Class Notes, November/December 2022

Class Notes, November/December 2022

Fall is definitely coming—the ospreys have departed. A correction to the last osprey update: there was only one baby in our nest and he or she flew south with the parents around Labor Day. The osprey in the nest down the creek succeeded in attracting a mate but there were no apparent offspring. Stay tuned until next March for the next report. For those of you not interested in osprey reports, send news so I don’t have to fill up space.

The class Zoom program continues to provide timely and interesting topics and speakers. The July 27 session featured Ronnell Higgins, Yale associate vice president for public safety and community engagement, a role he assumed after serving as Yale’s chief of police for 11 years. AVP Higgins described his plans for new policies and programs related to campus safety, community safety, and community engagement. The session was ably moderated by Chis Cooke and Kyle Pruett. The August session featured Professor David Blight, Sterling Professor of History, who spoke on the topic “America in the 1850s and Today: Can A House Divided Against Itself Survive?” Ward Barmon and Bob Baker moderated the session, which explored similarities and differences between the pre–Civil War decade and America today. The September session was a presentation entitled “CRISPR: A Tool to Transform Humans and Nature” by Stephen Latham, the director of Yale’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. Tim Kennedy and Kent Reinker moderated the session, which explored the implications of CRISPR-Cas9, its future uses, and its potential to produce both untold benefits and unimaginable harm. 

Brief Notes: Felix von Moschzisker wrote: “I have posted a load of my work on Instagram, at the address @felixvoncat.” Steve and Betsy Clark were in Eugene, Oregon, at the World Athletic Track & Field Championships. Betsy wrote: “It’s been a nice ten days in Tracktown, seeing amazing athletes in a world-class new stadium.” Chris Cooke posted a book recommendation for Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football, by Rich Cohen. “This is the story of the 1985 Bears who went 15–1 and beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl 46–10. There is significant mention of our classmate, the late Mike McCaskey.” Don Taylor wrote: “We are in a rental house in Aldie, Virginia, but are building a new barrier-free home in The Plains, Virginia. It is seven miles south of Middleburg.” Last but not least, Landon (Bunky) Carter wrote: “I am just in the process of completing my new book, The Happiness Handbook: A Practical Guide to Clearing up the Past, Living in the Present, and Creating your Future.”

Longer notes of interest: David Hawkins commented on the listserv about the impacts of climate change on water temperatures for thermal power plants: “What the Electric Power Research Institute (an industry-funded operation) got wrong was the pace and size of these impacts. They have been faster and more pronounced than predicted. This is generally true of many of the expected impacts from climate disruption: what was once thought to be harms that would occur decades from now is already happening. This reality is sinking in with the public and politicians. The shame (as I discussed in talks at our 25th and 50th reunions) is that we could have avoided much of this suffering if we had acted earlier to transition to cleaner energy sources. That’s the bad news. The good news is that by acting promptly now, we can avoid even larger amounts of harm and suffering beyond what is already locked in.” David has been warning us regularly for the past 35 years and there is still hope for the planet, but the missed opportunity list keeps getting longer.

This news from Dick Wolff: “Dave Lyons and I visited Dale Kiefer in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, for a three-day reunion of our swimming history that goes back to four years at New Trier HS as well as four years at Yale. Dale’s wife Katherine kept us from being too outrageous as we debated the topics of the day and the state of our lives. We had a blast, especially as we were in beautiful coastal Maine. I heartily recommend such friendship renewals.”

And in classic car news, Bob Leich wrote: “I saw a mint restored ’63 Corvette for sale on E-Bay for a cool $96K, an exact match to the one which I had purchased senior year from the gal that classmate and fraternity brother Jeff Lockhart was engaged to marry. Jeff was living in Boston and over the years I have tried many times to get him to attend a reunion or a class dinner, all to no avail. I sent him the blurb about the car and got a nice response updating on his current situation.”

Sadly, we’ve lost two more classmates: Allen Gilliard died in St. Louis on January 7, 2022, and Tom Tresselt on July 12 in Hartford Hospital. Please visit yale1965.org to view their obituaries and post remembrances.

I look forward to writing a glowing review of our October class dinner and the presentation from Bill Nelson. The class Zoom program will resume in December.