Class Secretary Rob Bildner writes:

         “This is on behalf of our 50th reunion co-chairs, Andrew Capitman, Cynthia Brill, Connie Royster and myself. In case you have not received your copy, the Yale Class of 1972 Fifty Yearsreunion book is being mailed to all classmates by the publisher. If you have not received your book, please contact the publisher, John Breustle at John@reuniontechologies.com. The book is free to all classmates – our class treasury subsidized the cost. If there are mistakes in your listing in the book, please advise Bill Fowkes or myself. We are contemplating posting an on-line version of the book which presumably might be revisable.

         “It is too late to correct the printed version of the book. We should have received this book prior to our reunion but we were informed by the publisher over the intervening months that paper shortages, printing delays and other supply chain logistics delayed the publication and distribution. While many of us were rightfully frustrated by these delays, the book itself is a treasure, packed with our classmates’ essays and photos reflecting on our remarkable years at Yale and afterwards. It is an extraordinary celebration of our lives.

         “Our YAA liaison, Jennifer Julier, said that our collection of survey responses surpasses all efforts by previous classes. You are in for a treat when you read them. We are very fortunate for the brilliant writing and editing of our co-editors, Bill Fowkes and Jonas Zdanys, for the efforts of Charlie Munitz and Leah Greenwald who served as In Memoriam co-editors and Cathy Olian who served as copy editor. A team of volunteers, listed in the book, assisted them. We are grateful for the countless hours of thought and work they put into this book, while dealing with the challenges mentioned above. On behalf of all our classmates, I want to express our deepest gratitude to this team.

         “On other news, we are working at this time to post many of our reunion sessions online and will let you know when this has been completed. There are some technological challenges and logistics to overcome but I am confident we will be able to accomplish this. In the meantime, please send your class notes to our Interim Corresponding Secretary, Jack Casey, at jackyale72@gmail.com, and keep us posted on your news.  Best wishes, Rob.”

         Ed Case (DC) sends remembrances of Dave Carpenter (DC):

         “As mentioned in the last Class Notes, David Carpenter, who was my roommate all four years and lifelong dear friend, died after a valiant fight with pancreatic cancer, on July 22, 2022.

         “Dave admitted that he ‘rarely’ saw the inside of a library while at Yale, and he barely got into law school – off the waiting list at BU the last week of August – but he excelled there. He clerked for Justice William Brennan, became a leading partner at Sidley & Austin, argued many cases in the Supreme Court – and then, tired of all of that, immersed himself in Iyengar yoga, became chair of the board of the Iyengar Society of North America, and ultimately operated a yoga studio where he was an instructor.

         “I heard the best description of David ever at a Zoom ceremony where he received an award from the Iyengar Society – he was ‘absurdly remarkable.’ You can access the obituary from the Chicago Tribune here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JCz9pAaHS967iQZ04l7oZSSBH-VJ_ekl/view.

         “There will be a memorial service in Chicago on April 29, 2023. If you’d like to be in touch with his wife Orit, you can post a comment on his Caring Bridge site: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dcarpenter.

         Steven Unger (MC) informs us:

         “I made a presentation on my observations about ‘The 4 Stages of Life’ at our 50th Reunion in June. When I came home, one thing led to another, and to another, and to another …. and I ended up creating a website that provides curated links to information, services, and practical products that could be of interest to ‘retirees’ and seniors. The name of the website is SeniorsMarketplace.net. If you are interested, the best way to learn about SeniorsMarketplace.net is to go to https://www.SenionrsMarketplace.net/welcome. And, if you are intrigued, I encourage you subscribe to our email list to receive updates.”

         Bill Elliott (DC) writes to celebrate the life of Barry Ruback (DC) who left us July 14, 2022:

         “Richard B. ‘Barry’ Ruback, B.A., J.D., M.S., PhD. Barry accomplished more during his life than most people can ever hope to accomplish. He was a very loving, generous, interesting, and wonderful gentleman who was dearly loved, is already missed, and will always be cherished by those of us who remain to share our memories of him.

         “Barry once wrote that one of the happiest moments of his life was being admitted to Yale where he met his best friends Beth and Mike Wolak, Bill and Lorraine Elliott, Alan Cohen, Alan Gaby, Bernie Erb, and Nathan Wise. However, the happiest moments of his life were finding and marrying his soulmate, Jasmin Riad, and becoming the father of his beautiful, intelligent, and charming daughter, Miriam.

         “Barry’s career highlights include Professor of Criminology and Sociology at Penn State University where he loved to teach, write, and mentor students. He was also a Visiting Fellow, National Institute of Justice, a U.S. Supreme Court Fellow assigned to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. He enjoyed his research in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (Fulbright Fellow, Fulbright-Hays Fellow, Indo-American Fellow, South Asia Regional Fulbright Fellow, and National Science Foundation). He was also honored with the Tom C. Clark Award. He has numerous scholarly publications and books.

         “Barry was very dedicated to Congregation Brit Shalom where he served as a board member, Vice-President, President, and Past-President. He enjoyed traveling with Jasmin and Miriam, especially to national parks, monuments, presidential homes, and battlefields.”

         Nathan Wise (DC) also writes about Barry:

“How best to remember and memorialize dear Barry Ruback, whom we lost so unexpectedly in 2022:  his professional and educational accomplishments filled several pages, it’s true.  Yet I choose to remember the 18-year-old Barry, sweet and giggly and unassuming, delighted by all these fellow Davenport classmates goofing around in Farnham, from far-flung origins like Honolulu and Mexico City and Nevis, spending Friday nights at the Yale Cabaret listening to bluegrass with the likes of other lovely souls like Bob Solotke and Frank Bologna  –  gone now, too.  We’ll never stop missing him, either (Mike and Beth, Alan, Bill, Bernie, Al, Dean, and Nathan).

         John Amodeo (TD) writes:

         “Firstly, I am sad to report the death of John Christopher Perryman TD72 on July 7, 2022. Chris was a dedicated and skilled internist practicing in the St. Luke’s healthcare system in Kansas. He mentored innumerable residents and medical students over 30 years and held multiple high level administrative positions while caring for his patients in a very active internal medicine practice. Chris was the kind of person you immediately took a liking to as I did when I first met him on orientation day my freshman year, a trait that I’m sure made his patients feel at ease and confident that they were in good hands. He leaves behind his wife, Kathy and four children.

         “On a brighter note, I report that I am retiring from the practice of general surgery at Yale New Haven Hospital after 41 years. It is time to move onto the next phase in my life, hoping to travel with Covid winding down and spending time with my family and four grandchildren and pursuing numerous hobbies, including tennis, gardening, and getting down to collating my favorite recipes in a cookbook.  Looking forward to our 55th.”

         Finally, Hallmark aired ’Twas The Night Before Christmas on December 17, a movie version of the mock trial I staged to determine who wrote the beloved poem that created Santa Claus (https://vimeo.com/115281748). While a fastidious scholar, Dr. Clement Clark Moore, claimed authorship in 1844, the prolific Livingston clan insists the jolly old elf came from the pen of its fun-loving cousin, Major Henry Livingston, a Poughkeepsie farmer and Revolutionary War hero. The poem first appeared anonymously December 23, 1823, in a newspaper in my hometown, Troy, NY, and the Moores and Livingstons have been slugging it out ever since.

                                                      JACK CASEY (DC)