Fall 2002

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Contents

Features

Observations

Letters

On campus

Faculty focus

Books

Sports

Arts on view

Alumni affairs
and development

Class notes

’60

Marcia Mattson Todd
Marciaatfoxhill@cs.com

Avis Pomeranz Kniffin and daughter Jennifer Kniffin Hirsch ’93 enjoyed Skidmore Volunteer Alumni and Parent Weekend last April. Jennifer teaches Latin in the Franklin Township High School in N.J.; Avis’s younger daughter edits science journals for Elsevier Publishing in Cambridge, MA. Avis plays viola in a local orchestra in Princeton, NJ. She and husband Bob are both retired and enjoy traveling and spending time at their summer home on Cape Cod.

Lee Ford Wilkinson has found her niche working in adult day care. Her co-workers rallied for her when she was operated on for colon cancer last December, coming over to cook and bringing her this and that. Lee’s chemotherapy ends in November; she says things are looking very good.

After many years as a residential real estate agent in Fort Worth, TX, Sue Shaffer McGown has happily moved on to grandchildren. Three grandsons in six months, including twins, live only ten minutes away and keep Sue busy. On the side, she takes groups of women on one-week trips to San Miguel, Mexico, a spot known for great shopping. She and her husband also take more adventurous trips to Mexico on their own.

Anya Hubbard Murray was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease last January and has been pursuing alternative healing therapy through the Parkinson’s Recovery Project in Santa Cruz, CA. The therapy is an ancient Mexican technique of very gentle massage. She is doing well and spent a week scuba diving in Cozumel, Mexico, last spring.

Linda Stevens Lucas is the grandmother of a little girl who was born in February and lives on the Isle of Wight, about an hour from London. By June, Linda and husband Ferd had made two trips to visit her. Linda has been taking computer courses in how to design a Web site.

Last year Florence Bishop Bogdan and husband Ed sold their home of 40 years near Albany, NY, and built a home in the Pelican Marsh area of Naples, FL, where they had wintered for many seasons. Summer months are spent in a townhouse on Saratoga Lake, five minutes from the track and the old campus. “It’s hard to get too far away from Saratoga,” Floss writes. Of their four children, one married son remains in the Albany area, a married daughter and second son live in Manhattan, and another married daughter lives in Cincinnati, OH. Floss and Ed have three grandchildren.

Bonnie Vare Smith is completing her term as chair of the board of Lemoyne-Owen College and looks forward to more golf and traveling. After acquiring four granddaughters, Bonnie and her husband welcomed their first grandson last spring.

Cindy Caffrey Villano has three granddaughters and does a lot of baby-sitting and dog-sitting. One daughter is a guidance counselor, another is a Ph.D. in psychology, and her son works for a brokerage firm.

Substitute teacher Joyce Jacobs Grand found that teaching ninth-grade English to English as a Second Language students was both challenging and frustrating. This year she is concentrating on house reconstruction and refurbishing, beginning with “pitching out.” In 2001 she and her husband spent two weeks touring Sicily. This year found them on Kiawah Island, SC, for two weeks of biking, kayaking, swimming, tennis, and touring Charleston. They enjoy the company of their three children and spouses, plus granddaughters ages 2 and 5 (the latter they took on a tour of NYC).

Beth Ryhr Wright is doing marketing for a group of brokers at Merrill Lynch.

In April Barbara O’Donovan Whitwell and husband Tony were the proud parents of the groom at a wedding in Wilmington, NC.

Sarah Couch McQuilkin retired (for the second time) from teaching at a local nursery school in order to give more attention to her old farmhouse. Sarah is still singing with the Sweet Adelines and plans to resume her painting.

Debby Davenport Brooks and husband David have been helping their two married daughters with building and reconstruction projects at their respective homes. Debby took a nasty fall backwards down a flight of stairs, but luckily had only a lot of soreness and bruises to show for it. Deb says, “a lot of soft tissue saved my bones!”

In August Sarah McQuilkin, Debby Brooks, and I, along with our husbands, had a grand old minireunion with lots of reminiscing in Friendship, ME, where Doug and I spend our summers. The Brookses were vacationing in the cove, and the McQuilkins were visiting us.

’61

Sandy Weisman Sheppard
cassie1@vermontel.net

Priscilla Richie Keene’s daughter, Julie, completed a D.V.M. and a Ph.D. in animal nutrition, both from Cornell.

’62

Emily Jansen Kane
captgfk@aol.com

Terry Tiffany Sullivan announces the June arrival of her first grandchild, Eliza Travelstead, born to son Jason and his wife, Jessica.

William and Judy Martin Clements visited the Greek Isles.

George and Emily Kane traveled to the Floriade in the Netherlands and the Chelsea Flower Show in London. Prior to Reunion, Connie Vallee Sullivan and I met in NYC for a two-day marathon: the NYC Ballet, a play at the Met, and Ground Zero. Afterward, Connie went to Cape Cod with Lynn Rand Smart, who summers in Chatham. Lynn Garrett Meyer was also on the road after Reunion and visited Joan Deely Henderson in Connecticut before heading back to Maizura, Japan.

Reunion was great! Arriving in Saratoga Springs Thursday afternoon, a group of us checked into our accommodations at Hammond House. After viewing the Spartan rooms and bath, we immediately headed for Target (didn’t we do similarly freshman year?) for a few amenities, followed by a trip to the liquor store for fortifications. Meanwhile, Mollie Klee Heron decorated the common room with one of her quilts and several Perrier bottles filled with lilacs. A group of nursing majors, led by Lollie Engel Triebold, and seemingly all of the freshman residents of Park View gathered for cocktail hour before dinner at Case Center. Friday’s activities included a minicollege class—“The Taming of the Shrew: Shakespeare’s Battle of the Sexes,” with English Prof. Victor Cahn presenting a very ribald view of the bard—as well as a guided bus tour of Saratoga and the old campus, courtesy of Prof. Emeritus James Kettlewell. The Reunion art show included the jewelry of Glenda Arentzen, an oil painting by Cynthia Brown (purchased by Frank and Sandy Cusato Lyman), and quilts by Mollie Klee Heron and Carolyn Anastos Pringle. The class cheered numerous times for Patricia Fox Sacks, recipient of the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award, Sue Corbet Thomas, winner of an Outstanding Service Award, and Sara Lee Lubin Schupf (who had received an honorary degree at graduation). Sunday brought a moving memorial service, and we bid each other farewell and promised to meet in five years—and surely in 2012 for our 50th.

We also had a changing of the guard. Judy Martin Clements, who has faithfully served as class president for the past five years, turned the reins over to Nancy Smith Bushnell. I also end my tenure as class secretary; Judy is still seeking a volunteer to take on this position. I encourage anyone who is interested to contact me for details.

Our new class secretary is Lynn Garrett Meyer. Please send your news to her at 9040 Windcove Court, Fair Oaks, CA 95628; 916-966-3479 or geowmeyer1@earthlink.net.

’63

Reunion ’03!

Jane Snowdon Jones
mejane63@hotmail.com

I hope you are all beginning to think about a trip to Saratoga for Reunion next spring. Committees are up and running, and it promises to be wonderful.

Class co-president Lynn Edwards Hendricks writes, “I’ve been having such a great time working with co-president Patty Foreman Balbirer and other classmates planning our fabulous 40th. We hope that every one of our classmates will attend. The dates are May 29–June 1, and we want to see you there!” Lynn and husband Peter now have six grandchildren—including twin girls—all under 5.

Ronnie Zolondek Bramesco heard from Terry Lang Philips, who’s moving to Sedona, AZ, to begin a new job.

Jane Finneman Hochman’s daughter Amy is completing her doctoral studies at Yale and has accepted a position as professor of Latin American history at Queens College. Youngest daughter Robin lives in Santa Monica, CA, where she is working in medical/pharmaceutical sales. Jane and husband Jack enjoy traveling. “We try to spend about two weeks every quarter of the year at our London, England, flat,” says Jane. “We often return to Southeast Asia where we lived for three years in the 1990s, and we particularly enjoyed a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, this past winter.” Jane, an independent consultant, is wrapping up two writing projects with colleagues.

Jennifer Podd Parsons continues to work for a NYS authority in construction management. She has three children: one married recently in Denver, one thinking of marriage in Columbus, OH, and one living the single life in East Aurora, NY.

Joan Layng Dayton had an eventful spring, with the arrival of fifth grandchild Theodore, son of Ann and Scott Dayton ’93. She also finished up her fourth term on Skidmore’s board of trustees in May. “I was well-feted and honored by my fellow trustees and the rest of the campus community,” she reports. “It was a wonderful experience, and I will miss working with such wonderful people. The board is in very good hands under the leadership of Sue Corbet Thomas ’62, and I will no doubt fill my free time in a hurry!” Joanie and Bob spent the summer between Maine and Minnesota. “Between golf and grandchildren, things are looking good.” Joan is looking forward to attending our 40th.

Ruth Livingston Gottlieb spent time in London with Lynda “Sabre” Sable Gilmartin. Debbie Frankel Reese and husband John saw Linda on their recent trip to Europe as well. “We spent a great day in Brighton, and Linda (an antiques expert) was the perfect guide,” reports Debbie.

After spending two weeks in Los Angeles with daughter Sarah, who may buy a home there, Shirley Fleming Woodward and Jack returned to Gilford, NH, where both are enjoying retirement. Daughter Julie has been teaching fourth grade in York, ME. In March the Woodwards had a nice visit with Betsy Devine Ousey and family in Valhalla, NY, on the way home from Florida.

’64

Bonnie Allen Shertenlieb
bonnieshert@dmv.com

Deborah Leedom McGeorge retired two years ago and lives in a resort community 25 miles north of Tucson. When not visiting grandchildren in Idaho or Pennsylvania, or golfing, swimming, or playing tennis at home, she and her husband travel, most recently to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. There was also a cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

Valerie Burkhardt Marier and husband Bob are enjoying a summer of golf and beach outings at their home in Kennebunk Beach, ME. Visiting family satisfies the requirements of her newfound “grandmother gene,” which kicked in with the birth of grandchild Max, son of daughter Alexandra Tamis MacCannell ’92. Val attended a 60th birthday party for Carol Little Weg in Princeton where she also caught up with Ellen Pomeranz Sax Aronson and Carol Rice Lindsay.

Janet Allan left her position as dean of the school of nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and is now dean of the University of Maryland’s School of Nursing. A native New Yorker, she is excited about returning to the East Coast.

Marilyn Gottlieb Levy has moved to Harrison, NY. She is still running a public relations firm called the Crescendo Group and writing for corporations. Marilyn has also been teaching public relations at the New School University in Manhattan for 17 years.

In Minnesota, Nancy Selib Brown would love to see any classmates visiting the Twin Cities. She coordinates a youth-led tobacco prevention project for high-school and middle-school students in Minnesota. There are 19 chapters (and the number is growing) to keep her busy. Nancy’s daughter Susie, 27, lives in the area; son Steve, 30, lives in San Francisco.

Sue Wilkinson Hunter and husband Dave live in Pennsylvania and have children in Chicago, Denver, and San Diego. They joke that if they had had two more kids they’d live in Hawaii and China. This summer Sue and six high-school friends had a minireunion in New England to celebrate the Class of ’60 turning 60!

Sue Viuker Landau has been digging into her family’s history lately and found a cousin who is surgeon general of the Israeli Navy. Other relatives who now live in Israel visited Susan in New York earlier this year.

Sarah Coulter Danner works on the Pine Ridge (SD) Reservation as a nurse-midwife and pediatric nurse practitioner. She also chairs the department of nursing at Oglala Lakota College, where she teaches. Her two oldest sons are independent; another is Brian ’03, and her youngest, 14, will help host an exchange student from Switzerland during the school year. Sarah would love having Skidmore visitors to her home, near Mt. Rushmore, Wind Cave Park, and the Mammoth Site.

Nancy Harrison recently remarried and thinks the “third time may be the charm!” Her new spouse, Ray Nord, is a retired IBM executive in Naples, FL. They plan to maintain two homes at least for a while, since Nancy’s work as a venture capitalist for the state of Connecticut keeps her in Farmington. She is enjoying her new step-grandmother status.

Melinda Mitchell Lyon sent son Carl “back East” for Skidmore’s Junior Admission Workshop. Linda Hamm Adams and husband Pierre Vantravers met Carl and showed him around NYC. Linda then served as his surrogate parent for the weekend. Melinda recently heard from Lucille Rhodes, who is enjoying retirement.

Tina Matkovic Spiro moved to Miami after 30 years in Jamaica and loves it. She continues to make and exhibit art in Miami and New York, primarily with Westwood Gallery in Soho. She often sees Suzanne Delehanty ’65, director of the Miami Art Museum. Tina’s son Ben is an equities trader in Miami Beach, and daughter Yasmin is completing her M.F.A. at Pratt Institute.

Carol Theodos Savage and husband Michel attended a nephew’s wedding in France; it gave them an excuse to explore Paris and Brittany. Carol has retired from Citigroup but stays involved in marketing and consulting projects. She volunteers for Cedar Grove, the Thomas Cole House in Catskill (where she serves on its board of advisers), and Olana in Hudson, NY. She also provides PR support for Hudson Valley Technology and Commerce, and marketing support for an educational group at Lincoln Center. In addition, she serves on the board of directors of their condo in Manhattan, plays golf, skis, and goes boating on the Hudson.

Nancy Gardiner Milstein has “mostly” retired from her computer consulting business but still does volunteer work and baby-sits for her two-year-old granddaughter who lives nearby. Husband David is still in nuclear medicine at Einstein/Montefiore in the Bronx. With all three kids successfully off on their own, Nancy and David spend a couple of weeks during the winter in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and get out to Vail, CO, for business/pleasure during another week. The Canadian Rockies was their destination for two weeks this summer.

Linda Glasband Platt and husband Mike have lived in the Minneapolis area for the past 26 years. The empty-nesters have two sons—one in NYC and the other in Chicago. Linda continues to advocate for grandchildren “without being obtrusive.” A real estate broker for 24 years, she doesn’t see retirement on the horizon, particularly with the stock market’s recent free fall. An avid runner, she is in training for her sixth Twin Cities Marathon. “If you’re in town,” she says, “look for me at the end of the pack.”

This summer, at their home in Marblehead, MA, Judith Pick Eissner (former Skidmore trustee chair) and husband Bruce hosted daughter Bonnie’s wedding to Joseph O’Connor. After the ceremony, crafted by the bride and groom with a rabbi and a priest (the groom’s uncle), the 200 guests danced on the lawn of the Eissners’ neighbors Stephen and Joan Thompson, parents of Christopher ’90 and Andrew ’94. Among the guests were Hollie Hicks Clay, Anne Milnor O’Connor, Linda Hellmich Brink, Sophia Pinkerton Dena, Kate Neisser ’87, Emily Pick ’99, and former Skidmore first lady Anne Palamountain.

’65

Toby Weisberg Rubenstein
74077.2566@compuserve.com

B.J. Davis Holland’s husband sold his business in Detroit but is still active on several corporate boards as well as that of Spelman College. They recently attended his 40th reunion at Union. B.J. is president of the board of the Union Child Day Care Center and serves as co-chair of the education committee of the African-American Leadership Forum. The Hollands have three children: one in Colorado, one in NYC, and one nearby, who has provided two grandchildren. B.J. considers herself a member of the “sandwich generation” as she must now also be concerned with her 91-year-old father and her 84-year-old mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

Ann Haberman Lineberger operates a business with her husband selling doors, frames, and supplies needed by nursing homes, hospitals, and businesses to meet codes, as well as access control items for security. They have three adult children and four grandchildren—one nearby in Allentown, PA, one in Florida, and two in Japan. She is about to embark on major landscape reconstruction of her property. One of her children, a Wellesley graduate, is a legal assistant living in Boston.

Gerry Neil Phillips retired in January 2000 after 32 years of government service, primarily with the National Archives. She still enjoys reading and singing with her church choir and is a volunteer at Oxon Hill Manor on the Potomac. Gerry was glad to be available to see her husband through a serious illness. She occasionally speaks to Margaret Haas, an ordained Episcopal minister who works for a publishing company in Michigan.

Donna Campbell Zuckerman’s son Ethan is executive director and founder of Geekcorps, part of the International Executive Service Corps that places volunteers in Ghana, Mongolia, and elsewhere to assist banks, artists, and women’s groups in selling products on the Web. Her daughter signed on as a reporter for the Springfield (MA) Union News after graduating from Harvard.

Leslie Atkinson Thomas combines her interests in art, interior design, and volunteering with real estate sales. She helped the local historical society sell a church for use as an arts center and helped renovate it. She also serves as water commissioner in Westford, MA, and loves giving dinner parties (attended by her special guest, a Westie named Miss Taffy). While in Key Largo, FL, on business last October, Leslie ran into Jane Novak Rubenstein. They spoke for an hour while seeking shelter from a heavy rain.

’66

Ann LoDolce
alodolce@juno.com

Four years ago, Ellie McKeefe sold her boarding kennel and 20 acres of land in Maryland and moved to Sarasota, FL, to enjoy early retirement. After a few months, her elevated energy level had to be satisfied. She became a freelance television producer. “When I left NBC News in 1992, after nearly 20 years, the likelihood of ever getting back into the news biz was remote at best,” she reports. “Turns out Florida has had several major news stories: the Elian Gonzalez saga, the post-election follies in Broward County and Tallahassee, and the 9/11 terrorists who trained at Florida flight schools.” Ellie has now done freelance work for ABC News, CBS News, Fox, NBA Entertainment, PBS, LPGA, National Geographic, and ESPN. When not working, she sails her Sunfish and is a race committee volunteer for regattas and weekly races. Her roommate for two years, Nancy “Pech” Pechar Toombs, made her third annual visit to Ellie’s place recently. Pech accompanied her on two assignments and functioned as a “production assistant.” Ellie returned the visit later by staying at Pech’s summer home in Connecticut.

In Jacksonville, FL, Mims Cushing is a support group leader for people afflicted with peripheral neuropathy, a disease that erodes the coating of the nerves. She has written a book on the subject, proceeds of which will fund research into the disorder. If You’re Having a Crummy Day, Brush Off the Crumbs! can be purchased for $11.50 from the Neuropathy Association, 60 East 42nd Street, Suite 942, New York, NY 10165.

Shortly after the “great reunion” last June, Joan Agisim Odes’s 88-year-old mother passed away. On a lighter note, oldest daughter Rebecca was married in October, and daughter Naomi ’94 moved to Los Angeles.

Carolyn Bates has been a professional photographer in Burlington, VT, for almost 30 years. Her house is a 1,200-square-foot renovated grocery store with a second-floor addition. Carolyn enjoys being involved in city politics. To see her work, go to www.Carolynbates.com.

Rhoda Stetson Whittemore and husband announce the birth of their first grandchild, Margaret. Rhoda’s daughter Sarah married Roger Williamson last July.

Bobbie Rubin Bowden has a new house, a new job, and a new car. She is director of corporate communications for Daughters of Sara Senior Community, a position that fills in the “front line” gap in her career in social marketing, mature issues, and conscious aging—her focus of the last decade. She has gone from director of marketing for NYS Partnership for Long-Term Care, to creative director for a long-term care division at Prudential Insurance, and most recently, director of communications for the nation’s leading advocate for long-term care reform. Bobbie is also doing energy portraits, which can be viewed at www.energyportraits.com.

’67

Elizabeth Maccracken Winn
ewinn421@mindspring.com

Linda Nard Leedberg-Caldwell, Andrea Peterson Mauro, and Susan Kovage Ratzan returned to Skidmore for the first time this year for our 35th reunion. They joined Pam Miller, Chris Kaufman, and Mary Whitaker Taber as panelists at our “class discussion,” now a reunion tradition. We reflected upon our joys, sorrows, and struggles, wrote them on pieces of paper and taped them together to make a quilt of sorts. Judy Harris Soper, who did a fantastic job putting together our class reunion book, says, “It will be interesting to view the quilt in five years to see if our joys, sorrows, and struggles are the same.”

Sally Huling Hilderbrand exchanged her reunion-chair responsibilities for class president, while Judy takes over reunion duties for our 40th. She reflects, “It was an honor for me to plan and facilitate the discussion with such wonderful women. All 60 women in attendance had hours of wonderful sharing with each other at dinners and breakfasts, during walks around campus, and in our dorm lounge.”

Our class thunderously applauded Susan Gottlieb Beckerman as she was named Alumni Association Outstanding Service Award recipient.

Outgoing class president Nancy Nims Mullins says, “I’m so glad I went to Reunion! As always, I felt a part of something wonderful. Our classmates really are marvelous, and I always marvel at how easy it is to pick up with [them] as if no time has elapsed.” Nancy has gone back to work part-time in the accounting department of an orthopedic practice, helping to collect insurance claims. She has high praise for Prof. Mary C. Lynn’s book, Make No Small Plans: A History of Skidmore College. “Skidmore has come a long way indeed, and I’m incredibly impressed and very proud. It gives me chills!”

Susan Kovage Ratzan, professor and head of endocrinology at the department of pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine says, “It was truly gratifying to connect with so many people whom I knew only by face and name, especially the group of nurses—Cindy Sharpe Malkin, Sara Schroeder Keaney, Nancy Kneeshaw Kruger, Kate Ledlie Krop, Helen Dalidowicz Fahey, and Vicki Ansbacher Hosford.” I think I am beginning to understand the meaning of ‘sisterhood’ in a way that I hadn’t previously. The campus is incredible, and the current student body is equally impressive.”

After reunion, Linda Nard Leedberg-Caldwell and husband Stan walked the pilgrim route Camino de Santiago in Spain. While resting at the famous fountain that spews red wine, they encountered a “60-something” German man who recognized “Skidmore” printed on the reunion visor on Stan’s head. He explained that he had been an exchange student at Union College and said, “Oh, I know Skidmore…it’s where the boys went to find the girls.” To which Linda replied, “There’s a lot more than that going on now.” After her first-ever Skidmore reunion in 35 years, Linda says, “ I felt like such an authority!”

Mary Whitaker Taber found it “so enriching to hear everyone’s stories; I can hardly wait to repeat the experience in five years.” Mary is working hard at two new ventures: running women’s groups and serving as a spiritual director.

Lee Heinsohn Deed Luce is a senior research scientist for International Paper in Tuxedo, NY, where she has been in product development for almost 33 years. She earned an M.B.A. in 1977, raised five stepchildren, and then had a son in 1982. That son is now at Clarkson in chemical engineering. Her husband, Jim, is retired but travels the globe consulting and teaching for the paper industry. They have seven grandchildren, and Lee has taught three of them to snowboard.

Lorraine Rorke Bader is starting her eighth year at the French-American International School in San Francisco, dividing her week between teaching in a bilingual fourth-grade program and working in admissions. Husband Lani is a law professor at Golden Gate University and an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. Their daughter is a senior at UC-Berkeley; their son is a junior in high school.

Kathy Hamilton DeVore, who lives in Chester, NJ, loved the minireunion in NYC. Going to “one family event after another” with her adult daughter, three stepsons, and first grandchild (who turned one on Reunion weekend) kept her from coming to Saratoga.

Alberta Lappano Uhran loved seeing everyone at Reunion—especially Chris Filbin Hoffman and Meg Nichols Carrothers, whom she hadn’t seen in more than 30 years; she says, “I loved every minute of it.” She went to Holland for 10 days in July with daughter Caroline’s high-school field hockey club for tournaments and instruction from Dutch National players. Alberta then prepared her Nantucket vacation house for summer renters. Since her husband’s death, she doesn’t go there often; but her kids, scattered all over the globe in their youthful adventures, want her to keep it.

Susan Senderowitz Petro is an interior designer in Allentown, PA. She frequently works in NYC, where she maintains an apartment and sees Chris Kaufman regularly. Susan has two sons, 21 and 23, and spends summers in Maine.

Chris Kaufman inspired everyone at Reunion with her tenacity and positive approach to her long-term battle with cancer. Despite losing her job because of cancer, she’s found “joy” in the unexpected retirement.

Sophia Day LaVerdiere Truslow is proud to be an alumna of Skidmore, especially since she has not one, but two bachelor degrees from our alma mater. And, in addition to being an attorney, she recently received a master’s in historic preservation from Columbia and is a trustee of the Greek Revival New York Marble Cemetery. Sophie is also very proud of her son, sculptor Julian LaVerdiere, who designed the Towers of Light at the World Trade Center site.

Julie Curtis says, “I’ve had major surgery, but am truly blessed to be fine; medical leave for a term was a remarkable opportunity for reflection. I was just home from the hospital when 9/11 hit, so my own recovery seemed trivial in the numbing tragedy enveloping us all.” Julie has been a faculty member and head of the graphic design major at Northeastern University since 1991 and happily “together-then-married” to Paul Fay for almost 18 years. Son Mark Reed is married to a former Yale classmate and lives in Seattle, where he is founder and president of Prism Designs Inc. (Prismkites.com), a designer of high-end performance kites. Julie and Paul split their time between a tiny bungalow in Quincy, MA, and Westport, MA, “where saltwater farms still hold on, and the clock is turned back about 50 years.”

Chrys Chiappa Dudbridge moved from Saranac Lake, NY, to a beach house in Lewes, DE (the southern terminal for the Cape May Ferry). Within days, she became a library volunteer, and a few weeks later she was promoted to assistant librarian. Chrys is glad to be close to her daughters, age 24 and 29, who live in the D.C. area.

Stephanie Close North, an advertising agency copyeditor in Silicon Valley, has been adversely affected by the economic downturn. She relies on freelance assignments and her jewelry design business. Her jewelry is sold in Gallery Saratoga in Saratoga, CA, and some pieces are available online—check out www.gallerysaratoga.com.

Class artists Dedree Drees, Marcia Smith Tuchscherer, Judy Harris Soper, and Betty “Corky” Corcoran DeMarco exhibited artwork during Reunion.

Dee Dee Drees has been professor of computer graphics and visual communications at Community College Baltimore County (CCBC) in Catonsville, MA, for 31 years. Her work is represented in numerous regional and international collections. She studied at Pratt and holds an M.F.A. from Penn State and a master of liberal arts from Johns Hopkins. Her current projects include the Baltimore Destination and Planning Guide 2002 and environmental design for the new BWI Airport parking garage. Dee Dee had to miss Reunion, as she and husband Dana were negotiating for a new house, plus she was grading exams and had just started a doctoral program in communication design at the University of Baltimore.

“To fund my painting habit,” Marcia Tuchscherer writes, “I am art director in the public affairs office of Lawrence University in Appleton, WI.” She literally likes to paint “in the fields” of her Wisconsin farm. This fall she is painting along Lake Superior as artist-in-residence at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Recently retired from an 18-year career teaching art, Judy Harris Soper has returned to working in fabrics and is particularly interested in quilting. Her exhibition piece, a small quilt, was inspired by our Reunion theme “Pieces of Our Lives” and, indeed, was the cover art for our class reunion book. The framed quilt now graces Sally Huling Hilderbrand’s home.

Corky DeMarco has been a professional artist since the 1980s. Her work entitled Genesis, an oil on paper, hung prominently at the entrance to the gallery in the Tang Museum. Corky wrote of Reunion, “I felt strongly that instead of individual groups of college pals hanging out, we became one large dorm—and that was fabulous. I found that I really like and respect so many of the women of ’67 whom I hardly knew in college. I had ‘pigeon-holed’ some of them (and they me, no doubt) but found that our souls are so similar—it is stunning. Our common denominator is Skidmore ’67.”

Although she left Skidmore after sophomore year, Logan Parry Hottle “really felt a part of the group.” She adds, “It was great to reconnect with people I’ve thought about for the last 35 years and did not really think I’d see again. I look forward to our 40th!”

For the next five years, Chris Filbin Hoffman will be the class communicator (wishing to discard the archaic connotations of “secretary”). Chris will maintain our Web page and compile our class news. She can be reached at choffman@sover.net. I look forward to maintaining my many Skidmore connections, some quite new and others reborn.

’68

Reunion ’03!

Jeanne Shipp Waldinger

David Sargent, son of Janet Hutton Sargent ’46, wrote to the Office of Alumni Affairs to applaud the care that his father, Yale professor John Sargent, received from Molly Meyer, who has worked at Yale University Health Services for over 30 years. Molly guided the family through a complex series of more than 100 medical appointments for colon cancer treatment. David reflects, “Through this whirlwind journey, my family met a Skidmore alumna we will never forget. Molly Meyer is one of those exceptional people who does it all and makes things happen, almost like magic—and she does so with a smile and endless care. It is difficult to imagine what Yale would do without her.”

’69

Elizabeth Mckinley Loomis
lizyloo@attbi.com

Phyllis Fradkin Boynton continues as an insurance case manager and private-practice geriatric care manager. She also is a Nikken health and wellness products consultant. She and husband Bob are “virtual empty nesters” now that daughter Amy is entering her second year at the University of Vermont, where she is a Lola Aiken and Presidential Scholar on the dean’s list. “Bob and I celebrated her high-school graduation last year and purchased kayaks,” reports Phyllis. They paddle kayaks in Long Island Sound and myriad inland ponds and lakes in New England. Phyllis welcomes e-mail from other kayakers at Pfboynton@aol.com.

Gloria Martin Pressman’s youngest son Roger graduated from Skidmore in May; she was thrilled to be back at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for Commencement; the experience, she says, is “even better as a parent. The bagpipers seemed larger than life as they led the professors and graduates onto the stage, and Ken Burns was wonderful as the graduation speaker,” she reports. Gloria also attended student performances, viewed student art, and joined a celebration dinner with several of her son’s roommates and their families. The experience left a lasting impression. “I don’t think I ever appreciated what a wonderful education Skidmore provided me until I was so much older then my son and his friends. My son was deeply moved at graduation and sad about the end of his time in Saratoga.”

Judy Kapp Winder is now a year beyond her chemotherapy treatment and feeling that she is “good to go.” She hears of Tina Vogt Fisler and husband Frank’s travels, and reports that Susie McNeily Craig is taking a year’s sabbatical from her Greenwich church to work on her Maine house. At a vocational high school in Toledo, Kapp says, “I find jobs for our mentally or developmentally handicapped population so they can work and earn their high-school credits at the same time. It’s a great job.” Husband David decided to switch careers and is now a job coach for young people transitioning from the juvenile prison system.

I spent a very enjoyable couple of days on Nantucket with Brownie Eaton Roe, Rosemary Tyler Otaka, and Diana Clark Crookes. The following weekend, I was at the “double nickels” celebration of Meredith Black Richards Zahlaway. We were wonderfully entertained by daughter Amy, who sidelines as a singer. Son Andy is busy remodeling a historic property in Wakefield, MA.

Christine Neill had a solo mixed-media exhibition at the Gomez Gallery in Baltimore, MD, this past spring. The exhibit, states Christine (a professor of painting and drawing at the Maryland Institute College of Art), “continues a fascinating exploration of the mysterious presence of plants, rendering the plant—or rather the ghost of the plant—in confident, rapid and graceful strokes.”

Sandy Smith Dovberg considers herself more a metal artist than a jeweler and loves to make small sculptural objects. She is currently working in silver for a show at the Albany Center Gallery. “It keeps my mind and fingers nimble,” she says. Husband Norman is a psychiatrist, and daughter Ali is aiming for a career in education.

Suzanne Jebb Tether’s son Jebb was married in Hawaii on July 20. Daughter Elizabeth is in San Diego working in human resources. Suzanne and husband Harry are enjoying the fun of planning the construction of a new hilltop home in New Hampshire overlooking Lake Sunapee.

Mary Miller Mapes’s son Alex is a freshman at the University of Miami, where Mary is publications director.

This spring in NYC, Sara Ritz Kaplowitz had lunch with Mary Lee Duff, who was about to travel to England, and Nancy Hantman, who works at a Manhattan publishing firm. A physical therapist, Sara is investigating nonclinical job opportunities. Son Eliott is a graduate student at Brandeis, daughter Emily is studying in Australia, and husband Howard is with Cushman Wakefield in NYC.

Meredith Black Zahlaway’s daughter Amy is director of marketing, communication, and public relations for an international placement agency; she also sings in a rock band.