With the new year comes changes, resolutions and new beginnings. For me, it means starting a new career chapter after more than 17 years at Mattel. I couldn’t be more excited about the prospect of change, and I’m writing this from Xiamen, China. Stay tuned for more. But enough about me—on with ’89s with news!


Sports is something many of us did at Dartmouth, either on intramural, junior varsity or varsity or even after Dartmouth. Below are just a few who have kept up with sports, but would love to hear from other ’89s who are still involved in sports.


Fiona Bayly has been a runner since her days at Phillips Exeter; she’s kept up that passion and recently won a gold medal at the Aquathlon World Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The event took place August 27 and was a swim-run: a 750-meter open-water swim in Hawrelak Park Lake and a 4.6-kilometer run (on land!). Fiona says, “I wasn’t the fastest swimmer, but made up time on the run and even did pretty well in the transition, which is a timed portion. I snagged the fastest run-split of all the age-group females, from teenage on up and my run-split ranked among the pros. The whole thing was a thrill.” Fiona is now the 2014 World Champion Aquathlete female in her age group! In addition to running aquathlons, Fiona also keeps busy with a job at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.


Pamela Streeter Wheeler is the first woman ever to lead a professional sports union in the United States and, as director of operations for the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, she has negotiated the first four collective-bargaining agreements for WNBA players. Wow! More info available at http://m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/15/Game-Changer….


You may remember Chris Rorke as a quarterback when he was a student; Chris is putting those skills to work now as the assistant coach, quarterbacks, and passing game coordinator for Dartmouth football. I briefly saw Chris up in Hanover during Class Officers Weekend and he is doing great.


Pier Kooistra has been an English teacher at the Lawrenceville (New Jersey) School for a decade. Pier says, “I coach ultimate disc and team handball and teach sophomore and junior English, as well as senior electives on war fiction, personal essay-writing and award-winning contemporary fiction (Nobel, Booker, Pulitzer, etc.).” It seems like only yesterday Pier and I along with others were singing “23 Verns in a Van” on our way back to Hanover from Cambridge in fall of 1985, but that’s another column.


Scott McElhaney was recently selected as one of Jackson Walker’s 2015 Best Lawyers in America. Since it was first published in 1983 Best Lawyers has become widely regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.” Scott specializes in labor and employment litigation and has been living in Dallas since graduating.


Well that’s it for this issue. Coming up in future issues: Let’s hear from ’89s involved in music, whether you’re creating it, managing it or just playing for fun. It can be professional, your job or just a strong hobby. And yes, I may use this info to help recruit a band for our 30th reunion in 2019.


— Ned Ward , 2104 Graham Ave., #B, Redondo Beach, CA 90278; ned@nedorama.com