Japan Storm - Columbia College - Columbia University

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CLASS NOTES COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY ago, I got a call from a classmate saying he had just read that Abbe had returned to Chadbourne. I finally was able to catch up with our busy “white collar criminal attorney” between what he described as a “fun trial on Long Island” and preparing motions in the John Edwards case, and learned the reason for his boomerang move. “Bigger was not better for my practice. A somewhat smaller firm, where I know my partners, was more satisfying.” Looking on the Chadbourne & Parke website, I saw what Abbe failed to mention: he was recently honored as one of The National Law Journal’s 34 “most influential lawyers.” Abbe gets a few extra benefits now that he comes to New York (from his home in Washington, D.C.) each week. He is now able to see daughters Alizath (30), a licensed social worker and therapist at the New York Psychiatric Institute (part of NewYork- Presbyterian) and Elana (26), who is in her third year at the School of Dentistry. His third daughter, Reilly (10), is back home in D.C. when he returns. A second benefit of the weekly trip is that he can teach a criminal law class at the Law School. [Editor’s note: Read more about Lowell in the feature in this issue.] Also having spent a lot of time running between New York and Washington, D.C., is portrait photographer and film documentarian Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. His 2008 The Black List Project, a traveling exhibition of large-format color portraits of politicians, musicians, actors and other well-known black personalities (and two-part HBO documentary on what it means to be an African-American in our contemporary society), moved to the National Portrait Gallery in D.C. as of October 28. While this was being staged, he also was preparing for the late September opening of The Latino List, a parallel group of portraits of prominent Latinos along with another documentary on HBO. From New England comes news from Stuart Offner, who is a partner in the Boston law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo doing commercial real estate work (a lot of which brings him to New York). He tells us that his son, Theodore, is an economist with the Analysis Group, an expert witness firm run by Paul Samuelson’s daughter-in-law. Ted is applying to business school. Daughter Olivia lives in Manhattan and does corporate communications. I didn’t catch what his other daughter, Sophia, is up to, but I bet she is still in school. These are challenging economic times for most of our class, but Dr. Steve Blumenthal has a special challenge. The good news for the Portland, Maine, pediatrician is that all four of his kids are out of the house. The bad news is that three are in college and one is in law school. Steve is surely working extra hours these days! A last note to put some salve on those of us facing the daunting event of turning 60. I was checking the spelling of sexagenarian in the Webster’s New Compact Office Dictionary next to my computer at work. I was pleased to find the word is right between “sex” and “sex appeal.” Not a bad place to spend the next decade! There you have it. Classmates exploring the arts on both coasts, lawyers continuing to redefine their careers and our children showing us the way to the 21st century. Couldn’t be better. 75 Randy Nichols 734 S. Linwood Ave. Baltimore, MD 21224 rcn16@columbia.edu Randolph M. McLaughlin recently was named of counsel at Newman Ferrara, a New York firm specializing in real estate transactions. Several members of the class have communicated condolences to Henry Bunis and family at the passing of his father. Walter Ricciardi of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, New York and former deputy director, Division of Enforcement, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, was a member of the faculty of the ABA’s American Law Institute’s seminar “Accountant’s Liability: Litigation and Issues in the Wake of the Financial Crisis.” He is an inveterate traveler — he returned from London the week before the quick trip to D.C. for the seminar. (And I am happy to report that no hurricanes or earthquakes marred his trip.) His wife, Clara Ricciardi ’75 Barnard, recently was honored at the UJA-Federation of New York’s Volunteer Recognition Ceremony for her work and dedication to New York Legal Assistance Group’s LGBT Law Project. A volunteer attorney for NYLAG since 2009, Clara’s involvement has helped the project expand the number of individuals assisted. Perhaps her greatest contribution to the project’s success has been enhancing its ability to draft wills and other life planning documents through its LGBT Life Planning Legal Clinic. There was a great picture of Walter and Clara in one of the announcements. I had a legal question that I posed to a few of my classmate buddies: Bob Katz, Bob Schnei- der, Steve Jacobs, Walter Ricciardi and Ira Malin. They confirmed my expectations, but the best response came from Bob K. — “Malin is not a lawyer, so he is the best qualified to answer.” Gave me a good chuckle, and it was good to hear from all. (Cards and emails from other classmates are invited and welcome on any topic!) While this won’t appear until winter, I’m writing this at the end of the summer. The mid-Atlantic region has had an earthquake and two major hurricanes in the last three weeks. I know classmates and others up and down the coast had issues as well. I’m ready to dry out! I’m also looking at the stack of books I’ve read (or have waiting) and many of them remind me of classmates. I recently finished Neil Selinger’s A Sloan Product: A Memoir of a Lost Boy, picked up just before he passed in July (college. columbia.edu/cct/fall11/obituar ies2). On one of my antiquing and shopping adventures, I found several of Elaine Pagel’s books, which make me think of Terry Mulry and Sigmond Wissner-Gross. After seeing it reviewed on the front page of The New York Times Book Review, I picked up Absolute Monarchs, a wonderful history of the papacy. So many seemed like old friends, as I came across many in my Columbia studies in religion. I read it around the time I saw Fr. John McCloskey. I think he would approve of it more than the Michael Baignet books I also purchased! And Bob Schneider and I do like an occasional James Patterson or other mystery/ thriller. Daniel Silva’s Portrait of a Spy was particularly chilling in light of this summer’s events in Europe. I haven’t read anything new from Fernando Castro, but know he continues to do public readings of his latest, Redeemable Air Mileage: A Collection of Poems about Travel and Other Journeys, up and down the West Coast. What was on your summer reading list? 76 WINTER 2011–12 78 Clyde Moneyhun Boise State University Department of English 200 Liberal Arts Building 1910 University Dr. Boise, ID 83725 clydemoneyhun@ boisestate.edu Larry Katz was close to the reunion but not at the reunion. He had a conference on the Upper West Side on June 2, but had to go home to Providence as soon as it was over. In July, Larry finished his 14th year at the Bureau of Jewish Education of Rhode Island, which recently joined with two other organizations to become the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. He recently was awarded the degree of doctor of pedagogy honoris causa by the Jewish Theological Seminary. Charles Martin’s Hong Kong suspense novel, Neon Panic, was published in October (neonpanic. com). Charles lived for 17 years in Hong Kong, first as a musician and then as a writer and broadcaster, and now lives in Seattle with wife, Catherine, and son, Toby. Michael Musto’s new book, Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back, appeared September 1. It’s a collection of some of his most memorable Village Voice columns about celebrity, nightlife and politics. After a 30-year career as a trial lawyer, mostly in criminal defense, Vincent Briccetti was sworn in as United States district judge for the Southern District of New York in April. He was nominated by President Barack Obama ’83 and confirmed (unanimously) by the Senate. Vinnie will preside at the White Plains Courthouse, and says he’s excited about starting a new career at the advanced age of 56. We’ve lost two classmates. Josiah Greenberg, an attorney, died on January 5 in a tragic commuter train accident in Montclair, N.J.; he was a founding partner of Greenberg & Oser and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court. Dana Brand, chair of English at Hofstra, was famous as a Mets blogger and author of Mets Fan and The Last Days of Shea: Delight and Despair in the Life of a Mets Fan; he died of a sudden heart attack on May 25 in Sandy Hook, Conn. Condolences to both the Greenberg and Brand families. REUNION MAY 31–JUNE 3 ALUMNI OFFICE CONTACTS ALUMNI AFFAIRS Jennifer Freely jf2261@columbia.edu 212-851-7438 DEVELOPMENT Matt Marsallo mem2219@columbia.edu 212-851-7452 77 David Gorman 111 Regal Dr. DeKalb, IL 60115 dgorman@niu.edu And we are back ... During the longer-than-previous-year’s break between this issue and the last, I have heard from a number of classmates, including Virgel Aquino, Norman Back and Gairy Hall. Norman and Gairy are M.D.s, Gairy in Atlanta, where he has been, on and off, during the past 20 years. Gairy’s wife is a nurse in the public school system there; their daughter graduated from Auburn in 2009 and son Gairy Jr. from Columbia in 2011. Gairy Sr. was pleased to march in
COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY CLASS NOTES the Alumni Parade of Classes on Class Day, May 17. Meanwhile, Norman writes, “I thought it might be interesting to see how many of our classmates really went into medicine or law, how many have retired and how many pursued more sane occupations.” This is a good question, and while it would certainly be impossible to collect this information via the column (though I can assure you that, sane or not, CC ’77 includes lots of doctors and lawyers — just really lots). But it seems like there ought to be statistics kept on these things, somewhere. Virgel hosted a barbecue at his home in southern New Jersey in August attended by Jose Leites as well as Domingo Nunez ’76, Fernando Ortiz Jr. ’79, Rafael Padilla ’80 and Walter Rivera ’76. “All of these Columbia graduates attended with their spouses,” Virgel says, “and we plan to make it an annual event.” Incidentally, Virgel has been v.p. and chief compliance officer at MetLife since 1997. I don’t know how I dropped the ball on this, but I meant to report last winter that, in February, Sam Sweet was named executive director of the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C. Sam earned an M.B.A. from Virginia Tech. He has been managing director at the Shakespeare Theatre (in Washington) and the Signature Theatre (in Arlington, Va.) and, more recently, COO for the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art + Design. He is an adjunct professor in the M.A. management program at George Mason University and also has a consulting practice, aptly named Sam Sweet Consulting, which helps nonprofits build organizational capacity. Updates department: Peter Rose, whom I mentioned in the last column, was recently (September 12– 18) in residence at the MICA MOCA project space in Berlin, where he directed as well as performed in Main Street. And David Paterson, whom I may also have mentioned, is now on the air as an afternoon drive-time radio host. I haven’t heard him since I don’t live in the New York area, but if you want to, just tune to WOR-AM (710). Our 35th reunion is coming up, Thursday, May 31–Sunday, June 3. 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. P.S.: I don’t think that I’m hard to find or anything, but if you’re looking for a quick way to submit a note, update, mature reflection on life’s meaning or senseless-but-oh- so-cleansing rant, you can now just go to college.columbia.edu/cct/ submit_class_note. 78 Matthew Nemerson 35 Huntington St. New Haven, CT 06511 mnemerson@snet.net A light news issue this time. Please send in something before the end of the year for the next issue. You can reach me through the email address above or through CCT’s easyto-use webform: college.columbia. edu/cct/submit_class_note. Vet and attorney Christopher Allen and his wife, Mary, have been working furiously toward becoming empty-nesters. Son Chris Jr. (24) is working his way up the corporate ladder at Subway Corp., while Mike (22) is in medical school at Tel Aviv University. (Dad has always told the kids that he keeps seeing emergency veterinary cases in the middle of the night “to make a few extra shekels.” Now Mike really understands what that means!) James (17) is in a hotly contested competition for valedictorian of his high school class and is looking at every Ivy except the one in NYC. Go figure. Mary is in the process of launching her own remedial education company to assist school districts in compliance with constantly more demanding student remediation requirements. Chris is in his 20th year of practicing law exclusively for veterinarians and veterinary-related companies. “I sort of have my two veterinary hospitals on auto-pilot so I can keep up with the legal case work,” he says. His favorite part of the corporate clients is the junkets to board meetings. Last one was in Buenos Aires and another one will be in Havana. He adds, “I can’t wait for the Cuba trip, although the paperwork for Americans is brutal. I went to China as an undergrad, when the only private vehicles were black bicycles. No secret how that place has changed; I am excited to see Cuba before relations are inevitably re-established with that country.” Our classmates’ prominence in journalism and print continues with word that John A. Glusman now is v.p. and editor-in-chief of the publishing house W.W. Norton & Co., and Dean Baquet has become the managing editor for news operations of The New York Times. CCT reported both of these appointments in the Fall issue (college.columbia.edu/ cct/fall11/around_the_quads10). The early October death of Steve Jobs brought to light the remarkable relationship he developed with Bill Campbell ’62, ’64 TC, who — along with his then-wife Roberta ’69 TC— certainly was a dominant fixture on campus during our time at Columbia. In addition to his role as the leader of Intuit software, as a major benefactor to the College and as a leader of Columbia’s Board of Trustees, Bill actually is one of the most influential and trusted figures in the entire technology world. While some of the future greatness we rubbed shoulders with while at Columbia may have blossomed unexpectedly, I think any of us who got to know coach Campbell (in my case, through interviewing him for the pre-game shows for WKCR) always knew there was something remarkable and “large” about his humanity and ability to bring his philosophy and perspective to any situation. Now it turns out that the very people who have created much of the modern world at Apple, Google and elsewhere felt the same way. That’s neat. [Editor’s note: For more on “the coach of Silicon Valley,” go to college.columbia. edu/cct_archive/may05.] 79 WINTER 2011–12 79 Robert Klapper 8737 Beverly Blvd., Ste 303 Los Angeles, CA 90048 rklappermd@aol.com Bob Klapisch was voted among the nation’s Top-10 columnists for the third consecutive year by Associated Press Sports Editors. “I cover the Yankees and Mets for the Bergen Record and FoxSports. com (I was with ESPN.com for 12 years before joining Fox in 2009). It all started at Spectator, where I was sports editor in ’78–’79. “I’m still playing baseball in New Jersey, pitching for the Hackensack Troasts, an 18-and-up team that was ranked fourth in the country last year. I’m married with two kids (8 and 7) in Westwood, N.J., just a few blocks away from Paul Fernandes, who was my varsity baseball coach at Columbia. Small world. That’s the last 30-plus years in a nutshell.” Steven H. Shapiro, general counsel and corporate secretary at Cole Taylor Bank, received the Governance Professional of the Year award, presented by Corporate Secretary Magazine. Steven was recognized for orchestrating changes that protected the company, helped improve shareholder communications and reduced the bank’s overall legal budget. Rich Baer recently joined United Health Group as e.v.p. and chief legal officer. He will be responsible for overseeing the company’s legal, regulatory and compliance matters. For the past decade, Rich was general counsel for Qwest Communications International and also CAO since 2008. Prior to that, he was a partner at the Denver law firm Sherman & Howard and an associate at Rosenman & Colin, a New York law firm. Rich earned a J.D. from Duke. Robert Klapper: “I guess you can say a hobby of mine is trying to find the Columbia College connections in my life. Here’s a recent one for me. My father fought in WWII and, typical of his generation, never went into much detail while I was growing up about the battles and heroic actions that he and his buddies perpetrated. He brought back three souvenirs after the war: a Nazi helmet, a German Walther pistol and his corporal uniform that hung in the closet and was never worn again. When he passed away in 2004 at 89, it was only at his funeral that I saw the medals he won and photos from his time in the Army. One of the photos was taken on November 10, 1945, in Paris in front of the Louvre museum, as his troop, after fighting in Germany, was one of the first to free the city. (My daughter is studying for her master’s in international business. If those guys didn’t win the war, there would be no such opportunity for my daughter in France.) “About a month ago a patient of mine, one of Hollywood’s iconic stunt men, visited me after his shoulder surgery. He saw a photo of my dad hanging in my office and asked me where in Germany my father fought. I told him he was in the Battle at Remagen. He then tells me of the many movies he worked on. He was the stunt coordinator for a movie made in 1969, The Bridge at Remagen. The following week he brought me a DVD of this movie. “During Memorial Day weekend I sat down and watched the movie. I got to see for the first time my father’s uniform with the same army patch actually being worn by a live person. It sent goose bumps up my spine. The movie portrayed the bravery and the life-risking battles fought by these brave men. The leader of this troop, the corporal (in my mind the role my father played) was played by none other than George Segal ’55! Wow!” 80 Michael C. Brown London Terrace Towers 410 W. 24th St., Apt. 18F New York, NY 10011 mcbcu80@yahoo.com I saw some familiar faces this fall at Robert K. Kraft Field. While our Lions football team has taken it on the chin, the fans still hope for brighter days. Super lawyer Dave Maloof and
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JAPAN AFTER THE STORM COLUMBIA COLL
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Japan Storm - Columbia College - Columbia University

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