Jan/Feb 2009

Another new year has arrived. The year 2008 will certainly have a special place in American history books, both for the once-unthinkable presidential election of a man with roots in Kenya, and for the financial and economic calamity which befell America and the world. Two eras ended, and two new ones have begun. “You say goodbye, and I say hello.” And now to our classmates.

Congratulations to our John Yarmuth (D-KY), who won reelection to a second term fairly handily over his opponent from 2006. John was quoted (with pic) in the New York Times on October 2. He was holding forth on the Mother of All Bailouts. He said, in part, “People are following the markets pretty closely.” That was an understatement. Your scribe is waiting to hear about other 1969 Yalies serving in the House or Senate.

Juan Montermoso (montermoso@comcast.net) e-writes: “After teaching on a quarter-to-quarter basis around the Bay Area, I received an annual appointment as an adjunct faculty member at Santa Clara University’s School of Business, teaching in the MBA program. I have also managed to build a marketing and training consultancy practice here in Silicon Valley, which has led to engagements in Raleigh, Seattle, Graz (Austria), and, next year, Osaka. With the recent Wall Street meltdown, I am not sure when I can really retire (and do those of the Boomer Generation really want to?), and I bet some of us are now thinking about helping out with college expenses for our grandkids (of which I have two).”

William Bogaty (bogaty@tkk.att.ne.jp) e-writes: “Watching the U.S. elections unfold from my long-time perch here in Japan reminds me that the Pacific Ocean is a wonderful invention. But politics here have their own remarkable flavor, including three prime ministers in the last 12 months. Other than that sport, advancing years are starting to suggest to me that, everything being equal, not working beats working. But for the time-being the rice bowl keeps getting replenished every month.”

News from dues: Rusty Park (wwpark@bu.edu) writes: “Occasionally I see our classmates Mike Anderson and Dave Raish, both of whom live in the Boston area. This past year the president appointed two Yale grads, both from TD, to six-year terms on the World Bank’s arbitration body (ICSID), which is charged with addressing expropriation claims against foreign countries. One is John Townsend ’68 and the other is me. I look forward to our 40th.” Stephen Billick (stephen@billick.com) writes: “I have been elected president-elect of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.”

Michael Harlow died October 1 in San Jose, California. Classmate Larry Franksprovides this memorial: “Mike had been battling cancer (multiple myeloma, then myelodysplasia) courageously for some years, while maintaining a positive outlook right to the end. Mike graduated in 1975 from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with his first wife, Carol, and then began his professional career—first in Seattle, then overseas, working and living in the Philippines, South Asia, and then Colorado and the Silicon Valley area. As an environment program officer with the World Health Organization’s regional office in Manila, Mike sent a group of specialists into Cambodia after the fall of the Pol Pot regime, who were the first to document the full extent of the horrors visited upon Cambodia and its people by the Khmer Rouge. Together, Michael and Carol had two sons, Jonathan and Nicholas, who now live in Tokyo and Fontainebleau, France, respectively. Two years before he fell ill for the first time, he met and married Nancy Newlin in San Jose; Nancy remained with him through his long struggle with illness.

”A memorial service was held October 26 at the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment in San Jose. There was a gathering of friends and family afterwards at the home Michael shared with Nancy at 1191 Clark Street, San Jose, 95125. Michael’s blog about his odyssey as a myelodysplasia patient can be found at www.heretoawaken.com. His last wish was that more people would consider registering as stem cell donors (information at www.marrow.org). Mike reveled in discovering new ideas and experiences; Yale was and is a great place for doing just that, but Mike kept at it, never settling into complacency but always welcoming the chance to take the path less traveled.“

”With every mistake, we must surely be learning. / Still my guitar gently weaps.”—The Beatles.