Class Note 1984
Issue
September-October 2026
Class Note 1984. “Aloha” and “A hui hou”: Greetings to the class from Maité Bonis, who calls the island of Oahu, Hawaii, home. Maité fulfilled a bucket list wish by celebrating her May birthday in Tahiti. So now we know where classmates who live in paradise go for the ultimate vacation!
Another idyllic spot worthy of an April mini-reunion is Strasbourg, France, with its distinctive old-town and blend of French and German architecture, from medieval half-timbered houses to pink sandstone Gothic structures lining the 16th-century canals. Melanie Meunier, who has lived in Strasbourg since 2002, played host to Nick Huber, Anne Arquit Niederberger, and her husband, Walter, who traveled by train together from Switzerland. Melanie, whose multiple degrees include a doctorate in American civilization studies, teaches at Sciences Po Strasbourg, has taken up competitive rowing again, and tours the Vosges and French-Swiss Alps often with the French Alpine Club. Nick and his French wife, Veronique, have three adult sons and live in Saint Blaise, Switzerland. Recently retired, Nick is returning to some of the hobbies he enjoyed at Dartmouth, including playing the piano (humbling and frustrating) and rowing (challenging on windy Lake Neuchâtel).
Another mini-reunion took place at a recent meeting of John Pryor’s wine club at The Aster on Hollywood & Vine. The toast of the town: Lisa Liberati and husband Michael Fogelman, who poured wines from their Sweetzer Vineyards in California’s Santa Ynez Valley for an appreciative crowd, including Dwayne Gathers.
Checking in from Jackson, Mississippi, Ted Cooperstein reports that having an in-house massage therapist (his wife, Pom) trumps an in-house legal counsel. Ted and Pom have two teenage daughters and relocated from South Florida in 2018, when Ted was recruited as a federal prosecutor focused on white-collar crimes and public corruption. Ted took early retirement in 2022 and now has a specialized law practice focused on federal appeals across the country, including U.S. Supreme Court petitions and amicus curiae briefs as well as court appointed criminal appeals. He also devotes time to reading, writing, teaching (basic criminal law and criminal procedure, most recently at Dartmouth), and participating in his local Masons lodge. While traveling this past year, Ted connected with Brian Kinney in Boston; Julie Levenson and Bill Hamlen in Hanover; Eric Dezenhall in Bethesda, Maryland; and Kaz Lawler, wife Anne Weinhardt Lawler ’86, and family in Simpsonville, South Carolina. If you find yourself on Ted’s home turf, he’d welcome a visit.
For Dani Klein Modisett, laughter is serious business. In 2018 she launched Laughter On Call, a company of comedian-facilitators using levity to create belonging, connection, and enhanced communication for everyone from corporate clients to caregivers. Dani has served as a member of the Milken Alliance to Improve Dementia Care, and a natural outgrowth of her personal and professional experiences is a TEDx Talk that launched in June on the TED Youtube channel: “What My Mother’s Alzheimer’s Teaches Us About Laughter.” Dani believes it will resonate with many of us whose families are affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
—Deana Washburn, 209 Casino Ave., Cranford, NJ 07016; deanadw@aol.com
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Another idyllic spot worthy of an April mini-reunion is Strasbourg, France, with its distinctive old-town and blend of French and German architecture, from medieval half-timbered houses to pink sandstone Gothic structures lining the 16th-century canals. Melanie Meunier, who has lived in Strasbourg since 2002, played host to Nick Huber, Anne Arquit Niederberger, and her husband, Walter, who traveled by train together from Switzerland. Melanie, whose multiple degrees include a doctorate in American civilization studies, teaches at Sciences Po Strasbourg, has taken up competitive rowing again, and tours the Vosges and French-Swiss Alps often with the French Alpine Club. Nick and his French wife, Veronique, have three adult sons and live in Saint Blaise, Switzerland. Recently retired, Nick is returning to some of the hobbies he enjoyed at Dartmouth, including playing the piano (humbling and frustrating) and rowing (challenging on windy Lake Neuchâtel).
Another mini-reunion took place at a recent meeting of John Pryor’s wine club at The Aster on Hollywood & Vine. The toast of the town: Lisa Liberati and husband Michael Fogelman, who poured wines from their Sweetzer Vineyards in California’s Santa Ynez Valley for an appreciative crowd, including Dwayne Gathers.
Checking in from Jackson, Mississippi, Ted Cooperstein reports that having an in-house massage therapist (his wife, Pom) trumps an in-house legal counsel. Ted and Pom have two teenage daughters and relocated from South Florida in 2018, when Ted was recruited as a federal prosecutor focused on white-collar crimes and public corruption. Ted took early retirement in 2022 and now has a specialized law practice focused on federal appeals across the country, including U.S. Supreme Court petitions and amicus curiae briefs as well as court appointed criminal appeals. He also devotes time to reading, writing, teaching (basic criminal law and criminal procedure, most recently at Dartmouth), and participating in his local Masons lodge. While traveling this past year, Ted connected with Brian Kinney in Boston; Julie Levenson and Bill Hamlen in Hanover; Eric Dezenhall in Bethesda, Maryland; and Kaz Lawler, wife Anne Weinhardt Lawler ’86, and family in Simpsonville, South Carolina. If you find yourself on Ted’s home turf, he’d welcome a visit.
For Dani Klein Modisett, laughter is serious business. In 2018 she launched Laughter On Call, a company of comedian-facilitators using levity to create belonging, connection, and enhanced communication for everyone from corporate clients to caregivers. Dani has served as a member of the Milken Alliance to Improve Dementia Care, and a natural outgrowth of her personal and professional experiences is a TEDx Talk that launched in June on the TED Youtube channel: “What My Mother’s Alzheimer’s Teaches Us About Laughter.” Dani believes it will resonate with many of us whose families are affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
—Deana Washburn, 209 Casino Ave., Cranford, NJ 07016; deanadw@aol.com