Class of 1975 — 35th Reunion It was reunion fever.r E-mails with cc’s to every classmate flew. The stage was set. The festivities at the ancestral home of Jonea Gurwitt crackled with memories. It was a monumental evening with teachers, headmaster,r parents and classmates. Here are some thoughts of a truly magical reunion that included Frank Perrine reading a note from Larry Lucchino, who conceded that running the Red Sox organization has nothing on the channeling of our class’s outlandish imaginations. Bo Sandine recalled, “Definitely cool was the presence of our teachers including Brooks, Wilkinson, Clark and Perrine with the personal message from Red Sox CEO + former teacher Lucchino. Julian Chang sent this short missive “… my life these days is: taking care of our 3.5 year old, Luke; developing a new research program on Indonesia at the Kennedy School and thinking of all the ways I COULD have gone to reunion.” Roger Smith noted many of the salient moments of the evening, including the fact that I was wearing jeans from the ninth grade. Bruce Conklin brought his father along and followed up with, “I had a chance to tell my mother about our party before l left for the airport. A happy smile came to her face as I recited your names, and gave recent news … Jean took great joy in watching our class develop, from science club to spin-thebottle!” Joan Bigwood noted: “The Class of ’75 descended on the Foote campus for coffee and Danish in the library, y giggling and hugging and breathlessly reunioning (her verb) in the stacks, oblivious to all other guests!” We laughed and cried at the excellent presentation given by Alumnus Aw A ard-winner Bruce Conklin about his stem-cell research. After this
Summer 2010
FFrrom le l ft ft, Sus u ie i Ca C mp m belll Gr Grimes, s Dub uby Mc McDowe w llll, My Myles Ald lderm r an, n Jo J hn Mu Muyskens, s Br Bruce C nkl Co klin, Fr Francesca c Bi Bickel,l Bo Sa S ndi dine, e Co C rb r ett t To T rr rrence, e Jo J an Bi Bigwo w od Ki King, and Sa S ra r h Bl Blake k
momentous event, Joan Bigwood King and Sarah Blake signed copies of their recent novels: Co C -op o te t d and Th T e P stm Po t is i tr tress, respectively. y After class photos, we herded across Highland Street, where we memorialized fallen comrades Jay Paolella and Kitty Simons Egan with a newly planted dogwood tree. A rowdy crowd spent the evening at Jonea’s house enjoying raw oysters provided by our very own marine educator and activist Kim Te T trault, followed by appetizers and dinner (provided by Roger Smith, Katharine Swibold and Jonea). Susie Campbell Grimes and Duby McDowell provided drinks. Roger Smith and Corbett To T rrence ended the evening with a breakdown of moments that marked each year at Foote. Since reunion I’ve heard from David Coff f in, who skirted my request for details of his doings by asking me what I was up to. His interest in music has
taken some fascinating turns that include children and some important socially conscious projects worth checking out. I also heard from Katherine Bettis, who reports “I live in Oakland, CA. I’ve lived there or Berkeley since 1982. I graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in physics, architecture, and engineering and don’t use any of them. Three kids, ages 24, 20, and 19, all in college and doing well. I have a blog about frugal living: sav a emoneyyoucheapskate.blogspot.com.” John Muyskens videotaped just about the entire evening. Perhaps this retelling will inspire those currently quiet to come forth. Until then, cheers. — Jessie Drury This summary is abridged. The entire report is online at www.footeschool.org/reunion
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