Classmates in Princeton News

This page links to notable '66 appearances in Princeton news, including PAW (letters, articles, etc., but not Class Notes and memorials) and on the University and Alumni Association web sites. If we miss anything, just let us know (66_CommTeam@tiger1966.org).

 

Classmates in Princeton News Since the Last Newsletter: Rich Reinis, Peter Wilson, Bruce Leslie, Bob Rawson, Lanny Jones, Charles Plohn, Terry Seymour, Jeffrey Miller, Ned Groth, Jody Kretzmann, Henry Von Kohorn.

 

  • June 2, 2021. Tom Benghauser responded to the PAW article Einstein at Princeton, with a letter Einstein, Football Fan?.
  • May 30, 2021. '66 Continues its leading role with The Friends of the Princeton University Library. On Sunday, June 20 (4:00 - 6:00 PM), Lanny Jones will moderate the online discussion of 30 Great Myths About Jane Austen with Claudia Johnson and Clara Tuite (registration required). The video of Terry Seymour's March 28 talk, The Many Lives of James Boswell, with Lanny moderating is now available (click on the title). Scroll down the list of FPUL videos to find other presentations by Terry and Lanny. More '66 leadership comes from Terry as Chair of the Nominating Committee, Bob Rawson on the Council, and Iliana Sachs (Bill's wife) who previously served as Secretary. Finally, on July 1, Bruce Leslie will become Chair of FPUL.
  • April 9, 2021. '66 pulled a hat trick in the April PAW issue.
    • The cover article, A Scientist in the Public Square, on Frank von Hippel mentions his collaboration with Joel Primack "on a study about the efficacy of science advising in informing government policies" and their subsequent 1974 book, Advice and Dissent: Scientists in the Public Arena. Joel is misidentified as *66 in the print edition.
    • Terry Seymour is Tiger of the Week. Take a look at Terry Seymour ’66 Built a Library For ‘Everyman’ Books for a great photo of Terry in his library. See the March 20 entry below for Terry's talk to the Friends of the Princeton University Library (FPUL) and November 19, 2020 for a talk on his Everyman collection. 
    • Take a look at the PAW class notes for the Class of '42, and you'll find Jim Parmentier '66 k'42 is now the class secretary. Jim notes that 10 members of '42 are still with us, and the column will be "for and by family members, Princetonians, and all others with a continuing interest in the Great Class of 1942." Several of our classmates with '42 fathers are also mentioned.
  • March 20, 2021. March 28 Event. Lanny Jones introduced Terry Seymour for another book talk, The Many Lives of James Boswell, sponsored by the Friends of the Princeton University Library Sunday, March 28, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM. Terry described and showed his extraordinary collection of the books, papers, and artworks identified with the protean Scottish biographer, traveler, and diarist James Boswell (1740-1795)."
  • March 20, 2021. Speaking of the Friends of the Princeton University Library (FPUL), '66 could be said to be converting Firestone into the "Overall Library", due to our leadership. Terry Seymour chairs the Nominating Committee and is on the Executive Committee. Bruce Leslie and Bob Rawson are on the Council. Iliana Sachs (Bill's wife) was Secretary. Lanny Jones has played a large role in the past and often moderates the Small Talks. John Logan is employed by Firestone as a Literature Bibliographer in the Collection Department. 
  • March 19, 2021. In September, 1963, Lanny Jones, working for the Prince, interviewed Malcom X in Firestone Library. Lanny's essay, Meeting Malcom X, is in the online March 19 PAW. Lanny writes that "I had discovered not only how wrong my preconceptions about Malcolm had been, but also that journalism would be my career."
  • March 9, 2021. Ted Walworth was going through his archives and found the four-page letter President Goheen wrote us after the 1973 spring riot. Ted sent the letter on to Greg Lange '70 who wrote this Rally ’Round the Cannon: The Riot of 1963 article for the March online PAW.
  • January 26, 2021. Jon Wiener is coauthor with Mike Davis of Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties. From PAW Online (January 20), the book "is an in-depth look at the history of 1960's Los Angeles from the perspective of several activist movements of the time, including civil rights, anti-war, gay liberation, and the women's movement. From Malcom X and Angela Davis to Chicano Blowouts, and the California counterculture LA was a hotbed of political and social activism."
  • December 11, 2020. The Dec 11 online PAW carries Lanny Jones's essay: Former ‘People’ Editor Recalls Tea With Princess Diana. Not only was there a tea in October 1974 but Lanny escorted Diana to a gala in Chicago with 1,500 guests. You'll need to read the article to find out why Lanny missed his chance to dance with the princess.
  • November 19, 2020. The Nov 19 PAW Online features Terry Seymour and his library for Everyman books (click here). Naturally, Terry's two books that are mentioned in the article, can be found in the Plohn Hall Library. For a tour of the library, see Terry's speech to the Friends of the Princeton University Library about Adventures in the Collecting Trade, where he was introduced by Lanny Jones. Lanny sends a head up, "Terry will be giving talk #2 to the FPUL in April on his equally amazing collection of the World of Boswell and Samuel Johnson."
  • September 20, 2020 and November PAW print edition. Ned Groth's letter, Push Back Against Federal ‘Investigation’, opposing the US Department of Education's investigation of the University and in support of the University's position appears in both the online and print editions (November). Jay Lagemann and Jon Holman posted comments seconding Ned's; their comments appear at the end of the online letter.
  • September 20, 2020. William Brauer remembers the late Professor Thomas Roche Jr. as the one who led him to the Pierian Spring during a seminar on selected works of Shakespeare. Also, don't miss William's Covid Limerick from May 13.
  • September 10, 2020. The September PAW has and interview with A. Scott Berg '71, a Woodrow Wilson biographer, speaking about the complex Wilson legacy. Berg mentions that Wilson is Princeton's only Nobel Peace Prize winner. Jon Holman took the opportunity to respond with a letter to take exception (also see the November print edition). From Jon's letter, "This may be technically correct. But Mark Levine ’66 headed the group that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace prize with Al Gore, and deserves at least a footnote if not full credit." For more, see this and this.
  • August 26, 2020. The Friends of the Princeton University Library (FPUL) has found that '66 is the go-to class for speakers at their monthly Friends Small Talk. Lanny Jones and Terry Seymour will be speaking on "Adventures in the Collecting Trade" on Sunday, August 30 at 3:00-5:00 PM. You can view the talk here . John Logan will speak the following month on September 27 3:00-5:00 PM. Details will follow. John as a Literature Biographer at Firestone.
  • July 27, 2018. This is 2.5 years late, but Jim Mettler's distinction can't go unrecognized. PAW selected Jim's photo as the best of a "Princeton Room" as part of their "PAW Photo Contest: Show Your Stripes".
  • July 5, 2020. Shopping at Walter Schatzki’s on 57th Street, posted by the Graphics Arts Collection of Firestone Library's Special Collections tells of a recent gift by Sally and Bill Rhoads. Bill acquired the print while a graduate student and writes "I thought this story about a cheap print welcomed by Graphic Arts might be of interest too. Professor Robert Koch was among the many inspiring teachers we all benefited from at Princeton." The posting adds "With sincere thanks to William and Sally Rhoads (and to Walter Schatzki), that $6.67 etching is now in the Graphic Arts Collection, where it will certainly be used by a new generation of students and faculty."

 

  • May 26, 2020. Online PAW recommends "Something to Hear.", a playlist of "Optimistic Songs", assembled by Henry Von Kohorn, for enjoyment during the pandemic. “Unsurprisingly,” Henry writes, “many are from the 1930s, and none are contemporary.”
  • May 13, 2020. The PAW inbox contains Tony Zee's "Twisted Chalk" recalling Physics Professor Pierre Piroué who died recently. Professor Piroué assigned a difficult problem, and Tony has forgotten how to solve it, although he helpfully suggests that "Perhaps something to do with the stress and strain tensor" would solve it. Tony goes on to reflect on the changing standards in undergraduate physics education (hint: It was tougher in our day). Two readers from the '70s have amusing responses.
  • April 19, 2020, Dan Skvir is still active in religious life at Princeton University. You'll spot Dan in the second row, third from the left, in this article from the Office of Religious Life.
  • March 16, 2020. Bill Rhoads made a gift of Ten Etchings by J. J. Tissot to Firestone Library's Graphics Arts Collection. From the Graphics Arts website, "This rare portfolio of drypoints, 1876-1877, each with the artist's red monogram stamp (L. 1545) on various laid papers, was published by James Tissot (1836-1902) in a total edition of 50 (of which 25 were for subscribers and 25 for sale)." Bill adds, “The portfolio was purchased in the 1920s or 30s by my grandfather, Wm. S. Bertolet, M.D., and then owned for 50 years by my mother, Mary B. Rhoads, who was a long-time member of the Friends of the Princeton University Library. She would be delighted that they will reside in Firestone.”
  • October 22, 2019. Don't miss the PAW online article celebrating 150 years of Princeton football. Three '66 members are pictured, mentioned, or quoted.
  • September 11, 2019. Rally ’Round the Cannon: The Morning After the Night Before (PAW Online Sept 5) looks forward to the football season by looking back on the undefeated 2018 football season and previous undefeated seasons to see how the Tigers have fared the following year. Three of the many deserving '66ers are mentioned. "... the wonderful 1965 team — with Paul Savidge ’66 defending, Ron Landeck ’66 throwing and running, and Charlie Gogolak ’66 kicking — made a great run at it, going 8-0 into the final game in which they were overrun by a deeper Dartmouth team, 28-14. The Class of ’66’s run of 24-3, one then matched by Walt Kozumbo’s Class of ’67, which went 7-2 the following season."
  • August 31, 2019. The August 2019 Princeton-Blairstown Insight newsletter describes a visit by Robert McGinley and his family just before the 50th.

"You know that feeling you get when you reconnect with a friend you haven't seen in a while? Excitement. Warmth. Comfort. That feeling is the same when someone has been away from Blairstown for an extended time. In May 2016, Robert McGinley '66 arrived in Blairstown for the first time in 50 years, this time with his wife and three grandkids. He was amazed by how many things were so familiar to him and the memories that came rushing back when he stepped foot on Campus. He spent the day sharing stories of Princeton Summer Camp, where he worked the summer after graduation before heading medical school. When they left, his wife shared this beautiful sentiment: "Now I understand why he's been telling me about this place since we met."

 

  • August 23, 2019. The Princeton Football Association recently named the top Princeton players of the Ivy era. Six class members are mentioned in seven positions (2019 is mentioned in eight positions, and '70, '94, and '17 are mentioned in seven). Also check the September 17, 2018 entry on the Class Sightings page for the seven '66 All Ivy selections.
    • Running backs: Ron Landeck
    • Tight Ends: Lauson Cashdollar
    • Kick Returners: Ron Landeck (Ron's second mention)
    • Blocking Backs: Bob Bedell
    • Placekickers: Charlie Gogolak
    • Linebackers: Stanislaw Maliszewski
    • Defensive Linemen: Paul Savidge
  • May 15, 2019. Critical Languages, Critical Steps (pp 36ff) includes a couple of paragraphs (p. 38 right column) about CL student Tamara Turkevich Skvir (Dan Skvir's wife). Tamara's father was a chemistry professor and her mother was the first woman to teach at Princeton.
  • February 21, 2019. PAW published this interview with Jon Wiener - Podcast Spotlight: Jon Wiener ’66 Digs Into Politics, History, and Trump, in which Jon talks of becoming host of The Nation magazine's podcast, Start making Sense.
  • February 14, 2019. Ned Groth responded in PAW Online to a February 6 PAW letter from Walter Weber '81 regarding Race and Redemption (On the Campus, Dec 5).
  • September 29, 2018. Bob Casciola '58, assistant football coach in our years and later Princeton head coach, has just published 1st and Forever: Making the Case for the Future of Football. As well as making the case for football's future, devotes chapters to classmates Stas Maliszewski, Charlie Gogolak, and Paul Savidge as well as Cosmo Iacavazzi ’65.
  • September 18, 2018. '66 rules in the September 12, 2018 PAW (print ecition) "Inbox" with four letters (and five '66 authors). Mikk Hinnov lead off with The Value of a College Degree describing selection bias in President Eisgruber's 2018 Commencement Address. Jon Holman and Ned Groth (Public-School Majority) ask whether we were the first class with a majority of public school graduates, and the Mudd Manuscript Library found the '59 could make that claim. Charles Plohn (Moment in the Sun?) discusses the Nassau Hall renovation and class plaques. Finally, while many are still disappointed, Nelson Hendler makes a convincing case that the P-Rade cancellation was the right decision (Canceling the P-Rade - Bravo) - "to be outside in a lightning storm is foolhardy".
  • September 18, 2018. This is a few years late - The April 4, 2012 PAW names H. Bartow Farr III as the Tiger of the Week. "Farr’s charge was to argue in favor of upholding the remaining provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, even if the Supreme Court strikes down the disputed health care mandate."
  • April 26-28, 2018.The Princeton Prize in Race Relations (our class service project) sponsored the April 26-28 symposium and dinner. Nine class members (Charles Plohn, Jim Merritt, Bud D'Avella, Turk Thacher, Henry Von Kohorn, Jim Parmentier, Bert Kerstetter, Owen Mathieu, Jon Dawson) and spouses were on hand. During the Symposium, which all Princeton Prize winners from across the country were invited to attend, we had a celebratory dinner in honor of the 15th anniversary of the Prize. The three pictures in the slide show were taken just prior to the dinner.


  • May 7 and April 25, 2018. Jamie Spencer contributed the April 25 PAW lead letter regarding the debate over speech, and Rufus King (May 7 PAW) also commented on the same subject and incident.
  • May 13, 2018.  The University Office of Communications has announced that our honorary classmate Margaret Miller h66 has been named deputy vice president for volunteer engagement. Margaret has let the Office of Alumni Affairs for 16 years and frequently attends class events.
  • April 25, 2018. Finding a Voice marks the Princeton Prize's 15th anniversary with interviews of six past winners and also recognizes Henry Von Kohorn for envisioning and initiating the prize (our class' service project). In more good news regarding the Princeton Prize, the Program in American Studies will award The Princeton Prize in Race Relations Senior Thesis Prize, also initiated by the class, during Class Day this spring.
  • March 28, 2018. As J. D. Oznot '68 prepares to celebrate his 50th reunion, the Class of '68 has invited 5 members of '66 to become honorary classmates, and they have accepted. They are the four perpetrators of the Oznot '68 hoax: TR Reid, Steve Reich, Fred Talcott, and Arthur Davidsen (D), along with Mike Witte who did their beer jacket logo and update
  • March 21, 2018.'66 stars in the March 21 PAW (just arrived), with a long article on The Oznot Project with interviews and due credit to co-conspirators Fred Talcott, Steve Reich, and T. R. Reid, as well as Art Davidsen, who is no longer with us.
  • January 10, 2018. PAW's lead article, Our Most Influential Alumni - 25 Princetonians Who Are Shaking Up the World, names Bob Mueller as the second most influential.Our class notes have a Tiger Paw for Lewis MacAdams and his work restoring the Los Angeles River.
  • September 13, 2017. Jamie Spencer writes about "A Poignant Letter" and how "Two seemingly unrelated items in the July 12 issue came together for me". Jim Merritt was missing but not forgotten in a p. 38 photo picturing 1981 fishing trip in SC. Jim was on board as the coach but missed the photo. Finally, see pp 44-45 where Mike Witte is praised for multiple achievements, including the creation of the '68 logo,
  • July 12, 2107 (reunions issue). Our class notes earned a PAW for for Barbara and Bruce Furie's Locomotive Award. Paul Birkeland's letter Reaffirming Free Speech recalls a European History course many of us took. Ned Groth, who knows an allosaurus from a horse, picks a bone with the photo label (now fixed) about the environmental sciences department.
  • May 12, 2017. PAW has awarded another Tiger Paw to our April 26 Class Notes entry about Ron Van Burskirk's work in hospice and palliative care. Also, while he's not a class member, Jackson Forbes '17, a member of our 50th Reunion crew whom many of us met during the 50th, is a 2017 "Spirit of Princeton" winner. Perhaps Jackson learned a few things watching us.
  • April 6, 2017. Honorary classmate Mibs Mara h66 was recognized by the University for her "commitment to excellence and exceptional performance" during the University's annual Service Recognition Luncheon on March 28 in Jadwin Gymnasium. Click here and scroll down for the citation regarding Mibs' work for reunions; there's also a photo.
  • April 4, 2017. From PAW's Alumni in the News section: Virginia State Sen. John Edwards '66 discusses President Woodrow Wilson 1879's 1917 decision to declare war on Germany, and how Wilson "set the stage for modern diplomacy."
  • March 16, 2017.
    • Permission Granted: Richard Reinis '66. In this PAW online interview, Rich recalls undergraduate days, including getting the dean's approval to get married and playing football, especially the Nov 14, 1964 Yale game.
    • A Dynasty Deferred is a PAW online article about the 1966-67 basketball team, a year after we graduated and may not have been paying much attention, even though we knew many team members. The regular season (2 losses and a 116 point game) was even better than in 1964-65, and the team achieved a #3 AP national ranking. This was also Coach Van Breda Kolff's last year at Princeton before he left to coach the LA Lakers.
  • March 1, 2017. Another PAW track for the Class Notes, this time for Bob Harsh's work. Don't miss Krist Jake in the large Page 35 photo of the Dolphin Club. Krist also has an Alumni Profile in the April 23, 2008 issue.
  • February 8, 2017. Our Class Notes earned two coveted PAW Tracks paws.
  • January 11, 2017.  James Schueler wrote a short letter in appreciation of PAW's Nov 9 feature article on Islam.
  • October 26, 2016
    • PAW Online Podcast - PAW Tracks. Norm Tabler '66 Nuclear War and Midterm Exams.
    • Larry Horn's letter comments on "Lesley's Story".
  • September 8, 2016 - PAW Online - Oral History.. "Tony Zee '66 made an improbable journey from China to Brazil and eventually to Princeton, where he studied physics under the tutelage of legendary professor John Wheeler."
  • July 6, 2016 - PAW Reunion Issue. You'll find numerous '66 items covering our 50th. Here's a partial list from the online version; also see the print version and the Class Notes section. The Times They Were A-Changin is about the Looking Back video and shows a portion of the class photo. Celebrating with '66's Grandkids at Their Fiftieth includes a great photo of '16ers marching with the banner they constructed. See then and now photos of Mikk Hinnov with the championship cycling team in Reunited: Teammates Ride Again, After 53 years. There are several '66 scenes and class members in the reader photo contest collection and the slide show. Charles Plohn is among those honored for alumni service. Finally, here is Norm Tabler's Terrifying Alternatives letter.
  • May 28, 2016. Charles Plohn was one of four to receive the 2016 Alumni Council Award for Service to Princeton. Click here for Charles' citation and here for more about the award and the other 2016 recipients. Past recipients include Henry Von Kohorn in 2004. Mike Witte's provided the cover for the reunion program.

  • March 2, 2016. Micheal Burrill mentions "I'll Be Seeing You" in the online conversation about favorite love songs.
  • November 11, 2015. "The Voice of Princeton" WPRB article mentions Paul Friedman's live broadcast of Lyndon Johnson's campus visit.
  • August 13, 2015. Yu Xie, the Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Sociology and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS), has been named the inaugural director of the Center on Contemporary China at Princeton University. Also see the October 21, 2015 PAW back cover.
  • Our honorary classmate, Mibs Southerland Mara, the Guru of Reunions, is interviewed in the PAW 2015 Reunions Guide. '66 was Mibs' first of nine honorary classes, and the article has a photo of her marching with her grandfather in the 1966 P-rade.
  • Lanny Jones is PAW's April 22, 2015 "Tiger of the Week"
  • Jake Robertson '15, who shared the Alumni Day Pyne Prize, holds the Nicholas Bachko Jr. '66 Scholarship Prize in Slavic Languages and Literatures. Nick's parents established the prize in his memory in 1972 after Nick's death in a 1967 auto accident.
  • Bruce Ribner is featured in the March 4, 2015 PAW cover article. "When the Call Came Bruce Ribner 66 had been preparing for the day he'd be needed to treat a deadly outbreak of disease. The day arrived - and the disease was Ebola."
  • The March 4 "PAW Tracks" has an oral history of the 1965 Final Four basketball team.
  • Our March 2, 2016, November 11, 2015 (twice), June 3, 2015, Dec 3,. and May 14, 2014 Class Notes received the much-coveted PAW-print recognition from the PAW editors.

Classmate Letters in PAW

PAW has recently published several letters from classmates:
  • January 13, 2016. Charles Plohn's letter is the last of many on the Wilson legacy and recent student protests. For background on the current controversy, Charles recommends the 2006 Executive Summary from the 75th WWSPIA anniversary.
  • Jamie Spencer's October 21 letter, "Delightfully Madisonian", responds to a "rather sour assessment of the American political process."
  • See Jon Wiener's October 7, 2015 letter regarding the removal of Woodrow Wilson's statue from the University of Texas campus. This is five years late, but Jon was PAW's Tiger of the Week in December, 2010.
  • In the September 16, 2015 issue, Michael Burrill reflects on the opening words we heard in 1962.
  • From December 17, 1979, here's a PDF of Lanny Jones' "A Modest Proposal to Bring Back the Single Wing".
  • The February 4, 2015, PAW Inbox contains Michael Burrill's letter on "Choosing a Military Career" and mentions John Secondi's 1970 "An Educated Man" letter reprinted in the December 3, 2014 issue.
  • December 3, 2014 has two letters:
    • Steven Duback, in "An Issue of Fairness" comments on Princeton's new sexual-assault policy.
    • In "From PAW's Pages", PAW reprints a 5/19/70 letter, "An Educated Man", from our late classmate, John Secondi.
  • November 12: Jamie Spencer commented on a letter in response to The People Who Saw Evolution.
  • October 8: Jon Holman recalled Professor Paul Sigmund.
  • The University has profiled Bob Nahas for his work as our AG class agent.
  • The July 9, 2014 PAW  cites Bruce Leslie's 2005 book "Gentlemen and Scholars" for the Ed Tenner '65 article "Their Princeton: 1914".
  • John Scully is 5th from the left in the photo at the top of PAW's June 4, 2014 President's Page. The photo was taken during the dedication of Peretsman Scully Hall.
  • Lanny Jones' rodeo riding video was posted on January 30, 2014.
  • Mike Witte's letter to PAW (Dec 4, 2013) connects '66 with 1917 (almost our grandparent class) and F. Scott Fitzgerald. And, who else could have created the cover of the PAW Reunions Issue?
  • Bob Nahas adds "I Just read Witte's letter which reminded me of the article in SI about the 1956 Hungarian Olympic Water Polo Team and what was involved in getting those that wanted to defect out of harms way with an unusual combination of Sports Illustrated, Pan AM and US government. My French instructor [Miklos (Nick) Martin] was on that team and is mentioned several times in the article as well as in follow-up paragraph below. I'm sure some other classmates had classes with him. However he did not influence me to play water polo nor did I do well in French."

    As the best English speaker on the SI tour, Martin found himself quoted so often that he feared he'd be punished as a ringleader if he were to return to Hungary. So, with an art history master's degree from the University of Budapest, he enrolled at USC but played only one semester of water polo because he found the sport there "too Mickey Mouse." Instead he buckled down, earned his B.A. in French in three terms and, after earning a Ph.D. in Romance languages at Princeton on a Woodrow Wilson scholarship, became a professor. "The U.S. of that period was a land of endless opportunities," he says, "but my teaching career has been like an avalanche, straight down -- from Princeton to USC to Pasadena City College." At 80 he's still an adjunct professor of French at PCC and swims a mile each day. "PCC has a gorgeous pool," he says, "and I have the key.