By Stephen W. Buck
Throughout the winter, class council members Jim Wechsler and Roman Weil worked to develop a West Coast event in Seattle, a city with both local appeal and interest for travelers. The eventual cancellation of the Seattle gathering scheduled for late March didn’t really come as a surprise as Seattle became the first deadly hotspot for coronavirus in the US. In the end, proceeding would have defied the advice from health authorities because of the situation in King County, as well as incurred the higher risk for people our age. The full story of the planning and cancellation is at Yale62.org. The organizers will try again when circumstances permit.
The Yale ’62 Communication Team members (Chris Snow, Steve Buck, and Dick Riseling) encourage all classmates to send any news—even first-hand COVID-19 news that they wish to share. We will share it with the class. Email us at YAM@Yale62.org.
George Snider sent the following: “As to the Sniders, we soldier on. Nora still works for a crisis communications firm in Cleveland and this past summer (2019) completed a two-year term as board chair of the Kent State University Foundation. I’m still a trustee of Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, program chair for the Rotary Club of Hudson, Yale interviewer, and mentor for JumpStart in Cleveland (which helps start-up and scale-up businesses acquire the financial and human capital they need). Grandson George (Rowdy) Snider IV recently completed boot camp and advanced infantry training with the US Marine Corps and is now in technical training in California. Afterward, he will return to civilian life as a reservist and begin college. We are quite proud. We journeyed to Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania, for Thanksgiving and then took a Caribbean cruise this past February. The rest of the winter was spent shoveling snow in Ohio.”
Ford Maurer checked in with us, too: “I am recuperating at home after hip revision surgery. My first hip lasted 23 years, 19 of which I was participating in hot yoga. Several times, in that routine of stretching and bending, I felt the ball move to the edge of the socket, and cause some bruising, but I kept going. The last time that happened about one year ago, I heard something crack, and suffered immediate discomfort. Doctors don’t generally like doing these revisions because they are more difficult, complicated, and risky.
“Fortune shined upon my person as I discovered a doctor who actually enjoys rising to the challenge. His name is Scott Cook, and he is a graduate of the University of Kansas plus has completed additional surgical training. He utilized artificial bone material and secured it with a ‘claw.’ I will be on limited mobility for six weeks, and will keep you posted!”
Priscilla and Bill Rope took action to express their opposition to and concern about President Donald Trump. After considering the initially large list of Democratic candidates, they selected Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar and supported her campaign. As the campaign launched they decided to travel to Iowa, spending ten days canvassing and doing precinct organization. Next was phone work from home during the successful New Hampshire primary and then again back into the field in South Carolina, which proved to be Klobuchar’s last stand. Bill and Priscilla reported they “are proud to have been contributors and to have gone out and worked for her in Iowa and South Carolina, and we’d do it all again. She deserves it.” They immediately embraced Klobuchar’s endorsement of Vice President Biden.
Yale62 is interested in other classmate stories of active participation in 2020 elections at federal, state, or local levels for either major party candidates or third-party challengers. Please send your information promptly to YAM@Yale62.org.
Bill Stork, as of early March, was still undergoing self-imposed quarantine in his adopted home, Hong Kong, due to the outbreak of COVID-19. It’s been a challenge, but he’s persevered, and has written several times about his experience for classmates on our website. Catch up with his latest news on the site.
Bill Stott says the public disorder you’re reading about in Chile, where he lives with his wife, are the attempt by radical leftists, anarchists, malcontents, nihilists, and thrill-seekers—their leaders sponsored, so the rumor runs, by Maduro, Morales, and Moscow—to bring down a center-right government that, apparently for PR reasons, doesn’t choose to stop them. If the initiative to change the nation’s constitution is voted down in the April 26 plebiscite, as now seems likely, it is possible that the left’s anger will fuel more disorder, and the Chilean military will intervene. You read it here first because the US media doesn’t understand Latin American politics.
From Neil Goodwin: “While designing buildings, making movies, traveling, and writing a couple of books, I have also been a compulsive photographer. So I thought I would share the photo gallery I have been working on while spending more of my time in the slow lane.”
Howard Kaufman has sent us a wonderful report on his midwinter two-week visit to “some of the most pleasant places in the world, Australia and New Zealand. Parenthetically, I was married in Perth in 1974 and have been back several times and seen much of the country, but still have many places I would like to tour.” Read his full report, and see a few photos of the beautiful region, at our class website.
Speaking of Yale62.org, visit it for new material from Steve Buck, Bill Stork, Howard Kaufman, Dave and Cindy Hummel, and news from many more. We’ve included personal interviews where we could, and lots of photos.
Finally, we sadly note new obituaries posted on our website for the following classmates: Jim Brewster, Tony Scoville, and Phillip Watson.