February 2009
Dear FOOT Leader Alums,
Once again I am trying to give birth to this tome. Just when I think it is ready to go to press, I hear from
yet one more alum or I remember another FOOT encounter. But now is the time or I will run into too
much of next year’s news. I decided to do this in January/February in order to get holiday news that is
more current. So this edition contains news that is both very recent and some from a year ago. I hope in
the future to be more up to date. I am also determined to figure out how to get you all more involved—
class agents or secretaries or whatever!
FOOT is 25 years old!!! Now this is debatable (and one of our lawyer alums had to point this out to me)
but it all depends if you do high math or low math. You will read more about this in the main body of
news, but basically if you count on your fingers and you factor in the first year of 1985 as 1, this is,
indeed, our 25
th
hiking summer coming up. However, if you are talking about anniversaries, then it
would be 2010! Perhaps it all means that we can celebrate for 2 years!
Last summer was one of our best summers ever in terms of numbers. We had 405 freshmen in the woods
with 45 trips, 90 leaders and 36 support crew members (total of 126 leaders). Remember when we had 12
leaders??? Yikes. We also had a great summer in that we had very few first aid situations and no visits to
any hospitals or clinics. During May Training one of the leaders felt ill and they happened to be near my
old high school alma mater Kent in northwest CT. I told them to check out the infirmary there and sure
enough the night guard not only picked them up and delivered them to a kindly nurse on duty who gave
them all the first aid they needed, the guard then delivered them back to the trail head. (I should make a
hefty contribution to the annual fund.)
As part of the 25
th
year celebration, we are planning some FOOT events during reunions in May and
especially for the class of 1989 who will be there for their 20
th
. I’m pleased to say that so far 11 of the 15
leaders have said they hope to make it! The roll call: Ben Sayler, Toby Kovacs, Trex Proffitt, Kristin
Mitchell, Carrie Hatcher-Kay, Angela Salazar, Ann Vileisis, Paul Jahnige, Frank Levy, Gillien
Todd, Tiff Bingham Cunningham! Other classes will be back too!
I hope you are all surviving the economic downturn. I’m a bit concerned as to what it will do to our
numbers next summer. So get the good word out to any young folks you know who will entering Yale
next fall. I’m definitely going to retire when the first child of a FOOT Leader alum walks through Phelps
Gate as a freshman. Perhaps the son of Kristin Edwards??
So here is news about you. I will include some news about Steve and me at the end…if you make it! I
have organized it by year and mostly cut and paste what you have sent to me. Please excuse any
mistakes.
Erin Kellogg ’85: We moved into our new house at the south end of Bainbridge Island, Washington, in
December 2006. There are goats across the street, and we can now walk to the beach. Our greatest joy in
the last two years was bringing home our son Satjee. His big sister Keelia, is now about six and a half.
Jamie Williams ’86: Florence, Ben, Annabel and I have moved to Boulder, CO. I am still with The
Nature Conservancy, now in a regional job—Director of the Northern Rockies Conservation Initiative.
I’m still doing large forest conservation projects in MT. Florence is loving the Scripps Fellowship at CU.
Please note our new address: 1000 Orange Pl. Boulder, CO 80304.
Liz Ablow ’87: walablo@aol.com
Here is good cheer from us...much love Liz & family
Roger Wynne ‘88 <rogerwy@yahoo.com>
No real news to report. Still enjoying life in Seattle. I enjoyed attending a presentation given by Ann
Vileisis on her book tour here in Seattle, and catching up a bit with her and her husband. Spread the word
about her great book about how we Americans came to lose our knowledge of where our food comes
from: http://web.me.com/avileisis/Kitchen_Literacy/Kitchen_Literacy.html
I had the great pleasure of attending my 20th reunion last May, although I still maintain that 20th reunions
are for people much older than I. I briefly ran into James Shifren. His broad grin has not dimmed a bit.
My math or grasp of history is likely off, but how is FOOT 25? I was a leader my junior year, which was
the fall of 86, and I thought that was the second year of the program, which would put its birth at the fall
of 85 and its silver anniversary at 2010. (I came to Yale in the fall of 84, and I don't think that FOOT was
an option then.) But, hey, 24 or 25 or 50, what's the difference? It's still way cool that it has continued all
this time. I wish you all the best for the new year. Cheers, Roger
Kristen Mitchell ’89: [email protected].edu: As the first FOOTers consider returning to New
Haven for our 20th (!) reunion, is there a FOOT event planned? If so, it would influence my travel plans.
I'd love to see a family friendly hike/picnic in the forest/ resurrect your hackeysack and smore skills kind
of event. Kristin
PS I had a fabulous hike into the Grand Canyon on the Bright Angel Trail this August! I met up with my
brothers and a dozen others for a private rafting trip; we got out just before the big storm that washed out
a whole group. Once I returned to Alaska, I found tamer rapids, but more exciting wildlife encounters -
check out this grizzly. I hope you're well. I am still in Alaska; on the Kenai Peninsula. I tend toward
shorter hikes with kids or walks on the beach below our house with the dog, but there are inspiring
mountains all around. You are welcome to pass my email to the next generation who may want a place to
camp out for a few days. Public transport is not easy here, so they would need to have a car (or be very
serious bikers.)
Tiff Bingham Cunningham ’89: Of all the groups I've ever been associated with, I have to say
that FOOT tops the charts, and I miss you all! Jim and I are still living in Salem, CT. He is a hay farmer
and a home contractor/carpenter, and I am staying home with our 3 y.o. Cameron. I keep myself busy by
trying to relearn Spanish and am learning a tiny bit of Chinese, too. Cameron and I are doing this
together, which has been great fun for me. It keeps me mentally challenged.
Frank Levy ’89: From the 2007 card: When we moved to Iowa we promised ourselves that we would
look for every opportunity to introduce our kids to the world. We have kept that promise and are so
thankful for the travel opportunities that we made available to us this year. Our Voyages: many hours
spent in and around the Eiffel Tower, Champs d’Elysee, Paris is made for kids—trampolines, puppets,
carousels, play areas are found in every park, Jardin de Tuileries, Cousin David and Lovely Diana invite
us to Rome for their wedding, Bella Roma, gelato galore, The Great Wall of China at MuTianYu,
wandering through Beihai Park, luxurious foot massages inclusive of food and drink, friends get hitched
and host a fabulous wedding weekend at Lagonissi resort near Athens, San Juan Island paradise as
always, Christin arrives in July from Germany to spend the year with us. We also continue to love Iowa,
spending time at home with family and friends and enjoying the splendid outdoors: biking on the Bill
Riley Trail, backyard birthday in June, the Joffrey Ballet hosts an open air performance, feeding the
horses at Irish Run, World Cup Triathlon comes to Des Moines (Frank competes in the amateur race),
World Hot Air Balloon Championships, our regular Sunday AM walk by the Des Moines Art Center,
exploring and playing by the Raccoon River, groovy snowman..Still haven’t taken our kids camping, but
we think this summer will be the start of it! From the 2008 card: WE look back on 2008 mostly with
sadness as we said good bye to Frank’s dad who lost a battle with cancer. We miss him so much. Since
then we have been spending a lot of time with Grandma Shelley, attending multiple kid sports and other
activities. We traveled to Montpelier, Boston and the coast of Rhode Island. The whole family
participated in ;the HyVee Triathlon and held our breaths as floods covered Iowa. We had long looked
forward to going to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and were grateful for the hospitality of the
Lipsojn/Plafker family, We loved every minute of it—the good times with our friends, the fun side trips
and of course the events: soccer, water polo, triathlon, beach volleyball, wrestling, weightlifting, rowing
and multiple athletics events in the famous Bird’s Nest stadium. Family time was a big priority for us this
year. We had a wonderful time with family in Singapore and Indonesia. Frank is busy with the challenge
of leading the next phase of growth in the company his dad built. Kerty is going on year 3 at Kemin
Industries and enjoying it very much. Mia and Kiki are doing well in kindergarten and first grade and
enjoy walking to and from school via trial most days. We also enjoyed the addition of Japhy Ryder, a
Bishon Frise, to our family.
Ann Vileisis ‘89: [email protected]: Dear Friends, I’ve got good news to share! My book is finally
done.
KITCHEN LITERACY: HOW WE LOST KNOWLEDGE OF WHERE FOOD
COMES FROM AND WHY WE NEED TO GET IT BACK was just released a few weeks ago and is
now out in bookstores. As many of you probably remember, it’s a history that looks at how we got into
the everyday situation of knowing so little about what we eat. For more info about the book, check out my
website: www.kitchenliteracy.org (there’s even a YouTube video!) I feel remiss in being out of touch
with so many of you, but the final push toward completing the book demanded all my energy. I am
looking forward to touching base and catching up in a more personal way (talking on the phone/writing
letters, etc.) after I finish my book tour in December. I am currently on the road giving readings and slide
presentations for groups and at bookstores. With warm regards! Ann
Gillien Todd ’89: We are busy with 15 month old twins Charlie and Chloe and 5 year old Will. There is
never a dull moment for us these days! I’m still teaching part-time at Harvard Law School. Just
celebrated by 40
th
birthday!
Ben & Betsy Saylor ’89 & ’91: Ben still works at Black Hills State University as a professor of math and
science and director of South Dakota’s Center for the Advancement of Math and Science Education. He's
also director of education and outreach for a proposed federal science lab to be constructed deep
underground in an abandoned Black Hills gold mine. Basically, he works a lot. On the other hand, he
manages to accommodate Betsy’s travel bug, spends a good amount of time with the boys, coached Will’s
soccer team in the fall (Jay’s got him booked for the spring), and sneaks in a trail run most days. Betsy is
in her 10th year working with her same medical group in nearby Deadwood. It’s a rewarding small town
practice with an interesting mix of clinic, hospital, and nursing home care. The only thing new is that she
works four shorter days a week now instead of three longer ones, which fits better with the kids'
schedules. Because of this arrangement, we said good-bye to our dear nanny of four years. Betsy
continues to enjoy her book club, exercising, and this past summer, she grew her first legitimate and
bountiful garden (radishes notwithstanding). Jay is in second grade and loves to read, do crafts, ski, and
play soccer. He and his friends have devised an intricate “bug world,” which apparently has spawned a
rival playground gang called "gecko world." Will is in kindergarten -- half day at a private school and
half day at the public school. His favorite part of his day is his “transportation” (the bus ride between
schools). He likes math, swimming, Legos, art, and joining Jay on imaginative escapades. Though we've
had many wonderful experiences this year, 2008 also brought some sadness and challenges. Our beloved
10-year-old dog, Ellie, died unexpectedly last January of natural causes. Betsy’s maternal grandmother
also passed away, although somewhat more expectedly. Much less emotional, but full of inconvenience,
we returned from a great vacation in Hawaii last summer to a broken pipe and flooded basement. On the
plus side, the kids enjoyed “camping out” in their parents' bedroom for three months while their rooms
got rebuilt. We continue to enjoy a very full life in South Dakota -- with rewarding work, lots of outdoor
adventures, and a strong community.
Eve Porter ’90: [email protected]
What great news about FOOT. Wonderful to hear. I recently joined the board of the Squam Lakes
Association in NH and have been working with its summer camp for years. I definitely identify with the
relief over smooth logistics. I'm still living in Sandwich, NH, and still work for the executive search firm
Isaacson, Miller - so I work partially from NH. Oh - and I'm emailing from Jaipur, India, where my
husband Duncan and I are visiting family (they live in Delhi). Quite an experience!
I hope you're doing well! All the best, Eve , 711 Holderness Road, Sandwich, NH 03227
Katya Kubzdela ’90 surfaced briefly with an invitation to join her facebook. Yikes. I’m still so old-
fashioned. I confess I have never been to facebook.
Eric Steadman ‘91: I'm up way too late, but I am enjoying the online FOOT newsletter so much! We just
got back from a January trip to sunny California to find the postcard in the mail. It's tough going from
Pasadena to Bangor in January.... :) I hope you are doing well. We will soon update you with our annual
Valentine's Day letter, but I just couldn't resist saying a quick hello and thank you--year after year I am so
in awe of the energy that you put into FOOT. Amazing. It's an unbelievable enterprise. Jamie Williams
must be in shock at what he created. It's fun to have been just close enough to the beginning to know
Jamie and have a sense of the heady early days of FOOT. Things are great up here. In many ways it is a
relaxing relief after years of being in the Bay Area and then Washington. We haven't yet gotten out in the
Maine Woods too much, but I hope that changes. Rita's working hard at the church and I am busy playing
with the kids and working on the big 1850 house that we bought. Or rather, managing the workers who
work on the house--true Mainers do all the work themselves, but I still have a way to go! In any case, I
quickly have discovered how true it is that "in old houses you don't choose the projects, the projects
choose you." I still look back fondly on the weekend that we all stayed at your house in New Haven--it
must be about four or five years ago now. But I hope it can happen again. We would love to see you. If
you ever make it Down East in Maine, let us know. Love and big FOOT hugs from Eric
P.S. I worked my way up the East Coast with the kids this fall after buying a car in Washington. I stayed
with Chris Roberts in Philadelphia and Peter Ackerman in NYC. (My night in Boston was with a non-
FOOT Yalie.) Great to have those FOOT friendships continue.
P.P.S. Does the Jason Karpf fund still exist? If so, I would like to contribute to FOOT in that way.
Thanks. …(This is from a later note) Dear friends and family, Greetings to all from our new home in
Maine! Last year was one of heady transition for us, as we left our home in Washington, D.C., and
resettled here in Bangor. It is said that turning an oceangoing ship is a long, slow, deliberate process; that
image kept coming to mind throughout 2007. Somehow we made it, and we are now residents and first-
time homeowners at our little big house on Grove Street. The year divided more or less into three
sections: The Search, The Move, and The New Beginning. Rita began the year at home to focus on the
family and on the search process for her next position. We were both amazed at how much time and
energy the search process took, particularly when we started traveling to visit various parishes. During
this time Eric did math tutoring with, shall we say, unprecedented fervor. After many interviews and
much reflection, Rita felt called to St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bangor, and we all enthusiastically and
proudly supported her as she accepted the position of Rector. We then entered the Move phase. We
quickly had to find a home and school; remarkably, those were both settled on Eric’s solo three-day trip
to Bangor in May. We bought a large 1850 house just a few blocks from the church; to Eric’s relief, Rita
liked it when we arrived in July. And Sonia enrolled in the Bangor Montessori School, with which we
have been very happy. Packing up after our ten years in D.C. was an emotional challenge, with both of us
leaving so many friends and family members. But there was excitement about the move, as well as a
strong sense that spreading our wings was the right thing to do. Fortunately, before the move we were
able to make time for a brief vacation and pilgrimage to England to mark Cuthbert’s first year of life.
Rita’s good friend, the Rev. Denise Hiscox, kindly invited us to join her for a week on Holy Island
(Lindisfarne), where St. Cuthbert was a monk for many years. We all had a wonderful time relaxing
together and settling into the rhythm of Holy Island’s tidal life. Rita especially enjoyed being able to
introduce us to old friends from her summer there in 1995. The trip was capped by a visit to St.
Cuthbert’s tomb in Durham Cathedral, where Denise had arranged for a Cathedral Canon to lead a service
of thanksgiving for the life and health of our own little Cuthbert, just days before his first birthday. We
were fortunate to have Denise and Chris Roberts, Sonia’s godfather, at that service as well. Back in
Washington, Eric’s parents hosted a delicious brunch to say happy birthday to Cuthbert and farewell to
the Henninger Steadmans. We were grateful for the chance to say goodbye to so many of you. Not long
afterward we found ourselves driving to Bangor and moving into our new home. We were greeted and
welcomed by several parishioners in the days that followed. Our moving-in process was made much
easier by a helpful visit from Rita’s mom, Polly. Just when we were beginning to feel overwhelmed, the
process was thankfully interrupted by a relaxing vacation with the Steadman clan on the Maine beach.
But when August began, it was time to begin our new life for real, softened by a few more visits from
family and friends. There is lots to tell about our Maine life, but we can here only give a shimmering
outline. Rita is blessed to be the rector of a strong congregation in a gorgeous Gothic church. The church
has a great Sunday School and nursery, which make Sonia and Cuthbert happy. Parishioners have
welcomed her warmly into the church. There was a rousing service of institution on October 7
th
with the
Bishop of Maine, the Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen, presiding. Fr. Stuart Kenworthy, the Rector of Christ
Church, flew up to give the sermon, for which we were very grateful. We were also grateful at the service
for the support of so many family members: Rita’s mom, Eric’s parents, Rita’s Henninger grandparents,
Eric’s Aunt Anne, and family friend Lindy Dean from England. Meanwhile, Eric has learned the truth of
the adage, “In old homes you don’t choose your projects, the projects choose you.” One storm alone
brought six leaks. Taking care of the kids and working with contractors has been a large part of his
Bangor activities, but he has had time to explore the area and get involved in the typical
toddler/preschooler parenting activities, which have been a good way to meet people around Bangor.
Sonia is enjoying her school and has started a few new activities, including violin and dance lessons.
Cuthbert has grown all year in leaps and bounds; right now words are starting to pour forth. (His first full
sentence was, “I’m cold.”) The two of them also grow in each other’s eyes as they both mature, and we
are lucky that (for now, at least!) they so enjoy each other’s company. They both love music and dancing,
so there’s a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on here at 21 Grove Street. The wonderful medical news is that, as
of December, Cuthbert is now officially free of all medications, specialists, and therapy. It is amazing
how well he is doing; his pediatric gastroenterologist here in Maine said that he is about the healthiest
giant omphalocele 18-month-old he has seen. As always, we are thankful for our good fortune and for the
skill of all his medical providers. Bangor is way up heeyah, but we hope to have lots of visitors over the
years. Please contact us if you are anywhere nearby! And remember, “nearby” in Maine casts a wide net.
The fall was breathtakingly beautiful, December was the snowiest in anybody’s memory, and we love it.
(Of course, now we await mud and mosquito season.) In any case, we send you lots of love and the
warmest of Valentine’s greetings from Down East. Take care, everyone. Love, Eric. 21 Grove Street,
Bangor, Maine 04401. (207) 942-1001. steadman@gwu.edu
Emel G. Wadhwani ’91: we wish you health and happiness in 2008! 1075 Rio Cidade Way. Sacramento,
CA 95831. All is well here. Our boys are growing. Kenan is now 9; Adam 5 and we’re having a blast
with them. I’ve taken a new job with the CA Water Board working in water quality law in Sacramento
and Dan is continuing to teach at the University of the Pacific.
Karen O’Brien ’91: karen_erine@hotmail.com: How are things going? I was thinking of you as I was
on Martha's Vineyard over New Year's. We haven't been there in the summer, but have been there over
the past 2 yrs between Christmas and New Year's, when it is so lovely and quiet--a good time to explore
and hike without dealing with the crowds. Are you still teaching and doing FOOT? How is all that? I
am in touch with Josh Barkan ‘91, who's publishing a novel called Blind Speed which is coming out in a
couple of months. Not much new w/ me--keeping very busy with the 3 kids. Best wishes for 2008!
Karen. (Some of us received a funny email from Karen about her being held up in Europe somewhere and
needing us to wire money…sounded suspicious and, indeed, it was!—some virus thing…)
Baker Mallory ‘91: [email protected]: Greetings friends and family,
Baker and Jody are proud to welcome Jonathan Bradford Mallory (aka. Brad) and Barbara Rose Mallory
(aka. Rose) into the world on August 17th. Our preemies came almost two months early, but everyone is
doing well and back at home. Brad and Rose join Gus who turned 2 four days later on August 21st.
We've got our hands full! Best wishes to all. …We now live at 96 Gardenside Lane, Shelburne, VT!
Come on up if you ever want to spend some time in the Champlain area. Love, Baker, Jody, Gus, Brad
and Rose
Chris Roberts ‘91: Christopher.c.roberts@villanova.edu: Happy New Year! Chris fell on some stairs,
broke his hand (same limb, different bone as 18 months ago) and had surgery on Christmas Eve. Baby
Roberts #2 is due in June. Martha (now 2 years) is beginning to chatter about being a big sister. Martha’s
main delights are flowers, books, songs, silly words, making herself dizzy, and watching big girls (4 or 5
year olds). Hannah is nearly half-way through her Master’s degree at St. Charles Seminary and very
involved in the parish, including as a Mass cantor. Chris is working too hard teaching at Villanova and
contemplating life post-academia. “Creation and Covenant” is coming out as a paperback in the
fall..many, many thanks to friends and family who supported the hardback. .. Dear family and friends,
Ruth Brooke Roberts was born on Sunday, 15 June 2008. Hannah and Ruth came home from Chestnut
Hill Hospital last night, and today we've been enjoying our first day as a four-some. Plenty of photos at
http://chrishannahmartha.blogspot.com/ "Brooke" is Hannah's maiden name, and also Martha's middle
name. "Ruth" for many reasons; at our wedding, Deidra Palmour sang a song based on Ruth 1:16. Labor
and delivery were relatively ok. Hannah had a mild fever during delivery for mysterious reasons, which
meant that she and Ruth received antibiotics afterwards. Both are now fine. We went to the hospital at
11am on Sunday morning, and, two hours later, we had a Ruth. Ruth was 7lbs 11 oz, and 20 inches long.
Please forgive me for not writing or calling everyone in person. I spent Ruth's first 48 hours shutting
between hospital and home (wheremy parents and neighbor Lisa Diez did a great job with Martha – thank
you!), and so even this email is later than it ought to be. So, further apologies for that. I'll try and get back
on my game ASAP, but more experienced parents have suggested that I might want to reduce my
expectations! My parents are coming back tonight, and will be with us through Sunday. After that, we'll
be on our own again, so please remember us in your prayers and wish us good luck. Thanks be to God!
Love, Chris
Josh Barkan ‘91:barkan.josh@gmail.com: Dear friends, family, book readers, and critics, My new novel
Blind Speed will be published May 8. Here is what some great writers have said about the book: "Blind
Speed is a rip-roaring read that will propel you to the next page until you laugh your way across the finish
line. Rarely does a novel manage to capture so many facets of the culture at large—from political
campaigns to rock bands to a fortune-teller in Iowa who creates chaos. This is a brilliant novel of ideas, as
American as Kerouac careening along an interstate highway. Cool prose and piercing insights from a hot
new talent."—Martin J. Sherwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus. "Part farce,
part political satire, part metafiction, Blind Speed is a rich fictional stew. Josh Barkan has written an
energetic modern-day picaresque."—Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children and The Abstinence Teacher.
"Blind Speed is a crazy-assed adventure of a novel, one that hilariously explores the serious issues of this
era and every other: faith, love, ambition and its discontents, the possibility of spiritual regeneration, not
to mention sibling rivalry and where to get a drink late at night in Boston. Josh Barkan has written a book
that is whip-smart, but whose central allure resides in its oversized heart." —Steve Almond, author of
(Not that You Asked) and Candyfreak
More info and where to buy: Find out more, and read a description of the book here.
Support independent publishers and buy the book direct from Northwestern University Press/TriQuarterly
books here. Write a review: at Amazon, in print, on blogs.
Pass this e-mail on to others.
And later from Josh <[email protected]>
Dear FOOT Leaders,
I am beginning research for a new book about seven environmental heroes--one on each continent. I am
contacting you because I need your help identifying these inspirational heroes. My plan is to visit each of
them and to write a book of profiles.
What I am looking for are individuals who have inspirational PERSONAL stories. In other words, I am
not necessarily looking for the most important environmentalists, or for people who are necessarily
working on the most important environmental projects. I am also not necessarily looking for people who
are famous.
What I AM looking for are people who may be:
in dangerous situations, and who take great personal risks to carry out their environmental efforts
(potentially in places like Burma or Tibet or Papua New Guinea, or in the Congo, etc.)
people who are especially creative
people who have an extraordinary personal story of interest
people who are working in especially unique places
people who are inspirational--just by being in their presence
people who have a tremendous amount to teach me and the general public
people who are courageous
In short, I am looking for the most inspirational people I can find to visit around the world, so that I can
interview and learn from them. If you could only give one or two suggestions of someone I should travel
to meet, anywhere in the world, who would it be? Without your help, this book will not be possible, so I
want to thank you in advance for taking the time to give your suggestions.
In order to prevent many responses to everyone on the list, please contact me directly at
barkanj@yahoo.com
All best and Happy New Year, Josh Barkan
author of Blind Speed: a novel
www.joshbarkan.com
Danielle Lapidoth-Berger ’91: lapidoth@webscribe.ch: I am cleaning out my desk and came across the
old print newsletters with the black and white photos. I know they are tree killers but they seem real in a
way that an email doesn't. Photos are better online, though. At any rate, thank you again for the work you
do...We are all well here in Zurich, which is definitely home. Has been for a while now! We had a third
baby in February 2007: Sam. He came so fast the doctor didn't make it to the delivery room which is
definitely the best way to give birth. I'm getting so good at this it seems a shame to quit now (but I think I
will, because I am nearly 40. Being very nearly 40 feels normal to me until I think, oh goodness, that
means all my ex-boyfriends are also nearly or just past 40, and how can that be? because in my head they
are all 21 and FOOT leaders still.) Anyway, Sam's a walking wonder now, totally integrated into family
life, adored by Mike (5) and Mimi (3) and of course Amos and me. We're busy in a mellow kind of way,
which is to say: lots going on but few deadlines, no commutes, and a strictly enforced bedtime. Wonder
how long that will last? Amos is writing a mammoth tome on information theory which should be
finished by the end of this year, I am editing and translating concertantes, menus, dissertations and
Albanian business plans on a very part-time basis. Mike is loving kindergarten, Mimi's in a playgroup
four mornings a week and Sam and I hang. He likes riding on the back of my bike, and since Mike and
Mimi can both cycle on their own, the Lapidoths are now mobile. From our apartment in the middle of
Zurich we can bike to the lake or to the forest to grill chicken. Juhui! (That's Swiss for "yippee.") I I
discovered last summer that my husband can make a fire with one match, which I have to say made me
happy all out of proportion to the deed. I felt like I had hit the co-leader jackpot. America seems awfully
far away, but for those FOOTIES who venture abroad, I will once again toot Switzerland's (alp)horn--it's
a great place to visit and I'll be helpful in any way I can. Just let me know if you are coming.
lapidoth@webscribe.ch
Louisa Castrodale ’92: We went to Denali State Park in Alaska (Boyers Lake). We spent spring biking
at home. Spent the summer in Seward, AK with visiting relatives. The fall saw us swimming with cousins
in Florida for Thanksgiving! So great to hear from you!! Speaking of thriving, we added a new little gal
to our fam--Anna was born on 8/1. Sam is almost 3 yrs older and has been a great bigbro so far.
Otherwise, same old, same old...just with a lot less sleep! Hope you guys are all doing well; not sure if
we'll be back that way in May but maybe there will be some other events based in the West??? xoxox,
Louisa P.S. Some kid pics on the web: http://samz05.blogspot.com/
David Goetsch ’92 Although I did not hear directly from David, I know he is a big producer in
Hollywood. I was flying to Ecuador to go to the Galapagos and on the airline there were TV shows. One
of them—the Big Bang Theory—had David’s name in the credits! I love these chance FOOT
encounters…
Laura Grant ’92: We’ve been keeping busy with the typical things—school, skiing, work, shoveling,
shoveling, some swimming, some dinners, some projects, and more shoveling!! Kiana loves to listen to
stories, sled, and bounce high on the jumping mattress in the basement. Taz loves to play catch and
castle, build bows and arrows, and jump deep into snow piles. Kadin loves to build catapults, skate and
ski fast, and play soccer. Kevin and I try to keep up! Love, Laura (Kevin, Kadin & Kiana) 3650
Eastwind Dr., Anchorage, AK 99516. ljgfeld[email protected]om
Paul Sabin ‘92: [email protected]: has moved back to New Haven and is teaching at Yale,
Environmental History. Recently saw Mark Barnett ‘94 and Katherine Gergen Barnett ’96 in Boston.
He is a lawyer working on energy issues and she is a doctor. They have 2 kids. I had the pleasure of
sitting in on one of Paul’s classes at Yale (even with some current FOOT Leaders). Fun! And totally cool.
Cynthia Boyd ’92: <cyboyd@jhmi.edu>We are very well here in Towson. Graham is 4, Liam 2 and they
are loads of fun. I am a geriatrician at Johns Hopkins, seeing patients and doing public
health research. We spend a lot of time looking at trucks, riding bicycles and going for walks in the
woods on local trails. Liam was delighted to start preschool this year with his big brother.
Hope you are well. Happy New Year! Cynthia M. Boyd, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology
Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Perry deValpine ’93: [email protected]: With great joy, Perry, Rebecca & Luke welcome
Eloise Ruth Whitney de Valpine. Born August 8, 2007, 9:20 am (2 weeks early) Long (21 inches) and
light (5 lbs 9 oz). Mom, baby, dad, and big brother are all doing well.
Burch & Rachelle LaPrade ’93: Burch & Rachelle sent in lots of photos of their three boys and one
girl—their treehouse, skating, at Madison County covered bridges, at political rallies! They stopped by
and said hello at Hopkins in New Haven where Burch went to high school (and where I still work). They
are still out in Des Moines, Iowa. They have met up with Frank Levy ‘89 who also lives out there!
Seth Hawkins ’93: c-turtle@earthlink.net: Congrats on the 25th anniversary! I am still here in the NC
mountains, doing emergency/EMS/wilderness medicine work in and around the Linville Gorge area. We
just revamped our wilderness medicine center’s website: www.appwildmed.org.
This features FOOT very prominently (and appropriately!), so I thought you might be interested:
http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/yotw/
We love it down here. I’ve been working as the NCOBS medical advisor. What a great group of people!
It has been a tremendous amount of fun, except of course that I usually only hear from them when
something goes bad. I have had the chance to do some site reviews that have been really fun —
especially the Everglades! ;) What we’re up to: Ethan’s in the 3
rd
grade at a new school! Loves Star
Wars, sports, piano recitals and climbing everything in sight. Hates learning times tables. Kai’s a
budding engineer; he spends the year putting things together. Greets new activities (like kindergarten)
with a wide-open grin and unbridled enthusiasm. Noah’s discovered the effectiveness of multiword
sentences much earlier than his brothers. Barrels through life and is 2 years old in every sense: highs are
giggly highs, and lows are, well, low. Kelly’s loves working with local environmental groups, playing
with the boys and the occasional run or yoga class. Had a blast at her 20
th
year high school reunion in
Missouri. Seth—great family trips to our favorite spots. Passionate about his various acitivities in
emergency medicine and wilderness medicine, but ready for less work and move adventures in 2009!
Hope you are well, Seth C. Hawkins, MD, FACEP, FAWM
Hello FOOTies, Although it seems terribly self-promoting, Cilla encouraged me to post this link:
www.yalealumnimagazine.com/yotw
My thinking is that surely there are many of us that have pursued careers in outdoor/environmental
education, research, or wilderness medicine, and I’ll bet FOOT played some role in that career choice. It
would be cool to hear who else is doing this type of work from the FOOT community. For instance, I
know Steve Kahn was running a wilderness medicine school in Costa Rica at one time. Anyone else?
Seth
Katie Michel ’93: we have a new addition Claire, born March 5, 2007. Our new address is 4690
Dodgewood Road, Bronx, NY 10471.
Anne Parker Weil ’94: Sandy, Anne, Charlie, Baillie and Allie send joy and warmth to all from Boulder,
CO. We’re loving Boulder still. I’m working on a new television program call Big Green Rabbit—a
“green” kids program.
Meg Wickwire ‘94: mwick118@yahoo.com: Thanks for the news! I just finished perusing the
newsletter, and I'm struck, as always, but two things: one, that all the alums sound so accomplished
AND joyful, and two, that so many have hit major milestones in tandem with each other and me. I think
I sent you a birth announcement, but I didn't show up in the news, so maybe it didn't get through? No
worries, but I'm shocked and dismayed that you sent Murdock a baby t-shirt and not me. I plan to stage
a special covert operation to nab hers from the nursery. :) Bill & I had a son last June ('06), Pennington
Wickwire Rogers. Penn is the most joyful kid I've ever encountered, and he is the only person I have
known who delights as much as I do in being in a forest. We hike the trails of Concord almost daily, and
we've made a few forays farther afield, too. He has climbed a good many mountains in the backpack,
and I love imagining the progression toward his hiking on his own two feet. I will miss the weight of
him on my back, though; it reminds me so much of the meditative rhythm of backpacking, even when
we're just out for a few hours. As for me, I've been working part time as a tutor and loving this time
away from the intensity of teaching full time.
I hope you and Steve are well. We'd love to visit Sky Acres--can't believe I haven't made it up there
yet! Sounds gorgeous. Will you be there much this summer? Cheers, Meg …Hi, all, I hate mass
mailings, but this one really struck me as important. Environmental Working Group, which I've heard
produced a lot of good science in addition to being a powerful advocacy group, has a video presentation
on its most recent work. In addition to scientific interest, it's actually quite an entertaining 20 minutes.
(I know, I know, who has 20 minutes? But if the working Mom of a bouncy toddler can do it, surely you
could squeeze it in, too?) The study is relevant now because bills are under consideration in Washington
relating to the issue (HR 6100 and S 3040, if you're a detail person). I hope you'll manage to check it out
and maybe even mention your opinion to your favorite politicians. Here's the link to the page with the
video: http://www.ewg.org/kidsafe. Cheers,Meg
and from this 2008 holiday season: Happy Martin Luther King Day! Here is our Christmas— um, New
Years—um, late letter: Firstoff, we hope you get a kick out of our retro style. (She sent photos.) We
decided to hearken back to the 70’s, when individual, un-enhanced snapshots were the only option. Note
that we felt confident with this approach since we show so much style and sophistication in other realms
(ha!). The photos include: Raspberry Picking, Christmas Anticipation, and The “boys” (Jon 25, Evan
20, Penn 2.5). We hope you appreciate the Three kings motif in that last one. Note also the remains of
the dinner we had after the jaunt to the Congregational Church. This year, in addition to the wonderful
music, we enjoyed the third grade shepherds, unwieldy crooks swaying wildly as they paraded up and
down the aisles. They pantomimed the search for the baby Jesus as they passed right behind us; Penn
watched intently, ruminated a moment, then declaimed, "Mommy, we should follow those hooker guys
and go find Jesus!" In addition to the ensuing general hilarity, Penn enjoyed "Angels We Have Heard on
High," but sometime after that he leaned over the pew in front of us and whispered "Hello, friend," to the
little girl there. She was busy picking her nose, a skill at which he is also adept, so she responded only
with dancing eyes to his cross examination. This explains 1) how we meet about half of our new friends,
2) how chaotic our life is, 3) lots of other stuff too, probably. Jon, who shares a mutual fascination with
Penn, lives the next town over and teaches tennis. He is playing a ton and doing occasional sax gigs.
Bill is proud, among other things, of the fact that he got his license and has not wrecked his car yet.
Evan lives with him and reminds him to pay the bills and do his laundry. He works ¾ time for the local
hardware store, sells and fixes vacuums, and works occasionally for an electrician. Penn declared
recently, “Evan, you’re a good man.” No one knows where he got that, but we share his conviction.
Meg is amazed to find herself still afloat with tutoring from home. Her work has necessitated two baby
sitters: Marissa 11, a bundle of positive energy who won his heart by spending an entire hour exchanging
piggy noises with him; and Aline (A-lee-nee), whom Penn met and charmed at the local bakery,
where he is a minor celebrity. Aline is so capable and loving that we’re seriously considering asking her
to babysit US, too. Meg has a great group of mom friends and loves hiking, yoga, knitting, and reading.
She has actually learned to cook—various healthy meals from ingredients which are entirely natural but
somehow weren't invented when Bill was a kid. Bill is keeping plenty busy with soccer, singing, work,
Patriots, family, and reading. His Dad surprised him this summer by leaving the farm and moving to
Newport, RI. Bill took over the running of the farmhouse, forest, and the rest of the beloved but
dilapidated estate. What a summer! 2008 highlights: Camping in ACADIA with three two-year-olds;
family time in Maine with Nana & Wicky, Great Uncle Penn and Aunt Susan, cousin Bert, his new
sister, Elizabeth, et al; Tufts Beelzebubs 45
th
reunion (amazing singing!); visiting Penn's Great
Grandmother, Meemo, (90 yrs) in Sewickley, PA. Recommendations: From Netflix, Meg and I LOVED
Friday Night Lights (series, not movie) and Once. For books, Bill loved Year of The Six Presidents
(Pietrusza) and The Post American World (Zakaria), Meg loved Wandering Home (McKibben) and In
Defense of Food (Pollan), and we both loved Straight Man (Russo). Most of all, though, we loved
hearing about your lives. Thank you for your holiday wishes & your newsy notes!
Ted Deinard ‘94: theodore.b.deinard@citi.com: Thought you'd be interested to know that I've named to
the board of the Chewonki Foundation. I saw Stephen's name (my husband) on the list of board advisors
and recalled that he had been involved there too. Hope you're well. Best, Ted Deinard, Director
Citigroup, Tax-Exempt Credit and Financial Products.
Ben Strauss ’94: [email protected]: The FOOT newsletter has gone electronic! I always love
getting the letter, in any form, and 25 years coming... wow. That's a reunion I'd like to attend. Well, it
feels like it's been ten years since I've written with my own news, but this has been an eventful year for
me, so here goes a quick summary. In the last twelve months I have... gotten engaged (to Danna Drori
SM '95), finished my doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton, filed a patent
application, moved to Manhattan, and begun work helping to start a new nonprofit organization dedicated
to objectively tracking and vividly translating the best, latest science on climate change and solutions for
an array of audiences.
Climate Central, coming soon to a website, TV screen, and paper near you. Any science, social science
or technology PhD's out there who want to join the enterprise? All my best to you, Ben… As many of
you know, after completing my PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton last fall, I joined
an exciting team of scientists and media experts to help create Climate Central, an organization dedicated
to clear, unbiased, and science-based communication about climate change and its potential solutions. As
of last week, Climate Central is officially "live" with a preliminary website, a couple videos, and more.
Please visit us at http://www.climatecentral.org and http://youtube.com/user/climatecentraldotorg. We're
also in serious discussions with broadcast and cable TV networks about how we might provide them with
useful content.
In other big news, I married Danna Drori in May and have joined her in New York City. So it's been quite
a big year! I'd like to stay in touch--so please consider linking electronically by following any of the links
just below. My conventional contact information also follows.
ELECTRONIC
Plaxo: http://bhstrauss.myplaxo.com/ (preferred)
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Ben_Strauss/1106701
LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/52/633
Friends and colleagues--my apologies for any cross-postings, but thought you might want to know about
the following Halloween treat. A first taste of what our team has been brewing at Climate Central
(climatecentral.org), with more to come in the months and years ahead. ps. see our press release, below
and attached, for more information on the program and on Climate Central. If you can't watch tonight
(about 40 minutes into The NewsHour), you will be able to find the video on our website after airtime.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Montana's iconic trout are under threat from rising temperatures, says a report on PBS's award-winning
program, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, to be broadcast on October 31, 2008.
So great to hear that FOOT is thriving at 25... and yes, I plan to come to my 15th reunion this May, and
would love to see you and other FOOTies there! All best, Ben
Peter Braash ’94: Peter_Braas[email protected]: Wanted to say “hey” and, of course, ask you a FOOT
alumni question. The quick update- I just finished my acupuncture training, passed the national boards
and received my license. Was thrilled to move back to Pittsburgh from the craziness of SE Florida where
I had been studying… particularly happy because that meant I could actually live with my wife. We had
been apart for the better part of 14 months. So, life is good. I am slowly putting together everything that
I need to start seeing patients in July. Excited, nervous, a little crazed. As part of the fun of being back
home, am thinking about trying to get the local FOOTies together. I know Christian Manders- but are
there any other folk in the greater Pittsburgh area? Just out of curiosity- are there any other FOOTies that
you know of who are working in acupuncture or any of the other alternative healing arts? I hope that
things are good with you and you are looking forward to some fun and relaxing adventures this summer.
Thanks again for all of your work to keep us in touch with one another. Take care and be well, Peter
Braasch 412-400-8135. …and later: Dear Friends: I am working on a little project here in Pittsburgh.
And I was wondering if you all might be able to steer me towards any useful information I am trying to
gather information about volunteer youth environmental projects. I am looking at all ages but particularly
ages 11-15. I am particularly interested in projects that are hands on, interactive, accomplish tangible
results, and teach broad environmental lessons/principles. I would also like to know about any groups
that specialize in designing or promoting such programs on a national or regional level. Hopefully, this
will lead to launching a whole host of youth environmental projects here in Pittsburgh….With hearts full
of joy and much thanks to G-d, we are excited to announce the birth of our son on July 10 at 10:05 a.m.
Arriving 13 days “late” and after 35 hours of labor, this little one was worth every moment of the wait
and discomfort. Jill, baby, and Peter are healthy, happy, and a bit tired. Thanks to everyone for their love
and support. Love, Peter, Jill and Baby Boy Braasch
Tom Perriello ’96: It may have been a while since I've been in touch with you, but I took a big step a few
months ago that warranted dusting off the rolodex. As you probably know, I have been working overseas
on human rights and security issues and back home on organizing faith communities to speak out on
issues of climate stewardship, poverty and torture. After getting back from Afghanistan last summer, I
decided to leave the non-profit sector to run for US Congress back home in Virginia as part of this
historic opportunity to expand our sense of what is possible in politics. With a huge push this spring, our
campaign has become one of the top swing races in one of the top swing states. And I am so glad to have
picked a year where we have a chance to talk about what we stand for, not just what we stand against. To
give you a quick background: I am running against Virgil Goode, the reactionary guy who made
headlines for opposing Rep. Ellison taking his oath of office on the Qur'an and recently blamed climate
change on immigration. He is running a classic 1990s race of division and blame. When we started,
people considered the district a stretch, but now the national party sees it as one to win. We have
outraised and outorganized Goode for several months (that non-profit background paying off!). We are
focusing on a positive plan for economic revival in Southside Virginia, a national teacher recruitment
drive, a responsible end to the war in Iraq, and a generational commitment to the green economy. We
know from the field and from polls that if we get our message out, we will win this race. Beyond the
issues, we want this campaign to be about replacing the culture of corruption in Washington with a
renewed sense of service to community and country. My campaign is tithing 10% of our volunteer time
directly to local charities like Habitat, adult day care centers and domestic violence shelters. We are
shining a light on those who are struggling and those who are developing creative solutions in the non-
profit sector. This is a politics that calls us to serve. Sincerely, Tom
Friends, family and supporters. We finally have an official tally and bipartisan confirmation from every
county (less than 10 ballots left to confirm!), and the outcome is now certain: we have won the race and
will be going to Washington to represent this amazing district. Some are already calling ours the biggest
upset of the year and a bellwether of a new kind of politics in Virginia. I know some of you have taken a
blow to work productivity as you hit refresh every few minutes, checking results. This has been a team
effort from the start, and this victory belongs to all of us. Rep. Goode has the right to challenge the
outcome and probably will, so we will remain fully activated to protect our victory, but we have every
reason to believe that this result will hold. It is hard for me to express how much your support and your
vote mean to me. I set out a year ago to show that a better kind of politics is possible. We wanted to show
that Americans care more about an authentic sense of right and wrong than an artificial sense of right and
left. We wanted to show that people are smarter and more decent than our politicians and media give
them credit for. We wanted to show that our politics is capable of caring about jobs in Danville and
genocide in Darfur – we have the capacity to promote the common good. We faced off against a politics
of fear, from doctored photographs to wild accusations and insinuations. We refused to engage in the
personal smears, even when the political pros told us we had to do it. We focused on an agenda that was
positive and bold, and did not run away from our convictions. I am so proud of the campaign we ran and
the victory we have won. This election year was about expanding our sense of what's possible in our
community and country – what we are each capable of when called on to serve. We saw it in the
movement spirit that rallied Obama's victory, we put out the call to find volunteers willing to crank out
one more 13 hour day to monitor the vote count. Drained but inspired, our volunteers did not hesitate for
a second to rally one more time to ensure we saw this through. With an unprecedented get-out-the-vote
push that so many of you joined and the final rally over the past 48 hours, we won this through people-
powered politics. We can stand proud of the spirit of this campaign and the sense of hope and energy we
have brought to our communities across Southside and Central Virginia. You have all sacrificed beyond
measure to make this victory happen. Please maintain the same vigilance about holding me accountable to
these principles and this agenda as I head up to Washington.
Josh Cott ’96: joshcott@yahoo.com: I've moved (only 2 miles away, though). My new address is: 610
Beach St Ashland OR 97520. We're loving life on the west coast. Ashland is a terrific place. The dirt
trails start a 1/3 of a mile from our (new) front door, and keep going all the way up to the Pacific Crest
Trail. Noah is 19 months and keeping us busy and laughing. Hope all is well with you! Josh
Abby Benson ‘96 <asb811@yahoo.com> Thank you for the update, it is always good to hear that FOOT
is thriving. I do hope the economic situation won't put too much of a dent in next year's enrollment,
maybe people will take a step back and realize that some time in the woods is exactly the kind of
nurturing, spiritual experience that people need in times of crisis. At least that is how I look at it! :) I am
now a Lieutenant Commander in the Coast Guard and have been living in Washington DC for last
3 years. I've had a great 9 years in the Coast Guard, but will be exploring new opportunities as I leave the
service this summer. I'm not sure where I'll end up, but for the time being I think I'll stay in DC and take
advantage of the newly infused energy here. DC offer easy living with tons to do and is just a short hop to
great backpacking in Shenandoah National Park, George Washington National Forest, and many other
spots. I am also fortunate enough to explore the area monthly by taking DC kids on outdoor adventures as
a leader for the Sierra Club Inner City Outings program (my FOOT experience certainly comes in handy
there!). I'd love to catch up with any FOOTies in the area or passing through, my email is
[email protected]. I hope you and your family are well, I wish you a very merry Christmas!! Take care,
Abby Benson SY '96
Luke Hansen ’97: luke.hansen@yale.edu: Just wanted to let you know that I'm in New Haven these days,
doing a research fellowship at the medical school. If you need any local, non-class of '09-'11, help with
trips let me know! Luke…Luke and I had breakfast together at Atticus in October. He is living in an
apartment near Cat Balco ’97. It was great to chat and catch up! I now see him around town now and
then.
Melissa Lee ’97 sends her Happy Holidays! She’s living in Chinle, AZ with hubby and 2 little boys.
Leah Sievers ’97: <leah.sievers@yahoo.com> Dear Friends, Please note my new e-mail address:
leah.sievers@yahoo.com, effective immediately. Best, Leah. She is still living in Midlothian, VA.
…I had a baby boy, Reuben Angell Sievers, on September 23, 2008! (Big sister Vivian wanted to name
him "Trash Truck Sievers," but my husband and I decided to go with Reuben.) He is beautiful, and we
are enjoying him and life in Richmond immensely. Best wishes to everyone for a healthy, happy 2009!
Leah. Thanks again for keeping FOOT rolling and us connected to it. It's always great to get updates on
you and other old friends (and I feel like FOOT, the institution, is an old friend too).
Cat Balco ‘97: [email protected]: Hello Everyone, I wanted to let you know that I am in a show that
opens this Saturday, August 16th from 4 - 6pm. It's rather out of the way - in Washington Depot, CT - but
if you happen to find yourself in Western CT this weekend, please come! My best, Cat
Interspace: Line and Color
Power Boothe, Cat Balco, and Chris Durante
August 16 - September 14 Washington Art Association, 4 Bryan Plaza
Washington Depot, CT 06794
Amelia Shaw ’97: <ameliashaw74@hotmail.com>So nice to hear from you! It's always great to get the
FOOT news, it's a breath of fresh air for me to remember the FOOT years. I ran into Molly Breen ('97) at
our Yale reunion last year. And we were trying to remember how we met and became good friends in
school and then we both jumped because it was on our frosh FOOT trip, we had a ball laughing about
that. I also ran into Ben Kuris, also on my Frosh FOOT trip, at the same reunion, he's doing well. FOOT
really was a great experience, I will never forget any of the people on that trip whom I spent a week with
a trowel, doin the hustle. Priceless. I still live and work in Port-au-Prince, Haiti for the UN peacekeeping
mission as a TV journalist. It's been a hard year for Haiti, with hurricanes and food riots and a school
collapse. But the reality is, bad news is usually good for journalism. I had a personal best this year, got
some of our TV stories on CNN. Well, I send my best! I hope all is well with you, and congratulations
for keeping the program going. Happy New Year, Amelia
Samuel N Porat ‘97" [email protected]om My wife Lauren and I welcomed our second child, Leo
Benjamin, in October. He was born at 7 pounds 14 ounces and everyone is doing very
well. Hope things are good on your end. Best regards, Sam Porat
Debbie Gross ‘97: [email protected]: Hi FOOT Folks, It's been wonderful to see the FOOT
newsletters and read about all of your adventures. I haven't been good about keeping in touch...a big
hello to all of you from the '94-'97 era. After several years of back-and-forth between Ithaca, NY and
India, I'm getting ready for a move out to Davis, CA from New York City. It's a big leap from coast to
coast, and I'm wondering if any of you have advice for driving cross country in March. Any tips on best
routes for both enjoyment and winter weather safety? My husband and I only have 9 days max to do the
trip. I'm also interested in connecting with FOOT alums out in the Davis/Sacramento/Bay area. Thanks
and be well, Debbie Gross '97
3401 Bermuda Ave #29, Davis, CA 95616
and later: Thanks for the FOOT update! It's good to hear that it continues to go well. I always enjoy
receiving the newsletter, so thanks again for putting in the time to compile it. Here's a quick update if you
have a chance to include it: Thanks to all the FOOT alums who shared advice on driving cross county.
Vishal and I had a great trip, with a beautiful stop in Arches National Park. We are now settled in Davis,
CA, where I work for a solar energy company, and he works as a hydrologist. We are happily planning
some camping trips to explore Northern CA, and welcome re-connections with FOOT alums in the area,
or passing through. Debbie
Gretchen Boger ’98: [email protected]om: I am still in Princeton, New Jersey, where I finished
my Ph.D. in American history this past September. (My three year old daughter, Edith, now calls me Dr.
Mommy.) My husband, Tom, finished his Master's of Divinity this past spring, too, meaning we've leapt
together from long-term studenthood to Real Life. Tom has a assistant pastor position locally, and I'm
teaching this year at Princeton in the freshman writing program and the history department and looking
for tenure-track jobs in American history for fall 2009. As of this writing (Thanksgiving week), I'm 40
weeks pregnant with our second child, over-analyzing every twinge to see if something might be starting.
Nothing yet. We are delighted with the election results, wary about the economy, and feel personally
blessed in many ways.
Matt Stiebel ‘98: matthew.stiebel@gmail.com: I'll be back in New Haven next weekend for the 10 yr
reunion. How the heck are you? best, Matt Stiebel (Yale '98-- FOOT social chair) It's good to hear
from you-- You are entirely correct when you say that the reunion is both fun and sobering. I'm very glad
to hear about the FOOT turnout! With the new college expansion I suspect that there will be even more
FOOTies! As for me, I leave for Alaska on the 11th of July for about 10 days of backcountry hiking and
am thrilled. I'm currently looking for old Footies in Anchorage. I move to Boston July 1st for a 1 year
fellowship and am also stoked about that too. After everything, I may be returning to CT since I've been
in touch with an upper extremity group out of Hartford and will have to see how that develops. Either way
I'll be back to fly fish the Farmington soon enough. It's great to hear from you-- I hope that you are doing
well--- I'll be out on the Vinyard in August for a shoulder conference. Please let me know if you're out
there then and perhaps we can meet up! Be well….Greetings from Montreal, QC! It's always great to see
your alumni letters! I hope that you are enjoying time with the newest crop of undergrads. Life in
Montreal continues to roll along; I finish my residency in orthopaedics this year and move to Boston for a
fellowship in July.
I'm writing because I am planning to take a trip with my hiking buddies immediately following
residency graduation-- and before fellowship. My buddies and I take a "trip of a lifetime" every year.
Over the last few years we've hiked everything from the 'Dacks to Machu Picchu, Glacier Nat. Park, and
the West Coast Trail in Vancouver. This year we want to backpack one of the national parks in Alaska for
a week or longer in July. Basically, this sounds cool-- but we don't know anything about Alaska. Right
now I'm looking for information about where we should go (Denali, Wrangell St. Elias etc...) and if we
should go into the interior via bush plane etc... I was wondering if you knew anyone who had done a
similar trip or had good information. I would post this on the list-serv but I'm not exactly sure how. If you
had any info it would be much appreciated. Also-- if you let me know how to post to the list-server I will
ask the other FOOTies. (What better source about backpacking --and maybe flyfishing-- than a FOOT
alumni list?) Thanks again for your help and much love form the great white north!
new e-mail for Matt: matthew.stiebel@gmail.com
Matt Kronman ‘98: matt.kronman@gmail.com: Just wanted to keep you up to speed on my current
address: 1628 Waverly St. Philadelphia, PA 19146. no real news for now--hope to see you in new haven
some time boots
Jonathan Griswold ’99: jonathangriswold@yahoo.com: Here's my news--I moved to NY last fall to start
work at American Express. I miss the trees of course, but I'm planning a camping trip to Argentina in
April with former FOOT poobah Maggie Whelan’02 (a Spanish speaking doctor--does it get more
convenient?) and FOOT alum Karen Weise ‘03 among other friends. Next weekend I'm off to the
Sundance film festival where Footie and freshman roommate Rob Meyer has a film showing, and meeting
up with FOOT leaders and other suitemates Chris Cayten’98 and Matt Kronman ‘98. Best, Jonathan
and later: I'll be coming to the reunion in May so will look forward to any FOOT happenings. I moved to
NY a year ago to work for Amex, and I enjoy it here, despite missing the woods and my central Asia
microfinance days. I made it back to Kabul in August/September to help my old NGO and also to go yak-
trekking with Joel Hafvenstein '98 in the mountains. Last April I did a trip to Patagonia which included
Aly Kellman, Karen Weise, and FOOT poobah Maggie Whelan. Karen was the planning brains, but as
the Spanish-speaking doctor-type on the trip, Maggie ran the show and did so with panache. Happy
Holidays to all! Best, Jonathan
Jeffrey Grigg ’99: jeffreygrigg@hotmail.com: It's great to hear from you as always. I just wanted to
quickly say hello, wish you a good holiday, and mention our 10th(!) reunion is this May, which I hope to
attend. Take care until then! Best, Jeff
Andrew Bonney ’99—I love working in the airline industry, serving as VP of planning for Cape Air, the
commuter airline based on Cape Cod but operating all over the northeast, in the Florida Keys, the
Caribbean and Micronesia. It’s a great gig: I get to work with fascinating people in some of the most
beautiful places in the world. I live in piney Plymouth, MA with my wife Christina Rhee Bonney (ES
’99) and our one-year-old daughter, Clara. Christina is a researcher at Tufts University, studying the
impact of varying types of intelligence on college admission and scholastic performance.
Andrew W. Bonney 50 Herring Way Plymouth, MA 02360 abonn[email protected]le.edu (508) 648-5911
Boomie Aglietti ’99: <boomie@gmail.com>I should be around for my 10th in June. Keep up the good
work!
Lincoln Else ‘99 <lincoln@aya.yale.edu>
(by the way, I’ve been thinking what a great article this topic would make for the alumni magazine!)
Re: FOOT and outdoor professionals
Add me to the list of wilderness related yale grads. I just accepted a job running a wilderness
education/outreach program for the Forest Service and Park Service in the Sierra Nevada (after working
as a climbing ranger in Yosemite for six years). Now half my life is overseeing an outdoor ed program
and outreach effort, while the other half is working in documentary film, largely centering on wilderness,
adventure, and public lands. If there's an effort to track down grads working in outdoor fields, pass my
contact on! Cheers, -Link (Davenport '99)
Jacob Heitler ‘00: jacobheitler@gmail.com: Hey Fellow Footies (particularly those living in the SF BAY
AREA), I'm a former Poobah (ES '00), and next Saturday I'm crossing the chasm into my third decade of
life. I thought it would be a great excuse to send a note out to the Foot list to see what Foot alumni are
scattered about the SF Bay Area. First, I've created a new googlegroup (sf-bay-area-foot-
[email protected]). Email me back if you'd like to join and I'll add you to the list. I know my
sister, Sara Heitler Bamberger, who was also a poobah a few years before me and who is also living in
Berkeley, wanted me to mention that she would love hiking friends, especially ones who will help carry
any one of her three little kids! So join the list so that we can organize some adventures. Be well, Jacob
… I did check out the newsletter. Footies do such amazing things! I am in Berkeley, CA finishing up my
MBA at Haas at UC Berkeley. I'm planning on staying out here for a while after graduating, and am most
likely going to be joining a start-up my brother and sister (Abby, not Sara) have been working on. The
company builds interactive digital training systems for everything from companies like GAP Inc (our first
large corporate client) to teaching conflict resolution skills for couples (funded by government grant).
Basically, we help people with a curriculum and money turn their training program into interactive games
and deliver them either
over the Internet or on mobile kiosk computers. Of course, we're always interested in talking to anyone
interested in learning more... (that's my shameless plug, in case this ends up in next year's newsletter).
Besides that, I've been getting into road biking a bit and generally enjoying my flexible student schedule.
Since I suspect my sibs haven't been in touch, here's 2 cents on them. Jesse is living with his wife and
new son, Noah Emmet, in London. Sara is here in Berkeley with me. She's busy running the Religion,
Politics, and Globalization Program at Cal (http://rpgp.berkeley.edu/) and running after her three kids (all
under 5)
Emilie Hitch ‘00 <upmysleeve@gmail.com> I'm still working as an anthropologist in Minneapolis at a
branding and advertising agency. Love my job, love my little house and hoping to adopt a dog this spring
:-) Tell all the FOOTies if anyone passes through Minneapolis to give me a shout-
[email protected]. Although it's minus 20 degrees here today so maybe they should wait until we
thaw out a bit :-) Also- they should check out the Yale FOOT Leader Alumni Facebook group, and I'll
make a plug for Feb Club for Old People too (http://www.febclub.webs.com/)! Happy Holidays! Em
Erin Johnson Cole ’00: (This is mostly written by Erin’s hubby Andrew.)
Happy New Year! As hard as it is to believe, another year has come and gone. Perhaps it is true that time
moves faster as you grow older. Or, maybe it is just that time flies when you are having fun. Either way,
the year has flown by and has been filled with a fine blend of domestic and international adventures.
While Erin was preoccupied with her pre-med classes, I spent ten days last winter escorting a group of
eleven Waterford students on a humanitarian trip to Calcutta. An immensely humbling and instructive
experience, the trip consisted of a week working with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity at a home
for mentally and physically disabled adults. It is hard to fully describe how transformative this experience
was. Throughout the trip, I was called to recognize that my purpose was to serve others – without
inhibition, without pride, with nothing but love. My seventeen and eighteen year old students (many of
whom I have known since they were eleven or twelve) taught me to let go of the fear that can bind so
much of life. Returning to the City of Joy in June for a second year of teaching Calcuttan students, I
experienced the city in an entirely new and rewarding manner. Sadly, it is unlikely that we will be
returning to Calcutta in the next few years as the Waterford in India Program, as with so many rich
experiences, is being affected by the recent economic crisis.
Shortly after my return from Calcutta, my parents joined me on our annual Green River kayak trip,
paddling and camping for five days in the serpentine depths of Canyonlands National Park. Neophytes to
the wilderness experience (there is no evening shower, after all), both Bill and Corinne survived to speak
highly of the trip and commit to future multi-day sorties into the wild places of Utah.
After teaching and volunteering in Calcutta in early June, Erin and I flew to Leh, a city just south of the
Line of Control with Pakistan in the Jammu-Kashmir province of northern India. Situated in the heart of
the trans-Himalayan range on an arid plateau alongside a young Indus River, Leh is worlds apart from
Calcutta, as it harkens to Tibet and Nepal in its Buddhist culture and people. Arriving from sea level, Erin
and I spent three days acclimatizing to the 12,000 foot elevation of Leh before embarking on a fourteen
day trek through the Zanskar Mountains. Supported by a team of five Nepalese, Tibetan and Ladahki
natives and seven horses and mules, we abandoned our usual self-supported wilderness ethic and fell into
the luxury of fifteen pound packs, warm lunches spooned out of a traveling tiffen container carried by our
cook, and the knowledge that our guides knew the route implicitly (in spite of never having seen a map of
the area). Any lingering sense of guilt quickly wore-off as we contemplated the challenge of climbing
over the 17,000 foot passes with fully-loaded backpacks. Indeed, my bouts of mild altitude
sickness(which involved splitting headaches and vomitous evenings) left little doubt that our caravan had
less to do with luxury and more with survival. Along the way we explored centuries old gompas
(Buddhist monasteries), marveled at mountain tops covered with prayer flags, discovered the sacred
importance of the ibex and learned that to respect local religious tradition and appease the gods, it is
important to pass the giant, low Mani walls (which are covered with intricately carved rocks) in a
clockwise direction. The highpoint of our trek (literally!) involved climbing two 20,000 foot technical
peaks in the Zanskar Range. For both of these climbs, we had to awake at midnight while the glacial ice
was still frozen, suit up in extremely warm clothing, don our harnesses, helmets, headlamps, ropes,
crampons and other technical gear, and climb for hours under the waxing moon through mazes of
crevasses and up vertical snow with the goal to reach the summit by sunrise. We have never felt as cold or
exhausted as we did on these climbs. There are few words, however, that can adequately describe the
marvel of standing on the roof of the world surveying the peaks of the greater Himalaya amd Karakoram,
including K2.
Returning stateside in early July, we quickly changed gears and launched into leading two
mountaineering trips with Waterford students in the Olympic Mountains. Both trips were highly
successful, involving multiple weeks of off-trail and technical travel with some of the finest students at
Waterford. Indeed, the second trip, a twenty day mountaineering expedition that involved five days of
glacier travel and camping, mixed alpine climbing, and summitting the three highest peaks in Olympic
National Park, was particularly important to us. The participants were all graduated seniors, with whom
we had traveled hundreds of miles through the wilderness over our tenures at Waterford.
Over the past year, I have continued in my capacity as Middle School Dean, Outdoor Program Director
and biology teacher at Waterford. While it would be remiss to suggest that I have fallen into the routine of
my positions (as deaning, specifically, cannot be characterized by routine) I continue to grow more
confident and comfortable within my mantle of responsibility. Perhaps most surprising is the number of
parents that approach me for guidance as they try to make sense of their child’s middle school existence. I
am able to provide a sense of perspective for these concerned parents, especially when the child is a Pink
Floyd-addicted, angst-filled teenage boy. However, the teary-eyed, pre-teen girls that write notes such as
this little ditty confiscated a few months ago, “Dear Lilly, I hate you. Love, Victoria” continue to baffle
me. Perhaps the greatest thing about working with Middle School students is the blatant refusal to follow
the old adage that there is nothing new under the sun. Each time that I think I have seen it all, some
innocent-eyed youngster proves me wrong – such as the kid, who bored in Math class, had a competition
with his friends to see who could hold his breath the longest. Perhaps the better question should have
been, who could hit the ground the hardest when he passes out from hypoxia. The answer, as it turns out,
is Tristan.
When not working and traveling, I continue to take great joy in exploring my backyard mountains by
foot, climbing shoe and telemark ski. And as always, photography continues to be an important part of
my life. This fall’s projects have included a new website and blog to display my work. Check it out at
www.andrewcolephotography.net.
Erin has had a surprisingly busy year, with a full course load of med school prerequisites. Physics and
Organic Chemistry and their associated labs paled in comparison to her preparations for the MCAT,
which she took (successfully!) at the end of May. This past fall, she enrolled in Human Anatomy, taught
in the very classroom in which her parents met when they were TAs for the course. For a study aid, Erin
borrowed her father’s bone-clone of a decapitated human skeleton, which made for a great Halloween
prop and basis for many conversations with our landlady and friends. The skeleton paid off, as she did
exceptionally well in the class and, resultantly, has been offered the coveted position of lab TA for spring
term anatomy, following in her parents’ footsteps. In addition to her anatomy class, Erin also took an
Exercise Physiology class and lab, in which she and her classmates undertook exercise experiments on
each other. In keeping with Erin’s spirit of complete subject mastery, she volunteered as one of the few
students to undertake the last lab of the semester, during which she rode a loaded exercise bike for 45
minutes, with a rectal probe measuring her core body temperature and her peers taking blood samples at
regular intervals to measure changing hydration levels. Needless to say, Erin has a passion for her
educational experience that I sorely lacked in my college days. In Shallah (as our experiences in India
have taught us), Erin’s current plan is to jump through the multitude of hoops that is the med school
application this spring, to begin an MD/MPH program specializing in women’s health in the fall of 2010.
Needless to say, she is eager to move into this exciting and challenging phase of her life.
On top of her busy academic schedule, Erin tutors a sixth grade Waterford student each day after school.
This time has proven to be a true gift, as Erin has developed a wonderful relationship with Sophia and
rediscovered a bit of her passion for teaching, something for which she possesses an immense talent.
This coming year promises both adventure and after the endless go of 2008, a little more time at home. As
always, the more of the world we see, the more we appreciate the friends and family we have at home.
We hope to see more of you all in 2009. We trust that you are in good health and that your days are filled
with joy and peace. All our love, Erin and Andrew
Eliza Halsey ‘01: elizahalsey@gmail.com: Happy New Year! It's so exciting to have a FOOT website!
Saidan is getting so big, so fast! We'd love for you to meet her. I hope to catch up soon. Best, Eliza
Catherine Price ’01: Just wanted to give you my new address since I don't think it's been updated in a
while: 446 Stow Avenue , Oakland CA 94606 Thanks!
Catherine Price, freelance writer, http://catherine-price.com
Lydia Pace ’01: <lydiapace@hotmail.com>
Thank you so much for your email update. It is wonderful to hear how well FOOT continues to thrive,
and I hope that you are doing well, too. I think often of FOOT and how important it was to me at Yale
(and afterwards), largely because of the amazing community it fosters. I'm doing well -- lots of big
events in 2008! I got married in May to Erik Wurster who is a lovely person and passionate
environmentalist whom I first met in 2001 when I was in Nepal spending much time with Liza Halsey
:). I also graduated from medical school in May, and in June we moved to Boston where I started my
residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Now I'm plugging away at internship,
which is often grueling but feels like a great privilege much of the time as well.
My current address is: 96 St Paul Street #5, Brookline, MA 02446 Thanks again for being in touch with
us all. Best, Lydia Pace
Maggie Whelan ’02: <maggiewhelan@gmail.com>It's been quite some time since I've been in touch,
but I thought you might be amused to hear about a FOOT-related trip I took last spring. Well, not FOOT-
related exactly, except that there were several of us FOOT leaders involved. Jonathan Griswold ('99),
Karen Weise ('03), Aly Kellman ('02') and I flew down to Argentina last April to check out Buenos
Aires and go see the glaciers in Patagonia. Jonathan was my FOOT leader back in the day and he
spearheaded the trip - I think his wanderlust was kicking in after being at Wharton and then working a
desk job in New York. He and Karen are regular travel companions after they met in Azerbaijan some
years back. Aly was my addition to the group as she has her own travel bug and is great fun. So, we
explored Buenos Aires a bit then flew down to Patagonia. We spent a day hiking on the actual glacier and
then traveled to the tiny town of El Chalten, where we did some fabulous hiking amidst glacier capped
peaks. The group worked out wonderfully! (I would expect nothing less from a bunch of FOOT types.)
Quite a trip. We all have pictures on facebook if anyone is interested.
In more recent news, I am in South India through the spring doing field research for my dissertation in
Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. Once I finish that I head back to medical school to
complete my MD/PhD. So, only a couple more decades until I have an actual job. :) Karen is in Panama
for the winter break working on stories until she returns to journalism school at Berkeley in January.
Jonathan is in New York, working for American Express. And, Aly is an attorney in Washington, DC.
She's actually heading to India for a wedding and a conference over the new year and plans to head south
and meet up with me in Hyderabad for a few days. We tend to only hang out in exotic locales, it seems.
I hope all is well with you and that you have a wonderful holiday and new year!
All the best, Maggie (FOOT Poobah, 2001)
Colin Reingold ’02 I ran into Colin at the wedding of the daughter of one of my husband Steve’s
partners. She and Colin are classmates at Michigan Law School. Colin is well and thriving and obviously
in training to be a lawyer!
Isabelle Kinsolving ’02 I ran into Isabelle in New York at the Yale Club. I was waiting to meet a friend
and there was Isabelle! She is living in NY studying law at NYU Law School. Maybe some day she will
meet Colin in court!
Chris Beardsley ’02 I also ran into Chris at a Hopkins reunion event. He has his architecture degree
from Yale and is working in DC. Class of ’02 is everywhere!
Peter Shanley ‘03: [email protected]: Matt Fitzgerald, Max Ventilla and I are headed up to Pt
Reyes National Sea Shore this weekend to reminisce and get back to basics :). We were celebrating at
Max Ventilla's start-up party (Aardvark is the name) and decided it was high time we went into the wild.
Will follow up with a real update but wanted to let you know the FOOT spirit lives on, hahahahaha! best,
peter.
Lauren Keane ’03: [email protected]: I'm happy to be a representative from 2003 if you need me
- or help out in any other way! I moved back to the US from Beijing in September and now I live in DC,
where I was thrilled to find that (unlike in Beijing) you can get out into wilderness-y places in 20 minutes
and pretend you're in the middle of nowhere. China was thrilling -- I did some really fun reporting for
NPR (Chinese reggae! North Korea! Piano islands!), traveled all over the place, learned more Chinese
than I will ever have use for, and generally lived the foreign correspondent's life sans the fat paycheck.
But after a few years I was ready to be back in the land of clean(er) air and fewer bicycles (sigh.) I work
at the Washington Post now, which rocks. I don't write as much, but I edit stuff from journalists all over
the world, and that's fascinating. Haven't left the wanderlust behind entirely, though - I'm headed to Chile
in March to cover a desert ultramarathon race through the Atacama Desert - 250 km in 6 days. I did one
of these in western China out along the Tajikistan border and it was like nothing I'd ever seen before.
Hoping to get to Antarctica with them in November for a similarly crazy experience. The runners are
nuts...which is why I love it. Meanwhile I've finally been reunited with my HBC bike and I'm making up
for all the lost rides I gave up when I left it here to go to Latin America and Asia. It's almost forgiven me,
but not quite. My heart is still in San Francisco, no doubt, and I wake up most mornings wondering if I'm
there yet. Until then I just trust that I'll figure out a way to make it back there to my burritos and my hills.
Please do let me know what I can do to help FOOT. Whatever it is you need, don't hesitate to ask. I'm
glad to hear from the newsletter that you're doing well. I have such great memories of FOOT dinners at
your house. I always felt at home there, however far away my family was. Thank you for that. Much
love, Lauren…Hello FEET of all ages, I'm headed down to the Chilean Patagonia in mid-April and
looking for some company! Anyone want to come? I'll be up in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile for
work until April 5th, and then want to spend ten days or so wandering glaciers and mountains down south
before heading back to the US. I figure the footlist is as good a place as any to send an invite around - not
many groups of folks I'd rather hang out with. I've got some ideas on where to go (and if any of you know
of great places there, I'd love to hear them), but happy to figure something out together - just looking for
some good hiking, good views, good gorp, and good fun, and that feeling you get when you wake up on a
glacier and everything is glowing blue. It's off-season there, so won't be terribly crowded or terribly
buggy, but not winter yet in most places - so the perfect time to go. Or, up for a shorter trip? Got
something slightly different in mind? Let me know anyway, might work out well. You know you want to
come, so holler back! Hopefully soon, b/c tickets are going fast.
Emma Ashburn ’04: [email protected]: I hope all is well with you. I am still here in DC,
running into FOOT leaders right and left (I work in the same building as Dawn Lippert’06!). I am so
excited to hear about these 25-year-anniversary of FOOT events, and I hope to see you in the spring!
xoxo Emma I'm getting a master's at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
in China Studies and working for a small government relations consulting firm called Stonebridge part
time. I can't believe that the application process is starting up again!
Ivan Kerbel ‘04: ivan@aya.yale.edu:
I set up a Facebook profile where I can post my pictures, videos and events and I want to add you as a
friend so you can see it. First, you need to join Facebook! Once you join, you can also create your own
profile.
Thanks,
Ivan
Here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=761346941&k=X4AX6Y64Q4WM5GFFSJ55UV&r&v=2
Amy Kohout ’04: amy.kohout@gmail.com
Re:FOOT and outdoor professionals
I'm currently the Assistant Director of a wilderness expedition foundation in New Mexico -- the
Cottonwood Gulch Foundation. We've been around for 82 years, and we do quite a bit of traditional art,
archaeology and ecology here in the Southwest. We try to pair these kinds of thematic inquiry with
backcountry exploration in the Four Corners region. It is a pretty special place --
www.cottonwoodgulch.org <http://www.cottonwoodgulch.org> -- feel free to share this if you know any
10-19 year olds (or grownups who love to work with curious kids) looking for an opportunity to explore
the science, culture and landscape of the Southwest. Best, Amy (SM '04)
Claire Hirschmann ‘05: [email protected]: Well, friends: I am heading out on yet another
journey. I know. My wanderlust is getting a little out of control. The destination: South America. The
reason: semester number four with the Traveling School. The countries: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia. The
setting: the land of Incas, Che's motorcycle tracks, the heights of Machu Picchu, sparkling Andean
glaciers, impossible Amazonian insects, a stunning indigenous heritage, remnants of Spanish imperialism,
the circumference of the earth, Darwin's evolutionary insight, and the ubiquitous guinea pig. As ever, I
have a mailing stop or two. (And as it has now become a ritual for me to send out my address, I would
feel incomplete and perhaps even superstitious if I didn't do it this time. Plus, I think this may be my last
semester for a while…. Well, friends: It has been quite the adventure, and we're only beginning week
four. Some updates. We stood on the Equator. ON the Equator. On the EQUATOR. We had a student
get stitches on her nose. We boated down a massive tributary of the Amazon. We trekked through a
torrential downpour in the rainforest (and with every squelching step, the reasons for the origin of the
name became more and more apparent). We
ate ants that taste exactly like limes. We swung on jungle vines and were called Daughters of Tarzan
(actually, I was dubbed the Wife of Tarzan. Not sure if that's quite a compliment...). We saw a
poisonous dart frog. On the ground. Directly in front of us. And if that isn't enough, it was carrying a
baby on its back. (Poisonous dart frogs have neon yellow blotches on their legs. And they're tiny.
Smaller than a quarter. But. If you touch them, they can kill you.Yeah. I know.) And then here's a fun
little story: after an eight-hour jungle hike, we returned to our rustic little lodge and watched as seven
members of our group became violently and miserably ill. Food poisoning. All night long. Ah, the joys
of travel.
As ever, we are doing Word of the Day (suggestions always welcome).We are also staying at a hostel
where there are particularly attractive males inhabiting an adjacent room. The girls took advantage of
their newly expanding vocabulary and slipped the following note under their door (they were considerate
enough to make me a copy): "We saw you callipygous boys peregrinating from your room
and although a dalliance is not possible, we didn't want to leave our feelings inscrutable." Yep.
Such is life with teenage girls... Glorious.) And, really, it is glorious. I get to teach these girls history
through crazy re-enactments, we have discussions about the inevitability of globalization and culture loss
and whether fighting and war are inherent to humanity, we learn how to speak Quichua (one of the
indigenous languages of Ecuador) while living with families in the foothills of the Andes, we spend
literature class writing lush descriptions of the Amazon Basin...and it goes on endlessly. Plus, I
just get to hang out with high schoolers. Who are one of the coolest demographics out there: they have
this incredible passion to learn, this interminable energy, this sense of potential and greatness. A final
anecdote: this morning, as we were making our way to our daily workout (5:55 am wakeup, every
morning...), we came across a small band of people gathered on a basketball court. A hazy light
blanketed the court, and loud techno music reverberated across the cement. Techno music? At 5:55 in the
morning? Yes. And then? Something that we later discovered to have the stunning name of Fuertza
Activa (Active Force). Basically, we had walked into an outdoor aerobics session, Ecuadorian style. (No
question: we had to join.) Our workout consisted of numerous hip-gyrations, enlivened salsa moves,
and very earnest marching, all led by one very dynamic and zealous Ecuadorian man. (Imagine, if you
will, a group of very tired, very awkward, and very gringa girls, attempting various rhythmic moves.
And then imagine people walking by. And imagine their smirks. It was wonderful...)
In other news, I am on my way to eat guinea pigs. Anyways, I'm signing off. Here's my next mail-stop.
The Traveling School Claire Hirschmann
South American Explorers Club Apartado 500 Cusco, Peru
Be well.Your South American correspondent, Clarita
News of Adam Stack ‘05: One of my FOOTies is not only so awesome that he literally fell asleep
pounding a burrito in glorious sacrifice for the Adam Stack Challenge, but also three months after FOOT,
totally unprompted, Facebook messages Adam Stack to inquire about the nature of the challenge (see
below). Yes, my friends, Cyprien Sarteau, aka "the Somnivore", is now facebook friends with Adam
Stack.
Subject: [Fwd: Adam Stack sent you a message on Facebook...]
Adam sent you a message. Subject: FOOT
"Haha, yeah, the Adam Stack challenge is named after me. I can't believe that it's still around, but that's
great. Couldn't ask for a better legacy."
Aaron Zelinsky ’06: [email protected]: Congratulations on FOOT's growth this
year! That is amazing! All is going well on my end of things. I've been in Jerusalem for the
summer, working as a summer clerk for the Chief Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court. I've gotten to take
some time off to travel. Olga Berlinsky (FOOT '08) and I went to Petra together, which was amazing.
Ned Mitchell (FOOT '07) is staying with me starting tomorrow, and we're going to head to Turkey
together next week, hopefully doing some hiking in Cappadoccia (on the advice of Bevan Dowd FOOT
'08). I land in New York Aug 22nd and look forward to seeing FOOTies return as I start my second year
of yale law school. Best, Aaron
Baily Blair: ‘06 <baily.blair@nb.com>I hope you are well. I'm so psyched that FOOT is as strong as
ever. I always send my Yale annual dues right to FOOT - FOOT was and is very important to me.
Anyway, my notes. I am incredibly excited to announce my engagement to Nate Kempner
(Morse 05)! We have set a wedding date in May 2010. With very little effort, I have turned him into a
quasi-FOOT leader - any vacation we take is in the mountains (Katahdin, Dolomites, Tetons, Patagonia in
2008), and he fittingly proposed on a hike in the Tetons. Otherwise, it has been an interesting year to say
the least at Lehman Brothers, where I have been since graduating from Yale in 2006. My team at Lehman
was bought out and will become a part of Neuberger Investment Management in February/March 2009. I
am heading to Harvard Business School in Fall 2009, so will be thankfully out of the financial markets
soon enough! All to best to FOOT alums and friends.All the best, Baily
Jason Fischer ’06: fischerjb@gmail.com: I hope all is well in New Haven. I just read the alumni
newsletter, and loved it. I'm currently about to start my second semester of a post-baccalaureate
premedical program (to take all the premed courses that I didn't take at Yale). Hopefully I'll be starting
medical school next fall. I'm hoping to lead backpacking trips this summer for an adventure company out
west: Adventures Cross Country.
Best, Jason Fischer, 1000 Conestoga Rd Apt C345, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, Cell: 847-421-5903
Danni Lovell ‘06: danielle.love[email protected]: Hi! Life has been running me a little ragged in Calgary. I
can't believe I've been here for nearly a month! I'm not unpacked at all (as you'll see from my pictures
below) but I'm getting much closer to it. I've uploaded a bunch of photos from leaving Chelan and
moving into life in Calgary. Work has kept me busy (who knew lifting 20-50lb boxes all day would be so
exhausting?) and sent me to Vancouver for training for two days of work and two days of wandering
around town. I enjoyed myself immensely and got to see several old friends, but the rain and grey that
rolled in on day three reminded me why I moved to Cow-town instead of Vancouver. Long live sunshine.
The sun was shining and lovely today, transitioned into snow for an hour or so and then returned to sun.
Calgary is never boring! I've been meeting up with friends from summer camp, running into pals from
junior high on the train, finding several pairs of surrogate parents and eating lots of delicious food from
work. I've restrained myself from signing up for all sorts of different events until I'm finally settled. A
level of restraint I haven't had in ages. But, one that's allowed me to fall asleep at 7 when I get home each
night. I hope all is well where you are, and I hope to send more pictures as I do new and exciting
things.Until then, http://picasaweb.google.com/danielle.lovell/LeavesFall Cheers!
Danni …I've done a little bit of thinking since the New Year. Back in December I decided that I was
going to write a 'real' letter and send it out. However, one of my goals for the new year is to actually be
realistic about things I want to do. And realistically, I'm not going to address and mail 100 real letters. I
did that once a few years ago, and my tongue nearly went on strike because of it. Thus! I bring you my
winter missive! And I even called it that because I knew that there was no way it would get in the mail
any time near Christmas. But, this way you'll get an update of my year before March arrives. Which is
probably what would happen if I tried to do the 'real' letter route... So, now the tardy Christmas letter...
Think, instead of spending money on stamps and paper and all that carbon being used up to transport the
letter to you, you get it straight to your computer. I'm not lazy.... I'm mindful of the environment. That's
what I'm going to say. LOVE! Danni…
After a few weeks of frigid temperatures, Calgary has warmed up, blue skies have appeared. Sunshine,
though short in hours, is long in intensity. And days like these, where I can look out my window and see
snow, blue sky and bright sunshine rather than grey rain, remind me of why I moved back to my
hometown rather than some hip, west coast town this fall. My view this year as I write winter letters is
significantly different than that of last year. Last year, I could look out the kitchen, down a snow covered
slope to see a huge lake and hillside behind. A little craning showed me snow capped peaks. Last year I
snuggled up in the Ranch House at the Sunshine Farm for some of December before heading home to
Houston for the holidays. My winter last year was a quiet one often alone at night in a large house with a
wood stove and spoiled German shepherd. I knitted, listened to The Prairie Home Companion, made a
failed attempt at making sauerkraut, and read all sorts of books. Winter days often began with gossip and
laughter at Curves of Chelan and afternoons at The Vogue or Riverwalk Books working on spreadsheets,
websites and research for the coming Sunshine Farm Market season. This year, I look out the kitchen
through the small window across our backyard into the alley and my neighbor's garage. There's no wood
stove, no spoiled dog and definitely no lake. Thinking back on this year, each of the things I ended up
doing seem to feed into each other. It was cold and the farm was quite empty with all the farmers off on
various trips for parts of the winter. So, I spent a lot more time in town and got to know so many more
Chelan residents. This led me to get peripherally involved in the Chelan WalMart lawsuit insanity. And
that led me to volunteer for the position of producer in the Chelan Valley Player's "Laramie Project"
production. Of all the incredible and challenging things that I walked, jumped or fell into, working with
CherylAnn and all the Laramie Project cast and crew was one of the most enveloping. I dove headfirst
into theatre with no experience, and ended up producing, stage managing, helping build sets, and even
acting in the production! The most challenging part of my year was certainly the three week period that
involved the end of the play, the opening of the market and the Wine and Jewels winery event. My body
rebelled at the stress and I spent a day in bed with a thrown back, and a week with near perfect posture.
Things settled down in June and we hit our stride in July. The market was buzzing, the weather was
incredible and the near daily dips in the lake were wonderful. I found that one of my favourite ways to
unwind after work was to sprint at top speeds on my bike 5 miles up-lake to a gorgeous, clear, deep
swimming hole to the soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean. I would then float in the water until it was
nearly too cold and then drift my way back to the farm at a more sedate pace. With inspiration from local
hardcore athletes and some marathoning and triatheloning friends around the country, I signed up for the
ChelanMan, a multi-sport weekend with all sorts of distances of triathlons and runs, including one aimed
at people who had never done a triathlon before. Alas, a lack of time management with training had me
re-evaluate my desire to throw myself into such an intense physical activity without enough preparation.
The knee problems from HBC were giving me enough tweaking that I thought it best to volunteer for the
weekend instead. I have some aspirations now to start some training for an event next summer, which is a
much more manageable goal. We'll see what the spring in Calgary brings. One of the many things that
The Laramie Project brought me with was a return to an open and welcoming faith community at the
Lake Chelan Lutheran Church. I'd spent some years away from the church for various reasons, most
importantly the Catholic Church's homophobic stance to LGBT members of their communities and the
world. But through invitation from Pastor Paul and support from the incredible people in the community,
I started going back and loving it. Of all the habits I built myself, the one I miss most is the my Sunday
morning routine. Pancake Sunday care of Susanne, herdswoman/pancake chef extraordinaire, biking into
town, coffee at the Vogue with the YaYas, church and then often taking over Sherry's living room for
most of the afternoon. Perhaps followed by more Vogue time or else some pizza at Local Myth. Though
the summer was incredible and enveloping, the summer began with news from the US government that
my application for a new visa "had not been selected for consideration". Meaning that without some
serious machination with the legal system, I needed to head out in October. I machinated, I begged, I even
had the state senator come with me to an immigration lawyer, but to no avail. So, in September I made
my way back to my old stomping grounds, Calgary, Alberta. Much of early September was spent singing
Eric Clapton's version of that song on repeat in my head. And, Calgary was in some ways exactly as I left
it (I've run into acquaintances from junior high on the train and in the gym) and completely different. I
fell into a challenging but interesting job supervising the warehouse for Small Potatoes Urban Delivery.
SPUD Calgary isn't just a potato vendor, as many people assume, for we sell all sorts of organic groceries,
produce, frozen goods, homecare products and such. Several types of potatoes, but all sorts of othe
rthings too! And as I've said to many people many times, I was devastated to have to leave Chelan and
leave the community of friends that I'd found myself there, but I'm really grateful to have been thrown
onto another adventure. I've been biking to work when the temperatures haven't been too miserable (a
touch of frostbite on a -10C morning has me more cautious than before), gone to the ballet, found myself
a volunteer position tracking down all the local farms, farmer's markets, vegetarian restaurants and
sustainable businesses in Calgary for a national database, and been enjoying wandering around the places
I last saw nine years ago. One of the great expeditions this fall was to New Haven for the Yale/Harvard
Game. The football itself was disappointing, but seeing all my friends descend on our old stomping
grounds was just lovely. We got ourselves into the usual types of trouble, laughed, ate more than I
thought possible and talked until our jaws ached. Unfortunately my work schedule has me so that I can't
travel for the winter holidays, but was swallowed up by several old surrogate families for Christmas Eve,
Christmas Day and New Years. I love wandering back into these old relationships, but it also means that I
have an infinite number of parents keeping up on my life plans and keeping me in line. I spent much of
the holiday season house and dog sitting. Rupert, a moody 14 year old Shiba Inu and I read the 'His Dark
Materials' series, walked three times a day, slept extensive amounts and did yoga. Well, I did yoga and
Rupert whined and sat in the middle of my mat every time I tried to 'down dog'. I'm not sure what that
means, but it was hilarious. Now, I'm back in the swing of things. Work is much the same, and I've been
here for 3 months now. Which means a number of things, but most importantly I can now get massages
covered by the company health insurance. I love Canada. I have plans to go through a weekend of the
Landmark Education forum. A huge number of my friends in Chelan went through it and loved it, so I
caved to peer pressure. And am legitimately interested in what I'll be doing. February brings ballet tickets
to "Les Liason Dangereux" which is apparently not suitable for young viewers, and March will bring in
my 24
th
birthday! I'll be in my mid-twenties! Good heavens. I hope that you and yours are healthy and
happy, Much love from my end of the world, Danni…
HI!It's been a while, I know. I think it's actually been four months since I last sent a missive on what has
been transpiring in my life, and what has been transpiring has been total transformation! I'm in a different
job (with the same company), starting a new company with three friends, and totally thrilled to be living
in Calgary! I may have mentioned in my last email that I was about to head to a weekend seminar called
the Landmark Forum. At the time I was in a space where I hated my job, didn't like my boss, felt
unsupported, unappreciated, underpaid and just totally wasted. So, I had had the experience that a bunch
of my friends from Chelan had gotten a lot out of their experiences at the Forum, and I thought it would
help me figure out a career path. I'd even been in the space of hating my job so much that I'd actually
handed in my notice to spud! and I was counting the days until I was able to leave. What I realized
through the Forum is that I'd never asked for help, told my managers I was unhappy or feeling
underappreciated or unsatisfied in my job, and I'd made them into jerks in my head and then treated them
as such. And since then, my experience of work has been completely different. After my weekend in the
Forum, I went into work and talked to my manager about how I'd been and he said "What would it take
for you to stay?" I said that even though I was now committed to staying at spud! I was really unsatisfied
with my job. And so, he offered me the position of customer service manager, which is something I've
been doing since March 15th. And I absolutely love it! And, spud! recently launched two new locations in
the US and increased spud! Seattle in size by a factor of 10, so I've actually been helping to run the spud!
Seattle customer service department by remote. And, I had the opportunity to represent spud! online and
on Calgary television this week, which I just loved! (Check out the online video at
http://current.com/items/88897930_what_changes_have_you_seen_that_inspire_you... I'm at the bottom)
Just through the tools I've learned at Landmark, I've learned that if I am committed to being in a fun,
exciting and engaging workplace, that's how I act at work, and that's my experience of being there. We've
had some pretty wild days in the last two weeks (people quitting, stomach flus, 8 inches of slushy snow in
one day, along with two record breaking delivery weeks) and I've just loved nearly every moment of
them! And for my JE friends, one of our newest customers is actually named Jonathan Edwards and
related to our JE. And when I laughed when he said his name and then explained it, he knew exactly how
I knew him and we chatted about New England sports for 10 minutes.
So, I've just had the greatest last four months, and I'm sorry that I haven't emailed sooner to share that!
I've been getting involved in all sorts of things including a summer league ultimate team, a biking team
that is training for a two day, 190km ride as a fundraiser for MS in June, and I've biked to work every
single day I've worked in April. Which has just been glorious. With that, I average 26km a day, and bike
into the sunrise in the morning and sunset in the evening. And, the weather has been turning to spring in
Calgary. This weekend is not a good indicator of that, because it snowed 12cm since Friday, and was
actually -10C (16F-ish) yesterday and today. And it's supposed to snow more tonight, tomorrow and
Tuesday. It's APRIL FOR GOODNESS SAKE! I joke with friends here that Calgary weather has us all be
rather zen. Impermanence, non-attachment to good weather...
I have continued to put off buying winter tires for my bike, so I've had some pretty hilarious moments of
skidding and wiping out at slow speeds on my incredibly slick road tires. And at this point, I just keep
telling myself that as soon as I buy them, it will stop snowing. I told myself that a month ago, and it's
snowed three times since. But, now I really believe it to be true. No more snow! Hopefully the sunshine
today has melted enough snow off all the bike paths I'll be on today that I won't be wiping out tomorrow
morning, but if I do, I absolutely deserve it for those road slicks. It's hard to complain about big bruises on
my thighs when I know exactly how to avoid them. But, they are quite beautiful in their diversity of
colors. So, in summary. Life is great. Calgary weather cracks me up, I love biking to work, I'm enjoying
being the voice of spud! Calgary (at very least on the phone, if not on TV) and I'm thrilled for my new fun
sports exploits! Hope that you are well where you are,
Love! Danni…So, as you know, two summers ago, I set out to ride 4400 miles to raise money and
awareness for Habitat for Humanity. And 7 years ago, I rode 190 miles in the MS150 from Houston to
Austin. This year, I'll be riding 180km in the RONA MS Bike Tour and make a difference in the life of
someone living with MS. In addition to funding research, the MS Society of Canada provides support and
services to help those living with this disease, their families and caregivers. I'll be going with a team of
friends, (Team Steak Sauce!) and I'm thrilled to be part of this ride. Please support me in any way you
can, because every dollar makes a difference!...
Hi there! It's been ages since I've checked in, so I thought I'd say hello! Life has been wild and wonderful
since I last wrote. I've moved to a lovely room on the second floor of a house closer to work, become
vegan, registered for the Ironman (August 30th, 2009, mark your calendar to come cheeeeer!), and
transitioned to doing more marketing work at spud! The move has been great both for the shorter
commute (15 minutes by bike if I'm zipping and taking the short cuts) and the lovely dining room table I
now have to set my delicious vegan meals on to eat. And being vegan! I remember not too long ago
being a vegetarian who would always say 'I can't beeeeelliiiiieve you'd ever give up cheese!'. And, so far,
it hasn't been as difficult as I'd thought. And, I really enjoy it. Sometimes I do find myself eating similar
meals of toast, avocado and kale salads day after day, when I haven't made the time to think of any kind
of variety. But, as many of you know, I do tend to get into ruts of food. (weeks of 'things in spring roll
wrappers' back in university, 'chard and eggs' in Chelan and the dire period of 'hummus and ketchup
sandwiches'... We don't talk about that much anymore). The one downfall I do find is that when I do
happen upon vegan desserts at the few vegan friendly restaurants in Calgary (or in the health food stores)
some sense of deprivation takes over (mostly because I've been too lazy to start cooking cinnamon rolls
for myself at home) and I do eat more than I mean. Which doesn't help with the running, swimming and
biking I'm trying to get in the habit of. This morning, I was half pleased and half irked with myself. I
meant to get up at 6 to go running, but pressed my snooze alarm until it was too late. But, I did make
some time to warm up with yoga before zipping out the door on my bike. The weather is still holding in
Calgary, with sunny days and crisp fall weather to have me wanting hot apple cider at night.
I had all these intentions to write more, but I'd rather get the email out the door! I hope that you are doing
well, and I'd love to hear how things are in your corner of the world! lots of love, danni
Brian Bowen ’07: brian.r.bowen@gmail.com: It's Brian Bowen here, proud FOOT-alum, New Haven
resident, and co-worker of your friend Chris Coffin at the Yale Press! (Chris was my (Cilla’s) roommate
at Yale!)
Ann Gaul ‘07: [email protected]: I am in Morocco, working as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I'm in a
beautiful village on a big agricultural plain between the High Atlas and Anti Atlas mountains, so there's
tons of local produce all year round (including the best oranges you have ever tasted) and plenty of hiking
nearby. I'm planning to climb Morocco's highest peak in August with some friends. My official job
assignment is Small Business Development, so I am working with a group of rural women who weave
carpets, hoping to teach them some basic business skills along with other useful skills (eg health
information, including AIDS awareness, and their rights under the law - Morocco actually recently passed
a fairly progressive new family law code that gives women a lot more rights in marriage and child
custody than they previously had, but few rural women really know about the changes). I'm also hoping to
get into some secondary environmental projects - water conservation is an issue here and I'm thinking of
ways to work on the issue. I'm also hoping in my heart of hearts to get the girls around here to start a
walking/hiking club, but that might take a while...The Peace Corps lifestyle is so different from Yale -
very unstructured, and very rural! I have to mountain-bike about 12 kilometers to get mail and internet
(actually, nobody knows exactly how far it is to town - estimates range from 8 to 18 km - but I've settled
on 12 as a nice average). But I'm enjoying the change of pace and gradually adjusting to the language and
cultural differences. I'll be here until November 2009, so right now I'm still getting to know the
community and making lots of plans. In any case, many of my best memories and most useful skills are
from FOOT! I'm so happy to be getting FOOT alumni mailings! Hope all is well in New Haven! Anny
Molly Brett ‘08: Dear friends, I hope you're all enjoying the last few weeks of summer! I've spent them
settling into post-college life in Boston, and I love it here. I just wanted to let you all know that in a few
short weeks, Yale will be taking away my beloved yale.edu email address. From now on, you can reach
me at molly.s.brett@gmail.com. Stay in touch, and enjoy the long weekend! Molly
Mila Dunbar-Irwin ’08: As all of us seem to have to do, I wanted to let you know that my old e-mail
(mila.dunbar-irwin@yale.edu) will no longer work as of sometime in the very near future and you can
now find me at: mila.dunbarirwin@gmail.com and forever and always (so they tell me) mila.dunbar-
irwin@aya.yale.edu will work.
James Babst ’08: I will be teaching in New Orleans for Teach For America for the next two years. Not
sure what particular school I'll be teaching at yet, but they tell me I'll be teaching middle school science
somewhere. FOOT has meant so much to me since I was just a wee footie myself, and I can't tell you
how much being a leader has meant to me. You're the reason it all happens year in and year out and
you've been absolutely wonderful to know and work with for all of my time here -- I speak for the whole
FOOT community when I say that. I sincerely cannot thank you enough. I hope we can keep in touch
after graduation. All my best, Beau
Andrew Karlin ’08: Please send all future email to my
gmail account at [email protected]. Thank you! Andrew Karlin
703-819-0891
From a thru hiker who ran into a Yale group on the AT: We reached the top of Everest just as the sun
was setting and made it to the shelter by dark without the aid of headlamps. We found a group of 11 Yale
students staying at the shelter. they were happy to make room for us in the shelter. all 11 of them
crammed into the loft and spooned. We were left to spoon only with each other. We enjoyed getting to
converse with youngsters our age over a nice fire that we didn't have to build. They were quite anal about
storing food in the bear boxes, but as the weathered thru-hikers we are we did not participate in this
precaution and left our food hanging in the shelter unbeknownst to them. (side note: the mtn is actually
called MT Everett but we like being able to say we've climbed mt everest (without oxygen)).
Joe Hsu (current FOOT Leader): Hey Foot! I've gotten a few requests that I send out the lyrics to the rap
from the 6 day skits. The lyrics were written by myself and Dan Schechner with help from Jasper Frank,
Catherine Kastleman, Molly Rubenstein, Eileen Regan, and Leslie Golden. We all had so much fun
performing it and it was neat to see how much everyone enjoyed it!
If you had, one pot, one opportunity,
To eat everything you ever brought in, one moment
Would you capture it? Or would you just let it drip.
Yo, his palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.
He's backpacked for five miles already. Ramen noodles for dinner not spaghetti. He's nervous,
But on the surface boiling water's ready. Just stay calm. But he keeps on forgetting
He must pack out, whatever food hits the ground. He opens his mouth, but the Ramen just
falls out. He's choking now, but the stove's broken now. The strainer's out, time's up,
over, blaw.
You better not leave your stuff in the woods in the open, you own it,
You better never let it go,
You only get one pot, do not miss this chance to grow,
It's not for you to leave socks up on the ridgeline.
Here is what a current FOOT Leader had to say about his own arrival at Yale and after:
Standing on the third floor landing of Bingham D with my phone clutched tightly in my hand, a
palpable fear rose in my throat. I had just called home for the first time, and I wondered if I had made a
terrible mistake in signing up for FOOT. The other people in my group - the only people I would see for
the next six days - were more interesting, more athletic, smiled broader, laughed louder, and told better
stories than I. Already I missed home, and I wasn’t sure how I would make it through the trip.
I slept restlessly with these trepidations and carried them with me onto the bus the next morning,
where I ended up sitting by myself. Moments later one of my leaders got on the bus and plopped right
down next to me. I’m sure she could tell that I was having a rough time, but she didn’t let on at all. As
we pulled away from Phelps gate, she engaged me conversation. We told stories, smiled, and laughed all
the way to the Whites.
These are my two most vivid memories from that trip, the rest of which passed in a happy blur. They
are the same memories that propelled me to apply to be a FOOT leader later my freshman year. And each
time I’ve done hopes and fears or highs and lows with my FOOTies, they are the memories I come back
to, the memories that reaffirm why I do FOOT: to honor freshmen as incredible individuals, and to
welcome them to Yale with ten new friends and an awesome trip in the woods.
But over the last two years FOOT has become even more to me. I have found that FOOT leaders
represent the vast majority of my favorite people here on campus, and I have spent as much time as
possible in their company. We have shared some incredible moments on the trail, at the YO cabin, in
Cilla’s attic, at the fair, at parties, and just spontaneously hugging and dancing in the streets. I made it a
priority to learn all of the names of the new leaders this past spring, attending events and quizzing myself
until I was sure I had it down. I frequently send out emails to both FOOT ’10 and the whole group with
ideas for fun events and get-togethers. Much of my social interactions revolve around FOOT and I
wouldn’t have it any other way.
And now some news of ME! Cilla… I have just had a wonderful fall. I was granted a sabbatical from
teaching at Hopkins so I enjoyed the life of leisure, puttering around the house, gardening, painting walls,
playing lots of tennis. I could get into retirement! I did have a project which was to write up an
Environmental Plan for the school. So did spend some time on campus, but this time hanging out with
the maintenance men, landscapers, cleaning staff, business office workers. I got to know the school from
the bottom up which was fascinating. Green schools is a new buzz word and I’m glad to help prod
Hopkins in the right direction. Steve and I did some trips—of course, to our places in Vermont and
Martha’s Vineyard, but we also went to Botswana and to the Galapagos. Two dream trips of a lifetime.
Both have amazing wildlife and we saw plenty. The Galapagos was especially amazing—swimming with
iguanas, green turtles, sea lions and penguins. The animals there seem to care less about you and so you
can get up close and personal—even the birds! And yes, there is the blue-footed booby which is a
favorite. Steve is busy as ever with both Yale and his new private equity fund-Environmental Capital
Partners (ECP). He is still surviving the economic distress and Wall Street. The forestry school has a
new beautiful building, the Kroon Building, and Steve was very instrumental in its idea and then
construction. When you come back to Yale it is a must-see as the greenest building on campus.
So—I hope you are all well and thriving. Please stay in touch. It means a lot not only to me but to the
spirit of FOOT. If you can find a way to make a donation to FOOT, it is tax deductable and very
welcomed. We still have our Jason Karpf Memorial Fund in honor of Jason.
Much love and lots of hugs xoxoxo, Cilla
