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CLASS NOTES
Stuart Berkman In his new book, White Boy: A Memoir (Temple University
Press), Mark Naison recalls his 25 years experience as a
professor of African-American studies at Fordham. The book,
reviewed in February in The New York Times, tells about
Black-Jewish tensions and how Mark encountered them in his native
Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in the late 1950s. At
Columbia, he immersed himself in civil-rights work and fell in love
with a black woman. Mark notes, “Ostracized by my parents, my
girlfriend and I were enthusiastically accepted by her extended
family of transplanted Southerners, who proved far more open to
interracial relationships than the lower-middle-class Jews I had
grown up among.” He writes about Fordham’s
Afro-American Institute and the “movement” atmosphere
in its early days and how a white professor of black studies
initially was viewed with suspicion and overt disdain. However,
later on, by 1976, “when my colleagues and I were finally
granted departmental status, my race had ceased to be controversial
and I could function, when needed, as spokesman for an institution
that was both black and multiracial.” Further information
about Mark and his writings may be found on his Web site.
Kenneth L. Haydock Nearly all members of the Cleverest Class apparently want to save an exposition of any details of their lives for face-to-face contacts at our 35th reunion. Consequently, your class correspondent is swiftly becoming a despondent correspondent, what with the surfeit of CCT due dates and lack of ’67C input to help him compose this column, which he inherited nearly 25 years ago. We accept email. We accept voice mail. We accept surface mail. Kent Hall is up to no good. Please help out by letting us know what you are up to. (Think of your note as sort of a surfeit-to-heir missive.)
Ken Tomecki M.D. [Editor’s note: This is Ken Tomecki’s final column as class correspondent, a role he has filled with distinction for more than 16 years. We thank Ken for his dedicated service to this magazine, the College and most of all his classmates. Beginning with the September 2002 issue, Arthur Spector will assume the role of correspondent for the Class of 1968. Classmates are urged to send their news and notes to Arthur at abszzzz@aol.com, or give him a call at (212) 724-8384.] I got e-mail from ... Steve Mamikonian, whose “whereabouts are Kazakhstan (Russia),” specifically the “massive Chevron oilfield in Tengiz … I can’t seem to get away from the former Soviet Union, though I suppose I secretly enjoy it.” His son, Alex, is an officer on a Navy destroyer in the Persian Gulf and his daughter, Lara, will begin medical school at the University of Rochester this fall. Thanks, Steve; keep in touch. Patrick (aka Bud) Patterson, who finally sent some fodder for the column, is “ … now laid up, recovering from (knee) surgery. I’ve run out of excuses … it’s hard to decide where to start. Despite heroic efforts with organic chemistry and genetics, I [never] did go to medical school … Instead, law school (Columbia ’72) … a much better choice for me.” Since then, “I’ve had a varied and interesting career (or I’ve had trouble holding a steady job) ... lived in N.Y., L.A., Madison and Milwaukee, where I am now; taught at Wisconsin and UCLA; [worked] as staff attorney at NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in N.Y. and co-founded Legal Defense Fund’s west coast office in L.A. I was a partner in a legal firm in Milwaukee for several years, specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation, and I’m editor of a leading treatise [involving] employment discrimination law,” coupled with “a fair amount of public speaking on legal subjects in the United States and occasionally elsewhere (Japan and Budapest, most recently).” Re: “personal and marital history ... after a few false starts, I finally found the right woman,” Barbara, a lawyer, as well, “and moved from L.A. to Milwaukee to be with her.” We’ve “been married for 10 years and have a 9-year-old daughter, Kira, Class of 2016 (tentative).” “Since 1998, I’ve been a full-time, stay-at-home dad with a part-time law practice,” working “with other law firms and legal organizations, litigating civil rights and consumer class actions,” with a lot of time “spent volunteering at Kira’s school, coaching soccer and softball,” and acting as a chauffeur for her activities. Thanks for the update, Bud, and special thanks for your kind words re: my efforts. This is my last column; after 16-plus years, it’s time for a break. To all who provided material and fodder, thanks for your support, indulgence and good humor; you folks were the column. To CCT, especially Jamie Katz ’72, Phyllis Katz and Alex Sachare ’71 … thanks for the opportunity to contribute. And, most importantly, to my family (Eileen and Peter ’98) and friends ... thanks for everything good; nothing bad really matters.
Michael Oberman Most CCT columnists these days are singing the same note: “Please send us emails of your news when you get done reading the current issue.” Joe Kushick did just that. He emailed me in May, stating, “I don’t think I’ve ever written for our Class Notes, but with a couple of family transitions coming up, I thought that this might finally be the time.” Joe has been married nearly since graduation (coming up on 32 years) to Marilyn Massler, whom he knew during our college years. They lived in New York while he was in graduate school at Columbia and then in Chicago before settling in Amherst, Mass., where Joe has taught chemistry at Amherst College for 26 years (with sabbaticals at Harvard, the University of Paris and the Mount Sinai Medical School). Marilyn does public relations and fund raising for the music department at the University of Massachusetts. The transitions involve their two children: “Rafi Efraim (21) received his B.F.A. in June from the Rhode Island School of Design (with a semester at the Bezalel Art Academy in Jerusalem), and Maia Shoshana (17) graduated from high school. She will start putting in her time on Morningside Heights this fall, when she will be a first-year at Barnard. That will leave Marilyn and me as a twosome, again, free to enjoy more frequent visits to New York and the small apartment that we have kept there, and will enable me to further indulge my passions for the violin and for photography.” Chuck Bethill wrote me the old way (on letterhead) to let us know that he joined Thachter Proffitt & Wood as a partner in the corporate and financial institutions practice group. Chuck has a general corporate and securities practice, with expertise in the clearance and settlement of securities transactions. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, with an emphasis on transactions in the financial services industry and in the structuring of diverse business enterprises. Chuck also has a background in litigation, having tried cases and argued appeals in state and federal courts. And now it is time for you to complete your summer assignment to
email your news for the September issue.
Peter N. Stevens It was great to hear from former teammate Joe Durocher after so many years. Joe was prompted to write in after learning of Bill Wazevich’s death. Joe recalled his friendship with Bill and what a great teammate and athlete Bill was. Joe also gave me permission to report about his own brush with death: “I just played the toughest game of my life so far in a battle with stage four tongue cancer. It was a tough battle, but the Lion won! As part of my therapy, I created a Web site. I received so much support from friends and family that the site was my small way of giving back, and each week, I get emails from folks who have visited, enjoyed and ask questions.” Joe co-authored a book with his wife, Regina Baraban, Successful Restaurant Design (John Wiley & Sons, 2001), and reports that it is doing well. In addition, he teaches at the University of New Hampshire and has started a business forecasting company — Lodging Forecast — for the travel industry. Paul Kropp has a new book for teenagers, The Countess and Me (Fitzhenry and Whiteside), his 42nd book. There’s more on his Web site. Long-lost classmates David Luis and Jerome Bergman have succumbed to my constant pleas for news. David, who has been missing for more than 30 years, is a psychiatrist and is alive and well in Sydney, Australia. He can be contacted at drluis@optushome.com.au. Welcome back! Much closer to home, Jerome writes from the Bronx. He is a freelance violinist and drives a cab to supplement his income. Jerome has a new wife, Myrna, and a baby as well: Samuel Charles. For my personal view of Columbia sports, check out the Letters to the Editor in this issue. And kudos to CCT for using its pages to contribute to this important dialogue. Finally, it must be getting closer to fall and Baker Field, as I find myself once again humming “Roar Lion Roar.” Hope springs eternal. ’Til next time, stay well, and let us know what you’ve been up to.
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