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CLASS NOTES
Jim Shaw In January, Greg Wyatt received the first of this year's gold medals from the National Arts Club. The 2001 NAC winners were Tom Wolfe, Frank Stella, Roberta Peters and Roy DeCarava, so that's good company. Greg's award was for art and education. His sculpture, "The Price of Freedom," is scheduled for 2002 installation at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery.
Paul S. Appelbaum Another classmate has a tale to tell of the terrorist attacks on September. 11. Gene Ross, having left his position as a junior associate attorney at Skadden, Arps in New York and returned to his former life as a surgeon, found himself in the midst of the aftermath of the terror. While seeing patients at Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx, he had a view of the World Trade Center and "saw the entire calamity from our window." During the night of September 13 and all day September 15, Gene served as a volunteer physician at Ground Zero, treating rescue workers. "I was within a few feet of the rubble, and the still actively burning fires, and had to wear a gas mask and write my Social Security number on my arm with marker in case of further building collapse or explosion." Gene adds, "It was a profound relief and honor to be able to apply energy to something — anything — constructive." On a happier note, Foad Katirai has published Global Governance and the Lesser Peace (George Ronald Publisher, Ltd.). After obtaining a doctorate in management from Oxford, Foad returned to Japan, where he has lived since 1953 and where he chairs the local alumni committee that interviews Columbia applicants. An adherent of the Bahai faith, Foad draws on Bahai and other writings to explore "the foundation of a new and just system of international governance to carry the world toward a long-awaited era of peace." Betsy Nichols, '72 Barnard, was kind enough to send some news of Peter Cuneo. Along with his ballooning partner, Barbara Fricke, Peter won the gas balloon race at the 2001 Kodak Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Their balloon traveled more than 1,300 miles, crossing the Mississippi at St. Louis and landing near Columbus, Ohio. I had the privilege of seeing this amazing balloon fiesta some years ago; there is something glorious about a sky filled with colorful balloons ascending to the heavens. The full details of Peter's triumph are on the Web at www.balloonfiesta.com/challenge/winners2001.htm.
Barry Etra No news is bad news for CCT readers! Write, e-mail, phone or just the fax, men. Somewhere, someone is extremely interested in what's up in your life (even if you don't think so).
Fred Bremer While returning some kids books to the library, I bumped into Russ Behrman '77 doing the same, but also returning the 1969 classic Alice's Restaurant on DVD. Taking his recommendation, I checked it out. If you want to flash back to the era of the draft, VW buses and communes, give it a spin! The subtitle on the cover was, "Every generation has a story to tell." Here are a few more vignettes of our story — some bitter, some sweet. The mention in my last column of the "earliest member of the Class of '74 family" brought this unexpected response from Samuel Salamon (a doctor in Cleveland): "I doubt I've written you before, but my wife, Ruthie, and I have just become grandparents to Rivka Atara Holzer, born November 3, 2001 in New York City." He then speculates, "Her mother, our daughter, was born October 12, 1978, but I doubt she's the oldest progeny of our class." Can anyone beat these two "records"? Let the race begin! An amazing e-mail came in from Doug Birch, the longtime science writer for the Baltimore Sun. He writes, "I took a sharp turn in my career path and became the Moscow bureau chief. (Yeah, the Sun only has one correspondent here, but I get to boss myself around) ... A few weeks after I arrived in Moscow, I watched the terrorist attacks in New York. And a month later I was headed to Afghanistan, where I spent six weeks reporting for the Sun, mostly from the area north of Kabul." Doug plans to be in Moscow for the next few years. "To members of the Class of '74: Stop by if you're in town." A sad note came in from Mark Rantala out in Cleveland. He writes, "I don't have many details, but David Hathy passed away on November 19, 2001, in Pittsburgh, quite unexpectedly. He is survived by his wife and two sons." We'll try to get more details in a future column. That's all for now. Whether you're writing from Moscow or Main Street, I'll be glad to pass on your stories of our generation.
Randy Nichols Laura Weinberg Aronow wrote that husband, Rick Aronow, was found with two friends in the rubble of the WTC and was buried in early December. She is fulfilling Rick's wish to establish a school for autistic children. Please join me in continuing to send support and condolences to Laura and her family. Douglas Letter was quoted in an article in the December 5 issue of the Daily Standard. Doug is a justice attorney who has been working for the administration on issues of terrorist funding. He was floor counselor on 3 Livingston in 1974–75, and Bob Schneider was one of the residents of the floor. One of my former roommates and adopted cousin, Gavin Nichols, wrote from San Antonio, where he has lived for the past 16 years and is the director for information systems for a privately owned, regional grocery company. He's been married for 21 years to Sharon Ahrens Nichols, and they have a 14-year-old daughter, Anastasia. I spent a wonderful two weeks in November in Hawaii with my family. Mom lives in central Wisconsin, and we've said for years that we were going to start spending the holidays somewhere warmer than there, even if it meant that we would celebrate holidays on a slightly different schedule. Twelve family members made the trip, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and each other's company. Now, I am busy with interviewing candidates for the Class of '06.
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