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an MFA . . . They are both kind andsmart and interested in their world.What more can a mother ask?”Molly Koch Nudell was a classmate ofsome of us in the seventh and eighthgrade. She became a talented artist andgraphic designer, and was a devotee ofChögyam Trungpa Rinpoche — one offour schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Sadly,Molly died in February 2007 in Halifax,NS, where she lived and where she hadworked closely with the ShambhalaBuddhist Centre. Some interesting andmoving vignettes describing Molly andher life, previously unknown to most ofus, are available at chronicleproject.com/blogs/molly_nudell.html. Jane Palmer islooking forward to imminent retirementfrom her job with an Albany area publictelevision station and plans to devotemore time to her work with the TibetanBuddhist retreat in her area of New Yorkstate. She thinks fondly of CA and of heryears there, but, like many of us, shethinks that those years seem long ago!Casey Morgan Peltier says: “Our lives[continue] much the same (and a goodsame it is!): skiing, fly fishing, and baseball,and travel to enjoy each in its season.Having retired from the teachingworld, I was feeling a little like a socialparasite the other day until I realized thatwe’re doing now what some moderncollege graduates do before they get thereal job, home, and children.” CyndiePhelps writes: “I’ve been leading a veryquiet life, one that’s involved a lot ofmarching in place. My father’s death inthe spring of 2006 has been coupledwith me living alone for the past yearand a half, except for a house full ofanimals rescued by my son and . . . hisfriends . . . left behind when the kidsmoved on. Although I would like tomove back to Seattle, we all knowwhat’s happened to the housing market,so for the time being, I’m still in myVictorian on the bluff in Tacoma. I’ve lotsof plans in my brain, the way from hereto there is being sketched out little bylittle. I planned to be in Mexico inMarch, then it’s back to the drawingboard.” Horses and their care and competitionsoccupy much time, saysMargaret Falk Pirovano, who splits hertime between Wellington, FL, a nationalcenter for this activity, and Pound Ridge,NY in the summer. Margaret’s husbandJohn commutes back and forth toFlorida. Daughter Olivia and sonNicholas are both in NYC and doing verywell. Becca Ramsay writes: “An invitationto my aunt’s 100th birthday partypresented an opportunity to travel crosscountryby train and to visit a few additionalrelatives in Oregon and California.I’m in three French book clubs, onenature book club, church bible study,and I read to an elderly church memberevery other week. To keep up with allthis reading, I put my TV in a box lastsummer. For outdoor exercise, besidesrunning, I’m very active with the Friendsof Fresh Pond Reservation and did 40hours of invasive species removal lastsummer.” Susie Pickman Sargent hasbeen through a truly terrible year, buther attitude is that of a champion. Hermother died in December 2007, “peacefullyand with family. It’s hardest for myDad for whom my mother was his onlytrue confidant.” Susie has coped withcancer diagnosis and treatment and hada hip replacement in February. “Davidand I could never figure out how tomove to the same city, but the cancerbrought him to Boston. He is a verygood caretaker, but I am hoping to beginto have a more normal life as I recover.I’m closing my clinical practice andfocusing on taking care of myself andfamily, keeping a nice house and traveling.Also gardening, piano, sewing, knitting,a language, and anything else I feellike taking on . . . I’ve decided that if Ihave a few disease-free years, I want tocatch up on things that I’ve not alwayshad time for.” I know that we all sendSusie love and support. From DianaDennison Smith: “We are all losing ourolder generation and it is not easy . . .My father died in August 2007.” Dianaadds that daughter Isabel is expecting ababy this July. “The plan is that thisbaby will grow up trilingual, speakingEnglish with Mom, Italian with Dad, andFrench in school because they live inParis. Sounds very ambitious to me.”Ann Dickerson Swanson and husbandPeter are looking forward to moving toTruro on Cape Cod full-time from nearbyMarshfield, perhaps in a year. Ann gardensthere and thoroughly enjoys life onthe Cape. Her longtime career in musicinstruction has been most fulfilling, butshe looks forward to a bit more time topursue other activities. Franny HowesValiente talked about the need to cutback on hours at her demanding nursingjob with the VA. She loves sharing herlife with adorable grandchildren. Frannyis hosting a niece’s wedding this spring.Though it’s fun for her to look forward tothis event — the planning is timeconsuming.Cecily Vaughan’s son andfamily moved back to New England,which is good. Her teaching work atnearby Glen Urquhart School continues.Wendy White says: “As my recoveryfrom surgery in 2003 slowly progresses,part of the joy of re-emerging into thegreater world has been seeing and communicatingwith various classmates.In addition to attending the dinner forDrew Gilpin Faust in Washington, Ihad a lovely conversation with FrancieStevenson ’63, and since then haveenjoyed seeing Becca Ramsay and AliceAuchmoody Arlen. I toured the DavisArt Museum at Wellesley College withDrew Gilpin Faust, Mary Wadleigh, and Wendy White (all ’64) in Washington, DCLisa Wyman Cowley. I treasured thattime with her and can report that she isthriving in her job there, which bringsher into contact with alumnae, currentstudents, and other professionals whilerequiring travel to view private collections.Sandra Miller-Sanchez and herhusband Paul stopped by in Februaryon their way back to Montreal, a treatall too rare. We spoke of our deardeparted petit prince Anne NicholasAtlamazoglou, and I repeated my admirationfor Sandra’s eulogy, which I wasable to transmit to Anne’s sister, CloverNicholas ’59.” Clover reports that thefamily chose to hold Anne’s memorialservice in the Chapel “because Annehad loved her years at ConcordAcademy so much.” Wendy celebratedher son Alex Capilli’s 21st birthday. Alexis a junior at George Washington Uni -versity. Betsy Devine Wilczek writes:“The biggest change in my recent lifehas been that Frank is on sabbatical thisacademic year (2007–08). We spentSeptember through December in afurnished apartment in Stockholm, veryScandinavian, all white paint and pale,shiny wood grain, industrial washingmachines in the basement with a longlist of rules and a military schedule forjust how to use them. It was fun to goback to all the Nobel parties in Dec -ember, especially because Frank and Itook ballroom dancing lessons last year,which turned him into a glorious dancerand me into someone who has a goodtime on the dance floor. We spent thespring in Oxford. I am working on abook called Meta-Physics when I’m notwandering around just gazing in wonderat all the glorious stonework. I recentlygot some compliments on the Frenchaccent I long ago copied from Made -moiselle Bilinska. My blog moved tobetsydevine.com.” Karen Smith Younglives in Andover, MA. After CA, shewent to Columbia and has since enjoyedmarriage, raising two fine daughters,and a lifelong career as a nurse atMcLean Hospital. She finds encouragementin the evolving, innovative treatmentof mental illness at McLean. Onedaughter and son-in-law live in Floridaand the other daughter lives close tohome. Mary Wadleigh writes: “I lovebeing back in Washington, DC fromSeptember to June, with occasionaltrips to the renovated house on theharbor’s west flank in Brooksville, ME.I plan to be in Maine for most of thesummer and have arranged my part-timework so as to accommodate this schedule.I’ve visited with Alice AuchmoodyArlen in Maine and Wendy White inWash ington, where we attended aHarvard-sponsored dinner honoringDrew Gilpin Faust in December. Weactually got to talk briefly with Drew. Ifinally collected that long-delayed degreefrom Smith this past May with bothkids, plus significant others, in attendance.My daughter Alice WadleighJayne ’97 is a newly minted lawyer,serving as a Massachusetts publicdefender in Essex County, and son Tobyis a financial analyst with WellingtonManagement, now in Wayne, PA — butmoving to London in September.” Maryexpressed appreciation for the supportof CA classmates after her mother’sdeath. “My own mother, Joy Shane, CA‘40 died at age 83 in September 2006,and I spoke about her at the memorial55Freed PhotographyWWW.CONCORDACADEMY.ORG SPRING 2008