Class Note 1994
Issue
November-December 2026
Class Note 1994. Hi all.
The is the first of two class updates focused on those living in Colorado. More than 30 classmates live there. Sing along with me to the John Denver song, “Rocky Mountain High ….” Many describe Colorado as similar to the Upper Valley—except with bigger mountains, better winter sports, and more sunshine.
The one Colorado native is Jake Mortell, originally from Telluride. As empty-nesters, Jake and his wife, Lisa Koestner Mortell ’95, recently left the workforce and now are enjoying their life and traveling. They are excited for upcoming adventures to the United Kingdom, Albania, Italy, and New Zealand in the next few months. Jake recently ran into Sara (Welch) Lardner at Middlebury’s graduation and Matty Collins and Dave Fivek when they were in town for their children’s graduation from University of Denver (DU).
The newest Colorado resident is John Merhige. He and his wife recently moved to Frisco, following two boys at DU and Colorado University (CU) Boulder and a high school daughter competing in slope-style skiing. They love their new life in the mountains.
Several classmates teach at CU, including history professor Honor Sachs. With America celebrating her 250th birthday, Honor is in high demand, delivering several talks and consulting on museum exhibits with her expertise in early American history. Living in Denver, she is slowly returning to snowboarding and hiking and has even started fly-fishing.
Kristen Carpenter was recently named a distinguished university professor at CU for her work as Council Tree Professor of Law and director of the American Indian law program. She also works with Indigenous peoples at the United Nations and serves as a justice of the Shawnee Supreme Court. She thanks the Dartmouth Native American studies department for its support. Like Honor, Kristin enjoys mountain life, hiking, and skiing. As a former Dartmouth skier, none of this should be surprising.
Amy Palmer and wife Alexis Templeton ’93 moved to Boulder in 2005. Amy is a professor at the CU BioFrontiers Institute, an interdisciplinary research institute focused on breakthroughs in biomedical science and biotechnology. She also is the director of the college of arts and sciences honors program. This new role provides research experiences and academic enrichment for undergrads, a passion of Amy’s since Dartmouth.
Many more classmates have children attending CU, including Sheila Bassiri Ahmed, Darcey (Forbes) and Chris Bartel, Deb (Hafermann) Brandt,and Laurie (Senn) Zimmerman.
Thatcher Wine founded Juniper Books, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. It curates libraries for clients around the world and makes special edition book sets. Thatcher credits Dartmouth’s rare book room and studio art studio and feels lucky to have a career combining his passion for books and design. Recently he started a country-Southern rock band, Mini James & the Dustlighters. It tours in Colorado and Wyoming, with an album coming out this fall.
More on Colorado classmates next time. Keep in touch.
—Sean Kinney, 53 Lighthouse Lane, Moultonborough, NH 03254; seankinney2001@yahoo.com
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More of 1994 Class Notes
The is the first of two class updates focused on those living in Colorado. More than 30 classmates live there. Sing along with me to the John Denver song, “Rocky Mountain High ….” Many describe Colorado as similar to the Upper Valley—except with bigger mountains, better winter sports, and more sunshine.
The one Colorado native is Jake Mortell, originally from Telluride. As empty-nesters, Jake and his wife, Lisa Koestner Mortell ’95, recently left the workforce and now are enjoying their life and traveling. They are excited for upcoming adventures to the United Kingdom, Albania, Italy, and New Zealand in the next few months. Jake recently ran into Sara (Welch) Lardner at Middlebury’s graduation and Matty Collins and Dave Fivek when they were in town for their children’s graduation from University of Denver (DU).
The newest Colorado resident is John Merhige. He and his wife recently moved to Frisco, following two boys at DU and Colorado University (CU) Boulder and a high school daughter competing in slope-style skiing. They love their new life in the mountains.
Several classmates teach at CU, including history professor Honor Sachs. With America celebrating her 250th birthday, Honor is in high demand, delivering several talks and consulting on museum exhibits with her expertise in early American history. Living in Denver, she is slowly returning to snowboarding and hiking and has even started fly-fishing.
Kristen Carpenter was recently named a distinguished university professor at CU for her work as Council Tree Professor of Law and director of the American Indian law program. She also works with Indigenous peoples at the United Nations and serves as a justice of the Shawnee Supreme Court. She thanks the Dartmouth Native American studies department for its support. Like Honor, Kristin enjoys mountain life, hiking, and skiing. As a former Dartmouth skier, none of this should be surprising.
Amy Palmer and wife Alexis Templeton ’93 moved to Boulder in 2005. Amy is a professor at the CU BioFrontiers Institute, an interdisciplinary research institute focused on breakthroughs in biomedical science and biotechnology. She also is the director of the college of arts and sciences honors program. This new role provides research experiences and academic enrichment for undergrads, a passion of Amy’s since Dartmouth.
Many more classmates have children attending CU, including Sheila Bassiri Ahmed, Darcey (Forbes) and Chris Bartel, Deb (Hafermann) Brandt,and Laurie (Senn) Zimmerman.
Thatcher Wine founded Juniper Books, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. It curates libraries for clients around the world and makes special edition book sets. Thatcher credits Dartmouth’s rare book room and studio art studio and feels lucky to have a career combining his passion for books and design. Recently he started a country-Southern rock band, Mini James & the Dustlighters. It tours in Colorado and Wyoming, with an album coming out this fall.
More on Colorado classmates next time. Keep in touch.
—Sean Kinney, 53 Lighthouse Lane, Moultonborough, NH 03254; seankinney2001@yahoo.com