Tiff Wood
Tiff.wood@milliman.com
Well, two weeks ago Gregg (Stone) and I, as well as Rich Kennelly ’83 and Ed Ives ’79, competed at the Heineken Regatta in Amsterdam. The first international master’s regatta of the year, it is a fun event with unpredictable weather that didn’t disappoint, with cold rain and heavy winds, making for survival rowing at times.
Charlie Bronson
chasbronson@gmail.com
Bob Stockman
stockman@groupoutcome.com
Mark Wainwright reports that he has become a fractional owner of a light sport airplane with three guys from Russia, Uzbekistan, and Egypt. Apparently, he plans to fly it to visit me (Charlie Bronson) in San Rafael.
Dave Holt shares: “Enjoying spending time with grandson Oscar King, age 20 months. Goes full blast between naps. Not much of a talker or an artist, but loves mechanical things – anything with wheels, including the vacuum cleaner. When people laugh at his stunts, he responds with a fake laugh. As a founder of Digital Cinema Labs, I am working on a large-format docudrama about Alexander Graham Bell of Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Has a time-traveler theme. We visit our director, Doug Trumbull, who is hidden in the woods of Western Massachusetts. Watching home movies with Doug is a trip. His first project was 2001: A Space Odyssey. He has invented a new generation of immersive filmmaking technology. Oh yeah, I went to the film festival in Toronto because I accidentally ran into Laura Dern in the street. When her premiere was over, we had a good chat. I told her about the Bell project. Then I met the former Czech model whose husband was a co-founder of the festival. Planning will take you only so far.”
News from Eric Carlson: “Peggy and I are gradually moving into retirement. I now work part-time and Peggy will start the same in May. We kicked off our journey with three weeks in Hawaii. If you’re living there, I am truly sorry we didn’t connect. We spent time on Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu, where my son and his wife live in the town of Kailua. He’s based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, as an Infantry Officer and his wife is a Navy Surface Warfare Officer aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Hopper in Pearl Harbor. For now, we still live in Asheville, N.C., where my daughter and her husband also reside and work as attorneys. We plan to downsize in the near future, but have yet to decide where our next home will be. Finally, I had a great dinner with (Michael) Sweeney and (Bob) Shepley last September at a nice Italian restaurant in the North End of Boston.
Julia Alexander writes: “This winter, I had the good fortune of connecting with two formmates. That’s a seasonal record for me. First, Charlie Bronson, whose tribal call delights and encourages us, stopped over on a surprise – but always-welcome visit – as he traveled the trail from Miami to Tampa. The weather was gray but still warranted a quick coastal beach walk. Though many of the birds had still not returned, the beach itself continues its slow recovery from last summer’s red tide assault. One of the many pleasantries of Charlie’s visit was putting me back in touch with Jeffrey Keith. I am glad that happened too, because on a recent Denver visit with my eldest son and daughter-in-law, Jeffrey graciously treated me to a tour of both the Clyfford Still Museum and his industrial studio space. Both very fun and colorful experiences. It was especially interesting for me to see and learn about the evolution of Jeffrey’s creative process, his painting and portrait work. Some changes are evident in self-portraits completed in 1972 and now. Both winter formmate sightings were meaningful for me for our shared history.”
Chip Haggerty writes: “Kurt Vonnegut ate Kleenex when he wrote, his daughter told me, tooling around on a golf cart this morning in heavenly Boca Grande, Fla. It is where I have come to bask recklessly in cell-searing UVs (still, at heart, a crazy teenager), escape an unhealthy morass of Medicare calculations making me regret ever more deeply a myriad of rash academic decisions of youth. I lose every game of chess, Scrabble, and backgammon I have been stupid enough to allow myself to be talked into and now, apparently, having learned nothing from these latest, spirit-crushing setbacks, checked my e-mail to find this wonderful exhortatory missive from irresistibly charming form flogger Charlie Bronson. I’m doing my darnedest to present a cheerful, albeit a bit verbose, persona to you great guys and gals thriving away out there in Alumni Land. Communing with a big Joan Brown canvas, “The Tapir And The Jaguar,” occurred recently for me and my wife, Amy, in a Greenwich Village gallery. We followed that with a memorable dinner next door at Vicks, where we sat in front watching brick, stone, and glass surfaces, car bodies stacked five high on exposed mechanical parking platforms, the sky, clouds, this whole little nook of New York City replete with fire trucks emerging and accelerating slowly out of a vintage firehouse up the block. You almost couldn’t believe the firehouse held them all, more and more softly illuminated by the sun sinking somewhere, all glowing extra artistic somehow thanks to Joan, thanks to Jeffrey Keith. I’m comfortable, I tried to assure myself, beholding her work, not knowing what a tapir is exactly. Just as I sit here now, full of self-assurance, hailing you, my beloved brethren, in this not unintimidating bulletin that keeps turning up.”
Doug Chan spoke at the annual national forum convened and sponsored by the Asian & Pacific Island Americans in Historic Preservation. Doug’s presentation focused on the challenges and opportunities posed by the unique architectural heritage of San Francisco’s Chinatown, land ownership by family and district associations and tongs, the use of historic preservation easements, and public-private partnerships for preserving the remains of the pioneer Chinese settlements from the Gold Rush era. He recently completed several terms as a vice president of the Chinese Historical Society of America, and he will continue to serve as general counsel. Doug would be pleased to assist visiting classmates in navigating SF Chinatown’s streets, alleyways, and landmarks – ideally before sitting down for dim sum.
A note from Pres Stone: “Been busy. First grandchild came in January. Second daughter is engaged and will be married in September. We have been to Cuba in February and the St. Johns River of Florida in March.”
Lin Giralt has been very quiet in the consulting trenches, but very active on the teaching front. He is preparing a series of mixed online and in-person courses covering topics in business, management, and consulting for the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University. The idea is to schedule these courses so they can be useful both to U.S. audiences (early morning) as well as China (night) and India (noon), an experiment in three-dimensional time zone mapping. On other fronts, Lin has also been active as a budding (or presumptuous) digital artist, never meaning to ever be mentioned in the same sentence, paragraph, or book as Jeffrey Keith.
Charlie Bronson ’72 enjoying a cloudy beach day in Florida.
A self-portrait by Jeffrey Keith ’72.
“Buffalo Trees” by Lin Giralt ’72.
A piece by Chip Haggerty ’72.
A piece by Chip Haggerty ’72.
“The Tapir and the Jaguar” by Joan Brown, a recent acquisition by Chip Haggerty ’72 and his wife, Amy.
Chris Rulon-Miller
chrisrulon@mac.com
Lorene Cary writes: “On May 7, Norton Books will publish Ladysitting: My Year with Nana at the End of Her Century, the first memoir I’ve dared since Black Ice. This one is also trying to understand a time that rocked my world: the two-year mash-up of love and fear when our grandmother came to live with us before her death.”
Michael Wert ’74 with Anderson Baker Wert, born February 7, 2012.
News from Martina Miller: “I missed our 40th because my youngest brother got married that weekend. After 25 five years at CIGNA, my job was outsourced to India almost 15 years ago. I returned to school to get certified to teach math and get my M.Ed. I taught high school math for several years and a variety of subjects in Catholic school as well as numerous long-term substitute positions. I found out, unfortunately, that my master’s degree placed me out of the market because they had to pay me more than a teacher without that degree. Unfortunately, public education has started to be a business instead of an institution concerned with providing what is best for the students. Besides the long-term sub jobs, I have taught GED classes, tutored secondary and college students, conducted after-school and summer programs for inner-city students, and facilitated credit recovery programs for students in danger of not completing graduation requirements. Due to budget restrictions, my after-school and summer programs were eliminated. I currently substitute at the school where I completed my student teaching and have learned that I can live on a lot less. I have been in Hartford for more than 40 years, even though I will always call D.C. home and all my family continue to reside in the area. If anyone is in the Hartford area, please feel free to contact me.”
Tom Wiggin writes: “My wife, Jenn, and I moved to Charleston, S.C., recently and have been hanging out with Burnie Maybank and Suzanne Williamson Pollack, eating lots of oysters and ribs at Burnie’s country getaway on Edisto Island. Professionally, I created an interview show called Crossovers for the brand new STAGE Network (watchstage.com). Its first seven-episode season dropped, featuring Broadway and TV/Film stars such as Billy Magnussen (Game Night), Leslie Uggams (Deadpool) and Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things). Lot of work but rewarding.”
From Ken Williams: “Greetings to all from the First State of Delaware. It’s difficult to believe that 45 years have passed since the Form of ’74 departed Millville to shake up the world, but here we are. While I always look forward to returning to campus to converse with the adults we’ve all become, it doesn’t take long before we start to sound like a group of Third Formers hanging out in the quad. And isn’t that a refreshing thought? Sadly, I won’t make the reunion this year, but for a very exciting reason. My daughter, Brianna, will be receiving her B.S. in psychology from the University of Delaware on June 1. I trust our form will continue the tradition of having the most spectacular reunions on the planet. Also, kudos to Vic Young on the Alumni Association Award that he received in April.”
Carl Lovejoy
clovejoy2@gmail.com
Rick Gomes reports: “I was hiding in Vero Beach post-holidays, where I met up with classmate Donn Taylor. The attached picture provides evidence as to why 60-year-olds should not take selfies. Last July, my wife Lucy and I, devout Yankee fans, were forced to invade Red Sox Nation territory for the wedding of our son, Christopher, to Caitlin Glasgow of Norwich, Vt. Planning to see everyone in 2020!”
Whit Ford shares the following updates: “I liquidated our (very) small company after 26 years. I guess that means I’m ‘retired’ now. My sons are in their junior and senior years of college, and I’m excited at the thought of only one more year of tuition bills. I substitute taught Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 at our local high school from late September though January and found 96 students in five classes to be a lot of work. I continue to volunteer for Yarmouth Cares About Neighbors, White Mountain School, Breakwater School, Yarmouth High School, SPS Building Healthy Relationships Committee, and SCORE. If you are not aware of SCORE, check it out – it is a great free resource for new and growing businesses, and chapters need more volunteers with relevant experience. I’m playing flute every week in an Irish session I organize (look for Byrnes’ Whimsy on Facebook), and also as part of an English country dancing band (our tag line is “greatest hits of the 1600s and 1700s”). Music became my favorite social activity during my fifties, so dust off those neglected interests. Looking forward to upcoming travel to Chicago (35th graduate school reunion), and Ireland (traditional musical tour of County Clare).”
Archie Douglas writes: “Currently serving as director of college counseling at Bentley School in Lafayette, Calif., over the hills, east of Berkeley. In recent years, my parents have died, and my sons have graduated from college and are on the West Coast. When not at work, I am comfortably settled into a neo-classical row house in Santa Cruz. Overall, it has been a magical experience. I have no complaints.”
A message from Margaret Conklin: “I have been thinking a bit more about our time at SPS with all of the (not-so-positive) news that has been emerging about the School over the past few years. I am truly disappointed that it took SPS 17 years to acknowledge the ‘brave class of 1975’ for coming forward in 2000 to talk about some of the terrible things that were happening during our time there. Mostly, I still can’t believe that there were only 14 girls in our Third Form class when we showed up in the fall of 1971 – and I can name almost all of them. After graduating from Wellesley, I went to France for a while and then attended Harvard Law School. I joined the corporate practice of an international law firm in N.Y.C. – Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton – with the idea of transferring to their Paris office. I got married instead and moved to Brussels with my husband, who was partner at the firm. Both of our children were born in Belgium, and I joined Morgan Guaranty Trust Company (as it used to be known) there. I stayed with the bank for 22 years, with stints in the New York and London offices and retired a couple of years ago. I am now working at the Legal Aid Society as an immigration lawyer and serve on several boards and live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Both of our children attended Saint Paul’s School, (in London, not Concord), and Columbia College. Alexander is working for a tech company in Soho and Claire is pursuing a Ph.D. in history of science at Penn. We see Alice Conklin regularly, who is a very successful French historian at Ohio State University, specializing in issues of race, ethnology, and empire. She has two boys around the same age as our children (surprise, surprise), but I will let her provide her own news. Perhaps we will make the pilgrimage back to Concord one of these days.”
Jeff Cooley ’75, with wife Betsy, holding his granddaughter, Claire (daughter of Ben Cooley ’03), in front of the resting place of Jeff’s father, Paul Cooley (Form of 1926).
Rick Gomes ’75 (l.) with his wife, Lucy, at the wedding of their son, Chris, and daughter-in-law, Caitlin.
Rick Gomes ’75 (r.) trying his best to snap a selfie with formmate Donn Taylor.
Nora Tracy Phillips
noratphil@aol.com
Jon Sweet
Jsweet1000@gmail.com
Jon Sweet is thrilled that his second son, Owen ’23, was admitted to SPS – to play hockey and to study very hard – and will be joining his older brother, Harrison ’20, who is there already, doing the same.
Lita Remsen spent a weekend outside Boston for a movement training class late in March. Nora Tracy Phillips drove the 45 minutes from her home to Lita’s hotel off the interstate to meet her for dinner and a visit.
Mitchell Kelly writes: “In early February, my wife, Lael Forbes, and I had a lovely dinner in New York with Grace Kaynor, widow of Sandy Kaynor ’77. Neither their amazing son Granville nor his sister – my goddaughter, Phoebe – was able to join us, Granville being at the hotel, but down with the flu, and Phoebe having remained in New Orleans, burdened by school and such. Granville was gearing up for another outstanding season leading Trinity College’s tennis team to more titles, about which Sandy would be so proud. Grace and their kids send all their love to the SPS family, particularly to the Forms of 1977 and 1978.”
In November, Lisa Kent Nitze, Electra McDowell Lang, and Lisa Henriques Hughes came together with five other intrepid female friends to undertake what ended up being a “transcendent” 12-day trek in Nepal. They did the Annapurna Circuit, which included Annapurna Base Camp (13,500 ft.) and Poon Hill (10,532 ft.) at sunrise. Said Lisa Hughes, “It was an intimate and moving way to experience a country and, needless to say, kicked us into shape.”
Liz Robbins
lizrobbins325@gmail.com
Lisa Kent Nitze ’78, Lisa Henriques Hughes ’78, and Electra McDowell Lang ’78 (c.), flanked by two of their fellow trekkers in Kathmandu, Nepal.
(L. to r.) Todd Purdum ’78, Els Collins ’78, and Electra McDowell Lang ’78 defy Jon Sweet ’78 to take their picture at Todd’s March dinner party in L.A., while other form members carry on in the background, oblivious.