Comings and Goings

1. Chuck Webb and Miguel De La Cerna made beautiful music together at a recent Lab School benefit, along with Charlie Roothaan's older brother, Peter. Chuck still teaches at Columbia and appears in the show Jersey Boys! Miguel also teaches and composes.

2. Susan Hack was in visiting from Cairo and writing stories for Conde Nast Traveler. She was on a biking tour of Northern California and was going back for a horseback tour of the same--all the while staying in luxury B&Bs. She really does have a tough life.

TTFN

Where is your artwork showing?

Monica (nee Nicki?) Bock's work is showing at a studio in Chelsea. Here's part of the press release:


Cheek By Jowl
Sculpture and Photographs
by Monica Bock
September 30 - October 25, 2008
Opening Reception: Thursday October 2nd, 5pm - 7pm Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12noon - 6pm. Admission is free. SOHO20 Chelsea presents "Cheek By Jowl", sculpture and photographs by Monica Bock. The exhibition will be open to the public from September 30 through October 25, 2008. An opening reception will be held on Thursday October 2nd from 5pm - 7pm. Cheek by Jowl consists of twenty-four pairs of dental casts resting on individual shelves, accompanied by twelve archival inkjet photographs. The casts chronicle the falling out and growing in of a pair of siblings' teeth over the course of three years, with an embossed date on each set of teeth marking the day the original dental mold was taken. Cast in sterling silver and bronze and formally displayed, the teeth are souvenir relics, serving as both memoir and memorial. The photographs offer a more immediate and light-hearted look at the intimate experience of watching a girl and a boy grow up.
Monica Bock is Associate Professor of Art at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. She has exhibited widely in such venues as Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Pittsburgh’s Mattress Factory, Mobius in Boston, and Art in General in New York City. She received her BA in Art from Oberlin College, and her BFA and MFA in Sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she taught as an Adjunct Assistant Professor before accepting her current position in 1996. She has received a variety of awards including an Arts Midwest/NEA Regional Visual Arts Fellowship. Directions to Soho20 Chelsea: From Grand Central: Take #6 local (green line) to 23rd St. Cross Town Bus, or walk West on 23rd to 10th Ave. Cross over to 25th St. to the Whitehall Bldg between 10th & 11th on 25th. Alternately, take the C/E train to 23rd St. at 8th Ave. and walk to the Whitehall bldg. For further information contact: Jenn Dierdorf, Gallery Director at 212.367.8994, or soho20@verizon.net.

I expect Lucy, Erica, Jennifer, and other lower Manhattan denizens to provide a complete report. My work is on display in a box in a basement in my parent's house.

Hope all are well.

Just when you thought the blog was dead...

No, it is very much alive! In part due to the photos of the reunion sent by Jess Daskal--who was the life of the party btw! (Some things never change!) Thanks for the pics

Steve Burrington: Photographer/Mountain Climber

Steve came to the reunion and shared that he climbed the Chimbarazo volcano in Ecuador (20,700 ft.) . Big deal, he was like the 60th classmate to tell me that ;-). But to make him happy I share the pics. All kidding aside, very cool. (By coincidence, I recently climbed Mt. Baldy at the Indiana Dunes State Park. My kids believe the peak was named after me...shh, don't tell them.

Reunion '08

I've been a bit busy, but meaning to post some thoughts and pics from our reunion. I'm hoping other attendees will also write in. My thoughts/notes in no particular order.

1. About 45 classmates showed up at one event or another.

2. It was simply awesome. Many people who had not appeared in years and some old-timers.

3. Several classmates who had been nervous about attending found their nervousness unfounded. There's something about a group this group of people that is a little less judgemental and not in need of being impressed or trying to impress than any other group I'm associated with. Maybe that is why I like going to these.

4. If you are in our class for one year, you are a class member. It was great to see folks who were only around until 5th or 6th or 10th or whatever. Remarkably, most of us are so old that we cannot remember that you left. Plus some of us saw you again in college, life, etc.

5. It is not politically correct, but I have concluded that generally speaking women age more gracefully than men.

6. Our classmates are involved in pretty cool things, theater/opera, medicine, art, politics, community development, raising cool kids, skiing, traveling, mountain climbing. It remains quite a group.

7. We need to go to a quieter place for dinner next time, we are too old to hang with young people.

8. Never show up without your twin sister. Right Jess? Thanks for coming to dinner Judy.

9. We are doing it again in five years and want everyone to show!

10. Thanks to Ann V., Andy N., Chuck Webb for a great CD of 1978 songs, (e-mail Andy if you want one), Miguel and Chuck for playing at the great Jazz Brunch, Steve B. for the pics, and many others.

Pictures are courtesy of Steve B. Standing in for class photographer, Frank Williams ;-)

Another good pic!

Don't forget to click on any pic to enlarge, view and download!

Check out how cute Andy Neal was! All the hair was long!

More Great Pics from Susan

Don't forget to click on the picture to enlarge and view.

Susan Hack brought some great pictures to the reunion

More to come from the reunion, which was fabulous, but here are some great pictures from Susan Hack.

Between Susan, Marcus Helman, Jess Daskal, they could name every classmate! Can you?

Paula Niedenthal writes in!

Hi everybody,
I just wanted to add a hello to the blog! Thanks Bob, for creating and maintaining the site. It is great to have everyone's news, and to hear from people who we haven't seen for so long (Hi Chris Long! You were in my 5th grade class! Amazing). I am also sorry not to be able to come to the reunion. It isn't that France is so far, not as far as Cairo, for instance. But my dad died of lung cancer in February and I was back in Hyde Park both to be with him and later for his memorial service. So two trips, the second with my husband Markus and our two boys, that were not planned.
All six of us will be spending the summer in Madison, WI (but arriving June 18) where we were on sabbatical for the 2006-2007 academic year. It was so fun that we have to go back; Clark, I'll be in the Psychology Building, third floor... where are you?.
Just three short things: First, I have heard from Jess Daskal a number of times about the reunion and she is worked up into a lather, so there have to be additions to the blog AFTER the event so that I can see how big her smile finally was!!
Also, Frau Sonnenberg and Madame Pillet were both at my dad's memorial service, and it was awesome to see them.
They look exactly the same and never got rid of their heavy accents
after all these years. And finally, it is true that the photos on my
lab web page have not been updated, but are in the process of being so ... so here is what I look like now. I actually prefer

Monica "Nickie" Bock writes in too!!

Dear Everyone!I'm not going to be able to make it to the reunion, but it is a real joy to see all the amazing postings on this blog. I've only just begun to dive into it all. I'm incredibly grateful to Bob S. for the e-mail reminders and the blog and to Ann V. for the long nostalgic phone call and all the effort so many have made to bring us back in touch. I’ve attached a recent family newsletter picture showing, from left to right, my daughter Thea (b. 1993), my son Tristan (born 1995) just before he cut his hair and grew into a teenager, my husband James Hughes (“J” for short,) and me. This was taken at Thea’s 8th grade graduation in June 2007. If you google “monica bock” you’ll find my website and can see images of the art I've been working on over the years. Contact info is there too, and I’d be happy to e-mail anyone the link to our newsletter, which has lots more pictures and news from the past five years of our academic/artist/householder/kid lives in Connecticut. Very sorry I won't be with you this coming week-end, but my best to everyone and I hope we keep up the connections and cross paths in the future...Peace, Nickie Bock

Kathy Daskal writes in!

And sends pictures!

Greetings everyone! People have been so great about sending news, I thought I'd drop a line too and say hello. Attached are pics from my thespian "avocation." I was in fact one of several Jewish nuns cast in the Sound of Music! The other snapshot is from Pippin - not as well known as Godspell, but written by the same person, Stephen Schwartz. I did recently actually get paid for being in a play (Thornton Wilder's Our Town) - not anything one could possibly live on, in fact one would wind up very quickly in debtors prison - but a milestone nonetheless!
By day I still lead the spartan, low-tech life of a National Park Service employee (I confess, someone had to show me how to scan these pictures, which were, yes, taken with film. But hey, I'm a park ranger not an IT
specialist- I'm impressed with Dirk V. who scanned half the yearbook). If you're ever in Frisco, stop on by to see the historic ships at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. It's a really cool park - one of the best.
Thanks to all those who have written in and sent in pictures! Dearest Lucy, fabulous publicity shot from your album cover. (I heard you were just in Chi.) Here in the Bay Area we are definitely Lucy groupies. It's been fun to catch up at Berkeley concerts with none other than Elaine Sahlins, Alex Miller, Danielle Lindheimer, and Leslie Crary! We even had the privilege of seeing Lucy perform on stage a few years ago with her late father Irving Kaplansky - also immensely talented - who accompanied Lucy on piano. I treasure the memories...... And Bob(by), I took another look at the Tammy Kohn birthday party pics - definitely not me in the picture - I'm thinking maybe Elizabeth Nickelopolous (sp?), Maria Scheckmann (sp?), perhaps? Anyone's guess.
Thanks for maintaining the blog - wonderful to hear about everyone! Best wishes, Kathryn (Kathy).

Clark Thompson cannot be with us...

But he did send this really cute picture with his daughter, Sophie!

Clark and Sophie can also be seen in our last reunion group photo.

You guys will be missed!

Last, but not least

Click on any of the pictures or anything on the blog to see a bigger copy!

Last Few

Getting there

Half way there

Even more Sr. Class

More Sr. Class

Senior Class Pictures

Thanks to Dirk who scanned the old yearbook. These are a hoot!

Mini-Reunion in NYC

Erica Zolberg writes:

Here's a picture taken at a recent mini-reunion in new york city between lucy kaplansky, maria hinojosa, elaine sahlins and erica zolberg, at the home of erica zolberg. you can see the back of the head of lucy's daughter, molly, in the foreground.
elaine and family came from piedmont, california on a family visit during spring break. by hook and crook (and it really took both) erica and elaine managed to lasso the ever-traveling maria and lucy to come over for dinner. one funny moment: erica and lucy showed up wearing the same outfit, right out of the 1970s: crew neck long sleeve white t-shirt and hip-hugging bell-bottom-blues. lucy even had the same hairstyle she did back then, erica cut short long ago.
lucy spends every weekend singing in far flung places.. she can give you the list. maria is often on the road for public tv's "now," and when elaine is not traveling to visit friends, she is assessing the value of hotel and resort properties all over the country. erica, until recently, worked for cbs news, but sadly was let go in the last round of cutbacks. evidently the part-time producer salary the company saved by letting her go has not calmed the troubled waters there. but having good friends around helped to calm erica a little bit. now she is heavily involved in a job search, and open to all new and exciting ideas.

My editorial comment is that none of these ladies seem to have aged!

If Susan Hack can come all the way from Cairo Egypt...

What is your excuse for not coming to the reunion?

Here's a pic of Susan from last summer, when Susan, her hubby Scott, and their daughter Sophie joined us for a brief vacation in the south of France--tres chic. Randy Fowler should be proud.

Hello - I am looking forward to seeing everyone this summer. Unfortunately, My wife (Pam) & kids (To the right is our 2007 holiday photo: Sarah 17, Anna 11 & Nick 15 + Baci) will be out of town. We live in Darien, IL but get into Chicago often.

We have been lucky enough to see David Cowan & his wonderful family a couple of times since the last reunion. See you all this summer. -Ed

Dirk Vandervoort is a "Yes"

Please welcome back Dirk to the fold after a 30 year hiatus. See it is never too late to come back.

Dirk tells me he is no longer running, but he does a mean mountain bike (easier on the knees and back). If I'm not mistaken in 1974/75 Dirk could run about a 4:40 mile, which amazes me to this day. And the late Peter Lortie kept right with him.

David Cowan

Before the glow of my first blog post recedes(see 4th grade photo), and perhaps more importantly, before Bob Solomon finds some scurrilous information about me from a search of the internet, I thought that I would post my own missive to class members.
For the last 20 years I have been a family doctor, the last 17 on Bainbridge Island, a quasirural, quasisububurban community near Seattle. Family Medicine is both a great privilege and, at times, a great burden. Certainly you learn how interconnected people are in a small community. And Bainbridge is truly a beautiful place. I tell people that it may be the only rural area from which you can travel to a major league ball park on public transportation. (alas not Wrigley and the beloved Cubs). In fact, one of my few complaints about the UHigh reunion is that is does NOT coincide with any Cubs home games, no doubt engineered by misguided fans of the tainted South Side Baseball team which shall remain nameless.
Where was I before my rant... oh, yes I was writing about Bainbridge. It lacks diversity and indeed, I miss that. It does carry the dubious distinction as the first place from which Japanese Americans were taken to detention camps during WWII, and the only place on the West Coast that really decried this illegal roundup of US citizens. An important lesson...still. http://www.kuow.org/DefaultProgram.asp?ID=14818
If you're interested I thought I would share a few more links to some things that occupy my thoughts when I have time for them:
A recent article about my take on "prevention" which has focused on children and school lunch:
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/bir/news/17111326.html
A link to archived talks and events from the Dalai Lama's recent 5 day stay in Seattle focusing on teaching compassion to our children (amazing):
www.seedsofcompassion.org
And a group that organizes international volunteer experiences, including families:
www.crossculturalsolutions.org
I hope to see many of you in Chicago June 6th.
Blessings to you.

Photo Mrs Abrams 4th grade class!

Ellen Morrison is coming!!

The list keeps growing and we're glad to have Ellen back in the fold!

Ari Roth--Playwright and Artistic Director Extraordinaire!

Ann Vikstrom forwarded me this picture of Ari who is Artistic Director of Theater J in Washingston DC. Ari appears to receiving one of many awards! Here's his bio and a synopsys about Theater J which sounds pretty cool!

Ari Roth (Artistic Director) is entering his 11th season as artistic director where he has produced over 65 productions, including 24 world premieres. Also a playwright, Mr. Roth has staged seven of his plays at Theater J including Still Waiting (companion to Waiting for Lefty); Goodnight Irene (first produced at The Performance Network); Life In Refusal; Love & Yearning in the Not-for-Profits; a repertory production of Born Guilty, based on the book by Peter Sichrovsky (first produced at Arena Stage, directed by Zelda Fichandler), together with its sequel, Peter and the Wolf (which ran in rep last season at Jewish Theater of the South); as well as his play with music, Oh, The Innocents (first produced at Geva Theatre, directed by Joe Mantello). His plays have been nominated for five Helen Hayes Awards, including Best Resident Production and two Charles A. MacArthur Awards. He is a 1998 and 2003 recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts playwriting grant; three-time winner of the Helen Eisner Award, two-time winner of the Avery Hopwood, four-time recipient of commissions from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and recipient of the Mertyl Wreath Award from Hadassah.

About Theater J
Hailed by The New York Times as “The Premier Theater for Premieres,” Theater J has emerged as one of the most distinctive, progressive and respected Jewish theaters on the national and international scene. A program of the Washington DC Jewish Community Center, Theater J works in collaboration with the four other components of the Washington DCJCC’s Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts, which include the Washington Jewish Film Festival and Screening Room, the Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery, the Program in Literature, Music and Dance, and Nextbook.
Theater J produces thought-provoking, publicly engaged, personal, passionate and entertaining plays and musicals that celebrate the distinctive urban voice and social vision that are part of the Jewish cultural legacy. Acclaimed as one of the nation’s premiere playwrights theaters, Theater J is a nurturing home for the development and production of new work by major writers and emerging artists exploring many of the pressing moral and political issues of our time. Dedicated above all to a pursuit of artistic excellence, Theater J takes its dialogues beyond the stage, offering an array of innovative public discussion forums and outreach programs which explore the theatrical, psychological and social elements of our art. We frequently partner with those of other faiths and communities, stressing the importance of interchange among a great variety of people wishing to take part in frank, humane conversations about conflict and culture.

Latest List of Attendees

This is my latest list, but let's keep those "yes" votes coming! We are close to 40, let's go for 55!!

Anne Williams Lightfoot
Stephen Burrington
Michael Claffey
Michelle Collins
Kevann Cooke
David Cowan
Emily Cronin Grothe
Miguel De La Cerna
Jessica Daskal
Sonjia Dickerson
Janina Edwards
Joan Mullan Goldwater
David Guttman
Marcus Helman
Ed Henry
Mark Hornung
Jennifer Homans
Tony Kellam
Eric Kuby
Chris Long
Gwen Macsai
Judy Solomon Maley (Hi sis!)
Danielle Lindheimer McCartan
Jim McPherson
David Naunton
Andy Neal
Jackie Pardo
Janice Cook Roberts
Amity Shlaes (spelling now correct!)
Bob Solomon
Peter Sprudzs
Leah Taylor
Bernita Thigpen
Michael Trosman
Dirk Vandervoort
Ann Vikstrom
Chuck Webb

Lucy Kaplansky

FYI, all. I just saw Lucy Kaplansky in concert at a local venue here in Virginia just outside DC last weekend. She's still living in NY, married and has a 5-year old girl. She's put out maybe a half-dozen CDs or so, and recently collaborated with a bunch of other artists on a children's book / audio project of lullabies - you can check it all out on her website (just Google her name).

Greetings, all!

Bob,

You can add my name to the list of attendees - I just bought my ticket this week. And the whole Sprudzs clan (4 of us having graduated between 1971 and 1978) are contemplating a group appearance at the Friday dinner...

Peter/

More Attendees

Ed Henry
Danielle Lindheimer McCartan

Hey Bob: Can you publish a complete current list?

New Genre (for me at least): U-High-Ku

I’m sure you folks can do much better than this. Remember, 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables.


McNeill’s tome the key
Unlocking great mystery
Where is Zinch Valley?


Birthing puerile thoughts
Hand on forehead yes Yes YES
Darlene McCampbell


Half here and half there
The rest of you come with me
Math in Sunny Gym


With apologies!

Vote for your favorite songs of 1978

Send us your comments/votes for your favorite songs and we will try to get them on a commemorative reunion CD. Did we really like these songs?

I'll vote for Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway, the closer I get to you and Baby Hold on to me. But there are some classics here including If I can't have you!

01. Shadow Dancing » Andy Gibb02. Night Fever » Bee Gees03. You Light Up My Life » Debby Boone04. Stayin' Alive » Bee Gees05. Kiss You All Over » Exile06. How Deep Is Your Love » Bee Gees07. Baby Come Back » Player08. (Love Is) Thicker Than Water » Andy Gibb09. Boogie Oogie Oogie » A Taste Of Honey10. Three Times A Lady » Commodores11. Grease » Frankie Valli12. I Go Crazy » Paul Davis13. You're The One That I Want » John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John14. Emotion » Samantha Sang15. Lay Down Sally » Eric Clapton16. Miss You » Rolling Stones17. Just The Way You Are » Billy Joel18. With A Little Luck » Wings19. If I Can't Have You » Yvonne Elliman20. Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) » Chic21. Feels So Good » Chuck Mangione22. Hot Child In The City » Nick Gilder23. Love Is Like Oxygen » Sweet24. It's A Heartache » Bonnie Tyler25. We Are The Champions / We Will Rock You » Queen26. Baker Street » Gerry Rafferty27. Can't Smile Without You » Barry Manilow28. Too Much, Too Little, Too Late » Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams29. Dance With Me » Peter Brown30. Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad » Meat Loaf31. Jack And Jill » Raydio32. Take A Chance On Me » Abba33. Sometimes When We Touch » Dan Hill34. Last Dance » Donna Summer35. Hopelessly Devoted To You » Olivia Newton-John36. Hot Blooded » Foreigner37. You're In My Heart » Rod Stewart38. The Closer I Get To You » Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway39. Dust In The Wind » Kansas40. Magnet And Steel » Walter Egan41. Short People » Randy Newman42. Use Ta Be My Girl » O'Jays43. Our Love » Natalie Cole44. Love Will Find A Way » Pablo Cruise45. An Everlasting Love » Andy Gibb46. Love Is In The Air » John Paul Young47. Goodbye Girl » David Gates48. Slip Slidin' Away » Paul Simon49. The Groove Line » Heatwave50. Thunder Island » Jay Ferguson51. Imaginary Lover » Atlanta Rhythm Section52. Still The Same » Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band53. My Angel Baby » Toby Beau54. Disco Inferno » Trammps55. On Broadway » George Benson56. Come Sail Away » Styx57. Back In Love Again » L.T.D.58. This Time I'm In It For Love » Player59. You Belong To Me » Carly Simon60. Here You Come Again » Dolly Parton61. Blue Bayou » Linda Ronstadt62. Peg » Steely Dan63. You Needed Me » Anne Murray64. Shame » Evelyn "Champagne" King65. Reminiscing » Little River Band66. Count On Me » Jefferson Starship67. Baby Hold On » Eddie Money68. Hey Deanie » Shaun Cassidy69. Summer Nights » John Travolta & Olivia Newton-john70. What's Your Name » Lynyrd Skynyrd71. Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue » Crystal Gayle72. Because The Night » Patti Smith73. Every Kinda People » Robert Palmer74. Copacabana » Barry Manilow75. Always And Forever » Heatwave76. You And I » Rick James77. Serpentine Fire » Earth, Wind & Fire78. Sentimental Lady » Bob Welch79. Falling » LeBlanc & Carr80. Dont Let Me Be Misunderstood » Santa Esmeralda81. Bluer Than Blue » Michael Johnson82. Running On Empty » Jackson Browne83. Whenever I Call You "Friend" » Kenny Loggins84. Fool (If You Think It's Over) » Chris Rea85. Get Off » Foxy86. Sweet Talking Woman » Electric Light Orchestra87. Life's Been Good » Joe Walsh88. I Love The Night Life » Alicia Bridges89. You Can't Turn Me Off (In The Middle Of Turning Me On) » High Inergy90. It's So Easy » Linda Ronstadt91. Native New Yorker » Odyssey92. Flashlight » Parliament93. Don't Look Back » Boston94. Turn To Stone » Electric Light Orchestra95. I Can't Stand The Rain » Eruption96. Ebony Eyes » Bob Welch97. The Name Of The Game » Abba98. We're All Alone » Rita Coolidge99. Hollywood Nights » Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band100. Deacon Blues » Steely Dan

Paula's Mom and long hair is setting in

Yet another one

Too many cuties to mention! Jennifer, Buzzy, Andy, Pierre, Moyra, the list goes on and on!

Trace Jess thru the ages...

A great first grade class...

A great shot of Jess, Nancy, Lucy, Doug, Ken, Mike, Rafe, Katie, and Gabi--among others!

Some more great pics

Thanks to Jess Daskal!!!

A scary picture, this one is!

Reunion Preview

I thought I might whet some appetites with a few pictures from the 2006 Reunion Weekend Jazz Picnic. Here is Dom Piane with the U-High Jazz Band. (The hippy-looking kid playing the guitar is my son Harry, Class of 2009.)



















Here they are joined by some Lab alums, including our own Miguel de la Cerna and Chuck Webb. Miguel and Chuck will be playing with the Jazz Band in June, and we hope they will be joined by other musicians from our class. Sonjia, get that voice ready!