Class Notes

November/December 2008

by Tony Lavely

As we approach the holiday season, I want to remind you of the regular monthly lunches at the Yale Club of New York City, organized by Pete Putzel, the fourth Tuesday of every month (no reservation required). Looking to the new year, Ed Massey and Don Leka are organizing another class dinner at the Yale Club of NYC on January 30th. Plans are still developing but we may be entertained by an operatic performance by Bunt McKee. Our annual Class Council meeting, chaired by Terry Holcombe, will take place the following morning. Planning for our 45th class reunion continues apace; check out the reunion updates on our class Website. Waldo Johnson attended a leadership meeting in New Haven in September. Waldo reported that he heard from Charlie Goldman recently.

Bob Musil emailed that he has stepped down as head of Physicians for Social Responsibility after 15 years, and he has a book coming our next June, Hope for a Heated Planet. Joe Wishcamper spent five days in Utah in September at a "Big Mind" workshop with a Zen master named Genpo Roshi. Joe also continues his good work on the board of The Nature Conservancy. If you have interest in speaking at the reunion memorial service for any recently-departed classmate, please contact Joe.

John Boardman wrote: "I returned from the Foreign Service after 36 years; my last assignment was as Deputy Chief of Mission in Hanoi." Denny Lynch wrote that two members of the class competed with him in the 2007 65-and-over national grass court tennis championships: Bob Archer and Bob Hetherington (and Ralph Howe '63). Lawrence Speidell has been doing research for his frontier stock market hedge fund by traveling to Botswana, Uganda, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. Charles Van Tuyl continues to enjoy his work as a psychiatrist and is now working with Native American (Choctaw) people in Oklahoma. Ed Gaffney wrote: "I'm still trying to find a way back west from Iowa."

In September, John Armor was featured in the New York Times wedding pages with his bride Michelle Mead. Dan Pollack wrote that he met with the two sons of Bob Reum who have started a new company to import VeeV vodka from Brazil, also supporting protection of the Brazilian rainforest. Dan also welcomed his third grandchild recently. Bob Sexton has engaged seniors in support of young children: "The Pritchard Committee welcomes the support of the Generations United Seniors4Kids program as part of our work to expand the quality pre-K for Kentucky's children." Ward Cates continues his HIV-related international travel but worries, "We're still losing ground!" Chuck Mokriski has become president of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, a national organization involved in legal ethics ("Restrain your hilarity," he added). Paul Balser continues his work with two good organizations in New York: Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and United Neighborhood Houses. Bob Kaiser has a new book coming our in January about the educational lobbying industry. My apologies to Richard Campbell, Jr., for omitting the suffix on his name in the August-September class notes. His earlier submission included this: "Teaching is not a business; it is a calling and an essential obligation."

In July, I had dinner with John Morrison when he visited Orlando for the National Urban League Conference. Dick Ainsworth lives in the same Cleveland neighborhood as George Humphrey. Given their expertise in the wine industry, I corresponded with R G Hess and Owsley Brown about the new movie, "Bottle Shock," produced by Marc Lhormer '82. Bill Galvin had a great visit with Peter Hutchings at the Rubin Museum of Art. Tom Lovejoy, president of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, has been named the first recipient of the newly created Heinz Center Biodiversity Chair. Joe Lieberman visited Russia and neighboring Georgia before speaking at the Republican National Convention in August.

During an August vacation in Massachusetts, I had a nice visit with Bill Galvin and his wife Ellen to talk about attendance at our upcoming reunion. Later the same week, I had a couple of beers with Tony Lee, admiring the lush gardens in his back yard. I also traded calls with Tony Hubbard who was out of town for family wedding. Then on Cape Cod, I was joined at a Chatham benefit by John Evans, who reported that program planning for the reunion is firming up very nicely.

The excitement of the Beijing Olympics (where six Yale undergraduates competed) reminded me of the performances of our classmates in Tokyo in1964: Mike Austin, and Wendell Mottley.

Several classmates attend the Chicago memorial service for Strachan Donnelley in July. Don Pollack and David Plimpton wrote very moving remembrances. In September, I joined Terry Holcombe and twelve other classmates at a memorial service for Strachan at the New School in NYC. Gus Speth, Chris Getman and Vivian Donnelley (with her five daughters) gave wonderful eulogies that echoed days at Yale and since then with classmates. Among other things, we learned that Strachan was a quiet but major benefactor to the School of Environmental Studies. Please add your own remembrance on our Website "In Memoriam."