Class Note 1978
Issue
May-June 2024
Greetings from Bordeaux! I’m writing this over coffee and croissant on the first morning of my retirement “victory lap.” Bob and I are on an eight-day mini-odyssey that will take us to San Sebastián, Bilbao, and Barcelona. Friends, culture, and great eating await us at every stop.
I know that many of you have already made the transition from the working life to whatever happens next. It fits differently for everyone. For me, so far, it fits like a glove.
Amy Simon Berg knows what I’m talking about. “Now that I am retired, I am able to enjoy mid-week skiing,” she writes. Amy spends the winters in New London, New Hampshire, and occasionally meets Mark Arnold to ski at the local ski area. She, Jane Kirrstetter Ingram, and Jill Eilertsen Rogers have met up to ski together every year since the end of the pandemic.
John Carney is taking a different approach to retirement. John, who has served two four-year terms as governor of Delaware and is limited by law from seeking a third, has set his sights on the mayor’s job in Wilmington, the state capital, which he and his wife, Tracy, have called home for 35 years. Local press have reported that John has out-fundraised his main rival by a 5-to-1 ratio.
Steven Damron is spending his retirement from the tech world in the United States writing books in Barcelona, where he has lived since 2020. Dear Mustafa, his first novel, just came out this year and is accumulating five-star reviews (one of them from me: It’s a terrific read). Steven is working on his second novel, writing a history newsletter, and perfecting his language skills.
Scott Marber has had his own adventures in language learning. “Just got back from several weeks in Hungary with my new bride, Elizabeth, to meet about 50 of her relatives,” he wrote recently. “When I was asked by her cousin how I liked Hungary, Google translated, ‘I love how the Hungarians are so generous and filled with a great spirit’ to ‘I love how the Hungarians are willing to share their blood which is made of strong alcohol.’ Both, actually, are true.”
Jim Friedlich, who doesn’t seem to be retired just yet, has been spending a lot of time at the theater in New York. Jim’s son, Max Wolf Friedlich, is a playwright whose latest work, Job, opened off-Broadway in September to rave reviews, including a “Critic’s Pick” in The New York Times. The play, about a young woman’s sessions with her therapist after she is fired, keeps having its run extended, so look for Jim playing the part of proud father for some time to come.
I end with the sad news that our classmate Jane Barry Hartwell passed away on December 7, 2023, in Portland, Maine. Sincere condolences to her family and friends. Rick Beyer is writing a remembrance for our class web page; please send him your memories of Jane.
Have a happy summer and 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
I know that many of you have already made the transition from the working life to whatever happens next. It fits differently for everyone. For me, so far, it fits like a glove.
Amy Simon Berg knows what I’m talking about. “Now that I am retired, I am able to enjoy mid-week skiing,” she writes. Amy spends the winters in New London, New Hampshire, and occasionally meets Mark Arnold to ski at the local ski area. She, Jane Kirrstetter Ingram, and Jill Eilertsen Rogers have met up to ski together every year since the end of the pandemic.
John Carney is taking a different approach to retirement. John, who has served two four-year terms as governor of Delaware and is limited by law from seeking a third, has set his sights on the mayor’s job in Wilmington, the state capital, which he and his wife, Tracy, have called home for 35 years. Local press have reported that John has out-fundraised his main rival by a 5-to-1 ratio.
Steven Damron is spending his retirement from the tech world in the United States writing books in Barcelona, where he has lived since 2020. Dear Mustafa, his first novel, just came out this year and is accumulating five-star reviews (one of them from me: It’s a terrific read). Steven is working on his second novel, writing a history newsletter, and perfecting his language skills.
Scott Marber has had his own adventures in language learning. “Just got back from several weeks in Hungary with my new bride, Elizabeth, to meet about 50 of her relatives,” he wrote recently. “When I was asked by her cousin how I liked Hungary, Google translated, ‘I love how the Hungarians are so generous and filled with a great spirit’ to ‘I love how the Hungarians are willing to share their blood which is made of strong alcohol.’ Both, actually, are true.”
Jim Friedlich, who doesn’t seem to be retired just yet, has been spending a lot of time at the theater in New York. Jim’s son, Max Wolf Friedlich, is a playwright whose latest work, Job, opened off-Broadway in September to rave reviews, including a “Critic’s Pick” in The New York Times. The play, about a young woman’s sessions with her therapist after she is fired, keeps having its run extended, so look for Jim playing the part of proud father for some time to come.
I end with the sad news that our classmate Jane Barry Hartwell passed away on December 7, 2023, in Portland, Maine. Sincere condolences to her family and friends. Rick Beyer is writing a remembrance for our class web page; please send him your memories of Jane.
Have a happy summer and 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