Class Notes – Nov/Dec 2019

Martin Hoffmeister, an American architect, died several years ago. Your scribe, in spite of much searching, has not found much about his life. Here is what we have from prabook.com:  Martin was born on August 27, 1942 in Prague, Czechoslovakia to Vaclav Rohlik and Milena (Hoffmeister) Klikova. He came to the United States in 1966. After getting his Yale BA in 1969, he earned a Master of Architecture from Yale in 1972. He did postgraduate work at the University of Chicago in 1984.

Martin was Chief designer for Taisei Corporation, Tokyo, 1973-1975. He was vice president at Perkins & Will, Chicago, 1975-1984. He was vice president of Perez Architects, Denver, 1984-1986. After that he was vice president and director at Brown Burton & Partners, Inc., in Albuquerque, NM. He was also the New Mexico State University Architect. Martin Hoffmeister has been listed as a notable architect by Marquis Who’s Who. His hobbies were history and bicycling.

We know even less about the life of James Perrin Lansing.  Please write me at the email address above if you have any information at all you wish to share.

More positive news: Paul Malamud writes:

“I can’t make it to the reunion, but have many good memories of Yale.   It was a great time for me, due to the fine English, French, and German departments of the era, and the Yale Dramat. For any who may remember me from the late 60s, or are curious about what an English major and French minor can lead to in retirement, I just published a chapbook of translations from Renaissance French and Latin verse, “Horace and the French,” (Kelsay Books). I worked in the civil service here in D.C. for 30 years as a writer and editor, and retired in ’08.”

Another book: David Schwartz writes:

“My autobiographical novel Elsewhere Than Vietnam: A Story of the Sixties is now available on Amazon.  It covers our senior year and my couple of years in the Army as an interrogator for military intelligence.  The story opens in the Davenport dining hall during Coed Week.  It moves from anti-war protests at Yale to the world of resistance within the U.S. military by its own citizen soldiers.  A few members of our class make an appearance.  It also includes some romance with the captivating young woman with whom I have spent the last 50 years, my wife Maryellen.

In August I had the pleasure of a mini-reunion in Asheville with my three roommates, great guys who have done good for the world and are still working in their professions:  John Willingham (business), Dan Tucker (child psychiatry), and Jim Sleeper (journalism).  We continued our lifelong conversation on the porch of the mountain lodge of the Cane River Club, for which John serves as president and steward of preserving its forest land.”

By the time you read this in November, Yale might be closing in on an Ivy football title. Or injuries may have ruined a promising season. In either case your scribe will be at The Game (I stopped counting after 50 of these, but this is clearly a permanent affliction.)  Hope to see you there!