Sep/Oct 2006

Bob (Moose) Pollack (rwpollack@earthlink.net) writes: “In 1997 I walked away from all aspects of medicine and began an interesting journey that took me through technology (developing and CEO-ing), through consulting, and into the world of mergers and acquisitions. (Details can be made available and boredom will be rewarded with dinner.) I am now a tenured partner and executive vice president of Mirabilis Ventures. I oversee all new potential acquisitions (of which there were 70 over the past 14 months) and investments. I also serve as a ‘Jedi Knight’ responding to potential problems on or off site. It is a different world from what I knew and not what I had imagined when I left Blair and sought out higher education for a career in healthcare. It is fun and exciting. Our goal is 3,000 offices around the world by 2012. We have 38 now and we are in several countries. It’s a start. Look forward to seeing any of you in Florida and more of you for the next big reunion. Best to all and thanks to my classmates for what I learned from you all.”

Andy White (awhite@whiteo.com) finally checks back in: “After failing to contribute to our class notes for decades, I am somewhat embarrassed that it took the admission of my son Jeffrey to the Yale Class of 2009 to get me off my duff. Helping a child move in as a Yale freshman, of course, brought back a flood of memories from the Old Campus, Payne Whitney, Sterling Memorial, Commons, the Yankee Doodle, and even Mory’s. In addition to reconnecting with old New Haven haunts, I have also recently reconnected with two fellows who shared our floor in Vanderbilt Hall in 1965-1966, Chuck Hobbsand Jim Amoss. Chuck Hobbs is now a surgeon living in Wilmington, Delaware, and two of his sons, Bryan and Jeff (who are also both Yale grads), recently relocated from New York to Los Angeles. As a result of their relocation, we have had the joy of several visits with Chuck and his wonderful wife Sandy over the past three years. Jim Amoss, now editor of New Orleans’s legendary Times-Picayune newspaper, spoke recently at a legal conference (which was sponsored, in part, by my law firm). Jim captivated the audience with eyewitness accounts about life on the ground — and in the water — during Hurricane Katrina.

“My own life in recent years has been dominated by building a new law firm which focuses on media, entertainment, and First Amendment lawsuits, and by building a new house, which we finally finished in 2002. This new house was originally intended to house our five children but now has lots of empty bedrooms as the kids depart for college. In addition to our son, who just started at Yale, we have a daughter (Jenny, age 23) who recently graduated from Scripps College and a son (Jonathan, age 21) who is now a junior at Stanford. We still have our two youngest kids at home — Joelle and Juliana, ages 13 and 14 — and our oldest has returned (temporarily, we hope!) while she figures out her life after college. My wife, Elisa Newman, continues her medical practice in child psychiatry and pediatrics, after overcoming an absolutely horrific bout with stage-3 breast cancer starting in 2003; fortunately, she is now doing fine and feeling great.

“Life is full, life is good; Yale definitely helped prepare me for all of it!”

Mike Golden (goldenm@gyglaw.com) writes: “The arrival of my alumni magazine and my impending empty nest prompt this note. I continue the general practice of law in my own firm, Gould Yaffe and Golden, in Philadelphia. With two children in college, I cannot begin to consider retirement. My wife, Shelley Green, continues her career in education law as the general counsel of the National Board of Medical Examiners. Son Jonathan (Wesleyan ’08) is captain of the squash team and treasurer of the student assembly. Daughter Leslie was captain of her undefeated state championship tennis team and is a proud member of the Yale class of 2010.”

Oversight: Dick Williams’s e-mail address is Richard.Williams2@gnf.com.

Obituary catch-up: John Wyatt Starr passed away December 16, 2003, in Taipei, Taiwan, of a heart attack. He left wife Christy and children Carli and Lauren. “Though only 57 at the time of his unexpected death, he led a life full of adventure, love, and laughter, and for that he will be remembered.” — from ObituaryRegistry.com.

More “lost” (55 total) classmates: Daniel Brinsmade, Robert Cleaveland, Felix Downes-Thomas, T. Angus Ferguson. Any information is welcome.

“But at my back I always hear / Time’s winged chariot hurrying near; / And yonder all before us lie / Deserts of vast eternity.” — Andrew Marvell