(Ed Note: Kent Hughes is one of Yale62’s most experienced hands on U.S. domestic and foreign policy and Beltway politics, as well as a moderator of our Coffee Hour monthly meetings. Kent and Communications Team member Dick Riseling sat down virtually just a few days ago to discuss the early days and challenges President Biden is facing and some of what may be expected.)

Comments on this interview? Make them here.

1/25/21
Inauguration Day? First 100 Days?

(Ed. Note: On Thursday afternoon – January 21 – Yale62.org invited a randomly selected group of classmates … SEE OUR QUESTIONS with CLASSMATE RESPONSES, AND ADD YOUR OWN COMMENT HERE

1/25/21
Biden Action Impacts Yale Alumni Election
By Roman Weil

Since I last wrote that two different, but determined, Yale alums have surprised Yale by qualifying for the ballot in April to oppose the University’s chosen… READ ROMAN’S ARTICLE HERE

1/25/21
Chip Neville and the COVID vaccine

We once more checked in with Chip Neville, whose earlier communications regarding COVID are located on our COVID Corner page (the mask icon in the upper left-hand corner of this page). Here is Chip’s latest news:

Dear Classmates,

Judi and I got our Pfizer COVID-19 shots on January 16, 9 days ago, so we are now about 60% protected. But we still mask up except while eating and home in our lovely apartment. The powers that be here have even opened the dining room for breakfast and dinner.

Judi has started moving furniture in from our house, so we now have rugs and a lovely dining room table with a great view of the spacious window. She has also made good friends and goes upstairs almost every night to play scrabble.

As for our experience getting our first shot, they were supposed to be in the morning. I had to get up early to make it, so I only got 4 or 5 hours of sleep. Then CVS didn’t get here for several hours, and we finally got our shots around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. One of Judi’s lady friends said, “It’s like the Army, ‘Hurry up and wait.'”

Otherwise, it was a breeze. It barely hurt, my arm was only a tiny bit sore like with a flu shot, and I had on other reactions. But I understand the second shot on February 6 can cause much more uncomfortable reactions. I hope not, but even so it will be worth it.

Connecticut, where we live, had a serious epidemic of COVID-19 infections in nursing homes and retirement communities. We had several cases and deaths here. But the Governor announced last week that the vaccination program has reduced COVID-19 infections in nursing homes and retirement communities to nearly zero.

Best Wishes to All and Keep Well, Chip

1/18/21
Impeachment?

(Ed. Note: On Friday afternoon – January 15 – Yale62.org invited the 39 classmates who participated in our January 7 “The Day After” Coffee Hour to respond to a single question in about 100 words. (This Coffee Hour may be viewed in its near entirety below.) Participants responded to our request, and their responses are posted in the order they were received. Just as at the Coffee Hour sessions, classmates offered interesting ideas and opinions. Our long life experience certainly is valuable.) SEE OUR QUESTION with CLASSMATE RESPONSES, AND ADD YOUR OWN COMMENT HERE

1/08/21
DC Under Seige

(Editor’s Note: Because of this week’s extraordinary turn of events, our regularly scheduled Zoom Coffee Hour became a forum for 40 classmates to discuss what took place in Washington, DC this Wednesday. It was a good, solid session – so good, in fact, that we decided to include nearly all of it here for you to view, trimming only its very beginning and very end, for an orderly presentation.)

1/04/21
“Georgia On My Mind”

This Week’s Focus of the United States’ Polarized Politics
Five Georgia Resident Classmates Offer Their Perspectives

By Al Chambers

As the Georgia Senate dual run-offs grew in importance, Yale 62.org sought out classmates living in the Peach State inviting each to submit a short point of view about any subject of their choice having to do with Georgia or living in the state. Civility and brevity were the only requirements.

For the record, there has never in U.S. history been a double run off in one state for national … READ THE COMPLETE FEATURE HERE

1/04/21
COVID and Me

By Carl Kaestle

John Stewart asked me to write a paragraph about my experience with the Covid virus. About ten weeks ago, I developed a set of cold symptoms: mild cough, drippy nose, slightly sore throat, and a bit of fatigue. “Uh-oh,” I thought. “Here it comes.” And it stayed for maybe three or four weeks, but didn’t get worse. So, I decided that I had gotten the “woosie” version of this virus. The lab confirmed that it was indeed the corona virus. By this time, everyone was using a mask and keeping distance, so I did not get near people at the corner store in my rural village of North Egremont. My girlfriend kept her distance; my son-in-law came for Thanksgiving for several days, as a guest in my house. We used masks in the house sometimes. He went back to Virginia, healthy as a racehorse. Then the nurses monitoring me said I should quarantine myself for two weeks. So I did that. By the end of that time my symptoms had weakened and quit. What a nice virus. How lucky I was. Surely some classmates had nastier encounters with the virus. That’s my upbeat story of covid and me.

1/04/21
Update on Chip Neville

A check-in with Chip Neville yielded the following, on Christmas Day: “Thanks. Yes, we are still OK [negative test results]. We are scheduled to get our first vaccinations in the week after New Years, but they may be delayed depending on supply. Steve Buck wants me to post about our vaccination appointments. I hate needles, especially the square, rusty, horse needle kind, but I hope the rest will be a breeze.”

1/04/21
A Follow-up to ‘Greetings from the Epicenter’

By Larry Price

On May 1, 2020, I submitted a short essay describing the travails of Union City, New Jersey, the city where I live, with Covid-19. Union City is a town of 68,000… READ THE ESSAY

12/23/20
Wilder Reads Wilder
Tappy Wilder reads the first few lines of his uncle’s 1935 novel, Heaven’s My Destination and a recently discovered letter from George Marvin Brush to Alexander Wollcott… written in his Uncle Thornton’s handwriting!

12/23/20
Y62 Year-End Review

Despite the undeniably constrained and unusual complexion of this year, we wish you bright and hopeful holidays, filled with happiness, health and good cheer. Our wish for us all is that 2021 is a most wonderful, welcome change!

We’re at a wrap for this most extraordinary year of 2020. Our Communications Team — Steve Buck, Dick Riseling, George Snider and your longstanding webmaster, with John Stewart and Al Chambers in advisory roles — has stood at the ready to function as a communications hub for the class, and this year, January through December, we’ve posted 76 new pages on a wide variety of topics, and these pages have been viewed a whopping 18,320 times during this time. Classmates have offered their thanks and opinions in 235 comments to those posts and previous ones, and 82 classmates have been mentioned in our Secretary’s Column for Yale Alumni Magazine. Our newest offering to the class, brainchild of classmate Chip Neville as a salve to ease our “socially distanced” experiences throughout the lion’s share of the year, is our virtual Coffee Hour via Zoom, now a standard “First Thursday of the Month” event, with special extra Coffee Hours thrown in for good measure, as topics or current events may warrant. 68 classmates have joined in on the Coffee Hours to date; many have attended more than once. A band of about 20 classmates are regulars, there. We warmly invite you to join us there in the New Year.

We’re always seeking classmate news, opinion pieces, events, artwork of any type, and more, to share with the class here on Yale62.org or in our magazine column. Please send your news to the Communications Team by emailing us at YAM@Yale62.org. Thanks.

12/23/20
COVID and Yale ’62
By Al Chambers

We launched our COVID Corner earlier this year but have not used it extensively. In recent weeks, as you all know, the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been rising all over the United States. Unfortunately, but not a surprise, this has started to increase its reach within our class. …READ ON

12/15/20
Y62 Interviews: Charles Flinn

Ed. Note: Greetings from Dick Riseling, member of the Yale62 Communications Team. Take a few minutes out of your busy day to watch this video interview with classmate Charles Flinn, recorded on December 14.

Charlie shares some highlights from his long career serving in private law practice, as a District Court Judge and currently as Mediator and Arbitrator. He describes his experience with the US Supreme Court, and offers an opinion on the direction of the Court in 2021. There’s lots more, too, in this surprisingly varied, brisk-paced 12-minute chat. Let us hear from you about this interview, and/or anything else that’s on your mind – whether that’s writing an essay for our class website, news you wish to share, or information you’d like to see.

To comment on this interview, click here.

11/24/20
An Enduring Enjoyment

South Africa, Kruger National Park

[Editor’s Note: Neil originally contacted us last spring, and we asked him to put together a small sampling of his photography as a feature for Yale62.org. Then, however, we got sidetracked by the ongoing health and political concerns of the year. We decided a showing of his wonderful photos could work well now, as a Thanksgiving offering to you, our classmates and audience.]

By Neil Goodwin

I’ve been taking pictures for as long as I can remember and I’ve recently been assembling some of them into an online gallery which I’d like to share it with the class. The link to it is on the next page, along with a few more of my photos. I’ve been an architect, a film maker and a writer, and through all of those enterprises I continued to take pictures. The first photographs that affected me deeply… READ MORE

11/24/20
Our Second “Question of the Quarter”

Our request this time: please share with us how you think your holiday season plans have been or will be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This question will remain open until mid-January. You’re encouraged to write in more than once, if you have updates to make. Please send responses to YAM@Yale62.org. We will post them here on Yale62.org when we’ve collected them. Thanks.

11/17/20
A Classmate Who Still Works Full-Time Writes In

[Editor’s Note: Class Secretary John Stewart asked psychologist classmate David Scharff for an update of what his professional life might be like, during this most unusual time. What follows is David’s response.]

By David Scharff

I feel in a way that I only just got good at my work a few years ago. You know the joke about whether a doctor or lawyer is “still practicing” – and the answer is “Yes, and someday I hope to finally get it right.”

For the last 40 years, I’ve divided my time between a pretty full-time practice doing psychoanalysis of adults, families, couples and children, teaching, writing and developing and running programs nationally and internationally. I’ve really liked the mix of ways of thinking about the mental health issues. My wife, Jill, and I established the International Psychotherapy Institute 25 years ago, a program for distance training in analytic therapy and psychoanalysis nationally and… READ MORE

The Listing of Front Page Stories for the Past Year Continues Here…