Update 7-16-13

 

Hi,

 

First, from Booker Gibson:  Is it ever too late to say something about Robin Feit Baker?  On the night of the first music and theater scholarship awards at South, as I slowly walked out of my car towards the school, I walked in with Robert Fiveson and Robin.  Each one of us was easy to spot.  Robin always had that pretty, small voice, which she could raise when she was upset.  And she always carried herself so proper and "ladylike."

 

From Lynn Nudelman Villagran:  I was very saddened at the news of Robin Feit Baker's death.  My condolences to her family and friends.
    Also, thanks for the story about your last visit to your childhood home in Green Acres.  It is not an easy task, I imagine, and it made me feel nostalgic.  I remember a few years ago, perhaps at the beginning of these newsletters, there was a discussion about why people wanted to be in touch with each other, and what was the point.  I, for one, have always been nostalgic, and I've enjoyed the reunion update over the years because of this.  An article in today's New York Times Science section is relevant, I think.  The link: 
nytimes . com/2013/07/09/science / what-is-nostalgia-good-for-quite-a-bit-research-shows.html?hpw  (please remove the spaces)

 

[Rich -- I nearly made reference to the Times article in last week's newsletter.  Then I figured I'd gone on enough.  It's by John Tierney and was published on July 8, 2013.  As Lynn's link shows, it's titled:  What Is Nostalgia Good For?  Quite a Bit, Research Shows.]

 

From Robin Seader Cottmeyer:  I'm sure it must have been bittersweet to leave the old homestead for the final time, but I hope your fondest memories remain with you always.

[Rich:  As I mentioned last week, Green Acres / Mill Brook is running with kids again, and my main hope for the house is that it's soon as noisy, too.

    My personal feelings run far less deep than either nostalgia or bittersweet.  I've mainly been out of the house and the community since 1965, so it's hard even to imagine myself back there.  Though as some kind of time warp, my family still seems to identify houses by the names of people who first lived in them in the middle of last century.]

 

From Claire Brush Reinhardt:  Glad to hear that Dr. Ruth Miller is still living in her house across from Forest Road School.  "Docky Miller," as my kids used to call her, was our pediatrician, and we all just loved her.  She was always so kind and caring, and we loved looking at her vacation pictures from all over the world.  They adorned her waiting room walls.

 

[Rich:  Our family doctor -- and I think the Forest Road School doctor -- was David Soloway.  So even though the Millers only lived two houses away, I think I was only in Dr. Miller's office once, passing through the house.  I was in Mr. Miller's basement office on the same day.  The Miller sons were younger than I was, so we weren't really friends.]

 

From Claire:  Was that Dr. Soloway in West Valley Stream, nearer the Rosedale / Laurelton area?  At Clearstream Avenue Elementary School, there was a Martha Soloway in my class, and I think her dad was a doctor.  I don't remember Martha at South though.  Maybe her family moved, or she may have attended a private school.

 

[Rich -- David Soloway was still our doctor into the 60s, and I think he delivered both my brothers, so I'm not sure his family moved.  To get to his office, I think you crossed Sunrise Highway heading north and turned left at the 2nd or 3rd street.  His office -- like Ruth Miller's -- seemed to be in his house, so if he and his family really lived there, his daughter might have gone to Memorial and Central -- if Memorial had even been built at that point.]

From Ryki Zuckerman:  Dr. Ruth Miller would be about 91 now, right?   Hasn't she retired?   And is that Cliff Miller, class of 66?

 

[Rich -- I suspect Ruth Miller is about 91 and has long retired.  But I could be wrong.  My current eye doctor is 88.  And, yeah, Cliff would probably have been in the class of '66.  I can't imagine there would have been multiple Cliff Millers at South between 1965 and '70.]

Amy Miller Cohen sent a group photo of some friends of hers in 1955.  From the front:  Julie Adler (Jasmine Lane), Karen Hart (new new section), Bari Levy (Jasmine Lane), Pat Martorano (old section off Flower Rd), Amy Miller (Darewood Lane), Nancy King (Brook Road ), Joan McLardy, Lanie Bright, Janet Sitzler, Laura Kerr, Nancy Chesler (Forest Road), Sue Senigen, and Toby Cogen.

    Amy wrote:  Maybe some of you knew some of these girls or their siblings.

 

[Rich -- I knew Bari Levy, of course, because she was in the class of '65.  And I've asked Amy to send the photo to Stu Borman to post on the class photo site.  You can follow out the link below and then look in Amy's album.]

Jean Cohen Oklan wrote:  My brother just had his book published, and it's available on Amazon . com.  I was hoping the link to this article could be passed on to everyone via the newsletter.  The book is a strong narrative written by a strong person.  Hope you're all having a great summer!

    The link:  recordonline . com/apps/pbcs . dll/article?AID=/20130710/NEWS/307100330  (remove spaces)
    About the book:  Behind the Schoolhouse Doors by former Middletown High School principal Bernie Cohen went on sale on Amazon . com last week.  According to Bernie Cohen, 60 copies of the book sold over the weekend.  The story is about former Middletown superintendent-turned-Level 2 sex offender Robert Sigler.  He was superintendent from 1996 until January 2003, when he pleaded guilty to second-degree offense involving a male student at his home.

 

[Rich -- A far less volatile book also went on sale last week on Amazon:  my latest novel, Crisscross Moon. It's a little romantic adventure set in the Cliff Dweller region of New Mexico.  A young couple in the present tries to figure out what happened to a young couple maybe 1000 years ago.

    The 12 friends who've read it have liked it, and it's a lot easier to read than my long last novel, Bodark Creek.  I'll send free PDF files of it around eventually, but if you just gotta read it sooner or more portably, you can download it on a Kindle or by using a Kindle app.  As usual:  99 cents -- Cheap.]

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

 

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

 

 

Rich