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CLASS NOTES
Everett Weinberger Susan Benesch heeded my e-mail plea for news and sent this update: "After six years as a full-time newspaper correspondent in Latin America, especially Cuba and Haiti, I returned to N.Y. and co-wrote a book for the New York Public Library on rough drafts of poems, The Hand of the Poet: Poems and Papers in Manuscript (Rizzoli, 1997)." Then I went to Yale Law School to study human rights law, graduated last May, and am a fellow at the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in Washington, working on refugee law. I'm engaged to a wonderful guy, Tom LeBrun, who's a physicist." Peter McLaughlin was promoted to assistant general
counsel at Sun Microsystems. He and his wife, Elizabeth, just
welcomed their second child, Grace Elizabeth, who joins their son,
Alexander.
Sarah A. Kass I am back in the United Kingdom after a three-week jaunt to the United States, where I had some time to hang out with classmates. In fact, it was really a Columbia trip all around, as my brother Danny Kass '95 and I celebrated the Passover Seder hosted by our father, Rabbi Alvin Kass '57. I had dinner with Lee Ilan, met up with Jennifer Bensko and later with Richard Simonds, and also saw Art Small and met his wife, Dawn, and darling daughter, Zoe, during a visit to their house. At lunch with Cathy Webster, she told me she ran into Linda Macri and Irene Tucker at the Modern Language Association Conference in New Orleans last December. "Linda and I had dinner together and shared agonizing anecdotes about graduate school and job hunting," Cathy said. "I saw Irene only very briefly, but her career as an English professor seems to be flourishing. She'd been at Duke, where the department 'imploded' (in her words), and is now at Johns Hopkins." Tom Duval sent in this update: "I had a gig with my old friend, Jack Hardy, and he brought me a gift - a promo/advance release copy of a two-CD set from Smithsonian Folkways, called Fast Folk: A Community of Singers and Songwriters. The Fast Folk Musical Magazine was founded and edited by Jack (and later by Richard Meyer) from the early '80s into the late '90s. Subscribers received a magazine and a record album (later a CD). The album contained 10-12 songs written and performed by unknown songwriters. Some who made debut recording appearances on Fast Folk records include Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Lyle Lovett, Michelle Shocked, Nancy Griffith and Tracy Chapman. There were 105 issues, with more than 1,000 recordings, across the life of Fast Folk. "And I didn't know until then that one of those cuts I performed on my friend Judith Zweiman's song, 'Heart on Ice,' is on the two-CD set. I am thrilled and honored to be officially a footnote in American musical history. It was during my last two years at Columbia that I became involved with these people and played on MacDougal Street. In fact, I'm not sure how Dr. Edinger, my senior seminar teacher, would feel if he knew that I wrote most of my senior research paper on comparative East European communist systems by the dim red lights at Speakeasy. I got some ribbing from these folks, but only in a supportive and affectionate way. You should have seen their eyes roll when I was asked, 'What are you reading?' and would show them a book titled Labor Movements in Eastern Europe or some such thing. Imagine being able to relive a whole piece of your life just by looking at and listening to a CD. I'm very fortunate, indeed." Congratulations, Tom! Anne Long Fraenkel-Thonet has been living in London for the past six years. She has two children: Maximilian (2), who goes by Max, and Theodore (five months), who goes by Teddy. Edward Hoffman is a lawyer in solo practice in Los Angeles focusing on civil and criminal appeals, after graduating from the University of Southern California Law School in 1993. "I recently passed the exam to be a certified specialist in appellate practice," he said, "though the paperwork will take some time to process. I've been married since 1998 to Ina, a software engineer. I just finished a three-year stint as president of the Columbia University Alumni Association of Southern California; former College Dean Jack Greenberg '45 '48L was at my last event as president." I also heard from Jim Carbone '90, who was president of our class during our first year but then took off some time to travel through Europe, Eastern Europe and Turkey before the fall of the Iron Curtain and spent two years in San Francisco. He eventually graduated with the Class of 1990, but says, "My heart and memories are still with that freshman year in the class of 1987." Jim is in New York, where he's been owner and chef of the East Village restaurant Mugsys Chow Chow for the past eight years. This year, he expanded it and renamed it Patio Dining. He recently married designer Pixie Yates. Jim wrote: "I'm also curious about Pat Codd, my freshman roommate, and Christian Pschorr, my favorite singer of all time. Also, greetings to my Alpha Delta Phi brothers and members of the freshman lightweight crew team." In the next issue, we will have the full reunion report, but for
now, let me just thank all of you once again for all the great
contributions you've sent for the column. Please keep it up!
George Gianfrancisco Every once and awhile, you open your eyes and look around and realize that there are people in this world who do things that make a difference. And with the state of the union as it is today, that truly is something in which to take comfort - even more so when the person doing those things is a classmate. What got me to thinking about this were the exploits of Patrick Ball, as reported in major metropolitan publications around the world. Patrick has spent a decade perfecting the use of computer technology in the service of human rights and for three years traveled back and forth to Kosovo, culling data on civilian deaths in an attempt to provide irrefutable statistical documentation that the blood of ethnic cleansing stained the hands of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Working independently of the U.S. government, Patrick and his team identified 4,400 people who had been killed, and, by comparing recorded refugee movements against these death records, he discovered that that the numbers rose and fell in the same pattern in the same parts of the country, suggesting that they shared a common cause. By crossing these records with the daily military action reports, he lined up all the patterns of behavior and created graphs of the results. Recently, in an international courtroom in the Hague where he confronted Milosevic, his data pointed incontrovertibly to the fact that Yugoslav forces conducted a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Albanian population. Makes you feel like donning the ol' Light Blue and doing some good in the world, too. Andrea Mia (Groder) has been making her living and life in and around the movie business, producing independent features and documentaries, a far stretch from Wednesday afternoons at the movies with popcorn and Annette Insdorf, but it'll do. Her latest film has stretched the boundaries of production and pushed the language of cinema, having been shot in one night with 24 actors including John Ritter. Man of the Year is just starting its festival run, so look for it. She wanted us to know that this column reminds her of the Columbia Blue that is always near and dear to her heart and especially all the fond memories she has of making fun of the football team. She considers herself blessed that she gets to hang out with two of her Columbia classmates on a regular basis: Tom Halasz and former East Campus roommate Russ Glazer. Tom and his wife, Kai, just had their first child, Eva. Tom is an editor in documentaries and features. Russ is a litigation partner at Troy & Gould in L.A. and has just celebrated the birth of his third child, Talia Justine Glazer. Talia joins a household filled to the brim by big sister Samantha (3), big brother Jacob (6), Russ, and his wife, Sandra Barrientos. To top things off, Russ's mother-in-law is visiting for at least six months to help take care of the baby. Good luck, Russ. Former 4 Carmanite Steve Silverstein lives in N.Y. after graduating from Wharton in '99 and working for TD Securities, where he advises auto parts companies and defense contractors. He tells me that Scott Marantz and his wife, Susan, are still in L.A., where Scott works for Merrill Lynch Trust. Light Blue track man Geoff "Digger" Hoffman and his wife, Robin, moved from Goshen, Ind., to Elkhart, home of Karl "The King" Ottersberg '91, another Lion trackman, or I suppose "field" man would be preferable, seeing as Karl put shot back then. Paul Foster is married and lives in South Florida with his wife, Dawn, and Ben Horowitz is CEO of LoudCloud. He and his wife, Felicia, have been blessed with three lovely daughters. Great to hear from you Steve, but what, no news about wild man/skate punk extraordinaire Dave Jagoda? My apologizes to that decidedly large reservoir of Emily Skopov confidantes who took her latest news with such consternation that the barrage of e-mails almost derailed one of those pesky script deadlines upon which she makes her living. Emily and Todd Normane are quite blissfully together in L.A. raising daughter Austen, who is growing up healthy and happy and probably unaware of the confusion created by the announcement of her birth. Emily and Todd were introduced by family and did not meet through an online service, although as Em and I agree, and which such notables as the happily-wed-three-childrened Janeen and Durc Savini would attest, there is nothing wrong with such services. So while Emily and Todd began their bi-coastal relationship mainly via the Internet, it moved offline when Todd moved west from New Jersey. A N.Y. native, all Em had to do was relocate 3,000 miles to find someone in her own backyard. We wish the three of them quiet days and e-mail-less nights on the West Coast as surely more of those script deadlines loom. Two things, guys: Make the world a better place, and have fun.
Anytime you're doing one of those, it's a win. When you get both at
the same time, it doesn't get any better.
Amy Perkel It's the end of an era. Matt Assiff married the lovely Lisa Young on April 27 at the Champions Golf Club in Houston. Present at the ceremony and reception were a number of Columbia classmates, teammates and colleagues - Matt was a triple letterman in swimming, football and track - including Todd Thomason, Jason Au '88 and Andrew McFarland '90 from the swim team; Dan Loflin from the football team; John Eckel '73, Matt's new manager; Lisa Landau; and myself. Respective wives Alison Thomason, Alexandre Au and Gretchen McFarland, and dates, were in tow. The Columbia crew first reconnected at the wonderful rehearsal dinner at the restaurant where the couple had their first date. Matt and Lisa, who had been dating for a little more than two years, were introduced by a mutual friend, who served as the maid of honor. The couple honeymooned in France for two weeks. Described as a "tour de France, but not on bicycles," they enjoyed delicious wine and food. Winning the favorite appetizer prize was the innovative bon bons of fois gras. Favorite meal was the veal with white asparagus and morels in a cream sauce. Matt added that the French were on their best behavior, and that he was only mistaken for Jerry Lewis twice. At such times, Matt would respond with a "Hey, lady." He refrained from soliciting funds for muscular dystrophy, though he was offered up to 2,000 euros for the charity. Matt fit in one round of golf in a town near Bordeaux. The newlyweds came back with wine and a few paintings to remind them of their trip. Lisa is an anesthesiologist and, like Matt, a Texas native. After more than a decade in the investment banking business, Matt moved on to new, yet related, pastures. He joined Copano Energy as senior vice president of finance and administration, where he reports to John Eckel '73 (as noted above), who is the CEO, and a rather young looking one at that; he looks no older than an '87! Taking advantage of already being in Texas, I flew to Austin to spend a few days with Gina Shishima and her husband, David Sosa, always gracious hosts. Gina continues as a patent attorney with Fulbright & Jaworski, one of the largest law firms in Texas and the nation. About a month prior to the trip, I cornered Lamia Rita Matta coming out of a shop in Healdsburg, Calif., a quaint town in Russian River wine country. Lamia, who clerks for a judge in El Paso, Texas, and received a J.D. from the University of Texas, was in the Bay Area visiting her sister. She told me that Michael Young and Naomi Hanser were living in Austin with their two children. So, while in Austin, Gina and I speculated on what the couple was up to. We rightfully assumed Naomi was still doctoring, though she was on maternity leave at the time, as she had just given birth to their second son, Eli. And we figured that Michael was a professor at UT Austin; as reported in this column a number of years ago, he received a Ph.D. in sociology from NYU. We "googled" him, and we were right. We found him on the UT sociology faculty home page. After a quick e-mail exchange, I was able to catch up with the family. Michael had just completed the spring term, and Naomi was on maternity leave. The two are enjoying Austin, where they have been for two years, though they expressed yearnings for family and friends back on the East Coast. Their adorable older son, Noah, has been blessed with the family curls. For any of you looking to go to a hip, fun restaurant in NYC, check out Mexican Radio at 19 Cleveland Pl., which is owned by Michael's older brother. Ian Kohlhaas was married on October 13, 2001, in Zoar, Ohio, to the former Susan Porterfield. The two met when Ian was delivering pizzas while studying for the Indiana bar exam! They are the proud parents of Lance Michael Kohlhaas, who was born in the spring at 7 lbs., 13 oz., 201-2 inches. Ian has high hopes for Lance: "[I hope he'll be] a Lion football stud to help get that Ivy title!" Classmates in attendance included Matt Nettleton, Paul Richardson and Shep Long '88. The highlight of the reception, according to Ian, was the four of them doing a Rockette routine to Sinatra's "New York, New York." Matt's wife, Jessica, stayed home with their then 2-year-old son, Michael, and infant daughter, Grace. Matt is a successful real estate agent in Indianapolis who "could sell ice to Eskimos," according to Ian. Shep's wife, Patty (Ryan) Long, could not make it, as she was at home with their son, though she did put in a call to wish the bride and groom much happiness. Paul's wife, Robby, also was in attendance, while they left their daughters, Ellie and Ana, in the care of their grandparents. Ian provided an amusing anecdote about Paul. In 1993, when he was studying in England (overseas law school for Pepperdine), Paul's local soccer team was making it deep into the playoffs, a tourney where club teams play single elimination. Eventually, the professional teams get involved, and the local beer pub team that made it the furthest could end up playing Manchester United for the English championship. Paul's team made it very far and the English press loved the fact that he was a former junior national team captain. He got some good press, "hating every minute of it," according to Ian. Unfortunately, it poured rain at Ian's game, and they lost. It was terrific to hear from Dan Javitch, who reports on the "road less traveled." Dan moved from New York, where he was a "lawyer/drone" at one of the big New York firms, to the San Francisco Bay Area three years ago to become a high school teacher. After a year at UC Berkeley getting his teaching credentials, he took a job at Mission High School in San Francisco, where he teaches 10th grade English and ESL. His school has all of the urban school problems you see on TV, according to Dan, but the kids are so great, and he is "really, really, really, really happy with the move, and not just because I can tell lawyer jokes again." Dan recently put his legal skills to good use helping out with the school's mock trial team, and he has even convinced two of his best students to apply to Columbia. Says Dan, "I think they'll go if they get in ... hint, hint, Admissions Office." He misses New York and believes he may be losing his edge, but is happy with the move and is waiting for George W. Bush to fulfill his alleged education agenda so he can "maybe afford to move from Oakland to San Francisco." Cristina Mitchell responded to my desperate plea for news. She felt inspired to write to CCT (for the first time; note: there are at least four former "CCT virgins" in this column) after reading about 8 Carman floormate Pete Ginsburg and suitemate Heidi (Himmelfelt) Wolpow in the two prior columns. After graduation, Cristina "goofed around" for a year, then moved back to NYC to work at the National Organization for Women. While there, she decided what she really wanted to do was be a doctor, so she went back to G.S. to do pre-med stuff. She got into Brown Medical School and moved to Providence, R.I., in 1993. Providence is a funny place, she notes, with "an amazing inertial pull and lots of local color," including a mayor who recently was on trial for racketeering. She stayed for residency in family medicine, is on the Brown faculty and works at a community health center that serves a largely immigrant, Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking population. She married Roger Blumberg '83 (whom she met at the Hungarian Pastry Shop - Cristina worked there during college and on and off post-college) in 1996 in Venice. Roger is in the computer science department at Brown and teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design. Their daughter, Eliana Ruth, was born on February 7, 2002. It was a delight to hear from Furnald floormate Peter Furniss. After graduation, he spent three years in New York, working at various places and pursuing a Ph.D. in classics at Columbia. After a year in the Ph.D. program, he "bailed" and applied to law schools. He married his girlfriend of three years, Gillian McLoughlin. The two met during the summer of 1989, the result of an office romance at Cambridge University Press in New York. Peter then went to Harvard Law School. After graduating in 1995, he joined Debevoise & Plimpton in New York as an associate in the project finance area. In 2000, he soured on the law firm thing and has worked ever since at Sithe Energies, an independent power producer with plants throughout North America and Asia and headquarters in the Big Apple, where he is vice president and assistant general counsel. The job has been "an exciting ride, with the trials and
tribulations in the energy business (and the world, for that
matter) of late." The move to Sithe allowed him to spend more time
with Gillian and their growing family: Jocelyn McKenzie, born July
8, 1999, and Arthur Christian, born July 21, 2001. The kids are as
blond as Peter, but with dark blue eyes like their mother. Earlier
in the year, the family enjoyed a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, a
"workout" with the newborn and 2-and-a-half year-old. Peter and
Bruce Machanic exchange Christmas cards and the "occasional
birth announcement." But he has lost touch with just about everyone
at Columbia and would welcome emails to pfurniss@sithe.com.
Rachel J. Cowan Something strange is going on. No one wrote in with news, and yet, I have so much to say. Judy Shampanier phoned in with a report on the magnificent wedding of my birthday twin, John Vincenti. John married a childhood friend of Judy's, Robyn Kampf, a pediatrician in Englewood, N.J. They were married in Eisenhower Park on Long Island on March 10. Judy introduced them in 1999, and the rest was left up to them. Attending John were Chris Roth and Paul Greenberg. (Can groomsmen attend the groom, or is that reserved for the ladies? Any wedding language experts out there?) Columbia friends witnessing the celebration (and I'm sure concurring with Judy's glowing report) were Sandy and Dan Max, Ellen and Mike Better '90E, and Julie Schwartz '88 and her husband, Max Weber. Dan, Mike and Julie each have two kids, and Chris is finishing a radiology residency in Boston. A week later, Judy headed out to New Jersey to Eleni Demetriou's for her daughter Maria's third birthday party. Judy Bernstein was there with her 2-year-old son, and of course, Tina Passalaris was there to spoil her niece, Maria. Maria received a belated birthday gift in April when Eleni gave birth to her second daughter, Annastasia. Chiming in on the baby report (for Pete's sake, what kind of godmother would I be if I didn't?), I've visited Anna Shampanier-Bowen twice since I last wrote. She's as cute as a button and a very sweet baby. I had the pleasure and honor of attending Peter Neisuler's wedding to Mariana Lenkova on May 12. Pete met Mariana at Tufts' Fletcher School of Diplomacy, where they earned master's degrees. I had a fun weekend hanging out with Dan Sackrowitz (still working in lingerie), Colin Campbell (still a nutty professor) and Steve Winick (still a folk of lore) and their lovely wives, as well as Joel Tranter (who gave a hilarious toast), Stephanie Aaronson (still in D.C.) and Brian Timoney. Brian, who believes he is making his CCT debut, continues to drop his dirty laundry in Denver while spending most of his time in Latin America plying his cartography skills. He is hoping it will provide some of the excitement the Marine infantry gave him from 1991-94. But if it doesn't, at least it will be good to retire his khaki officewear for the foreseeable future. He mentioned that Dan Abood practices family medicine in Kent, Ohio; Alex Roth is in Carlsbad, Calif., where he surfs and writes for the San Diego Union Tribune; and Narissa Morgan married an Irishman she met in a Brooklyn bar and lives in County Clare, Ireland. Hold the presses: these e-mails just in! Dave Hunt says there's never a dull moment in Portland, Ore. He's been married for almost 10 years to Tonia, and their children are Andrew (almost 7) and Emily (3). Dave is serving a two-year term as national president of American Baptist Churches USA (and is the youngest president in the denomination's history). He also is running for the Oregon House of Representatives. If you're reading this and live in Oregon, don't forget to vote in November. Claudine Wolas has a new job at EPSON America doing product management for its new line of photo printers. She laughed when she saw the job description asking for a professional photographer with an M.B.A.! She says it's a great company and a great position for her. In closing, I encourage everyone to e-mail me with news. If
you've just accomplished something wonderful, e-mail me. If you've
never seen your name in print, e-mail me. If you think you don't
have anything interesting to report, e-mail me. If you want to
track down a classmate through this column, e-mail me. If you have
stamps to use up before postage increases, send me a letter. Do you
see where I'm going with this? (Cue sappy music now.) Let's not be
strangers. Let the Columbia bond live on. And who knows, maybe it
will grow even stronger.
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