By Rich Banbury
Retire and go North. Not the typical plan, but the right road for some less travelled. A credible witness to this retirement theme is Ned Cabot. Having taught his last political science course at Trinity College, Ned and Jane sold their home in West Hartford and have happily relocated to Harpswell, Maine. There must be something very stimulating in the brisk winds of coastal Maine. In the autumn of 1956, our only two from Maine skipped through the Phelps entrance to the historic Old Campus. At the time of our 25th reunion, six classmates were living with the downeasters and brown bears of Maine. Surprisingly the number increased to nine by the time of the 55th. Ned presumably has raised that figure to double digits. By the way, although West Hartford is a wonderful town of about 70,000, with a well-educated, well off and generous population. Unlike Greenwich, however, there appear to be no multi-million dollar mansions.
In that Freshmen Facebook we had a long lineup, with an advertised number of 1033, from Geoffrey Abbott to Ben Zitron. Geoff eventually graduated with the class of 1963, while Ben jumped a year and graduated in 1959.
John Renner is teaching psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine, with a clinical practice which concentrates on working with veterans at the VA in Boston. In December, John was elected president of the 1500 plus membership of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. This professional organization works on a national level to assist in driving the public policy confronting and controlling opioid abuse, which is at an epidemic stage. This is a subject to which Judge Barry Schaller is also committed, by way of his teaching, lecturing and writing, including Veterans on Trial. Barry’s first novel, The Ramadi Affair, has recently been electronically published. The protagonist, David Lawson, is a decorated veteran back home from the turmoil in Iraq. When his name appears for appointment on the United States Supreme Court, complications and controversies arise, including with Lawson’s platoon sergeant on trial for murder, forcing Lawson to relive some of his own dark and haunting experiences from the fog of war.
There is a relatively new Program at Yale founded in the name of William F. Buckley Jr., with regard and respect for Bill Buckley as a prolific writer and outstanding intellectual. Dick West has joined the Board for this initiative, and notes that the mission of the organization is to encourage diversity of thought on campus and encourage alumni, particularly of conservative persuasion, to support its efforts.
You could make some money by betting that no mate is in the water more than Peter Parsons, including long distance competition and at times underwater. While training in a pool at a club in Baguio, Peter reports that he had an episode of disorientation, to the point that he wasn’t sure of the surface. Something of a scare, but a complete recovery. Beware declares Peter from his home in The Philippines, where everybody lives on an island.
Bob Sugarman has been hanging out with President Barak Obama in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. These chats with the President were in his capacity as Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Now that Bob has yielded that position to a successor, he is now allocating more time to train for triathlons.
Now let’s get back to class geography and the migration of classmates away from the Northeast. In the initial collection of freshman in the fall of 1956, there were only 9 Floridians. By the time of the 25th reunion, 21 classmates were residents of the Sunshine state. At the time of last year’s reunion, the number was 57. The most compelling Florida address is One Par Club Circle, in the “Village of Golf”, which belongs to Steve Snyder. A neighborhood with many birdies, excepting eagles. The numbers for California are higher. On our Old Campus days there were 36. By the 25th reunion, the California number went to 97, with a surprising reduction to 74 at the time of last year’s reunion book. And that brings us to the off-campus reunion in Los Angeles, which is on schedule for next October. The co-chairs are Bob Mallano and Bill Shipman.
Do not forget that we have a working website at yale60.org.
Stayoung (RB)