stay connected...
At Boston’s Battle of the Burger in August, Asia Bradlee ’12 and mom Tiffany Cobb Bradlee ’83 posed with event host Ming Tsai ’82. Members of the Abbot Academy Class of ’73 enjoyed a mini reunion in California in July. From left are Catherine Armsden, Connee Petty Young, Jane Cashin Demers, Edith Wilson Fleming, Marcia McCabe, Lori Goodman Seegers, Loraine Washburn, Sue Wheelwright, and Lissy Abraham ’74. Kate Winthrop is seated in front.
Gerry Harrington to run Ed’s campaign. I had breakfast with Gerry in DC, where he moves through the halls of power and mingles easily with officials from both sides of the aisle. Dunja Vehrenkamp wrote from Germany, “My husband and I still live (and work) in Hanover with our dog, Loki. I love my work as a teacher, and I am planning to work as a staff council in my school next year. Our daughter Svenja ’09 is studying in Hanover and has recently helped organize a parkour festival. Classmates visiting Hanover are welcome to contact me.” John Briggs sent an update from New Mexico, writing, “I’m alive and kicking outside of Magdalena, where my wife, Elizabeth, and I have animals and a small observatory. Back in 2005–2006, I served as a visiting astronomer at Phillips Academy to help activate the new observatory at Gelb [Science Center]. It was quite a trip being back on campus for a year with my family, where my wife and I had met as students. Just last month, I returned again for a week of volunteer lectures with the classes of observatory director Caroline Odden, who is leading great student research right from the campus observatory—student astronomy that’s getting published in professionally reviewed astronomy journals. It’s been a great joy to me in recent years to maintain collaboration with Caroline and her students.” David Paradis checked in from Colorado, where he teaches history at CU, saying, “I had Lars Waldner’s son Leif take one of my classes, and that was kind of fun. He is a really great guy; I am sure Lars is a proud papa. My wife and I are enjoying the empty nest, watching our kids become adults. Our son just bought a house in north Denver, where he is building a recording studio. My daughter is working for
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Sam Worthington ’76 in DC. Apparently Sam is a lot more mature than I am (big surprise), because she can’t believe he is only one year older.” Alex Magoun, who updates me via Facebook occasionally, sent a note. He wrote, “The IEEE History Center moved to Stevens Institute of Technology in hipster central—Hoboken, N.J.—where the hat my wife gave me fits right in while covering my increasingly exposed scalp. I recently finished teaching version 1.0 of a course on the rise of the great powers, from Watt to Jobs, which revealed the improvements in online translation essential to learning more about German, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese engineers. It also entailed more all-nighters than I anticipated. Does anyone else still find these necessary? I’ve found that trail mix and the wisdom of age help make them largely more productive than they were in Draper Hall. Beyond fulfilling various article obligations and completing a history-center rap to the rhythm of ‘Jam Master Jay,’ I am currently developing an oral history of RCA Labs.” Paige Sutherland wrote from NYC with an update: “The short version is all is good. I recently joined the YMCA to have a convenient place to work out. It is housed in a wonderful old landmark building built in 1930. The room we use for exercise classes has a very high ceiling with exposed pipes, dangling ceiling fans, and walls of aged brick. Every time I go I am immediately brought right back to some old PA exercise class. I can’t say for sure which PA building I get transported to, but it’s a serious case of déjà vu!” That would be the Cage, I think, Paige. Cha Cha Gesten shared, “News from here is that [husband] Shoobie and I became empty nesters as of September, with son Coby going off to Colgate University. Not for long, though, as
darling daughter Eliza, going into her senior year at Colby College, has promised to move home and never leave after she graduates!” Steve Schwartz wrote, “Update on my children from suburban Chicago: Alex ’07 is now a copywriter at Johannes Leonardo, an ad agency in NYC. Samantha is getting an MSW at USC, and Annie is following both parents at the hotel school at Cornell. I’m an active photography collector and am chair of the George Eastman House (GEH) Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, N.Y. Through GEH, I had a chance to catch up with Bill Cohan at our gala in NYC last year honoring Alexander Payne and Mary Ellen Mark.” Your loyal scribe’s sleuthing resulted in a phone call with Pete Pezzelli—teammate, classmate, and published author! Pete sounds remarkably unchanged. He says he dabbled on the side with a writing career until later in his 20s, when his girlfriend (and future wife) bought him an electric typewriter for his birthday. Not long after, while laid up recovering from knee surgery necessitated by a series of unfortunate rugby injuries, he decided to pass the time using it to write short stories. He later enrolled in some creative writing workshops at Brown University and attended the Wesleyan Writers Conference. His first novel was Home to Italy (2004), which earned acclaim as a Book Sense “Pick” and as a “First Novel of Distinction.” Peter is now the author of six published novels, all set primarily in Rhode Island or Italy. His most recent book, The Glassblower’s Apprentice, was published in October 2013.” I had the pleasure of attending Bill Yun’s wedding in July and got a photo op with Caroline Cunningham Young and Bill. I ran into Ellen Carley Frechette and Ed Frechette on the same trip, in a serendipitous moment. Toby Ewing sent a cryptic note from Iowa,