By Tommy Bourgeois
The fourth time was the charm. After hosting three pre-Game (note capitalization) class tables at the Bowl’s Alumni Village—in 2011, 2013, and 2015—that gave way to disappointing losses to the Cantabs, Treasurer Nancy Young and I finally helped kick off (note football metaphor) a triumphant afternoon last November 18. Despite the bracing chill, hope was palpable in the morning air. Two gallons of a spicy Bloody Mary concoction, graciously provided by Nancy and Paul Ford, fueled the optimism, and the best turnout ever warmed up the tent. Joining us were Paul Baumgartel, Ron Goldser and Helen Smith, Fred Krupp, John Albright, Roy Carlson, Michael and Jackie Albis (whose home kitchen served up delicious stuffed breads), Jim Plass (who traveled all the way from Israel), Robert Cole, Michael and Anne Reid, Andy Satlin, Fred Cantor, Greg Zorthian, Chris Donnelly, Reuben and Robin Jeffery, and Ed Rotter. Inside the stadium we met more classmates in our Portal 16 seating block: namely, Dan Cohn and a Morse contingent who’d spent the morning tailgating. The latter company included Andy and Ellen Tung, Hugh Birdsall, Thomas and Ellen Draper, David Reich, Joseph and Cynthia Altonji, and Jeff McAulay, his wife Patricia Bouley, and their daughter Margaret.
A few days earlier, over Veterans Day weekend, there was a class mini-reunion in Savannah. Nancy posted this account on the class Facebook page: “Many thanks to Yale Club of Savannah president Timothy Clemm for organizing a great weekend. We toured (Civil War and Savannah Saunter walking tours, Jepson Center/Telfair Museum tour, Art Fair, and a boat tour), ate ourselves silly (restaurants galore and a Low Country Boil and Oyster Roast hosted by Tim and his lovely wife Rhegan White), and got to see old friends and make new ones. Attendees included Michael and Jackie Albis, Tony and Andrea Brett, Bill and Laura Burke, Rick Carnell, Brian Fenton, Andy Gould and May Orenstein, Jim Hart, Lisa Kaslow, Nita Krevans and her daughter Martina McLennan, Fred Krupp and Laurie Devitt, William Oppenheimer, Andy and Susan Palace, Michael Stein, Rob and Cyn Tauxe, and Paul Ford and yours truly.”
News from the mailbag and other sources: Nina Schor reports, “After 11-plus years as pediatrician-in-chief and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester, I have become deputy director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at NIH. As a child neurologist and neurobiologist, I am excited to get back to my neuroscience roots and to share my passion for the field at the national level.” Congratulations, Nina, and thanks for checking in!
Nathaniel Wheelwright, professor of ecology at Bowdoin College and recipient of the 2015 Ecological Society of America’s Odum Award for Excellence in Ecology Education, sends word of his latest publication: “Bernd Heinrich’s and my book, The Naturalist’s Notebook, was released by Storey Publishing on October 17. The book’s aim is to teach nature lovers of all ages to be more mindful, curious, and knowledgeable about the natural world no matter where they live, using a calendar-journal format and Heinrich’s classic illustrations as inspiration. We are donating 100 percent of our royalties to conservation and environmental education.” Aside from having the good fortune to collaborate with our distinguished classmate, Bernd Heinrich has written more than 20 books on nature and is the winner of the PEN New England Book Award for nonfiction and the John Burroughs Medal for Nature Writing.
Julie Sullivan posted news on the class FB page of two recently published volumes of poetry by Megan Baldrige, UNPresidented and Cedro: The Dog Who Served His Backyard with Distinction. Julie notes, “Having read a lot of them, I can attest that the poems are funny and memorable.” Find them on Amazon.
Michael Schwarz, who with his wife and business partner Kiki Kapany spearheads Kikim Media, e-mailed that he has recently finished work on Silicon Valley: The Untold Story, a three-part series about the place he’s made his home since 1994. Here’s an item reflecting the overlap between the Venn diagrams illustrating “The Improbable” and “Our Small World”: Todd Ruff, whom he never met while at Yale, did all of the motion graphics and animation on the project. (Author’s note: It’s never too late to become friends, or even collaborators, with a classmate you didn’t know as an undergraduate.) Michael writes, “The series launched in January at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View with a panel discussion moderated by journalist Michael Malone that featured four participants from the series: Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, WhatsApp founder Jan Koum, venture capitalist Heidi Roizen, and entrepreneur Kim Polese. The panel was followed by a screening of the full first episode. More than 400 people packed the venue. The series will premiere in March on Discovery’s Science Channel. It provides a comprehensive look at the century-and-a-half history of the valley, and reveals how and why it became such a fertile ground for innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Caroline Bail provides this family update: “Finally! In beautiful, progressive Vermont as interim minister at First Congregational Church, Burlington. Husband Darius Jonathan just retired as founder of the University of Vermont’s Arabic program. Son Jonah has a master’s in jazz history from Rutgers. Daughter Geneva is enrolled in the clinical psychology PhD program at Northwestern, and her sister Orelia just completed a master’s in education at Penn while teaching history at Lawrenceville. She hopes to begin a PhD in education policy next year.”
I can hardly turn on cable news these days without encountering the much sought after—and always lucid—commentary of our own Chris Whipple, whose 2017 book The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency (Penguin/Random House) has made him a hotter media property than any of us could have foreseen during the last election cycle. The book’s narrative ranges from Nixon’s presidency to Obama’s, and Chris interviewed all the living chiefs who served during that span. An upcoming paperback edition will add a chapter on Reince Priebus and John Kelly; it should make for even more interesting reading.
As always, I welcome your news, and I encourage you to check out the class listserv, and to sign on to our “secret” Facebook page by e-mailing me at the address listed above or Nancy.