Now the news for which you have been waiting. While the pandemic has radically changed life on campus, some things never change. Middle Path remains an icon as we’ve always known it, Philander’s well remains undisturbed, statues and sculptures remain untoppled, and Art Hensley’s record-breaking 1968 triple jump of 46’ 4” still stands. Here’s more:
Peter Arango. No Oregon Shakespeare Festival, my daughter's stuck in Massachusetts, and the lightly organized 53rd reunion of the brothers of Alpha Delta Phi Class of 1968 at Rigali's home in Vermont all upended by disease and continent-wide social distance. Heartbroken, I put on my mask and wrote a novel ripped from the headlines, A Fine Old School, jamming assorted scandals from six or seven prominent boarding schools into one concentrated blast of turpitude. I had barely begun to sit back in satisfaction when Phoenix, my small town in Oregon, caught on fire; most of the town and 2,400 residences are gone. We were among the fortunate evacuees to return to a home still standing. I could be wrong, but I think 2020 has plenty left to deliver.
Andy Bowman. I am pleased to report that Mary D. and I both had and survived the virus in mid-March. The only long-term side effect is that her sense of smell is greatly diminished. We were not tested nor did we see our Dr. in March. She was confident that we had contracted the virus based on our symptoms. We both tested positive for antibodies in July at regular physicals. Not a fun few weeks, but nothing as bad as the case of pneumonia I had five years ago. We know who shared the virus with us and she also recovered easily. She had just flown in via Chicago and I would guess that was where she was infected. This was so early that masks were not in use and all the information was in fact speculation.
I have been hired, at a salary of $o.oo per month, to be the airport manager at the Indian River airport where I keep my two experimental planes. This is my first "job" in years. I manage zero employees and I am helped by many other volunteers. We basically take care of all the maintenance. Keeps me out of the house for a few hours each day. I made more money waiting tables for Saga Bob in Peirce hall. See you soon in Gambier we hope.
William “Gard” Hazen. I am in self-quarantine in our little house in the country. Jannie is still teaching. I manage to teach classes on Duo. Otherwise I am trapped with all my guitars and computers. This suits me just fine, but not being able to have the kids and grandkids here is a situation I could do without. “This, too, shall pass.” Please, take care of yourselves and your families. Peace.
Tim Holder. We adopted a teen-age girl, Khalida Yaar, from Afghanistan five years ago. She suffered unimaginable trauma as happens with young girls in that country. Since she has been with us she has made substantial progress in healing from the trauma. She has taken her American name Holly Holder. She keeps in close touch with her family back home, especially her younger sister Nigina, now 14. Holly pays Nigina's tuition and expenses for going to a good school. A girl going to school in Afghanistan is extraordinary. Nigina is very bright and takes her studies very seriously so we see a bright future for her. The dark side of the Afghani society is a prevalence of vicious brutality within extended families and the Taliban. Keep them in your thoughts and, if you are of a faith, pray for peace in their hearts.
Mike Johnston. Dear Friends, I am at the start of what I hope will be a long good bye. I have Stage Four brain cancer originating in my lung. Small cell. No cure. So everything starts converging and I appreciate my courses and knowing you and people we encountered at Kenyon as a guide to keeping calm and finding the value and wholeness of the life I have followed. I am happy that I became a teacher, an illustrator of learning materials for major publishers, a nonfiction filmmaker working in education and a doctorate in adult non-formal education teaching what I have learned. Here are some of my films.
The first shows funeral dances in Burkina Faso: It has been shown at The Ark, a children's museum in Dublin as part of an exhibit on masks worldwide, and is in the collections at the Bermuda National Museum and the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco.
The next two are teacher training efforts in Burkina. Samadou Coulibaly is an English language teacher at Bobo Dioulasso Universite. I was a Senior EL Fellow with a USDOS grant. The problem was materials. Paper was not available but computers and projectors were. So I taught basic filmmaking and editing of familiar objects that students could talk about with tourists. Samadou scripted his presentation and the dance.
I would love to hear from you. No telling how long but my spirits are up and I am happy and not least because I am remembering our times at Kenyon.
Richard Levey. I remain deeply involved in economic and social justice issues in Southeastern Michigan; particularly with the Fund for Equal Justice, Inc. [Treasurer] and St. Peter's Episcopal Church [Vestry] and its Peace and Social Justice Hive.
Assuming the Covid-19 crisis eases, Sigrid and I are planning to invest in a camper and head west so we can visit our newly moved sons [Tristan to Palo Alto, CA and Eben to Bellingham, WA]... and hopefully see some of you along the way.
In the meantime, we are actively zoom-ing with Jonah and grandkids in HCMC, Vietnam... and we were very moved by the Theater of War residency at Kenyon: 'Antigone in Ferguson' last week and we look forward to the Book of Job with Knox County residents in early November.
Finally...I remember SAGA-Bob as a benevolent overlord.... So, I do not know quite what to make of the efforts of current Kenyon students to form K-SWOC, the Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee, a union [affiliated with the Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers] in their efforts to negotiate better work-study pay and conditions.
Eric Linder. The last six months have seen undramatic changes, but changes nonetheless in my life. Like everyone, I see far fewer people in person, except at grocery or wine stores. Church, depending on the weather, has been an on-and-off thing, as all services have been out of doors. I have done more zooming than I ever expected to--especially since I did not even know what it WAS before late March. I have also recovered a life-long love of writing letters--that is to say, long or short messages on paper with a fountain pen--and using green ink, which I discovered in my teaching days for its soothing effect on students who had to read corrections and suggestions on their compositions. A psychological journal for teachers had informed me that RED was an ominous and threatening color, so I switched to green to see what would be the effect. It was magical--that is, until they remembered that I was making essentially the same suggestions. Yet it worked. Now, even my will is signed in emerald green! So my dining table is covered with reprints of cartoons for stationery, as well as letter-paper pads. Address books and stamps litter the open spaces, and I am braving the vagaries of the USPS, though not always successfully.
I get through as much of the paper (NYT) as I can bear to read. I have yet to finish my rereading of Moby Dick, but am plowing ahead in French to keep that language alive in me (Memoires d'Hadrien, Le Testament Francais). I am also, under the auspices of the Human Rights Campaign, working on a phone bank once a week here in Michigan in support of Democratic candidates for House and Senate. I regret that my response to the most recent call from Kenyon for support of the Kenyon Fund had to be "Not just now," since around 50% of my monthly credit card bill is devoted to charities and to political contributions. Once November has decided the next four years (at least) for the Body Politic, I hope to be freed up for Kenyon and other worthy causes.
Mitch Sosis. I belatedly found out that Dr. Tom Greenslade ’39 won the 2019 Millikin award from the American Association of Physics Teachers for excellence in teaching. Dr. Greenslade was my first Physics prof at Kenyon. So, I contacted Jim Babcock and Gary Reich who were Physics majors in the class of ’68 and we all congratulated Dr. Greenslade. I also sent him a gift. I had lunch with Dr. Greenslade along with Gary Reich during the reunion.
Frank Svec. Living in Las Vegas these past three years has been great. That is, until the Corona virus closed down all the entertainment. Gradually, the casinos are reopening and Carol and I visit them several times a week. Not to gamble, but to walk around the inside where it is air-conditioned. Las Vegas is hot! Most days in the summer are over 100 and we have gone over 160 days without rain. Normally we would travel in the summer season, but this year the only trip we've taken is to see our son in Palo Alto. Can't wait to get the vaccine.
Mark Sullivan. My wife Teri and I are adapting to the new pandemic protocols. While the rest of my law firm in Raleigh is “at the office,” I remain sequestered at home (goin’ on 7 months now!), with the kitchen table as my new desk. I’m still practicing family law, with a strong emphasis on military divorce issues, but the crisis has put a damper on my singing with the spiritual choir at the cathedral in Raleigh. I keep in touch virtually with classmates Dick Malley (my freshman-year roommate in Lewis Hall), Hunt Beasley and Ron Bliss. I’d love to hear from more classmates at law.mark.sullivan@gmail.com.
Jack Train. Well, I've finally retired! I had a fulfilling career of planning and executing new construction and renovations including Union Station, D.C., Grand Central Terminal, NYC, Four Seasons Hotel, NYC, and lots more. Interesting twist for a chemistry major! To celebrate retirement, I joined classmate Pierce Scranton for a "bucket list" fly-fishing trip for huge rainbow trout in Alaska near Bristol Bay. Now it's on to helping with preschool age grandsons in Burbank, CA., a far cry from Boston where I concluded my career, but equally satisfying. All the best to my fellow Kokes, AD's and classmates.
Tim Wildman. While these remain such painful and difficult times in our country and our world, my spouse, Carol Hovey, my brother, Jim Wildman, who came to live with us in Concord, NH from Brooklyn in March for the duration, and I have never been more grateful for community. Beginning March 17, Jim (trombone) and I (trumpet and piano) began a series of nightly "Driveway Concerts" with area jazz musicians who donate their time. My brother and I play, and Carol videos it on Facebook Live. After 100 nights in a row, we finished the string in late June but have continued periodic performances for socially distanced and masked folk spread out across neighborhood lawns and driveways. The sense of genuine community in this has been truly moving. Red Sox fans will appreciate that we end each concert with a rendition of "Sweet Caroline," followed by a round of applause for the heroes who risk their lives for all of us, then Taps. Be well and take care of each other!
