By John A. Wilkinson
Scat singing, vocal swinging, high kicking, and sashaying across the stage in her shimmering black pantsuit, the “Queen of Cabaret,” 98-year-old Marilyn Maye, belted out her melodies, bringing down the house with her version of “The Whiffenpoof Song.” This concluded our New York mini-reunion at 54 Under—the venue, thanks to Steve Baruch (see below); the meal, thanks to Rob Hanke.
Again, warm thanks to Peter Wells for the Yale Club and the architectural boat tour of Manhattan; to Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar Tang for the New York Historical and the Metropolitan Museum; Ted Stebbins for his tour of the American Wing; and another superb dinner at the home of Betty and John Levin.
Bob Reynolds writes from Charlottesville, reporting on his activities since retiring as professor of medicine and VP of information services at the University of Virginia. Woodworking, classical music, and fly fishing, as well as family, fill his days. “I can certainly say I have lived, and continue to live, a very blessed life.”
Chris Seger, keeping current with new technology, enlisted Claude AI to give him an update on Steve Baruch, an impressive feat and an even more impressive report on Steve’s award-winning second career as a Broadway producer, with 51 Tony awards.
With the payment of Class of 1960 dues, we received notes from Frank Williams that he is still practicing ophthalmology and skiing, Jim Sale expressing regret for his absence from our 65th reunion, and Guy Robinson reporting that the winter was spent studying French literature and colonial history in Georgia. Louis Tharp writes more extensively, reporting that he is retired at last after teaching Issues in Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion for 55 years at Long Beach City College. His recent books are Larry—The Only Lonely Shark, a children’s book teaching existential psychology to 10-year-olds; and The New Millennium Jesus, a fantasy novel with a modern Jesus on a Ninja motorcycle, a parallel of original biblical stories.
Eight more full obituaries have been posted on our website (Yale60.org). Please access them to gain a richer knowledge of the remarkable lives summarized below.
Rich Davison. Backpacker and camper throughout New England and Canada, Rich committed many years to protecting the community and environment in the Sudbury (Massachusetts) Valley. His many activities included the planning board, the school committee, the Unitarian Universalist Church, Longfellow’s Wayside Inn, and the Sudbury Foundation.
David Cohen. Trained as an ophthalmologist at Cornell and Harvard, Dave practiced at the National Naval Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic before founding Eye Consultants in Spokane, where he became a premier eye surgeon and, in his leisure time, a competitive sailor and skier. His temple, the Boy Scouts, and the International Wine & Food Society were among his interests.
George Forrester. George spent his career in banking, first at Brown Brothers Harriman and then at Northern Trust of California in Newport Beach where he was managing director. Working with at-risk children was his special interest, serving as president of Valley of the Moon Children’s Foundation and building a new children’s home for abused, abandoned, and neglected children.
Bob Johnson. A mechanical engineer with a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh, Bob spent his entire career with Westinghouse R&D, specializing in stress analysis. A lifelong love of trains made him an expert on Pennsylvania Railroad history, resulting in his book, Pennsylvania Railroad Cabin Cars (cabooses): Revenue and Work Equipment, 1860–1998.
Lew Lehrman. Business executive, investment banker, historian, and politician, Lew’s multifaceted career earned him national renown. He founded the Lehrman Institute, dedicated to examining economic and foreign policy, and cofounded the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Lew’s books, essays, and lectures on both Lincoln and monetary policy were recognized with the award of the National Humanities Medal.
Doug Logue. Biochemist and swimmer at Yale, pilot and ballroom dancer later, Doug studied medicine and psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and psychoanalysis at the Baltimore Psychoanalytic Institute. In his private practice, he specialized in acute psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. In his spare moments, Doug logged in 4,400 hours of flight time.
Monroe Price. Legal scholar, communication theorist, and institution builder, Monroe worked in Native American law, freedom of expression, media reform, and cross-border communication at UCLA School of Law, Cardozo School of Law (where he was dean), the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
Duncan Yaggy. After a short stint in banking, Duncan served in the Philippines with the Peace Corps, studied at Howard University, and earned a PhD in American history at Brandeis, while employed in health and human services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. All this before Duncan began his heralded 30-year career of service to Duke University’s varied medical programs and those of the state of North Carolina.
Tempus fugit, sumus hic.