Class Note 1982
Issue
November-December 2026
Class Note 1982. Late fall greetings to all! Peter Cogan wrote from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he retired with his “rock star Ph.D. chemist wife” and 15-year-old son, after having “made [his] fortune teaching high school English.” Peter shared an email from a student he taught about 20 years ago, edited slightly for brevity.
“Recently, I was helping my 8-year-old with grammar homework and used YOFABS [Peter’s acronym for conjunctions yet, or, for, and, but, so] without even thinking. I was blessed in my youth with several impressive teachers, but yours is the advice I still reach back to on an almost daily basis. I’m currently writing my third novel.
“Every time I consider a questionable plot point or word choice, I picture you saying, ‘Write for your audience.’ When I build character profiles or include potentially extraneous sensory details, I ask myself, ‘What’s the deep inner meaning here?’ I’m sure you’ve had a far-reaching impact on many students’ lives. I’m another one. My 15-year-old is at a high school that was founded before the Church of England, and he’s never had an English teacher nearly as engaging as you. I was truly lucky to be in your class.”
Peter further noted, “I always liked writing ‘YO’ in the margins of student papers when they made a comma error. I am easily amused.”
These are rules for all of us to adopt. Here’s to your wonderful career, Peter, and to transformative high school teachers everywhere. I had one myself.
My husband and I visited John Henderson in picturesque Muskegon, Michigan, in July. Hendo’s family’s property comprises the “Barn” in a wooded glen and an adjacent shady deck on the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. We read; dined on the deck; visited a Marcel Breuer-designed church; spoke with Tom Cook in Owosso, Michigan, who has visited the Barn; texted with Muskegon native Sam Laurin about his no-longer-extant childhood home; and had gin and tonics on a gorgeous sunset cruise on Lakes Muskegon and Michigan. We talked for hours.
On the 90-degree day, we visited the terrific Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in nearby Grand Rapids. If you’re ever close, go. Gerald and Betty Ford were even more remarkable than I remembered from my teen years. We unwittingly arrived on Ford’s birthday and were treated to an engaging historian’s talk on the Northwest Ordinance. Look it up. It was way ahead of its time. Hendo’s career was in refugee work in Seattle, Thailand, and Myanmar, which he left when Covid hit. He is now a trained volunteer mediator in prisons under judicial assignments and finds the work very rewarding. Hendo also recently met up with Will Polik, a recently retired distinguished chemistry professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, who was written up in a recent class newsletter. Reports on others Hendo is in touch with must wait for a future column.
Speaking of retirement and new directions, please share how you’re navigating our seventh decade. We can swap ideas and travel together.
—Philippa M. Guthrie, 2303 Woodstock Place, Bloomington, IN 47401; (812) 325-7512; philippaguthrie@yahoo.com; David Mason Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net
Back to 1982 Class Year
More of 1982 Class Notes
“Recently, I was helping my 8-year-old with grammar homework and used YOFABS [Peter’s acronym for conjunctions yet, or, for, and, but, so] without even thinking. I was blessed in my youth with several impressive teachers, but yours is the advice I still reach back to on an almost daily basis. I’m currently writing my third novel.
“Every time I consider a questionable plot point or word choice, I picture you saying, ‘Write for your audience.’ When I build character profiles or include potentially extraneous sensory details, I ask myself, ‘What’s the deep inner meaning here?’ I’m sure you’ve had a far-reaching impact on many students’ lives. I’m another one. My 15-year-old is at a high school that was founded before the Church of England, and he’s never had an English teacher nearly as engaging as you. I was truly lucky to be in your class.”
Peter further noted, “I always liked writing ‘YO’ in the margins of student papers when they made a comma error. I am easily amused.”
These are rules for all of us to adopt. Here’s to your wonderful career, Peter, and to transformative high school teachers everywhere. I had one myself.
My husband and I visited John Henderson in picturesque Muskegon, Michigan, in July. Hendo’s family’s property comprises the “Barn” in a wooded glen and an adjacent shady deck on the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. We read; dined on the deck; visited a Marcel Breuer-designed church; spoke with Tom Cook in Owosso, Michigan, who has visited the Barn; texted with Muskegon native Sam Laurin about his no-longer-extant childhood home; and had gin and tonics on a gorgeous sunset cruise on Lakes Muskegon and Michigan. We talked for hours.
On the 90-degree day, we visited the terrific Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in nearby Grand Rapids. If you’re ever close, go. Gerald and Betty Ford were even more remarkable than I remembered from my teen years. We unwittingly arrived on Ford’s birthday and were treated to an engaging historian’s talk on the Northwest Ordinance. Look it up. It was way ahead of its time. Hendo’s career was in refugee work in Seattle, Thailand, and Myanmar, which he left when Covid hit. He is now a trained volunteer mediator in prisons under judicial assignments and finds the work very rewarding. Hendo also recently met up with Will Polik, a recently retired distinguished chemistry professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, who was written up in a recent class newsletter. Reports on others Hendo is in touch with must wait for a future column.
Speaking of retirement and new directions, please share how you’re navigating our seventh decade. We can swap ideas and travel together.
—Philippa M. Guthrie, 2303 Woodstock Place, Bloomington, IN 47401; (812) 325-7512; philippaguthrie@yahoo.com; David Mason Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net