These pages contain all class notes from the Yale Alumni Magazine from 1957 on. The notes appear unchanged from their original publication save for the correction of misspellings and other small errors. The few gaps in coverage that exist result from the absence of Class of 1957 notes in a few issues of the magazine over the years. Also, in keeping with changes in the magazine itself, the frequency of publication occasionally changes.

Return to Master Index of All Class Notes

Notes: January/February 2014

Notes: March/April 2014

Notes: May/June 2014

Notes: July/August 2014

Notes: September/October 2014

Notes: November/December 2014

Notes: November/December 2014

From New Haven comes word that '57 donated $357,402 to the alumni fund for the fiscal year ending June 30th, $29,345 more than last year. 383 classmates made gifts (a participation rate of 63%), 13 over our 370 goal and 6 over last year's 377.

Bruce Belason freshly confirms what we already know: At a summertime concert at Morse (formerly Sprague) Recital Hall, the hall's facility manager lit up on learning of Bruce's '57 affiliation, saying that our music project was "a very big deal to him and the school." Un-mediated accolades are always best.

This has been a summer of '57 gatherings. Days at Chautauqua were apparently highly pleasant for those who joined the class contingent there. I saw fellow historian Otis Graham in town in July. He's completing a book on presidents' initiatives and policies regarding the environment. Jeff Freeman, also in town, stopped by for a lively conversation. In Portland, Oregon, in August, Phyllis and I were hosted, guided, and befriended by Ron Ragen and wife Lee and Mort Zalutsky and wife Audrey. Ron continues a part-time law practice along with charitable work. Mort is fully retired. Neither, it should be noted, is retiring.

On the award front, we have not surprising news that "The Normal Heart," an adaptation of Larry Kramer's groundbreaking play, won an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie. Also, Frank Lin received the Tsunami Society International Award for Outstanding and Original Contributions to Tsunami Research.

From Bob Barton, collector of everything known about Yale's famous defeat of Army, comes word of Rich Marazzi's Yale Bowl centennial book, "A Bowl Full of Memories." "You'd instantly recognize the picture at the top left of the front cover," Bob writes: "Denny McGill running against Army." I've seen reviews of Jeffrey Sweet's "The O'Neill," a history of the Connecticut theater founded by George White. I also note the recent publication of Brian and Ingrid Kelly's "Best Little Stories from World War I," number 10 in their popular historical series.

In Memoriam: Donald F. Goodman died on July 21, 2014, at home in Saint James, New York, from pancreatic cancer, borne, writes Phil Levine, with "admirable stoicism." Don spent a year in Berlin as a Fulbright Scholar before returning to teach Russian Studies at Stony Brook University. He then spent most of his career as a sociologist and language instructor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Don was a founder of the Yale Russian Chorus, the first American cultural organization to travel to the Soviet Union on private initiative. It was, John Francis and Barry Rubin note, at the center of Don's life. He's survived by his wife Margo and children, John, Robert, Daphne Youree Djordjevic, and Luke Youree. Contributions in Don's memory may go to the Alternatives to Violence Project New York at http://avpny.org

In Memoriam: I must also report the death on August 12, 2014, of Dean A. Waters in Vonore, TN after a struggle with melanoma. After college, Dean found his life-long professional passion in gas centrifuge technology. In recognition of his work, particularly in the development of gas centrifuge systems, in 1977 he received the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award from President Jimmy Carter. Subsequently, Dean worked for the Department of Defense and at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory on technology transfer and licensing. A passionate sailor, Dean competed in regattas from southern Florida to Canada. He also took up long-distance running and completed several marathons until he was seriously injured by a drunk driver. Dean is survived by his wife Jacquelyn, their daughter Heather Waters Turner, son Geoffrey, and their families. Donations in his memory may be made to the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Foundation/ Fellowship Center Fund: http://www.covenanthealth.com/fellowshipcenter.

In Memoriam: We also lost H. Scott Cannell on August 21, 2014 after a short illness. Scotty was a singer and actor at Yale. He "became famous on campus," roommate Bob Clark recalls, for acting opposite Jane Fonda in a Dramat production of "The Great Gatsby." Not surprisingly, as another roommate, Court Haight, writes, "He had no shortage of dates on the weekends." After naval service and European wanderings, Scott started his career in marketing and merchandising, then created his own film and television production company. Subsequently, he co-founded in New York the Center for the Media Arts, a professional school for young people in those fields. Anyone who knew Scott knew him as a warm, serious man of mischievous, sardonic humor, his disenthralled take on the world evidenced by a characteristic wry smile. Scott is survived by his wife Julie, his sons Ian and Nicholas, and their son Patrick, as well as a sister. He was pre-deceased by his first wife Marcia. Contributions in Scott's memory may be sent to the Rye Presbyterian Church, 882 Boston Post Road, Rye, NY 10580.

—JMB

Notes: September/October 2014

Among recent developments in our Music in Schools project is the establishment of the annual "Malcolm L. Mitchell and Donald M. Roberts Class of 1957 Prize for a graduate teaching artist in the Music in Schools Program." The prize honors Malcolm's and Don's critical roles in creating the program. Concurrently comes news of the creation, by many family members who've attended Yale, of the "Mininberg Family Art Gallery Fund, in Memory of David T. Mininberg '57." This endowment supports the university's museum with student internships in ancient art, prints and drawings, and American decorative arts. All hail our honored living and deceased classmates and their beneficent families!

Many will no doubt have seen HBO's widely praised filmed version of Larry Kramer's "Normal Heart." As Larry wrote me in May, "So far, it's had some 6 million viewers! No book or play ever reaches numbers like that." Alas, says this writer. Larry also appears in a not surprisingly central role in the documentary "How to Survive a Plague," a film about the creation and travails of ACT UP, which Larry helped found in 1987. As the film makes clear, no one wants to fall into the gunsights of this classmate when he's on a tear.

I've heard from Fritz Hagios, who turned up some months ago after having been "lost" to class records. You may have read about one Kwasi Enin, who chose admission to Yale while turning down offers from seven other Ivy League institutions, including one on the Charles. Fritz claims one percent of the credit for Enin's choice. How's that? He wrote a letter to the admissions office on the applicant's behalf. Proof? I've the copy of a letter to Fritz from that office thanking him for his input.

As you know, I try to limit my writing about '57ers who live in and around Washington, for I see many of them frequently and could write of them ad nauseum. But I feel no reserve in reporting on classmates who happen to pass through town. In that spirit, I report on Jeff Freeman, whose June visit gave me a lift. Jeff was here singing two concerts with the Yale Alumni Chorus, with which he's sung worldwide. His voice retains a youthful clarity, as does his mind.

In Memoriam: We lost John J. Pendergast III on June 12, 2014. Jack died at home surrounded by his family after a long battle with cancer. He was an NCAA All American lacrosse player and the varsity team's captain senior year. After gaining his LL.B. from Yale in 1960, he joined the Providence firm of Hinkley, Allen & Snyder, of which he became partner in 1967. Later in life, he taught at the Roger Williams Law School and arbitrated labor-management disputes throughout the state. He was also deeply involved in his church and diocese, Exeter alumni activities, and the city's Boys and Girls Club and Rhode Island Legal Services. All who knew Jack recall him for his warmth and friendship. John Poinier reports about his indomitable spirit to the end. Jack's roommate, Lou Deluca, characterizes him as "a man of strong faith, dedicated to family and friends, the law, scholarship, and athletics. He was especially proud of the record posted by him and his teammates on the Yale lacrosse team." Maury Ryan writes that Jack "was a great leader in the Rhode Island legal community and to his church and our Rotary Club." Jack is survived by Pixie, his wife of 56 years, their six children, and 18 grandchildren. Contributions in Jack's memory may be sent to the Woodlawn Foundation, 56 Harrison Street (Suite 401), New Rochelle, NY 10801, or the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, St. Cecilia Congregation, Advancement Office, 801 Dominican Drive, Nashville, TN 37228-1909.

In Memoriam: We also lost Walter Alexander to unexplained causes on June 20, 2014. Walt died at home in Geneva, Illinois in his family's presence. An Andover graduate and member, with Jack Pendergast, of the varsity lacrosse team, Walt took over his family's lumber business and ran it for 45 years. He worked there from the ground up during college summers and returned after military service to manage several district lumber yards and prove himself as general manager before taking over in 1966. At the firm, he was known for his work ethic and attentiveness to his workers' welfare. During his life, he served on the boards of Wausau Paper Corporation, the Masonite Corporation, and Aurora University. Those who knew him in college, as I did as a fellow member of Branford, recall him as warm, mischievous, witty, and companionable. Walt is survived by Karin, his wife of 55 years, four children, three brothers, and eleven grandchildren. Gifts in Walt's memory may go to Delnor Hospital of Geneva, on whose board he also served.

—JMB

Notes: July/August 2014

I've added to the class website the latest report—for 2013-2014—of the Donald K. Walker Scholarship Fund. The fund, a permanent endowment created at our 25th reunion, supports scholarships to four undergraduates. Their names and achievements are described in the website report. As is customary, Don Roberts, this time accompanied by Rob Walker, dined the current four Walker Scholars at Mory's in late February.

By the time you read this, the spring class council meeting and the annual New York dinner will have occurred. At the former, I plan to ask for recorded votes so that the positions of classmates on the day's critical issues—such as how we're spending your class dues, what junkets the class secretary has taken, and the like—can be known and assessed and so that council members can be held accountable as they have never been held accountable before.

You can see that I'm stretching for matters to write about. The result? The shortest column in my tenure. Why's that? Because so few of you have written me with news. May I ask for corrective behavior, a mending of your ways, especially from those whose names haven't graced these pages in recent years? These notes can be only as full and interesting as you help make them be. And this hint: instead of writing notes on the forms included with alumni fund appeals, just email me your news. Otherwise, you post it to Yale, Yale posts it to me—which is not a model of efficiency in this era.

But I do have these tidbits to report: Bill Farley writes from Utah that, though he's retired, his textbooks (subject not noted) are being used "across the world," one recently adopted in China. And he has 14 great grandchildren! Ed Meyer is retiring from the Connecticut legislature after many years of service. One of those wishing to replace him is a Kennedy. We're becoming a nation of political dynasts. I know, I know, it started no later than John Adams and his son and earlier if you count colonial America. But it's not a good thing.

George White, a leading figure in the theater, was honored earlier in the year by the Coast Guard for "exceptional public service contributions" as an auxiliary officer, including service as flotilla commander. True to his professional commitments, he also helped establish a drawing course for Coast Guard officers and an art scholarship program in Italy for cadets. Neal Blue, chairman and CEO of General Atomics, has funded the creation of a director's fund at Yale's Jackson Institute, which oversees the university's BA and MA programs in global affairs. Neal's support will provide fellowships for MA students and help recruit senior fellows as institute faculty members. John Ryan is "only," he writes, on three company boards, traveling 100 days per year (including 40 in Florida, if that's traveling), and focusing his spare time on inner-city education.

—JMB

Notes: May/June 2014

From all reports, the class's annual winter weekend went off swimmingly, if snowily. 20 classmates, accompanied by 15 companions, attended. After a tour of the new School of Management, Maximo Lider Gus Kellogg squired participants through the rest of the weekend, including dinner at Mory's, a hockey game, another superb tour of the Gallery of Art led by director Jock Reynolds, and dinner at the Union League Club.

Lacking other news--and here I'm shamelessly self-reporting--some classmates turned up at another February event, a Manhattan stage reading of a play I'm trying to get up on the proscenium. I was graced by the presence in my claque of the following stalwart men and true: Larry Bodkin, Alan Hockstader, Phil Levine, Roland Machold, Don Roberts, Reed Rubin, and Rob Walker, as well as some spouses.

In Memoriam: Clarence A. Miles died in Baltimore on November 14, 2013, of an undisclosed cause. After Yale, Allen served as a Marines officer, then, distinctively for one of us, a harness horse trainer and driver. Later in his career, he was an administrator in the Department of State Planning for Maryland. Allen was an avid sportsman who loved golf and basketball. He is survived by his wife Nancy Davies, son C. Allen Miles, daughters Deborah Finkbeiner and Andrea Garrett, grandsons, and a great granddaughter.

In Memoriam: Andre Schriffrin died in Paris, the city of his birth, on December 1, 2013 of pancreatic cancer. Andre's family arrived in the US in 1941 in flight from the Nazis with the help of Andre Gide and Varian Fry. At Yale, he was recognized immediately as an extraordinary student and engaged political thinker known for his outspokenness. His remarkable gifts were acknowledged by the White, Buck, and TenEyck prizes for oratory, the Lyman Prize, and a Clare Fellowship at Cambridge, where he became the first American editor of Granta, the literary magazine then published out of that university. He was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the Pundits, the Lizzie, and Aurelian, of which he was president, and he was Class Day Orator. As president of the John Dewey Society, he brought many luminaries (all family acquaintances)--Hannah Arendt, Norman Thomas, Hans Morgenthau, and Dwight MacDonald among them--to Yale. Andre is also given some credit for having been in on the founding of what became the SDS. He joined Pantheon Books in 1962, by 1963 was editor in chief, and in 1969 became managing director. The first book he edited was Gunther Grass's Tin Drum. To list the authors whom Pantheon published during Andre's tenure--Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Duras, Studs Terkel, Noam Chomsky, Gunnar Myrdal, George F. Kennan, and R.D. Laing being only a sample--is to place him in the company of other great American editors and publishers like Maxwell perkins and Alfred Knopf. His ouster from Pantheon at the hands of Random House led him to co-found The New Press, a non-profit house that remains a significant and lively presence in American publishing. He set down his views about publishing in his 2000 book The Business of Books: How International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read, to which in 2010 he added Words and Money. His wonderful 2007 memoir A Political Education: Growing Up in Paris and New York contains a chapter about Yale "with which," Andre wrote, "many may disagree." Toward the end of his life, the land of his birth awarded him the Légion d'honneur. In addition to his wife, Maria Elena, Andre is survived by their two daughters, Anya and Natalia, and three grandchildren.

In Memoriam: Louis S. Pryor died in Norwalk, CT, on January 10, 2014. Lou joined '57 after having spent two years at the U.S Naval Academy. He graduated from Yale magna cum laude and with a commission in the Air Force, then received his Yale LLB in 1960. After serving as legislative assistant to Senator John Sherman Cooper, Lou was general counsel and director of corporate planning for Allied Control Corporation, then an estate lawyer in New Canaan, CT, before in 1989 co-establishing the firm of Lane & Pryor, where he specialized in corporate counseling and tax planning. He was a member of New Canaan's planning and zoning commission, co-founder and director of Classical Radio of Connecticut, and eastern regional counsel of the Sierra Club. He also acted with the Connecticut Players, the Sterling Barn Theater of Stamford, and the New Canaan Town Players. But what really set Lou apart was his being a standout at various levels of the quiz show Jeopardy, being invited shortly before his death to be a contestant in the show's Battle of the Decades Tournament. Lou is survived by his wife of 57 years, June, their son John, their daughter Ann Pryor-Miller, and a grandson.

—JMB

Notes: March/April 2014

Sam Chauncey has been honored by the creation of an undergraduate scholarship in his name by Andy ('81) and Ann Mathieson. Created "as a tribute to Sam's impact on our lives and the university," the scholarship recognizes the contribution of a classmate who was dean of students, assistant to Kingman Brewster, director of admissions and financial aid policy, then university secretary. Hats off to Sam!

I gather that the class's fall New Orleans minireunion and its members' gathering in New Haven for The Game both went off swimmingly, save for The Game's results. Keep in mind the date of the annual class dinner in New York--May 8th.

Ray Sipherd, an original writer of "Sesame Street", has since been writing plays. His most recent script, "Mathew Brady Presents!" had a reading at the Irish Repertory Theatre in Manhattan in the fall.

Retired doctor Carl Becker "has been busy interviewing undergraduate applicants to Yale around Milwaukee and in northeastern Wisconsin. We've seen more applicants than any year previously, they're interesting young people, and they restore one's optimism." Ara Bagdasarian, soon to join Carl in retirement after 41 years in surgical practice, seems to have prepared well for this climacteric: his two sons are carrying on as surgeons themselves. Another retired surgeon, Hugh Thompson, served in the fall as "guardian" of a 93-year-old blind veteran on an emotional "Honor Flight" to visit the WWII Memorial in Washington.

Dave Johnson, though retired in Ashville, keeps his hand involved in urban planning and international affairs as I learned when we were together in early winter in Washington. Our well-traveled Frank Lin writes that he's been appointed visiting professor by Bangkok University in affiliation with its multimedia technology and artificial intelligence lab. Sandy Clark beckons classmates south to his new residence in Bradenton, FL. That's a highly inviting invitation: I write these notes looking up the frigid ice-packed Potomac on a day with a wind-chill factor of minus ten degrees F.

In Memoriam: Thomas E. Robinson died in Easton, MD, on October 12, 2013. Tom entered Yale with '56, then finished up with '57. A member of the varsity golf team and its manager, he graduated as a ranking scholar and then received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School. Tom practiced law for his entire career, first with Covington and Burling in Washington, next as assistant dean of Stanford Law School, then with ETS in Princeton, and finally with the U.S. Departments of Energy and Interior, from the last of which he retired as associate solicitor. He was predeceased in 2011 by his wife Alice and is survived by a brother and other family members who ask that contributions in Tom's memory be made to a charity of the donor's choice.

In Memoriam: William H. Ryland died at home in Cooperstown NY on November 9, 2013. A varsity football player at Yale, Bill spent his career in banking, first in his hometown of Baltimore, then in Washington, before opening the London office of Riggs Bank. After his retirement, he moved to Cooperstown, where, consistent with his love of sports, he served as a regular volunteer at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In addition to his wife of 53 years, George-Ann, sister of George Doty, Bill is survived by their daughter Ann Beighton, sons John and David, eight grandchildren, and a sister. Contributions in his memory may go to the Susquehanna Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 4841 State Route 28, Cooperstown NY 13326.

In Memoriam: Thomas J. Rohner, Jr., died from complications of an inoperable brain tumor on November 23, 2013 surrounded by family and friends. After Yale, Tom took his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania, then served in the Army Medical Corps in Germany and Vietnam. After military service, he helped found the department of surgery at the new Milton S. Hershey Medical Center of Penn State from which he eventually retired as emeritus professor of surgery. There, Tom served as chief of the division of urology, associate dean for clinical affairs, chief of the medical staff, and interim chairman of the department of surgery. In 2012, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Urological Association. With his wife Jessie, Tom maintained a farm of llamas, alpacas, sheep, cats, dogs, and ducks. Gil Merritt writes that Tom "was a wonderful doctor and friend. He contributed greatly to his profession and community but was unassuming and humble with a quick sense of humor and a curiosity about all things scientific and historical." In addition to Jessie, Tom is survived by Christopher and James, his sons from a first marriage, three granddaughters, a sister, and a nephew. Tom's family asks that memorial contributions go to Guiding Eyes for the Blind and the Wounded Warrior Project.

—JMB

Notes: January/February 2014

Roaming about Long Island this past fall, Phyllis and I toured the Pollack-Krasner Studio in The Springs. Enjoined to visit the painters' gravesite afterwards, we did so. And there, a bare few feet from the artists' graves was the headstone of none other than Henry Geldzahler, also in the vicinity of the resting places of Stuart Davis, Harold Rosenberg, Frank O'Hara, Ad Reinhardt, A.J. Liebling, and Stefan Wolpe. High company! Not long afterward, there arrived in my email in-box two photos taken by Bern Kosto in Little Rock, one of Bern standing before the Richard Sheppard Arnold United States Courthouse, the other beneath a portrait there of our noted classmate.

A related matter: Though Mr. Geldzahler studied art, some of us produce it. While visiting the Stony Brook home of Phil Levine and Louisa Lawrence on the same trip, I spotted a splendid watercolor by John Copelin. And I'd long thought that John was an architect only.

From Ted Notz comes word that he and Sandra have put their Tucson-area ranch on the market after more than 25 years there in contemplation of moving back to Illinois near their families. It must be my limitation that I have trouble envisioning this man of the law atop a mount (or tractor). But I'm sure that he sits a horse with the style that's always been his. Roger Gambatese chides me, unjustly I think, for having jestingly compared bocce to tiddlywinks in an earlier column. But I will now forbear, especially since Roger sends me evidence that he's known formally as an "athlete" by the National Senior Games in which he participates and that he's secured a fourth-place ribbon in bocce competitions. Bravo, athlete!

Somehow, Alan Hockstader has found out Fritz Hagios, who's back on our rolls after being "lost." While I could not fully understand Fritz's written report, I can state that he lives in Winooski, VT. I hope that he'll send me a fuller, readable story of his life and an email address.

In Memoriam: Stanislav V. Kasl died from the complications of cancer at home in Woodbridge, CT, on June 9, 2013. Stan came to Yale, where he was a professor in the School of Public Health for 42 years, in a way different from most of us. Born in Prague, he and his family were post-war refugees in Europe who made their way to the US in 1950. After graduating from Yale summa cum laude and as a ranking scholar, Stan secured his PhD in social psychology from the University of Michigan. Joining the Yale faculty in 1969, he directed the Social and Behavioral Science Program and the Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology. Stan was a specialist in psychosocial epidemiology, the study of the social and psychological risk factors in physical illness, his most important research concerning the consequences of job loss and stress. He was known in the School of Public health for his mentorship of students, for which he received national professional recognition. Stan is survived by his wife Elizabeth, their daughter Julia Kasl-Godley, and their son Jan, as well as grandchildren.

In Memoriam: Peter J. Haerle died on August 24, 2013, after a long battle with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Pete was one of the few '57ers who spent their careers as military officers, in his case in the Air Force, from which he retired at the rank of colonel. Experienced with many aircraft, he was a jet pilot in Southeast Asia and then commanding officer of Duke's ROTC unit, in both of which positions he led, taught, and guided a generation of pilots and students. As Shaun Cunningham relates, in 1967 Pete was formally recognized for his airmanship and courage in piloting a crippled fighter to safe landing without loss of life or equipment after it developed engine trouble. He is survived by his wife Leta, their daughter Lynda, their sons Geoff, Brad, and Wade, and their children's families. Contributions in Pete's memory may be made to the Alzheimer's Association or Parkinson Foundation.

In Memoriam: Stewart F. Miller died in Charleston, SC, on September 29, 2013 after a brief illness. A member of 1957's large Cleveland contingent, Stu was a varsity pitcher for two years and after graduation, as his roommate Al Urich notes, a Marine officer. Kurt Bloch reports Stu's having held executive positions with Cleveland Graphite Bronze and Mohasco Industries before moving to Pittsburgh to own a home-care nursing service. As his life moved along, he became an avid tennis player who competed on the senior circuit. To Kurt, he was "a good friend to all and a fine example of a Yale student-athlete." Stu is survived by his wife Patricia, sons Kirk and Greg, daughter Melissa Brown, and others.

—JMB