JANUARY 2016
many times at this point in your life can you make a change like this? It’s exciting.” Sandra Pitman Purinton writes, “I have been retired for four years from elementary school counseling. I am working part time as a group facilitator at Gilda’s Club, a cancer support center. We are enjoying our grandchildren ages seven and three.”
1968 Joan McIlvain Bradley writes, “Having retired almost two years ago, my husband and I are now very busy beekeepers. We enjoy our annual visits with Linda Powell Middleton and Kenneth (Ken) Miller, and also seeing Melanie Wright Tripp ’67.”
1969 James R. Caulkins writes “I finally retired last year and have been traveling a bit with Evelyne, my wife of forty-two years. Mostly, I’ve been trying to relax after all that time working in a corporate environment. I think I’m getting the hang of it. My son is still living and working in New York City where we visit him and my family in Connecticut. Life is good if you don’t read the papers.” Lisa S. Garrison writes, “In September, with support from the Lyman Fund, and in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of the City of Bridgeton NJ, historic Bethel Othello African Methodist Church (AME), and Greenwich Friends Meeting, a group of fifty-two people, toured Underground Railroad sites in Western Cumberland County on ‘Mayor Kelly’s Freedom Tour: Freedom Seekers, Free People of Color and Greenwich Quakers.’ The tour was developed as a shared community learning adventure. Beginning at the Lower Friends Meeting House by the Cohansey River in Greenwich NJ, the tour proceeded to Delaware Bay and Caviar Point, where a rising breeze and view of distant Delaware shorelines attested to the often arduous crossings 19th century self-emancipated individu-
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als made on their journeys towards freedom. With the free Black community of Springtown as Northern Star, enslaved people from points south sought out the route through Greenwich. Some passed through; others remained—but all found a modicum of safety in the presence of friendly Quakers’ farms surrounding their settlement, which contributed to this area’s reputation for being “as safe as Canada.” Speakers included Mayor Kelly; Joan Bryant, professor of African American Studies at the University of Syracuse; Matt Blake, director of Community Development for the Township of Woolwich; and myself as a cultural historian. The project was a vehicle for developing interracial partnerships and uncovering untold stories. For more information visit: http://www.nj.com/south-jerseytowns/index.ssf/2015/09/exploring_ the_legacy_of_the_un.html.” William (Bill) S. Pat terson writes, “Wow, it sure was cold here in the City of Brotherly Love last winter! Who turned off the heat!?!”
1970 Roger L. Kay writes, “This summer marked the tenth anniversary of my company, Endpoint Technologies Associates, which is still going strong. This fall marked the twentieth anniversary of my marriage to Beth, also still going strong. Our grandson is growing rapidly in Los Angeles CA, our younger daughter is currently attending Washington University of St. Louis in St. Louis MO, and our son is a junior in high school—he is running track and being a generally good guy.”
1971 Patricia (Pat t y) Appelbaum writes. “My new book, St. Francis of America: How a Thirteenth-Century Friar Became America’s Most Popular Saint, was published in October. It’s about non-Catholics and St. Francis: everything from garden statuary to social action. Here’s a link: http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/12152.html.”
Donna Caulkins Parsons writes, “I am living in Madison CT, and have my own little eldercare business. For fun, I belong to a social club called the Shoreline Sailing Club, so I’m sailing a lot on weekends and/or attending a lot of club sponsored dockside activities and events. My adorable daughter Sarah (25) is a standup comic in New York City, and my son Dan (28) is a commercial cameraman near Boston MA. My mother is eighty-nine, alive, and well. My brother, James R. Caulkins ’69, still lives in France, but visits yearly. Life is good!”
1973 Linda Blum writes, “Life remains sweet and rewarding as I continue to work as a palliative care provider in San Francisco CA. My eldest child, Aza Raskin, got married in August to Wendellen Li and they are happily setting up a new nest in the Bay Area. My other two children are working and considering graduate school. In my spare time, I have become an opera and classical music lover. I also think about traveling more. My son and I will head to Antarctica in January 2016.” Eleanor (Ellie) S. Lathrop writes, “Sarah M. Gaddis and I met up for a mini-reunion in early June. We met at the Bronx Botanical Gardens. I had just retired and celebrated with a trip east to visit family and friends. George School did a great job matching up Sarah and me as roommates back in 1971.” Jeffrey S. Schwartz writes, “After taking our son Jeffrey back to Troy NY— he is in the Class of 2017 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute—and our son Jarred to New York University in New York City—he is a member of the Class of 2019 at the Stern School of Business—my wife and I were able to get away. We went to the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls, the hockey hall of fame in Toronto, and just relaxed for the first time in a long time. Now if we can just get someone to watch Alec, who is a junior in high school, everything would be perfect! Anthony is already out of the house.”