Responses to the Reunion from Classmates Who Could Not Attend

Replies to Mara from John Durantini, David Ostwald, Sydney Patterson, Uldis Zebergs, Ruth Kuznets, Maylin Harnden Fisher, Eleanor Adam, Marcia Miller, Tom Brunk, Ralph Conner, Martha Duker Schickedanz, Sarah Cundiff-Reuter


Hi Mara, love reading your e-mails and all the comments about the reunion.  Sounds like you all had a great time! Terrific pictures! A lot of real happy faces! By the way the skiing was mediocre. But it was nice to spend time, away from work, with my family. Was everyone really talking about retirement? John Durantini


Dear Mara, It's so great that you are doing all this. It is fine to put my address on the site. I have two: 463 West St #1013A/ New York, NY 10014 160 Erica Way/ Portola Valley CA 94028. David Ostwald


Dear Mara, Thank you so much for contacting me. I apologize for not calling or responding to your email sooner. I was amazed to see names of people that I have known since before kindergarten. Hope to hear from or contact them in the future. Again, thanks for contacting me.  I shall keep in touch... Fondly, Sydney (Patterson) Otto


Hi Mara, Sorry I missed seeing the gang. Unfortunately my mother-in-law passed away on 12-27 and so I was unable to attend. Do keep me posted for any other reunions. Berkeley High Reunion for January class of 1961?  My computer isn't reading the type of file of the photos that you sent; so, I'm not able to open them. I did get together and meet Walter Mills. Thanks for everything. Hope to see you soon. Uldis Zebergs


Hi Mara,
Finally replying as the reunion is in progress, I believe.  I've been thinking about all of our classmates today, and hope you are having a great time.  I lit a candle at my Unitarian Fellowship this morning for all of you! I hope you and the others received my greeting.  The addresses seemed to be in HTML - I'm not sure how that happened -- so I wasn't sure if the mailing went through as I intended. To answer your question about the May Queen: I believe we voted, as I remember voting for Shireen Mayeri, who I thought would make a splendid queen.  In all our elections, however, I think half-year students were at a disadvantage if I remember correctly. I have received your messages about Melody wanting to get in touch with me.  Could you please tell her hello for me, and that although I am a neglectful correspondent I will be in touch with her soon. Thank you for all you have done in getting it all together, and I hope you enjoy/enjoyed the reunion.
Ruth Kuznets Hauptman


Dear Oxford/Garfield/Cragmont alums,

I regret I will not be joining you in person this weekend.  I have been following the news with great interest, usually jumping first to those particular e-mails.  Seeing my name on the list of  'no reply' has finally set me in motion... I always was tardy "back then" and so continue, probably to my dying
day.  Please know that I join you in spirit, and am eager to hear more about your lives.  My brother Warren's three children (and three grandchildren) still live in the Berkeley area; however, because both my husband's and my parents are now long gone and since Warren retired from the Berkeley Lawrence Lab and moved to Minden, Nevada, a year ago April, it is not quite the 'homebase' for me or my husband, Alan Fisher (Hillside School, '52) as it once was. (Curiously, Ann-si Li now owns the home in which Al grew up; it's fun to see her changes!)  I have loved reading all the memories, and am struck by what I perceive from this distance as such innocence and simplicity.  Perhaps this is just nostalgia talking... Yet, I do remember never locking our door... in the places where I now see security systems and high walls.  When we moved in the late sixties from the "Pacific Northeast" to the Pacific Northwest, I felt some of that same innocence, and recognized there was still a chance to 'do it right' here... but sadly, much of the precious farmland and remarkable forests so close to the big city are now under asphalt and industrial complexes.  (Does anyone else remember Walnut Creek when there really were walnut orchards?  Or Orinda, when it was mostly bare golden hills?)  I have often wondered how our parents and grandparents experienced what objectively are even more significant changes in their lifetimes, and what our children and grandchildren have in store for them.  but, I digress....

Basic life information:  I've lived in Seattle Washington since 1968, in the same house since the day of the lunar landing in 1969.  We've been married for 36 years and have one daughter, Ellie, born in 1978, who is in process of moving to Austin, Texas, in hopes of attending UT in Latin American Studies.  During Al's sabbatical from University of Washington English department last year, when we lived in Oxford, England, I decided to quit teaching visual art at the Northwest School so I could devote my time and energy to my own studio work (essentially, works on paper and mixed media one-of-a-kind artist's books and sculpture) and to supporting the local and
global growth of Nonviolent Communication, as developed by Marshall Rosenberg.  The events of 9/11 created within me a deeper sense of urgency about the latter.  I have been acting as the coordinator of our local group, The Puget Sound Network for Compassionate Communication, since September, which has been rewarding and more demanding than I'd anticipated.  I edit our newsletter, Soundings, and am learning a bit about web design as I do the 'aesthetic' aspects of our psncc website redesign.

All this psncc work has taken me further away from my studio efforts than I really enjoy, so there may be some big changes coming up to create more balance.  Music has sustained me throughout my adult life.  I love to sing, and have been an active member of a splendid choir for the past 6 years.  Our director, Karen P. Thomas, is also a composer, so we have sung several challenging new works over the years.

I am particularly grateful to live in the Puget Sound region; it doesn't take long to get into the mountains or out to the coast and feel we are really "away" and yet we also have the benefits of a reasonably cultured city.  It's always felt a bit like the bay area, on a grand scale!  We've lived in London and near Cambridge on previous sabbaticals, which have been pivotal times in our lives, and as much as I love those places and feel at home (in Oxford particularly!), Seattle remains my preferred
home.  Last spring I set foot on Irish soil for the first time; something deep was stirred within me by that brief visit, so I feel a determination to get back there.  These experiences indicate to me that there really may be something to the idea of 'genetic memory'!

I have been amazed and felt much gratitude for the efforts each of you organizers has put into this reunion.  If this ever happens again, I hope I may be able to join you in person.  Hope you all have great fun together!

Blessings,
Maylin (Harnden Fisher)


Mara,

   I'm sorry I haven't responded sooner about the Oxford Reunion, but our e-mail out here is often so slow that one just gives up. I think it has been very clever of you to track me down, although some of the e-mails have gone to my husband, who printed them out and then put them someplace "safe" so that I just got them.

    We are back in California after 20 years in Albany, New York, and are now at Deep Springs College, which is just east of Bishop on the east side of the Sierra. I never knew about it when I was in California, but our youngest son went here and we have followed him (after he left, of course).  It's a very small "experimental" school, although it's been here since 1917.  Only 26 students, all men, and it's a working cattle ranch and organic farm in addition to the first two years of college.  After they graduate from here they transfer someplace else to finish up --many go to Berkeley, Yale, Harvard, Chicago or some such place; others take a year or two off to do interesting things before going on.  We're thrilled to be out of cities and to live in a place where the air is clean and there's almost no noise pollution.  I'm librarian and my husband is Social Science Professor and Dean of Students.

    We have three children, 30, 28 and 21, the oldest two of whom just became engaged within the last 4 months.  Andrew just finished his dissertation in anthropology and is looking for a job; Molly is Archivist for the New York State Nureses' Association in Albany, and Nicholas is about to start back to school after taking a year off to work for the International Rescue Committee in Bosnia.

    I don't know what else to tell you without going into extruciating detail.  I can't make it to the reunion since I'll be with my parents in Santa Fe on the 30th, but please send my greetings to everyone, particularly Ruth Kuznets-Hauptman and Mary Yarwood.  I think it's wonderful that you're pulling this together.

Happy New Year!
Eleanor Adam Gossen


Hi Mara,

Thanks for the invite to the re-union, sorry I couldn't come. Wow! Lots of old familiar names. I hope lots of people came. Thanks again.

Happy New Year,
Marcia Miller, Laytonville, CA


It was good to hear from you about the Oxford Reunion, but I couldn't open the site you mentioned at udel/dean/oxf. I haven't seen anyone from Berkeley for years, as I now live and have for over 20 years now in North Carolina. I retired from the United States Marine Corps as a Major, was a pilot. Flew for a cargo airline for a few years, and am now a CPA with a firm in Greenville, NC. Have three kids and two grandkids. Let me know what you are doing and how to open the site with the pictures.

Tom
Tom Brunk



Hi, Mara.

It has been interesting to all of these faces after so many years.  We have all matured so gracefully, haven't we?  For the most part we actually still look like us.  Walt had trouble finding Brucie in Bruce Duncan's face, but he is still there if you look.

My reason for contacting you is to let you know that this e-mail address will no longer be operating starting in February.  So please send any future correspondence to RalphNDonna@msn.com.  OK?

Thanks,
Ralph Conner (the younger twin)



Dear Mara,

Wow. Wish that I had known about this reunion -- I would have been there! What fun to see all the pictures, read about the memories and step back in time. Thanks to Kent who sent me the website information, and YES, I would love to attend a future reunion.

I married Dick Schickedanz (Berkeley High School sweetheart) in 1965, and we have lived in Utah, California, New York, New Jersey, and for the last 27 years, Michigan. We have 8 children (5 girls, 3 boys) and 12 grandchildren. Right now we are in the midst of moving to Ogden Valley, Utah where we are building a home for our last, doddering years.

Dick retired from banking 4 years ago, and since then we have been guiding small group tours to Southern Africa. I have been involved in many career ventures (apart from populating the world), most recently as a travel agent for the past 12 years.

I have lots of Oxford memories and will contribute some to the anecdotes in the web site, but I have to say that I STILL sing "Farewell, to Oxford" (graduation song) at odd moments. And "Kentucky Babe".

Please put me on a list with the following info:

email mschick23@msn.com

address (albeit temporary)  Martha Duker Schickedanz

                                         309 S Glengarry

                                         Bloomfield Hills, MI     48301


I just went back to the Oxford web site and read all the new stuff :)  I don't think I'll be able to make the May reunion :( , but reading other people's memories brought back some of my own :)

Going to a "real" dime store... I think it was called Lucky's (nothing to do w/the supermarket chain) on Shattuck. You could get the marvelous treats of the time... candy cigarettes, a roll of pops for your cap pistol, fizzies, baseball trading cards (Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig,  Babe Ruth and others) that came with a pack of chewing gum, Pez candies... and more.

If you went to Garfield, you wanted to go to Albert's for hamburgers...the best "greaseburgers" around. It's now called Fat Appies, I think.

Hink's Dept Store... and the free gifts every month... and Lester Hink's horrible poetry that came in the monthly mailer. (I still have a Hink's thermometer in my kitchen)

Damn! I'm going to have to rethink if I can make this reunion in Live Oak Park.

The pet parade in LO Park... the kid with the pet mountain lion always won... who was that? I took my cat one year ... in a birdcage... and got some kind of a prize

Enough for now....
Sarah :)