Class Notes

July/August 2018

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.

The Spring golf outing at the Yale Golf Course took place on May 10, well-organized, as usual, by Neil Hoffmann. Neil took the occasion to express his appreciation for the support he has received since his cancer treatments: “My heartfelt gratitude goes out to each of you who made this journey of recovery possible by your caring.” Chris Getman was unable to attend, but he continues to recover from his open-heart surgery in March. Chris attended the dinner at Mory’s where he cross-examined the golfers on their performance. Chris added: “Facts describing the event are guaranteed to be fallacious!” John Evans reports that 12 classmates (24 travelers) have signed up for the Canadian Rockies railroad trip in July 2018. There is still time to join this spectacular mini-reunion. You can find details on our Class website in Events. Pete Putzel announced that there will be a Class luncheon at the Yale Club of NYC on June 26, the final luncheon before the summer hiatus. All classmates and guests are welcome to attend; just confirm with Putzel. Tony Lee and Jon McBride, the co-chairs of our 55th Class Reunion, will be attending the Class of 1963 reunion this year as observers. Planning for our reunion next year, May 30 – June 2, is well underway. Sam Calloway is organizing an Attendance Committee.

The cover story in the May-June issue of the Yale Alumni Magazine features our honorary classmate Jock Reynolds, the outgoing director of the Yale Art Museum, in “A Farewell Tour.” Earlier this year, Jock also gave a presentation at the Yale Club of New Haven about the development of the West Campus. In his new book and HBO documentary, The Restless Wave, Senator John McCain calls the decision not to pick Joe Lieberman as his running mate “another mistake that I made in my political career.” Joe said, “It touched me greatly when I saw this in the documentary.” Joe was also featured on a CBN News special titled “Warring Tribes: How Joe Lieberman is Fighting for Unity in Divided America.” Joe’s 50th Reunion panel-mate, John Ashcroft, spoke at the Kennedy Political Union in April about national security and liberty.

Last February, Jon McBride was the finalist in the Men’s 75+ Hardball Squash Singles National Championships played at the Harvard Club in NYC. In March, Sam Francis and Bobbie took a vacation in Hawaii on Kona. In the March-April issue of YAM (page 4), there was a query about a certain fire-hydrant statue that appeared at The Game last November. Careful readers of Class Notes will know who was responsible. In the March-April issue, we welcomed Rolf Dumke back to the Class of 1964. Rolf has already engaged Nortin Hadler, Neil Hoffmann, George Pickett, and other classmates in email exchanges about the obesity epidemic in America. Rolf asked, “What is the cause of this trend? asks this perplexed US resident of Bavaria.” David Sherman added this about Nortin Hadler: “Nortin has done so much for medicine, science, and the good of humanity. Well done Nortin!” Jamie Park emailed: “A CD of representative musical compositions of mine from the past 30 years has recently been released. It is called, James Park: Solos and Duets.” You can download it at Amazon and iTunes.

Pat Caviness emailed: “Frederique and I have decided to downsize on Koh Samui, so we’ve listed our beautiful Frangipani Villa (there is a video tour on YouTube). We’ve found a really cute beach cottage about 5 miles away, so we can maintain our island lifestyle.” In June, Pat and Frederique will make a 3½ month trip through Europe. In other messages, Pat tagged a Facebook post by David Wyles about California economic and political power. Pat also posted a great photo of Ed Massey and him with the message, “My friend and brother in life, Ed Massey.” Dan Pollack and Nancy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in April. It should be no surprise, then, that they were named “Members of the Month” at their fitness club, Lustbader Center, which posted, “Dan and Nancy consistently make health and fitness a priority in their lives.” Rick Salomon posted, “Break out the bidding paddles,” in response to the WSJ article, “Will the Rockefeller collection be the first art auction to top $1 billion?” In another post, Rick said, “I joined Laura who moderated a panel at a D.C. healthcare conference on big data.”

Marya and Terry Holcombe organized a visit to the Yale Art Gallery for local middle-school kids. Marya reported: “The docent had the kids begging, ‘Can we talk about just one more painting?’” During the Facebook privacy crisis, Douglass Lea posted, “Soon after I created the ACLU Privacy Project in 1971, I was visited by ‘experts’ who wanted to enlist my help in creating an overall metric for personal privacy.” In another post, Douglass announced, “My dog, Soda, dearest of friends and boon companion for all seasons, died on May 7th.” Doane Perry posted about the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice (aka “The Lynching Memorial”) in Montgomery AL. Doane also posted a reminiscence of his Peace Corps assignment in Uganda where he taught history. Last January, Bill Galvin and Ellen traveled to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangkok on a Smith College trip. Bill commented, “Relative to the rest of the world, it’s the US that’s looking more ‘Third World’ each passing year.” Paul Manchester emailed: “Recently, I received an award for 40 years of Federal government service. I’m still working as a Principal Economist at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.” Commenting on a news item that “US college rules outdoor clubs too risky,” Ed Gaffney posted,” I’d have gone crazy at Yale without hiking, camping, canoeing, rock climbing, and spelunking!”

John Wylie and I have exchanged many messages about the association our fathers had with Martin Luther King, Jr. John emailed: “My father, who was a thoracic surgeon at Presbyterian Hospital in NYC, was called in to consult on MLK at Harlem Hospital after he was stabbed.” Jay Huffard emailed: “Kirk and I are spending winters in Delray Beach FL. No more skiing or Yale Club Class lunches in the winter.” Waldo Johnston, another part-time Florida resident, emailed, “In January, I happened upon Martin Padley and Melissa who just became neighbors at Grand Harbor. The same week, Terry Holcombe and Marya came by for a lovely visit. And Jim Heyworth bought a place last year in nearby Moorings. ’64 is going south!” Bill Duesing made a presentation at the First Annual Bob Burns Food Integrity Celebration in Hartford. Bill also attended an event at the Yale Farm which hosted local Connecticut farmers. Bill commented: “It is encouraging to see so many young people serious about growing good food.”

In April, Ed Massey emailed: “Anne and I will be in Santiago, Spain, with Peter Giblin and Mauritza doing our homemade version of Walking the Camino.” Ed also reported: “Anne and I succeeded in selling our CT house. We have moved to Belmont MA, adopting a bit of a vagabond life that will include summers in Drake Island ME.” Dan Berman continues to petition Yale to revoke honorary degrees for Stephan Schmidheiny and Bill Cosby. So far, Dan’s batting .500. Bill Drennen emailed: “I got a note from Sam Deloria who is going to Yale to talk with the Native Americans there. Sam and I will be visiting Carroll Cavanagh in June.”

Following the successful launch of The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, Stephen Greenblatt has released Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics. Alex Beam, in the Boston Globe, said, “Stephen Greenblatt’s ‘Tyrant’ joins this year’s crop of hate reads.” Stephen previewed the book in The New Yorker, with the theme. “How the Bard dealt with despots, in art and in life.” Greenblatt also came in for praise in Forward and at the Newburyport Literary Festival. Ed Massey emailed: “Five Star Publishing has acquired my new novel, Fugitive Sheriff, with a publication date around the time of our 55th Reunion." With his relocation to New York City, Paul Ruden has joined the ranks of Classmate bloggers. His lead blog, “New Yorkers – Hostiles or What?", shares "observations on life in NYC in the autumn of my years.” John Wylie, both author and blogger, has added to his collection with a thoughtful new blog published in The Montreal Review. Ron Parlato commented: “Thanks for this article John, and all that you post. Great stuff!” Lastly, our “newest” Classmate, Rolf Dumke, is also contributing blogs by way of Morris Dean’s blogsite, Moristotle.

We lost two classmates since the previous issue. I was notified by Jon Wallman that Lloyd Kahn died in Albany NY in February. Lloyd was a college educator and wrote a very nice personal essay in our 50th Class Reunion Book. Hoke Henderson died in Columbia SC in April. Before he retired, Hoke was a clinical professor of Pathology. Obituaries of these two classmates are posted on our Class Website.