By Bill Sargent
Gerald A. Mason died on October 29, 2017. Jerry was an engineer and before a long retirement had used his skills for 29 years in sales with Hewlett Packard.
Fred Wakefield passed away on January 28, 2018. Fred had retired as a captain (pastor) in the Salvation Army. Previously he had worked in various journalism fields in Illinois, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Texas.
Ed Curley died on February 3. He founded EPC Labs, which he built into a successful international company, selling advanced sonar plotters.
Nelson Kasfir writes, “I had a wonderful four-month fellowship at Stellenbosch University in South Africa to work on a book on rebel governance and to discover many remarkably good wines. Liz, my wife, and I just completed a remarkable two-week trip traveling through both northern and southern Namibia.” Nelson adds, “I urge fellow classmates to put it on their travel lists for the scenery, the people, and the game.”
Steve Gilford adds that in addition to his professional life as an author and senior history consultant with the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, “For relaxation, I play in an Americana-style band, Jam Nation (mostly I play autoharp). We perform in retirement homes and convalescent hospitals. We donate our fees to the Sonoma County schools for music classes. In another group, Home Made Jam, I play each week at a Farmers Market in Santa Rosa and at occasional weddings, birthdays, and winery celebrations. Gerontologists warn that a great danger of aging is becoming cut off from social interaction. I seem to be avoiding that one.”
Jim Simon says of his new book, Eisenhower vs. Warren: The Battle for Civil Rights and Liberties, “It will be published by Liveright, a division of W. W. Norton, in early April. I have received some nice blurbs—from the historian Douglas Brinkley, the bestselling author Evan Thomas, and the former president of the ACLU, Nadine Strossen, among others. The audio book rights have been sold, an encouraging early sign of general reader interest.” Jim also notes that a Kindle version will be available.
Terry Shockey and Barbara send word that “It might be fun” for folks to attend the Telluride Jazz Festival, which occurs on August 3, 4 & 5.
Bob Killebrew reports that he and Doug Rosenthal “took time last August to make a trip to Cooperstown, staying at the Otesaga Hotel to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. I wanted to see my cousin Harmon Killebrew who is in the Hall of Fame, and Doug has been a Giants baseball lover since our days in Yale in 1957.” Bob adds, “After a delightful visit we drove north to Dorset, Vermont, to see old classmate Don Murphy and his wonderful wife Cynthia. At Dorset we had great visits to a local playhouse, and to Lincoln’s son’s great house. The three of us have been friends for a collective 180 years since meeting our freshman year in 1957.”
Dick McGuire writes from Abu Simbel, Egypt, “Ed Cussler and I are here for the mini-reunion. Where is everyone? Did we get the date wrong? Oh, well.”
Peter Martin has further proof that it is a small world. He says of my Rehoboth Beach address, “Vicky and I have great memories visiting 10 Penn from our days as young marrieds in Wilmington.” He adds that they were close friends with one of the three siblings from whom we purchased the house 32 years ago.
Phil Perrone reports, “Gail and I spent the better part of January traveling privately on an extensive trip through the Middle East. We restricted our travel solely to the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates to explore and to get a better sense of Islam. While advised that we might be taking a chance, nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone spoke English, it was meticulously clean and safe, the people appreciated Americans in a country with a 75 percent ex-pat population. Dubai with the tallest building in the world, plus Abu Dhabi’s opulence, was offset by the deserts of Oman and snorkeling in the blue/green, clear Arabian sea. Most of all, we were able to learn about Muslims and Islamic culture up close and experienced how much religion is totally integrated into daily life. Moreover, there was no evidence of radicalism or terrorism in this part of the Middle East. Grand trip.”
Frank Roosevelt sent a note, “I helped rewrite the textbook (economics/political economy) of which I have been a coauthor since the third edition (2005), Understanding Capitalism: Competition, Command, and Change (Oxford University Press, New York, October 2017) by Samuel Bowles (Yale Class of 1960), Richard Edwards, Frank Roosevelt, and Mehrene Larudee. (fourth edition).”