the common room
1981
Class Captains Andrew M. Blau Leonard J. Buck Kurt F. Ostergaard John H. Sangmeister “Everyone has a book in them (a story to tell),” says Andrew Houghton. “So when McGraw Hill called one day and asked my business partner Nick Atkeson (the cousin of Jamie Atkeson) and me to write a book on tactical investing, we quickly said yes, took the upfront, and popped out Win By Not Losing. Sorry, no stories of the glory days in the Pocumtuck Valley—if there were, we could have used Win By Not Losing to Choate.”
1982
Class Captains Frank H. Reichel William Richard Ziglar “We’re comfortably settled into the Austrian Weihnachten tradition, placing the Christbaumschmuck on the Christbaum and drinking the Orangenpunsch they sell on every corner at the Christkindlmarkt,” reported Andy Bain when we last heard from him. “We’ve seen no place more Christmassy than Salzburg on Thanksgiving, but we’re sticking to Vienna for Christmas so the girls can spend the week decorating home (all they sell at Christkindlmarkts is Orangenpunsch and Christbaumschmuck—so the family has bought a lot of Schmuck while I’ve been enjoying the Punsch). 2013 was a good 54
Spring 2014
year with travels through Italy, Switzerland, France, and Germany as well as more Austrian mountain towns. The girls seem confident that they’ve seen enough palace museums, haven’t yet tired of ancient Roman ruins, and do like our belated discovery of trains. We’re learning a lot more about Hapsburg history and how Vienna is the center of the universe (or at least was from 1519–1556). The girls are both studying German in school along with the general subjects. Caroline is in band, learning flute with a graduate student from the University of Vienna; Louisa is studying violin with a lady who used to play in the New York Philharmonic. Vienna is a great place to learn music (evidently pretty competitive to make a living as a musician, though). The different things about Austria no longer seem out of place— like selling lingerie in the coffee shops, dogs and cats in restaurants, or the three S’s of Austria on every single menu (schnitzel/strudel/ schnapps). Have enjoyed a lot of visitors this year and looking forward to more; let us know if you’re in the area.” “Since 2014 is the year most of our classmates are turning 50, a couple of the members of the Great Class of 1982 decided it would be fun to all get together for a weekend to celebrate turning 50 and knowing each other for the past 35 years,” wrote Sam Bayne. So he, Rob Engel, Will Zigler, Joe Lotuff, Eric Tarrgart, Ian Murray, Rob
Douglass, Jay Winthrop, Alex Navarro, Scott Kirkpatrick, Jim Sullivan, Ted Ashford, Nelson Rockefeller, and Craig Markcrow all spent a weekend at the Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda for some golf and relaxation. “A great time was had by all with lots of stories about our days at DA,” Sam said. “We were all thankful for the friendships we formed 35 years ago and the fact that we still keep in close contact to this day. We’re looking forward to the next celebration together in ten years for our 60th birthdays.”
1983
Class Captains John G. Knight J. Douglas Schmidt In November, Mark Beaubien and Todd Allen ’80 successfully tested a new automated dropsonde dispenser over the Gulf of Mexico from NASA Houston’s high altitude WB-57 research aircraft flying at a height of 60,000’. Yankee Environmental Systems, located in Montague, MA, developed the system to rapidly deploy a cloud of expendable weather sensor probes that measure the intensity of active hurricanes in real time. The system seeks to improve severe storm forecast accuracy and has been selected by NASA as a mission payload on its a high altitude Global Hawk science drone. A core science question NASA hopes the system will answer was initially posed by a third Deerfield alumnus, MIT atmospheric science professor Kerry Emanuel ’73: “What
is the thermal (heat flux) and mechanical (wind/momentum) energy coupling between the bottom of the hurricane eye wall area and the ocean’s surface?” That number has been elusive because it is so hard to access that active area, yet it may hold the key to understanding how storms evolve or devolve over time. John Brown started last August as chief digital officer at The Taunton Press, publisher of Fine Homebuilding, Fine Cooking, Fine Gardening, and other titles. “Exciting time as Taunton, like so many other media companies, makes the transition from print to digital,” John says. “Still living in NYC, reverse commuting to Newtown, CT, two to three days a week.” “Having a heart attack, being in a coma for ten days, 14 days in ICU, and three weeks at Bryn Mawr Rehab is not a great way to spend your spring,” wrote Wills Elliman when we last heard from him. “However, all is good now . . . back at work and back to good health. I HIGHLY recommend that all public spaces have multiple AED units on hand.” “When Chris Flagg was last on campus, he saved time for a sumptuous Academy dining experience (downstairs) and regaled us with tales of the old Dining Committee and its many important contributions to our era,” says John Knight. “Mr. Michael Cary (then of Phil/ Rel department and now back at the Academy teaching English) then bounded over to greet Chris and pose for this shot (see p. 55). How food brings us together . . . Hours later, (after Chris had already departed) there was a Bill Tyler sighting (formerly Admission Office and swim coach)!”