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CLASS NOTES
Kevin Fay
Robert W. Passloff The reason I have written this column for the past 20 years is that my good friend, Bob Kemp, suggested that I run for Alumni Officer in the spring of '82. He then helped me to get elected because he felt it was important that we give something back to Columbia. Bob was very proud of attending Columbia, and I think this is why he always gave 110 percent effort in the many activities he participated in during college. Some classmates seem to remember Bob more for his CTV interview with Dr. Ruth Westheimer than for his three years as our class president. Freshman Orientation '81, which Bob led, was so well organized that Bob quipped, "Theoretically, if all goes as planned, I should be able to take a two-week vacation [and things would still run smoothly]". Bob was right, but he still worked extremely hard during orientation, giving himself little time to socialize. His senior section of the yearbook was the only section completed well ahead of schedule, because Bob was the master organizer. He didn't have to take a cab with me as I rushed to the post office to beat the yearbook's midnight deadline, but he felt it was something he needed to do. No doubt he felt the same way last year when I asked him a legal question for a friend via e-mail. I had not seen him since 1991 and we had only exchanged holiday cards and an occasional e-mail during the years. However, Bob gave me his typically well-organized, carefully thought out response the next day. When I spoke to him at great length in late February of this year, it was as if we had never been out of touch. He mentioned that he was happy to see so many members of our class contributing to the College Fund and doing well professionally. Bob was deeply "touched" when I told him there would be a scholarship fund in his name set up at Columbia if he did not survive his battle with cancer. It is with a heavy heart that I report to you that Bob passed away on March 24, 2002. He will be terribly missed. [Editor's note: Please see obituary on page 25.] Daniel Horwitz joined Carter, Ledyard & Milburn's litigation department as a partner. He previously served as an assistant district attorney in New York County for 81-2 years. Dan received his J.D. from Washington College of Law at American University in 1990. Steven Koppel joined the New York office of Heller Ehrman as a shareholder in the firm's real estate practice. He is a 1985 graduate of the National Law Center at George Washington University. Lou Orfanella did a column for the May/June issue of
Teacher Magazine, inspired by the death of Professor Wallace Gray.
Lou's first collection of poems, The Last Automat, was published
last year by Argonne House Press. You can contact him at lorfanella@hotmail.com to
receive copies. He sends regards to the 12 Jay procrastinators and
notes, "Phil Palmisano '83 and Rich Klein '81 are alive and well,"
and asked, "Where are the rest of you guys?" Gee, I wonder why we
have not heard from them? Ron Simons is back in New York after
receiving his M.F.A. in acting last year from the University of
Washington's professional actor training program. He has moved on
from careers in software development (with IBM and HP) and software
marketing (with Microsoft). Perhaps sales would have been better
training for acting?
Roy Pomerantz Thanks to everyone who has contacted me during the past several months with updates for Class Notes. The column seems to grow with every issue, and our class has demonstrated a great deal of school spirit and success. I just returned from a business trip to China (my 30th visit). You can imagine my surprise when I turned on Fox TV in Hong Kong and saw a promotional excerpt of Wayne Root's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor (Wayne: Great tie!). If you enjoy reading about your classmates but have not contacted me, please send an e-mail! On May 9, we had our first 20th reunion committee meeting at Peter Ripin's office (Thanks, Peter!). So far, committee members include Andy Gershon, Ken Chin, Gary McCready, Jonathan Green, Eric Wertzer, Marcus Brauchli, Alex Treitler, David Einhorn, Steven Greenfield, Ben Geber, Ed Joyce, Michael Katz, Peter Ripin, Kevin Chapman, George Wilson, David Harrison and myself. It is extremely important that we form a large committee as soon as possible to help plan reunion activities and ensure maximum participation. Whatever level of support you can provide is appreciated. Most importantly, we need you to tap into your network of Columbia friends. People living outside NYC are especially needed to help organize reunion support. Remember, we will only have one 20th college reunion, so let's make it a success! David Harrison is "director of executive communication (mainly speechwriting) at Verizon Communications, after having held speechwriting positions at IBM and Merrill Lynch, among other places. I live in Riverdale, N.Y., am the father of three - Olivia (7), Randolph (2) and Porter (1) - and am married to Hilen Shy Harrison, a native of Japan and a musician by training and practice. In May, I'll be abandoning 20 years of apartment living for my first house (in Riverdale) since childhood. In general, after a protracted series of professional and personal missteps, life has turned, well, good. I'm proud of being (what I hope is) a good husband and father, having a flat stomach and continuing to read serious literature. My ambition is to write something - anything! - of real significance, but failing that, I'll content myself with being a corporate hack. My best wishes to all." I had an enjoyable conversation with Bruce Abramson, who received his Ph.D. in computer science from Columbia and his J.D. from Georgetown. He is an economist with Charles River Associates, a consulting firm in D.C., and specializes in anti-trust analysis and the valuation of intellectual property portfolios. He was an observer in Florida for the presidential election and expects to attend the 20th reunion. Steven Rubenstein reports, "I've been enjoying your columns very much. It's great to hear about old friends, and one day - I swear it - I'll make it to a reunion. I'm working as a development executive for producer Mace Neufeld (Sum of All Fears, The General's Daughter, The Omen, No Way Out, The Hunt for Red October). I came to Hollywood after getting my Ph.D. from Columbia and teaching at Bucknell. I'm married to Laura Spitzer '83 Barnard '90 GSAS, and we have two kids, Michael (12) and Jessica (almost 9). I'd love to hear from other Columbians working in Hollywood (or aspiring to work in Hollywood), and I'd also be willing to help out Columbia students with summer internships and career advice." Steve, there is no better time to attend a reunion than next year. The unfortunate events of last year underscore how important it is to seize the moment. We hope to see you at the 20th! David Bowden is "the senior database administrator for Key Education Resources, a division of Key Bank USA, NA. I am in the Boston office. I have been a resident of Beverly, Mass., for 11 years. There, I serve on the Beverly Homecoming board and volunteer at Beverly Bootstraps Food Pantry. I have a dog, Sophie, and a horse, Zimbabwe. Since I have lived in Massachusetts, I also have become an avid horseman and occasional polo player. I have been an avid Harley-Davidson motorcyclist since 1986. I tutor with the Boston Chinatown Community Center ESL program doing bilingual tutoring in English/Mandarin (my degree was in East Asian Studies)." Gerald Brandt writes, "I received your message and have every intention of giving a meaningful response, however, as I am an accountant and this is the height of tax season, I have no time to do so. Have you heard from Robert Asher or Greg Keller? Thanks for taking Class Notes by the horns. I will be in touch." Andy Gershon lives with his wife and two children on the Upper West Side. He is an assistant attorney general and still plays basketball regularly. He is in touch with Koko Eaton and many other classmates. I briefly spoke with Ed Joyce (the former Columbia Lion). He lives with his wife and children on the Upper West Side and promises to send a detailed e-mail shortly. I e-mailed Ed Barbini to confirm my recollection that he used to be a sports announcer for WKCR. He comments, "Yep, basketball, football and a little baseball. I saw a lot of losing football games, but had a lot of fun doing it, and it made me a better speaker and more effective in presentations. WKCR was a terrific place to learn about lots of things, and I met lots of interesting people. (It also meant I didn't have to call home often, since my folks could hear me on the air . ) I also heard the entire Columbia band repertoire (I still can't listen to 'I hear you knocking but you can't come in,' without thinking of the band). I'm now vice president of communications for IBM's software business, the second-largest software business ($13B) in the world behind Microsoft. Having fun (and a big Curious George fan, hope that's going well for you, Roy), and IBM is a great place to work ... lots of smart people, from Nobel laureates to just terrific and driven experts in all sorts of fields. Even a few Columbia people." Don Steinberg quips, "Roy, thanks for getting some action back into the '83 section of Columbia College Today's Class Notes. I've never checked in before, but here you go: Being a Jester editor must have prepared me for (or doomed me to) a career in magazines. I am a freelance writer for GQ, Men's Journal, Philadelphia and others. I did GQ's '75 Funniest Jokes of All Time' list a couple years ago. I'm executive editor at Ziff Davis Smart Business, a magazine about business technology, and have a Web site (bluedonut.com) where I try to be funny. I'm living outside of Philly, married with two kids and two cars, all of which keep getting older and bigger. Occasionally, I hear from Mark Momjian as he tries to recruit me to interview local candidates for college admission. I usually decline; they're all smarter than I am, and I can't advise them how to get into Columbia, because I still don't know how I did." Michael Doino lives in White Plains, N.Y. He has been married to LucyAnn for 13 years. They have two children, Jaclyn (10) and Joseph (5). Michael worked at Prodigy for 15 years and has now ventured out into his own marketing consulting business. Kevin Bank notes, “I started getting CCT again after September 11. The horrors of that day pulled me back to memories of living in New York, working on Broad Street after college and fears that people I knew may have been killed. Fortunately, there were none in that category although I noted with sadness that there were many Columbia grads who died. I have been on the move since graduating from NYU Law School in 1987. From 1987–98, I lived in Washington, D.C., working mostly for the Federal Trade Commission as a consumer protection attorney. Though I enjoyed living amidst the political intrigue, I was ready for a change and a return to my more laid back South African roots. My wife, Melissa Scanlan, whom I met in D.C., is an Oregon native with a passionate dislike of D.C. summers, and so, in 1998, we moved to Seattle with our two kids, Isabelle (7) and Jeremy (5). I am a disciplinary counsel for the Washington State Bar Association, my wife is a lawyer for inforspace.com, and we love this mild and beautiful city, dot-com crashes and rain notwithstanding. I still maintain contact with Michael Silberstein ’82, his wife, Sylvia Pereli ’83 Barnard, and Mark Garrett ’82E and his wife, Lynn Kawasaki ’83 Barnard (I hope I’m getting the graduation dates right).” Andrew Abere states, “I live in central New Jersey with my wife, Lisa, and our children, Spencer and Amanda. I am an economist with Princeton Economics Group, a consulting firm, and a part-time lecturer in the department of economics at Rutgers. I also am the ride director for the Ride for Autism, a charity bicycle ride that my wife and I started to raise awareness about autism and to benefit nonprofit organizations that serve people with autism and their families.” Andrew Barovick reports, “After close to 10 years of fighting crime as an assistant district attorney, reality beckoned and I am now in private practice at a mid-size Manhattan firm that specializes in defending doctors and hospitals in medical malpractice lawsuits. My wife, Lesley, and I live in Cobble Hill (Brooklyn). Lesley is a freelance development consultant who works for Celebrate Brooklyn and teaches infant and toddler music classes (Music Together, Music for Aardvarks). We have a 5-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl. I have frequently run into fellow Brooklynite Roland Lewis ’81, who heads up Habitat for Humanity in New York and was my fraternity brother at Sigma Nu.” Marty Avallone writes, “Claudia and I are blessed with two wonderful children, Michaela (3) and Cole (17 months), and we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary this year. Claudia and I were raised, and our parents still live, one-half mile from each other in New York, but we met in North Carolina and moved to Atlanta soon after we got married. I came to Atlanta to join MAPICS, an enterprise application software company, and am its vice president, general counsel and business development. Prior to MAPICS, I was a senior lawyer with IBM for 11 years, which I joined after graduating from Duke Law School. Thanks, Columbia, for helping me get to where I am today.” Marty, one of the ways to show your thanks to Alma Mater is by getting involved in the upcoming reunion! Frank Antonelli reports, “Good timing, as I have made contact with several classmates for the first time in a long time during the last several weeks. Here is a recap of what I have been up to lately. After graduating from Ohio University with a masters in sports management, I spent about 12 years working with Jack Nicklaus managing private golf clubs and PGA/LPGA tournaments. In 1999, I moved to Charleston, S.C., where I started a sports management company that manages several televised celebrity golf tournaments (Hootie and the Blowfish, Delta Celebrity Challenge, Kiawah Children’s Hospital Classic), and we recently developed and opened a new private golf course in Charleston, Bulls Bay Golf Club. We also manage a couple of bands and comedians. My wife, Debbie, is a television basketball analyst for women’s college basketball and the WNBA. We have three boys, Joey (7), Frankie (4) and Patrick (3 months). Looking forward to hearing from more old friends. Keep up the good work.” Dan Guadalupe, a partner in the Somerville, N.J., law firm Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A. was honored for serving as past president by the Hispanic Bar Foundation. Dan represents individual and corporate clients in commercial litigation matters. He has served as an adjunct professor of law at Seton Hall and was awarded his J.D. in 1986 from University of Pennsylvania. I even received a few e-mails from Columbia grads who are not in our class. Jim Reinish ’82E, a fellow Columbia marching band member (trumpet), writes, “I just found out about the College class page Web site. I wasn’t a member of your class, but it was great to read about old acquaintances. I was wondering if you have heard from Mark Licht?” Jim is married with three children and works for the Port Authority in NYC. Jon White '85 notes, "After many readings of Columbia College Today, Eddy '83 and Leon Friedfeld '88 mentioning your many activities, as well as passing by Runway Tires seeing your trucks, I finally decided to kick myself forward and say hello." Jon and I left large New York law firms to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, and it is always great to hear from him. I received a poignant e-mail from Maury Budow. Maury and I lived on the same block while growing up. Maury writes "I was a bit reluctant to reply, as to update my life over the past few years is a bit complicated, and I'm not crazy about reducing it into a cheerful three-sentence blurb, but here goes. I'm a geriatrician, and I lived in Ann Arbor, Mich., for the past 11 years where I finished my fellowship training. I was married, and I have three children: Rami (10), Jonah (8) and Elianna (6). Unfortunately, my wife died of lymphoma in 1998. I managed life as a single father pretty well, but after three years, I decided that I needed a change, and last summer I moved to Israel. I live in Jerusalem. Fortunately, I met a wonderful woman, Carolyn Ben-David, a widow with two sons, and we are planning to get married this month. We've bought a new home in the town of Modi'in, and though the situation in Israel is sad at the moment, we are optimistic that things will eventually improve significantly." Finally, I was very sorry to learn about the passing of Bob Kemp
'82. Bob was one of the most active Columbia students in the early
'80s and a great asset to Columbia College. He will be missed by
countless friends and classmates.
Dennis Klainberg Only two classmates checked in for this issue, but thanks to a little classmate name dropping, our column gains some much needed gravitas. Peregrine Beckman is a film and TV editor living in L.A. with his wife, Elizabeth Leicester '87, and their two children, Eleanor and Julian. His latest exploit was editing a show for CBS, American Fighter Pilot, a "reality" show. In his words, "I've never worked so hard in all my life, so watch it Fridays at 8, damn it!" On a recent visit to New York, he met with his old roommate Gregory Lynch, and he volunteered his e-mail to old friends: pernbeckman@earthlink.net. Tennis maven David J. Eisenstein took a few minutes from hitting balls and practicing medicine to check in. "I sit here feeling nostalgic as I enjoy reading another issue of Class Notes. I have enjoyed reading about floormates from 14 John Jay (Peter Simonson, Roy Pomerantz, Mark Licht, Matt Samarel et al from the Class of '83). Myself and Eldridge Gray, Frank Rotondo '84E and my roommate, Tom Goehring '85, were the only freshmen on that floor, living in the corner suite amidst the lively bunch listed above. After graduating from medical school and finishing residency at University of North Carolina in beautiful Chapel Hill, I am a practicing pathologist for eight years now in a community hospital in the Cincinnati area. My wife, Lisa, (high school classmate of Kevin Cronin '83, Wally Griffith and Greg Poe at Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland) and I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary in September 2002. Although we have no kids, we are busy. Lisa is an avid equestrian (dressage), and I still play tennis competitively." Dave, when next you visit N.Y., be sure to bring your racquet. I'll call Ed Ho and Dave Stafford ... but, unfortunately, our court in front of John Jay is no more. A very special Mazel Tov to my friend, Mark Gill, and his fiancée, Robin, on their engagement. Looking forward to hearing from more classmates.
Kevin G. Kelly Seth Schachner writes: "Andrew Lund was married to Ruti Ben Artzi more than a year ago. He has temporarily moved to Paris, where Ruti is studying for her doctorate. Andrew, who has moved on from his New York law firm, is happily writing scripts and keeping busy in his new surroundings, with many exciting plans to travel the continent. "Howard Rappaport (who works in real estate development in the metropolitan region) and his lovely wife, Liz, welcomed their first daughter, Hillary, seven months ago. They live on the Upper West Side. "Geoffrey Kalish has been running and building a successful investment fund in New York. He lives in Westchester with his wife, Michelle, and two sons, Ben and Eli. "I'm in charge of new media strategy and business development for a New York-based record company, Zomba/Jive Records, home to the 'teen pop' movement. My wife, Allison, and I brought our first son, Miles Andrew, into the world in April 2001. We live on the Upper West Side. "I hope these are helpful notes. I know a few details about others. Mark Fallick practices medicine in New Jersey. He lives with his wife and child (or children); Mike Krumper continues to work in the music business and lives in Montclair, N.J., with his wife, Heather, and daughter, Lydia, but I'm not as filled in on the details of these folks." Mike Reilly writes, "Here's an update from me (the first in about 10 years, perhaps?): My wife, Elaine, and I became proud parents to a girl, Melina Christine, in November 2001. Melina joins her brothers Patrick (7) and Keelin (3) as potential future Lions - if we can afford the tuition! "We continue to make our home in Wilmington, Del., though I now have a N.Y.-style commute, going to Philadelphia where I work for FMC Corp. as lead group counsel for FMC's global agricultural products business. I remain in touch with a good number of CC/Barnard friends, though with the increasing demands of work and family, it's now often limited to an exchange of Christmas cards." Kevin Kelly writes: "I am composing this submission in the Stockholm Public Library. I have been traveling since the end of March and am having a swell time. The art, architecture and overall vibe in Berlin was very intense, very frenetic; Helsinki was worth it for me just to touch the Saarinen and Aalto buildings; Tallinn was charming, and we are so happy for the Estonians, free at last; and of course, here in Stockholm everything is expensive but oh, so nice. I have a lovely apartment overlooking City Hall and the water, and spend my days here as I have the last five weeks or so, going to museums, writing in my journal, drinking lots of coffee, checking out people and eating. I leave tomorrow for Copenhagen, where I will be for about 10 days before returning to N.Y. This has been a great trip on many different levels. Lots of planes, trains and luxurious overnight ferries from city to city." Keep those submissions coming, please!
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