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CLASS NOTES
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
CLASS NOTES
day, May 30. The exhibit is expected
to be “Treasures from Romanoff Archives”
and should be fascinating
and informative. As far as I know,
our class is the first to be offered a
private visit to the Rare Book room
on the sixth floor of Butler.
Also relating to the big weekend,
I recently received a remarkable
offer from Eliot Hearst, who
was captain of the Columbia chess
team during the 1949–53 seasons
when it won the national collegiate
chess championship; he also was
captain of the U.S. Olympic Chess
Team in 1962. Eliot has offered
to hold a reunion event where
he simultaneously plays 10 or 12
chess games. He admits to being
somewhat hesitant of taking on the
contest because very few, if any,
masters older than 80 have ever
attempted such a simultaneous
exhibition. If you would like to
participate, or know of anyone in
other reunion classes who might
like to participate, please send me
their names and email addresses.
The Edouard Foundation
recently acknowledged the exemplary
life of Morton Freilicher ’56L
with a donation of $5,000, in honor
of his 80th birthday, to support
the activities of Post-Polio Health
International. When he was 17,
Mort contracted polio, leaving his
right arm paralyzed and his left
arm, neck and diaphragm partially
paralyzed. After graduating from
the Law School, he specialized
in trusts and estates, authored a
book on estate planning and was
an adjunct professor at Fordham
Law. After retiring, Mort donated
his services to the work of the Edouard
Foundation, which supports
disaster relief, medical care and
other services for the impoverished
throughout the world. In a recent
newspaper article, Mort told the
reporter that he attributes his
continuing survival to “staying active,
exercising his usable muscles,
benefiting from using a nighttime
ventilator, a wonderful wife and
plain, old-fashioned good luck.”
Keep up the good work!
Our class humorist and orthodontist,
Dr. Larry Harte, has published
a new book, Journey with
Grandchildren, A Life Story, which
includes a chapter about his intriguing
years at Columbia. I hope
the following excerpt reminds
you of what it was like to attend
the College: “At 17 and being
from Brooklyn, I was not quite
ready for the social aspect of the
education process. The kids were
dressed in white bucks, grey flannel
pants and blue sports jackets.
Fortunately, I do not recall how
I was dressed. It was a learning
experience.”
Circling back to reunion, as of the
beginning of January, the following
classmates have indicated they will
attend: Bill Frosch, George Lowry,
Jay Kane, Lewis Robins, Jules
Ross, Ed Robbins, Pete Pellett,
Jim Steiner, Donald Taylor, Ary
Zolberg, Joseph Aaaron, Morton
Freilicher, Larry Harte, Seymour
Hendel, Arthur Hessinger, Donald
Hymes, Allan Jackman, Jay Kane,
Richard Kleid, Richard Lempert,
Martin Saiman, Ken Skoug,
Robert Walzer, Dennis Adnreuzzi,
Gordon Henderson, Fred Ronai
and Eliot Hearst.
My apologies if your name is
not on the list and you are planning
to attend. You can make a pledge
to attend on the reunion website,
reunion.college.columbia.edu.
Through this site you also can keep
up to date on reunion events as well
as update your contact information
with the Alumni Office so as not to
miss any reunion-related mailings
or emails. You also can contact
either of the staff members in the
box at the top of the column.
I’m looking forward to seeing
you all!
54
Howard Falberg
13710 Paseo Bonita
Poway, CA 92064
westmontgr@aol.com
Every so often I hear from some
members of our class, and when I
do I am delighted, as I remember
them with good feelings even
though nearly 60 years have passed
since graduation. A good example
is Scott Glover, who spent the bulk
of his career with ExxonMobil.
During that time he was stationed
in Japan and Houston. He and his
wife now live in New Jersey. They
have two children and are involved
with civic activity as well as sailing
and boating. I hope that we will see
them at our next reunion (Thursday,
May 29–Sunday, June 1, 2014).
I hadn’t been aware that Jack
McGill died last year in Miramar
Beach, Fla. In July, Bob Ambrose,
John Lees, Chuck Graves ’54E and
Bob Viarengo, along with their
spouses, went to Florida for a joyful
memorial service.
In other sad news, John Brackett
Jr. passed away on December 8,
2012, at his home in Oxford, Conn.
He was on the varsity crew at Columbia
and continued his interest
and activity in rowing as a member
of the New Haven Rowing Club.
John earned an M.D. from P&S in
1958 and served in the Navy for
12 years. He, his wife, Nancy, and
their children later moved to Connecticut,
where John was president
of several medical associations and
was active in community organizations.
I looked at what he had written
in our 2004 Reunion Yearbook.
His thoughts included, “We have
no regrets about our life decisions
and experiences, and I owe a big
thank you to Columbia for allowing
me to spend nine formative
years under her guidance.”
John will be missed by many.
Peter Kenen died on December
17, 2012, after a battle with emphysema.
Peter and I were classmates at
both Bronx Science and the College,
and I had the pleasure and honor
of serving for him when he was
the news director of WKCR. Peter
earned a Ph.D. from Harvard and
taught at Columbia from 1957–71.
During that time he was chairman
of the Department of Economics
and was named provost. He
then was director of the international
finance section at Princeton
from 1971–99. Peter was greatly
respected as a result of his many
publications as well as his positions,
which included consultant to the
Council of Economic Advisors, the
International Monetary Fund and
the Federal Reserve. The last time
that I saw Peter was at one of our
Homecoming games. I know that in
addition to many others, I will miss
him. [Editor’s note: See Obituaries.]
I was happy to learn from Bob
Viarengo that he and his wife, Del,
continue to be blessed with good
health. He writes, “We recently returned
from a visit to India. While
we have visited many nations
through the years, we felt that this
country was the most complex and
interesting of them all.”
Another classmate who continues
to travel extensively is Arnie
Tolkin. Arnie is the father and the
grandfather of a group of Columbia
alumni. Like a good number of
us did during December (including
me), he celebrated his 80th
birthday. I hope and trust that many
members of “The Class of Destiny”
are having similar gatherings.
The above reminds me that in
about 15 months we will celebrate
our 60th reunion. I know that Bernd
Brecher is working on our reunion
program and would be very happy
to hear from you.
By the way, I also would be very
happy to hear from you for Class
Notes. Finally, as I write this toward
the end of 2012, here’s hoping for a
very happy and healthy new year.
55
Gerald Sherwin
181 E. 73rd St., Apt. 6A
New York, NY 10021
gs481@juno.com
Where there is news to be made,
turn to your favorite school in the
City of New York. It is Columbia
that makes headlines locally and
around the world.
One of our favorite professors,
Jacques Barzun ’27, ’32 GSAS,
whom many of us had for various
classes, passed away on October
25, 2012, at 104. [Editor’s note: See
Obituaries, Winter 2012–13 issue.]
On an upbeat note, The Campbell
Sports Center opened uptown
near Robert K. Kraft Field at the
Baker Athletics Complex. It is a
magnificent edifice dedicated to a
person, William V. Campbell ’62,
’64 TC, who has given so much
to Columbia Athletics and to the
University.
Columbia Engineering Entrepreneurship
Night was held in December
with a crowd of more than
450. Star attractions were many
trustees (including Campbell) and
“show and tell” demonstrations by
various entrepreneurs.
The Columbia Alumni Center
always has something going on,
most recently a special exhibit
featuring a history of the Columbia
Marching Band. The Center is
located at 622 W. 113th St., between
Broadway and Riverside Drive.
The Columbia Alumni Association
Worldwide Networking Event
this year included even more participation
by alumni clubs around
the globe and in major cities in the
United States. The Alumni Travel
Study Program also keeps getting
bigger. In 2013, planned trips
include “Wild Alaska Journey”
and “Africa’s Wildlife” plus a
cruise exploring the treasures of
Provence, Languedoc and Catalonia.
Included will be classical
music performances. It’s not too
late to get your tickets.
Believe it or not (as the saying
goes), the feisty “Class of Destiny”
(that’s us!) received another accolade:
We finished Columbia’s Fiscal
Year 2011–12 year as the highest
participating group in the Columbia
College Fund. A large amount
of credit goes to the Class Agents:
Don Laufer, Ron Spitz, Aaron
Hamburger, Larry Balfus, Lew
Mendelson (out of Washington,
D.C.), Allen Hyman, Dick Kuhn,
Elliot Gross and Jeff Broido (of
the West Coast Broidos).
We heard from John Naley
(living in New Jersey), who keeps
in touch with his Brooklyn Tech
buddies: Rod Thurston (retired
from Los Alamos National Labs)
and Tony Coppola (living in Wilmington,
N.C.). Keeping in touch
with your favorite correspondent,
George Raitt and Ron McPhee
send all tidbits of information via
Twitter and through their blogs.
Who says we haven’t caught up to
the modern modes of communication
Not needing a blog is Charlie
Sergis, our award-winning radio
announcer in New York and Los
Angeles.
We missed seeing some of our
class in San Francisco when the
basketball team visited the Bay Area
— Tom Morton (still practicing law,
not basketball), Bill Mink (one of
our favorite oarsmen), Ed Sacks
(enjoying the West Coast), Bernie
Kirtman (Bill Epstein’s pal back
East) and Jack Stuppin (continuing
to paint).
Other members of our class who
are staying fit and participating in
their community are Elliott Manning
(teaching at the University of
Miami), Ralph Wagner (living in
New England; we hope to see him
when he visits New York next time
around), Mike Vaughn (professor
of physics at Northeastern), Stanley
Friedman (also a professor, at
the State University of New York in
Brooklyn) and the former WKCR
announcer, Dave Sweet (living in
Warwick, R.I., and working in the
Internet marketing field).
We ran into Norm Goldstein at
an event at the Columbia University
Club of New York. Norm is back
in Manhattan from Hawaii, and he
promises to be more involved. Jud
Maze is our psychiatrist in Westchester,
and as for Al Momjian, we
see his son, Mark ’83, ’86L, more
than we come across Al (still in
Philadelphia).
A sad note to report — Ihor
Koszman recently passed away.
Condolences go to his family and
friends.
My favorite and talented classmates.
Maintain your equilibrium even
in the face of difficult times.
Believe that the glass is half full.
The 60th is looming closer.
Love to all! Everywhere!
56
Stephen K. Easton
6 Hidden Ledge Rd.
Englewood, NJ 07631
tball8000@earthlink.net
To follow up on our class theme of
traveling, I received emails from
Jerry Fine about his three-week
trip last summer to Patagonia and
the southernmost part of South
America, and from Maurice Klein
about his drive through Germany.
Jerry and his wife, Barbara,
started in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
and ended in Santiago, Chile. They
traveled around Cape Horn and
through the Strait of Magellan,
seeing some spectacular sites while
visiting a few national parks; they
also walked with the penguins on
Magdalena Island. Sounds like a
real National Geographic trip.
Maurice and his wife, Judy,
took an 18-day trip to Germany,
principally to visit the Swarovski
Crystal factory in Watten, Austria
(near Innsbruch), to participate in a
25th anniversary Swarovski event.
(Maurice is an an avid Swarovski
collector.) As he tells it, they had
been opted out of the Swarovskisponsored
trip, as it sold out early.
Members of the Class of 1956 gathered in November at the Columbia Alumni Center for a signing of
the 2006 book Living Legacies at Columbia, edited by Wm. Theodore de Bary ’41, ’53 GSAS, provost
emeritus (seated, left); Jerry Kisslinger ’79, ’82 GSAS, chief creative officer for the Office of Alumni
and Development (seated, right); and Tom Mathewson, manager of the University Senate office (not
pictured). Standing, left to right: Vic Levin, Dan Link, Ron Kapon, Ralph Kaslick, Al Franco ’56E and
Steve Easton.
Using ingenuity, I assume acquired
at Columbia, they opted for an
18-day trip through Germany, including
visits to Berlin, Munich, a
cruise down the Rhine and ending
up at the Swarovski factory for the
25th anniversary celebration. Talk
about turning lemons into lemonade!
In the process, they drove and
used public transportation to get to
most of their German destinations.
Maurice writes of his high regard
for the helpfulness of the German
people and was particularly complimentary
of their transportation
system.
As we are on the subject of travel,
I have to put in a few sentences
about my and my wife Elke’s trip to
China, as we left after the last Class
Notes went to print. We spent three
weeks visiting eight cities in China,
including Beijing, Shanghai and
Hong Kong, a river cruise down the
Yangtze River and a two-day trip
to Tibet. The most impressive part
of the trip was the building, road
development and dam construction
that have been done in the last 10
years. Even some of the smaller cities
have 20- to 30-story buildings.
The people like everything
American but are developing a very
nationalist attitude. All the young
people, of course, have iPhones,
iPads and computers. Everyone
under 40 wants to 1) own a condo
(bank/government financed),
2) own a car (bank/government
financed) and 3) travel — in that
order. It was an eye-opening education
in what can be accomplished
in a short time. Of course, there is a
downside to the type of government-controlled
economy under
which the Chinese operate.
A number of classmates take
adult education courses at Columbia
and other universities. Specifically,
Peter Klein and Bob Siroty
took courses through the Rutgers
adult ed program twice a week last
fall, thus missing some of our class
lunches. Bob reports that his course,
“The Spanish-American War and
the Philippine Insurrection,” was
informative, as he’d never heard of
the Philippine-American Insurrection,
and the Spanish-American
War really involved Mexico and led
to the United States’ acquisition of
the land that now is much of our
western states.
Bob attended an evening meeting
of the Columbia Club of Northern
New Jersey (of which he is the immediate
past president), which
hosted professors Richard Pious and
Robert Shapiro of the Department of
Political Science; they discussed the
presidential election on the last night
of the presidential debates, which
also now are history.
Further on the adult education
subject, Columbia’s Heyman Center
for the Humanities is offering
spring colloquia featuring Allan
Silver (“Friendship in East Asian &
Western Civilizations”) and Peter
Pazzaglini ’77 GSAS (“Philosophy
as a Way of Life”). Those who
attended our 55th reunion may
remember Peter as our outstanding
Saturday dinner speaker. Go
to heymancenter.org for further
information.
Our class lunch in November
was held at the Yale Club, with Len
Wolfe acting as host. In addition
to our New York City regulars, we
were joined by Maurice Klein,
who was thankful that it was held
on a day he was not working, and
David Schuster, who has moved
back to Manhattan, is more fully
retired and had the time to attend.
He and Mark Novick shared their
love of the New York Philharmonic,
which both had attended the previous
night (small world department).
David Schuster, professor
emeritus of chemistry at NYU, also
sent the following report: “On the
occasion of his official retirement
and 70th birthday in 2005, a full-day
event was held in David’s honor, organized
by some of his former undergraduate
and graduate research
students. This well-attended event,
the first of its kind in chemistry at
NYU, held on June 3, 2005, featured
an all-day symposium followed
by a large reception and dinner,
all held at NYU. The symposium
included talks by former students
now working in academia or the
SPRING 2013
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SPRING 2013
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