Class Notes January/February 2002

Class Notes January/February 2002

Welcome back! Upcoming events. Hockey Dinner, March 2, at Mory’s, and then to the Rink to see the Bulldogs play Brown, chaired by Tony Dunn and Jeff Miller. Washington, D.C., area gathering May 9-12, including tour of Antietam battlefield led by Ed Bearss of PBS Civil War series fame, chaired by Tom Esslinger. Once you’ve decided to come, please sign up without delay. This will make Tom’s committee’s work a lot easier. Next Class Dinner: September 27 at the Yale Club of New York City, chaired by Bob Leich. Federal Reserve Governor Larry Meyer will be our speaker. Ninety-eight classmates, wives and guests attended our annual Class Dinner on October 26 at the Yale Club of New York City, including Linda Waterman, Mike’s widow. CBS national security correspondent Dave Martin spoke to us about our counter terrorism war, via audio feed from Washington and held his audience in rapt attention. Thanks to Dave for sticking with our invitation months ago in spite of the intervening events of September 11. Thanks also to Bob Leich and his secretary, Judi Rabin, for another superbly organized event.  Chris Albert’s widow, Cynthia Albert Luck, reports that their son, Alexander, 16, is a sophomore at Kent, daughter, Sarah, is in eighth grade and  little Ted is a big eight. Cynthia concludes, “Friends, please call if in New Haven! (203-248-2235).”  Carl Farrington has challenged all of us who do not already subscribe to Listserv, our on-line chat room. Carl will donate $5 to Yale for each classmate who subscribes for the first time between the mailing date of this YAM issue and June 1. So to debit Carl and credit Yale, just email aya@yale.edu, give your full name and ask to be added to 1965’s Listserv. Bing Grosscup has four children: Ben, 30, teaching in Portland, OR, Eliza, 26, in retail in Greenwich, CT, Peter, 3, starting school, and Mac, 1, starting life. Bada Bing! Gretchen and Mike Harrison have returned from a sabbatical in Buenos Aires where they mastered the tango and their daughters, Brittany, 15, and Kelsey, 13, attended school in Spanish. Their son, Todd, ’92, was married on Martha’s Vineyard in September. Our Class scored a double play on November 25 with the birth of Taylor Jennings Hillenmeyer, Jr., grandson of both Donna and John Pinney and Sallie and Hillie Hillenmeyer, proving that Yale Crew is a life-long sport. Television viewers of the Vanderbilt-Tennessee game also saw and heard the Hillenmeyer name frequently as Hunter, Sallie’s and Hillie’s son, excelled as one of the Commodores linebackers. Jon Ingham turned 60 on December 7, and reports that he is happily married, boating, traveling, working on an old house, serving on the board of one of the (New York) City Colleges, and benefiting from the perspective on life acquired from his circumnavigation. Sally and Larry Lawrence’s son, Jesse, married Mary Elizabeth Webb on October 6 in Demopolis, AL. Larry’s brother, Bruce, an Episcopal minister (and professor of Islamic Studies at Duke) performed the ceremony. The rehearsal dinner and reception were held on the lawns of beautiful homes overlooking the Tombigbee River, while river boats saluted us with toots. The remainder of the Lawrence clan, Pete, Ben and Christina, continue to thrive. Charlie Lotte retired from TRW where he had worked as an electrical engineer on satellite communications. He now performs Mr. Mom duties, along with hiking, peak-bagging and mountaineering in the Sierras, Cascades and Alaska. Hugh Marshall’s daughter, Kathy, is a member of the Class of 2005. Doozle and Stan Trotman visited Suzanne and me en route from Long Island to Florida. We took a little boat trip and enjoyed some colonial architecture. Doozle and Stan are currently in first place, in the Most Granddaughters Contest, with three. (The Most Grandsons leaders have four). Can anyone beat these numbers? David Williams has managed to beat nearly every market that’s come his way (with) a five year average annualized return ” better than 99% of (his) peers,” according to the Fall 2001 issue of Money magazine. This is no surprise to those who’ve followed Dave’s appearances on CNBC and Wall Street Week. Gary Wright is a new husband, a new father-in-law, and a physician-philosopher. Gary married Barb Hadley in January 2000, and his son, Andrew, married Karen Head in June. Both Karen and Andrew are lawyers. Gary is a pediatrician in Eugene, OR, and expects his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University there this year. Sadly, I report the death of David Cook of Passaic, NJ, in September. After graduating from Yale, David received another degree from Penn, served as a naval officer during the Vietnam conflict and worked as an assembler at Cobehn Corp. before retiring in 1985. I also report the death of Peter Szilagyi, in September, from cancer. Classmates will remember him as a serious chemistry student, robust water polo captain and fiercely independent refugee from Hungary. He became a skilled and compassionate physician, loved by his patients for his generosity, modesty and egalitarian approach to life. Shortly after Peter’s death, friends gave a farewell at a Hungarian restaurant on New York’s East Side. On that occasion, Peter Cummings said of him “(N)ot a more loyal, nor honest, nor honorable, nor trustworthy friend has drawn breath.” Widows. Bebe Seymour, Charley’s widow and a member of our Class Council, has written a letter to our classmates’ widows asking what we can do to increase their participation in our activities. Any suggestions? Call (617-698-5403) or email (rawilliamson@mediaone.net) Bebe or me. AYA. Bob Wiznia’s term as our AYA rep expires this year. If you’d like to do this for us, please let me know. Finally, by now you should have received at least one mailing describing the petition candidacy for the Yale Corporation of Rev. David Lee (Div.’93) of Varick Memorial AME Zion Church in New Haven. I had a nice chat with Dr. Lee and was impressed with his commitment to instill integrity and competence in Yale’s conduct of business in New Haven. Based on more than two decades of watching Yale interface with the community, I believe that its governing body needs someone who recognizes the importance of these issues, has not (as a practical matter) been selected and awed by the administration, and is not preoccupied by commitments elsewhere. Accordingly, I think that that Rev. Lee’s candidacy for alumni fellow merits your consideration. One caveat: his campaign has been financed by Yale’s employee unions, and I express no view on that.