No. 35
February 7, 2008

My apologies to the class for not publishing a new eNewsletter for the last few months, my schedule has become a bit hectic. I will try to catch up and post the missing October - January issues soon, but I thought it better to fill you in on the latest news first. And that, if course, are the plans for our 45th Reunion (only 4 months away now on May 29 - June 1, 2008).

The Reunion Committee has been been meeting monthly during the last 5 months and planning is well along for a very full program.

Our 45th Reunion Weekend will start with an informal gathering for cocktails and appetizers at the Columbia Club Grill Room on Thursday evening, May 29, after which you may wish to attend one of the Broadway shows that the Alumni Office has made reservations for. On Friday evening, we will have Class of 1963 only boat cruise and buffet dinner. On Saturday, there will be a full schedule of events to pick from including a panel discussion (details to follow), a class lunch in the Faculty Room at Low Library, and the Class of 1963 banquet in the Kellogg Lounge at SIPA. You will be receiving a complete description and sign-up package from the Alumni Office very soon. We have tried as much as possible to arrange class events so that we can spend a maximum of time meeting and reacquainting ourselves with our classmates. I hope to see you all there.

Our 45th Reunion year got off to a fine start at a pre-reunion cocktail reception in early January hosted by Donna and Phil Satow. Among those in attendance were Barry Jay Reiss, David Alpern. Benita and Henry Black, Doron Gopstein, Ann and Bruce Kaplan, Conrad Levenson, Bettye and Steve Barcan, Michael Lubell, Don Margolis, Harvey Schneier and his wife, M. Barrie Mandel, Larry Neuman, Randi and Bob Kornreich, Gil Einstein, Jerry Dwyer, Terrie and Tom O'Connor, and Ruth and Paul Neshamkin. Apologies to anyone I missed.

The conversations that I overheard were an intriguing preview of what’s in store for you on May 29 to June 1. I learned that Conrad Levenson had left his architectural practice in 1991 to work for Phoenix House. Using Google for further exploration on the web, I found that he has been responsible for the design and construction of several thousand units of housing and community facilities including residential and outpatient centers, vocational and educational facilities, medical/dental service centers and administrative and support service offices and facilities.

Henry Black is now practicing medicine at NYU, and is finding it difficult to slow down. I caught Henry and his wife Benita talking to several of their Columbia/Bronx Science classmates. They talked about how Benita and Henry reconnected several years ago, and married. Thanks to Benita’s condition that they move back to NYC, we hope we will be seeing a lot more of them at Baker Field.

Steve Barcan mentioned to Phil Satow that he had visited me at my Jersey Shore house in Bradley Beach this summer, and that led to reminiscences of Phil’s summer working in Belmar while in college. He often visited Steve at his house which was just up the street from where I now live.

What can I say about Bob Kraft and his New England Patriots -- after an historic 18-0 record, they played in one of the most exciting Super Bowls of all time, and, incredibly, lost to my beloved New York Giants. Congratulations, Bob to your team for a terrific season -- and better luck next year.

As I mentioned in the last eNewsletter, I intend to add separate pages for each classmate in the Columbian section of the Class of '63 web site. These will be added as I receive a contribution from you (or you attend one of our Class of 1963 lunches). You can always email me at pauln@helpauthors.com. As an example, I've added a few for some of your classmates who have been in touch, and populated these will some sample notes. I hope that you will contribute more information to make this an interesting section.

If this is your first visit here, I've added a link to an archives page, which in turn, will link you to the past issues of the Class of 1963 eNewsletter. If you haven't seen any of the earlier newsletters, take a look -- there's a lot more news, pictures, and interesting articles than I have been able to include in Columbia College Today.

Table of Contents:

• Next Second Thursday Lunches - Join us on February 14 and March 13
• The Latest News From Your '63 Classmates

Next Lunches - Thursday, February 14 and March 13

Every Second Thursday of the Month, 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Columbia College Club - 15 West 43rd Street, NYC

Please join your classmates for an informal lunch at the Columbia Club every second Thursday of the month. It is our hope that these gatherings will renew old friendships and foster improved relationship with our class and the College. I hope you can all join us at the next lunches on Thursday, February 14 and March 13. Let me know if you will attend so that we can reserve a big enough table; RSVP to Paul Neshamkin (pauln@helpauthors.com).

December Lunch attended by three, January lunch cancelled

We only had three classmates attend the December lunch (there had been an earlier Reunion Committee meeting the same week. Although you will be relieved to hear that the traditional bad group portrait was not taken, for the record the attendees were Henry Black, Jerry Dwyer, and Paul Neshamkin. We had a great time. The January lunch was cancelled as it fell at the same date as the Pre-Reception Cocktail Reception at Donna and Phil Satow's.

Lunch Archives

If you like to see our previous lunches, click on the dates below:

For information and inquiries call Paul Neshamkin at 201-714-4881 or email at pauln@helpauthors.com.

Latest News from the Class of 63

At the Pre-Reunion Cocktail Reception, I listened to Steve Barcan and Don Margolis comparing their bicycling exploits, and it occurred to me that this has become a serious activity for many of us. To confirm this, I received a note and pictures from Paul Kimmel who writes “My wife and I again did the 500 mile bike tour across New York State in our 3-person bike with a friend Marilyn as the 3rd rider.” Here is the picture (you may remember that last year Paul and his wife road with their friend, Maria, and we posted a similar picture). This sounds like a lot of fun, and I was wondering how many of you have similar bike tales. Send me some notes and pictures, and I will put together an activities section on the web site to share with all of us.

Paul also added that his oldest son Louis finally married his long-time girlfriend Christine. A photo of his family--Paul, his wife Jane, four sons, and new daughter-in-law, taken at the wedding, can be found here.

Alexis Levitin writes, “I would have loved to attend the Soho loft get-together, but I am in Guayaquil, translating five or six contemporary Ecuadorian women poets for an anthology.” He then contributed these notes for this column: “Alexis Levitin´s co-translation into Portuguese of Wallace Stevens' ‘Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction’ was published in February, 2007, by Relogio d'Agua in Lisbon. His co-translation (from the Bulgarian) of Georgi Gospodinov´s And Other Stories was published by Northwestern University Press this past August. His translation of Cage, a book of Amazonian poems by Brazilian poet Astrid Cabral, will be published in April by Host Publications. In the past year, translating has taken him to Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Florianopolis in Brazil and to Guayaquil and Quito in Ecuador. A window of free time allowed him 8 days in the Galapagos, swimming with sea lions and translating nothing. He continues to teach English at SUNY-Plattsburgh because he fears the boundless freedom of retirement.” Alexis, I hope you will find some time in your very full life to visit with all of us at Reunion.

Elliott Greher writes, "I have just funded the collection on Jewish History in the Library of the Melvin Berman Hebrew Academy of Greater Washington (Rockville, MD). A plaque was installed in the Library dedicating the collection, in honor of my children, who attended the school and in memory of my parents. I have also committed to adding about 25 books annually to enhance the current collection.
The Berman Hebrew Academy is an orthodox Jewish Day School in the Washington area, with a student body of over 1000, from kindergarten thru 12th grade. It also has a small "Kollel", a group of 7 scholars from Israel studying and teaching Jewish subjects at a post-college level.
Several of my grandchildren currently attend the Berman Hebrew Academy. [My other grandchildren attend Jewish Day Schools in the New York City area, including Siach Yitzchak Day School (Lawrence, New York), Darchei Torah Jewish Day School, and Torah Academy for Girls (Far Rockaway, New York). My daughter, Elizabeth (Rivkah) is a teacher at the Torah Academy for Girls. I also have grandchildren that attend Jewish Day Schools in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn and my daughter Miriam is on the faculty of the Yeshiva of Flatbush Jewish Day School.]"

When you send your notes in, please indicate if you would like to share your email address(or web site) with your classmates. Always great to hear from you all.

Share your news and views with your classmates. Contact your Class Correspondent, and let him know what you would like posted here or in Columbia College Today (CCT).

For information and inquiries call Paul Neshamkin at 201-714-4881 or email at pauln@helpauthors.com.

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