Update 8-27-13

 

Hi,

 

First, I just had a very nice conversation with Patty Rose, possibly our first.  I led with Roz Minsky's name, quickly followed up with the fact I wasn't asking for money, established that we didn't know each other, and then we relaxed.

    She was busy preparing for her daughter's wedding on Sunday -- she was alphabetizing place cards as we spoke -- but we still talked for a while about how unmemorable high school can be and why some people have no desire to even think about going back there.  She was sorry to hear about Robin Feit Baker's death and also sorry no one has yet located Irene Cohen.

    Patty also mentioned that her husband's high school -- her husband wasn't from South -- has an alumni newsletter similar to ours, but that it's so busy, it's 3 months behind including notes and news.  I explained that we're a little pokier.

    If anyone would like to contact Patty, please work through me.  And thanks again to Roz Minsky Hahn for locating Patty's phone number.

 

Also going back to 1964:  I know we were a bit young, but was anyone from any of the classes at South at the March On Washington?  Not that I would have been mature enough to realize its importance or insist that my parents let me go, but I was stranded at a camp near Binghampton, working with Jay Kinder.

 

From Amy Bentley:  I thought Willie Ottinger, who lived on Cloverfield Road next to Mort Jacobs, managed the Left Bank.  Does anyone know?  Also, I loved the New York Times story by Judy Wadler.  It was wonderful.

 

[Rich -- I really only know 5 things about Willie Ottinger:  He lived next to Mort, he wrestled at South, he went to Lehigh University, and, unfortunately, he died young.  The fifth thing was a hide-and-seek-like game, I think called APE, that he and Mort may have invented.  Everyone hid separately and ran a lot when Willie was close and trying to find us.  When he did, he comically beat the hell out of us -- well, wrestled us to the ground and ticked us or tried out his wrestling holds.  I think it's where I picked up some of my bad habits.  The group that played, in addition to Mort and Willie, included Alan Finder, Rick Glickman Wall, and me.  We played in the large combined backyards of Alan, Mort, and Willie, perhaps -- because of the configuration of Forest and Cloverfield Roads -- some of the largest backyards in Green Acres.  That was a lot of running.]

 

From Denise Frango Powell:  Jerilyn Ferrera was at our 37th reunion.  How did we lose touch?

 

[Rich -- Oh, Jeez, there are so many ways.  Some people I never had e-mail addresses for, or I had e-mail addresses, and they've gone dead.  Some people Paul DeMartino was only able to contact by phone, so I never had direct contact, and when Paul tried again for the 40th reunion, he discovered their phone numbers were no longer in service.  Some people were contacted about the 37th reunion through other people, so we never had direct contact with them.  And some I could only contact through Classmates . com, a site I've long since stopped using and a lot of other people have as well.  Many of them now use Facebook, and some time before our 50th reunion, I'll try to spend an evening searching Facebook for presumably missing classmates.  As Paul pointed out, many of the women are hard to find because they now use their married names.  Also, some people might not be as gracious as Patty was this afternoon, and may just tell me to go away.]

 

More good news from Marc Fishman:  You may recall that a few years ago, I failed retirement and started a company called Oncology Analytics.  Today Inc magazine just announced that Oncology Analytics is currently number 280 on the list of the 5000 fastest growing privately held companies in the United States.  We are in the top 20 for healthcare.  Now -- back to work.  Regards to all.

[Rich --  As I've said before, I'm completely impressed with Marc's work to lower healthcare costs.  He retired to do good deeds.  I retired to write short stories.]

 

Barbara Blitfield Pech did a little more sleuthing and found out this:

    As I mentioned a few weeks ago, one of Ellen Winters' brothers -- I believe Doug -- is part of the Green Acres Facebook group.  I just asked him about Ellen, but he was politely evasive.  Also, there was a recent notification that a Fred Winters -- class of 1969? -- just passed away, so that may be the reason the Winters family prefers privacy.
    Second, a few years ago, I mentioned that Frank Bonlarron's former wife was a distant neighbor in my complex.  She, too, was evasive about any family whereabouts, but Frank's son is on Facebook, if someone closer to the Bonlarrons wants to contact him.

    Third, another of my Facebook groups, this one from the Five Towns, is promoting Lawrence High School's 45th reunion, which they are having at the Allegria Hotel.  I haven't looked at its site, but it might be a viable consideration for us, rather then further out on Long Island.  This might give everyone Kennedy and LaGuardia airport access .

 

[Rich -- As I've mentioned before, the class of 65's 50th reunion is still 2 years away, and I don't particularly want to rush the aging process.  But in a year-or-so, I'll take a survey and see where people are interested in meeting.  Since a lot of us are retiring, those who previously lived on Long Island might be elsewhere and would prefer to meet somewhere other than Long Island.  I can't guess.  Meanwhile, I checked the Allegria web site, and hotel rooms seem to go from about 300 bucks a night.  The hotel's in Long Beach.]

 

Finally, if you want to go to a South reunion almost immediately, here's another reminder of what the classes of '61 and '63 are planning:

 

The Class of '61's Big 70th Birthday Bash.  Saturday, October 12, 2013.  The Wild Fish Restaurant, 507 Guy Lombardo Drive, Freeport, New York. 1:00 to 5:00 PM.  Buffet and Cash bar -- $45.00 per person.  Contact Emily Kleinman Schreiber at:   Cre8em @ aol . com   (please remove the spaces)

 

The Class of 1963’s 50th Anniversary Reunion.  Saturday, October 12, 2013.  The Cornell Club in Manhattan.  Luncheon -- $75/person.  Contact Amy Miller Cohen at:  ymarellim @ aol . com

 

For both parties, the invitation is extended to alumni from other classes who would also like to be there. 

 

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

 

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

 

 

Rich