Class Notes

January/February 2020

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 a number of classmate group gatherings to report and several to preview in the months ahead. The Class golf outing last September was a big success. Thanks to the organizers, John Evans and Larry Capodilupo. Larry also hosted a dinner in his home. Played over three days on three different Cape Cod courses, the outing attracted 17 golfers. John Evans emailed: “Beautiful weather, good golf, and no one got hurt.” I posted a group photo on Facebook, and Chris Getman posted his fictional account on our Class website. Pete Putzel reported that both the September and October classmate luncheons at the Yale Club of NYC were well-attended and newsworthy. October had record attendance: Stephen Dana, John Evans (heading to Florida soon for the winter), Bill Galvin (just returned from a Smith College trip to Greece with his wife), Daniel Gsovski (now fully retired from practicing law at Herzfeld & Rubin), Jay Huffard, Harry Howell, Edward Massey (recently relocated to Norwalk, CT, after a brief flirtation with colder climes and working hard to write another Western saga), Steve Norman (voted most reliable attendee), John Ogilvie (returning soon to his winter home in Patagonia), John Postley (still practicing as an internist in NYC), Pete Putzel (now Senior Counsel at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe), Charlie Scheidt, Tom Trowbridge (President of the Hotchkiss Library in Sharon, CT), and Ted Wagner (still practicing Trust & Estates law at Carter Ledyard). The Boston-area classmate luncheon reconvened in October. Organizers Jerry Flannelly and Al Rossiter, were joined by: Mike Austin, Nick Danforth, Eric Fossel, Tony Lee, Don Leka, Dave Lindsay, and Nancy Upper. Inspired by the success of classmate luncheons in New Haven, NYC, and Boston, Owen O’Donnell has canvassed classmates in San Francisco to organize a luncheon in that city. Owen emailed: “I’ve scheduled a luncheon on November 20, and eleven Bay Area classmates have confirmed they will attend.”

Apparently not satisfied with seeing many classmates in NYC, Pete Putzel reported on another classmate gathering in October: “We’re in Kenmare on the west coast of Ireland for a Yale roommate reunion: Peter Giblin and Maritza (who were unable to attend our 55th reunion), Ed Massey and Ann (who organized the trip), Pete Putzel and Anne, Jim Shanklin and Carolyn, and Charlie Warner and Betsy. Pete Putzel emailed: “Over the four-day reunion, Massey and Giblin led us in sampling the available, copious array of Irish whiskeys; the Warners and Shanklins led multiple shopping trips; Anne Putzel went on several horseback expeditions. Putzel and Shanklin played a soggy round of golf at the local course. All of us fondly toasted the memory of two deceased Calhoun roommates, Per Wickstrom and Ed Rehberger, and all of us craved the company of Bill DuRoss and his wife Ann, our one living roommate and bride who were unable to join us.” In October, another, though smaller group of classmates gathered in Michigan. Dan Pollack emailed: “Nancy and Will Elting, Mike Mazer, Nancy and Dan Pollack gathered at Susan and Bob Hannah’s home in Good Hart, MI, for what has become an annual ‘Moose Jaw’ mini-reunion. As always, family happenings, grandkids, sports, politics and health were topics of discussion. Fall colors were just beginning to appear, and in spite of the cold, rainy weather, the Hannahs gracious hospitality prevailed. Nancy and Dan brought delicious Angus T-bone steaks that were the feature of the Saturday dinner.”

Looking ahead, there are a number of classmates who will be attending The Game followed by dinner at Mory’s on November 23rd: Chris Getman (who organized the tickets), Terry Holcombe, Tony Lavely (with his guest, Chip Thomas, the son of Stanley Thomas), Jon McBride, Alan McFarland, and Robert Whitby. There will be more on this in the next issue. That same weekend, Sam Francis and Tony Lavely will be presenting at a YAA Assembly Workshop on the development of our Class website and other digital communications to classmates. Don Edwards, our YAA Class Representative, and Ward Wickwire, our Chair of Agents, will also be attending the Assembly. In the new year, the Class Council meeting will be held on Saturday, February 8th in Edward Evans (Ned Evans) Hall at SOM. Even further ahead, the Spring golf outing will be held on May 14, 2020, on The Course at Yale, with dinner at Mory’s that evening. If you want to attend, contact organizers Neil Hoffmann or Ted Jones.

Since the previous issue, there have been eleven articles posted on the Class website/Class News. Jeremy Scott Wood recalled the lessons of William Sloan Coffin; Chas Freeman addressed the Foreign Policy Association; Angus Gillespie wrote an opinion piece on 9/11; Joe Wishcamper was recognized for his work on affordable housing; Rick Salomon’s wife, Laura, wrote a WSJ article about surviving cancer; David Swensen was honored in Business Week; the narrative on the Cape Cod golf outing; Ed Trippe remembering the glory days of Pan Am; Mike Sherwood won a Lifetime Achievement Award; Coach Carm Cozza reminiscing about Yale football shortly before he died; the obituary for Harold Bloom, esteemed English Literature professor to many of us. Less newsworthy (with no article), but still worth noting are these items: Along with several other classmates, in October I “attended” two online video webinars hosted by the Yale Admissions Office for Alumni Schools Committee interviewers; a number of classmates have networked with me on a new LinkedIn-type service named Alignable; I have been asked to co-chair a Yale Alumni Fund Workgroup for training on the new Online Volunteer Agent Portal; I am a founding member of a new Facebook Closed Group named “Yale Fitness.”

Reading about digital instruction in the classroom, Douglass Lea posted, “Dodged another bullet, it seems.” Later Douglass posted, “As a word, ‘mouthwatering’ hardly waters the mouth. I’ve known it for almost three-quarters of a century, but this is the first time I’ve ever used it.” Seeing my post on my wedding anniversary (leaving the reception carrying my planner binder), Dan Pollack commented: “The wedding planner was an indication of your attention to detail. I was late to my wedding because I was watching my younger brother compete in a track meet!” Dan also posted a photo of his beloved 1956 Ford Victoria, “Stardust,” which he finally sold this summer. During the protests in Hong Kong, Pat Caviness posted photos and his memories of living there: “Five years ago, I was present in Hong Kong for the Umbrella Protest; little did I know it would become a precursor for today’s much larger and violent protests.” Pat and I Facetimed in September; a great way to catch-up. Roger Webb posted about his woes with Comcast Internet connections: “I’m unable to speak to a person to describe my problems; if you have a problem that isn’t on their menu, you’re out of luck!” Later Roger posted: “Dale (with whom I celebrated our 55th anniversary in September) and I went to the Clinton Library tonight to hear author Angie Maxwell; it was a brilliant performance.” During the political debates about immigration, Ron Parlato posted: “My grandfather was a poor Italian immigrant who worked in a New Haven lock factory while his wife took take of six children.” He was one of thousands of first-generation immigrants from Europe.” Candy Johnson posted, “Blessed are the quilters, for they shall be called piece-makers.” Later, Candy Johnson posted photos of her son getting ready for his first triathlon, her daughter qualifying for another Boston marathon, and yet another of Waldo training his grandchildren in a soccer cage. Athletic family! Marya Holcombe commented on a YouTube video by Jonathan Haidt, “Always worth listening to.” Terry Holcombe posted from occasional trips to the Brimfield (MA) antique show with his daughter during the summer. On one, he found the perfect bison head to go over his mantle; on another, he faced off with a skeleton on Halloween.

Ed Gaffney commented on a virtual reality experiment: “This shows that VR swimming with dolphins will lower your pain scale more than watching TV.” John More commented on a newspaper article about door-to-door political canvassing: “This is a clear message about the power of face-to-face contact to open a dialogue. As an IAF-trainee/organizer, I personally witnessed the power of individual meetings in DC.” In September, John More posted: “First time at Audi Field in DC to see Wayne Rooney before he leaves.” Later, John posted: “Wonderful evening with Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Lincoln Theater (DC), hearing him discuss his new novel, The Water Dancer.” John has also been tracking and posting research on birds: “More data about the catastrophic decline in our bird population. The canary in the coal mine!” Nancy Upper reached out to Jay Gitlin ‘71, whom she saw speak at our reunion (and was our bandmaster): “I recommended Jay to the Boston Athenaeum, where I am a membership ambassador.” Nancy and Dan Pollack had a very active summer and fall: “We’re travelling to Washington state, Michigan (for a classmate reunion), Napa Valley (where they celebrated the Jewish New Year), and in December we’ll be on a cruise to South America.” Other Pollack posts showed their grandsons playing football and basketball; Nancy posted:” Football runs in the Pollack blood!” With ESPN+ now streaming most Yale football games, many classmates comment on the team’s performance. Pat Caviness emailed: “Amazing pass record the Yale QB set.” Others are encouraged about the new turf field and video scoreboard but dismayed by the poor attendance and the strict inspection rules at The Bowl. One of my soccer recruits from Atlanta matriculated with the class of 2023 and was assigned to Benjamin Franklin college. The team won the Ivy League title in his first year! His father sent me photos of Thomas walking through the Class of 1964 Gate and into the Len and Mary Anne Baker Courtyard.

Gerald Shea and John Stein exchanged emails in July. Shea to Stein: “You have always been a man of extraordinary intellectual fiber; I enjoyed reading your YAM Letter to the Editor about your father and grandfather.” Stein to Shea: “I don’t have to put up with your gooiness!” Sam Francis emailed: “I’m still on the Chatham (NJ) Emergency Squad as their IT Manager, but no longer riding shifts.” In June, one of Bob Musil’s daughters posted wishes on their 51st wedding anniversary; later his other daughter posted: “My father led the GI Resistance at Fort Benjamin Harrison and received orders to Vietnam as a result; he became a conscientious objector and went on to lead the central Committee for Conscientious Objectors.” In September, Ron Sipherd posted some stunning photos he took inside the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. During our 55th reunion, Pat Caviness posted a photo of Ed Massey and Roy Regozin standing outside Portal 16 at the Yale Bowl (we missed you Pat). In September, Sam Deloria posted: “Had a nice lunch with college chums, Ed Gaffney and his wife Susy and Don Van Doren and his wife Diane. No photos available; trust me, it was a great lunch. We are of the generation that respects the privacy of our food.” Later, Sam Deloria wrote: “Why, in the Ancestry commercials, do people find it ‘crazy’ that they’re ‘part Native American’? Maybe it’s the ‘part’ part.” On another post, Sam wrote: “Notice how Native peoples are invariably referred to as ‘inhabiting’ their countries, basically putting us on the level of flora and fauna. Do the English ‘inhabit’ England, and the French ‘inhabit’ France?” During the 9/11 anniversary, Sam also posted, “My dear departed chum, Carroll Cavanagh, lived in the West Village, from which he could see a hospital emergency room entrance. Carroll told me the hospital staff waited all day for casualties that never came.” Sam closed out his torrent of posts with this: “What the heck is this ‘FB Story’ business, where you end up on some page with names on the left and a big picture on the right? And what was the post that Facebook took down? Can’t you at least tell me, so I won’t sin again?”

Sam Low came across a piece produced by Hawaii Public Television about the Hokule’a Crew, on which Sam was a documentarian. One admirer posted: “Mahalo to Sam Low for the vision, dedication, and storytelling … and helping save the Hawaiian culture.” Doane Perry and Karen Carmean have added vivid visual storytelling to their Facebook posts, all in support of the Guild of Berkshire Artists. Responding to a post I did on the 103rd anniversary of my father’s birth in which I featured his Doctoral dissertation on “The Philosophy of History.” Ron Parlato commented: “Philosophy is the nemesis of history.” John Wylie was kinder: “My approach to history is that it is a struggle between our instincts to dominate as individuals and our human instincts for justice and a collective.” In September, Laura and Rick Salomon posted: “Another great trip to Seattle where we never tire of being tourists when Laura is not a patient. We were inspired by our favorite talisman, Mount Rainier. Thank you, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.” Frank Hotchkiss and Sandi visited me in Atlanta in September. He drove up in his brand-new Tesla with a dashboard display almost as big as my TV screen. Frank lives in Savannah GA now and occasionally sees Tom Barnard there. The launch of Ken Burns video series, “Country Music,” elicited many comments from classmates. Burns is a neighbor and friend of Marya and Terry Holcombe. Terry emailed: “Burns more or less apologized for the 18-hour length, saying he would have to lock the doors to keep us interested. I’m 3-hours in, and I want to reach for a bottle of moonshine.” Joe Wishcamper emailed: “The series is overly sentimental, but it does cover a lot of ground and the characters are fascinating. I’m a country junkie!” Later, Terry Holcombe emailed: “Rosanne Cash played the Palace Theater in New Haven a week ago. Book her for our 60th reunion!” Bill Galvin emailed: “Subject to the outcome of the Y-H Game on Nov 23, it has been a great fall season, helped by the Nationals! Ellen and I spent the first half of September on Martha's Vineyard with our two Goldens, came home to do the laundry, and were off to Greece for two weeks with a Smith Alumni group. Highly recommend both MV and Greece. Hope to see you at The Game.”

Marya Holcombe posted a photo of Terry and her with their footballer son: “Our very own nose tackle. Is there anything better than watching your kids and grandkids play sports?” In September, Nick Baskey emailed: “Three old members of the ’64 Whiffs met in Paris for lunch; attendees were Gerry ‘Popo’ Shea, Jim ‘Hamburger Spe’ Schultz, Lord ’Chicken in the’ Baskey, and Jocelyn ‘Lady Chicken’ Baskey (the latter pair visiting from London). A great time was had by all!” I checked on Ed Trippe during Hurricane Humberto to make sure he was okay. He emailed back: “No, I’m not on Bermuda; I’m in Greenwich CT with a 3-day new hip; not the walk in the park I expected.” Bill Drennen emailed in September: “I’m in California visiting my fiancée Bella Robbins (former wife of Bill Robbins ’63) and awaiting the arrival of Mark Krinsky at Bella’s house on Bell Marin Key, where I have been hanging out more often than not between our cruises to various parts of the world. Gonna check the class geographical list to see who else is out here enjoying the fabulous weather and sunny skies. Had a message from Tony Lee about his opportunities to windsurf here and there, and from Merrill Pasco who has met another writer from West Virginia at his writer’s group in Hilton Head, where he hangs his hat most of the time.” Don Van Doren emailed: “I’m finally taking down my shingle for the consulting work that I have done for the past 40 years. Diane and I are adding a library and separate guest quarters to our modest spread outside of Santa Fe. We’ve figured out how to travel inexpensively and are taking advantage of airline miles built up over the years. In the past three years, we have made separate trips to Istanbul, Sicily, Southeast Asia, Peru, Shanghai, Australia, and Provence and Alsace. Coming up next year are South Africa and Puglia.”

Michael Nagel emailed: “This is a photo of me on my recent visit to Ukraine to raise finance for a company doing sub-orbital rocket launches for satellite delivery from a Scottish spaceport.” Michael also posted his visit at the Saatchi Gallery in London in September. Alan McFarland emailed: “I’ll miss the October NYC classmate luncheon to take some truly ‘off’ time in Argyll and the Hebrides.” Jon McBride traveled to Budapest in October. Marty Gerstel posted his dinner at Nea Poteidaia in Greece in August. In October, Giles Crane (bagpiper par excellence) wrote: “I’m living with my wonderful wife of 54 years, Diana, with two fine daughters and two grandchildren. I teach a course at the Rutgers School of Public Health twice a year about statistical computing.” Joe Lieberman is consulting for Israel Aerospace Industries; his office said he would not be working as a lobbyist. In other news, Joe’s son, Matt, is running for Senate in Georgia, his first run for office. Jim Rogers emailed: “My daughter, Hilton, is studying history and government at her new boarding school in the UK; she’s first in her class.” John More took his granddaughter to see her first opera at the Washington National Opera. Frank Franklin posted photos of his legendary Breadsters reunion in Birmingham: “Everyone needs a group of breadsters in their life. For us, it’s a diverse group of scholar-practitioners who came together as graduate students ten years ago. I hope you can all find and reignite your network like this.” Bill Galvin and Ellen were reelected to the Greenwich, Connecticut RTM (Representative Town Meeting), 230 people who form the legislative branch of Greenwich town government.

In October, Pat Caviness and Frederique stopped in Bangkok on their way to Laos for an extended trip; they posted many great photos: “In Bangkok, we went to see 'The Joker' in the most expensive movie theater I’ve ever been to: US$40 per person.” In Laos: “We’re staying in an amazing home that’s a UNESCO restoration, once owned by the King’s brother.” Lavely: “Some of you have commented on the Yale course — 'Psychology and the Good Life' — taught by Professor Laurie Santos (also Head of Silliman College). It’s the most popular course at Yale. She has produced a podcast patterned after the course, called 'The Happiness Lab.' I’ve been listening to it during workouts, and it’s very interesting.” During the fires in Southern California, I checked with Rick Hatton (who gave a fascinating presentation about aerial firefighting at our 55th reunion) and Tony Morris (who has devoted his career to fire-fighting research). Tony emailed: “It’s a full-blown wildfire emergency, with only minimal firefighting air tankers. I’m trying to raise funds to keep ‘Wings over Fire’ going. Classmate, Dick Vietor has helped us.” Others who saw my post also commented: Ron Parlato wrote: “I have family in Napa-Sonoma who barely escaped in 2017 and are now threatened again.” Ron Sipherd wrote: “There were several bad fires in the East Bay as well; we began to evacuate but the fires were contained.” Many classmates were energized by the Washington Nationals World Series win. Douglass Lea posted “With injuries disabling key players, down three games to two with the last two on the road, the Nationals finally have the Astros where they want them!” Douglass also stirred my heart by posting Bart Giamatti’s famous piece, “The Green Fields of the Mind,” from YAM, one of the best narratives about baseball in my opinion. Rick Salomon posted beautiful photos from Watermill, Long Island on the south shore: “Pretty nice for almost November.” Later Rick posted a Facebook Story: “Just doing what everyone else is doing. Fixed my blocked posts. It’s ridiculous to have 762 friends and only 25 are allowed to see my posts.”

Candy Johnston posted photos of Waldo Johnston, (ever the hard worker) refinishing barstools with a highball in hand: “One barstool down, thee more to go. Waldie, you are amazing and thank you!” Later, still in work mode, they posted their attendance at Tractor Fest at the Farmer’ Museum in Cooperstown. In a more leisurely post, Candy shared a photo of a golf foursome: “Grand Harbor golf with Melissa and Martin Padley at Leatherstocking in Cooperstown.” Jim Currie posted great photos of the tall ships in August: “Tall ships parade; just another great thing about living in Erie!” Later, this avid airman posted from his cockpit: “Greeted by a flurry of departing AZ Air National Guard F-16s.” Then from Warrenton VA in October, Jim posted a video of his Shark Aero flight. In October, Bill Lear attended a special Harvard Business School event in Chicago to hear Kellogg marketing professor, Tim Calkins. Ed Gaffney posted in October, “We returned to Albuquerque after two weeks of driving through the middle of the country visiting friends in Wichita, St. Louis, Tennessee, and Arkansas, where I picked up some ore at the Crater of Diamonds State Park.” John Meigs emailed: “My law firm hasn’t booted me out yet. I’m working about 1/5 speed focused on moving clients to younger lawyers. I’m resigning my trusteeships, thinking it’s better to do at 77 with the market high than later with it low. The time is filled with Directorships on three diverse non-profits, including a foundation we’ve formed to raise money for refurbishment of USS Olympia, Commodore Dewey’s flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay (‘You may fire when ready, Gridley’). This year I’ve been in Sri Lanka, Qatar, Canada, Spain, and Italy, feeling exorbitantly lucky to still be alive with an extraordinary wife, and children and grandchildren who provide amazement as well as pleasure and pride.” A number of classmates in Greenwich noticed my daughter Hillary Corbin’s photo on the cover of Greenwich Magazine in October, featuring her great work for the Breast Cancer Alliance (she is a survivor). Rick Salomon: “Lots to be proud of and grateful for.” Larry Lawrence: “I think Hillary is a total star and also amazed at the great job she has done as president of The Field Club.” (Larry mentored her into this position). My daughter, Vanessa Lavely, recently joined the Deerfield Academy Board of Trustees. At her first meeting, she met a former trustee who is an art history professor at Yale, Diane Kleiner. Rick Kroon messaged me from Maui in November: “We’re in Maui visiting with one of our four boys who graduated from Yale. He’s the only fireman on the island with a Yale degree.”

The pace of publications of books by classmates has slowed down, but the incidence of classmate blogs has accelerated. Regarding books, Frank Hotchkiss is writing a new one titled Just a Common Man. Motivated by seeing Frank in Atlanta last September, I read his earlier book, Playing with Fire. It had great online reviews, to which I added my own enthusiastic review on Facebook Yale Authors. Tony Thomson, who joined the Authors’ Table at our 55th reunion, emailed me about his book, Eat Your Heart Out Ho Chi Minh or Things You Won’t Learn at Yale. John Wylie, who writes a very stimulating blog named “How We Became Human,” has written a new book (Kindle Edition) titled Emotional Fossils. John summarizes it this way: “This book is the culmination of forty-five years of investigating as a psychiatrist of the relationship between severe mental illnesses and human evolution. I concluded that the most important aspects of our evolution occurred inside the mind.” Jim Rogers emailed: I have had two #1 best-sellers in Japan this year. A shock. And another coming out in 2-3 months. And 2 more Japanese publishers coming Monday. Absolute insanity. And another coming in Korea next month partly because of a 4-hour special about me on KBS — not K Drama or K Pop specials unfortunately.” In September, Gerry Shea did a book signing for the French version of Song Without Words (La Vie Malentendue) at The Pantheon in Paris which was holding a special exposition. Gerry emailed: “This appears to be a lively exposition of the history of the deaf and of signed languages from the Middle Ages to our own time.”

Mo Dean blogs as Moristotle in an ongoing narrative titled “Goines On.” Bruce Driver wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Crested Butte News about current political issues. Bruce also circulated a position paper on the race for the US Senate seat in Colorado in 2020. Bruce explained: “I know this is early for these analyses — before primaries have been held — but there is already a lot of interest in highly competitive races like this one in CO and a few others. Hopefully, these analyses will get you primed to follow and possibly support candidates.” Ed Gaffney posted recommended titles from Yale Climate Connections. Sam Low posted an article titled, “Voyaging is the Ultimate Ethnomathematics Laboratory — Hokule’a.” Ron Parlato keeps his prolific pace of blogs with titles like, “Nagging Wives,” “No Question, In Favor of the Oxford Comma,” and “Turkey’s Invasion of Syria” (Ron was in Turkey this summer). Ron and I also exchanged posts about Timothy Snyder’s (a Yale professor) new book, Tyranny. Ron posted, “You might be interested in an essay I wrote on Shakespeare and governance, as part of a course I was teaching at American University.” Jim Rogers, another prolific blogger, wrote one on Digital Money. Jim also spoke at an international finance conference in South Korea in September and was interviewed by MarketWatch for an opinion piece, “Why the U.S. dollar will continue to reign supreme.” Paul Ruden wrote two stimulating blogs: “What I want from the Media” and “The U.S. Climate Strike.” Paul also wrote an interesting piece about attending the Broadway performance of “Come From Away”: “Totally blown away by this show.”

Since the previous issue of Class Notes, we have lost six classmates: Robert Fiore died on July 14 in Danbury CT, following a long illness. Bob spent most of his career in the movie and television production business, where he had notable accomplishments. Bill Mailliard died on September 10 in Yorkville CA. Bill practiced law for much of his career but was most happy on Mailliard Ranch raising and training his quarter horses. Bill played football at Yale. Brad Reynolds died on September 14 in South Carolina after a long illness. Many classmates sent remembrances of Brad, notably Gerry Shea (his is posted at In Memoriam); Gerry also lit a candle in memory of Brad in La Madeleine Church in Paris. Gerry emailed: “Brad was a highly talented lawyer and an admirable human being. As Assistant Attorney General in 1986, Brad played a key role in uncovering the sale of arms to the Contras in Nicaragua.” David Sandor died on September 16 in Irvine CA after a courageous battle with a rare form of lymphoma. David practiced family law and founded University Synagogue in Irvine. John Morrison died on September 17 in Wilmington NC following a serious stroke. John worked in corporate law, spent 20 years at FDIC in Washington DC, and later became a trained group leader in relationship counseling. He was very active in the Yale Club of Washington DC and helped host one of our mini-reunions in DC. Tom Walton notified me that Walter (“Red”) Howson died on October 17 in Richmond VA after an 18-year battle with illness. Red’s professional career was in commercial banking and international investment sales. In the previous issue, I reported the death of Joel Kleinberg but only recently obtained an obituary from his wife, Laurie. Joel died on July 14 in Pasadena CA. He was a distinguished personal injury lawyer. Joel was also President of the Yale Club of Southern California and a dedicated Class Agent for the Yale Alumni Fund. I urge you to go our Class website/In Memoriam to read the detailed obituaries of these men. Hearing the news of the deaths of John Morrison and Bill Mailliard, Steve Klingelhofer emailed: “I knew both John and Bill pretty well. John was a regular attendee at our monthly breakfasts in Washington, DC. He was a man of immense generosity of spirit and high ethical standards ... and a sense of humor. He had the bad judgment to ask me to speak at his church in Virginia, which was an honor for me if not for those who attended! When Bill was in DC right after our graduation from Yale, I arranged for him to accompany my younger sister with Diane (now my wife) and me on our first date, to a Harry Belafonte concert. Diane and I are still together ... the date with my sister apparently didn't work out.”

Though not classmates, there are several other people who were closely connected to our Class, whose impact I want to remember. Jerry Kenney, class of 1963, was a friend, teammate, and fraternity brother to many in our class. Jerry died in NYC on June 25. He had a remarkable career in finance. Jerry and his brothers were extremely generous to Yale; the Kenney Family Center at the Yale Bowl is just one example. Chris Getman, Terry Holcombe, Ted Wagner, and I attended a memorial service for Jerry on October 31st at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in NYC. Jerry also went to Newton High School (MA) where he and I were football teammates in the late 1950s. I’ve known the Kenney family for over 60 years. Robert Barker ’63 died on August 9. Bob was the brother of our classmate, Charlie Barker, so we extend condolences to him. Harold Bloom, preeminent Sterling Professor and champion of the Western Canon, died on October 14 in New Haven. Many classmates emailed and posted (I was one) how much Bloom’s teaching influenced them.