Following up from the last column, wherein I expressed the desire to highlight one or two classmates who were about to “retire,” this issue will feature the career of Glenn Britt. From an article in The New York Times in July, “When Glenn A. Britt got started in the nascent cable television business in the 1970s, no one knew whether people would pay a monthly fee for something that was already available free through an antenna. Nowadays most Americans do pay companies like Mr. Britt’s Time Warner Cable, not just for television, but for broadband Internet too.” The article goes on to say that Glenn will retire at the end of this year after several years of succession discussions, capping a successful 12-year term as chief of Time Warner Cable. During that term the number of TV subscribers grew from 9.2 million to 12.2 million, but the greater potential lies on the broadband side—broadband subscribers grew from 1.4 million to 11.4 million during those years. As Glenn stated about his retirement being a normal part of corporate life, and an opportunity to pursue other interests, “It’s actually not healthy for somebody to stay too, too long.” My thoughts precisely when it comes to Congress and term limits.


We have another classmate running for governor of a Northeast state (you may remember “Oz” Griebel’s campaign for the Republican nomination in Connecticut in 2010). Tom Wolf matriculated with our class, but I believe may not have graduated with us due to a two-year stint with the Peace Corps fighting poverty in rural India. Tom was the former state revenue secretary under Gov. Ed Rendell, then returned to help turn around a six-generation family business that was struggling through the 2008 economic downturn. Tom is now the CEO and chairman of the York, Pennsylvania-based Wolf Organization, a distributor of kitchen and bath cabinetry and supplier of building materials. In April Tom announced his candidacy for governor of Pennsylvania for next May’s Democratic primary, pledging to spend at least $10 million of his fortune for the campaign to oust current Republican Gov. Corbett. 


From Peter Pratt, “I was visiting recently with fellow classmate Bernie Wysocki and was impressed with his level of involvement in our local community, which is a great example for all of us.” Bernie shared the following, “I have joined the board of the Youth Leadership Foundation (YLF), a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that brings academic and character building skills to inner city youth. YLF offers programs focusing on challenging academics, personal mentoring, virtue education and parental involvement—YLF’s four pillars of success (www.helpingkids.org). This summer I helped with a new initiative: a vigorous six-week course in financial literacy for 50 YLF middle and high school students.” Bernie spent 32 years at The Wall Street Journal, as a reporter, editor and foreign correspondent. He’s now a partner at Eachwin Capital, an investment startup.


When you receive this issue in October there will only be another month to reserve a room at the Snow Lodge for our Yellowstone mini in late February. Contact me for details.


—Pete Webster, 17 Woodbridge St., South Hadley, MA 01075; weebs71@gmail.com