Class Notes

These Class Notes reflect information we received by March 15. The Class Notes deadline for the next issue is June 15.

Class Notes are the lifeblood of Reed Magazine. While a Reed education confers many special powers, omniscience is unfortunately not among them; your classmates rely on you to tell us what’s going on. So share your news! Tell us about births, deaths, weddings, voyages, adventures, transformations, astonishment, woe, delight, fellowship, discovery, and mischief.

Email us at reed.magazine@reed.edu. Post a note online at iris.reed.edu. Find us on Facebook via “ReediEnews.” Scribble something in the enclosed return envelope. Or mail us at Reed magazine, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd, Portland OR 97202. Photos are welcome, as are digital images at 300 dpi. And don’t forget the pertinent details: name, class year, and your current address! As of September 2019, new class notes are available online in pdf form in our digital magazine. If you have any questions or concerns, let us know.

EDITED BY JOANNE HOSSACK ’82

1952 70th reunion Congratulations to John Hudson and his wife, Sandra, who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in March 2022!

Locked down by the pandemic, Robert Richter transitioned to screenplay writing. His newest: Nobel’s Lost Prize, the little-known true story of Alfred Nobel’s unrequited love for peace activist Bertha von Suttner, which led Nobel—enormously wealthy from his invention of dynamite and its use in war weapons—to transform his emotional pain into a positive legacy for humanity, the Nobel Peace Prize. “Timeless and timely. Now seeking interested producer, director, acting leads.”

1954

Don Green tipped us off about Harry Jacob’s latest honor: the Harry S. Jacob MD and John Kersey MD Scholarship at the University of Minnesota. The mission of the scholarship is to support one or more medical students who wish to pursue a career in academic medicine as a physician-scientist. Don noted that Harry was a chemistry major at Reed and that his advisor suggested that rather than go on for a PhD in chem, he apply to med school at Harvard. He did, got a scholarship, and the rest is history. Don notes that he and wife Joan have often traveled over the years with Harry and his wife, Lila Field.

1958

Sharon Chapin Toji now has the distinction of being the oldest member of the ANSI [American National Standards Institute] A117.1 Committee, which writes standards for accessible and usable buildings and sites. The committee has begun the cycle for the next revised standard, which they hope to finish in time for 2024 publication. As the voting delegate for the Hearing Loss Association of America, Sharon focuses on improving standards in the field of sensory disabilities, and she’s also trying to get more attention paid to the disabilities of aging. She also recently revised her manual Signs and the ADA/ABA as a 30th anniversary edition for the ADA. With her staff at her consulting company, Access Communications, Sharon spent the COVID shutdown developing a font made specifically for tactile reading, ADA/InvisiTouch™, and sent it out to about 100 blind people for review. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Sharon adds some family news: “My husband, Hitoshi (Tosh) Toji, and I are still living at home. At 93, he now requires a caregiver, so we have added to our family group and are enjoying cooking and baking for everyone. My sister, Jennifer Chapin Sakurai ’60, and brother-in-law, Ed Sakurai, continue to live in Webster Groves, near St Louis; Ed finally, at 85, retired from teaching math at Webster University there.”

Norm Cohen’s latest publication is a collection of folk songs and ballads in the British-Irish-American oral tradition. (See Reediana.)

1959

Stephanie Tomiyasu has been studying and performing the Japanese traditional

The new ADA/ InvisiTouch™ font was created for tactile readers by Sharon Chapin Toji ’58 and her consulting company.

Stephanie Tomiyasu ’59 (left) performs shinnai at Kioi Hall in Tokyo with shamisen accompanists Shinnai Katsu’ichiro (middle) and Tsuruga Ise’ichiro.

left: John Hudson ’52 and Sandra Hudson celebrate 65 years of marriage.

musical storytelling art called shinnai for more than 22 years. Because she is the first non-Japanese to become a shinnai storyteller, her shinnai activities continue to interest the media in Japan. Recently, she was interviewed for a magazine called Hiragana Times; its target audience is people who are studying Japanese, so the article was published bilingually. Stephanie told the interviewer: “An important feature of shinnai is expressing the emotions of the characters in the stories. Shinnai narratorsingers are also voice actors. I especially enjoy performing stories with exciting action, such as a sword fight, a murder, or a sumo match. Performing a humorous work and having the audience laugh at the jokes is an amazing experience for an American psychologist.” One of those stories with exciting action can be seen and heard at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=GFHhO9K3FDk. “In this one, the main male character, who has been publicly embarrassed by the main female character, kills her with his sword right there on stage (so to speak). The video is fine, but the sound was recorded a bit too softly. If you listen to it, please turn up the volume.”

1961

Jon Quitslund continues to enjoy an active retirement. Ending his teaching career in 2000, he and Toby rejoined the extended Quitslund family on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. He developed an interest in island politics, wrote about community affairs for a newspaper and an online blog, and served on a series of task forces, planning for community development and environmental stewardship. Nine years of work on the planning commission ended in June, and Jon decided to run for a seat on the city council—a body that is known for ambitious plans, fractious debate, and small-scale accomplishments. The election created considerable potential for more productive working relationships, moving ahead with a long-range planning agenda. A recently hired city manager has begun assembling a strong executive team, including Autumn Salamack ’99, who will direct implementation of the city’s climate action plan. Jon has begun 2022 with high hopes for all that can be achieved, through teamwork, in the four years ahead.

1962 60th reunion John Belmont retired in 2006 and immediately bought a house in Broad Cove, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, and became a seasonal resident. “This is a quiet village of about 100 on the south shore of the province. Even though I’m always introduced as a ‘come-from-away,’ I’ve been serving for the last three years on the Broad Cove Community Association Board, which is the only ‘government’ at the village level. So, OK, yes, I have become a politician and cheerfully join in the board discussions about how to keep the beach free of trash and even your occasional human feces (we denizens of the cove can easily walk home; the tourists can’t), and how to round up $200,000 in construction monies to make the town hall accessible to all. But not wishing or needing to get in a rut now, at age 81, I’m starting a new project for 2022. After 16 years up here I’ve sold my house and am preparing to drive my ’93 Honda Accord (Nova Scotia plates) across the United States, from Houlton, Maine, to Everett, Washington, taking US Route 2 all the way. Think of this as the beginning of a new life, unanchored, yes, but following in the traditions of all the easy riders who have come before.” Ride on, John!

“Hey, you class of ’62 guys,” says Barclay Henderson, “we have a problem. How can it be that one of the most interesting classes to graduate has [some] of the fewest notes each issue? We are much better than that! What have you been doing for the past 60 years? For me 1962 was a vintage year: Graduated with a BA degree, moved to Tokyo, got a black belt, met and soon married a Japanese girl. Since then I have owned my own restaurant chain and settled down in Cambridge, where I started and where my two boys started. In retirement Minako and I mostly travel, play music, and struggle not to embarrass the ever-socool teen grandkids. The pandemic has been a curse but it did get us onto Zoom. There I meet regularly with Luke Russell and Marjorie (Allen) Russell, Larry MacKenzie, Kern Von Hungen, Sue Hanchett, and Jim Haba. It’s a chance to relive the 1960s. You should try it. Better yet, come back to the 60th reunion in late May.” Listen up, class of ’62!

1963

Peter B. Clark has published a book about Germans who resisted Hitler. (See Reediana.)

1964

Grant Smith retired in January of 2020 and had a book come out this past May. (See Reediana.)

1965

Hey, you class of ’65 guys and gals! Aren’t you one of the most interesting classes to graduate? Or are you going to let the class of ’62 walk away with that distinction?

1966

Fred Mindlin is thrilled to be back in the classroom, teaching string game stories in person! “I’ve taught my original string figure curriculum to over 5,000 students in Watsonville and given away over 10,000 strings. Far and away the best work I’ve ever done. Please check out my website at https://stringstories.net.”

1967 55th reunion John Cushing played at a concert at Oaks Park as a member of the Portland Megaband. The concert can be seen by doing an internet search for Portland Megaband 2022.

1968

Deborah J. Ross edited an anthology in honor of her friend and colleague, Vonda N. McIntyre, who died in 2019. The two became friends in 1992 when Deborah lived in Los Angeles and McIntyre received a fellowship to the Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project workshop. McIntyre went on to pen The Moon and the Sun, which won the Nebula Award and was

Resting up for his 2038 Reed application: two-week-old Wylie, grandson of Lisa Serbin ’68.

Fred Mindlin ’66 is back stringing stories in the classroom!

made into the movie The King’s Daughter. Deborah titled the anthology Bright Morning: An Anthology of Hopeful Tales.

Lisa Serbin has a new grandchild! Wylie Astor Dean Wernet-Wapnick was born December 14. Wylie is living on Cortes Island in British Columbia with his mothers, Emilie (Serbin) Wapnick and Valerie Wernet. “We wish we lived closer (my husband and I are in Montreal), but we’re hoping to visit soon. This news counters the stress of the pandemic and the past two years for us . . . we look forward to Wylie’s possible application to Reed in 2038, class of 2042.”

1969

Portnoy complains.

1970

Katya de Kadt (formerly Karen Smith) is a retired New York State acting supreme court justice, currently an herbalist and antiracism activist and grandmother.

“In reciprocity for the occasional news from and about former classmates and for Reed Magazine itself,” writes Willard McCarty, “I can happily report good health and a retirement spent in reading and writing, editing a journal, running an online seminar, and playing the photographic flâneur though local neighborhoods, the paths of Epping Forest, and the towpath of the Lagan River. I continue helping out with the Cambridge workshop ‘Science in the Forest, Science in the Past,’ in its third iteration—the steepest hill climb yet, at least for me. Proceedings of the second one, subtitled Further Interdisciplinary Explorations (Routledge), are due out in March.”

Steven Orkand writes, “I retired from my rheumatology medical practice at Kaiser in 2009, and I turned a page. For years after that I organized an extensive adult education program for my synagogue— lots of lectures, seminars, deep learning. Most recently I’m organizing a workshop on how to have difficult conversations about racism. I also became involved with the Public Health Advisory Board of Sacramento County. Public health is very broad, and my interests have been varied. Most recently, I’m working on correctional health, asking ‘Why are people with mental health issues in jail?’ I also enjoy writing haiku and riding along the American River Bike Trail, one of California’s gems. I have two grandchildren, with a third on the way. My wife and I are expert daycare providers when the need arises.”

Jeanie Daigle Nygaard Smith is happily retired, now living on California’s beautiful central coast, enjoying times with five grandkids (pandemic permitting), and thoroughly occupied with writing, gardening, and painting, among other pursuits. She’s hoping to get involved with local theatres again now that most are beginning to reopen, and looks forward to a much-delayed trip to Scotland later this year with her Glaswegian husband.

1971

Douglas Fenner writes, “A few months ago I fell and broke my thigh bone. Surgeons here in American Samoa put a stainless steel pin in my leg, making the bone as strong as ever. I had a month in the hospital and a month in a nursing care facility. The treatment was remarkably good for this tiny island in the Pacific. I’m now living at home, walking around without any aids, climbing stairs, planning my first snorkel and walk up hills (on sidewalks), and in time scuba diving.”

Aaron Rhodes was named a senior fellow in the Common Sense Society, an international educational network. He is also president of the Forum for Religious Freedom–Europe. He lives in Hamburg, Germany, with his family.

1972 50th reunion Brando makes offer.

1973

President proclaims non-crook status.

1974

Colette Brooks has published her third book of creative nonfiction, Trapped in the Present Tense: Meditations on American Memory. It was reviewed in the Washington Post in March! (See Reediana.)

1975–76

Forget the parachute; what color is your mood ring?

1977 45th reunion We can’t seem to face up to the facts (because you haven’t sent any) . . . we’re tense and nervous and we can’t relax (because we haven’t heard from you) . . .

1978

Chris Hauty’s book series continues to chug along: a novella was released in January, and the third full-length book in the series came out in May. (See Reediana.) Mark Kelley has retired from the practice of law, leaving as a named partner and frequent managing partner of a 50-lawyer education law firm. He and Sheila have resettled in Sisters and look forward to more time outdoors.

clockwise from top-left: Along the Lagan riverrun, by Willard McCarty ’70.

Steven Orkand ’70 has turned a page.

Jeanie Daigle Nygaard Smith with her Glaswegian husband.

Aaron Rhodes ’71 was named a Senior Fellow in the Common Sense Society.

1979

Lydia Collins Bailey wrote an essay on homelessness, the deep woods, and wonder, titled “Seeing In the Fog,” that appears in the spring issue of Parabola. Lydia is on staff at the largest shelter in Ohio, the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Men’s Shelter, and is a deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio.

Vera Boals is “still running Those Cat Rescue People, my cat rescue in New Hampshire. Currently providing permanent homes to about 40 feral cats, and another 20 cats who might eventually be adoptable. Realizing that I’m not 20 years old any more. Dealing with living in

a state run by a Republican, where people refuse to accept science as fact, but surviving nonetheless. Looking forward to a Reunion where I can see everyone in person again.”

Eric Fidler retired from Southern Illinois University, where he taught journalism for 16 years, in fall 2020. “Four more years and my parking sticker would have been free, but I have a teenager with a chronic illness and I needed to spend more time caring for her. Before SIU I worked as a reporter and editor in Chicago, Miami, and Atlantic City. I’m not completely out of journalism; I’m helping to train the staff of a nonprofit news startup. My wife, our daughter, and I moved to the Atlanta area in the spring.”

Jill Kuhnheim is in her sixth year as a visiting professor in Hispanic studies at Brown University, a move she made accompanied by her partner, who is in the School of Public Health, and her 17-year-old son, who is huge. She recently developed an open educational resource with a colleague for people interested in teaching literature and film in Spanish with a health humanities focus. (See Reediana.)

1980

David Biddle ended 30 years of environmental planning and activism a few years ago, but has since published a number of short stories and essays in literary journals and online. In January 2021 he signed a three-book contract with independent commercial fiction publisher the Story Plant. His first novel, Old Music for New People, came out in December. “Yes, it is hilarious that a 1976 freshman would publish their first novel 45 years later.” (See Reediana.)

1981

E M A I L

1982 40th reunion

T A L E S

1983

John Neumaier just joined the Seattle VA as the director of mental health research and continues to be very involved with University of Washington neuroscience, running his lab, etc. He’s also organizing a neuromodulation clinic offering repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, ECT, and ketamine to veterans with depression.

1984–85

A L U M S

After 20 years at Reuters, followed by five years at Walgreens Boots Alliance (where she produced the company’s annual Environmental, Social and Governance Report), Fiona Ortiz has joined the public sector for the first time. She’s now heading up communications for the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, working closely with the policy team on criminal justice reform issues. “I have survived 8 Chicago winters. I am very active in the Chicago Latin dance scene. I teach casino and rueda (Cuban-style salsa dancing) and promote dance events through my group, Chicago Casineros.”

1987 35th reunion

P L A Y S

1988

Shannon Lee Dawdy somehow managed to publish her third single-author book and first trade publication, American Afterlives: Reinventing Death in the Twenty-First Century. Any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental. (See Reediana.)

Phyllis Gerstenfeld is a professor by day, but her side gig is author, largely but not entirely of gay romance (under the pen name Kim Fielding). Her recent book Farview won the BookLife 2021 Prize for Fiction. (See Reediana.)

1989–90

C L A S S

1991

This past fall, Chris Greacen developed testimony in State of Washington, et al., v. U.S. Dep’t of the Navy, et al. that argued that the navy’s environmental impact statement calculations for greenhouse emissions for expansion of its EA-18G Growler fleet of jet fighter planes were wild underestimates. Chris was very satisfied to see the December 2021 summary ruling by Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura that leveled this scathing rebuke: “The Navy appears to have used certain statistics ‘much like a drunk uses a lamppost: for support, not illumination.’”

1992 30th reunion When extreme weather recently destroyed their house, Alex Veltman’s family was afforded the bittersweet opportunity of building character as well as a potential dream home. “With my wife’s background in architecture and a mutual interest in the MCM/Japanese/eco-conservative/low-budget style (MidJapEcoLow, as no one calls it), we managed to create a work of conscious living that has kept us sane during these many months of isolation.” The process of this creation was described last December in the Washington Post, in an article titled “A Tree Falls, a Rebuild Begins.”

Diana Rosberg reports, “Bengt and I have great news to share. We are moving on to our next international adventure, in Mumbai, India. Bengt will be the deputy head of school at Oberoi International School, and I will be working to strengthen pedagogy and learning in the Primary School. This is my seventh international school since 1992 and offers fantastic prospects for professional fulfillment alongside the cultural and culinary excitement of this ancient city.”

1993

In addition to activism, Vijay Shah is collaborating on a historical comic about the civil rights movement. As a history major, he would like to reach a broad audience, including youth. “We are striving to convey the past in a vivid, dramatic way.”

From tree-smashed catastrophe to MidJapEcoLow masterwork: the home of Alex Veltman ‘92.

Fiona Ortiz ’86 and her husband, Julian Ortiz, dance Cuban salsa at one of the events she promotes through her group, Chicago Casineros.

1994

Zach Nobel has a book recommendation: “Read Guardians of the Trees by Kinari Webb ’95. I just finished reading it myself. I highly recommend reading it as it offers me some hope for the future. Amazing work. Well done, Kinari!”

1995

W R I T E

1996

Congratulations to Peyton Marshall, one of 35 writers who will receive a 2022 Creative Writing Fellowship of $25,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts! This year’s fellowships are in prose and will enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career development. Fellows are selected through an anonymous process and are judged on the basis of artistic excellence of the work sample they provide. Peyton’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, Tin House, A Public Space, Blackbird, Etiqueta Negra, and Best New American Voices; her first novel, Goodhouse, was published by Farrar Straus Giroux in 2014.

1997 25th reunion After many years based in NYC, Heather Lord made the move to San Francisco a few months before the pandemic kicked in. She’s a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, with a focus on researching and educating various audiences about best practices in global philanthropy and social impact. “Feel free to find me on LinkedIn if you’d like to chat.”

Last summer Robin Tovey quit her job at Reed as part of #TheGreatResignation and has been getting back in touch with her @English_major side. She looks forward to seeing everyone at Reunions and not being on the clock for the festivities!

1998

Gal Beckerman’s new book looks at the formation of social movements—and how current technology is undermining them. (See Reediana.)

After 14 years at the University of Queensland, Margie Mayfield has moved to the University of Melbourne, where she is professor of ecology and head of the School of BioSciences.

1999–2001

S L E E P

2002 20th reunion In September, Anne McPherson took over as head of stage management in the theater department at Mason Gross School of the Arts (Rutgers University). Congratulations, Anne!

2003

L A T E R

2004

Anita Hannig’s new book looks at assisted dying in the United States. (See Reediana.)

2005

N O T E S

2006

Labors of love: In May 2021, Nicole Adelstein became associate professor of chemistry at San Francisco State University. In August 2021, Alejandro Levander and Nicole welcomed Elira Mei Adelstein Levander into their family.

2007 15th reunion Emily Aviva Kapor-Mater is the founding rabbi of the Portland Open Beit Midrash. In cooperation with the Eastside Jewish Commons and TischPDX, the Beit Midrash—Hebrew for “house of learning”—will offer intensive study of Torah and rabbinic texts, grounded in traditional Jewish approaches but affirming of people with diverse backgrounds and historically marginalized voices.

Britta Lundin’s second young adult novel, Like Other Girls, has received many well-deserved accolades. (See Reediana.)

Tina Sohaili-Korbonits “just wanted to report that I married a giant, adorable nerd during the pandemic! My husband, Alex Sohaili-Korbonits (U Chicago ’10), and I bonded over Aristotle’ s Nicomachean Ethics on our first date and knew right away being together was eudaimonia. After getting engaged in Paris on our first anniversary on a Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in January 2020, we planned to get married in October 2020, but the pandemic had other plans. We were finally able to celebrate our wedding with all of our friends and family, including so many wonderful Reedies, on October 2, 2021, in Los Angeles after getting legally married in Seattle on October 3, 2020. Since then, we’ve been exploring Gallo-Roman ruins on our honeymoon, enforcing federal civil rights laws/training machine learning models at work, and enjoying quality time reading with our cat, Olivia Sohaili-Korbonits, who is 15.5 years young!”

2008

Kostadin Kushlev was selected as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science. The APS Rising Star is awarded to an outstanding Association for Psychological Science member in their early research career whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions. Kostadin’s work in positive psychology got

Congratulations to Tina SohailiKorbonits ’07 and husband Alex Sohaili-Korbonits, married in 2020 and again in 2021.

Nicole Adelstein ’06 and Alejandro Levander welcome new family member Elira Mei Adelstein Levander.

Jonas Madsen Vickery (Reed 2043?), Will Vickery ’10, and Lisa Manson Vickery ’09 celebrate Jonas’s first birthday on their front porch.

a shout-out from happiness researcher Laurie Santos in the New York Times in February.

2009

Nick Huntington-Klein’s latest book was released in December. (See Reediana.)

Lisa Manson Vickery and Will Vickery ’10 welcomed Jonas Madsen Vickery (class of 2043?) on February 21, 2021. Jonas lives in South Portland with his parents, Good Dog Harry, and cat roommate Jo, and attends the Nest Playschool, owned and operated by Savannah Turner ’08. Lisa and Will moved back to Portland from the DC metro area in 2017. Will works in accounting policy at Ampere. Lisa was a partner at Fisher Phillips’s Portland office and recently accepted a position at Amazon.

2010

Katherine Walker married her partner Dylan Gafner in Seattle in September 2021. They met working at Bungie, an “indie” game studio making the video game Destiny 2, where they are a production lead and a community manager, respectively. Reedies in attendance included Sherry Tiao ’09, Lawrence Shah ’11, Martin Souza ’09, Ben Edwards ’07, Ian Flower ’13, and Rachael Otto ’15.

2011

The class notes editor wonders if the class of 2011, or any other class, picked up the “hint” on the preceding pages. Or are you all too busy playing Wordle? Sigh. 2012 10th reunion The eyes of Hannah Love and Kasra Shokat ’14 met across the crowded SU at Stop Making Sense in spring 2012. They thought they’d never speak again, but two years later they went on a first date, and six and a half years later they eloped in November 2020. On New Year’s Eve this year, they finally celebrated their love and marriage with a party at Yale Union in Southeast Portland (with a 100% vaccination and negative Covid test rate—and Christopher Cahill as DJ).

2013

Two years ago Emily Goldman acquired and edited her first book for Tordotcom Publishing, a historical fantasy novella by Marion Deeds titled Comeuppance Served Cold. It was published in March. (See Reediana.)

The second volume of François Vigneault’s Orcs in Space hit bookshops on April 27, 2022. (See Reediana.)

2014–16

Of the classes of 2014, 2015, and 2016, which can submit the largest number and/or volume of class notes for the December issue? Game on!

2017 5th reunion Sure, class of ‘17, you can play too!

2018

Savannah Kaufman got her dream job as a social media marketer at a European spa!

2019–21

Have you got your dream job? Let us know!

Reed was well represented at the post-COVID wedding celebration of Hannah Love ’12 and Kasra Shokat ’14. Left to right: Tamara Metz [political science; thesis advisor to both bride and groom], Chris Cahill ’12, Michael McManus ’09, Jake Silver ’12, Julius Monello ’13, Erica Iannitti ’14, Kasra, Hannah, Sana Goldberg ’12, Mamie Morago Stevenson ’12, Jess Goldstein ’12, Mitra Shokat ’18, Deborah Kamali ’85, Leila Shokat ’21, Kevan Shokat ’86, Evian Oosthuizen ’21, Nima Shokat ’99, Grant Trenary ’11, and Alex Johnson ’11. Not pictured but in attendance: Farren Curtis ’12, Matt Milton ’11, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez ’13, Bekah Volinsky ’12, Sara Natale ’12, and Gabriel Zinn ’15.

Reedies celebrate the wedding of Katherine Walker ’10 and Dylan Gafner. Top row, left to right: Lawrence Shah ’11, Sherry Tiao ’09, bride Katherine, Martin Souza ’09, Ben Edwards ’07, and Abi Kallushi. Bottom row: Ian Flower ’13 and Rachael Otto ’15.