Dec 1999

Hello, everyone. You seem to be awakening from summer comas, as information is trickling in from classmates. Maybe it has something to do with the Bulldogs’ excellent 5-1 start, or the soccer victory over then top-ranked Indiana, but I am glad to hear from you.

First, for those who have been losing sleep over the future of my predecessor Mr.Bogaty, who is caught in the Mobil-Exxon mega-merger, I have learned that he will become CFO of Exxon-Japan and will relocate from Washington, DC, to Tokyo in a few months. As some of you may be aware, William lived there for several years, and I’m sure the Japanese have missed him. We will pass along news from the Pacific Rim as he sends it.

Claes Nilsson checked in from Falmouth, Maine, where he and his second wife, Kathy, have taken up residence. Claes is director of the oncology program at Mercy Hospital in Portland. “One of the first people to welcome me,” Claes wrote, “was the HonorableJohn O’Leary, currently the U.S. Ambassador to Chile. He reminded me of our days on the Yale varsity debate team when lux et veritas seemed to count for more than it does now. I have also been in touch with Lee Goldman, chief of medicine and associate dean at UCSF-Stanford. His biggest recent achievement was parring the first three holes at Olympic CC in San Francisco, apparently from the same tees as those used in the U.S. Open!” (Okay, but what about the first three at Yale?) Claes reports that his offspring are “struggling into their third decade.” Son Carl graduated from Johns Hopkins and is a labor organizer for the AFL-CIO (a prospective Bush supporter, no doubt); Matt is studying chemical engineering and playing lacrosse at MIT; daughter Siri is applying early decision to Amherst after what he describes as a discouraging interview at Yale; and youngest son John is playing the violin and travel soccer in Falmouth, “as well as amassing a fortune in Pokemon cards.” Thanks for the update, Claes.

Rob Shlachter sent the following report on the early-October mini-reunion he organized in Oregon: “Thirty class members, spouses, and kids gathered October 8-10 for a mini-reunion in the spectacular Columbia Gorge, near Portland, Oregon. Dinners, golf, a lively mid-course correction discussion (a la the 30th Reunion in New Haven), a tour of the Gorge area, and old fashioned ”hanging out“ characterized the weekend. Attendees: Tom and Sarah Fuller (Portland), John and Kathy Gazzoli (St. Louis), Jimand Kendra Golden (wanderers, looking for a new locale to settle in), Richard and Susan Gustafson (Portland), Len Hill and Ann Daniel (LA), Terry and Holly Light(Chicago), Paul and Barb Lozier (New Jersey), Mike and Diane Medved (Seattle), Rob and Mara Shlachter (Portland, and the organizers of the weekend), Art Segal (San Luis Obispo), Dick and Donna Treffers (Alamo, California), and Tom Wood and Melet Whinston (Seattle). Everyone enjoyed the comfortable Skamania Lodge, situated on the Columbia River, close to famous Multnomah Falls. It may sound quaint, but most left the weekend expressing a desire to reconnect and have more reunions or other informal get-togethers. See you in New Orleans in April!”

(In case you don’t get the last line, here’s the deal, courtesy of John Gazzoli): Arrangements have been made for Yale ’69’s mid-south reunion at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on April 28-30, 2000! We have a block of 25 rooms reserved at the Le Meridien Hotel on Canal Street in New Orleans. Rates are $165/night and up for suites/deluxe rooms. After reading all of the e-mail messages earlier this year about music concerts at Yale, one will conclude that our class is hungering for such a gathering. Our classmate Jim Amoss (who publishes the New Orleans Times-Picayune)and I will be drawing up suitable arrangements for a most entertaining (and cost-effective) weekend. The New Orleans Jazzfest is far and away the largest and best annual music and cultural festival in the country. New Orleans’ weather in late April will be spectacular. The food, drinks and [insert your other interests here] are guaranteed to be excellent. In addition, Jim and I make the following commitments: 1) No fundraising for Yale will be allowed; and 2) There will be no meetings or discussions on “mid-life corrections.”

Look for a mail announcement later this year. Reply to this e-mail if you’d like me to hold your name on the preliminary list of those with more than passing interest. That’s all for now. Until next time: Beat Harvard and especially Princeton!