alumni at large person in Manhattan, but I came down with a bad cold, so more on her next time. Y I was thrilled to hear from Ed Higham, who lives north of NYC in Armonk; okay, so he mistook me for the fabulous Jennifer Jean Clark Uhl (who is hopefully reading this and will write me back!), but whatevs, we have his news! After Colby, Ed went to Columbia Business School and then stayed on for the thrill that is New York. He has three kids with his wife, an ophthalmologist/eye surgeon [like, whoa!]. Their oldest son just started as a freshman at Harvard, and they have a daughter, 17, and another son, 13, as well as Buddy the furry, four-
Matses ’84, Jane Anderson ’84, Bob Hill ’80, Laurie Shea ’86, Sara Hill ’84, and Jamie Engert ’82. Y Troy Dagres writes that he’s still in Newburyport after all these years. Troy’s son, Andrew ’14, is a senior at Colby, “wondering, like many, what he will do after May.” Troy is an enterprise account executive with Comcast. Y From Mark Tolette comes news of what sounds like a great sabbatical idea: “I took some time off this fall and hiked the Maine section of the Appalachian Trail. It was 281 miles from Katahdin to the New Hampshire border. Part of the trip was the 100-Mile Wilderness, where I had done my COOT
In the fall Mark Tolette ’83 hiked the 281mile Maine section of the Appalachian Trail, including the 100-Mile Wilderness where he had done his COOT trip 34 years prior. legged child. Ed specializes in M&A in the financial services sector for investment banking boutique Silver Lane Advisors. Ed sees Frank Finetto ’81 frequently—they were having dinner when he got my appeal for news. Ed has taken up kitesurfing and has achieved some proficiency. He did a “sprint” triathlon in the fall [heard that and thought, “shin splints”]. Yes, Ed, please train for it next time! Y Robin King wrote from Fairfield, Maine, where she lives with her husband, Jack Gondela [I love that they met while working at Waterville’s iconic Last Unicorn]. They live on 70 acres in “the house that Jack built.” A solar installation provides all their electricity and 57 chickens provide all their eggs and probably the fertilizer for Robin’s garden! Robin teaches art full time in grades K-3 at Waterville’s George J. Mitchell School. She gets some great volunteer classroom help from Colby students, and her kids adore them. They see a lot of Adam Weiss and Becca Cunningham-Weiss ’84, two of whose daughters (Amara ’14 and Caelin ’16) are at Colby. It’s gotten so Robin and Jack just leave the light on when they know Adam and Becca are coming to pick up or drop off the girls. Y Speaking of Adam Weiss, he and I had a wonderful exchange fueled by my interest in Vermont, which is on my short list of new home states. Adam has been living and teaching in Vermont since he left Colby 30 years ago. He and Becca have three daughters; Amara ’14 is the new face of Colby’s admissions webpage. Adam and Becca keep up with Alastair Caperton, Walter Judge ’82, Greg
trip 34 years ago. As I climbed mountains and scrambled over roots I felt like I was returning to my roots. I was southbound and humbled that even when I was 200 miles into my hike, the northbounders, who had started from Georgia, had gone 10 times as far. I now have a deeper appreciation for the beauty of the mountains of Maine and the wonderful people you meet on the trail.” Y Keep the Valentines coming, and tell me when you’re in Manhattan so we can reconnect. And I’ll be pinging you if I’m in your ’hood looking for my next piece of real estate. I plan to move off “the island” in the summer. ~ xo, J
1984 Mary Kate Whalen Classnews1984@colby.edu Hello all! This is my penultimate column and the final column published before our 30th reunion June 5-8. I’m pleased to announce that David Rosenberg has agreed to take over the pen for our class notes starting in June. I’m looking forward to his fresh perspective. Y Adam ’83 and Becca Cunningham Weiss have two daughters at Colby. Amara ’14 will graduate as an economics major, and Caelin is in the Class of ’16. Becca and Adam have spent wonderful times in Waterville visiting their daughters and friend Robin King ’83 and seeing Colby classmates/ parents such as Doug Waite and Karen Wexler-Waite ’83. Becca notes that the campus has developed so nicely. They feel lucky that their daughters have had such good experiences on the Hill. If you
haven’t visited the new art museum, it’s a must! Y Kathy Soderberg looks forward to attending our 30th in June. She’d like to see some old pals from her hometown of Lynnfield, Mass., specifically Dan Toomey and Rich Erb. She’d also like to connect with her old pal Charles Boddy and hopes that dear friends Cathy Walsh, Marian Leerburger, and Lia Lundgren will be there. Y Cathy Altrocchi Waidyatilleka continues to teach English at Iolani School in Honolulu, enjoying the beauty and great weather of Hawaii with her husband and two teen sons. She spends spare time “foodscaping” her yard with exotic trees and plants like lilikoi, soursop, moringa, and hyotan. Cathy can be found on Facebook as Cate Tilleka. Y Sam Staley won’t make reunion this year but writes that he is the new director of the DeVoe L. Moore Center at Florida State University in Tallahassee. The center conducts interdisciplinary applied research on housing, land use, and urban policy. The center has also embarked on a major initiative to fund startup social entrepreneurs through a foundation grant that will give first-year seed money through an international business plan competition. In other news, Sam remains active in public discussions of self defense, bullying, and youth violence through his fiction writing, particularly his middle grade novels in the Path of the Warrior series. Y That’s all the news. Here is a last reminder that our 30th reunion is June 6-8, 2014. It’s a great time of year to visit Maine and check out the new Colby Museum of Art!
1985 Kathryn Hollander Adams classnews1985@colby.edu Greetings ’85 classmates! I don’t know exactly when you will be reading this, but hopefully the polar vortex that has made every day feel like a February night in Waterville has evolved into a solar vortex
recently took her younger daughter on a college visit to Colby and is pleased to report that she loved it. They also visited Sewanee and stayed with Kathy Kamm. Cathy periodically sees Wendy Howard Epstein and Alison Cox and has stayed busy with many volunteer activities. Y Roy Hirshland’s daughter is a freshman at Kenyon College and loves it. Roy enjoys his time on the Colby Alumni Council and has been involved with Career Services, including hosting a bunch of Colby kids in his office for a career lunch. Roy would encourage everyone to help out in any way, such as hosting an intern, reviewing a résumé, or talking on the phone about our careers. “We all need to help keep liberal arts grads relevant in this economy!” Y Tom Colt may still be thawing out from his fourth annual Pittsburgh Polar Bear Jump New Year’s morning. The river was a toasty 36 degrees. When not plunging into freezing-cold rivers, Tom spends his days as a college counselor at Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh. Y Carol Eisenberg just marked five years since she reluctantly attended her first Bikram yoga class. More than 500 classes later, she credits her yoga practice with countless physical and mental benefits, including taking the sting out of turning 50. Y Andrew Myers is traveling to Montevideo, Uruguay, to officiate his sister’s wedding. He has visited Uruguay several times over the past few years and is impressed that The Economist named it the 2013 Country of the Year. Andrew clarifies in his note that he is still a lawyer and not a member of any clergy! Y It was nice to hear from fellow Medfield, Mass., resident Chris Rona Alban. Her twin girls are happily settled in South Carolina as freshmen at U.S.C. in Columbia and the College of Charleston. Chris reports that her daughters were happy to leave winter and the snow banks behind after the holiday break and head back south. Chris is sitting for her certified residential
Cathy Altrocchi Waidyatilleka ’84 teaches English in Honolulu and enjoys “food-scaping” her yard with exotic trees and plants such as lilikoi, soursop, moringa, and hyotan.
of sunny beach days. Y It was great to hear from Cathy Urstadt Biddle who lives in Westchester County with her husband, Wing. Cathy has one daughter who is a sophomore at UVa and another who is a high school senior at the Taft School. She
real estate appraiser exam in mid-February and notes that the thought of a six-hour exam at her age seems daunting. Y I have some sad news to report. Our classmate Paul Henion died Jan. 10 after a two-anda-half-year battle with cancer. Paul was an
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