YAM Notes: November/December 2022

If you remain undecided over attending the class mini-reunion in Philadelphia next May, be assured that Ralph Hirshorn has created a splendid program in a truly terrific, beautiful city. There is something for every interest: art, sculpture, film, science, medicine, gardens, parks, food, religion, history, more history, even a penitentiary. And more. Join us.

Steve Johnson, artist for our 50th reunion book 12 years ago, writes that he creates, virtually daily, fresh artwork, dubbed Noodlings, experimental pieces shared on Facebook. Steve’s more recent books, Patent Depending: A Collection and Patent Depending: Vehicles, first and second editions both, can be found on Amazon. A 400-page version, in simplified Chinese, has been published in Beijing and a large gallery exhibit is planned in Shanghai.

Howie Richards has a new book, Economic Theory and Community Development; why putting community first is essential to our survival. It can be found at WDU Press Books or Amazon.

In the report on the 60th reunion, I note the inadvertent omission of Chuck Schmitz as one of the classmates who received the award for distinguished service to the class of 1960. Chuck not only chaired the Aspin Committee for many years; he welcomed recipients of the fellowships based in Washington at his Bethesda, Maryland, home.

Both Dan Horowitz and Tom Miller commend the August 15 New Yorker article on gerrymandering, featuring John Pepper’s son, David.

Six new obituaries have been added to the Class of 1960 website:

Brooke Alexander. Gallerist and publisher, Brooke was adviser to major art collectors, museums, and foundations. He founded Marlborough Gallery in Manhattan, which published over 1,500 books by more than 75 emerging and established artists and sculptors.

Walter Eckhardt. Director of the Salk Institute’s National Cancer Center and head of its Molecular Cell Biology Laboratory, Walter worked with Nobel laureates, both at Salk and the University of Cambridge. For decades he recruited to the institute the world’s rising stars in cancer research.

Gordon Fairclough. Trumpeter with both the Yale Concert Band and the Yale Marching Band, Gordon was a biochemist and admissions dean at Cornell University Medical School, where he taught and mentored generations of medical students. His longtime colleague at Cornell, as well as TD friend, Bruce Ballard, provided the obituary.

William Gulliver. Tennis, British mysteries, and Democratic politics, all crucially important to Bill, were secondary to his love of airplanes. Wright-Patterson Air Force, where he worked on and with aircraft, was his home away from his Dayton, Ohio, home.

Howard Levine. Chairman and managing partner of his law firm, Howie loyally served his beloved Chattanooga community and its institutions (schools, hospital, shelter, congregation) and Yale through the AYA Board of Governors. For many years he was heralded as one of “The Best Lawyers in America.”

Charles Sorrels. This obituary of Charlie, who died in 2016, has been forwarded by Guy Stevens. With degrees from Yale, Cambridge, and Harvard, Charlie devoted his life to the formulation and evaluation of US defense and disarmament policy. Several government agencies and institutions, as well as treaties, benefited from his award-winning expertise on Soviet military capabilities.

The number of “hits” on our webpage is awesome, but muddled or Luddite-prone classmates still ask for information which can easily be found at yale60.org: Tuesday Tea Talks, YAM Notes, Classmates & Activities, In Memoriam, etc. Try it out. If the challenge is daunting, ask a grandchild for help.

Tempus fugit.