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CLASS NOTES
Henry S. Coleman
P.O. Box 1283
New Canaan, Conn. 06840
Hallelujah - plenty of notes this time. Arthur Haupt
wrote from Little Rock that he was promoted to professor emeritus
of internal medicine at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences
campus. He now works two days a month as a volunteer physician. His
wife, Florence, their four adult offspring and three grandchildren
compete for his time along with his new interests in astronomy and
horticulture. Alan Zisman is still in medical practice and
is still asking Glaucon, "What is the truth?" His wife, Sima,
thrives and the children and grandchildren are decent citizens.
Irwin Nydick has "retired" from practice of internal
medicine but he teaches three times a week at Cornell-Weill Medical
Center, including "special bedside teaching and physical
examination requested by departmental chairman to breathe some last
breaths into a dying art." He is striving to resurrect his old golf
game and tennis. His travels are extensive and his health has been
excellent.
I
had a long letter from John McConnell who has been living in
North Idaho for three years. Some excerpts include his second
grandchild going to college; the birth of his second
great-grandchild; and a family wedding at Redfish Lake Lodge in the
Sawtooth Mountain range where the "bride and groom and several of
the bridal party are bringing their horses, mules and pack animals
to take a little extra time to enjoy the 'ambiance.'"
Your
class secretary attended a 55th reunion of the 1945 crew that was
attended by Warren Glaser, John Murphy, Dave
Kelton, Reg Thayer '47 and Bill Hayes '47. Also there were two
great '46 Engineers, Norm Trozzi and Fred Sirkel. I had a phone
call from a missing crewmate, Graham Kiskaddon, who now
lives in Laramie, Wyo. He and his wife, Jean, just completed a trip
around the world.
Finally, Howard Clifford has moved to Sunken Paw, Mont.,
where he has started an Internet company that sells space on
billboards in the desert area. Howard was back East for a brief
trip and called me from Bernie Sunshine's office. He and
Bernie are planning a class luncheon in October to make plans for
our 55th reunion. Howard plans to be there and wants anyone who
would like to attend to contact your class secretary at (203)
966-7517. Please keep the news flowing in!
George W. Cooper
P.O. Box 1311
Stamford, Conn. 06904-1311
Our
editor informs us that the May issue was a record-breaker for Class
Notes. Well, given sufficient help from other correspondents, what
follows from our classmates should again put Class Notes over the
top. Compared with the norm for our class, anniversary years
excepted, here is a virtual bumper crop.
Starting with some old but worthy news that arrived days after
the last Notes were sent in, George Kline reports that on
November 20 he was presented with the Award for Distinguished
Contributions to Slavic Studies at the national convention of the
American Association for Advancement of Slavic Studies. George is
Milton C. Nahra Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Bryn Mawr
College, where he taught Russian literature. Congrats to a stalwart
birch tree in the Groves of Academe.
Continuing in the literary vein, Pierre Sales's book,
From Ancient Afryqah to Modern Africa - Providing Clues to
Modern Issues, has been completed and was scheduled for
publication in May 2000. Modern technology strikes again: it is
being produced on a single CD and contains separate treatment of 53
countries and 18 dependent territories, as well as 550 maps.
Pierre's own company, Afryqah Ltd., will distribute the CD free of
charge to schools in inner cities. A singular achievement and
likely to be a valuable reference tool for students of that
continent.
From
literature to musical works incorporating same: Dan Hoffman
has adapted his book-length poem on William Penn's Treaty with the
Indians (as denominated in pre-politically correct days) as the
libretto for an oratorio, "Brotherly Love," composed by Ezra
Lederman. The premiere took place in (where else?) Philadelphia on
March 4, performed by The Philadelphia Singers.
Turning from those arts to another, the art and practice of
medicine, we learn that Leonard Fox has retired from private
practice but still acts as a police surgeon for the New York Police
Department, as he has been doing for over 35 years. Joe
Rumage, likewise a physician for 50 years, reports from New
Orleans that he is still practicing his profession in that bastion
of French cuisine and streetcars named Desire.
Last
but surely not least, for news from any classmate is of import to
all others, regardless of its inherent significance, Peter
Brescia has "nothing to report" except that he and his wife
travel widely and particularly enjoyed touring the length of the
Lewis & Clark Trail last year. Tell us, Pete, is it on to the
"Silk Road" for an encore?
Theodore Melnechuk
251 Pelham Road
Amherst, Mass. 01002-1684
neuropoe@sbs.umass.edu
Jacques Barzun '27, not a member of our class but whom some of
us were wise or lucky enough to study with more than half a century
ago, has at the age of 92 published the 29th book he has written
(he has edited or translated 14 more). Its title is From Dawn to
Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the
Present, and it has earned a place on The New York
Times' best-seller list. I've just begun reading my copy, and
already in the second paragraph of its opening "Author's Note" it
shows the wit that has spiced Professor Barzun's profundity from
his courses at Columbia to his recent lecture on Hector Berlioz at
Smith College: "I have tried to write as I might speak, with only a
touch of pedantry here and there to show that I understand modern
tastes." In a recent letter, he defined the "decadence" in his
book's title as being "of a different species" from that of
Spengler - "namely, a recurring historical condition that has
nothing final or gloomy about it, only awkward and baffling for a
time; after which, it is seen that the ground has been cleared for
a new and truly original start." An excerpt from the book may be
found in the Columbia
Forum.
Robert DeMaria, who is indeed a member of our class, and
so presumably is a generation younger than Professor Barzun, is
comparably prolific, having published about 20 books, most of them
novels. His latest, just out, is called That Kennedy Girl
and is about Kathleen Kennedy, the sister who married into British
aristocracy. As a biographical novel, it has involved Bob in the
current controversy over the relationship between truth and
fiction. Unlike the recent official Reagan biography, it does not
use a fictional narrator, but does use imagined dialogue and merely
probable minor incidents, though all of its major incidents can be
documented. For more information, write Bob at 106 Vineyard Place,
Port Jefferson, N.Y. 11777, or e-mail him at rdemaria@portjeff.net.
Sears E. Edwards, who enjoyed the 50th class reunion at
Arden House, thinks it's not too early to begin planning another
one, possibly the 55th, which would be held in just three years. He
suggests that a committee be set up, perhaps including Bob
Clayton and Dave Horowitz, and that a mailing go out to
check class interest. Sears would like to hold such a reunion at
Arden House again; I for one would prefer returning to the Columbia
campus, as we did for our 45th, so that nostalgia-laden places
could be revisited. You can send your opinions to Sears at 131
Hampton Road, Garden City, N.Y. 11530.
Herbert C.V. Feinstein, who tipped me off to Jacques
Barzun's new book when it was still in press, thinks it's one of
the best books ever written. Back in the middle to late '40s, Herb
was one of those who revived the College's Philolexian Society, as
Norm Kelvin recently reminded me. Those were the days when
Herb called Freud "that notorious Viennese quack." Later, Herb was
a professor of English at San Francisco State University for 41
years. Nowadays, he gives invited lectures on American literature
and movies - oops, film. Last autumn, he was a guest professor at
the Universita degli Studi di Torino, where he gave well-attended
and well-received lectures and seminars on such cinematic icons as
Mickey Mouse and Buster Keaton (whom Herb interviewed in 1960 and
on whose work Herb has lectured and published widely). While in
Turin, he interviewed John Carpenter, director of such films as
Halloween and Starman. A few months ago, Herb gave an
invited lecture to the Roxburghe Club of San Francisco, a private
club of book printers and bibliophiles, on Mark Twain and copyright
law, both subjects on which he is an expert. Herb lives at Apt. 8,
2201 Virginia St., Berkeley, Calif., 94709-1630.
In
March, while going through pencil portraits he had drawn in the
late '40s of Anna, his then girlfriend, soon fiancée, and
since wife for more than 50 years, Theodore Melnechuk ran
across a pencil portrait of Professor Harrison Ross Steeves, which
Ted had drawn in Professor Steeves's class on May 13, 1948, his
last day of teaching and Ted's last day as an undergraduate
student. Having enjoyed John Steeves' letter
about his late uncle Harrison in Columbia College Today
(February 2000), Ted sent John a copy of the drawing, and John has
sent copies to family members and to friends of his uncle,
including Jacques Barzun. See it for yourself in this issue's
Letters to
the Editor.
Louis T. Milic has been retired for some time after
having been professor of English at Cleveland State University,
where he taught stylistics. (Back at Columbia, his dissertation was
on Jonathan Swift, and he recalls that Professor Barzun got him a
$500 grant to enable him to finish it.) After retiring, he spent
several years as an officer of the Dictionary Society of America.
He is now learning how to cook from cookbooks, not from classes, of
which he has seen enough. Lou told me that when he still bothered
to use his home computer, it was mainly as a typewriter, and he
detests e-mail so much that the only letters he will answer are
those delivered postally. He and his wife, Jan, have three
daughters and live at 3111 Chelsea Drive, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
44118-1220. Seth Rubenstein sent in news about his sons Joshua '76
and Ephraim '78. Josh, who is chairman of the law firm Rosenman
& Cohn, is also chairman of the trusts and estates section of
the New York State Bar Association. Eph recently had a one-man show
of his paintings at a gallery on 57th Street in New York. He
teaches at the Arts Students League.
Laurence A. Spelman has just been elected president of
the Sarasota, Fla. community in which he lives, which has more than
700 residential units. Larry's ever-ringing phone presents him with
problems he never had to deal with in New York - such as how to rid
lakes of alligators. As a new expert on that subject, he says that
long sticks are passé. Those who want to learn how else to
deal with alligators can write Larry at 4812 Kestral Park Circle,
The Landings, Sarasota, Fla. 34321-3369.
After a career in the advertising business in New York, John
F. Steeves retired to Savannah in 1981, where the cultural life
is very rich. As a fan of classical music, John is especially
pleased that the local symphony orchestra is excellent. Earlier
installments of this column have told about his prowess in bridge
and his work for charitable organizations. John likes to hear from
old friends; his address is 7209 Van Buren Ave., Savannah, Ga.
31406.
A
Columbia reunion of sorts took place on May 13, when George R.
Woolfe gave away his sister Doris Woolfe in marriage to Emerson
Farwell, in a resumption of a romance that dates back to high
school days. In attendance were May Elaine Woolfe Patton GS '49,
William Farren '49, and Andrew Gabrilowitsch '49. George lives at
462 Fearrington Post, Pittsboro, N.C. 27312.
Joseph B. Russell
180 Cabrini Blvd., #21
New York, N.Y. 10033
objrussell@earthlink.net
The
variety of life experiences had by our classmates never ceases to
amaze me, and for this issue we have several reminders from near
and far.
"My
very best to all my classmates," writes Charlie Bauer, who
despite having had to discontinue medical practice in 1979 owing to
the depredations of multiple sclerosis and is now paralyzed from
the waist down, has managed to send me another long and chatty
letter, to which I have responded personally. I have the impression
that he would welcome letters from any classmates of the many who
knew him when - write him at 345 East 69th St., New York, N.Y.
10021. Meanwhile, Joe Levie has asked that I send his warm
regards.
Arnold Bull was originally enrolled in the '40 class but
took a leave to move his grandparents to N.Y. from Florida and
didn't return to Columbia until after serving 312 years in the Army
during WWII. He observes that most of the gold has turned out to be
fool's gold, but the search has been rewarding in other
ways.
Still enjoying retirement in Flourtown, Pa., when Bob
Crosson sees pictures of the campus he cannot but marvel at the
changes!
Let's all congratulate tireless Marv Lipman ('54
P&S) on his election as trustee representing the public (that's
us) to the 11-member board of trustees of U.S.P., the
independent not-for-profit agency established 180 years ago that
sets the official standards of strength, quality, purity, etc. for
medical products used in the U.S. Marv has a few other irons in the
fire as well - now clinical professor emeritus at N.Y. Medical
College in Valhalla (don't you just love that name!), he has been
an attending physician at White Plains Hospital Center since 1961
where he has served as director of the department of medicine,
chief of the section of endocrinology and chairman of medical
education; chief medical advisor for Consumers Union since 1967,
and since its birth in 1989 medical editor of Consumer Reports
on Health; and was medical consultant for, among others, the
Random House Dictionary, 3rd edition. If your aspirins don't work,
call him in the morning.
In
the mists of Oregon, Paul Meyer celebrated his 75th birthday
by conducting the Portland Baroque Orchestra in the first movement
of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony at a Reed College concert on April
1, a unique birthday gift arranged by his wife, Alice. We are
informed that his friends now address him as Maestro - be
warned.
Perry Morrison, who was business manager of Columbia
Review during his undergraduate years, found especially
poignant the piece in CCT about John Hollander '50, who has
achieved world renown as a poet (and was his classmate in junior
high, high school and Columbia), together with '48 Class Notes re:
Sylvan Bromberger and others as the heart of the magazine. He adds
that in celebration of his 40th wedding anniversary this August he
intends to retire from the real estate business of May Stern &
Co. in Pittsburgh, where he has been for the past 42 years, most
recently as its president. Perry, do you also recall Bob Gibson
'50, my roommate during the Fall of '47, who was, if I recall
correctly, your successor as business manager?
From
Small Island Farm, Leesburg, Va., Jim Rocks writes that as
he lived off campus (as did your correspondent from December '47)
and was for three years a member of the chapel choir, he had little
contact with the rest of our class, but the College had an enormous
effect on him, such that he continues to participate in alumni
affairs. Jim spent 45 years in the computer business as system
designer, professor, inventor and programmer, farming on the side.
The computer business "is... for younger minds and rather than
tussle with the Internet, [I] tend to my farmland which includes an
island in the Potomac River... The more productive I become, the
worse the prices offered. And climbing around on the roof of my
barn today, I realized my muscles are worse, too. So I have leased
50 acres of my prime corn-growing bottomland (an island) to three
governments (county, State and federal) where they will, at their
expense, grow an instant climax forest riparian buffer to protect
the Chesapeake Bay from pollution by herbicides, pesticides and
excess fertilizer, provide another link in the forest chain that
connects the Bay with West Virginia for eagles (a nest has appeared
nearby), prevent bank erosion and take some corn land out of
production. The lease price is about my average profit growing
corn.[I]t was the right thing to do. We are too old to have to
decide whether or not personally to control the population." Jim
also notes that as class correspondent for Holderness School '43,
he is fortunate if he can contact or elicit responses from two of
its 17 survivors in any year. Mathematicians out there - can you
tell me whether our '49ers respond at a greater rate?
Gene
Straube '50E was back on campus in June to enjoy the 50th reunion
of his Engineering & Applied Science class.
As
we approach the copy filing deadline for this issue, your
correspondent is convalescing from surgery to relieve a severe
spinal stenosis, and coming along nicely, thank you. Thanks,
especially, are gratefully offered to Ed Housepian who,
though retired, looked in on me cheeringly just before and twice
after the operation, and to Joe Levie for his and Hallie's
calls and visit. One consoles oneself with the thought that the
alternative is doubtless worse.
Mario Palmieri
33 Lakeview Avenue
W. Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. 10567
mapal@bestweb.net
Our
50-year reunion was the best ever. There were 51 classmates, plus
39 spouses and other guests for a total attendance of 90. That's
the greatest number we've ever had and an excellent showing among
all the classes. We were favored with gorgeous weather and, judging
by the comments that reached my ears, everyone had a smashing good
time.
Here's who was there: Joe Adamczyk, Al Arees, John Arents,
Patrick Barry, Carmine Bianchi, Daniel Brachfeld, Richard Briggs,
George Buchband, Jim Garofalo, Franklin Gill, Eugene Gottfried, Ash
Green, Bob Hayman, Gil Hermann, Jim Horton, Carl Hovde, Ralph
Italie, Dave Karlin, Bud Kassel, Jerry Kaye, Dan Kelly, Ed Kessler,
Joe Koerner, Irving Kushner, Walter Laske, Jerry Lasser, Milton
Levine, Michael Loeb, Glenn Lubash, Alex MacDonell, Charley
Marquardt, Joe Mehan, John Nelson, Jack Noonan, Dan O'Keefe, Mario
Palmieri, Harry Pauley, Ed Peters, Bernie Prudhomme, Dudley
Rochester, John Rosenberg, Ray Scalettar, Bob Schiller, Al Schmitt,
Bob Siegel, Norm Skinner, Walter Smith, Ernie Thiesing, Arthur
Trezise, Ric Yarwood, Charles Young.
A
major effort in connection with the reunion was the campaign to
raise $100,000 for the Columbia College Fund. This column had to be
prepared before the books closed for the fiscal year, and so I
cannot report the final figure. You all know, though, that at
reunion time we were extremely close. I am optimistic that we'll
have achieved our goal and possibly exceeded it. More next
time.
News
of classmates: Publication of Harry Pauley's book,
Shakespeare: The Main Story, was scheduled for the spring,
on line as well as in print, so you should be able to look for it
now.
Sadly, there are three deaths to report: Jim Devaney
died in July 1998 at his home in Plant City, Florida, Frank
LoSacco of Chappaqua, N.Y. died in April, and Leo P.
Mabel of Seattle was reported in July as deceased.
Finally, Alex MacDonell's e-mail address was incorrectly
reported in the reunion directory. The correct address is: alexmacd@cybercomm.net.
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