YAM Class Notes: July/August 2016
I write from Nashville where Donna and I are about to join Hilly and Sallie Hillenmeyer in a birthday celebration for our “mutual” grandson Mathew Hillenmeyer, who turns 8 today. Spring appears to be struggling here and at home, but not enough to dampen the spirits. This time of year also seems to bring classmates out of the doldrums to send or make news.
Speaking of news, Judge Barrington (Danny) Parker was honored by the Yale Law School on April 27 with the unveiling of his portrait at a ceremony in the Law School auditorium. He took time off from being honored to cowrite the 2nd Circuit’s opinion on the NFL and “Deflategate,” ruling that “the commissioner properly exercised this broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and . . . did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness.” Judge Parker did not opine on the question of whether Tom Brady conspired to deflate the footballs.
In other news, a recent Marin Independent Journal headline captures our unassuming Olympian Steve Clark: “Prep swimming: Low-key Clark brings Olympic experience to Redwood coaching staff.” Typical of Steve’s low-keyness, it took Perrin and Peggy Quarles to pull the news story off Betsy Clark’s Facebook page. Steve has been an assistant swimming coach at Redwood High in Marin, California, for two years.
A number of you have availed yourselves of e-mail or the class dues form to send updates. Bill Torbert sent the following: “I retired from Boston College in 2008, convinced any new scholarly writing would remain just as unread as what I’d produced by then. I have also continued to write and have just this year published Eros/Power: Love Under the Sign of Inquiry, with coauthor Hilary Bradbury. I tremendously enjoyed seeing old friends at the 50th reunion, but the only one I see regularly anymore is Dennis Holahan, who’s about to stop by in Boston to visit my family and his son’s. Speaking of my family, it has been enlarging wonderfully in the last three years, first with two granddaughters and now with two grandsons on the way.”
Marshall Hoke sent a brief update from Canada: “We are happy to be healthy and at home in rural Alberta. We continue to enjoy outdoor activities and traveling. Why not drop by for a visit.” Apologies to John Avlon whose note should have been in the last edition: “Our son John (Y ’96) and his wife Margaret Hoover delivered a granddaughter on October 27; she joins her two-year-old brother. They are also the grandchildren of Andy Hoover (Y ’63).” Hollis Wright reported: “I have a new book on the ontological foundations of virtue ethics, called Ontic Ethics, coming soon from Lexington Books.”
Warren Rothman joins the growing list of classmate authors with his book on his experiences in China. He posted the following on the listserv: “At long last, I took the plunge and actually launched the book in e-book form. If you go to amazon.com, you can download the Kindle version. Check it out: amazon.com then ‘kafkainchina.’ Also, please check out my website, kafkainchina.com.”
Fred Roberts continues the wonderful photography program he described at the 50th: “I am extremely pleased to remind you of the major exhibit of our students’ work to take place in Toronto from April 30 to May 31. The exhibit, entitled Our Stories, Our Images, Our Future, presents more than 120 remarkable photographs made by the students from our workshops in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India (Hyderabad), and Canada (Toronto) over the past two years.”
Tim Merrill sent this note about a Trumbull “mini-reunion”: Roger and Gail Molzahn hosted a ’65 Trumbullians gathering in Savannah in April. In attendance were Dick and Ann Wyles, Ralph and Lucille Vandersloot, Lonny and Sherry Towell, David and Dorothy Ralph, Bill and Daisy Quayle, Dave Martin, and Tim and Nancy Merrill. They had fun reconnecting, and Savannah Squares and good restaurants provided a good backdrop for coming to realize that 50 years seem to have disappeared.”
Karl Schonborn alerted the listserv that Bob Wilkes died Sunday, April 10. Karl enclosed an e-mail from Bob’s wife JoAnne: “Sadly, Bob died yesterday following a massive stroke. I am mourning a fine man, husband, and father. I believe this is for the best—he faced a difficult future—but it is hard nonetheless.” Karl added the following thoughts on Bob: “Of late, Bob and JoAnne lived in Menlo Park to be near their grandkids, but he lived in New Jersey for most of his investment consulting career. I will always cherish that Bob truly cared about Cleft Heart and has his family. He was tough—basketball player and submariner, among other things.”
In more sad news, Jeff Miller notified me that Mike Rosati passed away on April 9. Dave Roscoe attended the memorial service for Mike, representing our class and offering condolences to Mike’s wife Kitty and daughters Katy, Lily, and Margaret. Mike’s obituary is posted on the class website, along with several remembrances from classmates. Dave has made several important changes to our website, yale1965.org; of particular importance is the ability to post remembrances of classmates who have passed away since the 50th.To post a remembrance, simply send your text in any format (e-mail, Word doc, etc.) to Jean McKillop, our webmaster, at: webhelp@yale1965.org. Remembrances will be posted in alphabetical order of deceased classmates, with the most current postings at the top.
On a happier note, discussions and planning continue on a possible mini-reunion in 2017, and Bob Woodward is slated to speak at the class dinner on October 28.
By John Pinney, ’65