YAM Class Notes: March/April 2017
On the eve of the Inauguration, Donna and I have escaped to Florida, mainly to avoid the ugly winter weather in Maryland. The added bonus for us has been connecting with several classmates. We spent New Year’s Eve with Bob and Mary Rounsavall, who are our next-door neighbors in Delray Beach. They recently returned from a trip to the actual South Pole, where they enjoyed a brief exposure to the Antarctic spring. We also had a delightful lunch with Steve Rockmore (our guest for the weekend) and Stanley and Susie Trotman. Steve was escaping New York City where he is the residential consultant for the condominiums in the conversion of the Waldorf Astoria.
This is typically a slow period for class notes, although those of you who pay your class dues by mail always have the opportunity to add some news with your payment. So far, three classmates have done so, and I hope that’s not a reflection of how we’re doing on collecting the newly reduced dues. Erich Cluxton wrote: “Our sixth grandchild arrived in May 2016. We now have three little boys and three little girls, all of whom live within 45 minutes of our home. Their regular visits continue to bring Linda and me great joy and many laughs.” Eugene Overton reports that he has been married 50 years, with six children and ten grandchildren, and is still a family practitioner in Fairfax, Virginia. And David Karrick is finally retired after losing his bid for a third term in the New Hampshire legislature to “the Trumpers.”
The class listserv yielded a few worthy notes, not least of which was Mike O’Connor’s detailed description of a unique Thanksgiving musical instrument: “You may not have realized it, but a turkey baster can be played as a music instrument. Well, at least it can be employed to make music. If you will be at a Thanksgiving dinner with children, especially those of grammar-school age, you may have an opportunity to demonstrate to them that you are still, in your early 70s, decidedly cool, by teaching them how to play the turkey baster. It is desirable to start with a clean turkey baster, not one that is intermittently being used to baste.” I’m sure classmates who missed Mike’s post can contact him for full details—space limitations preclude me from doing so. Warren Rothman alerted us that “I have largely completed part two of my book”; publication of part one was reported in the notes in last year’s July/August issue.
I received a surprise gift from Henry Hacker and the Yale Center for British Art: two beautiful books published by the center, both bearing acknowledgements for Henry’s support of the center and its publications. Two American Photographers in Britain and Ireland 1960s to 1990s is a collection of photographs by Bruce Davidson and Paul Caponigro. The second, Art for All: British Posters for Transport acknowledges Henry’s role in creating the center’s poster collection and his ongoing contribution of over 200 posters.
Seth Hoyt has been following Mike Lydon’s continuing musical career and forwarded an announcement of Mike’s “inaugural” 2017 performance: “Singer-songwriter and writer Michael Lydon, currently celebrating 50 years as a founding editor of Rolling Stone, will be back at Cornelia Street Café, singing and playing his originals and standards with his longtime partner Ellen Mandel, vocals and piano.”
The actual ceremony awarding Burt Haimes the Insignia of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor was held on December 9, 2016, with the ambassador of France officiating. Mel and Pam Shaftel and George Michas were in attendance. Any classmates interested in visiting Mongolia should be aware that Bob Baker’s nephew, Jonathan Khoury ’04, and his wife operate Blue Silk Travel, a travel company that organizes tours of Mongolia. This news likely comes too late for anyone to take advantage of a trip this coming June which will focus on the dinosaurs in the Gobi Desert.
I am sorry to report that David Sulman passed away on December 10, 2016. He is survived by his wife Rose-Jane and his four children. David’s obituary is posted on the class website. He spent his career with Teradyne, developing test equipment for semiconductors, and noted in his 50th reunion essay that he considered himself fortunate to “have had an inside seat at the computer revolution that changed the world.”
Burt Haimes alerted the listserv to the news of Dave Hutchinson’s death in November. Burt noted, “He was a great and big-hearted guy and will be greatly missed.” Burt’s posting elicited a number of remembrances that will be posted on the class website. Bob Leich e-mailed me that the notes for the Class of ’68 in the last edition of the magazine reported that Bill Malloy passed away. Bob commented: “Bill was in the Class of ’65 but then left for a stint in the army, returning to graduate in ’68. I had a nice catch-up with him at our 55th reunion. He was living in a retirement home close to New Haven, as I recall.” Please post remembrances for these and all our departed classmates on the class website.
Registration for the Roanoke mini-reunion, April 27–30, 2017, is well under way. Thanks again to Mal Douglas for organizing an excellent series of events and entertainment.
By John Pinney, ’65