Top of the Hill. Janice A. Mays ’73 is the new staff director of the House Ways and Means Committee. Widely recognized as the tax expert who helped write the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Janice has worked on Capitol Hill for 31 years. She was staff director for the committee from 1993-1995 and has been the committee’s minority staff director since then. According to Janice, the committee is likely to focus first on “low hanging fruit” upon which Democrats and Republicans can find common ground, ranging from technical corrections to earlier legislations to the question of how to close the tax gap and collect unpaid taxes. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia Law School and the Georgetown University Law School.
and enjoyed the Gulf scenery while we played catch-up after so many years. It was so much fun. And, the best part was that we just picked up where we left off – still comfortable friends after all these years. I treasure that time we spent together. I attribute the opportunity to Jean Cain Gaddis ’61 passing on info through the Class of ’61 email list, and to Jane’s original laundry question, which started the process.” “In January, Ernie and I spent six plus weeks in Brazil, Argentina, and points south and west. The south was Antarctica, where it was summer and temps ranged around 5-40 F. The west was Easter Island, to check out those statues. A wee bit of temperature change to deal with here! We had a pleasant 2006 Christmas. I sang in our church choir four times on Christmas Eve Sunday. We will not have to do that for another six years or until it comes on Sunday again!” writes Muriel “Mimi” Decker Mortensen ’61 of La Jolla, California. Mimi also had a card from Jane Baker Chaffin ’61 who said that she and her husband, Joel, have relocated to Nicholson, Mississippi, after losing everything in hurricane Katrina. From Augusta, Georgia, Gayle Langston Ricklefs ’61 reports, “Ron and I spent two weeks in the province of Quebec, Canada, in September. We went whale watching in Tadoussac, cruised up the Saguenay Fjord, and made piggies
of ourselves over the wonderful French cooking.” It wasn’t nearly as exciting to return home, back “down to earth and dieting.” Sheila Leto Scott ’61 from Boynton Beach, Florida, has temporary quarters. She and her husband, John, are living in Marianna, Florida, for one year while he is the interim priest at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. “It is almost like being newly married, since we are living in a two bedroom duplex and we came with a 4 X 8 U-Haul and what we could get in the car. The nice thing about being here is that we get to see old friends and relatives. We are one hour from Panama City where we both graduated from high school. We saw Liz Heim Cullen ’61 and her husband, Spencer, at John and Spencer’s 50th high school reunion. I met Betty Joyce Bevis Hand ’61 for lunch in Marianna. She was excited about taking a cruise to the Mediterranean. I hadn’t seen her since our Wesleyan days.” Congratulations to first time grandparents Hoyt and LaTrelle Blackburn Oliver ’62, who live in Oxford, Georgia. Son Erik and his wife, Monica, have a new son, Lucas Sylvan, born on September 16, 2006. Congratulations to Wesleyan Trustee Diane A. Lumpkin ‘63 of Charlotte, North Carolina, who received the George Stegner Award from the Carolinas Concert Association in November. The
award is given for outstanding service and dedication to this organization that is celebrating its 77th season of bringing outstanding performing artists to the Charlotte area.
Margaret Mannheim Sease ’64 of Saluda, North Carolina, enjoyed attending the Asheville Wesleyan Luncheon at Grove Park Inn in November.
Members of the class of 1964 gathered on St. Simons Island to celebrate the life of Helen Cousar Wells ’64 in October. “We built a sandcastle on the beach for Helen with a large mound in the middle, representing Helen, and smaller mounds around it, representing those in her support group. There was a moat, and the castle was decorated with sea shells as a symbol of Helen’s artwork. The next day we visited Helen’s grave and left green and purple balloons. That evening we made luminary bags for Helen and our other deceased classmates. With the candles lit, we read poetry, and had a good cry. Those present were Moon Burt, Mary Helen Hall Ringe, Barbara Abercrombie, Peggy Pierce Chandler, Mary Helen Pope Daniel, and Helen’s son, Brad Wells,” writes Carol Burt from St. Simons Island. Jane Brockinton Earhart ’64 writes from Plantation, Florida, “Harriet Bell Furman ’64 (Boone, North Carolina) and I recently spent a week together. We had loads of fun talking about old times. We had not only been roommates at Wesleyan but best friends through high school.”
“Don and I enjoy so much our five children, their spouses, and our nine grandchildren – so far. But, we also love the empty nest,” writes Rosemary McGraw Barfield ’65 from Albany, Georgia. Mary Jane McCarren Brantley ’65 of Sarasota, Florida, helped her mother, Hellen Goepp McCarren ’26, celebrate her 102nd birthday on November 10, 2006. Hellen lives with her daughter in Sarasota. Congratulations, Hellen! Carole Jones Graham ’65 of Eastman, Georgia, has published a new book that just might be of interest to some Wesleyannes (current and graduates). The book is titled The Bells Are Ringing: A Take-Along Guide for the Mother of the Bride. Carole will be signing her book at Marketplace during Alumnae Weekend in April. Until then check out southernrenaissancepublishing.com for more information. North Carolina Poet Laureate Kathryn “Kay” Stripling Byer ’66 says “hello” from the mountains of Cullowhee, North Carolina. She also invites everyone to “give a look to” the New Southerner, an online magazine which has its first year’s anthology in print. “Included are interviews with Wendell Berry and yours truly, poems by a number of fine young Southern writers, and essays on a
Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2007