Woodstock School Alumni Magazine Vol CIV, 2011

Quadrangle - 75
at DORA’s father’s 90th birthday. JOHN
is a medical doctor in MN. VINTA
SHUMWAY OVIATT enjoyed a talk by
the Dalai Lama this past May at nearby
UC Irvine. One of the highlights of my
life is meeting him in person when I was
12, along with Miss WESSELS, a former
teacher who became a missionary to the
Tibetan exiles & ran a girls’ school that I
stayed at several times. We had tea with
the Dalai Lama in a small room on the
other side of Landour in the Tibetan area.
I remember that he was very friendly,
had a great laugh - which he still does -
& asked about my school. He appeared
much older when I saw him this May
but not changed that much in his spirit
& I thoroughly enjoyed his informal but
thoughtful discussion about the social
& political issues in US, China, Tibet
& the world. DAVE PREWITT & Carol
are in their 7th yr at the American Int’l
School/Dhaka, Bangladesh (Dave’s 41st
yr in Asia.) He has earned his professional
counseling license & plans of
retiring to their CT home in the not too
far distant future. TERRY WEIDMAN
RUSSELL retired from her nursing job at
Providence Medical Center in Portland
OR in time to prepare for the wedding
of daughter Christina in Aug. Brothers
TIM ’80 & DAVID ’75 & their families
also attended. TERRY still volunteers at
her free, church sponsored clinic which
serves the unemployed & working poor.
RUTH HARPER AXELROD teaches
mngment part-time in MD; both she &
husband, David Canfield, are deeply
involved in local volunteer work—she
to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay &
he to raise money for local nonprofits.
Their mo-long pilgrimage-of-the-heart
to India starts at the WOSA Centenniel
Celebration. POLLY PETERSON &
JAMES GEDDES (S) are in San Diego
enjoying being near kids & grandkids.
Due to the state of the job market, work
is sporadic but we have taken on several
volunteer opportunities. POLLY has
spent most of the last 6 mos helping to
develop a Community Center for the
Arts for neighborhood kids. We also like
to visit with WSites whenever we can.
PAUL SMYRES lives in Millerton, NY
with wife of 10 yrs, Priscilla. She’s a
Jungian psychoanalyst & artist. He’s still
doing aerial photography & taking flight
lessons, as well as working on his many
websites/blogs with internet advertising.
He does social media marketing for
brother PHILIP’s ’87 UK online book
co, Fatbrain.co.uk. Older son Robert
& wife & daughter Sarah &
husband live nearby. Younger
son Evan lives in Thailand,
works for Philip. I have 2
granddaughters & one on the
way in Thailand. My parents
are still alive in N FL, but
mom (88) is fading now. Fond
memories of India & WS are
still with me. I enjoy hearing
from WSites. JOHN EVANS
& Lynne are starting their 3rd
yr at the Int’l School of Beijing.
John also serves as Pres
of the 1,200 member Overseas
Assn for College Admission Counseling.
In Jul in Calgary, CAN, he chaired the
annual OACAC summer conference of
over 700 attendees from all around the
globe. Lynne & JOHN enjoy being close
to their 2 kids & 4 grandchildren who
live in Hong Kong & Chengdu. MARK
KENOYER, was elected to the Am Ac
of Arts & Sciences, a very big nat’l
honor. He continues to teach at the U of
WI, Madison in the Dept of Anthro. He
goes to PAK each yr to work at the site
of Harappa & also visits India to meet
with archaeologists & collaborate on
various archaeology projects in Gujarat.
He was able to visit Dhaka to give
lectures; spent a mo in China at the site
of Anyang & gave lectures at the Inst
of Archae in Beijing & took a short trip
to Mongolia & South Korea where he
participated in mtgs, gave lectures &
visited many archaeological sites. For
summaries of his work & photos, see
www.harappa.com BRUCE BROWNE
has taken a job in Doha, Qatar, teaching
at the Community College of Qatar
(CCQ), Theatre & Public Speaking. Life
in Qatar is interesting - a very modern
city with some interesting quirks & very
warm: it has been about 104 most days
since I’ve been here. A little like living
in the plains of India, except we have
the advantage of air conditioning! Our
house in Sheboygan is on the market &
Nan will join me once that encumbrance
is taken care of, which could be a while.
Our plan is for her to come here in Jan, as
by then I will have a Qatari ID, which allows
family to live here without a tourist
permit. NANCY JOHNS ERICKSON &
Don live in Lebanon MO. I am involved
in volunteering through Crosslines & my
church. My parents live in Sedona AZ
near sister ANITA ’71 & brothers MAR-
TIN ’75 & GEORGE ’76. I just visited
them & took my mother to the Indian
dinner for ANITA’s class reunion which
Reid Blickenstaff '70, Lynne & John Evans '70 in Beijing
she & I enjoyed thoroughly.—Nancy
Class of 1971
Last Mar MARTI PATEL was fortunate
to catch up with VICTOR SCHOON-
MAKER & friends on a beautiful remote
island off tropical southern Thailand. In
Oct, she caught up with her former HS
roommate REBECCA JENNINGS, as
well as RAHUL AMIN, sister NANDITA
AMIN ’73 & BHARAT PATEL ’71 at
the WOSA 100 in Mussoorie. After the
celebrations, she & Rebecca will be travelling
to Rajasthan to visit YASHWANT
SINGH ’71 & brother RAJENDRA ’72.
In between life & work, her passion for
photography & blogging – see sanuksanuk.wordpress.com
- keeps her busy!
This has been another yr of movement
for REBECCA JENNINGS, winding up
her work as a trainer throughout Aboriginal
communities in remote AUS & visiting
classmates in LA, family in CAN,
winding up with Oct WOSA reunion.
I’ll be settling soon! BOB CONRAD
recently won the Distinguished Alumni
Award for the School of Info Sci at the U
TN in Knoxville. He has been the library
director at Oak Ridge Nat’l Lab since
05. KITTY PURGASON is still training
ESL/EFL teachers at Biola U in the Los
Angeles area, had a sabbatical semester
which included travel to Kuwait, Oman,
Tajikistan, China & Vietnam. She held
a small reunion in her room with some
of those who couldn’t make Flagstaff.
ANNE MARRIOTT works full time as
a radiologist at a large community hospital
in Mississauga CAN & keeps busy
gardening, doing volunteer work for her
church & holidaying at their cottage N
of Toronto. She & David Wunker, along
with daughter Claire will be visiting
ADAM (S) & Darcy in Dec – Adam is
currently on the teaching staff at WS.
They will also be travelling around Rajasthan
& doing the Golden Triangle.