Class Note 1994
Issue
March-April 2020
Hi, class of ’94. Let’s jump right into three nuggets of news.
This past year, Harvard University Press published the newest book by classmate Sarah E. Wagner. The book, What Remains: Bringing America’s Missing Home from the Vietnam War, has been part of Sarah’s life for more than a decade, with her research beginning back in 2008. According to the publisher, Sarah worked “closely with veterans, members of the military, policy makers, and forensic scientists, as well as families and loved ones of the missing.” Through the portraits of several veterans and their families, as well as the work of forensic scientists seeking to identify remains, Wagner explores the ongoing toll of the Vietnam War.
At heart, Sarah is a social anthropologist who is nothing short of an expert in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United States, and the effects of war. Her interests and expertise have guided her throughout her career, which includes earning a Ph.D. at Harvard University, beginning in her current position as an associate professor of anthropology at George Washington University, and, of course, tackling her research and writing on important and weighty cultural issues.
Suzie Fromer sends an update of her latest endeavors, many of which are rifts on interests from her Dartmouth days. She writes, “I’ve actually recently returned to jewelry making after a long hiatus; back at Dartmouth I worked for four years as a student teaching assistant in the Clafin jewelry studio in the basement of the Hop. Pretty sure I’m not allowed to have an acetylene torch in the house, so I’ve gotten into beading as a less risky jewelry endeavor, and I’ve recently even opened up my own Etsy shop, LittleHookCo, www.etsy.com/shop/LittleHookCo.”
Suzie’s update includes so many projects and causes that I feel shamed by my own lazy life! She has crafted a line of awareness jewelry pieces for causes such as food allergies and autism pride; volunteers at a local repair café, where her free repairs keep things out of the landfills; chairs the board of the Irvington, New York, farmers market; and helps organize sustainability initiatives with action, such as compost collection and carting. What is she not doing? She is no longer writing this column bimonthly (which she did faithfully for 10 years)!
I received an update from our class contact at Dartmouth Alumni Magazine with exciting news about Matthew Zavod. After serenading the throngs as a member of the Dartmouth Aires, Matt studied medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. Now Matt is not only a practicing otolaryngologist and plastic surgeon in Woodland, California, but also a children’s book author. Dr. Ridiculopickulopot and the Shot by our very own Doc Zavod was published in October 2019. The book helps ease the anxiety of the dreaded “shot visit” that parents and young patients know all too well. Matt uses the humorous story to relieve children’s trepidations by showing them that doctors and shots need not be feared. Congratulations on the adorable and helpful book, Matt.
Now that a new year and decade are solidly underway, I invite you to share a brief overview of the past decade or even the anticipated events of the next decade. Either way, aim for a several-sentence snapshot of life, longer than a tweet but shorter than a soapbox Facebook tirade. Send them to me, and we’ll all enjoy reading the news in the next iteration of Class Notes.
—Laura Hardegree Davis, 520 Meadowlark Lane, Brentwood, TN 37027; lauradavis723@mac.com
This past year, Harvard University Press published the newest book by classmate Sarah E. Wagner. The book, What Remains: Bringing America’s Missing Home from the Vietnam War, has been part of Sarah’s life for more than a decade, with her research beginning back in 2008. According to the publisher, Sarah worked “closely with veterans, members of the military, policy makers, and forensic scientists, as well as families and loved ones of the missing.” Through the portraits of several veterans and their families, as well as the work of forensic scientists seeking to identify remains, Wagner explores the ongoing toll of the Vietnam War.
At heart, Sarah is a social anthropologist who is nothing short of an expert in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United States, and the effects of war. Her interests and expertise have guided her throughout her career, which includes earning a Ph.D. at Harvard University, beginning in her current position as an associate professor of anthropology at George Washington University, and, of course, tackling her research and writing on important and weighty cultural issues.
Suzie Fromer sends an update of her latest endeavors, many of which are rifts on interests from her Dartmouth days. She writes, “I’ve actually recently returned to jewelry making after a long hiatus; back at Dartmouth I worked for four years as a student teaching assistant in the Clafin jewelry studio in the basement of the Hop. Pretty sure I’m not allowed to have an acetylene torch in the house, so I’ve gotten into beading as a less risky jewelry endeavor, and I’ve recently even opened up my own Etsy shop, LittleHookCo, www.etsy.com/shop/LittleHookCo.”
Suzie’s update includes so many projects and causes that I feel shamed by my own lazy life! She has crafted a line of awareness jewelry pieces for causes such as food allergies and autism pride; volunteers at a local repair café, where her free repairs keep things out of the landfills; chairs the board of the Irvington, New York, farmers market; and helps organize sustainability initiatives with action, such as compost collection and carting. What is she not doing? She is no longer writing this column bimonthly (which she did faithfully for 10 years)!
I received an update from our class contact at Dartmouth Alumni Magazine with exciting news about Matthew Zavod. After serenading the throngs as a member of the Dartmouth Aires, Matt studied medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. Now Matt is not only a practicing otolaryngologist and plastic surgeon in Woodland, California, but also a children’s book author. Dr. Ridiculopickulopot and the Shot by our very own Doc Zavod was published in October 2019. The book helps ease the anxiety of the dreaded “shot visit” that parents and young patients know all too well. Matt uses the humorous story to relieve children’s trepidations by showing them that doctors and shots need not be feared. Congratulations on the adorable and helpful book, Matt.
Now that a new year and decade are solidly underway, I invite you to share a brief overview of the past decade or even the anticipated events of the next decade. Either way, aim for a several-sentence snapshot of life, longer than a tweet but shorter than a soapbox Facebook tirade. Send them to me, and we’ll all enjoy reading the news in the next iteration of Class Notes.
—Laura Hardegree Davis, 520 Meadowlark Lane, Brentwood, TN 37027; lauradavis723@mac.com