Class Secretary Andy Kaufman writes:
Bil (“Snake”) Johnson reports that he and Carol connected with Don Oldenburg and Ann over lunch in Greenwich, CT, during the holidays. Don and Ann couldn’t attend our Reunion last June because they were in Italy (Ann has a teaching gig there through Georgetown). Bil and Don have been a frequent Morse Zoom call attendees and encourage other Morse classmates to join (the last Sunday of each month).
Lise Pearlman’s film “American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton,” based on her prize-winning book, has made the short list for nominations in the 2023 Academy Awards “Documentary Short Film” category. Barry Scheck appears in the film, and several other classmates were influential in its development and production (including Dale Ponikvar and Susan Waisbren, who served with Lise on the nonprofit board that launched the project, and Kurt Schmoke and honorary classmate Sam Chauncey, who served on the Honorary Committee (co-chaired by Barry) of more than 40 civil rights champions who endorsed the project. Those of us who attended the Reunion were privileged to see an early screening of the film. John Lissauer composed the music for Lise’s film and also served on the Honorary Committee. In addition to his work on “American Justice,” John composed the music for another film that made the short list in the “Documentary Feature Film” category — “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Song, A Journey.” Final nominations were announced in late January (after this column was written), and the awards will be announced at the Oscar’s 2023 program on March 12. However this turns out, congratulations to both Lise and John for their extraordinary achievements, and as Bil Johnson commented in his note to me, “A pretty good showing for the Class of ’71.”
Hugh Scott attended the Yale Alumni Convocation as an At Large Delegate in New Haven last November. Hugh reports being impressed by President Salovey’s speech, in which he stressed Yale’s desire to continue to cultivate debate between individuals who hold diverse opinions and his belief that at least a part of Yale’s job is to provide forums where students test their strongly held opinions with intelligent people with opposing views. At the Convocation Hugh spent time with Mitch Garner, Dave Vogel and Bob Bonds, and he also saw Glenn Murphy at the Yale Medal presentation.
Nathan Hecht was quoted on the front page of the New York Times last December 6 discussing the current debate over state/federal authority over elections. First elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 1988, Nathan is the longest-serving member of the Court in Texas history and has served as Chief Justice of the Court for the last decade.
Congratulations to Larry Schneider, recent recipient of the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition “Lifetime Advocate Award” for his work on behalf of CAIR Coalition and their clients. CAIR Coalition is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping immigrants in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, and is the only organization in the Capital region dedicated to serving detained immigrant adults and children. Larry developed and continues to lead Arnold & Porter’s extensive, award-winning pro bono immigration practice. He has previously been honored for his pro bono immigration work by the District of Columbia Bar’s International Law Section’s “Outstanding International Law-Oriented Community Service and Public Outreach Work 2003”; as one of The National Law Journal’s “Champions & Visionaries” in Washington, and Ayuda’s Hall of Fame Inductee (2014). He also has been recognized for leading a large Arnold & Porter team in preparing comprehensive reports in 2010 and again in 2019, for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration, on reforming the immigration system for adjudication of removal cases. In addition to his pro bono activities, Larry is the current Vice President and on the Board of Directors of the Yale Glee Club Associates, the activities of which include providing advice and support to, and serving as a resource for, the Director of the Yale Glee Club and its officers on various matters relating to singing at Yale.
Walt Mintkeski reports that after two years of social activity and travel interrupted by COVID, he and Vicki have resumed many of their missed activities. Much travel, including to our Reunion last June (where he sailed with former roommate Mark Wheeler at the Yale Sailing Facility) and to Maui for a vacation in October, three week-long wilderness trail maintenance trips (including to Hells Canyon on the Snake River, Cecil Andrus White Clouds Wilderness in Central Idaho, and Kaniksu National Forest in Northern Idaho, and much time with their families from Seattle and Missoula. Walt continued racing his Laser sailboat almost weekly, taught private sailing lessons at the Willamette Sailing Club, and continued volunteering for The Nature Conservancy doing solar and energy efficiency projects, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters doing door-to-door canvassing for candidates with good environmental records, and Citizens Climate Lobby, working to pass federal climate legislation.
Tom Taft is making steady progress on his life-long dream, building a net zero house by himself (“Slowly!” he reports, “16 months into it, with 12 to go”). He hopes it can show how orienting houses to the sun’s path in winter and summer can make all the difference. Tom constructed the basement walls out of insulating stacked Styrofoam blocks filled with concrete. In his own words, “Crazy!”
Bill Porter enjoyed a belated family birthday dinner at Mory’s last fall and heard the “coed version” of the Whiffs for the first time. Bill reports that he felt “really old to hear them include songs by The Beatles and Elton John amidst the usual Irish lullabies and Cole Porter favorites. All things must change.”
In a Class Zoom session that I hosted last December, the conversation turned to our memories of the initial selective service draft lottery on December 1, 1969: memories not only of that drama-filled evening, as the lottery unfolded, but also recollections and observations of the impact that the lottery had on our lives over the ensuing years. Jay Gitlin and Michael Goodman have volunteered to collect and assemble recollections from classmates. If you would like to contribute your recollections and observations to this effort, please send them to me and I will forward them to Jay and Michael. We will make them available for reading by classmates in an appropriate format.
Thanks to the many classmates who have already made their annual class dues contributions for this fiscal year. If you have not yet done so, contributions may be made online at https://alumni.yale.edu/classdues. In addition, please don’t forget the $25,000 matching gift campaign for the Calvin Hill Day Care Center that runs to June 30, 2023, generously sponsored by Mitch Kapor and his wife Freada Kapor Klein. Contributions may be sent to the Center at 150 Highland St. New Haven CT 06511 or made online at www.calvinhilldaycare.org.
Finally, in closing, a “shout out” and thank you to Jennifer Julier ’77 on the occasion of her retirement from the YAA. Jennifer has been the YAA Associate Director with responsibility for our Class for many years, and the success of our programs, activities and initiatives has been due in no small part to her efforts and support. We will miss her, but we look forward to working with her replacement, Assistant Director Christina Hall.
Cheers,
AMK 1-14-23