CLASS NOTES

But we were blessed with the whole family for a wonderful Christmas together. Consequently, I haven’t done my job. I have not heard from Jean Milholland Shriver but assume everything is OK as I have not heard otherwise. I did get a very full holiday letter from Wendy McAneny Bradburn who is well and lives with her husband Norman in a retirement community in Arlington, Va.

1940

Phyllis Vandewater Clement pvanclement@gmail.com

I am looking forward to my 100th birthday on May 2 with many friends whom I enjoy. I am lucky enough to have three interesting and attentive children, and one good friend from Miss Fine’s school who graduated with me in 1940. Peggy Munro Griffin is delightful and we enjoy our phone calls between Sonoma County California and Cape Cod Mass. Peggy will soon be celebrating her 101st birthday.

1949

Lucy Law Webster lucylawwebster@gmail.com

1950

Donata Coletti Mechem doe@mechem.org

A VERY busy holiday season with seven or eight family members staying with us for two weeks, and one staying for an additional month for health reasons — got us behind on everything.

1953

Hope Thompson Kerr Sporthope33@gmail.com

Mary Butler Nickerson wrote: “After I retired from the Noble and Greenough School library in 2000, I started tutoring first graders in the Boston Public Schools. These were kids who were having trouble learning to read, and most of them were not born in the U.S. It was huge fun. All they really needed was attention and games dreamed up to help with whatever puzzled them. I did that for 16 years until my husband’s declining health required more of my time. But before that decline, he and I traveled in Europe every spring and every fall. Wonderful.

“Although I’m a staunch feminist, I enjoy a bunch of domestic skills. I’ve made a whole lot of quilts, both traditional and modern. I like to cook, and I do a lot of cookie baking for various groups. I read, oh boy, do I read. Every June our family has a reunion on the Cape, about 16 of us, and I try to keep up with them during the rest of the year. I work in our church’s food pantry every week and I exercise every day. That about does it.”

I spoke with Anne Carples Denny. She and her husband are living in a senior place. Her husband, Collins, has health issues, so Anne spends a couple of hours a day with him.

I called Ellen Kerney, as well. She is mostly housebound as she is in a wheelchair, so she doesn’t get out very much. Her brother is staying with her to help. She’d enjoy hearing from any of you.

My life has changed as I now live with my twin sister, Hilary Thompson Kenyon. I left N.J. in mid-March 2019 after both of our husbands had passed away. I have moved in with her in a senior living home — a wonderful huge one here in Bend, Ore. She’s been living here since it was built 20 years ago. She has a cottage; I have the bottom floor and she is on the first floor. Very nice. Her daughter lives nearby. We both still enjoy being outside — we play lots of pickleball, golf, take wonderful hikes... No more trips for us — we have been to 66 countries but with the world going through troubles and at our age it’s best we stay here and enjoy Oregon. My two daughters and their families have moved to Dallas, Texas. We’re fine. If any of you ever come to the West Coast let us know and come for a visit. My email is sporthope33@gmail.com. Would love to hear from everyone.

1955

L. Chloe King lchloek@comcast.net

Jo Cornforth Coke wrote: “In my infinite wisdom at the age of 85, I decided to get a puppy! A beautiful Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, he is intelligent and determined…. and so it is necessary that I be more so! In my spare time, I work with the League of Women Voters, AARP, our orchestral board, Rotary, our antiques museum and the annual Mayor’s Council for Women Conference for which I was privileged to host two Ukrainian women for four days: quite an experience. But the dog comes first!!!”

Jean Crawford wrote: “I am anticipating a week in June with my family on a Downeast island. The excuse is my 85th; daughter Karen’s 60th; son-in-law Michael’s 60th; granddaughter Annie’s 25th and grandson Nolan’s 20th.” all summer and visit during the ‘off-season;’ I try to meditate conscientiously.”

Alice Marie Nelson wrote: “I have been asked to participate in an extended learning program run by the University of Binghamton. It’s their Lyceum program and consists of a two hour Zoom presentation, in my case the subject will be ‘Portrait of a Career in Opera.’ It will be recorded for posterity and will be available on YouTube in the future. I’m busy gathering photographs, programs, videos, and recordings to create the portraits. It’s a lot of work but a real ‘trip down memory lane’ and will be fun to do once I get organized. Other than that, life goes on with its ups and downs. Ann and I have heard some wonderful operatic and symphonic performances this season and are looking at some more to come. I mean, why live in New York if you don’t take advantage of its cultural riches?”

Laura Travers Pardee, wrote: “No special news from Florida. Fortunately, we continue to stay very healthy and active in a variety of ways.”

Joan Kennan joankennan@gmail.com

Terri Beck Morse wrote: “Despite horrific and confusing world news, every day brings with it some surprise and delight of still being able, at such unexpected antiquity, to find a great many joys. Having children and grandchildren, nearby in-laws, and ‘chosen family’ friends, and attempting to keep up with their pursuits in science, the arts and adventures is daunting, but exciting. I am still working on our Hungarian family saga and finishing the project to prepare it for donation to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I still love to read, paint, knit and felt. The wonderful Afghan family upstairs is doing remarkably well! Their escape from certain disaster (all connected to the UN in various ways) puts our lives here in perspective.”

Lucy Busselle Myers wrote: “I am so looking forward to seeing Chloe and Barb at our gathering on March 24. Otherwise…. I continue teaching my writing workshops, including my favorite one at a women’s prison; I swim my laps three times a week; I walk our darling cockatoos; I check on my children and grandchildren on the Vineyard, where I own a little house that I rent

L. Chloe King: At last, the right shoulder is well healed!!! Not ready to pitch for the Red Sox yet, although the team could use a strong right arm! I am writing from North Hill in Needham simply because we are not on Anna Maria Island, Fla., this winter for a variety of reasons. As I write this, snow is falling beautifully! It’s the first snowfall of the winter. I love it! I am busy doing a variety of things here, and thoroughly enjoy living in this very special place! I, too, am looking forward to seeing Lucy and Barb next month! Thanks to everyone who sent news…. still missing news from a few classmates. Maybe next time. Hugs to all!

1956

Charlotte Cook ccook@csus.edu

1957

Rosalind Webster Perry rosperry@impulse.net

With sadness, we send condolences to the family and friends of classmate Nancy Hagen Spaulding, who passed away last November. After attending Miss Fine’s until ninth grade, she graduated from Penn Hall School, Pine Manor College and the University of Idaho, with a bachelor’s in education. Nancy lived in Hawaii from 1962 to 1983, where she married Vernon Spaulding and raised their two sons, Lance and Peter. Nancy had creative energy and flair in all she did and was well-known in Hawaii for her needlework shop. Nancy and Vern relocated to Northern California for their work in the 1980s, and eventually retired in Windsor, Colo. For many years, Nancy’s job recruiting prospective students for colleges took her all over the country. She never failed to visit classmates while on her travels and I was always delighted to see her when she came to Southern California. She had a cheerful, upbeat personality and a real talent for connecting people.

Alissa Kramer Sutphin saw Nancy often when she was in the Princeton area. Alissa emailed me: “I was so sorry to learn of Nancy’s recent death. She was such a constructive, positive person and a good friend. In the years she worked recruiting students for Pine Manor College, she would visit us here in Princeton. Also, we were fortunate to see her when she visited one of her nieces in Hopewell. Those get-togethers were wonderful and had a special sparkle of enthusiasm. She always inquired about our other classmates with warmth and caring. How lucky we all are to have had her part of our lives.”

Susie Smith Baldwin told me that during her time as class secretary she loved talking with Nancy, who was always so “joyful and filled with gratitude, especially for husband, Vern, and their two sons.” Susie mentioned how caring, kind and exuberant she was. “Nancy loved connecting people — whether in her jobs or among friends. What a joy it was getting to know Nancy better. Nancy’s loving care of Vernon through years of his serious health challenges was later matched when their sons returned home to support Nancy during times of ill health.”

Anne Gildar Kaufman said she has wonderful memories of spending Friday afternoons with Nancy, a “lovely young lady.” Anne added that she is very happy to be living in an independent senior community, Lantern Hill, in New Providence, N.J., near two of her children. “It was such a wonderful decision. There are so many activities to choose from, one can be busy all the time. I’m really enjoying the book group and trips to museums and concerts!”

Nancy Miller is also enjoying her senior community. “I am volunteering at Newtown Friends School, which is right next to Pennswood, my CCRC. I spend an hour in the kindergarten once a week and I love it. Things are really opening up here, so there are many activities and committees available. I really like it very much — a big change from living in one’s own house, but at this time of life, a good one. I remember Nancy Hagen as always friendly and kind. She was the only other Nancy that I knew growing up. Here, there are quite a few of us!”

Bonnie Campbell sent an update from Denver: “I managed to avoid COVID, but I feel the aftereffects have had a profound undesirable effect on society. I still hike but have yet to go skiing or snowshoeing this winter. We’ve had so much snow in the mountains that I long to get up there, but weather conditions have been a deterrent. My sister, Sally Campbell Haas ’63, also lives in Denver and together we get back to Cape Cod for visits every year. Besides enjoying the outdoors here, I try to take in cultural offerings and continue to work tax season for the AARP tax program.”

1958

Nancy Hudler Keuffel acornnhk@aol.com

1959

Ann Kinczel Clapp AnnClapp@hotmail.com

I am sorry to report that Dana Conroy Aymond and Nan Nicholes Goodrich both lost everything in their homes in Sanibel Island, Fla. Dana is selling her home in Michigan and probably moving into a retirement home in Florida with her Mountain Man. Nan said she will rebuild.

Lucy James, Susie Stevenson Badder, Judy Levin, Cecilia Aall Mathews, Abby Pollak and her partner, Helen, ate, drank and laughed a lot at a mini reunion in the fall at my house in Manasquan.

Judy Levin and Lucy James took a Viking cruise together in the fall and are still speaking!

Just before Valentine’s Day, Judy Levin, Lucy James, Susie Stevenson Badder and I attended a DOG WEDDING, a fun fundraiser for a Baltimore shelter. The human bridesmaids carried KITTENS in lieu of flowers. The next day the four of us drove to New Rochelle, N.Y., to visit Jennifer Dunning who is so happy to have moved recently into a nursing home there. Jennifer is just as attractive and interesting as ever!

1960

Penelope Hart Bragonier Pbragon@gmail.com

1961

Mahala “Polly” Busselle Bishop mahalabishop@yahoo.com Julia Cornforth Holofcener holofcenerltd@comcast.net

Sheila Long reported: “The highlight of the past year was a two-week trip to Italy in September. I am still working on learning Italian, and have just found a new tutor online, with whom I hope to improve my ability to converse.”

Fiona Morgan Fein wrote: “I have been sooooo happy to participate in the new normal performing arts life in NYC — especially the music. The New York String Orchestra Seminar, with which I have been associated since 1976(!), and which optimistically reconvened in December 2021 only to be canceled halfway through due to COVID, had its full ten days of orchestra rehearsals and chamber music coaching sessions and performed twice at Carnegie, as usual, which was a joy for all concerned. I continue to serve with pleasure on the board at Wells College as the nation tries to figure out where it stands on higher education — don’t get me started. I hope we are all demonstrating and supporting, each in our own way, the value of a liberal arts education. Happily, the message is loud and clear at PDS. I traveled to San Diego in October to see a dear college friend — no hitches, no contagion, phew. I’d forgotten what a fabulous city it is. And finally, I continue to marvel at the strength and longevity of our MFS connections over the years. How lucky we are!”

Lucia Norton Woodruff sent: “I was grateful to have heat and lose only a few branches during the recent Austin ice storm. Paul and I had all of September in Maine seeing friends, family and fall color. I was able to play quartets with the group I used to work with three times a year until the pandemic, a real treat. The really dramatic thing was flying by private jet to get to Maine, expensive but the only safe way to get there with Paul’s endangered lungs. Spoiled for life!”

Cynthia Weinrich wrote: “I had a good summer mostly out of the city, but unfortunately tripped over a misplaced Amazon box in my building lobby in mid-September. Miraculously no bones broke in my full-frontal splat onto the granite floor, but I did do serious damage to my right rotator cuffs. So... decided on surgery, since it is my hopeful intention to stay active for at least the next 10 years(!) Tibby was one of my ‘angel’ friends who came down to spend a few days with me after my mid-November surgery. All seems to have gone well so far, and have now started helpful PT, and am back playing Sunday services. Unfortunately, it interrupted my intentions of submitting some of my writing to possible outlets before the end of 2022, so I’ve had to accept setting a newer time plan (with some interior grumping and grinding of teeth). But, as I say, it could have been much worse, and at least I have a physically quieter wintertime to get fit to enjoy a hopefully more normally active ‘outdoor season.’ And considering all the things that some of my friends have had to deal with this past year, I’m still a very lucky person.”

Nancy Smoyer reported: “My life in Fairbanks continues with many activities interspersed with trips to the Lower 48 and overseas. This past year I went to Portland, Ore., to see my niece and tulips in May; Marion, Mass., in July to see family; Tampa for a great Vietnam Helicopter Pilots reunion; Dartmouth’s 55th reunion of Billy’s class; Williamsburg where I visited with Joan; the Wall in November for Veterans Day. And then my January get-out-of-winter trip this year was five weeks in New Zealand (three weeks with OAT and two on my own) and five days in Fiji. Coming up in May is our MFS reunion and back to DC.”

Joan Yeaton Seamon wrote: “Our calendar mostly revolves around the three kids, the six grandchildren and two great-grands from Italy to Texas to Philadelphia to Arlington, Va.,... and soon California. Plus, my brother’s family in Ireland and London. All such a gift! The grandkids’ sports and special events, especially, take us traveling.”

Cherry Raymond wrote: “I wander discomforted through an eerie un-winter. Except for a single killer blast from the Arctic, it has mostly seemed like March. The plants and trees, birds and beasts are likely confused, too. Last week I began meeting with a book midwife — yes, that is the scope of my unreasonable optimism. I speak French in the mornings, stay up late on YouTube, visit now and again with neighbors Trudi and Tibby and eagerly await our May reunion in beloved Princeton. I have the Connecticut Valley’s resources still to explore in terms of social connections — the process got postponed by my arrival here in the 2020 peak of COVID.

“I have grown aggrievedly accustomed to the progress of the Sixth Mass Extinction. Recently news came that each irreversible climate ‘marker’ has been occurring right on schedule, as predicted in a 1972 climate study by MIT. It goes on to predict the collapse of civilization around 2042. The brain body simply cannot capacitate this or the process. A real End Time?

“So, we live wall-eyed, split. One eye tends the ‘normals’ of daily life, assuming that the future will simply continue the present as we know it. The other eye scopes out the proliferating momenta of global changes, gathering evidence of human and natural systems failing. We’re all variously doing this, in fits and starts, waves, and blows, as we learn activism or surrender, as we learn to grieve and, perhaps, to love ever more deeply.”

Julia Cornforth Holofcener: I have been very busy the last few months. I returned to West Palm Beach from London in September to pack and put my condo up for sale. I almost killed my sister, as she accompanied me and ended up packing all of Larry’s bronze sculptures, which were stored in a rental unit, as well as all of his paintings which were in another unit. I said good-bye to West Palm and traveled with the moving truck to another rental unit near my daughter, Laurie’s, home near Richmond, Va. Then on to my lakeside apartment in Drums, Pa., next to my other daughter, Liz’s, home to deposit the paintings and belongings. It was a full day! I then drove back to Virginia for my grandson’s graduation from Old Dominion University. Thanksgiving and Christmas were spent traveling between New Jersey and Virginia in order to spend time with family. I now have two greatgrandchildren, a boy and a girl.

Professionally, I organized in London a reading of “Alliance” with Simon Callow, a well-known English actor playing Churchill. The response from the audience was very positive. This has been a six-year project, and I’m sure it will be another year before the wider public gets to view it. Turning 80 in May, and I can’t wait to be able to say, “I’m 80” and look at the reaction. If I smile a lot, the wrinkles don’t show as much!

1962

Linda Maxwell Stefanelli linda.stefanelli@gmail.com

Many thanks to retiring class correspondent Susie Shea McPherson for doing such a great job of keeping us all connected for the last 10 years. That’s a lot of emails and news; we appreciate her efforts on our behalf.

It was great to hear from Paige Aaron who gets the prize for being the first classmate to reply to my first official plea for news. She said, “Life is good here in Maryland. I live on a wonderful 60-acre farm with my family nearby. I am hoping to volunteer with hospice in the near future.”

Last summer, Kate Sayen Kirkland returned to Princeton for a family celebration, and I got her over to our house for lunch. We spent a fun afternoon paging through old Links, reminiscing and catching up. Unfortunately, she called soon after with the news she’d tested positive for COVID. Tony and I weren’t affected at all and she had only mild symptoms and recovered quickly. (I held out until last December when I had a mild case after a trip to Florida. Tony, again, slipped through unscathed.) Tassie Turkevich Skvir and Dan h’73 were unable to come for lunch with Kate but are enjoying their new neighborhood just down the road from us in Pennington — quite the change after being on Rollingmead for so many years.

I was in touch with Cindy Brown after Hurricane Ian hit the west coast of Florida back in October, causing terrible destruction in Sarasota County. Thankfully, she wasn’t affected too much and even managed to deliver food to a neighborhood in East Fort Myers that had suffered extensive damage. She wrote of the aftermath, “It took months for crews from all over to get the (repair) work done. Now it seems every other undamaged house is getting reroofed, (many) due to insurance issues. It is a cacophony!”

Tony and I are planning a trip to the east coast of Florida in March to get warm and to visit our daughter, Debbie, who spends half the year near the equestrian community of Wellington, and to see our 32-year-old(!) granddaughter, Hayley, who lives in Deerfield Beach full-time.

The next class notes won’t be due for about five months, which is plenty of time to do something newsworthy and pick out some photos that would make the column come alive. We’d really love to hear from you, even if it’s just to say hi. In the meantime, happy spring!

1963

Virginia Elmer Stafford vesalb@aol.com

The big news for our class is our upcoming 60th reunion!! I know, hard to believe!! It has been great communicating with many of you about plans. A couple of classmates have sent regrets that they cannot attend along with hopes of enjoying some posts or perhaps a Zoom.

Turid Helland regrets that she doesn’t think she can make the trip abroad but remembers that the year spent at MFS with Sally Campbell Haas and her family was in many ways groundbreaking for her. She shared the memory of thinking that when asked “How are you?” that she looked sick, and how much her English improved that year!! She is mostly retired but “can’t let go” so continues to be involved in some language and dyslexia research. She spends much time with family, grandchildren, and friends, and enjoys some hiking trips in the mountains. She regrets that “times are not good world-wide” but hopes that change will come soon.

Kleia Raubitschek Luckner regrets that she won’t make it to the reunion due to some painful mobility issues. She is busy with PT and water aerobics to regain mobility and become “surefooted with no falls.” She keeps busy enjoying her three grandchildren and wonderful memories of her family, Princeton, MFS, Georgetown, Yale, her fabulous life with her husband, Kurt, in the museum world and her work improving care and services for pregnant women.

Andy Updike Burt wrote that several months ago a friend asked if she had ever had a sabbatical….a break from community organizing and social activism. So, this winter she and Stephen escaped the icy roads of Midcoast Maine and spent two months with their youngest son and family on the Big Island of Hawaii, where they farm, teach school and create beautiful metal art. Andy took up needlepoint, doing some pastels, and sitting on beautiful beaches in the company of humpback whales who are also on their annual winter visit to calve and frolic. She returned to Maine in early March to resume advocating for an environmental rights amendment and tribal sovereignty.

Laurie Rogers wrote that after a two-year postponement due to COVID she and Bob finally did a tour of London, Paris, Rome and Madrid with a great tour director. She is glad that the trip accomplished what she had hoped in introducing Bob to each city and giving him an idea of where their next vacation should be. She also wrote that they have made regular trips to Boothbay, Maine, to see friends, a trip to see a great-niece graduate with a degree in architecture from University of Virginia and trips to Pennsylvania for a shower and Bob’s grandson’s wedding. They also enjoyed a summer of sailing both for pleasure and racing. She regrets that the end-of-year festivities were somewhat overshadowed by the decline and death of her brother-in-law, Bob Stokes, who was a remarkable writer and journalist.

Polly Miller wrote that her “most fun” news was playing her grandmother, Marian Longstreth Thayer, in the musical “Titanic” on Nantucket. They rented costumes for N.Y. and had the best show ever for their company, On the Isle Productions. Her highlight after COVID was to get two mini-Nubian goats, which love to snuggle, are very expressive and go for walks into town on halters and leads. She did fall chasing one in December and broke her perfectly good hip (no arthritis or bone loss), but she is recovering nicely, although not dancing for a while. They have a grandchild studying environmental law at Tulane, one at Princeton, one at Dartmouth, one still deciding and the youngest at Middlesex prep school. COVID hit most of her family but not Polly. She and Nick are enjoying life. Polly sees Sharon Stevenson Griffith and her sisters and talks to Sally Campbell Haas from time to time. She is trying to get together with Wylie O’Hara Doughty whom she misses as they shared a lot growing up. She looks forward to the reunion and can’t believe how time has flown. She has fond memories of a band with Jane, Sharon, KK, Ellen and her gut bucket, but does NOT miss the old math teacher or going in front of Miss Fine a lot!

Bonnie Grad Levy is looking forward to the reunion and says she majored in English because of Mrs. Smith. I am sure many of us were inspired by some of the amazing teachers at MFS. I still remember enjoying Latin class with Kleia’s parents and felt so honored to have them there.”

Cyndy Bull Tyler wrote that she is off soon to a Christian Science conference in France, then to Canada for a memorial event for her brother and finally to NYC where she will give an all-day talk to a group of Christian Scientists. She is also an “involved” grandmother of six ranging in age from 4-18!!

Sharon Stevenson Griffith sent along her Valentine’s letter, which included a lot of fun family news about children and grandchildren. She and Chuck wintered in Vero Beach and took trips to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State (instead of Nantucket) and a big trip to London, Norway and Finland.

Virginia Elmer Stafford: I continue to enjoy working from my living room with a view of the Puget Sound and wonderful visits with grandkids and friends exploring this new part of the world. I bought my first boat this summer and enjoyed sunny days exploring the beauty of all the many inlets. I am very much looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in May at our 60th!!

1964

Barbara Rose barbarabrose@me.com

1965

Margaret Woodbridge Dennis hotyakker@gmail.com

We try to do more traveling before we get too old to indulge. A Viking River cruise in September down the Rhone with Bob’s brother and sisterin-law; our annual October leaf peeper house party with friends in Vermont; and Christmas this year in Yellowstone National Park. Except for too many meetings still by Zoom, life is pretty much back to normal. My big hooray: I finally finished writing the book I started years ago: “The Bride’s Tears: The Rochesters of Spanish Town.” It’s now with a professional editor, and I look forward to publication. My big, new challenge: singing tenor (I was a soprano all my life) in Encore Rocks, our senior rock and roll chorus. The hardest part is training my eyes to go to the lower part of the stave, and not migrating to the tunes with the sopranos.

Merethe Lange-Nielsen Ytterstad wrote that “Norway is doing fine after the pandemic in spite of higher costs for electricity, petrol, and food. The tourists are back, two to three buses from Hurtigruten every morning. I guide twice a week to Sortland, mainly French and English. Børge is still very active and plays piano weekly for retired people at our public library. This is very popular. Our son, Petter, is organizing a big concert at our cultural house to celebrate Børge’s 80th birthday on April 15th. We had one fine month recently in the Canaries, great to get away from snow and ice, especially the latter. We hate climate change; snow and rain every-other day and stormy weather.”

Barbara Putnam wrote: Last summer, our daughter, Emma, asked her dad, who was a justice of the peace, to marry her to her long-time boyfriend, Jesse Rizutko. She knew his cancer was advancing and that we didn’t have much time. With ten days’ notice, we had a tiny wedding in our backyard in Litchfield, Conn., with just the parents and the newlyweds in attendance. In September, Bob Berson, who I married in 1981, ten years after we met, died of bile cancer at home in the house we built together. I’m adjusting to being a widow. The most healing thing I have done, after planning his funeral, is poetry. Sonnets keep popping up, and I write them down. I’ve been advised not to make big decisions the first year, so I’m making lots of little ones: rearranging the drawers in the kitchen and giving away his clothes. Much of my time and energy since then has gone into dealing with what he left behind. I continue to serve as registrar of voters for our town, but I have withdrawn from the Democratic Town Committee. Spending time with friends and family is a higher priority at this phase of life.”

1943

Peter Erdman perdman700@comcast.net

1948

John Wallace njnb1@aol.com

1950

Michael Erdman mperdman57@gmail.com

1951

Edwin Metcalf ehmet@comcast.net

1952

Philip Kopper pospress@aol.com

While our number continues to diminish, my classmates continue to exhibit admirable vitality. For this issue I am proud to relay reports from every one of the living and more about the dear departed.

Bucky Shear died after a brief illness, according to Town Topics, the ancient local journal now owned by one of us (see below). Archaeologist and scholar, Bucky’s eighty-five years were lived between two poles, Princeton and Athens. He was born in the Greek capital where his namesake father, T. Leslie Shear Sr., was directing the excavation of the Agora. Bucky grew up here on Library Place, still his home until last September.

After PCD and Lawrenceville, he entered Princeton University and graduated summa cum laude in 1959, then earned a doctorate in classical archaeology. After a short stint at Bryn Mawr, he returned to the university where he spent the rest of his teaching career, retiring in 2009. Like his father, he directed ongoing Agora excavations; he also ran Princeton’s classical archaeology program, which trained generations of classical archaeologists.

Archaeology, for Bucky, was a family business. It was on a dig that he met his late wife, Ione, the daughter of another distinguished archaeologist who herself became an expert in Bronze Age Mycenaean domestic architecture. Their daughter, Julia, is now in turn a senior associate member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Both Julia ’86 and her sister, Alexandra ’89, attended PDS. Bucky’s enduring scholarly contributions include two books, “Kallias of Sphettos and the Revolt of Athens in 286 B.C.” and “Trophies of Victory: Public Building in Periklean Athens.”

Tim Cain’s wife, Judy, admitted to having done all of her husband’s typing since their courtship many decades ago. She reported: “In your 70s, you are the people who ‘go to Florida for the winter.’ And in our 80s, some of us become the people who ‘used to go to Florida for the winter.’” This year they lucked out in Upstate New York, as the dark season was relatively mild “other than a few days of deep freeze,” Tim acknowledged. “I’ve enjoyed a couple of good books, “Horse” by Geraldine Brooks and “After One Hundred Winters” by Margaret D. Jacobs.” In passing he revealed a curious diversion: antique firearms. While COVID limited the Cains’ travel, “we did go to York, Pa., for a Kentucky rifle exhibit and show. It was a good time, and I continue my interest in those rifles.”

Bob Hillier carries on as the majority owner of Town Topics, publisher of Princeton Magazine and proprietor of StudioHillier, the 30-person architecture firm that succeeded his mega shop. Last fall Bob’s wife, Barbara, died, not unexpectedly, at the nursing home where she lived for a couple of years. Bob got word of her passing as he was being rolled onto a gurney to undergo open heart surgery. The procedure was successful and at this writing he continues rehab, as ever the optimist and achiever: “I am doing fine with it; got 102 percent grade for my performance last week.”

In January more than 500 friends, relations and colleagues attended Barbara’s memorial service. Meanwhile, Bob sold the house they shared on the Delaware River and is building a new home on Lake Carnegie. It is a “zero carbon” building heated and cooled by geothermal power, with 2,000 square feet of solar cells on the roof. “I don’t know about you,” Bob wrote, “but I find myself working very hard to get a lot done, because I do realize there is not much time left.”

No slouch at getting things done, John Wellemeyer and his wife, Louise, took their sons to Egypt last winter, visiting the Aswan Dam, the Valley of the Kings and Queens, Luxor and Alexandria. Young Douglas ’18 won his Yale diploma in December, having taken a short break during COVID, and soon starts a job with Blackstone. His twin brother, James ’18, who took a year off for internships in Washington will graduate from Columbia this spring.

Meanwhile, John has signed on for another year as a PDS trustee to assist with the transition from Paul Stellato’s headmastership [is that a word?] to the new regime of Dr. Kelley Nicholson-Flynn. Ergo: Ave Atque Vale and welcome aboard, respectively.

As for me, I could just as well copy my previous reports for this Journal, except that in addition to editing and publishing other people’s books I am now finding time to write something of my own. A novel? A memoir? Stay tuned. Meanwhile, each year a few new titles appear with Posterity Press’s colophon — a sunburst on a marine horizon, the sun either rising or setting. Your choice!

1953

To submit news or volunteer as class secretary, please email classnotes@pds.org.

1954

Fred Blaicher fritzblaicher@yahoo.com

1955

Patrick Rulon-Miller prmiller322@gmail.com

Clark Travers cgt1781@gmail.com

Bob Fernholz sent a portion of what he submitted to the Princeton University Alumni Weekly this past year. An excerpt follows: “By 1940, the center of the mathematical world had moved from Göttingen (Germany) to Princeton (N.J.). The change was brought about, first, by political developments in Germany, and second, by the efforts of Professor Oswald Veblen, a mathematician at Princeton University and later at the Institute for Advanced Study. In the 1930s, Veblen instilled in the university an enlightened attitude toward the accommodation of refugee scholars from Europe and influenced the decision to locate the Institute in Princeton rather than in Newark, where its founders seemed to prefer.

“Oswald Veblen created a synergy between the university and the IAS that continues today to make Princeton a world center for mathematics. To help keep it this way, my wife, Luisa, and I endowed three math professorships: one at the university, one at the institute and one a joint professorship between the two. The joint professorship took a bit of patience, but Luisa and I were in a unique position to establish it since at that time she was the chair of the Princeton Mathematics Department Advisory Council, and I was a trustee of the institute. The joint professorship is currently held by Professor Bhargav Bhatt, a world authority on algebraic geometry, among other things.”

1956

Robert Dorf dorfb@outlook.com

1957

James “Tim” Carey tim_carey@nobles.edu

I want to start by thanking my PCD classmates for being so faithful in replying to my requests for news. And, for the most part, the news is good. We have reached the age of 80, and we remain active in family life and other adventures, walking, writing, traveling, volunteering. So, we rock on into the next decade heading toward our 90s.

I recently corresponded with Harrison (Pony) Fraker whose father’s photograph appeared in a recent Princeton Alumni Weekly. The story focused on Baker Rink, which Pony redesigned a number of years ago, and the history of hockey at the university. The photograph was of his father, Harrison Fraker Sr. in his hockey uniform, taken 1938, the year they won the Ivy League. And you will see below Bob Smyth ’s note about attending a game recently at which there were a number of the Peter Cook Sr. family and, he thinks, Pony himself.

As I usually do, I take what classmates write, edit for the Journal, and let their words speak for themselves.

Staff Keegin: “Since our house was rebuilt from the 2017 fire, we’ve been spending a fair amount of time in Sonoma County (more than just weekends). I’m still doing a lot of chain sawing of charred but wonderfully seasoned firewood. But the interesting thing is we have at least two mountain lions around us sometimes nearby. One has an Audubon Canyon Ranch mountain lion project collar but the other one doesn’t. Must be a newcomer. All three daughters are here (even Hillary and her two boys are here from Angers, France). The other two are living in the East Bay and have three kids among them. I’m still working, but not particularly hard (mostly database content licensing). Hoping to be in good enough shape to be sailing in Maine this summer, but at 80, you never know.”

Joe Wright: No Joe news, which at our advanced age, is almost certainly a good thing. Wife, Betsy, needs a new knee and is scheduled for surgery in Boston in March at MGH. I do three miles a day…but your legs are longer! His response to my saying that I try to do five each day.

Andy Harris: “At our age no news is good news!”

Adam Hochschild: “I continue to write and was particularly pleased in December to have articles published in the Wall Street Journal and the socialist magazine, Jacobin, in the same week — an odd combination! I had a nice lunch with Harrison Fraker a few months ago. Our oldest son, David Hochschild, is in the forefront of fighting climate change as chair of the California State Energy Commission, which controls or regulates a vast array of things to do with energy and is making impressive strides towards generating ever more of it from renewable sources. If our state were a nation, it would have the world’s fifth largest economy, so his work makes a big difference.”

Rob Kuser: “I have now recovered from three cases of COVID during the past nine months. The quarantining was the most bothersome aspect.

“Mary Kay and I had so much fun hiking in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons to celebrate my 80th, that we are now planning to celebrate her 80th hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains. Wonderful to be outdoors in nature.”

Bill Smith: “Still serving on the board of my condominium association in Pompano Beach, Fla. It has been a busy three years for the board — foreclosures, a murder and now a $2.7 million roofing project for the seven townhouse buildings.

“During the COVID epidemic, my wife, Maria, and I spent our time homeschooling grandson, Blake. Maria taught Spanish. I taught ancient history with a focus on the Roman emperors. Teaching Roman history brought back memories of our seventh grade Latin class with Mr. Clark and Mr. Robinson and our green Latin textbook. With the COVID epidemic apparently now over, Maria and I are back to our normal travel schedule. This May, we will be traveling to Ann Arbor to watch grandson, Zach, graduate from University of Michigan. This fall, we expect to travel back to Princeton again to visit friends. Good luck to all of you. Great that we all survived the epidemic.”

Bob Smyth: “In March it will be one year since my ankle replacement surgery. All is well, and I can walk over a mile pain-free. Recently, I watched the Princeton men’s hockey and basketball teams in action. The Tiger hockey team defeated Brown 3-2, coming from behind in the third period. Unfortunately, the next night, it fell to Yale 4-0. In hoops, the team won its first game handily, but disaster struck the next night, as despite leading Yale by 19 points early on, the Tigers lost by 10 in overtime. But the good news is that Princeton qualified for the Ivy League Championship tournament (top four teams), but the seeding will depend on the final weekend’s results. At the Brown hockey game, Baker Rink was a complete sellout with standing room only. Amongst the Baker faithful were John Cook ’56; his wife, Jeanne; brother, Pete ’53; son, Jack ’85; and daughter, Robin ’87. I also think I spotted Pony Fraker in the building. Truly a formidable squad for the Carnegie Pond Hockey League.”

Hugh Wise wrote: “I may be too late to catch the Dinky for its junction with the Journal. Nonetheless, it is always good to hear from you and relive days of yore. I was thinking of skating on Dean Mathey’s pond and losing pucks at the edges.

“We are surviving a cold, snowy winter, but because of a hip replacement, at least I can shovel this year. Adam Hochschild’s “American Midnight” is a masterpiece about a terrible time in America around WWI and features local hero, Woodrow Wilson, who has not only egg on his face, but a full-fledged omelet. I recommend it.”

I, Tim, continue to volunteer at Boston Children’s Hospital and at Nativity Prep, a small Catholic middle school for under-served students of Boston. I also continue to photograph both college and high school sports events, everything from hockey to cross-country to squash. My wife, Mary, and I traveled to Banff last summer with our daughter, Zoe, who will be married this summer. Beautiful place indeed. The hiking? Pretty challenging, but I managed. Just got to do it!

1958

Toby Knox toby@tobyknox.com

David Stewart reported from our nation’s capital that he is still “professing” international law at Georgetown but spending more time yelling about the fools and their antics reported on the nightly news (the class correspondent does the same…). He still has good memories of PCD. Occasionally, he thinks back to those lovely Wednesday afternoons (no school) and he’d ride his bike over to Renwick’s for a burger and fries. He thinks one could add a milkshake and it possibly would come to an extra .50 cents, but he states that was real money back then. He states that the fall was the best, crisp, clear, lovely leaves. Halloween was magical. His memories include hockey on the lake — shoveling snow to make a rink. He said he always worried about doing that on the canal. He wonders if there is much snow now or if the lake ever freezes.

Jobe Stevens dug into his PCD memory bank and offered the following tidbits: “Getting older, as I will be eighty this year, and still can remember Mr. McAneny trying to teach me English. He was better at soccer for me. I liked him very much for both. ‘I Like Ike’ buttons at the school store along with pencils and paper. George Peterson came to school one day with all new clothes. His house in Hopewell had burned up on a cold winter’s night. The Petersons had a great overnight skating party at their ‘Glenmore Farm’ (?). The hockey trip to the Kent School in Connecticut, played on an outdoor rink freezing and frost-bit feet. My mother was one of the volunteer drivers. So many more memories, but since I have always had a short attention span, I will let it go with these. PCD was special in many ways for me.”

Jobe and his wife, Ludie, live in Shelbyville, KY on a small farm where they keep busy with animals and property maintenance. Their eldest daughter, Sarah, teaches students with learning differences at the Lewis School in Princeton. Their son, Ben, is a chef in Park City, Utah, and finds time to ski, etc. Liza, the youngest daughter, lives with Jobe and Ludie and is a vet tech for horses. He sends his best wishes to all.

Emile (Bubby) VanderStucken. One of my memories of Bubby was as the son of our Cub Scout den mother. Why Mrs. VanderStucken signed up for this task is unknown. My career as a Cub Scout was short, but I have memories of Bubby’s mom trying to keep order among the unruly bunch. I expect though that she placed more demands upon Bubby than upon the rest of us. Rest in peace, Bub.

As of this writing, Kathryn and I are on St. Simons Island, Ga., escaping a portion of the Vermont winter weather and playing some golf. As I recall, both Oliver Hamill ’s and Perry Rodgers’ 80th birthdays are in January and came before mine on the 20th. It’s hard to fathom that most of us are, or soon will be, 80. In PCD days, 80 seemed sooo old!

It seems impossible that the days of playing marbles under the trees on Broadmead, piling hockey equipment in the back of a yellow school bus for the short ride to Baker Rink, gobbling down chicken chow mein or chipped beef on toast in the basement lunch room, male students playing female parts on stage in the school plays (why no MFS students?), navy blue blazers with the round white and blue PCD patch with white pants for graduation and, of course, Wednesday afternoon “pink slips” for some of us less academically gifted all took place sixtyfive or more years ago. Best wishes to all fellow classmates and PCD friends.

1959

Stephen Cook stevecook566@gmail.com

1960

Karl “Pepper” Pettit karl.pettit@comcast.net

1961

Peter Raymond peterh.raymond@protonmail.com

Every class needs at least one member who can’t bear not knowing a thing that deserves publication. In Randy Hobler we have one, proven by this note: “Back in 2011, when trying to find ‘lost’ classmates, [Father] John Sheehan got Eugene Armstrong ’s sister’s e-mail, and with today’s internet tools and other research, in the spirit of dear Gene’s Santa tracker (see below), I was able to track him down, even to a recent picture. I’m saddened to report that Gene died in 2014. After PCD, he went to St. Andrew’s School in Delaware, but before graduating transferred to The Hun School to letter in swimming and crew and play on the football team. In December 1965, he became a member of Company B, 12th Regiment of the National Society of Pershing Rifles, after which Gene attended Boston College and later graduated from Rider University in 1972. A 22-year Army career Sergeant First Class, he was awarded two Bronze Star Medals with oak leaf clusters and Vs for valor while serving in Vietnam from 1966 to 1969. He was also awarded the Combat Infantry Badge. He served at HQ EUDAC/EUCOM from 1980 to 1983 in Vaighen, West Germany, and then with the U.S. Space Command at Colorado Springs, Colo., and HQ NORAD at Cheyenne Mountain, Colo., as a programmer/ analyst until he retired in 1988.

Toby Knox: First and foremost, I want to enter into the record the sad passing of our classmate, Peter Morse ’61 celebrated his birthday in 1953.

“His favorite task was creating the first ‘real-time’ Santa Tracker System for NORAD (not the original one which started in 1955). His real-time tracker allows television stations to show Santa and his sleigh on Christmas Eve, traveling around the world. The tracker receives several million visitors from more than 200 countries and territories, and volunteers on the Santa hotline answer over 130,000 calls per year from children everywhere. It has always been curious to me that despite his ‘radar’ system, Gene was off PCD’s radar for 63 years. He enjoyed hiking in Germany and Colorado, playing soccer and slow-pitch softball, but most of all being with family and friends. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Linda; his daughter, Heather; granddaughters Kaitlyn and Samantha; and his sister, Ellis ‘Ellie’ Kehoe ’68. I vividly remember his home outside Princeton where one Halloween we all were invited for apple-bobbing. Yesterday something triggered a long-pent-up need to find out whatever happened to Gene. Another chapter closed.

“Another recollection is of Latin teacher Mr. Lea, one of many PCD teachers from prestigious schools who benefited us. Mr. Lea, whom we loved, made the mistake of revealing his service in North Africa during WWII, no doubt including Libya. I was mischievous, and seven minutes into a class on the ablative absolute, I raised my hand with, ‘Sir! Tell us about the war in North Africa!’ Much like Colonel Hall being distracted by Sgt. Bilko, Mr. Lea spent the rest of the class regaling us with war stories. And here I am, a half-century later, reflecting on my year in Libya with the Peace Corps.

“ Peter Morse’s widow, Melissa, sent me a photo from Peter’s birthday in 1953, two years before Peter and I were at PCD together. Other guys in the photo were from Valley Road School, so I must have known him from there. That’s Peter in the middle and me peeking from the back left side. Note how every one of us has a crew cut!

“Sheehan has a wealth of stories such as the time he and Bill Shea knocked on Einstein’s door and were invited in for milk and cookies as Einstein played violin for them.” This, according to supersleuth Hobler, is hardly 1961’s only elbow-rubbing with great ones; apparently T. S. Eliot, who made Bustopher Jones famous, lived a number of years at 14 Alexander Street, the home of our Hank Tomlinson!”

Randy also discovered this obituary of our classmate Guy Vicino: Guy Louis Vicino, 41, of Ft. Lauderdale, died Tuesday, March 15, 1988. Born in Newark, N.J., he grew up in Princeton, N.J. He attended the Lawrenceville School, Boston University, and graduated from the University of Miami. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard. He owned and operated Oz, a fashionable boutique on Galt Ocean Mile for a number of years. He was an interior decorator in Ft. Lauderdale, a yacht broker with Charles Erwin Yacht Sales, Inc., Ft. Lauderdale. He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Dorothy Vicino; brothers, John and Neil; and his sister, Jane Terrin.

Regan Kerney sent this in: “Many of us learned to skate in the venerable Hobart A. H. Baker Memorial Rink when we could not traipse down to Lake Carnegie and test our luck on the natural ice. The school buses dropped us off outside the old engine room where a pair of groaning flywheels the size of small buildings ran compressors that froze the sheet. After we laced up and hit the ice, we found Princeton coach Dick Vaughn, who helped Bud Tibbals teach us to play hockey.

“On January 6-7, 2023, Princeton University marked the 100th anniversary of the rink with a party where I caught up with former teammate Steve Cook ’59 and his brother, John Cook ’56, along with the venerable Harry Rulon-Miller ’51. The rink now boasts more efficient ice-making machinery and modern locker rooms designed by Pony Fraker ’57. The weekend also reminded me of the 1964-65 freshman team that included me, Peter Raymond and Randy Hobler. Our record was 13-2, and we had a heck of a good time. I have not been on skates for years (the only ice I now seek belongs in a martini) and Lake Carnegie does not freeze over firmly enough to carry skaters nowadays. Today, PCD/PDS has its own first-rate rink, which must be luxurious compared to our rink 60 years ago. No matter. I would not trade those frigid afternoons on the lake for the world.

“Retirement is a joy. I have read a stack of books, had surgery to replace a creaky hip, and still do a part-time stint at Lawrenceville teaching one course on Abraham Lincoln and another on press coverage of the Vietnam War.”

And this report from Father John Sheehan:

“I spent many hours at Eugene Armstrong ’s farm playing the best of seven sets on their tennis court — with a break, of course, for lunch. I came to their Halloween party in an old-woman costume, pretending to be one of the girls, and even danced with several boys. Rob French ’62 and I used to go there not only to shoot targets and skeet but also to make a film on shooting safety. It includes a wonderful moment with Rob leaning casually against the business end of a shotgun.

“I went to summer camp at the Kehoes where I took my first fencing lessons with Stanley Sieja, Princeton University’s coach who had a son at the camp. I also learned how to drive a tractor and tie a necktie.

“I spent some time looking at Gene’s photo but didn’t find the face I remember. Age! Similarly, once lunching with Tom Chubet in N.Y., about halfway through the meal I ‘found’ the face I remembered; it’s funny how that works. I had the same experience with Brunie Dielhenn ’62, having not seen him for years and then halfway through the evening recognizing his face, too.

“As a young actor doing character roles, I kept a collection of faces of people before and after aging to see how they changed. When I needed to ‘age’ I learned how my own face might adapt to time, a strategy that worked so well that following a production of “Ruddigore” (my first New York Times review) playing Old Adam, I was invited to audition as custodian for the first road company of “1776.” I was the youngest person auditioning by about 40 years. Someone had seen the show and thought I was an old guy. Unfortunately, my argument that a young guy who could play old was good for a touring company didn’t sell.

“This has been one of those years. For six months I was chaplain at the University of Saint Francis, which I left in July to fill in for eight weeks at two local parishes. I then did a week in Baltimore with the national convention of the Catholic War Veterans — I’m still National Chaplain — and returned to Fort Wayne where I’m ‘in residence’ awaiting assignment. I’ve been working with the Military Vicariate about returning as a military chaplain, but despite the shortage of priests, their website shows a scarcity of job openings, and governmental pace makes a snail look speedy.

“I’ve done some writing, occasional singing around town, and am currently picketing occasionally for musicians of the Philharmonic. As a member of Actors’ Equity for 50 years, I am happy to support another union.

“This morning was the funeral of Pope Benedict. Invited to deliver a paper at an international Vatican conference, I gave him a two-volume set of the Gospels in Braille as well as a medal our American Legion Post had struck for the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.”

This incomplete overview of the Class of 1961 must suffice for the meantime; nevertheless, out there are somewhere as yet untold as stories of classmates’ lives, events, and memories of which the above is but a small sample. In closing, most is well in this house though it be wronged by freeze-exploding pipes and radiators. And yet those are mere things as are walls and basement clutter. A dear friend some years ago interrupted my mourning lost youth and vigor with a surprising truth. “Isn’t it wonderful,” she exclaimed, dark eyes wide, “to have lived long enough to figure stuff out? I didn’t know anything when I was younger.” I think she was right. For those of us who remain, what an undeserved gift of 27,000 days we have enjoyed, to try, with each dawn, to figure more stuff out.

1962

John Gaston jmgaston3@gmail.com

1963

John Ritchie jhnritchie@yahoo.com

1964

William Ring mwmaverick@gmail.com

Donald Woodbridge maderacito@yahoo.com

1966

Deborah Hobler dvhobler@cox.net

Please join us for our 55/57th reunion at PDS on the weekend of May 19 and 20, 2023. I will be flying in from California to attend and hope to see fellow ’66ers!

Reports have arrived that there are actually ’66 classmates that are still alive and well! Since I have been accused by a certain Ms. Jaeger of being a ‘relentless’ class secretary, I backed off from “inquiring” (as in hounding) classmates about their whereabouts and activities. However, the Christmas spirit must have moved them…

In early January, Barbara Sullivan wrote that she and her husband, Michael, had been visiting her grandchildren, one in San Diego, and the other in Pittsburgh. Barbara reported that she is still enjoying yoga, gardening, and teaching ESL to adults. In September, her second book was published by the UNC Chapel Hill Press: “Climate Change Gardening for the South.” Congratulations! One of the book reviews said, “In this lively and heartening guide, Barbara Sullivan offers an essential easy-to-use resource for adapting to the new realities of climate change. She surveys the science behind climate change and gardening, gives advice on planning and installing gardens that will not only thrive yet also helps address environmental challenges.” We need all the information we can get now on Mother Nature’s revenge on the human species. At the moment, February 24, I am watching a giant rain/snowstorm (they are calling it “blizzard conditions” for our state) pass through Santa Barbara. Oh, we just got a flood watch alert, too. It appears the whole northern part of the country has been hit hard by storms this week.

Ms. Sarah Jaeger, after a large bribe, agreed to tell me that as a visiting artist at the Archie Bray Foundation, she has organized a series of collaborative ceramic discussions (“Speaking of Pots”) through May. These series of conversations offer an opportunity to consider any aspect of pots (form, surface, materials, techniques, intention, etc.) and to share questions and ideas. It is open to the public. Go, Sarah!

In response to an email I sent out to classmates to announce our upcoming 57th reunion (May 19-20; the school is allowing us to celebrate our 55th as well, since the pandemic erased our reunion). I was so pleased to hear from Mary Carol Bilderback who started an email discussion about our class 1966 theater production of “Our Town.”

Mary had been writing an assignment for Earth Day and shared, “Out of some cobwebby cranny in my brain came ‘Oh Earth, you are too wonderful for anyone to realize you.’ A famous line uttered by our star Susie Bonthron, who played the lead.” Mary also shared memories of seeing Andrea, Patience, and me (Debbie) “running up and down the hockey playing field between Morven and the Miss Fine’s School building with such grace. I can see our pleated blue tunics and white blouses — Debbie’s, if I recall correctly — was always meticulously ironed. Patience and Andrea not so much! And of Margery Cuyler ’s ‘For Never Neverland’ creations in creative writing class — how you printed them in funny caps and letters in different colors facing the wrong direction or upside down. Do you remember when no one (except Sarah) had done the homework for George Packard, he would not despair but give us prompts like ‘Describe each other falling down the steps.’ Or he would have us empty our pockets and have us write about a person who belonged to all those items. And Anne Shepard made us memorize every god and goddess in both Greek and Latin!”

Dale Marzoni Kellogg has become a quilter during and after the COVID lockdown as she had to stop skating during that time. Send us a photo of one of your creations! She is now back to judging skating competitions, enjoying her family, and hopes to go abroad this year to Greece.

Margery Cuyler took a beautiful nature walk by the Delaware Raritan Canal to help her write about a new middle grade novel about the ghost of a boy who drowned in the canal during the Civil War and was able to help his family escape the Battle of Antietam. I am sure doing the research is interesting on this particular well-known battle. But I must say, Margery, you have been haunted by ghosts from past American wars for a long time!!

While googling some PDS information, I came across an interview in the 1995 Journal with the then 82-year-old Shirley Davis (she passed away in 1999). First, I was struck by the fact that I thought Miss Davis was about 80 when she was at Miss Fine’s. Ah, youth! She had all white hair and was such an imposing figure, I didn’t have a clue that when the merger occurred in 1965, she was all of 51! I read the article and realized I knew nothing about Miss Davis’s background. I investigated and learned that her father, Darius Alton Davis, had held high executive positions with the International YMCA Committee in Europe, in which he helped prisoners of war and refugees during the Balkan, First and Second World Wars, he also became Associate General Secretary of the World Alliance of YMCAs. So, while growing up, Miss Davis followed her dad (and mom) all over Europe. First, her birth in Turkey, then living in Paris and Geneva. She graduated from the International School in Geneva, Switzerland, then Swarthmore College ’35 and then received a master’s degree in French from Middlebury College. She started as an elementary French teacher at the Baldwin School, and then took over as headmistress at Miss Fine’s in 1943 at the ripe old age of 30! When she arrived, there were no heads of Lower or Middle Schools, enrollment was at 133 students, there was no faculty salary scale and a debt of unpaid tuition bills. In her 22-year role as headmistress, Miss Davis turned everything around, as we all well know. Just ten years after she started, she had attained accreditation for the school, enrollment was up to 268, and the school’s income stream had tripled. So, I say bravo, Miss Davis, and thank you!

I am sad to report that Sally Behr Ogden Fisher ’s husband, Arnold Fisher, passed away on September 11, 2022. Arnold served as a