Class of ’59 – November/December 2010

“I enjoyed seeing everyone looking so happy and fit on those well-made reunion DVDs, and will definitely try to make the 55^th,” writes George Ladas—one of many happy, positive reactions to the DVDs that arrived in our mailboxes this summer. Kudos to those who worked so diligently and with such resolve to bring this project to fruition.

“I really enjoyed watching the revival of Romp ‘n Stomp,” says Seth Newberger. “It is a wonderful flashback, reminding me of all the classes I had with the great professors of our time.” And thanks in no small part to the efforts of Harry Petchesky and others, today’s students have the chance to experience the spirit of Romp ‘n Stomp: The English department is offering a new course this fall, open to Cornell students at all levels—English 2750: Poetry and Song, taught by English professor Roger Gilbert. According to Cornell Chronicle, the course explores literature through verse and music. It largely focuses on the intricacies of language and verse form that make for a great lyric, whether by Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton or Stephen Sondheim. “It is good to know that our efforts have borne some fruit,” says Harry, who hopes to attend a session of the course.

Our 50^th reunion was the first reunion Bill Day had attended without his wife Sue Phelps Day ’60. She was too week to attend, and shortly afterwards they learned that she had lymphoma. Several months before, Bill and Sue had sold their house in Avon, CT, with a closing date set for late June. Their plans were to move to a house they had bought in Kensington, CA. “We decided to stay with the move plan and start treatments in California. Fortunately, our daughter (Carolyn Day Flowers ’89) got Sue pre-admitted to the University of California at San Francisco, one of the top ten hospitals in the nation for cancer treatment. When we landed there on June 30 we went straight to UCSF, where they started chemotherapy immediately. By December, a scan showed that the chemo had worked and Sue was cancer free. Then after another round of chemo and a month of radiation treatments to reduce the risk of a recurrence, by the end of January it was over.

“We had a nice lunch with Don ’58 and Dale Rogers Marshall, who live near us, to welcome us to the area,” continues Bill. “Meanwhile, Sue was in charge of running her the Class of 60’s 50^th reunion. As she said, it was good therapy that she had to work so much on the planning of it by computer and phone, since she was basically quarantined for several months due to swine flu concerns while her immune system was so compromised by the chemo. Now, with Sue’s health restored, reunion over and renovations on our ‘new’ 1932 house complete, we are getting on with life and we’d be happy to host 59ers who might come to the San Francisco area.”

Bill is one of our classmates on University Council. Others are Ellie Applewhaite, Nora Smokler Barron, Lois Ullman Berkowitz, Dave Dunlop, Steve Friedman, Barbara Hirsch Kaplan, Bill Kingston, Harry Petchesky, Alan Rosenthal, George Schneider and Dick Vincent.

Gwen Woodson Fraze and her artist husband, Denny, went to Italy for two weeks in late May to see “the big, wonderful Caravaggio exhibit in Rome, Ostia Antica, then to a luxurious beach resort about two hours north of Rome for a week. We took day trips to nearby interesting towns with six other North Americans and a great English-speaking guide.  When we returned to Rome, Denny's son and daughter surprised him at our hotel, where they stayed with us for the remaining four days, and were even on the plane with us as far as Washington, D.C. going back home to Amarillo.  He was thrilled, of course, and I was ‘in on it.’”

Kent and Anne Townsend Salisbury took a 7,000-mile-plus loop trip around the US, visiting 23 states and many National Parks. They also visited with Stephanie Greene in Santa Fe; the two women were roommates at Cornell. Anne is active in several organizations in the Finger Lakes Region, including the Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival and Sampson Theatre in Penn Yan. Phil Yarnell participated in the spring voyage of Semester at Sea as one of the life-long learners. He reports that the 109-day journey around the world, together with some 350 college students, was “extremely worthwhile.” Adalberto Stratta’s recent travels have included trips to Las Vegas to see three of his sons, who work for Wynn. Naomi Meltzer Rubin—who in April had a solo art show, “Landscapes Near and Far,” at Tyme Gallery in Havertown, PA—went to London this year on a theater trip and to Alaska in summer 2009. Also traveling to Alaska last year was Ardith Wenz Nance.

* Jenny Tesar, 97A Chestnut Hill Village, Bethel, CT 06801; tel., (203) 792-8237; e-mail, jet24@cornell.edu.