!"#$%&' %(7+ Roberto De Vido ’78 (robertodevido@onemanbandproductions.com) lives in Kanagawa, Japan, and is founder of Near Futures, which provides community development assessment and solutions services to communities and businesses in Japan. He writes occasionally for The Japan Times Online, Tucson Sentinel, and his blog, www.politcomix.net. He and his family lived through the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. “The quake was big where we live (an hour or so southwest of Tokyo) but of course nowhere near as big as up near the epicenter, and there was no quake damage to our home or in our village (or really, in Tokyo itself). I had a chance to go up to Sendai (the major city in the quake zone) a few days afterwards, to shepherd a Finnish television journalist around (driving, fixing, interpreting) and the devastation was stunning. You've seen it on TV, but of course in person it was very different. After the quake the reactor problems emerged, and when it appeared the plant operator was not in control of the situation, and unwilling to discuss the worst case scenario(s), my wife and I (and many others) decided it might be safer and more comfortable for the kids if we spent some time a bit further away from any cloud of radioactivity that might emerge from the site. We had offers of refuge from friends as far as New York and Stockholm, but we decided that for the time being we'd stick closer to home, and we moved to a friend's place in Kyoto (an additional 500km further southwest). Mizue brought the kids on the train immediately, and I followed with the car and a bunch of stuff a couple of days later. I was there nearly a week; Mizue and the kids nearly two. [The move (not ours specifically, but leaving Tokyo in general) was a subject of controversy within the foreign community here, and I wrote something else, for the Japan Times. The kids are fine ... Saya is much too young (just turned three) to have any real understanding of what's gone on, and Taiyo (coming up on six) understands in the abstract, but hasn't really seen his life affected, so he's fine as well. It's been good to get them out of the aftershock zone (there have been nearly 1,000 major aftershocks since the main quake) and our area will see rolling power blackouts for at least a year, it seems, since the nuclear power plant was an important part of the Tokyo area
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power supply, so it's been good to avoid that hassle as well. We're all back home now, and Saya's first day of school (ever!) is today.” Ned Solot ’78 (nsolot@gte.net)
ing movies, and playing games (including “verbal sword play”), as well as cattle ranching. Peter Kellner '84 (peter.kellner@richmondmgmt.com) His nonprofit organization, Endeavor, was featured in WSJ Magazine. Endeavor seeks to equip Latin American entrepreneurs with the tools they need to expand. Jorge Ramon '85
dropped by the School on a recent trip. He lives in LA with his wife and two children. He also visited classmate, Luis Ubiñas '78, President of the Ford Foundation.
1980s Taylor Burr ’81 (dtaylorburr@gmail.com) emailed: “I work for Merrill Corporation in St. Paul, MN; I am in marketing in our legal solutions and financial services divisions. I also own a commercial and residential real estate company in the twin cities. I am still writing and performing my own music and will launch www.taylorburrmusic.com this year. You can find me on YouTube if you search ‘taylorburrmusic’ (all one word).” He and his wife, Suzanne, have two sons, Caswell (13) and Zachary (9), and a daughter, Theodora (7).
(nyc10001@mac.com) is the co-host of “The Look” on mun2 (Channel 42 in NYC), also viewable online at www.holamun2.com/thelook. Jorge emceed the Parents Association Scholarship Fund Benefit for Allen-Stevenson on April 11, 2011. Matthew K. Smith ’86 (matt@shoesforcrews.com) was honored as an
Evan Goldfischer, MD ’81 (evanrgold@gmail.com) is CEO of Premier Medical Group of the Hudson Valley. Larry Greer ’81 (larry.greer@trailblazers.com) is an NBA advance scout for the Portland Trail Blazers. Dwight “Gus” Hemion ’81 passed away on November 10, 2010. He had worked in television production, including Fox Sports Television. He moved to Alma, WI, to care and work for his grandfather on his ranch. He married Aimee Ebersold in June 2009. His interests included reading (especially science fiction), photography, listening to music, watch-
Ultimate CEO for Palm Beach by the South Florida Business Journal. Matt runs Shoes for Crews, a business started by his father in their New York apartment. Shoes for Crews is a leading manufacturer and direct marketer of slip-resistant footwear and slip-resistant floor mats for more than 100,000 workplaces in the U.S., Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia and Asia.