Placeholder for 30 September 2015
August Newsletter
31 August 2015
NB: Good people, please DO NOT “REPLY" TO THIS MESSAGE. If you do, your news will go sailing out into cyberspace and be forever lost. Send your news for September’s posting to news@hr71.org. We look forward to hearing from you. --Your co-secretaries Cynthia Blanton (cjblanton@me.com) and Rod Kessler (RodKessler71H@gmail.com)
Class of ’71 notes for August 2015
Rick Barton
I am looking forward to teaching at Princeton this fall and have enjoyed some wonderful US history thru a series of family-roots tours around parts of our country with my wife Kit. Below is a link to an article that just came out regarding how to improve the US role in a messy world. It may be of interest to others. Best, Rick Barton
http:// http://cco.ndu.edu/Portals/96/Documents/prism/prism_5-3/Golden_Opportunities_For_Civilian_Power.pdf
Ben Beach
Ben Beach is writing and editing part-time for the Partnership for Responsible Growth, a new nonprofit that is urging Congress to put a price on carbon. He's looking forward to seeing classmates November 21 in New Haven.
Dixon Butler
Increasingly I am spending time on the non-profit I organized to grease the wheels of science education reform - Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists (www.ylaces.org). The basic idea is that if the students don't do science, they aren't taught science, and the easiest, accessible way for students (grade 3- 14) to do this is through environmental citizen science. Our biggest grant to date is to SciStarter to recruit, train, and equip a youth group in every state to measure surface soil moisture in support of the NASA SMAP mission. Please check out YLACES. --Dixon Matlock Butler
Richard Byrd
I was class of 1971, and am republishing my grandfather, Leveret Saltonstall’s, book: Salty , a Yankee in Politics. He was class of 1914, a member of the first Harvard crew to win at Henley, and beat the legendary Hobey Baker to the puck to defeat Princeton in ice hockey. He was also Governor of the Commonwealth and U.S. Senator. The main reason for republishing is his description of how he worked with newly elected junior senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy, also a Harvard graduate. Even though they were on opposite sides of the aisle and of different generations, they got along famously and worked as a team to get legislation through for the benefit of our state, and on national issues, for the country.
When asked about the most important things in his life, grandpa would reply: “my country, my family, and Harvard College”
Richard E. Byrd
Senior Vice President
Morgan Stanley
125 High street.
Boston, Ma 02110
617 946 5156 direct
800 829 9199 toll free
617 933 7633 fax
John Cooke
Dear Classmates, I haven’t written a class note in over ten years. Mulling over what so say, I realized that I covered much of what’s worth mentioning in a recent letter to my dear friend, Dr. Jim McGinley ’71. I’m too lazy to compose again from scratch, so I’m culling much of what follows from that letter. Sorry, Jim, for repurposing our correspondence…
I guess I’m not actually retired yet, even though I happily receive my little SS check each month, as well some beer money from my Actors Equity pension. I keep doing the odd writing job and some of my organizational development work using live actors. Gail and I continue to travel to Italy every year. (Except last year, when we bought a house in Berwyn, Illinois, and became, for the first time, suburbanites. It’s hardly country-club suburbia, however. Berwyn is a great little working-class township very close to Chicago, resembling in many ways Queens, for those of you familiar with the boroughs of NYC.) We continue to study Italian, cook adventurously, and read and write a lot.
While work was slack recently, I had time to sort through those things that may have driven my highly unremarkable career path. At a distance, my work history looks like nonsense: successive 10-15 year segments beginning with life as a college theater professor, then as an actor / director, and most recently as a writer of business histories and consultant in organizational development. Often prompted by having just read in Harvard Magazine how seemingly every other classmate is either a Master of the Universe or a Nobel Prize winner, I began asking, “Why didn’t I ever make anything of myself?” I realized pretty quickly that I never wanted to be rich or powerful or famous. I didn’t disdain those who were; I was just never attracted to the pursuits that brought those results. I just wanted to learn, see the world, and live in different social and mental environments. I went into academia because I respected scholars, even though I wasn’t a scholar myself, and I loved a world of ideas. I kind of imitated being a scholar, and produced facsimiles of real scholarship, but I wasn’t really good at it. Ditto with acting. I just wanted to understand what living the life of an artist was like. I never really thought of myself as a real artist, even though for years I supported myself as one, a rare thing even among truly talented actors. I just wanted the experience.
After abandoning the theater before they discovered I sucked, and after having what I felt was a strong enough dose of the life theatrical, I simply started following whatever money might occasionally be thrown in the direction of smart-enough liberal arts wastrels like myself by those with deep pockets … American corporations. Gail and I really wanted to travel and that took money. So I started impersonating business history writers, and aping meeting facilitators and learning designers and public speaking gurus. Bolstered by my delusions of competence, I’ve done OK in those pursuits. Neither of us particularly love what we’re doing, but it’s manageable and enables our travel lust. Harvard most surely fueled my desire to be a life-long learner, and travelling plays deeply into that. Falling in love with Venice almost twenty years ago has driven two decades not only of multiple visits to this fascinating city, but also of reading great history and literature related to it. The same is true for our other loves: Sicily and Rome.
All this is a long way of saying that over the last couple of years I’ve discovered that I’m living the life I’ve always wanted. “Living the life I’ve always wanted” doesn’t mean that it’s always pleasant and free of life’s burdens, but I’d bet that professional golfers and fishermen feel the same way.
John Cooke ‘71
Quincy House
6435 26th Place
Berwyn, IL 60402
jcoffice@comcast.net
Larry DiCara
Some configuration of my three eighteen-year-old daughters has visited almost forty colleges in ten states and the District of Columbia. This is a bit more complicated an adventure than when I applied to Harvard from Boston Latin School, almost fifty years ago.
Miles Kahler
Belated news of my move to Washington, D. C.: Last August, after 28 years in San Diego, my husband, Steve, and I decide to move east, not far from the community where I spent my first seventeen, pre-Harvard years. I know, I know: what were we thinking to move from the “paradise” of San Diego to polarized, sultry Washington, D. C.? (The question everyone in Washington asks.) Answers: For Steve, a new second career as a classical pianist (teaching and performing); for me, a new mix of jobs at the School of International Service, American University, and the Council on Foreign Relations. A move and career shift at this point in our lives was a jolt, but a positive one. We lucked out in finding a home near Dupont Circle, ideal for minimal commuting and for the cultural riches that Washington provides (two blocks from the Phillips Collection). We have settled in to this strange political ecosystem of permanent government and many transients, and we have discovered a great city, mistakenly disparaged by the rest of the country. We hope to see friends and class members who are in residence here or simply passing through.
Miles Kahler
1727 21st Street NW
Washington DC 20009
Mark Kaplan
Mark Kaplan swims for the Edina Swim Club and still lives along Minnehaha Creek.
Mark Kaplan
1019 W Minnehaha PKWY
Minneapolis, MN 55419
612-978-5678
Phlyssa (Phlyp) Koshland
Our classmate Phlyssa (Phlyp) Koshland will be in Radcliffe Yard on 16 September where her sculptural work is being formally unveiled. The next day, Thursday 17 Sept., at 12:30, she will be on hand for the next informal lunch get-together for local-area classmates. (If you plan to be in or near Cambridge on the 17th, come along too. Contact co-secretary Rod Kessler for location, still tba: rodkessler71@gmail.com)
Leonard Lehrman
At MoveOn's rally in Lower Manhattan promoting Congressman Jerry Nadler’s support for the nuclear treaty, Aug. 26, 2015, we were invited to make individual statements, so I made one (below). Nadler represents more Jews than any other Congressperson, and he's the only Jewish legislator from New York who supports the Iran accords. His district extends from Manhattan down into Brooklyn.
My statement:
I'm Leonard Lehrman.
I'm on the MoveOn Council for Nassau County, and we would ordinarily be [protesting] at [Senator Chuck Schumer’s] Melville office today, but we have matinee tickets to Hamilton this afternoon, so we're here with you.
Supporting these Iran accords is something I feel very strongly and personally. My late mother marched with me at the UN to Ban the Bomb as far back as 1961. I still have the poster.
My second cousin once removed on my father's side, Sandy Berger, wrote a brilliant analysis, in Politico, that explains in technical detail why this is politically the best agreement we can hope for at the present. It's here:
My first cousin once removed on my mother's side, Sheldon Glashow, is one of six Nobel Prize-winning physicists, along with many other physicists, who have scientifically endorsed the Iran deal, here:
And they ought to know!
I want to thank Rep. Nadler for making the right decision to support the accords.
Sen. Chuck Schumer is a friend of many years - a Harvard'71 classmate of mine - whose friendship and actions I respect and value immensely. But he's wrong on capital punishment, and he's wrong on this issue.
(Afterwards we met with our dear friend Beth Lamont, widow of the late Corliss Lamont, the humanist champion we had not seen in years. Her comment on the current political situation: Hillary needs to be told that Bernie's been having her for lunch. She ought to invite him to dinner! [as Corliss invited me, on Beth's suggestion, 28 years ago! :>) ]
--
Leonard J. Lehrman
ljlehrman.artists-in-residence.com
John Munk
Our years in college were during the 'best of times' and the 'worst of times'. I think those years are wonderfully captured in the film A Small Circle of Friends directed by our classmate Rob Cohen. Our coming-of-age years in college have also been made into a Gen Ed course: Power and Protest in the US & the World of the 1960s. I keep urging my daughter to take the course, but she doesn't get why I become so emotional when reminiscing about those times. It's hard to believe we started Harvard College almost half-a-century ago. I still recall with amusement how my parents were so taken aback and upset by seeing people in Harvard Yard dressed in hippie garb. Yesterday I was on campus helping my daughter move into McKinlock Hall for her senior year. As I gazed over to Quincy House, where I dormed, those years came roaring back to me as if they had been yesterday. I like the fact that the passion and ideals of those times still reside strongly within me. johnjmunk@verizon.net
Matthew Naitove
I just completed 43 years as an editor at Plastics Technology magazine in New York City, where I am currently Executive Editor. An entire career at one publication! I should will my body to science.
My wife, Christine, and I managed to squeeze in 12 days in Venice, Italy, this summer--our 12th visit there in the last 14 years. Apart from the food, scenery, and art (!), we find Venice to be the antithesis of New York: no cars, no crazy bicyclists, and very low noise levels, especially at night. Like New York, it's very walkable, has good public transportation (on water), and high prices. There's something to be said for familiarity: We stay in the same room in the same hotel, we're recognized at our favorite restaurants, and we rarely need a map to get around.
Matt Naitove
Executive Editor
Plastics Technology magazine
1441 Broadway, Room 3037
New York, NY 10018
646-827-4848 office
646-206-7022 cell
John Powers
This year marks the 45th production of An Evening With Champions, the student run figure skating exhibition founded by WCE classmate and two-time Olympian Misha Petkevich. To date, the event has raised nearly $3,000,000 for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. This year's performances are September 18 and 19 at Bright Hockey Center and will once again feature multiple U. S. national champions and Olympians. --John Powers
Frank Raines
Over ten years after I left Fannie Mae and seven years since its takeover by the government, there is new interest in what is to become of the mortgage behemoth. Next month, Columbia University is publishing a new book by financial journalist Bethany McLean questioning the conventional wisdom about the rise and fall of the company. Somewhat surprisingly I have been invited to join a panel on September 15 at Columbia to discuss the book Shaky Ground. We will also tape a Charlie Rose show. In October I will be discussing the role of a CEO with students at the University of Virginia business school. These appearances should be quite a trip down memory lane since I have spent the last ten years pursuing the very different path of investing in small start-up companies. --Frank Raines
Rick Rosenthal
Consulting Producer on TRANSPARENT - Amazon series nominated for 11 Emmys. Plus great Road Trip from LA to Bozeman, Montana, just before the fires
Jared Rossman
Long-time listener, first-time caller; greetings from the dog days of Summer in smoky far northern California! Happy various harvests to all.
Son Eli and his Juliana brought us a red-haired grandson on Bastille Day: Everett Asher Madrone. (currently known as "Dr. See Everett Poop"...) Nineteen-year-old daughter Zoe is finishing a full summer (winter there) of elephant research in South Africa. Her outstanding photos are blogged at zoerossman.com.
Proud dad/grandpa; grateful to be alive and enjoying this cornucopian life.
Thanks to you archivists.
Go Bernie!
--- Jared Rossman (same numbers for 30 years: (707) 923-2879; Box 786 Redway, CA. 95560)
Susan Smart
Classmates and their friends who are fans of artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910) are invited for a free tour of the Homer House at Belmont Center in Belmont, Massachusetts, through September 30 this year. The 1853 Homer House, built by the painter's wealthy merchant uncle, was directly associated with Winslow's early life and art. More info can be found at www.1853homerhouse.org.
Our exhibit this summer is "Winslow Homer's Women," and if your memories of Fine Arts 13 are of Homer's pictures of fishermen, hunters, or even of the Gloucester boy sailors of "Breezing Up," this show will set you straight. Homer did more paintings and illustrations of women than of men. (I'm somewhat afraid that Winslow's ghost may show up one of these days and knock me senseless with his palette, however: the tour includes a reading of several of his unsuccessful love letters; he was such a private fellow.)
A nonprofit I'm involved with is working hard to preserve this house, which I believe could be and should be a National Historic Landmark. We'll be appearing as a feature on This Old House this fall. And we're recruiting Friends of the Homer House to help us imagine and fund the future. But don't worry. We won't throw a net over you when you come. We save the hard sell for Belmont residents, at least for now.
As I read other '71ers' notes, I feel happy that many of us are pursuing late-blooming passions or circling back to reconnect with earlier paths, as life and health allow. Although I'm probably not alone in not being able to actually imagine a 50th reunion for us in five years, I am inspired by a sweet quote from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who addressed his classmates at their 50th Bowdoin College reunion with the following:
...What then? Shall we sit idly down and say
The night hath come; it is no longer day?
The night hath not yet come; we are not quite
Cut off from labor by the failing light;
Something remains for us to do or dare;
Even the oldest tree some fruit may bear;
Not Oedipus Coloneus, or Greek Ode,
Or tales of pilgrims that one morning rode
Out of the gateway of the Tabard Inn,
But other something, would we but begin;
For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress,
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
Best wishes as you reach for those stars, Susan Smart ssmartsomerset@gmail.com
Gail Steketee
Who knew that I could get elected president of the organization that has been my professional home for so many years? I find that at this late career stage (with a couple of years to go before I retire), I managed to be elected president (starting in fall as president-elect) of the Association of Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), now some 5,000+ members strong. By the time I am past-pres., I’ll be 69 and hopefully retired, whatever that means. Interesting, if a bit daunting, especially as over 90% of members are psychologists, so I will be the first social worker on the board, let alone as president. Otherwise, this been an interesting run for a Soc. Rel. major – first as a clinician, then as faculty member, and now as Dean here at BU’s School of Social Work. My wonderful husband Brian has been a terrific support in this work – I’m grateful.
Gail Steketee, PhD
Dean and Professor
Boston University School of Social Work
264 Bay State Rd.
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: 617-353-3760 (Assistant Patty Frasso)
Fax: 617-353-3913
Karen Stone
It has been a rough year so far.
My mother died Christmas Day. That wasn't so bad; at age 96 she died at home with my sister, still chatting. An avid reader, she had put down her last book only a week before.
In mid-March, our daughter Kate was hospitalized with a placental abruption, but the end result there is a happy mother and sweet new grandson.
While Kate was in the hospital, our son-in-law Kenyatta underwent a simple hernia repair. He died from complications March 31, leaving our daughter Kristin and their 18-month old son. They were in-between homes and living with us at the time. April is kind of a bad blur. Our son Jesse, Kristin's brother, moved back from California in May to get an apartment with Kristin to help her and the baby.
The family has pulled together, but it is a long road indeed. Kristin has just returned from Trinidad, where she went to help Kenyatta's mother bury some of his ashes.
Lyrics from the old spiritual come to mind and take on a new meaning for me:
So high, can't get over it
So low, can't get under it
So wide, can't get around it
Gotta go in through the door
Friends have been very supportive---thank you to many, including the Radcliffe '71 Boston brunch group.
A new hobby gives me a mental break. I have decided to see and get a brief sense of each town and city in Massachusetts. It is interesting and diverting. I quite like filling in the map with a yellow highlighter.
--Karen Rasmussen Stone
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Editor’s note: Good people: Our 45th reunion co-chairs, Meryl Stowbridge and Chip O’Hare, are working hard to nail down our 45th reunion dates: it will be early October, though—either the 7th and 8th of October or the 14th and 15th.
This season’s Harvard-Yale football game will be played in New Haven on 21 November at the unusual time of 2:30 p.m. Tickets are already on sale for $50. There is no explicit class seating, but we’ll try to organize the purchase of a block of seats if we can. Parking in Yale’s Lot D is also available for $20. Want to buy now? Call the Harvard ticket office at 617 495-2211.
Please forgive any typos, errors, and omissions, especially any caused by overlooked or missed emails, a possibility that I still lose sleep over. RK (This issue’s editor)
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We have an unofficial Facebook group: Harvard and Radcliffe Class of 1971 [see: http://hvrd.me/uw7cj] Find recent class-related photos here, including recent Cambridge-area lunch gatherings and a piece from the Boston Globe by classmate Joe Kahn about classmate Jim Koch.
You can view our archived class notes at http://lists.hr71.org/Notes.
Our HR ’71 website: WWW.HR71.org
Our Class’s listserv discussion is still active, including the option of a one-a-day digest. To join, please contact Peter Lemieux (admin@hr71.org)