David Maydole Porter, September 21, 2022; Updated

David Maydole Porter, September 21, 2022; Updated

Michael Harrington reports that he noticed in Class Notes of ’71, David Porter died recently: “Porter entered with our class in Sept 1965 but ended up in the Class of 1971 before finally graduating in ‘76. Quite an academic odyssey.” His freshman roommate, Greg Montes has an extensive recollection of David below, following this obit…

Report: Yale’s Ties to Slavery

Report: Yale’s Ties to Slavery

Since October 2020, the Yale and Slavery Research Project has conducted intensive research to provide a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of the university’s past involvement with slavery. 

In a major announcement on Feb. 16, Yale announced the publication of results in a book, a free pdf and an incredible interactive website that I strongly recommend you visit. Unlike Georgetown and Brown, Yale didn’t own slaves directly, but many of its early leaders and benefactors did.

Last, the university issued a Statement acknowledging some of its institutional failings re: slavery and announcing some constructive programs, especially for New Haven.

Is Anyone Else Raising His Grandchildren?

Is Anyone Else Raising His Grandchildren?

Jeff Horton is dealing with a twist of fate in his life and wants to hear from other classmates who are raising their grandchildren.  He writes: “After my 33 year old son died in 2022, his two children came to live with me in Palmdale CA, north of Los Angeles.  As you all can imagine, it is exhausting, but it is also invigorating. 

I’d love to hear from any other grandparents acting as parents from our class at [email and phone in the full story].

Hoop and Tree Explained

Hoop and Tree Explained

As we have profiled before, Chris Hoffman has published four books of poetry and a bedrock book called The Hoop and the Tree, which went through a second edition with some revised and updated materials in 2021.  He explained the image and the metaphors of hoop and tree in an article published recently on the Climate Psychology Alliance website. For you audiophiles, Chris also explained the model in a Zoom at Noon presentation hosted on YouTube. 

Matt Flynn’s new book – about a judge on the Court of Appeals
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Matt Flynn’s new book – about a judge on the Court of Appeals

Matt Flynn’s newest book differs from his series on Bernie Weber, math genius.  His new thriller is set closer to home, namely, Matt’s experience as a court clerk on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago.  He hastens to add that the scenes in the book about cheating with an attractive Asian co-clerk are pure fiction. 😉
Plot Summary:  In The Court of Last Resort, Federal Judge Adam Willow, a former Marine commando, demands perfect justice. Some defendants …

Hotel Hacks (and Parking Ideas) For Reunion

Hotel Hacks (and Parking Ideas) For Reunion

Yes, it’s quaint, and a bit nostalgic, to sleep in our old rooms … on those “Yale single” bedframes that squeak when you sit on them.  But many spouses or partners are not so, um, adventurous, nor brave enough to deal with shared bathrooms, third-floor walk-ups and the other limitations of dorm living. They (or we!) want a regular hotel room, thank you very much.

Bruce Robert Bolnick, November 19, 2023

Bruce Robert Bolnick, November 19, 2023

Bruce was born May 12, 1947, in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up in Skokie, Illinois and attended Niles West High School where he became a state champion gymnast.

He studied economics as an undergraduate and for his PhD (Yale, 1972). For his graduate research he studied how human behaviors can cause departures from the principles of rational economics, a topic that was not well received at the time, but which (as Bruce would wryly note) led to a Nobel Prize for some later researchers.

Terry Light, Frank Shorter Win Lifetime Leadership Awards

Terry Light, Frank Shorter Win Lifetime Leadership Awards

We all know we were born at the right time — our music was the greatest of the century, our football team was the most exciting since Yale joined the Ivy League, we came of age in an Age of Aquarius and our classmates were truly exceptional.   Yale just confirmed our preeminence by identifying six people for “lifetime leadership awards” — with two of the six from our class!

More original music from Michael and Maureen

More original music from Michael and Maureen

Is anyone else in the class composing and performing original music?   How about all the folks who serenaded us at the 50th — Classmates In Concert: Drost, Zamcheck, Bicknell?    How about all you veterans of those wonderful acapella singing groups we enjoyed in the ’60s?

Michael Folz (who’s recovering from kidney replacement surgery!) and his wife Maureen have mastered a new piece of recording equipment and have created three new songs.  Check ’em out!  And here’s a playlist of all three songs.

Update:  Who is writing a memoir?

Update: Who is writing a memoir?

Update: With the impending Class Colloquium talk by Art Klebanoff, we are 1) issuing a “second call” for those people interested in writing their personal stories (see below), and 2) huddling as a group on a Zoom call on the day before Art’s talk — July 10th. Several people (listed below) have indicated an interest. 

Please click on this Doodle poll to indicate which hours you are available.  On Thursday, July 6, we’ll select the best time and confirm.

ChatGPT on campus: Assessing its effects on college writing — and teaching

ChatGPT on campus: Assessing its effects on college writing — and teaching

from Yale News Yale’s Alfred Guy discusses the potential dangers and opportunities of the AI technology and how educators can utilize it to improve student writing. By Zoe Keller March 3, 2023 Since its public launch in November, the platform ChatGPT has generated a tsunami of news analyses and online discussions about how it and…

Cleveland Morris’s Viva Sicilia Debuts Dec. 2nd

Cleveland Morris’s Viva Sicilia Debuts Dec. 2nd

Viva Sicilia, a series of 30 new paintings from Sicily by Cleveland Morris, will be on display in Cleveland’s studio gallery in Staunton, VA, starting on December 2.

This is the first in a series I’m calling “Second Acts” — reports on a classmates’ journeys from a highly accomplished first act to try something a bit, um, different and challenging.