Class Notes - Fall 2017 Overflow
Look here for details and images from classmates' news
Sally Hess
Still dancing
Sally Hess has been having a love affair with ballroom dancing for the past 6 years. She specializes in the smooth dances—foxtrot, waltz, rumba and American tango.
Barbara Stone Laruccia
River cruising in France
Barbara Stone Laruccia and husband Steve celebrated 15 years of marriage with a romantic cruise on the Seine.
Barnard NYC Book Group
At lunch before the meeting
Prior to the November gathering of the Barnard 62 Book Group Valerie Horst, Shari Gruhn Thompson, Maya Freed Brown and Judy Eisenberg Bieber met for lunch at a local cafe.
Barnard NYC Book Group
At lunch before the meeting
Also at lunch prior to the November Barnard '62 book group were Rita Gabler Rover with her prize-winning "Rita Rover" crysanthemum and Michelle Chaussaubel Cusumano. Rita recently won many prizes for her chrysanthemums and was bringing one to the book group hostess.
- Class Notes
Spring and Summer 2018
Please also see Achievement pages below for special projects
that classmates have recently completedABBE FESSENDEN AND JUDY TERRY SMITH HIKE IN THE POCONOS
Abbe Fessenden and Judy Terry Smith have family homes in northeastern Pennsylvania about an hour apart. Last week Abbe led Judy and Jim Smith on a hike in the Poconos to see examples of glacial features, especially kettle holes (knob and kettle topography, if you took Professor Sharp’s introductory geology course). For those who didn’t take Professor Sharp’s class here is a mini-lesson. Knob and kettle topography is a term describing hummocky mounds and shallow basins left when a glacier melts back (“retreats”). Glacial moraines are masses of unsorted sediments, boulders and blocks of ice; sometimes the ice blocks get left behind and melt more slowly, forming a shallow depression or kettle. Where we went in the Poconos there were six or more kettles, probably formed by several ice blocks that broke off from the main glacial ice and left shallow basins filled with sediment and water. More than you’ll want to know, but glaciology is full of special terminology!
SALLY HESS WRITES AN ESSAY FOR A DANCE JOURNAL
I have co-edited and written an essay for the journal Dance, Movement and Spiritualities. My essay, "You Can Only Follow My Body", focuses on moving couples: parents, dancers, and Dante and Virgil as they travel through Hell. It can be accessed at the following site: https://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-issue,id=3503/
MARTHA REEVES WILL BE ON STAGE IN SEPTEMBER
Stay posted for details
RITA ROVER'S BLOOMS
This is the mum that was named after me on display in the annual Long Island
Chrysanthemum Society show this fall. That's my daughter, ElenaRover, B'88 on my right and my husband, Marty Cohen, C'57 on my left.I started growing mums in 1985 when we moved into a new home which was previously owned by a mum grower. He asked if I would like him to start a few cuttings for me and the rest is history. Along with mentoring by an experienced mum growing member of the Long Island Chrysanthemum Society and my long term interest in gardening (I majored in botany at Barnard), I started a lifelong hobby of growing these amazing blooms. Now 32 years later, I'm still growing and exhibiting mums . I'm now on the board of directors of the National Chrysanthemum Society and an accredited judge.
I started growing mums in 1985 when we moved into a new home which was previously owned by a mum grower. He asked if I would like him to start a few cuttings for me and the rest is history. Along with mentoring by an experienced mum growing member of the Long Island Chrysanthemum Society and my long term interest in gardening (I majored in botany at Barnard), I started a lifelong hobby of growing these amazing blooms. Now 32 years later, I'm still growing and exhibiting mums . I'm now on the board of directors of the National Chrysanthemum Society and an accredited judge.
Through the years, I've been in touch with the mum growers at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and even spent some time up there as a volunteer, working on the magnificent mum cascades they display in the fall at their Kiku (mum) show. My cascades are usually awarded best in show at Chrysanthemum Society shows locally and nationally.
Last year, I was honored by having a cultivar named after me by my mum growing friends in Britain. Thanks to them there is now a mum named Rita Rover.
Lately, I've taken a new direction, learning to grow these British varieties. Recently, the New York Botanical Garden called me for advice as they learn how to grow these beauties. They tell me they are planning to add the Rita Rover mum to their collection.
- Class Notes - Fall 2018 Overflow
June 3, 2018
Marcia Weller writes: Three of the five classes eligible were represented yesterday at reunion to recognize their generosity to Barnard. The Class of 1962 now has two plaques located on a wall outside the Visitors Center on the dorm quad, the most recent due to a generous gift from Naomi Albert Gardener at our last reunion. Ellen Torrance surprised us by showing up since she couldn’t make it to reunion last year. There were speeches, photos, and champagne and chocolate covered strawberries! And the class of ‘77 was thrilled to be called “the young ones”! It was a happy time for all.
Greetings!
I was in NYC for August and September and enjoyed my annual visit tremendously. I was delighted to catch up with quite a few classmates.
Shari Gruhn Lewis Thompson sends a delightful story about her poodle going to school! She writes:
This summer, for the third year in a row, our poodle Valentino and I have been doing a weekly story hour for children at the local library here in Amagansett, on Eastern Long Island. Vally is a rescue dog, six years old (he was born on Valentine's Day), and is an American Kennel Club-certified Canine Good Citizen. "Read with Valentino" has been very successful, and Vally has become something of a local celebrity. More often than not, when Bob and I take him for a walk, a car pulls up alongside us and a child says, "Mommy, Daddy, stop! It's the library dog! I want to get out and pet him." Every year, on the last Saturday in August, the library has a little party on the front lawn (cupcakes and face-painting) for the children in the summer reading program. The children vote for who the guest of honor will be, and it's usually our Town Councilman---but last year, it was . . . Valentino.
Shari and Valentino at story hour in Amagansett
Rita Gabler Rover reports on a mini-reunion luncheon on Shelter Island in August for alums living on the east end of Long Island. Eight classmates attended: Michele Chaussabel, Leah Salmansohn Dunaief, Roz Marshack Gordon, Harriet Kaye Inselbuch, Linda Kline, Janice Lieberman, Susie Levenson Pringle, and me. Harriet was our hostess. Harriet and her husband, Elihu, have an apartment in the city and also a home on Shelter Island. We had a delicious lunch at Harriet's country club, sitting at a round table good for conversation. Someone suggested we go around the table and describe our trajectory since graduation. Not surprisingly that took several hours and was fascinating.
BACK ROW: Leah Dunaief, Linda Kline, Susie Pringle, Janice Lieberman, Michele Chaussabel
FRONT ROW: Harriet Inselbuch, Rita Rover, Roz Gordon
Linda talked about starting out writing scripts for Captain Kangaroo on TV and more recently wrote the book for “Class Act”, a Broadway show about the life of her dear friend Ed Cleban, a composer and lyricist (he wrote the wonderful lyrics for Chorus Line). Linda credits Professor Howard Teichman with making her realize that she was a talented writer. She was recently in Japan where the show was performed in Japanese and was asked to vet the translation. With help she discovered that they translated “Get a move on, creep” to “move slowly!!!” We got a good laugh out of the translation! Linda also mentioned that “the challenge of addressing ‘from Barnard – to Now’ invigorated our good conversation.”
Janice has a PhD in psychology and is still working in analytical therapy. She’s busy with conferences and mentoring. Her new book should be out in the fall (See Achievements pages on this Website). Janice is passionate about fine art and is a docent at the Whitney Museum.
Leah's story is impressive. She began as a science writer for Time Life and and rolled that expertise into a company called TBR News Media which began with one local newspaper on Long Island and grew to seven. TBR includes Website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Platforms. “I enjoy my work so much as Editor & Publisher that I can't imagine retiring.” After many years as a widow Leah shared that she wouldn’t mind meeting a man!
Rita described her transition from botany major and college prof to a second master’s degree in clinical nutrition; she is still working part-time in private practice. She briefly updated us on her wonderful avocation with prize-winning mums (reported in the Class Notes and Website earlier this year).
Michele sought a better education for her children and found it way out on Long Island. Her career in education has been replaced by an active retirement with book clubs, classes and other enriching activities. She faithfully comes to the city each month to participate in the very active Class of 1962 NY Book Club (there is an article about this club on the Website).
Roz shared the following: "When I started law school 8 years after we graduated with 3 children including a 9-month-old, women were a very small minority of students. Likewise, we were new to the legal workplace. I was fortunate to have done well and secured a position at Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett in NYC where I became a litigator and learned to try cases. After six years i left to become the Acting Assistant Regional Director of the NY Office of the Federal Trade Commission, an exciting job where I learned management. It met an end three years later when Ronald Reagan was elected and closed the Regional Offices. I moved on to start an in-house litigation department at LILCO, the public utility on Long Island, and was recruited by Citibank to become General Counsel of the merchant credit card business. When it was sold, I tried starting a mediation business with friends, but after a year went back to corporate life at Pitney Bowes in CT where I was in charge of labor, employment and benefit law for over 20 years and enjoyed an extremely rewarding career in the field of sex, lies and videotape."
Susie talked about her career with IBM, getting in on the ground floor of business computers. She was first a Systems Engineer since women were not hired into marketing positions. Male Systems Engineers earned higher salaries than women for the same work! In 1968 IBM opened the door for women to become marketing representatives and Susie found her niche. Her career track led to a consultancy and she took an early retirement offering after 28 ½ years. She didn’t get married until she was 47—she met husband John at a bridge tournament in St. Louis. They both share a passion for bridge.
Not surprisingly, many reported sex issues in the workplace. Then and now. We also talked about MillieMac telling us we can do it all as she did, albeit with abundant resources at home.
As always, interacting with Barnard women is so interesting and impressive, especially women from the Class of 1962!
Susan Yemin Lowell writes: I find myself in a very different place. My beloved husband of 51 years passed away in Oct. 2017. We had been living in Westfield, NJ, where we raised our 2 sons, for 41 years. I haven’t been able to drive for the past few years because of some cognitive difficulties, so a suburb is not a good place to live. I moved to Philadelphia to be near one of my sons and his family; it’s great to be able to see them often. I also love living in Philadelphia. I live in a continuing care community in independent living; I have a lovely two-bedroom apartment which overlooks the fountains of Logan Square. There are so many cultural activities available to me--museums and the Kimmel Center for music, and lots of activities and trips from the Watermark community. All in all, I’m in a good place.
Death of Tatiana Lydia Osadka Demchuk We have lost another classmate. Tatiana died on July 26. Feel free to contribute remembrances.
Thanks for your news.
With love,
Susie
from SALLY HESS
TIME/TOUCH (published in The Primrose Tree magazine)“I stand at the top of the stairs, ready to take the first step, first flight, down. But as my right knee bends and my left foot lowers, I do not fly, I fumble and grab the banister. My head swims and my thighs tremble. I’m dizzy. I gasp and stare with tension; I hold my breath. Dizzier still. But the spell passes quickly, I compose myself and continue on. Later in the day, I tilt suddenly from window to sofa to wall. Panic runs through me; “dizziness is one of the symptoms of Covid-19.” For hours, I swirl in a haze of dis-ease.
Exhale, focus, reason. This is about awareness – I am not ill, I am re-orienting. The period of confinement, nearly three months now, is drawing me deeper into my planet’s interior, its forms (of muscles and organs), its sensations (of tingling and gripping and weakness), its perceptions (fear, relief, fear again) and the ability to discriminate among them: integrity and sequence. I walk in my city, I feel the wind, I hear the pigeons coo, and I taste spring in its intense spaciousness. Unhindered.
Home alone, I can explore movement gradually without hurry or obligation. In layered concentration, the bodily attunement, from inner ear to feet on floor as my proprioceptive function rises toward consciousness, is becoming available to the dancer I am, serve, and treasure during my Covid life. Climbing up the stairs, I sense my weight shift in relation to my pelvis; the banister becomes a ballet barre, and each knee bend a demi-plié.
Yes, hand to banister, window, door. Hands to wash and chop, to hold a book. Not hand to hand and thigh to thigh nor thrill of human energy, no dynamic exchange. I am a ballroom dancer but as our New York governor has declared, I’m “on pause,” not waltzing in my partner’s arms. Without his hand on my back, gently, my hand on his arm, lightly, or the thigh-length pressure of our legs in contact, reassuring, he does not know where I am and I cannot espouse his shape. Spatially distanced, we are half our dancing self. No, we cannot Zoom it, mirror it, talk it, cannot practice it six feet apart; those are possibilities, I’ll call them ethereals, that we substitute when substance is forbidden (to) matter. My true dance is a matter of fact, feet, floor, of timed touch and touch in time. To the dismay and bemusement of my beloved non-dancing friends, I am inconsolable.
I calibrate balance amid asymmetry, fluidity within structure. Even as the pandemic storms, it is tidal. I long for the earthen tranquility that roots both the oak and the reed, invite it to ebb and expand within me. Time flows through the body incarnate. Can I abide peacefully inside its cycle of destruction and creation? Decay too is supple and life-giving. Time the dancing, trust the dancers – in this most vulnerable present, I must touch and be touched, to touch, touch the world.
- Convocation 2018-19Roz Gordon and Janice Lieberman represented the Class of 1962
In one of Barnard College’s favorite traditions, this year’s Convocation ceremony took place on September 13, 2018, in the majestic and historic Riverside Church. Hundreds of students, trustees, faculty, staff, distinguished guests, and alumnae going back to the Class of 1947 participated in this college-wide celebration. Ninety-six alumnae marched in the ceremonial procession dressed in academic regalia and carrying class flags, cheered on by new and returning students. Roz Marshack Gordon and Janice Wiegan Lieberman proudly represented the Class of 1962. Susie Levenson Pringle cheered them on.
- Class Notes - Winter 2018/19 Overflow
SUSIE PRINGLE -- A CELEBRATORY WEEKEND IN THE BIG APPLE
I always tell people "You can take Susie out of NYC but you can't take NYC out of Susie!" This is what I mean!
John and I spent a wonderful weekend in NYC in early November. We attended the bar mitzvah of my grand nephew Spencer Herold (son of niece Michelle and husband Larry). Friends and family came from as far as California, Florida, Arizona and upstate NY. While in NY we saw Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera, My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center; we also went to hear the NY Philharmonic. On Saturday night we met Harriet Kaye Inselbuch and husband Elihu for dinner at Felidia, a well-known Italian restaurant in Manhattan; we celebrated Elihu’s retirement in March and our 30th wedding anniversary in August (I was a late bloomer!). On Sunday we took the Bar Mitzvah family and out of state family guests to the Golden Unicorn, a well-known dim sum restaurant in Chinatown.
DEBUT AT BARNARD – NEXT STOP: BROADWAY
Eden Gordon, an English major with a creative writing concentration, is the granddaughter of Roz and David Gordon. Eden is also a Writing Fellow at the college. She grew up in Westchester, New York, and early on showed a great interest in writing, music and theater. She studied piano and singing throughout her secondary school years and appeared in many shows while in high school. During her first year at Barnard, she performed in Riverside Park as part of Barnard's Make Some Noise festival honoring women in music. As a sophomore at Barnard she was chosen to be the Barnard Balladeer, Barnard College's official songwriter, and she sang the song that was included in the 2017 Barnard Xmas Card. As a senior, her original musical The Other Side, about the lives of female Beat poets, was staged at Barnard. After graduation she plans to continue her work in music, writing and journalism.
Some of you may have met Eden when she attended some of the Saturday programs at our 55th Reunion in 2017.
- Class Notes Summer 2019 Overflow
SETAUKET MINI-REUNION continued from Barnard Magazine, Summer 2019
Here is Leah’s story. “During my years on the North Fork before the perfect house I was not impressed with the local newspaper and started the Village Times (1976). It has grown over these past four decades to 6 hometown papers along the north shore of Long Island, one website & platforms on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and You Tube. In addition, we are in the movie business, making ‘One Life to Give’ about Nathan Hale and the Revolutionary War Culper Spy Ring. Anyone know a good distributor/purchaser? Come visit TBR News Media, if you are in the neighborhood.”
Our classmates’ advice about life were almost of one voice. You’ll get through it.! Live in the moment! Let it go! Be grateful for what you have! Wake up, consider the day and enjoy it! Every moment is precious! Do it today - don’t put it off!
Written by Roz Gordon
L to R: Roz Gordon, Miriam Ehrlich, Gail Fieldman, Linda Kline, Susan Pringle, Rita Rover,
Sara Marks, Leah Dunaief, Marcia Weller, Michele Chaussabel
- Class Notes - Spring 2020 Overflow
Notes, both long and short, that go beyond what the Barnard magazine can include
Suzanne Cherney continued
In 1972, I was recruited to Geneva as an English-language editor by the World Health Organization, where I worked initially in the Publications department. Increasingly, WHO tapped me for science/medical writing, and during my final decade I worked first for WHO's HIV/AIDS program and then -- when the whole UN family finally took ownership of the epidemic and its multiple ramifications -- for UNAIDS. At UNAIDS I was speechwriter to the Director and wrote/co-wrote numerous articles, reports and a book (mostly unattributed, as per WHO/UN protocol). My daughter Laura Shafner (Barnard 1999), was born in and grew up in Geneva. Now living in NYC with husband Adam and four children, she is an award-winning entrepreneur and co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of AiCure, an AI and advanced data analytics company supporting healthcare.
My partner Peter and I continued to live in Geneva after my retirement in 2001 but, as ardent gardeners, were tempted in 2008 to buy a winter home in Naples, Fl, which soon became our principal residence. Here, in the US, we get to see a lot more of our combined total of 7 grandchildren - his 3 near Atlanta, my 4 in NYC. It took me time to settle into Naples, after 45 years in Europe, but I've grown to love it -- especially the friends I've made through progressive political activism. While I have always been politically active, my passion for moving this country forward and preserving its democracy has grown exponentially since the 2016 election. And, at age 78, I finally realize that writing is the most useful skill I can contribute. I write letters to the editor, participate in demonstrations, network actively, and help to organize local events. The SWFL Justice4All Coalition that I co-founded with a friend in late 2016 has become a networking/communication hub serving as a "safe space" where around 60 local organizations ranging from strictly non-partisan groups to political parties can share plans and information. In 2020, the centenary of women's right to vote, we're starting off this make-or-break election year by helping to organize WOMEN MARCH TO WIN in Naples, FL, on January 18th. The rally will focus on voter empowerment and registration, with a cowbell being rung from the stage for every new voter registered!
My other major passion is singing. While I haven't been able to recreate the wonderful madrigal group I sang with in Geneva, Naples has given me the opportunity to sing with a superb choirmaster. Glory of glories, we're doing the Mozart Requiem at our March 30th concert this year.”
Suzanne in 1971, Liege, Belgium
Peter and Suzanne
Suzanne holding her award at the 2020 Women's March
Roz Gordon, the Precinct Leader
Naomi Patz, continued
I am writing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where we now have power again, having lost it several times during the recent earthquakes. If we and this poor, beleaguered island are lucky, there won’t be any more seismic activity. We are due to return to the mainland in early March.
The past few months have been an intensely busy time for me, the culmination of a number of projects I’ve worked on for the past few years – which is not to say that I can walk away yet, but certainly that I’ve now given myself some breathing space.
The first, which I’ve written about before, is “The Last Cyclist,” a film capture of my play of the same name. Although its primary intended audience is universities and high schools, synagogues and churches, Holocaust education centers and the like, we decided we had nothing to lose and are in the process of submitting it to film festivals. So far, between now and the end of May, there will be screenings at the Boulder Jewish Film Festival in Colorado, and the Mene Tekel Film Festival in Prague (for which Czech subtitles are now being created), as well as in San Juan, New York City, New Jersey and London. We are waiting to hear from other places to which we have submitted it.
My other project is a book of essays for which I served as lead editor. Its title tells all: Married to the Rabbi: Sixty Spouses of Retired Reform Rabbis in Their Own Words. It says “spouses” rather than “wives” because one of our writers is a man! Naomi’s story as the wife of Rabbi Norman is the final essay in the book. Another rabbi’s wife, Judith Maslin, who initiated the project, served as Naomi’s co-editor..The book is available on Amazon. For immediate gratification (and the cheapest way to buy the book), order it as an ebook on Amazon for $9.99. The full price for the book (paperback, 414 pages) on Amazon is $24.99 (with free shipping if you have Amazon Prime). If you read the book and have nice things to say about it, I’d love for you to comment via Amazon – or, for that matter, directly to me. All proceeds from the book go to a fund that helps financially needy retired rabbis and surviving rabbinic spouses (generations of rabbis and congregational leadership before the most recent ones weren’t as savvy about seeing to rabbis’ post-retirement needs as today’s wisely are).
Oh, and our granddaughter Sadie Reynolds has been admitted to the 2024 class at Barnard, making her the third generation of our immediate family to attend. Her mother, Aviva Patz, is a member of the class of 1992. (My sister graduated from Barnard in 1966 and my brother from Columbia College in 1969. Our daughter Debby followed her father by graduating from Harvard in 1988; Norman is a 1959 Harvard graduate.)
Naomi and Nathan
TIDBITS
Harriet Kaye Inselbuch. Believe it or not I am on a Seabourn cruise from Miami to Dakar and so is our classmate Barbara Vogel Levine. I didn’t remember her or she me but her husband figured it out. He was a classmate of Elihu’s in law school. (sent Jan. 13, 2020)
Patricia Klubnik Tarallo. It was a busy year, yes! From camping with my youngest to Málaga with my eldest. Much to be thankful for.
Nancy Kung Wong. I am Chair of Impact 100 Martin founded in 2017 based on a movement started in Cincinnati in 2001 which empowers women to dramatically improve lives by collectively funding significant grants that make a lasting impact in our local communities. There are over 50 chapters in the U.S. In first 2 years, our chapter has awarded a total of $258,000. In this our 3rd year, we have over 200 members and will be able to award 2 $100,000 Impact Grants!
Sheila Levrant de Bretteville. “On triennial leave but it does not feel that way as I am here in New Haven! I am happily on triennial leave but because I have a public art project being done here in New Haven I can only leave during winter when they cannot work on it. Therefore I am off to Seattle and the Leipzig…to give talks about my work.”
Freshman roommates from 1958-59, Judy Terry Smith and Rusty Miller Rich caught up over the holidays at Rusty’s home in Knoxville, TN. Rusty has seven beautiful grandchildren and Judy has three. We have the same new year’s resolution: declutter our homes. Fun to remember all the day student friends who used to drop by 501 Brooks - Alice (Finkelstein) Alekman, Jeanie Schaeffer and others.
Peter and Suzanne
Suzanne holding her award at the 2020 Women's March
Roz Gordon, the Precinct Leader
Naomi Patz, continued
I am writing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where we now have power again, having lost it several times during the recent earthquakes. If we and this poor, beleaguered island are lucky, there won’t be any more seismic activity. We are due to return to the mainland in early March.
The past few months have been an intensely busy time for me, the culmination of a number of projects I’ve worked on for the past few years – which is not to say that I can walk away yet, but certainly that I’ve now given myself some breathing space.
The first, which I’ve written about before, is “The Last Cyclist,” a film capture of my play of the same name. Although its primary intended audience is universities and high schools, synagogues and churches, Holocaust education centers and the like, we decided we had nothing to lose and are in the process of submitting it to film festivals. So far, between now and the end of May, there will be screenings at the Boulder Jewish Film Festival in Colorado, and the Mene Tekel Film Festival in Prague (for which Czech subtitles are now being created), as well as in San Juan, New York City, New Jersey and London. We are waiting to hear from other places to which we have submitted it.
My other project is a book of essays for which I served as lead editor. Its title tells all: Married to the Rabbi: Sixty Spouses of Retired Reform Rabbis in Their Own Words. It says “spouses” rather than “wives” because one of our writers is a man! Naomi’s story as the wife of Rabbi Norman is the final essay in the book. Another rabbi’s wife, Judith Maslin, who initiated the project, served as Naomi’s co-editor..The book is available on Amazon. For immediate gratification (and the cheapest way to buy the book), order it as an ebook on Amazon for $9.99. The full price for the book (paperback, 414 pages) on Amazon is $24.99 (with free shipping if you have Amazon Prime). If you read the book and have nice things to say about it, I’d love for you to comment via Amazon – or, for that matter, directly to me. All proceeds from the book go to a fund that helps financially needy retired rabbis and surviving rabbinic spouses (generations of rabbis and congregational leadership before the most recent ones weren’t as savvy about seeing to rabbis’ post-retirement needs as today’s wisely are).
Oh, and our granddaughter Sadie Reynolds has been admitted to the 2024 class at Barnard, making her the third generation of our immediate family to attend. Her mother, Aviva Patz, is a member of the class of 1992. (My sister graduated from Barnard in 1966 and my brother from Columbia College in 1969. Our daughter Debby followed her father by graduating from Harvard in 1988; Norman is a 1959 Harvard graduate.)
Naomi and Nathan
TIDBITS
Harriet Kaye Inselbuch. Believe it or not I am on a Seabourn cruise from Miami to Dakar and so is our classmate Barbara Vogel Levine. I didn’t remember her or she me but her husband figured it out. He was a classmate of Elihu’s in law school. (sent Jan. 13, 2020)
Patricia Klubnik Tarallo. It was a busy year, yes! From camping with my youngest to Málaga with my eldest. Much to be thankful for.
Nancy Kung Wong. I am Chair of Impact 100 Martin founded in 2017 based on a movement started in Cincinnati in 2001 which empowers women to dramatically improve lives by collectively funding significant grants that make a lasting impact in our local communities. There are over 50 chapters in the U.S. In first 2 years, our chapter has awarded a total of $258,000. In this our 3rd year, we have over 200 members and will be able to award 2 $100,000 Impact Grants!
Sheila Levrant de Bretteville. “On triennial leave but it does not feel that way as I am here in New Haven! I am happily on triennial leave but because I have a public art project being done here in New Haven I can only leave during winter when they cannot work on it. Therefore I am off to Seattle and the Leipzig…to give talks about my work.”
Freshman roommates from 1958-59, Judy Terry Smith and Rusty Miller Rich caught up over the holidays at Rusty’s home in Knoxville, TN. Rusty has seven beautiful grandchildren and Judy has three. We have the same new year’s resolution: declutter our homes. Fun to remember all the day student friends who used to drop by 501 Brooks - Alice (Finkelstein) Alekman, Jeanie Schaeffer and others.
Global Israel Experience: Best. Week. Ever. Together
G2: Global Intergenerational Initiative…Powered by P2G
by Ruth Nemzoff
The one-year G2 journey will come to a dramatic closing experience—an inter-generational trip to Israel uniting all program participants from Overseas Communities and Israel for an incredible week as one global Jewish family. Ruth and Harris Berman were invited to chaperone this trip which took place over the Christmas holidays.
Ruth writes:
Lucky me! I was a resident scholar on a weeklong trip of grandparents and grandchildren to Israel, sponsored by G2. We visited Haifa, Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea, Masada, and Jerusalem. Attendees came from Miami, Cincinnati, and northern New Jersey. They represented modern Orthodoxy, Conservative Judaism, the Reform movement, secular Jews, and interfaith families; almost the whole spectrum of American Jewry. Grandparents and grandchildren in each of the three cities had been meeting monthly to learn about various aspects of Judaism and connect with each other before flying across the world together. Additionally, each group communicated over the Internet with a corresponding group in Israel; grandparent/grandchild pairs in Netanya, Yeruchem and Arad.
I was stunned by Israel’s innovation in every field: agriculture, art, architecture, archaeology. Did you know Israel recycles 85% of its water, and 100% of its agricultural water? I learned from diplomats with whom I met that the most likely solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be a regional one — just follow the money. Qatar, Iran, and the Saudis are all pouring money to create disruption. I highly recommend you take your grandchildren, no matter what your religion, to Israel. There is something for everyone there, and travel is a great way to bond. The trip was only a week long, but by the end, every child had grown. They were able to chat with adults who had been strangers only days ago.
There are many ways to travel with family and bond with new friends. If G2 is not the program for you, there are many private companies that organize intergenerational travel, such as Road Scholar.
written with intern Eliana Padwa
L: Intergenerational group learning from a guide at a historic site. R: Ruth and Harris Berman at the Wailing Wall.
- The Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning". . . an opportunity to change the way we think about libraries and study spaces and how we interact in the classroom", President Bielock
Barnard celebrated the grand opening of The Cheryl and Philip Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning on October 3, 2018. Built on the former site of Lehman Hall, The Milstein Center is a dynamic hub of academic and intellectual life on campus and reinforces the College’s commitment to sustainability and climate action. Designed by the award-winning firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the 128,000-square-foot building—with a base of five floors and a tower of eleven floors adjacent to Altschul Hall—is a distinctive place that facilitates dialogue and collaboration among students and faculty.
For more details visit https://barnard.edu/news/cheryl-philip-milstein-center-teaching-learning
Views from the 9th Floor Faculty Lounge
Columbia buildings across Broadway, terraces on lower floors.
- Class Notes - Winter 2020CAROL PRINS writes on the pandemic: “My news is the same as most people -our lives have been tremendously altered with no theater no opera no music no dining out (or rarely) and most of our Trustee activities curtailed to Zoom calls.- My husband and I keep being fully involved. However we are managing although it’s hard not to see family who live far away. I have gotten involved in meeting more people from the BREARLEY school where I went before college and also the Neighborhood Playhouse school of the theater, which as you know I love acting and had trained to work in the theater!Grateful for our health and friendships and our continuing interest in the nonprofit community here in Chicago--makes our lives feel substantive. I hasten to add our 3 grandkids in LA and our 2 little girls here bring us joy! Especially grateful to have them all!”
KAREN KISSEN WILKIN also comments on the pandemic. “Business as usual--sort of. As a curator, I organize museum and gallery exhibitions, and as an art critic, I write about other people’s shows, but when everything closed abruptly in March, I was, like many people, in professional limbo. In September, things started to open up again, so I’m once again seeing real works of art, instead of homogenized images on a screen, venturing to shows, masked and socially distanced. Museums, with their reduced visitor numbers and timed tickets, are like they used to be, before they became sites for selfies and “social experiences,” and commercial galleries, mostly by appointment, are usually empty.
It’s good to be thinking about real experience, instead of writing about what artists are doing in isolation. Two exhibitions that I curated have been compromised, though. “Andrew Forge: the Limits of Sight,” a retrospective of the late British abstract painter and critic, “opened” on schedule at the Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield, CT, but is accessible only to students and faculty. Anyone else must persuade the museum to allow a special visit. It's disappointing, because Forge’s work simply doesn’t reproduce. “Figuration Never Died,” an overview of six artists who resisted the dominance of abstraction, in the 1950s and 1960s, was suppposed to be the featured summer exhibition of Bratttleboro Museum, Brattleboro, VT, but is now the fall-winter show. Both exhibits have catalogues, but they will have far fewer viewers than hoped for. And I’m conducting my art history and art criticism seminars for the MFA program of the New York Studio School via Zoom, which is somehow much more effort than a discussion face to face. Still, my architect husband and I are both healthy, mainly working from home, and I’m busy with what I usually am concerned with, so I feel very fortunate.
MICHELE CHAUSSABEL on Lockdown.
“I’m doing ok, taking Zoom classes and doing book groups. Our Barnard book group just read A Gentleman in Moscow by Towles. It fits in very well with what’s happening to us, being cooped up and all."
A new normal celebration of Bastille Day
"Attic cleanup. I had a the biggest ever yard sale. This is my living room the day before. It took place outside. Appropriate signage. Everyone masked. No time for pictures. "
"I decided to rent my house in case of financial meltdown. I stayed in a little cottage on my property.”
Congratulations to ROZ MARSHACK GORDON and husband, DAVID GORDON, MD, on achieving the rank of BRIDGE LIFE MASTER - Roz in September, 2020, following David by about two months. He had played with other partners when she traveled to see friends and family. Roz had played casual bridge at Barnard and for a short time after they married. They took up the game in retirement starting lessons in early 2017 when they moved Florida and playing their first duplicate game - where players can earn “master points” if they do well - that summer. In the three years of intensive study and play, they earned this award. And, it has given them something to do daily during the pandemic! Thank goodness for on-line bridge!
SHEILA LEVRANT de BRETTEVILLE
This is a year I do become 80. And it is a year both like none other and like all the last three decades. I am teaching the most interesting class as these are the students who chose to attend their graduate classes despite our being online or distanced in person, and not choose a year leave of absence hoping the covid-19 is gone by September 2021.
I am teaching my Thesis group who I meet every other week on Tuesday afternoons, and my required class with my colleague Forest Young.
And this is the year that a proposal I made 4 years ago to transform a dark, dangerous and disgusting underpass into a pleasurable pedestrian path into and out of the town of New Haven,"Lighting your way… " is being constructed and will be done by Thanksgiving! (see below).
Given we have no choice but to wear masks, enact social distancing and actively support Black Lives Matter, this has been a productive, thoughtful and activist period of time. I will become 80 the day after election day. May you and I enjoy being 80!
Yale School of Art 150th Identity
Created by Sheila Levrant de Bretteville ’64, Caroline M. Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Graphic Design & Laura Coombs ‘17. Typeface by Willis Kingery.
Pedestrian path into and out of the town of New Haven,"Lighting your way…
KAREN KISSEN WILKIN also comments on the pandemic. “Business as usual--sort of. As a curator, I organize museum and gallery exhibitions, and as an art critic, I write about other people’s shows, but when everything closed abruptly in March, I was, like many people, in professional limbo. In September, things started to open up again, so I’m once again seeing real works of art, instead of homogenized images on a screen, venturing to shows, masked and socially distanced. Museums, with their reduced visitor numbers and timed tickets, are like they used to be, before they became sites for selfies and “social experiences,” and commercial galleries, mostly by appointment, are usually empty.
It’s good to be thinking about real experience, instead of writing about what artists are doing in isolation. Two exhibitions that I curated have been compromised, though. “Andrew Forge: the Limits of Sight,” a retrospective of the late British abstract painter and critic, “opened” on schedule at the Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield, CT, but is accessible only to students and faculty. Anyone else must persuade the museum to allow a special visit. It's disappointing, because Forge’s work simply doesn’t reproduce. “Figuration Never Died,” an overview of six artists who resisted the dominance of abstraction, in the 1950s and 1960s, was suppposed to be the featured summer exhibition of Bratttleboro Museum, Brattleboro, VT, but is now the fall-winter show. Both exhibits have catalogues, but they will have far fewer viewers than hoped for. And I’m conducting my art history and art criticism seminars for the MFA program of the New York Studio School via Zoom, which is somehow much more effort than a discussion face to face. Still, my architect husband and I are both healthy, mainly working from home, and I’m busy with what I usually am concerned with, so I feel very fortunate.
MICHELE CHAUSSABEL on Lockdown.
“I’m doing ok, taking Zoom classes and doing book groups. Our Barnard book group just read A Gentleman in Moscow by Towles. It fits in very well with what’s happening to us, being cooped up and all."
A new normal celebration of Bastille Day
"Attic cleanup. I had a the biggest ever yard sale. This is my living room the day before. It took place outside. Appropriate signage. Everyone masked. No time for pictures. "
"I decided to rent my house in case of financial meltdown. I stayed in a little cottage on my property.”
Congratulations to ROZ MARSHACK GORDON and husband, DAVID GORDON, MD, on achieving the rank of BRIDGE LIFE MASTER - Roz in September, 2020, following David by about two months. He had played with other partners when she traveled to see friends and family. Roz had played casual bridge at Barnard and for a short time after they married. They took up the game in retirement starting lessons in early 2017 when they moved Florida and playing their first duplicate game - where players can earn “master points” if they do well - that summer. In the three years of intensive study and play, they earned this award. And, it has given them something to do daily during the pandemic! Thank goodness for on-line bridge!
SHEILA LEVRANT de BRETTEVILLE
This is a year I do become 80. And it is a year both like none other and like all the last three decades. I am teaching the most interesting class as these are the students who chose to attend their graduate classes despite our being online or distanced in person, and not choose a year leave of absence hoping the covid-19 is gone by September 2021.
I am teaching my Thesis group who I meet every other week on Tuesday afternoons, and my required class with my colleague Forest Young.
And this is the year that a proposal I made 4 years ago to transform a dark, dangerous and disgusting underpass into a pleasurable pedestrian path into and out of the town of New Haven,"Lighting your way… " is being constructed and will be done by Thanksgiving! (see below).
Given we have no choice but to wear masks, enact social distancing and actively support Black Lives Matter, this has been a productive, thoughtful and activist period of time. I will become 80 the day after election day. May you and I enjoy being 80!
Yale School of Art 150th Identity
Created by Sheila Levrant de Bretteville ’64, Caroline M. Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Graphic Design & Laura Coombs ‘17. Typeface by Willis Kingery.
Pedestrian path into and out of the town of New Haven,"Lighting your way…
