Class Notes
| 1985 continued
a meeting and see Mr. Leiter, Monty or Mr. Boulger. Cheers to my 40-year-old classmates!” Class Agent Dave Kansas writes, “The ’85ers are going through that fun year where the number ‘40’ comes up with increasing frequency. For me, that meant a bit of crisscrossing the nation to toast people heading into the big decade. Last fall, Cathy Paper, Peggy Driscoll, myself and others celebrated the big 40 with Ken Rice, his wife Elizabeth, and his family in Baltimore (or “Bal’more” as I believe the locals say). The event included a fun afternoon on a boat out in the harbor. In February, John Wolf and I were on hand to ring in Todd Bomberg’s big 4-0 with his wife, Amy, and their family in Los Angeles. Todd and I also caught up recently in New York City. Another big 40 came in New York with Katy Cochrane Carey celebrating in the trendy meatpacking district of Manhattan. Julia Jordan and her husband, Doug Unis, were in attendance. Katy’s husband, Greg, received big kudos for surprising Katy with such a nice birthday party. I was late for Mike Ristau’s birthday (in December), but did manage to share a Belgian beer with him in Brussels. He, Laura and his family are doing a tour in the EU hub courtesy of Mike’s employer, 3M. They love all the history and sightseeing, but they miss some of the conveniences more familiar to Woodbury than to Liege. Pat Farrell celebrated 40 in April and is still pastoring at Calvary Chapel in New Jersey. He, Ann and Michaela Rae are doing swimmingly. Pat’s traveling a bit, too, having recently taught in Minnesota and South Carolina. I, of course, am only turning 32 this summer, so my own big 40th party will have to wait for a future date.
38
SPA
| summer 2007
After Dave Kansas gave the commencement speech for the SPA Class of 2007, he and other friends met at O’Gara’s Bar and Grill in Saint Paul for fun and fellowship. Pictured, from left, Daymond Dean, Cathy Paper, Sean McCauley, and Dave Kansas.
In other class news, John Cunningham and his wife,
I always knew I should’ve taken an economics course!
Rebecca, announced that their youngest, Alita Ellen Cunningham, is now about a year old. She’s walking about ‘when her sisters are not knocking her down,’ John says. Sophia is 7, Ella is 5 and the Cunninghams are ‘solid Ann Arborites now.’ John is working on an early stage business development firm called Innoventures. Brian Hagerty writes to say that ‘after spending a little over a year as a patent litigator at Faegre & Benson, I began clerking for Judge Patrick Schiltz on the federal district court in St. Paul. I’ve signed on through 2009, so I have some breathing room before my next career move. My wife, Sara, is about to finish her first year as a family practice resident and our daughter, Maura, just turned two. Maura is already a reluctant star on YouTube (see videos tagged ‘maurah’) and cracks us up every day.’ Steve Levitt’s Freakonomics franchise continues to expand. Like Dan Brown, he isn’t a fan of the paperback version of the book, apparently. Instead, readers are being treated to an expanded reworking in the hardback version. Also, it looks like PBS will pick up a Freaknomics show of some kind in the coming year.
muses about computers in our hypertechnological age. ‘I happened to think about the “computer center” we had at SPA the other day (prompted by an article on laptops in schools). I never stepped into it. What was in there?’ It was a collection of strange computers on the second floor near the math center. And, best I can recall, I don’t think I stepped in there, either. I’m sure that’s all changed. Carolyn is part of the large chunk of ’85ers in the NYC area, living in Brooklyn. She published her first book, Creole Crossings: Domestic Fiction and the Reform of Colonial Slavery, in 2006 and says ‘Glowing reviews are just starting to appear now in obscure academic journals.’ Our class does seem to have no shortage of writers from Becka McKay to Julia Jordan to Carolyn to Steve Levitt and myself. I’m sure there are many others, as well. Carolyn is teaching literature at The New School, which she describes as an ‘idiosyncratic Greenwich Village institution now gaining a larger profile as the host of Project Runway.’ She says she’s expecting a visit from Jennifer Arenson. And, on a closing note, she reports that she
Carolyn Vellenga Berman
has converted to Judaism and was married at Temple Israel in Minneapolis with Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman officiating. But: ‘That’s old news, more than 10 years, but sort of fun.’ Well, old news is still news! Nicole Winter Tietel writes to say that ‘life is great and there’s not too much new to report.’ Well, even knowing life is great is good news to hear from a fellow ’85er. Cathy Paper continues to drive her Live Dynamite business. She’s formed a ‘Mastermind Group’ based on Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, which is based on his followings of Andrew Carnegie. As Cathy says, ‘It’s not all about money, it’s about a group that can help people be the best they can be.’ She also notes that a lot of former SPA people have their kids at SPA. A sure sign of the big 4-0, eh? I exchanged emails with marathon runner Mark Pitzele, but we mainly talked about his cousin Elie Kobrin, a fellow SPAer from the Class of 1997. Elie has recently shifted from the doctor’s game to take a gig as an analyst at Bank of America in the specialty pharmaceutical space. For myself, I recently wrapped up a year as the President of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the nation’s largest business journalism trade group. I managed to get fellow Spartan Rebecca Jarvis ’99 of CNBC onto the board before departing. She will serve on the board with a familiar face: her mother, Gail MarksJarvis, formerly of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and now a columnist with the Chicago Tribune. I also see Sarah Nassauer ’97, another younger Spartan, from time to time. She’s still working at The Wall Street Journal. I have also recently embarked on a career change. Earlier this year, Dow Jones, parent of The Wall Street Journal and