Class Notes

September/October 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.

There are numerous events of interest to our Class, past, present, and future. Two Yale national sports championships in recent months elicited lots of enthusiastic comments from classmates, especially those that attended them in person. The men’s lacrosse championship was televised nationally. Nate Norton made it to Foxboro for the semifinal game and commented: “Since I saw Yale win the men’s hockey national championship 5 years ago, could it be that I will witness another one?” Ted Jones and Terry Holcombe attended the semifinal game. Later in the spring, the men’s heavyweight crew won their national championship in New London by beating Harvard. It was live-streamed on Facebook.

Five Class representatives attended the 1963 55th reunion in late May as observers. Reunion Co-chairs Tony Lee and Jon McBride were joined by Chris Getman, Terry Holcombe, and Jan Truebner, who is leading the effort to invite widows of Classmates (whose reunion costs will be paid by our Class). Jon McBride extended his role by serving as “Rent-a-Whiff” to the ’63 Whiffs in Southern Vermont and at their reunion. At this writing, we are optimistic that all our Whiffenpoofs will attend our 55th next May 30 - June 2, 2019. I have already heard from over 40 classmates who are planning to attend. Chris Getman has booked Mory’s for dinner on Wednesday night, May 29 for early arrivals.

At this writing in July, 25 classmates and friends are attending the tour of the Canadian Rockies by train, organized by John Evans. Commentary and photos will be posted to our website at the end of this trip. The June Class table at the Yale Club of NYC had to be cancelled due to renovations at the Club. Pete Putzel announced that the first luncheon after the summer hiatus will be Tuesday, September 25, and each fourth Tuesday thereafter. Contact Pete if you want to be put on the invitation email. Neil Hoffmann has announced Thursday, October 11, for the fall Class Golf Outing on the Yale Course. Contact Neil if you would like to attend. During Princeton weekend in early November, Don Edwards, as our AYA Class representative, will attend the AYA Assembly and post his always informative report. On November 17, The Game between Yale and Harvard will take place in Fenway Park, Boston, a bucket-list opportunity, no doubt.

The have been three News items posted to our website since the previous column. Cara Donovan, the summer intern we sponsored at Urban Resources Initiative, compiled (with Sam Francis’ assistance) a very interesting audio-visual report about her forestry and community work in urban New Haven in 2017. Tom Barnard developed a very informative audio-visual presentation of a talk on global warming that he has previously given. This is a theme of special interest to our Class, so it is no surprise that numerous classmates weighed in with praise. Neil Hoffmann emailed: “It’s great to see two of my smartest friends (Tom and Sam) working to make the story of climate change more accessible to the lay person.” On a related note, Edward P. Evans (Ned Evans) Hall recently received LEED Gold Certification. If you visit another certified Yale building, Kroon Hall (Rick Kroon), be sure to look at the lovely Kroon Hall Pond that looks like a Monet painting. Another Yale-New Haven organization that our Class has supported had a milestone year. Squash Haven Director Julie Greenwood wrote, “We continue to be heartened by the generosity of 1964 classmates in support of aspiring young students in New Haven. In this our tenth year, we saw our first class of squash players graduate from college with two collegiate #1s and a High School All-American.”

Sam Low posted: “On this Memorial Day, I would like to thank the US Navy for providing me with one of the most seminal experiences of my life as an officer in the Gulf of Tonkin.” Sam also posted his recollections of filming a PBS Nova Program, Fast Cars, at the Indy 500. In April, the NY State Senate passed a resolution (echoed by Governor Murphy) “recognizing Angus Gillespie for his many years of service to the New Jersey Folk Festival at Rutgers.” It was too late for the July column, but Angus added: “Please be sure to watch the upcoming PBS July broadcast of ‘10 Modern Marvels,’ featuring Professor Gillespie as an expert on the Holland Tunnel.” In April, Pete Putzel took a safari in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana, and emailed: “This trip is a must!” Dick Berk spoke at one of the graduation ceremonies at UPenn (where his son just finished his sophomore year). As a career criminologist, Dick’s central message was “Facts matter.” Joe Wishcamper posted a photo of Mac Deford and him on a Patagonia fishing trip in April. Andy Harris and Tony Lee exchanged moving emails about the Vincent Scully memorial service. Andy added: I’m on the verge of retiring from Oregon Health & Science University.”

Pat Caviness and Frederique are on a 3-month tour of France, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, and Germany. I could fill this column with his interesting posts and photos (but I won’t). One of his more memorable lines was: “It’s easier in the tropics to park your shoes at the door, because it’s customary and sanitary. Since I’m from Arkansas, some of my friends thought I was reverting back to my hillbilly ways.” Terry Holcombe emailed: “Ted Jones and I toured the ‘new’ New Haven in June, including the 1964 Gate. Ted joined Marya and me to pull a shift at the Sunrise Cafe, a local homeless shelter that feeds 170 people every morning.” Ted also attended the Stanford Sierra Conference Center in June. Paul Ruden posted: “My wife persuaded me to join her at the Stephen Colbert CBS Late Show in June.” Candy posted a photo of Waldo Johnston in his new “farm” pickup truck, but later confessed: “Waldo took me on a farm tour in his new 4-wheel truck, but we got stuck. Fortunately, the tractor pulled us out!” Waldo (avoiding the incident) added: “I had a nice talk with Al Rossiter on my birthday.” Jock Reynolds, an honorary classmate, was honored by the Yale Art Gallery on his retirement, for his “transformative 20-year tenure.”

Bob Musil and Caryn celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Prague and Nuremberg. Rick Salomon was awarded an honorary doctorate by Rockefeller University in June; Larry Lawrence posted, “Very impressive and well-deserved, Dr. Salomon!” Bill Galvin was tagged in a celebration at the World Affairs Forum. Tracy and Ward Wickwire traveled to Peru on a Yale trip to visit the Amazon headwaters and Machu Picchu. Ward emailed: “The Yale faculty were key negotiators in the long-contested return of artifacts.” In June, Ed Gaffney posted, “We voted early before going on an Alaskan cruise.” During the cruise, Ed posted great views of Mt Denali. Jim Baxter emailed: “We have escaped from Mexico and are setting in Atlanta. I’m planning to start a practice in mediation and arbitration.”

Pete Putzel notified me that Bob Buchanan will be honored by the Urban Land Institute in November with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Washington D.C. Chip Brennan took a fishing trip to Canada in July. Stories to follow. Douglass Lea posted: “I’ve just been informed that capitalism doesn’t care about you, me, the planet, the future, or democracy.” In another post, Douglass wrote: “The crowning mercy of human relations is that we don’t know what other people are really thinking about us.” Ed Gaffney posted: One of Calvin Coolidge’s quieter legacies was the Native American Citizenship Act of 1924, wherein all Native Americans were granted US citizenship.” In June, Bill Lear was tagged in a post at a special Harvard Business School event in Chicago. Marya and Terry Holcombe attended a special concert of the Renaissance Singers (from a charter school in Boston) on Beinecke Plaza. Marya said: “Their theme song was, ‘If you never quit the race, you always win!’”

If you’re following classmates who are still publishing, recent activity could hardly evidence more vitality. Stephen Greenblatt’s recent book, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics, got glowing reviews in the New York Times Book Review and in his hometown Newton Tab (MA); both reviews are posted on our website. Bill Drennen published a new book reflecting his West Virginia roots, titled Kanawha Salt: The Stories of Jesse Cox. Not yet published is a comprehensive publication co-authored by Nortin Hadler (who recently attended his 50th reunion at Harvard Medical School) titled Promoting Worker Health, A New Approach to Employee Benefits in the Twenty-First Century. Nortin circulated a draft for commentary to Len Baker, Paul Balser, Neil Hoffmann, and me. Neil commented: “The insurance industry knows that without radical change the system is doomed.” I close this section about classmates who are publishing by commending to you four of our most active bloggers: Ron Parlato, Paul Ruden, John Wylie, and Jim Rogers. It is no exaggeration to say that I could fill this entire column just with the blog titles they post every two months. I dare you to inspect some of those titles on our Class website without wanting to read more. You probably won’t agree with everything they write (I don’t), but the diligence and cogency of their writing is superb.

We lost two classmates since the previous column. Marty Munn died in NYC on March 21st, as reported to me by Bam Alling. Bam is trying to get an obituary from Marty’s family, and it will be posted when we receive it. Bill Duesing, a powerful advocate for the environment and a regular at Mory’s classmate lunches, died in Connecticut on July 12; his son Daniel posted the news on Bill’s Facebook page where Bill had previously written in early June: “My sole regret is that I leave this Earth having only partially completed the transition to a solar-powered society grounded in organic agriculture.” In June, Bill attended the wedding of his son Daniel. Three classmates commented on deaths that had been previously posted. Jon Wallman wrote a very nice remembrance of Lloyd Kahn (2018). Tony Lee forwarded a special remembrance of Bill Turnage (2017) that was published in SF&ES Canopy magazine. John Gross wrote a personal remembrance of Bill Stage (1991). Classmates are always welcome to submit remembrances for posting on the In Memoriam page.