Summer’s here and while Summer Carnival is kicking up at Hanover, I’m enjoying the marine layer here in Redondo, California. It’s been great being back here with the family full-time in our L.A. office.

Linda Salzhauer Swenberg shared the Mercury News story that our own Lt. Gov. Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis announced her bid for governor of California in 2026! Eli would be the first woman elected governor in state history! Eleni responded that she’s excited, and she’s still in touch with Julie Jordan Gunn, Patrick Munoz, Alec Scott, and a handful of alums from other classes here in San Francisco.

Lisa Collins, who’s been teaching art history, Africana studies, and American studies at Vassar since 1998, just published a new book, Stitching Love and Loss: A Gee’s Bend Quilt. Lauded by National Book Award-winning author Tiya Miles as an “achingly beautiful story of artistry, family, community, and place,” the book traces the story of a Gee’s Bend quilt to illuminate the perseverance and creativity of Black women quilters in a rural, Black-belt community. Gee’s Bend quilts are considered among the most important Black visual and cultural contributions to the history of art in the United States. The quilt in the story is currently at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where Lisa recently spoke in conjunction with the exhibit Called to Create: Black Artists of the American South. Lisa shared “I’ve been teaching at Vassar since 1998. My partner, Lee, teaches history nearby at SUNY New Paltz. We live in the funky river city of Kingston, New York, in the gorgeous Hudson Valley. Memphis, our oldest son, is a sophomore psychology major at the College of Wooster near Cleveland (where I’m from), and our youngest son, Sasha, is an electric guitar-playing ninth-grader at Kingston High School. All of us are looking forward to a summer full of art, music, and shows: Buddy Guy, Dead & Company, Alex G, Big Thief, Pixies, and (for the New Jersey-born and raised among us) Bruce. Personally, I’m secretly hoping for a chance to see Steve Lacy and Dijon!”

Yanna Yannakakis has published another book, Since Time Immemorial: Native Custom and Law in Colonial Mexico, from Duke University Press. It’s a fresh look at how customs were made and changed through time and by external colonial forces. Yanna said, “Thank you for your good wishes about my book—I am really happy that it is finally out. I am doing well, enjoying my work at Emory, playing pickleball (my new passion!), and reveling in springtime in Atlanta, which is hard to beat. My husband, Aiden, and I have two daughters, Marianna (20) and Maeve (15), and they keep us on our toes. We are currently in the middle of Maeve’s high school lacrosse season, which is a blast. We hope to travel to Greece this summer and see family after a long hiatus during Covid. I am in regular touch with Chris Gates, Anne Moellering, Liz Eilender, and Martha Boss Bennett—teammates and friends for life. I was last in Hanover in September 2021 with many of my former teammates to celebrate the endowment of the women’s lacrosse coaching position in Josie Harper’s name. It was an incredible weekend: an alumni game (hilarious) and a swim across the river afterward on an unusually warm fall day.

We’re a year out from our next reunion—35th! This one will be with the ’88s and the ’90s, so stay tuned for more information. Antonia Rutigliano Nedder will be chairing our reunion committee—stay tuned for opportunities to help make this the best reunion ever.

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