Colby Magazine vol. 97, no. 4

winter 2009 vol. 97 no. 4

Kendra King’s Political Remix Bruce Maxwell on Computing as a Liberal Art Student Investors Beat the Dow In Mali, a Peace Project The Widow Clicquot

WE ASKED. YOU ANSWERED. NOW WHAT?

Over the past months, we asked

for your feedback about how we communicate with you.

Thank you to all who took the time to respond so helpfully.

You told us that there is a lot that you like about what and how you hear from Colby. And you’ve inspired us to make some changes.

You told us that you’d like to hear more about how your Colby Fund gift helps current Colby students, faculty, and through them, the world.

You told us that you don’t appreciate us asking you to donate after you have already made your Colby Fund gift.

We will do our best to prevent that.

You are increasingly concerned about receiving too much printed material. We’ll do our part by using more electronic communication to keep you connected with Colby and using recycled paper when we do send mail.

Your feedback continues to be important to us. We’re listening—and we look forward to hearing your thoughts over the next several months.

Every Gift Counts

contents

winter 2009 vol. 97 no. 4

20

14 Double Duty High-achieving women in corporate America find themselves managing companies and households. Alumnae report that home and family aren’t left behind when they land the corner office.

DEPARTMENTS 03/From the Editor 05/Letters

A Political Remix Political scientist Kendra King ’94 considers the hip-hop generation and the Obama future. A professor at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, King eschews stereotypes and keeps her students—and her colleagues—guessing.

FROM THE HILL 26/Colby student investors beat the Dow and NASDAQ

ALUMNI AT LARGE 37/Class Notes 62/Obituaries

27/Advice for job hunters: Don’t panic COLBY NEWS 06/Journalists talk politics 07/Election energizes students 08/Race controversy stirred 09/Mumbai attacks hit close to home 10/Scholar’s dream comes true 11/Another film fest

28/Q&A with computer scientist Bruce Maxwell

POINT OF VIEW 12/Rocío Orantes Carey ’06 on stereotypes, feminism, and football

36/A peace grant benefits women in Mali

30/Chris Copeland ’09 on a car crash— and football 32/Professor Tilar Mazzeo’s new book sparkles 35/Cape Town examined by Professor Catherine Besteman

ALUMNI PROFILES 44/Eddie Woodin ’69 50/Stacey Mitchell ’89 56/Kristin Herbster ’91 61/Ben Hughes ’07 THE LAST PAGE 64/Gerry Hadden ’89 on changing times—and diapers

Colby Online (www.colby.edu/mag)

Talk About Future | Martin Connelly ’08 calls Gerry Hadden ’89 on the phone to talk about life, building yurts, having kids, and the timeless question: "When do you feel like a grownup?" Listen in.

Expatriate | Emily Goodnow ’09 explores the conflict of falling in love with an African place and culture only to find certain customs unacceptable.

Keyword: growingup

Keyword: peace

Giant Robot | Bruce Maxwell (computer science) tells why he is wild about robotics.

Foreign Exchange | Qiamuddin Amiry ’09 and John Campbell ’09 not only dreamed of bringing high school students to Maine from Afghanistan, they did it.

Keyword: robots

Haunting Reflection | Darshini Mahadevia ’10 on how the terrorist attacks in Mumbai struck very close to home.

Keyword: mumbai-attacks

Being Muslim | Muslim students and faculty share feelings about their religion and its use as a perjorative in the presidential election.

Keyword: muslim-campaign

Keyword: afghan-scholarships

Plugged In | Mark Jablonowski ’10 rose from intern to technology director in the Barack Obama campaign. Now he is charged with managing all of the technology for the inauguration.

Keyword: political-techie

A Taste of Colby Nirakar Poudel ’12 and Smriti Bajracharya '11, left, serve foods from their native Nepal to staff and students attending the International Food Festival in Page Commons in November. Poudel and Bajracharya are from Kathmandu.

Photo by Brian DiMento ’10

2 COLBY / WINTER 2009

from the editor

L volume 97 • number 4 Staff Gerry Boyle ’78 managing editor David Eaton executive editor Brian Speer art direction and design Robert P. Hernandez design and illustration Stephen Collins ’74 college editor Ruth Jacobs news editor Laura Meader production coordinator Robert Clockedile, Ben Greeley, Mark Nakamura online coordinators Beth Cole ’09, Brian DiMento ’10, Thomas Michael Corcoran, Jeff Earickson, Fred Field, Jenni Girtman, Robert P. Hernandez, Mira Murati ’10, Kristen Nissen ’11, Heather Perry ’93, Ling Zhu ’09 contributing photographers Mary Schwalm ’99 cover photo Rocío Orantes Carey ’06, Rob Clockedile, John Fleming, Sarah Gagnon ’04, Emily Goodnow ’09J, Gerry Hadden ’89, Travis Lazarczyk, Laura Meader, Lauren Pongan ’09, Robin Respaut ’07, Fiona Ross, Whit Richardson, Barbara A. Walsh contributing writers

Administration William D. Adams, president; Sally Baker, vice president; Richard Ammons, vice president for college relations; Meg Bernier Boyd ’81, director of alumni rela­tions

Alumni Council Executive Committee Robert Riter Hoopes Jr. ’89, chair and president; Jessica D’Ercole Stanton ’92, vice-chair; Hope Palmer Bramhall ’56, immediate past chair; Meg Bernier Boyd ’81, executive secretary/treasurer; Kari C. Anderson ’98, Alexander Chin ’96, Michael J. Cuzzi ’98­, David C. Fernandez ’89, Kevin Plummer ’89, Chris Sullivan ’97­, Hilary Smyth Wirtz ’00, Henrietta A. Yelle ’86

To contact Colby: Managing Editor, Colby 4354 Mayflower Hill Waterville, ME 04901-8841 e-mail to: mag@colby.edu 207-859-4354

ike many people in northern New England, I was caught in a time machine last month.

It began with a pelting, steady downpour at about 32 degrees. The rain crystallized,

turning trees into glistening chandeliers that sagged and snapped and knocked out power lines. Goodbye electricity; hello 19th century.

For a couple of days, it was back to hauling water (from buckets positioned to catch runoff from the roof), loading woodstoves, carrying candles from room to room. No television, no Internet, no music beyond what could be created with an acoustic instrument or the human voice. It wasn’t so bad.

Then, just as we were settling into pioneer life, someone somewhere connected some wires and threw a switch and we were catapulted back to 2008. Lights and laptops. Leno and Lil Wayne.

Hours later, here at Colby, I was staring into 2009 and beyond. Talk about whiplash.

I say this having just come from a meeting where the communications staff was talking about what you really want to read in Colby. And how you’ll be doing it in the future.

What sort of stories are you most likely to read in Colby online or in print? How should the content of the two differ? Will you check out Colby online on your laptop or your PDA? When it comes to stories, how long is too long? How short is too short?

Should we be offering stories and information more precisely tailored to the different formats that are growing in popularity? Should the online magazine mirror print or complement it?

Of course, we aren’t alone. Newspapers are struggling to keep up with changing technology—and some are losing. Magazines are trying to sort it all out, balancing print and online editions and features, trying to predict where the technology tornado will drop us next.

In coming months we’ll be asking you to consider these questions, too. Colby is your magazine just as Colby is—or perhaps soon will be—your college. We want and need you to help us chart our course for the future. It’s coming faster than we think, despite the occasional (at least in these parts) detour into the past.

Gerry Boyle ’78, P’06 Managing Editor

CONTRIBUTORS BARBARA A. WALSH (“Double Duty,” P. 14) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has worked for newspapers in Massachusetts, Florida, Maine, and Ireland. A frequent contributor to Colby, Walsh also works with visiting journalist fellows at Colby’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement.

JOHN FLEMING: (“A Political Remix,” P. 20) Before joining the Anniston Star in 1998, John Fleming was West Africa correspondent for the Reuters News Agency. He covered the wars in CongoBrazzaville and the former Zaire as well as the resumption of the conflict in Angola.

He has written extensively on state government, the power of special interests, and the legacy of the civil rights movement in the Deep South.

Colby is published four times yearly.

Visit us online: www.colby.edu/mag To contact the Alumni Office: 207-859-4310

COLBY / WINTER 2009 3

Colby students are always producing photos and multimedia content for insideColby.com. Recent photo essays, videos, and podcasts explore everything from a downtown festival to dining halls and plans for Jan Plan. Some highlights:

video is king

PodcastsVidReuosleDrool Why the Widow?

Emily Fleming ’12 talks with author of The Widow

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Remember the Johnson Pond Regatta? It’s one of Colby students’ favorite traditions. Olivia Sterling ’09 captured the fun.

Clicquot, English Professor Tilar Mazzeo, about why she wrote a book about a champagne empress, her writing process, and the most exciting part of the story. (see related story, page 32)

Climate Change Reality Check

Behind the Scenes Fritz Freudenberger ’09 talks with Geographic Information

Tamer Hassan ’11 followed students in Oak Fellow Afsan Chowdhury’s course as they worked to raise awareness about how climate change is a present danger in South Asia.

Systems and Quantitative Analysis Specialist Manuel Gimond about being a self-proclaimed computer geek, watching students’ eureka moments, and his previous job with NASA.

Iraqi Refugee Awareness Movement

Mooncake Festival Emily Fleming ’12 talks with Tammi Choi ’11 about

Students working to create awareness about Iraqi refugees sponsor various events and look forward to a conference about the issue in February. Tarini Manchanda ’09 talked to students and the professor involved.

the history and customs of the Mooncake Festival, which dates back to the Shang Dynasty and includes ancestor worship.

A PHOTO ESSAY IS WORTH 1,000 VIDS OR PODS

Night and Day By Brian DiMento ’10

Colby Outing Club By Beth Cole ’09

On and Off the Field By Rob Kievit ’09

letters Spoiling Town-Gown Relations Regarding the Trustees’ recent direction to the administration to eliminate the culture of excessive drinking on Colby’s campus, the reputation Colby students have as extreme drinkers is one of the most detrimental aspects of “towngown” relations.

Working in the greater Waterville area, I hear far too many contemptuous comments about “those Colby students” who abuse alcohol to excess and end up in the emergency room. The adjectives used to describe the students are not fit to print. The actions of these students reflect poorly on all of the Colby community—students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the administration.

I agree wholeheartedly with President Adams when he says that the effort to reimagine student life without this culture of extreme drinking “is of critical importance to Colby and to all who live and work here,” as he wrote in July. I urge everyone in the Colby community to work toward its full success.

Alison Jones Webb ’81 Public Health Specialist MaineGeneral Medical Center Waterville, Maine

Give Him a C-O-L-B-Y I recently visited Colby and was quite impressed by the new stadium field. One big thing missing, however: Where is the COLBY sign?

We are blessed with the Alfond family support and should absolutely acknowledge the stadium in their name. But why do we no longer have the C O L B Y letters on the stadium building?

Another question: How will Colby’s marketing materials going forward include a photograph of this spectacular stadium without leaving readers wondering if the image is of Rollins College, UMaine, St. Joseph’s College, or Kents Hill High School?

Keith Gleason ’94 Camden, Maine

What To Tell Our Daughters?

I am writing in response to the article “The Gender Gap” (Colby, fall 2008).

I’m appalled. I have three daughters.

What am I supposed to tell them? Work

hard and get good grades, be on a sports team, do the extracurricular activities, give your time to the community just so colleges now can discriminate against you because of your sex and your success? Is it the policy of the College to discriminate against people due to sex? Apparently so.

The more we seem to move forward the farther we go back. We elect an African American as president in 2008 but we will deny a successful woman admission to an elite college because of her sex in order to maintain some arbitrary ratio of males to females. If we ever thought discrimination was dead we only need to look at our colleges’ admissions committees to know that it is alive and well.

Harvey S. Coco ’81, D.M.D. Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Steve Thomas, director of admission and financial aid, responds: “Colby admits all qualified applicants regardless of gender, and our admissions statistics over the last five years and beyond clearly bear this point out.

The majority of our admitted students and matriculated students in all classes from the Class of 2007 through the Class of 2012 are female. The percentage of females in these classes ranges from 51 to 57 percent. In all years a higher percentage of females are admitted to the class than the percentage that has applied. All of these students are admitted to Colby because of their qualifications regardless of their gender.

Comment on Sex Made in Jest I am writing in response to a letter from Professor Ira Sadoff, published in the fall issue of Colby. He was critical of a comment of mine that was part of a story about my work as a psychologist that appeared in the summer issue (“Don’t Worry; Be Happy,” summer 2008 Colby).

I have to say that I was distressed by his comments and wish to clarify the intent of my quote.

I was discussing a study that analyzed what individuals worry about on any given day. The results of the study were that women worried about 12 topics per day, while men worried about only three—their immediate family, their job, and money. Every time I mention this study, I am asked why I didn’t include sex on that list. Needless to say,

I am merely the messenger here and am simply reporting the results of someone else’s published research. However, in response to the reporter’s query, I responded, as a joke, that men don’t worry about sex; they just want it.

It was intended as humor, I know the reporter understood it as such. I am very sorry that Professor Sadoff, and perhaps other readers, did not realize that I was trying to be funny.

I have been providing couples’ therapy for the past 20-plus years and understand that for many individuals, sex is indeed not a laughing matter. I have treated many men and women who presented with sexual dysfunction, and you are entirely correct that there are many men who in fact worry a lot about sex.

My quote was in no way intended to insult these individuals, but to simply add some humor to an article about me.

I use a great deal of levity both with my patients and in the talks I give and it had always been well received. I am sorry that anyone did not understand my intent.

Alice D. Domar ’80, Ph.D Sudbury, Mass.

Can He Really Speak Swiss?

I enjoyed the profile of Morgan Murphy ’76 (“A Study Abroad,” fall 2008 Colby). Morgan lived on my floor, basement Coburn, my junior year, and had also gone to Stuyvesant High with a friend of mine. I always thought he was a neat guy. However, I was impressed to read he “speaks fluent Spanish, German, and Swiss.” I’m pretty proficient in Mexican, and my Canadian is almost flawless, but I have always been stymied in my attempts to pick up Swiss. Perhaps you could enlighten us as to how Morgan managed to do it?

Harry K. Friedman ’75 Brookline, Mass.

Editor’s note: The writer of the profile was referring to Morgan’s fluency in Swiss German, spoken in Switzerland and in some parts of Northern Italy. The dialect is markedly different from standard German and often difficult for native German speakers to understand.

COLBY / WINTER 2009 5

news

Election Reflections

N

ewspapers are facing cutbacks and even bankruptcies but, if students at Colby are any indication, interest in the work of journalists remains high. This semester four reporters from major national outlets drew hundreds of students seeking a behind-the-scenes look at journalists’ craft and the things they cover.

Two focused on the hottest topic on campus this semester: the election.

Post-election talks by Tom Edsall, political editor of The Huffington Post and a former Washington Post political reporter, and by Jeff Zeleny, a political correspondent for the New York Times, came to very different conclusions.

Edsall cited data showing the margin of victory among voters under 30. In 2000 Democrats won in this demographic by two points. In 2004 by nine points. This year, 34 points. “These are the people who are going to be starting in the electorate now, and they’re going to last and last and last and last and last and sort of push all these others out,” Edsall said.

Zeleny, who spent the campaign covering Obama, presented a different picture. “For all the Democrats out there,” he said, “if you think that that this is an election that was sort of reshaping the political landscape, that Democrats are going to be a permanent majority, I wouldn’t spend too much time thinking about that, because that’s not the case— almost certainly not the case. It wasn’t

with Republicans eight years ago, and it almost certainly isn’t the case now.”

The two also presented differing perspectives on media coverage of the campaign. Zeleny, who offered behindthe-scenes accounts from his seat at the back of Obama’s airplane and from venues across America, shunned the notion that the press favored Obama.

“There has been a lot of commentary about how the media was in the tank for Senator Obama, how they all loved Senator Obama, how, you know, it was this cozy relationship,” he said. “Well, if that’s true, it was a long-distance affair, because there was very little interaction with reporters and the Obama campaign.”

Edsall’s perch was more from the outside, as a Huffington Post editor and as a professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Though he said the press “did an okay job,” he continued: “There were some problems. I do think that the press was quite pro-Obama— explicitly so. Much more so and more assertively so than in past elections.”

Both lectures—and one by Phil Taubman, a retired New York Times editor who, like Edsall, came to Colby as part of the Knight Foundation grant for media literacy—are online as part of the Goldfarb Center podcast series (www.colby.edu/goldfarb). Also in that series is Anne Hull, the Washington Post reporter who won this year’s Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for courageous journalism. —Ruth Jacobs

TEAM OBAMA Some of the Colbians working for Obama for President are playing a big part in the January 20 inauguration and beyond.

Emmett Beliveau ’99, director of advance for the Obama campaign, is executive director of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

David Cusack ’00 is director of inaugural events and ceremonies.

Robert Gelbard ’64, a Colby trustee and former U.S. ambassador, is a member of Obama’s transition team for national security.

Peter Rouse ’68, Obama's chief of staff in the Senate, is co-chair of the transition team.

Colby Pundits Colby professors were quoted far and wide analyzing the 2008 election, but Colby alumni also were busy providing commentary for some of the biggest media outlets. Stuart Rothenberg ’70, editor of the nonpartisan newsletter The Rothenberg Political Report, provided regular commentary for CNN and The News Hour on PBS. ‹‹Amy Walter ’91, editor-in-chief of “The Hotline,” an online feature of NationalJournal.com, writes a column titled “On the Trail,” and often teamed up with Rothenberg on The News Hour. Peter Hart ’64 regularly analyzed polling data for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal.

6 COLBY / WINTER 2009

At least on this day, these college students defied the latesleeper stereotype. The sun had not yet risen in Waterville Nov. 4, and Colby students were walking house to house with door hangers for Obama. “When we showed up in the street … at four-thirty in the morning, there were over a dozen people,” said Amanda Burgess ’10, president of the Colby Democrats.

They may not have been working before dawn on other days, but scores of Colby students spent countless hours on the Obama campaign. Some started in the summer; many more when school started in September. They worked five, 10, 20 hours a week. As the election drew closer, that became 20, 30, 40 hours a week. “It was pretty much a job,” said Burgess.

They planned rallies, organized voter registration drives, knocked on doors. An estimated 150 students volunteered in some capacity, but not just once—over and over, say campus leaders.

“Election Day you’re always going to have people who want to help get out the vote,” said Patrick Boland ’09, an Obama intern.

“But you’re not going to have that for two sustained months prior, people canvassing on the weekends, people phone banking every night.” This year was the exception.

Then it all stopped.

On Nov. 5, a lot of Colby students didn’t know what to do with themselves. “Everyone got so into the campaign, and so amped up, that we were just all kind of lost afterwards,” said John Campbell ’09, who led the Obama Campus Coalition for Change at Colby.

What would they do with all this time? Some got sick. Most caught up on sleep. Television made a comeback in their lives. But overwhelmingly the volunteers realized it was time to get back to academics. “That was the big thing, was actually catching up on schoolwork—which many of us have yet to do,” said Campbell almost a month later, on the eve of final exam period.

BETH COLE ’09

Obama Victory Leaves Students Lost

Colby students work the phones on Election Day to get out the vote.

It was worth it, they say, and they will do it again. “It’s hard not to get involved in campaigns once you already have been involved in the past, because it’s just—it’s so addicting,” said Boland.

Ala Solsvig ’11, director of on-campus services for the Colby Republicans, agrees. “It’s fun to feel that you’re contributing to something bigger,” she said. “You’re a Republican soldier, kind of.”

The Republican effort on campus was smaller than that of the Democrats, but the officers of the Colby Republicans and a couple of others volunteered consistently, especially with phone banking. Solsvig estimates she spent about 40 hours prior to Nov. 4 canvassing and working the phones. “Frankly, this year I’d say that by and large Republicans were out-organized,” said Solsvig.

She attributes this to a disparity in financial resources. —R.J.

BETH COLE ’09

Inauguration’s Top Techie

CHALKINGS promote early voting in this year's election, which was the hot topic on campus this fall.

In the spring of 2007, Mark Jablonowski ’10 set out to spend the summer working for the Obama campaign. He knocked on thousands of doors in New Hampshire gearing up for that state’s primary.

Then the campaign discovered Jablonowski’s technical and management skills. He soon became the Obama campaign’s information technology director for New Hampshire. Jablonowski worked all over the country, and after Obama won the Democratic primary, Jablonowski kept right on teching.

Now the Anchorage, Alaska, native is heading IT for the inauguration, responsible for “Blackberries, laptops, servers, copiers, fax machines, coffee makers—anything with an electrical cord.”

“In terms of the number of days I’ve had off, there have been close to zero,” said the 21-year-old special-projects and IT manager. But Jablonowski, in the thick of political history, wouldn’t have it any other way.

To read more about Jablonowski’s experiences, go to www.colby.edu/ mag, keyword: political-techie

COLBY / WINTER 2009 7

news A series of racially and culturally insensitive events stirred controversy on campus this fall, precipitating a sit-in in Pulver Pavilion and a series of demands presented to the Student Programming Board, the administration, and to students.

Early in the semester some students objected to a luau-themed party that they considered insensitive to Hawaiian culture. At Halloween, a costume depicting a Latino and another involving a noose roiled additional outrage. Most controversial was a show by the Campaign Comedy Trail, a troupe hired for what was characterized in advance as political satire but deteriorated into jokes based on racial and religious stereotypes. A Latina student who objected was taunted by a troupe

KRISTIN NISSEN ’11

Racial Controversy on Campus

Students, faculty, and staff stage a sit-in in response to a series of racially and culturally insensitive events on campus.

member, according to those in attendance. These incidents followed a controversial Cinco de Mayo party last spring.

On Nov. 4 dozens of students and faculty members sat in the main passageway through the student union with signs simply saying

Beck’s New Seat Members of Maine’s 124th Legislature —including Henry Beck ’09—were sworn in by Gov. John Baldacci Dec. 3.

Beck, who most recently served as a Waterville City Councilor, is the youngest member of the Legislature. He will represent District 76, which includes parts of Waterville and Oakland.

How is Colby Green?

It takes a whole new Web site to try to answer that question. From information about initiatives to academic programs and awards, the Green Colby site, launched in December, highlights Colby’s efforts as a leader in sustainability. Check back regularly for green news and profiles of “eco-alumni.”

8 COLBY / WINTER 2009

“Listen,” and participating students issued demands that student leaders take part in the Campus Conversations on Race program and that the Student Programming Board manage events to constrain “entertainment groups regarding offensive statements based

Painter to Painter American painter Alex Katz is once again contributing to the museum’s collection— and once again the work isn’t his own. The Alex Katz Foundation will give six pieces by American modernist painter Marsden Hartley to Colby. The works span the full range of Hartley’s career and include still lifes and landscapes, including a dynamic view of City Point, Vinalhaven, from 1937-38. Both Katz and Hartley have connections to Maine—Katz spends summers in Lincolnville, and Hartley was from Lewiston. Since 2004, the Alex Katz Foundation has given the Colby museum more than 100 works of art worth more than $4 million.

Marsden Hartley, American, 1877-1943 Bavarian Alps, Barmisch-Partenkirchen, c. 1933-34 Oil on board, 30" x 18" Colby College Museum of Art Gift of the Alex Katz Foundation

on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion and class.”

Written demands included one for an annual address by the president about the ways differences in race, gender, sexuality, religion, and class manifest themselves on campus. Students also demanded changes in the academic diversity requirement and funding for multicultural disciplines.

They challenged students to educate themselves about difference and to be conscious of actions that are inconsiderate and offensive.

Though students set a Dec. 1 deadline for a response, the administration and the Race and Racism Committee were discussing responses to the students’ demands at the end of the semester.

—Stephen Collins ’74

President Gives Financial Update

Alumni Trustees Nominated

The core educational program, financial aid initiatives, and the people of the institution are Colby’s priorities as the College adjusts to a period of financial constraint that may last a number of years. That was the message President William D. Adams delivered in a year-end video posted on Colby’s Web site.

In order to support those commitments, Adams said, “We are trying to understand how we can reshape the expense base of the institution and to reduce the size of that expense base.”

In the 11-minute-long video, Adams reassures parents and students that the College is “very attentive to the pressures” they face due to the recession and says Colby will be “reserved and very careful” in setting next year’s comprehensive fee.

The no-loan initiative in financial aid is “one of the highest priorities of the College,” and Adams says he believes Colby will be able continue that program next year and will do everything it can “to maintain it in future years as well.”

Adams hopes that through this financial situation Colby will find ways to come out stronger. “I don’t think that’s an impossible task, and I think it’s one of the ways we have to be thinking about this—in addition to trying to understand how we do more with less.”

John B. Devine Jr. ’78, P ’06, and Todd W. Halloran ’84 have each been nominated to serve a second three-year term as alumni trustees.

Devine, of Phoenix, Md., is vice president of business development at Cartwheel LLC, of Morristown, N.J., which provides specialized marketing services to retailers.

The Massachusetts native was an English major who edited The Oracle and The Echo. A former president of Delta Upsilon, Devine has also been an alumni club officer, class agent, and chair of the Alumni Council. He served as a Colby Overseer (1994-2002) and was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2006.

Halloran, of Darien, Conn., is a partner at Freeman Spogli & Co., a privately owned investment firm that has more than $2 billion invested in 37 portfolio companies. An economics major at Colby, he was elected a trustee in 2006 and currently chairs the Nominating Committee. As an overseer he was a member of the College Relations Visiting Committee (2005) and the President’s Advisory Committee.

According to the Alumni Association bylaws, other nominations may be made by petition to the executive secretary of the Alumni Council with signatures of one percent of the members of the association. If there are no nominations before Feb. 15, 2009, Devine and Halloran will be declared elected by the chair of the Alumni Council.

Terror Strikes Home Darshini Mahadevia ’10 » is one of three Colby students from Mumbai, India. She wrote a reflection on the November terrorist attacks for the Morning Sentinel. Excerpts are below, and the full essay is online at www.colby.edu/mag, keyword: mumbai-attacks.

After reading the roll call of the dead and injured, I remain haunted by names and faces I grew up with. These were people who innocently went to the VT train station, the grandest of all Mumbai’s heritage buildings, to travel—and were killed. These were people who went out to dine in cafés and hotels, only to be shot by ruthless terrorists.

My mother was supposed to be at the Taj Mahal hotel for dinner that night. It was just a matter of fate that she changed her mind about going out to dinner because she was too tired after a day of hard work. I write this with tears in my eyes, because I cannot stop

The attacks put a face on terror for my community which, until now, was largely insulated

FRED FIELD

myself from imagining the worst.

from it. Yes, there were the 1993 bomb blasts in my part of the city, but I was too young to form any connection with that event.

It is only now, after the bombings of places so connected to my heart, that I awaken and begin to understand the unfathomable evil that terrorism represents in our world. I have always wanted to understand that evil and I thought I did.

But the reality is that I have actually “awakened” and gotten a closer perspective on it only because it affected my life. I see this as a rather self-indulgent realization in a world where millions of others are also victims of terror.

“My mother was supposed to be at the Taj Mahal hotel for dinner that night.”

COLBY / WINTER 2009 9

news Sharing Opportunity from Maine to Afghanistan A nyone who has been following Qiamuddin Amiry’s story knows the Colby senior has big dreams. Now those dreams are coming true.

In his sophomore year at Colby, Amiry ’09, who is from Kabul, Afghanistan, began laying the groundwork for the Afghan Scholars Program. The program was formed to bring selected Afghan students to attend private American high schools for their junior and senior years on full scholarships.

In September the pioneer Afghan scholars, Meetra Ameni and Sikander Ahmadi, began their junior year at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine. While Amiry is confident that the students will be on par with the rest of their classmates by the end of their first semester, he is aware of the tough adjustments they face. “The

whole system is new [to them], so they have to get used to the style of teaching and teachers’ demands,” Amiry said.

Despite the challenges of a new culture, Ameni and Ahmadi realize they have been granted a tremendous opportunity. “I feel it is challenging when I focus on trying to get good grades, taking TOEFL [an English proficiency test], taking the SAT, doing extra activities, looking for colleges, and finally wondering how I can achieve another scholarship for my higher studies,” Ahmadi wrote in an e-mail. “But meanwhile, I am so proud of having all these opportunities.” Read more of this story,

by Lauren Pongan ’09, at www.colby.edu/ mag, keyword: afghan-scholarships.

WIT AND WISDOM “Either you’ve lived a hell of a lot longer than you thought you might or the world has changed more than you ever thought it would.”

Joe Atkins, coordinator of multicultural programs and support, on witnessing the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States— something he thought he would never see in his lifetime.

“They said, ‘You got old, you’re wearing glasses, you’re fat, you don't look anything like the Catherine we knew.’ That had been the moment of connection. It was amazing.”

Professor of Anthropology Catherine Besteman, quoted in the Bangor Daily News, on reconnecting with Somali Bantu people in Lewiston, Maine, decades after living in their village in Africa.

“Long underwear? It was like an oxymoron to me. And then, by December, I was very, very grateful.”

LING ZHU ’09

Pedzisayi Makumbe ’02, in a talk at the international students’ host family dinner in October, thanking Associate Dean of Students Sue McDougal for helping him get oriented when he arrived from Zimbabwe for his first year at Colby.

“You have to add a zero to make a difference.”

INVESTMENT ADVICE Alexandra Clegg ’09 and All Things Considered host Michele Norris spoke on NPR Dec. 10 about the Colby Student Investment Association’s relative success in the stock market this fall. The club has significantly outperformed the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500. Here’s how Norris introduced the story: “If you’ve been watching your retirement savings disappear over the last few months, we have some advice for you. Go to college. Not just any college, though, Colby College in Waterville, Maine.” Clegg, vice president of the club, which manages $100,000 donated by Todger Anderson ’67 (see related story, page 26), explained the investment strategy. Hear it at www.colby.edu/mag, keyword: csia

10 COLBY / WINTER 2009

Michael Klare, writer and Hampshire College professor, reacting to Barack Obama's proposal to spend $150 billion dollars on renewable energy over 10 years. Klare advocated for $150 billion each year.

“We can’t expect the administration to fix this from the top down. ... This is our community, and we have to be accountable to each other.”

Associate Professor of American Studies Margaret McFadden, addressing a forum on building a better, stronger, more inclusive community in the wake of racially inflammatory incidents and broad campus discourse on race.

Study-Abroad Leader No NESCAC school has higher participation in the total number of students who study abroad than Colby. The Institute of International Education’s annual Open

MIRA MURATI ’11

Doors survey, which lists schools by the numbers of students who study abroad, put Colby at seventh nationally among baccalaureate institutions for 2006-07 in its recently released “top 40" list.

ANOTHER FILM FEST

For more than a decade the annual Maine International Film Festival has attracted thousands of indy film-goers but few Colby students since it happens in July. But the same people who present MIFF recently announced that another film festival is coming to town—this one during the school year.

Waterville will be the first New England community ever chosen as a host city for the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Project 20/20, a festival that uses film to enhance cultural exchange and understanding. Other cities chosen for 2009 are St. Louis, Honolulu, New Orleans, Dallas, Santa Fe, and Silver Spring, Md. “Waterville has become recognized … as a hub for film exhibition,” said Shannon Haines, executive director of the Waterville Main Street organization and MIFF. Details are still coming together, but the four-day festival will occur in April and will include multiple films (at Railroad Square Cinema, whose founding partners include Ken Eisen ’73 and Gail Chase ’74), visiting filmmakers, and a gala event at Colby.

“We’re hoping to really involve a lot of Colby students,” Haines said. —R.J.

Nothing Wrong With Being Muslim The campaign rhetoric surrounding Barack Obama’s religious affiliation stung Muslims at Colby and elsewhere. Obama’s critics said (erroneously) that he was a Muslim, and played on some Americans’ association of that religion with terrorism. “It’s always linked to terrorism or the Taliban, jihad movements all around the world,” said Aqsa Mahmood ’10, of Astoria, N.Y., head of the Colby Muslim Group. “You’ll never

ROBERT P. HERNANDEZ

see someone baking cookies.” Hear more in Colby online (www.colby.edu/mag, keyword: muslim-campaign) from Mahmood and others in the group, some of whom appear (left) attending Friday prayers in the Rose Chapel in Lorimer Chapel.

COLBY / WINTER 2009 11

In This Class on Feminism, Nobody Was on the Bench

By Rocío Orantes Carey ’06

Everyone else in the room was equally easy to read. The young man with the T-shirt declaring “I Am the Categorical Imperative” had a future in classics or philosophy. The women with flawless skin and prim cardigans were typical women’s studies majors: smart, articulate upperclassmen having a fond yet disciplined affair with academia.

Then there were the six imposing young men with the same hairstylist and matching polo shirts. I could see the rest of the class wondering: “Why are those football players here?” By the time Professor Gordon came in, I had taken stock of our resident jocks and judged them harmless—enough.

Gordon’s first assignment was unusual but not particularly demanding. “Think about what rules of intellectual engagement you’d like this class to go by, and write

them down.” I hastily jotted down some ideas right after class and ran off.

At the second session, the subsequent Tuesday, I assumed the women would easily monopolize the conversation. At first the glazed looks on the men’s faces seemed to confirm this. I settled into the heavy silence and waited. Then a voice from the athletic side of the table roused me from my stupor. He introduced himself as a math major from Connecticut and said, “I feel like there are a lot of different backgrounds, class years, and levels of experience with philosophy in general and with this subject in particular here.” Pausing to look around the room, he took a deep breath. “So I think we should try to keep our conversations as respectful and as engaging as possible, keeping in mind this mix of experiences and being open to different opinions.”

ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT P. HERNANDEZ

It was hard to overlook the fact that, of 19 students in Philosophy 215: Feminist Philosophies, at least six looked as well suited for tackling as for engaging in feminist philosophical debate. Walking into the classroom was like walking onto the set of a sitcom: football players sit uncomfortably in a room full of feminists.

The potential for humor seemed rich.

I am neither a football player nor a coed. I graduated from Colby and stayed in Maine. I asked Professor Jill Gordon if I could audit the class because I missed school and I like Jill and I have a soft spot for philosophy. She kindly agreed. And, so, I found myself on a Thursday morning in February sitting next to a young, nervous woman from China, Maine.

Sweet first-year, I thought. Probably lives in Foss.

point of view

He was thoughtful and kind, even if his hat was on backwards.

Eyebrows arched; some of us smiled.

Another young man who outed himself as a first-year with a fondness for dead languages responded: “Yes. But we shouldn’t let that curb our ability to be critical of others’ opinions and comments.”

A young woman with smart glasses and tight, curly brown hair suggested that we shouldn’t take or make personal criticisms. “We need to be able to talk to each other without fearing that we will have our feelings hurt.”

And so it went. Over the next hour, people—some football players, some not—built on each other’s suggestions and ideas. But everyone sat a little straighter and thought a little more carefully before adding to the rules. When we left, we had what amounted to a verbal contract to hold one another to the highest of intellectual standards. It was unsettling. And amazing.

It only got better as the semester progressed. People quickly dropped pretenses and started speaking from personal experience—shedding their uniforms in the process.

Professor Gordon had reason to beam.

We learned to expect and demand excellence. “I don’t agree with you that a man may not completely understand the experience of being a woman,” the first-year from China said to me after a particularly heated discussion, “But I think you make a valid point that this author seems to suggest that.”

When I talk about PL215, people are perplexed that a third of the students in Feminist Philosophies were athletic white men. Ninety-nine percent say the same thing: “Really? Why?” And I understand. We ask “why” because we like a good story and this seems to promise one. The high-minded care about increasing athlete participation in humanities courses, making classrooms more diverse, changing antiintellectual stereotypes within certain athletic teams, challenging anti-athletic stereotypes among humanists.

But the rest of us are fishing for juicy details. Were some of these men trying to woo fellow classmates?

Did they think that because Gordon is the academic liaison to the football team it was an easy “A,” only to be painfully

(but deservedly) disappointed? Were they being punished by a disciplinarian coach, a mean academic advisor, a mischievous girlfriend?

I don’t know why these football players took PL 215, but I’m not too worried about it. In the end, what kept me going was that this group of people decided to drop stereotypes and engage feminism with curiosity and gumption. It takes courage to encounter diversity in unexpected places, even if you like to wear your baseball cap straight, and I came to deeply respect and cherish every person in that class.

The Adonises in our midst may have worn their allegiances on their sleeves, but none of us came free of baggage, assumptions, and expectations. No one asked us to wipe our slates clean, only to try to imagine what other slates might look like under the armor of our respective allegiances. That we succeeded bouyed my spirit and fed my imagination.

Rocío Orantes Carey graduated cum laude in philosophy and lives in central Maine.

Professor Jill Gordon, chair of the Philosophy Department, has been the academic liaison to the football team for the past five years.

WOMEN WHO MAKE IT TO THE TOP IN BUSINESS CARRY THE BURDEN OF SOCIETY’S EXPECTATIONS

The sun has not yet crested the trees in this tranquil Wellesley neighborhood, but inside the Cape Cod-style home Christine Petersen ’85 is already deep into her day.

By 7:30 Petersen is showered, dressed, and has responded to a dozen work e-mails.

Petersen is chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor, the world’s largest online travel community, with almost 10 million members.

Hair still wet, coffee mug in hand, she sits at the kitchen table, scanning her laptop for messages from her 100 employees. But she also is making sure she has time for her 4-yearold daughter, Charlotte. > 14 COLBY / WINTER 2009

COLBY / WINTER 2009 15

Kim Gorton ’87, above, in her office at Slade Gorton & Co. in Boston. Gorton is president of the multi-million-dollar seafood distributor and at the same time is raising three children. Preceding page, Christine Petersen ’85 at work at TripAdvisor. The screensaver photo keeps her daughter, Charlotte, 4, close while Petersen is at the office.

Across the table, Charlotte lounges in her pajamas, watching a cartoon on the kitchen television. Petersen’s husband, Robert Wells, left an hour ago for a flight to Washington, D.C., where he is developing a health-care consulting company.

In between encouraging Charlotte to finish her breakfast, Petersen makes a grocery list, fills Charlotte’s lunch box, and writes dinner instructions for the family’s 21-year-old German au pair. “It can be nuts at times,” Petersen admitted. “Inevitably, I am always working two jobs, and that is where,” she added, “it sucks to be a woman.”

As more women break the glass ceiling, pulling themselves to the top of the corporate ladder, they are learning that—despite help from a partner and grandparents, even an au pair—balancing career, motherhood, home, and a personal life can create plenty of angst.

Women have made strides in the workplace. They represented 46 percent of the workforce in 2007 compared to 30 percent in 1950. But studies show they have not made similar gains in the home. A 2006 University of Maryland report showed that working women do twice as much housework and child care as their spouses.

“Certainly women have come a long way in the workforce.

16 COLBY / WINTER 2009

But, in terms of the division of labor around parenting, there are changes, but [they’re] not that significant,” said Teresa Arendell, a sociology professor at Colby who also teaches in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program. “The daily child care may be reconfigured, but someone still has to do the delegating, supervising, and management.

“Even in couples who claim to be dual parenting, who makes doctor appointments? Who takes the kid to the doctor? Who makes sure the gym clothes are clean for Tuesday morning?”

Arendell asked.

The issue of working mothers sparked a national debate last fall when Alaska Governor Sarah Palin pursued the nation’s second-highest office. Some critics argued that a mother of five might not be capable of handling her duties in the home and in the White House.

Said former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, introducing Palin at the Republican National Convention: “When do they ever ask a man that question?”

Despite the hours a woman puts in at the office, society still assigns most of the child-rearing and home-care duties to the

when gender is a factor Thirty years ago the term “glass ceiling” was a novel and unexplored notion.

Yet women like Cheryl Booker Gorman ’74 learned firsthand that they faced challenges in the corporate world. Progress in gender equity has been made in recent years, but more is needed, alumnae say. When Gorman worked as a market research analyst for Rhode Island banks in the late 1970s, she searched for mentors. “Finding women role models was difficult,” Gorman said. “Most of the women still worked as tellers. All the books said ‘dress for success,’ but even that was hard. Some of the women at the banks still wore white gloves.” Gorman had no choice but to rely on male role models and mentors. Throughout her banking career, she was often the sole female manager.

Despite making personal gains in her career and being named senior vice president of retail banking for a Boston firm in 2002, Gorman learned that the bank still relied on a 1950s mentality. “I was the only senior executive who was a female,” Gorman said. “It was an extremely white brotherhood, and it just wore me down to the point it started affecting my health.”

After leaving the bank in 2006, Gorman was

left with self-doubt, wondering: “What could I have done differently?”

Now senior vice president of retail banking at Harvard University Employee Credit Union, Gorman said it took several months to restore her confidence, which got a boost from a local women’s leadership group. “These women were executive leaders from all over Boston,” she said. “They had shared experiences of working in male-dominated companies, and they helped me understand that a lot of issues I faced at the bank were not related to me.”

If banking was male-dominated, consider the seafood industry. When Kim Gorton ’87 took over Slade Gorton & Co. in 2006, the multi-million-dollar distributor founded by her grandfather, she had to deal with sniping from critics who doubted that a woman could run a male-dominated seafood business. “Don’t you have any brothers?” her male customers wanted to know, she recalls.

“There were definitely people who questioned my ability to lead, who felt I couldn’t do it because I was a woman, a mother, or not strong enough,” Gorton said.

But rather than dwell on criticism, Gorton lets her passion and knowledge speak for itself. “It’s about being confident and credible,”

mother. “A child may have two parents, but if a kid comes to school unkempt or a home is messy … no one thinks of the dad,” said Alice Domar ’80, a psychologist who has written several books on women’s issues. “The blame is going to fall on the mother.”

And the pressure and expectations for mothers rise with each rung of the corporate ladder.

“We expect top-level professional women to carry on just like their male counterparts,” Arendell said. “Family is not to interfere with work. Women are still expected to manage their children and homes, but they have to do it in a way that doesn’t impinge on their profession.”

Maura Shaughnessy ’83 learned how unforgiving the maledominated investment world could be when she tried to care for her newborn daughter and her ailing mother and to work as a portfolio manager for Boston-based MFS Investment Management.

“Back in 2001 there weren’t many women working in my department, never mind women who had children,” Shaughnessy

said Gorton, who has worked for her family’s business since 1989.

Or it can even be about making your gender an attribute, says Betsy Morgan ’90.

Morgan entered the workforce nearly 15 years after Gorman went into banking, and while The Huffington Post chief executive never had to leave a job because of gender bias, Morgan has experienced some awkward moments during her career.

“I’ve never felt I was turned down for a job or opportunity because I was a woman,” Morgan said. “But I’ve found myself in some odd positions, like getting propositioned or walking into a room with a bunch of men, who say, ‘Oh, we expected to see a guy do this job.’”

Rather than be insulted, Morgan used her gender to her advantage, she said; her style and attitude provided a contrast to many of her older male colleagues.

“To me it’s been a benefit being the only woman and youngest person in the room,” said Morgan, who worked as general manager of CBSNews.com before taking the helm at The Huffington Post in 2007. “I stood out from the pack in every way, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve been successful.”

—Barbara A. Walsh

said. “The people who were in charge at the time were not particularly respectful of my responsibilities at home. My life was pretty miserable during that period.”

Eight years later, Shaughnessy is now a senior vice president with MFS. Though she is respected at the investment company, where her $2.4-billion MFS Utilities fund was recognized in 2006 for its outstanding 10-year performance, there are still times when family needs can overwhelm. For most of 2007 she managed several utility funds while tending to her dying father.

“I’d get to work at five-thirty in the morning, work till two, and then spend the evening with my father,” Shaughnessy said. “My performance and my numbers were good, but I was exhausted.”

With a faltering economy and tightening budgets, the pressure is likely to increase. Struggling companies may be less sympathetic to a mother who has to stay home with a sick child.

“In this economy, a woman trying to juggle family and work could be a death knell,” Domar said. “Major corporations have their eye on one thing: profits. And they want someone who gives their all, gets in early and stays late.”

Along with juggling work, home, and child care, professional

COLBY / WINTER 2009 17

women must also wrestle with guilt as they compete with stay-athome mothers who bake gourmet cupcakes, volunteer weekly in the classroom, and attend every field hockey, soccer, and football game.

“There is a lot of talk about finding the healthy balance between work and home,” said Kimberly Gorton ’87, president of the Boston-based seafood distributor Slade Gorton & Co. “But I don’t think there is a perfect balance. There are days that go well and days that don’t.”

Gorton recalls, soon after becoming president, taking a conference call with an important customer while driving to New York with a friend and their combined six kids.

The call went smoothly until she forgot to hit the mute button before scolding the children: “Get your hands off her! Keep your hands to yourself!” she shouted.

“Excuse me?” Gorton’s customer interrupted.

Gorton laughs now but has also concluded: “It was ridiculous to think I could pull off a conference call with six kids in the back seat.”

She has learned that balancing motherhood and a company with $330 million in annual revenue requires a lot of organization, flexibility—and humor. “I have a great management team and I’ve learned I have to use that support,” Gorton said. “It’s difficult for a lot of hard-charging women executives to rely on others. They think you have to do it all—but you can’t.”

When Gorton became president of her family-owned company in 2006, she knew it was important to talk honestly about her responsibilities as a mother (to Brinley, 12, Lily, 10, and Will, 8).

“I am the president of this company,” Gorton recalls telling her leadership team. “But I also am the mother of three young children who need me, and I view that as my number-one job.”

Though her employees respect Gorton’s honesty and devotion to her children, she said, there are moments when her parental duties prompt difficult decisions. “I’ll have a board meeting, and someone wakes up at four a.m. throwing up,” Gorton said. “I am constantly having to react quickly and roll with the punches. But it’s not always easy to hear disappointment in someone’s voice when I have

“The challenge is to feel good about the things you are there for. ... They know I’m doing the best I can and that has got to be good enough.”

—Kimberly Gorton ’87

18 COLBY / WINTER 2009

Christine Petersen ’85, at home in Wellesley, Mass., has some fun with her daughter, Charlotte, before heading to the office. Petersen’s workday has already begun, with early-morning e-mails.

to cancel a meeting because one of my kids is sick.”

Despite support from family, a nanny, and her ex-husband, who takes the children for half the week, “I feel,” Gorton said, “like I’m pulled in a million directions.” School assemblies are followed by quick exits back to work. Some business trips are avoided or compressed.

Still, racing from the minute she gets up until the retail reports, homework, bedtime stories, and goodnight kisses are done is sometimes not enough. There are phone calls, Gorton said: “We don’t want the nanny. We want you!” or “Mom, you missed it! I scored my first goal!”

They sting, but the seafood company executive knows she cannot let guilt overwhelm her. “I try to remind myself that two months from now my child isn’t going to remember that I didn’t see that goal,” Gorton said. “The challenge is to feel good about the things you are there for.”

She takes comfort in knowing her kids see her as a role model, someone passionate and proud about leading a business that employs 170 people and buys and sells more than a 100 million pounds of fish annually.

“My kids understand that I love them but I also love what I do,” Gorton said. “They know I’m doing the best I can and that has got to be good enough.”

Imagine being five months pregnant with a 4-year-old son and working a job that requires living in two cities 1,200 miles apart.

“It does sound crazy, and I admit there are times when I ask myself: ‘What am I doing?’” said Felise Glantz Kissell ’91, newly hired senior vice president of investor relations and strategy for Home Shopping Network.

This year Kissell and her family will alternate living in Tampa, where HSN is based, and New York, where she will manage the company’s Wall Street operations. “You can look at the dual-city issue and think of it as complicated,” she said. “Or you can embrace it and it can be an adventure for our family.”

The opportunity to take a senior position in a company with more than $3 billion in annual sales convinced Kissell that the career boost outweighed the difficulties of juggling a new job, two homes, a preschooler, and a baby due in March.

“The easier path would have been to stay in New York City with Maidenform, a company I loved,” Kissell said. “But Home Shopping Network represented the next level of career growth, so I just had to go for it.”

A self-described “adrenaline junkie” who thrives on challenges, Kissell admits it is difficult to balance ambition and family obligations. “You want to conquer the world, but life can get complicated.”

She does not cook or clean and splits the responsibility of relieving the nanny with her husband, Robert, who heads quantitative trading strategy for J.P. Morgan. “There’s no gender dynamic in the household,” Kissell said. “Why should I cook? I’m working equally as hard as my husband.”

But she also fought through pregnancy nausea on the job and works through lunch so she can get home to read bedtime stories to her son, Landon. “We’d talk and catch up on life,” Kissell said. “He understands mommy works, and I like that he has a strong female role model in his life.”

Still, working-mom status has its downside. Many of her son’s classmates were children of diplomats, and the majority of their mothers did not work outside the home. “I’m the outcast,” Kissell said. “And that can be hard on the soul.”

To compensate, she picked up or dropped off her son off at school once a month. She also took him to school his first day. “I wanted to experience that with him. Certain things you have to make choices on how important it is for you to be there. I didn’t want Landon to feel like the odd man out.”

She’s already trying to figure out how she will continue to work once her second child is born in March. “It will be hard to for me to disengage,” Kissell said. “I don’t want to lose traction. If you

“I don’t want to lose traction. If you disconnect, you’re out of the loop, and it shows your gender. If you want to keep building your career momentum, it’s hard to take time off.”

—Felise Glantz Kissell ’91, discussing the challenges of balancing a career and a newborn child

disconnect, you’re out of the loop, and it shows your gender. If you want to keep building your career momentum, it’s hard to take time off.”

Over the next few months, Kissell will immerse herself in developing relationships with Wall Street investors and researching growth strategies for HSN. And, in between shuttling back and forth, caring for her son, and contending with swollen ankles and pregnancy fatigue, Kissell will do what she has always done in her career: “I’ll take it day by day and keep my game face on.”

A cup of coffee on her desk, iPhone within reach, Christine Petersen sits before her computer at TripAdvisor’s Newton, Mass., office.

Named one of the travel industry’s 25 most influential women for 2008 in ForbesLife Executive Woman magazine, Petersen has overseen rapid growth at TripAdvisor, which boasts more than 20 million monthly visitors to its Web site and 35 million to related sites.

At TripAdvisor, which netted nearly $150 million in profits last year, Petersen is responsible for public relations, revenue/traffic growth, and global market expansion and for launching innovative online travel tools and guides.

But Petersen’s screensaver also flashes a photograph of 4-yearold Charlotte taking a bite of a chocolate chip cookie that is bigger than her face.

“I got married in my mid-thirties and my daughter was born when I was forty,” Petersen said. “My life has been defined by my work, so staying at home would be very difficult. And, I also really, really love what I do.”

COLBY / WINTER 2009 19

Oglethorpe University in Atlanta is listed on Georgia’s Registry of Historic Places, and its Crypt of Civilization, a time-capsule record of what life was like on Earth in the 1930s, is part of the institution’s identity.

But, if the university gives an initial impression of being locked in time, Associate Professor of Politics Kendra King ’94 shatters that façade.

Inside the imposing halls and beneath the stone clock tower, Gothic Revival meets hip-hop in the form of Professor King. On an early-November day, in the aftermath of a historic election, she stands at the scene of what she would call the mash-up of the nation’s old and new politics, adding a voice of tomorrow to this deeply Southern school.

A Political Remix

By John Fleming Photos by Jenni Girtman

Referring to the importance of youth to the political process in the run-up to the election of Barack Obama, King chooses to quote the hip-hop artists De La Soul: “Stakes is high.”

This is the way King explains the shook-up post-George W. Bush world and, by all accounts, her students get it. The nation’s youth certainly got the broader message in November, pouring forth to canvass, to blog, to vote, she

Explaining politics in the supposed post-racial society, in the midst of a region dripping with racial history, isn’t easy. It takes a nimble mind to assess and articulate the subtleties of the three obsessions of the Deep South—race, religion, and politics. Especially so for someone who grew up in Providence, R.I., and who must do it in a way that captivates the Facebook generation of Oglethorpe.

“There is a strong feeling of traditionalism in rural Georgia and across the South,” she said over chicken and dumplings and green beans. “There is an old value structure, a certain amount of ignorance and xenophobia and, yes, racism. So, yes, it’s complicated.”

So complicated that King herself considered voting for John McCain.

And yes, when it comes to Kendra King, it’s best not to be presumptuous.

King was put off by Obama’s seeming inability to pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and the movement that paved the way for Obama’s ascension to power. says. But the new, new way represented

by King’s discourse is also aimed at taking the bland out of Political Science 101, bringing something current to the particulars of, say, party politics. Take the Republican Party for example.

“They have to find a way to rebound.

They have to create a remix, a hip-hop mash-up,” King said. “Lately the GOP has been looking and acting a lot like it did in the 1950s, with all the old-school rhetoric to go along with it. If that is the future of the party, then I say it’s not going to work.”

It is a line straight out of one of her classes, The Politics of Hip Hop, a course popular with students not only because of the way it connects to the rap generation but also because of its clarity and sense of relevance to the here and now, the essential importance of this moment in our political history.

22 COLBY / WINTER 2009

One of her approaches: ask students to watch The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the Bravo reality show, as a way to better understand the worldview of the South’s most important commercial center. This is the assignment for her class The New American City.

That is the kindly trap she sets.

What follows is exploration of the richer cultural and political layers under the South’s façade—and the lesson that this brand of reality TV—devoid of the poor, of conflict, even Atlanta traffic— presents an unreal version of the city.

In the chaos of Oglethorpe’s Oxfordlike dining hall, between boisterous encouragements with students and smiling, whispered conversations with faculty, she launches into a vivid explanation of why certain Southern states, and many a rural area of the South, went overwhelmingly for John McCain for president.

She transferred to Colby after a brief period at Clark Atlanta University.

That in itself, she says, was something of an extended transition, from urban Providence, to even more urban Atlanta, to Colby.

She was, she recalls, one of only 33 black students at Colby back in the early ’90s and, though she has good memories and cherishes the fact that her fellow students elected her to be seniorclass commencement speaker, she has something of an idea of “what it is like to be mistreated.”

“Clearly it wasn’t easy leaving a historically black institution in the warmth of Atlanta to venture to Waterville, Maine,” she said. “What I discovered, however, was that even in what seemed to be one of the strangest places I’d ever been, there were at Colby people of genuine goodwill whose mission was to help me navigate the invisible ice of a new academic and personal environment.”

“She was a great kid when she was here,” Professor L. Sandy Maisel said of his former student, now 35. “What was most interesting to me was to see her come alive intellectually.”

That King has developed an ability to combine passion for politics with a teaching method that beguiles and energizes students isn’t surprising to Maisel, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government and director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College.

King pays tribute to alumnus Richard Abedon ’56 and his wife, Robin, whom she says were largely responsible for her attending Colby, and she heaps thanks on many others, including her family and the people of her upbringing in the Chad Brown Housing Project in Providence’s North End.

In speaking of that chapter of her childhood, she said, “People on the outside tend to erroneously believe that those of us who lived in public housing were devoid of morals and values.”

It wasn’t uncommon, she explained, for people of all races and income levels to give her “that fretful stare and grimace” upon learning where she lived until she was 10. “For me it was different,” King said. “I knew that my mom was a hard-working nurse’s assistant who worked the second shift. I also knew of my loving and supportive family who watched me after school so that my mom could honor her responsibilities at the Rhode Island Medical Center.”

She speaks emotionally of a chance encounter with her estranged father when she was a teen, as well as her reconciliation with him years later, of her loving mother and siblings, and, perhaps most emotionally, of her lifelong connection with the Christian church. Early in her adolescence, she started attending Allen AME Church in Providence. It proved to be crucial in her life.

“I loved worshipping at Allen, in part because it had such an active, vibrant, and exploratory youth ministry,” she said. “I also loved Allen because it felt like home. Because of the rich environment, I grew to deeply love God.”

COLBY / WINTER 2009 23

That connection bubbles up in conversation and in her writings. After all, she argues, it is hard to ignore the fact that the most powerful movement for social change in the 20th century came out of the black church.

In her forthcoming textbook, African American Politics (Polity, May 2009), she devotes an entire chapter to the subject, writing that, “The most pivotal institution that spans the entire AfricanAmerican experience in America is the Black church.”

Her emphasis on and writings about religion pull her off into that unexpected place for some people. In her case, a hip-hop Yankee doesn’t necessarily equate to an automatic Obama supporter.

“My colleagues were appalled in June when I told them I was undecided,” she said.

King said she examined the positions and policies of both Obama and John McCain and found herself grudgingly respect-

“Barack Obama is not the second coming of Christ, nor is John McCain the devil incarnate.”

It is not only the institution to which she pays homage, but also what it taught and teaches. In the tradition of some of the giants of the civil rights movement, including C.T. Vivian and Martin Luther King Jr. himself, she reaches for scripture, wielding with devastating accuracy the teachings of the prophet Isaiah or Paul’s letter to Timothy as messages of today’s need for social and economic justice.

Maisel, who has followed King’s career since she left Colby to do her Ph.D. work at Ohio State, says that the two or three top textbooks on AfricanAmerican politics don’t put much stress on the importance of the black church, so King’s work “is an important contribution.”

24 COLBY / WINTER 2009

ful of Sarah Palin’s political savvy.

“Barack Obama is not the second coming of Christ, nor is John McCain the devil incarnate,” she said.

In fact, King didn’t make her final decision until two weeks before the election, when she underwent an Obama conversion.

Initially Obama’s lofty messages of hope and change rang empty to her, she said. She yearned for more substance and feared the consequences for young voters if Obama did not fulfill expectations.

“This is a fatherless generation, in some respects,” King said. “You have young people who are looking for a hero.”

She also was put off by the Democrat’s seeming inability to pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and the movement that paved the way for Obama’s ascension to power.

That Obama did not acknowledge the civil rights icon who preceded him was, for King, “almost a deal killer.”

“I was a latecomer to Obama,” she said. “I’ve studied [Martin Luther] King for eighteen years, and I know [Obama] should have given credit to the man.”

Raised to show respect to elders, Kendra King kept waiting for Obama to acknowledge the leader to whom he owed so much. It didn’t happen. In the end, it was McCain’s reference to his opponent as “that one” at the third debate that tipped her to Obama. The comment was profoundly disrespectful, King felt. “That,” she said, “was what sealed my deal.”

She compares Obama’s election to King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, delivered 40 years ago, on the day before his assassination. Kendra King points out that the children of Israel also wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. “For many in the AfricanAmerican community in particular, [Obama’s election] is a historic moment, but for many others it is simply unbelievable,” she said. And the postelection future?

But King the realist knows that the performance of the first AfricanAmerican president will be measured in dollars and cents. If the economy continues its downward spiral, she said, the midterm election will mirror the recent runoff election in Georgia, in which U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, a Republican, defeated Democrat Jim Martin.

“In other words,” King said, “Dems will be defeated—and defeated badly.”

It was a big factor, she says, in her decision to leave the University of Georgia, where she was teaching in 2003.

“In making the decision to leave a research-one institution to teach at a liberal arts institution,” she said, “there clearly had to be a draw, a hope, a passion for something beyond political science.”

That something is a curriculum that involves classroom work on developing leadership skills but also involves

“For many in the African-American community in particular, [Obama’s election] is a historic moment, but for many others it is simply unbelievable. You may see a whole new paradigm in the United States, not just in political terms but also in social terms, in every aspect of life.”

“You may see a whole new paradigm in the United States, not just in political terms but also in social terms, in every aspect of life,” she said.

King speaks of President-elect Obama as “a master of unification, hope, and change.” She expects that the Obama administration will reflect the wealth of intellectual, racial, gender, and ideological diversity of the nation, and she pointed to early cabinet appointments as representative of the cross-section of interests Obama has brought together.

But while she is a realist, King is no cynic. For her, the political, social, and academic are blended and can bring about real and positive change. In fact, while she loves teaching, she’s most inspired by her work as the director of Oglethorpe’s Rich Foundation Urban Leadership Program.

The program folds the liberal arts curriculum into an effort to address actual community problems across Atlanta and, as King puts it, “seeks to enhance the leadership, civic engagement, and fellow goodwill of our students.”

outreach and service to the community, including volunteering at city schools and work for Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans.

Since becoming director, after she received tenure in 2007, King has sought to “develop young leaders who are congruent both publicly and privately and create a program that transforms the thinking, mindsets, and expectations of our future leaders,” she wrote in an e-mail.

“I try to encourage and inspire my students to make a difference in their life,” she said, “and the lives of others.”

COLBY / WINTER 2009 25

from the hill

The Colby Student Investment Association’s performance group at its weekly meeting. Students monitor the performance of each stock in the association’s portfolio, funded through a $100,000 gift from Todger Anderson ’67. At right, Alexandra Clegg ’09, the head of the performance group.

AHEAD OF THE CURVE With real money, Colby’s student investors beat the Dow and NASDAQ GERRY BOYLE ’78 STORY FRED FIELD PHOTOS

Traver Elder ’10 didn’t have good news when she reported to the other members of the Colby Student Investment Association’s performance group in November.

“Things aren’t looking too good for ICICI,” Elder said at a weekly Wednesday-night meeting, referring to the India-based bank in which the club has invested. “The quarterly profits are down twenty-seven percent right now, but there is hope of U.K. investment, an infusion of money. So things went up after their talk of that, but right now it’s leveling out.”

The 18 students seated around the conference table in the Diamond Building studied the sobering numbers on their spreadsheets (ICICI shares down 58 percent overall). “Can you give me the two strongest reasons to not get rid of this stock?” asked Josh Jamner ’09. “Right now I’m hard-pressed to find one strong reason to not get rid of this stock, except for the huge loss we took on it,” Elder replied.

Of course the Colby students aren’t the only investors caught in the market downturn,

but they had some consolation. That week, the students’ portfolio, established last spring through a $100,000 gift from Todger Anderson ’67, was down just 17 percent. That’s far better than the performance of the leading indexes for the same period: minus 42 percent for the S&P 500, minus 37 percent for the Dow, and minus 42 percent for NASDAQ. “It’s always fun investing when the market is making twenty- or thirty-percent returns,” said government major Alexandra Clegg ’09, who heads the club’s performance group. “You really don’t have to put much thought into it.

But having to come in at a time like this … .”

Years in the planning stages, the club began investing last April and enjoyed a few heady months before the bear market took hold. But the tight ship that the organization runs has served it well in stormy times as well as in good ones.

“You definitely have to have a much bigger focus on the downside potential for companies,” said John Roberts ’09, an economics and mathematics double major and the association’s chief executive officer.

And focus they do.

With about 50 active members, the club’s three working groups—performance, trading, and research—meet weekly and report to the whole group twice a month. Performance follows stocks held by the club, while research considers new acquisitions. The club is open to any interested student, with education sessions held regularly to introduce new members to the ways of financial markets. “We assume you don’t know anything,” said Roberts.

But that doesn’t last long. Reports at the No-

Investment Advice: Alexandra Clegg ’09 appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered Dec. 10 to discuss how the Colby Student Investment Association outperformed the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500. www.colby.edu/mag, keyword: csia 26 COLBY / WINTER 2009

vember performance meeting included analysts’ predictions, economic implications of political events, assessment of companies’ earnings, liquidity, and debt loads.

“It’s been really cool to see where the club was at this time last year versus where it is today and how much progress we’ve made as a group,” said Clegg, who was mulling job offers from consulting firms. “Just raising the level of our analysis.

I think that’s what motivated the alum who donated the money in the first place. Actually creating an educational group where you could come in and learn.”

With Randy Nelson, the Douglas Professor of Economics and Finance, as their advisor, students manage the fund themselves, buying and selling on three allotted trading days each semester. That restriction keeps administrative time and costs at a minimum but can be irksome in a fast-changing market. “We missed out on a huge opportunity with Apple,” Roberts said. “We pitched it [to the club] at a hundred and fourteen dollars a share. We bought it at one-eighty.”

Bear or bull market, the lessons are invaluable preparation for a career in finance, members say. In fact, by mid-November all of the seniors in the group had job offers. And other students were gearing up for prime internships.

“That’s one of our goals: getting people placed into good internships,” said Lokesh Todi ’09, who will go to work in Boston for Analysis Group, a national consulting firm, after graduation. “It does show that people from Colby are really smart and do well at their internships and their jobs.”

Roberts, who accepted a job offer from Barclays Capital in New York, where he interned last summer, said helping to manage the club portfolio has taught him skills he’ll soon put to use.

“The fundamentals are very similar,” he said.

“Looking at the financials of a company and what makes the company strong and sound. Those types of characteristics are very applicable to a really wide range of financial services jobs.”

All three students said interviewers were very interested in the workings of the investment club. “People were very surprised that we were able to raise a hundred thousand dollars, and it’s all student run,” Roberts said.

The fact that investment decisions have real consequences has driven student interest and involvement, the students said.

And do students get to keep the profits, should there be any?

“Unfortunately not,” Todi said, laughing. Any profit, he said, goes directly into the College’s endowment fund. “But it’s real money, and it’s our responsibility. Now people are looking into earnings calls and actually listening to them. It’s a real skill.”

Gearing Up For Down Times Pursuing finance jobs requires focus, flexibility Alexandra Clegg ’09 had successfully made it through two rounds of phone interviews this fall with financial consulting companies and was eagerly awaiting the face-to-face finals.

From two of the companies, she received a call she didn’t want.

“They said, ‘Actually, we’re not going to be hiring, so we’re just going to cancel,” said Clegg, who has four internships on her résumé, part of a college career spent zeroing in on a career in finance.

She was disappointed but by no means defeated.

“I was in New York [for an interview] on Friday,” Clegg said in November. “I’ll be in Boston Wednesday.”

It’s that sort of resilience and confidence (Clegg did ultimately land a job with a financial consulting firm) that is required in a down job market, says Colby Career Center Director Roger Woolsey.

Rather than panic, students considering careers in financial services should take a hard look at their futures. “Stay focused on what your goals and objectives are, and really take more of an aggressive approach,” Woolsey advised.

Contrary to what some might think, the job market for students looking at finance isn’t bad, he said. “Regardless of the recession, the early indication is that this is still going to be a decent year for grads.”

He reported that investment banks that recruit at Colby are honoring job offers already extended to seniors. And students who had been thinking of going into investment banking are considering consulting, sales, and other financialsector fields.

Woolsey, who speaks regularly with alumni and Colby parents in the financial services industry, said the word from those in the business is for students to look beyond the obvious. “Look at more of the medium-sized banks in the Midwest and the West Coast instead of always going after the big-brand firms,” Woolsey said.

As they consider career options beyond the East Coast corridor, students will need to be flexible­­­­­­­­—“in geographic location, in job-function within finance,” Woolsey said.

“Don’t be as concerned with pigeonholing yourself in the industry.”

A recent alumnus who was laid off from a financial services company recently called Woolsey for help finding another job in Boston. “I said, ‘We’d have a greater opportunity for finding you work if we could open that up to New York, Philadelphia, D.C., because we could use a bigger database of people,’” Woolsey recounted.

“Sure enough, he agreed to that.”

Colby students are versatile and balanced and have a lot to offer potential employers. But in an economic downturn they also need to know when to be conservative. “I had a few discussions with students with their parents in this office,” Woolsey said. “In a good year, a student received two or three offers.

We would try to advise the student in negotiating and try to come up with a better offer, leveraging one against the other. But there was a parent specifically this year who advised his son not to do that. It was the best advice. Feel lucky you have one offer on the table. Don’t play games, and accept it.”

Still, it’s a daunting time for seniors interested in finance, many of whom have been working toward this goal since they arrived at Colby almost four years ago.

“Nowadays to get a junior-year internship you need a sophomore-year internship,” said Lokesh Todi ’09. “And sometimes to get a sophomore-year [internship] you need freshman year. It’s become a very competitive field.”

Some students are just postponing their job hunt until next semester, while others are signing up for the Graduate Record Exam, said Todi, who is from Nepal.

It is a particularly difficult time for international students hunting finance jobs in the United States because companies must take on those students’ visa obligations, said Soule Sow ’09, of Senegal.

If jobs don’t materialize, grad school beckons. “Last year, I didn’t know anyone applying for a Ph.D. [program],” Sow said.

“This year I know four people who are applying.”­— Gerry Boyle ’78

COLBY / WINTER 2009 27

from the hill

Q&A

COMPUTER SCIENCE CHAIR BRUCE MAXWELL ON COMPUTER SCIENCE, THE LIBERAL ARTS, PROGRAMMING PARTIES, AND LATE-NIGHT iCHAT. ROB CLOCKEDILE INTERVIEW FRED FIELD PHOTO

Bruce Maxwell is a computer programmer, roboticist, violinist, and swimmer. He talked with Colby’s Managing Editor for the Web Rob Clockedile about opportunities that come with teaching computer science at a liberal arts college.

So, you’re relatively new to Colby?

I came a year ago fall. This is my thirteenth year teaching and ten of those have been at small, liberal arts colleges. I knew what to expect, and I’ve been very pleased with the students.

Do you ever feel marginalized by your big university peers?

I don’t. I went to Cambridge University for a master’s and Carnegie Mellon for a graduate degree [Ph.D.]. I maintain lots of contacts with people there. When you come to a place like Colby, you understand your research isn’t going to move as fast. You’re not going to have graduate students working full-time on multiyear projects. That doesn’t mean you can’t be cutting edge and do very good work.

You end up building a large family of former students who have gone on to be graduate students. I have former students who are becoming peers.

We’re reading each other’s papers and I’m starting to work with them.

We hear about the unique nature of the relationships at Colby, relationships that go beyond the classroom and beyond students’ stay here.

It’s one of the nice things about being at a small place in a small department. At a big university your only contact with students might be standing in front of a course for fifty people. Here I’ve got fourteen in one intro course and that’s big. It’s fantastic.

I also play violin in the Colby orchestra and train with the swim team. I have a lot of informal contact, even with students outside of the major, and that’s really nice. On Monday nights we get out of orchestra at ten.

I’ll come up to the lab, and the students know I’m going to be here, so we have a big programming party here on Mondays between ten and one.

There’s a lot of value in that impromptu, out-of-classroom contact.

Last spring in my intro course I started using iChat, because I live twenty minutes off campus and, when I go home for the day, I tend not to come back. I’d get on iChat at nine p.m. and students would get on and ask me questions. They had been very hesitant to make use of that for professor-student relationships. I think they feel that’s their communication mode—it’s not to use with a professor. But the really nice thing is that I can usually help solve their problems in five or ten

28 COLBY / WINTER 2009

minutes. They don’t have to spend two hours getting frustrated, they feel better about the course, and neither of us has to move.

You mentioned the intro to programming class. That course has more than just CS majors in it?

We call in Computational Thinking. We focus on multimedia processing.

It’s a little more interesting, a little more fun, a little more immediately gratifying. We integrate a lot of graphics and image and sound processing, which appeals to a wider variety of students. We’re getting art students interested in digital art. We’re getting students who are interested in video games.

When I first taught it, the students implemented a system that models the way plants grow, making trees and fractal patterns. They ended up with very nice, very sophisticated programs, and it gave them confidence in their ability to work with a computer.

What else is going on in the CS program?

We’re trying to focus the CS program more on interdisciplinary applications of CS. That’s where my interests really lie. I enjoy knowing how computers work and can certainly teach that stuff, but at the end of the day the purpose of computer science is to enable other people to be more productive.

Stephanie Taylor [assistant professor in computer science]—her Ph.D. is in modeling biological systems at the cellular level—was looking at how collections of cells can, with regular exposure to light, be fairly accurate clocks. So she’s tying CS in with the biology part of the curriculum.

I’ve also been working with Frank Fekete in biology on a system for using computer vision to analyze bacteria colonies. We watch the colonies with time-lapse photography, then analyze the properties as they grow.

Philip Nyhus, in environmental studies, has colleagues who want to know what types of habitat elk like. They have GIS [geographical information systems] data about the geographic characteristics of where the elk are and want to use it to find other places where elk would like to be. So a student integrated a machine-learning package with the GIS package to create something more powerful than either one by itself.

Those are the sorts of things that I find interesting because we can leverage things that we do well to enable people to be more productive and discover new things.

Associate Professor Bruce Maxwell (computer science) with a few of the tools of his robotics work. Maxwell has helped link computer science with other academic disciplines on campus, including biology and environmental studies.

That’s the beauty of the liberal arts approach?

That’s one of the reasons I love to be at a small liberal arts college.

Computer science at a place like this has so many possibilities. It’s a lot of fun.

Where do you see your students heading when they leave Colby?

A lot of them eventually do some graduate work, but most of them get out there and get jobs in a variety of places—they might work at a small company doing database stuff, or a financial firm doing market predictions. Some do go directly to grad school, but they’re also interested in getting away from school for a little while.

I’ve seen students turn down multiple offers from big firms to take a less lucrative offer where they get more responsibility doing something more interesting to them. That’s a very good thing. Many of the students who go to work for the big firm doing some sort of pigeonhole job get out of it pretty quickly.

There’s a Colby student, Katelyn Mann ’03, on the team in charge of Google’s home page. She’s actually part of the team that manages the code that makes the page that pops up when you type, “Google.com.”

That’s just fun. You’re there, front and center.

To read about the robotics work being done by Maxwell and his students, go to www.colby.edu/mag, keyword: robots

COLBY / WINTER 2009 29

from the hill

Chris Copeland ’09 returned to the starting lineup for the Colby football team after a head-on car crash in 2007. Determined to overcome the near-fatal accident, he has worked diligently as a government and history double major and as a standout athlete in two sports.

BEYOND FOOTBALL NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE GIVES CHRIS COPELAND ’09 NEW PERSPECTIVE TRAVIS LAZARCZYK STORY THOMAS MICHAEL CORCORAN/MORNING SENTINEL PHOTO

Stephanie Copeland stared at the wreckage.

What had been a Toyota Tacoma pickup a few days ago was now a twisted mass of metal and glass. The collision had bounced the truck off its chassis, and the engine sat where the dashboard should be.

The guy who brought the wreck to the junkyard offered condolences. “We were like, ‘No, he’s alive.’” Copeland said. “The guy was shocked someone walked away from what he had on his lot.”

Copeland’s youngest child, her son Chris

30 COLBY / WINTER 2009

Copeland ’09, had been behind the wheel.

On Aug. 2, 2007, Chris was eager to step into a starting role with the Colby football team. On Aug. 3 he was being airlifted to the intensive care unit at Albany Medical Center.

“He was poised to have a great year last year,” head football coach Ed Mestieri said. “Then he was lucky to be alive.”

That week Copeland had been working for his family’s business, Copeland Coating Company. Done surfacing tennis courts in Vermont, Copeland ignored the advice of his

foreman to get some sleep and drove three hours home to Rexford, N.Y., just west of Albany. The next day, he drove to Westchester County, just north of New York City. After speaking to an athletic director about a job, he headed for home. “I remember being tired.

I remember leaving and that’s it,” he said. “I woke up in the hospital.”

Ninety minutes from the company office in Nassau, N.Y., Copeland fell asleep at the wheel and drifted into the oncoming lane. A police officer driving to his 3-11 p.m. shift in his GMC

Sierra saw Copeland’s Tacoma heading right at him. The officer hammered his brakes, leaving 40 feet of rubber.

The trucks hit head-on. The impact drove both engines into the dashboards. Everything Copeland knows about the accident, he knows secondhand. He doesn’t know how he got out or why he was screaming and running around the scene when emergency workers arrived.

Both Copeland and the other driver, who suffered a broken collarbone and a broken toe, were airlifted to the hospital. Copeland had a broken sternum, cracked ribs, and lacerated his liver and spleen. “His body looked like it had been mangled,” Stephanie Copeland said.

After eight days in the hospital, including four in intensive care, Copeland returned home and then to Colby—and football. The government and history double major threw himself into his studies and spent the 2007 season being as much a part of the team as he could. Defensive coordinator and secondary coach Tom Dexter gave Copeland a copy of the defensive playbook and asked for his help teaching younger players.

Assistant coach Danny Noyes ’02 would play catch with Copeland at practice. “It felt so great,” Copeland said, “to feel like I was still part of the team.”

Healing and getting antsy, Copeland, who ran track one year in high school, joined Colby’s track team for the indoor season. “I love to compete and wanted to do something that would keep me in shape,” Copeland said. “The first day I showed up, I threw up after warm-ups.”

“Anyone who’s had something taken away from them always looks at it as more precious when they get it back.”

Ed Mestieri, Colby head football coach Copeland stayed with it, competing in the 55- and 200-meter dashes and the long jump. Track and field coach Jared Beers ’01, himself a former Colby football player, allowed Copeland to progress at his own pace.

Copeland’s track and field season culminated with a NESCAC title in the long jump, with a jump of 6.7 meters (almost 22 feet). Copeland also finished fifth in the 100.

“I was barking and screaming,” he said, “like a football player.”

Copeland, who is 6-foot-1, dropped to 160 pounds while recovering from his accident.

He ended his track season at 178 pounds and, after training with a handful of football teammates last summer, he returned to the gridiron this fall, more than a year after the crash, at his playing weight—195.

But when practice started Copeland was nervous. At his mother’s request he had ultrasound tests on his liver and spleen. The

test results came back perfect but didn’t fully restore his confidence. “I was worried I was going to show up and not know what I was doing,” he said.

Those fears were gone with the first hit.

Copeland quickly claimed a starting spot at cornerback. “Early on, at Williams, I knew I belonged on this field,” Copeland said. “At corner, sometimes there’s not much contact and I was itching for it.”

Mestieri saw a change in his senior defensive back. “Anyone who’s had something taken away from them always looks at it as more precious when they get it back,” the coach said. “He’s more appreciative of what he has. He’s so focused, and it’s reflected in his performance.”

In the classroom, Copeland focused as well, studying post-genocide transition in Rwanda in a seminar on transitional justice and issues in political memory, among other subjects. The accident, he said as finals approached, caused him to study with “increased vigor.” And his performance on the field was vigorous as well.

Copeland had a team-high 11 tackles— 10 solo—in a 24-19 win Sept. 27 against Middlebury. At season’s end, he was second on the team in tackles with 54, including 38 unassisted. For Copeland, the numbers meant a lot. “For me,” he said, “this is more than just football.”

A version of this story first appeared in the Waterville Morning Sentinel. It appears here with permission.

SPORTS SHORTS WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY finished 17th at the NCAA Division III Championships at Hanover College in Indiana, continuing a string of strong national performances. The Mules finished fourth at the NCAA New England Regional Qualifier and third at the NESCAC meet, and they continue to rank among the top teams in the country. Under head coach DEB AITKEN Colby was fifth in the country in 2004 and 2005 and 11th in 2007. CASSI KNIGHT ’10 just missed All-America honors, placing 36th (top 35 are All-Americans).

KATRINA GRAVEL ’10 was 49th and EMMA LINHARD ’11 77th. At the qualifying meet in Williamstown, Mass., Knight placed 12th out of 330 finishers. … The brand new Seaverns Field at Harold Alfond Stadium opened in time

for the FOOTBALL season, and the Mules posted a 3-1 record on their new FieldTurf surface. Colby football played Middlebury in the home opener and held on for a victory over the defending league champs. The Mules were 3-2 before settling for a 3-5 record. SAM HANDLER ’09 earned first-team NESCAC honors for his play at defensive end, TOM DALEY ’09 and KEVIN BIRD ’09 made the NESCAC second team. … Despite the loss of top scorer MARY CLARE SNEDIKER ’09 for much of the season, FIELD HOCKEY made the NESCAC playoffs before falling to Tufts in the quarterfinals. MERYL POULIN ’11 earned NESCAC second-team honors after leading Colby in scoring with eight goals and 10 assists. HEATHER QUADIR ’11 added

nine goals and seven assists for 25 points.

Snediker, a three-time All-NESCAC selection, hurt her knee during lacrosse season and missed most of the field hockey season.

Snediker still finished her career with 29 goals. … MEN’S SOCCER finished 7-6-1 overall but missed the NESCAC playoffs with a 3-5-1 record in the league, including a win over rival Bowdoin. LOGAN KING ’09 and TOM MILASCHEWSKI ’09 earned secondteam All-NESCAC honors. The squad was honored with the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the eighth straight season, the longest streak of any NESCAC school.

For more fall sports coverage go to www.colby.edu/athletics.

COLBY / WINTER 2009 31

from the hill

32 COLBY / WINTER 2009

An Effervescent Biography ENGLISH PROFESSOR TILAR MAZZEO ILLUMINATES THE RISE OF A CHAMPAGNE STAR RUTH JACOBS STORY FRED FIELD PHOTO

Make no mistake. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin propelled a family wine business from near death into the international Veuve Clicquot champagne empire through hard work, determination, risk-taking, and marketing savvy. But the universe helped, too.

In her new book, The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It, Assistant Professor of English Tilar Mazzeo looks at both the internal practices and the external forces that led to the making of, in her words, “the first modern woman CEO.” When Clicquot Ponsardin’s husband died in 1805, she was 27, the daughter of an affluent businessman who, like her father-in-law, made his fortune in textiles.

The widow had worked with her husband on a small family wine business and, despite the financial risk, set out to transform it. Far beyond succeeding, Clicquot Ponsardin internationalized champagne and, according to Mazzeo, reaped the rewards of marketing and branding before those terms existed. “She creates this brand identification,” said Mazzeo, “this … really iconic status, not only for her champagne but for French champagne more broadly.”

That iconic status is part of what inspired Mazzeo to write the book—and is part of what intrigued reviewers and readers as the book launched to strong national reviews and sales. For Mazzeo, there’s a lot to learn from the icons of an era. Her academic interest is in material culture and commodities—“how clothing, how furniture, how wine, how food, how, you know, the really material substance of the world we all live in, how that shapes literary expression and aesthetic values,” she said. Plus, she really likes champagne.

Mazzeo explores both the life of the widow Clicquot (“veuve” means widow in French) and the history of champagne, framing the widow’s life in historical context; in the process, Mazzeo shows how it was possible for a businesswoman to excel in 19th-century France.

It began before Clicquot Ponsardin entered the game. Her husband was an only son. “If she had had male family members who were able to take over that business, she probably would not have been given that opportunity,” said Mazzeo.

In retrospect, history was also on her side. At the time she took over, it was acceptable for women to work in family businesses. As France’s industrial revolution took hold, the model shifted from family-run businesses to the use of professional managers. That made it more difficult for women to have a role, Mazzeo said. “I think she was born just at that moment where there was a transition between those two models, and she was lucky that her father was an industrialist, so she knew what the wave of the future was going to be.” Clicquot Ponsardin hired (male) professionals and, by the time she was 40, worked largely behind the scenes.

Another bit of luck: she wasn’t pretty. “If she had been really beautiful, she would not have been given the leeway to not have remarried after François’s death,” said Mazzeo. “She just wasn’t a beautiful woman, and

so the idea that she was going to do something besides be a wife, I think, was a possibility for her.”

But in 1814 Clicquot Ponsardin’s business was struggling. She had laid off all her employees and was desperate. Enter the Russian troops in the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon’s abdication, they took over. They wanted to celebrate, and they just happened to be in Reims, the Champagne region’s major city. Soldiers from around the world popped corks and developed a taste for this local sparking wine. That, in turn, sparked an idea—and a major gamble for Clicquot Ponsardin.

Champagne had not been legal in Russia for years.

“She recognizes that if she can get this wine back to Russia,” said Mazzeo, “there is this international market that already is positively predisposed to her champagne.” Defying export laws, she sent the champagne on a journey with her salesman, Louis Bohne. “She makes that last desperate gamble to run the blockades and get ten-thousand bottles of her very best champagne into Russia.”

After much anxiety, the bottles were the first to arrive in Russia after the ban. “Within weeks she’s famous throughout Europe and has made her fortune and really doesn’t look back after that,” said Mazzeo. “I think if the Napoleonic Wars hadn’t ended in the Champagne, champagne might not have become the product that it now is.”

Of course there’s far more to it than that, and Clicquot Ponsardin’s business sense is ultimately the reason for the company’s ascent. She took champagne, once a celebratory drink for only the aristocracy, to the middle classes by expediting the process of eliminating yeast, thereby cutting the price.

Hers was one of the first wines to bear a label—a way of assuring her customers that this champagne came from her cellars. In a letter to Bohne, she wrote, “I understand that name recognition is everything,” according to Mazzeo.

She brought in experts from the outside. “She was also one of the people who really led the way in that managerial revolution,” said Mazzeo, “moving companies away from family holdings to having CEOs and CFOs and also to developing marketing departments.”

Her hard work and perfectionist nature are evident in the Veuve Clicquot archive in France, where Mazzeo spent day after day poring over papers for insight. “She kept meticulous records—every piece of land she ever bought, all the contracts, every bottle of wine she sold, who she sold it to, all of that is there,” she said. Lacking, though, are glimpses into her private life. “It was a very interesting thing, about what she thought was important in her own life to hang onto.”

Mazzeo also spent time learning about how champagne is made and what it’s like to be a woman winemaker today. And, of course, tasting.

“Onerous research, I assure you,” she said.

To listen to a student interview with Mazzeo and Mazzeo reading an excerpt, go to www.colby.edu/mag, keyword:widow COLBY / WINTER 2009 33

from the hill recent releases Vanished Gardens: Finding Nature in Philadelphia Sharon White ’74 University of Georgia Press (2008) From her brick row house atop the site of the Labyrinthine Garden, a 19th-century pleasure garden north of Philadelphia’s center, Sharon White ’74 sets out to find nature in the city. Digging into the strata of the Piedmont, she discovers universal truths about why we garden and what it means to call a place home.

At every turn, lush details in her precisely crafted prose lead us deeper into a labyrinth of human and natural history of the area. Hungry for nature, White longs to “rip the fabric of the city at the edge and peel it away to rocks that were there all the time.

Wilderness just under the surface. Breathing its clear breath right into my face.” With crisp, colorful writing White tears away the top layer to expose the richness beneath.

Beyond her search for nature, White—poet, Temple University writing professor, and transplant in search of a connection to the land—wonders “about vanished lives. The sifting and interring of the past, all that accumulation gone, turned over, invisible in the concrete wall of an almost present place.”

White’s artful combination of science and history makes those vanished lives visible. Vignettes of notable Philadelphia naturalists such as John Haviland, Deborah Norris, and

John, Anne, and William Bartram are interspersed with keen observations of nature. Moving fluidly from past to present, from soil to brick, White illuminates the past and shows the land as a composite of ghosts and bones that enrich our present lives.

As White muses and researches, she records her daily life— garden, family, the seasons—like William Bartram, who, “like a prayer … recorded the small life of the garden in a book no bigger than his palm. A shorthand for the miracle of bloom and feather.”

Their cumulative observations show the process of building a life and learning the land.

Using deeply personal and rhythmic prose, White finds focus and roots herself in the Philadelphian soil with her husband and son. Amidst growth and decay, our lives progress. “We’re all a bit of home, homeless, homebound in this homeland,” White writes.

“Attached in our own ways to a pot of bamboo or a brick house or a slip of a house that was once a shell on the edge of a sewer that was once a stream in the meadows along the river that once meandered to the sea.”

But despite the gardens of the past, she is most importantly in the present. “I like the idea that I’m cultivating a garden here in the middle of our lives, curled and wandering eventually to the heart of the labyrinth. All gardens lead here for me.”

—Laura Meader

Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3 Annie Proulx ’57 Simon & Schuster (2008) Annie Proulx ’57 revisits Wyoming in Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3, introducing readers to an assortment of quintessentially Proulx characters who grapple with the difficulties of growing up and old, while yearning for the comfort and security of lasting love and family. In an archetypal struggle, women long to be mothers, men long to be providers, older folks are wistful about lost youth, and the young try to grow up too quickly.

In “Them Old Cowboy Songs,” Archie, a struggling young ranch hand, is determined to tame his recently purchased land by singing along its borders. “Archie, thrilled to be a landowner, told Rose he had to sing the metes and bounds. He started on the southwest corner and headed east. It was something he reckoned had to be done. Rose walked along with him at the beginning and even tried to sing with him but got out of breath from walking so fast and

singing at the same time. Nor did she know the words to many of his songs. Archie kept going. It took him hours.”

In “I’ve Always Loved This Place” and “Swamp Mischief,” Proulx is a bit adventurous when she abandons her Wyoming setting in favor of Hell. In the former, the devil is a character with a Martha Stewart-like compulsion to give Hell a makeover.

“Nothing has been done with this damn place for aeons. It’s old fashioned, it’s passé, people yawn when they think of Hell.”

While play and humor may have a place in Hell, in Proulx’s Wyoming there is mostly hardship and loss. Her characters struggle in their chase of the Old West’s version of the American dream, with sprawling parcels of land, families in need, and livestock to feed. The weather, an extremely volatile and malevolent force in Proulx’s stories, is harsh and unrelenting. In Proulx’s Wyoming, nothing comes easily, and, ironically, nothing is ever really Fine Just the Way It Is. —Lauren Pongan ’09

Not Far From the Tree: A Brief History of the Apples and the Orchards of Palermo Maine 1804-2004 John P. Bunker Jr. ’72, P’10 (2008) Not Far From the Tree is, as it claims, a history of the apples of Palermo, a small town where the author resides, about 15 miles east of Waterville. Contradicting its title, it is, fortunately, anything

but brief. Bunker lovingly unwraps the intertwined pasts of Palermo residents and their apples. Quotes from reminiscing Palermo residents and historical, even poetic, apple references are interwoven.

Botanical sketches of apple varieties borrowed from more comprehensive apple books and journals are interspersed with lovingly hand-drawn apple diagrams, comics, and maps of local orchards.

Copies are available online at fedcoseeds.com and mofgastore.org.

Acting on Promise: Reflections of a University President Robert J. Bruce ’59 Polyglot Press (2008) Acting on Promise: Reflections of a University President offers an insider’s perspective on college politics from the president emeritus of Widener University. Bruce offers illuminating

insights into the world of colleges and universities and the faculty, staff, and students that comprise them. Included are details of the transformation of Widener’s academic reputation and its expansion into a three-campus university.

34 COLBY / WINTER 2009

APARTHEID’S LEGACY ANTHROPOLOGIST CATHERINE BESTEMAN’S NEW BOOK EXAMINES THE HOPES AND FRUSTRATIONS OF “THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA” FIONA ROSS REVIEW

In 1994 South Africa’s elections generated great excitement both nationally and internationally. The apartheid regime and its formal racial politics had been replaced. A constitution informed constitutional democracy and people’s hopes and ambitions.

Since then there has been much rhetoric about the “miracle” of democratic transition, the “vibrancy” of the “rainbow nation,” and “the new South Africa.” There has also been great despair over the lack of services like water and electricity, the continued presence of extreme poverty, and spiraling rates of interpersonal violence and crime.

In these contexts, what does democracy mean in action? How do societies overcome the injustices of racism and poverty? Do democratic principles and human rights discourse extend beyond rhetoric into the everyday realities of ordinary citizens and, if so, how? What are the residues of historical inequalities and how do they endure and get reproduced in the present? What do former elites understand by transition and how do they see their roles in it?

These are some of the questions that Professor of Anthropology Catherine Besteman poses in Transforming Cape Town, her fascinating account of how people in this divided South African city engage with post-apartheid democracy, transformation, and the legacies and ongoing realities of radical inequalities.

Cape Town is a complex city, a city of enormous contradictions. It is simultaneously cosmopolitan and deeply divided. While the city center and elite suburbs are stunningly beautiful, they are surrounded by and founded on terrible poverty and squalor. The city’s class structure is firmly entrenched. Politicking is divisive. Racially defined divisions continue to structure the possibilities of everyday life for many. While some people struggle with the legacies of colonialism and apartheid, others live comfortable and often complacent lives.

Through a nuanced account of the experiences of some of the city’s residents, both rich and poor, Besteman explores the

ways in which apartheid’s legacies continue to shape interactions both intimate and public.

From her conversations with ordinary people going about their lives in the city, Besteman describes hurts and humiliations, hopes and fears, and the promises and difficulties of transformation. As a coloured (the South African designation for people of mixed race) man identified as Trevor says, questioning whites’ claims of ignorance of the cruelties of apartheid: “How could you not know? When you got into the train to go to school, you sat in the front of the train; why are all the other people sitting in the back? … When you went to the loo, you knew which loo to go to. When you went to the Post Office, you knew which door to go to. … And you’re telling me you didn’t know?”

Working in the city’s wealthy southern suburbs and impoverished Cape Flats, Besteman is able to consider the effects of political change on a wide sub-section of the population.

Despite the rhetoric of “the new South Africa,” the encounters she describes remain fraught, skirting around deeply emotional issues relating to the presence of the past.

Besteman poses provocative questions about how ordinary people might overcome the historical legacies that have left Cape Town one of South Africa’s most divided cities.

She traces out questions of inheritance— what future generations inherit from past injustices—and asks about forms of remedy: redistribution; memory work; reformulations of identity, family, and senses of belonging.

In doing so, she restores a sense of faith in anthropology as a tool for understanding and critically analyzing social worlds.

The book does not shy away from the hard questions that South Africans must face about the persistence of racism, the ongoing effects of violence, and the complacencies of “getting on with life” and “leaving the past behind us,” as elites often say. Besteman puzzles over the popularity of crime talk at suburban dinner parties and the contradictions of wealth and poverty in close proximity.

A distinctive feature of the book is her insistence that individuals can make change.

Besteman describes people who have committed themselves to transformative efforts—as volunteers, in service clubs, as educationalists and concerned citizens. She makes the important claim that democracy must be learned, and that it is learned through interpersonal encounters that challenge widely held stereotypes and may give rise to “networks of care and human interaction.”

Anthropology works through close attention to the realities of everyday lives, contradictions and complexities, and the encounters and friendships that form “in the field.” Transforming Cape Town is an excellent example of how close attention to everyday lives can reveal important facets of global processes.

Fiona Ross is a faculty member in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cape Town.

COLBY / WINTER 2009 35

from the hill

Awn Be Se: “We Can” Real Change, West-Africa Style STEPHEN COLLINS ’74 STORY

36 COLBY / WINTER 2009

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMILY GOODNOW ’09J

Emily Goodnow ’09J wasn’t exactly a seasoned world traveler when she signed up for junior year abroad in a French-speaking country in 2006-07.

“I had been to Canada once,” said the Durham, N.H., resident. “When I was twelve.”

She was preparing for a semester in France when her roommate and friend, Nancy McDermott ’08, encouraged Goodnow to get more adventurous, to indulge her interest in Africa whet by her father’s Peace Corps tales from the Congo. So, two days before the deadline, Goodnow shifted her sights south and applied to School for International Training (SIT) programs in Mali, Madagascar, and Morocco.

Whether the result of linear decision-making, serendipity, or West African juju, it would prove a life-altering detour. Fall 2006 study with SIT in Mali ran into a spring semester in 2007 working for Save the Children. A year later she would return with McDermott in the summer of 2008 as partners in a $10,000 Projects for Peace grant.

In her first semester Goodnow fell in love with the place and the people. By November she felt it would be crazy to leave just when she was beginning to understand the country and its challenges.

Her parents agreed she could stay—but only if she did something structured. “Mali has enough problems,” she recalls her father, Donald Goodnow, saying. “Don’t just hang around and be a freeloader.” Two days later she had a job as the director’s assistant at Save the Children, organizing the supply closet, translating documents, even writing a (successful) $400,000 grant for girls’ education. “I didn’t come home at all [that year], she said. “My poor mother!”

Marcia Goodnow, Emily’s mother, said, “The Thanksgiving and Christmas landmarks were difficult without her, but I think everybody was happy to see her having such an incredible experience. ... We were thrilled to have her stay and be so focused,” she said, admitting that news of multiple bouts with malaria and typhoid was rough.

But that first year abroad was just prelude.

Back at Colby Goodnow and McDermott (who spent fall 2006 in Cameroon) won a very competitive $10,000 Projects for Peace grant that allowed them to return to Bamako, Mali’s capital,

Nancy McDermott ’08 (second from left), Emily Goodnow ’09J, and Adda Diallo pose with young women in Bamako, Mali, at the completion of an education program that the Colby students ran with a 100 Projects for Peace grant. last summer to start a empowerment program for a group of girls.

Projects for Peace is an initiative of Kathryn Wasserman Davis open to all students at more than 90 schools in the Davis United World Scholars Program. To celebrate her 100th birthday, in 2007, Davis offered 100 $10,000 grants for grassroots projects that students would implement that summer. McDermott and Goodnow won one of 100 grants awarded in the second year, and the selection process for a third round of grants is underway this winter.

McDermott’s and Goodnow’s program was titled Awn Be Se, which means “We Can” in Bambara, the local language in Bamako. The pair proposed convening girls in three neighborhoods and—through activities, discussions, and training—building the girls’ aspirations, business and leadership skills, self images, and sense of community and cooperation.

The work was particularly important in light of the conditions for girls there. Childhood education costs money and, for the most part, only boys go to school while girls do chores at home, Goodnow said. As young women mature, sexual relations often involve exchange for consumer goods, and sex education and HIV awareness and testing are often neglected.

Goodnow says she and McDermott realized that two white college students couldn’t just roll into town and say, “Okay girls. Now we’re going

to discuss negotiations with guys,” she said. So they built a network of successful women mentors and local experts, and they partnered with Adda Diallo, a sociology major at the University of Mali.

Projects don’t always go as planned. After advertising a program for teenagers they had 80 girls and women from 3 to 55 years old show up for the first meeting. So, in addition to the core group that served 15 to 20 teenagers, McDermott and Goodnow started a group with age-appropriate activities and discussions for younger girls, and a third group offered vocational training in sewing and tailoring—the first formal education for some of the older girls. The most driven and successful of the seamstresses were hired as apprentices at the end of the three-week training, significantly altering their potential for future prosperity.

In their summary report, McDermott and Goodnow wrote, “... this summer, we saw these young girls—the mothers, leaders, and faces of Mali’s future—find new purpose, new dreams, and new inspiration in their lives.”

As gratifying as that was, it wasn’t all about giving. Asked how the experience affected her, Goodnow said, “I mean, it changed everything. ...

It just changed my world.”

COLBY STUDENTS’ PROJECTS FOR PEACE 2007 Accessible Information: Working Towards Peace by Designing and Advancing Peer Based Sex-Education Melyn Heckelman ’08 and Victoria Yuan ’07 Alpacas and Llamas as a Conservation Strategy in the Highlands of Ecuador: Creating Peace through Animals Christine Avena ’08 2008 The Afghan Scholar Initiative Qiamuddin Amiry ’09 and John Campbell ’09J Awn Be Se [“We Can”]: A Project for Empowerment in Bamako Nancy McDermott ’08 and Emily Goodnow ’09J For more information on Projects For Peace and an essay by Emily Goodnow, go to: www.colby.edu/mag, keyword: peace

PHOTO BY JEFF EARICKSON

Scull Dedication

Former Colby crew team members Ted Farwell ’05 and Pete Morelli ’02 christen boats named in their honor. Also on hand at the ceremony, after the Bates-Bowdoin-Colby race in October, were, from left, Sarah Denby P’05, Charlie Denby P’05, Coach Stew Stokes, and Dan Morelli P’02.

42 Ruth Sanderson Rudisill’s

life continues to be interesting. Her husband, John, has unfortunately suffered several health setbacks this past year, but the couple spends as much time as possible with their ever-growing family. Ruth has six children, 18 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren. Ruth and John retired to Hendersonville, N.C., in 1988, where she continues to be active in the United Methodist Women’s unit and participates in the prayer quilt-making group, which she hopes will help meet her goal of making quilts for all of her grandchildren.

44 This year we’ll celebrate our

65th reunion! Hard to believe. We are the lucky ones who continue to troop along. Y Barbara Baylis Primiano would like to come to Maine in June but hopes to have a classmate or family member accompany her. Possibly Nan Grahn Christensen, if she can get up from Florida. Getting to Waterville will be the major problem for most of us. Barbara sent along Doug MacLeod’s obit. He died July 6, 2008.

He entered Colby with us but, like so many of the fellows in our class, he left in the spring of 1942 and joined the Air Force. He was stationed in England.

Y Judy (Corrine) Jones Zimmerman wrote and included a picture

of herself and her husband taken last Christmas. I was delighted. She is still with the four-wheeler and needs help with many things but is doing better.

Since she and her husband officiated at track and field events for over 10 years, they watched the Olympics with great interest. Y In August my family pulled off a surprise (to me) 85th birthday party! There were 40 guests and we celebrated in glorious sunshine in my back yard. I had the fun of a short motorcycle ride down my driveway and around town with my next-door neighbor! That started quite a buzz. It was only the second ride in my lifetime, and the first, with the same neighbor, was in early fall. Y Please drop a line or send a picture!

—JoJo Pitts McAlary

48 Frannie Hyde Stephan called

in July to inform us that Caroline Thomson Kinlaw died June 15, 2008, in Seattle, Wash., while visiting her daughter. Caroline had been residing in Dayton, Ohio. She left two daughters, five granddaughters, and two great-granddaughters. According to Frannie, Caroline was a life master bridge player. Frannie noted that at our 60th reunion there were three 1948 cheerleaders: Ruth Barron Lunder, Frannie Hyde Stephan, and David. Y Dorothy has been wearing

a Colby cap, and in two weekends on Martha’s Vineyard we met one recent graduate on a bus, one physician who was associated with a Colby trustee, one graduate in (where else) a bar, and two groups of parents. Y On Sept. 5 Howell Clement sent us the following e-mail: “It’s a quiet summer. Forest fires at a low, no trips. Have a sore left hip and a quirky right shoulder, both occurred from sawing down and cutting up trees for winter. Why do I cut down trees? They are dead on the stump and cutting them down is the best way to stop beetles from invading good trees. Was thinking of you recently when one of the TV channels mentioned Jupiter, Fla., in connection

with high winds. Have played some golf this summer but can’t get below 90. Must face it when one is 82 certain pursuits suffer. We must have had a tough group of classmates as here we are in our 80s and we don’t appear in the obit column very often.” Y Phyllis O’Connell Murray continues to be active enjoying her life and her family in Kennett Square, Pa., and in Seattle, Wash. Y Janet Gay Hawkins wrote to say there was nothing much to report. Y We visited our grandson at Colby this fall and played golf with him and helped celebrate his birthday.

We are back in Jupiter, Fla., for the winter. —Dorothy and David Marson

49 WOW! Four classmates sent

me news. My heartfelt thanks to each.

Y Linda Shaw Maguire planned to meet her former roommate Audrie Drummond Owsley at L.L.Bean in late August and then sit on the stone wall at Ben & Jerry’s to reminisce!

When in Freeport I looked for them to no avail! Lin also sees Jean (Bugsy) Beauchamp Johnsrud occasionally and reports that Beverly Barnett Ammann “is still fiddling on her cello in all the important orchestras of Virginia.” Y Shirley Kydd Bastien reported on a Colby connection she made in August. The Maine Episcopal churches have a companion program with Haiti in which each church in Maine supports a project to help Haiti.

Shirley’s church planned a Haitian art and crafts sale. In the course of the day, Shirley discovered that one of the coordinators of the Arts of Haiti was Jennifer Meade ’78 and one of the speakers, a Haitian born and bred, works at Colby. Another item for the small world department. Y Lucile Farnham Sturtevant wrote with a plea for the Colbiana Club, which is down to about 10 alumnae ranging

30s/40s milestones Deaths: Katherine Franklin Merrill ’36, Dec. 6, 2008, in Barrington, R.I., at 94. v Andrea Getchell Bradley Solmonte ’40, Sept. 1, 2008, in Quincy, Mass., at 90. v Marjorie Smith MacLeod ’41, Nov. 27, 2008, in Ellsworth, Maine, at 87. v Hubert S. Beckwith ’43, Oct. 12, 2008, in Springfield, Va., at 86. v John M. Lomac ’43, Sept. 29, 2008, in San Diego, Calif., at 90. v John C. Calahan ’44, Nov. 8, 2008, in Abington, Pa., at 86. v Frederick S. Wood ’44, Oct. 7, 2008, in Chambersburg, Pa., at 87. v Donald M. Hinckley ’45, Oct. 13, 2008, in Augusta, Maine, at 88. v Margaret Harper Howard ’47, Sept. 29, 2008, in Scarborough, Maine, at 84. v Carl R. Wright ’47, Dec. 5, 2008, in Skowhegan, Maine, at 83. v Vera Themistocles Biemann ’48, Sept. 10, 2008, in Alton Bay, N.H., at 81. v Caroline Thomson Kinlaw ’48, June 15, 2008, in Seattle, Wash., at 80. v Ann Rodney Gould ’49, Nov. 4, 2008, in Burlington, Vt., at 84.

COLBY / WINTER 2009 37

alumni at large 1920s-30s-40s Correspondents

1920s-30s, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1947 c/o Meg Bernier Boyd Colby College Office of Alumni Relations Waterville, ME 04901 207-859-4312 classnews1941@alum.colby.edu classnews1942@alum.colby.edu classnews1943@alum.colby.edu classnews1945@alum.colby.edu classnews1947@alum.colby.edu 1940 Ernest C. Marriner Jr. 10 Walnut Drive Augusta, ME 04330-6032 207-623-0543 classnews1940@alum.colby.edu 1944 Josephine Pitts McAlary 131 Russell Avenue Rockport, ME 04856 classnews1944@alum.colby.edu 1946 Shirley Martin Dudley 639-C Fairmont Avenue Safety Harbor, FL 34695 727-726-4116 classnews1946@alum.colby.edu 1948 David and Dorothy Marson 164 Commodore Drive Jupiter, FL 33477 561-575-2967 classnews1948@alum.colby.edu 1949 Anne Hagar Eustis 24 Sewall Lane Topsham, ME 04086 207-729-0395 classnews1949@alum.colby.edu from the Class of 1939 to about 1959.

The club, founded in 1979, is for those alumnae in the Boston area bounded by routes 20 and 95 and routes 128 and 495, though they have two loyal members from Cape Cod. Anyone interested? Also, Celie is relieved that she doesn’t need a new knee, just arthroscopy. All of us with new joints rejoice with her! Y Jean Desper Thurston caught up over lunch with Elaine Noyes Cella, who was visiting her son two towns away. Jean reported that Bert and Anne (Hootie) Houston Stiller spent a weekend with Bud and Jean (Jebby) Bonnell Day this summer. Hootie and Bert were returning from a cruise along the Maine coast and Jean joined them for lobsters at 38 COLBY / WINTER 2009

Muscongus, “a beautiful afternoon right on the water.” Y I’m just back from another trip, this time to the Rockies in my 19-foot leisure travel van. My sister-in-law and I joined a Tracks to Adventure RV tour to national parks from Yellowstone through Utah to the Grand Canyon and back through Four Corners and Mesa Verde. It was a 33-day tour. Of course we had to get to Cody, Wyo., and then home again, so it was 7,458 miles (all driven by me) and seven weeks on the road. I never drove so many switchbacks and hairpin curves in my life as we went up and down the mountains. However it was all worth it—a wonderful trip with lots of new sights and memories.

An added bonus was when my son joined the tour for five days in Utah.

We spent the last weekend with him at his home in Colo before heading east.

Y Remember, June 2009 is our 60th reunion. Put it on your calendars now.

In the meantime, send me your news even if you think it’s not important!

—Anne Hagar Eustis

50 Charlie ’49 and Ginny Davis

Pearce went on a Viking Cruise to Russia this fall. They went from St. Petersburg to Moscow through rivers, lakes, and canals, stopping along the way. They saw spectacular palaces adorned with gold. Moscow really surprised them because it was so beautiful with many modern buildings and expensive shops. Walking on cobblestones and climbing all those stairs didn’t slow them down a bit!

They enjoyed the people and had a great time. * As a retired minister, Charles Smith continues to do pulpit supply.

He serves as chaplain of two organizations: a World War II Navy amphibious group and the Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

He has returned for a second term as president of the board of directors of Hamilton House, a nonprofit senior center in Providence. Y My sister Allie (Alice Jennings Castelli) was in Italy this fall, visiting several of the ancient, walled, hill towns of Tuscany with their narrow streets lined with shops selling delicious local cheeses and wines. Of special interest was a visit to Modena and an invitation to visit a house where balsamic vinegar was made in the traditional way, aged in barrels in the attic.

It left them with a new appreciation for balsamic vinegar. She looks forward to visiting Italy again. —Betsy (Dudie) Jennings Maley

51 I heard from Bruce Carswell,

who is semi-retired and teaching law. Y A news clip about George Wasserberger mentioned that he is avoiding lawsuits in New Hope, Pa. Y Ted Shiro taught tennis at a summer camp in Maine and enjoyed a wonderful golf season. Y Ian Robertson has had several books and broadsides he printed included in the exhibit “Alabama Bound” this fall at the Mobile Museum of Art. The exhibit is limited to Alabama artists, presses, and bookarts programs such as the one at the University of Alabama. The Mobile Arts Council planned a one-man show in January of Ian’s graphic design, books, and allied printing, beginning way back in the l950s and up to the present. (Thus far, his 81-year-old hands still hold up!) He’ll include a couple of pieces done at Colby during his college editor days in the ’60s. All this depends entirely, of course, on weather—read: hurricanes. Y Arnold and Leda Whitney Sturtevant have completed Cradle to Nest, the last volume in their series Home-Nest Chronicles. The book chronicles their family story, starting in 1929 and moving up through the 20th century. Leda and Arnold live in Fayette, Maine, on Home-Nest Farm.

Y Colby apologizes for an error in the fall issue that incorrectly reported that Nancy Nilson Archibald traveled to Arizona with her husband, Bob, who has been deceased since 2001. —Chet Harrington

52 Greetings friends. Russ Wal-

lace reports that not much is happening, “not European travel since my social security is paid in U.S. money.

Anne and I did some domestic and Canadian travel earlier in the year and it was a lot of fun. My big issue after that was moving out of the Mill Valley house after 46 years.” Y In October Herb Nagle was elected to the Brockton (Mass.) High School Athletic Hall of Fame for both basketball and baseball. The induction ceremony took place Nov. 22. “If nothing else,” writes Herb, “this does substantiate that ‘longevity’ has its rewards.” Herb and Judy got together with Sheila and Don Hailer and Lum Lebherz at the Brookside Golf Club in Bourne, Mass., Oct. 10 for lunch. The next day Herb and Judy’s granddaughter got married in Mashpee (Cape Cod).

Herb also sent the sad news of the passing of our classmate Tom Crossman Sept. 19. Y Paul and Mimi Russell Aldrich cruised up the Rhine, starting in Amsterdam, then through The Netherlands, Germany, France, and

Switzerland, ending in Lucerne. Many castles, great beer and wine! Grace Fawcett ’59 was in their group and she brought a photo of Colby’s Lion of Lucerne reproduction. The three of them were photographed in front of the original! Colby’s lion honors Colby men who died in the Civil War. Lucerne honors the Swiss mercenaries who, in 1792, were killed defending Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during the storming of the Tuileries and those captured and beheaded a few days later. Y Dick Chamberlin was at Colby this fall with his granddaughter, 11, who attended a week-long soccer camp. When Dick and Madeline entered the field house, they met coach Mark Serdjenian ’73, who recalled that Dick’s youngest son, Chris, attended Colby’s summer soccer camp in 1979 or ’80. Not only did Serdjenian remember him but he recalled several funny stories from the years Chris was there. His recollection helped Dick’s granddaughter feel at ease and more at home. Y Thanks to all those friends who contacted me with phone calls, cards, and visits after my dear husband of 56 years, Chuck ’53, died July 5. It has meant a great deal to me. Y I’m afraid that there may be one or two messages missing from this newsletter, and for that I do apologize. I had big computer problems this fall and a few things seem to have disappeared. So next time when you write I promise that this computer will behave. In the meantime, have a good winter and stay well. —Jan “Sandy” Pearson Anderson

53 The last time I wrote I men-

tioned that Chuck Anderson was convalescing at the Cape. Just a few weeks later, July 5, 2008, Chuck passed away. George Laffey ’52, Barbara Bone Leavitt ’52, and Nelson Beveridge attended the memorial service July 26. Nelly said that Janice “Sandy” Pearson Anderson ’52 gave a nice talk about Chuck, as did his children and grandchildren, saying how much he meant to the family. Sandy and Chuck were married for 55 years. Y I had a brief call from Ted Lallier, who finally closed his law offices and is enjoying retirement. Y Ginny Falkenbury Aronson did, indeed, go to Guatemala last summer. She went with 14 others to visit an interdenominational group called CEDEPCA in Guatemala City. They went to listen to the folks involved in helping Guatemalans who were in despair and forced to leave their homes. Ginny said she saw some happiness and smiles in

spite of their condition. Y Tommi Thompson Staples moved this summer to a four-room apartment at a senior facility. She finds lots to do and no time to be bored. In July she drove 1,800 miles with her 10-yearold granddaughter, including a stop at Colby. While there they visited the memorial at the flagpole that has her brother John’s name inscribed.

Tommi says she remembers “a vibrant young man who was crazy to fly in the wild blue yonder.” John was Class of ’51 but attended Colby for only one year. Y Now I am sorry to report that my husband, Richard “Pete” Mailey ’57 passed away Oct. 17, 2008, after a long illness. He joined the Class of 1956 after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. We were married at Colby in the fall of 1953 and lived in the vets’ apartments until he graduated in 1957.

For the past two years he had been living with my daughter, Beth, in New Hampshire, enjoying life on her farm with his grandchildren around him.

Beth, her two brothers, and I will miss him. —Barbara Easterbrooks Mailey

54 As I write, the season is chang-

ing, moving from glorious fall to the gloomier days of November, signaling the soon-to-arrive winter season with its promise of snow. Y A troublesome black bear who eats the sunflower seeds at his back door has Lindon Christie trying to lasso the creature in order to train him so that shows for tourists can be held. Y George and Diane Chamberlin Starcher and two grandchildren took a weeklong cruise among the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. Their inland travels took them to the capital, Quito (3,100 meters up in the mountains), Otavelo (with its world famous Indian market), and to a small Indian village (which has an active Baha’i community) to celebrate St. Peter’s Day. Y This is my last plug for every member of our class to contribute something to the Colby Fund in celebration of our 55th reunion. Hope to see you all in June.

—Art Eddy

55 Today is a beautiful fall day and

also Halloween, so I’m writing while awaiting the few little goblins that might come. My friend Ellie Small Hudson expected many more. Last year she got 225 little candy seekers!

Ellie attended field hockey games in Portland this fall where her granddaughter Megan was the high scorer for King Middle School. (I remember when Ellie was quite the field hockey

player at Colby.) Granddaughter Annie is a junior at Bowdoin doing a semester in Vienna. Ellie has another grand at Hamilton and four more in middle and high school and is hoping one may become a Colby mule. Every time Ellie visits our beautiful campus she is more impressed. Y Betty Harris Smith spent two weeks in Norway, where she took in breathtaking fjords and lovely fall foliage that rivals that of New England. They made it to the Arctic Circle and to Lapland, where they saw herds of reindeer from the roadsides. They also spent about a month driving about New England and saw Bill ’53 and Ann Eilertson McDonough in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Betty and Harold have been raising two grandchildren for many years and now that one is in college will have more freedom to travel.

Y Jane (Daib ’58) and John Reisman celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this summer and spent their usual vacation at Lineken Bay and visited Kathy (McConaughy ’56) and Lou Zambello. Y Lucky for Jack and me and Harriet Sears Fraser as we were invited to join Lou’s ATO summer reunion at Lou’s daughter, Gwen’s, spacious and charming home in Cumberland Foreside, Maine. A day of good cheer was spent with Henry Taron, Dick Bartlett, Don Moore, Dave and Ruth McDonald Roberts, and Nate Miller among others. At Family Homecoming Weekend in October more camaraderie was shared when Lou was honored as the Colby C Club person of the year. Lou spoke graciously and eloquently about how he happened to come to Colby as a basketball player from Somerville High recruited by Lee Williams, how his coaches and profs had a positive influence on him, and how luck and hard work brought him Kathy and a good measure of success! The turnout honoring Lou included Don Moore, Hank Taron, Bill Ganem ’54, Robert ’54 and Joan Hall Parker ’54, Karl ’54 and Jane Millett Dornish, Tom ’54 and Sue Miller Hunt ’56, Peter and Hope Palmer Bramhall ’56, Dick Bartlett, Jack and Ann Burnham Deering, Larry ’56 and Jean Van Curan Pugh, Don Rice ’56, Bob Fraser ’54, David ’56 and Rosie Crouthamel Sortor ’56, Harriet Sears Fraser, Paul White ’62, Rusty and Sue Atwood, Ed Fraktman ’53, Dave Roberts, Charlie Macomber, and Lou’s children, Lou Jr., Ken, Gwen and their children. Y I traveled to Portugal in November for some R&R from the political and

financial chaos. I know, however, I’ll be happy to return to this great country of ours no matter what the outcome. My best to you all. —Ann Burnham Deering

56 Hello again, classmates near and

far. John and I send New Year’s greetings. Y Joan Arcese sent thanks for the last column before I even got the magazine in the mail. Y I spent a glorious day this fall with my former roommate Linda Burrage Sprague at a Weymouth luncheon in Plymouth.

She and her husband, Bill, were here from California to attend their reunion at Weymouth High School. Y Thanks Joanna McCurdy Brunso for your glowing report on your mini-reunion: “Lois Latimer Pan, Kathy Vogt, Phil ’57 and Nancy Carroll Luce, and I met on Cape Cod the second week of September. Beginning at six a.m., when Lois clanged the coffee pot making it impossible for anyone to sleep, we talked over our various lives and hopes for the future. In between we swam in Bass River and tried paddling Lois’s kayak. Cookie Allen was supposed to come but was at a peace activist rally. Lois, Nancy, and Phil went to see Ginny Birnie Byrnes in Pembroke, Mass. We sent photos on to Becky Rowe Engdahl.

Since several of us had lost our husbands recently, it was wonderful to rendezvous with dear friends again.

As Lois says, “old friends are the best friends.” Y Judi Pennock Lilley sent this poignant message: “Heppy Reed Powers and I, roommates by chance and dear friends by choice, lost our husbands within six months of each other. Al Lilley died April 17, 2008, and Henry Powers died Sept. 27. We are struggling to accept the reality of their absence and no longer being able to enjoy all that life continues to offer.

Even as non-Colby men, they shared in our reunions and enjoyed it all. They were part of our extended class.” Y Janet Nordgren Meryweather was enthusiastic about the Colby-Bowdoin football clash and the many familiar faces she sees there each year. “The game is a must. Ed Woodin ’69 is now famous for his tailgate spread. I urge all alums to attend as it is an absolutely terrific occasion.” Y Sherry and Don Rice were present at the Colby C Club award dinner during Family Homecoming Weekend, celebrating with several other ATOs as brother Lou Zambello ’55 received the C Club person of the year award. Congratulations to both Lou and our beloved

1950s Correspondents 1950 Betsy Jennings Maley 479 Ridgeview Road Orange, CT 06477 classnews1950@alum.colby.edu 1951 Chet Harrington Outpost Hill 757 Newtown Road Villanova PA, 19085 610-688-6374 classnews1951@alum.colby.edu 1952 Janice Pearson Anderson 237 North Main Street, Apt. 221 South Yarmouth, MA 02664 508-760-4221 classnews1952@alum.colby.edu 1953 Barbara Easterbrooks Mailey 80 Lincoln Avenue South Hamilton, MA 01982 978-468-5110 classnews1953@alum.colby.edu 1954 Arthur Eddy 12 Red Bird Lane Lakeville, CT 06039-2216 860-435-9778 classnews1954@alum.colby.edu 1955 Ann Burnham Deering 27 Hedgerow Drive Falmouth, ME 04105 207-781-3041 classnews1955@alum.colby.edu 1956 Joan Williams Marshall PO Box 832 Truro, MA 02666 508-349-3453 classnews1956@alum.colby.edu 1957 Guy and Eleanor Ewing Vigue 238 Sea Meadow Lane Yarmouth, ME 04096 207-846-4941 classnews1957@alum.colby.edu 1958 Mary Ellen Chase Bridge 139 Cumberland Road Burlington, VT 05408 802-658-1941 classnews1958@alum.colby.edu 1959 Joanne K. Woods 27 Haven Way Ashland, MA 01721-4404 classnews1959@alum.colby.edu

COLBY / WINTER 2009 39

alumni at large Kathleen McConaughy Zambello on your many years of service to the school. Y Folks, it’s time to start planning for our next reunion. Please correspond. I need your input to keep this column alive. Yes, we spend inordinate amounts of time staying healthy, but we care about each other and want to hear a word now and then. Until next time, John and I extend our best wishes to you and your families. —Joan Williams Marshall

57 As I write this column, I’m

relieved that the political campaign is nearly at an end. All of us, suffering from election overkill, probably feel the same way! Y Donna and Ed White traveled from Phoenix, Ariz., to Virginia in October for the birth of their second grandchild. Y Marilyn and Tom Brackin continue to plug along in the real estate and insurance business. After heading to Aruba at the end of July, they spent time in Christmas Cove, on the coast of Maine. The Colby Eight sang at the Class of 1958’s 50th reunion, where Tom enjoyed seeing Dave Adams ’58, Willy Mc Donald Sawyer ’58, Bill ’58 and Cindy Allerton Rocknak ’58, and many more close friends from the Class of 1958. Y Before beginning her senior year at the University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music, this fall, Pat Martin Maloney enjoyed substituting as organist at her summer church in Dublin, N.H. Pat had lunch with Ellie Jones Rogers, who lives nearby, and visited Janet Kimball Clymer during the summer at the nursing home in Keene, N.H., where Jan continues to make slow improvement. Y In September Nancy and John Conkling visited Babs (Faltings ’56) and Warren “Meatball” Kinsman at their camp at Green Lake (near Ellsworth, Maine) in preparation for a week’s guided canoe trip on the St. Croix River along the Maine and Canadian border. Shortly prior to that, the aforementioned gathered with other Dekes in South Bristol and enjoyed a mini-Delta Kappa Epsilon reunion on the coast of Maine. There were several other Class of 1956ers and Peter ’55 and Hank Roberts French were there. Y Peter and Shirley Lincoln Rigby toured Santa Fe, N.M., this summer and spent many hours on the Canyon Road enjoying the art shops and displays. Shirley had six art shows of her own this fall and is also in charge of programs for the Howard Pyle Art Studio and the Art League of Philadelphia. The Rigbys 40 COLBY / WINTER 2009

50s newsmakers

Thomas Connors ’59

Thomas Connors ’59 has been appointed interim president of Massanutten Military Academy in Virginia. A Marine Corps commissioned officer for 10 years, Connors has held positions at Sweet Briar College and the University of Virginia. Board of Trustees Chairman Pete Wenk said of Connors, “He has demonstrated extreme loyalty and commitment to the board for the last couple of years.”

milestones Deaths: Russell A. Antell ’50, Oct. 30, 2008, in Fort Pierce, Fla., at 80. v Jerome E. Jackson ’50, Dec. 5, 2008, in Andover, Mass., at 84. v Theodore Parker ’51, Aug. 22, 2008, in North Easton, Mass., at 81. v Thomas J. Crossman Jr. ’52, Sept. 19, 2008, in Bourne, Mass., at 80. v Elin Christenson Honsberger ’52, April 27, 2008, in Pensacola, Fla., at 77. v Irwin Winer ’52, Nov. 7, 2008, in Santa Barbara, Calif., at 80. v Arthur M. Tiernan Jr. ’53, Nov. 1, 2008, in Bedford, Mass., at 79. v Nancy D. Foster ’55, Oct. 4, 2008, in Frisco, Texas, at 74. v John G. Herbert ’55, Oct. 12, 2008, in Caribou, Maine, at 76. v Julian H. Morgan Jr. ’55, Oct. 19, 2006, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at 73. v Barbara Barnes Brown ’56, Nov. 20, 2008, in Westborough, Mass., at 74. v James H. Clark ’57, Oct. 5, 2008, in Bangor, Maine, at 73. v Judith Lowrey Ingram ’57, Oct. 26, 2008, in Hoover, Ala., at 72. v Richard H. Mailey Jr. ’57, Oct. 17, 2008, in Exeter, N.H., at 76. v Frederick H. Brace M.D. ’59, April 18, 2005, in Ardmore, Pa., at 70. have 10 grandchildren, four in college, and, for the younger set, Shirley and Peter cheer at their soccer games each week. Y Word from Mikki Chomicz Manno is that she hosted her daughter Andrea and three grandchildren (plus a seven-month-old Lab!) for the summer. Their schedule sounded like a veritable day camp! With her Polish roots beckoning, Mikki headed for a well-earned Eastern European vacation in mid-September. Y Dick and Marilyn “Perk” Perkins Canton are back in Naples, Fla., after a busy summer in Bridgton, Maine. They plan a trip to Brazil and a riverboat tour on the Amazon. Perk promised me that she will keep a sharp eye out for those slithery anacondas! Y Don Tracy and his large family (now including a great-grandchild) enjoy life on the coast of Maine. After years of kayaking, Don rolled over in his kayak and had a saltwater swim that he did not expect! He also found that his senior years made it difficult to climb back in!

Y Our news is very unusual, in that our four children and eight grandchildren live within a radius of six miles of us.

And no, we are not on the verge of a decline so that they have to keep their eyes on us! Actually, it’s the excellent Yarmouth, Maine, school system that

brought them all into town. Sure keeps us in a constant whirl of field hockey, soccer, plays, concerts, and many other activities. Y Just a word of explanation!

I’m limited in the amount of words for each class column, so in fairness to everyone, if I receive news from a classmate for two class solicitations in a row, I will save the second “news” and carry it over to our next column, unless space permits two consecutive inclusions. Y Thanks for all your input and keep the good news coming. —Guy and Eleanor Ewing Vigue

58 Archie Twitchell continues to

teach grad students in public administration online for the University of Maryland. “I spent 11 years (19902001) teaching face-to-face classes in Europe and moved to online teaching when I returned to the U.S. What fun.

I love Europe mostly for it sense of community and its history. I did a lot of walking on weekends—Volksmarching—while there and continue to do so here. I have a lady friend who loves to walk so we try to get 10 miles in every weekend. We visited Philadelphia last month and it’s a great walking city.

Walking the historic districts allows one to absorb the ambience and to think about walking in Ben Franklin’s

footsteps.” Y Lois and Peter Doran’s youngest son, Dana, and his wife, Kelly, now work for Colby. Dana is the assistant men’s basketball coach with Dick Whitmore and Kelly is assistant director for capital planning and construction in the Physical Plant Department. “I had a great visit with John ’55 and Jane Daib Reisman in Columbus, Ohio, later in June,” writes Peter, “when I was officiating at the Junior Nationals track and field meet.”

And Jane comments, “The 50th is going to be a hard act to follow! What a wonderful weekend reconnecting with classmates and enjoying each event. John and I feel fortunate to have been able to get to Maine twice this past summer. During our July/ August visit we and Jack (UMaine) and Susan Bower Hendrickson got together with Bob ’56 and Fran Wren Raymond, Bill and Cindy Allerton Rocknak, Bob ’59 and Judy Garland Bruce, and Olin (Bowdoin) and Willie Mc Donald Sawyer in East Boothbay. Also, we saw Lou ’55 and Kathy McConaughy Zambello ’56 one day and Mark ’54 and Larry Walker Powley ’54 on another. Some weeks later we enjoyed a visit from Peter Doran here in Columbus. Can’t beat those Colby connections!” Y Kate Knight Hall married L. Daniel “Danny” Dannenbaum Sept. 27, 2008. “My brother, an Episcopal minister, married us so, for the second time,” says Kate, “he can say he married his sister! We had planned an outdoor wedding in Stockton Springs (Maine) overlooking Penobscot Bay but were foiled by Maine’s first hurricane in 17 years! We had 26 family members attend including children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren from British Columbia, Oregon, and California among other spots. I haven’t changed my last name from Hall, which seems to be fine with Danny. It certainly is interesting to be addressed as a newlywed at my age, but I must admit I’m enjoying it!

We spent four months in Maine this summer but live in Philadelphia in the winter. We’re keeping my house in Chestnut Hill and we’re also keeping Danny’s apartment in Philadelphia, which is handy when we go to evening concerts. What an unexpected but delightful development in my life!

How lucky can I be?” Y John Edes reports, “After recovering from the 50th reunion, I was able to play golf again. My ‘old’ pal Bruce Blanchard and I, with the help of two others, were able to come in first in the annual Maffe Foundation Golf Tournament,

thanks to my putting. I also played in the Foxy Lady Tournament with Joe Anruzzi, formerly of the Patriots, who happily is now cancer free. On another note, my 9-year-old great-grandson, Jordan, is playing tackle football in Florida and his team is undefeated in the 8-10 league.” Y I’d like to add my own appreciation for all the folks in our class and on the Colby staff who helped make our big reunion such a wonderful event. Hope we can all make it for the 55th! —Mary Ellen Chase Bridge

59 Elaine (Healey ’62) and Paul

Reichert continue to travel as much as possible. In February they visited Bogota, Colombia, and spent a week with a family who was with them in 2002. The family’s 8-year-old daughter served as interpreter since, Paul says, his Spanish is a little weak.

Security was very evident all around, but they had no problem. In July Elaine had a chance to use her French as they went to the French section of Ottawa, Canada. They were there for Canada Day and enjoyed all the royal festivities. At the end of July, when they were returning from splitting and stacking wood in New Hampshire and building a shed and adding a room to their son’s house in Massachusetts, they learned that their granddaughter returned safe from a year in Iraq, and they spent a weekend with her. They attended Elaine’s 50th high school reunion in September and talked to Dick Schmaltz ’62 (and a DU). Thanksgiving was in Antigua with their youngest son and his wife, who have a timeshare there. Paul and Elaine are planning to attend the 50th reunion in June. Y Jack and Barbara Hunter Pallotta are again spending the winter in a golfing community in Florida where Jack serves on the board.

Jack says it’s like day camp for seniors.

Y Bob Auriemma received the Carl Nelson Award at the Colby C Club dinner Oct. 17 for his outstanding high school boys’ ice hockey coaching career in New Jersey. Y Carlene Price White’s service dog project was the subject of a Boston Globe article Sept. 4. In the five years she has run the project, Carlene has placed more than a dozen Great Danes, usually with people with mobility-related disabilities from conditions such as Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis. Her organization, with 20 volunteers and three part-time employees, operates on a $75,000 annual budget, most of it coming from donations. Y Karen

(Beganny ’63) and Skeeter Megathlin hosted a meeting of the 50th reunion planning committee at their home in Cotuit, Mass., in September.

Committee members unable to attend participated by phone. Many wonderful events are taking shape, and I look forward to seeing you all in June.

—Joanne K. Woods

60 Nancy Shoemaker Dargle

looks forward to our 50th reunion and hopes to make it. She cannot believe we are now 70. Although Nancy lives in the lovely area of Forest, Va., by the Blue Ridge where a couple of her daughters live, her roots keep her returning to Maine. Nancy visits her twin sister, Carol, in Smithfield, and she also has four children in Maine. Y Jock and Pat Walker Knowles talked to Betsy Perry Burke ’61, who moved to her hometown of Exeter, N.H. It was an emotional move but Betsy is happy in her new digs. Jock and Pat’s oldest granddaughter was recruited for the equestrian team at Texas A&M and she loves it. Y Dick Lucier keeps busy as a trustee of Bridgewater State College, where he is chair of the audit committee and serves on the executive committee. He is also on the board for Thompson Island Outward Bound.

Dick gets together with Jock and Pat Walker Knowles (golf) and Brad Steere ’61 for dinner and storytelling.

Not a bad retirement! Y John Rafferty has longed to see the beaches and cemeteries in Normandy. He finally made the trip with wife Becky (Crane) and friends, beginning in Denmark with a tour of that lovely country and then driving to Normandy (with a stop in Bruges, Belgium, staying at a lovely old hotel on the banks of a canal). They saw virtually all of the major military points of interest but found the beauty of the American cemetery hard to put to words. It was a memorable trip. Y Dan Parish sent his first entry ever.

His life has been circuitous but held together by various threads, three of which are family, music, and boats. The past 30 years have centered around the bittersweet of parents in their autumnal years, the enrichment of sharing life’s spectrum with his wife, Kate, and the invaluable challenge of being part of the emergence of his four children, Frank, Christi, Rose, and Joe. Guitar has been his lifetime pursuit, starting with flamenco, evolving into swing, and even composing elements of his own. He briefly played flamenco professionally, accompanying dancers in Mexico City, and became involved with

the construction of guitars. The boat component involved the reconstruction of 1900s vintage Friendship sloop.

The dream was to sail but, as one old lobsterman observed, “That boat looks like more work than pleasure.” According to Dan, he finally outfitted a small Clorox bottle and this summer had his first real sailing experiences. Dan looks forward to reconnecting with friends at reunion. It’s rather interesting that Dan and I were in Mexico City at the same time in the ’60s. I look forward to seeing him. Y I would imagine that most of you are glad that the election is over. I spent most of two months last fall volunteering on the Obama campaign and found it an exhilarating experience meeting so many interesting folks, young and old, black, brown, and white, from many walks of life and from many countries. One of the strangest coincidences was talking to a woman at great length in BJ’s (because of my Obama shirt and buttons). She called later to tell me that she looked up Pete Rouse ’68 on the Colby Web site and happened to see my name! She is married to Jim Lapides ’63 and her son, Matthew ’94, knows my sons Juan ’92 and Jon ’95. What a small world it is! —Jane Holden Huerta

61 Aloha Classmates! In just two

years we’ll be celebrating our 50th reunion! It’s not too early to note June 2011 on your calendar. Your Class of 1961 planning team promises yet another memorable experience on Mayflower Hill. Y Unfortunately some of our classmates will no longer share in the festivities. In our summer 2008 Colby magazine I read Bob North’s obituary. Some of you may remember him as a “Spa” regular, a fierce independent when fraternities were “in,” and operator of an awesome Model A Ford, whose signature “ooo-gah, ooo-gah” horn signaled his frequent arrivals at Mary Low. He kept in touch and was a talented writer who’ll be especially missed by fellow English majors. Y Your correspondent returned to Hawai’i in November from two months of travel, beginning with an anniversary celebration in Hawai’i’s “ninth island,” Las Vegas, followed by a week’s family reunion in New York City with son Bill. From JFK, I flew to Istanbul for a 21-day tour through central and western Turkey, which included six hikes and five days aboard a small yacht in the Aegean.

I’ll post some photos on the 1961 class Web site. Y Not too much class news this time with only one contributor,

1960s Correspondents 1960 Jane Holden Huerta 3461 Tallywood Lane Sarasota, FL 34237 941-586-7333 classnews1960@alum.colby.edu 1961 Diane Scrafton Ferreira Pihanakalani Ranch PO Box 249 Pa’auilo, HI 96776 classnews1961@alum.colby.edu 1962 Patricia Farnham Russell 122 Heather Way Hampden, ME 04444 207-944-1934 classnews1962@alum.colby.edu Nancy MacKenzie Keating 2292 Ferndale Drive Decatur, GA 30030 1963 Paule French 14 Sheridan Street Portland, ME 04101 207-773-7152 classnews1963@alum.colby.edu 1964 Sara Shaw Rhoades 76 Norton Road Kittery, ME 03904-5413 207-439-2620 classnews1964@alum.colby.edu 1965 Richard W. Bankart 20 Valley Avenue, Apt. D2 Westwood, NJ 07675-3607 201-664-7672 classnews1965@alum.colby.edu 1966 Meg Fallon Wheeler 19 Rice Road PO Box 102 Waterford, ME 04088 207-583-2509 classnews1966@alum.colby.edu 1967 Robert Gracia 2 Sherman Street Roslindale, MA 02131 Judy Gerrie Heine 21 Hillcrest Road Medfield, MA 02052 508-359-2886 classnews1967@alum.colby.edu 1968 Peter Jost 65 West Main Street PO Box 5389 Clinton, NJ 08809 classnews1968@alum.colby.edu 1969 Ray Gerbi 45 Harding Road Brunswick, ME 04011-2640 classnews1969@alum.colby.edu

COLBY / WINTER 2009 41

alumni at large

You really can give away the farm

PHOTO BY JUI SHRESTHA ’07

Perhaps you never thought about it, but there really is a way you can continue to live in and enjoy your home (or farm) while making a significant gift to Colby. Your lifestyle need not change.

Give us a call to talk about possible ways to make your real estate work for you in achieving your philanthropic goals.

Let’s talk.

Susan Conant Cook ’75 or Kate O’Halloran Gift Planning at Colby 800-809-0103 • giftplanning@colby.edu 42 COLBY / WINTER 2009

Margie Davis, who reported that the East Greenwich Free Library, where she is children’s librarian, was rated number four out of 50 public libraries in Rhode Island, according to Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings. Y Bill Clough left Gould Academy as headmaster in 2001 and now lives in New London, N.H. “Aside from making maple syrup and cutting wood, I seem to be picking up board assignments—trustee of the Betterment Fund, the local land trust, and Colby-Sawyer College,” Bill writes. “I also do international school accreditation work with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Ki and I have three kids and eight grandchildren.” Daughter Wendy is an artist in Boulder, Colo., daughter Karin teaches at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H., and son Bill ’91 is assistant headmaster at Berkshire School in Massachusetts. Y Penny Dean Robb retired two years ago after 12 years as VP of Carl Fischer Music Publishers in N.Y.C. But, she continues, “As so many of us know, retirement doesn’t always mean not working. I have a part-time administrative job at a large church and am active in a community theater group, having appeared last year in Twelve Angry Men, and staged readings of The Women and Present Laughter. Also took an amazing trip to South Africa and another to visit family in England.” Great to hear from you, Penny! Y Keep those cards and e-mails coming and remember to let me know when you’re visiting the mid-Pacific!

—Diane Scrafton Cohen Ferreira

63 Al Carville works as a part-time

driver at Piper Shores, a retirement and assisted-living facility in Scarborough, Maine. In the winter he continues to teach skiing at Sugarloaf, his 15th season, and also works as a rep for K2 skis. He continues to enjoy boating, sailing, and racing along the Maine coast. He and Rod Pierce usually enjoy a week boating the Maine islands each summer. A new treat is playing with his grandchildren, Eddie, 3, and Lizzie, 1, and giving daughter Stephanie (Carville Santella ’91) and her husband, Ed, a break. Al and wife Linda enjoy traveling and retreating to Florida in March. Y Bill ’62 and Barb Haines Chase went to Honduras in October with a medical team sponsored by the Concord (N.H.) Rotary. They had a great experience there last year setting up clinics in small villages around Danli, where many cannot afford or access medical care. Bill did not run

for the N.H. House this year so they can do more traveling, “while we can still move about!” Y Bunny Read McEldowney writes from Colorado, where she and husband Ron are well.

They spent the month of March in Greece, especially enjoying sailing to the islands. The Wildflower Festival of Crested Butte is near their cabin, and they loved hikes in the glorious countryside. Their five grandchildren are thriving. Bunny still does some consulting in gifted education. Y In June Don and Betsy Doe Norwat enjoyed extended travels in Germany and Switzerland visiting former exchange students. July took them to several national parks—Sequoia, Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands, and Arches. They also visited Lake Tahoe, Virginia City, and Las Vegas. Betsy is now back to reality and enjoying her job an adjunct instructor at Longview Community College in Lee’s Summit. Y Peter and Karen Forslund Falb and their two daughters spent three weeks in Beijing and managed to get tickets to the Olympic Games opening ceremony!

Karen said it was well worth the heat and crowds. “We saw the 100-meter sprint, the girls’ balance beam and uneven bars finals, the girls’ semifinal soccer game against Japan, as well as the semifinal 10-meters men’s diving.”

Y Marcia Achilles McComb keeps in touch with Sue Comeau and Judy Allen Austin but was delighted at how easy it was to pick up with other Colby friends after so long. “And, it was nice to spend time with classmates I hadn’t really known during college. It was a great reunion and I look forward to our 50th.” Marcia and Don take classes in art and music at their local community college. She joined their county’s group of master gardeners and has been leading therapeutic horticulture sessions at an assisted living facility.

She and Don have been involved with the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the local group of Holocaust survivors and friends. One rewarding experience was helping a survivor write, prepare, and market a book of her memoirs. Daughter Sarah is an engineer at the National Transportation Safety Board, and son Doug works with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. Both families live nearby, so they get lots of time with their three grandchildren. Y Al and Rosemary Blankenship Hubbard enjoy living in N.C. near their children and three grandsons. “We’ll soon celebrate our 47th anniversary,” writes Rosemary, “and can’t believe

how much time has passed since our first kiss on the Two Penny Bridge in Waterville!” They were involved in helping Democratic candidates get elected and find it satisfying living in a small town like Lincolnton, where they participate in music—Al plays guitar in a bluegrass band and Rosemary sings with the Hickory Choral Society. Y Rob and Edie Sewall Thompson went on the trip of a lifetime to Botswana and Zimbabwe in early June. They learned so much about animals and gained a new appreciation for the circle of life and the interdependency of all creatures.

As a survivor of breast cancer, Edie works with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and is now the grants chairperson for Connecticut.

Edie assured me she and Rob will be at our 50th. Y Thank you everyone for all your news. It was great to hear from you! —Paule French

64 I went to a Fourth of July party at

a stranger’s house this year, expecting to know no one. And there were at least five Colby people from our era there.

The hostess was Nancy Rowe Adams ’62. I love this school! Y Now it is the eve of my trip to Malta, and none of you who responded to my request for favorite spots has been there. (Yet.) Nick Ruf, however, says he pondered going there while reading Middlesex and thinking about crossroads of civilization. Y Larry Dyhrberg says the back roads of Brittany are his favorite destination—especially discovering unheralded and superb restaurants.

Y Martha Farrington Mayo reports that Squirrel Island in Boothbay Harbor remains her favorite destination. These past three summers, they had three wonderful interns from Colby at the Squirrel Island Historical Society. Martha was privileged to be part of the interview process last spring and was incredibly impressed by all the candidates. Even though Art is retired and Martha is close, they won’t travel this winter because Martha is directing a community variety show for the local arts center, the Chocolate Church. They’ll be thinking travel, though, since the theme for Hot Chocolate Jubilee is “Around the World in 80 Ways.” Larry Dyhrberg, how about bringing your family to Bath to perform a French number?

Y Susan Woodward is still tooling around the country in her RV. She spent a lot of time in Minnesota this summer—well over a month in Duluth enjoying Lake Superior and the far

60s milestones Deaths: Edward B. Holschuh Jr. ’62, Nov. 6, 2008, in Arlington, Va., at 70. * Stephen C. Danforth ’63, Sept. 16, 2008, in Rockport, Maine, at 67. * Cynthia B. Fischer ’64, Sept. 30, 2008, in Worcester, Mass., at 66. * Edward J. Furlong II ’65, Jan. 4, 2007, in Stamford, Conn., at 62. * Robert J. Brilliant ’69, April 17, 2002, in Altamonte Springs, Fla., at 54. * Gregory J. Ellsworth ’69, Feb. 28, 2008, in Alexandria, Va., at 61. * Jill Harris Joseph ’69, Nov. 23, 2008, in South Padre Island, Texas, at 61. north. After leaving she registered to vote in Sioux Falls, S.D., but won’t stay there. Her last report came from the Badlands. She sends me pictures with outstanding backgrounds. Y Jany and Phil Choate are building a home in Cary, N.C. They are official residents of N.C. but kept their home on the lake in Augusta and plan to spend summers in Maine. The real impetus for the move is to be near two of their grandchildren. Phil has been retired for four years and they enjoy every minute with good health. Y Doris Kearns Goodwin gets opportunities the rest of us don’t. A recent clipping shows her playing Abigail Adams to Tom Hamilton’s (of Aerosmith) John Adams in Urban Improv’s Banned in Boston musical revue. What fun! Y Just to jog your memories, the summer reading assignments for our class in the summer of 1960 were the Dialogues of Plato and the Letters of Saint Paul; I & II Corinthians, Colossians; I & II Thessalonians. Do you remember reading any of them? Discussions about them?

Being challenged by them? —Sara Shaw Rhoades

65 Restorations: Jean (Hoffman

’66) and Neil Clipsham are both enjoying “after-market replacement parts.” They look forward to “decades of extended mobility,” which will be helpful as they cavort with granddaughters Paige, 3, and Abigail, 1.

“Good luck, everyone. Looks like we are in for the economic ride of our lifetime.” Y Dave Hatch just finished complete restoration of his 1991 Mazda RX7 convertible. Last fall he started a second year of teaching Spanish at a small private high school in downtown Fort Myers, Fla. He anticipates a third and final year of this in the 2009-2010 academic year. Y We don’t know if John Bragg has spotted the RX7, but he might. John is still running the family business, N.H. Bragg, in Bangor but is wintering in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. As of July 2008 John is a first-time grandfather. “Everyone is healthy including me. Life is good!” Y Sadly,

we received news from Jann Buffinton Browning that her husband, Bruce, passed away Sept. 29, 2008. “I still have a job I love to fall back on, but it’s a little rough right now. I’ll be fine.”

Classmates will remember Bruce from our reunions as a warm and friendly spouse who seemed to enjoy the fun and camaraderie. Previous correspondence with Jann has recounted her joy in being the editor of two insuranceindustry trade publications. The class extends condolences to Jann and her family Y Your correspondent enjoyed holidays to Jamaica, New Zealand, Bulgaria, and Antigua in 2008. I find travel restorative of perspective. Not everyone abroad shares our priorities and concerns, but they all follow what happens here. We are the 900-pound gorilla in their room. Life is short, do it now! Y Hail, Colby, Hail! —Dick Bankart

66 A delightful dilemma—too

much news to do justice to in the space allowed. Here’s a condensed version: Y New retiree Sue Turner could finally enjoy fall in Maine again and was awed by its beauty. Work has begun on her “green” house on Mt. Desert Island, a rammed earth house. (Google it!)

She’s back in South Carolina for the winter. Y Karen Riendeau Pacheco says that being a newlywed of less than a year should qualify as news! Y Russ Monbleau made major headway on home improvement projects this past summer and fall. He did much of the work himself, tackled tree removal and stone wall building like a 20-year-old, amazing even himself that he could do many such physical labor while continuing his rigorous monthly chemo treatments. “Feeling good, and I swear I’m getting stronger,” says Russ. Y Mandy and Fran Finizio completed a major home renovation with new garage, kitchen, and family room, which Fran dubbed “the project from hell.” Y Colby ’68 and Pat Berg Currier have been in Harpswell, Maine, for 10 years but Colby spends a week each month in Maryland doing con-

sulting work. Son Andrew and family moved to Maine from N.C. as Andrew works in Bowdoin’s art department.

Pat has been a volunteer cook for nine years at the Brunswick soup kitchen. Y In preparation for grandparenthood, Barbie Wise Lynch shopped online for baby furniture and will babysit one day a week for her grandson, who was due in December. Y Doug and Beth Adams Keene send good news from “the geezer department,” saying Doug hopes to retire his cane and hit tennis balls again soon, thanks to the medical wonders of two new hips. Y After a needed respite of 10 months, Ed Mowry is back practicing as a small-animal veterinarian in central and southern California. He enjoys emergency work but says the 14-hour shifts are a little hard. He feels fortunate to work within a profession where he is constantly learning. Y Congratulations to Lydia “Barry” Clark Hews on her Oct. 26, 2008, installation as minister of the First Baptist Church of Winchester, Mass.

Several 1966 classmates attended her installation service. Y And kudos to Linda Hall Lord who began service as acting Maine state librarian Oct. 27, 2008, following five years as deputy state librarian. Linda serves her hometown of Brooks, Maine, as its first elected female selectperson, a post she has held for seven years. Y Five years ago Nancy DeWitt Antik started Plum Brook (www.plumbrookltd.com), a wholesale business designing and importing hand-printed tablecloths and home textiles from Jaipur, India. She has more than 350 accounts throughout North America.

Meanwhile, she has completed a winter home in San Miguel De Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, where she will spend five months this winter and retire there at the end of 2009. Y Ginny Grelotti Connolly spent two glorious weeks in the Greek Islands with 10 cousins last September, including several days in beautiful Santorini, where they stayed in villas carved into the island cliffs. A storm on the last night of their trip canceled all their flights and stranded them in Greece for an extra three days. Y Peripatetic Ted Houghton got a little off course returning to Massachusetts from Florida last winter. He and Liz (Drinkwine ’68) got home in their RV July 3, having gone to California, up to Washington, then east across the north country—nearly 12,000 miles in eight months! They’re in Florida again this winter, Ted armed with lots of good books for five months on COLBY / WINTER 2009 43

alumni at large

Eddie Woodin ’69 knew it was time to quit his job as vice president of national sales for a Pittsburgh-based store fixtures company when, during a business trip, he woke up in a hotel room in a city he couldn’t name. He racked his brain, guessing incorrectly a few times before realizing where he was. “I literally had the wrong city twice,” Woodin said.

So Woodin, who grew up in a blue-collar family in Concord, Mass., resigned from the high-stress job and moved back to New England. In 1993 he launched his own company, following his own instincts. He felt it was something he needed to do or, more specifically, something God had been telling him to do, Woodin said. “God was telling me, ‘Let’s go!’ So I did,” he said.

The company, Portland, Maine-based Woodin & Company Store Fixtures, may not be a household name, but if you’ve been in a college bookstore or Barnes & Noble you’ve probably seen the company’s work. Six employees in Woodin’s office design displays and bookshelves that are then built by a network of more than 200 manufacturers.

In retrospect, launching his own venture was the right move, but Woodin says that wasn’t so apparent in the beginning. He started the company with cash and five credit cards. His first account was a company in Chile. Later a contact at Barnes & Noble opened a door for the new company, though Woodin still had doubters. “But I was believing and God was believing,” he said.

That first year Woodin posted $1 million in sales.

The relationship with Barnes & Noble has since exploded, pushing Woodin & Co.’s sales to $7.5 million last year and an anticipated $9 million this year. The company currently supplies fixtures to 600 college bookstores across the country, with 100 more in line for this year, he says.

With a successful company, Woodin, who lives in Scarborough, Maine, could sit back, spend his hardearned money, and enjoy life. But, while he does live comfortably, Woodin doesn’t sit on his profits.

He has helped build churches in Rwanda and the Congo. He donates to Maine Audubon and the Boy Scouts of America. He funded a Christian rock concert in Biddeford. Last year, he gave $7,000 to

the road. Y Gayle Jobson Poinsette and Garfield Barnes traveled in the Carolinas and Florida in the fall, returning to Vermont for Christmas before heading to Arizona, where they will be until April. They would love to see any Colbyites in the area south of Tucson, so e-mail them at poinsette@ valley.net. Y Pat Berg Currier loved seeing Paris through the eyes of 8and 6-year-old granddaughters Alice and Zoe last summer; Mandy and Fran Finizio had a week in Florida last February and 10 days on Prince Edward Island in July; Linda Hall 44 COLBY / WINTER 2009

PHOTO BY PRISCILLA deBREE

Good Work | Eddie Woodin ’69

Eddie Woodin ’69, at center, with fellow volunteers in Scarborough, Maine. help a family flee East Africa for the United States.

The evidence of his philanthropy is on a photographcovered wall at the entrance to his South Portland office. “This is my victory wall,” he said on a recent afternoon, beaming as he pointed to one photo and then another. “These are a lot of those stories.”

Over the past 15 years, Woodin estimates he’s donated more than $1 million to charity. In 2005 he gave away the entire net profit of his company, he says, sitting on a couch in the break room of his office. It wasn’t exactly intentional, Woodin said with a shrug and a laugh, noting that his philanthropy is born from his belief in God. “Faith without deeds is no faith,” he said, paraphrasing the Bible’s Book of James. “To this day, that’s my mantra.”

Woodin said he was “born again” in 1988 and describes himself as a Christian charismatic. But his legacy of generosity has roots to his time at Colby, where he was a star baseball and football player. When he graduated he set a plan for himself.

Each month he would volunteer his time at an organization, write five charitable checks, and call on five friends in need. He started writing $10 checks.

Now he writes $10,000 checks. “I built a plan,” he said, “and that was the foundation. … It started small, but the concept grew to where it is today.”

He began life with nothing, Woodin said, so giving away his money doesn’t faze him. “I started at zero,” he said. “What if I go back to zero? What have I lost? Nothing.”

—Whit Richardson

Lord spent an amazing two weeks in Ecuador last summer; Pam Harris Holden and Jemmie Michener Riddell toured Italy last fall; and Gary McKinstry was too busy traveling in the Far East to send more than a short note. Y Thanks for all your good news! —Meg Fallon Wheeler

67 While many our age have

retired, members of the Class of 1967 are beginning whole new careers, traveling, and pursuing their passions.

And, of course, they’re finding time to connect with family and classmates.

Y In mid-August Dick Hunnewell,

Larry Sears, Steve Dock, and Fred Clasquin ’68 had a small and very pleasant reunion at Steve Dock and Carolyn Wilson’s home on the Maine coast.

Good times were had by all, aided by great Maine seafood and the fine cooking skills of Dr. Dock. Larry received his state credentials as a licensed professional counselor in late July, completing a process begun nearly 10 years ago! Y Roberta “Sookie” (Stockwell) Weymouth has joined many classmates in retirement, having worked as a VA nurse for the past 18

years. Her husband also retired and they’re enjoying their year-round home on a lake in Maine, entertaining company during the summer, traveling in the Northeast, and spending time with their kids and grandkids. Sookie writes, “In September I again joined my daughter for marathon fun. She ran the full marathon in Rochester, N.Y., and I walked the half marathon!

Next spring we plan a trip to British Columbia. We’ll drive out and back and welcome suggestions of other great places to visit along the way.” Y Sandy Miller bubbled that, “While walking way out on the Brewster, Cape Cod, “flats,” I looked up and saw Carol (Bennison ’68) and Sol Hartman walking their dog. I haven’t seen them for many years, so it was exciting and unexpected to suddenly have them appear like a mirage on the sand. We had a quick visit and then were off on our separate ways, hoping to meet up again. I visit my dearest friends there every summer, almost next door to the Hartman’s, so hopefully this will happen again next year!” Sandy still enjoys making stuff for her store and just sold her 1082nd scarf! She adores her granddaughters, and all is well.

“Hope everyone else is enjoying being 63 as much as I am”, says Sandy. Y Ann Russell Starr returned from two weeks in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands with her youngest daughter, Victoria, 20, following the footsteps of Charles Darwin. The trip was everything she expected and more.

She’s categorizing her 1,600-plus photos for her biology classes. She and husband Michael spent a month on Cape Cod golfing, hiking, and biking the Cape Cod trail and time at the wonderful beaches in Brewster getting their summer fix of sun, sand, mud flats, and salt water. (Did you run into Sandy and Sol?) Y Joanna Snyder Richardson still competes at horse shows in a very specialized class that honors the contribution of the Nez Perce in developing the Appaloosa breed. In May Joanna won the Heritage Costume Class at the Australia’s Queensland State Championship Show. Y Let us know what you’re doing! Please drop us a note or e-mail with news for our next column.

—Bob Gracia and Judy Gerrie Heine

68 Jane Morrison writes that “Gregg Crawford, Donna Massey ’69, and Dana Heikes are here at my house right now for our annual Big Chill reunion. We are sharing lots of laughs, memories, and stories.” Y From Richard Moriarty: “Sorry I

missed reunion this spring. UMass pediatric infectious disease is keeping me pretty busy. I had the opportunity this summer to spend three weeks at the JFK Medical Center in Monrovia, Liberia. The 16 years of civil war that country had been through ended in 2005 with the election of a new president, and the country is just starting to rebuild their medical care system. I was part of a project to begin to teach Liberian nurses, medical students, and physician assistants about medical care. We wrote a curriculum for pediatric training programs, gave lectures, and took care of children in the hospital. The most sobering experience was when a 16-year-old girl died from tetanus. I hope to have a chance to go back to Liberia to continue this work in the spring. Our kids are both married and we hope at some point to be grandparents. Our son, Richie, performs at Improv Asylum in the North End in Boston and our daughter, Colleen, works in the office of student conduct and mediation at Northeastern. Hopefully we’ll make it to the next reunion!” Y Ken Hoadley and wife Ileana live in Honduras where Ken is president of Zamorano University, a U.S.-based private international agricultural and environmental sciences college with students from throughout Latin America. “We are empty nesters with our three children in Argentina, Switzerland, and N.C. pursuing their own careers and/or graduate studies,” writes Ken. “We look forward to at least another two years in Honduras before deciding where to go and what to do next.” Y George Rideout relates, “The second anniversary of Mary’s homecoming will be Oct. 15. We plan to do some of the fun things that Mary enjoyed including Sturbridge Village, Wayside Inn, church, and Ringling Brothers Circus. Thank you for you continued prayers and friendship.” Y On a lighter note, Peter Roy reports, “Just returned from seven-year trip to Neptune. Much laundry to do. Need to check on my 101-K retirement program, which appears to be partially missing.” Y As for your correspondent, my son graduated from Vassar and lives in San Francisco and works at the earth sciences laboratory at Stanford. His girlfriend has started her Ph.D. at UC/ San Francisco. A little lonely in New Jersey, but I hope to visit California soon. Y Whatever planet you may be visiting, keep in touch with your classmates! —Peter Jost

69 I hope everyone is having a

wonderful winter. It’s hard to believe our 40th reunion is only a few months away! I look forward to seeing many of you on Mayflower Hill to see the wonderful changes that have occurred since we left. It will be a wonderful opportunity for us to reconnect. Y Dennis Casey was named Executive of the Year by the Oswego County Chapter of National Management Association. Dennis has been the executive director of the A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital in Fulton, N.Y., for the past 23 years. Y In August Jane Chandler Carney and her family gathered in Maine to celebrate her mother’s 90th birthday. On their rushed trip back to Logan airport they stopped at a rest area where they found the only other person there was Sari Abul-Jubein! Y On a sadder note, Bill Lyons reports that his first-year roommate and fraternity brother Greg Ellsworth passed away after a long battle with cancer.

Greg was diagnosed in August 2004 and was doing well after treatment.

However, the cancer returned in June 2006 and eventually took his life Feb. 28, 2008. Greg is survived by his wife of 27 years, Barbara, and by his son, Scott, and Scott’s wife, Amy. Bill and his wife, Karen, reconnected with Greg and Barbara in 1987 when they spent a year in Washington, D.C. At that time they also were able to connect with Mike and Peggy Philson Foose.

Y Chris Christensen is pleased to announce the arrival of granddaughter Clara Beth. Her parents are Eric ’98 and Kari Christensen Anderson ’98 and her uncle, Jeff Christensen, is in the Class of 2010. On Nov. 4 Chris was reelected to a fifth term as a N.H. state representative. He is a member of the resources committee. In his spare time Chris serves on the board of directors for Meals on Wheels and is a trustee of trust funds for the town of Merrimack. Y Kristen Kreamer is a board-certified advanced nurse practitioner at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, where she specializes in working with lung cancer patients. She lives just outside the city, where she is raising her 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter. Kristen says she plans to be at our reunion this spring. Y Tom Wedekind reflected on how amazing it is to have 40 years fly by so quickly. He says it’s great to live in Florida and that it keeps him young. As classmates consider warmer climates for future years Tom invites inquiries about the positive diversity and openness he finds there. Tom has been the director of a mental health

facility for the past 25 years and finds the current environment regarding mental health care to be quite challenging. Y My wife, Pam, and I are looking forward to sharing reunion time with our daughter, Melissa Gerbi Doyle ’99, her husband, John Doyle ’99, and their 1-year old daughter, Molly (class of 2028?). Thanks again to everyone who wrote in for this column. —Ray Gerbi

71 I am continually amazed by the

passage of time and how it affects us. Is this because many of us are approaching the beginning of another decade of our lives? We can’t help being reminded of this passage of time, and it is my hope that you are all enriched and fulfilled by the experiences in your lives. Y Robert Britton lives in New York City and works as the director of research for People, People en Espanol, In Style, Essence, and Real Simple magazines. For him the world of celebrity journalism is wearing thin and he is considering the next phase of his life. He travels a lot to London, where his Pakistani partner is an expert in counterterrorism. He has sold his condo in Turkey, and he and his boyfriend have been buying investment property in Dubai, which he thinks is the most happening place in the world.

Y Susan Davidson Blazey left the world of manufacturing and now works for Abt Associates in Bethesda, Md. She is focused in the international line of business where health care, agriculture, and economic development programs are implemented around the world.

Still in purchasing, she is now involved with delivering commodities to offices in South America, Africa, and Asia as well as supporting domestic research efforts. Since her company is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., she visits New England on a regular basis. Y Jim Hawkins, who still teaches math at Attleboro High School, tells of a harrowing experience this summer when he and his wife were training for the Ironman Triathalon at Plymouth Rock: he was hit by a car and spun 10 feet in the air. He was furious and was forced to withdraw from the Ironman.

He had taken the summer off to train for this event and for stock car racing (his other passion). Needless to say, he plans to be back for both in 2009 with a vengeance. He organized the fourth Rome Boulevard Race, with over 400 entries (a new record). Y Jon Stone welcomed his first grandchild, a boy, Bradley, in June 2008. Y Leslie Anderson and her husband moved to Portland, Maine, and look forward to being active in that community and

reconnecting with Susan Farwell Philson. Leslie had visits this summer with Debbie Messer Zlatin, Karen Hoerner Neel, Jan Blatchford Gordon, Pat Trow Parent, and Mary Jukes Howard. Y Judy White Brennan and Karen Mahanke continue to see a lot of each other, watching each other’s children grow and succeed in Newport, R.I. Judy’s son writes “rap” synopses of the books his high school students read and then has friends put them to lyrics for their English classes.

Karen’s son is in the political scene in Boston and in a band. One daughter is in graduate school at Fordham, and the other is in eighth grade. Y Janet Beals and Dave Nelson send news from Colorado, where Dave has had fun with his new dirt bike and Janet began jumping her horse for the first time in her life. They visited Maine in June and saw Nancy Hammar Austin, Jeffrey Stanton, and Howie and Val Thibeau Yates. Y Although I have not yet spoken directly to Tom Gallant, I do know that he is still practicing medicine in Wausau, Wis., with a specialty in vascular cardiology.

He apparently had sent some info for our column another time, but I never received it. I’m sorry, Tom. Y Thank you for the great number of responses for this issue, and thank you to those who are still checking on my progress as I recover from Jeff’s death. —Ann E. Miller

72 Norma

Ouellet O’Reilly writes, “At a time when most of my friends are enjoying retirement or pulling back on work, I’m going full tilt. Boston College just launched a major campaign ($1.5 billion), so the pace has really picked up.” She and her husband, Tom, have grown quite fond of Santa Monica, Calif., (where two of their three children live). Erin (their oldest) recently appeared in Without a Trace and The Bold and Beautiful, and her career seems to be on an upward swing. Son Andy, who also lives in Santa Monica, advises students in the math and computer science department at UCLA. Their youngest, Brendan, moved out of the house and into an apartment. Y Janet Veasey McLetchie sent news that Erl has taken on two women attorneys at his office with the plan to slow down and back out of the legal business over the next few years. Janet and Erl have an old sailboat in Maine (at their vacation home) and plan to get back into sailing.

Jan was going to retire from teaching in Wolfeboro, N.H., after next year but COLBY / WINTER 2009 45

alumni at large now doesn’t know. After 2011 teachers in Wolfeboro get no medical benefits, so that is a huge consideration. They visit their oldest son, Andy, an attorney who lives in the Denver area with his wife. The Haley and McLetchie families may have met in Colorado at Christmas to ski and have some Christmas cheer together since my oldest daughter, Kaylen, a biomedical engineer with Covidien, lives in Denver and we spent Christmas vacation with her. Y Joni and Bill Alfond are very proud of their oldest child, Justin, who won a seat in the Maine State Senate representing Portland, Maine. Y Frances Birkinbine Welch teaches at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine. She liked teaching special ed Cheshire, Conn., after her kids were all in school, but she truly loves her new job. It’s more work but more rewarding. Her son, Jonathan, 27, lives in Cheshire and will marry a wonderful gal in September 2009.

Her daughter, Catherine’05, went to New Orleans for two months the December after the flood to volunteer in the recovery efforts but stayed for over two years. She is now in Austin, Texas. Her youngest son, Andrew, 23, works in Boston, paying off bills incurred while in Australia for his last semester of Northeastern. Y Chris Sample sent a poem titled “Morning Walk” from another series centered around his time at Hebron Academy in Hebron, Maine. Read Chris’s poem in our online notes at www.colby.edu/ mag. Y Rich Fournier had a great time at our last reunion. “It was good to see old friends and connect/reconnect with classmates. Those years (68-72) were some of the most tumultuous ones with some new ground being plowed up and many good seeds got planted that have continued to bear fruit for me over the years.” Rich is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and serves a small rural church in Buckland, Mass., next to Shelburne Falls. His wife passed away from cancer two years ago, and he and his daughter sold their home and hope to buy a farm that will be a retreat and educational center as well as a working/teaching farm focusing on local sustainability, permaculture, and edible forest gardens. He continues to work with the Polus Center to help people with disabilities in Central and South America and in Africa. Rich stays in touch with Ned Carr, Richard Waldman, Harvey Greenberg ’73, and Doug O’Heir.

Y In closing, I heartily agree with 46 COLBY / WINTER 2009

70s newsmakers John Bowey ’71, chairman of Deloitte in Canada, was appointed to the adjudication panel for Canada’s “50 Best-Managed Companies” for 2008. Winning companies will be featured in the Feb. 2 issue of the National Post and at www. canadas50best.com. v Former director of development at Colby, Eric Rolfson ’73 was profiled as the “Renaissance Man” in Angela Mickalide ’79 the University of Maine’s Maine Alumni Magazine for his diverse range of interests, including fundraising, farming, music, and trail maintenance. Rolfson is the university’s new vice president for development. v Angela Mickalide ’79 received the 2008 Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) Trophy for “exemplary leadership and commitment to SOPHE.” A member of SOPHE for 15 years, she recently was elected trustee for publications and communications.

milestones Deaths: Karen Gikas ’76, Oct. 8, 2008, in San Francisco, Calif., at 54.

Rich—we are on the verge of greatness in America, and hopefully we will restore our standing in the world! I am truly proud that this monumental transformation in politics is occurring during “our watch.” (Maybe we can rekindle that “spirit to change the world” that we embraced in our college years!) Live well, laugh often, and love much. —Nancy Round Haley

73 Phil Ricci was inducted to the

East Providence High School Hall of Fame Oct. 26, 2008. A basketball player during high school, Phil returned to East Providence High after Colby as a social studies teacher, guidance counselor, and boys’ basketball coach.

Phil retired in 2006 and is the youth center administrator of the Emmaus and Rejoice in Hope Centers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. Y Ken Gross appeared as a trumpet player in the Roma Band for a scene in My Best Friend’s Girlfriend, filmed in Boston’s North End. “Everyone in the band was paid as a movie extra and the music by the band was added after the scene was shot for the final time. I’m on camera in the middle of a row of trumpet players for less than a minute but clearly visible! I made a photocopy of the check for my work as an extra.” When not working as a defense attorney, Ken plays a number of instruments and is part of Dixieland group that performs about six gigs a year. Y Jon Fink works at Arizona State University as leader of their sustainability agenda. This has taken

him to Israel, Germany, Switzerland, China, Finland, England, and Brazil.

Jon writes, “There’s lots of exciting progress being made, but also huge challenges to overcome if we want to leave our kids a world worth living in.” Jon got together this July with Seth Dunn and Dee Kelsey ’72 in Newburyport. Y Sue Yovic Hoeller attended our 35th reunion and enjoyed spending time on the Maine coast with Janice Johnson Peterson, Barb Powers, Chris Hannon, Janet Gillies Foley as well as ’74 friends Sonja Powers Schmanska, Vicki Parker Kozak, Deb Marden, Jill Gilpatric Richard, Cathy Morris Killoran, and Deb Wathen Finn. Sue practices international business law in Bentonville, Ark., and serves on the board of directors of the NW Arkansas branch of Juvenile Diabetes Research International. She is also a blogger for The Huffington Post. Sue wrote her second book this year, Impasse: Border Walls or Welcome the Stranger, which deals with immigration policy reform. In 2007 she wrote Recall: Food and Toy Safety: An American Crisis. Y Congratulations to Gary Lawless, recipient of an honorary doctor of humane letters by the University of Southern Maine, at their graduation in Portland in May. Y John Krasnavage, retired principal, now consults with school systems.

His most recent project is a new K-12 school in Unity, Maine, with superintendent Joe Mattos. John regularly sees Joe and Dave Lane, having fun hunting and fishing together. Y Peter

Rinaldi is the owner and publisher of two publications in Natchez, Miss., Miss-Lou magazine and Natchez Sun. His free time is spent playing and reffing soccer. Peter’s sons, Dustin and Tom, live in Florida, where Dustin is an investment advisor and Tom is in law school. Peter writes fondly of his Colby experience: “I think about Colby and my life there almost every day. It made such an impression on me. I made such wonderful friends and learned so much.” Y Francesca Gates Demgen watches grandson Landon, born this year, twice a week and enjoys cooking dinner for both daughters and sonin-law in San Jose. She also manages the Ecosystem Restoration Group in URS Corp.’s Oakland office. In August she and her husband went to Ecuador, visiting Quito, the highlands, and the Galapagos Islands, and stayed at an eco-lodge in the Amazon basin. “The people, the vistas, and the wildlife were fantastic.” Fran met Pat Flanagan Olsen and Anne D. Garner for dinner while attending a Society of Wetland Scientists conference in Washington D.C., where Fran presented two papers on wetland restoration projects in San Francisco Bay. Y Mark Bosse practiced law for 18 years and is now figuring out what comes next. Y Gwen Dismukes writes, “I’ve made some changes of my own, moving from The Farm in Tennessee after 10 years of living in community. I’m now in Asheville, N.C., the place of my birth, working with a community garden in a low-income housing project. I’m also organizing the residents of the apartment complex where I live. I’ve had two articles published in the local alternative paper and produce newsletters for the garden and the apartments. Asheville has a very vocal and progressive population, so I feel I’m definitely in the right place at the right time!” Y Bob Diamond’s youngest son, Charlie, is in Colby’s Class of 2012 and Bob couldn’t be more delighted. He says it’s more fun to be on campus as a parent than as a trustee. Bob especially enjoyed catching up with Brian Cone, whom he had not seen since graduation. Y Thank you all for your responses and good wishes. —Carol Chalker

74 A Labor Day weekend reunion

of three ’74 senior class roommates at Tom Lizotte’s camp on Sebec Lake in Bowerbank, Maine, featured a couple of memorable moments. The first was Paul Silvia’s epic swim across the milewide lake, followed by his immediate return swim back to camp. The second

event occurred the next day after a cold front swept in and kicked up giant swells in front of the camp, which can only be reached by boat. Lizotte thought he heard someone yelling “Help!” and looking out the window spotted Mike Roy bobbing among the waves in a yellow kayak, about to be smashed onto the rocky shore.

Mike’s dramatic entrance ended well after his rescue by Tom, and the three former DU brothers enjoyed the rest of the day in relative peace. Y Mark Standen opened his own wills, trusts, and estates law practice in Yarmouth, Maine, in 2006 after 18 years with Drummond Woodsum, a Portland law firm. Son Jed will graduate from Colby this year, daughter Mary works as a nurse in NYC, and son Alex is a junior at UPenn. Mark and wife Liz (Tufts ’77) serve as executive directors of the George and Raymond Frank Foundation, a public charity that owns and operates Camp Kawanhee, a boys’ summer camp founded in 1920 and located in Weld, Maine. Y Phil DeFord, after 25 years in Asia, has moved with his wife, Shelley, to St. Louis and will be working for DHR International, a global executive search firm. He will focus on financial institutions and international. Anyone can reach Phil at phdef10@hotmail.com.

Y Jeff Seip continues to improve after a near fatal accident (high speed rolls) in his pickup earlier this year. The accident occurred after Jeff completed recovering from a broken back suffered whilst trimming trees in early 2006.

Jeff and his wife, Jeanne, still live in Cape Canaveral, but he no longer surfs or rides motorcycles. His passion for rescuing old cars from the crusher remains unabated. Y Havard Jones works in the office of the auditormaster at the D.C. Superior Court.

While walking along Seventh Street he noticed a young man wearing a Colby t-shirt. He stopped to chat and found out that man, Ian, is a member of the Class of 2007. Havard will be unable to attend our reunion as he used all his vacation leave for a trip to the Grand Canyon in September with Bucky Marshall ’76. Y H. Jefferson Megargel II’s legal career ended in 1994 in Connecticut as a solo with two clients. He was divorced in 1995 from Barbara Janis of Ohio. Y After 20 years in Denver, Jay ’72 and Robin Sweeney Peabody moved to The Netherlands for three to five years. They live in an apartment in The Hague. Jay will continue as a global director for technical consulting with Nalco, located at their

European headquarters. Their son was married in Vermont in October and their daughter will live in their home in Denver and attend graduate school. Y Cheryl Booker Gorman has joined the Harvard University Employees Credit Union as SVP for retail banking. She thanks everyone who sponsored her in the August PMC 163-mile bike ride from Wellesley, Mass., to Provincetown. Donations were made to Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund. Y Hope to see everyone at our 35th (yikes) reunion in June.

—S. Ann Earon

75 Jay Reed wrote from the U.N.,

where he works long hours as the catering manager. He and wife Gail (Hansen ’74) live in New Jersey in the shadow of NYC. Gail works in Weehawken as the media specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Star School and she also coaches the forensics team. They love being close to the city to enjoy all kinds of theater.

Their oldest son, Ben, graduated from Dartmouth and works for the Justice Department, and daughter Genna is a senior biology major at Lehigh. Y In May Jennifer Mustard Titrud and her family visited cousins in Norway and enjoyed the magnificent scenery.

Her oldest daughter graduated from UConn and is in graduate school for school psychology. Jennifer is substitute teaching in Fairfield, Conn., in a public special-education preschool. Y Carol Madjalany Williams lives in Litchfield, Conn., as an empty nester.

Her daughter is a senior at Dartmouth and her son is a sophomore at Colby.

She finds it fun to reminisce with him, although clearly times have changed.

Carol works part time in her husband’s online aircraft marketing business and at the local Montessori school, where she teaches sixth and seventh grade science. Y Rod Jones and his wife, Joanne, have settled into the city life of Old Montreal. Their youngest, Trevor, graduated from the Governor’s Academy and is a freshman at Colby. Daughter Kim is working in Dublin for the Bank of Ireland. She fell in love with Ireland during her Colby year abroad. Emma returned from a year abroad in New Zealand and Australia and is looking to settle in Boston.

Rod is still swimming competitively and ran into Dave Bright at the New England Masters Championship. Y I reported in an earlier edition about Flo Gutowski Harlor and her family.

She wrote that she retired this summer after almost 30 years in computer

systems sales. She is playing golf and skiing more with husband Dave. Y Arthur Levering announces his new solo CD of music that he composed.

It’s on the New World label and is titled Still Raining, Still Dreaming. Y Debbie Seel Palman retired from the Maine Warden Service this summer after 30-plus years. She is starting a professional dog training business to keep busy during her retirement. Y Peter and Prudence Reed Kraft’s daughter, Hopestill, is a sophomore at Colby. They also enjoy their granddaughter, Emma (whose dad, Pete, is Colby 2002). Peter still likes the summers in Maine, Boston sports teams, good waves, but can do without the mosquitoes. Y Brad Smith has been living in South Beach, Miami, for the past two years where he does public relations consulting and plays drums in various groups. He also spends time at his second home in Tampa Bay where he performs music in acoustic duos. Some of you may remember Brad playing with friends/roommates at the Mary Low coffeehouse. He would enjoy hearing from old Colby bandmates. Y I received sad news that Libby Piper Deschenes passed away April 20, 2008. I remember Libby as enjoying life and especially her time at Colby. She earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Penn and was most recently a professor in the criminal justice department at the California State University. She was an avid swimmer and runner. Y I’m sorry I missed the last edition due during a crazy work time. I hope you’ll continue to write to me for future columns. —Dianne Billington Stronach

76 Bill Silverman is a professor

of gastroenterology at the University of Iowa and is listed in America’s Top Doctors. He specializes in pancreaticobiliary diseases. Bill notes that Iowa City is a great bicycling town, made even better by last year’s gas prices.

However, getting blown off the road by an undergrad riding a Walmart clunker bike with underinflated tires constantly reminds him of his age! Y Rab and Martha (Bell) Bell write from New Jersey, where Martha works for the College Board and is enrolled in a master’s program at Columbia in strategic communications. Rab runs two international trade associations plus a small consultancy business and has embarked on a project called the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), which aims to create new jobs and opportunities via broadband to

1970s Correspondents 1970 Deborah Fitton Mansfield 1612 Middle Road Warren, ME 04864 207-273-2139 classnews1970@alum.colby.edu 1971 Ann Miller 100 Belknap Road Framingham, MA 01701 508-877-7544 classnews1971@alum.colby.edu 1972 Nancy Round Haley 6 Knowles Lane West Kingston, RI 02892 401-364-6773 classnews1972@alum.colby.edu 1973 Carol Chalker 191 Brimbal Avenue Beverly, MA 01915 978-922-7799 classnews1973@alum.colby.edu 1974 S. Ann Earon 124 Thomas Lane Manahawkin, NJ 08050 609-597-6334 classnews1974@alum.colby.edu 1975 Dianne Billington Stronach 308 Commonwealth Avenue Concord, MA 01742 978-371-1495 classnews1975@alum.colby.edu 1976 Robert Weinstein 1106 Wellington Place Matawan, NJ 07747 732-290-1106 classnews1976@alum.colby.edu 1977 Kevin Farnham 819 Wrights Crossing Road Pomfret Center, CT 06259 classnews1977@alum.colby.edu 1978 Janet Santry Houser 17 Doaks Lane Marblehead, MA 01945 781-639-8114 classnews1978@alum.colby.edu Lea Jackson Morrissey 1 Shorewood Road Marblehead, MA 01945-1225 classnews1978@alum.colby.edu 1979 Cheri Bailey Powers 6027 Scout Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80918 719-532-9285 classnews1979@alum.colby.edu COLBY / WINTER 2009 47

alumni at large make communities competitive. And he’s traveling and speaking quite a bit. Martha and Rab’s daughter Vicky graduated from Brandeis, lives in Cambridge, and works for Pearson Education. Their daughter Maddy attends The College of New Jersey and is considering going into politics. Y This May Mark and Diane Lockwood Wendorf relocated from the Chicago area to Sanford, Maine, where Diane works at the North Parish Congregational Church United Church of Christ. (Diane Pratt Ames ’77 sings in her choir.) Mark and Di’s son, Josh, studies at the Art Institute of New York and lives in Brooklyn.

Now that Di is back East, she’s hoping to make more reunions (and class prez Paul Boghossian reminds everyone ours is June 2011). Y One of the great things about being class correspondent is hearing from once-lost friends.

Roberta Ambrosio Schudrich, who attended Colby for only our freshman year, continued on at NYU, where she majored in Near Eastern Studies, and then earned her master’s in Semitics at Columbia. She ultimately headed into business and worked many years for Estee Lauder on their emerging markets, including a six-year stint in Poland. She is now head of the International Division of Tweezerman (beauty products) and lives in NYC. Her daughter is a senior at Clark. Y Mike and Deb Hirsch Corman became grandparents in September to a beautiful baby girl, Talyah Tikvah Greene.

Deb loves being Bubbe, but wishes she weren’t so far away—Deb’s in Sharon, Mass., but daughter Jen is in Salem, Ore., where Jen’s husband, James, is rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom. Deb’s other daughter, Liz, is an educator in a Hebrew-Judaics afterschool program in Newton, Mass. Deb recently visited Bill and Enid Gardner Ellis at their wonderful log cabin home in Wheelock, Vt. Hiking together through woods and fields reminded them of their roommate days at Colby. Y I’m now the very proud great-uncle of my nephew David’s daughter, Sofia, born last February. Of course, she’s beautiful! Y Robert Leist was recently hired as senior vice president and CFO of Medway (Mass.) Co-operative Bank.

Robert had previously been an executive with Grafton Suburban Credit Union and Community National Bank. Y Ann Dunlap LeBourdais wrote shortly after the Head of the Charles celebration (annual boating races on the Charles River in Boston/ Cambridge), which she enjoyed with 48 COLBY / WINTER 2009

her family and Ed and Jenny Frutchy Ford. Ann’s husband, Peter, and Ed rowed in various races, along with Ann’s son, GP, who’s a visiting professor at Williams College and assistant curator at their museum. Ann’s daughter Laura also rowed, taking the day off from her studies at Holy Cross, where she’s a junior. In the midst of beautiful fall weather, Ann was already looking forward to winter skiing with Jenny and family. And speaking of Jenny, I’m sure she would want to remind you, as always, to send in your contribution to Colby. If you’ve read this column, you care about Colby memories—now help build memories for the next generation! —Robert Weinstein

77 After talking with Mark Lyons

for almost a year about becoming class correspondent, I’ve finally taken on the task. Mark was class correspondent for the past six years and did a great job! So, I want to thank him for that service and also thank him for his continuing contributions as a member of the Alumni Council. Y In the past few months I heard from several of our classmates. Suzanne Morneau Francisco sent a recap of 31 years of news. She and Doug Francisco have lived in the Seattle area since 1980.

Suzanne has worked in education, first as a French teacher then as a school psychologist (after earning a master’s in education from the University of Washington in 1986). Doug is director, architecture and information management, information technology, with Boeing. Their daughter, Katherine, is a freshman at St. Olaf College. Y Peter Cohn wrote that for the first time both of his children had summer jobs. His daughter, Sarah, walked to her job as a crafts counselor in Huntington, N.Y., and his son, Aaron, had a paid internship in accounting at Arrow Electronics. Peter’s wife, Joanne, a photographer, has pretty much left the darkroom and physical film in favor of the computer. Peter teaches science and finds that the job is getting easier as experience enables him to be a more effective trainer.

Like his kids, Peter also didn’t have the summer off: he taught summer school. Y Mark Richardson and his wife, Liz (Joyce ’78) live in the beautiful town of Cohasset, Mass. Y As for me, my wife, Dale, and I live in rural northeastern Connecticut. We have two college-age children: Jesse is in the first year of a Ph.D. program in computer science at Princeton; Kala is taking a year off from college to

save money and work on songwriting and performing. I split my work time between scientific software engineering and technology writing. Dale and I started a tiny publishing company, and we intend to write many books, for income and also literary works, long into the future. —Kevin Farnham

78 Classmates

who attended reunion were still sending e-mails over the summer! Sounds like it was a fun group and a great gathering. Our team leader, Wheels, commented that President Bro Adams has continued to put Colby on the map with some of the best small colleges in the country. Many changes have occurred since we left Mayflower Hill and the campus looks amazing. Many thanks to Wheels, who retired as class president and is now our head class agent replacing John Devine. Thank you, John, for a job well done. Our class donated a record-breaking amount for our 30th and reached 61-percent participation. Jim Cook has agreed to be our new class president. Thank you all for your willingness to serve. Y Susan Pollis’s life is extremely busy!

Hubbie Ted Reed ’80 and Susan have demanding jobs that keep them both on the road. Ted is still at Unum and Susan manages a large territory for the American Red Cross, blood services division in Maine. Their daughters are 11 and 16 and last year they hosted an exchange student from Costa Rica. They enjoyed last winter’s excess of snow. Y Congratulations to Tony Lopez, who may be the oldest commissioned officer in the military.

Tony serves as an ensign in the U.S. Navy. Y Sandy Buck spends time working on various issues in Maine: land conservation, climate change, and environmental education. His colleagues include Kevin Carley ’76, Kent Wommack ’77, Tom Tietenberg, Lynne Seeley ’80, and Bill Clough ’91. Sandy and Sissy’s son, Alex, was married this summer to Allie Willis in Bozeman, Mont. Sam Kennedy ’09 attended. Sarah, their daughter, is taking premed classes at University of Southern Maine with the intent of becoming a naturopathic doctor.

They enjoy her company while she is with them. Sissy is deeply into her art and enjoying the vibrant art scene in Portland. The Bucks love living in Maine, and Sandy assures us he still finds time to pursue his passions: fly fishing, hiking, and skiing. Y Nick Levintow anxiously awaited the outcome of the election to see whether

there will be changes in labor policies.

Nick is in his 30th year of government service and still loves his job at the U.S. Department of Labor, dividing his time between veterans’ employment issues and international labor issues.

His wife, Kathy, works for a small Department of Defense operation that tracks global emerging infectious diseases. Daughter Sara and son David both attend Davidson College in N.C. and love it. Their 11th grade son, Chris, is also looking at schools in N.C. but is not planning to follow his siblings.

Nick stays in touch with his old Oak St./Boutelle Ave. housemates Jenny Barber, Ann McCreary, Stephen Jacobs, and Jeff Potter. He also was in contact with Liz Dugan, who is a VP at the International Republican Institute. Y Stephen Jacobs caught up with Ann McCreary, who was vacationing on the coast, and they saw Les Miserables at the Maine State Music Theatre. Jane Brox joined them for dinner. Jane teaches at Bowdoin and lives close to campus. Stephen also ran into Alyson Stone ’79 in Lewiston this summer. He hadn’t seen Alyson in years—she was the maid of honor at Stephen’s first wedding. Alyson heads up an organization called Empower Lewiston. Another Lewiston encounter found Stephen catching up with David Projansky. They hadn’t seen each other since graduation. David works for the housing department in Maine and reportedly was happy and doing well. Y Thanks to all who wrote in and please keep your news coming!

—Janet Santry Houser and Lea Jackson Morrissey

79 Richard Uchida joined the

Concord, N.H., law firm of Orr & Reno, P.A., in June, leaving his own law firm after 16 years. Among the attorneys he joined is Judith Fairclough ’78.

Rich is in his third year on the Colby Board of Trustees, and this year chairs the Educational Policy Committee (EPC), which he says may come as a surprise to many who watched his academic achievements (or lack thereof) at Colby. He is also a member of the Student Affairs Committee as well as the new presidential task force on campus culture—a task force set up to deal with the ever-persistent abusive and excessive alcohol consumption by students. Rich says it has been a real eye-opening experience and he’s constantly amazed at the dedication, generosity, and commitment of the College’s trustees. He is very pleased to give back to a college that has given

so much to him. Paul Spillane serves with Rich on the Board of Trustees.

Y Ross Moldoff has served as planning director in Salem, N.H., for 25 years. Daughter Emily is a senior in high school and looking at colleges with her has brought Ross back many memories of Colby. Daughter Allison is a freshman in high school. Wife Amy is an elementary school music teacher in Salem. Y After 30 years of living happily in Portland with husband Kevin Carley ’76, raising four daughters, and 10 years in a job she loved (executive director of the Institute for Civic Leadership), Ellen Grant will head to Micronesia for a couple of years with her husband. Kevin has been hired by the Peace Corps to be country director in Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). They will live in Pohnpei in FSM. Ellen and Kevin were there eight years ago consulting for The Nature Conservancy. They are excited to return for a longer stay and welcome classmates who can get there! Y Jocelyn Bartkevicius Ives has been appointed editor of The Florida Review, the national literary journal published out of the University of Central Florida, where she teaches creative writing. Congratulations Jocelyn! Y Geoff Emanuel has moved his family from Maine to Dallas, Texas.

Geoff and wife Laurie have two boys, Andrew, 12, and William, 7. Andrew plays football where the sport is truly religion. Geoff did the Newport-Bermuda Race in June with Fred Madeira ’80 and Tim Hussey ’78. Y Michael Donihue has been temporarily reassigned to Colby’s Dean of Faculty’s office, leaving the classroom after 19 years to help direct a comprehensive faculty-led review of Colby’s curriculum. Sue (MacKenzie ’80) and Mike’s oldest, Colin, graduated from Carleton College with a major in biology last June and immediately began a series of trips including Glacier National Park, Ecuador, and Minnesota for a year’s worth of research experience before graduate school. Their youngest, Ross, is a sophomore at Macalester playing on the golf team and interested in GIS, economics, and environmental studies. Sue continues her work as program director at a spiritual retreat center in central Maine. Y If you’re in New York be sure to catch Catherine Courtenaye’s solo show of new paintings at Cheryl Pelavin Fine Arts, Feb. 19-March 21. Y Start thinking about our 30th class reunion June 4-7. Class president Libby Maynard Gordon, Janet Deering Bruen, and Ellen

Grant are busy planning a “kick-mule” time. Spread the word! Keep sending in your news. —Cheri Bailey Powers

80 Congratulations to A ndy

Goode and his wife, Sue, who this summer traveled to China to welcome son Ansel to the family. Goodie reports that Ansel is particularly cute and incredibly intelligent! Y Also traveling the world was Jay Moody, who just returned Tanzania, where he and friends from Maine summited Mt. Kilimanjaro. On the home front, Jay keeps busy with twin 18-year-old boys, who are both soccer players (state champs two years running) and will be applying to Colby! Y It was great to hear from Robin Yorks Hanley.

Robin’s son, Nathaniel, turned 21 this summer and is getting his feet wet in the real world, while Robin returned to the world of the performing arts, where she worked in development off and on for the past 25 years. This October she started as director of development for the Celebrity Series of Boston.

Robin’s husband, Dean, practices corporate law. The Hanleys live in the Fort Point Channel neighborhood of Boston, “rich in artists’ studios and urban history, but still waiting for a grocery store!” Y Kim Grace Palano’s daughter, Katie, is a freshman at Colby, majoring in science and playing on the women’s soccer team. Her son, JJ, is a high school sophomore and also plays soccer. Y Pete and Lynne Seeley Lee dropped son Spence off at UVM this fall. Their son Travis is following in his brother’s footsteps and attending North Yarmouth Academy. Y Linda Alter is a full-time student working on a master’s in public affairs at the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. Linda reports that the life of a student is really fun and that the program is for “mid-career professionals,” so there’s plenty of gray hair among her classmates! Y Congratulations to Geoff Becker, the 2008 winner of the Parthenon Prize for Fiction for his novel manuscript, Hot Springs. Geoff also won the 2008 Flannery O’Connor Prize for Short Fiction, and his new collection of stories, Black Elvis, will be published next year by the University of Georgia Press. Geoff’s wife, Nora Sturges, was the featured artist in the summer 2008 issue of The Georgia Review. Y Lisa McDonough O’Neill’s son, Richard, is a high school junior, an Eagle Scout candidate, and fences saber. Lisa’s husband, Sean, is still with Sun Microsystems and is scoutmaster for the

local Boy Scout troop. In addition to starring as “Florence” Unger in a local theater group’s all-women rendition of The Odd Couple, Lisa went back to work this fall part time as an executive recruiter. She’s most happy to report, though, that she’s been cancer free for four years! Lisa and Lynn Collins Francis are gearing up for our 30th reunion, in 2010, so if anyone has any great party ideas or would like to serve on the reunion committee, please let them know. —Tom Marlitt

81 What’s the most significant life

lesson you learned in 2008? I asked this question because I’ve learned several important lessons this year. Here’s one: First impressions don’t mean a thing— you don’t ever truly and completely know someone. I now proudly give you the intriguing, directly quoted responses from our classmates. Y Eleanor Campbell: Enjoy life and hug your dog every day. Dogs do not ponder the future. They just have fun whenever possible. So, don’t delay doing something you have always wanted to do! Enjoy your friends and family. * Alexander Jones: I’ve been married for 18 years to the love of my life. The kids are grown and currently live in Seattle (along with the grandkids—3, 2, and 1). We reside in northwestern Conn., one town over from where we each grew up, although “commute” to Boothbay Harbor on weekends when we can. Aside from careers, we are both intensely involved in our local agricultural fair, the Riverton Fair, where I survived my first year as president. Hence my life lesson: Things work out—sometimes like you planned, sometimes not, usually for the better, but you must keep after the details. Y Tory Sneff Schulte: Advil helps with the aches. I’m regularly playing competitive doubles tennis in USTA leagues, joined a masters swim summer league, and even started (and stopped) running. It seems like all the “almost 50” players pop Advil like it’s candy. P.S. My daughter, Courtney, is a freshman at Radford University in Virginia and loving it! Y Kelley Kash: Not a new lesson, but one reaffirmed: Too often we complain and wait for others to do something about it, but if you really want to shape change, then take the lead. Importantly, when you shape that change, make sure you put others before yourself.

Y Paulette Lynch: Every day is precious. Y Brigitte Raquet Farrell: I can do anything I put my mind to; I walked the 39.5 miles Avon Walk for

1980s Correspondents 1980 Thomas Marlitt 1835 SW Elizabeth Street Portland, OR 97201 503-248-4310 classnews1980@alum.colby.edu 1981 Steph Vrattos 11 Pond Street, Apt. 23 Waltham, MA 02451 classnews1981@alum.colby.edu 1982 Nancy Briggs Marshall PO Box 317 Augusta, ME 04332 207-237-5550 classnews1982@alum.colby.edu 1983 Sally Lovegren Merchant PO Box 12 Mt. Desert, ME 04660 207-244-0441 classnews1983@alum.colby.edu 1984 Cynthia M. Mulliken Lazzara 15 Waverly Road Darien, CT 06820 classnews1984@alum.colby.edu 1985 Gretchen Bean Bergill Phillips Exeter Academy 20 Main Street Exeter, NH 03833 classnews1985@alum.colby.edu 1986 Henrietta “Hank” Yelle 15 Sutherland Road Lexington, MA 02421 781-863-1986 classnews1986@alum.colby.edu 1987 Scott Lainer 138 Fuller Street, Apt. 3 Brookline, MA 02446 classnews1987@alum.colby.edu 1988 Heidi Irving Naughton 26 Outlook Drive Darien, CT 06820 203-656-8141 classnews1988@alum.colby.edu 1989 Anita L. Terry 501 Warwick Street Saint Paul, MN 55116 classnews1989@alum.colby.edu

COLBY / WINTER 2009 49

alumni at large Environmental Protection | Stacey Mitchell ’89 When a BP refinery in Texas exploded in 2005, killing 15 workers and injuring 170 more, it was the worst industrial accident in the United States in over a decade. Even under such drastic circumstances, making an international behemoth like BP accept legal responsibility for its conduct was no small task.

“In areas where environmental crimes are well handled by U.S. attorneys, we may not be called in,” said Mitchell ’89, the nation’s top prosecutor for the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section and a leader in the BP prosecution. In cases where the crime is of monumental proportions, however, “we’ll get called in, because we’re the national experts.”

And Mitchell is among the most expert of the experts in this area of law.

After a decade in Washington, Mitchell, 41, was promoted in 2007 to head the Environmental Crimes Section last year. Her priority is to hold corporations, individuals, and agencies accountable when they break environmental protection laws.

The BP case made national headlines—the oil giant was ordered to pay a criminal fine of $50 million and serve a three-year period of probation, the largest fine ever assessed for a violation of the Clean Air Act. Mitchell and the team of 40 attorneys and 65 staff members also enforce other environmental laws that cover everything from trafficking in endangered species to illegal oil spills.

Operation Central, a three-year undercover operation conducted by federal agents and members of Mitchell’s section, recently resulted in the convictions and stiff jail sentences for seven defendants—including the boot-maker to Mexico’s former President Vicente Fox—who took part in the illegal international trafficking of products made from endangered and threatened sea turtles, Mitchell said. Large numbers of sea turtles were illegally killed in Mexico and their skins were tanned at clandestine tanneries. The market value of the sea turtles at issue in the case, Mitchell said, was estimated to exceed $1 million.

With her Justice Department team, she is actively involved with the U.S. Coast Guard in efforts to detect, deter, and prosecute those who illegally discharge pollutants from ships into the oceans, coastal waters, and inland waterways—and who lie to officials about such activities, Mitchell said. Mitchell said her team currently is prosecuting the pilot and owner and operator of the Cosco Busan, the ship that collided with a bridge in San Francisco Bay in 2007, spilling approximately 58,000 gallons of fuel oil.

Breast Cancer last spring as a breast cancer survivor and it was an amazing, empowering experience. Y Geoff Neville: Raising a teenage daughter is brutal. Y Mark Bloom: I’ve seen more bad trips than Timothy Leary.

I’ve been traveling—sometimes out of the country, sometimes within these borders, always on the lookout for 50 COLBY / WINTER 2009

While policy makers and scientists tackle issues like climate change, Mitchell protects the environment by enforcing criminal environmental violations. The message: it doesn’t pay to ignore environmental laws.

Trying such significant cases against defendants that include some of the most powerful companies in the world, it is essential to remain calm in the courtroom, Mitchell’s colleagues say. “Trials are incredibly stressful,” said Mark Winston, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey. Winston and Mitchell were teammates in a trial against employees of a petroleum-producing company that engaged in fraudulent testing of their product. “A lot is going on in the courtroom, and you need to be prepared.”

“Stacey has tremendous instincts and judgment,” he said. “She deals with things in a very calm, even manner. She’s unflappable.”

Part of that coolness under fire was learned on New York’s mean streets. After graduating from Tulane University Law School, where she studied environmental law, Mitchell worked for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, prosecuting serious crimes, including sex crimes, narcotics, and murder.

But it wasn’t long before Mitchell’s mind drifted back to her interests at Tulane. “I always had a bent toward environmental protection on some level,” said Mitchell, a Colorado native. “I wanted to get back into the environmental world.”

And the world, it can be argued, has benefited from her decision.

—Robin Respaut ’07

that perfect vacation. Unfortunately, it hardly ever works out. Do you know where my luggage is? You would if you read my travel blog Don’t Even Go There (www.dont-even-go-there.blogspot. com). Y JD Neeson: Paraphrasing George Shaw—It is not that life is so wonderful, it is just that the alternative seems somewhat dismal. Y Phil

Hough: I’m my best when helping others be their best. Deb and I spent about 11 weeks walking the northern 1,000 miles of the Continental Divide Trail. We plan on doing the southern portion (about 1,600 miles) in 2009 or 2010. Check out www.walkingcarrot. com. Y Kim Hokanson: I’ve learned how very difficult it is to be part of the

“sandwich generation”—taking care of children and elderly parents. Y Wayne Cobleigh: Delicious ambiguity. Quoting Gilda Radner: “I wanted a perfect ending. ... Now, I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.” Y Bob Ryan: The friends you make early in your life cannot be replaced with the friends you make later in your life. Y Kate Rogers: “Chop wood, Carry water,” no matter what’s going on in the world or what’s going on in my world, there are basic everyday things that have to happen. The horses and cats must be fed. Snow must be shoveled or the lawn mowed. Barn chores must be done.

So the mundane, time takers have to happen. And that makes me realize that the soul-funding things have to happen as well. Soaking up a sunset. Laughing at a cat’s antics. Watching the horses graze or cavort. Designing a fabric wall hanging, playing with color, pattern, and arrangement. Taking a photo afternoon to sharpen my photographer’s eye. “Chop wood, Carry water” gets me through the everyday ups and downs. —Steph Vrattos

82 I was glad to hear from several

of you for this column. Here’s a quick rundown of my own news: My son Craig is a junior at Carrabassett Valley Academy and my other son, Jamie, is doing his winter term of eighth grade there. My husband, Jay, runs our printing business in North Anson and I’m still doing PR for Maine’s Office of Tourism and other clients out of my Augusta office. We are looking forward to another ski season at Sugarloaf. Y Jen Maire Hagemann was in New England for a few months, renting a place since her girls are in New England in various schools. Katie, 22, is a senior at Yale, captain of the women’s sailing team, and was All-American last year. Leita, their youngest, finished high school in May (they homeschooled her for her final two years) and is taking a gap year at the small boatbuilding program at The Landing School in Kennebunk, Maine. So they are empty nesters and looking forward to this next phase in life. They’re still growing their business with Juice Plus—17 years and still going strong—and were in Naples, Fla., by end of October. “If anyone is planning a trip to southwest

Florida,” writes Jen, “give me a call!” Y Mary Radlhammer Kiang’s family moved to Hawaii about a year ago.

Her husband, Doug, grew up there so they visited many times over the years. “The right job, housing, and school opportunities for the kids all came together at the same time, so we left the Boston area, where we had been for the last 15 years, for Oahu,” writes Mary. “We miss family, friends, and the changing seasons, but the kids enjoy being outside all the time and the natural beauty all around us is beyond description. If anyone is headed to the islands, please be in touch (radlhammer@gmail.com). We’d love to see you.” Y Bob and Jean Appelof Segal celebrated their 21st anniversary in September. They live in Bedford, Mass., with two daughters, 13 and 16.

After three years out of the workforce taking care of family obligations, Jean works full time for her husband, who launched his own investment advisory firm in September. Her 20-plus years of banking experience is coming in handy. Jean recently caught up with Colby roommate Barbi Fallows Ives, who lives in Cornish, Maine, with her husband, Geoff ’81, and their two daughters. “I had a great time reminiscing with Colby in Caen alumni (especially Nancy Marshall Briggs!) at reunion last year and would love to see everybody again.” Y The ever-vivacious Eric Ridgway wrote: “We did another crazy swim in our beautiful lake here this past summer.

This time we swam 80-plus miles around the circumference of the lake as a relay team with my wife, Cindy Aase, as the captain of the houseboat, which was loaned to us for this over two-night adventure. More can be found at http://riverjournal.com/vivo/ News/322.html. Hello to my swim buddies in ’79, ’80, ’81, and ’82. Sandy Whatley e-mail me at LongBridgeSwim@yahoo.com.” Eric is founder and director of Swimming for Life, and the Lake Pend Oreille Long Bridge Swim. —Nancy Briggs Marshall

83 Happy New Year! Jim Galluzzo

is 25 years with RBSGC (Royal Bank Scotland Greenwich Capital), trading the front end of the U.S. Treasury yield curve while keeping tabs on twin eighth graders, Jake and Ned, in New Canaan, Conn., and staying happily married to Emily. They are building a summer home in Christmas Cove, Maine, where Emily’s family has had ties for well over 100 years. Y In October Chris Easton, Barb Leonard,

and Dan Marra attended a surprise 50th wedding anniversary party for Abbott and Nancy Meader. * Kelly Burke Corwen loved connecting at the 25th with Debbie Bombaci Pappas, faraway friends Chip Rooney and Brian Daly, and Betsy Santry Hancock, her first roommate. Kelly’s oldest, Sean, is at Holy Cross and on the crew team. Son Connor is a junior at Fordham Prep and may look at Colby. Brendan, 13, and Meghan, 10, play basketball. Kelly has been raising funds for a friend suffering from ALS. Y Amy Fisher Kelly celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary this past year. Daughter Molly, 17, a junior in high school, is driving (gray hairs) and college searching. Amy’s husband works at Vassar College and Amy is a nurse practitioner in Wappinger Falls, N.Y. Y Joyce and Paul Lezberg had a great time at reunion seeing Dan Marra, Barb Leonard, Deb Bombaci Pappas, and Jim Reynolds while catching up with Rob Eber, Scott Stein, Bob Columbus, John Olson, Charlie Ciovacco, Dave Kerrigan, and Jim Plumer. Last summer Paul and Joyce traveled to the LA area for a family event and had a tough time leaving that beautiful weather and scenery. They visited the Ronald Reagan Library and it was absolutely fascinating. Unfortunately Joyce’s father passed away unexpectedly after reunion. Y Thanks to Stephen Jacobs ’78 for sending news of his sister, Laurellie Jacobs-Martinez, who lives in Maplewood, N.J., with husband Carlos and kids Maya, 10, and Skyler, 6. Laurellie taught many years at the Brooklyn School for the Deaf. She has since retired and is now an interpreter for phone calls between hearing and hearing-impaired people. She also rescues feral cats. Y Don Gallo had dinner with Jenny and Matt Smith in Philadelphia. Matt and Jenny’s oldest, Eric, has graduated from college. Their three girls are undergrads.

In October Don’s roommate Ross Brennan ’82 visited Don and Dawna Eastman-Gallo in Colorado. Ross and Don ran the Denver Marathon.

Ross, an avid runner with ambitions of doing a marathon in all 50 states, helped Don get hooked on marathons.

See their photo on our class page at www.colby.edu/alumni. Y While many of us were enjoying the 25th reunion, Becky Crook Rogers was preparing for the first day of summer camp with the North YMCA. She is camp and childcare registrar. She knew those 650 campers needed her but,

man, she really wanted to eat lobster with her “ancient friends from the old days—the golden days of freedom at Colby.” Son Jamie is 18 and son Michael is a high school sophomore, both at Upper Arlington High School in the Columbus, Ohio, area. * Diane Peterec Reynolds and her son Bobby had a fantastic time at reunion. Diane enjoyed reconnecting with old friends while getting to know some people she didn’t know well at Colby. Bobby enjoyed playing hockey in the game room and says he wants to go to Colby!

Y Geoff Ballotti, Andrew Hanson, Holt Thrasher, and Brian Daly left Colby at 11 a.m. Sunday in one car to go home. Geoff, Holt, and Andrew caught a 1:40 p.m. flight from Portland to LaGuardia and Brian caught a 6 p.m. flight from Boston to London. Brian arrived home three hours before Geoff and one hour after Holt and Andrew, who wound up renting a car from Portland to drive to Greenwich— Geoff got stuck overnight in Albany.

The next day Holt flew to Japan and Geoff flew to Mexico. Tough end to an otherwise glorious weekend!

Brian is managing director of Morgan Stanley’s Consolidated Equities in London. Y Kelly Burke Corwen, Debbie Bombaci Pappas, and Jan and Chip Rooney called Rich and Susan Sheehan Schwermer from You Know Whose Pub in Waterville. Rich and Susan couldn’t attend reunion due to commitments, including their son’s high school graduation. Son Josh is majoring in biomedical engineering at the University of Utah. Daughter Aly is in ninth grade. Rich and Susan also care for Rich’s very elderly grandparents (93 and 86). Susan is executive director of a foundation and Rich still works for the Utah courts. Y Professional photographer Jim Reynolds took a ton of pictures at reunion and posted them online: www.kodakgallery.com/jim. Y Tim Holt ’84 wrote looking for Emily Batchelder. Tim’s travels from Canada will probably take him through Boston in June for his 25th at Colby and he hopes to touch base with some Colby people. E-mail him at tim.holt@coastcapitalsavings. com. Tim is branch manager of Coast Capital Savings in Newton, Mass. Y The Eber clan—Rob, Leslie, Ben, and Iliana—enjoyed touring Colby in June and seeing all the changes. From Colby they headed to Acadia then on to East Sebago where they stayed at the camp of Carol Birch ’82 on Hancock Pond. The Ebers live in Denver where Rob is assistant attorney general in the

Colorado Department of Law, Natural Resources and Environment Section, Hazardous and Solid Waste Unit. Y For a list of classmates not mentioned here who attended reunion, check out our online column at www.colby.edu/ mag. —Sally Lovegren Merchant

84 Our 25th reunion is June 4-7.

Please make an effort to attend—it will be fun. You should have received a request to do a page for our reunion yearbook—take some time and please send in something. It’s a great way to reconnect. Y MIT wrote an article about Sallie Lee’s children’s books.

She’s written and illustrated 20, which you can see at www.leepublishing.net.

Y Jennifer Cleary Calabro lives in Merrimack, N.H., with husband John.

She works part time as an attorney in Massachusetts. Her oldest son is a freshman at RPI and her daughter is a high school senior, so they are going through the whole college application process again. Their youngest son is in sixth grade and a sports fanatic. Y Nathan Emerson saw Dawn Lepanto-Taylor and Carol Hildebrand at a couple of Springsteen concerts. He also ran into John Karoff ’85 there, practically sitting beside him by chance! He keeps in touch with Janet (Kelley ’86) and Nils Gjesteby as well. Lastly, Nathan has been officially named, by the Boston Red Sox, Governor of Red Sox Nation for the State of Wyoming! Y Jane (McKenzie ’83) and Scott Morrill and their three sons—Ken, John, and David—spent Christmas and New Year’s in Vietnam. Scott works for the Oregon State Bar doing ethics regulation for lawyers. He has taken up competitive racquetball after a 25-year hiatus and placed well in his last several tournaments. He also coaches the Tualatin High School racquetball team. Y Kathryn Soderberg went to Thailand in November 2007—Chaing Mai, Chaing Rai (northern Thailand), and Bangkok. While in Chaing Rai she and her partner attended elephant training school. She said riding an elephant is like riding a giant Saint Bernard. They stayed in tents deep in the mountains alongside the Mai Cong River; the jungle was extremely dense. She has been in touch with Mike Gignac, an insurance broker in western Massachusetts. Y Samuel R. Staley has a new book on transportation policy, Mobility First, that was released at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Nov. 17, 2008. He’s pretty COLBY / WINTER 2009 51

alumni at large excited about its prospects, particularly given the advance reviews. Sam reports that Colby has quite a presence in transportation policy at the federal level with Robyn Boerstling ’98 leading the National Association of Manufacturer’s efforts to shape transportation policy and Lisa Mark McLean ’01 as an integral part of the U.S. Chamber’s transportation policy efforts. Y Tim Holt lives just outside Vancouver and works at Coast Capital Savings, where he is branch manager of one of their largest locations. He and his wife, Carolyn, have three sons, with the youngest just graduating from high school. Tim still plays recreational hockey and continues to love skating and plays a bit of golf.

Tim and his wife bought a cottage in Osoyoos, B.C., a Canadian hot spot in the summer. He sends a shout out to Andy Brown ’85, Bobby McLaughlin, Ogden White, Rob Graham, Tom Clune, and anyone else from DKE. Y Dana Hanley and Eric van Gestel were in Chicago with Hall Adams over Labor Day weekend. They went to two Cubs games and a Northwestern vs. Syracuse Big 10 football game. Y Vanessa Alonso DeSimone moved back to New Hampshire after living in New Jersey for 20 years. She and her family have a home in Orford, N.H., and are in the process of a major renovation. She looks forward to connecting with roommate Kathy Musser Marshall, who lives just 40 minutes away. Vanessa teaches American studies and American government in the Lebanon School District. Her middle daughter, Elise, is a first-year at Colby.

Vanessa noted so much has changed on campus yet so much has stayed the same. Y I hope many of you will come back to Colby to see for yourself. If you are interested in helping, contact the Alumni Office. See you in June.

—Cynthia Mulliken Lazzara

Dave and Michelle Linder Simpson adopted two children from Poland, bringing them home to Massachusetts in July 2007. When they arrived Arek was 7 and his sister, Aleksandra, was 10. After an initially challenging transition, things slowly settled into “normal” with Mickie and Dave learning to be instant parents and the kids mastering English, a new home, and new school experience.

Mickie says, “It has been a tiring but exciting experience so far. If there are any other Colby adoptive parents who would be interested in starting some sort of New England adoption group

85

52 COLBY / WINTER 2009

to share experiences, either online or perhaps occasionally having family events, please let me know.” Y Anne Cookson moved to Durham, N.C., after six years in Charlottesville, Va., and before that 15 years in Washington, D.C. She works for LexisNexis and her previous careers included meeting planning, student travel advisor, and hotel sales. Anne admits she needs “new challenges!” Anne lives with her beautiful daughter, Caitlin, 6 (going on 18!), her mother, and their schnoodle, Lucy. Travel is a priority and they spent Christmas vacations in Rome (twice), Boston, New York, Florida (Disney World and Key West), and are planning a trip to Thailand so Anne can visit her childhood haunts. Anne plans on attending our 25th reunion. Y Associate Professor of Political Science Richard Leitch received Gustavus Adolphus College’s 2008 Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching last June. A member of the political science department since 1996, Richard has taught courses such as international relations, comparative politics, Asian politics, and politics of developing nations. Richard earned an M.A. in Asian studies and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne. Richard says, “It has been incredibly rewarding to be able to live my vocation as a college professor at a school that values teaching as much as Gustavus does.”

Y Carol Eisenberg had a great adventure last summer traveling to Israel with her daughters, Maxine, 14, and Charlotte, 11. Carol and her husband, David Simpson ’86, are glad that Elias, 4, is still a year away from kindergarten.

While they were away they missed Mary Alice Weller-Mayan’s visit with her daughter to Peaks Island, where she visited with Meghan Casey and family in their new vacation home.

Y Since last he wrote Michael Muir has gone through a job change. After 12 years at the University of Maine at Farmington, he resigned to work full time with ResulTech Educational Services, a company that works with schools to motivate kids. Currently vice president of development and support, Mike has projects running or in development in N.Y., Penn., Alaska, and Ga. Y Consummate hockey dad Roy Hirshland spends his time driving his daughter to the rink.

Roy writes, “I still live in Concord, Mass., with my patient and loving wife, Chris, daughter Samantha, 14, and crazy chocolate lab. In addition to being a typical teenage girl, Sammy is

an avid ice hockey player (goalie). It’s hard to be a goalie parent but we are very proud of her accomplishments and hard work. Perhaps someday she will wear a Colby jersey!” Y And last but certainly not least, Tom Colt finally got married! Tom just waited until he found the perfect woman. I saw Tom in Seattle in September and he looked very happy! Tom and Megan Shields tied the knot in July at a farm just north of Pittsburgh. They live in Pittsburgh and Tom teaches and works as a college counselor at Shady Side Academy. Colby attendees at the wedding included Paul Swartz, Doug Parker ’86, and Chris Parker ’86. And, although he went to a Steelers game with Ted Jenkins ’84, I have it on good authority that Tom remains true to his Red Sox Nation roots and he is not cheering for the Pirates, Penguins, or Steelers. —Gretchen Bean Bergill

86 Hello Classmates. I don’t know

whether to be ashamed or proud, but I’ve been catching up with a few of you on Facebook. Once the teenager’s hip universe, now a haven for 40-somethings! It is a fun and, yes, slightly addictive way to catch up with friends and see photos, too. Y One of my recent late-night chat buddies has been Gretchen Bean Lurie. In October she came to NYC on business, which gave some Colby gals a chance to get together for dinner. Of course, kids and life intervened so Wendy Armstrong and Colette Cote weren’t able to join Leslie Greenslet Perry, Brigid Hoffman Murray, and Gretchen. Gretchen notes: “We talked kids and schools from preschool (Brigid) to almost college (Gretchen) and everything in between (Leslie).

We wondered where some people were hiding (i.e. Hamilton Brower) and how old we would be when the 25th rolled around. It was good food and good friends.” Y I heard from Lori Berger, who is finally using her Colby education in a more direct way. After years as a freelance horseback riding instructor and erstwhile dairy farmer, Lori is now a professor of equine studies at Vermont Technical College, where she’s developing a four-year program and is into her second year of classroom teaching. Lori opines that, “It sure beats standing in an unheated indoor arena all winter! It’s nice to be back in the halls of academe, hearing (almost) all the same excuses I had for missing class (no Grateful Dead related ones from this group, though).” Y Lee Scammon Kubishta wrote from her

office in Nashua, N.H., musing about the change of seasons. After a beautiful Columbus Day weekend at her Maine house, she’d pulled the boat and the dock out of the water and, ever the optimist, was dreaming of snow and snowmobiles with more weekends in Maine! Y I had an update all the way from the Persian Gulf, where Andy Docherty (that’s Commander to you and me) was serving as executive officer on USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) during a seven-month deployment. For those not up on your military ranks, XO means that Andy is in charge of this large deck amphibious assault ship, with a crew of approximately 1,100 Navy personnel and about 1,300 Marines. He notes “it’s pretty hot over here,” and I don’t think he just means from the sunshine. Y Remember Kate Paterson’s wit and way with words? Here’s her latest update: “Kate Paterson would like to assure her Colby classmates that she played no part whatsoever in the subprime loan industry, and had even less to do with the resultant tanking of the world’s financial markets. Evidence of her innocence is the poor and obscure life she continues to lead with her family in the backwoods of western New York. She would, however, like to implicate the following hooligans: Genevieve Hammond (Mini Coopers don’t just grow on trees), Jane Powers (Colby “Trust”ee? I think not), Wendy Lapham (SEC’s been watching her for years), and Monique Reed Kotsiopoulos (that tricked-out Pacifica speaks volumes). Ladies, your fronts as educators, working to better the lives of children and young adults, have fooled no one.” Y For over 20 years Chris and Kathleen Hooper Zane have spent Labor Day weekend with Dan MacDonald, Nils ’84 and Janet Kelley Gjesteby, and Jay and Lori O’Keefe Burke at the Zane’s beach house in Madison, Conn. There are nine children ranging from 18 to 8 among the three families. Check out the fabulous photo on our class page at www.colby.edu/alumni. Y Ellen Field Greene was promoted to senior managing director, U.S. transaction services, at NASDAQ OMX Group. She works out of NYC and lives in Brookville on Long Island with husband Marc and children Andrew, 11, and Laura, 8. Andrew is an avid hockey and soccer player, while Laura figure skates and plays soccer. Y Marian Huntington Schinske’s son, Robert, 9, dreams of becoming a pro basketball player. (Marian encourages

him to do his homework anyway, just in case he needs a back-up plan!)

Marian’s nonprofit, NovatoSpirit, is doing well, despite the downturn in the economy: 28 low-income kids have received scholarships to participate in karate, tae kwon do, dance, and soccer.

She loves watching these kids play and practice because they appreciate what they’re doing. Y Our classmate and my husband, Chris Engstrom, has joined me in the nonprofit workforce. After two years of listening enviously to how happy I’ve been at Mass Audubon, Chris made the jump and began a job at Oxfam America. He’s responsible for the management, ongoing development, and maintenance of the Oxfam America Unwrapped Web site. Need a great new gift idea that does good while giving? Try www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com and help Oxfam end poverty and injustice worldwide.

Y With those shameless plugs for two great organizations, I say thanks to Colby for being such a great place and to all of you for staying in touch!

Keep the news coming. And see you soon—on Facebook, perhaps? —Henrietta “Hank” Yelle

87 By the time you read this, we

have a new President of the United States. And I may well be your Secretary of the Treasury. I applied through Monster.com. Heck, I could do as good a job as any of those knuckleheads.

Y And now the news: Holly James Michael moved from Maryland to Elk Grove in northern California with her husband, Jeff, and two daughters Haley, 11, and Lydia, 7. “Jeff, took a job as director of the Business Forecasting Center and economics professor at University of the Pacific,” says Holly. “I continue to work from home part time as a senior economist for an environmental economics consultant based in North Carolina. We enjoy all the sunny California weather and friendly people. We take advantage of all the exciting things to do and places to see including Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Monterey, Big Sur, and San Francisco. It’s tough to get bored out here.” (Great jobs, great family, great location? Yes, gang, it’s okay to hate them. Very healthy.) Y Stefanie Greenfield went to Colby with Scott Bates and Nori Miyakoda Hall for the CAN Weekend. Says Stefanie, “We sat on a panel together for careers in construction, and I was able to get involved with mock interviews and speed networking. Very fun to see changes on campus and meet with

80s newsmakers The 2008 winner of the Parthenon Prize for fiction is Geoff Becker ’80, for his novel manuscript Hot Springs. Becker also won the 2008 Flannery O’Connor Prize for Short Fiction and will publish a new collection of short stories titled Black Elvis next year. v Thomas A. Betro ’81 received the 2008 Roger W. Jones Award for Executive Leadership, presented by American University’s School of Public Gail Glickman Horwood ’86 Affairs, for extraordinary effectiveness in organizational development. Betro is director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) and is responsible for criminal, counterintelligence, counterterrorism investigations and operations, and security matters in the Navy. v Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. named Gail Glickman Horwood ’86 senior vice president of digital programming and strategy. Horwood will collaborate with management to set the strategic direction for marthastewart.com and wholeliving.com. She is looking forward to leveraging those assets “in new and engaging digital products that will build on their existing consumer base,” she said.

milestones Marriages: Gilbert B. Falcone ’88 to Christina Amarillas in Carmel, Calif.

Births: A daughter, Rachael Ariella Strock, to Janice and Richard Strock ’87 v A son, Ansel, to Sue and Andy Goode ’80 v A son, Thomas Murphy Ayers, to Kate and Andy Ayers ’89 students.” (Big deal. I get mocked in all of my interviews!) Y Jeanne Morrison Cook recently retired as assistant director at their children’s Montessori preschool. “Retired?” asks Mitch. “No that can’t be! That sounds too permanent!” So now, to raise cash to support their four kids and dog, Colby, Jeanne has become a Craigslist sales entrepreneur. “It’s amazing what you can find in the corners of the closet and under the bed that other people will pay cash for!” (That sounds creepy, Jeanne. But we’ll go with it.) She has also taken up traveling as a full-time hobby. (You might want to visit Holly up in northern California. Tell her we all hate her, won’t you?) This spring Jeanne met up with Teri Scally Kinsella, Elizabeth Warren Bogo, Mary McCarty Manning, Jane Nicol Manuel, Joy Pratt Schiffmann, and Kath Harnett Linger for a girls’ weekend in South Carolina. “Sorry Scott, Tina wasn’t there!” (Tina who?

Never heard of her.) “But we came armed with yearbooks and reviewed all the stories and fun times that we had at Colby, remarking how some of us couldn’t remember as much as we thought we should at our ‘young’ age!”

Mitch and Jeanne traveled to South

Africa and Botswana for an amazing trip with their sons Merritt, 12, and David, 14. Younger sibs Sam, 8, and Jillian, 6, stayed back and played at the Cook’s Cottage in Grand Haven, Mich. (Norman Rockwell, eat your heart out.) When fall arrived and Jeanne found herself without kids underfoot for the first time in 14 years, she participated in the three-day Susan G. Komen 60-mile Walk Against Breast Cancer. Mitch continues to work for Central Bank, Eden Prairie, Minn., when he is not waterskiing, hunting, riding dirt bikes, snowmobiling, skiing, and coaching hockey.

(Hopefully not all at the same time.)

Y Kristine Davidson’s twin daughters started college this year. Says Kristine, “No empty nest syndrome, though, as my 13-year-old son is still home.

We’re having a great time. Beginning Jan. 1, 2009, I’m starting my own real estate business and, despite the ‘slump,’ purchased a 1860s building on Main Street to house the company. Still need renters for a first floor retail space and second floor offices—any takers?” Y And here comes the pitter-patter of little feet: Janice and Richard Strock had a beautiful little girl: Rachael Ariella Strock. Born April 9, 2008,

at 3:50 a.m., 8 lbs. 7 oz., 21 ½ inches.

Congratulations, Rich! Y Personally, I love how babies are measured in inches and months. By that formula, I’m 68 ½ inches and 522 months old. Could somebody please pass the Tylenol?

—Scott Lainer

88 Not much news from our class-

mates. I was hoping for some good reunion dirt since I wasn’t able to attend. Does anyone have some good stories for the next issue? I attended my husband’s 25th at Middlebury the same weekend as our Colby celebration. All I can say is—if you haven’t already, invest in a good eye cream, ladies! Y Rick Lanzi wants his Colby friends to know that he got married August 30 and lives in Durango, Colo. Rick works as a physician with the Veterans Administration doing primary care with a specialty in infectious diseases.

His wife, Lisa, works at the local hospital as a cytotechnologist. Congrats Rick! Y Greg Cunningham joined the Conservation Law Foundation’s Maine Advocacy Center as a senior staff attorney. Greg has extensive environmental law experience gained during his prior employment with Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson.

In 2006 Greg chaired the Natural Resources Section of the Maine State Bar Association. He has been a state-appointed member of the Maine Indian Tribal State Commission since 2004. Greg is “thrilled to be joining New England’s most effective environmental organization. The future of Maine that my children inherit will depend on the decisions we make today to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, curb water pollution, and end overfishing.” Thanks for the great work you are doing Greg. Colby grads realize that Maine is a special place! Y Also in the news Ellen McCarthy Mueller recently battled and defeated breast cancer. Ellen was living in Guatemala when she received her diagnosis. Her cancer odyssey took her back home to Marshfield, Mass., for treatment.

After 18 months back in the states, Ellen, her husband, and three children (10, 7, and 5) returned to Guatemala for the next few years. We’re happy to hear your news, Ellen, and wish you continued good health. Y Please send your news as it happens. Nothing is too big or too small to report. —Heidi Irving Naughton

89 As I write this, we are seven

months away from our 20th reunion!

I hope to see you all on Mayflower COLBY / WINTER 2009 53

alumni at large Hill in June. If you want to see what people look like before you don’t recognize them at reunion, lots of folks are “gathering” on Facebook or LinkedIn (and probably on lots of other sites, too). Y In the “we knew her when” department: Maria Luisa Arroyo is garnering recognition and praise for her outstanding poetry. She recently published gathering words Recogiendo Palabras, a volume of poetry in English, Spanish, and German.

She lives in Springfield, Mass., with her son and, in addition to writing poetry, teaches as an adjunct at area colleges and institutes. I knew I’d be glad I kept those poems you sent me, Maria! Y I’ve been exchanging e-mails with fellow philosophy major Jim Klimek, who practices law and lives in Indiana. Y Heidi Coughlin Davis wrote from Aspen, where she is a self-described hockey mom to her two kids. She and Craig Rogers, who also lives in Colorado and taught both of Heidi’s kids middle-school math, attended Andrew “Salty” Saltonstall’s wedding. Heidi reports that Salty is now a dad to three kids and is very happy. Y Ruth Bender continues her world traveling, going to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Bhutan, and Cambodia in the last year.

She also took a trip to Kiawah Island with Jenn Cooke Rotman, Katie The Losen Goldberg, and Audrey Barone. Ruth lives in San Francisco and works for the Tides Foundation.

Y Another world traveler is Jennifer Joseph, who lives in Pittsburgh and works for an international company that sends her abroad a lot. She spent three months this year living in Australia and a week in Singapore, with more international travel to come. She was busy planning a trip to Seattle to see Kaari Busick. Mary LaPointe Farley visited Jennifer in Pittsburgh a few years ago. Y Suzanne Milauskas wrote from Winchester, Mass., where she lives with her daughter, Lucy, and two cats. Suzanne got her master’s in library science from Simmons, and now works at Bentley College in their office of institutional advancement.

She’s connected with classmates on the Internet, including Kaari Busick and Peter Kimpton. Y Gretchen Kreahling McKay is also in academia, still teaching at McDaniel College in Maryland. She was recently appointed by the president of McDaniel to be her assistant for special projects, including writing the college’s strategic plan. Gretchen is also collaborating with Colby Professor of Art Michael 54 COLBY / WINTER 2009

90s newsmakers The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette hired Chris Chamberlain ’93 as the new general manager in charge of dayto-day operations. Chamberlain moved to the Post-Gazette from the Journal Register Co. in New York. v South Kent School in South Kent, Conn., named Timothy J. von Jess ’93 director of development in November. He moved to South Kent School after working at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire and Eaglebrook School in Massachusetts. v Nicole Jalbert Pirani ’96 runs a sucChris Chamberlain ‘93 cessful florist shop, Blooms of Hope, in Belmont, Mass., which donates 50 percent of its profits in money or floral arrangements to charitable or nonprofit organizations.

Pirani said, “My goal is to emphasize giving back in an industry that may seem frivolously luxurious at times.”

milestones Marriages: Mark C. Gallagher ’94 to Jennifer M. Magri in Kennebunkport, Maine v Benjamin A. Pratt ’97 to Sarah Williamson in Marion, Mass.

Births: A daughter, Addison Olivia Woodruff, to Tom and Carrie Smith Woodruff ’93 v A son, James Harrison, to Michelle and Ben Langille ’99 v A son, Noah Scharback, to Alecia White and Joshua Scharback ’98 Marlais on a project. Y Shaun Dakin continues to work 24/7 on StopPoliticalCalls.org. He reports that he’s a house husband for his son, Joseph, 4 1/2, while his wife Saleena is “the world’s best pediatrician to families in northern Virginia.” Y Leslie Middleton Gilvar is on a self-described “mission” to get all of us on Facebook: “If not for yourself, at least to embarrass your kids—it’s our only weapon at this age.” Leslie lives in Plano, Texas, and sees Jennifer Pattison Gilvar a lot—they married brothers. Both Leslie and Jennifer have three kids and are “busy doing the mom thing.”

Y Andrew Ian Dodge was given the all clear after six months of chemo for colon cancer. He and his wife, Kim, are headed back to the U.S. and hope to make it to reunion. Y Congratulations to Joan Langer, whose son, Stephen Robert Langer, was born July 23. Y See you all in June! —Anita Terry

91 Hello classmates! Apologies for

missing the last column—a friend (who also happens to be one of my bosses) underwent treatment for cancer and the rest of us worked double duty. Y Matt and Becky Streett Melander welcomed their third daughter, Lucia Errol Melander, Jan. 16, 2008. She was baptized June 1 in St. Louis and her godparents are Dan Bouvier and

Carol Cumming. Y Cory Snow attended a bachelor party for Kurt Whited at Jay Peak in Vermont. Sandy Colhoun and Jeff Fort were also there. Cory says that the beer die skills came right back. Kurt married Dawn Ellen Kirkland in July on the coast in Falmouth, Maine. In attendance were Cory, Sandy, Jeff, Doug Fenn, and Kevin Whelan. Cory’s now in New Zealand studying literacy strategies at a high school in Wanaka (on the south island) during a yearlong sabbatical.

His kids, Molly, 4, and Finn, 3, are picking up accents. After skiing fresh powder in August, hiking on glaciers, and seeing penguins frolic in the surf, he says New Zealand is amazing! Y Jen Wood Jencks works in Providence, R.I., as a clinical social worker treating children with a variety of anxiety disorders. Her children (Jasmine, 13, Max, 11 1/2, and Autumn, 6 1/2) keep her busy, so her private practice has been a part-time endeavor. Now that they’re in school full time she hopes to get her Ph.D. in social work. For fun she is returning to the outdoor activities she enjoyed at Colby: crosscountry skiing, downhill skiing (don’t laugh Kurt Whited—she says she can actually ski now!), running, hiking, and camping. Y Doug Fenn lives in Sun Valley, Idaho. He owns and operates White Otter Outdoor Adventures

during the warm months and spends the winters skiing by day (almost all of ’em) and running a tutoring business by night. Doug is happily married to Nancy Weekes Fenn (Middlebury ’92), has three kids (7, 4, and 1), and is lovin’ life in the mountains! Y Stacie Knight lives in Savannah and works as a tour director for Tauck, leading tours in East Africa and Alaska. Y Speaking of Alaska, Fred and Debbie MacWalter Bright and their two children spent seven days there, salmon and halibut fishing and enjoying the wilderness. Highlights were fishing up close with grizzlies and having an aerial view of the glaciers. Debbie is in touch with her roommate, Julie Campbell Murray, and they recently did their annual apple-picking trip. Y Tim Christensen works as a full-time clay artist, doing it 10 years. He lives in an off-the-grid cabin near Machias, Maine, with his girlfriend, Jenna. He recently was featured on the cover of Clay Times for his work, showed last year at the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, D.C., and won best in show at CraftBoston. Y Allen Carlson remains in contact with Craig Damrauer ’92, who is still in NYC doing advertising, and Leaf Ives, who lives near Boston. A few months ago Allen testified before a congressional commission on issues related to Chinese foreign policy and national security. Y N. Todd Pritsky worked as a deputy field organizer for the Obama campaign in N.H. Y On a more humorous front, Brad Willard ran for president: www.willard2008.com. Y Peter Carpenter shared a ‘small world’ story. “I went to a luncheon in Seattle with about 25 people for Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic. There were a handful of Secret Service agents at and around the event. As I went to have my picture taken, I ended up face to face with a Secret Service agent and it was Joe Brennan (JB). We ended up getting caught up over dinner that night.” Y After 10 years Brian and Sue (Gouws) Korn are still in Belmont, Calif., with their son, Jason, 2 1/2. Sue does financial analysis for the credit card division of a large consumer finance company and Brian is in sales for a software marketing startup. They renovated a house and have invested in a concrete company with a friend, enjoying the trials and tribulations of running their own company. Y Campbell Field opened his own law office in Westerly, R.I. and does estateplanning work. He writes, “… if there

are any Colby grads in the R.I., let them know I can draft their wills.” Y Carol Rea-Feagaiga and family moved to Trinidad, Colo. Carol works with a company trying to reopen some coal mines in the Raton Basin that haven’t been active since 1996. Carol has two kids in college, a junior at Milligan College in TN and a freshman at CSU, Pueblo, who will be married next year.

Y Chris Horst writes from Golden, Colo., where she is a veterinarian and a partner at a six-doctor practice.

Chris and husband Wade Dollar are passionate cyclists, pedaling events including Ride the Rockies, 24 hours of Moab, and the Leadville 100. Last August they welcomed son Zak, and in June they attended the wedding of Kristin Resor and Nick Martin along with Ben and Shannon Johnson Ames and Kim Matthi ’90. Y Becca Brackett Price and her husband moved into another reconstructed old house in Fayetteville, Ark. It’s their second redo and they are glad to be done with rebuilding and very happy to be in northwest Arkansas. They attended Chris Overly’s wedding in Seattle, Wash., and spent a weekend with Karen Crebase and Judd Braverman ’92 (and their precious kids!).

Y Stephen Marshall is currently a vice president at Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco and recently became engaged to Hallie Welch; a late October wedding in Antigua, Guatemala, is planned. —Dave Shumway

92 Donna Burbank writes of

a recent Colby “reunion” in York, Maine. The group included Heather Belanger, who lives in Tampa and was in the Boston area giving a neuropsychology presentation, and Steve and Kathy Lyford Bloomberg with children Ryan and Rebecca. Kathy lives in Exeter, N.H., and works in a pharmaceutical company. Also there were Cathy Swaffar Douglass, who lives in Portland, Maine, and works for a real estate firm, and Connie Palmer Merrithew ’93 with her two kids, Mollie and Jack. Donna lives in Nederland, Colo., and is a computer geek working in the software industry. They had a good week, despite constant rain, and it was good to be Down East again for those who had moved away. Y Alexandria Peary is in her eighth year as writing program director and associate professor at Daniel Webster College in N.H. Her first book of poems, Fall Foliage Called Bathers & Dancers, was published in fall 2008. She also had a second daughter,

Simone, now 1. Y Chris Frothingham reports the birth of his third daughter, Hannah Alden Frothingham, Sept. 17.

She and mom are doing well, and big sisters Emma and Molly are adjusting well to the new situation. Chris sent a picture and, I assure you, the baby is adorable! Chris’s practice, Osteopathic Advantage, is quite busy, and Portland, Ore., continues to keep the family happy and occupied (although they have no idea what real fall foliage looks like out there!). Y Julie Bruneau is an assistant professor of English at Goshen College in Goshen, Ind. Julie is completing her Ph.D. at Notre Dame. Y Chuck and Sandra Scarano Crombie announce the birth of Mia London, born Nov. 6, 2007. Mia joins brother Max, 3. Sandra sent a cute photo of the two little ones in a pumpkin patch. Y Wylie Dufresne continues to do well as a chef in NYC. He opened wd~50 (named for the chef’s initials and the street address), a 70-seat restaurant with a state-ofthe-art kitchen, in April 2003, on Clinton Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In March 2008 Frank Bruni awarded wd~50 three stars in the New York Times, and Wylie was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef in 2008. I implore anyone visiting or living in or near the Big Apple to have dinner there. Who knows, maybe you’ll get a personal hello at your table from the head chef and owner. Y I was thrilled to hear from Scott Nussbum.

He and his wife, Dara, were married in 2006 (belated congratulations). David “Rock” Roderick was the best man and his toast included some unflattering references to their college days and a persuasive argument that Scott was marrying a woman who was way out of his league. He has since erased that portion of the wedding video. Funny one Scott! John “Duke” Daileanes and Andy “Pipes” Rhein were kind enough to attend. Scott has been a special agent for the FBI for almost five years and is currently on detail as a special assistant U.S. Attorney in Virginia. He and Dara live in the Washington, D.C., area. Y Thank you all for your news—keep it coming.

By the time the next column comes around, history will have been made.

Our country will have a new president and I hope you had the chance to vote in this historic election. —Karen Wu

93 Heather Bucha Whaley is

excited to announce the upcoming publication of her first book by Penguin Publishing. She lives in NYC with

her husband and two children. Y April (Armstrong ’97) and Shawn Campbell are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Molly Elizabeth, born July 11, 2008, in Worcester, Mass.

Y In Annapolis, Md., Bill and Lesley Frymier Cook celebrated the first birthday of their son, Mason. They expect a second addition to their family in February. *In June Michael and Brigid Jordan O’Connor welcomed daughter Madeline. Y Chris Chamberlain relocated from Connecticut to Pennsylvania to accept the position of general manager of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. His wife, Benner, and two sons, Ian, 4, and Henry, 1, moved with him. Y Crawford Strunk, who continues to work as director of medical education for the Toledo Children’s Hospital, has just celebrated the birth of his own son, Everett Jennings, with his wife, Shelley. Older brother Asa is 18 months. Y In Dover, N.H., Jon Eddinger and wife Robin have a new baby boy, Jackson, born May 15, and they report that, “We’re just luvin’ him.” Jon continues to work as a cardiologist and sends greetings to the class.

Y Brandy Shafter Chapman gave birth to twin boys, Brandon and P.J., April 4. They join big sister Connie, a kindergartener. Y Doug Satran left his job as an assistant principle in New York City to become principal of Brennan Middle School in Attleboro, Mass.

Y Vanessa Lloyd Beauchaine is also a principal—in Easton, Mass.—and hopes to finish her doctorate at Boston College this spring. Y In September Hilary Gehman married Matthew Smith, a fellow rowing coach at Cornell University. Attendees at the ceremony included Fred Stewart ’91 and Herb Gottfried ’63 and the five bridesmaids were all alums: Nive Filipo Bailey, Katie Olsen Smith, Wendy Holcombe, Kathaleen Smyth Lane (who is expecting twins!), and Susan Furst Knight. Y In Portland, Ore., Debbie Mades Mellor, Jim Fitzgerald, Eric Sokol ’94, Paul Kim ’94, Sabrina Austin ’95, and Glendon Roy caught up at the wedding of Matthew Sullivan and Sara Regan. Y Even all the way across the Pacific, Ari Druker manages to catch up with old friends.

He met Bob Ward, who was in Tokyo for business, for drinks, and, on their honeymoon, David Beatus and his wife, Jessica Schram, made a stop to visit with Ari, his wife, Miho, and their baby, Naomi. David and Jessica were celebrating their Sept. 29 NYC wedding and spent their honeymoon traveling around temples, shrines, and

1990s Correspondents 1990 Barbara Clark Bullock Berkshire School 245 N. Undermountain Road Sheffield, MA 01257 413-229-1130 classnews1990@alum.colby.edu 1991 David Shumway 33 Mallard Road Needham, MA 02492 781-444-1241 classnews1991@alum.colby.edu 1992 Karen Wu 1528 Terrace Road SW Roanoke, VA 24015 540-345-3060 classnews1992@alum.colby.edu 1993 c/o Meg Bernier Boyd Colby College Office of Alumni Relations Waterville, ME 04901 207-859-4312 classnews1993@alum.colby.edu 1994 Jessie Newman 3323 Clay Street Denver, CO 80211 classnews1994@alum.colby.edu 1995 Yuhgo Yamaguchi 92 Magazine Street, Apt. 2 Cambridge, MA 02139 classnews1995@alum.colby.edu 1996 Brad Smith 25 Murray Street Portland, ME 04103 classnews1996@alum.colby.edu 1997 Leah Tortola Walton 2 Pine Hill Road Bedford, MA 01730 781-275-8115 classnews1997@alum.colby.edu 1998 Brian M. Gill 293 Central Street Weymouth, MA 02190 617-230-2254 classnews1998@alum.colby.edu 1999 Lindsay Hayes 2100 Boston Post Road Darien, CT 06820 classnews1999@alum.colby.edu COLBY / WINTER 2009 55

alumni at large

Kristin Herbster ’91 began writing poetry as a child, majored in English literature, and always knew she wanted most to be an artist or creative person of some sort, she said. But it was in 2000, when she took her first photography class, that Herbster began creating in a new and inspiring way.

Since that first class, Introduction to Black and White Film, at Rhode Island School of Design (while her husband, Jonah Willihnganz, was finishing his Ph.D. at Brown), Herbster has forged ahead. Last year at Stanford University she exhibited a word-and-image exploration titled Re:producing Motherhood.

At RISD Herbster was asked to photograph people, and photographer Stephen Smith set strict rules to push her out of her comfort zone.

Initially she sought to emulate renowned street photographer greats such as Winogrand and Cartier-Bresson, but she was uncomfortable with street photography for its lack of connection with the subject. “To me, it always felt like I was stealing something,” she said.

Today she views her process as co-creative with her subjects. It’s a collaborative approach that has worked in other parts of her life, too.

Since graduating from Colby Herbster has moved around the country and among professions, from Seattle to Providence to the San Francisco Bay area and from banking to teaching to counseling and consulting.

Recently her day job took a more metaphysical path. Today she does “energy-clearing,” a therapeutic process that she says involves the identification and permanent release of blocks, beliefs, and limiting emotions that cause confusion, unhappiness, illness, and dysfunction of all kinds. Through extended conversations, Herbster helps clients identify and overcome their fears and limitations.

Re:producing Motherhood was a word-andimage exploration of how women negotiate the belief systems that define motherhood in America.

Herbster’s inspiration for this project is deeply rooted in her interest in belief systems. “It starts with one another,” she said, “what we learn from our parents, our culture, and the beliefs we create through our own early conclusions about the world, which are not always accurate or aligned.”

Conceptualizing her project required trying to make sense of the “baby fever” that was spreading amongst her friends.

“Everybody I knew was having babies. Some of the most intelligent, ambitious, career-minded women I knew were stopping what they were doing to bring about another human being.” Curious as to why she did not hear the ticking of her own

back streets of Japan. *After nearly 10 years, Robin Lauzon left NYC for Burlington, Vt., where she now works as a principal at a high school south of the city. Y Doug Morrione reports from New York City that, despite working for ESPN’s World Series 56 COLBY / WINTER 2009

PHOTO: KRISTINHERBSTER.COM

Seeing is Believing | Kristin Herbster ’91

biological clock (a clock she considers to be yet another belief system), she aspired to examine modern motherhood. “I was wrestling with my own beliefs, and I realized that the best way to understand motherhood was to start photographing it and to hear from these women directly what this experience was for them.”

The intimate nature of her 80-photograph collection, she thinks, is a result of her work being somewhat collaborative, or at least consciously participatory, which made the women feel comfortable enough to allow her to occupy their space. All subjects volunteered and invited her into whatever aspect of their “real life” they wanted to share.

“One of the best things I found in doing this project,” Herbster said, “was that every woman mothers according to who she really is. And she enjoys being who she truly is when she is not handicapped by beliefs of how to be or what to do that aren’t truly her own. The truth is, there is no one or best way to mother. There are at least as many ways to mother as there are mothers.”

Both Re:producing Motherhood and a second project, titled Inheritance, which examines the world we produce for our children, are being developed as multimedia art installations that involve light, sound, text, and image and are also intended for book publication. Herbster is working on these projects in France, where she now lives with her husband.

—Sarah Gagnon ’04

Poker, he hasn’t yet developed a gambling problem. He and Sue Furlong recently had the pleasure of attending Bree Jeppson’s wedding, which was a beautiful ceremony in a park.

94 Winter class notes for the Class

of 1994 are online at www.colby.edu/ mag. —Jessie Newman

95 Gregg ’93 and Alyssa Bensetler

Suffredini spent a week in October in Belgrade Lakes with their boys. They took a few trips to Colby and saw coach

Mark Serdjenian ’73 at soccer camp and coach Ed Mestieri as well. Y Rick Catino has been running a market research company called LeadBridge Partners for three years. Rick and 20 other Colby alumni, including Mike McElaney, Chad Tyson, Brett Nardini ’96, Glenn ’97 and Gregg Forger ’97, Matt Morrissey, Alex Chin ’96, Dave Stephens ’96, Greg Walsh, Mike Manning, Brian Pompeo, and Steve Hatch ’93, met up at a bar in Boston recently for a “Monday Night Football” game. Y Ken ’94 and Julie Rentz Dupuis are proud parents of Maxwell Paul Dupuis. Julie obtained her doctorate in electrical engineering at Boston University in June and is a senior scientist at Optra, Inc. Y Josh Burker and Meghan Scheck ’97 attended Jennifer Ancker’s birthday bash at her beautiful home in Darien this summer. Y Congratulations to Jon Bowden, whose film, The Full Picture, was awarded the grand prize for best feature at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in August.

Jon wrote, directed, and produced the film. Many Colby alumni attended the premiere, including Jon’s wife, Denise Mailloux Bowden ’97, Scott ’96 and Jen Dursi Rothman ’96, Heather and Eugene Buono ’97, Bob ’97 and Alison Rainey Doak ’99, Ben Pratt ’97, Nate Davies ’96, Emily Greenstein ’97, Emily Lappen ’97, Kate Gluck ’97, Scott Bridgman ’98, Kyle Lissack ’92, Mike Maloney ’94, Paddy O’Neil ’93, and Jon Nykvist ’97. Y Mike Keller and his wife, Lisa, expected twin girls in January. Y Debbie Butler had a baby girl, Katelyn Elizabeth Collett, Oct. 5, 2008. Y Matthew Muszala works on Oppenheimer’s institutional equities sales desk in New York. “It is hard to read the papers these days without thinking how fired up Professor David Findlay would get in his money and banking course,” writes Matt.

Matt recently attended a dinner that featured Eric Rosengren ’79, CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, as a speaker. Other Colby notables in attendance included Ed Walczak ’75, Mark Merzon, Mike Koester ’94, and professors Michael Donihue ’79 and James Meehan. Y Noah Haverkamp has been married to Jill Frere, a modern dancer, for a little over a year, “I have taken Jill’s last name since I already have like 10 nephews and nieces with my old last name, yet Jill has no one in her extended family who can pass on the Frere name,” writes Noah. “I am too busy tuning and taking care of pianos in New York City, but am

grateful to Facebook to be reconnecting with old Colby friends.” —Yuhgo Yamaguchi

96

Thanks to Mark Mortensen for his decade-plus of service as the correspondent for 1996. For those of you who know me, rest assured that this column will neither embarrass nor (re)incriminate. I report class news, nothing more. Y Ruth Bristol Albuquerque finished her pediatric neurosurgery training and is in Phoenix practicing at Barrow Neurological Institute. Y Sasha Cornell ’97J (but always ’96 at heart) finished her residency in pediatrics at Dartmouth, started a fellowship in pediatric pulmonary medicine at Columbia, and ran into a few alums around New York: Bruce Mason ’95, Molly Townsend (originally ’96 but then went to COA), and Michelle Mathai ’94. She supported Andrew Rice in his bid against Jim Inhofe for the U.S. Senate. Andrew’s on Facebook if you’re curious. Y Chris McMath married Kalley Cooper Sept. 13 at the Wentworth Castle in Jackson, N.H. (proud home of the Shannon Door Pub). Eric and Kate Fabozzi-Ehmer ’95 attended. The couple honeymooned in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and Chris is busy renovating his garage into a home pottery studio for Kalley.

Starting in January Chris chairs the pediatric department at Frisbie Hospital. In his spare time Chris is consumed with home brewing and cooking. Y Jean-Michel Picher crushed in on Barack Obama’s campaign staff along side Emmett Beliveau ’99 and David Cusack ’00. Jean-Michel worked at the Democratic National Convention in Denver with Michael Cuzzi ’98 and Robert Hoopes ’89. Picher still feels that the highlight of his career is winning the iPlay softball championship as a member of the Tecmo Balls in 1996. Y Our class’s international presence can no longer be denied: Simon Dalgleish has fathered both a child and a cosmetics importation and distribution enterprise in Mexico City.

Well Done, Vehveh. Y Gregg LeBlanc, Jeff Sklarz, Andrew Steckler, and Ted Keysor ’97 ran the Boston half-marathon during Columbus Day weekend. Considering their collective exploits in Hillside circa 1992-94, this is indeed newsworthy. Gregg reports that Andrew and wife Keri welcomed Emily Sloane into the world March 15. Sklarzy’s wife, Karen, gave birth to their second daughter, Alexa Lily, April 6. Y Matthew and Rachel

Moritz O’Connell stay connected to the Fighting Amish crew: Jason Hallee ’95 and Matt Tangney ’94 among others. Matthew and Rachel had their second son, Jason, March 14. Rachel is director of marketing at a software security company called Ounce Labs and Matt teaches science in Hopkinton. Smart money bets big that the O’Connell boys can totally out-jump the other kids at Gymboree.

Y Mark and Beth Atkinson Zow had their second son, Lucas Atkinson Zow, Sept. 19. He joins 2-year-old Adam. Y Eric Gordon’s business, GreaseGuys, acquired another biodiesel company called CT Biofuels, making the combined company the largest recycler of waste fryer grease in Connecticut.

The additional scratch allowed Eric to take a leave of absence to work for the Obama/Biden presidential campaign.

Y Martha Previte Botten recently moved from San Diego to Vermont, where she’s looking for an attorney position in Burlington. Her husband is an assistant professor at UVM’s College of Medicine. Their 16-month-old daughter, Alexandra, had fun playing in the leaves this autumn. Y Miranda Miller lives in Newton, Mass., teaches first grade in Wellesley, and became engaged to her boyfriend, Jud Wolfskill. Miranda reports that John Daly and Joy Christoferson had their second child, Connor, and that Julie Gerry graduated from nursing school and works in Connecticut. Y Kevin and Nicole Jalbert Pirani had their second baby, Al Thomas, Nov. 6, 2007. Nicole heads a small floral design business out of her home called Blooms of Hope.

She creates floral arrangements, and 50 percent of profits head back to charity in either floral or monetary donations.

Nicole focuses her fundraising efforts on an organization called Room to Grow, whose mission is to enrich the lives of babies born into poverty. Y Jill Picard Paine writes from Portland, Ore., where she works for Nike and runs an organic farm with her husband, Mike. She also has a 1-year-old son.

Jill sees Jen Vogt ’97 and James Loveland, Zoe Kaplan Presley ’97, and Jon Ostrom ’94. Y As for me and my wife, Peg, after leaving New Orleans postKatrina and moving to (then from) Boston, we landed in Portland, Maine, in May 2007. She works as an attorney at Pierce Atwood and I telecommute to a development job at MIT. I ran the Maine half-marathon in October, played in the Gaudet golf tournament with Chuck Bowen, Mark Porter ’96J, and Chris Hubbard ’95, and find time

to hang out with Ryan “The Chief” Sullivan, an oncology fellow at Beth Israel in Boston, his wife, Lana, and their two kids, Emily and Liam. * Thanks for writing in—and don’t be bashful. Keep the notes coming!

—Brad Smith

97 Hi everyone. It was a light news

quarter, but here it is! Marc and Wendy Morris Levine welcomed daughter Meredith Aug. 18, 2008. She joins brother Wyatt, 2. Wendy is the director of development at First Graduate, an educational nonprofit in San Francisco. She enjoyed seeing Jennifer O’Neill, Kerri Duffell Murawski, Molly Bracken Dunne, and Mandy Ball Caruso in Florida in May 2008. Y Amy Stengel married Brian Moore at Beano’s Cabin in Beaver Creek, Colo., Aug. 16, 2008. Ellie Peters Bergquist, Ben Griffin ’02, and Jen-ai Stokesbary ’01 were in attendance. Y Davina and Scott Lilley welcomed their first child, Arthur Thomas Lilley, Oct. 1, 2008.

Scott wrote, “we’re looking forward to him meeting all the other Colby babies at our next reunion, in 2012.”

Y Tony Hernandez moved from the Bay Area to the New York area and married Sarah McIntosh in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, in September. Fellow alums in attendance were Emily Greenstein, Emily Lappen, Sue Hesselbach Pierce, as well as Justin ’98 and Montine Bowen Fredrickson ’98. Y Henry Lo was a California delegate to the Democratic National Convention for Barack Obama in August. He announced that he will run for city council in Rosemead, Calif., in a March 2009 election. He is currently serving his second term on the Garvey School District Board of Education, also in Rosemead. At the time that this article was written, Henry was traveling to Nevada to help with the Obama campaign. Y Pat McBride reports that John Hebert, currently living back in his hometown of Van Buren, Maine, has opened up a gun and snowmobile shop, specializing in hunting and snowmobiling equipment. Y June Chan Chin welcomed baby number four! Jake Edwin Chin was born Sept.

27, joining brothers Justin and Jonathan and sister Emily. Y Kate Gluck works in Boston at Financial Engines, a financial advice company founded by Nobel laureate Bill Sharpe. She often travels to their main office in the San Francisco area, taking advantage of those trips to visit family in Seattle.

She recently completed her M.B.A., which involved “travel to Brazil,

Russia, and India—all interesting trips in different ways. In August I enjoyed a week on Nantucket with Beth Traglia, Emily Greenstein, and Emily Lappen.” Y Drea Barbalunga married Douglas M. H. Wood at Dalhousie Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 12. Alumni in attendance included Hillary Ross, Cassie Donn, Michelle Lin Greenip, Cyrus Stahlberg, Danielle Beaudin Bamford ’96, Emily Gilbert ’96, and Ellen Bruce ’98. Y Molly and Marc Fairbrother welcomed twin boys, Finnegan and Roosevelt, Nov. 1. (They must have known that the Colby deadline was approaching Nov. 3!) The twins join big sister Eloise. Y Thanks for all of your news! —Leah Tortola Walton

98

Matthew and Ellen Pignatella Overmann celebrated the birth of their first child, Lily Eve, Nov. 13, 2007. They live in Ozark, Miss. Y David and Beth Anderson Goldman welcomed Samuel Elliott Sept. 27, 2008. Sam joins Jacob Barry, who was born in July 2006. Y Andrea Doucette lives in NYC working as a registered nurse. She lives with her boyfriend and her dog, Oliver. She made a solo cross-country trip from N.Y. to Seattle and upon her return worked as a camp nurse at a children’s summer camp in the Catskills. Y Graham Quigley started a master’s program in traditional Chinese medicine at AIMC in Berkeley and loves it. Y Katherine Littell recently became the owner of a parakeet and named him Machias.

Y Nina Perkins Newman lives and works at Berkshire School with her husband and three kids, Lily, 5, Elise, 3, and Will, almost 1. She teaches French and works in the admission office.

There is quite a Colby constituency there: Billy ’91 and Nannie Brown Clough ’90, Bill ’89 and Bebe Clark Bullock ’90, Francis Chapuredima ’06, and Richard Giles ’72. Y Jennifer Johnson married Dakile Clark Sept.

5, 2008, on Cape Cod. Her sister, Melissa Johnson Liu ’95, was matron of honor, and bridesmaids included Kendra Ammann Perry, Jen Spiess Gupta, and Sandra Hughes Goff.

Groomsmen included Raj Gupta ’99, Raj Khunkhun ’99, and Darren Perry.

Others in attendance were Brent Ryan ’97, Darcie Labrecque Beaudin ’95, and Karen Spires Finkelman ’95. Y Congratulations to William Estrada who married Juana Anguiano Nov. 1, 2008.

Y Brian Schusterman and Camille Jensen got engaged in September at the farmers’ market in Davis, Calif., COLBY / WINTER 2009 57

alumni at large where they met five years ago. They live in the Lake Tahoe region, where Brian works as a transactional attorney for Lionel Sawyer & Collins in Reno and Camille works on several forest health research projects for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. When not working, they enjoy all the Sierra has to offer—climbing, trail running, hiking, skiing, and snowboarding. Y Tammy Blair Kirk had fun seeing everyone at reunion and thought it was strange to see those baby faces of our college years fading away. She’s in family mode now: they became Disney Vacation Club members and plan a family trip to Orlando as well as some “grownup” time on the beaches of Hawaii this winter. Y Paul and Katie Page Litterer welcomed identical twin daughters, Sophie Warren and Madeline McNeer, July 6, 2008. Born 13 weeks premature they both weighed under two pounds and had remained in the hospital since their birth. They hoped to bring Sophie home by the end of October and then relocate back to Boston from NYC. Maddie is being transferred to a Boston hospital where she will continue her recovery and then come home. Y Vanessa Hernandez married Paul Elmore in early October. They both specialize in Native American art and antiques and reside in Santa Fe, N.M. Shelley Wollert came out to the desert to see rain just for the wedding. They honeymooned in Mexico where they assisted with baby Olive Ridley turtle conservation, which consisted of finding/gathering eggs and releasing newborn hatchlings back into the Pacific—quite amazing! Y Emily Larsen moved to Casa Grande, Ariz., and started her first year teaching biology at Coolidge High School. She also coaches volleyball and basketball. Emily reports that Kristen Crowley moved back to the Bay Area from Boston and started school in an art therapy program. Y Mike Cuzzi married Heather Quinn of Portland, Maine, at a small ceremony on Peaks Island. Having quasi-retired from campaign life, Mike now works for Vox Global, a D.C.-based public affairs firm, but lives and works in Scarborough, Maine. Y Thank you and have an enjoyable winter. —Brian M. Gill

99 Just a reminder that our 10th

reunion is June 4-7—can’t wait to see you all! Y Steve Murphy graduated with a M.A. in law and diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts in August and is now a Reynolds Social Entrepreneurship Fellow at 58 COLBY / WINTER 2009

the Harvard School of Public Health.

Steve will graduate with an M.P.H. in global health policy and management in June and then looks forward to managing health programs in Africa with a donor or coordinating agency.

Y Oliver Griswold lives in D.C., writing political ads for GMMB— Barack Obama’s advertising firm. It’s his dream job and it was an honor to be at the center of the campaign. His wife, Ellen, is a lawyer with O’Melveny and Myers. Y Jean-Paul Lipton along with wife Gretchen and daughter Abby welcomed Owen Kahawaimana Oct. 2, 2008. They reside in Detroit Lakes, Minn., where J.P. continues his work in fisheries management for the Department of Natural Resources. He spends his free time fly-fishing on the Otter Tail River. Y Bob and Kara Schiebel Kacmarcik had a baby girl, Lauren Mary Kacmarcik, Oct. 7, 2008. Y Brian and Alexis Azar Posnanski expected their first child Dec. 2008. Y Anna Tesmenitsky continues as attorney at Wright & Associates. She recently cochaired a task force with the city of Portland, Maine, reviewing current priorities for the $2.1-million federal funding received in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

Y Rob and Sasha Brown-Worsham had a second child, Alan Henry Worsham, Aug. 2, 2008. He joins big sister Samara. Sasha is home full time with them while also working as a freelance writer. Y Eric and Emily Etchells McCarren had a daughter, Hope Etchells McCarren, Feb. 9, 2008. They live in Honolulu but are nostalgic for those New England falls and winters.

Y Chrissy Barnett Miller has lived in Okinawa, Japan, since October 2007 with her husband, Kevin, a civil engineer for the U.S Marine Corps. They’re in Japan for a two-year tour. Chrissy still works in TV production as a reporter/producer for a localaccess cable channel and returned to the University of Maryland to get a degree in business. In July 2008 Chrissy attended Courtney Smith Eisenberg’s wedding in Sebasco, Maine, as the matron of honor. Other alums in attendance included Katie White, Jennifer Lavigne Kline, Becca Kita, and Lisa Berry Engler.

Lisa and her husband, Steve, welcomed their first child, Samuel Grantham Engler, to the world Aug. 29. They live in Watertown, Mass., where Lisa works for the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Y Holly Moirs and husband Brian Pressley welcomed their second daughter, Leah Elena,

00s newsmakers Eric Saucier ’00 was named vice president of the taxable income group in the New York office of Stone & Youngberg, a financial services firm. Saucier previously held positions at Credit Suisse in New York, Sovereign Bancorp in Boston, and Barclays Capital. v The US-Ireland Alliance named Erin Rhoda ’06 a 2008-2009 George J. Mitchell Scholar.

Rhoda is one of 12 Americans under age 30 selected to pursue a year of postgraduate Erin Rhoda ’06 study at any university in Ireland. A reporter for the Courier-Gazette in Rockland, Maine, Rhoda also runs the Maine-Ghana Youth Network.

milestones Marriages: Jennifer K. Henry ’00 to Jeffrey P. Katstra in Charlestown, Mass. v Sarah P. Rundquist ’01 to J.C. Reeves in York, Maine v Marcia Ingraham ’02 to Alexander Tatum in Rye, N.H. v Cara A. Dionisi ’04 to James T. Bradford in Boston, Mass. v Sarah E. Getchell ’04 to Timothy LaBua in Ogunquit, Maine v Emily Boyle ’06 to Michael Westbrooks ’07 in Waterville, Maine v Rocío Orantes ’06 to Thomas Carey in Oakland, Maine.

Births: A son, Noah, to Amber and Sean Dugan ’00

June 8. Y Meg Hyde and her husband, John, have two daughters, Ellie, 3, and Janie, 19 months. Meg feels so fortunate to be staying home with them and can’t believe how quickly time flies by. The couple recently visited Meg’s sister, Jenny, who is in the Peace Corps in Mozambique. For almost three weeks they stayed in a very rural community, traveling in Mozambique and visiting Kruger National Park in South Africa. * Keep sending your good news! —Lindsay Hayes

Chris LaPointe and wife Darlene are sad to report the birth and death of their son, Baker Christian, April 3. Chris is “grateful for the love of friends and family through this difficult time.” Y Following a recent move to Geneva, N.Y., Portia Dyrenforth teaches psychology at Hobart and William Smith. Y In Ohio Brendon Smith is in year four of his six-year Ph.D. program in clinical psychology at Miami University, and he adopted a little Bichon puppy named Wendel.

Y Erik Crimmin graduated from the IIT Institute of Design in Chicago and took a job as an innovation consultant at the Doblin Group. Y Jessica Creel married Daniel Gualano in Asheville, N.C., Sept. 6. In attendance were Kate Stevens, Karen Macke, Will Barron ’01, and Scott Bixby ’01. Y Dave Fer-

00

guson works as a writer and copyeditor for a PR firm serving luxury lifestyle clients. He hopes to make a move to advertising. Y Stephanie Zegras announced her engagement to fellow Westminster School graduate David Schneider and plans a June wedding.

Y Rebecca Solomon Letwin passed her LEED exam administered by the U.S. Green Building Council and is a LEED Accredited Professional. She hopes this will lead to more sustainable design work in the future. She and her husband spend their free time doing cyclocross racing around the Mid-Atlantic region. Y From southern California Stephanie Baron and Naren Vasudevan ’99 welcomed their second son, Kenji Nathan, April 18, 2007. He joins brother Isaac, 3. Y Ted and Christine Hutchinson had good news, too—on June 2, 2008, Christine gave birth to Thomas Patrick. Y From Waterville, Maine, Craig ’99 and Brooke Frappier Jude announce the July 8, 2008, birth of their baby girl, Catherine Isabelle. Y On August 22 Sean Dugan was proud to welcome his first son, Noah. Y Jaime Cassidy married Sean Comella Sept. 13 in Warwick, R.I. Y While working as an adjunct professor at the University of Sonora in Hermosillo, Mexico, where she teaches students working toward their certification in English as a

Foreign Language, Annalise Blech Rivas spends time improving her own Spanish and exploring Mexican life and culture. Y Caroline Nutt Linz had her second son, Theodore “Teddy” Wetherill Linz, June 11. Tom and Mika Steffensen Reynolds are Teddy’s godparents, and older brother Charlie Andrew is 2.

01 Hello! I’m enjoying being back

in New York for a year now. I launched my own stationery design business, Salt & Paper, www.saltandpaperdesign.com, which has been very exciting (and very busy!). Y Whitney Dayton Brunet, Katie Stewart, and Lauren Stevens ran the half marathon in Portland. Y Shanna Brownstein graduated from Columbia and spent the summer in Thailand leading a high school community service program.

She now lives in Portland, Ore. Y David Forsyth got married Sept. 27 to Kerrin Falk in Madison, Conn. Y Evan Reece spent the summer weddingplanning and traveling extensively, meeting with resorts and working on their new site for www.liftopia.com.

Y Stephanie McMurrich completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology, left Boston, moved back to Miami, and is currently completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Miami VA Hospital. Y Jemison Foster recently started a new job at the Bangkok Patana School in Thailand. He’s doing his best to learn Thai and doing a lot of ocean racing (sailing). Y JC Reeves and Sarah Rundquist got married June 28 in York, Maine. JC’s working in financial consulting in Boston and Sarah is still at MIT finishing her master’s thesis in architecture. They plan a move to San Francisco this summer. Y Liz Frankel got engaged while on vacation in Ireland. Y Stefanie Greenleaf Fyfe received a promotion at K12 and can now work remotely, which means she and her husband can finally move from Phoenix back home to Maine this spring. She and her husband are also expecting their second child.

Y Jennifer Carlson got engaged to Scott Morneau and bought a house that they are renovating themselves. She often sees Jen Jost, who lives in Saco and works at the University of New England. Y Colin McKee has finished being a student. He completed a joint degree from Johns Hopkins SAIS in international relations and an M.B.A. from INSEAD in France. London is next, where he’ll join PricewaterhouseCoopers’ sustainability and climate change team. He recently caught

up with Kathy Manu in Barcelona (before her move to South America) and Nathan Gehlert on the Oregon coast. Y Elise and Chris Morgan had their first baby, Emily Estes Morgan, Oct. 13. Mother and daughter are doing great—they’re all just a bit tired.

Y Sara Lovitz moved to Auckland, New Zealand, for a couple years. Y Brendon Gavin finished his Ph.D. at Dartmouth in molecular and cellular biology last June and now works as a patent agent at Ropes & Gray, a law firm in NYC. He and his wife, Katie, had a second baby, a girl named Maeve Hilary Gavin, and they all moved to Brooklyn. Y Junko Goda works in Hollywood. There’s a Cox Communications commercial that’s running in the southern U.S. and up some of the East Coast that you may catch her on.

This fall she was on a career panel with Tramaine Weekes. Y Jon Weinberg received his Ph.D. in computer science from U.C. San Diego. Y Lauren Schaad is pursuing her M.B.A. in global management at Thunderbird in Arizona, with a specialization in international development. She’s interested in joining the Foreign Service as a public service officer and is keen to network with Colby alumni who have followed a similar path. Y Sean Rinzler is deployed in Afghanistan, running medevac missions. Y Venola Mason got a new job working for The New Teacher Project as a site manager in Atlanta managing a professional development program for teachers in the Atlanta public schools. She also took her first cruise to Belize and didn’t get seasick. —Dana Fowler Charette

02 After a tour in Iraq Ward Savage

left the Marine Corps and started an M.B.A. at UPenn Wharton. He got engaged in May and will be married in Philadelphia. Y And the wedding train continues: Nicki Shoemaker is engaged to J.R. McNair (Michigan ’03) and will be married in Chicago in spring 2010. Y Lindsey Williams married Eric Ackerson June 14 in Post Mills, Vt. Lindsey lives in Washington, D.C., and works as a program analyst for the National Ocean Service. Y Loryn Traversi is in her last year of graduate school at Boston College for social work and is marrying Matt Irwin in September.

Mikhaila Noble-Pace will be one of her bridesmaids. Y Jonathan Lord got engaged over the summer to Maggie Panian—their wedding is scheduled for August 2009. They live and teach in Ridgefield, Conn. * In July Jen

Smyth married Matt Curti at the Pine Creek Cookhouse in Aspen, Colo. Y In September Benjamin Griffin and Jen-ai Stokesbury ’01 were married at The Nature Place in Colorado. Y Jaime Langione and Mike Endreny were also married this fall, at East Over Farm in Rochester, Mass. Y Whitney Alford married Spencer Mallozzi at cozy Camp Kieve in Nobleboro, Maine, in September. Y Michael Pincus married Danielle O’Steen ’03 in September in West Park, N.Y. Classmates in attendance included Patrick Swillinger, Mairead Carney, Alexis Detwiler, Michael Bergan, and Helena Tubis. Mike and Danielle reside in D.C. where Mike works as an attorney at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s office of the general counsel and Danielle is a freelance arts writer for several publications. Y Megan Cassella married Thomas Hand in September. Y Veronica (Craun ’04) and Justin Ucko had their third boy, Lawson Monagan Ucko (Class of ’30?). They live in New Jersey with their other boys, Rowan and Ian. Justin works for Barclays Capital and actively recruits Colby students interested in investment banking. Y Alexandra Suchman completed her master’s in public policy from GWU in August and got engaged last summer.

Y In April Mark and Natalie Buccola Keilholz had a baby boy, Graham, who keeps them busy. Natalie continues to work as a nurse practitioner at a gastroenterology practice. Y Robert and Leah Sablosky-Drouin had a boy, Nicholas, in June. Y JJ ’01 and Piper Elliott Abodeely expect a baby in May. Y Paul Lilley teaches math at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs and coaches outdoor ed and lacrosse. Y Katie Harris is in Seattle hanging out with her dog, Gunney, when she’s not traveling the world working on global health. Y Alexander Aldous moved from Shearman & Sterling LLP to the International Corporate Group of Watson, Farley and Williams LLP. Y Mariah Hamel and her fiancé, Mat, set an October 2009 wedding date. Mariah teaches at University of Georgia, Athens, and really enjoys her job. Y Avery Roth writes from Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she continues to work for a hedge fund.

She reconnected with Sarah Piampiano, Jon Greene, and Ben Colice this summer in the Hamptons. Jon transferred to Montreal, Canada, with his company. Y Katie Magnuson moved to Madrid, Spain, and teaches physics at the American School of Madrid.

2000s Correspondents 2000 c/o Meg Bernier Boyd Colby College Office of Alumni Relations Waterville, ME 04901 207-859-4312 classnews2000@alum.colby.edu 2001 Dana Fowler Charette 401 E 80th Street, Apt. 6F New York, NY 10075 646-744-5043 classnews2001@alum.colby.edu 2002 Sally Hall Bell 6824 SE Knight Street Portland, OR 97206 503-929-3700 classnews2002@alum.colby.edu 2003 Lauren Tiberio 96 Waters View Drive Wethersfield, CT 06109 860-874-1118 classnews2003@alum.colby.edu 2004 Kate Weiler EMC Corporation 300 Conshohocken State Road Conshohocken, PA 19428 classnews2004@alum.colby.edu 2005 Katie Gagne 209 Washington Street, Apt. 3 Brookline, MA 02445 617-823-1463 classnews2005@alum.colby.edu 2006 Jennifer Coliflores 565 Madison Street Wrentham, MA 02093 classnews2006@alum.colby.edu 2007 Karli Gasteazoro 3542 Emerson Aveue S, Apt. 102 Minneapolis, MN 55408 classnews2007@alum.colby.edu 2008 Palmer McAuliff 4313 Mayflower Hill Waterville, ME 04901 classnews2008@alum.colby.edu She hopes to have many visitors. Y Lizzy Rice Giffen is a counselor at the Pennington School in New Jersey, where she also teaches English. Y Jess Bennett is surviving her third year at Tufts Medical School and recently COLBY / WINTER 2009 59

alumni at large went blonde. Y Austin Stonebraker will soon have his master’s and will work for an environmental consulting company out of Newburyport, Mass.

Y Anna L’Hommedieu moved to Seattle in September and started a master’s in organizational psychology at Seattle Pacific University. Anna enjoys the coffee and the weather (so far). She recently had run-ins with Rob Belcher, Ashley Landbloom, Katie Harris, and Piper Elliott Abodeely. Y I’m preparing for another snowy winter on Mt. Hood here in Oregon and hope to compete in a few ski events with my husband, Chris.

Until next time. —Sally Hall Bell

03 Winter class notes for the Class of 2003 are online at www.colby.edu/ mag. —Lauren Tiberio

04 It is hard to believe that our fifth

reunion is coming up in June. I hope to see everyone there! Y Andrew and Cassie Cote Grantham moved to Portland and bought their first house.

Cassie was promoted to program manager of cardiovascular health at MaineHealth. Y Vanessa Verri received her J.D. from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law this spring and will remain in Arizona to practice federal Indian law. She is also pursuing an LL.M. in tribal law, government, and policy. Y Allison Turner married Josh Osgood (Dartmouth ’04) Aug. 9 in Wolfeboro, N.H. Melissa Rosales Neff was a bridesmaid. Morgan Pratt also attended. Allison and Josh bought a condo in Quincy, Mass. Y Elizabeth Turnbull is enjoying her first year as a graduate student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, studying business and the environment. Y Andrew Will started a new full-time job as house sound operator for the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston’s South End. Y Sarah Getchell got married in September. Jenny Boylan performed their wedding ceremony (she became a notary public for the event). Alumni attendees included Eric Fitz, Colin Witherill, Evan Allen ’05, Ben ’03 and Gretchen Black Tuff, Bill ’03 and Anna Carlson McCloy ’03, Andrew Jaspersohn ’02 and Lindsay Antolino, Laurel Haeusslein, Dawn Mertineit, and Sarah Brown Davidson ’03. Y Eric McAllister and Jenny Carpenter were married last year and moved to Boston, where Eric attends Harvard Business School and Jenny works as a documentary filmmaker for National Geographic. Y Mahdi 60 COLBY / WINTER 2009

Bseiso is still in New York City, where he is a managing senior consultant at a company specializing in anti-money laundering. Y Betsy and Peter Rice had a son, Samuel Bartlett Rice, July 16. They live in Arlington, Va., and Peter works at Alarm.com. Y Brittney Lazar married Alex Burgess ’03 in August. Injoo Han, Rebecca Avrutin, and Kate Wheeler Brunelle were bridesmaids and they had a large crew of classmates in attendance. Brittney and Alex live in Hanover, N.H., where he is at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and she works as a therapist at a mental health center. Y Brandon Irwin lives in East Lansing, Mich., and is a teaching assistant and Ph.D. student at Michigan State University in the sport psychology program. Y Shannon Kelly is moving to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, and opening a oneroom schoolhouse. Y Alan Hartmann climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania this August. Y Andrew McKennaFoster spent two weeks on a spidercollecting expedition in Panama. Y Annika Svore married Erik Wicklund Oct. 18 at The Rainier Club in downtown Seattle. Ellen Soucy attended their wedding. Y Alyssa Henley is in D.C. working in corporate relations at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

She visited Orlena Scoville, Sarah Gagnon, and Stephanie Lane in San Francisco and plans to move there next year. Terri Cunningham is engaged to Christian Segura. Since Alyssa and Terri have been roommates since freshman year (eight years!), they will hike the Macchu Picchu trail this spring as one last roommate trip before Terri gets hitched. Y I attended Brandon Davis and Dawn Spinner’s beautiful wedding in NYC this November and saw Jenn Withnell, Amelia Confalone, Kyle MacDonald, and Lindsey Lanier. —Kate Weiler

05 After spending a crisp, autumn

weekend on Mayflower Hill, I’d like to congratulate the 2005 alumni who triumphed at this year’s Family Homecoming Weekend tailgate competition. Maureen Sherr y, Nicole Wessen, Carreau Mueller, Steph Pierce, Courtney Morris, Matt Lynes, Aaron Blazar, Ryan Crotty, and Sheldon Stevenson all contributed to a winning tailgate, keeping the Class of 2005 proud! Y Cupid has struck! Sarah Goodrich and Noah Hoffman are engaged and plan a wedding for summer 2009. Sean Murphy and Katie Austgen will also soon tie the knot. Jennifer Andrews

married Jerod Weinman in July in Amherst, Mass. They honeymooned in Jamaica and relocated to Grinnell, Iowa, where Jenn works with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Grinnell College. Grads attending the wedding included Kevin Andrews ’04, Patrick Harner, Torrey Kulow, Ben and Melissa Yosua-Davis, Chip Colwell ’03, Becky Anderson ’07, Kristen Schaefer ’04, bridesmaid Mary Hill, and Christabel Kwabi ’06. Patrick Harner will be married this November to Lois Grandmaison.

Patrick works at U.Mass Amherst in campus ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Ellen Weaver married Derek Berg in August. She is a certified teacher pursuing a master’s in applied literacy. Steve Kasperski recently married high school girlfriend Sarah Adamis in Chicago. Many Colby alumni attended including Katie Slemp, Tom Wilson (who lives in Burlington, Vt.), Larry Dagrosa (who is in medical school at UVM), Noah Hoffman, Sarah Goodrich, and Kyle Ross ’06. And our reigning class couple, Bill Gallitto and Michelle Cote, are enjoying their recent engagement. They still live in Brighton, Mass., and attend school in the Boston area. Y David Acker relocated to Houston, Texas, where he works at New Living, an eco-friendly home and building supply start-up. He periodically runs into Jeremy Little, Houston’s newest socialite, who works for a small public relations agency, On the Mark Communications. Y Melisse Hinkle works in D.C. producing video stories for United Press International’s Web site (UPI.com) and traveled to Denver and St. Paul to cover the Democratic and Republican national conventions. She also ran the Cape Cod Marathon in October in honor of her grandmother’s 80th birthday and fight against cancer. Y Catherine Sear is in a master’s program in international relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She is currently studying at the school’s campus in Bologna, Italy, and will complete the program next year in Washington, D.C. Y I ran into Devon McConnellGordon in NYC this September. She completed an undergraduate degree in architecture and is in her final year of a master’s program in architecture at Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S. This co-op program enabled her to live in Dublin, Ireland, and NYC in the last year. Barry Brown also recently started this program.

Y Hannah Emery was awarded her

M.A. in sociology at UC Berkeley at the end of the summer and is still working toward her Ph.D. Y After three seasons of coaching football at Colby, Mike Civitello now coaches Division I football at the University at Albany.

Y Jon Eisenberg is in Africa guiding raft trips on the White Nile in Uganda.

He assures us that more updates and hopefully more stability are in his future. Y Toni-Lynn Robbins has worked for the Bangor Daily News since graduation, during which time she received the Maine Press Association’s Bob Drake Young Writer’s Award.

She recently took a job at Winchester Hospital in Winchester, Mass., as a communications specialist and is enrolled in a master’s program at Simmons College. Y Caitlin McCusker ran the Boston Half Marathon in October alongside Steph Pierce, Carreau Mueller, Aaron Blazar, Jeff Lederman, John Pollakowski, Nicole Wessen, and Mackenzie Wessen ’07. Y Rachel Damon is the new director of the drama department at Allen Academy, located in College Station, Texas, working with students in grades K-12. Y Katie Slemp lives in Providence, R.I., with Greg Sawyer ’03, who is completing his orthopedic residency at Brown. Katie works for Health Dialog, a health-care management and analytic firm, where she designs analytic tools for health plans, provider groups, and beneficiaries. Y Kevin Yardi reports that the Class of 2005-sponsored senior night, held last April at the Colby Pub, was a success (150 members of our class contributed to make this possible). Kevin plans to rally the class again this spring to sponsor a similar event. Y Have a wonderful winter and please keep this great news coming! —Katie Gagne

Kit Hickey and Katie Roberts met in Germany the last week of September and ran a marathon together. After running they headed to Munich for Oktoberfest where they met up with Nicole Stadelman and Amy Cronin. Y Emily Tull started a new job in sports marketing in NYC and moved in with Liz Shepherd and Sasha Kenyon ’08. Liz just started teaching her first English class and Sasha started a job at Merrill Lynch. Y Brandon Smithwood lives in Brookline, Mass., and works on renewable and clean energy with an organization called Conservation Services Group as the Clean Energy Markets Fellow. He’ll go to

06

grad school in a year. Y Jess Minty has had lots of change since her last entry. She left Boston and joined the Olympic Development Team, ZAP Fitness, located in Blowing Rock, N.C. She is running a ton and enjoying the warm weather, though she misses her roomie, Liz Turner, very much. Y Tim Monahan now works at American Showa in Columbus, Ohio, as a power-steering design engineer.

He is pleased to say that he married Margaux Buchanan Aug. 18. Chase Cohen ’05, Patrick Rodjito, Lindsay Masters, Katie Curtis, and Emily McClure ’07 attended the event, where Mike Fleming and Mike Feldman ’05 were groomsmen. Y Charlie Hale is trying to start a nonprofit called Global Health Corps, which is similar to Teach for America but for public health. If anyone has public health or nonprofit startup experience, let Charlie know! Noah Balazs, Nick Beaird, and Dinah Bengur visited Charlie in San Francisco. Y Emily Boyle married Michael Westbrooks ’07! Michael and Emily live in Dublin, Ireland, where Michael plays basketball, coaches kids, and works in a school. Emily doesn’t really have work plans yet, but spent the first weeks recovering from the election before going back to work. Y Dan Giuliani still works at Puzzles, the bar he manages in Seattle, and recently spotted Kevin Smalley ’03 and Peter Loverso ’03, who stopped by for a few drinks. He writes, “Things are going great out here!” Y Barbara Hough enjoys her new job teaching instrumental music full time at four schools in Haverhill, Mass., as well as flute lessons in Haverhill and at New England Conservatory in Boston. She played piccolo with the Reading Symphony Orchestra Nov. 8 and 9 and sang with her church’s choir for their annual conference that same weekend. She was honored to play with the orchestra directed by Christos Papoutsy for the 100th anniversary of her church Nov. 15. —Jen Coliflores

07 Greg Osborne is earning his

master’s in sports leadership and management from Northeastern and lives in Cleveland Circle with his brother and Joe Rothwell ’08. Greg also works part time at Belmont High School as a special needs aide and plays in a men’s hockey league with about eight Colby grads, including Ben Grandjean.

Y Blake Foster reports that Steve Sandak moved to Brookline. In the same neighborhood Anne Cuttler

Music Man | Ben Hughes ’07 Ben Hughes ’07 is obsessed.

A music major at Colby, Hughes continues to immerse himself in his passion. All day. Every day.

And most nights, as well. “I create, play, and think about music as much as I can because it’s what I love,” he said.

Hughes holds two music-related jobs: music program director at the Boys and Girls Club in Pawtucket, R.I., and music teacher at the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island. He also gives private lessons at a rented studio in Pawtucket. After nine-hour work days, he plays at open mic nights around Providence.

Hughes traveled to Kalimpong, India, in January 2007 to participate in Colby’s pilot Jan Plan in India program, where he first taught children about music. The experience was one more step on his musical road.

At the Boys and Girls Club Hughes teaches kids and teens to play piano, guitar, drums, Latin percussion, and how to use digital recording software. He calls his multidimensional class the “One-Room Music Program.” For many of his students, Hughes’ program is their first exposure to music beyond limited exposure in school. “Some of these kids have never even seen a drum kit before, or a piano, even,” he said with a laugh.

When Hughes realized that in spite of their lack of formal music training his students had musical talent that rivaled their passion, he recorded a Boys and Girls Club album, which featured approximately 40 of his pupils. “I want to start a record label out of the Boys and Girls Club and try to promote innercity artists,” Hughes said.

Hughes also produced a video of one of his star rappers, an 18-year-old who goes by Lil’ Jeff, and it won a “So You Think You Can Rap?” contest on a local hip-hop radio station. Lil’ Jeff was to open for rap stars Method Man and Redman at a December concert in Providence. This, Hughes says, is exactly the type of break his students dream of.

He is also contemplating the creation of a record label to promote inner-city artists. “I want to take [my One-Room Music] program to the next step and find grants to implement it in different Boys and Girls Clubs in different cities,” he said.

Working with the kids at the Pawtucket Boys and Girls Club is rewarding, but it’s also exhausting, Hughes says. “Life in Pawtucket for these kids is really tough. They have problems from A to Z and pursues her master’s in nutrition and lives with McKenzie Wessen, who continues to work as a research technician at Children’s Hospital with Alex White and Matt Mitchell ’06.

McKenzie and Miriam Trotscha engaged in a high-adventure weekend of corn shooting and dancing with the locals in North Conway in late September and completed a 10-acre corn maze in record time. Miriam manages a portfolio of housing

Ben Hughes ’07, at top center, with some of his music students at the Pawtucket, R.I., Boys and Girls Club. terrible home situations,” he said. Up until the moment the kids are in the studio they are often running around and causing general mischief. Once they get into the studio, however, they get serious.

Despite these difficulties Hughes feels drawn to working with kids who need him. “I went to high school in Providence, which is five minutes away.

You’d go across the world for the Peace Corps to save people in villages, yet five minutes away there are people in abject poverty who can’t afford to live,” he said.

Hughes recognizes that, with so many students rotating through, there is no way to change the lives of all of his students. “You have to do what you can and connect with the few that you can. I can’t change three-hundred kids’ lives, but I can definitely change four or five kids’ lives if they hang out with me every day for six months.”

While Hughes admits that he isn’t making as much money as he’d like, he is fulfilled by spreading his passion for music to his students. And he hopes that his love for music will be contagious: “It’s kind of like getting infected with the music disease, and then that becomes the meaning of your life.”

—Lauren Pongan ’09

cooperatives in Ottawa, Ont. Y Jeff Barrow works for an investment consulting firm in Chicago. Gerrit Lansing moved back to Chi-town and lives downtown while working for Cyber-Ark Software and traveling the country for work. Y Ian London is studying law at the University of Denver and was waiting for snow.

Y Betsy Littlefield moved to Reno, Nev., to pursue her master’s in geophysics at the University of Nevada

with a focus in geothermal energy exploration. She spends free time with Dan Pace ’06 and Brad Cantor ’08. Y Sara Morgan spent a week in Costa Rica visiting Julia Lawson, Ryan Graumann, and Mikaela Bolduc, who spent the past year teaching English. Y Jen Anderson, Lauren Oliff, Brianna Tufts, and Aimee Williams still live together in Arlington, Va., and are excited that Naomi Wilson recently moved into their neighborCOLBY / WINTER 2009 61

alumni at large hood. Y In NYC Lee Kozakiewicz continues pursuing her Ph.D. in immunology, focusing her research on tuberculosis. Kristen Renfroe works as a paralegal at Skadden, Arps in Times Square and is applying to law school. Ren enjoys Broadway shows including her favorites Wicked, Mary Poppins, and In the Heights. Y Caitlin Blodget, Sheehan Lunt, and Lauren Cahill participated in the San Francisco Breast Cancer three-day walk and raised $7,400 for breast cancer research, education, and treatment. Y

Mariah Buckley works for the MakeA-Wish Foundation in Boston, Mass., as their wish program coordinator.

Y Ashley Hunt teaches pre-K with Teach for America in Navajo, N.M., and continues to perfect her pad Thai recipe. Y Amanda Vickerson works for AmeriCorps VISTA getting University of Southern Maine students involved with civic engagement and community service. Y Amanda Vickerson, Leslie Peterson, Meg Cordner, and Jess Zia attended Maro Asadoorian’s bridal shower.

Maro married Eric Gartside ’05 in December. Y Alex McPherson and Mariah Hudnut are engaged and will be married in Sept. 2009. They live in Cambridge, and Alex has been promoted to program director at Outward Bound. Y Elise Washer got engaged to Eric Neumann ’02 July 1, 2008. They’ll wed June 20, 2009, in Shelburne, Mass., Elise’s hometown.

Y Megan Bovill and Steve Plocher were married in Maine with several Colby alums in attendance. Y Betsy Smyth lives in Santiago, Chile, and

teaches English. She has traveled to northern Chile, Bolivia, and Peru and planned to go to the south of Chile before returning home in January. Y From November to June Jess Kaplan will work as a volunteer peer educator for Student Partnerships Worldwide in Nepal. Y Ryland Brooks continues working for Picture Park making commercials for Nike, Staples, TaylorMade, Krispy Kreme, and some others. Ry plans to take off next year and climb the seven summits! —Karli Gasteazoro

O B I T U A R I E S Katherine Franklin Merrill ’36, Dec. 6, 2008, in Barrington, R.I., at 94. A mother and housewife, she belonged to the First Christian Congregational Church in Swansea, Mass. Survivors include her husband, Arthur, three children, eight grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

Andrea Getchell Bradley Solmonte ’40, Sept. 1, 2008, in Quincy, Mass., at 90. A mother and a homemaker, she worked at the Doten & Thompson Dress Shop in Quincy until 1982. Survivors include her stepson, Robert Solmonte, a brother, five grandchildren, and four greatgrandchildren.

Marjorie Smith MacLeod ’41, Nov. 27, 2008, in Ellsworth, Maine, at 87. She received her teaching certificate from Lesley College and taught in schools in Maine. She was the founding educator of the Katahdin School for Exceptional Children in East Millinocket, Maine. Survivors include her husband of 67 years, Donald, four children, 14 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.

Hubert S. Beckwith ’43, Oct. 12, 2008, in Springfield, Va., at 86. He received a bachelor’s in divinity in 1945 from Andover Newton Theological School. He was founding pastor of the Congregational Christian Church of Fairfax County (Va.), which became Little River United Church of Christ, and he led the 62 COLBY / WINTER 2009

church until 1987. He received the James Floyd Jenkins Pillar of Faith Award from the Howard University School of Divinity in 2003. Survivors include his sons, Hubert and Paul, and four grandchildren.

John M. Lomac ’43, Sept. 29, 2008, in San Diego, Calif., at 90. During World War II he served with the U.S. Marine Corps in the South Pacific. He earned a Bronze Star in Korea and retired as lieutenant colonel in 1967. For the next 20 years he worked at Grossmont Community College as superintendent of grounds and facilities. The basketball legend known as “Johnny Lomac” is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary, three children, a brother, a sister, and four grandchildren.

John C. Calahan ’44, Nov. 8, 2008, in Abington, Pa., at 86. He served in the Army during World War II and then served three more years in the reserves. He held executive positions at General Electric and Philco-Ford and retired in 1989 as general manager of consumer electronics for Sharp Electronics. Survivors include his wife, Frances, his daughter, Paula S. Calahan Andre ’69, his son, Jack, three stepchildren, 11 grandchildren, and a brother.

Frederick S. Wood ’44, Oct. 7, 2008, in Chambersburg, Pa., at 87.

He enlisted with the U.S. Marine Corps in 1942 and served in World

War II, Korea, and Vietnam as well as peacetime postings, retiring as a colonel after 32 years. He earned a master’s from George Washington University and another from Tufts.

He served 15 years as an administrator for a nursing home before his second retirement, in 1988. Survivors include his son, Andrew, and his beloved dog, Misty.

Donald M. Hinckley ’45, Oct. 13, 2008, in Augusta, Maine, at 88. An ordained minister of the Universalist Unitarian faith for 60 years, he served parishes in Maine and Massachusetts. He served on school boards, volunteered with Goodwill Industries, and studied opera and classical music. He played tennis until his 84th year. Predeceased by his brother Burton ’48, he is survived by his wife, Rosalyn, a daughter, a son, a brother, a sister, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Margaret Harper Howard ’47, Sept. 29, 2008, in Scarborough, Maine, at 84. She graduated from Boston University and then became a nurse, working in Portland and Orono. She served on the boards of the Maine State Nurses Association, Ingraham Volunteers, and the YWCA. Survivors include her children, Margaret Persavich, Mary Whitehead, and Charles Howard Jr., and three grandchildren.

Carl R. Wright ’47, Dec. 5, 2008, in

Skowhegan, Maine, at 83. He earned his law degree from Boston University and practiced law in Skowhegan for five decades. Overcoming childhood polio, he was a star athlete, the 1968 Colby C Club Person of the Year, and was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999. He coached youth baseball, helped build Little League fields in Skowhegan, and was a trustee of Cornville (Maine) schools.

He chaired Colby’s Alumni Council (1964-66), was an overseer (1980-86), and was awarded a Colby Brick in 1969. Survivors include his wife, Rita, five children, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Vera Themistocles Biemann ’48, Sept. 10, 2008, in Alton Bay, N.H., at 81. She taught English and social studies in Massachusetts. Survivors include her husband, Klaus, two children, and four grandchildren.

Caroline Thomson Kinlaw ’48, June 15, 2008, in Seattle, Wash., at 80. She received a master’s from Wright State University and was a teacher, guidance counselor, and psychologist in Dayton, Ohio, becoming director of psychological services for the Dayton Board of Education. She competed in bridge tournaments and received life master ranking in contract bridge. Survivors include her sister, Lillias Lane, two daughters, five granddaughters, two great-grandchildren, and great-niece Elizabeth T. Petit ’08.

Ann Rodney Gould ’49, Nov. 4, 2008, in Burlington, Vt., at 84. A mother and homemaker, she worked for many years as a documents librarian at the University of Vermont.

Predeceased by her husband, Lyman Jay Gould ’48, she is survived by daughter Ellen Gould Cohen ’72, son-in-law David J. Cohen ’72, and son Michael Gould.

Russell A. Antell ’50, Oct. 30, 2008, in Fort Pierce, Fla., at 80. He served in the Navy during World War II and earned a Purple Heart. He earned a master’s in education from Boston University and then taught high school math in Framingham, Mass., for 35 years. Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Eva, two sons, two sisters, a brother, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Jerome E. Jackson ’50, Dec. 5, 2008, in Andover, Mass., at 84.

He served in the Air Force during World War II and was awarded two Air Medals and a Victory Medal.

He was an advertising model for TV and magazines and raised giant English mastiffs. At 70 he moved to the mountain pueblo of Canalejas, Mexico, to study Mayan culture and archeology. Predeceased by his sister Justine Jackson Doherty ’49, he is survived by his sister Joan Cashman, nieces, and nephews.

Theodore Parker ’51, Aug. 22, 2008, in North Easton, Mass., at 81.

He joined the Navy at 17 and served in Japan during World War II, after which he came to Colby. He worked in the beverage industry and had three children.

Thomas J. Crossman Jr. ’52, Sept.

19, 2008, in Bourne, Mass., at 80. After mining metals and diamonds in northern Canada, he earned a master’s from Framingham State. He taught biology and anatomy and physiology at Nashoba Regional High School for 26 years, serving as chair of the science department for 15 years. Predeceased by his father, Thomas ’15, he is survived by wife Judy, three sons, and three grandchildren.

Elin Christenson Honsberger ’52, April 27, 2008, in Pensacola, Fla., at 77. While raising her children she earned her master’s in education

from Castleton Teacher’s College.

She taught elementary school and special needs classes. She was predeceased by her husband, Peter Honsberger ’52, and is survived by her children, Peter Nils, Lisa, and Christopher, brother-in-law Karl Honsberger ’56, cousin Nancy Anderson Pool ’57, and four grandchildren.

Irwin Winer ’52, Nov. 7, 2008, in Santa Barbara, Calif., at 80. He served in the Army in Japan at the end of World War II and graduated from Colby under the GI bill. He worked in his family’s hardware store for 15 years and then taught government and economics at Marlborough (Mass.) High School for 25 years.

During his retirement he tutored economics at Santa Barbara City College.

Survivors include his wife, Joy, two stepchildren, a brother, and cousins, including Herbert Simon ’52.

Arthur M. Tiernan Jr. ’53, Nov. 1, 2008, in Bedford, Mass., at 79.

He was drafted and served with the Army in the Korean War. He became a lawyer for the district attorney’s offices in Norfolk and Suffolk counties and served on several local and state boards and committees. Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Grace, six daughters, and 11 grandchildren.

Nancy D. Foster ’55, Oct. 4, 2008, in Frisco, Texas, at 74. An amateur dancer and choreographer, she organized theater productions and taught classes to students and elders in Texas. She served as president of the Texas Nursing Home Association, worked with hospice, and served with the Texas Silver-Haired Legislature. Survivors include a sister, Joan Foster Barndt ’51, three children, and five grandchildren.

John G. Herbert ’55, Oct. 12, 2008, in Caribou, Maine, at 76. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. He became a Maine State Trooper and served Aroostook County, retiring as a sergeant. Survivors include his former wife, Carlene, a son, and three grandchildren.

Barbara Barnes Brown ’56, Nov. 20, 2008, in Westborough, Mass., at 74. A wife and mother, she worked at the New England Home for Little Wanderers, for a nursery school, and

as a crossing guard. She was proclaimed 1985 Citizen of the Year in Westborough. She was predeceased by her father, John A. Barnes ’24, a brother, Charles P. Barnes II ’54, and grandparents Charles P. 1892 and Annie Richardson Barnes 1894.

Survivors include her husband, Frederick R. Brown ’56, sons Glenn F. ’87 and Ian G. Brown ’90, daughters Allyson Roose, Cynthia Hogan, and Tamara Wolfe, sister Margaret Barnes Dyer ’60, cousins P. Putnam Barnes Jr. ’54 and Forrest W. Barnes ’56, and nine grandchildren.

James H. Clark ’57, Oct. 5, 2008, in Bangor, Maine, at 73. A lifelong interest in aviation began while on coastal watch with his parents during World War II. He served in the U.S. Army during the late 1950s as an air traffic controller and later was involved with the Civil Air Patrol. He earned an M.S.W. from Simmons College in 1969 and worked in social services for the Maine Department of Human Services and the Good Samaritan Agency. He loved Down East humor, nature, and his 1977 Oldsmobile 442. Survivors include cousins and friends.

Judith Lowrey Ingram ’57, Oct. 26, 2008, in Hoover, Ala., at 72. A mother and housewife, she played golf and bridge and was active in her church. She was predeceased by her brother Peter S. Lowrey ’53 and is survived by son Jason Ingram and daughter Susan Ingram Allison, five grandchildren, a brother, and a sister.

Richard H. Mailey Jr. ’57, Oct. 17, 2008, in Exeter, N.H., at 76. He served with the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. He was a naturalist and director of the North Boston Audubon Society. An expert on ospreys, he lobbied against the Dickey-Lincoln School Dam Project on the St. John River in Maine, testifying in 1972 on the dam’s negative impact on osprey. He retired to Greenville, Maine, where he ran Dick’s Mini Pit. Survivors include his wife, Barbara Easterbrooks Mailey ’53, three children, three brothers, a sister, and three grandchildren.

Edward B. Holschuh Jr. ’62, Nov. 6, 2008, in Arlington, Va., at 70. He completed his degree at Fairleigh

Dickinson University while serving in the New Jersey National Guard.

He was a salesman for Shell Chemical Company. He enjoyed growing plants and loved to paint. Survivors include a sister, his children, Edward III, Thomas, and Jenifer Mahaffey, and four grandchildren.

Stephen C. Danforth ’63, Sept.

16, 2008, in Rockport, Maine, at 67.

He did graduate work at Middlebury College’s L’Ecole Francaise and taught French at Gould Academy in Maine before serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Upon discharge he taught French at Rockport High School until 1998, coached various teams, and officiated field hockey. He was active in Little League, was an avid reader, and built and flew radio-controlled model airplanes. Predeceased by his brother Dana ’66, he is survived by wife Sharon, a son, a daughter, a brother, and two sisters.

Cynthia B. Fischer ’64, Sept. 30, 2008, in Worcester, Mass., at 66. She earned a master’s in education from Harvard and a master’s in special education from McGill. She taught French and special education and worked as a technical writer for Digital Equipment Corp. After retiring she established Faithful Friends Pet Care and became a Tellington Touch practitioner. Survivors include her father, Eugene, a brother, and a sister.

Jill Harris Joseph ’69, Nov. 23, 2008, in South Padre Island, Texas, at 61. After teaching English in Maine and Massachusetts, she handled lighting and sound for the traveling show band Glen Bailey and Circus.

Settling in South Padre Island she taught canine obedience and raised golden retrievers. Survivors include her husband, Fred, a brother, a niece, and a nephew.

Karen Gikas ’76, Oct. 8, 2008, in San Francisco, Calif., at 54. A world traveler, a master sailor, and an avid skier who once skied the Matterhorn, she combined her interests to manage operations at G & M Sales, Marin Outdoors, and Target. Survivors include her parents, James and Ann Gikas, two sisters, three nieces, and two cats.

COLBY / WINTER 2009 63

the last page

Times Change, People Change, Diapers Change

By Gerry Hadden ’89 In the summer 2008 issue of Colby Martin “Moxie” Connelly ’08 wrote thoughtfully about what his future might hold. With humor he imagined a few scenarios—including becoming a journalist.

Moxie’s fantasy journalism career included exciting international postings, an exotic wife, kids, and finally a comfortable university job teaching journalism. But in the end Martin sidelines the idea because, as he writes, the news tends to be too boring or depressing.

I have a perspective on these complaints because I ended up a journalist.

At Colby I pursued a major in Creative Excuses to Backpack in Europe (i.e. German). It all passed quickly. Suddenly one morning in 1989 (I think it was in the spring) then-president William Cotter was doling out diplomas like the Wizard of Oz distributing hearts and brains. Incredibly, he called my name.

A couple of hours later we were free. But nothing else was. After inadvertently trying to walk out of an Arby’s in Providence, R.I., without paying, I realized my dining-hall lifestyle was over. So I started working.

For the next seven years I held jobs I couldn’t stand. Then I talked my way into an unpaid internship at public radio station KPLU in Seattle.

Thirteen years later, with a mix of glee and embarrassment and disbelief, I suggested to Moxie that I had become a bit like the reporter he’d described in his essay. The foreign correspondent. The exotic wife (at least I think so!). A couple of exciting postings in Mexico and Europe.

And the best part, a couple of kids. These days, when the radio is on, my 4-year-old daughter Lula sometimes asks, “Papa, is that you?” Coolest part of the job, hands down. Except when she confuses me with Don Imus.

And, though I haven’t landed the journalism professorship yet, I figure there’ll be time for that when this horse’s legs finally give out.

From inside the news game I can say that I’ve never found reporting boring. The lead that begins ‘Town officials say…’ almost always has a direct, if small, impact on our lives. Moxie also complained, understandably, that the news is usually bad: “Another car bomb goes off in Baghdad… .” In response I can only say that I am very happy not to have been sent to the Iraq War. When most reporters were scrambling onto military transport planes bound for Baghdad I was hiding under my bed in Mexico City. Later I won front-row seats to the bloody fall of the Aristide government in Haiti, which goes to show that under-the-bed is a lousy hiding place. But the point is that somebody has to cover those events and apply the truth test to the endless cascade of official lies.

Otherwise the doo-doo we’re standing in would only get deeper.

Now I live in Spain, where the dangers are considerably less, if you don’t count olive-oil fires. When I’m not reporting on events in Europe, and when no kids are climbing on me, I happily peck out my memoir from Latin America. The idea is to get back on track with Moxie’s fantasy by publishing this beast, going on tour, and riding the wave of rave reviews into a cush job teaching journalism (you listening, Colby?). I’m already developing a curriculum. My first class will be entitled “Cable Management: How to Keep Your Microphone and Headphone Cables from Getting All Twisted Together.”

But here’s the point: As you get older you ramble more. No, no. This:

Public radio correspondent Gerry Hadden ’89 with his partner, Anne, and their children, Lula, 4, and Nino, 2.

Moxie was right when he wrote that graduating is like choosing a college all over again. But it’s even better than that. Because any day along life’s journey you can switch schools, as it were. And you don’t have to walk across the snow to the registrar’s office to do it.

Thank the liberal arts. That alleged education in problem solving, drawing connections, and placing events in their larger perspective means that you’re adroit enough to dump firefighting one day and become a math or history teacher the next. Because you already know the calculus of water arcing from a hose and that the first firefighting vehicle was built by the Thracians.

Buoyed by this breadth of education, Moxie doesn’t seem too worried about the future. This suggests he’s off to a good start. Because for the next 10 or 15 years, like any young graduate, he can keep doing whatever he wants—and changing what that is. As long as he does it well.

Moxie wrote how at Christmas parties past he would dodge the “What are your plans for the future?” question by quipping that he was “thinking about getting a job, to support myself.”

Cheeky, no doubt. But in the end that’s what we all do. And one day Moxie—a blink of an eye from now—when you’re 40 and making the Christmas-party rounds and people ask you what you do, I hope that you’ll keep the joke going. That you’ll hoist one of your kids to your shoulders and say, “I’ve been thinking about getting a job, to support my family.” I can all but guarantee that your exotic wife will laugh. You will already have worked so much. It will all seem like a dream.

Gerry Hadden ’89, based in Barcelona, is Europe correspondent for The World radio program. The original essay by Martin “Moxie” Connelly ’08 is available online in the summer 2008 issue.

To listen to a Connelly-Hadden conversation, go to Colby online, www.colby.edu/mag, keyword: growingup 64 COLBY / WINTER 2009

June 4-7

Come enjoy a great weekend on Mayflower Hill!

Whether it’s your first time back to Colby since graduation or you return to campus regularly, come see how the College has changed. Be a part of the fun-filled events. Revisit unforgettable experiences and make new memories.

FRIDAY • Presidential golf tournament at the Belgrade Lakes Golf Club • Faculty lectures, followed by a reception • Evening reunion carnival in Pulver Pavilion with activities for the kids • Join friends for a drink in the new Marchese Blue Light Pub

SATURDAY • State of the College Address by President Bro Adams • Children’s mini-golf tournament with Aristotle, our mascot • Parade of classes • Colby lobster bake and barbecue • Lectures and presentations by alumni and faculty

Feel free to bring the kids. On Friday, free drop-in child care is available during the faculty lectures. Child care is also available for $25 Saturday afternoon through the evening for infants and children up to 13 years of age. Children’s

• Alumni book signings • Class photographs • Individual class receptions and dinners, followed by music and dancing • Piano trio • DJ • Freestyle: A live band from Boston

music, a moon bounce, cookie decorating, face painting, and games are just a few of the activities your children will enjoy. Teens are welcome to participate in any of the on-campus activities.

Reunion brochures and final details will be mailed in April to classes whose years end in 4 and 9. If you are not a member of a reunion year class but would like to join the fun, you are more than welcome. Please contact the Office of Alumni Relations for more details.

We look forward to seeing you June 4-7, 2009! www.colby.edu/reunion

(207) 859-4310

alumni@colby.edu

colby college 4350 Mayflower Hill Waterville, Maine 04901-8841

A Political Remix

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Colby College

Hip-hop quoting political scientist Kendra King ’94 discusses Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr., and why she was undecided until two weeks before the election. Page 20.