At the Y62 Coffee Hour on May 6, the conversation about our experiences with the pandemic triggered a debate about health and the Covid vaccines. Earl Staelin argued for a holistic view of health, emphasizing nutrition and lifestyle, and expressed significant doubts about the short- and long-term effects of the Covid vaccines. David Johnson, who led an earlier Coffee Hour focused on Covid, spoke from his experience as an endocrinologist and argued that the evidence for the safety and efficacy of the vaccines is very strong. Part of their dialogue is in the video above. Several Coffee Hour participants expressed interest in continuing this conversation in a future event.

Do you have comments you’d like to make about the clip we’ve shown above? Please make them here.

5/10/21
Pen Pals

By John Hatch

Pen Pals programs have been around for generations. During the NYC World Fair, Parker Pen and Quik Ink joined forces to establish a center for matching pen pals. I took advantage of that and invited my students in Kahama, Tanzania to copy and fill out the form, which I then mailed, all 80+ of them, off to Parker. Within in a year and a half they all had “pals,” some more than… READ JOHN’S FULL ESSAY

5/10/21
Help me save the name of my high school.

By Roman Weil

At least half of you, I’ll bet, have not heard of Sidney Lanier, the Poet of the Confederacy, who spent most of the Civil War in a POW camp as a private. He played the flute and wrote poems. In spite of the fact that he spent only two years in Montgomery, Alabama and most of his adult life on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, Montgomery educators named… READ ROMAN’S FULL PLEA

4/22/21
An Interview with a Y62 Spouse: Hala Buck

Last week, Communications Team member Dick Riseling sat down with Hala Buck, wife of Communications Team member Steve Buck, via Zoom, to discuss her memoir, Bridge Between Worlds. In this highly entertaining, lovely chat, the two of them discuss a wide range of topics, always returning to the lessons of our lives.

We invite other classmates to nominate their own spouses for this very special new initiative and share a window into their lives with all of our class. We look forward to hearing from you!

Comments are welcome here.

4/22/21
Yale Alumni Election in Home Stretch: Ballot Box Closes May 23

By Roman Weil

Since I last wrote, the election for one open position on Yale’s Board of Trustees has begun. Yale’s nominating committee has chosen one candidate, David A. Thomas, President of Morehouse College. Victor Ashe, former Ambassador to Poland, qualified for the ballot by gathering more than seven thousand signatures from alums to nominate him. Despite Yale’s tradition… READ ROMAN’S FULL REPORT

4/16/21
Special Event Zoom: COVID and College Admissions

At 7:30 PM EST on April 15, thirty classmates convened to discuss Yale (and other Ivy) applications, admissions, and Covid. You can view the 60-minute session immediately below. The various exhibits by panelists Bolman, Chambers, and Weil are linked as well.

     Lee Bolman’s presentation
     Official Yale materials (discussed by Al Chambers)
     Roman Weil’s presentation

Do you have comments? You can make them here.

4/07/21
About This Work
By Steve Rose

Text, paintings, a studio tour and an interview.

So painting, no matter the level on which one is working, is first of all a hobby.
We all become draftsmen of a sort as soon as we start learning… READ STEVE’S WORDS, VIEW THE PAINTINGS and STUDIO, and WATCH THE INTERVIEW

4/07/21
What’s Right
By Bill Stork

It may be difficult for one in the Western Hemisphere to fully get a sense of this, but in this part of Asia, which saw horrendous genocide at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, this is a serious issue, as it should be for everyone.

Increasingly China is being questioned and taken to task about its treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, with reports of re-education camps, force sterilization, and more. To this call is being asked whether Beijing still deserves to hold the forthcoming Winter Olympics, a topic that the IOOC has yet… READ BILL’S FULL ARTICLE

3/25/21
“Creating Art” By Fred Appell

Self portrait – Hotel de Bosque garden San Miguel Allende

Most of my life I’ve been interested in creating art, not as a profession but a serious hobby. I also wrote art reviews for the local Minneapolis paper, had a period when I was casting bronze sculptures, had work used to illustrate books. Now in my retirement, it has been a challenge to grow… READ THE REST AND VIEW A SLIDESHOW OF HIS WORK

3/25/21
A REFRESHED DROP-OUT’S TALE By Peter Cassar Torreggiani

Many years after my dropping out of Yale in 1958 and returning to Malta, the renowned economist, Professor Robert Triffin, who would have been my house master at Berkeley had I returned as a sophomore, told me I’d had a good reason for dropping out: questioning the philosophy of economists as it related to politicians.

The next year, when I lost my right arm working in my family’s flour mill, I came face to face with death. In a dramatic encounter… READ ON

3/05/21
COVID: A Y62 Coffee Hour Presentation and Discussion

Classmate Dr. David Johnson provided an expert, fascinating brief on what we know of the novel coronavirus that’s eclipsed our lives for the past year, and patiently answered our many questions with factual, extremely helpful information. Thank you, David! Here’s the full recording:

Comments? You can make them here.

3/02/21
Covid-19, Admissions and Litigation at Yale

By Lee Bolman

There’s a lot happening on multiple fronts these days. There’s a lot of good news for Yale, but the university and higher education also face serious challenges… CLICK FOR LEE’S REPORT

3/02/21
IQ2’s Intelligent Debates

Intelligence Squared US, the brainchild product of classmate Bob Rosenkranz, pivoted nimbly into the wholly virtual sphere when social distancing necessitated a change last year. IQ2 continues to provide thought-provoking dialogue on both sides of major domestic and foreign issues. You may wish to take a look. Viewers that attend virtually using the web site or listening over Public Radio still are able to vote for which debaters made the strongest arguments. This most recent debate, concerning where the GOP may or may not stand at this time, is featured below.

You can cast your vote here:

2/26/21
Keeping Calm while Coping/Cowering with COVID

By William Stork

(Editor’s Note: Bill’s latest update from Hong Kong details the Government’s continuing success at containing COVID19 cases. Bill explains important technology, communications and vaccination initiatives, all designed to open more of Hong Kong and return life to normality. He told us that he thinks what is happening is that the Government’s success, “even with the National Security Act, is now being used to provide encouragement for the populace to be patriots.” At the same time, Bill maintains his own one-year near total self-isolation, but is “hopeful” for the future, despite the increased restrictions from Beijing. You will find the contrasts to the United States fascinating.) CLICK FOR BILL’S REPORT

2/26/21
Lew Spratlan Honored

John Stewart reports: On February 20, The Springfield Valley Symphony broadcast a concert/interview honoring our classmate Lew Spratlan. Warmly hosted by their music director, Tianhui Ng, Lew spoke about his compositional, teaching, and playing careers. Featured were excerpts from the Santa Fe Opera’s production of his Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, “Life is a Dream,” based on the Calderon play. Several classmates and other Yale friends attended the premier — a great success. Here’s the recording of the event.

Also, look on Amazon for a list of his recordings. I speak as a totally objective pal — his music is dramatic, witty, lyrical, brilliantly inventive, and very moving, and I urge you to check it out. He remains busy with a host of commissions.

2/26/21
Art Mann’s ‘Buckets’
An Interview with Art Mann

By John Stewart

(John’s Note: I had written to Art and asked him questions based on his very interesting comments at the last class coffee hour, and this is his response, lightly edited. After two long and fascinating phone calls, I realized that what follows is the top of a whole barrellfull of great stories.

In thinking about the best way to present all of his activities, Art thought that putting them into “buckets” would be a good approach.)

After my Navy stint I came back home intending to… CLICK FOR ART’S ‘BUCKETS’

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