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OBITUARIES

1928

Howard S. Shanet, conductor, composer and Columbia professor, New York City, on June 19, 2006. Shanet was born in Brooklyn and began his musical studies as a cellist. After earning an M.A. in musicology at GSAS in 1941, he joined the faculty of Hunter College. Shanet served in the Pacific from 1942–46; after the war, he studied composition and conducting. He was a conducting assistant to Leonard Bernstein at the New York City Symphony in the early 1950s and wrote program notes for the New York Philharmonic in 1959 and 1960. Shanet wrote Philharmonic: A History of New York’s Orchestra (1975) and a music textbook, Learn to Read Music (1956). In 1953, he joined Columbia as a music professor and a conductor of the University’s orchestra. He was chairman of Columbia’s music department from 1972–78 and later was a professor emeritus. As a composer, Shanet wrote music for orchestra, string quartet and band. As a conductor, he appeared with several major American orchestras and frequently performed in New York with the organizations he founded, Music-in-the-Making and String Revival. In addition to his wife of 43 years, Bernice Grafstein, Shanet is survived by a son, Laurence.

1937

Harry J. Friedman ’37

Harry J. Friedman, publishing executive, Harrison, N.Y., on July 25, 2006. As a student, Friedman was Jester ’s business manager. After graduation, he went to Carnegie Tech for a B.S. in printing engineering. Friedman became a leader in the specialty advertising industry; he was president and founder of Ready Reference Publishing Co. in NYC from 1939–89. An active supporter of his class, Friedman was at one time chairman of the 1937 Class Fund. His family has many Columbia alumni: his father, William H. (SEAS Class of 1907); late brother, Leonard ’36, ’38 Business; brother, Arthur ’41; two nephews and a number of other family members. Friedman was an avid golfer and member of Old Oaks Country Club for 68 years. He was predeceased by his wife, Peggy, and a daughter, Linda, and is survived by his children, Carol Moore, Richard and his wife, Christine, and Susan Darnell and her husband, Ron; four grandchildren; and brother, Arthur ’41, and his wife, Cynthia. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester.

1941

James Dick, retired physician, Oyster Bay, N.Y., on June 5, 2006. Dick was born in Liverpool, England, and earned a degree from P&S in 1944. He served his internship and residencies at the former New York Post Graduate Hospital and University Hospital. During WWII, Dick was deferred from active duty many times but in 1946 was called to duty aboard ship to care for children and families. He opened his first pediatric office in Hempstead in 1949 and then moved the practice to Levittown, which remained active until 1994. In 1962, he moved to Oyster Bay and opened an additional office in his home. Dick retired in 2002 but continued to consult. He traveled all over New York State as a medical consultant for the Head Start Program and was the medical director of the Well Baby Clinic in Oyster Bay. He also was the clinical director of the Pediatric Endocrinology Clinic at Nassau University Medical Center and was chief of pediatrics at the Community Hospital at Glen Cove for 15 years. Dick was active in College alumni affairs and was class president. He is survived by his wife, Ann, and children, Deirdre Walsh, Bob Walsh, Siobain Feyler, Brendan Walsh, Alison Dick, Don Jeka, Margaret Cyphers, Jamie Dick, Leslie Dick and James Dick; 21 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to the Friends of the Children Fund of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Development Lock Box, 38367 Eagle Way, Chicago, IL 60678-1383.

1942

Seymour L. Halpern, retired physician, New York City, on June 7, 2006. Halpern was a physician for 58 years and a leader in understanding and promoting the importance of clinical nutrition. He served as a captain in the Air Force in WWII as physician in charge of a field hospital and was a founder of the American College of Nutrition in 1959, serving as its president from 1971–77; he remained an active participant. Halpern authored and edited Quick Reference to Clinical Nutrition: A Guide for Physicians, as well as articles, monographs and book chapters on nutrition, metabolism and cardiovascular diseases. He was an assistant clinical professor at New York Medical College. Halpern lectured internationally on nutrition, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He was president of The New York State Society of Internal Medicine, The New York County Society of Internal Medicine and the Food and Nutrition Council of Greater New York and chaired several committees of the American Society of Internal Medicine. Halpern was active in alumni affairs at the College as well as at NYU and Beth Israel Hospital. His first wife, Anafred Nelson Halpern, a pediatrician, died in 1981. He is survived by his wife of 18 years, Elizabeth; children, Vivienne, Ronald ’90 and Adrienne; and four grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to Columbia College, c/o Paul Staller, Seymour L. Halpern M.D. Memorial Fund, 475 Riverside Dr., Ste 917, New York, NY 10115-0998, 212-870-2194; or to the Seymour and Elizabeth Halpern Scholarship Fund, c/o Financial Aid Office, NYU Medical School of Medicine, 550 First Ave., New York, NY 10016; 212-263-5290.

1945

John A. Tagliabue, retired professor, Providence, R.I., on May 31, 2006. Tagliabue was born in Italy; his family immigrated to the United States when he was 4. In 1945, he earned a B.A. and M.A. in English and comparative literature from Columbia. After graduation, he won the first of his seven Fulbright study grants for study abroad. His overseas travels as student and teacher (two roles he combined throughout his lifetime) included Italy, Japan, China, Indonesia, Brazil and Spain. After teaching at Washington State and Alfred universities, in 1953 Tagliabue joined the faculty of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where he was the first faculty member to add Asian literature to the curriculum. He remained at Bates until his retirement in 1989. Held in great affection by Bates students, Tagliabue hosted poetry readings in his home that came to be known as the “United Nations of Poetry.” He produced six volumes of his own poetry, beginning with Poems in 1959, and was published in anthologies and other publications. In 1997, he told the Bates alumni magazine, “When the poem is ready, the poet arrives.” Tagliabue is survived by his wife, Grace; daughters, Dina and Francesca; four grandchildren; and sister, Erica Dorf.

1948

Nicholas O. Prounis, retired v.p., Palm City, Fla., on April 11, 2006. Prounis graduated from Stuyvesant H.S. and entered the College but left in his sophomore year to serve with the Americal Division in the Pacific Region. After the war, he earned his B.A. from the College and then in 1950 earned an M.S. from the Business School. For more than 40 years, Prounis was a v.p. at Norman Jaspan Associates in New York City. He and his family lived in Syosset, N.Y., until his retirement and then moved to Palm City, Fla. Prounis is survived by his wife, Rosemary; three children; and brother, Theodore ’50 Business.

1951

William L. Van Lenten, retired attorney, Rockville, Md., on July 12, 2006. Van Lenten was born in Prospect Park, N.J. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1954 and practiced with a firm in Youngs­town, Ohio, then attended Harvard Divinity School. Van Lenten returned to the practice of title law in Springfield, Mass., until he moved to the Washington, D.C., area in the mid-1960s. He joined the former Federal Home Loan Bank Board as an attorney and worked there until his 1991 retirement. Van Lenten volunteered as a docent at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Smithsonian American Art Museum and was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union. He was a life master at bridge and enjoyed birding. Survivors include his wife of 43 years, Sue; daughters, Amy, and Beverly Emerson; and three grandchildren.

1957

Richard P. Brickner, novelist, memoirist and critic, New York City, on May 12, 2006. Brickner was born in Manhattan. From 1951–53, he attended Middlebury College; after an automobile accident left him paralyzed from the chest down, he resumed his education at Columbia and was managing editor of Jester. Brickner was known for his fictional and nonfictional explorations of the accident. His memoir, My Second Twenty Years: An Unexpected Life (1976), recounted the aftermath of the accident, which took place shortly after his 20th birthday. Reviewing the book in The New York Times, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt wrote, “What My Second Twenty Years explores far more profoundly than the melodrama of winning out over physical adversity are the subtle colorations of the universal human self.” Brickner’s first novel, The Broken Year (1962), a fictional account of his injury, was adapted for television in 1963 as an episode of Alcoa Premiere Theater. His love of opera and the theater was reflected in two novels with cultural settings, Bringing Down the House (1971) and Tickets (1981). Brickner’s most recent book was the novel After She Left (1988). A former editor at Doubleday, Brickner taught writing at the New School for Social Research and at City College. He was a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review. He is survived by a brother, Philip; and sister, Marian.

1960

Robert J. Yoos, insurance executive, Baltimore, on May 2, 2006. Yoos was active in the Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout and in later years as an adult leader. He is survived by his wife of more than 40 years, two sons and a daughter. Memorial contributions may be made to Boy Scouts of America, Troop #732, c/o Ken Mason, 9125 Naygall Rd., Baltimore, MD 21234.

1968

Franklin J. Havlicek, attorney and former chief labor negotiator, Chevy Chase, Md., on August 4, 2006. Havlicek was born in New York City and raised in Flushing. A 1973 graduate of the Law School, he also earned a master’s in political science from GSAS in 1977. From 1978–82, Havlicek worked for Mayor Edward I. Koch (D), helping draft state legislation and executive orders and negotiate the city’s labor contracts. He was a labor executive at NBC before joining The Washington Post in 1988 as v.p. for industrial relations and environmental services. Regarded as a fierce negotiator, during his nine years at the Post, Havlicek sometimes clashed with union representatives. In 1997, he resigned during heated deliberations with the Washington Mailers Union. After leaving the Post, Havlicek became a deputy division chief at the International Monetary Fund Institute and was an adjunct professor of international affairs at American University. Among his private interests was recruiting children for the New York-based Louis August Jonas Foundation, which runs leadership camps for young people; he attended as a child. Havlicek’s marriage to Suzanne Havlicek ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife of 25 years, Louise Sferrazza Havlicek; their children, Lee and Ray; mother, Rosalia Zona; sister, Sarah; and brothers, Ray, John and Phil.

Lisa Palladino

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