Class Notes

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

1951 70th reunion

1952

Ted Ullman sent us a description of an early undertaking following his 1966 appointment to organize a startup called Synvar Research Institute. “In 1970 we had developed a novel analytical method (FRAT™) that used antibodies for detecting abused drugs in urine. Following validation by a government lab, we received a call from Jerome Jaffe, Nixon’s drug czar, asking us to deliver 100,000 tests and three 450-pound instruments to Vietnam in seven days to initiate a planned mass screening program. Somehow we managed to do it. Drug addiction was rampant among our troops, and the program received much public attention. Some focused on false reports that our test results were poor. Additionally, there were complaints and threats about abridgment of civil rights. In fact, the test accuracy was very good, users were not punished, and thousands were sent home and went through successful rehab. The program continued until the end of the war in 1972. Synvar changed its name to Syva Company, and my group ended up creating many new immunochemical methods for a wide array of clinical assays that are still sold today by Siemens (EMIT™), Perkin Elmer (LOCI™), and others. In all, I was blessed by a very exciting career. It started at Reed.” After a 55-year career in chemistry, Ted (like Byron Rubin ’65; see our June 2019 issue) chose to sculpt; his work is in wood and is influenced to some degree by chemical shapes. (Any more chemists turned sculptors out there? Send pics of your work!)

1958

In 2020 the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation awarded Mary B. Williams its Excellence in Stewardship Award for her care and documentation of the Weaver-Dallas House, which has been the family homeplace since 1840, passing through five generations of her family. “Dr. Williams represents the fourth generation of independent female ownership of the property . . . During her stewardship of the property, Dr. Williams has painstakingly studied and documented the history of her family, preserving many antiques, artifacts and original features in the house.” Mary writes, “The ‘painstaking documentation’ is actually the result of my having experimented with using an app-development program to organize and present the huge amount of historically interesting material: artifacts, antiques, material written by all five generations, and evidence preserved in the physical structure of the house. It turned out to be a wonderful way to present the information EXCEPT THAT digital presentations are easily orphaned by operating system changes. My app can still be explored on a Windows computer, but not on the present Apple operating systems. I feel great sympathy for librarians and archivists who are trying to find ways of preserving digital materials for the future.”

1959

On May 1, international best-selling author Anne Hillerman was a guest on Just Read It, the YouTube book discussion series hosted by Caroline Miller (also MAT ’64). During the half-hour program, Hillerman explained why she stepped into her father’s moccasins to continue the Tony Hillerman series that features Navajo sleuths Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn as they patrol the Four Corners Indian reservations of the American Southwest. Hillerman also discussed her latest book, Stargazer, and provided background on her additional character, detective Bernadette Manuelito. Hillerman’s interview will be in the top slot of Just Read It until June 30 (www.youtube.com/wZyho0AyHZA).

1960

Michael Nelken has produced six kids and two books! “The kids are doing well. Still working. Still trying to decide what to be when I grow up. Counted elephants in Sri Lanka, lots. Counted monkeys in Costa Rica, lots. I am good

Ted Ullman ’52 with his wood sculpture Singularity.

A lasting hurrah from Michael Nelken ’60.

with numbers. A friend got the virus. Now I grow my tortillas in my own yard so I won’t have to touch my face.”

1961 60th reunion

1962

The third edition of H. Porter Abbott’s Cambridge Introduction to Narrative came out in January. Porter also published a collection of poems and stories in 2016. (See Reediana.)

1963

Bernard Dickman is a winner! “Fourteen years ago I won the NPR puzzle contest and appeared on the show. Recently I won again. I’m 78. I figure that the way things are going I’ll be 92 next time. (I keep trying; good for the brain.) Enjoying retirement giving talks to groups as Master Gardener, heading a retirees’ group at our library, participating in an environment action group, writing programs to solve the NPR puzzle, playing clarinet, and, of course, playing poker (brings back the old days in the Foster-Scholz basement).”

1964

Graham Seibert spends most of his time with his three children, aged four months to nine years, in the homogeneous backwater of Kyiv, Ukraine. He notes that the Ukrainians’ slavery also ended at the time of the US Civil War, the slaves having been the Ukrainians themselves. Following that, the country was ravaged by several Bolshevik-led famines, most notable being the Holodomor, followed by which it was repeatedly devastated by armies of both the Soviet Union and Germany. After the three and a half remaining decades of communism during which the people continued to repress their curiosity and inventiveness, they were wholly unprepared for economic and political freedom. Graham comments that the legacy of corruption continues, but surprisingly, the country enjoys more freedom of expression than the liberal democracies of the West. Graham’s children are getting an education relatively free of indoctrination. The people remain traditional. A search will locate the articles that Graham periodically publishes on the pleasures of living and raising a family in a country not riven by the diversity issues facing the West.

1965

Canada adopts maple leaf flag. 1966 55th reunion Jay Hubert let us know that Tom Witten, who is professor of physics at the University of Chicago, is chair-elect of the American Physical Society’s Topical Group on Statistical and Nonlinear Physics. GSNP’s focus spans nonlinear science—including dynamical systems, chaos, and complex systems—as well as the application of concepts of statistical mechanics to non-equilibrium systems like granular media, biomolecules, and polymers. The group now has about 1,400 members.

1967

Deborah Young wrote at the end of December, “As the pandemic grinds on with haircuts off the agenda, my now white hair is pulled back in a bun. Perhaps this is why I find myself thinking more often (always fondly) of Dean Ann Shepard ’23 [1926–68]?”

1968

“I was not a success story at Reed,” recalls Will Worrall. “I tried major after major, but none of them fit well. I finished my thesis because I was persistent, rather than brilliant. I handed it in nearly a year late, weeks past the final deadline. Somehow, the economics department graciously accepted it. I became a computer programmer (a solid ability I’d learned at Reed, but not in any class). Next, I was a back-to-the-land hippie, then a Jesus freak. I held various jobs over a 15-year period. I went to grad school and received an MA in clinical psychology (1993). However, I wasn’t good psychologist material, and they flunked me out of the doctoral program. Once more, I was a poor match to my major. I ended up working for, and retiring from, the State of Oregon. I also won the Oregon Senior Spelling Bee in 2014. Academically and professionally, I have been an underachiever. However, I have discovered that life is more than achievements. I have been happily married to my wife Janis for over 30 years. By God’s grace (will you print that?), I have exorcised a few hobgoblins, and I am facing up to a couple more. Life has been good.”

1969

Too dazed and confused to send in a class note?

1970

Jeffrey Kovac fully retired from the faculty of the University of Tennessee in July 2020 after 44 years of service. From 2011 to 2020 he was the director of College Scholars, the interdisciplinary undergraduate honors program in the College of Arts and Sciences. For the past several years he has been writing articles for the online Oregon Encyclopedia (oregonencyclopedia.org/about/authors/354/). He has written about Reed presidents (William Trufant Foster [1910–19] and E.B. MacNaughton [1948–52]), faculty

clockwise from top left:

Emerson Mitchell ’71 and Johanna Meyer-Mitchell ’73 on their wedding day, June 12, 1971, in Coulee Dam, Washington.

Graham Seibert ’64 and family: wife, children, and mother-in-law.

Left to right: Marge Goldwater ’71, Sara Patton ’71, and Matthew Kangas ’71 enjoy a week on Whidbey Island in 2018.

Sibylle Hechtel ’72 skis Horseshoe Bowl.

(Arthur F. Scott [chemistry 1923–79]), and alumni (Howard Vollum ’36 and Hans Linde ’47). He is also the president of the board of directors of the Flying Anvil Theatre, a small professional theatre in Knoxville.

1971 50th reunion Remember when friends could vacation together? That’s what Marge Goldwater, Sara Patton, and Matthew Kangas did for a lovely week on Whidbey Island in 2018. Marge came out from NYC and hosted Seattleites Sara and Matt in a cottage with a view. “The three of us are serving on our class’s 50th reunion committee so I figured a three-year-old photo might not come amiss,” wrote Sara.

Three weeks after graduation, Emerson Mitchell married Johanna Meyer (now Meyer-Mitchell) ’73. They are still married, making this their 50th wedding anniversary year. Due to the pandemic, they don’t anticipate a large party. They have two children, one on each coast, and seven grandchildren.

Spencer Smith, director at Seapoint Books + Media in Brooklin, Maine, has been named to the board of directors of Independent Publishers of New England.

1972

Sibylle Hechtel is celebrating 25 years of teaching skiing for Vail Resorts!

We share the sad news that influential educator Bob Slavin died in April. Look for his obit in the next issue.

1973

Can you send a class note from the dark side of the moon?

1974

Leo Rubinfien published an essay, “My Eyes Are Infamously Greedy,” in the February 11, 2021, issue of the New York Review of Books.

1975

Patricia Goldsmith retired this past year and is waiting for the damn virus to abate so she can get back to traveling, taking classes, and reconnecting with friends.

1976 45th reunion “2020 looked like it was going to be the date of death on my tombstone,” Michael Redden wrote in January. My chronic cardiomyopathy finally went too far and I was on my way out, as I went into Kaiser on Labor Day with heart, liver, and kidney failure. But luckily, I passed all the tests and was found a good candidate for a heart transplant. I was flown down to Stanford University Medical Center, where I received a heart transplant on October 3, only four days after I arrived. I am feeling very good and am back to work half time, working exclusively from home. In my spare time I study Italian and French, play competitive bridge, and am planning to start hiking and golfing again soon.” Here’s to continued good health, Michael!

1977

Artstor has published Barbara Anello’s collection of photographs of Khmer sites and monuments and the work being done to preserve them. (See Reediana.) Janice T. Paine was pleased to be able to present a virtual lecture by her longtime friend and fellow alumna Helen Lessick ’76, in February. “Called ‘Public Art | Public Thinking,’ her talk was an overview of the recent history and current practices of public art for members and friends of the local arts agency in southwest Florida where I manage education programs. Public art is becoming an increasingly lively topic here as city and county master plans are being finalized, and Helen’s background as an artist working in the public realm as well as her experience as an arts administrator and consultant was helpful for our diverse audience, which just happened to include my husband, Morgan T. Paine, who is associate professor of art and founding member of the art department at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.”

1978

Lou Cook’s new book features a leporid sleuth with an arachnid sidekick. (See Reediana.) OK, we admit that we had to look up “leporid”—and are delighted to add this marvelous term to our vocabulary. Thanks, Lou!

James Andrew Freeman’s 22nd book was published in April. (See Reediana.)

1979

Robert Clark retired from his position with the San Francisco Regional Water System as a senior water quality engineer with the intent to travel in 2020. Well, plans to go to the Passion Play at Oberammergau were changed, so Robert returned to work (part-time) to help

Clockwise from top left:

Helen Lessick ’76, Janice T. Paine ’77, and Morgan T. Paine ’77 decompress after Helen’s virtual lecture, Public Art | Public Thinking.

Pre Rup (Khmer:

ប្រាសាទប្រែរូប) 10th-century Shivite temple. Rajendravarman’s state templemountain, dedicated in 961 or 962, may also have been his funerary monument. Photo by Barbara Anello ’77, October 14, 2018.

Ross Day ’79 as he was in his Reed heyday.

with projects. He is delighted to remain free of all administrative and supervisory responsibilities. Janet Russell ’78 retired from 30 years of serving as a Presbyterian pastor in 2019. She is now a part-time accompanist, gardener, and grandmother, all of which she enjoys very much.

After 40 years on the job, Ross Day retired at the end of last year from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he was an art librarian. He was subsequently named librarian emeritus. Among the Reedies joining him at his Zoom 40th anniversary celebration in November was Liz Gray ’77, fellow librarian and recent retiree, and his quondam supervisor at the Reed Art Slide Library. While his nonvirtual retirement plans remain on hold, he continues to toil as the archivist for the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (ALPCA).

Janice Grubin continues to practice insolvency law in New York City as cochair of the practice at Barclay Damon LLP. Her life is enriched by her wife and their dogs and drinking wine and reading crime fiction.

1980

Jed Diamond continues to act and teach acting and Alexander technique at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville/Clarence Brown Theatre. The MFA in Acting program, which he has led since 2005, was ranked in 2020 as #8 in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. He is intensely grateful for his Reed family: Kathleen McNally, Michael Bess ’78, Walden Kirsch ’78, Roberto Malinow ’79, Potter Palmer, Maggie Groening ’83, Steve Mounteer ’76, the late great David Baty ’79; for the wild and wonderful crew of Magnifico Reforestation, who planted thousands of trees together in northeast Washington in 1980 while ash from Mt. St. Helens rained gently down upon their scruffy heads; for numerous other Reed friends; for the truly amazing faculty who challenged and supported him with care and attention above and beyond any call of duty, who helped him through and immeasurably strengthened him: Frederic Rothchild [music 1968–78], Bill Lankford [English 1977–83], Peter Parshall [art history 1971–2000], Lisa Steinman [English 1976–], Robert Knapp [English 1974–2020], Jack Dudman [mathematics and dean’s office 1953–85]. “Love and thanks to all. I cannot imagine my life without my experience at Reed, or without you all. Why would I ever want to?”

After 20 years in Chicago and 18 in LA, Niall Lynch has moved out to Palm Desert, in the Coachella Valley. He is enjoying very much the scenery, the people, and the slow pace of life. Niall has worked in software development for 35 years, and is still in that profession, a bit more to the consulting side than as an FTE. He’s spending his spare time writing a novel and some short stories, preparing for his son’s upcoming wedding, and getting involved in the art world in Mexico.

1981 40th reunion Congratulations to late bloomer Lisa (Steinmann) Charnock, who just completed her MFA in poetry from the Solstice Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College.

1982

After 18 years as an editorial writer for USA Today and 33 years in print journalism, Dan Carney decided in December to accept his company’s umpteenth offer of a modest pot of money to go away. While he may return to writing, he is content for now to focus on the pressing matters of spending more time sailing in Maine and decompressing from his regimen of the last four years, which was to heave daily opprobrium at the depraved, corrupt, unfit, incompetent, congenitally lying weasel of a president known as Donald Trump. His final missive, which serves as a pretty good example of his recent work, ended thusly: “After an almost comically inept career in business that saw multiple bankruptcies, Trump turned to reality television to rewrite the script. Now, after losing an election, he is turning to unreality in a bid to rewrite the script. In the end, though, there is a word for people who lose elections. It is the same for people who repeatedly fail at business. We call these people losers.”

1983

Karen Parker has moved from Cleveland to Tucson to take a job at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She’ll be doing inpatient geriatric consultation,

Tree planters, May 1980.

Left to right, first row:

Chris Wylie ’79, Allyson ? (with innovative breast supports—a

Reedie for a time by love with Chris).

Second row: Traci

Hatico, Bob Drake ’79, Jim Moran (deceased; he was a brilliant and beautiful soul), Greg “Aki” Lewis (on one knee; an honorary

Reedie through his brother Richie, back row), Aaron

Branscombe, Dave

Segaloff ’81. Third row: Jeffrey Brownwood ’80,

Sam Fromartz ’80,

Huggs McShane ’79 (tall, double masks), Jed Diamond ’80,

Kathryn Kost ’82.

Fourth row: Ed Mills ’80,

Potter Palmer ’80,

Richie Lewis ’79.

Four Reed gents 40 years later, reuniting for a few days in Palm Springs. Left to right: Michael Bess ’78, Roberto Malinow ’79, Jed Diamond ’80, Walden Kirsch ’78.

Niall Lynch ’80 wrote to us from Palm Desert, California.

Karen Parker ’83 and her husband at Glacier National Park in 2017.

teaching attending in the hospital, and working on helping the hospital improve how they treat patients with complex medical, psychiatric, and social needs. “Any Tucson Reed groups available? Call me! Maybe we can get together in about nine months!”

1984

Libby (Vaughan) Wennstrom was hunkered down at home in Port Townsend as we entered 2021. “I caught the virus in London in December 2019—does that make this year three for me? I’ve been working from home for years, and my kids are (mostly) grown, so daily life hasn’t been as impacted as it might have been. Youngest just turned 20, so I no longer have a teen for the first time since the Bush administration. Still working in tech pubs (legal document automation). Looking forward to resuming travel (I can see Canada, but can’t go there!).”

1985

Cherry blossoms

1986 35th reunion carpeting the grass in pink

1987

Where are my friends now?

1988

Wes Overson has joined the San Francisco office of law firm Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. Wes will serve as a partner in the firm’s internationally recognized intellectual property department and will be a member of the patent litigation team. “Wes is an outstanding addition to the firm and brings invaluable expertise for clients and colleagues to leverage,” said Wab Kadaba, chair of Kilpatrick Townsend’s intellectual property department. “Speaking for everyone at the firm, we look forward to working with him.”

1989–90

IMDb begins on Usenet in 1990 as a list of actresses with beautiful eyes.

1991 30th reunion Deepak Sarma volunteered in August to be on the Moderna COVID-19 experimental trial! He’s been interviewed twice on the local news about this experience (search for “Deepak Sarma vaccine” at https://www.news5cleveland.com) and has written a piece for the Hastings Center (thehastingscenter.org), “Volunteering for a Covid Vaccine Trial: Fulfilling Hindu Obligations or Fostering Pharmaceutical Company Profits?”

1992

Keelin Anderson, Derek Oringer, and Cora the cat have moved to Madison, Wisconsin, after 30 years (eek) in Portland. Keelin will be working as a chaplain at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and playing in the snow every chance she gets.

1993

Elina Erlendsson is spending the year in Iceland. She directs global communications for Kerecis, the medical fish-skin company, which is based in the Westfjords town of Isafjordur.

Rob Mack shared a Reedie encounter from last year. He and Daniel Schafer ’92 had stopped to rest on the deck of the Sellwood Bridge (the ride is quite steep, and Rob was doing cardio rehab after open-heart surgery). The pair were discussing a memory from the grand opening of the bridge four years earlier when a woman walking by commented on Rob’s Comrades of the Quest T-shirt. They quickly established that not only were they all Reedies, but they were all associated with the chemistry department as well, and shared multiple friends and idols worthy of great respect. “Eventually it dawned upon Dan and me that we had met the legendary Prof. Virginia Hancock ’62 [music 1991–2016]! And as she lives in the neighborhood, she had watched the construction of the bridge and been at the grand opening too. We had a great conversation about the engineering involved in the construction and moving of the old bridge (what an elegant solution), the social implications of traffic and neighborhood design, and of course chemistry, as only three Reedies could do!” Moral of the story: “Wear your Reed insignia proudly; you never know who you could meet!”

1994

Brittney Corrigan’s third book of poetry was published in February. (See Reediana.)

Aaron Glass also had a new book published this spring. (See Reediana.)

1995

First book sold on Amazon.com: Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought, by Douglas Hofstadter.

1996 25th reunion Jennifer Yasutake Stagner has published a novel set in Hawaii. Jennifer lives in the SF Bay Area with her husband and four children. (See Reediana.)

1997

RIP Allen Ginsberg.

1998

Snowboarding becomes Olympic sport.

clockwise from top left:

Elina Erlendsson ’93 visits Iceland’s new Geldingadalur volcano. A mass of smoldering lava is approaching in the background.

Keelin Anderson ‘92 is in Wisconsin and lgliooking forward to snow!

Rob Mack ’93, Virginia Hancock ’62, and Daniel Schafer ’92 share a Reedie encounter.

Wes Overson ’88 is now a partner in law firm Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.

Kimberly Loving ’00 visited Nairobi while finishing her MBA at American University.

1999

Jacqueline Pitter got married in October 2019 to Kelly Dews, with many Reed alumni and staff in attendance.

2000

In June 2019, Kimberly Loving visited Nairobi while finishing her MBA at American University. “We met with industry leaders to study venture venture capital and private equity investment in the coffee, tea, and tourism sectors.” 2001 20th reunion Vanessa Carlisle’s novel Take Me With You was released June 1. Vanessa notes, “Among other distinctions, it’s one of very few novels about a sex worker written by a sex worker.” (See Reediana.) Carey Doyle and Josh Einsle ’00 have been locked down in Glasgow, where they moved shortly before the COVID19 pandemic, for most of a year. Josh continues to make pretty (quantitative) pictures of the oldest minerals in the solar system using electron microscopy and statistics; he is now the concisely titled Lord Kelvin/Adam Smith Research Fellow in Data Science at the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow. Carey is putting her urban planning and radical training to use working in Scottish land reform. As soon as they’re let out of Glasgow they will be heading to the beaches of Argyll with their two sons, Hugh and Henry.

2002–03

Jimmy Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize.

2004

Anees Ahmed sends greetings once again from Southern California! “This past December was the worst month I’ve ever had as a physician—as many of you know, SoCal is the epicenter of the nation’s COVID-19 crisis. Being only 30 or so miles from Los Angeles, where they are getting hit hard, our hospital continues to be running at maximum or over capacity. We lost 64 souls over the four weeks, including 10 on December 30. We had patients admitted to the hospital but having to spend the night in the ER hallways and in the tent outside the hospital with temperatures below 40°F. As much as I love connecting with families, as you can imagine, it’s been mostly tough conversations. Our nurses and staff are working so very hard; it’s been emotionally and mentally taxing on all of us. As I continue my second year of residency, I’ve completed three full months in the hospital, so from now on, only monthly weekend duty, though just last week (second week of January) I did five emergency protocol backup night shifts, which were also very busy. I also recently received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Please stay safe, everyone, and mask up!”

2005

Massive dwarf planet Eris discovered, along with its moon, Dysnomia. The pair are named, respectively, for the GrecoRoman goddess of strife and discord and her daughter, whose name means “anarchy/lawlessness.” Perhaps those of you who are now parents can relate.

2006 15th reunion Thea Riofrancos had a solo-authored book published in summer 2020. (See Reediana.)

Shane and Whitney Mount-Rubenfeld welcomed Hugh Harmon MountRubenfeld to the world in August 2020,

Reedies at the wedding of Jacqueline Pitter ’99 [CIS staff]. From left to right: Hana Levay ’99, Lien Ngo ’99, T Solow [CIS staff], Jacqueline, Joey Lebow ’99, Caitlin Lebow ’99, Cameron Tanner [Residence Life staff]. Not pictured: Julia Staverosky ’02, Gary Schlickeiser [CIS staff], Hailie Roark [CIS staff].

Carey Doyle ’01, Josh Einsle ’00, and sons Hugh and Henry on their Glasgow doorstep, month 3 of lockdown

Anees Ahmed ’04 receives the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on December 17, 2020, at Chino Valley Medical Center.

Shane MountRubenfeld ’06 and son Hugh.

and it’s just now sinking in. There are very few decent photographs of all three of them, what with the global health crisis and all.

2007

Lindsay Matteson has written and illustrated a cocktail book! “I’ve been bartending since my senior year at Reed. I worked at some of the top cocktail bars in New York City, including Pouring Ribbons and Amor y Amargo, where I was the head bartender. A few years ago I relocated to Seattle (yeah, I missed the West Coast). I am now the bar manager at The Walrus and the Carpenter here in Seattle. When the shutdown happened last March I was filled with anxiety. I, like most Reedies, need to be busy—I need my mind going and working, and I didn’t know how I was going to fill the time. I also live alone, and was worried about my mental health. My favorite part of bartending is getting to connect with people every day, to learn, share, and provide an ear. Without my bar, I did not know how I could continue to create these connections that are essential to our lives. I turned to an old passion—painting. I started painting images of my cocktails. I turned this into a 30-day email subscription: one painting and original recipe delivered to your inbox for 30 days. I then turned this into a print book! I formatted the pages myself, and had a local print house do the printing. I’m incredibly proud of this project. This is something I created from start to finish (except for the actual printing, of course). I think so often we think of ourselves ‘I can’t’ or ‘That’s not me’ or ‘Someone else needs to show me how to do this.’” You’ve shown us how to do it, Lindsay! (See Reediana.)

2008

Can you see Russia from your house?

2009

On October 10, 2020, Brittany van der Salm (nee Taylor) married Paul van der Salm under an ancient oak tree at Adeline Farm in Woodland, Washington. Meg Huntington ’10 served as a safely masked bridesmaid, Sia Ziegler ’08 and Europa Babbini were present in person, and Alexandria Cook ’08, Anu Samarajiva, Sandra Voss, and TC Proctor joined via Zoom. Ella Stern ’11 was allegedly too busy being a doctor and delivering babies to attend. Brittany is in her fifth year working as a policy consultant for long-term Medicaid services for people with disabilities. Paul has deep roots in banking in Vancouver, Washington, and currently works as a relationship banker at Northwest local bank Columbia Bank. Together they are focused on community change, family, Portland sports teams, and eating cookies.

2010

Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano disrupts air travel in Europe for a week in April, not that you noticed while you were finishing your thesis.

2011 10th reunion Iceland’s Grímsvötn volcano erupts on May 22, disrupting air travel in northwestern Europe for three days. Hope you weren’t planning to fly directly to Reykjavik after commencement!

2012

On December 12, 2020, Erik Kindel and Rebecca Switzer ’13 were married at the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, California. Erik and Rebecca met during their freshman year Noize Parade, and while they were fast friends, they didn’t begin dating until they were reintroduced to each other by Marvin Bernardo ’13 at a board game cafe in LA in 2014. While the COVID-safe ceremony was attended only by family, their virtual wedding party contained 6 Reedies, with nearly 40 more Reedies joining in over Zoom. They hope to one day celebrate with their many Reed friends in person when the pandemic is over.

2013–14

AFTER MORE THAN 150 YEARS, US NAVY FINALLY STOPS SENDING ALL MESSAGES IN ALL CAPS, introducing new messaging system, Navy Interface for Command Email (NICE).

2015

“Dear class of 2015,” writes August Wissmath, “We made it . . . I would hope . . . moment of silence for those who did not survive 2020. This past year marked our five-year reunion, which was pleasantly virtual, unlike Reed’s coursework for fall 2020 and spring 2021. We should not have been surprised that Reed stayed open, given that we entered an institution that enabled a pervasive drug culture culminating in the death of not one but two bright young alumni only years before we entered the college. But those libertarian policies did not deter us. We went to classes, drank coffee far too late at night, and studied Foucault, Wollstonecraft, and second-year physics texts until our eyes ran bloodshot. We celebrated the end of each semester with joy and champagne. We feasted at feast and sat in the naked tree, before it was shamed out of existence. We learned to manage impossible workloads and moved forward into professional lives outside of Portland. So here’s to us. For thriving amidst the odds; for striving against the impossible; and for imagining that even Sisyphus and his rock feel joy.”

2016 5th reunion Nevertheless . . .

2017–20

Erik Kindel ’12 and Rebecca Switzer ’13 on the rooftop of the Museum of Jurassic Technology, the venue where they were COVID-safely married.

Brittany van der Salm (Taylor) ’09 married Paul van der Salm in October!