1981

1981

Greetings and best wishes for 2018! Lots of news this month—keep the updates coming!

Robert (Robin) Webb reports from Boulder, Colorado, that the highlight of his business travels as director of the physical science division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is the opportunity to connect with old classmates, including Brian Alpert, an attorney in Washington, D.C., and Pete Clinton, who works in the investment industry in San Francisco. Robin also recently enjoyed catching up with Thaxter Sharp, whose daughter attends the University of Colorado in Boulder. He travels east periodically to visit his daughter, who is an ’18, and his son, a sophomore at Colby.

Thaxter lives in Marin, California, and works in San Francisco. He started his own fund management business five years ago after stints in the private equity and hedge fund world. “It’s either making me old fast or keeping me young depending on the day, but I’m having fun and still learning. I’m also lucky to spend a remarkable amount of weekend and vacation time with Dartmouth friends, including Pete Clinton, Sue-Moon Paik, John Madden, Lee Carson, Searl Vetter, John Westerfield and Robin Webb. For me it’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

Marcia McCrea Braden (whose cousin is married to Thaxter!) has been living in Hawaii for the past 20 years, working as a middle school science teacher. She shares that she is adjusting to a new life phase after tragically losing her husband of 10 years, Wythe Braden ’77, last year to leukemia. Marcia writes that she is nevertheless grateful for the many good things in her life and would welcome contact with classmates who might find themselves in Hawaii. We are so very sorry for your loss, dear Marcia.

Linda Gundal has reduced her work hours as a software engineer in Braunfels, Germany, to dedicate more hours to her musical passions. She is a choir director for a small mixed-voice church choir and also sings in four other choirs, including a mixed chamber choir. “On November 25 the chamber choir performed the wonderful oratorio ‘Annelies’ by James Whitbourn. The oratorio takes short excerpts from the English edition of the diaries of Anne Frank to capture her fears, hopes and even whimsy in breathtaking music. Anne’s ability to be thankful in the worst of times is inspiring and heartbreaking.” Linda also p erforms o ccasionally as amezzo-soprano and has started playing the organ regularly in church services at three different small churches. Wow!

And finally, give a rouse for Michael Simon and Lydia (Herman) Lazar. Michael was appointed chief executive officer of Finally Light Bulb Co., a Boston-based technology startup, aftertwo decades in senior corporate positions. Lydia, an attorney, lecturer and global strategy consultant based in Chicago, recently published her first book, Dean Lazar’s Golden Guide: Pragmatic Advice for Smart Young People.

—Veronica Wessels, 224 Buena Vista Road, Rockcliffe, ONK1M0V7, Canada; (613) 864-4491; vcwessels@rogers.com; Emil Miskovsky, 77 Bates St., Suite 202, Lewiston, ME 04240; (802) 3459861; emilmiskovsky@gmail.com