Class Notes

July/August 2011

by Tony Lavely

The powerful earthquake in Japan on March 11th brought comments from two classmates. Peter Bradford, formerly of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was quoted in USA Today on March 14th: "The Japanese government's troubles are immense and unprecedented." On April 3rd, Jim Duderstadt sent an email: "The most serious impact will be to undermine public confidence in major expansion of nuclear power in the US."

Pete Putzel reported that "the March class luncheon at the Yale Club of NYC was a fine success. John Evans was hustling shamelessly to promote the May 13th golf outing; John Stacks, who owns a place on the west coast of Ireland (near the famed Lahinch Course), signed on; Tom Trowbridge, the author of the well-known treatise, Golf Made Difficult, will not be playing in May as he is recovering from rotator cuff surgery; Bill Galvin will be playing." Notes from this event will be in the next issue. The New York luncheons occur on the fourth Tuesday of each month, though there is a summer hiatus in July and August.

Howard Gillette had lunch with Bob Kaiser in March and forwarded this email from Bob: "Happy to report my good fortune, with an asterisk for voice. Using connections provided by John Wilbur, I went out to the Cleveland Clinic to have another round of aorta surgery in December. The Cleveland Clinic is a remarkable institution―if only our entire medical care system could be so good. I was in the hospital for nearly a fortnight, got a new aortic valve and a new patch for my aorta, and all is well now in that department. Hopefully by the time you read this I'll have a voice back. Meanwhile I am beavering away on my next book, a study of our Congress will take readers inside that baffling institution, using the passage of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform bill as a case study. I'm looking for a good title and welcome suggestions." This was such a good report from Howard that I asked if he'd like to do a full "guest column" for the September-October issue. Howard agreed, so please send news for the next issue to him at hfg@scarletmail.rutgers.edu. Howard also reconnected recently with Dick Berk.

Jonathan Auerbach was featured in a Financial Times article: "Financiers of New Frontiers." You can find the full article on our Class Website. Bob Musil will give the commencement address and receive a Doctor of Science from Lincoln University in May in recognition of his leadership in the American environment and health movement. Bob will also make a presentation at the Trumbull College Master's Tea on October 18th. You can find some of Bob's books on our Class Website under "Publications."

My second granddaughter was born in Greenwich, CT, on April 8th, Campbell Magee Corbin. In responding to my announcement, Dick Niglio emailed that he also welcomed a new granddaughter, Willa, in early April.

Tony Morris emailed that Rick Hatton deployed his DC-10 firefighting tanker to Texas during fires in April. Patrick Caviness will be renting his home in Koh Samui from mid-July to mid-August and will spend the time in San Francisco and camping in the High Sierras. During March, Patrick hosted Hank Higdon ('63) and his wife and daughter on Koh Samui.

Ed Massey wrote a terrific two-part blog about his marathon ski trip in Utah in January. His report is posted on our Class Website under "Class News" with the intriguing headline: "One Man, One Month, 367,000 Vertical Feet. Jim Rogers, another class blogger, posted on May 5th, "I hope we have a pull-back in silver." In late April, Jim was interviewed on Greenfaucet about his recent book, A Gift to My Children (listed in "Publications" on our Class Website). When I asked Jim if he was thinking about teaching a course at the new Yale-NUS College in Singapore, he said, "Perhaps I will be a bartender at Mory's!"

Stephen Greenblatt, noted Shakespearean scholar, wrote the cover review for the NY Times Sunday Book Review on April 28th and was featured in their "Up Front" column. Steven's most recent book, Shakespeare's Freedom, is listed under "Publications" on our Class Website. Keith Stavely released a new book, America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking, and it is also listed on our Class Website.

Nortin Hadler, a member of your Class Council, emailed: "Carol and I have enjoyed getting to know Paul Balser and Paula on recent occasions, both in NYC and in North Carolina. Quiet reunions with old friends and classmates get more precious with each passing year." Nortin will be releasing a new book in September, Rethinking Aging: Growing Old and Living in an Overtreated Society. Jay Huffard, another Class Council member, wrote: "Kirk and I are having dinner with Rick Kroon and Mary and Jim Heyworth and Chrissy. Also we had dinner with Ed Trippe and Bobbie recently at his beautiful Tuckers Point Resort in Bermuda." We wish Jay a speedy recovery from a ruptured Achilles suffered while skiing in Vail.

Gus Speth emailed: "It's Mother's Day and spring refuses to come to Central Vermont. Cameron and I are waiting to put in the garden. A big bear has swept through the yard twice now, and the finches have dressed themselves up again. The bluebirds and tree swallows are fighting over the birdhouses even though we put in six new ones." While he waits for spring to arrive, Gus is writing another book.

The SOM Campus naming gift by Ned Evans is featured in Eli and now posted in "Class News" on our Class Website. Wayne Batcheler continues to do great "detective work" recovering details of some of our departed classmates, especially from the early years. Please look at the "In Memoriam" section of our Class Website and add your own remembrances. Chris Getman reports that the Mory's Memorial Brick Project continues to make progress towards bricks honoring all 122 departed classmates. Please look at the progress report by Sam Francis.

In closing, I urge you to contact our 50th Reunion leadership team (a.k.a. "The Three Amigos") with your ideas and involvement for this milestone event in spring 2014: Chris Getman, Waldo Johnston, and Pete Putzel. Also, please send news for the next issue to Howard Gillette, who will be the guest columnist.