Class Notes
January/February 2013
by Tony Lavely
At this November writing, we have all just received an email from the Yale Corporation announcing Peter Salovey as the 23rd president of Yale, effective June 2013. Our 50th Reunion in June 2014 will be an early opportunity to hear from President Salovey.
I begin with a summary of classmate gatherings since the last column. Your 50th Reunion Committee met on September 28-29th in New Haven. Our leadership troika — Chris Getman, Waldo Johnston, and Pete Putzel — are doing a splendid job reaching out to all classmates for program themes, speakers, and discussion topics for this milestone reunion. Please let your voice be heard by emailing one of these guys! Tony Lee is doing the heavy lifting of contacting every one of our 839 classmates to break the Yale record of 55% attendance. Another vital endeavor of this reunion is our Class Book. Larry Crutcher is assembling an experienced group of classmate-editors to capture every classmate voice. The work of these reunion committees did not preclude some fellowship at Mory's on Friday night with many staying on for the home football opener on Saturday. For those of you who follow the scores, you will know that the only highlights were for those classmates to whom Chris Getman assigned sideline walks with Handsome Dan XVII (aka "Sherman") including Sam Francis and Ward Wickwire.
The semi-annual Class Golf Outing took place on Friday, October 12th in uncharacteristically good weather. Chris Getman reported: "We started off with 4 foursomes and a twosome waiting for Baxter to arrive to make a final threesome. The foursome of Kalayjian, Truebner, Huffard, and Getman was asked to go last after the others noticed them ordering large bowls of chili for lunch. When Baxter arrived on the third hole, things became very confused, but as a result, a studio from Hollywood sent in a crew to replicate the Three Stooges movie. Of course the Getman foursome won the event at the 19th hole, bolstered by the serious efforts of Toddie Getman and Marcia Kalayjian, who buried a valiant attempt from Rebecca Hetherington to save the day for the foursome of Lee, Evans, Hetherington, and Wilson who claimed that they had the low net." At the October Class luncheon at the Yale Club of NYC, John Evans read a poem in tribute to departed classmate, John Stacks, who had been a regular at the table. The poem is posted as a remembrance to Stacks on our Website.
Steve Norman represented our class at AYA Assembly LXXII in November and filed this report: "Attendees were informed of the many ways Yale Alumni are serving their communities, the University, and the World. Over 4000 alumni participated in the 2012 Yale Days of Service. It was the aspiration of the AYA that the collective talents, skills, and community spirit of the alumni body represented a vast Service Endowment that could rival the university's Financial Endowment in importance." This same weekend, Honorary Classmate David Swensen received the Yale Medal.
Don Edwards emailed: "The Class of 1964 was well represented at Yale's first-ever residential college reunion in October. Kai Lassen, Amy and Bob Rands, and Kathleen and Robert Whitby joined me and several other 60's era alumni for dinner at Mory's on Friday to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the opening of Ezra Stiles and to tour its spectacular renovation."
Here are some notes on upcoming class gatherings. Our annual Class Council meeting will take place on Saturday, February 2nd in Kroon Hall following a meeting of the 50th Reunion Committee on Friday with dinner at Mory's and men's hockey versus Princeton. Dave Sherman emailed: "For any classmates who did time in Pierson with Getman, Jethro Lieberman, Joe Lieberman, Sam Francis, and me, put February 15-17, 2013 on your calendars for the college's 80th anniversary." I add a special shout-out to Jon Auerbach who is undergoing treatments in NYC for lung cancer.
A number of classmates mailed in news with their class dues payments in September. Richard Roskos wrote: "I still work in Dallas, pretty much full time as a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. I still play some full court hoops and have developed a 3-pointer!" Richard Auchincloss lamented: "Why I give to this liberal place, I will never know." In October, Dick Berk gave a lecture at Chicago Ideas week. Our most recent dues tally showed that over 40% have contributed (which includes your subscription to YAM and funds for our 50th Reunion Class Book). It's easy to contribute online at www.aya.yale.edu/classes/dues.
Bill Drennen emailed: "Sam Low and I have recently completed several years service on the Pare Lorentz Committee for the International Documentary Association. Sam and I knew and admired both Pare & Elizabeth Lorentz. After Pare died, we helped establish the fund that awards the best documentary film in his style." Steve Kahn emailed: " I retired as a partner from Weil Gotshal & Manges in NYC in May. I'm now acting General Counsel at 'Save the Children' in Westport, CT and seeing both a completely different way of practicing law and also a wonderful organization. I focus my contributions to Yale on the Forestry and Environmental Studies School that Gus Speth led into the 21st Century. The scholarship we set up there for foreign students has helped fund three Masters Degree recipients, from Nepal, Tanzania and now China."
Steve Feinstein emailed his new email address and commented: "I can now fully appreciate how much the use of email facilitates the performance by the Class Secretary of his duties." Jeremy Wood emailed an informative link (posted in Class News) about progress on Edward P. Evans Hall, a building made possible by the bequest of Ned Evans. Jeremy also emailed a link to a speech made by Chas Freeman, "The American Prospect in Post-Imperial Times," which is also posted in Class News. Jeremy has also been diligently contacting Davenport classmates for the 50th Reunion. Jay Huffard emailed: "Hurricane Sandy was easy on CT compared to NY and NJ, but four homes burned in Old Greenwich. I'm looking forward to the Vail ski season after two years on the sidelines. All body parts seem to work for doubles squash so ever hopeful!" Jamie Park's composition, "River Portrait: Rondout Creek," was recently recorded by pianist Jeffrey Jacob (www.newarielrecordings.org).
Ward Wickwire emailed: "I just returned from Ho Chi Minh City where I made a presentation to an international group of CFOs on cross-border financing. I can’t help but feel that what I saw was what Kennedy/McNamara envisioned when they escalated the war. Interesting too to compare notes with a friend who owns an investment bank in Vietnam. We both had friends/relatives who died in the war fighting on different sides. We completely agreed that the war was a terrible waste." William Greene emailed: " In June I moved from the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine to become the Chief Medical Officer for Loss Prevention & Patient Safety at MCIC, the malpractice and general liability insurer for the schools of medicine of the University of Rochester, Cornell, Columbia, Yale, and Johns Hopkins. After more than 25 years at Stony Brook, the opportunity to work with these excellent centers is both enticing and exciting."
A number of classmates have published new books and these are included on our Website Publications page: Syd Lea, Larry Crutcher, Jethro Lieberman, Chas Freeman, and J. T. Smith.
A year after his passing, I was notified by his widow that Roger Kerley died in October 2011 in Washington, DC. Gerry Shea emailed: " All five of his roommates (Butch Hetherington, Brad Reynolds, Peter Rice, Jim Turchik and myself) attended an outdoor memorial service for Charlie Pulaski in Dennis, MA, on September 8, at the Cape Cod house where Charlie and his family spent their summers. I was asked to give a brief talk about Charlie, and then to lead all those in attendance, over 100 of us, in the singing of 'Bright College Years'. Charlie was an extraordinary man and lawyer, beloved of his family and all of us."