Class of 1957
As reported by John Schwartz
“Living in New York permitted me to attend the ceremony at this year’s Friends reunion naming a classroom after Ed Carroll ’56. It was great to spend time with Ed, his wife Rachel and some of his classmates from the class of 1956 like Bob and Susan Saidenberg, Gretty Dumler and Bruce Stevenson. I also met Sarah (Spieldenner ’77), the daughter of Steve Chinlund ’51, and Gay Sourian Cropper ’54 from an even earlier class; Sarah was in the class of 1977 and taught at Friends for many years. The reunion was more interesting than I expected, including a class I took on The Odyssey.”
Class of 1963
As reported by David Lowry
Vicki Cooper writes, “Dear friends in the class of 1963, I will not be there since we rarely travel to the east now that we live in California! Life in Santa Barbara is wonderful. Because of the university and the largesse of the uber wealthy who live in Montecito, the cultural offerings are spectacular. From opera to rock and roll, Shawn and I enjoy it. The university also brings a lot of smart and interesting people to live here. The Mediterranean climate is just fabulous. We do have fire as a risk, but we are as prepared as can be expected, and the technology to fight fire is improving very dramatically! I am very active in fire resilience organizing through the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council where I am on the Board of Directors.
My time at Friends still plays a large role in my memory bank. It is unfortunate that Stephan died. We are all mortal and cannot predict our future! I keep going forward as if I am going to live forever. LOL!
Sorry I will miss our 60th reunion. Anyone traveling this way, keep in touch.
Class of 1964
As reported by Barbara Carey
Valentine Kass writes, “The big news in my life is that last Thanksgiving I retired from the National Science Foundation after 22 years. I am proud of the work I did there and certainly enjoyed my colleagues, but it was time to move on. Now it seems I am busy as ever: loving more time with my three young grandsons—two in New York, one in Chicago. Also enjoying ways to give back professionally, such as judging the art competition for the Fifth National Climate Assessment, judging film proposals for Creative Capital (the largest private foundation in the US that gives grants only to individual artists), also judging films for the World Wildlife Day, and consulting with various companies submitting new proposals to NSF. Funny how all the projects I had imagined I’d do when retired, I haven't even begun! Closet and basement cleaning is easy to put off, but one fun challenging project on my to-do list not yet started is to organize the myriad photos from my four trips to Antarctica to create a book for the family with the working title “Grandma Goes to Antarctica.” I promise myself to get it done, maybe even in time for Christmas!? Any children’s authors out there who can give me some pointers? Thank you to my classmates who have stayed in touch through our class Zoom calls over the past few years. I have cherished the renewed connections. I encourage others who haven’t Zoomed with us, to please join in.”
Susie Localio writes, “We live about a two minute walk from Fort Worden State Park. It is a nice place with great views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Mt. Baker in the distance. About ten years ago I inherited a small flower garden just outside the gate that is closed to vehicle traffic. The garden is not formal. Each year is different depending on what decides to take over. This year the Snow in Summer seems to be the bully, but it is so lovely I can’t rip it out until later when it dries up and looks ratty. I love working down at my Fort garden, not only because the views are great, but also because people stop and thank me and we chat. I explain to them that this is my community service and that it gives me permission not to serve on a committee or a board ever again. I did that when I was young. Now I am happy to garden and explore mountain trails and tend my little free library for kids. The older I get the more I think that adults carry too much baggage and are too complex. Give me kids and mountains and flowers. It does seem odd to be turning 77!”
Tina Rosso writes, “My youngest granddaughter, Cassidy Rosso, was born Jan. 2, 2023. She joins my daughter’s two, ages 5 and almost 3.”
Class of 1967
As reported by Pierre Lehu
Emily Gallo has published her eighth novel, Bardo. You can read about all of Emily’s books on her website. Attached are some photos from when we were in Grade 5. Top: Vera Wang, Mary Jane Grossman Middle: Nina Hart, Ellen Fergusen, Rick Kelly, Emily Kaufman Gallo, Patty Moser, Kim Hamilton, Nancy Stevens Jones, Mrs. Carter Bottom: William Yeager, Emily Kaufman Gallo, Nancy Stevens Jones, Nina Hart, Vera Wang, Kim Hamilton.
Class of 1970
As reported by Michael Ober
“I recently found in storage a 1976 obsolete Helical scan format videotape of That Hideous Strength featuring Roy Wagner ’70 on vocals and lead guitar, Mike and two non-alumni on the Danny Conrad ’69 TV Show performing two original tracks from our then single. I had the tape converted to MP4 video, and it is posted on YouTube. The video was shot by Andy Mosner ’70 and features “our hit” — A Night at the Space Opera — The sledgehammer They Call Me Energy, both co-written and produced by me. I continued to produce records (including some known 60’s English names) but am glad I had my stable, boring white collar career for security.”
Class of 1984
Lucas Miller, Chief of the Salem Police Department, wrote an Op-Ed in the Salem News.
Click here to read more.
Class of 1985
On Thursday, May 4 Advancement staff attended Willie Perdomo’s poetry reading at the 92nd Street Y.
Class of 1991
Oliver Freundlich’s design for a townhouse that is in the June issue of Architectural Digest. Click here to read more.
Class of 2008
As reported by Orly Hernández
“I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful spring weather! I have some shows coming up that I wanted to let you know about, including the premiere of the work that I’ve been building these past months with your support. I am honestly so excited to share it with the world. It’s called Too Soon to Discover Planets, Too Late to Discover Islands. In it we use sacred rhythms and mask-work to tell the story of two explorers who reach a “new land” only to be killed in a terrible storm… I get to share the stage with my amazing collaborators: the dancers Liberty Styles, Leonardo Sandoval, Isabella Serricella, and Lucas Santana, bassist Gregory Richardson, and saxophonist Danny Fisher-Lockhead ’06, who also composed the piece. We'll be performing it in a mixed bill with the wonderful members of my New York Live Arts’ Fresh Tracks cohort on June 16 and 17 at 7:30pm. Get your tickets here. If you can't make that one, here are some other gigs I have planned for the summer:
June 25 at Center for Performance Research in a Sunday Salon
July 14-16 at Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s Rhythm Word 33 in Christina Carminucci’s Free Spirits Suite
A summer tour with Music From the Sole, including shows in NYC, Vail, & Cleveland
Thank you again, for your support. I couldn't be doing this without you. Hope to see you at one of these or somewhere else soon.
Class of 2008 Gathering—Reunion 2023
Back Row (left to right): Rachel Sard, Lexi Singer, Roger Sherman, Sam Cammer, Evan Olonoff, Alex Winter, Lena Bell, Carrie Levande. Middle Row (left to right): Burke Williams, Marc Mechanic, Jake Hertz, Aly Singer, Sami Horneff, Mandy Weil Nebel, Kaite Ida Halper. Front Row (left to right): Arthur Kapp, Brynn Wallner, Theo van der Meer.
Congratulations to Marc Mechanic and his wife Alexandra on the birth of their newborn son, Hudson!
Class of 2019
As reported by Andrew Harsh
Daphne Adam: “I’m studying for my Master’s of Philosophy in English Literature at the University of Cambridge currently — graduating this summer!”
Rocco Danese: “I just graduated from Kenyon College with a double major in Political Science and International Relations. I will be starting at CITI Bank in their Corporate and Investment Banking division starting in late July.”
Mike Dixon: "After graduating from Vassar with a BA in mathematics, I’ve begun my graduate degree at Stevens Tech, hoping to earn an MS in data science."
Colin Donnelly: “During COVID I decided to take a semester off because I wasn’t allowed back for one semester, so I will be graduating in December. I was vice president of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity for a year.”
Andrew D. Harsh: “I just graduated from Swarthmore, and in the fall I’ll be a student teaching in Philadelphia to get my certification in secondary math. Also, I joined the Swarthmore College Chorus my junior fall and hope to keep singing next year!”
Matthew Landell: “I just graduated and I’m pretty much just relaxing over the summer until I officially start work at Pfizer.”
Ben Lanzi: A video update
Henry Lieber: “Taking it step by step, enjoying the ride!”
Piper Morrison: “I just graduated from Oberlin with a double major in Dance and Comparative American Studies!”
Hugh O'Donnell: "I still have an additional year left for my chemical engineering and physics dual degree, as I took a year off to intern at a biotech startup. I have also been doing part time writing for soccer analytics magazines and hope to pursue a data science masters after graduation to continue this line of work."
Daniel Vebman: “I’m graduating and then moving to Chicago to work as a data scientist at Wolverine Trading, starting July 24.”