Class Notes

November/December 2011

by Tony Lavely

First, a word of thanks to Howard Gillette who was our guest columnist in the previous issue. It was good to hear some "fresh voices." If you would like to be a guest columnist in 2012, please call or email me. If you haven't seen it yet, there's a nice item on our Class Web site in "Class News" wherein Rutgers honored Howard on his retirement. Howard told me he was going to see Gus Speth and Peter Bradford in Vermont this summer.

This fall at the Harvard-Yale weekend, two of our classmates will be honored by Yale. On Thursday, November 17th, Terry Holcombe will receive the Yale Medal from the Association of Yale Alumni. On Friday, November 17th, Chris Getman will receive the George H. W. Bush '48 Lifetime Leadership Award at the Blue Leadership Ball. Please consider coming back to New Haven on this special weekend to applaud these recognitions of our two classmates.

I am pleased to announce that Steve Norman will be our Class AYA Representative for the next three years. Steve will attend AYA Assemblies and provide reports to the Class on important developments on campus. Special appreciation to Will Elting who served in this role since 2008.

In June, Yale expressed appreciation to both Chuck Mokriski and Jon Leader for their individual and continuing support of Yale scholarships, which this year are supporting members of the Class of 2014. Chris Getman forwarded an article (posted on our Class Web site) in The New York Times about Urban Resources Initiative, our Class environmental cause. Amy Zonar is the recipient of our Class Internship at URI this year, and she will give a report on her summer project at our annual Class Council meeting in February.

John Evans accompanied Sam Francis on his summer sail in the Virgin Islands in June. A recent article by Gus Speth is posted on our Class Web site, "Off the Pedestal: Creating a New Vision of Economic Growth." Patrick Caviness called my attention to a thoughtful article in the May-June Yale Alumni Magazine, "Before Their Time," that evoked memories of Stan Thomas. Loring Knoblauch continues to organize regular class luncheons in Chicago, most recently in July. Another Chicagoan, Dan Pollack, had dinner with Dan Hannah and Mike Mazer on a recent trip to San Francisco.

Tony Morris, through his research organization, and Rick Hatton, with his DC-10 Tanker, were both engaged in fighting the wildfires in Texas this summer. Rick was featured on a recent NPR broadcast. In the face of a volatile summer stock market, Jim Rogers authored a CNBC blog, "Whatever Happens, Commodities Win." Both Pete Putzel and Ed Massey forwarded a luminous article in The New Yorker by Stephen Greenblatt, "The Answer Man," posted on our Class Web site. Stephen informed me that it is a precursor to a new book, as he departed for Cape Town "to see a South African adaptation of a play I wrote ... so altogether this is a good and agreeable busy moment."

The patriotic ballad by John Ashcroft, "Let the Eagle Soar," was rearranged and recorded by singer and songwriter, Angela McKenzie. Patrick Caviness took a 5-week summer "vacation" from his home on Koh Samui and toured Northern California, the High Sierras, and Vancouver, Canada. Along the way, he joined a '63 mini-reunion in San Francisco, at the invitation of Hank Higdon. Pat also had a visit with Tom Barton. Honorary classmate David Swensen wrote a compelling opinion piece in The New York Times, "The Mutual Fund Merry-Go-Round," that is posted on our Class Web site. Bob Kaiser reviewed Dick Cheney's new book in The Washington Post, also posted on our Class Web site. Bob wrote that his new book "is likely to be published early in 2013."

Tony Lee forwarded an email from Wally Winter: "I'm proud to say that between the earthquake and the hurricane, I was one of the 1,252 people arrested in front of the White House," protesting the Tar Sands pipeline (www.tarsandsaction.org). Syd Lea was named Poet Laureate of Vermont with investiture scheduled for November. This honor is described on our Class Web site. Syd has been described as "a man in the woods with his head full of books, and a man in books with his head full of woods." Many of Syd's publications are listed on our Class Web site.

The list of publications (and articles) written by classmates continues to expand on our Class Web site under "Publications." At last count, there were 103 publications, by 43 authors. All have direct links to Amazon for ease in ordering. Recent additions are: Angus Gillespie, The Story of the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels; Joe Lieberman, The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath; Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern.

A shout-out to some of my friends on Facebook (yet another channel for Class news) for their interesting and entertaining posts: Douglass Lea (who seeks the position of "Yale Sterling Professor of Recreational Linguistics"), Ed Gaffney, Bill Galvin, Dennis DeSilvey, Gordon Davis, Jay Huffard, John Howells, John Morrison, Larry Lawrence, Larry Crutcher, Joe Wishcamper, Nancy Pollack, Paul Ruden, Bob Hillgendorf.

Sadly, I report the death of Owsley Brown in late September (see obituary). Owsley was a very supportive member of our class, and we will miss him. I also want to thank Wayne Batcheler for his tireless efforts to research departed classmates to provide obituaries and remembrances on our Class Web site. If you haven't already done so, please consider donating a Mory's memorial brick to honor a departed classmate, We still have a number of unnamed bricks. Chris Getman can provide information on this important cause, or browse to our Class Web site's "In Memoriam" page and see the text box.