April 2012 - Alumni News - Williams College

CLASS NOTES
Foundation. She adds, “I’m still
engaged to Peter Van Walsum ’85
and spent some wonderful (cold)
holidays in Quebec with his
kids Saskia, 15, Johan, 13, and
Clarice, 8.”
Everyone who emailed this
round mentioned our 25th
reunion and their plans for June.
For those of you who are still on
the fence about coming, Jordan
Hampton, our class organizer
extraordinaire, sent in one more
plug for the big weekend. It
will be fun, and I may figure
out the second line of The
Mountains song before then. In
the meantime, courtesy of Moe
Ford, “May all your troubles
last as long as your New Year’s
resolutions.”
1988
Britta Bjornlund
7504 Honeywell Lane
Bethesda, MD 20814
Carolyn O’Brien
241 Huron Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
1988secretary@williams.edu
Greetings Class of ’88. As
January cold takes its toll on us,
many of us are reminiscing about
Winter Study in the Purple Valley
of Williamstown.
Mary Miller was not only
reminiscing. She hosted a Winter
Study group at her ranch in
Arizona! Current Williams
undergraduates studying the
U.S./Mexico border region spent
a day in January working on
a grassland restoration project
on her ranch as volunteers.
This sounds far more ambitious
than the winter “studies” we
participated in, which included
less academics and more social
endeavors.
Brian Kornfield was also thinking
about Winter Study, what
with his older son home from
Georgetown for many weeks.
He says it’s “just too darn long
to have older teens hanging
around your house with nothing
to do.” Brian is still working
for a nonprofit in finance. He
spent Christmas weekend in
New Paltz, N.Y., hiking, skating
and relaxing. He writes, “I even
rented figure skates and pulled
off a Hamill-camel or two without
ending up in the hospital!”
That is something we’d like to
see—next time please videotape!
Laura Gasiorowski was teaching
a “Winter Intersession” class
at her law school alma mater,
Tulane. She
76 | Williams PeoPle | aPril 2012
Ephs in the D.C. office of Morrison & Foerster welcomed Suz Mac
Cormac ’88 (second from left) when she visited from the San Francisco
office. Also pictured (from left): Tom Eldert ’97, Mike Fransella ’98,
Alexandra Steinberg Barrage ’97, Andrew Smith ’87 and Nick Spiliotes ’77.
explained that she led a weeklong
practical skills workshop on
criminal practice. She was happy
to be back in the amazing city of
New Orleans among old friends
and colleagues and fresh-faced,
impossibly young law students.
Tracy Heilman was excited
about the first real snow in
Illinois. She attended a glam
party hosted by Kate Kennedy
where she also caught up with
Katherine Wolf.
Cindy Craig Johnson and family
took a break from sunny, balmy
Florida over the winter break to
visit Utah for skiing. She reports
that despite the complaints of
lack of snow out west, it was terrific
by Florida standards.
Nils Christoffersen took part in
a different kind of “winter sport”
while visiting the Bay Area. He
ran into Andy Harris and family
playing tennis in Marin County
and called on Kurt Oeler to take
his son and nephew surfing in
Pacifica. Nils also caught up with
Britta Bjornlund, Nicole Melcher
and Amy Searight, all government
types, in the late fall in
DC. Where the heck was Brad
Roegge, they asked.
Mark Huffman is also enjoying
California winters, having
moved there from the Northeast.
He’s also enjoying a new baby:
William Albert Coker Huffman,
born Oct. 10, 2011, joining big
brother Asher. Mark writes, “I
thought I was too old for this,
but it turns out I’m not.” Late
nights with a colicky newborn
are one thing, but can he pull off
a Hamill-camel or two on figure
skates, we ask? Congratulations
Mark and family!
Ashok Ashta has also relocated,
for three months anyway, to
Toyko. He writes that he traveled
to Singapore, Shanghai and
Bangkok. He planned to be back
in Delhi soon.
Alicia Bjornson spent 10 days in
Cuba, studying conservation and
cultural heritage preservation in
tropical climates as a member
of the American Institute for
Conservation. She said it was a
great experience, and her beautiful
photos have not had us wanting
to visit too. Unfortunately we
cannot get visas!
Andy Harris’ visit to NYC
sparked a minireunion of the
infamous “Sunday Night Beer
League,” which was rightly held
on a Sunday night in the fall.
Ray George, Dekker Buckley, Jim
Elliott, Jonny Hollenberg, Ajata
(AJ) Mediratta ’87 and Dave Tager
’87 were all in attendance. Ray
also saw Ulysses Sherman in New
York, visiting on business.
Perhaps next time they can visit
Robert (Pooch) Pucciariello’s band
Sora An, which plays frequently
in NYC. Rob and wife Maria are
still living next to the Flatiron
Building in New York, and he
saw Tim Bock when Williams
President Adam Falk spoke at
Credit Suisse. Rob reports that
Eric Hanson is moving to San
Francisco to book Yoshi’s, a
legendary jazz club.
Also in New York, Vicki
Fuqua saw Jeanne Cloppse and
Katherine Wolf at a party hosted
by Claire Marx. Claire and Sally
Laroche and families visited
Vicki for New Year’s Eve. Jody
Abzug reported seeing Tim Bock,
Catherine Eaton Coakley, Lewis