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IN MEMORIAM

Class of 1974

Publications, Appearances, Etc.

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Books, articles, TV and film credits, and public appearances by our classmates.

Fred Strebeigh [PC], who teaches nonfiction writing at Yale, has recently completed Equal: Women Reshape American Law (W. W. Norton, 2009), a history of American law's resistance to women lawyers and women judges. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who granted Fred special access to her papers, called it a "magnificent achievement," and Pierson classmate Deborah Rhode, now a Stanford Law professor, called it (to Fred's relief) "a great read and a major contribution to our understanding of women's rights and constitutional law."

Poet and translator Rika Lesser [MC], who collaborated a few years back with classmate Paul Zelinsky on a retelling of Hansel and Gretel, has published a personal book of poetry, Questions of Love (The Sheep Meadow Press 2008). Rika's translation of Swedish poet Goran Sonnevi's Mozart's Third Brain is due out later this year from Yale University Press.

Jean Parker Phifer [JE], an architect who restores or renovates public spaces for cultural institutions, has published Public Art New York (W.W. Norton & Co. 2009), a guidebook to the best publicly viewable sculptures, murals and lobby art in the 5 boroughs of New York City. Jean, former president of the Art Commission of the City of New York (now the Public Design Commission), also teaches environmental design at NYU.

Reflecting on experiences as student, teacher and performer at the piano, Patricia Tunstall [PC] has crafted a memoir, Note By Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson (Simon & Schuster 2008), which reviewers call "luminous" and "a gem." From Chapter One: "...piano lessons are about trust and confidence, chaos and order, spontaneity and discipline and patience, sometimes even about love... and always, about music: its beauty, its power, its capacity to convey profound emotions beyond the reach of words."

Translator and poet Zack Rogow [TD] has published his sixth book of poems, The Number Before Infinity (Scarlet Tanager Books). Says Zack: "It's a book of love poems for those who like romance with hot pepper."

Two 2008 children's books feature the illustrations of Paul O. Zelinsky [MC]: Awful Ogre Running Wild (HarperCollins) by Jack Prelutzky, and Toy Dance Party by Emily Jenkins (Random House). Since 1978 Paul has "turned out a fair number of children's books," including Rapunzel, which won the 1998 Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children.

Christine Padesky's [TD] best-selling self-help book, Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think (co-authored with Dennis Greenberger, Guilford Press)

has sold over 450,000 copies in English and has been translated into 11 other languages. She is also co-author of Clinician's Guide to Mind Over Mood (1995), Cognitive Therapy with Couples (1990) and Cognitive Therapy for Personality Disorders (1990).

From her base at WGUC 90.9 FM, Cincinnati, radio announcer/producer Naomi Lewin [TD] produces the features we hear during intermission on Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, and hosts the syndicated weekly show Classics for Kids, which introduces classical music to "kids of all ages." You (and your kids) can listen online or download the podcasts. It's also in the podcast directory of National Public Radio's site, which archives another special program: Naomi's story for All Things Considered about her search for her great-uncle's WWI grave.

Violinist and composer Ralph Evans [BR] has more than 60 recordings to his credit, his own String Quartet #1 [mp3] soon to be released, and performs frequently with the Fine Arts Quartet (see concert schedule). Recent recordings include Glazunov's String Quintet Op. 39 and Schumann's String Quartets Nos. 1-3. (What's that, you're drawing a blank on Schumann? Keep reading, we have classmate who can help.) Click here for Ralph's discography, and listen to a selection of audio samples.

Vic Corcoran [SM], writing under his nom de guerre Vincent Cordon, has published Maverick, the story of his parachuting and amphibious adventures in the French Foreign Legion, with Vantage Press. One reviewer calls it a "raw, ripping" account of Legion life: "The highs and the lows; the wine, women and songs; the good, the bad and the ugly; no holds barred."

Sandra Boynton's [CC] latest project is Blue Moo: 17 Jukebox Hits from Way Back Never, a collection of original songs recalling the sounds of the '60s, and performed by the likes of Brian Wilson, Davy Jones and Neal Sedaka. Previous collaborations include Dog Train: A Wild Ride on the Rock-and-Roll Side and Philadelphia Chickens, which was nominated for a Grammy. Sandy now has (at last) an official web site. Watch and listen to Sandy's performance at the Kennedy Center in November 2007 [video: requires Real Player plug-in].

Rabbi/photographer Harry Zeitlin [DC], after 30 years of chemical-based silver black-and-white photo prints, has turned to both color and digital and is "in the middle of the longest and most creative streak I've ever had!" He had simultaneous shows in Jerusalem and Seattle in April 2007. Images online at www.artisthespiritual.com.

Now out in paperback is Hello Stranger, the fourth "Mustang" Sally Adler mystery from Virginia Swift, a.k.a. Virginia "Gingy" Scharff [CC]. This new book "sizzles with partisan politics, sexual attraction and murder," cheers Publisher's Weekly, which admires Gingy's "delectable tales of strong women of the West." These are the continuing adventures of Professor Sally Adler, one-time hell-raiser trying to be a respectable women's studies teacher in Laramie, Wyoming, who keeps getting drawn into mysterious events. Previous Sally Adler installments include Bye, Bye, Love, Bad Company and Brown-Eyed Girl.

Joan Williams [CC], director of the Program on WorkLife Law at the law school at American University, is the author of Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About It" (Oxford University Press, 1999). Publisher's Weekly calls it "a groundbreaking study" and a "theoretically sophisticated and thoroughly accessible treatise on gender, work and domesticity."

Guitar god Gary Lucas [JE] maintains a busy schedule of recording and performances. Now available: The 1920 horror classic movie The Golem on DVD includes his original solo guitar score. Also: A one-hour TV special on DVD, Gary Lucas / Gods and Monsters Live at the Knitting Factory, filmed in June 2002 at NYC's downtown club where Gary made his solo debut, and Pork Chop Blue Around the Rind, the debut album from Fast 'N' Bulbous, The Captain Beefheart Project featuring Gary Lucas, on Cuneiform Records. Read Gary's blog, download music samples, buy stuff and keep up with his live appearances at garylucas.com.

Jeff Johnson [CC] has published version 2.0 of his popular book, "GUI Bloopers" which collects common design errors he's seen in his years as a computer interface design consultant. Previous works in print: Web Bloopers: 60 Common Web Design Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (Elsevier Science & Technology Books, 2003) and GUI Bloopers: Don't and Do's for Software Developers and Web Designers" (Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2000).

Henry Wiencek's [DC] latest book, An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America.(Farrar, Straus and Giroux) traces the geneology of Washington's family and the Custis clan he married into. Publisher's Weekly observes: "What will surely gain the book widest notice is Wiencek's careful evaluation of the evidence that Washington himself may have fathered the child of a slave." Henry's previous book, The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White, which explores how Southern families have been affected by slavery's legacy, won a National Book Critics Circle award. He is also co-author of National Geographic Guide to America's Great Houses : More Than 150 Outstanding Mansions Open to the Public.

Leslie Cockburn published her memoir Looking For Trouble in March 1998, in which she "recounts in vivid detail her experiences of being one of the first women to break into the old boy's club of Third World reporting." [Amazon.com]. She also co-produced "The Peacemaker" in Afghanistan (Dreamworks, 1997).

Jay Clayton, director of graduate studies in English at Vanderbilt University, is the author of The Pleasures of Babel: Contemporary American Literature and Theory (Oxford University Press, 1993). Other works include Romantic Vision and the Novel (Cambridge University Press, 1987) and Influence and Intertextuality in Literary History (University of Wisconsin Press, 1991).

--Compiled by Stu Rohrer. Send suggestions