Class Note 1986
Issue
Our news is from two newlyweds, who also gave us their summer agendas. New Jersey-based Leslie Lobell writes: “I got married on May 30. For my husband, Eric, and me, this is the summer/fall of honeymoons. We took it easy the week after our wedding, going to the Wolverton Inn for a couple nights (who knew that Stockton, New Jersey, would have one of the 10 ‘most romantic B&Bs’ in the country?) and then the Jersey shore. We were in Cape Cod for 10 days in early July. We are taking two weeks off in September for a ‘real’ honeymoon: We are still debating between relaxing in the Greek Islands vs. touring London, Paris and Germany. Oh, yeah, and we are doing a little work in between those things. So far, married life is great!”
Newlywed Kendall Burney Wilson wrote from Vail, Colorado, in June that her family was “hiking, rafting and playing a lot of card games. We are having a great time just hanging out together. In August we will venture to San Miguel, Mexico, for a week before returning to a busy fall involving college applications and ‘senior flurry.’ ”
This is not Mexico’s senor flurry, but the well-known-to-those-with-teens stress period that drives college applicants to illness, fighting with parents and little sleep. Though not yet a parent, I have been surrogate parent for college admissions to more than 4,000 college-bound students. I have more than 500 such teens this year in my SAT/ACT prep programs and advise those with juniors and younger to start the college credentialing process early. And plan to finish early: Most of my students are now on cruise-control, and more than half will apply early decision. It seems like more than half of them will apply to Dartmouth. Our alma mater happens to be a hot school. Most of us would not be accepted with our 1981 credentials if we applied today.
More from ’86s chiming in this summer: Shep Kopp is happy and healthy in San Francisco. His dad, Quentin Kopp ’49, continues to write to me and likes being an honorary class of ’86. Dartmouth’s associate dean of the faculty for the sciences David Kotz spent a year doing research at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. “My wife and I were Fulbright Scholars, and our three kids went to the international school and made many new friends. We loved India.”
“I never thought that fatherhood would be this cool!” writes Niko Skipitaris. “My wife and I are enjoying our 2-year-old son Loukas. Having the little guy hold my hand and say ‘Dada’ makes the stress of the day at work melt away.”
And John Patterson wrote from New York City: “In addition to my day job in interactive advertising at Meredith Corp., I recently published a children’s book—Roberto’s Trip to the Top—and am making movies with my film development company, Arcady Bay Entertainment. Our first film was Bridge to Terabithia in 2007; we currently have the film adaptation of another of my mother’s books, The Great Gilly Hopkins.”
—Mark Greenstein, 20 North Quaker Lane, West Hartford CT 06119; (860) 224-2144; msg@ ivybound.net
Nov - Dec 2010
Our news is from two newlyweds, who also gave us their summer agendas. New Jersey-based Leslie Lobell writes: “I got married on May 30. For my husband, Eric, and me, this is the summer/fall of honeymoons. We took it easy the week after our wedding, going to the Wolverton Inn for a couple nights (who knew that Stockton, New Jersey, would have one of the 10 ‘most romantic B&Bs’ in the country?) and then the Jersey shore. We were in Cape Cod for 10 days in early July. We are taking two weeks off in September for a ‘real’ honeymoon: We are still debating between relaxing in the Greek Islands vs. touring London, Paris and Germany. Oh, yeah, and we are doing a little work in between those things. So far, married life is great!”
Newlywed Kendall Burney Wilson wrote from Vail, Colorado, in June that her family was “hiking, rafting and playing a lot of card games. We are having a great time just hanging out together. In August we will venture to San Miguel, Mexico, for a week before returning to a busy fall involving college applications and ‘senior flurry.’ ”
This is not Mexico’s senor flurry, but the well-known-to-those-with-teens stress period that drives college applicants to illness, fighting with parents and little sleep. Though not yet a parent, I have been surrogate parent for college admissions to more than 4,000 college-bound students. I have more than 500 such teens this year in my SAT/ACT prep programs and advise those with juniors and younger to start the college credentialing process early. And plan to finish early: Most of my students are now on cruise-control, and more than half will apply early decision. It seems like more than half of them will apply to Dartmouth. Our alma mater happens to be a hot school. Most of us would not be accepted with our 1981 credentials if we applied today.
More from ’86s chiming in this summer: Shep Kopp is happy and healthy in San Francisco. His dad, Quentin Kopp ’49, continues to write to me and likes being an honorary class of ’86. Dartmouth’s associate dean of the faculty for the sciences David Kotz spent a year doing research at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. “My wife and I were Fulbright Scholars, and our three kids went to the international school and made many new friends. We loved India.”
“I never thought that fatherhood would be this cool!” writes Niko Skipitaris. “My wife and I are enjoying our 2-year-old son Loukas. Having the little guy hold my hand and say ‘Dada’ makes the stress of the day at work melt away.”
And John Patterson wrote from New York City: “In addition to my day job in interactive advertising at Meredith Corp., I recently published a children’s book—Roberto’s Trip to the Top—and am making movies with my film development company, Arcady Bay Entertainment. Our first film was Bridge to Terabithia in 2007; we currently have the film adaptation of another of my mother’s books, The Great Gilly Hopkins.”
—Mark Greenstein, 20 North Quaker Lane, West Hartford CT 06119; (860) 224-2144; msg@ ivybound.net