Update 12-16-14
Hi,
First, a sad note of catch-up from Claire Brush Reinhardt: I attended the "Celebration of Life" service for Karen Grimm on Saturday, December 6th, at the Lutheran Church on the corner of Rockaway and DuBois. It was a large turn out for Karen, which I was happy to see. Many of her former classmates were there, and Booker and Frances Gibson were able to make it, even though it was a miserable, rainy day. Karen was a faithful member of our Alumni Association, attending all our meetings and events. We will miss her presence at our meetings.
Next, a happy note from Ray Sinatra: Well, it's finally going to happen – I’m retiring from medical practice in February, 2015. As you may remember, I was the ADHD poster child and South class of ‘65 least likely to succeed, but somehow my neural circuitry rebooted in 12th grade, and I actually scored high enough on the Regents exam to gain a scholarship. Thereupon, every guidance counselor at South suddenly invited me to his or her office to review college brochures. Unfortunately, my family had minimal funds for college, so I chose Nassau Community College – where I aced my courses – followed by my graduating with honors in pre-med from Adelphi. After that, I taught junior high school science in Brooklyn to avoid the draft, only to be called up for duty at Ft. Hamilton and then fail my physical. Oddly, it wasn't my serious asthmatic condition that kept me out of the army but rather some varicose veins.
Free to follow my true passion, medical science, and fortunate to gain admittance to the MD-Ph.D program at Downstate Medical Center – once again in Brooklyn – I studied the effects of pain relievers – opioids – and became interested in improving pain in patients recovering from surgery or with terminal cancer. Following medical school and my internship on Staten Island, my wife, Linda, and I wanted to get away from the greater New York area, so we chose Boston for my anesthesiology residency. That was at the Brigham and Women's and Mass General Hospitals.
There, I again spent a considerable amount of time learning pain management techniques, and in 1984, I was recruited by Yale University to establish a pain management service. Later, we added a pain clinic. During my 26-year tenure at Yale, I rose to the rank of professor, and we developed a number of effective pain management techniques and introduced several important analgesics that are widely used today in acute and chronic pain. Three years ago, I decided to retire early and left Yale, but six months into retirement, I was offered the position as chief of pain medicine at the West Haven VA Medical Center. I have truly enjoyed working with our Vets, many of whom have addiction and psychiatric problems in addition to chronic pain. In my time there, we were able to hire three additional pain specialists and have greatly improved access and pain management.
I consider myself very fortunate, but it’s time to move on to other endeavors. These include worldwide travel with Linda, spending more time with our children – who live in Denver and Nantucket – and volunteering time with Doctors Without Borders. I also look forward to seeing my classmates at the upcoming reunion.
[Rich – When I wrote to congratulate Ray on his second retirement and his long success, I also mentioned that, as good at South was for its time, it also underperfomed for a number of students.]
Another happy note, from Ed Albrecht: Those were interesting football stats from that North-South program. In 1961, Bobby Sinram was a sophomore playing Varsity. I know because he was a classmate of my brother, Billy, and here’s a story that’s hard to forget.
My brother, Billy, was in the Marines from 1964 to '68, and he was evacuated out of Vietnam twice – once, for spinal meningitis, and the second time, for a scorpion bite. On the second evac, he was being loaded onto a plane from a chopper in Da Nang province. As they were carrying him on, someone slaps Billy on the shoulder and says, "Hey Albrecht!" It was none other than Bobby Sinram. It seems Bobby had been shot in the rear end and was on his way home with Billy. True Story. Coincidentally, it turns out that my son Justin's godmother, Fran, dated Bobby for a while. Small, small world.
Next, a quick clerical note from Stu Borman: I posted the two North-South game covers and the history of the game article in Barnet Kellman's folder on the South photos site. Hope everyone enjoys them.
After seeing last week's newsletter, Claire Brush Reinhardt wrote almost immediately: I would be extremely interested in having copies of the covers of those programs of the North-South games. Recently, I attended a meeting of the South High Culture Committee, representing the Alumni Association. One of the things the committee seems very interested in is having the alumni give a short presentation of what South was like at its beginnings. I mentioned things like the North-South parade, floats, bonfires, one-act plays, and several other things that no longer take place. There were parents, faculty, and student representatives at the meeting, and everyone was extremely interested in the "stuff" that we loved and kind of took for granted.
[Rich – More about this in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I sent Claire file copies of the covers. I think the photos can also be copied and pasted from Stu’s photo site. Also, next week, more about that 1960 football game that was mentioned in the '62 program.]
Finally, from Robert Fiveson in Panama: I have a tiny side business, where I take people fishing in the lake featured in the following short article. It’s from my local news.
“On Saturday afternoon, authorities from the National Environmental Authority moved a huge crocodile that was captured on Friday in the sector of Cuatro Altos in the Province of Colón to Lake Gatun. Several people supported the project to move the animal due to its large size and weight. Juancho, as he is known in Colon is approximately 3 meters long – almost 10 feet. The main difference between caiman and crocodiles is that the caiman have a wider head. For example, when a caiman's mouth is closed, you can't see his teeth. But on a crocodile, you can. A caiman has a short and broad snout, while on a crocodile, it is long and narrow."
The class of '65 50th Reunion: Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26, 2015, Hyatt Regency, Hauppauge.
The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com (please remove the spaces)
The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65 (ditto)
Rich
Hi,
First, a sad note of catch-up from Claire Brush Reinhardt: I attended the "Celebration of Life" service for Karen Grimm on Saturday, December 6th, at the Lutheran Church on the corner of Rockaway and DuBois. It was a large turn out for Karen, which I was happy to see. Many of her former classmates were there, and Booker and Frances Gibson were able to make it, even though it was a miserable, rainy day. Karen was a faithful member of our Alumni Association, attending all our meetings and events. We will miss her presence at our meetings.
Next, a happy note from Ray Sinatra: Well, it's finally going to happen – I’m retiring from medical practice in February, 2015. As you may remember, I was the ADHD poster child and South class of ‘65 least likely to succeed, but somehow my neural circuitry rebooted in 12th grade, and I actually scored high enough on the Regents exam to gain a scholarship. Thereupon, every guidance counselor at South suddenly invited me to his or her office to review college brochures. Unfortunately, my family had minimal funds for college, so I chose Nassau Community College – where I aced my courses – followed by my graduating with honors in pre-med from Adelphi. After that, I taught junior high school science in Brooklyn to avoid the draft, only to be called up for duty at Ft. Hamilton and then fail my physical. Oddly, it wasn't my serious asthmatic condition that kept me out of the army but rather some varicose veins.
Free to follow my true passion, medical science, and fortunate to gain admittance to the MD-Ph.D program at Downstate Medical Center – once again in Brooklyn – I studied the effects of pain relievers – opioids – and became interested in improving pain in patients recovering from surgery or with terminal cancer. Following medical school and my internship on Staten Island, my wife, Linda, and I wanted to get away from the greater New York area, so we chose Boston for my anesthesiology residency. That was at the Brigham and Women's and Mass General Hospitals.
There, I again spent a considerable amount of time learning pain management techniques, and in 1984, I was recruited by Yale University to establish a pain management service. Later, we added a pain clinic. During my 26-year tenure at Yale, I rose to the rank of professor, and we developed a number of effective pain management techniques and introduced several important analgesics that are widely used today in acute and chronic pain. Three years ago, I decided to retire early and left Yale, but six months into retirement, I was offered the position as chief of pain medicine at the West Haven VA Medical Center. I have truly enjoyed working with our Vets, many of whom have addiction and psychiatric problems in addition to chronic pain. In my time there, we were able to hire three additional pain specialists and have greatly improved access and pain management.
I consider myself very fortunate, but it’s time to move on to other endeavors. These include worldwide travel with Linda, spending more time with our children – who live in Denver and Nantucket – and volunteering time with Doctors Without Borders. I also look forward to seeing my classmates at the upcoming reunion.
[Rich – When I wrote to congratulate Ray on his second retirement and his long success, I also mentioned that, as good at South was for its time, it also underperfomed for a number of students.]
Another happy note, from Ed Albrecht: Those were interesting football stats from that North-South program. In 1961, Bobby Sinram was a sophomore playing Varsity. I know because he was a classmate of my brother, Billy, and here’s a story that’s hard to forget.
My brother, Billy, was in the Marines from 1964 to '68, and he was evacuated out of Vietnam twice – once, for spinal meningitis, and the second time, for a scorpion bite. On the second evac, he was being loaded onto a plane from a chopper in Da Nang province. As they were carrying him on, someone slaps Billy on the shoulder and says, "Hey Albrecht!" It was none other than Bobby Sinram. It seems Bobby had been shot in the rear end and was on his way home with Billy. True Story. Coincidentally, it turns out that my son Justin's godmother, Fran, dated Bobby for a while. Small, small world.
Next, a quick clerical note from Stu Borman: I posted the two North-South game covers and the history of the game article in Barnet Kellman's folder on the South photos site. Hope everyone enjoys them.
After seeing last week's newsletter, Claire Brush Reinhardt wrote almost immediately: I would be extremely interested in having copies of the covers of those programs of the North-South games. Recently, I attended a meeting of the South High Culture Committee, representing the Alumni Association. One of the things the committee seems very interested in is having the alumni give a short presentation of what South was like at its beginnings. I mentioned things like the North-South parade, floats, bonfires, one-act plays, and several other things that no longer take place. There were parents, faculty, and student representatives at the meeting, and everyone was extremely interested in the "stuff" that we loved and kind of took for granted.
[Rich – More about this in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I sent Claire file copies of the covers. I think the photos can also be copied and pasted from Stu’s photo site. Also, next week, more about that 1960 football game that was mentioned in the '62 program.]
Finally, from Robert Fiveson in Panama: I have a tiny side business, where I take people fishing in the lake featured in the following short article. It’s from my local news.
“On Saturday afternoon, authorities from the National Environmental Authority moved a huge crocodile that was captured on Friday in the sector of Cuatro Altos in the Province of Colón to Lake Gatun. Several people supported the project to move the animal due to its large size and weight. Juancho, as he is known in Colon is approximately 3 meters long – almost 10 feet. The main difference between caiman and crocodiles is that the caiman have a wider head. For example, when a caiman's mouth is closed, you can't see his teeth. But on a crocodile, you can. A caiman has a short and broad snout, while on a crocodile, it is long and narrow."
The class of '65 50th Reunion: Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26, 2015, Hyatt Regency, Hauppauge.
The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com (please remove the spaces)
The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65 (ditto)
Rich
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