1983
I know, I know—where was the '83 column last month? A howl of protest has left me chastened and monosyllabic. "Now everybody's going to forget about the reunion June 18-20," sputtered Chairman FrankDavis. "Our fundraising is ruined," scolded Kathy Coster. "Actually, I didn't notice it was missing," mused Walter Foster. So be it. Like the Terminator, I am back.
And what better way to start off than with a great note from Kerry Sullivan? Kerry's moved back to "totally tubular" San Francisco for a two-year fellowship in fetal surgery after (get ready, the mathematics are complicated) three years of a five-year residency in General Surgery at Brigham & Woman's Hospital in Boston. She's engaged to Alexander Mackerell, who's a professor of biochemistry at the University of Maryland. Wait a sec—that's 3,000 miles from San Francisco; I don't get it. Never mind. Kerry also reports that Caryn Ginsberg and husband Mike Levitin are "doing well in D.C."
Gerard Kelly is this month's Family Values Sweepstakes winner. He wrote "belatedly" to report the birth of his son Nicholas McChesney last February. (I, even more belatedly, am just reporting this now.) Here are Gerard's comments as a fledgling father: "Nicky spends all his waking hours eating, spitting up, or yelling DAH BEARS." Gerard practices the oxymoronic art of civil litigation law with Sidley & Austin in Chicago and rakes leaves in his suburban home north of the Windy City.
Hey! Alex Stein lives! He wrote us from his secret hideout in Boxborough, Mass. With eerie predictability (people who haven't ever written always start by putting me immediately on the defensive) Alex demanded, "Why don't you ever write about Geoff Durno or AndyEvans?" That's easy, Alex they took lessons in being completely uncommunicative from YOU. Take that, sucker! Oh. Sorry, Alex. Must be time for my blood pressure check-up. Well, Alex has intense news: He (1) received his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon; (2) started a new job with Digital Equipment; (3) has a baby named Nina Katherine; (4) bought a house; (5) fixed the house; and (6) is about to celebrate wife Liz's completion of her Ph.D. dissertation. Wow! Alex invites all Boston alums to stop by. Do it—the man's in a great-sounding mood.
From the hallowed halls of Tufts University, we received word that Kris Anderson secured a doctor of veterinary medicine degree in May. Kris was also the recipient of the Amelia Peabody Livestock Proficiency Award. I was a tad suspicious of this "award" (let's face it: the semantics are amusing) and telephoned Tufts to learn more. I learned a lot more. This is a very prestigious honor. Congrats, Kris!
In August I traveled to Friday Harbor, Wash. (San Juan Islands), for the wedding of a dear friend named Lisa Ragen '84. Lisa married a great guy named Buddy Ide '80. The entire weekend left me (literally) breathless. It was the first wedding I've been to where die entire wedding party actually went for a RUN at 7:30 a.m. I was surrounded by beautiful scenery, orca whales, salmon, dozens of ridiculously successful people, and Vivian, a loquacious four-month-old who roomed next door. Peter Flemings and Peter Forbes were there, too. The first Pete is doing something top-secret in geology at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. The second Pete (re-Pete?) was about to start a sabbatical from his position at the Trust for Public Lands to join wife Ann '84 in Nepal, where she's studying under a Fulbright Scholarship. Pete and Ann were planning on climbing in the Himalayas. I suddenly felt abysmally ordinary. Then I went on a highly ill-advised mountain-biking trip with Anna (pronounced "Onna," please) Sonnerup '84, who, as it happens, came within an eyelash of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team. Guess who needed medical attention? I just began walking normally again last week. (Note to Mara Rudman '84: How are you feeling, by the way?) At any rate, it was a really wonderful wedding. And I hope Brad Hutensky '84 appreciates the fact that I just wrote half of his column. Be good, all.
824 Judson Avenue, #1, Evanston, IL 60202-2461
