Dimitri Sevastopoulo
dsevastopoulo@gmail.com
On October 17, Cathy and I organized a small dinner at the Harvard Club in Manhattan for those members of the class of 1960 who had a free evening to spend with us. Those who joined us were Barbara and Richard Brewster, Bill Foulke, Joe Mechem and Edie Irons, Ginny and Lane Taylor, Bill Stearns, and Tina and Sandy Whitman. Conversation was spirited but not political and everyone departed knowing that the next time we would be together would be at the end of May to celebrate our 60th.
Joe Mechem, Lane Taylor, and Charlie Thomson will again be visiting Ben Moyer for a week in February at his house in the Casa del Campo resort in the Dominican Republic. His house borders on one of three golf courses and lies 15 minutes from the ocean in the Casa. They plan to drink just a few mojitos.
Mike Seymour
mike@hol.edu
Each year, I send our class a holiday e-mail, encouraging check-ins and updates. We had a bigger-than-ever response this year, which I take as a hopeful sign for a group such as us in our advancing years. We received holiday check-ins from Henry Corning, Rick Jackson, Stone Ermentrout, Stuart Bell, Bob Rounsavall, Limey Pillsbury, Curt Lynch, John Ransmeier, Terry Winslow, and Will Pier. The following others shared more.
Ed Tiffany: “Joan and I will have a full house next week. We, however, only have four grandchildren. Lucky, if there were 14 we would need more floor space. This fall, Jim Hatch and I on blue bikes saw the redesign of Mass Art Galleries with the gallery director and short visit to MFA.”
Bobby Clark: “Carroll and I have had a good year. Getting a little slower and creakier, but still upright and moving. We walk our two great Tibetan terriers almost every day, and I still run about three miles most days.”
Jim Hatch: “This is how I started my day today, something to which I think you all can relate. The lake is but a quarter-mile from the new home I built, and into which I moved last spring, having been in the family home nearby for over 30 years. It is also the lake on which I row, and it has given me pleasure in so many ways all my life.”
Peter Britton: “Remembering the horse team shaving the ice on the Lower School Pond – eccentric memories of our shared time together.”
Bill Matthews: “Time with all three sons and their families over the Christmas holidays – seals on the rocks in front of our house – family skating on the pond between us and the ocean – friendships renewed – doesn’t get much better.”
Rick Leach: “I’m plunked by the fire in holiday attire/My dog at my feet and ready for a treat/A wish to old friends/Let’s join in amends/And do what we may/ I hope more than just say/To patch up our earth/The world of our birth.”
Tod Rodger: “All is good – for this age. I’m getting ready to train new tax volunteers for AARP and United Way, then another busy tax season. Weather is good, riding my trike 100 miles per week on the excellent trail system here. Lyn is leading nature walks at Honeymoon Island and busy with art guild – painting and website. She had a rough couple of months this fall moving her younger brother in Kansas from an independent cottage to assisted living, then quickly to full nursing care, followed by his death.”
Tad de Bordenave: “Isn’t this one of the best days of the year! I have a recommendation for one of these nights – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Yeah, the one about Mr. Rogers. Not so much about the show or the man. More about how he had such an impact.”
Lang Rust: “I only met him (Mr. Rogers) once – as we were entering a large conference hall where he was the featured speaker. On hearing my name, he stopped, turned to me, looked at me as if I were the only person in the room, and said ‘Langbourne Rust?! I am so glad to finally meet you! I have so loved reading your papers. They have really been a help to me in my work.’ He went on to mention a point that I’d made in a recent publication. And then someone took him by the arm and bustled him off to the podium.”
Sherm Barker: “As a townie, I found this a great time to be in both Concord and Millville during the Christmas holidays. Winter was still fresh and, with luck, there was still some black ice skating around, great shinny hockey games on the outdoor artificial rink, too.”
John Jay: “In anticipation of two weeks of skiing in Aspen at the end of February with my brothers-in-law, to get in shape I have been making day trips to ski at Mount Sunapee, driving right past the Turkey Pond boathouses on I-93 – not a sign of black ice, as there is open water all around and further north at Lake Sunapee as well.”
Formmates (l. to r.) Bobby Clark ’61, John Ransmeier, and Jim Hatch at SPS In Action Weekend.
Max King ’62 was named Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine.
Tom Roberts
tarbigred@yahoo.com
Max King was named Pittsburgher of the Year for 2019 by Pittsburgh Magazine. Max is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers, and has led both The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Heinz Endowments.
David Gordon
gordon@highlands.com
Jerry Nelson visited Maggie and me at our home in Garrison, N.Y. We enjoyed catching up as the sun set over the Hudson behind Crow’s Nest Mountain. Lots of memories. I also caught up with Steve Gould at an SPS reception on October 2 in N.Y.C. We enjoyed hearing about the School from our 14th Rector, Kathy Giles, and Board President Archie Cox ’58.”
Ryland Howard writes: “I traveled to western Normandy in 2019, the 75th anniversary of D-Day, to find the site where my father’s plane went down. On June 11, through a series of serendipitous historical connections, I was able to stand in the field where my father died. My father was killed on July 4, 1944 when his artillery liaison plane was shot down in Normandy.”
Ryland Howard ’63 at Battle of Normandy reenactment.
1963 Formmates Jerry Nelson (l.) and David Gordon at the former Malcolm Gordon School in Garrison, N.Y.
Rob Claflin
robclaflin@comcast.net
Rick Sperry
overcable@aol.com
Haven Pell continues to write blogs and short stories, including the piece “Happy Bottom Quarter Boys,” in which he references his time at St. Paul’s School, for his website pundificator.com.
Jad Roberts shares: “In April 2018, I retired after 33 years as a lawyer at Amtrak. As expected, retirement is rather enjoyable. Part of what I’m doing is teaching English as a second language, which is much in demand here in the D.C. area. I tell myself that Messrs. Greaves and Earl would be proud of me – I hope.”
Jad Roberts, Bob Bailey, Haven Pell, and Tony Parker gathered for lunch in Washington, D.C., on January 5 on the occasion of Bob’s visit to our nation’s capital. Bob is a retired professor of epidemiology (which neither Jad, Haven, nor Tony knew the meaning of) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Jad is retired from lawyering at Amtrak, Haven runs the social blog “the Pundificator,” and Tony labors on as CEO and owner of Parker-Tide. Retired pediatrician Chuck Coggeshall was supposed to join them, but he was off playing golf at Torrey Pines in California.
SPS ’64 formmates (l. to r.) Jad Roberts, Bob Bailey, Haven Pell, and Tony Parker gathered for lunch in Washington, D.C.
Peter Otis ’65 and his wife, Bobbe, celebrated 50 years of marriage.
Randy Morgan
wyndmoor@comcast.net
John Rice
Jwrice460@gmail.com
John Rice writes: “Randy and I look forward to seeing a big turnout for our 55th in May. We have enlisted the School’s help for a memorial service Friday afternoon led by new Dean of Chapel The Rev. Jeff Lewis. We have selected outstanding new venues for dinner and Sunday breakfast. We also think you’ll be proud to wear the custom Form of ’65 polo shirt we’ll have for you. If there’s interest, we will convene a few days earlier either in Portsmouth or the Mt. Washington Hotel. We promise to have activities planned for everyone. Suggestions? See you in May!”
Philip Hawkes-Teeter writes: “Sue and I did exactly nothing on New Year’s Eve, as we needed to get up early enough on New Year’s Day to drive two hours up north to Garnet Hill Lodge/XC venue for a ski-orienteering race. Not that getting a decent night’s sleep was going to help us win the race; but still, it’s more fun if you aren’t hungover. So, we made it in time, competed, did not win, and had a good time. The skiing was better than expected (as everywhere, the weather has been weird), but the latest storm had produced many downed trees over the ski-trails, which the staff was trying to remove as we ‘raced.’ There was one steep downhill, which had a huge tree across it. I don’t ski fast downhill anymore, but the ‘Skull-buster Hill’ trail is sufficiently steep that you really needed to stay in control (which uses muscles in my legs that I don’t use that often) to avoid a serious collision. And then, after you stopped, the tree was hard to climb over. The rest of the course was more normal, with one huge climb back up to the upper level of trails; I took my skis off and walked (as did some others).Then back home for New Year’s night, Scrappy, our cat, was asking for a lot of attention as we were away most of the day. If anyone wants to connect with me and Sue via the Garmin Connect program/site to compare/challenge each other on physical activities, that would be fun. You will need at least one piece of Garmin hardware.”
Last year was quite a year for Peter Otis and family. First, Bobbe and Peter celebrated 50 years of wonderful marriage with kids and grandkids on Drakes Island, Maine. Second, Peter received a rare honor when The Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies inducted him into its Honorary Alumni cohort. And, finally, with the help of an incredible medical team at Yale’s Smilow Cancer Hospital and prayers and support from many friends and family, Peter has been battling multiple myeloma discovered in May. Chemo infusions and then a December stem cell transplant are lifting and healing him so he and Bobbe can join the class in Millville for the 55th.
Hugh Clark
hclark@ursinus.edu
Barbara and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary this past summer by taking our sons and families plus some friends to Provence for two weeks, one outside Grasse and the second outside Avignon. The temperatures were extreme (95 and above) but the wine, food, and family fun were all we hoped for.
Jose Larondo shares: “My first grandson was born in May last year to my youngest son, and this seemed to encourage my oldest son because my first granddaughter is coming this May. (I do not know what is it with May). We are all very happy that the family is growing, better late than never, I guess.”
From Rick Carrick: “Looking forward to our 55th in 2021. I shared a cup of coffee with Jim Phillips when he was visiting the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe just before Christmas. He is headed for knee replacement, and I have a back issue, but we were saved from too much whining when Sam von Trapp ’90 joined us to talk mountain biking and hunting.
John Chapin writes: “To my considerable surprise, I’m now selling real estate for Sotheby’s in the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire – a 40-mile stretch along the Connecticut River above and below Hanover. Enjoying it very much; a fresh puzzle every day. Terrified studying for and taking the first standardized tests of the last 49 years.”
From Jens Appel: “Judy and I went on a cruise visiting Santa Marta, Columbia, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua, and St. Barth. We drove to Kilgore, Texas, for a family reunion and watched the powerboat races from the turn three catamaran in Key West. After losing our two elderly dogs, we have gotten a brace of Boykins Spaniel puppies. Looking forward to granddaughter’s grad- uation from dental school in May. Life is good in New Kent. All the best to all.”
Jeff Eastment writes: “Happy to report that my wife, Gerri, and I had a busy summer at our farm/orchard in New Vineyard, Maine. It is a serene and lovely place to relax, overlooking the Western Maine mountains. When not at the farm, my work project for many months was to renovate a barn attached to a house from the 1860s and transform it into a beautiful event space for entertaining. Also, created a farm stand to sell organic crops grown there. Challenging job but fun. Gerri is an independent recruiter, and was busy as well placing candidates into varied job openings. The holidays were a great chance to get together with two children, Tess and Tito, and four grandchildren.”
Jeff Eastment ’66 with his wife, Gerri.
Richard Jaskiel ’67 (far right) in Rome with (l. to r.) Alex Ennis, daughters Lily Jaskiel Ennis and Nora LaPrade, sister Linda Brown, Ben LaPrade (Nora’s spouse), and wife Carey Campbell.
(L. to r.) 1967 formmates Mike Moore, George Bermingham, and John Stevenson on Lake Superior.
John Landes
Jlandes1948@yahoo.com
Chris Pleatsikas writes: “I finally (officially) shifted to part-time at work. In May, I attended my longtime companion’s 45th reunion at Choate. She was part of the first co-ed class there. It was enjoyable to hear about how co-education changed the boarding school dynamic. After that, we spent time in London and Poland. For someone with an interest in the Soviet Bloc and all its problems, it was fascinating. In the summer, we spent several weeks at her house on an island in Penobscot Bay (unnamed to protect the inno- cent), a WASP enclave where my surname still occasionally incites humor or curiosity (one neighbor recently asked if I was escaping the economic troubles in Greece – at least he recognized the ethnic derivation of my surname). I had lunch with David Parsons while I was there (he lives on a nearby island). Saw Charlie Starkey, Dick Jaskiel, and Corky Moore on a trip to Portland, Ore., and Dave Rea on a trip to New Hampshire. Still see Jim Seward on a regular basis (he lives close by in Oakland) and occasionally speak with Dolph Andrews.”
A message from Stuart Scadron-Wattles: “Currently retired from two successive and, at times, overlapping careers, one in the theatre and another in resource development. Living aboard our 36' sailboat Selah in the Pacific Northwest with wife Linda and dog Sofia. We cruise full-time. I occasionally give former colleagues advice (with and without attendant compensation) when I am not busy plotting and sailing courses. Mike Klosson and I were recently in touch and are wondering if anyone has contact information for the other members of the Drunken Lords: Bill Reid and Dave Small. If you do, please contact me at ssw7@mac.com.”
Richard Jaskiel shares this news: “This past fall, I enjoyed a Roman rendezvous with my family. My wife Carey and I were met in Rome by my sister, Linda, and by both of my daughters together with their husbands. We all had a great time together. After our time in Rome, Nora, Lily, and spouses went eastward to spend time in Greece. Linda, Carey, and I cruised westward, visiting the south of France and winding up in Barcelona.”
Mike Moore, George Bermingham, and John Stevenson reconnected at the Huron Mountain Club, which John described as “a throwback, Shangri-La encampment on Lake Superior to which George’s family has belonged for some 40 years. We had a wonder- ful weekend, and Martha and Dede politely absorbed a lot of SPS reminiscing.”
Walker Wainwright
soled59@aol.com
Congratulations to Oivind Lorentzen as his yacht Nine took home the J/70 North American Championship hosted by Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland. “It’s very exciting for me because I’ve been working at this now for a few years,” said Lorentzen in an interview published in the J70 Momentum news- letter. “The level of competition makes it so rewarding. Having good crew makes all the difference in the world. The thanks really go to them.”
Eliot Larson
ewlarson@comcast.net
Morgan Paulk shares: “I really enjoyed our 50th. I left with new friendships while renewing old ones. I also had fun exploring the campus and rediscovering places where I spent so much time those many years ago.”
Andy Reath ’69 and his wife, Blandine, in Bonnieux, France.
Charles Scribner writes: “I discovered Stephen Post’s amazing book (with lots on our years at SPS, including photos), and just wrote the following review for Amazon: For anyone who, like the Magi, dreams of the need to ‘return home by another route,’ this book offers a priceless roadmap to the ultimate life journey. I knew the author (aka ‘the boy’) when we were both boys at the same sainted school, but it took only a half century and a major reunion (my first in 40 years) to discover his recent book – a supreme synchronicity, QED. I don’t think I’ve ever, even after a career in publishing, read a more vivid and moving spiritual account with a message as practical as mystical. It is treasure of pure gold bound in paper. And bound to last: the book that keeps on giving.”
John Bronson reports: “While the 50th was the lead story last year, there were many others. In the course of seeking recruits for the reunion, I had great phone conversations with Alec McLane and Fred Townsend, who both sounded very well, and caught up with Raul Ordoñez, who had to leave SPS after Second Form but retains fond memories, especially of Carlos Loumiet and Sergio Uribe. At the reunion, classmates were very glad to hear of what I could pass along about Alec, Fred, and Raul. And when I caught up with Andy Reath, and through e-mails learned that we would both be in Provence in September, we planned our own mini-reunion. Andy and his wife, Blandine Saint-Oyant, and my wife, Daphne, and I met for lunch at a restaurant in Bonnieux with a view over the valley to Mont Ventoux. It was wonderful to catch up. Andy and Blandine are renovating a house in St. Victor-des-Oules, a village in the Gard, near Uzès. Andy continues to teach philosophy at the University of California, Riverside but his classes had not started yet. We’re looking forward to getting together again, whether in France or California.”