Tim Powell

Class Notes for January-February 2024

Greetings for the New Year. I hope that your holiday season was a safe and happy one.

Unfortunately, I begin this column with the sad news of the passing of another of our classmates, Ruth Klarman, who died on January 9, 2023. Following Yale, Ruth graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1975 and then pursued a 35-year career in international banking and law. Beginning at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, where she headed the Chile Desk, Ruth later practiced in the international law firms of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where she focused on structured finance products. Described in her obituary as an “unabashed New Yorker,” Ruth enjoyed many evenings at the Yale Club and attending Yankees games. Ruth’s international interests also extended to her personal pursuits, including foreign language study and travel. Ruth’s obituary noted that she “traveled the world, for business and pleasure, with friends and solo, visiting China as it opened to Western tourists, the ancient pyramids of Egypt and Tikal and the far reaches of the Easter Islands. In 2010, after a period of discernment, Ruth was confirmed in the Episcopal Church and became active in the Epiphany faith community, where she served on the Vestry as Assistant Clerk. She found ample opportunity to put her legal and pragmatic judgments to use on behalf of the Church and its day school. Ruth’s beliefs defined and sustained her especially as she confronted illness and the end of life.”

In response to our continuing call for classmates’ recollections of Draft Lottery Night, which Michael Goodman and Jay Gitlin are compiling for us, Vic Machinski sent his first ever submission to the Class Notes – in Vic’s words, a “landmark moment.” October 1 marked the second anniversary of Vic’s retirement after 44 years practicing law, in which he focused primarily on securities arbitration, litigation and commercial litigation. “My retirement was not planned, but a function of the pandemic’s negative impact on business as well as the cultural and political gyrations of recent years. I am still adjusting, but my wife, Mary Ellen, tells me repeatedly that it was a godsend.” Vic reports that their son, Scott, a West Point graduate, is now working outside of Boston in a cyber security firm, and their two daughters, Meaghan and Caitlin, have good careers as paralegals, and that he, Mary Ellen and their children are all healthy. Vic noted that he was encouraged to write by Bob Prechter, his “Yale roommate and best friend (and for many years [his] brother-in-law as well).”

Congratulations to Shelley Fisher Fishkin, the winner of the American Studies Association 2023 Carl Bode-Norman Holmes Pearson Prize for lifetime achievement and outstanding contribution to American Studies. The ASA’s announcement of this award recognizes Shelley’s “record of four decades of serious scholarly research and service in American Studies, and most especially for introducing and defining the notion of a ‘transnational turn.’ On top of the forty-eight books she has authored or edited and the more than one hundred fifty articles and essays she has published, she co-founded the Journal of Transnational American Studies. She reframed and re-defined Mark Twain Studies, modeling what it means to ‘unsettle American literature’ and establishing herself as the world’s foremost Twain scholar. Professor Fishkin’s consistent engagement with international and global themes in American Studies manifested in a multi-year collaborative effort to recover the lost histories of the Chinese laborers who built the railroads of North America.” Over the course of her career, Shelley has served as ASA President and a member of the association’s Nominating, Program, Finance, and Executive Committees. The prize for International Scholarship in Transnational American Studies is named after her.

Congratulations also to Jim Kaplan, who was featured last summer on the cover of Millennium Magazine. The accompanying column in the magazine recognized Jim’s long professional career as a lawyer in the fields of tax and estate planning as well as his avocation as an historian and walking tour guide in New York City. The column noted in particular his annual July 4 th Revolutionary Heroes tour, including the Fraunces Tavern Museum, and his writings on General Horatio Gates, for which he received a Coin of Excellence from the U.S. Army’s Regimental Association.

Although we are still two years away, we are already beginning to organize for our 55th Class Reunion (to be held in late spring 2026). If you would like to be involved in the planning, or if you have suggestions regarding the event, please contact me. The success of our reunions depends on your participation. By now you should have received Bill Primps’ annual Class Treasurer’s letter asking you to support our Class Treasury through class dues. The Class Treasury provides important financial resources and subsidy for our reunions, and we hope that you will contribute to this year’s solicitation if you have not yet done so.

As we progress through 2024, we will continue to host our popular monthly class Zoom sessions (3rd Thursday of each month at Noon ET). Additional classmates continue to join in the sessions. If you would like to be added to the invitation list, please let me know.

by Tim Powell

Class Notes for November-December 2023

Our call for “Draft Lottery Night” recollections has been generating many submissions, including from Bill Hammond, Mark Hassett, Jim Morgan, David Pudlin, Jim Pullman, Jim Seaton, Bob Shulman, Steve Swerdlow, Mike Weaver and Jerry Yesavage. Jay Gitlin and Michael Goodman are working with Tim Powell to post these recollections to our class website, Yale71.org. If others of you have recollections to add, please send them along.

Maine was a popular spot for classmates to visit last summer. Jay Gitlin and Ginny Bales (along with their son Basie) stopped in Portland in July on their way to a family gathering up the coast, and Pam and I had a nice dinner with them at one of the city’s waterfront restaurants. We connected with Steve Weise and Lori during their visit to Boothbay Harbor in July, and Bill Porter and Kathy stayed with us on their way back to Connecticut after a few days’ sojourn in Rockport in August. Other classmates reporting time in Maine last summer include Andy Sherman and Marty, and Jim Harvie and his family.

Ed Friedman and his wife Karen hosted a gathering at their Scarsdale, NY home right after Labor Day for Berkeley classmates Les Fagen, William Palmer, and Ken Freeman. Ed remains engaged full-time at Friedman Kaplan Law, which he co-founded in 1986. Les, formerly a senior partner at the Paul Weiss law firm, continues part-time at that firm, while also serving on boards and as a senior advisor for private and not-for-profit companies. William reported that he is looking for his next venture, either in the real estate development field in which he has worked for decades or pursuing his passion in the art world. He reported that with two children still in high school and escalating college costs, he’d better keep working. Ken admitted being the only one of the group who has retired entirely from gainful employment, after a career in consumer products marketing management. He keeps busy, though, as treasurer of his and wife Randy’s two condo associations and an occasional consultant to and columnist for his son Brett’s chain of local newspapers in the New York suburbs. Ken, who played the tuba in the Yale Symphony and Band during our undergraduate days, has also resumed his tuba playing after 52 years, motivated by a granddaughter who has become an avid saxophonist in her school band.

Joined by special guest artist and classmate Mel Jackson on the flute, the Bales-Gitlin Band presented a free concert in West Hartford last July, reliving (in Jay’s words) “the great Yale Band concerts of yesteryear.” Billed as “A Musical Tribute to Multi-Cultural Hartford celebrating Italian, Polish, Irish, Jewish, Latinx and Afro-American music,” the concert also featured several Yale songs. The encore, which Jay says regularly receives standing ovations at Yale Clubs all over New England, featured Mel (and Mary Posses ’72) performing the flute/piccolo solo on Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Mel, a long-time Hartford resident, has played with the Hartford band People of Goodwill for over three decades.

Bil Johnson sent word that David Holahan was recognized in the August 2023 issue of “Connecticut Magazine” with three awards from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists: two "firsts" and a "third" for articles on "Health," "Sports Column," and "In-Depth," respectively. Congratulations, David. Separately, Bil notes that the monthly Morse College Zoom calls are continuing with a stalwart group on the last Monday of each month, but that more participants would be welcome. Bil and Doug Smith meet periodically to play tennis, and Bil also plays tennis with John Lissauer most weeks (and recently caught John in Mt. Kisco, NY, playing a Jazz Brunch at Jazz on Main.

Steve Sorett is the Treasurer of the Yale Club of Southwest Florida, whose jurisdiction runs from near Venice in the north to Marco Island in the south, and includes Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs and Estero. The club is eager to identify and attract “younger” alums to its ranks and activities. To give us a frame of reference, Steve notes that he is “considered young among our club’s population.” Their guest speakers often include Yale alumni and coaches (head football coach Tony Reno has been an annual speaker for many years). If you find yourself in the area, whether year-round or as “snowbirds,” Steve would love to hear from you.

Dave Zaleske sent me the following: “The life of J. Robert Oppenheimer brought to mind some Yale 1971 connections. John Hersey, Yale 1936, was the Head of Pierson College for our first three years. He served as a World War II correspondent. He was sent to Hiroshima in May 1946 interviewing survivors of the atomic bomb. His report was first published as an entire issue of the New Yorker August 31, 1946. Oppenheimer never was awarded the Nobel Prize. Kudos to our classmate James Rothman who applied his brilliance in theoretical physics to the elucidation of cellular vesicle transport. He shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology. While I was active in the practice of pediatric orthopedics, I was privileged to treat patients with injuries from relatively low levels of kinetic energy. In my dotage, I try to advocate for policies which would prevent injuries to children from kinetic energy. I continue to participate in Ballroom Dancesport. Dance is a wonderful activity for a sound mind in a sound body for all ages.”

Drawing on his long career as a cardiologist, Wes Wesley has published his debut novel, The Well (High Top Publishing/October 15, 2023). I quote from the announcement I received of the publication: “In The Well, Dr. Wesley combines his vast medical knowledge with his passion for Eastern spirituality in a timely thriller that involves the discovery of the mythical Fountain of Youth and its appropriation for biological warfare. In the foreword, James Redfield, New York Times best-selling author of The Celestine Prophecy, described the book as ‘a mythical story, paralleling the cataclysmic issues of our time.’” Congratulations, Wes.

Thank you, Vera Wells, for your comprehensive summary of the two-day symposium hosted by Yale’s History of Art Department last September honoring the “Legacy of Robert Farris Thompson.” Too long to include in full here (we’ll post the full summary on our class website), Vera notes that Thompson (’55, PhD ’65) – “our beloved rock-star professor of African Art, NY Mambo and Black Atlantic creativity” – joined Yale’s History of Art department immediately after earning his doctorate. He became only the second Professor of African Art in the US, and taught at Yale for over five decades, as well as serving as Master of Timothy Dwight for a record 32 years. Symposium tributes included comments from many former students, music played by Alma Moyo, RFT’s usual “house band” when he was Master at TD, and panels and presentations highlighting RFT’s breakthroughs in research, innovative teaching methods, insightful scholarship, and beautifully written and documented books, including AFRICAN ART IN MOTION, FLASH OF THE SPIRIT, and BLACK GODS AND KINGS. Tom Jaffe and Vera (on behalf of her Sylvia Ardyn Boone Memorial Project, as Boone had earned her PhD with Thompson as her mentor) were among the financial sponsors for the symposium.

Bill Primps took advantage of a July visit to San Francisco to organize a lunch with a group of football teammates who live in the Bay Area. Classmate Joe Massey was in attendance, as were Class of 1970 teammates Andy Coe and Earl Downing, and Bill Shields from 1972. Much of the conversation focused on Coach Reno’s high hopes for this year’s team. By the time you read this column (in early November) we’ll have an indication how that has turned out.

Finally, I’m sorry to report that Martin Mador died last June. His obituary in the New Haven Register reports that after Yale, he worked as an organizer for the ACLU, designed a computer system for the Yale Medical School, and guided students through the Odyssey of the Mind Program. He then attended the Yale School of Environmental Studies, focusing on water conservation. He was active in many water conservation activities, including the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association, River Advocates of South Central Connecticut, the Town of Hamden Conservation Commission and the Connecticut Chapter of the Sierra Club.

by Tim Powell

Class Notes for July-August 2023

Joyce Ann (Wilder) Anderson died on November 16, 2022. After Yale, Joyce earned her JD degree from Cornell University Law School in 1974, and later she earned an LL.M. in tax law from Boston University. She practiced law in Nashua, New Hampshire, for several years, and in 1989 she and her husband moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where Joyce continued her law practice. Joyce’s obituary notes that she was an active supporter of many nature conservation organizations during her life, that she was especially fond of horses and her ginger cat, and that “her friends remember her as intellectually gifted, independent, and courageous, as she faced challenges with grit, resolve and grace.”

From Hugh Spitzer (’70) comes word that Alec Fisken died on March 28, 2023, after a several years’ battle with prostate cancer. Entering Yale in the Class of 1970, Alec pursued the Five Year B.A. program. He spent the year between his sophomore and junior years with Crossroads Africa and graduated with us in 1971. Hugh notes that “Alec was a remarkable person: newspaper and magazine publisher, investment banker, Seattle Port Commissioner, scholar, sailor, skier, but more importantly a wonderful, thoughtful principled, and whimsical human being who cared deeply about his family, the Seattle community, and the Pacific Northwest.” At Yale, Alec was on the News and a member of St. Anthony’s Hall.

Last February, Mitch Garner organized and moderated a webinar for the Yale Club of Michigan entitled “Hot Topics in Higher Education: Two Yale Alum Presidents Speak,” featuring James J. Duderstadt (’64), President Emeritus of the University of Michigan, and James E. Ryan (’88), current President of the University of Virginia. Over the course of an hour, the speakers answered questions covering a wide array of timely topics, including affordable access to higher education; free speech on college campuses; professionalization of student athletes; higher education’s role in society; the financial sustainability of liberal arts colleges; and whether colleges and universities may continue to take race into consideration as a factor in admissions. Mitch says that it was interesting to hear the perspectives of two major college presidents who are products of Yale College graduating classes 24 years apart: “Surprisingly, there was great commonality in their views on these topics.”

Lupi Robinson reports that the Yale Alumni College New Orleans trip, ably led by our classmate and Yale faculty member, Jay Gitlin, was a rousing success. The fifteen attendees, including 4 from the Class of ‘71-- Jay, Kathy Cochran Murphy and Glen Murphy (all CC ‘71) and Lupi (DC) came from as far away as Tokyo. Jay provided a fascinating grounding in the history of the area, which was supplemented by tours and talks about architecture, jazz, and race. Jim Babst, Jay’s Calhoun roommate and lifelong resident of New Orleans, along with members of the Yale Club of New Orleans, added some local color at an evening reception. The combination of food, music, and fellowship was truly memorable.

Jay Gitlin’s popular "Yale and America" semester this spring included three students on the Ivy champion women's hockey team. The class went to see their classmates play against Harvard in February. The Yale women beat Harvard 10-1, and one of the students, Elle Hartje, scored a hat trick -- three goals in one game. To recognize this achievement, Jay presented Elle with Class of ‘71 hat. We have posted a picture of Jay and Elle -- wearing the hat -- on our Class Website (www.yale71.org). Elle was the ECAC Hockey Player of the Month last January. Jay reports that “all three of the players--Captain Claire Dalton, Emma Seitz, and Elle -- are outstanding students."

Bob Bruner retired from the University of Virginia at the end of May. He says that his 41 years at the University’s Darden School of Business, including 10 years as Dean, “have been a thrilling privilege to teach and serve. I look forward to doing more writing, attending to some neglected hobbies, traveling more with my wife, Bobbie, and spending good time with our granddaughters.” Bob’s latest book, the second edition of The Panic of 1907: Heralding a New Era in Finance, Capitalism, and Democracy, was published in March. Bob notes that this new edition, written with co-author Sean Carr, “contains the fruits of our ongoing original research on the Panic, as well as the findings of numerous studies published since our first edition. The Panic of 1907 is significant as one of the most severe in U.S. history and as the trigger for founding the U.S. Federal Reserve System. Plus, it is a compelling yarn, relevant to today, given the recent episodes of financial instability and the debates over the appropriateness of Fed responses.”

Bob Shulman retired from cardiology practice in 2015 and then taught voluntarily at Tufts Medical School for several years. He now works in the echocardiography laboratory four days per month interpreting studies and teaching the cardiology fellows. Since Covid, he does this work remotely: “Wonderful technology,” he notes. He and Phyllis are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this July. Bob recalls that Ezra Stiles classmates Craig Nelson and the late Jerry Twitty were ushers at their wedding, and Pat Pinnell was also there. Bob and Phyllis have four granddaughters, ranging in age from just a few months to 18 years (the latter heading to college in the fall). Bob connected with Andy Sherman and Roz Milstein at their 50th high school reunion in 2017 and with Jim Sadek at Maury Eldridge’s memorial service last fall. He occasionally emails with Ezra Stiles classmates Rick Friedrich, Doug Hawthorn and Craig Nelson. On a shelf in his study, Bob keeps a photo his father took of him with Bart Giamatti (then Master of Ezra Stiles) at our graduation. Bob says that he thinks of Bart whenever he sees his son on a screen (as many of us do, no doubt).

Bob Shulman’s note reported above accompanied a submission from him for our “Draft Lottery Night Recollections” project (including his reactions during a trip that he and his wife took to Vietnam a few years ago). I have forwarded Bob’s recollections to Michael Goodman and Jay Gitlin for inclusion in the compilation. Several other classmates, including Mark Hassett and Steve Swerdlow, have also sent in their recollections. Michael and Jay are continuing to collect submissions from classmates for the project. If you have recollections that you would like to share of that night, or observations of the impact that the lottery had on our lives over the ensuing years, it is not too late to send them to me, and I will forward them on to Michael and Jay.

With the COVID restrictions now lifted, George Guernsey and Jim Kaplan have expressed interest in resuming the monthly (or at least occasional) in-person luncheons at the Yale Club of New York City that they hosted in the pre-COVID days. These in-person luncheons would be in addition to the very popular monthly Class Zoom sessions that we have been hosting the last three years and which we intend to continue. If you would like to be added to the invitation list for the in-person luncheons, or to the list for the monthly Class Zoom sessions, or to both lists, please let me know.

Cheers,

AMK 5-12-23

by Tim Powell

Class Notes for March-April 2023

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

by Tim Powell

Class Notes for January-February 2023

Greetings for the New Year.  I hope that your holiday season was a safe and happy one.  Unfortunately, I begin this column with the sad news of the passing of two of our classmates.

Priscilla Lundin sent word that her close friend and Trumbull classmate J. Brian Sheehan died on September 4, 2022, in Bloomfield, NJ. Initially in the Class of ’70, Brian was an African Studies major in Yale’s Five-Year BA Program. He joined our class after returning from a year in Mongu, Zambia, where he taught English at St. John's College.  After Yale, Brian earned his J.D. from NYU Law School, then a PhD in Anthropology from Columbia University, which published his dissertation, The Boston School Integration Dispute: Social Change and Legal Maneuvers (1984). Brian taught college courses with content that often reflected his interests in both anthropology and the law, including as an Assistant Professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.  For four years during his college teaching career, Brian worked on the documentary film, A Leap of Faith, nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. Narrated by Liam Neeson, this documentary is about an integrated school in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that enrolled both Protestant and Catholic children. Brian assisted in the conceptualization of this film and was a producer; he also coordinated fieldwork and handled fundraising and media relations.  After leaving academia, Brian devoted himself to helping the disadvantaged. His work included writing research grants for the prevention of crime and homelessness, and legal work in the area of mental health for the NJ Department of the Public Advocate. Brian subsequently volunteered as a pro bono attorney in the area of immigration law: for the American Friends Service Committee and Immigration Justice Campaign; and, in recent years up to the time of his death, for KIND (Kids in Need of Defense), representing migrant and refugee children in immigration court. Brian's survivors include his three sons, Nicholas, Matthew, and Daniel, four grandchildren and his former spouse Noreen Connolly.

            David M. Porter, died of Alzheimer’s disease Sept. 21, 2022.  David entered Yale originally with the Class of 1969, left and returned as a member of our class, and finally completed his undergraduate studies (including courses at Johns Hopkins University) in 1976.  After working as an auto mechanic for a couple of years, David enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Law and earned his J.D. degree in 1982.  He began his legal career in the tax department at what was then Piper & Marbury, now DLA Piper, and joined the Maryland Attorney General’s Office in 1989.  He subsequently took a position with the Maryland Department of Licensing and Regulation, served as deputy to the state banking commissioner, and then returned to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office of Housing and Community Development.  Until retiring in 2016, David spent the last 15 years of his career at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.   David’s obituary noted his lifetime passions for photography, folk music, collecting classic cars and motorcycles, sailing the Chesapeake Bay and his devotion to his wife, his daughters and his grandchildren.

Turning to happier news, Mark DeFrancesco has been elected Secretary of the Accreditation Commission for Health Care for a term running through June 2025.  Mark is a past President and former National Secretary of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and recently retired from private practice.  He is a founder of Women’s Health Connecticut/Physicians for Women’s Health and served as its Chief Medical Officer from 1997 to 2014.  Mark has a long history of service in the healthcare accreditation arena, including as a Board Member and President of the Board of Directors of Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.  He subsequently served on the Board of Directors of Accreditation Association for Hospitals and Health Systems, the parent company of Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program.  After Yale, Mark received his medical education at the University of Connecticut and earned an MBA from the University of New Haven. Congratulations, Mark.

We have exciting news to share regarding the Calvin Hill Day Care Center.  From its inception, the Center has been closely associated with the Class of 1971. Conceived during the latter stages of our undergraduate years and co-founded by our classmate Kurt Schmoke and Mary Pearl (’72) during the summer of 1971, the Center was designated as our “official class charity” at our 20th Reunion. Since that time, dozens of classmates have donated thousands of dollars to this worthy organization. Now, classmate Mitch Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have made an extraordinary commitment to the Center:  a $25,000 gift targeting the Clinic’s programming and a second $25,000 commitment to match donations made by classmates to the Center during the 2022-23 school year (i.e., through June 30, 2023).  Assuming that gifts from classmates reach the $25,000 goal, Mitch and Freada’s initiative will generate a very impactful $75,000 contribution to the Center attributable to the relationship between our class and the Center.  Our class leadership is grateful to Mitch and Freada for their generosity, and we wholeheartedly endorse this fundraising venture for the current academic year. Information on how to make an online contribution directly to the Center is found on the Center’s website calvinhilldaycare.org (as is their mailing address for those who wish to make their donations in the traditional manner).

As we progress through 2023, we will continue to host our popular monthly class Zoom sessions (3rd Thursday of each month at Noon ET).  If you would like to be added to the invitation list, please let me know.  Don’t forget to visit our class website https://yale71.org/ to review material from our 50th Reunion and to see latest postings from classmates.

Cheers,

Andy Kaufman

11-08-22

by Tim Powell