Information about the Reunion
will be added to the site
as it becomes available.

Reunion Date
Weekend of
July 6^th, 7^th and 8^th

Events Schedule Friday Night
The Patterson Club
1118 Cross Highway
Fairfield, CT 06824
Time - 6:30pm until late.
Socialize the Evening/Night
Grub Enough to Satisfy
Beverages - $
No Formal Program

Saturday Night
The Red Barn
292 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
Time - 6:30pm until late.
Dinner/Dance
Adult Beverages - $
SHORT Formal Program
OPEN MICROPHONE SESSION!

Sunday
Compo Beach Cookout
Meat, Vegan and
Condiments Provided
BYOB
(i.e., Bring Your Own Beverages)

To those wondering, the Friday, Saturday and Sunday will all be on the same weekend.

Links of Interest
Visit WestportNow
Catch-up with
the Old Home Town

Remember These?

Thank you very much Becki for supplying the pictures of the buttons.

Accommodations Westport Inn
1595 Post Rd E
Westport, CT 06880
BLOCK ROOMS
DISCOUNT AVAILABLE
UNTIL JUNE 5th
(Limited Number)
$179/day Deluxe
$139/day Traditional
See the rooms.
Toll FREE Reservations:
(800) 446-8997

POST 40TH REUNION CHATTER

Gosh, the blink of an eye and the weekend hailed as the "40th Reunion Extravaganza" was over. I guess that means it was so much fun yet all good things must come to an end. If the weekend had seemed to drag on forever, then the Reunion Committee would have been worried. But that was certainly not the case.

My dictionary defines "extravaganza" as a "spectacular show", and that it was! Each venue went right up to closing and people were still hanging around having fun.... I have been thrown out of some pretty nice places in my time, but I believe these were certainly the best! And not that we were really thrown out - we finally left because we were just being polite to our kind and gracious hosts to allow the work staffs go home to their families; otherwise we were never asked to leave but many classmates wanted to continue to revel on throughout the night - so many of us did, at private venues.

First off yes, our Staples Class of 1967 Website shall remain open for perpetuity. Second, photographs and dialog from the 40th Reunion will be presented over an extended period. Third, classmates may continue to send in their blurbs (and of course photgraphs) to let others know what you are doing as well as present blurbs may be updated as needed. And last, this website will act as the conduit to start the ball rolling for our 45th Reunion. The 40th Reunion weekend was too much fun not to have a 45th. The open microphone session was so much fun that now people can prepare to have a two or three minute routine ready for the 45th. There is so much talent in this class that it will be great to share it with everyone. Perhaps cash incentives will be used to entice closet minstrels to share their stuff.

Compo Beach 2007 - Staples High School Class of 1967

Thanks so much to everyone who helped make the Reunion a success, to those who came and partied, to the hosts at the various venues we enjoyed, and the participants of the open microphone.... a good time was had by all. And to those who missed out on the fun..... well.... perhaps next time you will be able to come and enjoy.

[Webmaster's Note: The remaining part of the website will be updated as needed. The links to the 40th Reunion photos are in the upper left corner of the first column....Enjoy. Thanks.]

WELCOME BACK TO ALL OUR CLASSMATES!

A few (several?) more years have passed us by, and it looks like another one of those "anniversaries" is coming around again for the Staples High School class of 1967. For some it may bring back fond memories and a great reason to get back together with our old classmates (Ha! OLD is right) to reminisce about the good ol' days; for others it may provide a chance to rekindle a lost friendship or perhaps to thank someone from your past who had a great influence on our lives but we did not recognize it at the time; and sadly for some it may bring back the memories of terrible experiences and a time you prefer to completely wipe out and remove from your memory bank. Or perchance you just want to show up to see how badly some of us have aged compared to how well you look. Sure, why not? But whatever the circumstances are that you recall, to those who have not been counting, our forty-year milestone is fast approaching. That's right, FORTY YEARS since we finished in Westport. I can remember when my parents celebrated their twenty-fifth high school class reunion, and I thought THEY were old at that time! Oh well, time keeps movin' on.

40th, Yikes! Perhaps we can fib and call it our 30th...
or 25th...can we get away with 20th? Hmmm...

We started this website so that our class will have our own central point to focus upon the upcoming 40th anniversary event, as well as future milestones. This site is not meant to compete with any other Staples High School websites. This site was started so that we may get the word out quickly and efficiently, and have total control of the content with no advertising, pop-ups, spamming, or other annoying internet junk. And it's completely free!

The primary mood of the site is to be light (humorous) while disseminating useful information about the reunion and what our class members are doing today. We are encouraging others to add some personal notes below about where you are, what you are doing, your email address, etc., in the section titled "CLASS MEMBER NOTES" so the site can grow with everyone's input. To demonstrate what we mean, we got an Italian, a guinea pig if you will, to start out with some personal information. However, we do reserve the right to maintain a certain level of decorum and tastefulness… sort of! Long-windedness will also be dealt with as required. Remember, brevity with content is a mark of genius… we think! (Please limit blurbs to about 650 words, thanks.) Photographs will be added and strongly encouraged to be included. So please read and enjoy.

NOTE: To submit your personal notes, please click on the "CLASS MEMBER NOTES" above, here, or on one of the Reunion Committee Member's thumbnail (picture) or name above left, to email the information to us. We will then add your information to the site. Thanks!

Photos of New Staples buildings

CLASS MEMBER NOTES

Ronnie Parise: We have lived in Suffield, CT, for the past 17 years raising four children and trying to do all those parenting things needed to keep our kids out of jail, off drugs, un-pregnant and in school. Our oldest child, a daughter, is Dean’s list at Roger Williams University in RI, and captained the cross country team her junior and senior years both in high school and college; she is currently on the five-year plan to graduate in elementary education and English. Sadly, our oldest son, a scholar and athlete in his own right, passed away at age fourteen, but his younger brother graduated Valedictorian of his high school class and is headed to Ga Tech to become an engineer and run cross country and track. Our youngest child, a son, is a junior in high school and currently ranked number two in his class, plays football (slot and cornerback) and runs indoor and outdoor track (high and low hurdles) and would also like to be an engineer. Dad runs his own business (www.parisetech.com) and very unhappily mom passed away recently after 32 years of wedded bliss. Luckily, Dad has three wonderful children who have been supportive and who have helped him carry along and learn how to become a single parent. Or perhaps it has been three adult children caring for their ol' Dad while he figures out how to make a house a home. We do love sports and learning in our home. (Sports…Learning – my hierarchy of importance. Probably not the hierarchy my dear late wife would have assigned!)

James T. Anderson, "Doc": After Staples I attended college and then flew for six and one-half years in the Navy. I am just about to finish up a thirty-year flying career, with over 33,000 hours of flight time. I am currently a captain with Alaska Airlines based in Seattle. I am still into cars and bikes and currently own a Harley V-Rod. My retirement dream is to own a catamaran sailboat (I had a nice sailboat that was wrecked while being delivered in a bad storm just before Christmas.)
      My wife Virginia of 34 years and I have two great kids. Jimmy is in his second year of law school (aviation and admiralty law), and Andrea who is working for a company that markets for Starbucks. Both kids were married last year. Virginia and I live in the Seattle area.
      Remember when we were in the auditorium and Wayne and Rudy got up on the stage and did a rendition of "They're coming to take you away Ha Ha Ho Ho...", the Powder Puff football game, the dances, the food fight, the Yardbirds, Port Chester... Best friends and best times. Hope to see you all this summer.

Sally Anstett [Barry]: It is a beautiful day in Minnesota, the sun is out, we have about 4" to 6" of snow on the ground, and it’s 6°F with a wind chill factor of 10 below. Welcome to the land of 10,000 frozen lakes! My husband of 34 years, Pat, and I just love living in the Upper Midwest…. Ya, sure, you betcha!
       Actually, we have been in the Midwest for the past 22 years. We had a brief moment in Wisconsin but returned when I was offered a wonderful job at The Blake School, which is my current school and probably my last! I am the curriculum coordinator for the middle school physical education department. My classes are unique, exciting, and challenging throughout the school year. Some of the rather interesting and fun classes that I teach each year are: a high ropes course for 8th graders, cross country skiing for 7th graders, and a very special 6th grade tackle football class for girls.
       Don’t worry we have a tackle football class for boys as well. We provide all the pads and uniforms right down to the mouth guard! At the end of the unit we have a fun inter-squad scrimmage for the students and parents come to enjoy and take pictures. I also coach two sports for the middle school: tennis in the fall and softball in the spring.
       For the first 12 years of our marriage we lived in Westport/Fairfield and I taught in the Westport schools. Pat was Weston’s first Recreation Director, but 5 years later he switched careers to work in advertising sales. After working for various publishing companies in New York City, Pat was transferred to the Midwest where he worked for a number of Midwest publishing companies and experienced corporate downsizing, so he started his own company as a licensed contractor. He has enjoyed remodeling projects in the past and has found this type of work very rewarding.
       We don’t have children but had two wonderful golden retrievers. We have traveled much with our mothers… Alaska, Ireland, Italy and Russia just to name a few places (my Dad died in 1995 and my father-in-law in 1980). These trips have been very special and great bonding time with our mothers. My mother lives in Southport and I visit often with my brother and his family just around the corner in Westport.
       Over the past 26 years Pat and I have been very active as players, teachers, and organizers in the world of curling. It is that new Olympic sport that everyone wants to try! We both have played at the National level and I even participated in the Olympic trials in 1988 and 1992. I have taught in the junior program and Pat is a past President of the St. Paul Curling club. It is truly our home away from home. Many of our best friends are curlers as well. Pat and I have much to be grateful for and we are looking forward to the Reunion this summer.

Pamela Austin [Thompson]: Please see Robert & Pamela (Austin) Thompson.

Frank Bowes: After Staples I did 2-1/2 tours of duty in Vietnam, spending 3 years in Special Forces jumping out of aircraft all-over the world. I received a Masters in Social Work from the University of Colorado and a Masters of Judicial Administration from the Denver University Law School following my undergraduate studies. While working for the VA in Denver, I met my lovely wife of 9 years Charmayne. We are currently living in Denver; I am retired and waiting for the weather to clear so I can play some golf. We would like to make it back East this summer for the Reunion.

Mary Brannan: Hi, Lowie here. When I came to Staples, this was my third high school in three years……a bit of a transition. But, I remember so much about my time there! I didn't know everyone but certainly names are familiar... these bios are great and memory joggers!! I went to Ohio Wesleyan University along with a few others and made my home there. College was a great settling time for me. When it was over, I thought I was to marry but that didn't happen. I went to work for an overseas charter airline - ONA - and loved my life for the next 9 years. We did group travel to the hot destinations (Hawaii- Europe), but also evacuated countries (Chad, e.g.), troop movements in/out of Viet Nam, HAJ travel to the middle East for holy holidays, etc., etc... It was really fascinating. Once retired from the travel life, I worked briefly in Boston and eventually ended up in Ohio doing various sales jobs. I went on to complete my Masters Degree at Xavier University in Cincinnati. That led to corporate jobs that led me to Atlanta. Cool place. I moved to BellSouth and spent 15 years there mostly in international assignments. My work was primarily in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela. The memories from this time are the ones I treasure most, I'm very lucky.
      So, where am I now? I moved to Tampa with a job offer. And it also included a close proximity to my mom in Sarasota which was an important factor at that time. Mom is still good (for 90 years old), unfortunately Dad is gone now for 14 years. When the "layoff" occurred, I spent a lot of quality time figuring out what to do with the "rest of my life". My answer is this: Do what you love, love what you do.
      Over the years, I have generated photos that have been pretty phenomenal.... I am now a professional photographer. I seem to focus on portraits and weddings for now. This was a hobby for many years - so wonderful to turn it into a profession!!! I'd love to create a book based on the wonderful scenes nature has to offer, but that is a longer term goal. [Editor's Note: Please visit Lowie's website at www.lifeshotsbylowie.com to see some of her great work.]
      I never married (it's the moving thing), but am very happy in my Florida community - lots of friends - doing what I enjoy - boating (when it's working) - staying cool.... I have some new great nieces that I need to coordinate with but otherwise, things are really good. Come visit when in FLA!! I've always got room! Cheers!

Priscilla Brockway [Feral]: I work as president of Friends of Animals, an international, non-profit animal advocacy group headquartered in Darien, CT. Please visit our website: www.friendsofanimals.org.
      Married partner is Bob Orabona. We have one daughter, Jane who is 23 and works in New York City as an Assistant Photo Editor for Shape Magazine. Bob and I live in Rowayton and are friendly with Bill Maliszewski and Larry Ritter from the Class of 67. I'm a cookbook author, Dining With Friends: The Art of North American Vegan Cuisine (July 2005), and enthusiastic about the health and other benefits of a delicious plant-based diet. I wish to help enhance and encourage vegetarian options for the three day event.

Kevin Byron: After Staples, I went to Norwalk Community College for two years and then spent the summer of 1969 on Martha’s Vinyard. While there, I ran into Derek Pell, who was running a bookstore (I think it was called “The Not Guilty Bookstore”) and Martin Bazner, who was working construction, I think.
      A stint in the USAF followed, with assignments to California and the Philippine Islands. While there, I became interested in photography. After returning home, I spent about nine months in Europe, mainly in Amsterdam, Holland, and the Rhine Valley, Germany.
      I took hundreds of photos and wound up stringing for TIME magazine and several local publications and agencies. I watched Nixon’s resignation on TV in a Dutch café. After returning to the states, I continued in photography, concentrating on photojournalism and nature photography, and have been doing it ever since.
      I met Monica Russo (Norwalk H.S. ’68) in 1976 and we’re still together. We moved to Maine in 1985, where we still live. Together we produced three books on nature and wildlife for children in the middle school grades. The last, “Watching Nature,” (Sterling Pub. Co., 1998) is still in print.
      I currently work for a newspaper in Kennebunk, Maine, The York County Coast Star, shoot nature and wildlife photos for magazines, calendars, etc., and photograph ships for a reference publication in England. 

Ann Campiglia [Schick]: I am married and have three daughters ages 28, 22, and 20.  We live in Arvada Colorado.  I have been in the field of education for the last 34 years. I just recently finished my Ph.D. in Educational Administration and I am an Assistant Director for Special Education in one of the Denver Metro School Districts.

Patrick Cheney: My own life trajectory is pretty simple, if inexplicable: after Staples, I became a university professor. I can’t blame it simply on the late 60s, or on the University of Montana, where I went as an undergraduate. For the most part, the change remains a mystery, and I’m grateful for it. I did wrestle in college, though not very successfully, and for complicated reasons. Instead of sports, I discovered Shakespeare. I also met my wife, Debora, to whom I have been married for 33 years. We traveled to Canada, where I attended graduate school at the University of Toronto, receiving an M.A. and Ph.D in English Renaissance literature.
      Since 1980, I’ve been teaching at Penn State University, specializing in Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe (if you wish to see how I squander my day, feel free to check out my departmental website, Patrick Cheney Bio, or plug my name into 'books' under Amazon.com).
      We have two lovely sons. Evan is 16 and is something his father never was: a scholar-athlete. At 6’ 2”, he plays on two soccer teams (high school and club), and is a 4.0 student. Just recently, he reported that he feels in danger of following in his father’s professional footsteps--so much does he love language and literature. Kelton is more like I was, an athlete, though he's doing pretty well in school under parental guidance; this lad is 13, and is arguably the best soccer player in central PA.
      The advent of the reunion makes me think a lot about the way Staples led me down the road to the present day. Some of you may remember that I came to Staples from California only for my junior and senior years; it was a lonely transition, but miraculously a group of “athletes” took me under their wing. The first culprits were Jean Duvoisin and Cal Neff. In looking at the reunion website of Cal, I do not merely derive great pleasure: I also see that Cal is the only one of us who, arguably, has more hair now than in 1967.
      Jean and I have been in constant touch during the last ten years; I’m proud to report that he still signs his emails the way he did my yearbook: "Love, Jean." Jean and Cal are among the most affectionate people I’ve ever known, and their influence on me remains strong.
      I also remember fondly my best friend after Staples, the late Jay Gilbertie, who went beyond the call of duty to make sure he and I stayed in touch, as we often did, well into our married years and up to the time of his death: he was the consummate man of regard and affection.
      I’m looking forward to catching up with other close friends: John Golden, Win Headley, Artie Hunter, and of course Ronnie Parise. It’s great to see a photo of beloved Wally, a.k.a. Tommy Kay, and read about his life. With luck, we’ll hear and perhaps see Benny Pianka, Brian Rossi, Spider Olmstead, Mark Skinner, and my own Chich, for me the true foundation of Westport--virtually its family icon, then as now.
      I close with a single observation, a report on what the legacy of Staples has been for me. In the spring of 1967, I carried away an inner comfort created by a strong group of loving friends; a powerful work ethic of professional discipline; and, perhaps most surprisingly, the Westport art of eating.

Cammie Cuseo [Barbash]: So looking forward to the reunion and spending some time in Westport and seeing old friends. I am still living in Kentfield, California, with husband Ron. We have one daughter and two grandsons. We are all living within a two hours radius, so I can get my kid fix. I have been selling residential real estate for the past 20 years for Coldwell Banker and believe it or not still enjoy it.
      The eight Cuseo kids are now six, but we have stayed close and see each other often.

Katherine Dick [Barry]: A long time resident of Ridgefield, I moved from Westport in 1980 with my husband. I am a data analyst at Morgan Stanley and to balance my life of sitting in front of a computer all day, I run with the Wolfpit Running Club. I am currently training to run my 23rd marathon in October 2007. I am head over heels for my two golden retrievers, "Jack" and "Frost" and we enjoy hiking together in the open spaces around town. I have recently joined a local theatre group where I work on props and set design. I learned the "prop trade" by hosting some amazing "Theme" parties for the running club. So I became involved with the Theater Barn and I am now having a great time. Yes, that is me holding one of my creations for the play "Sleuth" which will be playing in the Ridgefield Theater Barn during the month of September 2007. My husband understands and appreciates my "Can Do" attitude and he is in total support of all the activities in my life. I sum up my daily life with the presence of God, friends and laughter.

Susan Driscoll [Lyons]: Our reunion was a wonderful event!  Following Staples, I graduated from Vermont College in '69, got married, had a daughter, got divorced in '71, moved to Boston, came back to Westport by '74, and settled in Southport in '80.  I have worked in the medical, marketing, real estate and presently, legal fields.
        My most active interest continues to be choral singing, which began in 5th grade and continued through Staples Choir and college. I have been with the Fairfield County Chorale for many years having toured with them throughout Spain, performed a duet, and appeared with them twice at Carnegie Hall!
      My Mother passed away in '99 which was very sad.  Fortunately, my Father continues to do well.  He lives on his own in Wilton and is still very self-sufficient.  We will be celebrating his 90th birthday the end of July!
      My daughter, Michele, is now 37 years old.  She was 6 months old when it was up to me to raise her alone, but I did it!  She is a treasure.  She works as a massage therapist, is married and living out in Apache Junction, AZ.  Michele and her husband have 3 wonderful children, Brandon--9, Hannah--7 and Gabriel--5.  I love being a grandmother but it's rough being so far away from them all.  I do get out to visit as often as I can.
      Wishing each and everyone of you all the best.

Margaret A. Dublin: Just heard about the reunion today from Bill Wolf and wish I had known earlier. It's great reading about everyone!
      I've been living in Chicago since 1969 when I came for a semester program and never left. Much of my life has been devoted to issues of social justice, family, and friends. In the 1960s and 1970s I became a community organizer and anti-war activist.
      Professionally, I became a public health nurse and combined all my interests, especially with maternal child health. I love to develop innovative programs designed to reduce health disparities in urban communities. I have two children from my first marriage - Luke, 27, and Louisa, 23. Now I'm remarried and have three great stepsons, all in their 20s, but we're definitely not the Brady Bunch. I'm very excited about Barack Obama, universal health care, traveling, and the out-of-doors.  I have so many wonderful memories of Westport and Staples High. Funny how the people from my earliest memories, Randy Ringer and Lindsay Law, are so vivid in my mind. If I can figure out how to get to Westport this weekend I would love to reconnect. If not, please feel free to contact me in Chicago.

Jean Duvoisin: Graduated from the California Institute of Art after Staples and in 1978 settled in Scituate, MA, where I currently live on a small farm. I married my wife Ayn in 1980. We have three children: John 22, works in New York City at Duff & Phelps; Katherine 18, will be attending Babson College in the fall; and Caleb 15. You can see where I work at www.duvoisindesign.com. My whole family is actively involved in North River Community Church. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion.

Jean Duvoisin: Jean sent this photograph of wrestling cohorts from a recent sports gathering.

Jean, Coach Pollack, Rick, Pat, Win
June 2007

Claudia Esser [Diller]: After Staples, I mucked around a bit, went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where I worked and climbed, came back to Connecticut and attended the Silvermine art school. Married a Mainer and moved to the state where I learned to grow things and ski. We had two gorgeous children, Heather and Brecken and lived at the Suagrloaf/USA ski resort where my now ex-husband worked in management and Heather and Brecken attended and raced for Carrabassett Valley Academy. I worked as a ski photographer and editor for the local newspaper and a couple of magazines.
      My children now live in Seattle. Heather's at Microsoft and Brecken is a lawyer with Lasher Holzapfel Sperry. He and his wife Shauna have gifted us all with a brilliant child named Jack who at two weeks old can count to three already! Please click here to see Mom and family.
      I'm now an artist living in Portland, Maine where I have worked various and a sundry jobs including a few political campaigns, a progressive nonprofit and for LL Bean. I do commercial work and have a website with some of my own paintings and a wall and desk calendar of my work I produce every year at www.claudiadiller.com.
      My friend Tom and I sail all spring, summer and fall, and ski all winter. Tom still lives at Sugarloaf and owns a very cool coffee roastery that produces exceptionally good coffee at www.carrabassettcoffee.com. I do all of his artwork of course! Life is good; though it would be infinitely better if there was peace and the current administration was, and this is the nice version, behind bars.

Michael Everett: After Staples,  I spent four years at Dartmouth College and three more at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  It was in Philadelphia that I met Marty Ford, my wife of 33 years. We got married, moved to New York City, and Marty attended law school, while I practiced law with a Wall Street firm.  But Marty is from California and the urge to return to the West Coast was overwhelming so we moved to San Francisco in 1977.  And have been in the San Francisco Bay Area more or less ever since. 
      The "less San Francisco" refers to the two occasions when we lived in Hong Kong.  It’s a fascinating city, one resembling an adult Disneyland in many ways.  We lived there for two years toward the end of British colonial rule in the early 80's and again for three years in the mid 90's, a time when the Asian economies roared until the bubble eventually burst in spectacular fashion. Marty's job in hotel development often took us to India.  And without children we were able to travel regularly throughout East Asia.  Christmas in Thailand was unique ---  cartoon Santa and reindeer singing carols in the 100 degree heat in a largely Buddhist setting.
      Somewhere along the way, I gave up practicing law and became a serial Chief Financial Officer in the technology industry.  It is a role I've now had for almost twenty years in companies as varied as Fortune 500 manufacturers and pre-revenue software start ups.  Despite the roller coaster ride for tech stocks since the mid 90's, it has been a lot of fun.  Even more importantly, I have managed to stay out of the newspapers. Remember when publicity used to be a good thing!  We recently sold WebEx, my latest company, to Cisco Systems and I am considering joining Marty in retirement once we complete the management transition.  The opportunity to play lousy golf even more often than I do now is oddly appealing.  Marty on the other hand is wondering whether we are really ready yet for as much togetherness as full time retirement implies.  To be continued....... "

Shelley Fisher [Fishkin]: I wish I could be at the Reunion, but it's not in the cards.
      After two years at Swarthmore, I transferred to Yale and stayed for a Ph.D. in American Studies. I also met my husband, Jim Fishkin, there. Our oldest son, Joey, arrived the same week that my Ph.D. diploma came in the mail (the dissertation weighed more than he did.) Soon after our son Bobby arrived five years later, we moved to the University of Texas at Austin, where Jim taught Government and I taught American Studies. Four years ago, with the nest empty, we relocated to Stanford, where I'm a Professor of English and Director of the American Studies Program, and where Jim is Chair of the Communication Department.
      I survived breast cancer nine years ago (do get in touch if you're dealing with it now and want to talk). And I lost beloved parents and cherished friends much too soon. But the joys have outweighed the troubles.
      I'm grateful for all the good things in my life---a job I love, a partner I love, and two sons whom I adore who astonish me daily with their energy, idealism, and creativity. I've had the pleasure of writing books on subjects I care about deeply--recovering the voices of figures who were red-lined from the cultural conversation because of their race or gender, exploring the ways in which American writers (such as Mark Twain, or Paul Laurence Dunbar) addressed issues of social justice in their art, or examining the ways in which "American culture" is and has always been a crossroads of cultures from around the world. For more info, please see my bio page at my department's website or browse the 40 books I've written, edited or co-edited on Amazon. (I publish under "Shelley Fisher Fishkin." If you'd like one of my books, I'd be happy to send you one.)

Bobby, Shelley, Jim and Joey Fishkin at Ellis Island in 2006

      Recently, as President of the American Studies Association, I gave keynote talks at American Studies conferences in the U.K., Ireland, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Russia. It was a privilege be able to remind a university audience in Seoul that most Americans did not vote for George W. Bush, and that traditions of dissent are "as American as apple pie;" and to share with colleagues in Kunming a new reading of anti-war writing in America from Mark Twain's 1905 "The War-Prayer" to Calvin Trillin's 2005 poems in The Nation. Connecting with fellow scholars around the world has been a wonderfully stimulating part of my "continuing education." In 2003 I uncovered an unpublished, never-produced play by Mark Twain called Is He Dead? and published an edition of it with the University of California press. It will open on Broadway in December, directed by Michael Blakemore and produced by Bob Boyett. I hope some of you will see it.
      I would not have ventured into this strange profession if Anthony Arciola hadn't given me that life-changing assignment junior year at Staples: "Write a paper on how Mark Twain used irony to attack racism in Huckleberry Finn." Some years ago, after my Twain research had twice been featured on the front page of the New York Times, I was invited back to Staples to speak, and I had the pleasure of telling Mr. Arciola, who was retired but still volunteering in the library, that I had finally figured out how to write that paper!
      Jim, my husband of 34 years, is the creator of the Deliberative Poll® -- an innovative democratic process that has engaged the public in decision-making on critically-important issues in Australia, Bulgaria, China, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Thailand, the U.K., and the U.S. You can read about these projects at his Center for Deliberative Democracy website.
      Our son Joey, who just graduated from Yale Law School, will be clerking for Chief Justice Margaret Marshall of the Massachusetts Supreme Court next year. Meanwhile, Bobby, who just graduated from Yale College, had a play he wrote produced in London and is currently launching a high-tech venture designed to stimulate democratic dialogue on the web. Check it out after September 1st - http://ReframeIt.com.
      I was delighted when Kelley Fong, Staples '05 and Stanford '09, became Editor of Stanford's American Studies Newsletter (read it at Stanford's American Studies Newsletter). I'm glad Staples is still turning out smart and enterprising students like Kelley.
      Be well, stalk serendipity, and say Hi! if you pass through Stanford!

Laura E. Gerry: Currently I live in Omaha, NE. Moved out here 6 years ago to work at my company’s corporate headquarters. I don’t know what I was thinking. The Midwest is different! Not many trees and pretty flat! Before moving out here, I lived in Cornwall Bridge for 11 years….nice town that reminded me of Weston (as it was!). My first "real job" after college was at Norwalk Hospital and then moved up to the Hartford area in 1978. Lived in West Granby and learned how to horseback ride at the advanced age of 30. Bought a horse….then another!
       But here I am in Omaha now. I’m Vice President of Talent Management (HR) for Mosaic. We provide services for the developmentally disabled both nationally and internationally (www.mosaicinfo.org). I travel quite a bit on business and have been in most states…..except the "deep south".....also winter vacations in St. Croix!
        I’m in CT quite a bit. Was there 2 weeks ago for a family function and often there on business and pleasure. In fact, leaving in two days for a long week-end.  Still have family there (sister – Ellen ’65) and my horse is boarded in Cornwall.  Midwesterners don’t do a lot of English riding and they plant their pastures!
      I am planning on being there for the Reunion. Hope others from Players will also be coming.

William Gluckman: The first thing I did after graduation was join Scott Glendenning & his father in search of a gold mine in Arizona.  Scott & I then went on to get a taste of California.  I began college at Tufts rooming with Eric Schwindeman (Eric, thanks for the memory of our Staples mile relay team!), but did not graduate with him (I got sidetracked hitching back & forth across the country).   After remaining briefly in the Boston area after college, I returned to Westport in 1975 to begin getting my act together.  I ended up working at Hall-Brooke in 1978 & have been there ever since.  In addition to my role as Education Director of Seton Academy (our middle & high school program) I also teach & oversee the tutorial services provided to kids who are hospitalized. 
      In the years since high school, I renewed my friendship with Jonathan Rubenstein, who presided over my marriage in 1989.  I also became friends with Don Harriman for a period of time.  There have been a number of others a year & two behind us I also had contact with over the years (Laurie Sugarman, Laura Trudel, Pete Gambaccini, Peter Krieg, John Green, etc).  Unfortunately, I have been out of touch with anyone from Staples (except my brother & sister) for many years.
      I am still married.  I have a wonderful daughter, Shaina, who just turned 11.  My parents, thankfully, are both still with us, still living in Westport.  Although we live in Norwalk, I still am more closely connected to Westport.  Between visiting my parents, working, and volunteering at the Westport Library, I spend a great part of my time there.
        Of my memories of Staples, my fondest would have to be the camaraderie of the track team.  I have many other fond memories, of course, and look forward to revisiting some of them at the Reunion.

John Golden: What does John have to say for himself lately?

Nate Gordon [Nathan B. Dozier]: (Note: “Gordon” was my step-father’s last name, I was never legally adapted; now I go by Nate or Nathan Dozier, my original birth name). WOW! 40 years. I’ve heard it said that “it’s not the year but the mileage” that matters. WHEW ‘nough said there!
      Family life: Engaged at 17; married at 18; a father at 19. After eight years with my first wife, we divorced and I was told in 1975 that I was the first man to get child custody in CT. In 1976 I traveled the USA with my son Sean (age 7) for four months via car, bus and motorcycle. In 1977 we moved to Nashville, TN (couldn’t make a good living or afford CT and still be around for Sean). After eight years as a single parent, I married my second wife in 1982 with two children (boy Kevin 11, girl April 13, and my son Sean was then 13). Twelve years and after I sold one of my insurance agencies, we divorced as “friends”, really. During the next twelve years and being single, I moved to UT as a Mormon for almost 6 years, but I have since left the church having attained the position of “High Priest”. I moved back to TN, with a short stint in So. Kent, CT. I married my third wife (who’s counting?) on Dec. 2, 2005. I now have two more step-children, boys, 15 and 17 (John and James). Will I ever learn? Now I’m a full-time husband and step-dad once again.
      Vocational: Entrepreneur (many times had multiple, personally-owned businesses/and occasionally jobs working for others, at the same time), multi-line insurance agent/founded and owned three agencies (26+ yrs), motivational speaker (10 yrs.), management consultant (10 yrs.), worked for Harley-Davidson and BMW motorcycle dealerships (various management positions). I now am a semi-retired, working part-time as a Shaklee representative (www.shaklee.net/teamone) .
      Hobbies: To mention a few: politics, economics, religion, racing sailboats, sailboards (windsurfers). I do not race much any more, but I still am an avid sailor. I enjoy Sea Scouts, martial arts (Tae Kwon Do), archery, small arms and motorcycles (I have 42 continuous years and still riding (only went down once in 1966 while at Staples...) Thank God!). I enjoy anything outdoors, my Celtic and Southern heritage; I still sing some, play some old folk songs occasionally on my six-string guitar, etc., etc., etc.
      I consider myself very fortunate to have been given the opportunity in life to grow up in Westport, Conn., during the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s (Coleytown Elementary, Long Lots and Staples). To paraphrase “This is your time” by Michael W. Smith… that was our time…(the song also has great lyrics and melody).
      I’ll be looking forward to seeing who will be at our 40th. Count me in. May God bless us all during the next 40 or more.

Gail Grunewald [Arrowsmith]: After graduating from Staples I attended Bucknell University for four years where I majored in psychology. I met my husband, Roger, there and we were the first of our friends to get married. Our wedding was during the summer between our junior and senior years. Senior year was spent living in a single wide trailer! We also both worked in the library for $1.60 per hour.
      After graduation we briefly lived in Warminster, PA while Roger was in a sales training program with Mobil Oil. We moved on to Hershey, PA where we were possibly the only married people at the apartment complex where we lived.  We had a great time while living there. My parents were probably appalled when I took a job working at a dog boarding and grooming kennel but I loved it. For our second anniversary I received the horse I had always wanted. I guess Roger got the saddle and bridle. Eventually, we added horse #2. By the time we left Hershey I was 8 months pregnant.
      Our daughter, Shawn, was born in Richmond, VA. We lived in or outside of Richmond for about 16 years. Our second child, Mark, was also born there. Most of the time we lived in a planned community named Brandermill. We took full advantage of the swimming pools, bike paths and tennis courts and Roger played a little golf too. After many years I took up water skiing again and all of us enjoyed boating on the James River. In addition to participating in other sports, Shawn and Mark became junior tennis players. We spent lots of our free time attending tournaments in the Middle Atlantic section and around the country. When another transfer was about to take place, Roger went to work for the developers of the community, a group called East West Partners.
      After Mark started school I worked at a preschool/daycare center until we moved to Orange Park, FL in 1991 where we still live. Shawn finished her last two years of high school here and then went to the College of William and Mary where she played tennis. She attended  physical therapy graduate school at VCU back in Richmond. She took a therapist job in Denver. 
        Mark was in 8th grade when we moved here so he considers FL to be home. He graduated from the University of Miami where he was also a member of the tennis team. After graduation he taught tennis in Miami and Dallas. He also played professionally on the futures tour.
      Roger remains a planned community developer with East West Partners. I have spent most of my time here helping a few charities dealing with children and pets both in hands on capacities and as a fund raiser.
      Our major family changes are indicated in these two photos. Shawn married Waughn Hughes on a mountain top in Winter Park CO almost 4 years ago. They met their freshman year at William and Mary. Their son Quincy was the most recent addition to the family. Their second child will arrive in early Sept. We were thrilled when Mark moved back to Orange Park this past fall. He is currently the Director of Tennis at an East West Partners community named Eagle Landing.

Gail's Growing Family.................................and Growing

      Our lives have always included tons of outdoor activities and pets. We are currently down to 4 cats and one horse. We are looking forward to attending the Reunion. It will be our first time back in Westport in a very long time.

June Hamilton [Gillespie]: "Many moons ago……in a far-off place….." (Ring any bells with former Staples Players?? )** Has it really been 40 years?? DANG! – as they say way out here in WA state, where I’ve resided since June of 2002 – Richland, to be exact, (in)famous for the Hanford site, and deep in the heart of wine country (50 or so wineries within a 20-mile radius – drink your heart out!). Allow me to retrace my steps, circa 1967.

Wicked Witch of the West

      After graduation, I headed for the big city (New York, that is) to try out all those fine secretarial skills that Staples equipped me with. There I stayed and flourished for 21 years, enjoying all NYC had to offer, including a somewhat stimulating "singles" life, and building a nice resume of administrative and executive assistant positions in many fascinating industries (publishing, advertising, management consulting, broadcasting, non-profit, investment banking) and working for some terrific companies. Ready for a change in ’88, I headed back closer to my roots (Hamden and North Haven) where I met my husband, Bruce (a nuclear engineer), and became attached to the Gillespie part of my name shortly before our 25th Reunion. Along with Bruce came two very fine stepsons, Aaron and Robert, who are now grown, married and prospering. Robert attended West Point, is now a Captain in the Army based at Ft. Campbell, and is headed back to Iraq next fall for his fourth tour of duty. Aaron and his wife have been working on the new Census Bureau building in Washington, D.C., and he may be assigned to the new Giants Stadium in NJ.
      We headed west in 2002 when my husband’s "temporary" assignment at Hanford was becoming more permanent – we were also ripe for a new adventure. My first reaction to Richland: "Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore!" It took awhile to break in this Connecticut Yankee to this part of the Northwest – we’re south central Washington: dry, sunny and desert-like. Now, we just love it! The pace of living is easy-going, mild weather, very affordable real estate (YESSS!) and there are sunsets that would take your breath away – not to mention all those wineries…perfect for pre-retirement living. We both still work for now, though.
      My first job out here was at a nuke plant – talk about a culture shock, and I’m now an administrator at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, one of the DOE labs. My passion, however, is acting and performing with three local theater companies, in shows such as "Evita", "Mame", "The Music Man", "Jekyll & Hyde", "Dreamgirls", and "Oklahoma". It was quite a hoot last summer playing the Wicked Witch of the West (photo above) in "The Wizard of Oz". Next fall, if only for nostalgia’s sake, I hope to get a part in "Peter Pan."
      I’m looking forward to seeing some "old" (sorry about that) familiar faces -- and being in a room where everyone knows your, um, age. See you soon!
**By the way, the quote above is from the Minstrel’s opening number in "Once Upon A Mattress", one of Staples’ own productions, delivered by my beautiful sister, Anne-Stuart Hamilton (also class of ’67). I am very sad to say that "Stuart", as we called her, passed away at the all-too-young age of 54 from cancer. I do know some of her fondest memories were all those moments on stage with Staples Players!

Win Headley: After graduating from Wake Forest University where I played football, making the All American Team as well as winning the first annual Brian Piccolo Award, I spent a few years attempting to play pro-football with the Green Bay Packers and later with the Montreal Allouettes and finally some Club Ball in Hartford with the Hartford Knights. Later, after obtaining my MS in Exercise Physiology at Wake I coached at Winston Salem State before becoming a defensive line coach at Wake Forest University in 1975 through 1978 and later at Princeton University from 1978 through 1982.

Win and Family.

Frederick “Rick” Henning: It is hard to believe 40 years has passed so quickly. It seems like yesterday that I was trying to figure out how to get home from school; Weston was a long walk.
      After two years in Morocco with the Peace Corps and several years of graduate studies, my wife Terry and I felt we needed another adventure. I’d completed my doctoral degree and had been offered a teaching position, but we were much more intrigued by the prospect of having just one more experience overseas. I signed a contract for two years and a few years turned out to be 28 years. We have lived and worked in six different countries and have found supporting development efforts both rewarding and challenging.
      Terry and I have been married for 37 years and have three terrific children. Meggie our oldest is working toward a doctoral degree in Public Health at Oregon State University and she is also married to a Staples graduate, Doug Wilcox. Fritz has just completed his second year at the American University in London and Jed our 16 year old is in secondary school with us in Zambia. I am currently working for USAID assisting the Ministry of Education to improve educational services.
      My sons and I are keen polocrosse players. Polocrosse is a game much like polo, but more fun. Unfortunately being a weekend player, charging up and down the field on horseback, makes it much harder to get into the Monday morning routine then when I rode around Weston on my horse 40 years ago. I haven’t been back to Westport in a long time.

Leslie Herrschaft: Leslie sent this photograph from our 25th Reunion.

The photo was taken at Penfield Pavilion on Penfield Beach (near Fairfield Beach) in Fairfield on July 18, 1992.

Leslie Herrschaft [Sackett]: Born in the north and spending the last 30 years in the south is like living on the edge, a border state life, ya’ll. I would love to live back in Boston, but the pull of the southern ways as exasperating as they are would not let me. Graduated from Boston University, married, traveled, had children, started Grad school and divorced. The American Dream. Happily independent for the past 16 years and raising Mark (now 28) and Kim (now 22) has been a very wild ride. Many of you have experienced the same. We are all happy and successful, still growing. I have been a social worker, a teacher, and for the past 13 years a paralegal in a large defense firm here in Columbia, SC. It affords me the opportunity to be a Guardian ad litem and to participate in substantive litigation in the court room. The only negative has been the death row cases. I love to kayak (at Hilton Head), swim, and of course tailgate in the fall. Tailgating and football is taken most seriously down here. Ron Parise, old number 24 in his Georgia Tech days can attest to that (rumor has it he is applying to be the new coach at Georgia Tech!) I look forward to hanging out for 3 days with absolutely no timelines, guidelines or worries - just having some fun, laughing and learning something new from all of you.

Kathy Herstein [Weiss]: This reunion weekend will, undoubtedly, be memorable and exciting.  I, for one, have returned to Westport and consider myself a "townie" all over again! About 18 months ago, my husband of 35 years, Bob, decided that he wanted to come back down to the area.  He is from Fairfield...an Andrew Warde graduate (hiss-hiss) with a medical practice in Darien.   We had been living in nearby Ridgefield for 30 (gasp!) years.  I taught elementary school and Special Ed for 20 years in Ridgefield, and we raised our 2 children there.  Lauren, 30, is a graphic designer who settled in Orange County, CA. Scott, 27, is working on the completion of his medical residency in Boston.  Both are fabulous kids and make us proud parents.  Neither one is married yet.  I have retired from teaching and am just "hanging out" here in Westport once again.  My how the town has changed; but the memories remain strong and stimulating.  Looking forward to catching up with and, hopefully, reacquainting myself with any of you who may be in the local area. I'd love to hear from you, please send me an email.  

Bill Hudson: I met my wife Dianne of 40 years at a funeral. We have three GREAT kids. The first is my son Richard who is 39, has a 4 year-old daughter Holly, and he is married to Gina. Richard is a fire fighter in Davie, Florida, as is his wife in Miramar, Fla. My second child Kimberly is 35 and she is a legal secretary for The Police Benevolence Assoc. in Ft Lauderdale. Our third child Christine, 27, is a teacher at Everglades High School, and she teaches 11th grade English. All have done well. 
      When I graduated in June of 1967 I was married in November of the same year. I still was not focused on a career but fooled around for the heck of it until I decided I better get an education. That is when I decided to become a Funeral Director/Embalmer. I have been a Director for 36 years, holding a license in Connecticut and Florida. I really enjoy my work dealing with families and the challenging part is working with the remains, trying to make them look life-like again.  Which after many years of practice in the mortician trade, is easy for me to do.
        I have been in Hollywood, Florida, for 30 years now but return to Westport to visit what is left of my family who are still there. Having lost my father in 1997, my Mom is in the same house we grew up in. Quite a few of the graduates of the 67 Class went to Assumption School with my sister Judy Hudson. Judy went on to be a Nun after high school and was in the convent for 3 years. She left and is now married to Bill Palmer of Fairfield. They have four girls ages 28 to 18. Both Judy and Bill have gotten their Masters in Physical Education. My Uncle, Coach Bob Manere, is now retired from Coleytown Junior High, having started his teaching career at Bedford Elementary in Westport.
        Dianne and I will be 60 this year and we have planned a trip to Italy in November for ten days which we are looking forward to. And Cal Neff, I remember you working out in the weight room building muscle; well, Cal, I had to embalm a 34 year-old body builder and it was hell trying to cut through muscle. Just look at a piece of steak but 10 times over and that is what its like. Exactly….. HA! HA!
       I hope everyone is well and happy enjoying their children and grand children.   My email is digger1147@yahoo.com. Have a great time at the Reunion; I am sure my cousin Lew “Buddy” Wirth will be there; he STILL loves to party even at 59. That is what keeps us young! I neglected to mention in January 1995 I had quintuple bypass heart surgery and now all is well. Be Safe, Happy, and God Bless.

Debi Hunn: Go class of '67! Yikes!  Forty years?  Time certainly has flown by.  It has been fun reading everyone’s updates, and viewing the photos.  The site is a great idea.  The Reunion sounds like fun, but our vacation plans are already made,  (Maui and then Lake Tahoe.)  I hope everyone has a wonderful time reminiscing!
      Since graduating from Staples, ventured off to Stephens College in Missouri, landed in NYC where I pursued a career in commercial art, attended Art Students League, but, alas, I tired of the east coast, and decided to chase a dream.  (Living in California!)  In 1977, moved to Los Angeles, where I followed my dad’s career, and worked in the television/film industry. (I truly enjoy painting and drawing landscapes, and people more than designing in the commercial world.)
      Like others, I too married and divorced.  The bumpy roads are nice and smooth now-a-days!  I have three kids (Brandon, 23, Shannon, 21, and Addison, 17).  The kids and I have been living in Ventura County, CA ,for the past twenty years.  I love the beaches and the artsy area. Addison and I are both still in high school! He will be a senior, and I continue to teach. I have one more high school year of watching him play football on Friday nights in the fall, and sprinting around the track or jumping hurdles in the spring!  (He runs a 4.5 in the forty for football and made it to the CIF level two years in row for track…next year should be a blast!)
        Addison gets a kick out of the stories about Powder Puff football (Our girls team won both junior and senior years...It must have been because we had the most adorable "cross-dressed" Cheerleaders! I still remember Win in his sweater and skirt!  We also had great management from Alan and staff! He also gets a kick out of the act that his "ancient" mom actually competed in track during high school (I've shown him my medals to prove it!. 
      After being a "stay-at-home" Mommy for years, I went back to school myself (Cal Lutheran Univ.) to earn my teaching credentials.  It has been great working in elementary school, middle school, and, for the past six years, I am happily teaching art in high school.  I truly love working with teenagers and love what I am doing.  My "significant other" is also a teacher (World Civics and Video Production.) and football coach in high school.  He gets to retire in two years, but I plan on teaching until Addison gets through a couple of years of college.  Gregg and I plan on traveling, watching college football (go UCLA!), and spending as much time as possible on Maui.
      Our class always had a lot of energy and fun! I have had great memories from my years at Staples, and growing up in Westport!

Tim Jackson: Let’s see. How fast can one summarize forty years? It’s like writing your obituary. Hmmm… In 1967, I went to Ithaca College as a drama major where I met my wife Suzanne Boucher, a singer and fellow student. While there, I was plucked by songwriter Rob Carlson (Class of ’66) to be in his rock band at Brown. I eventually moved to Providence. Three years later I was hired by the always-entrepreneurial Dick Sandhaus to back several acts on Columbia Records. We moved to Boston in ’72, got married, and shared a house and a giant painted school bus with Rocky Manchester, while I continued a music career.
      Among many adventures, this led to a group on Warner Bros. that landed on MTV during that network’s first hour in 1981! In the early eighties, after years of touring, we bought a house near Boston, I returned to some acting, started my own music group, went back to college, taught lessons, freelanced, and started a family. Finally, with a Masters in Education (and advice from Ann Nesbitt), I began teaching.
      I’ve been at The New England Institute of Art for ten years where I teach film, communications, and so forth. Suzanne is still singing, and is a counseling psychologist. Our son Max, 22, is a musician/flash developer and graduates college this spring. Daughter Molly, 20, is a dancer and a sophomore at Temple University.
      My band has now been playing 22 years together and is – what else – a sixties band! – The Band That Time Forgot.
      I’ve just finished a second documentary with an army of my students. The topic, appropriate for the times, is radical performers. The web site is www.radicaljesters.com. I feel like I’ve continued doing everything I loved in high school, just in new ways. I can’t wait to try and remember everyone (with help from Lindsay Law). My spouse and issue are pictured here for your perusal.

Tim and Family

Alan Jankowski: Alan sent this picture and will have his blurb posted shortly.

Karlan, Karen, Amanda and Alan.

Christine Jaret [Schmidt]: Please see Paul & Chris (Jaret) Schmidt.

Jacey Johnson: I moved to Los Angeles in 1974 and worked in the banking industry until 1994, when I branched off into production accounting.  I started working on My So Called Life  (with Claire Danes) and since have worked on many television shows, reality shows and features.  Currently I am working on a Comedy Central show called The Showbiz Show with David Spade.  It's fun, and as long as I have to work (which I do) I can't complain!
       I had a daughter in 1980 and was a single mom trusting God to help me, which He did!  She graduated from UCLA in 2002 and is now a beautiful married woman with a daughter of her own, who is just 5 months old.  Being a grandmother is fantastic!  Fortunately they live near by so I see them often. Please indulge me and click here to see a wonderful picture of her as a newborn (with her grandmother!).
       I'm planning on visiting my cousin in Nantucket first and then will come down to Westport for the reunion.  My daughter and granddaughter may come with me, which would be fun for me.  I'd love to show my daughter the old haunts of Westport!  I go online to the WestportNow website just to keep up with the old home town. I am so looking forward to seeing everyone this summer.

Tom Kay: After 32 years in the insurance industry I decided to pack it in.  My wife Shirley and I retreated to Freeport, Maine, to live life the way it was meant to be.  We live with our two mutts Oreo and Stella, (named after cookies), that we got from the humane society. In the summer when everything is in bloom we can't see the bloomin' neighbors.  The way life should be.
      We like the change of seasons and look forward to each.  Summers we sail, Spring we sail, Fall we sail; Winter we try and stay warm.
      The new job is a kick.  Imagine starting a new career at our age. My real title is "Marine Patrol Officer", Shellfish Warden, Animal Control Officer. I am assigned the 4-wheel drive truck (please click here to see photo), and a boat to patrol the mud and water.  Believe it or not Freeport has 26 miles of coast line.  After all, Maine does have the longest coastline of all of the states.  The Job is kind of nice, no one knows exactly what I do (especially me). While on patrol I operate in a stealth mode so sometimes I don't hear the radio at all during the course of an entire day. My Badge says "Specialist" (recall the movie with Sly and Sharon Stone), not Wally as some may suspect. I am referred to as old man, but I still manage to stay with the pack.  I'm still slow but not the slowest, really!
      If anyone is in the neighborhood please feel free to stop by and say Hi.

Ellie Land [Murphy]: I am happily married to my second husband, Martin Murphy and have a 33 year-old stepdaughter and two adorable (of course!) grandchildren, Tatum and Caleb. We took Tatum to Walt Disney World this year in the first of what I expect to be many fun trips together. I wish the kids were closer – they live in Boston while we live in Fairfield – but my parents and an older brother still live near us.
      My career has been in Finance with a Masters from Kellogg’s School of Management at Northwestern University. I have been with GE for the last 24 years as a Finance manager and am now responsible for global advanced Finance education there. Both roles have involved a lot of travel around the world which has been simply super!
      I am still kind of a non-athletic geek – no surprise there – but have tried various sports over the years, including golf and tennis.
      It is fun reading the bios and being inspired by the cool things people are doing from raising kids on their own to running marathons in Hong Kong. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion!

Lindsay Law: Staples and Westport, everything that I am is founded on a great high school, a fun and [then] innocent town and great, creative friends. Having discovered what I loved while still in high school [the still strong and energetic Staples Players] I went on to study Scenic Design at NYU School of the Arts. {Now Tisch} Began stage managing off-broadway, then toured the country as the stage manager with CABARET. Switched to TV, assisting a wonderful director, filming plays for Public TV. And at 25 I began to produce, mostly adapting plays for television. Lived in Manhattan from 1967 until 2002 with 2 forays to the west coast. The first, from 1977-1980, working at Warner Bros. TV, and the second from 1995-2000 when I was President of Fox Searchlight Pictures. Among the films I made at Fox, one was THE FULL MONTY. I gave up Los Angeles and a swell beach house in Malibu to finally come home again by producing a musical based on MONTY on Broadway.
      In between those Los Angeles bookends I ran a company called AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE, which over its 15 years, we produced literally hundreds of TV shows, and about 40 feature films. I have been fortunate to have shot films in 48 of our 50 states, and have also spent wonderful times filming in Britain, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Spain, Denmark, Russia, Mexico, Australia, Italy and Bahia!!! A wonderful but all-consuming career, I finally decided that there were other things that interested me and so I stopped working in entertainment after MONTY closed in London in 2002. I now live full time in Litchfield County, Connecticut, where I have owned a ‘weekend’ house since 1985. I am now renovating old houses, teaching screenwriting at the Yale School of Drama and taking care of a dear friend who is learning to walk and talk again after suffering a stroke this past Thanksgiving. And best of all, I wouldn’t change a thing!!

Judy Lazrus: For the past thirty years I have been teaching in an alternative public school in Cambridge, MA. Although the school has changed somewhat with these conservative times, it began as a school where all people had a voice. The backdrop of the community was social justice and the curriculum was hands on and project oriented. Until bilingual programs became against the law (English immersion only now) about a third of our school was Haitian-American.  It's been a great place to teach and to learn. I have a wonderful husband who also teaches, and two daughters. My older daughter, her husband, and three year old son live upstairs from us in a three-decker we share with another family. Our younger daughter was born in Paraguay, a country we have revisited a couple of times, most recently to meet her birth-family. Cambridge is a great place to live, and we feel very much a part of the community here.

William Maliszewski: Known to friends as Willy, but I publish using my full name at birth, Wacław Godziemba-Maliszewski.  You may remember my Royal Enfield and other motorcycles at school (have a Norton now).  I have four wonderful children, Jamie 19, Zoë 15, Harry 14, and Lily 12.  I have written two forensic history books on Stalin's crimes, focusing on aerial photographic evidence. My pre-publication work on the 1940 crime of Katyn impelled, in part, Gorbachev's admission of Soviet responsibility.  I have also done studies for the US Holocaust Research Institute in Washington, particularly Babi Yar, and regularly attend and give papers at European aerial archeology conferences.  My main income however is from two businesses dealing with antiques, the first, Abbingdon Antiques, and the second, which has a website, www.londonjoiners.com.  If you go to the For Sale pages you can click on Katyń to see my book on the subject (or click here Katyń for a direct link). Despite all that seriousness, I still know Cal Neff, Ritter, Cummings, Bratz, and several other legends of Staples history. And of course, Priscilla… Do any of you remember when some of us rode through the Science building on our motorcycles?   As I recall, Billy Jankowski and Bruce McMullen were the best riders . . . though they wisely weren't in on the building ride.

Hugh McCann: After graduating with a degree in economics from Morris Harvey College, Charleston, West Virginia, I came back to Westport. The summer of 1971 I painted houses with Jeff Hand and a couple of other Staples friends…… still living the life of a Woodstock veteran. Reality set in and I took a job with Sears selling underwear, shirts and ties in Bridgeport. Soon I was accepted into their management training program and was transferred to Pittsburg, PA, and then to Salem, Ohio.
      Encouraged by my father, I left Sears and started working with him and a younger brother learning to be an entrepreneur. A zillion sales calls later we built a successful business manufacturing custom labels, nameplates, decals, graphic overlays, panels, insulators, gaskets and shields. Our prime markets are: Information Technology, Medical Devices, Security Devices and Industrial OEM’s. Please visit us on the web at www.idproducts.com. When asked, I just say, "I make stickers!" We sell to publicly traded companies throughout the United States and export to several countries throughout Asia and Europe.
      My father passed away in the fall of 2005. My mother is still living in Westport, healthy and very active. I am the oldest of six and we all settled in the area.
      I am very happily married to Sarah, my lovely wife of 24 years. Although we have no children, we have many children in our lives……and two beautiful pooches. We live in Easton, Connecticut but spend the golfing season in New London, New Hampshire. Next year my wife turns 50 and we are planning to celebrate with our golfing friends at Pebble Beach. (I have a whole year to get rid of my pull hook!)
      I have no plans on retiring. In fact I am planning on building a new manufacturing facility next year. For me work is fun. And as you all retire someone has to generate tax revenue to pay the government's bills!
      Well, I gotta go do some bench presses. If Cal Neff can still bench 500 lbs then I should be able to do 10 reps with 135 lbs!
PEACE and love to all.
[Note: Hugh is organizing a Golf Day on July 5th for members of the class. Please contact Hugh if you are interested in playing.]

Robert McClune: Short Bio from the shortest guy in the class! After college I found myself as a career Army Officer Captain stationed mostly in Monterey California. Nice duty considering the Viet Nam alternative…remember that? Following the military I spent many years with Stauffer Chemical, Westport, CT, in sales and marketing. Most recently double duty as Vice President of the PQ Chemical Corporation and Executive Vice President of Potters Industries Valley Forge PA. Married my high school sweet heart Marie (Bunting) McClune, Staples class of 1968, some 34 years ago, as best I can remember! Marie is a Geologist by trade but in recent years a science teacher. We are now empty nesters with two away boys. Sean, 28-years old, is a Captain and jet pilot in the Air Force. Kyle (24-years old) has just started his first job after college at Perkin-Elmer, Shelton, CT. We are planning an early retirement to Hilton Head, S.C., July 07, 2007. Our current address is 1393 Springton Lane, West Chester, PA, 19380; or please e-mail me at Bob.McClune@Pottersbeads.com; my cell phone number is (610) 715-1669. Love to hear from old friends. Hope to make the Reunion if I can!

Richard McFarland: I was one of those lucky ones that knew what I wanted to do when I grew up before I graduated from Staples. I went to Michigan State U. and completed a degree in Veterinary Medicine in 1973. I took the two best things I could find from Michigan, my degree and my wife, and got the hell out of there. I came back to Norwalk, CT, and worked for my old boss across town before I opened my own practice in 1980 where I have been ever since. I still enjoy my work and "beating the bad guy" still gives me a thrill.
      I have two children, Sara and Kate, and live in Norwalk. My wife, Joan, is a talented singer, songwriter, artist that has written 5 children's musicals. Sara is a Buddhist monk in Santa Fe, NM and Kate is attending Temple U. and wants to be an events planner.
      I spend most of my free time on the water in my sailboat and at the family camp in Belgrade Lakes, ME.
      Staples was a blast. The plays, the concerts, the soccer games, it was all good. Thanks to Scott Glendinning for all the good times hanging out. Thanks to Don Harriman for letting me learn how to ride your Honda 90. Linda Jenkens for being my first serious girlfriend. For the good times in the Four Seasons rock band. Too many other memories to list here. If you wish to contact me I can be reached at Nowalk Animal Hospital.

Madeleine Z. Mercier, "Mandy": Still stuck with the junior high nickname! I've been living and playing music in Austin, Texas, since 1980 and working in law offices to pay the bills.  I went to the University of Colorado, Boulder, after Staples, dropped out, went to Haight-Ashbury, went to Woodstock, worked in a head shop and played in a band in Stamford, then moved into New York where I worked at publishing houses (Avon, E.P. Dutton), a literary agency, and also Publisher's Weekly for which I wrote book reviews.  Then I chucked it to do music and became a waitress (still in New York), and played clubs in the Village.  Later I moved upstate to Woodstock, married Leif Kahal, and we moved to New Orleans together playing 6 nights a week on Bourbon Street before ending up in Austin. 
        I've lived in Austin most of the time since then with a few interesting detours.  When I got to town, Leif and I performed together for a while before he lit out for Nashville and I soldiered on.  I got to know and work with Townes Van Zandt, Lucinda Williams, Stevie Ray Vaughan and lots of other people.  I moved to Los Angeles in 1987 and spent five great years there, married Brian Glascock, former drummer with the Motels and Iggy Pop, and I also won some awards and stuff out there but things didn't work out with Brian and I came back to Austin to house-sit for Lucinda while she was recording "Sweet Old World."  When I got here I was invited to join a band with one of my heroes, Champ Hood of Uncle Walt's Band, whom I'd known in Austin before and have been here ever since. Austin has green trees, rolling hills and roaring rivers (believe it or not!!).  I've worked some more on finishing school (New School in NY, some online classes at Harvard recently) but am still a dropout!!
        Otherwise -- I've put out several albums and appeared as a guest musician on a few more. If you'd like to hear some of my stuff you can check me out at myspace.com/mandymercier and I also have a website, www.mandymercier.com.
      My sister Catherine passed away in 1981, but my younger sister Jeannie lives in the Berkshires with her husband, the builder Peter Whitehead and their two children, Yuri and Valentina.  My parents passed on (Jean F. Mercier in 1998, and Louis F.V. Mercier in 2001), I'm single again (!!) but very happy and actually did a reunion gig with Leif (!!) at SXSW (South by Southwest, annual music festival and conference in Austin, Texas since 1987) this year.
        I have a great dog named Chance and a little yellow and white house in Travis Heights, a cool part of Austin!! I'd love to hear from "all y'all" and am still trying to imagine Jacey Johnson as a grandmother. Jacey you look terrific, and just the same.  I still picture you in your "Purdue Boilermakers" sweatshirt.  And I have lots of great memories of ALL the rest of you, I REALLY hope a lot of us can make the Reunion -- Kudos to the Reunion Committee for making it happen!! Love to everyone and see you soon!
[Note: At the request of the editorial staff, Madeleine allowed us to use the photo from her website.]

Becki Miles [Rebecca Whittington]: My life has been fascinating. I have two wonderful children, Kelsey (20) and Thomas (18), and have been a single mom for 12 years. Although the journey has been tough at times, I've had fun and have learned so much. I worked in the business world for 28 years as an instructional designer and corporate trainer (M.S. in Instructional Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology). I even had my own business for 5 years, designing computer-based training and instructional DVDs for corporations. My craziest job was working at a nuclear weapons plant in Denver. However, in my 50's, I realized that I wanted to utilize my teaching certificate but decided to become a school counselor. I got my masters, (M.A. Ed from University of Phoenix), started teaching Social Studies to middle school students and am now in my 4th year as a counselor. I love working at the middle school level and hope that I make a difference to some.

Becki Miles [Rebecca Whittington]: Becki sent this photograph of her Family.

Becki and Family.

Cal Neff: I moved to Hong Kong in the late 1980s working for a gem stone company and was the manager for four years of that company in Hong Kong. I was then sent to Sri Lanka for two years to run a gem cutting factory. I then moved to Thailand and worked for other companies in Bangkok and was the Managing Director for John Hardy Co, an upscale jewelry company with sales at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. I also worked in Madagascar for a year running a sapphire mining operation.
      I have traveled and climbed in India and Nepal many times; and traveled to New Guinea several times for deep jungle treks. Got into distance running (yes, me!) and ran two Hong Kong marathons, a triathlon in HK, a marathon in Macua and one in Thailand. I just competed in a strong man contest that was aired on TV all over Asia, and have a bench press contest coming at the end of this month.
      I am happily married to a Thai for 12 years and have a 10-year-old little boy and live in northern Thailand with them. I am retired.
      There is much more as we all have much that has happened over the past 40 years. Please give me dates for times to be in Westport for our 40th and I will be there! Cheers. [(Although the following pictures have been provided through totally nefarious means, they will remain posted unless Cal requests otherwise.) Please click here.]

Anne Nesbitt: Anne sent this picture and will send blurb shortly.

Frank Olmstead: I’m still with Elaine, that girl from Greenwich I met in Stowe, VT during our February 1967 school break. Still mad about her too. I followed Elaine to Boston University, finally got somewhat educated, and was on the fringes of the anti-war movement. Never was brave enough to risk getting my head cracked - tear gas was the limit. What a wild time. By graduation in ’71, I was pretty disaffected to say the least, and never thought once what I’d do after college.
      I taught at a private school in Noroton, CT, but soon Elaine and I realized there’d be no better time to travel. By late ’73 we were off to Europe for a three month odyssey. (Icelandic Air of course) This was awesome. We drove a camper van from Inverness to Mykonos. Saw the Alps, what was then Yugoslavia, Tuscany, anti-Pinochet protests near the Sorbonne, the south of France, and on and on. We were almost stranded in a snowstorm crossing the Pyrenees into France after visiting Pamplona. No bull. (Sorry, it’s getting late.)
      After Europe, we headed to New Hampshire. I got a master’s degree in education, and taught high school English for several years. One school was in Franconia/Bethlehem, NH. We skied at Canon Mt. (rode the old tram that’s now in a museum) and hiked and backpacked in the White Mts. In 1978 we moved to Vermont, the coolest state in the Union – we think.
      In 1979 we got married (yes, a very long courtship). There was this small law school close to our house, and by ’83 I had another degree - and we became a family. 1983 brought Kate, who graduated from Wesleyan last year. I started practicing law in Norwich, VT in ’84, and Elizabeth arrived in ’85. She graduated from St. Lawrence this May. Jon came along in ’87. He’s enrolled at Skidmore, but spent last term at UC Santa Cruz, primarily because of a girl. I understand completely. Here’s a recent picture of Elaine and me book-ending the damage we’ve done. Left to right are Jon, Liz and Kate. Great kids – irreverent, smart, funny, fun to be around, and no known felonies. Just hope we don’t leave this earth in too big a mess for them to begin cleaning it up.

      My major addictions are nordic skate skiing and road biking. Not sure about endorphins, but I’m certain about lactic acid. We downhill ski – Elaine’s passion. She’s better than I am, but I don’t mind skiing behind. I can learn from watching and the view is better. (Sorry again) We’ve had some of the empty nest, and we’re having a great time.
      I won’t get much into politics here except to say that 1/20/09 cannot get here soon enough, and Claudia Esser Diller was right on in the concluding comment of her Class Note. There, that’s all. If you made it this far, get back to work or go to bed.
      Not sure I’ll make the Reunion, but it’s amazing how deep the old memories run; and just imagine the historical revisions we can spin about our times at Staples - and afterwards? After getting over how we look, I’ll bet we can bullshit-it-up almost like our hormone drenched former selves. Now that would be fun . . . and no summer football practice . . . maybe I will make it.
      Well, way past time to sign off. Oh, I almost forgot! Ronnie, do you still have the old Mercedes? It’d be awesome to fire it up again - the back seat was great. And can the escapades be far behind? Maybe better if we pass. Once was enough. How’d we ever survive ourselves?

Dennis O'Neil: I am still radical (or as my friend Stan Goff puts it, "redder than a baboon's ass"). Higher education and I were as ill-suited for one another as Staples and I had been; so I drifted into the car plants in Detroit, NY, NJ and Chicago for a while, but kept getting hit by layoffs. Finally, I wound up in the US Postal Service, where I retired last year, a little early. (A couple people told me they saw me on TV during the 2001 Anthrax Crisis, denouncing postal management for keeping my co-workers and me operating contaminated machines at Morgan Station in Manhattan.)
      I have lived in NYC, currently Harlem, on and off since 1968. In the last few years I have been doing organizing with veterans and military families against the occupation of Iraq (www.bringthemhomenow.org) and served with a few other old heads on the founding board of Iraq Veterans Against the War (www.ivaw.org) until the young'ns felt ready to run it themselves.
      Being broke, my hobbies include blogging (I post occasionally at Fire on the Mountain) and music. I am a disc jockey every other Thursday at a club in Williamsburg in Brooklyn.
      For old school ties I've kept in touch with Agma Prins pretty well (even visited her in Togo in the 1980s), given that we generally correspond only when she is in the US, which is almost never. I'm also in loose touch with a few folks from the classes after us, like Laurie Sugarman, John MacArthur and Carl Zeff. Both of my younger brothers, Stephen and Brian, live and work in the northwest corner of Connecticut.

Morgan Patterson: I am presently living in Sacramento, California with Bill Sayers. I have been working as a veterinarian these oh so many years with a focus on small animals. I have lived on the west so long now that I have finally gotten used to looking over my left shoulder when I want to see the ocean. I may or may not make it back east for the Reunion, depending. I hope all is well with everyone. A little puppy just piddled on my shoes and I want to clean them before I go to lunch. Nothing worse then piddle stains on your shoes at lunch time. See you later.

Ben Pianka: Remember the time when we thought there were real ‘grown ups’?
      Hello Classmates! As you can see, I still like to think of myself as a Patron to the arts. [Editor's note: To those Classmates who would like to appreciate Benny's artistic tastes as Benny enjoys them, unadulterated, please click here. ]
      I may be one of the few in our class to remain single. Some picky friends hinted