Update 11-10-09

Hi,

More reunion conversations, more carefully edited than last week:
   
    From Barbara Blitfield Pech:  I don't want this note to hurt anyone's feelings or be a dream killer, but though we all have wonderful ideas for a location for our next reunion -- keeping in mind that travel time, expense, proximity to airports, and the economy still have to be added in -- it seems that keeping the reunion close to home is ideal.  Home, as I think of it, is still Valley Stream, familiar territory that so many of us are far from.  Again, that's just my opinion, open to response.
   
    Allen Moss in Maine here.  Hi, folks.  Maybe another consideration for having the 45th back on Long Island is to make it easier for some of our teachers to attend.  I assume invitations will be going out to Booker Gibson, Irv Saffrin, Bernie O'Brien, Theresa Margolin Bargeman and others.  And what about sending invitations to long-distance folks like Toni Rea, Helen David, Janet Porter Rylander, and Bill Linkner, and to any other faculty members with whom we have made contact?  Wouldn't it be great if folks like those joined us?
        Separate from that, it's unofficially winter here in beautiful Maine.  We just got our first snowfall.  Hope all is well with everyone.
   
    From Janice Williams:  What about the beautiful mountains of Colorado for our next reunion?  Though you can count me in no matter where.  This one I am not missing.
   
    [Rich -- a couple of things:
        1. I think, without getting compulsive about this and going back and counting the names that have come in, we now have about twenty-five people interested in getting together.
        2.  And -- probably most important -- I think Terri Donohue Calamari had it right in just going ahead for our 37th reunion and announcing a date and a place.  It irritated a number of people who believe in democracy -- and who in this class doesn't? -- but it gave everyone else something to plan around.
        I just did a fast Internet check of hotel rates in accessible-but-picturesque places on Long Island, and my conclusion is that we ended up in Hauppauge in 2002 because it was affordable.  It still is, about a hundred bucks a night.  There's no beach and no pretty town, but there is a golf course and a lot of places in the hotel to sit and talk.  And because Hauppauge is a place less visited, for the money, the hotel is slightly more upscale than the one we chose for our 40th reunion.  Slightly.  Now, I'm not saying we have to go back to Hauppauge, but I suspect we need to find some place comfortable like it -- and fast.  June is full of people getting married, and July has increased summer rates.  That's probably another reason Terri chose mid-spring.
        From an informal consensus of the approximately twenty-five people, it seems we favor late June or mid-July, and a Long Island location that would attract more people, whether they're former teachers or visitors from other classes.  Possibly Friday, July 9th through Sunday, July 11th?  Or Friday, July 17th through Sunday, July 19th?  No June weddings or national holidays in either case.  And a place like Hauppauge or closer to Valley Stream?  I investigated Long Beach, but there don't seem to be any affordable hotels.  If someone can suggest another South Shore town with a walkable beach, that would be great.]
   
    Other conversations:
   
    From Marc Jonas:  Regards to Valerie Nelson Gillen.  It's my recollection that she and I walked the graduation walk together at dear old Forest Road back in '59.  I was tall then.
   
    [Rich -- Aw, Marc, you're still tall.  Kids have just been eating better since 1959.]
   
    From Jerry Bittman:  Congratulations to Barney Zinger on becoming a grandfather for the sixth time.  The baby's name is Lyle Anthony, and he came out dancing.
        The Zinger also had a chance to catch up with some former classmates when he visited with Larry Coleman and Kenny Nolan.  They vowed to visit Zing this year, down in West Palm Beach.
        Lucky for Zinger that he also saw better sights than Kenny and Larry.  He got to experience # 2 on his Bucket List by having lunch with the still-beautiful AG.
   
    [Rich -- I'm guessing that AG is Andrea Gladstone, but I'm also thinking Barnett is a bit young to be starting a Bucket List.  In any case, congratulations on your latest grandchild.]
   
    Finally, an obituary for Jerry Waxman, sleuthed out by Joanne Shapiro Polner, written by Lori A. Carter, and published on Wednesday, October 21st, in a Santa Rosa, California, newspaper:
        The self-professed high points of Jerry Waxman's life, after his wife, children, and cat, include an equal mix of his other two great loves:  astronomy and baseball.  A list on the longtime Santa Rosa Junior College professor's web page epitomizes his spirit for life, zest for learning, and enthusiasm of teaching.  When Waxman posted his Things For Which I Am Most Grateful, he started with, “The total solar eclipse of March 7, 1970, the amazing start of a lifetime of eclipse watching."  And "Orion; I could not have planned it better.”
        Despite being born in Brooklyn, home of the Dodgers, Waxman grew up a Giants fan and marked several of the team's accomplishments among his other life highlights.  He noted the 1951 New York Giants, Bobby Thomson and “The Shot Heard 'Round the World,” and the 1954 Giants, Willie Mays and “The Catch.”  Friends said the zeal apparent in the list was a hallmark of Waxman, a popular and innovative teacher known for his gusto for whatever concept he was trying to convey.     
        “Jerry could be heard outside of the auditorium without ever even needing to use a microphone,” said his longtime friend, George Freund.  “He was incredibly enthusiastic.  You could just hear his voice ringing out.”
        “He would ... fly across the stage or the classroom floor,” said Kathleen Kraemer, another longtime friend and fellow faculty member.  “His enthusiasm was boundless for whatever he was teaching.  He was a really special teacher whose students have followed him for twenty-five years.”
        Waxman began teaching astronomy at Santa Rosa in 1976 and soon fashioned the department into the largest community college astronomy program in California.  He also oversaw the building of the college's planetarium and wrote several astronomy textbooks.  His fascination for the heavens began in early childhood, when he spent many nights staring up at the sky and, as often as he could, attending shows at New York's Hayden Planetarium.  Before moving west, he earned a bachelor's degree in physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, and, later, he earned a master's degree in physics and astronomy at UCLA.  While pursuing his graduate degree, he served as a guide and lecturer at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
        He taught at Santa Monica Community College until 1976, when he moved to Santa Rosa to accept a professorship in astronomy.  In the early 1990s, concerned about the plight of the environment, he returned to graduate school to earn a doctorate in environmental science.  He then founded the Santa Rosa Junior College's Institute for Environmental Education and became the leading force behind the greening of the college's programs.  He was also active in the Sonoma County environmental community.
        Waxman remained at Santa Rosa until his retirement in 2003, when he became too ill to work.  A talented writer, he worked on his memoirs until the end of his life, fashioning tender and funny stories about growing up in Brooklyn and New York and about coming of age as a college student in the 1950s.  Friends said he captured what was unforgettable about his first loves:  baseball, girls, and solar eclipses.
        Waxman was also an avid skier, a licensed pilot, a scuba diver, and a painter.  He ran four marathons, including the New York marathon, and loved attending San Francisco Giants games, even when he was in a wheelchair.  He died on October 13th, after a long struggle with multiple system atrophy, a disease related to Parkinson's.  He was 68.
        Jerry Waxman is survived by his wife, Pam Zimmerman of Santa Rosa; a sister, Laura Ulric of Long Island; a son, Keith Waxman of Santa Rosa, who is also a professor of astronomy at the college; a daughter, Shannon Boaz of Healdsburg; and two grandchildren.  Donations may be made in Waxman's memory to the Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation, Jerry Waxman Memorial Scholarship, 1501 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa, California  95401.
   
    The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65.blogspot.com
   
    The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb.google.com/SouthHS65
   
   
    Rich