Class of 1978

It has been a busy year for the generous and accomplished class of ’78 (alternative motto: “Retirement? What’s that?”). By the time you read this, Election Day will be in the rearview mirror. Classmates got involved in politics on many levels, including serving as convention delegates (Nick Sakhnovsky for the Democrats), campaigning for their successors (Rep. Annie Kuster, who retired from the House this year), donating to the candidates of their choice and getting out the vote (too numerous to list).

Class of ’78s represented in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Greg and Barb Kelly Hack came with son Austin, to support his fiancée, Jessica Morrison, an Olympic rower for Australia. Jess brought home bronze in the women’s pair in a heart-stopper of a final. At the racecourse Barb ran into Bill Bender, who was supporting son Billy ’24 in the men’s pair. Billy and Oliver Bub ’20 placed 10th in a tough field. Owen Astrachan came over too; according to his Facebook photos, he took in gymnastics and track and field competitions and chilled on the balcony of his pad in the 2nd arrondissement.

Rick Beyer’s book The Ghost Army of World War II was rated one of the five best books on art in wartime by The Wall Street Journal. It was the latest accolade for Rick’s tireless work, spanning 19 years, to achieve recognition for the U.S. Army units of artists, designers, and other creative professionals who used deception to fool and divert Nazi forces in Europe. In March the units were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest distinction the U.S. Congress can bestow, in a ceremony in Washington, D.C., addressed by leaders of the House and Senate. “We had to convince 350 congressional offices, one by one, of doing this,” Rick told The New York Times. The result, The Times wrote, “was a rare bipartisan feat at a time of intense partisan rancor.”

Sending “aloha from across the girdled earth,” Glen Swartwout writes from Hawaii: “I continue with development of the natural healing methods that saved my own vision and my life when I was a young eye doctor. After a decade focused on formulating more than 150 natural products, I’m on the verge of making them more widely available.” His work focuses on age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, which he says affects one out of seven people older than 50 and one in three older than 75.

Give a rouse for class copresident Chris Simpson Brent, honored with the Global Citizen Award by GAIA Global Health, an Oakland, California-based nonprofit for which she served as board chair. “Through her considerable energy and commitment and leadership roles on every committee from events to strategy to finance, Chris has contributed mightily to our organizational growth, vision, and impact,” the group said. GAIA’s mission is to “fill the gaps and strengthen the health system” in underserved African communities “in partnership with local communities, health officials and our implementing and development partners.”

Happy holidays! Send news!

—Anne Bagamery, 13 rue de Presles, 75015 Paris, France; abagamery78@gmail.com; Rick Beyer, 1305 S. Michigan Ave., #1104, Chicago, IL 60605; rickbeyer78@gmail.com