Tim Powell

Class notes 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

Class Notes for November-December 2022

Our Secretary Andy Kaufman writes:

            Dori Zaleznik, co-editor of our Class of ‘71 much acclaimed 50th Reunion classbook, is launching a new project to tell the stories of the historic beginning of coeducation at Yale College. The full story of that interesting time has not yet been told. This is a call to the men of ’70 and the men and women of ’71, ’72, and ’73 to participate by writing your stories so future historians can understand that period. The best history is told through narratives, and we would like to put together your stories — admittedly through the lens of memories from 50+ years ago. This is not an effort to report how Yale influenced your life nor to make Yale look good or bad. We want your stories about how you experienced coeducation at the time — the momentous and mundane recollections and anything in between. If interested, please send an email to Dori at coeducationatyaletherealstory@gmail.com.

Matt Gold missed our reunion because he was attending the American Medical Association’s Annual Meeting in Chicago, the AMA’s first in-person full-function meeting in three years.  Matt continues in solo practice neurology in Winchester, MA, and in addition he serves as his local Independent Practice Association's representative to the Organized Medical Staff Section at the AMA. For the last 10 years, he has been first the Alternate Delegate, and for the last 5 years the Delegate, of that Section to the House of Delegates of the AMA, and he has authored and advocated for numerous resolutions over that time.  In particular, Matt spearheaded (and wrote most of) a resolution approved at AMA last June (after a year of work) to acknowledge a strong correlation of hearing loss in mid-life to later cognitive decline and dementia and to encourage education and more research in this field. Though most of Matt’s activity at AMA is for the Organized Medical Staff Section, this resolution was submitted by the AMA’s Senior Physicians Section.  The resolution also received support from the American Academy of Neurology, and the National Institute of Health and the AMA are discussing possible collaborations to accelerate research on the subject.  Matt’s efforts were recognized in this SPS Member profile: https://www.ama-assn.org/member-groups-sections/senior-physicians/sps-member-profile-matthew-d-gold-md.

Rick Merkt reports that his new educational enterprise, Lionheart Classical Academy, opened successfully for business in Peterborough, New Hampshire, on August 31, 2022, welcoming nearly 200 young students.  This achievement followed nearly 20 months of intensive effort by the founding board.  Lionheart Classical Academy is a public charter school, meaning that any student in New Hampshire can receive a classical academic education tuition free.  It extends the principle of school choice to many Granite State families who could not otherwise afford it.  Rick currently serves as Secretary of the Founding Board and is working on a volume to recount how the founding got done, what they did right, and what mistakes they made along the way.  It is intended not only to tell Lionheart Classical Academy's story, but also to act as something of a "how-to" guide for others in New Hampshire and New England interested in expanding educational options for children.          

            Jay Gitlin and Ginny spent some time in Ireland last summer.  Jay reports that the trip “was nice but exhausting (Basie joined us for the final two days. We drove from Dublin to Galway--went to a castle--fun--in Kinvara, a monastery in ruins--and did the boat ride to the Cliffs of Moher. How anyone ever crossed the Atlantic in those choppy seas is a miracle. We ended our time there with a proper dinner--bangers and mash--in a pub listening to traditional music. All fun.”  Jay has been busy on the Yale Club speaking circuit this fall.  In mid-September he gave a talk at the Yale Club of New York City entitled "Are Words Necessary? The Comic Art of James Thurber, Robert Osborn (Yale '28), and David Levine."  Jay was joined in the presentation by Adam Van Doren, who teaches painting at Yale and who did a PBS documentary on Thurber.  This was the second in a series of talks about cartoonists, with more to come, and Jay hopes that the collected talks will become a book. Vera Wells came to the talk and joined Jay and Adam for dinner afterwards.  In addition, later this fall Jay gave a talk for the Yale Club of Cape Cod on the evolution of Cape Cod as a vacationland.

Sadly, Jeff Fortgang notified me about the unexpected passing of Maury Eldridge last May, while kayaking off the coast of Maine.  Although Maury didn’t graduate until ’73, he remained officially a member of ’71 and submitted an entry for our 50th Reunion classbook (p. 293).  Although Jeff did not know Maury at Yale, in September 1974 they landed together in a clinical psychology doctoral program at Adelphi’s Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, now known as the Derner Institute.  Subsequently, they both moved to the Boston area for their internships and clinical careers.  Outside of the clinical sphere, Maury was an enthusiastic lover of nature, which was the focus of a long series of poems and magnificent photographs.  In addition to singing, he also energetically embraced any number of outdoor activities, such as rowing, snorkeling, hiking and birdwatching, and traveling to venues that provided these opportunities.  Since Maury’s death, Jeff has met with some of Maury’s patients who abruptly found themselves missing their long-time psychologist, and Jeff reports that without exception they describe experiencing him as a supportive, understanding, and stabilizing presence in their lives.  For a moving obituary of Maury, including an example of his poetry, see https://mysticchorale.org/maury-eldridge/.  We send our condolences to Maury’s wife Dale and their two sons and their grandchildren.

Several of you sent me notes about the passing in August of Janet Hill, Calvin Hill’s wife.  Although Calvin was ’69, we made him an honorary member of ’71 some years ago as a result of our Class’ long involvement with the Calvin Hill Day Care Center.  Many of our classmates had the opportunity to know and work with Janet as well, particularly in connection with the Center.  Jeff Gordon sent me this link to a moving article in the Washington Post about Janet, and Jeff and I thought many of you would be interested in reading it:     https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/19/janet-hill-duke-grant-hill-calvin-hill/.

Class Treasurer Bill Primps has sent out his annual solicitation for our Class Treasury.  We rely on our Class Treasury to defray class expenses, including reunion expenses not covered by the reunion fees, so your support is very important to us.  Please contribute if you can.

And don’t forget our monthly Zoom class gatherings, from Noon to 1pm ET on the third Thursday of each month.  We assemble in groups of approximately 12-15, and we shuffle the groups each month so that classmates have the opportunity to engage with a different cohort of classmates each time.  Participation continues to grow, spurred no doubt by the connections and reconnections so many of us made at our 50th (+1) Reunion last June.  Please send me an email if you would like to participate, and I will add you to the invitation list.

Cheers,

AMK

9-17-22

by Tim Powell

Class Notes for September-October 2022

Our Secretary Andy Kaufman writes:

With our terrific “50th + 1” Reunion behind us, and with almost four years remaining until our 55th, we can take a breather -- at least temporarily -- from Reunion planning. In the meantime, I’ll return this column to reporting more traditional news from and about classmates. Of course, the success of that depends on the flow of material I receive from you, so please keep those cards and letters (and emails) coming.

Steve Weise received the American Law Institute’s Distinguished Service Award at the ALI’s annual meeting in May. The award recognizes Steve’s extraordinary contributions to the ALI and its private law reform projects over some 30 years. Congratulations, Steve.

Tim Powell, our Class Website publisher, is eagerly looking for one or two classmates to assist him with editorial and content support. Please let us know if you are available to help.

Karl (“Bert”) Fields continues working full time as a professor of medicine for UNC. In addition, he is an editor in chief for “UpTo Date” (providing evidence-based clinical decision support for healthcare professionals), and he continues to teach, see patients and particularly to train people in using diagnostic ultrasound in clinical care. Bert says that what keeps him from retiring are the young doctors who are such enthusiastic learners. He also enjoys teaching internationally, and with COVID waning he has a couple of international visiting professor trips scheduled. Bert’s children are bicoastal, in Wilmington NC and Portland OR, and he and Deb try to travel to both coasts as often as time allows.

Alexis Krasilovsky has recently published a new book, “Watermelon Linguistics: New and Selected Poems,” and released a new film, “The Parking Lot of Dreams.” Her film won the Outstanding Achievement Award in Experimental Film at the Tagore International Film Festival in March of this year and has been named an Official Selection at several upcoming festivals. Alexis retired in May from her position as Professor of Screenwriting at California State University, Northridge, after teaching there for 35 years.

Catherine Ross reports that her latest book -- “A Right to Lie: Presidents, Other Liars, and the First Amendment” (University of Pennsylvania Press) -- was published at the end of 2021. It's written for non-lawyers and lawyers alike and available at the usual places. Last year she was appointed Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law at George Washington University where she has been teaching since 1996, while still living in Larchmont NY.

On May 17, as part of the run-up to our Reunion, the Class hosted a well-attended webinar addressing “Meritocracy: The Debate Over Its Role in Education, Careers and Modern Life.” In an hour-long session, Yale Law Professors Tony Kronman and Daniel Markovits -- who have each written and spoken extensively on the subject -- explored the impact that meritocracy has had on Yale and similar institutions and on our culture and society more generally. Kurt Schmoke masterfully moderated the discussion. We recorded the webinar, and classmates who were unable to join the live program may view the recording on the class website (yale71.org). Thanks to Kurt and to Bob Bruner for organizing this fascinating and provocative event.

In preparing material for our Reunion Memorial Service, we learned that Mark Kreitman died on August 30, 2018, after a long illness. After Yale, Mark graduated from Harvard Law School and worked as a federal prosecutor with the Securities and Exchange Commission for more than 35 years. Mark was survived by his sister Lenore, to whom we send our condolences.

Geoff Provo died on September 26, 2021, after an 18-month battle with cancer. Geoff graduated from Yale with a degree in economics, intending to become a stockbroker. However, he shifted gears during a post-graduation summer job at a Lamborghini dealership. After several years working as a mechanic and semi-professional race car driver, Geoff founded GP Enterprises in Redwood City, CA, in the 1980s, and he spent the next 40 years servicing, repairing and restoring Ferraris and Lamborghinis, specializing in older models. Geoff built a national and international reputation for his work. His obituary notes that he regularly traveled to work with restoration specialists in Italy and that vehicles came to his shop from all over the country. Geoff enjoyed go-kart racing at Sonoma Raceway and was a loyal San Jose Sharks ice hockey season-ticket holder for more than twenty years. He was devoted to his daughter, Alexandra, coaching her soccer teams, supporting her in her competitive figure skating career, and encouraging her in her academic pursuits and professional endeavors. We send our condolences to Alexandra and to Geoff’s fiancée, Helen Sirica, and to his extended family.

We have also learned that Bryce Ahlstrom died on October 23, 2021. On-line searches indicate that Bryce had been living for many years in British Columbia, where he was involved in the construction industry and achieved acclaim as a bee-keeper, but we otherwise have been unable to learn more about Bryce’s life after Yale. If you have information to share, please let me know and I will update this memorial to Bryce in a future column.

We are continuing to hold our monthly class Zoom sessions on the third Thursday of each month, from Noon-1pm ET, and they continue to grow in popularity. If you would like to be added to the invitation list, please let me know at andrew.kaufman@maine.edu.

Stay well,
AMK

7-13-22

by Tim Powell