Mason Wells
masonbwells2@gmail.com
Lixy Carey
lixypc@gmail.com
Sam Reid’s project to restore the Wood Island Life Saving Station at the mouth of the Piscataqua River has reached the point where the Maine National Guard needed to be called in, along with their cement mixers that were delivered by amphibious landing craft. The seawall facing the shore was completed last year and they held their breath that the 100-year storm wouldn’t come in the meantime. Remembering Sam’s potent enthusiasm as a coxswain, I have no doubt he can effectively motivate a group of extremely fit men and women to overcome aquatic forces, as evidenced by the picture he sent.
Peter Paine’s son, Peter ’15, graduated from Princeton in June. Daughter Annelies will be going to business school at USC this fall (as a recruit on the ping pong team). The youngest Paine, Isabel, is a rising senior at Lawrenceville, so Peter and Els are gearing up for the college application rodeo one last time.
Nina Streeter’s son and daughter-in-law, Henry and Alyssa, welcomed a baby girl, Clara, promoting Nina to grandmother status.
From grill master Jamie Purviance: “I have recently published my 17th book on grilling, which makes reasonable people wonder what was missing in the previous 16. Nevertheless, the newest cookbook, Weber’s Ultimate Grilling, is my best of the bunch and it has given me the opportunity for a book tour and some happy reunions with classmates. In Boston, I met up with George Soule and Sean McNally. In New York, just prior to a cookbook event at LinkedIn, in the Empire State Building, I caught up with Jarvis Slade. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Alex Krongard surprised me by attending my cookbook dinner at a Marin County brassiere. Here’s hoping the food was a couple notches better than the typical fare we had in the Upper Dining Hall. My parents in Rhode Island need extra attention these days and seeing old friends is stirring a motivation to live in New England, at least for part of each year, so I hope to see more classmates there more often.”
Jim Hammond reports: “Leslie and I continue here in Manchester, Mass., with our two children, George and Madeline. For the last year and a half I’ve been running New Generation Research in Boston, a specialist publisher and data provider focused on restructuring, bankruptcy, and distressed company information, including the Turnaround Letter and BankruptcyData.com. The subject matter (in the latter especially) is not always cheery, but it is never dull. A great benefit is that our head of research is Nick Montgomery, who sends admirable copy every day from his lair in France, and who joined me at the American Bankruptcy Institute’s annual meeting in D.C., where we headlined for Bob Woodward of Watergate fame, the speaker folks really came to see. Of late, I’ve crossed paths with other classmates, including several mirthful visits from Bill Batts, with whom I have most happily reconnected in recent years. Karl Kusserow’s excellent exhibit, “Nature’s Nation,” came to the Peabody Essex Museum, and Nancy and George Soule motored out from Cambridge with Sean McNally for the opening. Karl stayed the night with us and joined me the next day for the commute into Boston. For a little while I felt like I was 18 again. Duncan Wilkinson ’87, of a more recent SPS vintage, has convinced me to squeeze my too-wide bottom into a shell and enter the lottery for the Head of the Charles this year, which will mean a long haul of trying to get into suitable condition on the off chance I get an entry. I hope to do a little training at Arthur Imperatore’s gym on the inevitable work trips to N.Y.C. Finally, Madeline will be matriculating at SPS this fall in the Fouth Form. She is delighted and so are Leslie and I.”
Alec McCabe and his wife, Katherine Tasheff, enjoyed a spring trip to Jamaica, and during another recent mini-break in Montauk, intersected with Biddle Duke.
Alec McCabe ’81 with his wife, Katherine Tasheff, in Jamaica.
Jamie Purviance ’81 during a stop on his book tour.
Sam Reid ’81 with the crew working to restore the Wood Island Life Saving Station in Kittery Point, Maine.
Lou Adreani
laadreani@comcast.net
An update from Mark Koumans: “In May, I was selected to be the deputy director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the 19,000-strong agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that handles naturalization, green cards, and other benefits for immigrants to this country. It is humbling and an honor to be chosen and it will be a challenge, but I am liking it so far. The job is not without controversy in this very partisan era. Meanwhile, eldest daughter Helene will take after her dad and go to Brown University, while younger daughter Lizzie runs track and plays soccer when she’s not in class, entering 10th grade at the local high school. Neither wanted to go to SPS or a boarding school, although we visited while driving back south from the New Hampshire Lakes Region, with which my parents fell in love back when we were all at SPS. Looking forward to our customary few weeks at the cabin sailing, paddling, and relaxing this summer.”
Forbes Black writes: “I am enjoying the good life in my little valley in the mountains north of Los Angeles (Santa Clarita). I am a software engineer for a local company, and I am thoroughly enjoying bicycling to work after fighting the L.A. freeways for so many years. My daughter starts at UC Santa Cruz in the fall, but my son will be sticking around for another six years before he flies the coop, so I am taking the empty nest phase in stages.”
(L. to r.) Louisa Benton ’82, Elisabeth Schmitz ’82, Alice Coogan ’82, and Blair Kloman ’82 on Cape Cod.
Louisa Benton checks in: “I’m writing you from an Amtrak train headed north to Cape Cod, where I’m gathering at my house for the weekend with Alice Coogan, Blair Kloman, Elisabeth Schmitz, and Natalie Edmonds. Forecast looks great. Still running Hope for Depression Research Foundation in N.Y.C. Growing this nonprofit and being in the field of brain science and mental health is really a thrill. Saw Alison Rona and Elise Pettus ’81 at an SPS event recently in the city. Life is good.”
From Jeff Rodgers: “I’m still living in the Syracuse area and busy as a multitasking writer, musician, and teacher (as detailed on my website, jeffreypepperrodgers.com). As it happens, tomorrow, my partner, Wendy, and I head to the Boston area to perform at the high school graduation party for Sam Daume’s son – with, by request, a good sampling of Dead songs on the set list. My own nest is mostly empty; my son, Jasper, is in college (Brandeis, studying computer science), and my daughter, Lila, is in grad school (getting her Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Princeton). Both are rebelling against their liberal arts parents. It’s been fun to reconnect with a few classmates in my travels around the Northeast.”
Lew Lukens checks in: “I wrapped up my job as deputy chief of mission in London in January, and retired from the State Department in February after 30 years as a Foreign Service officer in nine countries. Still trying to figure out what the next chapter looks like, and in the meantime, spending time between the U.S. and London. Started my own consulting firm, Caspian Strategies, and have a couple of projects at the moment. Also stayed busy last week during President Trump’s State Visit to the UK as a commentator on BBC, Sky, and with NPR.”
Greg Lee sends this news: “It’s ironic that the year after Graham ’18 graduated from St. Paul’s, I’ve been coming to New Hampshire every other month since January. Our company purchased the Seabrook Greyhound Park, formerly a greyhound racing track that is now an off track betting location for primarily horse racing and also a charitable casino with poker and table games. We did a 30-day facelift of part of the property, and are continuing with our remodeling with the plan to radically expand this facility into an entertainment facility with great food, a place to watch sporting events, and a fun casino. In New Hampshire, charitable 501(c)(3)s received one-third of the casino proceeds, which has introduced me to many of the challenges and charities trying to solve them in New Hampshire. St. Paul’s is a wonderful bubble in New Hampshire, but it’s been nice to contribute something to the state that was our home while in Millville. The New Hampshire Union Leader wrote a nice article about our company: https://www.unionleader.com/news/business/christopher-thompson-s-closing-the-deal-employee-owned-companies-have/article_729bcbca-bde5-5e8d-b6b1-93228d8192d2.html.”
A note from Charlie Hood: “Greetings to everyone from the lovely little Southern town of Aiken, S.C. I hope all is well with everyone. I really appreciate Lou Adreani’s efforts to keep us all involved and engaged. Despite some health battles, life is going well here. Aiken is a real center of activity related to thoroughbred horses, and I still hear mentions of formmate Adam Snow’s name around town. In fact, the woman who cuts my hair is a huge equestrian fan and she tells me: ‘Adam and his wife have the best horses in town!’ I continue to work in the field of computer mathematical modeling of real-world systems. On the one hand, I enjoy opportunities to learn so much from others who are real experts. On the other hand, I am really enjoying spending more time mentoring young people who are just starting out. Like everyone else working either directly or indirectly with high-tech, cloud computing is having an ever-increasing impact on my work. Reflecting on this led me to the following memory: Back in our days at SPS there were many ‘green-screen’ terminals located throughout the Moore math building and the old Payson science building. These terminals were connected to a DEC PDP-11 computer in the basement of Payson, but we were not limited only to the computing power of the DEC PDP-11 itself, since Mr. Doucette had set up a time-sharing arrangement with Dartmouth College. In other words, St. Paul’s had its own internal system, but we also had access to disk space and CPU from a larger system at Dartmouth. To paraphrase the old famous Barbara Mandrell country song, ‘We were cloud computing when cloud computing wasn’t cool!’ Just one more example of the really incredible opportunities we had back in our days at SPS.”
Allison Icy Frantz
icy@icyfrantz.com
Matthew Baird’s son, Henry ’21, just completed his year at SPS, rooming with Tod Brainard’s son, Jake ’21. Matthew is enjoying this new chapter, parenting a child at SPS, and is making Maine his home base for the summer. Small world, my son, an architecture student at Princeton, spent time with a friend on Long Island and discovered that a structure at the home was Matthew’s first project after opening his studio many years ago. Cheers to the next generation.
Andrew Corsello
corselloandrew@mac.com
Your form director is putting you on notice: Our 35TH SPS REUNION is the weekend of May 29-31, 2020. Lida Lee “Leelee” Lloyd Treadwell has written in to ask: “Will there be a slip ’n slide? Will there be a reenactment of the oiled-torso volleyball scene from Top Gun? Will the 2020 form director campaign be as swamped in dark money and libel as in 2015?” The answer to each question is a resounding: Yes, dear.
Thanks to Herculean efforts by David Foulke, John Potter and Eddie Krayer, who organized the Airbnb rental and the catering, a posse of SPS ’85ers (with a spattering of ’84 and ’87) met in Boston in early May to wine, dine and toast the great Mike Hirschfeld. Dig the grainy cell phone pic that emerged as evidence!
Ron Provost just completed his 20th year teaching, coaching, and advising at Robert Louis Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California. “My track team won the league title this year – wouldn’t Preston Hannibal be surprised? All of my college counselees are off to fine four-year institutions. I continue to teach marine biology in what Francis McComas called “the greatest meeting of land and water in the world” and now have almost a decade of astronomy under my belt. I just finished an e-mail trying to coordinate the use of a 25” telescope atop a peak in the foothills of the Andes the night before a total solar eclipse that takes place in 24 days. I’ll be traveling to Chile with my two grown sons, ages 23 and 25, leaving my wife, Kirsten, in California to defend the homestead from US Open golf fans. Oh, designed a new ninth-grade science curriculum this year with a great colleague and got my first tattoo. But that is another story…”
Janet Connolly Gyr still lives in the small town of Nelson in the interior of British Columbia with her husband and two boys, 16 and 13. Says Janet: “It is a really a lovely place – mountains and a large lake – and I find Canada, generally, to be a kinder and gentler place to live. Lest I get overly enthusiastic, my life as a lawyer brings the less charming side of life here into sharp focus. I hope to make it back to New Hampshire in 2020.”
Ward Atterbury writes: “Catherine and I are happy to announce the birth of our first daughter and third child, Beatrice Annette Savoie Gratton Atterbury on April 2, 2019. We’re still getting used to playing zone defense when we’d barely mastered man-to-man but things seem to be going well, even though at this early age Beatrice has already managed to wrap her father around her little finger.”
Richard Barth shares. To wit: “I don’t think I’ve submitted an update to the Horae in 29 years. Let me cut to the chase: Life is good. My kids are healthy and seemingly happy – at least three of four. I just got a text from my ninth grader, who is spending three weeks in Germany at a language intensive. It was his least favorite subject this year (we didn’t know at the time we enrolled him) and he appears to be miserable just 24 hours into the experience. My wife, Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, decided a decade ago that the U.S. was not enough to keep her energized, so now there are 48 programs across the globe – Teach For Peru, Teach for Russia, Teach for Spain, and the like. Highlight of this year was going to Lance Khazei’s wedding to Megan Murphree in Mexico in February. Shared a house with Andrew Corsello and his wife, Dana (she officiated the wedding brilliantly and beautifully; Corsello provided piano accompaniment as the bride’s niece sang a Lady Gaga song from A Star is Born), Eric Oleson, Nicole and Gary Channing, and Bernard von Bothmer. Also got to hang out with Michael Karnow, Nate Downey, Alan Khazei ’79, and Jolly Stamat ’87. Cannot wait to see everyone a year from now.”
Another SPS ’85 attendee of the Khazei nuptials “anonymously” writes, “When the DJ sparked up “Let’s Groove” during the reception, Michael Karnow began insolently twerking at Corsello, who retorted with a single roundhouse spank that was not only violent but deafening. End of story? Please: Karnow, a man wholly untouched by hesitation or shame, only began to twerk more brazenly, more mercilessly. Corsello went straight to DEFCON 1; the reports of each spank – right-left, right-left – sounded like artillery. This ever-escalating cycle of twerk and spank left onlookers…onlooking.”
Kim Donaldson continues to enjoy life in New York City with her husband, Eric, and their sons Lars (16) and Henrik (2). She writes, “As much as I would have loved to see Lars at SPS, he took the ‘winter is coming’ warnings to heart and chose to be closer to home and less stressed and cold at Taft, where he played goalie for the soccer, hockey, and lacrosse teams. I am happy to get to games more often given the proximity. Henrik just turned two and is so much fun, as well as shockingly mischievous. Both sons seem to answer me in monosyllabic grunts. I have been teaching a course on organizations and leadership in sports at NYU, which has been fun, challenging, and rewarding. I am also consulting for startups while working on relaunching a new e-mail version of my women’s sports editorial site, Excelle Sports.”
In early June, near the end of a 17-hour drive home from Utah to Portland, Juliet Hochman wrote that she had just finished the 530-mile Kokopelli Relay (bike race) with three teammates from Moab to St. George, Utah. Says Juliet of the experience: “Thirty hours and 35,000 feet of climbing and no sleep. Grueling but beautiful and super-fun.”
From Bart Quillen: “Pleased to share the news that in March, my wife, Lisa, gave birth in Boston to Madeleine Quillen and that this old bald dude couldn’t be happier. I’m completely blown away and thank God in the heavens for her arrival! Our door is open to any and all ’85ers who want to visit Providence and meet little Maddie.”
Rob MacKay has requested that all future 1985 formnotes be written in iambic pentameter: “It would be a nice hat tip to our education.” Sure, Rob. Coming right up.
Beatrice Annette Savoie Gratton Atterbury, daughter of Catherine and Ward Atterbury ’85, was born on April 2, 2019.
(L. to r.) Liesbeth Hirschfeld, Hannah Hirschfeld ’14, Mike Hirschfeld ’85, Peter Paine ’81, Holly Sanderson-Garrett ’87, Rob Garrett ’85, Lew Nash ’85, and Jamie Koven ’91 (with son, Henry) at the Brown-Princeton crew race this spring.
Form of 1985 formmates Eric Williams and Samantha Britell Levine at their 30th reunion at Penn.
The Form of 1985 toasted Mike Hirschfeld ’85 in Boston in early May. Attendees included (l. to r.) front row: John Trevor, Jim Frates, Bart Quillen, David Foulke, Court Fawcett; second row: Caitlin Eills, Emily Hartshorne; third row: Jim Diamond, John Potter, John Britton, Rob Garrett, Holly Garrett ’87, Mike Hirschfeld; back row: Nate Downey, Jon Shaw, David Stubbs, and Eddie Krayer. Not pictured: Dave McCusker ’84 and Liesbeth Hirschfeld.
Juliet Hochman ’85 competing in the 530-mile Kokopelli Relay.
Ron Provost ’85 near Pebble Beach, Calif., with his high-school-aged students and visiting middle school students from Wisconsin.
Henrik (2) and Lars Donaldson (16), children of Eric and Kim Donaldson ’85.
Lance Khazei ’85 brings the heat during his first dance with Megan Murphree at their February wedding in Mexico.
Lisa and Bart Quillen ’85 welcomed daughter Madeleine in March.
LaMar Bunts
lamar_bunts@post.harvard.edu
A message from Eric Chehab: “Had a fantastic weekend May 4 in Chicago with fellow Paulies Bill Kessler, Jim Stovell, Tim Clark, Tom Hershenson, Jerome Goubeaux, and Chuck “Fido” Fedolfi ’86. Lots of music, laughs, and good tunes. The out of town fellas stayed at the “Buzzards Nest” in Skokie – five stars on Airbnb and untrashable. Look it up the next time you’re in Chicago!”
Eric Chehab ’87, Bill Kessler ’87, Jim Stovell ’87, Tim Clark ’87, Tom Hershenson ’87, Jerome Goubeaux ’87, and Chuck “Fido” Fedolfi ’86 in Chicago.
Monique Washington writes: “I was recently promoted to Lieutenant in the Chicago Police Department. I am excited to take on the challenges of this new position but I am also sad that I have to leave the Special Victims Unit after ten years. It does not feel like 20 years with the department but that is how long it has been. I finally caught up with Nelson Williams! We had dinner a while ago and he is doing great. We promised to do a better job of keeping in touch and so far so good on that. I can’t wait to see everyone at our 35th!”
Caroline LaVoie
caroline_lavoie@yahoo.com
Tim Kelly writes: “Moved from Taiwan to the U.S. a couple of years ago and we have settled in Acton, Mass. My wife, Hailing, and I are raising two boys – Yousyu (Joe), 12, and Jiasyu (Nick), 7. Parenting blows away any challenge I have ever faced in my life, but the rewards are immeasurable. I finally reconnected with the Form of ’88 at our 30th last year and it was a blast. Looking forward to the 35th.”
Henry Lien’s PEASPROUT CHEN middle grade fantasy series, published by Macmillan and based on his years at SPS, has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist, been nominated for a Nebula Award, and received a Silver Medal from the Parents’ Choice Foundation.
Angus King shares: “In terms of an update, my family and I live in the now-SPS Rector-endorsed-hometown of Portland, Maine, and I’m working with some dairy farms up here to turn manure into natural gas, which helps the farms and the environment while creating homegrown energy for our customers. We hope to have it operational by 2021. I’m also trying to make up for my lack of ice time at SPS, learning how to skate and play hockey as a 48-year-old. It is hilarious and humbling. Let me know if you’re headed through Maine.”
JB Buxton checks in: “My wife, Hunter, and I are living in Raleigh, N.C., and are about to become empty nesters. Our youngest daughter graduates from high school this June and heads to VCU in Richmond, Va., to study design. Our son just finished his sophomore year at UNC-Chapel Hill and our oldest daughter lives in D.C., after graduating from UNC and works with Deloitte. My wife is working with youth voting and college access, and I am doing public education consulting work, and was recently appointed to the North Carolina State Board of Education.”
Kyle Lonergan shares this update: “Charles Buice ’90 and I had lunch last year and hatched a plan to reunite the SPS basketball team. We had some historic seasons – the 1988 and 1989 teams were the first and only SPS teams to win the New England Tournament. We had a small, but rabid following – the ‘bleacher creatures,’ led by Oye Carr, Brian Berlandi ’89, and Aaron Wensley. Charles and I first arranged a dinner out in N.Y.C. in November with Tarik ’89 and Gary Campbell ’89, Coach John Green and Art Richardson ’90. Coach Green gave me videotapes of our tournament runs, and I had them digitized. We all then gathered at my place in N.Y.C. in May and Oye joined us from Boston. It was a great evening reminiscing about the glory days and watching us take on and beat traditional basketball powerhouses on our way to the championship.”
(L. to r.) Oye Carr ’88, Kyle Lonergan ’88, Gary Campbell ’89, Charles Buice ’90, Tarik Campbell ’89, and John Green (former faculty) at an SPS basketball reunion in New York City.
Three generations of Paulies at Anniversary Weekend (l. to r.): Ed Leonard ’59, Thomas Leonard ’21, and Andrew Leonard ’89.