April 2012 - Alumni News - Williams College

1979 classmates (from left) Lisa Russell O’Shea, Bruce McElvein and
Dorea Ferris caught up at a holiday party in December for the D.C.
Williams regional association.
throughout the developing world.
Maybe someone in our class (or
reading this) is a public health
guru who can work on this issue?
Anyone know a good neurosurgeon
who wants to travel?”
Bill Couch writes from his home
base in Baltimore but has spent
considerable time in Dallas and
Richmond on various projects.
“I am working with IBM, both
Will and Chan are home with
us (post-college) and applying to
various military services. They
are still works in progress, and as
a parent I worry but am proud
that they want to make that
commitment. Can’t judge otherwise
since I spent 14 months in
Baghdad worrying them and the
rest of the Couch clan!”
Jas Dembinski writes that he
rode a bicycle from Paris to Brest
to Paris (1,200 kilometers, or
750 miles) in under 90 hours
this past August—along with
4,000-plus other cyclists who
participated in an event that’s
been a part of bicycling culture
since 1891. If there are any other
alumni who have ever ridden
“Paris-Brest-Paris,” he would
love to hear from you.
Clint Willis has been “surfing
a bunch in Maine (cold) and
down in Costa Rica (warm). I
have a writing business, and my
wife Jennifer teaches yoga and
makes pottery. Our sons Abner
and Harper have formed a band
by the name of ‘Two Lights,’
derived from twin lighthouses
near Cape Elizabeth, Maine,
where they grew up. The band,
based in NYC, will be on tour
this year.”
We received some upbeat
news from Ken Hollingsworth:
“As you know, my dad (Bud)
had the Reading High football
field named after him. At the
October ceremony, Mark Eckert,
Stan Parese and Bill McCalpin
all surprised Don Rice and me
by showing up to see my dad.
It was an awesome effort by
all of them to be there, and my
dad was so appreciative. I later
asked my dad where he would
like to go to watch a college
football game. He said that he
had always wanted to go to
Notre Dame to see live action on
the gridiron, so Don, my sons
Scott and Eric, my dad and I all
went to Chicago to stay with
John Svoboda, Jill Simon ’80 and
their family for a weekend in
November. ‘Boda’ took us to
the Notre Dame game Saturday
afternoon, where we also met
up with Greg McAleenan (and
made obnoxious phone calls
to Kid Collins, Mark Eckert and
John Dell’Erario). Being at Notre
Dame and standing in front of
‘Touchdown Jesus’ was a surreal,
out-of-body experience for all of
us. We then went to the Chicago
Bears game Sunday afternoon
and then came home for a great
dinner that night, which also
included spending quality time
with two of the Svoboda children,
Sam and Lucy. Throughout
n 1978–79
the weekend, Boda showed us
all around Chicago. I think that
maybe he should have been the
mayor of Chicago! What an
absolute thrill it was, and I will
never forget how much fun we
had. My dad said that it was one
of the best weekends of his life!
Needless to say, Jill and Boda
were the consummate hosts.”
Ken added, “Last but not
hardly least, I had a brief visit
with Phil Shuman, who was in
New Hampshire to cover a presidential
primary for FOX News.
It was fun to see him in action!”
For those of you residing in the
LA area, hopefully you have seen
Phil, who is the weekend anchor
on KTTV. Several months ago he
did a live interview with Dr. Troy
Elander ’81, ophthalmologist,
medical expert and president
of the LA County Medical
Association.” Phil has included a
beautiful picture which includes
Troy, his wife Diane (Grimes)
Elander ’83 and himself.
AlIan Macdonald continues
to teach family medicine to
residents and medical students.
“However, after six very good
years teaching in Florence, S.C.,
I have taken a position in the
Greenville Family Medicine
Residency Program in the
beautiful upstate South Carolina
area. Greenville Hospital has
just started a new medical
school—the only new med
school accredited in 2011—and
our residency is proud to be part
of this new effort! I teach ‘womb
to tomb’ family medicine with
special interests in maternity
EPHCOMPLISHMENT
Outside magazine ranked Mark Tercek ’79 ninth on its list of 25 most
influential people in the “world outside.” Tercek is CEO of the Nature
Conservancy and has been credited with transforming the world's
biggest conservation organization into a more global, sustainable
enterprise.
care and children’s health. Our
kids are all growing up. Our
oldest is married to a wonderful
young woman. He is head of
graduate school web development
at Clemson University, his
first job out of college, and she is
pursuing a master’s degree there.
Our middle son just received his
bachelor’s degree in history, and
we are very proud of him! My
wife continues to home school
our youngest, who has many
challenges in life but who is very
brave and extremely determined.
We are now in the ‘waiting-forgrandkids’
stage. Seems like only
aPril 2012 | Williams PeoPle | 59