204 minute read
Milestones
1
MARRIAGES
2003
2011 VALERIE CHIN to Peter Joseph Decareau III1
DASHA KOLTUNYUK to Gregg Kallor
IN MEMORIAM
1933
1940
1941
1942
1942
1944
1944
1944 Elizabeth Wadsworth
Barbara Ridder Irwin
Katharine Evarts Merck
Phyllis Farley
Katherine Hinman
Virginia Clark Clarkson
Lucy H. Swift
Jane Clark Byers 1951
1953
1953
1953
1967
1970
1982
1986 Iris Love
Louise MacGregor Griggs
Barbara Hadley Stanton
Margaret LaCossitt Trinkaus Carroll
Jessica Field Gay
Ruth Sylvester
Meredith Nieves Millington
Thea Trachtenberg
1942 BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1920 classnotes@brearley.org
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1930
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1950 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 19201920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1920 ANN LASZLO writes, “I am well and living in Montana— 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 19301930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1930summers on the family ranch (fourteen thousand acres) 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 19801940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 19501940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950and winters in Bozeman. My three boys live in Montana 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1980 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1920 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1930 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1950 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1950 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1980 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1950 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1980 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 and my daughter in Salt Lake City. Nobody left on the East Coast. I left NY in 2011 and don’t expect to return. The ranch is a working cattle ranch, plus we have the finest fishing and hunting as well as a well-known conservation project called the O’Dell Creek project, restoring streams to their original beauty.”
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1980 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 1946
CLASS NOTES 2011 2012 2013 2014 BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE classnotes@brearley.org
Please send news and photos directly to your Notes Agent. We ask that Notes Agents submit their edited notes for the next issue of the Bulletin to classnotes@ brearley.org or by mail to Alumnae Relations by Tuesday, September 15, 2020. For classes without agents, please send your news to classnotes@brearley.org or by mail to Alumnae Relations. If you are interested in becoming a Notes Agent, please email classnotes@brearley.org or call Alumnae Relations at (212) 570-8616.
D
PHOTOS ARE WELCOME!
Digital and print photos are accepted. Please send to classnotes@ brearley.org or by mail to Alumnae Relations.
From MONIQUE LÉVY-SAVOYE VALERY: “Greetings from Paris. Once a week I participate in a salon for women in the arts founded by REBECCA DOLINSKY ’80, the Salonistas [see Class of 1980 notes]. Recently we had a show at the SPARC gallery in Los Angeles—an exchange between our salon and women in LA and Mexico. Herewith I am photographed in an article in Hyperallergic magazine describing our work: https://hyperallergic.com/532918/the-box-project-sparc-venice/. I paint in my studio, write, and participate in seminars on Paul Valéry. I am the mother of Charles Ambroise Paul Valery, neurosurgeon and researcher at l’Hôpital de la Salpétrière. Caroline Bourgois-Emmet, whose mother and aunt (the Berlin sisters) attended Brearley, recently made a documentary about me: the painter Souvals. With great pleasure I hosted JANE FOLEY FRIED for breakfast in my home and made a luncheon for the Brearley girls with Rebecca and VIRGINIE-ALVINE PERRETTE ‘85. As you can imagine, the Brearley spirit keeps going on in Europe!”
UPDATE YOUR PERSONAL AND/OR PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION
Please visit www.brearley.org/alumnaeupdate to update information including email and mailing addresses, phone numbers and professional details such as industry and field of expertise.
The views and opinions expressed in Class Notes are those of the alumnae and do not necessarily reflect those of the School.
1947 SUSAN NEUBERGER WILSON
40 Constitution Hill West Princeton, NJ 08540 susie.wilson@comcast.net
RUTH ARNOLD writes: “I’ve just returned from a month visiting my son in New Zealand, spent mostly at the beach—it was summer there. Temps, roughly translated from Celsius, were just under 80 degrees, with perfect weather. I returned just as the coronavirus encroached. Now our retirement community (no cases) has shut down all outings and gatherings, and is delivering meals to our apartments to keep us isolated. Boring, yes, but it leaves more time for cooking experiments and reading. Three things distressed me in the latest Bulletin: (1) Saturday classes—our family treasured our weekend getaways to the country in West Hills, Long Island. (2) Coddling sleepyhead teens with later starting hours. Just go to bed earlier! (3) Cutting classes from the ’40s from class news. What is the world coming to? Cross-country travel from California has become more work than fun, and I may not see the new building in action.” From time to time, I, SUSIE NEUBERGER WILSON, have dinner with ROBIN HINSDALE GOULD and her partner, Alan Mallach, and I know she, as our former class president senior year, would want me to send her warm regards to everyone in the class. If the ‘40s decade will be cut from the alumnae Bulletin, I, as class correspondent, want to wish Godspeed to everyone in the Class of 1947, those who are still alive and those who now, according to the song we used to sing without much thinking, “we’re Brearley dead.”
JUDY RANDALL HINES, who served as co-correspondent with Susie for the last few years, is now the class secretary of her Wellesley class of 1951. She sends her kindest regards to all members of the Class of 1947 for whom she has the warmest feelings.
Ed. Note: In no way have classes from the ‘40s or any decade been cut or will be cut. We welcome all news we receive. The previous Bulletin, Winter 2020, indeed included notes from the ‘40s. The issue you’re referring to, Spring 2019, did not because the earliest class from which we received notes was 1950. Hope this alleviates any concern and please keep your news coming!
1948 BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
classnotes@brearley.org
MOLLY HEIZER writes: “Happy to say I am doing well for a supersenior, can’t believe how time flies! Next month I am simplifying my life by moving into an apartment (new address). However, I am still traveling; this past year I have enjoyed the Galapagos Islands, Vienna, the Caribbean and four states from west to east. Next month I will be in Arizona. Life is good.”
Class of 1947 president Robin Hinsdale Gould (seated) and vice president Susie Neuberger Wilson celebrating their mutual 90th birthdays in January. For fun they brought along a copy of their yearbook so that all their classmates were present too.
This picture signifies the milestone that everyone in the Class of 1947 achieved this year. On the mantlepiece is a picture of Susie Neuberger Wilson, her daughter, Penny Wilson ’85, and her children. Michelle Obama has the same birthday as Susie. OFFICERS PRESIDENT Terri Seligman ’78 VICE PRESIDENT Dena Twain Sims ’00 SECRETARY Willa Ghitelman Fawer ’91
MEMBERS TO SERVE UNTIL 2020 Karen Ash ’99, Wendy De Wolf ’10, Kate Hartnick Elliott ’82, Willa Ghitelman Fawer ’91, Gail Gerhart ’61, Kitty Morot-Sir Gordan ’64, Felicia Gordon ’93, Kelly Salazar ’08, Terri Seligman ’78
TO SERVE UNTIL 2021 Elaine Bennett ’77, Britt Caputo Bunn ’04, Claire Gilman ’89, Amina Elderfield ’94, Colette Macari ’13, Dena Twain Sims ’00, Julia Speed ’07, Karen Young ’88
TO SERVE UNTIL 2022 Kathy Mayer Braddock ’75, Juanita Dugdale ’70, Margot Herrera ’80, Leslie Dickey Patel ’79, Anita Ramamurthy ’12
COMMITTEE CHAIRS 610 CONNECT Britt Caputo Bunn ’04, Kate Hartnick Elliott ’82
ALUMNAE WEEKEND Wilhelmina Martin Eaken ’64, Andrea Kassar ’95
ANNUAL FUND Katie Shutzer Brennan ’92, Emily Marzulli Rummel ’06
ANNUAL FUND LEADERSHIP GIFTS Mia Campbell ’06, Madeleine Saraceni ’03
ARTS Claire Gilman ’89, Julia Speed ’07, Jody Perlberger Watermeyer ’87
COMMUNITY TASK FORCE Jade Johnson ’08, Terri Seligman ’78
FRANCES RIKER DAVIS Kitty Morot-Sir Gordan ’64, Lucy Mayer Harrop ’70
LIBRA Elaine Bennett ’77, Karen Young ’88
LOIS KAHN WALLACE Cindy Spiegel ‘78
MILLER SOCIETY Cherise Fisher ’90, Michelle Wonsley-Ford ’97
NOMINATIONS Willa Ghitelman Fawer ’91, Dena Twain Sims ’00
PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION Mika Bouvard ’93, Dena Twain Sims ’00
WE MISS YOU!
please send news for class notes to the addresses listed below.
1943 FRANCES FISHER Fisherfran83@aol.com
1944 CONSTANCE ANDERSON TATE con48@optonline.net
1945 ALUMNAE OFFICE classnotes@brearley.org
1949 BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
classnotes@brearley.org
We send our deepest sympathy to MIMI ALLEN on the loss of her husband in December.
SUSAN BOURNE BRINKAMA reports: “My husband died May 2018 and I moved to a retirement community February 2019 in La Verne, CA, less than three miles from my home of 57 years in Claremont, CA.” ANN BANKS writes: “My daughter Pam and I traveled to Scotland in October. We have a connection with BERYL FOLEY COOPE’s son, Robert, and his wife, Becky. We squeezed in a couple nights with their busy schedule. She and her brother put out pocket-sized walking guides and Robert and Becky were off to check out some of the older routes. Pam and I toured the northwest coast. Massive expanses of heath and heathers. We visited with Libby (ELIZABETH COX PLUM) and her daughter, SALLY PLUM ’73, in London on our way home. Libby is not mobile but Sally has revived her backyard space so that she has something to look out on. AND: I’m a hippie, at last! I got a new hip in January. Pam is helping me get through it all. Someone sent me an orchid in connection with that and I’ve been consulting with Mimi (HELEN MILLS ALLEN). She has five and it looks like they are blooming profusely!” SAN TILGHMAN LYMAN writes, “Living gleefully in downtown Woods Hole on the Cape. Am so lucky still to be able to paint and play tennis. (Note no split infinitive!) Am near both sons so have family all around. Find aging huge challenge and somehow worthwhile. Believe in strong friendships. Believe in kindness and noticing. And especially believe in laughter. There isn’t a day goes by when I don’t thank my lucky stars that I went to the Brearley.”
1950 70TH REUNION BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
classnotes@brearley.org
From SHEILA COCHRAN: “As I type this during the Thanksgiving weekend I must mention how grateful my entire family was to learn that my grandson, his fiancée and a friend are safely on shore. They left Mount Desert Island in his sailboat during bad weather two weeks ago and were not heard of until two and a half days later. There was no way to communicate. Continuing sailing, they then were shipwrecked and were rescued by the US Coast Guard and brought ashore on a merchant vessel after a day and a half of bobbing about in terrible weather with no boom and a broken mast. No one was hurt and the Coast Guard was fantastic—efficient, patient with us and as helpful as they could possibly be with planes, boats and helicopters searching for days. I am so proud of my two children and of my five grandchildren as each pursues his/her own gifts.”
MARY HARPER HUTCHINS writes, “I am still working doing taxes and still doing horse stuff from May to October. I am still licensed with USEF as a judge for eventing and as a course designer. I retired from judging dressage two years ago. My grandson, a large-animal vet, lives in the front part of my house and keeps four horses in my barn. I love it.”
VIRGINIA RYAIN AIRLIE writes that EDITH WOODRUFF KUNHARDT and her daughter visited Ginnie in Scotland last August. Ginnie and David have 14 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, so life is very busy. She wishes she could get to New York to see the new school building, but has enjoyed reading about it in the Bulletin.
SUSAN ROBBINS MORRISON writes that she lives in Hanover, MA, in a townhouse community for over-50s. One of her daughters, with OCD, lives with her. She also is germophobic so this is a hard time for them both. Susan is very glad to be living in a pleasant place far from a large city. She sends good wishes and good health to all her classmates. Before Alumnae Weekend was canceled, PATRICIA ROSENWALD HELLER offered to hold a dinner at her house for all our classmates. We are so sorry that we could not gather to celebrate 70 years since graduation. A big milestone!
1951 JULI SHEA TOWELL
2 Sunningdale Court Maplewood, NJ 07040 (973) 467-0976 Cell: (973) 738-2261 juliintj@towell4.us
SHIRLEY BUFFINGTON HOWE is at home, where she can get outside and walk and “enjoy the daffodils and forsythia.” She is spending a lot of enjoyable time painting.
AUDREY CLINTON OSWALD is in her house in Newport, RI. She says her family is doing well right now, hunkered down mostly here on the East Coast, although one grandson, who is an artist, lives in Tuscon, AZ. She and I have compared notes on live-ins, her grandsons and our granddaughters. We had a good email laugh.
BICKLEY FLOWER SIMPSON is living in New York City, which up until the virus hit she was enjoying. Now Bick thinks she will look for an assisted living facility somewhere outside of the city. She is staying connected to politics, and is interested in the senatorial campaign in Montana.
ANNE (SUSIE) RIKER BUTTRICK was honored by the New England Aquarium in Boston for 50 years of volunteering in education. She plans to continue her work as soon as the aquarium reopens. She says it is “a very important part of her week.” Anne continues to go on cruises, but has had her trip in July canceled. She and JOAN GODDARD SOWDER had a long chat on the phone a few months ago. Joan is doing well and lives in Richmond, WA.
JULI SHEA TOWELL: We moved to a retirement community last June just a few miles from Short Hills, where we lived for 50 years. We are enjoying our new “villa,” although right now everything is restricted. The grounds here at Winchester Gardens are beautiful with lots of flowering trees. All of our family is doing well, with two children and five grandchildren all over the country. I’m hoping we can have a huge party with each other sometime this summer and celebrate all the occasions we have missed.
If you did not get my email and want to reply in writing, please do so. Best wishes and good health to everyone.
1952 EVELYN JANOVER HALPERT
ANN MCGRAW DAVIS
68 Dwight Place, Apt. A Englewood, NJ 07631 Amcdavis11@hotmail.com
MARIE HARRIS writes: “Attached is my news—6-week-old Liam Myers, my granddaughter’s baby (seen here at 5 days). I’m a GREAT-GRANDMA! An exciting Christmas was celebrated by the whole family.”
1954 BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
classnotes@brearley.org
DEBORAH GORHAM writes, “My news is that I’m getting old, and I am not well. But I can still read, thank goodness. My best wishes to all.”
1955 65TH REUNION AMANDA NORRIS LOVELL
P.O. Box 215 Pound Ridge, NY 10576 (914) 764-0141 amandanlovell@aol.com
Ah, the best-laid plans . . .
Here’s the note ARIEL HAMILL HERMANN sent back in February, before the coronavirus exploded: “I am off at the beginning of March to Maastricht, where I will be on the Antiquities Vetting Committee at the TEFAF art fair. Afterwards, a friend and I will set out on a road trip in Turkey—the southwestern corner with its archaeological sites and glorious landscapes.” And here’s Ariel in March (Maastricht having closed four days early): “No Turkish road trip, alas. My traveling companion’s (Brearley) daughter has talked him out of it. I don’t mind too much because I am in Basel, the best possible place to be stuck. People have their heads screwed on right, the fruit trees are in bloom, and I have friends close at hand. Each time the tram crosses the bridge across the Rhine I see the ancestral palace of the Iselins, from whom Edith was descended and whom I met with her on her ‘roots’ trip to Basel. I look forward to seeing you all at the Brearley events.” Which, of course, will now be in the fall, assuming things settle down.
BEA MATTHEWS FRANCAIS writes: “I am at this moment in the middle of the biggest hot spot of the pandemic: 70 percent of the people in my building have fled to the countryside— things are very quiet. I am truly grateful for two things: Central Park and music. Each day, I meet a good friend and we explore the park carefully, keeping a six-foot distance. It is a gorgeous spring with flowering trees and abundant daffodils—the struggle going on in the hospitals seems a long way away.
“I also practice the violin every day and take great satisfaction from rediscovering the Bach sonatas and partitas. One of my abiding passions, chamber music, will have to wait for the pandemic to die down, but just before the city was hit, I went up to a church on 114th Street to play all six Brandenburg concerti with around 50 other amateur musicians, most of whom did not know each other. That was a glorious afternoon that still reverberates in my psyche.
“I am in regular contact with members of the board of Young Concert Artists (founded by SUSAN POPKIN WADSWORTH ’54). The current situation is wreaking havoc in the lives of young musicians. YCA is doing what they can to support them. Associated Chamber Music Players (founded by Helen Rice, who taught at Brearley in the ’40s) has to have their annual board meeting remotely, but we continue our work to promote the playing of chamber music for pleasure.”
From LOUISA LAWRENCE: “Our move to our new retirement community in Greenport, Long Island, has been brought to a halt. We are, instead, hunkered down among the packing boxes in our NYC apartment. Outside our window, the Bradford pear trees, which have not been doing well in recent years, have suddenly burst forth in bountiful bloom. It is ironic and heartbreaking that as this pestilence swirls across the city, springtime in New York has never been more beautiful.”
Gyms are closed. Streets can be scary. ALICE BUNZL BELGRAY writes: “Trying to stay healthy, I’m currently relegated to walking in circles on my apartment’s rooftop, which has the added benefit of a glorious view of the Hudson River. I continue to review children’s books and edit the booklist for the Bank Street College Chil-
Marie Harris ‘52 with great-grandson, Liam Myers.
dren’s Book Committee. In normal times, I sing with the Brearley Singers. Last May, the chorus celebrated its 25th anniversary with a major concert, including the Mozart Requiem sung at the magnificent Riverside Church.
“During this period, when we need to stay at home, I’m grateful to have a caring family whose members seem to be thriving. LAURA BELGRAY ’87, living in Manhattan and Sag Harbor with her husband, is a copywriting expert whose company, TalkingShrimp.com, helps entrepreneurs market themselves in the most personable, powerful way. MARIAN BELGRAY ’91 lives in LA with her husband and two children, and has now gone back to school to become a psychotherapist.“
MERRIOL BARING-GOULD ALMOND writes: “I had my right hip replaced in December followed by eight weeks of rather onerous restrictions to minimize the risk of dislocating the new one. In February, we were able to go ahead with a very enjoyable cruise from Zadar in Croatia to Kotor in Montenegro and back to Zadar, and I became more comfortable with my new hip.
“We had a trip to my father’s family home in Devon planned for March, but had to cancel that because of the coronavirus. Had we gone, I think we would have had trouble coming back again. A close friend of ours is a general practitioner in Somerset, also in the southwest of England, and she is now on the front lines of confronting the epidemic. Our four children, like us, are sheltering in place, going out only for necessities or near necessities. May we all somehow manage to keep our tempers and mostly be nice to one another. It’s a frightening time and we wonder what the outcome will be by the time you read this, or if it will still be going on.”
JANE MACLEOD PAPPIDAS is also sheltering in place (or, as some of us like to think of it,
Gillian Pederson-Krag ’56.
cocooning): “I now binge-watch stupid shows that I could have written myself—i.e., the body of the mother is in the trunk! I also do the Times and Washington Post crosswords, Wednesday to Sunday, and the New Yorker on Monday.
“The house we bought here in Olympia, WA, to be close to our son MacLeod and his family, came with many trees and flowering bushes, but actual gardening I can no longer do. We have families of fat squirrels, Steller’s jays, and crows that have trained us to feed them peanuts right outside the French windows, and our cat taps at them on the screen.
“I do have some excellent news: My daughter-in-law, Corinna Luyken, is doing very well writing and illustrating children’s books. Her first was The Book of Mistakes, and she is booked (ha ha) through ’23, and has had to turn work down. The tedious news: Because of the virus, the family is keeping our 10-year-old granddaughter, Quinn, away from us.“
GAIL TIPTON reports from Martha’s Vineyard: “Good question about how we’re dealing with this surreal reality. The island strangely quiet with most shelves and streets empty . . . except for extraordinary grocery and medical suppliers. There’s a look of awareness with kindness that I’m seeing with strangers. Being 82 is a wonder full of vulnerabilities. I am grateful to still be breathing and moving. Tho’ far away, I am especially grateful for my three beautiful sons, their beautiful partners and two beautiful grandsons. At 82, redundancy and a host of other ‘incorrect’ behaviors bother me not at all. That’s the beauty of where we are. With the freedom of mind comes the resistance of the body, and it’s hard to keep up the daily tasks of living when you are moving more cautiously and alone. BUT! I am grateful for living in the pines, smelling the ocean, hearing migrating birds and ravenous local feeders, watching green shoots push through the dark earth, and continuing creative work. Please visit. I would love to see you and to hear your stories.” For Gail’s Waterstories, check out MVTV.org, Video on Demand (enter Gail Tipton as producer). Gail also helped with Blue Pages, www.mvcommission.org/ node/46152/attachment, a charming and informative guide for anyone concerned with her own local water supply.
Knowing that MARY KNAUTH FIELD has (to her own amazement) produced two competitive-swimmer grandchildren, we wondered how they were getting on. “Synchronized swimming is affected,” Mary writes. “Absolutely! Megumi, 14 (everywhere she competes, so far, she has won gold) and her sister Kanako, 10 (doing well in synchro), are doing their land exercises at home, by video. The pools have been closed, the competitions delayed or canceled. It’s a challenge to keep fit. Their sister Anna (13), although not a swimmer, joins in the exercise fun. It’s easier to do it as a family group. “My driving for FISH—taking people without transportation to medical appointments— is suspended. After all, most of us drivers are in the ‘elderly at risk’ category. My health, fortunately, is very good. New right hip and left knee, but excellent for 82. My knitting prayer shawls—we call them hugs—for people in our church (and beyond) can continue in the isolation of home. All’s well.”
From MARY CARLTON SWOPE: “I have finally put together many of the poems I have been writing all these years, and the manuscript, Phosphorescence, has been accepted for publication next February by Word Tech Publications. The title poem is a brief narrative I wrote over 40 years ago. It’s about music, horseshoe crabs, bioluminescence, friendship, and Betsy Loeb and me skinny-dipping in Woods Hole one August after performing in a wonderful local concert that featured Bach’s Magnificat. (I sang; she, of course, played the cello.) The intensity of the event was heightened for both of us, as she had told me this would be her last public performance on cello, because she knew that her incurable illness would eventually make it impossible for her to play. I did not write directly about that fact, but rather about the great fun we had together, and something about her compassion for all living creatures. I was hoping to read that poem to you all at our class luncheon at Bunny’s. I so look forward to seeing all of you when we emerge from this terrible pandemic. Betsy would be out there today, caring for the sick and urging her fellow nurses on, were she still with us.”
1956 CORNELIA HANNA MCMURTRIE
MYRA ROSENTHAL LIPMAN
252 Seventh Avenue, Apt. 3X New York, NY 10001 Myra8@aol.com
CORNELIA HANNA MCMURTRIE and MYRA ROSENTHAL LIPMAN are both thinking of you in this very unsettling time with the coronavirus ravaging the world, and we send you heartfelt wishes for your health and safety. MYRA ROSENTHAL LIPMAN sagely writes: “In these times that defy descriptors, we ‘of a certain age’ tend to think back on our best— and possibly even our worst—of times. . . . If anyone is up to it technologically, we could do or see or write something just for our class. If some of you are in touch with emailaverse classmates, please reach out.”
Myra and I each have sons who have weathered the virus. What profound effects may the virus have had on our classmates’ lives! When it is over, may we ask you to reflect and share your experience of this momentous, frightening event with our classmates? I, Cor H., am writing these notes, and I feel deeply, in this later stage of our lives, what a strange time this has been! On one hand it has been a unique coming together in spirit with friends and neighbors. Kindness prevails, soothing on the other hand the deep isolation we feel when we must remain sequestered for an indeterminate time. We worry about our children and grandchildren, some far away with whom we cannot meet.
CYNTHIA DESSEN SHELDON sends us a lively description of her life in North Carolina. “Alan and I are very well protected down here at our retirement community, Carol Woods,
in Chapel Hill. Spring is in full bloom and we had no snow this year at all. I am keeping busy doing a Zoom meetup weekly with friends to read plays, as well as watching, listening to, and reading so many other wonderful things on my computer, iPod, television, or Internet radio that I have enough activities to last another 10 years. I am in touch with NANCY REYNOLDS and GILLIAN PEDERSON-KRAG, both of whom are well. I think keeping a sense of humor and phoning or emailing relatives and children from time to time is essential. My daughter Sarah, the YA novelist, lives nearby; she is negotiating a deal with Netflix to film three more of her novels and she is also teaching herself to bake bread, like her older brother Michael, who is now on sabbatical from UC Irvine and busy composing for future concerts on both coasts when this virus abates.” How wonderful to hear again from LINDA MARKWETT LIEBES, who wishes us all to stay well. “My news for today is that I just spoke to a friend in Maine who was a first-year nurse in New York in 1957 at St. Luke’s Hospital, and she remembers well the flu epidemic of 1957. I have no recollection of it—perhaps because I was in California, but it must have been there also. Do any of you remember it? I’ve been able to google one NY Times article from August 1957 but that’s all I could find, plus an old August 26, 1957, Newsweek on sale with the epidemic on the cover.”
LINDA RAISS DESPIRLET writes: “I hope you are well and safe. We are in Florida, everything is closed, who would have thought China could shut down our economy with this terrible virus. All we do is walk and meet friends outside so we can connect a bit.” My ever-faithful correspondent, BETH ROSENTHAL BARTH, writes her thoughts about the virus from her lovely house in Sag Harbor, Long Island, which I (Cor H.) have enjoyed visiting: “All of both Bob’s and my families are so far okay and very happy about that. Mike, Bob’s son, phones with his family often. Carrie, my youngest, phones every Saturday or more often, and Joanna, too. She’s glad she doesn’t have to drive to Providence but can work from home. Carrie and Lee, Gus and Macey are all working from home. I have trouble sleeping and concentrating even during the day. So I guess I am scared too. I can’t imagine there will be an upside to this even though I feel lucky to be in the Hamptons.” We all realize how many talented and artistic classmates we have! Be sure to look up the 2018–19 film Reflections on Painting about the 60-plus years of work and ideas in front of the easel of our talented painter classmate, GILLIAN PEDERSON-KRAG. The film, made by one of Gillian’s students, shows the artistic process she followed. The following is a news-filled email she wrote to Cor H. this winter: “I am in Ithaca these days out in the woods, but I have thought often of you and Myra and Nancy and others who are living in cities, which must be much more stressful. Not that people are unaware of the situation here, the streets are very empty. I have been occupying myself making masks for people and trying to keep in touch by remote control on the computer. . . . What I find kind of shocking is that huge numbers of children die of starvation every year, nobody seems to notice, Tibet is invaded and millions of monks massacred, people are oblivious—not to mention what was allowed to happen to the Jews in the Second World War. But this tiny little virus makes its appearance and boom, there is a huge outcry and we are all ready to make all kinds of changes. I find it a mystery. I have also found it interesting to experience the isolation and opportunity for change and self-reflection. Well, we will see how it all unfolds. . . . Last fall a painting student who is also an amateur filmmaker asked if he could make a video about some of the ideas in my book. I could not see any reason not to do it but I didn’t see the video until it was almost finished so I had almost zero input into it. I have very mixed feelings about it; frankly, it is hard for me to judge whether it is of any interest or not. But if you have 40 minutes (it is too long) and are curious, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=AZgNz53T_l&t=:7s.”
JEAN LOEB TROUBH writes us her memory of the summer 1957 pandemic, the H2N2 virus. “Most of us were freshmen or sophomores at college so not necessarily in New York. Certainly there was nothing like this.” On a cheerful upbeat note, in 2020 NANCY REYNOLDS started a collective, constructive and hopefully uplifting exchange of poetry. Nancy’s email is nancy.r.reynolds@verizon.net if you’d like more information.
1957 BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
classnotes@brearley.org
WE MISS YOU!
please send news for class notes to the addresses listed below.
1953 ANN LEVENTHAL azlev@comcast.net
most of us have aged pretty well (I have photos to prove it) and we know that Brearley taught us to be resourceful! I live in a highrise CCRC (seniors in independent living and three levels of assisted care). As president of the Residents Association, I’ve taken on the responsibility (also Brearley-taught) of sending daily multiple funny or interesting or just beautiful emails (not anything about the virus—I let our administration handle all of that) to the whole community. It seems to be appreciated and it certainly makes me feel useful. Although our adjacent lakefront park has been closed, I still get out and walk—and religiously exercise with our fitness instructors through a closed-circuit TV system. I also make great use of Zoom for board meetings and a daily call with a group of friends. Fortunately my far-flung family are all fine—although we’re carefully watching one granddaughter who just arrived home after a month (starting a semester) in Australia. There were several thwarted attempts to get her home but last night she finally got there—having gone through airports in Melbourne, Sydney, San Francisco, Chicago and finally Dulles in DC. Scary. These are scary times but I hope and pray that all my ‘57 classmates come through this with spirits intact.”
ELSPETH WOODCOCK MACDONALD writes, “Thank you, classmates, readers, for your wonderful notes and appreciation for my time as your class agent. Thank you, also, for your concern for my heart problem. Gradually stronger, was getting back to the less strenuous parts of dance class. The terrific teacher of Afro-Caribbean, Pat Hall, persuaded me to join the drumming section with shakers while sitting out! Singing with St. George’s Choral Society now online. Cooking more, now that we have room to have people to dinner. And eating it, as we can’t. Admiring our grandsons,
Ruth Messinger ’58.
Class of 1958 members Sally Stopford, Ellen Walsh, Jackie Assheton in London.
Liza Molodovsky ’58 with her sister Mary ’62 and Mary’s daughter and grandchildren. Pip (on the right) was applying to start kindergarten at Brearley but has ended up instead at Chapin (!).
Jacob, 25, Julian, 15.8, and Marcus, 14, from afar. Collecting my poems, compiling my mother’s efforts at writing, and rewriting my MFA thesis, all still on my desk. Ardent member of nearby Q Gardens in our fabulous part of Brooklyn. Hope you are all thriving in new ways. Think of those suffering in unimaginable ways from this crisis. Good luck, all.”
1958 WENDY LIPSEY ECKER
SALLY WOODMAN STOPFORD
6 Chalcot Square London NW1 8YB, UK +44 (20) 7722 4149 swstopford@hotmail.com
As you can see from the heading above, WENDY LIPSEY ECKER has joined the class agentry, for which a huge and grateful welcome. It is strange to be writing into this isolated world of the COVID-19 virus, and one wonders what the world will be looking like when you read this. Meanwhile, here are our voices from what seems very much like the past—i.e., 2019–20, The Days Before. And the question for next year will be How to Cope with This New World. With that in mind, many thanks for the book recommendations—they seem very important at the moment.
RUTH WYLER MESSINGER was named by the New Jewish Home as one of the Eight Over Eighty exceptional individuals “who personify the value of aging well into their 80s as they continue to blaze trails.” Back in February, Ruth wrote, “Well, in the middle of true political lunacy, I am happy to report on two fronts. Professionally I am well engaged in retirement,” as amply attested to by the glittering list of her activities on the award news release. Personally, she had an adult granddaughter who was living with them until her foreign husband could join her and who had just produced a great-grandson who was also resident. Ruth recommends The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis (“with terrifying new information about what’s going wrong in Washington”) and A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves by Jason De Parle (“a fascinating tale of challenging but ultimately successful immigration to the US in one family, over several generations”).
LESLIE ARMSTRONG’s memoir about the first third of her life is due to come out soon, titled Girl Intrepid: A New York Story of Privilege and Ambition. That will certainly be a book to entertain us in our isolation.
CAROL PRINS suggested with deep percipience that “no news is really good news these days!” Ah, yes. She had “a great phone visit and catch-up with CECILE MILLER EISTRUP. It’s wonderful to hear from friends!” Her favorite book of last summer was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
LINDA LIVINGSTON HOUGHTON sympathized with KAREN KRIENDLER NELSON’s current loss as a result of a fire, saying that her apartment was gutted by fire in 2016 and she was at the time thankful for the “reliable systems of support in times of disaster” to be found in the US. Here’s hoping.
LIZA MOLODOVSKY enjoyed two remarkable novels: Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (about two little girls who disappear in Kamchatka) and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak (about the murder of a prostitute in Istanbul). A group biography, The Club by Leo Damrosch, included chapters on 18th-century figures Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, David Garrick, Edmund Burke and other good company.
LOUISE STILLMAN LEHRMAN writes that she has a granddaughter in 1st grade (fifth generation!).
WENDY LIPSEY ECKER has been reading a series of books by Sarah Woodbury about medieval Wales and battles with the Normans which she found interesting and fun. Sounds like a good place to go.
ELLEN SCOTT WALSH passed through London on her way home from a family reunion in Stafford, England, stayed with SALLY STOPFORD in London, and we all dined with JACKIE HARRIS ASSHETON, who was with us for a year in Class VI. Ageless Ellen then went on to hike in the Dordogne. At home she was speaking French, volunteering in an ESL kindergarten class, debating and playing tennis.
ANN CARLTON has been writing poetry, feeling “an increased emotional sense of freedom with a deepened sense of responsibility as we exit from our seventh and enter an eighth decade. How did this happen? Wasn’t I just 60?”
WENDY OEHLERT ADAMS says hello from the Deep South, where she’s still very involved in her painting.
Last year ANN RICHARDS GRIDLEY combined travel to South Georgia and Antarctica with major back surgery, from which she is safely recovered. They spend the winter months in Charleston and the summer in Cleveland. She enjoyed William Boyd’s novel Love Is Blind.
EDITH HUMPHREYS MAS (Ebie) is “still loving
The families of Anne Dunn ’59 and Molly Mazzone ’59 at Molly’s apartment in Rome. Top row, from left: Justin (Nat’s son), Nat (Anne’s son), Molly, Giorgio (Molly and Gino’s son), Karen (Nat’s wife). Bottom row: Ryan (Nat’s middle son), Gino (Molly’s husband), Jared (Nat’s son), and Elena (Molly and Gino’s daughter).
From left: Molly Mazzone ‘59, Val Takai ‘58 (Molly’s sister), Anne Dunn ’59, Mary Cossette, and Anne’s daughter Kate, a minister at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, who had just preached a sermon on Doubting Thomas on the Sunday of our reunion weekend when this photograph was taken.
my lovely mountain home.”
JANE PEARCE CAREY, JUDY CATON MENDELSUND and SALLY STOPFORD had a wonderful tour of the new Brearley building. As BETSY BACON NEWELL, who went to its opening, commented, “To say that it is incredible is an understatement. Visit the website to get the full effect!” Jenny Carey has recently read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, “about a viral outbreak. A lot more interesting than what’s going on around here,” she says. Sally found Go, Went, Gone by the German novelist Jenny Erpenbeck an absorbing look at the migrant crisis in Europe, while Judy is deep into Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light. Good health to all!
1959 JOAN FENNELL HARTWELL
2 Gould Road West Lebanon, NH 03784 (603) 643-4143 jfhartwell7@aol.com
JOAN HARTWELL: First of all, by the time all of us receive this Bulletin, I hope that all have weathered the terrible storm of the coronavirus. Also in 2019 . . . John and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Bonaire, where we saw and ate lots of fish— plus oh, the flamingos!
From HOPE BABCOCK, who works for the Institute for Public Representation (Environment Practice Group) at Georgetown University: “I really have nothing new to report—other than the craziness of moving all classes online, which is a bit of an unexpected time-consuming challenge during spring break. My family is doing fine—kids, grandkids and daughtersin-law as well as dogs are all well and aging well. My partner Toby’s granddaughter returns today from Germany, having been released early from her year of study because of the virus. Toby’s trip to visit her and her mom (his daughter) has been canceled—so sad. My son, his wife and their son (now almost 14) are scheduled to leave in a few weeks for Oxford to spend some time with their daughter, who is a junior editor at Oxford Press, after graduating from St. Andrews. So far, their trip appears to still be on, even though there are some COVID-19 cases in Oxford. Toby and I are basically stay-at-home types, especially me because of long days at school. So, we’re not missing much by staying home now—it’s what we do and do well. I continue to enjoy teaching, writing and my students, and so have no immediate plans to retire. I really like the writing part. I’m working on my 50th article since coming to Georgetown. Each one seems hard and likely not to hold anyone’s interest, but then they catch the interest of some law journal, to my surprise. I was going to spend a week at Pace Law School as a visiting poohbah, giving public lectures and teaching a few classes, but that got canceled, leaving me with a free additional week at my home in South Salem, NY. Small world department, I discovered that the father of a clinic student of mine grew up near where I live up here, went to our local high school and used to be a lifeguard at a lake about a quarter mile from my house— really, there are only a few degrees of separation between any of us.”
From MARCIA DOBSON: “I am thinking of you all in the time of crazy viruses and climate change. Who would think we would have lived to see it?! Let’s put on our best Brearley courage, optimism, helpfulness and brains to live through this as the strong and privileged community that we are . . . to be mindful of others and to help where we can. We have so many gifts among us, surely we can pull through and bring others with us. All is well still with John and me and our four shelties in beautiful Colorado. Still writing, teaching—I just had a book proposal accepted, tentatively entitled Varieties of Transitional Experience in Psychoanalysis and Ancient Greek Literature. Does anyone besides me remember Miss Sandison and Mrs. Licht?”
From WINNIE SEIBERT: “We spend most of our time in Guilford, CT, and go to Woodstock, VT, for our summers.”
ALLISON COUDERT is the Paul and Marie Castelfranco Chair in the Study of Religion at the University of California at Davis. She wrote the following: “I am holed up in my house trying to figure out the best way to use Zoom to teach my classes at UC Davis this coming quarter. At least with Zoom I will be able to speak into my computer screen and hopefully have at least some students Zoomed in to listen and ask questions. It is not ideal but better than talking directly to my screen with
Left to right: Ann Carlton ’59, Rhona Carlton Foss ’62 and Mary Carlton Swope ‘55.
Adrienne Gray Burrus and Andrea Gray Stillman, Class of 1962.
Marjorie Kellogg ’63.
no audience whatsoever except my dog Leroy (actually Le Roi because he knows exactly who he is!). Other than that, the weather is beautiful here but the streets are deserted. As an old crone, I sneak into grocery stores to do my shopping at dawn or midnight. My daughter Polly and her husband, James, are still running their CSA (community- supported agricultural group) just outside of Portland, OR. They have been delivering baskets of vegetables to their subscribers for the past 30 years; and you can imagine how grateful people are now for this service! All but one of my grandchildren are lucky to still be working or studying. Seth is a computer guy who can work from home. Meg is a sheriff’s deputy, and we worry about her very much since she is out in the community every day. Kate is in medical school. Eli is, however, unemployed at the moment because he is a lighting technician for the film industry in LA, and that has completely shut down. My step-grandson Chance is finishing up his BA at Arizona State and hopes to become a physician’s assistant. I hope everyone who reads this is safe and as well as can be expected.”
Then from TONI GOODALE: “New York is a hot mess so Jamie and I are holed up in CT with our Brearley daughter and granddaughter eight minutes away. Our boys are in West Palm Beach and the East Bay, staying home like the rest of us. I am hoping to start writing another book. Otherwise, lots of emails and phone calls with friends and one long walk every day. I hope all my classmates stay safe and healthy, I know everyone is smart enough to do that. Love to all!”
From SARAH ISELIN: “I’ll confess to enjoying social isolation in springtime here in central Oklahoma. I love talking with old friends, including Brearley classmates, and since my son, Jake Morrison, and his family (except for his schoolteacher wife, Jessie) are also self-quarantining in Taiwan, we talk to one another on Skype and the telephone more regularly. Taiwan has the virus under much better control than the US does. They just test workers all the time, at least by taking their temperature. I also enjoy weeding my yard and reading all kinds of books. The UCLA granddaughter is getting a dog because her roommate has moved home. The now-in-Taipei USC granddaughter has to get up by 3:00 am to attend class. Jake says every time he wants to return to the US to live and work, as he does now, something comes along to change his plans. But he is all for working remotely. He and his three employees do just that. Keep safe and read more!”
From ANNE DUNN: “All is well with us and I thought we would share of picture of our family including Molly and Gino Mazzone and their family. Our youngest child, Nat, and family spent a year in Almunecar, Spain, and stayed with Molly and Gino in Rome for three days. Molly would ask them what they did during the day and the answer was ‘tried to keep up with Gino.’”
1960 60TH REUNION ANNIE-MAY DE BRESSON
Reunited virtually by COVID-19. Try a 60th reunion comprising over one hundred emails! An outpouring of memories, from quasi-forgotten gym cheers to “Jerusalem,” to which BARBARA GRANBERY, now DEHLINGER, got married last January—congratulations! We evoked bridge games and smokes at lunchtime as seniors, carpentry class in the Lower School, “Rhythm” gym sessions starting with what we now know were Martha Graham warm-up routines, lingering, soothing double art periods. We also acknowledged the way we mercilessly teased and bullied those rare male teachers; the day we rolled coke bottles up the aisles between our desks, or placed a fake turd by the door. Usually harmless, but sometimes unkind, it must be said. There are about a dozen of us in this sporadic conversation, incensed at the thought of being categorized as “elderly” as our minds are still so active despite some creaky bones. Some of us find ourselves bereft in our grandmotherly enforced isolation, except SUSAN FIRST POLLACK, who is helping to homeschool her grandchildren in San Francisco. We celebrated JANE CHAMPE PAYNE’s birthday via email. “Have cake and ice cream,” wrote GILDA GATES WRAY, to which FRANCES FERGUSON BUTTENHEIM added, “with lots of gluten and eggs and sugar and heavy cream in it. Put some sprinkles on that.” CONSTANCE KANE TUCKER even made a cake for Jane. “It wasn’t great, but I ate it.” Food, reading, music (I exchange a musical link with LISA NULL every morning), Zoom gatherings, haunting food delivery sites on the Internet, a bit of exercise (New York stairwells are great aerobics), the snuggle of a cat, a knitting project, bingeing on a TV series, watching old movies, but mostly staying in touch with family, friends and our communities. Our generation is so fortunate to have this virtual world. Be well. We will surely gather again.
1961 JANE BAYARD
MITTEN WAINWRIGHT
16 Fithian Lane East Hampton, NY 11937 (631) 324-0139
We’re writing at a time of grave concerns, BUT through thick and thin ’61ers have always come out on top. Wishing everyone great energy, good health, super safety, and warm wishes from your class notes agents, M&J.
We’ll request notes in a few months for our next issue, so please keep track of all the fun, interesting, funny, daunting and statistically catchy events in your lives. We’ll look forward to hearing from you then.
1962 PEREGRINE WHITTLESEY
279 Central Park West New York, NY 10024 (212) 787-1802 pwwagy@aol.com
JANE GROSS writes: “I’m still busy with On Site Opera and Opera America. On Site has managed to turn our Christmastime Amahl and the Night Visitors into an annual presentation at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. Das Barbecü, a musical theater send-up of the Ring Cycle, is currently in rehearsal—think Wotan in chaps. My spare bedroom continues to house young singers in town for auditions or competitions, and I travel occasionally to hear a favorite singing out of town. Summer will take me back to Chautauqua, my seasonal outpost since 1993.”
From GLORIANA DAVENPORT: “Evan and I have now been together for 35 years and in October celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We are grateful to enjoy family time with Evan’s three children and our seven grandchildren, the three oldest of whom are now pursuing graduate degrees and exploring long-term partnerships. Having sold the cranberry farm (now Mass Audubon’s Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary and the Town of Plymouth’s Foothills Preserve), I continue to develop our nonprofit, Living Observatory, a public-interest learning community that seeks to measure, interpret and share the ‘arc of change’ following the ecological restoration of former cranberry farms; through our activities we seek to advance science and further public understanding of wetland ecology. An exciting aspect of this work is engaging with graduate students in the Responsive Environments group at the MIT Media Lab who have built a prototype sensor network and developed technologies to help us capture and share these longterm changes. If you are planning a trip to Plymouth or the Cape this summer, please consider coming for a visit.”
ADRIENNE HINES writes: “My nonprofit board work keeps me community-involved. One foundation just unveiled statues of nine notable women in the historic Capitol Square near Jefferson’s handsome building . . . from Martha Washington to Maggie Walker to an early Indian chief. A nice change from all the dead white men! My other fun is raising money for Parkinson’s, the Bon Secour hospitals and a retirement complex. Bob’s walking is almost gone so he uses a Buzzaround to bang up our 1898 row house. Andrea and I spent three beautiful days together in Napa for our 76th birthday! As Bob is not traveling, my trips are short ones to see family. COME VISIT! Our guest room is ready!”
ELLEN DOOLING REYNARD writes: “Life is going well for me. One of my sons has come to live with me which brings me joy. I am fulfilling my creative impulse by writing poems and I’m even managing to get a few of them published.”
From DEBORAH ROGERS BUTLER, “Our big news is that we adopted a puppy named Frank, after my father. He is a Havanese, very sociable and energetic. At 11 weeks old, he sleeps through the night and is learning new commands every day. We are also happy to have our son, Ben, and his family safely back from a two-year stint working in South Korea. Now that we have three children on the West Coast, we will need to fly to visit them. We plan to introduce Frank to air travel as soon as he is fully trained.”
ELLEN BONEPARTH writes: “I have recently moved to a retirement community in northern Virginia about 35 minutes from DC. We are in Westminster, Lake Ridge bordering the charming town of Occoquan on the Occoquan River. Although from DC, I adopted Virginia for political work in the past, and I’m now excited to be living in
WE MISS YOU!
please send news for class notes to the addresses listed below.
1964 RUTH GAIS ruthgais@gmail.com
VA with a fantastic recently elected woman, Hala Ayala, as my state delegate and a great congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, nearby.”
ANNIE RORIMER writes: “Lockdown here in Chicago is—or should be!—allowing time to organize the years of accumulated piles of documentation from writing on art of the 60s/70s and curating contemporary art exhibitions. Fortunately, after a spate of essay assignments last year for various European museums, I am deadline-free right now.”
1963 MARTHA RYAN SEVERENS
420 Mohawk Drive Greenville, SC 29609 (864) 242-6817
These notes were compiled during the pandemic, which hopefully will be history by the time they appear in print. JANE JANOVER RHODES inaugurated an email chain and classmates responded with tips about good books, cleaning closets and dietary delicacies: MADELEINE LORCH TRAMM once ate bats and CHRISTINE SHAW yak in Nepal and alligator in New Guinea. Her daughter Fiona is in her last year of dermatology residency, specializing in melanoma treatment. LEE GRIMES EVANS drove into NYC from Stamford to avoid the train!
JESSICA TUCHMAN MATHEWS and Chuck had a previrus trip to Southeast Asia. “The main reason was to visit the air base where he flew daily combat missions until being shot down and taken prisoner during the Vietnam War.” They took the train from Bangkok to Singapore, saw the “actual bridge on River Kwai” and fireworks galore. Also traveling:
JILL KEEFE and her family visited her niece in Segovia, Spain. In London, GHISLAINE DEGIVE has decided not to sell her house until her son and family “decamp for the clean air of the country.”
The class was asked to send 75th birthday greetings to IRENE NELSON BAREAU, who had planned a big party that had to be canceled. She was diagnosed with ALS three years ago and uses a power chair. INGRID LORCH BACCI has reconnected with her and says “she is amazingly resilient, wonderful, and feisty.”
JANE (BLAIR) HANDWERGER WALKER comes up with the best titles for her exhibits at the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Museum in New Bedford: Shaking Foundations. “It’s an interesting composite of women’s fight for the vote nationally, a focus on local efforts in the 1910s, and the general loosening of women’s garments and customs especially through modern dance.” She and Michael celebrated their 50th anniversary in February.
BARBARA MCFADDEN SIRNA is mad about birds! “We started down in San Diego and the Pacific coast, to parklands, marshes along the Tijuana River, freshwater ponds, and then went to the Salton Sea below sea level and the huge flocks of migrating birds, then up to boreal forests in Anza at five thousand feet. And back to local city streets to see red-masked parakeets.” She identified 195 species in five days.
LIZ VILLARD wrote: “My 40-year-old daughter gave birth to her second child, first granddaughter, on December 30. She was due back in her second semester of her first year in law school (University of Connecticut) three weeks later. The only way this would be feasible would be if she could find an English nanny to go to law school with her and Hope and allow her to nurse between classes as well as take care of her the rest of the day and much of the night.” Liz happily filled the bill!
KATE ADAMS works at the Episcopal Church Foundation and says, “Having great fun with my family continuing to restore our Adirondack house that used to be owned by 19th-century painter Thomas Hicks, who was a cousin of Edward Hicks.” Also in upstate New York, climate activist MARJORIE KELLOGG writes, “I finally sold the flooded-Manhattan, near-future, climate fiction novel that I’ve been working on for so long to DAW Books, who I’ve worked with before. It’s called Glimmer, and it’ll be out in 2021.” She has already published nine books.
Another classmate-author is SIDNEY STIRES STARK. I led a discussion of her recent novel, Certain Liberties, with a Greenville book club. Having been involved in a project focusing on women artists in the South, I was intrigued to learn about Sidney’s protagonist, an aspiring female violinist at the time of the Civil War who faced discrimination because of her gender. I shared with her the response of my friends and she wrote in return: “Thanks for your feedback and support, which is always essential for any writer. It’s just the lift I needed yesterday. It helped to push back the growing intrusion of this horrible pandemic on my head and heart.” The good news: she is working on a sequel!
1965 55TH REUNION LYDIA DAVIS
37 Garfield Rd E. Nassau, NY 12062 (518) 794-0450 cote@bard.edu
SARA BAERWALD
60 Gramercy Park North, Apt 15B New York, NY 10010 (212) 420-0422 Sara.baerwald@gmail.com
Sara and I had many wonderful notes from our classmates this past spring while we were all cloistered in our homes feeling fortunate, grateful for our health and much else, and helping as best we could. Let us hope we all made it through. From this wealth of communications, we have had to cut drastically, but here are the highlights!
MARGOT BOTSFORD retired from the Supreme Judicial Court three years ago, has a new grandson, is studying Italian with husband Steve, and stays in touch with KITTY FISK AMES, ABBY ERDMANN, MARY KATE BLUESTEIN ’64 and of course sister SUSAN BOTSFORD WORKUM ’60. “La fine—Ciao a tutte!” CATHY ELLIOT, reminded of the long-ago polio scare, wrote, “I am still here in Baja Norte, Mexico, with my husband,” where she was walking miles every day with her dogs and worrying about her daughters, one a restaurateur and the other a jewelry designer.
ENID FERGUSON KEYSER, like many of us, is too distracted by the pandemic for more than “fitful” attempts at artistic endeavors, but does Pilates for exercise and made some surprising discoveries while exploring her mother’s WWII mementos. Her husband Kent is “swamped” with university-related Zoom meetings to discuss proposed COVID-19 research.
LIZ ROOSEVELT ALDRED is still active with the Cape Cod Children’s Place, which she helped start 25 years ago, has lots of woods to walk in on the Cape where she and her husband are secluded, “both comfortable with solitude”. Her Italian lessons and memoir-writing group are both “on hold.”
JESSICA CHERNAY EGGLESTON left Saratoga Springs in 2015, gave up her New York law license in 2017, and is now settled near her daughter in Germantown, MD. She looks forward to reuniting with her companion beagle Kirby “when this madness is over,” and enjoys FaceTime with her two West Coast granddaughters.
From KITTY FISK AMES, “Charlie and I are well. Some of the past month’s new discoveries have been navigating the grocery store in what looks like a hazmat suit, connecting with old friends on Zoom, a ‘virtual birthday’ with all the kids and ‘grands,’ and opera on the sofa.”
“We are certainly living in crazy times,” writes FRANNY VAN DYKE. “At first I felt like I was part of a grade B movie; now it is routine.” Having learned what a meme was, she sent us a couple of good ones . . . and reported that KATHE GATES WILLIAMSON, in quarantine, has been featured in the Washington Post. Kathe observed that “Luckily, reading, listening to music, and eating/drinking are our varsity sports! I’ve even gotten back to the piano a little bit, though it is surreal to walk the silent streets where flowers are blooming and know that it’s mayhem and frantic in our hospitals around the corner.”
ABBY ERDMANN and her twin brother turned 73 on February 29—both prime numbers, she notes. Abby was enjoying the “sweet flexibility” of her new life, after teaching for almost 50 years, and felt blessed in husband Luc, children, grandchildren, health, and long-lasting friendships. She notes, “at any second it can and will change.”
MARGY KOHN is preparing to close her office in favor of a virtual one going forward, as she continues her work as of counsel to the lead counsel on a 15-year-old class-action suit to improve education in the District of Columbia. In the lulls—art study and drawing practice.
JENNY BROWN RUHL writes, “I’m not ready to run for president, but who knows, maybe when I’m 78. Meanwhile, I’ve gotten back to playing music and writing songs, which I did professionally back in my 20s in Nashville.” She is also awaiting the birth of her first grandchild.
For EDA ZAHL in Los Angeles, it is “total
lockdown. We’re fined if we’re not wearing a face mask.” In isolation, she is painting everything in the apartment—molding, kitchen table, walls, chairs, and knobs. “I’m not afraid of running out of food, I’m afraid of running out of paint.”
LYDIA DAVIS is in the garden most days, more determined than ever to grow as much of her own food as possible—permaculture-style—and find the rest locally, for reasons of both health and carbon footprint. (Writing? Distraction intervenes too often!)
And SARA BAERWALD notes: “Sheltering in New Jersey with my daughters. Trying to plant enough vegetables to get through the summer. Still designing gardens for the future . . . whenever that is.“
1966 ANNE MITTENDORF
BARBARA HUNTING BEAN is featured in this issue’s Librarian Q&A. See page 20.
1967 BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
classnotes@brearley.org
ANN HAUGE writes: “Port St. Louis, the new deepwater international port I have been working on for the southern coast of Haiti for the past 23 years, was finally approved by the government’s port authority.”
1968 ELENA DROUTZKOY CORSO
There is news about serious concern for family and friends, the unsettling situation, illness, coping with isolation, food shopping and lots of cooking and new exercise regimens, and, of course, politicians and global health issues, but also resilience, new books, art and music, moving and reading.
WENDY SELIGMAN LEWIS’s art exhibition in Newton, MA, of her dot paintings had to be canceled; rescheduling TBA.
ELLARY EDDY writes: “In the midst of this surreal time, I am finding pleasure in the written word. And I thank fate for putting my little dog Mimmo into my path. I would be wildly lonely without him. Since we’re all getting on in years, I thought the class might find this online magazine, called Ageist, a worthwhile read. (And not just because they profiled me in the current issue!) It’s a fun interview, and at the bottom is a link to my new book of essays, Her Argument: Epiphanies, Theories, Confessions. I would love any support the class can give this fledgling author. Especially reviews on Amazon: https:// www.weareageist.com/profile/ellary-eddy-69-joyful-creative-hyphenate/.”
JEAN GORDON sends news: “I’m at our house in Montana. It’s blizzarding now. Don’t roll over, Ms. Basinger, at my crazy gerund! My husband and I had COVID-19. We had one day of runny nose, fatigue and fever of 99.9. That’s it! Would not have thought we had it but tested positive. Almost through 14-day isolation. This virus is crazy. You don’t have to cough! May everyone get our case! Love to all, especially in NYC. I love Cuomo.”
KATHERINE ZINSSER wrote: “I flew down to Palm Springs in January to spend a few days with VICTORIA ERHART. She had rented a house there for a few weeks of respite from Minnesota cold. We had a great time walking her dogs, talking and looking at midcentury architecture. I have been spending much of my retirement working on my French language skills with classes and informal groups. I decided when San Francisco went into self-quarantine (no gym, no classes, etc.) to read Albert Camus’s La Peste. I had never read it and the story is of a city in North Africa that goes into quarantine with the plague. Nevertheless, it seemed like an appropriate book to read in our times. As you may remember from reading L’Etranger at Brearley, the language is fairly straightforward, but Camus’s ideas and message are far from simple. If anyone else is interested in puzzling through it with me, I’d welcome the company via email.”
SUSAN MANNING wrote: “Seattle is like a ghost town, as well, and I keep waiting to see tumbleweeds rolling down the streets. Everything here is canceled, and restaurants, if they can, do takeout or delivery. I have taken to walking three or four miles every day, and I find people to be more friendly and conversational (from a distance, of course). Our governor has ramped up a lockdown to see
Liane McAllister Romaine ’68.
Wendy Seligman Lewis ’68.
what a couple of weeks of serious isolating will do. He encouraged everyone to be positive, that we will get through this, and asked that we not hoard or cheat on the isolation . . . that we can all work together and not drag things out. It’s a pleasure to listen to officials who care enough to try to make their constituents feel more at ease and purposeful. I like this guy because stemming global warming is a cause he takes to heart. Our federal leadership is a dangerous joke. I spend the time reacquainting myself with my computer, studying new
topics, connecting with friends and family, and FaceTime-ing with my granddaughters (hoping that not too many more months go by before I can tickle them again).”
KATHLEEN CRONKITE sends word: “I’ve been voluntarily isolating for almost two weeks. Last night, went out to my building’s dog lawn and had six-foot-apart, BYO happy hour with neighbors and it meant the world to see actual 3D, flesh-colored, laughing people. Gave me a big lift. Today I had what may be my last workout. We moved outdoors—six feet, constant wiping of hand weights—but today reached a record 92 degrees, so that won’t be happening. I always said that I could live in Texas as long as I could leave in the summer, and this looks like the first summer I’ll be here all summer. And I know to some of you, summer seems a long way off. I order grocery deliveries, which you have to do 10 days ahead, except for one store has a senior site where you—I—can order a limited number of a limited list of key items. And I have a lovely neighbor who I never even knew who brings milk. It is comforting and heartwarming how people are pitching in all over. And I am grateful that most, but not all, of my favorite restaurants are open for takeout/delivery/ curbside. No one’s been in my apartment for weeks, but I’m going to have to have the guy come fix the A/C! I do miss my daughter and granddaughter terribly. Her parents are both busier than ever working from home—I’m so grateful that they have jobs—and she’s not quite big enough to connect with me without their help. And I sure love Cuomo, too. He and Fauci are the only people that give me any hope at all. Our lt. gov. (the one with the power in Texas) said today that 70-year-olds can take care of themselves, and they’d be glad to sacrifice for their grandkids. God help us if we have triage.”
KITTY MUNSON COOPER writes: “We were exposed and I probably had a mildish case of it. Bad headache, low fever, congestion, nausea, lots of naps. Thought I was better but today cough and tired. Been homebound three weeks now. We went to a bridge tournament in Tucson, AZ, back at the beginning of March when there were no cases yet there or here in San Diego. Played for over 20 minutes against someone who subsequently tested positive. Next day I had a fever so we left and came home. So we have self-quarantined ever since. We are too healthy to meet the criteria for testing in California but have volunteered our blood for study of antibodies, so we will see. We have managed to get groceries delivered from Costco and imperfect foods and fresh foods plus am planting more veggies. Meanwhile I post one flower pic a day via Instagram to Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/kittymcooper/. There are grandchildren photos there too. My son Paul works remotely now for Google in NYC and has a 3- and 4-yearold at home. His wife the lawyer is also working from home and it is tough for them. Yeah, Cuomo and Fauci. A reading list for those interested in genetic genealogy is in this post on my blog: https://blog.kittycooper.com/2020/03/a-reading-list-to-stay-athome-with/.
DIANA HAMMERSTEIN writes: “I was an early isolator—discontinued teaching astrology classes more than three weeks ago. Don’t need world travelers gathering ‘round my dining room table. But I do miss my little subculture powwows. By the third week in January, drugstore chains here had already been out of N95 masks for a month—as per pharmacist. Circumstances (i.e., no available testing) forced me to adopt an early stance, draw a perimeter around my corner of the world. I’m embracing my solitude by taking a daily live yoga class on Facebook and an eight-week Zoom class in Hellenistic astrology with a favorite professoress. Haven’t marched this much since Vietnam. Protest has become my therapy, my lifeline to survival. And every so often I send a little more $ to Biden and Amy McGrath.”
LOUISE CAMPBELL sends word: “It has been great to hear news from afar at this time of enforced inactivity. Lovely too to be reminded of the people I remember back in 9th grade. I live in a spa town about 10 miles from Stratford-on-Avon, blessed with parks and open spaces. So the two daily forays we are permitted can be routed via these green lungs. Ironically, the restrictions placed on our movement have coincided with the longed-for arrival of spring weather, which we can now only enjoy in brief snatches.
“Forays further afield have also suffered. My younger son was due to marry his Korean fiancée in Daegu in April, and our family celebrations have had to be postponed until the end of the year. Nor can we make our annual pilgrimage to the Hebrides, for Scotland too is protecting its borders against visitors and unwelcome infection. After I retired from teaching art history at Warwick University in 2014, I was able to focus on a long-standing project about artists’ studios. I was doing research for it at the Getty when I visited with Jean Gordon in Palo Alto in 2012. The resulting book, Studio Lives: Architect, Art and Artist in Twentieth-Century Britain (Lund Humphries, 2019), looks at artists as patrons of architecture, and at how they worked with architects to craft their studios and their homes. In the aftermath, I was looking forward to a more relaxed pace of life and to reconnecting with neglected friends and relations. But this will now have to be done remotely, as well as attempting to remedy the lack of ballet and yoga classes with an alternative exercise routine. Someday when life returns to normal I hope to make it back to New York and inspect the new schoolhouse on 83rd Street.”
NINA PARKINSON-SCHERRER writes from LA: “We are on lockdown, but people are still going out walking the dog, getting groceries. Basic necessities though a lot of deliveries. I go out for a walk once a day to pick up something at the grocery store, but there is usually a line and they limit the number of people who can be in the store at one time. It is also eerie how quiet it is here too, during the day and especially at night!”
MICHELE GERBER KLEIN writes: “I have a new project which has quite a bit of interest to work on, and as I keep telling myself, I’m really lacking for nothing—so I try to focus, be cautious and enjoy all there is to enjoy. The flowers are blooming and spring is coming.”
KERRY HERMAN writes: “My neighborhood, Park Slope, Brooklyn, is very quiet and empty. My husband, Ned, and I take a walk each day just to be outside, and everyone crosses streets or pauses to let others pass so we can keep our distance. I haven’t been into Prospect Park because the word is that it’s crowded. As seniors, we have early morning access to Whole Foods and Walgreens so we can avoid the crowds—people have been shopping here as if preparing for the apocalypse. I stocked up early enough, so we managed to get a little ahead of the empty shelves. Still, as of two days ago there was enough available, especially fresh stuff. We’ll venture to Whole Foods tomorrow for our daily outing and see what’s there. I miss my daily swim at the Y, and decided to try jumping rope instead, which I hadn’t done since gym class probably when we were 12?
Okay, I don’t have the coordination or the aerobic stamina now, despite swimming, so walking will be just fine. Ned is out of work since all film and television production in NYC has shut down indefinitely, so he has lots of free time now. Our daughter, Dyanna, works backstage on Broadway, so she’s out of work too. She’s been self-quarantining since several of her colleagues have tested positive. She has no idea when they’ll all get back to work, or what shows will in fact reopen. Hers had been doing well, so there’s hope. I’m grateful to still have two days a week of work, tutoring City College students, but doing it all remotely now. I like having some time structure so this isolation isn’t just a blur of days inside. My students are tech-savvier than I am, so they’re able to guide me as I learn to use Google Hangout and Google Docs so we can work on their papers simultaneously. I’m about to learn Zoom so I can connect with my upstairs neighbors, who are self-quarantined. It’s a strange world when you can’t visit with close friends who live two floors above you in a small five-story building.”
DEBORAH BRADFORD writes: “I’m up on a mesa, about a half hour outside of Aspen, CO. I just moved up here, after 47 years in the same place in Aspen, in late January. Not a moment too soon, as Aspen has become an epicenter in Colorado. Tourist towns seem to be getting hit hard, no matter how remote they are, unsurprisingly. Up here in Missouri Heights, it all seems quite surreal. I love how people really seem to be staying in closer touch, and I’m eternally grateful for the Internet, which is keeping us all so connected in our isolation. Zoom is amazing. So far so good for me, my husband, friends and family. We have a sane governor, and he just upped the ante tonight. This nail-biter has fingernails, for once, as I focus really hard on not touching my face.”
MARY MCCLELLAN writes: “North Carolina is behind the curve on taking the necessary precautions against the spread of COVID-19. Schools closed a few weeks ago, and bars and restaurants were asked to close last week, but we are far from lockdown. Still, we’re getting there. I’m appalled that so many people can’t imagine the possibility of disaster until it happens to them or someone close to them. Those states that haven’t acted to prevent the spread are going to pay a terrible price, I’m afraid. I had gotten into such a nice groove of spending time with my family, including playing Auntie Chauffeur with my great-nephews, taking them to and from school, but now we’re all self-sequestering. I miss our together time so much, but we’re trying to find fun ways to spend time together without being in the same room. Luckily, at least for now, I continue to have freelance editing work from IXL, a long-term edpub client. I’ve worked remotely for years, so there’s little adjustment required there. I alternate between watching way too much news to remain informed and turning it off and turning on some music to soothe my soul while I read. I’ve become addicted to Gov. Cuomo’s ‘fireside chats.’ It’s a good thing he’s doing, and people do seem to find his briefings reassuring and informative. This pandemic has shed light on the inadequacies of so much of our nation’s infrastructure: health care, economic distribution, eldercare and social services, to name a few. If anything good can come of all of this, I hope it’s the realization that we are a country, not just a cluster of different states, and we are one people. None of us is free/safe/well until all of us are free/safe/well. Let’s all do what we can to make that happen. Peace and love to all of you.”
JANE HAMILTON DORWART writes: “I am in Pennsylvania pretty much staying home and taking very long walks, weather permitting. I left New York March 2 to go to a doctor’s appointment here and decided to stay at my house in Chestnut Hill so as to be able to distance more (and enjoy the flowers) and be not far from my son. My son was raised here and lives in Philadelphia with his fiancée. He is a second-year ER resident and soon to be attending physician at Temple University Hospital, and she is a surgery resident at Einstein. A week ago he told me everything was unusually quiet at his ER (probably because people without the virus were afraid to go). There is no reason states should have to compete with each other for resources to fight this virus, as Governor Cuomo says. I feel heartbroken about what New York is going through and especially because an outbreak of this size could have been avoided. I am concerned about my friends there, my brother who is a doctor at a Rockland County hospital and the people I know in the neighborhood. I am still doing Portuguese-to-English translations of foreign newspaper opinion pieces for WatchingAmerica.com, and my dance teacher in NY is giving classes on Zoom, so I do them in my living room.”
In February, LIANE MCALLISTER ROMAINE wrote: “I am proud to announce an exciting New School College of Performing Arts event: ‘A Celebration of American Women: Victory in Suffrage and Accomplishments in the Arts.’ This dynamic multi-arts production will star students from the School of Drama, the Mannes School of Music, the School of Jazz and the Parsons School of Design, expertly coached by department professors, deans and chairmen. Our event features a video presentation and narration of the suffragette movement, colorful readings of suffragette speeches, a visual spotlight on artworks by distinguished women artists, performances of musical pieces by women composers, and excerpts from inspiring literature. As an artistic collaborator, I have had the privilege of researching the suffragette movement, editing suffragette speeches and choosing exquisite writings from Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Georgia Johnson, Willa Cather, Elizabeth Bishop, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Mary Oliver, Emily Dickinson, and Lorraine Hansberry.” Liane added, “This is the third artistic collaboration I have completed with the Mannes School of Music. The second one was back in April 2019, where I edited film, artworks and memoirs selections as part of a New School/Mannes School of Music concert entitled ‘Jean Cocteau et Les Six: Auric, Durey, Honegger, Milhaud, Poulenc, and Tailleferre.’ My first collaboration was an article and a series of interviews highlighting ‘European Literature Night,’ a joint partnership between the New School College of Performing Arts, the Parsons School of Design, and the Czech Cultural Center. There will be future multi-arts projects as well, as I continue to collaborate with Pavlina Dokovska, chair of the Mannes Piano Department and artistic director of the Mannes Sounds Festival, featuring student performances in embassies, consulates and cultural centers across the city. I am passionate about this work that gives these young musicians, actors and artists invaluable performance opportunities. For me, this remains a truly inspirational and creative process.”
The new 1968 book club is growing for La Peste: Mimi, Kitty and Kathy C. in English and Michele in French. Heavy reading, ladies! Even though a few of our classmates
1969 KATIE DOHERTY
1500 E. Side River Road Dummer, NH 03588 kdoherty711@gmail.com
Class of 1970 members Helen Thurston, Barbara Landreth, and Juanita Dugdale heading to the King Singers.
Sally Eagle ’70 with husband Dan Mead at their photography exhibition, Namaste: Images of India. At Sally’s left: Sadhu Greeting.
Felicity Sargent ’70 with all the littles at Christmas: Rebecca Kokoro (“heart” in Japanese), age 2, and our newest little addition, Kai (“ocean” in Japanese), born November 1, along with pug Louis and Cleo the Chihuahua, both rescues.
have been sickened with the virus, we do not seem to lack for anything—we have food, homes, family and friends, and classmates to connect with! Not bad. Stay well and safe, all. We shall prevail. And keep in touch! Lots of news in these hard times. We all agreed it’s important to stay in touch.
LISA BRADSHAW: “My son was married with a lovely, splendid woman last September on Nantucket over a glorious blue-sky weekend with friends and family from Hawaii, England, Africa, Europe, all over the USA attending. Quite a dream come true.” DEDE GOTTHELF: “My son is completing a PhD in atomic physics even though graduation has been canceled. My daughter is working in a lighting design firm. My husband sold several properties and is looking forward to more golf while we try to bring ‘workforce’ housing to eastern Long Island. And I am living mostly in East Quogue, on boards of cultural and historic museums, and being run by a hotel and restaurant in Southampton. I hope that classmates will be able to attend the ‘Songs of ‘69’ party that I fantasize hosting at the inn for us! Perhaps in autumn when this surreal illness has gone away.” REBECCA LEIGH: “My only real news is the birth of my grandson, Otis Van Leigh, in June. He brings us great joy. He lives with his parents, Eliot and Eliza, in Brooklyn.”
YEOU-CHENG MA: “We are staying put in our home in Fresh Meadows, having had to reverse our decision to continue rehearsing on Thursday, March 5, then deciding to cancel three weeks of rehearsals of the Children’s Orchestra, postponing our March 22nd Masterworks concert, and now facing the prospect of possibly canceling the rest of the year too. But all in the interest of public health, and praying that the trajectory of COVID-19 does not follow that of the more heavily affected countries. . . . Hoping to flatten the curve in order not to overwhelm our woefully inadequate testing and hospital situation.” BETSY CABOT: “One organization I am working with now is interesting and I hope helps families. It is called Backpack Buddies. An elementary school was picked in our area and the principal chooses 30 children in the most need. We pack backpacks with food for these kids to eat over weekends. This helps them have food on the weekend.”
SUSANNAH HAGAN: “We’ve retreated to Suffolk from London, like medieval burghers fleeing the plague. The sun shines, the wind howls off the North Sea, and spring contradicts the human world. We’re going for a walk with friends tomorrow at the regulation six feet apart.” WENDY GOODMAN: “We are putting out our first print issue of New York magazine remotely, and that is a real challenge, BUT I am so grateful to have a story in it as it has kept me busy and preoccupied doing something I love!” CONSTANCE KILGORE: “I am ever grateful for living in the country, surrounded by acres of public woodland, where I can wander the trails that abut our property and find spring popping up under the dead leaves. What if this were all happening in November!?”
REEMA PACHACHI: “I finally moved into my house at the end of November and have been settling in and sorting out the last bits of building work. My daughter Aisha came back from Lebanon where she was doing humanitarian work and is now working in London with a human rights charity. My youngest son, Kareem, finished his postgraduate degree and has been very busy looking after his little baby. I did two projects for Italian fashion house Max Mara.”
MARION WOOD: “My son is graduating from Belmont College. My daughter, Rachel, lives in Chicago.” GLORIA GRONOWICZ: “I am living in Stuart, FL . . . and I have started a new career, oil painting.” HELENA ROZIER: “Charlie and I are down at our place on Longboat Key, which is lucky because you can get outside, swim, etc.” CHRISTINE LOOMIS: “My daughter gave birth to Winnie Rae Riley in October in the elevator at the Boulder hospital between the first and third floors—quite a shock to the two random people in the elevator!” MARGOT WALKER: “My daughter Thayer moved to Minneapolis about two months ago. Daughter Kate lives in Houston and is a lawyer working for the federal court. She gave us the most beautiful little boy last October: Walker Bradlee Hayes. I am still teaching pre-K (35 years later) and since school has been closed have been the nanny/grandmother. My son, Ewing III, is in Houston and working for Enterprise.”
Ed. Note: KATIE DOHERTY is featured in this issue’s Librarian Q&A. See page 20.
1970 50TH REUNION SOPHIE GLAZER
4512 SE Bridgetown Court Stuart, FL 34997 (260) 403-0135 Sophieglazer@aol.com
HELEN THURSTON
We were saddened to learn of the death in February of RUTH SYLVESTER, after a long illness. Ruth and her wife, Elfie Forbes, are very much in our thoughts during this strange, tumultuous time.
MEGAN TALLMER writes, “I handled an appeal from a criminal conviction pro bono and appeared in court as an attorney for the first time in 35 years. I lost the case but it was scary and exhilarating to be an advocate again. Rick and I are snowbirding on Hilton Head Island for three months.” Megan and Rick had to cut their holiday short to make it home before they were quarantined there.
JAMIE BERNSTEIN greets us: “Well, here I am, 67 years old; shouldn’t I be, you know, retiring? Slowing down? Spending time with my family? Curling up in bed with the dog, my final bed companion? Well . . . there’s a whole lot more going on. I’m still on the road virtually every week: doing scores of book talks (the paperback came out last summer), giving speeches, and narrating concerts. My son Evan takes care of our dog Herbie when I’m away; he’s my MVP. Daughter Frankie, graduated from Iowa Writers’ Workshop, is finishing her first novel. Fasten your seatbelt, world, for Frankie Jay Thomas. On one of my book events, I reconnected with a person who was in my life some 42 years ago, and I’m now in the midst of a passionate romance. All I can say is: You never, ever know what the hell will happen in this world. I hope the same will prove true, in a good way, for our country. As of this writing, I despair.”
SALLY EAGLE and her husband, Dan Mead, continue to exhibit their photographs at schools around New England. “We were recently invited to give a slideshow of our work at a school in the Bahamas! Adding a visual component to a school’s curriculum that might include environmental science, global studies, photography and more has often made a big difference in a student’s perception of how the world is changing. You can see our photos on our website MeadEaglePhotos.” ANNE JANOWITZ tells us, “It’s been a good year here in London, and my new book, Patti Smith among the Poetes Maudites, will be published by Bloomsbury Press in 2021. A lunch in October with DEBBY SWEET GIVEN, Jamie Bernstein, and LUCY WATSON was a mini-reunion in itself. Still singing jazz and still married to husband David!” JUANITA DUGDALE worked hard on the 50th reunion committee until those plans were suspended, but “meanwhile, joining the Alumnae Board has offered me a chance to experience the new schoolhouse and get to know some very talented young women. I sold the Round Pond, ME, property to a maritime science writer and her husband who is a boat builder. It will be nice to have a young family there. The moving and closing took place during one of the coldest weeks this January, around five degrees. The good news is that colleagues suggested holding a retrospective exhibition of Don’s sculpture. I am currently organizing this remotely from New York and hope to publish a catalog. If all goes according to plan, the show will go on at Studio 53 in Boothbay Harbor during May and June.”
KATHERINE STERN BRENNAN retired in May from a career teaching at Loyola University Maryland. “I still miss my colleagues and my students and the regular hallway multifaceted discussions of various histories. Being a member of a remarkably engaged small department meant that I learned many aspects of cultural, national, political history. On July 4 my 99-year-old mother died and I found myself grieving both for her and for the regularity of my academic job. Then, in February of this year I was diagnosed with early stage-0 breast cancer. A difficult year filled with change! Meanwhile, I am volunteering at Maryland Therapeutic Riding Center and loving the stable work and checking in with grandchildren regularly. We have three: Son Philip and his wife have Josephine, age 7, and Ty, age 5. Laura and her husband have Edward, age 2. They are all gorgeous and wonderful and endowed with humor. My husband, Tom, is scheduled to retire in June and then we hope to spend more time at the farm in Vermont— but aware that the world is not what it seemed to be a short while ago.”
LUCY WATSON has fallen in love “with Amazon Prime and Britbox and I cannot stop
Jane Ferguson ’70 in India.
watching Vera. That is my recent development and news of my life! Binge-watching. Suffice it to say that is really all the news I have to report which means finally, thank god, all is relatively stable in my life and my daughter’s life. My daughter, my son-in-law, my yellow lab and I all live together. It’s like the family I never had and it’s heavenly.” CONNIE ROGERS TILTON reflects, “The world is in such chaos that a recounting of one’s news seems almost superfluous, and for sure unstable. Nevertheless: I am easing into the new norm (hopefully not forever) of going solo through this world. Though busy as can be and with a wonderful, intellectually challenging and fun life, for me, a lack of spouse or partner is not ideal. I continue the gallery and am proud of these almost three years’ worth of exhibitions, various successes and simply surviving (something a whole-hog recession could affect hugely). I spend a lot of time in LA with my two sons and their lovely ladies. Robbie and his wife, Yuan, moved there a year and a half ago and love it, and Jamie, there now 14 years, just got engaged, so they all seem really to have become Angelinos. Luckily it’s a great place to spend extended time and I have a ton of work there, so am not dependent on them for entertainment. I continue to work during summers from Long Island, where beach and garden create a little heaven and hope for our own lives and the world in general that this coming summer will have some semblance of normality. I wish all classmates health and happiness.”
Left to right: Sasha Cunningham Anawalt, Susan Fraiman and Sandy Matteson-Helm, Class of 1974.
Winston, the “granddog” of Janet Rosenthall Wyckoff ’75, enjoying a recent sunset.
Alice Thurston ’75 washing her groceries in bleach water.
FELICITY SARGENT BLUNDON divides her time these days “serving as architectural history consultant, board member of the Byrd Theater Foundation, greeter at weekly neighborhood breakfast for the homeless and daily forest bathing excursions along the James River. I have finished a fictionalized memoir infused with recollections of growing up in New York. Now to find an agent!” AMY MILLER has “a new perspective on retirement, with friends but also solitude when I wish, with a hammock that overlooks the ocean, with time to muse and look at the beauty, yet aware of the world and the virus, and knowledge that life still continues in so many ways. In that spirit, I’ve slowly been making my way through the book Gutsy Women written by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton about 103 women they’ve learned about and met during their educations and their travels through life. I always thought we were all pretty heroic for doing what we do, but these women were and are amazing. I think back on my classmates—those living and those we have lost, our teachers, our parents, lifetime women friends, mine, and my parents’ generation, and all of your daughters and granddaughters—and I am amazed at how groundbreaking they are all, and the daily lessons and accomplishments I’ve learned and seen. More and more, I see the Donna Reed generation was made of women who excelled, who put the food on the table, paid the bills with the money they made to support their families, while they watched daughters like me adore their fathers who were so great at celebrating and having fun. It is now that I see the continuity and predictability of my daily life was far more from my mother and my values, too. She was a large part of ‘the great generation.’ I still love my father, but it must have been very hard on my mother at the time— responsible, hardworking, a daily stable force, watching my father have the fun and glory with his children, and having to wait till we were well into adulthood to acknowledge what we’d finally realized.”
JODY MCCOUN FOOTE writes, “This year was great for me until now that we are all in quarantine. These are crazy times now but it has been really nice sharing memories good and bad with our friends and most of all knowing that we all share such extraordinary stories from that time. Yes, we are survivors and times are a-changin’ everywhere we look. I love sharing my One Book One Week post with you, and SOPHIE GLAZER always responds. It’s so much fun. MARGOT BRADLEY is kicking my butt to get writing and I promise this year I will get on my project. Jamie has really inspired me as well and I’m having so much fun with her. Of course, she’s in love, which makes it so much more delicious. Seeing West Side Story with her was amazing, watching her take in the performance was exceptional: one of those memorable moments for sure. I am so looking forward to seeing everyone when we can DO THIS THING under a clear health watch. We all have such vivid and rich stories to share and as time ticks away it is a must that we all can gather and make this the best reunion of all. You girls really are amazing and have always had a corner place in my brain. I remember watching the tugboats chug up and down the East River, feeling their urgent strength while we played dodgeball on the pier. Never have chocolate milk and martini crackers tasted so good after a grueling math class. I pray that we all stay healthy and in good spirits. Big hugs, or should I say fist bumps, to each and every one of you, for you have a place in my heart.”
AMY MOSS sends: “Greetings, all (in this landmark year for our class and American women generally). I was so sorry to hear today of Ruth Sylvester’s passing. She was always so kind to us ‘new girls’ and we shared a love for folk dancing, though my interest strayed from English country dancing to Bulgarian line dancing. Hope this year will be transformative for us all.” JEANNIE BALLARD TEREPKA writes, “Over the last several years, I have moved fairly completely forward from my first career as a secondary school educator and into my second as an independent archivist and historian. I am an archivist at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, whose history I am writing, and I have been particularly engaged in learning how to use this history as an instrument and conduit for social justice activism. St. Michael’s has an exceptionally rich repository of both church and secular materials going back to 1808; taken together, these reveal previously undocumented aspects of the African American experience in the Episcopal Church. My research has led me to engagement in the Harlem African Burial Ground Task Force and the establishment of the Black Presence Project of the Episcopal Diocese of NY; at St. Michael’s, I’m part of the recently formed St. Michael’s Church Reparations Task Force. In addition, I am now vice president of National Episcopal Historians and Archivists. Whenever history and social justice projects threaten to make me tired, I take energy and inspiration from my family. My son Henry, a musician, and his spouse, Sophie, a visual artist, in the middle of their productive creative lives now also have a wonderful son, River, born in October 2019. Amazing joys!”
1974 LAURIE NELSON WETTERSCHNEIDER
(520) 429-0449 wetterone@me.com
It is difficult to be writing our class notes during this horrific time of COVID-19. I am hoping that by the time everyone reads this update the virus will be subsiding in our world and that a cure and/or vaccine is found as there are so many losing their lives each day. Watching friends who are losing their businesses and livelihoods as well and their life savings is sad and frightening beyond words. It is heartbreaking to watch our world deal with this pandemic and not know when it will end.
On a much happier note, I loved receiving the photo of SASHA CUNNINGHAM ANAWALT, SUSAN FRAIMAN AND SANDY MATTESON-HELM. Susan was in Los Angeles to give a talk entitled “Bathroom Realism and the Women of Cable TV” at USC in March. Susan stayed with Sasha in Pasadena and they all took the opportunity to get together for dinner. Sasha and Sandy see one another frequently, so it was a treat for the three of them to get together to reminisce! It was wonderful to have KATHERINE KORMENDI NUGENT write in: “Just finished directing Twelfth Night at Alice Deal Middle School in DC, which was great fun. Conn (my husband) is now working as an independent philanthropic consultant. Our son Jack is a junior at Harvard now, majoring in English and minoring in econ, keeping busy organizing international Model UN conferences, but his big passion seems to be writing—for the Harvard Lampoon and otherwise. He’ll do an internship at Showtime this fall after working all summer as an intern at Boston Consulting Group. Danny is a sophomore/soccer player at Temple and a hip-hop artist. My daughter Molly (utterly different from me at her age—popular, trendy, everything I was not!) starts high school next year, and my baby Izzy is in her first year of middle school. Everyone seems to be growing up way too fast.” Please note that the aforementioned updates were prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, so plans may have changed. I wish everyone good health and hope that at the time of our next Brearley Bulletin our lives are back to normal, and I for one cannot wait to see my parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephews in person as soon as possible.
1975 45TH REUNION MELISSA KNOX-RAAB
Am Mühlenbach 14 45147 Essen Germany +49 201 614 4152 +49 1577 4639628 Melissa.Knox-Raab@uni-due.de
It’s been a challenging year for me, MELISSA KNOX-RAAB, and I am delighted to have heard from so many of you. Our children are doing well: The oldest, Leopold, continues to study law at Humboldt University; Benjamin, 18, will finish gymnasium and move on to a university in Germany, probably studying economics; and Maria, in 10th grade, plays violin. At the moment, we’re glad for the forest across the street and the cross-trainer (it really does squeak) in our living room. DANA FRANKEL KRAUS agrees with Puddie (ELIZABETH HUAGE SWORD)—as do I!—getting outdoors is a saving grace! Dana adds the joyful news that her eldest son, Nick, is engaged to a wonderful young woman and that the happy couple plans to marry in Scotland next year. Her youngest son, Nate, has been accepted at several law schools and is visiting campuses soon. Dana loves her new house in Sharon, CT, and is grateful to be sequestered in such a beautiful spot. She is delighted to have several Brearley graduates or parents in the neighborhood. DKF, her jewelry business (DK Farnum Estate Jewelry, Instagram @dkfarnum), is quite busy—and was written up recently in Forbes as well as in a family office publication and local newspaper. Dana sends good juju and love to classmates during these challenging times.
ELIZABETH KUNSTADTER VON HABSBURG
writes: “Working from home is tough! Was lucky enough to catch up with Margie for a jazz night before social distancing, am in touch with Puddie, who is the lucky one to be in Jackson, and caught up with Jeremy briefly by LinkedIn! Love to see Dana’s emails with gorgeous jewelry. Great to hear from you all so keep the news flowing.” From MARGIE RUDDICK: “Just as we move into this new world paradigm, working from home thankfully, I am making huge changes: moving into a new house, a seven-minute walk from my kayak on the Hudson, with a studio apartment for Celia and an attic man cave for Jonathan; and welcoming my first grandchild, a little girl, in the next month or so. Am very much excited. Work has been great, but with this pandemic I am turning to other things: major housecleaning on every level; the book I have been writing for over 10 years; One Landscape, the conservation nonprofit I started several years ago; and the documentation of all my mother’s artwork, with a possible museum retrospective in the next couple of years. I am hoping enough people keep their landscape projects going to keep us going! I am living in Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown just north of the city on the Hudson— for those who have emailed. Still have the tiny beach house, though, that’s still home.” ALICE THURSTON, her sister, HELEN THURSTON ’70, and their nonagenarian mother retreated to Alice’s summer cottage in Ulster County, complete with leaky pipes and a fridge that died in apparent protest of the stockpiled food. The new one went into the garage, so as to minimize interaction with others. Alice made some excellent orange marmalade as gifts for kind neighbors who are shopping for her vulnerable household.
ELIZABETH HAUGE SWORD reports from northwestern Wyoming, “We now have (as of yesterday) our first confirmed COVID-19 case here in Teton County. Our community is fundamentally closed down, with food pickups available from restaurants, bakeries, liquor stores etc. Since we have the only hospital serving many surrounding communities, tough measures began on Sunday (with the closure of the ski mountain, followed by schools and everything else). Our saving grace is the outdoors, balancing the isolation with Mother Nature. If your community has not moved to shelter in place I encourage everyone to get outdoors for a little time every day. It makes all the difference. Love to all.” JEREMY STONE responded to my suggested topics, namely My Favorite Ways to Waste Time Indoors and How Fat I Am Now: “(1) I was so bored yesterday I tried on six different lipsticks and upon seeing how unflattering and unremarkable each color was, threw them all out. (2) When you can’t fit into your size D or DD bras, E is very comfortable. Red makes it look sexier than you feel.”
JANET ROSENTHALL WYCKOFF observes that spring is just beginning in NY’s Finger Lakes and hopes we have seen the last of the winter snow. She sends a photo of her “granddog” Winston and a recent sunset.
Ed. Note: KAREN NATHAN is featured in this issue’s Librarian Q&A. See page 20.
1978 ELISSA BERNSTEIN
ANTONIA NEW (New York, NY, April 9): “I am a physician at Mount Sinai, running a psychiatry residency training program. It has been an extraordinary responsibility and privilege to work with this team. At this point, about half my residents have been redeployed to cover internal medicine and emergency medicine teams during this COVID-19 pandemic. I am responsible for all these young doctors, balancing the need to help patients with the knowledge that I am putting them in harm’s way. It is quite eerie to watch hospital tents being erected in the park next to our hospital (where I walk my golden retriever each morning).
“I have sought and received volunteers to go into the front lines in the internal medicine inpatient unit, caring for almost exclusively COVID-infected patients. I have also sought and received volunteers to deploy to the medical emergency department at Mount Sinai. Normally this is a hectic place, but now it is overwhelming with people being put on ventilators as they enter the hospital and many patients not making it out of the ED. I am proud to say that my young trainees are retaining their humanity as they cope with desperately ill people who are alone, scared and barely able to breathe. A long time ago, I chose to become a doctor. It was, after all, the family guild if not the family religion. (Both my parents are/were doctors, my brother is a doctor and my sister ERICA ’75 is also a doctor.) It was actually a fellow Brearley girl, however, who really encouraged me. While I was a student at Swarthmore College, I took the most amazing honors seminar in modern poetry with LUCY MCDIARMID! She was an inspiring mentor and we talked about careers. She told me that her best friend was an ob-gyn doctor and that her friend was incredibly busy and loved it. She rightly thought that I would really enjoy the hustle and bustle of medicine. I became a doctor with the commitment to help others and to feel that I was doing something important. While I can convince myself that I have been helping people all along the way, this pandemic has melted away the bureaucracy and brought clearly into sharp relief how important medicine can be. I do think that Brearley educated us to be useful, ‘By Truth and Toil to Live.’ I am grateful for that education during this pandemic . . . it’s too bad our political leadership did not receive those educational values! I hope that all of you and your family members are safe. Sorry to be such a downer!”
KRYSIA BURNHAM (Boston, MA, April 10): “As a hospice chaplain, I already deal with death and grief, and in a pandemic, any loss is more intense as families try to keep their frail elders safe. I visit patients in their homes (or on their porches), in long-term care centers (those into which we are still allowed to enter) and in our hospice house (a 10bed facility). I ask them what gives their life meaning, and say that we clinicians are here to walk with them through whatever awaits in their last days. I meet the very devout and those who have nothing left to believe in. I listen to life review, stories of blessings counted and trusts broken. Most hospice patients do not have COVID-19—if so, they are in the ICU struggling to live. Although the virus is all around us, hospice chaplains’ main focus is to calm the storm of fear and panic. What gets me up in the morning, these days, is working through people’s questions and hopes until together we come to a breakthrough moment when life makes sense, even in dying. This is why I was here. I mattered. I gave and received love.
“Those who are already shut in due to age and poor health are suffering indeed. In one such case, a Dominican American gentleman lay quietly between white sheets in a facility. His daughter and son could not visit due to precautions. Through my surgical glove I held his hand, chatted with him in bad Spanish, and said the Padre Nuestro. I got his daughter on speakerphone. With permission I took his picture and sent it to the family. When I left, he drifted off into a sound sleep. With the recent approval of Telehealth for hospice, maybe next time he can see his loved ones on camera.
“Chaplains care for the soul, working behind the scenes with a more visible team of nurses, social workers and physicians who take care of the body. It is hard to describe what we do, but as one young boy once said at his mom’s bedside, ‘Oh, I get it: you soothe.’
“At home, we have six under one roof all working remotely (two sons and one new daughter-in-law) and a tenant over the garage, with an adult daughter still in Arizona. I mostly love this new normal except for: dirty dishes, smushed pillows on the living room couch, toilet seats left vertical. I escape on my bicycle when I need some space.
“Yet there are the quarantine kindnesses. A pot of coffee made each morning. A cozy blanket brought to where I sit. Fresh muffins baked by neighbors and placed on our porch. Someone offers to make bracelets out of an old collection of Turkish beads. A young son decides that in his confinement he will learn to play piano, cook one night a week and build us a mini-gym.
“Surrounded by the curse of global disease and suffering is the blessing of the present moment. May we all find a new peace within, for the healing of the world.”
WINKY HUSSEY (Seattle, WA, March 8): “Greetings from the epicenter of COVID-19! Our medical resident Duncan [son] treated an elderly man from the life center in Kirkland, WA, who died . . . then tested positive. Twelve more people from the life center have died since then. Duncan has tested negative twice and his two-week complete quarantine is now over . . . but it sure brought it all very close to home. Arts groups and restaurants and nonprofit fundraisers are all really struggling and/or canceling. By the time you read this, COVID should be under control but the costs will linger for a very long time.
“Besides that? All is well. Our grandbaby Ames is turning 1 at the end of March (as their mom turns 27 and their uncles 29 and 31). Ames is close to walking and totally enchanting. I love babysitting once a week! Each kid has a dog now so we do a lot of doggie sitting as well. Very fun. Thinking of all the classmates who have lost parents and how we are all turning 60. Big life chapters for all of us. Stay well and keep smiling, everyone!”
EDIE LEAVENGOOD (Dime Box, TX, March 8): “We’re back in Texas and glad to be away from Montana winters and now are within 45 minutes of our adult children. We’ve only seen them once since February as most everything is canceled. Texas A&M is on a near lockdown to keep some students who think they are invincible from partying and possibly spreading the virus. My kids are coping,
learning and working remotely. Joe and I are keeping below the radar and cleaning the parsonage and church in Dime Box, where he was installed as pastor in February. I’m writing a novel and reading, since social time is near zero here. We pray for all to keep well and weather this storm.”
NINA GARDNER (Sperryville, VA, March 30): “These days I feel I am living in a world that is a mélange of the Handmaid’s Tale and Camus’s Plague. The six months I spent in Italy last fall lecturing on business and human rights at the Johns Hopkins Bologna campus and working on sustainability projects with clients in Italy seem so far away at this point.
“This spring semester I have had to learn how to teach virtually by Zoom in a matter of days, which has been a challenge. After my dad’s passing last February, my husband and I decided to buy a little weekend house in Sperryville, VA, which turned out to be providential. We have now decamped temporarily to the Shenandoah hills and are living in a cottage decorated with some of the furniture from my parents’ NY apartment. To clear my head from the noxious drip of the 24/7 news cycle I take bike rides around the county . . . which brings me into contact (from a distance) with fiercely unrepentant Trump voters—and I find myself having heated arguments in the middle of the blossoming countryside. Clearly, I have been living in an MSNBC bubble.
“The explosion of coronavirus is making me painfully aware of a right I have always taken for granted: freedom of movement. The idea that my dear son, Laurence, is halfway across the world in Tunis, working and studying Arabic, and that I cannot just hop on a plane to join him (or vice versa) is hard for me to bear. That also goes for my extended family in Italy. And then there is my beloved Venice, which may not survive the double whammy of climate change and the coronavirus. I try not to think about this.”
TERRI SELIGMAN (Brooklyn, NY, April 9): “Writing these notes from my home office. From my window, I see a beautiful weeping cherry tree in bloom . . . and a street filled with cast-off (used) masks and gloves from the hospital a block away. The streets of Brooklyn are very quiet, except for the regular screeching sounds of ambulance sirens. I am grateful that, as of this writing, my family and I are healthy. And I am employed and safe. But, like everyone, I am filled with sadness, anxiety and fury. Remembering a time before the pandemic, and looking forward to a time when it has past, I will report only the things that are different from my last set of notes: After six years, I am completing my two terms as president of the Alumnae Association and member of Brearley’s Board of Trustees. It was truly an honor to serve in those roles during an incredible period of growth and change for Brearley. Separately, I’ve taken up a new and joyous hobby (returning to my musical roots): I am now a member of Batala New York, an all-women Afro-Brazilian samba-reggae percussion band. Fellow New Yorkers may have seen them at the Women’s March, one of the Pride events, or the like. All else the same: lawyering, parenting, etc. Wishing my classmates health and sanity, and my deepest condolences for the loved ones they’ve lost in the last year.”
TESS LEOPOLD (Farmington, CT, April 10): “I am housebound, like so many, with husband, daughter and daughter’s boyfriend. Connecticut used to feel isolated—in a bad way. Now, we appreciate the tranquility of living on our small lake miles from NYC. Then it hits me what is going on—such a surreal experience.
“I have found comfort in communications with classmates—by email and/or following on IG. The dining room is the communal office. We can see the driveway out the window. We watch the passing parade of birds, bunnies, deliveries—UPS, USPS, runners, dog walkers and their dogs. Once in a while we get out to join them. We run the dishwasher multiple times a day. The whole household infrastructure is in use.
“Marketing is a surgical strike with washdown of shopper and food. We are building up a small store of nonperishables. We have experienced some layoffs. I guess I am grounded by my nine-to-five telecommute. Interesting time to work in health insurance.
“I see some of the pollution abatement worldwide—but fear it’s only temporary. Like everyone else, I’m wondering how people are coping—both classmates and people in areas with already challenged support systems and means. Gave to MARTINE SINGER’s organization (Children’s Institute), which is collecting. Also, Doctors without Borders seemed like a worthwhile cause, along with our local food pantry. A drop in the bucket though. Could use some good escapist fic-
WE MISS YOU!
please send news for class notes to the addresses listed below.
1971 LINDSAY FOLSOM lindseyfolsom@hotmail.com
1972 ANN ADAMS adamsa@stpatsdc.org
1973 GWENDOLYN WARING gsteelef@aol.com
1976 KATE MARSHALL katemarshall430@gmail.com
1977 ALICE TRUAX alicesanfordtruax@gmail.com
tion. Enjoying examining the spines of books on the bookshelf backdrops to many videos. Saw KATHERINE SWETT live on Rattle—tape available. Doing some gardening. Waiting.”
FREDRIKA BRILLEMBOURG (Berlin, Germany, April 10): “I returned to Berlin on March 10 because I was supposed to be performing here on the 21st. All the theaters closed two days later and I decided to shelter in place here. My family are all able to be out of New York City. I feel grateful to be in Berlin where things feel quite calm. In fact, the weather has been beautiful and sunny and the rules here let us go outside to exercise. We can be with one other person if we stay a meter and a half apart so it gives the opportunity to take walks with friends, and lots of people are in the parks and in the forests and lakes around the city. It almost feels normal except for the mask-wearing during supermarket, post office and pharmacy visits. I feel fairly safe here because the Germans seem to have enough hospital beds and tests available, and I am sad and upset watching what is happening in NY and the US in general. Being home and studying on my own is not that differ-
ent from my normal life; sometimes before performances I had to stay quiet and not see people to save my voice. I miss the camaraderie with my colleagues that we have in rehearsals and performances, and my biggest worry is the unknown as far as the future goes for opera performances. Things may begin at some point to get back to normal, but I don’t know when people will feel comfortable sitting in a theater with hundreds of people. Performing artists ultimately need a live audience and I don’t know when we will be able to safely perform for live audiences again. Only time will tell, but I hope that the economic situation does not wipe out many smaller orchestras and companies that will never be able to open again after losing a season for the COVID-19 pandemic. At least here in Germany the government support for the arts ensures that we won’t lose culture here because of this crisis. Thinking of all of you and sending love and hope that we meet again soon to celebrate just being able to physically be together.”
JESSICA GALLIGAN GOLDSMITH (Armonk, NY, April 10): “These are indeed crazy times. We sent everyone home from my 45-attorney law firm on March 16 and are all working from home. So far, none of our attorneys or employees are sick, which is the good news. However, as the head of a 14-person trusts and estates department, I can attest to the fact that we are currently overwhelmed both with people wanting to get their affairs in order and also with new estates. Truly unprecedented and something I hope never to see again. On another note, my daughter Katherine is a fourth-year medical student at Stony Brook and will be applying this time next year for a residency in emergency medicine. I am scared for her but very proud of what she is committed to doing for others. I can’t say enough wonderful things about the healthcare workers in New York and all around the country—they are truly on the front lines and we owe them our deepest gratitude.”
ANNIK LAFARGE (New York, NY, April 10): “Along with virtually everyone else I’ve been gobsmacked by what has happened in our city, country and world over the past few weeks. Mostly what I’ve been feeling, in the most acute and unrelenting way, is the divide between rich and poor. I can still remember how revealing, and upsetting, it was to read The Other America at Brearley, which was my first introduction to this reality that has only embedded itself deeper and deeper in our culture over the years. Today what we see is the starkness of the divide: that it really is a matter of life and death, right here in our own city, in our own neighborhoods. I feel helpless and guilty about my many advantages, the things like wealth and education that keep me safe while so many others suffer without support from the government and the institutions that drive our country. That feeling of helplessness gnaws at me as I shelter in place, in relative comfort. I have no wisdom about any of this, just tremendous sadness and regret. I hope you are well, and send love to you and all our Brearley friends. I don’t think I ever truly understood how lucky we were, and remain, until now.”
FERNANDA EBERSTADT (France, April 10): “I’m back in our house in France, where you have to fill out an ‘Attestation’ whenever you go out saying you’re performing an essential service. Our corona crew consists of me, Alastair, our children Maud and Theo, Maud’s boyfriend, and two old school friends of Theo’s who got stranded in Paris. Seven people, five of them under 25, plus one rescue dog who’s been promoted to therapy animal. Her ear fur is getting worn thin from stroking; she doesn’t seem to mind. The kids take turns doing the cooking and washing up and working in the vegetable garden. You can see why French people in the Second World War lived so much better in the countryside than in the city: Our first salads are in, we get eggs and homemade beer from the neighbors. (All my corona anxiety is focused on how to avoid going to the supermarket for as long as possible.) Back in the US, my father—who turns 94 this summer—is living a companionable lockdown with my brother and his family in Delaware; we Skype every day. When I hear of friends or children’s friends who are working in city hospitals, I feel like a draft dodger: So far, our worst problems here are feeling aimless and distracted.”
KATE ROUHANA (Amsterdam, Netherlands, April 10): “My husband, Nadim, and I are spending the academic year overseas in Amsterdam as he has a fellowship with the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies during a sabbatical year. From this vantage point, we could clearly see the train wreck heading toward the US as we first witnessed the horror of the coronavirus ravaging Italy close up. We could see vividly how the US wasted a month or more with the testing debacle. So when the institute closed for the foreseeable future, taking all activities online, we had to weigh whether to return to Boston. We rather quickly decided that we would likely be safer here, not to mention that our home in Boston is occupied by tenants. So we’ve hunkered down, literally barely leaving our little flat in ‘Amsterdam Old South,’ and living as if through a war.
“I am not sure why, perhaps just as a function of their having a smaller population, but the Netherlands course of this epidemic has been less intense. The government shut down schools and all but essential stores, but they never prevented the public from moving around. Amsterdammers are such determined outsiders—biking and walking everywhere—that it likely would have been hard to enforce. Whatever the reason, it seems to have worked, and the Netherlands has seen a more gradual course than other European countries. Still, we were alarmed when the government announced that they simply could not see any way to increase their maximum ICU bed limit beyond twenty-five hundred, and if folks needed a bed after that, too bad—they would be out of luck. Fortunately, the maximum was not reached before the decline in cases began, and so we never needed to face that time. For now, we are taking it day by day, but our general plan is to return home as planned in early July providing it is safe enough to travel and that travel options are available. If not, we will stay longer. It has been wrenching to be stuck in a pandemic in a foreign country where you know nothing about the health-care system, and to watch from afar as the city you grew up in is wracked by such agony. My heart hurts for NY. I do hope that all of our Brearley class and community is weathering this storm and staying safe.”
As for me, ELISSA JABLONS BERNSTEIN, we are hunkered down in our home in BedStuy, Brooklyn. We decided not to decamp upstate where we would add to the strain on resources for the rural locals. Also, my husband, Matthew, and our daughter, ANNA ’12, are both high-risk and we’d rather be closer to her doctors. Our block is quiet, the brownstone homes and their blooming spring gardens create separation between neighbors. I do wish we would all participate in the nightly 7:00 pm cheering and applause
Painting by Meredith Nieves Millington, Class of 1982.
for the health-care workers on the front lines that takes place in Manhattan, but it doesn’t seem to be happening in Brooklyn. Certainly, it’s also cathartic for everyone sardined in the high-rises to let out a hearty yell of gratitude every day. Matthew and I have frequent ‘cocktail parties’ on Zoom with friends near and far—it’s so easy we wonder if people will bother having physical gatherings in the future. Our other daughter, ISABEL ’09, is in Portland, OR, where she is an essential worker in charge of the well-being of five hundred macaque monkeys at a research institute. She and a colleague carpool so she doesn’t have to be on public transportation. As for me, I pulled out my 45-year-old Singer and have been sewing masks every day, a therapeutic task, while I listen to Governor Cuomo’s press conference at midday and feel buoyed by his firm steering and occasional humor. I sent a batch of masks to DR. EMILY AURAN ’10, who is on the front lines at Bellevue; to my brother and his sons, who are working overtime at the family factory making a small part for a medical device in use now for COVID patients; and to our handful of brownstone tenants. Next up is another batch going to HCW’s. I turned 60 on April 9; the all-out dance party will have to wait, and friends and family sent me jokes, cartoons and clips instead.
Class of 1982 members, probably on a 9th grade class trip to a teacher’s summer house (possibly Liza Lee’s). From left to right, standing: Liz Burr, Melissa Huggins, Maura Sheehy, Meyung Joh, Pam Reis, Lizzie Schwartz, Cordelia Hodges, Nita Lelyveld, Laura Kramarsky; sitting: Kalen Hockstader, Dana Tang, Hilary Jewett, Blandy Achenbach, Hilarie Sheets.
1979 BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
classnotes@brearley.org
SARAH ROSEN WARTELL writes: “I was thrilled to have MONIQUE LOWITT visit me at the new home of the Urban Institute when she was in DC recently. Wonderful to catch up.”
1980 40TH REUNION BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
classnotes@brearley.org
REBECCA DOLINSKY writes: “Greetings from Paris. Following the example of Gertrude Stein and Louise Bourgeois, I have founded a salon for women writers, artists, photographers, filmmakers, historians and critics in Paris, where I have lived for the past 20 year or more, depending on how you count. We are called the Salonistas and this is basically my attempt to recreate the Brearley classroom. We have worked together on such subjects as Women in the Middle Ages, with a special day at the Abbey of the Royaumont; the Goddess of Fortune, with a show at Le Musée de la Carte à Jouer (the Museum of the Playing Card); and recently the Box Project at the SPARC gallery in LA, based on the exchange of small works with two salons that were founded upon our example in Los Angeles and Mexico. A recent article in Hyperallergic magazine describes our project well. Please note the wonderful photograph of MONIQUE VALERY ’46, an important member of our group (https:// hyperallergic.com/532918/the-box-projectsparc-venice/). The exhibition also appears in MUMA, the online museum of women artists in Mexico (http://www.museodemuheres. com/en/our-museum). And here is a link to a radio interview if you would like to listen to my heavily accented French (even though, hard to believe, I am French now!): http:// aligre-fm-93-1.website-radio.com/podcasts/ a-la-croisee-des-chemins-26-mars-2019revons-c-est-l-heure-1-avec-rebecca-dolinsky-412. (Ed. Note: see 1946 Class Notes for more about this.)
“We had a moving day at the Académie des Sciences, when my husband, Frank Merle, was awarded the Prix Ampère. Surrounded by the academicians in their traditional green embroidered suits, dating back to 1848 when Victor Hugo adopted them, we gave thanks to the Fée Électricité. Miss Conant, I am hearing you say, ‘You can do math!’ If you pass through Paris and would like to join us at the salon, please email me at: rebeccadolinsky@yahoo.com. My website is https://www.rebeccadolinsky.com/.”
1984’s Lisa Beattie Frelinghuysen and Katharine Weymouth Scully, coming out of the oral argument in a reproductive rights case at the Supreme Court on March 4.
1982 ROBIN MURRAY-GILL PATTON
Robin.patton212@outlook.com
CORDELIA HODGES TILGHMAN
1816 NE 53rd Avenue Portland, OR 97213 (503) 853-5062 Cordiet@comcast.net
It is with great sadness that I write to you that MEREDITH NIEVES MILLINGTON lost her battle with cancer on March 8, 2020. Meredith was a beloved member of the Class of 1982. Her mother also taught music at Brearley and was the chair of the Music Department for a number of years. Upon receiving the news, classmates responded with an outpouring of emails. Most classmates remembered her warm smile and distinctive dimples. Others recalled her distinctive clothing style, which included white go-go boots, a purple knit poncho and a red crushed-leather jacket. Perhaps the strongest memory was of her laugh, which caused her whole body to shake. Above all, it appears that Meredith was a talented artist, a good friend, and a well-loved classmate who will be missed by all. She leaves behind a loving husband, two children, her father and her brother.
1984 BETSY WITTEN
Class of 1984, I was bowled over by how many of you wrote and shared so generously about your lives. The expansion and surprises and deliberate creation of your lives since graduation. And the current circumstances, with your hopes, actions, irritations, worries. I have tried to reduce what you’ve said to its most essential, because otherwise Brearley would have had to print us our own Bulletin— please, please excuse me for the butchering of all the beauty and detail you offered. If anyone did not get my plea for notes, write me to tell me your current email address. I hope you read this from a place where you find comfort, purpose, and vitality.
SAM MARTIN writes: “While watching one of the first press conferences about a month ago a little voice said turn off the TV and get thee to Costco. Now. That, I believe, was my dad, who I am certain would be making masks out of diapers right about now and filming the streets of NYC. I do miss him at times like these. He taught me to be ‘good in an emergency.’ I remember our family disaster-escape-from-Manhattan plan—it involved walking to Riverdale and an inflatable boat. My brother is carrying this torch with six months of camping food, full isolation suits for his entire family, a solid supply of ammunition and yes . . . an inflatable boat. Collegiate boys.”
LEANNA CALIMONOPULOUS MCGRATH
reports: “Been living in Cambridge, MA, for 20 years since having my son, Max. Currently married to a Harvard poet and academic with whom I have a 13-year-old daughter (turned a teenager last weekend which was challenging to celebrate given the current situation). I have been in real estate for 10 years and really love it. Fits my energy. I have been lucky enough to keep working the past month but that’s ebbing, so yes, exercise has been a godsend. . . . I started running for the first time in 40+ years since my daily swim is impossible, and do way too many TikToks with my daughter. I think it’s one day at a time for many of us with this planetary reset and I hope we all come out whole the other side.”
REBECCA DEL TUFO writes: “I’m holed up in east London with my two, who are both home from university and pretty sad not to be with their friends. I cycled today (for my government-allowed one hour of exercise) through the City of London to Buckingham Palace—it was all weirdly empty, but families were out with small children cycling through central London because it is so safe, for once, and the air quality is amazing. So there are silver linings to this miserable situation. I program films for a couple of cinemas which we had to close nearly a month ago—so now I’m giving online film recommendations and wondering when we will be allowed to open again. And for now, I’m trying to tidy and decorate my house, and do all the domestic tasks that I never usually find time (or interest) for. And chat to the neighbors as we all sit in the sunshine on our front doorsteps, all in a very un-London way.”
LISA PINTO writes: “Paul and our three kids are home with us [in Arizona], plus four Colorado College refugees who can’t return to the East Coast, three dogs and a cat. Feeding seven adolescents is beyond a full-time job so I am channeling my inner Martha (without the felony conviction). Paul is now president of a marijuana SPAC which invests in growth and retail operations. We explain daily to our children that there are no samples coming home. One of our kids has struggled with various issues but he seems to be on a better track now, but like this epidemic, it’s a day-to-day process. I retired from the communications field in 2015.”
KATHARINE WEYMOUTH writes: “I am hunkered down in DC with my two girls and three dogs (definitely too many—I frequently get asked if I am a dog walker and just say yes because it is easier than explaining that my youngest talked me into the third last fall and I was a sucker). Trying to figure out my ‘second chapter’ still after 18 years at the Post. Took a few years happily off and have been serving on several boards—both public companies and nonprofits locally—and started a company a couple of years ago with a colleague. Our business is in the restaurant space—so needless to say that is pretty much at a complete standstill right now, but we are hoping to be able to weather the storm and be there on the other side.”
META SHRENK CARR reports: “I like to think I’m working hard on the micro level, raising good citizens, enabling my husband in his
furious fight to reverse climate change, and bringing a bit of cheerful art into the world. My biggest job lately, though, has been caring for my dear dad. After a fall which fractured two vertebrae, he underwent surgery (at 96!), and has undergone a slow, painful recovery. I’m still engaged in my never-ending battle with psoriatic arthritis, an autoimmune disease I’ve had since I was 19. It is not life-threatening but can be quite painful and has required multiple surgeries. I’m on a large array of medications, which often change. (I’ve even taken hydroxychloroquine!) All in all this is quite a time-consuming ailment, which in part explains why I don’t have a gloriously fabulous career. But I love squeezing in my art when I have time, and despite this horrific time we’re all living through at the moment, I’m really very happy.”
FERNANADA GORDON FISHER writes: “I feel like the scope of my life has narrowed from a spotlight to a penlight. While I am incredibly grateful to be in a comfortable home with food on the table, I am struggling with the repetitive nature of the days. I think not having regular employment has shown me that I need to be intentional about creating more structure for myself. My amazing mother is doing quite well at home here in Berkeley and I am her only frequent visitor. She is quite resilient for an 88-year-old and is being very careful. We have enjoyed cooking together and watching old films and bad television (i.e., the ubiquitous Tiger King). As for me, I am still dancing, albeit in my living room in front of a computer screen. I am also enjoying many beautiful hikes in the hills of the East Bay and making my Nandiz Designs jewelry.”
CARA VAN INGEN VAN OLSON writes: “For the last couple of years I have been working at the local newspaper, the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, as a reporter. I started as a proofreader as a way of having something to do as my children grew older and didn’t need me as much. About a year later, I was asked to join the staff full-time, and I have to say being a reporter for a small-town newspaper is my dream job and I wish I had known that 25 years ago! LOL! My husband is an attorney and both of us are working full-time through this mess, which is stressful because the children are home alone having to wade through schoolwork without us. But I’m grateful for the opportunity to keep earning a paycheck.”
PHILIPPA FEIGEN MALKIN writes: “I am home with all three children, husband (from whom I have been separated for two years, but who isn’t settled permanently in his own home as of now) and my eldest’s boyfriend of two and a half years who’s a UK citizen and therefore is with us for the foreseeable future. Six of us plus five animals all happily squeezed in. . . . Navigating these weird waters is a daily wonder and challenge. Lots of time to test weak relationship links and be curious (and short-tempered) about repairing them. Silver lining is that healing is happening, I believe. Patience is key, and stepping away and letting things just be, too.”
RACHEL BACON, who sadly reported that her mom died in October, also wrote: “What surprises me the most is how easily and quickly people have given up their freedoms to join together to stop the virus spreading. I find it both heartening and frightening. I would like to think it proves a massive response to the climate emergency would also be possible. The other side of it, though, is the creepy feeling that governments are not going to want to let go of the powers they’re now amassing. In the Netherlands, things are characteristically blasé and the rules not as stringent as in other parts of Europe. I’m working in my studio engaged in making some extremely time-consuming drawings, as a way to, well, pass the time. I’m also still teaching at the art school here and am very grateful for my job. Trying my best to keep in touch with friends and family, writing letters and sending cards to those I know who can’t get out, like my 92-year-old aunt and my 89-year-old dad (who is holding virtual cocktail parties with his buddies on Zoom every Friday, so I’m not too worried about him).”
GIANNA ZUCCOTTI’s work is so specific to our time that I am indulging and including a lot of what she wrote in: “Like others, we are homebound. Our eldest, a high school sophomore, has had the hardest adjustment. To deal with the stress of constant family she has inverted her schedule, arising for dinner (which becomes her breakfast) and then working (social media-ing with other nocturnal teens) through the night. This plan has actually solved all tension between her teenage self and my husband/her dad. . . . He is happiest at 4:00 am when he wakes and now she is there eating her dinner and winding down. They have had long meaningful talks . . . never would have come up with this solution without COVID! Starting the last week in February we activated our Healthsystem’s Emergency Operations Group. We watched Italy over the course of that week and started preparing. Over the last month we have worked intensely to rebuild our electronic health record in real time to respond to the rebuild of the staffing model in our hospitals. We have repurposed many inpatient units, repeatedly redesigned our screening and testing processes, created entirely new clinics for respiratory illness, stood up a virtual-care process (a two-year planned project condensed to four weeks), and created many data and analytics tools. The major project this week is the reconfiguration of the Boston Convention Center to accommodate five hundred homeless patients and five hundred post-discharge patients to off-load our hospital beds. I am lucky to be in a resource-rich clinical environment that is dedicated to trying to improve access for all. The people I work with have been extraordinary—the teams greet each day with humor (not all dark), caring for each other and perseverance. It is very life-affirming.
“I have not been called to work clinically yet. My next regularly scheduled clinical work is in mid-May. I am hoping that my administrative and information systems work will stabilize in the next two weeks or so as we hit our clinical peak of illness and I will be able to pick up some shifts for my infectious disease colleagues. I was sick in early March—I did not meet criteria for testing but was knocked flat for about two weeks. I would wake up— call in to meetings for three hours, sleep for three hours, then work again, then sleep again. My symptoms began about four days after visiting with family newly arrived from Seattle. I think it is likely that I had COVID, but I will never know for sure. My au pair and husband had milder versions of the same. The illness has lingered for about a month, but work and lack of sleep are likely major contributors to this!”
ELIZABETH RUDDICK wrote in for the first time in 36 years! So I’m including it all. “I have been living in Hampstead, London, for most of the past 20 years. It is a beautiful place to be quarantined, and two blocks from the largest urban park in Europe. Happily, the park is still open, although every beautiful weekend the government threatens to close it. Oddly, we have had a stretch of glorious sunshine, which does make
everything more bearable. I have technically been an immigration lawyer since 1998, but this includes nine years in which I vaguely kept abreast of developments in the field or did occasional volunteering but was in fact a full-time parent to two children. I recently gave up practice in order to become a judge of the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), which according to law required a second oath of allegiance to the queen and her heirs and successors (I have been a British citizen since 2006). I love being a judge, although I miss my clients. Those who remember me may remember that I always liked telling people my opinion; now I get paid to do it from atop a platform with the royal crest on it and everyone has to treat me with respect. They even have to stand up whenever I do (although my father forgot when he came to observe a hearing). More seriously, it is very satisfying when I get to take the final step in righting an injustice, although there are also parts of the job that are boring or frustrating. We get frequent warnings about not expressing political opinions too widely, however, so I will not share my views on Brexit or ‘herd immunity.’ I’m just glad we have an extra £350 million a week to spend on the NHS now that we have left the EU, just like Boris Johnson promised us. :) The Tribunals moved to remote hearings a few weeks ago, but because many types of cases are not appropriate for a remote hearing, there has been a massive drop-off in work, and I will shortly be laid off for the foreseeable future. My husband is a historian and still employed, teaching remotely. We even have had the good fortune that he has been commissioned to write an article about how the virus has changed consumption, for which he will be paid. So we are very lucky. He is from Hamburg, Germany, and very resentfully became a British citizen two years ago in order to protect his right to continue living here.
“My daughter is in her final year of university, and has been remarkably resilient about the sudden collapse of her future—no final boat race (she was captain of her college’s women’s crew team), no final May Ball, no graduation ceremony, and no prospect of employment in the near future. She stays in touch with her boyfriend by various messaging services, like so many of my former clients who were divided from their families by harsh immigration rules. It is no substitute, but it is something. She is finishing a sociology dissertation partly about class and inequality in education, something we all know a lot about. On the bright side (for the rest of the family if not for her), this may postpone her leaving home. My son is 17 and misses his friends, and has fallen back on habits of socializing through playing online video games that he had recently largely grown out of. Every afternoon, he goes skateboarding in the deserted streets. He plays a lot of bass guitar and tries to study for his exams, to be held remotely at the end of the month. My father is still alive and sheltering in place in his NYC apartment, for which I am very grateful. We talk almost every day, and not only about Trump and DNI and DNR directives. With love to all.”
CATHERINE HENRY tells a wild story I feel awful truncating. At the start of the pandemic she “went onto Skyscanner, searched ‘all destinations,’ then plugged in ‘whole month.’ Nine hours later, I boarded a full plane out of Newark to Puerto Rico. It’s not really Gilligan’s Island, but when we hit the tarmac, we were greeted by wild chickens and nothing else. I loved it immediately. Over the next few weeks I extended my lease on a one-bedroom idyll with a terrace with expansive views over a bay. There is a palm tree on my front lawn. We’re quarantined here, too. Stores and hotels shuttered—tourists are no longer welcome on the island. The residents are here, as are those living on nearby yachts. In the evenings, I take a long walk along the bay. Beaches are closed and you can’t swim anywhere, but there are expansive views, wide-open skies, and faceless neighbors who wave as they drive by in weather-beaten pickup trucks. Here, my days are spent on building an emergency resource Slack for the nearly three thousand creatives in my art and tech meetup; developing an industry conference call with XR tech leaders around the world for LinkedIn Live, where I have special access; writing white papers about the tech that can help us bridge the communication and collaboration challenges brought on by the pandemic. Sometimes it gets lonely. But then, I have always felt alone. I crave crowds, parties, loud distractions. At my age, that has been hard to come by. This is second best. The plastic flip-flops I bought for $5.99 at a Walgreens before boarding the seaplane are still holding up. At home, I have about 30 pairs of Prada, another of Jimmy Choo, and a broad assortment of Miu-Miu, Sergio Rossi, Gianvito Rossi . . . you name it. The storage keeps them company with the Chanel, Armani and Jill Sander suits that haven’t seen the sun since the last crisis. Now my ‘wardrobe’ is a hanging pole with two shirts, two slip-dresses and a sarong. It’s enough. It’s an ugly world on Twitter, Fox and MSNBC. This could be a while. I’m not saying I’d never like to return to a large, bustling city, like London or Amsterdam. That’s still the goal, or part of it. For the past 30 years I have been a rolling stone, ever anxious for the next adventure. . . . But here, now, I am close as I’ve ever been to Paradise.”
JANE LACHER writes: “I am home with my sad but resilient high school senior, Mark (my partner of 20 years), my 89-year-old mother and a big dog. Work has been nuts. It has been nonstop 24/7. Absolutely crazy as clients need to cancel media and other clients want to get new messages out as fast as they can. I am looking forward to a little less crazy this week. My family is good, but it is clear my mother’s memory is faltering. We have put a lock on the door so that she doesn’t leave the apartment! When she is lucid she talks about working with Dr. Fauci! Who knew. The biggest change seems to be for the dog. Bear is absolutely exhausted from all the attention. Tomorrow I am taking time off from work to deliver meals to health-care workers with my friend who is making meals for the health-care workers living at the Four Seasons in NYC and other locations. I am also conducting in-home dance parties weekly. Best way to spend the evening.”
KATE GEER writes: “I am feeling extremely fortunate to be riding out the apocalypse in my beautiful redwood sanctuary in Occidental, a place where social distancing has been the de facto practice for quite a long time ��. Sonoma County is stunning and west Sonoma County, where I live, is relatively sparsely populated. Lots of trees and lots of space between humans, which I love. A friend created a conservation easement across the street that has a 3.5-mile canyon loop hike, which allows for forest bathing and outdoor exercise. My property is designed to host retreats—sadly none of those on the books for the foreseeable future—which means I have a yoga studio and gym and a hot tub. We are lucky to live in a progressive, hippie community of kindhearted beings, and most of our food is grown and raised consciously and locally. I started a project a few years ago
called Contagious Vulnerability and have been chronicling my journey of self-discovery and transformation catalyzed by my mother’s suicide 12 years ago. For a while it took the form of in-person workshops hosted on my property. Its current expression is a weekly column I publish on Medium in which I write about my own transformation—and now, thanks to the global pandemic, our time of collective transformation—with the goal of sharing wisdom gained through my personal experience to be of service to others on their own hero’s and heroine’s journeys. My latest piece is called ‘A Magical Moment of Ma.’ I’m not sure where it’s all leading but writing my way through transformation—giving voice to my authentic experience to the best of my ability—has been incredibly therapeutic and fulfilling. It’s helping me to make sense of the changes going on inside and out. I’d love to know what you think if you care to read and share your feedback. To pay the bills, I’m working for a cannabis company doing content creation—basically writing recipes for canna-infused baked goods (pun most definitely intended!) and learning all about cannabinoids and terpenes.”
ALEX PIPER reports: “These are very strange times. We were going to put our house in Evanston, IL, on the market April 1 with a plan to move back to the Bay Area in the late fall. Now, taking it one day at a time. Both my kids are home: one a senior at Wash U, missing her senior spring and graduation; the other a freshman at Santa Clara University (stressful county in early March), missing her first college water polo season; yet, in the grand scheme of everything . . . this is life now, and they will be fine. We are safe and sound and have the luxury of living in a warm house with room enough for us all to work and live and find alone time. I am about to start my final quarter of grad school in social work on Zoom, the end of three years attending part-time. I am doing an internship this year at a legal aid agency where all our clients can also have social workers to help them, appreciating that those affected by the legal system have needs in other domains as well. Many of my clients are in real disarray now and can’t afford to just shelter in place. My postgrad goal was to get involved in an agency in the Bay Area where I could marry my work and interests in criminal justice reform, cooking, gardening and restorative justice. One day . . . I hope. So now . . . I try and keep my kids from killing each other, try and keep my mom in NYC safe, try and keep my social husband from socializing outside, do yoga, try to calm and assist my clients navigating a mess, try and sneak in some fiction, drink wine, and Zen out on the 8 x 4 garden bed I made and planted with radishes, lettuce, spinach and turnips.”
LESLIE STONE writes: “We are doing okay. We are five in this household. Eldest Dylan is finishing out his sophomore year at Bowdon with online classes, middlest Mia is in online 11th grade at our local urban high school (which is heroically supporting learning while also distributing over three thousand meals a day) and our youngest, Wyatt, started up his 7th grade distance learning this week. Husband Michael is finishing up a graphic nonfiction book that will be published in September. He wonders who will buy it—is anyone paying much attention to refuges in the US anymore? I am working at a crazy pace to keep a drastically reduced level of US–China cooperation going. We face huge financial and political/bureaucratic hurdles. I am comforted by Chinese friends and colleagues who are express-mailing PPE to me at a furious rate. I have found a conduit to donate the N95 masks, gloves and surgical masks arriving at my doorstep directly to doctors at the front line. So far donations include over five hundred masks and gloves. Hundreds more are on the way. This effort in no way meets the need but the compassionate reach across shut borders is so moving. Inspired by these Chinese friends, I am sewing cloth masks for family, friends and colleagues.”
JEN NESSEL writes: “We just finished the hellish NYC high school process with a nice result—he got an offer from his first choice, a small music school up by Lincoln Center. My work is both on hold and urgent—we were supposed to have a case before the Supreme Court, but that got canceled—thank god, let’s keep RBG safe and healthy. We filed a case this week to get medically vulnerable people in the Deep South out of ICE detention, which is a ticking timebomb. I’ve been joining the 7:00 pm applause for essential workers, which is a nice dose of community.”
ROXANA TYNAN writes: “We are still doing a mini-coop for the kids with two other families. We started right after the schools closed, the week before the LA shelter-inplace order, and decided we were already exposed to each other and committed not to see anyone else. Izzy had her 13th birthday with a Zoom party, and my 10-year-old,
WE MISS YOU!
please send news for class notes to the addresses listed below.
1981 ROZIE KENNEDY rozie@kennedypost.com
1983 ALUMNAE OFFICE classnotes@brearley.org
1985 CARYN MAROONEY caryn@fb.com
Jack, seems to have settled in to this new routine. I think mental health matters too, and sharing childcare/homeschooling—can I just say, only a saint could homeschool—is necessary to my and my kids’ mental health. My hubby is unfortunately laid off. He works in hotels. Our allies in the hotel union here have seen 90 percent of their members laid off. It’s devastating. Work feels really insane. Trying to advocate for a bunch of city and county emergency legislation remotely is weird to say the least. We have managed to pass some legislation including emergency paid sick days for large employers—fought like crazy by the restaurant association—but passed nonetheless. I know I’m stating the obvious, but this crisis exposes the gigantic failures in our society around lack of access to basic necessities and a basic social safety net. Today I read a really uplifting projection from one of the economists I trust that we would reach unemployment in the teens this summer. Since I cannot control that, I am trying to focus on my middle-aged lady body. I am doing Zoom dance classes (Betsy introduced me to Dancechurch, and I also love Pony Sweat), but my resolutions around drinking less wine and exercising every day . . . well, those just aren’t quite happening.”
NINA SCHWALBE and I (Betsy) have been talking quite a bit, especially since the pandemic (read between the lines: I send her alarmed texts asking for comfort and facts and she writes back informed sensible expertise). Her organization is
The Modern Renaissance cake Julie Levine Simon ’87 made for the 100th anniversary Architectural Digest Design Show.
Stockton (Polly) Hall ’87 with her favorite masked men: son Taylor and husband Eddie Cisneros.
Sandy VanDerzee ’87 and her mother, Leslie VanDerzee Marvin.
Spark Street Advisors.
As for me, I’m home in Brooklyn trying not to touch my face, figuring out how to explain area and perimeter to my kid, and feeling lucky and grateful a lot of the time.
1986 BREARLEY ALUMNAE OFFICE
classnotes@brearley.org
The class is sorry to report the loss of THEA TRACHTENBERG, a longtime producer at Good Morning America.
1987 SASHA KOREN
VICTORIA C. ROWAN
VCRowan@Ideasmyth.com Facebook: Victoria C. Rowan Twitter: @VCR Ideasmyth
Filing these notes in April 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic international “pause,” when no one can predict what the world will be like by publication date, we offer the following in mutual appreciation of any and all signs of positive life! Rounding up these notes produced some dishy conversation starters for our upcoming class cocktail hour (via Zoom)—so let these spark your own: “How do you tame your pent-up tweens?” “Where are you on the quarantine spectrum: tending toward nymphomaniac or Lysistrata?” “How does a nice Brearley girl like me end up sheltering with a Republican husband?!” Greatly heartened to hear from classmates all over the country: from the NYC urban epicenter to the Rocky Mountains, from beaches in LA to beaches in the Hamptons, and also sweet reports of extended clans—and their pets—quarantining together.
SASHA KOREN provided this vivid verbal tableau: “I’m still here on the Upper West Side with Jessamin and our small zoo. Our pets give us a lot of good distraction and comfort these days, and the dog helps us keep sane by needing a daily long walk in Riverside Park. The cherry trees and daffodils have been in bloom and they’re fabulously ostentatious, like they’re protesting the city’s otherwise subdued state. Occasionally I’ll pull my bandana mask away from my nose so I can smell spring for a minute instead of hot-washed cotton. It’s hard to explain how quiet the city is right now (or at least 20 or so blocks of it that I’ve walked in). No honking. Few loud trucks. It’s pretty great. The downside is that the sirens seem louder and more frequent without any buffer. The 7:00 pm nightly cheering sessions are also an exception—side streets become loud canyons with even a few people hanging out windows to shout and bang on pots and pans. I usually walk down the block to let out a few cathartic hollers. It’s all very communal and inspiring and gives me a burst of NY pride for about three minutes, and then everyone disappears back into apartments and the streets go quiet again. Broadway at 8:00 pm has less activity than it would be at 3:00 am in normal times. Creepy and also magical. So it’s completely odd here (where isn’t it?) but we’re getting by. I do worry a lot about the populations who aren’t doing as well, and of how the city and its people, its small businesses, its culture will do in coming months. But not much to be done about that right now aside from staying home and making donations to the food bank, listening to one more Pema Chodron book on audio, and trying to find silver linings.” [Truth in editing: Sasha resisted running hers long and I insisted—VCR.] JODY PERLBERGER WATERMEYER: “Quarantined at home and loving the family time! Started a renovation of our apt. in January so when the pandemic hit, no kitchen! Still working on it and please god, this should be our greatest hardship!” K. ELIZABETH GUERCIN: “I’ve been the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Herricks school district on Long Island for the past three years. Working hard now to support e-learning for my district while also trying to homeschool and manage everyday life. I’m lucky that my mom, who typically resides in Florida, happened to be here in NY for my 9-year-old’s birthday. We’re so relieved to have her with us during this crisis. We are all healthy and feeling blessed to have this unplanned time together. We’re growing closer (literally and figuratively) as a family . . . but looking forward to being back in the real world in a new normal.” From downtown, STOCKTON HALL writes: “I have been volunteering at the Stuyvesant Town pantry for City Harvest. Packing boxes of groceries for the hungry. It makes me feel useful and I get to leave my husband to do the homeschooling for a few hours which is best for us all. I keep meaning to learn a new computer program or a new language or work on my (nonexistent) six-pack, but the
days fly by because I’m too busy googling 4th grade math and trying to figure out how to split the fractions and turn them into decimals (???). P.S. I went to art school.” DANIELLE LEWIS: “Last February, I performed in a concert version of The Magic Flute; now public singing is on hiatus, with one exception. My choir, the Peace of Heart Choir, has started ‘New York Sings Along’ with singing out of our windows every Thursday at 7:00 pm to those on the front lines. Nine thousand participants across the US and abroad join us (find us on the radio or Facebook).”
From those quarantining in more verdant climes, we are most excited to hear—after 35 years!—from LISA BORDEN: “To this day, I am still mad at my parents for moving us to New Jersey in 8th grade and taking me out of Brearley. I read the Class Notes all the time and loved the 50th birthday stories and all the other updates about the women I remember from Lower and Middle School. At the moment I am holed up at home, in a beach town south of Boston, with my husband, Joe, and our black lab, Sparky. No one is doing much work in our house at the moment as we are both freelance and the economy is melting (I do brand strategy work and Joe is a creative director and photographer). We are taking a lot of walks, cooking and eating too much, watching more Netflix than I care to admit . . . and as we inch closer to summer Joe sails when the winds are high and I kayak when the winds are low.” From BETSY JACKS in the Hudson Valley: “I am feeling grateful to be well and living in a beautiful place while trying to pull a nonprofit organization—the Thomas Cole Historic Site—through this crisis. It’s a cross between a historic house and an art museum, and although we have a crater in our budget right now, I am determined to keep all of my staff. To rest my mind I’m doing a lot of gardening!” SARAH SMITH: “I’m here in Baltimore with my husband, three kids, adorable new cat, demanding but devoted dog and a bearded dragon who scrabbles around in his tank occasionally. Where we live is, strictly speaking, in the city, but the houses are pretty far apart, so we have lots of opportunities to get outdoors and not worry too much about breathing on other people. The kids (18, 14, and 14) have varying amounts of school work. The boys play lacrosse, bike around town, go fishing, and then of course there’s Fortnite, sigh. Our daughter is painting, learning lines for an audition and has lots of work from her school. I teach writing to about 50 undergrads so I am very busy. To be honest, most days I scarcely notice the restrictions on our lives—it’s just head down, get the work done, fold the laundry, and so on. Classes end in two weeks so things will feel very different then, when we would normally have end-of-semester parties and I would embark on serious swimming at our (of course, closed) local pool. David has a lighter teaching load but makes up for it by undertaking ambitious house projects, mending plaster, regrouting tile, baking bread, putting in the vegetable garden and oh, he wrote a poem this week!” LISI DEHAAS, from quarantine in the Berkshires: “Planted some seeds yesterday. And . . . there is a BEAVER in the pond to remind me of you all.” And this heartbreaking news from SANDY VANDERZEE about her last year with her mother: “I spent the last year and a half looking for, buying, and furnishing a house in Rowayton, CT, with my mother, Leslie VanDerzee Marvin. We bought it together, knowing that she had cancer and wouldn’t be here forever, but wanted us, and ultimately me, to have a house near my brother Jay (who lives in Darien with his wife and three kids, barely a mile away). We wouldn’t be able to move in for a couple of months, so we went on a lovely trip to Spain in June to see our dear friend Marcia Kebbon (sister of classmate MAUD KEBBON) get married. When we returned, I put on my interior designer hat and got the floors refinished and the house painted. We spent the rest of the summer and fall getting the place in order to host Thanksgiving. It was a success and we hosted Christmas Eve as well. My mother said she hadn’t been that happy since John (my stepfather) died. All the while, she was balancing meetings with her oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She didn’t tell us everything right away. It wasn’t until we went to Vail for the week after Christmas that it became apparent that she wasn’t doing well. The altitude took a grave toll on her. It just hadn’t occurred to any of us that it would be a problem. When we got back to NYC and went to see her doctors at MSK, the worst news came. The cancer was spreading. There were a few rushed meetings with possible trials, but she gave chemo one last try. When it didn’t work we had to face facts and we arranged for home hospice. When the coronavirus became such a threat, my brother decided we needed to evacuate to the house in Connecticut, and he found an EMT unit to pick her up from her apartment and bring her out here and get her settled in her bedroom upstairs. She only lasted a week. She died with my brother and me on either side of her, each of us holding her hand. It was sad and beautiful at the same time. I really thought we would have more Thanksgivings or even a full summer here together with ‘the grandies.’ I miss her as I sit in the living room of this house that we built together.” From our classmates in medicine: CAROLINE DORSEN writes, “As a professor of nursing, I am spending my time worrying about my colleagues, students, patients and friends on the front line, doing my usual interesting research on LGBTQ+ health inequities and volunteering doing COVID surveillance and counseling for the department of health.” CATHERINE (CAT) MAGID DIEFANBACH: “We are sheltering in place in NYC, Franziska doing 7th grade and Alexander doing 5th grade Zoom classes at Cathedral School and Allen-Stevenson respectively, and classical music (piano, cello) with Zoom and click tracks. My husband is able to work from home. It’s a brave new world! I am intermittently working on the front lines, taking care of hematologic malignancies patients with COVID as well as my own lymphoma patients, and consulting about hematology issues in COVID patients.” Sadly, COVID canceled many long-planned artistic endeavors.
JULIE LEVINE SIMON (see picture): “This cake was supposed to be for the Modern Renaissance Architectural Digest Design Show in March, celebrating their 100th anniversary. My inspiration was a still-life painting by Jan Van Huysum, who, like other Dutch Masters, often created fantasy flowers that didn’t exist in real life or exaggerated them, so I challenged myself to recreate these in sugar. They are structurally somewhere between a rose and a peony and a ranunculus. Also I developed these really round Redouté-style roses that we don’t have—at least not in modern-day horticulture. I’ve been trying to get these right for years!” REMIE ROSEMAN CHRIST: “My biggest personal disappointment was having to cancel the in-person, 50 Yale 150 Coeducation Celebration weekend that I helped organize as vice president of the Yale Glee Club Associates (alumni)
Karen Mallah ‘88 and her daughter.
board. We had arranged many wonderful events, including a film premier about the Glee Club embracing coeducation as Yale went coed; a talk-back with the filmmaker and the creator of a companion podcast series; a panel discussion about the role of gender in choral singing; a workshop to learn a new, amazing song composed for the occasion; and topped off by a festive, singing dinner (we all sing a lot when we’re together). Sadly, our two years of work transformed into a couple of short, online events. But we had great fun and a wonderful turnout for the online film premiere (I participated in a watch-party with good friends), followed by a Zoom panel discussion with the filmmaker and podcast creator. Now a number of us are working on learning and recording our parts to the new song, which the Glee Club will digitally stitch together to create a video recording of the piece’s premiere. Quite a fun project! If you are interested, please watch the film, A Home in Hendrie Hall [https://gleeclub.yalecollege.yale. edu/50yale150-film], and listen to the podcast series [https://gleeclub.yalecollege.yale. edu/50yale150-podcast]—good stuff whether or not you are a Yalie or a singer.” Segueing into some professional updates, RACHEL BIEDERMAN has this surreal report: “New job. Started March 16 and was immediately told not to come to work. So now I’ve been here for a month and I’ve never met most of my colleagues in person. I’m feeling grateful that I’m employed, that my teenagers (Jasper, 16, and Delilah, 13) and my elderly parents and asthmatic brother and I are all healthy as of right now. We love springtime in Colorado and are happy to be able to go hiking!” DANIELLE LEWIS: “The UN International School, where I serve as middle school librarian, transitioned to online learning on March 6 and is climbing a steep learning curve with care and collaboration. Our Brearley teachers have given me ample inspiration to strive for the sake of students.” And from another librarian, DAISY POMMER: “I’m working remotely for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and trying to ‘go virtual’ with much of the services and programming offered by the library.” And proving that all quarantine career news isn’t necessarily grim: LAURA BELGRAY writes: “I’m having a very lucky pandemic period. I take none of it for granted, and hope I’m not jinxing myself just by writing this. My business, Talking Shrimp, is online and largely serves people with online-based businesses, or those aspiring to build them. So I’ve been busier than ever with work, for now anyway. Knock wood and other surfaces. Even though I’m not homeschooling kids, I have none of this ‘extra time’ I’ve read so much about. I probably won’t emerge from this quarantine period with a new language or skill, but I’m trying to put as much energy as possible into my book, a work in progress. I’m in the query stage. Steven is cooking a lot, and I’m helping by trying my best not to break glasses when we dry the dishes. My record is spotty. We’re doing the shelter-in-place thing in Sag Harbor, where we just happened to have gotten a house. As fortunate as we are to have this option, the die-hard New Yorker in me is going through a bout of guilt and identity crisis, especially when I see friends’ posts about the 7:00 pm cheer for the frontline workers. With all the pain and sadness going on, that’s a problem I’ll take any day. I hope all my classmates and their families are well and safe, and that by the time this comes out, this will all feel like ancient history.” As for me, VICTORIA (TORI) ROWAN, since I lost my father to a respiratory flu in 2018, COVID is nightmare déjà vu, plus being a former medical journalist with a lifelong interest in biohacking, I sensed that this was likely the global pandemic experts had been fearing for so long. In February, I begged my boyfriend (who eye-rolled that I was overreacting) to wear the N95 facemask I bought him for his business trips and then in mid-March he tested positive for COVID. Tending to him from the other side of a door or via video was nerve-racking, as I could hear his shortness of breath increasing and could only helplessly watch his drastic weight loss through his unrelenting headache and nausea; thankfully he never ended up in the hospital and is now regaining his strength. And while I succeeded in getting my mother to upstate New York where I live part-time in mid-March, her dementia and osteoporosis both contributed to a freak fall in mid-April that broke her hip and she now must recover in a rehab facility. Extremely anxious having to authorize this urgent care amid horrific headlines of nursing homes being tragically underregulated death traps. While I’m keenly aware that my stressors are not nearly as terrible as they are for many, the hardest spiritual challenge for me has been accepting that my best was not good enough to spare those I love from terrible sickness and suffering. My most fervent idealistic hope is that this crisis will galvanize the wisest leaders NOT to rush to rebuilding the old world with all its systemic injustices, but instead to seize this unprecedented opportunity to coordinate all countries to invent a far more equitable world that enables more people to thrive with health and happiness. I know, I know, utopians rarely win and I’ll concede that our Brearley recess bake sales fundraising for ERA didn’t have their desired impact; however, I still believe that anything we can imagine is possible, dammit!
Ed. Note: DANIELLE LEWIS is featured in this issue’s Librarian Q&A. See page 20.
1988 KAREN MALLAH
2203 Parkside Road Camp Hill, PA 17011 kmallah@msn.com
Love (and other news) in the time of COVID: Here is what is happening to and by the newly quinquagenarian Class of ‘88 in this strange, historic time.
ABIGAIL ROSE SOLOMON: “We are grateful to have rented a house in the Berkshires this year, where we’ve seen HANNAH STEBBINS, LISA DEHAAS ’87, JOLIE ROCKET and KERRY TATLOCK ‘89 and run into other Brearley girls at Butternut ski mountain. Little did we know we would live here for several months when the coronavirus hit, but Becky (2 1/2) and Jasper (7) have been happy looking for frogs in a pond and climbing trees, things they are generally deprived of in NYC. I was an associate producer on an off-Broadway show, Oratorio for Living Things, which started performing two days before the theaters closed, but we hope to resurrect the production at a later date.”
ANDREA MATOS wrote: “Hello from California! Wishing each of us a happy and healthy quinqua/cincuenta/L. I celebrated mine in January and it is certainly something to get your mind around. Still processing what this milestone means. I’m accepting that I can choose for it to mean very little or it can represent a gift that increases in value each year it is given. Either or both. Whatever it means, we can still continue or just now start to answer any of the callings that bring us some fulfillment. And, I hope I still feel this way in three months. I was able to spend a little birthday time in St. Lucia and had wonderful aisle mates on the flight to the island. We’d been chatting for an hour when one mentioned a beloved Brearley niece. It turns out this dear niece and cousin of my aisle mates was our very own GWENN MILLER! I’m still in California at the same company but in a new regulatory relations role. It’s been a good pivot (and busier) but does involve a commute to San Francisco. My son, Ramses, is enjoying 3rd grade. I just signed up for tennis lessons. I decided it wasn’t too late. Sending a big, virtual hug to everyone.”
DAISY WALKER wrote: “I think I’m the first in our class to turn 50 so I’m happy that all you other women will soon join the Fifty and Fabulous club. I’ve continued to work as executive artistic director of Theater Masters—a 19-year-old company based in New York and Aspen supporting playwrights at various stages of their career, from high school to Pulitzer nominees. I feel so lucky that LEYLA MORRESSEY BADER joined our board! My boys are great. We are over the moon that Oliver, 10, will be going to Allen-Stevenson in the fall! I never thought I would even consider a boys’ school but it’s perfect for Ollie. Silas, 8, will continue at our local public elementary school, PS 166. My husband, Gary, has just completed his third book in a series called Masters at Work for Simon & Schuster. I still continue to direct on Cape Cod. This summer I will be directing Hilary and Clinton by Lucas Hnath, opening August—so come to the Cape and see it (WHAT.org).”
CLEA BAREAU JAMES wrote: “I continue to work as a family doc seeing folks from birth to death and all the spicy parts of life in between. It is rewarding and also exhausting, but still a passion for me—one I remember announcing while waiting for the Brearley bus one morning in 3rd grade. My oldest child, Sebastian, is a sophomore at Stanford University studying music and some kind of engineering. My middle, Lexi, is a high school senior, and the youngest, Zoe, is in 6th grade. They all play ice hockey, soccer and tennis as well as music, and love the outdoors, especially skiing. They’re in rock and folk bands, and the youngest is into theater too. All three kids went through our local public school the whole way, and although I definitely feel the superb Brearley academics set me up for lifelong work success, I see myriad kinds of success also possible through our free public schools. My husband, Richard, and I have been married 24 years and feel lucky to be able to hike together in the summer and cross-country ski in the winter on our days off. Turning 50 hasn’t been that stressful so far; I actually felt like life threw more curveballs and life lessons at 40, most notably the tragic death of our beloved classmate CHRISSY GIUSIO. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts as the rest of us reach that half-century mark. Sending many warm greetings out to all the fabulous Class of ‘88!”
JENNY MAUL CARRAGHER: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My twin daughters attended 610 through 8th grade and are now juniors at Trinity. My 13-year-old son is in 7th grade at Trinity. I am consulting on a variety of fronts, mostly business/financial analysis, and love returning to work. Who knew 50 could be so good? Recently divorced, I am trying new things, and wish that I could find a good poker game in the city!”
MELANIE POWERS EVERETT wrote: “I am still living in Idaho, outside of Boise, and while I love all of the natural resources and lifestyle that Idaho affords, living in the heart of Trump country can be intense. However, like all places, have found an amazing network of motivated and progressive women who actively participate in our local political movement. I would make one observation—when I actually engage people I find that our differences aren’t that far apart and there is a lot more common ground than our president and politicians would have you believe. Otherwise I am continuing to run a successful interior design and interior architecture firm and collaborate on many rewarding projects. My daughter (22) is getting ready to graduate from the University of Washington in Seattle this June, and my son (19) is a freshman and football player at a local small liberal arts college—the College of Idaho. All in all, life is wonderful and I’m blessed with a happy and healthy family!”
As for me, KAREN MALLAH, I am STILL going through the divorce process. My daughter, Blake, and I are now living in what I affectionately call our House of Black Girl Magic, which includes the two of us, our two black cats, Shimmer and Shine, and our most recent adorable adoptee, Rosie, who is a black Chihuahua/terrier mix. Blake continues to love performing, so our quarantine is filled with show tunes. Most recently, she played JD in Heathers: The Musical. She was absolutely convincing as a sociopathic teenage boy; and, just a week later, she looked like the perfect princess at her Unitarian, pansexual, gender-fluid quinceañera. Finally, I am thankful to be working hard from home during this time, as my company works with state and county governments in Pennsylvania to ensure that the public behavioral health system continues to meet our residents’ needs during this time of social/physical distancing. Happy and healthy 50th to all of us!
1989 MELISSA DALLAL
320 Riverside Drive, #8B New York, NY 10025 (917) 288-2444 melissa@melissadallal.com
Hi, all—what a month it’s been! Happy to have heard from ZANTHE TAYLOR, DIANA COMBS and JENNY MULHOLLAND. . . .
From Zanthe: “We are still hunkering down in our home in Brooklyn (day 25 for us). While it’s extremely disconcerting looking at the giant red dot that currently marks NYC on maps of coronavirus infections, things in our Park Slope neighborhood are almost eerily quiet as the magnolias reach peak bloom with no one to admire them. We do hear more than the usual number of emergency vehicle sirens, though that is surely in part from the extreme reduction in other traffic; the streets have never felt emptier, even after Hurricane Sandy. My girls are getting several hours per day of online instruction from their school, and Matthew is working full days talking with patients online from our living room. I am trying to keep our spirits up, make sure everyone is meeting their goals, shopping for and feeding everyone, and figuring out what to do about ongoing things like the college admissions process, which we are in the midst of, as our eldest is a junior. We keep a daily journal as a family and are working our way through Friday Night Lights, which is a fabulous distraction. We’re in constant touch with our parents and extended family, as well as meeting with groups of friends online,
Lisa Falkson and Modupe Akinola, Class of 1992.
like everyone else. One happy benefit of this weird time has been having regular ‘meetings’ with far-flung friends whose faces I hadn’t seen in far too long; we had a Brearley Zoom the other day that spanned time zones from Spain to California, which was lovely. Also happy to hear updates from our classmates all over the world on the Brearley ’89 Facebook page; thinking with special gratitude of those classmates who are physicians and health workers and hoping they stay safe.”
Diana shared: “I live in Brooklyn, and have for just short of 10 years. I work for JetBlue’s LIC Support Center! I’m the project manager for our publications tool as well as a senior writer of policies and procedures. As of January, I have been training to sit for the Project Management Plan certification exam. When COVID-19 hit NYC, I was selected to work part-time with the Legal Department as well. The company continues to develop me as an asset. I also see my mom, BEATRICE MATHEWS FRANCAIS ‘55, on a regular basis. She lives in Manhattan and has been taking good care of herself. My sister HILARY COMBS ‘86 lives in the San Francisco area.”
And lastly from Jenny: “I feel like the only worthwhile update is to report that my son Ryan (age 12) and I are healthy and well. My family is too. That’s all we can wish for these days. We are in the epicenter in New Jersey, second only to New York, so on pins and needles. But getting in lots of dog walks and jigsaw puzzles along with my day job and homeschooling a 7th grader!”
Sending love to all!
Melissa
1991 SARA CHAGANTI
(781) 373-1624 sara.chaganti@gmail.com
It’s early April, and as I write this, I’m aware that I don’t know what the world will look like by the time this Bulletin arrives in everyone’s mailbox. Here in Massachusetts, we are about a month into staying at home and living with uncertainty as we watch the coronavirus pandemic make its way through the country. My life has become very quiet, working from home and taking walks around the neighborhood. The stillness here is an odd counterpoint to the major and rapid changes happening in the world right now. In the midst of all this, I was glad to hear from some classmates, and to hear that they are doing okay so far.
JOCELYN STRAUBER writes that she and her family have relocated to her parents’ house in Connecticut for the time being. Jocy’s children seem to be growing up fast! She writes, “Our kids—Sydney, 15, in the 10th grade at Brearley and Austin, 12, in the 6th grade at Dalton— are handling all this so well and keeping us laughing. I’m sending love and health and good thoughts to everyone, and especially those in the medical community—thank you thank you thank you.” I second that: Thank you to all the medical professionals among us, and I hope you stay safe.
Speaking of which, I heard from two of the MDs in our class, both of whom are here in the Boston area with me. HELENA TAYLOR writes that she and her family are doing well in Cambridge, MA, and also expresses gratitude at being able to adapt to this situation. She writes, “We are lucky to have room to roam and our good health. We spent winter weekends up in Vermont learning to telemark, and the boys (Humphrey, 9, Findlay, 7, McKinley, 5) can all outpace us on the slopes now.” Helena and her husband work at Mount Auburn Hospital, and we all wish them well. And ELLIE GROSSMAN, another of our doctors, writes that all is well with her in Brookline, MA. She is looking for schools for her older daughter, Erin, who is finishing 6th grade. I’m looking forward to seeing Ellie and Helena on the other side.
I also heard from two of the New Yorkers among us. AMELIA GARY writes, “I am still working at Convent of the Sacred Heart in the business office, doing lots of financial planning and loving it. The fun of working in a school is that it is always a different day—even more so now!” Mimi also spends time on Fishers Island, “about a quarter of a mile from HILLARY BEARD’s house . . . so we are waving to each other from a distance, and still enjoying the Brearley-girl solidarity.”
EMMA FROELICH-SHEA writes that her daughter Campbell is now in kindergarten at Sacred Heart. Campbell and her twin brother, Teddy (a Buckley student), are finishing kindergarten remotely—something that I really cannot imagine. Emma writes, “All those years of preventing screen time feel like a distant memory now! As a spa business, my company Naturopathica Holistic Health was one of the first to close. But practically overnight we became a digital brand. I am so lucky to work with an amazing team of creative, compassionate professionals who were able to pivot so quickly.”
From the other coast, MARIAN BELGRAY writes, “I’m still in Silverlake, CA, with my partner/husband and two kids, now 7 and 10 years old. Like most parents, we’re homeschooling them through the quarantine and managing stress levels. We take a lot of walks and are doing art projects, cooking and Zoom playdates. In real life, I recently went back to grad school to get my license as a marriage and family therapist. I also still do standup when I have the time. Someday I hope to combine the two careers, if I can figure out how that would work (suggestions welcome!).” And KATE CHASSON sends news about the sudden changes in her life in Colorado. She writes, “COVID-19 certainly abruptly changed things in my ski town. I taught on Saturday, then found out at 7:00 pm that we were not opening on Sunday. Cue screeching of brakes. Most sadly this means that I don’t get to see ALYSSA PEI or NICOLE HANRAHAN ’92 and their families in April when they all planned to come to Winter Park.” Kate is also spending time close to home, but with much better scenery than the rest of us have!
As we enter spring, I echo everyone’s gratitude, for being able to adapt to our new reality and stay safe and protected, and for having this network to hold us.
1992 LIZ ALDERMAN
liz@lizalderman.com
LAURIN LUCAIRE
Mcmac_nyc@me.com
An update from MODUPE AKINOLA: “I was in SF in October as part of my sabbatical and I received the sweetest email from LISA FALKSON saying that her mom saw my picture in the Wall Street Journal, cut it out (gotta love Brearley moms!), took a picture, sent the photo to Lisa and told her I would be in town. Lisa then emailed me to relay the story and to see if we could hang—to which I said ABSOLUTELY! Seeing Lisa was one of the biggest highlights of my visit out west and also reminded me of how much of a trailblazer Brearley girls are. She was one of the few of us who went to college on the West Coast and stayed out west catching the tech bug way before the rest of the world. She is also perhaps one of the few (the only?) electrical engineers in our class and got her master’s degree when there were really so few women in STEM. Hard to imagine all that she must have endured to make it through. Talk about being ahead of the curve! But most important, since she now works at Amazon and is focused on speech recognition, she has promised me she will work on having Alexa and others pronounce my name properly! I’m thrilled about that. Jokes aside, it was amazing catching up, and I’m so grateful that Brearley bonds withstand the test of time and coasts!”
1995 25TH REUNION MEGAN LYNAGH
(917) 243-2241 melynagh@gmail.com
As I write this we are in such uncertain times. I hope you and your family are safe, and I hope by the time you read this we have some normalcy back in our lives.
KATHY GROSS COMPITUS completed her doctorate in clinical social work at NYU. Her specialty is the human-animal bond. Kathy explains, “I designed and teach the only HAB course at NYU’s social work school. I’m also adjunct faculty at Columbia and Fordham. All my classes moved to online, which is less of a commute but has its own challenges. We also now have two baby bulls (yes, I said bulls) at our sanctuary upstate and they keep us laughing during these hard times. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.”
We have two other teachers writing in. LILI STEARNS has been promoted to full professor, which is great news! She is teaching two classes that are now online: a glaciology course and a course on environmental ethics and the national parks. She is also trying to navigate Greenland research in light of canceled fieldwork. She says being quarantined with a 1 ½-year-old and a 3-year-old is “(mostly) fun.” ANN SHARFSTEIN writes from New Hampshire, where she is teaching 9th, 10th and 12th grades remotely. She reports, “Online teaching is a challenge but I think we are being successful, at least somewhat.” Her daughters are in 9th and 6th grades and miss their friends but are doing well otherwise. She also mentioned that her husband’s lab has started working on COVID-19 research.
I’ll finish with ANNA FLATTAU, who sends an update after many years. She is on the front line, as a family physician and vice-chair of family and social medicine at Montefiore Medical Center. “We are in full upswing and it would be an understatement to say that we are very concerned for our patients, especially in communities that already have the burdens such as high chronic disease rates, jobs that keep them in poverty, and overcrowded or unstable housing. It seems surreal that we have completely restructured all our clinical services almost overnight, such as shifting our providers into the hospital and flipping to telemedicine for outpatients, and yet this is standard for what is happening across the country. If feels like every four hours we need to completely change our mental model of our work world all over again to keep up with the speed with which we need to change.
“Fortunately, my two daughters (10 and 8) are doing fine ‘working at home,’ and my husband, who works at home without the quotes, seems to be hanging in there too. We are enjoying the same little things that have always been the best things as a family—eating together, going for walks etc.—and they are tolerating so far my previously uncharacteristic need to be constantly on email and phone. There is nothing like maintaining a sense of normalcy for others to help in keeping a sense of normalcy (real or fictional) for oneself. This news will all be greatly outdated by the time the notes come out, but my best wishes to classmates will not be!”
WE MISS YOU!
please send news for class notes to the addresses listed below.
1990 MARIJKE SMIT marijkesmit@outlook.com
1993 MIKA TSUGIYAMA BOUVARD mbouvard@nyc.rr.com
1994 ELIZABETH SAROSI elizabeth.sarosi@gmail.com
1996 LIZZY OELSNER lizzyoelsner@gmail.com
LAUREN AXELROD laurenaxelrod@gmail.com
SAYURI GANEPOLA sayuri05@gmail.com
SARA PECK pecksally@hotmail.com
I, MEGAN LYNAGH, speak for our whole class when I thank Anna and others who are working so hard to get this crisis under control. My greatest wish is that we get past this quickly and that you and your families are healthy. I look forward to celebrating our 25th reunion in person, even if it’s a bit late!
1997 KYLE LABUSH RABKIN
kylerabkin@gmail.com
I’m writing to you this morning from San Francisco, where we have lived for five and half years now. Ross (6) and Julia (9) are planting an apple tree today in the light rain in our backyard with my husband, Mike, while our 3-month-old puppy, Teddy, sleeps at my feet. We know that this tiny tree will bear fruit in a changed world a couple of years from now, although the full dimensions of those changes
Himanshu Singh, Ishir Singh, Johanna Kuhn-Osius ’97.
Story time: Frances Keohane ‘20 reads to Teddy Speiser, son of Phoebe Geer ’97.
Class of 1998’s (from left) Hillary Casper and Rebecca Bienstock on a hike with Rebecca Mancuso Brunswick’s kids Elodie and Jack, Rebecca Mancuso Brunswick ’98, Nicole Casper ’98 and Nicole’s son Quint, by the Hollywood sign.
Penelope Claude McLaren, daughter of Annie Bystryn ‘97 and Michael McLaren.
Charlie, Nicholas, Victoria and Charlotte, children of Kimmie Kleinbaum ’98.
Ariadne Papagapitos ’98 with Annie Trowbridge’s son, Jackson.
Left to right: Octavie Renaudin, Alice Durand-Ruel Renaudin ‘97, Charlotte Ingle, Laura Worth Ingle ‘97 and Camille Renaudin. From the Class of 1998’s Zoom reunion on April 10, top left to bottom right: Rebecca Mancuso Brunswick, Rebecca Bienstock, Hillary Casper, Catherine Gowl, Ingrid Nilsen, Sarah Wagner-McCoy.
are still unknowable. It is hard to reconcile the quiet rhythm of our family’s newly circumscribed existence with everything that is happening on the front lines of this pandemic. I feel intense gratitude and worry for all the health-care workers—including many of you— and farmers and workers in every field who sustain the rest of us. From India, JOHANNA KUHN-OSIUS writes: “Though invitations had all been sent, party favors purchased, and details ironed out, we ended up celebrating Ishir’s 2nd birthday in lockdown. India has one of the strictest lockdowns worldwide, where we are not even allowed to go outside. Surprisingly we are beginning to get used to it. We just feel so helpless in light of the many people struggling for food in this country at the moment. We donate money and keep them in our thoughts and prayers.” Months ago, ANNIE BYSTRYN shared the joyful news that “Penelope Claude McLaren was born on August 26, 2019, and we love her to bits. She’s a cheerful, good-humored baby with clear opinions and a fondness for staring at bookshelves.” Finally, ALICE DURAND-RUEL RENAUDIN and LAURA WORTH INGLE enjoyed a joyful reunion in Switzerland with their daughters, Octavie Renaudin, Charlotte Ingle and Camille Renaudin. Charlotte is Alice’s goddaughter.
1998 REBECCA BIENSTOCK
Rebecca.bienstock@gmail.com
Writing this in mid-April during the coronavirus pandemic, but hoping by the time this is printed our lives will be more back to normal. Hope everyone is safe and healthy. The one positive to come out of this difficult time has been reconnecting with lots of friends and that includes a Class of 1998 reunion over Zoom. Joining in for the video conversation were RE-
BECCA MANCUSO BRUNSWICK, HILLARY CASPER, NICOLE CASPER, LIZ MAHER DANIELS, CATHERINE
GOWL, INGRID NILSEN and SARAH WAGNER-MCCOY. It was great to catch up with everyone and to “meet” Catherine’s son, Kipka, Liz’s daughter Claire and Sarah’s daughter Annie. Hillary’s son Ilo, Nicole’s son Quint and my daughter Lucy all made guest appearances. We made sure to recreate the “Brearley Bunch” spread in our yearbook. Photo evidence included! We will be scheduling more of these and for different time zones, so hope to connect at another one! Before this virtual hangout, I had a great weekend with Hillary, Nicole and their families when they all came to stay with Rebecca and me in LA. My daughter Lucy had a blast with Hillary’s son Ilo; she now calls him Boy. Nicole’s son Quint bonded with Rebecca’s son Jack, and Rebecca’s daughter Elodie and Nicole’s stepdaughter Gabby were great caretakers Class of 1998’s Rebecca Brunswick, Nicole Casper and Rebecca Bienstock and their to all. Some photos families at Rebecca’s husband’s restaurant, the Golden Bull in Santa Monica. Left to included here! right: Fletcher, Quint, Brady and Gabby Olson, Jack Brunswick, Rebecca Brunswick, Ni In other Class cole Casper, Elodie Brunswick, Rebecca Bienstock, Lucy Daniels and Andrew Brunswick. Notes, KIMMIE KLEINourselves living through some sad, strange BAUM wrote in: “Since and difficult times. KATE MORRISON SCHERMERS the beginning of March the four children and I put it best, I think: “If you are on the front lines have been living the country life in Sagaponack. of this or supporting someone who is, THANK Charlotte and Victoria are finishing up 4th grade YOU. If there is more that we can be doing and 3rd grade at Brearley and very much enjoy to support you, please let us know.” For all of attending ‘virtual Brearley’ from out here. We you out there fighting this fight, our gratitude have had lots of opportunities for hikes and and pride are immeasurable. visiting the beach and farms, all while social On a lighter note, I would like to give the distancing. Nicholas was accepted to the Brick award of Parents Winning Quarantine to JOSIE Church School, where he is starting preschool RODBERG, who writes, “I’m currently navigatin the fall. A voracious reader at the age of 2, ing this brave new world of remote teaching, Nicholas seems to prefer listening to Charlotte working from home, and taking care of a and Victoria’s grade-level books. Charlie is going 1-year-old and a 4-year-old with a partner who to turn 1 year on May 30. He is very good at also has a more-than-full-time job. Fun times! crawling and has unwittingly mastered hide and Mostly we’re doing well, though. We’ve been seek.” And from ANNIE TROWBRIDGE (whom I taking lots of walks in Prospect Park and our also got to hang out with recently on Zoom) in older daughter has become quite a committed NYC: “My husband, Duncan (St. Bernards), and tree climber, and we bought her an indoor I welcomed our son, Jackson Rutherford Rhodes trampoline, so we’re managing.” Did everyone Sinclair, on November 20. Within the first few catch that? Indoor trampoline. Hats off, please, weeks of life, Jackson was lucky enough to meet hats off. She continues, “When we’re not in several of his Brearley aunties including Rebecca, the middle of a global pandemic, I’m still the Rebecca, Ingrid and ARIADNE PAPAGAPITOS— History Department chair at Berkeley Carroll they are sure to help keep him in line!” and loving being Brooklyn-centric.” As for me, I’m still working at Penske Media JENN YEE writes that she’s “still living in and living in the Valley (!). Hope to see every- Boulder, CO, with my husband and two one in person soon! xoxo preschool-aged children, Kenna and Kieran. My family was actually able to make it to the 1999 Caribbean coast of Mexico before all international travel was no longer recommended, SABRINA GEER and are now hunkering down as I continue to (917) 365-9554 work on a business that’s providing fresh food sabrinageer@gmail.com delivery to over two million people every week On the occasion of our 21st reunion, we find home. It’s busy but rewarding work!” while governments advise people to stay at
Emily Cabrera ‘99 and her daughter, Tatiana.
Noam, son of Molly Schoemann ’99.
Julian and Roman, sons of Meredith Angelson ’99.
Issa, Pascal and Margot, children of Sarah Lemons ’99.
Seamus, son of Molly Schoemann ’99.
Some new babies are bringing joy: ELIZABETH VADASDI writes, “My husband, Price Simmons, and I welcomed a daughter on March 17 in Tyler, TX. Katherine Harper
Kenna and Kieran, children of Jenn Yee ’99.
and her big sister, Elizabeth Larkin, are both happy and healthy and their friendship is off to a wonderful start.” Congratulations and welcome, Katherine! MEREDITH ANGELSON adds, “Julian Roth Angelson Rich was born on June 30 and has been delighting his parents and big brother, Roman, ever since. Last month I started a new job at the Innocence Project New Orleans as their director of special projects. I’ll be building up their broader criminal justice reform efforts and representing wrongfully convicted people in efforts to exonerate them. Things are pretty bleak in New Orleans as they are everywhere. I feel fortunate to have kids who are too young to worry much about the changes and just want to hang with their parents.” Welcome, Julian, and congratulations on the new baby and the new job, Meredith!
KATE MORRISON SCHERMERS writes, “We are safe and sound in LA hunkering down with Emma, 5, and Frankie, 21 months, and just spending some time being grateful for all that we have. Yes, there are moments that are excruciating with two people working from home full time and two children running around and needing care, but we are also incredibly thankful to be healthy, safe and for now employed. I am also grateful for the sense of community I am seeing in the world.”
We received some adorable pictures, including of EMILY CABRERA and daughter Tatiana, 5, SARAH LEMONS and her kids Issa, Pascal and Margot, and MOLLY SCHOEMANN MCCANN and her sons Seamus and Noam. Molly writes, “Please enjoy this picture of my 5-year-old son, Seamus, eating angry pizza in the park while dressed like Wolverine, and my 1.5-year-old son, Noam, at the playground back when we were still able to go to those.”
Finally, LAUREN CHU writes, “We have shut down all operations and had to close Hotel 50 Bowery and the Crown. . . . It was a tough conversation to have, but I know it was absolutely the right thing to do.” Lauren is also working with friends to repurpose an event space into an assembly-line venue for face mask production—so cool. Lauren concluded, “When this is all over and social distancing is a thing of the past, let’s have a big-ass gathering on the hotel’s rooftop.” Thank you, Lauren, we will all be there with bells on!
I hope that by the time these notes reach you we will be winning the battle—in the meantime, wishing you and yours safety, strength and brighter days ahead.
2001 ANIKA CHAPIN
(917) 279-1739 Anika.chapin@gmail.com
What a strange time to be writing up these notes, when I know we’re all facing such dark and challenging circumstances. Some of these reports came in at a more normal
time, and I didn’t ask for updates, figuring it would be nice to be reminded of what was up with our classmates before we encountered this pandemic (what can I say, I’m a WASP, I love pretending everything is fine!). I send much love to my classmates and hope you’re all staying healthy and well.
First off, in good news: ALEXANDRA CAMP reported that last December she made partner at her firm, McKinsey and Company. She’s proud but says running for partner is exhausting. Congratulations, Sasha! Congratulations are also in order for our other 2001 Sasha, SASHA KAYE-WALSH. In October, she and her husband welcomed their daughter, Molly Eloise Kaye-Walsh. She reports that, pre-coronavirus, Molly’s favorite activity was walking around Prospect Park with her best friend, Abby, daughter of LIZ TUNICK CEDAR. Sasha writes, “While Molly and Abby compared notes on pacifier brands and close-talking older siblings, Liz and I acted as a two-person support group for which I am eternally grateful.”
SARAH MENDELL FLEMMER writes in from her home in Johannesburg, where she invites any visiting Beavers to come stay if they’re ever passing through. She writes that she doesn’t have any updates except that when her husband got a new job and found a gap between the jobs, they went on a three-month holiday to Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, which I know about because I think I stalked every stop via Instagram. KARINA SCHUMACHER-VILLASANTE reports that she moved to Madrid last year with her husband and two kids—a return for her, since this was where she lived before she moved to New York and started at Brearley. She says she’s been working “at a social impact company that offers a mobile ecosystem of apps that answer to the day-to-day needs of those in the bottom of the pyramid in Africa and Latin America.” So cool, Karina!
As for me, my big news is that last September I got married to the delightful Mo Narang, an event that was a crazy whirlwind of like 85 percent joy and 15 percent pure stress (weddings are insane!). I’m still working at Goodspeed Musicals, where I scout for new work and provide dramaturgical support for the writers and creative teams, and earlier this year I was named one of the Broadway Women’s Fund’s 50 Women to Watch, which I’m both proud of and mystified by. My other update is that this will be my final report as a class notes agent—after so many years of trying to come up with new ways to describe Beavers, I’m handing the reins to the most excellent Karina. I hope you all still keep in touch—I always love hearing your updates.
2002 ABBY SEIFF
(347) 341-1841 aseiff@gmail.com
ELIZABETH VAN BUREN
eliz.vanburen@gmail.com
ABBY SEIFF writes: “It would feel wrong to start these without acknowledging what a strange sad time this is, with coronavirus cases skyrocketing in New York and so many people suffering from the health and economic fallout across the country and the world. Who knows where things will stand by the time these notes come out? Right now, I count myself among the extremely fortunate. I recently started a new job as an editor at Foreign Policy magazine, remotely, from my parents’ house in the Bronx. I’m enjoying the distraction of work and feel grateful to be near some family. The odd virtual drink with ELIZABETH VAN BUREN, MARGARET BREED, GRETA MATZNER-GORE and ISADORA BOTWINICK has been a wonderful break.”
ALLISON PATRICK writes: “My life has ground to a halt since Brearley closed and I can’t do my job remotely. But Brearley has been amazing and supportive of all its staff and faculty, and I’m so lucky to still have a job! On the other side of things, while we have had to hit pause temporarily on our side business, Aster + Quail, Elizabeth and I are so excited with where things were going at the start of this year, and I can’t wait to jump right back in when the world (eventually) gets back to normal.”
KATE BROKAW writes: “I’m holed up in Los Angeles and am very grateful to be able to work from home for now. I recently finished editing a feature for the brilliant filmmaker Amy Seimetz—it’s called She Dies Tomorrow, and is about (no joke) a contagious virus that makes you convinced you’re going to die the next day. (It’s funny, sort of?) Our SXSW premiere was canceled, but we got very lucky and the film was picked up by the distribution company Neon. Watch for it on your screens soon! I am very proud of it.”
Sasha Kaye-Walsh ’01, Liz Tunick Cedar ’01, and Liz’s daughter Abby.
Katie Lamm ’03 with son Ezra, Alice Appleton ’03 with son Ted, and Sophie Waskow ’03 with daughter Naomi.
Frances Cashin Hodler ’03 and family.
2003 AMBER LAM
(917) 273-0194 amberwlam@gmail.com
Aliza and Luca Pampanini Batsiyan (daughters of Taline Pampanini ’03).
Alanna Gladstone ’03 and Christina Keener ’03 in Portugal.
Ana Liang ’04, husband Tim and twin boys Mark and Oliver.
are staying healthy and strong through these crazy times. I’m not going to lie, I feel like I’ve been honing isolation life skills for most of my adult life. That whole “newborn experience” last year definitely set me up for success. Wash your hands incessantly? Check. Feel constantly overwhelmed and alone? Check. Stay in and say goodbye to your social life? Check and check! The small sliver of a silver lining to this pandemic is that it’s making us prioritize the people we love and bringing us all closer together again. The other day, I caught up with
VALERIE CHIN, ALLISON GOLD DAVIDSON, TALINE PAMPANINI, HELEN ROGERS, AMANDA-JANE
THOMAS, CLARA BOTSTEIN and MALWINA JOHNSTON via Zoom and hilarity ensued! We shared secrets and laughter, Ella and Emmy made guest appearances, and Amanda-Jane told us about her starring role in a Lexus commercial! Last year, Amanda-Jane and her business partner opened up Sip & Sonder in Inglewood, CA—according to the website, “the premier destination for creatives, entrepreneurs, freelancers, curators, and everyone in between to simply exist, grab a cup of coffee, connect, create, and put sonder into action.” The visionary coffee shop made such big waves in California that a chance encounter between a Lexus ad exec and a random barista in San Francisco led to Sip & Sonder’s being cast in an ad campaign featuring the business! Amanda-Jane stars in the Dave Meyers–directed spot and she even has lines! Here she comes, SAG! A star is born!
Speaking of births, ARIELLE RODMAN LANGER welcomed her second son, Thomas Cunningham Langer, on December 22 (he shares a birthday with me and ALANNA GLADSTONE!). Arielle writes, “His older brother is completely in love with him, which is pretty adorable and occasionally dangerous in a smush-you-outof-love kind of way. Shortly before having him, we moved to the Boston area, and I started a new job as a hematologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Any Brearley girls in the area who want to hang out (once that is safe again), give me a shout.” LILLIAN MEREDITH also welcomed a son and writes, “Charles Alan Meredith McDonnell showed up December 13 and in addition to being a delight in general, he has also provided us with a tremendous sense of joy and needed distraction as we’ve sheltered in place. I hope everyone is well and safe—I’m thinking of all of you.”
JACLYN LYMAN is literally working on curing cancer, now leading the pancreatic efforts at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy in San Francisco. To those of you whose professions are on the front lines, I truly hope you can hear our collective clapping at 7:00 pm every night! Thank you for the sacrifices you’re making, and also thank you (thanks to Jaclyn too!) for reminding the rest of us that our chosen career paths are completely unnecessary!
2004 LAUREN GOLDENBERG
(917) 783-8477 goldenberg.lauren@gmail.com
In this time of great uncertainty and fear, the Class of 2004 has been in touch and supporting each other in affirming ways. Thanks to NICHOLA TUCKER GRAY, members of the class contributed to a video thanking the healthcare professionals of our class for the incredible work they do: ANA LIANG, JORDAN HACKER,
EMILY CROSS, VASAVI REDDY, TAVOR SONDHEIMER, SIMONE BLASER, MEG ALLISON, JOANNA
WATSON and KIBBY MCMAHON.
This email chain also gave occasion to share some joyful news—new Brearley babies! ALY GIBSON writes: “I moved to Jackson Heights in November. I love exploring the new neighborhood and, until recently, enjoying the diverse dining options it provides. Most exciting, Matt and I welcomed a baby girl in January. Filippa truly changes every day! She brings us so much joy with her funny expressions, noises (I swear, I think she’s talking already!), and warm snuggles. I can’t wait to introduce her to the other ‘04 Fox babies!”
We also got an update from ANA LIANG: “We (Tim and I) officially put down roots in the Bay Area, and have been homeowners for over two years. And we just became parents earlier in the year, to twin boys—Mark and Oliver. I have been on maternity leave and so I have been lucky enough that this shelter-in-place order has not affected me as much.” And CHARLOTTE SAVINO gave birth in the midst of quarantine to Daria Rose Norton on March 22—mother and baby are healthy and at home. It’s also great to hear from Foxes abroad. ZZ (ELIZABETH) FRIEDMAN is still in London, working as a lawyer. ALLISON KLEIN writes: “We got back from our honeymoon in Kenya/Tanzania and now we’re hunkering down in Montana.” And our faithful Paris correspondent DIANA WADE writes: “I started teaching 3rd grade this year, which has been a big but welcome shift
from kindergarten and pre-K. My students are curious, thoughtful and polite, which makes going in to work every day a real pleasure. Our daughter, Lucile, turned 1 in February in the company of her uncle, aunt, grandfather and great-grandparents. We felt fortunate to share her first taste of ice cream cake with so many generations. Unfortunately, my trip to the US coincided with CLAIRE WILCOX’s trip to Paris, so while we didn’t get to see each other, we did exchange a few overdue emails. It sounds like she is doing quite well, living and writing in Hawaii. While in NYC in February, I briefly saw SIMONE BLASER who, despite being an overworked intern, was amazingly full of energy and good spirits. I am still in awe of all that she does on a daily basis. And lastly, upon returning to Paris I had coffee at our old stomping ground (Caféothèque, for those in the know!) with LAUREN GOLDENBERG and her cheri. They were a ray of sunshine on a drizzly Paris morning. And, I was sure to thank Lauren (on everyone’s behalf) for all of her good class notes work and activism!” Thank you, Diana!
My boyfriend and I managed to make a little Europe trip just in time; we got back on March 1. It was wonderful to see Diana in Paris and visit old haunts. We also went to Lisbon for a few days and I hope to make it back one day. Bringing us back to the current moment, we have a photo of SIMONE BLASER, who writes: “I am proud to be fighting alongside another Brearley woman: MOLLY FORSTER ’07, who was several years below us, is my senior resident. Here we are en masque!” (See photo.) I hope we can all continue to support each other through this very difficult time, and to all members of the Brearley community who are essential workers: We thank you profoundly and hold you in our thoughts.
2007 ZOË DAVIS
zcgdavis@gmail.com
CAROLINE STERN
cstern88@gmail.com
Along with everyone else, we write these notes during a time of tremendous uncertainty, and some of the updates we received from classmates even a few weeks ago may no longer be current. We hope that circumstances will have improved by the time we are writing for the next Bulletin. In the meantime, we wanted to start with some undeniably happy news. Three Class of 2007 babies arrived this winter! CATE MILLER GOLDSTEIN shares, “Exciting update here––my husband, Dave, and I had a baby (Abigail) in December! We’re loving being new parents. I’m still working at Bain in Boston and would love to see any Brearley folks here!” CHRISTINA ARGUETA BERKOW writes, “I wanted to share the exciting news that my husband, Stan, and I welcomed our first child, a son, Miles William Berkow, on January 13.” LÍADAN DONNELLY and her husband, Aaron, welcomed their son Maxwell on February 15. Congratulations to all the new parents!
JULIA IZUMI writes, “I’ve been doing well, having moved back to New York City after graduating from the MFA playwriting program at Brown University in May of ’19. I’m still connected to Brown, though, as I go back up every Monday to teach playwriting to the undergrads. I’m lucky to have some readings of my work this spring at the Bushwick Starr, Manhattan Theatre Club and Villanova University, and in May I will be across the country on Whidby Island at Hedgebrook, a residency for women writers.” From California, NATALIE GINSBERG writes, “I am living in Los Angeles and still serving as the director of policy and advocacy at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Happy to report COREY HACKER and PAZ MENDEZ-HODES recently moved to LA too!” Farther north, in San Francisco, CORDELIA MCGEE-TUBB reports: “I went for a very rainy run with ANNIE BALDWIN ’09 and MOLLY BATTLES ’06––photo attached of us about to get victory pastries. Amazing that Molly and I found ourselves living six blocks from each other here on the other side of the country from Brearley. . . . In other news, I’m finishing up my master’s degree in gerontology at USC and excited to apply what I’ve learned to my work bridging the digital divide for older adults. I’m also a newly minted podcast cohost, interviewing accessibility professionals each week for the podcast 13 Letters (link: https://www. bemyeyes.com/podcasts-show/13-letters). I flew out to England in February to celebrate EVE BINDER’s 30th birthday with her and that was pretty fun!”
I, ZOË DAVIS, am wrapping up the first year of my MFA program at the New York Academy of Art and enjoying my role as a teaching assistant in the art department of the Borough of Manhattan Community College. I would
Charlotte Savino ’04 with daughter Daria Rose Norton.
Filippa, daughter of Aly Gibson ’04.
Simone Blaser ’04 and Molly Forster ’07 en masque.
love to connect with other Brearley alumnae who are visual artists––my Instagram username is @zoetrope3.
I, CAROLINE STERN, would like to use this note to shout out a couple of the Brearley alums I admire right now: SYLVIE POLSKY, who is in her intern year in medicine prior to starting anesthesiology residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and bravely encounters the
B-Deck reunion in San Francisco: Annie Baldwin ’09, Cordelia McGee-Tubb ’07 and Molly Battles ’06.
coronavirus pandemic firsthand every day. And my sister, LIZZIE STERN ’10, who is using her position as the literary manager at Playwrights Horizons to help her community by organizing financial advising sessions and employment opportunity resources for artists across the city and beyond. At the excellent suggestion of LEE EVANGELAKOS, we had a virtual class reunion in late March. Through video chat, a quarter of our class met to discuss working remotely, favorite pastimes, and the shared passion that unites us to this day––food. We even got to “meet” Cate’s daughter, Abby!
On a final and difficult note, we wanted to acknowledge that this June marks 10 years since the passing of our beloved friend and classmate, RACHEL SWETT. Along with everyone in the Brearley community who knew Rachel, we will forever miss her and feel her loss. In the memories of our entire class, she is still with us and always will be.
2009 ANNIE BALDWIN
(917) 597-1427 annie.m.baldwin@gmail.com
Greetings from San Francisco! Writing these Class Notes during our first weekend in the Bay Area of social distancing, I realize how much has changed in the last few weeks since I first received notes from my classmates, and how lucky I am to have so many Brearley women in my life—here and far. One of my highlights recently was a B Deck reunion I did with MOLLY BATTLES ’06 and CORDELIA MCGEE-TUBB ’07, where we ran through the pouring rain to a favorite San Francisco bakery on the beach. MONICA DODGE is happily set up in her new home in Washington, DC, after almost a year of renovations and loves seeing other Brearley girls in the district, including CHARLOTTE KAYE and ELIZA MCDUFFIE. Please let me know if you are in the area!
NATASHA HIRSCHFELD graduated from Parsons in May. She writes, “I am now loving life as a full-fledged interior designer at David Kleinberg Design Associates. As I hone my skills, I am eager to answer any and all design questions from alumnae, faculty and beyond!” SOFIA MCDONALD recently moved from New York City to Montgomery, AL, where she is an attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative, founded by Bryan Stevenson in 1989. She was previously a litigation associate at Ropes & Gray. The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a nonprofit human rights organization committed to representing the poor, the incarcerated, and the condemned. Sofia writes, “On any given day, I could be writing a brief for a capital case, representing an individual in their parole hearing, taking a reentry client to help him get his driver’s license, or visiting clients in prisons across Alabama and other states in the South. In addition to doing legal work, EJI is committed to changing the way our country talks about and thinks about our history of racial injustice. We believe that without a nationwide reckoning with our racial past, we won’t be able to expose and correct the racial inequality we see in our criminal justice system. To that end, EJI has established the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice to bring people closer to this history (https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/ museum). Nearly six hundred thousand people have visited these sites since they opened in April 2018. If anyone ever comes down to visit Montgomery and EJI’s museum and memorial, please let me know!”
ELIZA MCDUFFIE graduated from Harvard Law School in May and is currently working at the MacArthur Justice Center in Washington, DC, where she litigates criminal justice issues in the US Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals. She writes, “I’m loving it, but obviously the best part of living in DC is getting to spend lots of time with CHARLOTTE KAYE and MONICA DODGE. In August, I’ll be moving to Atlanta to clerk on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. I’d love to see anyone who comes through DC or Atlanta!”
CAREY SHUFFMAN just got married in November in Mexico and is still loving her role at UBS as the head of the Women’s Strategic Client Segment Team. She writes, “My family and I also ran into SOPHIE PALITZ and her family in Philly shortly after our wedding, as her parents were staying at the same hotel as we were there! It was so great to see her and meet her husband as well.” So wonderful to hear from many classmates, and when anyone next makes it out to the Bay Area, give me a holler! In the meantime, I am keeping the Brearley community in my thoughts.
2010 10TH REUNION MEGAN T. LUI
megantesslui@gmail.com
At the time of writing, some of us who are privileged enough to be able to shelter in place are marking the start of our second month in lockdown, either self-imposed or government-mandated. Others, the front-liners in our class, are bravely running head-on in the direction of danger every day, healing our nation and holding our society together—physically, mentally and emotionally. While it seems as if the whole world has gone topsy-turvy and while life may never go back to normal, we can at least count on one thing to stay constant and carry us through—our connection with each other (even if it is restricted to FaceTime, Zoom, emails and texts for now). When things were still “normal” a month or so ago, AMINA ELDERFIELD ’94 found out that I was a fellow Brearley Beaver and coldcalled me at work to introduce herself. We met up for a coffee chat and it felt like we had known each other for years, like we had gone to Brearley together. We have been keeping in touch through all this and she pointed out that we had both been spending our time in isolation in true Brearley fashion. I myself have been hunkered down in New York—when I am not working, I am occupying my time with cooking, binge-watching Tiger King, watercoloring, taking writing workshops with the poet Rupi Kaur on Instagram Live, and reading on my fire escape. I had not interacted in-person with anyone other than my roommates (my boyfriend, Peter, and my sister SYBIL LUI ’13) for more than a month until yesterday. After I finished work, I was thumbing through Joan Didion’s White Album on my fire escape, and all of a sudden I look down to see HILARY EDELSTEIN surprising me like a famous Montague. I almost fell out of my fire escape, I was so excited to see her. We shouted at each
other (from across more than six feet, of course) about our shared concern over grocery shopping, how we both do not leave our apartments for more than a week at a time and how her family was going to pull off a Zoom seder—I think my entire block must have overheard our conversation. We even stayed together long enough to applaud the courage of front-liners at 7:00 pm with the rest of the neighborhood. Of the many lessons this experience has taught me, it has reminded me that joy can be found in both the grandest of moments and in the most mundane of moments. MELANIE GAO and I have been discussing the joy that we have found in seeing our windowsill scallion gardens grow and our sourdough starters thrive. REMY GOODMAN and I have discovered together the magical simplicity of Marcella Hazan’s iconic three-ingredient tomato sauce (as well as how naturally this imposed introversion comes to us both). ALIDA DAVIS reminded me that animals are blissfully unaware of the global catastrophe unraveling around us when she sent me a video of her parrot mimicking her—for her parrot Snoopy, at least, the world spins on and on. Ms. Elsbach and I even connected on Instagram over how calming it is to watch footage of jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium—they sashay elegantly along as they always have. However, hearing from MARINA LEHNER made me excited and hopeful for what life could be like again, once we are eventually able to see each other again face-to-face. She writes, “Last month, I had the joy of visiting ANNA SANTOLERI in San Diego, where she is a 9th grade humanities teacher and a stellar outdoorswoman. I took some succulent leaves from her garden, and now my quarantine joy is watching my baby succulents grow. I have been impressed with the accomplishments of so many of our artistic classmates; most recently, I got to see MADELINE WEINSTEIN in Medea at BAM, where she was jaw-droppingly good.” I hope, by the time of publication, that doors will begin opening again, that some of us may begin to venture out of our homes and that some of the heroic front-liners in our class can finally have some much-needed rest. Although it may seem a long way away at the moment, I do think that one day, once again, we will be able to see each other face-to-face, see each other perform in plays, exchange succulent leaves, meet each other’s birds and scallion gardens, make red sauce together, and maybe, eventually, celebrate our 10th reunion.
2011 FAITH WILLIAMS
faithswilliams@gmail.com
Some of these notes are a tad delayed, as I missed the deadline for the last Bulletin, for which I apologize. That said:
TESS MCCANN wrote in the fall to say she was settling into her first semester at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT, where she is studying spatial visualization and urban design. She’s looking forward to seeing other Brearley girls who have wound up in Boston/Cambridge. DOMINIC LOUNDS is also in Boston, having enrolled in Emerson College’s film and media art MFA program.
DASHA KOLTUNYUK got married to pianist/ composer Gregg Kallor (and had a wallaby at the wedding!), and ERICA MOZKOWSKI got engaged to Ron Yang, whom she met working at the New York Fed in 2015.
I (FAITH WILLIAMS) am nearly done with my third year of medical school at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, although current events have understandably thrown things into flux. Although I’m currently furloughed from the hospital, I am keeping busy with clinical support tasks and community service projects and have been really enjoying my weekly Brearley reunion video chats with Erica, AVERY DAO, SHANA BURSTEIN and ALEXANDRA SLADE, with cameo appearances by FRANCESCA SLADE ’06. Would love to hear from more classmates!
2015 5TH REUNION JULIA PRESS
Julia.r.press@gmail.com
ISABELLA ALTHERR Isaalth@gmail.com
EMILY ORENSTEIN
Emily.rose.orenstein@gmail.com
The Class of 2015 has taken quarantine in stride—ISABELLA ALTHERR is moving a student history project contest online, ARIANA GINSBERG is continuing her job in a colorectal surgeon’s office virtually, and EMILY ORENSTEIN is still working at the Housing Authority of Cook County in Chicago. Meanwhile, SIMONE BROWN is working as a veterinary assistant at the ASPCA and ELAINE GUO’s brother recently got a pet hedgehog named Winston Churchquill. Next
WE MISS YOU!
please send news for class notes to the addresses listed below.
2000 JULIA FOSTER julia.foster@gmail.com
LOGAN FERGUSON loganiferguson@gmail.com
2005 ALEX SCHWARTZ alexandralschwartz@gmail.com
VANA KOUTSOMITIS vkoutsomitis@gmail.com
2008 CLAIRE WALLACE clairewallace13@gmail.comorg
HALLEH BALCH HallehBalch@gmail.com
year, TOQA BADRAN will be starting her master’s degree at Columbia, Ariana will be going to Tufts Medical School, and JASMINE WU will be working in private equity in San Francisco, where RENA SIMKOWITZ has spent the last few months working for Google and enjoying easy access to the outdoors.
2017 MORGAN PERRY
(917) 842-6921 mkperry@hamilton.edu
Like those of most other Brearley alums, the Class of 2017’s activities have been interrupted across the board by COVID-19. We are disappointed to see an unexpected early finish to our sophomore and junior years, but are grateful for the strength of the community that keeps us
WE MISS YOU!
please send news for class notes to the addresses listed below.
2012 EMILY BALDWIN ebfinishingthehat@gmail.com
NANCY CHEN nc2574@columbia.edu
2013 ELIZABETH AKANT elizabeth.akant@gmail.com
SYDNEY HAUSMAN sydneyhausman@gmail.com
COLETTE MACARI colettesmacari@gmail.com
2014 ISABELLA HUBER ihuber@college.harvard.edu
COURTNEY SCREEN ccscreen@gmail.com
2016 ALUMNAE OFFICE classnotes@brearley.org
2019 LAUREN SCHELLER lscheller01@gmail.com
together and reminds us what is important (flattening the curve and supporting each other!).
We remain strongly involved in our campus communities. EMMA LADOUCEUR is the CEO of a nonprofit called Hilltop Micro Finance Initiative (HMFI), which works to create financial equality in DC, Virginia, and Maryland (also the largest student-run microfinance initiative in the country). In the fall, CHARLOTTE HUTCHINSON played polo with new teammate MIA COLMAN ’19 and is working out thesis ideas and training for the 50th New York City Marathon this fall. RACHEL ROSE returned from abroad to continue studying philosophy and singing in her a cappella group, the Mamajamas. She also now works as a barista at the Crossroads Cafe. ELLA PAPANEK became president of Harvard Sports Analysis Collective, dedicated to the statistical analysis of sports strategy, and played for Harvard’s chess team in a tournament in China.
Others of us have been abroad. ISABEL TADMIRI was in Tucson, AZ, for the semester working for Casa Alitas, an organization that supports families recently released from ICE/BP detention. AYO LEWIS studied abroad in Buenos Aires with NYU, studying public health and volunteering with a local public health organization doing research around maternal mortality. She was able to connect with JACQUELINE STERN ’16 and ALLY TUCKER ’14, who studied abroad in Buenos Aires as well. JULIA MALUF studied abroad in Chile with a School for International Training education program. ANNA MCDONALD, though she was pulled out of her study abroad program, experienced the onset of coronavirus in South Korea, London and New York, and has felt engaged as ever in the news and policy measures surrounding this pandemic.
Projects of all kinds have kept us busy as well. Although the pandemic has confused many of her plans, like playing at South by Southwest, MAUDE LATOUR is excited to release more music soon! She plans to study at Oxford University in the fall. KENYA PLENTY took a gap year this semester and worked fulltime as a software engineer at Major League Baseball, Relativity, and Salesforce in the summer. MORGAN PERRY spent the semester in DC interning for Senator Schumer during the impeachment proceedings and will work for the State Department’s mission to the United Nations in NYC this summer.
Between our reunion Zoom calls and popping grade group chat, we intend to support each other to the end of these trying times. Please check in with us! Stay safe!
2018 CHIARA NILSSON-SALVATI
(917) 434-1595 chiaranilssonsalvati@gmail.com
POLINA WHITEHOUSE has declared a major in social studies (but remains chronically indecisive and might switch to philosophy) and is an undergraduate fellow at the E.J. Safra Center for Ethics. She’s on staff at Fifteen Minutes, the Harvard Crimson’s magazine, and is a poetry board member and blog editor for the Harvard Advocate, an arts and literary magazine. Over winter break she went on an independent reporting trip to Phoenix and published a couple of articles on groundwater policy in rural Arizona. Now she wants to be a journalist, maybe. . . . ISABEL SELIN is working on a stealth/minigolf game called Parole in One, which should come out in late spring. PAULINE COCHRAN, KATHERINE HATFIELD and IRENE LOEWENSON were having a lovely sophomore year in Williamstown, MA, among the purple mountains and neurotic squirrels. Now attending Zoom university, Pauline is planning to major in English, Katherine in classics and Irene in history. JULIA JIN-WOLFSON is a chemistry and Russian and East European studies double major and a member of the climbing team. She is on track to get published in a professor’s upcoming book in the field of Dostoevsky studies. This year, ALEXANDRA HARTMAN declared a major in global security and justice, danced with UVA’s Salsa Club and enjoyed living off-campus in her own apartment, where she procrastinated by cooking and baking a lot. CHIARA NILSSON-SALVATI is majoring in chemical and biological engineering with minors in computer science and Italian.
Former faculty gathering: Marina O’Malley, Bea Tompkins, Frances Thorndike, Jaleh Amouzegar, Marnie Miller, Ann Burns, Funke Akinola and Elizabeth Umlandt.
Faculty/Staff
Our condolences to the family of HANNA PROCIDANO, who passed away in mid-February. Hanna was a staff member of the Business Office from 1964 until her retirement in 2001.
On the river, on East 83rd Street, we will be here.
Create a legacy for Brearley.
Incubator, proving ground, home. Brearley is a singular place that is all about the girls—who they are, what they are capable of, and what they can become.
When you include Brearley in your estate plans, you join a generous group of supporters who safeguard the Brearley experience for the girls of future generations.
For sample language to use in your will or trust, and further information, please contact:
Phoebe T. Geer ’97, Associate Director of Development (212) 570-8609 or pgeer@brearley.org
610 East 83rd Street New York, NY 10028
NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #129 19464
