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CLASS NOTES
Henry S. Coleman Publishing six issues of CCT a year means I need help from you to fill this column. Please write in with your news.
George W. Cooper The first piece of news, cleverly concealed in the heading of this column, is your class correspondent’s new mailing address. Actually, an old one — we settled down in Stamford 28 years ago. The novelty lies in my retirement from full, active law practice at year-end. I’ll remain “of counsel” but be working from home, when there is work to do and no better way to pass the time. Q.E.D., all classmates are invited to send items of interest to the home address above or directly to Laura Butchy at the CCT office. Larry Friedland reports that, as of November 15, he is making a similar or analogous (but not identical) move. He has become “of counsel” at Olshan Grundman Frome Rosenzweig & Wolosky in New York. Now, there’s a mouthful — is it a safe bet that only the first two are identified by the firm telephone operator or does Frome also get in the act? Clarification is expected from Larry, no later than next year’s Homecoming game. One other item that may well belong in the Class Notes for the Class of ’45, but is surely welcome here. Martin Klein writes from Anaheim, Calif., that he was originally in the class of ’45 but, like so many others, found his studies rudely interrupted by World War II. He returned to the campus in ’46 and received his degree in ’47 after completing his first year of medical school at Louisville. Martin is still in practice, living in Dana Point, Calif., (“close to my sailboat”) and skiing with his grandchildren at Park City, Utah. He ends his message by saying that he “is listed with the class of ’47 but [doesn’t] know anyone in that class. Solution: Come coast-to-coast for our class’ 55th Reunion next spring and introduce yourself to the throngs gathered for this celebration.
Theodore Melnechuk The last edition of these notes was sent in the day before the September 11 attack two miles southwest of where I was born, and these notes are being written on the day an airliner crashed in Rockaway Beach, Queens, two miles west of where my wife, Anna, and I used to swim during the summers of my Columbia student years. She and I were together on that beach the sunny day the Japanese surrendered, staying after sundown to listen by portable radio to Toscanini lead the hastily convened NBC Symphony in its first performance of the Eroica since the start of the Second World War. From 1955 to 1963, we lived in Washington Heights, where most of today’s crash victims lived. And in the early ’90s, we occasionally would dine at Windows on the World, where our composer-pianist friend Judd Woldin led the musical trio. Because of these coincidences, nostalgia has amplified our dismay at the disasters. We hope that none of you had nearer connections to the tragedies, but if you did, please send me your stories. Robert Clayton and his wife, Helen, recently received a congratulatory letter from the New York State Barn Coalition on being recipients of a 2001 Barn Preservation Award. Bob used to manage a huge apartment complex on the East River, so it was not surprising to learn that his interest in shelters extends to those that once housed animals. Bob and Helen live at Apt. 2105, 475 FDR Dr., New York, NY 10002. William Hart has retired after 45 years in the entertainment business. He twice served as a senior vice president for television, first at Columbia Pictures Television and then at Warner Brothers Television. He ended his career at Rysher Entertainment, where he produced seven films, including Above Suspicion with Christopher Reeve. His education at Columbia was interrupted by service in the armed forces. Nowadays, he plays a lot of tennis. He lives with his wife, Erica, at 1036 Carolyn Way, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Some months ago in this column, I asked for information about two of our classmates who had been roommates at Columbia, William Vessie and Marshall D. Mascott. As you know from the November issue, that plea evoked information about and from Bill. It also was read by Kathy Mascott, who, in response, telephoned me from Montreux, Switzerland. Like Bill, Marshall has a major health problem: A recent stroke has made it impossible for him to speak, write and walk. In order to be nearer to his parents at this time of stress, their neurosurgeon son, Christopher, left his job at Tulane School of Medicine to work in France. His family plans to join him after the sale of their home. Kathy and Marshall continue to live in a beautiful apartment that looks south across Lake Geneva at the snow-capped French Alps beyond Evian. They chose it years ago, when Marshall became head of Berlitz travel books, with an office in nearby Lausanne in which our late classmate Ken Bernstein worked with Marshall after leaving NBC News in New York. As a friend of Marshall (who was called “Scotty” in those days) since we worked on Jester in the ’40s, and since then a sometime guest of his and Kathy’s in their London and Montreux homes, I wish him my heartfelt best. You can write the Mascotts at Rue du Theatre 8, 1820 Montreux, Switzerland. On December 2, Craig S. DeYoung informed me that Dr. William A. Vessie had died of cancer the night before. After serving as your class correspondent for more than three years, I may not be able to continue much longer. I urge anyone who is willing to succeed me to get in touch with me or with Laura Butchy, staff writer at Columbia College Today, who may be reached at (212) 870-2785 or lbb32@columbia.edu. One of the perks of the job is that you are given an annotated list of those class members of whom Columbia thinks it knows the whereabouts. Using that list, I have had a lot of fun getting in touch with classmates I used to know on campus and with some I never met, whom I telephoned because of their interesting occupations or locations or to amplify notes they sent the alumni office. If no one soon volunteers to succeed me, I will send the names of a few potential successors to our class president, counting on him to organize the kind of social pressure that got me to undertake the role. Meanwhile, my thanks for your interest, cooperation and positive comments, and my hopes that we all have a happier 2002.
Joseph B. Russell While I do not believe that any of our classmates was a victim of the mass murder at the World Trade Center on September 11, we, together with our compatriots and fellow humans, cannot have escaped its accompanying fallout. To all who lost friends or family members, we offer our deepest sympathy. To all who suffered direct or indirect economic loss, we offer our hopes for speedy recovery. To the hate-filled authors of the tragedy, we express our resolve to bring you to justice, to prevent repetition and to seek peace and mutual understanding among the many diverse cultures that make up our only world. John Weaver has offered to compile an e-mail directory for all ’49ers. He asks that those of you who have an e-mail address send it to WUDCHPR@aol.com. John attended attended Homecoming at Baker Field and sat with Fred Berman, with whom he commiserated regarding the lopsided score. They spent halftime with Naomi and Marv Lipman. As sad as they all were about the score, John reports that there is still an inescapable good feeling when classmates meet. As infrequent as these occasions may be, the bond of shared undergraduate days makes them a time of warm feelings. John’s special enhancement was to be there with his son, John Dryland-Weaver, a member of the class of 2005. Marvin Harris, a classmate who stayed at Columbia as a graduate student and tenured faculty member (anthropology) of worldwide distinction (and, in his case, controversy), reached the end of a most productive and colorful life on October 25 and was eulogized in a fascinating obituary in The New York Times. To his survivors, we extend our condolences in the hopes that their memories of many good times will soon give them comfort in their grief. Stan Edelman reports as chairman of his P&S class of 1953, which is preparing to celebrate its 50th reunion in May 2003, that they have set up the Dr. Harold Brown Fellowship in Medicine, which will assist third- and fourth-year medical students in their travels for foreign medical education. Stan notes that 29 College graduates were accepted by P&S in 1949 — possibly the largest number of College students to enter P&S in one year. Our times were unique because those accepted were mainly combat veterans of World War II, older (and wiser) than most present entrants to medical schools. To all who read this, warm wishes for a happy holiday season among the people you love!
Mario Palmieri Fred Dietz writes: “Dorothy and I are once again New Yorkers. We have abandoned the balmy beaches of Sandy Key for the rock-strewn shores of Lake Ontario.” (Colorfully stated, Fred.) The Dietzes live in Fair Haven, Cayuga County, so they hopped down to Ithaca for the Columbia-Cornell football game and sang (for the first time in more than 50 years) “Roar, Lion, Roar” as the Lions won by one touchdown. Another golden wedding anniversary to report — Ethel and Walter Laske (formerly Laskoski), last summer. I now have 35 classmates in my e-mail address book. If anyone has joined the cyber ranks since we reported the addresses in the 50th anniversary yearbook, please send me your address. I promise I will use it for Columbia business only. I’ll not spam you with the jokes, political material, philosophical discussions, patriotic messages or ads for Viagra, which, like all e-mail users, you receive every day. And of course I will keep it confidential. I extend to all of you and your families my best wishes for the coming year.
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