’ he said. And later, as years ago has served him well and given tic swim/plunge into the freezing Artic I thought about it in relation to our panel him peace of mind. He is very much in Ocean was eschewed by many passen- at our 60th reunion on the value of a lib- touch with JERRY SOWALSKY, his good gers, including Dick. Bush pilots arrived eral arts education, I was in full agree- friend since the seventh grade, through at the final camp the next morning for a ment. How lucky we all were!” Thomas Weaver High School (Hartford, routine flight back to civilization. JOHN STEPHENS writes: “Carolyn and Conn.), Amherst and the 60-plus years In a note, DANIEL ROOS recalls: I have just returned from eight glorious since. Art also keeps up with the doings “Upon arriving from France on my Guy weeks with most of our family, including of BEN BOLEY and MIKE RABBINO. Art Carlet Fellowship in September 1954, six of our grandchildren, in the absolutely thought the 60th reunion was the best of

AMHERST FALL 2017 57 1957–1958

the many he has attended, and he looks ED GILBERT has had major surgery with the Wielands, the Evers, the Jacksons, forward to our 65th. a lengthy recovery. When Carl spoke with and BARBARA ROUNDS. Lee was reflec- > PETER LEVISON him, he sounded upbeat and was look- tive and mellow (no, it was not post-op [email protected] ing forward to attending the next AC/DC meds!), clearly enjoying his life now that luncheon in September and getting back he’s free of the boards and councils of his 1957 on the golf course. past consultancies for charitable organi- > CARL GRAY zations. We are sad to report the loss of three from [email protected] MARTIN GROSS remains busy at his our class: CARL ANDRUS, GEORGE HACK- > BILL PATRICK law firm. His take is that one has to do ER and STEVE FLOOD. In Memory pieces [email protected] something; it’s essential to his health and for Carl and George appear in this issue. well-being. He has resisted any tempta- An In Memory piece for Steve will appear 1958 tion to immerse himself in computers, in a later issue. George attended our 60th and he refused to get too excited when reunion in May, and we are so glad that The Summer 2017 issue of Amherst ar- the school he helped build while serving we got to talk with him then. rived three days after I started my calls as board president was recently entirely Following reunion, REN and Marilyn for these news notes. I took the time to replaced because it had neither a pool nor HOLLINSHEAD traditionally host fellow note that Mickey’s news notes started an indoor track. He saw JOHN GODDARD Phi Psi classmates at their home in Mar- pretty much at the front (page 9) of the recently and had a meeting with Biddy tha’s Vineyard. This year BOB and Mary total 55 pages of class notes. Yes, we’re Martin, sharing with me how pleased he BAGG, DAN JOHNS, JIM MOLLENAUER, getting ever longer in the tooth! I also was with her contributions to Amherst BILL PATRICK and JIM and Jeanie SAV- noted with some amusement the com- performing a very demanding and some- “Nicole AGE attended. It was very relaxing and ment of scribe Nicole Krensky ’11 of the times difficult role. Krensky ’11 enjoyable. sixth-year class, a year out from their five- HARVEY HECHT still works a day a GEOFF and Theo SHEPHERD, BARBA- year reunion, that they “are so old!” We week. This fall he’ll be joining Gail at of the sixth- RA BURGESS (JOHN DINKELSPIEL’s wid- were once in much the same place. I can Hunter College, taking courses includ- year class, a ow) and REN and Marilyn HOLLINSHEAD remember. Can you? ing continuing to upgrade their French. were guests of JOHN and Ana THOMP- BOB ARMSTRONG had a major Septem- They’re doing what they want to, play- year out from SON at their home in Bayfield, Ontario, by ber/October exhibition of 60 best puz- ing tennis a couple of times a week, liv- their five- Lake Huron. For a week they went to the zles at Briarwood Art Gallery. Displaying ing in the same house for 45 years (just a theater in Canada’s Stratford-on-Avon them vertically is a complex chore, and train ride to Manhattan) and seeing their year reunion, for Shakespeare and other plays. Ren every one of them needs an explanatory kids and grandkids who are in NYC and [commented] reported that every morning they were “legend” explicating its uniqueness over Boston. that they ‘are fortified by John’s homemade bread. a half dozen different dimensions—age, ART HIGINBOTHAM, in Greenland in The “Amherst at Stratford” series started inspiration, cut, significance, etc. Bob’s July pondering the effects of global warm- so old!’ We years ago when the Thompsons discov- hobby began when, as a small boy, he first ing, reports Disko Bay no longer forms ice were once ered that the Hollinsheads were annual completed a checkerboard puzzle. I’ve during the winter, so the Inuit cannot use visitors to Stratford as part of a group of known for years of his passion, but in 15 their dogsleds to hunt seals as they used in much Shakespeare aficionados. minutes on the phone learned a wealth of to. The Jakobshavn Glacier now recedes the same TED and Fran KAMBOUR have left Palm detail unknown to me until then. at eight times the rate it did two decades City, Fla., to become neighbors of BILL Never got to talk with HOWIE BONNETT, ago. Moulins (look it up!) lubricate the place. I can DONOHUE in Savannah. just Judi. He was out doing emergency wa- flow of ice to the sea. In June, Art visited remember. DON NIGHTINGALE is a new member of tering of their garden in Oregon’s blister- TED EAGLES, who’s still teaching mac- the Amherst College Pilots Association. ing early-August heat prior to their im- roeconomics at St. Albans. They ate at Can you?” JULIE DENNY CLARK spent three minent departure to Kauai for a family the D.C. Army/Navy Club and explored spectacular weeks in Japan, drowning vacation gathering. diaries from the Third Army’s movement her political sorrows in sushi and sake, BILL CANTOR reports things are well in from Normandy to Prague. came home to do laundry, took off for a New Jersey. Paula is turning out fabulous For eight years now, HOWIE WOLMAN week in Wyoming at a dude ranch with watercolors, and he recently did a short and his partner, Dennis Hudson, have three good friends, riding every day, and play about gay marriage titled Standing been living with Howie’s Alzheimer’s then raced back to repack for a week in Ar- on Ceremony. They recently came to Old diagnosis. I spoke with Dennis (who had gentina with son Toby and granddaughter Orchard Beach, Maine, to be with family just come from breakfast with Howie) Bianca, who is studying in Buenos Aires. and will return in September for a Booth- for details of their 2016 move from Key After returning, she was at her Maine cot- bay Harbor wedding. And, except when West to Sinai Residences in Boca Raton, a tage, where she sees ALAN and Alison vacationing in Maine, he still “punches best-of-the-best facility for delivering ap- SCHECHTER. the clock” four days a week. propriate care. By last November, Howie AL and Judy BURT are fine, and busy JOHN and Rose FAISSLER were just had been shifted to Memory Care from with volunteer work. They are looking back from snorkeling in the British Virgin assisted living, while Dennis continues forward to the next Nashville Predators Islands on a catamaran with six others. close by in Sinai’s independent-living (ice hockey) season with great expecta- The marine populations in the Caribbean facilities. tions after the team won the Western are changing as a result of the release of PETE KUNZ said he and Mimi are both Conference last season. Al is still teach- lion fish now decimating native species. doing well and just came back from a jun- ing part-time for the Tennessee Board of Last fall a hurricane took down eight of ket to northern Wisconsin, Illinois and Regents. He is getting some fields ready John’s palms, which he’s replacing with back to Michigan visiting their progeny. at his farm for deer season. He is also in grass; cutting up the downed trees is a task Their volunteer work continues, and the process of selling his old bass boat he’d like not to repeat! As for grass under Pete’s enjoying baking bread twice a and buying a new one. He doesn’t need their feet, they’ll be back in the BVI in a month, a no-knead sourdough and olive to run 60-plus mph down the lake in a few weeks and are contemplating a visit oil Italian. They are making 60th reunion 9,000-lb. boat; 40 mph in a lighter boat to Dubrovnik, Croatia. plans to join us all. will do him fine. Two days before he and I talked, LEE I reached BROOKS LOW enjoying Ver- BOB ASHER missed reunion because of FOLLETT had a 10-screw surgical treat- mont summertime life. He continues a fall. As he was recuperating, he suffered ment of a broken foot incurred at a retreat. performing Dixieland at local restaurants a slight stroke from which fortunately He missed a ditch in the dark, and that and on the Fourth of July and other cele- there are no lasting sequelae. was all she wrote! They stay close with brations, reaping the reward of folks smil-

58 AMHERST FALL 2017 ing and tapping their feet. Like many of “Evolution and Revolution in Education ated high emotion! Art closed wondering us, they’re weeding out long-unexamined of the Deaf: A 60-Year Perspective.” where “the Mooch” was when Amherst storage spaces and are looking forward Elusive (his word) JAY MORGAN was searching for a mascot. to finding new homes for elements of a “hasn’t much exciting to report.” You RICK ROBINSON continues, with a walk- juke and music box collection at a com- judge. Spending the summer and fall on er now, at the assisted-living facility in ing gathering in Whippany, N.J. (Nearly Nantucket with February in Naples and Oyster Bay, N.Y. He does a monthly DVD 10 years of conversations and it’s the first two weeks in March skiing in Colorado (or presentation there (e.g., the Hindenburg I heard of it!) trying to, he said), the rest of the time he’s disaster, the causes of the Civil War, the JOHN LAGOMARCINO would have been in Connecticut, where he has an “easy- golden days of New York City baseball mentioned in the preceding issue, except lift” job as treasurer and director of a when we were on the journey to young the outreach card got ensnared in a stack local organization addressing the social manhood and, most recently, Charles of ads! Maureen and he are doing well, needs and requirements for the town plus Schulz of Peanuts fame). He recently save for the usual aches and pains, plus he undertaking house and garden upkeep. changed his church affiliation, crossing is pleased with his new left knee. Not so Jay lost his wife of 46 years some time the street from the Episcopal Church to much, though, with the White House tur- ago. “As luck would have it, and without the Presbyterian in pursuit of a less for- moil, but he’s taking the long view, read- mal service, to say nothing of a single- ing Philip Gorski’s American Covenant: A level facility. In the guestroom where they History of Civil Religion from the Puritans Adhering to the injunction that they’ll stayed: a previous occupant’s to the Present. copy of Amherst. “continue until health or wealth give JIM MAGID called me to say that, out of out,” Susan and MICKEY SALTMAN did 16 messages he waded through, mine was Panama, Cartagena, Thailand and Lon- the only one for him personally—not him any contact for 50 years, I was fortunate don this year, plus requisite visits to Min- Brooks Low as an abstract “customer” or a source of to reconnect with my steady lady friend nesota and New Hampshire to the kids ’58 performs funds or a presumptive audience for some during all four years at Amherst, and so and grandkids. Skiing in March in Utah message without interest to him. He was we spend considerable time together.” was free for 80-year-olds; could it be that Dixieland at at his ranch in Colorado. He’s been cor- A rotator cuff tear has led to DICK NOR- the left lateral meniscus tear he now re- local restaurants responding twice weekly with grandsons COTT’s retirement from horseshoe pitch- ports was the result? (No, he said when at camp with “finishthis story” writing ing; they now fall 5 feet short. I caught him questioned: it was definitely a softball and on the prompts and, by golly, they’re doing it! in the basement checking out numbers for injury!) It curtails him, but isn’t stopping Fourth of July, Ask him next time you see him where a replacement blade for a pruning saw, them; Myanmar and Laos are up this fall. the family motto came from: “When so he’s clearly not completely immobile. STEVE SCHWARTZ is either play- reaping the you’re about to give up, you succeed!” While they’re not doing a Central Ameri- ing golf, or hard, or both. He and Dora reward of folks Cute story! can trip this year, there’s a Catskill family both turned 80 this year, and they took smiling and JOE MCDONALD is contemplating a reunion in August, and they’re thinking the whole core family (kids and grand- knee replacement to address discom- about the Cape in October. They visited kids) to Aruba for the celebration. All the tapping their fort and continue playing golf, with a the North Fork of Long Island recently grandkids are finished with school and feet. possible stretch to resuming squash. We and, in a drawer of the guestroom where starting careers in psychology, physical talked homecoming, 60th reunion, wool- they stayed, didn’t he find a previous oc- therapy or a startup financial newspaper. ly mammoths and the appropriateness of cupant’s copy of Amherst? The first one will marry in March. Dutch- neither minimizing nor overly dwelling BOB PARKER volunteered that the sum- treating Uber rides on dinner dates with on a sense of fear about national politics. mer so far had been quiet but hot! Asked other couples addresses the challenges You heard this next here first: The com- if “quiet” was a stand-in for “boring,” of aging juxtaposed with night driving. ing 14th anniversary of the annual Mc- Bob allowed he’d at least been reading DAVE STOWE was just back from a Donald/Hostetter/Greenman/Neihuss the newspaper headlines. He evened couple of family weeks in Colorado, hik- golf tourney will occur in September. (It the score, though. When I mentioned ing and playing golf. No cruise this year, will have been won, incidentally, by Mc- my granddaughters’ recent several-day but they’ve traveled to the Quad Cities Donald and Greenman, since McDonald visit punctuated by great curiosity and and the Chicago area, and they golf and keeps the score!) frequent laughter, he asked whether my boat back home in Longboat Key, Fla. NED MEGARGEE is another of the cherubs were laughing at me or with me. He’s got to get cracking on the family’s “weeders” among us. Even though he’s I owned up to a little of both—and appro- fantasy football league (he’s a two-time deposited his papers at the History of priately so! defending champ), but easily the peak bit American Psychology Collection at the ART POWELL didn’t diminish much of news was the arrival this past spring of University of Akron, there are still oth- my sense of his predilection for the per- his first great-granddaughter. Congratu- er four-drawer files of stuff to dispatch. verse. He opened, however, with a glow- lations, Dave! Meanwhile, they wait for their greyhound ing description of the stunning view from Warmly welcomed to Cary, N.C., a year to complete his life’s journey until they his house in Gouldsboro, Maine, across ago, GEORGE and Peggy VAN ARNAM can remove from their woods. Ned’s carv- Frenchman’s Bay to the Porcupine Is- moved to be nearer their sons. George is ing space will be hard to leave behind, but lands and the skyline of Mount Desert. enjoying tremendously working as part- in the meantime he keeps applying knives So I asked if he’d heard yet about the time minister to a small congregation, to wood. proposal to build a half-mile pier out preaching every Sunday and performing DON MOORES reports that his men’s into that very bay capable of serving two pastoral care. A recent trip had them in tour group weekly visits a place of inter- 10-to-12-story mega-cruise ships disgorg- Amherst, where they had great conversa- est—for example, a branch of the Max ing circa 13,000 passengers into Bar Har- tions with SKIP and Carroll ROUTH and Planck Institute or a marine biology bor at a time? He hadn’t! (The mega-pier MARSH and Cindy MCLEAN, plus a brief research lab. He met up with a son and proposal is for real. Our governor is not stop at the Emily Dickinson house. grandson in Scotland for a vacation and a the only absurd thing about Maine.) The DAVE WALKER continues playing com- European international golf tournament. highlight of a slightly belated 80th birth- petitive bridge and tennis (he doesn’t He and Margery remain active profes- day celebration for Art up the cog railway charge nets anymore, though it remains sionally, she through a just-published to Mount Washington Hotel was a play his favorite court location). They just book on neuropsychological assess- staged by the grandchildren based on an came back from a Viking river cruise, the ment of deaf individuals and he through interview asking Art to describe his typi- hit of which was the Fabergé Museum in a couple of chapters on deafness plus a cal day at age 10. Yes, the grandkids stum- St. Petersburg, Russia; a private collec- commitment to a text tentatively entitled bled over “sarsaparilla,” but they gener- tor, having bought eight of the 50 eggs

AMHERST FALL 2017 59 1958–1960

crafted, decided to house them in an el- The third edition of ALLAN COHEN’s In- helped raise our children” in a town an egant museum in one of a former noble’s fluence without Authoritywas published in hour from Durango, Mexico. She and her refurbished homes. And then we rumi- October. Allan comments that “it seems husband “returned to the small town/city nated on the reasons for the overall lon- to be more relevant than ever, so I am hop- where they grew up and resumed the life gevity of the class (166 of 262 still standing that the ideas will last at least another that they led previously, albeit with a ing, and only one more left to turn 80): 25 years. In addition to a chapter on influ- modern home and conveniences.” The was it the care our parents lavished on us, encing at a distance, my co-author and I town is small, “3,000 to 5,000 people Amherst’s requirement we learn a sport added one on gender and influence, for tops, agricultural and with a slow and we could practice throughout our lives, which we added a female colleague as a tranquil pace; it can be traversed on foot or the times we were ushered into? And co-author since it seemed that two old in 15 minutes. The residents each prob- how is all that different for young people white guys writing about gender might ably know 25–50 percent of the people in growing up today? Etc. raise a few questions. We ended up add- town, not much larger or different from HOWARD WOLF wrote a catalogue es- ing the subtitle ‘Beyond Stereotypes’ to Amherst when we attended. It was a most say for an art exhibit at SUNY Fredonia the chapter title, which will probably raise unusual four days and certainly different in mid-September, “Harvey Breverman: its own set of questions. As the recent from any vacation that we had ever had.” Graphic Biography/Figures in the Field,” news has demonstrated, identity poli- DEE SHIELDS and LOU GREER crossed an- and has a talk coming up at Buffalo’s tics and groupings, in and out of organi- other entry off their bucket list with “an Twentieth Century Club on “Modern zations, touches many nerves.” August trip to Edinburgh and the famous American Poetry: Frost’s ‘Vocal Reality’ Also out in the fall is GILES GUNN’s The Tattoo.” From there, they took a cruise to Social Media Unreality.” (!?) Howard Pragmatist Turn, which “looks back over around Scotland, landing in Dublin. Lou says he’s launching a project based some- more than 400 years of American writing notes that “the name Greer came from a what on John Aubrey’s 17th-century Brief and thought to explore what the religious colonial misspelling of Grier, which origi- 1959: First prize Lives, titled “Brief Loves: A Generational and Enlightenment sources of our values nated as the Scottish McGregor clan.” Be- for physical activity Memoir.” (Those who know a little about have––and clearly haven’t––taught us. An fore leaving on their trip, Dee and Lou goes to Bill Jones, Brief Lives will ask whether Howard will interesting experience at this moment in “accepted the thankless task of distribut- who, at the New allow himself Aubrey’s decidedly sketchy our history, it is an attempt to bring Amer- ing the 300 pairs of viewing glasses” they England Masters documentation practices, or how the dif- ican intellectual and literary experience had on hand for the solar eclipse, which Swimming Champi- ferences between lives [observational] as to bear on American political and moral attracted a million visitors to their home onships at Harvard compared with loves [transactional] will perplexities.” base of Greenville, S.C. University in April, affect the conventions and obligations of Giles, who has spent most of the past Happy and PETER ESTY celebrated billed as “the largest Howard’s literary treatment. We all wait 20 years teaching in the Department their significant birthdays in a cabin on masters meet this impatiently for answers!) of Global Studies at UC Santa Barbara, Squam Lake in New Hampshire “with all side of the national Finally, while the summer guest of John which he helped develop, also highly rec- our kids and grandkids,” and then em- championships,” Merson ’66 and in the same Nantucket ommends JOHN DOWER’s recent The Vio- barked on a two-month driving trip across won 13 individual pulpit as Frederick Douglass nearly two lent American Century. Describing John’s the country, “seeing sights, friends and events, setting New centuries before, MOE WOLFF spoke to “new study of war and terror since World relatives, and stopping for three differ- England records in an audience of summer residents about War II” as extremely pertinent, Giles ob- ent weeklong sojourns in glorious sum- the six butterfly and his past (and now renewed) Wallenberg serves, “This is our century, as none of mer spots.” It is safe to assume that the individual medley efforts. He was pleased with the response. us need to be reminded, and no one has “friends” included several classmates. events and Maine He played some tennis in the cooler-than- assessed its staggering costs in violence JOHN GARDINER belatedly tells of “a state records in Florida breezes off Nantucket Sound and with more brilliance and daring than our fine trout-fishing trip with JERRY MOR- nine. Characteris- got to see his brother David Wolff ’62 and classmate John.” It prompts Giles to ask GAN a year ago, on the middle fork of the tically modest, Bill family, sailing the Sound on their yacht. why Amherst hasn’t nominated John for Salmon River in Idaho.” John reports that observed that he has And that’s a wrap! Mickey’s up next! an honorary degree. Indeed! Jerry “is an expert fly fisherman, experi- outlived most of his > HENDRIK GIDEONSE TOM BENJAMIN remains “involved enced on various waters from Alaska to competition in the [email protected] part-time at Harvard Medical School,” the Florida Keys.” More recently, in July, 80-to-84-year-old > MICKEY SALTMAN but he is “moving gradually toward full Mary Ann and GEORGE BETKE arranged division; nonethe- [email protected] retirement.” He and Mary Jo split their a “pleasant on-deck waterside gathering” less, he won the time between Boston, where she teaches with Judith and BILL JONES, Karen and meet’s high-points AL PASTERNAK STU 1959 ESL in an adult literacy program, and Fal- and Bonnie and trophy. mouth, Cape Cod. They enjoy “occasion- BOWIE; the Bowies were “on their way We have lost the senior member of our al reunions” with their two sons: Ari, who to intellectual stimulation at a Colby Col- class, BON WADORS; see In Memory for is pursuing a career in paleobiology, and lege literary symposium.” According to a remembrance. Noah, who is doing the same in physics George, “We had a good time trying to By the time this column arrives in our and math. Tom adds that, while he is in associate mammoths with any kind of mailboxes, nearly all of us––except the Falmouth, “I follow events at the nearby collegiate athletic endeavor.” George overachievers among us who skipped a Woods Hole Research Center, which is also admits that, although he officially grade somewhere along the line––will leading the way on climate research and retired in 2016, “It’s difficult to cut the have celebrated what is at least numeri- advocacy on policy, all in opposition to cord from a business that has been so cally a significant birthday. Despite this directions set by our leaders in Washing- personal over the past 36 years, and my occasionally distressing milestone, it ton. Climate change is just one of many successor ‘students’ humor me by call- seems that most of us remain quite ac- issues facing us as a nation and as a living frequently to see if the old ‘professor’ tive in numerous ways. ing species––issues we could not possibly agrees with management decisions they At least four classmates have published have foreseen upon graduation. I wonder have already made.” books recently. JOHN GARDINER’s new how these challenges will be met by the Mary Jo and TOM BENJAMIN see Yasu- historical novel, Newport Rising, is avail- next generation.” ko and JOHN DOWER and JOE TULCHIN able as an ebook on Kindle and in hard Many classmates continue to travel the in Boston, where their encounters “fre- copy from the publisher at johnrolfegar- globe. Mary Ann and GEORGE BETKE quently revolve around sushi dinners or diner.com. John describes it as “an his- took a Rhone River cruise in France in symphony performances; and, in Fal- torical novel set in pre-Revolutionary March, with a side trip to see the ancient mouth, they have enjoyed recent visits Newport, R.I., the story of a despised Dordogne cave paintings. STEVE CED- from Linda and DOUG BEHRENDT, Kar- newspaper man in that center of the slave ERBAUM reports on an “unusual visit” en and WERNER GUNDERSHEIMER and trade and religious freedom.” he and Evelyn took “to the woman who JERRY MORGAN.

60 AMHERST FALL 2017 Many classmates continue to center continue to invite more of you to send us their activities around their extended news of your activities, especially those family. Typically, Joyce and ALLAN CO- who haven’t been in touch for several HEN still derive enormous pleasure from years––or never. We have a 60th––and interacting with and observing their now last official––reunion coming up in a mere 4½-year-old grandkids. Oh, to be able to 18 months, so keeping in touch will help once again learn as fast as kids that age insure a good turnout on that auspicious do! And with as much wit and joy. The occasion. Cohens’ daughter Megan “is still work- > JACK BRYER ing half-time as an organic gardener,” and [email protected] their other daughter, Sydney, a painter/ > LOU GREER teacher, “just completed a guest teach- [email protected]

ing stint at Anderson Ranch in Aspen and ARCHIVES COLLEGE continues teaching at CCA in Oakland.” 1960 And Allan continues teaching at Babson spending some time with you on our next j Kindling College’s San Francisco campus. Re- To save your secretary from “becom- visit to the States. That will be the first Excite- cently, artist Marilyn Levin donated her ing a purveyor of false news,” CARLTON time for France to see XXX or whatever ment “RUSS” RUSSELL painting Building Foundations to Babson reported that “a lov- the hell they have decided to call it after Students— in honor of Allan, “who has long believed ing, playful and athletic Blue Roan cocker the decapitation of Lord Jeff.” Dick has many wearing in teaching the arts to stimulate the cre- spaniel has joined our family. Blue is 6 posted an interesting commentary on ative core of leadership.” Allan, who is years old, and has brought canine op- class news about his “late second career green distinguished professor of global lead- timism and companionship back into as a columnist.” beanies to ership at Babson, served seven years as our lives.” They also had a visit from a “On a trip to western New York,” wrote signify their vice president of academic affairs and classmate. SCOTT and Stephanie MAC- ROY FITZGERALD, “I had a great three- freshman CONNELL STEVE BARBASH dean of faculty and two years as interim noted that “the highlight of day visit with . He’s status— dean of the F.W. Olin Graduate School of a few days in Maine was having dinner enjoying training dog trainers but misses pile up Business. In 2008, he received Babson’s with Carlton and Lorna.” But Russ need Ann enormously. Then on to Syracuse for highest honor, the Walter H. Carpenter not have worried that I would resort to several music-filled days with Brenda and lumber and Prize for distinguished service. alternative facts, as several recently silent Mark Watkins ’59. He was playing trom- cardboard for And from ALLAN KEITH: “Oldest classmates have responded. bone in a large brass concert band. The a bonfire on daughter Lucy has started the African PETER GROSS exclaimed, “My middle three of us then reveled in two nights at an autumn Aquatic Conservation Fund, an NGO op- son finally found the right girl! He is only the Skaneateles Music Festival. Thereaf- day in the erating in Senegal, where she lives with 47 years old and will close the deal in Oc- ter I drove to Bennington, where Jennie early 1960s. her husband; she got her Ph.D. from the tober. Reggie and I are celebrating. I am had been participating for the 10th time in University of Florida two years ago at still working on Medicare’s Accountable an intensive piano camp. She played a glo- the ‘young’ age of 49 and works for the Care Organization at Hackensack, N.J. rious Chopin ‘Fantasie’ in the final recital. conservation of West African manatees, It’s been a successful run. In 2015, we We also spent two weeks in France with and he does the same for African turtles saved Medicare $33 million. The hospi- our two baby grandsons at their parents’ and tortoises. Middle daughter Lesley tal received $15 million because of our renovated barn in Burgundy.” works in the patient translation unit at 96 percent quality score. Primary care Although PETE INSKEEP claims “noth- Oregon State University Hospital in Port- physicians, not specialists like me, got a ing exciting going on here in Parker, land. Youngest daughter Coral just got a fair share of it. The ACO, while part of Colo.,” he did have an “‘Amherst event.’ new job as senior compliance officer for Obamacare, should survive, because the Katie Herbert ’88 and her three sons Santander Bank in Boston and lives in Bush administration idea was continued joined Metta and me for four days at Portland, Maine, with her husband and under Obama.” Keystone in the Rockies for swimming, two kids.” Allan says that he is “finish- “Still working after all these years!” shopping, gondola rides and too much ing up a genealogical survey of six fam- wrote JIM ROONEY. “Just finished a new good food. Our conversations took us ily lines (both of my parents, both of my album with my good friend Tom Rush. We back to our New England roots. We’ve wife’s parents, and two related families) met back in 1962 when he was an under- planned an August road trip to Napa, from the first person from each family in graduate at Harvard. He’s been writing Calif., where we will take the ‘loneliest the United States, beginning usually in songs and singing classics ever since. Go highway in America,’ Route 50, the old the late 1600s or 1700s to more or less the to TomRush.com to find out how to get Lincoln Highway, to avoid Speed Week at current day. Along the way, my wife and I our album. Otherwise, Carol and I are the Salt Flats along I-80.” Pete’s photo is both submitted DNA samples to Ancestry, enjoying our six grandchildren, loving from a ham radio event in 2015 where he and the results were fascinating, fun and life in Vermont and spending time with and his grandson Matthew were at work surprising. For those of you who haven’t friends in Nashville, Tenn., and Ireland, stations using Morse code. done it, I recommend it.” where we are looking forward to multiple “We academics never retire; we just fade Our intrepid class agent, SKIP RIDEOUT, celebrations of my 80th birthday.” away,” wrote ANDY INGERSOLL, echoing extends his thanks to his classmates for When DICK HUBERT realized that “our an icon of our vintage. “Actually, my pres- their “superb contribution to the alumni trip to France and later Holland included ent—grandchildren, students, wife who is fund.” Jennie and Skip’s Mill Street B&B a stay on the Viking river ship Delling in dragging me into a triathlon—is crowding “continues to thrive, even more so since Lyon, I contacted ERIC BRITTON to find out my past: family and friends, includ- the March 10, 2017, opening of the Har- out if he would be available for our one ing Amherst classmates, whom I grew riet Tubman Visitor Center just 12 miles free afternoon. That led to a two-hour up with. That’s a little sad, but it’s better away. Tourism reports 45,000 visitors to lunch. Eric confirms that this was the than the alternative. I’ve missed the last the center since it opened.” first time we had met since our freshman two reunions. I hope to be there for the If this column seems brief, if certain year, although there has been plenty of 60th. In the meantime, drop me a line.” names are repeated and names keep ap- email correspondence of late. A wonder- In the posted collage, “The lady on the pearing in each column, that is because ful reunion yielded the two posted pho- bike is my wife, Sarah. The man on the we continue to hear from very few of you tos taken by Jelma Hubert.” Eric added, right is me with an image of the Cassini and because several of you do faithfully “What an agreeable afternoon and re- spacecraft, and the people at the bottom check in with us regularly. While we relaxed, free-floating exchange it turned are our children, our grandchildren and main very grateful to these latter folks, we out to be. France and I look forward to our children’s spouses.”

AMHERST FALL 2017 61 1960–1962

Steph and SCOTT MACCONNELL went versy at Amherst.” Though Hugh thinks Charlevoix, Mich., last September. They to “Prince Edward Island for the opening that the monuments should probably hit it off immediately and were married of the second show that I designed this go as “hurtful reminders,” he thought it in St. Louis this past May in the presence season, On a First Name Basis.” They had “very chilling and sad” to see a protest of Bob’s three daughters and Christine’s “an absolutely lovely summer to date— group vandalize the Confederate soldier two sons, some of whom traveled from nice warm daytime temps with lots of sun- monument in Durham, N.C. Hugh noted Australia and California. The “newly- shine and cool nights, great for sleeping. that his son Toby ’91 “absolutely agrees weds” plan to spend most of the summer We also had the opportunity to see tall with those who dislike historical revision- in Charlevoix and the rest of the year in ships that visited, as well as hosting our ism.” SANDY SMITH wondered whether St. Louis. In the meanwhile, Bob assures annual fireworks party.” we should help Williams students start a us, “Old-age love is great.” STEPHEN KUNIAN’s son David “has be- “get rid of all references to Ephraim Wil- While writing, DAVE BRICKER was try- come music curator for the State of Loui- liams” movement, since he was a slave ing to get his power washer started so he siana and runs the Jazz Museum in New owner. could do his annual deck cleaning. No Orleans. Call him for a tot if you go there.” PHIL POCHODA and his wife, Mary Kel- rest for the wicked. Carol and Dave are On our class news page, STEPHEN ley, had a “jammed week” while HUGH enjoying their home in northern Michi- JONES was visiting. Phil commented, gan, and their trip to Norway last year was “It began with one of the four Canaan outstanding. It included three days on a Meetinghouse summer readings I mod- coastal ship, plus time in Bergen, Oslo Extreme Iceland! erate. Then on Friday we had a party at my and the countryside. The Lofoten Islands house for the newly formed Upper Valley were some of the most beautiful country 1960: On our annual pilgrimage to Sweden, Chris and Amherst alumni group.” (Hugh called it they have ever seen. I (Dick Weisfelder) took advantage of Icelandair’s free the Upper Valley Mammoth Society!) Af- DENIS CLIFFORD wrote: “Six of us and stopover policy in Reykjavik. We booked Extreme Iceland’s ter dinner and cocktails, “Hugh, as alum- three spouses had a three-day mini re- minibus Golden Circle tour that visits the most sights. ni representative, led a lively discussion union in St. Louis this past May. Attend- We most enjoyed the Hellisheidavirkjun geothermal plant of Amherst past, present and future, with ing were myself, JACK BURSK, RICH- that provides most of Reykjavik’s hot water; Thingvellir an eye toward policy proposals.” Hugh de- ARD WIRTZ, JAN BEYEA and Vernita National Park, where the North American and Eurasian scribed the group as “all past their 50th Nemec, DAVE HAMILTON and Rebecca plates separate; and the spectacular double Gullfoss reunions.” Clunse, and Ida and FRED PERABO, our waterfall. The blotches on our photo are from spray on Hugh reported that all participants ap- gracious, generous hosts. It was indeed the lens. preciated Amherst’s increasing diversity. a lovely reunion: we six men have been He noted a consensus that Amherst needs friends since 1957—60 years. There is a to create a “new shared academic experi- deep pool of love between us, and Jack, BALDWIN has posted commentary about ence appropriate for the diverse student Richard and Denis had been roommates his recent trip through Iran, whose peo- body and faculty in the digital age and freshman year.” ple he found to be welcoming, outward- our changing world” (but nothing like the ROBIE FULTON wrote: “Got back a looking, deeply cultured and quite open old core curriculum). Hugh also praised while ago from a trip to Charlottesville, in expressing their opinions. Phil’s spectacular Japanese garden, which to attend the wedding of JIM BOOKWAL- SANDY and Barbara SMITH had visits he called “a tribute to Phil’s intellectual TER’s daughter Sarah. Betty and I wanted from both sons: “Brian and his wife, Kris- and physical energy.” to see Bookie at least one more time. He’s ten, are Illinois residents. Older son Jeff, Bob Dwyer ’69 and HUGH JONES kept amazing—in a motorized wheelchair with who lives near Sacramento, Calif., came me informed about the travails JIM an incurable muscle disease, he zipped with our grandsons Joshua and Ethan. CROWLEY has encountered. Immediately around, made apt father-of-the-bride The (posted) photo shows my brother, following the death of his wife, Jean, after speeches and danced the first dance with Ephraim; Barbara; Donna (Ephraim’s a long bout with cancer, Jim was broad- his newlywed daughter.… Well, he stayed wife); and yours truly when we got to- sided by a police cruiser traveling at full in the chair and Sarah danced around gether for three days at Pismo Beach.” speed; the driver was apparently blinded him. Together, they made the wheel- Family visits also occupied Elinor and by the sun. Despite a fractured collarbone chair almost disappear. BOB BARRETT HUGH KNAPP. They traveled with their and severe bruises, Jim checked himself and his wife, Chris, were also there—a daughter, Leonora, to Columbus, Ohio, out of the hospital to attend Jean’s funer- sort of mini reunion. Couldn’t help my- where they saw their son Ethan, who al. Hugh sat with Jim and Jim’s daughter, self when we said goodbye the next morn- teaches medieval English literature at Deidre, at the service and attended the ing—weeping like a baby. I am doing OK. Ohio State. “Then on to Madison Wisc., burial. Hugh had kept in touch with Jim Cancer (CML) at this point is ‘in major to see friends and visit Elinor’s home- for some time, “courtesy of JOHN HEN- molecular remission,’ where it needs to town, Hillsboro. I slightly dreaded the RY.” Thereafter Jim entered rehab and be. Betty and I head for Costa Rica in a lengthy car trip, but it went fine. In April has now returned to his home in Westerly, couple of weeks. In the words of those we all shared in an 80th birthday dinner R.I., still, as Hugh put it, “devastated by radio funny guys Bob and Ray, ‘Write if for Elinor, hosted by our son Toby ’91 and Jean’s death.” you get work, and hang by your thumbs.’” his family at the New York Athletic Club.” Well, hopefully, I avoided any “alter- JOHN LIEBSON stopped off to buy an ac- Amherst’s mammoth mascot contin- native facts” for the time being. If even cessory for his chain saw and met a wom- ues to generate a bundle of comments. more of you send material for the next an wearing a T-shirt that said “Princeton Phil Pryde ’59 wrote to compare his revi- notes, I will restrain my more imagina- Fire and EMS.” She recently had moved to sion of the fight song with JON BAKER’s tive impulses. Have a great autumn! (I Santa Fe from Princeton, Mass., and John version (in class news). BILL CORBETT almost said “fall,” but at our age that’s knew her former volunteer fire chief quite enjoyed Pryde’s line “… extinct critter not a good word!) well. Small world. Earlier, John taught with no known redeeming virtues …,” > DICK WEISFELDER himself how to install risers on his sep- a thought seconded by DAN DARROW. RICHARD.WEISFELDER@UTOLEDO. tic tank to make it easier to pump out. PETE INSKEEP jested whether the Fairest EDU Said John, “Such is the life of a class of College might become Mammoth Univer- ’61 member who marches to a different sity or the Inn would be Mammoth Inn. drummer.” KEN RATZAN (I checked online, and it is still the Lord 1961 Congratulations to , Jeff.) HUGH KNAPP saw the controversy whose sixth grandchild arrived Satur- over Confederate monuments as “very BOB BARRETT met Christine Cunning- day, July 22. Joseph was born to Jacob and reminiscent of the Lord Jeffery contro- ham playing at the Belvedere Golf Club in Sara Ratzan, weighed in at 6 lbs., 10 oz.,

62 AMHERST FALL 2017 and both Sara and Joseph are doing well. an outpatient walk-in clinic in Waltham. was Roger Sale beginning our education Given Ken’s loyalty and long support of Throughout that time, Nick enjoyed his at Amherst.” the College, Joseph may well become a relationship with his patients enormous- On May 20, CHARLES HUSBANDS and member of the class of 2038! ly. A men’s book group has been a great Nan attended the memorial service for Just before reunion weekend, DICK source of enjoyment in retirement, but CUSH ANTHONY’s wife, Karen, and met KLEIN returned from a wonderful two- parting with his 17-year-old Toyota and Ellen and PETER BEREK and Sarah and week trip to Israel during which he met eliminating most of the piles on his desk ANDY OLESKER there. Afterward, while with the minister of justice, the dean and have proven to be a real challenge. Cush hosted a dinner for his assembled professors from Tel Aviv Law School and JOE RICHARDSON and Terry enjoyed family, the six of them dined on the Port- a supreme court justice. He then attended their trip to Denmark, but their three-cas- land waterfront. Having hobbled around his 56th reunion and had a blast playing tle walking tour was a bit too much. Con- at our 55th reunion, Charles reported that, drums with Larry Weiss ’62, with whom sequently, Joe has spent a lot of time at the thanks to diligent PT, he and Nan were Dick had played at Amherst and law gym with his trainer since returning. A able to undertake the extended camping school, plus Larry Beck and Ed Johnson, brief trip to Block Island, R.I., is still on the voyage originally planned for summer piano and class of ’62, plus Jamie Sandel, drawing board but may be nixed because 2016, the 20th in a series begun in 1981. bass and class of ’17. of all the walking. In the meanwhile, Joe New key destinations included San Anto- Diane and “TOM” THOMPSON continue and BOB SHOEMAKER continue to enjoy nio, where they both have ancient family to enjoy living at Crystal River Ranch, 10 frequent lunches together. connections, and Big Bend National Park. miles from Mount Rainier National Park, BRUCE CUTHBERTSON continues to They also visited sons Stephen in Santa which provides them with gorgeous wild do arbitrations and mediations, serve as Fe and Ken in the Bay Area. flowers, a resident herd of elk that mows a director of several companies, travel PETER BEREK decided to stop teach- their lawn and ample opportunity for hik- and work on his “island” project. Earlier ing after working with a terrific group Charles ing and bicycling. Having sold their con- this year, he and Martha visited Jordan, of students in a Shakespeare course at Berryman do in Seattle, they moved part-time to a loved the country, loved the people and Amherst last fall, but the College gener- continuing-care retirement community were amazed by its history. Recently, they ously agreed to let him hang around as a ’61 and Jo in Boise, Idaho, to be near one of their returned from their annual vacation to “visiting scholar” in the English depart- celebrated children. Round Key Island, which is part of the ment. Last June, he and Ellen traveled PAUL STEINLE recently celebrated his Cayos Cochinos archipelago—a marine- to Salzburg, Vienna and Prague after he their 50th 60th reunion from Culver Military Acad- protected coral reef system off the north presented a paper at a conference on Ben anniversary emy and his 40th reunion from Harvard coast of Honduras: “Seventeen days of no Jonson in Würzburg. Subsequently, they Business School by revisiting cherished news, no TV and no internet: life is good!” joined their children and grandchildren with a New ground and sharing life-journey stories. RON DAITZ and Linda are thoroughly for a week at a guest ranch in Colorado. York visit to In July, Sara and Paul completed an eight- enjoying their new free time since Ron Lastly, “notetaker” DICK DIMOND and the Museum of day, 80-mile excursion on foot across gave up his law practice and only serves Anne Welles had a wonderful two-week northern England and along Hadrian’s on the Mead Art Museum advisory board ocean cruise to the Baltic in May, visit- Modern Art and Wall, from Carlisle to Newcastle, amid and the board of his NYC co-op. Delight- ing Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Fin- a Broadway play. lovely countryside: lots of cows and thou- ing in their three granddaughters; travel- land; St. Petersberg, Russia; Tallinn, sands of sheep. ing to Paris, Capri and Israel; and taking Estonia; Gdańsk, Poland; the “East Ger- MICHAEL VESSELAGO has closed his adult education courses have been great. man” countryside; a Baltic seaside va- psychotherapy practice and is looking The newest chapter for them both began cation spot; Copenhagen and Aalborg, forward to enjoying the opportunities af- this September when they started a mas- Denmark; and Stavanger, Eidfjord and forded by having time, such as volunteer- ter’s program in Jewish studies at the Jew- Bergen, Norway. Aside from the pam- ing at the local Immigrant Work Center, ish Theological Seminary. “Mazel tov” to pering of shipboard life and the food, helping Central American and Middle you both! they thoroughly enjoyed Helsinki, Tal- Eastern immigrants develop ways to be JOSE FAUSTINO and Angela recently linn, Norway and enough salmon and self-supporting in their new homeland. visited Japan and Australia and thought herring that a dorsal fin now protrudes In addition, he and Barbara are exploring Japan was wonderful. The people were from Dick’s back. downsizing and moving to an apartment quiet, courteous and honest, and the > DICK DIMOND in Toronto, where several friends live. cherry blossoms were still in bloom. Ja- [email protected] TED KRISMANN returned to Hudson, pan’s 200 mph electric train, the Shinkan- Ohio, for his 60th reunion at Western sen, was very impressive, and one hardly 1962 Reserve Academy, which was a great felt any tremor. Australia was an enjoy- chance to reminisce with former class- able place to visit, and Sydney, Melbourne As I begin my term as class secretary, I mates, including ALAN KEENER. Ted also and Brisbane, were all interesting. How- want to pay tribute to LARRY BECK not visited the nearby farm where he lived ever, the process for applying for a visa only for his excellent job as our secretary from age 11 through Amherst years. The online was complicated and frustrating, these past five years but also for his su- 66 acres are now in the center of Ohio’s and Jose found the security procedures perb job as our program chair at our 55th only national park—Cuyahoga Valley at each airport intimidating. reunion. National Park. The house and barn are Two feet of snow notwithstanding, The three panel discussions were out- gone, and the front yard’s acre of grass CHARLES BERRYMAN and Jo celebrated standing and well-attended, and his with a creek running through it is a wet- their 50th anniversary with a New York leadership was everywhere in evidence. land now, due to construction of the inter- visit to the Museum of Modern Art and Thanks to you, Larry, and to your fabu- state nearby. Fortunately, the two water- a Broadway play. Next was a May visit to lous steering committee. Congratulations falls downstream have become popular Colorado for their grandson’s high school to our other new class officers: GEORGE attractions for hikers. Ted shared his old graduation and a late spring snowfall in CARMANY, president; LARRY BECK, vice photos, verbal history and hand-drawn Denver. Then back to La Jolla Beach, Ca- president; PORTER WHEELER, treasur- map of the farm with park rangers, cap- lif., to celebrate with their sons and three er; BLAIR and FRED SADLER, program ping off a worthwhile trip to another era. grandsons amidst ocean waves, green chairs; CRAIG MORGAN, webmaster; and JENS “NICK” TOUBORG retired in 2009 fairways and no snow. Last but not least DAVID ROLL, choregus. at age 70, after 40 years of private practice was three-week trip to Europe in Sep- DAVID SCHULTZ reports the sad news of internal medicine offered by the Jew- tember. Recalling Roger Sale, Charles that his wife of 50 years, Harriet Sonja ish Theological Seminary in Wellesley, added that “nothing could ever match Schultz, died of breast cancer on July 15. Mass., and a several-year stint running the extraordinary blast of energy that He writes that he has been taking com-

AMHERST FALL 2017 63 1962–1963

fort from family members and friends. makes it clear, however, that he remains bonnet. Additional trips were made to a Please join me in expressing condolences active in retirement. He has worked at mini family reunion on Block Island, to Dave. small part-time jobs, one at the request R.I.; two visits to their favorite getaway, STEVE HERSH claims that his news is of ADH, on whose behalf he negotiated a house they built on Eagles Mere Lake in not news, but, of course, it is: “Having a a new set of state regulations for licensed the Poconos, including one weekend with grandchild who is starting college and my lay midwives, and another at the request friends Jamie and Geoff Stoudt ’64; and turning 77 force me to break through my of the University of Arkansas for Medi- finally a trip to Keuka Lake, N.Y., with his denial about being a ‘senior citizen.’” cal Sciences’ Department of Obstetrics best friend from medical school and wife. MORTY BERMAN says he is still work- and Gynecology, which involved an On tap were trips to Hilton Head Island, ing full-time after being “self-employed” evaluation of a statewide effort to de- S.C., with son David ’07; his wife, Tori ’07; since 1971. The new “news” is that he has velop a consultation and referral system and 9-month-old Greyson, and to Boston now become an employee, since his pedi- for women with high-risk pregnancies. to see Larry’s sister Sally and the Becks’ atric practice was recently purchased by Currently, he is being paid by the health first son, Larry Jr., and wife Catherine. In Northwell. Quite proudly, he admits to insurance companies Humana, Coven- mid-October the Becks are back to Flor- having “eight wonderful grandchildren, try and WellCare to make home visits to ida, where Larry sings in two chorales. seven boys. … [We] spend much of our their members for the purpose of doing LARRY MIIKE reports on more exciting summer at the beach on Long Island—no thorough histories, a brief physical and trips. On the horizon are visits to India, plans for retiring yet.” an assessment of medications, which is Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. He It was good to hear from JOHN HA- shared with the member’s primary care continues his work as a hearings officer ZLETT. His exciting news is the arrival physicians. His efforts often can delay or for the State Water Resources Commis- on July 24 of a third grandson, who joins prevent future hospitalizations. Dick and sion in Hawaii, including contested cases It was good six granddaughters. James weighed in at Cathy (also retired) enjoy their small cab- on stream diversions, which involve over to hear 9lbs., 5 oz. in in Petit Jean State Park, an hour away, 30 streams and 40,000 acres in central Our newly anointed class president, where they have wonderful friends. Their from John GEORGE CARMANY , reports that he and three grown children—Erik, Stephanie “My wife keeps POR- Hazlett ’62. our newly minted class treasurer, and Ben—live in Arkansas, Indiana and imploring me TER WHEELER, had a board meeting Oregon, respectively. All have jobs or in- not to climb trees.” His exciting without notice or quorum but with their terests that involve music. Dick and Cathy news is the wives, Judy and Mary, spending a delight- have three grandchildren. ful day in late July boating and beach- PHIL LILIENTHAL writes that his most Maui. He says that, now that the last sugar arrival on July ing. George writes, “Like the walrus, we recent exciting news is that Global Camps company has gone out of business, every- 24 of a third talked of many things, but not including Africa (GCA) have “formed a strong South body wants the water and is concerned grandson, how we might blow the sizable wad that African board of directors, composed of about what will happen to all that land. the class has banked.” Please also note a business people, fund managers and en- Larry says he continues to go to his gen- who joins late-breaking news release from Marquis trepreneurs. This could lead the way to tleman coffee and fruit farm in Captain six grand- Who’s Who that George has been named transitioning financially to local control, Cook on the island of Hawaii every oth- a lifetime achiever for his leadership in as they want to raise the money needed er week. “As old age creeps up, I can no daughters. the finance industry. to fund the operation.” This may enable longer keep up with my tree pruning and CRAIG MORGAN, our class webmas- GCA, which uses camping as a vehicle have to hire help for the bigger limbs,” he ter, with some editing by former class for social change and self-empowerment says. “My wife keeps imploring me not to secretary RICH LANDFIELD, reports that among underserved youth, to export its climb trees.” “A week after our [55th] reunion, when work to other countries. Phil is recuperat- BRIAN CHRISTALDI honed his paint- FRED SADLER and Edi Matsumoto came ing from a broken kneecap accompanied ing skills this summer in Connecticut. through D.C., Sing-huen [Craig’s wife] by some recurring infection, which seems Samples of his work with watercolors and and I had them over to dinner with RICH now to be gone. oils and the subject of cows may be seen and Lonie LANDFIELD, DAVE and Nancy JOHN KIELY checked in on his way by following a link found on these 1962 ROLL, FRED and Anne WOODWORTH and to Omaha, Neb., to participate in the class notes on the Amherst website. Brian FRED GREGORY. We had many reminis- age-group triathlon nationals, where he adds that his summer was also dedicated cences and laughs about our first year at hoped to see DEAN PAXSON. John’s wife, to environmental protection: installing a Amherst. Also, in response to all our ques- Pam Oatis, is writing a book about early new septic system. tions, FRED GREGORY recounted how his childhood development entitled The First At the 11th hour, I got several emails switch to the Air Force Academy led to a Thousand Days. from BOB HARBISON’s wife, Esther. career of adventure—medevac helicopter DAVE NICHOLS wants those of us who Many of us have waited years to get news pilot in Vietnam, test pilot, astronaut and think that it is always raining in the Seat- of Bob. Esther writes that, after getting his finally deputy administrator of NASA. tle area to know that Bellingham, Wash., doctorate in English at Cornell and teach- In addition to hearing about the space his summer venue, has just set a new re- ing at Washington University in St. Louis, shuttle mission Fred commanded to the cord of 55 or so days without rain. Dave Bob has been living in London most of International Space Station, we heard explains that “summers here on the lake the time since 1971. He is the author of from the other side of the table about an give me [and wife Dot] lots of opportunity seven books. His first,Eccentric Spaces, equally critical mission—FRED WOOD- to scull in 75-degree weather.” They head was published in 1977 and, incidentally, WORTH being sent as a special emissary south in November to a new condo in was reviewed by Dick Todd. Esther states from Morrow to Stearns to obtain a copy Scottsdale, Ariz., for the winter and wel- that Bob’s English editor said that she of DAVID ROLL’s Physics 1 notes, neces- come any ’62-ers who get down that way. needed to wrap a wet towel around her sary to rescue those in Morrow wallowing LARRY and Joan BECK have been on the head when she attempted to read Deliber- in confusion. move with travel, family and friends. At ate Regression. Bob’s interests are books, DICK NUGENT and wife Cathy still live the end of the school year, they took two paintings and buildings (architecture). in Little Rock, Ark. He retired in 2010 as grandchildren (ages 12 and 14), the daugh- Bob and Esther plan a trip to Belize with (a) branch chief for family health at the ter and son of their daughter Kathy ’92, her son and family over Christmas—the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), on a 12-day Alaskan trip that included a beach for the grandson and the ruins for where he directed the state’s Maternal cruise up the inland passageway and a Bob. Please note that Bob will be giving a and Child Health Block Grant program, visit to Denali National Park. Larry re- lecture on May 3, 2018, at Drexel Univer- and (b) professor in the College of Public ports that they experienced breathtak- sity in Philadelphia entitled “Detail and Health at the University of Arkansas. Dick ing Mount Denali without its usual cloud Perception.”

64 AMHERST FALL 2017 The Shorts have been on the move since on my back). Fun otherwise.” Rick’s two timore. The couple settled this summer the 55th reunion. Patricia and I spent a oldest grandchildren are off to Penn and into a high-rise condo unit in downtown couple of delightful weeks in June in Rice. “No Amherst takers,” says Rick, Minneapolis. During cooler months, the Finland and Norway, including a cruise adding: “I don’t think ‘Mammoths’ was Lefferts live in Tampa, Fla. Peter is con- down Norway’s coast on a Hurtigruten the dealbreaker.” tinuing volunteer board work with two na- coastal ferry from Kirkenes to Bergen, JOHN HAY reports he and three other tional affordable-housing enterprises. He missing GEORGE ROUSSEAU by a few classmates headed for this year’s Octo- also plans to spend more time with his two days (George lectures there from time to berfest in Germany: John, TOD HOUGHT- sons and their families based in Minneso- time). In July and August we visited the LIN, KENT FAERBER and HANS BERG- ta, Florida and Virginia. Peter now plans Chautauqua Institution in western New MANN (with spouses) spent 10 days in several rail trips. He writes: “Since age 7, I York for a couple of weeks (themes were Berlin. Besides beer, they enjoyed Wie- have loved trains. We have schlepped the “A Crisis of Faith?” and “Media and the ner schnitzel, The Magic Flute and a tour family legacy Lionel model trains across News: Ethics in the Digital Age”), where of the city’s architecture. much of the northern hemisphere. They we bumped into John Wessner ’60. We DEWITT HENRY’s latest literary project are now safely set up and operating in my spent a delightful mini week at Har- involves a series of what might be called brother’s Chicago basement, which I visit rington Harbor on Chesapeake Bay with prose poems, or essays, or meditations, several times each year.” our son Justin, wife Annie, and Hudson which have been published on the web ALLAN OLIVER and his partner, Gary and Clark (ages 5 and 2), and capped off and will be published in book form next Simundson, went to Europe in July and our summer trips with a wedding anni- year. One, entitled “On Time,” has ap- August as part of a tour with the Trinity versary celebration in Rockport, Mass.; peared on Juked.com; another, “On Episcopal Cathedral choir of Portland, attendance at a Camp Dudley reunion on Handshakes,” was featured on Plume- Ore. They both sang in the choir at a Mass Lake Champlain; and a short cruise on Poetry.com. DeWitt continues to write at Notre Dame and at the American Ca- DeWitt Henry Squam Lake, N.H., with our eldest son, for and serve as a contributing editor for thedral in Paris. The choir then went to St. ’63 writes for Joe, wife Liz, and Maddie and Lily (ages The Woven Tale Press, a free online arts- Paul’s in London for a week and sang six 9 and 6). and-literature monthly. settings of the “Magnificat” and “Nunc and serves as I look forward to and welcome news MAL JOHNSON in October visited Parris Dimittis,” including the St. Paul’s Service a contributing from you at any time. Within the rules Island, S.C., for his grandson Andrew’s by Herbert Howells. With choir, spous- set by the College, I will edit minimally. graduation from Marine boot camp. Mal es and companions, all numbered 103. editor for The Let’s stay in touch, please. gets in a couple of games of golf week- “Paris was wonderful, but this was my Woven Tale > SANDY SHORT ly when it isn’t raining. In August, his first time in London, and I fell in love,” [email protected] home in Texas experienced 52 inches of Allan writes. Before the tour, Gary and Al- Press, a free rain during Hurricane Harvey, but it was lan spent five days in Reykjavik, Iceland, online arts- 1963 built on land with enough elevation to es- visiting Gary’s relatives, and then a week and-literature cape the flooding, and the only damage to in Belgium to “see great church art by van BOB APLINGTON from London, writes Mal’s property was to a section of fence. Eyck and Rubens, a quirky museum dedi- monthly. that “the daily Trump and Brexit com- ANDY LEADER writes: “Aside from an cated to Jacques Brel, the Antwerp Pride edy show is keeping me entertained ongoing cardiac issue and a couple of oth- parade, and to eat a lot of moules et frites.” this year—hopefully neither will end in er health bumps in the road, Janet and LAURIE OSBORN says he and wife tragedy. … All is well with me except for I have been enjoying our woodsy home Wendy are working more than they re- a strained ACL in my left knee. It’s not [in North Middlesex, Vt.]. We’ve had sev- ally want to and thus have little time for good for my squash game but otherwise eral visits from son Nick, an IT security much beyond their four children, their no real problem.” He plans to cross the specialist, and our beautiful 3-year-old spouses and now eight grandchildren. Atlantic for our 55th reunion, May 23–27, granddaughter, Adeline Therese (Ad- The latest, Ivy, was born on Eclipse Day, next year. die). We visited our son Isaac in New Aug. 21, to son Kris and Betsy Osborn in BEACH CONGER writes that he “thought York, along with our bright and sturdy18- northern Virginia. Laurie and Wendy’s I would have had the hang if it by now, month-old grandson, Louie, who was vis- older son, Erik, a medical doctor in the but afraid not, so I’m still practicing iting from Japan with his mom, Ai (Isaac’s Army, is close to retiring to civilian medi- [medicine]. Mostly those with addiction long-distance fiancée). I continue to play cine. Holyoke, Mass., some 15 miles south disorders. They are more accustomed fiddle, occasionally in public, and Janet of Amherst, remains home to Laurie and to being treated by the incompetent and and I enjoy singing for friends. I’ve also Wendy. Wendy is still working and run- the infirm.” He said he is writing another been doing some math tutoring and sub- ning a large health careers program at book about his medical adventures, but stitute teaching.” Holyoke Community College. “Anyone it is taking a while. “When is a long time WILL LEE continues full-time at the in the Amherst area, anytime, please give too long? Hopefully it will not be posthu- University of Texas Southwestern and us a ring or email,” writes Laurie. mously published.” Parkland Hospitals in Dallas, specializ- HUGH PRICE reports that his memoir, TOM DIEHL and wife Dorothy contin- ing in liver injury and hepatitis, and in- This African-American Life (Blair, 2017), ue to live in New Hampshire on a 15-acre vestigating drugs and viruses that impact continues to get good reviews. “Chock farm during the warm half of the year and the liver. Wife Elizabeth is finally fully re- full of self-deprecating humor and go south to Florida for the cold months. tired after serving as an interim head at tongue-in-cheek reflections.”—Chicago “In both places we entertain visiting kids, several schools throughout the country. Crusader Weekly; “His choices and suc- grandkids and friends, and we get in a lot Before that, she spent 14 years as head of cess indicate a degree of self-knowledge of ballroom dancing, bridge and tennis. Hockaday, a girls’ school in Dallas. The and self-reliance to hit the curveballs in A Naples friend and I won the gold in the Lees celebrated their 50th wedding an- the high-stakes game of public life.”— 75-to-80-year-old men’s doubles at the niversary with a trip to Greece and Venice Martha’s Vineyard Times; “[Price is] that National Senior Games held in Birming- that reprised their honeymoon. Sons Matt friendly uncle who has all the answers and ham, Ala., this past June. … I haven’t been and Ted ’93 are food and travel writers, incredible stories to share.”—USA Today; teaching for years now, and Dot too is re- and daughter Caroline is a sociology pro- “It was fun and exhausting to read about tired, but she still teaches some Pilates fessor at Lafayette College. the challenges Hugh faced and to enjoy training classes.” PETER LEFFERTS and wife Jane re- the successes he achieved.”—ALAN BER- RICK FRIED and wife Barb toured Cuba turned to the Eastern Shore of Maryland NSTEIN on the class listserv. Alan did wish last January and played slow-pitch base- to host their annual family crab feast in that Hugh had written a bit more about ball in Remedios. “I managed to embar- Grasonville, just across Chesapeake Bay his life at Amherst, but then, one book rass myself (a Ruthian swing that put me from where they both grew up near Bal- can’t contain everything.

AMHERST FALL 2017 65 1963–1965

STEVE SALKEVER participated in a demonstrated that HPV was a causative there were about 1,000 to 2,000 people conference in Oxford, England, on the agent of human cervical cancer. Lowy gathered in the park’s open spaces to view recent work of the philosopher Alasdair and Schiller discovered that, when a key the eclipse.” MacIntyre. His presentation was on the protein of the HPV virus was “expressed” JOHN PERKINS in Kensington, Calif.: philosophical and political overlaps and (manufactured) in insect cells (instead of “It was a foggy, gloomy day. At eclipse differences between MacIntyre (still ac- bacteria), it formed stable particles that time, about 75 percent here, the gloom tive at the age of 88) and Leo Strauss, would become the basis of a commercial became gloomier. That was it. We had Steve’s principal teacher in grad school. vaccine. Doug has been the acting direc- our ISO-certified glasses, but in fact Following the conference, Steve and wife tor of the NCI since 2015. Congratulations we couldn’t even tell where the sun was Jane Hedley led a Bryn Mawr alumnae from all of us, Doug! through the fog. Still, we enjoyed watch- tour of various places in Britain. “Most ex- Unfortunately, we lost two classmates, ing the shadow race across the country citing of all, our grandson Courtney Scott DAVID PELLEGRIN and BILL LEWIS II. via TV and a live stream from NASA. has just been hired as assistant coach of Please see the In Memory section. Kensington, by the way, is absolutely the the men’s and women’s tennis teams at About the other eclipse, RIP SPARKS most foggy and chilly part of the entire Drexel in Philadelphia,” Steve writes. writes, “We hosted friends from Wis- San Francisco Bay area. August, as a rule, BILL STRONG went on an East Coast consin and our daughter, son-in-law and is the time to flee town to avoid the fog, “Alma Mater Tour” with his grandson 4-year-old granddaughter. We drove to but this year we didn’t.” Jordan, visiting “Amherst (me), Brown the southwest side of St. Louis, where From amateur astronomy buff CLARK (daughter), Penn (me/grad school, my granddaughter Margaret was well pre- DEEM: “It was on my bucket list! Julie dad/Wharton) and William and Mary pared with her book, Someone Is Eating the and I decided to go inland, cutting south (son).” At Amherst, after info session, Sun. We had over a minute of totality, and through the beautiful Willamette Val- campus tour and interview, the group the experience when the sun’s disk was fi- ley (Pinot Noir country), ending up in 1964: From Peter enjoyed a delightful long lunch in Val- nally blocked was like someone suddenly the small town of Independence, Ore., Easton: “Wife Zohre entine with Scottie and KENT FAERBER. threw the light switch to off. We could see ground zero for the central eclipse path. and I have been “No visit is ever complete without a visit the planet Venus. There was a rosy glow Rheostat-like gradual dimming of the greatly enjoying sen- with the two of them,” says Bill. “You all around the horizon. The crickets and sun, eventually down to darkness except ior living down here would not believe how great the food is other summer insects began chirping for a pink ‘sunset’ at the horizon, but not in Tallahassee, Fla. I now in Valentine—no ‘mystery meat’ to and continued for several minutes after just in the west, rather a 360-degree sun- retired from faculty be found anywhere.” totality. For me, memorable events in- set, with a 15-degree temperature drop, duties at the Florida TOM ZUCKERMAN and wife split their cluded the diversity of families excitedly The corona is an amazingly bright, feath- State University time between rural life in Acampo, Calif., sharing expectations and views through ery halo, scalloped, pure white or blue- College of Education and urban life in Fukuoka, southern Ja- homemade devices each had brought. A white (at 10,000,000 degrees, it sure isn’t in June 2015. Prin- pan. The couple will celebrate 10 years of collective outburst of cheering occurred yellow), with a central black dot, like a cipal occupations marriage next June. In the United States, prematurely when a cloud momentarily dark pupil—the moon. A huge shout- nowadays are tend- Tom is active in efforts to keep the Sac- shaded the crescent sun, but then the real out from the crowd and finally applause ing our backyard ramento-San Joaquin River Delta “from event happened. Marvelous!” when the sun beaded through. We found orchard and hiking thirsty farmers and land developers” and AL FURTWANGLER and wife Virginia a local restaurant and declared the day the trails of the continues to help manage some closely were joined in Salem, Ore., by JOE and a success.” Deep South. Some held businesses. In the fall he spent some Sally FOSTER (Leeds, England) and BOB The degree of shadow was 58 percent in international travel time in Japan’s northern island, Hokkai- and Arleen LEIBOWITZ (L.A.). The two midcoast Maine, where DOUG and Dotty (including a second do, on outdoor pursuits such as golf, fly scientists were stunned by the climactic REILLY observed it. Doug had seen eclips- trip to Zohre’s fishing and hunting. halo in a dark sky. “I was more attentive es on Antigua in 1998 (almost missed as native heath of Iran) It is with sadness we learned that ALEX to variations of light around us, and the he fussed with his telescope and camera) and visits to family SIEGEL died July 31, and we send condo- responses of neighbors in our street. and another just south of Vienna, and and national parks lences to his children and wife Sandy, who Afterwards, we sat on our porch to talk chased an annular one in New Mexico with our two adult celebrated with him their 50th wedding over the event and to recall Amherst in 2004. He may well be our “eclipse guy.” children, Nasimeh anniversary three years ago. The class classmates and courses. Bob described PETER MANUELIAN attended a memo- and Naveed.” website has a tribute and memorial from his quest to find a deep rationale behind rial in Seattle for Roger Sale, who died his friend and Chi Phi fraternity brother. the New Curriculum; he concluded that it recently after a long career at the Uni- An In Memory piece for Alex will appear was designed to ask, “What do you know, versity of Washington post-Amherst. A in a future issue. and how do you know it?” Science 1–2 en- very moving event, as these things often > NEALE ADAMS larged his appreciation of science as a pur- are. What was a pleasing surprise were [email protected] suit and led to his major in chemistry. Joe the speakers, who were his students, and I discovered that we had overlapping and who appreciated the praise and en- 1964 experiences just to get to Amherst from couragement he offered on their efforts, the West Coast. It took days to cross the including a class of ’62 Amherst English One event eclipsed the others. DOUG continent by train over the Rockies and major whose comments were similar to LOWY was one of two recipients of the the High Plains, change in Chicago and the ones some of us have made, but whose Lasker Award. Since 1945, the awards again at Grand Central and in Springfield work with Sale after 1–2 provided a rather program has recognized the contribu- to arrive in Northampton and emerge into different experience. tions of scientists, physicians and public a whole new world.” STEPHEN MITCHELL and wife Byron servants who have made major advances TOM GUILBERT wrote from Portland, Katie have two books coming out this in the understanding, diagnosis, treat- Ore., which was near but not in the path fall: they coauthored A Mind at Home ment and prevention of human disease. of totality of this eclipse. “Our home is with Itself, and Stephen wrote a new verse After sharing Amherst with us, Doug re- roughly halfway up the north slope of the translation of Beowulf. According to Yale ceived his M.D. from New York University tallest hill in Portland, and on Monday University Press, “Stephen Mitchell’s School of Medicine. With his postdoctor- morning, the day of the eclipse, my bride marvelously clear and vivid rendering al fellow and co-recipient, John Schiller, and I walked the roughly 1½ miles up our recreates the robust masculine music of Ph.D., he began studying the human hill to the summit, elevation 1,073 feet, the original. This new translation—spare, papilloma virus (HPV), inspired by Pro- where there is a nice park. From Council sinuous, vigorous in its narration and fessor Harald zur Hausen, Ph.D. (Univer- Crest, one has a view of no fewer than six translucent in its poetry—makes a mas- sity of Freiburg, who received the Nobel Cascade Range volcanoes that host liv- terpiece accessible to everyone.” Prize for his research in 2008), who had ing glaciers. On the morning of Aug. 21 On a roller-coaster ride with BRAD COL-

66 AMHERST FALL 2017 LINS: “In November our first grandchild is mounting a strong internship program. to a relaxed stay along the sea, with lots was born. In January, Ali, her husband and All of this will better support every Am- of good company and good food. Here’s our new grandson moved back to Colum- herst student, beginning upon their ar- hoping that no Scandinavian equivalent bia, and lived with us for three months rival on campus, but most particularly of Hurricane Harvey interferes with the while they found a house, all while [my] first-generation and low-income stu- Kassells’ reunion plans. My own daugh- wife Stacey was filming the first season dents, who arrive with less social capital ter (who just got her Ph.D. at Pepperdine) of her ETV show, Yoga in Practice. In May than others. had to cut short her visit to beat the storm we spent 17 days in Croatia with our other DENNIS RIDLEY’s latest adventure was and fly out when it was still possible. But I daughter, Zola, and her boyfriend follow- a visit to friend and former Amherst pro- think that Denmark is far removed from ing their Peace Corps service in Senegal.” fessor Bob Birney and his wife, Margaret, those tropical depressions that generate JIM and Sue DONHAM made their an- now both 92. Bob was a popular psychol- hurricanes. Tropical depressions? I some- nual trek to Lake Winnipesaukee in New ogy teacher, and those who knew them times experience them myself. Hampshire in August, and hosted DAVE will be glad to hear that both are rea- ROGER and Claudia SIEMENS have “re- and Pru LAKE and their granddaughter sonably well and mentally very sharp. treated” to their house at Lake Tahoe. “Al- Avery for dinner at the Donhams’ rental One of Bob’s memories of our class was ways beautiful here. One just hikes and cottage in Moultonborough. Dave has serving on an honors thesis committee swims and ignores the news, and life been energetic at the gym, even taking of someone who surprised everybody by seems fine.” Claudia is from Charlot- up gloves and punching a bag. his serious and creative scholarship that tesville and was certainly upset but, as Dr. DAVID PEARLE and DICK BARTH wouldn’t fit into any known category at do many of us, understands there can got together in Lenox, Mass., and chatted the time. Bob was amazed then and still be value in truthful education about about GIL SCHMERLER’s new book, Hen- talks about it today. Here’s the mystery: the past, not to be forgotten or ignored. rietta Schmerler and the Murder that Put who was it? He was a football player, al- (Whether it is statues, vocabulary in Huck “Always Anthropology on Trial. This story is about though a rather small man. The work Finn or wishing one could have stopped beautiful here. the 30-year pursuit by a niece and neph- dealt with existentialism. Do you have French revolutionaries from smashing ir- ew of Gil to find the “truth.” It includes any clue? replaceable stained-glass windows, one One just hikes a lawsuit against the FBI and shapes a > VINCE SIMMON wants to be deliberate rather than mob- and swims and more accurate portrayal of his aunt and [email protected] righteous.)” Roger’s retirement is going her murder on an Apache reservation in well after 40 years of surgery. He keeps ignores the Arizona. “This labor of love has produced 1965 active with golf and cycling and teaching news, and life a fascinating story, intricately researched the scrub tech students with mock sur- and beautifully told.” Dick is the author of There is a current running through some gery at a vocational tech school in Tulsa. seems fine.” numerous mysteries, including a series of of our conversations, a disappointment Roger is happy to be a liberal Californian Margaret Binton stories. David is a profes- that Amherst has shifted so seismically in Oklahoma. sor of medicine at MedStar Georgetown that walls have cracks wide enough that I think of MIKE ALCIVAR daily as I look University Hospital. He is board-certified our memories leak out, nor does the Col- at the 50th-reunion cup he selected for us in internal medicine, cardiovascular dis- lege seem to have interest in many class- that rests on my mantelpiece. He and Xi- ease and interventional cardiology. He mates’ hopes for a future that aligns with mena continue to travel on a shoestring, has repeatedly been recognized by mul- our experience. But one can pick up a re- appreciating people, sights, history and tiple organizations, including as one of markable book that celebrates so much of culture. Mike finds himself expressing Washingtonian magazine’s Top Doctors what many of us hold with such affinity. opinions of key figures’ actions. He has since the list was first developed. He is the Tragically, we lost PAUL RUXIN. In his come to appreciate the dangers of in- author of more than 45 research publica- memory, and even more to Paul’s honor grained bias and complacency (especially tions in the fields of heart failure, acute and credit, SAM ELLENPORT, RON “LA- by people who have had the privilege of a coronary care and interventional cardi- BOR DAY” GORDON and GORDON PRADL, good education plus sufficient economic ology. with the support of DON MACNAUGHTON, security). Mike suspects the answer may STEVE SMITH is still enjoying his very MARK PERRY, CHUCK BUNTING, BRUCE lie in supporting good works with time, casual work life, serving on three medi- WINTROUB and LEW MARKOFF, have money and trying to be a more visible ex- cal device boards and on two nonprofit brought out a book of Paul’s writings titled ample. On the Alicivars’ last trip to Min- boards—one a marina on Lake Superior The Past as Present: Selected Thoughts and nesota, they had a very pleasant dinner and the other the reality documentary en- Essays. If I have read a book more uphold- with Peter Lefferts ’63. (TOM POOR and titled The President and the Poet. “Happy ing of high levels of thought and expres- Mike washed dishes for Peter when he to not be on the firing line of any of the sion, that experience belongs to the fu- was a “grey coat” in Valentine.) After a commercial undertakings, and more than ture. It is also, this book, miraculously, an distinguished career in financial services, very happy not to be practicing law any entertainment. The contents range from Peter seems ready to reallocate time to lo- more. Enjoying our summers in Bayfield, book collecting, to Shakespeare, to a le- cal community and political involvement. Wisc., and portions of the winter on Ame- gal examination of the Amish people’s Mike will take that example, and perhaps, lia Island, Fla., our two nearing-50 daugh- desire to keep their children out of pub- our classmate hopes, make a difference ters and our seven grandchildren.” Hope lic education. But the wide range of sub- in helping our country come out on the there isn’t too much damage to Amelia jects that both demanded and rewarded right side of history. from Hurricane Irma’s visit. Paul’s mind and literary talent read like DAVE GARRISON puzzles over what to In collaboration with several others, a love letter to the value of history, and to do with the current deep disconnect be- CHUCK LEWIS has been working for the the functions of an active and intelligent tween the Donald and his narrow band last six years to modernize Amherst’s ca- mind that we cherish. This volume is a of supporters and, seemingly, the rest of reer center, which most of us remember visual and tactile pleasure, bound and us. Dave and his wife are slack-jawed with as a rudimentary undertaking, at best. printed with a commitment to quality the Prez’s latest madness: Will Trump Now it is named the Loeb Center for Ca- to match the contents. Limited printing, goad the North Korean Dear Leader suf- reer Exploration and Planning, which so, should you want one, chase down the ficiently to prompt a preemptive strike on aptly describes its new mission. It now swift and agile SAM ELLENPORT. Seoul’s millions? Like the Alcivars, Dave has four specialized career programs WALTER KASELL and wife Eva are just and Loretta are doubling down on foreign (Amherst Careers In Education Profes- heading out for a family reunion in her travel as one way to keep their minds open sions, Health Professions, Business and homeland, Denmark. Children are flying to the wide world around us. This fall they Finance, and Arts and Communications), in from New York, Puerto Rico and Kath- will travel though Palestine, Egypt, Jordan with three more on the way. In addition, it mandu (yes, that one!). They look forward and Israel for a month. Close to home,

AMHERST FALL 2017 67 1965–1967

Dave volunteers at the local food bank, 1957, the last true road race for Formula of flooded care facilities and people leav- helping unload the weekly early morn- One cars was held. Stirling Moss won, ing their ruined homes with nothing but ing delivery by semi-truck of foodstuffs while 46-year-old Juan Manuel Fangio their lives evoke pity and charity. And from the Boston Food Bank. (He is now was second in a Maserati, a car that I sat brought back a memory of walking across a “certified” forklift driver!) We could in the next year. I now regret ever relin- the quadrangle with Professor Baird and have, concludes Dave, done better than quishing my grip on that slender, wood- listening to him describe the hurricane of “the Mammoths.” rimmed steering wheel, as I never found 1938 that hit Amherst. GEOFF PHILLIPS finds the real “fake a way back. > PAUL EHRMANN news” is what comes out of the president’s After a series of false alarms, MIKE [email protected] mouth and, for reasons that escape him, WHEELER is retired from his Harvard the media considers it news and reports Business School teaching for real, but 1966 on it endlessly, rather than reporting on he has found another arena for his un- what’s actually happening in Venezuela quenchable pedagogic energy. (If you BOB HORNICK is the author of a second or Sudan or China. What would be news count back to “found” and go to “en- book, What Remains: Searching for the would be to report crisply on what Trump ergy” of that phrase, JOHN BOE would Memory and Lost Grave of John Paul Jones, remark on proximity to the iambic. Not published by the University of Massachu- exactly, but to quote John Wayne, whom setts Press. In the book, Bob explains how I met in the Warner Brothers commis- the Revolutionary War hero and father of West of Wesleyan sary, “I’d hate to live on the difference.”) the American Navy’s celebrity vanished Mike has developed an online course, ac- and was subsequently reconstructed. He 1965: Jim Gutmann’s long tenure at Wesleyan is ending. cessible to all, in his field of negotiation. explains “why Jones was forgotten, the His field was volcanology—volcanoes—and, while Jim has In so doing, he gained insights into the subsequent recovery of his memory and a few manuscripts to finish, he and Peggy are moving to ways that knowledge is most effectively remains, and the much delayed com- Broomfield, Colo. This is not far from Boulder, where I transmitted. memoration of his achievement.” The grew up, and has that spectacular view of the front range The Wheelers’ daughter Callie is mar- book also describes “the extraordinary of the Rockies from Mount Evans, reached by, I think, ried to DUNCAN MCDOUGALL’s son, Jesse, moment when Theodore Roosevelt uti- the highest drivable road in the country, which is labeled and they are now farming on land that has lized Jones’s commemoration to proclaim “not for the faint of heart,” past Indian Peaks to Longs been in the family for years. Mike occa- America a global power.” In 2012 Bob was Peak behind Estes Park. Both of the Gutmanns’ sons sionally provides unskilled agricultural the author of another book, The Girls and are hydrologists, close enough to the family’s geologic labor. Does he keep his papers with him in Boys of Belchertown: A Social History of the tree. They live in the area, and of course Jim and Peggy case our Whoopie Cushion in Chief sends Belchertown State School for the Feeble- look forward to proximity to four grandchildren. Jim, the INS up to southern Vermont to verify Minded, from the same publisher. The who grew up in Maine, graduated with us and taught for citizenship? retired lawyer is an adjunct professor of decades just down the Connecticut River, will miss New BRUCE and Marya WINTROUB em- law at the University of Arizona. England. But, Jim, in Colorado the sun shines through the barked on a different sort of ocean voy- In 2016 the University of Alabama pub- winter! age than the Richters’. Beginning in Ho lished STEVE MURRAY’s book, The Battle Chi Minh City, their cruise ship made its over Peleliu: Islander, Japanese, and Ameri- way back to our own West Coast. Every can Memories of War. Along with PAUL actually has done (executive orders, par- night, a Broadway show was presented DIMOND’s The Belle of Two Arbors, it’s dons, signing legislation, firing a nuclear with the original cast, including artists of one of the two most recent ’66-authored missile). Wouldn’t it be refreshing, specu- the stature of Patti LuPone. And best of books in the Amherst College Reads cat- lates Geoff, if the president held another all were conversations with these actors alog (www.amherst.edu/alumni/learn/ political rally in Arizona and nothing offstage, as they were part of the regular bookclub/authors). Steve and his wife, about it got reported, since the president passenger list by day. Bruce characterizes Fermina, are residents of Goleta, Calif. hadn’t actually done anything? the experience as “wonderful.” In Greenfield Village in Michigan on I try not to mention a classmate in con- AVI STACHENFELD went to Cuba with Sept. 14, after dinner at the Eagle Tav- secutive notes—this toward including Amado in July—had wanted to visit since ern, Paul read from his latest book and more of us. But I’m glad I phoned JOHN all the way back in the days of the Ven- talked about Robert Frost’s time in Michi- BOE, since our blood alcohol levels on ceremos Brigade but waited until the gan in the spring of 1929. This was part of that evening were nicely compatible. We revolution had so completely failed that “A Literary Feast: An Evening of Frost & talked of Professors DeMott, T. Baird and it needs a museum to remind people it Food,” which started at the Robert Frost Roger Sale, swapped a few Shakespeare happened. Something special about do- House. During dessert, Paul participated passages—John is strong in that iambic ing a discovery trip with one’s son. Next, in a panel discussion on how to make the arena. We recalled rooming across the Avi went to Croatia on a cycling tour in house a living center for American liter- hall from each another—was it sopho- August, since apparently there are not ary creativity going forward. Greenfield more year?—and generally agreed what enough hills around Berkeley. He started Village is part of The Henry Ford, a mu- splendid fellows we and the Woodford in Zagreb in the north and weaved back seum complex that provides unique edu- Reserve family truly are. and forth until his group got to Trogir cational experiences based on authentic DALE RICHTER is prevailing over his at about midpoint south to Dubrovnik. objects, stories and lives from America’s joint pain. I boasted of my new hip. Dale Now, with a taste of Eastern Europe, Avi is traditions of ingenuity, resourcefulness raised me one, plus two knees, and he thinking of a trip—not on a bicycle—next and innovation. Its purpose is to inspire is actively gardening again. The Rich- summer to Romania, where his mother’s people to learn from these traditions to ters have enough land to plant between people came from. There is, for Avi, a self- help shape a better future. Paul is a mem- trees, English estate style. A favored tree discovery progression here that includes ber of The Henry Ford’s board of trustees. is the Heptacodium which, at this writing, his current photographic project with the In July a Boston Globe Letter to the Ed- is swirling with small white blooms that Chasidim in Brooklyn. itor was written by DAVE MCCANN. He attract an enormous cloud of nectar-seek- Since some of you called, concerned, disagreed with one of the newspaper’s ing bees. The Richters have taken several let me return to the weather: It was just columnists who had asserted that the canal trips through Europe—the Rhine, the edge of mighty Hurricane Harvey that blame for Harvard’s investment policy the Danube—and shortly they are off to caught us here in Austin. Rain, winds to was a consequence of President Drew the Greek islands and up the Adriatic buckle trees, but nothing like the flood- Faust’s administration. Dave pointed coast of Italy. They will pass but not neces- ing and devastation that engulfed the out that the lousy returns began under sarily note the town of Pescara, where, in Texas coast 150 miles from here. Images President Larry Summers.

68 AMHERST FALL 2017 Retired surgeon SID SCHWAB writes form: Lessons and Takeaways,” hosted a weekly column for his local Everett, by the University of Kentucky Center for Wash., newspaper. “Cutting Through Poverty Research and the Center on Chil- the Crap” (sidschwab.blogspot.com) is dren and Families at the Brookings Insti- limited to 700 words per column. It first tute, Larry was on a “Work and Poverty” appeared in 2008. According to Sid, “his panel. After work and family, Larry is an credentials as a political blogger are only offshore sailor, who has crewed on ocean that he reads a lot, is deeply interested and racers and sailed numerous long races. genuinely believes that the issues facing DAVID GREENBLATT was profiled as us in the dawn of the 21st century are the a dedicated member in the American most existentially important ever.” The Society for Clinical Pharmacology and liberal blogger began by writing for a Therapeutics (ASCPT)’s journal. Initial- number of sites, before he started his own ly, presentation of research findings at blog, Surgeonsblog. It attracted a number ASCPT annual meetings was of primary

of readers in its prime. importance to him as a young, developing ARCHIVES COLLEGE PAUL MILMED retired from White & investigator. As time has passed, although Case, a New York City law firm, two years he remains invested in and focused on most of our class, and I have little to re- j Lonely ago. The NYU graduate is now doing vol- research, the organization has become in- port this quarter. Lab unteer work at the Hertzberg Palliative creasingly important as common ground BUTCH HAYES sent me a harrowing Amherst's Care Institute of Mount Sinai School of for developing and sustaining personal/ but sometimes funny story of his close chemistry Medicine. The program was developed as professional relationships. David ex- encounter with a table saw in June. While laboratory a response to the physical and emotional plained how he ended up in the field of cutting wood for shelving, he managed needs of hospitalized patients and fami- clinical pharmacology due to his parents also to cut off most of the top joint of his appears lies facing serious and life-threatening ill- and their colleagues. His specific areas thumb. His wife being in New York with well-equipped ness. Paul is also a mediator for the U.S. of research have been the clinical use of their daughters, he sought help from but devoid South District Court. He is the recipient of the benzodiazepines, the clinical applica- neighbors and eventually ended up in of students a bronze medal from the Environmental tions of drug metabolism and pharmaco- surgery and then with something that and faculty Protection Agency and a special commen- kinetics and the understanding of drug looked like a cast for a broken wrist. Ever in this shot dation for outstanding service from the interactions. He explains how leadership thoughtful, he did not want to spoil his U.S. Department of Justice. in the field of clinical pharmacology has wife’s weekend, and surprised her with from 1966. In 2009 WESLEY PITTMAN retired as moved from academia to private industry. the news when he picked her up at the Share your a mover. He and wife Elizabeth reside His parting advice was, “As you grow old- train station. He received excellent care memories in Brattleboro, Vt. He continues to be er and professionally mature, help young and seems to be recovering well. of working active on the Brattleboro Food Co-Op people [and] avoid making enemies.” Da- The 50th reunion excessively exceeded in the lab at Board. Elizabeth is also retired. She was vid is the recipient of the ASCPT Rawls- expectations for BILL NEWMANN, and magazine@ the Bereavement Care Coordinator at the Palmer Progress in Medicine Award. also for his wife, who took advantage of Brattleboro Area Hospice. They had pre- In August JOHN MCKENZIE met his first several of the presentations as well as hav- amherst.edu. viously lived in Atlanta and Carrolton, Ga. Doshisha University alumnus, Mariko ing a fascinating conversation with Biddy Anesthesiologist JIM SAKLAD retired at Takagishi, at the Joint Statistical Meet- Martin. They send Mammoth thanks to age 62 after an attempt at age 50. He has ings. Doshisha, one of Japan’s oldest pri- those classmates and the alumni office been with his wife of 25 years, Bonnie Dal- vate institutions of higher learning, has for the grand efforts involved in the plan- zeli, for 42 years. She is a 1966 graduate approximately 30,000 students enrolled ning and execution! In other news, Bill of UC Berkeley. The Maryland residents on four different campuses in Kyoto. It decided to embrace his former life and have a website that deals with Borzoi, was established by Joseph Hardy Neesi- will reopen a Bill’s Bait Shop, this time in also called Russian Wolfhounds. They ma, an Amherst graduate, in 1875. At the the mall; he has sworn off using electronic are large hunting dogs specialized for same meeting, Amherst Professor of Sta- devices (not sure why); he began a cam- chasing down fleeing prey (“coursing”). tistics Nicholas Horton was announced as paign to promote lawn and garden wel- RICHARD and Lindy GROSSINGER the recipient of the American Statistical fare by passing local laws outlawing the spent a summer month in Ireland and Association’s highest honor for service. cutting or trimming of anything green; Northern Ireland. The First Bad Man is JEFF HOFFMAN was pictured in the and he has discovered that Bon Ami is a the 2015 debut novel of their daughter, Amherst Voices feature of the College’s pretty effective toothpaste substitute for Miranda July. She was a recipient of a homepage (https://shar.es/1SMusW). tooth powder, which is much harder to Creative Capital Emerging Fields Award. Below the photograph was a quote from find these days. At the end of July, JOHN FORRY stepped Jeff’s 1985 spacewalk: “You’re surround- The reunion was the highlight of the down from the academic and part-time ed by the universe.” year for RICK GOULLAUD. He loved meet- legal roles that had occupied him for the LINDA HOWARD, KEN HOWARD’s wid- ing classmates whom he never knew as past five years, and returned to a full- ow, has continued their work with the a student, and he found the seminars time multidisciplinary practice in inter- Onyx & Breezy Foundation as a mem- stimulating and educational. He learned national taxation, finance and investment ber of its executive board. Providing fi- more from the health seminars and “100 structuring. His new position is managing nancial support to credible organizations Days of Trump” than he could ever find in director with CBIZ MHM Inc., a company and individuals that benefit the welfare weeks of reading. Rick has outlasted sev- with more than 4,000 personnel in over of animals is the mission of the founda- eral recent health issues (hypertension 30 U.S. offices (www.cbiz.com). tion. Ken was its national spokesperson. and serious neck injury) that cropped up LARRY MEAD was at Amherst during Finally, congrats to class agent DICK in the weeks prior to his Ironman race in the last academic year, invited to speak KLEIN and his 13 associate agents for their Lake Placid, N.Y. It was not his best race, by a student group. 2016 saw Larry par- work on the 2017 Amherst Annual Fund, but he felt it was almost a miracle that he ticipate in two events. The first was the which set a record for dollars raised. was able to race and finish his fifth IM on AEI 2016 Values & Capitalism Summer > JOHN D. MCKENZIE JR. July 23. He will likely finally retire from Honors Program, in which some students [email protected] the event. It was a tough day, and he suf- studied “Poverty and Welfare Policy” fered big-time but found his way across with Larry, an NYU professor of politics 1967 the finish line. He is planning to run a and public policy. In September as part marathon in September to try to qualify of “The 20th Anniversary of Welfare Re- I guess late-summer lethargy afflicted for Boston in 2018.

AMHERST FALL 2017 69 1967–1969

JASON VICTOR (NASSBERG) SERINUS of the reunion committee was being or- Marc and John also called on DAVID and his hubbie headed to NYC in June to ganized by ED SAVAGE, to include other SETH MICHAELS, who moved from up- see Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly!. For him, Big Apple classmates. A complete report state New York to Baltimore a couple of the high point was neither that silly show will follow. And, by the time you read this, years ago and is now at home with his high nor Eötvös’ opera, Angels in America, at you no doubt will have heard from ED school friend Lori Gladstone in a magnifi- NYCO, but rather the Florine Stettheimer LYNN who, assisted by secretaries DA- cent house on Charles Street. exhibit at the Jewish Museum and a his- VID GLASS and JOHN STIFLER, will be Slow-forward five months, and the self- torical revival, by Charles Ludlam’s sur- assembling the reunion book. Ed’s let- same secretary would be walking out of viving partner, of one of his hilarious late ter will contain information on how to the Vermont woods, across the Connecti- plays. enter your reminiscences online; if you cut River and into Hanover, N.H., thence Then, in July, they headed to the Music can’t figure it out yourself, your youngest to Lake Sunapee to visit JIM and Ellen Critics of North America Conference in grandchild can help you. LYNCH, whose house offered the pros- Santa Fe for three operas and a chamber In August, Ed and secretary Glass made pect of spending a night in an actual bed music performance. There, Jason spoke a pilgrimage to the Orange County, N.Y., instead of a sleeping bag. A particularly on a CD/DVD reviewing panel and re- home of WALTER and Louise (Weezie) delightful part of the evening’s entertain- viewed The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs for SIMONSON, upshot of which was Walter’s ment was Jim and Ellen’s highly articulate San Francisco Classical Voice. Back home, agreement to do another amazing cover 3-year-old granddaughter, Zahra. Jason previewed Seattle Opera’s Madame for our reunion book. For those who don’t A week later, where the trail passes Butterfly for The Seattle Times and dis- remember: Walter’s cover for the 25th through Franconia Notch, John snagged cussed issues of racial stereotypes, sex- featured a youthful superhero, Amherst a ride to the nearest hostel with a motorist ism and cultural appropriation. Boy, did Man, flying up out of the campus with di- who happened by. The driver, Ben My- If you haven’t the fur fly on that one. As the dust settles, ploma in hand, vowing to fight for “truth, ers, turned out to be an Amherst High already he works on his latest audio product and justice and the liberal arts!” (a caption, School and UMass alumnus who now recording reviews for Stereophile and BTW, thought up by one Andrew Glass, works in Boston with a real estate firm watched the looks forward to a trip to the Bay Area then 11 years old). Walter is not tipping his that specializes in LEED-certified and ’68 Classmate for the opening of the fall opera season, hand regarding the new cover, except to environmentally progressive building. and to teaching about opera and art song assure us that it will be more, ahem, age- Your hitchhiking secretary asked, “By any of the Month in Port Townsend come October. appropriate. We spent a delightful after- chance, do you know BILL HOLLAND?” videos that FRED LUNDAHL wrote me from Whid- noon with Walter and Weezie; their home “Yes indeed,” Ben replied. “He’s a legend bey Island, Wash. He is sorry he missed is a museum, if not indeed a hall of fame, in the field—one of the real pioneers in Doug “Foggy” the reunion. He was in Morocco, and it for comic book art, including a treasure green building.” Pitman and was too darned hot! Usually they go in trove of Walter’s amazing artwork. Weez- There were several more pieces of trail April, but this year they went with profes- ie is herself a legend in the field; around magic, including one that coincided with Jack Widness sor friends from Laval University in Que- the time of our 25th, the famous “Super- the hour when he was to participate in a have been bec who couldn’t go until school was over. man is Dead” issue came out, written by conference call about next year’s reunion. It was a big mistake, with temperatures Weezie and drawn by Walter. The trail crossed a road in Pennsylvania producing: 105 degrees every day and no air condi- Although not appearing in the video where people had set up folding chairs 1do so. tioning. Fred is still planning on flying up series, CHRIS NIELSEN was definitely and were handing out fried chicken, wa- to Prince George for a visit, probably in the Classmate of the Month in May, as termelon, cookies, potato chips, soda and the fall, since the worst wildfires in British far as Secretary Stifler is concerned. Two beer. Stifler loaded the plate, opened a Columbia’s history have caused problems months along on his Appalachian Trail can, took a seat, and punched the num- for pilots. hike from Georgia to Maine, John got a bers connecting him to Widness, Pitman, My wife, Sylvia, has just returned from visit from Chris at a lean-to shelter in BOB HALDEMAN, BOB HOLLOWAY, re- Zambia, where she was doing a feasibility Shenandoah National Park. Having hiked union chairs MIKE MULLIGAN and ED study for a field course. The course will almost all of the Trail himself over the SAVAGE, and ED LYNN. be offered for the first time this coming course of a few summers, Chris thought An update came last spring from ALLEN May, and the whole family will go. Lots it would be fun to drive across Virginia ZIPKE, whose long career in secondary of elephants there, she reports. from his home in Yorktown, park at a education has led to part-time work for Finally, there is talk about a possible off- trailhead, and walk a couple of miles to Pearson, the dominant testing and pub- year mini reunion with a golfing theme. the shelter carrying not only a backpack lishing company in the business. Allen It is too early for details, but STEVEN but a cooler containing four superb mi- also works part-time for Western Gov- HANNES is looking into it. crobrews on ice. ernors University, an online university > LEE KEENER As it happened, this particular camp- based in Utah. He wrote, “As part of their [email protected] site was crammed with hikers, who were teacher education program, I’ve been su- impressed that one of their number has a pervising student teachers in New Eng- 1968 friend who would make such a purpose- land, worked with talented students and ful excursion. They call this kind of event enjoy visiting a variety of schools.” Allen’s If you haven’t already watched the Class- “trail magic”; Chris is now regarded as wife teaches English part time at Great mate of the Month videos that DOUG one of the great magicians of the forest. Bay Community College. “FOGGY” PITMAN and JACK WIDNESS Earlier, the drive to Georgia to begin the Living near the University of New have been producing to summarize some hike was punctuated by an inspirational Hampshire, in Durham, the Zipkes en- of our thoughts about Amherst, to relate stopover in Hampstead, Md., home of joy the splendid concentration of restau- a bit of what we’ve been doing, and to MARC and Nina DAMASHEK. Marc and rants and activities in nearby Portsmouth, encourage us all to come to our reunion John drove to meet DAN CONRAD and and Boston is close. Last winter included next May: do so. TOM CLIFF observed Paul Stumpf ’67 for lunch at the Baltimore a visit to Amherst for the College’s Christ- after watching the first one (of CHRIS Museum of Art’s restaurant, followed by mas Vespers concert (“always an amazing BROWN), “I was touched. No puffing a visit to Red Emma’s left-wing bookstore performance”) and lots of skiing; summer here about career and offspring triumphs, and coffee shop. Dan plugged in one of means scuba diving, which Allen says is only honesty. I’m looking forward to the his light boxes and set it on a table where quite good in the waters around Boston next one.” At this writing, Foggy and browsers and latte drinkers might notice and Gloucester: “Always looking for dive Jack were scheduled to be in New York how the colors on the box’s screen are buddies.” in mid-September on their COTM barn- constantly, subtly changing as they shift Elsewhere in the Granite State, JOHN storming tour; an impromptu gathering across the spectrum. TEAGUE sings in the Concord Chorale,

70 AMHERST FALL 2017 which performed Brahms’ Deutsches Re- cultural dancer and a second-year physi- directions at various times in my life and quiem last May. John remarked modestly, cal therapy student at the University of learn about new things that fascinate me.” “I managed to nail the low C two out of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., and “one > DAVID GLASS three times.” of the most caring people I know.” Apart [email protected] As reported in our last issue, Professor from viticulture, Glenn’s hobbies include > JOHN STIFLER DAVID NYE is retiring from his long teach- choral singing and Italian language study; [email protected] ing gig at the U. of Southern Denmark. he has sung in the Cathedral Choir of St. David clarifies that he will continue to James in Seattle for the past 21 years, “and live in Denmark “for the foreseeable fu- I am presently on sabbatical in Italy with 1969 ture,” notwithstanding an arrangement my favorite lady, Martha.” Newly retired from his third profession with the U. of Minnesota, where he will Two of the terser items we’ve received —1. Coast Guard officer, 2. small-town be in residence as a senior research fellow in recent times: BILL DOMB writes that lawyer, 3. cybersecurity analyst—ELLIS a few weeks each semester: “In this way, he heard JIM RYTUBA speaking on Sci- DAVISON wrote that he was looking at I can keep alive the illusion that I am still ence Friday on NPR in conjunction with some long-overdue work on his 85-year- working!” This is hardly Fake News, as the solar eclipse. And from the UK, BOB old farmhouse on the Delmarva Penin- demonstrated by the impending publica- sula. The house is located on an 80-acre tion of two more books: American Illumi- “Retired. grain farm that was purchased as an in- nations and The Environmental Humani- Didn’t much like it. vestment by his grandfather in 1902. “My ties, a Critical Introduction, both from The Went back to work.” longer-term goals include documenting MIT Press. David pledges nonetheless to the local Underground Railroad,” he be at the 50th. wrote. “The Harriet Tubman Byway runs Also pledging to be at the 50th are EL- SATHER writes: “Retired. Didn’t much by our house, and she probably actually DON “BILL” and Patsy BALL. Always an like it. Went back to work.” Gentlemen, did go by our property at least a couple of 1969: Inveterate avid skier, Bill received his 40-year Cer- brevity may be the soul of wit, but we ea- times on her way to Philadelphia shep- theater-goer Alan tified Ski Instructor pin and 30-year Na- gerly await further details. herding runaway slaves.” Blum wrote that he tional Ski Patrol pin this last year, “both of A.C. CUDA has written to us regarding BARRY KEATING was in London in Au- was looking for a which are making me feel very old.” Bill is the article that appeared about him in Am- gust with LARRY DILG and Bob Sather ’68 home for his collec- fully retired from the commercial real es- herst earlier this year, which reported on for the final performance of JIM STEIN- tion of playbills and tate appraisal business but still maintains his life as a Buddhist monk and his work MAN’s Bat Out of Hell. “The rave reviews other documents his state certification (“just in case!”). He for those in need around the world. The and full houses pretty much guarantee a about Pittsburgh has been learning about physical training gist of A.C.’s message is that the article Broadway production,” Barry wrote. An playwright August for the past 15 years and now teaches a does not sufficiently feature the kindness unlimited London run is already sched- Wilson, whom Alan class for the ski patrol. Grand Master Shin, and generosity of “many Amherst people uled for 2018. In our senior year, Larry literally bumped Bill’s mentor, “is a ninth-degree black belt who do far more than I do,” nor does it and Barry both starred in Dream Engine, into while running and just celebrated his 80th birthday! He “adequately describe to the reader the Bat’s easily recognized parent. In Lon- across 47th Street still works out with me (or should I say extreme poverty and desperation that don, Larry sat next to a couple who had a few years ago. punishes me?) twice a week.” many live in who I have contact with on already seen the musical 14 times. Barry No one was hurt. Another promised attendee at the 50th a daily basis.” More generally, A.C. ex- was headed to Toronto in September to Alan has had a long is GLENN LUX, who brings much welcome presses the hope that the article will lead be Jim’s “eyes and ears” for a produc- career of running news from the Great Northwest: “I still the “Amherst well-off” to reevaluate their tion scheduled to open Oct. 14 at the Ed into and conversing am regularly in touch with PETER HAR- relationship to those less fortunate. Mirvish Theatre. Jim was in lousy health with notables—from VARD, who also lives in Seattle.” On Sept. DAVID FUNNELL reports that he re- through the summer and was unable to Tommy Tune to Da- 3, Glenn presided at the wedding of Pe- mains in remission from the Stage 3 get to London for the show. vid Mamet—but ad- ter’s oldest daughter, Maile, “so I had to colorectal cancer diagnosis he received FRED HOXIE celebrated his 70th birth- mitted to “almost” get one of those online ordinations. Apol- in 2014. “While on the subject, the prog- day exploring the Civil War battlefield at knocking over just ogies to the actual ministers in our class.” ress of biology that I wanted to study in Shiloh, Tenn., with wife Holly, son Steve, one: Mel Tormé. We On the personal front, Glenn is “not sat- 1966 has come around finally to justify daughter-in-law Katie and grandson can’t say why that isfied with drifting into retirement to do Professor Yost’s emphasis on genetics James. Fred reported finding the loca- made us giggle. nothing, so I am still working. And I am and cytology.” tion of the battery commanded by Col. in the middle of a 19-month viticulture David cites a recent report from the David Stuart (Amherst 1838) at Pittsburgh certificate program at Washington State Max Planck Institute regarding “a com- Landing, April 6, 1862. Fred noted that the University (all online except for three pletely new area that we have discov- casualty total for the two days of fighting weekends),” as he pursues his passion ered—definitive proof that metabolism at Shiloh amounted to more than the com- for wine and wine-making. occurs engaging mitochondrial DNA by bined total of American casualties in all After Amherst, Glenn got his M.D. from epigenetic signaling to activate nuclear previous wars. “Killing on an industrial the U. of Rochester, then finished his resi- responses with the kind of histone-tails scale would characterized the war from dency in pediatrics at Seattle Children’s that I’ve been learning about since 2013.” that point forward,” Fred the historian Hospital, joining a local pediatric prac- David also expresses appreciation that wrote. “Sort of an odd birthday field trip, tice after a stint in the Navy. The practice the Massachusetts General Hospital sur- but it did put things into perspective.” grew over the years (“along with Micro- geons and oncologists have allowed him West Virginia lawyer/lobbyist KIT soft, Boeing, Costco, etc.”), resulting in to keep the nutritional regime “that had FRANCIS planned to retire in October Glenn’s taking on more of an administra- previously knocked down my prostate on his 70th birthday. “It’s just time to tive/leadership role. Today the group has cancer to zero.” turn this work over to others,” he wrote. 90 pediatricians in eight offices. Reflect- Some sad news has traveled slowly. We “Golf game continues to improve as I ing his new role, Glenn added an MBA learned recently that PETER DORLAND move to the forward tees. Shot within 11 from Seattle U. in 2006. died of cancer two years ago. BILL SMEAD of my age last year.” His wife, Nancy, has Today Glenn shares a house with old- will write a tribute to Pete that will appear also retired after many years directing fi- er daughter Hannah, her boyfriend, her in a future issue of Amherst. nancial education for the West Virginia 9-year-old son and “Pearl (our dog), And a final thought, from GLENN LUX, state treasurer. where, among other things, we cook din- regarding his reasons for undertaking STEVE DIAMOND, who left following ner almost every Monday night for any- intensive study in viticulture (reported freshman year, wrote that, after 45 years one who shows up (that’s an invitation to above) at this stage of life: “I have this as an information technology executive you all!).” Younger daughter Emma is a uncontrollable urge to move in different and consultant, he had started a second

AMHERST FALL 2017 71 1969–1971

career. Last year, he founded a company, munity College in New York and had DICK ARONSON reported that partici- More Than Mindful, in Tucson, to offer ended his career “feeling good, for the pants in the Amherst Amigos program, mindfulness classes and coaching. most part, about getting to read and talk who performed community work in Mexi- BOB SAUER, who runs the aptly named about books, getting to know my stu- can villages in the summers of 1966–67, Bob Sauer Lab at MIT, reported a hum- dents, getting to help them to create a gathered for a 50th reunion during re- bling four-day encounter with the White space for thoughtful conversation.” He union weekend this summer. Participants Mountains this summer. Bob is an expe- said he was still feeling “unmoored part included Terry Ellen ’67 and Jack Hailey rienced hiker and considered himself of the time” as he began his retirement, ’67. JON STEINHART took part over the in good physical shape when he started but was “looking forward to getting past phone. out. “Didn’t matter,” he wrote. “Younger the uneasiness.” DAVE EDIE wrote in praise of wife Di- folks, some not looking very fit, cruised JONATHAN STEINHART, PETER SAR- ane’s 25 years of work with Opera for the by us. … Despite stretching and massive GENT and BOB BERGLUND gathered in Young, which he described as a “preem- doses of ibuprofen, I still hurt in places Seattle in June for a Mastersingers re- inent presenter of opera for children.” I didn’t know existed,” he wrote after union. The group is led by former Glee Diane is the organization’s artistic di- getting home. Bob’s lab is in the biology Club director Bruce McInnes. “Bruce is rector, reshaping well-known operas into department at MIT. He can explain what 81, and we are not getting any younger,” 45-minute shows for children. She directs the lab does. We can’t. Jonathan wrote, “though we think our each production. ROB KLUGMAN wrote that he and his voices sound young.” Jonathan and Peter BOB JONES wrote that he held a mini wife, Kathy, were planning a September also caught up over lunch with Seattle pe- reunion of sorts with his son Robert III river cruise in Portugal. “It is my belief diatrician HOWARD UMAN, who attend- ’92, daughter Emily ’96, Jeremy Rosen- that being on a small boat will mitigate ed the Sunday morning concert. “Please holtz ’91 and Drew Tagliabue ’91. Bob “Not clear if my tendency to get lost,” Rob wrote. He pass along that we have some great Indian also reported that getting a crown on an I should be also reported that his daughter Maura Hu- food in Seattle,” wrote Howard, an infre- upper molar, making it the fourth in his mann ’05, a lawyer, was working for the quent contributor. mouth, produces a sparkling gold smile happy about Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental PAUL MACHEMER and his wife, Pam, that delights his grandchildren. He also modern Health Law in Washington, D.C., which spent time this summer with JIM GIB- reported dressing like a pirate—eyepatch, advocates for the mentally ill. BONS and his wife, Judy, at the Gibbons’ three-corner hat, sash and sword—and medicine or Retired country doctor JOHN MCDOW- summer home overlooking Castine Har- yelling “Aargh!” The things we do for annoyed that I ELL reported that he and his wife, Kathy, bor in Maine. “We enjoyed a copious sup- the grandkids. were planning an October cruise from ply of local lobsters, a ride on our lobster > DAVID MICHELMORE need so much Venice to Athens and that he was looking boat and much chatter,” Jim wrote. Paul [email protected] of it.” forward to seeing 70 percent of the sights. teaches and coaches at the George School. TOM That’s because he’s lost 30 percent of the More visitors: Denver attorney 1970 vision in his right eye due to non-arteritic KELLEY reported that BILL HART and his anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. “I’m wife, Vicki, traveling in a “well-appoint- Well, based on the minimal output of in- a doctor, and I don’t know what it is ei- ed RV (kitchen, complete bath, etc.),” formation for this quarter, it seems that, ther,” John wrote. He and Kathy were also pitched up at Tom and wife Linda’s lake as a group, our class is still digesting the traveling to Colorado to see their son in cottage in Ontario—“one waterfall up current political reality of the Trump ad- Steamboat Springs. “Retirement is OK,” from the north shore of Georgian Bay.” ministration and consequently has been he said. Tom wrote that the only new news was no rendered almost speechless. The other BILL MANN reported that he was con- news: “Bill hasn’t changed since I knew possible cause for the limited turnout of tinuing to run a clinic for the uninsured him at Amherst.” news is that we as a collective body were and underinsured in Virginia. “Since pas- BOB IHNE reported that his long run- so involved in our activities over this sum- sage of the Affordable Care Act, our un- ning career (Penn Relay medals in four mer that we did not have time to submit insured rate for our approximately 5,000 decades and a win and a second in the information for our class notes. I’m as- patients has risen from 62 percent to 80 Millrose Games) had been sidelined for suming that the latter of these reasons is percent,” he said. “Go figure.” the last six years by a series of hip and the more accurate, so we can look forward JOE SELLIN has retired as a practicing spine surgeries. “Recovery is going well,” to a much more robust report for the quar- gastroenterologist, and he and his wife, he wrote. “Not clear if I should be happy ter ending in December. Rena, have moved from Houston to New about modern medicine or annoyed that DAVE DORWART reports, “It’s taken me York, where they have a lake home in I need so much of it.” Bob said he was six months to find a healthy equilibrium: the Adirondacks and a small apartment continuing to stay active in the Uniform to take the longer view that the disaster across from Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Commercial Code/equipment financing of the Trump administration, too, shall Joe and Rena took three weeks and logged arena. pass, while at the same time remaining 3,462 miles to travel from Houston to their Guitarist HOWARD CONN wrote that active in the resistance. Needed to be place in the “Dacks.” Joe said there were he had retired from his medical practice more philosophical so I could focus on “many delightful twists and turns to the in October of last year and was playing my writing and not have a constant rage/ trip. Perhaps the most notable oddity was three gigs a week with his aptly named stress headache.” Dave has contemplated the Tuba Museum in Durham, N.C.” Howard Conn Jazz Ensemble in Laguna reactivating his Canadian citizenship or Semiretired cardiologist JON TOBIS Beach, Calif. moving back to England. But then he real- wrote that he took his son Matt, 25, to a Former pilot BILL RHOADES wrote of izes how much he would miss the climate medical conference in Japan in July and adventures in many lands: hiking the of places like St. Croix and San Diego. He that they had a “wonderful week together Royal Inca Trail to Machu Picchu; Paris takes solace from great minds like Tho- exploring Tokyo and Kyoto.” Among oth- for the Trump election, “which was sur- reau, who said, “If it is necessary, omit er things, Jon and Matt took a one-hour real”; back to Peru to rescue a friend one bridge over the river … and throw one lesson in samurai sword fighting with whose plane had broken down in Lima arch at least across the darker gulf of igno- kitana blades. Jon said he continued to and then flying it 4,000 miles back to rance that surrounds us.” So he plans on work “pretty hard” and to “proctor phy- Durango, Colo.; and finally rafting with building that arch and tearing down walls. sicians in Europe and Australia on how his wife down the Colorado River through JOHN MEIKLEJOHN writes that, after to do a new procedure for treating mitral the Grand Canyon. “I’m just getting re- retiring two years ago from a practice of regurgitation.” covered from 18 days of rowing through psychotherapy in Westfield, Mass., he’s JAY SILVERMAN wrote that he had the biggest water I’ve ever been in. Good been happily engaged in several endeav- taught his last class at Nassau Com- fun, though.” ors: integrating and researching mindful-

72 AMHERST FALL 2017 ness in a local public school system; man- are in a continuous state of evolution, a passion or a story that was meaningful aging a couple of research orchards on changing beliefs, values, and practices to them. Each talk lasted 10 minutes, and their property for the American Chestnut over time. All religions, including Chris- most were excellent. Folks our age have Foundation; leading a local meditation tianity and Islam, can evolve to accept the largely transitioned out of workaday jobs, group; and recently co-founding an Indi- scientific way of knowing and secularism, and most of our avocations reflect true visible grassroots group. John and his wife becoming agnostic and even atheistic passions, which can hold an audience raised their two children (Kate and Tony) without losing their essential value. spellbound for 10 minutes at least. (50th to be New England “hardy” but overshot Citing its increasing dysfunction, TOM reunion planners, take note.) the mark, and they now both live in Rocky DAVIS left Congress in 2008 to join De- EDWARD “SKIP” STODDARD has been Mountain territory out west. It’s a good loitte as director of its Government Affairs retired from North Carolina State Univer- excuse for travel, and they recently spent & Public Policy practice. More recently, sity for more than 10 years. “I continue 10 days canoeing the Green River, visiting Tom has been teaching at George Mason to work part-time as a field geologist with Anasazi ruins and having some time with University (Virginia’s largest), and was re- the N.C. Geological Survey. That involves both Kate and Tony. cently re-elected as rector (board chair). walking in the woods when I feel like it We also received an email from REEVES Tom is also a co-author of The Partisan and the weather is great. Am also keep- CALLAWAY updating us about the awe- Divide: Congress in Crisis. ing busy writing geology guides for hik- some Callaway Corvettes, the new Cal- LEIGH MACKAY has been splitting his ing trails and greenways. Recently got laway AeroWagen and a listing of shows retirement among three continuing ven- the chance to swap stories with ROGER that will include these beautiful vehicles. tures: (1) writing feature stories for New RHODES and FRANK CUSHMAN at our For more information and a list of upcom- England Golf Monthly, a second vocation 50th high school reunion. Nancy and ing shows, search for “Callaway Cars” on and a most rewarding one; (2) playing golf I just returned from a road trip to the the internet. around the country, but especially in the Southwest, and are looking forward to To the inevitable Believe it or not, that’s all we have for Port St. Lucie area of Florida in winter and more traveling.” question about the fall quarter. We all need to step it up in New England in summer; (3) scratch- JOHN RICHMOND has also been travel- so our class notes can keep up with the ing off bucket-list trips, recently to Machu ing. “I’ve been taking an annual summer retirement, listserv for the winter quarter on Dec. 1. Picchu, to South Africa and on a Danube cross-country motorcycle trip every year artist Jim Frazer Since we have a lot of unused space, I cruise from Budapest to Regensburg, Ger- since 2010, and was thus eager to get my thought I would include an update about many. Leigh visits classmates DAN GER- gastrostomy tube placed as early in the ’71 denied it. my family, as we have had quite an ac- MAN in Pennsauken, N.J.; JOHN HEN- summer as possible so I could get used He says that at tive year. First and foremost, the JEFF DRICKS up the road in Vero Beach, Fla.; to it and then book. Yup, the 2007 head ZIMMERMAN clan now includes four and LEN BICKNELL in Marshfield, Mass., and neck radiation caught up with me, the moment grandchildren, two boys—Owen, age 6, the old hometown. John and Leigh were and I can no longer swallow!” Kudos for he is “trying to and Leo age 4—from our oldest daugh- instrumental in returning the Amherst- John for refusing to give up what he loves. ter, Lauren, and her husband, Jordan; and Williams golf trophy to the Amherst side John proudly related the motorcycle and teach myself two girls—Sutton, age 18 months, from this year in the annual Treasure Coast trekking adventures in Nepal of daugh- something about our second daughter, Leslie, and her hus- match. ter Ellen ’12, who is pursuing medical and band, Ryan; and Harley, age 10 months, KIRK DUFFY and CLIFF HOGAN trav- academic doctorates. philosophy.” from Lauren and Jordan. The boys were eled to Farmington, Maine, to have lunch SAM OZERSKY writes from Toronto: totally immersed in day camp this sum- with Bruce McInnes, legendary former di- “Despite making the clear transition from mer until they came to visit Mimi (Luana’s rector of the Amherst Glee Club. At 81, marijuana to Metamucil, I am not even grandparent name), Pop (my grandparent Bruce is still sharp, remembering many considering retirement—that is for senior name) and Aunt Lindsey (our third daugh- stories about his former singers. He has citizens. As a psychiatrist, I never gave ter). The high point for the boys’ visit to retired from playing the organ, but con- the defense mechanism of denial enough us in Washington, D.C., was the day we tinues to direct a co-ed singing group on credit. My 68th birthday party theme was spent at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space the Farmington campus of the Universi- ‘almost immortal.’” Sam is in the process Museum, located near Dulles Airport, not ty of Maine. Notwithstanding the recent of introducing his mobile mental health to be confused with the other half of this mascot kerfuffle, the director of hundreds platform (feelingbetternow.com) to the museum on the Mall in downtown D.C. (thousands?) of renditions of “Lord Jef- U.S. health care market. Sam saw many Among the breathtaking items on display fery Amherst Was a Soldier of the King” ’71 classmates at the memorial service for are the Discovery Space Shuttle, an SR71 continues to “stand fast for him.” DAVE RIMMER. HARRY SERNAKER has Blackbird and a Concorde SST. I was just JOHN BEESON writes, “I’ve entered the been teaching Sam to sail at his cottage as overwhelmed as the boys were with the second year of my ‘downthrottling’ plan, in Northern Ontario. hundreds of different airplanes and rock- which calls for one-half time doing paid Class vice president and Italian Re- ets on display. Next time you are in D.C., consulting work, more pro bono/volun- naissance scholar ELLEN LONGSWORTH you have to plan at least one day for this teer work and more golf (the latter for rea- is not retiring from her teaching post museum. It is awesome. Lauren and Jor- sons that are not readily apparent). Still anytime soon. “This spring I offered a dan are expecting to move into their new on the board of the Emily Dickinson Mu- course—‘The World of Michelangelo’—as home in the next two weeks following seum, so get back to Amherst frequently one of two courses taught as part of Merri- completion of a 10-month “renovation” for that. Am also taking online MOOC mack College’s San Gimignano Program, that removed all walls from the main floor classes, which I very much enjoy. My some six years young. Last May I married and the upstairs. Mimi and I are looking wife, Jane, and I spent a weekend with John Smolens, a former beau (going back forward to helping them make this house MICHAEL SIMKO in Florida this winter something like 35 years), who has made into a home. and will attend the wedding of his oldest his life as a novelist and author of histori- > JEFF ZIMMERMAN daughter in October. I was recently able to cal fiction, living in the Upper Peninsula [email protected] connect with JOHN HENDRICKS and wife of Michigan.” John and Ellen will be ex- Maureen on a business trip to Florida.” changing visits between Michigan and CHRIS DORRANCE 1971 assumed responsi- Massachusetts. bility for the class of 1967 reunion at Phil- To the inevitable question about re- JEFF HALEY and a co-author have just lips Exeter, and did a superb job. One of tirement, artist JIM FRAZER denied it. brought out a book entitled Sharing Real- his innovations was called “Show and “I remain excited about new projects, ity: How to Bring Secularism and Science to Tell,” designed to be a mini TED Talk pro- at the moment trying to teach myself an Evolving Religious World. According to gram that enlisted classmates who want- something about philosophy to do some the notes, Jeff’s argument is that religions ed to share an adventure, an experience, writing about my artwork. Have been on

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some beautiful hikes this summer in the since the last time we caught up with him. texting. This brings me to observe that local canyons and the Uintas around Salt He retired from practicing law at Wilm- we of the ‘Old Guard’ are similarly out of Lake City.” erHale, and his son, Christian, graduated touch with the recent grads from Amherst Jim recalled playing a role in DAVID from Claremont McKenna and is now here in the 21st century. I mean, imagine RIMMER’s Peter Pan. “My minuscule working at an ad agency in Los Angeles. what we thought of the old men of the backstage part was to man a rope which Ken joined the board of a public company class of 1922.” was attached somehow to a harness on and spends his free time reading and at- Speaking of the Old Guard, JIM FOX’s Artie Wilkins ’72. On cue, my job was to tempting to learn to play golf. In July, he father, George ’49, is 91 years old, and run like hell from one mark on the floor saw TIM FORT in Weston, Vt., and was Jim looks forward to becoming a mem- to another, thus ‘flying’ Peter (Artie) from privileged to see a truly beautiful play ber of that revered cohort “beginning one side of the stage to the other.” Tim directed. with our next reunion in 2022, for those DAVID RIMMER’s wife, ELLEN SAND- Starting in May, ERIC HENRY went on who can believe that!” Jim helped move HAUS, thanks the many classmates who a six-week trip to Vietnam, with a 10-day his daughter, Amanda, out of her NYC helped make David’s service so moving side trip to Australia. In Vietnam he gave a apartment. She had just finished four for her, particularly the words of DICK talk in Vietnamese at the Hu Music Con- years in fundraising at Lincoln Center servatory on the social history of popular for the Performing Arts, and recently music in Asia. In Australia, Eric visited started MBA studies at Duke’s Fuqua Vladislav Zhukov, Ukrainian by birth, School. Jim’s son, Willie, graduated in Some Measure of Justice who lives in a wild area west of Sydney June from UCLA’s Anderson School (also and makes English versions of books MBA). Jim and his wife, Jane (Wellesley 1971: Peter Fels left Amherst for Berkeley well prior written in Vietnamese, Indonesian, Ital- ’75), took a 10-day river cruise in Europe to graduation and has been an attorney in Oregon and ian and Russian. and are planning separate weeks in Aru- Washington State. His legal career has been about helping RICH WAILES retired in July from Unit- ba and Scottsdale before the end of 2017. individuals get some measure of justice against bigger en- ed States Pharmacopeia as chief operat- He recently spoke with JIM PATES, who tities or otherwise managing their way through the legal ing officer. During his 18 years there, planned to be in Amherst for homecom- system. He now enjoys backpacking in Oregon. he met with customers throughout the ing weekend, as well as GARY CLAMUR- world, helped grow revenues from $30 RO. Foxy adds, “As many of you know, million to $300 million and “enjoyed the after Amherst, Gary and I went through SANDHAUS and HENRY GOLDMAN. adventure.” Rich and his wife, Kathleen two navy schools together, as well as the The class recently lost another member: (Smith ’73), live in Ashburn, Va., where same graduate school.” STEVE GUNNELS. TOM SMITH has writ- Rich is avidly pursuing an improved USTA The news from LOU BERN- ten a piece about Steve in the In Memory senior tennis ranking (currently #27 in STEIN is mostly related to his section. A more extensive obit is available the mid-Atlantic region in the 65-and- and Barbara’s kids. Their eldest, for Steve and other deceased classmates over group). Michael ’08, ASU Ph.D. ’16, recently at www.amherst.edu/amherst-story/ TOM BRADY’s latest painting exhibition moved to Tromsø, Norway, 200 miles magazine/in_memory/1971. You can post just wrapped up at the Chestnut Hill Gal- above the Arctic Circle, for a four-year your own memories to any individual In lery in Philadelphia. Tom has exhibited project managing pan-European sustain- Memory article by selecting “Add New in galleries and museums throughout ability research for a nonprofit founda- Comment.” the East Coast, and his work is held in tion. He is, in Lou’s words, “probably the > JEFF CARTWRIGHT-SMITH the permanent collections of several art world’s northernmost nice Jewish boy [email protected] museums, including the Mead. His three from New York.” Younger son Ben (Trin- kids are doing fine—one works in social ity ’10) is getting married in October to 1972 services, another in fashion, and the Kimberly Barasch (Cornell ’07), for whom youngest is a professional poker player. he’s yearned since their middle and high What’s up with the class of 1972 these Tom’s wife, Anne, retired from teaching school swim and water polo team days. days? Turns out that many of us are retir- and, according to Tom, “seemingly im- And daughter Rachel (Cornell ’14) is an ing, but we’re not really the retiring type. mediately broke her ankle to begin her account manager for a digital-ad-analysis When we’re asked to define the current long-deserved retirement from support- startup that was just acquired by Oracle. stage of our lives, we increasingly turn to ing us all.” According to Lou, “The fact that I ap- describing what our children are up to. DAVID BRAILOW “retired” as vice parently did not impede our children’s More of our kids are getting married and president for academic affairs and dean accomplishments renders my life one of grandchildren are sprouting all over the at Franklin College in June 2016 after 15 consequence.” place. Some of us are intent upon prov- years. He now works at the Council of DAVID HELFAND spent much of the ing we can still compete with the best in Independent Colleges as vice president summer in the UK, where he is advising our sports of choice. We’re also traveling for development, “so I live and work in two teams working to establish the first overseas quite a bit, but vacationing isn’t D.C. and commute back to Indiana ev- new UK universities in 45 years—an engi- always our purpose. Bottom line is that ery few weeks.” David’s daughter Anna neering school in Hereford and a liberal many in our class are continuously rein- graduated from Transylvania University arts college in Wales. He took a 10-day venting themselves, to wit: this past May and is doing graduate work break in July to lecture on a National Geo- PAUL SCHARF splits his time between at American University. David and his graphic cruise circumnavigating Iceland, a 24,000-acre cattle ranch in New Mex- wife, Vita, got together with DAVID LEE “the way to see the country whose inte- ico and a horse ranch in Vero Beach, and wife Marjory Rinaldo-Lee (Mount rior is a little boring but whose coast is Fla., where he trains high-performance Holyoke ’72) in July in Ithaca, N.Y., The spectacular.” quarter horses. Daughter Sofia is finish- Lees are enjoying their new grandchild. Recently retired class secretary JIM BIT- ing high school and beginning to look at GARY CLAMURRO claims that he and TMAN, his wife and his daughter took a colleges. Paul says his “job” these days Susan “have blown through so much three-week vacation this summer in is roping steers competitively in Texas, money on our travels in the past four France and Germany, where Jim visited Oklahoma and New Mexico. Paul accepts years” that Clams has had to go back the gravesite near Normandy Beach of that it’s “a crazy sport for an old man, but to work. He adds, “Actually, I enjoy get- his namesake (who died in World War I would rather die in the saddle than in a ting out of the house and back into the II), and where his daughter reconnected rocking chair.” He adds, “Otherwise gen- business world with younger folks as my with the German exchange student who erally healthy and well.” Otherwise, Paul? colleagues. They all seem to wear ear- stayed with the Bittmans for a month last Much has changed for KEN HOXSIE phones throughout the day, or they are summer. Jim’s now officially retired after

74 AMHERST FALL 2017 28 years in his dream job at the Chicago lands region, with 200 feet of water front- Board Options Exchange, although he age on Three Mile Bay in Chaumont, N.Y., continues to study the financial markets north of Syracuse. Ed notes there is reli- and strategies involving the use of call and able Wi-Fi service on Lake Ontario, so put options. He reports, “All is well here in working remotely is an option. Ed also the northwest corner of Chicago!” connected with RICK MURPHY in Boston On May 21, 2017 HAPPY MANSTEIN’s for a lengthy session of reminiscing and daughter, Arielle (Skidmore ’10, Temple stories, and he follows the adventures of Dental ’16), married Isaac Garfinkle, his roommate FOSTER “BUTCH” BROWN whom she has known since they were 6 on Facebook with emails and phone calls. years old and lived four houses apart. Also Ed and Pam attended a baby shower for in attendance for the wedding were TED their youngest daughter, Samantha, who and Anne PETERS. Happy and Marla are in early July delivered a baby boy, Ezekiel heading to London to attend the wedding (“Zeke”), their third grandchild. All four

of his nephew, the eldest son of Happy’s of their “kids” made it for the celebration, ARCHIVES COLLEGE sister, Joanne Manstein Levin ’83. Hap- including eldest daughter Amy ’02, fresh py’s son Max (Hobart ’12, Temple Med from her 15th reunion at the hallowed surgery on his lower back in August to re- j Library ’18) is applying for cardiothoracic surgi- home of the Mammoths. pair bulging disks that were causing a lot Loveseat cal residencies throughout the USA. His ART BOOTHBY played golf in August of pain. Peter posted a comment on Face- A couple BOB LAVIGNE BILL KEENAN youngest boy, Ely (Johns Hopkins ’16), is with , , Mike book that, as he went under, he was sure cuddles up applying to medical school, so Happy is Marino ’71, Bill Nardi ’76 and Bob Pace he saw the anesthesiologist wearing a red on a bench still working to help pay tuition. ’76 in Newington, Conn. All are retired “Make America Great Again” hat. Peter is CHRIS ROBERTS and his wife, Mary, except for Art, and they enjoyed the day recovering nicely from both experiences. in front of have a new granddaughter, Emersyn and beer and dinner afterwards. Lots of Soon after his surgery, and following the Frost Library. (Emy), who was born in early June to Coach Thurston stories were told, as they events in Charlottesville, Peter was inter- As you might their son Kevin and his wife, Meggin. all played either baseball or football and viewed on CBS TV commenting wisely be able to Their daughter Sarah is engaged to Bri- Thurston was involved with both pro- on protections afforded under the First guess from an Piernikowski, with a wedding planned grams for so many years. Thurston is a Amendment even to those whose com- the hairstyles for next year. Chris adds, “Our son Mor- hero to Amherst alums who are Red Sox ments may be offensive. gan and daughter Rachel have gradu- fans like your class secretary for many STEVE SCHOEPFER’s daughter, Lau- and fashion, ated from college and are gearing up for reasons, including his close relationship ren, graduated in May 2017 with a B.F.A. this photo fulfilling futures of their own.” Chris is with our former GM Ben Cherington ’96. in graphic design, magna cum laude, from dates from still practicing business law in suburban PAUL ZINK’s daughter Isabella gradu- the University of Central Florida. Lauren 1973. Maryland. ated with honors in history from Boston now works full-time at one of Orlando’s OK. I’m still getting my feet wet, so to University in June, and is now on her way leading print shops and is the marketing speak, in the role of class secretary, but to Scotland, where she will attend the director of Duran Learning, an up-and- some of you are more difficult to reach out University of Glasgow for her master’s coming educational platform. to than others when I go poking around in museum studies, preparatory to get- It was a pleasure to hear from FOSTER for news. In fact, 62 of you do not cur- ting her doctorate and then profession- “BUTCH” BROWN, who, with his wife, rently have emails listed in your online ally pursuing her interest in the history of Vera, continues to live in Brazil’s west- profiles on our class website. That works medicine. Paul maintains “Wendy,” his ernmost state, working on societal re- out to one-quarter of all those in our class 47-year-old MG, when he can spare time sponses to extreme climate events. Their who have online profiles. So, if you’d like from lolling on the beach, piña colada in region has been hit with increasingly se- to be reminded when the call goes out for hand, watching the sunset. He did make vere floods and droughts, and adaption news a few times a year, please take a min- time to do some pro bono work for the to their impacts is proceeding slowly, so ute to update your profile. That’s where nonprofit New England Seafood Consor- Butch has a project to speed up the pro- my email contact list comes from. I’d love tium (NESC), an organization dedicated cess, integrating Brazilian, Bolivian and to be able to broaden the field of coverage to promoting better, fact-based science Peruvian efforts in the southwestern to include classmates who are currently regarding New England fisheries and Amazon. Butch writes, “As wisdom has “off the grid.” To update your profile, ground-fish stocks. At a July fundrais- yet to take root, I continue to train with please visit www.amherst.edu/alumni/ er for NESC, Paul met Massachusetts our local rugby team, AND LAST YEAR, classpages/1972/classmates. Gov. Charlie Baker, who, after viewing to my surprise, I scored a try.” > ERIC CODY Paul’s attempts to shoot a selfie of them, MIKE GUMPORT has been cycling in [email protected] grabbed Paul’s iPhone, saying “Give me Norway with his wife, Pam, and he is now that!,” and proceeded to take advantage back in New Jersey. We got together for 1973 of his 6-foot-6-inch height to get a good coffee on Nantucket in September. photo of them for posterity. It was a pleasure to hear from TOM This is an interesting time in the lives of It was great to see MARK GERCHICK BRENNECKE, who reported that his in- our classmates, as a number of us have re- and his lovely wife, Lisa, for cocktails and vestment firm in Boston hired their first tired, while others continue to work, and dinner on Nantucket in late August. Mark Amherst summer intern. The College’s the arrival of grandchildren is becoming and Lisa and my wife, Theresa, and I have Career Center—now called the Loeb Cen- a regular occurrence. an annual tradition of spending time on ter for Career Exploration and Planning— ED ROSENTHAL continues as manag- Nantucket every summer. Mark shared worked with Tom on the placement. I hear ing partner of his law firm in Old Town the news that son Adam ’13 has started that the center has really stepped up their Alexandria, Va., while his bride, Pam, his first year at Georgetown Law, and success in placing new graduates. Tom has retired from practicing law at Reed daughter Charlotte, a graduate of Tulane, recently enjoyed a weekend with his Smith. Ed also continues as a member of has started her first year at Washington sophomore roommate WEBSTER BULL the board of the ACLU of Virginia, chair- & Lee School of Law. Brother and sister that included some good hiking and remi- ing the statewide legal panel. Ed and Pam are comparing notes about being 1Ls and niscing, as well as looking expectantly at have sold their home in Reston, downsiz- no doubt will be debating the finer points the years ahead. ing to a condo near the office, and have of torts and civil procedure with their Dad Tom also spent nearly a week with LEE moved into a splendid waterfront home on vacations at home. EWING and family in New Hampshire, on Lake Ontario, near the Thousand Is- I spoke with PETER SCHEER, who had hiking, swimming and sharing memo-

AMHERST FALL 2017 75 1973–1975

rable dinners. Sounds like a great time construction inside the Sundance resort, Please add our reunion dates to your for all! and came to love Provo’s high desert land- calendar: May 23–27, 2018. JOHN LACEY and several of his fra- scape. In the ’80s and ’90s, Jesse worked > WILLIAM H. WOOLVERTON ternity brothers gathered in Wisconsin with Ken Burns, writing, researching, ar- WILLIAM.H.WOOLVERTON@GMAIL. in June to attend the U.S. Open at Erin ranging and performing music on his first COM Hills. The mini reunion included ROSS eight films. READ KIM ANGE- (and Mary, Smith ’75), Jesse’s Civil War band toured in sup- 1974 LO (and Mary, U. of Wisconsin—Madi- port of the Grammy-winning soundtrack. son ’76), ALISTAIR CATTO (and Bon- Jesse and his first wife, Camilla, raised CHARLES “CHUCKIE SOUL” DONALD- nie, Mount Holyoke ’76) and Dr. JOHN their son, Galen, who grew to follow his SON recalls living in Pratt freshman BLACK. Despite the blazing heat, all en- dream into baseball scouting. Three Red year with KEN GLOVER, a terrific guy joyed watching great golf and telling sto- Sox World Series rings later, Galen now who passed away of pancreatic cancer. ries. Kim capped off the last dinner with scouts worldwide for the Dodgers and He and RON WYNN were the lone black a half hour of magic hands on the first lives in Burlington, Vt., with wife Jen- students in the dorm, and the two shared (Steinway) grand piano to have crossed ni, son Miles and daughter Zoe. In the classes, Afro-Am meetings, jazz concerts, the Appalachian Mountains back in the early 2000s Jesse formed a jazz trio, an dollar movies and lots of parties at Phi Psi, late 1800s. Numerous College songs were opportunity to write, arrange, sing and Smith and Mount Holyoke. played with no reliance on sheet music: play tenor sax. The band has a monthly At Ken’s memorial service in New York “Lord Jeffery,” “Paige’s Horse,” “Hand date in the Bake Shop for dinner, and has City, attendees included Walter McEwen Me Down My Bonnet,” etc. Sounds like played in various configurations through- ’65, George Johnson ’73 and wife Linda a great time! out northern New England. Jesse visits Morris, Stephen Keith ’73 and wife He- John JIM MIXTER is a dedicated railroad buff Amherst when he can and hopes to see lene, Bob Wilson ’73 and wife Rosalind Nerbonne who spends a lot of time on trains riding old friends at the reunion. (Smith ’74), RICHIE AMMONS, TER- across the American continent. Jim writes AZKI SHAH continues to work as an at- ’73 was that he had a “mammoth (yikes!) summer torney in a small town not that far from “I believe I’ve found a new knighted by of family fun, riding trains as a Park Ser- home. He finds it far too exciting to retire, career that will last until the vice volunteer, a bit of fishing and other and adds that he wouldn’t know what to day I die.” the king of the great retirement stuff.” He spent Labor do if he did retire! I’m sure many of us Netherlands Day weekend on Squam Lake, N.H., one feel the same way. of New England’s treasures. Jim is root- GEORGE SHULMAN continues to write RY MEDLEY, Atif Harden ’75, Stephen “in the order ing for the Washington Nationals, who are fascinating pieces of political, social and Abramson ’75 and wife Janice Roberts, of the Dutch having a stellar season. Jim also spent a cultural commentary on Facebook and and Laura Jarrett ’07. Ken told George week with his wife, Lolly, and a New Jer- elsewhere, and to teach in the fields of near the end, “I can beat this.” Maybe Lion” for his sey choir, singing daily services at Guil- political thought and American studies he did. multifaceted ford Cathedral near London. at New York University. ANDY FORT, now a retired academic, JOHN NERBONNE recently retired from In the world of academia, TED LEVIN is still involved with the emerging field work in his role as a distinguished professor of continues to teach in the music depart- of contemplative studies and doing a lot science. computational linguistics at the Univer- ment at Dartmouth College, PETER of travel, from Indonesia to Banff to Ver- sity of Groningen in the Netherlands. John RACHLEFF is a professor in the history de- mont. His daughter Meredith will make has become a grandad twice, and he was partment at Macalester College, STEVE him a grandfather in October. also knighted by the king of the Nether- GOFF is a professor of biochemistry and ROBERT FELDMAN and PAUL LA lands “in the order of the Dutch Lion.” molecular biophysics and microbiology POINTE met over dinner in San Francisco This award was given in recognition of and immunology at Columbia Medical while Paul was at a geology conference. John’s service, in particular his interdisci- School, DAVID KESSLER is a professor “It was great catching up, since we had not plinary scientific publications, his work as of medicine at UCSF, CARL KESTER is seen each other since graduation. I must the director of a large research institute, a professor at Harvard Business School, say the years peeled quickly back, and [we his many successful Ph.D. students, and DON WALLER is a professor of botany at returned to] all the great memories of ski- his activities in international scientific the University of Wisconsin and PAUL ing Mount Tom, wandering around cam- societies and in projects involving the YOCK is a professor in the medical school pus with dates and taking geology classes Third World. and professor of bioengineering at Stan- together.” Photos of John’s retirement ceremony at ford University. DUNCAN NOYES of Amesbury, Mass., the University of Groningen can be seen It was a pleasure to hear from SCOTT bought the farm, but did not kick the at www.let.rug.nl/nerbonne/afscheid. WHEELER, who reports that, when he was bucket. “My parents bought the house I John recently moved to southern Ger- at Amherst, he and PAUL SALERNI regu- grew up in in 1954, when I was 1. It sits on many, near Freiburg, where he will stay larly wrote music that appeared on the 12 acres, has 500 feet of frontage on the active as an honorary professor in Ger- same concert program in Buckley. This Merrimack River and is designated as Ch. man linguistics. John would love to hear Oct. 13, Scott and Paul will again be on a 61A agricultural-use property. I bought from old friends. program together, having written for the it in May, so now I’m a dirt farmer! I be- PAUL KOWAL, chair of our reunion Bowers-Fader Duo for a performance at lieve I’ve found a new career that will last next May, is hard at work on programs for the Tenri Cultural Center in New York. until the day I die. We’re renovating the members of our class. Please get in touch Each has set some interesting poetry for 175-year-old (plus or minus) house, which with Paul if you have ideas for programs. this husband-wife team of mezzo-sopra- our daughter and her family live in, after JESSE CARR is living in Walpole, N.H., no and guitar. which we plan to append a large addition. with his wife, Kathy, and her children: It is my sad duty to report that CHRIS- We hope to make the addition our sum- Lucy, 13 and Nicholas, 18. Jesse writes TOPHER TOTH died in 2013. The Col- mer home, sell our existing home and that “she is the soul of our small break- lege learned of Chris’s passing recently. continue to live in Florida in the winter.” fast/lunch place (the Mazziott Bake I would appreciate it if anyone who knew From RALPH BENKO: “As president Shop—find it on Instagram, Yelp, etc.). Chris when we were students would of the Alinsky Center, I, along with our After graduation, Jesse did timber fram- please contact me or the College about chairman (Saul’s son) David Alinsky, ing and made frame models, setting up writing an In Memory piece for an upcom- had the privilege of debating Dinesh a design/build woodshop with projects ing edition of Amherst magazine. D’Souza, a recidivist Alinsky detractor, in New York and New England. From Please keep your news and letters com- at FreedomFest in Las Vegas last month 2008 to 2010, he supervised fine home ing. It is great to hear from everyone. on a panel moderated by Project Veritas’

76 AMHERST FALL 2017 James O’Keefe (an Alinsky admirer).” While in Budapest, Dave and Mandy saw in Boston, where Rick was treated. Search for it at c-span.org/video. Jon Albert ’83 and Rachel Cohan Albert JOHN REILLY sent in a detailed report: If you need golfing tips in Iceland, call ’84 (who own restaurants there) and dined “Ran into DON HORSTKOTTE and AN- DICK LIPTON. “Jane and I just got back with Jeff McLellan ’83 and his wife, Darcy. DREW VON SALIS while attending DAVID from a tour around Iceland, which was WALLY MARTIN hosted ANDY LAW- KIRKPATRICK’s Techonomy production delightful—and I even managed to find RENCE, MARK JORDAN, BOB KIRK- in Manhattan on May 16. The focus was two golf courses while we were there. And WOOD, NED MULLIGAN and BOB POW- on technology disruption in the medical I’m still working at Baker & McKenzie for ERS, along with their wives/significant field, and it was so much more entertain- the foreseeable future.” others (Tammie, Chris, Kiki, Florence, ing and informative than the usual fare, For this edition’s seventh-inning Pam and Sally, respectively), for a long which can pass as continuing medical stretch, we inform that CRAIG FURBUSH weekend of boating, whitewater rafting education, for professionals in the medi- went “road-tripping down from Maine to and reminiscing at Lake Rabun in Geor- cal field. Fellow physicians may want to Philly in August to spend a long weekend gia from July 19 to 23. Andy’s description: take note of future productions by DAVID with TOM HICKEY and his wife, Sharon, “While there, not only did we eat well, KIRKPATRICK. Subsequently, on June 17, although it was really so that we could but we imbibed plenty of nourishment here in Washington D.C., I was the guest watch Pete Rose take his place on the furnished by fermented grain, fruit, le- of LARRY GOLD and his wife, Susanne, at Phillies’ Wall of Fame.” gumes, etc., which sharpened (blurred?) a ‘When I’m 64’ theme party, co-hosted BUZZ DOHERTY’s son Hugh (Colby ’17) our memories of long-ago gaffes com- by BOB MCCARTNEY and his wife, Bar- is working for the Carlyle Group, and, as mitted by others while we were young bara. PHIL HECHT was also able to attend. he wrote, Buzz was preparing for daugh- scholars.” We all had a great time reminiscing about ter Maura’s wedding in Bermuda. “I am MARK JORDAN is a financial analyst our Sgt. Pepper-era exploits. There was a maintaining an even strain, even as the working out of his house in St. Louis for birthday cake for those of us who turned “There was a sizes of the checks get larger.” a Florida-based firm. He plans to retire 64 this year, and instead of ‘Happy Birth- birthday cake for HANK EAKLAND might make some en- next spring. BOB KIRKWOOD continues day,’ we all sang, you guessed it, the Bea- vious. He says, “I’ve changed my OOO to work in his family’s insurance busi- tles’ ‘When I’m 64.’ Alzheimer’s not yet those of us who message to read: ‘I am out of the office ness in Westchester County, N.Y., with having set in, we remembered the words turned 64 this forever.’” no definite retirement plans. BOB POW- and sang all verses in toto.” Oh, finally, thanks to one and all for ERS and WALLY MARTIN are both doc- JEFF SMITH is practicing law in Wash- year, and instead the nice words about yours truly’s piece tors (emergency medicine and general ington, D.C., with his own firm, special- of ‘Happy in Vanity Fair, overseen by CULLEN MUR- surgery, respectively), like what they do izing in Native American law. He plans PHY. The New York Times-Washington Post and are also without plans to pack it in. to travel to Amherst frequently over the Birthday,’ we competition in covering the president NED MULLIGAN has multiple teaching next few years, because his son, Kyland, all sang, you provided ample diversion amid a classic and pastoral duties as director of spiri- is a member of the class of 2021. caricatured longer-than-imagined, more- tual life at St. John’s School in Houston GREGORY SPECK writes: “I have spent guessed it, the expensive-than-contemplated home ren- and is also without retirement plans. the summer mainly around NYC, often Beatles’ ‘When ovation in Chicago. Cheers. ANDY LAWRENCE, who has been work- going to the Hamptons or Fire Island for > JIM WARREN ing at the U.S. Department of Energy in marvelous beach adventures as well as I’m 64.’” [email protected] the environment, safety and health area weekend parties, which I have sometimes since 1990, is, like Mark, planning to re- written up in the New York Post and New 1975 tire in early 2018. York Social Diary columns (from Rock- Andy reports that “while we were for- efeller scandals to Ann Coulter encoun- We are saddened to report the death bidden, of course, by recent College dic- ters), as well as attending vintage rock of JOHN SULLIVAN on May 6. Our sin- tates from singing about the exploits of concerts around town, so far seeing the cere condolences to John’s wife, Andrea Lord Jeffery Amherst, we decided that Beach Boys, Three Dog Night, America Kaufman, and his family. An In Memory ‘Wooly Bully’ would be the appropriate and Average White Band; all of these piece for a future issue of this magazine fight song for the newly minted Fighting nostalgic experiences were wonderful.” is in the works. Mammoths. However, the lyrics we came Gregory’s Virginia home, El Dorado, is CHRIS WEBSTER has also reported the up with are not fit for a family publica- not far from Charlottesville, and he has sad news of the passing of TOM THALER’s tion.” been following developing events there mother, Victoria Sears Thaler, at age 97. Four classmates and three spouses this past summer very closely. Our deepest sympathy to Tom and his spent a great four days in a rented wa- BOB STEWART sent a detailed report: family. terfront house on California’s Monterey “After my retirement as executive direc- Congratulations to DAVE ANDERSON Peninsula in early August: EITAN FEN- tor of the Alabama Humanities Founda- on his Ph.D. “In a magnanimous show of SON and wife Barbara Weinstein (who tion, my wife, Lida (Sewanee ’78), and I compassion and pity this year, the Univer- found the house), LARRY GOLD and Su- moved in 2014 from Birmingham to St. sity of Nevada, Reno, conferred upon me sanne Slater (Smith ’75), BOB MCCART- Augustine, Fla., where we had lived when a doctor of philosophy degree. I’m sure NEY and wife Barbara McCartney (U. we were first married. Sadly, we lost our that MARK HUDAK and ROB GIBRALTER of Maryland ’75) and BOB LURIE. They son, Jonathan, later that year. So we decid- are now convinced that pigs can fly. I’m enjoyed walks on the beach, visits to the ed to relocate again, this time in 2016 to also fairly certain that Professor Kennick Monterey Bay Aquarium and Salvador Nashville, Tenn., to be near our daughter, (God rest his brilliant soul) is turning over Dalí museum, and fine dining in Carmel Lisa, who is a school counselor in the Met- in his grave. After 10 years of struggle and and elsewhere. BOB MCCARTNEY reports ro Nashville Schools. I keep up regularly a three-hour dissertation defense, I’m fi- that, after the first two days, a moratorium with Jim Barton ’74 in Birmingham. WILL nally done with academia.” was declared on discussions of current KITTS and his wife, Karyn, traveled to St. DAVE HIXON, taking a break from his politics, “on grounds that the subject was Augustine for a visit in 2015. We returned duties as head men’s basketball coach at just too damned aggravating.” the favor by visiting them in Albuquerque Amherst, traveled with his wife, Mandy, RICK PORTER is celebrating the great and Santa Fe in 2016, followed by dinner to Budapest this summer to watch their news of his remission from multiple my- in Denver with fellow Tuscaloosan RIK second son, Michael, compete in the eloma by cycling: he completed his sec- WILLIAMS and his wife, Terri Williams. World Championships (1M, 3M and 3M ond Pan-Mass Challenge in early August, This May we had the pleasure of a long- synchro). After the competition, Michael riding 80 miles from Bourne to Provinc- overdue visit with JACK O’DONNELL and toured Europe and had a nice meeting etown. This huge event raised over $40 his wife, Pam (Wellesley ’75), at their with Albert Grimaldi ’81 in Monaco. million for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute home in Barrington, R.I. We also enjoyed

AMHERST FALL 2017 77 1975–1978

dessert at Bo Salem [’74]’s iconic Salem prompted, in large part, by our choos- future,” writes Jim. “Wherever he decides Cross Inn in West Brookfield, Mass., on ing to have kids well into our early 40s.” to go will, of course, be fine. I tell him he’ll the way to a couple of days in Amherst. Not to put too fine a point on it: “We are have plenty of time to make changes in his (The proprietor wasn’t there that day.) still paying for college tuition.” If all goes course of study—even if he doesn’t take The inn was a favorite special-occasion according to plan, the last payment will his father’s approach of getting two bach- destination for all of us Chi Psis. We also be made this spring as Dave and Anne’s elors’ degrees.” Jim, you may be working enjoyed coffee with Cullen Murphy ’74 at daughter Maggie finishes up at Kenyon even longer than DAVE DOYLE! the Lord Jeff before he had to run off for College. “Further plans are for Anne and After navigating a sea of health prob- commencement duties. All in all, it was me to continue working until age 97 or lems, MALCOLM EWEN is finally back to a wonderful tour of New England after a thereabouts.” work at both Steppenwolf and his summer decade-long hiatus.” In August, DAVE BLENKO graduated gig at the Weston Playhouse in Vermont. PETER ZHEUTLIN met ROB CARVER from the master’s program in organiza- This summer, however, he and his two co- and STEVE KRAMER for dinner in West- tional development at Peppredine. “The directors at Weston (including Tim Fort wood, Mass., in late August. Peter wrote: program, which was primarily about lead- ’72) announced that, after 30-plus years “As happens at our age, we compared ership and change management, seemed at the helm, they will be stepping down a good way to prepare for the next sea- at the end of the 2018 summer season. son of life, which I expect to involve pro Let’s pause to take in the scope of Mal- bono consulting but not employment. My colm and his colleagues’ achievement, Both Beautiful and Sad thesis research involved a process called with a little help from Jim Lowe, Ver- appreciative inquiry, which emphasizes mont’s foremost theater critic. “Malcolm 1976: In July, Mike “Bubba” Blenko and his wife, Sonia, building on an organization’s strengths Ewen, Tim Fort and Steve Stettler were went to Havana “after many, many years of waiting. … versus more traditional problem-based college theater students when they first We found it both beautiful and sad,” writes Mike. “The approaches to organizational change. started spending summers at Weston years of socialism have left the infrastructure crum- Fortunately, we began with readings Playhouse,” writes Lowe in the Rutland bling and most everyone hustling to eat well. We did hear about neuroplasticity, a fancy way of Herald, “where they worked under the some great music, and I got to check Hemingway’s home saying ‘an old dog can learn new tricks’!” direction of Walter Boughton. In 1988, and boat off my bucket list (which is getting alarmingly STEVE YAKE and wife Harriet (Smith the three took over the reins, turning short!).” ’76) have reached a new milestone: “We Weston Playhouse Theatre Company into became grandparents on July 1—twin a respected Equity professional theater— daughters, Charlotte Louise and Made- soon drawing some of the best actors, some health notes, and though Rob and line Gray, born to our younger son, Davis, directors and production people from I are both cancer survivors, all is quiet on and his wife, Chrissy. Everyone is happy throughout the United States. … Now they the western front. I have to say that occa- and healthy.” In early August, Steve took are leaving—but they are leaving the most sions like this remind me how fortunate a weeklong bicycle trip around the Finger artistically, professionally and popularly we were to go to school with smart, curi- Lakes with HENRY MUNDT. “The weather successful theater in the state.” ous people and how our common expe- was nasty at times and the hills were chal- “Clearly, retirement is a mixed bag of rience at Amherst keeps us tied to each lenging, but a grand time was had by all. emotions after such a long run,” adds other.” Peter’s niece, Lisa ’21, started her To any of our cycling classmates, I highly Malcolm, “but my health and the health first year at Amherst in September. recommend going on one or more bike issues of my third partner had a great deal JEFF DYKENS reports from Cape Cod tours with Henry. It’s a blast.” of influence on our decision.” that his oldest son, Andrew ’08, a law- On a far less happy note, DAVE BLEN- We conclude this issue of class notes yer at Arent Fox, married Stephanie Wu KO sends news that SOCHUA MU, the with a new feature: the “Corrections” (Michigan, Ross School of Business ’09) widow of SCOTT LEIPER, risks arrest as department. TED IACOBUZIO kindly in Brooklyn on July 7; daughter Abigail part of the recent repression of the oppo- points out that his new office at Merca- (Mount Holyoke ’11) works at a fashion sition Cambodian National Rescue Party tor Consulting is in Maynard, Mass., not brokerage in Manhattan; and youngest (CNRP). In early September, the head of in Shrewsbury, as I mistakenly indicated son, Joshua, is a senior at the business the party was arrested on trumped-up in the last edition of notes. No excuses, school at Georgetown. charges of treason, which most analysts Ted. All I can say is that the Internet had ;Å Jeff’s wife, Julie (Smith ’79), is an artist see as an attempt to damage the party in something to do with it. I found a Merca- DAVID FRIEND ’77 who owns Local Color, a gallery in West advance of Cambodia’s national elections tor office in Shrewsbury and jumped to the INVESTIGATES A Chatham. Jeff continues his long ten- next February. As a CNRP member of conclusion that it was the Mercator office. DECADE OF AMERI- CAN CULTURE’S PRE- ure in senior management at Cape Cod the Cambodian parliament and one of Getting old; losing my touch; need to hire OCCUPATION WITH Healthcare and was reelected last year the party’s three deputy leaders, Sochua a fact-checker. Any takers? SEX IN THE NAUGHTY as a selectman in the town of Chatham. may face legal jeopardy as well. Never one > BOB HOWARD NINETIES . He has recently gotten together with sev- to be intimidated, in a recent interview [email protected] Page 42 eral classmates, including ANDY MANN, with Reuters she urged the international PETER HUNTER PETER HAMILTON , , Art community to speak out against the Cam- 1977 Murphy ’76, JEFF CLOPECK and STEVE bodian government’s increasingly anti- KRAMER. democratic actions. Talk about your self-fulfilling prophecies: >BRIEN HORAN Your class secretary hereby declares My wide-eyed invitation to classmates in [email protected] that LEE WILSON is the official “Zelig” of August to send along tales of failure and the class of ’76—the individual who keeps calamity was greeted with varying expres- 1976 popping up in other classmates’ men- sions of gratitude and bemusement. At tions. The latest Lee citing: Berkeley, Ca- the end of the day, however, it was an un- A smattering of news in these class notes lif. “The Lovekin family in Berkeley was qualified bust. But for one rather desolate about summer vacations and various life happy to have a visit from Lee last April,” report of a wayward colonoscopy, respon- changes, experienced, announced or writes JIM LOVEKIN. “It was a good time dents presented a united front in their ex- merely anticipated. Let’s get to it. to get caught up with activities since the uberant affirmation of success, fellowship “Given all the exciting news about class- 40th reunion.” Meanwhile, Jim’s oldest, and the attainment of happiness. What’s mates ‘retiring,’ I’m pleased to announce Arthur, has entered his senior year at a malcontent secretary to do? that my wife, Anne, and I have removed Berkeley High. “His current thoughts on The one exception, bless him, was the word from our vocabulary,” writes college tend toward engineering schools, the effortlessly chill and unfathomably DAVE DOYLE. “The decision has been so Amherst does not appear to be in his youthful RICHARD STOLZ, who relayed

78 AMHERST FALL 2017 the phoenix-from-the-ashes backstory tainly reinforced my belief in the impor- that, should they ever give up their day behind his percolating business com- tance of study abroad. Oh, and in just a jobs, they could always pull together a munications operation out of Rockville, few days, two Amherst students will be peloton for the Tour de France. Md. “How can I spin a failure into some- arriving to participate in our fall program, JIM BERTLES activated all my “what’s thing that makes me look heroic?” he in- though it’s doubtful that I’ll be around in wrong with this picture?” buttons with quired, then rose to the challenge. “About 40 years to hear them reminisce about his sybaritic account of “several great 20 years ago I lobbied successfully for a their days in Strasbourg.” Never under- golf and dinner outings and enjoyable promotion from writer/editor to group estimate the life-sustaining powers of conversations in the past two months publisher at a business magazine publish- Gewürztraminer and choucroute, Ray. with fellow alums JOHN MIDDLETON, ing company … cracking the whip over a The aforementioned JIM VAGIAS, a Fran Kelly ’78, Ted Beneski ’78, Drew team of money-driven ad salesmen and practiced magician when is he not labor- Casertano ’78, Dave Wray ’78 and Tom playing along with the CFO’s monthly ac- ing as producing artistic director of the Mitchell ’78. Other than that, am enjoying counting tricks to create the illusion of American Theater Group at the SOPAC in spending time in Palm Beach and Row- smooth and steady growth. When the ‘in- South Orange, N.J., wrote independently ayton, Conn., with my wife of 36 years ternet bubble’ burst and the venture-cap- to say that he managed to parlay a magic while still working full-time at our wealth ital-fueled ad revenue I was getting from gig in Europe in tandem with his immi- management/investment advisory firm, unprofitable startups evaporated, guess nent host-family reunion in Strasbourg, which has now grown to six offices in the who was out of a job? And that’s how my a prospect that inspired a mix of excite- United States. Kids are now 33, 30 and 27, career as a freelance writer began—best ment and anxiousness. “When I last saw all gainfully employed (even the one in inadvertent career move I ever made!” them, I was relatively fluent in French,” business school), two married and one Devotees of sorrow and misfortune Jim admitted sheepishly, “and now I can grandson.” should read no further. More uplifting barely order a croissant.” Having watched Before I wrap this up, may I offer a final news poured in from several expats re- him put away a farmer’s breakfast at the ovation for GERRY BROWN, the class of 1977: I had a heart- siding in Western Europe. The peripa- Lone Wolf in Amherst last June with JAN ’77’s resident Puck and blithe spirit be- ening phone catch- tetic BRAD PEPPARD reiterates that he SARAGONI in attendance, I have little hind class news for the past five-plus up with Olio year- is “happily” divorced and resettled in Ge- worry that Jim will ever go hungry. years? My personal thanks to Gerry for book photo-mate neva, Switzerland, where, among other Among the other distinguished alums keeping us all in the loop with such un- and longtime amigo new pursuits, he is boldly diving into the six degrees from JIM VAGIAS is dramatist flagging vitality and for passing the ba- Judy Pansullo, who waters of short-filmmaking. Brad was in SAMUEL KERR LOCKHART. Sam sounded ton with such generosity and great good is giddily transition- ebullient spirits at last June’s 40th re- psyched about his latest play, Page Count, humor. May your life be nothing but pool ing into a new career union, where he was contemplating a jaw- which was about to receive a staged floats and umbrella drinks from here on with the Piedmont dropping journey westward. “Somehow,” reading directed by Jim and starring Jim in. Talent organization, he reflects, “my recent tour of National Brochu, whom theater-savvy classmates > JAN STUART booking engage- Parks (Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, might recall from his Drama Desk Award- [email protected] ments for rock Petrified Forest, Antelope Canyon, Arch- winning solo turn as Zero Mostel in Zero groups out of her home office in Kent, es, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce and Hour. We look forward to a Broadway pro- 1978 Zion) strikes me as at once excessive and duction, Sam. May it spin the scalpers of Wash. “I’m digging essentially ephemeral. Which is not to say StubHub into a frenzied rush for tickets. Our class has been a bit reticent these it,” Judy said in her that I didn’t have a fantastic time.” The entreaty for news brought out the last few rounds, and I’m going to have to best retro-rock Everything’s coming up rosé for Paris- father in G.A. FINCH (remembered in think up some greater provocation. While lingo. “Artists are based writer ALEXANDER LOBRANO, who his salad days as Gregory), who would on a trade delegation to Namibia and Bo- primal, and I’ve has cultivated an extraordinary career as appear to have passed along the kind of tswana in the summer, I wrote to the class always been more a food and travel authority for Condé Nast discipline and focus that has propelled his asking for news, pleased to have discov- drawn to the primal Traveler, Architectural Digest, Saveur, Bon law career at the Chicago-based Hoogen- ered while in Windhoek that the U.S. am- than the intellectu- Appétit, Food & Wine, The New York Times doorn & Talbot LLP. G.A. brimmed with bassador to Namibia, Tom Daughton ’83, al. I love taking care and The Wall Street Journal. “I’ve never “happy summer news” of his three lyri- and his wife, Mindy Burrell ’91, were both of them. They bring been busier,” says the author of Hungry cally named children: “Daughter Mari- Amherst alums. out the mother in for France: Adventures for the Cook & Food sol obtained her MBA from Washington I was happy as a bee that DAVE WHIT- me.” Lover, who is wrapping up a new book pro- University in St. Louis and got married; MAN and his wife, Lynn, who had been posal for “something more introspective, daughter Gabriella received the highest hiking around the circumference of Mont personal and memoir-like.” Last summer Girl Scout achievement, the Gold Award; Blanc in France, Italy and Switzerland, in New York, Alec married his partner of and son Maximelio earned his Eagle were able to visit us in the Aveyron in 20 years, Bruno. Though the event was Scout Award.” southwest France. motivated at least in part “by preemptive Another Amherst legal whiz, Renais- “Just returned to the Big Hot Sleazy af- caution before elections in both France sance man NOEL PARA, writes that he ter a month mostly in France keeping ac- and the United States, it’s opened up an continues as a partner at Alston & Bird tive and cool,” writes RANDY SMITH from even greater sweetness and happiness be- and as chair of the firm’s legal opinions New Orleans. “Maggie starts seventh tween us.” Add to the mix a Sarasota pied- committee and several ABA committees grade—I know: ‘Look out, look out.’ Plan à-terre and a recently acquired house in and subcommittees, where he often runs on being back in Western Mass paradise the south of France, and life doesn’t get into JIM SCHULWOLF. Noel, a penitent for reunion and hope many others will as much sweeter. Amherst Glee Club dropout and inveter- well. Glad I am not in Guam.” [Editor’s Due east, in the commensurately sa- ate jazz fan, speaks effusively about his note: a new biography was just published vory region of Alsace, RAYMOND BACH son, Sean Logan, recent Oberlin grad on Randy’s mom, Sally’s Genius, and it’s has been running Syracuse University’s and history buff who aced his Foreign getting great reviews.] study abroad program in Strasbourg since Service Exam, and his wife, Susan, an JEFF NEUSTADT and his wife, Susan, 2000. “At our 40th,” Ray writes, “JIM VA- accomplished art historian currently and their dog, Lucy, were camping out in GIAS and I discovered that he had attend- teaching at SUNY Cortland. “She is the Jeff’s St. Pete medical offices while -Hur ed the study abroad program. This past best person I could imagine going with ricane Irma was wreaking havoc outside. weekend, he and his lovely wife, Sally, to any museum, church or historic site. JIM HAMILTON, the class of ’78’s Lin- spent a couple of days in Alsace, and he She’s a fantastic traveler and has planned Manuel Miranda, has taken another shot had a chance to rediscover the city after wonderful trips to Europe, Indonesia and at writing new lyrics to the Lord Jeffery more than 40 years. It was wonderful to China.” Among the three, the wayfaring Amherst college song: “I took out all the see the city through his eyes, and it cer- family Para owns 11 bikes, which means bio war references. … I’m leaning toward

AMHERST FALL 2017 79 1978–1980

scrapping this and focusing more on a cream lying on a bed in my hotel room on other classmates at homecoming. ation myth for the Mammoth, but I have Capitol Hill in D.C. with my 15-year-old BRENDAN O’SULLIVAN reports: “Run- not been able to get my brain around that son on his bed next to mine. His first vis- ning up to some forest fires in Canada idea yet.” it to this city makes it more exciting for (having just been among some in Wyo- Jim’s lyrics to “Oh Lord, We’re the Mam- me. Having lived in Northern California ming—have to get a better smoke detec- moths!” begin like this: for decades now, I am happy to bathe in tor!). I turned 60 earlier this year and “Oh Lord, we’re the Mammoths! And the classical and colonial architecture, didn’t really think it was that big a deal. the song we used to sing the solidity of structure and form, the What was were the number of folks who Is now a relic of history. heaviness of the air. We stopped at the try to make it a negative and impactful. But the tune is such a classic, only lack- National Arboretum on the way in and vis- Remember, in countering them, ‘Child- ing one big thing: ited the breathtaking bonsai collection. hood after the age of 60 is vastly underrat- We need new words to set it free, we Truly beautiful. Regarding concerns—I ed!’ Events this year: became a granddad need new words to set it free. have none while on vacation, but I know in January—Tristan is healthy and happy, Coming to the rescue is a skeleton of when I get back to work I will face one that as are his mom and dad. They are in Dur- might, has been nagging at me: how to cut back ham, and, as first year resident (he) and Herbivorous beast both noble and true, on work while still needing the income. neurology PA (she), both are now sleep- A very fierce competitor, unafraid of Anybody else wrestling with this one?” deprived. My son just started golf, though, any fight, ERIC FORNELL at Wells Fargo has re- and hits a 270-yard drive in the fairway. And some tusks for our new logo too! ported on the status of the class of ’78’s Not fair! Still accumulating high points Oh, Mammoths! Brave Mammoths!...” current balance, as we head into our 40th of the 48 [contiguous] states. Combined (You’ll have to ask Jim for the rest!) reunion season. MARK PARISI is scout- seeing the total eclipse in Wyoming with “Sossusvlei JOHN BENDIX sent in this stream-of- ing out the grub and booze. Should be a some caving and bagging South Dakota, (south and consciousness piece from Europe: “Just classy lineup. Nebraska and Kansas (yes, those latter west of the back from the United States. Saw Roger If you have any cool ideas on how we Pines ’79 in Chicago, also saw Amish-run should celebrate the big 40th next May, “The total eclipse was superb [Namibian] auction in rural Kentucky (after passing send ’em on over. I was thinking of cre- and exceeded any and all of through many Indiana corn fields on the ating a class of ’78 app for tracking each my expectations.” capital, way to see my old professors from 30 years other and sharing prescription meds, Windhoek) ago in Bloomington), but the actual rea- good poetry and irreverent jokes. son for the trip was to go to a Jewish-Chi- Keep writing. Hugs. two are pretty boring). The total eclipse may have nese wedding in North Carolina (steamy, > DAVID APPLEFIELD was superb and exceeded any and all of been the oppressive weather not cooled by after- [email protected] my expectations. Also, Wyoming itself is single most noon daily downpours) of violinist whiz pretty neat, and, after spending time in nephew, with a second ceremony in two 1979 three different towns with populations exquisite spot weeks to be held in small Chinese city of under 250, don’t underestimate those in a month of only 2 million (where violinist whiz bride As I write this, my 60th birthday is fast natives!” is from).” approaching. I agree with RICH HORWITZ JOHN GULLA had quite a summer ex- breathtakingly DAVID WRAY shared: “As I write this, (see below) that turning 65 will provide perience: “My wife; our older son, Ben; beautiful Deidre (Shanahan) Wray ’81 and I are sit- more angst. and a nephew had a summer odyssey ting on a plane, heading for Florida and In what has become an annual affair, as we drove in a 4x4 Ford Ranger dou- landscapes.” then to the mountains of North Caroli- I met up with JIM STILL, JAMIE BRIGA- ble cab all tricked out for camping on a na for our son Trip (’11)’s wedding to the GLIANO and RICH HORWITZ for a thor- 9,000-kilometer adventure in a counter- adorable Claudia, whom he met in NYC. oughly wonderful round of golf and nos- clockwise circle from Cape Town, along BFFs TOM MITCHELL and FRAN KELLY talgia this summer. the South African coast (including several will be joining us for the glorious event. DAVID TURETSKY reports: “Turning glorious days at the perfectly named vil- Spent a terrific day last weekend at the 60, interested in changing to more ser- lage of Bulungula on the Indian Ocean Weekapaug, R.I., home of DREW CASER- vice-oriented work, wanting to be nearer along what is known as the Wild Coast TANO, also with Tom and Fran and Jim family and with wife finishing seven and a and way, way off the beaten path) up to Bertles ’77 and all spouses. Golf, beach, half years in Obama Administration (fol- the border of Mozambique, then north cookout—a great summer day with great lowed by a replacement show for which and west through Zimbabwe, stopping in friends. And a shout-out to our reunion a ringside seat is not a plus), we left D.C. Bulawayo and Victoria Falls, then south chair ED PITONIAK, who is already sad- after 24 years, in which I served in govern- and west through Botswana, with stops dling up to run a spectacular 40th for all ment, law and business. Moved to Albany, along the Chobe River and near the Oka- of us next May. Please all make that sa- N.Y., where I am now a visiting prof at the vango Delta, then farther west and south cred on your ’18 calendars, and we will University at Albany in their College of through Namibia, with an extended time see you then!” Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Se- in the Namibian desert. Sossusvlei (south DAN RITCHIE, English professor at curity and Cybersecurity (part of SUNY).” and west of the capital, Windhoek) may Bethel University in Minnesota, and his RICH HORWITZ weighs in on the new have been the single most exquisite spot wife, JUDIE (CALVERT) RITCHIE, “are age milestone: “Turning 60 just wasn’t in a month of breathtakingly beautiful probably in Britain as you read these a big deal—maybe 65 or 70 will be dif- landscapes. A month later, we pulled notes, having been asked by my university ferent! Over the summer I’ve been fortu- back into Cape Town. We mixed camp- to lead a fifth (and final!) semester-long nate to see several classmates, including ing with some nights in lodging, following literary tour with 18 English majors. (You our own class secretary, SAM D’AGATA, an itinerary that Ben, who had been liv- can follow her blog at judieritchie.word- plus JAMIE BRIGAGLIANO, JOHN GULLA, ing in South Africa for four years, and my press.com.) Biggest impediment to the JIM and NANCY SHEPARD, JIM and JILL wife devised. We buried the truck up to its trip: having to leave behind our first two STILL and Jeff ‘Harpo’ Gilfix ’77 (honor- hubs in sand more than once, had a flat in grandchildren, born in late 2016. Hope to ary classmate). Also had a chance to travel the middle of a game park and changed see many of you at reunion.” around Scandinavia for my daughter Em- it with water buffalo and warthogs look- JOE EDELBERG started his summer ily’s Amherst graduation present. The na- ing on with minimal interest, and paid vacation in Leverett, Mass., just north of ture scenery in Norway is amazing, and bribes to a dozen police along the roads Amherst, then moved on to Northamp- I’d highly recommend the train from Ber- in Zimbabwe, a 21st-century tribute that ton, “then by Amtrak and car to the East- gen to Oslo for anyone considering going has always been paid by travelers passing ern Shore of the Chesapeake, and now I to that part of the world.” He hoped to see through the territory of others.”

80 AMHERST FALL 2017 MIKE ACHEY writes, “Feeling like a attention these days. “The past three want to give the real Dr. DREW PINSKY dinosaur in more than one way. Kids all months or so have been unlike any in my an honorable mention, as he allowed [my grown and out of the nest, leaving 4,000 lifetime (I know I have been fortunate in son] Sam and me in the studio during his square feet quiet. I’m also a primary care that regard),” writes DAVE SWIFT. “In late radio show. He also gave Sam some qual- doctor in Massachusetts. No takers for April, as a result of a routine annual physi- ity air time. … Pretty awesome.” the job opening when I want to retire. cal, my personal physician (and spouse, MICHAEL LEVIN is “running my eighth I still love the job, but who knows what Dr. Martha Hodgkinson Swift) suggested Boston Marathon for Dana-Farber this will happen to this slice of the medical that I get a prostate biopsy because of the April, and this year running in honor profession when we’re gone? One child increase in the rate of change of my PSA of the class of 1980. Looking to surpass going to neurosurgery, one to something test data. I did, and it turned out that I had $100,000 in lifetime fundraising for pediatric, one going into computer sci- prostate cancer, even though I had not Dana-Farber. Learn more by searching ences via Gtech and one in art school in exhibited any of the typical symptoms. at www.runDFMC.org. And yes, I’m too Baltimore. What an eclectic life we have Martha and I then went into ‘research old for that s^!@.” lived through our children. I’m sad about mode’ and met with experts at MD An- PETER FRITZINGER “recently found the political times in which we live, when derson, Baylor, Mass General and Dana- an opportunity that combines a for-profit a minority of angry voices elects leader- Farber. While there was slight variation in business with helping residents living in ship with no concept of governance. I’ve the ranking of the severity of my cancer, HUD Section 8 affordable housing. We never felt so powerless despite my edu- they all agreed that surgically removing acquire existing Section 8 properties cational pedigree.” my prostate was the preferred course of (20–100 apartments) that have expiring Finally, I’m sorry to report that our class action. So we signed up for a robotic pros- contracts and might become conven- lost two of its own this year. RICHARD J. tatectomy at Dana-Farber on July 13. In tional rental properties. We extend the “JUICE” KELLY and ROBERT T. WIL- order to get myself ready for this surgery, contract with HUD, improve the property “Truth LIAMS passed away this past summer. I started exercising even more than I nor- management, renovate if necessary and continues Our heartfelt condolences go out to their mally do (which is a fair amount). On July then locate partners to help the children families. An In Memory piece about Rich- 5 in a tennis tournament in upstate New find better schools, and the adults job stranger than ard can be found in this issue. York, I broke both my wrists after hitting training and educational opportunities. fiction, which Hope everyone had a great summer. an exquisite shot, if I do say so myself. So It has brought a purpose to my days that Looking forward to hearing from you in I went to cancer surgery with two broken I think we all need.” is why I stick to December. wrists. After surgery, I had a catheter for a SUE DAHL is “happy to supply [news] it, I guess, other > SAM D’AGATA week, which made taking showers inter- that is diagnosis-free (for now). I am in [email protected] esting (and painful, when I accidentally my third year with a group practice of ex- than not being stepped on the bag). pressive therapists based in Watertown, smart enough to 1980 “Anyway, I am now cancer-free! The in- Mass. My clients are all ages and diverse make stuff up.” cidence rate of prostate cancer is higher cultures. Right now, I’m witnessing the One of the world’s problems, as we see than breast cancer, but very treatable if full impact of immigration policies on it, is that not enough of it is currently be- caught early. Men, get tested annually. individuals and families. I’ve been seeing run by Amherst people. We wondered I just had surgery on my left wrist this ing how hard it is to hold on to sanity in which prominent public figures with no past week. I am optimistic that I am on an environment where basic safety and connection to Amherst should have gone the mend and that my new bionic wrist respect are eroding. To maintain my own there (assuming they could get in), and (I’m a lefty) will dramatically improve sanity, I cleave to the spirit of our under- what aspects of the place would have my tennis game.” Now living in Boston, graduate years: hard work must be bal- made them a better influence on the Swifty still has a home in Houston, which anced by hard play. I am happy to say I world. This blatant attempt to beat on the he’s made available to neighbors fleeing completed a triathlon last week in semi- wooly mammoth in the living room with Hurricane Harvey. “So Houston is the hurricane conditions. Let’s just say no a baseball bat elicited exactly one direct third bad thing of what has been a tough one stuck around for the post-race beer. response, from RICH READ: “It’s not too summer for me (and my family). I am hop- My husband, BILL COHN, is on the same late. The College could admit all current ing that bad things are limited to threes.” work-hard/play-hard plan, working long Cabinet members. Full-time. Less alarming forms of tsuris include hours at a software company and raging “I’ve been reporting amid 100 shades BILL MILLARD’s bicyclically popped around the woods on weekends with his of green along the Costa Rica-Nicaragua gastrocnemius muscle—the ’80 souve- mountain biking buddies. He’s also really border,” Rich continues, “aiming to bag nir cane, the NYC scribe observes, was a developed his ceramic art, with several a story on fruit fraud, one of the sweeter huge practical boon to someone almost current installations of his sculptures,” assignments I’ve had. [It’s] almost as never found in motor vehicles—and TIM recently including an Open Studio tour interesting as the drug trade: a scheme MCKENNA joins Bill on the disabled list at ArtSpace Maynard on Sept. 23–24. We involving imported produce, potentially for similar reasons. “I suppose it sucks are both enjoying having our daughter harming U.S. consumers. A puzzle of a growing old,” Tim notes, “but, as far as I Charlotte (University of Vermont ’16) story, actually. Each person I encountered know, there’s only one alternative (that back home, working full-time for a solar appeared to have stepped out of Central I’m not interested in…). I completed my power company, and probably also ‘play- Casting to play the role. Truth continues fifth consecutive Pan Mass Challenge ing hard,’ but she’s not saying.” stranger than fiction, which is why I stick ride in August (with a ton of support GERRY FINE reports, “I am privileged to it, I guess, other than not being smart from classmates—thank you, all) but, to report a BOBBIE (BISHOP) GOLLAN enough to make stuff up. while training for my second Closer to sighting at the Blue Ribbon Bar in Red “Oh, speaking of people who pursue the Free Ride for Yale New Haven Hospital Lodge, Mont., a favored old haunt of geol- truth, I have a TED CONOVER sighting to and riding around town with my 5-year- ogy majors. Apparently, Bobbie, myself, report. I enjoyed breakfast with Ted re- old daughter, Catherine, in tow, I tweaked and Chris French ’81 all visited the vener- cently in 119-degree Phoenix, where he something in my left knee and also put able establishment within a 24-hour pe- was a speaker on an investigative report- my great class of ’80 cane to good use! riod this summer, proving only that there ers and editors panel on immersion re- I’m walking around fine, but biking is are some constants in life.” porting. He has a terrific book out explain- definitely limited for a bit.” GEOFF MOULTON made it through the ing that topic.” Check out Immersion: A Baltimore scribe TREI MASSIE weighs primary to become a Democratic nomi- Writer’s Guide to Going Deep (University in, citing BRIAN and KEVIN CONWAY: nee for the Superior Court of Pennsylva- of Chicago Press, 2017). “We’ll give the IMNBDD award to the nia. Cheers for everyone in the class who’s Medical news occupies a lot of our Conways for [funding] the canes. I also been supporting his campaign.

AMHERST FALL 2017 81 1980–1983

“For the voyeuristically inclined of do. I think there are programs out there shared responsibility to protect and pre- our classmates,” says cybersnooper that many of them would succeed at with serve this tiny blue and green sphere, our MATT WEEKS, “here is a very cool web- the right incentives. We try to deal with mutual home.” cam link for the College (www.amherst. their suffering, but we forget their great PAUL FAXON: “I wish to be teleported edu/visiting/amhcams). I hope they post ambitions. I’m far beyond pride on all back to 1981 for one last Valentine lunch more cameras so we can see more of the this. Just want to help.” meal of a greasy double hamburger and sit campus, the seasonal changes and even GINGER HOWARD: “1. That Hillary Clin- down at my favorite corner table to shoot the fun peek at the to-and-from of busy ton won the presidency. 2. That Al Gore the breeze with my classmates on topics students. Not sure if I would have appre- won the presidency. 3. That the U.N. had consequential and inconsequential.” ciated being beamed like this in my full been able to bring about the return of land SHERRI (WASSERMAN) GOODMAN: “I bushy-haired (yes, you will recall I had a to the Palestinians after the Wars of 1947– wish the world would wake up and rec- big shock of hair back then) late-to-wake- 48 and 1967. 4. That I was an art history or ognize climate change as a threat multi- up self rushing to class in the morning. sociology professor and not an attorney. 5. plier and one of the most important forces Hopefully we won’t be able to ‘zoom- That my dog was house-trained.” shaping society. We have the power to de- in’ too much on these webcams. Enjoy! JENNIE (DIGGS) MAKIHARA: “A million carbonize and create resilient futures, if (Note to self: Ask NEAL SWERDLOW for U.S. dollars.” we bring American innovation, ingenuity a webcam of the surf break down there JEROME DE BONTIN: I wish I was a and capital to bear on both the greatest in San Diego.)” freshman knowing all that I know today challenge and greatest opportunity of our Your scribes hope that no one in harm’s with the power to “make Amherst great lifetime.” way of the recent rash of natural disas- again!” THOMAS RANDLEMAN: “I wish that I ters has been adversely impacted. DENISE JOHN MOSES: “I wish… I am back on had lived on campus while at Amherst. FRANCOIS, who spent Hurricane Irma in the pitch at the bottom of Memorial Hill, Because I was a few years older than the 1981: Kevin Kearns the Virgin Islands with her parents, says, breaking out of a rugby scrum quickly typical student, it seemed that living on says: “I wish I could “I may have found religion, because I fi- enough to take a pass from my leaping campus would put me in an ‘odd man do it all over again. nally made it to my house (every electri- scrumhalf ERIC MILLER on a weak side out of sorts’ situation. But, on reflection, Get to know my cal pole on the island is snapped in two) rush with my fellow Lord Jeff ruggers I think it would have been a wonderful friends more deeply. and I have minimal damage.” We pray our BRENDAN PATTERSON, SCOTT SWAN- experience and been more ‘out of the box’ Get to know more classmates located in and around Texas SON, DAVE WILSON and BILL ALDEN all than ‘out of sorts.’ As a result of my choice, classmates and and Florida can say the same. in hot pursuit as we seek the ecstasy of I do not have the close ties with fellow call them friends. > TREI MASSIE touching the ball down (again) in the Eph- class members that might have been fos- Attend more office [email protected] men’s in-goal. Thanks for the memories, tered by living on campus. When I read hours to chat with > BILL MILLARD Eric. Not exactly world peace and social about other classmates retelling interest- the OGs that I [email protected] justice, but many fond and muddy memo- ing or funny stories, I really don’t have was lucky enough ries at the bottom of that hill.” much in that spectrum. I also didn’t have to call profes- LARRY AXELROD: “Do I get two wishes? the kind of warm, close friendships that sors. I’d play more 1981 If so, selfishly I wishfor a nice head of are engendered along with the daily shar- Ultimate (props A shooting star crosses the sky over Am- hair for myself. Globally, I wish for an ing of campus life. So that would be my to John Torpey!) herst, while you stand atop Memorial Hill. end to greed. Please don’t make me pick wish: to have lived on campus. Any ‘ge- and less Freestyle You close your eyes and make a wish. just one!” nies’ nearby that need to do their thing?” (no offense, Andy What do you wish? LIZ (SCHUPF) LONSDALE: “Well, that CAM HUTCHINS: Thanks to everyone Kuchins!). I’d read BONNIE FRANK: “I wish I was entering depends on the type of wish: can I make a who wrote back this time. I wish we could Walden one more Amherst College freshman year, bringing godlike wish for mankind to be a (much) figure out the next steps to make every time, digging a little all my wisdom (ha!) and life experience better steward of Earth? Or it this a fairy- one of these wishes (at least the future- deeper. Finally, I’d in my back pocket. I wish I could come up godmother-type wish? Those always looking ones) come true. Please stay in wish to live through with a more clever and humorous reply.” seem to focus on beauty or romance. Can touch! it all (often seriously CHRIS HALL: “I wish for good health I wish for more wishes?” > CAM HUTCHINS in doubt!) as I did and happiness for all our classmates.” LIZ SLOAN: “For our country: a change [email protected] the first time.” DAVID MIX BARRINGTON: “There in leadership. I wish for a world that val- can really be no other answer than ‘that ues a liberal arts education and which Donald Trump would no longer be presi- believes in science! My husband’s work 1982 dent.’” is being directly affected by the execu- It was wonderful to see everyone at our DAVE PHILLIPS: “So many wishes. tive branch’s narrow and shortsighted 35th reunion. I had a great time catching Just spending a day with the Dalai Lama perspective. Another wish: to choose up with lots of people and hearing all would be more than enough for me. How- diplomacy over war to solve problems.” about their lives. Ironically, DANA (CUR- ever, I have to be selfless, and so … if Am- MARTHA BARRY-PLOTKIN: “I wish for RY) LORWAY is now living in my home- herst gave me one wish in the entire world each of my three children in their 20s to town of Worcester, Mass. It was great … our son (along with other children of be happy in their work and personal lives, catching up on what has happening in the Amherst) with addiction problems would especially my son Sammy, who works pas- city. My freshman-year roommate, LAU- spend two or three months in dual diag- sionately and tirelessly as a songwriter- RIE MAFFLY-KIPP, and I caught up and I nosis care, with the promise that good singer in the very competitive Los An- shared tips from my trip to China to help behavior would earn them an appren- geles music entertainment business. I her prepare for her upcoming trip there. ticeship in any field of study they chose. miss him!” At the reunion, MONTY CLEWORTH Either sponsored by elites like Amherst or MIKE PRICE: “Flashback: I wish I’ll get provided a great presentation on the taking a leadership role around the globe an A on my upcoming ‘American Diplo- places he has visited in his quest to visit with it. Amherst has, after all, touched matic History’ written final. And I wish every country in the world. He recently the entire world in so many ways. If there my paycheck for showing movies in Mer- wrote to let me know he visited Malawi were a wish that can change lives and the rill will arrive in time for me to take a nice in July, which is country number 135. He world, maybe we should talk about this. friend for a good Italian dinner before she swam in the bilharzia-infested Lake Ma- Example: our son’s passion (hence ex- leaves for the summer.” lawi but, so far, no symptoms. He wants treme motivator) is clearly movies. Plug NANCY (REHNQUIST) SPEARS: “I wish to know: If this changes, which classmate him in to the right program that ties his all the citizens of our embattled world specializes in infectious diseases? He also success and reward to his greatest pas- could somehow get on a space ship to view said he is planning Bangladesh (136) and sion, and I think we’ve got a winner. I truly the Earth from a distance to recognize our East Timor (137) with his brother in Octo-

82 AMHERST FALL 2017 ber, with a stopover in Singapore to have Speaking of that reunion—and yes, dinner with MICHELE DEITCH. Good luck, it’s our 35th next spring—our class offi- Monty! Hopefully we won’t have to find cers are making plans! Here’s a message out who in the class is the infectious dis- from our reunion co-chairs, FRANCES- ease specialist. CA MORSELLI-SINNOTT and GLORIA DAVID QUINN wrote with big news (BRACKMAN) NUSSBAUM: about a book he has written that will be “Why not catch up with Amherst published next year. Between that and classmates face-to-face rather than just an active 11-year-old, he has been keep- through the class news? Planning for our ing himself rather busy and was sorry he 35th reunion is well under way, with some could not make the reunion. We look for- enthusiastic classmates already lining up ward to seeing your book on the New York some fantastic programs, recreation and Times bestseller list. Let us know when it entertainment! Be sure to mark your cal- is published. endars for May 23 to 27, 2018, and book BEVERLY (MAJTELES) FLOER- accommodations now (unless you want to SHEIMER wrote to say: “Although it has stay on campus). Our headquarters will be been a tumultuous summer for our coun- the newly renovated former AD house. If try, things are moving along chez Floer- you already know you are coming before sheimer. We now have two kids working/ registration opens on Jan. 5 (and want to living in NYC. Carolyn works for the Pri- get involved in any way), please let our vate Client Group at Sotheby’s, and Will attendance co-chairs, DHUANE (GE- works in asset management for J.P. Mor- BAUER) STEPHENS (dhuane.stephens@ gan. Andrew has loved working for the sgcib.com) or JOHN SNOW (john.snow@

Nantucket Project this summer and will quabbincapital.com) know of your plans. ARCHIVES COLLEGE soon be headed back to Amherst for his Hope to see you there!” sophomore year. Dan is still consulting, FRANCESCA MORSELLI-SINNOTT also year at Research Triangle High School, j Gathered and we have both become angel inves- added some of her own news: “Most of where she is a junior. Ralph’s son is a ju- on the tors, among our other interests. Am still my news pertains to my kids rather than nior at UNC at Chapel Hill, although he’s Grass ANN (MUNTZNER) ROSS in touch with , me—as they have been a full-time job studying this semester at the UNC Coast- Once again, ALLISON MOORE-LAKE and GEORGETTE for so long. Our daughter, Olivia, 16, is a al Studies Institute on the Outer Banks. we don’t (COULOUCOUNDIS) MALLORY. Most of day student at Walnut Hill School for the LYNN WILKINSON wrote to say that us have reached the empty-nester phase Arts in Boston. She will be in full college she has just finished a three-year stint know much and are reorienting ourselves. Dan and I search mode soon, driven to pursue her at the Gates Foundation, which was re- about this also enjoyed attending our very well-run passion (and talent) in acting, singing and warding and challenging work in their 1980s scene. 35th reunion at the Fairest College (and dancing in both theater and film.” Franc- global health group. “I really enjoyed liv- Does it depict especially reconnecting with longtime esca added that her son, Charlie, 14, will ing in the Pacific Northwest for a while. a professor friends) with the hip new wooly mascot! head off to Deerfield this fall, where JOHN Big-city living in Seattle was a very big teaching I did read somewhere that scientists are SNOW’s son, Cameron, is a rising senior. change from the backwoods of Connecti- working on engineering/bringing back LISA OSOFSKY wrote to say that she cut!” Lynn also visited PATTY WARE in a class the wooly mammoth in order to negate would be going to California this summer Alaska a couple of times. “Patty is doing outdoors? some of the detrimental effects of climate (from her home in London) to attend the well, and really enjoying a productive fo- Whatever change. Kirk?” wedding of DANA KORNFELD’s daughter cus on writing and poetry projects (she is he’s showing ANNETTE I had dinner recently with Arielle to Zach Stein. Lisa’s daughter will now a published poet!).” Lynn is enjoying the students, (SANDERS) SANDERSON and Bev Allen play violin at the event. Lisa said Arielle is another sabbatical, starting up some vol- they seem ’83. It was great catching up and hearing “as lovely and charming as her mum—as unteer work and looking forward to our all about Annette preparing for the empty beautiful inside as out!” Lisa wrote that next reunion. fascinated. nest as her son starts at the UConn engi- her son, Gilbert, will be a senior at Har- JULIE EKLUND reported in late August neering program. vard and spent the summer at Morgan that she’d had a busy week at the Texas Speaking of empty-nesters, for our next Stanley in the institutional equities divi- Higher Education Coordinating Board, edition of the class notes, I would love to sion. As for Lisa: she and her family have where she and colleagues have been help- hear how everyone is going to celebrate been in London since 2000, and she is the ing institutions of higher education sort their empty nest. Europe, Middle East and Africa chair of through some of the administrative chal- I am still looking for a co-secretary and Exiger, a company set up four years ago to lenges caused by Hurricane Harvey. The would really appreciate the help. assist companies worldwide with global Austin area, where she lives, saw relative- > ANGELA SCOTT governance, risk and compliance. “Our ly minor damage compared to Houston [email protected] head landed the job as corporate compli- and the coast. Earlier in the summer Julie ance monitor of HSBC bank. We grew by caught up with several Amherst friends: 1983 developing automated systems to support she had brunch with Cape Cod residents compliance and risk officers and lawyers Julia (Haven) Malloy ’84 and Greg Malloy I enjoyed hearing from LEE RALPH, who that service institutions and corporations ’84 while vacationing in Massachusetts; wrote to say that his oldest daughter, Julia, around the word. It’s been hectic but su- dinner with PAM HAZEN while in Wash- would be entering the bicentennial class per interesting,” Lisa wrote. ington, D.C.; and breakfast with KATHY of 2021 at Amherst. Lee’s other children It was great to hear from RALPH GILD- (FOYE) MACLENNAN while in Minneapo- are Olivia, a high school junior, and Spen- EHAUS, who is senior program developer lis for a conference. All were great visits, cer, a sixth-grader. He also wrote that he for MDC, a nonprofit in Durham, N.C. and she is looking forward to seeing more continues in a family medicine/sports MDC helps organizations and commu- classmates at reunion. medicine group practice and served as nities by connecting people with finan- I saw a few Amherst friends in the last president of the California Academy of cial supports, education and training, or, few months. Doug and I took a trip to Family Physicians recently— quite a in Ralph’s words, “I lead projects to im- California and stayed with TINA VIL- learning experience.” Lee invited class- prove social determinants of health and LADOLID in Santa Barbara before driv- mates going to San Diego to contact him, well-being.” In addition, Ralph wrote, he ing up the coast and ending up visiting and said he’s looking forward to our re- is living a dream by coaching his daugh- our daughter Rose, who is a programmer union next year. ter’s tennis team for the second straight in San Francisco for a small game design

AMHERST FALL 2017 83 1983–1985

company called Shiny Shoe. Tina took us came a grandmother for the third time teaching us to be mindful, thoughtful and around Santa Barbara to show us some of with the birth of Isabella Rose in April. knowledgeable citizens of the world.” the public art projects she has made with GLENN POWERS estimated that he STAVROS LAMBRINIDIS posted a pho- her students at the Santa Barbara Muse- last wrote in about a decade ago, when to on our Facebook page of the Pomona um of Art’s program for underserved and he “retired” from financing tech com- College class of ’21, which includes his low-income youth, and also told us about panies, met a girl from Vancouver and daughter, Chloe. “Helping her move in the art component she’s been providing became Canadian. Seven years ago, he and bidding her farewell was one of the to LitWorld, Pam (Krupman) Allyn ’84’s went back to work, making investments happiest—and toughest—moments of my organization whose mission is to bring for a big Canadian pension plan on Van- life.” Then it was right back to work for literacy and other tools of independence couver Island. This fall he and his wife Stavros, who returned to Brussels for the and empowerment to girls and women are happily moving back to the city of 2017 EU Ambassadors Conference. worldwide. I also saw PAM HAZEN and Vancouver, where he will teach finance It was good to hear from LISA GOBAR, at Simon Fraser University. They’d love to who sent a succinct list of what’s going catch up with anyone going through Van- on in her life. Number 1 was that she “re- couver en route to happy places such as connected with INGER DAMON after far Almost Empty-Nesters skiing at Whistler, Asia, etc. too long apart.” Numbers 2–7: “toward The Kukagami Lake region of Ontario the end of child-raising years … son off 1985: Congratulations to Brian Robbins and Kim (Switzer) was a happy place this summer during to college, daughter high school; sand- Robbins, who celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary! a (Chi) Phi and Friends canoe/camp- wich generation for sure … parents in Kim shared that happy news and added: “We are almost ing reunion chronicled by STEWART another state is a challenge; playing a lot empty-nesters, as we only have our youngest son, Kevin (a ANDERSON. The first trip took place of tennis—wish I had played at Amherst; sophomore in high school), still at home. Our son Stu- in ’85; this year’s group included DAVE working part-time from home—I highly art ’20 enjoyed spending the summer as an intern in the CHARMBERLAIN and wife Ann, KATIE recommend it; Costa Rica trip; took up Amherst admission office, where he saw several of our HOLBROW and Andy Casler ’85. “Ka- scuba diving.” classmates.” tie won the Culinary Award by cooking This fall is a watershed moment for the most sensuous blueberry pancakes DEAN SCHRAMM and his wife, Wendy I’ve ever had,” said Stewart. “DC was Greuel—son Thomas is starting high son Drew on their way to Sewanee: The a close second with mustard and pep- school at the Harvard-Westlake School University of the South, where Drew is per bass. Best of company and best of in Los Angeles. Wendy’s many commit- a freshman. I’m hoping to see her much times.” When not canoeing, Stewart is ments include chairing the Los Angeles more on her way to and from Sewanee, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist at the City/County Homelessness Commission. outside Chattanooga and thus not far Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Dean produces theater, film and televi- from me in Oak Ridge, Tenn. UPenn’s Perelman School of Medicine. sion and manages writers and directors. Thanks so much to all who wrote in! He and his wife, Alexandra Gulacsi, have Currently he is producing a feature doc- > BETSY (HAUSER) ABERNATHY two children, Yunyi and Elliot—the for- umentary film about Gustavo Dudamel, [email protected] mer visited Amherst with Stewart on a the young Venezuelan conductor of the college tour this past June. L.A. Philharmonic: “for a lapsed fiddle SUSANNAH GRANT 11984 When I heard from , player, a great treat. And made all the she was anticipating the happiness of more great because it is being directed I don’t know if it’s the season, or where we dropping her daughter Olivia at Amherst by Ted Braun ’82, a wonderful filmmak- are in our lives, or the state of the world, for her freshman year. Susannah planned er and former Amherst bassoonist with but the theme for this batch of notes is to keep an eye out for GEOFFREY UNDER- whom I played music when we were there people making it a priority to get to their WOOD, “who I gather will be doing the together. Look for the film in about 18 “happy place.” Let’s take a tour! same thing (which makes the Under- months; I’ll keep you posted!” KEITH MCALLISTER wrote in from his woods and Grants triple-Amherst-class- I plan to get happy by catching JUSTIN family’s happy place, “a funky big old mates; our dads were both ’54’s). Eager SPRING on his upcoming book tour for house on Chappy we’ve rented with an- to hear what other ’84’s I might run into.” The Gourmands’ Way: Six Americans in other family for years.” Keith and wife There were at least a few. Geoff’s wife, Paris and the Birth of a New Gastronomy. Megan’s three sons are in management Dede, told me she spotted LIBBY LIGHT (“Lots of good wine will be enjoyed along consulting (Amherst ’14), advertising and daughter Willa, HEIDI GILPIN and the way!”) Justin will be in Houston; Dal- (Wesleyan ’14) and high school (GFA in son Andreas and Ruthanne Deutsch ’83 las; Washington, D.C.; Miami; and Min- Westport, Conn.). Megan is a foundation with son Benji. There may be others—let neapolis, as well as New York, where the grant-maker in NYC, and Keith, after be- us know! book has its official launch Oct. 19 at Al- coming an executive recruiter three years On the subject of offspring who attend bertine Books. For the San Francisco leg ago, just moved firms to SRiCheyenne, Amherst, CHRISTINE PETRECCA WEIN- of the tour (which will include a themed also in NYC. “I place C-suite execs in TRAUB’s daughter Sarah ’20 is trying to dinner at Chez Panisse), Justin hopes to early-stage as well as mid-cap compa- jumpstart the ski club. “If any of our class- be joined by Patricia Mason Beaury ’86. nies, mostly media-related. After a long mates have kids at the Fairest College who Patty juggles dual careers as an engineer- time as an operator, I’m loving this more might be interested, they should contact ing specialist and independent film pro- consultative mode.” her before the snows fall.” Christine, a ducer, but Justin said he sees her regularly MARGARET (COHEN) VENDRYES’ hap- breast imaging radiologist at Montefiore now that her children, Cameron and Eve, py place is her home in Queens. Marga- in the Bronx, lives in Scarsdale with hus- have left home. Justin also recently hosted ret chairs the Department of Performing band Joshua but looks forward to moving KATE SEELYE; her husband, Andrew; and and Fine Arts at York College, CUNY. Her out/downsizing as soon as their youngest, their 2-year-old son, Dylan, whom Justin painting Guro Ntozake has been traveling Joe, finishes high school next June. described as “a high-energy guitarist and with the exhibition i found god in myself, a ALEX SOSNKOWSKI is also parent to a drummer in the style of Flash and JEFF 40th-anniversary celebration of Ntozake high school senior, which meant heavy- THOMPSON” and also “a budding gour- Shange’s for colored girls…, and can be duty college touring this past summer. met cook—he arrived with a play kitchen viewed at the City Without Walls Gallery Her daughter liked Amherst, “but it and promptly made us all play pancakes in Newark, N.J., Oct. 12 through Nov. 12. wasn’t love at first sight like it was for me with play strawberries and play syrup.” Margaret wrote, “I owe my love of paint- in 1979.” Alex, meanwhile, “was smitten Finally, BRADLEY CLEMENTS wanted ing to what I learned in Fayerweather Hall all over again. The message our fair col- to set the record straight re: the Skype at Amherst.” Most happy: Margaret be- lege delivers remains consistent—about calls with DIANE SALTOUN, LINDA VOLP-

84 AMHERST FALL 2017 ERT, LAURA MACLENNAN and LISA GAR- on the East Coast. She wrote, “After liv- Syria, keeping tabs on Iran or building SON. “Diane wrote that we drink wine and ing in London for 19 years (actually, one on previous service in Iraq—and on my talk about our hopes and dreams, which of those years was in Paris), I am moving previous military service. Our oldest child made me laugh. In fact, the first 10 min- back to the U.S.! I have absolutely loved graduated from college in 2016, two will utes of each call go like this: the experience, but it’s time for a new be seniors this fall, and our youngest will Hello? chapter, and to spend more time with be a freshman. My wife, Laura, is finishing Hello? family and friends on the other side of her Ph.D. while taking care of my parents Oh, I see you! the pond. I will be moving to St. Simons in Virginia, plus hers in North Carolina. Is Lisa there? It says she is on, but I can’t Island, Ga., where my family and I have I shall never be able to repay my debt of see her. been spending vacation time for the past gratitude to her. Allow me to renew my I’m here, but the video isn’t working. 15 years. I will remain a dual citizen, but offer to welcome any classmates passing Hit that little thing on the bottom of the am looking forward to reconnecting with through Amman.” screen that looks like a video camera. my birth country and U.S. friends in per- JACK LOHRER reported from Alex- Oh, she’s gone. son!” andria, Va.: “The great Dr. KEN LANGA I think she hit the “hang up” icon. MARIA (VITA) CALKINS is a faculty was in Washington, D.C., to deliver a lec- Hello? member in psychology at Becker Col- ture/be part of a panel. Ken and I had a Hello? lege in central Massachusetts. “I just got meal, a snort or two of wine and some ice Wait—Linda is calling my cell. Can you promoted to full professor last spring; cream before Ken returned his hotel. It is send her your Skype name? it’s been a long journey! I teach primar- always good to see Ken; he’s just about What’s a Skype name? ily undergraduate psychology, special- the best combination of smart, steady Now I see everyone else, but Bradley is izing in social psychology and research and solid that I’ve ever come across. We gone. methodology. I also do some mentoring laugh about how his son (Dan ’18) and Facebook has No, I’m here! I see you. Maybe I turned with our graduate students who are work- TOM PARKER’s son (Andrew ’18) have been alight with my video off. ing on research-based theses, and teach been four-year roommates at Amherst, Hello? in our CORE program. This five-course on track to graduate this coming spring. photos of alumni Does anyone have a kid at home? I can’t sequence takes students from freshman Ken and I even went over how it came to dropping their figure out how to show all of you on my com- to senior year, and is part of our general be that Ken would room with Tom back puter screen at once… education requirements. The program fo- in the fall of 1981. children off At some point we get around to drink- cuses on agility and divergent thinking to “I am also in touch with Bob Weston at college— ing wine and talking about our hopes and facilitate their career success no matter ’86 and JACK JOHNSON, who both work dreams!” what the future brings.” at secondary schools in New England. I including the Thanks for staying in touch, class of ’84! Maria also sent news about MARGIE hope to get up to North Attleboro[, Mass.] fairest of them > DIANE SCHWEMM CURRIE: “She is a writer and communica- and see Jack and his brother Don coach [email protected] tions strategist for colleges and universi- a game. Bobby, Jack, Ken, Tom and I can all. > TONY QUINN ties, based in Chicago. After a number of never seem to get together at Amherst, [email protected] years at Elmhurst College, she struck out even with Parker and Langa fils on cam- on her own with Margaret Currie Com- pus. … I will report again if I can get a quo- 1985 munications, doing content, design and rum of the group to make it to an Amherst marketing strategies and campaigns, basketball game this year. That would also When was the last time you served your- both print and digital. She is doing well!” give me a chance to ask TOMMY PARKER self milk from a row of udderlike plastic After reading DAVID SKAGGS’ email how it was that he came to room with Ken tubes, or toasted a bagel on a conveyor signature, “Professor and Chief of Or- freshman year, the details of which I seem belt? Unless you frequent college cafete- thopedic Surgery at Children’s Hospital to forget from time to time, for whatever rias, it may have been a while. I felt like I in Los Angeles and Endowed Chair of reason. Right now, the Amherst Men/ had time-traveled back to Valentine when Pediatric Spinal Disorders at University Coach Hixon (2007, 2013) and Amherst I spent a week on campus for my new full- of Southern California Keck School of Women/Coach Gromacki (2011, 2017) are time admissions position at SUNY Oswe- Medicine,” I was impressed that he had sitting on two National Championships go. College food offerings have changed time to send a note, but I’m glad he did: “I apiece. (Gromacki’s winning percentage dramatically, but I will still be covering am living in Los Angeles, and all is well in at Amherst is .924 … Auriemma-esque. … all of Long Island in my new job, just as I this vacuous, happy metropolis. Just got For the Lohrers: Maggie is back at BU for did for SUNY Geneseo. together at the Santa Monica beach with sophomore year, some more classes and In addition to meteorological and politi- PETER DAMON, Bill Warden ’86 and Jen a lot more lacrosse; Lizzie is a senior at ;Å cal upheaval, Facebook has been alight Malloy ’87. My daughter Kira graduated Bishop Ireton High School, committed to THE REV. PHILLIP A. with photos of alumni dropping their chil- from Amherst in 2016 and is applying to Virginia Tech ’22 for lacrosse; I am presi- JACKSON ’85 DELIV- ERED THE ANNUAL dren off at college—including the fairest medical school.” dent of the BI Booster Club this year; and DEMOTT LECTURE TO of them all. What fun that must be. But In other impressive career news, I fol- Jackie is an eighth-grader at Carl Sand- AMHERST’S NEW STU- it’s always fun to get back to Amherst, and low HENRY WOOSTER’s online posts burg Middle School, committed to West DENTS IN SEPTEMBER. there are many ways to do it. Undoubt- from his position as chargé d’affaires at Potomac High School for baseball.” Page 10 edly, one of the most august ways is as a the U.S. Embassy in Jordan. Henry sent My first trip to visit colleges with my trustee. Congrats to PHIL A. JACKSON, this update: “One more year remaining children took me to Providence, R.I., who is, I believe, the sixth and newest to my Amman assignment, and, at this and so did my last. Both times I got to member of our class to hold that honor. stage, I’ve no idea where I’ll be next, come connect with NEELTJE HENNEMAN, MARK KAUFMAN has been “touring summer 2018. Jordan has been a terrific this time on Victory Day. Neeltje had colleges with our younger son, awaiting tour. Perched at the crossroads of Ar- recently returned from an amazing trip graduation from Brandeis next year for mageddon, with Syria 45 miles from the to Paraguay and Argentina and was just our older one. Did/doing two half mar- embassy, the same distance to the Israeli beginning the new academic year at the athons, a marathon and six triathlons border, Iraq to our east and Saudi Arabia Wheeler School, where she is the head of (from sprint to half Ironman distances) on our southern border, we work issues upper school. One week later, on Aug. 21, this year. Thank God for age-group re- at the top of the U.S. policy agenda for I was nowhere near the path of totality; sults. Saxophone on the back burner, but the Middle East. It has been especially that was my first day at SUNY Oswego. still simmering. Also passed the 10th an- satisfying to bring together a lifetime Please don’t wait for the next eclipse niversary of starting a law partnership.” of experiences—whether working with to write. Whether you are moving on or As of November, ZENA MARTIN is back Russians on a cessation of hostilities in moving someone into a dorm, whether

AMHERST FALL 2017 85 1985–1988

you are a mover and shaker or not, let us kilos via the new cuisine, which includes support everything that we value about know what path you are on. watching gluten and carbs. “Life is what our time at Amherst: small classes, excep- > KATE FOSTER-ANDERSON we make of it, and I am proud to have tional faculty and classmates and friends [email protected] brought forth so much life!” John sends who challenged us and helped us grow a shout-out to our many classmates and in every way (and still do). Those years MARK VAL- 1986 friends whom he misses: were transformative for us. Thank you LADARES and Penny in the heartland. for making them possible for those who STEVEN WEINBERGER, writes from JONATHAN and Alanna KLINE, Noah follow. Thank you for making it a great Charlottesville, Va., that he spent a love- and Annabelle, in New Zealand. GA- year for Amherst, and special thanks for ly evening with MICHAEL SIMON and his BOR BURT, JONATHAN HIRSH, STEVE your commitment to our class.” family in Manhattan at the end of July— STRAUS. Friends from North, Chi Psi > JORDAN LEWIS the first time they had seen each other and Zumbyes! [email protected] since 1996! They caught up over an ex- CYNTHIA (PADDOCK) DOROGHAZI re- cellent vegan meal at Blossom, and then ported in as Harvey was fast upon her in 1987 relaxed with Michael’s wife and daugh- Houston, while waiting for the floodwa- ter (both new since last they met) at their ters to come in. “Not to sound corny, but In the whirlwind of months since gath- home in Chelsea. Stephen is teaching lit- times like this make you appreciate and ering for our 30th reunion, more than erary Tibetan this semester at UVA for the celebrate the small things in life.” Here the just the seasons have changed, and first time since 2013,while continuing to are Cynthia’s top three: “1. My mother we welcome a new slate of class officers work on two projects translating Sanskrit passed away on Aug. 24 after a five-year and a proverbial changing of the guard. and Tibetan Buddhist texts into English: battle with Alzheimer’s. It is a blessing. 2. Our warmest thanks to TABITHA (ESTA- Anna Choi “Charlottesville and the university seem I am alive. Many people I know in Hous- BROOK) CLAYDON, KEITH LAEZZA and ’86 is still to be rebounding slowly from the invasion ton have been flooded out of their homes. ROSS BUCHANAN for their constant stew- by neo-Nazis and others in mid-August, My home is still dry. 3. I live in the Unit- ardship over the class notes these past teaching and but the sense of shock and disgust is still ed States of America, which, despite its years. That said, please keep the notes still singing. never far away.” many flaws, is still the best country in the coming to your new class co-secretaries; ANNA CHOI is still teaching and still world where people can demonstrate on update the class Facebook page with its She sang singing. She sang backup this summer the streets about a policy or a president master, JOHN TUCCI; and post to the class backup this for The Who during their Quadrophenia they do not like and no one will shoot news page, where photos of your adven- production with the Boston Pops! “Some- them. The same cannot be said for other tures and endeavors can be uploaded: summer for times singing with the BSO has its perks!” countries.” amherst.edu/alumni/classpages. The Who CHRISTOPHER BRAGDON reports that I, your class secretary, had the extraor- MAYRA (PENA) LINDSAY, now mayor in late August he and WILLIAM HAN- dinary pleasure, with a timely assist from of Key Biscayne, Fla., was instrumental during their NUM made their semiannual IOMRT to OWEN KING, of being the guest of science- in providing critical guidance and warn- Quadrophenia see “RADICAL JON” WEBSTER in North of-consciousness thinker and tennis pro- ing to her fellow residents and urging all Carolina. “The annual IOMRT (Ides of fessional MARK VALLADARES at the 2017 to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Irma. It production March Road Trip) started after our 25th US Open. We watched an evening match was not until the storm was in the final with the reunion and has continued, albeit not en- on Arthur Ashe Stadium court played by hours of bearing down that Mayra and her tirely annually or necessarily in March. the greatest exponent the sport has ever team evacuated. She reports that she and Boston Pops! RJ, though limited to a wheelchair and/ known. We channeled Mark’s Amherst her family are safe and are now begin- or his self-professed ‘love mobile’ (a golf doubles partner David Foster Wallace ning recovery mode in the aftermath of cart to mere mortals), continues to pro- ’85, and his call to “just look at him down the storm. We wish her and her constitu- vide uplifting, lively, at times raunchy there.” Mark is deeply involved with his ents well in their recovery effort. metaphors describing anything from investigation into the nature of human STUART RATZAN writes, “Our family the current political climate in America consciousness, reaching from physics are currently evacuees from our home to various characters in Oriental, N.C.” through philosophy, which he also inte- in Miami. Hurricane Irma was a vicious Will and Chris enjoyed (or survived, de- grates with tennis instruction at the yearly storm that has our community lacking pending on how you look at it) Will’s first Science of Consciousness Conference. power, obstructed by fallen trees and truly long outing in his self-driving Tesla. Dur- We had a wide-ranging discussion in a disaster area. But we are hopeful and ing their time together, all were glad to which Mark covered a universe of ideas confident that we will get things cleaned read in these notes, regarding TED DO- while we enjoyed the grounds at the Bil- up and power will be restored soon. We NAT’s change of career, that “climate lie Jean King National Tennis Center. It went through this in South Florida 25 change had been canceled,” that we all was a perfect moment. My brain, heart years ago with Hurricane Andrew, but don’t have to worry about that anymore! and tennis game are much improved! It Irma was massive, causing damage across After the IOMRT, Will prepared for his brings a smile to my face recalling the en- Florida and the southeast.” Luckily, his next meeting as part of his law practice at tire evening. Thank you, Mark and Owen! daughter Baylar was not home to witness Schwartz Hannum PC, while Chris flew News from our class officers: MIA R. the storm, as she had begun her freshman back to Bosnia, where he has spent the BARRICINI, ANNA (PASTORE) SOMMERS, year at Amherst, class of ’21—Amherst’s last 21 years implementing humanitarian/ WILLIAM E. HANNUM III and BONNIE bicentennial year. Stuart reports that he development projects. BARSAMIAN DUNN report that we had and wife Mycki moved Baylar in after JOHN ALIPERTA looks forward to an exciting end to the alumni fund this three days of big-box store trips to set hearing good news from classmates and June, and they are grateful for our support her up in her new room in Charles Pratt, friends from 1986 and other neighboring of Amherst and of our extraordinary com- with views of the Holyoke Range. Stuart classes. Since last notes, his son Stephen, munity. “Together, we raised $180,032 spent a day fishing on the Arkansas River now 28, is happily married (Erin!), and from 162 donors, or 45.8 percent of our near Leadville, Colo., this summer with enjoying his sound recording business. class. Overall, the Annual Fund set a new JOHN HEREFORD, who caught a “giant “Daughters Kristen, Jacqueline and Kath- record in total dollars raised, at just over rainbow trout.” Check the class page later erine are equally pursuing their dreams, $10.7 million, and 52 percent of alumni for photographic evidence that it’s not just and I love them all so much. Joanne is now participated, the highest number in four a “fish story”! working at the Emerson Hospital, and I years. It is a testament to our strength as a FOX SMITH took a break from his artist’s am taking to culinary endeavors after community and to Amherst’s excellence, canvas to write that he’s been experienc- 20-plus years for professional achieve- and it is an important signal to the Col- ing a “new parental world of high school ments.” John is taking off a few unneeded lege and others that we care. Our gifts freshman son and middle school (sixth-

86 AMHERST FALL 2017 grade) daughter. Great kids in a new Sarah and “twin” BERIT ASHLA visited Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about world. Art going really well—diving into in September when Berit was in Brooklyn Missing Persons, the seminal pop band the realm of geometric abstraction with from her hometown of Berkeley, Calif.; of the early 1980s (whom I saw live at a touch of visual psychology in response their FB photo posting says they are still Magic Mountain in 1983 with Bryan Be- to our present world.” Check out Fox’s confusing folks after all these years.… har, Keith Ash and Ed Curry). Are they work through the class Facebook page PAUL TARR FB-posted in response to missing persons, ones who cannot be or on Instagram, where he sometimes offer Berit and Sarah an intercept in found? Or simply people we are miss- posts visual updates of his most recent Lower Manhattan (where he lives) in ing? And what is notes for? To find those and always inspiring projects. case anyone was really confused about who are missing, or those we are missing? CHRIS MARTIN, on the other hand, is ex- who was who. Other sightings caught For me, those who are missing include periencing what he describes as “death by Berit and POLLY (WINOGRAD) IKONEN PETER ANSPACH, the only person who carpool” from his sons Tyler (ninth grade) catching up and showing their red, white could outmath me while at Amherst, and and Alex (seventh grade). He writes, “I and blue during their hometown Fourth JAMIE NICHOLLS, who rocked the upper- am becoming more jealous of the empty- of July parade. arm bracelet and graduated summa cum nesters as I age.” FREDDIE BRYANT HOLLISTER gave laude. Those I am missing include BON- He and Fox have a way to go yet to catch NIE FRANZ, quietly educating on Staten up to the likes of LEE (SALOT) WEBSTER, Island, and VICTOR HO, with whom I had Jeffrey Wright ’87’s son Elijah who is partway to an empty nest, having a nice catch-up at the last reunion. kindly agreed to be his date just sent her oldest son, Stephen, off to for the Emmys. So, like Dale Bozzio desperately beg- Hope College. Her twins—seniors in high ging for attention on the cover of Hustler, school—are busily working on their col- I shouted a pleaful “Do you hear me? Do lege applications, while she and husband news of his latest collaboration: “As some you care?” Shortly after Steve have just finished building a cottage of you might know from the screening And a few of you did! our preview of on Lake Charlevoix in Michigan. at our last reunion, Freddie had an ex- The elusive DAN KAHN, he of the mys- JEFFREY WRIGHT updates that he’s citing new musical challenge doing the teriously blackened tongue and unparal- her new work at back to commuting from Brooklyn to Los soundtrack for his wife Heather (White) leled Ultimate Frisbee skills: “After nearly reunion, Sarah Angeles to filmWestworld. Unfortunate- Hollister ’80’s documentary, Complicit. four years in D.C. as national field director ly, no spoiler alerts here, as he’s keeping It’s a powerful film about the struggles of for the Peace Alliance, I returned to north- Bird ’87 installed all reveals to himself, except to say, “At workers in Chinese electronics factories central Florida last year to work directly her portraits this point, I’ve avoided all rattlesnakes, and had its world premiere in London with court-referred teens using restor- surfing when I can in snake-free parts of and a sold-out U.S. premiere at Lincoln ative justice practices and empathetic of California the Pacific.” He reports that his son and Center. This fall there will be screenings communications training in the Com- redwood trees daughter came to L.A. over the summer, and discussions at the EU parliament in munity Connections program (in Talla- at Main Window but are now back in school (although his Brussels, the House of Lords in London hassee), and also to take over executive son Elijah kindly agreed to be his date for and the U.N. in Geneva, and a night at our director duties at the Florida Restorative in Brooklyn, N.Y. the Emmys). own Amherst Cinema on Oct. 30! Check Justice Association. I am still coaching CHUCK BARTLETT tied the knot! He it out at www.complicitfilm.org.” and networking peacebuilding advocates and Kristen DeAmicis got married Oct. An addendum from the LISA MILLER and organizers nationwide with the Peace 8 in a small family ceremony. In Chuck’s camp: “I, too, have had a whirlwind last Alliance and RJNet, and doing some in- words: “Update complete!” Congratula- few months at a new job, with nonstop ternational consulting with a promising tions, and then some! traveling.” Just a few additions to Peck’s young organization called Ayeish. I en- MARY (HIGGINS) DUNNE, BEA (TROW- notes would include an impromptu view- joy Facebook contact with about a dozen BRIDGE) SANDERS, DYLAN SANDERS, ing of SARAH BIRD’s installation in NYC, Amherst friends. In recent years have had LISA MILLER, LISA PECK and Paul Spi- where I also ran into LISA THALER. Beau- a few conversations and occasional ran- nale ’85 gathered in July at Mary and Matt tiful art installation, and great to see old dom meetups with the likes of Ben, Julie, Dunne’s “camp” at Lake Winnipesau- friends. Adam, Harriet, Deb, Hali. … There is a kee, N.H., where they valiantly tried to I’ve seen many posts of our classmates’ chance of a reunion showing from me this outnumber the “Williams purple cows” children on their first days of school and year. (Would be my first!). Fun to think of also in attendance (courtesy of Mary’s those who are heading off to college. I was folks I might see. Wishing y’all the best.” husband, Matt Dunne, Williams ’86) thrilled to see that the daughter of my WRIGHT MOORE and husband John and tried to recapture their college days former freshman-year roommate, LISA Gasdaska purchased a home in Garri- in “feats” of skill (i.e., catching a football (MASHIHARA) WESTLEY, has graduated son, N.Y., this past March and are work- off a water trampoline, swinging off a rope from The Branson School in Marin, Calif., ing on basic renovations. Wright shares: into water and creatively synchronizing and is now heading off to Stanford. May “Although I am still part-time on staff at themselves off a high-dive jump). Need- her years there be as wonderful as her Cleary Gottlieb, I am also on the part-time less to say, that was our 30th reunion they mother’s and mine at Amherst. roster of the Met Chorus, preparing for just celebrated… and none of them are in Apologies for the brevity this go ’round. the Verdi Requiem and Parsifal in the up- college anymore. More detailed notes next time. Keep post- coming season.” Shortly after our preview of her new ing, Instagramming, texting, and email- “It’s been a while since I chimed in,” work at reunion, SARAH BIRD installed ing—or just put a stamp on it and send us SARA MIERKE writes. “After all that time I her portraits of California redwood trees some news the old-fashioned way. think I have enough news to help fill some at Main Window in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her > LISA PECK of your column. First off, my husband, solo show, entitled the fullest measure of > LISA MILLER Matthew Young, and I have been living in you, is you, was previously exhibited at [email protected] Johannesburg, South Africa, for the past Chandra Cerrito Contemporary in Oak- two years (why stay in the empty nest?). land, Calif., and is described by Sarah as 1988 We both work for African Leadership “life-size black-and-white photographic Academy (www.africanleadershipacad- portraits of giant California redwoods, In the breakout hit of their expansive 1982 emy.org), a pan-African two-year high equating their significance, their magnifi- opus Spring Sessions M, Missing Persons school founded in 2008 that’s develop- cent equal footing and their essential role asks, “What are words for, when no one ing a network of leaders from across the in our web of being to that of human sub- listens anymore?” As I reach out for notes, continent. Matthew is dean of learning jects.” Like the trees themselves, Sarah’s I can’t help but ask “What are emails for, and innovation, and I’m program direc- work is both moving and breathtaking. when no one reads them anymore?” tor for global programs. I develop and

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manage mission-aligned social enter- to play several events, including the open- was a lively topic of conversation among prises that reduce the academy’s reli- ing of an exhibit at the National Museum the poets at the dinner table. The topper ance on philanthropy: a summer camp of American History on the Mall. He had was spotting ELLEN WAYLAND-SMITH for 14–18-year-olds, a study abroad/gap the packed-to-the-rafters crowd hanging on the list of National Endowment of the year program, Model African Union, edu- on his every note.” Humanities grant recipients for 2017. It cator trainings and custom programs for From SANDRA (STERNLIEB) EFFRON: was fun to bask vicariously in their ac- schools, NGOs, donors and corporates (so “All’s great with me and my family. Have complishments.” Thanks, Deb! all you parents of high school students, been busy interior decorating … for my Regarding MATT ZAPRUDER, ROBBIE check us out!). All are rooted in ALA’s core mom, my sister and myself. They are LANDON added this sighting: “There is curricula, entrepreneurial leadership and keeping me busy, which is fun. My best a 300-word piece in the New York Times African studies. ALA is an amazing place clients ever! I also do a lot of volunteer Book Review by our class’ preeminent that sets young African leaders on a trajec- work at my children’s school here in NYC. poet, MATT ZAPRUDER. tory to attend top colleges and universities I’m a tour guide, a grade rep and also run Matt writes about how best to read around the world (including Amherst!), the Community Service program for (and write) poetry, noting, ‘But it turns then return to the continent to lead in the entire grammar and middle school, out that the portal to the strange is the their areas of expertise. which is a big job, but very worthwhile. literal.’ This simple line offered a portal “There’s too much to say about life in Had a very nice time getting together with through time to more than one class with South Africa, so I’ll sum it up as fascinat- KATHERINE FREEDMAN, JULIE GALD- Professor Pritchard.” ing, beautiful and challenging. IERI and FLORA STAMATIADES here in And further regarding SONYA CLARK, “Our big news is that I’m moving to NYC NYC in August. Fun reconnecting with from Sonya herself: “Our good news is in September (I’m continuing to work for Amherst classmates. Looking forward to that we are back at Amherst for the year, ALA for a while, traveling back and forth; our 30th next year!” walking the grounds where Darryl Harper 1990: Great medical Matthew to follow eventually), where I’ll NOREEN JOHNSTON-BROWN said, ’90 and I first met back in 1986. Darryl is advances from car- be living with our youngest, Cloe. She’s “Unfortunately I do not have good news. the Valentine Visiting Professor in Mu- diothoracic surgeon taking the year off from Tufts University My husband, Jim, passed away suddenly sic, and I am a visiting artist-in-residence Seenu Reddy: If you to work and focus on photography. Once a few weeks ago (Wesleyan ’86). in art. We’ll be teaching a class together Google Nashville’s in New York, I’ll be a lot closer to our old- “On a happy note, we moved a year ago during the spring semester. It’s nice to be TriStar Medical est, Oliver, who interned with Congress- to Chatham, N.J., and had just bought a ‘home’ for this academic year.” Group, you can find man Adam Smith (D-Washington) this house. We are very happy here. My old- SUZANNE STEINBERG writes: “I’m the link to a video summer and will be a senior at Miami est son Connor goes to high school at the looking into grad schools. I’ll be pursu- clip explaining a University (Ohio), where he’s studying Hudson School in Hoboken, which is a ing a master’s in either clinical psychol- fascinating new political science and philosophy. We have long commute, but it is a great environ- ogy, mental health counseling or social technology for ster- another daughter, Sally Madiba, who is ment for him. I will have my hands full work, with the goal of becoming a mental num reconstruction, from Botswana and came into our lives as raising three kids on my own (I already health counselor.” pioneered by Seenu. a high school exchange student in 2010. had my hands full), but hope to be in bet- Speaking of graduate school, ELEANOR We are lucky to After a fellowship at Harvard these past ter touch with Amherst friends and make LEGGETT SWEENEY, in hot pursuit of her have such a kind and two years, she’s just entered UC Davis reunion next year.” Ph.D. in linguistics, reports: “My semes- caring doctor in our School of Medicine. On a separate sad note, I saw that JULIE ter has been delightfully geeky.” Right on! midst. “There have been a few Amherst con- ENGELSMAN passed away. Never knew Here is an update from one of our ’89- nections here in SA. In 2015 we had din- her well, but always quite liked her. Very er classmate-couples, JAMES DARROW ner with JABU MAPHALALA, JED MILL- sad and a somber reminder that we are and SALLY DARROW (courtesy of Dr. ER and Katie Benner, Jed’s partner (now not so young anymore—not that you need Jim): “Sally finished her executive M.B.A. wife) when Jed was attending a confer- me to tell you that. at UConn in 2016 and is now enjoying ence (sorry, old news). And, I have a new It all brings me back to Missing Per- working as the senior director for mem- colleague, Dexter Padayachee ’13, who’s sons, and their 1982 pop anthem “Desti- bership and wellness for all the Walling- a University Guidance Fellow. In May, on nation Unknown”: “Life is so strange … ford, Conn., YMCA facilities. Our daugh- a trip back to the States, I spent time with when you don’t know … your destination. ter, Katie, is entering her senior year at Hall Kirkham ’87, AMY (SIMON) HOP- Something could change … it’s unknown. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., WOOD and JEN (CODY) EPSTEIN. Once And then you won’t know. Destination and is leading wilderness expeditions for I’m settled into our tiny apartment in unknown.” high schoolers in the outback of Alaska for Brooklyn, I’ll be seeing lots of Amy and > STEVE SPECTOR the summer. Apparently, as she related to Jen and hope to connect with other Am- [email protected] us, bear faces look much like large dogs herst friends living in the NYC area and up close (not the best news to hear from along the Eastern Seaboard. 1989 your kid). “Recently, I listened to the Embrace “She’ll be exiting college as our son en- the Chaos’ episode of the Hidden Brain Let me start with an appeal for more ’89- ters, so the payments will continue. David podcast. I’m definitely embracing the ers to send me news. This quarterly report unfortunately had mentioned Williams opportunities and unexpected joys that is a bit scant, as my beloved classmates as a choice, because of its strong math come with the chaos that life throws at have sent fewer updates. Here we are, all program, so we’re steering him toward you sometimes! I hope you are as well.” turned, or on the verge of, 50. How do you schools in the Boston area instead in the I will see a bunch of freshman Stearns like the big life-stage transition so far? hopes of avoiding a stain on the family friends for a mini reunion this coming Please send a few words about how you legacy (grin). He’s interning with the ap- weekend, including JIM BRADY, NEIL are tackling 50—or not: changes in life, plied math department at Yale so we don’t SULLIVAN, SCOTT WILSON, JEFF GUIEL, career, thoughts. Your classmates want see him all that much this summer. I am NICK KENYON, DAN RUBE, DAVID QUIG- to hear from you! now working as a senior compliance man- LEY, DAVE GELLMAN, BING ZHU, PETER Never the slouch, my wife, DEBBY AP- ager in environmental health and safety MCCARTHY, TODD LYONS and JIM PER- PLEGATE, had this to share: “I spent the consulting at HRP Associates while I fin- KINS. The news has not yet been made summer secluded in artist colonies in ish up my executive M.B.A. next spring, (it will be). I mention them all to create New Hampshire and upstate New York, also from UConn School of Business. Hey, space for Sarah’s lengthy update above. but even here the ’89-spottings were rich. it worked for Sal, so why not? Never too HELEN SHEPHERD writes: “I met TIM I almost overlapped with the inestimable old to learn new tricks!” ERIKSEN and his wonderful kids when he SONYA CLARK at Yaddo, where MATT JULI BERWALD writes: “I’ve got a book came through the Washington, D.C., area ZAPRUDER’s new book, Why Poetry?, coming out Nov. 7. It’s called Spineless: The

88 AMHERST FALL 2017 Science of Jellyfish nda the Art of Growing involved, feel free to contact me!” a Backbone. It’s about jellyfish—thus the Until next time, please send news. spinelessness, which is what makes them Please! With love for Amherst and the supremely adapted to today’s damaged class of 1989, oceans—but it’s also about hitting middle > BRUCE TULGAN age and giving myself permission to grow BRUCET@RAINMAKERTHINKING. a spine and become an author. And it’s COM about our collective spinelessness toward the seas. What I really want to say about it to our class is that it’s a science book, 1990 but it’s written for people who never read I hope this finds you happy, healthy and science. There’s a bunch of carbs thrown safe, especially if you live in the path any in with the veggies. And I feel like, now hurricanes. Houston resident STEPHA- more than ever, we need to be thinking NIE JONES is “hanging in there. Luckily, about this amazing planet we share. safe and dry, but Harvey was horrible for “Besides that, I’m still happily living our city and our people.” It is surreal and in landlocked Austin with my husband depressing to see the images. I’m not sure

Keith, my nearly-driving-aged Ben and who else from our class has been in the ARCHIVES COLLEGE my 13-year-old Isabelle. I’ve been able to path of destruction, but we will continue see ELIZABETH BEEBE SMITH once in a to send thoughts and prayers in your di- significant other, Gabi; and her son, At- j Big Data while when I’ve come to the East Coast rection. tila, paid us a visit in St. Louis as part of When this for jellyfish research and MARGIE STOHL In need of directions to Texas or any- his annual summer vacation to the States picture was PETERSON ARI DYBNER when she comes through Aus- where in the United States? from Hungary. We all had a fantastic time taken, that tin on book tour. I also had a quick cock- is the guy to ask. “Earlier this month (Au- despite record-high temperatures which, enormous tail with ABBEY GARDNER last spring in gust), my mammoth family took a mam- considering the kind of weather we get New York.” moth road trip, driving from New Jersey in St. Louis during the summertime, is computer And a bit of College real estate gossip out to Yellowstone, south to Sedona[, saying something. (One week later, the was probably from our Amherst-resident classmate Ariz.] and back east to New Jersey. On the high temperature was about 25 degrees state-of-the- JONATHAN S. SHEFFTZ: “At a loss ini- trip, we visited five national parks (Yel- cooler. Go figure.) After leaving us, Chuck art. Do you tially for how to reply to your email so- lowstone, Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa and the gang paid their customary visit to remember licitation for class news. Fortunately, Verde and the Grand Canyon), two na- DANIEL BANYAS in the Twin Cities be- using it? only several hours later, we went on a tional monuments (Mount Rushmore and fore joining the rest of the Horton clan at self-guided tour (i.e., convinced a sum- the Gateway Arch), three fantastic state a resort in northern Minnesota. In early Use your mer camp resident to open a locked door) parks (Custer State Park in South Dakota, August, we made our regular summer 21st-century of the new Greenway Dorms. I think they Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah, and trip to my family’s place in Hillsdale, N.Y. device really do live up to their hype! I was es- Slide Rock State Park in Arizona). We saw While there, we had lunch with Doug Bat- to email pecially impressed at how both the little more corn and soybeans than I thought tema ’91, his wife and adorable 3-year- magazine@ common areas interspersed throughout was possible, as well as an encouraging old son. My wife and I also made a side amherst.edu. the individual rooms and the various number of windmills. Total mileage was trip to Boston to see the James Taylor- courtyards outside would seem to be just over 7,000. On the way back east, we Bonnie Raitt concert at Fenway Park in conducive to more mature and civilized had dinner and dessert in St. Louis with belated celebration of her 50th birthday. low-key socializing, as opposed to, say, DAVID TRUMAN (and his wife, Amy, and On our way home, we stopped by ANDY beer slides. I concede, though, that this daughter Elena) and TIM GUTKNECHT WINCHELL’s new house in Easton, Pa., dorm design could be criticized as cod- (and his wife, Linda). I was lucky enough for a tasty lunch and a nice visit. Finally, dling college students, maintaining them to go with them to Ted Drewes, apparent- just a few days after we returned home, in an infantilized state with so many rum- ly, a St. Louis landmark and just as much ARI DYBNER’s audacious multistate fam- pus/romper rooms sprinkled throughout a tourist attraction as the Gateway Arch.” ily road trip passed through St. Louis. We their living quarters.” DAVE TRUMAN chimes in: “It has been a met the Dybner clan for dinner, and TIM On the classmate rock-star front, BEN busy summer for me and the family. Hap- GUTKNECHT and wife Linda crossed the GUNDERSHEIMER, alias “Mr. G,” working pily, it included lots of get-togethers with Mississippi River from southern Illinois away on his multi-book contract and still fellow Amherst alumni. In June, we used to join us. We had good food, good con- producing music at a steady pace, seems the occasion of my cousin’s wedding in versation and lots of reminiscing, capped ;Å to be performing everywhere you look, Oregon to schedule a very nice family off by the practically obligatory trip to the KATHRYN HANLEY from Alaska to New York City, and that’s vacation on either side of the nuptials. landmark Ted Drewes frozen custard ’89’S LAB WAS AMONG ANDY WINCHELL THE FIRST TO STUDY just the North American tour! We traveled from Portland through Eu- stand.” also sent me THE ZIKA VIRUS, And rock-star-when-she-feels-like-it gene (where my daughter, a rising junior a note about his visit from the Truman BEFORE IT BECAME A DEB PASTERNAK writes: “I’m living with in high school, toured the U. of Oregon clan, lamenting the fact that “we forgot WORLDWIDE THREAT my husband, Rich, in Westborough, Mass. to see what a big state school looks like) to take a selfie!”—which, we agree, would TO PUBLIC HEALTH. Over the past couple of years, we have be- and over to the Pacific Coast, before ar- never have happened if DANIEL BANYAS Page 18 come complete empty-nesters and are re- riving in Medford for the wedding. But had been there. ally enjoying being a couple only, as we for my son breaking a bone in his foot Speaking of DANIEL BANYAS and self- started dating when his three kids were on a hike the day after the wedding, it ies, he reports, “It’s been a fairly normal teenagers living at home! I had a great vis- would have been an utterly perfect va- summer: Y day camp for the kids, a cou- it earlier this summer with Andrea Martin cation. In early July, I traveled back to ple of camping excursions, the pool— ’90 and RANI ARBO [rock-star], but have my hometown of Washington, D.C., for just your basic American summer. I am to admit that Facebook is the way that I the wedding of a dear childhood friend. looking forward to this fall, when DAVE am in contact with the majority of Am- While there, I grabbed a drink with ANDY TRUMAN, ERIC SCHULTZE and I will be herst friends. I am now working with the LEVITZ, and, thanks to the wedding being traveling to London and France for 10 Massachusetts Sierra Club to train and scheduled for the evening of July 4, took days to cheer for the Vikings, drink beer activate citizens to advocate for clean- in the Nationals-Mets game earlier that and wine and take selfies with confused energy legislation and solutions here in day with BOB SCHARNBERGER and his locals. Should be epic. Here’s to turning Massachusetts to fight climate change. son Charlie. Later in July, CHUCK HOR- 50 in December.” Absolutely! Anyone in Massachusetts looking to get TON, along with his son Justin; Chuck’s CYNTHIA SUCHMAN checked in with

AMHERST FALL 2017 89 1990–1991

the following funny update: “Nothing ters join us, so we loaded up the van and remain in touch with LEANDER GRAY, fancy here, but just had a drink with drove to Boston. It was a beautiful night who introduced me to my husband, and TOM CIRILLO in Portland and afterward at Fenway Park—much better weather KATHARINE LANDFIELD, who both live in he took me to my first-ever legal pot shop. than a rainy night we spent on the lawn the D.C. area, but I never seem to see them The Left Coast knows how to live. It was at a James Taylor concert at Great Woods enough. This year I celebrate 10 years of good to see him. Life rushes on.” So true. sophomore year. We were sad to miss marriage and eight of parenting, and I am Elsewhere, the adventures continue. Dave’s wife, Melissa Carr ’91, and their preparing for the big 50 next year with ANDREW THOMASES “spent 10 days in daughters (I would never have believed heaps of gratitude. If any fellow Amherst Chile with a high school buddy to help cel- that between us we would have six), but classmates come to D.C., I would love to ebrate his 50th birthday. We skied seven were so happy to see Dave, take in a great see you.” It makes me happy to see how of those days in four different locations, concert and get to know Dave’s adopted many of you are reconnecting with each including on an active volcano, as well hometown of Concord a bit. Plus, our girls other—even though time is flying by, we as some cat skiing. We also enjoyed the were singing along, so we had a fleeting are lucky to have made these friendships amazing people, food and wine of Chile. moment of feeling like good parents.” 30 years ago, which are still so strong. Definitely a bucket-list trip!” Also feeling like a good parent must be JILL LUCIANI also has a proud American LAURI LEE. “The most exciting news in my summer item to share: “I was so happy life is that our daughter Jessica is getting that JENNIFER BUTLER O’TOOLE and married in September at Camp Manitou KATHY BURKE were able to attend my At the Lake with Lake in Maine. Our son, Lewis, is going into his husband Tom’s military promotion cer- senior year at New College in Florida. I’m emony at the State Capital Building in 1991: Homer Robinson reported that he, wife Lisa, and also still pretty excited over the fact that Providence, R.I. We were all living to- kids Theo and Felix spent an afternoon hanging out with our class smashed another fundraising gether in Alexandria, Va., when I first met Ellen Lake and her daughters, Josie and Ruby, up at Lake goal, breaking a 30-year-old record held Tom, then a lowly lieutenant. Now he is Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire in August. (Ellen’s hus- by the class of 1960. Go, class of 1990! band, Chris Green, and their son, Sam, were already back Last but not least, while I was in D.C. in “It makes me happy to see in California for Sam’s first day of high school.) “We had June visiting friends and family, I got to how many of you are recon- such a great time we forgot to take pictures.” see ANDY LEVITZ, so that was a treat. And necting with each other.” I often run into folks here in Rhode Island who know DAVE LINDQUIST, although I From a different part of the world comes still need to schedule a dinner with him the Army’s newest brigadier general in this update from STEPHEN KAMPMEIER: and his wife, Dotty—so maybe he’ll see the Rhode Island Army National Guard. “OLAV BLASBERG and his family, now this and we can finally get something on It was great catching up with them. Kathy living in a newly restored farmhouse the calendar!” leads a busy life, and Jenn works in the southeast of Munich, hosted STEPHEN (Dave: if this is a game of tag, you are area of student assessment at the Mas- KAMPMEIER and ERIC WOLF for a reju- now “it”—time to call Lauri and get a din- sachusetts Department of Elementary venating week of Alpine hiking, swim- ner planned!) and Secondary Education.” Congratula- ming and general Gemütlichkeit in early I know that ANDY LEVITZ has been tions to Tom! July. It was the first time the three of us casually mentioned in passing already Also deserving of a double pat on the had been together since graduation. This twice, but the third time is really the back is author CATHERINE NEWMAN. “I part of Bavaria is known for its hospitality, charm. Seriously! “My wife created a am writing to crow about my new books, mountains and lakes, and hearty country small creature named Sofia Mina, al- because I’m crazily excited about them! meals, and we had several high points in ready smiling and charming everyone The first is a middle-grade novel called each category. Olav’s wife, Anja Rosen- while howling like a foghorn to us in the One Mixed-Up Night (coming out Sept. 5 gart, and three boys, Valentin, Moritz and small hours of the morning. Her sister and from Random House), and if you picture Anton, were great hosts and very accom- we love her to pieces and will start placing From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. modating as we borrowed Olav to travel her in Amherst onesies. I’m also retiring Frankweiler, but at IKEA instead of the through the mountains and into Salzburg after 24 years of active duty with the Navy, Metropolitan Museum of Art, you’ll get a and back. starting a new job in the intelligence com- pretty good sense of it. OK, but also? My “I was on a sabbatical from Intel this munity, buying too big of a house, and I friend Nicole and I wrote a different kids’ July and used the time to visit friends and have a newly minted teenager who knows book called Stitch Camp: 18 Crafty Proj- family. My wife, Susie Taylor, and I had everything. If I could arrange to get au- ects for Kids & Tweens—Learn 6 All-Time a great meal with MEGAN BEARDSLEY dited or have a tree fall on my car, that Favorite Skills: Sew, Knit, Crochet, Felt, Em- and David Blackburn ’91 at their house in would nicely close out this year!” We send broider & Weave. Storey is publishing it Montclair, N.J., at the end of my trip. Their our biggest congratulations on all the ex- Oct. 17. I’m not going to tell you that our children, Maddie and Max, picked right citing other news. oldest is looking at colleges or that our up with my two, Lilli and Claire. Now, Also rightfully proud is ABIGAIL GOLD- baby is starting high school, because that we’re back in San Jose, Calif. (and I’m EN-VAZQUEZ: “2017 has been a busy would be too crazy. Happily, MICHAEL planning my next sabbatical in 2020).” year. I moved my father from Florida to MILLNER and I are still in Amherst, and Well, I guess as we approach 50, it is D.C. I am officially embodying the sand- still getting to see lots of you as you pass time to think about bucket lists and sab- wich generation. The program I launched through, reunioning and college visiting baticals! at the Aspen Institute three years ago on and vacationing. We love it.” It sounds like many of our other class- the growing demographic of Latinos in Happy to see that so many of you are mates also enjoyed some wonderful time America seems more relevant than ever reconnecting with classmates—I have together over the summer. MEREDITH in current times. In March I had the great been blessed to visit with a few myself! CABE wrote: “James Taylor and Bon- honor and privilege of interviewing As- JON MASOUDI and I represented Am- nie Raitt on the same stage sounded too sociate Justice of the Supreme Court So- herst at a college information night last good to miss, but my husband Peter and nia Sotomayor, who discussed our civic month, singing the praises of attending a I couldn’t go the night they played in D.C. responsibility to be active participants small liberal arts college as well as talking We found out the show at Fenway Park in democracy. The most amazing part about the advantages of going to school in wasn’t sold out, and called DAVE HOS- was having my family there and seeing a place such as the Pioneer Valley. FORD, who is thankfully still up for last- my son beam with pride at being Puerto A week later, ANABELA PEROZEK, minute planning. It turned out we could Rican for the first time. Looking forward husband Mike and college-bound se- both see Dave and have our three daugh- to seeing BETH GRANT in September. I nior Max came to Colorado to look at

90 AMHERST FALL 2017 schools. We all had a delicious dinner blindness….” I’m thrilled to report that in Portugal for more than a year, and it’s with EMILY WEY, who is a newly certi- on Sept. 1, just before these notes were been almost three since I left my corpo- fied yoga instructor in addition to being due, George’s daughter, Kavita Eszter, rate life in Silicon Valley, and I couldn’t a busy attorney. And then, to top it off, was born. be happier about the decision. My life AMY SPEACE was in town for a concert ELEANOR KIM also shared exciting baby is different from anything I could have downtown. It was just like old times on news. “Rob and I gave birth to a baby girl imagined—and yet, when I was a child, the third floor of Stearns! (Isla Rosa) in April. She is a long-awaited my dream ‘job’ was to live in every coun- I am going to close with something that child. We had given up for a number of try in the world for a while, so I could learn has been on my mind as many of our 50th years, but returned to the process last the language and help people communi- birthdays have just recently been cel- summer, and we’re so happy. So, while cate with each other. I’m far from fluent ebrated or are rapidly approaching. As I many of you may be on the verge of being in either, but I’ve done a pretty good hope is the case for most of you, I look empty-nesters, you can laugh at what’s job learning Spanish and Portuguese in forward to reading these notes and seeing ahead for us!” less than three years. I also formally re- what our classmates are up to. When I re- In more baby news, BETH PLUNKETT launched my freelance editing business ceived the last issue, however, I turned the responded to my email call for notes (www.rainwaves.net). So I’m back on a pages all the way back to the class of 1942. (which included the question “Kids off track I veered off of 25-plus years ago.” There are tales of inspiration and words to college?”) with this reply: “Ha! We Rachel added, “I’m planning to rent out of wisdom to be found there, as they too just had a baby! My husband, Sangtae my beautiful little apartment in north- look at the difference between “getting Park, and I had a beautiful little girl, Ja- ern Portugal for at least one month next older” and “being old.” They are playing mie, in November. She is 8 months now summer. It’s a two-minute walk from a new instruments and learning Chinese! and doing all those things 8-month-olds gorgeous stretch of beach in a popular re- The Old Guard should be an inspiration do (crawling, laughing, waving and clap- sort town, five minutes from the lovely “... when I was a for us all to live our lives to the fullest, and ping), which all seem incredibly cute to centuries-old fishing village.” Be sure to child, my dream to stay as connected with each other as we us and thrill her enormously. She has an contact her if you’re looking for your own possibly can. And just think: only 32 more adoring audience. Our two older girls adventure. ‘job’ was to live months until our next reunion—which, at (Hannah and Grace, 14 and 11) are thrilled JENNIFER EDEN is one of several class- in every country the rate that time is currently flying by, to have a little sister, and we spend much mates who enjoyed recent overseas trav- will be here before we know it. of our time as a family laughing together els. “I went to Greenland this summer in the world > SARAH WADE SWANK as Jamie shows off her new tricks. It has with my family (including my 89-year- for a while, so [email protected] been an incredible treat to start this ad- old mom). We spent a week on a small venture all over again. Somehow it all schooner in the biggest fjord system in the I could learn 1991 feels so much easier. I was at a very differ- world. Unbelievable mountains, glaciers, the language ent stage in my career 14 and 11 years ago, icebergs, musk oxen, polar bears (!) and A big “Thank you!” to JEREMY LEWIS for and life just feels calmer and smoother the company of a brilliant geologist for the and help people giving me the great idea for the lightning now. Having two fabulous older sisters inner scientist in all of us. Truly a trip of communicate round we used to gather these notes. De- around also adds to the ease. Jamie has a lifetime. I also loved watching KAREN spite this contribution, I failed to get any truly been a wonderful and fun addition FOX enlighten us about the eclipse. Fabu- with each other.” updates from Jeremy. He said that, while for all of us.” lous example for my daughter of what you there is always news in the Lewis house- I had a fun weekend visit with SARAH can do with a love of writing and science.” hold, his wife, JENNIFER PREHN LEWIS, TAYLOR and Cassia, her youngest of Karen was a featured correspondent for is in charge of their external communi- three daughters, this summer. They were both NASA and C-SPAN, reporting on the cations.… So we’ll have to await updates on the tail end of an East Coast visit, and eclipse from Charleston, S.C. from Jen. they took the train down from Connecti- DON HOFFMAN worked in Hamburg MARK DEFANTI reported, “It was a year cut to meet me at Newark Airport (where for a German software company for the of highs and lows for me. A high point I was returning to from a work trip). Like summer. He was taking a week off to tour was being elected chair of the market- Beth, Sarah also had a third child when around Scandinavia when he wrote in his ing faculty at Providence College, and a her daughters were tweens/teens, and it update, and sent everyone “Greetings low point was going through an amicable seems she would agree that it has added from Stockholm!” divorce. Fortunately, our 12-year-old fra- much to their family life! MIKE WOODRUFF took a nice trip this ternal twin daughters are faring very well. SUSAN GILMER wrote in that she and summer to visit friends in the Spanish Another high point was catching up with husband, MATT GRINNELL, “had a fan- Basque country, and he got to bring along my roommate JOHN SGROI after several tastic time in East Hampton, N.Y., with his wife, Kenwyn Derby ’93, and his three years.” CORI (REEDY) BURNS and her children, kids. “¡Muy divertido!” With highs and lows of her own, MAR- Maxine and Milo; DREW MCMULLEN BOB FOX caught up with ROD THOMAS GARET PRICE wrote, “Broke my neck, got and his wife, Claire; CHRIS TAYLOR, his for dinner in London this summer, an an- back on the bike, rescued a kitten.” For the wife Kathleen and their children, Emily nual tradition for them. He also wrote that full inspirational kitten-rescue story, you and Alexander; and ANDY BOOSE and the last reunion led to a bunch of Face- can read an article all about it at cancer. his brood (whom they saw several times book friend requests. “It’s been nice to osu.edu/blog (see the Aug. 15 entry). throughout the summer). An all-Amherst continue seeing FB updates from various In the true illustration of highs, GEORGE ’91 summer!” Chris wrote in to share that friends, after reconnecting with them at MATHEW sent news: “My wife, the Rev. he especially enjoyed having a chance to reunion.” I think we would all agree with Bowie Snodgrass (Vassar ’99), and I are spend evenings reminiscing while their that sentiment! eagerly awaiting the arrival of our daugh- kids had a chance to get to know each oth- JOHN CARIANI wrote, “SUSAN BANKI ter (and second child)! We have just com- er: “It was a great time and a reminder took me out to dinner for my birthday pleted our first year in chipmunk-rich of what awesome friends I made at Am- when she was in NYC last month. Her Short Hills, N.J., where Bowie is the curate herst.” Susan also reported: “Our twins, mom is amazing and funny. Too bad Su- at the Episcopal Church in town. I’m still Jezebel-Grace and Marlowe, start recep- san isn’t. WENDY STETSON’s daughter, busy as ever with Music for Life Interna- tion [the British equivalent of kindergar- Cate, caught a shark while fishing at the tional, the NGO I founded, which works ten] this September in London, where we family cabin in Virginia. And a floun- to create global social impact through have been for 11 years. Despite this geo- der, which they ate. That’s cool. A kid in music. In February this year, we had our graphic challenge, Matt just joined the my building will be going to the Beacon seventh big humanitarian concert at board of the Oxford American.” School in Midtown Manhattan. I told Carnegie Hall, this time to end cataract RACHEL RADWAY has now “been living her to look out for Mr. KEVIN JACOBS.

AMHERST FALL 2017 91 1991–1994

LAUNA SCHWEIZER brought her beauti- ent’s perspective, but the presentation under the music credits. Probably really ful daughters, Abigail and Grace, to see and the campus made me want to go old news to everyone else, but I hadn’t a play I was in downtown. Launa’s in a back. I’m also celebrating my 20th anni- heard a peep about ‘Topher’ in decades!” band, and her daughters are super-smart versary today (Karen went to Cornell—we So, Topher—and everyone else we and super-interesting. I’ll be in a show visited there too!) and 26th year working haven’t heard from in a long time—we’d uptown this year with Tony Shalhoub. If at Fourth Presbyterian Church (currently love to hear from you. Please report in, anybody wants to come, let me know. It’s as pastor of administration and interim so we can stay connected. called The Band’s Visit.” youth pastor). And, for the full notes re- > RISA SACKMAN I’m thrilled to note that DEB COX cord, we also have a 10th-grade son and [email protected] LECATES and BILL LECATES celebrated an eighth-grade daughter.” JASON HORNICK their 25th wedding anniversary in August! and Harmony Wu 1992 It is fun to see the remarkable number of ’93 (still) live in Needham, Mass. Re- marriages that resulted from our time at markably, their twins, Hazel and Oscar, Greetings! As I take up my first attempt Amherst. If you scan these notes, you’ll are entering high school this year. Jason at putting together our class notes, my be amazed at the impact Amherst had on was promoted to professor of pathology at mind travels back to our spectacular 25th our minds… and our hearts. Harvard Medical School in January. The reunion a few months ago. As some of you JOSH JACOBS shared news on behalf second edition of his textbook, Practical know, I arrived early to meet with the of himself and his wife, AMY BEHRENS: Soft Tissue Pathology: A Diagnostic Ap- student assistants and discuss their re- “This year we have a daughter in high proach, is in press; publication is expected sponsibilities for the weekend. After that school, another in middle and another in early 2018. initial meeting, a young woman from that in elementary. Three times the parent WIN ALFORD wrote: “Life in Rhode group approached me and asked, “Were “By day nights: lucky problem to have. Our ninth- Island is good. By day practicing ortho- you ANDY SHELDON’s roommate?” This practicing grader, Anna, is playing field hockey (as pedics and forming a statewide merge not being a question I had anticipated, I Amy did in high school), and so I played of orthopedic groups, and by night play- paused for a few seconds, responded in orthopedics her the Pixies song ‘I’m Amazed,’ which, ing rock music with my daughters in our the affirmative, and then connected the and forming as we all know, begins with Kim Deal talk- basement. Looking forward to helping last names. Yes, Zavi ’18 is the daughter ing in the studio about how ‘there were my oldest daughter enter high school as of Andy, one of the James 201 trio, and, as a statewide rumors he was into field hockey players,’ a ninth-grader this year.” far as we can tell, will be the first child of merge of surely the most famous reference to the LAUREN (NEUMER) WHITEHURST is the class of ’92 to graduate from Amherst. sport in all of alternative rock. Sadly, the “finishing a summer of lots of ravelt and A few days later I introduced Zavi to BRI- orthopedic girls were completely unimpressed by just started my kids in their sophomore AN ADAIR, the third member of our room groups, and that and every other Pixies song, though year in high school, which is mind-bog- group, and he was much quicker on the by night we do all love ‘Push It’ and ‘Tainted Love.’ gling. I still live in Durham, N.C., in the uptake than I was. We got together for a Did you know the ’80s are back, big-time? shadow of Duke, and work with entrepre- room-group picture, and Zavi reports that playing rock Previously sanctioned high-waisted neurs in our thriving startup communi- Andy has been enjoying life in William- music with shorts are now mandatory.” ty. As many of our classmates’ kids start stown, Mass., where he has been teaching I spent a night catching up with HEATH- looking at colleges, know that we are a at the college level (but not, fortunately, at my daughters ER CRISTOL this summer. She reminded contact in the Durham/Chapel Hill area the more famous college in town). in our me that her daughter Etta would have for people taking college visiting trips. Speaking of the next generation ma- KEVIN JACOBS as both her teacher and Would love to catch up with fellow class- triculating at Amherst, PAM (COWLES) basement.” her soccer coach in high school this year, mates as they tour!” CRUM and Jeff Crum ’93 have just dropped and her son, Milo, attends middle school ROBERT OWEN WILLIAMS ’91E wrote: off their youngest for the start of her first where LAUNA SCHWEIZER teaches. Glad “My big news is that my church, Franconia year at Amherst. Pam reports: “Drop-off to hear Heather and JON GOLD’s children Community Church of Christ, no longer day for Katie ’21 went very well! She is liv- are in such good hands! has a pastor and we now have lay-led ser- ing in North (I don’t think I had set foot LAUNA SCHWEIZER is back to school vices. As the chair of the deacons, I have in North before) and likes her roommate for the 42nd time. She and husband Bill been coordinating all of our speakers. We very much already. It felt a little strange to Lienhard ’90 dropped off their older have had enough involvement from the be on the other side of things throughout daughter, Grace, at Smith College on Sept. members of the congregation that each the day, but it was also uniquely comfort- 1, which, she wrote, is the definition of speaker interested in leading worship ing, in the end, to leave her in such a won- the word “bittersweet.” DAVID BLACK- only has to speak about once every two derfully familiar place. And there are still BURN happened to be in town that week- months or so. We have been using this recognizable faces among the faculty. … end for a bike race (David’s wife is Megan system of lay-led services since the end On day two, Katie texted that Professor Beardsley ’90). David reported that it was of February, and it has been going well Call helped her register for classes, and “great to catch up [with Launa] over ice enough that it may well last indefinitely.” he was my adviser back in the day!” cream at Herrell’s, and then she and the For those keeping track of the passage Staying in the New England area: JON girls hung out the next day while I was out of time through our class notes, STEPH- SPELKE relates that all is well for him and riding.” Launa also shared the news that ANIE TURNER and her husband Charles Amy (Mulholland) Spelke ’93 in Topsham, she has finally finished the novel she has just celebrated their six-month-iversary Maine. He purchased the Androscoggin been working on, Amateur Night, and it is in Denver in May, then bought and moved Animal Hospital two years ago and lives now available on Amazon. into a lovely little house in July. She’ll be next door to the practice, so neither he LEE RUDERMAN also dropped his starting a new job teaching French part- nor Amy (who works for a consulting firm daughters off for their freshman year time in a private high school at the end of from home) has excuses to be late to work. in the Pioneer Valley. According to Lee, August. They’re loving their new neigh- Their children (16-year-old Max and “I just spent the day at Amherst College borhood in their new city. 14-year-old Cora) do not have the same moving in my daughters Rachel and Lind- JENNIFER JANG and I were exchanging excuse for Mount Ararat High School. sey for their orientation into the class of emails, and, while she explained that she From India, ABHISHEK PRASAD an- 2021. An exciting, emotional and nostal- and husband SAM BECKER didn’t neces- nounces the sad passing of his father, but gic day!” sary have any interesting news to report, that his son is now a “loquacious” kinder- COREY GRAY reported that he “had a she did share one great tidbit: “My kids garten student and his wife has finished chance to visit Amherst in August and are just now getting into the show Suits, training as a nursery school teacher. As go on a campus tour with my 12th-grade and one night I caught the end of an epi- with all of us in our 40s, he is dealing with daughter. Scary to think of it from a par- sode and saw CHRISTOPHER TYNG listed health issues, but they are under control.

92 AMHERST FALL 2017 As we work on these notes in the final 1993 days of August, the thoughts of our nation are on the tragedy of Hurricane Harvey, I had grand designs this quarter on doing and on our classmates who live in the af- another round of long-losts and haven’t- fected areas. been-heard-froms, but then the Equifax KEITH MILLNER reports, “Harvey made breach took over my work life, and Hur- for a harrowing few days, with fears of ricane Irma required parachuting into an emergency evacuation, and constant Florida to move my disabled dad around news from friends and neighbors of losses the state. (He’s fine, his house is fine, but… and danger ahead. Though our neighbor- sheesh. Aging parents. I know many of hood did experience flooding, we were you know.) incredibly fortunate to come through So instead we’ll do a lightning round the storm with very minimal damage, of folks I ran into in person, plus some and with our family safe and well. We hurricane updates. (Spoiler: All are safe.) are heartbroken for the trauma and up- I had a fantastic dinner/catch-up with heaval that some of our friends and so MARTA HEILBRUN; her husband, Ron; many others have suffered. But we are KENWYN DERBY and her husband, Mike also so proud of how Houstonians, and Woodruff ’91, in August in Salt Lake City. people around the state and country, have (JACKIE PANKO was off on a river trip and responded and supported each other, and could not join us.) Marta is off for a vo- we take comfort in a feeling of confidence cational adventure at the Emory hospital ARCHIVES COLLEGE that the city will recover and thrive again. system in Atlanta and will commute back We also want to say thanks to all our Am- and forth. At reunion, ask her about her early. Our hotel maintained power, and j Eyes herst community who reached out to us Delta super-titanium elite status. Kenwyn his home wasn’t damaged, save for the Front during the storm.” still gets back to San Francisco from time beloved mango tree. It had been an amaz- One student MATT PAPANIKOLAS and KATHY VEN- to time but has taken to Utah life and of- ing season for fruit, as my 2-year-old can looks straight EMAN likewise feel very grateful to have ten camps in the desert with Mike and attest (she got mangoes shipped in to at the come through Hurricane Harvey without his kids. Brooklyn). Given that this was our only camera, but flooding in their home or neighborhood, ELIZABETH (GROSSMAN) BESCH and loss, however, we were intensely lucky. other than temporary street flooding. In HOLGER BESCH dropped by my office this Here’s hoping you’re all feeling lucky or the other two Kathy’s words, “Right now the full ef- summer with their three kids, who were at least safe right about now in this nutty seem focused fects of the storm are still unfolding, it a total delight. We talked politics, food world. Keep an eye out for more 25th re- on this 1995 seems, hour by hour, and though over- and Manhattan tourist strategies, among union updates coming soon. physics whelming, already it is inspiring to me to other things. > RON LIEBER class with see such resilience and community spirit While I saw neither JENNY ROSEN- [email protected] Professor in Houston.” STRACH nor TED LEE this quarter, I was Kannan The other participant in the new class thrilled to find them both on the list of the 1994 secretary system, JOSH MORA, adds, “It 100 greatest home cooks of all time that “Jagu” Jag- was mind-blowing to catch up with so Epicurious published recently. Williams Fall 2017. No mention will be made of the annathan. many great friends on campus in May. I had three people from a single class. Not. conspicuous absence of a class of 1994 know that Nate and I are both enamored Seriously, so much pride. Let’s have them contribution to Amherst magazine except of the stories of your lives, and we look oversee the caterers for reunion again and that “to the best of my actual knowledge” forward to hearing your next chapters dictate which of their own recipes to use. I received no updates.… over the coming months and years. We NICHOLE RUSTIN-PASCHAL’s book, My family, like many, spent the summer hope you’ll respond to the calls for notes The Kind of Man I Am: Jazzmasculinity and in typical fashion, but among the sports and allow our class to stay in touch.” the World of Charles Mingus Jr., came out in camps and other sundry activities was a Yours truly followed up reunion with the October. Congratulations, Nichole! Push- rafting trip in Dinosaur National Monu- annual Adirondacks weekend at the cabin ing one of these things out into the world ment, which crosses parts of Utah and of DOUG BURTON and Connie (Megaro) is so hard. Can you please set up a Mingus Colorado. What an amazing time we Burton ’90. Joining us was the usual crew playlist for us and share it on Spotify? I’ll had, and my father, Alan Bernstein ’63 of JASON CHICIRDA and Tara (Gleason) post the link next quarter, or maybe you’ll (aka Opa), joined us. I can’t recommend Chicirda ’94, ANNE (SAWYER) FORD and program dinner music to accompany the more highly ditching the electronics for Rob Ford, assorted future Mammoths Rosenstrach-Lee feast in May? starry nights, whitewater and campfires. ranging in age from 6 to 15 and (for the Now, hurricane updates—two, alas. In late August, before the threat of Hurri- first time) my wife, Jillian Humphreys. From Houston and Harvey, BRIAN BEE- cane Irma (everyone is fine, incidentally), The usual amount of water skiing, hik- BE reports that he is fine, though many we traveled to Guatemala to visit Tikal, ing, Oreo judging, and ice cream eating friends were flooded for the third time in an expansive Mayan city nestled in the took place; fortunately, we did not have three years. Schools there started a week north of the country near the Belize bor- to pull out Doug’s extensive collection of or two late, too. He sent word that JIM der. I’m not certain my 7- and 9-year-old duct tape to repair any cars or body parts. VESTERMAN escaped unscathed as well. boys were terribly interested in the finer Well, that is it for our first set of class And Florida and Irma: JILL BASSETT points of the site’s history, except for its notes. We hope to have more to share in left Miami days ahead of time, and her inclusion in Star Wars (Pyramid IV was the future! But we’d be remiss if we did not ground-floor residence did not flood. At the rebel base pictured in several of the thank JEANNE HERRING for the excellent the last minute, the storm shifted west, films). Like Amherst, years from now my work she did over the past five years. It and it looked like BRENNER GLICKMAN sons will reflect on how much more they will take two of us to take her place, but would take a direct hit in Sarasota. He and might have appreciated their Tikal expe- we look forward to serving as the class his family left for Houston (of all places) rience had they only…. secretaries for the run-up to the (gulp) to ride out the storm, and their house was DEBBIE STEINIG says she and her family 30th reunion. not damaged. Whew. Should make for traveled to Illinois in August to see Hamil- > NATE GORDON some excellent Rosh Hashanah sermon ton in Chicago, the eclipse in Carbondale [email protected] fodder though—right, Rabbi G? and, in between, her Valentine roomie > JOSH MORA As for me, my dad lives in Boca Ra- RACHEL (SUNLEY) TYSON and family [email protected] ton, and we got him up to Orlando days at their home in Urbana-Champaign.

AMHERST FALL 2017 93 1994–1997

Hamilton lived up to the hype but was aw- the guidance of my in-house Salesforce Hyundai, is part of his residence at Los fully expensive. The eclipse lived up to the mentor (my husband, Michael Kolodner Angeles County Museum of Art’s Art + hype but was an anxiety-provoking nail- ’96), rewriting a load of documents and Technology Lab. Should you go, please biter, with all but the last five seconds of generally scurrying around to get us ready pick me up a Superego Suit, Keats’ current totality clouded out. Visiting Rachel was to open in September. work in progress to blend neuroscience, wonderful! “Hostess extraordinaire, she “Many Amherst visits this summer: We fashion, and the ego. What would Jung do forgave our lateness, accommodated our see LINDA LEE weekly, who is practically with such a garment? Jonathon’s fertile varied dietary needs, and, knitter that she family at this point (and a favored baby- mind is inspirational (and aspirational). is, picked up the stitches of our conversa- sitter, perhaps because my boys call her Enjoy the weather, stay optimistic, and tion where we’d left off on our last visit a ‘Double Dessert Linda.’) We had a quick write me. few years ago. She even volunteered to visit with the amazing AMY (RYDELL) > LEO BERNSTEIN knit my kids Möbius strip yarmulkes.” WERNER and her boys, who dropped in [email protected] FERNANDA BRESSAN emailed that she after a baseball tournament in Hershey[, MIKE BOGOMOL- and her family were wrapping up their Pa.]. I send thanks to 1995 year of world schooling with a month in NY for connecting us with Shreeyash Palshikar ’95 and his lovely family, who It is not easy to get updates from such a are now living in our neck of the woods busy group of people—especially at the and part of our regular circle of friends. end of summer. But, luckily, we did hear Master Multitasker We’re heading off in a few weeks to see from a couple of you who had news to Christopher ’95 and Catherine Mirick ’95 share. 1995: My trusty co-chair, Ema Naito, provided a quick up- in Plum Island, Mass., to squeeze as much CRAIG JOHNSON shared that wife RHEA date. Ema stepped down as editor of a monthly magazine summer out of August as we can.” Wow, PARANDELIS JOHNSON assembled a re- for expat parents after a rewarding year of volunteering and I thought I was busy! lay team of female/physician/mothers/ for the position. She will continue as deputy editor, while DOUG NORRY, who just began his fifth Latinas. She trained for and competed in also assisting at husband Sebastian Bhakdi’s biotech year as head of Triangle Day School in the National Track and Field “Masters” company, XZELL Inc., which has developed and is launch- Durham, N.C., a small (200 kids) TK–8 Championship in Louisiana in July… and ing its early pain-free cancer detection test. Also manag- independent school, writes that he loves won gold! Runner’s World interviewed ing their three kids’ schedules and household matters, the job, the school and the location—lots Rhea and her team and published an ar- Ema is kept running at multitasking capacity. of family in Chapel Hill. Doug mentions ticle that mentions Rhea’s running career that he, JEREMY KUGEL, STEVEN PEARL at Amherst College. Craig and their kids, and YUTAKA TAMURA got together in Silas (11), Rosario (9) and Soren (7), are Portugal before returning home to Miami, NYC, as has been their custom each sum- all extremely proud of Rhea! where their daughter Luciana would start mer. Ever the entrepreneur, Yutaka now It’s been a busy spring and summer for kindergarten. “Our goal to share cultures, dabbles in the life-coaching business, so WELLS BLANCHARD. He bought a new people and places with her far exceeded the provocative questions and insightful house in Needham, Mass., and started a our expectations.” Central to her experi- advice were free-flowing. Quite conspicu- new job as product manager at McGraw- ence was sharing the adventure as a famously, Doug’s brief missive didn’t include Hill Education. According to Wells, “We ily—living and working together, appre- any of the pearls of wisdom we all crave. are loving the new house, my first back- ciating different cultures, not simply as a Pardon the pun, Steve, but I’m middle- yard ever; our 2-year-old is rocking the tourist but as a traveler. “Fortunately, our aged, so you should expect some gener- trampoline and the swing set, and, while coaching and advisory business benefited ous corn in my notes. it’s overwhelming to get up to speed at the and grew as much as we did personally. MARIA (CHRISTENNSON) BERNIER new job, the people have been supportive … Our experience helped exemplify that writes that “it’s a depressing time to be and welcoming.” work-life alignment is possible when we an employee of the state of Connecti- Wells also caught up with RAVI THAKUR make choices that are right for us. Every cut, as the governor and legislature try and STEVE MCAVEENEY at a Red Sox family and business is different, but dis- to close a multibillion-dollar budget gap. game. Ravi was visiting from New York covering what you desire and taking the Since work is more like work these days City. Wells mentioned that Steve and his necessary action steps towards it will pay and less like fun, I ramped up my volun- wife, Julie, have been busy having bar- ;Å off in countless ways.” teering to add more fun to my life. The gig becues at their place in East Cambridge, ISMÉE (BARTELS) Well said. I’m terribly envious of Fer- that’s become most interesting is co-pro- Mass., and they recently got back from a WILLIAMS ’95 WRITES nanda’s family adventure. I’ve concluded ducing a program on ‘Naughty Children honeymoon in Greece. EDUARDO MARTI- FROM THE HEART NEZ ABOUT HOW HER too that shared experience with family of Literature’ with the Friends of Westerly was in the United States at his house WORK WITH EXPECT- and dear friends serve as the greatest gifts Library. I’ve been writing and editing po- on the Cape this summer, and Steve got to ANT MOTHERS IN- we can give our children (and ourselves). ems, which I’ve never done before, except catch a glimpse of him and his two sons in FORMED HER NOVEL, No one remembers stuff the way they re- maybe in seventh grade. I’m relieved to Boston. Steve and DOUG SMITH recently WATER IN MAY. member experience, no? Enough cheap find many online rhyming dictionaries, got together for a Social Distortion con- Page 2 homily. Let’s march onwards. because I am unable, as one friend ad- cert in Worcester, and Doug was recently JENNIFER (BALTAXE) KOLODNER vised, to ‘channel my inner Lin-Manuel!’” spotted out on his boat with his wife and writes that in May she “became the di- No class of 1994 notes would be com- 10-year-old son, Travis. rector at Jewish Children’s Folkshul plete without a mention of our artsurdist SERGE SIMPSON checked in to let us (www.folkshul.org), a program for fami- [sic] extraordinaire, JONATHON KEATS. know he is still living in Philadelphia, lies in the greater Philly area who want A bold-faced name often (and cheaper where he has been since attending med- to provide their children with a strong than Google AdSense), Jonathon appre- ical school at the University of Penn- and joyous foundation in Jewish culture ciates his classmates who appreciate his sylvania. Serge is married and has two and ethics, within a secular humanist unique brilliance. I certainly do. He writes boys, Gabriel Tosh (9) and Jacob Win- framework.” [Ed. note: that program of his latest project—an imagination of the ston (nearly 6). He is working at Albert sounds strikingly similar to the Soci- car as wearable tech. Jonathon’s concept Einstein Medical Center as an emergency ety for Ethical Culture.] “(Incidentally, car is a “vehicle that operates as an ex- physician and medical toxicologist. Serge GEOFF KLEIN’s sister and her family are tension of ourselves—making us excited writes, “As work and kids get more de- members, which is a nice coincidence.) as it goes faster, and hungrier as it needs manding, I have gradually simplified my So far, I’ve hired two teachers, put all our gas” (as written in the Fast Company ar- life. These days I am content to spend registration forms online, am building a ticle I cribbed, no room for the footnote!). what little free time I have either moun- membership database in Salesforce with Jonathon’s vision, in collaboration with tain biking or getting lost in DIY projects

94 AMHERST FALL 2017 around the house. I may have peaked two ily, including job search support from I had the pleasure of a too-short visit years ago when I made this bike out of classmates KARIM HUTSON, KWAME with EUGENIA CHOW in Chicago while bamboo to help me run errands around BRATHWAITE, PRESTON SCHELL, MIN she was in town on business. She is on the my neighborhood.” CHOI, PETER MAY and JIM HAMILTON, road a ton, and I was a lucky stop along the We also heard from MARK KUHNLE, he has joined the development office at way. Incidentally, a few weeks later she who reported that he is a customer ser- Brooklyn Law School. He is living with found herself seated next to GRANT IN- vice representative in upstate New York, his immediate family in Westchester GERSOLL on a plan to Raleigh-Durham, where he is active in the community at County after his recent move from Bos- N.C. Grant co-founded a tech company Emmaus United Methodist Church. ton—for now—with an eye toward living that does the search for a lot of compa- ILYA SOMIN, a professor of law at in Brooklyn. In addition, he is thankful for nies’ websites to enhance consumer ex- George Mason University, recently took his former colleagues at the College (in perience. It sounds like they had a nice a trip to Israel to give a talk at a confer- the office at Smith House on Hitchcock opportunity to catch up. I was also lucky ence at Tel Aviv University. As a consti- Road), who have been supportive and to see BETH FOLEY SWANSON and her tutional law scholar in our current politi- generous with their time as references husband, Brian Swanson ’94, and two of cal environment, Ilya has found that he is and friends. While Brian will miss Bos- their kids this summer. We had a nice vis- spending more time than usual talking to ton and Amherst, and valued his time on it, and their son John tried really hard to various media, both U.S. and foreign. Ilya staff at Amherst, including overlapping help my (at the time) 7-month-old crawl, also has a 2-year old daughter, Lydia, who with our 15th reunion in 2011, this is a only to recount the story later to Beth that is “learning the names of various animals great opportunity to continue his major he was teaching her to twerk. The hilari- in both English and Russian.” gift work and take the next step in his ous humor apple does not fall far from Ilya mentioned that he has been in institutional development career. Brian momma’s tree in that family. And lucky touch with JIM MCLAUGHLIN and STEVE was sad to miss our 20th, but plans to me: as I type this, I am getting ready to WIIST. Jim is deputy general counsel of help with 25th reunion fundraising ef- see Beth again this weekend with HEIDI 1997: Anne Penner The Washington Post, and Steve is still forts down the road. MOHLMAN TRINGE, who will be in Chi- was very sorry to working as a dentist and is active in a ERIK WASSON wrote that he and his cago for a meeting. miss reunion. She variety of sports leagues in North Caro- lovely wife, Moryvan, were attending > WRITTEN BY MEGHAN O’BRIEN writes from Denver, lina (where he has lived for the last de- the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and caught MCRAE where she spent cade or so). DEANNA FLEYSHER’s Butt Kapinski show. [email protected] time this summer CHRIS SANTANA and I had the oppor- Eric reports that it was hilarious, and the > PETER G. MAY performing with the tunity to take our kids, Thomas (13) and audience ate it up. He is still busy as a re- [email protected] Colorado Shake- Alice (11), on a whirlwind trip through Eu- porter trying to cover all the political she- speare Festival in rope with their cousins. Although an art nanigans in D.C. these days. Julius Caesar. This history major at Amherst, I have to say I Congratulations to GREG SCHNEIDER, 1997 fall she will perform was rusty, but it was great to visit some who has been named head of school at Let me be the first to say how delighted a play adaptation of my old stomping grounds from when Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass., I am to be taking over as class secretary. of Joan Didion’s I studied abroad junior year. beginning on July 1, 2018. Greg and his It only took half a handle of bourbon and memoir, The Year Best wishes to everyone and remember, wife, Amy, and daughters are looking for- some dedicated 20-year-reunion-style of Magical Thinking. please send us any and all updates! ward to relocating back to the Boston area peer pressure to convince me I wouldn’t After that, she is > WRITTEN BY MARGARET SANTANA for an exciting professional challenge and be the worst secretary in Amherst his- looking forward to a EMA NAITO great proximity to family and friends. tory (this is also why I nominated ERIKA six-month sabbati- [email protected] ROB SWEENEY has moved to Dallas to BRACAMONTE and SANDY SMITH as co- cal from teaching in take an in-house counsel role at Holly- secretaries)! 2018, during which Frontier, a petroleum refinery and trans- Anyway, as a quick update on myself, she plans to do some 1996 portation company. He bought a house in I write to you from Charlottesville, Va., writing about acting I appreciate the responses to my rather East Dallas, where he hopes to put down where I am faculty at UVA in the depart- and teaching, and pathetic appeal for notes this go-round. some roots, which is a big statement for ment of microbiology, engaged in pre- possibly get involved As usual, your notes are such fun to read someone who, since we graduated, has clinical cancer research. However, that in additional perfor- and to share. moved around and back and forth across is not nearly as exciting as the fact that I mances. SUSAN REKLIS KOLOZSVARI wrote as the Atlantic Ocean more times than I can finally earned my fitness trainer certifi- she was preparing to take kids to college. count! cation this summer—not sure what I am She and her husband took their oldest BETSY VILETT wrote to report that going to do with it yet, but it’s been on my back to Oklahoma for a second year at she and husband Chris Maguire ’94 (and bucket list for a while. If nothing else, it OU a few weeks ago, and their daugh- their kids, Annie and Charlie) are enjoy- will help me keep my kids, Kieran (9) and ter is a freshman at Mount Holyoke this ing their second year of living in Switzer- Charlotte (5), in line working on soccer fall. While Susan was sorry that Amherst land. They have loved their time in Zug and football agility drills! said no to both of them, she is glad her and have met a lot of great people from I know reunion was back in May, but I daughter will be in the Valley. She said many different countries. The hiking and have to say what a great time I had chat- the house is very quiet with just one kiddo skiing have been amazing, and they have ting and reminiscing with friends I hadn’t left at home. been lucky to travel to some great places: seen in years. I managed to catch up with EMILY LAKDAWALLA received an hon- “In August we had a fantastic visit from SUSANNE (SANTOLA) MULLIGAN and orary degree of Doctor of the University HEIDI MOHLMAN TRINGE and her fam- her husband, Greg, an avid sports fish- from the Open University (in the UK) in ily, including several beautiful days in erman. She continues to work at Guggen- September “as a result of the exceptional the Bernese Alps. That made up a little heim Partners in NYC and writes that she contribution that she has made in com- bit for having missed a couple of room spent the summer working and going to municating planetary and space science, group gatherings!” the beach. Her girls, Finley and Hayden, and for her enthusiasm and achievements Clever MOLLY (WASOW) PARK ar- were busy with swim team, trying to em- in public engagement with science.” Ku- ranged her summer travel plans around ulate the great BRYAN LUKE and PETE dos, Emily! She says that she’s “happy that visiting Amherst roommates. From see- GROSSI (whom they immediately idol- technically it’ll no longer be something I’ll ing LARA BERKOWITZ in London, to a ized upon hearing that they both swam have to awkwardly correct when people family Fourth of July trip to Maine to see at Amherst back in the day)! address me as ‘Dr. Lakdawalla.’” ALYSSA (EARLE) GOODWIN and Chris I was also able to spend some time with BRIAN BUTLER wrote to say that, Goodwin ’97, Molly is making good use DARCY (FORRESTER) CARR and her won- with the help of many friends and fam- of her vacations! derful family. She writes that she is still

AMHERST FALL 2017 95 1997–2000

living outside Boston, in Arlington, with Arizona wine country (they do make great Amherst mag scooped us, so I assume her husband, Jonathan Carr ’96, and wine in Arizona—I have firsthand knowl- you saw mention of MARTI DUMAS’ chil- daughters Ellie (11) and Dalia (9). She edge of this), plus regular CrossFit ses- dren’s book series, Jaden Toussaint, The says, “We are predictably overscheduled sions. Erika plans on making a trip this fall Greatest in the summer issue. If not, check with sports practices, music lessons and to NYC to hopefully catch up with SANDY it out: the warm, witty adventures of a the classic middle-aged hobby of train- SMITH, JACK AARONSON and SUSANNE 5-year-old black genius in New Orleans. ing for half marathons, but we very much (SANTOLA) MULLIGAN. Maybe she’ll deign to do a reading at our enjoyed the trip to Amherst for reunion.” So that’s it from me. Thanks so much to upcoming reunion (it’s a big one—2018; After spending the past 11 years at Part- those of you who sent me an update. I will you do the math). ners HealthCare in strategic planning and be harassing you all again in the near fu- In our composers’ corner, GREG BROWN hospital administration, Darcy recently ture! Wishing you all a happy and safe fall. writes, “Lots of music things happening accepted a job at Boston Children’s Hos- > KATE (STAAF) OWEN at present: rereleasing some music in pital overseeing nonclinical operations [email protected] conjunction with my brother Dan ’86’s (financial management, regulatory over- latest book; and two new CD releases sight and policy) for their work with the 1998 this autumn (cantata and song-cycle).” State of Massachusetts, specifically the Greg put on an Amherst homecoming Medicaid population. Here’s all the news I have permission concert on Oct. 20 at the new Center for PETE CLARK also answered my mass- to print. (Ahem—some of you are doing Humanistic Inquiry in Frost Library. “For email call for news. He writes that he re- amazing things, but won’t sign off on get- the spring semester I’ll be taking over the cently received a second master’s degree ting accolades here. I respect your right Amherst College Choral Society in an in- from Middlebury, an MLitt specializing to privacy, but still have to say that, when terim capacity as Mallorie Chernin begins Tim Aubry in identity and modality in modernism. it comes to class notes, sharing is caring.) her phased retirement.” Continuing the ’98, associate Furthermore, he says, “It was special to TIM AUBRY, associate professor of Eng- hometown report, Greg informs us that have my kids there at graduation, but now lish at Baruch College, wrote a sharp-eyed the downtown Amherst Bart’s is no more. professor it’s back to Orange County, Calif., where I defense of the liberal arts, sort of, in a de- Fellow Amherst-based composer RICH- of English teach English and run the internship pro- lightful New York Times book review in Au- ARD BEAUDOIN writes that he composed gram at St. Margaret’s Episcopal.” gust. While the books he reviews suggest two new works for vocal ensemble Room- at Baruch SANDY SMITH continues as faculty that liberal arts majors will make bank ful of Teeth. He, Lea and their teenaged College, wrote at the Nichols School in Buffalo, N.Y., in a tech economy, Tim rightly reminds children have been seeing a fair amount where she teaches science at the middle readers that some of this “liberal arts of moving around: Richard finished a a sharp-eyed and high school levels, and is currently marketability” is based on the privilege visiting research fellowship last year at defense of the the director of an initiative to connect on which elite liberal arts graduates often the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Nichols community to the themes of bank, postgraduation. Public scholarship and began teaching at Dartmouth Col- liberal arts, water and place. She spent a lot of time FTW, Professor! lege this fall. sort of, in a outdoors this past summer in an effort to BETH DELL is a producer of upcoming MARGARET SEILER and BEN CHANG New cultivate relationships between place-fo- romantic comedy Destination Wedding, had a meet-up of the Louisville, Ky., Am- delightful cused education in the Great Lakes basin, starring Keanu Reeves and Winona Ry- herst ’98-ers club at a Chuck E. Cheese York Times the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and der. in upstate New York. Pretty sure these other natural resource corridors. Sandy’s COLIN BARNACLE is a partner in top two won all the Skee-Ball tickets—but book review first port of call was a canoe trip on Source 100 U.S. law firm Akerman LLP (Labor what did they exchange them for? [Yes, in August. Lake Algonquin Park, Ontario, and later & Employment Practice Group). I’m ending a sentence in a preposition. backpacking in the White Mountains in Professors and producers and part- Check out my elegant phrasing up top in New Hampshire while on a Leadership ners, oh my! What else have we been up re: TIM AUBRY to see how versatile this Academy retreat. to, dearest classmates? humble social scientist can be in her use Sandy also managed to get out to Col- Babies. Getting babies. Lots of babies, of formal and colloquial idiom, though. orado, meeting up with recent D.C.-to- especially July arrivals. Chalk it up to the power of liberal arts?] Colo. transplant Sarah Fabian ’98, where MANISHA RANKA and husband Max BARNEY SNIDER has some bell-ring- they hung out at Red Rocks Amphitheatre Pinigin welcomed their daughter, Maya ing news. He and his business partners and drove around in a “vintage” yellow Lakshmi, in November. Maya was born transitioned from a real estate private Suzuki Samurai. Man, I’m sorry to have in D.C. (Max and Manisha, a political sci- equity firm based in the Washington, missed that! ence major at Amherst, moved to D.C. D.C., area to a public REIT, JBG Smith, ERIKA BRACAMONTE is currently in from L.A. last summer.) listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Tucson, Ariz., with John, her husband MIKE LEVY and his family welcomed He writes that, a week after going public, of 10 years. She is an associate professor new addition Wynne in March, and then “We continued the excitement by par- of pathology at the University of Arizona took the baby and the big brother off to ticipating in our company’s ceremonial and, in fact, was recently promoted to di- Japan for sabbatical from Penn. bell-ringing on the floor of the NYSE. It vision director of anatomic pathology! In NATE CLAY and wife Georgia managed was an amazing experience for our entire addition to her diagnostic and teaching to birth Bodhi Stillwater not only at home, company and certainly something that I responsibilities, however, she has also but with only minimum midwife help will never forget. I am serving in the role had to make peace with the fact that life over the phone. You’ll be glad to know of executive vice president and head of now includes an increasing list of admin- the midwives bravely fought through commercial asset management for the istrative duties. Santa Barbara-area traffic and made it to company. My wife, Keeley, and I are still In her own words, “The world would the Clay house in time for the afterbirth. living in Chevy Chase, Md., with our two be a much better place if we could reduce Big brother Leo was not home for any of incredible daughters, Katherine (9) and ‘mandatory’ meetings by half.” Truth! it. Nate and Georgia are also partners in Maeve (7). Looking forward to the 20-year And if I shed a few tears this fall while an educational services business. reunion next year!” watching my “baby” Charlotte get on Amherst ’98 figures big in Santa Bar- And with the plug for the big 2-0, I’ll the school bus for the first day of kinder- bara, it seems (two alums counts as bid you adieu. Stalwart class president garten, that’s nothing compared to Erika “figuring big,” right?): Nate reports that DAVE NARDOLILLO’s organizing a won- dealing with the reality of celebrating HAYDEN FELICE just opened a new res- derful party, so do get in touch with your her stepson’s 21st birthday! Stress relief taurant, Somerset, in town, and Hayden ideas for reunion plans. takes the form of hiking, camping, sunset- also welcomed a July baby: Clio. > CAROLYN CHERNOFF watching and, of course, periodic trips to Oh—I had another baby in July too. [email protected]

96 AMHERST FALL 2017 ANNA HOLTZMAN 1999 is on the move. She for the notes allots 70 words per contribu- left her career as a television editor and tor, but that we have a word count for class Our little plea from the last issue worked, her home in Brooklyn, N.Y. She’s now liv- secretary commentary that we can pull and 11 of you reported on yourselves and ing with her partner, Paul Kim, in Queens, from. If you think your contribution has several classmates. By far, these are the N.Y., and has started a practice as a life been pared down, that’s why. We do our most updates I’ve encountered in my and career coach. In September, she be- best to maintain the integrity and meat three years working the notes. As my fa- gan a master’s program at NYU for a de- of your entries. And don’t worry—I will vorite Paw Patrol pup, Zuma, says, “Let’s gree in mental health counseling. If you’d be hashing out the rule against using the dive in!” like to check out her business, please visit Oxford comma with the alumni office. We will start at the bottom, so to speak. annaholtzman.com. I’ll close with this nugget from Arlene’s KATIE RUBIN has decided to make her life We can thank ALICE FAIBISHENKO’s update: “The older we get, the more we “weirder,” as she puts it, and is consider- mom for her update. Her mom read the appreciate the enduring bonds of our col- ing getting certified to perform colonics joke in the previous notes and thought all lege friendships, despite the miles and to complement her energetic healing ser- diplomas would be threatened if alum- daily life tasks that separate us.” I hope vices. She also snagged an online Com- ni didn’t provide an update. Luckily for these updates have brought you closer to cast commercial that she hopes bridges everyone else, only Mina and I will suf- your classmates and that we’ll be seeing over to television, so be on the lookout for fer that fate. Since her days at Amherst, you in these pages next time around. her. Ever busy, Katie is teaching acting, Alice’s work and studies have taken her > CHRIS WEBB (WRITING THIS TIME) improv and stand-up comedy writing, around the world. She started in New MINA SUK while working on a new writing project York’s banking sector before moving on [email protected] as well. If you get a chance, ask her about to Johns Hopkins for a master’s degree in her new dog! international affairs, economics and -fi 2000 With baby PAM (DIAMOND) ROCK moved from nance. She has worked at the U.S. Trea- Lila Anne and Dunwoody to Brookhaven, Ga., 10 min- sury and as an advisor to the former vice The theme for this edition of class notes utes from her old home. She loves her new president and finance minister of Spain. is “happy news,” since there’s so much of 2-year-old Stella place, and her girls, Sara (10) and Jordyn Alice and her husband have settled in the opposite these days. Rae running (8), are excited to be in a new school. In Madrid and run a financial advisory We start in San Francisco with GAY August, Pam and LEAH RICCI celebrated firm. Their daughter, Catalina, goes to HEIT, who has transitioned out of her around, Neely their 40th birthdays with ARLENE SILVA, the American School there. career as a personal chef to launch a new Steinberg ’99 JILL SAUNDERS and ALISSA SAUNDERS We’re obviously getting older. We’ve business as a potter. “It’s a completely with a mini reunion in Bermuda. gone this far without yet mentioning new world for me,” she writes, “so I’m admits she’s Arlene also reported in about the trip newborns. So let’s mention a newborn! figuring it out as I go. Seems as if I’m des- exhausted and to Bermuda, noting that they snorkeled, NEELY STEINBERG and her husband, tined to be my own boss for the rest of my swam in caves and jumped off cliffs. If Dave Sullivan, welcomed Lila Anne in life.” (Insert sound of jealousy here.) Her finds fulfillment you were in the Northeast in the summer- January. With a baby and 2-year-old Stella art found a big fan in AMY LYSTER, who in naps. time, you might have run into Arlene. Her Rae running around, Neely admits she’s recently visited Gay in the Bay Area. “I got family and AMANDA PASCHKE’s visited exhausted and finds tremendous fulfill- to see her work all around her home and New York City in May, hitting the Statue ment in naps. Outside of momming, she took with me some special pieces for my of Liberty, Central Park Zoo and M&M runs her dating- and image-consulting own home that sit on my mantel,” Amy Store. Arlene also continued her summer business, which is second to naps in ful- writes. “Gay really is an amazing artist, tradition of renting a house on Cape Cod fillment as she helps women create confi- whether it’s photography or cooking or in July. This time, she stayed at an estate dence in themselves and find love. pottery/ceramics. She’s always finding owned by the family of former Amherst DAVID KIM spent his sabbatical from new and interesting ways to express her College President Calvin Plimpton ’39. teaching and writing about Italian Re- talents.” Amy and Gay also caught up with Accompanying her family were Leah, naissance art at Penn in Washington, RACHEL BOBRUFF in San Fran. Alissa and Jill, as well as ALLAN PETERS- D.C., where he saw LAURA MOSER, MI- On the other side of the country, LIAM EN and JAMIE (SCHULKE) SCHULINN. CHAEL SACHSE and ERIN SEGAL. Mr. O’ROURKE is immersing himself in his- GABRIELA (GIL) SNYDER and ANDREW Sachse held his 40th birthday “blowout” tory on Staten Island, where he lives with SNYDER tag-teamed for their update. An- at a possibly haunted Victorian house. his partner in the caretaker quarters of the drew is celebrating his 10th anniversary They partied with EDGAR ORTEGA BAR- Alice Austen House. “Austen was one of with Graham Partners, working in private RALES and ELLIOT GREENEBAUM. This the pioneers of American street photog- equity. Gabriela left her position in M.B.A. summer, David traveled to Cambridge, raphy in the latter half of the 19th century ;Å admissions and leadership development England, to see MIKE BECKER and family. and on into the 20th century,” he writes. IN A FEATURE to pursue a master’s degree in marriage Finally, JULIA VITARELLO has spent “She grew up in the house and then, for FOR HARPER’S, JESSICA BRUDER ’00 and family therapy part-time at La Sal- the past year fighting for her daughter over 50 years, lived there with her part- REVEALED HER le University. She hopes to be licensed Mila’s (age 6) life and helping Harvard ner, Gertrude Tate. In June, the Alice Aus- SECRET ROLE IN within five years. The Snyders reside in fund gene therapy trials at Boston Chil- ten House received landmark status as BREAKING A GLOBAL Devon, Pa., with their three boys (ages dren’s Hospital. Mila was diagnosed with a place of LGBTQ significance, making NEWS STORY. 10, 9 and 6). For their 40th birthdays, Batten Disease, a fatal condition with no it only the second national historic site Page 16 the celebrants included ELIZABETH cure. She has gone from riding bikes, ski- dedicated to a woman to receive such a (WOLFF) ROGERS, EMMA RADIN, ALLI- ing and playing in the pool, to losing all designation and the first dedicated to a BRIAN GATEWOOD SON (KIENKE) WERT, AIMEE (CARROLL) her abilities and having a few years left to visual artist.” ’00’S SATIRICAL FILM FLYNN, ANNIE (BERTKAU) RILEY, KEVIN live. The burden of funding the $4 million We end with a second classmate who STARS CHANNING ORPHAN CAITH CHAPMAN REBECCA TATUM, JOSEPH , and Chris clinical trial has fallen on Julia’s family. is making a career transition— GORDON-LEVITT, Smith ’00. Scientists believe a trial could serve as a PUCK STAIR. Rebecca is now an events JENNY SLATE AND In August, DAN RICHENTHAL com- blueprint for ending hundreds of rare ge- manager for a Franciscan friar in Albu- MORE. pleted a month-long trial against a real netic diseases. You might have seen that querque, at the Center for Action and Page 46 estate developer in Macau charged with we posted Mila’s story to our class’ social Contemplation, which she describes as bribing two United Nations ambassadors. media pages. I urge you to watch the vid- “a mini Harvard focused on mysticism.” I feel like I should have added exclama- eos posted at www.stopbatten.org. It is as Very cool. tion points to that one. Dan provided a heartbreaking as Julia’s work is uplifting. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m few links in his email. You can look up We appreciate the uptick in news from adding Staten Island and Albuquerque Ng Lap Seng to learn more about the trial. our class. Please note that the handbook to my vacation wish lists!

AMHERST FALL 2017 97 2000–2003

My co-secretary, SHIN-YI LIN, will be also became an informal spokesperson Facebook with the resignation of over a providing our next update. ’Til then! for the Washington tax justice campaign. dozen members of the President’s Com- > BETH SLOVIC He writes that Washington State has the mittee on the Arts and the Humanities, [email protected] most regressive local tax system in the with JOHN ABODEELY’s name toward the country, so it’s had a progressive tax top of the letterhead as acting executive 2001 movement since the 1930s. It’s been his director, I had to Facebook-stalk him to primary social justice focus for the past find out the details. While he’s still a gov- It is with great sadness that I write to share decade, building on his economics major ernment employee and thus can’t share news of the passing of NICK RIESER. His at Amherst. He helped spur public opin- what went down, he did report that he passing was sudden and unexpected, and, ion through local news outlets such as The is “finishing up a tenure with the Presi- while we don’t know many further details, dent’s Committee on the Arts and the we do know that he was living in New York “... this household will be Humanities, which will expire under City and is survived by his wife and two extremely loud for at least 10 the new president. It’s a been a great ride, daughters. Our deepest condolences go more years.” helping to run programs like the National out to his family and friends. A full In Student Poets and Turnaround Arts, both Memory piece will follow in a later issue. launched under the Obama White House. On a lighter note, KIMBERLY PALMER Seattle Times and our NPR station, as well My partner and I are looking at a move to wrote in to share that she joined Nerd- as The Christian Science Monitor, which San Francisco, L.A. or Houston, as part of Wallet, a personal finance website, ear- helped achieve the first major victory of my job change. He works with the press in lier this year as a writer and credit cards passing a Seattle income tax on high earn- the House of Representatives to provide expert. She still lives in Bethesda, Md., ers to more equitably fund the city and them access to the Capitol.” Atlanta art with her family, including Kareena, age pave the way for statewide change. Ned John was in L.A. recently for a couple teacher Kevin 7, and Neal, age 4. Whenever she visits said he was inspired by “the great social days and got to catch up with AMBER the NerdWallet offices in San Francisco, work of so many other alums!” Congrats, YOUNG MEDINA. Soltau ’01 won she catches up with ALISON COMFORT, and glad to hear your classmates inspired RYAN VACCA has moved to Concord, the Goizueta who lives there with her family. your work! N.H., where he accepted a faculty posi- TOM BIGGINS wrote that “the Naval NOAH T. WINER started this year with tion at the University of New Hampshire Foundation War College’s most eligible bachelor is the birth of his first child, Isaiah. “It was School of Law, after having spent the past Faculty of off the market. ANDREW ERICKSON mar- a strange time to feel such joy and to be seven years on the faculty at the Univer- ried Dr. Emily Wang (Harvard ’11) in a momentarily on the sidelines of the re- sity of Akron School of Law. He’s excited Distinction beautiful ceremony in Newport, R.I., at- sistance. My parental leave offered a rare to be back in New England, and is looking award, as “a tended by all of Andrew’s Cohen room- opportunity to step back and admire the forward to exploring other parts of it, be- mates: KENNY LEE, JED HORWITT, JAR- robust, principled movements for justice yond New Hampshire, in the months and colleague who ED FORD, TOM DEWIRE and me. that we are building together. years to come. Now that he and his family exemplifies “Separately, I am filled with both joy “Meanwhile, my team at Dragonfly has are only a couple hours from Amherst, he and sorrow to report on the birth, short been moving full-speed-ahead to fuel the suspects they’ll make it back more fre- what it life and passing of my sixth child, William resistance by supporting: 1. Individual quently. We hope so, Ryan! means to Peter, this summer. Although William’s leaders: with coaching, with managing JOHN PETTEY and NATALIE (WEBER) time here was brief, he was able to meet all staff and managing up. 2. Teams: with PETTEY are looking forward to the birth partner with of his older siblings, and was surrounded facilitation, with having difficult con- of their second child in September. They colleagues entirely by love throughout his life.” versations, with managing conflict. 3. continue to live in John’s hometown of KAREN (CHAU) PELLETT’s third baby, Organizations: with strategic planning, Memphis, Tenn., which Natalie has in order to a boy, arrived June 27: William Christo- with disrupting structural racism. 4. grown to love. best serve pher YongYu (“extra courageous”). Dad- Movements: with multi-stakeholder co- ILANA FOSS got married on March 19 in dy Jack, big brothers Jack and Alden and ordination, with interest-based negotia- Baltimore to Raphaël Franck, a French- students.” mom are all very happy and settling in, tion, with evaluating risks, with getting Israeli economist and all-around lovely “although, if the past few weeks are in unstuck, with building power—with win- person. DAN TAM DO was in attendance. any way predictive, this household will ning! This year, we’re engaging more She left her congregation in Brockton, be extremely loud for at least 10 more leaders to do better work in a racist world. Mass., and moved in October 2016 to Je- years.” She’s still in the Bay Area and at “We’re helping newly mobilized re- rusalem, where Raphaël has joined the Genentech, although trying not to think sistance groups come together. We’re faculty in the economics department at about work until her maternity leave ends advising longstanding social change in- the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She’s in November. Congrats, Karen! stitutions as they wrestle with the way now working at the Schechter Institutes, KEVIN SOLTAU reported that he won an forward. Our 2017 clients include groups a nonprofit promoting pluralistic educa- award at work in August. Although Kevin like the Women’s March, Mobilisation tion in Israeli society, doing development was too humble to share details, I looked Lab, Philadelphia Student Union and and social media. it up: it was the Goizueta Foundation Fac- MADRE.” Noah encourages you to reach > SANAM KHAMNEIPUR ulty of Distinction award, given to “a col- out if Dragonfly can support you, your [email protected] league who exemplifies what it means to team, your organization or your move- > JULIETTE NIEHUSS partner with colleagues in order to best ment. He’s grateful to be back “working [email protected] serve students.” The next day his second for the world we know is possible.” BECKY (SACHER) WOODS son was born, a few weeks earlier than wrote to 2002 planned; Kevin writes that everyone is all share that she recently joined ADP as good. Then, a week later, he started his their Global Mobility Director, which This update contains a smattering of ca- 10th year teaching art in Atlanta. He’s also has been keeping her busy, in addition reer developments, new offspring, wed- working on figuring out how he’s going to to her twins, who are now in kindergarten. dings and a word jumble that, when re- find time to make his own art and share it. DAVID AZOULAY reported that he is arranged, spells out a recipe for chicken Congratulations on the many milestones writing a show and doing erotic massage pot pie. and life events! in Asheville, N.C. His travels continued Kicking things off, AMY ROSENTHAL NED FRIEND has been at Microsoft well past his expectations, and he is ex- just started a new job at Chicago’s Field since graduation, now doing strategy ploring what it means to ground, while Museum, where she will be “trying to take for Office, which has included meetings keeping freedom. over the world.” [Didn’t that already hap- with Bill Gates, a bucket-list item. He After seeing a letter circulating on pen, Amy?] She has joined the new Of-

98 AMHERST FALL 2017 fice of Strategic Science Initiatives, which autumn with her family. Congrats on the creates new programs, partnerships and new addition to the Chase family, Lauren! dialogues at the museum that advance Also in baby news, JAMES PATCH- solutions for a future rich in nature and ETT and his wife, Candace Taylor ’01, culture. I’m a fan of both nature and cul- just welcomed their daughter, Caroline. ture, so keep up the good work! He writes that “everyone is happy and Also in career (and Amy) news, AMY healthy, and even her older brother seems (SUMMERVILLE) WOLFRAM is at the start excited so far (although that may be be- of a yearlong sabbatical after finishing up cause she ‘gave’ him a scooter).” Wait, re- a grueling but rewarding two-year term ally? How come he gets one and I don’t? as associate chair of the department of Some friend you are, Caroline. psychology at Miami University, which JORGE PESCHIERA is still living in she caveats as “the one in Ohio, not the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with his wife, one that would entice people to visit me!” Alexis, where they have been “watch- She was sorry to miss reunion, but was ing artists and hipsters get chased away celebrating her first wedding anniversary by realness for the past 12 years.” They with her husband, Mike, in western North had a baby girl about a month ago and

Carolina. For her sabbatical, she will be are elated/exhausted. Back in January, he '07 MARK YARCHOAN around campus for most of the fall with took a dream job as a creative director at new graduate students and ongoing re- Trollbäck+Company to help pay for all of Thanks for writing in, and I hope ev- j Pulling search about how thoughts about “what the above. He writes, “The downside is eryone is safe in light of the recent cata- Strings might have been” could be used to help that sometimes, when I sit cross-legged strophic events in Houston. Resident > RAJIV D’CRUZ students in engineering classes get back for too long, my legs fall asleep and I have counselors on track after initial academic setbacks. trouble standing back up.” [email protected] appear to Around the holidays, she will be heading Rounding out the baby news, MONICA (KAITZ) TILLY play tug-of- to the Netherlands for six months, where gave birth to a little boy, 2003 she will be a visiting scholar at Tilburg and Zachary Walter, on July 11. She and her war during Groningen Universities. She has been us- husband, John, have moved to Los Gatos, As I sit down to write these class notes, their 2004 ing the Duolingo app to learn Dutch and Calif. She graduated from UCSF as a fel- it’s mid-September and Hurricane Irma new-student can now say “the horse eats a sandwich,” low in environmental medicine and will has just disrupted the normal routine (and orientation which she assumes “should cover most of be getting a job once maternity leave is electrical grid) in Miami. By candlelight show in Keefe [her] conversational needs.” Quite frank- over. She writes, “We would love to meet and carrier pigeon, I’m writing the latest ly, I’ve gotten by on much less, Amy, so I up with any alumni who are in the area!” edition of class notes. Hold up, I smell Campus think you’re fine. Also, that would explain WIN SMITH is also a fan of meeting burning feathers… OK, by candlelight and Center’s what happened to my sandwich. his fellow alums, particularly around roasted squab, here are your class notes. Friedmann Speaking of academic stints abroad, NYC and New England. He is still mar- ANDREW SCHNEIDER writes to an- Room (then ETHAN KATZ just returned from spending ried and is still a father. He writes, “I still nounce the release of his video game, just called an entire year in Israel for his sabbatical. have my hair, and my spare tire seems to Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood, for iOS, the “Front While he was there, he did some research have deflated some from last year, which after four-and-a-half years of develop- for his next book, learned Talmud three is always nice.” I think I speak on behalf ment. Andrew adds that he came out of Room.”) mornings a week, spoke more than a little of all follically challenged alums when I Amherst with a toolbox of critical think- Hebrew, ate a lot of falafel and chased his ask: Did you have to rub it in about the ing and an independent work ethic that small, adorable children constantly. He hair? Honestly. served him well through a process that found new friends and mentors and re- MARTIN KECK got married in May in included writing, the learning of several connected with old ones and said it was Rhode Island to the lovely Allison Felkner coding languages, contract negotiations, a wonderful, intense year. Ethan writes, with a smattering of Amherst folks in at- art direction and project management. “Returning to Cincinnati has been chal- tendance, including BEN KOZYAK, RUS- The game is available for purchase in lenging, but we’ve enjoyed the comfort of SELL RYAN, DIANA RANCOURT, MEGAN the iTunes store. stepping back into the great community DUNCAN SMITH and Brian Larivee ’01. He From NYC, CHRIS CONDLIN reports we have here. We might be relocating in is living in Boston and working in invest- that he is still an M&A attorney at Cleary a year to one of the coasts, but I will keep ment banking, focused on the education Gottlieb, where he has been since 2009. you and the entire class in suspense on technology space. Chris married his longtime girlfriend that one until a decision has been made.” Also on the wedding train, JES Lisa Hin of Los Angeles in March of 2015, Best of luck wherever you end up, Ethan! THERKELSEN married Kerry Klein on and he adds that the couple is excited to ELI BROMBERG and his wife, Tiffani a mountaintop in the Sierra Mountains welcome into their home each summer Hooper Bromberg ’06, just got back near Huntington Lake, Calif. [As a guest, I Chris’ son, Nikita, who is now 12 and from vacation in Bermuda. He says, “It can confirm that it was every bit as pictur- lives in St. Petersburg, Russia, during was really nice, and I didn’t get sunburnt, esque as it sounds.] ELI MORALES offici- the school year. so Vegas probably lost a lot of money on ated the ceremony, JACOB COOPER gave In late June, ELIZABETH (HAWKINS) those bets.” [Myself included. It seemed a great toast and DJ’d, and ARI KAHN, VOYNOV returned to Amherst along with like such a sure thing at the time.] Eli is GAURAV SUD and CAETIE OFIESH repre- DANIELLE WILLIAMS, HEIDI ALEXAN- trying to get an article written and then sented the Mammoths on the dance floor. DER, KRISTIN HARRISON and KATHER- will start trying to finish up his disserta- The only downside of this event is that it INE RYAN (“Left the partners and kids at tion revisions. Good luck, Eli! set the bar very high for my own wedding, home!” Elizabeth notes). LAUREN KOPYT CHASE and her hus- which, as of this writing, will take place The group of friends spent the weekend band, William Chase, recently had their in a few weeks. Sara Mariska (University hitting all their favorite spots and find- second son, Benjamin. She writes, “His of Virginia ’03) and I will get married in ing some new ones. (“Somehow none of older brother, Samuel, is still not sure Eastern Market, Washington D.C. Julie us had hiked The Notch while at school. what to make of the situation. Hopefully, Ajinkya ’03 will officiate, and a number Probably too busy crafting Teletubby he will adjust in the upcoming months.” of Amherst alums will represent the class costumes for Halloween or sawing the Lauren is taking time off from her pedi- of ’02. Unless, of course, they decide to tops off of traffic cones for ‘anything but atric practice in West Hartford, Conn., ditch the wedding for the Juggalos rally clothes’ parties.”) Elizabeth reported that and is looking forward to spending the that day instead, which is quite possible. the crew capped off the weekend with a

AMHERST FALL 2017 99 2003–2007

Saturday night at McMurph’s, “trying to in Arlington, Va., and I’m still enjoying the Bazelon Center for Mental Health decide if everyone thought we were the life as an antitrust partner at Cleary Got- Law, a nonprofit that advocates for the ‘old moms.’ I think that was confirmed tlieb in D.C.” civil rights, full inclusion and equality of after we played ‘The Thong Song’ on the As the babies grow up, we’re starting adults and children with mental disabili- jukebox.” to get next-generation news. ALISON ties. She is joined at the center by Alyssa Also this past summer, AARON BRITT (SQUIRE) SOWERS checks in: “I wanted George ’10, who is on fellowship. and DREW HIMMELSTEIN moved their to report that we (Tucker ’03, Lane and Back in New York City, ALEX FLEISS family to Brooklyn, N.Y. “After 10 lovely Teddy and I) just returned from a vaca- writes in to report that he became en- years in San Francisco living beneath tion in San Diego with POLLY HALL and gaged to Ariel Silverstein in July with PENELOPE VAN TUYL and Mikiya Mat- Andrew Barkan ’02; their 3-year-old son, plans to be married at the World Trade suda ’04—and a charming if unexpected Izzy; and newborn baby Alice, aka Gertie. Center, which was developed by Ariel’s nine-month detour in Grand Rapids— Jenn Salcido ’05 and her wife, Gaby Agu- family, in October. Alex also notes that Drew; our boys, Harvey (17 months) ilera (non-Amherst), also joined us, and JK STURGES, whose wife recently had a and Nate (5); and I (36) have taken up we had an impromptu visit from GABI baby boy named William, will be moving residence right next to Prospect Park.” ARONOW and her new baby, Stella Rose, to New Haven this fall, and that JED DOTY Aaron works in Manhattan for Herman down from San Francisco. It was a West moved to D.C. to be a general counsel in Miller (“Aeron Britt? No? No.”), Drew is Coast Amherst reunion and so fun for all the West Wing of the White House for writing and young Nate is about to start the kids to meet!” President Trump. kindergarten. “Harvey, well, Harvey I am happy to report that nobody was Meanwhile the result of the 2016 elec- walks around, enjoys shouting and is a harmed during my family’s two-week tion prompted KATE STAYMAN-LONDON real raspberry partisan.” Aaron adds that trip to Switzerland. Both kids (Chase, to return to the world of fiction after 18 “it’s been lovely getting to New York and just turned 1, and Helen, 4) were happy months spent working as the lead digital 2005: Christian immediately hanging out with old Am- campers, hiked incredibly well and ate writer for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Sanchez reports herst chums” like Athmeya Jayaram ’04, massive quantities of cheese. NICK ECH- Kate’s new novel, Pretty Follies, about a that he attended AMBER BRAVO, ANDREW UNGER, Sarah ELBARGER and I are looking forward to prominent plus-size fashion blogger re- Amherst’s NorCal Kooperkamp ’05, Tom Kingsley ’01 and two Amherst weddings this fall: CHRIS cruited to star in a reality show, will be summer send-off, Cristina Septien ’01. “Oh, and we ran into EATON is getting hitched in Roche Har- published by Random House. where he had the Noah Winer ’01 this summer in a hippie bor, Wash., and then the weekend after Kate’s not the only one with a new gig opportunity to catch café in a really small town in rural Maine. that, my sister, Shannon Farrell (Yale ’07), in a new town. ROB LANE writes to report up with a great Love that dude.” is marrying Brian Baskauskas ’09 in Car- that, after marrying Jill Jones in Dayton, number of alums Finally, JOSE ABAD announces that mel, Calif. It’s really convenient to be able Ohio, this summer, with ANDERS and and new students he is joining Kaiser after five years at to have family reunions at the same time JEN MEYER (plus daughter Isabelle), in Portola Valley. UC Davis Medical Group to start work- as Amherst reunions! JACK MORGAN, ADRI SHOWLER and EM- Since last writing in, ing at a culturally sensitive Latino clinic Here’s to a wonderful fall! ILY COLLIER in attendance, he’s moved Christian has been in a family medicine module next to the > CAITLIN ECHELBARGER ’04 from Virginia to Boulder, Colo., for a job promoted to prin- new Golden 1 center in Sacramento, Calif. [email protected] at the Dawson School, where he is teach- cipal of the Santa Jose and his wife also purchased a second ing choir and coaching soccer. He and Jill Clara County Budget home, located in Tahoe, and are enjoying are looking forward to a lot of hiking and and Policy Office, spending weekends in the mountain air. 2005 skiing in their new place and, if all goes which provides Well, the winds have died down to a For most of us, spread out as we are well, perhaps a new dog. health and social gentle sneeze and the flooding has re- around the globe, returning to the old Back east, MARIA JONES and DOUG- services and seeks ceded, so time to wring out the clothing alma mater requires an act of imagina- LAS NORTON were married on July 2 in to develop innova- and return to normal life here in Miami, tion. And with memory as the mise-en- the bride’s hometown of Belfast, Maine. tive ways to address where the rain is replaced by a rainlike scène, the film always seems to open with They were thrilled to have a good, loud crime and home- humidity. Until next storm… Amherst under leaf, suspended in what showing of Amherst friends: Rishidev lessness in Silicon > RYAN ROMAN feels like the natural order of things as the Chaudhuri ’06, DEVIN LOPRESTI, JEN- Valley. [email protected] rest of the world spins and withers. It’s a NIFER BROWN, JOSEPH CAISSIE, LIZ fine corner of the mind for escape. But, CHIANG, ANDERS MEYER, JENNIFER from the look of things, many of you seem (WERTHEIMER) MEYER, JACK MOR- 2004 scarcely to need it, having built strong- GAN, ADRIENNE SHOWLER, Elana Safran We’ve got some baby news and mini re- holds of your own. ’06 and Emmalie Dropkin ’07. Potential unions to share! Take, for example, THOM BENNETT, future alums Isabelle and Caroline and BRIAN STOUT shares: “Jennifer (Yale who, after traveling to Cuba and then Julianne were also present. NATHAN- ’03) and I were delighted to welcome Lu- through Southeast Asia this spring with IEL MAHLBERG, who gets matchmaking cia Simone to the world on July 8. As befits his wife, Rachel, landed a residency in the credit for reconnecting Doug and Maria a Pacific Northwest baby, she enjoyed her New York-Presbyterian Cornell/Colum- in 2013, was there in spirit, contributing first camping trip at 4 weeks, and will soon bia Emergency Medicine Program. The a blessing to the ceremony. be heading out again to catch the solar couple lives close to campus and, fortu- Elsewhere in the North Country, LIZ eclipse down in Oregon. Along with big itously, to BRAD and CARTER BACKUS ANGOWSKI was feting Jen Cotton ’07 sister Viviana, we’ll be doing the requisite who recently welcomed a daughter, and Paloma Herman, who were married East Coast tour in October to see friends Brook, into the world. Amid the rigors of in Concord, N.H., with auspicious signs, in Boston and NYC, and to celebrate AMY residency, T consoles himself with plans including a pair of rainbows that cropped HENES’ nuptials in North Carolina.” Con- to spend spring break on a catamaran in up during the day and a veritable horde grats to the Stouts! And cheers, Amy! the Virgin Islands with friends. of Amherst alums, including Jasmine Eu- Can’t wait to receive the update! While some of us are planning roman- cogco ’06, Hanna Campbell ’07, Caitlin ELAINE EWING is also enjoying her tic getaways to remote islands, many are Rhodes ’07, Marcie Rome ’07 and Mary second maternity leave. “My husband, enjoying the fun and foibles of first-time T. Voter ’07. Christopher Viapiano (Hamilton ’02), homeownership. Such is true of MAURA We began by nostalgizing on the autum- and I welcomed our second daughter, (KLUGMAN) HUMANN and her husband nal Amherst of memory, but Liz reminds Eve Elizabeth, in June. Big sister Car- Adam, who have moved—with their two us that not much has changed since we oline Margaret is adjusting well and cats—from NYC to a townhouse in the were there last. Now in the final year of (somehow—time flies!) getting ready to Bloomingdale neighborhood of Wash- her doctoral degree at Harvard, she spent start kindergarten this fall. We’re living ington, D.C., where Maura has joined the spring semester teaching a course on

100 AMHERST FALL 2017 Buddhist ethics in Amherst’s religion de- gras and truffles. (Sounds terrible.) From partment. “It was great to be back,” Liz there they did a tour of southern France, remarks, “and great to see that Amherst making stops in Toulouse, Carcassonne, students are as smart and as kind as ever.” Arles, Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, Saint- > MATT LANGIONE Tropez, Antibes, Nice and Monaco. (“Un- [email protected] fortunately, Prince Albert ’81 was not able to meet us for dinner that weekend,” 2006 wrote Alex.) He proposed toward the end of dinner at a restaurant in the Vieille Ville Thank you for coming through with news of Nice. It was a lovely trip, and they’ll for this edition! You’ve saved us (and definitely be going back. yourselves) from having to hear all about Shortly after their return, Alex joined our unglamorous, very hot summer in Los your co-secretary, ANDRE DECKROW, Angeles, as well as our respective trips to KENT ESCALERA, KATRINA HAZLETT,

French TA Simon Mosbah, Katy Kennedy '10 GILLER GEOFFREY Rivera ’05, Preston Scheiner ’04 and Jus- We bring you updates from tin Sharaf ’05 near Wall Street for RUS- white, and they hate purple cows. They all j Spartan India, London, Hawaii and the SELL KORNBLITH Spirit? south of France. ’s wedding to longtime hope to make it to Amherst for a reunion girlfriend Elizabeth Rosen. (The wedding sometime soon! At Home- > SARAH ROTHBARD was actually a multigenerational Amherst coming [email protected] New Jersey to see family (Sarah) and St. affair, thanks to Russell’s dad, Gary Korn- 2007, some Louis and New Jersey (no offense, Chris- blith ’73.) Russell and Liz tied the knot at > NICK SOLTMAN students tie denizens!) for depositions (Nick). In- India House, then headed to Nantucket [email protected] stead, we bring you updates from India, for a brief “mini-moon.” Russell promis- sported T- shirts with an London, Hawaii and the south of France, es intrepid scootering photos from Indo- 2007 among other good news. nesia, Malaysia or whatever other exotic amended line Lots of fitting exclamation points ar- locale with lax scuba diving certification First, some baby announcements are from the epic LINDEN KARAS BRANDI rived from , who just standards he and Liz end up visiting on in order. Congratulations to war movie finished her fellowship in advanced next year’s belated honeymoon. (FLOURNOY) SINCLAIR on the birth of 300. “This laparoscopic and bariatric surgery at the More news from New York City, where her son, Jackson Arnold, on March 11. Cleveland Clinic and is beginning a new IAN SHIN “spent a couple of very happy TOM CHEN also has some big news: his Is Sparta”? job, building the Avita Center for Bariatric months reconnecting with Big Apple vi- wife delivered their son Oliver in May. No, “This Is Surgery at Avita Health System in Ontar- bez and with Amherst friends” thanks to Dr. DAVID BECK is finishing his fifth Amherst.” io, Ohio. She added, “I couldn’t be more his husband, Peter’s, internship there. and final year of orthopedic surgery res- excited! Oh, and I’m writing to you from Ian spent time with New Yorkers MAR- idency in Philadelphia and will be head- India! I’m taking a long-awaited one- GARET and MATT MO and TAAMITI ing to Baltimore for a fellowship in foot month tour of Asia that includes China, BANKOLE as well as PEM BROWN and and ankle surgery. Greyson, class of 2038, India, Hong Kong and Macau!” MATT VANNEMAN, who both came down loves his giant stuffed mammoth and also MARK KRAFFT and his wife, Brooke, from Boston to visit. “Everyone is kick- pancakes. welcomed their second son, Weston ing butt and taking names,” wrote Ian. JAKE MAGUIRE is living in Atlanta and Harding, in mid-July. Big brother Jamie, “Special shout-out to Matt and Margaret’s recently bought a small home. He con- 2, is both intrigued and excited by the new darling daughter, Charlotte, who let me tinues to work under the leadership of baby, constantly asking “what baby do- paint with her.” Ian is kicking butt as Rosanne Haggerty ’82 at Community So- ing” and giving him hugs and kisses. No well, including on Jeopardy!, which he lutions, where he co-directs much of the eyes have been poked out yet. The Krafft spent a morning taping in Los Angeles organization’s work to end homelessness family is nearing their third year living as a contestant at the tail end of summer. throughout the United States and interna- in London, where Mark works at Bain & His episode airs on Dec. 12, and at press tionally. Of the roughly 125 communities Co. “Life is great here, and we’re eager to time he was not at liberty to reveal any Community Solutions currently supports, continue exploring Europe with our latest more details. the first 10 have ended either veterans’ addition,” wrote Mark. “We also enjoy be- Ian also shared the news that he is join- or chronic homelessness outright, and ing nearly 4,000 miles away from Donald ing the departments of American culture another 30 are now driving measurable Trump, though it often feels like that’s not and history at the University of Michigan monthly reductions. He is more optimis- far enough….” as an assistant professor in fall 2018, after tic than ever that America can achieve an TERESA SPENCER sent her update from finishing the second year of his postdoc at end to homelessness of all kinds in the the Big Island of Hawaii, where she was Bates College in Maine. “I’ve lived on the next 10 to 15 years. vacationing with Honora Talbott ’07 and West Coast and the East Coast, and am STEPHANIE BROWN finished her first Bree Barton ’07. At the end of August she excited to try my hand at the Midwest. I’m year working as a staff clinician at Edge- was heading back to the D.C.-Baltimore still debating whether to live in Ann Arbor wood College in Madison, Wisc., and area to start her appointment to the fac- or Detroit, but would love to reconnect also graduated with her Psy.D. in clini- ulty of Towson University’s Department with folks in both places.” Mammoths in cal psychology from Rosemead School of Theatre Arts, where she’ll be teaching either city, make your case to Ian now! of Psychology, Biola University, this past acting, voice and movement in the B.F.A. Also from the island of Manhattan May. She got engaged to Keegan Kyle last acting program. She’ll also continue to comes an update from MIKU DIXIT, who year, with plans to wed this December. perform professionally on Washington, is currently teaching architecture at Co- Stephanie enjoyed meeting up with DI- D.C.’s stages. lumbia University after starting his archi- SHA PATEL, ROHAN MASCARENHAS ALEXANDER MAASS got engaged to tectural practice, Kamara Projects, which and PRIYANKA JACOB in Chicago in July. longtime girlfriend Camila Da Silva while has projects in New York and Kathmandu. ALEX SOMMER founded a company in on vacation in France in June. They were Last but definitely not least: MEREDITH NYC called Dine Offline, which organizes there to attend the wedding of one of Al- (MCNITT) BASSETT and her husband, private dinner parties for singles to meet ex’s host sisters from junior year study Zach Bassett, added two new members in an intimate and relaxed environment. abroad in Paris. The wedding was in Dor- to the Amherst family: Dorothy Marie and Guests are handpicked to meet each dogne, also known as the Périgord region, Theodore James. The twins were born other’s dating preferences, and dinner which is known for confit de canard, foie on May 31, they love wearing purple and party hosts ensure each guest has one-

AMHERST FALL 2017 101 2007–2009

on-one conversation time with each of The night was even more special because DYKENS and wife Steph, JACK LENEHAN, their matches. Signups are now open in her dad, John Rasmussen ’74, was able to AUSTIN LEACH, ANNE-CLAIRE ROESCH, the NYC area, and Alex is offering a dis- reunite with his Amherst roommates Tom RICHARD MILLS, RYAN SHIELDS, JASON count to the Amherst community. Quinn ’74, Kevin O’Brien ’74, Tom Ritter PAUL KUNG and girlfriend Astrid, Sarah After spending eight years in the Boston ’74 and Craig Martin ’73. It was wonder- DeGraaf ’05 and husband Jon (Horrible area, CAITLIN (SHAW) HAMOOD and her ful to bring together two generations of College ’08), JUDD OLANOFF and fiancée husband, Albert, have moved to Califor- Amherst alums! Alyssa, DEREK PRILL, JUSTIN EPNER, nia, and while it has been a big change We love hearing from you. Keep saving MIKE MINTZ and I am sure that I have from the East Coast (and the Midwest, the world! forgotten someone and I feel terrible, but where they both grew up), they are loving > LAURA GOLDEN BARKER blame it on the mai tais. The wedding was it out there! They have settled in the Bay [email protected] a gorgeous affair and just dripped with Area, where Caitlin works remotely as a love. Anne-Claire is enjoying the start program officer for a Boston-based phil- of her third year back in New York City anthropic consulting firm, and Albert is 2008 since graduating from business school. a data scientist at Facebook. This coming I wrote these notes earlier today, and then She is starting her eighth year at Deloitte they were eaten by my computer. Let’s Consulting after taking two years off for hope these notes live up to my memory business school. She has been staffed of that draft, which I recall being per- on a project helping a global bank think Exchange for Change fect and lovely. If I missed your update, through what they’ll look like in 2030, I apologize! which has taken her to London with great 2007: Adeline Oka teaches several different classes in the Speaking of perfect and lovely, you frequency, as well as to Krakow (where local prisons as part of an organization called Exchange know what will be just that? Reunion! she ate pierogi that were better than the for Change. The local NPR affiliate in Miami highlighted KATHLEEN BOUCHER-LAVIGNE and I ones in Val: believe it?) and Hyderabad an “exchange class” she taught, wherein her students in (GUDRUN JUFFER) are already start- (where she learned how to Bollywood the prison exchanged weekly letters with students at the ing to plan. Are you interested in help- dance in a sari, which she’d love to wear University of Miami. Adeline writes, “I became involved in ing? You should let us know! As ANNE- again but has no idea how to reconstruct). this work in large part due to my experience in Amherst’s CLAIRE ROESCH, our class president, On one flight last fall, Ace was landing Inside/Out program, a political science class then taught wrote in her update, “It’s an exciting time at O’Hare in bad weather while reading by Kristin Bumiller composed of half Amherst College for Amherst as they invest in many long- pp.118–122 of Dan Cluchey’s Life of the students and half Hampshire Correctional inmates, and awaited building projects (Ace was partic- World to Come, in which the main char- held at the jail.” ularly impressed with the sustainability acter talks through his extreme anxiety aspects of these plans!) and continue to about flying: “There is nowhere on Earth I think through how to prepare Amherst am less comfortable than thirty thousand year Caitlin is excited to be participating students for the rapidly changing world feet above it … it would invariably occur in the third cohort of the Harmony Initia- around us while staying true to our liberal to me … that cavernous hunks of metal tive, a leadership development program arts roots.” simply were not meant to remain aloft.” for professional grantmakers run by the Just to keep the perfect and lovely train The timing was impeccable, and Ace Bay Area Justice Funders Network. chugging down the tracks, the perfect and had a giggle texting Dan after she land- Caitlin writes, “This past summer, it lovely KATHLEEN and Abby BOUCHER- ed. When Ace is not traveling for work has been marvelous to spend time with LAVIGNE got married this summer! or shamelessly finding excuses to get to TINA BAO and JANET HA, plus Janet’s Kathleen and Abby had a truly magical Amherst, she lives in Greenwich Village (and MATT MASCIOLI’s) adorable daugh- wedding in Rehoboth, Mass. There were with her boyfriend and is pacing herself ter, Jiyon, before the Ha/Mascioli family llamas and alpacas, an RV, a rollicking to cook at least one meal out of each of her moved east. It was also lovely to relax at dance floor and zero dry eyes during the 11 cookbooks (she’s at six so far!) the beach and dine in San Francisco with vows. The wedding was an absolutely The past few years have offered many CHRISTINA RYU, DENISE MARTINEZ and moving demonstration of love, kindness opportunities for Ace to see fellow ’08s, MELISSA ULLOA! We’re happy to be here and partnership, and it was a privilege and whether in New Haven, in New York or and looking forward to exploring North- a joy to be there. LINDA MCEVOY, Jack at the onslaught of weddings that have ern California and all of its charms.” Grein ’09, SARAH TRACY, KYLE SCHOP- gathered so many of us together. Most MATT MASCIOLI and JANET HA recent- PEL, Louise Stevenson ’09, Jane Mostue recently, Ace saw JUSTIN EPNER marry ly moved from the Bay Area to Pittsburgh, ’09, DAN MCGEENEY and Ali Armour ’07 Tamar Hellman in January (greatest hora about an hour from where Matt grew up were all in attendance. ever), followed by ANDREW DYKENS’ in Morgantown, W.Va. Janet and their Linda and Jack have moved back to NYC marriage to Steph Wu, where she had nearly-3-year-old daughter, Jiyon, spent a from Chicago and are having a great time the pleasure of hanging out with BEN- few months in Seoul, where Janet is from, being back on the East Coast, closer to JY MEREWITZ, JACK LENEHAN, JUDD before getting life under way back in the both of their families. Jane and Dan are OLANOFF, AUSTIN LEACH, ANDREW United States. They ask you to please let living in Louisville, Ky., where Dan grew SLUTSKY, ELLIE TARLOW, MIKE MINTZ, them know if you’re ever passing through up, and report that it is a truly lovely place KERIMCAN ORAL, JASON PAUL KUNG, their new area of the country. to live. Louise and her husband are mov- DAN MCGEENEY, BILL NAHILL and STEF EMMA JASTER has a 2-year-old child ing to the Midwest (Ohio!) from sunny REIFF. As previously mentioned, Ace was and somehow continues to make work; California to follow academic careers. also in Hawaii for ANDREW SLUTSKY’s now that includes work about moth- Sarah and Kyle are expecting a baby girl wedding. Sadly, it’s been a little hard for erhood (you can find her by searching and are out of medical school and practic- TAL AVRAHAMI to show up to some of #MamaIsAMaker). In addition to her ing in the Boston area. these events now that he lives in Tel Aviv, many art mediums, Emma also started Another gorgeous wedding that I was but he keeps Ace updated on the latest making short 360 films. lucky enough to attend this year was AN- Spotify hits from afar on WhatsApp. ZOE RASMUSSEN got married on June DREW SLUTSKY’s. He married the won- Ace also reports that the baby mam- 9 in Barre, Mass., and was lucky enough derful Arisa Isayama in a sunset ceremo- moths are coming. By the time of this pub- to have many dear friends celebrate with ny in Honolulu. Attending this wedding lication, we will have suited up KATELYN her, including JASMINA CHEUNG-LAU, felt like a great warm-up for reunion. On (KIERNAN) BROOKS’ new baby, born in KATHERINE WILLIS, JAY BUCHMAN, the guest list: BENJY MEREWITZ and wife August, in an Amherst onesie, with LIBBY Jane Fung ’06, DENISE (KITT) MARTINEZ, Jill, RACHAEL GROSS, SPENCER ROBINS, (MARTIN) MORENO’s daughter following ASHISH BHATT and EMILY ROSENBERG. BILL NAHILL, STEF REIFF, ANDREW shortly thereafter.

102 AMHERST FALL 2017 One person who has inadvertently cluding his parents, out to St. Joseph, from Chicago (I am in mourning) and signed up for a reunion planning commit- Mich., for a triathlon in August. He peer- is surrounded by loved ones, including tee spot is MIKE DONOVAN, the recently pressured his dad into joining the race, some of the cutest nieces and nephews in installed brewmaster at The Oozlefinch and they had a blast competing against the world. Ashley is teaching high school Craft Brewery in Fort Monroe, Va., near each other. In Chicago, Keith has had in New York while finishing up her disser- Virginia Beach. Mike commutes down fun catching up with friends from Am- tation for her Ph.D. from the University of from Northern Virginia for the work herst who were in from out of town: MIKE Chicago, both of which sound very hard to week, which makes him feel like a real LARIVIERE and his wife, Amanda, in July, me on their own, but Ashley is a wonder adulting-hard consultant type, but he still as well as Matt Mascioli ’07 in August. and is doing both! makes beer for a living and wears a hat Keith and his wife were awaiting little S. ALEXANDER ZAMAN recently par- and Dickies to work, which seems surreal. Erzinger number four in October. Keith is ticipated in his first hackathon. S got out It’s an odd dual existence, but the recep- excited to learn if there are package deals of bed early one Saturday morning and tion to the beers has been good, and Mike on Amherst tuition—maybe he’ll be able waited in line surrounded by a slew of is enjoying the freedom he has to create to stop by the Financial Aid office when early-bird strangers. In the crowd of hack- in his new role. Mike has a 22-year-old he’s back for reunion. ers, one stood out as uncannily familiar. S working for him now and spends more LAWRENCE HAMBLIN exceeded his ended up chatting with him and realized time than he’d like to admit explaining travel quota for the year. He went to To- that he actually went to Amherst—it was references he just takes for granted that ronto for work in March, Amherst for Auloke Mathur ’07! S said that it was re- she will understand. That and the gray reunion in May, and Orlando and Las ally interesting that, even though he never (OK, white) hairs cropping up in his beard Vegas for fighting game tournaments in spoke or hung out with Auloke at school, are making him feel pretty old. Another June and July (if you’ve never heard of Amherst is such a tight community that thing making him feel old is spending Evolution Championship Series, look it you’ll know people that you didn’t know In the crowd time with CHRIS GILLYARD’s new baby, up). Last but not least, he is off to Japan you’d know. of hackers, Grant. Mike and his wife, Sarah, try to see for another work trip in November. S’s story got me thinking about the Am- Chris and his wife, Anne, once a week, MIRAH CURZER and JOSH STANTON herst connections I have made through one stood out and they’ve had the good fortune to see have had a huge spring! After explor- the years, both as a student and now as as uncannily some of Grant’s firsts, including his first ing the cultural riches of New Jersey for an alum. When I graduated from high dip in a swimming pool. He is as awesome four years, they moved back to the great school, my parents gave me a book of familiar. as one might expect, knowing Chris and state of New York and are getting settled quotations from Mr. Rogers. One passage S. Alexander Anne. in Brooklyn. People are welcome to come that has stuck with me is actually a line DAN CLUCHEY spent time with Grant and visit! Mirah spent a lot of April and from his mother, who told him to always Zaman ’08 ’39 during his great visits to D.C. this May in Hartford, where she was working look for the helpers in a scary situation, chatted with summer. Dan also got to sample some nonstop in a criminal trial. Josh is getting because there are always people help- him—it was of Mike’s beers! Dan and Miriam Becker- used to a more senior role as the rabbi ing. I am so heartened to hear via social Cohen ’11 are entering their last year in of East End Temple in Manhattan. Life media and your updates about all of the Auloke New Haven before their triumphant re- is pretty wonderful now, and they love ways that you are able to be helpers in Mathur ’07! turn to the Swamp next summer to fight spending time with Amherst people your own communities and around the Nazis. Dan is looking forward to three ex- around town. globe. May you all continue to use the cellent Amherst weddings in September, MATT GOLDSMITH only has one update, strength of your Amherst education and and otherwise trying to stay off of Twitter. but it sure packs a punch! He got engaged the powerful Amherst community to be JACK ANGIOLILLO reports that BEN to Laura Poore. They met while they were helpers when you are able. LOCKWOOD and his wife just welcomed both working in the athletic department Mammoth love to you all. their young daughter into their family. at Amherst. > GUDRUN JUFFER He’s now matched EDDIE RAMOS, who’s KRISTIN BENESKI has some big news: in [email protected] living in Sapporo, Japan, with his adorable July, she married her all-time favorite per- GEOFF CEBULA family of four. and his son, David Stearns. Up there with her in 2009 wife just moved to South Bend, Ind., after the wedding party were BRENDAN HOR- he published his novel Adjunct—she’ll be TON, CHRIS GILLYARD, PAWEL BINC- Another season, another set of notes! a new Russian studies professor at Notre ZYK, Richard Mills and Ellen Ferrin ’07. Our class continues to surprise and in- Dame. At the time of writing, Jack had just Surya Kundu ’09 did a reading during the timidate with reports of incredible trav- seen NAZIR SAVJI on lunch break, during ceremony. (It was a very awesomely Am- els, reunions and career milestones. You which they devoured Holy Donuts from herst wedding.) In other, not-new news, guys rock! Portland, Maine. Nazir is applying for KB bought a house last year and is still JANE MOSTUE started graduate school cardiology fellowship. Jack also reports practicing as a litigation attorney at the at the University of Louisville this sum- that ALAN KWAN has just started cardi- Seattle firm of Lane Powell PC. Her long- mer, studying higher education adminis- ology fellowship at Cedars-Sinai. MIKE term project is convincing everyone she tration. She is working as a graduate as- BADAIN is getting hitched to Jessica, who loves to move to this beautiful and amaz- sistant in the academic services center for all men and brothers say is instrumental ing city—come visit, at least! student athletes. She’s also running her to his happiness. Jack has been playing MARINA WEISS lives in Brooklyn and third half marathon in September! Never phone tag with CASEY GUENTHNER, who just enrolled in a Ph.D. program in clini- stop, Jane! is out in the Bay Area, crossed between cal psychology at Adelphi University’s GRAHAM MCKEE just got a pet bunny! neuroscience and computing. While Jack Derner Center for Advanced Psycho- SAM GRAUSZ and wife Sarah Cannon awaited his call back, he was vacuuming logical Studies, where she will train as a recently became parents with the birth in anticipation of KATHERINE (CHEN) therapist and continue to research trauma of young George Salomon. “Some peo- ABRIKIAN’s visit! Through the magic of and recovery as well as the neuroscience ple don’t believe in the Force, but we do, class notes timing, I heard from Kather- of learning and unlearning implicit racial and we think George is very strong in the ine after she visited Jack, and she had a bias. Marina pretends that she’s going to Force. He will be a tremendous power in great time! Katherine also caught up with continue writing poetry during this de- this universe—for light … or for darkness.” NICOLE KINSLEY over lunch in Boston. gree, as well as keeping up with her activ- My co-secretary, RAJ BORSELLINO, re- Katherine is enjoying Jamaican life and ism around immigrants’ rights with Make turned home to Des Moines, Iowa, where looking forward to seeing people at our the Road NY and Aliadxs and seeing he will serve as a local culture and food 10th reunion in May. amazing friends like ASHLEY FINIGAN. correspondent for Breitbart Media. KEITH ERZINGER took the family, in- Ashley has just moved back to NYC MONTGOMERY OGDEN moved to Costa

AMHERST FALL 2017 103 2009–2012

Rica with his wonderful fiancée, Chris- Wisconsin. Then, in late August, I was de- YASMIN NAVARRO had an “amazing tine Cerruti, to teach at a Quaker school lighted to run into Ivonne Ortega ’12 at a time” at my Bay Area bachelorette party for the next two years. Monty explains: Harvard Graduate School of Education this past July with fellow bridesmaids AN- “We love our friends, but they took advan- orientation event. Ivonne spent her post- GELICA (BRISEÑO) WISE, SINDHU BOD- tage of us financially and we had to leave.” grad years in Pittsburg and has now made DU and SARAH FARRON, among others. As for myself, I’ve had the great fortune her way to Cambridge to start a master’s We rented a cottage in the winding San- to spend quality time with many of our program in learning and teaching. ta Cruz Mountains, where we spent our classmates over the last few months. I re- Also beginning a brand-new adventure time grilling meat, watching Clueless and cently attended the inimitable BILL TAY- is MIRIAM BERNSTEIN, who just finished warming up in the hot tub. We rounded LOR’s bachelor party with SAM CUTLER, up a month-long training in Michigan to out the weekend at the pungently deli- JEFFREY GROVER and members of other prepare for the next nine months in Thai- cious Gilroy Garlic Festival. Yasmin is ex- classes like Andrew Segoshi ’08, Darryl land, where she will be working for Ad- cited to be starting her second and final Weimer ’11 and Luke O’Brien ’10. Bill gave ventist Frontier Missions. She would love year of graduate school in counseling at a moving thank-you speech that was light to see anyone who happens to be in that the University of San Francisco. on words and heavy on frontal nudity. area of the world! As for me—well, I’ve had a pretty busy I also recently saw HILARY HAIMES and SEGUIN STROHMEIER is similarly on summer of traveling. In addition to two JON SALIK at a mutual friend’s wedding to a new gig: in August she joined the gender-specific bachelor/ette parties in in Stanardsville, Va. They had just re- newly formed law firm Kaplan & Co., both California and New Hampshire, my turned from celebrating a long overdue LLP. “I’m thrilled to be a part of this fiancé, Nick, and I also visited JONATHAN honeymoon in Connecticut, where they small but mighty team of lawyers—one THROPE and SARAH GELLES at their whiled away the midnight hours at the of whom is Rachel Tuchman ’11!” she palatial new apartment in Baltimore. Erin Downey Mohegan Sun casino. “I think she has a writes. “We don’t have phones or ‘real We were joined by ALEX WECKENMAN, ’11 and gambling problem!” Jon wrote in. Other desks’ yet, but the views from the 71st who drove up from Washington, D.C., and highlights of the trip included seeing a lo- floor of the Empire State Building are spent the weekend eating crab, admiring Christopher cal production of the musical Oklahoma! incredible. Come say hi!” beautifully weird creations at the Ameri- Temerson and Cheetos for breakfast. JOSEPH SMEALL-VILLARROEL has can Visionary Art Museum and stumbling Life for me is moving forward in lovely had an active summer traveling between into a free Gogol Bordello concert at a lo- ’11 recently Philadelphia. Psychiatry residency con- Boston and Los Angeles, where his broth- cal summer arts festival. became tinues apace, and my girlfriend, Emma, er Arthur is currently based, to re-record Much love from your friendly neighbor- and I recently moved into an amazing and mix a new version of an original mu- hood yenta, engaged, and new apartment in Queen Village. EMILY sical arrangement. The arrangement is a > ROBYN BAHR are planning MOIN took a break from her busy third medley comprising “Star in the East” (a [email protected] a wedding year at Penn’s med school to come over New England folk song popularized by and hang out with me and Andy Segoshi Tim Eriksen ’88) and “Mary, Mother of 2011 for next July. ’08. We spent roughly six hours trying to God” (an anthem to the Blessed Virgin Congratu- learn how to play A Game of Thrones: The Mary sung the world over by Maronite In honor of the ascendant mascot, a cou- Board Game before Emily left in frustra- Catholics). The arrangement is for organ ple of mammoth facts: lations! tion, muttering something about “white and tenor voice, and features influences 1. Mammoths had mysterious flaps of walkers” and “awful, awful people.” As from electronica, space rock and Andean furry skin about a third of the way up their for my music, please visit www.panvmu- charango music in its instrumental coda. trunks. Scientists call them “mittens,” sic.com for updates—there are going to Exciting work, Joseph! and think they may have used them to be some exciting new releases over the Nuptials abound for the class of 2010: melt snowballs for drinking water. next few months! YANA YUSHKINA got married on Sept. 30 2. They were also probably pretty greasy, > AYYAPPAN VENKATRAMAN to Robb Ponti in Paso Robles, Calif., with due to oil-producing glands in their skin AYYAPPANVENKATRAMAN@GMAIL. AMEERAH PHILLIPS in attendance. GINA that protected them from the cold and COM RODRIGUEZ also recently got hitched, damp. marrying Adam David ’06 on May 20 in And now, a mammoth dose of couple 2010 the Hudson River Valley. Their lifelong facts: friends SHARON KIM and Evan Guiney ERIN DOWNEY and CHRISTOPHER TE- Greetings from Central Square, Cam- ’06 served as maid of honor and best MERSON recently became engaged, and bridge, Mass., where I have the results man, while WEN ZHANG was among the are planning a wedding for next July. Con- of the second-ever class notes poll! A bridesmaids. Later, in August, Gina and gratulations! ;Å resounding 60 percent of respondents Adam visited Amherst’s campus for the JIMMY and JES-C (BRANDT) FRENCH hoped to sing Gogol Bordello’s “Start first time together and had fun touring have left Texas for Colorado. “Jimmy JACOB REIBEL ’10 Wearing Purple” at the next homecom- the much-changed landscape. started his first year as a junior-high math WENT THROUGH MAKENA RINGERA CANCER AND LIVED ing, while only 20 percent would like to It’s baby season! ’s teacher, and Jes-c is working as a reporter TO TELL ABOUT IT. headbang along to Crobot’s “Plague of baby boy, Maleki, arrived on June 16, at the local newspaper, The Holyoke En- NOW HE HELPS OTHER Mammoths.” Another 20 percent had weighting 6.4 lbs. HANNAH (WALKER) terprise,” Jes-c reports. PATIENTS TELL THEIR their own suggestions, including “Boy MIRACOL and her husband, Dan, wel- A few months after their small City Hall OWN STORIES. with a Coin” by Iron & Wine. Guess we comed their son, Caleb John, into the wedding in April, TRACY HUANG and hus- Page 19 should all start wearing purple! world on Dec. 4, 2016, and so far Caleb band David threw a big party at Hamp- To start, I recently had the pleasure of has had the privilege of meeting his Am- shire College’s Red Barn. “The theme some impromptu encounters with fellow herst aunts TANIKA VIGIL, TYLER TORY- was Stardew Valley, which fit in with the Amherstians: in July I shared dumplings MURPHY, JULIA MERRILL, CAMI FAR- venue and is our favorite computer RPG!” with ASHLEY RIVERA and CHRISTINA KAS and LIZ (TEPE) KNEELAND. writes Tracy. Amherst attendees included (OETTEL-FLAHERTY) FALK while the Finally, JENNIFER RYBAK KIERNAN EUNICE LEE, KAREN NYAWERA, MINGZI latter was in Boston for a medical school writes that in addition to recently enjoy- SHAO, TANYA XU, Britt Calder ’12, Ethan rotation. Ashley, by the way, is still in the ing a fantastic visit from AMANDA MC- Edmondson ’13, Sharon Kim ’10, Yeji Kim death game and recently took a new fu- GINN, she’s also had the opportunity to ’12, Ian Nanez ’17, Celia Ou ’13, Gina Ro- neral director position in the Boston area. spend some wonderful time with CAIT driguez ’10, Matt Ruark ’12, Audrey Tiew Christina, who has been based in Milwau- and SPENCER HAUGHT and their baby, ’14, Evelyn Ting ’17, Kim Wilkes ’13 and kee for the last few years, is about to enter Ellery—“Amherst class of 2039.” Congrat- Wen Zhang ’10. her final year at the Medical College of ulations to all the new parents! MIRIAM BECKER-COHEN spent the

104 AMHERST FALL 2017 summer working in civil rights litiga- rience that also involved going to lunch Mo., to see the total solar eclipse,” he tion in Washington, D.C. “I kept busy a lot.” (Hot tip: D.C. is apparently full of writes. “Totality started: the sky turned watching weekly episodes of The Bach- meals—TRACY HUANG also caught Jared the color of television tuned to a dead elorette with Kat Loomis ’09, celebrating at a potluck brunch there.) He squeezed channel. Where the sun and moon once the upcoming nuptials of Garrett ‘G-Spot’ in a trip to Michigan, Philadelphia and were was now the spectral, luminous, Snedeker ’09 and reliving the Ultimate then New York, where he “grabbed Chi- perfectly circular face of MAX SUECHT- Frisbee glory days with Erin (Simpler) nese food with RYAN DROST, ALVARO ING. I looked for what felt like eons; then Kellett ’08, Mike Kellett ’10 and Joanna MON CURENO and ERICA DEANE and it became blindingly bright. Ever since, Wasik ’08,” she writes. saw MIKE DOLMATCH at his amazing nothing has felt quite right.” She and Dan Cluchey ’08 also managed tech workplace, Yext, at which I ate all Turn around, bright eyes… an anniversary trip to Amherst, which fea- his company’s snacks.” > CARA GIAIMO tured them devouring tea rolls and Anto- Jared is heading back west for his third [email protected] nio’s, and Memorial Hill views when the year at Stanford Law, and sat on a panel moon devoured the sun. “Mammoth gear at San Francisco State’s “Constitution and 2012 was sought at Hastings in vain (we’re told Citizenship” conference in September. homecoming will be the big reveal),” she “Anyone in the Bay Area should contact Thank you to all five-to-10 people who writes. Also worth looking forward to: “a me and come out to see it!” he writes. cast a vote for me in the uncontested race series of Amherst weddings in Septem- Bring provisions. for secretary. Having an official excuse ber.” I’ll bet a limited-edition Amherst Two brave souls are seeking old friends to harass you all for news on a quarterly Mammoth Mitten Koozy™ that NICOLE in new cities. After five years at the World basis has been a lifelong dream of mine. (PANICO) KRENSKY is more than ready Bank, CARLOS SABATINO GONZALEZ In response to my question about ser- for the rush. “finally bit the bullet and started a mas- endipitous postgraduation Amherst Various friend crews have also been ter’s in public policy at Duke,” he writes. run-ins, one of our most far-flung ’12s, hanging out. SAMUEL HUNEKE is heading “Would love to meet any alums in the EJ MITCHELL, wrote to say that he once back to San Francisco after a productive area!” DANIEL SILVERMAN is moving encountered TAWANDA TASIKANI at a year of dissertation research in Berlin, but on from San Jose, Calif., where he spent rooftop bar in Beijing. (Can anyone top first he’ll meet NINA BERNARD, CASEY three years teaching fifth grade. “I’ll be that?) EJ also recently hosted Eugene Lee BRENNAN, ISAAC GENDELMAN and teaching English at primary schools in a ’16, whose visit “marked the first and only CHELSEA AMEGATCHER in Cape Cod for couple of small but smashingly scenic time to date that there have been four Labor Day weekend—“our seventh such Alpine towns,” he writes. “So if anyone Zumbyes in China (me ’12, Eugene ’16, gathering since senior year!” he writes. happens by Albertville, France (host of Daniel Shwartzer ’11 and Ding’an Fei TYLER CHAPMAN and Dan Carrizales the 1992 Winter Olympics), that’s where ’06).” He added that “SIOBHAN MCKIS- ’14 recently hung out in Madison, Wisc., you’ll find me this year.” A perfect place SIC and I are planning for her first visit where, he writes, they “learned some for a newborn mammoth! to Beijing (TBD 2018)!” Book your flight, skills from grill-master ALEX CHANG.” Many thanks to everyone who sent up- Siobhan! And then make sure you send us Tyler will use said skills to refuel after dates. I’ll bug you all again in the spring. a video of you guys singing a duet, for the he runs a half marathon in October. To close out, we have some short fiction web version of these notes. JARED CRUM also has food updates: “I (?) from CHRISTOPHER SPAIDE, a long- In Chicago, JAVIER CHAVEZ CHACON’s spent the summer in D.C. working at a awaited response to the provocative work most recent Amherst chance encounter law firm called Hogan Lovells,” he writes. that closed out the spring 2017 notes: happened when he was eating his cus- “It was a really good professional expe- “In August I went to Jeffrerson City, tomary breakfast croissant and drinking

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AMHERST FALL 2017 105 2012–2016

a cappuccino and suddenly spied Julia Vr- An accidentally recurring theme for this the end of the trip, they met up with GIN- tilek ’15 through the window. She came in edition was road-tripping. ZOHAR PERLA NY WHEELER, who was running the half and kept him company for the last few sends in this update: “I just finished my marathon in Edinburgh. dregs of his coffee. master of public policy at UC Berkeley, At the end of June, ASJA BEGOVIC and Javi is an analyst at Mars Inc. by day and focused on education policy and equity. Henrik went hiking and spa-ing in Swit- coaches ballroom dancers by night. He’s After three years of living in Oakland, zerland. They climbed around Adelboden also back to designing (remember “living Calif., Joe Taff ’13 and I spent the sum- and Kandersteg, occasionally getting and moving art”?). mer driving across the Southwest before lost—and very often getting tired—but Elsewhere in the Midwest, TIM BUT- moving to Rochester, N.Y., so that he can remained happy and safe throughout. TERFIELD spent a full day hiking this begin his graduate studies.” Nice to have GINA RINGELBERG, LINDSAY GRUS- summer in Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley Na- you back east, Zohar! PHILIP MENCHACA KAY, CAROLINE RICHMAN, SARAH AL- tional Park, “where I completely randomly was also in transit when he ended up on BERT and KATE BLUMSTEIN had some encountered LIZA SCHALCH and Henry the same bus as Tania de Sousa Dias ’13 much-needed togetherness, reuniting on Rouse ’13.” Tim is a director in Denison this August, and he was “pretty certain I Martha’s Vineyard. They had a roman- University’s enrollment management saw GRACE BOOTH out the window of a tic sunset picnic on the beach, eating and division. TRICIA LIPTON also saw class- bus in Hartford.” Grace, can you confirm? drinking extremely well… until a group of mates in the great outdoors, although It will surprise no one that BENJAMIN skunks tried to join the party. Friendships the meetings were less unexpected. She LIN drove 16 hours to experience the two- were tested that night as everyone sac- hosted both CONNY MORRISON and KAY- minute total solar eclipse near Nashville, rificed one another to escape the scene. LEIGH O’KEEFFE this summer when they Tenn., with a group which included ELIZ- They laughed about it later while work- were passing through Portland, Ore., and ABETH CARBONE and REBECCA HU. He ing on some original songs with original gave them each a world-class tour of the described it as “surreal,” and he took an lyrics and harmonies. Stay tuned for the 2015: Alex South- Columbia Gorge. Be prepared for me to equally phantasmagorical video of the album drop. mayd finished his stop by on a whim, Tricia. event from his GoPro. In real life, he’s in RILEY RICHARDS is in his fourth year of second year of KATIE ALLYN, who is in her third year the midst of applying to business school. medical school at SUNY Upstate Medical Teach For America of medical school at the Albert Einstein As for my best moment of serendipity, University. He’s just completed the rural this past June, and College of Medicine in the Bronx, recalled last year I ran into ALEXANDER HURST at medicine program and he’s decided to go he’s on track to be running into CHRIS LIM on the 6 train an Australian café in Paris. I was jetlagged into pathology. awarded his mas- once: “I think it was about two years ago. enough not to be able to remember where RISALAT KHAN started his master’s ter’s in education by The doors parted. And suddenly there he I knew him from, but I sat down at the at Columbia University. It is a one year the end of the sum- was, a beautiful vision right in front of next table anyway, and he figured it out M.P.A. in environmental science and pol- mer. He has since my eyes. To this day, I still look for him first. I’ve also had the great good luck to icy, which has been quite intense, but also begun a new role as whenever I step onto the 6 train.” Subway live with REBECCA EPPLER-EPSTEIN for fun. He thinks it’d be super fun to have business develop- kismet is real! the last two and a half years in an apart- an Amherst get-together in New York, so ment lead at Lyft, PIR GRANOFF remembers that he “once ment in Harlem that played host to almost contact Risalat if you would like to have where he oversees ran into MICHAEL NG in the library at Am- exclusively Amherst roommates (and the a picnic in the park! driver growth for herst College our senior year.” Did anyone occasional Amherst couch-surfers pass- > CHLOE FICO Lyft’s markets in else witness this? OPHELIA HU KINNEY’s ing through). She’s moving to Boston [email protected] Massachusetts and Amherst run-in was arranged: “Hayli (’14) this fall. Rhode Island. Wish- and I had the pleasure of seeing Profs Be- Keep an eye out for her, those of you ing you well in your nigno and Karen Sanchez-Eppler at our who have settled down in Massachusetts! 2014 new role, Alex! wedding last summer, since Benigno was Write to me, or I’ll write to you! See you We’ll start off this round of class notes kind enough to serve as our officiant.” on the flip side. with an exciting announcement from Happy first anniversary, Ophelia! > OLIVIA CHASE JACOB WITTEN—in the form of a haiku, JUSTIN PATRICK and Adam Garmezy [email protected] as is his wont: “I’ve gotten engaged! / To ’11, Ben Garmezy ’11, David Vaimberg ’11, LISA WALKER ’14! / Better than science.” Andreas Shepard ’11 and Khan Shoieb ’13, Congrats to both of you! among other Amherst alums, attended a 2013 DANIELA GARCIA reached a few im- wedding together in Scottsbluff, Neb. “Af- JEAN RENÉ SANTIAGO CRUZ finished a portant milestones: in June she reached ter the wedding, we road-tripped to Boul- clerkship at the Supreme Court of Puer- her one-year mark of working at Mount der, Colo., a picturesque journey through to Rico. As of September, he is pursuing Sinai, and in July she and Gene Garay ’15 the Big Sky states interrupted only by the a master’s in law and finance at Queen celebrated their three-year anniversary! need to loop back into Wyoming to fur- Mary University of London, where he Daniela enjoyed seeing close friends nish the brothers Garmezy with gas after hopes to concentrate on financing de- like ROB EDNEY, NICOLE CLAY and DA- they ran dry 20 miles north of Cheyenne. velopment in emerging economies. Jean VID KAGULU-KALEMA. She also spent a ;Å … While the ceremony and reception took welcomes anyone who drops by London wonderful weekend in Shelter Island with ROGER CREEL ’13 top honors, everyone agreed that the sec- to hit him up! Sarah Bessa-McManus ’16 and Taylor REMEMBERS POET ond-best part of the trip was hiking the ROGER CREEL spent the summer do- Wallace ’15. RICHARD WILBUR ’42, Bluff with Larry Garmezy ’76, the groom’s ing geoscience field work on Anticosti JOE HIGGS met up with MAIA COLE, AU- WHOM HE USED TO BRIE CAMPBELL MELISSA LANG CHAUFFEUR TO AND former youth soccer coach.” These are the Island, Quebec, which will eventually and in FROM CAMPUS. ties that bind. lead to a model of sea-level change 450 Barcelona last April. He had been living Page 36 On the subject of sports, EZRA VAN million years ago. He also choreographed in Menorca, Spain, but planned on mov- NEGRI wrote to say that, after four years an evening-length gender-reversed King ing to Madrid in September. of reading about basketball online while Lear ballet, titled Lady Lear, which pre- NICA SIEGEL attended a critical theory working at Analysis Group, he left last fall miered Aug. 9 on Kentucky Shakespeare’s seminar and wandered around Paris in to pursue a master’s in statistics at Stan- outdoor stage. If anyone wants a place to search of poetry with Jeff Feldman ’15 ford. “After I get my degree this Decem- stay in Louisville, Roger invites you to before reuniting with MEGHNA SRID- ber, I am excited to start my new career come on down! HAR in London and Laura Merchant ’15 in basketball analytics, working as a data HENRIK ONARHEIM and ANNE PIPER in the Pioneer Valley. Nica is also looking analyst for the Oklahoma City Thunder. I traveled around Scotland at the end of forward to welcoming critical-theory poet will be moving to Oklahoma in January, so May, tasting (and buying!) lots of whis- Lindsay Stern ’13 to New Haven this fall. make sure to wave as you fly over.” Save key on Islay and relaxing at Andrew Carn- EMEKA OJUKWU ended his three-year us all seats courtside, Ezra! egie’s old estate at Skibo Castle. Toward run in Singapore and made it back state-

106 AMHERST FALL 2017 side for the foreseeable future. He’s back to fall that the smell of green chili roast- INCLE, GABRIEL GONZALEZ, Whitney up in the cold north getting his master’s ing on Albuquerque, N.M., street corners Beber ’16, Roshard Bryant ’14, John Rig- degree in industrial and labor relations signifies. She enjoyed some detours on gins ’12, Shyloe Jones ’14, Caroline Feeley from the ILR School at Cornell University. the campaign trail to visit family on Cape ’18, Sydney Watts ’17, Elizabeth Turnbull MATT DEBUTTS and NIK NEVIN met up Cod, and to welcome WILL KAMIN and ’18, Jensen Bouzi ’14 and Joelle Comrie in Jerusalem for “mango dax and Apollo then LAURA GERRARD on their inaugural ’14 (just to name a few).” 13,” consisting of mango daiquiris and a visits to the Land of Enchantment. Thank Lastly, a sweet joint submission from certain Tom Hanks movie. Then Matt you for visiting! She is looking forward to JAKE TURRIN and CHRIS TAMASI: “Jake continued to Ethiopia to caffeinate with more travelers—including secretary ex- was recently promoted to account execu- NICHOLAS SCHCOLNIK. A blessed sum- traordinaire CHRISTINA WON later this tive on LinkedIn’s sales solutions team. mer of Ni(c)ks. year—and loving the opportunity to share He also completed his first triathlon in HAYLI HU KINNEY was very surprised to her home with her Amherst family. June, against all odds. Chris did not run read in the past edition of the class notes MEGAN ROBERTSON has had an excit- a triathlon, but did finish an entire book— that she had moved to New Mexico! Alas, ing few months: “I completed my mas- against all odds. Both Chris and Jake still that was a ghost ship of a different life. ter’s of statistical science from Duke Uni- live happily together in San Francisco.” Instead, “my wife and I decided grow our versity in May and celebrated by traveling > CHRISTINA WON (WRITING THIS roots in Portland, Maine, where I am hop- around the world and seeing old friends. I TIME) ing to make less of a mess of my middle spent a few days in Bali before heading to [email protected] school teaching now that I’ve finished Australia to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef > KYRA ELLIS-MOORE my M.Ed.” and visit a friend in Sydney. From Aus- [email protected] CECILIA PESSOA got married in August. tralia I hopped on over to New Zealand, Emeka Ojukwu She and her husband, Toby, were happy where I drove around the South Island. 2016 to have Amherst friends at the wedding, It was absolutely gorgeous but very cold. ’14 ended his including HAYLI and Ophelia ’12 HU KIN- On my way back to the States, I briefly It is with great sadness that we write to NEY, CAITLIN and ANDREW KAAKE, COL- stopped in before heading to California, share news of the passing of JESSE ROW- three-year run BY JANTZEN and Alex Coston ’15. They where I got to see some Amherst friends. LAND. His passing was sudden and unex- in Singapore. spent a few weeks in Guatemala for their I spent a few days with ANNA YOUNG and pected. He is survived by his parents and honeymoon. Congrats, Cecilia and Toby! KELSEY AYERS, going to the beach and sister as well as aunts and uncles, cousins He’s now getting This summer, I saw the aforementioned wine tasting in Napa Valley. I also got to and dear friends. A full In Memoriam will his master’s CECILIA PESSOA and Toby, HAYLI and see Thomas Matthew ’16 in Berkeley, and follow in a later issue, and an In Memo- Ophelia ‘12 HU KINNEY and Alex Coston we went to the Gay Pride Parade in San ry page has been created for Jesse where degree in ’15 at COLBY JANTZEN’s wedding! It was Francisco. My last California stop was you can log in to post comments: www. industrial and beautiful, and many tears were shed. Pacific Grove, where I got to catch up amherst.edu/amherst-story/magazine/ labor relations There was also a mini Amherst reunion with MORGAN (BROWN) VENEZIA, and in_memory/2016/jesserowland. Our in Washington, D.C., this summer for she showed me around town as well as deepest condolences go out to his fam- from Cornell the housewarming party of CONRAD Monterey. I moved to New York, where I ily and friends. University. KARSTEN, Rohan Mazumdar ’12 and am currently applying and interviewing GABY MAYER tells us, “In a somewhat Shannon Young ’15. I had the pleasure for jobs.” shocking turn of events, most of my of hanging out with JOSEPH KIM, IAN Sounds like an amazing trip, and good friends from senior week have settled HATCH, MELISSA LANG, SOO KIM, ZACK luck with job hunting! far away from New York City. Luckily, GERDES and Ian Rockwell ’13. MICHAEL LA HOGUE is serving in Korea they’ve taken pity on me and breeze I have a new job as a seventh-grade Eng- for the next year, and if anyone comes to into town on occasion. Based on these lish teacher in Lexington, Mass. It is hard the country, they should definitely let him brief vacations, here are some updates work but I am loving it so far. know. JOHNO GIBBONS is in his first year on their lives: See you all on the flipside! of medical school and commissioned as “TIERNEY WERNER continues to live > MARIA KIRIGIN an ensign in the U.S. Navy. Congratula- in Lancaster, Pa. Her slow but inevitable [email protected] tions and all the best! SCOTT MERGN- conversion to Amish culture and customs ER writes that he has been listening to is well under way; she has been recently 2015 “Lord Jeffery Amherst” by James Shel- sighted on horse farms, shopping for her ley Hamilton, class of 1906. Thanks for next pet/mode of transport. As the seasons change, so do our lives. It the throwback, Scott! ROBERT GAFFEY “LEXI BARBER couldn’t bear to visit me was a pleasure hear about your summers started his second year of med school at alone, so she roped ERIN BROUSSEAU and your plans for the rest of the year. Rutgers. Over the summer, he visited AL- into a Big Apple sojourn this August. She’s Looking forward to on-campus reunions LEN KRIEG and AMAR MUKUNDA in Vir- starting a new teaching job in D.C., but this fall, and many congratulations to the ginia along with RAINER LEMPERT: “We we all know this is really just a back door newly matriculated class of 2021! played lots of games (tennis, basketball, for her big political ambitions. ‘I want to CHRISTINA WON spent the summer spikeball) and visited ANDERS LINDGREN be the next Elizabeth Warren; I have to traveling to her favorite destinations: in Baltimore. Some things never change.” do something with that blonde wig and Vegas, San Francisco, New York and At- CAMILLE YOUNGBLOOD shares her op- sensible pantsuit’—Lexie lantic City. She was delighted to see many portunities to connect with alumni this “Erin herself is gearing up to travel to alumni throughout, including KATHA- summer: “Luckily I didn’t have to travel Russian Siberia for the next calendar year. RINE RUDZITIS, KANE WILLIS, CLAIRE too far, as there are quite a few alums at Fellas, she enjoys long walks in the tun- JIA, SELENA ALONZO and Servet Bay- Skadden as well as NYC. I coordinated dra, a good cup of borscht and sensible imli ’16. At the end of August she will go the first ‘Amherst @ Skadden’ luncheon, remedies for frostbite. abroad for a few weeks—Spain, Israel and which was a wonderful success and will “TESSA MCEVOY has made big steps Jordan are on the agenda—before return- continue as a tradition. In addition to toward her lifelong dreams of being a ing to D.C. to begin a new job at the Dis- connecting with alumni at Skadden, I mountaineer, primarily by moving across covery Channel. In her spare time, she has hosted quite a few rooftop reunions this the country to Colorado and forcing LEXI been reading some good books and trying summer in Brooklyn, where we had a BARBER to go on a road trip to the Grand and failing to utilize the KonMari method. great turnout of Mammoths. Alumni in Canyon. Despite a wonderfully sunny and blue- attendance included: NIA JAMES, SHE- “OLIVIA TRUAX has made a brief but skied summer back in the desert, KYRA BA BROWN, Niahlah Hope ’16, ASHLEY grand return to the United States from ELLIS-MOORE looked forward to the shift FELIX, FRANCHESKA SANTOS, DUSTIN her home in New Zealand to visit family.

AMHERST FALL 2017 107 2016–2017

When not succumbing to the indolence of DIEGO RECINOS just moved to Bogotá, In mid-June, TAYLOR HALLOWELL American culture, she runs approximate- Colombia, after a year in Washington, started her southbound thru-hike on the ly 34 miles a day, wrestles dodo birds and D.C. He is excited to be back in Latin Appalachian Trail. She passed through spends the remainder of her spare time America, and he expects to be in Bogotá the dreaded Williamstown, and hates perfecting her Kiwi accent. for the next year and a half to two years. how pretty it is there. “Real talk: has anyone seen SASHA Diego writes: “Come visit!” He will be Taylor was not the only one on the Appa- BURSHTEYN? She’s reportedly back working with the same consulting firm, lachian Trail. LUCAS ZELLER also hiked from the Watson, but hasn’t gotten used doing financial and economic advisory the famous mountain range this summer. to traveling with other people around. for water and energy companies and However, he took a break to catch up with Rumor has it she waits for the Q train to projects. KARTHIK CHETTY and KEVIN GOLDBERG be completely empty before initiating her Other than that, Diego recently attend- in Amherst. Kevin is working for Wayfair commutes around the city. As for me? I ed a Social Innovation Lab in Denmark, in Boston. survived my first year of medical school, together with 1,000 people from over 130 SIRAJ SINDHU augmented his winter but have clearly suffered some sort of countries. It focused on finding innova- wardrobe to prepare to start work at the brain trauma, as I’ve agreed to run the tive solutions to achieve the Sustainable Alaska Network on Domestic Violence Development Goals. and Sexual Assault as a legal research > ANNIKA NYGREN fellow and educator. He’s also learning [email protected] to play the uke and is currently halfway Butterfly Whisperers > NNEKA UGWU through Infinite Jest. [email protected] ELAINE JEON cried out her contacts 2016: Rosy He and Tabeth Nkangoh ’15 visited Lindsey on commencement day, but has since Bechen and Chan Park in Chicago from Boston in July. 2017 recovered by making an impromptu trip Lindsey and Rosy subsequently became butterfly whisper- to Chicago to see her five suitemates, vis- ers at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Unfortunately, Tabeth Even for those working in Amherst, col- iting Korea and traveling in Europe—all and Chan couldn’t tame any butterflies. lege seems far away. We asked our class- thanks to her 2016 tax refund. She’s mov- mates, “How does living away from Am- ing to Singapore for work in September, herst make you feel?” Out of the 33 people and will accept all friend introductions NYC marathon. I’ve listed future neuro- who responded, four missed the sense as she only has three friends there, one of surgeon ELIZA HERSH as my emergency of independence they felt at Amherst, them being the mother of MARGO CODY. contact, so at least I’ll be in good hands.” and five felt stressed by the cost of pay- SOHAM GUPTA is living and conduct- After a year of working at the Andrew ing rent. Still, many expressed nostalgia ing research in Udaipur, India, until sum- Edlin Gallery in New York City, TARYN for Amherst that had nothing to do with mer 2018. He would love to have Amherst CLARY has begun her master’s in deco- money. One person responded, “Money visitors! rative arts, design history and material is nice, but friends are better.” Another The past several weeks for TOMAL HOS- culture at Bard Graduate Center on the wrote, “I miss my housemates, my pro- SAIN have featured constant language Upper West Side. fessors, my friends, my classmates, the learning, cheap eateries and tons of good In July 2017, KELVIN CHEN met with fel- staff. The family of Amherst. And most musical vibes in the cheapest place to be low Stearnsies JI HOON LEE and NATHAN of all the energy of the place, the cerebral in Central Java, Solo City. Tomal will con- YAO in Pasadena, Calif. After a short re- intensity, the precious responsibility of tinue living nomadically as a Watson reunion in Southern California, they em- freedom and valuable time.” Still, many search fellow studying music in five other barked on an epic escape to the Far East, were excited by the journey ahead. One Muslim-majority countries in the coming spending a week in Suzhou, China. There, person felt “anonymous for the first time months. in “the Venice of the East,” they enjoyed a and happy,” and five people felt “like In- LINDY LABRIOLA landed in Bodø, Nor- ritual of morning tea followed by leisurely diana Jones.” way, to start her 10-month Fulbright ad- strolls through the beautiful tea terraces Speaking of adventuring, NICK KAFK- venture in the Arctic Circle. If you want and flower gardens that festoon the city’s ER is traveling in the foothills of Romania to read more about what she’s doing, you many waterways and foot bridges. to visit the town where his great-great- can find her Fulbright blog on her web- ALEXANDRA JAMES is writing from grandfather purchased a strange wooden site: lindythevegan.com. Det er alt for nå! Buenos Aires, Argentina! Alex is there idol. He searched the artist who signed CLARQUE BROWN, another Fulbright- to participate in the 24th Annual Visible the original piece when he was a first-year er, is in South Korea teaching at an ele- Evidence Conference (Amherst profes- at Amherst and found that her grand- mentary school. sor Pooja Rangan is there as well!). Alex children still sculpt in the same style. Closer to home, there are several mem- presented a paper on a Puerto Rican film He resolved to voyage and meet the new bers of our class adjusting to life in Am- called Mala, Mala. When not participat- generation of sculptors and show them herst as part of the staff. ing in the conference, she has been sight- some of their great-great-grandmother’s LAUREN HORN spends most of her seeing, thanks to the suggestions provid- work. He hopes that this experience will time working as the arts coordinator for ed by a fellow rugby teammate, Tanzania connect his family and the family of the the Arts at Amherst initiative, watching Brown ’18, who studied abroad in Buenos artists to their shared history. Claws and making smoothies. Sadly her Aires last semester. However, not all adventures happen smoothie game may be too strong. She ac- Other than traveling to Buenos Aires, outside the United States. SEANNA MC- cidentally broke her blender with a frozen Alex has been living in New York City go- CALL has been experimenting in the banana. RIP, spinach banana smoothie. ing to Columbia University and pursuing kitchen, preparing everything from hot TAKUDZWA TAPFUMA can’t seem to a master’s in film and media studies at water to sourdough bread—the latter of get enough of Amherst! After the sum- the School of the Arts. When not stressing which was remarkably unsuccessful. Af- mer spent as a digital scholar intern with herself out in Butler Library and running ter she allowed a homemade sourdough Frost Library post-graduation, he joined into TOMI WILLIAMS, she is working at starter to stink up the entire kitchen for all the Office of Communications as an as- film festivals (most recently Tribeca Film of six days, her homegrown yeast proved sistant photographer. He’s excited to see Festival and currently the Hamptons In- to be unyielding (literally), and alas, her Amherst through a different lens in the ternational Film Festival) and making bread aspirations were dashed. Fear not, coming year. sure that RALPH WASHINGTON and classmates, for she has not given up; she AMIR HALL marveled at a bounce dance KHALIL FLEMMING never forget her half- has merely redirected her energies to in New Orleans and is still in the throes birthday celebration. Alex adds: “They’ll simpler tasks, such as slicing pineapples of trying to learn it for his next visit. He know what I mean.” without cutting her finger off. also house-sat and pet-sat two dogs and

108 AMHERST FALL 2017 two cats in Northampton. He learned that DAKOTA MEREDITH, ALINA BURKE and toward the colors that create everyday he is not, in fact, a pet person. He also KALAYA PAYNE-ALEX drove to Oregon life. Instead of one color, everything ex- got to spend a whole month with NAYAH with three Amherst underclassmen to ploded into a multitude of colors for her. MULLINGS, who was in the area for the be- watch the solar eclipse. That became a driving force behind her ginning of her master’s program at Smith In August, ELAINE VILORIO, AMIR art. Lauren also started working as an College. In the fall, he’ll be working as a HALL and JOSH THOMPSON visited LOLA analyst at S&P Global. There she helps graduate design assistant with the theater FADULU in D.C., where her journalism provide ratings for local governments in and dance department at Amherst. career has taken off. Some (just Elaine) the United States. Joshua Ferrer ’18 is going back to Am- call Lola the next Ta-Nehisi Coates. The Another analyst, CARINA CORBIN, herst. He says someone’s got to keep an weekend was full of laughter, improv and is working in NYC at a tech consulting eye on the place! watermelon (Josh’s idea). firm called Avanade. She is excited to We also have several new teachers in JOSH THOMPSON also visited Alicia see where she’ll run into Amherst stu- our class: Lopez ’16 for a month in Costa Rica. He dents next. BENJAMIN FIEDLER is teaching this said goodbye to four longtime wisdom GABRIELLA SELOVER is also excited to year at a primary school in Madrid, spon- teeth in an excruciating farewell in early meet up with other Amherst graduates. sored through the Council on Internation- She recently moved to Boston to start al Educational Exchange and the Spanish work at Parthenon EY as an associate Josh Thompson ’17 bid four government. Let Ben know if you would consultant. wisdom teeth an excruciating DIEGO MAGANA like to meet up in Madrid. farewell in early August. is currently working JEREMY PAULA joined Teach For as an operations manager for an e-com- America and will be a third-grade teacher merce company based in his hometown, at Harlem Prep Elementary, a school un- August. He is excited to sell his soul to Scottsdale, Ariz. Over the summer, he der the charter network called Democ- the capitalist machine this fall. reunited with half of the Amherst men’s racy Prep Public Schools, which he briefly CHRISTIN WASHINGTON and CHRIS- basketball team and other alumni in attended in middle school. It seems like TINE CROASDAILE are both back in NYC, Philadelphia. life is coming full circle. working for remarkable nonprofits in the After graduating, a few members of our This summer SCARLET IM was getting education space—DonorsChoose.org and class decided to go back to school right ready to be a high school math teacher in Prep for Prep, respectively. They also re- away. Springfield, Mass. Cooking for herself has main invested in morphing their former SHAUNPAUL JONES is an M.D. candi- been both bothersome and fun, and she WAMH radio show into a podcast focused date at the University of Rochester School (and her bank account) were waiting quite on reacquainting themselves with NYC of Medicine. During orientation, he re- earnestly for her first paycheck. through music, media and, of course, marked that the feeling of being around This summer, ROBERT KWARK worked black girl magic! If you’re interested in a bunch of brilliant people is surprisingly at Amherst as a SURF postgrad fellow. following their next moves, follow them similar to how he felt during orientation He also went on a road trip with DAVID @TheTakeoverCC on Twitter and Ins- at Amherst four years ago. WANG, SEAN MCHUGH and JD NURME. tagram. MELISSA SHETH is working toward He is totally excited to start teaching Also in the nonprofit space is IRMA obtaining her veterinary professional physics in Westport, Conn. He’d like to ZAMORA, who is working with Orange degree at the University of Wisconsin— thank Rachel Duong ’16 along with the County Human Relations. In this role, Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. other Amherst peeps that have shared she supports and promotes inclusiv- She is most interested in conservation this transition summer with him, and to ity across Orange County, Calif. Irma is medicine and exploring intersections be- send positive vibes to everyone else who looking forward to going back to snow- tween animal health and human health. actually ends up reading this. less winters and hearing about/support- ALEX FARTHING is at the University of It was exciting to read about all the Am- ing her friends’ endeavors. Michigan Medical School. DAVID RUTH herst get-togethers this summer. Irma’s former roommate, LAUREN stopped by on his way back to Amherst. Since graduating, PAUL GRAMIERI vis- CARTER, still talks to her Amherst friends All in all, postgrad life is pretty great! ited ADAM SMITH in Chicago and EMI- every day (probably more than when she Best wishes to all in this autumnal sea- LY GOORE in L.A., and in New York, he was at school). Over the summer, she son. While many of us have scattered, we shares an apartment with TOMO LIMAN- started an art project called Behind Closed hope this serves as another platform to TO and Hao Liu ’16. He most enjoys the Eyes, where she went outside during vari- keep supporting each other. We’re excited convenience of being able to walk only a ous weather conditions, looked toward to hear more from you. block to get a bagel and a slice of pizza. the sun, closed her eyes, and then painted > EVELYN TING, LOLA FADULU JESSICA MAPOSA bought a car and what she “saw.” In Professor Gloman’s CLASSNOTES.AMHERST2017@ feels very adult. Ninety percent of the class, she learned that she was drawn GMAIL.COM mail she receives is bills, sadly. Soon, VALERIE SALCIDO, one of Jessica’s dearest friends, is moving to the Boston area; STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (as required by PS Jessica wonders if Boston is ready for V+J. Form 3526): Publication title: Amherst; Publication number: 024-280; Filing date: CLAIRE CARPENTER and MEGAN ADA- 9/28/2017; Issue frequency: Quarterly; Number of issues published annually: 4; An- MO are settling down in New York City to- nual subscription price: None; Mailing address of known office of publication and gether. Claire is working for J.P. Morgan, headquarters of publisher: Amherst College, Amherst MA 01002; Mailing address and Megan for Cornerstone Research. of editor: Emily Gold Boutilier, Officeof Communications, Amherst College, Am- SARA SCHULWOLF moved to Provi- herst MA 01002; Owner: Trustees of Amherst College, Amherst College, Amherst dence, R.I., right after graduation to MA 01002; Known bondholders, mortgagees and other security holders: None; start a position as a research assistant The purpose, function and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt for a study on adolescent responses to status for federal income tax purposes has not changed during the preceding 12 trauma. In July, during a trip to Boston months; Issue date for circulation data below: 7/18/2017; Total number of cop- to see Ned Kleiner ’16, she got together ies: 29,310.75*, 29,551**; Total paid distribution: 29,310.75*, 29,551**; Total free or with SAM SHORT, CHRISTINA HANSEN, nominal rate distribution: None; Total distribution and total: 29,310.75*, 29,551**; KENNY KIM, Helen Montie ’18 and Chel- Copies not distributed: None; Percent paid: 100%. sea Pan ’18 for Kenny’s birthday. If there * Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months are any other Amherst grads in the Provi- ** Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date dence area, let Sara know.

AMHERST FALL 2017 109 Visit the interactive In Memory site at www.amherst.edu/magazine to post remembrances of fellow alumni, view a listing of alumni who have recently died In Memory and read unabridged In Memory pieces well before the print obituaries appear.

Carolyn and Bob moved to Natick Born in Worcester, Mass., he at- in July 2015 and regrettably have little Robert Waltz “Bob” in 1955. tended Worcester South High information about the sad event. He Eisenmenger ’48 Bob spent 36 years at the bank, end- School. He was a champion in track, played freshman football, received Robert Waltz “Bob” Eisenmenger ing as first vice president and chief field and cross country, accomplish- his ’49 numerals and served on the died on May 24 at age 91. operating officer. He retired in 1992. ments earning him a scholarship to Olio and the HMC. He joined Kappa After graduating from Amherst Following retirement Bob worked Amherst. Theta and was elected to Phi Beta High School, he joined the U.S. Navy, as a consultant. Projects included After one year at Amherst, he was Kappa as a senior. We believe that serving as a navy radio technician at work in banking reform for the Re- offered a full scholarship to Rhode he had military service from 1943 Pearl Harbor during World War II. He public of Russia after the breakup of Island State College (now the Univer- to 1946 and after college earned an returned and entered Amherst Col- the Soviet Union and reviewing the sity of Rhode Island). As co-captain M.B.A. at Harvard. lege, receiving his undergraduate payment system in Bosnia for the U.S. he led his team to the track and field He joined the family company and degree in economics. At Amherst, Treasury. championships in 1948. He ran in the spent most of his life in the New Ha- he belonged to Theta Xi. Bob also spent several years on 1948 Olympic Trials and was added ven area. He was married in 1951 and Bob received his first master’s from the board of the Five Cents Bank as an alternate to the Olympic Track had two children and one grand- Yale in 1951 and then joined the U.S. in Cape Cod, the Natick Planning Team. He graduated from Rhode Is- daughter. His wife, Isabelle, prede- Forestry Department in Oregon. Board and the New England Board of land State in 1949. ceased him. There, he met and married Carolyn Higher Education, which he served He served in the U.S. Army as a ser- He died in the Connecticut Hospice Slaver. He also developed a timber as chairman. He was a trustee of New geant during World War II and in U.S. in Branford from complications of Al- appraisal system in Oregon. England Natural Resources, the Ed- Army counterintelligence during the zheimer’s disease. We are endeavor- Bob, Carolyn and a baby daughter ucational Resources Institute and Korean Conflict. ing to gather more information about returned to Massachusetts to attend the Massachusetts Congregational In the 50th reunion book, Norm Ralph, who was age 90 and living in graduate school at Harvard. Bob re- Fund. reported, “Hired as boys’ physi- Woodbridge, Conn., prior to his ill- ceived a master’s degree in public He is survived by his wife of 64 cal director at Worcester YMCA in ness. —Gerry Reilly ’49 administration in 1955 in preparation years, Carolyn; three daughters, September 1949, then joined an au- for a career with the forestry service Anne, Katherine and Lisa; and eight tomobile dealership as salesman in in Washington, D.C. Instead he was grandchildren. 1951, becoming general manager, George C. Pendleton JR. ’49 hired by the Federal Reserve Bank He will be missed. —Celeste then owner. Closed the business in Perhaps quieter than some and as research economist. He returned Ringuette W’48 1966. In September of that year be- brighter than many, George died to Harvard, receiving a Ph.D. in eco- came a junior high science teacher Jan. 13 at age 92 after a distinguished nomics in 1963. and coach in basketball, track and career as a petroleum geologist and His doctoral thesis, published as a Norman J. Monks ’48 cross-country. independent producer. book, is The Dynamics of Growth in Norman died suddenly on Nov. 16, “Later coached high school track He came to Amherst after serving New England’s Economy 1870–1964. 2016, at age 90. and cross-country, winning many in the U.S. Army Airborne Division class, division and state champion- from 1943 to 1946. Some of you may ships. Also won five junior high bas- have heard him discuss his military ketball state championships in my 27 experience. Regrettably I did not, but years of coaching.” I would imagine that he saw his share Death notices received by the College since the Norm received an M.S. from the of action. A European history major, last issue of Amherst magazine University of Rhode Island in 1974. he graduated with a B.A., magna cum In retirement, he became a na- laude, and continued his education at tional official for track and field and the Harvard Business School, earn- John D. Cordner ’39 William B. Funnell ’56 Laurence C. Griesemer ’40 James S. Jenkins ’56 cross country and spent time with ing an M.B.A. in 1951. Arno R. Kassander ’41 Carl H. Andrus ’57 his family and the family business, Next he went to the University of Thomas F. Mahoney ’43 Stephen B. Flood ’57 Dapper Dan Farm, managing horse Oklahoma from 1954 to 1956 to attain William C. Hart ’44 George L. Hacker ’57 shows for 42 years. He was a mem- his degree in petroleum geology and Howard W. Dellard ’45 Boniface Wadors ’59 ber of the Rhode Island Horseman’s was a scholastic geological member William Krauthoefer ’45 Theodore Schuker ’62 Association and the New England of Sigma Gamma Epsilon and then Arthur J. Ourieff ’45 Alexander W. Siegel ’63 Merritt C. Bragdon ’46 William J. Lewis II ’64 Horseman’s Council for more than settled into his career. By the time Addison B. Green Jr. ’47 David M. Pellegrin ’64 50 years. of our 50th reunion, he had already Norman J. Monks ’48 Maurice R. King ’65 He did horse show night watch at logged 43 years in the oil and gas Ralph E. Gould ’49 Bruce C. Leopold ’66 shows from New England to Wel- business, centered mainly in south- Nicholas B. O’Connell Jr. ’49 William J. Eisen ’70 lington, Fla. In 1966 he was asked ern Oklahoma and northeast Texas, Theodore G. Walker III ’49 Stephen H. Gunnels ’71 John W. McGrath ’51 Christopher K. Toth ’73 to join the night watch for the U.S. where his work led to the discovery Frederic T. Nugent ’51 Kenneth E. Glover ’74 Equestrian Team at the Olympics in of several very significant fields, and Paul H. Geithner Jr. ’52 Richard J. Kelly ’79 Atlanta. he had an equity position in some of George F. Hibbard ’52 Robert T. Williams Jr. ’79 He will be missed. —Celeste them. David Chaplin ’53 Julie R. Engelsman ’88 Ringuette W’48 He was very active overseas, pri- Bertram W. Justus ’53 Nicholas A. Rieser ’01 Alexander L. Munson ’53 Jeffrey B. Young ’03 marily in the United Kingdom, where Jefferson W. Keener Jr. ’54 Jesse L. Rowland ’16 he again made prominent discover- Willard J. Morse Jr. ’54 Ralph E. Gould ’49 ies including a few in the coalbed and We have just learned that Ralph died methane gas fields in North Stafford-

110 AMHERST FALL 2017 shire. He traveled in Western Europe Management Group, which was and convertibles, which he drove to After service as a U.S. Coast Guard more than 250 times and along the headed by a law school classmate, antique car shows or for fun on bright officer, Lee went to Harvard, where way collected English 18th-century Mark McCormack. With this new sunny days. he earned a master’s degree in busi- furniture and additional pieces from position he became heavily involved He is survived by Donna, his wife ness administration in 1960. Subse- the Biedermeier period in central Eu- in the design and construction of golf of 46 years; a son; two daughters; quently, he used his talents in finance rope. courses, including some for Arnold two grandchildren; two stepsons; and management positions with Cre- During these sojourns, he devel- Palmer. two step-grandchildren; and two pet sap, McCormick & Paget, Mobil Oil oped a particular fondness for the During the ’70s and ’80s Moose pooches. —Everett E. Clark ’51, with and Fairchild Camera, followed by a art, music and cuisine of Vienna. had several periods of employment input from Gary Holman ’51 decade as vice president–treasurer of He lived a wonderful, successful in the resort and real estate field with Crown Zellerbach. life with genuine achievements in a Denver company and the Rocke- Finally, he opened his own man- his chosen field. I wish that I had feller Foundation. His fine reputation David Chaplin ’53 agement consulting firm, A. L. Mun- gotten to know him better along the in the fields of resort and golf course Dave Chaplin died July 27 at a nursing son & Co., specializing in finding way. A real plus for our class. —Gerry design and development led to an home in Freeport, Maine, at age 86. management solutions for troubled Reilly ’49 honorary membership in the Urban Dave, who had his home in Bruns- firms. He also taught finance at Gold- Land Institute. wick, Maine, had been ill for several en State University. In retirement he enjoyed garden- years. He reported in 2015 that he had In San Francisco, Lee was an im- G. Alan Steuber ’50 ing, golf, travel and welcoming class- survived a bout with bone and blood portant contributor of the municipal Al Steuber died from complications mates and relatives to Hawaii. cancer but had mostly lost the use of government. He was a member of the of prostate cancer on Feb. 19 at age We will remember his many quali- his left arm. Mayor’s Fiscal Advisory Committee 88. Thanks to the wonders of the ties, including that warm smile, his Dave came to Amherst from Port- from 1976 to 2007. He served on the Internet, his moving memorial ser- modest manner, his ability to con- land, Maine, and Millbrook School San Francisco Civil Service Commis- vice in Savannah, Ga., was available nect with people and his passion for in the Hudson Valley area of New sion for 16 years, including terms as online. Amherst. York State. On campus, he took part vice president and president. As an Al came to Amherst from Brigh- Moose died at his home in Hono- in the Christian Association, the For- eight-year member of the Library ton High School in Rochester, N.Y. lulu, on June 27. He is survived by his eign Student Committee, the Outing Commission, he helped oversee He joined Alpha Delta Phi and had wife, Mary Philpotts; a sister; seven Club and the Square Dance Commit- major renovations of San Francisco’s many friends in the class. nieces and nephews; and a godchild. tee. He was a member of the Lord libraries. Al was a fine lineman on the Am- —Hobie Cleminshaw ’51 Jeff Club and majored in American Lee loved to sing and ballroom herst football team. He was good studies. dance. He traveled extensively, had enough to be drafted by the Balti- Mike Palmer ’53 remembered Dave a great interest in his Norwegian more Colts. Frederic T. Nugent ’51 as a “studious, serious and conscien- roots, was an avid photographer and Al, the late Fred Hollister ’50 and Ted Nugent died peacefully on July tious” person and as an avid sailor enjoyed fishing. I toured the West one college sum- 23 at a hospice facility in his home- who enjoyed taking his boat out on He is survived by a son, Eric; two mer in an old car, with sleeping bags town of Holland, Mich. He had fallen Maine’s Casco Bay. He was deeply in- daughters, Genevieve and Anna; and and little money. You could not have several times in previous months, the terested in the history of transporta- three grandchildren. He was prede- had a more companionable traveler last of which occasioned what proved tion in Maine and wrote several ar- ceased by his wife, Merla Zellerbach. than Al. to be fatal head injuries. ticles about its once-thriving trolley —George Gates ’53 After Amherst he went to Harvard Ted came to Amherst from Brook- systems. Business School and served as a gun- lyn, N.Y., where he graduated from After Amherst, Dave earned a doc- nery officer on a destroyer in the U.S. Friends School along with Will torate in sociology from Princeton. Willard J. “Pete” Navy. —John W. Priesing ’50 Weeks ’51. Following Amherst, Ted He worked in the sociology depart- Morse Jr. ’54 matriculated at Columbia University ment at the University of Wisconsin Though Pete was with our class for School of Architecture, graduated in from 1964 to 1972 and headed the only one year, once he reestablished John W. “Moose” 1955, married and moved to Madi- sociology department at Western contact with the College in 2010, he McGrath ’51 son, Wis. That year, Ted received Michigan University in Kalamazoo affirmed his regard for classmates During our first afternoon in 1947, his registration as an architect and from 1972 to 1989. He returned to and remained in touch until his death I heard the shout “Go, Moose!” started a small firm with two oth- Maine in 1992. on Dec. 2, 2016. Pete is survived by from a group of classmates throw- ers, designing buildings for Wiscon- Dave is survived by his wife, Joyce; three children and one grandson. ing a football in the freshmen quad. sin and its university. His marriage three children, Duncan, Scott and Al- After leaving Amherst, he served Little did we realize at the time that failed in 1965. exandria; and four grandchildren. — for two years in the 82nd Airborne, Moose would become an icon in our Ted moved to Michigan to join an George Gates ’53 and then earned a B.A. from the class, with multiple letters in football, architectural firm in Grand Rapids. University of Vermont, moving to its wrestling (New England intercolle- Now being not far from Lake Michi- medical school for his M.D. He in- giate wrestling champion) and base- gan, Ted acquired a cruising boat Alexander Lee Munson ’53 terned at St. Luke’s Hospital in New ball (captain). Other achievements and participated in local and long Lee Munson, who combined a career York City and held residencies at St. include: Sphinx, Scarab (president), distance races, including several in business finance with major civic Luke’s and at the Hartford Hospital Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, “Chicago to Mackinac.” Ted remar- responsibilities, died in his sleep in while becoming board certified in Mossman Trophy and class presi- ried in 1971 and moved that year to San Francisco on July 9. He was 85. obstetrics and gynecology. dent. Holland, Mich., where his new wife Lee was born in Hempstead, N.Y., For several years, Pete practiced After graduating from Yale Law lived, and started his own one-man and came to Amherst from Port all over the Key West archipelago, School and serving two years in the firm designing residences large and Washington High School. On cam- piloting his own plane. His interest U.S. Navy, he decided to give up law small, industrial buildings and a large pus, he majored In American studies, in flying led him to become an FAA as a career and join a law school marina complex. was a member of Phi Gamma Delta examiner, and to include flight medi- friend with the successful develop- Ted displayed his love of automo- and served as editor of the Sabrina cine in the practice he later opened ment of a resort, Sea Pines Planta- biles during his days at Amherst, humor magazine. in Pembroke, Maine. tion, in South Carolina, located on where he drove his Cadillac the long His fraternity brother, Bob Kiely He lived with his life partner, Helen 4,500 acres on Hilton Head Island. way to Mount Holyoke by way of the ’53, remembered Lee as “handsome, Swallow, on a saltwater farm on Cob- In 1963 he worked for a company of Connecticut River roads to avoid the but not vain or self-conscious, always scook Bay. Laurence Rockefeller’s as director potholes of Route 116 at the top of affable, easy-going and ready for a At Amherst, I knew Pete as an of land development, designing and the Notch. good time. I often wished I could enthusiastic fellow member of our building resorts. His lifelong hobby was restoring be as suave as he was without even freshman football team and as a fel- In 1969 he joined International older Mercedes-Benz sports cars trying.” low pledge to Psi Upsilon. In the last

AMHERST FALL 2017 111 few years we corresponded about a a four-year outstanding running back Andrus on July 11 in Rochester, N.Y. number of things, including a mutual Douglas W. Hawkins ’56 on Lord Jeff’s football teams, which At Amherst Carl was a Renaissance interest in Shakespeare. In one of his Douglas Hawkins of Parsonsfield, can forever boast four straight vic- man, majoring in English and sing- class letter contributions, Pete men- Maine, died on Nov. 21, 2016, af- tories over Williams. He was called ing in the Glee Club and DQ, in ad- tioned sharing a phone call with Jeff ter a long illness. Military honors Amherst’s most consistent ground dition to completing his premedical Keener ’54, talking about their expe- took place Dec. 5 of that year at the gainer in our senior season. —Henry requirements. riences with Parkinson’s and their Southern Maine Veterans Cemetery Pearsall ’56 Classmates will remember his qui- success in living a full life despite in Springvale. et intelligence and friendly, modest the diagnosis. He was born in Kansas City, Mo., demeanor. His interest in music was I regret my failure to make good on Dec. 27, 1933, to Frank and Marga- Peter M. Saybolt ’56 lifelong. He loved classical and op- a plan to get to Pete’s corner of far ret Hawkins. Doug came to Amherst Our dad, who pursued his passion era, played many instruments, built northern Maine to extend the con- from Winchester (Mass.) High. After for new and evolving technologies a clavichord in his 40s and took up versations we had on email and to graduating from the College in 1956, throughout his career as salesman, cello at 70. learn more of what had clearly been he received a master’s in education commodities broker and IT expert, After Amherst Carl attended the an adventurous and accomplished from the University of Southern Cali- died of cancer May 21, at his home University of Rochester Medical life. —Thomas H. Blackburn ’54 fornia. in Ruxton, Md. School. Next he interned in surgery He served 24 years in the U.S. Air Pete grew up in the Drexel Hill at Columbia-Presbyterian in New Force, retiring as a colonel. In Viet- section of Philadelphia, graduating York City. R. Donald McDougall ’55 nam he was an air commando, flying from Episcopal Academy in 1952 and In 1963 he volunteered for the Don McDougall died unexpectedly combat. Amherst College (Theta Xi) in 1956. U.S. Navy and spent a year in Ant- on June 17 at his home in Vero Beach, After his time in the Air Force, His father was president of Saybolt arctica. (In recognition of his service Fla. Doug moved to Parsonsfield in 1980 & Cleland, Philadelphia furniture as officer-in-charge of Byrd Station, Don came to Amherst from the and commuted to work for 15 years manufacturers. Pete elected not to an Antarctic volcano was named Haverford School. He was an excel- at the Mitre Corporation in Bedford, join the family business, attending Mt. Andrus.) In 1965 he returned to lent squash player, ranking number Mass., where he was a project head the Wharton School instead, then Rochester for his surgical residency one on the squash team and winning for R&D. Doug always enjoyed fly- leaving to join the U.S. Navy in 1958 and remained there for the rest of his almost every match he played. He ing and even had a flight simulator as a navigator, patrolling the Pacific career, except while holding an im- pledged Phi Psi, where I was fortu- in his home. from Hawaii to Midway Island to munology fellowship at Duke from nate to be his roommate. Don had a Surviving him are his wife of almost Alaska. 1968 to 1970, where he received a cheery smile, always looking at the 50 years, Joan Hawkins of Parsons- He married Frances H. Patton master’s degree. positive side of life, and was a true field; three sons: Stephen Hawkins (Smith ’60). The couple lived in At Rochester Carl met Noelle, an friend and loving person. He loved and wife Kristina, of Sugarland, Honolulu until his discharge from R.N. completing her bachelor’s de- to play bridge. He was also an excel- Texas; Gregory Hawkins and wife the Navy in 1962. After short stints gree. They married in 1966 and en- lent tennis player and loved classi- Bernadette, of Rocklin, Calif.; and elsewhere, they moved to their cur- joyed 50 rich years together. They cal music. Robert Jeffrey Hawkins (retired U.S. rent home in Ruxton in 1966. There had two children: Michael ’91 and Dixon Long ’55 writes: “Don gave Marine Corps) and girlfriend Erin they raised three children: David ’85, Jennifer (Rochester ’92). me something I never thanked him Washburn, of South Portland; and Rebecca ’87 and Robert (Bates ’92). After his residency Carl entered enough for—the love of classical four grandchildren. Strong family traditions included private practice but eventually music.” He had a large selection of He was well-informed on world annual trips to Fenwick Island, Del.; shifted to full-time academic medi- Bach, Beethoven and Brahms re- issues and town politics, as well as family sing-alongs led by Pete, an ac- cine due to his love of teaching. He cordings in his diverse collection. on the Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox. complished pianist; and backyard enjoyed a superlative reputation as That was part of my Amherst edu- A Theta Delt at Amherst, Doug will fireworks. a caring, expert physician, teacher cation that was never recorded in be remembered as a very crisp U.S. Trained as a chemist, Pete de- and mentor. the dean’s office but has lasted just Air Force ROTC commander on the lighted in assisting customers with Carl was also an avid outdoorsman. as well as Charlie Morgan’s “These parade grounds and as (at maybe a the formulation of new products. In On one European trip shortly after Great Sights.” towering 6 feet, 6 inches) the center 1971, he changed careers—becoming Amherst, he combined visits to the After graduation Don entered Navy and captain of the Lord Jeff basket- a commodities trader specializing in great museums with a climb of the OCS at Newport, serving for three ball team. volatile markets. As he developed Matterhorn, not a trivial endeavor years. He spent his business career A check of the College’s website programs to predict market moves, back then. He continued to climb in at Towers Perrin Foster and Crosby, reveals that 61 years later Doug Pete fell in love with computer tech- the Adirondacks, eventually becom- much of it in management positions, amazingly still holds three Amherst nology. ing a 46-er, and loved to canoe, fish until his retirement in 1990. all-time rebounding records. Details He became an early aficionado of and birdwatch, particularly at his Don was active in the Episcopal are in ’56 class notes in this issue. Apple Computer and invested as- beloved summer place in northern Church, serving as warden or ves- —Peter Levison ’56 tutely in the company, following with Vermont. tryman in every parish where he and more early investments in Google, Carl confronted his final illness his wife, Leigh, lived. He was chair- Tesla and other emerging firms. In with grace and courage and re- man of the personnel committee and James S. Jenkins ’56 his later years, he monitored friends mained active professionally until the insurance board for the Diocese Jim’s wife, Carole, advised me of and family on all matters technologi- the end—an inspiration for us all. of Connecticut for 20 years, as well his passing on June 26 in Plymouth, cal. —Mike Andrus ’91, Len Prosnitz ’57 as several other boards for the dio- Mass., after an undisclosed serious Pete retained his love of music, cese. He also served as treasurer for illness. Jim was a very private person traveling widely to hear Dixieland 10 years for the Overseas Ministries and thus evidently did not want an jazz. He was devoted to his family George L. Hacker ’57 Study Center. obituary, so this short summary will and never missed an opportunity to George L. Hacker of New York, Lon- In 1993 he was on the search com- have to suffice. He had four kids and visit with cousins at the family cot- don and most recently Scottsdale, mittee for the bishop of Connecti- nine grandchildren. One son is a gen- tage in Fenwick Island. Ariz., died on June 11 while on holi- cut. At St. Augustine in Vero Beach eral in the U.S. Army. Jim worked his He is survived by his wife, Frances; day in the United Kingdom. A proud he was lector and on the finance and entire life at IBM. He and Carole mar- three children; five grandchildren; graduate of Amherst, he enjoyed a outreach committees. ried before graduation and, in fact, and a sister. —David Saybolt ’85, Re- full and successful life both person- Don is survived by his beloved had their first child prior to gradu- becca Bainum ’87 ally and professionally. and devoted wife of 62 years, Leigh, ation, in April of 1956. Jim came to His career included roles at the and two children, Donna Leigh and Amherst from Hingham (Mass.) High Federal Reserve Bank of New York, James Andrew. —Ted Ruegg ’55 School. Carl H. Andrus ’57 as a newspaperman, as adjunct pro- He was a member of Alpha Delt and We are sad to report the death of Carl fessor at Columbia University, as di-

112 AMHERST FALL 2017 rector of research at Blyth Eastman Thompson’s operas. Thompson also us. Bon played freshman football Dillon in New York and as partner/ Boris Baranovic ’58 helped Boris study with the Wagner and later took soccer as his fall re- senior managing director at Bear Boris Baranovic lived a noteworthy family in Bayreuth and at Spoleto quired PE class; he was referred to as Stearns in London. George was a life, ending in his native Yugoslavia festivals with Giancarlo Menotti. the “siege gun” for the power of his generous and genial man, loved (Serbia) in 2016. The exact date and Thompson composed one of his Pi- kicks. He became a member of the and admired by many and large in cause are not known. Boris joined ano Portraits about Boris. (It is titled DQ. He roomed with Rick Abeles ’59 both heart and spirit. Travel, cruises, our class junior year but remained “Whirling.”) and Stan Lelewer ’59 as a freshman, poker and model trains were among something of a mystery to most of From 1966 to 1993 Boris was in and they became roommates again his interests. us then and after. the performing arts department at when all three joined DU. He was a He will be greatly missed, especial- Born in Sibenick, Yugoslavia, he American University in Washing- great roommate and companion. ly by his fi ve children: Mark, Laura, studied at the University of Zagreb ton, D.C., designing more than 100 Following graduation he went to Scott, Neil and Georgina, as well as (philosophy) and specialized in his- productions. work for IBM and roomed with Stan his daughters-in-law and son-in-law tory and art history. In September Retiring as professor emeritus, in Greenwich Village. He worked for and two grandchildren. At George’s 1952 he went on a student excursion he moved to Baltimore, where he IBM for 35 years, and in 1989 he was request, a celebration of his life will to Italy and decided to defect to the housed a large collection of paint- a senior manager in Paris. Eventu- be organized for later this year. West. He ended up in Naples in a cen- ings and sculpture. For our 50th, Bo- ally he moved to Walnut Creek, Ca- George always spoke fondly of ter for defectors and started taking ris donated 128 caricatures by Hon- lif., where he and Rick reconnected. his time at Amherst. In May he at- courses in scene design and art his- oré Daumier to Mead Art Museum. Rick reports that “he still had the tended his 60th class reunion and tory at the University of Naples. —Allen M. Clark ’58 same wonderful outlook and sense enjoyed time in the dorms with his Boris loved Naples, where he of humor.” classmates. He commented at the “learned how to live and grow dif- He contracted liver cancer and re- reunion that he thought he still has ferently from the patterns of Com- Boniface Wadors ’59 located to the West Bay, nearer to son the class record for the youngest off - munist rule.” Setting the stage for Bon Wadors died in December 2016. David. He was there for a year and spring (twins). his life to come, Boris said, “Music Bon’s path to Amherst was very dif- stopped driving two months before One of George’s favorite quota- and laughter and culture were part of ferent from that of almost anyone in his death. Bon left three children— tions was from Teddy Roosevelt, my every moment; in the freedom of our class. He came from a modest im- two daughters and one son—all three which George wrote in his 50th re- those four years, I grew into a young migrant home. He was “signed” in in California. He was a wonderful union book: “The credit belongs man with a new sense of future and 1948 to play football for then power- friend and will be greatly missed. — to the man who was actually in the possibility.” ful Tulane, but, after a semester of Rick Abeles ’59 arena, whose face is marred with A small exhibition of work for a football and not seeing much in the sweat, and dust, and blood, who display at the American Consulate way of academics, he left. tries and fails and tries again, for this serendipitously led to a scholarship During the three years he spent in Harry Talbot Neimeyer ’61 man, when he wins, knows the most to Amherst. Kirby Theater Masquers the U.S. Army, he became a driver for It is my sad duty to report that Har- glorious of triumphs; and when he and the Glee Club became his family. a general and traveled all over Eu- ry Talbot Neimeyer died on May 23. fails, can at least take solace in the He later attended the Yale University rope. After his discharge he worked Harry was a Minnesotan through and knowledge that his place will never School of Drama and earned a mas- as a big band singer and later sold through. He spent his whole life there be with those cold and timid souls ter’s degree. used cars. A chance encounter with except for four years at Amherst. who neither enjoy much nor suff er His fi rst job was at the University a high school classmate and Am- Harry was born in Duluth on May much, because they live in the gray of Buff alo, where he met American herst graduate led him to become 25, 1939, and graduated from St. Paul twilight that knows neither victory or composer and critic Virgil Thomp- a freshman at age 26, older and cer- Academy and Summit School in 1957. defeat.” —The Hacker Family son. Boris designed sets for one of tainly more worldly than the rest of At Amherst, Harry was a beloved fel-

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AMHERST FALL 2017 113 low brother at Alpha Delta Phi and The Andrew M. Mellon Foundation pired to be an opera singer. She was on the College’s varsity hockey awarded Philip its lifetime achieve- did not succeed but has had a great Brian Taylor ’65 team, serving as co-captain with John ment award, and the Italian govern- career as a temple cantor—some- Brian Taylor died April 15. I learned Turner ’61 our senior year. Harry ma- ment gave him its highest civilian thing Bill was very proud of. “Bill this through a mutual friend, Tony jored in American studies. award in 1998. was always a lot of fun to be with.” Schuman (Wesleyan ’65), who knew He had a dry wit and was known Philip is survived by his wife, Su- This latter sentiment of Terry’s was him fairly well during the latter part as “Night Train Harry.” This came zanne; sons David and Jeffrey; and confirmed by Ray Battocchi ’64: of his life. from his being in a car returning five granddaughters. “Bill and I were fraternity brothers Brian and I lived on the second from a night hockey scrimmage with My wife and I spent several won- at DKE. He was intelligent and lik- floor of Morrow our freshman year, Dartmouth; while crossing railroad derful days with Philip and Suzanne able, had a good sense of humor and and, while memories can be slippery tracks, He was awakened by a train to in Rome in 2006. Perhaps the first loved to laugh. We spent many hours things when looked at 56 years later, see its light bearing down upon him. classmate I met at Amherst, he was together, along with other friends, I remember a bright, engaged person Harry practiced law at the St. Paul a brilliant man whose scholarship either discussing serious issues or who enjoyed some antics but seemed law firm of Stringer & Rohleder for will be a lasting legacy to music and just having fun.” —Terry Segal ’64 , serious about the intellectual side of more than 40 years, specializing in opera. I will miss his personal notes Ray Battocchi ’64 our daily pursuits. probate and litigation. He served as and his friendship. For other tributes, Brian always sought the interest- mayor of the city of Afton, Minn., in see www.amherst.edu/amherst-sto- ing challenge—the challenge that the early 1970s. Harry was an avid ry/magazine/in_memory/1962/phil- David Pellegrin ’64 might bring an additional insight tennis and hockey player. His loves ipgossett. —Sandy Short ’62 David Pellegrin, for decades a media or new way of looking at the world. were long walks along the St. Croix institution as chairman and owner of This was true academically as well and Mississippi Rivers, Duluth and Honolulu Publishing Co., died Aug. 5 as personally. I remember that he Lake Superior, where he was a master Theodore Schuker ’62 of cardiac arrest following knee sur- convinced Bill Kates ’65 to join him at skipping stones. After graduation, Ted earned a mas- gery. He was 74. He is survived by his during the summer after freshman He is survived by former wife He- ter’s degree and a Ph.D. in compara- wife, Kathleen; a son, Adam “Konti” year on a drive across the country to lene (Lenie) Smith, whom many of tive literature, then settled in France, Pellegrin; and a brother, Jonathan Alaska, where they fished salmon us remember; daughter Sarah Nei- where he taught at the Sorbonne and Pellegrin. commercially. meyer; sons Slater Tai and Charlie became a highly sought-after free- He was born in Woodstock, Ill., Brian received a doctorate in archi- Neimeyer; and five grandchildren. lance interpreter, working for inter- and had a lifelong ambition to be a tectural history from Harvard and John Turner attended Harry’s me- national organizations, major com- journalist. His dream of becoming was a professor in Paris and New morial service and reports that Sar- panies and European world leaders. a foreign correspondent in China York. Tony Schuman adds: “Brian ah spoke, attesting to the close and Francophile and francophone, world brought him to Hawaii for postgrad- was a longtime professor of architec- wonderful relationship Harry had traveler, violist and pianist, distance uate Asian studies via an East-West tural history at New York Institute of with his grandchildren. —Ted Ells ’61 runner and spiritual seeker, Ted was Center grant, and he later got a job Technology, where he was a beloved far more than the sum of his parts. with the Honolulu Advertiser as an figure. He was widely respected as a His intellectual curiosity and lively editorial writer and then a reporter. scholar, notably of the works of Le Philip Edward Gossett ’62 conversations with friends and rela- In 1977, together with the Wiscon- Corbusier. Philip Gossett died on June 13 at his tives continued until his death from a sin publishing company where his His knowledge of French language home in Chicago. The New York Times heart attack on May 31, 2016. —Sandy father was president and minority and architecture led to his role as described Philip as “a musicologist Short ’62 owner, David purchased the maga- associate editor of l’Architecture whose shoe-leather detective work zine established by King David Ka- d’Aujourd’hui, the preeminent in musty archives and Italian villas lakaua in 1888 as Paradise of the Pa- French architecture magazine, and helped bring long-lost operas back William Jackson Lewis II ’64 cific, and Honolulu Publishing Co. a teaching position at the École Na- to the stage.” William Jackson Lewis II died on was born. tionale Supérieure d’Architecture de Many have said that Philip was the Aug. 19 after a long illness. An obit- Over the years David improved the Paris-Belleville.” world’s leading authority on the per- uary has been posted at www.am- magazine, built circulation, added According to Tony, Brian was a formance of Italian opera. The Uni- herst.edu/amherststory/magazine/ titles and eventually acquired sole scholar of Pierre Chareau, who de- versity of Chicago published Philip’s in_memory/1964/williamlewis. ownership. His staff grew from six to signed the Maison de Verre (“Glass book Divas and Scholars: Performing Terry Segal ’64 remembers, “Bill more than 90. “Dave helped raise the House”), an iconic early modern Italian Opera in 2006, truly a treasure was bigger than life: at 6 feet 4 or 5, bar for journalists in Hawaii,” wrote residence in Paris. Brian played a for opera lovers. with a very athletic build (he was an Richard Borreca, whom David hired significant role in the recent sale of In June, Riccardo Muti devoted the outstanding defenseman on the Am- in the early 1980s. the house to new owners dedicated final series of the Chicago Symphony herst lacrosse team), Bill looked right In 1991, David’s first-born son, to its preservation. “His interests in 2016–17 subscription concerts to ex- out of central casting. He came from George, was killed in traffic at age world culture led to his cofounding cerpts from Italian operatic master- Harlan, a small town in Iowa, where 18. The Compassionate Friends, of Mimar, a magazine devoted to the works and dedicated them to Philip, his father was president of the local a national nonprofit bereavement architecture of the developing world. his late friend and colleague. bank. Not surprisingly, he spent most support organization, provided the He was the author of several mono- Philip grew up in New York City. of his career in banking. After fresh- help David needed, and he became graphs on non-Western architects.” He studied piano at age 5 at Juilliard’s man year, Bill stayed at our house in a volunteer for the group. “He was A resident of Montclair, N.J., Brian preparatory division. At Amherst he Newton as we sought summer em- at one point the president of the na- is survived by his wife, Teresa; two studied physics and math for three ployment. tional board of directors, and he also sons, David and Leith; and a brother, years, changing directions as he ap- Years later, he and his wonder- started the Compassionate Friends Kerry. —Chris Reid ’65 proached his senior year by taking a ful wife, Kathy, came to my house Foundation and was Honolulu chap- year off to study music at Columbia in Gloucester to celebrate my 65th ter leader. … He did it all in memory of University. Returning to Amherst, he birthday. Bill got up and recounted his son.” David was also a jazz enthu- Stephen H. Gunnels ’71 changed his major to music and grad- how he had stayed at our house that siast and drummer. “We went to the Steve Gunnels died June 22 of a heart uated summa cum laude. He earned summer for “two weeks” more than Monterey Jazz Festival every year,” condition complicated by Parkin- his doctorate from Princeton Uni- 40 years ago. My mother, then 87, said Kathleen. son’s. He leaves his wife, Claire; versity and immediately joined the chimed in “Two months, not two Going back perhaps 20 years, three children Patrick, Barbara and faculty of the University of Chicago. weeks.” My sense is she was more he played in a band, the Psyche- Rebecca; and his mother, sister and At retirement, he was both a dis- accurate than Bill. delic Relics, composed of daytime brother. tinguished service professor in mu- Bill was from a solid Protestant professionals and wannabe musi- Steve was proud of being born in sic at Chicago and professor of mu- Midwestern family; his son Chris cians when they could find a gig. Port Arthur, Texas, Janis Joplin’s sic at the University of Rome, Italy. married a Jewish woman who as- —Kathleen Pellegrin hometown. He grew up across the

114 AMHERST FALL 2017 West and Midwest, learning to make home rule for the District of Colum- and hearing about his impressive col- new friends easily. bia. This laid the foundation for a ro- lege football experiences. Mary Carlson I met Steve in Baird’s freshman bust career in urban finance, politics, We can all be comforted that the Mary Carlson died on Sept. 16 after a English course. Baird once printed up governance and economic develop- pain and sadness of saying goodbye long illness. She was 80 and lived in his essay on the dark sun in the Col- ment. to Juice way too soon will ultimately Amherst. She came to the College in lege logo. Steve imitated Baird hilari- He was deputy campaign manag- be replaced by the fond and enduring 1978 and worked as a staff assistant ously and affectionately: “Now, boys er for Harold Washington’s historic memories of a wonderful person, a and admissions specialist in the ad- …” and “Mr. Gunnels, what do you campaign as Chicago’s first black great guy with an infectious zest for mission office. She retired in 2005. mean by that?” I got to know Steve mayor and campaign chair for his life and a passion for the people and She graduated from Upsala Col- better sophomore year in Valentine re-election. things that he held dearest! —Russell lege in 1958 and settled in Amherst and appreciated his empathetic He advised several first-time Af- Isaac ’79 in 1964. Very active in the Lutheran laughter at others’ foibles. During rican-American mayors and was church, she was a member of Imman- our last two years, Steve lived in Phi principal financial adviser to the uel Lutheran in Amherst since 1967, Psi and majored in English. His se- Washington Convention Center Au- Professor John where she held several leadership po- nior thesis with Professor Pritchard thority. In Prince George’s County, Pemberton III sitions. Also an accomplished musi- concerned a Ford Madox Ford novel he was chief administrative officer John “Jack” Pemberton, the Stan- cian, she was a singer and played the (I believe The Good Soldier). and chair of the Hospital Authority, ley Warfield Crosby Professor of trumpet, organ and piano. In fall 1971, Steve married Claire playing a pivotal role in reorganizing Religion, Emeritus, died on Nov. She is survived by her husband, Da- Braunstein (Mount Holyoke ’71). He how healthcare is delivered. 30, 2016. An expert in the art and vid; four children; five grandchildren; graded papers at Harvard Business The highlight of Ken’s life was his rituals of the Yoruba of Nigeria, he a brother; a sister; and many nieces School and sold gold and silver while family. He always felt lucky to have published and lectured widely in and nephews. Claire earned a library degree from met and married Lauren Dugas. He this area. Simmons. He was assaulted in Cam- was very proud of their two sons, Born in 1928, in New Brunswick, bridge in 1976 for wearing a Reagan Evan Joseph Glover and Jonathan N.J., he received a bachelor’s de- Lorraine Tully button. I remember Steve’s deliver- Taylor Glover. gree from Princeton in 1948. He Lorraine Tully died on March 25 at ing gold to a client in a briefcase that My last conversation with Ken was went on to receive a bachelor’s in Mont Marie Health Care Center in was chained to his wrist. when he called in May to wish me a divinity in 1952 and a doctorate in Holyoke. She was 74. She came to In 1978, Steve, Claire and the new- happy birthday. In the end, he was 1958 from Duke University. Before the College in 1978 as the secretary born Patrick moved to Houston. We chiding, encouraging and generous. arriving at Amherst, Pemberton was to the librarian and became the li- kept in touch by mail and very occa- Grateful for all that life has brought an assistant professor of religion at brary’s business manager in 2008. sional visits. In the 1990s, Steve got his way. We will miss him. —Richard Randolph-Macon Woman’s College She retired from the College in 2010. into web hosting early and initiated Ammons ’74 in Virginia. Born in Holyoke, she received her the class’s discussion list, allowing He was a professor of religion at bachelor’s degree from UMass in for new—virtual—friendships. Amherst from 1958 to 1998, serving 2004. She enjoyed spending time Patrick praised Steve’s optimism, Richard J. Kelly ’79 as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor with her family and friends, read- positive attitude, mental toughness Little did I know when I last saw Rich- of Humanities from 1985 to 1998 ing, gardening and traveling. She and unfailing support for family. Af- ard “Juice” Kelly at the celebration of and the Crosby Professor of Religion is survived by two sons and three ter evening dinners, he and Claire the life of Tom Barquinero ’79 that from 1975 to 1998. grandchildren. regularly announced three things ALS would take him from us just over He was an associate fellow at the they were grateful for. a year later. Institute of African Studies, Univer- Amherst was significant in Steve’s Juice was fondly nicknamed by sity Ibadan, Nigeria, from 1981 to Francis “Jim” Osborn life. He was an important part of Coach Ostendarp for his steadfast 1982. He was a visiting research as- Francis “Jim” Osborn died on Dec. 13, my Amherst experience and that and enthusiastic role as manager of sociate, Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in 1986. 2016. He was 85. He came to the Col- of several classmates. He was one the Amherst College football team, During 14 research trips to Nigeria, lege in 1959, joining the buildings and of us, and we will miss him. —Tom which included the daily provision his research continued in Ila Irangun, grounds department, and worked at Smith ’71 of mixing many gallons of “juice” Nigeria. Amherst until his retirement in 1994. to keep the team hydrated! Pemberton served on the board Born in Northampton, he was a U.S. His hyperkinetic enthusiasm for of advisers at the Smithsonian’s Na- Navy veteran, serving in Korea from Kenneth E. Glover ’74 all things Amherst created a larger- tional Museum of African Art. He 1952 to 1954. He enjoyed traveling Ken Glover died July 2 after a long than-life persona that endeared him was consulting curator of African and spending time with his family. battle with pancreatic cancer. At to so many in our college community. art at the Smith College Museum of He is survived by his beloved Dorothy his funeral, George Johnson ’73 de- It was quite common to see Rich in Art from 2000 to 2015. Andrew; a sister-in-law; a nephew; scribed him as: “Smart. Brash. Loy- the stands at many sporting events He chaired the Working Group in a niece; and extended family and al. Funny. Confident. Stubborn—all boisterously leading the cheers by African Studies in the Humanities, friends. the things Amherst thought it taught spelling out AMHERST with his Social Science Research Council/ you. Truth be told, Kenneth was all body. Juice bled purple and white! American Council of Learned Societ- those things long before he came to We became fast friends freshman ies. He also served on the Smithson- Elizabeth “BettyAnn” Kelly Amherst.” year and were roommates at the DU ian/Rockefeller Foundation Fellow- Elizabeth “BettyAnn” Kelly died Ken graduated top of his class at fraternity house sophomore and ju- ship Committee of African Art and Dec. 9, 2016. She came to the College Fairmont Heights (Md.) High School. nior years. on the council for International Ex- in 1977 as a slides curator in the fine He and I were among those to enroll After college, we kept in touch change of Scholars’ Advisory Com- arts department. In 1983 she became in the Common Studies program, the regularly, and while he would always mittee in Religion. the fine arts librarian, and in 1987, last gasp of a core curriculum at Am- enjoy updating me on his investment Pemberton was a longtime mem- she combined that position with head herst. Ken took his studies seriously. banking activities, he really was most ber of Grace Episcopal Church in of circulation. She retired in 1996. He also played basketball and regaled enthusiastic and proudest about up- Amherst. He is survived by his wife, A 1970 graduate of Boston Univer- us with many stories in the Annex at dating me on the growth and prog- Jane; two sons, John Pemberton IV sity, she moved to Amherst with her Valentine. Tom Leach ’74, Ken and I ress of his beloved children: Brian, (Marilyn) and Robert Barker (Kar- family in 1970. She later received her were roommates in Pratt sophomore Meghan and James. He loved to at- in); four daughters, Nanci Church M.L.S. from the University of Rhode year. Joined by Chuck Donaldson ’74, tend their many athletic activities, (Thomas), Susan Winslow (Daniel), Island. we spent many nights strolling into and I’m sure he led the cheers. Debra Reehoorn (Robert) and Lynn In retirement she was active in the town on pizza runs. One of our most enjoyable mo- Barker (Mark); 12 grandchildren; and arts community in and around Am- Ken spent his senior year in Wash- ments together was meeting up with two sisters, Barbara Smith and Jane herst. She is survived by a son, three ington, D.C., and wrote his thesis on his son Brian after an Amherst event Buckley. nephews and four grandchildren.

AMHERST FALL 2017 115 / Creating Connections / Special Section

FINANCIAL AID Expanding Our Reach In 2007 Amherst resolved to replace loans with grants in its financial aid packages. Ten years later, that decision is paying off in spades.

mherst arose out of a spirit of generosity. In the years before its founding, local residents pledged donations to a Charity Fund to support the fledgling College. The pledges came in many forms—from watermelons and turnips, to pennies a week for life, to half a yearly salary—as Amherst’s early patrons gave what they could to make Athe College a reality. Amherst’s mission may have moved beyond “the education of indigent young men of piety and talents for the Christian ministry,” as it was in 1821, but the College has continued to uphold that spirit of generosity throughout its history. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Amherst’s decision to replace all loans in financial aid For Peter Mack packages with grants and scholarships, allowing students to graduate with little to no debt. ’15, Amherst’s diverse student body was a draw and an advantage, because he could hear points of view far different from his own. www.amherst.edu/alumni | [email protected] www.amherst.edu/alumni

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FALL 2017 Today, 55 percent of Amherst students receive College financial aid. Perhaps most important, the policy has been a rousing success in what it has given the College: every marker of student excellence has risen in the past decade.

The policy is only the most re- small liberal arts college—that is aid. The policy has allowed admis- cent step taken to make Amherst need-blind, that has eliminated sion officers to reach populations affordable for a wider range of stu- loans and that meets the full dem- who would not otherwise have had dents. In 1965, the College adopted onstrated need for not only U.S. Amherst in their sights. “When you a need-blind admission policy. students but international ones as can wave a financial aid flag with Twenty years later, “Amherst was well. One key reason the College is that kind of generosity, people pay among the first colleges and uni- able to do this is the extraordinary attention, and I think that’s made versities in the country to reduce generosity of its alumni: as of 2016– a big difference in the kind of stu- the loans for low-income students,” 17, there were 618 dedicated schol- dents now considering Amherst,” says Dean of Admission and Finan- arship funds for 839 students. Fretwell says. cial Aid Katharine Fretwell ’81. In The impetus for the policy came Perhaps most important, the 1999, the College eliminated loans in 2006, when the Committee on policy has been a rousing success for students with family incomes Academic Priorities recommended in what it has given the College: below $40,000 a year. In 2007, the extending outreach to lower-in- every marker of student excellence trustees voted to eliminate them for come students, eliminating loans has risen in the past decade. everyone. and becoming need-blind for in- Ten years in, it’s clear that Am- Amherst now meets 100 percent ternational students. In “an expen- herst’s more diverse student body of a student’s demonstrated need sive decision to be made at a critical is a draw and an advantage. This without the use of loans. Some stu- time,” as Fretwell puts it, the faculty was certainly true for Peter Mack dents still choose to borrow to fund approved all of these initiatives, and ’15. A Cape Cod native who came other expenses or as part of their the College decided to increase en- from Tabor Academy, Mack learned family’s share of tuition. rollment to help achieve them. about Amherst “accidentally,” and While Amherst is one of 16 U.S. Those decisions have paid off. it was love at first sight. He made Silvia Wu ’11 institutions with such a policy, it Last year, 55 percent of Amherst friends quickly, and they made says Amherst is one of only four—and the only students received College financial his experience. “The opportunity gave her the opportunity to take classes and pursue careers that ﬁt her particular interests. She is now a lawyer.

Photographs by Jimell Greene

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FALL 2017 / Creating Connections / Special Section

to hear points of view that are so grounds—whether you’re middle- funded her internships in India and drastically different from mine, class or from a working-class back- Costa Rica and her semester abroad whether it’s because the person ground like I was—the opportunity in Paris. That Amherst subsidized came from Asia or Africa, or Califor- to experience a liberal arts educa- more than just her tuition allowed nia or Florida, or because their fam- tion.” This opportunity otherwise Crook to think more globally. ilies are made up differently, was in- might have been unaffordable. Now, Crook is in her third year of valuable,” says Mack. At Amherst, “So I’m grateful,” she says. “I teaching math at a bilingual school he joined the squash team, majored could take classes that were inter- in southern Thailand. While she in history and wrote a thesis on de- esting to me and pursue careers and originally considered teaching as a segregation and urban planning. professions that fit my interests.” A temporary occupation, she is now Now a consultant with Censeo in recent graduate of the University of pursuing certification, with the Washington, D.C., Mack wishes he Virginia School of Law, Wu is a new goal of eventually working in an had more opportunities in his day- associate at Covington & Burling in international school abroad. to-day life to engage with others the Washington, D.C. “Because I was able to leave col- way he did at Amherst. For Mari Crook ’13, Amherst was lege basically debt-free, I don’t feel Silvia Wu ’11 came from a large an option only because of the fi- as much pressure to make money high school in San Francisco. Her nancial aid package, which made right away,” she says, “The fact that two priorities for college were that the College more affordable than I don’t have loans made a big im- it be far from home and small. Wu the University of Illinois, where she pact on what I thought I could do calls her experience at Amherst would have been an in-state stu- after college.” “eye-opening,” and the opportu- dent. She was impressed with the Crook plans to stay longer in nity to freely explore her academic interest Amherst took in her, begin- Thailand, where she now teaches interests was paramount. ning with flying her to see the cam- all of the math classes at her little Amherst was “I am thankful for the financial pus once she’d been accepted. That school. “I really love it here,” she an option for aid package,” Wu says. “It gives sense of care continued throughout says, “and I don’t think my work is Mari Crook ’13 students across different back- her time at Amherst: the College done yet.” k only because of the ﬁnancial aid. Her ability to graduate without loans had a major impact on her career choice.

Photograph by Paul Elledge www.amherst.edu/alumni | [email protected] www.amherst.edu/alumni

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FALL 2017 THE NUMBERS

Sources of Financial Aid Amherst is need-blind in the admission process, does not package loans and meets the full demonstrated need for all students regardless of citizenship.

Amherst 2016–17 Financial Aid Budget

$50.9 million, or 90%, of Amherst’s financial aid budget is from College grant funds. 90%e$50.9 million THIS INCLUDES:

t At Amherst, students can graduate debt- free. In many $15.3 million cases, this ɑFinancial ຠ from endowed opens up their career options. Aid Facts and current-use scholarships

$35.6 million from unrestricted sources 55% And the rest? $3.12 million, or 5.5%, comes from federal, state and private scholarships and grants.

55%ȧ of students received need-޼ based financial aid in 2016-17. $1.7 million comes from student employment. The average Amherst aid package was $51,775. $1.04 million comes from 618 scholarship funds provided aid to 839 students. other sources and can include loans that students (rather than the College) initiate. 119 Amherst

FALL 2017 XXCONTESTXX PICTURE IT

BY DAVID E. LITTLE, Director and Chief Curator, Mead Art Museum

At the Mead, we like to say that while others reveal how artists our collection spans continents YOUR CHALLENGE: grapple with the beauty and and centuries: here you can find wonder of nature. Art helps stu- For these three objects in the Mead’s more than 19,000 cultural arti- collection, identify the time period in which dents contemplate the picture of facts from Africa, Asia and the each was created; the medium; and what human activity through the ages, Americas, as well as European it depicts (for #2 and #3) or what 19th- providing clues and context for and Russian art, representing century French painting it references (#1). grand historical events and offer- Send your answers to magazine@amherst. thousands of years of history. In edu or Amherst magazine, Box 5000, ing glimpses of everyday lives. fact, our collection is a physical Amherst MA 01002. Anyone who answers At its core, the Mead’s collection link with human history, or at correctly will be entered to win one poster tells us about ourselves: where least a portion of it. Some works of a Mead artwork. Details about the three we’ve come from, how we’ve demonstrate how people ate food objects will appear in the next issue. changed (or not) and where or decorated drinking vessels, there’s room to improve.

a1 a2 a3

XXLAST QUARTER’S ANSWERSXX

BY CATHERINE SANDERSON, Manwell Family Professor in Life Sciences (Psychology), who wrote the psychology contest

a1 Why do Olympic bronze medalists show a3 Why do couples who meet online experi- pitches on hot days (August) than on cooler ones higher levels of happiness than Olympic silver ence higher levels of marital satisfaction (May), especially when more of the players on medalists? This finding is explained by coun- than couples who meet in more traditional the pitcher’s own team have already been hit by terfactual thinking, meaning people’s tendency ways? Although research finds that couples who the opposing pitcher (which suggests that retali- to reflect differently on an outcome depending meet online have happier marriages and are ation is a driver for aggression). on how easily they can imagine a different out- less likely to get divorced, the specific factors come. Silver medalists can easily imagine doing that explain this finding are still under debate. a5 Why do college students who take notes just a bit better and winning a gold; bronze med- One possibility is that couples who meet online by hand perform better on exams than stu- alists can easily imagine doing just a bit worse are more motivated to get married (they’ve in- dents who take notes using a laptop? Research and not winning a medal at all. vested time, effort and money in finding a part- shows that students who take notes using a lap- ner). Another is that they benefit from having top tend to transcribe lectures verbatim rather a2 Why are people who get hugged regularly access to a larger number of potential dating than processing information and reframing it less likely to develop the common cold—even partners, which increases their likelihood of in their own words. When students hand-write, when they’ve all been directly exposed to a finding the right match. they are engaging in deeper learning and pro- cold virus? Hugging stimulates pressure re- cessing, which leads to better retention of the ceptors under the skin that trigger the release a4 Why are professional baseball players information. of oxytocin. Higher levels of oxytocin lead to more likely to get hit by a pitch in August decreases in heart rate, blood pressure and the than in May? Numerous studies demonstrate WWW.AMHERST.EDU/MAGAZINE: stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine. that as the temperature increases, so does the A selection of responses from Higher levels of oxytocin also lead to improved incidence of aggressive acts, including mur- readers who correctly answered the immune function, which in turn increases the der, rape, domestic violence and assault. In psychology questions ability to fight off a cold. turn, batters are much more likely to get hit by

120 AMHERST FALL 2017 WHO WERE YOU AT AMHERST?

z z

8 a.m. 1 p.m. You woke up in: You ate at Valentine and had:

a. Stearns Dorm a. pheasant under glass (or was it b. Deke House mystery meat?) c. the Zu b. cheesy potato soup d. Frost Library (because, you know, c. buffalo chicken your thesis) d. Lucky Charms z z

8:30 a.m. 4 p.m. You changed into your: You wrote a paper on your:

a. Brooks Brothers jacket a. papyrus scroll b. Nehru jacket b. manual typewriter c. Laura Ashley dress with the stuck “e” (the horror) c. Apple IIe d. skinny jeans d. laptop z z

11 a.m. 8 p.m. You took a class with: You went to:

a. Professor Baird (who crawled in a. sing with the Zumbyes through the window) b. practice for the Amherst-Williams b. Professor Olver game c. Professor Corrales c. grab a slice at Antonio’s d. Professor Jaswal d. work in the lab (ah, formaldehyde)

Whenever you were at Amherst, whatever you did at Amherst, wherever you are now... Your gift of any amount makes an Amherst education possible for students today. Please consider a gift to the Annual Fund. Visit https://engage.amherst.edu/give/ or call 413-542-5900. Amherst PO Box 5000 Amherst, MA 01002

What was inside? It was a secret, kept even from her. JESSICA BRUDER ’00, PAGE 16

“It’s a mixed set of roads to a very common destination.” VISITING PROFESSOR RAY SUAREZ, PAGE 9

“It’s not an easy situation. They're running out of drinking water.” EVA CORDERO ’18, PAGE 6

“The leaves, though little time they have to live, / Were never so unfallen as today.” RICHARD WILBUR ’42, PAGE 36