A word about Yale Day of Service from Nicky Grist

Nicky Grist wrote a great note about the upcoming Yale Day of Service:

For last year's "day" I spent a couple hours at Street Wise Partners (www.streetwisepartners.org ). I was so impressed that I volunteered for another evening, and then weekly for two semesters.

In brief, it's an intensive mentoring program for low-income job seekers. Many of the job-seekers are educated and skilled but have obstacles such as spotty work histories, recent (legal) arrival in the U.S., intense shyness, etc.

Because of the program's origins on Wall Street and in social networks, the mentors are overwhelmingly 20-somethings who work in Finance. In my opinion, the program could use some more diversity among its mentors, and our class has some to offer. Any classmates who are curious and want to know more before signing up can contact me at nickygrist@nyc.rr.com.

Chang-rae Lee on writing

Classmate Chang-rae Lee is a writing professor at Princeton and is the author of the recently-released book The Surrendered. Princeton just released a neat video of his work, so I am sharing it here.

University of Toledo to honor classmate Charlene Gilbert

The University of Toledo chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi will hold its initiation ceremony for new members Sunday, April 25. In addition to the undergraduate and graduate students who will be inducted into the honor society, the Class of 1987’s Charlene Gilbert, director of the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women and professor of women’s and gender studies will be inducted.

Charlene is a tenured full professor in Women's and Gender Studies and Theater and Film. For the past 16 years Gilbert has been an independent documentary filmaker, teacher and scholar. She is national producer for public television and her current projects include an experimental media project on Henrietta Lacks, the HeLa Cells and Bioethics. Her current research interests are focused on Race, Gender and the Media in US national elections, Cyber Communities and Constructions of Gender and Transgender Identities in Popular Media.

As an independent documentary filmmaker, Charlene Gilbert has produced two award-winning feature documentaries and several short non-ficiton films. Her first feature documentary film, Homecoming Sometimes I am Haunted by Memories of Red Dirt and Clay, (click here for more on this film) premiered nationally on PBS and won several national awards include the NBPC (1999) and Paul Robeson (2000) Awards for Best Documentary. Ms. Gilbert also co-authord, with Quinn Eli, a companion book to the file entitled Homecoming: The Story of African American Farmers published by Beacon Press. Her documentary, Children Will Listen, (click here for more on this documentary) which followed children from DC public schools engaged in a year long theater arts project, premiered at the 2004 AFI Silverdocs Documentary Festival and had its national primtime PBS broadcast premiere in the fall of 2004. Her films and videos have been screened in numerous international and national festivals including: The Women in the Director's Chair Festival, the Chicago International Television Festival, FESPACO, the Athens International Film and Video Festival and the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema.

In addition, Gilbert has presented papers, lectures and participated in roundtable discussions at the American Studies Association, the Society of Cinema Studies, The National Women's Studies Conference, the University Film and Video Association and numerous of other conferences throughout the U.S. Gilbert is also a sought after lecturer who has been invited to give talks at Duke University, Columbia University, Clemson University, SUNY Buffalo, Purdue University and The University of Milwaukee. Gilbert is also the receipient of several awards and fellowships including the Rockefeller Media Fellowship, Harvard University's Bunting Fellowship, and the Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship award.

UT News » UT chapter of Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi to initiate new members

We're missing some more e-mails

We are trying to track down some classmates. Most of our communications now are via e-mail, but we don't have e-mail address for many classmates.

Below is another list of some of the classmates for whom we don't have up-to-date e-mail addresses. (We have another list below.) We would appreciate if you could help us track these folks down:

Ms. Jane E. Dailey
Mr. Michael D. Daneker
Ms. Gayle C. Dargan
Ms. Jane M. Davis
Mr. Thomas P. Dea
Mr. Nicholas A. Debs
Mr. Gregory B. Dember
Ms. Marsha Den
Mr. Michael B. Denzel
Mr. Lucas T. Dietrich
Ms. Susan E. Dings
Mr. Luke T. Dokla
Ms. Elise M. Doran
Ms. Cynthia Drake
Mr. Francis P. Du Vinage
Mr. Erastus C. Dudley
Dr. Deirdre Ann Duffy
Mr. Elia J. Duh
Mr. Charles B. Dull
Ms. Susan W. Dykeman
Mr. Brian D. Dynlacht
Mr. Stephen J. Elliott
Ms. Elmina L. Emery
Mr. John W. Englander
Mr. Matthew A. Etter
Mr. Bruce M. Evans
Ms. Caroline D. Ewing
Mr. Dino B. Ewing
Ms. Diane M. Fairfax
Ms. Margaret Falk Lipscomb
Mr. John A. Farmer, Jr.
Mr. Joshua R. Feigon
Mr. Daniel R. Feikin
Ms. Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez
Mrs. Margaret K. Fischer
Ms. Sarah A. Fishman
Dr. Andrew J. Flanagin
Mr. John P. Foley
Mr. Stephen B. Folta
Mr. Kevin W. Footer
Mr. Victor A. Forte
Mr. Jonathan L. Frank
Mr. Peter H. Frech
Ms. Jennifer L. Freed
Ms. Elise D. Friedman
Mr. Jonathan M. Friedman
Mr. Samuel Frumkin
Mr. Paul Gallagher
Dr. Ayda Garza-Montalvo
Ms. Elizabeth W. Geary, MD
Mr. Kevin P. Genda
Mr. Mark D. Gevisser
Prof. Charlene D. Gilbert
Mr. Christopher J. Ginocchio
Mr. James A. Gladstone
Donna J. Glassbrenner, Ph.D.
Ms. Faith H. Gleicher
Mr. Charles F. Goldbach, Jr.
Mr. Charles E. Goldbeck
Ms. Elizabeth R. Gordon
Mr. Bradley M. Gordon
Ms. Katharine R. Grant
Mr. Steven B. Greene
Mr. Cameron M. Greider
Mr. Peter G. Griffiths
Mr. David D. Grouws
Mr. Adam A. Guettel
Mr. Amin I. Gulgee
Mr. Daniel J. Hafner
Ms. Melissa M. Haizlip
Mr. Harold D. Hall
Ms. Mary E. Hancock
Mr. Martin F. Hansen
Mr. John F. Harter
Mr. Ludger Hentschel
Mr. Drew A. Herman
Mr. Christian M. Herman
Ms. Elizabeth J. Herskovits
Ann Giardina Hess, MD, PhD.
Roderick M. Hills, Jr., Esq.
Mr. Garrick L. Hoadley, Jr.
Mr. Peter S. Hodgson
Mr. James J. Hogan III
Ms. Emily Offner Hollidge
Ms. Mana Ito Holman
Ms. Jennifer E. Hoopes
Ms. Anne L. Hopkins
Dr. Karen H. Horst
Mr. John W. Howard
Ms. Juri Hwang
Dr. Meredith E. Hyde
Ms. Naomi H. Iizuka
Dr. Steven Wai Ing
Ms. Vera M. Irikura
Ms. Isabelle M. Janko
Ms. Eve M. Johanos
Mr. Andreas B. Johns
Mr. Timothy A. Johnston
Mr. Hans C. Jonassen
Ms. Nina A.S. Jones
Mr. Marshall D. Kappele
Mr. Jacob J. Kaufman
Ms. Susan R. Kemball-Cook
Mr. Hugh J. Kennedy
Ms. Nancy A. Kilroy
Mr. Steven K. Kim
Ms. Arlyn S. Kim
Dr. Matthew S. Kimble
Ms. Michele S. Kito
Ms. Chantal B. Klein
Mr. Andrew N. Kleppner
Mr. Stephen L. Kline
Mr. Stephen M. Knight
Ms. Pamela R. Koffler
Ms. Dina H. Kornblau
Mr. Thomas C. Kracz
Andreas K. Kraebber, M.D.
Mr. James M. Kraft
Ms. Britta S. Kramer
Mr. Mark T. Krasberg
Mr. Mark S. Lackley
Mr. Stephen Lakatos
Mr. Paul G. LaMonica
Mr. Daniel H. Lavan
Ms. Susan Lee
Mr. Woo C. Lee
Ms. Abby S. Letcher
Mr. David P. Leve
Ms. Adina S. Levin
Ms. Rachel A. Lichtle
Ms. Helen M. Ligh
Ms. Mona Lim
Mr. Paul A. Lisella
Ms. Sarah M. Liu
Mr. Stephen P. Lloyd

The Brain: Why Athletes Are Geniuses | Memory, Emotions, & Decisions | DISCOVER Magazine

Classmate Carl Zimmer has a very interesting piece on the human brain.  Does talent really matter for the gifted athlete?  Or, is it really practice?  Take a look at Carl’s article for the latest.

The Brain: Why Athletes Are Geniuses | Memory, Emotions, & Decisions | DISCOVER Magazine

What everyone's talking about at the JCC of Manhattan

The JCC of Manhattan is launching a new series of discussions in which classmate Abigail Pogrebin, author of Stars of David and former 60 Minutes producer for Mike Wallace and Ed Bradley, will discuss a headline news event or controversy of the moment with notable guests who can illuminate what's at stake. This is sure to be a timely, lively and provocative series.Topics and guests will be announced two weeks before the event!

You can click on the title above for more information.

We're missing some e-mails

We are trying to track down some classmates. Most of our communications now are via e-mail, but we don't have e-mail address for many classmates.

Below is a list of some of the classmates for whom we don't have up-to-date e-mail addresses. We would appreciate if you could help us track these folks down:

Ms. Amy Adams

Mr. Brian L. Adler

Mr. Andrew D. Alexander II

Patsy Altieri Gerckens, PA-C

Ms. Maria-Helena Alves

Mr. Ross S. Antonson

Mr. Neil L. Arditi

Mr. Scott C. Ardley

Dr. Andrea G. Asnes

Ms. Noriko Aso

Mr. Mikael F. Asp

Mr. Thomas Augst

Leonard E. Bailey, Jr., Esq.

Dr. Oxiris Barbot

Mr. William S. Barker

Mr. Edward S. Barkin

Ms. Barrie L. Becker

Mr. David C. Belda

Mr. Pratt H. Bennet

Ms. Meredith J. Berlin

Ms. Sheri E. Berman

Ms. Sheri L. Bernstein

Ms. Eleanor J. Bernstein

Ms. Cheryl A. Bettigole

Mr. Kenneth F. Bielski

Mr. Rodney Biglow

Mrs. Leila Parikh Binder

David B. Bingham II M.D.

Mr. Stephen G. Black

Ms. Maryann Blouin

Mr. Bernhard A. Blythe

Mr. Adam J. Bogdanove

Ms. Caitlin E. Borgmann

Mr. Michael A. Borucke

Mr. Thaddeus A. Bouchard

Ms. Katherine L. Bourne

Graham A. Boyd, Esq.

Ms. Deirdre E. Boyle

Ms. Marya A. Bradley

Ms. Margot Bridger

Mr. Dana E. Briscoe

Mr. Parke G. Burgess, Jr.

Mr. David G. Burnett

Ms. Lisa Bradner Burnham

Ms. Laura M. Byrd

Mr. Vincent J. Cangiano

Ms. Alison T. Cantril

Ms. Tracey L. Capers

Mr. John P. Caponigro

Ms. Gwendalyn Catlin

Ms. Sagarika Chaudhuri

Mr. Joseph Cheng

Ms. Maude S. Chilton

Ms. Easter Chiu

Michelle A. Chua, Esq.

Mr. W. Robert Chung

Mr. Peter Coe

Mrs. Sarah M. B. Coleman

Mr. C. Andrew Collens

Ms. Elizabeth Ann Cooper

Ms. Christine M. Cordova

Mr. Patrick M. Cromwell, Jr.

Mr. Harry C. Culver

We could use some web design help

If you have any experience designing and running websites and would like to help the class, we could use your help.

We've started to organize a number of exciting things for the class and it would be great if we could have a great website to coordinate everyone.

Please contact me at happado@hotmail.com if you have any interest in helping out.

James Esseks Comments Featured on NPR

Some of us started our morning by hearing classmate James Esseks on NPR. (Click headline above for link to the NPR story.) James commented on President Obama's memorandum to the Department of Health and Human Services ordering hospitals to give same-sex couples the right to be with a partner who is sick or dying.

As you may know, James is the Director of the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & AIDS Project. He oversees litigation around the country that aims to ensure equal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people by the government; equal rights and protections for LGBT couples and families; protection from discrimination in jobs, schools, housing, and public accommodations; and fair treatment by the government of people living with HIV/AIDS. Examples include cases challenging the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage; challenges to bans on adoption or foster parenting by lesbians and gay men; and challenges to schools that seek to stifle the speech or association rights of LGBT students.

Yale Day of Service

May 15 is the worldwide Yale Day of Service. You can visit the Day of Service website at http://www.yaledayofservice.org/ to see what projects are taking place near you.

I would love to hear about any projects that are being headed up by members of the Class of 1987.

CNN to highlight book by Bruce Feiler

CNN has announced that it will be featuring a one hour piece on Bruce Feiler's upcoming book. Check it out:

A SANJAY GUPTA MD SPECIAL-- DADS FOR MY DAUGHTERS (w.t)
Coming in June 2010 (one hour)

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on best selling author Bruce Feiler (“Walking the Bible”), who after a devastating diagnosis in 2008 of osteosarcoma (a rare and aggressive bone cancer), thought he was going to die. He endured brutal treatments and decided to form a “Council of Dads” for his twin girls. A group of his closest male friends would in effect take his place as father to his girls should he not make it. Each father represents a special gift and value which Feiler feels is important to pass on to his daughters who are soon to turn five years old. Feiler,author of the forthcoming book “Council of Dads” continues to fight his cancer.

Carl Zimmer explains the discovery of new "missing link" fossils

Classmate Carl Zimmer has an interesting piece on the recent discovery of huminoid remains in South Africa. By clicking the title above, you can click through to Carl's piece on Slate.com.

Classmate Jane Mendelsohn reads from her upcoming novel

Yale just held its fourth annual Yale Alumni Readings, which featured the Class of 1987's best-selling author Jane Mendelsohn. Jane is the author of three novels "I Was Amelia Earhart," "Innocence" and the forthcoming "American Music."

In 1992, Jane spotted an article in The New York Times about the discovery of a piece of a plane believed to have been Amelia Earhart's. The article mentioned that Earhart traveled with a navigator, Fred Noonan, who was with her on her last flight. Intrigued by the dramatic possibilities of two people flying around the world together, crashing, and perhaps surviving, she began researching Earhart's life and disappearance. Shortly after, Jane began sketching out a book based on her findings. The first version was a much longer book, told entirely in the third person. "Once I finished it,"she says, "I realized that I had only just figured out the story. Now that I knew what had happened, I had to tell it in Earhart's, and my, voice." The result is I Was Amelia Earhart.

Harper's Bazaar hails I Was Amelia Earhart as "an immediately addicting book, as telegraphic as those of Margaret Duras, and as charged with longing....not to be missed." The New York Times writes, "Ms. Mendelsohn has chosen to use the bare-boned outlines of the aviator's life as an armature for a poetic meditation on freedom and love and flight. I Was Amelia Earhart, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez's General in His Labyrinth, invokes the spirit of a mythic personage, while standing on its own as a powerfully imagined work of fiction." I Was Amelia Earhart is Ms. Mendelsohn's first book and novel.

Jane's reviews have appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Village Voice, The Guardian, The London Review of Books, and Yale Review. She has worked as an assistant to the literary editor at The Village Voice and as a tutor at Yale. At the moment, Jane is writing a horror film. She is also sketching out details for her next novel.

Jane is married and lives in New York with her husband, filmmaker Nick Davis.

Pearlena Igbokwe Honored

Classmate Pearlena Igbokwe was honored recently as one of the leading women in broadcasting. (Click the title above for the whole article.)

A dozen top female executives in cable operations, programming and technology were honored at the annual Wonder Women luncheon Wednesday (March 24), an event in New York City attended by 830 people.The event, co-hosted by Multichannel News and the New York chapter of Women in Cable Telecommunications, featured the usual array of puns about gold tiaras and invisible jets, along with life lessons, humor and warm thanks from the women who were honored. The 12 Wonder Women -- and another 14 "Women to Watch" -- were selected by the editors of Multichannel News and profiled in the Jan. 25 edition of the magazine.

Here is what was said about Pearlena:

Pearlena Igbokwe, SVP of original programming at Showtime, recounted the story of how she immigrate to the United States from Nigeria as a girl and how television helped her perfect her English and that it continued to impart life lessons. I Love Lucy, she joked, taught her how hard you have to work to be in show business, for example. She said she felt a responsibility to be a mentor after the opportunity she was given at Showtime to transition from marketing to special projects and finally to develop original shows.

Well done, Pearlena!

Claire Messud Writes Book Review in This Sunday's New York Times

Claire Messud has an interesting book review in this weekend's Sunday New York Times. (Click the title above to access Claire's review.) Claire's introduction really grabbed my attention:

We’ve all met Kevin Quinn, the 50-year-old protagonist of James Hynes’s fourth novel, “Next”; indeed, a fair number of us actually areKevin Quinn, caught at midlife somewhere between jaunty and defeated, living with one foot in the present and one foot firmly in the past.

Something to think about . . .

Chang Rae Lee Discusses the Census on CNN

Classmate Chang Rae Lee had an interesting discussion concerning the census. "If census form were a person, he would be the nosy seat mate on a plane," he explained.

Click on the title above to view the CNN piece.