bat e s no t e s
Los Angeles filmmaker Christine Beebe directed and produced Felix Austria!, a new documentary about American aesthete Felix Pfeifle, who crisscrosses the globe to deal with his father’s Huntington’s disease and his own mortality, immersing himself in the myths of the lost Habsburg Empire. The film premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto.
1996 Reunion 2016, June 10–12 class co-presidents Ayesha Farag-Davis faragdavis@aol.com James D. Lowe jameslowemaine@yahoo.com As a writer, novelist Jessica Anthony says she has always valued imagination over experience. “When I started writing fiction, I often struggled with real life and invention,” she said in an interview posted on PRWeb. “But as soon as I let go of what I ‘knew,’ as soon as I began aiming for pure unadulterated invention, the boundaries suddenly disappeared. It was a very freeing, happy experience not to have to rely on experience to tell a story.” Jess, who teaches creative writing and literature at Bates, received a 2013 Individual Artist’s Fellowship Award and $13,000 grant from the Maine Arts Commission....Geoff and Laura Babchuck Jarbeau welcomed Jacob Wildin Jarbeau on Feb. 1, 2013. He joins Noah and Eva....Ayesha Farag-Davis is now principal at Williams Elementary School in Newton, Mass. She’s working on a Ph.D. at Lesley Univ....Ari Friedlaender, a marine science and conservation researcher at Duke Univ. Marine Laboratory, spoke at Bates on how technology can be used to study the feeding behavior of humpback whales.... New artistic director Amy Geller kicked off the Boston Jewish Film Festival’s 24th year with an emphasis on young Israeli filmmakers. “Israeli cinema is like the indie film scene of the 1990s. First-time directors working with low budgets are turning out provocative and amazing films,” she told The Boston Globe....Meg Hopper and Chris Matty were married Aug. 29, 2012....The Los Angeles Times reviewed the cross-cultural family drama Christmas in Hanoi, featuring Joseph Kim in a lead role. Written by Eddie Borey and staged by the East West Players, the play “is very much a family drama, but echoes of the catastrophic ‘American War,’ as it is known in Vietnam, reverberate,” the Times wrote. Joseph, who performs under the stage name Joseph Daugherty, plays
the American-born grandson of a Vietnamese grandfather. After a March performance of the play, Joseph joined Chris Donovan ’92, senior VP with The CW network, and Marco Black ’92, line producer and unit production manager for CSI: Miami and CSI: Vegas, for a discussion about their work.... Sarah Spitz and David Jellinek welcomed Sydney Grace and Calla Alexandra Jellinek on July 25, 2012. Avalon is 3.
1997 Reunion 2017, June 9–11 class co-secretaries Chris Gailey gaileycj@gmail.com Leah Wiedmann Gailey leah.gailey@gmail.com class president Larry Ackerman larryack@hotmail.com
Not only is there no dominant, Led Zeppelin-type band for the current generation of music fans, it’s hard for anyone to separate “the wheat from the chaff ” of new music, says music producer Jonathan Wyman ‘97. Adam Chadbourne is now director of alpine coaching at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H....Mike Ferry was promoted to senior vice president at DDG, a multi-platform real estate firm headquartered in New York....Shanon Leonard was elected vice president of human resources for Texas Instruments’ embedded processing business unit, based in Dallas....The New York Times Book Review praised the children’s book Becoming Babe Ruth, written and illustrated by Matt Tavares. “There is warmth and affection in Tavares’ paintings, which generously illustrate the text, often in immersive spreads,” the Times said.... Jonathan White is the new vice president of enrollment management at the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, N.J.... After a Forbes blogger noted that “there seems to be no Led Zeppelin for the current generation of music fans... or, in a way, Led Zeppelin is this generation’s Led Zeppelin,” music producer and engineer Jonathan Wyman offered that “I’m 100 percent for the democratization of music recording and am not a major-label sympathizer, but keeping up with and separating the wheat from the chaff in new music is daunting.” But he thinks
there may be something on the horizon. “The last time we saw something like [the late ’70s], where the charts were filled with records that would eventually stand the test of time, was the early ’90s with Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Interestingly enough, today we’re almost equidistant in time from the release of the debut albums of Pearl Jam and Nirvana as the releases of those albums were to the debut of Led Zeppelin and the demise of the Beatles. Now maybe we’re due for the next big shift.”
1998 Reunion 2018, June 8–10 class committee Rob Curtis robcurtis79@gmail.com Douglas Beers douglas.beers@gmail.com Liam Leduc Clarke ldlc639@yahoo.com Renée Leduc Clarke rleducclarke@gmail.com Tyler Munoz tylermunoz@gmail.com Jessica Ludders and Jack Hunter welcomed Thomas Bell Hunter on Oct. 4, 2012....Rapper, writer, actor and director Postell Pringle won raves for his star turn in the title role of Othello: The Remix at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Time Out Chicago named him its Performer of the Week. In an interview, he said working in theater at Bates sharpened his delivery as a rapper. “I wouldn’t be as good of a rapper if I hadn’t spent all that time working on just acting and just theater.” Othello: The Remix was adapted from Shakespeare’s tragedy by the Q Brothers — aka GQ and JQ, who with Postell and a fourth member are also members of the rap group the Retar Crew. The entire Crew performed in The Remix. With classmate Erin Gottwald, a dancer and choreographer, Postell returned to campus this spring to lead the longstanding Short Term unit “Tour, Teach, Perform,” in which students create a dance piece and teach it to pupils in local schools.... Kelly Richards Reuell and Peter welcomed Alexandra Richards Reuell on Sept. 29, 2012.
1999 Reunion 2014, June 6–8 class secretary Jennifer Lemkin Bouchard jlemkin@alumni.bates.edu class president Jamie Ascenzo Trickett jamie.trickett@gmail.com Jen Allard Zilinski, who works as a veterinarian on Cape Cod, and Daniel welcomed James Daniel Zilinski on Aug. 20, 2012. He joins Emma (3)....Ben Ayers, in Kathmandu, directs programs for the DZI Foundation....Tracy
Barbaro married Zenas Lu on June 15, 2012....Paige Bonito Leone, who works as a school counselor, and Jason welcomed Alexis Brooke on Sept. 2, 2012. Lexi joins Maddy (5) and Jake (4)....Damon Bowe and Claire started a physical therapy clinic in downtown Washington, D.C. He enjoys working at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.... Rachel Coffield is now a nurse practitioner at Williams College’s health center and enjoys the close proximity to family.... Jennifer Coleman Fosbroke was promoted to director of endocrinology, diabetes, nutrition and weight management at Boston Medical Center. Cole is 4....Cam Donaldson is starting a vascular fellowship at Mass General....Liz Ellsworth and Andy Brownlee welcomed Hannah in March 2012. He works at UTC as a project engineer. Liz writes a weekly environmental column for the local paper....Lyle Estell, Melissa and Luke (5) welcomed Maggie Grace on March 30, 2012....Now in Malden, Mass., A’Llyn Ettien and Nathan Meharg ’97 welcomed a baby on April 1, 2012....Christina Favretto Morris and Sean welcomed Daphne Grace Morris on Nov. 14, 2012. She joins Nicholas (4) and Everett (2). Christina now works at her alma mater, Catholic Univ.’s law school, in the career services office. “I got the job lead from Erin Russ Scherzer ’03. OCS at Bates put me in touch with her when I said I was looking for a career change. Love the Bates alum network!”....Abby Fierman and Michael welcomed Jack Lieff Grossman on June 3, 2012. He joins big brother Tyler. Abby is a nurse practitioner in the OB/GYN department at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center....Jill Firestone Elman and Jeremy are enjoying twins Tyler and Oliver (5) as she takes a break from practicing law....Addie Fletcher Dublin started a new job at Boston Univ.’s Student Health Services as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She and Max are parents to Tucker (5) and Wylie (2).... Beth Frissora has a great new job in New York, continuing in the fashion industry....Marian Drake and Mark Jensen plan to consummate a Bates-era ambition by hiking Katahdin this summer. Louisa is 4 and Natalie 2....Kari Jorgensen Diener now works with Mercy Corps, a global development and humanitarian relief organization, as a senior policy adviser and lives in Maryland with Obie, Cyrus (1) and Teo (3). In the wake of anti-American protests in the Middle East, Kari and co-author Victoria Stanski told Christian Science Monitor readers that these countries, especially Yemen, need foreign aid more than ever. In their op-ed they wrote, “What Yemen needs are
Summer 2013
71