stay connected... is not in mourning all the relics of my past that have burned up, but in celebrating the present and future of the land and the people whom I love so much.” Although the intervening months have been bittersweet—Ted lost his father; please keep him in your prayers—Ted and his family closed on a new house and are finally resettled. It continues to be a season of blessings in other ways, as well: Brita Strandberg announced that she married Laurel Lea, UVa ’98, in College Park, Md., on Aug. 15. My erstwhile prom date Tad Beck and husband Grant Wahlquist spent the summer in Vinalhaven, Maine, where Tad moved his art studio for the summer, and Grant came up as work allowed. Tad also noted that he “enjoyed an overdue visit from Matthew George and his family, and also had a great dinner with Rob McQuilkin and his partner, Will Russell, at their house.” He also sent the press release for a fascinating shared community space installation, Energy Field, that Liz Collins will mount during the coming year at Skidmore College. Diahan Walker-Sealy sent me the kindest note—her first ever for the class notes since graduating. “I thought this was a good opportunity to share how small the world can be. Early in my almost 10 years at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), I found out through an Andover Bulletin that one of my colleagues was the son-in-law of Oscar Tang ’56. That was a nice coincidence, but then, just last year, I discovered through another issue of the magazine that the chief of staff is an Abbot Academy alumna: Carol Kinzler ’69. She had been at EDF long before I started my time there. She became critical in my rethinking my career path (recommending I read Lean In, among other things) the few months before I resigned from EDF this past May, and I regret that I had not known sooner about our shared history. When I think of all the coffees or lunches we could have had or simply the opportunity to learn more from her about courage in the workplace...” Lisa Lincoln Chioffi reports that she has been “enjoying random appearances by Istvan Szent-Miklosy and an occasional pathcrossing with Newt Davis, who is general counsel for a tech company in Boston and commutes by bike. Cycling is the new golf! Kimberly Doggett Formisano was nice enough to roll up her sleeves and plant kale for Gaining Ground on Non Sibi Day. She is the new head of the lower school at Park School in Brookline.” So, lots of good news on the career front amid the emptying of our nests. Susan Willard Hawes reports that fellow ’86er Peter Anton “can actually play with fire and entertain folks doing it. He’s done some interesting work with fire spinning and breathing, and it’s incredibly cool to watch. I am looking toward becoming an empty nester with both trepidation and a smile. Having two in their early 20s, I feel such a sense of nostalgia for their younger years and am so fond of the nice young adults
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Andover | Winter 2016
they’ve become at the same time. Congrats to all my classmates with such cool updates; I’ve changed careers and am happily guiding lives in assisted living.” Laura Joseph notes that she was “back at Andover a few weeks ago for my first visit in 15 years. The campus was empty, so I could spend my time reliving scenes from our years there and seeing everyone’s faces as I walked around. It was a very happy afternoon. Now I am back in Paris, where I run a design gallery. My twin girls started first grade and my son is in eighth grade. I feel very grateful for those years at PA and would love to see any of you should you come to Paris!” Terri Kopp shared something truly exciting: “I have news! I just had a TV show I created ordered to series at BET! Am hiring a writing staff now. Will be writing the first 10 episodes over the next 20 weeks, and then I go to South Africa for four months for the shoot. It’s about public defenders. American cast, American show, but shooting in S.A.” Stay tuned, all—and Terri, please tell us when we can see it. Gabriele Hecken Bauman wrote to say that she “caught up with Laura Frost ’87 in London this summer. Had a great time, and we went out to a super restaurant on the Thames!” N. Harry Rothschild is the author of the newly released Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers, published by Columbia University Press. Harry is presently a professor of Asian history at the University of North Florida. Istvan Szent-Miklosy wrote, “My girlfriend and I went down to Philadelphia to exhibit at this year’s ISTE, which is the largest of the annual ed-tech conference/expos. I got to meet up with both Rachel Fuld and Mike Clapper and their families during the four days we were there. Rachel is making wonderful wooden furniture, and Mike is doing us all proud, teaching at an innovative high school (www.workshopschool.org) he cofounded in a tough Philly neighborhood.” And last but maybe not least: Christine Balling is now in DC! More details next issue, but suffice it to say, party time!
1987 David Kopans 2 Princeton Road Arlington MA 02474-8238 781-646-4515 617-947-2454 (cell) dave@kopans.com
First off, each of you who did not respond to my e-mail request for news should send out a round of big thank-yous to Martin Valasek, Bill Watt, Mary Caulkins, Chris Regan, Jamie Rosenberg, Christina Smith-Gajadhar, Carter Hood, Elizabeth Roth, and Mike Peterson. Without them, dear classmates, I would have almost
nothing to write about, except my newest start-up adventure. While interesting, it’s not 1,100 words interesting. Now once you have properly finished thanking those fine folks, you can pick this magazine back up and read on. Martin wrote that he almost got the band back together again. The band, of course, was Angry Salad. And the get-together was with Bob Whelan during a trip Martin took to Chicago. Martin wrote, “I was visiting Chicago for the first time in early summer, which put me within striking distance of fellow former Angry Salad bandmate and ’87 classmate Bob Whelan. Only a broken air conditioner came between an actual reunion with Bob and the long drive back to Montreal. Bob and I were hoping to meet at a coffee shop somewhere on our way out of the city, but his AC broke down, and he needed to stay home to wait for the repairman, since he was hosting a meeting at home that day. Anyway, reunion thwarted, but not before I had a great chat with him over the phone.” Bill sent in an update to the notes I wrote a year ago and reported that his company (EpiThany) began dosing trial patients in June. Check out a smiling picture of Bill at www.epithany.com and, of course, wish him and EpiThany great success in fighting breast cancer. Christina reports that she “continue(s) to tour the world without leaving Virginia as a high school English as a Second Language teacher.” And with students from 57-plus countries in her classes over the years, that is certainly a big tour! Mary sent interesting and exciting news on the film front. First off, she and Karl Kister helped produce a film called Ma, which the chief international film critic of Variety magazine called “one of the year’s most original debuts.” Read more at http://tinyurl.com/PA87-MA. Mary also reported on a new “gem of a documentary” film by Olympia “Posy” Stone. The film is called Curious Worlds and is about the artist David Beck. The trailer is totally cool. Check it out, plus a lovely picture of Posy: www.floatingstone.com/. Chris gives a shout-out from Baltimore, where he continues his work on historic redevelopment projects and is preparing to launch a second private-equity fund in support of those efforts. Carter simply says, “I’m about to go fly-fishing with some fellow ’87 bozos and an ’88 goon. If we don’t come back, avenge our deaths!” Since I am one of those “bozos” (along with Travis “T” Metz, Steve “Hoppy” Hopkins, Paul “Mugsy” Marston, and Barry “Magilla” Crume ’88), if the spring notes don’t come out, you’ll know what happened. Tony Gellert will be in charge of the avenging— given, of course, his recent behind-the-scenes role in the movie franchise of the same name. Jamie gave me the updated scoop on ClassWallet, which is beginning to take off. It’s now active in more than 20 school districts and has recently closed a seed round of funding. Elizabeth wrote in with the following: “I caught up with Jenny Lim and her adorable family last