1970

Don MacMannis has been I doing some extremely interesting things in his spare time: "Although earning my living as a clinical psychologist for these many years, I've been dabbling part-time at music all the while. Six years ago under the pseudonym of 'Dr. Mac,' I produced a popular kid's tape with the help of multiple- Grammy-winner Christopher Cross and have since written over 60 children's songs for a variety of projects.

"But I finally got my big 'Hollywood break' by becoming a songwriter and musical director of a new hi-tech cartoon show called Jay Jay the JetPlane. Airing on the Learning Channel every weekday at 7:30 and 10:30 EST, the show has already catapulted itself by word of mouth to the number one rated show on TLC and has been nominated for an Emmy.

"The aim of JayJay is to provide highly entertaining stories about the lessons of life and is geared toward kids in the two- to seven-year age range. Using the age-old tradition of story-telling and narration the kid/planes set off on a variety of adventures that lead to important lessons. As for the music, our team is trying to offer a new sound to kid's TV that's not the typical sing-songy thing. We're trying to appeal to kids, but more importantly, prevent what might be called the 'Barney effect' of alienating older siblings and parents.

"The technology has been called a 'breakthrough in cartoon production' (TheNew York Times, 11/30/98). It was in development for 12 years, and was unveiled just this past summer. A live actor animates the face of each character by wearing a mask with infrared motion detectors that relay his or her facial expressions onto the animated airplane. This allows kids, for the first time through animation, to learn about universal non-verbal messages. Recent research on 'emotional intelligence' has emphasized this factor, particularly as it relates to kids who have poor social skills. Anyway, all is well. Dreams do come true. Now looking around for the next project!"

Great stuff, Don. You should hook up with Stu Zuckerman and do a PBS series that he can find a sponsor for.

David Noyes reports on a star-studded (at least in class of '7O terms) meeting in Manhattan: "A few days ago, several fellow class members of 1970 met in TripDorkey's office to begin planning for our 30th Reunion in 2000. In addition to Trip and I, Jeff Dahlman, Tim Welch, DemiDuckworth, and Stewart Rosenblum also assembled for sandwiches and cookies at lunchtime in midtown Manhattan. Jeff Sassorossi '75 from the College was there and gave suggestions on how we can attain our $1 million alumni giving target for the 30th Reunion.

"We all look a little older and perhaps more prosperous, with thinning or graying hair. Perhaps as a sign of the times, four of those present are lawyers (Trip, Jeff, Demi, and Stewart), with me in the insurance business with Reliance Group Holdings, and Tim still specializing in real estate, with his new job at Cushman & Wakefield as head of institutional sales. Tim had previously been an executive with Equitable Life until a year ago, and then tried his hand trying to establish a REIT with a venture capital firm. We are trying to diversify our mini-reunions and we will try to have a N.Y.C. mini-reunion dinner party early in the week in late April. N.Y.C.-area classmates are asked to stay tuned. If other areas in the country want to have an area mini-reunion for the class, contact me for the possibility of providing a small subsidy."

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