Class Notes

 

Haven’t kept all of your Midd Mags?

Wondering what your classmates have been doing since graduation?

I begin this column with the sad news of the passing of Maggie Murray on June 4. I am reminded of countless evenings of sherry and Irish literature to counter the cold snows of Vermont, punctuated by Maggie’s thoughtful perceptions. Our condolences are sent to husband and daughter, Steve and Hannah Botkin. A memorial appears elsewhere in the magazine. • In a Rutland Herald article last spring addressing antigay messages found on campus, Guy Kettelhack was quoted as saying the College may need to address sexuality issues in general as a way to combat homophobia. “The bewilderments that I think particularly bedevil men and women in the 18- to 22-year-old realm are, I believe, largely at the root of homophobic reaction and expression.” He adds, “Don’t forget that homophobia is a fear.” • Tom Shea reports, “Over the past two years both our children have graduated from college, I’ve semiretired and founded an independent consultancy, and we’ve visited Ireland, Spain, France, and Mexico. We moved from Boston to Chatham, Mass., in June.”

Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Summer 2007

Owner of J.P. Carpentry Company, Joe Bergin is also a member of Carpenter Poets of Jamaica Plain, Mass. A group of 18 men and one woman, the carpenters write about what they know—namely, carpentry. Twice a year they hold readings at James’s Gate Restaurant, where the poetry group was born. Joe played around with poetry in high school, intended to be an English major at Middlebury, and when he left to pursue carpentry, continued to write poems as he worked. “For me, poetry is putting emotional constructs together, and carpentry is putting functional concepts together. Both take thought and heart.” Joe has also written poems on other subjects, including a self-published collection of poems about Boston entitled The Boston Seasons Quartet. Two years ago he met Boston Mayor Tom Menino, told him Boston needed a poet laureate, and volunteered for the job. He’s still waiting to hear.

Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Spring 2007

Bill Burke was on campus in January to give a lecture on teaching, coaching, and education for the winter term class, Coaching Young Athletes. Bill continues in his position as the headmaster of St. Sebastian’s School in Needham, Mass.

Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Winter 2007

Janet Frey DeVito writes: “I went to Alumni College at Bread Loaf with husband Skip ’72. Walter Newman and Foster Osborne were also at AC. Franci Vinal Farnsworth (who works at the College) came up to eat lunch with us all and catch up on news. When Skip and I were on campus Saturday to see the new library (gorgeous, by the way), who should pull up in his car but Keith Oberg, who was dropping off his son for MOO (Middlebury Outdoor Orientation) as a first-year student. Although he had no time for chatting at that moment, Keith and his wife drove up to Bread Loaf a bit later and were able to spend a few minutes with us before they had to zoom off to their next destination. We also saw Mike Schoenfeld who dropped by while Keith was there. So there were six of us classmates up at Bread Loaf—practically a mini-reunion.” • Deborah Schneider Greenhut has a new position—on September 27, she officially became associate dean of humanities and social sciences at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City. “It’s a thrill to be joining a growing school and to have a chance to watch this part of the city blossom around us.” • Dan Gillmor is encouraging people to write their own news on citizen media Web sites. As the founder and director of the Center for Citizen Media, Dan has written the primer on the subject, We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. He believes that by encouraging readers to participate in the journalistic process, traditional media will be reinvigorated and community involvement and activism will be spurred. Dan is a veteran newspaper reporter with 25 years of experience. • This past October, The New York Times Magazine did a feature on Wendy Mogel and her 2001 book, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children. With an original print run of 5,000 and little publicity, the book has become a popular parenting tool that has sold about 120,000 copies at a pace of more than 20,000 a year. Not confined to Jewish settings, the book is used all over the country as a text for classes and discussion groups. Wendy gives about a speech a month and has been a keynote speaker at the National Association of Independent Schools, the American Camp Association, and the National Association of Episcopal Schools. Her second book, The Blessing of a B Minus, will be published by Scribner in 2008 and is about everyday ethics for parents of teenagers. Wendy and husband Michael Tolkin ’74 live in Hollywood. • U.S. House Representative Frank Pallone was reelected with 67 percent of the vote from the 6th District of New Jersey. Congratulations, Frank! • Terry McGuirk serves as chairman and president of the Atlanta Braves where he has executive oversight of player personnel, team operations, and Turner Field. His involvement with the Braves dates from Ted Turner’s 1976 purchase of the team. • The Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s “Made in Vermont Festival” this fall included a world premiere commission, Green Mountain Variations, by Peter Hamlin. This piece plays with a variation on Vermont folk themes. Peter is an active composer who has written works for orchestra, band, choir, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, solo voice, music theater, and electronic media.

Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Fall 2006

Jay Aronson wrote that she was “working on travel plans to visit my kids who are leading exciting lives. Son Eric Downing recently graduated from Vassar and departed to work at North Rim Lodge of the Grand Canyon. I am hoping to rendezvous with Sherie Steele when I get out to Arizona. Daughter Meredith Downing ’08 is planning a semester away from Middlebury at the Univ. of East Anglia (U.K.) for the fall term. While I will miss visiting her on campus, I get to plan a trip to explore a new region. I am still working as a high school counselor at Hudson (N.Y.) High and getting to experience the reality of the impact of No Child Left Behind legislation.” • Lesley Cadman was “off on something of an adventure on July 1: my first full-year sabbatical ever, and after 25 years at Parsons! No firm plans yet, except to possibly reinvent myself for the next phase—and to see my family in daylight, use the 20 hours a week of commuting for other things, and see my elder son through the college search-and-application process.” • After more than 25 years in healthcare/behavioral health planning and administration, Ariane Krumholz decided to try something new. She is chair of the Council for the Arts for Zen Peacemakers’ Maezumi Institute in western Massachusetts and has become more deeply involved with the arts and social justice. She also met and worked with Linda Cushing McInerney ’80, the producer/director of Old Deerfield Productions, and there are some wonderful projects ahead! She reported that Ariane Bailey Hiribarne ’74 of Paris was visiting her family in July. • This spring, an exhibition of the pennants, banners, and flags created by Jamien Morehouse was held at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine. Jamien’s arresting fabric works inventively combine elements from such diverse sources as nature, aspects of island living, Pop Art, Matisse, and Polish poster design. A book on the artist was published for the exhibition.

Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Summer 2006

Kathy Reading Moore writes, “I retired from the Navy in the summer of 2003 after a very full and rewarding career. I was blessed to have my final assignment at United States Space Command, in Colorado Springs. After living in so many places, I found I love the Rockies so much that I chose to stay here and make Colorado my home. Despite some health concerns, I stay busy with a part-time job and a myriad of activities. I have taken up skiing again—a daunting prospect after so many years. My daughters are both happy and productive. What more could a parent hope for? Alison is an intelligence officer for the Air Force, presently assigned to a base in Texas. Amanda is an aerospace medical technician here in Colorado Springs. Whether they make it a career remains to be seen.” • Deborah Schneider Greenhut is happy to announce that her play, Staggering Girls, was selected for the Edward Albee Conference in May. Deborah was off to Omaha. • “Alive and well and painting in Cincinnati” is how Muffie Briggs Ng began her note. After years of momdom, she has become an oils painter. Her three children are 24, 22, and 20 years old. “Two are still in college and one is done! Yay!” • Lucy Totten writes, “I joined a slew of classmates as a Midd parent last fall when our daughter, Nell Williams, entered with the Class of 2009. We’ve already shared one teacher, Glenn Andres. I am ambivalent about the fact that she works way harder than I did, but it is a pleasure to have a direct connection with the campus again.”


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Spring 2006

Masha Chamberlin Belyavski-Frank was promoted to the rank of professor of Russian at DePauw Univ. in May 2004. In December 2005, she was named a University Professor at DePauw for 2006-2010, a major four-year award for "sustained excellence in teaching, professional development, and service." In her awards letter, the university president commended her for her teaching in Russian (language, literature, and culture) and for her scholarly research, mainly in Balkan linguistics, as well as literary translations from several Slavic languages. • Artist Steve Miller's work has been partially inspired by his stunning collection of Neolithic Chinese pottery. While living and teaching in Hong Kong, he was astounded by the number of Neolithic objects available for reasonable prices and began collecting Chinese pottery in 1999. These pots, paired with his lush paintings that incorporate MRI imagery, X-rays, and computer codes from scientific research, reflect his interest in science and the nature of time. An exhibition of some of his work, "Finders Keepers: The Obsessions of Passionate Collectors," recently appeared at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, N.Y. • A play written by Deborah Schneider Greenhut as an artist-in-residence at the Makor program of the 92nd Street Y was staged on January 29. The play, How I Live With Terror, has also been selected for the Core Project of the Riant Theatre. • In Montpelier, Vt., Bill Holland is "hard at work raising two daughters-Sylvia (6) and Lucinda (2)-while writing screenplays and doing what it takes to keep the house in one piece through a Vermont winter." • Michael Downs suffered a stroke two years ago and had to relearn how to sing and teach music. An inspirational piece detailed his journey in the December 5, 2005, Bennington Banner. • The sympathy of the class is extended to Stephanie Blankenship Herrell on the death of her mother in August 2004. Stephanie reports that she is "the grandmother of eight wonderful children, including twin boys born in 2004." • George Schirtzinger reports: "Kids are all over the place, but I hope to see all three of them and ski in New Mexico in the early spring. Alexa was in the middle of the storm that recently hit Honduras. Eric will finish college this December. Peter, who graduated from the Univ. of Rochester last May, is in Washington, D.C. I have started a low-budget racing program and a few other hobbies to keep me off the streets and out of the office. No land speed records will fall but it is impossible to be unhappy on a racetrack, I have found. Life improves." • Bob Lally is pleased that his daughter, Jennifer Lally, will be joining the Middlebury Class of '10. As a senior at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Conn., Jennifer is an outstanding student and captain of the ski team. Son Bobby, a sophomore at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, spent part of last summer in Alaska on the cutter Acushnet. He sails on the Coast Guard Academy varsity offshore sailing team. Son Jason (12) was on the State Championship U12 Connecticut soccer team. As for Bob, he reports: "I passed my Coast Guard licensing test to be a Captain and have an article in the January issue of Sail magazine. I have no immediate plans to quit my day job as a Ttx CPA/ lawyer, but it is always good to have plan B in the wings. I have just taken delivery of a new sailboat, a Beneteau 57 named Cosmo, and Bobby and I are making plans to sail her to Bermuda this summer on his break from the Academy. I have stayed in touch over the years with Chuck Clark, who is very involved with his continued love of flying and has just taken delivery of a twin engine aircraft. So between us we can get places either very quickly or very slowly. If Chuck meets us in Bermuda, it will take him three hours and us three days!"


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)
35 Patton Dr., East Brunswick, NJ 08816



Winter 2006

Bill Burke and wife Patty became grandparents on March 14, 2005, with the arrival of William L. Burke V (son of oldest son Will and his wife, Anne). Second son Dan has wedding plans, while third son Matthew '04 is teaching and acting in L.A. Their youngest, Sam, is a sophomore at Harvard. Bill writes: "Chris Burr, Bart DeSalvo, Mike Ryan, Charlie O'Sullivan '74, and I continue to meet twice a year for book club discussions. We all greatly treasure our time at Middlebury and our eternal connection to the place." Bill is in his 16th year as headmaster of St. Sebastian's School (Catholic independent; 354 boys in grades 7–12) in Needham, Mass. • Peter Goodwin reports "a great summer in Wolfeboro, N.H., except for a great two weeks rafting down the Grand Canyon. They say that it is a trip of a lifetime, but it was the family's second trip. I might try to be a cat and go down nine times. Happy to talk about the Grand Canyon with anyone—and if anyone comes near Wolfeboro in the summer, look me up." • Christopher Duncan's teaching career of 20 years took him to independent schools in New Jersey, Philadelphia, Denver, NYC, and then the Poughkeepsie Day School. According to an interview in the New Paltz Times, he then decided to get a master's in environmental administration through Antioch New England College in New Hampshire. He now runs the Wallkill Valley Land Trust, writes land preservation agreements, produces a newsletter, and works with landowners to preserve important areas from development. He reports the necessity of keeping careful land trust documentation: "When you take on land preservation agreements, you take them on 'in perpetuity,' and that, as they say in the land trust world, is a long time."


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Fall 2005

Jhon Akers recently transferred responsibilities at Wofford College: "I will be working in the innovative Success Initiative Learning Community, a student-led and project-driven scholarship program for some of Wofford's most creative students. Also, I recently performed my program on Carl Sandburg and Andres Segovia at the Sandburg Days Festival in Galesburg, Ill. In April this year my book on Sandburg's guitar-inspired writings was published. It's entitled A Small Friend and is available through Honoribus Press." • Wendy Mogel is a clinical psychologist, school consultant, and writer (The Blessing of a Skinned Knee) living in Los Angeles with her husband, writer Michael Tolkin '74. She writes: "I travel the country speaking to parents about strategies for raising self-reliant, optimistic children and resisting cultural pressure to over-indulge, overschedule, and overprotect them. I speak to administrators and teachers about the 'dark side of devotion,' including the impact of parental anxiety and entitlement on teacher morale. I'm working on a new book, The Blessing of a B–, about the effect of excessive academic and social pressure on students' worldview, mood, and spirit. Sounds cheery, no? If these topics are of interest to you, please stop by my Web site: www.wendymogel.com and say hello. Steve Miller, godfather to our two daughters, visited Los Angeles to attend our younger daughter's bat mitzvah last fall. This fall, older daughter Susanna begins her freshman year at Haverford College. Michael and I recently had lunch with new Midd President Ron Liebowitz. What a dynamo! We had a great conversation and look forward to spending more time with him." • Lynda Hunter Wolff and husband Richard report that their son is at Harvard and that they have two children in high school. ... It was 14 years ago that Nancy Howe was accepted in her first Birds in Art exhibition; this year she was named the 2005 master wildlife artist in that exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wis. The museum director commented that "Nancy's individual style and her ability to masterfully capture bird life are what set her apart from the rest this year." • Gus Meyer writes: "Pat and I just celebrated our 25th anniversary, with all of our married life spent entrenched in the same house in Randolph, Vt. Daughter Lindsay just received her MAT degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Marissa has completed her sophomore year at Colby, where she is majoring in psychology, despite her father's best efforts to convince her not to follow in his footsteps. I continue my psychology practice, mostly working with schools in central Vermont. After a somewhat half-hearted effort to find a publisher, I have chosen the publish-on-demand route with Authorhouse for my therapeutic fantasy novel, The Fates Within, which deals allegorically with a woman confronting her trauma as a victim of child sexual abuse." • Gary Baumers sends news: "After 18 months as employee benefits executive of JPMorganChase & Co following JPMC's merger with BankOne and nine years of living in Chappaqua, N.Y., Gillian (my wife of 26 years) and I are returning to Asia and moving to Hong Kong for the next two and a half years, after which we plan to retire to NYC and Costa Rica. We welcome e-mail from any '73 MiddKid planning a trip to Hong Kong who may want to reconnect with a classmate while there."


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Summer 2005

Pam Taft-Dick reported in from their current posting in Sri Lanka: "You may or may not know that I've been married to a guy with the World Food Programme for many years and we've been bouncing around this globe since 1978. Fortunately, German teaching is very transferable! Over the holidays, we had the pleasure of hosting our son (Jonathan '05), our daughter (Joya '06), and her boyfriend (Midd '06). We were packed and ready to head down the coast for a surfing holiday, when my husband called from the office (where he was tying up loose ends before leaving for a much-needed break) with the tragic news of the tsunami. It started as just news of some flooding, but the enormity of it quickly became clear. When I realized how bad it was, and that our families knew we were planning on holidaying on the southern coast, I quickly e-mailed them that, luckily for us, we hadn't left Colombo yet. I was fortunate to get right through to them because the e-mail and phone lines soon became saturated, as you can imagine. We hardly saw my husband during those first weeks with all he had to deal with. As the sad stories inevitably came to us, we just constantly felt SO fortunate and blessed to have our family intact. We're all doing our bits to help out where we can, as well as live our own lives. We also have a 16-year-old son here at the international school to keep an eye on!" • After being together for 13 years, Betsy Montandon and Keith Davison were married on July 21, 2004, in a small civil ceremony in Blue Hill, Maine. Betsy continues to work, as she has for more than 20 years, as a freelance ASL/ English interpreter in the Boston area. • Difficult Subjects, by Deborah S. Greenhut, was a finalist at the New York Strawberry One-Act Festival and will be published in The Best Plays from the Strawberry One-Act Festival, Volume 2, this summer.


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Spring 2005

Peter Hamlin has been appointed to an associate professorship in Midd's music department, where he's teaching theory and electronic music. A prolific composer, Peter had been teaching at St. Olaf's College since 1992. • Andy Wentzel continues to be active as a professional singer, appearing on concert and opera stages around the world. For 10 years he has also been concentrating on building a training program for young singers at the Knoxville Opera Studio (affiliated with the Knoxville Opera and the Univ. of Tenn.) in Knoxville, Tenn., where Andy lives with wife Karen and son Forrest (13). • George Schirtzinger sent best wishes to all for the holidays and the new year. He anticipated spending Christmas with daughter Alexa in her village in Salvador, where she is serving in the Peace Corps. Son Eric is doing a year abroad in Graz, Austria, and son Peter is finishing his senior year at Univ. of Rochester. George remains in Dallas for the moment: "Plans to move my business to Texas are on hold (despite a much better year than in '03) and likely not to proceed. I may relocate back to California until we figure out what to do and where to be, which is not California. Like for other small manufacturers, life is hard enough without the regulatory and cost climate there. I have set modest goals for '05: See my kids graduate and/or repatriate, figure the company out, and stay on a consistent exercise program. I have a small social life, but the other goals take precedence and '04 has been mostly six-seven day weeks, working to keep the business afloat. Being solo is not so bad and I have expanded my cooking horizons, among other things. Even had people over for dinners and all have survived. I am contemplating picking up a camera again or starting a go-kart racing program, if I find myself with a lot of time. I have been encouraged to do some writing and might take a whack at that, political commentary or other nonfiction, but it sounds too intellectual right now, not restful." • Tom Shea has been appointed the new managing director and head of the New England office (located in Marlborough, Mass.) for executive compensation firm Pearl Meyer & Partners. Prior to joining the firm, he was a partner at Ernst & Young, LLP. Before entering the consulting field, he worked in corporate compensation, HR management, and IT development/process improvement at two large financial and engineering services companies. A frequent presenter on HR strategy and rewards, Tom has been published and quoted in Management Review, Forbes, the New York Times and other leading publications. • Your secretary has two new developments to report. I will become a full-time faculty member at New Jersey City Univ. in the department of literacy education. And my play Difficult Subjects premiered in the Strawberry Festival of One-Act Plays in NYC during February.


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Winter 2005

Guy Kettelhack (guyblakekett@aol.com) reports: "I moved back to my beloved Manhattan after a two-and-a-half-year stint in my hometown, Amityville, N.Y., taking care of my mother, who died a year ago July. Quite a trek going through that, emptying and selling the house, and adjusting to being The Last Kettelhack. Various writing projects engage me, the most peculiar of which has been a slew of poems, some of which, to my amazement, are gaining me a bit of recognition here and there, in various quarterlies and Web sites and competitions. Go figger. (Still playing the fiddle.)" • With more than 300 quilts to her credit, Londonderry (N.H.) quilter Virginia Guaraldi creates both bed quilts and art quilts, although recently weddings and births have kept her busy making the more traditional quilts for friends and relatives. She has sent her children to college with their own quilts, and a recent project has been designing a wedding quilt for her daughter and son-in-law. She's also a board member of the New Hampshire Quilt Documentation Project, which works to maintain a written record of quilts in the state. • Lisa Lloyd Hobson is in her third year as principal of a small elementary school (350 students in grades K-5). "At home, our kids are (almost) launched. Daughter Elizabeth (23) works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Son Richard (21) attends the Univ. of Ariz. in Tucson and plays club soccer." * Thomas J. Storrs was recently hired as director of urban design by the planning, engineering, and architectural firm of Morris & Ritchie Associates (MRA). As MRA's chief designer of high-rise buildings throughout the mid-Atlantic region, he'll lead design work on commercial projects, mixed-use centers, and urban development projects in the D.C. area. His previous projects have included the Museum of the Americas in D.C., the Baltimore Convention Center Hotel, Marriott's Orlando World Center, the Taba (Egypt) Resort Hotel, and InterContinental Hotels in Brussels and Vienna. • Lindy Osterland Sargent reports that "10 Midd '73 friends got together for a second reunion—the first being 17 years ago, at which point we'd known each other half of our lives. Now that the kids are mostly grown up, we managed to get away for a whole weekend, just us—laughing and reminiscing, paddling on the Connecticut River, hiking amidst fantastic fall foliage, and sharing book/movie recommendations and stories. Enjoying the hospitality of Kate Aring Piper, in Waterford, Vt., and each other's great company were Lindy, Kate, Jeannie Northrup Burditt, Alison Sommers Kennedy, Ria Torres Murphy, Betsy Benware Sessions, Miranda and Deborah Shinn, Loring Starr, Kris Bye Strandness, and Kathy Wilson. We decided that the next gathering will be sooner than the last, and we'll hope to have a few more of our 'farther away' friends join the party!"


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Fall 2004

Peter Hamlin is back at Middlebury, with a tenured position in the music department. He had previously been an associate professor of music at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. • Mary Farley has both her kids at Middlebury this year-Andrew Carnabuci is '06 and Sarah Carnabuci is '08. Mary writes, "I've become a spokesperson for the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease (www.womenheart.org), after attending a symposium at the Mayo Clinic in October 2003. Having survived (and fully recovered from) two heart attacks, at ages 42 and 50, I realized that educating women about the risks and signals of heart problems is an important mission that I wanted to take on. Knowing and controlling risk factors-and in the case of women like myself with no risk factors, recognizing the onset of symptoms-are important for every woman, whatever her age. Work still keeps me busy, as business manager at Kunhardt Productions, the documentary film company owned by Peter Kunhardt '75, as well as lots of volunteer work." • John Bell sent word that he's "had wonderful visits with Tad Kline in Boulder, Colo., and with Chris Yano in Boston. I'm hoping to do more puppet shows about the way things are right now, and to write more about puppet theater. Our son, Isaac (13), wants to be an artist." John and wife Trudi Cohen and Isaac performed puppet shows together last summer. * Bob Badger is taking a year's sabbatical from teaching geology at SUNY Potsdam: "Mostly writing projects that I never have time for during the academic year, but I'm hoping to go to ANU in Australia to try a technique they've developed for dating rocks. My contact there, a friend from graduate school days, claims she can generate more radiometric data in one day than I was able to do in two years working in a mass spectrometry lab in graduate school. I'm eager to place an age on the basaltic rocks I've been chasing in the Adirondacks for the past 15 years. My oldest son, a sophomore biochem major at SUNY Geneseo, worked trail maintenance on Vermont's Long Trail summer 2003; this summer he did similar work in the Jarbidge Wilderness Area of northeast Nevada. He's heading to a cooperative farm in Costa Rica in the fall, spring semester he's hoping to be in New Zealand, and summer should find him taking courses in Italy. Why didn't they have such programs when we were in school? I guess they did for languages, but certainly not in the sciences. And if I had taken a semester off, Uncle Sam surely would have sent me packing for Vietnam." • Christopher Duncan is executive director of the Wallkill Valley Land Trust in New Paltz, N.Y. "We recently moved to a larger office and are busier with land conservation projects than we have ever been. We have received two grants for our work this year." Wife Susan continues as director of planning for HealthQuest, a hospital holding company in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Daughter Katie has completed fourth grade; daughter Rebecca completed first grade. "They are such fun to be with and fascinating to watch grow." • Last fall, Peter Goodwin set the courses for a successful two-day national orienteering meet in Kent, Conn., where more than 300 happy runners enjoyed the fall woods. "My young son is keeping me young by taking me down all the steepest skiing terrain that he can find, including glades. I now wear a helmet when I do that kind of skiing! Two gentle falls between trees on a double black diamond glade told me to think of my head." • Susan Crandell surprised me with the following leap: "I just ditched my job, and made my way from the top of the masthead at MORE (editor-in-chief) to the bottom (contributing editor) in one fell swoop. I'm now a lowly freelance writer, tail end of the publishing food chain. The first two weeks had me wondering whether I'd made a big mistake (couldn't get my computer to work, had to clean dead leaves, dead rodents out of the studio I work in behind our house). But now interesting assignments are flowing in and, while I tackle them, I can watch the animal parade outside my sliding glass doors-turkeys gobbling in the woods, groundhogs ambling by. No more 3.5-hour commutes, no more budget meetings. My husband, Steve, just published his first book, The Gold-Plated Porsche, about rebuilding an old 911. Our daughter, who's an editor at Conde Nast Traveler, has the only day job in the family. I haven't felt like this much of a slacker-or had this much fun-since Middlebury." • Yours truly has seen my play, Fooling the Eye, produced by New Jersey Dramatists for the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival in June, and anticipated a production of a political satire called Funny Face Pancake Place in late summer. As I write this, I am getting ready to go to Valdez, Alaska, for the Edward Albee Last Frontier Theatre Conference where The Miss was selected as a semi-finalist.


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Summer 2004

Christine Yano, associate prof. of anthropology at the Univ. of Hawaii-Honolulu, sent word of the publication of Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song(Harvard University Press, 2002), while she continues to work on another book about Japanese American beauty pageants. • News of transitions continues to arrive. Bruce Chapin writes: "After taking an unexpected and enforced sabbatical for the last two years (read 'dumped in the tech slump'), I find myself once again in the odd position of working for a technology company in Kansas, as the CFO for a start-up, wireless broadband Internet provider with the admirable goal of providing broadband Internet access to rural areas in Kansas, Minnesota, Colorado, and Missouri. We have a whopping 48-person staff, most of which is spread out across Kansas and Minnesota. This means everyone does everything, including taking out the trash and occasionally vacuuming the floors. It is a wonderful mix of the silly and the serious-the serious including stretching non-existent cash, and trying to keep radio towers standing in a land known for its tornadoes. At home I watch children Guinevere (9), Iain (7), and Duncan (3) grow and stretch in the strong Kansas sun. I ended up here under odd circumstances, never expected to stay, but now find that I call this land of warm hearts home. However, mine is a restless life; who knows where I will end up." • Living in both Boston and Chatham, Cape Cod, Sharon and Tom Shea enjoy traveling and skiing. Son Michael was graduating from Wheaton College this May; daughter Lauren completes her freshman year at Fisher College. Retiring in March, after 13 years as a partner and senior practice leader with Ernst and Young, Tom was moving on in May to become managing director of the New England practice of Pearl Meyer & Partners, a leading executive and board of directors compensation consulting "boutique." The smaller firm environment should provide more life balance and time for more direct client work. As practice leadership in professional services has aptly been analogized to "herding cats," leading two to three dozen professionals vs. 200 will be a welcome change. To celebrate their 25th anniversary in October, the Sheas plan to visit the Caribbean, Ireland, and Italy. • Robert Shaw, one of the country's leading authorities on the history, cultural importance, and artistry of the quilt, has been named executive director of the Alliance for American Quilts. Bob is a curator and art historian who has written and lectured extensively on quilts and other American folk arts. He was curator at the Shelburne Museum from 1981 to 1994 and served as consulting curator of special exhibits for Quilts, Inc., in Houston from 1998 until his present appointment. • Ken Seward is the new headmaster at the Steward School in Richmond, Va. He had been head of school at the Roeper School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. • Your secretary recently received word of some good news. My play, The Miss, was selected as a semi-finalist for Edward Albee's Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska, in June. Another play, Fooling the Eye, was scheduled to premiere at the Producer's Club in NYC, June 1-6.


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Spring 2004

As the cold was setting in in earnest here, it was warming to hear from Bobbi Sturgis Terkowitz and Janet Zizzi Magel. Their annual Christmas Eve dinner party was to be held in Jan's newly remodeled dining room. Now in sales for IBM's e-government portfolio, Bobbi was honored with Hundred Percent Club last March and has "gone mobile" for the advantages of working from home. Though husband Ralph will continue to consult to the Washington Post, he is embarking on a new career, financing young companies poised to grow through ABS Capital Partners in Baltimore. Son Michael, in his final year at Harvey Mudd College, plans a career in software development. Son Jeffrey is taking a year off to pursue his interests in policy and international relations. • "Life is so much richer outside the jungle of big law firms!" remarks Johanna Smith, who also works at home now. But if you think she's relaxing, please know that Joey is copresident of the Foundation for Faces of Children, treasurer of the Walter E. Fernald State School Corp., and a member of the Belmont Conservation Commission. She "fits all that in around my tennis." Daughter Becca graduates from Midd this May; daughter Sara '02 pursues a Ph.D. in genome science from the Univ. of Wash.; daughter Rachel hearing from colleges; son Danny is in eighth grade. • Bob Spitz's son Ben is also graduating from Midd in May: "He's managed to do the full four years at Middlebury (well, with one year spent abroad), which is better than the mere one year that I spent there." • Stephanie Blankenship Herrell has been traveling and hiking in northern California with her husband. They have four grandchildren so far. • Last February, Skip and Marjorie Lyons Durning began an ambitious endurance training program in preparation for a 150-mile bike ride for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Wisconsin last summer. They also enjoyed a trip to Colorado Springs and Rocky Mountain N.P. last June. Son Peter is majoring in archaeology at Bowdoin College. In D.C., son Matt works for IDP, marketing Australian higher education to American students. • "In case anyone missed it on C-span," Bob Lally writes, "I recently testified before the Senate Committee on Finance and Corporate Tax Shelters. This testimony managed to make most of the major financial press, including the WSJ, NY Times, and USA Today. In general, I was critical of the present lack of ethical standards in large firms. There is a legislative backlash brewing (post-Enron, everyone has a new regulatory bill for accountants) which will be difficult for the profession. I continue to practice in the tax area with my own boutique firm, Federman, Lally & Remis LL.C. in Farmington, Conn. Anne finished her MSW and is working with elementary school children in the Bloomfield, Conn., school system. Bobby (18), a senior at Suffield Academy, is on the college hunt; Jennifer (16) is a sophomore at Miss Porters; Jason (10) is a budding soccer star." • Tina Gramsey Barry is teaching junior high life science and earth science in Auburn, N.Y. She's two years away from retirement, after teaching more than 27 years. Sons Peter and Jason are 22 and 25. After being single for 16 years, Tina married "another Barry" two years ago, so her name remains the same. Her passion is stained glass, and that's what she looks forward to doing in retirement. • We were saddened to receive word of the death of Peter Kempers on October 23, 2003. (A memorial appeared in the winter issue.) Peter's wife, Jeanne sent word to Tina Barry that he had a rare and aggressive form of cancer of the nasal cavities which spread to his brain. At his memorial service, Jeanne reports, people got up to speak of his "capers, his great wit, but also of his honesty, great work ethic, and just being a good man." She added: "So sad to have it happen to such a gentle, intelligent, and wonderful man." • Cannon Wann Montague is teaching art through Allied Arts in Chattanooga, Tenn. Husband Rick is a writer and environmentalist. Son Chris graduated from Trinity College in 2001; daughter Alexis is a sophomore at American University in D.C.


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Winter 2004

After working as an editor at the Rutland (Vt.) Herald for nearly 22 years, Tim Clemens started a new job in November as copy desk chief at Central Maine Newspapers in Augusta, Maine: "I now supervise the copy editing and design staffs for the Morning Sentinel in Waterville and the Kennebec Journal in Augusta. It's pretty strange not working in Vermont after all these years, but it was a great career opportunity, and I'm enjoying getting to know Maine." • The summer issue of the NEACAC Newsletter informs us that the North East region of the National Assoc. of College Admissions Counselors chose Carolyn Leggett Perine as the Counselor of the Year for Vermont. Midd's office of admissions noted that "this is a very appropriate recognition of Carolyn's many years of being Middlebury's liaison to schools and organizations in New England." • With the publication of her book, The Balkan Conditional in South Slavic: A Semantic and Syntactic Study (Verlag Otto Sagner, Munich 2003), Masha Chamberlin Belyavski-Frank (M.A. Russian '76) brought a 20-year project to fruition. The book examines the morphological and semantic development of the modal construction formed with either the imperfect of "to want" plus the infinitive, or with a modal particle from "to want" plus the imperfect of the main verb. Analysis of the Balkan conditional is given for examples taken from diverse sources, including epic folk poetry, dialectal texts, and the standard literary language in the South Slavic languages, as well as in the Balkan non-Slavic languages of Greek, Albanian, Daco-Rumanian, Istro-Rumanian, and Arumanian. Specific syntactic and semantic contexts are analyzed, and comparison is made with other modal constructions in these languages. Masha is an associate prof. of Russian and director of Russian studies at Depauw Univ. • News from yours truly: In June, I produced my first play, A Good Constellation, for the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival at the American Theatre of the Actors. I'm currently working with Pulse Ensemble Theatre toward a staged reading of a full-length play this winter. Looking forward to hearing news from everyone as the winter brings us all indoors once more.


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Fall 2003

Taking up the pen where Robert left off, I begin with thoughts of the exceptional journey back to Middlebury for our 30-year class reunion in June. Special thanks go to Larry Novins and Jay Aronson for considering our diverse interests in shaping a weekend schedule that offered something for everyone. Mary Scanlan Parker and Scott Helmers and their committee deserve our appreciation for their gently persuasive work on the Reunion Gift Committee. Jay commented: "I think it says something when non-Middlebury spouses have a good time. It was a wonderful gathering. Although our numbers were smaller than the big turnout for our 25th Reunion, it was a chance to deepen ties with those beyond our original circles, complemented by delicious food and stimulating conversation! Being in certain spaces heightens the memories, such as chatting on Proctor Terrace, dancing to oldies in the pit at Johnson, a bike outing, a round of golf, attending plays, talks, and tours. We are fortunate to have this place of shared roots to go back to."• We paused during our pleasures to remember the people we have lost. Near our class tree behind Starr Hall, we listened for the memories of Christopher Anderson, George Beals, Roger A. Black, Kirk Brennan, Karen Deininger, Charles Dixon, Robert Elliot, John Hazelton, Jonathan Hussey, Michael Mihalik, Richard Monroe, Jamien Morehouse, and Sam Tsiranides. The silence after the recollections was eloquent. • Andy Wentzel, who was unable to attend reunion, is a tenured prof. of voice at the School of Music, Univ. of Tenn.-Knoxville. He oversees a training program for young professional singers at the Knoxville Opera Studio, a joint venture between the School of Music and the Knoxville Opera Company. While continuing his performing career throughout North America, Andy finds himself spending more and more time with wife Karen Nickell and son Forrest (12). He welcomes visitors to the beautiful east Tennessee mountains. • John (Wilson) Whitewolf had plans to visit England this summer. John continues to consult for the ASU (Arizona State Univ.-Phoenix) West IT department, where son Heath, a junior, studies computer science. Recently John "finished a yearlong stint as chair of a campus committee charged with advocating for diversity, respect, and social justice issues. The last couple of years have been challenging to tolerance, so our committee was very busy." • A great view of Mt. Washington and an invitation to stop by come from Lois Ongley (loisongley@earthlink.net) at her new address: 221 Pease Hill Rd., Monmouth, ME 04259. Lois finished her first year of teaching high school chemistry in Sabattus, Maine: "I enjoyed it, in spite of the kids who 'don't do homework' and am struggling with the 'my dad said I'd flunk so I guess I will' approach. My classes and I are doing water quality research on the lakes near by." Lois's daughters are in college: Kathe at Harvey Mudd, Margaret at Smith, and Jes taking a year off from UConn to focus on activist politics. • Franci Farnsworth received the 2003 Volunteer of the Year Award from the Council on Under-graduate Research. A member of CUR since 1993, Franci has served on the board of the organization since 1997. In part, the award states that "Franci gives constantly of herself to benefit the faculty at Middlebury and also those at colleges around the country." • Renovating a home of her own, dancing, and photography top Sallie Sprague's enthusiastic e-mail about her current projects. The house is a 1959 ranch, "last redecorated about the time we graduated from Midd," where the sun in Colorado has replaced the rainy Pacific Northwest, enabling her to garden happily. She was especially pleased when a May article in one of her other alumni magazines included an article accompanied by "quite a few" of her photos. Sallie hoped to visit Massachusetts in August. • Kathy Frazer Winsted has achieved the rank of associate prof. of marketing with tenure at Pace Univ., Pleasantville, N.Y. Her new house in Yorktown Heights will include a "country porch for me to sit on, a new master bedroom, and a rec room to have more space for teenagers!"  The Winsteds travel back to Middlebury for skiing on winter holiday weekends. Kathy sums up the general feeling by concluding: "Reunion was great. Life is good." • I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone during the coming years. Keep in touch!


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)



Summer 2003

Abdul-Alim Issa works for Cigna International as director of global underwriting, based in Philadelphia, Pa. "We live in New Castle, Del., and commute to Philadelphia. I travel overseas at least twice a year-mostly the Far East and Europe." • Margie Lyons Durning and her husband have been "enjoying the empty nest with our younger son at Bowdoin and our older son living in D.C. Time to play on the weekends and travel where we want. Looking forward to seeing friends at the reunion." • Bill Burke continues to love his mission as headmaster of St. Sebastian's School in Needham, Mass. Son Matthew '04 is reportedly happy at Middlebury. • A scholarship has been established by Ann Main in memory of her husband and in honor of her son. The Robert G. Main Sr. and Robert G. Main Jr. Scholarship for Legal Education will assist students from Franklin County (N.Y.) attending law school. The scholarship was awarded for the first time in spring 2003 at Franklin Academy, where both judges graduated. Both also received their law degrees from Albany Law School of Union Univ. The academy's board president commented that this endowment "will, over the years, enable many young men and women to enter the legal profession."


Class Secretary
Deborah Schneider Greenhut (writerDSG@comcast.net)





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