New! Winter 2025 Class News

1973 Class Notes in Spring 2025 Alumni Bulletin

Elizabeth Enloe celebrated the publication of “Thandi, Liberation: My Struggle for South Africa as an Exile in America” by Thandi Luthuli-Gcabashe, which she co-edited. Daughter of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Albert Luthuli, Thandi fled South Africa in 1970 to raise her family in the safety of Atlanta, Georgia. Working with the American Friends Service Committee, where Elizabeth was then head of the Southeast Regional Office, Thandi led impactful educational, boycott and divestment campaigns to end apartheid in South Africa. Elizabeth traveled with her co-editor to Durban in August to share the printed book with Thandi and celebrate her 90th birthday. “Thandi’s completion of her ‘Liberation’ memoir is a gift to us all,” Elizabeth wrote. “She calls us to be uncomfortable with the past, from which it is easy to distance oneself. Her words reveal similarities with what came before and what is happening now.” Order at africaworldpressbooks.com.

Ann Lindsay took time away from her retirement job as president of Life Plan Humboldt in rural Humboldt County, CA in August to take her 12-year-old granddaughter, Eliana Lindsay, to visit New York City for a week. “We stayed at Ann Benjamin’s apartment and enjoyed her tutoring on how to get around an enjoy ourselves in NYC -- two Broadway shows (“Hadestown” and “Harry Potter”), a ballet at the Joyce Theater and a WNBA game and three visits to the Metropolitan Museum!” Ann wrote.

Speaking of Ann Benjamin, the Alliance for Women in Media honored her with a 2024 Gracie Award for “Best Director – Local TV” for a film she directed for WNET public TV: “Manhattan Theatre Club, a Home for Artists,” which explored the 50-year history of the influential theater. The Gracie Awards recognize exemplary programming created by women, for women and about women in media and entertainment. You can stream the film at https://tinyurl.com/p8yxukr3.

Rick Ortega wrote with an update about the health of his first grandchild, Olivia, who was born in 2020 with maple syrup urine disease, a serious inherited condition. “MSUD was addressed by a liver transplant when she was 15 months old, and she is doing just fine at age 4,” Rick wrote. “She also now has a sister, Ava, 3, and a brother, Jackson, 1. Last March I had a stent implanted to address a 90% occlusion of my left anterior descending coronary artery. I am doing fine now, but my wife, Sheila, who spent 40 years as a nurse anesthetist, informed me that I had dodged a bullet, as they used to call that blockage the ‘widow-maker.’ I am still working as a consulting engineer and architect specializing in historic preservation, but trying to reduce the work load; as a side gig I give occasional lectures at UPenn and Johns Hopkins on preservation engineering topics. “

More new grandbabies: Twins Cleo and Lewis Kovner-Woo were born August 31 in Portland, Oregon to my son Peter Woo and his partner Aliyah Kovner.

Joe Turner and his wife Lana Turner ’74 recently began spending more time in Portland, Maine to be closer to their daughter and family. “We enjoy a small condo in the most urban environment we’ve ever experienced,” he wrote. “We find the city very livable, friendly and incredibly foodie. Despite our growing enjoyment of Maine, ski season will find us in Colorado, hopefully for at least a few more years.”

Jeff Schon, co-founder of Nairobi-based Akili Network Inc., spoke in June on two panels at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market in southeastern France, the premier animation-focused film festival, on lessons from his experience founding and running a commercial-free digital broadcast network of children’s programming with an audience of 13 million. “The festival started in1960, and I’d always wanted to attend,” wrote Jeff, who lives in Nairobi and manages a team of 40 Kenyans. “What a beautiful setting, with great films, wonderful people and energy.”

Two classmates, Philip Hayes and Terrence Hicks, were among the past members of the Swarthmore Alumni Gospel Choir who were recognized for their contributions to the choir at a memorial concert on campus on August 10. Philip died last year (2024), and Terrence died in 2018.

Condolences to the family of Sue Crockford-Peters, who died August 16 in Union, Maine, where she had moved recently with her daughter and son-in-law, Beth and Adam Williams, and grandson Everitt (cq), after spending most of her adult life in Branford, CT. Sue was a librarian at the Yale Libraries for more than three decades. “Many of us remember Sue as always cheerful, ready for any adventure, and a loyal friend,” Ginny Mussari Bates wrote. Her husband, Don Crockford-Peters, also survives her.

1973 Class Notes in Winter 2025 Alumni Bulletin

Elizabeth Enloe is celebrating the publication of “Thandi, Liberation: My Struggle for South Africa as an Exile in America” by Thandi Luthuli-Gcabashe, which she co-edited. Daughter of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Albert Luthuli, Thandi fled South Africa in 1970 to raise her family in the safety of Atlanta, Georgia. Working with the American Friends Service Committee, where Elizabeth was then head of the Southeast Regional Office, Thandi led impactful educational, boycott and divestment campaigns to end apartheid in South Africa. Elizabeth traveled with her co-editor to Durban in August to share the printed book with Thandi and celebrate her 90th birthday. “Thandi’s completion of her ‘Liberation’ memoir is a gift to us all,” Elizabeth wrote. “She calls us to be uncomfortable with the past, from which it is easy to distance oneself. Her words reveal similarities with what came before and what is happening now.” Order at africaworldpressbooks.com.

More new grandbabies: Twins Cleo and Lewis Kovner-Woo were born August 31 in Portland, Oregon to my son Peter Woo and his partner Aliyah Kovner.

Two classmates, Philip Hayes and Terrence Hicks, were among the past members of the Swarthmore Alumni Gospel Choir who were recognized for their contributions to the choir at a memorial concert on campus on August 10. Philip died last year (2024), and Terrence died in 2018.

Condolences to the family of Sue Crockford-Peters, who died August 16 in Union, Maine, where she had moved recently with her daughter and son-in-law, Beth and Adam Williams, and grandson Everitt, after spending most of her adult life in Branford, CT. Sue was a librarian at the Yale Libraries for more than three decades. “Many of us remember Sue as always cheerful, ready for any adventure, and a loyal friend,” Ginny Mussari Bates wrote. Her husband, Don Crockford-Peters, also survives her.

1973 Class Notes in Summer 2024 Alumni Bulletin

M. Denise Dennis has spent more than two decades developing the Dennis Farm Charitable Land Trust in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains as an educational and cultural resource. Homesteaded in 1793 by her ancestors, Prince and Judith Perkins, who were free African Americans, it remains in the Dennis family’s hands seven generations later -- believed to be the longest ownership by African Americans of any farm in the nation. The 153-acre farm, once a stop on the Underground Railroad, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Jo Ann Jones and Marsha Kness were among the 200 celebrants who joined Denise at the farm in June 2023 to commemorate the installation of a 1,300 pound replica of the Liberty Bell in the lead-up to the nation’s 2026 semiquincentennial. U.S. Senator Bob Casey spoke at the ceremony, and both President Biden and VP Harris sent congratulatory letters. Denise is the trust’s chairwoman and CEO, and her brother, Darryl Gore '79, is vice president of development. The farm offers tours, and the trust holds an annual symposium near the farm and a forum on racial understanding in partnership with the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. “The Trust brings people together across racial, ethnic, cultural and religious lines--something that has always been important to me,” Denise writes. For more information, visit www.thedennisfarm.org.

Anne Lawrence, professor emeritus at San Jose State University, Zoomed into Ann Lindsay’s book club in Humboldt County, CA to lead a discussion of “On Dark and Bloody Ground,” her oral history of the Battle of Blair Mountain, the 1921 West Virginia coal war. Anne gathered the oral histories when on a six-month leave from Swarthmore in 1972. It was published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle. Ann said her book club members enjoyed the book and said Anne had led its best discussion ever.

Jan Hahn has practiced family medicine for nearly four decades, including a four-year stint with the Indian Health Service in Cherokee, NC in the early ‘80s. He now works at Access Medical in Madisonville, TN, and makes house calls several times a week. He also serves as an adjunct professor at South College's physician assistant program and has published two books of poetry (“Voices” and “A Gallimaufrey”) and three children's books. In 1991, he started Loudon County's first and only domestic violence shelter program. He took a break from medicine from 2012-2016 to get a teaching credential and pursue a second career as a middle and high school health sciences teacher. In 2022, he ran unsuccessfully for the Tennessee House of Representatives, and this year he’s running for a seat on the Loudon County School Board. He and his wife, Heather O’Brien, a retired veterinarian, raise goats, chickens and horses on their 15-acre farm. They have three adult daughters: Micah, a professor at the University of Alaska-Anchorage; Avital, an OB-GYN in Louisville; and Mara, a senior executive at UniteUs. “I sum up my approach to life in seven words, a consequence of my life at Swarthmore College 1969-1973: When one stops learning, one stops living,” he wrote.

Ed Frost writes: “After successfully avoiding grad school for 50 years, I’ve taken the plunge, and I’m studying to earn a certificate in forensic genetic genealogy. It’s a field that helps police find serial killers, coroners identify ‘John Does’ and adoptees find birth parents, and it’s a logical extension of my long career as journalist and private investigator. Among the readings so far was an article in the ‘Journal of Interpersonal Violence,’ which is a long distance from my English Lit classes at Swats!”

Isaac Stanley and his wife, Ava H. Stanley '72, celebrated their 50th anniversary with family, friends and classmates at gatherings in New Jersey and Chicago last summer, as well as the marriage of their son, Christopher, to Amanda Gloria Valdes in Brooklyn in August. Yoga continues to be Isaac’s passion, with yoga-related travels to Puerto Morelos, Mexico and Bali this year already. As a result of the yoga/tai chi activity that Isaac helped lead at our 50th reunion, several classmates now regularly attend the Thursday evening meditation sessions that he’s been leading since 2020.

Steve and Jan Rood-Ojalvo welcomed a third granddaughter, Vivian Astra, the first born to their eldest son David and his partner, Alice Buttrick, in January.

Sad news: Philip Hayes died February 20. An engineering major, he sang baritone in the Swarthmore College Gospel Choir. He was a beloved ob-gyn in the Philadelphia area for decades. Condolences to his wife, Margaret Chiquita Hayes, MD, four children and two grandchildren. You can find more details about his life and express condolences at bit.ly/42TzXiY.

Visit our class website at www.swarthmorecollege73.com/ and create or freshen up your profile! View photos from our 50^th reunion at http://tinyurl.com/mtrmxvhu

Here are the Class Notes that erroneously got omitted from the Fall 2023 Alumni Bulletin

Our 50^th class reunion was a smashing success! About 90 classmates, plus almost 20 significant others, gathered on campus on a glorious, humidity-free May weekend. Those who came expressed lots of affection for each other and for the institution that launched us on our adult paths. As of June 30, 155 donors – just over half of our living classmates – had donated more than $306,000. Bravo to Bob Oye for working so diligently to help our class exceed its goal by 22%.

Among the fun activities were a dance party with music by the ever-popular Nathan and the Narwhals, featuring Daniel Gibbon, ’74, Peter Jaquette ’74 and Tom Sahagian ’74; a reflection from Doug James about his songwriting career (accompanied by recordings of his hit songs because he had bronchitis); a “getting to re-know you” ice-breaker during which door prizes were awarded to those who had traveled the farthest (Randy Thomas, who came from Paris); been married the longest, (John Hilke and DD Smith Hilke); or had the most children (Jan and Steve Rood-Ojalvo), among other categories. Fun fact: at least half the attendees admitted to having thought about transferring.

We also enjoyed hearing from nine classmates about new trails they’ve blazed since reaching conventional retirement age: Geoff Davis, who’s operating a pet boarding facility in the Sierra Foothills after a biotech career; Amanda Orr Harmeling, now an interfaith hospital and hospice counselor after careers as a psychiatric social worker and French and Spanish teacher; John Hilke, now working to craft proposals for legislative reforms that would ease Ukraine’s path to joining the European Union after retiring as a Federal Trade Commission attorney; Arthur Johnson, now taking (and selling) gorgeous nature photographs, mostly of birds after a career as a copywriter and infomercial host check out ArthurPix.com); Jo Ann Bradley Jones, now an Episcopal priest after a career as an attorney and public agency official; Martha King, a recent Peace Corps Response volunteer in Zambia after a 33-year career as a health policy analyst; Ann Lindsay, now spearheading Life Care Humboldt, a proposed resident-led, nonprofit life care community in Humboldt County, CA, after a career in public health and family and academic medicine; Jeff Schon, after a career producing multimedia educational products for children, now running Akili Kids!, the first educational video service for children in Kenya (which just won a prestigious Kuza Award (it's like an Emmy) from the Communication Authority of Kenya; and Isaac Stanley, now leading guided meditation sessions and Yoga Nidra sessions in Chicago after a 32-year career with Metlife as a business analyst. Their discussion sparked a lively exchange among the many physicians in our class, including Bob Oye, Bob Lembo and Laura Welch, about how to know when it’s time to retire for patient safety.

Our class’ own Chris Edley had the honor of giving the Collection address, a thoughtful reflection on “Considering the Humanly Impossible.” You can listen to it at this link: https://youtu.be/S5yditzDNPo

Among the most meaningful events was a celebration of life for the nearly three dozen classmates who have died. Click on tinyurl.com/mr3e6k35 to look at a slide show, created by Martha King, that summarizes the lives of those who died to soon.

Sad news: Francene Mason died June 12 in Boulder, CO, where she had had a rewarding career as an oncologist and was also an accomplished athlete and outdoorswoman. Read her obituary at tinyurl.com/26rnmerb. And condolences to Donna Kirschbaum on the death of her husband, Lechaim Naggan, on April 19 in Israel, where he had had a distinguished career in medicine and higher education.

Here are the Class Notes that appeared in the Spring 2023 Alumni Bulletin

Thanks to prods from Stu Blair and Dave Lyon, I finally caught up with Doug James. “I knew at the age of six that I wanted to be a songwriter, and am eternally grateful to be living my dream, doing what I love to do,” he wrote. “I worked and lived in New York City for about 15 years as a staff writer with Love-Zager Productions, CBS Song and EMI Music Publishing, and, since then, have continued on my own. I’m currently working on a solo album to be released, hopefully, by 2024.” Among the entertainers who have performed Doug’s songs: Michael Bolton, Dan Hill, Dionne Warwick, Joe Cocker, Cher and many more. He and his wife of 26 years, Nicole Barka-James, live in his family home in Rehoboth Beach, DE.

Andrea (Wuest) Briggs also brought us up to date on 50 years. “After graduation I went to grad school, got married and began a trek west,” she wrote. “There we birthed and raised three children; motherhood has been the most consuming and satisfying job I have had. I worked for the University of California, Riverside, for a few decades as chief conflict negotiator and retired early. Since then I’ve committed to far too many interests: choral singing, gardening, yoga, travel; grandchildren; a seminary education; and a broad array of social and political activism based in a Christian grounding in mercy, inclusion, justice and love. I’ve been married to the same man for 47 years.”

John and DD (Smith) Hilke made an unplanned move in April 2022 from Woodinville, WA to Indian Trail, NC, a few months after their granddaughter Temperance (Tempe), 7, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. After “a crash course in diabetes management,” John wrote that they’re finding joy in “helping out with the day-to-day of Team Tempe and getting to be in-town grandparents, parents and parents-in-law.” DD retired from a career with nonprofit and teaches tai chi online. John retired from a staff job at the Federal Trade Commission, but serves as a consultant on a USAID project for the Federal Trade Commission with the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine.

Elizabeth Enloe wrote from Greece, where she’s been spending a year. COVID’s seclusion led her to explore mindfulness, meditation and a “Year to Live” course. “This reinforced a determination to make this decade the best of all,” she wrote. “I’ve taken myself to an island in the Aegean, serviced only by ferries, with one long paved road, and rocky paths to 4,000-year-old sites of Cycladic peoples, camouflaged by the rocks from which they arose. The tranquility and beauty extend far and wide for my year’s reflections on the present and time ahead.”

Michael Donahue graduated from Villanova Law School in 1977 and then worked in legal services in Delaware County and Philadelphia. “To get through law school, I sold beer at Phillies' games for three years,” he wrote. “The beer job was clearly the best one of my life.” After retiring in 2018, he and his wife, Virginia Leso, moved to a retirement community in Lititz , PA, where “we are surrounded by farms, cows, horses and buggies. To keep myself in the 21st century, I volunteer once a week at a food bank and hit the fitness center three times a week."

After graduating from Swarthmore, Arnold Newman earned an engineering degree at SUNY Buffalo and spent the next few years designing avionics and radar systems. When his wife, Lynnette Nieman, joined the National Institutes of Health as an endocrinologist in 1982, Arnold joined Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, where he worked on the first implantable defibrillator, other medical devices and several satellites. He went on to found five companies and is currently forming a sixth, which will develop drugs and other healthcare products.

New grandchildren: Paul Susko’s first grandchild, Luis Paul Silva, was born on August 19. Hugh Roberts’ first grandchild, Vivianne Sarah Roberts, was born January 5. And Joan Rubinstein’s fourth grandchildren, Raymond Arthur William Sherriffs, was born January 6.

Condolences to Randall Thomas, whose wife of 43 years, Sylvie Halkin, a retired psychoanalyst, died last August of pancreatic cancer. Randy retired in 2016 from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and continues to live in a suburb of Paris. He has two daughters and a stepson and six grandchildren. He wrote: “My kids and grandkids and I are learning to deal with life without her.”

I learned belatedly of the death of Chris Lowery on June 1, 2021, from prostate cancer. Chris had spent most of his life in the D.C. area, but moved to Scottsdale, AZ, a few years ago to be near his brother, Mark.

Visit our class website at www.swarthmorecollege73.com/ and create or freshen up your profile!

November 2022 Class Notes and Outtakes:

We’re just a few months away from our 50th reunion. Let’s come out in force and bury our reputation as “Hargadon’s Revenge” class. Whether or not you plan to come, please take a few minutes to create or update your profile on our class website: www.swarthmore college 73.com.

My pleas for news brought in an unprecedented number of responses. I’m giving preference here to classmates we haven’t heard from in decades–or never before. You'll find the news I couldn’t fit just below the published news.

Jonathan March left Swarthmore in 1972 to do alternate service as a conscientious objector in the San Francisco sleep research lab of Irwin Feinberg (Swarthmore MA '51). He spent decades in San Francisco and St. Louis, “fumblingly trying to balance peace and justice activism, sleep research software development and data analysis, and family caretaking,” he writes. He moved to Austin TX in 2010 to work for a scientific software company, from which he just retired. He and his partner, Gerda Ray, a retired U.S. history professor, spent the fall getting out the Texas vote. Now, he writes, “it's back to the drawing board -- how to help nurture a healthier world (disappointed that the Swarthmore Board still won't divest from fossil fuels!)”

Nancy Burks left Swarthmore after two years and later received a doctorate in psychology. A Buddhist since the early ‘70s, she was widowed in 1994 and subsequently trained as a Lama at a Buddhist retreat center in Delhi, NY from 1996-2000. She then moved back to Ann Arbor, her hometown, where she worked as a clinical psychologist until 2015. Now married to Tim Galinis, she serves as Lama at a local Tibetan center and is starting a new nondenominational Buddhist center in Ann Arbor.

Nancy Hengen graduated from law school in 1976 and practiced almost 40 years in New York City before retiring in 2016. “I spent my career doing international ship finance, primarily representing international banks and other funding sources, and occasionally shipowners or operators, in the purchase, sale and operation of commercial vessels,” she writes. “This certainly was never a law practice I could imagine growing up or even in law school!” She married Henry Monaghan, a constitutional law professor at Columbia Law School, in 1985. “I’m now able to do many of the things–going to museums, ballet, opera and working in the garden in our house in NW Connecticut–that I never really had sufficient time for while working. My life has been happy and fulfilling, for which I have always given primary credit to Swarthmore, and accordingly I have been a steady supporter of the college over the years.”

Bob Lembo retired from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda in November 2021 after 15 years. He was the director of the Office of Clinical Research Training and Medical Education at the NIH Clinical Center and the executive director of graduate medical education. Previously, he was an associate professor of clinical pediatrics and director of pediatric medical education for 16 years at New York University School of Medicine. He plans to spend time traveling and pursuing his interest in enology, as well as supporting Garnet Athletics.

Last spring, five years after returning from MetLife, Isaac Stanley completed a 300-hour “hot yoga” teacher certification program in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. “I'm currently weighing next steps and yoga teaching opportunities in Chicago and elsewhere,” he writes. “When the Grim Reaper shows up, I want him to apologize for obviously having the wrong address!” Isaac will begin his first term next spring as commodore of the 127-year-old Jackson Park Yacht Club, one of the nation’s largest groups of Black sailors.

Steve Lang hit the big screen again in James Cameron’s, “AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER,” which premiered December 16. “The film is wondrously enthralling, spectacularly epic as well as an intimate story of family,” he writes. “I count my being part of it as one of the true blessings in my life. Hope you dig it.”

Bill Yarrow retired from Joliet Junior College after 29 and 1/2 years teaching in the English/Philosophy/World Languages Department and is looking forward to spending more time with his five grandkids.

Angela Mercer, though retired as a physician, is busy serving on the boards of Unity Church of Tidewater, United Way of South Hampton Roads and Women United, while overseeing a yearlong educational program for residents of a disadvantaged rural Virginia community to inform them about healthy lifestyles. She and her husband, Reginald Corinaldi-Mercer ‘75, welcomed a third grandchild, Leela Ruth Corinaldi, in July.

Other new grandchildren: A girl, Maya, for Neil Raphel’s son Bennett ‘09 and his wife Jennifer and a girl, Cameron, for my son, Bennett Woo, and his wife Nina in March.

November 2022 Outtakes:

Steven Fox writes: Based on the frequency of past events,I wasn't due to score my next winning soccer goal until 2041, so I am pleased to report that it happened in 2022--in the Rockets' 3-2 upset 2022 over defending champs Los Viejos in the Montgomery County, Maryland, 65-and-over recreational league. As the Rolling Stones said, "This could be the last time." I subsequently recruited Mike Tobin to meet in Florida at a three-day 70-and-over tournament in January and re-enact the magic of Third Team Soccer in slow motion. In more age-appropriate recreational news, Neil Raphel and I rendezvoused in Providence RI, roughly midway between Maryland and Vermont, at last summer's national bridge tournament. Without Gary Dell '72 and Prof. Barry Schwartz on our team this time, however, we didn't do as well as in 2010.

Trish Emerson writes: Just an anecdote from the substitute-teacher trenches:

I review the teacher's lesson plans, all straightforward. I know this colleague; he is organized and has left me the Google Classroom assignment copied in color, so I can see what the students see on their devices. As a substitute, that insight is golden.

Today the sixth graders will be completing their research on a college with weird traditions, or spooky mascots, or scary on-campus phenomena. Halloween is mere days away. I

I circulate, asking each student the college they (intentional pronoun use, btw) have picked and the strangeness it boasts.

Lots of colleges in the northeast make the list: Penn, UVA, Harvard, Barnard. Then I ask Evan who responds, "Swarthmore."

"That's where I went, a great school. What's weird about it?"

He shows me our website, the specific page where the "Pterodactyl Hunt" is explained. I learn that the Psi Phi club, I'm fairly certain not from my era, sponsors this good vs. evil event in early October, that youtube features videos nonetheless, the earliest I found going back to 2009 (with a Game of Thrones edition in 2013!).

So...all in the daily life of a sub on the Oregon Coast: to live is to learn.

In other news, The Oregon Council of Teachers of English (OCTE) presented its first in-person conference last weekend (Oct.22), the theme "Transformation." For me, as President-Elect, it heralded a joyous return to professionals inspiring one another and provided more proof that learning is living!

Gino Bottino: My life has been very complicated in the last number of years.
I am one of the luckiest people on earth to still be able to function and “live long and prosper.”
I am currently working through a Locums company taking positions in different cancer centers around the country. There is a significant shortage of Oncologists and many centers are desperately in need.
Like many parents I am still supporting my older children that live in my house (even though I haven’t lived there in years)! They are out of college now trying to figure out their lives. What’s interesting is that they are all in long term relationships (greater than 5 years) but don’t want to marry for economic reasons. This reality is so different than when we graduated. It is really hard for them and in some ways I feel responsible that we have left our country in poor shape for them. Hopefully their generation will figure it out.

I am looking forward to our 50th reunion. I am hoping to catch up with many friends that have been lost to time and distance. I hope that as many of our class that can-join us there!

Bill Ehrhart: In October, I had a wonderful visit with Phil Davies, a student from Britain who was at Swarthmore 1969-70, and his partner Sarah Biggs. They spent two days with my wife, Anne, and me while Sarah was in the area with the Keyboard Charitable Trust. Phil went on to a long and distinguished career as a professor of American Studies.

Lola Bogyo: I’m still living in an old farmhouse in brooksville Maine,population 935, on the Blue Hill Peninsula. Doing great three years after ovarian cancer surgery, chemo, etc. I am down to working about 15 hours a week (as a neuropsychologist) which seems to be a good work/balance. Made it through Covid (so far!) and continue to see friends daily. At the height of the pandemic, we were meeting post-dog-walk in a freezing garage wearing masks, mittens, and serious winter wear, for coffee and conversation - socially distanced, of course…. Staying active in community activities/boards and, when weather permits, swimming, kayaking, gardening, etc. I am grateful that my daughter (who is doing great in Rockland, Maine)and I are healthy!

Neil Raphael: Greetings from Vermont, which is a few more years of climate change may become the next Florida. Although we never expected to be old enough to be grandparents, our son Bennett (Swarthmore ’09) and his wife Jennifer forced us into this surprising delightful category in September. Maya is a joy and makes us embarrassed to be the kind of doting grandparents we have often made fun of.

In lieu of retirement, Janis and I are expanding our Brick Math business, which teaches math using LEGO®-compatible bricks. One and sometimes both of us talk about retiring, but that seems silly since we finally found a business that does well. Oh, well, as Scarlett said to herself, “I’ll think about retirement tomorrow.”

Isaac Stanley: Here are a few updates:

* Ava and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary in June, 2023

* I recently rolled off the board of directors of Chicago not for profit "Ignite" after 8 years-most recently serving as Chairperson. Ignite provides a full range of supportive services to youth who are experiencing housing insecurity.

* Shortly after my 70th birthday this past spring, I completed a 300 hr hot yoga teacher certification program in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. The month-long program was extremely intense (vegetarian diet, yoga & anatomy classes and two daily 90 minute yoga sessions). I'm currently weighing next steps and yoga teaching opportunities in Chicago and elsewhere. When the Grim Reaper shows up, I want him to apologize for obviously having a wrong address!

* During the short Chicago sailing season, we spend time on our sailboat "Star of the Sea". Next season I'll begin my first term as Jackson Park Yacht Club's Commodore. The club has been incorporated since June 3, 1896 and is currently the home port of one of the largest groups of African American sailors in the US.

* We're the proud grandparents of one rescue cat "Luna" and patiently awaiting grandchildren we can spoil and send back to their parents.

Janis Sanchez: My husband and I ( Michael Hucles ‘72) still live in Virginia Beach. We both retired from our work at Old Dominion University, but I still see clients and publish articles. We have two granddaughters who live close to us and a grandson and granddaughter in San Diego. We love this stage of retirement!

Gus McLeavy: Been about 2 decades since I submitted anything, so maybe it's time.
Laura Kelsey '81 and I recently celebrated our Ruby Anniversary. Son Scott (RIT) does computer stuff for a business near Seattle (not that one!). Daughter Jill (MoHo) teaches Spanish and English in Connecticut.
Laura is in a very small high school in NH, where she works in special ed and the library, and in a pinch as the music teacher. Gus is in his fourth decade as a monger of out of print (and occasionally rare) books. We live in Fitzwilliam, NH, and have a spare room should anyone care to visit.

Angela Mercer: On July 4th we welcomed our 3rd grandchild into the world. It was a girl and her name is Leela Ruth Corinaldi. She and her parents (our son and his wife ) live in Brooklyn. Her older brother who will be 3 in October was not pleased at all and the parents find that they are often on refereeing duty.

Secondly, I am finding that retirement can be quite busy. I find myself having various projects that can be time consuming. One of those projects is a yearlong educational program for patients to inform them of healthy lifestyles. The grant was through one of our healthcare systems here in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. We ( a local medical society ) decided to focus on a rural community area where disparities in health are huge. The curriculum is one that I had developed many years ago when I was in private practice. The emphasis is more on attaining and maintaining a healthy state rather than focusing on the diseased state.

Regi (Corinaldi Class of 75) and I are also having major construction on our residence of 33 years in Virginia Beach. Although it is taking much longer than we anticipated it is rewarding to see much of what needed to be done finally being accomplished.

And lastly, I am very active being on various boards of directors that include Unity Church of Tidewater, United Way of South Hampton Roads and Women United (another board within United Way).

Bill Yarrow: I'm retiring from Joliet Junior College on December 31, 2022, after 29 and 1/2 years teaching in the English/Philosophy/World Languages Department. I'm looking forward to spending more time with my five grandkids.

Steve Lang: Taking a deep breath in preparation for the long-awaited December premier of James Cameron’s, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. The film has been years in the making and we are excited to share it with the world. The film is wondrously enthralling, both spectacularly epic as well as an intimate story of family. I count my being part of it as one of the true blessings in my life. Hope you dig it.

Ginny Mussari Bates: David and I have weathered the pandemic with no COVID at all. We have been extremely fortunate to have had access to a lonely beach in the warm months to keep us from feeling isolated and cabin-bound.. Since vaxxing, we have resumed a very close to normal social and activity life. Luckily we could stay close to our daughter '08 and our son-in-law and welcomed James Alexander on Independence Day in 2020 who joined his brother Henry who knows (actually KNOWS) every single animal, no matter how rare, you can show him. I am still working with insurance organizations and am back to a reasonable amount of business travel we have planned wonderful trips to Clearwater (fortunately before Ian blew it away) and Southampton, NY and to visit Chrissie Cooke Forward and her husband David who both treated us with their seriously gourmet talents. We postponed a vacation in LA to next winter to visit the several really wonderful museums there - and most probably work in some beach walks there, too.

Dane Panetta: Haha, it's Spring down here [Australia]. Surprisingly cool as we enter our third La Nina in a row. Yet more flooding in store...

July 2022 News from Classmates

Swarthmore Class of 1973 Updates, Published July 2022

Will Carr and his wife, Stephanie Middleton, packed up 37 years of life in Rose Valley, near Swarthmore, to move to The Tamalpais, a retirement community in Greenbrae, Marin County, California in June. The lure: three daughters and six grandchildren in California. Will retired twice: from vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission in 2013 and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia in 2005. Stephanie, also a lawyer, just retired as deputy director of the American Law Institute in Philadelphia. He’s looking forward to spending time with kids and grandkids and playing lots of golf.

Ed Frost left his job last spring after 27 years as a corporate private investigator and went back to school to earn a certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. “It’s a good match with my first career as a journalist and my second as a professional snoop,” he wrote. “My PI license and business are still active, so I’m aiming to find work as a freelance forensic genealogist.” Ed promises that The Narwhals, Swarthmore’s Swats longtime “house band,” which made its debut in Clothier Hall in 1972, will play at our 50^th reunion.

Steven Rood-Ojalvo has retired “after nine years as a professional student, 20 or so years in IT and 20 years teaching STEM in high school. Teaching was by far the most rewarding career, worth getting up before 6 a.m. every working day. But I am physically no longer up to the rigors of teaching high school full time. My greatest academic accomplishment was the development and delivery of a computer science curriculum, intro and AP. My greatest accomplishment, though, is our six children. All are out of the house, living productive lives of their own. Jan and I adore our two granddaughters and hope to live long enough to see more grandchildren.”

Sad news: John Graney died of COVID-19 in June in New York City, after a distinguished 34-year career as a doctor at Beth Israel Hospital in NYC. You may remember him as a 6’ 8” server in the snack bar in Clothier and in theatrical productions. You’ll find his at bit.ly/3RbH5kw.

Belated condolences to Edward Chew and Rosalind M. Plummer on losing their spouses. Edward wrote: “Almost three years ago, my wife passed away from lung cancer, and needless to say, it’s been difficult adjusting to the next part of my life. About a year ago the dogs and I decided to buy a travel trailer, and now we live on the road most of the time. It’s a beautiful country and we’ve seen a lot of it, but there’s a lot more we hope to see. I spend most of my time on hiking and other outdoor activities. On Saturdays I sometimes find my way to a local microbrewery looking for the perfect IPA, and on Sundays I usually find a Meeting to attend.”

Rosalind wrote: “The death [in 2016] of my husband, Raymond Wood, and extended Covid-19 social distancing created added family responsibilities, leading to my retirement as the professor and director/manager of the Business Law Clinic at Temple University’s Small Business Development Center since 2006. The Business Law Clinic, which operates under Temple Beasley School of Law, just received The Student Program of the Year Award for 2021 from the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center. I have also cut back on my private legal practice as well to enjoy time working on my home and with my special needs daughter, Felicia. I hope to finally carve out time to finish a book project I have been working on for several years.”

In other news: Betsy Krogh reports the birth of a granddaughter, Moira, on October 16, 2020 to her son Alex Ellis and his wife, Molly, who live in Providence, two hours away from Betsy and husband Nick Grabbe in Amherst. And I’ve got a new grandchild, my fourth: Cameron Grace Woo, born in March eight weeks early, but doing fine.

Ken Klothen invites classmates to join him and other art lovers an annual art trip to Costa Rica he run under the auspices of the Brattleboro (VT) Museum and Art Center. Ken, who has a second home in Costa Rica, says the tour visits contemporary artists in their studios, several museums and fine crafts workshops, while also engaging in the beach and nature activities for which Costa Rica is rightly famous. “We believe this is the only Costa Rica tour that focuses on the vibrant and sophisticated art scene there,” he wrote. The next trip is January 12-22, 2023. More info on the Museum’s web site: www.brattleboromuseum.org.

After sending out a second plea for news for the July 2022 Class Notes in the Swarthmore Bulletin, I received an explosion of responses – too many to accommodate in the 800 words I’m allowed. Below you’ll the ones I couldn’t accommodate in the magazine.

Dane Panetta: “In April I visited Christmas Island, engaged by Parks Australia to develop a weed management strategy for Christmas Island National Park. This small (52 square mile) island is an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, 960 miles northwest of the closest point on the Australian mainland. Its predominant vegetation type is rainforest, home to an estimated 40 - 50 million red land crabs, which migrate to the sea annually during the wet season. The island's ecology is truly fascinating. This was my second visit, and I hope to return yet again!”

Sally Vogel: “I have lived in New Zealand since 1976. I finished my MD from Case Western Reserve as an exchange student in NZ, then after two years as house office (intern in American terms!), I specialised in Radiology and then Paediatric Radiology. I am still working over 40 hours per week at Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland as a paediatric radiologist and the Clinical Director for our unit. My husband and I now live outside of Auckland in the Whangaripo Valley on 10 acres with a totara woods, camping area, huge veggie (NZ for vegetable) garden and alpacas keeping the grass down. Between us we have three sons, one daughter and three grandchildren.”

Ann Anderson: “Dave, our daughter Kate, and I have managed to avoid COVID so far. I'm sculling with a rowing club on the Merrimack River in Lowell. I still take our throwaways to the town transfer station in my bicycle trailer although I can't seem to build up endurance for bicycle touring. Still volunteering with a local household goods donation organization and coordinating our Quaker Meeting's children's program, which we have managed to keep going via Zoom and outdoor activities. Starting to think about where we will live once we can no longer drive, since our town has very limited public transportation. Looking forward to seeing
everyone at the 50th Reunion!”

Ann Benjamin: “I am still working, happy to be a staff director at WNET the PBS station in New York. Working in public television is a dream job. I have recently directed dance concerts, theater productions and jazz concerts as well as FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER and AMANPOUR AND CO. Retirement will have to wait a bit longer!”

Betsy Krogh: “My news from Amherst MA: I have a delightful granddaughter, Moira, born 10/16/20 to our son Alex Ellis and his wife Molly. Since they're two hours away in Providence RI, we don't get to see them as often as we'd like, but weekly Skype calls help a lot. In an echo of my days in the Swarthmore folk dancing club, I am joining the young family at Pinewoods dancing and music camp to help care for their active toddler.

“During the pandemic I've continued studying Spanish via a Zoom class from a local Senior Center. This has built on an introduction to Spanish in a class co-taught by an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. He lived in Sanctuary for a few years in my Congregational Church and taught Spanish classes as a way to help support his family. One of my bucket list goals - learning to speak Spanish - in progress. Another highlight of recent months is my return to playing the autoharp - taking lessons, and playing/singing with a small ‘autoharp band.’

“Beyond these exciting new developments, life goes on with my husband Nick Grabbe and I living "the good life" on our little in-town homestead where we have lived for 38 years. We grow a big vegetable garden plus our "edible forest garden," preserve a lot of produce, contribute to our community, and hang out with friends and family. We are looking forward to our almost yearly get together with S'more classmate Polly Spiegel and her husband Peter Grossman when they come east in August.”

Angelica LaMorto-Corse: “After two years of being ultra careful about COVID, we decided to try to catch up on traveling again. We are currently in Positano on the Amalfi coast of Italy. We traveled on an OAT-led trip to Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Serbia. It was enlightening to learn about these countries which have been through so much. We have another trip planned in October to Kenya and Tanzania to go on safari to see the grand migration. Hopefully things stay stable so that we can realize our dreams of traveling.”

Shellie Grant: “The past two years on lockdown have stymied many people's life plans. For me, having moved to New Mexico 10 years ago, my goal is to simplify, simplify. The pandemic was not as much of a problem for me because it did not impinge on any of my activities. Actually, it was quite pleasant having little to no traffic, shopping when no one else was in the stores and generally having no contact with pesky people. Hahaha!

“I retired from the U.S. Public Health Service 20 years ago, having spent 30 years working in various public psychiatry locations around the country with chronically mentally ill persons. Wrangling so much severe mental illness for such a long time gave me a great desire for solitude. I escaped the big city concrete and incivility to the boonies of New Mexico. I am quite content here to do what people back East would call nothing -- tend my xeric garden, take care of a few rescued animals, enjoy great music and occasionally talk to neighbors. Oh, I also do some FB posts about current events absurdities.

“I did spend a couple of years teaching music/vocal lessons at the local college. Pandemic squashed all that. The live music is finally making a comeback here. Life in a small town finally resurrects itself. It is so wonderful to miss the unpleasantries of big city life.

“I'm hoping every day that the exceptional drought that NW NM has been in for so many months will be broken by this year's monsoon season. It is just getting started, and I'm still waiting for some significant rain. NW NM is high plains desert, and reliant on winter snow pack in SE CO mountains and the summer monsoons for water. We shall see what comes our way and roll with it.”

Visit our class website: http://www.swarthmorecollege73.com or our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/SwarthmoreClassOf1973.