Just an update on the Class of 1981 St. John's College reunion. Many people were there who had not been on the original list. I will probably forget some of the names, but I will try...
Dave Neumann (and friend)
Maggie Argent
Buffy Bowser Affsprung
Jessica Wasserman (with kids)
Lisa Cobb
Nick Kennedy
Matt Hartzel (and spouse)
Anne O'Malley Cullota (and spouse)
Warren Spector
Peter Norton
Kurt Schuler
Rachel O'Keefe (and spouse SF '82?)
Kathy Abrams (and spouse and teenagers)
Dan Van Doren
Ben Smith and Anne Kates
Honor Bulkley
Joe and Barbara Roach
us (Jim and Ellen)
I'm sure there were more but I am spacing it out.
We had a seminar on Antigone with Peter Kalkavage. It was fine.
The whole event was pretty nice, or at least I can say that everyone was very nice to me.
At the dinner the every-fifth-year classes give toasts. Anne O'Malley said a few things about how old we were, and I led an impromptu rendition of "St. John's Forever" from the back row. I had to teach Peter Norton, Kurt Schuler, Dave Neumann, and a few others the words. It seems that Evan Cantor and the members of the Spartans are the only people who realize that song lyrics are the true narrative of the human experience and should be retained. Evan was not there, so we were, perhaps as tradition demands, Out of Tune. In any event, it cannot be said that no Spartans performed.
I did not come back on Sunday morning for the "informal" memorial service for Brother Robert. A more formal service will be held in November, I believe. I will go if I can, and I assume that Warren and P. Gilbert will be there.
On the whole, I recommend attending these events, although that is easy for me to say since it is only a 30-minute drive. I personally consider the entire class of 1981 to be members of my family. Naked and mewling we came into this world, and all that.
2011?
peace,
jim
5 comments:
Forgot Paul Cree and Robyn Jackson. Sorry.
And Jamie Whalen and spouse.
I’m sorry that being broke plus new job without accrued vacation time plus Jewish holiday (you’d think someone would have checked) kept me away from our 25th. There are some members of our class— Kurt Shuler springs to mind, and Dave Nau— who, though I think of them rarely, are in fact sterling characters I would be delighted to see any time, and seeing Jamie Whalen in 1991 gave me a new understanding of the world. This is not even to mention those Kings and Queens I may perhaps never see again: Michael Coss, Ace Shadow, Eleanor Harvey, Adrian Carsiotis, where are you? And what of Arthur Kungle? Has he not only been banned from campus but from history?
By the way I saw Abe Schoener, my old nemesis as the Butterfly Catcher (“Pueh, cat’s piss!”) at Brother Robert’s funeral. The cliché of “hale and hearty” seems to apply well to him: he’s beefy, tanned and has a vineyard in Napa.
It looks from the pictures on the St. John’s website that you’ve grown your hair out again, Hippie. If you need some extra I still have your 1979 hair in a Jim Beam box at my dad’s house.
Where did you find the pictures? I see Adrian's mother Jennifer sometimes at anti-war and anti-nuclear-arms events. Michael Coss is, I believe, in Afghanistan. I think that Arthur Kungle is no longer with us, although I could be wrong.
As far as the hair goes, I spent 20 years trying to look normal and all it did was give people the wrong impression. Also, another year or so and it will cover my bald spot.
peace,
jim
Sometime around 1994 Iggy appeared to me in a vision and said, "One legnth, shoulder-legnth, parted down the middle" and that's how I wore my hair for the next five or so years. I'm going to wait till it's all gray till I grow it out again, Berkeley-style.
Pictures from the reunion are at the alumni website:
http://alumni.stjohnscollege.edu/
and then go to Class of '81. You need to sign up to get a log-in. I'll put the picture out front in the Spartan Bar.
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