April 2012 - Alumni News - Williams College

owners of loose Holsteins on
her runs, shoots a gun well and
navigates snow conditions transporting
her skiers to the far-flung
corners of Maine. As she puts it,
“It’s a liberal arts existence.”
Jim Holmes and Jean Dugan
Maritz shared some time and
perhaps some tears on the sidelines
this past fall as their boys
competed together in the state
championship football game. Jim
reports, “A Williams connection
was made on every offensive
play as Jean’s son Jack hiked the
ball to Davey.” Davey earned
All-State honors as quarterback,
but that final game ended in a
heartbreaking loss in the final
seconds. Jim’s daughter Katie ’13
left her duties as JA in Williams A
to watch her brother.
Michele Corbeil is still hoping
to sell her home and move to
Boston. Her daughter had a
spinal fusion for scoliosis over the
winter, which Michele expected
would involve a long recovery
period that, along with her bag
business, would keep her busy.
The Cart family sold their Ohio
home and are official residents
of the Florida Keys. All fishing
visitors are welcome. Son James
’05 and wife Ashley ’05 had a
daughter, Courtland, in August.
Ben’s company is busy now that
oil and gas are in the news again.
I heard Williams students
recently described as “hearty
souls who work hard and play
hard.” Nothing new about that!
Keep on working and playing,
and, like Chip, replacing the
parts that break. Here’s wishing
titanium worked everywhere.
1981
Alexis Yoshi Belash
1466 Canton Ave.
Milton, MA 02186
1981secretary@williams.edu
I am sitting here surrounded by
dragons, pussy willows and red
banners. Kuala Lumpur is getting
ready to celebrate the Chinese
New Year, the auspicious year of
the dragon. With a population
made up of large numbers of
Muslims, Hindus and Christians,
Malaysians celebrate the holidays
of all three traditions. It makes
for many short weeks and a lot
of eating. As a full participant
I find that I have to go to the
gym five days a week and coach
middle school rugby just to keep
in shape.
Kathy McCleary submits a
(somewhat) shameless plug
for her second novel, A Simple
Thing, due out in July from
HarperCollins. “I’m very proud
of it, hope people buy it in droves
and chat it up on every possible
form of social media, and dream
that Clint Eastwood will buy
movie rights and decide to direct
and produce (there is a plum
role for an elderly man in the
book). When I’m not at work
on my third novel, which will be
published in 2013, I’m teaching
writing at American University
and riding the roller coaster of
college admissions (or gap year?)
with my eldest daughter, Gracie,
as well as the roller coaster of
ninth grade with my youngest,
Emma.”
Valerie Colville writes: “I have
reached my first anniversary as
a small business owner/entrepreneur.
CC Solutions specializes
in supporting the administrative
requirements associated with U.S.
government-financed loans both
internationally and within the
U.S. We developed and own a
web-based application to streamline
the myriad U.S. government
documentation process and
obligations. We are fortunate to
have won transactions in Mexico,
West Africa and Mongolia, as
well as domestically in Arizona,
so we are off to a good start.”
Valerie saw Nevill Smythe and
his family over New Year’s,
when Amelia celebrated her 16th
birthday. They are all well and
fun as always.
My predecessor Kyle Hodgkins
sends greetings from southern
Ohio, “where we continue
our quest to raise a healthy
and happy free-range teenager
[with] organic food, clean water,
fresh air and a set of car keys.”
In March they embarked on
a spring break driving tour of
colleges.
Eric Widing wrote from
Uruguay, where he and his family
were “hanging out with Vico
(Victor Zerbino ’79, Eric’s JA)
and his family … spending New
Year’s Eve with 25 of his cousins
at a traditional Uruguayan
BBQ.”
Tim Williams was in New York
in January and called former
suitemate Jonathan David. “It
turned out that Jon’s daughter
Elmina was having her bat mitzvah
that weekend, so I stayed
for the event. The ceremony was
magnificent, capped by Elmina
giving a truly remarkable and
beautifully delivered speech
about Moses and individuals
working for the betterment of
society. After the ceremony,
we enjoyed catching up and
n 1980–81
reminiscing about Williams and
other old friends.”
Marc Tayer had a wonderful
family trip to Italy (Amalfi
Coast, Rome, Umbria, Tuscany,
Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice)
late in the summer. He attended
the Williams vs. Amherst game
again at Yogi’s Sports Bar in
Cardiff-by-the-Sea (north county
San Diego). This year the room
was segregated. An ex-boss,
Jim Bunker’s grandson, was the
running back star of Amherst,
and Ken Quinn’s ’79 son was still
at Amherst on the coaching staff
after graduating last year, so Ken
was apparently ambivalent for
one last year.
Old roommate Bill (Bolo)
Reynolds sends greetings from
Vermont, where it was 16 below
zero one day and supposed to
rain the next. He wrote, “This
past November Matthew St.
Onge, Steve Jenks and I traveled
to the Outer Banks (Beaufort,
N.C.) to fly fish for false albacore
in the waters off of Cape
Lookout. Some fish were caught,
beers were drained and fish
stories told. Despite high winds
and driving rains, Capt. St. Onge
managed to keep the ship afloat,
and no one got impaled by a
wayward cast.”
Bill is still a lawyer in the
Vermont attorney general’s office,
where he has transitioned from
criminal prosecution to labor
and employment matters, which
mostly involves representing the
state before the Vermont Labor
Relations Board and Vermont
Human Rights Commission and
arguing cases before the Vermont
Supreme Court. Most of his cases
involve wayward employees,
including corrupt cops and sexual
harassers.
Shawn Burdick paid his final
tuition bill to UVM for daughter
Amanda; too bad son Ted starts
college in the fall. He is excited
to have two graduations coming
up this spring. In addition to his
full-time job teaching high school
physics in Williamstown, he
taught a semester of introductory
astronomy to non-majors at
MCLA. The day before school
began, his principal convinced
him to pick up an extra course at
the high school this year.
High school classmate Susan
Rogers Moehlmann is helping
me plan our 35th high school
reunion. We have to coordinate
conference calls between three
continents! She is “a volunteer
guide at the Royal Academy in
London. My art history courses
at Williams have prepared me
aPril 2012 | Williams PeoPle | 63