Download this issue as a PDF - Columbia College - Columbia ...

CLASS NOTES
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
CLASS NOTES
six years as professor and chairman
of a comparable program at
Boston University. Ron said that in
1986, “I was worn out!” He and his
wife, Evelyn, a nurse trained at St.
Luke’s Hospital, then retired to a
small farm on Maryland’s eastern
shore, raised registered Polled
Herefords for 13 years, finally sold
everything and headed for winters
in Boynton Beach, Fla., and summers
in Maine.
That’s it for this issue. Please support
this magazine by sending your
contribution to Columbia College
Today. It will make you feel good.
More importantly, it provides your
Class Notes writer with something
to do in his declining years!
[Editor’s note: You may contribute
to CCT with a credit card online
at college.columbia.edu/cct/
giving or by phone by calling CCT
at 212-851-7852. You also may mail
a check, payable to Columbia College
Today, to Columbia College Today,
Columbia Alumni Center, 622 W.
113th St., MC 4530, 1st Fl., New
York, NY 10025. See this issue’s
Web Extras at college.columbia.
edu/cct for a list of those who contributed
to CCT in Fiscal Year 2012,
which ended on June 30.]
52
Sidney Prager
20 Como Ct.
Manchester, NJ 08759
sidmax9@aol.com
From May 31–June 3, the Class of
1952 held its 60th Alumni Reunion
Weekend at the College. My wife
and I were among 23 other attendees
enjoying each other’s company
and reliving many of the wonderful
times we had in college. We
stayed in the dorms, which were
very nice, and had breakfast, lunch
and dinners every day in different
restaurants. We enjoyed breakfast
one day with Robert Adelman,
Alan Bomser, Harry Chandless
Jr., N. David Charkes and David
Charlton. The luncheon was spent
with Joseph DiPalma, Bernard
Friedland, Ira Hoffman, Aldo
Ippolito and Gerald Kahn. Dinner
was spent with John Laszlo,
Martin Liebowitz, George Lipkin,
Alden Mesrop and Frederic
Primich.
The following day we spent
breakfast with John “Jack” Ripperger
and Jack Rosenbluth.
Lunch and dinner were spent with
James Santos, George Satran,
Jerold Schwartz, Sholom Shafner,
Alan Stein and Herbert Steinberg.
It was a weekend to remember and
I look forward to many more.
From Cliff Blanchard, we hear:
“On the 60th anniversary of our
graduation, I tried to reflect on
where the time went. First, I met a
lovely lady, Sally Evans, who for
53 years has been my wife; she is
also mother of our two children
and Gramma to our two young
grandchildren.
“I spent a two-year tour of duty
in Vicksburg, Miss., with the Army
Corps of Engineers and eight years
in New York City as a design civil
engineer for M. W. Kellogg, now
the KBR division of Halliburton. I
was involved in the design of reinforced
concrete foundations and
structures for petroleum refineries,
chemical plants and major smelting
complexes.
“We then left for Rhode Island,
where I took over the management
and, later, ownership of a small,
family-owned electroplating company.
When I retired, about 20 years
ago, we moved to Marco Island,
Fla., and now reside in Naples, Fla.
“In our younger years we traveled
extensively but now confine
ourselves to our family, friends and
an occasional cruise, mostly to the
Caribbean.”
Jack Ripperger and his wife of
44 years, Kathryn, of San Diego,
had dinner with me and my wife,
Maxine. We all enjoyed the evening
and afterward Jack submitted
the following:
“Many wonderful stories were
shared during the dinners at our
60th reunion.
“Among the Saturday attendees
at dinner was David Charlton
from Rochester, N.Y. He had a
surprising story to share. About 46
years ago he was working in New
Orleans and met a lovely southern
belle, Janice Cook, now his wife of
45 years. When he asked her out,
she responded that she had only
dated one other ‘Yankee’ — and
his name was Jack Ripperger.
What a surprise! (It had happened
back when I worked for Polaroid
in Chicago; Janice was visiting a
friend and found herself on a blind
date with me.) Janice was unable
to join us at reunion but still, you
can imagine the lively conversation
we shared over dinner. By the way,
while I was working for Polaroid,
David was working for Kodak!
“While in town, we spent time
with our adult children and granddaughters
(7 and 3), all of NYC. I
shared the story of time spent oneon-one
with Columbia President
Dwight Eisenhower prior to the
Homecoming dance in 1950. My
Blue Key brothers and I had arranged
for Edith Piaf to perform as
an appreciation for Ike for the U.S.
soldiers’ rebuilding her hometown
in France. It was a day to
remember.”
Your reporter thanks you all for
your contributions and wishes good
health to all the members of the
Class of 1952.
REUNION WEEKEND
MAY 30–JUNE 2, 2013
ALUMNI OFFICE CONTACTS
ALUMNI AFFAIRS Fatima Yudeh
fy2165@columbia.edu
212-851-7834
DEVELOPMENT Valentina Salkow
vs2441@columbia.edu
212-851-7833
53
Lew Robins
1221 Stratfield Rd.
Fairfield, CT 06825
lewrobins@aol.com
As you may recall, when we were
undergraduates, WKCR’s headquarters
was a small building between
Hartley and Hamilton Hall. The
image of Wendell Hatfield ’56 P&S
striding into or out of the WKCR
building is indelibly engraved in my
memory of Columbia life almost 60
years ago.
During a recent phone conversation,
I learned that working at
WKCR had an enormous influence
The New England Chapter of the American Medical
Writers Association awarded Dr. Martin Duke ’50 its
2012 Will Solimene Award for Excellence in Medical
Communication.
on our unusual classmate. After
freshman year, Wendell returned
home to Denver and, by claiming
to have been an announcer at a
New York radio station, was hired
by a local station to substitute on
air for the regular disk jockeys
as they went on vacation. When
Stan Kenton’s big band traveled to
Denver, the station sent Wendell
to broadcast live from the remote
location. During the ensuing years,
he became the business manager
of WKCR, the station’s chief announcer
and an honored Sachem.
Knowing that Wendell’s career
included becoming the acting chairman
of rheumatology at P&S and
that he spent 20 years on the faculty
of this world-famous institution, I
was curious as to whether there was
any specific undergraduate event
that spurred him to go to medical
school. His answer was fascinating:
“As a junior, my faculty adviser was
Professor George Nobbe. When he
heard that I hadn’t decided on a
career, he nearly jumped out of his
chair and recommended that I go
into medicine.”
After graduating from P&S,
Wendell spent the next 20 years
working a killer schedule teaching
rheumatology fellows during
the day and treating patients in
the evening. He found time to
marry Charlotte and they brought
up four children (and now have
six grandchildren). He has been
retired for 10 years and spends his
time fly-fishing, reading, cooking
and gardening.
Toward the end of our conversation,
Wendell said that the most
moving experience in his medical
career was caring for people who
had been victims of the Holocaust
and who came to America after
being rescued from the concentration
camps.
Wendell and Charlotte are hoping
to attend our 60th reunion next
spring. Speaking for all our classmates,
I know that seeing them in
person after all these years will be
a superb treat.
Mark your calendar for Thursday,
May 30–Sunday, June 2, 2013.
To ensure that Columbia can get
in touch with you about the event,
please update your contact information
online (reunion.college.colum
bia.edu/alumniupdate) or call the
Alumni Office (212-851-7488).
Class members are encouraged
to join the Reunion Committee to
help plan the weekend’s events and
to reach out to classmates for gifts to
the Columbia College Fund in honor
of reunion. If you’re interested in
participating, contact the appropriate
Alumni Office staff member
noted at the top of the column. You
need not be in the New York area
and can participate in meetings via
conference call.
54
Howard Falberg
13710 Paseo Bonita
Poway, CA 92064
westmontgr@aol.com
As many of you may know, when
Class Day comes around the College’s
alumni are invited to march
in the Alumni Parade of Classes
with their respective class banners.
We are very proud of Larry Kobrin
(especially this year), as he was our
sole representative at the event. He
notes, “They loaned me a lovely
young lady from the Alumni Office
to assist in carrying the flag.”
Perhaps next year there will be
more of us to help. In the meantime,
many thanks, Larry.
Alan Fendrick and his lovely
wife, Bev, move north and south
seasonally, depending on the
weather, spending their time either
in Florida or Massachusetts. Alan,
v.p. of our class, was responsible
for developing a Columbia alumni
club in Florida with an active
group of Columbians.
Mike Naver writes that he enjoys
a “rather self-indulgent life with golf,
tennis, movies and books. I retired
in 1999 after 30 years with the Social
Security Administration as national
press officer and public affairs manager.
That was my second career,
after I completed 10 years as a writer
and editor at the Baltimore Evening
Sun. Both during and after my government
years I taught journalism as
adjunct faculty at Towson University
outside Baltimore. I retired
completely in 2008.” Mike and his
wife, Irid, and their two children live
in Baltimore.
Speaking of special events, our
60th anniversary and reunion will
take place in 2014. Bernd Brecher
would like very much to hear from
classmates who could assist in
planning our reunion program. His
email address is brecherservices@
aol.com.
My wife, Debby, and I spent two
weeks in Israel visiting biblical and
national spots. It was a wonderful
trip and we enjoyed ourselves
greatly.
Our class has many members
who have made important contributions
to our society. One of them
certainly was Peter Ehrenhaft ’57L,
’57 SIPA, who passed away on July
25, three weeks prior to his 79th
birthday. Peter was selected by
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice
Earl Warren to be his senior clerk
during 1961 and 1962. He achieved
key positions with major law firms
and also served as deputy assistant
secretary of the treasury for international
trade. He was active in
Columbia alumni affairs and took
on responsibility for coordinating
our class contributions to support
key activities that enabled Columbia
College undergraduates to
pursue societal contributions both
in the United States and overseas.
We send our sincere condolences to
Peter’s widow, Charlotte, and their
three children. He will be missed
by many.
I hope that all is well with our
class members and I hope to hear
from many of you soon.
55
Gerald Sherwin
181 E. 73rd St., Apt. 6A
New York, NY 10021
gs481@juno.com
Columbia continues to be the preeminent
worldwide university judging
from events around the globe,
including the opening of Global
Centers in Istanbul, Turkey and Santiago,
Chile, earlier this year. In addition,
alumni have the opportunity
as part of the Alumni Travel Study
Program to visit regions of the planet
such as the ancient coast of Turkey
and the Aegean Sea Islands; China,
Tibet and the Yangtze; Australia and
New Zealand; and many more, in
the latter part of 2013. Noted professors
will be leading the explorations
to these regions.
Classmates are encouraged to
stop by Hamilton Hall to learn
about the Richard E. Witten Center
for the Core Curriculum, which enhances
the Core experience through
programs on campus and in New
York City and offers Core faculty
weekly lunches and seminars. The
Café series continues to put forth a
wide variety of lectures including
Café Columbia: Immigration at the
Turn of Two Centuries; Café Social
Science: Magema Fuze; and Café
Science: Ultrasound: Knocking on
Brain’s Door. Terrific intellectual
and entertaining programs.
The school had a visitor from
Washington, D.C. (Lew Mendelson’s
hometown) in mid-May.
President Barack Obama ’83 gave a
brisk talk to the Barnard graduates
at their Commencement, May 14.
It was a pretty exciting experience
for those who attended under a tent
on South Field and others who saw
the event on a big screen in Levien
Gym.
Dean’s Day, which now takes
place the Saturday of Alumni Reunion
Weekend, has become a big
hit among alumni and faculty. This
June the lectures were attended
by some familiar faces from your
favorite class: Bob Brown, Larry
Balfus and Don Laufer. The report
was an emphatic “thumbs up.”
Don has been working on building
attendance for the monthly class
dinners. Some of the guys who
have been partaking in the good
cheer have been Alan Hoffman,
Marty Dubner, Abbe Leban, Stan
Zinberg, Peter Pressman, Ralph
Wagner, Chuck Solomon, Ron
Spitz, Mort Rennert, Bob Kushner
and Anthony Viscusi. Bill Epstein
could not be part of the dinner before
the summer because he was on
safari in South Africa. (Pictures of
Bill and his entourage are available
for only a small handling fee.)
Putting learning into practice, the
Columbia men’s basketball team
went to Spain and Italy this summer
to absorb the many cultural
aspects the countries have to offer.
They saw what they had discussed
and read about through the Core —
a terrific learning experience, plus
the boys in blue finished the tour
with a 5–0 record. (“Oh, who owns
Barcelona?” etc., etc., as the song
goes.)
In May the Columbia University
Film Festival played at Alice Tully
Hall with a retrospective of student
works from the festival’s 25-year
history. Notable alumni and the
film community attended this great
event, which was co-presented with
the Film Society of Lincoln Center. If
you missed it, there’s still next year,
fellows.
From the West Coast, Harry
Scheiber made an important ap -
pearance at the Blackwell and
Dodge Cups (crew races) in mid-
May. Harry was the keynote speaker
and led the dedication ceremony
for two pair-oared shells that are
being named to honor Coach Walter
“Bud” Raney and former Professor
J. Bartlett Brebner.
Harry, you are the best.
Going back in time, other crew
members were Bill Mink, Bob
Hanson, Dan Hovey, Norm Roome,
Bob Banz, coxswain John Larosa
and stroke Terry Doremus.
Stanley Lubman let us know he
earned a new title, distinguished
resident lecturer, and wants everyone
to know his new email, stanley.
lubman@gmail.com.
Our classmates continue to put
pen to paper (as they say). Harold
Kushner, who lives in New England,
has a book coming out shortly
titled The Book of Job: When Bad
Things Happened to a Good Person.
Bill Kronick, writing from California,
is putting together a new novel
called What Katie Said. It talks about
the experiences of a Columbia
College scholarship student from
1975–79.
Ezra Levin (the Chet Forte ’57 of
his era) received an award from the
Hebrew Free Loan Society. He is
past president of the organization
and he served the group well for
more than 20 years.
We heard from world traveler
Beryl Nusbaum, whom we brought
up to date on all the positive happenings
in the Athletics Department.
Things are looking better for
the fall season.
Two classmates have passed on
recently, Morris Tenner and Jim
Phelan. Condolences go to their
families and friends.
Sparkling classmates of the Class
of 1955.
It is time to begin preparations
for our next important event — our
60th reunion.
Keep an eye on your diets, mix in
a little exercise and get ready for the
award-winning activities in 2015. It
promises to be the best ever.
Love to all, everywhere.
56
Stephen K. Easton
6 Hidden Ledge Rd.
Englewood, NJ 07631
tball8000@earthlink.net
Recently, my wife, Elke, and I
enjoyed a visit from Larry Cohn
and his wife, Judi, our class’ inveterate
travelers, who were visiting
New York from California for a
couple of family events. While Judi
and Elke enjoyed getting further
acquainted and shopping in the
city, Larry and I reminisced about
our Columbia experiences, which
included lightweight football, Air
Force and Navy ROTC; we also
know a number of the same classmates,
whom I get to see regularly
and he gets to visit occasionally.
We ended our short visit with golf.
Larry used my wife’s clubs and
shot one of his best rounds (we
always knew he was an athlete
from his basketball days at Bronx
Science). We plan another gettogether
soon in California.
This has been a busy time for
Class of ’56 activities, starting with
two of our class lunches at Faculty
House in the spring, continuing
through Class Day in May and
Columbia School Designations
In Class Notes, these designations indicate Columbia
degrees from schools other than the College.
Arch. School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Arts School of the Arts
Barnard Barnard College
Business Graduate School of Business
CE School of Continuing Education
Dental College of Dental Medicine
E The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and
Applied Science
GS School of General Studies
GSAS Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
J Graduate School of Journalism
L School of Law
Nursing School of Nursing
P&S College of Physicians and Surgeons
PH Mailman School of Public Health
SIPA School of International and Public Affairs
SW School of Social Work
TC Teachers College
FALL 2012
62
FALL 2012
63