Class Notes

July/August 2016

Note: Classmates' names in gold font are links to a pre-addressed email form (if your browser is properly configured). Other links (underlined) take you to more information about the topic. A shorter version of these Notes is published in the Yale Alumni Magazine.

As I write this column in early May, the exhilaration of Yale’s win over Baylor in March Madness has faded, and we are digesting the announcements of the “Name Game”: Calhoun, Master, Murray, and Franklin. I’ve already heard from many classmates, and opinions vary widely. Terry Holcombe reported: “The 1964 Gateway will be an entrance to the newly named Benjamin Franklin College. We plan to dedicate the Gateway at a mini reunion when the colleges open in the fall of 2017 or at our 55th reunion in 2019.”

Sam Low posted: “The Hokule’a will be arriving in New York Harbor on June 8th. The Liberty Challenge will feature the Polynesian ocean voyaging canoe, Hokule’a, at Hudson River Park Pier 26 on Saturday, June 11th.” Pete Putzel emailed: “We had a record turnout at our Yale Club of NYC luncheon on April 26th. There was rampant speculation about the names of the two new residential colleges, with Bob Kaiser proposing ‘Kingman Brewster College.' John Ogilvie spends winters in Argentina and summers in New England; Jay Huffard just got back from several months in Vail; Jim Baxter is threatening to move to Mexico; Edward Massey may do the same if the Democrats win, and others will do the same if the Republicans win; Robert Whitby recovered from his recent illness and is in fine fettle.” Tony Reno (Honorary) is appearing in Chicago on May 5th to profile his new recruits. Dan Pollack reported: “Yale leads 2016 FCS recruiting ranking.”

Sam Francis and Bobbie, and Tony Lavely and Wanda, scouted out locations in Atlanta for the Civil Rights mini-reunion in April 2017. Sam commented: “The new National Center for Civil and Human Rights is something everyone of our generation should experience.” Tony added: “Beyond the sobering aspects of the Movement, Atlanta offers exceptional cultural experiences in art, theater, music, and food.” Another enthusiast for this gathering is Howard Gillette, who said earlier: “Civil Rights was one of the defining themes of our lives, and it continues to evolve. Atlanta has more history and culture of the Movement than any place else.”

Neil Hoffmann emailed: “Karl Ziegler is organising an end-of-May gathering of classmates and spouses at the Queen's Tennis Club in Baron's Court; he has asked me to help with contacting and keeping track of those who would like to join. The proposition is for a "no-host" dinner the evening of Thursday, May 26th.

The Class News section of our Class website captures eight new articles about classmates:

Gene Van Loan wrote an article, titled "Limited to Defeat," about President Obama’s foreign policy.

Right on the cusp of the last column, Yale defeated Baylor in March Madness. Three 1964 members of the 1962 team (the last Yale team to appear) attended the game: Dave Schumacher, Dennis Lynch, and Rick Kaminsky, as reported in Business Insider (there’s a great photo of the guys in the article). Chris Getman was there, too, and added: “Our boys showed real courage and grit. Yale had a great winter: National champs in squash, Ivy champs in men’s hockey and basketball.” Of course, I was accused of Anglicizing my name (and switching classes) from Tony Lavelli ’49 whose scoring record was broken in that game. Tony Lee added: “Maybe this can be my next great conspiracy theory!”

Neil Hoffmann has been named to the Class Council replacing Gus Speth who resigned.

David Swensen (Honorary '64) was recognized for his investment prowess and influence in shaping the Yale portfolio to address climate change.

Bob Kaiser and Stephen Greenblatt appeared together on the front page of New York Review of Books (a Class and perhaps a Yale first).

Jim Burdick released a new book, Talking About Single Payer, which envisions a common-sense national health program

Nortin Hadler was interviewed by Boston’s NPR News. The program was titled "Saving the Doctor-Patient Relationship."

Russell Sunshine has published a new book, Far and Away: True Tales from an International Life.

The current political season surfaced an article from 2000 about Joe Lieberman as a candidate in both the Presidential campaign of that year and his earlier election against Bob Kaiser at the Yale Daily News. Paul Steiger, then the managing editor of the WSJ, was quoted as saying "Joe was the clear choice [as YDN chairman]."

Douglass Lea posted: “’Money makes you stupid’ is the title of my magnum opus in which I prove the accumulation of wealth turns an otherwise normal human being into an ignoramus.” The Class of 1959 emailed to thank Sam Francis for assisting them in the design of their new Class website (Note to Sam: In the future, we need to be paid in Memorial Bricks!). Jim Rogers appears in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest motorcycle journey.

Chuck Mokriski was recognized again by Yale for underwriting the Mokriski Scholar Fund for a current undergraduate, who happens to be the first in his family to attend college. Patrick Caviness, global citizen, began a tour of New Zealand in a camper van during March: “When I was growing up, I dreamed of doing this!” Sharing in Patrick’s updates, Francis Snyder commented: “Enjoy the long road ahead. I’m nearing the end of radiotherapy and will leave in April for two months in China.” Facebook friends can follow Patrick’s travels panning for gold in the Arrow River, climbing Fox Glacier, and walking through the Moeraki Boulders. See some photos of Pat's trip in his photo gallery.

A number of classmates commented on recent college sexual assault cases. Dick Berk emailed: “I don’t recall this kind of predatory behavior when we were at Yale.” Dick added: “Go see the movie, Hunting Ground, to see what this is about.” Caviness added: “When I got to U Penn, I was happy that there were women on campus.” Tony Lee circulated an article among classmates, The Rise of American Authoritarianism, and commented: “Outsized fear of threats is the driving force.”

Bill Reichardt ’66, emailed: “Gary Bayer of your Class is an extraordinary person who has had Huntington’s Disease for a number of years. I know he would enjoy hearing from his classmates: (408) 280-2505 and email. Waldo Johnston and Candy met Sam Low’s Hokule’a as it made port in Florida in April. Waldo emailed: “Aloha Sam! Hokule’a is still in Stuart. Candy and I have invited the crew to come to the Loggerhead Marina at Grand Harbor.” Paul Manchester tried to walk back his quote in the last column about the 1962 NCAA Tournament: “That quote about Dave Schumacher’s missed foul shot originated with Leon Sigal. I sure hope it’s accurate since Dave is still a big guy! This is the worst trouble a classmate has gotten me into since Bob Post locked us out of our Bingham Hall room during the snowstorm of 1961.”

Sam Francis will be tracing Odysseus’ journey through the Ionian Islands off the west coast of Greece (Corfu and Ithaca), in late May/early June. Edward Massey and other classmates have seen and raved about Hamilton, the Musical. Tony Lee will see it in May on Margie’s 70th birthday. I will beat him by a few days on May 9th. Our wives are accusing us of becoming “rap heads,” with our car speakers vibrating as we cruise the neighborhood! Chris Getman did his 30th walk for MS in April (Chris is the top fundraiser in CT), and reported: “There’s a promising new drug in the pipeline. It’s heartening to know that the money we’ve raised is helping progress to be made.” In April, Tony Lavely was interviewed for a Yale Daily News article about alumni giving: “Negative publicity for Yale has a negative impact on donations. Conversely, positive news like athletic success or high investment returns can spur alumni giving. [Brilliant, right?]”

Douglass Lea posted a throw-back to his time as counsel on the Senate Subcommittee for Constitutional Rights: “I never bothered with climbing a career slope; just hopped around to whatever interested me at the time.” After the win over Baylor, Douglass asked: “Anybody betting the mortgage on the Bulldogies taking it all?” Doane Perry posted: “Harvard Law School to abandon crest linked to slavery.” Kip Burgweger posted (past and present) an old newspaper article about his exploits as a halfback at Sycamore High School and photos of rock cairns at Tod’s Point in Greenwich CT.

Bill Duesing posted: “More really bad news for the environment. We can see this already with drier springs and milder falls here in CT.” In a more optimistic post, Bill added: “I’ll be back along the Quinnipiac River in CT with a group of high-school students who have been reading my essays.” The theme of environmental care and concerns has appeared frequently in classmate messages over the years. Ed Gaffney added: “Given that the current rate of carbon release is unprecedented throughout the Cenozoic, we have effectively entered the era of a no-analog state.”

Bob Hilgendorf posted: “Ling and I are on an around-the-world trip — Cape Town, Namibia, and Australia.” Dennis DeSilvey replied: “Safe travels and hopefully we’ll see you soon.” Terry Holcombe and Marya posted: “We took a tour of Rudyard Kipling’s home: “Kipling was totally misunderstood and maligned unfairly.” Fred Hornbruch posted photos from a Golden State Warrior game in March. Dan Pollack took a class on juggling (too much free time?) and Nancy posted: “He’s been practicing and teaching the grandkids.” David Wyles regularly adds his voice to the groundswell of concern about our environment: “If you dig deep enough into the Earth’s climate-change archives, you hear about the Palaeocene-Ecocene Thermal Maximum … and then you get scared about what humans are currently doing.” Phil Anderson emailed: “My son, Mike, was saluted at the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals game, April 28th. Mike had just returned from a year deployment in Afghanistan.”

As reported in Class News, Russell Sunshine has published a new book, Far & Away: True Tales from an International Life. Bob Musil was lauded in a glowing review by The Natural History Society of Maryland for Rachael Carson and Her Sisters: “The nation would indeed be a far superior place if it were more informed by Musil, Carson, and her extraordinary ‘sisters’ than by the noise of shills, exploiters, polluters, strong-armers, and cranks. Everyone should read this book.” Jim Burdick has published a new book, Talking About Single Payer: Health Care Equality for America. Sam Low’s film, The Navigators, was screened in April at Martha’s Vineyard Film Center, anticipating the arrival of Hokule’a there this summer. Hawaiki Rising is now in its fourth printing. Fred Hornbruch emailed: “Thanks for including two of my books on our Class Website. I have more coming in 2016.” David Plimpton was the first to call attention to the “Daily Double” classmate feature on the cover of NYRB; classmates should read Stephen Greenblatt’s article: How Shakespeare Lives Now and Bob Kaiser’s book review, The Disaster of Richard Nixon.

Ron Parlato posted a blog, “Why Hamilton’s face is on our money, and why it should remain.” Ron also posted a photo of himself shucking oysters on Corrotoman River near the Chesapeake Bay. Ron exchanged posts with the other most active blogger in our Class, John Wylie, who announced: “New and improved blog coming in April!” One of the first installments of Why We Became Human is: “The Four Qualities That Make a Good Doctor.” In posting one of his April videos, Jim Rogers characterized himself as: “The bowtie bandit contributes nothing to the planet except maybe hot air.” Chris Getman added: “It’s looks as if he’s wearing a 1964 tie which I gave him at a urinal from around my neck at our 50th reunion. The last time I saw him on TV in a class tie (a blue one) it was upside down. Hard to tell with this one.” David Sherman emailed: “Chas Freeman shared his remarks on the 30th anniversary of Mao's death."

The news of Ward Cates’ death in March came just as the last column was closing. Since then, there has been an outpouring of praise from classmates Dan Pollack, Joe Wishcamper, Waldo Johnston, Nortin Hadler, and Don Edwards. In April, Terry Holcombe emailed: “Classmates Jim Kearney, Bill Manuel, Jim Duderstadt, Steve Feinstein, John Howells, and I attended a memorial service for Ward Cates in Chapel Hill, NC. Ward's many contributions in the field of public health were celebrated by representatives from the CDC, Duke, University of North Carolina, and FHI360, as well as Yale.” The death of Kirkman Jackson in January in Naples, FL, was reported since the last issue. These obituaries may be found on our Class Website at In Memoriam. Please send remembrances if you would like them posted. Also send Memorial Brick donations.