Ben Means is a law professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law and was recently given the John T. Campbell Chair in Business and Professional Ethics. “The chair is of particular significance for me because its previous occupant, John Freeman, was the father of our classmate, Gretchen Freeman Cappio. John passed away on October 21, 2021. His death was significant enough to merit a full article in our local newspaper, The State.” Gretchen also is an attorney, practicing at Keller Rohrback LLP, where she is a partner in the firm’s nationally recognized complex litigation group. Gretchen is board chair of the Global Justice Center and helped found the Mother Attorney Mentoring Association. Her daughter is a Dartmouth ’24.

Lisa Catmull is a self-published Kindle author, a pursuit she took up in earnest during the pandemic. The books are the Victorian Grand Tour Series, and she has established a trademark in the United States, China, Australia, and a couple of other countries so far. The second book takes place in Mainz and is dedicated to Susanne and Half Zantop.

Catherine Bednar is living in Ipswich, Massachusetts, where her son, Desmond, entered kindergarten this year. “We have been very grateful for walks and hikes at Crane Beach and Appleton Farms throughout the pandemic. I’m a litigation partner in Boston, and the pace has been picking back up in the city. Court cases are starting to move faster and traffic, unfortunately, seems to be back to normal. Time to get back on the commuter rail again!”

James Budd writes with very happy news: “My son, James Jr., finished his chemotherapy on August 22, 2021—and got to ‘ring the bell’ at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on September 9, 2021, signifying that he has beaten his leukemia. He was diagnosed on April 23, 2018 (at the age of 3) with high-risk, B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. After his three-and-a-half-year battle, he has come out on top. He will still have his blood monitored at monthly visits to the lab for the next three years, but he is officially in remission and well on his way to being considered a ‘cure.’ We are feeling very grateful and very blessed!”

Gigi (Widham) Freeman says hello from Manchester, Vermont: “We left Brooklyn Heights in June 2020 and my husband, Ion, and our boys, Brooks and Gordon, have adjusted quickly to rural life. It has always been my dream to live in Vermont, and with companies being more flexible with respect to remote work, it allowed us to take the plunge. If any fellow classmates make it up to ski at Bromley or Stratton, give me a shout! On the work front, I have been in sales in business-to-business software as a service for the last five years and am currently with an enterprise video platform company called Qumu. Looking forward to spending more time in Hanover since we live much closer now.”

I hope all of us are looking forward to time in Hanover at our 25th(ish) reunion this July! Keep an eye out for more details and make your plans to return to Dartmouth July 22-24 to celebrate with our classmates and the ’96s. In the meantime, keep your news coming!

—Kaja (Schuppert) Fickes, 2 Bishops Lane, Hingham, MA 02043; kaja.k.fickes.95@dartmouth.edu