January 6, 2009
Dear classmates:
I am sorry for the long hiatus in sending news. My email program failed and it
took me this long to reassemble the mailing list. Meanwhile the membership of
our class group on Facebook is growing steadily and I highly recommend it to
those
of you who are so inclined.
Clint Etheridge sent me this sad news back in September. My deepest apologies
for
the delay in forwarding it to the class:
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Dear Jeffrey Hart,
I regret to inform you that my wife of 34 years, Deidria Nancy Martin
Etheridge, died unexpectedly at age 59 of a severe stroke on August 26
in Oakland,California--where we have lived since 1979.
Deidria taught elementary school in the Oakland Unified School District;
for the last 21 years she was a teacher at the local Grass Valley
Elementary School in our neighborhood.
Deidria is also survived by our three children (Neil, Clinton, III, and
Lauren), our 13-month granddaughter (Brianna Naomi Erskine) who is
Lauren's daughter, my 89-year old father (Clinton, Sr.), a host of
relatives and friends in Deidria's hometown of Trenton, New Jersey, and
friends and teaching colleagues who Deidria met over her 29 years in
California.
We had a service for Deidria in California on September 6 and another
service for Deidria on September 9 in Trenton, where she was buried.
Clinton Etheridge, Jr., Class of 1969
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January 19, 2009
Dear classmates:
I am attaching a copy of a document prepared for our 25th reunion. It would be
great if someone would take
on the task of compiling a similar document for the 40th.
JH
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January 27, 2009
On Tuesday morning, Warren Phinney left this life due
to cancer, passing away at 7:30 a.m. He wasn't with us long, but had found a
home in Hyampom, and a place in the hearts of many of us. An accomplished
musician, his memorial on Sunday was a musical tribute to him and his life,
and a celebration of life itself.
Source: The Trinity Journal, August 6, 2008
Warren "Rockman" Phinney, aka Yank Hawlin, who liked my poems and sang them
and let me read them during his concerts, who died so fast and too soon in
Hyampom on July 29 2008,
Source:
http://www.beastsandbeloveds.com/theteam.html
*Warren*
*Phinney*
1947 - 2008 LENOX *Warren*
M. *Phinney*
passed away peacefully of natural causes on July 29, at his home in Hyampom,
California. He was laid to rest in the
*Phinney*
family plot at New Lenox Cemetery, in Lenox, MA, on Oct 1. Born on July 26,
1947, in Pittsfield, he was the son of Arthur B.
*Phinney*
and Elizabeth L. Betty *Phinney*,
and the brother of Carolyn S. Estes and Anne T. Natti. He grew up in Lenox,
and graduated from Lenox Memorial High School in 1966. He was class
valedictorian and played on the basketball and soccer team. He graduated
from Swarthmore College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1970.
He played fullback on the Swarthmore soccer team. A singer-songwriter with a
sharp intellect, *Warren*
performed in venues on the East Coast and West Coast, as well as Germany. He
devoted his life to preserving American roots
*music*.
As well, he was a civil rights activist, naturalist, storyteller and a
prolific letter writer to a large circle of friends. He is predeceased by
his parents and his sister Anne. FUNERAL NOTICE: There will be a musical
celebration of Warren's life at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 175
Wendell Ave, Pittsfield, on Sunday, Oct. 26, from 2 to 4 p.m.
Source; The Berkshire Eagle, October 21, 2008
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Jeff-Thank you for sending me this information. I suppose I could have
been more enterprising and done a search myself. I sometimes forget what the
internet is capable of. Interesting that he went by another name. I remember
in college, we called him "Tuck," at least his freshman year.
Belle
------------------------------------------------
Jeff, I'd like to circulate a few reminiscences about Warren Phinney,
who was a close friend of mine -- really, my best pal -- during our
first two years at Swarthmore. Maybe others have memories they would share as well. Warren was such a handsome and clever lad in those days. He was a fine
athelete, had been a star on his high school basketball team in Lenox
and consequently had a kind of celebrity status in those parts. His father w
as a crusty New England free-thinking man, a throw-back to Thoreau and Emerson,
and Warren brought that independence of mind with him through the generations.
As a high school kid, Warren had been on the freedom buses working for civil
rights in the South. At Swarthmore, I got to know Warrren as team-mate on the soccer team and also
as fellow resident at Mary Lyons. We'd get a soccer ball and try out moves on
each other in the ML front yard. I had some tricks but Warren was strong and
fast of foot. I guess we looked like puppies playing around out there. We were
pretty inseparable for quite a while, and probably thought we were funnier than
we really were. But we had a good time of it making fun of anything serious and
reversing the polarities of things. Warren and I were not in many classes together. He might have been in that
philosophy class I had with the wonderful Monroe C. Beardsley. By the middle of
our second year in Swarthmore we began to drift apart, though we remained fond
of one another to the end of our time at Swarthmore. In those last two years,
Warren got deeply into music -- he became a talented guitarist, and some of you
may remember him playing music for us at Sharples. I never saw Warren again after leaving Swarthmore, though I did try to track
him down a few times and thought about him from time to time. It seems to me Warren
was one of the most beautiful people I have come across in my life, when you add
together his gentle nature, dashing looks, and keen intellect. I am sorry to know
that he is gone. Let me close with one sharp memory. Warren and I got word that the Jim Kweskin Jug
Band was going to play over at Bryn Mawr. We had no transport so we got out on the
road and started hitch-hiking. We got picked up by a couple of local toughs who took
us over to Bryn Mawr but wanted gas money in return. Luckily, I had two dollars in my
pocket. The concert was amazing but it was late when it was over, so Warren and I
bunked out on sofas in a Bryn Mawr lounge, with blankets provided by friendly locals.
I don't even remember how we got back to Swarthmore the next day. In sadness, John McDowell ------------------------------
What a marvelous, lovely, and touching tribute! It makes me wish I had known Warren better. Tom O'Donnell ------------------------------
March 10, 2009
Dear classmates:
Just a short note to recommend the amazing recording of the piano
performance of Miriam Friedlander Weiss's son, Orion Weiss, featuring the
Bach French Overture for keyboard in B-Minor and sonatas by Scriabin and
Elliott Carter.
http://www.amazon.com/Orion-Weiss-solo-piano/dp/B001BMJTGM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1216944106&sr=8-1
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short note from Heather Jackson Allen:
Hi, Jeff---I hope you still have this address & haven't retired? I retired
from teaching in June 2007 & never managed to get all my email switched to
the new address...A year & a half later, here I am, hoping you are still
running a network for the class of 1969. If you are, I would appreciate
being added back on to the list using this address---thanks! It takes awhile
for me to get moving, but I guess a 40-year milestone has done it at last. I
hope all is well with you! Heather Jackson Allen
her new email address is:
Hallen1947@aol.com
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There are a number of new members on the class Facebook group at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=35863495852
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March 22, 2009
new address for Terry Lewis:
Terry Lewis
8102 Piney
Silver Spring MD 20910
301-938-0923 (cell)
301-587-6404 (home)
301-587-6404 (fax)
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March 26, 2009
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April 9, 2009
-----------------------------------
April 26, 2009
------------------
Benefit for Longtime Local
JOHN FAHNESTOCK
by Susan Viebrock
Monday, January 19th from 5 - 7 PM, Telluride Gallery of Fine Art
<http://www.telluridegallery.com/html/home.asp> (130 East
Colorado Avenue) will host a benefit event to raise money for John
Fahnestock's augmenting medical costs due to a seven year battle with
neurological disease. First diagnosed with Parkinson's and then with MS,
John now faces the possibility of an entirely different diagnosis.
Telluride Gallery invites the entire community to join them in this
fundraiser where both functional pottery and sculpture by Fahnestock and
his wife Goedele Vanhille will be sold or auctioned, as will original
art by their artist friends. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go
to the Fahnestock family, therefore cash and checks only will be
accepted.
This will be a potluck: cookies only! A hot beverage will be served.
For more information, please contact
info@telluridegallery.com or call 728.3300.
Posted on January 10, 2009 at:
http://www.tellurideinside.com/2009/01/benefit-for-longtime-local-john-fahnestock.html
----------------------------------
Lyon Evans was the recipient of a Fulbright Award in 2008 which
permitted him to travel and teach in Poland.
----------------------------------
John Mather gave a great talk on the history of the Universe at Indiana
University last week (scroll down for description and picture):
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2009/04/19/scene.qp-4224556.sto
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May 11, 2009
Hi, I have been light years beyond terribly remiss in not getting around to finding out how to get the class notes that you used to,
and I hope and trust still do, maintain, redirected to my current email address. I lost the email address you had on file, I think
over 3 yeas ago! How's that for procrastination. So, with reunion fast approaching, I am finally getting around to getting in touch, and finding out how to get back to receiving,
and also to sending in my information, ahead of reunion. So, can you please send me the info on how to get on the distribution list
for the class notes. The email to use is peterrushhi@gmail.com. The rest of my contact information is the same as it last was as
to phone number and address. And can you let me know what the procedure is for sending in an update on myself? Finally, I am hoping it is set up where I can see previous messages, and start playing catchup on what people have been doing
before reunion. Please tell me that's possible, and how to do it. So, see you soon, assuming you are going, and thanks for the help in getting me set up again. Peter
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May 20, 2009 Dear Classmates, You can find accounts of the honors exam experiences of people (including Leonard Nakamura and myself) who were both examinees and examiners on the Swarthmore web site at: http://www.swarthmore.edu/news/honors/ ------------------------------- The Facebook Swarthmore Class of '69 group is going along fine. There was some traffic regarding planting a tree in honor of Margaret Helfand. Michael Fields asked on April 27, 2009: Do you know status of Lenny's plan to plant tree in her honor. His Facebook posting hadn't gathered any traction last time I checked, but admittedly that's been awhile. Thought you might know, since you seem to be the fulcrum. Michael S. Fields News Director WABE-FM mfields@wabe.org 678-686-0306
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May 20, 2009
Sarah Barton, ‘69
1220 East 16th Avenue, #13
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
907 223 1631
Note: Swarthmore visitors to Alaska are invited to call and connect.
Joseph Alexander Davis, spouse. Sons: Aaron Feigin (37), Josh Feigin (38), Arlo Davis (27). Grandboys: Oliver (8), Patrick (6), Liam (7) and Alexander (2).
Sarah Barton works in Anchorage and spends weekends in a cabin on the side of a mountain in rural Alaska overlooking the Matanuska Glacier. She is employed as Sr. Vice-President in Strategic Planning for RISE, a program management firm that builds big things. Her current project focus is the expansion of the Anchorage Museum, opening its first phase in May 2009. Another project is consultation with the State Libraries, Archives and Museums to create an integrated physical facility and network technology linking Alaska’s history with its people.
Since the 25th Swarthmore reunion, she has remarried and moved back to Alaska, immersed in rural Australia three times, and also Turkey, Edinburgh and northern Italy. She spent a month developing microenterprises in two AIDS orphanages in Kenya and Malawi, and is coaching a non-profit group building schools for girls in Afghanistan. Both sons have married and each has fathered two sons. All parents and in-laws have died. Sarah finally completed a Master’s degree in Renaissance Art History in 2008. She has written several children’s books for her grandboys about two of her dinosaur friends, Stripe & Blue, who have accompanied her on various adventures. Fossil hunting and rocks are a continued passion since age 3.
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May 22, 2009
Dear classmates,
I am relaying to you a message from Ron Martinez, Leonard Nakamura, and
Michael Fields regarding the purchasing of a tree in memory of Margaret
Helfand:
Tree for Peggy Helfand
Ron Martinez, Lennie Nakamura, and Michael Fields are soliciting
donations from the Class of 1969 to plant a memorial tree in honor of
our late classmate, Margaret Helfand. You can send pledges to:
leonard.nakamura@phil.frb.org. It would be helpful if you can pledge by
this coming Monday, May 20, as we have been slow to put this together
and the reunion is upon us.
The tree will be a Japanese Red Maple, Acer palmatum 'Beni Shi En'
planted just to the left of the main entrance of the Science Center. The
plaque will note that the gift is from the Class of 1969.
This would be separate from the class gift that you participate in when
you register for the reunion.
Lennie will collect checks, made out to Swarthmore College, at the
reunion.
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May 23, 2009
Hi friends,
Just wanted you to know that within a few
hours of Jeff's email we had raised enough money for the tree.
The tree (with lifetime maintenance) will
cost $1000 and we've raised over $1200 from 21 classmates.
The difference will go to the College
and/or Arboretum in some form (I don't think it really matters; as we
economists say, its
fungible -- that is it all winds up in the
same pocket). However, if anyone would like to adjust their pledge
downward, thats OK too.
Thanks! This response has been quite
amazing.
Leonard
____________
Leonard Nakamura
Assistant Vice President and Economist
Research Department
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
10 Independence Mall
Philadelphia PA 19106-1574
215-574-3804
The tag on the tree will read, unless there are objections, Margaret Helfand ’69 gave to architecture, this campus, and those who knew her a light of energy and grace. --------------------------