Class Notes

September/October 2008

by Tony Lavely

I begin with some upcoming class events, some already scheduled and others in the exploratory stage. First, Pete Putzel has arranged for a standing Class of 1964 lunch at the Yale Club of NYC in the third floor Tap Room at 12:30 on the fourth Tuesday of every month, beginning on September 23rd. If possible, please e-mail Pete in advance (HPutzel@earthlink.com), but don't hesitate to come at the last minute. Due to the great success of the class dinner last November, Ed Massey, Pete Putzel, and Don Leka are organizing an encore event for Friday, January 30, 2009. It will be held again at the Yale Club of NYC. Program details will be announced later on our Class Web site and via e-mail (to minimize costs). You may have already received a mailing from AYA Yale Educational Travel about an Amazon River Journey, February 13-22, 2009, led by Gus Speth. In the exploratory stage, Chris Getman is looking into a trip by rail through the Canadian Rockies, which he has made before; the tentative timeframe is June 2010. We will be posting information about this trip on the Class Web site to determine classmate interest. Tony Lee and Chris Getman reported that the spring golf outing on The Yale Course was attended by thirteen diehard classmates and "occurred in what was for us ideal weather conditions … tornado warnings and three inches of rain." Afterwards, the drenched but intrepid group gathered at Mory's for the usual revisionist account of golf scores. The full account is posted on our class Web site.

Of course, the biggest class event on the horizon is our 45th reunion in New Haven, now firmly scheduled for June 4-7, 2009. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend as this promises to be our best reunion ever! We hope your spouse/partner will attend, too, as the programming will be highly relevant to important issues in our lives today. In June, several members of the reunion committee attended the 45th reunion of the Class of 1963 for observation and ideas on programming and logistics. Waldo Johnson, our reunion chair, convened a meeting of the reunion committee on Saturday, June 7th for further program development; attending were John Evans, program committee chair, Terry Holcombe, Bill Galvin, Joe Wishcamper, and me. Please check our Class Web site for updates on reunion program planning, and give your feedback as we are still in the planning stage.

Now to some direct news from and about classmates. Tom Morrison wrote, "After many years of entrepreneurial activity, I'm semi-retired and doing angel financial for start-ups … becoming committed to one of them, Qube Learning." In May, I had coffee with Tony Morris in Topanga, CA, for an update on his work in wildfire research. Later, I "cooled off" by taking surfing lessons off Santa Monica Beach with my son, and the next day attended my daughter's graduation from UCLA School of Law. In June, Sam Francis (our dedicated Webmaster) skippered one of his sailing cruises along Croatia's Dalmatian Coast in the Adriatic (www.franciscruises.net). John Scully, a first-time contributor to class notes, wrote from northern New Mexico, "I began a small business collecting, buying, and selling mineral specimens. I spend a lot of time with my new wife; we met on match.com three years ago, and she loves rocks as much as I do." Patrick Caviness, wrote from Koh Samui, "I will be in San Francisco this summer for Louis Bowen's (John Bowen's '63, brother) 60th birthday; then a week of horseback riding in the High Sierras; and finally a trip to Little Rock to see old childhood friends." Patrick hopes to connect with Tom Barton and Bert Cooper in California. Our class secretary, Terry Holcombe, spent a week in the Caribbean in late June. Steve Norman wrote: "Along with Gus Speth and Phil Lochner, in June I participated in the sixth annual Corporate Governance Conference at Yale School of Organization & Management." Chuck Mokriski has "had frequent visits with Ed Massey and his lovely wife, Anne … during which Ed's WSJ editorial page-flavored opinions collide with my own idiosyncratic mix of bleeding heart liberalism and 15th Century Catholicism." Ward Cates wrote about his "annual New Year ski outing with Bill Manuel and Jim Kearney." Larry Crutcher, a champion for our 45th reunion, occasionally sees Len Baker in San Francisco, and said, "I did see Bob Bulkeley, who is engaged in something like his 58th consecutive waterside activity at Camp Pasquaney in New Hampshire." Nortin Hadler sent the New York Times review of his new book, A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America, now posted on our class Web site. Chip Brennan wrote, "In March, I had the good fortune to spend three weeks in Australia with Harry Howell and Barbara." Chip added, "Loring Knoblauch continues to do a terrific job of getting our Chicago-area classmates together; in June, eight classmates had lunch at the University Club." Bob Hetherington wrote "We are leaving for South Africa with our son, Alexander '06, tomorrow morning." Jon McBride sent news from his summer home on Lake Champlain about John Nields, who chaired a fundraiser for the Pro Bono Program in Washington, DC. Dan Pollack spent a week fishing with Bob Hannah at his cabin in Canada, "truly in the middle of nowhere." Dan also sent the Chicago Tribune article that reported the death of John Pont, who coached football at Yale during our time. Pont was responsible for bringing the now-legendary Carm Cozza to Yale, as backfield coach. In addition to chairing our 45th reunion program committee, the peripatetic John Evans spent time with Jon McBride on Lake Champlain, sailed the Adriatic with Sam Francis, and even had time to attend the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Leadership Council meeting in April. I exchanged e-mails with Peter Hutchings about another visit I made to the wonderful Rubin Museum in NYC, where Peter is on the board. Over the July 4th holiday, I bumped into John Wilbur on Martha's Vineyard; no time for a visit as we were running for the ferry. In June, Bob Kaiser wrote an article in the Washington Post, "A Run for the Ages," now posted on our Class Web site. Joe Lieberman wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, "Democrats and Our Enemies," which is also posted on our Web site.

Though the numbers are not final, Ward Wickwire reports that our class has raised over $191,000 from 389 classmates, representing 48% of the class.

With sorrow, I must report on the death of four classmates since the July-August column: Sam Goldberger in March; Robert Charles in April; Jock Mitchell in June; and Strachan Donnelley in July. Obituaries are posted on our Class Web site under "In Memoriam," and I invite you to e-mail me with a remembrance for posting. These men, and other departed classmates will be remembered during our class memorial service at Battell Chapel during our 45th reunion.