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CLASS NOTES
Alan N. Miller
257 Central Park West Apt. 9D
New York, N.Y. 10024
A
number of loyal Columbia “gentlemen” of the superb
class of 1956 gathered at the relatively new Columbia (Princeton)
Club on the evening of May 3 to start reunion planning: Al
Broadwin, John Censor, Steve Easton, Warren Goodman, Danny Link,
Don Morris, Buzz Paaswell, Michael Spett, Lenny Wolfe, several
representatives from the alumni office and yours truly. Some would
say a thoroughly disreputable group, but I will defend us
vigorously. Yes, my friends of too many decades to comprehend, we
are drawing close to our 45th reunion early next June —
shudder! But it is great to be around and, at times, thinking
clearly. More later!
Don Horowitz of Seattle, who with his wife we mentioned
in the last CCT as donors of multiple scholarships to
Columbia (pause for reserved applause), accuses me of undeserved
omniscience in using his Hebrew appellation Daniel or Dan instead
of the usual Don. His comment, tongue in cheek, about anatomy not
in the control we once had, certainly resonated in the thoughts of
your humble president, but we will both continue to have “fun
in our hearts” and hopefully, what remains in our
bodies.
Steve Easton, whom I had dinner with recently, writes
about his broken shoulder, skiing, which is about healed. He
remains our adventurous one and recently returned from a solo trip
to “Peking.” He wishes everyone a great summer and
suggests we do a study of our four class identical twin
pairs.
Michael Berch is proud that his daughter, Jessica, will
be entering the College this fall. She plans to emulate her lawyer
parents and perhaps follow in the footsteps of her mother, a court
of appeals judge in Arizona. It is good to know we may have a
judicial advocate in Arizona in case we get into trouble —
but, hopefully, not to repeat our youthful testosterone
years.
Ray Boelstler has just retired as a dentist after 41
years. His son, Gerald, is graduating Boston College’s
Wallace E. Carroll School of Management, and his daughter, Laura,
is completing her sophomore year at Loyola College in Baltimore. He
feels blessed by his family, (as do we all, most of the time) and
looks forward to his life in retirement.
Bob Siroty, our long-time committee member, is planning
imminent retirement after a long medical career. Bob missed our May
3 meeting because of viral illness but swears undying allegiance to
our reunion and will appear at our next meeting on September 13
with bells on. Speaking of reunion planning, other classmates who
couldn’t make the first meeting but have expressed interest
in joining in the fun in the future include: Mark Novick, Lou
Hemmerdinger, Bill Fischer, Lee Seidler, John Garnjost, Larry
Gitten, Frank Thomas, Stanley Klein, Hillel Tobias, Stan Soren
and, hopefully, Nick Coch and maybe even Ed
Botwinick. Don’t be bashful — any new class blood
is welcome to call “Uncle Al” to join in the fray. Do
not hesitate to call me at (212) 712-2369 or fax me at (212)
875-0955.
So
let us raise a glass or whatever else to ourselves and cheers to
our long-suffering wives or significant others, our progeny and our
grandchildren and let us hear it for Columbia. Love to
all.
Herman Levy
7322 Rockford Drive
Falls Church, Va. 22043-2931
HDLLEditor@aol.com
Gary Angleberger remarks how things have changed at
Columbia since it went coeducational. After graduation, he entered
Union Theological Seminary, where noted theologians Reinhold
Niebuhr and Paul Tillich were on the faculty. Following ordination
as a Presbyterian minister in 1960, he served churches in New York
State and then served as pastor of a church in Granville, Ohio,
home of Denison University, during the turbulent ’60s and
’70s. Following that, he was involved for over 20 years in
the promotion and funding of Presbyterian national and
international mission programs. Before retiring in June, he served
as an associate executive for communication and stewardship in the
Synod of the Trinity — a regional administrative and
governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In retirement,
he plans to serve as an interim pastor.
His
wife is the Rev. Judy A. Angleberger, pastor of a Presbyterian
church in Beaver Falls, Pa. They have four children, three of whom
are grown. The youngest, Kelley, plans to enter Allegheny College
this fall. Gary hopes that he can return to Columbia for a class
reunion sometime soon.
Albert J. Anton Jr. continues as a resident of South
Orange, N.J. and partner of Carl Pforzheimer & Co., an
investment firm specializing in the oil industry and a member of
the New York Stock Exchange. The National Association of Petroleum
Investment Analysts recently named Al an honorary life
member.
Jim Barker has endowed a chair in Contemporary
Civilization. The chair is part of a new program the Dean has
announced to attract senior professors to teach the Core Curriculum
and be committed to it. Jim’s chair is one of the first in
the program to be announced.
At
his 65th birthday, John Breeskin took the opportunity to
bring classmates up to speed on some of the significant details of
his life’s journey. In his first career, John served 20 years
in the Air Force, retiring in 1978 as a lieutenant colonel. He
served at the Air Force’s major teaching hospital, where he
did extensive work with returning Vietnam prisoners of war. In his
second career, also lasting 20 years, he was director of a large
outpatient mental health clinic just outside Washington D.C., with
emphasis on group therapy, men’s issues, and forensic
psychology. In his third career, in progress, he is a distance
learning fellow at the University of Maryland, hard at work
converting the traditional classroom teaching model to the
internet. He plans to do this for the next 20 years to round out
the picture.
On
the personal side, John is happily married to Andi, a chief warrant
officer four in the Army Reserves. They play high-level tournament
duplicate bridge for enjoyment and challenge while proudly watching
the lives of their three children and two grandchildren.
Richard J. Cohen remains in active practice as an
oncologist in San Francisco. Nevertheless, Dick and his wife,
Sandra ’59 Barnard, have been in their adventure mode. In the
last two years, they have visited Borneo, the Galapagos Islands,
Tanzania, India, Turkey, Tuscany and Kenya. “If not now,
when?” they ask. They have “lots of great photographs
and [have had] incredible experiences…”
Ted Dwyer arranged for Steve Epstein to deliver a
lecture at the New Jersey Medical School, where Ted is chairman of
the cardiovascular department. Steve, who had been head of the
cardiology department at the National Institutes of Health,
specializes in coronary artery disease at Washington Heart Center,
Washington D.C.
The
Newark (N.J.) Preservation and Landmarks Committee has appointed
Douglas Eldridge executive director. Doug was a founder of
the organization in 1973.
William F. (Bill) Friedman, a prominent pediatric
cardiologist, was a founder of that medical specialty. He is now
dean for academic affairs at UCLA Medical School, with a CV of 51
pages. Bill has lectured (and played golf) all over the world, from
China to Cairo, and continues to be sought out for his expertise.
Married to Denise, he has two grown sons and lives very happily in
Los Angeles.
Edward Hylsky retired after working over 40 years in
nuclear research; he has moved from “snowy Idaho” to
“beautiful southeastern Arizona.” Ed lives in Sierra
Vista, Ariz.
Alvin Kass’s son, Daniel ‘95, is engaged to
the daughter of another rabbi. Daniel, an M.D., is interning at
Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. Alvin, senior rabbi at The East
Midwood Jewish Center in Brooklyn, reports that his congregation
recently absorbed another Brooklyn congregation, the third in
recent years. He reports that Brooklyn is booming with economic
activity and new construction; truly it is experiencing a
renaissance.
Herman Levy attended Dean’s Day in Washington D.C.
on April 29. The day began with introductions from Dr. Laurance
Guido ’65, director, University Alumni Relations, and Bruce
Ferguson, dean, School of the Arts. Afterwards there were two
successive groups of three alternative lectures. Herman attended
“Reflections on a Half Millennium of Nationalism” by
Anthony Marx, associate professor of political science, and its
sequel, “The Continuing Legacy of Multinational
Empires,” by Karen Barkey, associate professor, sociology
(the subjects of a cover story in
the May 2000 CCT). Luncheon followed; the keynote speaker
was Lisa Anderson, dean, School of International and Public
Affairs, and professor of political science. A lively question and
answer period followed both lectures and the keynote speech; our
College’s Washington contingent has no dearth of alumni keen
on history and international affairs.
Bob Lipsyte reports that his daughter, Susannah, is at
Georgetown Law School; he will “soon be covered for
nefarities.” Bob’s son, Sam, has published his first
book of short stories, Venus Drive (Grove/Atlantic); Bob now will
not “have to write anymore.” Bob’s personal
rabbi, Al Kass, and personal astrologer, Al’s daughter
Sarah ’87, “have everything else
covered.”
Ira Lubell has followed a career in public health, most
recently in the San Francisco area. He recently retired as medical
director of Santa Clara Valley Hospital and currently serves as
chairman of the medical quality board of the State of
California.
John H. Norton, a urologist, founded and runs a
community health clinic in San Francisco.
Samuel N. Rosenberg retired at the end of 1999 as
professor of French and Italian at Indiana University, where he
taught since 1962. He plans to remain in Bloomington with his
companion of many years, Jeffrey Ankrom, and to maintain his
career-long commitment to scholarly research and
publication.
Herb Sturman is of counsel to Freeman, Freeman &
Smiley, into which he merged his former firm two years ago. Herb
specializes in tax matters; the firm’s specialty is estate
planning. He and Bev have recently moved to a “gorgeous new
condo” on Wilshire Boulevard; they have three children. Herb
is proud that he has virtually no body fat and can press 390
pounds.
Ed Weinstein, on an April visit to Los Angeles, twice
dined with Bill Friedman, Herb Sturman, and Dick Hannes
‘56. Ed and Sandra attended this year’s Dean’s
Day in New York, meeting Al Anton, Arthur Bernstein, and
Marty Fisher; Ed remembers Al’s having put a blind
side block on him at an inter-fraternity football game. He reports
that Dean’s Day “was something special. Sandra and I
were treated to three outstanding lectures as well as commentary by
Dean Quigley. Fritz Stern ’46, one of the professors whose
lecture we attended, agreed with Dean Quigley that the University
and the College have entered an era of extraordinary
achievement.”
Ed
has been elected vice president of the Alumni Association and
chairman of the Alumni Fund, following in the footsteps of two
other classmates, Saul Cohen and Jim Barker. Ed also
has been elected chairman of the supervisory board of PLUS
Integration, a privately-owned information technology company with
headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, but with operations in
both the USA and Europe. Under the Dutch system, the supervisory
board is separate from management and consists entirely of outside
directors; it has general governance responsibilities and
policy-setting responsibilities for the company.
Ed’s widespread activities also include service as one of
five public members of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board. The
real estate section of the June 11 New York Times has a lead
article on the Board; Ed’s picture appears on the front page
and the article quotes him extensively. It notes him as a retired
senior partner of Deloitte and Touche and as a board member
“of six not-for-profit organizations, including the
Cooper-Hewitt Museum.” Ed tells us that Saul Cohen is
responsible for his appointment to that Board three years
ago.
John Wellington retired in July 1999 as vice president
of Mountainside Hospital Foundation, Montclair N.J. He is finding
free time to enjoy friends and family.
Alan J. Zuckerman has had a career in social services;
currently he is involved in vocational training for people not in
the work force. He lives in Washington D.C. and is the father of
two boys.
Please send whatever news you may have-family, career,
retirement, community activity, travel, etc. to Herman D. Levy,
telephone and facsimile (703) 698-5246, or e-mail him at the above
address.
Barry Dickman
24 Bergen Street
Hackensack, N.J. 07601
Congratulations to: Dick Waldman on the marriage of his
son, Mitchell ’90E, to Jolene Lai.
Marshall Front, who, as previously reported, received an
honorary degree from St. Xavier U. in Chicago. We now have more
details; according to the University’s announcement, Marshall
was awarded a Doctorate of Public Service “in recognition of
his outstanding career accomplishments and his exemplary service to
our community.”
It
is with the deepest regret that we report two deaths. Our
classmate, Walter Green, died on February 24 after a
three-year battle with lung cancer. Walter had been the chief of
corporate editorial services for the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority. He is survived by his wife, Rona; his sons, Adam and
Matthew; and his mother, Emily.
Ernie Brod’s wife, Carol, died on May 6 after a
long struggle with complications arising from treatment for a brain
tumor. A graduate of Hunter College who held two master’s
degrees and a Ph.D. in psychoanalysis from the Union Institute,
Carol had a private psychoanalytic practice and was a member of the
board of directors of the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies,
as well as being deeply involved with many of its activities. She
is also survived by her children, Joanna, Mara and Jon, and by her
parents.
Bert
Hirschhorn seems to be as busy as ever since retiring as visiting
professor of public health at the U. of Minnesota and director of
family health at the State Health Department. Bert is now working
as a consultant to the World Health Organization and the
Tobacco-Free Initiative. He has also followed his Minnesotan wife,
Cynthia, to Beirut, where she is associate dean for research and
Bert is a senior lecturer on the faculty of health sciences at the
American University. However, a return to New York is a
possibility; Cynthia is contemplating a dramatic career change by
applying to the Columbia School of Architecture. Bert has published
a collection of poetry entitled A Cracked River. Bert and
Cynthia have two grandchildren, with another on the way.
Bob Furey has been named one of New York’s best
doctors, both in New York magazine’s annual survey and
the Castle-Connolly Guide, How to Find the Best Doctors.
Other ’58 physicians listed in the Guide include Stan
Goldsmith, Bob Waldbaum and Boyd Seidenberg.
Speaking of Stan Goldsmith, he received the award for
career excellence as a teacher of radiology from the SUNY Health
Science Center, where he got his M.D., and the distinguished
educator award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine. Stan is a
professor of radiology and medicine at the Medical College of
Cornell U. and director of nuclear medicine at the N.Y.
Presbyterian Hospital. He has completed a five-year term as
editor-in-chief of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. He
recently delivered the keynote address to the Israel Society of
Nuclear Medicine in Herzlia, followed by lectures on the Isle of
Capri on prostate cancer and lymphoma. Stan and his wife, Miriam,
have four married children and two grandchildren.
George Braman is now an assistant professor at SUNY
Health Science Center in Brooklyn. George, who was managing editor
of the Columbia Review as an undergraduate, has continued
his literary efforts; he has had several poems published in the
Annals of Internal Medicine. George and his wife, Joan, live
in Riverdale; their son, Leonard, is a member of the Class of
’02.
Another recent retiree, Richard Bossert, left the N.Y.
State Consumer Protection Board in Albany and has become the newest
member of the board of visitors of the Sunmount Developmental
Services Office, a branch of the State Office of Mental Retardation
and Developmental Disabilities serving six upstate counties.
Richard earned a Ph.D. from the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of
Public Administration and Policy at SUNY-Albany in 1994. Richard
and his wife, Paula, have two daughters and two granddaughters and
were foster parents for teenagers who had experienced emotional
difficulties.
Not
that any member of the Class of ’58 ever had the slightest
doubt, but the Office of the Independent Counsel (the “Starr
Chamber”) has belatedly issued a report definitively clearing
Bernie Nussbaum of any wrongdoing in connection with
“Filegate,” an investigation into the White
House’s handling of confidential FBI files while Bernie was
President Clinton’s counsel. The report cleared the White
House staff of all criminal charges.
And
another reminder about the class lunch Scott Shukat hosts on
the second Tuesday of every month, in the Grill Room of the
Princeton/Columbia Club, 15 W. 43rd Street. ($31 per person). You
can let Scott know if you plan to attend up to the day before, by
phone at (2l2) 582-7614; by fax at (212) 315-3752; or by e-mail at
scott@shukat.com.
Ed Mendrzycki
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
425 Lexington Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10017
David McNutt and his wife, Kristen, recently relocated
from the Chicago area to California, where they were married 31
years ago when both were post-doc fellows. Dave was appointed
health officer and director of medical services for the County of
Santa Cruz on April 1. He oversees the public health and
environmental health services, two primary care centers, emergency
medical services and the jail medical services for the county. The
McNutts can be reached at (831) 466-9558.
Donald P. Brown (“Avadhoot”) reports from
South Fallsburg, N.Y. that he continues to practice Siddha yoga,
which he has been doing since September 1970, first under
“Baba” (Swami Muktananda) and now with his successor,
“Guru Mayi” (Swami Chidrilas-ananda). He meditates,
chants & does seva (selfless service) each day, at home and at
the SYDA Foundation’s Shree Muktananda Ashran
nearby.
Jim Levy writes from Sydney, Australia, to say how much
he enjoyed last year’s reunion. Jim and his wife, Valerie,
traveled to China earlier this year and spent July and early August
in France. Jim’s e-mail address is J.Levy@unsw.edu.au.
J. David Farmer
100 Haven Ave., 12C
New York, N.Y. 10032
david@daheshmuseum.org
Jerry Schmelzer, whom I remember as a fellow WKCR
“personality,” writes with justifiable pride of the
completion of a major redevelopment project that he spearheaded as
president of Historic Gateway Corporation in Cleveland. The $12
million commercial, entertainment and apartment development is
adjacent to the splendid new Jacobs Field and Gund Arena that have
rejuvenated the Gateway District in downtown Cleveland.
John Gubbings, who has been working as a computer
systems program manager, is retiring to have more time to spend on
investments and social justice issues. The latter are most
important to address during the good times, he notes.
I
note with deep regret the death of my former roommate,
Jean-Louis Huot, in April. Jean-Louis was quick, bright and
already well-read, but he was not clear then on what he wanted in
life. He did not graduate, although he remained loyal to the school
and to many Columbia friends. He joined us for the 30th reunion in
1990 and had a fine time. After two failed marriages, he
acknowledged that he was gay and found a comfortable life of
service to the gay community and a long-time senior position in an
art supply store, where he worked until a few days before his death
from cancer. He had a wicked sense of humor — he immediately
named his lethal tumor Henry, which is how we were all able to
refer to it without false sensitivity. Jean-Louis wrote letters as
few among us do today, full of outrageous puns, jokes and opinions,
and he wrote more often than he received responses, I am sure. He
was one of the most generous friends anyone could have; none of his
regular visits was unaccompanied by a present for every member of
the family. He loved to travel and in recent years became an
excellent photographer. Most of his friends have a framed
photograph or two by him that will remain a tangible reminder of
this special man.
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