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Frank MacMurray, Jim Sprague, and John Marks, all Class of ’61, met at a dinner held in Washington, D.C., in May to honor John and his wife, Susan Collin Marks. The Markses are stepping down from their leadership roles in Search for Common Ground, the peace-building organization founded by John.
Charlie Bradford, and Nick Danforth and his partner, Robin Jones. (The Andover toasts were mercifully tame.) The newlyweds plan to reside in both Weston, Mass., and Chilmark. Wally spoke with Dick Bourne not long ago, and found him “still chipper,” despite health problems. [Editor’s note: After the submission of these notes, the Academy learned that Dick Bourne passed away on July 12, 2014.].” Speaking of our 55th, Wally declines to spearhead the effort to organize that event but does have some suggestions for those who are willing to help plan it. He thought we might want to invite two eminent physician classmates—John Bissell and Dick Masland—to discuss advances in neuroscience. Last March, Masland, a professor of ophthalmology and neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, received the fifth annual Jay Pepose ’75 Award in Vision Sciences from Brandeis University. Dr. Pepose, founder and medical director of the Pepose Vision Institute in St. Louis, noted, “Masland’s...work on ganglion cells may translate into a better understanding and treatment of glaucoma and inherited retinal disorders.” Dick has been the recipient of other awards, including the Alcon Foundation’s Research Award in 2012 and the Proctor Medal from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in 2010. Dick’s lab was the first to reveal the retina as a multiple parallel system made up of more than 60 cell types, which are organized into more than a dozen parallel informational channels. The lab is working to characterize the array of retinal ganglion cells in the hope of gaining a better understanding of how the higher visual centers work. Wally shares my belief that we would benefit from a presentation by our two distinguished memoirists: Gerry Shea (Song Without Words: Discovering My Deafness Halfway Through Life) and John Darnton (Almost a Family: A Memoir). Wally also thinks that we might want to “adapt something our Yale 50th organizers did with some success: namely, have 12 to 15 classmates make
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Andover | Fall 2014
six- or seven-minute presentations (with or without slides) about their passions. We heard a classmate play an Irish flute and others rhapsodize about everything from the implications of the latest findings about the nature of the universe to the spiritual dimension of bow hunting.” So let’s get cracking on our 55th. We need volunteers to help get organized. Let me know if you’re willing and able. Remember, as Allen Ward indicates in his report from Brown, we may not have many more opportunities to get together.
1961 ABBOT
Carolyn “Cally” Butler Dow 44 Spruce St. Portland ME 04102 207-899-4178 Callydow365@gmail.com
Lee Pakstis has good news. “Great excitement in our house,” she says, “as my daughter, Sarah ’96, is marrying Bryan Murphy ’97 this fall, and I am so enjoying the special experience of a daughter getting married. They are a terrific couple. Also, as the administrator of a residential care program for nuns in Ipswich, Mass., I have a great deal of satisfaction in having implemented a memory-care program for them. So, a lot going on at home and at work. I like these challenges.” Susie Fox Reepmeyer writes, “After 40 years in Michigan, returning to live in a small town in mid-New Hampshire has enabled me to once again appreciate the unique beauty of New England’s seasons and the subtle transitions from one to the next. Stone walls and winding country roads also make me smile. Current favorite activities include six grandchildren ages 7 and under, practicing Pilates, book discussions, an online course on justice, and plans for a Maine windjammer cruise.” Jane Paffard Nichols spends lots of time with daughters and grandchildren in Seattle. She has
completed training to be on the Room Circus team of clowns, which goes into Seattle Children’s Hospital, where her daughters, Lila and Ana, both work. “I like to think that as clowns we are saving souls,” she says. “So at 70, I have still managed to avoid maturity. And retirement.” From Glastonbury, Conn., Sherry Lowe reports, “I still divide my time between Glastonbury and Nantucket, Mass. For those who don’t remember, I grew up on the island. I’m loving introducing my four young grandsons to Nantucket. My two sons try to get their families here as often as possible. I’m still quilting, knitting, and rug hooking with some golf and mah-jongg thrown in. Life is good.” And life is good here in Portland, Maine, too. I have a new puppy, eight weeks old as I write this— a beautiful yellow Lab, smart, adorable, and (sometimes) a little hellion. No respect for my favorite slippers, rugs, newspapers, trailing houseplants, or chair legs (“But Mom, I’m just cutting my teeth!”). The good news is that when I walk her, she brings a smile to people’s faces and stops them in their tracks, so I’m meeting people I might otherwise never have met.
PHILLIPS Paul Kalkstein 42 Doubling Point Road Arrowsic ME 04530 207- 443-5675 pkalkstein@gmail.com
Tom Pollock sent me news of Bob Trivers, from the Chronicle of Higher Education: “Rutgers University has suspended the noted evolutionary theorist Robert Trivers from teaching (with pay) and, according to Mr. Trivers, has begun proceedings that could lead to his being suspended without pay. Mr. Trivers had been teaching Introduction to Social Evolution and Human Aggression but was replaced, after one week, by other instructors, according to the student newspaper.” According to NJ.com, “Trivers said he was told by Department of Anthropology officials to teach the class over his objections that he knew nothing about the subject. In his first lecture last month, Trivers told students he would do his best to learn the subject with the students and teach the class with the help of a guest lecturer.” Later, I heard directly from Bob. On his website, he says, you can see “an incredible story about how Rutgers is choosing to treat me— ‘incredible,’ except that this is New Jersey.” Take that, Chris Christie. Bob’s website can be found at roberttrivers.com. After Bob visited Tom and wife Helen in California, Tom wrote me, describing an incident involving Bob from our PA years. “Recall that periodically a student was allowed to give the talk at daily chapel,” wrote Tom. “So, here’s the story: Trivers is selected—volunteers, in fact. Rev. Baldwin always vets the speech the day before. He