Class Notes

March/April 2019

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 closing date for the previous column was shortly before The Game last November. While the outcome was a disappointment, the Fenway Park venue was terrific, and attendance was strong. Unfortunately, Yale didn’t have “a section,” so classmates were scattered all over the park. Chip Thomas, the son of Stan Thomas, was my guest and sat with my family. I know Chris Getman and Edward Massey were there, but never did see them. Many classmates weighed in with posts and emails, too. Patrick Caviness emailed: “It did my soul good to see photos of you at The Game with Chip Thomas.” Waldo Johnston posted: “What a wonderful friendship; you are both blessed.” Rich Niglio added: You guys all look great!” Sam Francis sent a vintage photo of son, Kip, looking out at the Fenway Park field; he called it “Dreams of Glory!” The Game was also the 50th anniversary of the infamous 29-29 tie, and it got almost as much attention as the live game. While Yale was outdone on the playing field this year, Ward Wickwire reported that the Yale Alumni Fund Challenge achieved outstanding results with over $1.5 million raised during the weekend.

In November, Pete Putzel emailed: “At the last minute, I was unable to attend the NYC classmate luncheon, so Tom Trowbridge presided over 7 classmates: “Harry Howell, Jim Mandel, and John Postley are now regulars.” Putzel was back in his chair for the December luncheon, where John Evans gave a discourse on blockchain and bitcoin. Pete added, “We paid rapt attention without anyone understanding a single word.” Edward Massey was having lunch with his son but did make a cameo appearance at the table. From Massachusetts, Al Rossiter reported that 12 classmates attended the luncheon in Waltham. Al added, “We were pleased that Dennis Upper’s widow, Nancy, attended.

I listened to Peter Salovey’s quarterly leadership conference call in November, during which he addressed topics from admissions to faculty diversity and international affairs. I expect we will all hear more on these themes during our 55th class reunion. Speaking of our upcoming reunion, I hope you have been reading the monthly emails coming from Tony Lee, Jon McBride, and others on the Reunion Planning Committee. The golf tournament and memorial service were two recent topics. Everyone is encouraged that as of early January, we have 144 classmates pre-registered towards an expected attendance of 163 classmates. Ron Parlato posted: “The 50th reunion was the most serious, profound, and enlightening event I have attended.” The formal registration package will go out via email in mid-February. If you know of classmates who do not use email, please reach out to them and ask them to call me. We are trying to reach out to surviving partners of departed classmates. If you are still in touch with any of them, please send me their email address. I know Dan Pollack and Nancy have personally invited Sherry Reum and will accompany her to the reunion.

Your Class Council will hold its annual Class Council meeting in February. We will report on that meeting in the next issue.

We have added nine news stories to the Class website since the previous issue. Usually, these are items of interest to classmates and contain more information than we can include in Class notes. Richard Peck shared his reflections on racism in the 1960s. Terry Holcombe shared a vivid memory of George H. W. Bush during the Campaign for Yale in the 1970s. There was an outpouring of remembrances from classmates when George H. W. Bush died. Blaine Krickl sent photos and commentary of a classmate luncheon in London last December: “It was a lively and entertaining interlude with anticipation of our reunion next spring.” Jim Rogers garnered the lion’s share of news, with three separate postings. In one, he was quoted in a New York Times story on the economy. In another he re-directed the spotlight to his two talented daughters. We are most grateful, however, for his generous contribution to our 55th reunion, which will underwrite attendance by the surviving partners of departed classmates and others who may need financial assistance. We also added the text of a speech by Gerry Shea at Yale to a previously posted class-news article. YouTube posted a video of the event, too. Gerry replied: “I also participated on a panel in Salem MA and spoke at the Yale Club of Boston.” Gerry is doing another conference with deaf panelists at the University of Chicago in February. Last October, Pete Putzel collated the personal essays of five of our classmates in the Yale Law School Class of 1968 Reunion Book, and we turned it into a class-news posting.

At year end, two not-for-profit organizations that our Class supports issued strong results. Urban Resources Initiative (URI) planted 500 trees in New Haven and employed 36 high-school students. Contact Mike Price if you would like to learn more about URI. Squash Haven, an organization that supports underserved youth in New Haven at Payne Whitney Gym, reported: “This year we have 14 scholar-athletes competing on collegiate teams, with three serving as captains.” Contact Jon McBride if you’d like to learn more about Squash Haven. January is the peak season for conducting Alumni Schools Committee local interviews. How many have done these over the years? I just did my 200th interview; they are always insightful to the next generation of Yalies!

Last fall, Ed Gaffney posted from Albuquerque: “I took a break from leaf raking today to build a cold frame for the veggies that might winter over. Last winter I harvested broccoli and leeks.” With the Amazon announcement of H2Q, Bob Buchanan’s Montgomery County bid was not selected, but he emailed: “Greater Washington won as a whole.” Mo Dean emailed his group: “I want to have a pedicure for my 76th birthday. I’ve never had one.” Joe Wishcamper answered my query in the previous column about our class cheerleaders. Charlie Crump replied: “All we did in those days was flips and gymnastics. No organized cheers. Our crowd did not want them.” Joe added: “Charlie, I remember your antics on the field. The mascots for the other teams were never safe!” Yale once again thanked Jonathan Leader for the Leader Family Scholarship Fund, which this year supports a student in Branford and a student in Pierson. David Wyles posted a 1968 vintage photo at the American Film Institute: “I’m the one in the flowered shirt and granny glasses.”

Rick Salomon posted from events at Rockefeller University and the American Museum of Natural History. At Thanksgiving, Rick added a great family photo, “Breaking tradition for a smaller crew and no home cooking this year, but so thankful to be with people I love.” Tony Lee toured some of the wonderful civil-rights landmarks in the southeast. With his freshman roommate Frank Franklin, he visited the new Lynching Museum in Montgomery. Later, Tony drove to Atlanta to visit The Center for Civil and Human Rights. He stopped by our midtown home, where he regaled two of my children with his mountain-biking exploits. Frank Basler emailed: “Susie and I had an unusually good fall; twelve days in Italy and then a family wedding where I officiated. I also attended a reunion with three other classmates in Ft. Worth: Don Leka, Dave Lindsay, and our host Richard Morehead. I stayed with John Neill and got to see the grand opening of his newest entrepreneurial venture, an enormous hi-tech car wash.” Sam Low posted the 2,800 mile return of Hikianalia from her tour of the West Coast of the US.

John Moore posed on a Yale Facebook Group about Morse and Stiles residential colleges: “ I watched the two ‘new colleges’ being built and moved into Stiles as a junior in 1962. Have warm memories of my two years there.” Tony Morris emailed about the devastating wild fires in California: “What we have survived has been traumatic. At one point, we were warned via loudspeaker to leave, but I was bedridden with the flu. My wife is a former Israeli Air Force paramedic, so she got me though it.” Howard Gillette was recognized in the Non-Profit Quarterly article titled "Museums, Neighborhoods, and Gentrification: Lessons from the Nation’s Capital." Waldo Johnston was presented a whole turkey for being undefeated in the Tennis Turkey Shoot. Later he was captured in a photo “Happiness is Bosie reading with Rocky (his grandson).” On Thanksgiving Sunday, as I posted from the Atlanta United MLS semifinal game with my son Benjamin, Waldo connected me to his son Cory who is a big Portland Timbers fan. Waldo emailed: “Since you are both entirely engaged in your respective teams, I thought you would enjoy battling it out.!” PS: Atlanta beat the Timbers in the championship! Terry Holcombe and Marya posted photos of some of their volunteer work with Sunrise Café. Sunrise Café was written up in the Daily Nutmeg, New Haven’s events newspaper. Later, they added a photo at another venue: “The sweet little kids of Kurn Hattin Homes wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.”

Douglass Lea posted: “Following Bequia’s first dry season in three years – lasting a little more than six hours – another Biblical rainy season has just commenced.” As the year ended, Douglass posted: “My liege Lord Facebook says I’ve been a vassal for 11 years and offers these images of me as proof.” Rick Salomon showed up in a post at the Metropolitan Opera for La Traviata and then again at the Orange Bowl for Alabama-Oklahoma: “It was great to see incredible athleticism up close.” At Christmas, Candy surprised Waldo Johnston with an “Under the Sea” quilt, apparently his favorite movie. At this year’s Poynter’s Bow Tie Ball, Paul Steiger was recognized as a previous award recipient for his work at the Wall Street Journal and ProPublica, which he founded. Phil Anderson emailed: “My son Mike is currently a colonel in the USAF, as the military attaché to the Indian government. Mike stars in a YouTube video giving great testimony on how to have a successful military career.” I got words of praise and sympathy from Patrick Caviness and Ron Parlato for taking my granddaughters to see the Rockettes this year. Ron wrote: “Went there with my parents every Christmas, a ritual!”

Francis Snyder emailed from China: “Last September, I was awarded the China Friendship Award, which is China’s highest award for ‘foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s economic and social progress.’ The medal was presented by Vice-Premier Liu He.” Doane Perry posted artistic works done by his wife Karen (paintings) and him (photographs) at the Guild of Berkshire Artists (MA). Gerry Shea, hopping from conference to conference, got caught on a miserable Norwegian Airlines trans-Atlanta flight: “Bumpy all the way, very hard seats, undrinkable Prosecco. An airborne 12th Circle of Hell!” Bob Musil was tagged in a post at a holiday performance of Handel’s Messiah at George Washington University Theater. Bill Drennen was tagged in a post making fudge with his whole family and later at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley CA. Dan Pollack and Nancy vacationed in Puerto Vallarta with their family: “We had a fabulous trip. Nothing on our schedules except to have a great time!” Later, at a birthday dinner for Nancy, Dan (aka “Popsie”) was photographed with three other male members of the family. At 6-feet tall, Dan was the shortest!

David Wyles posted a year-end Tibetan Proverb that resonated: “The secret to living well and longer is: eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and love without measure.” Many classmates shared wonderful family photographs with holiday greetings: Larry Lawrence was on his way to Jackson Hole for a family ski vacation. Dan Berman continues to write, ban asbestos in Brazil, and work on voter registration. In between organizing Class golf outings, Neil Hoffmann helped one of their married children move nearby, just in time for the arrival of a granddaughter. Tony Lee and Margie chronicled their cross-country ski trips and mountain biking. Dick Niglio celebrated his mother’s 100th birthday in Hamden in June; Mary passed away just before Christmas. Butch Hetherington and Rebecca enjoyed their first Christmas in their new home in Hamden and continue to explore the richness of Yale resources. Terry Holcombe and Marya enjoyed a holiday performance at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Tim Bachmeyer posted a collage of family holiday photos.

Spike Forbes has self-published a book, titled A Tree in the Woods: Plato and the Ematomic Dilemma. Spike emailed: “I provide two independent premises to draw a line between what might someday be explained and what can currently only be described.” Mo Dean, who blogs as Moristotle, published ten blogs during this period. In one, he focused on the medical profession, which is also a hotly debated topic in an email group of twelve classmates. Ron Parlato posted over twenty topics on his eclectic blog. My favorite was about oysters. He asks: “Is there a more perfectly delicious food?” At Christmas, my son-in-law gave me a gift certificate for “a dozen-dozen (gross)” of oysters at Atlanta’s finest oyster bar, so you know I agree with Ron! Paul Ruden has really adopted his new hometown (NYC) and many of his blogs introduce the reader to different parts of the City. A recent one was “New York Holiday Lights”: “New York City can be a magical place at the winter holidays.” John Wylie, who blogs in “Why We Became Human,” recently wrote about Jonathan Haidt, one of my favorite authors on society and culture. Jim Rogers, whose blogs are described as “an unofficial tracking of his investment commentary,” posted 73 topics in 2018.

It was nice to go through the November-December period without being notified of any classmate deaths. I did get a nice email from Rick Jensen: “In October, my wife Ginger and I attended a memorial dinner for my former JE roommate Dennis Upper at the Winchester Country Club (MA). Nancy Upper will be attending our 55th reunion.” With more space than I am typically allowed in this section, let me encourage any classmate to write a remembrance of a departed classmate for posting at In Memoriam; just email it to me as a Word document. Also, please remember that you can donate a Mory’s Memorial Brick in the name of any classmate; information is available on our Class website (or call Chris Getman).