After graduating from Dartmouth Mariama Todd received her M.S. in publishing from New York University. Her latest venture, hot off the proverbial presses, is www.40muse.com, the online lifestyle destination for black women age 40-plus. She says it more eloquently than I could, so I’ll let her: “Everyone who knows me knows I feel strongly about media that speaks to and supports black folks. As I got closer to 40 I got tired of not seeing myself and my needs reflected in the pages of publications on the newsstand and online. I am stepping out on faith (and some market research) that others in my demographic feel the same. Check us out. Spread the word. Leave comments and suggestions for things you would like to cover. Most importantly, join me for the journey.”


In addition Mariama is a volunteer with imentor, an organization that aims to improve the lives of high school students from underserved communities through technology-enabled mentoring.


Matthew Bloch wrote in to let me know that Gregg Costa was recently nominated by President Obama and approved by the senate as a federal court judge in the Southern District of Texas. At 40, he is the youngest judge in the country at this level. Matthew and Glenn Ingram attended Gregg’s investiture in Galveston last year, and Matthew reported the following from the event: “It was well attended by more than 250 people, including 20 federal judges, a U.S. representative and all of Gregg’s family and friends. We were very proud of him.”


Co-edited by Elizabeth Greenberg, A Perfect Fit: The Garment Industry and American Jewry, 1860-1960, is now available on Amazon.com. Drawn from an award-winning exhibition of the same title at the Yeshiva University Museum, the book features essays from various scholars investigating the role American Jews played in creating, developing and furthering the national garment industry in the century roughly following the Civil War. 


I have also recently caught up with Carnell Chosa through Facebook. After graduating from Dartmouth Carnell received his master’s from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. After spending four years as a planner for the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs, Carnell co-founded the Leadership Institute, which he also co-directs. The institute is housed at the Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico.


Carnell also had some amazing end-of-year holiday plans, which include the honor of traveling with Comanche activist LaDonna Harris to the Bolivian Solstice on Lake Titicaca. There, Carnell will have the unparalleled opportunity to celebrate the solstice with Bolivian President Evo Morales at an honoring-the-earth ceremony December 21 at Lake Titicaca.


—Suzie Fromer, 26 Irving Ave., Tarrytown, NY 10591; suziefromer@gmail.com