Class Note 1993
Issue
A few months ago I was listening to NPR and heard about a fantastic off-Broadway production of Romeo & Juliet where the two actors did not recite the Bard’s actual words, but rather various people’s recollections about what happened in the Shakespearean play. (Quick: How much do you remember?) Lo and behold, when the interview turned to the writer-directors I recognized the voices of Kelly Copper and husband-collaborator Pavol Liska ’95, who have been working together since their Dartmouth days. Their New York-based theater company, the Nature Theater of Oklahoma, is currently touring internationally with Romeo & Juliet and will be in Columbus, Ohio, on May 18-20, so check them out!
Tracy (Masonis) Trivas just had her new book The Wish Stealers published by Simon & Schuster. When a sinister old woman tricks 12-year-old wish-maker Griffin into accepting a box of 11 shiny Indian Head pennies from 1897 she soon learns these are no ordinary pennies, but stolen wishes that come with a horrible curse. Ancient alchemists, Macbeth’s witches and a first crush are woven through the story. You can read all about it at www.tracytrivas.com. Tracy’s other book, A Princess Found, a non-fiction story about an adopted woman who discovers she is African royalty, came out by St. Martin’s Press last July. Living in California with her husband and daughter Hadley, Tracy reports, “She loves it when I wear an old Dartmouth sweatshirt with the big white capital letters. She shouts out the letters that she has learned in preschool!”
Andrew and Laurel Baker continue to live and work at Loomis Chaffee, a boarding prep school in Windsor, Connecticut. He writes, “I run an upperclassmen boys’ dorm filled with 39 teenagers ranging from 15 year-old sophomores to 19-year-old postgraduates—and so by the time our son Bentley, now 3, enters his teens we will know all of his tricks, much to his eternal chagrin. When I’m not teaching, dorm-parenting or coaching (boys JV squash, sandwiched by two intramural sports, soccer and softball, the latter being the best coaching gig in all the land) I’m writing. Google Afterworld, Gemini Division, Valemont and Woke Up Dead to see some of the online shows I’ve helped with during the past several years. All in all life treats us well, although I always hear the siren song of Hollywood—and one of these days I’ll just have to crash against those rocks once again.”
Doug Chia, senior counsel and assistant corporate secretary at Johnson & Johnson, was named to the 2009 Directorship 100, which annually recognizes the 100 “most influential people in corporate governance and the boardroom.” (Barack Obama is on the list, so that might give you an idea of what’s going on). Doug and wife have had their hands full with Brendan and Madeline, who just turned 7, and Alex and Jonas, who just turned 2. Needless to say they’re happy to give twin parenting advice to anyone who needs it!
I got news that Holly Benson is running for office! After serving as both a state representative and then heading up two different state agencies she’s currently vying to become the Republican candidate to become Florida’s next attorney general. Best of luck!
Finally, I’m typing this up as the Vancouver Winter Olympics are closing down, which may be a good time to wish hearty congratulations to all the Dartmouth folks involved with this season’s sports extravaganza, including classmate Chris Grover, head coach for the U.S. cross-country ski team. See you in Sochi! (Which reminds me: If anyone is heading out to the World Cup, let me know!)
—Jeffrey Middents, 505 Ethan Allen Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912; dartmouth93@gmail.com
May - June 2010
A few months ago I was listening to NPR and heard about a fantastic off-Broadway production of Romeo & Juliet where the two actors did not recite the Bard’s actual words, but rather various people’s recollections about what happened in the Shakespearean play. (Quick: How much do you remember?) Lo and behold, when the interview turned to the writer-directors I recognized the voices of Kelly Copper and husband-collaborator Pavol Liska ’95, who have been working together since their Dartmouth days. Their New York-based theater company, the Nature Theater of Oklahoma, is currently touring internationally with Romeo & Juliet and will be in Columbus, Ohio, on May 18-20, so check them out!
Tracy (Masonis) Trivas just had her new book The Wish Stealers published by Simon & Schuster. When a sinister old woman tricks 12-year-old wish-maker Griffin into accepting a box of 11 shiny Indian Head pennies from 1897 she soon learns these are no ordinary pennies, but stolen wishes that come with a horrible curse. Ancient alchemists, Macbeth’s witches and a first crush are woven through the story. You can read all about it at www.tracytrivas.com. Tracy’s other book, A Princess Found, a non-fiction story about an adopted woman who discovers she is African royalty, came out by St. Martin’s Press last July. Living in California with her husband and daughter Hadley, Tracy reports, “She loves it when I wear an old Dartmouth sweatshirt with the big white capital letters. She shouts out the letters that she has learned in preschool!”
Andrew and Laurel Baker continue to live and work at Loomis Chaffee, a boarding prep school in Windsor, Connecticut. He writes, “I run an upperclassmen boys’ dorm filled with 39 teenagers ranging from 15 year-old sophomores to 19-year-old postgraduates—and so by the time our son Bentley, now 3, enters his teens we will know all of his tricks, much to his eternal chagrin. When I’m not teaching, dorm-parenting or coaching (boys JV squash, sandwiched by two intramural sports, soccer and softball, the latter being the best coaching gig in all the land) I’m writing. Google Afterworld, Gemini Division, Valemont and Woke Up Dead to see some of the online shows I’ve helped with during the past several years. All in all life treats us well, although I always hear the siren song of Hollywood—and one of these days I’ll just have to crash against those rocks once again.”
Doug Chia, senior counsel and assistant corporate secretary at Johnson & Johnson, was named to the 2009 Directorship 100, which annually recognizes the 100 “most influential people in corporate governance and the boardroom.” (Barack Obama is on the list, so that might give you an idea of what’s going on). Doug and wife have had their hands full with Brendan and Madeline, who just turned 7, and Alex and Jonas, who just turned 2. Needless to say they’re happy to give twin parenting advice to anyone who needs it!
I got news that Holly Benson is running for office! After serving as both a state representative and then heading up two different state agencies she’s currently vying to become the Republican candidate to become Florida’s next attorney general. Best of luck!
Finally, I’m typing this up as the Vancouver Winter Olympics are closing down, which may be a good time to wish hearty congratulations to all the Dartmouth folks involved with this season’s sports extravaganza, including classmate Chris Grover, head coach for the U.S. cross-country ski team. See you in Sochi! (Which reminds me: If anyone is heading out to the World Cup, let me know!)
—Jeffrey Middents, 505 Ethan Allen Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912; dartmouth93@gmail.com