May/Jun 2010

‘Terence Benson ’69 (terrybenson@nyc.rr.com) writes: “Being the TV stage manager for the movie transmissions from the Metropolitan Opera is one of the best gigs I have ever had. Opera is back.” ‘Carl Lazarus ’69 has directed classmates to a new recruiting video for Yale which he and others like a lot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGn3-RW8Ajk. It is a long video, but your scribe thinks it is well worth watching.

Guy Cooper (guy@guymcooper.com) e-wrote to your scribe: “I tracked down an old Saybrugian that you may remember: Tom Hoffman. Like you, he was one of my best friends at the time, but we had not seen each other or spoken in 40 years. Tom is in Boston, where he has always been, lawyering. We have both vowed to attend the 45th.” It’s a deal. Your scribe promises to be there too.

Scott Nelson (snelson.md.74@gmail.com) checks in: “Well, here we are in Boulder, settling in. Jean and I see a fair amount of Ted Snow, who teaches astrophysics at CU. We occasionally dine out with Macon Cowles, who won his city council race. I’m about to set out for Vietnam for a weeklong medical mission, an ENT specialty thing. This is the first time for me, but several of my colleagues have gone many times.”

Doug Connell (hdconnell@wbbinc.com) e-writes: “Kat and I have enjoyed reconnecting with Jim Seymour and his wife Sharon. Hadn’t seen him since our NROTC commissioning on graduation day in 1969. Lots of international banking and investment experience for him after his submarine service days. Lively conversation over a French supper in Washington. I’m looking forward to retirement at the end of June, with a new home in the mountains southwest of Charlottesville. Trout streams, golf courses, and the ever-elusive Big Picture will be the focus after the past 13 years in the defense consulting business with Whitney, Bradley & Brown in Washington.”

Henry Fuller (henryweldfuller@gmail.com) e-writes from Halifax: “Tomorrow I have a hernia repaired in day surgery. I will not see a medical bill. I am glad I followed my instincts in migrating to Canada, especially when my Yale roommate, David Smith, died with no health insurance and other classmates I have spoken with are worried about having sufficient funds to retire on and pay future medical bill and health care needs as father time slips its noose around our longevity. Two classmates I know have been diagnosed with prostate cancer recently.” Henry has taken the Canadian option; most of us, for better or worse, will end up in Medicare. America is now in the throes of attempting, or not, health care reform. We graybeards are in the thick of it, as providers, patients, policymakers, and opinion leaders. No matter how the system changes (if at all), it is still good advice to get regular exercise, eat healthy food (but not too much), cultivate true friendships, and, as Grace Slick used to say, find somebody to love.

John O’Leary e-writes: “I’m still enjoying bachelorhood in glorious Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, while working on my book, Cool Teams! Business Lessons From Rock, in which I draw heavily from my two careers—rock ’n’ roll and management consulting. (My rock career began in my sophomore year at Yale when I joined the campus psych-folk-rock band, the Morning—which boasted the best light show this side of Haight Ashbury.) In the coming months I intend to offer a beta version of the book for free on my website (http://BusinessLessonsFromRock.blogspot.com), collect feedback, and then formally publish the revised final.”

Steve Bemis (stbemis@charter.net) recorded on reel-to-reel tape Kingman Brewster, in Trumbull’s dining room, on November 14, 1968, announcing and then defending his coeducation decision that the trustees and faculty had just approved following the populist groundswell of Coeducation Week. “The original tape and CD copies which I made have now been given to Yale, along with most of the copyright release materials which they appear to require. Once the library’s processing of the materials is complete, they promise it will be available for study.” Avi Soifer and Lou Heifetz can also be heard on the tape.

We have lost another classmate. Michael J. Blake died on February 11 at his home. He was a Latin American studies major at Yale, and a resident of Pierson. He was active with the Yale Banner. After Yale, Michael got his law degree from Tufts, and served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, receiving the Bronze Star. He spent his career in banking, retiring from Bank of America in 2002. He and his wife Gwenn Therrien traveled extensively throughout Latin America. That’s all I have on Michael.

“For age is opportunity no less / Than youth itself, though in another dress, / And as the evening twilight fades away / The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.”—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow