Update 12-17-13

 

Hi,

 

A series of notes, largely in three groups, starting with a follow-up on the Super Bowl course Andy Dolich will be teaching at Stanford.

From Betsy Fels Pottruck:  I would love to take Andy's course.  Where do I get the information about signing up for it?  A friend of mine is still with the San Francisco Giants but used to be with the A's, and he knows Andy.  Please let me know.  Thanks.

Similarly, from Jay Berliner:  Will Andy's course be online?

The answers from Andy:  You should be able to sign up through this connection.  If not, please let me know. 

continuingstudies . stanford.edu/courses/course.php?cid=20132_BUS+137   (please remove the spaces)

    The course dates:  Tuesdays, January 14 to February 11, 2014

    The time:  7 PM to 9:10 PM

    The tuition:  $335 for 1 unit of credit

    Also, unfortunately for those living outside the Stanford area, this is not an online course.

A nice note about Andy from Robert Fiveson:  I'm sure Andy's course will be very interesting, and I want to publicly thank him and note that he is a caring human being.  When I was still living in the United States, I had an unofficial adopted son in his early 20s who was paralyzed from the neck down from a gunshot into his mouth.  The kid absolutely loved basketball, and Andy supplied him with authentic memorabilia including a signed jersey.  This still hangs, framed, in the boy's room at the convalescent home.  Good guy that Andy Dolich.

 

On a different subject, a medical answer from Zelda White Nichols to Ed Albrecht:  My last name, Nichols, is a very common one.  Once, I picked up a prescription at a pharmacy for my husband, and on the way out, I happened to look at the scrip.  I quickly realized that the drug wasn’t what my husband normally took, so I looked at the full name and address.  It turned out that I had been given medication for another Nichols by mistake.
    Ed is absolutely correct:  these days, you have to be your own advocate when it comes to any medical care.  Doctors are often given free samples to give their patients from pharmaceutical reps.  But doctors don’t always have the time, or can take the time, to research the products to understand drug interactions.  Because of this, it's often better to ask your pharmacist questions instead of asking your doctor.

Back to Andy, but on a different topic:  Lee and Morty Kaufman, both 91, who star in the "Swiffer" ads on TV, are from Valley Stream.

On the same subject, from Judy Hartstone:  Do we know anyone with the last name of Kaufman whose parents are Lee and Morty?  They're what would be my parents' age, 91, have a daughter, Myra, and been married 44 years, which is a few decades less than my parents would have been married by now.  Perhaps it's a second marriage for them both.  In any case, they're from Valley Stream, and they "star" in a commercial for Swiffer.  I've never seen it, but I read this information in today's Parade magazine.

 

[Rich -- I wrote Andy and Judy, saying they'd both sent the same news, and that I didn't have any more information.  But I said I'd ask if anyone from South knew the Kaufmans.]

 

And Judy replied:  If the Kaufmans have been married only 44 years, and they're 91, it's probably either a second marriage or a late marriage.  Since most of us have been gone from Valley Stream for the past 44 years, we probably didn't know them or their daughter.  Unless either Lee or Morty lived in South Valley Stream with her or his first spouse, and their other children are people we knew.

 

And Andy added:  The Valley Stream ties that bind us together.

 

[Rich -- We had a teacher named Mr. Kaufman -- I can't remember his first name -- who probably wasn't that much older than we were.  Maybe he's a relative.]

 

On a totally different lost person, Barbara Blitfield Pech said she doesn't know where Steve Klain, from Forest Road School, went.  But she said her aunt and uncle bought his former home on Jasmine Lane.  That was in the late 50s.

 

Finally, a note that unexpectedly appeared and the conversation that followed:  Hello.  I am the former Sarah Lawrence College roommate of Carol Krakow, who graduated from your class in 1965.  We lost touch a few years ago, but I've wanted to reconnect with her for some time.  Today, I was looking for her online and was quite upset to see her name on the "Confirmed Deaths" list on your class Web site.
    I would be more grateful than I can say if you would please send me more information about how, when, and where she died.  Can you point me to an obituary?  Do you have an address for her son or for any of her old friends who might know something?  The last we communicated, she was living in San Diego.
    I still can't believe that she's gone.  But I should assume that confirmation list is correct, yes?  Your help would mean a great deal to me.  Thank you.
    Sincerely,
    Joy Passanante

 

Rich -- as I wrote Joy:  From what I understand, Carol died years ago, but I don't know how many -- at least before 2001, when we began reconnecting the 300 members of our former high school class.  As part of that on-going process, we have a weekly newsletter, and I'll put your note in it next Tuesday.  Maybe someone can remind me who told us about Carol.

    And it would be great to be proved wrong.  That's happened once, with a man with a very distinctive first and last name that you wouldn't think could be duplicated.  But it was.  Can you remember when you were last in touch with Carol, and do you know what her married name was?  Women are obviously harder to find because so many of them change their names and don't even use their former family names on Facebook.  In any case, I'm sorry about the shock.  Another former class member died last month, and I still haven't posted his name because -- as one friend said -- the list keeps getting longer.

    Also, have you tried to find Carol through the Sarah Lawrence alumni association?

 

Joy replied:  Thanks for your prompt response.  It helps me to hear from you.
    I wish I could recall when Carol and I were last in touch.  Thinking back on it now, I believe it was much longer ago than I imagined when I started looking for her today.  Years ago, I found her address in San Diego in the Sarah Lawrence alumni directory and had written her a note, but I don't recall when that was.  Perhaps it was the late 90s, but more likely around 2000.  At the same time, I'd also written two other close friends from my early college days, and I know they responded.  But thinking back, I'm not sure that Carol ever did.  However, my note to her didn't come back to me.

    She married a man named Mel Kantor, who I never met, though I may have talked with him on the phone once, long ago.  I know they had a son named Jared, who's probably in his 30s now.  And the last address I had for them was in San Diego.  I don't recall having seen Carol's name listed in the Sarah Lawrence "In Memoriam" section, either, but I'll write or call the college and see if they have any more recent news about Carol.
    Also, she had a younger brother, but at the moment I can't recall his name.  Bobby, perhaps?  Maybe someone in your class will know him, since his last name was Krakow.  I remember visiting Carol's home in Valley Stream several times when I was a lonely freshman, far away from my parents and suburban life in the Midwest, and the name Valley Stream has stuck with me over the years.  I'm glad I decided to look it up.  Please let me know if you find out anything more.

Rich -- and I wrote:  A quick search for Mel Kantor came up with a handful of possibilities, one being a dentist in Kentucky and another being a Mel Kantor 65+ who "knows Carole A Kantor in Boca Raton."  But Carol didn't have an E on her name and according to our high school graduation list, her middle initial was J.

    There's also a Jared Kantor in Calgary who's a lawyer.  But I don't know if he's Carol's son.  I may know more next week when I write the class.  Unfortunately, the woman who I remember being a close friend of Carol's in high school, Gerry Kaplan, has also died.  That happened in a car crash, I think in the late 1980s.

 

And Joy replied:  Thank you for coming up with more ideas for me.  I'd seen the Calgary lawyer Jared Kantor when I was looking online yesterday, and I actually sent him an e-mail, though for some reason, he didn't seem like the right person.  He hasn't responded, but I'll let you know if he does.  I think there's also a musician with that name.
    Interesting about Gerry Kaplan.  I'd read the list of other members of your class who've died, and my eyes lingered on the name Gerry Kaplan.  Oddly, after al these years, I had a vague memory that I didn't trust yesterday that Gerry was the major friend whom Carol talked about our freshman year.  Amazing that I remembered correctly, and how sad that she died early, too.  I think seeing if there's a Robert Krakow in the classes of 1966-72 might be the best bet.  Perhaps you could help with that?  Or send me class lists from those years?
    In the meantime, I'll try Sarah Lawrence, but I don't think Carol kept in touch with the alumni center there.  At least, I didn't see her name appear on alumni news in the past years.  And Carol is definitely Carol J.  Her middle name might even be Joy -- you'd think I'd remember that for sure -- but June also comes to mind.

 

Before I could reply, Joy added:  I'm more grateful than I can say for your help in my quest for information about Carol.  After I wrote you and remembered that her brother was possibly named Bobby, I sent an e-mail to a Robert Krakow who practices law in Manhattan.  He wrote me back this afternoon, and he is indeed her brother.  It was wonderful to hear from him, even though he confirmed that Carol was no longer with us -- she died in 1993, much longer ago than I thought was possible.  He also said that her son is doing well and that Carol continued to write until the end of her life.  These two pieces of information make me happy in spite of the sadness involved in my search for Carol.
    Thank you again for all your help, and please share this information with those in your class who remember her.

 

Rich -- And I wrote Joy:  I'm sorry that you confirmed the news.  I was pretty sure it was right, but, unfortunately, I've never recorded who told me about particular classmates' deaths.  That's another project for a distant time.  In any case, I'll put your letters in the update this week.  The good thing about that is they'll remind people about Carol -- and Gerry.

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com  (remove the spaces)

 

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65    (ditto)

 

The class of '65  50th Reunion dates:  April 24 through April 26, 2015

 

 

Rich