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