New 9/26/23 This Just In
Sept. 26, 2023. “Harry”
This is about a 60th Yale reunion, not the one held for the class of 1962 in 2022, but one for individuals in 2023. The ’62 classmates involved had separately attended 50th and 55th class reunions, therefore not connecting. This reunion goes back to July 1963, a year after graduation, when Rod Speer (Davenport ’62) found himself visiting Athens (port Piraeus) as a young Ensign with the Sixth Fleet. The year before, I had issued the standard well-wished farewell to this Greek classmate (“If I ever get to Athens…”). So I did get there and connected with classmate (Davenport ’62) Haralambos (Harry) Botsis. He showed me sites: Syntagma Square, a Roman theater production, and we finished eating in a park, one from which he could observe a street intersection where he could intercept a young lady on her way to work — he was courting her and she eventually became his first wife. What puzzled Rod was that at midnight there were so many people out eating and socializing. In the years since, both Rod and Harry always told this story independently of each other, while Harry told of Rod’s comments about the revelry in the park, “when does anyone sleep and then go to work?” Greece has changed tremendously since 1963 and Athens is a big metropolis of over four million people but the habit of late night socializing out, especially when the weather is good, has not been affected.
So now 60 years later, I found my wife and myself in Athens, not courtesy of the Navy but paying for a Viking cruise to the Adriatic. We met up with Harry at our Athens Marriott (see attached pictures) and went to dinner. Harry has worked his career mostly in the Greek shipbuilding industry, with his background in economics from Yale. He is still working, as an independent consultant — think of all that experience he has by now! He has four grown children, and doesn’t foresee retiring soon. I retired in 2007 from the Navy Department (civilian, not uniformed), where I worked in its shipbuilding division. I guess Harry and I had something in common besides Yale and a sixty-year personal reunion history! He would be happy to see other 1962 classmates who may be visiting Greece, as happened in 2013 with a group of them.
 Rod Speer & Harry Botsis at dinner |
 Ginny Speer, beside Harry Botsis |
August 11, 2023. A Note from John Stewart:
Dear Friends,
My lifelong and close pal, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lew Spratlan, finished his first symphony not long before he died. The Boston Modern Orchestra Project recorded it but ran out of funds to produce and release the recording. Jolly and I visited Lew in January ’23, and he played it for us on his computer. I know his music well and love it, and this symphony is a masterpiece, in my judgment, akin to Mahler in its autumnal spirit, a very moving farewell. I urge your help in bringing this project to its well-deserved fruition.
At Yale Lew sang with the Spizzwinks for three years, and during his MMus work in the Yale School of Music he directed the Apollo and Freshman Glee Clubs. Yale Glee Club Director Jeff Douman commissioned a great piece for the Glee Club.
Below is the GoFundMe letter for the project. Thanks for your support!
Dear Friends,
My lifelong and close pal, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lew Spratlan, finished his first symphony not long before he died. The Boston Modern Orchestra Project recorded it but ran out of funds to produce and release the recording. Jolly and I visited Lew in January, and he played it for us on his computer. I know his music well and love it, and this symphony is a masterpiece, in my judgment, akin to Mahler in its autumnal spirit, a very moving farewell. I urge your help in bringing this project to its well-deserved fruition.
Here’s the link: https://gofund.me/7315bc2f
July 28, 2023. From Y62 Communication Team member Lee Bolman: A large study has just reported in the New York Times that that even among applicants with the same academic credentials, the wealthier your family, the better your chance of admission to Yale and its elite peers. It’s been well-known that rich families are over-represented in the Ivies, partly because on average they attend better schools, have better coaching, and get higher test scores. There was one exception to the pattern: being rich didn’t help applicants get into M.I.T.
Study of Elite College Admissions Data Suggests Being Very Rich Is Its Own Qualification
The Times article, which has received thousands of comments, hits at a time that Yale and other admissions offices are scrambling to respond to the Supreme Court decision ruling out race as an admissions factor. That decision and the new data add to the pressure on the schools to eliminate “affirmative action for white people.” The Yale Daily News published an editorial this week under the title, “Protect Diversity, End Legacy.” The groundswell of criticism of legacy admissions continues to grow.
EDITORIAL: Protect diversity, end legacy
July 20, 2023. From Dick Riseling, whose Apple Pond Farm and Education Center was hit hard by an Earth Day 2023 tornado. We checked in to see how the farm is faring following the heavy rains that have swept the Northeast recently. “We are okay with the rain, which has been terrific, but we have an even bigger problem: [our] house has now been seen to have structural issues that render it unsafe for resale; it will not qualify for a certificate of occupancy without major investment. We have restored the garage and one of the workshops for training farmers. We are beginning work on the restoration of a third of the barn that was wiped out in the tornado. We will be clearing trees until the snow falls, with a work crew of four and more than 600 trees to deal with as well as miles of fencing to repair. So this is a very intense and challenging time for us. I am looking forward to a mid-August cruise with many leading experts on social and environmental issues, sponsored by The Nation magazine.”
June 12, 2023. Paul Wortman reports that his new chapbook, Mourning in America: Poems on Grief, Loss, and Healing, is now available on Amazon.
Released June 5, 2023. Posted here June 6, 2023.
Dear Friends and Fellow Alumni,
While I am sure many of you have already heard the news, I write to you – voters in the 2023 alumni fellow election – to report formally that Maryana Iskander ’03 J.D. has been elected alumni fellow of the Yale Corporation, the university’s board of trustees. Her six-year term begins July 1, 2023.
On behalf of the Yale Alumni Association Board of Governors, please accept my sincere gratitude for your participation in this election. And thank you as well to our two impressive candidates – Maryana Iskander ’03 J.D. and Lauren Tyler ’84 B.A. – for their dedication to Yale and willingness to serve.
Please know that your engagement in this process matters and that your voice and thoughts are important. Your support of Yale and its volunteer alumni leaders ensures that the university will carry out its mission as it has done for more than 300 years – and will continue to do so for generations to come.
I am grateful to those of you who have responded over the years to our requests for alumni fellow nominations, and I encourage you to continue to send nominations for future candidates to be considered in 2024 and beyond. Nominations are accepted year-round and may be sent to the volunteer-led Alumni Fellow Nominating Committee using the Alumni Fellow Nomination Form on the Yale Alumni Association website. While nominations are welcome any time, please note that nominations for the 2024 cycle are due by September 1 of this year.
With appreciation,
Xiaoyan Huang ’91 B.S.
Chair, Yale Alumni Association Board of Governors
May 4, 2023. A new entry in Roman Weil’s CaringBridge page took us to a lovely recording of his memorial service, which was held at the University of Chicago on Saturday, April 29th. Click here for the description of the event at CaringBridge, or click here to view the service.
March 20, 2023. Sam Waterston’s all over the place this month! Look for him in this month’s AARP magazine, and listen to him here, on the NPR quiz show, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
Feb. 3, 2023. We sent classmate Jim Killelea notice there was new material on our website. In return we received the following: “Many thanks for your info. Am now spending some time today with the Big O, aka Bob Oliver, who sends best wishes to all.
“Last week on behalf of the YCNH I enjoyed hosting a dinner at Ben Franklin Dining Hall before the Harvard Yale Hockey Game with Harvard inching past Yale 3 – 2 in overtime.”
Nov. 10, 2022. Exuberant classmate and Bay Stater David Honneus offers us the following: “At 82, I can claim two milestones!
“First, I now have my first-ever hearing aids free from the VA! (Thank you, American taxpayers.)
“Second, I am now the proud owner of my first sports car!! A 2010 Mazda Miata, used but still gorgeous. The color is Copper Red Metallic – not the bright red that causes state troopers to pull you over! Never could afford one before. Sue and I are already zooming around the Berkshire Hills with the hardtop down and feeling significantly younger than our real ages.
“I am on the Finance Committee of the Town of Plainfield (population 640), and am contending with a faction farther to the left than me who wants to defund our tiny police force. We have nearby cities with drug and crime issues that would love to learn of an affluent, rural town that is unprotected! Stay tuned.
“Susan’s book, Into The Wind is available on Amazon and would make an ideal gift for granddaughters or nieces who are mad for horses. Susan both wrote and illustrated it.
“Life in the Berkshires is wonderful and exciting.”
Sept. 20, 2022. Communications Team member Gary Richardson sent the following:
The Russian Victory Missed by Everyone. Here’s a link to an interview explaining how Ukraine was able to work around early Russian successes at hacking Ukraine’s cyber systems:
Also…
Gary says, “I’ve seldom embraced the ‘wars & kings’ approach to history, but I’ve found this detailed and often speculative military analysis of the Ukrainian counter-offensive [below] fascinating.”
Ukraine’s counter-offensives – “Seven months from Kyiv to Kharkiv
Sept. 14, 2022. In email “chatting” with your resident webmaster, classmate Bill Stork gave us a thumbnail sketch of the China-Taiwan relationship. “The China-Taiwan divide has very deep origins, from 1930, when Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT party was the head of the Republic of China (ROC) and tried to annihilate the Chinese Soviet (later CCP) of Mao Tse-tung and Zhou En-lai. Chiang’s efforts to do so were distracted by Japanese aggression in China. The war that ensued on that front weakened the ROC position and allowed the CCP to strengthen, solidify and — after WWII concluded — effectively force Chiang to retreat as they established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. During this latter period Chiang used Taiwan as a bolthole and eventual home for the ROC [ROC is still the official name and is on their passports to this day].” On behalf of those of us who may not follow that part of the world closely, thank you, Bill!
Sept. 12, 2022. Communications Team member Gary Richardson came upon this link to “an excellent, powerful, hour-long lecture on Ukraine by Tim Snyder sponsored by the Yale Center for British Art. It covers in short order much of the material that his semester-long course, which we discussed and linked previously, will cover in greater detail.” Link to Snyder’s Lecture. Thanks, Gary!
Sept. 9, 2022. Tim Snyder, the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale, has opened up his class on Ukraine for all to view!
Here is the link: https://snyder.substack.com/p/syllabus-of-my-ukraine-lecture-class
August 12, 2022. Phil Proctor happened upon this image at left, which prompted his ever-agile imagination to create a menu. After all, just what is “Yale Food”…?
| Says Phil, “Here (to share) is my proposed menu of YALE FOOD, for my Classmates to savor… I hope it inspires them, too!”Commencements Boola-Boulabaise Snap-quiz Turtle Soup or Mixer Salad (weekends only) Majors Signature Reineke Burger (rare only) Pims-infused Franken Pups Yale Bone-in Ham a la Dramat Glee Clubbed Steak Secret Society Mystery Meat or Chef’s Surprise Test of the Day Fullbright Scallops Electives Just Desserts |
August 10, 2022. Communications Team member and Coffee Hour organizer Tim Hall notes that it’s the 125th Year Celebration of Thornton Wilder, currently (born April 17, 1897). Nephew Tappy Wilder ’62 will speak about managing his late uncle’s literary and theatrical legacy during our ‘First Thursday’ Coffee Hour on October 6th. Mark your calendar for a great time!
Updated July 12, 2022. Roman Weil, ever the lover of fine wines, as just published a review in Journal of Wine Economics. His dark review (rejected) of Kevin Zraly’s Window on the World, the Complete Wine Course, is linked here for your reading pleasure.
July 7, 2022. John Stewart caught this excellent interview with our own Bill Reilly, which Bill gave to NPR very recently. Enjoy!
July 7, 2022. Paul Wortman had sent in something for D-Day, but in all of the hullabaloo leading up to reunion, we didn’t get the chance to post it in time. I asked if I should wait ’til D-Day 2023, and Paul said, “Thanks, Jean. At our age, you needn’t wait until June 6, 2023, but to just go ahead with the poem (attached) that is a reflection on aging, memory, and, most of all, love.”
The Potato Chip Man
I’ve always had a passion for potato chips.
Is it some nervous addiction,
or a celebration of a smooth, round, salty treat
like some happy childhood memory that is
still crisp despite the years?
A small boy answers the snappy knock on the door.
A smile and a hand descend from the heavens
holding a tiny miracle—a 5 cent bag of
State Line potato chips.
Shazam! Uncle Jack in his pressed khaki uniform
is Captain Marvelous.
A year, a war, a holocaust, a childhood
goes screaming by.
A little boy stands uneasily before a stern
poster of Eisenhower in kindergarten.
Uncle Jack was killed at Anzio; shot by the Nazis
after fleeing Germany eight years earlier.
The bastards! On the home front there is no
armistice in the unrelenting parental warfare.
Now, have I grown old and brittle
ready to snap with the next crunch of life
like some old salt who’s been worn razor-thin
from voyages through the tumultuous seas of life?
And still I am a muncher of chips
savoring their crisp taste
gently sprinkled with salty tears.
And I remember that day as yesterday,
today, and tomorrow
when love descended from the sky
in a 5 cent bag of State Line potato chips.
— Paul Marshall Wortman
July 7, 2022. A note from Paul Gorman. Boyos: I just found this below in a file I thought was burned up in the fire. I was asked to write/speak something from the adult friends for the bat mitzvah of a buddies’ daughter. This came out almost as fast as I could speak it.
Who?
We’re the adult friends of Lucy Greer
We’ve gathered here from far and near
We’ve worn our very finest gear
And polished up our drear veneer.
We’re famous friends of Lucy Greer
There’s Holly Near and Brittney Spear
and Richard Gere and Paul Revere
She makes the very stars appear.
We adult friends of Lucy Greer
are here to make it very clear
that this is just another year
no need to get your ‘Life’ in gear.
But childhood will disappear
Or fall away like Van Gogh’s ear
She enters now a wider sphere
More far less near, more there less here
So grin a smile and shed a tear
And banish fear and cherish cheer
The sky is bright the way is clear
For dear dear dear dear Lucy Greer.
— G—h ’62
June 21, 2022. 
Roman Weil reports: “You classmates didn’t forget me. The throw blanket was accompanied by a clever card, which said, ‘Heal at your own rate… Get well seems so bossy.’ I’m spending my time on decorating/furnishing my new Chicago condo, which you can view via the link at CaringBridge, or here: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Evanston/1570-Elmwood-Ave-60201/unit-1304/home/21972280 or playing bridge online. You’d be surprised how often I get chilly enough to want a blanket.”
Roman Weil
May 31, 2022.
Classmate Roman Weil has let us know he has serious but treatable cancer. He and his family have set up a Caring Bridge site to keep in touch with friends as he undergoes treatment and works toward improved health. Setting up a login at Caring Bridge is free and allows you to keep up to date on what Roman posts there.
Here’s the link: www.CaringBridge.org/visit/roman.weil. He’d be pleased to hear from his friends and classmates.
May 12, 2022. Lew Spratlan sends in the following:
Invitation to all-Spratlan program at Brooklyn’s BargeMusic, June 17, 7:00 pm
Nadia Shpachenko, piano
All-Spratlan CD INVASION.
To be released in September 2022 on Reference Recordings label.
CD proceeds to benefit Ukraine Humanitarian Aid.
PROGRAM (All World Premiere Recordings)… Click to read the full Program details
April 25, 2022. The Many Faces of Actor and Activist Sam Waterston
Sharp-eyed Communications Team member Tim Hall spotted a terrific article in this past Sunday’s Boston Globe about our classmate Sam Waterston. We’ve included it here for your reading pleasure. Sam will be one of the featured speakers on the 60th reunion panel about working into one’s eighties.
April 20, 2022. Sent to the Communications Team by Bob Breault and shared with kind permission:
Sunday evening (Apr. 17), the first pics came out of the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Slava Class cruiser Moskva.
As we know this Monday AM… this is her. No Photoshop or spoof.
If you need to brush up on your RECCE:
Good news here is that as you can see in the green rectangle above, the life rafts have been deployed. As there were almost 500 Sailors assigned to her, that may be a secondary indication, along with the good weather, that those not killed on impact or in the following fire and secondaries were most likely able to get off the ship and as such, loss of life, less. More to follow on that I hope.
I’m sorry, I don’t care what nation’s flag they fly under; once defeated they are simply Sailors in need of rescue. If you don’t get that, we should all pray for you.
When you consider how dark that smoke is, the fire must be intense. The large SS-N-12 Sandbox missiles stacked like so many sticks of dynamite had to be on the mind of the ship’s leadership. If one of those things cooks off, they must go like so many firecrackers on a string. We also don’t know the extent of her internal damage… but it appears when this picture was taken she was probably already abandoned.
The reported weapon used to attack the Moskva was the Ukrainian-built Neptune ASCM, which is itself evolved from the Soviet Era SS-N-25 Switchblade (Kh-35), AKA “Harpoonski.”
To use round numbers, a high subsonic ASCM will cover the ground at about 9nm a minute.
If you are 50nm from the beach, that means you have about five and a half minutes once the missile goes feet wet to engage… but really, if you don’t have I&W of a launch and from what direction… on a standard issue day with a standard issue watch after weeks and weeks at sea… even assuming your radars and electronic gear aren’t CASREP’s or down for maintenance… when will you detect that?
20nm or 10nm from the ship? Maybe 5nm? That gives you, what, a minute +/- to detect to engage?
Are your watch sections ready? Are your close-in weapons systems ready? Who has to give permission to fire? How fast are they from being able to give that order?
That math is just hard… especially for a crew on station 24/7 for weeks on end. The math is even harder with supersonics.
Look at the pics above. It appears, ironically, she was struck on her port side where her close defense AK-630 are located.
That is about where you’d expect the seeker head from a “Harpoonski” to want to attack. Just about the center of the ship’s profile.
One day, perhaps, we may get an unvarnished report of the damage control efforts, along with the story of the Ukrainian coastal defense battery’s performance in location, tracking, and ultimate attack on Moskva.
Will we get that? Unknown… but there are a lot of lessons here. A lot.
Second photo credit to Andy Hall.
April 11, 2022. Y64 Class Secretary Tony Lavely brought to our attention a fun video his class recently featured on their site, featuring a christening of an Oxford shell. The honoree was Bill Fink ’64, but the main speaker in the video is a ’62: Duncan Spencer, who rowed with Fink and others in 1965. You can catch the recording here: “The Christening of the ‘Bill Fink'”.
April 4, 2022. Yale College Admits 2,234 from record applicant pool. Story is here.
April 4, 2022. Yale has put together some excellent resources toward understanding the Russia-Ukraine War. Access them here.
March 17, 2022.
Bob Lefevre sends us an update: “Hello from California. Taking care of our Brittany spaniels keeps a person as young as is possible at our ages. Besides the routine of allowing them to clean the oatmeal bowl (which I am guilty of instigating), Watson our 4-year-old makes sure I keep up on my reading and walking. We are a certified therapy dog team and are finally getting back into action as Covid seems to be slacking for the moment.
“Tai Chi has become my go-to activity 3 times per week. It’s moving meditation, with the added benefit of improving balance and leg strength. Never thought I could stand on one leg and kick without falling on my ass.
“Grandkids in college take any spare change and then some that we might have. [Our Yale ’62] ‘First Thursday’ Coffee Hour has been delightful when I have been able to get my act together.”
March 7, 2022.
Yale ’62 Reunion Team “Yakking” Reunion team members “yakked” about the upcoming reunion, which we’re pretty sure will be live and in person.
Feb. 24, 2022.
Law and Order is back, and our own Sam Waterston is back along with it! See the lively Today Show interview here.
Feb. 1, 2022. Bill Stott and his lovely wife Irene managed to get away for a little vacation, “A Personal Interlude.” Find his account, with lots of sumptuous photos, here.
Feb. 1, 2022. Our indefatigable Bill Stork sends us a fun essay on the history and current activities of the Yale tradition of Feb Club. It’s found here.
Jan. 18, 2022.
Meet the Artist: Dickson will be at Addison/Ripley for the next five Saturdays from 1-3pm: Feb 5, 12, 19, 26 and Mar 5, 2022. More photos here.
Jan. 13, 2022. John Stewart, returning from the January Y62 lunch at the Yale Club, reports: In attendance were Joe Schwartz and me. Bill Nye and Larry Prince, without consulting each other, both wore handsome bow ties to remember that aspect of Alex Garvin’s apparel.
Jan. 13, 2022. We have new reports of Covid amongst our classmates and their spouses. Roman Weil mentions how his brush with Covid derailed his football plans three days ago, while Bill Reilly notes: “Our family was hit hard by the virus. Libbie lost her younger brother, and I lost my older sister. And we both caught and recovered from it, with no apparent enduring effects.” John Stewart reports that while Jolly tested positive and suffered only mild symptoms, he continued to test negative. Others report catching and surviving it, but wish to remain unnamed. Stay as safe as possible, everyone!
Dec. 9, 2021. John Stewart reports: On Tuesday December 14 at noon, the ever genial Larry Prince will host his monthly lunch at the NY Yale Club. Masks and vax proofs are required, but you don’t need to be a member.
Nov. 23, 2021. From Mike Kane in Naples, Florida: “I am happy to report that on Saturday 11/20 Nancy and I attended the annual Harvard-Yale Football Game — watching luncheon, arranged by the Yale Club of Southwest Florida and the Harvard Club of Naples. Although I have membership in both, I was rooting for Yale this day. We ended up sharing an all-Yale table with Dean Weidner (’66) and Jim Averill (’69), and wives. The big screen, playing to a very senior, mostly male crowd, showed an entertaining game in which Harvard led much of the time, while Yale made a great 4th quarter comeback to go ahead with only a few minutes left, only to lose when Harvard scored a skillful touchdown with 26 seconds left, to win 34-31. (Yale similarly “stole” the last game from Harvard with 4th quarter heroics in 2019.) The Yale Club of Southwest Florida is ably led by Mike Hanson (‘65) who attended the lunch and afterward shared with me thoughts on the woes of the current men’s hockey squad (0-6). A good party and a fine tradition.
“Strangely, or just by coincidence, the Yale Club of Southwest Florida has members from multiple Yale College classes, ranging from 1945 to 2010, plus various grad school members, but – oddly – NO members from the YC Class of 1962. Check out the website if interested: www.YALECLUBSWFL.org. The cost to join is nominal, and since I was admitted, you can see that entrance standards are very lax.”
Oct. 12, 2021. From Roman Weil: Some of you know I played bridge while at Yale. After graduation I learned I could not be good enough to make a living at it. I turned my energy to an academic career and gave up bridge around 1970 after winning a national championship with the University of Chicago’s Commercial Team of Four. Last winter, an easy opportunity to resume play presented itself and I resumed. Classmate Joe Holmes, famed musician, spotted me at it and invited me to play with him, which I accepted. Joe introduced me to some features new in the last fifty years, including Bridgebase.com [BBO] online where several thousand serious players compete virtually [two meanings of that word] 24 x 7. I began playing there to scrape off my rust, to come out of hibernation. My fifty years as an academic have imbued me with the spirit of publish or perish. I can’t engage in an intellectual activity and not write about it. Soon I found myself writing the equivalent of a journal or diary about my experiences coming out of hibernation. I’ve about persuaded the editor of the foremost bridge journal to publish my article. I’ve known him since he was at Cornell and we were at Yale. Meanwhile, in playing on BBO I noticed some interesting happenings that I thought worthy of write-up by their analysts and reporters. I wrote a description of one of these and sent it to Customer Service, asking how to forward to one of their people. A person there read what I wrote and was perspicuous enough to spot that this fellow knows how to write. She invited me to turn it into a full-fledged report, which they’d publish under my byline. When she figured out this was no fluke, that I have been writing for a living, they paid me an honorarium and have invited me to write some more. This could develop into a career as a bridge free-lancer. Here’s my first column for BBO. The first reader to comment recognized my name and remarked, kindly, that he’d been my student forty years ago.
Oct. 4, 2021. Yale publicly kicked off its “For Humanity” $7 Billion capital campaign this past Saturday with several speakers and with musical entertainment. “This day has been long in coming and I can’t be happier that it has arrived,” President Salovey, in his opening remarks, stated. “Today, we are writing our chapter of Yale’s history and the question we must ask ourselves today is what is Yale for? … Yale today is extraordinary and investing in Yale’s future will pay major dividends, not only for Yale but for humanity.”
For more on this topic, see this Yale Daily News article: “University kicks off ambitious $7 billion fundraising campaign.” And here’s the official news on the Saturday kick-off from Yale itself: Yale community logs into ‘For Humanity’ campaign launch
Sept. 27, 2021. Classmate Robert W. Gray (Bob) will be remembered at a memorial service at the Harvard Club of New York City on Monday, October 4, 2021, 4:00 to 6:00 pm. (Address: 27 W. 44th St.) Organized by beloved friends Ben Zucker and Paul Torop, Bob’s family and extended family will be present, and all classmates are warmly invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served.
Sept. 27, 2021. Classmate and former Navy Seal Chris Bent has a new website, WeNeedTruth.org, where he features his many books as well as his views on wide variety of topics of interest.
Aug. 10, 2021. Lee Bakunin writes in: Little did most of we 1962 “Blues” realize that graduation was just the beginning of a lifelong learning process. Through Yale62.org we are able to keep pace with the many disciplines and advances that brighten and sometimes sadden our horizons. Progress and technology has created ancient history from the incessant clatter of typewriters and copious notepads to the demise of the Yankee Doodle, fully-packed Yale Bowls in autumn, trips to Seven Sisters colleges and the presence of campus cops in sport coats and porkpie hats.
Given what Yale is today and the numerous issues of controversy that appear to separate rather than unify us come some wonderful breaths of fresh air.
One such breath was Roman Weil’s recently concluded Accounting Lingo course, which opened a new door of understanding for this liberal arts major who shied away from economics, math and science. Yale never offered such a course and my knowledge in that area ended in 1960 with a course called “Mathematics for Students of the Social Sciences.” I’ll digress here to tell you a story of my first day in class. The Prof asked everyone who was a math major to raise their hand. To the 20 who did, he then said that he would regard any of them who got a grade below 95 as having failed the course.
Had there been such a course in Accounting Lingo, I would have taken it so as to have a better understanding of the words, phrases and multiple meanings that I would face as a bright-eyed bushy-tailed 22-year-old ready take on the world. What I learned now would have prevented me from making a number of mistakes in investments and purchases aside from developing a methodology and approach when considering allocation of resources and time.
I hope that perhaps you can persuade Roman to take this course into the current Yale undergraduate sphere or persuade the Powers-That-Be to hire him for a semester to teach young Yalies the basics of accounting and balance sheet terminology. Perhaps such a course would be received with a similar level of enthusiasm and numbers as was elicited by Laurie Santos’ Happiness Course of several years back.
We live in a complex global world where everybody has a solution and very few make the grade. Roman takes his students back to basics and simplifies the knowledge of understanding the accounting and finance terms that are so often misunderstood.
Best regards,
Lee V. Bakunin ’62YC Silliman
July 13, 2021. Jolly and John Stewart entertained a most unusual visitor this past Sunday! Not quite “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”…
‘Birdseed for Breakfast, followed by Garbage for Lunch!’
June 25, 2021. Roman Weil reminds us that he’s offering a no-cost class which starts on July 1. He tells us, “I’ve attached a description of the course with links to materials, published here already (scroll down to the May 10th entry). AND a teaser/challenge: read the paragraph (linked here) from the WSJ. Take the multiple-choice quiz. If you get the answer wrong, take the course and learn why your answer is wrong.”
June 3, 2021 (posted). Late last month, Larry Prince wrote a letter to Yale Daily News, expressing his displeasure with the Yale Alumni board election. See this link for his statement: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2021/05/27/letters-5-27/
June 3, 2021. Neal Freeman has a new book out: Walk with Me: An Invitation to Faith. He reports that he really enjoyed writing this short, which is a big departure from his career and earlier writings.
May 10, 2021. Roman Weil will give a no-charge series of six 90-minute sessions, which he calls “Accounting Lingo Involved in Current Events,” on six consecutive Thursdays from 11am EST, on July 1 through Aug 5. Read a description here and decide whether you want to attend. He’s designed the series for people like members of the Class of ’62 who think that Retained Earnings tell us something about a firm’s cash available for dividends or that Litigation Reserves tells us something about the firm’s cash available to pay for losses in court. Click here for details and write roman.weil@chicagobooth.edu to ask questions and to sign up.
Apr. 14, 2021. Roman Weil writes: While we’re waiting for education on vaccination passports, I read that both Staples and Office Depot will laminate Covid vaccination cards at no charge. Not only that, they will shrink the copy to wallet size. Best not to laminate your original as you might later get a booster shot and want to enter it on the original card. See image below.
Apr. 14, 2021. Ken Merkey writes: I am the Yale Club of Charleston YAA delegate. Normally we meet in November in New Haven for a 3 day delegate assembly. This year we did it virtually.
One of the best presentations to the delegates was by Alan Organschi of the Architecture School. It casts a whole new light on how we should build structures in the future. I thought that it might be of interest to our classmates. (link below)
Apr. 14, 2021. Bill Stork writes: I very much, at times, enjoy some light-mannered banter, and I was somewhat amused by the recent newsletter from Mory’s, so this is where that newsworthy banter has gone!
In the last newsletter there was a trivia question related to a framed music sheet of Rudy Vallee’s rendition of the Whiffenpoof Song.
Here is a trivia question for you!
Q. Who was the donor to Mory’s of that music sheet?
A. It was William Stork ’62!
Apr. 6, 2021. There’s a new bulldog in town! Handsome Dan XIX has ascended to the throne, having succeeded Handsome Dan XVIII (Walter), who stepped down to live with his handler away from New Haven. The new pup, named Kingman for Kingman Brewster, is about 14 weeks old now, and is a media king already, with presences on Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms. Read lots more about Kingman here and here.
Mar. 26, 2021. A big shout-out to our own Communications Team member Dick Riseling, for the inspiring interview with him by Lauren Yanks in the latest edition of the Yale Divinity School News, entitled ‘Wind, sun, plants, and animals’: The spiritual life of Richard Riseling. Follow this link to read the interview in full.
Feb. 26, 2021. In an email sent to Yale’s spring sport student-athletes just after 1 p.m., Director of Athletics Vicky Chun included a memo from the Ivy League that announced the cancellation of Ancient Eight spring sports competition for the 2021 season. Comments welcome below. For more information, click here.
Feb. 5, 2021. Ted Hard writes in: “Just a heads-up that I have recently published a novel titled: ‘The Hunt for Blackfoot Lion’ by T.W. Hard. The story was awarded Best Seller status on Amazon this past week and I would love to share it with our classmates.”
Your class correspondents asked Ted to tell us more about his life as an author. He responded as follows.
“I’ve been writing for what seems like 50 years. During surgical residency I had two books published and Twentieth Century Fox purchased the movie rights to one, ‘SUM VII.’ After residency, I went into ER Medicine in Santa Rosa for 30 plus years as the director of the ER at Sutter Santa Rosa. With the recent COVID issues and need for quarantine to keep safe, I began writing full time. ‘The Hunt for Black Foot Lion’ is a story I had been working on for several years and this provided a good opportunity to finish. Because of the back-up and considerable delay in getting through conventional agents these days, I decided to print the novel through an ‘Indie’ press in Santa Rosa and have been delighted with the results. Amazon awarded the novel a gold seal as a best seller. I hope we will get some good reviews and proceed from there.
“At Yale I was a member of Jonathan Edwards College and Wolfshead. I was the captain of the freshman basketball team then lettered three years in varsity football, playing on the 1961 undefeated football team. After Yale I attended Columbia College of Physician and Surgeons in NY for medical school then residency in surgery at Stanford. Following residency I served four years as a flight surgeon with the US Navy. For a Texas boy, my experience at Yale was phenomenal, and an opportunity for which I will always be grateful.”
Feb. 5, 2021. This week, the US Department of Justice dropped the discrimination case against Yale. New Haven breathes a collective sigh of relief!
Jan. 27, 2021. Communications Team member George Snider offers up the following: “I turned eighty on Monday, January 25, and my best present did not arrive until 6:10 p.m., when a regional pharmacy chain texted that I could be vaccinated the following morning – which of course I did. And I only had to drive two miles.
“I was surprised by the exhilaration and sense of relief that Monday’s text created. Apparently I was more nervous about the novel coronavirus than I had thought.
“In addition to the pharmacy chain, I had registered with two hospital giants – Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals of Cleveland – but through some miracle the pharmacy has acquired the most vaccine the fastest. What’s more, the online application was short and simple, and the IT app tracked me down on the very day I became eligible. Tuesday morning, I was in and out of the pharmacy in 30 minutes.
“My wife, who is younger, needs to wait a few more weeks, but hopefully her experience will rival mine.”
Dec. 23, 2020. A fun-filled newsletter from Phil Proctor. Click to view.
Dec. 23, 2020. In response to a note from John Stewart, Dave Bingham writes: “Thanks for touching base, John. I do occasionally check in with the web site, and enjoy reading about some of the great things being done by our amazing classmates. Thanks for what you are doing to help keep people engaged.
“In my earlier years as an OB-Gyn who worked with Planned Parenthood, I was very involved with a successful constitutional challenge to CT’s refusal to fund pregnancy terminations under Medicaid. The poor should have the same access to health care as do the rich under the State’s equal protection cause, and the court agreed. I providing cases and testimony before the State Supreme Court, winning on all indications (mental health grounds like depression and psychosis, as well as physical health grounds such as women with severe diabetes, hypertension and cancer).
“Our grassroots coalition of women’s rights groups (PPH, NOW, NARAL Pro Choice America) then took the Court’s decision (similar to the federal Roe v. Wade language) and got the legislature to write that into law, so it would be clear what CT’s position is, in case Roe v. Wade gets overturned. I think CT may have the strongest protection of these rights of all states, thanks to thousands of people convincing legislators that their rights of all women seeking pregnancy termination needed to be protected (not just the rich, who have always been able to travel somewhere for safe surgical procedures).
“Currently, I am concerned with getting people elected who will take better care of our planet for the coming generation in challenging times. I co-chair the CT League of Conservation Voters, and interviewed many dozens of candidates for the legislature seeking CTLCV’s endorsement. Thank goodness for ZOOM, a great tool for interviews that saves enormous amounts of travel time and frustration. Am very happy with the local election outcomes, and can vouch for a very savvy group of citizens who will be helping steer our State out of an economic crisis from Covid while facing dire impacts from climate change.
“So sorry to hear that Carl [Kaestle] has Covid – please send an update. Annie and I have kids and grandchildren in CT, who we meet with outside at times or can hike with. But no hugs since March. Hope to get the vaccine before too long, but understand the need for the higher risk workers and nursing homes to do so first!
“Be safe, to enjoy many more Happy Holidays and celebrations…”
Dec. 23, 2020. In response to a note from Steve Buck, Mike Kane writes: “Nice to hear from you, Steve.
“In fact, I was in my car, hurtling down US95 on Nov 5, so I missed that [Coffee Hour] hour but hugely enjoyed the recording and if it didn’t get through for whatever reason, I intended to send Jean a note of congratulations to the Team, Kent Hughes, and Jean herself for bringing that off. It was heartening to learn how many classmates shared my loathing for Trump and all he stands for, and my unhappiness at finding myself trapped (remember we can’t go anywhere else now) in a society where only slightly less than half the voters not only do not despise Trump but think he’s Great!
“No such excuse for missing the Dec 3 coffee hour. I was out on the golf course with my wife, staying (we hope) clear of the virus.
“In Florida I live in a ‘gated community’ of 300 residents, some of whom are under 55 but most are above, and some are way above. Within 3 days after arrival from up north (or anywhere else), we were required to take a CoVid test. Nancy and I went to the nearby CVS for ours, paid $139 each, and got the results (Negative), which we submitted to the club and thereby were allowed to join in the organized functions and use the clubhouse.
“Since that date in early November, three club members have come down with Covid-19. We don’t know them but hear they have recovered and are doing OK. The tennis crowd we are part of is clear, so far. We abandoned handshakes back in March, and only touch racquets after a match.
“Golf rules have changed only slightly but the course is hopping with players. You can share a cart only with your CoVid-free household members (mostly wives, in practice). Supposed to handle your own ball only.
“Responding to your suggestion, our auto trip down here was uneventful but lacked some of the fun we had planned in visiting friends along the way. (Flying was not attractive because of the pandemic, but we had to drive anyway because we have a medium-size dog. This also meant we had to search out places to stay that allowed pets. Not all do.)
“Our trip started in our town in eastern Maine, where at the time CoVid was almost non-existent, through Boston, then over to Saratoga as a launch pad to visit the family camp in the Adirondacks for a day, then south to Philadelphia where my eldest daughter lives with husband and two grandchildren, 4 and 7. We celebrated my daughter’s 40th birthday on October 24. Like my birthday this summer, there were no guests except Nancy and me and my youngest daughter, who was spending the month in Philadelphia working from an apartment. They have been much more affected by the pandemic because day care and school have closed, leaving 2 parents trying to work full-time from home, cooped up with little kids. Has been hard on parents and kids. In the spring, the public school faculty did not prove to be competent at remote teaching so as of September my grandson (2d grade) moved to a private school where a few kids in the 5th grade got CoVid so the whole school shut down. That faculty is better at remote teaching, but it’s not ideal. All the after-school stuff has been cancelled (e.g., soccer). After Philadelphia, it was 3 days of high speed driving and two forgettable motel nights to reach our Naples, FL destination. The CoVid test that came out negative in November was expected but still a relief.
“At the end of our trip I felt as though I had run a gauntlet of so many random stranger contacts and unmasked places.
“Best to you and family”
Dec. 21, 2020. Last week, Yale offered admission to 837 Early Application students to the Class of 2025. There were a record 7,939 applications, up 38% from last year’s number.
Admissions Dean Jeremiah Quinlan said, “Although high schoolers have dealt with countless challenges this year, the resilience, intellectual curiosity, and positive community contributions we’ve seen from our applicants has been inspiring.” See the full story here.
If any classmate has a grandchild or other close relative that was among this fortunate group, we certainly would be pleased to share the news with classmates.
There will be steady Admissions news in the coming months with Yale filling in details on its plan for the Summer and Fall including welcoming as many as 360 Class of 2024 students, who opted to defer because of the current coronavirus crisis.
Dec. 11, 2020. Classmate Chip Neville reports: “Well, the COVID-19 virus has hit home. Judi and I went to bed with headaches and sore throats last evening. We feel better now, but we are quarantined until our COVID-19 tests come back. We get tested every Wednesday here at Brookdale Chatfield, and today was Wednesday.
“I had an appointment with my PCP physician, but UCONN told us they wouldn’t let us in the building. Fortunately, we called first. I guess if it’s serious we have to go to the emergency room. It could be worse. Hospitals in some states are soon not going to have room left to treat anybody, but Connecticut isn’t there yet.
“We are in the midst of an epidemic here. Tom across the hall from us has the Corona Virus, and there is a sign on his door saying do not enter without full protective equipment. His friend, and our friend, Bob upstairs also has the Corona Virus.”
Dec. 10, 2020. From Bill Stork: “Greetings from the other side of the globe! We have just heard here that the YAA has awarded the YAA Board of Governors’ Excellence Award to the Yale Alumni of Mainland China and Hong Kong for their outstanding effort to source PPE for Yale New Haven Hospital and other frontline medical workers.
“I want to thank the Yale Alumni Association for including my April 13 article, ‘Yalies in Asia Respond to Covid-19 Pandemic in New Haven, New York’ in YAA Alumni Voices and giving such a much wider circulation to this – so inspiring a story.
“That full story and photos can be found here: ‘Yalies in Asia respond to COVID-19 pandemic in New Haven, New York’.”
Nov. 24, 2020. Janet Yellen has been named Treasury Secretary of the incoming Biden Administration, and will be the first woman to serve in that Cabinet position. She is the wife of classmate George Akerlof, Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences (2001). Ms. Yellen was previously the first female Chair of the Federal Reserve (2010-2014).
Nov. 3, 2020. David Honneus shares happy news: “Hello Classmates – News!! As you all know, my wife died in September of 2011. I’ve been ‘seeing’ Susan Metcalfe Larock, Skidmore ’62, and we are getting married!! Sue and I went to high school together! She’s a wonderful artist, lives in Plainfield, MA, in the Berkshire hill towns, and is more than wonderful!”
Oct. 12, 2020. Bob Rosenkranz is delighted to alert his classmates that Louise Glück,* the Rosenkranz Writer-in-Residence at Yale, has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature.
(* Roman Weil reminds us that Professor Glück’s surname rhymes with ‘click.’)
Sept. 25, 2020. According to Yale Today, Yale has designated three independent laboratories to perform the university-developed SalivaDirect™ COVID-19 test. Along with Yale Pathology Labs — the first to offer the test — Access Medical Laboratories, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), and Mirimus, Inc., represent the initial wave of providers for the innovative testing method. They will make SalivaDirect™ available to people in Florida, Minnesota and New York by late September. For the rest of the story, visit the Yale Today site here.
Sept. 25, 2020. Classmate Chris Bent writes that he has just self-published his 14th book, entitled “1-800-Give-Me-Liberty,” which joins 13 earlier books in his “1-800” series. This series shares reflections on how to create a life that responds to the increasing level of challenges presented by the main theme of each book. All are available from the well-known Internet book providers.
Sept. 21, 2020.
Jonathan and Deanne Ater send in the following: “Renee Ater [their daughter] was on the PBS News Hour last night [9/17/20], talking about the new Eisenhower Memorial on the Mall in Washington DC. The others interviewed were the architect, Frank Geary, and David Eisenhower, Ike’s grandson. Heady company. As our friend Bob Knoll remarked: ‘She is a bright bulb.’ We are very proud of her. The link is below.”
Gehry-designed Eisenhower Memorial unveiled after 20 years — during a fraught moment
[Editor’s note: Depending on whether you have a PBS login – i.e., are a member – you may or may not be able to access the footage.]
Sept. 21, 2020. Phil Proctor sends along a bit of poetic “phun” from pal Jim Meskimen. We will post it on the 80th Birthday page, too.
Stop the presses, call the doctor
It’s time to celebrate Phil Proctor!
Humorist, sage, raconteur,
Wise, yet somehow immature,
Actor with an elfin grin,
Player of the violin,
Survivor of a gruesome massacre,
Character in films by Lassiter,
Always ready to opine
As member of The Firesign,
Visual artist, polyglot,
Beloved by all the friends he’s got,
Light as air, yet somehow weighty,
Can it be he’s turning eighty?
August 31, 2020. Eli Newberger is interviewed as a “pioneer in the pediatrics child abuse field” in this current article published in The Atlantic.
August 31, 2020. Bill Stork writes: “Being here in Hong Kong, and following the presidential dickerings from afar, I was entranced by this topic at once, as a secondary level educator who once taught a semester AP-level course based on the presidential synthesis of how the US has evolved due to various forms of executive leadership.*
“This offering by our classmate Bob Rosenkranz’s Intelligence Squared US so well fits into that of my approach to a full study of ‘US presidential history.’
“Very worth offering some special mention to, especially at these times, methinks.
“* My course outlines for a short study of US History, based on the ‘presidential synthesis’ are available on request. Should one be eager, please start with the paperback by Marcus Cunliffe, a British historian, whose Washington: Man and Monument serves well to document how the First Father set in place a role for future presidents to follow.
“There are follow-up supportive documents, online, by Yale professor Edmund S Morgan that are fun to read as they too are so illustrative of the effort that GW had then wanted to set a proper personal role, for the future presidents to identify with or adopt, so as to be above any of the political fray of later political ‘factions’. (I guess today we would call them ‘tribes’!)”
August 21, 2020. We sincerely apologize for the tardiness in listing this, but Louis Mackall’s daughter Melina is offering fitness classes online. For more information, including how you can sign up, please contact Louis at mackall@mac.com.
August 21, 2020.
Yale “will soon welcome more than 1,900 undergraduates to live and study on campus, a step that follows months of intensive preparations for a fall semester in which fastidious attention to health and safety will serve communal teaching, learning, research, and life.” Here’s the news link. We wish them excellent health and every success!
July 31, 2020. Bill Stott let us know that his “son Gordon ’s Mar Vista Connect 11 House has been selected as one of the five finalists for best prefab structure on the planet. Terrific news, you say — and it is. BUT he tells me there’s a vote for the Number One award, which vote has an internet-fed people’s-choice popularity component. Yes, ugh.”
Bill suggests that if anyone cares to do so, a vote for Gordon’s design might enable “a lovely little house [to] beat a skyscraper. I thank you, and I know Gordon would thank you, for any participation — even if all you offer are positive thoughts. Those go a long way these days. Here is a photo of me looking truly uncomfortable when the house was nearing completion.”
For anyone who wishes to vote, this is the link:
vote.architizer.com
(Gordon’s is the Mar Vista Connect 11 House. The site will ask you to sign up to vote, which is a hassle, but Gordon assures his Dad it’s a solid architecture website; if it puts you on a list, it’s an aesthetically interesting one.)
Follow this link for earlier This Just In entries …
Like this page. Thanks for doing this for the rest of us.
A nifty page. I just listened to the Chambers-McGlashan interview and was fascinated by Bill’s take on the whole affair, most particularly his son’s. It is hard to imagine what it must be like to be involved in this affair, but his ability to frame it as an opportunity to grow and learn is inspiring.
Thanks guys for reviving our website. It’s good to be in touch again.All sympathies to Bill and his family!
BTW: Dickson Carroll’s sculpture exhibit is a blockbuster. Of course, I’m biased in that Jill and I bought another of his sculptures. His whimsical, creative and colorful creation is a wonderful product of our class.
David Scharff
Nice web page. Thanks very much.
On the other hand, it seemed a bit snarky to insert the word “controversially” into the Art Laffer blurb. In fact any statement made by any economist at any time is controversial, because economics is an inexact science. What was particularly controversial about Laffer was that he ventured outside disciplinary groupthink.
You new editors have pushed the website to new heights of interest and accessibility and even delight (after listening carefully for the first time to the familiar “Give Yourself to Love”). Above all, it’s welcoming, and will be a pleasure to keep up with.
This is worth a read by any Class of ’62 member who feels, as I do, that Yale has lost her way, following questionable paths of historical revisionism, social experimentation, affirmative action, and unjustifiable extremes of “political correctness.” That she, guided by the dubious theories and beliefs of her administration, has become a populist weathervane, rather than a moral compass true to the timeless values of “unfettered inquiry, intellectual diversity, and academic excellence” that made her the once great institution of higher education she used to be.
Jan,
I just read your post on the Yale ’62 website. Your eloquent summary was spot-on. I decry the direction that campus PC and intersectionality has taken. We have beccme a nation of those feeling oppressed in some form, who find scapegoats around every corner and who fail to take responsibility for their own misery or inadequacy trying to join the high road of self-proclaimed virtue. If anything, one would hope that Yale teaches critical independent thinking above all and acute awareness of both side of the picture rather than knee jerk political positions. Solovoy could be a leading spokesperson but alas………….
Best wishes as we carry on.
Neiel Baronberg
Calhoun (yes Calhoun) ’62
Jan,
10-4 on your comments. Glad to see that you have kept the flame alive. I attended the Assembly in November and have come away confused and unimpressed. It seems like the pursuit of academic excellence has taken a back seat to diversity and inclusion.
Jan…I realize that I am late to come to the party, but I finally found time to drill down on our class website wherein I found your Incredibly similar views to my take on Yale in the Salovey reign. I have expressed my concerns both in writing and face to face with the administration including the president himself, but came away with the sense that they view me as a “cranky old man” out of touch with the world of today. My anxiety level ratchets up further after reading each subsequent issue of Yale Today which now appears to be a relay station for excerpts from the New York Times and other very left leaning media organizations that are driving diversity, inclusion and other social justice themes, rather than a more balanced presentation of alternative views on the subject. If you ever need another voice to add to your chorus, let me know. My below the radar approach to Yale is obviously a waste of time, so I’m ready to join a more public outreach effort in this regard.
Tony Carbone
I just heard that our classmate Rob Rosenkranz’ son is running for Trustee of the Yale Corporation. He is not put forward by the Nominating Committee but is trying to get on the ballot through a write-in candidacy. His name is Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, and he is dissatisfied with many things going on at Yale. He has to amass over 4,000 write-in votes by October 1.
You can get more information about him and the process by going to
Alumniforexcellence.com
If interested, you should act quickly as October 1 is the last day to vote.
Nick Rosenkranz’s campaign needs our help, He is a wonderfully sensible fellow and has strong arguments that most of us can agree with. Please go to his site and sign on quickly!
I had the pleasure of joining Artie Laffer at his recent recognition by the President and at a small dinner afterward. He is as full of energy, humor and wisdom as ever. However, I will note that we both had to be guided to our rooms at the Hay Adams Hotel later that evening, but happily!
Bill, are you implying that you and Professor Laffer were driven to drink excessively by your interaction with our country’s, then, chief executive. If you and Art had been lucky enough to have been in TD and members of the Tang Cup team and/or attended Master Thomas Bergin’s sherry parties, maybe then you would have learned to hold your liquor. Still, I trust, you did not behave like a bunch of immature DKE rowdies so accurately represented a few years ago in a Congressional Hearing but allowed yourselves to be gently led to your sleeping quarters.
It was a wrong time and the wrong place for a protest, Sam.
Good stuff! Thanks, guys, I really appreciate all you’re doing with the website! Best, Norm Jackson
Happy to see Sam Waterston looking ageless, stalwart, even Lincolnesque, as he protested (I think this is right) Yale’s portfolio of Puerto Rican bonds. But the interruption of The Game, the interruption of the players’ four-year quest to excel as a team in their final game together, was one of the more astonishingly selfish acts I’ve ever witnessed. I don’t remember the football team storming the stage at the Dramat. Or at the first intermission of the recent conference on climate change. And I would have. The protesters should not have been applauded for exercising their constitutional freedoms. They should have been criticized for their appallingly bad manners and their utter disrespect for their fellow students. What the protesters managed to achieve was a news blackout of what actually happened on the field — the greatest performance by a Yale team in more than a century of competition with their arch rival. Congratulations to Kurt, J.P., and all of the boys in blue.
Don’t know which of the site editors wrote the snarky piece about Art Laffer above, but shame on you! Here it is, with my comments: “On Wednesday, June 19th, President Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Art Laffer, most famous for his “Laffer curve,” a graph that controversially suggested that lowering tax rates might increase tax revenue. Very shortly thereafter, he began vocally supporting a wide variety of the president’s initiatives and ideas.
**
I was with Art in Washington when he got the award, enjoyed the reception for him at the Hay-Adams and dinner later with a small group of old friends from Cleveland’s University School who also attended. First of all, Art supported Trump during the Primary Election, believing that Trump had what it took to bring a Conservative agenda to Washington and defeat Mrs. Clinton. He was right, of course, and has been promoting Trump ever since. He did NOT just start praising Trump after he got the Presidential Medal. What a cheap shot you took! Shame.
**
Secondly, his “Laffer Curve” Supply Side economic theories may be controversial to you guys and to socialists, but they have been proven over and over in various US states and quite a few foreign countries. They have been misinterpreted and mistakenly used a few places, but states like Texas and Tennessee, for example, have enjoyed prosperity due partly to Art’s advice. Of course, maybe you think prosperity itself is suspect, and must be achieved by some “controversial” means.
**
I haven’t noticed any of you guys getting any Presidential Medals lately, so lay off the snide comments on those of us who have.
Can’t agree more with Merkey/Greer; what is going on back there in New Haven???? Thoroughly enjoy this site and all the input from fellow ’62’ers. Bill
/Users/philfiresign/Desktop/YALE.jpeg
Steve, Dick, Chris:
I wanted to learn about Steve Susman’s situation and now that I know, wish him the speediest recovery. Scrolling down from that update I found the many other comments. So it occurred to me to relay some of my recent activities. I’ve only just learned I’ve won some sort of independent press award for the small volume of verse I published a couple years back, “Humpty Trumpty Hit a Brick Wall.” It still sells modestly and may even have taken on a renewed meaning these days. More recently, I published “Great Dates With Some Late Greats,” related stories about famous deceased figures–Marilyn Monroe, Jesus, Elvis Presley, NIccolò Machiavelli, Mona Lisa, Adolf Hitler, Homer, others–who show up in the lives of men who need help of some sort. I’m also part of a WBAI weekly show these days called “The Hour of Lateral Thinking. In June, “Move It and Its Yours,” a musical I’ve written with Bill Weeden and Sally Fay will hour in a trimmed version, also on WBAI. Apologies for running my credits at such length.
I understand that the Yale Daily News is in full support of shutting down interstate highways as a means of “peaceful” protest. Does that support help assuage their guilt?
Does anyone remember Rev. William Sloan Coffin riding the freedom buses 50 years ago? Has anything changed?
Last time I looked, the YDN was a news organization. Maybe they should stick to reporting the news, not trying to make it.
They sure look like poor little lambs who have lost their way.
Couldn’t d is agree more …
I guess I’m not in the ‘62 class. Over the previous year I submitted updates but none seemed to have made the cut. The most recent was to Steve Buck. Maybe I went to Harvard, but that was in 1972
Keep up the good work — you’ve done a great job with the “62 website! Really enjoy reading it, especially when so many truly challenging issues are confronting the planet and USA in particularly.
AND, I’m overjoyed that TOMORROW will be Election Day — be great to have it over with! Even if Biden wins we’ll be in for some especially tough months until Jan. 20, 2021, and for many years thereafter as USA tries to recover from our four-year nightmare (and the decades prior during which we drifted into the society that resulted in the election of 2016).
Bill
Dear Bill – Thanks for your encouraging comments about the website.
I totally agree that it will be great to have the election over with – hopefully by the end of this week.
Speaking of end of this week, I hope you can again join us for the coffee hour, tomorrow, November 5 at 1 p.m. Jean will be sending out the link to the coffee hour.
Best,
Steve Buck for the communications team
Hey, guys,
I just finished watching the January 7 ‘Coffee’ video, and I want to thank everyone involved. I have a hard time joining the group, because it’s far beyond my bedtime here in Perth, Australia (in the early hours of the morning), but I’m really grateful to be able to ‘participate’ via streaming.
Wonderful moderation, and well-reasoned views by all — great to ‘see’ you again after all these years!
Dear Classmates, thanks for the lovely catchups and pictures. And a special callout to David Honneus and his new bride, Susan,. It’s never too latter celebrate the continuity of life!
And even at 80, I and my child bride, Melinda (Peterson) are still active performing from home, on shows such as “The Lives of Harry Lime” — and OTR recreation for Gregg Oppenheimer’s ONLINE RADIO THEATRE If you love Orson Welles, give it a listen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY4oV3mhixc
LOVE TO ALL and stay safe ~ P&M
I reside at the Gatesworth, a Noah’s Arc of a retirement center here in St. Louis. A certain doctor has been advising the staff on how & when to re-open facilities. Ah, but the stressed medical man had, without a nickel’s worth of science, even Faucian to&froeing, had the dining room permitting but three (that’s one1, two2,three3) but NEVER a four4. As I noted this is a two x two, couple x couple Arc. Me, a dumb-*** bachelor a rarity. I reasoned, then unreasoned, finally let out a most Primal albeit Imperative SCREAM. After six weeks of this the good dumb*** doctor has given his okey-dokey to two couples eating together and I take most of the credit as a single, hopelessly so bachelor for the director’s finally throwing wide the dining room doors to companion-starved couples…and a rude letter to the good Dr. D**** C*** is shortly to wing its was with a spongy, noisy toy F*** Brain to be included