April 2012 - Alumni News - Williams College

1965 classmates gathered at the University of New Hampshire Art
Museum in October to celebrate the opening of an exhibition of Felice
Beato’s 19th century photographs of Japan, part of the personal collection
of class secretary Tom Burnett (center). Also pictured (from left) are
Jim Leitz, Fred Ohly, Jack Foley and Art Wheelock.
1966
Palmer Q. Bessey
1320 York Ave., #32H
New York, NY 10021
John Gould
19 Nahant Place
Lynn, MA 01902
1966secretary@williams.edu
It looked as though it would
be a quiet season for news. But
life, of course, does not stand
still, and we had some additional
news from the time of Reunion
XXXXV.
Toward the end of the year,
we learned of the death of Peter
D. Gallagher from esophageal
cancer in October. He majored
in poli sci and had an artistic
bent. He was president of Zeta
Psi and active in the AMT, usually
doing tech support or scene
design. He joined the Navy
after Williams and retired in
1989 with the rank of commander.
Along the way he got a
degree in architecture. He was
from California and returned
there with his wife Susan and
their children. The write-up the
college sent described him as a
gracious, welcoming host and
neighbor. That fits with how I
remember him: upbeat, energetic
and funny. He never sent in
news for the notes, at least not
during my tenure, and I thought
he may have soured on Williams
because of the fraternity business.
I had thoughts of trying to
make contact and enticing him
back East, at least for the 50th,
but I hadn’t gotten to it yet.
Jim Harrison filled in the gaps
for me from reunion. He and
Karen still live in the DC area,
where he is actively engaged in
economic consulting. Their son
Jay ’90 lives in Hong Kong with
his Italian wife and their two
children. Babysitting or even visiting
the grandchildren is quite
a trek. Daughter Kathy (Kenyon
’92) lives closer by in Fairfax
County, Virginia, where she
works as a foster care placement
coordinator.
At the time of the reunion,
Dave Batten had recently begun
a new venture: corporatizing
some intellectual property from
MIT and the Mass Eye and Ear
Hospital. He had retired in his
50s to go sailing but couldn’t
stay away. The downside is that
he will spend this year commuting
between New York and
Berlin, where Evi has found an
apartment so that Alexis and
Lydia can go to a German-
French school there to solidify
their German, which, according
to Dave, is good but not great.
Dan Cohn-Sherbok sent a
Christmas card. That from a
professor of Judaism, drawn
by the rabbi himself and sent
electronically via BlackBerry
of Orange, seemed to me to be
contemporary and ecumenical
enough to capture the spirit of
the holidays at the end of the
year for all. We tried to forward
it to the class but apparently
without success. Dan reported
that he has published his 86th
book: Introduction to Zionism
and Israel: From Ideology to
n 1965–66
History (Continuum, 2012 and
also available on Kindle).
Stuart Simon and Betty (and
Brandy, their 13-year-old dachshund)
live in Aptos, Calif., where
he practices emergency medicine
full time with no plans to retire
for now. They had planned to
follow up their Israel trip last
winter with a trip to visit their
daughter Lisa, who was on an
archaeological dig on an island
in the Ionian Sea, where she was
digging up skeletons from the 7th
century BC. But there were riots
in Greece at the time. They reconsidered
and spent three fabulous
weeks in London and Scotland
instead.
Joe Hardy sent news from Wells,
Maine, where he lives with his
wife Alice just down the road
from their daughter and her
family. He retired last fall after
17 years with Maine’s Mediation
Service. Though slowed down by
arthritis, he still hoped to cross
country ski in the winter, if they
got enough snow. He also devotes
time to the Sierra Club, helping
them with issues surrounding
global warming. His home gets
100 percent of its electricity
from solar panels. He stays in
touch with John Rugge and Keith
Salsbury.
Andy Burr and Ann wrote
enthusiastically about the marriage
of their daughter Alexandra
at their farm in Worthington,
Mass., on the weekend of
Hurricane Irene. All the guests
enjoyed the reception in the barn,
but eight of their “beloved tractors”
had to sit out the festivities
in the deluge. Happily, they all
started right up in the next couple
of days. The bride and new
son-in-law are both architects,
as are Andy and Ann. And their
younger daughter is now in architecture
school.
Mike Katz retired from
Middlebury College a year
ago and is emeritus professor
of Russian and East European
studies. He was also named a
Mellon Foundation Emeritus
Fellow, which is a generous
grant to support his research on
Tolstoy’s controversial novella
The Kreutzer Sonata. Mike and
his wife Mary are traveling:
Egypt and Jordan last January;
Spain and Portugal in October;
and to England and Germany
this spring. Life is good, and he is
looking forward to Reunion L.
Ron Worland decided to close
his plastic surgery practice in
Medford, Ore., after 35-plus
years. He says it has been a
great run, but his heart is in
aPril 2012 | Williams PeoPle | 39