By Arthur Greenwald
Well, we did it! On Sunday August 5 we pulled off the Yale Class of 1975’s first mini-reunion here in Los Angeles. We’ve even got proof, in the form of a website replete with photos and even video. Check it out at: http://web.mac.com/yale1975/Yale_1975_Mini-Reunion.
Among the attendees were Jackie Austin, Tommy Bourgeois, Jerry Brand, Jeffry Finer, Matt Fragner, Bob Garren, Terri Jones, Phil Kantor, Pennlee Lanselle, Lorna McFarland and Kenneth Noble, Ken Neisser, Anthony Palella, Jeff Resnick, David Rosman, Julie Sullivan Winn, Van Suwannukul, Hong Tan, Mitch Tilner, Seth Walworth, Rob Watson, and Eric Weissler.
We even had three classmates connect via videoconference: BK Munguia, Joanie Berliner-Spear, and Galen Brandt.
The mini-reunion took place at the home of my friend Wendy Garen, whose hospitality encompassed a vast array of details from supervising and preparing the menu through arranging the valet parking (a practical necessity in much of L.A.).
Special thanks to Tommy Bourgeois, who managed the RSVPs and provided some unique entertainment. Drawing on his years of experience in CBS’s program practices department, Tommy narrated rare before-and-after video clips from actual shows, challenging the audience to guess what visual or spoken element had been deemed unsuitable for broadcast. By the end of the hour we all had new sympathy and respect for this difficult task—plus a working knowledge of the do’s and don’ts of televised pole dancing.
In a postmini-reunion discussion on our class listserv, a couple of classmates have expressed interest in organizing similar local gatherings: Chip Carey (polhfc@langate.gsu.edu) in Atlanta and Diana Hamlet-Cox (dianahc@comcast.net) in the San Francisco area. From experience I can tell you this is a lot of work for one person, but nearly painless for two or three. So if you live near Chip or Diana, please contact them and volunteer. Quickly, please. Now! Before you change your mind!
Speaking of reunions and volunteers, watch the listserv and this space for news about our 35th reunion in 2010, co-chaired by BK Munguia and, well, maybe you!
In other news, Ron Cheatham (ralache@verizon.net) reports that New Haven’s landmark “Toad’s Place opened a franchise in Richmond, Virginia, in recent months. Obviously a Yalie was involved, but as small as Richmond is, I can’t seem to locate the ‘culprit.’ I guess that’s because I’ve been keeping a low profile in Richmond.” It might also be because Ron’s been busy. “I finished my triptych of poems, A Collector’s Archive, just last May. I completed my songbook of popular songs, Arrogance and Irony, in 1997 and it’s in the Library of Congress as a copyrighted work—no takers yet as to publishing.”
From Atlanta, Rob Tauxe writes, “Cynthia (SM ’74) and I recently had the pleasure of a trip back to New Haven for the graduation of our daughter, Genevieve Mitchell Tauxe (TD ’07). We continued our parental role as beasts of burden and credit by helping her move into a house in New Haven. The town was more interesting than ever, and in places utterly transformed from the 1970s. We also had the pleasure of catching up with classmate David Damrosch (ES) and wife Lori Fisler Damrosch (ES ’73), for a lovely afternoon in Brooklyn. Both are remarkably unchanged, busy and well, cheerfully embracing advanced academic life. It must be the long summers off. David, chair of comparative literature at Columbia University, has just published The Buried Book, a lively cross-cultural account of the epic tale of Gilgamesh, with characters that would fit in an Indiana Jones movie.”
Speaking of classmates’ books, Ben Yagoda’s latest is doing well, at least partly due to its intriguing title: When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And/Or Worse. But that’s not why Ben wrote to the listserv. “I spent a very enjoyable evening in New York having a drink at the Yale Club and Thai food on 9th Avenue, with my freshman-year roommate, Bill Stempel, and his son, Adam. Bill has just moved (back) to Hamden, Connecticut, after spending several years in Palo Alto. Adam is about to start his freshman year at Yale, where one of his suitemates is the son of our Calhoun classmate, Cliff Hendler.”
The eagle-eyed Yagoda also told the listserv that he had spotted the following in Alice Kaplan’s 1993 memoir French Lessons: “I am indebted to (among others) the Solstice Assembly (especially our director, Jane Peppler . . . ).”
To which Jane replied: “Alice Kaplan sang soprano for years in my 16-voice a cappella group the Solstice Assembly. We had many great adventures, including a stay at ‘Chateau Debris’ on Sullivan’s Island while performing at the Piccolo Spoleto festival in Charleston. There was also one notable long medieval festival weekend, where each night we retired from the world of jesters, jousts, and rapping executioners to a nearby Motel 6. There, crammed into very few rooms, we sang for hours and watched weird TV. (Earth Girls are Easy was the favorite movie.)” Jane added that she was writing shortly before “flying to Bulgaria for a two-week adventure with my daughter, Hannah ’05, a director emeritus (heh) of the Yale Slavic Chorus.”
Alas, the long lead time to publication allows me to mention the live stage show I’m writing and co-producing on October 11 for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences—but not how it turned out. Barring catastrophe, Another Opening, Another Show is a tribute to composers of television theme music and it’s going to be a wonderful evening. I’ll try to post some video highlights online and tell you about it next time.
Please help us keep in touch! Subscribe to the listserv at www.aya.yale.edu/lists. And update your contact information at www.alumniconnections.com/yale. As always, your class notes news is welcome. Write to yale1975@aya.yale.edu.
And here’s wishing you a safe and happy holiday season and a wonderful 2008.