stay connected... PHILLIPS Peter Williams 3070 Shamrock North Tallahassee FL 32309 850-893-3342 Petewilliams1@hotmail.com Frank Herron 38 Prospect St. Winchester MA 01890 617-852-0126 ffherron@gmail.com
When plans surfaced in January 2014 to honor Kelly Wise in April upon his retirement from PA’s Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, David Cohen leapt into action. He wanted to find fellow 1970ers who had been taught by Mr. Wise. He said his search led to very fun and positive conversations with, among others, Charlie Wyman, Jim Steinberg, Tony Carroll, and Steve Pieters. And Jon Michals reports that he planned to attend, too. David enjoyed recalling a special moment during a discussion of (we’re pretty sure) Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon. A certain word appeared in italic type. At least one student—Joseph Yount— did not know what it meant. He was, however, smart enough to seek an answer. He whispered to a neighbor, hoping that classmate knew the word. The answer stunned Joseph. He couldn’t hold it in. He excitedly blurted loudly—for all, including Mr. Wise, to hear—the English translation of the Spanish word cojones. The room erupted. A great moment in the history of Andover classrooms! David mentioned that he, too, is facing retirement. For the past eight years, he has been executive director of the AFL-CIO’s Department for Professional Employees. He considers this his fifth career. “It has been so much fun,” he says. He and his wife, Ruth, live on Broad Branch Terrace NW in DC. David has called it home since the fifth grade. It’s where he and Ruth raised their four children—Alison, Susanna, Benjamin, and Jeremy. The District and his job have suited him well. Among other things, he mentioned enjoying hearing Steve Samuels’s son play jazz guitar and having lunch with Doug Adler. David likes being near a bookstore and a Metro stop and within the orbit of numerous deer, foxes, and rabbits. No wildlife was in sight in New Haven in January, when Sandy Urie ’70 and Frank Herron headed there for the opening of Yale’s new building for its school of management. Says Frank, “We ran into Ken Colburn at the event and had a glass of wine with Don Celotto at the bar of the Study hotel.” The word from Houston is that Rob Christie and George McLellan (a ninth-generation Texan) were very happy to meet Head of School John Palfrey. In Rob’s words, “We felt it our responsibility to ‘represent’ the unique spirit of the Class of 1970, and George rose to the occasion by weaving a Hunter Thompson/Andrew Dice
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Clay-esque tale of college debauchery.” John reportedly handled it well. Also from Rob: “We found [John] to be courageous, thoughtful, and well spoken in addition to being positively received by those present in Houston. ...We felt the Academy is in good hands.” Rob gets to New England fairly often, to visit his daughter Margaret (Wellesley ’16) and his New Hampshire house. He stays in touch with Bill Chamberlin, who lives in eastern Washington state and whose oldest son is beginning the collegesearch process. By e-mail, while relaxing far from Houston—in Aruba with some Havana Club rum at hand—the aforementioned George McLellan reported in November that he stays in touch with Donald Rollings, who (remember, this is from the rumsipping George) struck a Faustian deal: Don told God he would give up drinking if He would let him complete his Grand Slam in sheep hunting (Dall, Stone, bighorn, desert bighorn). George says Don got his wish. The sheep did not. The classy woodworking landscape in Western Massachusetts now looks very different. David Short announced early in 2013 that he had closed his Amherst Woodworking. The most difficult thing was putting about 30 people—some of whom had worked with David for three decades—out of jobs. “It is also not the end I had in mind for this business that I built from just me,” he says. On the good side, his stress level has “dropped like a rock.” David mentioned he got a text and photo from Nick Leone in December. Nick, who was on campus for the memorial service for Jack Richards, sent a picture of the room he and David shared in Bartlet Hall. David recalls, “Great room, working fireplace, illicit bacon & eggs on Sunday morning.” A report from the Raleigh News and Observer of Dec. 11 gives an update on the trial of Charles van der Horst, who was found guilty of trespassing charges at the North Carolina State Legislative Building. A few months earlier, he had joined demonstrators. The focus of the protest: The legislature had decided not to accept the federal government’s plan to expand Medicaid as part of federal healthcare law. Charlie, a widely known AIDS researcher, gave three reasons for his protest: (1) his Hippocratic Oath; (2) his immigrant parents’ belief in the Constitution; and (3) his clinical experience since the restrictive decisions were made by the legislature. Charlie (and another defendant) appeared before Judge William Lawton. While announcing his verdict, the judge praised Charlie, saying that he “has a passion I wish all doctors have.” Nicely stated. As reported by Bill Roth: One name too long absent from these pages, John Sibal, bought Mark Kelly, Tony Carroll, and Bill Roth lunch in NYC in late 2013. John, who runs a commercial mortgage firm in New Orleans, was in town to receive the Class of ’70 Grandparent Prize for the oldest (18-year-old Scott Baker, if you count stepgrandchildren; 9-year-old Luke Baker, if you don’t) and most (five, including Emma Baker and Olivia and
Ian Sibal) grandchildren in the class. Assisted by his wife, Lisa, and son, James, formerly an executive chef who is still involved in the food business, John kicked off the planning for our 65th birthday dinner in New Orleans in 2017 and will try to get daughter Allison to come down from Baltimore for the occasion. Want to know more about John? Says Bill, “All you have to do is take a look at your yearbooks, boys, because John looks exactly the same.”
1971 ABBOT
Sara Ingram 500A E. 87th St., Apt. 12D New York NY 10128 212-879-4665 sara-ingram@earthlink.net Abby Johnson 1983 Maison Way Carson City NV 89703 775-885-0612 saged183@gmail.com
As we write these notes, Lucy Pope’s travel trailer is marooned in her yard, swamped in a sea of snow near the seashore on Cape Cod. Lucy and her husband, Mark, typically head to Florida to escape the snow, but this year they didn’t leave in time to beat a huge New Year’s nor’easter. That same storm turned Cait Owen Hunter inward, to tend fires and goats rather than venture forth to sell her awardwinning goat cheese at winter farmers’ markets on the Maine coast. Shelby Salmon Hodgkins is now also living in Maine. She says, “We have now cut the travel time to our home in Lake Placid in half from when we lived in Michigan—a blessing as we get older.” She and her husband have retired to coastal Brunswick to be close to their newest grandchild. They have three grandchildren under the age of 3—Eloise, Ada, and Ethan—with a fourth expected in 2014. Debra Sammataro-Hutchins provided us with “a snapshot” of her family’s life. She continues to live in Austin, Texas, with her husband and 14-year-old stepson, Elias; her psychotherapy practice keeps her busy and fulfilled. Debra also had a chance to hang out in the LA scene when her husband, Billy, received an Emmy as executive producer for best children’s show, The Haunting Hour. Debra’s adult children are pursuing diverse and exciting endeavors. Tynan was named by Time magazine as having one of the “50 Best Blogs.” Taylor is in college in Utah, training to become a helicopter pilot. Youngest son Devon is in Austin, working as a photographer and videographer, primarily in the BMX world. Finally, Debra’s daughter, Kelsey, is an associate designer for a design firm in San Antonio. Peggy Haskell Moss is celebrating her first pension check, now that she is retired. She has a 2-year-old granddaughter and another expected in