By Tommy Bourgeois
Maria Porges, professor of fine arts at the California College of the Arts, writes, “I was presented in February with the Distinguished Teaching Award from the College Art Association: an award given each year by the premier national organization for academics in art and art history, to one faculty member at a university or art school teaching studio art. Since I’m pretty sure my classmates at Yale didn’t think I would amount to much, I take pleasure in reporting this award.” Congratulations, Maria! I hasten to add a request, however: since we didn’t know each other, please don’t count me among your skeptics, doubters, or detractors. I was confident each of us ’75ers would amount to something.
Thanks to Daniel Deudney for alerting me to another classmate’s recent honor: our own Robert Gooding-Williams is one of four graduate school alumni (’82PhD, philosophy) who received 2023 Wilbur Lucius Cross Medals “in recognition of their outstanding work and service.” The award is given by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Alumni Association to recognize “exceptional work in scholarship, public service, teaching, or academic administration” and is the highest honor bestowed by GSAS. Robert’s award cited his “significant contributions to philosophy, political theory, and race theory.” His books include Zarathustra’s Dionysian Modernism (Stanford, 2001) and In the Shadow of Du Bois: Afro-Modern Political Thought in America (Harvard, 2009), which the race, ethnicity, and politics section of the American Political Science Association recognized in 2010 as the year’s “best book on race, ethnicity, and political thought.” His current teaching post is at Columbia, serving as the M. Moran Weston/Black Alumni Council Professor of African American Studies, and professor of philosophy and African American and African diaspora studies. Previous career stops included Simmons, Amherst, Northwestern, and Chicago. I’ve saved the best news for last: Robert will return to Yale in July as a professor of philosophy.
Eric Goodman emailed this report in early March from his Sonoma digs: “Susan and I are well. We spent January in Thailand and returned to find it still raining. And raining still. [Editor’s note: Los Angeles County was much the same this winter.] As it turns out, I’m having something of a late-career boom, or perhaps, renaissance. On May 28, Curveball, my seventh novel, a sequel to In Days of Awe (Knopf, 1991), will be published. Although it’s more than a month before the official publication date, I’ll be signing at the L.A. Festival of Books (April 20–21) on the USC campus, using copies directly from the warehouse.
“In December, I have another novel scheduled to appear, tentatively titled Mary Dowling. This is an historical novel, about the only woman to own and run major distilleries in pre-Prohibition Kentucky. Later there’s a trumped-up bootlegging trial and conviction. In response, Mary moves her distillery to Juarez, the only American distiller to do so.”
Back to Curveball (Post Hill Press): Eric kindly attached an advance copy of its dust jacket, which includes appreciative notices from novelist T. C. Boyle and playwright Rajiv Joseph. Boyle writes, “Eric Goodman’s Curveball dwells in its details in the most fascinating way—and it reaches far beyond its baseball setting to become a first-rate intergenerational drama as well as a delightful read.” Joseph chimes in: “Fast and fun, Curveball, like its predecessor In Days of Awe, is the best kind of sports story—gripping, poetic, down-to-the-wire. Even the non-fan will be swept away. This isn’t just a story about baseball . . . it’s about family and secrets and love, and about what’s passed on from one generation to the next. I don’t know anyone who writes about baseball like Eric Goodman. He’s got the savvy of an old pro, and the velocity of a young prospect.” As I file this dispatch, I look forward to seeing the author himself in just a few weeks and securing my signed copy.
On March 8, members of our New York–area contingent ushered in the Year of the Dragon at the Peking Duck’s East 53rd Street location. The celebrants included organizer and class treasurer Nancy Young and Paul Ford, Michael and Jacqueline Albis, Laurie DeVitt and Fred Krupp, Lisa Kaslow and Jeffrey Korber, Andrea and George Miller, Ken and Alicia Rubin, Robert Sotta, and Charlie Keefe’s widow, Lila Locksley. Also in attendance was Robert Sotta’s freshman roommate Robert Davis, who transferred to Stanford after freshman year, and whose presence proves what an inclusive bunch we are.
Finally, I only recently received word that Thomas J. Cesarz Sr. passed away “peacefully . . . [and] in the comfort of his home” on November 10, 2022, in Independence, Ohio. Tom is survived by his widow Karen (née Rzemieniuk); children Tom Jr. and Marissa Gustin; and grandchildren Hannah, Isaac, and Aaron. A brief obituary issued by the Fortuna Funeral Home notes, “Tom was proud of living his life one day at a time and will forever be remembered as the most loving husband, father, dziadzia (grandfather), and uncle.” I send belated condolences to his family and friends.
That’s it for now, but I hope all of you are keeping late May and early June 2025 open with a view to attending our 50th reunion. Please contact me directly if you want to lend a hand to cochairs J. C. Chaudhry and Gunnar Knapp. As always, I urge you to send news, and assure you it will find its way to print.