class notes

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1960s

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1961

Charlotte Smiley Read
gig4smile@aol.com

I had a fun mini-reunion lunch this past spring with Ginny Merola Carter and Debbie Dunston Zients in D.C. We took the Metro and met for lunch at Union Station. It had been probably 40 years since I’d seen Ginny.

Joan Horowitz Behr reminds us to check www.skidmore.edu for news about Skidmore. One item: Denise Smith in the exercise science department is involved in research that won a $900,000 grant from the US Department of Homeland Security—great news for our Class of 1961 Professor and the college! Joan, Judy Brown Tulchin, Val Blumenthal Gordon, and Ellie Barbo O’Toole had a mini-reunion lunch in Lewes, DE, in June. Judy and Joan then returned via ferry to Cape May, NJ, where they spent four days biking, swimming, sightseeing, eating, and laughing before Judy returned to Brooklyn to spend the summer playing with her two red-headed grandsons.

Judy Mutti Grinnell returned from a visit to Frankfurt, Germany, where daughter Nina has just had a third son. Nina is married to an Englishman she met in Hong Kong 10 years ago; he works for the textile division of a Japanese company, and she works part-time for an English telecom company. Son Matthew works in London for Lehman Bros.

Judy, who lives in Williamstown, MA, recently found out that Sam Schutrum Coughlin lives almost around the corner. Their husbands are Williams grads and know each other. A few years ago, as they were walking by Judy’s house, Sam’s husband introduced his wife, but neither Sam nor Judy recognized each other. When Judy recently read through the addresses of our class, she noticed Sam’s address and made the connection. Judy hopes to get together with both Sam and Hulda Hardman Jowett, who lives in the northern Berkshires.

Sue Jacobs Schaffzin bumped into Leni Schackner Small at an art fair in Coconut Grove, FL. Sue has also spoken to Zelda Jacobson Schwartz and Zelda’s roommate, Jerye-Ann Seder Robbins. In June, while in Saratoga Springs, Sue and husband Ed attended a free outdoor blues-jazz concert at the Tang. Sue and her sons (John from Florida and Eric with his wife, Risa, from Texas) shopped the craft stores while dining their way down Broadway. Sue notes, “It’s so much nicer today than in our time!”

In July Paula Rosen Janis and husband Paul Schueller spent two weeks in Alaska, aiming to see lots of wildlife.

It turns out that Jo Shelley Fuller has a good friend just up the road from me in Michigan, so we look forward to getting together sometime. Jo has five grandchildren—four boys and a girl (including a set of twins)—who range from age 7 to 9. The families live close enough to allow Jo and Bob to be very involved; it is their main joy. In April, the Fullers spent a week at Agriturismo Cascina Papaveri, a restored farmhouse in Italy’s Piedmonte region where guests can learn Pilates and take Italian cooking lessons with a professional chef. Agriturismo is also a working vineyard that grows organic grapes for local vintners.

Susan Stark Match has a happy announcement: daughter Laura Match Schaffer ’89 gave birth to baby Matthew in July.

Canadian resident Emily Wallace Bright is still working part-time in retail and has no plans to retire. She is a board member of the School of Restoration Arts at Willowbank, one of the earliest schools in Canada, which teaches hands-on skills to students in heritage projects, restoration, conservation planning, and craftsmanship. Emily’s children and grandchildren came home to Niagara to visit this summer. Eldest grandchild Caroline completed her first year at St. Lawrence University. The other six grands range in age from 2 to 16. Emily welcomes hearing from alumni in the Buffalo/Niagara area.

Derry Knight Coe needs our thoughts and prayers. She is recovering from emergency surgery in March necessitated by a rare medical condition that causes bleeding in her spinal cord, leading to paralysis from the neck down. Fortunately, Derry was treated at one of the nation’s top trauma centers and is now regaining use of her muscles. She is very grateful for all the good wishes from everyone. Derry is an education curatorial assistant and docent trainer at Lapuna Art Museum near San Juan Capistrano, CA. She, husband Roger, and their Welsh terriers travel between their California and Avon, CO, homes.

Sculptor Kate Pond reminds us that she didn’t return right away from her junior year in France, eventually graduating from Skidmore in 1979. She is creator of the World Sculpture Project, a series of five linked stone, steel, and ceramic sculptures that she has installed in Oslo, Norway; Quebec, Canada; Honolulu, HI; Sendai, Japan; and Nelson, New Zealand. The work was recently featured in Sculpture Magazine (click here for more www.vermontsculpture.com).

Barbara McIlveen Baldwin and husband Dave traveled to Paris in June to celebrate 9-year-old granddaughter Paulina’s first communion. She is the daughter of son Fritz and wife Natalie, and has a brother Alexander, 12. The group was joined by the Baldwins’ daughter Kim and son Liam. The Baldwins spent July in Vermont and August in Southampton. They were planning to head back to Florida at the end of October. They split the year between Florida and Short Hills, NJ.

Jacki Jung attended a memorial service in June for Joan Weldon Stonner, whose April death was noted in the last Scope. Also attending the service (held in Wellesley, MA, where Joan’s family had lived for many years) were Joan Allen Croce, Phyllis Guelich Lanz, and Karen Loeffler Nasman and her husband, Ted. We extend our condolences to Joan’s husband, John, and their sons Andrew and Ehren.