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CLASS NOTES COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
dishonestly and out of context,
claiming that he admitted that “no
one has found any such in-between
creatures … and there is a growing
conviction among many scientists
that these transitional forms
never existed.” Of course, what Niles
meant is that if evolution proceeds in
fits and starts, the chances of finding
fossil records from the relatively
brief periods of time during which
accelerated evolution occurred are
remote, but that does not mean that
the evolution did not occur. In any
event, being misquoted by creationists
is a back-handed acknowledgement
by them that Niles is a leading
thinker in the scientific world of
paleontology and evolution.
Steven Millhauser also has a
new book, We Others: New and
Selected Stories, a selection from
three decades of work. In a July 1
interview with Publishers Weekly,
the interviewer noted that five of
the seven new stories in the book
use the collective voice or point of
view. Steven responded: “What’s
fascinating about ‘we’ is that it
invites conflict. There’s nothing
innocent about ‘we’ — it implies a
not-we who … must be dealt with.
Sometimes the not-we is a stranger,
like my knife thrower, who enters
a community and causes trouble;
sometimes it’s a hostile group, like
the corporation in ‘The Next Thing’
that wants to take over the town.
And there’s another crucial thing
about using a collective narrator
— it’s uncommon. It’s liberating. If
you read a story with an ‘I’ or a ‘he’
or a ‘she,’ you’re in familiar territory
— but ‘we’ is mostly unexplored. I
think of ‘we’ as an adventure.”
The interviewer noted that the
earliest stories in the book seem to
reflect the real world and realism
in a way that the newer work does
not. Steven commented, “Strange as
this may sound, I consider myself
a realist. Or let’s say, I’ve always
had a complicated relation to
so-called realism. What I dislike is
conventional realism — a system of
gestures, descriptions and psychological
revelations that was once a
vital way of representing the world
but has become hackneyed through
endless repetition. I’d argue that a
conventional realist isn’t a realist
at all, but a falsifier of the real. The
‘fantastic’ has no interest for me in
itself. Its justification is that it’s a
way of getting at something real —
something that can’t be gotten at
in any other way. In this sense, I’d
say that I’ve never broken my tie
to realism. As a reader, I revere the
classic realists, writers like Maupassant
and Chekhov and, yes, early
Hemingway and his American
descendants, right up to the present
day. My argument isn’t with realism
— it’s with what passes for realism
and is actually unrealism.”
66
Stuart Berkman
Rua Mello Franco, 580
Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro
25960-531 Brasil
smb102@columbia.edu
We have learned of the passing of
Richard Thompson, retired psychoanalyst
and program manager,
New York City, this past April.
Other than that sad information,
those who believe in the old adage
that no news is good news will be
delighted to know that we have
abundant good news — in other
words, absolutely no news at all to
report on this go-around. Of course,
most of our classmates have been
too busy to write, off somewhere
collecting Nobel prizes, Pulitzer
prizes, Oscars and Palmes d’Or. No
wonder they have no time to write
and to share with our classmates
news about all their spectacular
achievements!
We’ll be willing to overlook this
temporary epistolary lapse, as long
as you promise to make a significant
effort to write for the following
issue, OK?
Send a note to me at the email at
the top of the column, or use CCT’s
easy-to-use webform: college.colum
bia.edu/cct/submit_class_note.
Your note will come right to me.
[Editor’s note: Brian Hesse ’71,
who entered with the Class of
’66, has passed away. Please see
the Class of ’71 column for more
information.]
REUNION MAY 31–JUNE 3
ALUMNI OFFICE CONTACTS
ALUMNI AFFAIRS Nick Mider
nm2613@columbia.edu
212-851-7846
DEVELOPMENT Heather Hunte
hh15@columbia.edu
212-851-7957
67
Albert Zonana
425 Arundel Rd.
Goleta, CA 93117
az164@columbia.edu
My wife, Diane, and I were delighted
to have dinner with Cliff
Kern, who was in Santa Barbara
for a Sideways trip with a group of
friends. Cliff is the same charming
person who was my study partner
as we labored and laughed our
way through obscure economics
problem sets during our senior
year. He enjoys teaching economics
at SUNY Binghamton as well as
Mahler concerts in New York and
his gourmet experiences.
Peter Miller writes, “Inspired by
those who have recently written in,
I break a 44-year silence to report
that I’ve been elected a member of
the Cosmos Club in Washington,
D.C., for ‘meritorious original work
that introduces an important innovation
in approach, methodology,
WINTER 2011–12
72
technique, knowledge, vision, or
alters perceptions that influence the
nominee’s field in science, literature,
or the arts.’ This relates to the nearly
300 editions of photogravure etchings
I’ve done since 1991, many of
which are in museums and private
collections. They spring from a vision
nurtured by 30 years in Japan,
unique in both technique and style,
but accessible to all. I recognize,
from my own experience, that
many accomplishments are unaccompanied
by overt recognition,
titles, awards, and the like, and look
forward to reports of such ‘innerdirected’
achievements here.”
Jeff Newman wrote to express
his profound sadness at the passing
of his roommate and friend of
nearly 50 years, Don Krim. “Don
and I met during our first week at
the College and became friends at
once. We were roommates during
our last three years there and
during all three years at the Law
School. We remained close. I spent
much time visiting with Don in the
hospital in the final months and
at home in the final weeks, after
he returned for hospice care. Don
faced his final days with the same
courage and dignity that he always
displayed.
“Don was president for more
than 30 years of Kino International
and built it into a highly respected
and acclaimed film distribution company.
Kino was acquired recently
by Lorber Films, whose principal
is Richard Lorber. In the past four
years, three of Kino-Lorber’s films
were nominated for Academy
Awards for Best Foreign Language
Film.
“Don’s funeral service was held
on May 23 at Riverside Memorial
Chapel. Don leaves his wife, Susan;
daughter, Miriam; and son, Simon.
I spoke at his funeral service: ‘Don
once quoted Emerson in a letter he
sent me, “Always do what you are
afraid to do.” Don took his own counsel.
He chose to forsake a well-trodden
corporate path that potentially
beckoned and instead to go the far
riskier route: by audaciously launching
his now universally acclaimed,
but then modest, venture. …
“‘The same Don Krim who had
been troubled by the injustices he
saw in the ’60s was troubled by the
injustice he saw only weeks ago.
During a hospital visit early last
month, Don spoke eloquently, if
softly, against one political party’s
proposal to balance the budget
on the backs of the poor and the
elderly.’”
We will miss Don.
Mark Minton writes, “At the
invitation of the Alumni Office
and the Columbia College Fund,
a small group of your Class of
1967 alumni colleagues met at The
Korea Society in New York on June
20 to begin the work of planning
for our 45th Alumni Reunion
Weekend, scheduled for Thursday,
May 31–Sunday, June 3. Bob Costa,
Jonathan Kranz, Roger Lehecka
and I were the advance-guard
in attendance at this preliminary
meeting, but we got good advice
from Alumni Office staff members
Heather Hunte of the Columbia
College Fund and Nick Mider
of the events team. This session
marked the first step, and we
plan to meet again and hope to be
joined from then onward — in person,
online or through conference
calls — by others who are willing
to help with this important event.
“Our 2012 reunion will coincide
with Dean’s Day, with its usual offerings
of classes and presentations
(Saturday, June 2), so the program
offerings will be rich. We are seeking
a good venue for an opening
reception Thursday evening, May
31. Many of you may remember
the wonderful cocktail reception
hosted by the late Jeremy Epstein
at his home in Brooklyn for our 40th
reunion. Issues to be decided are
the number of separate programs
or meals planned for our class and
a speaker for a proposed closing
dinner on Saturday. As we have
done before, we’ll also be recruiting
class members to present talks
about their careers, experiences or
interests.
“We need enough class members
to work on preparations and
to staff several committees: Events
(planning events/recruiting speakers),
Communications (getting the
word out) and Class Gift (fundraising).
If any of you are interested in
participating in these preparations,
please let me know: mintonmc@
gmail.com. Any class colleague
wanting to help is very welcome.”
Please take a look at the reunion
website (reunion.college.columbia.
edu) and mark your calendars
now. More information will start to
arrive during the spring, so be sure
Columbia has your correct postal
and email addresses.
Your classmates want to hear
from you, particularly as we approach
our reunion. Please do write.
Send a note to me at the email at the
top of the column, or use CCT’s easyto-use
webform: college.columbia.
edu/cct/submit_class_note. Your
note will come right to me.
68
Arthur Spector
271 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
arthurbspector@gmail.com
Greetings to the Class of 1968.
I saw Gordon Harriss, John
Slattery and Seth Weinstein at
my home in September for a little
political event. I run into Seth at the