By Arthur Greenwald
My apologies. Owing to delays on my end, no class notes appeared in the last alumni magazine. On the plus side, these notes are therefore packed with classmate news.
Our top story is our first regional mini-reunion, held here in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 5. It’s also our top story next issue, because August 5 is still a ways off at this writing. So trust me! A good time was/will be had by all.
Meanwhile, this missive from mini-reunion co-conspirator Tom Bourgeois: “Spring brought an abundance of face time with classmates. In April, my wife, Ann Toler, and I hosted Paul Baumgartel, during part of a West Coast excursion that included a visit with his accomplished son Joey, a guitarist and singer in Las Vegas. Paul also visited the Sedona, Arizona, home of Rick Okie ’74. (During our Bright College Years, Rick, Paul, and I were partners in musical crime in the bands Joyride and Diamond Reo.) Paul’s whirlwind SoCal tour included the L.A. Phil at Disney Hall and a pilgrimage to In & Out Burger. In May, Ann and I ventured to my native New Orleans for part of the Jazz & Heritage Festival. Another Diamond Reo alum, classmate Bill Oppenheimer, drove in from Mobile with his wife Nancy—a mere three weeks before the nuptials of their daughter Nancy, who had just graduated from medical school. Their son Harris starts U. of Alabama Law School this fall. Bill founded and runs the computer services company Enveloc. Talks to reunite Diamond Reo are in their preliminary stages.”
Tommy and Ann also hosted a delightful dinner party during Paul’s visit and invited my friend Wendy Garen and me. We toasted classmate Joy Sterling with a bottle of her family’s Iron Horse 2002 T Bar T Vineyard Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. A few nights later, Wendy and I broke bread with Rob Watson and his wife Dana at a local restaurant. The Watsons generously shared travel tips that greatly enhanced our subsequent vacation in Scotland and England (all recorded in excruciating detail at http://web.mac.com/arthurgee/iWeb/Scotland). This winter, the Watsons are planning a mid-winter vacation with their kids, ages 3 and 12—but where? They’re hoping our classmates will offer some bright ideas by writing to RNWatson@ucla.edu.
Also “at table” is Lucy Jewett Lowenthal. She’s director of development at Martha’s Table, “an inner-city Washington, D.C., grassroots nonprofit serving 300 low-income children and 1,000 homeless people daily. It is very challenging work.” (You can help by visiting www.marthastable.org.) Lucy’s daughter “Rachel is at Vassar, really enjoying college and playing field hockey. (Son) Max is a junior in high school and studying hard. My husband Peter continues work in the field of solar energy which, thankfully, is finally becoming more mainstream.”
Meanwhile Lynn Szwaja’s foundations are shifting. “After many years as a program officer in arts and humanities at the Rockefeller Foundation, I moved to the Henry Luce Foundation in 2004 where I direct the religion program. My husband Doug Crawford is a VP at JP Morgan Chase and is truly a bionic man, with two kidney transplants, a pancreas transplant, and a scheduled knee replacement. Our son Matt graduated from Trinity in ’05 and lives in Manhattan, where he reverse-commutes to his job at Alliance Bernstein in White Plains.”
From “Silly Valley” (aka “Silicon”) Diana Hamlet-Cox reports, “I’m gainfully employed as VP and chief patent counsel for Medarex, a biotech company that makes human antibodies in mice that have been genetically engineered to have human immune systems, for treatment of cancer and other diseases.” Should these rat-infested genes prove effective, Diana “will have achieved one of my life goals: doing well by doing good.” Diana’s daughter Jessica married in June, in a ceremony performed by Jessica’s godfather, Marc Golden, although Marc is neither a clergyman nor a public official. (Welcome to California, folks!) Invited guests included Stacey Keen and her husband, Andrew Alpert ’73.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, David Applegate “chairs the intellectual property practice group” at Williams Montgomery & John Ltd., a premier trial and appellate business litigation firm that actually tries cases!“ David still collects original comic strip and editorial cartoon artwork and ”recently found myself quoted on eBay as the authority on the first lesbian character to appear in a newspaper comic strip. (Hint: not in Doonesbury. The year was 1939. Check out David’s 1994 essay, “Coming Out in the Comic Strips,” at http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/features/out/out.asp.)
From Ketchum, Idaho, Keith Sivertson writes, “Since 2000, I’ve practiced emergency medicine in Sun Valley, and raise cattle and sheep on about 400 acres. I plan on gaining organic certification this year. Agriculture is the hardest thing I have ever done. If you eat today, thank a farmer/rancher.”
Breaking radio silence is Louis Rodriques and wife Robbe Burnstine ’78: “After 26-plus years at the Boston firm of Sullivan & Worcester, Lou moved (literally) across the street to the global firm Bingham McCutchen as co-chair of their labor and employment practice, supervising the firm’s 1,000-plus attorneys. Our older son, Adam, is beginning his sophomore year at Yale (CC). He came perilously close to choosing U. of Chicago until his unreasonable Yalie parents insisted he revisit both schools. We’ve had fun revisiting our history, sharing in Adam’s Yale experience, and seeing what has changed. See you all at the 35th—just after Adam’s graduation!”
Speaking of which, see that plume of white smoke arising from Harkness Tower? Could it be? Yes! We have a reunion chair! B. K. Munguia has agreed to take on this enervating, I mean enviable(!) task—but only because I promised her some first-rate co-chairs to share the workload. And I know just the classmates to help me keep that promise!
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.