class notes

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UWW | In Memoriam | People & projects

1990s

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1994

Victoria (Vicki) Tisch
vickitisch@yahoo.com

Melissa Raff Goldberg and husband Richard welcomed their third child last March. Deena joins siblings Becca and Adam. Becca is in first grade and loves it. Adam starts kindergarten next year. In addition to being a busy mom, Melissa works two days a week asa math coach.

In March Shannon Small Dunn and husband welcomed daughter Alexandra, who is “growing
like crazy.” Emma, Shannon adds, is a great big sister.

Kate Cheney Myhre, husband Mike, and son Alex welcomed Owen into the world in July. Over
the summer they enjoyed a visit from godparents Mark and Nikki Stillerman Bates, and Oisin O’Malley. Kate continues to work part-time managing the Web site for the Boston Consulting Group.

Linda Schneiderman Humphrey and husband Noah welcomed their first child, Miles, in August.

Anu Pingali Bliss and husband Chance celebrated the birth of their daughter Karina in December 2005; she joins brother Krishna, 4.

Naomi Talma Odes married Turi Aytur on May 28 in Lake Placid, NY. In attendance were Miranda Bailey ’95, John Sloan ’96, Adrienne Frisch Popper ’66, Susan Pogash ’66, Lynn Sachs Auster ’66, and Naomi’s mother, Joan Agisim Odes ’66. The couple lives in Los Angeles. Naomi obtained
her teaching credential and master’s in education from Pepperdine University; she teaches a
first- and second-grade class at Larchmont Charter School in Hollywood.

Daniel Schwenk and wife Sophie Markovic ’96 live in Cotuit, MA (on Cape Cod). Daniel is an accountant with a firm in Hyannis, and Sophie is an orthodontist with offices in Falmouth and Hyannis. They welcomed son Aidan in September 2005. Their older son, Benjamin, is finally happy to be settled “someplace near boats.” Daniel and Sophie keep in touch with numerous Skidmore grads, including Rick Salvatoriello, Mark Freeman, Ken Derderian, Jenifer Simon ’96, Julie Anderson Exposito ’96, and Dawn Foti ’96. In October, they traveled to Burlington, VT, for Helen Overeynder’s wedding. Dan and Sophie encourage any “New Ivy” grads in the area to
look them up.

Beth NeJaime Casavant and husband Scott had a baby girl in June; Emma joined sister Julia, 3.
Over the July 4 weekend, Amy Pollack Hall and her family came to visit and welcome Emma. (Amy’s daughter Avery is also 3. Amy and Beth took their girls to Disney World for the first time together last March.) During Amy’s visit, they all spent time with Michele Badeau Smith and her 18-month-old, Tim. “The kids had a blast playing together. I guess we will be bringing the kids along for the next reunion!” says Beth.

John Beckman recently produced the world-premiere exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: Man,
Inventor, Genius at its only venue, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL. The exhibition featured many items never before seen in the US, including an original Leonardo drawing and a digitized version of his most prolific codex, which allowed guests to page through the historic document on a touch screen. John and partner Denise Norton spent two weeks in
Italy this fall, getting some R&R. Denise, a chef, has appeared on the Food Network and TLC.
On the theater front, Hard Scrambled—the first show John’s company Visions & Voices ever produced in Chicago—is now a motion picture that won Best Dramatic Feature at the Garden State Film Festival. In 2006 John and Denise bought a 100-year-old house in the Frank Lloyd Wright historic district of Oak Park; “visitors are always welcome,” says John. He is chair of the Chicago Skidmore club and can be reached at john.beckman@msichicago.org.

Amber Maurer Wylie and husband Glenn welcomed son Justin in June; “he is healthy and doing well,” says Amber. The family lives in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. Justin had his first visit to the big city in August when the Wylies visited me for dinner and took in a performance of Shakespeare on the Run in Central Park.

Jed Morey and wife Eden have two daughters: Ava, 4, and Maya, 6 months. The family enjoyed
a great summer on Long Island and was looking forward to fall, “our favorite season.” Jed is the publisher of a weekly newspaper called the Long Island Press, in its fourth year. The Moreys also own and operate a steakhouse called Maxwell and Dunne’s. Jed keeps in touch with Todd Murphy and Tim Manning, “both of whom are proud daddies as well.” Todd is living in New Jersey, and Tim is in Chicago.

Daren Lipinsky and wife Gina welcomed daughter Sofia in May. Daren is a founding partner in
the southern California law firm of Brown & Lipinsky.

In January 2006 Jim Southard was one of nine people selected to participate in the Ready, Set, Goal fitness program sponsored by a local newspaper. The program provided gym membership
for a full year. Jim was promoted to assistant director of fiscal services for the Syracuse City School District, with a budget in excess of $270 million. In September he was appointed to the Liverpool School Board. In December he received an MBA from SUNY’s Empire State College and entered a program at Lemoyne College to earn certification as a school-district business leader in New York State. Jim’s wife, Elena, is working on a doctorate in modern languages through Middlebury College. She teaches French for the Baldwinsville schools. The Southards are busy renovating
their townhouse.

John “Bones” Rodriguez recently signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to write Captain Kirk’s
Guide to Women, due for release in 2008.

In June Nicole Brown McDermott and husband Rob welcomed son Lucas; he joins Samuel, 3. Nicole is a part-time anesthesiologist for Kaiser, and Rob is an allergist near their home in
Denver, CO.

When Leslie Glunts Guthrie’s husband, Bryan, was reassigned to Ft. Bragg, NC, unexpectedly
last April, the couple packed up and left the island paradise of Hawaii. Although they were sad
to leave, the transfer meant Bryan did not have to return to Iraq. This was welcome news to the family, whose first child, Sophia, was born in June. The Guthries bought their first house, and Leslie is enjoying being a stay-at-home mom for the time being.

Last summer Travis Lea and wife Eva traveled to Scotland and Argentina. Their company, Project Alma, produced a float and DJ stage in the San Francisco Love Fest, which was “a blast,” says Travis. Now they are doing the arts zone at the Venice beach Carnevale, a masquerade music and arts festival in southern California.

Paul Samford lives in Atlanta, GA, with wife Trish and their children, Max, 8, Jack, 5, and Olivia Mae, 2. Trish and Paul celebrated their 10th anniversary in October by finishing the renovation of their basement. Paul is a network engineer with a computer consulting company; prior to that he worked at a “dot-bomb” in Atlanta. “It was the most fun I’ve ever had, although we went through four CEOs in one year.” Paul was glad to return to Skidmore in 2005 for the Bandersnatchers reunion concert.

In July Chrissy Dempsey moved from Massachusetts to Florida, where she is dean of students at Tampa Preparatory School. “Things are going really well, and I have been told that if I love Tampa in August, I will love it even more in December!”

In April Nicole Morrione Graziano and husband Vincent welcomed daughter Sophia.

Julie Gibbons Keblinsky moved to Maine last year to teach social studies at Ellsworth High
School. Son Samuel is 4, and Peter is 1. Julie and husband Steven are still operating the schooner
Rachel B. Jackson out of Bar Harbor, and they have recently added the friendship sloop Surprise and a lobster boat, Lobster Tales, to the business. They encourage you to visit them online at www.DowneastSailingAdventures.com.

Emily Sellergren lives in Boulder, CO, with husband Pete and son Max, who is one and a half. Emily is a therapist in a high school and spends her free time skiing, hiking, dancing, running, and doing yoga. “I love to spend time in the mountains and be outside,” she says. “We do a lot of camping and go hear a lot of music. Life is darn good.” Emily still sees Keith Desrosiers ’93, Sarah Cleary ’95, and Erin Tanner ’93, who all live in Boulder, as well.

Robin Levy-Franzblau finished her debut CD Love To You (recorded under the name Robin Leah) last spring and has been pitching music to movies and television. She got married two years ago and lives in New York’s Hudson Valley, where she teaches dance and French. She spends her free time playing music, cooking, gardening, traveling, and renovating her house. Visit Robin online at www.robinleah.com or at the Robin Leah music page on MySpace.com.

Holter Graham recently returned from Milan, Italy, where his collaborative VisionIntoArt presented a multimedia music/theater/poetry piece called Sounds at Teatro Manzoni during Fashion Week. VisionIntoArt will be in residency at the Whitney Museum of American Art in April. Holter recently appeared on Denis Leary’s TV show Rescue Me. His New York Fringe Festival play The Infliction of Cruelty was extended into the Fringe Encore Series.

He also continues to “invade your TV and radio” daily with voice-overs. His better half, Neela Vaswani ’96, won an O. Henry Award for her story The Pelvis Series, which is featured in the O. Henry Prize Stories 2006 anthology (Random House). Her story “Bing Chen” was included in Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience (WW Norton). In August Holter completed his first triathlon, and he recently bid adieu to Ian Belton, who is studying in the Philippines until spring.

Mark Pateman’s company Empire Resources LLC has been acquired by Cushman & Wakefield Inc., the global commercial real-estate services firm. He will be expanding C&W’s presence in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast of Florida, focusing on office brokerage and investment
sales. He and his wife, Carrie, are loving life in West Palm Beach and “happy to have a
hurricane-free season this year!”

Matt Kavet is the owner of Boston America Corp. based in Woburn, MA. The company manufactures licensed candies and cosmetics and distributes them to the specialty market. “We currently have licenses for The Simpsons, Family Guy, Napoleon Dynamite, and Pirates of the Caribbean (among many, many others), and our best customers are stores such as Bed, Bath & Beyond, Spencer Gifts, Sweet Factory, and Tower Records.” Matt keeps in close contact with Trevor Shevin, Jon Hoffman, Brett Schneider, Bart Simon, Manny Tzouros ’95, Steve Frohlich ’95, Lissa Bachner ’96, and Andy Dow ’97.

Marcie Wartel Handler shares updates on a few classmates: Corinne McCue Olmsted completed
a PhD in economics from the University of Connecticut. Lynn Waltzman moved from Stamford,
CT, to Boston for a job relocation from NYC to Cambridge, MA. Lynn enjoyed a day sailing around Boston islands with Marcie and Michael Handler and their daughter Ellie.

Elspeth Gwynne Seddig sold her naturopathic private practice in Maine and relocated to “the sunny, vivacious, and much more colorful city of San Francisco.” She set up her own private practice in Pacific Heights (www. naturopathic-sf.com) with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Elspeth has run into Marshall Leggett ’93, Courtney Fink, Alistair Redman ’95, and “even a guy—
I can’t remember his name—who was in Woolly Mammoth when we were all at Skidmore.”

Victoria Quinlan Clair and husband Christopher welcomed son Kyle in August. Everyone is doing well and settling in at home, north of Boston. Vikki is taking time away from work as a family therapist to be a full-time mom. She stays in close touch with Katie Killough Kelly.

In August Megan Squibb Ream and husband Jason welcomed daughter Jessica; she joins brother Hollister, 2.

Ian Belton recently directed Finer Noble Gasses at Juilliard, where he had a directing fellowship a few years ago. Also involved in the play were Noel Allain ’98, who is in his fourth year there, and Phil Ristaino ’93. “In the play they form a rock band at the end. It was awesome, and Skidrow College is definitely in the hizel!” says Ian. He is currently attending film school in the Philippines.

In the fall Dana Sock Milne started a PhD program in educational research, measurement, and evaluation at Boston College.

Being called Professor Stoner, says Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins, “sounds funny in more ways than
one.” Sylvia filled in for Anne Turner as a full-time voice instructor in Skidmore’s music department, an interim faculty position that ran through 2006. “It was wonderful to work alongside much of the same faculty and staff that I knew when I was a student,” says Sylvia.
She and the students put together a “challenging” evening of contemporary American opera in Opera Workshop.

Heather Brockway Howell is enjoying life in New Haven, CT. In September she visited NYC,
where she and I attended the 31st Annual New York Salsa Festival at Madison Square Garden.
On the way to Port Authority after the show, we ran into Malan, ousted designer from season 3
of Project Runway. In addition, I met Nick Arrojo from What Not to Wear at his downtown Arrojo Studio. I also went up to New Haven in October to help paint and redecorate a newly remodeled extension on Heather’s home.

In July Anne Yedvabny Grieves and husband Glenn welcomed daughter Sophie; she joins sister Sasha, 3. The family—including 5-year-old golden retriever Max—lives in Cambridge, MA,
where Anne coaches using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, and Glenn is IT director at CombinatoRx.

William Purcell married Patricia Boggio on June 17. The couples lives in Queens, NY, where William works for the church pension fund for the Episcopal Church.