Dick Paine
Paine45green@aol.com
On May 30, Marty and I joined Jean and John Wagley ’49 at our 65th Harvard reunion. There were several fascinating talks, including a discussion by Susan Rice, our first African-American UN ambassador and assistant secretary of state under President Obama, and Angela Merkel (current German chancellor). The latter described in detail her early teenage years growing up in East Germany and touching “The Wall” every morning on the way to school. The destruction of the wall and her now opened political career, including both East and West Germany, was a talk for the ages.
Dick McKee writes: “My daughters (Alice and Hope) and I went on a day trip through the Columbia River Gorge. Very pretty scenery. This April, I took an eight-day Linblad Expedition cruise in the Sea of Cortez, then flew to Florida to visit my son and his family. I’m still doing volunteer tutoring for GED students at the Clackamas Junior College.”
Charlie “Skip” Kinnaird: “Reporting in from the third world in south Georgia. No contact since mini-reunion in Hawaii circa 2000.”
Fred Church
Church1955@gmail.com
A brief update from Felix Kloman: “Not much news from this area. I still write a Haiku or two a week and a book review each month for our local online paper.”
David Morrish reports that there will be a memorial service for our loyal class representative John Lorenz in Maine on August 10.
Fred Gardner writes: “At age 85, being able to maintain some measure of continuity amounts to news. Gael and I are still living on our lovely 56-acre farm north of Princeton, N.J. Gael rides regularly and she and her 22-year-old mare, Ruby Lee, keep improving their dressage abilities. She takes care of our vegetable garden, her two horses and three boarders, a flock of chickens, and the four ewes that remain of our former lambing operation. I get out on the tennis court at least once a week, paint watercolors, and do what I can to help with the farm. We go to concerts and theater in Princeton, but have given up our Metropolitan Opera subscription; regular drives to New York City are just too much to cope with. On a recent trip there, however, I saw Steve Gurney at a Yale Class Council meeting and he was in splendid condition, looking ready to take on the world in a single scull.”
David Sinkler
ddsinkler@comcast.net
Peter Wells writes: “When I filled out a questionnaire about qualifications/beliefs wanted for a new Rector, I had no idea that my list would be so admirably fulfilled. Thank God! And thanks to all those who worked so hard to get the School healthy again.”
David Morrish ’51 reports: Peter Stearns has moved year-round to Santa Barbara.
Truman Bidwell sends this update: “We had a wonderful dinner with the women from the first and second SPS boats the night before the Exeter races and the next day we christened a new first boat (the Ludmila Bidwell) and a second boat (the Hillary Mackay ’84 –named after my oldest daughter). The Ludmila boat has yet to lose a race! My shell, the Truman and Albert (named for my old formmate, Albert Francke, and known at the boathouse as the ‘friendship boat’), also did well at the Exeter races. The next women’s boat will be named for my youngest daughter, who also attended SPS. Ludmila and I are going to try to get to Henley to cheer the SPS crews on.”
Gerhard Schade writes: “Duffy and I have moved to a senior living facility in Mystic, Conn., named StoneRidge. It’s a good place for us at this stage. We still plan to spend July and August at our place on the Scoodic Penninsula of Maine this summer – God willing.”
Bill Emery and his wife, Shelley, had the great fortune of visiting Terry and Joe Williams in Charleston, S.C., in May. Bill writes, “Our gracious host and hostess took us to a dinner at The Ordinary, a famed seafood restaurant in a former bank lobby. Thanks to Terry and Joe, we all had a memorable evening. It was great to see them both in such good form.”
Jim Hammond
Hamjam123@hotmail.com
Formmates Jim Hammond and Nelson Aldrich got together for dinner with their wives in New York City at Barawine at the end of April.
From Peter Paine: “In recent years, I have traveled to the Esquel Region of Patagonia, Argentina, in late March to fish for trout. Until his death in 2016, Mo Brooke was a regular companion on these expeditions. While fishing from the El Encuentro Lodge, I caught a 23-inch rainbow on the Rio Grande River south of Esquel, a few kilometers from the Chilean border. A few years ago, Mo landed an even larger brown trout on the same River that was almost 30 inches in size – a true monster!”
Peter Swords and his wife, Brenda, traveled to Armenia in May, and visited (among other places) the Noravank monastery, an 11th-century cultural center. Peter writes, “The Armenian Apostolic Church was established over 700 years before the Great Schism. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity – in the year 301.”
Randy Hackett writes: “I retired from my marketing/advertising career in 2000. Enjoying a family of three children, eleven grands, and one great-grand. Widowed nine years ago. Avid follower of all sports, especially New York’s losing teams.”
Steve Colgate writes: “Still involved with my passion, sailing. Just did a talk in Naples, Fla., about the highlight of my sailing career – being the principal helmsman on the 81’ maxi yacht NIRVANA for three years in the early 1980s. Also was on a panel at the New York Yacht Club about how the 1979 Fastnet Race was the impetus for Safety at Sea programs. Four of us on the panel were on that race, when 15 people died in the unforecast storm. I talked about how safety at sea was nonexistent when we lost our rudder in a Trans-Atlantic Race in 1963, 1,000 miles from the finish at Eddistone Light, England. So safety was ignored many years before the ’79 Fastnet Race and much has been addressed recently. It is needed because sailboat racing will be hit by more and more large storms due to climate change.”
Nick Platt joined the Philadelphia Orchestra from May 16 to 27 on its 12th visit to China. As a Foreign Service officer serving in Beijing, he supported Maestro Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphians’ first China tour in 1973, and assumed a formal advisory role in 2011. Despite tensions in trade and other areas of U.S.-China relations, the Orchestra received rock-star welcomes in five cities, performing both stage concerts and cultural exchange events at conservatories, schools, and hospitals.
Paul Phillips writes: “Nice and green here, daffs out, and our barn swallows back to old nests on front and side porches yesterday, but today colder again and light snow coming down. At least it won’t be one of those springs straight into summer. Enjoyed roast lamb for Easter dinner with Sharon’s brother, Ken. We’ve been getting into the garden the past two weeks, and have a recently retired man helping Sharon a lot with the beds. We have been helping our Everson art museum get corporate and individual support, and my Albany med school classmates to support our class scholarship fund. Upcoming events include striped bass fishing off New Jersey and Cape Cod, a turkey hunt up north, and then Ireland with the whole family.”
On May 15, 2019, Read Charlton and his wife, Ann, hosted the following guests at their backyard feeder: 20 blue jays, four mourning doves, two whitetail deer, 200 cow birds, a pair of painted grosbeaks, and four hummingbirds, just up from the Carolinas. And a partridge in a pear tree.
Nat Howe
nathowejr@yahoo.com
James Miller shares: “I am still alive. These days, that’s news.”
David Wagstaff reports: “Retired but still active. Departing from New Orleans for summer in Montana.”
Charlie Meyer writes: “Diana Adams Tufts and I were married in London in February, 2008; widow and widower. I moved to Pinehurst, N.C., home to Diana and American golf. We are gardeners, golfers, and serve on various boards at UNC Chapel Hill, as well as Sandhills Community College. Except for Christmas Day, our golf courses are open year round.”
Fred Lovejoy sends this: “Gratefully, all is well on our end. Six grandchildren, all boys, all six years old and under! Still hard at work at the Children’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School. My recent book, The Transformation of Pediatrics (available through Amazon, the history of the Department of Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital) has done well and I’m working on another on Harvard Medical School professors. Still living in Concord, Mass., and Annisquam, Mass., in the summer. Attended prize day in the Chapel at St. Paul’s and observed the awarding of the Lovejoy Science Prize. The Chapel was as inspiring as ever.”
A message from Charles Glenn: “I retired from Boston University two years ago, but continue to publish and speak in the U.S. and Europe in support of educational freedom. My most recent book (2018) is about character and citizenship education in seven Islamic secondary schools across the US. I live in Boston and am blessed to have my seven children and 10 grandchildren nearby.”
Harry Groome’s fourth novel, Celebrity Cast, a thriller set in Russia during the 1991 coup, was published last fall. Harry says it’s a great summer read.
Carlo Alberto La Chiusa lives with his wife of five years, Maria Grazia, in her Finale Ligure home, a nice sea resort on the coast west of Genova. Carlo Alberto writes, “We also have an apartment in the outskirts of Florence, so we enjoy life in two places, thanks to good health. We pray to God to keep up, and we hope to be able to attend the 65th.”
Dyer Wadsworth shares this note: “Spotted at May’s 60th Reunion of Yale Class of 1959 (in order of dwindling recollection): Lida and Frank Lloyd, Mimi and Paul Horne, Ted Ward, Carla and Rowlie Stebbins, along with several others on the expected list not found by your distracted agent.”
Ted Ward shares this news: “For the last two-plus years, I have been going deep into San Quentin State Prison every Thursday to work with a group of prisoners who are all veterans of the U.S. military in a program called Veterans Healing Veterans. I served in USMC. All these men, who average about 45 years old, are serving life sentences for heinous crimes committed in their youths. The rate of suicides among veterans is shockingly high on a national level and has been almost as high among prisoners. San Quentin has approximately 725 veterans (56 on death row) in a population of approximately 3,800. It is essentially group therapy, where prisoners talk, sometimes for the first time, about their crimes, guilt, shame, depression, etc., with particular focus on PTSD in combat, childhood, gangs, wherever. The openness is based on the deep trust and connection of having served in the military, and, needless to say, the emotions and pain that they cough up are wrenching. Many say it is the best three hours of their boring, isolated weeks. Two of the men will be paroled out before August – one who started on death row and has served 39 years in prison(s). Truly one of the most meaningful experiences of my life that I stumbled on after inquiring about the VHV program. I got Jake Roak involved with the mother of one of the men who lives near him.”
Paul Horne writes: “Mimi and I continue to spend five months a year in Paris, where I worked as Smith Barney’s chief international economist for 24 years. Apart from enjoying la cuisine and rich cultural life there, we actively support the 61-year-old Weicker Scholarship program, helping to choose a 14-year-old from one of France’s top lycees to attend SPS for the entire Third Form. Since the 1980s, we have been impressed by the scholarship candidates, who typically have two foreign languages and advanced math, are very mature, and adapt quickly to the SPS environment, which is so very different from that of French schools. The 100-plus Weicker Scholars have all become energetic ambassadors for good Franco-American relations.”
R. Rennie Atterbury
ratterbury@aol.com
An update from Brent Scudder: “Proceeding with my bucket list, I am in my second season of storm chasing tornadoes in the Midwest. Haven’t seen one yet, but I am getting closer.”
Bill Zimmerman writes: “After retiring 10 years ago, I continued to teach a non-major’s course on the evolution of human nature up to last year. I’ve given that up now in favor of full-time retirement activities: reading, some writing, seeing children (two) and grandchildren (six, from ages 21 to nine), landscaping, fishing, and generally enjoying life with Michele. No health problems other than a few replacements here and there, and no plans to move anywhere.”
John Wilmerding has just published a new book, American Masterpieces: Singular Expressions of National Genius. It is a compilation of his “masterpiece” essays written for the Wall Street Journal between 2006 and the present. It is to be featured in an upcoming issue of Newsweek.
Piers Woodriff is still trying to dig up the answer to the big question; man’s inhumanity to man.
Bill de Haven
Bill_dehaven316@hotmail.com
The Form of 1957 had its annual dinner on May 3 at the Philadelphia Club. We were 13. Notable attendees included Peter Bartol from Colorado and Tom Bartlett from California. Sadly, we have lost our president, Sam Young, Harold Talbot, and Dick Holmes in the last few months.
Sandy Holloway visited George de Man at George’s home on Shelter Island Heights, N.Y. Along with Susan Cobleigh and a host of island friends, they celebrated George’s 80th, watched magnificent sunsets, and took advantage of perfect late-spring weather.”
John Pearce reports that on June 1, his daughter, Elizabeth ’04, married George Zoulias. In attendance were her siblings, James ’98, Sarah ’00 (maid of honor), and Alexander ’06. Jane and John have six grandchildren. Longtime friend Mason Smith also attended. John retired as the Duke University architect in 2010 and lives in Washington, D.C.
Tom Bartlett writes: “Remembering the hymn we used to sing at SPS, ‘O Pray for the Peace,’ which includes the words of the 122nd Psalm. I saw it written on the wall of a cafeteria in Jerusalem’s Old City, where I stopped on the afternoon of May 12, 2019. I asked the waitress to take a photo. I went to Israel for an academic conference on Chinese history, which they do very well there, and then stayed on for another two weeks, revisiting the Old City several times, visiting friends in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and spending a couple of quiet days at a rural site in central Galilee. So much to see and much still not yet seen.”
David Hunt writes: “I continue to lecture about the intelligence profession: 11 lectures in 2018. Schools, universities, libraries, clubs, etc. None solicited. Generally, anecdotes from the field during the Cold War with observations on the ‘more dangerous’ present. Most recent title, ‘From Russia with Love,’ providing continuity to Russian penchant for killing enemies of the state (40 documented between 2003 and 2016).”
David Noble has been guiding and study-leading archaeological river rafting and field trips on the San Juan, Yampa, Green, and Colorado Rivers for 35 years and did his final one in late May for The Archaeological Conservancy. David writes, “It was a good run but, whew! I feel regret and sadness to quit, but relief, as well. To any interested in seeing samples of my photography, check out: www.davidgrantnoble.com.”
Sydney Waud
swaud@stribling.com
John Douglas regrets that he was unable to attend the 60th, but he sends his best regards. John writes: “Should any classmates be in Pittsburgh or Sun Valley, Idaho, please give us a call at (412) 681-6375.”
Bill Eldridge writes: “Still making my semi-annual trek to Myrtle Beach, S.C., in April and October to visit with friends and play golf. Coming and going via car, I make a point to stop along the way to briefly visit with classmates. Recently in April/May visited with Sam Callaway (off to Yale for a reunion), David Atkinson, Ted Johnson and his wife, Ann, and missed connections with Sydney Waud. Always good to see everyone.”
Robert “Woody” Woodroofe is now living in Western Connecticut with his wife, Sally, of 50 years. He writes, “We’re about 10 miles away from Jill and Sam Callaway. Sam and I are joined once a week during the summer months by two other septuagenarians and at other times as well for hikes on the nearby Appalachian Trail and other forest paths. Over the recent years, we have knocked off the AT in day hikes from Vermont to New Jersey. The breakfasts prior or lunches following these walks are almost as important as the actual journeys, with conversations ranging from national politics to local humor. Thanks to the wonders of ‘FaceTime,’ we stay freshly connected to our daughter, Louise, son-in-law, Garret, and grandson, Jed, in Washington, D.C. I also have been with the Kent Singers for the past twelve years (although my voice has sunk from tenor to bass), and I retired from active part-time ministry in the Episcopal Church at the end of last December from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bridgewater, Conn. We’re able to dodge most of the winter chill in Hilton Head, S.C. The recent 60th in Concord brought about 40 of us together with spouses for a well-organized exposure to the School and one another through a private plenary session plus two enjoyable and delicious dinners at Coit.”
Joseph Roby writes: “Retired to Portland, Ore., some 20 years ago with my wonderful wife, Tracy. Playing lots of golf in this golf-rich state, and raised two kids here. Now have eight-plus years of recovery from serious relapse. We had a great time at the reunion. So nice to see my old SPS buddies and the School. What a magnificent place!”
Nick Biddle shares this note: “Joan and I are still married after 52+ years. How fortunate I am to have found Joan. We love our life in Southern California since November 2005 to be near daughters and grandchildren. Just last night, we flew in from Mill Valley, Calif., visiting Barbara and her family for a few days. Two hours in a jet and we never left California! Our annual world travels this year included a three-week cruise in January and February around Cape Horn, South America, featuring Buenos Aires, the Falkland Islands, the Patagonia Andes, and Santiago, Chile. My political bloviating on the Internet has only worsened, as my 19-year-old Blue Ridge Observer (BRO) is now read coast to coast, and I started another piece 12 years ago for the locals called ‘NB, Temecula, CA.’ ‘Demoncrats’ has just replaced ‘Dummycraps’ in my opinionated blasts. Surprisingly, for a famously liberal-progressive state, many Californians love my pointed rants.”
A note from Lang Marsh: “The best thing that happened in the last 10 years was the arrival of our two grandchildren, Emmy, now four, and Cooper, who is two. Their mother was born in Korea and brought up by Jewish parents in Brooklyn. The two are beautiful, delightful young people, already exploring the world through art, dance (their mother is a former ballerina with the New York City Ballet), brother and sister soccer, reading, and hard play. Another big change in my life is that I am becoming more and more of an activist, for climate and ecosystem health and for social justice. I volunteer for the Sierra Club’s Equity and Justice Committee in Washington State and have participated in a number of marches and legislative battles. It has been clear for some time that the economic system that enabled our families to create the wealth that landed us at SPS is driven too much by the imperatives of maximizing profit through unsustainable growth to be up to the task of maintaining and restoring of the planets’ essential ecosystem services, including climate stability, healthy air and water, fertile soils and well-functioning watersheds, lakes, and oceans. Speaking of urgent care and replacing unsustainable systems, the reason I could not attend Anniversary Weekend is that I’m still recovering from surgery that removed my cancerous bladder, prostate, and urethra and replaced them with a urinary conduit that empties into a bag stuck on my belly. I’m handling it pretty well, but the surgery took a lot out of me and I’m slowly regaining weight and energy. I’m struggling with what to leave to my progeny and to what kind of causes. We’ve started a giving program by donating a large sum to an organization that links the intersection of climate and environmental crises with economic and social inequalities and oppressions. We’ve told our children not to expect the bulk of our estate. Anyone who wants to talk about these issues please let me know.”