Class Note 1981
Issue
Sept - Oct 2015
This is the last Class Notes column I write. Brian Cusack and I are moving on to greater things. As a direct result of our stint as co-secretaries, Brian has been tapped as the next editor-in-chief of The Boston Globe and I have been asked to head several Pulitzer Prize juries.
It is hard to come back to reality after our 35th reunion. “Best reunion ever” was the most common refrain heard as the weekend winded down. If you were there, you knew. If not, just ask anyone who went. It was so much fun, and our class is such a great group of people to hang out with. We owe a huge thank you to reunion chair Rick Silverman, who inspired a terrific group of classmates on the reunion committee, worked alongside them at every step and was a masterful master of ceremonies. Special thanks also to Lynne Gaudet, who orchestrated the event programming and food, and to Claudia Sweeney Weed, who as reunion treasurer had to keep tabs on more than you can imagine.
I wish I could’ve done everything, but of course there were many simultaneous events. Some of the highest of the highlights for me were witnessing an amazing TEDx panel (see our class website), gathering for a class photo in front of Dartmouth Hall, posing on the Richardson steps with four classes of Rapiers for an encore taunt of “Hey Wheeler, you suck!” and hanging out at the tent every night till after midnight. The weekend’s most poignant moment was hearing a replay of Kemeny’s Commencement address at Saturday’s dinner on the Bema. We sat in rapt attention just as we did 34 years ago, but this time the message struck even deeper.
It is always good to see old friends. But it was a testament to the pervasive spirit of camaraderie to have so many great conversations with classmates I met for the first time. (At least I think it was the first time—maybe at our 55th reunion I’ll think I’m meeting everyone for the first time.) I chatted with Kim Dunn, who came from Alaska with her daughters, and Mark Uhrynuk, who came from Hong Kong with his. I talked turkey with Lydia Herman Lazar about university fundraising challenges and with Sue Nutt about N.Y.C. architecture. I had fun talking to Bill Brown, Steve Quatrano and Tom Conner. I am certain that Tom Ryan and Maribeth Hourihan must be the world’s hippest couple of cardiologists. I got to know Cathy Haley Rost, who created magic on a limited decorations budget, and Polly Duncan Collum, who conducted a beautiful memorial service for departed classmates. And I finally disclosed the truth to Jeff Kemp about the bizarre living room shrine of Kemp family portraits maintained by my parents when I was a boy.
Veronica Wessels and Emil Miskovsky are taking over as your new co-secretaries. Be good to them by sending lots of news. And I may just have a Pulitzer waiting for them.
—Robert Goldbloom, 324 Warburton Ave., Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706; (914) 231-5117; robertgoldbloom@gmail.com; Brian Cusack, 26 Ocean Ave., Marblehead, MA 01945; (617) 710-7228; briancusack13@gmail.com
It is hard to come back to reality after our 35th reunion. “Best reunion ever” was the most common refrain heard as the weekend winded down. If you were there, you knew. If not, just ask anyone who went. It was so much fun, and our class is such a great group of people to hang out with. We owe a huge thank you to reunion chair Rick Silverman, who inspired a terrific group of classmates on the reunion committee, worked alongside them at every step and was a masterful master of ceremonies. Special thanks also to Lynne Gaudet, who orchestrated the event programming and food, and to Claudia Sweeney Weed, who as reunion treasurer had to keep tabs on more than you can imagine.
I wish I could’ve done everything, but of course there were many simultaneous events. Some of the highest of the highlights for me were witnessing an amazing TEDx panel (see our class website), gathering for a class photo in front of Dartmouth Hall, posing on the Richardson steps with four classes of Rapiers for an encore taunt of “Hey Wheeler, you suck!” and hanging out at the tent every night till after midnight. The weekend’s most poignant moment was hearing a replay of Kemeny’s Commencement address at Saturday’s dinner on the Bema. We sat in rapt attention just as we did 34 years ago, but this time the message struck even deeper.
It is always good to see old friends. But it was a testament to the pervasive spirit of camaraderie to have so many great conversations with classmates I met for the first time. (At least I think it was the first time—maybe at our 55th reunion I’ll think I’m meeting everyone for the first time.) I chatted with Kim Dunn, who came from Alaska with her daughters, and Mark Uhrynuk, who came from Hong Kong with his. I talked turkey with Lydia Herman Lazar about university fundraising challenges and with Sue Nutt about N.Y.C. architecture. I had fun talking to Bill Brown, Steve Quatrano and Tom Conner. I am certain that Tom Ryan and Maribeth Hourihan must be the world’s hippest couple of cardiologists. I got to know Cathy Haley Rost, who created magic on a limited decorations budget, and Polly Duncan Collum, who conducted a beautiful memorial service for departed classmates. And I finally disclosed the truth to Jeff Kemp about the bizarre living room shrine of Kemp family portraits maintained by my parents when I was a boy.
Veronica Wessels and Emil Miskovsky are taking over as your new co-secretaries. Be good to them by sending lots of news. And I may just have a Pulitzer waiting for them.
—Robert Goldbloom, 324 Warburton Ave., Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706; (914) 231-5117; robertgoldbloom@gmail.com; Brian Cusack, 26 Ocean Ave., Marblehead, MA 01945; (617) 710-7228; briancusack13@gmail.com